FOREIGN MARKETS 145 



a promise of a still further increase in the consumption of wheat and 

 flour in China since the removal of likin, the duties already referred 

 to. More than that, the area of new wheat land available is some- 

 what limited, and the possibility of increasing the output upon the 

 acreage now under cultivation is not very large. With the growth 

 of population, land once used for wheat is found to be better adapted 

 to other uses and is removed from the wheat acreage. There is, 

 therefore, to be anticipated an increase in the demand in other places 

 which would partly offset any loss in the English markets, and a 

 tendency in the acreage under cultivation toward stability or possible 

 diminution. 



In the earlier speech above referred to, Mr. Chamberlain suggests 

 a duty of five per cent on flour, meats, and dairy products, but he 

 was inclined to exempt bacon on the ground that it was a " popular 

 food for some of the poorest of the population." This proposal is 

 not likely to work serious interference with the market for American 

 meats. Five per cent is scarcely a protective duty, especially with 

 the exemption of so important an item as bacon. The strictly pro- 

 tective features of Mr. Chamberlain's programme, such as the desire 

 to give a " substantial preference" to British flour-mills, to prevent 

 the " dumping " of surplus iron and steel manufactures from Amer- 

 ica on the English market, are also so moderate as not to be consid- 

 ered dangerous. The unavoidable restraint upon trade which the 

 re-establishment of any system of customs duties in England will 

 impose is more serious, perhaps, than the protectionists' proposals 

 themselves. Rapid as seems to be the growth of favor toward Mr. 

 Chamberlain's financial policy, no one can foresee the result at the 

 present time. 



SECTION 2 

 Tariff Reform in the United States 



The preliminary skirmishes for the present presidential campaign 

 in the United States gave rise to the expectation that, whichever 

 party might come into power in the next administration, an attempt 

 would be made at a revision of the tariff in the United States. The 

 temper of both conventions, however, excluded from the platforms 

 any expression upon this important subject which made any definite 

 promises; the Republicans contenting themselves with the general 

 statement that if any tariff reform is to be undertaken, it would be 

 safer to intrust it to the hands of the friends of protection than to its 

 enemies; and the Democrats outlining a no more definite scheme for 

 revision than might develop from their free-trade traditions. As the 

 complexion of the Senate makes Republican control for some time 

 to come a certainty, any revision of the tariff must necessarily be 



