Sir Charles Nike, in a speech delivered on Wednesday night
at Kensington, replied to our remarks on the attempt to boycott Mr. Goschen. However, while he partly denied, he partly justified the attempt. A great part of the speech was devoted to an elaborate attack on Mr. Goachen, to whose excellent qualities, however, as a statesman, when he concerned himself with foreign policy, Sir Charles Dike did full honour. Moreover, Sir Charles disclaimed any wish to exclude any one man from the inner circle of Liberal politicians. All he contended for was that the Liberal Cabinet ought to represent the Liberal Party fairly,—ought to be a microcosm of that party, and ought not to give undue weight to the minorities in it. Indeed, he said, in no obscure words, that if it were not to be a Cabinet which would draw such a Local Government Bill as he and his friends wished for, he and his friends must be content to support it, so far as it proposed Liberal measures, from outside. As we understand Mr. Goschen, he is, however, entirely with Sir Charles Dilke in his approbation of the Allotment system, and his wish to see it carried even further than it is at present. And the only excuse that we know of for excluding so very able a man from the Liberal Administration,—if Liberal Administration there is to be,—is Sir Charles Mike's and Mr. Chamberlain's dead-set against him. No one would think, of course, of asking Mr. Goschen to take the leading place in the first really Democratic Government, for we all know that he distrusts many Demooratio tendencies. Yet, that is the best reason in the world why he
should be included among the leaders of a party, every officially announced proposal of which he heartily approves, though he has his own view of the safest way of carrying them out ; for he may very probably' save us from serious blunders inIcarrying them out.
