"THE GRUDGE AGAINST THE LIBERAL UNIONISTS."
[To THE EDITOlt OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—A good deal of surprise has been expressed in the Midlands at your so readily concluding that the letter in the, Birmingham Argus, purporting to have been written by "An Old Conservative Leader," was anything more than a• " bogus " contribution by some young gentleman on the staff of that enterprising little paper. The one idea of the Argus—and, I grant, not a bad one—is to sow dissension between the two wings of the Unionist party ; witness the zest with which it took up the Lord C. Beresford incident at the General Election. The task would be an utterly hopeless one if only those who ought to know better would cease to attach undue importance to the absurdities which it is in the habit of putting forward. There are, no- doubt, Conservatives in Birmingham and the surrounding districts—and under the circumstances this is scarcely matter for wonder—who dislike Mr. Chamberlain, but the number of those who now distrust him is, I am sure very small indeed, and of these I cannot imagine that any one would choose the Argus as a vehicle through which to vent his spleen, since in that case his remarks would be- unlikely to meet the eyes of any Conservatives or Liberal Unionists. I feel sure that Mr. Chamberlain would be the first to allow that any " grudge " felt by the Conservatives against Liberal Unionists was admirably disguised at the General Election, and we cannot but feel hurt at the appearance of an article with such an invidious heading in. such a paper as the Spectator.—I am, Sir, &c., THE CONSERVATIVE CHAIRMAN OF A WORCESTERSHIRE DIVISION.
[Readers of the Spectator should go beyond the headings of the articles to discover their drift. We are very glad to publish this letter, which entirely confirms the impression we conveyed in our article,—that the expression of Conservative " loathing " for Mr. Chamberlain's influence in the Midlands was confined to two or three or perhaps even a single Con-- servative.—ED. Spectator.]
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