PROBLEMS OF EMPIRE.
tobacco, is advantageous to the population of Ireland, although it may be advantageous to the population of the United Kingdom, looked at as a whole. It may even, perhaps, be said that just as Ireland suffered in the last century from the protective and exclusive commercial policy of Great Britain, so she has been at a disadvantage in this century from the adoption of an almost unqualified free-trade policy for the United Kingdom.' The above, Sir, are some of the reasons why I believe our fiscal policy should be reconsidered. The principles of free trade, as conceived and as enunciated by Cobden, may be admitted to be sound; but blind adherence to a travesty of those principles without regard to altered conditions may imperil, not only the unity of the Empire, but our very existence as a nation. Mr. Chamberlain is entitled to the respect of even his political opponents for his courage in raising the question, and both he and Mr. Balfour appear to me to deserve the thanks of every Englishman for the manner in which they have placed it before the country.
Your obedient Servant,
T. A. BRASSEY.
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