The succession to Mr. Bright's seat in Birmingham has been
the subject of a very unfortunate quarrel between the Birming- ham Conservatives and the Birmingham Liberal Unionists. On the one hand, the general understanding between the two parties bad been that a seat occupied by a Liberal Unionist should be regarded as one to be filled up by the Liberal Unionists with the help of the Conservatives, and that a seat occupied by a Conservative should be regarded as one to be filled np by the Conservatives with the help of the Liberal Unionists. On the other hand, it has been maintained that there was a special agreement in Birmingham under which this general agreement was to be departed from, and Lord Randolph Churchill invited to fill Mr. Bright's seat, in case of Mr. Bright's death or resignation. But this special agreement, again, is denied by the Liberal Unionists, and no proof at all has been produced of its existence. At present Mr. Albert Bright has been asked to stand by the Liberal Unionists, and has issued an address avowing his hearty adhesion to his father's poli- tical position. We sincerely hope that the Conservatives will not be so unwise as to hold aloof from the contest, and so endanger the hearty co-operation on which so much depends.
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