The House of Lords on Wednesday and Thursday proved once
again that in matters of high debate it can hold its own with any Assembly in the world. The debate on preferential trade, to which we allude, was opened by the Duke of Marl- borough, who put the Tariff Reformers' case with no little ingenuity. He was followed by Lord Cromer, who gave a masterly exposition of what we may call the Imperial side of Free-trade, and showed most conclusively what we have so often argued in these columns,—namely, that instead of " No Preference, no Empire," the truth lies with the dictum, " No Free-trade, no Empire." Lord Cromer began by a most telling analysis of the new Australian tariff and of the absurdities to which scientific taxation leads. The sordidness and folly which emerge when a tariff is under construction are almost beyond belief. With Lord Cromer's hope that it may be a long while before this science, or pseudo-science, is introduced into this country we are in the heartiest accord. As he says, it is a system admirably adapted to accomplish two things,—the encouragement of corruption among minor officials, and the placing of temptation before Members of Parliament to sacrifice national to individual interests.
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