As a further concession, in early March 1917 the government of India announced to general applause that it had secured the right to impose a protective tariff on the import of British manufactures of cotton goods, one of the most eagerly anticipated benefits of self-rule. For British liberals this undermined the entire logic of empire. What purpose was there in clinging to far-flung territories, if they were allowed to retreat into economic self-sufficiency? But Lloyd George was relentless. Parliament must give India what it wanted.
