foreign shipping in the immediate future. Those causes are not so much economic as political No modern State is in future likely to leave the development of its mercantile marine to the free and unaided play of economic forces. We did not do so ourselves, for our marine was fostered and built up under the regime of the Navigation Laws. In view of a situation which is changing under our very eyes, we shall, sooner or later, be compelled to adopt a definite policy with regard to shipping. In the interest not merely of Imperial trade, but of the Empire itself, we cannot continue much longer to leave the maintenance of our supremacy in shipping to the free play of purely economic forces. The most ardent advocate of laissez faire would admit that, situated as we are, shipping must always be considered and treated as a vital Imperial interest, and not as a private industry. The reservation of the coasting trade of the Empire to British ships is a weapon we can in extremity forge and make powerful use of by agreement with the self-governing Colonies. A short time ago Sir George Sydenham Clarke suggested the imposition of a small revenue duty upon all foreign imports entering the Empire, the proceeds of which would be used for subsidizing and developing means of communication within the Empire, and such a proposal is worthy of serious consideration. The direction, however, which State interference will take must depend upon the character of the competition we have eventually to meet.
While these are some of the main lines upon which centrifugal forces may be counteracted, in a lesser sphere much may be done to consolidate and simplify the conditions of Imperial trade by identical legislation and uniform administrative practice with regard to patents, trade-marks, bills of exchange, company law, bankruptcy, merchandise marks, and many other kindred questions.
Another suggestion of great importance is the formation of an Imperial bureau of commercial intelligence, which would bring into a common stock, and
