Preferential Trade.

Taranaki Herald, Volume L, Issue 12291, 25 June 1903, Page 7

Preferential Trade.

A LIB^HAJi JMPERJAUST.

trio Telegraph.— Copyright* < Per Press Association. ; - ;* London, Jttne. ; 24: ; Mr • Tennant, Liberal member for Berwickshire, disapproves ° f the Qpposition's attitude. . He thinks* Messo.^ Chamberlain and "Balfour tak^ a wide view of the wants and wishes of the Empire. - " •" v , MB CHAMBERLAINrS SPEECH, \ , - . • '" ■ (Continued) . . ' ! TJFE CBQYnTH OF TIIE EMPIRE.. Just let us consider what the Em 7 pire is. "I ,\m not going- to-night to 'speaic of those "milKcms. hundreds of millions, of onr Indian ' and' native iellow sjubjeet's "~for whom we have become responsible. 3t is \>p.on us thai the obligation liesto- giye them good g<*ven^ejd't^arid,-in.,,every "way *o fromote,, t&eir „ clevalopmouit xand.pri.« : perity; and some, , day »t might be worth my whil»\ •vii I it miarlr; ov *. ossicle for'ine tviiJisc-.ts.-; with you, to confer with you »V>on u-l ih* iin>orlant Questions -which- snich cm eu<m»- . mis obligation " imposes* . But -:\o l.ight I pfiit that ? a«Ue,-and I .;«. raider oo.y our relations to 6:ir.-;nvu khis-foik, do that , white BriVwh population lhat constitutes "the Majority in }^*\ £\cat< self-governing 1 c'oloa'i'js ««f the Km pire. "What is ' our posit -on m it\?ard to them? Here in' the »T>ittod kingdom there ai-e sjome 5 «0 millions* ol us; onLskle there are. ten millions of men either /directly tlescgricletl, from antes-, tors \-ho left this eotiintry or more probably men ,who themselves in theus' voaith left this coiuitry in oiiler -to,. iiiKl their fortdnesin oiu* posfa^sitni^' abroad. Now how loni^ Ut> vqxi- £-«upjj<j(e that this proportion . of popular tioii is govnjy.vfco endure?/ HoW./jlpjhg, We- r ,a;re..^iiig- .". to^llie four times' fas many g^ our kinsfoH* abroad? The QevelopmientjOf. these colonies has been, UeJayed by niany reasonst— ;partly, as X. "tJliinsli, by our inaction. p^rtTj;by ihe provincial spirit'- 'which weVhave ' not ' done endiiorh to tlisjeourage, that spiri-'t; which attaches u,ntlue importance td" the local ■ -incKlents anlrt, legisslatioin ' of each separate State " sjives insnfiicient regaird to -the int*a-es?ls of the b*it .mainly probably toy a more material reason, )yy the. fact tihat the Tilted Slates . of Am erica has offered bl <jrea'ter attraction to British emigration. But, that has chanoed. The United "States of America, with all. their yasT- territory- arQ -filKriir up;aj^l e^'en now we hear' of thousands anft tens of thousands of emigrants leav.-* in& the .United States, oi Amexica in or;d^r to.talce iip-tie, fres^i rich laiwls' of our colony .of .Canada. Anjrl^it' seejjis to me.to.be iot at all an • impossible . assAian'jiMon that before, \tihe eiidof this present; century "".we may linid that o"uxv,pafiulatLq!nr oijr .felloiWt,-: snibjects beyo-nJl.the sea«. may "be as . numerous •as we' are at honie.'- 'I wapt yoii to loolvjorwar]cl. I want you 'to consider the infinite importance of this not only to yourselves < but, to your' descendants. jthe time when, yon can exe.rtinftuence.Vpo you wish tha\ if th^se-; tenv- millions become 40 millions they,' shall Sttitt/Ue closely, in--timately,, affectiopateljv united to vqu (cheers)? or Uo yo^i, coiitemplate theIjossibility :of - iheir.Tje^ng, separated, going off* each *&£. : : Ms; ovfcn^iyeetidn; uniler a separate JBagr*" ' -Tl^tfl^B^at it. .means io your power, t g,ftd as <a country;' r %irilc whl4 ?t means to ( your position among tnV^naflons -' t>t the -world; . . thiruk what it means to your trade anid. e/nnihertce. I put "that last. The influence* of the Empire is, the thing I t3iinik dniost . > about; and that, influence X feelietve -will -always be ; nseil for the peace and civilisation- of -the world? (Hear; hear.) But the qjuestion oi^tra'dja -and •; commerce is one of the greatest ' nwportatfee, I^hless ; that is satisfactorily settled, I for one do not belieVe in a continued union of the Emfpire. I am told— l hear it stated again and again by what I believe to be the representatives, of a small minority of the people of tKi-s c<yuaitry, thjose whom I describe, > liecaUse liJaiow nof other /words lor them, as ffLittle Englattttlers"- r ; T hear it stat^fcl". by them. is a, fact, that otir trdcle witih those countries is niueh less. than onr trade in, foreign qoitotries; the-refote it appears to be their tsjpmibn ' that we stiquitl ..do dvejythipg in onr power to that tra^e witli foreigners. ;r anirl that we can safely disregard the fr'ade with onr children* Now, Sir, that is not my conjchiftion. (CJbeer.s.) My concljiision is exactly the ppposite. (Renewed cheers.)' "' , ' ' ' ' ' UMO-tf OR SEPARATION r. > JJom in'^jitne^tttrare, t say^it is the business dt British •to do everything 't^eV caii, even 1 at s&me ■present sacrifice, to keep the -trade • of the -■* colonies' with Great Britain (V3heersi), to increase that trade, y> promote it;;even. if in fdbing'so we lessen somewhat "the:" trade with odr foreign coinJJetitQJsi. (Hear, hear arid cheers.) Are we Uoing everything afc the present time- to direct the £atnoiU? jnotvement which. I see not cm]y 4 , here, biit tbroufih all the c6lnmes, in, the right channel? aroi we, in fact, hv our legislation, , by onr action— are w,e, making for iuiion or are we dnftwiigv . to reparation? TJhat is a critical jss.ueV In my opinion, the germs of a federal xtnion that will make the Brit-ifsi K»n- f pire powerful and -influential for, good beyond the dreams of any one ,nofr living — the germs of that union are in" the soil; ftut jt is a tender and cleHcate-* plant and requires caretul handling. (;Hear, 'hear.) « I wish yo^ii would loojk.j., . badk to our history. Consider, what . mi^it have been, in o/der that y,o^ iC may be infhienccicl now to do -what is :, right. '^Sntmosing, when self-govern-. ■ m&n\ wa^- first Conceded to these col-! enie»,-tte-Biatesinen.wfe),gave it ha# had^any idea of tie possibilities of tine j luliure: i) 6 yoiu ndf see that they [ miaht have laid; broafcl and firm M«uiy fclations of an f lnVperial^efdi-ficeot. wJim* e^ery part would have contributed something to the- strength of < the - fthole? But in- thjose daysthft one ttlea of stateamea neas jto ,gei rid of the^ Whole bjuaineHsr. They believed that-; separation must come. 'What they wanted to do wae to make it smooth/ and easy; and none of these weaßiwhich Hnbseqoient experience ha» , F-it infa cmr minida a,i^pears ev.er to., have been suggested to'^tbem.' By then: . mistakes and their neglect o,ur taff<, be» been made more flimcmltr-mbre difficult, lT(ut not impossible. ((Hear, hear.) -There in still time to v.:>nsou-; date th% Etapire. ,We alao have o|ur dhatxee/'a-nd: it 'depends tt;pon what we* Ho now whether' this gteat idea iff tf> find fruition or whether we will for. ever and elver i.l*nif*s it fr^m- our c,on>! «ideration anil aw«pt our fate as one of tlhe dyingJEmpiresT of the world. ; * TKB B&B3MrtfW THfl3 COLONTTSSI. « what is the. meaning of an 1 TBmpZre? What does it mean to iwjt We have.^iflid a little experience, we have had a war— a war In whidh -Una

majority -of - om ~o)riWroft - abroad, „had no apparent direct interest. We haid iu> hold oVer them, no agreement wiUhj them of any kind) and yet at 0110 : time during., . war, by- t(he vohni- j tury decision of ihpse>peos>lp, at least ; ; 50.000 Colonial aoßliers were staudjing sihcwlder to ' slhtfukler with British trodps, "displaying a gallantry etyual to their own and. the keenest, intelligence. (Lqujcl qheets;) It is^somo-! iirng for -a beginning; ancl if this, , co^tttry^were" in danger*-! raeanJf wo -wefce; as oXir^forefatliQip were, face to jface some day, Heaven forfend. with sioine j great., coalition of hostile na-tion&-7-then,,.'.wJien "we, had with o»ur bac/ks to -ttiQ wall t<* juggle for outvery Jives; it 'is my firm conviction ,ihat there ,*s nothwhg witjiin the -power. , of , these , wit-governing colonies ' they woiuld noicUrio come to our, aid. I v believe theiV whole resources in> men *taHd in mpney s would be at the disposal of .the mother equinUy * n • ;&n t\veu.iV ? •'iffoK, .as .1 say, that j,s somethino^Ttihat is sjometthing- whic.h it is wonderful to hcive achieved,^ which, it is- worth' 'almost , ~tvny sacrifice to So far' as personal sacrifices are involved^ ris&ifig,' your 3°ife an&l encoimterinff overy hardship, the colonies did their duty in the late war. Jf it came.'-tp another qiiestioii; the question o£ t trie share ih'cy horo in the pecXiniary Uwwlcn ,\y.hiah the war inviolvefcl, well I Hrtrinfc they miefht have Hone, mpre. (Hear, hear.) 1 did not hesitate to tell my fellow- subjects x in.. ihe colonies of Smith Africa, whether in the new -colonies or in the oM ones, ihat, though they had dolie much. tjhey ha# not -done eJrioudth, they hafcl left suhsitaihtiaHy the whole Tjfurden.on iihe shoulders of the mother country; aiifcl that in the iut»ure. if /they yaUieicl enipire ancl r its privileges, they miu&t be ipfopared %o take a greater, share of the" obligations. ■ (TFear, -hear.). . Tf •T'-had b^ori^ieakino; in Australia .or vn Canada T would ha.ye said ih<s 'same thing (heatf, hear), and perhaps I should hatVe .been inclined to say it jeven in stronger terms; and, if I may judge by the rcee.pti.on of my nlteranees v in- South Africa,;! sliojukt cfivo no offence by this fi-rfrik speaking. C-Hear, hear'). , There . is something, howover, to 'be rpmenVbered on behalf Of mu\ colonies, and that isi that tihis idea of a common rejjpo'nsMlity'is al-together--a new one, and we have *lcxri(| nothing to encourage »it". It. is presenteil'to th«m iii the ligjht. of a now , taw anil pjaople hiuve an extnaor^linary way of regaining a^ew tax with a" suspicion (laughter), ai)|d oven wittt aisltk'e. (Hear, hear.) ( But what haipV ipened? T f sJpo'tae ia jNatal, and the peo- . pie. of .Natal r«3potndefl by ta'Uancr n|>S .'on'^heir^'sl»rtiiVlcrs a hutflcn, whitrh for, /a small "colony \caa pon^tdcrabje. anfl Which t,liey ! had" „ thfxiigVt of placing. tgjon ourselves- I jipoke in the Trans* vaal; aritf the reprwwntatiyes of ever}, olass in tihe /Pron^raal, anil nonetoiore einth,usiastically Jjian the working peo-^ pie, took: nip;on themselves' a biurden{ot £80 per head of tihe wliite abftirden whiohj i'nicleVd, the riches of; country Jtistifiexl, bsUt' which was' something altogether in excess of any' similar' obligation placed xi,pon any 1 other cojuntry , in." the wtorfel. (^^a^ hear.) I afpoke in Ca\>e Colony, anfcT only in Capo, Colony., owing to thedivision f>f otpinion which hass prevail-, etd there,- ;I neither expect^il nor as&od; £or a Qontiribirtiosh, towards the, war. I; ido Pxpect-T-iT Ho not know wihetiher , I? Shall be UiWapipoiintescli— hut I clo exj^oc^j in t»be time to come Hutch anil 3^l^lisVwnll both feel, as t;he 'Krapire ber v -longs to the^tv as> well as to, us, bokin'd . towards i^ie ftifwre expenditure the^ c^u?titi-y to contrihtute iftoro liberally^ i<han iJtey'natve' ilbne m' ( tihe pasft^. Well/ atl ha=ve*done smnet!hiug; and, to my min\d. it' is a great' thing, to get the' accept^ and I think it de- ? peels' toftxm us whether in .future, the j*p)plica'tiati of" this? principle sihcfulcl be; made with greater liberality or whether, as J. have said, we are all %o fall baclk each to cai-e for himself and"The ~ tidy il tallte' the hindmost." '(LalughWO Sir. my idea of British policy, I m^an tfoe policy of ths Unitejd Kingjrlom. is- that here, at "the beginning of things,' at the beginning of tihis new tihetpiev, tve- .yhotaMsliow oair a^preciatjfon, onr, corclial aj^preciation, of the firat s'toj) to" be taken by o«r ookmies to flhow their solidarity with us. -Every axlvance which they mojke be' reciprocatetT. " We s.hould set oiirSieJves a great' example of eowmjipi-^ ity of interest, aiKl, r 'abo.vc all, • that community of sacrifice' oil which alone the Kmlpire can .permanently vrest, I&LSbv<i riclmittod that tihe colonies halve hitherto bee(n vjin^k ward in thoir con?^ triblutidns t^wayds . Jrnlperial defence.' They are following their^own line?. \, 'hope they will do better. But in t,he meantime they are doing a great v deal, a«d they arc trying to p'rontote, this union which T, regard as of so,, ntuch imifpiortonce in their Own way and by.^heir own means. . I^REFIiIEaSN^TAL TAUIFFS. 4 And first among nidans is the offer of prelerehtial tariffs, i Cheers). Now,' Ahai-Jg .a^JKHatjfcer. ..^hich.^t •_ the present .moment, is-%.,qf>i. thej gr.eate»fc possible" iraporiance. f 6 ' every one. ,9* ,you. It „ d^pQnfls »WPQ^ . how wp treat ibis " pplicy, »6£ . ihe , ' coloniesr^not a .pplfcv^nau^urate<J b,V us, '.biit it is a-l pQljpy '^hl# coriies, t"6 ' W from' '' o"ur "cHi^lren "abrbact— t]b'tlepen l ets i-ixpotii -ixpoti how HVccHrer'a^ vi;-; r , whetih6r' i .it.'is'. < iclevelopeid ifi \%&, 'ftt^rfe^or'fWhether; it ■ is ' wifchdifawVi" 'aa-1-JeiTig^ uort^acceptable, to iho'se- vv>hk>m"i^- iff'- '^oiiijhi' benefit. r Phe other day, ' miiri#clta&kly / rafter I •left • ; SoUtib, - - a great- 'confererice was held for it)he lirat time; of all the "colonies r 'vti ' i3ofuihs- >■ AMca, , the ;;new colonies :«s" v well' aft the ojdi , Boers land the' Butch were represented as Uvell as. . tile : Brittebi 4«l . this conference reddmmende'd the other JjegislaAxted* of the diff^nt .colonies, to. gave .',to'l«Sr &h mother country;, preference ! npon all ', daiiable .good^ *. : of 25^per , Scent. (Cheers). Last year at f the. Conference oj JPi;emierg the Jienreseplatives j of- Aiis'tralia" and New , Zogaadr ac--ic»pW fcKeWairio pxiwipfe. T-hey said I'm that: different colonies • tJrefe liiaght be «btne v diffet < 4n<?e t ' J of treatment; but, no far as the principle w<as concerned, 'they pledged themselves to recamm«nld to their constitoente a jsrabrtai^- ■"• tial jjreierence in. iavakv\6i, -pro-., bulbed in. the . moiAtor co)iAtry <; Now, that again is a new chapter, ,-m, our /Imperial history ;» -and agftin^J asic, ; is Ml to ,fin<l • iiihere ? ,ffn ; my - o'pmion, these recomanemtation« anji - these ' pl^Jge» will -.beau, f^H J] l^ in'-J? 1 ! 0^" 'ly upon the cxperionce- ot Ivan aw a,, wihioji, h4« been their precursor m 'a. * siimiliir ' ' m<>vCim«.nt: ' ' Canafl a is ' the - greatest, Ifie' rpowt of our ■" SBlf-^bv-erihfn^ isolbYtics.- At. the present tihie it : W in^ibhc MM swing of an e^''^ao^lanaiV prosi^erity, wjiich, I hdpe, •I believe/ will leaH -to a great increase in its^ population, its. strength, - itfl of >free ewationri which> conHtitntes tho BritiHlh *<Ca»ftclaiiS;!, oof| f a11,, 0ur.,p010.nies the most badVwarjtl in contntot- . ing to eomwon defence-, but Canada has been the mjost forward in entdea-

to nnite tlip Empire by tihe j other means of strengthening oiucixmtm'ercial relations anid by giving j us special favour amd preference,. If c we -appreciate this action properly IL seems to me that not only is it cen- ; tain that every other colony of tho Eitn(pire t will necessarily and in due time follow thirt example, -but Canada herself and the other* 'colonies also, i as the bonds are drawn closer, as we | become more and more one people j united by interest as< well as by sentiment, . will . be more -and more readyto take* its fair share in thes© burdens, of defence to wnioh^l ha-ve referred. THE EXAMPLE *OF CANADA. 3STow,. what has Canada done for us? Let me saj r , howover, before I cjonue' to that that my policy "which • I wish to nvaiJG cleir to you i.si not to force our colonies—^that is hopeless ; they " are as independent as we ai*e— bTit to m'eeif. everything they do. If they see a way' of drawing the Empire together, let us help them in that, even if they nray not be prepared to join tis in some other way from which we thinlk the sarnjarestult w.ould be. achieived. • Btiit let us- be px*epared to . acce)pt indication on their part of thiy desire. Let us shiow we appreciate- it. ajicl belieive me it will not -be. long before all will comte .into Hue; and the results which follow will bo jgroater* thian perhalps it would be prlitlent now to antieip'ate. Well, I saj% what has Can'aMJa done for ai« ? Canada in 189S freely; voluntarily of her own .accord, as" a recognition of her obligation^ to the mother country, de a recognition especially of the fact that, we were "the "greatest of the free mlar.kets open-- to Canadian profcluoe, gave us a preference on all dutiable goods of 25 per cent. In 1000 sThe increased that preference also 'fj^eolj' 1 of her own] acicord, to 33 l-3ril; .per cent. ( Cheers) v I haVe had occasion, to point' o,ut that the, results ■ of this great ooticesslon have been to a certain extent in some respt'Cts disappointing. The increase in oiir trade with Canada has been very great, but it has not increased largely out of proportion to the increase ci the,' tracle between Canada and other countries ; but this romiains true ttiat,. whereas before these concessions the trade of this country witih Canada was constantly reirliicing, get-ting-less ami less, that redaction h'aki" been stayed and w ' tihe traide has con--, tittally increased; (-hear/hear) and, to put it in a word, the t.rade^ betweeai pur colony-.of Canatla and' the mother country, which was 6^ millions Mn 18U7il «S9S,, is now, carried.- on at a rate of • pyoibably a good. deal,n>ore. ; but ai all -events I will saj-, to be safe,' of 11 m'illitw? stevlimg in the jirekont year" - («heer»); and- the increase is chiefly in textile gooxfs. cotton, wool- 1 len, and goods or that kind, ancl in injalnlu'factiiiires of . and iron antl steel. At the same. time, wihereas the percentage of the total trade hiajd falleoi from 40 per cent., I thinik, at .all eivents'from a.^ai'ge percentage, tiO "23 J per cent in tKese last two years, it '"has been gradually climbing uj) agajn^'atiid it 'has now reached for* the '"preser.S year 26^- per cent: Well, that is an important resjiilt : but tihe. Mjiiisters of Canada when they were over -here "last -year maide me a fur-i-ther- tlafinite offer: They said<>— "*l\fo hajve done for you as mluch as .we can •do roluhtarily and freely' and,. witholrt f >return. If you arc willing to ltxnprd<?al« >in. any way wo are prepared to. reconsider mir tariff with a view of seeing whether we cannot give yoiu fwiher reductions, esipeoially. in regavtl those gootls in wjhich yo,u come into com^etitdpn with -foreiginers, an^l we\vill 'do titois if you will meet n», by giving us' a dnawimek -on the small tax of Is which you halve 'pjut upon corn." That was an offer which we harl to refuse"." "I must say that, if I JCQiild treat matters of this Mnd.aoleLy 'iii regard to m>y. p,bf»itk.«n as Setoctoarvji of State for the Colonies, I shooiM. haive said, "Th-at is a fair offer ; that is a generous oiffer fronx your, .point of" view, and it is an oifl'er w!hiqh we might ask" our people to acce4)t."; Bfit] stoeaking for. the Ctpvermnent as a- whole, not -in the interests of tjhocolonies^ I am obligprl to say that if is contrary to the csta'bliisjhccl fiisioal policy of this coiintry. and that , wo holy, ourselves bo'ujnd to keep an .oftjcsn market for all the world even if they close their markets to ns (laaighter)," aivV that, therefore/ sio long' as ihfat ia the man r dia.te of tlie Britifftit itu^Hc, we are not in a pbsi'tion to offer any preference or favour whafover even to Cflir own J eh i Wren. We cannot make any 1 - irldfferfince between those who treat us well and those, who treat us badly, (tlries of i "Shame **)._ Yesi * but that is the doctrine which . I am told is tihe accepted doctrine of the frjee-iracler -; and wo are qll frce-tra<l-,er,<^. (Cries of \"iNo, no/ and laugh-. ter)« Well, r am. (Loud laughter). E .have considerable doubt' whether tihe interpretation., of free trade which is current amongtft a- certain limited section is. the true, interpretation. (Hear, hear). Jiut I am perfectly cartain that lam Jiot a protectionist. Buf-I want to point o\it th^t if the Anfin\ir&i&tifxn ; is ' that our only ~d!uty to, buy "m^ the. ', gheapesi m.ai"ket without regartT to' whether we can sell ' if ,that is the- theory of free trade >j|hiciK finds accejrtan.ee here anid elsewhere, then in pinwance of thiat policy you will have to forego the advantage of a rerVuetion, a further reduction., in duty Which ..yofur great colony of Canada, pflerft'to yoti manufacturers of- thii* country ;■- and you .injay lose a great ideal more, beoawse in "the speech wilri'C-h the Chancellor of the I^xchacivUer,. tho Kinistor of. Finance a*? he i«?i called in Canada, m/ade to y the , Canadian, Parliament the ,oijh«r day, which he has just sent me, I iiTilcl he' says that' if we are told deflniitely Creat Britain, ihe miother cdun'tryV can do nothing for \is in the way of reciprocity ' wo mjust con« der our position and reconsider the. preference, that we have already given. GEHMA'N BfiTAIyTATJON ON •Well, these are big 1 cfjiestions, and this partidular question is complicated in. a rather unexpected manner. The policy w(hi f ch prrnvnts us from offering! an ail vantage to onr colonies preJveaits us from defancling them if they' are attacked . Now J you and T are'agreeid that' the British Umpire is one arirl ' irtdiiviftiblb. (Chflers.) You anjd 1 are agreed that we absolutely refuse to ■Jock iijpon any of the States tihat form the British Rnvpiro as in any' -Way eNvtajdejcl from any advantage or 'fa'fttfilege rtd which tho British '/Bmlpire We may' well, therefore;, hoiVo stVfip.ose'd an agreement of this fkinicl by which Cannxla <loes a kinfclnes«'to xxb a matter of family agreement concerning nobody else; but unfortunately. Oerai an)' thinjks oiherwife, There is a German Ifynuirc. The Ctormafft Tilm|piro- is divided into Statest— 80/varla anil, let uh say. H'anoiver. Saxony, and WiurtenVbor^. They maydeal between themselves in any way tihey jilease. As " a matter ol Fact, they halve free trade among •themselves. We clo not Consider them

saparate entities; we treat the CermaaiJ Ein^iire as a whole. We do not comjplain becaluse one State gives an a«?lVareiago to another State in that EmIpire aiiicridoe.s not- givt; it so all the rest of the workl. But in this caw of Candclu insists upon ,veating Canada as t'hough'it were a sppai*ate cofivntiy, refuses to recogji isc it as 'a' (j)ait of one Empire, entitle*! to claim, as I have' »aid. the privileges •of that Empire, ' regaAls 1 this, agreement as being something more than a (domestic agreement; and it has pena- j Iteed Canatla by placing upon Canadian goods an additional duty. Well ] now the reason for that is clear. Hhe .German newspapers very frankly explain that this is a policy of^reprisal,' awl that it is Intended to deter other colonies from giving to us the same advantage. Therefore, it is not merely .jijunishme.nt inHiotijd by Ciormany upon Canada but it is a threat to South Africa, to Ajustralia. and to New Zealand!: ami this pcrliov. as a ,policy of dictation ami interference, is justified by the belief that we are so wedded to our ii.seal system that we cannot interfere, and we eaiVnot defend our colonies, and that in fact any one of them which attempts to establish any kiml of special relations! with us does sp at her owsi-risk and lhnst be left to bear the brunt of foreign hostility. In my niinlcl that is- p.utting us in a' rather Kumiliating position. (Tlea/, hear.) I "do not like it at all. J 'lmow^ w*hat will follow if we allow it to prevail. It is easy to predict the. consecjuencos. Tlkuv Ho you thinlc that'un' 1 der such ciL-oumstanee? we can approach qur colonies with -a,ppeals- to aid Us in promoting- the. union -of the Eimjpire.'oE ask thorn to boar a a-haro of the com-raoni, burilen? Are we to say to them, '"This is yriur Empire,, take priHe in- it; share its (privileges?" Tjhey saf :— <f What arc its ? TJin privileges appear to be. if , we treat you,- as relations and 7rienS»; if we' show you kiiifdnoss we giye.yo^. preference, you \yh,o. benefit by our action can only leave us alone to figlit oi>r own battles against tilioso who are olYondcd by olu* action." Now is that free traido? (Cries of "No.") I am not gq|ug..ftirther. „ tip-nights (Cries of. go oW) My f>T>ject is to put the pOsitioxi before you; artf! ab<(ve all, as 1 have ju»«t oomp home from great colonies. I want you to see these matters as they aliJipear to our colonial fellow siubjects. There iw no doubt what 1 they think, and there, is. no floubt of what gfeat issues liauo- xipon their clecision. ' ' THE AIiTTSRN«ATT.VES J said just now is this free traxle ?« *No, it, is abs.o]nitAly a« new situation. (Cheers.) Theie has Jjepn nothing like, it in our hiwtoiy. Jt was a sitaiation' that was niwer contpm'platefl by a.ny, of- ' -those -w'hbm we regard as the authors of free trarle. AMiat woMljcl Mr Bright, what would Mr Cobden, ha'ye'.sakl to thin state ol things? A' do not know.., It.wt>ul«l be presumpttious to imagitic; but this I can say,. Mr Colklen did ' not hesitate to make' a treaty of preference awl reciprocity Witlh France (hear, .hear), and Mr. Bright did not hos^itate to approve his? avtion; amd I can"n<»t believe if they had been present among. us now and' •Known what this new situation was, I cannot believe that they would have hesitated to make a treaty of preference and reciprocity > with' our own' cihifclrcn. (Louil and prolonged cheers), Well, you see , tiie, point., You walnt .an Knipire. (TI t ear, hear.) Do you lihiiVk it bfetter to cultivate flu? ti'adej with- your own ])eo]>le ov to let that g<> in-owler that y«in .in.ay kijelp^ tJie tradcj of , those -, > who, , rightly enough, are, yntiir competit«>rs anid rivals ? Isay it is' a new position. I say .the peqple of t«hi» TtSn^pire have got to consider, it. - T do' not want to haptoii ijheir decision. They halve two alter- 1 ! natives before them. 'They may lnavntain if "they* like in all its severity ;t{he interpretation, hi my nund an entirely artifical and wrong inteipretatioiiV which haw been placed vfpon the cloetrines of free trade by a .small re> ni-nan'fc of Little I'liiglanclers of the Manchester school who now profess to be sole repositories' 1 " of the iioctrines of M-r Cobtlen &rk\ Mr Bright.. They may maintain that policy in all its severity, allbotugh U'is' ; i'©l)u'diat<»d by every other natfon ami by all your Own colonies. Jn Uint caso the^y will be absolutely prcsrluTlelfl either from gTvfnjr any kin<] of qr faK roiti' to any of their colonies abroad or cVqii j)i*otecting. their colonies abroad when, they offer to favour us. That is tihe " first alternative. , The second alteitnative in that we should insist that we will ,not be bound by any purely tocfhufcal definition of free trade, that, while we .se«*k as our cjhje,f object h(*J interchange of trade and commerce between ourselves an^l ,all the nations of *he world, we will nevertheless recover o,ur freedom, rorfumc power of negotiation, arid, if nocessary, retaliation (loud dheers). whenever our intf»fo«ts or rtur relations between our colonies awd ourselves are threatened! by' other j>eoj)le. (Cheers.) . I leave the matter. in your hands. . I desire that a discussion on this subject shoyild be oiponed. The time has. not yet come to settle it: .but it seems to' me that for good or for evil this is 1 an issue ni'ufch greater > ,in its consoq-" ucmices than aiiy of oiiv local dispnteH. (Tlear, hear.) TVfake a mislaike^ in legislation, yet it coin be corrccteKl; make a mistake in your Imperial polk v y, it is irrctriova'bie. You have an rtJppm'tnnUy: you. will no\-.er have ft again. ' Vfli: TSSTTE OV T.TTK T>TEXT JZJMC-Tl-ON. 1 do not thi.nk myself that a general election is very near (lalughter): bfut, whether it is near or distant, T think oiur opjp.onent« nuiy perhaps find that tiie issues w|hioh' tlhey pKorjose to rai.se are not the i.-touos on which wo shall take the opinion of the conritry. (Chneixs.) If we raiso an issue of iJhis kiiijd. the answer will depend not upon petty personal considerations*'.- not upon temporary interests, hlfit 'Upon w;hether, the people of thi.«f country really have it in their hearts to clo all that ift necessary, eH'on if it occasionally goes .against their own prejudices, to coin sol i'd ate, an TC.tnpb'e w,hich can only be maintained, by relations of interest as well as by relations of sentiment. For my own part T beliave in a Britiwh EnVpiro. in. an "Rntpire which, alI|ho/iigh it should be its firs.t duty to qultivato frienjdship with all the nations of the world, should yet. eJven if alone, he sclf-flpislaining and s>elfNttfficient, able to- maintain itself againsit the competition of all its rivals; and J do- ' not '" believe in a Littlp England Whioh shall be separated from all those to whom ■it wrtuld in the nat<iiral course looic for Hhijfjjtior't and afisoction, a Little England which would then be Moperirlont absolutely oh the mor,cy of ihoße who envy its present prosperity, anil who have rlmiwii bhey are ready to do all, in their power io pVo'vont Hk fuliuro union with Ihe r>itisb races tltr-ough-, out the. world. (LotVd and contiaiiocl' oheerp.) 1