rests are similarly affected. The outstanding
factor in the prosperity of the Union has been the development of
war-born self-sufficiency. I used to think during the conflict that
shook the world, that this gospel of self-containment would be one of
the compensations that Britain would gain for the years of blood and
slaughter. So far as Britain is concerned this hope has not been
realized. When I was last in England huge quantities of German dyes were
being dumped on her shores to the loss and dismay of a new coal-tar
industry that had been developed during the war. German wares like toys
and novelties were now pouring in. And yet England wondered why her
exchange was down!

In South Africa the situation has been entirely different. She alone of
all the British dominions is asserting an almost pugnacious
self-sufficiency. Cut off from outside supplies for over four years by
the relentless submarine warfare, and the additional fact that nearly
all the ships to and from the Cape had to carry war supplies or
essential products, she was forced to develop her internal resources.
The consequence is an expansion of agriculture, industry and
manufactures. Instead of being as she was often called, "a country of
samples," she has become a domain of active production, as is attested
by an industrial output valued at L62,000,000 in 1918. Before the
war the British and American manufacturer,--and there is a considerable
market for American goods in the Cape Colony,--could undersell the South
African article. That condition is changed and the home-made article
produced with much cheaper labour than obtains either in Europe or the
United States, has the field.

Let me emphasize another striking fact in connection with this South
African prosperity. During the war I had occasion to observe at
first-hand the economic conditions in every neutral country in Europe. I
was deeply impressed with the prosperity of Sweden, Spain and
Switzerland, and to a lesser extent Holland, who made hay while their
neighbors reaped the tares of war. Japan did likewise. These nations
were largely profiteers who capitalized a colossal misfortune. They got
much of the benefit and little of the horror of the upheaval.

Not so with South Africa. She played an active part in the war and at
the same time brought about a legitimate expansion of her resources. One
point in her favor is that while she sent tens of thousands of her sons
to fight, her own territory