ry to the
Colonial producer. If the Colonies close their markets to German goods
Germany may retaliate by closing her markets to Colonial goods; and
Germany is, so far as the trade goes, a fair customer to the British
Colonies. Here are the figures:--

TRADE OF BRITISH POSSESSIONS WITH GERMANY.

Average of Three Years (1890, 1891, 1892).--In Thousands Sterling.

--------------------------+--------------+--------------
| Imports from | Exports to
| Germany. | Germany.
--------------------------+--------------+--------------
India | 1,556 | 5,338
Australasia | 1,631 | 1,106
South Africa | 228 | 113
North America | 781 | 113
West Indies | 52 | 85
Other British Possessions | 351 | 691
+--------------+--------------
Total | 4,599 | 7,446
--------------------------+--------------+--------------

WHAT CAN WE OFFER?

This table shows that the Colonial producer stands to lose as much, or
more, than the Colonial consumer by cutting off trade connections with
Germany. What can we offer in return? It is suggested by the advocates
of preferential trade that we should offer better terms to Colonial
products in our markets. But already all Colonial products, except tea
and coffee, enter the United Kingdom free, therefore we can only give
better terms to the Colonies by imposing a tax on those foreign products
which compete with the principal Colonial products. What, then, are
these competing products? With some trouble I have extracted from the
Custom House returns the following list of articles in which there seems
to be tangible competition between foreign countries and British
Possessions:--

COLONIAL _VERSUS_ FOREIGN GOODS.

Principal Competing Articles Imported into the United Kingdom in 1895.

Millions Sterling.

---------------------------+--------------+--------------
| From Foreign | From British
| Countries. | Possessions.
---------------------------+--------------+--------------
Animals, Living | 7.5 | 2.4
Bacon and Hams | 10.1 | .7
Butter and Cheese | 14.8 | 4.0
Caoutchouc and Guttapercha | 2.9 | 1.2
Copper