IIO THE BRITISH APPROACH TO POLITICS

the consumption of food, to promote scientific research, and to
improve the methods of distributing agricultural produce to the
public.

THE BOARD OF TRADE.

The "Board" exists in law but not in fact; it is, officially, a
Committee of the Privy Council and contains many members—
for example the Archbishop of Canterbury—who take no part in
the work, which is carried on by the President and the Parlia-
mentary Secretary., There are two additional Parliamentary
Secretaries—for the Alines Department and the Department of
Overseas Trade, which is the link between the Board of Trade
and the Foreign Office.

Much of the Board's work is routine. If private enterprise is
to flourish, the Government must protect the public from
industrial and commercial fraud. For this purpose there are Acts
stating how Joint Stock Companies are to be formed, and how
their accounts must be published; to establish standard weights
and measures, and see that they are used; to protect the rights
of inventors by granting patents. The Board administers laws of
this kind. It also gives positive help to trade and industry by
providing business men with knowledge which no private person
could collect for himself. It publishes statistics of prices,
production, exports and imports, and information about raw
materials and markets.

Like the other economic Departments, the Board has recently
extended some of its duties, because of the state of the world
and the policy of the Government, Since the War, there has
been a rapid growth of tariffs and other hindrances to world
trade. Fearful of war, nations have striven to become self-
supporting, or have cut down their imports in order to be able
to pay debts to foreigners. When one nation acts thus, another
finds its markets closed, and, in consequence, tries to keep its
home market to itself. So the barriers to trade increase and have
made recovery from the slump of 1932 very difficult. Everyone