25 JULY 1903, Page 2

For the courage, tenacity, and imperturbability of the Duke of

Devonshire we have the greatest admiration, and are specially glad that he should have spoken out so strongly as to the feeble pessimism of those who think that because Mr. Chamberlain is restless and in a hurry, Free-trade is doomed. Again, we agree that the Duke of Devonshire and Mr. Ritchie, and the half-dozen men, if not more, who support them in the Cabinet, are giving the cause invaluable support by remaining in the Cabinet. On one point; however, we differ, and that is on the policy of inaction which the Duke of Devonshire appears to contemplate in presence of Mr. Chamberlain's threatened, nay, promised, activity. If Mr. Chamberlain is

going to conduct what his brother, Mr. Arthur Chamberlain, calls "a raging, tearing propaganda " in the autumn, it seems to us that, however disagreeable, his Free-trade colleagues must follow his example, and also argue the matter out on public platforms and confute Mr. Chamberlain's fallacies as they are uttered. They must not be muzzled and on the chain while he is unmuzzled and running free.