What is the object of this system adopted by countries which, at all events, are very prosperous themselves—countries like Germany and other large Continental States? What is the object of all this policy of bounties and subsidies? It is admitted—there is no secret about it—the intention is to shut out this country as far as possible from all profitable trade with those foreign States, and at the same time to enable those foreign States to undersell us in British markets. That is the policy, and we see that it is assuming a great development, that old ideas of trade and free competition have changed. We are face to face with great combinations, with enormous trusts, having behind them gigantic wealth. Even the industries and commerce which we thought to be peculiarly our own, even those are in danger. It is quite impossible that these new methods of competition can be met by adherence to old and antiquated methods which were perfectly right at the time at which they were developed.
At the present moment the Empire is being attacked on all sides, and in our isolation we must look to ourselves. We must draw closer our internal relations, the ties of sentiment, the ties of sympathy—yes, and the ties of interest. If by adherence to economic pedantry, to old shibboleths, we are to lose opportunities of closer union which are offered us by our Colonies; if we are to put aside occasions now within our grasp; if we do not take every chance in our power to keep British trade in British hands, I am certain that we shall deserve the disasters which will infallibly come upon us.
This was the first public utterance of Mr. Chamberlain, in which he endorsed in general terms the policy I was advocating. In the remarks I have quoted, it will be seen that he endorsed the salient points of my five minutes’ speech a fortnight before at the Royal Colonial Institute. Political jealousy, commercial rivalry, the pitiless commercial war, the ties of sentiment, the ties of interest, the keeping of British trade in British hands, etc. Nothing inspirited me so much as this speech. I had preserved as a profound secret Mr. Chamberlain’s promise to me in 1890 that he would study up the question, and, if he came to the conclusion it would be a good thing for our Empire, that he would take it up. I had kept silent waiting for twelve years, until I read that speech on the morning of the 17th May, and I then told my wife the story of the interview in 1890, for I felt he had adopted the policy.
The Daily News, in two articles on the 22nd and 24th May, made an attack on Mr. Chamberlain and me, and found fault also with the British Empire League for giving me any countenance, and strongly criticised our policy. The first article was entitled “The Empire Wreckers.” I was delighted to see these articles, as well as others, in the Westminster Gazette, the Manchester Guardian, and other Liberal papers. I saw that my greatest difficulty had been overcome, and that I was not to be ignored, but that I was likely to succeed in getting the whole matter thrown into the arena for public discussion.
After quoting the proposition I was advocating in full, the Daily News went on to say:
We leave to others the task of finding the appropriate adjectives for this composition, but Colonel Denison will forgive us if we observe that there is a certain inconvenience in conducting a campaign of this kind during the coronation festivities. We have no notion whether he is acting as the advance agent of Mr. Seddon and others, whose views on tariff preferences are of an extreme character, nor do we know how far he speaks as the representative of his fellow-colonists. But he and those who are acting with him must surely see that this is not the time for launching a campaign which is bound to give rise to differences, and possibly to heated differences. Everyone is anxious to give a cordial welcome to the visitors who will be coming to our shores next month, and nothing would be more unfortunate than to find ourselves involved in a dispute about preferences and tariffs with our own people. . . .
There can be no doubt, however, that Mr. Chamberlain is the person primarily responsible for these proceedings, and it is with him that the Chambers of Commerce will have to deal if they wish to call their souls and their trade their own much longer. Ever since he came into office the master motive in Mr. Chamberlain’s mind has been to put the Empire on a cash basis, to run it frankly as a commercial venture, and to occupy the position of managing director of the concern. . . .
From the standpoint of national trade and Imperial security it is the maddest scheme that was ever offered to a country as a policy. It ignores the fact that we do four times as much trade with foreign countries as with our Colonies and Dependencies, and that it ties our hands in our fiscal arrangements, and to all intents and purposes constitutes our Colonies as the predominant partner. Who would have thought that it would be necessary at this time of day to do battle against such midsummer madness? We repeat that if Mr. Chamberlain is allowed his way, and the British Empire comes to stand for starvation, misery, and loss of economic freedom for the mother country, the Empire will soon become a thing of the past.
On the 24th May, two days later, it returned to the attack on similar lines. I saw my opening and promptly seized it. I wrote the following letter to the News, which they were fair enough to publish in full with an editorial note attached. It appeared in the Daily News of the 27th May, 1902: