goods were supreme. The gravity of the situation in which British trade is placed cannot be lightly regarded. We still lay claim to the carrying trade of the Far East; but the figures, which support our pre-eminence in this direction are
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BRICK LAYING EXTRAORDINARY
totally unreliable. If the true conditions were made manifest, it would be seen that so far from leading the shipping of the world in the Far East, Great Britain could claim but a small proportion of the freights carried. Although we may own the ships, neither our markets nor our manufactures are associated with their cargoes. It would be well if the public could grasp this feature of the China trade. Members of Parliament, ignorant of the deductions which are necessary before claiming the carrying trade of the Far East—much less of the Yang-tse and of the China coast—as an asset in our commercial prosperity, and a sign of vigour of the first magnitude, do not recognise how unsubstantial is the travesty of affluence which they so constantly applaud.
