130 THE MORAL ASPECT OF 



the long and hard road which leads through a reform of 

 manners. We seem to be looking for shorter cuts to 

 imperial welfare than that of moralising the people. And 

 we are likely to lose our labours. For, whatever may be 

 said of those who stir in the political waters, the better 

 mind of the people of this country knows full well that 

 human history, as it raises up and pulls down the nations 

 of the world, teaches one fact plainly amidst all the con- 

 fusion of its errant ways the fact, namely, that national 

 welfare, like individual well-being, rests in the last resort 

 upon moral foundations, and that the value of a policy, 

 old or new, fiscal or other, depends upon the way in which 

 it tells upon the morals of the people. Many of the 

 measures proposed in Parliament are such as not to involve 

 great consequences, or to imply new departures ; they 

 continue or perfect existing conditions. In such cases 

 disregard of the wider ethical issues is proximately harm- 

 less. But when, as in the present instance, questions are 

 raised which, as we are told, involve our whole material 

 welfare, our rank and place amongst civilised nations, and 

 even the unity of the Empire, it is not good or wise 

 statesmanship to leave out of consideration the most funda- 

 mental of all the conditions of our imperial well-being. 

 The importance of a change in our methods of inter- 

 national trading is in no wise denied. For my part, I 

 believe that to set up artificial barriers against free trade 

 would bring deeper poverty to the poor, widen the chasm 

 between them and the rich, bring more bitter social differ- 

 ences with the greater social inequalities, and complicate 

 our relations both with our dependencies and with foreign 

 nations. But, all the same, our ultimate destiny as a 

 people lies not in this fiscal province. France has been 



