In Wednesday's Standard was published a letter written by Lord
Randolph Churchill to Mr. H. H. Wainwright, the presi- dent'of the Blackpool Conservative Association, on the subject of Lord Randolph's rather sudden conversion to the assimila- tion of the County and Borough Franchise. On the remarkable assumption implied in this letter,—the assumption that the leader should discover and then follow the view of the majority of his party, instead of making any effort to form it,—we have said enough in another column, but may add here that the letter contains one very cutting sarcasm on Lord Randolph's own leaders. He had been persuaded, he said, by Sir Stafford Northcote to withdraw his own proposal to move the previous question, as an amendment to the second reading of the Franchise Bill, in order to make way for Lord John Manners's amend- ment. And of that amendment he speaks as follows :—" Lord John Manners's motion, if it meant anything at all (and on this I am not prepared positively to decide), meant that the Conser- vative Party was prepared to deal with the extension of the fran- chise, provided that the measure was accompanied by provisions for the redistribution of seats." The whole drift of the letter is that Lord Randolph was not only justified in changing his mind, but almost under a moral obligation to do so, as soon as he began to perceive that a great number of Conservatives them- selves . were changing theirs. In other words, the straw which shows which way the wind blows is the true statesman's guide, philosopher, and friend.
Previous page
