Land Problems and National Welfare 



tariff. This is an important point for those who 

 have to put Tariff Reform before the minds of 

 working men. 



There is one more doctrine, held by Free 

 Traders, that I must comment upon before bring- 

 ing this chapter to a close. 



It is very commonly said that a large excess 

 of imports over exports is a sign of the wealth of 

 a country. This is undoubtedly true, but it is 

 not a sign that the capital of the country is in- 

 vested to the best advantage of the nation or of 

 the whole empire. The excess of imports 

 represents interest on capital invested abroad, 

 undoubtedly as a rule to the benefit of the 

 financier, but by no means necessarily to the 

 benefit of the empire : millions go to develop 

 foreign countries while our colonies are crying 

 out for more capital. 



On paper England is still the richest country 

 in the world in proportion to her population, but 

 the money is not well distributed. If ten square 

 miles in an entirely rural district in England 

 were compared with a similar area in France or 

 Germany, there is no doubt that the average 

 wealth of the people in such an area would prove 

 far higher on the continent than it is here. 



The wealth of England has become too much 

 centralized in the small class of financiers living 

 in the great cities, and one of the best methods 

 of securing a better distribution of money 



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