Mr. Chamberlain took the chair at the annual dinner of
the Liberal Union Club, which was held on Wednesday at the " Ship," Greenwich, and made an admirable speech on the present position of the Union question. He said that the Government is now stronger than it had ever been, which was mainly due to the fact that Nemesis had overtaken the disintegrationists, and had disintegrated them. They had got plenty of Home-rule in their own ranks, but they had very inadequate central control. The Gladstonian Party was now constructed on purely federal lines; but where was the Union of Hearts ? In the last few days they had apparently been discussing Royal grants, but they had really been dis- cussing the succession to the throne of the Home-rule Party ; yet it did not really matter who had it, for whoever had it would be obliged to obey the orders of the New Radicals, and would have no real authority. Mr. Gladstone's pathetic appeal to his friends to help in maintaining the Throne had produced no effect. Sir William Harcourt was always ready to place his sword at the service of the strongest faction ; and Sir George Trevelyan and Mr. Morley were " reeds shaken in the wind." They were all at the mercy of the New Radicals, and the New Radicals care nothing at all for really useful constructive legislation. Their only passion is change in the Constitution,—change for the sake of change,—and if their whole programme were carried out to-morrow, there would not be a single human being who would find himself a penny the better for it.
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