3 FEBRUARY 1906, Page 13

THE CAUSE OF THE UNIONIST DEFEAT.

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPICTATOR."1 Sin,—A late learned Bishop is reported to have said that he believed in three things: the Christian religion, the multipli- cation-table, and Free-trade. There is a close connection between the three, not always recognised by Protectionists or Retaliators, which has been recognised by the electors. Neither Protection nor (still less) Retaliation (absit nomen can be squared with the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount. There is a further objection that they are both economically unsound. Not for the first time has the vox pop.uli spoken in clearer and more Christian tones than the vox Ecclesiae, and the Golden Rule has asserted itself against the teaching of self- interest and the London Press. The cause of defeat is not far to seek for those who realise that the cause of victory is