12 DECEMBER 1925, Page 3

In face of this most careful reservation it is difficult

to understand how Opposition newspapers, even some reputable ones, can allow themselves to fling out charges of broken faith. Our own conviction is that protective duties never help an industry as much as Protectionists expect. And the price of goods, except in very special cases, is necessarily raised against the consumer. All the same, we can quite believe that it is worth while to help an industry through a crisis on the ground that the choice is between paying the price of Protection and paying for the "dole." If the Safeguarding Act were not in full working order we should still hope, however, that the Government might be persuaded to apply subsidies rather than duties.