15 OCTOBER 1921, Page 2

The King, in opening the enlarged Royal Exchange at Man-

chester last Saturday, emphasized the supreme importance of foreign trade to Great Britain. He said :-

"Your staple industry derives all its raw material from abroad and looks to overseas markets to take much of its finished product. This is typical of the dependence of these islands on foreign trade and of that international character of modem business which makes it impossible for any great manufacturing or mercantile community to live an isolated or self-sufficient life."

These simple truths need to be incessantly repeated, for the

benefit of Labour leaders, Tariff Reformers, Sinn Feiners, and many other people who ignore them. We live by our foreign trade. We must therefore sell our goods abroad at prices comparing favourably with the prices asked by our competitors. The prices which we get for our goods determine the wages that our manufacturers can afford to pay. Wages are not fixed according to the desires of the workmen or their trade union leaders, but according to the prices ruling in the world's markets. Our foreign trade has declined because wages are too high, and it will not revive until wages are reduced.