Vice Versa - The Old Chancellor and the New Mr Gladstone's most genuine triumphs as a politician were won as Chancellor of the Exchequer when a sagacious Chanellor might occupy himself in the agreeable task of simplifying and lightening taxation . Matters are very different now , for we are always haunted by the war spectre . It is at this gloomy time that the Chancellorship has been conferred upon Lord Randolph Churchill , whose duties have hitherto been combative rather than fiscal . 1886