The long-expected speech of the Duke of Devonshire, like that
of Lord Balfour, must be pronounced as eminently satis- factory from the point of view of the Unionist Free-traders. While he remains in Mr. Balfour's Administration—as it is clearly his duty to remain, and so avoid a rupture in the Unionist party—he could not possibly have said more than he did. He accepted the inquiry loyally as the decision of the Cabinet, but he left no doubt as to his own con- victions when he insisted that the members of the same Cabinet might differ in opinion on many points without separating. If he agreed with Mr. Chamberlain, such insistence was clearly not necessary. Still more clearly was the Duke's personal opinion shown in his declaration :— " I believe the best friends of Free-trade will be found to be those who are willing usefully to enter into a full and fair inquiry, not as to its principles, which, perhaps, we may take for granted, but as to its consequences and results. And I believe for myself that the result of any such inquiry will be to establish more firmly the essential principles which underlie our policy, although it may be found, possibly, that some modification and alteration of our arrangements may tend to strengthen and consolidate and make more unassailable a system founded on such principles."
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