In acknowledging the thanks of the meeting for presiding, Mr.
Chamberlain referred to the very odd statement made in an article in the Daily News, written, he believed, by Mr. Paul, that the Unionists have all gone wrong from not having had sufficient intelligence to appreciate the grandeur of Mr. Glad- stone's policy, and that they would not have failed as they have, if they had only asked for explanations. "Why, ladies and gentlemen," said Mr. Chamberlain, "from the very first moment the Home-rule policy of Mr. Gladstone was defeated, and he announced that he had a new, or another, or an altered policy, which he was going to propose, we have never ceased asking for explanations, but we have never been able to get an answer." The writer might almost as well have said that the wisdom of Mr. Gladstone has been shown by the fullness and candour of his explanations of what he intended to substi- tute for the Home-rule Bill of 1886. His criticism is more
like one of the statements in a game of "cross questions and contrary answers," than a serious comment on the political situation.
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