Our Colonies and India : How We Got Them, and
Why We Keep Them. By Cyril Ransome, M.A. (Cassell and Co.)—The publication of this little book is opportune, in connection with the Exhibition. It. consists of four lectures, delivered, as the author informs ns, in the People's Hall of the Leeds Industrial Cooperative Society, "before an audience composed almost entirely of working men. Their aim is to combat the impression which he fears is widely spread among the working classes—that they have little or no interest in our Colonies and Dependencies. For this purpose he has tried to place in a clear light the financial aspects of the case, which naturally appeal strongly to those engaged in industry, without neglecting the moral side of our relations, especially to the natives of India." We have no doubt that the lectures were suc- cessful in tbcir object, if plain facts and sound arguments, not antioged with a sober enthusiasm kindled by this Imperial question, can remove ignorance and prejudice. We think they are so well done that we can freely recommend them in their published form of one hundred small pages as a handbook on the great subject. The com- parative figures of the estimated money value of the yearly consump- tion per head of British goods by our respective customers are given by Mr. Ransome as follows : —France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, and United States, on an average, about 10s. per head of their respective populations, against £2 for Canada, £3 for South Africa, and £8 for Australia. No doubt these figures may be accepted as approximate'y correct, confirmed as they are by an independent estimate lately quoted in these columns, and another that has quite recently appeared in the daily papers.
Previous page
