A Short Account of England's Foreign Trade in the Nineteenth
ICenturry, By Arthur L. Bewley. (Swan Sonnenschein and Co.)— There is much valuable information in this volume. The substance of it was contained in an essay which won the Cobden prize at Cam- bridge in 1892. This has been revised, enlarged, and brought up to date. After an introductory chapter we have the effects of the French Wars discussed. Then come chapters on "The Battle over Free-trade" and "The Success of Free-trade," The last section of this fourth division deals with the subject, at first sight perplexing, of the " Balance of Imports and Exports." The casual observer's impression is that a country which imports so many million pounds' worth of goods more than it exports must be on the road to ruin. Mr. Bowley accounts for the fact that this goes on year after year without impoverishing England by two causes. First, we do by far the greater part of the carrying trade of the world. This accounts, on the very lowest estimate, for 470,000,000 per annum. Then we have capital invested abroad amounting to about 42,000,000,000. This would give us 480,000,000 per annum (supposing that the interest is 4 per cent.) The value of imports in 1855, was about £140,000,000; of exports, in the same year, 4115,000,000. In 1891 the imports rose to 4435,000,000, the exports to 4305,000,000. The adverse balance is 4130,000,000. Put this against carrying profits and interest on loans and we get a balance on the right side of about 420,000,000. What Mr. Bewley has to say about agriculture has but a small
grain of comfort in it. "At no very distant date we shall see prices rising and agriculture prosperous." Unfortunately ten lines earlier he says, "a reaction is certain, though perhaps not till a distant future."
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