The age-herald., 1898-01-19
Has Been the Policy of England, But
 They Have a Limit.
COLONIZATION OF BARREN WASTES
Has Been Laughed at But It Has Borne Fruit, Declared the Right Honorable Sec retary of State for the
 Colonies.

| Der of commerce gave banquet tonight to Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, secre- tary of state for the colonies Mir. Cham pertain was greeted with an ovation. Tn the course of a vigorous and inIpor- tant speech the secretary referred to the great changes in commerce during the last twenty years. Until the great powers were bitten with the Megalmoania with which the Germans are accustomed to taunt us as if it were our exclusive pe- culiarity the German empire has increased six fold and the French four fold; while England, he said, has only added a modest third to her colonial empire
 Answering the argument that 1t is use- less to colonize barren wastes, he pointed to the magnificent enterprise of the Cana dian Pacific railway that had opened up a vast country of the greatest wheat fields and was about to open what were perhaps the greatest gold fields in the world.
 Looking to the certainty" he said, "that we are likely to be excluded by the hostile tariffs from any country where the Brit ish flag does not float, our present policy is to take a very firm attitude and to main- tain free markets. What the foresight of our ancestors has done for us in building great empire we must continue to do for our successors. This is not the policy of aggression or lawlessness. We have a three-fold duty.
 First, to keep what rightly belongs to us; second, in Lord Roseberrys admirable words, to peg out claims for posterity; and third if any one tries to rush those claims gently to prevent them.' Slaughter and cheers.)
 Sacrifice of Territory
 Referring to ''the fact of our sacrifice of territory and our general forbearance and deference to the sensibilties of our allies have only resulted in our being told that we are the best-hated nation in Europe," he repeated Lord Salisbury's warning: There is a limit to this forbearance."
 After repetition of the old Zollverein aspirations, which he described as Hess absurd than some have supposed" MT. Chamberlain said: We must seek in our own family the strength and support we shall never find from foreign nations; and with this in view, we must be ready to re- spond to any colonial overtures, without seeking pecuniary recompense, but looking to the wider interests of the future.'
 Then came the weightiest portion of the speech. MT. Chamberlain reviewed at length the West Indian question and the report of the royal commission thereon, and emphasized the "great injury of the bounty system, which, while ruining the West Indies, brings a gain estimated at 200O, 900 pounds yearly to Great Britain" The government, he said, believed the country generous and just enough to rem edy this crying injustice. He was glad that Belgium had anticipated Great Britain in calling conference on the subject and hoped this might succeed better than for mer conferences.
 There were many objections, he contfn- ued, to countervailing duties which would involve us in commercial treaty difficult ties with foreign nations; but the main. objection was that while the trade they wished to save amounted to 260,000 tons, Great Britain's own sugar imports amount- ed to 1;5OO,OOO tons. It seemed unscientific to benefit the former by injuring the lat ter.'
 Exhaust Every Alternative
 "Therefore," he said, 'the government has decided to exhaust every alternative before having recourse to such a drastic measure and feeling that the recommen- dations of the commissioners, though good, would not work quickly enough, the chan cellor of the exchequer has consented to propose to parliament very large grant in aid to the West Indies. The grant will not be so large as the incidental gain to be derived from the bounty system; but it will be large enough to enable the industry and the population to tide over crisis until the continental nations recognize the impoHcy of the bounty system"
 MT. Chamberlain expressed his conviction that the immediate relief measures to be proposed in addition, which he said he could not as yet explain in detail, would stimulate the sugar industry and enable all well managed estates to hold their own, while tending to the ultimate prosperity of the colony"