Political Economy and the Land 



years supplied the wants of the populations of 

 hemispheres ! This fact, I think, has caused the 

 importance of the foreign market to be ex- 

 aggerated out of all proportion and to the com- 

 parative neglect of the home market, but when 

 figures are consulted it is clear that 75% of our 

 total output is taken by our home market, and 

 25% exported. So that measures that will in- 

 crease the purchasing power of our home 

 population to the extent of 5% will benefit the 

 nation as much as a 15% increase in the export 

 trade. 



But the importance of the home market will 

 undoubtedly be forced upon us more and 

 more by the huge development of American 

 manufactories. 



There the output is not limited by the unwise 

 regulation of Trades' Unions to the extent that 

 it is in England. 



According to Mr. Peirse in his book on "Free 

 Trade for America," there are just 5,000,000 

 operators employed in the American factories as 

 against 5,200,000 in England; yet the former, 

 owing to freedom from restraint, the incentive 

 of high wages, and the use of every possible 

 labour-saving machine, produce annually just 

 twice as much as their English confreres ! And 

 the limit to their productive power is not yet in 

 sight. 



The advent of this tremendous industrial 

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