PROBLEMS OF EMPIRE.
with which we are now face to face. If American cotton mills gradually absorb, as I believe they will, the whole of the cotton produced in the United States, the British cotton trade may be ruined by the loss of the main source of supply of its raw material.
The considerations which I have set forth above lead, I submit, to the conclusion that a fixed adherence to our existing fiscal policy may be attended with the most disastrous results to the cotton trade. They have, at any rate, had a powerful influence in convincing me that the policy outlined by Mr. Chamberlain deserves the most serious consideration, and that the Tariff Reform League, inaugurated yesterday for the development and defence of the industrial interests of the British Empire, is deserving of support.
Cotton growing within the Empire should be stimulated. Those who bear in mind a particular passage in Mr. Chamberlain's speech in the House of Commons on May 28th and ignore another which follows are not justified in assuming that a tax on raw materials is a part of Mr. Chamberlain's policy. A tax on raw materials which would cripple any industry is totally opposed to its spirit. The cotton trade has nothing to fear on these grounds. On the other hand, it is of vital importance to the future of the industry to ensure an adequate supply of raw cotton. Tentative steps have already been taken to develop new sources of supply in West Africa. But much more vigorous action is required to meet the necessities of the case. Cotton can be grown in other parts of Africa, in India, in the West Indies, and in Northern Australia, and the whole of our supplies of raw cotton might in time be drawn from within the Empire. A bounty on cotton grown in the British Empire and imported into the United Kingdom would
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