rapidity, and must be satisfied, if at all, by foreign imports of food and raw materials; there is no other means of satisfaction. But what is true of the United Kingdom is true in a greater or less degree of certain European countries—France, the Low Countries, the Scandinavian countries, Austria-Hungary, Italy and Germany. Especially is it true in a remarkable degree of Germany, which is becoming increasingly industrial and manufacturing, and where the room for expansion in agriculture is now very limited. Those interested in the subject may be referred to an excellent paper by Mr. Crawford, read at the Royal Statistical Society of London about two years ago. What I am now desirous to point out is the governing nature of the idea, which necessarily follows from the conception of a European population living on a limited area, with the agricultural and extractive possibilities long since nearly exhausted, and the population all the time increasing in numbers and wealth. Such a population must import more and more year by year, and must be increasingly dependent on foreign supplies.
I shall not attempt to do over again what is done in Mr. Crawford's paper, but a few figures may serve to illustrate what is meant. In the 'Statistical Abstract' for the principal and other foreign countries I find tables for certain European countries classifying the imports for a series of years into articles of food, raw and semi-manufactured articles, etc. From these I extract the following particulars for all the countries which have tables in this form:
Imports of Articles of Food and Raw Materials and Semi-manufactured Articles into the undermentioned Countries in 1888 and 1898 compared.
| 1888 | 1898 | Increase. | ||
| Amount. | Per Cent. | |||
| Articles of Food, etc. | ||||
| Russia 1,000 roubles | 78,975 | 105,391 | 27,416 | 35 |
| German Empire, mln. marks | 907 | 1,819 | 912 | 100 |
| France 1,000 francs | 1,503,000 | 1,505,000 | Nil | Nil |
| Switzerland " | 238,000 | 332,000 | 94,000 | 42 |
| Italy 1,000 lire | 274,480 | 391,600 | 117,120 | 42 |
| Austria-Hungary, 1,000 | (1891) | |||
| gulden | 108,441 | 191,919 | 92,478 | 85 |
| Raw and Semi-manufactured Materials. | ||||
| Russia 1,000 roubles | 241,497 | 313,629 | 71,132 | 29 |
| German Empire, mln. marks | 1,507 | 2,247 | 334 | 49 |
| France 1,000 francs | 2,014 | 2,348 | 334 | 16 |
| Switzerland " | 308,110 | 390,111 | 82,001 | 27 |
| Italy 1,000 lire | 398,330 | 509,418 | 111,088 | 28 |
| Austria-Hungary, 1,000 | 231,000 | 293,000 | 62,000 | 27 |
| gulden | 231,000 | 293,000 | 62,000 | 27 |
