WHAT EDGE HILL . MEANS
SIR.—In their chagrin at failing to win Edge Hill, Conservatives are finding not a crumb, but a whole loaf, of comfort in the poor Liberal poll. In this Conservatives are forgetting what it is convenient to forget and remembering what it is convenient to remember. Rotherhithe! The previous by-election! There the Conservative was in worse plight than the Liberal at Edge Hill. A big drop in his poll from that of the General Election and a forfeited deposit. There was a magnificent poll for the Liberal and a real challenge to the Socialist Government. In its leader, Edge Hill Poll the Sunday Times says, "For Liberals throughout the country there is a plain lesson in this. By themselves they cannot act against Socialism with any effect." If we substitute " Rotherhithe " for "Edge Hill," is it not a lesson for Conservatives, ineffectual by them- selves ?
Has Conservatism made one gesture to Liberalism, one suggestion how the two parties could co-operate? Is it not a case of Conservatism wanting all and giving nothing? May I make one suggestion of a way in which this co-operation might begin? An offer from the Conservatives to withdraw from Rotherhithe, if the Liberals will withdraw from Edgl Hill. If this gesture was made by the Conservatives, Liberals would know there was some desire to co-operate. At present there is the suspicion in the minds of many Liberals that it is not co-operation the Conservatives desire but the elimination of Liberalism. It is this suspicion that stiffens Liberals in their determination to contest seats throughout the country.—Yours,
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