CONSERVATIVE POLICY.
[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—Conservatives are encouraged to believe that the country is tired of excessive change and kangaroo practices, and desires a time for recollection and redress of the new grievances, which have their root in hasty, ill-considered projects. Let them, then, be true to their colours. Is the typical John Bull as extinct as the dodo, the burly figure in top boots who was supposed to stand for honesty, straightforwardness, and fair dealing P He may blunder, but his heart is right. Let them forswear, then, anything which smacks of insincerity. The squire cannot think it fair that the poacher who steals the pheasants he conserves should have an equal stake in the con- stituency with himself, and yet the Radical leaders are able to say that the principle of " One man, one vote" is conceded by their opponents The motto of the French Revolution was " Liberte, Egalite, Fraternit4." The middle term is a flat negation of natural law, as false as the others are true. We are all agreed that existing inequalities should be redressed, and we are all working with the same end. This is no peculium of the Radical Party. Both parties are engaged in the solution of the problem. The housing of the poor is one of the beat means towards this end. But such is the hatred of land- lordism inculcated by the logical Socialist that, for fear of in any way benefiting landlords and helping them to house their tenants, the Government refuses to advance a farthing for the good cause. Again, let the opposition to Home Rale rest on the right principles, that it is a concession to violence. The typical John Ball does not approve of shooting at people from behind a hedge or through the windows of their cottages, and if a measure relying on these antecedents becomes law who can wonder at the militant party for the acquisition of votes for women adopting the same tactics ? Let the Con- servatives, then stick to their colours, regard taking a leaf out of their opponents' book as dishonest, and meet them squarely on the great principles of honour and truthfulness. If they are defeated at the polls, they will have done their duty to the country.—I am, Sir, &c., SENEX.
Previous page
