BUY BRITISH GOODS [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
1918,—For some years past the slogan " Buy British Goods "
has been dinned into our ears, and thrust _Tinder our eyes, until we cannot make a simple purchase without much heart-
*searching. It would, I am sure, be gratifying to many— certainly to me—if the Spectator, whose opinions on political economy justly hold a position of almost undisputed authority, would explain how one should act, and why, in a particular base.
The writer is proposing to buy a typewriter, and is offered one of foreign make for £7 and another of apparently equal efficiency but of British manufacture for more than double the price. The purchase of this machine will not in any way diminish the earning of any " type-writist," for the Writer has not hitherto employed one, and has no intention of so doing. The writer, as a convinced Free Trader, can-
not see, that the foreigner has any choice except to take his payment, not in cash, but in the form of some British manufac- tured article or some British service, and that under such circumstances any injury is done to British Trade : for the balance in the writer's -pocket will only be there nominally while actually-fructifying for the benefit of the bank in which it is lodged. But the.puzzle doesn't end there. Many of the Writer's friends and business correspondents write to him on typewriters of foreign make, and drive about in motor
ears never built in England, and yet are firm believers in Fair Trade, Protection, Imperial Preference and Safeguarding of Industries. Now if their consciences do not prick them- " and Brutus was an honourable man "—why should the writer look upon " Buy British Goods " as anything other than adver- tising bluff—although as a matter of fact he does, whenever he can, refuse articles of foreign make, even at a loss to his
pocket, and only too frequently with the result that he gets an imperfect article ? British goods can be the best in the world : too often they are defective from pure carelessness.
Well, Sir, resolve me the puzzle. How can the Protectionist with a good conscience drive about in a foreign motor car while the Free Trader, " moithered " by a slogan, hesitates to buy a foreign typewriter ?—I am, Sir, &c., CONSCIENCE STRICKEN.
[Being Free Traders in principle we fully agree with the doctrine that goods must ultimately be paid for by goods. If the doctrine were not true the problem of paying our debt to America would be far simpler than it is ; the difficulty arises because though the payment must ultimately be in goods, America puts up a high tariff wall against the importation of our goods. We have never, however, clung to a pedantic interpretation of Free Trade. When the preser- vation of certain industries is necessary for the safety of the nation we would not' hesitate to protect them. No doubt the cost of living will be to that extent raised, but the price is worth paying. There may be exceptions, however, to the general rule that Protection means higher prices, for moral energy, inventiveness, and the will to succeed—such is the spirit of man—may prove more powerful than an economic rule. We think it has done so in the British motor industry. We have been living in such a shattered and uncertain world since the War that it is probably necessary in a sense in which it never was before—since formerly we could safely follow the line of least resistance and buy in the cheapest markets— to help the Empire towards the ideal of being a self-supporting entity. For this reason we should personally prefer a British typewriter or a British motor car to a foreign one. Both typewriters and motor cars are produced by British industries that are essential. The poor man, howevcr, could hardly be expected to pay double the price in pursuit of his ideal. That is a matter for his principles or his purse, or both.–. ED. Spectator.]
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