New-York tribune., 1903-10-07

speaker. would be SUFFICIENT to afford employ
ment to $4,000 workmen a. 20 .bf,,,g, w.et
anc. calculating their families To give sub
sistence TO 3oT5.0oo persons That had been
called squalid argument. therefore he ap-
pealed on the higher ground that the privileges
OF empire brought with them great resnonsi-
oilities. He had spoken with many oolonists
who believed that the present colonial relations
could not be permanent They must either be
drawn closer together or they would drift apart
an opinion shared by Lord Rosebery. a states
man whose instincts were alpavs righ- .borgr
MS actions often Jagged behind his instincts
He believed that Il was only bv a commercial
union anc reciprocal preference that they could
Jay 1he foundations OF federation OF the en-
pire TO which they all looked as hrilian. nos
slolll'y- lie wished 10 repeat explicitly that he
uio not wish to tax raw materials used IN Brit
lsh manufactures. Therefore il was evident that
ny "ahleo 10 prevent separation there
must oe preferential tax on food That was
Ine great cry OF his opponents and II WAS .rue.
out It was only half the truth. because those on
ponehos forgot TO add his explanation that moth
ing ne proposed would add one farthing to the
cost OF living OF any workingrnan or of any
family In the country
OUTLINE OF PLAN FoR pooo r,vrO
win regard to his plan. he would state II
oriefly- He proposed to put low duty. not ex-
oeeding two shillings a quarter on foreign corn.
ou' NONE OF corn from the British possessions
ne proposed no tax on maize partly because It
'oiHleo the food Of some of the very poorest
among the population. and partly because it
was raw material as feeding stuff He nro-
posed corresponding tax on -four and he
would give special preference to the miller. with
The object Of re-establshing one of Britain's
ancient industries and OF preventing a rush
1rom the country to the town. and also of
placlng corn. offal and feeding stufs more
cheaply within the possession Of the farmer
a small tax Of about per cent on foreign
meat and dairy produce would be imposed ex-
Guiding bacon. which was the food of so many of
the poorest population. Lastly. he proposed to
give substantial preference to the colonies on
wines and fruits.
Against these increases he proposed some
great remissions. He proposed 10 take off three
quarters OF the duty tea, half the duty on
sugar, with corresponding reductions on cocoa
ana coffee The net result OF these impositions
and reTnissions would be that the town artisans
food would. according to the most elaborate
calculation. cost him twopence halfpenny less a
week than it did at present, while that Of the
agricultural laborer would cost him twopence
less; but IT, as he believed. a great part Of the
tax on food would be paid by the foreigner.
both for the artisan and the agricultural laborer
The loss to the Exchequer he estimated at
t2,SooeoO. but that and more he proposed to
md in another branch Of the policy Of fiscal re-
form which was sometimes called retaliation
and sometimes reciprocity. He hoped, for
thing. that the other countries would reduce
their duties that worse things might not
come upon them, but he thought that Great
Britain would also have TO raise hers. A mod
crate duty Of 10 per cent on manufactured
goods, varying according to the amount Of labor
in them, would give TO the Exchequer 100000
a year. and If ne were Chancellor Of the Ex-
chequer he would make use of that for the
remission Of taxation.
The question was, What would the colonies
do7 He believed they would treat generously
any offer Great Britain might make. Mr.
Chamberlain concluded:
II is because I sympathize with their object
and appreciate the generosity OF their Offer-lt
is for these things. and for personal ambi-
proud 10 hold, and that now. when / might
think, fairly claim a period OF rest, have
taken up new burdens and come before you as a
missionary OF the empire. to urge upon you
again, as in old times when protested against
q disruption OF the United Kingdom. once again
TO warn you, TO urge yOu to implore you 20 do
nothing that Will tend toward the disintegra-
ton Of the empire, not TO refuse to sacrifice
futile superstition and inept prejudice, and
thereby 70 lose the result OF centuries OF noble
effort and patriotic endeavor.