In the Dolphin Society on Wednesday (Colston Day), Sir Michael
Hicks-Beach and Mr. Goschen both touched the sub- ject of fusion between the Tories and Liberal Unionists, the former expressing a very earnest hope that this might take place before the next General Election. It is, says Sir Michael Beach, a mere question of names. So far as he- knows, there is absolutely no great public question on which the Liberal Unionists and Conservatives are divided; while on all the great social questions of the day,—the improvement of working men's houses, the reduction of the evils of sweating, or any effective reform_ conceived in the general spirit of our factory legislation, they would act as one man. No doubt ; but what would the Radical Unionists say on the reform of the House of Lords, or the Disestablishment of the Welsh Church P On the latter subject, Mr. Chamberlain and all who follow him are deeply committed. As the Chancellor of the Exchequer said in commenting on this part of Sir Michael Beach's address, this is rather a question for the rank and file than for the leaders. Are there not a good many Liberals who would gag at fusion, and who might even be repelled by it into neutrality or Gladstonianism P A politician who has given up his accustomed name is very apt to feel as if he were dressed in a foreign costume, and to move awkwardly, slowly, reluctantly. The question of name, for rank and file especially, is a momentous one.
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