20 MAY 1905, Page 3

Mr. Chamberlain in his speech drew attention to Sir Joseph

Lawrence's letter iu the Times, in which it was stated that we had some six hundred million pounds invested in industrial concerns in foreign countries, and that this investment brought in some twenty-seven millions of annual profit. We confess that this awful revelation leaves us cold,—or, rather, that we are exceedingly glad of such a proof of British commercial prosperity. The money was invested abroad because it could not at the moment be profitably invested here, and we have no doubt that the income derived from such foreign investments and spent here will tend to create that increase of employment which we all desire.