t^ISCAL POLICY AND AGRICULTURE 333 



arguments in favour of securing prosperity to agricul- 

 ture, by some effective means, would remain un- 

 touched, because that industry, unlike any other, is a 

 vital element in the economy of a nation, the one on 

 which a country must depend for defence, health, 

 strength, and permanence. 



But the fiscal question has a close relationship to 

 that of cultivating ownership, both large and small, 

 and no scheme of tariff reform would have, or ought 

 to have, any chance of success which left our largest 

 industry — that of agriculture — out of account. Un- 

 fortunately, under our system of party politics, most 

 of the proposals, good or bad, of any Government, 

 are used by the Opposition to discredit and, if possible, 

 to defeat that Government. Accordingly Mr. Cham- 

 berlain's scheme for a review of our whole fiscal 

 system, which should have been treated as a great 

 national concern, has degenerated into a fierce party 

 question. 



The stock arguments, and the most popular ones, 

 used by those who are opposed to any form of protec- 

 tion for agriculture, are, that the policy of 1846 made 

 the food of the people cheaper, and that any interfer- 

 ence with that policy would bring back the dearth and 

 scarcity which it is falsely alleged then existed. These 

 so-called "free-traders" offer no explanation of the 

 fact, which they admit to the full, that notwithstanding 

 the " beneficent legislation " adopted more than half 

 a century ago, misery and want, to an appalling ex- 

 tent, exist in our midst at the present day. For 

 party purposes cries are adopted, such as " the big 

 loaf and the little loaf," " free food," etc., which, look- 

 ing at the impression they are certain to convey to 



