Land TVohlcms and National Welfare 



important part of all, but to which full effect 

 cannot be given unless the reform is intro- 

 duced on sound lines, i.e., by not only accepting 

 the proposition of taxing the food supply of 

 Great Britain, but of taxing it in such a way 

 as materially to benefit our primary indus- 

 try. The imperial side is so well given in 

 "Constructive Imperialism," by Lord Milner, 

 who has an equally firm belief in the import- 

 ance of the agricultural industry, and a thorough 

 grasp of the reforms needed to improve the 

 social condition, that every one interested in 

 the question should read it, if he has not 

 already done so, without delay. 



The taxation of foodstuffs, then, should be 

 the starting point for the new tariff, and this 

 would be extended as speedily as possible to 

 other industries which have been severely 

 damaged or practically exterminated by unfair 

 foreign competition. There are many industries 

 that would come into this category — glass- 

 making and bleaching, for instance, the first 

 two which present themselves to my mind. 



But there are other industries where the 

 tariff should be imposed only after careful 

 examination, and any industry that is in a 

 very flourishing condition should be left alone, 

 at all events for the time being ; for the advent 

 of a tariff would necessitate a certain amount 

 of readjustment in the placing of the articles 



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