OCR Text |
Show CHAMBERLAIN PARTY HOLDS WHIP HANDLE LONDON, March 10. During last night's session of the House, Duncan Dun-can V. Pirle, Liberal, after calling attention at-tention to the public utterances of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Austin Chamberlain, and other members of the Government, on the fiscal question, moved "that this House, noting the continued agitation in favor of protective protec-tive or preferential tariffs, which is encouraged en-couraged by the language used by certain cer-tain of His Majesty's Ministers, deem it necessary to express its condemnation condemna-tion of any such policy." Mr. Pirie's motion was debated for three hours, and the arguments covered mainly the previous ground of fiscal discussion. Mr. Pirie's motion was finally rejected reject-ed by ZS9 votes to 243, and loud opposition oppo-sition cheers greeted the reduction the Government majority. A number of Free Food Unionists supported Mr. Pi- rle, and some Protectionists abstained from voting. The fiscal controversy took on a new phase which showed the strength of the Chamberlalnites' party. As an offset to 'the motion made in the House of Commons by Mr. Pirle, Premier Balfour put up a conservative member of the House, John Uoyd Wharton, to move an amendment "approving "ap-proving the Ministerial declarations of the fiscal policy, as including neither a general system of protection, nor preference pre-ference based on the taxation of food." Chamberlalnites to the number of 100 held a hurried and informal meeting last evening, and, as a result, they intimated in-timated to the Government that unless the Wharton amendment be withdrawn they would abstain from voting on the Pirie motion. As this would almost certainly have led to the defeat of the Government Mr. Wharton'suamendment was withdrawn. The incident proves that Premier Balfour Bal-four dan hold office only by consent of the pronounced Protectionists. f |