Introduction xvii. 



of profit to go into the Exchequer to liquidate our national 

 debt. Everybody knows that if we are to develop the 

 resources of the Empire and add to the existing wealth of 

 its people three things are needed : — 



(i) The latent resources to be developed. 



(2) The capital to develop them. 



(3) The labour, both scientific and untrained, to carry 

 out the schemes proposed. 



The first two of this trio we undoubtedly possess, and I 

 think I am right in saying that even when the War comes 

 to an end there will still be sufficient capital left to develop 

 the latent resources of the Empire to a degree that will 

 enable us to pay our share of the national debt, within a 

 reasonable time, huge as it may seem at the moment. The 

 third item alone is lacking, both with regard to the white 

 labour and trained leaders of men on this side as well as 

 to the coloured labour in the Tropics and our overseas 

 dependencies. Until, therefore, we can arrange for these 

 labour supplies to be considerably increased we cannot 

 expect to carry out the tempting, the possible and magnifi- 

 cent schemes that are being dangled before our eyes, without 

 crippling, if not actually squeezing out of existence, the 

 commercial and agricultural enterprises that already exist 

 within the tropical zone. In saying this I am not only 

 referring to enterprises within the British Empire, but 

 would also include those in Latin America, which would 

 never have come into being had not this country invested 

 over ^i,ooo,oco,ooo to open up and develop the mining 

 and other industries of those magnificent trade centres. 

 Up to the present I would claim that owing to the lack of 

 educated men willing to play their part at Empire con- 

 struction, whilst this country has found the capital to open 

 up America, south of the United States, Germany has 

 reaped the bulk of the profits accruing from the opening 

 up, with our capital, of the various republics. They have 



B 



