Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-03
Merging a Great Empire
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Affairs in a protected insular market
It Is too small; besides. export trade Is
q necessity. No country was ever great
without 1t. Spain, Venice and the Meth
erlands, once great foreign traders, de-
clined with the decrease of their foreign
commerce. The same progressive de-
cline confronts Britain unless she can
stimulate her dropping export trade.
She cannot embark upon price-cut-
ting war throughout the world. Her
workers will not stand that remedy.
Half a million operatives have been out
in Lancashire because the mill owners
sought to cut prices of their products
abroad, lowering the cost OF production
by a wage cut of one-eighth. The gen.
eral strike of 1926 was the direct re-
suit of the coal owners insistence upon
trying a similar cure for their eco
nomic ills.
Tariff Walls Form Menace.
Britain cannot increase her exports
to Europe, her biggest prewar market.
because everywhere new and high tarln
walls keep her out and she has no reg
ular tariff wall herself to use as bar
gaining counter. Also. most OF the ma
lions she used TO supply with hnished
goods are now producing their own. on
and hydro-electric plants have cut
heavily into the prewar coal markets.
What is left? The empire Is left.
There it lies, nobody's economic child.
without any Semblance OF centralizeo
direction and control, although its as
sets and potentialities are so VAST.
Opponents of the merger idea, men
with large European interests and little
at stake in the colonies, the antrim
perialists and the free-trade-
price factions argue against the merger
and for a closer understanding with
Europe.
Two-thirds of the goods imported to
meet Britain's national needs today are
from foreign countries, they argue, and
only one-tnird from empire lands. On
the export side Britain last year sold
more than half her goods abroad.
The merger men assert that, on the
contrary this is the road to ruin. TO
link up with Europe would mean a
downward pressure on the British work
ers' wages and only small share IN
whatever measure OF expansion is
achieved. European wage levels and
standards of living would first have to
be raised to the higher British standard
before the British standard could rise;
whereas the contrary Is the case OF the
dominions. Besides, Europe Is over
industrialized, is an old and much
worked mine: whereas the dominions
are new, their industries and lands are
capable of immense expansion.
Single Fiscal Unit Is Favored.
As to the technique to be employed.
the industrialists see no difference be-
tween merging the empire and fusing
number of allied interests into q single
organized whole, armed at all points for
attack and defense. They say that as a
business proposition the merging Of the
empire into single fiscal unit means
merely an extension Of the methods and
principles that are now operating in the
sphere of industry. Harry MCGOWAN
states 1t thus:
I'm point of fact, what are we pro-
posing? Simply another United States
of America, which themselves must have
had many of the same fundamental diff
ficulties prior to their becoming feder-
ated. The progress of America has been
phenomenal and is due, In my opinion,
to three factors: ID The possession OF
almost boundless natural resources: CD
a common language and CD no artificial
trade barriers between the States. see
no reason why we, with the will to do it,
should not be able to follow their mag
nificent lead.
IF the British Empire were a single
estate under unified management so
that each section of 1t could be put to
producing the goods, raw materials or
foodstuffs most suitable to its special
circumstances and most advantageous
70 the commonwealth as q whole. there
would ensue such stimulus to prosper
ity as the world has not yet known"
So far only the most aggressive and
far-seeing of the Conservative party, the
group of imperialist politicians and of
industrials driving for world trade. are
theoretically in this movement. The old
stagers, and the leader, Stanley Baldwin.
and the machine which he firmly con-
trolls at present, will not 60 so far.
partly because they don't like some of
the men in the crusade and partly be-
cause they are opposed In principle TO
food taxes, and the empire merger nee
essarily entails taxes on all foodstuffs
produced outside the empire.
Tory Tariff Plan Rejected.
Many years ago the Tories took up q
plan for tariff wall around the island
with rebates In favor Of the empire 1t
meant protection for the manufacturers
and dear food for the community as a
whole. The electorate took one look at
the project and threw down the party
which advanced 1t and put in the free