The situation, then, is that while Mr. Balfour confines him-
self for the moment to the furtherance of the policy of retaliation, Mr. Chamberlain, as a loyal but independent supporter of the Government, will devote his unmuzzled energies to the conversion of public opinion to the preferential policy, to which Mr. Balfour has given a distinct if somewhat distant blessing. We have only to add that in our opinion the fiscal policy to which Mr. Balfour has committed himself by his pamphlet and his letter, though the objections to it are less obvious, is in reality almost, if not quite, as dangerous as that of Mr. Chamberlain. In former issues we stated our reasons for believing it to be the duty of the Free-trade members of the Cabinet to postpone an irre- vocable decision. Those reasons no longer hold good, and we cordially applaud the action of Mr. Ritchie and Lord George Hamilton in severing their connection with what must now be regarded as an avowedly Protectionist Administration. The Duke of Devonshire and Lord Balfour of Burleigh have up to the moment of our going to press made no sign, but we find it difficult to believe that the list of resignations is complete.
