[To TH. EDITOR 07 TR! "SPRCTATOR:'] Sin,—Mr. Austen Chamberlain ' s manifesto
in the Outlook for January 5th is an instructive commentary upon your excellent leader of the same date. In it he says: "Tariff Reform both offers the direct road to closer union with the Colonies, and provides without robbery or jobbery the necessary financial basis for further social reforms." Judging by the samples of social legislation we have recently experienced, the prospect of "further social reforms" is not reassuring. In fact, many persons who are unaffected by the delusive glamour of party politics, but who are most anxious for the real improvement of social conditions, are convinced that legislation of this nature, if persisted in, can only lead to degradation of national character and moral ruin, whilst "Tariff Reform" would, they believe, be equally disastrous economically. Mr. AustenChamberlain, in effect, says "Give me the one and I will produce the other." In the meantime Mr. Balfour
stands apart and constructs elaborate dialectical mazes, in the centre of which is to be found a—Sphinx. We have enough and to spare of politicians. Will no statesman arise
and save us P—I am, Sir, &c., ARTHUR. CLAY.
19 Hyde Park Gate, London, S.W.
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