31 AGRICULTURE AND TARIFF REFORM. 



large of the wheat duties abroad. Taking France 

 and Germany, the two countries which most 

 closely resemble our own agricultural and in- 

 dustrial conditions, we find : — • 



(1) That in the United Kingdom wheat did not 

 seriously lower in price till 30 to 40 years after 

 the free imports system was established ; 



(2) That wheat in France — where the import 

 duty since 1894 has been 12s. 2|-d. per quarter — 

 has been much lower than when the duty was, as 

 in previous years, from 7d. to 8s. 9|d. per quarter ; 

 and 



(3) That wheat in Germany with an import 

 duty of 7s. T^d. per quarter ever since 1892 is 

 lower than when in previous years the duty was 

 from Is. 2d. to 6s. G^d. per quarter. 



The argument from these facts would appear to 

 be that it is not so much a duty of a few shillings 

 a quarter which regulates the price, as the law 

 of supply and demand, assisted by steamships, 

 railways, and other inventions. 



Home A^"D Foreign Production of Grain, 

 The production of grain (wheat, &c.) in the 

 United Kingdom, v.'as as follows: 



On the other hand, the production of grain in 

 foreign countries has gone on constantly increas- 

 ing. Moreover^ not onl^ has the ^rain produced 



