Mr. Baldwin No wonder that Mr. Baldwin is in high
spirits. It had been suggested that he should make a speech before the opening of Parliament, but so wonderful an imme- diate opportunity for rehabilitating himself was not to be missed, and accordingly he has issued two written statements. In the first, which was rushed out immedi- ately after Mr. Bennett had made his offer, he said that the speeches of the Dominion Prime Ministers were " among the most momentous declarations in the history of our Imperial relations." " I say without hesitation," he went on, " that the great principle of Imperial Preference is one to which we must and do subscribe, and I heartily endorse Mr. Scullin's statement that it is our duty to affirm not only the maintenance of that principle, but alio the extension of its operation. The policy of Empire Free Trade has been condemned as being outside the realms of practical polities. . . . Therefore, I say now, with a full sense of responsibility, that whatever the Socialist Government may do, the Conservative Party accepts the principle put forward with such weight and unanimity."
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