THE FISCAL QUESTION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 258, 30 November 1903, Page 3

THE FISCAL QUESTION.

VARIOUS OPINIONS. t LONDON, Nov. 27. Lord Rothschild, speaking at Chesham, declared that he always considered it unjust, impolitic, and unstatesmanlike to tax the necessaries of life ; but lie supported retalia- . tion. ■'■ At a private meeting of Conservative Associations at Greenwich, a ' resolution in favour of Mr Chamberlain's proposals was adopted by a v large majority. Mr Lloyd George, at Oxford, declared that Mr Balfour's proposals were futile, awl that the Conservatives would not accept them. Speaking frankly, he considered the Premier was hatching for Mr ChamJber- ' I faun a " sitting" of cuckoo's eggs, ' while honestly believing them to be bis own. The Right Hon. C. T. Ritchie, T speaking at Croydon, declared it was quite right to try to lower the barriers preventing a large export trade ; but in order to have a large 7. export trade large imports were n»- „ cessary. Improved methods of plac- j ing goods before foreign customers ivere necessary, and a better consu- c iar service required. ri The Right Hon, H. H. Asiojuith, at o an enthusiastic meeting at Penzance , sard the colonies enjoyed fiscal free- T dom ; but protected their own industries against both the Motherland and foreigners. They bad no ground for complaint, having access to the best markets—those of England '" There was no sign that the Empire was on the point of dissolution, and a national, and well organised system of education would do more for Great Britain than tariffs. The Right Hon. Austen Chamberlain, Chancellor of the Exchequer addressing a mass meeting at Cambridge, said the principle that one should not retaliate lest he damage his knuckles did not obtain at Cambridge in his undergraduate days. The Government aimed at negotiating freely, and backing up its words, if necessary, with deeds. He had beard that a large order had been placed in Germany ; but owing to New Zealand's preferential action it had been cancelled and placed in England. The meeting almost unanimously endorsed Mr Balfour's policy. Received 29, 10.8 a.m. LONDON, Nov. 28. Mr John Burns, speaking at Shrewsbury, said the Premier and Mr Chamberlain were using the fiscal reform question as a stalking horse to cover the blunders of the war. It was a monstrous untruth to allege that Britain was the dust heap of the world. Mr Chamberlain, he said, fearing that the war would cause a depression in trade and a reduction of wages, attributed these ills to free trade. Received 29, 10.18 a.m. LONDON, Nov. 28. Mr Wm. J. Bryan, the American Presidential candidate, stated in an interview that he had heard the ablest speakers on both sides of the fiscal controversy, and had formed the conclusion, from the manner in which the audiences responded, that the people were very closely studying the whole problem.