Lord Londonderry addressed a large gathering of Con- servatives at
Sunderland on Wednesday night on the present position of political parties. After illustrating the ambiguity and divergence of the views of the Opposition on education and Home-rule, Lord Londonderry turned to the Fiscal question. He frankly avowed his regret at the launching of Mr. Chamberlain's propaganda, which he described as "a bolt from the blue," and which had led to a dangerous split in the Unionist party. Time had shown that Mr. Chamberlain's forecast had not been borne out, and many of his followers, realising that their action was premature, were "now flocking under the banner of the only man qualified to speak on behalf of the Unionist party,"—namely, the Prime Minister. For himself, while entirely objecting to the view that the foreigner was getting the better of us, he held that to advance our prosperity now we must act with the greatest possible caution, and "not throw away the good bird we had in the hand for the perhaps fallacious bird to be found in the bush."
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