Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-26

man who spends all Of his time out Of
doors. The secret Of success In securing
his great mass Of material, necessary to
/ the compilation OF his novels, can be read
In these economic works. Such keen ana
close observation of nature, such noting of
detail of the habits of animals, birds, trees
and flowers, marvellous in ats accuracy.
fascinating In it's revelations to those who
have passed over the same ground, bur
without that faculty of comprehension.
On completing his tour through England
Mr.. Haggard wrote that the dominant I'm
preston left on his mind seemed to be that
English agriculture was hghting against
the mills of God. MANY circumstances
combine to threaten 1t with ruin, although
as yet Ii is not actually ruined Or these
the chief is unchecked foreign competit on.
Food can be produced more cheaply In
foreign lands than in Great Britain, and
can be delivered in our markets at lower
cost of carriage than must be incurred TO
dispatch 1t from one part of rural England
to another.
Protection the Remedy.
'For foreign competition there is but one
obvious remedy-that which is used by all
the rest of the world-protection. But
of protection repeat what I have already
said believe it to be a chimera, even an
impossibility in Britain as Britain Is today.
What may happen in the future we cannot
too dreadful to contemplate. starving
generation may fly to protection to save
themselves. but that hour is not with us,
and let us hope never will be with US.
LAS it is. no one can travel about this
land as / have done with open eyes and
ears, without understanding how our pohcy
of free trade and unfettered imports mas
shot it's fiberS through every part ana organ
of the body polite, until it is in truth no
excrescence or addition, but an integral
part of our national lire. In the end 1t may
kill as a cancer kills, or 1t may triumphly
yindicate the wisdom of those who inwove
it with our national policy. That IS
an issue which can be decided by time
alone, but at present, as l believe, an at
tempt to drag 1t forth would result IN
something very like a civil war. 1t is
one of the few things for which the peo-
pie would fight. or go near to fighting.
Il speak. of course, of protection on
food stuffs. Various industries may de-
mand and obtain defensive duties, ana by
so doing affect certain classes of the
community for good, but this matter or
the price of food appeals to every 1ndi-
vidua1 in the British Isles who is old
enough to reason. 1t appeals to his peck
ct, and through his pocket to the welfare
and comfort of his body.
Protection must mean dearer food, and
dearer food to the vast majority means
less food and more work. 1t may be said
that this is not so in other countries, but
the answer is that other countries have
not had the experience of two genera
tions of free trade. What the eye does
not see the heart does not covet. The
mass of our population lives by trade
and through trade. 1t knows nothing of
the land and is not concerned with the
great questions that are wrapped up in
it's prosperity or ruin
Increasing Sentiment.
This was written by Mr. Haggard about
two years ago. Since that time there have
been happenings in England most keenly
interesting and astounding to him. He
finds no surprise in the fact that English
agriculture is nearer ruin today than 1t
was then, partially through the mo-
mentum of gradual decline and partially
through the effect of two very bad sea-
sons. This is not only expected, but pre-
dicted. The widespread and increasing
sentiment and advocacy Of protection for
all of Englands industries including ag-
riculture. has come to Mr.. Haggard as
miracle, for he regarded such a revolu-
ton In public sentiment as an absolute
impossibilfty within the span of his own
lifetime No terrible disaster. such as he
considered necessary to bring about
change in sentiment. has come to the ma
ton, but there has been an awakening to
the possibility of such industrial disaster
If things were allowed to go on for many
years more as they have been going re-
Gently. Mr.. HagRards belief that protec-
ton for English agriculture was an i'm
possibility because of the opposition of
the consuming classes has been met by
including the consuming classes within
the proposed benefits of such protection.
should England adopt a fiscal policy
representing in a modified form that in
force in the United States, the manufac-
turing industries are such a large part of
the life of the nation that the protection
which would come to agriculture would
be purely Incidental, and the alleged evils
predicted as its result would be lost sight
of in the general benefits to the consum-
ers At least, this is the argument Of the
English advocates OF protection.
Mn Haggard Is one of Mr.. Chamber
lain,s strongest supporters, and there is
no doubt but that he is now looked upon
as one OF the best. if not the best, mod
ern English authority on agricultural
his task keen mind and trained powers
of observation. He is not a theorist. but
a practical farmer. His knowledge of gen
eral conditions is unequaled, owing to the
time and labor he has spent to secure i'm
partial testimony from all parts of Eng
land. 1t Is not too much to say, perhaps,
that what Mr.. Haggard has written In the
past two years is responsible for the fall
low condition of the ground in which Mr..
has sown his seed How well
the British mind Is prepared to accept a
reversal of England's national fiscal pol
icy is yet to be definitely determined but
the movement has obtained headway
which single year ago would have been
considered incredible.
J. D. WHEI pI.EV