ABSTRACT
The foreign policy pursued by Britain in the years preceding the Great War was in full accord with the principles laid down by Gladstone. Liberal policy of the past prepared the way for the ideal of a free British Commonwealth of partner nations; this is a Liberal conception, every step which has been taken towards its realization has been the work of Liberal statesmanship. Liberal Britain was in truth regarded as the staunchest supporter of freedom. It played its part, and more than its part, in the organization of Europe into a group of free and self-governing nations, which was the necessary foundation of further progress. The creation of an organized system of Public Health regulation was begun by a Liberal Act of 1848. For nearly seventy years Free Trade has been the cardinal principle of Liberal finance, and it is impossible to exaggerate the benefits which it has conferred upon the whole community.
