IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ///// ^^ ^M? 1.0 I.I 1.25 k;|28 {|2.5 |5c '""■■ !■■ UJ 1^ III 2.2 lis lU 2.0 1.8 1.4 IIIIII.6 CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1980 Technical Notes / Notes techniques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Physical features of this copy which may alter any of the images in the reproduction are checked below. n Coloured covers/ Couvertures de couleur Coloured maps/ Cartes gdographiques en couleur Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages ddcolordes, tachetdes ou piqudes Tight binding (may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin)/ Reliure serr^ (peut causer de i'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge intdrieure) L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Certains ddfauts susceptibles de nuire d la qualitd de la reproduction sont notds ci-dessous. D D / D Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur Coloured plates/ Planches en couleur Show through/ Transparence Pages damaged/ Pages endommagdes Tl P< o\ fil Tl CI 01 ai Tl fi in IV in u| bi fc D Additional comments/ Commentaires suppl6mentaires Bibliographic Notes / Notes bibliographiques D Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents n Pagination incorrect/ Erreurs de pagination Pages missing/ Des pages manquent D Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque D Maps missing/ Des cartes gdographiques manquent D D Plates missing/ Des planches manquent Additional comments/ Commentaires suppldmentaires The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetd de I'exemplaire f\\tn6. et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol -^(meaning CONTINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Un des symboles suivants apparaltra sur la der- nidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". The original copy was borrowed from, and filmed with, the kind consent of the following institution: Library of the Public Archives of Canada Maps or plates too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: L'exemplaire filmd fut reproduit grdce d la gdndrosit^ de I'dtablissement prdteur suivant : La bibliotheque des Archives publiques du Canada Les cartes ou les planches trop grandes pour dtre reproduites en un seul clichd sont filmies d partir de Tangle sup6rieure gauche, de gaurhe d droite et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Le diagramme suivant illustre la mdthode : 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 '.11 DOMIIION ELECTION. CAMPAIGN OF 1886. Eon. EM Blake's Speeches. I^O. 15 (First Series). (MALVERN).— The Liberal Party and the Tariff. NOTE.— See Inside Cover for List of Mr. Blake's Speeclies in first Series. Apply to "W. T. R. Preston, Reform Club, Toronto, for Copies of tbese Speeclies. ^0r0ttto: HUNTER. ROSE & CO., PRINTERS. 1886. / \; jiy' -■ 11 ;■'..,.■ \ LIST OF SPEECHES IN THIS SERIES. No. I.— (LoHDON): Gensral Review of Situation. Rid Question. (Owen Sound) : North-West Maladministration. Riel. No. 3. — (Beaverton) : Independence of Parliament The Boodle Brig^ade. No. 3.— (Chesley) : Public Finances— Taxation and Deficits— Farmers. No. 4.— (SiMCOE) : Federal and Provincial Rights— Ontario— Nova Scotia. (GuELPH) — Elections near.- Tory Dodges— Nova Scotia. No. 5.— (Owen Sound) : Principles of Liberalism— Duty of the Leader. (Wellaito) — Policy of the Party — Functions of an Opposition. (Oakwood) — Sir J. Macdonald on Functions of an Opposition. No. 6.-^i?*/nK-/j— (Guelph) : Home Rule for Ireland. (Berlin): Firebrand Tory attempts to excite Germans. (Oalt & Orangeville) ; Indian Starvation Policy. (Pembroke) : Maladministration felt at Cut Knife Hill. N*. 7. — Extracts— {Kendkli.) : Business Methods required in Public Affairs — Degradation of Parliament—A few Boodlers. (Hampton) ; Civil Service Reform. (Galt) : Burden of Public Debt. (Orangeville) : Burden of Public Debt (Belleville): Burden of Public Debt — The Interest on Debt (Oakwood) : Burden of Public Drbt— Our Public Expen- diture. ^ No. 8w — (Newcastle) : Canadian Pacific Railroad Matters. (Listowel): Canadian Pacific Railroad Matters — The last Sacri* fice of $10,000,000 — Collapse of Tory '• Boom " Policy. (St. Thomas) : North-West Lands. (HuNTsviLLE) : R.R. Policy— Sir John's Subsidies to " Guinea-Pig *• Directors — Assisted Immigration and Railway Frauds. (Parry Sound) : Railway Policy of Liberals. /^ (Obangevillb) : Railway Policy of Liberals. (Brantford) : The Kansas Slander. (Listowel) : The Sea of Mountains. (Winoham) : Blake's Tribute to Mackenzie. (Stayner): Blake's Tribute to Sir Richard Cartwright (Brantfokd) : Blake's Tribute to Paterson— Duty of Young Men. 10. — (Welland) : Liberal Party, Creeds and Classes. (Orillia): Leaders and Newspapers — The "Mail" Crusade. II. — (Aylmer) : Prohibition and Politics. 12. — (Toronto) : Interests of Labour — The Tariff. (Welland) : To Knights of Labour. (Bbllkvillb): Legislation for Labour. (Deseronto) : Workingmen and Parties. (Hamilton): Workingmen and Parties. Na 13. — (Hamilton) : Provincial Issues — The Religious Cry — Liberals and Catholics. No. 14.— (Lindsay) : North-West Affairs — Neglect, Delay and Misman- agement—Race and Creed Cries. No. 9. No. No. No. 1 i C F o THE LIBERAL PARTY AND THE TARIFF. NECESSITY FOR HIGHER TAXATION THAN IN 1878. IMPORTANCE OF STABILITY IN TARIFFS. TVot the Cause of the nianufocturlng Clais In Danger, but that of the Tory Party. A TRULY NATIONAL POLICY FOR OUR COMMON COUNTRY. In his speech at Malvern, in East York, on the 22nd of January, the Hon. Edward Blake dealt with the tariff question as fol- lows : — Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, — The i.ssues before you are of transcendent importance ; the very existence of Confederation, the national life and honour, are at stake. An unworthy, incom- petent, faithless, corrupt, extravagant, neglectful — yes, a treason- able Administration — (cheers) — is on its trial before you for innumerable high crimes against the State — (loud cheers) — and naturally it desires to find some way of escape from the con- demnation which it dreads. (Cheers.) Among its methods to ac implish this result is a resort to gross misrepresentations of Ih 3 actual condition of the tariff question, and of the attitude of the Liberal party on the subject. It is fitting, then, that I should deal with it briefly. I spoke in '82 ; I spoke a few weeks ago in Toronto ; I speak now, as the leader of the party, expounding, on all questions of principle, not merely my individual views, but the common sense, as 1 understand it, of the great body of the party — the general lines upon which the party, as a whole, would act if entrusted, as they will be soon, with power. (Cheers.) Some of our adversaries, who cannot find much fault with my utterances, presume to say that it is not I who am to expound the party policy on this question, and that you must look elsewhere for light. (15) 420 THE GENERAL PRINX'II'LES AN'j POl ICY of the party have been shaped, under my lead, by the concurrence of its representatives in Parliament, I have already declared them, and I am about to* say on them nothing new, but only to repeat and enlarge on my former statements. What I have said, and am about to say, on questions of prin- ciple, you may, then, take as authoritative to whatever extent a leader has authority ; and, so far from there being divergence, I can assure you that there is, in my belief, a general concu nonce of sentiment between us, including Sir Richard Cartwright, whom I name only because our adversaries delight to represent him as holding other views. (Cheers.) For the triumph of this policy I will continue to strive, whether in or out of office ; and most surely no principle laid down by me as leader shall be violated while I retain my post. (Cheers.) There are, I dare say, in the ranks of the party, as there are in the ranks of all parlies of independent men, some divergencies of opinion, particularly on theoretical and abstract and si>eculative points ; out on THE PRACTICAL QUESTION BEFORE US, within the scope of the political horizon, there is no such differ- ence as to what is possible and proper as should prevent a common platform on the tariff", or a cordial re-union of all Reformers — in- deed, of all honest men — in the effort to change the Government. (Loud cheers.) I do not pretend to say that all the men in our ranks are of precisely the same opinion as to the theoretical merits of free trade or protection. It is not so in the Tory ranks either. I do mean to say that the actual conilition so far obliter- ates the practical importance of any such difierences as to give plain and ample ground for common action. (Cheers.) In To- ronto a few weeks ago I quoted my DECLARATION OF 1882, and I added in a very few sentences ray opinions on the altered situation of to-day. Let me quote my words : — THE TORONTO SPEECH QUOTED. " The Tariff was enacted in 1870, and in 1882 he appealed to the people. And his appeal was based upon the need to obtain a renewed lease of power, which he assured the people would, if obtained, render ■ (15) . 427 TllbJ TARIFF ABSOLUTELY PERMANENT and beyond all danger of attack. Ho obtained tliat lease. lie has enjoyed an<] used it. But another election approaches. Those who are wt'll informed on the Conservative side say, what- ever they may think, that it is not so very near. .Tiiose who have some sources of information on the Liberal side believe it to be much nearer. At any rate it ap[)r<)aches. 1. . the election ap- proaches you Hnd, notwithstantling the pledg3 of 1882 as to the results of a fiesli lease of power, tlie cry is raised again, " The tarirf is in danger! To save the taritfyou must once again rctiira the Conservatives to olKce." If it be so that it is necessary to give the Conservative party a third lease of power in order to save the tariff, all I can say is that this is an ;m knowledgment that the princij)al i)ledge made by the Government at the last election has not been fulfilled, and that the in a THEY HAVE FAILED TO ACCOMPLISH the promise on which they were leturned. (Great applause.) I desire to refer very briefly to the ATTITUDE OF THE LIBERAL PARTY UPON THE QUESTION OF THK TARIFF. It has been grossly misrepresented. In 1882 I stated ray views upon that subject in the most formal manner, ))y means ot the address I issued to the electors of West Durham as a manifesto to the country; by the principles then laid down I still abide. I said : — j You know well that I do not approve of needless restrictions on our liberty of exchanging what we have for what we wjtnt, and do not see that any sub- stantial application of the restrictive principle has been or can be, made in favour of the great interests of the mechanic, the labourer, the farmer, the lumberman, the ship-builder or the fisherman. But you know also that I have fully recognized the fact \hat we are obliged to raise yearly a great sum made greater by the obligatioi.s imposed on us by this Go\ernment ; and that we must continue to provid\. this yearly sum n.ainly by import duties, laid to a great extent ent of rht- lion, by rbi- -a most importunt point — to pronjobe reciprocal trade with out neighbours to the south. (Groat applause). That is a modest programme, you may say, but I believe it to be an extensive pro- gramtno, representing the full measure practicable of attainment^ and which can be fulfilled only by much expenditure of time and thought, after full investigation, careful inquiry, and ample con- sideration of details and of the bearing of each proposal, with the atlvantage of all those materials for forming a judgment on details, which are available only to men in office. (Cheers). Now, recurring to TUE TARIFF IN ANOlHER ASPECT, r maintain that it has produced disaster to several important in- dustries, and great conseciuent injury to the cause of labour. Unduly hif,'h protection, while the demand exceeded the supply, gave inordinately high profits, for example, iu cotton, in sugar, and in certain descriptions of woollen goods. The public were heavily charged, and a few individuals were greatly enriched (ApjJause.) Others wished to share the golden stream. Capital was sunk ; mechanics were brought in from abroad ; they were Ijrought away from other occupations at home. Production was increased ; and then came quickly, in our country of limited de- mand, the following stages : those ^f glut, of lower prices, of short hours, of lower wages, of closed factories and discharged hands, of general distress, and of demoralization of trade. Regu- larity of employment — which is the most important thing for the comfort of those who depend ui)on their daily work — was for the time destroyed. (Applause.) Now there is some revival, and I ob.^erve the First Minister has given his cause for that revival in his speech. He says : — There was only one thing to be dreaded in in.irodncing that policy, namely, that it might lead to over-production, and in const quence thtio would be great depression and insolvency. This was the case with regard to the cotton industry. The cotton manufacturers were so successful in their factories that in all parts of Canada the people ruahtd into the manufacture of cotton, the constijuenco being that more of the article was produced than wjis consumed A RKMEDY FOR THAT HAS BEEN FOUND, HOWEVER, IN THE BUILDING OF THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY. (Loud cheers and laughter.) No ! Not so 1 The remedy they have found has been in combination, in an AGREEMENT AMONG THE MANUFACTURERS to advance prices, and perhaps to limit production, and so i.ve are all called upon by a rapid rise, nay, by several rapid rises^ of prices, to contribute to pay dividends on millions of capital need- lessly expended in order to create a power of production in excess of the consuming power of the country. It is clear now that home 430 competition in this and in other caHos cannot bo Jepcndctl on to keep down prices ; and the onl^ safeguard, both for the manufac- turers theui.seivc.j, who have witno.s.scd in tlicso instances the di«. astrous results of lii;,di jtrotection, and for the general public, who, in the early stage of inade(iuate supply, anps. Sir John Macdonald said, in 1876 : — My hon. friends laughed a good deal at the expression '* Incidental protec- tion." They say it is a contradiction in terms. It is not so. It will be ad- mitted, I think, that the increase of taritf from 15 to 17| per cent, was a revenue increase imposed for the purpose of raising $3,0u0,000. It was a revenue tariff, but was it not incidental protection to our manufacturers to the extent of 2^ per cent. ? It raised a revenue of $3,000,000, and INCIDENTALLY PROTECTED OUR MANUFACTURERS to that extent, and I would venture to say that if the Government had come down with what was understood to be the./ policy — an increase of the tariff to 20 per cent. — it would have caused a substantial increase in the revenue, and been an additional protection to our manufactures to that extent. It is true you may go beyond the proper limit in taxation. You may tax so high as to diminish consumption, and thereby not effect the purpose you desire. The more expensive you make an article, the greater the tendency to diminish consumption. But if you go to a certain point you increase the revenue and Srotect the interest of the manufacturer of the articles on which the increased uty is put. You may not get a revenue in proportion to the increase of duty, still there will be a positive increase, though not to the same extent, and by having that increased duty you give confidence to the manufacturer. You increase the wealth of the manufacturer and the prosperity of the work- (15) i't.': V- 434 ing classes, and you enable them thereby to consume other dutiable articlet that will more than make up any loss that may be experienced by the increase of duty, provided that increase be nut of such an ex^/ont as to be prohibitory and destroy the Collection of the duty for revenue purposes. Again, Sir John Macdonaid said in 1877 : — Although the Prime Minister (Mr. Mackenzie) is a free trader .... he has stated that it is not possible to introduce a free trade policy to the full extent, any more than it would be possible to introduce a policy of pro- tection to the (xtont demanded by its advocates. I had hoped that as he holds such an opinion, which agrees very much with my own, some attempt would have been made to steer a middle course ; that, while not abandoning the principles of free trade, but admitting that the case of this country was exceptional, and that free trade in the abstract would not be carried out satis- factorily to the fullest extent, the Government would have shown a disposi-^ tion to aid the impoverished national industries in their scheme of taxation. And Mr. Mackenzie in reply said : — My hon. friend has stated very correctly the position I have taken — that is, that we have not really the questions of protection and free trade as political principles of action to define or expose in this country. I beg you to weii^h those words of the Torj'- Ministers ; they are very important compared with later utterances. Now, the only commodities to which the men who pretend such alarm about a radical re- construction of the tariff point, as available sources of taxation, are tea and coffee, the duties on the breakfast table, which they impudently boast they have made free. They have not made it free ! Far from it 1 THE ODIOUS AND OPPRESSIVE character of the sugar duties has taken out of the consumer's pocket more than used to be taken out of sugar, tea, and coffee altogether. (Loud cheers.) And nothing but a grave emergency would justify a tariff which should on the mass of these articles seriously in- crease the consumer's charge. But at any rate, duties on tea and coffee would be little more than a drop in the bucket ; they have not produced more, if I rightly remember, than a million and a half. What is that out of twenty-two millions ? About one-fif- teenth part ! The main burden would, even were those duties added to the piesent exorbitant sugar duties, remain to be borne as now. So much for that. (Cheers.) Something, and something considerable, we may hope to effect by economy and retrench- ment ; but, after all, THE ENORMOUS PERMANENT CHARGE ■vrhich the Tories have imposed on us greatly limits tbc possibili- ties of reduction ; our work on this line must be largelv to put on (15)" 435 :et ler. lify lin- bve a Ifif- ,ies -ne lili- lon the brakes,and check the frightful rate of increase which the Tories have made systematic ; to check it, as Mr. Mackenzie succeeded in doing between 1874 and 1878, (Cheers.) And all we can do will still leave the necessary taxation far, far higher than it ought to be. It is enough to say that wc levied thirteen millions of Cus- toms duties in 1875, and the Tories fin 1 twenty-two millions ne- cessary now, an increase of near seventy per cent, in the volume of revenue from Customs ! I have only to repeat in the most em- phatic language my declaration that there is, in my judgment, no possibility of a change in that system of taxation which I have described, the necessary effect of which is to give a large and ample advantage to the home manufacturer over his competitor abroad, (Cheers.) Some may rejoice at this condition ; some may regret it ; but all candid and reasonable public men must admit that, after all, it is the condition ; and THIS IS THE VITAL QUESTION. (Cheers.) Such being the condition, we have repeatedly declared that the real issue is on some of the details of the tariff, whether it be perfect, or defective afTd unjust. Such being the condition, the aim of every man ought to be to make the best of the situa- tion, and to see that the tariff does as little harm or as much good as possible; is, as far as may be, fair and just; retards as little, or promotes as much as possible, the general welfare. (Cheers.) In 1882 we proposed certain changes which we thought suitable to the case. What was the case ? There was an enor- mous surplus of revenue, and there was every indication that the Tories intended to exhaust this surplus by extravagant increases of expenditure. We considered that sound principles of econ- omy and finance called for the reduction of the excessive surplus by a lowering of taxation, and not by an increase of expen- diture. (Loud cheers.) We thought there was room for a great reduction; we believed that advantage should be taken of the occasion, and we proposed certain reforms. What were they ? For their nature I refer you to the passages 1 have quoted from my address of 1882. Since that day marked changes have occurred. The predicted results of the Tory policy have been realized ; and the condition of the country in reference to manufactures, to in- vestments, and to transportation arrangements has also altered. No man should ignore in argument the results of these changes ; they CANNOT BE IGNORED IN ACTION. (Cheers.) I have not ignored them. Refer to the extract I have already read. There is nothing there — I could not honestly say (16) 436 anything — as to the removal of the tariff of duties having a pro- tective operation in order to the substitution of free trade. 1 have shown you that this was not possible before 1873 ; that it was not possible during Mr. Mackenzie's time ; that it was still less pos- sible in 1882 ; and that it is far, far less possible now even than it was in 1882. Tliat being so, I could not honestly propose to ac- complish the impossible. It is not said there — I could not honest- ly say now — that in the changed situation I should propose to execute all the details of all the suggestions of 1882 ; their principle was sound ; but their full execution seems to me no longer possible; and, therefore, 1 could not properly propose it now. Let m 3 repeat what I said the other day : — Therefore, the execution even of those measures ol loadjustment, which I suggested in that address, nad which we had proposed in Parliament in the pro- coding session, wouid be found muih more dillicult to-day by reasom of the changed condition of affairs. We have no longor a large surplus to dispute of — we have a large deficit, and a greatly increased scale of expenditure to meet. And it is clearer than ever that a very high scale of taxation must be retained, and that manufacturers have nothing to fear. Again : — 1 then declared that any readjustments Aould be eflfected with due regard to the legitimate interests of all concerned. In that phrase " all ooucerneii " I hope no one will object to my including as I do the general public. In any readjustment I maintain that we should. lo< k especially to such reduction of expenditure as may allow of a reduction of taxation, to the lightening of sec- tional taxes, to the lightening of taxes upon the prime necessaries of life, and upon the raw materials of manufacture, to a more equitable arrangement of the taxes which now bear unfaiily upon the poor as compared with the rich, to a taxation of luxuries just so high as will not thwart our object by greatly checking consumption, to the curbing of utonopolies of production in cases where by combination or otherwise the tarill' allows an undue and exorbitant profit to be exacted from consumers, and to the tffort — a most important point — to promote reciprocal trade with our neighbours to the south. Again : — It is clear that home competition in this and in other cases cannot be de- pended on to keep down prices ; and the only safeguard, both for the manu- \ facturers themselves, who have witnessed in these instances the disastrous I results of high protection, and for the general public, who, in the early stage of inadequate supply, and again in the present stage of ironclad combination, are calltd upon to submit it> the full burden imposed by the tariff, is to take care that the tariff is not so inordinately high that the monopolist, whether he is such by virtue of there being no other manufacturer or by virtue of a combination, shall have it in his power to take too much out of the general public. (Loud applause.) A great deal we must allow him to take, but the rates (as I have pointed out on former occasions), which this tariff in some industries allows to be taken, are altogether excessive and inordinate. You see that I directed attention to specified evils, those of inor- dinately high duties in certain cases, and of unjust duties as be- ds) 437 tween rich and poor, evils which I thought and think ought to be redressed as far as may now be possible, though our power even here is greatly limited. You observe that coming to details, I no longer, tor my own part, saw iny way to propose absolute freedom in commodities, which in 1882 might have been made free. Candor obliged me to speak, no longer of " abolition," but of a " lighten- ing," of taxes on some necessaries. That was all I thought now ])racticable, and the same idea I presented at Welland and else- where, when I spoke of the "reduction," and not of the "aboli- tion " of such taxes. As I shall show you presently, it is NO PART OF THE DUTY OF A MAN IN OPPOSITION to frame the details of a tariff, and if I depart even a little from that line for a moment, and express an opinion on one detail, it is only because in 1882, a specific proposal was made. I may say, then, that my personal opinion is that we should at all risks dis- pense with the odious and heavy tax on corn flour, upon which certain of the poorer classes in the East, who cannot afford wheat Huur, ai'e actually obliged to pay a heavier tax than their richer neighbours pay on their superior food. But as to wheat and wheat flour I think that the changed conditions point rather to a reduc- tion of duties, with a readjustment of the disproportion between the tax on wheat and that on flour, than to a total abolition ; and so of coal. Therefore it was, that being unable to promise any- thing which I did not see my way to perform, 1 spoke of " light- ening," of " reducing," rather than of abolishing this class of tax- ation. (Cheers.) I am not blind to the fact that in many cases the conditions of trade and manufacture, the investments of capital, the establishment of industries, the great and often over- ruling question of transportation rates, and other circumstances present important, complicated, and difficult problems, which must be grappled with before changes are made. Therefore, I declared the other day, when speaking of my plans : That is a modest programme, you may say, but I believe it to be an exten- sive programme, representing the full measure practicable of attainment, and which can be fulfilled only by much expenditure of time and thought, after full investigation, careful inquiry, and ample consideration of details and of the bearing of each proposal, witli the advantage of all those materials for forming a judgment on details, which are available ouly to men in othce. I am not going, as I told you, to attempt the task of making up a tariff in Opposition. It is impossible ! Sir John Macdonald bas acknowledged it. In 1878, Sir John said : — The First Minister (Mr. Mackenzie) very truly said some years ago, that they (the then Opposition) were not called upon to find a policy for the country; that the responsibility of finding such a policy rested with the Ministry of (16) 438 thtt i^ay ; and that the constitutional duty of the Opposition was to oriticisfl the • .iniatration and legislation uf the (luvernment, t« hold them in chock, to wai.. them when they were going wrong, to censure them when they had gone wrong, and generally to criticise and observe upon the course of admi- niatrution and legislation. If the Opposition chose to take a further stop, they niiig'ht do so certainly; but it is not forced upon them, and it is not forced upon them in reference to any subject. It is not forced upon the Opposition to find a new policy with regard to matters of revenue, and tariff, and expenditure ; they could not, of course, because they have not the power to do so. As fur as matters of tariff are concerned, it is impossible for the Opposition to enter into detailx, or explain before the House and the country their policy ; they have not the materials ; the Oovemmtnt alone ha.\o the opportunity, and the only opportunity of coUecti/g the facts upon which a tariff can be formed. The Finance Minister has already informed you that even with all the matiTialrt he has at hand, it is not an easy matter to form the tar.tf ; and it would be presumption in the Opposition to attempt to do so. 1 shall there- fore confine myself to general principles. I quite agreed in that view then, I act upon it now. I be- lieve that, even when in Government, time, investigation, in- quiry, a full opportunity to every Interest to state its views and bring forward its facts, an intelligent appreciation of the bearings of the case, as they exist at the time, and of the multiform con- ditions by which we are sui rounded, are absolutely essential pre- liminaiics to a decision upon details. And I will for my pai t NEVER CONSENT TO ANY CHANGE which shall not be preceded and justified by such inquiry. Our adversaries talk of us as about to act like a bull in a china shop, knocking down all the crockery on the shelves. (Laughter.) We have no such intention^ We have more sense. (Cheers.) What an absurdity it would be not to recognize existing facts, not to avail ourselves fully and freely, with frank and unprejudiced minds, of all the knowledge and all the experience which has been accumulating ; not to direct our course by the light so to be gained ! (Loud cheers.) Lastly, I have always recognized the GREAT IMPORTANCE OF STABILITY IN TARIFFS; it is one of the most material things. I have witnessed with pain and regret the constant tinkering with the tariff which has gone on for the last few years. Much of it might have been avoided by proper care and inquiry before action. 1 think changes sho.uld be as few and as infrequent as possible ; and should nevtr take place save to secure a substantial public good, or to remove a serious public evil. It is on this piinciple that I should deal with questions of change. (Cheers.) We have not, as I have often (15) 439 explained, any of the animosity charj^ed upon us ngainst manu facturers. Many of the most intelligent and prosperous manu- facturers are Reformers ; and, notwithstanding the STilKNUoUS AND SOMKTIMES UNWORTHY OPPOSITION of some of that class, we retain a kindly feeling and interest in its success. (Cheers.) We desire to give all due consideration to its legitimate interests. But, as I said the other day, we must consider the public interests; and where those interests may bo opposed to exorbitant demands of some members of a class, wo must decline such demand.. (Loud cheers.) I believe the true and permanent interests of the several classes are reasonably I'e- concilable. (Cheers.) This reconciliation should be our aim ; and we have shown our desire to subserve the real interests, at once of manufacturers and of the public at large, by striving for a re- duction of tlie duties on raw materials, and for facilities for ob- taining an enlarged market abroad, so as to provide the main re- ([uisites for cheap, regular, and profitable production — low-priced raw materials and a widely spread and iai'ge consumptive de- mand. (Cheers.) I have said that there are, even today, after all our losses of 78, many manufacturers in the Reform ranks ; and I believe that some of those who left us are now disposed to return. (Cheers.) We will welcome them back ! (Loud cheers.) But, in their desparation, the Tory i)arby has concerted a scheme under which a strenuous effort is now being ma.:.': ■■■'«■-!'. iV'l ... , .