IS 77.] 
National Wealth and Public Debt. 
205 
ascertained, beyond doubt, that the English population 
increases at a more rapid rate than that of any other 
nation, and, were it not for emigration, and foreign pos- 
sessions to which our surplus population can safely transfer 
themselves and their fortunes, the land would long since 
have become over-populated, and the means of livelihood 
more difficult by far than it now is. Besides this advantage, 
however, the command of the colonial trade which this 
country enjoys through possession of the colonies , affords no 
mean increase to its commercial business, and therefore to 
its profit. It has been shown, and proved by statistics, by 
the late Mr. C. W. Eddy, late Secretary to the Colonial 
Institute, in his “ Tables of British Commerce,” that “ the 
Trade follows the Flag,” or, in other words, that the 
mother country enjoys the greater portion of the trade of 
its colonies. 
The trade between England and her colonies amounted 
in 1875 to a total declared value of £161,078,982, of which 
the exports of foreign and colonial produce, and manufac- 
tures from England to British possessions, were valued at 
£5,562,848 ; the exports of British and Irish produce at 
£71,092,163 ; and the value of imports into England of 
colonial produce and manufactures at £84,423,971. It will 
thus be seen that the British colonies do, in a large measure, 
contribute towards the trade, and therefore the means of 
wealth, of the mother country. And not only so ; for when 
compared with foreign countries our colonies are very con- 
siderable consumers of British produce, as the following 
figures plainly show 
Consumption of Proportion of 
British Produce British Produce 
per Head. 
to Total Imports 
£ 
5. 
d. 
Per cent. 
North American Colonies 
1 
5 
8 
42 
Australia and New Zealand . 
8 
10 
3 
47 
Cape and (Total population . 
2 
6 
4 j. 
Natal (White population. 
8 
12 
2 i 
O9 
West Indies ...... 
2 
8 
7 
43 
Mauritius ....... 
1 
7 
30 
United States ..... 
0 
12 
10 
3 1 
France 
0 
6 
0 
9 
Spain 
0 
2 
1 
18 
Portugal 
0 
10 
4 
■ — ■ 
Germany ....... 
0 
6 
11 
■ — • 
* Hamilton, “ On the Colonies.” Paper read before the Statistical Society 
March 19th, 1872. 
