At a meeting of the Executive Committee held on the 15th May the resolution was passed in these words: That while maintaining its traditional policy of neutrality in all matters affecting tariffs and fiscal arrangements, the Council of the League have pleasure in resolving that it will do everything in its power to provide facilities for Colonel Denison, the distinguished President of the League in Canada, to express publicly his views before the Chambers of Commerce and other important bodies in this country. This resolution was published in the newspapers, and the action of the Council was known to the Liberal leaders. On the 7th May I dined at the Annual Banquet of the Newspaper Society, and responded to the toast of "The Guests," where I had an admirable opportunity of bringing my proposition before a large number of editors of newspapers from all over Great Britain. The Aberdeen _Journal_ commenting upon this dinner said:-- Perhaps the most interesting speech of the evening was the last one. It was delivered by Colonel Denison, a Canadian, and President of the Empire League in Canada. He stated that he had been sent over to this country to do what he could to promote a movement for the defence of the Empire, and indicated that one of the proposals to be discussed at the Colonial Conference at the coronation would be one to impose a duty on foreign imports at every port in the Empire, in order to raise an Imperial Defence Fund common to the whole Empire. He said the duty might be 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 per cent. There was one exclamation of dissent when this proposal was mentioned, but Colonel Denison's breezy, confident manner, and evidently strong conviction on the subject, excited general sympathy. Lord Tweedmouth's attitude during the Colonel's speech, as it may be described, suggesting an Imperial war tax, was rather quizzical than sympathetic. By this time the newspapers were beginning to notice my work. Fortunately for me about the same time Mr. Seddon had been speaking on similar lines in South Africa, and Sir Wilfrid Laurier also in the Canadian House of Commons. This alarmed the Liberal party, and the _Manchester Guardian_ began to criticise and find fault with me to my great satisfaction, for I knew I could stand anything better than being ignored. A friend of mine in the Liberal ranks told me about this time that the leading Liberals were in a great state of anxiety at my work. They believed, he said, that Chamberlain, Seddon, and Sir Wilfrid Laurier had all agreed that the scheme was to be put through at the Imperial Conference, and that I had come over as an advance agent, to break the ice, to open the discussion, and prepare the way. I evaded making any definite reply to this suggestion, jokingly saying that I was not surprised to hear that they were anxious.