ESSAYS IN PERSUASION
PART
326
living political issue, by an accident. Therewere always two arguments for Free Trade —the laissez-faire argument which appealed andstill appeals to the Liberal individualists, andthe economic argument based on the benefitswhich flow from each country’s employing itsresources where it has a comparative advantage.I no longer believe in the political philosophywhich the Doctrine of Free Trade adorned. Ibelieve in Free Trade because, in the long runand in general, it is the only policy which istechnically sound and intellectually tight.
But take it at the best, can the Liberal Partysustain itself on the I,and Question, the DrinkQuestion, and Free Trade alone, even if itwere to reach a united and clear-cut programmeon the two former? The positive argument forbeing a Liberal is, at present, very weak. Howdo the other parties survive the positive test?
The Conservative Party will always have itsplace as a Die-Hard Home. But construc-tively, it is in just as bad case as the LiberalParty. It is often no more than an accident oftemperament or of past associations, and not areal difference of policy or of ideals, which nowseparates the progressive young Conservativefrom the average Liberal. The old battle-cries are muffled or silent. The Church, theAristocracy, the Landed Interests, the Rights ofProperty, the Glories of Empire, the Pride ofthe Services, even Beer and Whisky, will neveragain be the guiding forces of British politics.