Fortunes for Farmers 



Canada has recently been agitated by a similar 

 question. Farmers, we take it, are predominant 

 there, for they are practically the whole popula- 

 tion, and they do not seem prepared to buy a 

 market for their produce at the expense of a flood 

 of imported manufactures. This seems opposite 

 to the other instances, and I do not think it possible 

 for England to draw comparisons from other 

 countries. Conditions vary enormously, and every 

 case must be considered on its merits. 



Before leaving this we must remark that, as far 

 as Colonial Preference is concerned, it does not 

 recompense the English farmer to be ruined by 

 New Zealand mutton instead of Argentine beef, 

 or by Canadian rather than Yankee wheat. It may 

 be possible to foster our Empire by Preference, but 

 we ought to consider the British rather than the 

 Colonial farmer. It is no use saying that this is 

 " Little Englandism," because it is simply the 

 commonsense of self-preservation. 



We have peculiar difficulty also in comparing 

 our own case with that of other countries, because 

 we produce so small a proportion of our food. 

 Under Protection, manufactured articles are taxed 

 with an eye to keeping them out altogether (rather 

 than to produce revenue), and providing work for 

 home factories, to the benefit of our labour and 

 capital, and this seems a cogent argument. But 



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