New-York tribune., 1908-03-10
BRITISH IMPERIAL TRADE.

r,h, .risipr tide Of tariff reform in England
= ,,nn,israkahlc Almost every constituency II
which bv-election is held declares strongly
for Mr.. Chamherlains proposals consequently
discussion Of fiscal affairs holds foremost place
oven amid such controversial topics d. !i'eiS'
c,c,IIar education and old-agc pensions II -
,~o7 however. chiefly up0n the trade conditions
of The United Kingdom alone. tpholueIs 81
.-,I,denisn dwell with an assumption oI triumph
,,,,o,, -b4 vast and increasing volume OF British
-io,,,,fa,t,,res and commerce. and affect 10 ind
-f,ereiu =. y-fndication of free trade and a dem
o,,s7ra4ion of tb-. undesrahility Of metidiIns
viii, that system, and they point 10 the De
pendence of The British Isles upon other iahaS
90, ba., food supplies and materials for manu-
.,,,,,a es r,roof of The impracticability and dis
.,Sfro;lSuesS Of protective tar!E IL seems anu
indeed il is. tremendously impressive 1" say iIal
IN 1905 the commerce of the United hlngdom
with other lands amounted 10 S3.o39, 44-,"o M
morris and 81 So; 3ss9 09O exports For country
af - epooeo inhabitants those are stupendous
and 1,r,riva lied figures. Yet such view or such
rapreSentatiGn Of the case Is paIllal ana MS
leading in lis relation 10 the question OF GffiH
reform since the proposed protective system =
not for the United Kingdom alone but Tor the
euffr. British Empire an integral fiscal, com
n3ertial and industrial entity, and therefore TIE
commerce of the whole empire needs 10 he taken
into the calculation
When this is done the total Of .342s31590
imports ana exports Of the United hingdohl' i
considerably surpassed hy that Of S7.63oooopHt
rer,resentin1 those OF the whole empire Hoih
,f,one, its own members and with the outer
world OF this about one-third. or Se.3i3cEJo.cD-
i commerce within the empire and tWo-thlrdN
or s5OsT. T.6s0.0Un. commerce Win the rest OF tie
world In respect 10 the latter it is 10 he oh
served that in recent years marked and sig
nlfsant change has been occurring ia the bal
anoa of trade Down 10 aud including 1892 the
excess Of imports over exports in the total for
creasing. In 1891 it was SGO75o00o0 and N
1902 it was Ss9O.U00O91. But since the latter
wear il has been steadily and rapidly declining
until in 1906 il was only S4,2.-AHt.00o. This
change was effected while he total volume IF
trade was increasing. from S5.G;I 100000 IN
1892 10 81 go O01g0p in 1906. Therefore the
proportion Of imports from lhe outside world
i rapidly decreasing and tie ability of the
British Empire To supply from within It's OWN
wants is rapidly increasing.
This latter fact = again strikiugiy exemplifed
In an analysis of the foreign trade OF the empire
IN 1880 imports of food amounted 10 s4S0.J00.-
,as} while exports OF raw materials were only
S3I2 J0otsa. Bur in 1+s; imports of food had
increased to only $627 10000. while experts Of
r.iw materials had risen to sG0l $4,000 Thus
while imports OF food increased in eleven Years
only 80 per cent exports of materials in
creased IN The period more than 90 per
c,nt. and while such exports in 1s91 were only
80 per cent af such imports, in 1906 they were
about 81 per cent. If tie movements Of the last
few years continue. as there is every reason 10
expect that they siii, two or three years more