The Washington times., 1901-09-15
british Commerce md Industry.

British Commerce and Industry.
In the September number Of the
Forum" Mir. Benjamin Taylor deals
quite eXhaustively with the commercial
position of the British Empire, his main
purpose being to demonstrate the un-
soundness of the claim made by Mr..
Brooks Adams and others that the Uni
ted Kingdom is commercially decadent.
In his discussion of the subject, Mr.
Taylor does not undertake TO meet the
specific issue presented. His argument
is somewhat in the nature Of plea of
confession and avoidance. He admits
ttShidt the United Kingdom is not keep
ing pace with the United States in COM
mercial growth. but he insists that 1t
is not fair to make the comparison with
the British islands alone-that the
| trade Of the whole Empire should be
taken into account.
| If we are to look at the matter from
the imperial standpoint. and merely for
the purpose of determining how the ag-
gregate commerce of the British EN-
pire compares with that of the United
States. the correctness of this view can
not be successfully challenged. But
for the purposes of international COM
parison. it is very questionable wheth-
| er on the British side anything should
! be considered except the United King
! dom. This is the head of the Empire
| and the chief seat of its strength. Let
! the British power be broken in Eng
| land, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. and
| the Empire would at once collapse. 1t
would break up into as many pieces as
there are geographically separated di-
visions Some of the divisions would
become independent. and some would
| fall under the sway of other Powers. In
| order to hold the Empire together the
| home power must be maintained, and
this will be impossible in the face of
| a steady decline. either actual or rela-
| tive, in commercial strength.
| Therefore the commercial growth Of
| the dependencies is in no sense an
| equivalent for trade and industrial
eIosses in the United Kingdom. Take
India as an example. There is literally
| nothing in common between the East
| Indians and the people of the United
| Kingdom The development of COM
merce on a gigantic scale in India will
/, be of no advantage to Englishmen ex-
| cept as they can in some way connect
| themselves with the commerce. 1t is
| urged by Mr.. Taylor that the sover-
| eighty of these distant territories opens
| up fields for the investment of British
| capital, and there is some truth In that
| But this is a very uncertain sort of ad-
| vantage and really is no part of the
commercial question under considera-
| tion Great Britain probably has more
! money invested in the United States
| than in India. Her outside investments
| have been estimated at ten thousand
| million dollars, and the annual income
derived therefrom at FIVE hundred mil
lions Many believe these figures to be
much too small Whatever may be the
amount, the fact remains that the home
| production of the country Is so much
| below the requirements OF the people
| that it takes not only the value of her
| own exports, but a large portion of the
| income derived from her outside ven
lures, to pay for what she imports. In
other words the United Kingdom is
consuming much more than it pro-
duces.
In the United States the conditions
are completely reversed. We are pro-
ducing vastly more than we can con-
sumo, even though the rate Of con-
sumption here is greater than 1t Is in
any other country. This certainly in
| dicates that, industrially considered.
| the position of the United Kingdom is
| not so strong as ours. More important
than this, when we consider the two
| countries relatively, is the fact that
| in the United States there is still almost
| unlimited room for development, which
| is proceeding al a marvellous rate, while
| on the more important lines Great
| Britain is either stationary or moving
forward so slowly as to suggest that
| the maximum has nearly been reach
| ed.
But 1t is going too far to say that
| the nation is decadent. The people are
strong, virile. and INTEL igent. and they
have as Mr. Taylor auggests. many
sources of wealth SCI arate and apart
from the mere productiv, and CONNER
| cial business of the United Kingdom.
| The fact that the population is SO much
| larger than can be supported by the
| products of the country. and yet is so
| well supported, proves that in the ag-
1 gregate the wealth of the country is
very great Still, without intimating
anything like decadence, 1t may with
| perfect propriety be said that whether
we consider the United Kingdom by it
self, or include the whole Empire. the
commercial and industrial growth of
the country has been much less rapid
| than that of the American Republic.
Tho wealth of the United States at this
| time is probably equal to that of the
| United Kingdom and all of her outside
| dependencies combined. excluding In
| dia
| In view of the apparent indisposition OF
| the Venezuelan Government to accept the
mediation of the United St.-rs in the diff
| ferences between the former and the
! neighboring State of Colombia, 1t is prob
| able that no further steps in the matter