Lord Hartington has withdrawn from the National Liberal Club, in
consequence of its daily increasing identification with the Gladstonians and Home-rulers. Probably most of the many Unionist members will have to follow his example, for the meetings of the Club, even when such a neutral question as Land-Law reform is under discussion, are becoming mere occasions for vituperation of Unionism. We would suggest, however, that instead of dropping off one or two at a time, the Unionist Liberals who belong to the Club should make something of a demonstration against the unfairness with which they are treated. When the Club was founded, no one ever suspected that Home-rule was coming to split up the party. Mr. Chamberlain was one of the most active of the promoters, and Lord Hartington one of the most trusted of the patrons of the Club. In those days, Mr. Gladstone's Irish Secretary was treated by the Parnellite Members very much as Mr. Balfour is treated now, and Mr. Gladstone himself was regarded by the Parnellites very much as Lord Salisbury is.regarded now. It is hard indeed that in such a club, a dis- cussion on the true principles of Land-Law reform cannot be carried on without hearty Liberals who happen to be also Unionists, being made to feel that they are regarded by the majority of the Club as renegades,—although the real turncoats are the Gladstonians.
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