114 CANADA AND THE EMPIRE.

py the ex-Colonial Secretary. He discards altogether
 the suggestion that the British Government
should tax all imported wheat from non-Imperial
sources. But he suggests an alternative policy.
He would like Great Britain to tax United States
wheat only. This would, of course, give the
Canadian producer a preference over the United
States farmer. But Sir Richard does not contemplate
 that even this impost should be permanent.
He advocates it as a means of obtaining some
reduction in the United States tariff, and therefore
as a means of bettering British trade. Sir Richard’s
policy is thus simply a commercial one. He does
not believe in binding the Empire in preferential
chains—he is a retaliator who does not discard a
tax on food as a potential weapon. He considers
that the United States are at our mercy in that
they sell us much and buy little. But he assumes
that the only market for United States wheat is
to be found in Great Britain. It may, therefore,
be worth while to suggest two objections to the
efficacy of Sir Richard’s policy.
(1) If we tax United States wheat coming into
Great Britain she will seek other markets and get
them, for the available supply in the world does
not, as far as is known, exceed the demand. The
countries which are still free to send their wheat
here will increase their exports and consume
United States wheat instead of home-grown
wheat. The United States will one day cease to
export wheat and would thus lose little or nothing,