New-York tribune., 1903-06-28
BALFOUR-CHAMBE
An Incongruous Situation z0'th a
Cue That Explains 1t.

b,s nronosals anparentIy without having any
purpose more serious than that OF remaining Iii
office as long possible; but the Coionlai Sec
retary smiles confidently, sends out his post
cards and manifestoes as industriously and en-
erreticalIv as Mr. Gladstone answered his let
ters in the early stages of the Home Rule move
ment and proclaims, I'VE are in for ois
fight, The Prime Minister has arranged an
artificial concordat by which ministers are en-
ahed to unite in a vague assurance that there
will be thorough and impartial inquiry rcia'
ing to the fiscal system; but when Re Is CLOSELY
questioned by Mr. Labouchere he admits tnat
it will not be conducted either by royal COM
mission or by committee of the Commons
nor by any department of the administrator
and Lord Lansdowne and the Duke or Devon
shire offer guarantees that there will not be
anything that be regarded as "a Iead from
any minister" and that the examination VIII
he undertaken with expert assistance by and
for the members of the government. The MIN
istry with Mr.. Balfour at its head. appears TO
be skulking from the battlefield under cover OF
hollow truce; but Mr.. Chamber ain remains
in the open with his armor on picturesque anu
aggressive figure such as the fighting Briton
loves It is an amazing and incongruous situa-
tion unparalleled in recent public life.
The Prime Minister has allowed his colleagues
to hold opinions rejecting fiscal and imperial
licensed to remain in his Cabinet and to accuse
one another of smashing the Unionist party ana
proposing policies detrimental to the interests
Of the mother country and the colonies. The
situation apparently is not impossible one
for nobody resigns office Ministers are uhahl-
nous in advocating an inquiry but some ol
them announce in advance-Mr Rltcnle' inc
Duke of Devonshire and Lord Balfour OF Bur
leigh among thenl-that their minds are lrreVo-
bly, made up against Mr. Chamberialns pro-
posa1s Others are either in state of unin-
quisitive ignorance or are waiting Tor some spe-
ciaI revelation from experts or from by-elec-
+ions Meanwhile Mr. Chamberlain agitates,
and is not without support from the Cabinet
Lord I,ansdowne by his speech in the LordS
has shown himself to be with him. ana Loru
Selborne and other associates are currently re-
ported to be on the same side LORD GoSciei
and Sir Michael Hicks-Beach. two of the great
est financial authorities on the government slue'
have united in denouncing the Chamberlain pro-
posals. Their speeches have not been answered.
but the postcards and electioneering manifestoes
continue to appear, and the new proIecIioiii'I
movement, based upon preferential tarirs ana
retaliation has received powerful impulse.
No other public question is discussed at this
moment in the industrial centres OF Englanu
and Scotland. and fiscal reform promises u hoiu
the field until the next general elecuon anu ING
one after it. For, while Mr.. Balfours admirers
have been boasting that he was merely slVlns
the Colonial Secretary rope enough to nang hliii-
self the superficial unanimity in favor of
general inquiry has not forestalled an ACTIVE
plan of campaign for the reorganization Of the
Cobine+ and the creation of a new imperalst
nartv M Chamberlain does not remain IDLE
while Mr. BaIfour and other colleagues are
brooding in silence over the fiscal system Oh tue
United Kingdom. He is slowly and cautiously
forcing the new tariff issue upon the country
In the course of the agitation for the repeal OF
tbe Corn laws the Prime Minister, Sir Robert
Peel became convinced by the logic OF Cooueli
and Bright and by the destruction or crops III
England and Ireland through excessive rains
that the protectionist system must De aoah-
doned He had various consultations Win MS
colleagues, but could not persuade them 10 sup
mort him collectively. Accordingly he ohereo
his resignation. and gave Lord John Russell
the leader of the Wings. who had declared III
favor of the repeal of the Corn laws, an oppor-
t,1nity for forming ministry and appealing 10
the country. The opposition leader falieo III MS
attempt to recruit a ministry, ana 0lr r>ope.
Peel returned to power, the chief opponent OF
repeal in the Cabinet resigning ofhce- Inc
Prime Minister frankly announced 10 the coiii-
mons that his opinions had undergone a COM
nfate change and that he considered all the
Tended wholly untenable. His proposals for
gradual repeal on a sliding scale were carried oy
q majority of nearly a hundred votes. His party
was sneedily beaten on another question, ana
was virtually broken up by its leaders con-
version to Cobdsn's principles; but hls laliie "9
a Prime Minister who had the courage ana
strength of his convictions and Of his sense Oh
public obligation has never been clouded.
Convictions were considered Indispensable IN
those days of storm and stress. Inc pohllcdl
fashion has changed in these times Oh asho9ti-
cism Mr.. Balfour has confessed that ne Is
without convictions respecting the fiscal policies
oe tba United Kingdom and the empire. He re-
leases his colleagues from all obligations of COL
1ective action and political consistency, and en-
ables them to remain in the Cabinet with open
minds in a state of either inquisit1ve or unln-
ouisitive ignorance. There is to be a govern
1nent inquiry with the help OF experts Tut
without a lead from any member of the Cabi-
net" and the results of examination OF facts
and theories are not to be reported upon nor
published. Ministers to collect evidence Tor
their own information and to have ample time
fo- convincing themselves and they will retain
fully their collective responsibility for measures
which they may propose hereafter The govern
ment is TO be kept in office, whatever else may
happen and the Unonist party is not TO be
broken UP by sudden access of conviction. as
happened after Sir Robert Peels abandonment
of protection and Mr.. Gladstone's conversion to
Home Rule. This is the new order OF Cabinet
government at q period when convictions IN
politics have become an encunbrance and an
open mind is the distinguishing characteristic
Of craftsmanship!
The Duke of Devonshire has carried this prin-
clpIe of the open mind from the Cabinet to the