[32] Area of the United States = 3,602,300 sq. miles. Area of England and its dependencies = 8,982,200 sq. miles. [33] It may be argued that America is a more compact dominion, but steam and electricity annihilate space, and England’s immense superiority in area far more than outweighs the advantage of compactness. [34] It must be understood that, in all the statistics above given, “England” and “America” are intended to mean--the United Kingdom and the United States respectively. [35] _The Mail_, Dec. 19th, 1883. CHAPTER X. TREACHERY IN THE CAMP. How is it, that the men of the working class, who are nominally free-traders, are practically protectionists? How is it, to use the words of Mr. Wise, an ardent apologist for free trade, that-- “In 1846, the working classes overthrew protectionism in England, and in 1878 the same classes, _wherever they have obtained predominant influence_, are carrying into practice the extreme theories of their old opponents?” Mr. Syme also says:-- “In Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, the party of progress has always been identified with a restrictive commercial policy, while the conservatives are the most uncompromising of free traders. Indeed, it may be said, that one-half of the entire English-speaking race are, in one shape or another, in favour of a restrictionist policy, and of this half the great majority are advanced liberals.”[36] Free trade was an assertion on the part of labourers as consumers; the protectionist policy of America and Australia is the attempt of the same class to obtain privileges as producers. The working men in those countries are possessed by the thorough belief that, by carrying out their policy, _they benefit all_. Free trade considered that the interests of _consumers_ suffered by protection; the Americans and Australians, with their eyes open, undergo these private inconveniences because they believe the _mass of the community is better off thereby_. To use the words of an intelligent American: “We all recognize that a protection tariff forces us to pay for many articles slightly more than they would probably cost us under a system of free trade. We know too that at first our manufactured products, whether of metal, cotton or coal, cost us in general more to make at home than they would have cost us if imported freely from abroad. We know that we are not buying in the cheapest market, but we believe, on the whole, it is _best to impose upon ourselves the voluntary tax[37] for the great ends_, not of enriching Monopolists, but of _promoting the best interest of the nation_.” The average American is neither a fool, nor a knave. To fanciful theories, whose value is problematical, he prefers the solid assurance of experience and fact.