INCOME OR IMPORTS.

Thames Advertiser, Volume XXVII, Issue 8161, 28 June 1895, Page 3

INCOME OR IMPORTS.

(To the Editor.)

Sir, —r am glad that Mr Smith has at length recovered from the effect of my last broadside. I shall need to be more careful in future, as I do not want to be ohareed with manslaughter, and Mr Smith haying recovered his breath, I will try and adapt my writing to the capacity of his wind, thouuh I am not hopeloss, yet, of convincing him that imports do; represent incorao and esporls outgo, to use a not very oleganb word, though impressive.- Before I go further t must acknowledge myself in tho wrong in one thing, and it is, that I gave Mr Smith credit for being acquainted with one of the most elementary teachings of political econraony, viz,, that imports are paid for by exports. I hope that this statement will not again disturb Mr Smith's wind, but it is of the first' importance tha( he and your readers generally should understand that in all that I have hitherto written in this I have taken it for grauted that this priuciple, one of the most elementary in the science was familiar to him and them. That it is not familiar to Mr Smith is evident from his latest letter. Therefore perhaps I may be pardoned for repeating, what is part of the a, b, c, of the science," that imports nre paid by exports." _ Hence when I said that a balance of imports over exports represented profits. .1 was . speaking not tho ridiculous rigmarole of . Mr Smith's imagination, but words of , truth and soberness. If such a balance i does not represent profits will Mr Smith ' kindly tell us what it does represent. < Judging from Mr Smith's letter imports are not paid for at all, for he says, "If ' the excess of imports over exports represents profit, the best thing we can do. is to resolve ourselves into a sort of national refuge of indigent persons, and do nothing at all but live upon imports." I would be sorry to hurt Mr Smith's feelings or his wind, but I can hardly refrain from calling the sentence just quoted, as childish and irrational in the extreme and not such as one would expect from a champion of Protection, for i if we were to do nothing from whenco would come the exports to pay for tho import, upon which we are to live P I am found fault with for calling loans part of our income. If lam wrong in doing so, I err in very good company, for in every Fiuancial Statement presented to tho House the proceeds of loans are put down on the income side of the national budget, not on tho other side, So until Mr-Smith produces evidence to the contrary other than his own dictum. I must continue to call tho proceeds of our loans part of our national income. Towards the end of his letter Mr Smith becomes almost hysterical, and the cause of it is ray statement that "the excess of imports over exports represents profits,-" for he goes on thus; "It inculcates idleness and condemns thrift, and industry, and must have a pernicious effect upon weakminded a simple thing to cause such dire results! From its effect upon Mr Smith one would be inclined to include him among those upon whom it would have a pernicious effect. H.N.B.