New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-11-10

policy. in the late 50s. Il heard all Brights
birmingham speeches" Mr.. Chamberlain mas
said. referring to the year 1851 and foIowing'
land did not from the first agree Win ms loF-
eign policy which was practically peace at
any price policy" We should have hked MI.
Jeyes to give in his book some direct quo'a
lions from Bright's speeches. showing IN MS own
words ,ust what that foreign policy was to
which Mr. Chamberlain objected We shouid
particularly have liked salient passage from
that sneecb Of Brisht's in which he declared the
British Empire was already large enough 10
satisfy the greatest ambition. and too large Tor
the highest craftsmanship any man had yet at
tanned. and we should have liked some sample
IL nossihle Of Mr. Chamberlain's indignant re-
NV in the speech IN which he. young member
Of the Birmingham and Edgbaston Deoatlhs
Society. supported motion declaring the prlh-
ciples and spirit of Brights speech 10 Dc
worthy Of condemnation" We know of no in
c,dent in Mr.. Chamberlain's life up TO that time
more interesting or more significant than that
and we wish Mr. Jeyes had given to II as many
pages as he has lines
We wish also that Mr.. Jeyes had shown moro
clearly and with fuller citations that while MI
Chamberlain Loyalty stood by his chief. Clad
stone in the South African and Egyptian en-
efrective-or shall we say. least ineffective?-
apologists for the costly burdens that marked
them. vet he never was led into agreement
with. or approval Of. Gladstone's colonial views
OF those and later times. II is recalled that
Gladstone. as late as 1885, declared that 1.-THE
idea that the colonies add to the strength of
the mother country appears 10 me as dark
superstition any that existed In the MID
die Ages" That was a strange echo Of Dis
raeli's remark to Malmesbury in 1So2, about
the "wretched colonies which 'are milestone
round our necks." We remember that Mr.. Nor
ley. TOO, once predicted that If ever England
became involved in a serious war the colonies
would refuse TO aid her with either men or
money or even sympathy! Now. Mr.. Chamber
lain is not TO be supposed TO be the greatest Of
all political prophets, or notably more free
from errors Of prophecy than other men. He
has in more than one respect been compelled TO
confess having been in error and 10 reverse his
roljcv But It appears 10 be a fact that he
never Joined in these depreciatory estimates Of
the British colonies or in the predictions Of their
alienation. on the contrary, year before
Gladstone made the utterance which we have
quoted. Mr.. Chamberlain put himself on record
In the strongest and most direct manner as be-
uevfnC in the perrnanency and mutual benef-
cence Of the tie between the mother country
and the colonies, and devoted himself supremely
to the task of strengthening that tie MI Cham
berlain has been spoken Of as the greatest Of
British Colonial Ministers. That is not because
he surpassed all others in ability. but rather
because his policy toward the colonies was
essentially different from the policies Of the
others He differed from his predecessors in
that Office in kind rather than in degree.
Mr.. Jeyes does well to recall the substance of
the very first OF Nj Chamberlains "Fortnightly
Review" articles which created at the time so
great a sensation and which-most injudiciously
led not few to regard him as red repub-
lican." That was at the end Of 1873, just thirty
years ago. His programme, as then set forth.
comprised four major points-free labor, free
land. free churches and free schools. Observe
that he said nothing about free trade At that
time no doubt. he was a free trader. He had
not Yet reached the point in his political devel-
opment at which he was called upon to consider
the tariff question. The essential point is how
ever that he was then aiming at the general
welfare Of the common people. At first his view
was parochial, and he was himself one Of the
most successful parochial administrators Eng
land has ever known. Next he enlarged his
view 90 provincial scope The third step. when
he became a Cabinet Minister was to extend it
to the whole kingdom Finally, when he en-
tered the Colonial Ofice-which we described at
that time as the most distinctively imperial Of
all the rninstries-he widened the scope Of his
vision and regard TO the whole globe encircling
empire But in each Of the four steps his spirit
has been the samoa consistent desire for the
betternent Of conditions of life among the peo-
pie That is why he is so bold In his readiness
to carry his propaganda Of tariff reform into the
homes and shops Of workingnen. confident in
his ability to show them that the execution OF
his scheme will not Cypress them with dearer
food but viii rather give them larger incomes,
increase the purchasing power Of their incomes
and generally elevate their standard Of life.
Anything else than that would be self-stultifca-
ton. For Mr. Chamberlain holds-he must hold
not that the people exist for the empire, but
that the empire exists for the good of the people.
There is .one other feature Of Mr.. Chamber
lain's career which we wish Mr.. Jeyes had
touched upon. Perhaps should describe 1t as
a feature Of his personality, rather than Of his
career. and certainly II is a somewhat delicate
subject. But II concerns, we believe, i'm
portant phase OF the public attitude toward Mr..
Chamberlain. in America well in Great
Britain We refer to the fact that Mr.. Cham
berlain is hereditarily man Of the people"
not connected by ties OF birth or marriage with
any OF the titled orders of society. and to the
feeling toward him on the part of many COM
nloners inspired by that fact. There was time,
as Mr.. Jeyes reminds us, when Mr.. Chamberlain
was tainted with having gone over to the Con-
servative side, at least with having become
a Unionist. because of his social ambitions.
Nothing could have been more absurdly unjust
or untruthful. Yet it has often in his career
been all too evident that the fact of his nom
aristocratc origin has been held against him
49,