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Un dee symboles suivants apperoTtra sur la dernlAre imege de cheque microfiche, selon le ces: le symbols ^-^ signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbols ▼ signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., mey be filmed et different reduction ratios. Those too isrge to be entirely included in one exposure ere filmed beginning in the upper left hend corner, left to right and top to bottom, e« many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les certes. plenches, tebieaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmAs A dee tsux de rAduction diff Arents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul cllchA, 11 est filmA A partir de Tangle supArieur geuche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en has. en prenant le nombre d'images nAcesseire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent le mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 THE COLONIES AND GREAT BRITAIN MUST BE INCORPORATED AND FORM ONE UNIVERSAL AND INDIVISIBLE EMPIRE. LONDON: PELHAM RICHARDSON, 23, CORNHILL. 1839. LONDON: PELIIAM RICIIARDSUN, PRIMTFR, iS, CORNHILL. THE COLONIES, ETC. ETC. \ The recent events in Canada will occasion, no doubt, an extended inquiry into the affairs of that colony, with a view of altering the present system of Government. It is to be hoped that the inves- tigation will not be confined to the evils existing in that possession alone, but that the whole of our colonial policy will be submitted to a most rigid examination, for the purpose of correcting the erro- neous principles upon which our colonies have been hitherto founded and governed. The value of colonies is a disputed point ; but their value, and the principles upon which they should be founded and governed, can only be judged of by a reference to the position of the mother country. A 2 The position of a nation may be natural, artifi- cia], or mixed. A nation is placed in a natural position when her power springs from an inherent source — her proper territory. A nation is placed in an artificial position when her power springs, net from her proper territory, which is comparatively small, but from an extra- neous source, such as manufactures, commerce, or colonies. A nation is placed in a mixed position when her power springs from both the above sources. Austria is the nearest instance of a natural power. England is the most striking example of an arti- ficial power. America and France partake most of the charac- ter of mixed powers. No nation, whether natural, artificial, or mixed, can be powerful without a numerous population. Population, therefore, is a measure of power. Population may be natural or artificial. A natural population is supported by the culti- vation of the soil, and that support is permanent. An artificial population is supported by means independent of agriculture— such as manufactures and commerce ; and that support is uncertain and insecure. ] k j i i The population of a nation may be in a sound or unsound state. Population is in a sound state when each indivi- dual obtains constant and full employment. Population is in an unsound state when the whole or part obtain only partial, or are without employ- ment. The population of a territorial or natural nation may be either dense or thin. The population of an artificial nation must always be more or less dense, because it is a num- ber over and above the natural population. If a territory be divided into small portions of land, just sufficient for each labourer to supply himself and family with the bare necessaries of life, then it will support a dense population ; but this is an unsound state of population, which will be poor, miserable, and weak, with scarcely any manufactures and no commerce. Witness Ireland and India. A country thus divided into small patches and densely populated, would have little or no surplus produce, and therefore no tendency to commerce or manufactures. But if the territory be divided into good sized farms, and the inhabitants apply their labour with all the vigour of bodily strength and mental capa- city, a small population will keep a very large ter- ritory in the most perfect cultivation, and will raise IK 6 immensely more produce than they can consume. This would be a sound state of population, and such a people would be contented and happy, but nevertheless would form a weak nation, though more powerful than in the former case. With no surplus manufactures and without commerce, such a country, though possessed of superabundance, could not have a sound increase of its population ; for there would be no occupations for any others beyond the number employed in its agriculture and the scanty manufactures dependent thereon. If the population of a merely agricultural country increase beyond the number of producers of the necessaries of life, that additional population must be support- ed in idleness and at the expense of the producers. However, a country thus divided into large farms and raising a great surplus produce would have every tendency to commerce and manufactures. Therefore for a purely agricultural or natural nation to have a numerous population in a sound state she must possess very extensive territories. A nation may have extensive territories, a nume- rous and industrious population, and may raise a vast surplus produce, and yet be weak. To render that nation powerful another condition is requisite, she must possess wealth. Wealth can only be accumulated by disposing of the surplus produce of the country to other nations -I f I i 'if- i < '•% « i that may want it — which begets commerce ; or to an additional population within the country, en- gaged in other employments than those of agricul- ture, which originates manufactures. Manufactures and commerce, therefore, create wealth. The strongest position of a nation is the posses- sion of extensive proper territory, a numerous sound population and great wealth, which being a natural position, she contains within herself inhe- rent stability. A nation may be also very powerful with scarcely any proper territory, but then her population must be numerous and her wealth exu- berant. This last position, not being natural like the former, but artificial, is only tenable by inces- sant effort and untiring energy, and being exposed to great vicissitude, is necessarily unstable. The area of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is computed at 76,751,608 acres: her present great power, therefore, does not spring from extensive natural territory. If her power were solely derivable from territory she would only rank as a secondary state. Of the 76,751,608 acres in the United Kingdom 48,646,923 are cultivated, of which about two- fifths or 19,458,768 acres are in tillage, and three- fifths or 29, 188, 152 acres in pasture. Each able- bodied labourer would, if the whole agriculture of 8 \n the United Kingdom were conducted upon a syste- matic plan and the best present principles, keep 30 acres of arable or 75 of pasture land in cultivation. Consequently 648,625 labourers would be required for arable land and 389,175 for pasture — or 1,037,800 for the whole cultivation of the United Kingdom. The united labour of each agricultural family, upon an average, is equal to more than two able-bodied labourers, but say two ; then the num- ber of families employed in agricultural labour would be 518,900, which, at five to each family, would give 2,594,500 as the agricultural labouring population of the United Kingdom — that ?s, if agriculture were systematically conducted and the same labourers constantly engaged. Allow 1,500,000 for farmers, and tradesmen and mecha- nics dependent on agriculture, and their families, then we shall have 4,094,500 as the absolutely necessary number of natural inhabitants in the United Kingdom, supposing she were nothing more than an agricultural country and without extraneous manufactures and commerce. Therefore, the power of Great Britain cannot arise from natural popula- tion. In 1831 the number of families supported by agriculture were, in Great Britain 961,134, and in Ireland 884,339, making together 1,845,473 fami- lies, or 9,227,365 souls ; which gives more than 5,000.000 as a surplus population over and above I 9 the number requisite for the economical purposes of the whole agriculture of the United Kingdom, being more than twice the proper number. This, so far from adding to, diminishes the wealth and strength of the country ; but supposing the whole 9,227,365 to be a sound population, even that number would not constitute the United Kingdom a powerful nation. The United Kingdom not being powerful from her natural territory and population, whence does she derive the immense power which she indubita- bly possesses ? From her artificial population and abundant wealth. But how does she support the one and acquire the other? By manufactures, commerce, and colonies. If all the available land of a country without manufactures and commerce be in cultivation, and all the cultivators fully and efficiently employed, it is clear that the population must be stationary ; /or there would be no employments for an increase of population; and without employments an in- creased population could not be sustained except in idleness and at the expense of those who were employed. And, further, every improvement in agriculture, so far from increasing natural popu- lation, would tend to diminish it. Therefore, if the interests of such a confined territorial nation demand an increase of population beyond its 10 natural numbers, then that additional population must find other employments than those of agricul- ture. And where can those employments be found except in manufactures, commerce, and colonies? The population of the United Kingdom at this present time cannot be less than 27,560,000 souls, of which the small number of 4,000,000 only is sufficient for the proper cultivation of the whole country ; therefore there is a redundant or artificial population of 23,560,000 persons, who ought to derive support from employments in manufactures and commerce. Increase of population is absolutely indispensable for the safety of the nation, and a sound increase only can add to our wealth and strength ; but a sound increase will not occur without the neces- sities of the country constantly demand additional labourers. In great territorial nations, one-half of whose lands are not cultivated, where manufactures have not been introduced, where commerce does not exist, there is ample room for the expansion of population. But in a country like Great Britain, with a limited territory, with an artificial excess of six times her number of i^atural inhabitants, there is no more land to cultivate. We have seen that agriculture has a dead weight of more than 5,000,000 persons who ought to find other employ- ments. Besides, our artificial or manufacturing % 11 I I population is not fully employed. It therefore becomes the imperative duty of Government to force by every possible means the extension of our manufactures and commerce and the settlement of our Colonies, to find full employment for the existing and rapidly increasing population. Therefore an increase of population can only be maintained by an extension of manufactures and commerce and the settlement of our Colonies : and a constantly augmenting population is absolutely necessary for the continued support of our eminent rank in the scale of nations — because other great powers are rapidly advancing in natural population, and, from the introduction of those manufactures which we have hitherto monopolized, their artificial population will also augment as greatly. And ultimately the great powers of the Continent must, from the course of events, obtain large accessions of territory, population and strength, by absorbing the possessions of their weaker neighbours. France must acquire Belgium and Holland, which Nature points out as her proper limits. Prussia will seize all Western Germany north of the Mayne, together with Denmark. Austria will become mistress of Western Germany south of the Mayne, together with Walachia, Moldavia, and Bessarabia. Russia, without new acquisitions, has her sixty millions of inhabitants, and an immense : pause itory 12 for the spread of her growing population. We, therefore, cannot stand still and look on, but must compete in the race, and not be distanced ; and it must be repeated, we can only contend in the career of greatness by the encouragement of manu- factures, commerce, and colonies ; for we have no immense proper territory wherein to cherish our accumulating population, nor weak neighbours whom we can rob. Though the necessity for encouraging our manu- factures, commerce, and colonies is distinctly evi- dent, yet the method by which we are to accom- plish GO desirable a consummation is not so ap- parent ; indeed it will be impossible to preserve what we have got, if we do not change our policy. Commerce is supported by an intercourse with foreign nations and our colonies ; and that inter- course can only be maintained by an interchange of commodities. If we relied for that interchange upon our native raw productions we should be poor indeed. The most important of our native riches for foreign consumption come from the bowels of the earth ; and they are of no value until manu- factured. And more, they are not peculiar to our own country, for every nation possesses nearly all the same materials. What tlie surface yields is consumed within ourselves, except some goods I '"■i 'M 13 manufactured from our wool, but even that manu- facture is indebted to foreign material. Then with little of our own to barter, whence do we obtain the necessary commodities which allow us to carry on such a vast commerce? From manufactures and colonies. But if we have so few raw materials of our own to supply manufactures, how are those manufactures maintained? By the raw materials we procure from other nations. It appears, then, that the principal part of the commodities with which we carry on our vast com- merce is produced by the manufacture of the raw materials which we obtain from other nations. This shows how exceedingly artificial is the position of Great Britain, and how greatly dependent we are upon foreign nations for our existence as a powerful people. If other countries will not re- ceive our manufactures we are ruined, and if other Countries refuse to supply us with the raw mate- rials which feed those manufactures we are also ruined. Because we were so pre-eminent and without rivalry for so many years in manufactures, a vain, presumptuous, and injurious opinion has obtained, not merely amongst the lower, but also the higher classes, that they are indigenous to the country, and that we need fear no competition from foreigners. Governors and governed seem to be alike infatuated 14 with the same dehision. The consequence has been that we have been blind to the course of our true policy, and have, accordingly, neglected to pursue it, yea, even to ascertain what that policy should be. Accidental rather than natural causes have made us the manufacturing nation we are. About eighty or ninety years ago, we were nearly a pure agri- cultural nation, with scarcely any more inhabitants than were necessary for the purposes of cultivating the soil. Rents were low, wages of labour were moderate, agricultural produce was cheap, and raised in such excess above our consumption that we exported the surplus to other countries in ex- change for manufactures. Manufactures, then, flourished in foreign countries more than in England. About this period Hargreaves and Arkwright intro- duced those mechanical inventions for the spinning of cotton, which, with after improvements, carried that manufacture to unrivalled excellence. The creation of the cotton manufacture was not the only beneficial effect of those mechanical inventions, for the example caused mechanical inventions to be in- troduced into every other manufacture, into agricul- ture, and indeed into every department of life. The consequence was, that though they abridged labour, they did not deprive any one of employment in the country ; but, on the contrary, as we now f I M f a ^ 15 1 I became the producers and exporters of those articles which we before imported, they called into being a large manufacturing population, which hitherto had no existence. Population rapidly increased ; the agricultural produce, which we before exported, was now consumed in the country ; waste land was taken into cultivation ; rents were raised ; wages became higher ; and food dearer. We became the greatest manufacturers in the world, and supplied almost every nation. If those mechanical inventions had originated in any of the manufacturing countries of that day, it is more than probable that we should not have been the great manufacturing nation we have be- come. Those countries had many advantages over us. From having been so long the producers of manufactures, they had, at the time of our me- chanical inventions, extensive establishments, ma- tured skill, and accumulated capital. There were only two predisposing causes in our favour, first, mechanical invention ; second, cheap labour from the 'low price of food, which in the manufacturing nations was much higher. Coal was not in our favour at that time, for it only became of value long after upon the improvement of the steam- engine by Watt, and the use of it in metallurgy. Mechanical invention and cheap labour laid the now 16 foundation of manufacturing industry, and coal and the steam-engine confirmed it. Circumstances conspired, especially the late long war, to free us from all competition and to give us the entire monopoly of manufactures. That war, which desolated all Europe, destroyed the manu- facturing industry of the Continent, and made England the workshop of the world. Forgetting, or rather ignorant of, our true position, we embarked in that war, a war which could never have been supported but for the continued growth of our manufactures. From our insular position and great naval superiority we were not assailable, and manufactures, destroyed on the continent, found re- fuge and encouragement here. But had we remained neutral, our manufactures would have received greater support, and there would not be entailed upon us, now, as the consequence of that unnecessary war, an enormous debt, excessive tax- ation, great rents, dear food, and high wages — all of which, if not reduced, must undermine those manufactures upon which our national pre-eminence is built. When peace took place, the nations of the Con- tinent found their capital wasted, their manufac- turing skill dispersed, and their establishments in ruins. They are now rapidly recovering from their I f I I ■V) % 1 17 d coal te long ^ive us it war, manu- made getting, ibarked e been of our id great e, and )und re- lad we Id have not be of that sive tax- ges — all [le those sminence the Con- nanufac- Tients in •om their f I I 'I I exhausted condition, and are applying their own and inviting our resources to the establishment of manufactures. They have reason to expect com- plete success, for where chea^ labour exists, there will manufactures migrate, in spite of other and minor difficulties. Suppose they have to expend a capital of £100,000, instead of £50,000, in esta- blishing a manufacture, this is no serious impediment when it is considered that they have to pay only £50,000 instead of £100,000 per annum for wages. It was cheap labour, combined with mechanical inventions, that invited manufactures to our coun- try. We had, when we introduced them, less experience and less capital than the nations of the Continent ; and now that they have cheaper labour than we have, they will not fail to obtain skill and capital, even from this country. It is in vain to maintain monopoly against controlling causes, it must end in ruin. During the war, which destroyed the manufac- tures of other nations, we had no competition to contend with ; dear food was, then, a consideration of inferior importance ; it might have been much higher, and we should have felt scarcely any ill effects from it. But, when peace took place, com- petition recommenced, and, now, the price of food is of vital importance. Our manufactures have only been able to contend against dear food, high B i 18 wages, and low profits by wonderful mechanical inventions which have been applied as a substitute for manual labour — -but these inventions have a limit ; and we now begin to experience that we have reached that mechanical limit ; besides these inventions are soon transmitted to our rivals, there- fore we derive a very short-lived advantage from that source. We have no other resource left than cheap labour to enable us to compete with our manufacturing rivals. The following comparison will convincingly prove to what an alarming extent the profits of the cotton manufacture have diminished ; we ha\e always ex- ported about one-half of our cotton manufactures. In 181 4 the exports were £20,033,132, and therefore the value of the whole manufacture was £40,006,246. In 1834 the exports were £20,513,586, and the total value was £41,027,172. 1814 1834 Cotton wool consumed lbs.53,777,802 302,935,657 Value of goods manu- factured 40,066,246 41,027,172 So in 1834 the quantity manufactured was six times greater than in 1814, yet the goods sold for the same amount at each period. Other manufactures have been also affected, but, perhaps, not to the same extent. The increase in the exports is not a sure indication of the prosperity of a manufacture. #3: 1 10 As profits decrease, the greater will be the quantity of goods manufactured. The master will force his machinery to throw off a greater amount, and the operative will work double spells — each in the hope of making up their usual annual incomes. The increase in our manufactures is very slow compared to the increase of those of the Continent and the United States of America. Not many years back we were the sole manufacturers of cotton. Now, the United States of America, which raise nearly the whole of the raw material consumed in that manufacture, retains for her own consumption 310,000 bales. She exports to the Continent. . . . 420,000 We export to the Continent about. . 100,000 The Continent receives from Egypt, Brazils, and other countries, say. . 70,000 Total consumption of America and the Continent 900,000 We retained in 1836 for home consumption 363,684,232 lbs. of cotton wool, which is not equal to 1,000,000 bales. We may now consume about 1,000,000 bales. If foreign countries continue to increase their cotton manufactures as they hpve recently done, next year or the year following their manufactures will equal ours, and in another year they will head us. Thus in less than twenty years B 2 20 n Other nations, from positively nothing, have so ra- pidly progressed, that they now equal, within a trifle, the principal manufacture of Great Britain; and of our manufacture a considerable proportion is, now, only cotton twist. These facts ought to rouse us from our lethargy and false presumptuous confidence. But it is not only the cotton, but every other ma- nufacture in which we are successfully rivalled even in those which might be proudly considered indi- genous, such as the manufactures of cutlery and machinery. Now that the disturbing causes which forced the manufactures from the Continent into England have subsided, the manufactures of other nations will augment whilst ours will decrease, if we cannot make it the interest of those nations to receive our goods instead of manufacturing for themselves. If a great territorial or natural nation have all her land cultivated, her natural population will be replete, and will consequently raise a great surplus produce ; and if her artificial population be on the increase it will be a very long period before that artificial population arrives to that amount so as to consume all the surplus produce raised by the natu- ral population. Therefore, until the artificial popu- lation can consume all the surplus produce, such a nation must always have more or less of the produc- m '•«! '^ ,T ■'% 21 tions of the soil over unci above her wants, and wljicli s]ie will be anxious to dispose of, if she can exchange them for what she requires. And the smaller her artificial population is, the more produce she will have to dispose of, and the less tendency she will have to become a manufacturing nation. But if a territorial nation cannot exchange her raw produce for manufactures, she will be driven by necessity to manufacture for herself, even though she should have a great extent of territory still un- cultivated and not be replete with a natural popula- tion. In such a case she must reduce her cultiva- tion so as to limit her produce to the consumption of her own population. This will necessarily throw a number of persons out of agricultural employ- ment ; they can find no other employment than in manufacturing those articles which their nation re- quires, and which a manufacturing nation perversely refuses to sell for the only payment that can be made. But if it can be proved that the manufac- turing nation wants that very raw produce which is refused in payment for her manufactures, her con- duct must be designated as insane. There is no great nation, except our own, that has all her available territory cultivated, and possesses an artificial population numerous enough to con- sume all the produce raised by her natural popula- tion. Our artificial population has increased to oo I* 'fij • that point when the soil, as now cultivated, pro- duces just, or rather hardly sufficient for the con- sumers. Indeed, if the people were universally fed upon the best kind of food, which they would be, if the population were in a perfectly sound state, then the present cultivation would be inadequate. We are compelled to grow inferior and less whole- some articles, because they yield a greater bulk of, though a less nutritious, food, such as the potato for man, and turnips and cabbages for animals. We are, therefore, in want of sufficient wholesome food for our present population, but if that population increase, (and our position requires a sound increase of population) then the quantity of food raised in the country will be insufficient for the consumption of our people. Our present population is about 28,000,000, and it doubles every sixty yedra. So in fifteen years hence we shall have a surplus popu- lation of 7,000,000, who cannot be fed from the agricultural produce of our own land. They must therefore be supported by produce imported from other nations. In thirty years there will be a sur- plus population of 14,000,000, and in sixty years of 28,000,000, all of whom must be provided with food from foreign countries. It is, therefore, in- cumbent upon the Government to remove every impediment to the free importation of food. If, instead of having too little, we had a constant excess % I 2.) fed be, ate, mte. m- If, 1 of employment for the people, wliether from agricul- ture, manufactures, or commerce, then, indeed, po- pulation would double, not once in sixty years, but once in twenty-five or thirty years, as is the cass in America. If no restrictions had been imposed upon the free importation of food, our manufactures would, at this time, be nearly double of what they are. Wit- ness the manufacture of cotton. If food had been as cheap in this country as in foreign nations, our manufacture of cotton would amount to 1,900,000 bales, instead of 1 ,000 000 bales ; and the foreign manufacture, instead of being 900,000, would not be worth notice. Other manufactures would also have been much more extensive than they are. And instead of a population of 27 millions partially employed, we should have had 32 or 3'3 millions fully employed. It is not so much the cheap food of other nations that has caused the establishment of the numerous manufactures abroad, but it is the dear ^ood of this country that has driven manufactures to foreign climes in search of adequate and greater profits. Foreiirners miii'ht not have established a sino^le ma- nufacture for years to come if we had been con- tented to supply them, and to receive in payment their raw produce ; but as we refused to take their payment, which would have given us cheap food 24 and low wages, our capitalists and artizans found greater profits were to be made abroad than at home ; they therefore carried their money an^u jkill to a better market — and this must always be the effect. Capital and skill are bound by no national interests, ties, or patriotism. Remember this, oh Legislators ! It is not the natural growth of capital and skill abroad, but it is their desertion from this country that we have to dread — this makes double the difference to us. What has caused such vast loans to be made to foreign powers, and the immense sums to be in- vested in foreign speculations ? Dear food, which precluded the profitable employment of capital in our own country. If food had been cheap, our ma- nufactures would have been more than doubled ; and those monies, now employed for the benefit of other countries, and to our prejudice, would have found a more safe and profitable investment in founding those additional manufactures. Since the power of Great Britain cannot be sup- ported without manufactures ; since manufactures cannot withstand competition without cheap food ; and since agricultural nations are anxious to supply us with cheap food in exchange for our manufac- tured goods, can it be credited that we are re- stricted in the importation of that cheap food which is so essential to uur existence as a nation ( liut I 25 such is the fact. The Legislature has imposed un- wise and impolitic laws to prevent the importation of cheap food, for the express purpose of creating a monopoly for the exclusive benefit of a single class of the community, and to the prejudice of every other. If this monopoly of food be persisted in, what must be the consequence ? Ruin, inevitable ruin, not only to the manufacturing, but also to tu-^ landed interest ; one universal ruin ! This is easily proved. We have for years exported about one- half of our manufactures. Our population, there- fore, may be divided into three equal portions of about 9,000,000 each. The first portion is sup- ported by agriculture ; the second by the home demand for manufactures ; and the third by the foreign demand for manufactures. It must be evi- dent to every one, that if we have not cheap food we cannot have cheap labour, and, consequently, cheap manufactures ; and if other nations can ma- nufacture cheaper than we can, we shall cease to supply foreign nations any longer. If the foreign demand of manufactures be discontinued, the con- sequence will be that 9,000,000 of people, sup- ported by that foreign demand, must be thrown out of employment. What is to become of these un- employed people ? Must they be allowed to nerish from want? No; they must be supported at the ex- fc ^1 2f) pense of the other two parties. But this is not all. The portion thrown out of employment will be no longer consumers of clothing and other manufac- tures ; it will be as much as they can expect to ob- tain food. Therefore, the home consumers of ma- nufactures will be diminished one-third, which will throw out of employment 3,000,000 of the portion that manufacture for the home demand, — so that in all 12,000,000 will be deprived of work. Nor will this be the end. To supply these 12,000,000 of paupers with food alone, will be such an enormous expense to the rest of the community, that the latter will fare but little better than the paupers themselves, and will therefore have little or no spare money to expend in manufactures, except for the very coarsest articles of clothing. So that, in fact, almost the whole home demand for manufac- tures will be also destroyed ; and thus nearly all the 18,000,000 of manufacturers will be thrown, as paupers, for support upon the 9,000,000 of agricul- turists. What will become of the farmers, — what of the landlords, — what of the wealth, strength, and power of the nation ? Agriculturalists must therefore be convinced that it is as much their interest a'^ it is the manufac- turers' to maintain and extend manufactures and commerce, and that can only be done by ensuring the certain supply of cheap food. But as long as 27 monopoly endures we can never have cheap food ; therefore it is clear that the monopoly must be abolished. From all that has been said it is evident that there can be no commerce without commodities to interchange, and that nearly all the commodities we possess for such a purpose are the productions of our manufactures. It is also apparent that those manufactures cannot be retained without we have labour as cheap as foreigners, and to obtain that cheap labour the ^rices of food in this country should not be higher than abroad. However, though cheap labour is absolutely necessary to the continuance and permanence of our manufactures, yet there is another condition equally indispensable for their maintenance and prosperity — and that is, that we should at all times and under all emer- gencies be able to command the abundant supply of the raw materials which feed the voracity of those manufactures, free from the controul of rivalry, jealousy, or enmity. The raw materials, for which we are almost independent of foreign supply, arc the metals, especitdly iron. Of coal, so necessary for the reduction of the ores of all metals, we possess a greater abundance than any other nation. It would therefore be supposed that in the fabrication of all articles of iron we should not only be eminent but 28 also above competition. But though our mines yield the raw materials necessary for the manufac- tures of iron in the greatest profusion, yet labour enters into the production of many of those manu- factures in so great a degree, that even in these, our native independent fabrics, vi^e are undersold and driven out of the markets by foreign competition. But for the raw materials of many of our most important manufactures we are chiefly, and for some entirely, dependent upon foreign supply — such as cotton, silk, flax, hemp, wool, hides, skins, tallow, oil, &c. The interchange of our manufactures for foreign raw produce is highly conducive to our prosperity, and it is our policy to give it every encouragement. It is the surest method of making us the greatest if not the sole manufacturers in the world. But though it must always be our interest to receive as much raw material as foreigners are willing to exchange for our manufactures, yet it is dangerous for us to be dependent upon any one nation for the entire or principal part of the raw material neces- sary for any particular manufacture. Now we rely almost exclusively for the supply of the raw material of our greatest and most important manufacture, cotton, upon the United States of America. Out of 424,894,928 lbs. taken for consumption in 1838, 363,585,465 lbs. were imported from the United i. I 29 States of America. If any event should occur to interrupt the amicable relations which exist between this country and the United States of America, or if the slaves should revolt, then this enormous sup- ply of cotton wool would be instantly cut off, and the consequences to us would be most disastrous. But supposing no accident should arise to intercept the requisite supply, still the monopoly of that supply being in the hands of a single nation, gives that nation a powerful and injurious command over our manufactures and commerce greatly to be deprecated. We ought therefore to possess within ourselves the means of checking and counteracting any undue monopoly, influence, or control of all supplies of raw materials necessary for our manu- factures. Each nation produces one or two raw materials useful for manufactures, but England has advan- tages, if she would avail herself of them, which no other nation enjoys, — she has possessions in every clime capable of yielding all the raw mate- rials so essential for feeding, not only our own but the manufactures of all the world. Then with manufactures that require raw materials, with a redundant population that requires employment, and with colonies that require cultivation, is it not most surprising that we have never encouraged the production of those raw materials which are the i 30 if very existence of our manufactures ? With the exception of India, which sends a small quantity of cotton wool and raw silk, not one of our numerous colonies raises a single raw material necessary for our manufactures. Indeed, they furnish only a few commodities, and those to no great amount, for the support of our foreign commerce. Nearly all their productions we consume ourselves. The chief and almost only articles are sugar, rum, and cotfee. In 1 83G, the quantities we imported, retained for con- sumption, and exported, were as follows : — Sugar Importert. ..(cwts.) 4,321,514 .... Retained. 3,488.399 .... Exported. 833,115 Rum • • . . (gals.) 4,993,942 3,714,097 .... 1,279,845 Coffee .. (lbs.) 28,784,622 .... 24,947,690 .... 3,836,932 Whereas the consumption of Europe and the United States of America is, of sugar about 10,000,000 cwt., and of coifee 300,000,000 lbs., most of which, besides every other kind of produce, might, if we attended to our true colonial policy, be easily raised in our possessions. Colonies are of far greater importance than was ever contemplated in their formation, or than we even now unagme. It has been shown that the power of Great Bri- tain is n derived from her natural territory, which is insigi cant, but from an artificial source — her manufactures. Power, so based, has no solid 31 n 11 foundation and cannot endure. To secure our power as now established, all nations must consent, if they have the will, to remain stationary, which is contrary to the course of nature, and therefore not to be expected. The population of every country will increase beyond its natural or agricul- tural population, and that increased population can only be supported by finding other employ- ments than in those of agriculture, viz. in manu- factures. Thus, in course of time, it is evident that every nation must become her own manufac- turer. If we be reduced to the condition of ma- nufacturing for ourselves alone, and without thickly populated colonies, the wealth and power of Great Britain will be lost for ever. Europe is now replete with a population more than equal to the cultivation of all its available land, and, therefore, every increase of her num- bers must add to her manufacturing population. There are 227,700,000 inhabitants in Europe. The area of Europe is 2,070,544,000 acres, of which about five-eighths may be available for cul- tivation. Suppose, as in the United Kingdom, two-fifths to be in tillage and three-fifths in pas- ture. The most scientific farmers in Great Britain cultivate 30 acres of arable or 75 of pasture with one able-bodied labourer ; but take the averaue of the United Kingdom, not more than one-half of "1 '?! '9 I- 32 those numbers is cultivated by each labourer. However, allow 20 acres of arable or 50 acres of pasture to be cultivated by each labourer, then the number of labourers required for the culti- vation of all Europe will be 41,410,880. The labour of each family is equal to the labour of two men ; therefore the number of labouring families will be 20,705,440, which, at five to a family, will give 103,527,200 as the agricultural labouring population of Europe. The labourers and their families constitute about five-eighths of the popu- lation of an agricultural community, which leaves three-eighths, or 02,110,320, for all other classes necessary for agriculture, giving a total of 165,643,520 souls requisite for the entire cultiva- tion of Europe; and leaving 62,056,480 as the surplus population, over and above the wants of agriculture, for the purposes of manufactures and commerce. Deduct our surplus or manufacturing population, and then we shall have the manufac- turing population of the rest of Europe. The manufacturing population of Europe is, however, far more numerous tlian the above amount, for a great proportion of available land still remains uncultivated ; and every nation, whether all her available land be in cultivation or not, if she pro- duce abundance of raw materials, will attempt to manufacture them for her own use, and, if in ex- 33 cess, for export also. Every nation will also, if there be no disturbing cause such as war, import other kinds of raw materials for manufacture, rather than take the like goods manufactured by another nation, who is also obliged to import the raw mate- rials, and who possesses no superior advantages. A nation must have decided advantages to sup- port a superiority in manufactures. We possess no decided advantages, except in having obtained, from accidental causes, a monopoly of manufac- tures for many years, which acquired us capital and skill. These advantages are more than coun- terbalanced by overwhelming evils — dear food and excessive taxation. We also possessed, till lately, great advantages from our abundant supply of coal, which gives us such an immense moving power; and from roads and canals, which facilitated the conveyance of our goods to a degree surpassing all other nations. But rail-roads are likely not only to neutralize these advantages, but to confer greater upon our rivals ; for other nations construct these stupendous works of conveyance at one-sixth of the expense of ours, and, when constructed, the cost of carriage is only one-fifth of the amount we pay. These modern roads will be carried into every nook and corner of the Continent, into places where roads of no kind ever before penetrated, in search of water power or cheap labour; the cost of trans- c f: i'l M porting the raw materials and tlie manufactured goods being now, through their agency, of minor consideration. If to the vain pride of possessing extensive colo- nies we had added the wisdom of populating them, England would have commanded such decided ad- vantages that no other nation could have competed with her in manufacturing industry; and she would have been the principal producer of the raw materials so necessary to the supply of our own and the manu- factures of the other nations of Europe. Supposing other nations could have successfully contended against us in manufacturing, they must have been principally dependent upon us for the raw mate- rials. This v/ould have given rise to the employ- ment of a great and increasing population in our colonies, whose manufacturers we should have re- mained at all events. If we had commenced populating our colonies with our surplus or pauper population fifty years back, the number would, by this time, have ex- ceeded our home population, and their demand for our manufactures would have compensated for the loss of the continental demand. Situated as we now are, we cannot expect to con- tinue for many years longer to be the manufacturers of Europe and the United States of America. In- deed, eventually, those countries will not only drive 35 'il US out of their own markets, but they will become our competitors in every other part of the world. Manu- factures have taken such strong root in those coun- tries that it will be impossible to eradicate them, even if the corn laws be abolished, for even then their labour will be cheaper than ours, in conse- quence of our excessive taxation. Our proper ter- ritory being so limited, we have not, like other great nations, immense uncultivated tracts for the manufacturing operatives to fall back upon when thrown out of work — they can only be supported as paupers by the agricultural classes. Having neglected, hitherto, to encourage popula- tion in our colonies, to consume our manufactures and to raise us supplies of raw materials, and with every prospect of soon losing the foreign markets, how are we to preserve those manufactures which are the support of our artificial population, and the source of our present wealth and power ? By still creating markets of our own in the colonies. It is not yet too late. The colonies alone can be our salvation. Let us employ our wealth, as long as any foreign demand of manufactures remains to give us means, in sending out of the country our present exuberant and future annual increasing population, till such time as the demand for labour in this country shall bring our remaining population into a sound state, that is, until every labourer shall c 2 M i. obtain full employment. Suppose we continue to export a certain number of persons for ten years. Our present population amounts to 27,500,000 There is a surplus popula- tion oppressing aj^ricul- ture of 5,000,000 The operatives out of em- ployment are about. . . . 2,500,000 7,500,000 Which leaves 20,000,000 as the sound state of our population. The annual increase of the population is about 500,000, which for ten years will be 5,000,000 Add surplus as above 7,500,000 Which gives 12,500,000 as the population which may emigrate to our colo- nies in ten years, so as to bring the remainder into a sound state. This is at the rate of 1,250,000 per annum. Their distribution and the expense of their emigration may be stated as follows : — To Australia, 150,000 annually, at £18 each £2,700,000 To Cape of Good Hope and Falkland Islands, 100,000, at £10 each 1,000,000 To the North American provinces, 1,000,000, at £2 each 2,000,000 Annual expenditure £5,700,000 I :i7 that is, supposing tlicin to be all adults, and their passage to be contracted for ; but as many of them would be children, and if Government, who would not expect any profit from their conveyance, were to build steamers of 2500 tons burden and 1000 horse- power, they might be carried for one half the ex- pense, or £2,850,000— say £3,000,000 per annum. If this plan were adopted it would be a great saving instead of an expense to the country ; for there would be no longer any poor rates except for the infirm, who could and ought to be relieved in the bosom of their own families, and a stop would be put to the building of those sure indications of a decaying country, workhouses. The nation cannot make a more profitable investment — it will return millions of profit. And if Government employ her own vessels for transport instead of hiring them, she will have a mighty navy of steamers always in active service, ready and efiicient for immediate warfare. The new colonists would be so advantageously employed that they would soon furnish us with ample supplies of colonial produce for luxury, and raw materials for feeding our own and foreign manu- factures. In return, they would require a quantity of manufactures which would in a few years equal our present continental demand. After ten years the emigration may be restricted to 500,000 per - > 38 annum. At the end of twenty years the population in all our colonies, exclusive of the East Indies, would bf^ about 25,000,000, a population mor*- than adequate to employ our present manufacturing po- pulation if we should be deprived of the entire foreign demand. The populatio'i of the United States of America doubles every '.,venty-five years ; so in fifty years hence we may fairly calculate upon having fifty millions of inhabitants in oui* colonies, besides thirty or lorty millions in Gre:*t Britain and Ireland ; for when our population at home b comes in a sound state, that is, fully employed, it will double every thirty years instead of every sixty years. In sevtnty-five years hence the population of our colonies and Great Britain together, under such a system, would amount to 160,000,000. Our colonial territories are so immense, and po- pulation so greatly required to settle them, that, besides sending out our own countrymen, we ought to encourage foreign emigrants, who after a certain length of residence, and submitting to cer- tain forms, should b^ admitted to all tiie rights and privileges of free-boi-n subjects. If Great Britain adopt a sound policy in founding and governing her colonies, she will become the most mighty nation on the face of the earth. Our colonial policy has never been founded upon a settled plan, a defined system, enlarged views or 39 ulterior design — every thing has been directed by chance, caprice, or temporary expediency. Some colonies were established by individual enterprise ; others by the government, and many ba\ 3 been ac- quired by conquest. The entiie mass presents a. con- fused incongruous diversity of languages, laws, in- stitutions, rights, privileges, and taxes. There is no uniformity in any two colonies. The government, in encouraging the establishment of colonies, seem to have been influenced by narrow Tiews, selfish motives, and jealous prejudices, and have ever sought to secure exclusive benefits for the mother country to the injury and oppression of the colo- nists, instead of making those benefits mutually advantageous. It has also been the practice, on founding colonies, to grant independent legislatures; and the conquered colonics have always been allowed to retain their original government, laws, and institutions. All v^olonies thus constituted will legislat*^ with a separate view to their own local and peculiar interests, and some under foreign influence, which will often conflict with the policy and wishes of the mother country, who will, therefore, attempt to controul, and if unsuccessful, to coerce them. Such a system can only lead, as it has done, to discord, discontent, demurs, opposition, resistance, revolt and severance. Our mania has been and is to brmg into being or to acquire colonies at vast 40 outlay lOr the excitement of quarrelling with and oppressing them, so as to irritate them into deadly hatred and enmity, and to drive them to assert their independence. How came that magnificent and mighty em}: ire, now the United States of America, to pass from under our dominion ? What has caused Lower Canada to revolt^ and the other North American provinces to be discontented? What makes the West India Colonies prepared to throw off the yoke if they were not too weak ? And why are the boors of the Cape of Good Hope ripening into rebellion ? Ask why discontent has taken root in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land ? Is there a Colony belonging to the British Empire that is not dissatisfied f This is not to be attributed to the fault of Ministers so much as to tlie system — it will occur, let who will be Ministers, as long as the present system remains unreformed. What is our object in founding and acquiring Colonies ? Can any one answer ? Is it to train them up to manhood, and then to surrender them to self-government ? or is it for the purpose of retaining them for ever as possessions of the British Crown ? If the former, the conferring independent legis- latures io ihe surest method of preparing them for the desired end ; if the latter, the conferring such independent legislatures is the best devised plan for defeating the proposed intention. A separate 41 *1 government and an independent legislature can- not be established in any one of our possessions without at once calling forth sentiments, opinions, interests, and conduct directly opposed to the views of the remainder of the empire. Grant a separate government and an independent legislature to each county of England, and what would be the con- sequence ? Harmony? Unanimity? Prosperity? No ! An empire combined of various disjointed and dissimilar governments tends to divergence, repulsion, disintegration, severance. An empire formec' o^ one consolidated government tends to convergence, attraction, cohesion, union. A fede- ration of governments is like a bundle of sticks bound by a slender ligature — a slight concussion will cause the tie to snap, and then the governments and sticks alike fall to pieces. A consolidated government is like the stump of the gnarled oak, which resists the greatest torce to rend it asunder. The one represents the elements of weakness and dissolution, the u; ;:- of strength and durability. The fact i.* ? ij'^ver had any fixed objects to guide and direct j i«i our colonial policy. Cir- cumstances have occurred which must bring the affairs of one of our colonies, Canada, to the notice of Parliament. Lot not the condition and govern- ment of that colony alone be the subject of inves- tigation — h-^ let the whole cf our colonial policy ' hi 42 m be made a matter of searching enquiry. Let it be first solved, what is the intention and end of founding and acquiring colonies at such great expense, care, anxiety, and weakness. If it be answered for future independence, then let us cast them oif at once ; they can be brought to maturity far better if left to themselves than with our aid ; and we shall derive as great or greater benefits than if we fostered them. But if it should be declared that the intention is to retain them p«. ; •"'^ntly as parts of the empire, then it will be ex^ iient to ascertain if our present policy be the true one for effecting the desired end. So far from that policy being the true one, it will, no doubt, be discovered that it is the very worst that can be pursued, and can lead to no other result than to the separation and loss of all colonies so governed. Having asserted at the commencement that the true value of colonies could only be estimated by ascertaining the position of the mother country ; and having shown th at that position is not natural but eminently artificial ; that we have a great sur- plus population in want of employment ; that the numerous population, vast wealth, and great power of the United Kinsfdom are not derived from an inherent source, her proper territory, but from an extraneous one, manufactures ; that the greater part of the commodities necessary for carrying on our 43 commerce are contributed by manufactures ; that those manufactures were the offspring of accident, which gave us a monopoly for a time ; that that monopoly has passed away, and foreign nations are beginning to manufacture for themselves ; that we must soon cease to compete with foreigners if we cannot secure food as cheap as they have it ; that, though the corn-laws be abolished, ultimately every nation will manufacture for herself; that we are mostly dependent upon foreign nations for the supply of the raw materials which feed our manu- factures, and, therefore, possess no greater advan- tages than other manufacturing countries ; that our colonies^ if properly protected and encouraged, could produce every kind of material necessary for manufactures and commerce, but the capabilities and importance of those colonies are shamefully overlooked ; that, if we cannot create other markets, our manufactures will be ruined, our population pauperised, our wealth exhausted, and our power destroyed ; and that other markets can only be created by populating our colonies; — it becomes indisputable that colonies are, not only of inesti- mable value, but absolutely indispenrable to the support and augmentation of the population, wealth, and power of Great Britain. But it will be useless to populate colonies if we cannot retain them. In that case we cannot secure '■ 4 ill ! l<1 44 permanent markets for our manufactures ; but, on the contrary, like the United States of America, our colonies, after they have thrown off" their allegiance, must become our rivals, competitors, and adversaries. And it will be impossible to retain our colonies if they are allowed to have separate governments and independent legislatures. England will then be left without colonies, without manufactures, and consequently without commerce; her great artificial population, no longer having employment, will be thrown for support upon the agriculturists of our limited territory; her power will dwindle into weakness ; and she will be rated, according to the exten^. of her territory, as a secon- dary state. Wanting then great territory to support a nu- merous natural population and to make the nation inherently strong; wanting extensive an J constant markets ,r those manufactures which give support to our excessive and increasing artificial population and to our commerce ; having such immense colo- nies which are more than sufficient to supply these wants, if those colonies can only be permanently retained as possessions of the British Crown ; and, findiptj that they cannot be so retained, according to the present mode of governing them, it becomes the imperative duty of Parliament immediately to inquire what measures can be adopted for attaching 45 those valuable and necessary possessions perpetually to the empire. There can be no doubt, the result of that in- quiry will be, — that no other course can be sug- gested, than at once to coalesce and incorporate the colonies with the mother country into one immense, mighty, and indivisible empire, whose scattered inhabitants shall be gathered together under one Sovereign, one Government, and one Parliament, with equal representation, the same laws, like institutions, similar rights and privileges, and uniform taxation. Bold as this proposition is, it is very simple and perfectly feasible. What might have been deemed impossible formerly is now very practicable. Steam has performed much, but that is little compared to what it will soon effect in annihilating time and space, and in nearing the extremities of the earth. Doubts may arise respecting our more distant pos- sessions, such as the Cape of Good Hope and Australia, but none can be entertained about our North-American Provinces and West-India Islands. The voyage from England to Halifax will soon be accomplished in six or seven days, and to Jamaica in about double that time. What greater difficul- ties are there in governing those possessions, than formerly existed in governing Ireland and Scotland? None. ;^i!l 4G !! Such a coalition would make us immeasurably powerful. We are now vulnerable in our colonies not only from foreign aggression, but also from in- ternal discontents, dissensions, threats, and revolts. But incorporated, no nation would dare to attempt the former, and the latter would entirely disappear. So far from the distance of those possessions being a source of weakness, it would be the cause of rendering us truly formidable, by compelling us to employ constantly an immense navy ; for those pos- sessions no longer forming extraneous but integral portions of our empire, the universal Government could not be carried on by a half-yearly, quarterly, or monthly communication as under the present imbecile system ; no, nothing less than a daily in- tercourse would be adequate for conducting the affairs of this vast empire, and for conveying the numberless passengers to and fro. Here would be an enormous addition to that arm of our true power, the navy. Steam-packets of great size and power should be immediately established to all our possessions with- out exception. Free passages should be given to all labourers out, and a small charge only should be exacted from them if they chose to return ; and to all other classes the fare should be reasonable. Great Britain would be relieved of her superabun- dant and unemployed population, who would emi- 47 grate to the transmarine parts of our universal empire, where they would find immediate employ- ment and become wealthy and happy. It has been already shown how rapidly our population would increase in the colonies and in Great Britain, if constant and an augmenting demand for labour were created. Our wealth would in a short time be exuberant, and the revenue would so far exceed the expenditure that we should have a large surplus to apply to the extinction of the National Debt, and afterwards to the reduction of taxation. The wel- fare of all classes from the noble to the peasant would be advanced and secured. With a universal empire we should have universal prosperity and universal happiness. The events which have taken place in Canada have compelled the Government to propose a new constitution for the British North- American Colo- nies. It is recommended to confer a separate government and an independent legislature — Pause ! If the recommendation be acted on, those important' provinces will pass for ever from the sway of Great Britain, and then her power will sink never more to rise. But if those provinces and our other colonies be incorporated as integral portions of the universal British Empire, then will the conjoined power of that empire be handed down from age to age with increased strength and vigour. Our future m m 'I ■ r\ 48 existence, as a great nation, depends upon our coalescing and incorporating the Colonies with the mother country into one universal and indivisible empire. THE END. LONDON : PKMIAM niCHAROSON, PRINTEIl, 95, CORNMIItt. !r ' ii