ABSTRACT
It would have been perhaps wiser if the general had lain in his trenches snugly, and had waited to see whether starvation would do its work upon the garrison which he supposed to be famishing. As it was, he demonstrated in the open, attracted attention by his glad feu-de-joie, and revealed his position with unforeseen results. Their second ground for such a forecast was to be discovered in the Budget of 1908, also introduced by Mr. Asquith. In spite of the fact that we were on the ebb tide of business, he dealt with the sugar duties, imposed by Sir Michael Hicks Beach to meet war expenses, as that statesman's method of "broadening the base". In the certainty that, counting large extra demands for the Navy and the great cost of Old Age Pensions, there would be a huge deficit in the coming Budget, and that Free Trade would be brought to bay, Mr. Balfour addressed a great meeting.
