Page:Tales in Political Economy by Millicent Garrett Fawcett.djvu/16

 lamp, the emblem to him of all that was sacred.

"I have been thinking," said the Captain, "that you have much more to be thankful for than you know of. Two-thirds of your people spend their lives in manufacturing this oil. Give me leave to put out all the lamps, and let my men knock holes in the walls of every house in the place; and you will have two-thirds of your people free to turn to the cultivation of spices, rice, and coffee, which you could send away, and receive in return agricultural implements, English cutlery, calico, and other things which you never will be able to make, but which we in England can make any quantity of."

The old chief frowned, and said very sternly, "Knock holes in the walls of our houses! Allow the sun to flood our market with his light! Our island would be ruined: our most important industry would be destroyed in a day. We should have 400 people, who now work in the palm plantations and in the oil presses, reduced to beggary at one blow!"

"But consider for one moment," urged Captain