Page:Indian Journal of Economics Volume 2.djvu/147

JBIHTISH A1VD FOBEl(IN be useJul for home manufactures or for general consump- tion. Hobson foresees a violent dislocation of commerce and finance after the war and the lqew Protectionists will, he holds, introduce elements of discord ?nd dissension which would end' in ? serious recoil on the already deranged commerce o! Great; Britsin. He condemns in very strong* terms the fall?ies underlying the position which the New Protractichiefs intend to sssume end shows them the economic unsoundness of their position by facts end figures. He no p?ienee with the Protectionists of the old selleel end he has much less p?tieuce with the New School of Protection representrod by the Peris Conference. As we read through the book we ere impressed by the general s?uity of the v?ews of Hobson, who is out end out s Free Trader of sn. sdvsno? sbstraet type, end who hss sincerity of conviction combined with s rstionsl interpreta- tion of the complex conditions crested by the present Wsr. He reslises that the "process of economic ponetrstion end expansion e?nnot stop", but he holds thst it is possible "tO extrae? from it . . . the poisonous sting of internstionsl rivalry." How far this dream of Hobsoh's is capable of being reslisod, it is difficult to say. We think our suthor tether overlooks the.fact thst one result of the War will be thst in the mind of the everage citisen "defefice" will for long remsin fsr more imporient t hen "opulence." A gre?t wsr naturally leeds to ? revival of protectionism under the plea of nstional defence, which is justified, we think, so fsr ss protection is utili? solely for the public purpose of developing those resources of the country which contribute to military efficiency. Whilst s policy of protection wisely con?rolled for purely national e rids will eontinue to appeal to economists in spite of Hobson's visions, we think he succeeds in m?king a very fair case ?g?inst the r?her vague, but sweeping proposals of the "New Protectionists" who ?ssembled in Paris in June 1916. The resolutions passed by this Conference are sum- marised in an Appendix. . Although we doubt whether the doctrine of absolute free trade can be mainreined so long ss sny lisbility to future Wsr remains, Hobson's "New Protectionism" is certainly ? book which should not sbes lightly passed over. We commend it to our readers ? oodtroversial writing of a high order of merit.