Lord Cromer next turned to the question of raising the
money by direct taxation. He had seen no satisfactory answer to the question how this was to be done. It had been suggested in certain quarters that this was a matter which concerned the Chancellor of the Exchequer and nobody else, and in this context Lord Cromer told a delightful story. A conjurer, having performed the trick of cutting up a hat borrowed from a member of the audience, and then restoring it intact to its owner, invited any one who liked to come on the platform and perform the same operation. A young officer stepped up, borrowed a bat, sliced it into pieces, and then stepped down from the stage with the remark : " I can only do the cutting-up part. I leave the rest to the profes- sional conjurer, who, I do not doubt, will be able to restore the hat to its original condition." Lord Cromer concluded this portion of his speech by the declaration that " we Free- traders have to oppose Tariff Reformers because we are Free- traders, and we are forced to look askance at our brother Free-traders in the opposite camp until we know that they are purged from any suspicion of being advocates of a policy as regards old-age pensions which is either impracticable or which must ultimately lead to the same goal as that which the Tariff Reformers seek to attain."
