Page:The Bank of England and the State, 1905.djvu/68

 foreign markets which now supply us, for all the machinery of trade, shipping, and other matters, are easily destroyed, but are not quickly regained. What would happen in time of war if we had only one Colonial source of supply? These are matters on which our naval experts will also have a word to say, quite apart from the question of price.

The more you restrict your markets, the more rapid must be the fluctuation in price, but, in any case, it is an essential part of the scheme that the price of food must rise; if our working population is to be enabled to maintain their standard of living, wages must rise, although I am more than doubtful whether eventually this will happen. If wages rise the cost of all our productions must rise, especially if, as is suggested, part of the scheme is taxation of foreign manufactures, which will further raise prices and increase the cost of living to our wage-earners and to the whole of our population. If then the cost of our manufactures be increased, our exports to neutral markets must decrease, and our own Colonies would derive no benefits from the scheme because they would have to pay more for our manufactures than at present; their own protectionist system would only be still more stimulated to the further exclusion of our own goods; thus our exports to Colonial markets would also not be likely to increase; I cannot therefore perceive any advantage from the scheme, either for the Colonies or for ourselves, but only greater cost of living and fewer chances of employment. Is not the best we could do for the Colonies, the maintenance of our pre-eminent position as the centre of the world's commerce, and, as the clearing house of the world, of our ability to supply them with cheap capital, cheap manufactures, rapid and economical means of communication? To be of benefit to them it is essential we should retain our own strength, which consists in carrying on a world-wide trade with the fewest possible restrictions, and our efforts must be mainly directed, while maintaining our ports open, to do our utmost to increase our exports. Can we afford to risk our trade with foreign countries, which still amounts to 75 per cent. of the whole! Can we afford to restrict our trade within