On Friday, March 12th, Mr. Balfour made his long-expected speech
at the luncheon given by the Executive Committee of the Tariff Reform League. A speech from Mr. Balfour on Tariff Reform always partakes a good deal of the nature of a Delphic Oracle. It can be read in two senses, and says little or much according to the mood of the listener. Though his last speech is no exception to this rule, we nevertheless are of opinion that Mr. Balfour has now come to the conclusion that Tariff Reform is the cause of the big battalions, and that it is therefore his business to be on that side. As an intellectual problem there is still, however, a certain fascination in making out what Mr. Balfour means, and also in trying to see whether he really grasps the essentials of the problem with which he deals, or whether Fe adopts a kind of Hegelian attitude towards the problem, and holds that Free-trade and Protection are like " being " and "not being "—in reality the same—and that therefore it does not much matter which cause you espouse as long as you Co not press it too far.
Previous page
