The Board of Trade order imposing a duty of a
third of the value on fabric gloves, which come mainly from Saxony and are woven from Lancashire yarn, was sanctioned by the House of Commons on Monday, after a lively debate. In the division 277 Members supported the Government and 113 opposed them. Had the House been left free to vote there can be little doubt that this protective measure would, like the cattle embargo a week earlier, have been defeated. Mr. Baldwin made light of the Lancashire case against the duty and declared that he was trying to administer the Safeguarding of Industries Act honestly and impartially. As Mr. Asquith said, it is difficult to under- stand how anyone who supported that unfortunate Act could vote against the specific duties imposed under it. But we presume that many of the Members who voted for the Act either had not read its schedules or did not believe that the Board of Trade would make any serious effort to apply the Act except in a very few special cases. Thus, the making of optical glass and dyes is no doubt necessary to the safety of the realm, but we should sleep none the less soundly if most of our fabric gloves were, as before, made in Saxony. We must not forget, also, that the importation of the gloves into England is tantamount to an order for goods here. Our so-called competitors are also customers humbly asking to be allowed to buy something they want.
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