Of what do the Protectionists complain? Would they have us forego the interest we are owed? Apparently Mr. Williams would, for he says (page 19) that we ought not to spend all our income from foreign investments “in foreign shops.” How else, in the name of the Prophet, are we to receive all or any part of what is due to us from foreigners, whether it be due for interest on investments, or for goods carried, or for ships sold? Does Mr. Williams mean that we are to compel foreign nations to pay us a couple of hundred millions a year in actual gold and silver, and then dig a hole in the ground and sit on our hoard like an Indian cook who has saved money out of the perquisites of his profession? Gold and silver are useless to us beyond a very few millions every year; if more bullion were sent the market would reject it. If we are to be paid at all we must be paid in foreign commodities, and the mechanism of commerce enables us to select just those commodities which we most want. This is the whole story of our excess of imports over exports. Furthermore, that excess would be even greater than it is did we not every year send fresh millions abroad on loan to our Colonies and foreign countries, to produce in due course (it is to be hoped) additional hundreds of thousands in the way of interest. OUR _ENTREPÔT_ TRADE. There is one other important point to be dealt with in considering the movement of our trade as a whole. It is this—that part of the enormous quantity of goods we import is not consumed by ourselves, but is re-exported to foreign countries or to our Colonies. For many reasons it is interesting to distinguish these re-exports from the exports of goods produced within the United Kingdom. The separate figures for the last fifteen years are given in the following table:— OUR _ENTREPÔT_ TRADE AND OUR HOME TRADE. In Millions Sterling. --------------+----+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--- |1881|’82|’83|’84|’85|’86|’87|’88|’89|’90|’91|’92|’93|’94|’95 --------------+----+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--- Re-exports of | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Imported Goods| 63| 65| 66| 63| 58| 56| 59| 64| 67| 65| 62| 65| 59| 58| 60 Exports of | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Home Produce | 234|242|240|233|213|213|222|235|249|264|247|227|218|216|226 --------------+----+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--- Total Exports | 297|307|306|296|271|269|281|299|316|329|309|292|277|274|286 --------------+----+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---