Copy of a letter from [Joseph] Austen Chamberlain (9 Egerton Place [London]) to WSC, acknowledging his letter, and supposing that like his other recent letters, WSC intended it for publication: Chamberlain says that he had not sent his own letters to the press, and would not do so unless he was obliged to. He writes that he completely disagrees with WSC's reading of the situation, but believes (with the best American authority) that if the Government had announced at the start of the war that all domestic controversy would cease, then they would have had the approval of the United States, and even of the Irish. As it was, Chamberlain states that they had betrayed the loyal Ulstermen in order to pay blackmail to the National Volunteers and their American paymasters, neither of whom would support the Government. Chamberlain asserts that he and his colleagues were doing their utmost to prevent a row, but that the Government had failed to appreciate the effects of their actions on the Opposition, which had supported them unreservedly since the war began. He recalls WSC saying that he "did not care a damn about Home Rule", and accuses him of being incapable of appreciating the feelings of those who opposed Home Rule from deep-rooted conviction. WSC and the Government had destroyed belief in the honour of public men, and also any hope that unity during the war might lead to greater agreement. Chamberlain ends by saying that he would have staked his own honour that WSC would not act as he had, and was heartbroken to find himself mistaken. Typescript, sent by Sir Charles Petrie for inclusion in his biography of Chamberlain.