Lord George Hamilton, in reply to a resolution of the
Ealing Central Conservative Association calling upon him to support Mr. Balfour, has written a letter which admirably sets forth the position we should like to see adopted by all Free-traders. Fiscal reform to him meant the extension of Free-trade; to many others it meant the rehabilitation of Protection. Upon such a vital difference no compromise was possible. He did not pretend that our fiscal system was ideal. "But change should be based, not upon the deceptive rhetoric of platform harangues, but upon an impartial and expert examination of all the complex data of modern commerce and international exchange, and promoted, not in the self-interest of manufacturers and owners of land, but of an unbiassed regard for the welfare of the bulk of the country." We cannot see in Mr. Chamberlain's Tariff Committee any promise of such an inquiry.
Previous page
