A SOCIETY FOR IMPERIAL TRADERS.
IVO THE EDITOR OP TFIE "SPECTATOR."]
Sin,—Granting for the moment that Mr. Chamberlain is cor- rect in saying that the unity of the Empire can be maintained only by closer trading, is there no means for attaining that end save by and through the Custom House? As an alterna- tive, I would suggest that a society of "The Friends of the Empire " be formed, and that each member be pledged to buy only Home or Colonial produce. Such a society, with five million members, would accomplish the end aimed at, and with this advantage, that each member would know exactly in shillings and pence what he contributed to the cause, while the very poor and the afflicted would be excused from bearing any part of the burden. To me, Sir, the present discussion in England, and the pleas for Protection, are an evidence of decadence in British energy and manhood. When a ball player begins to complain that the balls are thrown too hard, and that the other players run too fast, it is an indication that it is time for him to forsake the field, and, in slippered ease, to contemplate the grandeurs of his past under the halo of his whitening locks.—I am, Sir, &c., F. W. S. California.
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