April i, 1885.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



747 



buys nearly three times as much from France as she sells 

 to that country, and the same is rapidly becoming true 

 of Germany. 



TliADF. WITH AMERICA. 



"With the United States matters are still worse. In 

 1831 your country sent more than 500,000,000 dols. worth 

 of goods to Great Britain and Ireland, and purchased 

 from the latter less than 150,000,000 dols. worth. It is 

 very clear that this kind of trading cannot last much 

 longer without ruining same one, and the English people 

 have nearly made up their minds that it is time it should 

 be stopped. They say if the United States will not buy 

 from us we will not buy from them, but we will form a 

 customs league with our colonies and keep the trade 

 within the Empire." 



" But do the colonies produce everything that England 

 needs?" 



"Everything; they embrace more than seven and a half- 

 million square miles aud have a population of about three 

 hundred million souls. They include territory in every 

 climate and in each of the great continents. There is not 

 an article that England requires that cannot be produced 

 as cheaply in her colonies as in any foreign country. 

 Look at the list of British imports. The six principal 

 articles are flour and grain, raw cotton, wool, sugar, wood 

 and timber, and tea. To these should be added other 

 food products, such as live animals, meats, eggs, and fish. 

 As for flour and grain India, Australia, New Zealand, 

 Cauada, and Egypt, which is virtually a British colony, 

 will supply England with all she needs. Speaking as a 

 Canadian, I may say that our exports of grain to the 

 United Kingdom could be increased threefold in a couple of 

 years. The surplus of wheat in Manitoba for export this 

 yeari is six million bushels, and in three years it will be 

 sixty millions if tho scheme of Imperial federation is 

 carried out, as it will be. I expect to see the day, and 

 not a very distant one either, when not one bushel of 

 grain will go from the United States to England." 



AMERICAN COTTON. 



" But can England do without American cotton ?" 

 " Oh, yes ; I know that there is an impression to the 

 contrary, but it is not correct. Long stapled cotton can 

 now be produced bettf.r in the Southern States than 

 elsewhere, but that is no reason why this should always 

 be so. India now produces a great deal of cotton for the 

 English market, and could produce much more. Cotton 

 is now grown in Queensland with success, and the whole 

 of Northern Australia is a cotton growing region. Cot- 

 ton is also grown in the Fiji Islands, in Natal, and largely 

 in Egypt, which sends annually about 30,000,000 dols. 

 worth to England. The production in all these countries 

 could be increased to meet the demands of England's cotton 

 mills. Ai for the other articles which England imports 

 you will hardly need my assurance that all the wool, sugar, 

 meats, and timber that England needs can be produced 

 in the British colonies. Tea is now grown with great suc- 

 cess in India, the export to England being upwards of 

 10,000,000 dols. and the area of production could be in- 

 creased to almost any extent. So you see that all that 

 England needs is to be found within the bounds of the 

 British Empire." 



INDUCEMENT TO CANADA. 



" But what inducement is there for Canada to enter 

 such a customs union as you speak of?" 



"Why, every inducement. Take the single article of 

 lumber, Eugland annually imports about 70,000,000 dols. 

 worth, of which less than 20,000,000 dols worth goes from 

 Canada. 1'nder Imperial federation all, or nearly all, 

 would go from Canada. Under the proposed scheme the 

 exports of Cauada would increase threefold in lumber, 

 grain, animals and their products, minerals and fish, for 

 in connection with the other British colonies, she would 

 take the trade that is now possessed by the United States. 

 England and her colonies are uow your best customer?. 

 Three-fourlhs of the exports of the United States uow go 

 to them, but allthiswillcea.se under Imperial federation, 

 and you will have to find a market elsewhere. I see your 

 Government is making groat efforts to obtain more trade 

 with Spain, South America, and St. Domingo. It would, 

 perhaps, have been as well to pay some attention to the 

 trade with the British colonies. The St. Domingo trade 

 will be but a poor return for tho loss of the trade of Canada. 



Perhaps you think that these ideas are impracticable ; 

 you will know better presently. Some of the abltst and 

 best minds iu England are enlisted in this movement, 

 which is destined to produce a greater commercial revol- 

 ution than anything that has happened since the repeal 

 of the Corn Laws. After all, England in adopting this 

 policy, will only be using the weapons of her rivals, but 

 in a larger field and with more deadly effect." 



It has been shown recently how under the present 

 system of Free Trade the British consumer stands in 

 much the same position to the fruits of the toil of the 

 producers over the face of the earth that the British 

 landlord is shown by Mr. George to hold towards 

 the British worker. With the new Franchise Bill 

 actually passed, by virtue of which the British con- 

 sumer becomes de facto master of the position in re* 

 gard to future legislation, at least for the United 

 Kingdom, it is hardly credible, whatever might be the 

 merits of the arguments pro and con., that he will con- 

 sent to part with one iota of the advantages of the 

 position secured to him by the freedom of trade with 

 all producing countries. 



It may be assumed then that the notion of an 

 Imperial British Zollverein is little more than a 

 brillant dream, not likely to be realized in the future. 

 On tho contrary, fiom amidst the stir of expectation 

 caused by the passing of the new Franchise Act, there 

 arise some notes which portend a change rather in 

 the opposite direction. In the city of London posters 

 are to be seen explaining " How we are robbed." 

 "The rich man's shilling's worth of chnmpagne is 

 taxed at Ad. The poor man's shilling's worth of tea 

 is taxed at 7d." Simultaneously a cabinet minister 

 is heard speaking ominously of a necessity of the 

 revision of the system of taxation, his remarks point- 

 ing in the direction of heavy increased direct tax- 

 ation on accumulated wealth. 



Apart from general political considerations our Ceylon 

 planters will rejoice to think that attention is being 

 drawn to the position of tea as a source of revenue. 

 By the course of events it has drifted into being 

 the one mainstay of the British Customs outside of 

 alcohol aud tobacco. In 1884 the duty collected on 

 tea amounted to £4,26S,448, a sum which must be 

 fully half the wholesale market value of all the tea 

 consumd during the year in the United Kingdom. 

 The l^aps and bounds in the revenue which so 

 gladdened the heart of the present Prime Minister 

 and enabled him in years gone by to make nearly 

 a clean sweep of the articles in the Customs Tariff, 

 and which even ten years back were sufficiently 

 high to allow Sir S. Northcote to abolish the sugar duties, 

 unfortunatfly died to nothing before the turn of tea 

 came — and uow for 10 years past in this country of 

 boasted free trade there has been the spectacle of 

 an import duty on one article of almost universal 

 consumption, increasing each year, as the price of the 

 article has fallen, in proportion to the value, till it 

 Btauds at the present time as a tax of 50 per cent. 



Strangely enough there has as yet been found 

 no one among those interested, bold enough seri- 

 ously to attack so glaiing an anomaly. No doubt 

 the difficulties in the way of the repeal of this duty 

 at present are such as to mike the weakest Chancellor 

 of the Exchequer obstinate. Imperial responsibilities 

 all over the face of the globe are daily increasing, 

 and with increased responsibilities come inevit- 

 ably increased expenditure. At home the mscent 

 Democracy ever calls on the leaders of affairs for more 

 ample provision in the way of what has been aptly 

 termed "grandmotherly" government, while on the 

 other hand day by day the people are learning sobriety 

 aud decline to contribute the same sums as formerly 

 to the revenue on wines and spirits and other al- 

 coholic drinks. This is clearly not a favourable time 

 for the abolition of productive duties. 



