Mr. Chamberlain made a spirited and outspoken speech at Wakefield
on Thursday. He maintained that the present Government, though not perfect, was an excellent one, and elicited much laughter by asking if the Opposition could provide a better. This Government was at all events united, while the Opposition had no policy even in foreign affairs, Lord Rosebery and Sir E. Grey supporting a course in Egypt which Sir W. Harcourt could not like and to which Mr. John Morley was steadily opposed. They had, in fact, no pro- gramme, Home-rule having gone so far that every leader had ideas of his own, Mr. Asquith's, which he criticised in detail, being perhaps the most unworkable of all. He especially ob- jected to his remarks on old-age pensions, hinting that that pro- ject was only postponed because the Government had in hand another philanthropic scheme which would be brought forward next Session—one for assisting the working classes to obtain possession of their own dwellings—and a Bill " to extend and develop municipal life in London." We will say nothing of these schemes until they are presented ; but meanwhile we are glad to see that the Cabinet abstains from overwhelming us with promises. The English attend to one thing at one time, more especially when their minds are taken up by foreign affairs.
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