On Wednesday, after Mr. Arthur Lee had avowed himself a
Fair-trader, and boldly declared that he chiefly objected to the repeal of the Corn-tax because he was an ardent believer in the greater policy which it foreshadowed, Mr. Asquith took full advantage of the openings which the undecided conduct of the Government had given him. Were we to say in regard to the Corn-tax Resurgam or Iteguiescat ? Turning to the two voices that have come from the Ministry, Mr. Asquith insisted, and, as wetbink, with soundness, that the question of Free-trade and Protection was not one on which Ministers could not only not entertain views diametrically opposed, but even become, as one of them threatened, active propagandists of such views. Sir Edward Grey was also very contemptuous, as from the party point of view he had a right to be, as to the position of the Government. Was one section of the Ministry to sit assert- ing their belief in Free-trade, while another section was parading Free-trade up and down the country with a halter round its neck ? As to the alleged inquiry of the Colonial Secretary, he said with great point, "It is not an inquiry ; it is a crusade." This is indeed an essential point, and one which it is strange to see so entirely ignored by Mr. Balfour. In theory the party may, no doubt, agree not to act, but merely to discuss. But a crusade such as Mr. Chamberlain promises is an act. To parody Tennyson, "the fallacy that stirs a nation's heart is in itself a deed." You may call a campaign against Free-trade discussion, but it is in fact an attempt to destroy the principle on which the national welfare is founded.
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