Unionists lost seats, but they enormously increased their votes. In several places that had been regarded as absolutely hopeless they came within measurable distance of a material, and achieved a moral victory. They proved that the solid phalanx of Scottish Gladstonianism had begun to crumble and drop away.

It is therefore not unprofitable to briefly review the position in Scotland, and to gather up the indications of political movements that have been afforded since the polls closed in 1892. That election proved that Unionism was a growing and not a waning force north of the Tweed: it proved further that the committal of the Gladstonian party to the policy of Disestablishment, avowed in 1890, had not tended to increase its popularity. It showed a general growth of Unionist sentiment: it exhibited a remarkable development of resistance to later Gladstonian policy in the Lothians, and in certain other constituencies. But it left the impression that with harder work and greater hope a good deal more might have been done, and its varied results indicated that an overweening belief in ineradicable and impervious Gladstonianism had prevented the convictions of many on the Church question producing their full and proper effect. In spite of the formal pledging of the party in May, 1890, there remained in 1892 a reluctance to realize, and almost a disbelief on the part of many voters attached by old association to the Liberal party, that Mr. Gladstone really intended Disestablishment. The threatened Suspensory Bill has achieved one result, if nothing more, in the fact that it has dispelled this hallowed hallucination, and acted like the sting of an arrow to make the ostrich raise its head from the sand. It has put the defenders of the Church upon their mettle, and since its introduction-or rather the intimation of the impending introduction that never came-there has been carried out in many parts of Scotland an effective campaign, stimulating the interest of the Scottish people and instructing them more fully than has ever hitherto been done, in the history of the Scottish church, and their own rights in its endowments and its national mission.

Since the General Election the Scottish Conservatives have carefully revised the general scheme of their national organisation. They have done so upon the principle of combining a

compact and manageable central authority, with practical local supervision of the details of organisation. It is easy to exaggerate the influence and effect of changes in central political organisations, for after all, the really important thing is the local organisation in the constituencies. At the same time, the changes made at the Perth Conference of April, 1893-if properly worked, and upon that condition aloneconstitute an important forward movement in the popular organisation of the Scottish Conservative party. It is interesting to recall the various steps by which the general party organisation has reached its present form, for they exhibit a continuous advance, and a continually closer touch established with the mass of the electorate. The origin of a central organisation on popular lines was practically comtemporaneous with the extension by the Conservative party of the franchise to the working men. The Scottish National Constitutional Association, which was established as a permanent result of Mr. Disraeli's famous visit to Edinburgh in 1867, held its first annual meeting on 17th April, 1868. It consisted mainly of individual subscribers, though its rules contained provisions for any local association being declared to be in connection with the central association, and having the right to send two representatives to its general council, which met twice a year. It maintained a central office, and gave considerable assistance to the local agents and associations. In 1882 a further step was taken by the formation of the Scottish National Union, which was organised on a thoroughly popular basis. Its main feature was the prominence given to the representative element based upon the local associations, and the institution of the large popular annual conferences similar to those of the National Union in England. Its executive work was originally conducted by four honorary secretaries, selected with special reference to their connection with different districts of the county, and the council was constituted on a system of direct election by the conference, and of limited cooptation. In 1885 an important advance was made in the improvement and consolidation of the party machinery, by the amalgamation with the National Union of the older Scottish National Constitutional Association, in order to provide one well

equipped central office, and secure more economical and efficient administration. The good effects of this were experienced in the very large amount of work transacted during the general election of 1885, and even more substantially, though less demonstratively, in the negotiations and arrangements with the LiberalUnionist party in the fateful spring and summer of 1886. With the aid and upon the basis recommended by the Central Organization, the local organisation of the party throughout the country has been by degrees completely revolutionized, and the 'Mr. Jones and his factor' system superseded by one based upon the parish committees, in which Mr. Jones will retain the legitimate influences to which his personal activity and social position legitimately entitle him, but under which the cause of the party is placed in the hands of all the members of the party. The increasing vitality of the party in Scotland, and the growing interest shewn in its work, are illustrated by the facts, that while in 1883 the National Union included 60 affiliated associations, and 101 associates, and had an income (exclusive of life-members' commutations) of £191, and in 1886, after the consolidation, com.prehended 122 associations, 61 vice-presidents, and 333 associates, with an income of £640; in 1893 it included 356 associations, 145 vice-presidents, and 501 associates, with an income of considerably over £2000.

The increasing interest in its work had multiplied the meetings of its council, and led to their being held alternately in Edinburgh and Glasgow. In 1888, a small committee was appointed to meet in Glasgow, and specially supervise the western constituencies, which in the following year was enlarged, and in 1890 a branch office was opened there and placed under its supervision. A large amount of active work was done by this committee, and to its exertions was largely due the substantial increase in the income of the Union of late years. It had long been recognized that an improvement in the constitution of the Central Council was desirable. One quarter of its members being elected by each conference, the vote was liable to result in an undue preponderance of persons being returned from the district where the annual conference happened to be held, and there had been one rather scandalous instance of a ticket' being run, according to the ap

proved methods of Yankee electioneering. It was desired to make the council more representative of all districts of the country, and also to extend the system of local committees, which had been found to work well in the western district. Further, while the comprehensive character of the national organization was shewn by the fact that in 1892 the central association of every Scottish county but one was affiliated to it, this affiliation was contingent on payment of a subscription, and might be broken at any moment. It was thought advisable, following in this the example of England, that every constituency should, through its central association, be brought as a matter of right into direct relations with the central organisation, irrespective of pecuniary conditions.

These views were carried into effect by the new rules adopted at the special conference held at Perth in 1893, and the whole organisation of the Conservative party in Scotland has been developed on a symmetrical and definite plan. The organisation of the Scottish National Union now consists of the President, the Honorary Secretaries and the Honorary Treasurers, who are the officers of the whole Union, of the Central Council which takes a general supervision of the whole country and to which the divisional bodies are responsible, and of six Divisional Councils or Committees, each entrusted with the special supervision of well-defined districts of the country, which are practically at once local Committees of the Central Organization and JointCommittees of all the constituencies comprised within each division. The work of the whole is reported on to the Annual Conference, consisting of the delegates from each constituency, and from every affiliated local association, and of the individual subscribers to the Union funds. The Central Council consists of a proportional number of representatives to the constituencies in each division who are nominated by the divisional bodies, with the addition of a certain number selected in proportion to the number of subscribers to the Union. The Divisional Councils or Committees consist of members directly elected by the central associations of the constituencies, with the addition of others selected in proportion to the subscribers in the division. The subscriptions of all affiliated associations are paid direct to

the Central office. Where the income contributed by a division is large enough to support a useful branch office, the subscriptions from individuals are collected by the divisional body, which in that case is termed a Divisional Council, and, after remittance of a fixed proportion for Central expenses, applied by the Divisional Council for work within the division. Where the district cannot efficiently maintain and employ a local office and staff, the whole subscriptions are paid direct to the Central office, necessary local expenditure provided for from the Central funds, and the Divisional Committee assisted by the services of the Central staff.

This organisation thus secures a compact Central Council, the fullest local supervision and activity which practical conditions allow, and a system of representation which gives every district and constituency its fair share in the administration of central and divisional affairs. It is liable to two criticisms: First, that the system of double election by the constituency to the divisional body, and by the divisional body to the central council is cumbersome; and second, that there was much to be said for retaining to some extent, while balancing it by local election, the system of direct election at the annual conference which was valued by many of the delegates from affiliated associations. There was much to be said for a simpler system by which each constituency should have returned one person to serve both on the central and divisional body. It would have placed the constituencies in even more direct relation with the headquarters, and it would have obviated several practical disadvantages that have since been felt. But it involved a Central Council of from 72 to 100 persons meeting quarterly or half-yearly, and this was considered too ponderous a body for practical purposes. Yet the result of an amendment carried at the conference was to convert one Divisional body, which meets monthly, into as large and unwieldy an organism. The general scheme embodied a careful compromise of varying views, and having been adopted by the unanimous vote of a large and representative conference, has placed the organisation in Scotland on a permanent and popular basis.

If there is anything in a thoroughly representative and demo