A PROJECT OF EMPIRE

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 31, 5 February 1910, Page 12

A PROJECT OF EMPIRE

A Critical Study of the Economics of Imperialism, with Special Reference to the Ideas of Adam Smith.

By J. SHTHM) NICHOLSON, M.A., D.Sc., Professor of Political Economy Jn the University of. Edinburgh: Macmlllan and Co.; 7/6 net

Imperial defence and the problem ot a closer union between the Home country and the, colonies, established on a commercial basis by means of preferential tariffs, involve problems that come within the sphere of the political economist. And it is a tribute to the sagncity and marvellous foresight of the great master of this branch of science that Adam Smith, whose epoch-making book, the "Wealth of Nations," was published in 1770, dealt with the subject as comprehensively and as philosophically as if his conclusions were founded upon the accumulated experience of to-day. Professor Nicholson, than whom no political economist commands more respectful attention, considers that a re-statement of Adam Smith's definitions of the laws governing commercial exchange and the growth of wealth, as they apply to the great problem which has to-day become paramount in determining the relations that should subsist between the various membere of the British Empire, will assist materially those statesmen upon whom the settlement of this question will finally devolve. The issues necessarily embrace & consideration of tie arguments which are commonly employed for and against tariff protection as a means of -fostering local industries. The work under review, therefore, may ibe taken as a concise but lucid epitome of the case for and against Tariff Kef orm. It also siimmarises all the essential principles upon which the philosophy of Adam Smith was based. At the outset, Professor Nicholson effectually disposes of the common assertion that Adam Smith was lacking in appreciation of the spirit of nationalism. He brings convincing evidence to support his assertion that the great political economist was behind no one in upholding a patriotic love of our own country and race, and the duty of considering its welfare in preference to that of any other nation. He quotes Adam Smith's declaration that "we do not love our country merely as part of a great society or mankind; we love it for its own sake, and independently of any other consideration." No political economist, moreover, has ever stated more clearly and emphatically that " the capital employed in the Home trade of of any country will generally give encouragement and support to a greater quantity of productive labour in that country, and increase the value of its produce more than an equal capital employed in the foreign trade of consumption." He elaborates this point at considerable length. Any arguments advanced by him in favour of free trade are directed, therefore, towards proving that the reverse policy tends to create monopolies against the interests of the masses of the people who constitute the nation. He contended that a national advantage is gained by freedom, and not by restraints on foreign trade. Nevertheless, he recognised that retaliatory taxes, Wjisely enforced, may he good policy as a means of procuring the repeal of high duties or prohibitions established to the detriment of British trade.

A full consideration of the economic principles so forcibly emineiate<l by Adam Smith leads the Professor to the following conclusion: "If we take a broad view of "Adam Smith's ideas on the conditions necessary to convert the project of an empire into a real empire, next in importance to the recognition by the colonies of the duty of defence must be placed the establishment of free trade within the limits of the empire, with tariff protection against the rest of the world." This portion he ««pport» at coa•idemble length *ad .with muoh force,