Mr. Bright’s Reply.
Duchy of Lancaster Office, London, W.C.
Sir,—Mr. Bright desires me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 27th instant.
In reply, Mr. Bright directs me to say that he has neither time nor inclination to enter into a correspondence with a gentleman who believes that we need no supplies of corn from foreign countries, and who would impose duties on its importation. He fears that no facts and no arguments can be placed before such a person with any advantage.
I am, sir, Your obedient servant,
BARRINGTON SIMEON.
Frederick Blood, Esq.,
32, Charlotte Street,
Birmingham.
Mr. Blood’s Reply to Mr. Bright.
32, Charlotte Street, Birmingham.
Sir,—I am in receipt of your reply to my previous communication on the Subject of Free Imports. You decline to discuss the question, and in adopting this course, possibly you act wisely. There is so very little to be said from your point of view in favour of our existing system, that I can understand your reluctance to state your case fully. Whether dignified silence would not have been preferable to the uncourteous and dogmatic assertions in which you take refuge, is another matter. You seem surprised that any one should believe in the possibility of our doing without “Foreign” wheat, but is your surprise real or feigned? Do you wish to mislead the public by inducing it to attach a wrong meaning to the word “foreign?” You know the meaning I attach to it, and you know further that my statement was absolutely true, and that it has often been made in public by persons who have a greater claim to a hearing on this subject than yourself.