In the Unionist defeat at the election of 1906, _Punch_ recognized not merely the return to power of the Liberals, but the coming of the "New Demos," the growing importance of the Labour Party, and the increasing impetus lent to its demands. His "farewell to the beaten side" is animated by no enthusiasm for the victors:-- You leave a record which shall bear the light When History delves for Truth in after days, Not as the sudden mob condemns at sight, Or stints its grudging praise. Meanwhile the heart of gratitude is cold; A young new Demos, born of yester-eve, Big-mouthed and blustering, overbears the old, Waiting for no man's leave. Every inhuman name that he can spell He prints in red for all to know you by, Citing his gods to prove he would not tell, Nor yet believe, a lie. He paints your lurid portraits on the polls:-- "Drivers of slaves that oust the white man's brood." "Bigots that bind in chains our children's souls!" "Filchers of poor folk's food!" Had you been Czars to drain the people's blood, Or sought to earn a country's dying curse, Dragging her remnant honour through the mud, He could have done no worse. His hooligans are out with stones and dirt; And in the darkness you must hide your head, Nor look for Chivalry to salve the hurt, For Demos reigns instead. Not much it helps to know that those, ere long, Who lent him aid and did a mutual deal, Will find their henchman, grown a shade too strong, Stamping them under heel. Little it serves that they, your old-time foes, Who found him useful for their present ends, Must seek you soon and plaintively propose-- "Please save us from our friends!" But let this solace keep your hearts resigned-- That, till a second lustre's course is through, The noblest heritage you leave behind Demos can scarce undo. The prophecy that the Liberals would invoke the assistance of the Unionists to "save them from their friends" was not fulfilled; the course of legislation up to the war indicated in the main a desire to consult the demands of Labour rather than to break away from the alliance. The summary of reasons "Why I lost" from defeated candidates furnishes a useful commentary on the verses quoted above. They include Chinese Labour, the Big Loaf cry, the Education Bill of 1902, the Trade Disputes Bill, Overbridge Trams, the Japanese Alliance and the _Entente Cordiale_. The messages were not actually received by _Punch_, but they are not an unfair interpretation of the issues which weighed with the bulk of the electorate. A "spirited foreign policy" was out of favour, and a cold fit had succeeded to the fervour of the "Khaki" election.