Page:The Bank of England and the State, 1905.djvu/66

. We are compelled to import in order to End for our population both subsistence and employment; to pay for such imports we have to render services to foreign countries, either by sending them our own goods, or by finding them capital or means of transport, or in such other ways as our position as the clearing house of the world may induce them to require work done for them here.

As countries advance in civilisation, they advance gradually from the purely agricultural to the manufacturing and commercial stage of development; we cannot expect countries like Germany or the United States to allow their own natural resources to remain undeveloped. Competition was therefore bound to arise when, after the Civil War in the United States and the Franco-German War, these countries had consolidated their national existence. That competition we have to meet, not only in the countries mentioned, but in all countries where we meet them on equal terms; to meet such competition we must be able to produce more cheaply and a better article than others do, and we must safeguard our position as the world's bankers and carriers, as well as the position of our manufacturers. These seem the aims towards which we must work if we wish to keep our population fully employed and raise their standard of living. Whether any of the above-mentioned policies, the three new policies, or a system of trade with the fewest possible restrictions is best calculated to bring about that end is the great problem that has to be solved.

The three policies are often mentioned together as if they could be carried on simultaneously; in reality they appear to be inconsistent with, in fact antagonistic to, one another. The duties to be imposed which are best adapted to a preferential tariff are not suitable to retaliation; and preferential treatment and protection cannot, in the end, work together. Our imports from the Colonies being mainly either raw materials, which it is not suggested should be subject to duties, or foodstuffs, preferential treatment must mean a tax on food, and food