ce without friction or inconvenience by Conservative
administrations.

And if there is nothing new in the principle of valuation, still less
is there anything new or unexpected in the general principles
underlying the land proposals of the Budget. Why, Lord Rosebery
declared himself in favour of taxation of land values fifteen years
ago. Lord Balfour has said a great many shrewd and sensible things on
this subject which he is, no doubt, very anxious to have overlooked at
the present time. The House of Commons has repeatedly affirmed the
principle, not only under Liberal Governments, but--which is much more
remarkable--under a Conservative Government. Four times during the
last Parliament Mr. Trevelyan's Bill for the taxation of land values
was brought before the House of Commons and fully discussed, and twice
it was read a second time during the last Parliament, with its great
Conservative majority, the second time by a majority of no less than
ninety votes. The House of Lords, in adopting Lord Camperdown's
amendment to the Scottish Valuation Bill, has absolutely conceded the
principle of rating undeveloped land upon its selling value, although
it took very good care not to apply the principle; and all the
greatest municipal corporations in England and Scotland--many of them
overwhelmingly Conservative in complexion--have declared themselves in
favour of the taxation of land values; and now, after at least a
generation of study, examination, and debate, the time has come when
we should take the first step to put these principles into practical
effect. You have heard the saying "The hour and the man." The hour has
come, and with it the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

I have come to Scotland to exhort you to engage in this battle and
devote your whole energy and influence to securing a memorable
victory. Every nation in the world has its own way of doing things,
its own successes and its own failures. All over Europe we see systems
of land tenure which economically, socially, and politically are far
superior to ours; but the benefits that those countries derive from
their improved land systems are largely swept away, or at any rate
neutralised, by grinding tariffs on the necessaries of life and the
materials of manufacture. In this country we have long enjoyed the
blessings of Free Trade and of untaxed bread and meat, but against
these inestimable benefits we have the evils of an unreformed and
vicious land system. In no