eaving the cabinet and embarking on his fiscal campaign he showed
real devotion to an idea. In championing the cause of imperial fiscal
union, by means involving the abandonment of a system of taxation which
had become part of British orthodoxy, he followed the guidance of a
profound conviction that the stability of the empire and the very
existence of the hegemony of the United Kingdom depended upon the
conversion of public opinion to a revision of the current economic
doctrine. There were doubtless miscalculations at the outset as to the
resistance to be encountered. But from the purely party point of view he
was entitled to say that he followed the path of loyalty to Mr Balfour
which he had marked out from the moment of his resignation, and that he
persistently, refused to be put in competition with him as leader. Even
in the absence of the new issue, defeat was foredoomed for Mr Balfour's
administration by the ordinary course of political events; and it might
fairly be claimed that "Chinese slavery," "passive resistance," and
labour irritation at the Taff Vale judgment (see TRADE UNIONS) were
mainly responsible for the Unionist collapse. Time alone would show
whether the system of free imports could be permanently reconciled with
British imperial policy or commercial prosperity. It remained the fact
that Mr Chamberlain staked an already established position on his
refusal to compromise with his convictions on a question which appeared
to him of vital and immediate importance.

Mr Chamberlain's own activity in the political field was cut short in
the middle of the session of 1906 by a serious attack of gout, which was
at first minimized by his friends, but which, it was gradually
discovered, had completely crippled him. Though encouragement was given
to the idea that he might return to the House of Commons, where he
continued to retain his seat for Birmingham, he was quite incapacitated
for any public work; and this invalid condition was protracted
throughout 1907, 1908 and 1909. But he remained in the background as the
inspirer and adviser of the Tariff Reformers. The cause made continuous
headway at by-elections, and though the general election of January 1910
gave the Unionists no majority it saw them returned in much increased
strength, which was chiefly due to the support obtained for tariff
reform principles. Mr Chamberlain himself was returned unopposed for
West Birmingham again. (H. Ch.)

CHAMBERLA