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PREFACE of Free Imports, which had so long controlled the policy of the Motherland, or the Protectionist system, which was manifestly gaining ground in the great Colonies, would gain the ascendancy for the nation as a whole, was still uncertain. But whether developed by Free Trade or Protection, the vast and rapidly increasing commerce of the Empire, demanded adequate security from attack; the interests of the different lands under the flag claimed due representation; the policy of the Empire required coherent and consistent direction; the methods by which these great ends should be secured must of necessity be sought for and established.

In seeking such methods, in striving to make the British Empire an effective national unit among the vast aggregations of force growing up around it, there might well be room, I think, for studying dispassionately even questions of Trade.

But the battle has now been joined on closer lines. We are passing through a period of active transition. The conditions of the world are changing; the outlook of national life becomes different every year; in many cases the principles which have seemed adequate for the guidance of national conduct are questioned as they have not been for half a century. We seem to be upon the verge of a time when theoretical discussions, which have long occupied the minds of earnest men, must either be carried forward to practical conclusions or must be abandoned as unpractical and useless. It is inevitable that at such a period, in the midst of strongly conflicting opinions, and a complex array of facts and figures, individuals must make grave decisions in reliance upon their own judgment.

The present volume illustrates the process by which