Lord Rosebery on Tuesday inaugurated the new Chamber of Commerce
at Burnley and delivered a speech mainly concerned with Mr. Chamberlain's Imperial trade proposals. Lord Rose- bery began by disclaiming any intention to treat Mr. Chamber- lain's speech from a political standpoint. The subject raised was not yet, and might never be, a matter of politics ; besides, he was not prepared "hastily to reject, without mature con- sideration, any plan offered on high authority, and based on large experience, for really cementing and uniting the British Empire." Proceeding in this balancing strain, Lord Rosebery then put forward some of the considerations that must be taken into account both from the Imperial and the Colonial standpoint. First of all there was the burden of Imperial defence, borne wholly and cheerfully by the Mother-country. It should also be considered whether the system of reciprocal tariffs would really bind us more closely to the Colonies than now. In any case, he thought that we ought to have some form of direct representation from the Colonies to guide us and advise us as to the question of tariffs. As regards Free-trade, he admitted that it did not benefit all branches of industry, least of all the landed interest; nor was he one of those who believed that Free-trade was part of the Sermon on the Mount. But he went on to say that "if we quarrelled with, or separated materially from, the customers who gave us at least two-thirds, and possibly three-quarters, of our trade to oblige a customer who gave us a quarter or a third, we should not be doing a wise thing in our own interest, or even in that of our Colonial customer."
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