25 MAY 1901, Page 3

Mr. Morley on Thursday made a speech on the second

reading of the Finance Bill which is, as an academic perform- ance, absolutely charming to read, but the political strength of which may be concentrated in two of his own sentences :— "The Boers have as much right to self-government as we have," and "if you are going to be militant Imperialist Free- trade goes." If those two assertions are correct the speech . almost unanswerable. But the first assumes that self- government includes the right to invade neighbouring terri- tory, and the second assumes that Protection would provide a was- revenue. We note with interest and surprise that Mr. Morley greatly dislikes the Income-tax, as providing too strong an instrument for the Treasury, yet thinks the drift is towards a high tariff.