In regard to Mr. Arthur Elliot's references to the fact
that Mr. Balfour and Mr. Chamberlain are working together, it is worth while to note that Mr. Stewart Bowles, the Balfourite candidate with Free-trade leanings at Norwood, has suggested that he and the leaders of the Tariff Reform League in the constitu- ency should write jointly to Mr. Balfour, and ask him which interpretation of his views—that of the Tariff Reform League and Mr. Chamberlain, or that of Mr. Bowles (who in effect represents the Prime Minister as opposed to Chamberlainism) —is the correct one. We shall be amused to see the experiment tried, but, unless we are greatly mistaken, the oracle will either be dumb, or else refer its questioners to its previous declarations, or possibly to one that is forthcoming at the Conference of Conservative Associations. That Mr. Balfour will at the eleventh hour give a plain answer to a plain question is inconceivable. After all, why should he ? Mr. Chamberlain is perfectly satisfied with the answers he gets, and the Balfourite Free-traders, though they may look sad, never dare to resent 14 hostile action the riddles that are read to them. In these circumstances, Mr. Balfour naturally finds no reason for dispelling the fog that surrounds his policy.
Previous page
