The free trade advocate next takes safe ground by declaring that there can be no buying without selling - that is, no importing without exporting. He points out that our purchases abroad in cheap markets must be paid for in goods of our own production; and that the cheaper they are the less of our goods it will be necessary to send abroad to exchange for them. Finally, by selecting an extreme illustration, he shows the absurdity of the protectionist doctrine of self-sufficiency. He asks if it would be profitable to grow bananas in Maine, corn in Rhode Island, cotton in New York, or sugar cane in Pennsylvania. Of course the answer is "No." He then completes the argument, as far as he is concerned, by asking why the natural adaptability of industry should be hindered at all.