The Dominion. SATURDAY OCTOBER 22, 1910. TARIFFS AND WAR.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 954, 22 October 1910, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY OCTOBER 22, 1910. TARIFFS AND WAR.

In the l : r 'Nineteenth; Century for September there is printed the fulltext of an important paper read, by IjOrd'Cko.sjir isbefore the- International, Free-trade". Congress that' was held;:at Antwerp : in. August. -; '.The: title' of the paper is "Free-trade in its relation to peace and war," and its purpose is ; to' expound-the essential -truth contained in, Oobden's famous statement, made ih"lß42,.that' Free-trade is "the best human means for securing universal and perman--ent peace." This "declaration has for some years been subjected to; a great deal of ridicule in Great Britain. > Against -its; soundness 'is .opposed the.'fact; that' Britain has'been engaged4n.a great .number.of wars since" the time of ;Cobdenj and" may possibly-, be, plunged'. into conflict again. to-day or '-to-morrow." Even the stauriohest. , Free-traders • have been persuaded- by; thiso fact. into doubting the, correctness of Gobden ; s dictum.,, .Lord'.Oromer.himself,, in the article under notice, has : shrunk' from accepting, it a,s it stands. "11k. Cobden and his associates,", he .saysj "while rightly' Holding ! that trado was to some extent the natural foe to war, appear to me to have pushed the consequences to be. derived from that argument'much too far. They allowed too little ; for: other causes which tend:to subvert peace, such as racial • and .religious differences, dynastic considerations/ the; wish to acquiro national iunity, which tends' to the agglomeration of small States 1 , and the ambition which excites the desire of hegemony." Yet his following argument; goes very far''towards setting Oobden's :;doctrine on its feet" again; as profoundly wise after all.' ", ■''■', ...'.'

The Protectionists generally forget, or,'if they' do not forget, they will not admit as relevant, the fact that only one great commercial nation has-adopted 'and adhered'to■ a policy of Tree-trade. The power of Free-trado for. "universal and permanent peace": cannot be proved, but it cannot rightly be denied, until after Free-trade, all round is' an 'established .fact, 'Lord Cromer did' not overlook the fact "that; in; spite •of all adverse and possibly ephemeral' appearances, symptoms are not wanting which encourage the belief that the prescience of the early Freetraders may, in the end,.be jtardily vindicated"..'lt is the irony of ourrent politics," . he -continues,, "that at a time when England is meditating a return to Protection—but is as yet, I am glad to say, very far from ; being persuaded, that the adoption.of such a policy would be. wise—the' most advanced thinkers in some Protectionist States are beginning to .turn their'eyes towards the possibility, and desirability of casting ■ aside those swaddling-clothes' which were originally assumed in order to foster their budding industries." Loup Cromer quoted, the rise of a Free-trade sentiment in America, Canada, anfl Germany, which'last-named country, ho is convinced, will move towards Free-trade so soon as- she has completed the transition from agriculture to manufactures; and since-ho delivered his paper there has been an acute intensification of the anti-Protectionist feeling in these threo' countries and' in France and Austria as.well. Accompanying this movement there has been a growing sontiment in all civilised nations against war. The race of armaments is fiercer than over, but as the pace increases, the desire increases that.- the warships shall never bo put to active service. Can it.be doubted, Lord Cromer asks, that there is a distinct connection between Tariff wars and the growth of armaments? Trade, as ho points out, has frequently, been accompanied' by aggression ■ and tended to promote war. The Tariff war between' Germany and (Russia in 18D3, according to a Parliamentary ipaper- of 1804,-was '..■"■regarded -by

both responsible parties as likely to load to a state of thingß dangerous to the peace of Europe." The sharpness and anxiety with which the statesmen of the rival Powers watch each other's • tariffs cannot have escaped'the notice of-even, the least politically minded reader of the cable news. Territory- nowadays means trade and nothing'elso, and it is almost always a matter of territory and. trade that produces .the :"difficult" situations that make people think of war. The pacifying influence of reciprocal tariff arrangements is now recognised by every nation, evon where Cobden's theories are repudiated. The pacifying influence of Ereo-trade is even greater still. Twelvo years ago, to quote Lord Ceojiisr, ."tho' British flag was hoisted in the Sudan side by side with tho Egyptian. Europe tacitly acquiesced. Why did it 'do so? It was because a clause was introduced into the Anglo-Egyptian Convention of 1899, under which'no. trade preference was to be accorded to any: nation. All were placed on a footing of perfect equality.".' Indeed, the whole fiscal policy adopted in Egypt since the British occupation in 1883 has been based on. distinctly Freetrade principles." . .The British Free-traders do not oppose Tariff Reform from' a keen desire for peace, but biecause' they feel, "and the vast figures of Britain's trade expansion are. at their back, that Free-trade is best for the people of :the United Kingdom. It is an incidental advantage that their pok icy .makes for \interhational peace.' Whereas exclusive -trade tends to exacerbate international relations, Loud Cromer argues, Free-trade, by mutually enlisting a number of injra-i ential material'. interests in the cause of peace, tends to ameliorate those .relations and thus, j>ro tanto,. to diminish i the - probability, of ; -war: "Free-trade'.mitigates, though'it'is powerless to remove, international animosities. .Exclusive trade stimur lates and. aggravates those animoß* ities,l'do ; not by ■' any means' maintain that this argument is by itself conclusive against the adoption of a policy of Protection,' if, on other grounds, .the adoption of such icy is ;■ deemed desirable; but it is one aspect of the question which, when, the whole issue is under-consid-eration, should not be left out of account."- ■■■ The. argument is not one which is likely to appeal to Tariff Reformers in the .heat of the fight, but if. by any turn- of'events the op-' portunity 'presented/:itself to.. any British, Government to bring jin a Protectionist tariff, it is highlyprobable.that this aspect:of the question would'not.'only not be; left out of account,' but would be /considered as the. gravest .-aspect, of', all, .Only.a very foolish person .would, deny;'that the- adoption 'of -a; Protectionist tariff by Britain would send the international temperatuiie up to danger'point 'almost at once.