Evening star., 1903-10-02
LETTER FROM LONDON
Free Trade and Protection
Are Agitating the Britons.
CHRISTIANS ACCUSED
MOHAMMEDAN SAYS INJUSTICE
IS DONE UNSPEAKABLE TURK.
Plays, Players, Gossip and Chat From
the Big Town on Banks
~
Of the Thames.
Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
| LONDON, September 16, 1903.
The cabinet council, which was held on
| Monday was by far the most important
which has taken place. not only since Mr..
| Balfour became premier, but certainly for
many years past 1t is a rare thing for
ministers to be called together just cal
endar month after the prorogation of par
Lament. but this is the case now. the king s
| speech having been read on the 14th of
August. To find a parallel we have to go
| back to the first year that Lord Rosebery
was in Office. in 1894. when the members
| of the then liberal government had to as
| Semble to consider the action of Russia
| and other powers in the far east In COM
| bining to rob Japan Of the fruits of her
victory over China.
Mr. Balfour and his colleagues not only
| have had to come to some line of concerted
| action on the fiscal question-possibiy try
| the compromise" suggested in an eVi-
| IDENTIFY inspired article in the Standard OF
a few days ago-but they had to consider
| the report of the royal commission on the
| war and the effect on the country OF the
| disclosures in the evidence taken before
| Lord Elgin and those associated with him.
| These circumstances caused Monday as
| sembly in the historic house in Downing
| street to be one of vast Importance, ana
| the crowds which gathered to watch the
| arrival and departure of members of the
| cabinet large as they were in the
| early days of the South African war.
| Apropos of the cabinet meeting, MI
| Chamberlains fiscal proposals are certainly
| gaining ground among conservative news
| papers, many OF which have until now fe-
| Trained from taking sides on the question.
| All over the country the battle, which as
yet has only been fought In desultory
way, and chiefly in the public prints, is get
| ting hotter as the time approaches for the
III, %oiro tI4 f,n11 >hn
| will begin in October, and it will be the
most absorbing topic discussed in this coun-
| try for many years OF course, in such a
subject as free trade VS.. protection, writers
naturally look to the United States for ma
terial, and find it in copious abundance.
Numerous comparisons and examples are
| drawn from your side of the water, and the
| Liverpool Courier, which has gone in whole
souled for the Chamberlain scheme, hardly
misses day with it's stream of figures ana
argument ably handled
| Most of the facts are taken from the
workings Of the Mckinley tariff, set
| forth in official reports, but occasionally
arguments found here. The Courier to-
| day has the following:
Are we always to cling to a creed which
has been diSproved, and allow our CONNER
| cial policy to be governed by theory that
| has been diScradited by facts? There are
still politicians and learned professors who
say that a protected country can never
compete successfully in manufactures with
free import country. The old argument
used to be Protection increases the cost of
| living, therefore wages must be higher IN
protected countries, and the cost of pro-
duction greater protected country can
not underSell free trade country in any
| market to which they have equal access
| For many years because of the great ad-
vantages regards skill and experience
possessed by British manufacturers over
| their foreign competitors no striking facts
could be brought forward in contradiction
| of this theory.
A rta a cpOt1rv eminent
economist, the late Prof Fawcett of Cam
bridge, still able to write, mo single
case can be brought forward in which En-
| gliSh trade suffers to any apprec1able eX-
! tent by foreign products underselling in our
| own markets the same articles of English
manufac cture" No doubt this was true in
| 1878; but is 1t so today? What Mr.. raw
| cett, judging from the conditions then eX-
| listing, thought impossible has since his time
actually happened in a great number of
| trades. We have just been furnished by one
| of Mr.. Chamberlain's leading supporters
| with a few instances of goods which we
could make in England, and OF which we
| still export a few, but import far larger
| quantity. England imported in 1902 paper
| and paper goods to the extent of 6,41O,9o1
| hundredweight, while our exports were only
| 1,OS1 ,S23 hundredweights; brooms and
brushes imported 309, ,129 dozens, exported
| BAT ,3O6 dozens, glass and glassware to the
value of f3, ,696 992 imported, while her eX-
ports amounted only to fl ,U9l $50; leather.
| imported 1913, ,S64 hundredweights. exported
| 127 425 hundredweights; manufactures of
| zinc, 21,314 tons imported while exports
amounted to only 1924; clocks, watches and
works to the value of fl ,69O,OS6 We're i'm
ported, exports amounting to only tlOl,6oI.
These statistics, which are taken from Of
| fetal reports do not show the worst cases
those in which the expectation, or even the
manufacture has ceased altogether. Fair
traders or protectionists will not deny that
Prof. Fawcetts statement was true IN 1913,
but it has ceased to be true and Mr..
Chamberlain's followers are entitled to ask
what has become of the theory.
This is fair sample of the view taken
here by papers which do not hesitate to
look at the facts The Daily News of Lon
don exhibits In one of its windows two
loaves of bread, one small one, called the
"Zollvereen Loaf" and big one labeled
protectionist papers point out that the
penny free-trade wage in bulk Is larger
than the six-penny protection wage.
The Balkan Crisis.
Among the opinions which the Balkan
crisis has called forth in France few are
more noteworthy than two articles in Paris
newspapers yesterday. The author of the
first NJ J. L. de Lanessan, appeals to the
French government to take the initiative In
mending or ending the present state of at
fairs in Macedonia. Order, he says, can be
restored in Macedonia as it was in Crete
by the dispatch of Russian, Austrian and
| Italian troops to the scene of the massa-
| ernrnents stand to gain by a breakup OF
| the European empire of Turkey, the ini-
tiatiye cannot come from them. 1t must
| come from France and France, thinks M.
| de Lanessan, would receive the whole
| hearted support of Great Britain in an at
| tempt to arrest the bloodShed in Macedonia.
| .'The moment" says the writer, has come
| to utilize the new friendship which We owe
| to our free institutions and to our love Of
peace.
The second article, from the pen of an
| able Mohammedan. to whom the Figaro has
| offered the hospitality of it's columns, pre-
| sents the case of the unspeakable Turk.
| The author Moustafa Kamel Bey, is direct
! or of the AL Lewa, Cairo newspaper,
which circulates widely in Mohammedan
| countries and knows Europe well. He ac-
| cuses Christendom of gross injustice in her
dealings with Islam. In substituting the
| slavery of nations for the slavery of men.
| Europe has sown the seeds of implacable
| hatred in the heart of every Mussulman.
| Instead of bringing civilization and equity
| to the Mohammedan peoples. and instead of
| attempting to harmonic modern ideas with
| tho nrin cinles of Islam Europe has striyen