... economist, argued that the benefits of imperialism were outweighed by the cost. Other influential British thinkers such as Jeremy Bentham and Richard Cobden were similarly cool to the idea of empire-building, partly because the dominant trend in British economic thinking at this time was free trade and empires tended to prevent free trade. Politicians were also anti-empire and one of the most influential, Benjamin Disraeli, spoke for many when he pointed out that: 'These wretched colonies will all be independent in a few years and are like a millstone around our necks.' [N.B. Disraeli, a future Conservative party prime minister, later became a major pro-empire voice]. The view was similar in Germany; in 1868, Bismarck was to remark that 'All the advantages claimed for the mother country are for the most part illusory.' Stone: Many Europeans regarded colonies 'with disfavour: they had been a waste of public money, profitable only to a few; they involved ...

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