WHERE RICH TRADE AWAITS BRITAIN.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3141, 30 October 1922, Page 7

WHERE RICH TRADE AWAITS BRITAIN.

It is high time for Britain to mark off her losses in Europe, and to concentrate her energies on the development of her Empire, according to the London Saturday Review, which admits however, that it is not possible, nor even desirable, for the British to "disinterest themselves absolutely in Europe," but argues they "should do so to a great extent.'' The road to recovery in Europe becomes harder and steeper day by day, and this weekly thinks that it will be much better business for Britain to realise that her Empire is much underdeveloped and greatly needs a new policy of expansion . We read then: — "In our Empire we possess not only a large stable and economically sound, but the largest sphere ever known in all history. We have an Empire which covers about a quarter of the habitable surface of the globe, and includes about a quarter of the population of the earth; it has the widest range of climate and soil; its resources are without bound and its possibilities in every direction are beyond calculation. And yet the British, as a people, have not really learned to think imperially of this their wonderfui and glorious heritage. They are insufficiently instructed about it. There is no more absorbing story than that of the growth and development of the Island Kingdom of Great Britain into the British Commonwealth of Nations, with its free self-governing States, the Crown colonies, India, and the Protectorates, as well as the special mandated territories. It is a story that every British child should be taught and well taught." The economic destitution of a large part of Europe has reduced, where it has not destroyed, the markets for the British in that area, and therefore this review points out that other markets must be found. It is in the Empire that commerce and industry will find compensation for the lost markets of Europe—that is, "so far as they are lost." and it adds: "There are other markets which are still available, as in China, but they are not comparable with those within, or that can be created within, the Empire itself. The crying need, then, is to develop the Empire. How is this to be met and satisfied in the most expeditious and at the same time solid manner? Evidently the effort must be co-operative on the part of all the members of the Empire so far as is possible. While the Dominions may be and are expected to do whatever they can to help themselves, it is to Britain that the Empire looks for assistance in its development. With . respect to the Crown Colonies, Mr Churchill—by far the ablest Colonial Secretary we have had—lias understood this verv well. He has authorised several important development loans. During the past year a number of Colonies and Protectorates have obtained loans in London to the amount of twenty-three millions sterling, the bulk of this considerable, sum being spent in Britain on manufactured articles, with a consequent alleviation of the British economic position. All these Empire-efforts have what may be called a reciprocal influence and value. '