WAKE UP, FATHER!

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 42, 11 August 1911, Page 4

WAKE UP, FATHER!

Britain's real might lies in her incomparable workmanship, her unassailable commerce anil her control of the world's finance. The quotation of gigantic figures is of little service without comparison, but what is of real service is the examination of the real Britain by cmpetent outsiders and the expression of their opinion. A great American financier, whose finger is on the financial pulse of the commercial world, alleges with all possible vigor that there is no physical, mental, or commercial decadence in Britain. "To British ports, l ' he says, "come vessels of every nation and to every seaport in the world are sent Bri-tish-owned vessels on trading missions. Millions of tons of staples are bought by England in the country of their origin, loaded on British ships, and delivered to her customers elsewhere without touching British ports. In the warehouses along the Thames and elsewhere are concentrated the supplies of the world in many notable articles of commerce. The ivory of India and Africa are first brought here. The furs of the world are sold by auction in the London fur market. Mahogony logs lie on the London docks awaiting transhipment to countries much nearer to their native growth than England. In brief, this little island is the commercial heart of the world, and the slowing or quickening of its pulses is reflected on the bourses of the nations of the earth. With all the internationalising of finance which has come about in recent years, England still keeps tight hold upon the pursestrings. The London bank rate is a governing factor from New York to Pekin. England has been for generations and still is the great creditor nation. More than £200,000,000 is scattered abroad annually. It is her money which builds the pioneer railroads, opens mines, dams the waters, and finances the lesser nations. From all these enterprises her people take toll and seek new outlets for this increment. That too much money and too many men have been sent abroad attracted by promise of greater returns is probably true. She has bled herself too freely." We who are more weakly dependent on Britain than any other nation on earth, affect in our infancy oftentimes to believe her incapable of proceeding without our aid. We who so frequently steep so soundly sliout to her to "wake up!" There is nothing quite so humorous as the spectacle of an infant in arms ordering his father to "get a move on."