Page:The empire and the century.djvu/162

 A much graver matter is the possibility that the stimulation of colonial production might further injure the position of agriculture in this country, and reduce still more the diminished numbers of our agricultural population. For such a result nothing could really compensate, and it must at any cost be prevented. For this purpose it would be better, in the present writer's conviction, to reimpose the registration duty of one shilling upon every quarter of wheat imported, whether from the Colonies or elsewhere. Above that limit colonial corn should be free, and the duty upon foreign bread-stuffs might well be made three shillings. There would be no objection from the Colonies. They do not care what absolute rates we fix. They wish to retain their liberty in that respect, and to leave us ours. They desire nothing but the relative advantage in our market over foreign agriculture that they are ready and eager to concede to us in their market over foreign manufacture. They cannot give us absolute Free Trade, and do not expect it in return. They understand our wish to encourage what remains of home agriculture, and they will respect us for doing it. The advantage of restoring the registration duty on all imported wheat, abating all duty over and above in favour of the Colonies, is that it would enable fiscal reform to give home agriculture the definite guarantee it has a right to expect, would secure a permanent revenue, and, it may be useful to add, would cause less soreness in the United States than a preference solely discriminating between Colonial and foreign produce. The probable cheapening, and not the dearness, of the loaf is the real problem raised by preference as hitherto proposed.

XVII.

The Duke of Devonshire, though head of the Free Food League, was a member of the Cabinet which imposed a shilling tax on all wheat imports, and expects the working classes to be injured not so much by any increase in the cost of food as by the higher price of manufactured articles under a 10 per cent.