[TO THE EDITOR Or TEE " SPECT.I.TOR."f
SIR,—Will you allow me a little space to reply to the appeal of Lord Hugh Cecil to moderate Liberals in your issue of the 2nd inst. ? I am a moderate Liberal, and there is much in the Budget I dislike, and still more in the speeches of some of its supporters, and yet I shall vote for the Liberal Party without the slightest hesitation. In the county in which I live there are a large number of Nonconformists, many of whom prior to the Balfour Education Act had drifted, or were drifting, into the Conservative Party. Then came that Act, passed without any mandate, at a time when Mr. Balfour's Government were losing elections in a way this Government has never lost them. Where was the Second Chamber then p What about referring the measure to the people P From that moment practically the whole of the Nonconformist vote in this county was united in support of the Liberal Party. They will support the Government, though many dislike the Budget, because in no circumstances will they assist the Conservative Party into power again. They know what they may expect from a Balfour or Cecil Government, and they will cleave to the Liberal Party in spite of twenty Budgets worse than this. The Education Act alienated the whole of the moderate Nonconformist element, and of all men the last man they would listen to would be Lord Hugh Cecil. A large number of these Nonconformists are sober, quiet men who had never taken an active part in politics, but who are now ardent and active supporters of the Liberal Party.—I am,
Previous page
