MR. RAMSAY MACDONALD AND THE LEICESTER. MANIFESTO.-
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."
SIR,—I notice in the Spectator of July 12th that you refer to the so-called Leicester manifesto, and pronounce an opinion• that the matter should be taken into court. I prefer, how- ever, to deal with it in a more certain way, and enclose for your information copies of the Leicester Pioneer of this week and Leicester Mail of Tuesday. As you have been sufficiently interested to refer to the facts which came under your notice up to the middle of last week you will perhaps be equally good and refer to the matter again, using the facts that have been disclosed up to date.—I am, Sir, &c., J. RAMSAY MACDONALD%
3 Lincoln's Inn. Fields, W.C.
[Mr. Ramsay MacDonald encloses a facsimile of the message.
which was telephoned from London by Sir Maurice Levy and- was read in the interests of the Liberal candidate at the- Leicester by-election_ It is as follows :-
" A meeting of the Labour Party was held in London to-day,. and at the close of the proceedings the following statement was issued: ' The action of the Leicester Labour Party is regarded as such a grave violation of National Party discipline and such a graceless disregard of Mr. Ramsay MacDonald's position as will' inevitably lead to a considerable disruption of the Labour Party forces, and must compel Mr. MacDonald to sever his connexioii, , with Leicester. Already other constituencies are open to him. Therefore his Parliafnentary career is assured. Nevertheless, every Labour voter who is concerned to preserve party discipline and understandings, and who agrees to the desirability of retainin,, Mr. MacDonald in Leioester, should give no encouragement t...34, the candidature of Mr. Hartley, which is not recognized by the official Labour Party.' "
Mr. MacDonald's point is that the introductory words, "A meeting of the Labour Party was held in London to-day, an& at the close of the proceedings the following statement was issued," were inserted by some unknown person. He does not deny, as we understand him, that Mr. Roberts (a member off the Labour Party in the House of Commons), after consulting with Mr. Ramsay MacDonald himself, authorized Sir Maurice Levy to send the message as given above, but with these intro- ductory words: "Hear on high Labour authority that the action* of the Leicester Labour Party is regarded," &c. The trans-
formation of the introductory words, of course, gives Mr. Rams ty MacDonald an ostensible point to argue with, but the- introductory words seem to us to be an insignificant matter if Mr. Ramsay MacDonald himself--;the leader of the Parlia-
mentary Labour Party—authorized the very strong message- quoted above. It will be noted that in the undisputed part of the message it is said that the candidature of Mr. Hartley,.
Labour candidate at Leicester, was "not recognized by the official Labour Party." Does Mr. MacDonald deny that he authorized this-statement? That is the real point on which the justification of Sir Maurice Levy, or the reverse, must rest.—En. Spectator.]]
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