Vii.—: Back to the Land.

Mr. Chamberlain talked at first of the necessity of drawing closer together the bonds between the United Kingdom and the Colonies, but the projected taxes on foreign agricultural products were instantly hailed by Lord Harris and Mr. Brassey as protection to English agriculture. But do protective duties remove agriculture from the danger of crises? There were high duties in 1821, 1822, 1833, 1836, and 1837, when the House of Commons nominated the Commission to inquire into agricultural depression, and in France the groans of the landowners have been louder than ever since they have been given a monopoly of their countrymen’s food supply.

Mr. Chamberlain regards duties on food as likely to lead to a return to a country life. Are the workmen to be reduced to such wretchedness in the towns that they will be forced to migrate to the country? What will they do when they get there? Is that ideal to be the misery which Lord Rosebery has described as existing in the country under Protection? It shows a singular ignorance of history to suppose that the 25,054,000 people out of the population of 32,526,000 in England and Wales, and the 3,120,000 out of the population of 4,472,000 in Scotland who live in the towns can be transported to the country. It is equally mistaken to suppose that agriculture as an occupation has been abandoned. While all the textile professions only employ 1 in 17 of the active population, and the cotton trade only 1 in 30, agriculture employs 1 in 7.