LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
THE DUTY OF FREE-TRADE UNIONISTS.
[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."1 Sin,—All those members of the Unionist party who are true to the principles of Free-trade are, indeed, under a debt of gratitude to the Spectator in the present crisis. In all the confusion of political action and thought one thing ap- pears to be clear, and that is that the question before each elector at the next General Election will be this,—Are you in favour of Mr. Chamberlain's policy, or are you not ? Apart from conviction, I doubt if there is one Unionist in a thousand who would not wish to be on Mr. Chamberlain's side. Con- vinced as I am that Mr. Chamberlain's ideal would ruin the Empire, I am equally convinced of his personal sincerity. Mr. Chamberlain's marvellous and attractive personality cannot, I consider, be exaggerated when estimating the chances of success of his policy. Already it is obvious that, though many Unionists cannot follow Mr. Chamberlain, Liberals, Radicals, and Socialists all over the country are flocking to his standard. The dissenting Unionists will be asked if they intend to be loyal to their party, or to cast in their lot with the Home-ruler, the Pro-Boer, the anti-national materialist, the village pump •politician, the backboneless cosmopolitan, the "passive resister;" and the supporters of a thousand-and-one other cranks and fads ; whether they intend to assist in substituting Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman for Mr. Balfour and Mr. Lloyd-George for Mr. Chamberlain. Surely, Sir, the reply is that the question which has been pushed to the front by Mr. Chamberlain must be answered before all others. After all, should Unionists by their votes be instrumental in putting extreme men in office, they may take comfort to themselves in remembering that we still have a House of Lords where common-sense and patriotism may once again save the country from disaster. Further, it is a comfort to remember that office and responsibility are frequently a most wholesome tonic. Though all Liberal politicians may not have the sagacity of a Haldane or a Sir Edward Grey, it is hardly conceivable that any Liberal Foreign Minister would ever be so logical as to suggest the restoration of the Transvaal to the Boers or of the Soudan to the followers of the Mandi. There can be no doubt that, however much Unionist Free- traders may admire Mr. Chamberlain, their clear duty is now to oppose his policy. If that opposition is conducted in the way that Unionists would desire, I believe the success of Free-trade and Empire is assured. If the Radical party attack Mr. Chamberlain personally in the gross and unfair way they have done in the past, I believe their action will recoil on their own heads, and the success of a policy which will in reality destroy the Empire will be assured. Let us stick to arguments and leave alone personalities. Further, Sir, let us not underesti- mate the forces against us. If I remember rightly, Mr. Justin McCarthy, in the closing chapter of the last volume of his " History of Our Own Times," shows that the defeat of Lord Beaconsfield's last Administration was utterly unexpected. Most of the papers ever seen in the West End clubs were in favour of the Government, and the very existence of the cheap weekly papers which opposed the then Government and were read by the masses seemed to be unknown. In the present fight one is struck by the array of better-class periodicals and papers on the side of economic fallacies. One cannot, therefore, wonder at the attitude of many popular papers. The influence of the Press can no more be ignored than the activity of the tariff reform lecturers. I am rejoiced to see that a reprint of your marvellously prophetic pamphlet is appearing in the Daily Mail, though unfortunately that paper is on the side of the Protectionists. When, however, I see that the Daily Express is to-day (October 6th) com- mencing a series of articles apparently in favour of Protection by Mr. W. H. Mallock, whose political economy I have hitherto regarded as above suspicion, I am more than ever impressed by the magnitude of the task before those who desire to bring home to the masses the evils that would be involved in departing from our present fiscal policy.—I am,
[We deal with the duty of Free-trade Unionists elsewhere, but may say here that we are confident that though sbme may take two steps instead of one, no really convinced Free-trade
Unionist will fail in the end to reach the conclusions arrived at by our correspondent.—ED. Spectator.]
Previous page
