LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
THE MANCHESTER ELECTION.
LTO THE EDITOR Or THE "SPECTATOR:2]
Sig,—I do not think that the result of the North-West Man- chester election is such a blow to Free-trade as many of your contemporaries would have, us believe. The fact is, Mr. Churchill and his supporters have not offered us the genuine article, and as business men we have declined to trade. In this contention I think the greatest damage was done by the -brilliant speeches of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, not because his presence at. the contest was a breach of good taste, but because the wild promises of a responsible Minister thoroughly brought home to the more cautious of us that if the Unionist Party were making a straightforward attack upon the citadel of true Free-trade, the Liberal Party were certainly undermining it. Mr. Lloyd George advocated under a thin disguise (with the example of Japan before us) the nationalisation of railways to avoid competition in the carriage of our merchandise to the markets where we must meet with unrestricted foreign competition in the sale of it. The working-day .of miners must be compulsorily shortened, and the output of coal (the "breath • in the nostrils" of our Lancashire trade) thereby restricted ; money must be found for old-age pensions, &c. ; and all these wild schemes were advocated by the very Minister whose Department we have hitherto looked upon as the great safe- guard against extravagant legislation of this type. Protection as Protection might be tried and rejected. Protection brought about by Labour restrictions, railway nationalisation, and the pauperisation of the working classes would necessarily remain. According to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Free-trade is - the "alpha," but not the "omega," of the Liberal policy. It is the fear of this "omega," and not faithlessness to the " alpha," which has, I think, caused Manchester to decline the honour of being represented by the President of the Board We believe that our correspondent has accurately stated the cause of the defeat of the alleged Free-trade candidate at Manchester. The feeling which he tells us prevailed at Manchester we are convinced prevails also throughout the country. Ministers like Mr. Lloyd George and Mr. Churchill cannot be regarded as trustworthy trustees of Free-trade.- En. Spectator.]
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