The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 1913. A MISUNDERSTOOD SPEECH.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1660, 29 January 1913, Page 6

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 1913. A MISUNDERSTOOD SPEECH.

When we had only a series, of buef cable messages to rely upon for an understanding of Mr. Bonar Law's now-famous speech at Ashton-iincler-Lyne, on December 16 last, and the storm of controversy it provoked, we took care to say that there might he_somo misunderstanding and some misrepresentation. We now have the files of most of tho chief British newspapers from December 17 to December 20, and it is quite clear that the cabled summary of the Unionist leader's speech did him a real injustice on the point which particularly affected the Dominions. He was so reported that he appeared to have said that it was not the British, people'who ought to decide the British tariff issue, but the overseas Dominions assembled at an Imperial Conference.. It struck lis at tho time (although our one concern was to deal only with the Dominion's point of view) that if Mr. Bonar Law had said;just that he would not. cinly have been denying to the Brit-, ish olcctorato.a, r.ight : which the colonics would not accept as a transfericd privilege; but would have been erasing the whole' policy of Impel lal Preference from the Unionist programme. The full report,of speech, the essential portions of which we reprinted yesterday,' make it'clear that ho did.neither of these things. The turmoil in the Unionist/party following :upoh tho snecch turns out ;to have arisen hardly at all from his allusions to an Imperial Conference, but.to his refusal . to. tack a referendum provision fo the Tariff Reform policy.. That turmoil has now subsided. ■■]■'■■'~

Mr. Bonar, Law declared that, despite the ease with which "food duties" could be misrepresented, the Unionists would not abandon • the principle of Imperial .Preference, which had been affirmed by all the Dominions. As to food ; duties', "-he would tell them exactly what was pro Dosed: —

■ If our countrymen entrust us witli power wo do not intend to imposo food duties. What wo intend to do is to call a conference of tho colonies, to consider the whole question of preferential trade, 'and the question whether or not food duties will be imposed won't arise until thosa negotiations nro completed. We are told that the colonies,'., have ■madbi no,'offer, that; they 'don't wish such ah arrangement. If that is truo/wo say "find'oiit."' Ifitis not'truo, no food duties Will Ixs

{imposed.'tinder any circumstances.,'; We do hot wish to imposo thorn. They aro not. proposed by. us for the' sako of Protection, and thare is.no Protection in

that. They are proposed solely for .the sake of preference, and if, when the con-

ference takes place, tho colonies do'not want them—but put it far stronger than that, unless tho'colonies regard, them as essential for' preference—then also' tho

food duties will hot bo'imposed. All that wo ask is that our.countrymen should give us authority to enter into that negotiation, with power to impose certain low duties on foodstuffs and within strict

limits, which will , never bo /increased. Our opponents, - .who., at the last, election concealed, their whole policy, from us,.ask us to give in detail exactly what we mean to do. That is impossible. Tho details will only bo. known after the negotiations have, been completed. We do not want to : impose these; duties..'. I hope it will bo possible, and I think it may be possible,: that if any readjustment is necessary, it will: only bo a duty on wheat..' I hope so;: but I do not think it would bo reasonable to ask the colonies to meet us if bur power of negotiation were strictly limited in that way.. ... If the colonies-do not think those duties necessary for. preference they will never, be imposed. -, •

Since a cabled extract from our-edi-torial on the speech figured largely in all the attacks by the Radical newspapers on Mn. Bonar Law, we feci bound to say, without retracting a single word of what we said upon the impossibility of inducing ' the; Dominions to dictate a fiscal policy to Britain, that the passage we have quoted does not .appear to throw 1 upon the Dominions any onus of that' kind at all. All that the Unionist leader asked was that he should'first, receive a mandate to proceed, within limits, to be set before the British electorate, and that then an Imperial Conference should help, by its _suggestions, in arranging the details within those limits. ;Mn. Bonar Law's reasons for refusing to attach a referendum proviso to the Tariff policy suffered an equal maltreatment in the cabled summary of his speech.

Nov, ho said, I will tell you the reason that seems to us a valid reason why it would not do to submit these proposals to a referendum after tho completion of the negotiations. Would it ho fair to tho colonies to do that? They would como to the conf'ercnco if they came at all in this position, that if they agreed to an arrangement they would carry it out, whilo wo could not carry it out until wo' knew from tho country. They would como bound and we would como free. • That is reasonable way to carry out negotiations. I do not think it would bo fair to them, and that is the reason, and tho sole reason, why wo object to submit this proposal to the referendum.

This docs not appear to us to be a conclusive argument from any point of view against the promise of a referendum, But it is nothing like what the' cable message represented the Unionist leader as saying. The two passages we have quoted were condensed into three short sentences:

If, ho continued, tho Unionist'! wero entrusted with legislative power, they did not intend to impose food taxes without first convening a colonial conference to consider tho whole question of preferenial trade. The question of food duties, said the speaker, could only arise after a deliberative'conference. That was why he objected to submit such proposals.to a referendum.

It is quite clear that Mit. Bonar Law meant, as indeed he said, that as, when he conies into power with a specific and limited mandate for a tariff, ho will proceed to hold an Imperial Conference to arrange the details within the limits prescribed by the British people, be cannot send the Dominions away again until the details themselves have been referred again to the British electorate. Wc can sec little to object to, from the colonial point of view, in the idea

that tho Dominions might bo consulted as to details after tho British people have authorised a tariff.