For the present it is sufficient to state that it is done, and that some of the most alarmist statements in “Made in Germany” will not bear critical examination. In a word, the author, in his polemical zeal, has sinned both sins—he has suggested the false and he has omitted the true; he has misrepresented, in particular instances, the facts to which he refers, and he has not referred at all to facts which refute his general argument. THE WHOLE TRUTH. It is with these that I propose first to deal, with the facts which show that our trade is in a very healthy condition, and that though Germany is also doing well and hitting us hard in some trades, there is no reason to believe that her prosperity is, on the whole, injuring us. And to guard myself, at the outset, against a temptation to which Mr. Williams has frequently succumbed—the temptation of picking out years peculiarly favourable to my argument—I propose to take the last ten or the last fifteen years, for which statistics are available, and to give wherever possible the figures for each year in the whole period. The figures that will be here quoted are all taken from official records, except when otherwise stated. OUR TOTAL TRADE FOR TEN YEARS. The first point to attack is the question of the total import and export trade of the United Kingdom. The figures are contained in the following table:— TEN YEARS’ TRADE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM (Exclusive of Bullion and Specie). In Millions Sterling. --------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- |1886|1887|1888|1889|1890|1891|1892|1893|1894|1895 --------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- Total Imports | 350| 362| 388| 428| 421| 435| 423| 405| 408| 417 Total Exports | 269| 281| 299| 316| 328| 309| 292| 277| 274| 286 +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- Excess of | | | | | | | | | | Imports | | | | | | | | | | over Exports | 81| 81| 89| 112| 93| 126| 132| 128| 134| 131 --------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- These figures may be illustrated as follows:— [Illustration]