Page:The Bank of England and the State, 1905.djvu/76

 of experts, and take the country into his confidence and let them know what that advice is and on what evidence it is based.

I conclude where I began. Is it too late even now for us bankers and merchants in the City of London to impress on Parliament, if a new departure is to be made, the necessity for full expert enquiry into the general condition of our trade and of our industries. Surely as to this we all stand on common ground, and no man of business could possibly desire a momentous change in our Fiscal Policy without the clearest evidence that the proposed alterations will bring about the results which are claimed for them. Let us safeguard what we hold; let us know where we are going; let us not take a leap in the dark; let us carefully consider before any step is taken from which there can be no going back.