Opposition in England.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 10967, 5 June 1903, Page 5

Opposition in England.

Press Association. — Telegraph. — Copyright Received June 4, It. 14 p.m. LONDON, June 4. Sir E. Gray, speaking at Bcllford, said Mr Chamberlain's proposals meant a. rise in the cost of living all round and undermined the whole basis of our trade relations. Protection invariably led to the lowering of wages, because it meant a reduction of trade. If the Empire was independent of foreign trade there would Jbe-Jio pensions. Sjr Charles Dilkc. in a speetsh ,at Glioftcetler, said the Government shrank from the advocacy, ©£>,&: dfttyi on- cotton, but proposed a duty on grain and n\cat. -Interference with the Unite'd'States trade would- -iv oaken one of Britain's greatest securities ' ill a general war] because the American fleet would protect the rights of neutrals feeding us as a last resort while we fought. , •, Mr Thomas Hurt, in a monthly report to the Northumberland miners, -says he cannot conceive a, worse way of raising money or likelier to bring ruin and disaster than a tax on food supplies and raw material. ' LONDON, June 4. Mr Chamberlain, in reply to a correspondent, states that in order to secure preferential rates from the colonies for British manufactures it will be necessary to give preference to their * products here, which are chiefly food. Assuming a small duty is placed on foreign, while Canadian aM Australian is entered free, the result would probably be that before long the whole trade would " bo in colonial hands, and their' trade" with manufactures proportionately increased.