POINTS FROM SPEECHES.

Mr. Bonar Law.

House of Commons, October 17th, 1912. They all hated taxation if it applied to themselves, but the Chancellor of the Exchequer had discovered that the best way to win votes was to advocate taxation, if it was paid by somebody else."

From the TIMES, October 18th, 1912.

No, it is not Mr. Lloyd George, but Mr. Bonar Law himself and his friends who try to "win votes by advocating taxation "-paid by the foreigner. Up to now, however, we admit that it has hardly proved to be the "

best

Mr. Rudyard Kipling.

way.

Ashton-under-Lyne, October 18th, 1912 'Under the National Insurance Act they imposed slavery on fifteen or sixteen million inhabitants of these islands. The Home Rule Bill proposes to sell a million or so of inhabitants of these islands out of the Union against their will to the open and avowed enemies of the Union."

From the MORNING POST, October 19th, 1912.

This is poetic licence carried to an extreme especially when we remember how particular the Tories were once upon a time about the use of the word "slavery." No wonder that Mr. Kipling was careful to explain that he is not a politician." Politicians are duly grateful to him for thus contracting out.

Colonel Williams, M.P. (U).

Lyme Regis, October 11th, 1912. "He had little doubt that in the minds of many whom he was addressing, next to the Insurance Act they thought Tariff Reform was the most important. (Applause.) Well, he did not agree with them. Tariff Reform could easily wait. They had not yet converted the manufacturing masses to Tariff Reform. They had not yet converted the wives of the workingmen to Tariff Reform, and it would take some time to do this.' From the BRIDPORT NEWS, October 18th, 1912. What will the Confederates and the Thousand-Pound Diners say to this heresy?

Earl Manvers.

Cotgrave, October 17th, 1912.

"At present we are threatened with more unjust taxation. I would not mind if it were open and above-board."

From the DAILY TELEGRAPH, October 18th, 1912.

For our part, we confess to being much more particular. The openest and above-boardest taxation is abhorrent to us, if it is at the same time " unjust." We suspect that the Earl was too angry to be quite coherent.

Lord Charles Beresford, M.P. (U). Bishop Auckland, October 3rd, 1912. But we could never be supreme at sea again, owing to our allowing other countries to compete with us.

From the STANDARD, October 4th, 1912.

This helps to explain why we have Big Navies. Other nations, told that they ought not to be allowed" to compete with us, very naturally resent the arrogance involved in the statement.

Mr. Maconochie Welwood.

East Calder, October 11th, 1912.

They would all remember that morning with its news, its glorifying news, of what Mid-Lothian had done. It reminded one of Lord Byron when he wrote that great poem and awoke and found himself famous. In the same way Mid-Lothian had awoke and found herself famous."

From the SCOTSMAN, October 12th, 1912. Of course, no one had ever heard of Midlothian until it elected Major Hope.

Major Hope, M.P. (U).

Newton Grange, October 25th, 1912. "He wished to thank his workers for the whole-hearted support they had given him and the Unionist cause in the recent election. It had been a magnificent victory. One realised it more when one got out of Scotland and heard how the Unionists in England, Ireland, and France regarded it. The whole party were grateful to the workers in Mid-Lothian for having won the seat."

From the SCOTSMAN, October 26th, 1912. Did the Burghers of Calais really rejoice at Major Hope's threecornered victory? Or is "France only a wretched misprint for "Wales"?

Mr. Henry Mechan.

Barrhead, October 2nd, 1912. The 'kangarooed' Insurance Bill was an Act. The plundering sections were now in operation, and likely to be for some time."

From the SCOTSMAN, October 3rd, 1912.

the

The Unionist party is committed to the contributory principle here genially described by a Unionist candidate as plundering" principle.

Capt. D. F. Campbell, M.P. (U).

46

Stewarton, October 19th, 1912. The Home Rule Bill was a new measure, different from either of the two previous Bills, and was undigested, misunderstood, and requiring the most careful consideration, to say nothing of the most strenuous opposition.'

From the SCOTSMAN, October 21st, 1912.

This is like the conventional lady's letter-you have to read the postscript to find out what the writer is getting at.

"They found a House of Commons in which the larger political party in it were reduced to impotence by a coalition of small groups.

From the SCOTSMAN, October 21st, 1912.

One of these "small groups"-the Liberal Party-consists of 264 members, or only seventeen fewer than the "larger political Party."

Mr. Rigby Swift, M.P. (U).

St. Helens, October 29th, 1912. "Mr. Seddon had challenged him to say in St. Helens, where there was a large Roman Catholic population, that Home Rule meant Rome Rule. He believed that Home Rule would be just as disastrous for the Catholics as for the Protestants of Ireland. He had never said that Home Rule was going to mean the ascendency of Roman Catholic opinion in Ireland to the exclusion of any other interests, or any other religion. He never made the charge that Home Rule meant Rome Rule, because he did not believe it."

From the MANCHESTER GUARDIAN, October 30th, 1912. Very creditable to Mr. Rigby Swift, no doubt; but he has a mighty long account to settle with his Ulster friends.

Lord Midleton.

Godalming, October 30th, 1912. "It would be seen before they met again next year, that the suspended animation of the House of Lords would be exchanged for an animated suspension. Every Bill which came up made it clear that a revising chamber, such as other nations possessed, was absolutely necessary."

From the STANDARD, October 31st, 1912. Lord Midleton should look back and see what happened between 1895 and 1905, when " every Bill that came up" was passed posthaste, simply because it was the Tory Bill of a Tory Government. Who talked about the evils of Single Chamber Government'

then?

Mr. F. E. Smith.

Lincoln, October 11th, 1912. "I have always looked upon him as an amiable gentleman who illustrated in his own sprightly and lively disposition the advantages of soda-water as an article of daily consumption." From the YORKSHIRE POST, October 12th, 1912.

This is Mr. Smith on Mr. Charles Roberts. And Mr. Smith is actually a member of the Front Opposition Bench and a leader of the "Gentlemanly" party.

Mr. W. A. S. Hewins, M.P. (U).

of

Orpington, October 5th, 1912. "Looked at from a purely business point of view, and from the desire to make money, Tariff Reform was the one thing which could bring about prosperity to the nation.

From the BROMLEY TIMES, October 11th, 1912. Mr. Hewins clearly thinks precious little of Lord Selborne's idea "self-sacrifice" (see page 589).

Mr. E. Jardine, M.P. (U).

House of Commons, October 21st, 1912. "Whatever Free Traders might think, the Irish members meant to establish Irish industries, and he admired them for it and would help them as far as he could. The Irish would prefer to set up some protection for the Irish worker against foreign untaxed and unrestricted importations. If they were prevented from establishing Tariff Reform, they would pass legislation which would give them an advantage as regarded labour over Englishmen, so that a manufacturer running his factory in Ireland, unhampered by factory laws, inspectors, and inquisitors, would be able to beat the English manufacturer in the English market. The English Labour Party were handing their followers and English industries over to the mercy of their Irish competitors. As his own sympathies were all with English workers, he should vote for this amendment.

From the TIMES, October 22nd, 1912.

Mr. Jardine clearly believes that a low standard of factory legislation is an advantage to industry which can only be counteracted by a tariff; yet the "unrestricted imports" which have to be kept out by a tariff come in most cases from heavily protected countries, where, if the argument is any good, the standard of labour legislation ought to be exceptionally high. The Tariff Reformer points at one moment to Germany, for instance, as an industrial Paradise, and at the next begs us to put on a tariff to keep out the "unrestricted" products of the sweated labour of that country.

Lord Edmund Talbot, M.P. U). Waterloo (Liverpool), October 22nd, 1912. Things had been said and written by Anti-Home Rulers with reference to his religion which he absolutely repudiated. Things of a most offensive character, displaying most narrowminded ignorance and bigotry, had been uttered and written against his religion by those who were undoubtedly strong opponents of Home Rule, not by responsible leaders of the Unionist Party, but by what he might term the third-rate type of lecturer, who found it conveniently easy to dilate in anger and venom on matters of religion, either through incapability or lack of intelligence to understand the question as a whole.'

From the MORNING POST, October 23rd, 1912.

What a lot of "third-rate type of lecturers" there must be in the Unionist party!

Lord R. Cecil, M.P. (U). Retford, October 25th, 1912. They (the Liberal party) blamed the House of Lords, they invented that exceedingly clever piece of trickery known as the land taxes. It was extremely clever, and it was extremely unprincipled. The House of Lords knew perfectly well that the land taxes were not only unjust, but were quite unworkable, but taking perhaps too strict a view of their duty they thought it was their duty to reject the taxes."

From the YORKSHIRE POST, October 26th, 1912.

Poor peers, victims of too strict a view of Duty! But surely we were told that the land taxes were, not merely unworkable, but red ruin, the "end of all," &c., &c. No; Lord Robert Cecil must invent some more convincing apologia.

Mr. Pretyman.

Skipton, October 24th, 1912. "We have got a Government with a little too much Celtic blood in it, and a little too much Celtic morality in their form of government, and England will like it still less when it understands it. What I and others are doing is preaching the gospel of fair-play, justice, and reason, and the business and not the political side of taxation. It is not possible to mix up politics and taxes.

From the SCOTSMAN, October 25th, 1912. No Celt will object to the advertisement of the undoubted fact that there is nothing of the Celt about Mr. Pretyman. But we doubt if the Pretyman Gospel is likely to be widely popular.

Lord Londonderry.

Seaham Harbour, October 23rd, 1912. The Government proposed to hand over to Ireland six millions a year, which he believed, if worked out, would mean a tax upon every family in Great Britain of no less than 14s. 11d. per annum.

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From the YORKSHIRE POST, October 24th, 1912. Mr. J. Avon Clyde, M.P. (U). Edinburgh, October 24th, 1912. The Bill proposed that they should make a present to Ireland of something like 22 millions per annum, which was to go on for an indefinite time, although there was held out prospects of some diminution in the future."

From the ScoTSMAN, October 25th, 1912. There seems to be here a sort of Guessing Competition. Why not refer to the Bill and find out that the extra cost is only half a million, reducible in a few years' time to £200,000?

Lord Roberts.

Manchester, October 22nd, 1912 "He called upon all the men of Manchester to become members or adherents of the National Service League, and said women might help by refusing to speak to any single man of their acquaintance who did not join it."

From the MANCHESTER GUARDIAN, October 23rd, 1912 We suppose this was meant for a humorous sally; but we can only regret that Lord Roberts should think this sort of thing worthy of his great and deserved reputation.