338 POSSIBILITIES OF THE SITUATION 



It will be seen from this list that, with the exception 

 of the last three, all the items given relate to food- 

 supplies, and that, with the sole exception of maize, 

 all these food-supplies are of a kind capable of being 

 produced at home. Even omitting wheat, there still 

 remains a large assortment of other commodities, of 

 which we are, apparently, content to receive big con- 

 signments from abroad, instead of producing sufficiently 

 on our own account ; and though in our circumscribed 

 limits we might not be able to become absolutely self- 

 supporting in regard to all these things, we could 

 certainly produce them for ourselves in greatly in- 

 creased quantity. Some allowance must be made in 

 this list for 'early varieties,' imported before our home- 

 grown supplies are ready ; but even here the facts 

 already stated show that our drawbacks in regard to 

 climate can be readily overcome by a still greater 

 resort to glass-houses, provided that these are not 

 overburdened by local taxation. 



Whether or not, and, if so, to what extent, the home 

 producer should be aided in meeting all this foreign 

 competition by a resort to a protective policy, is a much- 

 disputed question upon which I have not sought here to 

 enter. But, while leaving my readers to their own 

 views on this most controversial of points, I would 

 make one assertion, at least, without fear of contradic- 

 tion : that, whether a policy of protective tariffs be 

 adopted or not, British producers could in many 

 cases, as the combined result of improved methods of 

 culture and of effective combination for the purposes of 

 cheaper production, cheaper transport, and better 

 marketing, secure such economies, or get such in- 

 creased prices, as would represent benefits equal, prob- 

 ably, to any that might result from such tariffs as even 

 the most protective of British Governments would be 



