EMPIRE 85 



our metal needs the Dominions could now satisfy almost 

 entirely by sending us the whole of their production ; 

 and of the rest many of our requirements could largely 

 be met from the Dominions if the difficulties of trans- 

 port were overcome. 



Petroleum. — No petroleum comes to the United 

 Kingdom from Canada, Australia or New Zealand. Oil 

 is found in Australia and in New Zealand, where at 

 one spot there was produced as much as a million 

 gallons ; but the cost of production hitherto has been 

 too great. Canada holds out the hope of suppljdng the 

 United Kingdom's needs in petroleum. The Commis- 

 sioners say that ' no other part of the North American 

 Continent gives such promise of new oil fields as the 

 basin of the Mackenzie River in Canada,' and as this 

 region is unexplored they urgently recommend that a 

 complete survey of it should be made as early as possible. 



General summary. — It appears that the three 

 Dominions are capable of supplying very nearly all the 

 necessary imports of the United Kingdom. The condi- 

 tions requisite for their being able to do so vary with 

 the categories of articles. The first and largest category 

 requires merely an access of population ; the second 

 besides population calls for attention to be devoted to 

 the production ; while the third category demands 

 attention in a higher degree. The fourth category, in- 

 volving as it does the establishment of new industries, 

 raises special difficulties, which however are capable 

 of being overcome. The fifth category comprises not 

 objects of agricultural production from the soil— a 

 matter amenable to human ingenuity — but of extrac- 

 tion from the earth, a prior condition of whose pro- 

 duction is their presence. It appears however from the 

 foregoing survey that the mineral deposits of the three 

 Dominions are largely adequate for the supply to the 

 United Kingdom of the minerals which she now obtains 

 from other countries. 



