Imperial Expansion 13 



are with the one idea of greatly increasing the output of 

 tropical outputs within the Empire, and of speeding up 

 the rate of production throughout our tropical possessions, 

 in order to help pay for the War as soon as possible. I am 

 quite willing to agree with the Committee that we have 

 by no means done as well in the past as we should have, 

 but in our hurry to make amends in the future we must 

 be sure that the change is for the better and not for the 

 worse. 



Such schemes as the ones proposed to be carried out on 

 the huge scale suggested in connection with palm products 

 and sugar gives one the idea that the Committee wants 

 to start at once, or, at any rate, as soon as possible. To 

 carry out such an undertaking, whether now or in one or 

 two years' time will, besides the capital needed, require 

 whole armies of natives (and here I am using the term 

 armies in quite the modern sense of the word, amounting 

 to hundreds of thousands at a time) if we are to produce 

 the crops and to transport the products from the fields and 

 the forests down to the shipping ports. Where, I am 

 again obliged to ask, are these armies of natives to come 

 from, and also, even if the labour supplies are forthcoming, 

 who is to enjoy the profits if the scheme proves successful, 

 and who is to stand the losses if the venture proves a 

 failure? Already we want larger labour supplies to do 

 the work that we have in hand than are obtainable at 

 the time of writing, and without such increased supplies we 

 shall not be able to develop the resources of the Empire 

 on the lines already mapped out.* This means that 

 one hundred Committees like the E.R.D.C. cannot 

 increase or further develop our Imperial resources unless 



* See p. 37 in " The High Price of .Sugar," where I urge that 

 «' If India restricts labour supplies for the West Indies and elsewhere she 

 must increase her outputs." See also in this book, p. 134. 



