The Contract with England

The Contrast with England Contrast oUf situation with that of England. Her agri culture would support only a relatively few million people if they were to be as well fed as we are in the United States. England has coal but had to import the raw materials to develop the great industry she possessed in the 19th century. It was no accident that, until the first World War, industrial Britain rose to great heights under free trade; and her decline over the past third of a cen tury has been due in no small part to her renouncing free trade. Only recently, an observer in London wrote: "There is one thing which can be done. London can do it. London can forget the statesmen and the poli ticiansfor a while; we can recognisethe needs of men of every race and creed to exchange their goods or services one with another. We can offer again the great free'exchange market. "Make London a Free Port, if you will. London will 55 then have offered the world a policy which knows no colour bar; speaks all languages; creates wealth and does not destroy it. It is the one great peace offer which England can make alone; regardless of the policies of any other nation on earth."* It is not a question of whether or not self-subsistence is possible. There are hermits who associate with the outside world to a limited degree only. There are small groups of individuals living secluded lives. There are even nations which are practically self-contained. In general, the larger the area, the more nearly possible it is to have a satisfactory self-subsistence economy. All people on this earth, as a group, are self-subsisting in sofar as. contact with the inhabitants of other planets is concerned. A large section of the earth-the Western Hemisphere or all of Europe or all of Asia-could be self-subsisting at a fairly high level. But for what pur pose? What is lost by trade between individuals of dif ferent countries? Nothing; and the gains are obvious.