Mr. Chamberlain is very lucky to have a House of
Commons which is so easily satisfied. In the general debate on the proposed oil-tax he appeared adamant against any concession, only to exempt coastwise shipping from the tax next day ; and this concession seems to have satisfied the House to the point of swallowing the rest of a very doubtful proposal without further serious discussion. He has also driven the proposal to tax co-operative societies through, though this pro- posal is not popular in the House and though his hope that the change will end the grievances of private traders seems based on very flimsy grounds. This House of Commons indeed wants action rather than discussion, and that is no doubt also the reason why Major Elliot has got through his ambitious Agricultural Marketing Bill with so little trouble ; though it estab- lishes the Minister as the Mussolini of Agriculture. There was opposition to the measure on third reading, but it was very weak ; and even the ranks of Tuscany, in the shape of Sir Francis Acland, seemed to have difficulty in restraining a cheer for a Minister who, in his view, was a delightfully energetic if possibly dangerous fellow,
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