◆ SpookStack

oo RE: COUNTEPRG IN...PTON WERK A a ae 2 a apn century, free trade imperialism, Fritain in the middle of the nineteenth centuray, like the United States in the middle of the twentieth century, was the undisputed world power and undisputed leading capitalist power. The tendency of thevght in Britain during the mid~ nineteeuth century, the tendency that seemed to find most acceptance among British inductrialists, among British capitalists, was that cclc :ies were urnocessary. EF ormal political control was in most cases undesirable. Fcrmal political control involved too many burdens in terms of administration, ‘n terms of defense. But Britain; as the unrivaled world pewer, as the unrivaled economic giant, did not need colonies. Britain's national interests, Pritain's economic interests could best by served through free trade, through istormal kinds of control over other parts of the wcrld. To be sure, there were colonial posses-ions ef the Briti:h “mpire at this time, for example, India. But for the most part, Hritish porsessions were confined to small islands, small naval bases in various parts of the world. The tendency was fer colonies that were settled largely by white Anylo-Saxons inhabitants to (unintelligible) of government, something the United States, of course, achieved as the result of revolution, but something that was granted and deemed desirable in the cases Of Canada, Austraiia, and New Zealand, South Africa, and so On. Now, imperialism began to change its character somewhat toward the end of the nineteenth century. The ciange in character of imp rialism I think can be traced in large part to the relati-e decline of Great Britain as a capitalist power. Toward the end of the nineteenth century, British economic leadership was being challenged by the United States, by Germany, by Japan, and by other countries. These countries to a large degree developed a more defensive kind of policy. Unlike Britain, they established protective tariffs. They didn't establish free trade. Unlike Britain they believed that they had to have protective markets. Britain being challen’ed by late comers, was to a considerable degree was experiencing a change in its outlook. Britain as it 130