[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR, — I was disgusted, though
not surprised, to read in the Sunday Chronicle of the 23rd inst. a report of a speech by Mr. Lloyd George which shows that he has reverted to his Lime- house style, and delivered what no doubt he considers is a slashing attack on you. I think he is hardly correct in referring to the Spectator as the organ of the wealthy. Now I am a young man working my way into the solicitors' pro- fession, as did Mr. Lloyd George before me, and I, along with many others in this part for whom I can speak, and who are by no means wealthy, are regular readers of the Spectator. I get it second-band through a local library, and I should like to wager that there are far more readers of your paper among my own class than among, say, the nouveaux riches cotton manufacturers here. Without being at all snobbish, might I suggest that the line of demarcation between readers and non-readers of your paper is an intellectual rather than a monetary one ?
One cannot but be struck by the difference between the quiet tone of your article and the vituperative personal tone of the Crediton speech. I fail to find where you "taunt the working class because they spend money on football matches and go to music-halls." You merely state a fact, and I can assure you that there is a very heavy expenditure by the poor of Lancashire upon those forms of recreation. I have known many cases where men who have been summoned by their wives for neglect to provide maintenance have been having their rounds of the music-halls during the week, the football match on Saturday, and their bit on whippet- and horse- racing. The pool- mill operatives live a drab enough existence in very truth, and no one can deny them legitimate and reasonable recreation. But that does not excuse a dis- proportionate expenditure of their income in pursuit of pleasure. During the last two years eight skating-rink licenses, five cinematograph and three billiard licenses have been granted in this town. These figures speak for them- selves. However, the Spectator has little to fear from Lloyd- Georgian invective. The oak sways its branches to the breeze whilst many generations of mushrooms spring up and
Previous page
