Such is the situation of the home market--the case of the export trade is equally painfully depicted, and referred without reserve or false delicacy to its genuine cause. “The success of the foreign trade in cotton,” continues the memorial, “must have a certain support from the market at home in order to enable the producer to export with advantage, but this unfortunately is the point in which of all others Belgium is specially deficient. Her trade had formerly an outlet in the Indian possessions of the Netherlands, whose advantages were exclusively secured to her by the privileges accorded to her flag.[7] All her surplus productions found here a vent which was every day becoming more and more important. Was there a superabundance of produce at home, either from over production amongst her own tradesmen, or excessive imports from abroad, the merchant could empty his warehouses into Java, without the necessity of stopping his machinery for a single hour. At the same time, the market of Holland herself, with two millions and a half of consumers, was thrown open to her. Such were her peculiar privileges _then_, but _now_ the opening in India is closed against her goods--Holland takes continually less and less of her produce, being supplied, like herself, with the overstock of England and France--and we have just suffered in the loss of Limbourg and Luxembourg, a subtraction of 350,000 of our fellow subjects and customers. These are the facts in all their truth, and one path of safety alone lies open to us now, the securing to us inviolate the possession of our home consumption. This you can effect for us only by compelling our foreign competitors to retire from that position which they have hitherto been permitted to take up in our market by negligence, and by putting an end to their frauds upon the revenue. You must either be prepared to do this, _or to annex us to some more extended territory_, ‘ou vous nous adjoindrez à un plus grand territoire.’