On Friday week the Liberal Union Club gave a dinner
at the Hotel Cecil in honour of the Liberal Unionist Members of the Government. All the speakers found it necessary to explain at length the exquisite harmony which prevailed within the Government. Lord Selborne declared that the only policy which the Opposition had yet discovered was the attempt to make mischief within the Cabinet. But the Cabinet was absolutely united in favour of the policy of Retaliation and a Colonial Conference, while the Opposition "lifted up their garments lest even the hem should be touched by a Colonial fellow-countryman." Mr. Arnold-Forster said that the Government had the great majority of citizens behind them; while Mr. Austen Chamberlain claimed that there was a strenuous and progressive career before their party, and applauded the Prime Minister's resolve to call a Colonial Conference. Mr. Lyttelton, in conclusion, urged Liberal Unionists not to be frightened by the word "Pro- tection," which was simply a bogey invented by their opponents to arrest their schemes of reform. We need not say that we earnestly desire to see the Liberal Unionist party united, but when in our view the only hope for it lies in separation from its most prominent member, we cannot be expected to be enthusiastic about this boasted solidarity. If the party is united in its allegiance to both the Prime Minister and Mr. Chamberlain, then the presumption can only be that these leaders are also at one.
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