As the Coalition Liberals were refused a hearing at Leamington,
it was only to be expected that they would explain themselves to the world- as soon as possible. Sir William Harcourt once remarked : "Suppressed speech is- a very painful disease." An occasion for the speeches to be got off the chest was therefore arranged in London on Tuesday. Dr. Addison, Sir Gordon liewart, Dr. Maonamara, Mr. Kellaway, and Mr. McCurdy all spoke amidst the enthusiasm of their friends. The unrivalled servioes of the Coalition to the country were praised to the skies, but the-feature of the meeting was the reading of a letter from Mr. Lloyd George. The Prime Minister-in his-letter said that recent by-elections had shown how much support Liberal Coalitionists could count upon, and the explanation of the Leamington outburst was that the Government had acted on democratic lines. The division in Liberalism was "serious and not superficial." "A wise leadership would have realized that- any attempt to force an issue must bring about a cleavage which would leave the liberal Party rent, bleeding, and helpless for a generation. Unfortunately -the direction had been pitiable and Madequate." The dissension was to him "a source of grief," and he had done "more to avert it than was yet known." " Hot- headed rowdyism had seized the high plaoes of Liberalism."
Previous page
