264 SIBERIA 



rHake it quite unnecessary to protect the English 

 farmer by legislative acts, a policy which can only 

 result in converting the coriitnon necessaries of life 

 into luxuries. The best protective policy that the 

 English 6r Irish fanner can adopt is that of educat- 

 ing hiiMself in the most approved scientific methods 

 of dairy fanning, and devoting the same industry and 

 energy to the work as are displa;yed by his Danish 

 rival. These remarks only a:pply to the farttler who 

 is able to produce the best quality of butter, as a 

 second-rate article, whether of English or Irish pro- 

 duction, has to face the competition of quite two- 

 thirds of the produce that is dum'ped on to the 

 English nTarket from abroad. As a matter of fact, 

 the English farmer who cannot produce the best 

 quality of butter should sell his ifiilk, as it is only for 

 the very best quality that he can hope to obtain the 

 advantages I have mentioned. 



I have already pointed out that it would be a 

 niistake to impose a ta:x on dairy produce imported 

 into this country. The notion that it would bring 

 about a rise in the Wa:ges of the working classes is 

 also erroneous. It will be obvious to any one who 

 gives the matter a few moments* serious reflection, 

 that even if foreign countries were compelled to send 

 all their products to us and to keep on producing 

 the same quantities, which they a;re not, a protective 

 tax would only mean that the amount of that tax 

 would be added to the price of the butter. There is, 

 however, a greater danger even than that. If a tax, 

 say, of 5 per cent, were imposed upon imported 

 goods, that fact would have to be taken into con- 

 sideration both by the inTporter in England and the 

 exporter in Siberia, or wherever the imported article 

 may come from. The English market would thereby 

 be rendered less remunerative by 5 per cent, to the 

 nation producing the commodity in Siberia. This 

 would be borne in mind when considering the relative 



