Mr. Asquith's gentle dealing with Mr. Rhodes affords an apt
illustration of the chain of connection between Mr. Rhodes and the Liberal party which we have noticed on previous occasions. That connection is worth restating. In 1891, as we see, the party organiser took a sub- scription from Mr. Rhodes of °25,000. Later, the Liberal Ministry allowed Mr. Rhodes to dictate a settle- ment in regard to the Matabeleland War extremely favour- able to Mr. Rhodes's Company. They also made Mr. Rhodes a Privy Councillor, and at his bidding, as is generally believed, they sent out the late Lord Rosmead as Governor of the Cape, though there were very strong reasons against such a step. Again, it may be mentioned that when the list of the Chartered Company shareholders came to be published, the names of Mr. Schnad- horst and Mr. Tom Ellis, the Liberal Whip, were found among the shareholders. Their motives it obtaining the shares were, we have no doubt, innocent enough ; but the fact that they held them certainly shows that the holders were not Anti-Rhodesians. That Mr. Ellis subsequently denounced the Raid is not material. Lastly,. Mr. Ilawksley, if we are not mistaken, while a Liberal candidate, alleged that on a certain occasion he " in- structed " a Liberal Member of Parliament (said by Mr. Labouchere to have been Mr. Abel Thomas) to read certain letters in the House of Commons in defence of Mr. Rhodes, should Mr. Rhodes be attacked by Mr. Chamberlain. And yet we as Unionists are constantly having Mr. Rhodes's disastrous actions in South Africa, and bad political influence generally, thrown in our teeth as a product of Unionism. The Unionists, that is, are held to be responsible for Mr. Rhodes and his doings. As a matter of fact, Mr. Rhodes's influence in South Africa grew to the dangerous dimensions it did I far more under Liberal than Unionist auspices. In none of our attempts to with- stand Mr. Rhodes's influence on our politics have we ever received any serious help from the leaders of the Liberal party, or from the official organs of the party in the Press. The official Liberal is careful never really to touch Mr. Rhodes, though he is sometimes willing to make a sham attack on Mr. Rhodes a cloak for a real attack on Mr. Chamberlain.
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