o HH| 7 HHl 1 | 33| B OUR National Resources AND 'THEYAREWASTED AN OMITTED CHAPTER IN POLITICAL ECONOMY m WILLIAM HOYLE ■I " nlffl ffil «5» THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES - 7^~- OUR NATIONAL RESOURCES. - - [ 4 - .". \ 1314 ° UR ^^-r, eAL , NATIONAL RESOURCES; AND HOW THEY AttE WASTED. AN OMITTED CHAPTER IN POLITICAL ECONOMY. BY WILLIAM HOYLE, Author of "An Enquiry into the Causes of the Long Continues Depression in the Cotton Trade," &c. &c. LONDON : SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO. MANCHESTER: JOHN HEYWOOD, Ml am- 148, DEANSGATE. HB CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE. I. On the Development of our Manufacturing in Industry 1 >- OS II. On the Sources of our National Wealth 15 £2 III. On Pauperism 37 o S IV. On the Falling Off in Trade 43 o V. Productive and Non-productive Labour and Expenditure 53 5 VI. On the Main Cause of Bad Trade and National ce n§ Waste 97 VII. On the Right Expenditure of Money 107 VIII. The Remedy 131 402205 PBEFACE The attention of the writer of the following pages was first specially directed to the subject treated therein, in the autumn of 1868. During the whole of the years 1867 and 1868, the trade of the United Kingdom, but especially the cotton trade, was in a most depressed con- dition. The year 1869 was ushered in; but, instead of there being an improvement, so far at least as the cotton trade went, matters grew worse. The belief at that time was ahnost universal in Lancashire, that the depressed con- dition of trade arose from the fact that our continental neighbours were outstripping us in manufacturing, and that they were still more certain to outstrip us in the future ; and, con- sequently, the great cotton trade of Lancashire would shortly be a thing of the past. Having a viii Preface. considerable interest at stake, the author, like other spinners and manufacturers, naturally became anxious about this unpleasant prospect, and, therefore, during the winter of 18G8-9 he spent hifl leisure evenings in giving the subject a careful investigation. In the autumn of 18G9, the results of this investigation were embodied and published by him in a pamphlet, entitled, "An Enquiry into the Cause of the Present Long-Continued Depression in the Cotton Trade, with Sug- gestions for its Improvement. " The investigation entirely disabused the mind of the author of all those ideas, as to the falling off of our foreign trade owing to continental competition, and the publication of the pamphlet did much to allay the fears of the commercial classes in reference to the matter. An examination of our exports of manufactured goods, alike in cotton, woollen, and linen, showed that a con- tinued and enormous increase had taken place, and that the depression in trade arose from the falling off in the home trade. To show this, and to exhibit the cause for this falling off, was the author's object in publishing the pamphlet to which Preface. ix reference has been made. The present volume is an attempt to give the question a more general and extended investigation, and, at the same time, to some extent, to treat of kindred questions, such as productive and non-productive labour, and expenditure, questions which are but very im- perfectly comprehended, but mistakes in regard to which, often have a most injurious influence, in depressing our trade and wasting our national resources. The purpose of the author in the following treatise, therefore, is — 1st. To show that the inventions and improve- ments in machinery by our countrymen, have given to us exceptional facilities for the acquisition of wealth. 2nd. That these facilities are very much enhanced in their value, by other important material advantages which we possess. 3rd. That, aided by these facilities, our trade and commerce have been developed into enormous proportions ; and that our opportunities for getting wealth have increased in a corres- ponding degree. x Preface. 4th. That the commercial depression winch has existed during the last few years, baa aot resulted from ;my falling off in our Foreign Trade, hut from a considerable decrease in the Home Trade. 5th. That this decrease has arisen mainly, if not entirely, from the improvident and unproduc- tive character of our labour and expenditure, especially in reference to the article of intoxi- cating drinks. Gth. That notwithstanding our vast facilities for obtaining wealth, a large class of our popula- tion are constantly sunk in pauperism and destitution. 7th. That if our labour were properly directed, and our expenditure properly applied, settled pauperism or destitution could not jDOSsibly exist. In the treatment of this question, the author has carefully guarded against quoting any statistics, or stating any fact, that did not appear to be of undisputed authority. The statistics given are, in most cases, taken from Government returns, and in all instances reference is made to the authority, Preface. xi so that if the reader wishes to check the quotations for himself he can do so. In many points, where there are no published or known data, the author has had to give the best estimate he could, according to his own experience and judgment. In no case, however, do these estimates affect the argument, unless it be in degree. This the reader will be good enough to bear in mind, and where he thinks the quantities assumed are too great or too small, let him apply the argument to such data as may appear to him more correct. To those readers who have paid much attention to the subject, it may seem that some questions are treated too much in detail, and, also, that the writer has been guilty of repetition. If these faults should appear, they arise partly from intention and partly from want of time. The reader will, how- ever, observe, whenever there may appear to be a repetition, the argument is generally presented in a somewhat different form to what it was before. Some of the topics have appeared so important to the author that it seemed desirable to present them to the reader's mind in different places and associations ; he has also laboured xii Preface. to be as plain and homely as possible in the illustrations; and If by this, conviction has been produced, the author will he very glad to forego all pretension to merit in the composition, for the hope of making an impression upon his readers. It may be that some who read this treatise, may be disappointed that the investigation and the argument have not been extended to other causes of national waste. When the investigation was beerun, it was the author's intention thus to extend the inquiry ; but the questions involved were so numerous, and generally so insignificant in comparison to the one treated of, that the resolution was abandoned. The intelligent reader, however, will readily apply the argument to other topics, and thereby, without adding to its bulk, the usefulness of the book will be increased. Tottington, near Bury, Lancashire., February Oth, 1871. Sources of CHAPTER I* ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY. In order that a full idea may be gathered as to the present position of our national resources, it will be needful briefly to enumerate the principal our wealth. sources from whence our wealth is derived. These may be summed up as follows : — 1st. Manufactures and Commerce. 2nd. Agriculture. 3rd. Mines, Railways, and other description of property. The extent of our manufacturing advantages Mechanical cannot be fully appreciated, unless we take into advanta &"' consideration their origin and rapid development as influenced by the introduction of machinery, &c. ; and as our different industries have all of * For the facts contained in this chapter, the author is mainly indebted to Mr. J. A. Mann's " History of the Cotton Trade," published by Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. ; Dr. John Watts's " History of tlie Cotton Famine," published by Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.; and tbo chapters on National Industry in the " Pictorial History of England," published by W. and E. Chambers, of Edinburgh and London. B 2 On the Development of chap. i. them very greatly participated in the advantages derived from these mechanical inventions, the history of one will therefore substantially be the history of all. In order, therefore, to illustrate this, I will give a brief account of the development of the cotton trade. When the enormous magnitude of our trade and commerce is considered, and contrasted with its condition a hundred years ago, it becomes a subject full of interest to consider the various steps by which this development has been accom- plished. Our hull's- The entire exports of the United Kingdom for tmy a c «yo the whole of the ten years ending 17G9, amounted and now. in va j ue to £15^052,626, whilst for the year 1869 alone they amounted to £190,045,230, or upwards of thirty millions more in value for one year than during ten years a century ago. According to Mr. J. A. Mann, the entire exports of cotton goods in the year 1751 amounted in value only to £45,986, whilst in 1S69 the value of cotton goods exported was £67,159,064. The backward condition of our manufacturing industry one hundred years ago may be judged of, when it is remembered that at that time wo imported considerable quantities of goods from Protection India, in the face of a protective duty of 4d. in the Unm." Kr P oun d, which, after the fashion of those days, was thought essential to the prosperity of our manu- factures ; whilst, at the same time, there were prohibitions imposed upon cotton goods from other Our Manufacturing Industry. 3 countries. The protection thus afforded did not, chap, t however, bring about the desired result, for it is its results. stated that in 1757 the total annual value of our cotton manufactures did not amount to more than £200,000. In the year 1743 commenced those improve- Commence- ments, which have continued to progress, and mechanical which have resulted in the present expansion of l^ l '^ Lt ' our manufacturing industries. It was in this year that John Kay, of Bury, invented the johnKay's fry-shuttle and picking-peg. Before his time the invenUon - weaver, in order to work his shuttle, had to stretch his arms from side to side of the loom, and if the cloth were more than 3G inches wide it needed two persons to do this, one being unable to reach across the lo'om. Kay's invention consisted in making the lathe in which the shuttle runs about 18 inches longer, so as to permit of a shuttle-box on each side of the cloth, and then, by means of a string fastened to the picker on each side of the loom, and joined to a handle in the middle, the weaver was enabled to work the shuttle from the centre. A great loss in time was thus avoided, and, where wide cloth had to be woven, one person, by the aid of these improvements, could do the work formerly done by two. In the year 17G9, Robert Kay, the son of the Robert above John Kay, invented the drop-box. This faSntkn. invention consisted in constructing the shuttle-box so that it would rise or fall, and enable the weaver, when using alternately different kinds of weft, to 4 On the Development of ."'**• *•- keep his loom at work ; whereas, previously, lie had had to stop his loom to change the shuttles. A great saving of time was in this way effected, and the out-turn of work materially expedited. james In the year 17G7, or thereabouts, James Har- and'thc'™ greaves, a poor weaver of Blackburn, conceived the unnu'" J ~ idea of the spinning-jenny. Before his time, one person could only tend one spindle and spin one thread at a time. By means of the jenny, one hand was enabled to work twenty or thirty spindles at once, and thus turn off an immensely greater quantity of work than formerly. ftrhard In 17 GO, Bichard Arkwright, of Preston, invented t,nd'thc ht wna t is generally termed the water-frame, or, as it water- j g sometimes called, the throstle-frame. This frame, m ' was an application of rollers to the stretching of the yarn, so as to regulate the counts (or thickness of the thread) uniformly, and stretch the yarn with precision, these rollers being so arranged as to work in connection with the spindle. Stmuel In the year 1779, Samuel Crompton, of Bolton, mu'nhe'' 1 combined Hargreaves's jenny with Arkwright's mule. rollers, and thus brought out the mule. Through the skill of Mr. Boberts, of Manchester, the mule was made self-acting, the spinner not having now to work or guide the mule, but simply to see to its being kept in order. The value of these accumulated inventions will be seen when it is remembered that, as has been stated, before the invention of Hargreaves, one person could only tend one spindle ; at the present time, one man, Our Manufacturing Industry. 5 aided by a grown-up youth and boy, will tend a pair chap, l of mules having 1,200 or 1,300 spindles in each, or Labour 2,600 spindles altogether. If these facts be care- bythemvle. fully examined, it will be seen that one individual, aided by the machinery of the present day, will produce as much yarn as seven hundred and fifty persons could have done little over one hundred years ago. From these improvements there has resulted, 1st. A large diminution in the cost of yarn, and 2nd. A considerable increase of wages. According to Mr. Mann, a spinner in 17G0 could wagu in only earn from 2s. to 3s. weekly; whereas, now, 1/tJ0 " he can earn from 30s. to 35s. weekly. In the time of Crompton, which was after considerable improvements had been made in machinery, the cost of spinning weft, 40 hanks to the pound, was 14s. per pound ; for No. G0 ri ' 25s. per pound ; and for No. 80' s ' 42s. per pound. Now, the respective cost of producing will be, 40 s ' 4d. ; for 60 s ' 7£d. ; Cost of and for 80 s * Is. per pound." Such are the advan- mm?' 9 tages resulting from the invention of machinery. These important improvements in spinning machinery were quickly followed by a largely * For tlio information of those who are not conversant with manufac- turing phraseology, it may he stated that a hank contains 810 yards and that when " counts of yarn " are spoken of, the number of hanks it takes to weigh a pound is meant. Thus, by GO' 3 yarn is meant yarn 01 which it takes GO hanks, each of 810 yards, to weigh one pound. C On the Development of chap. i. increased production of yarn, ho much so, afl somewhat to glut the market. At a meeting in Manchester, in 1784, it was urged that it would be impossible to find hands to weave all the yarn Increased which would be spun." Dr. Cartwright argued byspinning that the same excellency might be arrived at in k inery. ^-^^'mg, as had been attained in spinning ; but he was met by a decided contradiction. ITc, however, undauntedly set to work, and the result was a very rude model of the power-loom, which was after- wards (in 1813) perfected and brought into general use by Mr. Horrocks, of Stockport. These inventions, important as they were, would have been very much restricted in their use had it not been that other inventions and discoveries were made simultaneously with them. Motive On the first establishment of mills, the machinery /',U'/' 1 was either driven by cattle or turned by human labour. This continued for some considerable time. By-and-bye mills, began to be erected in the neighbourhood of waterfalls ; these, however, were very limited, and often very inconveniently situated. "What was wanted was such arrange- ments as would enable manufacturers to carry the machinery into the towns and villages where the people dwelt ; and not to be obliged to put down their mills at outside places, in order to secure turning power by means of the waterfalls, which often necessitated long journeys, the con- * See Mann's History of the Cotton Trade, page 17. Our Manufacturing Industry. 7 struction of new roads, and many other inconve- chap. i. niences, involving such an amount of cost and trouble as proved most serious obstacles to the establishment of mills. In 17G5, the genius of Watt produced the Jm steam-engine. Previous to Watt's time there had a,\ been a kind of engine in use, generally styled (lVJUU Newcomen's engine ; but it was very rude and imperfect, and required such an enormous amount of fuel to drive it as to make it excessively costly. The motion, too, of this engine was very irregular, and thereby totally unfitted for the turning of machinery : hence its use was mainly restricted to the pumping of water out of the Cornish and Newcastle mines. Watt applied the condenser to the steam-engine , he also arranged the valves so that the steam was turned upon each end of the piston, instead of upon one end as heretofore. He also made many other alterations and additions, which greatly tended to improve the working of the engine, to reduce the cost of fuel, and to secure the regularity which was needed for the efficient working of machinery. To show the enormous saving of fuel effected by Eccnomyof Watt's engine, it may be stated that the proprietor of the Chacewater Mines, in Cornwall, put down three of Watt's engines ; and the saving in coal was so great that he agreed to pay to Watt £S00 per annum, per engine, for the benefit thus received.'"" * Sco rictorial Ilistory of England, vol. v., page 47G. Watt's 8 On the Development of chap. i. It has been pointed out, that the invention of the steam-engine simultaneously with that of the machinery for manufacturing, was a coincidence fraught with the most important results. Reduction If these inventions did not altogether annihilate andcoaby physical labour, they reduced it to a minimum, nwhinery. and tney ]ed to t j ie introduction f the factory system, by which a thorough subdivision of labour was secured, increased skill developed, a large amount of time thereby saved, and a vast reduction effected in the cost of production. James Whilst these improvements in machinery were and the going on, other discoveries were being effected, system, which materially aided the success of our manufac- turing industries. Six years before Watt invented the steam-engine, the celebrated Brindley had completed the first canal from Worsley to Man- chester. This so much reduced the cost in the carriage of coal, as to lower the price of coal in Manchester by one-half. The construction of this canal was followed, six years later, by that of the Grand Trunk Canal, whereby the clays ot Devonshire, &c. , were carried at a cheap rate to the Potteries, thereby greatly reducing the cost of the earthenware manufactured in those districts. Other canals were rapidly constructed, new and good roads were also made, which very much facilitated and cheapened the cost of transit, thereby aiding very materially the development of our manufac- tures and trade. In 1764, the art of calico printing was introduced Our Manufacturing Industry. 9 into Lancashire, and gave a considerable impetus ciur. i. to the cotton industry. A further stimulus was In&rodu* given to it by the discovery and application ol calico chlorine in the process of bleaching, which was i " introduced from France by James Watt, the Appika- inventor of the steam-engine, and applied at chlorine to the works of his father-in-law, Mr. MacGregor, of *"*** Glasgow. Before the application of this discovery, nearly all the cotton goods, in order to be bleached, had to be taken to Holland, where they lay for five or six months in the open air in the fields around Haarlem. When we remember the difficulty of transit in those days, it will be at once seen what a drawback it must have been, to have to take cotton goods manufactured in Lancashire all the way to Holland to be bleached, involving enormous expense, and losing the greater portion of a year in the process. At the present time, the bleaching of calicoes can be effected in as many days as it for- s , v!)l y !n merly took months, and is done more effectually also. {'/'. ud Prior to the inventions of Hargreaves, Arkwright, Crompton, Watt, &c, the operations of spinning and weaving were entirely carried on by people at their own homes. As machinery came into use, and trade became more extended, the factory rhefitetory system came into existence. This, as has been JSroduced. pointed out, enabled the manufacturer to effect a thorough subdivision of labour ; each man thereby became expert at his particular work, doing more of it, and doing it better and at less cost than before the introduction of machinery. 10 On the Development of QOti Of One considerable drawback in the first establish- ment of factories, especially during the long winter '/'/,' ''l,'; /' J' p nights, was the cost and danger arising from the lighting up of the mills. This hud to be done by- means of candles, which were not only very costly, but full of danger arising from the sparks which were perpetually emitted from the candles. The writer was informed a short time ago, by a gentle- man whose ancestors were in the cotton trade upwards of sixty years ago, that the cost of candles during the winter months in those days was almost equal to the cost of cotton. These difficulties, how- ever, were overcome by the discovery and applica- Introduc- tion of gas, which was first applied in 1802, by Mr. tionofoas. Murdoc h, of the Soho Works, Birmingham. In 1802 the first cotton mill in ' Salford was lighted up with gas, and the practice was rapidly extended to all other mills. The limits of this treatise will not permit me to dwell in detail, or even to specify more than a few of the other improvements which have occurred, in addition to those already enumerated. Among other things may be mentioned the application of steam to propelling ships, which w T as first accom- plished by Bell, in 1811 ; the construction of the locomotive engine by Stephenson, in 1814 ; the establishment of the railway system, first begun by the construction of the Stockton and Darlincrton Bail way in 1S24, and fully completed by the opening of the Manchester and Liverpool line, in 1830 ; the application of electricity to telegraphy, K'?am skips. Origin of the railway system. Our Manufacturing Industry. 11 by Wheatstone and Cooke, in 1837; and other chart. inventions too numerous to specify. Suffice it to say, that the inventions of the last hundred years have completely revolutionized the manufactures and commerce of the world, and have placed in our hands a monopoly of trade and wealth such as has never been enjoyed by any nation in the history of the world. How long we may maintain this position depends upon the manner in which we use the advantages we thus possess. We not only possess immense advantages from Ouraivcm- the superiority of our machinery, but also in many other ways we enjoy facilities for production which other nations are destitute of. 1st. Our climate is well adapted for manufac- Climate. turinff. Those who are engaged in cotton manu- facturing are well aware of the vast advantages which are derived from a suitable climate. The differences produced in manufacturing be I ween a dry east wind and a westerly one, amounts to at least five per cent., both in quantity and quality, that is, if when a westerly wind blows, a mill containing one thousand looms, manufactures weekly four thousand pieces of cloth, that same mill, if the wind blows from the east for a week, will East wind; not produce more than three thousand eight ^,\ hundred pieces, or even less than that, and what it tl " hunn - does produce will not be so good. This arises from the fact that a moist climate is best adapted to the working of the cotton staples; a dry atmosphere makes the yarn tender and 12 On the Development of ™ xv - 1 \ brittle ; and hence the breezes which blow from our western shores, which are washed by the equatorial influence of current from the Gulf of Mexico, &c, partake iSfreonf exactly of the characteristic most needed for manu- facturing. These remarks apply also, to a consider- able extent, to the manufacture of woollens and other fabrics. Cmi,- ;/'(;/< unknown machinery, except such as was worked by hand 120 jean * ajo. 16 On the Sources of Results of Mechanical lucent ion. and of the rudest kind, was altogether unknown, and that such a thins as a mill of the modem kind was not in existence, it will give an idea as to the progress we have made, and the vast facilities which machinery has given us for the accumulation of wealth. Our country has to a great extent been the workshop of the world, and has reaped a rich harvest of wealth as a consequence. Trade and Commerce. — No better proof can be given of the giant strides made in our trade and influence 1 commerce, than a comparison of our present foreign of these in- tendons on trade with what it was a hundred years ago. The following tables will illustrate this : — Table of Imports and Exports for each of the Ten Years ending 17G9.* Our foreign trade for ten years ending 1770. Imports. Exports. 1760 £ 10,683,596 10,292,541 9,579,160 12,568,927 11,250,660 11,812,144 12,456,765 13,097,153 13,116,281 13,134,091 £ 15,781,176 16,038,913 14,543,336 15,578,943 17,446,306 15.763,868 15,188,669 15,090,001 16,620,132 15,001,282 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 117,991,318 157,052,626 * See HcCulloclTs Commercial Dictionary, page 726. Our National Wealth. 17 Table of Imports and Exports for each of tue chap.il ten years ending 1869.* Imports. Exports. 1800 £ 210,530,873 217,485,024 225,710,976 248,919,020 274,952,172 271,072,285 295,290,274 275,183,137 294,693,608 295,428,907 £ 135,891,227 125,102,814 123,992,204 140,002,342 160,449,053 165,835,725 188,917,536 180,961,923 179,677,812 190,045,230 1861 1862 1803 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1809 2,009,272,336 1,597,475,926 Ourfareign track for ifu U n years end- ing 1869. In the year 1770, the population of the United Kingdom was estimated at 11,198.270; in the „ , ,. present year, 1870, it is estimated to be 30,838,210; and trad* i m i'i 11111-ip contrasted. or, whilst our population has only doubled itseli two and three-quarter times over, our imports (which are an index of the growth of our national wealth) have increased twenty-two fold. Of the articles exported from our own country, nearly the whole of them consists of manufactures of one kind or another, by far the greater part of which consists of textile manufactures, as the fallowing figures will show : — * See Statistical Abstract for 1870, pages 39 and 75. C 18 On the Sources of chap, it. TABLE OF EXPORTS OF TEXTILE B1ANTJFACTUBES for 1869.* Cotton manufactures . . £0 7, 159,004 Woollen „ . . 28,483,095 Linen „ . . 9,127,151 Haberdashery, &c. . . 4,582,703 £109,352,073 increase in As was stated in Chapter L, our total export of tradc. on cotton goods in 1751 amounted only to £45,9SG. In 1809, notwithstanding the fact that cotton goods are at least five or six times as cheap as they were in 1751, they amount to £07,1 5 9, 0G 4, or about 1500 times as much in value during the latter period as the former ; whilst, if the estimate is taken in bulk, it will amount, at least, to five or six thousand times as much. The cotton For the year (1809) the entire value of our cotton 1869 Tnd manufactures was upwards of £75,000,000, whereas toasted."' m 1^57, as we have seen, they were only valued at £200,000; or, to put it in another form, though our population has only increased about two and three quarter fold, the yearly value of the cotton goods we produce has increased upwards of 370 fold ; and, if we make the calculation by bulk, it will reach about two thousand fold. Varied The use of machinery is not however confined n Jf P Ma ati ° n t° ^ ne P r0( luction of cotton, woollen, and other chinenj. textile fabrics, it is universally employed in the * See Statistical Abstract for 1870, pages GS to lo. Our National Wealth. 19 manufacture of iron, of paper, in printing, and cu.\r. u. indeed there is no art or manufacture where labour is employed, which is not very greatly aided by machinery. The invention of machinery, especially of the Value of , -I . -i , i . • i the sterna steam engine, has contributed very extensively c ,ujinc. also to develope the mineral resources of our country. If it had not been for the steam engine, a great many of our mines would have been worth- less, simply from the fact, that it would have been impossible to pump the water away. Mines. — The following return gives the total vaiucof weight and value at the pit's mouth of our '^i^'i,',, mineral produce in 1SG8* : — Coal 103,141,157 Pig Iron. . . 4,970,20G Lead .... 71,017 Other Minerals 22,830 Tons . . 108,205,210 £25,785,289 12,381,280 1,378,404 1,970,732 £41,521,705 In this statement there is no account taken of our stone quarries, limestone rocks, &c. At present there exists, so far as we know, no data by which to estimate them, unless it be by making some valuation of the houses which are constructed from them. * See Statistical Abstract for 1870, page 132. In addition to the minerals given above, there were also 835,512 ounces of Silver, and 1,012 ounces of Gold secured. 20 On the Sources of chap. it. From the Report of the Commissioners of Inland Number Revenue for 1870, page 102, we find there are "} houscT 700,707 houses, each of which pays a yearly rental BtSZ °f over °^ 20 ' tne annua l value of the whole being £35,063,843. There are at least 5,000,000 houses under £20 ; and if we assume that the houses under £20 are of no greater value than those above £20, then, by adding the total rental of house property to the produce of our mines, we get an annual return from the two sources of £111,049,391. Ultimate As has been stated, however, the estimate otirmme- which was given of the value of these minerals raiproduce wag their value at the pit's mouth, or about £3. 10s. per ton ; but this represents only a portion of what then- value becomes ultimately. Most of our mineral produce is used in the construc- tion of machinery, which, when completed, is often sold at £20, £50, and sometimes even £100 or more per ton. If we reckon the average at £20 per ton, it will give a yearly produce from mines alone of upwards of £100,000,000 sterling in value. Railways. — The wealth of the United Kingdom invested in, and derivable from, railways, is very large, and is yearly increasing. It is only about forty years since the first com- plete railway — the Manchester and Liverpool — was opened; whilst, at the end of 1867, the lencrth of Capital in- .. , ., , ' , . - vested, in line complete was 14,247 miles; the capital paid ways ' up was £502, 262, 8S 7 ; number of passengers con- veyed, 287,807,904 ; total receipts, £39,479,999.* * See Statistical Abstract for 1870, page 131. Our National Wealth. 21 The table of imports, which has previously been chap. h. given, will give a general view of the commerce of the United Kino;dom. In addition to our own commerce, we have also a considerable carrying trade, from which, if we do not get the profit of the trades, we get a considerable income by way of carriage. It may Our ship- therefore give a more comprehensive and complete pm9 ' view of our commercial progress and position in this respect, if we give a summary of our shipping at the present, as contrasted with bygone times. The first authoritative return of shipping was Progress issued in 1701-2; at that time the total number 1701-2. of ships in the ports of the United Kingdom was 3,281, which were estimated to carry 261,222 tons, and employed 27,196 men* — the navies of Scotland and Ireland had then scarcely an existence ; so that the total for the whole United Kingdom would not be very much in excess of the above. The jVo . f entire number of vessels belonging to the United ' LXS!iLU - Kingdom in 1869 was 21,881, which were esti- mated to carry 5,557,303 tons, and employed 195,490 men.t The number of vessels which entered our ports in 1869 was 137,652, carrying 18,001,982 Tonnage. tons. The number which left our ports was 138,757, carrying 17,850,749 tons.+ In the year 1781, the weight of goods which left our ports was only * See McCulloch's Commercial Dictionary, page 1214. t See Statistical Abstract, for 1870, pages 100 to 104. J Sec Trade and Navigation Eeturns for the year ending December, 18G9, page 42. or> Oa the Sources of niAP. u. 778,904 tons. These figures abundantly illustrate the marvellous development of our commerce during the last 100 or 150 years. Agriculture. — The entire area of the United Kingdom, is 77,513,000 acres. Of these, in 1869, iZated 45,880,041 acres, or not much above one-half were land. under cultivation. The proportion of this area appropriated to different crops is given in the returns as follows* : — ACIVCS. Wheat 3,981,989 Barley 2,483,277 Oats 4,480,125 Rye 72,986 Beans 584,251 Peas 397,483 12,000,111 Green and Boot Crops, as Potatoes, Turnips, Cab- bage, &c 5,095,933 Other Crops, including 61,729 acres of Hops, also Pasture Land, &c. 29,034,117 Uncultivated and Waste Land 31,3S2,839 77,513,000 VnmUi- From the above table it will seen that consider- vated land. . . _ __ _ ably above one-third of the land of the United * See Statistical Abstract for 1S70, page 111. Our National Wealth. 23 Kingdom is still wholly uncultivated ; whilst in qhap. h. reference to that which is reported as under culti- vation, the produce is so widely various, as to make it absolutely impossible to give any reliable data in respect to our agricultural production. Mr. McCulloch, in his "British Empire," estimates Jtedof L land per the produce of an acre of average good land at acre. thirty-two bushels per acre ; the estimate given by the Board of Trade, is twenty-eight bushels per acre. It is a fact, however, that does not admit of Bad dispute, that whilst for the last hundred years, every / agriad- other interest in the country has been making the most rapid and marvellous progress, the agricultural interest has nowhere kept pace with the other, and in many districts has scarcely made any progress at all. This partly arises from the ignorance of the farmer, but to a great extent it is owing to the want of security in the tenure of the land. A man who has an uncertain interest in a property, and is not sure but that, if he improves it, others will reap the benefit, can never be expected to improve it as he would if certain to realize the benefit himself. During the great anti-corn law agitation, the late MrJ Mr. Cobden often called attention to the back- tun. ward state of our agriculture. In one of of his speeches at Manchester,* October 24, 1844, speaking upon this point, and referring to Cheshire, he said: "I have heard Mr. Ogilvv, who was engaged by Mr. Brook, of Mere, and * See his published speeches, vol. 1, page 210. 24 On the Sources of chap. ii. otlier landlords of this and the neighbouring county, as superintendent of their estates, declare — and he is willing to go before a Committee of the House of Commons to prove it — that Cheshire, if properly cultivated, is capable of producing three tunes as much as it now produces from its surface, and he is willing the statement should be made public upon his authority — and there is not a higher authority in the kingdom." Akierman Alderman Mechi, who is one of the greatest of onVhl living authorities upon agriculture, asks the ques- conddionof ^ Qn # « \y na £ margin for improvement is there in British agriculture ?" " I have," says he, " tested this by comparative results, and find that, if all the land of this kingdom, 50,000,000 acres, which is equal in quality with my own, produced as much as mine does per acre, our agricultural produce would be increased by the enormous amount of £421,000,000 annually, the present produce, ac- cording to my calculation, being only £3. 7s. per acre, or £169,000,000. According to my annual produce of £11. 15s. per acre, it would be £687,000,000." " This," he adds, " is no exaggera- tion, but a stern and humiliating fact." This short paragraph reveals to us a twofold fact, viz. : — ■ 1st. The defective condition of our agriculture. 2nd. The vast amount of w r ealth which, our agriculture would yield to us, if only properly attended to. * Quoted in McDonald's Hints on Farming, page 13. Our National Wealth. 25 There is one question, which it will not be out . CHAP - "-. of place to notice here, as it has not only a bearing °" thc " se I * ° of stKwje. upon our agriculture and upon our national wealth, but also upon the health and happiness of our cities and towns, and, indeed, of the country generally — I mean the question of sewage. Upon this subject, at the late Social Science Congress, held at New- castle (September, 1870), a paper was read by Mr. J. T. Blackburn, of Aldershot. The following is the concluding passage of his paper : — " The economic use of sewage is really a national Mr. J. t. question, bearing very materially upon the food- on the producing power of the country, not merely from JS3£». the utilization of the sewage itself, but also in- directly by manure produced by the consumption of so large an addition of green food, where its application to the land becomes general. Milk and butter will be produced at one-third less than their present prices ; and it will be found that, when effectually fulfilling the agricultural conditions, it will of necessity accomplish the sanitary object also. Instead of compulsion being needed for its adoption, we shall have active competition. Alderman Mechi, in a letter to the Manchester Alderman Examiner and Times of October 20th, 1870, 'a,. goes more fully into this question. Referring to stu:ujc ' the farm of Mr. William Hope, at Hornchurch, Mr.Hope'a near Rumford, Essex, he says it receives the whole JUI of the available sewage of that town, containing 8,000 inhabitants. The farm is of 121 acres, of* light and poor (generally) soil, which had previ- 2G On the Sources of riT ^- IT -. ously ruined several tenants. lie goes on to say : ' Let us compare the condition of this farm now fanem? an d formerly. Then, three men and two boys tamed. we re employed ; now from 35 to 40 persons are regularly employed, with 10 horses. The crops Value of are enormous and frequent. The minimum value V JcYe. pcr of each crop is £20 per acre; and, as many are perfected in from two to three months, the total value is very considerable." " While the surrounding farms and market gardens have proved disastrous, owing to the ex- cessive droughts, here the crops have been and are now most abundant and luxuriant, consisting of cauliflowers, cabbages, potatoes, onions, parsnips, carrots, red and Siberian beet, long, red, and globe mangold, and other vegetables, a crop of barley in July, after lettuce is in full ear, Italian rye-grass, already cut five and six times ; but the most re- markable is a crop of maize, or Indian corn, eight feet high, as thick in the stem as a mop-stick, with gigantic ears formed and about piercing the sheath. Mr. Hope expects to ripen them, but this I doubt." " In the meantime, as cattle food, the crop is worth £-0 per acre, for horses and cattle are gene- rally fond of it. It seems difficult to realise the fact, that green crops of various kinds should be gathered within ten or twelve weeks after sowing or planting, while those in the neighbourhood are languishing or perishing for want of moisture." "With sewage, sowing and transplanting become Our National Wealth. 27 a certainty in result. Mangolds transplanted in cnKV - Ir -. July were a fine crop. I weighed cabbages 20lbs. each, and mangolds would considerably exceed that We thus see, within twelve months, a wretchedly poor farm converted into a most luxuriant garden, its fertility ever increasing, multiplying food and the employment of labour concurrently, and extracting a money value from that which is now, in too many cases, poisoning our streams." What a revelation is here unfolded ! what a Sewage <* source of unapplied wealth does it open out to us ! S',V The sewage of our towns and villages, instead of blocking up and poisoning our rivers as it now universally does, might be appropriated to the fertilizing and enriching of the land. By this means — taking Mr. Hope's farm at Hornchurch as a sample — comparatively poor land might rapidly be converted into rich and productive land, yielding annually, not a crop valued at £3. 7s. per acre, but Productive two or three crops yearly, each of them of the value of £20 per acre. Dream of overcrowded «**"■*■*■ population, people starving for want of land upon which to grow food — here is the answer to that bugbear. Let the land only receive in the shape of manure the sewage and refuse from the teominjx population of our towns and villages, in addition to the other means which are applied to it, and let it be properly drained and cultivated, and there is hardly any limit to its powers of pro- duction. 28 On the Sources of Recupera- tive pmver in nature. There is marvellous wisdom displayed in the arrangements of nature. The earth yields the vegetable produce which supplies food to the animal kingdom. This food, when it has served its purpose in the animal economy, is cast off; but it is not useless waste, for it becomes again available as manure to enrich and fructify the earth — in fact, it is the food of the soil ; and in proportion as the soil is thus fed by the sewage and refuse from the animal and vegetable kino*doms, so will be its capability to yield increased food. As the popu- lation increases, so will be the demand for food ; but in the same proportion there will also be a supply of refuse, or, in other words, of nourishment or manure for the soil. If, therefore, instead of throwing this refuse into our rivers, to block-up and pollute them, we returned it to the land, Produce of then, as the population increased, there would be grows with an ever-increasing supply of food for the soil, and latS^ the yield of produce wherewith to feed the popu- lation would increase in the same proportion, and there is no reason (if our resources were properly applied) why the soil of our own country should not easily support a population of over one hundred millions of people. Fisheries. — In reference to the fisheries of the United Kingdom, the statistics published are too incomplete to enable us to give anything like a complete and reliable statement. Our National Wealth. 29 The number of fishermen engaged are given in cnAP - "• the Government returns as follows : — No. of Isle of Man 2,380 Ireland* 38,444 Scotlandt ....... 45,201 Other persons engaged in Scotch) . , fisheries J employed. 131,229 We may safely assume that there are 20,000 persons engaged in the English fishery trade, and that at least 30,000 other persons are engaged in England, Ireland, and the Isle of Man, in assisting to cure the fish and prepare them for market ; if so, it will give us a total of slightly over 180,000 per- sons who are dependent upon this branch of trade. In a valuable article on the Fisheries, in the Sir John " Encyclopedia Britannica," Sir John Barrow estimate */ estimates the annual produce of the foreign and JS,S^* domestic fisheries of Great Britain at £8,300,000. W*™- This, however, is generally thought to be over- stated. McCulloch, in his " Commercial Die- McCui tionary," remarks that £5,500,000 will be a full nwto! estimate. Whichever of these estimates be correct, one thing is universally admitted, viz., that the fishery trade is capable of very great extension, and if effectually worked would be very prolific in its returns. * See Miscellaneous Statistics, part 7, page 304. + See Beport of Scotch Fisheries issued June 1, 1870, page 22. 30 On the Sources of Produce of tkt ma. Report of Royal ( 'ommit' The best way to es- timate our national resources. In a Report of the Fisheries of the United King- dom, published in 18GG, the Commissioners say: "The produce of the sea around our coasts bears a far higher proportion to that of the land than is generally imagined. The most frequented fishing grounds are much more prolific of food than the same extent of the richest land. Once in the year an acre of good land carefully tilled produces a ton of corn, or two hundredweight or three hun- dredweight of meat or cheese. The same area at the bottom of the sea, on the best fishing grounds, yields a greater weight of food to the persevering fisherman every week in the year. Five vessels belonging to the same owner, in a single night's fishing, brought in 17 tons weight of fish, — an amount of wholesome food equal to that of 50 cattle, or 300 sheep. The ground which these vessels covered could not have exceeded an area of 50 acres." From the facts and figures which have been adduced in . this, and the preceding chapter, the reader will be enabled to obtain a tolerably correct idea as to the nature and vast extent of our national resources. The statistics supplied are not, however, sufficiently definite to enable us to give a com- plete summary of them. In forming an estimate, therefore, as to the total of our national income and resources, much has to be left to conjecture. The most satisfactory approximation to a correct result is, to take the income tax returns as the basis on which to calculate our income. Our National Wealthy 31 INCOME OF THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE UNITED cnAr - "•, KINGDOM FOR THE YEAR ENDING MARCH 31,18 70." Total *h, ' come oftha Schedule (A) In respect of lands, Kingdom. tenements, &c. ..„ £133,478,032 „ (B) In respect of the occupation of lands 37,447,774 ,, (C) In respect of an- nuities, dividends, &c 34,790,120 „ (D) In respect of pro- fessions, trades, em- ployments,railways mines, ironwork.:, &c 101,594,118 „ (E) In respect of pub- lic offices ...,...., 22,110,858 £3S9,420,902 Estimate of incomes under £200, reduced by abatement of £60, and incomes exempt as being under £100, and unreturned profits 120,000,000 Estimated income of the manual labour class 370,000,000 £879,420,902 The income of the manual labour class is esti- //iconic of mated by Professor Leoni Levi at £418,000,000, cltuta. ■ See Return of Taxes and Imposts moved for by Six T. Bazley, and ordered to bo printed August lOtb, 1870. 32 On the Sources of ?***' n - and l>y Mr. Dudley Baxter at £325,000,000; if a mean be taken between the two, unci we call it say £370,000,000, it will not be far wide of the mark. It will give the reader an idea as to how much the progress of the wealth of the nation is depen- dent upon our manufacturing industries, if we give the valuation of property in Lancashire at two periods. Valuation ]\f r# Henry Ashworth, in a paper read at the of property m \ * . x tni692and Friends' Institute, Manchester, gives the real pro- perty as assessed for land tax for 1692 and ISO 5, as follows : — REAL PROPERTY ASSESSED FOR LAND-TAX IN LANCASHIRE, AT TWO PERIODS. Annual Value. 1692 £ Hundred of Leyland J 5,774 Lonsdale I 8,500 Amounderness 10,288 Blackburn . . Salford West Derby.. 11,131 25,907 35,642 Annual Value. 18G5. £ 249,284 423,967 526,239 950,916 4,084,888 Increase of Value. Pate of Increase, 415,467 515,951 939,785 4,058,981 3,801,585 3,765,943 ■ 4,987 .. 5,115,, 8,542 .. 15,767 ., 10,666 „ 97,242 10,036,879 9,939,637 Dr. Watts, in his valuable book on the cotton famine, in reference to this table, remarks : "Headers who are acquainted with Lancashire, will not need to be told that the progress is about in proportion to the area occupied for the purposes of manufacture and commerce in each case ; that, in fact, the Our National Wealth. 33 immense stride made by the Salford Hundred 5 nAr - "• (which includes Manchester, &c.) is due to the cotton manufacture, and that of West Derby to the same cause, together with the additional fact, that Liverpool is the grand port of entry for the raw material, and for the departure of manufactured goods." It may not be uninteresting here to pive an Artliiir f, , . Youny's estimate of what the nations income was one estimate hundred years ago. Arthur Young,'''' in his i»i770. e "Northern Tour," published in the year 1770, estimates the income of England and Wales (not the United Kingdom) as follows : — INCOME OF ENGLAND AND WALES IN 1770. Income from the Soil . . . £66,000,000 Manufactures 27,000,000 Commerce . 10,000,000 ,, „ Law, Physic, the Fine Arts, Litera- ture, &c 5,000,000 ,, ,, Money Lent at Interest .... 5,000,000 „ Public Eevenue 9,000,000 £122,000,000 Arthur Young estimated the population of England and Wales at that time as being Relative 8,500,000 ; now it is about 22,000,000 : so that JJ352! with a population of rather more than two and «■**»*■»« * Quoted in Pictorial History of England, vol. 5, page 582. C 34 On the Sources of cnxr. ii. a half times what it was one hundred years ago, we have a yearly income of more than six times the income possessed by them. Baxta'v' ^ ne following is an estimate of the property of estmab of the United Kingdom, as given by Mr. R Dudley the pro- . . . , party of the Baxter, in his work on the "Taxation of the Kingdom United Kingdom,"* published 18G ( .). The property of the United Kingdom is esti- mated as follows : — 1. Eeal Property — Lands, houses, and mines were assessed to income tax in 18GG, at £132,000.000 Taken at twenty-three years' purchase, the average number for the total of the three kinds of property, the capitalized value is nearly ... 3,000,000,000 But from this must be deducted the Leaseholds and Mortgages, and Personalty in Mines, esti- mated at one-third, or 1,000,000,000 Leaving the nett capitalized value of the Pieal Property of the United Kingdom 2,000,000,000 2. Personal Property : — (a) Mortgages, Leaseholds, «tc, as above 1,000,000,000 Annual Value Income Tux, 1865, (b) Eailways, Gas, and Canals ... £23,000,000 Public Dividends on British, Colonial, and Foreign Funds (Schedule C) 34,000,000 Public Companies .., 12,000,000 £09,000,000 Capitalized at twenty-five years' purchase, these amount to 1,700,000,000 * See pages 163-164. Our National Wealth. 35 Capital. (c) Capital estimated to be em- ployed in — Farming for £50,000,000 rental, under Schedule A... £300,000,000 Trades and Professions for £100,000,000 profit, under Schedule D 500,000,000 Classes below the Income-tax 200,000,000 Dead Capital (Furniture, ortion of our population to such a deplorable condition. The first conrplete authoritative return that we have as to poor's-rates, is for 177G.""' In that year, from returns made upon oath by the overseers of the poor, it appears that the total money raised by Pauperism assessment for the poor in England and Wales was contrasted £1,720,316; last year (18G9) it was £11,770,153 ; J^J, 1 ™. or, in other words, with a population rather better than two and a half times the size of what it was one hundred years ago, and with an income six times as large as in 177G, we expended last year * See Pictorial History of England, vol. 5, page 582. 402^05 38 Our Pauperism. Table of pauper 8 for the ten years end- ing 1870. nearly seven times as much upon pauperism and crime as we did in 1770. The number of paupers in 177G is not stated. The present population of the United Kingdom (18G9) is 30,838,210; of these, 1,281,G51 are returned as paupers, and 6,692 as vagrants. The following table will show the gradual and continued increase in our pauperism. It gives the number of paupers in the United Kingdom from I860 to 1870 inclusive : England and Wales. Scotland. Ireland. TotaL 1860 851,020 114,209 44,929 1,010,158 18G1 890,423 117,113 50,683 1,058,219 1862 946,166 118,928 59,541 1,124,635 1863 1,142,624 120,284 66,228 1,329,136 1864 1,009,289 120,705 68,135 1,198,129 1865 971,433 121,394 69,217 1,162,044 1866 920,344 119,608 65,057 1,105,009 1867 958,824 121,169 68,650 1,148,643 1868 1,034,823 128,976 72,925 1,236,724 1869 1,039,549 128.339 74,745 1,242,633 1870 1,079,391 73,921 The Government returns as to pauperism and I m 'iicvfcct' character of vagrancy do not, however, by any means represent the extent of these two evils. They give the ment o-eturns as to pauper- ism, therefore, to get tlie number of persons who received relief during 18G9, we must mult Lply 1,281,651 by 3£, which gives 4,485,778. This, then, is the real number of persons who were chargeable as paupers, at one time or another, during that year, or nearly one in seven of the entire population. Admitting that a considerable num- ber of these might be persons who applied twice or three times over during the year, it would still leave us about one in every ten of the population as having been paupers during the course of the year. In reference to this subject, Mr. Dudley Baxter, in the work just quoted, remarks : — Mr. Dudley " The average number of paupers at one time in ■pauperism, receipt of relief in 18GG was 91G,000, being less than for any of the four preceding years. The total number relieved during 18G6, may, on the authority of a return of 1857, given in the Appendix, be calculated at three and a half tunes that number, or 3,000,000. All these may be considered as belonging to the 16,000,000 of the manual labour classes, being as nearly as possible twenty per cent on their number ; but the actual cases of relief give a very imperfect idea -of the loss of work and wages. A large proportion of the poor submit to great hardships, and are many w r eeks, and even months, out of work before they will apply to the guardians. They exhaust their savings ; they tiy to the utmost their trade unions or benefit societies ; they pawn little by little all their furniture ; and at last are driven to ask relief." Our Pauperism. 41 But even the figures which have been given cnAP. m, do not, by any means, represent adequately the pressure of our poverty. There are a very large number of persons who are dependent upon their friends and relations ; and there are a number who, as Dudley Baxter says, submit to great nda(h . c hardships sooner than apply for relief. If all who No - °f 1 ±.l./ paupers to are thus situated be summed up, it cannot amount fopuiation to much less than one-third of the entire popu- lation of the manual labour class, or from fifteen to twenty per cent of the entire population. The Government returns in reference to vagrancy are even more imperfect and unsatisfactory than the pauper returns. I have not been able to obtain any national figures to illustrate this, but it will be suffi- ciently manifest if I give the statistics in reference to one union — the Bury Union in which I reside. The following table gives the number of paupers Paupen and vagrants returned to the Poor-law Board, mgrawtain January 1st, 1870, and published in their Report t' u iZ'.' J as representing the pauperism and vagrancy in the Bury Union, the population of which, in 18G1, was 101,142. Paupers 4,372 Vagrants .... 11 The actual number of cases of pauperism and vagrancy during the year ending March, 1870, in the Bury Union was as follows :* — *Thcse Returns have been kindly furnished mo by W. P. Woodcock, Esq., the clerk to tho Bury Union. It will be necessary to deduct from theso the 4,372 paupers given above, as tho permanent paupers arc entered twice during the year. This gives tho number of cases of pauperism as 10,640. 42 Our Pauperism. cnApnn No. of cases of Paupers relieved, 15,012 ,, ,, Vagrants ,, 15,474 These returns corroborate the figures given by Mr. Purely in reference to the pauperism of the country ; and they show that if the total cases of vagrancy during the year were given, it wolud numerically be equal to, or greater than the number of paupers. No doubt a very large number of the vagrant cases are from among the paupers, and in a large The same proportion of the cases, the same parties apply ofunappty several times over in the same union, and also in swerai different unions ; still, it shows that there is a very large class of our population who have no fixed dwelling-place ; they move about getting a living by begging, or stealing, or by imposition upon the public, as may be most convenient. Adding this class to the pauper class, it reveals an amount of destitution and demoralisation in the country that is perfectly appalling, and that is a lasting disgrace to our civilization and Christianity. What are the causes of this condition of things ? and what are the remedies to be applied ? To give an answer to these questions will be the object of the succeeding chapters in this book. CHAPTER IV. ON THE FALLING OFF IN TRADE. During the four years subsequent to the recent chap.iv. American civil war, the trade of this country, espe- Depressed •nil ,, , i • i • condition cially the cotton trade, was m a most precarious f tra( i c and unprofitable condition ; so continuously and a ^ t i c t j te ruinously bad was it, that a very general belief American became prevalent in commercial circles, that the manufacturing industries of this country had had their day, and that they were about to pass into the hands of other nations. It was commonly said on the Manchester Exchange, that there had been so many mills erected on the continent, as enabled them not only to supply their own wants, but to Foreign create a surplus for disposal elsewhere ; and it was c t l" said that, what with lower wages and longer hours, posed our continental neighbours were outstripping us, and beating us, not only in their own and in neutral markets, but actually in the markets of London and Manchester, and that, by and bye, much of our trade would be a thing of the past. Beinff largely interested in the cotton trade, as TI&AyOar o o j ^ tnvamgata a spinner and manufacturer, the writer shared in the the general fear and despondency. It appeared to quu him that if the cotton trade was about to pass competition sup- cause 44 On the Falling Off in Trade. The de- pression caused by the falling off in the Home trade. Compari- son of trade with ten years ago. away — if the ship was about to sink — the sooner he got out of her and the better. As a prudent man, however, he thought it would only be wise before taking such an important step to ascertain whether this was really the fact or not ; whether our bad trade arose from a falling off in the foreign demand, or it arose from a diminution in the home trade. An examination of the question established the fact that there had been no falling off in our foreign trade, but a considerable increase ; and that this was the case not only in reference to the general export trade, but even to our trade with those continental countries which were said to be out- stripping us, but that, whilst our foreign trade had continued to grow, our home trade in cotton goods had fallen off to a considerable extent, and that this falling off had not been made up for by an equivalent increase in the woollen and linen trades. The four years ending 1861 (which were prior to the American war), were the four most prosperous years which the cotton trade, or indeed the general trade of this country, ever experienced. The prevailing impression has been that the year 1860 was the turning point, and that from that time our trade has been retrograding. Is this so ? In order to test it, I will give a comparison of our foreign, and also, as far as possible, of our home trade in cotton, woollen, and linen, for the four years ending 1861, and the four years ending 1869. On the Falling Off in Trade. 45 Table op Exports op Cotton, Woollen, and Linen Goons, for the Four Years ending 1801, and the Four Years ending 1809.* Quantity op Cotton Goods Exported. Cotton 1858 1859 .... 1800 1801 , Goods — Yards. 2,324,139,085 .. 2,502,545,470 2,770,218,427 2,503,459,007 Cotto 1800 1867 1808 1809 n Goods — Yards. 2,575,098,138 2,832,023,707 2,977,100,551 2,800,113,303 10,220,301,995 11,250,941,759 Being an increase in the quantity of our exports during the latter period, as compared with the former, of 1,024,579,704 yards, or 10 per cent. Valuet of Cotton Goods Exported. Cotton 185S . 1859 . 1860 . 1861 . Goods — Value.J .. £43,001,322 48,202,225 52,012,380 46,872,489 Cotton Goods — Value. 1800 ... £74,613,046 1807 ... 70,830,983 1808 ... 67,686,772 1869 ... 67,159,064 £190,088,416 £280,295,805 Or an increase in the value of cotton goods ex- ported of £90,207,449, or 47 per cent. Quantity of Woollen Goods Exported. Woollen 185S 1859 , 1800 1861 , Goods — Yards. 166,141,715 193,687,679 190,37 1,5 .".7 164,398,181 Woollen 1866 1867 1868 1809 Goods — Yards. 281,878,523 249,459,211 209,134,508 303,016,569 714,599,142 1,103,488,811 CITAP. IV. Quantity of cotton good* ex- ported. Value of cotton goods ex- ported. Quantity of wool It il (joods < X- ported. * See Statistical Abstract for 1870, pages 64-65. The particulars for cotton, woollen, and linen will all bo found in the same table. t The values represent both cloth and yarns ; the quantities represent cloth only. t Seo Statistical Abstract for 1870, pages 68-69. The particulars for cotton, woollen, and linen will all be found in the same table. CTIKV. IV. Value of ivoollcn tjonds ex- ported. Quantity of tint n goods ex- ported. Value of linen goods ex- ported. 46 On the Falling Off in Trade. Being an increase in our export of woollen goods during the four years ending 18G f J of 388,889,669 yards, or 54 per cent. Value of Woollen Goods Exported. Woollen Goods — Value. 1858 £12,743,807 1859 15,137,7U<.) 1800 10,000,448 1801 14,071,008 Woolle 1800 1807 L868 18G9 n Good- — Value. £26,538,379 25,943,928 25,900,084 28,483,095 £58,553,752 £100,805,486 Showing an increase in the value of woollen goods exported of £48,311,734, or 83 per cent. Quantity of Linen Goods Exported. Linen 1858 1859 1800 1861 Goods — Yards. 121,940,291 138,120,498 143,990,773 110,322,409 Linen Go< 1800 1807 1808 1809 )ds — Yards. 255,408,089 211.275,196 210,049,078 214,715,319 520,380,031 891,508,882 Being an increase in the quantity of linen goods exported of 361,128,851 yards, or 71 per cent. Value op Linen Goods Exported. Linen Goods — Value. 1858 £5,870,696 1859 0,279,189 1800 6,000,075 1801 5,474,557 Linen 1800 1807 , 1868 1809 Goods — Value. £11,950,377 9,887,776 9,422,307 9,127,151 £24,230,517 £40.387,071 Showing an increase in the value of linen goods exported of £16,157,154, or 67 per cent. On the Falling Off in Trade. 47 From the preceding tables it will be manifest otap.iv. that the increase in the value of cotton goods Relative exported for the four years ending 1869, over the ™£™.° four years ending 1861, was 47 per cent; of woollen goods, 83 per cent. ; and of linen goods, 67 per cent, making an average increase in the value of our exports in ten years of 66 per cent, the greatest increase which ever occurred in the same time, and a very different thing from the falling off that was commonly believed to have been the case. If the value of goods recede to the level of the jf^gj" prices thev were at before the American war, so that ff^jmnj *■ J m Jigures. the enormous increase in the value of our exports shall represent a corresponding increase in their bulk ; and if, as it is only natural to expect, the high prices which have been prevalent in goods has led to their use being minimized as much as possible, the world must generally be bare of goods, and therefore, it becomes almost a certainty that our foreign trade, more particularly in cotton goods, must very much increase. If we get a cheap and abundant supply of cotton, as appears likely ere long, there is a bright prospect before the cotton trade, especially if there should be a revival in the home trade. In the home trade there are not the same sta- Hon } e trade tistical returns published as in the export trade ; returns. nevertheless our home consumption of cotton goods maybe calculated with sufficient nicety to be reliable. To come at this, we have the amount of cotton imported, and then the amount taken by the 48 On the Falling Off in Trade. Home trade, citap. iv. trade; then we have the published tables of ex- ports of goods, and deducting the exports from the total cotton used, it will give us the home con- sumption. Mr. Elijah Mr. Elijah Helm, in a paper read before the miationat Manchester Statistical Society, and which has been published and largely circulated amongst the lead- ing manufacturers and merchants in Lancashire, has gone into these calculations elaborately. He has kindly given me a copy of his paper, from which I extract the following tables of quan- tities: the tables of values I have added, calculating them on the same basis as the exports. Estimated Weight of Cotton contained in Manufactures of all kinds exrouted and retained for iiome con- sumption. Total weight of cleaned cotton used. 1858 815,040.000 1859 878,940,000 18G0 975,240,000 1861 90G,GGO,000 3,575,880,000 1866 824,130,000 1807 859,680,000 1868 SS6,860,000 1869 847,362,000 3,418,032,000 Showing a reduction in the total of cotton used during the last four years, as compared with the former, of 157,848,000lbs., or rather over 4 per cent. Weight of Cleaned Cotton in Yarn and Manufactures Exported. Weight used in goods and yarns exported. 1S58 670,034,000 1859 710,310,000 1860 757,267,000 1861 701,406,000 ',839,017,000 1866 664,093,000 1867 747,256,000 1868 779,397,000 1869 752,091,000 2,942,837,000 On the Falling Off in Trade. 40 Being an increase in the quantity of cotton used in goods for exportation of 103,820,000lbs., or rather more than 3a per cent. For the sake of comparison I here repeat the table of the value of our export of cotton goods. Value of Cotton Goods of all kinds Exported. 1858 1859 1860 1861 £43,001,322 48,202,225 52,012,380 40,872,489 £190,088.116 1800 1807 1808 1809 £74,013,040 70,830,983 67,680,772 07,159,004 £280,295,805 Value of cotton goods ex- ported. Or an increase in the value of goods exported of £90,207,449, or 47 per cent. "Weight of Cleaned Cotton in Manufactures retained for Home Consumption. 1858 145,006,000 1859 168,630,000 1860 217,973,000 1861 205,254,000 736,803,000 1800 100,037,000 1867 112,424,000 L868 107,403,000 1809 95,271,000 475,195,000 Weight of cleaned cotton iii goods for Hon ■ sumption. Being a decrease in the cotton used for goods for home consumption of 261,GG8,000lbs., or more than 35 per cent. Value of Cotton Goods of all kinds, Consumption. RETAINED FOR HOME 1858 .. 185!) .. 1860 .. 1861 .. £9,306,169. 11,443,371 14,971,330 13,716,400 I860 .. 1867 .. 1868 .. 1809 .. . £17,980,080 10,657,361 9,332,629 8,501,737 Value Of Cotton goods used J fume trade. £49,437,270 £40,472,413 D 50 On the Falling Off in Trade. Showing a decrease also in the value of cotton goods for home consumption of £2,959,231, or 6 The fall off per cent m cotton not tub- : !;> nl, ,/. li has generally beer alleged, as a reason for the falling nil* in the homo trade in cotton goods, thai it has arisen from the fact that woollen and linen have been to a very large extent, substituted. It has been said, there lias been a falling off in cotton goods, but there has not been a falling off in trade generally: what has been lost in cotton has been gained in woollen and linen. Is this so ? In the annual Trade Review of Messrs. Ellison and Haywood, Brokers, Liverpool, for the year 18G9, I find the following comparison of the linen and woollen trade for the four years ending 18G1 with the four years ending 1869 : Total Consumption of Woollen and Linen, both for the Home and Export Trade. Relative increase in WOOlli II and linen. Great fall- ing i iff in 1 1 o mi con- sumption. TOTAL CONSUMPTION Woollen. Linen 1858-61. 1866-69. lbs. lbs. . 179,G9S,000 241,070,000 . 109,256,000 232,131,000 Total Expokt. Increase. 61,372,000 62,875,000 Increase per cent. 34 37 Woollen.. Linen . 106,691,000 102,498,000 . 84,590,000 125,283,000 •V>.so7,000 40,693,000 52 48 Total Home Consumption. Woollen.. Linen . 73.007,000 78,572,000 . s 1,000,000 106,848,000 5,565,000 22,182,000 7-2 26 From the tables which have been given, it will be manifest that, whilst the weight of cotton used On the Falling Off in Trade. 51 in goods for home consumption has decreased chap.it. 2G1,G68,000 lbs. during the four years ending 18G9, as compared with the four years ending 18G1, the total increase both of woollen and linen (notwithstanding the increase in population) has only amounted to 27,747,000 lbs., or not much above a tenth part of the falling off in cotton. From a consideration of the statistics which have been given, we may logically draw the T . . ° J ° * Legitimate followinc; conclusion : com 1st. That the belief which was pre valent a short time ago, that our trade is being supplanted by Continental manufac- turers, is all a delusion, inasmuch as our exports of manufactured goods have enor- mously increased ; whilst our home consump- tion has very considerably fallen off. 2nd. That the main, if not the only, cause of the great depression which has latterly existed in our trade, especially in the cotton trade, has arisen from this falling off in the home trade. What are the causes which have induced this falling off % There are a variety of opinions upon this subject. Some have said that it has been caused by the poverty of the people ; others have ascribed it to the panic of 18GG ; others have said that Trades Unions have had much to do with it ; whilst others allege that it, lias arisen from over-specula- lation. Doubtless, all these and other things have 52 On the Falling Off in Trade. had an influence; Imt the combined influence of aD has been insignificant as compared to the influence arising from the intemperate liahits of* the people. This question is one of vast importance ; I therefore ask the reader's careful attention whilst I dwell upon it. Before, however, I enter upon its dis- cussion, I propose to devote a chapter to the consideration of the question of Productive and Non-productive Labour and Expenditure. CHAPTER V. PRODUCTIVE AND NON-PRODUCTIVE LABOUR AND EXPENDITURE. Wealth is generally denned to be, " That which chap. v. has an exchange value ;" or in other words, any- mdUhT thing that can be sold or that will fetch a price dcjuh in the world's market may be called wealth, the value of such wealth depending upon the cost of its production, which cost is determined by the amount of labour that is expended upon it. Adam Smith* says: " The annual labour of any Adam nation is the fund which originally supplies it with ?"," 7/ ' o «/ ir labour i all the necessaries and conveniences of life which it the S0l,rrc n ii-i -i • of wealth. annually consumes, and which consists always in the immediate produce of that labour, or with what is purchased with that produce from other nations. "According, therefore, as this produce, or what is purchased with it, bears a greater or smaller proportion to the number of those who consume it, the nation will be better or worse supplied with all the necessaries and conveniences for which it has occasion. " But this proportion must in every nation be * See Wealth of Nations, page 1. 54 Productive and Non-productive chap. v. regulated by two different circumstances, first, by the skill, dexterity, and judgment with whicl its labour is generally applied ; and secondly, by the proportion of those who are employed in useful labour, and of those who are not so employed. "Whatever be the soil, climate, or extent of territory of any particular nation, the abundance or scantiness of its annual supply must in that particular situation depend upon those two circum- stances." sh , w G At the Social Science Congress, held at New- ti?abZ7 castle ' September, 1870, Sir W. G. Armstrong as the read a paper on economy and trade, in which he source of • i *» ri • %-aiue. puts the matter in the following words : — "Labour, physical and mental, is the creative element of our nation ; nothing possesses value until labour has been expended upon it ; not even raw material is exempted from this rule. Gold itself is entirely valueless as it is mixed with the sands of rivers. It is only by labour expended upon its collection that it acquires value, and its dearness is only an expression of the great amount of that labour. Analyze it as we will, we always come to labour as the foundation of value." mat These are truths w T hich are now so generally the gain of recognised by political economists, that it is un- necessary further to dwell upon them. The point to which I wish specially to direct the reader's atten- tion is this, that the difference between what is created by the labour of a nation, or of an individual, Labour and Expenditure. 55 and what is destroyed by them, whether by con- £^ p - v - sumption or waste, is the measure of their gain or loss in wealth. Adam Smith,* referring to this point, says : "Both productive and unproductive labourers, and those Adam who do not labour at all, are all equally maintained s ""'/' '".' -L -J producttvi by the lands and labour of the country. This pro- >""' "»- . . prod duce, how great so ever, can never be infinite; but /< must have certain limits. According, therefore, as a greater or smaller proportion of it is in any one year employed in maintaining unproductive hands, the more in the one case, and the less in the other, will remain for the productive, and the next year's pro- duce will be greater or smaller accordingly ; the whole annual produce, if we except the spontaneous pro- ductions of the earth, being the effect of productive labour." AVhen labour is rightly applied, and reasonable The economy is practised, the accumulative power of "'J!'',!,!',},,. human industry is something; marvellous. '"':■'. j o of tm If we take agriculture, in which there has probi been the least improvement, and where, up to the present time, machinery has been less applied c lt '"' c ' than in any other department of labour, one man will cultivate sufficient land to produce food for the support of at least twenty persons. In the manufacture of clothing, owing to the extensive application of machinery, there is a much r winni _ greater productive power. If we take the pro- factoring. * See Wealth of Nations, Book II., chap. 3. 5G Productive and Non-productive ohap. \. duction of cotton goods as an example, I find that a cotton mill containing 800 looms, and employing 667 hands (most of whom are females, and many of them children from nine to fifteen years of age), will produce more than 7,000,000 yards of calico per annum. The average consumption of calico during the year 1SG8-9 by the people of this country was not more than 18 yards per head, so that dividing the quantity produced among the workers, we find that one person will produce as much cotton cloth as will supply at least 550 people. These remarks apply with equal force to the manufacture of other articles of clothing, so that, taking the whole of what man needs in the shape of clothing, it may be safely asserted that one person will produce as much as will supply at least 50 people. In addition to food and clothing, there only Buiidmj. remains to be provided, houses to dwell in, and furniture to stock the houses with. After carefully investigating this matter, I feel safe in assuming that to supply these, would, at the outside, require no more labour than is necessary in providing our supply of food : if so, then the total amount of labour needed to provide for our wants will be as follows ; Food, half an hour's labour daily ; clothing, fifteen minutes' labour daily ; houses, &c, half-an- Amount of hour's labour, that is, (assuming every person did ( !n!!i!J°to t nen * share), a total of 1^ hour's daily labour would «fppfy suffice to supply us in abundance with all the Com- mon t . ^,. . . , , vxmts. forts of life. The progress of invention, and the Labour and Expenditure. 57 increasing application of machinery, are daily reduc- C n.\r. v. ing even this amount of labour, so that the pait which has now mainly to be played by man is, simply to superintend the machinery which does the work. I know I shall be here reminded that people are End of not contented merely with the comforts of life, but existence. that they seek also to enjoy themselves ; hence, much of the nation's income is expended upon mere luxuries, and, as a consequence, a great portion of the labour which is needed, is needed simply to supply the waste either of luxury or intemperance. If man were only to act as becomes the dignity of his character, and seek enjoyment in cultivating the higher faculties of his nature, instead of that which is merely sensual, it would vastly Human , .. -, -, -■ happiness enhance human happmess, and reduce our enormous „,,'■ wasteful expenditure, which involves so much of Si time to replace it ; and it would bring him more in unison with the position his Maker intended that he should occupy. Political economists generally divide labour into Two two classes, viz., productive and non-productive. labour. ' Productive labour is that kind of labour which adds directly to the utility, or in other words, which increases the value, or supposed value, of a thing, thereby increasing the sum of wealth ; such Producti ■ is the labour of the farmer, the mechanic, the stonemason, and indeed of artizans and mill operatives generally. By non-productive labour is generally under- \, llip ro- stood, the labour of such persons as are net directly '/„'),',!,',,'. 58 Productive and Nonrproductive (•map. v. engaged in the production of wealth^to wit, soldiers, policemen, physicians, agents, school- masters, and others. These It will however he obvious, that whilst in a ',',,"""""'" general sense this classification may be considered occw-ofe correct, yet if it be examined minutely it will be seen to be misleading. The energies of the physician or the schoolmaster, for instance, may not, like the stonemason or the mechanic, be employed in the direct production of material wealth ; but surely those whose labours are directed to the improve- ment of the human race are more productively Occupation employed than they would be if engaged in dressing Mechanic, a stone or improving a piece of iron ; their labour is of the highest, and, in the long run, of the most productive kind, whether materially or morally. The occupation of the policeman, soldier, &c, however, is very different. Their labour adds directly no value to anything. If they are of Occu ation vaRie m anv sense, it can only be in that of giving of the greater security to the rights and property of the community. The necessity lor this protection, however, arises from the disordered condition of society. Under such circumstances all rational effort will be best directed when applied not merely to providing this physical-force protection, but to removing: the causes which he at the root of the These disorders which prevail. By such application the occupations ,„ , . . ni 1 j- ■ necessary, need lor merely protective service will be cti m i- owtnper- wished, which might then be employed in labour feet state. more directly productive. Labour and Expenditure. 59 Strictly speaking, a non-producer is a person ohap. v. who consumes or destroys an amount equivalent to TWtfJ/T what he produces, so that at the end of the year, "',',X' '-. " or at the termination of life, the world is no better off (materially) for his having been in it ; in one sense he is a producer, but as he consumes or destroys more than he produces, he does nothing to increase the general wealth. Political economists generally speak -only of producers or non-producers, but there is a large class of the community that belongs to neither. Let me illustrate what I mean : — If a man earns twenty shillings weekly, and only juustra- consumes twelve shillings out of the twenty for his ',','.'"?,,' '■' support, or for other purposes, then he produces ""''/,' ( .'," . eight shillings weekly more than he consumes — he labour. is in the fullest sense a producer. If, however, he earns twenty shillings, and uses the whole twenty, then he really produces nothing, because at the end of the year he will have consumed or destroyed as much as he has produced. He is therefore a non-producer. But if the man earns only twenty shillings, and consumes or wastes twenty-live, thru the world loses five shillings weekly by his exist- ence. To style such an one a non-producer is only to toll part of the truth, because he destroys five shillings per week more than he gets. Such a man can therefore only be correctly described as a destroyer. There is a very common but erroneous popular belief, that destruction of property is good for GO 1* reductive and Non-productive cu.\r. v. trade, inasmuch as it is thought to create a demand To destroy for material, to replace that which has been d SoeMw? troyed. lean best Bhow the fallacy of this notion by rncreasethe rr[y[ n cr an illustration. I will assume that a certain demand o o for labour, person, A, is worth his £50,000; of this he 1 £20,000 invested in a mill. The rest of his money he lias partly in the bank, and partly in su adry < >ther investments. He however finds that the £20,000 he has invested in the mill pays him the best interest, and therefore he is contemplating doubling the size of his null, so as to find employment for another £20,000. Whilst revolving these schemes in his mind, a fire occurs, and his mill is burnt to the ground. People say, "It's a bad job, but it's good for trade." Is this so ? Those who talk thus should not forget that the money which will re-build the burnt null, would have built a second mill. In that case there would have been two mills instead of one; and instead of 250 work- people being needed, there would have been 500 ; it dt- there would have been a double demand for labour, minishesit. -i jii jj.' e j ,1 and a double production of goods ; or, in other words, a double creation of wealth. Productive It might, however, possibly be the case that investment ^ ra( j e was "bad, and that owinof to food beins: dear, in case of ' o to » bad trade. anc [ there being no demand for manufactured goods, A. could hardly sell the produce of his first mill. Under such circumstances, therefore, he would not think of building a second. In that case — What should he do ? Burn his mill down in order that he might rind use for his money I xs o ; Labour and Expenditure. Gl but look out for some other investment. Very nivr v likely lie might see it most profitable to invest his £20,000 in an estate, and set men to work to drain and improve it, so as to secure better and larger crops. By so doing, he would find additional labour for the workmen, increase the supply of food, and thereby reduce its price ; and so, by lowering the cost of food, he would secure increased means by which to purchase manufactured goods, and they augment the general trade and commerce of the country. In considering these matters, people overlook the Tic fact that the wealth of a nation is the wages fund wealth is out of which employment is found for labour. It y^VJ 7 is the desire of those who have money to use it ; and it can only be profitably used by being em- ployed in some kind of labour. If a man has but w7,,L,/ £20,000, he will be able to employ only half the ;j''.' t 'L,,,,,/ labour that he would if he had £40,000. If, f>rjabow IS tli ui i it therefore, the wealth of a community, or of ishedin an individual, be diminished, the power to employ labour will be diminished in the same proportion. In considering the question of labour, it should Rightly not be lost sight of that the kind of labour in /,,",,','„,'.' which persons are employed is a point of vital ""i' ort ""'- importance. There are two ways in which an error may be committed in this respect, viz. : — 1st. By labour being employed upon objects »>i a hurtful or (juestionable nature. 6-2 Productive and Non-productive Example of un /iff itluct ire labour. Erroneous ideas respecting labour. 2nd. By its being employed to purposes that yield no return.* Suppose that I employ fifty men at 15s. per week, and that on tlie Monday morning I them to work to dig a large hole ; I keep them bo employed till Saturday morning, when I order them to fill the hole up again; I pay them £37. 10s. for the week's work, or after the rate of £1,800 per annum. What have they done ? They have been kept at work all the week, but on the Saturday night, things are exactly as they were on the Monday morning. There has been nothing produced. But then it is said, though nothing has been produced, it has been a good job for the men. They have had a week's work, and the world, if it is not richer, is none the poorer. Is it not? What then has become of the food which the men have eaten? of the clothing and other material they have worn during the week 1 If the men have spent all their wages to maintain themselves during the week of unproductive labour, then it follows that the world is £37. 10s. poorer at the end of the * Professor Fawcett lias some very "pertinent observations on this point. His remarks are : — First. — A man may spend money on luxuries ; then capital is consumed in simply giving him pleasure. Second. — A man may spend capital on unproductive labour ; then capital is consumed iu simply giving food to the labourers. Third. — A man may spend capital on productive labour ; then capital is not only reproduced, but also gives the same amount of support to the labourers as in the second case. See Manual of Political Economy, page 25. Labour and Expenditure. G3 week than at the beginning. This is indisputable, chap. v. because, the men have consumed that amount of value during the week, and have produced nothing in its place. If, however, during the week the fifty men had Exa been employed in digging half a score of cottage labour. cellars, then there would have been something to show, as a set-off against what they had consumed. The world would have been poorer by the food, &c, but it would have been richer by the cellars, which would be a permanent addition to the v;ilue, comfort, and utility of the ten cottages. It may be said that the case here supposed is an extreme one, and one that never occurs, because nobody would be so foolish as to spend his money upon what would realize no return. I admit that the case appears an extreme one as compared with the others ; but it only seems extreme because it is put in a, way that is not usually acted upon. Men do not usually lay out their money in employing men to dig holes and fill them up again, but they do often spend money in ways which are not a whit more productive, and very much more pernicious. Let me illustrate this, by giving two or three cases. It is commonly believed that a wealthy, fast- Em going, spendthrift sort of fellow, who may perchance to amend* come to live in some country village, and who ( " n - spends his money extravagantly in luxurious living, is a good friend to trade. " See !" it is said, G-i Productive and Non-productive ohap.v. "what money lie pours into the village." Let us examine this position a little more closely. Case Let it be granted thai the individual referred to spends — say £1,800 a year. Docs be by his expen- diture in anywise add to the wealth of t lie com- munity? It is true that he puts £ 1,800 a year into the tills of the shopkeepers, publicans, or other irnxurious { radesmen in the locality; hut then, if he does i his, he abstracts £1,800 worth of goods from their shelves or their cellars. What become of these? He and his dependents consume or waste them. At the end of the year the shopkeepers have got his money, but they have parted with their good-, Prodigal and bey ond the trifling profit which the shop- TJrTreauits keepers may have made upon the transaction, they in waste. are no richer than at the beginning of the year, whilst the spendthrift himself is £1,800 poorer, for he has parted with his money, and has nothing to show in its place. It may be said, that such a fellow goes in for enjoyment, and that in this way he receives a quid 2))'0 quo for the money he spends. My business here is not to argue this point, but to show the influence of such conduct in its relation to our national wealth. It may not, however, be improper to remind the reader that such enjoyments are Human en- mainly sensual ; they neither improve nor increase 'hUnii'Vi' 1 the happiness of mankind, but rather tend to their rirl/.T demoralization, and consequently to the diminution wealth. of their happiness. Human actions, when in accord- ance with Divine law, invariably tend to advance- Labour and Expenditure. G5 ment, whether in material, mental, or moral chap. r. wealth ; and unless in what we do this result be attained, we may seriously ask ourselves the question whether we are in the right track, or not. Let us suppose that the individual to whom Productive i» i * r» • • fxpendi- we have referred, instead of wasting £1,800 m ture. luxurious and, extravagant living, had invested it in the erection of — say, a dozen good cottages. In this case, he would have found a year's employ- ment for at least a score of men. These men Building would have been kept industriously employed ; they would have received the money as wages, and paid it to the shopkeeper for goods, and at the end of the year the village would be blessed with a dozen good houses, augmenting the wealth and increasing the comfort of the people for generations to come. In one case there is £l,S00 spent, which goes r* into the pockets of the shopkeepers, &c, but there 1 amL is nothing to show in place of it; the £1,800 is wasted, and, in addition to the waste, there has been a vicious example set in the prodigal's ( wt ravagance. In the oilier case, the £1,800 gives a year's employment to twenty workmen, therebv giving encouragement to habits of industry ; and at the end of the year there are a dozen good houses, which add to the wealth and greatly increase the happiness and comfort of the people ; the shopkeepers get the benefit in this case equally as much as in the other case, only, the money is E GG Productive and Non-productive Adam Smith on prodigal i.i-jii mli- tarc. Prodigal expendi- ture the same — whether in home or foreign trade. paid to them through the twenty indued rious work- men, instead of direct from the prodigal owner of the £1,800. Adam Smith," referring to prodigal expenditure, says : " The prodigal, by not confining his exp within his income, encroaches upon his capital ; he pays the wages of idleness with those funds which the frugality of his forefathers had, as it were, con- secrated to the maintenance of industry. By dimin- ishing the funds destined for the employment of productive labour, he necessarily diminishes, so far as it depends upon him, the quantity of that labour, which adds a value to the subject upon which it is bestowed, and consequently the value of the annual produce of the land and labour of the whole country, the net wealth and revenue of its inhabitants." " If the prodigality of some were not compen- sated by the frugality of others, the conduct of every prodigal, by feeding the idle with the bread of the industrious, would tend not only to beggar himself but to impoverish the country." " This expense, it may be said, indeed, not being in foreign goods, and not occasioning any exportation of gold and silver, the same quantity of money would remain in the country as before. But if the quantity of food and clothing which were thus consumed, by unproductive, had been distributed among productive hands, they would have re-produced, together with a profit, the full * See Wealth of Nations, Book II., chap. 3. Labour and Expenditure. G7 value of consumption. The same quantity of c „ap. v. money would in this case equally have remained in the country, and there would besides, have been a reproduction of an equal value of con- sumable goods : there would have been two values instead of one." It may not be the case, perhaps, that in every village there is such an extravagant spendthrift as the one I have described, but if there be not one . individual who of himself squanders £1,800 a year, gate of -, ,. . , i , , sunt/! cases there are a great many individuals who squander equivalent five, ten, twenty, or, perhaps, eighty or one hun- u^eone. dred pounds yearly. In these cases the result amounts in the aggregate to the same thing as in the individual case referred to. But the £1,800 is often spent even in a still worse way. There are very few villages which have not their three or four public-houses or beershops. At the f 1 /^ ','„ very lowest computation, where four of these exist ("'"•ther half-crown. Except this headache, however, he has nothing.* But then, says our objector, if the man has not *It may, perhaps, he objected to the argument here used, that it ow< a its existence and force entirely to the man's folly ; that if, when the man spent the fifteen shillings on the beer or spirits, instead of consuming it all in one or two days or in a week, and thus degrading himself to drunkenness, he had taken a gill or a pint daily, and extended its use over a period of two or three months, that then such use would bo legitimate, and the argument would be inapplicable. If I admitted tbo validity of this reasoning, it in no way affects the question, because, unfortunately, the argument is founded upon things as they are. Reduce the evil, and the force of tho argument is reduced correspondingly. If tho ideal of the gill per day could bo realised, the question would then perhaps fall more within the domain of the total abstainer, than of the political economist. 70 ] } roductive and Non-productive chap. v. the money, the publican Ins got it; the money is not lost, and so far as Hie general public is con- cerned it makes no matter; the cash has simply changed bands. It may best expose the absurdity of this, if we Fifteen look at the other case. On the Saturday evening ehiUingt , , , n __ tpenton the other man goes and spends ten or fifteen "sh!'t$. shillings likewise. How does he spend it ? Perhaps in buying a pair of shoes. In the first case, the publican has got the ten or fifteen shillings, but the man who spent it with him has nothing. In the latter case, the shoemaker (like the publican) gets the ten or fifteen shillings, and his customer gets a pair of shoes. To put the contrast plainly, it is — Publican, ten or fifteen shillings. Customer, a contrast, nothing (except headache). Shoemaker, ten or fifteen s hilli ngs, Customer, pair of good shoes. In the words of Adam Smith, in the latter case there are two values instead of one. I might have supposed that, instead of pur- chasing a pair of shoes, the man had spent his ten flattings or fifteen shillings in the purchase of food. In that 3* "/ 0lh case — What would have been the result ? The food Jood. purchased would, of course, have been consumed, as in the case of the beer; but during its consumption it would have supplied the man with nourishment for a couple of weeks, during which time he would reproduce by his labour an equivalent, or more than an equivalent, for that which he consumes. If he Labour and Expenditure. 71 were engaged in calico weaving, he would, during chap. v. the fortnight, produce 1,000 yards of calico ; there would then have been Fifteen shillings worth of food consumed, — but One thousand yards of calico produced. The world would have been poorer by the food used, but richer by the calico produced. Let us take an illustration upon a more extended scale from the county of Lancashire. In this county, according to the census of 18(11 , there is a population of 2,429,440 ; its area is 1,219,221 acres ; the number of public-houses is 7,844 ; beerhouses 9,889 ; making a total of 17,733 places (exclusive of wine shops, &c.) where intoxi- cating liquors are sold. The total number of public- houses and beershops in the United Kingdom in 1 8G9 Expendi- was 150,599 ; the amount expended on drink in intoxica- 18G9 was £112,885,003, which would give as spent i,',"]',,"'- ' at each house an average of £750. If we multiply c ire ' the 17,733 public-houses and beerhouses in Lanca- shire by this figure, it will give an expenditure for the county of Lancashire in intoxicating drinks during 18G9 of £13,299,750. Our inquiry is— 1st. What are the results of this expenditure ? and 2nd. What results would accrue if the money were spent as it ought to be ? First. What results to Lancashire from the What Tt'S It //.** expenditure on intoxicating liquors in 18G9 ? Let /,„,„ the the reader seriously ponder the catalogue : — penditure. 1. £13,299,750 directly spent upon intoxicating liquors. 72 Productive and Non-productive 2. £1,113,244 paid in Poor and Police Kates. 3. 102,61)4 paupers. 4. 30,000 (or more) vagrants idling as vagafo mds about the streets. 5. 4, 700 lunatics. 6. 3,74!) inquests. 7. 90,257 persons brought before the magis- trates and convicted of crime. 8. 5,913 depredators, offenders, and suspected persons who are abroad. 9. 2,749 houses of bad character, brothels, re- ceivers of stolen goods, &c. 10. 3,316 policemen employed to protect society from the dangers arising therefrom. 11. 17,733 public-houses and beershops. 12. 7 0, 932 drunkards, filling innumberable home3 with misery. 13. 7,000,000 or more bushels of grain destroyed in manufacturing the drink, or equal to 105,000,000 41b. loaves. 14. 5,000 or 6,000 persons have employment found in the manufacture of the drink.* * These items are derived from the following sources : — No. 1. 17,733 drinkshops x by £750 gives £13,299,750. , 2. See Report of Poor Law Boards for 1869-70, page 279. , 3. „ „ „ „ „ „ 201. , i. This item is assumed. See chapter on Pauperism. , 5. See Miscellaneous Statistics for 1869, page 140. , 6. See Judicial Statistics for 1869, Part L, page 39. 7 22 J * • II II II II J, II -* w ' » 8. „ „ „ ,, „ „ 6. 9 6 ) "• )l II !• >l II l> "• ,10. „ „ ,. „ „ „ 2. ,11. See Parliamentary Return for April 26, 1870, No. 187. Labour and Expenditure. 73 The statistics which are here given represent , H .u\ r. only so much of the appalling evils of intemperance as come before the public eye ; a great deal, however, never comes to light ; and whether we Mm take two-thirds, three-fourths, or nine-tenths of the came to evils as being caused by drink, we need make no l,jht abatement from the list which has been given, for the cases which are never made public will much more than make up for any allowance of tins kind. From data which will be found in the chapter succeeding- this, it will be seen that the indirect _ ,. ? . . Indirect cost of drink, that is, what is needed to make good cost of in- , , . . r, -. n . . . toxieating the losses arising irom the use of intoxicating drink* t„ liquors, will equal or exceed the direct cost, or in other words, the money spent upon them. If this be so, then the yearly cost arising from the use of intoxicating liquors to Lancashire will be upwards of £26,000,000. I will, however, in order to come considerably within the mark, take the same at 1-18,000,009. Having seen what are the results when the money is expended upon drink, let us notice what Lancaghirt No. 12. This item is based upon the assumption that there are four drunkards to each drinkshop, which I regard as nnder the murk. „13. Assuming that the consumption of grain is in proportion to the intoxicating drinks used, and allowing that a bushel of grain will make 15 41b. loaves, it gives this item. ,,14. This item is assumed, as there are no returns. It .].•■ include the sellers of liquor, but those actually employed in manufacturing it, and in manufacturing bands, ,\,-. In some of these items there will probably bo a ditiVivn f opinion as to the proportion attributable to drink. On this the reader must use his own judgment. My opinion is, that the evils unreported will much more than make up for any excess iu the items given. 74 Productive and Non-product ire chap. v. would result if the money were appropriated in some other and better way. Let us suppose that the CI 8,000,000 which the drink costs Lancashire How this were appropriated as follows, viz: One third money . . should be spent m agriculture, one third on manufactures, and the other in buildine houses.* What result would accrue from this ? * After reading what has been adduced in reference to the value of things being only the price of the labour bestowed upon* them, the reader, unless he has given the subject careful attention, may be puzzled to know why it should be that in the items of expenditure in the cases which are given, the amounts are so much greater than the sum represented in the wages. This, it will be seen, arises from the fact that the expenditure which is incurred in any manufacture, is seldom of such a kind as to embrace the whole of the labour bestowed upon the article. For instance, in the cotton trade, we start with cotton at 6d. to 9d. per lb. ; these amounts represent the value of the labour expended in growing the cotton, and carrying it to this country ; and then, too, there are many other things used in manufacturing, such as oil, from 4s. to 8s. per gallon, strapping at 2s. per lb., and, indeed, the whole of the machinery and material used in the mill are all articles upon which the labour has been previously expended, and which is represented in the price at which the manufacturer buys them, or in the rent he pays for them. Whilst it is true, therefore, that what we expend upon manufactured goods, or upon agricultural produce, repre- sents labour — the labour being scattered over the entire earth may not be seen. If I resided in America, and could dig for the iron out of which to make the machinery, and could grow my own cotton, manufacture my own oil, brushes, strapping, &c, I should then employ and pay myself the whole amount of the labour expended in manufacturing the goods, it would then be seen that the price of the goods was determined by the cost of that labour. So with farming. The price at wbich the grain is sold (on the average) represents the labour of the farm, plus the rent, but the rent represents previous labour. The land was once waste, uncultivated land ; but some one expended say £500 in improving it. This expenditure is not returned the same year, but year by year it comes back in the increased productiveness of the farm. The rent, therefore, represents this increased power of production, or, in other words, it is the return of previous labour. The same remarks apply in reference to the rents of houses and other property. Labour and Expenditure. 75 1st. — In agriculture. £6,000,000 invested in chap. r. grain would purchase 17,142,852 bushels, equal to /„ 257,142,780 4lb. loaves ; it would occupy 612,600 "**"'' acres of land, and would find employment for 80,000 men, at 15s. per week. 2nd. Cotton manufacturing : £6,000,000 spent Inmamu- upon cotton goods would purchase 6,360,000 pieces, or 468,000,000 yards of calico ; which would require sixty mills, of 800 looms each, to manufacture them, and would give enrployment to 55,000 persons, at wages averaging for men, women, and children, 13s. 9d. per week. Talk of bad trade ! Why, at any time, if Lanca- shire, will only appropriate one third of its drink burden to the purchase of cotton goods, it will increase the home trade of the United Kingdom in these goods fifty per cent. 3rd. — Building houses. £6,000,000 invested in Tn the erection of houses would build 30,996 houses, costing £150 each, and would find a year's em- ployment for 75,000 men, at 25s. per week each. Assuming that the houses would have each a frontage of six yards, it would form a row of houses 136 miles long, or it would form two complete streets of houses stretching from Manchester to Liverpool. Here is an industial dwellings associa^ tion. If all the money which intoxicating liquors cost this nation were invested in building houses, for half a dozen years, there would be a new hou built for every family in the United Kingdom. In the case of the money expended upon intoxi- 76 Productive and Non-productive c " Ar ; v - . eating drink, there is, as we have seen, at the end Themoney « > { " 1 1 1 1 - year no material return to Bhow. hut Instead spent iu J drink of this there is money wasted, food destroyed: would be ill ... wisely there are drunkards, paupers, lunatics, criminals, paid to art vagrants, depredators; there are gambling-housi ?vikof brothels, houses of ill-fame, receivers of stolen drmking. g 00( j s . anc [ following thickly in the train of these there are other evils which the pen finds it impi tssible to describe. As I have before stated, if the money spent upon drink (and which is virtually the price paid for these evils) were paid to get rid of them, it would be more in harmony with the dictates of reason. In the case of the money expended upon agri- culture, manufacturing, and building, there is first of all a year's employment found for i! 05,000 people The two as compared with 6,000 or 7,000 employed in the expendi- * m ' l >f diturcs expenditure on drink. At the end of the year there contrasted. „ , ,, . ni is food produced equal to 257,142,780 41b. loaves, there are 468,000,000 yards of calico manufactured, and there is a row of new houses built 136 miles long. In the case of the drink expenditure, there is the loss of £18,000,000, and no return for the same ; there is also food wasted, and what is still worse, the traffic invariably leads not only to the destruction of the material wealth of the community, but also to the degradation and demoralisation of the people, We speak of production and non- production, but this trade is too ruinous to be classed under either head ; it is a destroyer, and its ruinous influence blasts both the material and moral wealth of the people. Labour and Expenditure. 77 It will not need more than a moment's reflection to see that in the second year of her reformed expendi- ture Lancashire would be much better off than in the first. She would have the £18,000,000 savings of the first year, plus the accumulated savings of the """ /,/ J . l ° follow. second ; or, in other words, she would therefore * (if her consumption had not increased) have twice as much to expend in the second year as in the first. In the third year it will be still greater, and so year by year the process goes on, and must continue to go on, for the simple reason that human labour, when properly directed, creates wealth much more rapidly than it can be consumed, if it be only applied to the rational wants of the community. If the observations of this chapter are founded I{ mn , in truth, the reader will see that in a well con- '":'','' ' rightly, ducted nation, such a thing as destitution or pauperism • i it ould be want could scarcely exist, because the labour of impossible. mankind, when rightly applied, produces so much in excess of their wants, that there must be a mani- fold surplus to make up for what is short during those periods of our existence when in infancy or through old age, sickness or misfortune, we are unable to produce what is needed for our mainten- ance and comfort. In spite, however, of these bouni if'ul arrangements, numbers of our population are sunk in perpetual pauperism, and a Large num- ber of others are constantly on the verge thereof, whilst in many of our great towns great numbers of our skilled artizans are starving for want of 78 Productive and N on- Productive Labour, &c. employment. In a properly regulated community such a state of things could not exist, as that some of its people should be destitute of the comforts, and even of the necessaries, of life ; whilst, at the same time, those whose employment consisted in providing for their wants should be pining for want of something to do. Why do these two elements so adapted to each other not meet ? It can only be because so much of the material result of labour, which should reproduce itself, is destroyed, and therefore the reproductive demand is annihilated ; and we have the strange spectacle of one class of the population starving for want of food and work, and another class, idling and starving for lack of the labour which should provide the food and clothing. If the reader has not already discovered the cause of this, let him read carefully the succeeding chapters. CHAPTER VI. ON THE MAIN CAUSE OF BAD TRADE AND NATIONAL WASTE. A moment's reflection will make it clear to the chap, vt thoughtful mind, that the reduced home demand for cotton goods, and for goods generally, must arise from one of two causes. Either we as a '•'" * / reduced nation spend our money upon other things, or we home it- i -I -I -i mandfor have become poorer, and have not the money to goods. spend. We are acknowleged to be by far the richest nation in the world ; and yet a great portion of our population are in rags. Why is this ? Is it because they get insufficient wages that they are poor? No! for wages are relatively higher in England than almost in any country in the world; but it is because they squander their earnings improvidently upon things that are not only need- A ,.,-.„, less, but useless and hurtful. Let us see how far J55S» this assertion is borne out by facts. In this chapter I propose to refer to only one Enormout item in our improvident expenditure. It is an ', ',','', "!,^„, item, however, which immeasurably surpasses all {jJJSj^ the rest. I refer to the money spent upon intoxi- cating licpiors. During the four years ending 1SG1, the expen- increase. 80 On the Main Cause of diture upon intoxicating liquors in the United Kingdom was as follows : — ■ 1858 . . . £91,049,911* 1850 .... 95,887,393 1860 .... 80,897,683 18G1 .... 04,942,107 Total . . .£368,777,004 Annual Average . . £02,104,273 During the four years ending I860, the expen- diture upon intoxicating drinks was as follows :t — I860 . . . £113,925,458+ 1867 .... 110,122,266 1868 .... 113,464,874 1869 .... 112,S85,603 Total. . . .£450,398,201 Annual Average . .£112,590,550 Being an increase in the latter period as com- pared with theformerof £8 1,62 1,1 07, or £20, 405, 2 76 per annum. * See Appendix A. t Those readers who may have read the author's pamphlet on the " Depression in the Cotton Trade " •will notice that the amount of money given ahove as expended upon intoxicating liquors, is consider- ably more than was given in the pamphlet referred to. This arises from taking an increased estimate as to the selling prices, especially in beer. See Appendixes A and B. X See Appendix E. Bad Trade and National Waste. Here is an astounding fact. In four years -\ve CITAr . vr spent upon intoxicating drinks £450,398,201, and i~, r .,„iT. yet upon cotton goods during the same period we j'.?,,/.''',,,,/ spent (reckoning 10 per cent for retailers' profits) ^^mgoodt J. \ o j. £ I con only £51,125,842. Taking the population of the United Kingdom as given in the Statistical Abstract for 18G9, at 30,838,210,'" it gives for each man, woman, and child in the United Kingdom for the four years - 1 " ',"""" £14. 12s. Id. as spent on drink, and onlv '""' /<<■ £1. 13s. l|d. on cotton goods; or if we take the year 18G9, we have £3. 13s. 2jd: on drink, and 6s. OcVJ. on cotton goods ; or taking a family of live persons, we have £1. 10s. 2 id. on cotton goods, and £18. Gs. Ojd. on drink. f Here is the secret of our bad home trade. People cannot pour their money down their throats, and put it on their backs at the same time. During the four years (ending 1SG9,) we swallowed 658,347,826+ Enormous f ... , increau in gallons more of beer, spirits, wine, &c, than we drinking. d: 1 the four years ending 18G1 ; but during these four years (estimating five yards of calico to tin- lb.), we purchased 1,30S,340,000 yards less of * Sec Statistical Abstract, page 122. f Sec Appendix I '. Gallons. 1858 773,315,680 1859 817,750,491 1860 720,814,922 1861 828,266,677 6,134,637,617 Gallons. 1866 973,649,08 1867 921,621,567 L868 952,904,220| 1869 944,853,670] 8,792,985,443 82 On the Main Cause of ohap.tl calico;* and this falling off, as we have Been, was not compensated by an equivalent increase in fatting off woollen or linen. /;/ cotton goods. From the report of the Commissioners of Inland Hevenuef (published in Feb., 1870), I find that the numbers of persons engaged in selling intoxicating liquors were as follows : — Publicans . . . . 9S,009 Beersellers . . . . 52,590 Xo. of . Publicans and Beersellers. Total .... 150,599 Making a total of 150,599, being one to every 204 of the population, or about one to every 40 houses. No marvel, that with such an over- whelming amount of temptation, and with such an enormous number of people interested in push- ing the sale of liquor, there should be such a large and increasing amount of drunkenness. Unfortunately, however, the number of public- houses and beerhouses does not represent the total facilities for drunkenness. In the same report and on the same page is given a list of auxiliary sellers of intoxicating drinks, the influence of some Other . & seiu rs of of which is proving to be even more pernicious than public-houses or beer-shops. The following is the list+ : — * From a table previously given (see page 49) it will be seen that the total weight of cleaned cotton used in the home trade for the four years ending 1861 was 736,863,000 lbs.; for the four years ending 1869 it was 47"), 195,000 lbs.; being a falling off during the latter years of 261,668,000 lbs., and reckoning five yards to the lb. it gives 1,308, :> in, 000 yards as stated above. t See page 53. Bad Trade and National Waste. S3 Dealers : Spirit Dealers . 5,894 Beer Dealers .... 5,952 Wine Dealers 3,G39 Sweets — Dealers and Makers .... 123 Retailers : Retailers of Wine (not to be consumed on the premises) .... 4,780 Refreshment-house keep- ers selling Wine . 2,974 Sweets — Retailers . 9,024 Packet-boat licences for sale thereon . 374 Tablebeer Sellers 2,720 Retail Brewers . . . 17 Total . . 35,497 Making a grand total of persons engaged in selling intoxicating liquors of 180,096, or one to every thirty-three houses. In addition to these overwhelming temptations, provision was made, by a law passed in L862, whereby occasional licences could be taken out in special order to accommodate fairs, races, shows, &c. : thus /!],•')•,';',•., every facility has been given to spread intem- perance, and every possible temptation has been placed in the way of the people, in order to hire them into habits of drunkenness. 84 On the Main Cause of chap. vr. No wonder, therefore, that intemperance should / -ease hi increase. From the Judicial Statistics for 1 865* and Jess. ' 1869-f- (now 1 \'iiiLT before me), I find that the appre- hensions for drunkenness for the last seven year- have been as follow : 18G3 94,745 1864 100,067 18G5 105,310 I860 104,303 1867 100,357 1868 111,465 1869 122,310 Showing a gradual and very considerable incre. in the intemperance of the country, and unmis- takably proving the folly and mischief resulting from recent legislation in reference to the Wine Licence Bill, &c. Theargu- The question as to the utility of alcoholic liquors '^.'n-i'/r'nn as beverages is one I will not here discuss ; I Abstinence, believe that science and experience have both decided in favour of the total abstainer. But, apart altogether from this question, and admitting the statement as to the good of these drinks to be all that is said, there is no sane person who will plead for the spending of one hundred and ten millions a year upon them. One-fourth of this amount would be amply abundant to supply any supposed reasonable requirements ; the other three-fourths represents the excess, or what results from intem- * See page xTi. f See page xvii. Bad Trade and National Waste. 85 perance, the bitter consequences of which we daily CBAr - ^ reap in the crime, pauperism, social misery, and degradation of our people. The different ways in which the enormous expen- Drinking diture upon intoxicating drinks wastes our wealth ,' and injures our trade are too numerous fully to specify, but we will point out a few of them. 1st. Its influence on the Labour market : — To illustrate this, I will state a fact. In the Caledonian Scotsman newspaper for January 2nd, 1SG9, there is a description of the Caledonian distillery at Edinburgh. In this distillery we learn that 40,000 gallons of spirits arc manufactured weekly, or 2,000,000 per annum. At 15s. per gallon (the retail price is 20s. or more), this would be £1,500,000. The quantity of grain consumed yearly is 800,000 bushels. The number of men employed is stated to be 150. Now, if the £1,500,000 were spent upon manu- factured goods, or in building houses, or in draining waste land, it would give employment to from ,•„'/,',•,,,/- i2,f i' injures trade The argument n ' what must be the intiuence of a self-imposed tax of over £2,900 per annum ? In both cases the tax must be paid out of the profits of trade, and hence it acts as a perpetual drawback upon us, crippling our resources, and placing us at so much <>\' a dis- advantage compared with other nations, which bave not the same wasteful expenditure. 3rd. The loss to the nation which results from the pauperism and crime of tin- country, unfor- Wealth tunately, however, is not confined merely to through the sum necessary to maintain paupers and punish '^[['^ criminals. If these people were industriously 90 On the Main Cause of ui.\r\vf. employed, their industry would add feo the riches of the community; instead, however, of reaping the benefits of such industry, society has 1" support them in idleness, and has also to make good the mischief arising from their criminal ac 4th. The expenditure on drink injures our How trade also, by abstracting capital from the capital is -r^ . c i -i l attracted, country. Were it not tor the grain destroyed in brewing and distillation, we should need little or none of the grain that has to be imported. The money paid to foreign countries would, therefore, be available for home use. Besides this, there is the money paid to other countries for wines, spirits, sugar used in brewing, distil- lation, &c, all of which, if not thus foolishly spent, might be laid out upon our own home trade, thus accumulating our riches, stimulating our manufactures, and finding employment for our artizans. 5th. Another way in wdiich the liquor traffic injures trade and commerce is by involving the destruction of a large amount of grain, thereby causing food to be dear, and as the use of food is a matter of necessity the purchase of manu- factured goods becomes of secondary importance ; any increase, therefore, in the price of food, dimin- ishes proportionably the sum available for the purchase of clothing, &c. The amount of grain destroyed in the manufacture of intoxicating drinks in the year IS 69 was as follows : — Bad Trade and National Waste. 91 BUSHELS. CHAP. VI. Malt used in brewing* 47, 704,8 1 9 Sugar used in brewing 342,078 cuts., equal tof 1,462,092 Corn used in making 121,!) 4 1 ,771) gallons of spirits, J reckoning 18 gallons to 8 bushels 9,751,901 61,792§ acres of the best land used for growing hops for brewing purposes, at 30 bushels per acre, would give 1,853,760 Produce destroyed in making cider, perry, British wines, &c, sayJJ ... 2,000,000 62,772,572 This statement does not include the destruction of grain and vegetable produce involved in the manu- facture of 8,1 72,845'i gallons of foreign spirits, and of 14,734,534 gallons of wine. If the grain thus destroyed, or its equivalent in produce be calculated in grain, and added to the above, it will give at V) nf least a total of 70,000,000 bushels of grain or havestiu produce destroyed in manufacturing the intoxi- would eating liquors consumed in one year in this count rv. A bushel of malt is equivalent to a bushel of barley, * See Trade and Navigation Returns for year ending Deo. 81, 1869, pa| ;e -<\ ■ t See Trade and Navi^'ati. m Returns for 3 Deo. 81, 18G9, page 61. J See Trade and Navigation Returns foi year ending Dec. 31, 1869, page 51. § See Statistical Abstract, ]>a;.'e 111. || This amount is assumed, as there are no published statistics. If See Statistical Abstract for 1870, Page 49. 92 On the Main Cause of (imp. vi. which weighs 5311)., and will give at lea.->t tOlb. of flour, which will make 6 Olb.* of bread, or L5 lib. Loaves per bushel, making a grand total of grain or produce destroyed equal to 1,050,000,000 four-pound loaves, or about 170 loaves yearly for every family of five persons throughout the United Kingdom. If these loaves were used as paving stones, they Length of would pave a road 10 yards wide more than 1,800 road these mi i • •• • i v , p loaves miles long, or above nine times the distance li " /(/ ^"' c London to Manchester. If the loaves had to be cartsii carted away from some baker's shop in London, would take anc | tumbled into the Thames, and one horse and ■•> curt than away. car t, we re engaged to do it, taking 550 loaves every half hour for ten hours each day, it would take more than 330 years to cart them all away, or it would take 330 carts one year to do it. What a sensation of horror it would produce, if some fine morning 330 carts, each laden with 500 loaves of bread, were to draw up to London Bridge, and the various drivers began to prepare it would to shunt their contents into the river. If such a cvUtfthe thing were attempted, those who ventured upon bread were j^q experiment would be quickly tumbled in after thrown into L x J the Thames, the loaves ; and yet, if this were done every day during the year, and the grain were thus destroyed, instead of being destroyed by being converted into intoxicating liquors, it would be a most unspeakable blessing to the community ; for, if thrown into the river, the bread would be lost, * See Johnston's Chemistry of Common Life, page 98. ("IT VI'. VI. Bad Trade and National Waste. 93 but that would be the end of it ; as it is, it is not only lost, but converted into a maddening liquor, which ruins and destroys the people, nut only as to their substance but their virtue also, and fills the land with mourning, lamentation, and woe. Better would it be to destroy only the grain than both the grain and the people. Writers on political economy argue (and rightly) that a bad harvest causes dear food, and leads to bad trade ; because people, having more to pay for food, cannot afford clothing and other comforts; but, « so far as the result goes, there is no difference in the long run between 70,000,000 bushels of grain destroyed by bad weatl km-, and 70,000,000 destroyed in the manufacture of liquor. In both cases t lie food is abstracted from the market, which causea prices to rise; and in the latter case, in addition to the destruction of the grain, there is the destruction of the people's morality, and burdens and evils entailed that are immeasurable. It is clear, therefore, that if the grain used in brewing: and distillation were wsnl in .. . , baking, we should have a far more plentiful wuid supply, bread would, therefore, be cheaper, and. as trade. a consequence, people needing to pay less for food would have more for clothing; our trade would therefore be augmented. Thus in a multitude of ways, it is clear that our bad trade has arisen, not from a bad foreign demand, but from a deficient home trade, arising entirely from our squandering our money upon things not only useless, but things art nr political economists, nnd our com- mercial magnates draw attention to this as well as other causes of bad trade'? They must see these tilings, unless they shut their eyes and will not see. If so, they stand convicted of withholding the truth out of deference to the depraved habits of the com- munity. With such men at the helm, the national ship stands in great danger of being wrecked. It is not unfrequently objected, and the objec- tion sometimes comes from men of intelligence and men conversant with trade, that inasmuch as, notwithstanding the large expenditure arising from drink, trade has often been good in the past, and doubtless ere long may again be good in the futu re, the argument, therefore, that this expenditure leads to bad trade falls to the ground. There has never, however, been a period when the expenditure upon intoxicating chinks has been so large as during the four years ending 1869. During those four years (as we have seen) it was twenty millions per annum more than during the four years ending 1861, and therefore the experiences of former years does not apply to the present. If, however, it did, and the premises were admitted, the conclusion by no means follows. If a man possesses an income of .£500 per annum he may squander £450 of it, and not suffer from individuals it : if however his income be reduced to £400, or Nations, ... i •it with larye and his expenditure increased to £500, he will soon incomes may be ex- find himself in difficulties. When such an one gets wagan ^ Q difficulties, it is absurd for him to plead the Bad Trade and National Waste. 101 reduction of his income as an excuse for his troubles, chap. w. the cause lies in his extravagance. So it is with nations. When a nation, by its inventive genius, by its skill and industry, by its unrivalled machinery, its unbounded mineral wealth, its humid climate, • and its happy situation, has been raised to such a tiaforget- position as to have become to a great extent the "" J "' workshop of the world, it thereby for the time being enjoys a monopoly, and secures to itself such an income as enables it to act very lavishly in regard to its expenditure. No nation, however, can long expect to enjoy n!sr 1 l i i i i i / ""' I " the growth ot the staple was checked, and the on the period of cotton scarcity has been prolonged one cZtum. or two years further than it otherwise would have been. How was it likely prices could be maintained, when our own home trade had fallen off thirty-five cmm of per cent ? and how was it likely that merchants ['l',,', 1 '/,',' ',)'„. would push the growth of an article for which >• r "'^ "J 1 _ O C0tt"ll. there was so little demand 1 Had the twenty millions spent upon drink during the four years ending 18G9, in excess of that spent in the four years ending 1861, or had even one-half of it been spent upon cotton goods, it would have more than doubled our home trade, and thus have kept up a healthy demand for goods ; as a consequence, cotton would have maintained its value, the world T/n^n-ih would have been encouraged to push on its growth, mitigat and very much earlier than has been the case, we should have had a full supply. Mr. II. Dudley Baxter, in his work on "The Taxation of the United Kingdom," remarks, "A commercial people, who depend i'w their market upon the cheapness of their production, can afford no waste." in/ ti in ■ 104 On the Main Cause of chap. vi. This, in the long run, is sure to prove true, for whatever unnecessary waste there may be, operates as s<> much of a bonus t<> competitors, andultimal ely, if continued, enables them to supplant us in the world's market, provided thev do not imitate our folly. Results The invention of the steam engine, the spinning foiiowjrom j enn y> the loom, and other valuable machines, bas £22™ f° r a l° n & time placed in our hands a monopoly of wealth; our coal fields, iron mines, &c, have sup- plemented these; and had we been wise, and during the last fifty years properly husbanded and used the wealth thus placed within our reach, our people to-day would universally have been in easy circumstances, and we should have been far from the fearful pauperism that marks us as a disgrace among the nations of the earth. As I have previously intimated, there has never been a nation in the world's history, whose oppor- tunities for acquiring wealth have been equal to those possessed by ourselves. Enjoying, as we do, a vast commerce with every region of the globe, and pos- sessing manufacturing advantages and facilities far surpassing those of any other nation, this country has, to a great extent, become the workshop of the world. When a nation possesses no resources but such as are within itself, it may, even then, if it uses those resources aright, rapidly accumulate wealth ; but when, in addition to its own re- sources, it enjoys the advantage of being enriched by the trade of every country in the world, its Bad Trade and National Waste. 105 progress ought to be such as to lift it far above chap, vr the regions of want ; and such would be ours, if it were not for the fearful drawbacks and waste of intemperance. The burden of taxation, crime, pauperism, and demoralisation that results from the liquor traffic every day becomes more and more oppressive ; and the time is fast hastening when, if we do not grapple with the evil, we shall sink beneath its weight, and ]V/,,,f r «- suits from take our place in the second or third rank among the profligacy. nations of the earth. Persia, Babylon, Carthage, Greece, Rome, Spain, and other kingdoms which once were in the front rank, have played their part, and now are scarcely known except in history. It was then- profligacy, extravagance, and debauchery which sank them, and ours will sink us, not only commercially, but morally and religiously, unless we adopt means to prevent them. The remedy for our bad trade, then, lies entirely with ourselves. If we think we can continue to squander one hundred millions yearly on drink, increasing thereby very materially our local taxati< >n and sapping the foundations of industry, virtue, and morality, we shall be greatly mistaken. We may have an abundant and prosperous trade, we may ensure to our artisans, and our industrial population, continued, and profitable onipWinont, we may free our country from the fearful stains Thermcdy of pauperism and crime which so disfigure it: ,.,', , we may have a wealthy, contented, virtuous, and ^' ; '^T* happy people, but if we are ever to secure these *•" 106 The Main Cause of Bad Trade, &c. chap. vr. inestimable blessings we must remove the tempta- tions to intemperance which are planted broadcast over the land ; and our legislature must enact such laws as "will make it easy to do right, and difficult to do wrong."* * " The disposition to be provident, I need not tell you, cannot be sup- plied by Parliament. It may be the duty of the legislature to prohibit certain things — and so it is — which are of the nature of social abuses ; but, with regard to the general government of man, it has pleased God to make him a free agent, and those by whom he is ruled in this world ought to respect the freedom — ought to make it easy for him to do what is right, and difficult for him to do wrong." — Speech of the Bight Hon. W. E, Gladstone, at Buckley, Jan. 4th, 1864. CHAPTER VII. OX THE RIGHT EXPENDITURE OF MONET. If the reader has carefully perused Chapter V. he chap, m. will see the truth of the following positions ; — I. When labour is directed to productive and Result of useful objects, and these objects are rightly used, directed there will necessarily be a rapid accumulation in the products of industry. II. That inasmuch as the value of things (com- mercially) is in proportion to the amount of the labour expended upon them, it follows that to purchase any object is simply to pay for the labour expended thereon, and therefore the income of one week, if properly expended, will create a demand for the labour of the succeeding one. III. That in proportion to the accumulation of the products of industry, or in other words, of wealth, so also will be the power to employ labour; hence, in proportion as a nation increases in wealth, and uses that wealth rightly, pauperism, vagrancy, and all other evils of a kindred class must dis- appear. The question as to the influence which a proper important* or improper expenditure of money exercises upon JJJJJr 1 the demand for labour, and also upon the waste of r ''J htl u- 108 On the Right chap. vii. our national resources, is one of the greatest importance ; but it is one which is very imperfectly comprehended. I therefore ask the reader's i sareful attention whilst I dwell upon the subject, in order to elucidate what is of such pre-eminent importance. I will revert to the illustration made use of in a previous chapter, in reference to the digging of the hole and filling it up again. jiiustra- Suppose the case of a man thus employed, lie ///"','.','!/- is engaged during the week in digging a hole, and tu/t " lJ the then a t the week's end he fills it up again, for doing which he is paid fifteen shillings as wages. Some one may perhaps say, the man who has got his fifteen shillings, by re-spending it, can find some one else a week's work on the same terms as he himself has been employed. But then, in considering this question, it must be borne in mind that there are two persons concerned in the business of the hole digging, — there is the employer, as well as the employed, — -there is the man who paid the fifteen shillings, as well as the man who received it. The employer gave his money and the workman gave his labour. The workman, in return for his labour, gets fifteen shillings ; but what does the employer get in return for his money ? He gets nothing. If the fifteen shillings were all he possessed, then the transaction reduces him to poverty, for he paid all that he had, and it produced him nothing in return. Now, suppose that instead of spending his time in digging this hole, the man had been employed Expenditure of Money. 109 in manufacturing cloth, or in making shoes, or in ruu >. V n. cultivating land, or in any other kind of productive ju„ s i ra - labour ; what then would have been the result '. ',]■, He would have produced probably 200 or 300 x L * shoes, lie. yards of cloth, or two or three pairs of shoes, or perhaps twenty shillings' worth of grain : for a week's productive labour by the man would not only have reproduced the fifteen shillings, but it would have reproduced it with a profit/'' The employer would have parted with his fifteen shillings, but in return for it would probably have received twenty shillings' worth of produce. Let us stop to compare the result in each case. Th , . In one case there is fifteen shillings expended, but ''""'"* , o J- compared. nothing produced, — the workman gets his wages, but the employer loses his fifteen shillings ; and, as I have remarked, if he is only worth fifteen shillings, he is reduced to poverty. In the second case, the workman gets his wages, and the em- ployer gets probably twenty shillings' worth of produce, for productive expenditure and labour (which are really synonymous) reproduce them- selves with a profit. In the former case there is only the fifteen shillings received by the workman; in the latter case there is the fifteen shillings which the workman gets, plus the twenty shillings which * In many of the calculations and arguments made use of in this treatise, the profit arising from arrested wealth is not taken into account. This profit is a variable quantity, and has been omitted in order that the reasoning might not become too complicated. If it had been taken into account, the reader will see that it would have mude the writer's argu- ment all the stronger. 110 On the Right Compari- son of labour employed. The large a mo intt which is often spent in in- toxicating liquors. the employer receives, and in addition to the week's labour which the fifteen shillings earned by the workman would purchase. The employer's twenty shillings would also enable him to find some other individual lj- week's labour. In one case, therefore, there would he one day's labour found ; and, in the other case, there would be 2J day's labour ensured. Whether, therefore, the expenditure be measured by the wealth it pro- duces, or by the amount of labour it will employ, the reader will see the vast importance of its being properly directed so as to be productive. It is no uncommon thing for people — even working men — to spend their five, ten, fifteen, or twenty shillings, in one week, in intoxicating liquors. With such men, any advance in wages is simply providing them greater facility for their own degradation. Let it be supported that the two men we have just referred to, are of this stamp, and that instead of investing the fifteen shillings in hole-digging, they had spent it in beer or spirits, and that the man, instead of being employed at the hole, had been employed in manu- facturing the same. In this case, what would be the result ? Let us apply this reasoning not to a supposed case, but to one which unfortunately is of every day occurrence. I refer to the purchase of intoxicating drinks. In manufacturing intoxicating drinks the first thing that the man has to do, is, to get some of the best grain he can, whether it be for brewing Expenditure of Money. Ill or distillation.* To make fifteen shillings' worth rrnr# vrr , of beer, he would have to use as much grain as \yj„, t would make six 4lb. loaves. The time he would r ^',' "*■'']"? Ill tun f/nl- be employed in manufacturing the beer would not K»w«*pe»< be a couple of hours — I will assume it however to be a quarter of a day — this, at fifteen shil- lings per week, would give the workman 7r>d. as wages. How then stands the matter ? At the beginning of the week the men had fifteen shillings in cash, which they expended in beer. To make this beer, three shillings' worth of grain has to be used (reckoning gram only at six shillings per bushel), and there is a quarter of a day's employment found, for which 7 id. goes into the pocket of the workman as wages. They are therefore richer by the 7 id., but they are poorer (so far as the result of this transaction is concerned) by the fifteen shillings spent on the beer, plus the three shillings' worth of grain destroyed in its manufacture. If such ex 1 r kvagani 7 ' conduct as this was not atoned for by the industry to atom and providence ot others, what would such men prodigal. * The following quantities have been found to afford a good product of whiskey in a well-conducted Scotch distillery : — 252 bushels of malt, at 401bs. per bushel. 948 „ barley, 58|lbs. 150 „ oats, 47.Ubs. 150 „ rye, 53;lls. „ 1500 From each bushel of the above mixed meal 2 J gallons of proof whiskey may be obtained, or 18] gallons pet quarter, A few distillers are skilful enough to extract 20 gallons per quarter from such a mixture. — English Encyclopadia. Article — Distillery. I L2 On the Right. Illustra- tion ih-inrii from the Poor Law Union of Bury. The value of goods is the labour expended upon them. have to do % How could tliey get a second weeks job? They have only 7£d. wherewith to provide for it. This illustration will show that the^ reason why so many of our population are out of employ- ment, and cannot get it, is owing to the unpro- ductive and wasteful manner in which money is expended upon intoxicating liquors. The point now under discussion is one of the most vital importance. I will therefore, in order to exhibit more fully its influence upon society generally, take an illustration upon a more ex- tended scale. I will take, as my first illustration, the Poor- Law Union of Bury, in which I reside. The popu- lation of the Union in 1861 was 101,132. Out of this number, there will be about 50,000 persons who are enofaired in labour of some kind or other. I will assume that this labour is properly directed so as to be all productive, and that their average earnings amount to 1 4s. each per week, or a total for the entire population (allowing two weeks for holidays) of £1,750,000 per annum. The rest of the population — consisting of mothers, young chil- dren, aged and infirm people — are unable to work, and have, therefore, to be maintained by the labour of the 50,000 workers. As I have before shown, if the raw material for manufacture were all found within the area of the Bury district, then the value of the manufactures when sold would represent simply the value of the labour expended upon them — or, in other words, Expenditure of Money. 1 1 3 the wages paid to the workpeople. In most (lis- frTAP . „, tricts, however, this is only the case to a very limited extent, the material generally coming from other districts, and the price paid for it represent- ing the labour which has been spent upon it in those districts. In these cases, therefore, the value of the article when sold will represent the price paid for the material imported, plus the labour ex- pended upon it in the district where its manufac- ture is completed. Thus, in the Bury district, if £1,750,000 be the wages paid, it will probably represent articles which, when sold, will fetch say, £3,500,000. Of this £3,500,000, one-half is paid for the material of manufacture when it comes to Bury, and the other represents the wages paid upon it in Bury. These two items added together, therefore, will constitute its selling price. This, the reader will see, is exactly the same in principle as in the case where the manufacture is begun and completed within the district. In order, however, that the illustration may not -< eat be encumbered by any foreign considerations, I will suppose that Bury is so situated as to possess a sufficient area to grow its own produce; also, that it possesses within itself all the raw material for its manufactures. In such a case, what wealth it possesses will clearly depend upon the industry of its 50,000 workers. If the labours of these 50,000 people are properly apportioned and directed so as to be productive, X'uWBa there would be, say, about 10,000 engaged in llivuM - H 114 On the Right ur present industry, confirmed pauperism would be an impossibility. It has been correctly remarked by Professor Fawcett* that, "Although no wealth whatever cam be produced without labour, yet there is much Lab »ur which does not contribute to the creat ion of wealth." Professor Fawcett might have gone further than this; he might have added — there is much labour which contributes to the destruction of wealth. * Manual of Political Economy, page 18. 118 On the Bight chat. vn. If a man could he so foolish as to pull his house A com- down in order to erect a pig-stye upon its site, then M™tmtc the l )r ice of the pig-stye, if it is to represent its nm-apmi cos + mug fc include, not only the value of the labour money. J expended in erecting the stye, but also, the value of the labour expended in erecting the house pulled down to make room for the stye, and also the cost of pulling it down. At least, therefore, nineteen- twentieths of the cost of the stye, is what is paid to atone for this destructive labour. Cost value ^ n the above case nineteen-twentieths of the and utility cos ^ f j^q p-g_ s ^ e? wou ld b e the price paid to illustrated, make up for the destruction of the house. The utility value is merely the cost of erecting the stye ; but the value of cost, or labour, is the price paid for building up, and also pulling down the house, plus the cost of building the stye. The money it takes to erect the house, pull it down, and erect the stye, indicates the cost value, and in all cases, in proportion as the cost value exceeds the utility value, by so much does the world become impoverished, because labour is expended that does not return a corresponding value of use. These remarks will partly illustrate why it is that for the enormous expenditure upon drink, such a small amount of labour is needed. In the case of the pig-stye, its cost represents — first, the value of the house destroyed to make way Why in- for it ; and, secondly, the cost of its erection. In toxicating , ^ , 1 l i» n^ors are the case of the drink it represents the value ol the grain, &c, destroyed for its manufacture, plus Expenditure of Money. 119 the cost of the labour expended in manufacturing chip. to. it. The house was incomparably more useful than the stye; and if the three-and-a-half million loaves, represented in the gram destroyed, were used to feed the people, instead of being converted into drink, there is no sane person who will not admit, that such an appropriation would be infi- nitely more useful than when converted into drink. In one case it feeds the people, in the other it leads to their ruin. The objection may perhaps again be started that I am arguing upon an extreme case, and that if people would only use these drinks in moderation, the argument would not apply. I am free to admit that if the population of the Bury Union, instead of spending £375,000 per annum on drink, only spent say £20,000, the evil would be so far reduced; and, to say the least, the argument would proportionately lose its force. The argument, however, has to do with things as they are ; and if ever such a happy change as I have indicated is to take place, it can only be brought about by exhibiting to the world the folly and madness of their present conduct. The purpose of all labour is, or ought to be, to The proper secure the physical comforts of life — good health, ',','f,^ good food, warm clothing, and comfortable habita- tions ; for although the end of man's existence is not to attend merely to the physical or animal, but primarily to the intellectual and spiritual, yet, in- asmuch as the proper development of these facul- ties, depends upon the healthy condition of the 120 On the Riyht chap. vii. physical organism, it is requisite, if we would fully developethe menial, to attend to the physical. These remarks may perhaps, to some extent, appear to the reader wide of the question under discussion, and yet they are closely allied to it ; because, if a man seeks sensual indulgence as the great end of his existence, reason is lost upon such a one, until he can be shown his folly. It is the mission of time political economy to show Lim this, and to elucidate the laws which conduce to individual happiness, and to the welfare of society generally. I will now endeavour to apply the principles I have been trying to elucidate, to our expenditure nationally. In a previous chapter it has been shown that the loss to the United Kingdom in intoxicating drinks is upwards of £200,000,000 per annum. If this money were spent as it ought to be, what would be the result ? How to What the £200,000,000 annually lost through £200,000,000 intoxicating drinks would do if properly expended : Money Expended. Persons Employed. £25,000,000 Spent in manufactured goods, as clothing, bed- T ding, &c, which would factvres. make up for what people are deficient, and woidd find employment for — say400,000persons,atan average of 1 4 s. per week 400,000 £25,000,000 400,000 Expenditure of Money. 121 £25,000,000 400,000 ch^tb. £10,000,000 To be spent on food to /,7, supply those who do not now get enough ; this would take about 30,000,000 bushels of the grain now wasted in the manufacture of drink £30,000,000 Tobespent in the erection of better houses, in inidkr making railways, build- ,/ ": //; " -. . . railways, ing bridges, making £c. better roads, and em- ploy ingsay 400,00 work- in en, at 24s. each week 400,000 £20,000,000 To be laid out in the pur- chase of furniture for In farm- turn. those whose houses are without these things through intemperance, and finding work for — say 250,000 persons at 24s. per week . . . 250,000 £20,000,000 To be spent in cultivating our waste land, and in 7 ." ' ' ■ waste improving the culture i*&c of those already occu- pied, and employing, say, 350,000 people at 17s. per week. . . . 350,000 £105.000,000 1,100,000 jOO On the Right CTTAP.VIT. £105,000,000 £20,000,000 1,400,000 In sanitary improve- meats. In build- ing in io schools. In employ- ing school teachers. In estab- lishing colleges. In erecting places of worship. To be spent in sanitary improvements, in a]'] 'ly- ing the sewage from our towns to the land, and employing, say, 300,000 persons at 1 8s. per week £6,000,000 To be spent on building 5,000 new schools, in neglected districts, to cost £1,200 each, k find- ing work for, say, 80,000 men at 24s. per week . £2,400,000 To be paid to 10, 000 addi- tional school teachers, at £200 each per annum, and 20,000 pupil teach- ers at £20 per annum . £1,500,000 To be paid towards the higher branches of edu- cation (colleges, &c.) and employing 3,000 Profes- sors at £500 per annum each £7,500,000 To be spent in erecting 5,000 places of worship in neglected districts, at £1,500 each, and employ, ing 100,000 men at 24s. each per week . . . 300,000 80,000 30,000 3,000 £142,400,000 100,000 1,913,000 Expenditure of Money. 123 £142,400,000 1,913,000 £2,000,000 To be spent in maintain- ing 5,000 ministers to officiate therein, at £400 per annum .... 5,000 £3,000,000 To be paid to 30,000 in- dividuals, to visit from house to house, to in- struct the people, as to their moral, social, and domestic duties, at salaries of £100 each per annum .... 30,000 £5,000,000 To be paid to 10,000 Christian missionaries, to go forth to instruct and Christianize the heathen world, at a cost — say of £500 each per annum . . . . 1 0,000 £5,000,000 To be paid to establish 10,000 libraries in towns and villages where they have been neglected, at £500 each, and finding em- ployment in printing, &c, for, say .... 50,000 III (llij.h^ bag ml, tit- U if. mg II ■li- ar Us. In . or 60,000 persons yearly. deatht - This picture is one that it is sad to contem- plate, and yet it gives but an imperfect idea of the demoralization and misery constantly created in this country through drinking; and yet, we pride ourselves upon being the most enlightened and religious people in the world. What our country WhatiU • i , i '. n t • i ., ,' banithment might become were it not tor drink it is impossible of drink to forecast; but, to quote the language of a dis- tinguished living statesman, "it would be so it ii m n ' l,lt changed, and so changed t<>r the better, that it //• ■■■■■ lit' would be almost impossible to know it again. "* ion. If we consider the subject in relation to its influence upon the future, its importance cannot be over-rated. Let the reader imagine the contrast in twenty years time, between 3,000,000 of people * " If we could subtract from tin rty, the Buffi tlio sickness, and the crime which arc now witnessed am . the ignorance, the poverty, the suffi ind the crime which are caused by one single, but the most prevalent, habit f the Right Hun. John Bright, at Birmingham, January, L870. I 130 On the Riyht Expenditure of Money. chap. vn. being employed in productive labour, filling the The in- land with wealth, comfort, and happiness, and thaelnihe 400,000 engaged in destructive labour, destroy- e o 'n't 'Ztted. m S no ^ oll ty the f° 0( l anc ^ other material wealth created by the industry of others, but also de- stroying the people themselves, both physically and morally. In one case there would be a per- petual and rapid accumulation of material, moral and intellectual, as well as physical wealth to such an extent as to increase enormously our entire national property; and what would be of far more importance than this, we should be rid of most of the evils we so much deplore, and in their place would be substituted virtue, intelligence, and all the other social blessings that are so much to be desired. CHAPTER VIII. THE REMEDY. Notwithstanding the enormous wealth we chap.vih. possess, and the exceptional facilities we enjoy for increasing that wealth, it is a sorrowful hut undeniable fact, that about one out of every ten of ou r / entire population, or one-fifth of the indi ist rial classes /■ of our country, become, during the course of ayear, ■ chargeable to the community as paupers, there are many others, who, whilst they do not become chargeable to the public, become chargeable fco their relatives and friends, whilst others, too high minded to trouble either their friends or the public, struggle on in poverty and suffering, un- aided by others, and unable to help themselv< simply for the reason that they cannot get employ- ment whereby to earn the means of subsistence. Such a state of things is most deplorable, and has tiat orally caused the deepest concern in the minds of our philanthropists and statesmen. During the last three or four years, many meet- ings and conferences have been held for the pur- I:ii , !eiliil! pose of devising some plan, whereby their evils might be mitigated. So great had the destitution become, especially in the east end of London, that 132 The Remedy. cHAP.vm. on the 17th of June, 1870, Mr. Torrens, Member for Finsbury, brought tbe question before t In- House of Commons, by moving the following resolution : — " That the continued want of employment Mr. Tor- am on£st those who lived by wa^ed labour, in ren s reso- ° J ° luUon in many of the great towns of the kingdom calls for menu the special consideration of this House, with a view to the means that may best be devised for the remedy of the same without delay." Mr. Torrens, in addressing the House, went on to urc;e, that " means should be devised to facili- Emigra- ° . . „ tion recom- tate the emigration of those who were now destitute by no fault of their own, but solely because there was no employment for them." At most of the meetings or conferences which have been held, emigration has generally been suggested as the remedy whereby these evils are to be rectified. In what way is it thought that emigration will prove a remedy for the evils referred to ? The idea generally entertained, and the wish of intelligent persons who advocate it, is that emi- oijcct of grants who leave our shores should go to Australia or some other colony or country, where land is plen- tiful and cheap, and grow corn or cotton to be shipped to us, and, in return for these products, take back our manufactures. There would be some plausibility in advocating emigration of this kind, if the intended emigrants who were out of employment, were Dorsetshire or < migration. The Remedy. 133 Wiltshire labourers, who, when engaged in work, earn only their 8s. per week; but when the per- sons out of employment are our skilled artisans, the remedy is altogether inapplicable. It should be borne in mind that the artisan population of our large towns, and in the country generally, are entirely ignorant of agriculture. -' <= J ' J o o „,., totally What are these to do, when they get out in the back settlements of our colonies ? [gni >rant < >f farm duties, and isolated from any society where they could secure instruction or help, they would be totally incapable of makin g (lair way. It would be as reasonable to send the agricultural labour* of Dorsetshire to establish some colonial manufac- tory, as it would be to send the artisan population of our large towns, to break up and cultivate the unoccupied lands of our colonies. If, therefore, 7 •T ' artisans. our artisans emigrate they must emigrate as artisans, and not as farmers, and seek employment at their own trades in the countries to which they go. What would be the influence of this I 1st. It would take from our country a portion . of our skilled population — those who produce the ' ... producers. wealth — and transport them with their skill and energy, and wealth-creating powers, to Labour for other countries. 2nd. It would establish in other Lands, manufac- tories superintended by workmen who have be< d ' trained by ourselves, and who possess all the skill Muta that we do, but who, when they emigrate, are re- lieved from the heavy taxation which pn sea upon 1 3 I The Remedy. rnu'.viiT. us, and wvo. \ hen 'fore ] i];in •i>li- than are now employed, and, therefore, the caust« of our destitution, as \\<11 as the remedy for the same, lies within ourselvi . The problem therefore to solve is, aot, how Bhall our artisans and our labouring classes be transported into other countries, so that employment may be found them, and they may escape from the de- moralization and destitution which K-falls them in 13G The Remedy. oHAP.vm. tliis country, but, how shall the influences which demoralize and impoverish them here be removed. nermedy If in the city of Manchester, in consequence of lUustraUd, . a imperfect drainage or sewage, or from any oth'-r cause, the people were subjected to fever and pestilence, the duty of the authorities would be, not to send the citizens away, but to investigate the causes of the fever, and remove them as speedily as possible. So, in reference to the pauperism and the other evils of the country, it is the business of those who are in authority, not to transport the people to other lands, away from the causes which impoverish them, but to investigate the causes which reduce our people to poverty ; for if they emigrate, and the causes which have impoverished those who thus emigrate, be permitted to continue to operate, those who are left behind will, by and bye, fall victims to the same influences. The question, therefore, to be settled is, How shall these habits of intemperance be corrected ? The answer is, by removing the causes which occasion them. What are those causes ? Whatever may be the opinion of individuals in reference to the question of total abstinence, there is but one opinion as to drunkenness. All alike Universal condemn it as being hurtful to the health, to the lion o/ na pocket, to the character, and to the happiness not only of the individual, who may be addicted to it, but to all who may in an)- way be connected with him ; and yet, notwithstanding this universal drunken- ness. The Remedy. 137 condemnation of drunkenness, it is estimated chap. that there are not less than 600,000 habitual drunkards in the United Kingdom all of whom (or with very few exceptions) acknowledge, and mourn their folly, and repeatedly vow that they will cease to act the drunkard's part, and become wiser and better men. How comes it r that these good resolves are so seldom carried into effect? How is it that, despite their convictions, despite their resolves, despite the admonition of friends, and the entreaties of j their families, such vast numbers of our population S^i go on in habits that involve them in misery, and M lead them to rum < lo ask the question is to n answer it ; every one knows that it is owing to the numerous and powerful temptations of the public- house and the beershops which beset their path. It has been shown in a previous chapter, thai in the United Kingdom, to a population of 30,838,210 ■" persons, there are 150,59'J public-houses and beer- 11' r\ 1 ''"" shops, bemg one to every 40 houses, or t<> every i 204 of the population ; in addition to which there are 35,497 wine sellers, spirit dealers, A:*'. The point I wish the reader to note in reference to these figures is, the enormous number of the houses in proportion to the population. Why is it that such an enormous number of persons are licensed to soil intoxicating drinks ? Is it in order to provide a ready and sure way for the .destruction of wealth? Is it in order thai the people may become drunken and degraded ! There 138 The Remedy. To license a public house is to license drunken- ness. What the licensing system is. is no one, qo matter how zealously he mighl advo- cate the granting of licenses, who would not repel with scorn such an Insinuation ; but then there is such an enormous number, that it is impossible for them to exist, except by I he intemperance of the people ; and, therefore, to what else docs such a wholesale establishment of public-houses amount tot I know that those who advocate the granting of licences, generally do so under the plea of " meet- ing the requirements of the neighbourhood" — " providing the working man with his beer, &c." Originally, on the first establishment of public- houses, such a plea might have been a justification ; but when the sad experience of hundreds of years has established the fact that so sure as a public- house is licensed, so sure is there drunkenness and all its attendant evils ; under such circumstances, the licensing of a house is equivalent to licensing the resulting evils, and those who do it incur the guilt, and are responsible for the consequences. The licensing system, as it at present exists, has been prostituted, until it has become nothing more than a huge legalised machinery whereby wealthy Brewers, Distillers, and Publicans may, not, supply the supposed wants of the public, but, sell as much of their beer as possible. It is an arrangement whereby these men are enabled to destroy the food of the people, filch from them their earnings, convert them into besotted drunk- ards, and very frequently also into paupers and criminals, who ultimately have to be maintained The Remedy. 130 cmr. virr. in propor- or punished at. the expense of the ratepayers. Surely! an enlightened nation will cease to bole- rate this. It is the testimony of universal experience, that in proportion as facilities forthe sale of intoxicating drinks are multiplied, so will be the increase of ' drunkenness. I mijHit fill volumes with evidence &<"&& to prove this, but I will only refer to a report of the Committee of the Convocation* of the Province of Canterbury, t recently issued. On the 14th of June, 18G0, a committee of the Lower House of Convocation for the Province theammU- of Canterbury issued a voluminous report, which was printed by order of the House, containing the results of most extensive inquiries from the ( lergy ' of the Provinces, and also from Recorders, Governors * The Province of Canterbury comprises the following 32 r counties, and North and South Wales, with a population of 1 1,071,164 : Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridge I ornwall, Derbyshire, Devonshire, Dorsetshire, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Cent, Leici tershire, Lincolnshire, Middlesex, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, and Worcestershire. t The following wore the Members The Prolocutor Dean of Canterbury, ,, Chiohe ter, ,, Westminster. Archdeacon of < loventry, Ely, ,, Exet< r, ,, Leici ,, Nottingham, „ Salop. of the Committee : — Canon Aj Cams, „ Gillett, ,, Harrey, ,, Oxenden, „ w i, ,, Dr. Fraser. I'lrln ii.l.ny i tibbs, ,, Kemp. Arclnleaoon of Coventry , Chairman. 140 The Remedy. cHAP.vm. and Chaplains of Gaols, Chief Constables, Superin- tendents of Police, Coroners, Governors <>f* Work- houses, Lunatic Asylums, &c, throughout England, asking their opinions as to the causes of, and the remedies for, intemperance. In their report they say — " It also appears an unquestionable fact that, in proportion as facilities in any shape for procuring intoxicating liquors are countenanced and afforded, the vice of intemperance, and its dismal effects, are everywhere increased. This conclusion, the evidence before your committee amply confirms." In corroboration of this statement, the committee Number of have published 2,283 returns, received from all parts ''■'"'."* of the country, the facts of which fully confirm the conclusions of the report ; and I would urge the reader, if he does not agree with the conclusion of the committee, to get the said report, and examine the evidence upon which its conclusions are based. If he does, all his doubts will be dis- pelled. Suggestions In their report the Committee suggest a number of the r _ . , p °° committee, of remedies lor the removal ol intemperance. Amongst others are the following : — Repeal of 1. The repeal of the Beer Act of 1830, and the Act. '" total suppression of beerhouses throughout the country. m . 2. The closing of public-houses on the Lord's Day, except for the accommodation of bona 8 on Sundays. fide travellers. 4. A great reduction in the number of public- houses throughout the kingdom, it being in The Remedy. 141 evidence that the number already licenf d far exceeds the real demand, and that in proportion as facilities for drinking are re- duced, intemperance, with its manifold evils, is restrained. G. The rigid enforcement of the penalties now attached to drunkenness, both on the actual ] offenders and on licensed persons who allow '" drunkenness to occur on their premises. The eleventh recommendation, which is the 1 is a very important one, it is as follows : — 11. Your Committee, in conclusion, are of opi- n- nion that as the ancient and avowed objed of licensing the sale of intoxicating liquors is to supply a supposed public want, with- out detriment to the public welfare, a leg power of restraining the issue or renewal of licenses should be placed in the hands of the persons most deeply interested and affected, namely, the inhabitants them- selves — who are entitled to protection from the injurious consequences of the pi system. Such a power would, in effect, secure to the districts, willing to < it, the advantages now enjoyed by the numerous parishes in the province of Canter- bury, where, according to reports furnished to your committee, owing to the influence of the landowner, no sale of intoxicating liquors is licensed. The report concludes as follows:- "Few, it CHAP. Vin. Legislature 142 The Remedy. may be believed, are cognizant of the fact — which has been elicited by the present inquiry — that there are at this time, within the province of Canterbury, Remits fa. upwards of one thousand parishes in which there aUeMeof 1S neither public-house nor beershop ; and where, public j n consequence of the absence of these inducements nouses in -i 1000 to crime and pauperism, according to the evidence 'parishes. x L , . • !~ before the committee, the intelligence, morality, and comfort of the people are such as the friends of temperance would have anticipated. " The five recommendations given above comprise Duty of the the reforms which are needed in order to banish the evils of intemperance. The duty of the Legis- lature, therefore, is — 1. To repeal the Beer Act of 1830, and abolish beerhouses throughout the country. 2. Close all public-houses on the Lord's Day. 3. Reduce the number, to such a proportion of the population, say one public-house to 2,500 inhabitants — so that it shall not be necessary, as it is at present, in order that public-houses pay, that there shall be a drunken population. 4. Rigidly enforce the penalties now attached to drunkenness, &c, both against the buyer and the seller, and then 5. As the Convocation Report says, " It being the ancient and avowed object of the licens- ing the sale of intoxicating liquors, to supply a supposed public want, without detriment to the public welfare," let the inhabitants The Remedy. 143 in each parish or township, where they lUAr . vm think it may promote the public weal, be ' ' empowered to prevent altogether the issue of licenses for the sale of intoxicating liqui >rs in their locality. I am aware that there are individuals who object to the closing of public-houses,* as being an R interference with the rights of the publican and '/ the liberty of the subject. There are two classes of rights, moral rights and legal rights ; the former are common to all, the latter are granted by the law to serve the interests of the community, [f the publican has a moral right to sell, so has every citizen of the state. If it be a right created by law in order to restrain an evil, the whole ar&ru- ment is granted ; for the restraint may be, and ought to be, exercised to the extent needed to deal with the evil, otherwise it ought not to be applied at all. Perhaps it will be said, that in such a case there must be a choice of evils; thai though the existence of public-houses may be an evil, \. t to close them altogether would be a greater evil : PuWfc suppose this were granted, who is to judge as to the measure of the evil? It is professedly for the ; people's good that these places are established, and, therefore, they ought to be the judges. There * In speaking ol tho plowing ot publio-honsee, the reader will | bear in mind, that the reference is only to olo ting thi m a plaoea far the sale of intoxicating liquors. Tiny might still oontinne to 1"' pnblie- houses in the proper sense of the term — thut is, victualling hOQA , instead of tippling houses. 144 Tli e Remedy. cnvr. vin. is never an evil hut there are parties interested in its perpetuation. If ;i portion only of 1 lie community are made into the judges, they might be swayed by interest, as is now too commonly the case ; but when the people decide, conflicting interests check one another ; besides, in a free country why should one class presume to decide for another ; let the people decide by a direct vote. If they believe public-houses to be more of good than harm, then they will allow them to The people go on ; but, if they believe them to do more harm therefore than good, they will then vote for their being closed altogether, a more equitable plan could not be devised. It is argued by some, that the proper remedy for the evils of intemperance is, to reduce the number of public-houses to such proportion, and apply such a strict supervision over them as to strip them of their evil influences ; and yet, that those who wish to obtain their glass of beer, may not have their liberty in this respect interfered with. For 400 years, our legislators have been trying to accomplish this result, but to day the evils are as many, and as lamentable, if not more so, than ever. It must not be overlooked by those who argue thus, that it is a very easy matter for people who wish, to brew their own beer at home, and there- fore, if public-houses were closed, they might get what they desired — at half the price, freer from The Remedy. 1 \r, adulteration, and away from the temptations and ^•'en- dangers incident to the public-house. The problem, for those who plead for public- houses to solve, is, given — a seductive liquor, a publican interested in pushing its sale, and the temptation of company to aid him. How shall these powerful influences for evil be concentrated in a public-house, and society be saved from the resulting evils. But even, if by vigilant oversight, public-houses might be so kept in bounds, as that there woidd be few, if any, resulting evils, the ratepayers even then might very properly ask themselves the question, is the slight supposed convenience which is obtained from licensing these houses, worth the amount of labour, cost, and danger incurred to keep them right? if not, then to continue their existence is to choose the greater of two evils, which is opposed to every principle, both of com- mon sense, and right, and therefore they ought to be prohibited. There are individuals who hold the opinion that ,., 1 Education the spre; id of education will ultimately be effectual «*um««ty in removing the evil of intemperance. This opinion, however, is entirely opposed to the ex- perience of mankind in all ages, and in all count ties. Education will, doubtless, have its influence; but that influence must be to teach people to respect themselves, and to avoid the cause of intemperance; otherwise it will be- ineffectual. But, if education coidd be shown to be a perfect cure, why should a K UG The Remedy. CITAl'. VIII. Folly of creating i nils against which ax have to labour. Mission of Govern ment.- State license a system so fraught with evil, and then have to waste its energies in educating the people to contend against it. At the present time four-fifths of the educational moral power of the country is lost in contending against evils that ;ire self-created. Why should it be so ? If it could be shown that in the end we should be successful, though this in the nature of things is impossible, for it is not possible for a nation to be so vicious as to flood the land with besetments to evil, and yet be virtuous enough to withstand them. The virtue that will withstand the evils will put them away ; but if it could be shown that education under such cir- cumstances would be successful, why should we create these antagonistic influences to paralyze and stultify our labours for good. To quote again the words of Mr. Gladstone, "Government ought to make it easy to do right and difficult to do wrong." At present it is the opposite of this, for it lends its authority and co-operation to a system whose influence is to beset every effort for good, to rob the people of their hard earnings, to waste the nation's wealth, and to bring demoralization, miser} 7 , and ruin upon the people themselves. APPENDIX. APPENDIX A. The returns of malt and sugar used in the following calcu- lations will be found upon the last page but one of the Trade and Navigation Returns for December 31st in each year. The returns of British spirits will be found upon the sa The quantity of wine and foreign and colonial spirits for each year are taken from the Statistical Abstract for L870, page 71. The British wines, cider, perry, &c., are estimated, as they are not given in any return. TABLES OF THE QUANTITIES AND COST OF INTOXICATING LIQUORS USED DURING EACH OF THE FOUR YLAKS ENDING 1SC1. 1858. British Spirits Foreign and Colonial Spirits Wine Beer (Malt), 40,375,115 bush.. British Wines, Cider, Perry, &c Gallons. 23,212,612 (2 20 - 4,582,313 „ 21 6,268,685 „ 21/- 72G,752,070 „ 1 G 12,500,000 „ 2/- 23,212 5,498,775 6,582,119 54,506,405 1,250,000 773,315,680 gallons ' £91,048 150 Appendix. British Spirits Foreign and Colonial Spirits Wine Beer (Malt), 42,759,0ii5 bush... British Wines, Cider, Perry, &c British Spirits Foreign and Colonial Spirits Wine Beer (Malt), 37,453,907 bush... British Wines, Cider, Perry, &c British Spirits Foreign and Colonial Spirits Wine Beer (Malt), 43,065,088 bush... British Wines, Cider, Perry, &c 1859. Gallons. 23,878,688 @ 20/- 4,932,648 „ 24/- 6,775,992 „ 21/- 769,663,170 „ 1/6 12,500,000 „ 2/- 817,750,498 gallons £ 23,87- 5,919.177 7,114,791 57,724,737 1,250,000 £95,887,393 1860. Gallons. 21,404,088 @ 20/- £ 21,404,088 5,521,923 „ 24 '- 6,718,585 „ 21/- 6,626,307 7,054,514 674,170,326 „ 1/6 50,562,774 12,500,000 „ 2 - 1,250,000 720,314,922 gallons. £86,897,683 1861. Gallons. 19,698,792 @ 20/- 5,193,070 „ 24'- 10,693,071 „ 18/-* 775,171,584 „ 1/6 12,500,000 „ 2 - 823,256,517 gallons. £ 19,698,792 6,231,684 9,623,763 58,137,868 1,250,000 £94,942,107 * In 1S60 the duty on wine was reduced about 3s. 2d. per gallon on the average. Appendix. 151 [MART. 1858 1859 1860 18G1 Quantity used. Gallons. 773,315,680 817,750,498 720,3] t,922 823,256,517 3,134,637,617 Annual average 783,659,404 91,049,91 1 95,88' 86,89"! 94,945 $,777,094 £92,194,273 APPENDIX B. TABLES OF THE QUANTITIES AND COST OF INTOXICATING LIQUORS USED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM D1 B EACH OF THE FOUR YEARS ENDING !-■ 1866. British Spirits Foreign ami Colonial Spirits W'iin' Beer Sugar used va\ brew ing 1 15, f -"'7 cwt., I equivalent to Bushels. 620,528fbua. 50,838,356i Mall used in brewing 50,217,828 Ik, British Wines, cider, Terry, &C < rations. 22,516,336 (■• 20/ 7,797,470 .. '-'! 13,24 t,864 .. L8 915,090,415 .. 1 6 15,000,1 .. 2 22,51 11,92 11,781 », I 973,649,085 galls. £1 l 152 Appendix. 1807. Gallons. £ British Spirits 21,589,969 ©20/- 8,339,155 „ 24/- 13,673,793 „ 18/- 21,589,969 10,006,986 12,300,413 Foreign and ( 'ulonial Spirits Wine. Boor Sugar used in 1 brewing 381,930 cwt., equivalent to Bushels. y 47,939,925 1,629,568 bs. Malt used in 862,918,650 „ 1/6- 64,718,898 brewing 40,310,357 b.J British Wines Cider, Berry, &c. 15,000,000 „ 2/- 1,500,000 921,521,507 galls. £110,122,200 1808. British Spirits Foreign and Colonial Spirits Wine Beer Sugar used ^ in brewing 351,742cwt equivalent to . Bushels. 1,500,765^| [49,619,798^1 Malt used in brewing 48, 11 9,033 bj British Wines, Cider, Perry, &c .* Gallons. 21,341,449 @20/ 8,398,817 „ 24 - 15,004,575 „ 18/ 893,156,379| @ 1/6 15,000,000 „ 2/- 952,901,220;) galls. 21,341,449 10,078,580 13,558,117 00,980,728 1,500,000 £113,404.-7; Appendix. 1809. 153 British Spirits Foreign and C Wine ,. Gallons. 21,941,779 @ 20/- 8,172,845 „ 24/- 14,734,534 „ 18/- .£ 21,941,779 9,807,41 1 • 13,261,080 olonial Spirits Beer Sugar used in N brewing 342,078 cwt., equivalent to 1,402,092 H). Malt used in brewing 47,704,819 b. , British Wines Perry, &c. Bushels. h 49,100,911-i , ( 'ider, 885,004,412;® 1/0 15,000,000 „ L' 00,375,330 1,500,000 944,853,570| galls. £112,885,603 SUMMARY. 1866 1867 1868 1809 Annual \ Average 1 Quantity used. Cost. ( iallona 973,049,1 is:, 921,521,567 952,961,2201 944,853,570| £ 113,925,458 110,122,266 113,464,874 1 12,885,603 3,792,985,443 galls. £450,398,20] 948,240,300 £112,599,550 The items which form the basis of the preceding calculations, as to the quantity and cosl of intoxicating Liquors consumed ia the United Kingdom, an taken from returns issued by Government. In the case of brer, the returns arc n<>t given SS beer, but as wait and sugar from which the quantity of beer has to bo 154 Appendix. calculated. The Excise estimate is, that 2 bushels of mall will make 1 barrel or 36 gallons of beer, and thai 2101bs. of sugar will make as much beer ^ * bushels of malt; and therefore in tin' preceding' calculations the sugar has been converted intuits equivalent in malt, and added to the malt. The calculation then becomes sini]>lv a mutter of proportion, thus: — If 2 bushels of malt will give 36 gallons of beer, what will the total number of bushels give 1 During the four ending 1861, a comparatively small annual amount of ■was used in brewing, but in each of the four years ending 1869 it was extensively used. To make clear these remarks, I will take the figures for the year 1869 as an illustration. That year there was 342,678 cwt. of sugar and 47,70-4,819 bushels of malt used in brewing. If the 342,678 cwt. of sugar be reduced into lbs., and then divided by 210 and multiplied by 8, it will give 1,462,0924 bushels, the number of bushels which 342,678 cwt. of sugar is equivalent to. Adding this to the 47,704,819 bushels of malt, it gives 49,166,911i bushels. If this be multiplied by 36 (the number of gallons in a barrel) and divided by 2 (the number of bushels of malt which will make a barrel of beer), it gives the total number of gallons of beer which these bushels will make, amounting to 885,004,4125. At 4£d. per quart (my estimate of the average retail selling price), it gives £66,375,330 as expended upon beer alone in 1869. The reader will bear in mind that the preceding tables are all based upon the supposition that intoxicating drinks are all free from adulteration or dilution, and that there is never any illicit manufacturing takes place. They assume that all the beer is made from malt and hops or sugar, and that all the wine is the juice of the grape, and that the spirits are the product of dis- tillation. It is, however, a notorious fact, that beer is very much adulterated,* and that the adulteration of w T ines and spirits is * Mr. Phillips, principal of the Laboratory of the Analytical Department for the Inland Revenue, reports as follows :— " During the last financial year 86 samples of beer and materials found in the possession of licensed brewers have been analysed, and of these 20 were found to be illicit ; the prohibited ingredients being, in 14 samples, grains of paradise ; one of these samples containing, in addition, tobacco : in two others cocculus indicus was present in large and dangerous quantities; two samples contained capsicum ; and the remaining two proto-sulphate of iron. Generally Appendix. 1 ~> 5 carried on to as great extent as that of beer. If, theref fair allowance were made for this adulteration, it would very much increase the amount of the estimates I have given. The estimates here given as to the cost of intoxicating liquors used, are higher than those given in the author's pamphl the "Depression in the Cotton Trade;" but having given a much fuller examination to the subject since the publication of thai pamphlet, the author is convinced thai the calculations there given are below the mark. On this point then' may be differences of opinion, but whether the same be more or Less does not affect the argument at all. In the "British Almanack" for 1870 there is an article on self-imposed taxation, by Samuel Smiles, in which he gives the expenditure upon intoxicating drinks in the United Kingdom during 1SGS as follows : — Home and Foreign Spirits Beer Wines Cider, Perry, and British Wines, say Gallons. 29,418,535 749,983,824 15,151,741 43,749,056 12,987,927 1,500,000 £88,805,215 tho prohibited materials nmployedin the adulteration of beer are not lnjurionato health, the object "f the fraudulent brewers or retail n rmore toil tho bulk of then (roods than to render the beer stuplfying by theadditi i materials. Still, he says, there can be littledoubt I Uce "f adull beer withpoisonous matters, bui b tnd «-."->-iiius Indlcus, is more i" than might be inferred from the small number of detections made, ^ the fraud is difficult to discover unless the offender l"' caught In the act "f committing it. Considering, therefore, this circumstance, io. t the abominable oharaotei ■ Mr. Phillips is of opinion that it would be on] ommunity \« make public thenami of those perso Icted of : v > i • 1 1 1 > ,■• sculua lndicus or other del* ■ubstani brewed for sale; and he f( Instances of the use of the dangerous drug in question occurred In the oelghbourhoo I of Wixksworth, in Derbyshire, and that many of the di te ot f o ns of ti ■ of paradise were also made in the same distrlot B« states also that the ezp cf many years had led him to the oonoluslon that the adulteration -f In< r witl btngulshed from the mere dilution or Increasing uf the bulk of I more prevalent in the Midland oountti .. i. I 1 rkshlre than in any other part of tho kingdom."— R'i'ort oj InUmJ fl 15G Ajipendix. The above estimate is upwards of £24,000,000 less than tho one I give. From whence arisoa the difference, and which esti- mate is correct 1 In the items of spirits and wines there is very little difference between the calculations of Mr. Smiles and my own. In spirits the quantity Mr. Smiles gives is less than in the table I have given. The difference probably arises from the fact, that ho gives his figures from the Inland Revenue Returns, which arc made up to March 31st, while mine are given from the Trade and Navigation Roturns, which are made up to the 31st of December. The main discrepancy is in the item of beer. Mr. Smile3 estimates 3\ barrels of beer to 8 bushels of malt, whereas I take the Excise estimate of 4 barrels to 8 bushels. Mr. Smiles estimates the beer at 3|d. per quart; my estimate is 4^d. He himself, speaking of his estimate, says, " It will probably be admitted that this estimate is very considerably within the probable expenditure." The selling price of beer ranges from 4d. to 8d. per quart,* and therefore 4 id. appears to me to be a very moderate estimate, especially if we take into consideration the fact, that no allowance is made for adulteration. I think 5d. would be about the average selliug price, but I have taken 4|d. in order to be within the mark. • It is said to be customary for some of the London publicans to sell beer at 3d. and 3\d. per quart. They are enabled to do this by the extensive dilution they practise. In the Appendix to the Report of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue for 1S65, Jlr. Phillips, the principal of the Laboratory, remarks :— " Thus, the most usual mode of adulterating beer, and one which there are good grounds for believing is very generally praotised by the publicans of London, is to add water to the beverage, the injury to the fullness or ' body' of the article arising from this dilution being repaid by the introduction of sugar, treacle, &c." Appendix. 157 APPENDIX C. The reader who has read the pamphlet published by the writer, on "The Depression in the Cotton Trade," will observe that there is a small variation in the figures given in this treatise, as compared with those given in the pamphlet referred to. The amount expended in intoxicating liquors is here put down as greater — which, as has been explained, arises from taking higher estimates as to the selling prices of liquor. It will be observed also, that the value of the home consumption of cotton g Is is estimated at a higher figure. The calculation was originally made out, as a comparison between the cotton goods exported and the cotton goods used at home, and was based (correctly enough) upon the cotton consumed for each ; but, in estimating the values, the calculation was based upon the value of the goods — that is cloth — exported, instead of taking the value both of goods and yarns. This error in no way affected the figures given as to the falling off in the quantities of the home trade, but it made the estimate as to the expenditure somewhat too low. Printed toy John Htywood, Bxcairior Worka, Huln... n.". B i !. Manchester. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES LIBRARY 3 1158 01268 5672 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 001 170 196 8 . I a i bhhBI mm #$$3 ■» - III ' • I ' ■■ '■•-"' - ■"■■: ■.■■'■■■"■ ■ mmm ffrigW w$m£BBm mm 1111 "".'■■ liPilsill ■•■•■•-.■•'.•: ■■.•■■: : US mm