4 IMPORTS OF FOOD 



Taking the " food, drink and tobacco " imports in 

 detail, and excluding the materials that are not pro- 

 duced in the United Kingdom — maize, oranges, bana- 

 nas, sugar, tea, wine, etc. — we import of food materials : 



Wheat and other grains . . . . £68 millions 



lYICclt •• •• •• •• •• 3/ 9f 



Butter, fruit, lard, eggs, fish, etc. . . 71 „ 



196 



to which might be added £14 millions for maize that 

 we may regard as replaceable by cattle food grown in 

 this country, and a further £44 millions for wool and 

 hides, which are equally agricultural products natural 

 to our soil. Our imports of agricultural materials 

 which are also in part produced in this country thus 

 amount to £242 millions (less £46 millions for re- 

 exports), of which British Possessions send only £91 

 millions. 



Considering food proper the imports, less the re- 

 exports, amount to about £229 millions per annum, of 

 which only £62 millions are drawn from British Posses- 

 sions, leaving an annual adverse balance against the 

 Empire of £167 millions. This is a bill for material that 

 is consumed in the country and does not go out again in 

 a manufactured form, as do imports of other raw mate- 

 rials ; more particularly in this connection it is a bill for 

 materials we cannot dispense with in war time. Under 

 peace conditions we pay for our imports of food and raw 

 materials by our exports, i.e., by the labour put into the 

 conversion of raw materials into finished goods, e.g., 

 cotton goods and machinery, or by raw materials of our 



