Taxes — Monopolies — Po verty 



prosperity may be expected to be short-lived. 

 Since the introduction of the fixed-price system 

 a few years ago the cane crop has increased 

 fourfold, and is still increasing. Species of 

 cane have been introduced which will flourish 

 at a greater altitude than would that formerly 

 cultivated, and already much of the best land 

 in the island is given up to this absorbing crop. 

 In the view of its opponents not only is the 

 whole system economically bad, but it is fraught 

 with dangers to the community, both financial 

 and political. 



It is not the least of the drawbacks of such 

 artificial arrangements that they cannot be 

 abolished or altered without causing great loss 

 and even ruin to numerous innocent indi- 

 viduals. It is in effect an experiment in 

 Socialism. The cultivators are mere creatures 

 of the State, and are entirely at the mercy of 

 such provisions as the State may make. With 

 the cultivation on this artificial basis, free com- 

 petition on the manufacturing side is practically 

 impossible ; you must either have State mills, 

 or mills owned by individuals working, as 

 here, under contract or in close touch with 

 the State. 



153 



