Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-23
GREAT BRITAIN POWDERS
ON COLONIAL EXPANSION
Development of Tropical Possessions
Considered as Method to Alleviate
Commercial Stagnancy.

cost of food, and seeks a solution in
capital levy, thus taking over a percent-
age OF the accumulated wealth OF the
country to abolish the great tax bur.
den which arises from the colossal pro-
portions of the national debt. The OBJ.
vious fact that the condition of labor,
as a whole, is steadily growing worse
constitutes at once the danger in the
situation and the strength of the labor
position. since the failure of the pres
ent Tory government after four years
of absolute power cannot longer be dis
guiSed.
Tory England is not yet prepared to
surrender the great position the nation
has held in the world and the govern
ing class in the nation itself. 1t is
still seeking to recover the lost markets
by a more severe exploitation of Brit
ish labor. British industry has so far
shown itself incapable of adapting it
self to modern conditions and adopting
the methods of organization and the
varieties of machinery which have con-
tributed to both American and German
prosperity.
The labor elements, while in no
sense dominated by the extreme social
istic or bolshevist doctrines of the
| MARKHAM class war, nevertheless are just
as determined that the solution that
| must be found shall not be of such
| character as to perpetuate the present
miserable condition of the bulk of the
workingmen of the British Isles. And.
| in reality, what the labor policy Is ac-
! tually leading toward is a little Eng
| land, a comparatively small and pros
porous self-contained state, which would
| be possible, if at all, only II the popu-
lation of the state were reduced by some
ten millions.
In the present deadlock, the question
| of tropical colonies, to which I referred
at the outset Of this article, takes on a
real importance. In these, colonies,
Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Uganda, Tan
| ganyika, the vast areas of undeveloped
and productive territory with docile
| populations which are as yet untroubled
| by any political aspirations such as
/ have shaken British rule in India and
well-nigh wrecked British trade in
| China. In the development OF these col
onies lies the promise of a field for
British capital and an expansion OF
British earnings.
| Turns to Colonies.
| In a word, Tory England now con-
! ceiveS of a gradual withdrawal from the
| losing business of industrial production,
the gradual limitation of British pro-
duction, to the home market and the
concentration of activity upon the de-
velopment of tropical colonies, and. in
| fact, of Africa. But such process does
not provide for the mass of British
workingmen. They exist and in such a
scheme they would increasingly have to
| be fed and clothed by the state and in
| evitably their standard of living would
| increasingly fall.
In this conception Britain would be-
come the holder Of monopoly OF trop-
| ical products and the exploitation OF
| these regions would give employment to
the so-called upper classes in both po-
| litical and business jobs. And, at this
same time, British capital would con-
| tinue to increase, both as a direct con-
sequence of the colonial operations and
| in all the other areas Of the world
where it would continue to be invested.
| But this program patiently envisageS the
deliberate exploitation of the laboring
population at home and of the native
populations of the tropical colonies.
At the close of the World War there
was the great question as to whether
the inevitable readjuStment should adj
vantage finance or industry. Finance
demanded the immediate restoration of
the pound sterling to par. This in turn
involved an actual expansion of the
national debt, since it entailed taking
the pound from $500 to $4.87. In the
fight finance won, but industry has
ever since been crippled and the cost
of production has limited exports. Little
by little, especially in the coal trade,
the fact is becoming clear that British
industry cannot regain its prewar place.
Situation Contradictory.
What makes the British situation very
difficult for foreign observers to APP
praise is the obvious contradiction.
Britain remains very great money
power with a vast accumulation of cap
ital, represented by investments all over
the world. The earnings of these invest
mentS have permitted the restoration of
the pound sterling to par and the pay
ment of the taxes incident to the great
debt. On balance Britain thus continues
to make money, its income exceeds its
cost and each year there is more capital
to invest.
But, on the other hand, British in
dustry, which was once a source of in
come and the place of origin of present
accumulated capital, continues to 60
from bad to worse. And this decline
has its inevitable consequences for the
mass of British laborers. British in
dustry is, in fact, to be compared with
an improbable branch of a prosperous
railway. Moreover, what constitutes the
serious aspect of the problem is that
while few Englishmen grow richer, the
conditions of thousands and even of
millions continues to grow worse and
these millions, in the end. can use the
political power which they possess. But
their single proposal to date is the forci-
Die seizure OF part of the accumulated
wealth in the form of a CAPITAL lew
which would amount to taking capital
from field in which it was earning in
terest and employing it in a direction
which might not prove profitable.
(Copyright. 1927