[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR,"] SIR,—I think you do
an injustice to the Unionists of South Dublin by assuming, as you do in the Spectator of Sep- tember 15th, that their opposition to Mr. Horace Plunkett arises from bigotry. They do not, as you suggest, wish to unseat him simply because he appointed one who is a Roman Catholic and a Nationalist. Mr. Gill's appointment is objected to by Irish Unionists, not because he is a Roman Catholic and a Nationalist, but because they consider that a man who was a prominent member of that "immoral conspiracy" the "Plan of Campaign" should not have been placed in a posi- tion of trust in connection with Irish land. Nor is that dis- satisfaction much lessened by what Lord Ardilaun has called "a tardy and second-hand admission that Mr. Gill now believes in the Eighth Commandment." But the head and front of Mr. Plunkett's offending has 'not this extent and no more, though he very skilfully endeavours to make it appear so.
No one who has read the speeches of his opponents—and no one who has not done so should pronounce judgment in the dispute ; men like Lord Archie= and Professor Dowden are not to be disposed of in a leaderette as bigots whose opposition to any fair-minded man is to be expected—can fail to see that they are rejecting Mr. Plunkett because they feel that, so far from representing their opinions, he is entirely committed to the policy of a Government with which they are most pro- foundly dissatisfied. Whether Mr. Gill was rightly or wrongly appointed is not the question in this election. That appointment is but one of the many actions which have made Mr. Plunkett's constituents believe that by voting for him they would be helping to return to Parliament one who could not be counted on to withstand the further attacks which are threatened on the interests of the Unionists of
[Our correspondent is quite frank. He admits, what is no doubt true, that the attack, though nominally made against Mr. Plunkett for appointing Mr. Gill, is really made against him because he has supported and shared in the Irish policy of Mr. Gerald Balfour and the present Administration. We shall not, of course, convert Mr. Thompson; but we believe that policy has been good both for Ireland and the United Kingdom, and that the Irish Unionists who oppose it are gravely mistaken.—En. Spectator.]
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