The chief warning is to the Government. If there has
not been disenchantment among the friends of Labour there must at least have been an unusual lethargy. Even when allowance has been made for the trickiness of by-elections it is remarkable that Labour polled a little less. than it polled when it had to defeat a Liberal -as well as a Unionist. Labour, Liberals and Unionist Free Traders (of whom there are, far more than is generally supposed) are all to blame, in our -view, for not preaching continually from the- text that Empire--Free Trade would be a great danger- to international good will. The British Empire has won its high prestige and enjoyed a bene- volent tolerance from all Other nations because it has stood for the glorious principle Of- giving to the whole world opportunities- for "trading in all respects equal to those of British citizens. It does not seem to be in the least understood by the present vast and uninstructed electorate that -LopEl Beaverbrook and his friends think it an insignificant matter to break with this tradition. * *
