ss,
and of the younger men of capacity who came upon the scene practically
all were on the side of free trade. The stars in their courses fought
against him, for, from 1903 onward, British trade began to flourish as
never, or rarely ever, before. In the elections of 1906, though other
issues were also factors in the result, the sweeping victory of the
Liberals was mainly a triumph for free trade.

In Canada, also, at the outset, Mr Chamberlain's proposals were widely
welcomed. He was personally popular. The majority of Canadians
believed in protection. Some of those who did not were ready to
recognize the value of a preference in the British market. Yet as the
full implications of the proposal became clear, and as the British
free-trader made good his case, opinion in Canada became {275} as
divided as in Great Britain. It was realized that it was one thing for
Canada to give a reduced tariff, leaving the fiscal system protective
still, and quite another for Great Britain to abandon entirely her
free-trade policy in order to be able to give preferential rates to
colonies or to low-tariff foreign states. Canadian manufacturers gave
the movement a warm but vague welcome; it soon became clear that Mr
Chamberlain was much mistaken in supposing they were prepared to
relinquish any corner of the Canadian market to British manufacturers.
They declared officially that they would not favour an increase in the
British preference even on articles not made in Canada: 'we were not
prepared to admit that there was any article that could not at some
point in Canada, and in time, be successfully manufactured.'[1] They
were, however, fully prepared to give British manufacturers lower rates
than American, provided that both rates were high enough. The farmer,
who chiefly was to profit, did not appear eager for the boon of a
preference in the British market, so far as farm journals and farmers'
organizations represented his view. He would be glad {276} to have
higher prices for his wheat or stock, but did not want the British
workman to pay a halfpenny a loaf to bribe him to remain in the Empire.

To some extent opinion followed party lines. The Conservative party
had consistently supported reciprocal preference and opposed the
Laurier-Fielding free gift. The Liberals had defended that preference
as in itself a benefit to the Canadian consumer, and had deprecated
higgling with Great Britain. They would be glad to receive a