A imiEF EXAMINATION OF FIIEE-TRADE J'RINCIPLES 347 



bills arc eRtiinatcfl to perform some tl") per cent, of the exclian;^G8 of 

 the iiiitiun, >{> iu foreign coiumerce exciiuLij^cs are c-ll'ected by means 

 of bills. The operations are rclined and technical ; the result is that 

 debts for <;oods are balanced a<,'ainst one another tlironi,'h the a,<;ency 

 of credit documents repi'csentint^ money, and by the aid of the 

 machinery of banking. Thus the foreign trade of the world is 

 carried on with comparatively little metallic currency ; goods are 

 bought with goods, imports with export", balances only being paiil in 

 gold. 



" The object of international, as of individual exchanges, is to 

 obtain the commodities we need, and the goods we part with are 

 merely instruments for gaining as much as possible of those we 

 desire," 



This is a commercial law which is well understood and to 

 which no objection can be urged. It is, iiioreover, a law which 

 knows no change and applies as inexorably to the internal trade 

 of a country as to its external commercial transaction.s. Indeed, 

 the writer of the work we are quoting admits this — "As in the 

 internal trade of the country cheques and hills are estimated to 

 perform some 95 per cent, of the exchanges of the nation, so in 

 foreign commerce, exchanges are effected hy means of bills." In 

 other words, goods, commodities, kind, or whatever term we 

 may prefer to employ, play the chief part in the exchanges of 

 the world, while the actual mono// transactions play a com- 

 paratively insignificant part. 



Goods must be Paid for by Goods 



It follows, then, as commodities must necessarily be paid 

 for in commodities, it matters not at all whether the 170 odd 

 millions' worth of agricultural produce which we need to pur- 

 chase annually for our consumption, be produced in foreign 

 countries or in our own. Goods must he imid for hy goods ; that 

 is the commercial law, and it follows that under any circum- 

 stances the agriculturists — whether they be foreign or Jiritish — 

 who produce the £170,000,000 worth of agricultural produce, 

 must necessarily receive that amount of other commodities in 

 exchange. 



It then remains quite clear that whether we grow our own 

 corn or import it, manufactures, merchants, and traders would 

 still be called upon to produce various commodities to exchange 

 for an equal value of agricultural produce, and their position, 

 together with the workers engaged in the })roduction of the 

 commodities, would not be affected one way or the other. 

 But when we get down to the great masses of the people it will 

 presently be seen that growing our own foods iu our own 



