Mr. Chamberlain made a long and vigorous fighting speech yesterday
week at the meeting of the Liberal Unionist Asso- ciation held in the Birmingham Town Hall. Dealing with the attitude of the Opposition to the war, Mr. Chamberlain charged the majority of the Liberals with "gloating over the cost of the war" because they thought to find therein a lever to influence public opinion. But the Little Englanders did not understand their countrymen if they thought that they were unwilling to bear the cost of a just war. Liberal Imperialism, so useful to cover the Radical rout at the Elec- tion, had now effaced itself, and a noisy and unpatriotic minority had been allowed to usurp the functions of the Opposition, encourage the Boers, and delay the pacification of South Africa. Mr. Chamberlain in particular indignantly referred to the attacks on Sir Alfred Milner, "one of the greatest public servants this century has ever had," and denounced the latest development of Pro-Boer tactics in regard to the Budget, Army reform, and education. Mr. Chamberlain defended the new taxes, denied that any special sympathy was due to the coalowners, and pointed out that the value of their predictions was seriously discounted by the falsification of their gloomy forebodings in regard to the Compensation Bill.
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