"[A]s I have been challenged and pressed so closely by Mr. Gladstone upon this subject, I will venture to say that I do not believe you can have economical government in a country in where the Chief Minister piques himself upon disregarding the interests of the country abroad... [T]he most economical Government we ever had in England was the Government of the Duke of Wellington. Why was that Government so economical? Because the Duke of Wellington paid the greatest possible attention of any Minister who ever ruled in this country to the interests and business of England abroad. (Hear, hear.) He attended to them so successfully and so sedulously that during his administration we were not involved in expensive wars; we did not get into difficulties in which we were obliged to have recourse to expensive arbitration...and I repeat it was essentially by his attention to foreign affairs, and by his knowledge of foreign affairs...that he was able to make his an economical Government and had not to appeal, as has been our custom of late, for increased armaments. (Hear, hear.) Now, Mr. Gladstone's view of economy, or, rather, the view of his party and of the school he represents, is of another kind. He says, "The English people do not care for their affairs abroad—I do not much care for them myself—but I must have economy (laughter); I must discharge dockyard workmen; I must reduce clerks; I must sell the Queen's stores (laughter); I must starve the Queen's services; I must sell the accumulations of timber in the dockyards and arsenals; I must sell all the anchors belonging to the Navy (laughter); I must sell"—we were selling them off last year—"half the ships of Her Majesty's Navy." (Cheers and laughter.) ... Now, gentlemen, that is the economy of which Mr. Gladstone is so proud."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Prime Ministers of the United KingdomPoliticians from EnglandNovelists from EnglandEssayists from EnglandJews from the United Kingdom
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Speech in the Farmers' Ordinary at the Swan Hotel, Newport Pagnell (4 February 1874), quoted in The Times (5 February 1874), p. 5
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Disraeli
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Benjamin Disraeli
1804 – 1881
britischer Politiker
393 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Benjamin Disraeli →
Related Quotes
"To supervise people, you must either surpass them in their accomplishments or despise them."
"Ärlighet varar längst."
"I have brought myself, by long meditation, to the conviction that a human being with a settled purpose must accomplis…"
"The choicest pleasures of life lie within the ring of moderation."
"John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich: "Foote, I have often wondered what catastrophe would bring you to your end; but I…"
"If it is not necessary to change, it is necessary not to change."
"Moderation has been called a virtue to limit the ambition of great men, and to console undistinguished people for the…"
"Let the fear of a danger be a spur to prevent it: he that fears otherwise, gives advantage to the danger."
"Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most."
"Seeing much, suffering much, and studying much, are the three pillars of learning."