The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-06-25

country and France simultaneously, she
was se~lf-supporting, importing no wheat or
-four, although IL II worth noting that
prices Of breadstuffs rose then, and there
were bread riots In largo towns. Even
In 1910. It appears, out Of a population
of II, 900 all but ,000,O 900 were fed
on homegrown wheat, Ireland being then
self.supporting. Three years later Golden
estimated that out Of 81, 900, 900 quarters
consumed, only 100000 were imported.
In 1914 he predicted that free trade In corn
would not throw lands put Of cultivation,
but would increase the production Of corn
at home; and Of this prediction Mr.. SETON
KARR says that 1t is utterly falsi6ed:
"Eneiands wheat area 1t tina. time was over
1000, 900 acres. IL ia now under 100000 acres,
and 10 steadily decreasing in inverse ratio 70 the
growth Of her population. Whatever else conpEH
may have been. II II clear that a. q prophoe
he was an absolute failure. In fact, were
no alive now. he would DO logically bound by his own
arguments, and in view Of the total failure Of his
prophecies, TO advocate the reimposition Of the corn
duties a. strenuousiy as nifty years ngo ho advocated
their abolition.
Such, then, Is England's condition, with
10, 0OO, 900 moro people to feed In the
British Isles than she had half a century
ago. The next point to note Is that
the rivals Of Great Britain are aiming in
their navies to attack the ~ocean-bound
of Great Britain. Thus M.
DE KERJEeu enlarges on tho tempting
vulnerability Of the British mercantile
marine. Not only is that marine itself
reckoned in hundreds Of millions OF dol
lars, but the imported food supply Is also
reckoned In hundreds of millions annually,
not to speak Of other raw materials
imported. And since the article on
which we now comment was written,
the force of this particular point has been
greatly strengthened by the act OF the
French Naval Committee in bringing In a
programme Of enormous expenditures for
new war vessels, the whole of it going to
cruisers instead of to battleships.
As for our own country, Mr.. SEToN-KARR
makes the specially suggestive point that
"half the exports of the United States
to England are breadstuffs, being more than
one-third Of the supply of the British Isles.
That implies for England a big insurance in
time of war, even with the United States
neutral. What the rate would be, Mr.. Sc
ToN.KARR can only infer from the enormous
rates asked on blockade runners in the
time of our civil war. 1t Is true that no
such blockade of England's entire coast
would be possible; but, on the other hand,
the South did not have to import bread and
meat, the very necessities Of life. In short,
ENGLAND, with her bread larder abroad,
Is beyond comparison more vulnerable
now In this respect than any country ever
previously known to history" And while
her navy would be some protection. a very
few 25-knot destroyers in an
enemy's hands would cause vast trouble
for millions Of British homes, even with
Britannia universally ruling the waves.
What, then, is the remedyi Mr.. SETON
KARR suggests first the abandonment Of
strict free trade in food supplies for a pro
tective policy. This would in a veal
or two largely increase our wheat area; an6
when it Is remembered that about quadru
pie our present wheat acreage, say 5000,
OOO acres. or about one-sixth of the Who'll,
cultivable area Of the kingdom, would
supply us with oil the bread we need
thio solution of the difficulty doe
not appear altogether impossible" TIL
next suggestion is to foster colonial com
mercial federation" 30 that the colonie
may be encouraged to supply England
with surplus agricultural produce. Final
ly, there should be a reserve of whea
in national granaries at home. Thi
last solution has been previously sue
gested, but is subject to some drawbacks
such as hat the supplies would hav
to be distributed by sale, and then renewe
from time to time, thus not only bein
E costly, but interfering with ordinary trade
4 However, this remedy would help unit
I more British wheat is grown at home.
But what has chiefly interested us 1
this essay is the exposure of England
vulnerability in respect of food.