First published in 1903, this collects together speeches given by H.H. Asquith to refute the charge that those who defended Free Trade at the turn of the century were ignorant or indifferent to actual and potential economic forces, and also clung to obsolete conceptions of the Empire. The author intends to vindicate Britain's contemporaneous fiscal system, not as academic dogma, but as a concrete and living financial policy. In pursuit of this he undertakes to expose what he argues are the "blunders of fact and logic" of the new protectionist campaign, illustrated with extracts from the speeches of the Chancellor of the Exchequer Austen Chamberlain

H.H. Asquith

Prefatory Note; Speeches; I. Cinderford, October 8th, 1993 II. Newcastle-on-Tyne, October 24th, 1903 III. Paisley, October 31st, 1903 IV. Worcester, November 9th, 1903; Appendix; A. Extracts from Mr. Chamberlain's Speeches B. The 1872 Comparison