The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1903-09-18

the foreigner in favor of the colonial.
The colonies replied that they could
not forego the revenue derived from
the British manufacturers, but they
showed their sympathy with the Cham
berlain ideal by enacting Gas in the
case of Canada), by pledging them
selves to lin the case of South Africa)
or by eonditionalIy promising Gas in
the case of Australia), the preferen-
tial treatment of British goods enter
ing their markets.
Meanwhile arose British demands
upon the colonies to assist in main
tanning the navy. which defends their
commerce as well as that of the
motherland. The colonies demurred
to anything like a proportionate pay
ment; Canada fatty refused all pay
ment. They would send help when
men We're needed in the field, as they
sent it to South Africa, but taxation
must go hand in hand with represen-
tation, and no one dared propose po-
litica1 federation of the empire at the
present stage. So back the British
Chamberlainists We're thrown upon
federation by tariffs, or at least upon
inter-imperial tariff preferences. Mr..
Chamberlain abandons his demand for
free trade within the empire as an
essential first step, and makes the
British adoption of a preference for
colonial products his next electoral
platform, whether the election come
next winter as some suggest, or two
years hence. To what extent this
step will upheave British politics no
man will yet say. but so strong has
Mr.. Chamberlain's hold become of re-
cent years upon the British electorate
that anything may happen. He is the
greatest political magnet in England
at this moment, beyond all doubt.
Meanwhile it is we'll to get clear
idea of the trade conditions upon
which Mr.. Chamberlain policy would
operate. How does England stand
today after half a century of free
trade and open markets?
In this task of estimating the British
position Englishmen are aided by re-
markable group of diagrams and fig
ures published in the current issue
of the Contemporary Review. They
illustrate the course of trade of the
four great industrial nations of the
world, namely, Britain, United States,
Germany and France, during the past
quarter of a century. The purpose
of the compiler, Mr.. Mark Warren, is
simply to get at the facts, and to as
certain by the aid of official statistics
exactly how Britain stands among the
great trading powers. The moment is
opportune for such an appeal to facts
Mr.. Chamberlain's new departure
makes it opportune on one side. And
there are other reasons why it is op-
perfume. The Englishman has by this
time got we'll over the first of the in
dustrial scares that disturbed his
nightly sIumbers. The made in Ger
many outburst was in its beginning
the work of little group of enterpris-
ing English journalists with pronoun-
ced protectionist leanings. They
knew that a frontal attack upon free
trade was of no avail, so they set them
selves to frighten John Bull on the
score of German competition, and by
carefully asserting their instances ana
picking out their figures, they man
aged to make a bit of a stir in the
newspaper world. Parliament even
set itself TO the task of legislation, ana
a merchandise act decreed that hence
forward the British consumer should be
warned before purchasing foreign
goods that were invading his markets
and fastening his decay. Unhappily
for the alarmists, the labels, Made IN
Germany Made in the United
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