THE MODERATE VOTER AND THE HOUSE OF LORDS.
[To THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—Before many weeks have sped this country will—if the Government attempt to make good their oft-repeated threats— be plunged into an acute crisis on the question of the veto of the House of Lords. It is idle to attempt to palliate or disguise the gravity of the main issue, or the importance of the underlying issues with which it is inseparably connected. Under a single-Chamber Government the insidious attacks upon liberty and property, hitherto oblique, will become direct and immediate, and the Socialist wing of the Radical Party, now in power, will seek to realise its avowed object and to put into practice its schemes for the ultimate " expropriation " of property of every description.
In the circumstances, it would be the height of folly to await the attack without making any adequate provision for the defence. The Centre Party Union has decided, therefore, at once to organise a campaign for the defence of the dual system under which alone security and justice can be ensured, and it is preparing—to the best of its ability—to hold meetings throughout the country, and to educate the masses upon the true nature of the questions at stake. It behoves all who desire to preserve the glorious Constitution—bequeathed to us by centuries of wisdom and statesmanship—to rally to the help of the Union, and to aid its endeavours in enforcing the point that, whether a Liberal or a Conservative Government were in power, it would not be to the interest of the nation to dispense with a Second Chamber, with real authority, reconstituted so as to be as non-partisan as possible. The expenses of such a campaign will necessarily be heavy, and I appeal to your readers to support the movement and to contribute in proportion to their means to the end in view.
—I am, Sir, &c., S. CLEAR DRIVER, Secretary. Centre Party Union and Middle Classes Defence Organisation, 14 Great Smith Street, Westminster, S.W.
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