TOPICS OF THE DAY.
MR. CHAMBERLAIN'S SPEECH.
MR. CHAMBERLAIN'S speech at Birmingham dis- poses finally of all the foolish talk about his being willing, nay, anxious, to give up his fiscal schemes. Once again we are face to face with the plain issue of Protection v. Free-trade. It is to be hoped, therefore, that the speech and the frank restatement of the Chamberlain policy will be taken to heart by those Free-trade Unionists who, at every momentary lull in the controversy, begin to imagine that Mr. Chamberlain has abandoned his Fiscal principles, and that in a very little time the rent in the Unionist garment will be mended, the Protectionist outcry forgotten, and all will be as before in the party. We cannot, of course, help having a certain sneaking sympathy with those who have insisted on trying to live in a fools' para- dise in regard to this question. The temptation was very great. Nothing is more painful than civil war within a party, and the bitter personal animosities that are its result. No wonder, then, that many Free-trade Unionists were induced by their dislike of internecine strife to try to persuade themselves that Chamberla,inism was dying out, and that the party could be kept united without having to go through the fiery ordeal of a stand-up battle between the two hostile elements within it. But though we understood the desire not to abandon the notion that direct conflict could still be avoided, we have never thought it possible that Mr. Chamberlain would give up his policy except after a crushing defeat at the polls. Mr. Chamberlain may not be a man of conspicuous judgment, but that he is a man of courage, and a man who believes profoundly in his own powers to achieve success, we have never doubted. Though Chamberlainism has been steadily losing ground since last November, its backward course has made no impression on its author. On the contrary, he has completely ignored its failure, and imagined instead that it was making steady progress. The most his sanguine nature has admitted has been a certain slowness in the process of conversion, but this he doubtless attributes to his loyalty in sharing the burdens of an admittedly unpopular Government rather than to auy lack of popular appeal in his own cause. And against it he can set the amount of money easily collected by the Tariff Reform League, and the power of that organisation to start new branches in every direction. In view of these facts, we felt convinced that Mr. Chamberlain did not share the general belief as to the inability of his policy to attract the people, and that at an early opportunity he would restate his principles and pro- claim the immense progress which they were making in the country. His speech at Birmingham confirms this forecast in every particular. That this attitude of entire impenitence will prove a great disappointment to certain members of the Government, and to a large number of Free-trade Unionists, we do not doubt.. If they are wise, however, they will not fail to take serious note of it, and to determine that they will not again allow themselves to be lulled into a sense of false security on any specious plea that Mr. Chamberlain realises that his policy is a failure. Mr. Chamberlain will not realise that until he has been thoroughly beaten at a General Election. But he will not be so beaten unless the Free- trade Unionists bestir themselves. Therefore all Free-trade Unionists who wish to see Mr. Chamberlain's policy dead and buried must resolve to take action.
We shall be told, of course, that we are exaggerating Mr. Chamberlain's confidence in the coming success of his policy. It was, it will be argued, necessary for him to put a bold front on his failure, but nevertheless the confession of failure was there. This confession of failure, we shall next be told, is to be found in his declarations of loyalty towards the present Government. He is clinging to the Government because he has realised his own weakness. This is no doubt a view which it pleases certain members of the Ministry to take, but it is a pure delusion. Mr. Chamberlain's expressions of loyalty to the Government are not the signs of any weakness on his part, but are proofs of the compact or understanding which has been entered into between Mr. Balfour and the leader of Tariff Reform. The existence of that compact or under- standing has been eagerly debated during the past three weeks. The proof of its existence is to be found in Thursday's speech. Mr. Chamberlain has had it made clear to him that when the proper time comes Mr. Balfour will pass over openly to his side, and will join him in the work of establishing the Empire on,Preference and Protection. Till that time arrives Mr. Balfour will hold the Govern- ment fort for Mr. Chamberlain, and do his best by the device of the finger on the lip and the upturned eye to keep the Free-food Unionists from prematurely throwing off their allegiance to the Ministry. This satisfies Mr. Chamberlain completely. It gives him time, as he thinks, to convert the country—all self-confident men who are failing imagine that if only they can get a little more time they will be able to put things right—it spikes the Free- trade Unionists' guns, and it prevents them interfering with the work of capturing the Unionist organisations throughout the country. In fine, Mr. Chamberlain's assurances of support to the Government are a proof that they are on his side. We will not do Mr. Chamberlain the injustice of suggesting that any other reason would induce him to give his help to the Ministry. He sincerely believes in his policy, and regards it as essential to the welfare of the Empire. If, then, he thought the Government hostile to his policy, we may be certain that he would give them no support. His support is a sign that the Prime Minister and the majority of his colleagues have already, secretly, if not openly, adopted the policy of Tariff Reform. Those Ministers who have not yet done so may number two or three, but it is evident that they are considered as negligible quantities. If they make full submission at the last moment, the plan is probably to spare them. If not, they will be treated as traitors who failed to carry out what they must have known were their chief's real intentions. To put it plainly, Mr. Chamberlain's expressions of loyalty in regard to the Government, and his acquiescence in their present milk-and-water policy, are proofs that he has achieved an ascendency over the official portion of the Unionist party.
What in these circumstances should be the duty of Free-trade Unionists ? In our opinion; their first duty is to make clear to the country the real facts of the case, and as far as they can to prevent any Unionist elector remaining under the delusion that Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Balfour are in disagreement on the Fiscal question, and that by supporting the Government they are holding Mr. Chamberlain in check. Their next duty is resolutely to oppose the action of Mr. Chamberlain and his supporters, whether labelled or not with a Balfourian label, in their attempt to capture the Unionist organisations. Their final duty is to refuse to be driven into the Liberal camp, but to insist on forming Free-trade Unionist organisations of their own. To do that will not prevent loyal though temporary co-operation with the Liberals in order to safeguard Free-trade, and it will enable them, after the ruin that must fall on the Unionist party as a whole at the General Election, to re- establish the party on a Free-trade basis. No Free-trade Unionist who now becomes a Liberal is doing the best for the cause of Free-trade. His object must be a double one—to defeat Protection both in the country and in the party—and this he can only do by remaining a Free-trade Unionist.
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