Mr. Chamberlain's great speech in the East End, delivered on
Thursday evening, will, we fear, prove a disappoint- ment to his more ardent supporters. It was confidently expected by them that he would not only deliver himself of some epoch-making declaration, but that he would show the country how complete a mistake it was to suppose that the Sugar Convention had interfered with employment. He would thus, it was believed, close once and for all the mouths of those who asserted that the only rained industry he could find was one of his own making. Instead, there was no epoch- making declaration, and no allusion to sugar whatever. We can only assume, then, that Mr. Chamberlain considers that the confectionery trade is "gone" for good and all, and that therefore, the less said about it the better. The major part of Mr. Chamberlain's speech was taken up with two things,— first, with a denunciation of the madness of allowing the pauper alien to flood our labour market ; and secondly, with a glowing picture of how the working men in foreign countries —especially Germany—flourish under Protection, and of the blessed results we should obtain by following their example.
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