Empire Free Trade In the House of Commons, on Wednesday,
the debate on Mr. Remer's resolution advocating Empire Free Trade was hampered by the Liberal amendment, which was merely tactical. The Liberals were trying prematurely to draw the Unionists into a declaration of their policy, though that policy admittedly cannot be defined till Mr. Baldwin speaks to his Unionist audience next week. Many Liberals have complained that the amendment, by seeming tacitly to consent to the taxation of manufactured goods, " gave away " the Free Trade case. Such is the effect of tactics. The debate ended in confusion without a division. The principal event was an uproariously entertaining speech by Mr. Lloyd George, who fairly ridicu.ed the Crusaders out of their holy land. Lord Beaverbrook—not quite tactical enough—had given his enemies their opportunity by changing his ground two days before the debate. He then announced that his new idea was to make Empire Free Trade begin between the Crown Colonies and Great Britain. He thinks that when this unit is in working order the Dominions will be glad to become part of it. He does not tell us what the Governments of the Crown Colonies think, nor does he mention the difficulty that in any case Crown Colonies are largely under the compulsion of the British Government. Such wavering. This wavering note will not help the Crusaders to march more confidently.
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