Lord Rosebery was the principal speaker at a Free-trade demonstration
at Newcastle on Saturday last. After a notable reference to Sir William Harcourt as one of the "stately and memorable figures of Parliament," Lord Rosebery dealt with the position of the Government and the signs of impending dissolution, finding a parallel in the "Who I' Who F" Govern- ment of 1852. He traced the origin of the crisis to Mr. Cham- berlain's "wanton and indigestible speech" to his constituents last May, and reviewed the dwindling of the "grand inquest of the nation "down to a Birmingham syndicate for framing a com- mercial tariff. Turning to the present situation, he declared that no amount of Free-trade eloquence on the part of the Government would explain away the presence of Mr. Austen Chamberlain at the Exchequer. On the other hand, he claimed generous sympathy for the Free-trade Tories, and begged Liberals to think once, twice, thrice before they kept these men at arm's length. "You may have to sink some minor matters in dispute ; but remember this, that the next General Election will be fought on an issue so vital to this country that you cannot afford to neglect any help or disregard any assistance." Lord Rosebery in conclusion hoped thatin the next Liberal Administration they would see new and fresh business minds applied to the great problem of government,—in the direction of economy, temperance reform, and the restoration of the schools of the country to the control of the country. But he deprecated any revolutionary or right-angled changes in Colonial or foreign policy.
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