The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1915-10-26
If England Loses2

| uG Dledh up VI SnC Diilioh CihpiiS
the decline OF Great Britain to thu
rank OF seeond-rate power, accomp
anied by permanent shrinkage in ma
tional wealth, productive power anC
consuming capacity would, in one re
spect, be severe economic blow tt
the United States. In an analysis o.
our foreign trade in the products o.
farm and forest, the department Of
agriculture gives figures showing
that Great Britain has for many
years been this eountry's chief for
eign market.
Thirty-nine per cent. of all these
exports in the five years ending with
| 1914 went to the British lies. In that
period, Britain bought three-fourths
of our hops, one-half of our cotton,
one-half OF our glucose, sugar and
grape sugar, one-half our live ami
mails and packing house products,
one half Of our grain, our tobacco and
our dairy products.
No other foreign country in those
five years bought of us SO much as
Great Britain did. Germany took only
Is per cent. of our farm and forest
exports in the 10-year period ending
with 1914, France took less than
Germany. Nor would Germany and
France ever buy our products on the
British scale, since they are high pro-
tectionist countries, while British
free trade makes lucrative, open
market for American goods. I
What external condition could have
been more favorable to the eeonom.
ic development of the United States
during the past rs years than the ex-
istence of an overseas country like
Great neutrality-suspicious., rich and
progressive, although very small in
area, and drawing heavily on Ameri-
can farms and forests for raw mater
ials in manufactures and for food
supplies? The rapid economic devel-
opment of our country has been large
ly due to the existence OF the British
market. Wipe out Great Britain, and
what would be the effect on America?
Let Great Britain be seriously and
permanently crippled by the loss of
the chief sources of her commercial
and financial power-what then
would be the effect upon America?
However much we might gain in
some directions by such a catas-
trophe to the British people we
should lose enormously in the foreign |
market for our annual exports of the |
products of farm and forest The |
moment the sources Of the British |
wealth began to dry up, the British
population would begin to decline and |
the imports of raw materials and |
food would shrink. No other foreign |
country. according to the appearance
es, would take Great Britains place
on a free trade basis as our best |
customer. Where is the country.
new or old, insular in shape, restrict
ed in area and geographically located |
1T the end of an easy ocean route,
hat could or would play to America
he British role of the past century?
from an American point of view, the
possibility of another Britain lies be-
7ond the reach of the Imagination.
A dominating central Teutonic en-
'ire in Europe, extending. virtually
rom Antwerp to the Persian gulf,
would be protectionist and self-sus-
aiming. Its power in various parts
II the world, through its colonies and
dependencies, won as spoil of war
rom broken-down France and Britain
night be well-nigh controlling. At
east the political equilibrium be-
ween the new and the old worlds,
which we new in the days of Britain's
reatness, would have vanished; and
With the former political equilibrium
would have gone the special econom-
c and commercial equilibrium estab-
ished by British empire founded
n free trade.-Springfeld Republi-
an.