PROTECTION.
[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SrECrATOR."j
SIR,—Being old enough to remember the Cobden agitation, I trust you will permit me to remind Lord Rosebery and his supporters at Leicester that Mr. Chamberlain is not an advocate of Protection. That term belongs to a defunct policy, which attempted to secure an artificial price for corn by means of duties arranged on a sliding-scale. This was the
Corn-law, and this Ebenezer Elliott was sweeping away with his rhymes. In these circumstances Mr. Cobden argued that the only thing to be done was to get rid of Custom-houses in our own country first, and, as a con- sequence, throughout the world. To this most attractive scheme he naturally and properly gave the name of Free-trade, and he not only prophesied, but he also promised, that, supposing Great Britain would set the example, it would, in the course of a few years, be uni- versally accepted. Earl Russell, the leader of the reformers in those days, although he ultimately acceded to this pro- posal, treated it at first as a dream, which it was. And he proposed to substitute for Protection, that is, for this sliding- scale, a duty of 55. a quarter. This plan, which Sir R. Peel, trusting to Mr. Cobden, set aside, Mr. Chamberlain wishes to revive. But he is content with 2s. instead of 5s. To meet this with arguments as you and your correspondents have done is not only legitimate but praiseworthy, for discussion is valuable. To attack it with shouts of "Free-trade ! " " A big loaf !" &c., reminds one of the Ephesians, who were so satisfied with their Image, their Temple, and the profits derived from them that they would not listen to reasoning.—I am, Sir, 86e., [Our correspondent makes the common error of imagining that Free-trade was the patented invention of Mr. Cobden, and that because, as persons with the gift of oratory are apt to do, be made prophecies that were, not fulfilled,. Free-trade is a
. mistake. We are not Free-traders because Cobden was a
Free-trader, but because we know Protection to mean economic waste, and because we cannot afford economic waste. If Mr. Chamberlain is not an advocate of Protection, what is he? He is certainly not a Free-trader.—ED. Spectator.)
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