For our part we are convinced Free Traders, and if
we were asked to point to a single fact which contradicts all the propaganda of the Tariff Reformers in former years we should choose the fact that the accumulated wealth which Great Britain lent to her Allies ultimately enabled us to win the War. At the same time, as we have repeatedly admitted, we should always be willing to pay a price for an object which was proved to be necessary. For example, though we believe that every form of tariff is an obstacle to freedom of exchange— and by freedom of exchange Great Britain has always prospered—we would consent to the imposition of tariffs proved necessary for the conservation of industries essential to our national safety. For the same reason we would, of course, acknowledge the necessity of meeting a really clear demand from the Dominions that we should grant them a system of preference.
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