Present and Suggested Sources 



submarine or airship will be devised capable 

 of seriously interrupting our food supply. At 

 all events it is better to have more than one 

 string to one's bow. Clearly, if it is possible 

 to develop a source of food supply entirely 

 under the control of the Home Government 

 and obviating the long sea transit, this 

 should be done, not only for reasons of 

 defence but also for reasons of economy. 



In a great war that nation is economi- 

 cally the most sound which is producing 

 within its own borders the bulk of its re- 

 quirements. As much gold as possible 

 should be kept in a country, and here 

 we compare unfavourably with the other 

 belligerent nations. In times of peace 

 the food imported into this country was 

 paid for either by the export of manu- 

 factured articles or by the profits from our 

 shipping — we were practically the carriers of 

 the world — or else by a certain proportion of 

 the imported food representing interest upon 

 capital invested in foreign countries. Even 

 so this process was economically unsound, 

 when the food could have been produced in 

 the United Kingdom had the capital been 



