Though Mr. Balfour's language is naturally so alarming to Free-traders,
we are by no means sure that it indicates that Mr. Balfour will necessarily end in intellectual agreement with Mr. Chamberlain. He likes to dance on the edge of the precipice, but he has a sure foot, and quite conceivably he will not fall over himself, though his perilous example may be the cause of many casualties to others. And apart from this in-
tellectual pleasure, Mr. Balfour was obviously most anxious not to allow Mr. Chamberlain's project to split the party and break up the Cabinet. Mr. Balfour's speech was before everything the speech of a man determined to keep his team together. In this we sympathise, but we cannot ignore the fact that Mr. Balfour, while intent on keeping in touch with Mr. Chamber- lain, is running the risk of losing a vast deal of Unionist support in the country. As we have explained elsewhere, the license accorded to Mr. Chamberlain has already made it necessary for the Free-trade Unionists to begin discussing the best way of meeting Mr. Chamberlain's Protectionist crusade with a counter-crusade. Of coin-se it is possible that even at the eleventh hour Mr. Chamberlain may realise that his schemes cannot win that universal acceptance among Unionists which would alone make them possible, and may drop the whole project. If he does not, there is only one course left open to Unionist Free-traders,—to organise and prepare for a fierce inter-party struggle.
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