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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 72

England's Danger

England's Danger.

For myself I earnestly hope that our system of party government may not lead us into a career likely to endanger our commercial supremacy; that in striving for political support we shall not play upon the impracticable dreams of the ignorant by promising them some greater boon than has been promised by others. No party wishes to stand still in the path of legislation; and though both parties in a State may claim the desire to progress, one will be the party of slow, the other of precipitate progress. I believe precipitancy to be foreign to the steady persistence of the English character, and that the former party would lose its raison d'être were it to be constantly striving to "go one better" than the party of progress.

It seems to me that in the effort to promote the well-being of the people we should not adopt new departures in policy merely in imitation of countries existing under conditions different from our own, but that we should carefully watch those experiments and adopt them only where we are satisfied, not only that they have proved successful, but that they will not prejudicially affect our commercial position and the economic advantages which we at present possess.