CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN
and fewer of them? No, sir, if peace and re- trenchment were the order of the day, Othello's occupation would be gone. Expenditure calls for taxes, and taxes are the plaything of the tariff reformer. Militarism, extravagance, protection are weeds which grow in the same field, and if you want to clear the field for honest cultivation you must root them all out. For my own part, I do not believe that we should have been con- fronted by the specter of Protection if it had not been for the South African War.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, so much for peace : so much for economy — two cardinal Liberal principles. And here is another — self-govern- ment and popular control. We believe in that principle, not only on the grounds of justice and on the grounds of effective administration, but on this other ground : that it exercises a wholesome influence on the character of the people who en- joy the privilege. But now this is the foundation of our educational policy : that the people of the district should control and manage the schools. It is the foundation of our licensing policy. But if I seek for illustrations, why did I not take the greatest and most conspicuous of all — a crowning instance? What other than this is the foundation of our Irish policy — that those domestic affairs which concern the Irish people only and not our- selves should, as and when opportunity offers, be placed in their hands? Down to last spring we had reason to believe that even the late gov- ernment and their party had come round to see 235
�� �
