that it was Free
Trade that was driving capital out of the country. Let that pass. It
is said we cannot deny that the Budget is driving capital out of the
country. I deny it absolutely. To begin with, it is impossible to
drive the greater part of our capital out of this country, for what is
the capital of the country? The greatest part of that capital is the
land, the state of cultivation which exists, the roads, the railways,
the mines, the mills--this is the greatest part of the capital. The
owners of that capital might conceivably, if they thought fit, depart
from the country, but their possessions would remain behind.

I shall be asked, What about all this foreign investment that is going
on? Is not British credit now being diverted abroad to foreign
countries, to the detriment of our own country? Is not British capital
fleeing from The Socialistic speeches of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, and the President of the Board of Trade, and taking refuge
in Germany, where of course there are no Socialists, or in other
countries, where there is never any disturbance, like France, or
Spain, or Russia, or Turkey? Now let us look into that. There are only
two ways in which capital can leave this country for foreign
investments. It is no good sending bits of paper to the foreigner and
expecting him to pay a dividend in return. There are only two
ways--one is by exports made by British labour, and the other by
bullion. Now, if the exports were to increase, surely that should be a
cause of rejoicing, especially to our Tariff Reformers, who regard the
increase in exports as the index of national prosperity. As for the
second--the export of bullion--would you believe it, it is only a
coincidence, but it is an amusing coincidence, there are actually six
million pounds' worth more gold in the country now, than there were at
the beginning of the year before the Budget was introduced. The active
and profitable investment abroad which has marked the last two or
three years, which is bound to swell the exports of the next few
years, has not been attended by any starvation of home industry. On
the contrary, the amount of money forthcoming for the development of
new industries and now enterprises in this country during the last
two or three years has compared very favourably with the years which
immediately preceded them, when the Conservative Government was in
power.

Property in Great Britain is secure. It would be a great mistake