We are glad that Sir William Harcourt should have come
out into the open in the present fiscal struggle. His long political career, and the good work which he has done in his time at the Exchequer, entitle him to be heard with all respect. His speech at Rawtenstall on Saturday last was an excellent fighting speech, though it added nothing to the subject matter of the discussion, most of it being a repetition of the obvious arguments against Protection; yet in its rough, scornful humour it struck just the proper note for the ordinary man. "The only real professor of political economy that Mr. Chamberlain can call on his side is Mr. Seddon, and he has adopted him as his text-book in support of the belief that imports are paid for in gold." Very happy, too, was his description of the Government as a joint-stock company with a double set of Articles of Association. Sir William Harcourt declared that it was the Liberals who wanted to make the question a non-party one ; but it seems to us that the credit can be claimed in a far higher degree by the Free-trade Unionists who are sacrificing old party ties to their principles.
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