188 OUR ENGLISH LAND MUDDLE. 



tained in regard to all other branches of in- 

 dustry. This case would be founded on the 

 argument that an agricultural industry is so 

 important to the nation for other reasons than 

 that of profit-making that it is better to main- 

 tain it at an economic loss than to allow it to 

 perish. 



But what one finds to be the actual case in 

 England is that whilst the Free Trade faith is 

 being abandoned in every direction and by 

 every political party, it is preserved in the case 

 of the industries of the land. It would be 

 tiresome to cite all the recent instances in which 

 the Free Trade idea has been flouted by the 

 Liberal Party in England. The amendment of 

 the Patent Laws, designed to compel patentees 

 to manufacture their patents in England under 

 penalty of forfeiture, was an example. If the 

 Free Trade theory is correct, it would be of 

 distinct advantage to Great Britain that, in case 

 of a patent, it could be manufactured more 

 cheaply abroad and the product imported into 

 this country. It is " Protection " of the rankest 

 to pass a law invalidating patents if their holders 

 do not establish local factories. Another notable 



