THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 1907. A GRAVE SITUATION.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8510, 15 August 1907, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 1907. A GRAVE SITUATION.

When the party in British politics with which Mr Joseph Chamberlain is associated was defeated, there is no doubt that the decision of the majority of the British yoters was disappointing to the colonies, and, there is reason to fear, more or less disastrous to the Empire as a whole. That which certain politicians at Home call "freetrade" is simply a wretched fetish, which is ignorantly and stupidly worshippsd by those who are, apparently, completely under the swaypf prejudice, and impervious to the influence of facts and the lessons which they teach. The British system of "freetrade" seems destined to prove a terribly dear fallacy to the Motherland. With Germany and America there is constant improvement and progress, but in the case of Great Britain, instead of genuine progress we have flimsy excuses for retrogression. But British "freetrade" is not only disastrous to the Motherland, but it is calculated to seriously affect the natural development of the colonies, and thus a most grave situation, and one which concerns the whole Empire, is ci*eatcd by the policy of Sir Henry CampbellBannerman and his party, who pander, for the sake of political power, to the ignorant prejudices of the British working classas rather than strive to weld together and develop the Empire upon the only possible i

and satisfactory basis, viz., the prin- J ciple of reciprocity. Professor J. t Ellis Barker, writing recently in the Nineteenth Century, makes the following significant remarks: —"It is generally known that the United States are richer than Great Britain, but it is not generally known that Gerjnany also is apparently richer than is this country; that in a financial duel for naval pre-eminence Germany may prove stronger than this country. Great Britain has some 40,000,000 inhabitants, Germany has some 60,000,000 inhabitants, and as the German workers are fully employed, whilst a very heavy percentage of British workers is always out of employment, we may say that in productive man power, Great Britain and Germany stand not in the relation of four to six, but approximately in the relation of four to seven, Besides, all the German industries, including- agriculture, are exceedingly flourishing, as may be seen from the fact that, notwithstanding the immense yearly increase of her population, Germany suffers chronically from a dearth of workers, so that immigration into Germany is greater than emigration from whilst most British industries are stagnant or decaying, as may be seen by the fact that, notwithstanding a yearly emigration of from 200,000 to 300,000 people, the British labour market remains congested, and that Great Hritain suffers continually, and very acutely, from a dearth of work and consequent unemployment anl pauperism. In view .of this stati of affairs, we cannot wonder that, if we compare the British and German income-tax statistics, we find that the savings of the German masses have, during the last six years, increased ten times faster than those of the British masses. These and many other facts, which it would lead too far to mention in this space, make it clear that Germany is considerably richer than is Great Britain, and that her wealth is rapidly growing whilst ours remains comparatively stationary, and if we look at the other side of the account we find that the German citizens are not only richer but are also less heavily taxed than are the British citizens. For every £1 paid in the form of income tax by the average German taxpayer, the average British taxpayer has to pay £2, and for every £1 paid by the average Gertnan householder in local taxation, the average British householder has to pay £2 10s. The wealth of a nation depends in the first instance net upon the quantity of commodities exported and imported, and upon the quantity of its possessions of printed paper in the shape of stocks and shares, but upon the number of its inhabitants engaged in active production. The United States have some 80,000,000 inhabitants, Germany has some 60,000,000 inhabitants, Great ■ Britain has some 40,000.000 inhabit ants. The German population increases three times faster than the , British population, the American population increases five times faster than the British population, and the population of Germany and of the ' United States combined increases eight times faster than the British population. In which after all is a more important economic factor than machine-power, although it is hardly mentioned in , the text-books of political economy, Germany and the United States are so far superior to Great Britain, and the proportion between the manpower possessed by Great Britain and her two greatest rivals, is increasing to our disadvantage with such alarming rapidity, that it is evident that Great Britain cannot much longer maintain her naval supremacy, because she will lack the necessary ' financial means, and, having lost j her naval supremacy, she will, cerj tainly be deserted by her present ; allies."