In this context we may notice a long letter from
Mr. L. S. Amery in the Times of Tuesday under the heading "A Plea for Steadiness." While he disapproves of the headlong zeal of that "large section of the party, embracing many of the ablest among its younger men," who have plunged for Federalism and payment of Members, he deprecates the attitude of the older members of the party—who "seem to be oblivious of the changes of the last twenty-five years, and of the national and Imperial character of the crisis through which we are passing "—and of the younger fighting men, who scout all compromise. The policy of Imperial Preference "cannot wait " ; there is also our naval position and the question of universal service. "Could not the question of universal service be referred to a really effective Commission by mutual consent, and with the understanding that the findings of that Commission should result in definite action " No mention is made of concessions, but the general drift of the letter fails to relieve us of the uncomfortable suspicion that it is proposed to safeguard the Empire by restoring the Hcptarchy, or, at any rate, by throwing to the wolves the cardinal principles of Unionism.
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