A NEW SECRET SOCIETY.
WE are indebted to a correspondent of the Globe for the particulars of a political conspiracy of a new and formidable kind. For the most part English parties prefer to make the housetops their dwelling-place,- to be themselves the principal performers on the trumpet which proclaims their achievements. In this instance, if the correspondent of the Globe is rightly informed, we are confronted by an organisation which loves to keep its machinery secret, and to be known only—if, indeed, it is known even then—when the results of its unsuspected action take shape in an electoral victory. To the unin- formed observer the tactics of the Unionist opposition seem directed to the defeat of Liberal candidates whenever an opportunity presents itself. But behind this lurks a different purpose, which is being followed out with ruthless intensity. The rank-and-file of the party know nothing of it. It is doubtful whether even the leaders are fully aware of it. It is even conceivable that in certain circumstances Mr. Balfour himself might be one of its victims. The origin of " The Confederacy," as this new organisation either calls itself or has come to be called, is a remarkable example of discrepancy between cause and effect. No dissentient section of a political party has ever showed itself more modestly aware of its own weakness than the Unionist Free-traders. They have been content to be regarded by Tariff Reformers as combining intellectual obtuseness with infirmity of political purpose,—as neither clever enough to see that Free-trade is an exploded fallacy, nor resolute enough to follow the lead of men bolder and more intelligent than themselves. Had the stalwarts of the party thought them too insignificant to be given a place in their calculations, we should have accepted the description with regret, but not with surprise. The Unionist Free- traders, taken as a political organisation, have played a studiously conspicuous part in recent Parliamentary history. They have " kept the faith," it is true, but they have kept it a good deal to themselves. Yet if the correspondent of the Globe is to be believed, this willingness to remain in the background, to see Tariff Reform becoming more and more the single article of the party creed, with no more than an occasional expression of intellectual dissent, has " infuriated " their former colleagues. A man had better be a Socialist, better even be a Liberal, than be a Unionist without being a Tariff Reformer as well. In the one case he would be an open foe ; in the other he is a false friend who may succeed. in deluding a Unionist majority into returning him as a representative of Unionism. The policy of lying low, of passing resolutions from which every element of offence has as far as possible been extracted, of avoiding anything that savours of separate political action, has left the Unionist majority unappeased and unconciliated.
The Confederacy, we learn, exists to make this hostility effective, to drive out of political existence the " small clique" which has had the audacity not to follow Mr. Chamberlain in his adoption of Tariff Reform as the central feature of the Unionist faith. It is not clear why the Confederates think it necessary to invest their proceedings with such an air of mystery. They have not hitherto found much difficulty in bringing the party round to their views ; and if they had proclaimed their determination to call no man a Unionist who did not call himself a Tariff Reformer, we doubt whether their action would have evoked any remonstrance likely to do their cause much harm. They, however, have thought otherwise, and certainly the tone of the writer in the Globe shows that he at least has been greatly impressed by the course they have preferred. " One feels," he tells us, " that it is a fight in the dark : the danger is there, but how is it to be circumvented ? " For months past he has been doing his best to get at the facts. He has interviewed supposed adherents, and visited constituencies whore the Confederacy is understood to be strong. The outcome of his inquiry is that the founder of the Society is " a retired Government official " ; that its governing body is a Council of Twelve, who meet once a week " at the house of one of their number,"—whether always at the same house is not stated ; and that the execution of this Council's orders is entrusted to a body of " scouts," one of whom is to be found in at least half the English constituencies. As the work of these scouts is to keep the Council informed of every Free-food move- ment in the Unionist Party, their numbers seem already more than equal to the need, but more are still being appointed. The action of the Confederacy is described in language which recalls the secret societies of other countries and past ages. " Wherever a Free Food Unionist is found action is taken to remove him." Naturally we think of the midnight dagger and the poisoned ring ; but we soon learn that the penalty hinted at is removal from office, not from life. Whether sterner measures may not be found necessary if the Free-food Unionists display that tenacity of political life which is so characteristic of inferior organisms, we cannot feel sure ; but for the present they are only to be dealt with if they happen to be Members of Parlia- ment, or candidates, "or merely on the Committee of a Unionist Association." In any one of these capacities they are doomed. The methods of the political Sherlock Holmes to whom we are indebted for this information do not com- pare favourably with those of Scotland Yard. Considering that the Confederacy " numbers some 25 peers, 30 members [presumably of the House of Commons], 130 candidates, and in addition 50 individuals of political importance and unlimited wealth," it is difficult not to believe that the professional detective would have been able to tell us more about them than this amateur is able to do. One interest- ing fact, however, has come to his knowledge. The applica- tions for membership have been so numerous that some time ago the golden book was closed. As it is only opened again on a payment of fifty guineas, the poor Tariff Reformer must now be content with offering his services as a scout. What with the fifty " individuals of unlimited wealth " and the fifty guineas charged for admission, the financial position of the Confederates is excellent. They are rich enough to run a candidate in every constituency' "where there is a possibility of a Unionist Free Fooder" contesting the seat, and in at least a dozen they have the candidate ready. Nor are those humbler expedients on which success really depends neglected. The " undesirables " in the local Unionist Associations are every- where being got rid of, and the ill-starred Free-fooder when he visits his constituency will not find a single familiar face to canvass.
In the twenty-four hours which passed between the appearance of the first and second articles we suspect that the writer was taken to task by some of the members of the Society for not giving a sufficiently exalted impression of their purposes. In the second article he professes to speak "with more certainty" on this head, inasmuch as his information has been supplied him by " a leading Con- federate." Antagonism to Unionist Free-fooders is, we are assured, only a means to a greater end. That end is to further the interests of the Colonies. Take care of the Empire, and England will take care of herself. " The greater policy includes the less." An Englishman is worthless in himself, but as the raw material of a Canadian, an Australian, or a South African he becomes of real value. We have no doubt that this is a true account of the Confederate ideal. It exactly harmonises with that disposition to give the Colonies everything they want, asking nothing in return, which is the Tariff Reformer's idea of patriotism. But the correspondent of the Globe does not long remain in this region of high policy. He soon resumes his original childlike admiration of the secrecy which the Confederacy has maintained in presence of his inquiries. The members are " intimately acquainted with one another." Personal feelings and individual opinions are all made subservient to the decision of the Supreme Council. " There is something almost uncanny about this Confederacy, something Oriental in the manner in which it works. Silently but surely it tracks its prey ; no quarter is asked, none is expected ; it is war to the death, war for a great ideal." Really we are tempted to think that we have underrated our own strength when we read that all this plotting and counter-plotting is required to enable twenty-three constituencies to " throw off the yoke" of a Unionist Free-fooder. There are cases in which a particular policy is best defeated by its exact opposite, and the formation of the Confederacy is one of them. The best weapon that a Free. trade Unionist can employ is absolute publicity. Let him ask the constituency to return him, not in spite of being a Free-fooder, but because he is one,—because, that is, he is not prepared to subordinate the interests of the millions of the Old Country to the supposed interests of young and growing communities which are quite able and quite willing to take care of themselves. If he is defeated, he will at least fall in the open field and with his face to the enemy. The knowledge that his foes are those of his own house- hold may be bitter, but it will not be made any the less so by a useless attempt to persuade himself that they are really his friends. We do not doubt that a good many of our readers will think that we are writing in irony, or else have been persuaded by our rosy-hued contemporary to join in the discovery of mares'-nests in the political woodlands. Let those who are inclined to take this view look at the letters in our correspondence columns dealing with Lord Robert Cecil's seat, and also at Lord Hugh Cecil's letter in Thursday's Times. They will then realise that the danger to the Unionist Party is a very real one. If Lord Robert's signal services to his party in the present Parliament, his high character, his great ability, and, lastly, the fact that he is the late Lord Salisbury's son, cannot avail to protect him from political destruction at the hands of the Confederates, what chance have Unionists with a less brilliant record so long as they will not go the whole length in the matter of Tariff Reform? Unfortunately the Confederates are past a joke or a peg for irony. They are a very grim fact, and unless Mr. Balfour recognises the fact and acts on it promptly, they will render his leader- ship a farce, or maybe a tragedy.
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