i;xtki;N( ii.\ii;.\i m' l^■ln•s'l•R^■. 34^:5 



The first duty is with the State, but in(H\i(lual eni])loyers. firms, 

 and eonipanies are under definite obHj^ations to take back their 

 enipkiyees. For the men whose billets are not secured the ])ro- 

 bleni may j)resent some difficulties. The staiYs of some concerns 

 aie more elastic than others, and the nature of the business, too. 

 is an important factor. It is to be expected, and the public 

 should see to it, that employers fulfil their obligations to returned 

 soldiers previously in their service, and public opinion must 

 force uixin the Government the necessity of making^ provision in 

 time for men to go on the land under suitable conditions afTord- 

 ing prospects of comfort and success for them and their families. 



No more suitable time could be chosen for a deep study 

 «if the (juestions which so vitally afifect our destiny as a nation. 

 Wealth destruction is taking place on a scale of appalling mag- 

 nitude, and the reckoning has yet to come. To a perilous extent 

 we are as a nation living on capital and borrowings — not on our 

 current income — and the only means of restoring the balance is 

 greater productiveness, the fullest employment of skilled labour 

 and natural resources in the creation of new wealth. 



The obstacles that have ,so long stood in the path of South 

 African progress must be examined anew, and if the engineering 

 skill of Parliament shrinks at the task of removing them, we 

 must dynamite them out of the way by the explosive force of 

 an aroused, enlightened and courageous public opinion. 



I shall leave to others the task of stating how best the land 

 l>roblems may be solved, and shall seek to indicate the lines on 

 which the development of our industries should proceed. And 

 here I will make a declaration of my fiscal faith. I am a Pro- 

 tectionist by conviction, by interest, and by saturation with the 

 exi)eriences of a long and varied business career, confirming 

 year by year more positively and completely that Protection is 

 the best and the only sure road ak)ng which South Africa can 

 travel towards permanent prosperity and the fulfilment of her 

 aspirations as a nation. 



Free Trade, as understood and practised in Britain, is the 

 most dangerous doctrine of the twentieth century. It is the 

 ])latform of the flatulent demagogue, and is the main cause of 

 the present devastating war, the buttress of the Liberal party in 

 England, and the hoj)e of Germany. Britain is the dumping- 

 ground of all Protectionist countries. Free Trade and low 

 wages have brought about the practical extinction of the agri- 

 cultural classes by their diversion to cities and towns, and, if 

 this policy is persisted in, will assuredly put the British under 

 the sway of their present enemies, and the present neutral 

 nations ; and even our present allies will impose upon us their 

 industrial superiority, unless Britain and her Colonies permit 

 only practical statesmen to rule instead of theoretical and insin- 

 cere politicians. 



Internal development of industries has enabled Germany to 

 defy the Allied armies for two years. (Germany, by her far- 

 seeing policy of industrial development on scientific lines, has 



