THE LIBERAL DAILY PRESS.
[To THE EDITOR 07 THE "SPECTATOR."1 Sra,—It certainly would be a bad day for Liberals and Liberalism if the Daily News, or any other Liberal paper, were to be con- ducted on the principles advocated by your correspondents, Messrs. Matthews and Cobb. It is far more important that the Daily News should be the organ of the Liberal cause rather than the organ of the Government, and it is infinitely to be desired that its Liberalism should be independent, even if it is sometimes mistaken. It was mistaken, as it seems to me, on the Suez-Canal question, and attacked the Government for doing about the very best thing it could do under the circum- stances. But it is far better that such a mistake should have been made than men should regard its editorial staff as mere Government clerks. "Loose Liberal Members " are far more likely to be brought to a sense of their duties by coming in con- tact with their own constituents than by editorials inspired by a [We have never condemned any Liberal newspaper for inde- pendence,—which we have always claimed for ourselves. And we should never have thought of challenging the general exercise of its discretion by the great Liberal journal, however much we had differed from it. But it did seem hard on the Liberal party that the chief Liberal organ should be so prepossessed against the proposals of a Liberal Government, as to assail them before the case which the Government could produce on its own behalf had been given to the world. We have not thought it desirable to insert any of the many letters received on this subject except such as were moderate in tone and publicly acknowledged by their authors. We hope the hints given will be taken, and must now close this correspondence.—En. Spectator.]
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