INTERNATIONAL  TRADE

159

that  is,  until  Canada’s  imports  in  relation  to
her  exports  have  advanced  by  £1,000,000
over  what  was  normal,  and  until  in  England
exactly  the  reverse  has  happened.  And  just
as  loans  and  their  repayment  disturb  the
balance-of  trade,  so  does  the  discharge  of
indebtedness  in  the  form  of  interest  on  loans.
The  country  which  has  to  pay  in  foreign
parts  annual  interest  to  the  amount  of,  say,
£5,000,000  must  have  an  annual  excess  of
exports  to  the  value  of  £5,000,000,  in  comparison ­
  with  what  the  balance  of  its  trade
would  have  been  otherwise.
The  way  in  which  the  balance  of  trade  is
influenced  by  the  expenditure  of  travellers
abroad  and  by  the  coal  and  food  received  by
vessels  abroad  is  more  immediately  apparent.
Whether  a  German  sends  goods  to  an  Englishman ­
  residing  in  England,  or  provides  him
with  them  when  he  is  on  German  soil  to
consume  them  there,  is  a  matter  of  indifference ­
  as  regards  the  balance  of  international
obligations  of  a  pecuniary  character.  All
that  Englishmen  receive  abroad  has  to  be
reckoned  as  a  part  of  England’s  imports.
Finally,  comment  on  the  important  class  of
intangible  services  is  called  for.  These  are
not  recorded  in  a  country’s  returns  of  imports
and  exports,  but  they  have  to  be  paid  for