13 JULY 1929, Page 2

This fiscal debate, which lasted till Tuesday night and gave

the Government the unexpectedly large majority of 120, did not produce new arguments. The Govern- ment, however, came very well out of it. Much was said about the injury inflicted on trade by " uncertainty." It is true that uncertainty is mischievous ; it kills the con- fidence of those who need only confidence to make their contracts ; but we can hardly see a cure so long as there is a hard dividing line between Free Traders and Pro- tectionists. If both sides yielded to the logic of the " uncertainty " argument Protectionists would never upset a Free Trade regime, nor Free Traders a Pro- tectionist. Such self-denial need not be expected until the millennium.

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