Joseph Chamberlain
THE
COLONIAL COMMERCE AND
“THE WHITE MAN’S BURDEN”
June 10, 1896
The Empire, to parody a celebrated expression, is commerce. It was created by commerce, is founded on commerce, and it could not exist a day without commerce. (Cheers.) . . . The fact is history teaches us that no nation has ever achieved real greatness without the aid of commerce, and the greatness of no nation has survived the decay of its trade. Well, then, gentlemen, we have reason to be proud of our commerce and to be resolved to guard it from attack. (Cheers.) . .
March 31, 1897
We have suffered much in this country from depression of
trade. We know how many of our fellow-subjects are at this moment unemployed.
Is there any man in his senses who believes that the crowded population of
these islands could exist for a single day if we were to cut adrift from us the
great dependencies which now look to us for protection and assistance, and
which are the natural markets for our trade? (Cheers.) The area of the
January 22, 1894
We must look this matter in the face, and must recognise that in order that we may have more employment to
give we must create more demand. (Hear, hear.) Give me the demand for more
goods and then I will undertake to give plenty of employment in making the
goods; and the only thing, in my opinion, that the Government can do in order
to meet this great difficulty that we are considering, is so to arrange its
policy that every inducement shall be given to the demand; that new markets
shall be created, and that old markets shall be effectually developed. (Cheers.). . I am convinced that it is a necessity as well
as a duty for us to uphold the dominion and empire which we now possess. (Loud cheers.). . . I would never lose the hold which we now
have over our great Indian dependency—(hear, hear)—by far the greatest and most
valuable of all the customers we have or ever shall have in this country. For
the same reasons I approve of the continued occupation of Egypt; and for the
same reasons I have urged upon this Government, and upon previous Governments,
the necessity for using every legitimate opportunity to extend our influence
and control in that great African continent which is now being opened up to civilisation and to commerce; and, lastly, it is for the
same reasons that I hold that our navy should be strengthened—(loud
cheers)—until its supremacy is so assured that we cannot be shaken in any of
the possessions which we hold or may hold hereafter.
Believe me, if in any one of the places to which I have
referred any change took place which deprived us of that control and influence
of which I have been speaking, the first to suffer would be the working-men of
this country. Then, indeed, we should see a distress which would not be
temporary, but which would be chronic, and we should find that
March 31, 1897
We feel now that our rule over these territories can .n1y be justified if we can show that it adds to the happiness and prosperity of the people—(cheers)——and I maintain that our rule does, and has, brought security and peace and comparative prosperity to countries that never knew these blessings before. (Cheers.)
In carrying out this work of civilisation
we are fulfilling what I believe to be our national mission, and we are finding
scope for the exercise of those faculties and qualities which have made of us a
great governing race. (Cheers.) I do not say that our success has been perfect
in every case. I do not say that all our methods have been beyond reproach; but
I do say that in almost every instance in which the rule of the Queen has been
established and the great Pax Britannica has
been enforced, there has come with it greater security to life and property,
and a material improvement in the condition of the bulk of the population.
(Cheers.) No doubt, in the first instance, when these conquests have been made,
there has been bloodshed, there has been loss of life among the native
populations, loss of still more precious lives among those who have been sent
out to bring these countries into some kind of disciplined order, but it must
be remembered that this is the condition of the mission we have to fulfil....
…You cannot have omelettes without breaking eggs; you cannot destroy the practices of barbarism, of slavery of superstition, which for centuries have desolated the interior of Africa, without the use of force; but if you will fairly contrast the gain to humanity with the price we are bound to pay for it, I think you may well rejoice in the result of such expeditions as those which have recently been conducted with such signal success—(cheers)—in Nyassaland, Ashanti, Benin, and Nupé [regions in Africa]—expeditions which may have, and indeed have, cost valuable lives, but as to which we may rest assured that for one life lost a hundred will be gained, and the cause of civilisation and the prosperity of the people will in the long run be eminently advanced. (Cheers.) But no doubt such a state of things, such a mission as I have described, involve heavy responsibility. . . . and it is a gigantic task that we have undertaken when we have determined to wield the sceptre of empire. Great is the task, great is the responsibility, but great is the honour— (cheers); and I am convinced that the conscience and the spirit of the country will rise to the height of its obligations, and that we shall have the strength to fulfil the mission which our history and our national character have imposed upon us. (Cheers.)