tTo THE EDITOR or THE osescrxrea.1
Srn,—In the heyday of the Home-rule controversy in the " nineties " every Parliamentary seat in Bradford and the district was held by a Unionist. Now every Unionist M.P. has been swept out of existence, and no Unionist candidate has a chance of success. The two little words " dear food " have ruined us. Home-rale is again to the front, but this time its opponents are fighting under a grievous handicap. In 1905 the Liberal leaders, perceiving that the moment was unfavourable to Home-rule, pledged themselves not to make it a practical issue in the coming Parliament. The great Liberal triumph immediately ensued. Fas est et ab hoste doceri. The North of England may come to accept a tariff, but the time is not yet. With a hostile Celtic fringe, a hostile North Of England is too much for the Unionist Party. The Celtic fringe is hostile because it favours disruption. The North of England is hostile because it dislikes a tariff. Propitiate the North of England, and the Union may yet be saved. You, Sir, have shown that the decisive word rests with Mr. Chamberlain. Will that word be spoken ? It will hardly redound to Mr. Chamberlain's fame in history if the historian of the future can say that, while he saved the Union with one hand, he smashed it with the other. For there can be little doubt that, if we now have a Liberal victory, its cause will be Tariff Reform, its result the disruption of the kingdom.
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