LAND AND NATIONAL SAFETY. 241 



any sudden emergency, might defeat any 

 calculation which takes for its basis the 

 possibility that the United Kingdom might 

 in face of starvation consent to an igno- 

 minious peace." 

 But the Royal Commission did not suggest 

 any effective steps to obtain " the existence of 

 larger stocks within this country." Its only 

 active recommendation was : — 



" We look mainly for security to the 

 strength of our Navy, but we rely in only 

 a less degree upon the widespread resources 

 of our mercantile fleet, and its power to 

 carry on our trade and reach all possible 

 sources of supply wherever they exist ; and 

 we believe that a guarded and well-con- 

 sidered scheme of national indemnity would 

 act as a powerful addition to our resources, 

 because it would tend to keep down the 

 cost of transport, and therefore would go 

 far in the direction of preventing high prices 

 in time of war, while at the same time it 

 would be a stimulus to the enterprise of 

 British shipowners." 

 It is important to note that this report was 



9 



