Land Problems and National Welfare 



Free Trade, he said he could never place 

 Cobden or Bright on a very high pedestal, 

 for he remembered that Cobden was a cotton 

 manufacturer and wanted cheap cotton, and 

 that both Cobden and Bright voted against 

 Lord Shaftesbury's factory acts, which have 

 done so much to improve the condition of the 

 urban labourer. 



But to return to the subject before us. Be- 

 fore considering whether or not a tariff should 

 be imposed on all foodstuffs that can be pro- 

 duced within the United Kingdom, and if 

 imposed, what the effect would be on the 

 consumers — and in regard to foodstuffs, all non- 

 agriculturists must class as consumers — it is 

 necessary to ascertain what tariff is now paid 

 by every consumer who enters a shop and buys 

 from a retail dealer. In other words, what is 

 the amount of the tariff imposed at the present 

 moment by the middleman, and by our wasteful 

 methods of marketing ? 



I shall take one by one some of the chief articles 

 of consumption, and as far as possible show the 

 difference between the price the British pro- 

 ducer is paid for the articles and the price the 

 consumer has to pay. 



Tariff of 

 (i) English grown meat. Middleman. 



Mutton. Price paid by butcher for a 64 lb. 

 sheep, £1 17s. 4d. ; net amount realised by 

 butcher after paying cost- of distribution, 



202 



