* * * *
Preferential Tariffs in the House of Lords
In the House of Lords on Tuesday, Lord Hailsluun took up the economic cause which had been lost by the Unionists in the House of Commons. After stating the Protectionist case in a most spirited speech, he urged the Lords to tell the Government that they must ask the electors whether the Dominions' offer was or was not " humbug." The Lord Chancellor rather evaded this attack- by dwelling on the Constitutional achieve- ments of the Imperial Conference. Lord Buck master did not give the Government credit even for them, as he said that the recent interpretations of the Balfour Declaration of 1926 were really " a dangerous crystallization of fluid opinions." He went on, quite unexpectedly, to declare
that the Government had been " mischievously wrong " in rejecting out of hand a Tariff proposal merely put forward as a basis of bargaining. He admitted that Mr. Bennett's proposal as it stood was unacceptable, In the division the Government were beaten by 74 votes to 10.
Previous page
