On the Motion for the Whitsuntide adjournment in the Commons
on Thursday Sir Charles Dilke challenged the Govern- ment to' declare whether Mr. Chamberlain's revolutionary views on fiscal reform were shared by his colleagues. Mr. Balfour in his reply defended the action of the Colonial Secretary as the logical outcome of the Colonial Conference. The question of preferential trade, in view of the attitude of the Colonial Premiers, was a legitimate and desirable subject for public discussion, and Mr. Chamberlain was fully justified in bringing it forward. Mr. Balfour then reviewed the pro- gress of the Free-trade movement in the last half-century, dwelling on the falsification of the prophecies of its universal acceptance, and the increasing difficulty that we found, in view of the ever-mounting wall of foreign tariffs, of securing markets for our manufactured goods.
