At this moment, the popular aspirations of India, in matters commercial and industrial, are summed up in the one word 'Swadeshi ''My own country's products for me.' The existing fiscal policy, imposed on India by our British prejudices, is universally believed to be maintained solely in the interests of British manufacturers-though, as I shall show, we are being steadily ousted from the Indian markets by our Protectionist rivals. And the extreme politicians of the Indian National Congress already, not unnaturally, gratify the national wishes by preaching a social boycott of British, as well as foreign, goods; and they frankly declare that, if they were able to do so, they would impose protective, and even prohibitive, duties on all imports alike.
But no British politician believes in the possibility of purely Indian 'Swadeshi,' as against British goods. It would ruin Lancashire, and cripple all our staple manufactures, and no House of Commons, whether Radical or Conservative, will ever stoop to such quixotic folly.
The aim of the essays here collected, founded mainly on articles contributed by me to the Englishman of Calcutta, is to advocate the only reasonable, the only patriotic, the only possible, 'Swadeshi,' which is Imperial Preference. That will benefit equally the Indian and the British subjects of King Edward. I dedicate these pages to my numerous friends of Indian birth, whose affectionate regard I am grateful for and warmly reciprocate. In the proposals submitted I know I am voicing the ardent wishes of many of them. I owe far more to India than I can ever repay, and my Indian friends will know that I advocate Imperial Preference, first, because I believe it will benefit India and her peoples, and secondly, because I believe it will attach her more closely than ever to the Empire of which we are all proud.
I have prefixed an Analytical Table of Contents, to show at a glance the general scope of my arguments and conclusions, and I have added, as appendices, the extracts from the official publications of the British, Indian, Colonial, and foreign Governments upon which those arguments are based.
I-desire to express my gratitude to the editors of the Outlook and the Western Morning News, as well as to the proprietors of the Englishman, for allowing me to make copious extracts from articles of mine contributed to their columns. And my thanks are also due to the Controller of His Majesty's Stationery Office for his courtesy in permitting me to reprint some statistical tables from the Blue-Books.
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