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THE PROGRESS OF THE COLONIES.―

19 May 1869   Anmerkung von Karl Marx

At the [o]rdinary meeting of the Society of Arts, last night, Mr. Jno. Robinson, F.R.G.S., a member of the Legisla[t]ive Council of Natal, read a paper upon this subject. Sir Geo. Grey, K.C.B., late Governor of New Zealand, was [i]n the chair, and there was a tolerably good attendance of members. The lecture was largely statistical in its cha[r]acter, and was summed up in a series of tables, showing [t]he progress made by our Indian, Australian, North Ame[r]ican, and West Indian Colonies between the years 1852 [a]nd 1866 in the matters of area and population, public [r]evenue and public debt, tonnage of shipping, and value [o]f imports and exports. Towards the close of his paper, [h]owever, Mr. Robinson dealt with the question of the worth [o]f her colonies to England, and his views upon this subject [a]re fairly represented by the following observations:―“I have no hesitation in expressing my honest belief that England, in her colonies, possesses the truest and most [l]asting sources of national greatness, and the proudest pledges of moral and commercial pre-eminence that any [l]and and people have yet enjoyed. I believe, moreover, [t]hat not only is this country bound, by all the solemn [o]bligations that can bind a nation, to retain and to cherish [h]er colonial possessions, but that it is on all accounts to her self-interest to do so. In 1851, India and the colonies were customers of the United Kingdom to the extent of [2]0,000,000l. worth of British goods, or something more [t]han one-fourth of her whole export trade. In 1866, these [p]ossesions had increased their consumption of British manufactures three-fold, and out of the exports from the United Kingdom, that year amounting in round numbers [t]o 188,000,000l., 61,000,000l., or one-third, went to her dependencies. In 1858, the colonies did as much business with Great Britain as the United States, France, Germany, Turkey, and Holland together. But of even greater consequence in a national point of view than her export business is the import trade of the kingdom. The commodities she gets from her colonies are mostly raw materials, which give employment, in so many countless forms, to the labouring millions of her population and the vast capital of her manufacturers. British colonisation benefits the mother country in two ways―it opens out new fields for the energy and industry of her sons, for the enterprise and wealth of her capitalists; but [i]t also, by the extended production of raw staples, which that energy and that capital stimulate, quickens the industry of her toilers, and gives fresh and continuous vitality to her own manufacturing interests. How many hands are employed, how much capital and machinery is engaged in converting into marketable commodities the cotton, wool, flax, jute, sugar, timber, hides, spices, and other staples sent to the ports of the United Kingdom from her colonial possessions. These materials are the life-blood of British commerce, and are pouring in year by year in a gradually dilating stream. ln 1851 the total [im]ports of Great Britain amounted to 142,000,000l., of which only 20,000,000l. came from her colonies. In 1866 74,000,000l. were colonial shipments.” The reading of the paper was followed by a brief discussion, and the proceedings closed with a vote of thanks to the lecturer.