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Carnarvon and Denbigh Herald and North and South Wales Independent

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"RADICAL ROWDYISM."

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"RADICAL ROWDYISM." All true Liberals will regret to learn that Mr Vincent has had to consider the ad- visahlity ot abandoning public meetings altogether. The "Liverpool Courier" tells us that this has become necessary in con- sequence of "the organised rowdyism on the part of Radicals" at the Conservative meetings in the Boroughs, and it adds that "neither the appeals of the Chancellor of the Exchequer nor the efforts of local Radicals appear to have had any effect on the hosts of disorder." Far be rt from us. to j usst: fjy any attempt to interfere with the right of free speech at public meetings, but we fail to see that Mr Lloyd George's opponent haj cause to compla,in of any encroachment upon that r.ght. We believe he has been patiently listened to whenever he has spoken, and if he has had to pass through the ordeal of answering one or two pertinent questions or some pointed comment by members of the audience, we hope he understands that such opposition is not against himself personally, but against the cause which he represents. Mr Vincent is a most estimable gentleman, and there is no one else in the Boroughs I who could bear the Tory standard go well as he does, but he must remember that he is advocating a m&,t unpopular cause—the cause of the landlord, the parson, and the brewer—and the common, people whom the Conservative Party have so heartlessly be- trayed cannot be expected to take it all lying down. The "Courier" tries to extract some humour out of the situation when it speaks of organised Radical rowdyism. The reference is evidently to the opposition at Pwllheli and Nevin, for Mr F. E. Smith's meeting at Carnarvon wa., open to none I except staunch Conservatives. Moreover, the F. E. Smith meeting is on a different footing from the other Conservative meet- I ings. The member for Walton came here under a heavy debt of apology to Mr Lloyd George and his constituents; and to Welsh- men generally, and it was his place to rei- tract before seeking the indulgence of the audience for the purpose of enlightening them on slate trade questions., We should like to ask the "Courier" why it describesi every little disturbance at a Tory meeting as organised Radical rowdyiem. It is a. serious matter to charge the Liberal Party with organising rowdyism at Conservative meetings and to nay that the Conservative candidate has had to abandon public meet- ings as a consequence. Free speech is one of the cher &hed principles of Liberalism, and no conscientious L bera.1 ever interferes with an opponent's privileges at a public meeting simply because of pol tical differ- ences. The policy of advancing the cause ci Liberalism by means of pointed questions and interjections has been adopted with great euecess at Conservative meetings, but no Liberal will seek to conquer his adver- sary by strength of lungs alone. They are not Liberals who shout speakers off the plat- form, and they have no right to call) them- selves such any more than a drunkard has to describe h'mselS as a temperance re- former. In the Carnarvon Boroughs., when- ever a section of the audience has over- stepped the boundi of fair play, Liberals have been the finst to use every effort to I restore order. Mr Vincent himself has said noth ng to provoke the least disturbance, and he has newer failed to secure a fair hearing, but other speakers have not always been so mindful of the feelings of the .audience and strenuous opposition has been the result. But it is unfair to attri- bute every outburst of public enthusiasm to organised Radical rowdy.) ;m when the Liberal leaders, from Mr Lloyd George downwards, have done their utmost to dis- courage anyth ng approaching an encroach- ment upon the rights of free speech.

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