Mr. Asquith, whose inhuman use of statistics perturbed Mr. Chamberlain
so seriously last week, returned remorse.. lessly to the charge on Tuesday at Basingstoke. Free- traders, he observed, had never accepted the view that the export trade was the main or real criterion of national prosperity. But, as a matter of fact, our export trade showed an increase of thirty-three millions between 1902 and 1905.
The co-existence of unemployment and pauperism with a flourishing export trade was not due to Free-trade, but to national extravagance and inefficient administration; and these difficulties were not going to be removed by the panacea of Protection, or a duty of 2s. per quarter on imported wheat. We could not risk the future prosperity of our working classes upon Mr. Chamberlain's good intentions. The Board of Trade Returns issued on Tuesday lent further force to Mr. Asquith's argument, the figures for the first ten months of 1905 showing an increase in exports of thirty-seven millions over the same period of 1902, while the fallacy of the argument based on the ratio of the increase in exports to increase of population is well shown in the table given in Wednesday's Westminster Gazette :— Mr. Chamberlain's progressive abstention from figures in his Fiscal speeches is not a matter of choice ; it is rapidly becoming a necessity.
Increase of British Exports. Increase of ,----._..---, Population Million Z. Per cent. per cent. Mr. Chamberlain's period, 1872-1902 22 9 30 1875-1905 92 41 30
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