University of Warwick institutional repository: http://go.warwick.ac.uk ...

4239
more marked in 1900 when.! addison lost hie seat and
%Iileon'n majority was reduced. Although both
conetituyncies had prodomincntly working clam
electorntca, the two H, Pno were ctill in advance of
the rank and file an for an anti"xdperialicn goes,
In Newcastle there wau before the war began, a
determined section of Xaporial1ata among the 4ibcralo.
The splits in Ncwcantlo Libora1aim went back to the
1880'a when Jospeh Cowan had come into conflict with
the local Liberal organisation. Cow&n though lone
retired from political predictably approved of the Boor
Wars - "Wo are fightiu j; to prevent men of British
blood from being treated an "helots" on British
territory by a sordid oligarchy, which British arms
eavcd from extinction und British generosity endowed
with autonomy. Wo want racial equality. The Boors want,
racial uccenddncy" ThatOO the difforonco. " (1)
By 1899
the Liberale had lost much of their power in tiewcuatle
which was represented by two Concervativea. Also in
1885, Cowen had watad hic battle with the uuti. imperiz*lict
1ý William Duncan, it, p. 215.