Watson attempted to form an alliance with the Liberal Protectionists in June 1904, but was rebuffed. Deakin felt that the power of the Protectionists would be diminished by Labor's party discipline. He elaborated on his decision-making in an August speech to the National Political League, a newly anti-socialist organisation in Ballarat. His speech did not attack the government on policy grounds but condemned the ALP's principles of caucus solidarity and organisational control over the parliamentary party. He saw himself as a progressive liberal torn between conservative obstructivism on one hand and Labor's materialist collectivism on the other. Two days later "The Age", edited by his friend David Syme, published a scathing editorial calling his speech "transcendental musings" and stating he had "lost himself in the clouds amongst politico-philosophical questions" instead of offering substantive leadership. This led to a major falling-out between the two, with Deakin writing to Syme that he had "been more deeply upset by this incident than by any during my political life".