THE TRUE TEMPER OF EMPIRE. 



301 



make the development of tropical resources unprofitable. The 

 result of the changed conditions has been to supplement or 

 substitute for the natural agencies of sunshine, manual labour 

 and animal draught, the agencies of chemistry, engineering, and 

 mechanical draught. And what is true of sugar is getting to be 

 more and more applicable to the other commodities enumerated 

 as of primary and constant consumption in the households of 

 the people, by reason of the constantly increasing substitution 

 of machinery for manual labour. In this way there has been 

 opened to the British workmen a vast area of activity, in which 

 he shares with the capitalist the profits of the development of 

 tropical resources. 



If we turn to the raw materials of tropical agricultural 

 produce, cotton may be taken as illustrating the extent to 

 which the temperate zones are dependent on the tropics, and 

 a,mong Mr. Chamberlain's many services to the Empire, not 

 the least was the support which he gave to the British Cotton 

 Growing Association. The national importance of the objects 

 of the Association were set out in their prospectus in terms 

 which are hardly yet generally appreciated. " It has been 

 estimated that if all the cotton mills in this country were 

 running three-quarters time instead of full time the loss would 

 be not less than £300,000 a week, or at the rate of £15,000,000 

 per annum. A prolonged continuation of such a serious state 

 of affairs cannot be contemplated with equanimity, and the 

 cotton trade, in v/hich it is estimated that 10,000,000 of the 

 population of this country are directly or indirectly interested, 

 has serious lessons facing it which must sooner or later react on 

 the prosperity of the whole of the country, and eventually on 

 other parts of the Empire. 



" The objects of the Association are those of national import- 

 ance, closely affecting not only spinners, manufacturers, and 

 operatives, but also dyers, printers, bleachers, finishers, and other 

 allied trades. Merchants, shippers and distributors are suffering 

 severely ; engineers, chemical manufacturers, colliery owners, 

 machine-makers, bankers, lawyers, stock-brokers, insurance 

 oompanies^ railway companies, and shipowners, are affected by 

 depression in the cotton trade. Owners of property, shop- 

 keepers, brewers, provision merchants, farmers, and in fact all 

 wholesale and retail dealers in every branch of trade, and all 

 producers, are concerned in it directly or indirectly." 



Among tropical forest resources rubber is of outstanding 

 imperial importance. The value it has given our tropical 

 estates may be illustrated by the case of Ceylon. In 1886, one 



