[TO THE EDITOR Of THE "SPECTATOR.']
SIR,—In regard to your comment on the above in your lead- ing article of last week, in which you desire to unite all conservative forces to turn out the Government, there is an aspect of the question which the leaders of the Conservative Party would do well to bear in mind and to which you do not allude. Suppose the leaders of the party ignore or decline your suggestion, will it not appear to the moderate man that they do not trust the people ? If we are to have a tariff, let us know what it is we are voting for. If the moderate man gets the impression that the tariff is to be framed with closed doors, then the return of the Conservative Party to power may be considered as outside the range of practical politics. You do not ask the Tariff Reformer to give any- thing up. You are only asking him to show his bona fides by coming out into the open and trusting the people. Even if the people rejected the tariff, it would be something to the good to have two or three years' respite from this Govern- ment, and it would take from two to three years to construct
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