Mr. Walter Long, speaking on Monday at Tring, complained of
the tone of Mr. Lloyd George's speech on the previous Friday, which was not "a form of controversy that was worthy of a great Ministry." They had been told that the whole country would rise in indignation at the rejection of the Budget; but as a matter of fact it was perfectly quiet, and had received with absolute equanimity the decision of the House of Lords. On Tuesday Mr. Wyndham addressed a meeting of the Constitu- tional Club on the subject of Tariff Reform. He described the Budget as "a rehash of • stale Cobdenism spiced with a little Socialistic seasoning." All that had-to- be done to secure employment was "to impose a tax, low in comparison with those imposed by Germany and America, on the profits of those who used our markets, instead of high taxes upon capital and on articles of ordinary consumption." In the course of a speech at Barrow-in-Farness on Wednesday Mr. Lyttelton defended the Second Chamber as an institution. "The people," he said, "had frequently indulged in a sudden impulse but had subsequently rejoiced in the action of a Second Chamber which had prevented hasty and capricious legislation." The real and greatest reason why the House of Lords were justified in referring the Budget to the decision of the public was that if the Budget were passed some great issues would be prejudiced behind their backs, and of these the greatest was Tariff Reform.
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