THE CONSCIENCE OF MR. GANDAR DOWER Sta,—The reference made by
Janus in your issue of November 22nd to Mr. Gandar Dower's failure to honour his election pledge and resign his seat in Parliament upon the defeat of Japan is just and timely. Lady Violet Bonham Carter's letter to The Times will indeed "take a lot of answering," and the evidence so far available suggests that Mr. Gandar Dower will continue to take vigorous evasive action. According to a Press report, he has recently left on "a mission of sympathy" for Vienna to see one of his constituents now serving a life sentence there for killing a Russian officer in a brawl. The correspondent reporting his departure stated: "I asked the M.P. about his resignation. . . . Mr. Gandar Dower, I thought, looked a little angry at my question. He certainly did not answer it."
In view of Mr. Gandar Dower's sensitiveness over the matter, Lady Violet's second question—addressed to the leaders of the Conservative Party—requires early attention. What is their attitude to his remaining on at Caithness? Has he been officially advised to forget his under- taking and remember the Conservative interest? If not, is any pressure being exerted to enable him to honour his word? Or is the Conservative Party merely neutral while enjoying the benefit of Mr. Gandar Dower's vote at Westminster for just as long as it takes him to sort out the relationship between his conscience and his constituents? Some state- ment from Conservative headquarters is called for ; an issue of public principle is involved of concern to the electors not only of Caithncss, but also of the country as a whole, who have a right to demand that the unwritten but accepted standards of our party system shall not be abused by such wanton disregard of pledges freely and explicitly given.—Yours
Previous page
