greater than the demand, the seller takes the lowest possible price. The American farmer is that seller, and it is notorious that he complains that the price is made in Liverpool.' Are we to believe that the shrewd Liverpool merchant has all this time been giving 5s. a quarter more than he need have done, and that if an import duty of 5s. a quarter were imposed he would get his bargain for 5s. a quarter less money? If the supply were small and the demand unlimited, it is admitted by these Fair Traders themselves that the importing country would pay the duty, though in that case the seller would be making his own price, and might possibly be able to spare 5s. a quarter out of his profits. But if, when the seller's profits are large, he does not pay the import duty, how much less, when his profits are small or even nil, is there any probability of his paying it! The distinction' only requires a moment's inspection to enable us to see its absurdity. In conclusion we wish to express our satisfaction that the bubble of the Fair Trade League appears to have burst. At all events, the Trade Unions Congress, at their meeting a month ago, accepted with enthusiasm their President's avowal, 'We are not willing to tolerate any reversion to the old nonsense of Protection.' At that meeting, too, some disclosures took place which showed how the Fair Trade League has been bolstered up. The delegates who attended it were 'not sent by trade societies. Their railway fares were paid for them; they received 15s. a day expenses and a luncheon.' So said Mr. Burnett, of the Amalgamated Engineers, and he added: If any man had a mind to sell himself to the Fair Trade Association, or any other association, for what was virtually a free trip up to London, let him do so; but he 'had no right to sell his fellow-unionists by appearing in their name and professing to represent their opinions.' After this exposure several delegates, including one who had taken a prominent part in the sugar-bounty agitation, were objected to and excluded. 6 The Farmers' Alliance have taken a similar step. Their committee believes that, if it were possible by united effort to reverse the national policy of Free Trade and to restore 'Protection, the first interest to be sacrificed would be that of agriculture; that, if duties upon corn could be reimposed, they would be repealed at the first moment of difficulty, and 'this whichever party happened to be in power;' and they go on to say that they 'cannot but look upon the agitation for "Fair Trade" as a delusion and a snare-a delusion because, whilst there is not the remotest chance of the nation listening to any proposal to tax its food, duties on farm produce, even if allowed, would not only be of no permanent benefit to the tenant farmer, but would prove injurious to his interests by raising the price of foreign corn, now so largely required for stock feeding; a snare, because the proposal is an expedient for keeping up rents, and for staving off agricultural reforms, which are the only true remedies in the hands of Parliament for restoring prosperity to the farming interest.' Where then are these dangerous dreamers to look for a realisation of their schemes? The working man will not have them, at least not under 15s. a day and a lunch. The farmer will not have them, so far as farmers are represented, and they are very largely represented, in the Farmers' Alliance. The London newspaper press, with one base exception,' is against them; and it is only necessary to look at their 'list' to see that not one name of any importance, nay, hardly a name which anybody knows except its possessor and a few private friends, is to be found among their supporters. So we will leave them to their fate, simply proposing to them an alternative which may be better than total and ignominious extinction. If they cannot get on alone, they might mend matters by amalgamating with a kindred institution, the prospectus of which we extract from a well-known London newspaper, and which must have been composed by the ghost of Bastiat. "The Snowdon and Grampian Tea Company (Limited) " is the title of a new speculation which a correspondent informs us is being promoted by an enthusiastic fair trader and advocate of "the cause of "British labour." The following is an extract from its prospectus:"This company is formed for the purpose of producing, with the greatest possible expenditure of labour, and therefore with the greatest advantage to the labouring classes of the country, an article to replace the cheap but admittedly useful article now imported from China It is calculated that it will require to produce an equal tea on the slopes of Snowdon and the Grampians an expenditure of at least five guineas per lb. for the commonest sorts, and a proportionally larger sum for the production of the finer kinds. As nearly the whole of the amount spent will be paid for actual labour in tending the plants, keeping up the fires in the glasshouses, getting coal for this purpose, and transporting it to the highest and coldest parts of the mountains, a large number of artisans and labourers will be employed and directly benefited. It is further proposed to employ, as managers, persons selected for their total ignorance of the growth and preparation of tea, so that it is not impossible that the crop for the first three or four years will be even more costly than above intimated, necessitating, as this undoubtedly will, larger employment of labour in each succeeding season to remedy the errors of the one past. Many of the directors, as will be seen from their names, are persons of large political influence, and it is hoped that in a short time Parliament may be induced to pass an Act forbidding the flooding of the country with the cheap produce of China by imposing upon the article a duty that shall enable the home producer to compete in the way of 'Fair Trade' with the better-situated foreigner." As chairınan, he hopes to secure the services of Lord Salisbury, and he is reserving seats on the board of directors for all members of the late Conservative Cabinet. The post of secretary is not yet filled up, but the editor of the "Morning Post" is to have the first offer.' It is possible that a study of the first year's balance-sheet of the new institution might do something to clear the eyes of the people who mistake means for ends, and measure the value of a production by the amount of employment it creates; but, without waiting for a document which would probably not be financially satisfactory, we counsel Fair Traders, actual or intending, to read, and try to understand, the prospectus we have printed for their benefit. Couched, as it is, in the form of a literary squib, it contains truths which, if mastered, will effectually protect those who have learned them from the ridiculous absurdities and sophistical misstatements of the Fair Trade League. No. CCCXVII. will be published in January, 1882. INDEX. A Albania, ethnology of, 326-Charles Thopia proclaims himself King of Appach, F. II., his work on Cæsar's British expeditions reviewed, 37. B Bird, Isabella L., her travels in Japan reviewed, 122. |