Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman addressed a mass meeting on Tuesday night
in the same hall at Limehouse in which Mr. Chamberlain delivered his speech on the previous Thurs. day. In canvassing Mr. Chamberlain's claims to speak for the Empire Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman was unjust in regard to the ex-Colonial Secretary's record in the past; but he dealt very effectively with his credentials as a Fiscal "missionary of the British Empire," citing against him the speech of the Australian Premier and the Minute of the Indian Government on Colonial Preference. Sir Henry went on to trace the chameleonic variations of the Fiscal gospel, with its constant shedding of cardinal doctrines, and rightly insisted on the enormous damage which any tampering with import-duties would inflict on millions of Londoners,—the natural garrison of the Free-trade citadel. Turning to alien immigration. Sir Henry said that it needed some audacity for the man who had advocated the introduction of Chinese into the Transvaal compound to presume to lecture the Liberal party on this question. Finally, he made an excellent point—not unfamiliar to readers of the Spectator—in reference to the affinity between sweated goods and Free-trade discovered by Mr. Chamberlain. If it was true that sweated goods came into this country, what an admission it was on Mr. Chamber- lain's part that sweating was resorted to even in those earthly paradises where the blessings of Protection abounded.
Previous page
