New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-10-23
a Candid Critic on Orr Colonial
Relations scith England.

rho eleven years which Mr.. Beers book COW
-, brt a very short period even in the his
- 60 Young nation as the United States.
= VAS during these eleven years that the
=. changes took place in the attitude of the
f,.-ies toward the mother country and in the
-. IF Great Britain toward her colonial en-
.l,icb brought about the disruption of 1T76
r-ds had from the first. been the paramount
.,rsi5eration in the acquisition. extension and
.,areroent Of Britain's colonial empire, and
,s,rs controlling ana regulating trade by means
n prohibitions. customs duties. preferences and
bouuties, had been passed by the British Par
r.roert and acquiesced IL by the colonists long
before the Boston tea party was dreamed of.
The old English colonial system required fully
q hundred acts of Parliament for its embodi-
rnent It's primary object" writes Mr.. Beer.
.u-ss 20 develop the wealth and power Of the
empire by making il a self-sufficient economic
rnit. In this commercial empire. mother country
and dependency were to be mutually compile
rneutary. one supplying. as far as was possible.
me manufactured products consumed in the col
INV and the other the tropical products and the
raw materials not produced by Great Britain.
All trade within the empire was 10 he carried
m exclusively in British and colonial shipping
with the object Of increasing the empires naval
srength. Great stress was laid this side of
the system, for the statesmen Of the day recog-
rized 10 its fullest extent the Importance Of sea
power"
This idea Of the complementary character OF
colonies explains the preference OF England for
tropical and island colonies. the superior value
long attached to the West Indies as compared
with the northern continental colonies. and It
also explains the insistence Of British statesmen
sho in Mr.. Chamberlain's proposal in the early
DAYS Of his fiscal campsign. that Canada should
refrain from establishing new Industries in re-
turn for preference in British markets. on the
colonists confirming themselves TO agricultural
pursuits or 10 such primitive manufacturing as
would not compete with the manufactures Of
Great Britain. To compensate for this disadvan-
tage some sacrifice was demanded from Great
Britain. and Mr.. Beer weighs judiciallv the gain
and loss both 10 colonists and to the home pop
ulation. saying:
The cornggiex system erected on this basis natu.
others. This is inevitable whenever the govern
yelopraent and restraints the free play Of compe-
ttion- some Of the Interests sacrificed for The
Thus the navigation act proper. which gave
Brltlsh and colonial shipping a monopoly Of the
carrying trade Of the empire. while unquesti0u-
ably protecting the shipbuildng and carrying trade
sbe of1fsa+ b-sr55enso,a n re- oi522ise1
such as Barbados and Virginia. Then, in far
as British legislation and policy discouraged man
me mother ca-,ntrv l3sreSted IN he o9t7ar 6ard
the British consumer prevented from obtain
iag soTeigp products. and was forced to smoke
the home market Furthermore: in the interest ~
GAG colonial planter, though also partly for the
tske Of reyenue, the British and the Irish farmers
we're prohibited from growing tobacco. There IS
% doubt that this prohibition. which in England
ourSo 6e6d Of 5nG over 9 p e6a
~ greater sacrifice than did the British resric-
TONS were 10 great extent .suPerfuous. TN;
plentiful the colonies had no inducement 10 manu-
facture extensively on a commercial scale
As is frequently the case under similar cir
cuustances. the colonists showed themselves
more conscious of the disadvantages imposed
upon them by the colonial system than OF the
advantages which they enjoyed under #. Still
Mr.. Beer clearly proves, up to 1854 or 1865
they acquiesced in the system: and both James
Otis and Benjamin Franklin openly approved of
the taxes by which colonial trade was regu-
lated, though have had no share in the
laying or disposing Of them" It was England's
desire 10 relieve the British taxpayer of some Of
the burden OF the defence Of the colonies that
brought about the revolution IN feeling toward
customs duties levied by the English Parlia-
fnent. AS long as these duties We're for the
regulation Of trade, they We're accepted without
serious complaint Il the Ievying Of duties
for revenue that brought the colonsts into
sharp antagonism with the British government.
While this change was coming over the atti-
fude OF the colonies toward the mother country
ar even greater change was being effected in
the British conception Of empire. Trade was
stu made the first consideration. but in place
o. the earlier conception Of colonies as sources
Of supply uhe conception Of the Spaniards when
tLey drained their territories OF all their
god and silver was being substituted the mod
en- conception of colonies as markets. the con
ception which dominates the colonial policy Of
France and Germany, and which. though with
more liberal interpretation is still the main
spring Of the colonial policy of Great Britain.
This change was brought about by the rapid in
crease between 1856 and 1865 of British exports
70 the North American colonies-especially the
exports of yyoollens. All England was interested
In the woollen trade the landed classes equally
with the manufacturers and it is to this interest
that Mr. Beer attributes the decision of the
British government in 1853 10 retain Canada
and 10 return to France the captured West
Indian islands
Thus the treaty OF 1863 marks the turning
point in British colonial history, not only be-
cause II relieved the colonists Of the dread Of
@ieucA aggression ana mus stedIiy ie9H'iiSu
Their dependence on the mother country for pro-
lection; but also because from that time greater
Stress was laid on colonies as markets for Brit
ISL produce than on colonies as sources OF sup
by The danger that the colonies, relieved OF
tier fear Of the French would assert their in
dependence. was not overlooked either In Eng
iand OF America. and Mr.. Beer quotes Franklin 3
indignant refutstion of this calumny on his
oountrymen. though it hardly be said that
TIE arguments Franklin selected were altogether