90 THE GREAT WAR 



practised by the German people. We import nearly 

 300,000,000 a year of food, and about the same amount 

 of raw material." 



He adds : 



" We should import only absolute necessities, and pro- 

 duce everything in this country that we possibly can." 1 



Looking at the question all round, we may 

 fairly come to the conclusion that if a Govern- 

 ment were convinced of the necessity of the 

 land operations referred to, it would be found 

 that the money difficulty would not be an in- 

 superable one. 



There is one member of the Cabinet, the Minis- 

 ter of Munitions, eminently qualified to carry 



1 In previous pages the present writer has dealt only 

 with imports of food, but the case for home production is 

 much stronger if raw materials are included. The follow- 

 ing figures give the value of some of the raw materials we 

 annually import from abroad, the larger portion of which 

 could be readily produced at home if the land were made 

 the most of : Hops 1,674,000, Flax and Tow 4,612,000, 

 Hides and Skins of all sorts 5,540,000, Sugar, raw and 

 refined (after deducting Cane Sugar) 19,120,000, Tallow 

 3,207,628. In short, if we reckon the value of all the 

 produce of the soil we import, and which this country is 

 fitted to produce, the amount would be above 300 millions 

 sterling per annum. 



