THE LAND AND TARIFFS. 205 



her own agricultural industry. If, secondarily, 

 some end of Imperial Preference — supposing 

 that decided upon — can be served, well and 

 good. It seems to me desirable that what food 

 articles Great Britain cannot produce herself 

 she should import — other things being equal — 

 by preference from her own possessions, where 

 they would be safer against the operations of 

 foreign Trusts in peace time, and against in- 

 terruption at the source in war time. But the 

 first purpose of an agricultural tariff in Great 

 Britain must be to add to the agricultural 

 population and the agricultural production of 

 Great Britain. Indeed, I would go so far as to 

 say that it should be its only purpose at the 

 outset, so that the difficult problem of agri- 

 cultural regeneration should not be prejudiced 

 by any fear that some levy was being made upon 

 the British consumer in the cause of inter- 

 Imperial trade reciprocity. This is not the 

 argument of an anti-Imperialist, but of one who 

 is very strongly convinced that the greatest 

 danger to the continued existence of the Empire 

 to-day is that Great Britain imports 80 per 

 cent, of her bread supplies. 



