[BRARY 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CAL [FORNIA 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 
 
 Dr. Cordon WatkLns
 
 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION.
 
 FREE TRADE 
 
 AND 
 
 PROTECTION. 
 
 AN INQUIRY INTO THE CAUSES WHICH HAVE 
 
 RETARDED THE GENERAL ADOPTION OF FREE TRADE 
 
 SINCE ITS INTRODUCTION INTO ENGLAND. 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY FAWCETT, M.P., 
 
 FELLOW OF TRINITY HALL, 
 AND PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL ECONOMY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 Jtonbon : 
 MACMILLAN AND CO. 
 
 1878. 
 
 [The Right of Translation and Rtproduction is Jtesen-ed.}
 
 n r * 
 
 Fjif 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 R. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTKRS, 
 BRF.AD STREET HILL.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 IN the autumn of last year I delivered at Cambridge a 
 course of Lectures on Free Trade and Protection. One 
 of the chief objects I had in view was to endeavour to 
 explain the causes which have retarded the progress of 
 Free Trade, and which have enabled Protectionists still to 
 occupy so strong a position on the Continent, in America, 
 and in many of our Colonies. I first thought of publishing 
 these Lectures almost in the form in which they were 
 delivered; but I afterwards came to the conclusion that 
 it would be better, for many reasons, to adopt a different 
 arrangement, and I have consequently divided the book 
 into six chapters. 
 
 I have had occasion frequently to refer to Mr. Frederick 
 Martin's Statesman's Year Book, and I have also derived 
 great assistance from the admirably-arranged Statistical 
 Abstracts which are published annually by the Board of 
 Trade. Whenever I have required additional information 
 bearing on the subjects to which these Abstracts refer, 
 it has always been most readily supplied to me by two
 
 vi PREFACE. 
 
 gentlemen holding official positions at the Board of Trade 
 Mr. Edwin J. Pearson, and Mr. Robert GifTen, the 
 well-known economist and statist. I desire here to ac- 
 knowledge their kindness, and to offer them my sincere 
 thanks. 
 
 I also wish to say how much I appreciate the assistance 
 I have derived from my wife, who has revised the book 
 as it was passing through the press, and from my Secretary, 
 Mr. F. J. Dryhurst, who has not only acted as my 
 amanuensis, but who has constantly aided me in various 
 ways, and has prepared a summary of contents, which I 
 believe will prove useful for purposes of reference. 
 
 May 1878.
 
 SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 THE expectations, formerly entertained in this country, that the 
 example of England in adopting a free-trade policy would be 
 followed by other nations, have not been realized. Nothing 
 is more likely to retard the cause of free trade than to under- 
 rate the strength of the opposition to it, and to ignore the 
 arguments of its opponents. The adoption of free trade in 
 England was hastened by the fact that protection was most 
 strictly carried out with regard to agriculture, and conse- 
 quently its most obvious result was the rise in the price of 
 food ; while, in other countries, protection is almost entirely 
 confined to manufactured products. The abolition of pro- 
 tection may cause much suffering and loss to those employed 
 in the industries which have been brought into existence 
 through protection. This loss corresponds to that which is 
 caused to workmen who possess special manual skill in any 
 handicraft, if the necessity for their labour is superseded 
 by the invention of a machine. The motives which have 
 prompted the opposition to the introduction of free trade in 
 America and other countries are analogous to those which 
 have led workmen employed in certain trades to resist the 
 introduction of machinery. The adoption of protectionist 
 principles in the Colonies has been encouraged by the opinion 
 expressed by Mr. Mill, that the imposition of a protective 
 duty, with the view of promoting a new industry in a recently- 
 settled country, may be justified as a temporary expedient. 
 Protection in the Colonies has also been promoted by the fact
 
 SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. 
 
 that the gold discoveries in Australia attracted thither large 
 numbers of operatives and artizans from England, who, finding 
 gold-digging to be less remunerative than they had anticipated, 
 welcomed any proposal to establish, by the aid of protective 
 duties, those industries to which they had been accustomed. 
 The industrial prosperity of England not entirely due to her 
 adoption of a free-trade policy. Among other causes, the 
 development of our railway system and fiscal reform have 
 contributed to bring about this prosperity. Other arguments 
 are necessary to advance the cause of free trade besides the 
 appeals which are continually made to the growth of trade 
 and accumulation of wealth in England. The benefits con- 
 ferred by free trade are apparently still imperfectly understood 
 in England. Some of the strongest supporters of free trade 
 not unfrequently display a tendency to favour some form of 
 industrial restriction. This tendency has been recently illus- 
 trated by the disposition shown by English workmen to resist 
 the introduction of foreign labourers into this country. 
 
 Pages I 1 6 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 PROTECTION. 
 
 PART I. Bounties on Exports. 
 
 Protection has been in recent times supported with the object 
 of giving assistance to home industry, and has been chiefly 
 carried out by giving bounties on exports and imposing re- 
 straints on imports. The system of encouraging exports and 
 discouraging imports was a product of the mercantile system, 
 and was originally adopted with the object of securing a 
 "favourable balance of trade." Protection is now chiefly 
 carried out by imposing import duties ; bounties on exports 
 are, however, occasionally granted at the present time. 
 Formerly, bounties on exports were as general in England 
 as protective duties on imports. The effect of the bounties 
 on the export, and restraints on the import, of corn which 
 formerly prevailed in England. Examination of the effects 
 produced by the bounty given on the export of sugar from 
 France. This bounty simply enables the English people, and
 
 SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. 
 
 others who use French sugar, to purchase it at considerably 
 below cost price ; the reduction in price approximating to the 
 amount of the bounty. The only class who can permanently 
 profit from any particular produce being made artificially dear 
 are the owners of the land on which the produce is grown. 
 Reasons against the proposal of the English sugar refiners that 
 they should be protected against French competition by the 
 imposition of an import duty equivalent to the amount of the 
 bounty. 
 
 PART II. Restraints on Imports. 
 
 The difference between an import duty imposed for purposes of 
 revenue, and one imposed to protect home industry against 
 foreign competition. The import duties levied in England have 
 no protective influence. The home trader enjoys a kind of 
 natural protection in his own market as the cost of carriage is 
 less in the case of home than in that of foreign produce. It is 
 important to distinguish between the effect exerted by a pro- 
 tective duty in the country in which it is imposed, and its 
 effect on the countries from which produce subject to the duties 
 is imported. The consequences of the protection formerly 
 given to agriculture in England. It was generally supposed that 
 the continuance of high prices secured industrial prosperity, and 
 it was consequently thought that the profits of all concerned in the 
 cultivation of the land increased with the growing deamess of 
 agricultural produce. Protective duties were not simply imposed 
 on corn ; live stock, fresh meat, and various other articles were 
 excluded altogether from our markets. Attempts were made 
 to encourage the growth of British wool and flax by placing 
 difficulties in the way of the manufacture of cotton in England. 
 The enactment of the Corn Laws after the fall in prices con- 
 sequent on the peace of 1815. The evils associated with the 
 sliding-scale. The influence exerted by protection in England 
 upon the classes concerned in agriculture. The farmers derived 
 no benefit from the high prices of agricultural produce, as each 
 rise in prices immediately led to an increase in rents. Between 
 1815 and 1845, when the Corn Laws were in operation, agri- 
 culture was in a state of exceptional depression. Meeting at 
 Colchester, July, 1843. Speech of Mr. Cobden, by which 
 many tenant farmers were convinced they had been injured by the 
 Corn Laws. Deterioration in the condition of the agricultural 
 labourers. Although protection led to an increase in the price
 
 SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. 
 
 of agricultural produce, the competition of capital seeking in- 
 vestment prevented the farmers gaining more than the normal 
 rate of profit. The depression in agriculture, though to a con- 
 siderable degree brought about by the undue extent to which 
 rents were raised after the passing of the Corn Laws, and also 
 by the operation of the old Poor Law, was mainly owing to the 
 fact that the dearness of food consequent on protection dimi- 
 nished the productiveness both of labour and capital, and led to 
 a decline in profits and wages in all industries, including agri- 
 culture. The stagnation of English trade during the existence 
 of protection. The general distress at the time of Sir 
 Robert Peel's accession to office in 1841. The competition 
 of the general labour market renders it impossible for the 
 labourers employed in protected industries to secure higher 
 wages than those employed in industries which are not pro- 
 tected. The only class that can derive benefit from protection 
 are the owners of the land from which the products, such as 
 wheat, coal, iron, <Sr=c., that are made dearer by protection, are 
 obtained. This conclusion not disproved by the fact that the 
 rent of land in England has not declined since protection was 
 abolished ; many causes, such as the improved administration 
 of the poor law, and the increased demand for food, conse- 
 quent on the increase of population and the general develop- 
 ment of trade, have served to maintain the value of land at its 
 former rate . Pages l ^ 47 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FREE TRADE AND RECIPROCITY. 
 
 The economic advantages produced by free trade are the same, 
 whether the exchange of commodities is between different 
 countries, or between different parts of the same country. 
 Examination of the argument that, although interference with 
 the freedom of trade between different parts of the same country 
 would be indefensible, protection may be expedient, when it is 
 confined to restricting the importation from other countries of 
 articles which come into successful competition with those of 
 home production. Protective duties produce the same effects, 
 whether the industry of any particular locality is protected
 
 SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. 
 
 against home or foreign competition ; in support of this conclu- 
 sion the question considered, Whether it is less advantageous for 
 the people of France to trade freely with Alsace and Lorraine at 
 the present time, than it was before these provinces were an- 
 nexed to Germany. Supposing protective duties to be imposed 
 on articles imported from Alsace, it may be argued that the 
 French people would be compensated for the loss resulting from 
 their having to pay higher prices for these articles, because a 
 new industry would be brought into existence in France. This 
 however implies that some branch of trade is being carried on in 
 a locality where the labour and capital employed in it do not 
 yield the maximum results. Although the French may urge 
 that, as Alsace is now a part of Germany instead of a part of 
 France, it would be to their advantage to injure Alsace, the 
 economic loss to France of discouraging some industry most 
 suited to Alsace is the same whether Alsace is, or is not, part of 
 France. Protection only defensible on the supposition that it is 
 advantageous for a country to make pecuniary sacrifices in order 
 to injure the prosperity of its neighbours. Consideration of the" 
 alleged impolicy on the part of England in permitting foreign 
 countries, which impose protective duties on her products, to 
 send their goods freely to her markets. English trade is more 
 severely injured by the American than by any other tariff, the 
 protective duties imposed in the United States being largely in 
 excess of those levied in any other country. Examination of the 
 proposal that England should retaliate on America by levying 
 import duties on American goods. The exports of manufac- 
 tured articles from the United States to England are so small, that 
 England could only produce any practical effect on American 
 trade by imposing duties on the various articles of food and 
 raw material imported from America. "Any loss we could inflict 
 on America by such a policy would be trifling, in comparison 
 with the loss we should inflict on ourselves. The argument that 
 retaliation may be carried out when an article imported from some 
 country that maintains protection comes into competition with 
 an article of the same kind produced at home. The alleged injury 
 to English trade arising from the importation of iron from 
 Belgium. Further examples to show that it is impracticable 
 for England to carry out a policy of " reciprocity." The effect 
 that would be produced by the adoption of a policy of 
 "reciprocity," if it were possible to carry it out. A policy of 
 "reciprocity" would aggravate the present depression in 
 English trade Pages 4% 73
 
 SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 
 
 The arguments advanced in support of protection by its leading 
 advocates in America, in the Colonies, and in various Continental 
 countries, considered in detail under the following thirteen 
 heads : 
 
 1. Protection is desirable, especially in a young country, 
 tecause it secures diversity of industry . . . Pages 76 81 
 
 2. Protection, by encouraging various branches of home 
 industry, makes a community less dependent on foreign 
 countries . . , . . , . Pages 81 85 
 
 3. American protectionists assume that the cost of carriage is 
 paid by the exporting country ; and they therefore argue that 
 America would be placed at a disadvantage if she imported all 
 the manufactured goods she wanted in exchange for raw 
 produce, which, being more bulky, is more expensive to 
 export . Pages 8587 
 
 4. The home manufacturer, having to pay taxes which are not 
 paid by his foreign competitor, must be compeasated by protec- 
 tion . . . . . ... . Pages 87 89 
 
 5. Protection is advantageous, because it encourages home 
 trade and discourages the trade of foreign countries . Pages 89 93 
 
 6. It is asserted that protective duties are paid by the foreign 
 producer ; consequently, home industry is encouraged by them, 
 and the trade of foreign countries is injured . . Pages 93 97 
 
 7. As profits and wages are not higher in protected, than in 
 unprotected industries, protection is not open to the charge that 
 it benefits a special trade at the expense of the general consumer 
 
 Pages 97 98 
 
 8. Protection is advantageous, because if a country obtains 
 its produce at home, instead of importing it from a distance, 
 the labour employed in transporting it is saved ; and this 
 labour is assumed to be unproductive . . . Pages 98 99 
 
 9. Protection is represented as benefiting the workmen 
 employed in the protected industries in America, because 
 they earn higher wages than are paid in the same industries 
 
 in England . . . ..'.. Pages 99 103 
 
 10. Although protection is indefensible, if only one industry 
 is protected from foreign competition, a policy of restriction 
 is justifiable if the entire industry of the country participates 
 
 in its advantages Pages 103 105
 
 SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. 
 
 11. Protection is defended on the ground that wages are 
 higher in America and the Colonies than in England ; traders 
 in those countries require protection in order that they may 
 be placed in a position of equality with their English com- 
 petitors Pages 105 1 08 
 
 12. Protection, having been established, cannot be abolished 
 without loss both to employers and employed in those trades 
 which are protected ..... Pages 108 109 
 
 13. Protection can be advantageously introduced in a 
 young country as a temporary expedient, since various indus- 
 tries which will ultimately prosper without protection require 
 
 its aid in the early stages of their existence . Pages 109 1 19 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 COMMERCIAL DEPRESSION. 
 
 The confidence felt in England in the advantages of a free-trade 
 policy having increased with the growth of English prosperity, 
 and been mainly supported by appeals to that prosperity, the 
 present depression in trade has produced a disposition among 
 some persons to lapse into the fallacies of protection. In a 
 similar manner, depressed trade in America has led many of the 
 advocates of protection in that country to doubt its efficacy to 
 secure commercial prosperity. The strength of this change of 
 opinion shown by the proposal of the new tariff. A comparison 
 of the commercial position of the United States and of Eng- 
 land, respectively, shows that this country has no reason to 
 waver in its adherence to a free-trade policy. The greater 
 severity of the depression in trade in America, in spite of the 
 greater natural advantages of that country, is shown by the fact 
 that the emigration from this country to America is now hardly, 
 if at all, greater than the emigration from America to England. 
 Evidence to show that the present commercial depression has 
 produced much more serious effects in America, with its pro- 
 tectionist tariff, than in free- trade England. The fears that 
 have been lately expressed in this country at the large excess of 
 imports over exports, considered. This alarm has been in- 
 creased by the fact that in no other country is there any great 
 excess of imports over exports, while in the United States the 
 exports considerably exceed the imports. The excess of imports 
 in England to a great extent due to the fact, that in the statistical
 
 SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. 
 
 tables of English trade, the value at which any article imported 
 is estimated includes the cost of carriage and the profit of the 
 importing merchant ; whereas, in estimating the value of the 
 exports, both the cost of carriage and the profit of the exporting 
 merchants are excluded. This fact to a considerable extent 
 accounts for the excess of exports over imports in America as 
 compared with the excess of imports over exports in England. 
 This excess of imports in England is also owing to the cir- 
 cumstance that no other country has so large an amount of 
 capital embarked in foreign investments. The dread expressed 
 in England on the subject is probably a survival from the 
 Mercantile System. The excess of imports over exports in any 
 country may be regarded as a measure of the extent to which it 
 is a creditor of other countries. That the excess of imports 
 over exports in England is due to the circumstances before ex- 
 plained, is shown by the statistics of the English exports and 
 imports of bullion and specie in recent years. Although it is 
 impossible to doubt the existence of very severe depression in 
 many branches of English industry, there is reason to believe 
 that the effects of the depression in trade in this country have 
 been exaggerated, and that they are considerably greater in 
 protectionist countries, such as America. The increase in the 
 English importation of articles of general consumption, such as 
 tea. A consideration of the effects produced by industrial 
 activity, in some special trades, on the general body of the 
 people. The exceptionally high profits prevalent during the 
 activity in the iron and coal trades, a few years since, were 
 obtained at the expense of the general community. The price 
 of coal having, in consequence of the present industrial depres- 
 sion, fallen to its former level, the country has been relieved of 
 a serious burden. This relief to the general body of the people 
 may be regarded as some compensation for the losses brought 
 on certain special classes by the present depression in trade. 
 From the continuous decline in pauperism, the maintenance of 
 the Savings Banks deposits, and the increase in the traffic 
 returns of the railways, it may be concluded, that the inactivity 
 in some special branches of trade has produced less effect on 
 the general condition of the country than is usually supposed. 
 A great portion of the additional wealth created when certain 
 trades are unusually active being simply a transfer from the 
 general community to a special class, the cessation of this activity 
 implies a corresponding benefit to the general community. 
 All persons in receipt of fixed incomes being severely injured
 
 SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. 
 
 by the inflation of prices which takes place in a period 
 of great industrial activity, they are consequently benefited 
 by the fall in prices which occurs when trade declines. The 
 present depression in many branches of English trade is not, 
 as is often supposed, the result of the free- trade policy of 
 England, but is the natural outcome of the exceptional pros- 
 perity these trades enjoyed a few years since. This conclusion 
 illustrated by a reference to the English coal trade. The re- 
 duction in the cost of living, consequent on the fall in prices, 
 has greatly contributed to enable the country to tide over the 
 present period of industrial depression. The protectionist 
 policy of America, by increasing the price of numerous commo- 
 dities (import duties being imposed by the American tariff on 
 2,000 different articles), prevents this compensating influence 
 coming into operation. The great increase of pauperism in the 
 United States, and the disastrous losses sustained by the 
 American railways, afford conclusive evidence that the present 
 depression in trade has produced much more serious results in 
 that country than in England. A comparison, favourable to 
 this country, may also be drawn between the commercial con- 
 dition of free-trade England during a period of depression, 
 and that of various other countries, such as Germany, Russia, 
 and France, where restrictive tariffs are maintained. The 
 effects of depression on the Continent are aggravated by the 
 strain resulting from the enormous armies maintained by the 
 European powers. Hence, the conclusion that a free-trade 
 policy diminishes the effect of industrial depression, is 
 strikingly corroborated by the comparison which has been 
 made between the present condition of England and that of 
 America, which possesses exceptional advantages, and does not 
 maintain a large standing army . . . Pages 120 1 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 COMMERCIAL TREATIES. 
 
 The increasing unpopularity of, and opposition to, commercial 
 treaties are clue to the fact that those engaged in any trade 
 which may have been affected by the treaty, and which is 
 suffering from the general trade depression, attribute this de- 
 pression almost entirely to the treaty. The objections urged 
 by the French protectionists to the renewal of the Anglo-
 
 SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. 
 
 French treaty considered. A similar dread to that which has 
 already been referred to as existing in England is expressed in 
 France, at the excess of imports over exports. The tendency 
 which is shown in this country to revert to a protectionist 
 policy, has taken effect in the proposal that we should increase 
 the import duties on French goods, in the event of a refusal on 
 the part of France to renew the Treaty of Commerce with this 
 country. The consequences that would result from carrying 
 out the proposal that the import duties on French silk should 
 be increased. The impossibility of limiting a policy of 
 "reciprocity" to the proposed protection of the English silk 
 trade. The disastrous effects that would result from the pro- 
 posed retaliatory export duties on English coal and machinery 
 considered. Conclusion that the adoption of the proposed 
 policy of reciprocity would aggravate, instead of mitigating, 
 the mischief which is done to our trade by the protectionist 
 tariffs of other countries. Although the advantages resulting 
 to both countries from such a Commercial Treaty as that 
 existing between France and England are undoubtedly great, 
 they are accompanied by one not inconsiderable disadvantage, 
 inasmuch as during the operation of the treaty the freedom of 
 each country to introduce changes in its tariff is somewhat 
 curtailed. This objection is important with reference to the 
 mode in which the duties on French and Spanish wines respec- 
 tively are arranged. The grounds of the demand made by 
 English manufacturers for the repeal of the Indian import 
 duties on cotton goods examined. Although the tax must 
 be condemned on economic grounds, the subject cannot be 
 regarded as one involving economic considerations only. In 
 deciding the question as to the repeal of these duties the 
 position of Indian finance must be taken into account. 
 Although many English Colonies maintain a system of pro- 
 tection far more onerous in its character than that involved in 
 the retention of the Indian cotton duties, it has not been pro- 
 posed that the Colonies should abolish their duties in the 
 interests of English manufacturers. In the appeals that are 
 made for the repeal of the cotton duties too much attention 
 has been given to the interests of the English manufacturers as 
 producers, and too little to the interests of the Indian people 
 as consumers Pages 154 173
 
 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 THE chief object I have in view in the following pages is 
 to endeavour to explain the causes which in recent years 
 have not only retarded the general adoption of free trade, 
 but have in many countries given a fresh vitality to the doc- 
 trines of protection. The subject I think requires careful 
 explanation, for we have to account for the fact that although 
 it is admitted that England during the last thirty years has 
 derived the most marked advantages from the adoption of 
 a free-trade policy, yet most countries seem as disinclined 
 to abandon protection as if the free-trade experiment in 
 England had failed as signally as it has succeeded. Not 
 only in countries where protection has been long established 
 is there this disinclination to follow the example set by 
 England, but even in new countries, such as Australia, there 
 is constantly displayed an eagerness to introduce protection 
 in one or other of its various forms. Competent authorities 
 have, in fact, predicted that the leading political question in 
 Australia during the next few years is not unlikely to be a 
 keen struggle for supremacy between the advocates of free 
 trade and protection. The strong position which is now 
 occupied in many countries by protection has surprised no 
 less than disappointed those who have been the leading 
 advocates of free trade in England. Nothing could exceed 
 
 t?
 
 2 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 the confidence with which it was predicted that when 
 England had once enjoyed the advantages of unrestricted 
 commerce, other countries would be led to follow her 
 example by the irresistible force of self-interest. During 
 the memorable debates which took place thirty years since, 
 when the financial reforms of Sir Robert Peel were before 
 Parliament, it was again and again unhesitatingly asserted 
 that all commercial countries would soon be eagerly striving 
 to share with England the advantage of buying in the 
 cheapest, and selling in the dearest market. Even as 
 recently as 1860, when the French commercial treaty was 
 on the eve of ratification, its author declared that " nothing 
 would be able to withstand the moral contagion of the 
 example of England and France acting together on the 
 principles of free trade;" and he predicted that the stimulus 
 thus given to free trade " would extend far beyond the limits 
 of the two countries." Instead of these anticipations being 
 realised it would seem that the renewal of the commercial 
 treaty with France and the establishment of similar treaties 
 with other countries will now have to contend with even 
 more opposition from protectionists than had to be encoun- 
 tered when that treaty was first proposed. 
 
 I think it desirable thus to direct special attention to the 
 firm hold which protectionist doctrines have obtained in 
 many countries, because nothing is more likely to retard the 
 cause of free trade than to underrate the strength of the forces 
 which are arrayed against it, and to ignore the circumstances 
 on which its opponents rely for support It is unfortunate 
 that in discussing the subject English free-traders frequently 
 adopt a tone which is not calculated to convince those who 
 differ from them. When protectionists are spoken of as if 
 they were either solely prompted by a desire to sacrifice the 
 welfare of the community in order to promote their own 
 selfish ends, or when they are derided as the victims of 
 economic fallacies so transparent that they ought not to 
 mislead a child, it should be remembered that it is not many
 
 i.] INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 3 
 
 years since the great majority of the English people were 
 ardent protectionists, and the fallacies for which we now feel 
 so much contempt were unhesitatingly accepted by many of 
 the most eminent of our countrymen. Less than forty 
 years ago Lord Melbourne, who was then Prime Minister, 
 declared in the House of Commons, with the cordial 
 approval of the great majority of those whom he addressed, 
 that " during his long life it had been his lot to hear many 
 mad things proposed, but the maddest of all the mad things 
 to which he had ever had to listen "was a proposal to abolish 
 the corn laws." Sir James Graham was a statesman who 
 had the reputation of possessing great practical sagacity and 
 much shrewd common sense. A deputation from Manchester 
 waited upon him in 1840 to urge the repeal of the corn 
 laws, and in reply to their arguments he said that " If the 
 corn laws were repealed great disasters would fall upon the 
 country, that the land would go out of cultivation, that 
 Church and State could not be upheld, that all our institu- 
 tions would be reduced to their primitive elements, and that 
 the people we were exciting would pull down our houses 
 about our ears." l It cannot, I think, be denied that those 
 who endorsed this sweeping declaration in favour of protec- 
 tion were not less misled by economic fallacies than are the 
 protectionists of the present day. All the most effective 
 arguments that can now be urged in favour of free trade 
 had many years previously been stated with the most 
 admirable clearness and force by Adam Smith, Ricardo, and 
 other economists. In the pages of these writers are to be 
 found many passages which furnish the best reply that can 
 be made to the modern opponents of free trade. It may 
 however be no doubt fairly urged that although little has 
 of late been added to the theoretical arguments which can 
 be advanced against protection, yet emancipation from 
 the doctrines of this system was far more difficult before 
 free trade had been tried, and that the striking success of 
 1 CoMtn and the League, by Mr. Henry Ashworth, of 1'olton, p. 42. 
 
 B 2
 
 4 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 the experiment in England ought to render a ready accept- 
 ance of the true principles which should regulate the 
 commerce between nations indefinitely more easy. It 
 should, however, be remembered that the adoption of free 
 trade in England was powerfully promoted by circumstances 
 of so purely exceptional a character that they do not now exist 
 in any country where a protectionist tariff either has been, 
 or is proposed to be, introduced. Between England and the 
 countries which now maintain protection there is this funda- 
 mental distinction. In England it was agricultural produce 
 that was most carefully protected, whereas in Continental 
 countries, in America, and in the Colonies at the present 
 time, it is home manufacturing industry that is most zealously 
 shielded against foreign competition. In England, therefore, 
 protection made such a first necessary of life as bread, dear ; 
 whereas protection in those countries where it now exists 
 increases the price of such commodities as wearing apparel 
 and various articles of household furniture. It at once, 
 therefore, becomes evident that a force of popular indignation 
 could be brought against the maintenance of protection in 
 England which cannot be brought against it in America and 
 Australia. In a period of scarcity and of popular distress 
 such as existed in England in 1843-45 the appeal in favour 
 of free trade became irresistible. Every one who was 
 suffering the pangs of hunger, every one who was pinched 
 by want could be told, " Bread is made dear, and starvation 
 is brought upon you because the cheap wheat which foreign 
 countries eagerly wish to send you is refused admittance to 
 your ports." No such plea in favour of free trade can be 
 brought home to the people of the United States. It may 
 be impressed upon them that they pay a needlessly high 
 price for various manufactured commodities; that cloth, 
 linen, shoes, hardware, and innumerable other articles are 
 made dearer by protection ; but having to pay a higher 
 price for a coat, a shirt, or a hat, can never arouse the 
 same popular indignation as when, in time of scarcity, the
 
 i.] INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 5 
 
 people find themselves deprived of the food they urgently 
 need. 
 
 It no doubt may be said that protective duties were not 
 in England solely imposed on agricultural produce, for when 
 Sir Robert Peel propounded his free-trade policy, more than 
 a thousand articles were subjected to import duties, many of 
 which were protective in their character. It is, however, 
 clearly shown by the tone of the discussions at the time that 
 the free-trade movement in England derived its chief impulse 
 from the direct influence exerted by protection in raising the 
 price of food. In the protracted debates in the House of 
 Commons, speech after speech was made both by the oppo- 
 nents and the supporters of free trade, in which no reference 
 was made to any other subject but the repeal of the corn 
 laws. Sir Robert Peel again and again vainly tried to place 
 the discussion on a wider basis by reminding Parliament that 
 he proposed not simply to carry out the principle of free 
 trade in reference to the importation of com, but that he 
 also intended to repeal every other protective duty. In the 
 political history of our country it has been repeatedly shown 
 that what is refused to reason is not unfrequently conceded 
 to fear. Many, like Sir Robert Peel himself who, for so long 
 had turned a deaf ear to the most cogent arguments that 
 were adduced in favour of free trade, might have remained 
 unconvinced and unconverted, had not a threatened famine 
 in Ireland made them quail before the responsibility of 
 maintaining a system which, by lessening the supplies ot 
 food, would have added to the number of those who were 
 suffering the horrors of starvation. A short time before the 
 abolition of protection there seemed to be every reason to 
 suppose that the struggle might be long continued. The 
 protectionist party had a large majority in both Houses of 
 Parliament, and even of those who were not classed as pro- 
 tectionists a considerable number supported some modified 
 form of protection, such for instance as an 8s. fixed duty on 
 corn. The ultimate success of the free-trade movement in
 
 6 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 England was no doubt greatly assisted by the zeal and 
 ability displayed by those who advocated the cause; but 
 without in the slightest degree detracting from the services 
 rendered by the prominent leaders of the agitation, it must 
 be remembered that a speaker or a writer who desires at the 
 present time to convince the American or Australian people 
 of the injurious effects of protection has to employ very 
 different illustrations, has to u&^ very different arguments, 
 and has to make very different appeals from those which 
 thirty years ago exercised such irresistible influence in 
 England. The belief became at that time firmly implanted 
 in the public mind that the very hour protection was abolished 
 food would become cheaper, and so far as the great mass of 
 the people were concerned, the blessing of this increased 
 plenty would be accompanied by no qualifications, by no 
 counter-balancing disadvantages. I shall have occasion to 
 show that in consequence of a difference in economic cir- 
 cumstances the arguments now to be advanced in favour of 
 free trade must be very different on the Continent, in 
 America, and in the Colonies to what they were in England 
 thirty years ago. 
 
 However great may be the ultimate advantages which free 
 trade would confer, it is too often forgotten that when a 
 great number of different manufactures have been artificially 
 fostered, and have been forced into a kind of unnatural 
 existence through protection, much suffering and loss may be 
 caused to those who are engaged, either as employers or 
 employed, in these particular industries, if the support they 
 have derived from protection is withdrawn. There are no 
 doubt many who will not agree in the opinion just expressed, 
 for it is often maintained that the abolition of protection is 
 sure to bring an increase of prosperity to those trades which 
 are protected. It will not, I think, be difficult hereafter 
 to show that this opinion is erroneous. It is, in fact, one of 
 those instances which frequently occur of an economic prin- 
 ciple being stated with too much generalisation, and without
 
 i.] INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 7 
 
 the necessary qualifications. It is thus often asserted that 
 the introduction of a new machine must prove beneficial to 
 the labourer. In one sense this no doubt is true, for probably 
 on no portion of the community does the extended use of 
 machinery ultimately confer so much advantage as on the 
 labourer. Numerous examples, however, might be given 
 from which it would be at once seen that the invention of a 
 new machine has inflicted a real and severe loss upon some 
 special class of labourers. The primary result of a mechan- 
 ical invention is that it enables some industrial process to be 
 mechanically performed which has previously required the 
 exercise of manual skill. This skill can often only be 
 acquired after a long and expensive training, and those who 
 possess it are virtually the owners of property, the pecuniary 
 value of which can be estimated by the extra wages which 
 they receive when compared with the wages which are paid 
 to the ordinary unskilled workman. It has, for instance, 
 been stated that many of those who were most skilled 
 among the Sheffield file-grinders have been able to earn as 
 much as 6/. a week. Suppose a machine is invented which 
 cuts files as well as they were previously cut by hand. The 
 workman will then find that the necessity for his special 
 skill has been altogether superseded. It therefore ceases to 
 possess any pecuniary value. He will have to seek some 
 employment in which he will have no exceptional advantage 
 which will enable him to claim unusually high wages, and it 
 will not improbably happen that he may be unable to earn 
 more than half the wages which he had previously obtained. 
 Great therefore as may be the advantage conferred on a 
 community by the extended use of machinery in adding to 
 the productiveness of labour and capital, it is well not to 
 lose sight of the fact that the labourers whose special skill is 
 superseded by a mechanical invention may have to bear a loss 
 as real as if the owner of an estate should suddenly find his 
 land deprived of half its natural fertility. 
 
 When investigating the causes which induce such powerful
 
 FREE TRADE A.ND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 support to be given to the continuance of protection in 
 America and other countries, I think it can be shown that 
 the opposition to the adoption of a free trade policy is to a 
 considerable extent prompted by motives very analogous to 
 those which have often induced the workmen employed in 
 some special trade to resist the introduction of a new machine. 
 The advocate of free trade, it will be pointed out, has often 
 a peculiar difficulty to encounter, because the more striking 
 and complete the advantages which would result from the 
 abolition of protection in any particular industry, the greater 
 the inducement offered to all those engaged in this industry 
 to resist the change. Thus in order to bring into the 
 strongest relief the loss which protection inflicts on a nation, 
 some instance may be selected where the circumstances of a 
 country are so unfavourable for the carrying on of a partic- 
 ular industry that it would not exist at all if it were not 
 secured against foreign competition by protective duties. In 
 consequence of the productive salt mines possessed by 
 England it is probable that all the salt which the French 
 consume would be obtained from this country, and not a 
 pound of salt would be manufactured in France, if extremely 
 high protective duties were not imposed on the importation 
 of salt into that country. If, therefore, these duties were 
 abolished the manufacture of salt in France would cease to 
 exist as an industry, and those who are engaged in it, either 
 as masters or workmen, would have to bear the loss and 
 inconvenience which always accompany the transfer of 
 capital and labour from one employment to another. In 
 countries which maintain a system of protection there are 
 always many industries, the existence of which, like the 
 manufacture of salt in France, depends upon the continu- 
 ance of protection. Any proposal therefore to abolish pro- 
 tection not unnaturally excites the combined opposition of 
 all those who are concerned in these industries. Their 
 opposition, prompted by self-interest, can hardly be expected 
 to be removed, but, on the contrary, is not unfrequently
 
 l.J INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 increased, by the very strength of the facts which are adduced 
 in favour of free trade. Thus it has been stated by the 
 well-known American economist Mr. D. A. Wells that the 
 people of the United States have to pay in consequence of 
 the protective duties on imported steel such a needlessly 
 high price for the steel rails they use that it would be a 
 remunerative expenditure if these protective duties were 
 abolished, and if, out of state funds, the existing Bessemer 
 steel works were purchased and then closed, those employed 
 in them receiving a pension in the way of compensation. 
 Those however who have an interest in these works know 
 perfectly well that they would have no chance of obtaining 
 such compensation, and consequently the more they hear 
 about the great reduction in price which would result from the 
 free importation of steel, the more they become impressed 
 with the loss which would be inflicted upon them, and con- 
 sequently their opposition is intensified rather than appeased. 
 I think we are able thus at least in part to understand why 
 free trade has made such slow progress in those countries 
 where protection has been long established, and where con- 
 sequently it is supposed that many branches of industry 
 depend upon the continuance of the system not only for 
 their prosperity, but in many cases for their very existence. 
 
 Another phase, however, of the present protectionist 
 movement seems at first sight more difficult to explain. 
 Allusion has already been made to the strong support which 
 is given to protection, and to the adoption of its principles, 
 in many of our colonies. It may with reason be said, " It 
 is possible to understand why in a country in which protec- 
 tion has long existed there should be many people prompted 
 by a feeling of self-interest to advocate its maintenance j 
 but how does it happen that in Australia, for instance, which 
 has been mainly peopled by those who have emigrated from 
 free-trade England, there should be so wide-spread a feeling 
 in favour of protection ? " Considerable encouragement has 
 no doubt been given to colonial protectionists by the
 
 io FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 opinions which have been expressed by some eminent 
 economists, that the imposition of a protective duty with the 
 view of promoting a new industry in a recently settled 
 country may be justified as a temporary expedient. I shall 
 not only have occasion to examine the theoretical arguments 
 that are advanced in support of this opinion, but I think 
 very conclusive facts may be adduced which show that the 
 industries which are thus protected are ultimately injured 
 rather than benefited. Enterprise and self-reliance are sure 
 to be disastrously weakened if whenever some vicissitude 
 in a trade occurs those who are engaged in it are taught 
 to seek a remedy in higher protective duties. Moreover, all 
 experience shows that although these protective duties are 
 plausibly defended as a temporary expedient, yet, when they 
 have been once imposed, they have never afterwards been 
 voluntarily surrendered. From the moment any trade is 
 protected a powerful vested interest is created which is at 
 once ready to combine with all the other protected interests 
 in the country to resist any attempt to restore commercial 
 freedom. 
 
 Amongst other circumstances which probably cause pro- 
 tection to find favour in a young colony there is one to 
 which, as I believe it has attracted little notice, it will be 
 desirable here briefly to refer. A large portion of the 
 population of such a country as Australia is composed of 
 those who have emigrated from England. Amongst these 
 emigrants there are sure to be many who will discover that 
 they cannot find the same kind of employment as that to 
 which they have been accustomed. An intending emigrant 
 would of course act more wisely if, before leaving, he 
 ascertained whether he was likely to obtain any suitable 
 work in the country in which he proposed to settle. These 
 precautions, however, are often entirely neglected. When 
 intelligence was first- brought to this country that rich 
 deposits of gold had been discovered in Australia, thousands 
 who had never done a day's out-door work eagerly rushed to
 
 I.] INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 11 
 
 the gold-fields. As time went on it was discovered that the 
 gold-digger's lot was by no means so desirable a one as it 
 was supposed to be ; his labour was severe ; he had to 
 endure many hardships; he had often to suffer much 
 exposure ; and although, here and there, there was one who 
 by some stroke of good fortune quickly became rich, yet the 
 gold-digger did not on the average obtain an exceptionally 
 high remuneration for his labour. Under these circumstances 
 it is evident that Australia presented a favourable field for 
 the growth of protection. Those who before they had 
 emigrated from England had been employed as operatives 
 or artizans in some manufactory or workshop would be sure 
 soon to find that they were unsuited for such work as gold- 
 digging. They would naturally therefore welcome any 
 proposal to establish through the aid of protective duties 
 some kind of industry similar to that in which they had 
 been employed before they emigrated. A prospect would 
 thus be offered to them of obtaining work to which they had 
 been accustomed, and they would again be able to turn to 
 advantage any special skill which in previous years they 
 had acquired. 
 
 I trust it will not be supposed that if I thus attempt to 
 consider the causes which now give so much strength to the 
 protectionist movement, I desire in the slightest degree to 
 defend the system, or to palliate the mischief it produces. I 
 am sure, however, it is important that the arguments which 
 are at the present time advanced in favour of protection 
 should be fairly stated and carefully considered, because I 
 think it cannot be denied that the progress of free trade has 
 been materially retarded by its advocates assuming a too 
 contemptuous tone towards the supporters of protection in 
 other countries. We in England are much too prone to 
 overstate the results of free trade. Scarcely a week elapses 
 without its being said, as if it were a triumphant rejoinder 
 to all that is urged by the American, the Continental, or the 
 Colonial protectionist, " English exports and imports have
 
 12 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 more than quadrupled since protection was abolished ; the 
 income of the country, as shown by the yield of the income- 
 tax, has more than doubled, wages have advanced, and 
 population has increased." But a moment's consideration 
 will show that other causes have been in operation besides 
 free trade to promote this wonderful growth of prosperity. 
 Amongst others that might be enumerated it is sufficient here 
 to mention, that about the same time that protection was 
 abolished our railway system was developed, steam was more 
 largely used as a motive power in almost every branch of in- 
 dustry, and the discovery of gold in Australia gave a powerful 
 stimulus to emigration. Again, it should be remembered that 
 the financial reforms which were carried out when free trade 
 was introduced into England produced other very important 
 results besides eradicating protection from our fiscal system. 
 Up to that time the plan had been tenaciously adhered to, of 
 raising revenue from almost every article of foreign produce 
 that was imported. In 1845 i m port duties were levied upon 
 no less than 1142 separate articles. Of the duties which 
 were thus imposed only those could be considered protective 
 which placed the foreign producer at a disadvantage com- 
 pared with the home producer. A large number of the 
 articles imported, such as tea, coffee, chicory, sugar, and 
 wine, are not produced in England, and consequently the 
 duties which were imposed upon them could not be protec- 
 tive in their character. When it is remembered that the 
 duties on all these 1142 articles have, with barely a dozen 
 exceptions, been repealed our customs' revenue being now 
 almost entirely raised from five articles, tea, coffee, tobacco, 
 spirits, and wine it at once becomes evident that the incal- 
 culable advantages resulting from the financial reforms which 
 were carried out in England thirty years since cannot be solely 
 attributed to the abolition of protection. A considerable 
 part of the benefit which has resulted is due to the simplifi- 
 cation of our fiscal system, which was secured by the repeal 
 of such a large number of duties.
 
 i.] INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 13 
 
 Nothing seems to me more certain than that in discussing 
 the position of protection at the present time something 
 more is required than perpetual appeals to the rapidity with 
 which commerce has grown and wealth has been accumu- 
 lated in England. Our opponents will not be thus convinced, 
 for they have a reply ready at hand which they are not slow 
 to use. The French protectionist may, for instance, say, 
 " What justification is there for assuming either that England 
 is so much more prosperous, or is so much more wealthy 
 than France ? In England a greater number of very large 
 fortunes may have been accumulated, but the well-being of 
 a country is not to be estimated by the extent to which 
 wealth is aggregated ; it is rather to be measured by the 
 extent to which it is diffused amongst the community. In 
 England it is notorious that those who are employed in 
 tilling the land are as a class so poor that they live from 
 hand to mouth ; they have seldom saved sufficient to main- 
 tain themselves for a single week. The French peasantry as 
 a class not only often own the land they cultivate, but are 
 the possessors of so much capital, that at the conclusion of 
 the late Franco-German war the indemnity loan of two 
 hundred millions sterling, which at first it was supposed 
 would severely strain the resources of France, might have 
 been entirely obtained from the savings of her rural 
 population." 
 
 In like manner American and other protectionists may 
 adduce statistics to show the increase of wealth which has 
 taken place under the protectionist tariffs imposed in their 
 own countries. No useful conclusion therefore can be 
 arrived at by arraying the prosperity of one country against 
 that of another. A country may be so circumstanced, its 
 people so prudent and temperate, its soil so fertile, its system 
 of land tenure economically so advantageous, its climate 
 so favourable, that protection may be powerless to arrest, 
 although it impedes its progress. I shall endeavour to show 
 that protection has always and must always exercise this
 
 14 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP 
 
 impeding influence, and that great as is the prosperity which 
 is undoubtedly enjoyed by many countries which maintain 
 protection, they would enjoy still greater prosperity if their 
 labour and capital, untrammelled by any artificial restric- 
 tions, were freely permitted to be directed to those industries 
 where they could be employed with maximum efficiency. 
 
 Although scarcely any one could now be found in England 
 who would express doubt as to the great advantages which 
 free trade confers, yet at the present time indications may 
 not unfrequently be observed which seem to show that 
 there are many among us who still imperfectly understand 
 the real nature of the benefits produced by free trade. 
 There are, for instance, many English merchants and manu- 
 facturers who apparently consider that an injustice is done 
 to them, and that an injury is inflicted on English commerce, 
 if England persists in a free-trade policy whilst various pro- 
 ducts of her industry are excluded from foreign markets by 
 protective duties. At many chambers of commerce reso- 
 lutions have been lately passed in favour of a policy of 
 reciprocity. The chairman of one. of the most important 
 of these bodies not long since referring to the probability 
 that the importation of English goods into France would be 
 still further discouraged by an increase in the existing pro- 
 tective duties, inquired whether under the circumstances the 
 English Government ought not to discourage the importation 
 of French goods into England by the imposition of duties, 
 for instance, on such an article as French silk. And another 
 member of the chamber soon afterwards declared, that 
 " one-sided free trade was an absurdity." As there is reason 
 to believe that the opinions thus expressed are largely shared 
 by many English capitalists and labourers, I shall hope in 
 a subsequent chapter to show that, however great the injury 
 inflicted on English industry by the protective tariffs of other 
 countries, this injury would not be lessened, but would, on 
 the contrary, be most seriously aggravated, by a policy of 
 retaliation.
 
 I.] INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 15 
 
 It is the more important to re-state the arguments in favour 
 of commercial freedom because even in England amongst 
 some of those who would desire to be considered the 
 strongest supporters of free trade a tendency is not un- 
 frequently shown to favour some form of industrial 
 restriction. For many years past few economic questions 
 have excited so much interest in America and Australia as 
 the proposal to restrict or prohibit the immigration of 
 Chinese labourers. This immigration of Chinese labourers 
 has not however been discussed as a question involving 
 purely economic considerations, because those who have 
 urged that this immigration should be discouraged have 
 always maintained that they are influenced by social and 
 moral, and not simply by economic, considerations ; that 
 their antipathy to the Chinese is not simply prompted by 
 a desire to maintain a high rate of wages by resisting the 
 influx of cheap labour, but that they object to the Chinese 
 because they do not wish to see their country overrun by 
 an inferior race. Recently, however, in our own country the 
 importation of labour has been opposed on grounds which 
 will enable the subject to be considered as a purely economic 
 one. Certain workmen, exercising a right which they un- 
 doubtedly possess, have lately declined to work for the 
 wages which their employers offer. The employers, finding 
 that Germans were willing to work for these wages, at once 
 decided to employ them. No one can for a moment suppose 
 that any moral disadvantage can result from the settlement 
 amongst us of a certain number of German workmen. 
 There is nothing in the German character which can justify 
 Englishmen in saying that they dread being brought into 
 contact with it In discussing the subject therefore as one 
 involving purely economic considerations, we shall have to 
 inquire whether it is possible, consistently with the principles 
 of industrial freedom, to justify any interference with this 
 importation of labour. It has often been said that the very 
 essence of free trade is contained in the maxim of buying in
 
 16 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CH. i. 
 
 the cheapest and selling in the dearest market. But is this 
 perfect freedom to buy and sell to be denied to those who 
 have labour to dispose of? The industry of a country is, 
 like a complicated machine, composed of many parts, one of 
 which, if touched, may affect the working of all the rest. 
 The denial of the right to obtain labour on the most favour- 
 able terms does not simply affect the employers and the 
 employed who may be parties to the dispute. If in conse- 
 quence of employing more expensive labour than that which 
 could otherwise be procured the cost of building a house 
 should be increased by 5o/., he who lives in that house, 
 whether as owner or as tenant, is just as certainly taxed, is 
 just as effectually prevented obtaining a commodity on the 
 cheapest terms, as is the French householder who, through 
 the imposition of a protective duty, is compelled to pay 
 twice as much as he otherwise would for every pound of 
 salt he consumes. 
 
 I have thought it desirable in these introductory remarks 
 to indicate some at least of the many subjects which will 
 be embraced in the inquiry into which I propose to enter, 
 because it may not unnaturally be thought that a discussion 
 on free trade and protection can be little else than the 
 exposure of fallacies the unsoundness of which has again 
 and again been explained. I hope 1 have already said 
 enough to show that there is no question at the present time 
 connected with political economy which has a more real or 
 living interest.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 PROTECTION. 
 
 PART I. Bounties on Exports. 
 
 THE chief advantage which protectionists claim for the 
 system they support is that it gives encouragement and 
 assistance to native industry. Protection was defended in 
 England, and is still defended in the countries where it 
 is maintained, on the ground, that various home indus- 
 tries would inevitably decline if, unaided by protective 
 duties, they had to contend against foreign competition. 
 Although this desire to protect the home trader against his 
 foreign rival may no doubt be regarded as the chief cause 
 why protectionist tariffs have been maintained, yet many 
 duties, which have been most protective in their character, 
 were in the first instance imposed not with any idea of 
 encouraging native industry, but with the very different 
 object of securing what is called a " favourable balance of 
 trade." Until a period which is marked by the publication 
 of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, it was almost univer- 
 sally assumed that the advantage or disadvantage which 
 foreign commerce conferred upon a country was solely to 
 be measured by the extent to which her stock of the 
 precious metals was either increased or diminished. If the 
 goods which a country imported exceeded in value those 
 which were exported, then a balance was due from her to 
 the countries with which she traded. Money consequently 
 had to be transmitted abroad to adjust this balance ; as it 
 was supposed that the country was rendered so much poorer 
 
 C
 
 iS FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 by the money which was thus sent away, it was thought to 
 be an object of first importance that this flow of money 
 should be checked, and, if possible, turned in an opposite 
 direction. The encouragement of exports and the dis- 
 couragement of imports consequently became the guiding 
 principle of the commercial policy of every country, because 
 the more exports were increased and the more imports were 
 diminished the greater would be the amount of money 
 which would have to be received, and the less would be 
 the amount which would have to be paid. One of the most 
 general methods which was adopted for encouraging exports 
 and discouraging imports was to give a bounty on exports, 
 and to impose heavy duties on imports. Those who sent 
 produce abroad were considered to be such benefactors of 
 their country that the money of the State could be well and 
 fairly spent in rewarding them. Those, on the other hand, 
 who imported produce would have to send money to foreign 
 countries in payment for this produce. They consequently 
 were regarded as concerned in transactions which would 
 lead to national impoverishment; it was therefore con- 
 sidered expedient to impede, by the imposition of duties 
 or in any other way, the trade in which they were engaged. 
 But the policy having been once adopted of granting 
 bounties on exports, and of imposing restraints on imports, 
 with the view of creating a favourable balance of trade, it 
 gradually came to be seen that other consequences resulted 
 from thus encouraging exports and impeding imports. It 
 was considered that by adopting such a policy two distinct 
 advantages would be secured. In the first place, native 
 industry would be assisted ; and secondly, the trade of 
 foreign countries would be impeded. The home trader 
 who received a bounty on the goods he exported might be 
 enabled to undersell his foreign competitors in their own 
 markets; whilst import duties, if made sufficiently high, 
 would effectually keep out foreign competition from the 
 home market. Commerce was so generally looked upon as
 
 ii.] PROTECTION. 19 
 
 a struggle between rival countries whose interests were 
 assumed to be entirely antagonistic, that to impede the 
 industrial development of foreign nations was supposed to 
 be scarcely less important than to aid the prosperity of 
 home trade. Even at the present time there are many who 
 still apparently think that it is to the direct interest of their 
 own country that other nations should not prosper. It will, 
 in fact, be shown when considering the arguments which are 
 now advanced in support of protection, that the only logical 
 basis on which the system can rest is the assumption that a 
 conflict is being perpetually waged between countries which 
 trade with each other, and that it is not less important in 
 this industrial war than it would be in a struggle for military 
 supremacy, to adopt every expedient in order to weaken the 
 resources of the enemy. 
 
 The policy of protection is now so generally carried out 
 by the imposition of import duties, that the subject of 
 protection is not unfrequently discussed without any special 
 reference being made to the protective influence which may 
 be exerted by the granting of bounties on exports. In past 
 times, however, these bounties played a very important part 
 in the commercial policy of many countries, and even in 
 recent times the granting of bounties, although it has been 
 to a great extent discontinued, has not been entirely given 
 up. It is well known that at the present day the French 
 government give a bounty on the export of sugar from that 
 country, with the object of encouraging the cultivation of 
 beet-root, and promoting the manufacture of sugar. The 
 subject, therefore, not only has an historical interest, but 
 is one of so much practical importance that it will be 
 desirable to direct attention to it. Adam Smith 1 says: 
 " Bounties upon exportation are, in Great Britain, frequently 
 petitioned for, and sometimes granted to the produce of 
 particular branches of domestic industry. By means of 
 them our merchants and manufacturers, it is pretended, will 
 1 Wealth of Nations, Book iv. chap. 5. 
 
 C 2
 
 20 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 be enabled to sell their goods as cheap or cheaper than 
 their rivals in the foreign market. A greater quantity, it is 
 said, will thus be exported, and the balance of trade conse- 
 quently turned more in favour of our own country." 
 Although these bounties were petitioned for and granted 
 on the ground that they would promote a favourable 
 balance of trade, which at the time was supposed to con- 
 stitute an advantage for the entire nation, yet there are clear 
 indications that those who thus petitioned for these bounties 
 were influenced not solely by an anxiety for the national 
 weal. The spirit of protection can be distinctly traced in 
 the policy which was then advocated ; for in the same 
 chapter of the Wealth of Nations from which the above 
 passage has been quoted, it is stated that manufacturers and 
 other traders greatly favoured these bounties, because they 
 not only enabled surplus stocks to be disposed of to 
 foreigners, but through their agency prices in the home 
 market were maintained at a high level. In numerous 
 instances bounties were granted on the export of the very 
 articles on which, when imported, high protective duties 
 were imposed. A remarkable example of this is afforded 
 by the high bounties which were for many years in Eng- 
 land granted on the export of corn, at the time when 
 its importation was restricted by the levying of onerous 
 duties. It therefore happened that in years when there 
 was a bountiful harvest, those who had corn to sell were 
 bribed, at the public expense, to send it abroad; and in years 
 of scarcity the general public were prevented buying the 
 food which they urgently needed, and which other countries 
 were willing to sell them, in order that those might be bene- 
 fited who were interested in the maintenance of a high 
 price for corn. It is impossible to devise any arrangement 
 which would inflict a greater amount of injustice and suffer- 
 ing on a community. In the first place, the encouragement 
 which was given to the sending of surplus corn abroad in 
 good seasons left the country with a smaller accumulated
 
 H.] PROTECTION. 21 
 
 store with which to meet times of scarcity. Secondly, 
 bounties, by increasing the demand for corn, increased its 
 price to the home consumers, who were thus in this unfortu- 
 nate position : they were taxed in order to raise the price 
 of the food they consumed. It thus appears that the 
 country was not only, through the operation of these 
 bounties, placed in a more unfavourable position to meet 
 the difficulties which had to be encountered in seasons ot 
 scarcity, but these difficulties were also greatly increased in 
 consequence of food being made artificially dear through 
 the restraints which were imposed on the importation of corn. 
 Although, therefore, it is evident that this system of grant- 
 ing bounties on exports, accompanied, as it was, with re- 
 straints upon imports, must have inflicted an incalculable 
 amount of suffering on the nation, yet the policy was not, 
 as we have seen, forced on a people unwilling to receive it ; 
 but, on the contrary, we are told that the Government was 
 constantly petitioned, by those engaged in various trades, 
 to favour them with a bounty. As this system of granting 
 bounties is still maintained in France and other countries, it 
 becomes of practical importance to inquire what is the 
 general effect of these bounties, not only upon the countries 
 in which they are granted, but on those countries to which 
 the produce receiving the bounty is exported. Adam 
 Smith has said that when a bounty was granted to any par- 
 ticular trade, those who were engaged in it considered that 
 they were favoured by a special advantage. As it seems that 
 the same opinion still prevails in countries where the system 
 of bounties is continued, it will be desirable to ascertain 
 what is the precise effect upon those who are concerned in 
 the production of any particular commodity, the export of 
 which is stimulated by bounties. This may be shown by 
 tracing the effect of granting a bounty on the export of 
 sugar from France. It is the more desirable to consider this 
 particular example, because at the present time this is by far 
 the most important industry which receives a bounty ; and
 
 22 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 also, because as beet-root, from which sugar is made in 
 France, is largely grown in France, the case will afford an 
 opportunity of considering the influence exercised by a 
 bounty, both upon a manufacturing and an agricultural 
 industry. 
 
 Owing to the complicated and indirect way in which this 
 bounty is received, there is a great divergence of opinion with 
 regard to the amount which is annually expended upon it. 
 The French Government allege that the bounty involves a 
 charge on their revenue of about 36o,ooo/., whereas the 
 English sugar refiners assert that the annual charge is not 
 less than 750,0007., or 8oo,ooo/. If a certain fixed sum 
 were simply given on each ton of sugar exported, the amount 
 of the charge would, of course, be at once known. The 
 bounty is, however, received in such an indirect manner, 
 that there is considerable difficulty in calculating its exact 
 amount. A duty is in France charged on raw sugar in pro- 
 portion to its estimated yield of refined sugar. In order, 
 however, to encourage the French sugar-refining industry, 
 the Government give a drawback on refined sugar, when it is 
 exported, which is professed to be equivalent to the duty 
 imposed on raw sugar. If the refiner received as a draw- 
 back upon the refined sugar which he exported an amount 
 exactly equivalent to the duty which he paid on the raw 
 sugar, it is obvious that he would receive no bounty on 
 export, he would obtain from the Government no more than 
 he had paid them. It is, however, alleged that the duties 
 are calculated on such a basis, that the drawback which is 
 given on the refined sugar exported, exceeds by about ten 
 per cent, the amount which is paid on the raw sugar. The 
 duty is very high, being nearly equivalent to the value of the 
 sugar, and it is calculated that the bounty, which is in this 
 way given, amounts to about 35. per cwt. 1 Such a bounty 
 represents at least 10 per cent, of the value of the sugar 
 
 1 See paper read by a leading English sugar refiner, Mr. George Mar- 
 tineau, at the Brighton meeting of the Social Science Association, 1875.
 
 ii.] PROTECTION. 23 
 
 exported. The French sugar manufacturers would of course 
 be great gainers if they could appropriate to themselves the 
 whole of this bounty ; for in addition to the ordinary current 
 rate of profit on the sugar which they sell for home con- 
 sumption, they would obtain, as extra profit, ten per cent, 
 on the entire amount which was sold for export. Such 
 a business would evidently be so exceptionally remunera- 
 tive, that each sugar manufacturer would eagerly strive to 
 appropriate to himself as much as possible of the business 
 so peculiarly lucrative. The result of this struggle must in- 
 evitably be to force down the price of the sugar exported; 
 for the manufacturer would still be a considerable gainer if 
 he obtained, on each ton of sugar exported, $s. more than 
 if the sugar were sold at home. The effect of the bounty 
 must, therefore, be to enable England and other foreign 
 countries to purchase French sugar at a considerably lower 
 price. This reduction in price will approximate to the 
 amount of the bounty. The competition of the French 
 sugar manufacturers amongst themselves will prevent them 
 obtaining a larger profit on the sugar which is exported than 
 upon that which is sold for home consumption; conse- 
 quently the bounty, which is given by the French Govern- 
 ment on the export of sugar, although intended to promote 
 the prosperity of the French sugar trade, is really almost 
 entirely spent in enabling the English people and others, 
 who use French sugar, to enjoy the advantage of purchasing 
 it at considerably below cost price. The French Govern- 
 ment really act as if, prompted by a generous desire to make 
 a gift to their foreign neighbours, they said to the sugar 
 manufacturers in France : If you will sell to the English 
 people and other foreigners, such a useful article as sugar at 
 considerably less than its cost price, we will compensate you 
 by a Government grant for any loss which you may have 
 to bear. 
 
 By thus artificially stimulating the export of sugar from 
 France, the French sugar trade is no doubt extended, and
 
 24 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 the demand for French beet-root and other materials, out of 
 which sugar is made, is increased. But when considering 
 any attempts that may be made either by bounties on ex- 
 ports, or by restraints on imports, to give an artificial 
 encouragement to any particular trade, it cannot be too dis- 
 tinctly borne in mind that it is impossible permanently to 
 secure an exceptionally high rate of profit to any branch of 
 industry, unless free admission to it is barred, and those who 
 are -engaged in it enjoy the privileges of a close monopoly. 
 In every commercial country there are always many who, 
 possessing a large amount of floating capital, are constantly 
 looking out for a lucrative investment ; and water is not 
 more certain to find its level than is this capital to flow into 
 those channels where it can be used with the greatest advan- 
 tage. If, therefore, by giving such a bounty as that on French 
 sugar, it should be supposed that an amount equivalent 
 to the bounty, were added to the profits of a particular class 
 of traders, there would be an eager rush of those who had 
 capital to employ, to share in the exceptional gains yielded 
 by this favoured branch of industry. There could be no 
 certainty that this flow of capital would be kept within due 
 control, and it might not improbably happen that those who 
 were engaged in the trade on which the bounty is given 
 would find that, instead of being a privileged class who are 
 enjoying special advantages, the profits of their business 
 had been reduced below the average rate owing to the 
 excessive amount of capital that had been attracted to it. 
 
 The price of the article, the export of which is stimulated 
 by a bounty, will no doubt be generally raised ; and this has 
 probably led to the belief that bounties are particularly 
 advantageous to the special class of traders who obtain them. 
 Even Adam Smith when referring to the bounties which in 
 his time were given on corn, speaks as if farmers were 
 specially benefited by the price of agricultural produce 
 being maintained at a high level. It can, however, be 
 shown that whenever the price of an article is artificially
 
 II.] PROTECTION. 25 
 
 raised, either by encouraging exports or discouraging im- 
 ports, the higher price does not represent an increased rate 
 of profit, but is nothing more than a bare compensation 
 given to the trader, because he has to carry on his industry 
 at a greater cost. It has been already explained that capital 
 is sure to be drawn to any trade which is supposed to yield 
 an unusually high rate of profit; and thus the force of 
 competition being ever present to exercise an equalising 
 influence, will prevent a larger return being realized from 
 those trades which are protected, than from other industries 
 carried on in the same country. When the corn laws were 
 in operation in England, corn no doubt was made extremely 
 dear ; but it will be subsequently shown that in no period 
 were the English tenant-farmers in a more depressed con- 
 dition. During the period of the corn laws, committees 
 were again and again appointed by Parliament to inquire 
 into the causes of agricultural distress, and it was then 
 proved that as prices rose, rents were advanced. Not only 
 did this increase of rent absorb all the advantage which the 
 farmers might have derived from the high prices which were 
 created through protection, but a most serious injury was 
 inflicted upon them by the very legislation which was 
 presumably passed in their interest. The effect of the 
 corn laws in raising prices was over-estimated ; rents 
 were calculated on a basis of high prices, which in the 
 average of years were not maintained ; and farmers con- 
 sequently were unable to pay the rents which had been 
 agreed upon. The only class, therefore, who can perma- 
 nently profit from any particular produce being made arti- 
 ficially dear, are those who own the land on which the 
 produce is grown, and not those who either rent it, or those 
 who use the produce as the raw material of some manu- 
 facture. Thus the stimulus which is given to the export of 
 French sugar by the present bounty may, by increasing the 
 demand for beet-root from which this sugar is so largely 
 made, increase its price, and thus additional value may be
 
 26 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 given to the land on which the beet-root is grown. But the 
 gain which is in this way secured by a special class, is pur- 
 chased at the expense of the entire French nation. The 
 whole community is, in fact, doubly taxed. In the first 
 place, the bounty, whether it costs 750,0007., or only 
 36o,ooo/. a year, still represents a very serious charge which 
 has to be borne by the entire body of French tax-payers. 
 This charge, however, large though it is, can only be regarded 
 as a portion of the burden which is thrown upon them ; for 
 if sugar is raised as little as a farthing a pound in France by 
 this forced export, and this is a very moderate estimate, the 
 additional price, which the French will be compelled to pay 
 for their sugar, cannot be less than i,ooo,ooo/. a year. 
 
 The chief results that are secured by the imposition of 
 this onerous fine, are first, that more of the land, capital, and 
 labour of France, are devoted to the growing of beet-root 
 than would otherwise be the case, and the value of the land, 
 suitable for the growth of beet-root, is somewhat enhanced ; 
 secondly, that French sugar is sold at a lower rate in 
 England and other countries, than it otherwise would be. 
 
 It would certainly seem that we should be the last to 
 complain if the French are willing thus to tax themselves 
 for our benefit. The English sugar refiners have, however, 
 repeatedly endeavoured to induce our Government to inter- 
 pose on their behalf, and to protect them against French 
 competition by imposing on French sugar an import duty, 
 which would neutralize the effect of the bounty. Consider- 
 able injury is no doubt inflicted on English sugar refiners by 
 the French being bribed by their Government to sell sugar 
 in the English market at a price which without a State 
 subvention would not prove remunerative. If, however, 
 we once embark on the policy of protecting a special trade 
 against the harm which may be done to it by some other 
 country adopting an unwise fiscal policy, we should soon 
 find ourselves involved in a labyrinth of commercial restric- 
 tions, and our tariff would become as protectionist as is the
 
 II.] PROTECTION. 27 
 
 tariff of the most protectionist country. We occasionally 
 hear of iron being imported into England from Belgium, 
 and of cotton goods being sent to us from America. Our 
 ports are freely open to receive any quantity of these 
 products which America or Belgium may be willing to send 
 us ; and yet our manufacturers find that they cannot export 
 a single ton of iron to Belgium, or a single bale of cotton 
 goods to the United States, without the payment of import 
 duties. If, therefore, English sugar refiners were protected 
 against the competition of cheap French sugar, English iron- 
 masters and English cotton manufacturers would be able to 
 put forward an unanswerable claim to be secured against the 
 competition of their foreign rivals. It usually happens that 
 we, as a nation, obtain no compensating advantage for the 
 injury which is done us by the protectionist tariffs of other 
 countries. It can no doubt be shown that those who main- 
 tain these tariffs inflict a far greater injury upon themselves 
 than they do upon us ; but it cannot be denied that the 
 English suffer, as a nation, by the commercial restrictions of 
 other countries. When, however, the encouragement to 
 home industry, which is supposed to be the main object 
 of protection, is secured, not by imposing restraints on 
 imports, but by granting bounties on exports, the loss 
 which such a policy entails does not extend beyond the 
 country which adopts it. England, as we have seen, gains, 
 as certainly as France loses, by the bounty on French 
 sugar ; and as long as France is willing to tax herself for 
 our benefit, why should we refuse to accept the advantage 
 which is offered to us ? We should be simply giving a new 
 sanction to protection if the import of cheap sugar from 
 France were impeded, with the view of causing such an 
 advance in the price of sugar as would make the trade of 
 sugar-refining in England adequately remunerative.
 
 28 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 PART II. Restraints on Imports. 
 
 IN proceeding to consider the effects which are produced 
 by imposing protective duties on imports, it will be neces- 
 sary, in the first instance, to point out the very important 
 difference there is between an import duty which is imposed 
 for purposes of revenue, and one which is maintained with 
 the view of protecting some home industry against foreign 
 competition. A country can obtain a very large portion of 
 its revenue, as England does at the present time, from 
 import duties, without there being a trace of protection in 
 its fiscal system. The import duties which are levied in 
 England may be divided into two classes. First, duties are 
 imposed on articles which are not produced in the country 
 itself, such as tea and coffee ; secondly, duties are levied 
 on some article, such as malt or spirits; an excise duty 
 exactly equivalent to this import duty being imposed on 
 English-made malt and spirits. When an import duty only 
 corresponds to an excise duty of the same amount, it is 
 evident that the foreign and the home producer are placed 
 in a position of equality, and the import duty cannot be 
 regarded as protective. 
 
 It has been sometimes maintained that even an import 
 duty which comes within the first of these two classes, gives, 
 under certain circumstances, an advantage to the home 
 trader, and thus assumes a protective character. If there 
 are two articles used for similar purposes, and if the one 
 which is imported is taxed, and the other, which is a 
 product of home industry, is untaxed, the import duty 
 undoubtedly would exert a protective influence, because, 
 by making the article which is imported dearer, it would 
 discourage its use, and would, pro tanto, give an advantage 
 to the product of home growth. Thus if in England the 
 malt duty were repealed, and beer consequently became 
 untaxed, and if at the same time an import duty were levied
 
 PROTECTION. 29 
 
 on wine, such a duty might be regarded as protective ; 
 because wine which was taxed might often come into 
 direct competition with beer which was untaxed. Such an 
 objection, however, cannot be raised to import duties as 
 they are levied in England. English and foreign-made 
 spirits are taxed at the same rate ; and the foreign countries 
 which send us tea, coffee, and wine, cannot complain that 
 these articles are placed at a disadvantage in the English 
 market because they have to compete with English-made 
 beer which is more lightly taxed. The malt duty is 
 certainly quite as high an ad valorem tax as the import 
 duty which is levied upon tea and foreign wines. However 
 careful a country may be to remove all traces of protection 
 from its fiscal system, yet it is impossible to prevent an 
 import duty causing some loss and . inconvenience to the 
 countries from which any particular article liable to such 
 a duty is exported. If tea were admitted into England 
 duty free, there would of course be a reduction in its price. 
 The consumption of tea in England would consequently 
 considerably increase; and China, the East Indies, and 
 other countries which supply us with tea, would undoubtedly 
 obtain a somewhat better price for tea owing to this in- 
 creased demand. Although, therefore, all import duties, 
 even if they are not protective, must be disadvantageous 
 to the countries from which the articles are exported which 
 are subjected to duties, yet there is this fundamental and 
 important distinction between an import duty which is 
 imposed for purposes of revenue, and one which is main- 
 tained with the object of giving protection to home industry. 
 In the former case, the object those have in view who im- 
 pose the duty, is to encourage importation ; because the 
 greater the importation, the larger is the revenue obtained 
 In the second case, the object being to discourage importa- 
 tion, the smaller the amount of revenue obtained, the more 
 completely will the purpose of the duty have been achieved. 
 In the entire tariff of the United States there is probably
 
 30 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 no import duty which is considered to be more entirely 
 successful than that which is levied on imported copper. 
 This duty so completely defeats foreign competition, that 
 the quantity of copper imported into the United States 
 is so insignificant, that the duty 1 in 1869 only yielded 
 30,683 dols. It has been calculated that the Government 
 really obtains no revenue at all from the duty, because 
 these 30,000 dols. are supposed to provide a very inade- 
 quate compensation for the increased price which the 
 Government pays for the copper used in the navy yards and 
 other State departments. 
 
 It is evident that the home trader, independently of any 
 aid that he may derive from protective duties, must always 
 in his own market enjoy an advantage which may be re- 
 garded as conferring upon him a kind of natural protection ; 
 because the cost of carriage is necessarily a more important 
 factor in the price of foreign than of home produce. Thus 
 if it cost 30^. a ton to send iron from England to Chicago, 
 and only ioj. a ton to send it there from the iron districts 
 of Pennsylvania, it is evident that if English iron were 
 admitted duty free into the United States the American 
 ironmasters would still have a great advantage in their 
 own markets. Suppose iron were sold for 5/. a ton at 
 Chicago ; the English would not be able to obtain one 
 penny a ton more for their iron because of the greater 
 expense to which they had been subjected in bringing it 
 from so great a distance. Consequently, of the 5/. which 
 the English receive for a ton of iron, only jos. would be 
 paid for the iron : the remaining 30^. would represent cost 
 of carriage. The American ironmaster, however, only 
 having to pay los. a ton for cost of carriage, would receive 
 9OJ. for each ton of iron which he sold ; he therefore would 
 virtually obtain 205. more for every ton of iron than his 
 English competitor ; and this might be sufficient amply to 
 
 1 See the essay in the Cobden Club Essays, 1871-2, called "A 
 Chapter in Politico- Economic History," by the Hon. David A. Wells.
 
 n.] PROTECTION. 31 
 
 compensate him for having to pay higher wages or for any 
 other circumstance which might make the cost of pro- 
 ducing iron in America greater than in England. I have 
 thought it desirable to describe the advantage which the 
 home trader thus derives from this natural protection, 
 because it will be necessary to refer to the subject when 
 considering the arguments which are advanced in support 
 of protective tariffs. 
 
 In proceeding to consider the effects produced by import 
 duties imposed for purposes of protection and not for 
 revenue, it will be important carefully to distinguish between 
 the influence exerted by a protective duty on the country 
 in which it is imposed, and the influence it exerts on the 
 countries from which the produce subject to the duty is 
 exported. 
 
 In the introductory chapter allusion was made to the 
 fact that whereas agricultural produce used to be most 
 carefully protected in England, protective duties are now 
 chiefly employed in other countries, to secure various 
 branches of manufacturing industry against foreign com- 
 petition. Although, therefore, it may appear to be at the 
 present time of most practical importance to trace the 
 effects of protecting manufacturing industry, yet there are 
 many reasons why it is desirable to commence the inquiry 
 by considering the consequences of imposing protective 
 duties on the importation of agricultural produce. Manu- 
 facturing and agricultural industry are so inextricably inter- 
 twined that it is impossible to protect the one without 
 exercising a considerable influence on the other. Thus it 
 has been shown that the owners of land, on which beet-root 
 is grown, are far more affected by the bounty which is now 
 given in France on the export of sugar than are the manu- 
 facturers of sugar, although it is their industry which the 
 bounty is particularly intended to foster. A brief descrip- 
 tion of some of the consequences which were produced in 
 England by the protection which was given to agriculture
 
 32 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 will enable us more clearly to understand the effects which 
 result from the protective duties which are now maintained 
 on various branches of manufacturing industry in France, 
 Germany, America, and other countries. 
 
 It has already been explained that protection may be 
 regarded as the natural outgrowth of the mercantile system. 
 Exports were encouraged and imports discouraged with the 
 primary object of securing a favourable balance of trade. 
 It was soon, however, perceived that this policy could be 
 made to serve another purpose ; for it was evident that by 
 thus increasing the foreign demand for any particular pro- 
 duct, and imposing difficulties in the way of a supply being 
 obtained from abroad, a double influence was brought into 
 operation to raise its price. It used to be almost universally 
 supposed that to maintain a high level of prices was the 
 most certain way to secure industrial prosperity. Thus it 
 was thought that the dearer agricultural produce became, the 
 more advantageous it would be for farmers, landowners, 
 and all who were concerned in the cultivation of the land. 
 The agricultural interest in the last century was able to 
 exercise a predominant influence in the English legislature ; 
 and consequently agriculture obtained, to a far larger extent 
 than any other industry, what was then regarded as the 
 boon of protection. It has already been shown how public 
 money was spent to procure, through bounties, a high price 
 for corn in those plentiful seasons when there was a surplus 
 to be exported ; and when seasons were not so favourable, 
 such effectual precautions were taken to prevent the 
 agricultural interest being deprived of the advantage of high 
 prices, that Adam Smith tells us that in his time when corn 
 was below a certain price, its importation was entirely for- 
 bidden, and that even in seasons of moderate plenty the 
 duties on corn amounted to prohibition. With regard to 
 the importation of other articles of food still greater solici- 
 tude was shown, to secure for the agricultural interest the 
 high prices resulting from a strict monopoly. No live stock
 
 ii.] PROTECTION. 33 
 
 and no fresh meat were permitted to be imported ; and for 
 many years English farmers and English landowners were 
 so terrified, even of the competition of Ireland, that no 
 Irish cattle were allowed to be sent to England. So mis- 
 chievous was it considered that the people should use any 
 butter that was not produced in England, that although 
 butter might be imported to serve as grease for machinery, 
 yet the Custom House authorities were strictly enjoined to 
 thrust a stick covered with tar through every firkin of 
 imported butter, and thus render it useless for food. 
 Endless were the ramifications of injustice into which the 
 legislature were led in their desire to protect English 
 agriculture from foreign competition. No sooner was it 
 seen that cotton goods would be largely used than a 
 demand arose that British wool and flax should be pro- 
 tected from such an encroachment. 1 Accordingly, in 1721, 
 a law was passed imposing a penalty of 5/. on the wearer, 
 and 2o/. on the seller, of a piece of calico. Fifteen years 
 later, calicoes manufactured in Great Britain were allowed to 
 be worn, " provided that the warp thereof was made entirely 
 of linen yam." In 1774, printed calicoes subjected to a 
 duty of 3//. a yard, were allowed to be worn. This duty 
 was raised to $\d. in 1806. Raw cotton was at the same 
 time subjected to a heavy import duty. The persistent 
 attempts which were thus made to impede the manufacture 
 of cotton in England afford a striking example of the 
 mischief which a protective policy is liable to produce. It 
 is impossible for the wisest statesmen to foresee what 
 will be the course of national industry ; from motives of 
 mistaken patriotism, misled by the prevalent theories in 
 favour of protection, English statesmen, for more than a 
 hundred years, for the sake of securing a high price for 
 home-grown wool and flax, put most serious impediments 
 
 1 Much interesting information on these and kindred subjects is 
 contained in a book to which I have already referred, entitled Cobdcii 
 and the League, by Mr. Henry Ashworth, of Bolton. 
 
 D
 
 34 
 
 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. 
 
 [CHAP. 
 
 in the way of the progress of the cotton manufacture in 
 this country, which has since become one of the largest and 
 most important of our national industries. 
 
 During the closing years of the last, and the commence- 
 ment of the present century, the foreign trade of England 
 was so much impeded by war, so many ports were closed 
 from which she could have obtained food and other com- 
 modities, that prices, especially of agricultural produce, 
 were for many years maintained at an unusually high level. 
 When, therefore, peace was concluded in 1815, the agricul- 
 tural interest became alarmed. Ports which had been closed 
 were re-opened ; prices, it was said, would rapidly fall, and 
 more protection was consequently demanded. The enact- 
 ments known as the Corn Laws were then passed in de- 
 ference to the claims thus put forward by those interested 
 in agriculture. The high prices they had obtained in con- 
 sequence of the war, they now endeavoured to retain through 
 the agency of protective duties. It was therefore enacted 
 that no importation of wheat should be permitted until it 
 had reached the price of 8os. a quarter in the English 
 market, and a proportionately high price was fixed for the 
 exclusion of other grain. These regulations continued in 
 operation, without any material alteration, until 1828, when 
 the sliding scale was introduced. The principle of the 
 sliding scale was to increase the import duties on wheat in 
 proportion to its cheapness in the English market, and thus 
 it was supposed that a high level of prices would be 
 permanently maintained. 
 
 When the average price of wheat was 73^. the duty was is. a quarter. 
 
 zs. 8a. 
 
 62S. 
 
 56s. 
 4.6s. 
 36*. 
 
 24J. 8</. 
 
 30*. &/. 
 
 4<w. 8</. 
 
 0*. SJ. 
 
 One of the great evils associated with the sliding scale, 
 was the extreme uncertainty which it threw over the foreign
 
 ir.] PROTECTION. 35 
 
 wheat trade. Thus if when wheat was at 73^. a quarter in 
 England, a merchant purchased wheat in Odessa at 65^. a 
 quarter, and paid $s. a quarter for its carriage to England, 
 he might find that, before he could sell it, wheat had fallen in 
 price to 6zj. a quarter. He would not only lose 8s. a quarter 
 owing to this fall in price (this may be considered as the 
 natural and inevitable risk connected with trade), but his 
 loss would be at once quadrupled, owing to the sliding 
 scale ; because, instead of having to pay a nominal duty of 
 is. a quarter, he would have to pay a duty of 245. &d. 
 A merchant would not incur this enormous risk, unless 
 he received an adequate compensation. Wheat conse- 
 quently would not be imported unless it could be purchased 
 in the foreign market at such a price as would, on the 
 average of transactions, leave a margin sufficient not only 
 to yield the ordinary trade profit and to pay the cost of 
 carriage, but also to provide a fund which might be regarded 
 as an insurance to cover the loss of having to pay a largely 
 increased duty. 
 
 After the description which has just been given of the 
 various regulations which, during more than a century, were 
 put in force in England with the object of securing a high 
 price for agricultural produce, it must be admitted that if 
 the welfare of an industry depended upon the protection it 
 enjoyed, those who were engaged in English agriculture 
 ought to have been among the most prosperous of the com- 
 munity. I will, therefore, proceed to inquire into the in- 
 fluence which was exercised by this protection and by the 
 high prices it produced, upon the three classes concerned in 
 agriculture, namely landowners, fanners, and labourers. It 
 will be easy to show that these high prices were of no per- 
 manent advantage either to farmers or to labourers ; that the 
 extra price which was secured for agricultural produce was 
 appropriated by the landowners in the form of higher rents ; 
 that neither the profits of the farmer, nor the wages of the 
 labourer, were increased ; but, on the contrary, the capital 
 
 D 2
 
 3 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 and the labour, which were applied to the cultivation of the 
 land, participated in that general diminution of productive- 
 ness with which the entire capital and labour of the country 
 were stricken in consequence of the impediments which 
 were thrown in the way of the nation's industry. When 
 the corn law was passed in 1815, the farmers were con- 
 fidently told that a beneficent legislature had ordained that 
 wheat would never be less than Sos. a quarter. A glowing 
 description of agricultural prosperity was given, in which the 
 farmers, selling their wheat at Sos. a quarter in all seasons, 
 would be the worthy recipients of increasing wealth which 
 would be largely shared by a happy and thriving peasantry. 
 When the sliding scale was introduced, the farmers were 
 once more told that they had been secured a high price for 
 their corn, and that they could always reckon on obtaining 
 64^. a quarter for their wheat. During the thirty years 
 between 1815 and 1845, when the corn laws and the 
 sliding scale were in operation, agriculture, instead of en- 
 joying this promised prosperity, was in a state of exceptional 
 depression. Within this time no less than five committees 
 of the House of Commons were appointed to investigate 
 the causes of agricultural distress. From the evidence 
 given before these committees it was conclusively shown 
 that the high price of agricultural produce had yielded no 
 extra profits to the farmer and no extra wages to the 
 labourer, but that it had been absorbed in increased rents. 
 In fact the corn laws and the sliding scale instead of having 
 conferred any advantage upon the farmers, had caused them 
 a most serious loss. The confident opinions that were ex- 
 pressed at the time the corn laws were passed, that the 
 price of wheat would be maintained at 8oj. a quarter, caused 
 land to be re-valued, and rents to be re-adjusted on the 
 supposition that farmers would always sell their corn at this 
 price. It was soon found that those who passed these laws 
 had considerably over-estimated the influence they would 
 exercise on prices, and consequently the farmers quickly
 
 II.] PROTECTION. 37 
 
 discovered that the chief result to them of the legislation 
 from which they had expected so much benefit, was that 
 they had entered into engagements to cultivate land at a 
 rent which they could not possibly afford to pay. This fact 
 powerfully contributed to the success of the free trade 
 agitation in England. The fate of protection was insepar- 
 ably bound up in this country with the corn laws ; and the 
 corn laws were doomed from the moment when the farmers 
 could be made to see that these laws, instead of increasing 
 their profits and conferring on them advantages which 
 other men of business did not enjoy, had been used by land- 
 owners and their agents to induce them unwarily to agree 
 to pay rents which proved their ruin. 
 
 In July, 1843, a meeting was held at Colchester in sup- 
 port of the repeal of the corn laws, and a strenuous effort 
 was made to convert the meeting into an important pro- 
 tectionist demonstration. The proceedings of that meeting 
 showed that protection was about to be successfully attacked 
 in its stronghold, for the farmers who had hitherto been its 
 most devoted advocates, were at length beginning to per- 
 ceive that whatever protection might have done for others 
 it had not profited them. The greatest importance was at 
 the time attributed to this meeting. All the agricultural asso- 
 ciations of Essex had combined to secure a triumph for the 
 protectionist party. The entire county had been canvassed 
 by the leading landowners, and by the rural clergy. On the 
 day of meeting the farmers assembled in such great num- 
 bers that it was supposed even by the advocates of free 
 trade that a resolution in favour of protection would be 
 carried by a large majority. As the proceedings went on, 
 the opinion of the meeting seems to have been so com- 
 pletely changed, that a resolution was ultimately passed in 
 favour of free trade by a majority of two to one. This 
 result was chiefly brought about by a speech from Mr. 
 Cobden, who in various ways appealed to the farmers 
 honestly to confess whether they had been made more
 
 38 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 prosperous by protection. He quoted with great effect 
 the evidence which had been given by several Essex farmers 
 before one of the numerous parliamentary committees which 
 had inquired into the causes of agricultural distress. They 
 all agreed in the opinion that rents had been so high since 
 the corn laws and the sliding scale had been in operation, 
 that the farmers had as a body been unable to pay their 
 way, and that they had been steadily diminishing their 
 capital and adding to their arrears of rent. 
 
 With this decline in the prosperity of the farmer and with 
 this decrease in the amount of capital which he could afford 
 to employ in the cultivation of the land, it was inevitable 
 that there should be a marked deterioration in the condition 
 of the agricultural labourer. There probably never was a 
 time when the rural labourer was in a more deplorable con- 
 dition. With the diminution in the farmers' capital the 
 demand for labour decreased. The general trade of the 
 country had become so paralysed that there was no outlet 
 for the unemployed labour which was steadily accumulating 
 in the rural districts. Wages consequently were reduced to 
 a minimum ; often not more than 7J-. or Ss. a week could be 
 earned, and the greatest distress prevailed in the rural districts. 
 
 In thus referring to the depressed condition in which the 
 farmers and their labourers were at the time when the corn 
 laws and the sliding scale were in operation, it must not be 
 supposed that there was no other cause besides protection 
 for this agricultural distress. The old poor law remained 
 in operation until 1834, and the encouragement it gave to 
 every form of improvidence powerfully contributed to lower 
 the condition of the labouring population. Its pauperising 
 influence was specially felt in the rural districts, and the 
 miserable state of dependence and poverty to which the 
 agricultural labourers were reduced, is probably to be attri- 
 buted quite as much to its agency as to the impediments 
 which protection caused to industrial prosperity. Again, 
 with regard to the position of the farmers under protection,
 
 ii.] PROTECTION. 39 
 
 it is obvious that their depressed condition, to which refer- 
 ence has just been made, cannot be fairly considered as a 
 necessary consequence of the corn laws and of the sliding 
 scale. The effect which these restrictions would have in 
 maintaining the price of corn at a high level, was over- 
 estimated, and consequently rents were fixed so high as to 
 prove disastrous to the farmers. If there had been no 
 attempt to give protection to agriculture, this excessive rise 
 in rents would have been avoided ; yet the fact that rents 
 were excessive was undoubtedly due to the impossibility of 
 estimating what would be the effect on the price of corn 
 which these restrictions on importation would produce. It 
 is however abundantly clear that rents were adjusted in 
 strict accordance with what was supposed would be the 
 average price of corn. General economic considerations 
 would lead to the conclusion that this is the inevitable 
 course which would be adopted. If, with an advance in 
 agricultural prices, rents remained unaltered, the returns of 
 the farmer would necessarily be largely increased. The ex- 
 ceptional profits which he would enjoy would attract other 
 capitalists. Farms would be eagerly competed for and 
 rents would rise. This competition and the rise in rents 
 would continue until the extra rent paid neutralized any 
 advantage which had for a time been derived from the rise 
 in prices. During the interval which would elapse before 
 competition would be able to exercise its full influence the 
 farmers would be enjoying extra profits. They would con- 
 sequently be anxious to employ as much labour as possible ; 
 the demand for labour would increase, and wages would 
 advance. But this advance could only be temporary ; the 
 extra profits which prompted the increased demand for 
 labour would, as has been shown, be rapidly absorbed in 
 higher rents ; even if this were not the case the general 
 competition of the labour market would prevent labour 
 employed in agriculture receiving an exceptionally high . 
 remuneration ; just in the same way as the competition of
 
 40 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 capital seeking employment will prevent the rate of profit 
 in any particular industry being abnormally high. 
 
 It therefore appears that the effect of producing by pro- 
 tection a rise in the price of agricultural produce, is to cause 
 an advance in rents. This rise in price is however power- 
 less permanently to secure either for the farmer or the 
 labourer, any exceptional advantages. The remuneration 
 which they respectively receive must ultimately be deter- 
 mined by the general rates of profit and of wages prevail- 
 ing in other branches of industry. In order therefore to 
 ascertain the ultimate consequences to the farmer and to 
 the agricultural labourer of raising the price of agricultural 
 produce by the imposition of protective duties, it will be 
 necessary to explain the influence which such a rise of prices 
 will exert on the general industrial economy of the country. 
 If by making food and other agricultural produce dearer, 
 the general remuneration of capital and labour is increased, 
 the farmers and their labourers must share the advantage 
 with the rest of the community, and there will be an 
 advance both in agricultural profits and in agricultural 
 wages. If, on the contrary, it can be shown that by making 
 food dearer, every industry is carried on under greater 
 difficulties, and labour and capital become generally less 
 productive, then the farmers and their labourers will not 
 be able to escape the loss caused by this decline in industrial 
 prosperity, and the returns to their capital and labour will 
 be diminished. It can, I think, be conclusively shown that 
 the inevitable consequence of making food dear must be to 
 diminish the productiveness both of labour and capital, 
 and that in all industries including agriculture there will be 
 a decline both in profits and wages. It is not more certain 
 that the returns to industry will be lessened by making food 
 artificially dear, than it is that the efficient working of a 
 machine will be impeded it unnecessary obstacles are 
 thrown in the way of its free movement. Suppose for 
 instance that by restricting importation, bread, butter,
 
 ii.] PROTECTION. 41 
 
 cheese, and other such articles of general consumption 
 were all made forty per cent, dearer; a labourer would 
 find that what he was before able to purchase for $s. now 
 cost him 7,?. In this event one of two things must occur. 
 If his wages are not advanced in consequence of this rise 
 in the price of food, a most serious loss will be inflicted 
 upon him. His wages though nominally the same as 
 before, are really greatly reduced, for he finds that all that 
 portion of his wages which he spends in procuring food and 
 the other articles which are made artificially dear, has lost a 
 considerable part of its purchasing power. The loss which 
 will be thus inflicted on him will be more serious than that 
 which others will have to bear ; but it can be readily shown 
 that the injury which is done to the labourers, will spread 
 far and wide over the rest of the community. Consider for 
 instance how the trade of the manufacturer will be affected. 
 If a labourer has to pay "js. instead of 5-r. for food, so much 
 less will be left to him to lay out in clothes and other 
 articles which he is accustomed to purchase. In all the 
 most important manufacturing industries of a country, it is 
 the outlay of the masses of the people which constitutes 
 the chief demand. If they have less to spend there will 
 be a serious falling off in the demand ; trade will become 
 depressed, profits will decline, and the injury thus inflicted 
 both on capital and labour will go on accumulating; for 
 with this decline in profits there will be less inducement to 
 invest capital in business ; wages will consequently be re- 
 duced and the sufferings of the labourer will be aggravated, 
 for he will find that instead of receiving higher wages to 
 compensate him for the increasing dearness of food, his 
 wages are steadily declining with the diminution of his 
 employer's profits. 
 
 In case it should be supposed that this description of the 
 effect of making food artificially dear is merely an imaginary 
 one, deduced from theoretical considerations, it may be well 
 to call attention to some facts illustrative of the general
 
 42 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 economic condition of England during the thirty years 
 when the corn laws and the sliding scale were in operation, 
 and when the policy of giving protection to agriculture was 
 in its fullest vigour. The period to which I refer was a 
 time of profound peace. That disastrous rivalry in military 
 armaments, which was inaugurated with the establishment of 
 the second empire in France, had not commenced ; the 
 national expenditure was at its lowest point ; and yet during 
 these thirty years, between 1815 and 1845, there was abso- 
 lutely no development in the trade of the country. In 1841 
 the exports were about fifty-one millions a year, the precise 
 amount at which they stood a quarter of a century pre- 
 viously." Reference has already been made to the depressed 
 condition of agriculture, and to the fact that during the 
 thirty years that the corn laws were in operation, five par- 
 liamentary committees were appointed to inquire into the 
 causes of agricultural distress. During the thirty years since 
 1845, agriculture has had no protection ; and although there 
 have been times when unpropitious seasons caused losses to 
 farmers, yet on no single occasion has the general condition 
 of agriculture been such as to call for a parliamentary inquiry. 
 But depressed as was the condition of agriculture during 
 the continuance of the corn laws, the general trade of the 
 country was, if possible, in a more unsatisfactory position. 
 The following description is a faithful record, by a contem- 
 porary observer, of the condition of the country in 1841, 
 when Sir Robert Peel took office : " The distress had now 
 so deepened in the manufacturing districts as to render it 
 clearly inevitable that many must die, and a multitude be 
 lowered to a state of sickness and irritability from want of 
 food ; while there seemed no chance of any member of the 
 manufacturing classes coming out of the struggle at last 
 with a vestige of property, wherewith to begin the world 
 again. The pressure had long extended beyond the interests 
 first affected ; and, when the new ministry came into power, 
 there seemed to be no class that was not threatened with
 
 ii.j PROTECTION. 43 
 
 ruin. In Carlisle, the Committee of Inquiry reported that a 
 fourth of the population was in a state bordering on starva- 
 tion actually certain to die of famine, unless relieved by 
 extraordinary exertions. In the woollen districts of Wiltshire 
 the allowance to the independent labourer was not two- 
 thirds of the minimum in the workhouse." .... "In 
 Stockport, more than half the master spinners had failed 
 before the close of 1842 : dwelling-houses, to the number o 
 3,000, were shut up ; and the occupiers of many hundreds 
 were unable to pay rates at all. Five thousand persons 
 were walking the streets in compulsory idleness ; and the 
 Burnley guardians wrote to the Secretary of State that 
 the distress was far beyond their management; so that a 
 Government Commissioner and Government funds were sent 
 down without delay." l 
 
 It is to be particularly noted that the distress which 
 prevailed at the time was not partial or local, for every 
 industry was equally depressed. Those trades which had 
 for more than a century been most carefully protected, 
 seem to have been in no single respect in a more satisfac- 
 tory state than those which had never enjoyed protection. 
 The legislature had, as already explained, again and again 
 interposed to protect the woollen industry against the com- 
 petition of cotton goods, and yet in the description which 
 has just been quoted the woollen trade is specially referred 
 to as one which was suffering severe depression. When 
 impoverishment had spread so widely that tradesmen in the 
 large towns said "new clothes had become out of the 
 question among their customers, and they bought only 
 remnants and patches to mend the old ones," 2 it was 
 evident that trades, whether protected or not, must alike 
 be involved in a common disaster. When the general 
 industrial condition of a country becomes as unsatisfactory 
 as was that of England at the period just referred to, 
 
 1 Miss Martineau's History of the Peace, vol. ii. pp. 520-1. 
 
 2 Ibid. p. 521.
 
 44 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 protection is just as powerless to prevent this depression 
 spreading to any particular trade, as it is to secure in more 
 prosperous times an exceptional amount of prosperity for 
 the particular industries which may be protected. It has 
 already been shown that if the price of agricultural produce 
 is advanced, the competition of capital seeking employ- 
 ment would prevent the farmers ultimately appropriating to 
 themselves any extra gains. Just in the same way, if the 
 price of woollen goods were increased by imposing protec- 
 tive import duties, it would be impossible for the woollen 
 manufacturers to appropriate the advantage to themselves. 
 Suppose they were obtaining profits of 20 per cent, whereas 
 the profits of cotton manufacturers were only 10 per cent., 
 capital would be attracted to the woollen trade by the 
 prospect of these large profits, competition would gradually 
 force down prices, until the woollen manufacturer obtained 
 no more than the ordinary rate of profit; the extra price 
 which he received for his goods being only sufficient to 
 compensate him for the extra price which he has to pay for 
 wool in consequence of the importation of foreign wool 
 being restricted by protective duties. 
 
 It can in a similar way be shown that the competition of 
 the general labour market renders it impossible for the 
 labourers who are employed in the industries that are 
 protected, to obtain higher wages than those who are em- 
 ployed in the industries which are not protected. Thus, 
 reverting to the example we have just considered, let it be 
 supposed that the price of woollen cloth is so much 
 advanced by protective duties that woollen manufacturers 
 are able for a time to secure an exceptionally high 
 rate of profit, say 20 per cent., and that in consequence 
 of these large profits, the labourers whom they employ 
 obtain higher wages than are earned by those employed 
 in cotton-mills and other branches of manufacturing in- 
 dustry. It is inevitable that the prospect of obtaining these 
 high wages will attract labour to the woollen trade. The
 
 ii.] PROTECTION. 45 
 
 supply of labour in this particular trade will consequently 
 steadily accumulate, until at length wages are no higher in 
 this trade than they are in any other branch of industry. 
 Hence it may be concluded that the rise in price which is 
 caused by protection, whether it be in agricultural or in 
 manufacturing industry, cannot enable either a higher rate 
 of profit or a higher rate of wages to be permanently secured 
 in the industries which are protected. However greatly the 
 price of any particular commodity is advanced, either by 
 artificially stimulating its export or impeding its import, the 
 capital and labour which are employed in its production 
 only receive a remuneration, the amount of which is de- 
 termined by the return which is yielded to the capital and 
 labour employed in the general industry of the country. 
 Profits and wages therefore cannot be raised in any particular 
 industry by protection, unless at the same time an influence 
 is brought into operation to increase the general rate of 
 profit and wages in all other industries. It has, however, 
 been shown that protection must exert an influence of an 
 exactly opposite kind. If food is made dearer by protection 
 the remuneration of labour is diminished, the general trade 
 of the country is unfavourably affected, and profits decline. 
 A similar effect will be produced, although its influence may 
 not be so immediately felt, by artifically raising through pro- 
 tection the price of any manufactured article, such as iron. 
 If iron becomes dearer a tax is imposed upon the labourer 
 whenever he has to purchase an article of hardware. 
 Again, dearer iron means more expensive machinery, and, 
 if machinery is more expensive, manufacturing industry is 
 carried on under more unfavourable conditions, and from 
 the diminished returns which are yielded there will be less 
 to distribute both in wages and profits. 
 
 There is one class, and one class only, that can derive 
 advantage from a high level of prices being maintained 
 through protection. When the price of any article is 
 increased through protection, the pecuniary value of the
 
 46 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 land from which this article is procured is proportionally 
 increased. If wheat, by protective duties, is made dearer, 
 the owners of the land on which the wheat is grown can let 
 it at a higher rent ; and in the same way those who own coal 
 and iron mines can obtain a higher premium for permission 
 to work these mines if coal and iron are made dearer by the 
 imposition of protective duties on the importation of these 
 minerals. 
 
 It may, perhaps, be thought that some doubt is thrown 
 upon the correctness of this conclusion, because since pro- 
 tection was abolished in England the rent of land, instead 
 of falling has undoubtedly somewhat increased. It cannot, 
 however, be too carefully borne in mind that other influences 
 may simultaneously come into operation which will greatly 
 modify the effects produced by any economic agency such 
 as free trade or protection. Thus, as previously remarked, 
 during the period of the corn laws and the sliding scale 
 pauperism was greatly encouraged by the abuses of the old 
 poor law. The cost of maintaining this pauperism threw such 
 a serious burden on landowners that in many districts the 
 poor rates absorbed nearly the whole net produce of the land, 
 and consequently the increase of rent which was secured 
 through protection was in many instances a very inadequate 
 equivalent for the increasing charge which poor rates were 
 constantly imposing. On the other hand, since the intro- 
 duction of free trade the administration of the poor law has 
 been greatly improved, and pauperism has declined. The 
 growth of population and the wonderful development in 
 the trade of the country have so much increased the demand 
 for food and other products, that agricultural prices have, on 
 the average, been maintained in spite of foreign importations ; 
 consequently through the operation of these and other 
 favourable circumstances the value of land has been main- 
 tained and rents have not fallen. It, therefore, appears that 
 the owners of land, the only class that can be benefited by pro- 
 tection, need not necessarily be injured by its abolition. It
 
 ii.] PROTECTION. 47 
 
 may be impossible to measure the exact effect which has 
 been exercised by the various causes which during the last 
 thirty years have tended to promote the industrial develop- 
 ment of England. Amongst these causes a prominent 
 position is undoubtedly to be assigned to the freeing of the 
 commerce of the country from the fiscal restrictions by 
 which it had been before impeded. This development 
 partly, if not mainly, brought about by free trade, has so 
 much enriched the country that greatly as the importation 
 of agricultural produce has increased, yet the demand for 
 the products of our own soil has not diminished, and the 
 fall in rents which might otherwise have taken place has 
 been, and is likely to be, counteracted. 
 
 It is not necessary here to describe at greater length the 
 injury inflicted on a country by protection, because there 
 will be occasion frequently to recur to the subject when 
 considering the arguments that are advanced by leading 
 protectionists in the United States and other countries. 
 Before, however, proceeding to discuss these arguments it 
 will be desirable to make some remarks on the general 
 theory of free trade.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FREE TRADE AND RECIPROCITY. 
 
 NOTHING perhaps is so likely to conduce to a just appre- 
 ciation of the injury which is inflicted by protection, as to 
 show that the economic advantages which are produced 
 by free trade are the same, whether the exchange of com- 
 modities is between different countries, or between different 
 parts of the same country. If we inquire what are the 
 benefits which the people of England, for example, derive 
 from trading without let or hindrance among themselves, we 
 at once see that some product can be raised in one locality 
 which cannot be raised in another, and some commodities 
 can be produced under much more favourable circum- 
 stances, and therefore much more cheaply, in one district 
 than in another. Even in a country comparatively so small 
 as England, there are so many varieties of climate and soil 
 that various fruits and vegetables which flourish in the 
 south, will scarcely grow at all in the north. Again, the 
 mineral resources of a country are usually not spread over 
 its entire area, but are confined to particular localities. In 
 many English counties, there never has been, and there 
 probably never will be, a single ton of coal, of copper, or 
 of iron produced. The people, therefore, of each locality 
 gain two distinct advantages by freely exchanging their 
 own commodities for those which are produced in other 
 parts of the country, In the first place, various articles 
 are thus obtained which could not otherwise be procured j
 
 CHAP, in.] FKEK TRADE AND RECIPROCITY. 49 
 
 and in the second place, various other articles are obtained 
 more cheaply than they could be produced in the locality 
 itself. If there were no trade between a county like Kent, 
 which possesses no coal, and the coal-producing counties 
 such as Northumberland or Durham, it is evident that the 
 people of Kent would have to do without coal, and they 
 would be consequently subject to all the inconvenience and 
 loss which would result from being compelled to use some 
 much more expensive fuel, such as wood. The Kentish 
 landowners, who happened to possess land on which timber 
 was grown, might have the value of their property consider- 
 ably increased by a rise in the price of timber ; but the 
 addition thus made to the property of a limited class would 
 be secured at the expense of an incalculable amount of 
 loss and inconvenience inflicted on the community in 
 general. 
 
 It may perhaps be urged, that even in the most pro- 
 tectionist countries there now is never permitted to be so 
 much interference with freedom of trade as that which has 
 just been described, and that the importation of articles is 
 never obstructed which a community is unable to produce 
 for itself. Protection, it may be said, is alone confined to 
 imposing restrictions upon the importation of articles which 
 come into successful competition with those of home pro- 
 duction. It can, however, be easily shown that even this 
 kind of protection would not be permitted, if it were 
 attempted to apply it with the object of imposing restrictions 
 upon the free exchange of commodities, not between differ- 
 ent countries, but between different parts of the same 
 country. It is well known that an extensive manufacture 
 of iron was formerly carried on in many English counties, 
 in which now not a single ton of iron is produced. Sussex 
 and Kent once supplied a considerable portion of the 
 iron which was used in the South of England. The old 
 iron railings round St. Paul's churchyard, which were re- 
 moved only a few years since, were made from iron which 
 
 K
 
 50 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 was both raised and smelted in Sussex, and the quality of 
 this iron was undoubtedly equal to the very best that is 
 made at the present day. Iron has ceased to be manufac- 
 tured in Sussex and Kent, not because the supplies of iron 
 ore have been exhausted there hundreds of thousands of 
 tons of ore of the finest quality still remain unworked, but 
 the iron industry in these counties has succumbed to the 
 competition of more favoured localities. Wood was used 
 for smelting iron in Sussex and Kent. With the growing 
 scarcity and dearness of wood, it became more and more 
 hopeless for localities where wood had to be used, or coal 
 had to be imported from a distance, to compete in the 
 manufacture of iron with Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Wales, 
 and other districts where fuel is cheap and coal and iron 
 are found in close contiguity. In order to prevent the loss 
 of an important branch of local industry, the iron manu- 
 facturers in Kent and Sussex might have claimed protection 
 against this competition which they gradually found more 
 impossible to withstand. But if such a claim had been 
 conceded, what would have been the result ? The manu- 
 facture of iron might still be carried on in these counties, 
 duties sufficiently high being imposed to neutralize the 
 advantages which other districts possessed for the produc- 
 tion of iron. The price of iron would thus artificially be 
 greatly increased in Kent and Sussex ; and everyone in those 
 counties who had to purchase iron, railway companies having 
 to buy rails for their lines, manufacturers having to buy 
 machinery, farmers having to buy implements, householders 
 having to buy grates and other articles of hardware, would 
 all find that the price they had to pay was increased by 
 twenty, thirty, or forty per cent. An onerous tax would 
 thus be imposed on the whole community, in order to pre- 
 serve this particular local industry, and to guard it against 
 outside competition. 
 
 The question is at once suggested Would such an arrange- 
 ment be a desirable one for the general community, and
 
 ill.] FREE TRADE AND RECIPROCITY. 51 
 
 would they receive an equivalent return for the sacrifice 
 made ? With the view of answering this question, let us in the 
 first place consider what would be the exact effect produced 
 on those engaged in the industry thus artificially fostered. 
 These may be divided into three classes. First, there are 
 those who own the land in which the iron ore is found, and 
 from which the material with which it is smelted is obtained. 
 Secondly, there are the lessees of this land, who supply the 
 capital, and who possess the plant necessary for the manu- 
 facture of iron. Thirdly, there are the labourers who are 
 employed in mining the ironstone, in smelting and puddling 
 the ore, and who in various other ways assist in the manu- 
 facture of iron. With regard to the last two of these classes, 
 it was shown in the previous chapter that the competition of 
 capital seeking a profitable investment, and the competition 
 of labour seeking remunerative employment, effectually pre- 
 vent any particular branch of industry permanently yielding 
 either an exceptionally high rate of profit or an exception- 
 ally high rate of wages. Whenever it is seen that in any 
 trade an abnormally high rate of profit or wages can be 
 obtained, investors and workmen become so anxious to 
 share these special advantages, that increased capital and 
 labour are constantly poured into the trade, until at length 
 the remuneration which it gives both to employers and 
 employed ceases to be greater than that which is yielded in 
 other branches of industry. The capital and labour, there- 
 fore, which may happen to be invested in those particular 
 industries which are guarded against foreign competition by 
 protective duties, will only be able to obtain the average or 
 current rate of profit and wages prevailing at the time. If, 
 therefore, the iron trade had through the agency of pro- 
 tection been kept in existence in Sussex and Kent, those 
 who were concerned in the trade, either as employers or 
 employed, would be no better off than those who were 
 engaged in any other of the trades in the locality : the price 
 of iron would no doubt be constantly advancing ; but this 
 
 E 2
 
 52 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 advance in price would not represent a fund from which a 
 more ample reward could be given to labour and capital ; it 
 would, on the contrary, be simply a measure of the in- 
 creasing difficulties and disadvantages under which the trade 
 was carried on. As therefore two of the three classes con- 
 cerned in this trade, the employers and employed, would de- 
 rive no permanent benefit from its having been preserved, as 
 it were, in a state of unnatural existence, it will be necessary 
 next to inquire whether any advantage would be conferred 
 upon the remaining class of the three enumerated, namely 
 the owners of the land from which the iron is mined, and 
 from which the fuel is obtained with which it is smelted. 
 It is at once evident that they might be considerable 
 gainers, and that the value of their property might be 
 largely increased. Not only would a rent or royalty be 
 paid for permission to work beds of ironstone, which would 
 remain unworked, and which would consequently have no 
 value at all, if the trade were not preserved through pro- 
 tection, but as timber became more valuable in consequence 
 of the demand for it for smelting purposes, the value of 
 land which was suitable for the growth of timber might be 
 considerably increased. It therefore appears from the 
 example just investigated, that we are led to the same con- 
 clusion at which we arrived in tracing the consequences of 
 protecting home industry against foreign competition, namely 
 that the only class who can derive any permanent advantage 
 from protection are the owners of the land from which are 
 supplied the materials necessary for the carrying on of the 
 particular industry which is protected. Competition is ever 
 present as an equalizing force to prevent capital and labour 
 obtaining a higher remuneration in one industry than in 
 another ; and consequently wages and profits cannot con- 
 tinue to be greater in those trades which are protected than 
 in those which are not protected. 
 
 In thus attempting to show some of the consequences 
 which would result if free exchange between different parts
 
 i iij FREE TRADE AND RECIPROCITY. 53 
 
 of the same country were in any way interfered with, it may 
 be thought that I have been endeavouring to prove what no 
 one would now deny. It may, for instance, be said that the 
 most ardent protectionist would not now dream of trying 
 to prevent the free interchange of commodities between 
 different parts of the same country, and that consequently 
 he does not require to be convinced of the expediency of 
 leaving the trade between Kent and Northumberland abso- 
 lutely unfettered. If, however, the inexpediency of protect- 
 ing those who are engaged in some trade in a particular part 
 of England against the competition of their own countrymen 
 is self-evident, what reason is there to suppose that restric- 
 tions which are admitted to be disastrous if imposed on the 
 trade between Kent and Northumberland can be less dis- 
 astrous and, economically, less indefensible, if they interfere 
 with the free exchange of commodities between Kent and 
 Normandy? Exchange of produce between Kent and 
 Normandy is prompted by just the same motives, and con- 
 duces to just the same ends, as exchange of produce between 
 Kent and Northumberland. Kent would purchase from 
 Normandy, in precisely the same way as she purchases from 
 Northumberland, various commodities which she either could 
 not produce herself, or which could be produced more 
 cheaply in Normandy. Normandy, on her part, would 
 be able to obtain in exchange for the produce she thus 
 sent to Kent, commodities which she could not produce 
 herself, or which she could purchase at a cheaper rate from 
 Kent than she could produce them for herself. 
 
 It may be urged that there are social and political con- 
 siderations which would warrant the imposition of restrictions 
 upon freedom of exchange between different countries ; but 
 confining our attention for the present to the economic 
 consequences resulting from such restrictions, I believe it 
 can be shown that protective duties produce the same effects 
 whether the industry of any particular locality is protected 
 against home or against foreign competition. None of the
 
 54 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 circumstances which make it advantageous for trade to be 
 carried on between Kent and Northumberland, depend upon 
 the fact that the people of Kent and Northumberland speak 
 the same language and live under the same government. 
 If Kent can produce no coal for herself, and if she can only 
 make iron under such unfavourable conditions as greatly to 
 augment its cost, it is obviously to her interest to import 
 coal and iron, and to give in exchange the hops, fruit, and 
 other produce, for the growth of which her soil and climate 
 give her special advantages. The benefit which she derives 
 from this exchange in no way depends upon the coal 
 and iron which are imported being of home production. 
 The people of Kent are alone interested in getting their 
 coal and iron where it can be obtained most cheaply and of 
 the best quality. Before the last Franco-German war, when 
 Alsace and Lorraine belonged to France, it was never even 
 hinted that there ought not to be the most perfect freedom 
 of trade between these Provinces and the rest of France. 
 Any proposal to protect a particular branch of French in- 
 dustry against the competition of Alsace and Lorraine, would 
 have been considered as absurd as a suggestion that if land 
 on the south bank of the Seine were cheaper than land on the 
 north bank, the manufacturers in the north of Paris should 
 be protected against the competition of those who lived in 
 the south of Paris, because these enjoyed the advantage of 
 having to pay a less price for the ground on which their 
 manufactories were built. Unless the annexation of Alsace 
 and Lorraine to Germany has changed the character of the 
 industries carried on in those Provinces, how can it possibly 
 be less advantageous for the people of France to trade with 
 Alsace and Lorraine than it was before the annexation took 
 place ? If the people of Paris, for instance, used to pur- 
 chase certain goods from Alsace and Lorraine, they did so 
 because they thought it was there that these goods could be 
 obtained on the most favourable terms ; and if they can 
 still be obtained on the same terms, it cannot be less advan-
 
 ill.] FREE TRADE AND RECIPROCITY. 
 
 tageous now than it was formerly for the people of Paris to 
 continue the trade with Alsace and Lorraine. Suppose, 
 however, now that the annexation has taken place, a 
 duty of twenty per cent, is imposed upon goods imported 
 from Alsace, in order that the trade of Germany may be dis- 
 couraged and that of France encouraged. The inevitable 
 effect of this duty would be to compel those who purchased 
 these goods to pay a higher price for them, and conse- 
 quently an onerous tax would be imposed upon the general 
 body of the French consumers of these goods. But in 
 order fully to appreciate the injury which the French people 
 would inflict on themselves by pursuing this policy of in- 
 dustrial hostility towards a neighbouring nation, it should 
 be remembered that not a single shilling of additional 
 revenue may be yielded to the State by the taxation which 
 is thus thrown upon them. Let it be assumed, for instance, 
 that in consequence of the imposition of this duty, it is 
 found to be more advantageous to obtain from some other 
 part of France, a certain product of which 1,000, ooo/. worth 
 had before been annually purchased from Alsace. The trade, 
 so far as this particular article is concerned, between France 
 and Alsace is altogether destroyed. The price of the pro- 
 duct is raised, because it is now obtained under more 
 unfavourable conditions. This rise in price we may suppose 
 amounts to ten per cent. : but as this rise in price may not 
 be sufficient to compensate the Alsatian manufacturer for 
 the twenty per cent, duty which he has to pay, he ceases 
 to trade with France. It therefore happens that the duty 
 yields no revenue to the State, although it raises the price of 
 the article ten per cent., and consequently taxes the French 
 people just as much as if an income-tax of ten per cent, 
 were imposed on all that part of their income which they 
 expend in the purchase of this particular article. The com- 
 munity receives no equivalent for the sacrifice thus made ; 
 the loss to the nation is just as real as if, in order to favour 
 the landowners in some particular district, land in some
 
 56 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 other district which was more fertile than theirs, should not be 
 cultivated ; or as if it were ordered that a country should not 
 obtain its coal and iron from the most productive mines ; or 
 if it were enacted that manufacturers should not employ the 
 best and cheapest machinery. 
 
 It may, perhaps, be said that although a loss is inflicted 
 on the French people by their being compelled to pay a 
 higher price for the articles which had before been obtained 
 from Alsace, yet a compensating advantage will be secured 
 through the establishment of a new branch of industry in 
 France. But if this were possible, then it would follow that 
 if, before the annexation of Alsace had taken place, some 
 particular kind of manufacture which could be most pro- 
 fitably carried on there, had been prohibited, in order that it 
 might take root in some other part of France, say Normandy, 
 the French people, although they had to pay a needlessly 
 high price for an article of general consumption to encourage 
 the Normandy manufacturers, yet would obtain a com- 
 pensation because a new branch of industry had arisen in 
 that particular part of France. It is not necessary, for the 
 moment, to consider what would be the effect on Alsace 
 for the point which now has to be determined is simply 
 this : Is it possible for the rest of France, excluding Alsace, 
 to be benefited by the establishment in Normandy of some 
 branch of industry which could be more profitably carried 
 on in some other locality? If such a proposal had been 
 made, would it not have been at once seen that it would bs 
 most unjust to tax the people, for instance, of Paris, Lyons, 
 and Marseilles, by making them pay a higher price for 
 some article, in order that an industry which had before 
 thriven in Alsace should now be carried on in Normandy ? 
 If they had to pay more for this particular article, they 
 would be able to afford to spend less on other articles 
 which they might require ; and there would be no reason 
 to suppose that the people of Normandy where the new 
 manufacture had arisen would be better customers of theirs
 
 in.] FREE TRADE AND RECIPROCITY. 57 
 
 than those by whom the manufacture had previously been 
 carried on. It therefore appears, without taking into 
 account the injury which would be inflicted on Alsace, that 
 no adequate compensation could possibly be obtained by 
 the French people, for the loss which would be inflicted 
 upon them, if industry were, in the manner just described, 
 diverted from its natural channels by compelling some 
 branch of trade to be carried on in a locality, where the 
 labour and capital employed in it would not yield the 
 maximum results. 
 
 It will perhaps be rejoined, that previous to the annexa- 
 tion of Alsace, no one would have thought of placing any 
 restriction upon the free exchange of commodities between 
 her and the rest of France ; because as long as Alsace 
 remained a part of France nothing could warrant her 
 industry being subject to any special injury; but, it may be 
 said, a policy which could not be defended while Alsace was 
 a French province can be justified as soon as she has been 
 incorporated in the German empire. So long as the Alsatians 
 remained French, anything which lessened their prosperity 
 really tended to lessen the prosperity of France ; but when 
 the Alsatians became Germans, any impediments thrown in 
 the way of their prosperity was a disadvantage to Germany, 
 and ceased to be an injury to France. But whatever may 
 be the political advantages which France may consider she 
 secures by impeding the prosperity of Germany, the prin- 
 ciple which is here contended for is this : that, viewing the 
 subject only in its economic aspects, the loss which France 
 would have to bear from discouraging some industry which 
 naturally flourishes most in Alsace, is precisely the same 
 whether Alsace is, or is not, a part of France. 
 
 If an enumeration is made of the benefits which a country 
 derives from a free interchange ot commodities, it will be 
 found that in no single instance does the gain depend upon 
 the two districts, between which the exchange takes place, 
 being parts of the same country. The eastern States of
 
 58 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 America find it advantageous freely to trade with the 
 western States, because each produces in abundance some 
 commodity which the other does not produce at all, or 
 because some commodities can be produced at a much less 
 expenditure of capital and labour in one State than in 
 another. But this scarcity and this abundance do not 
 depend upon political circumstances. If, in the late 
 American civil war, the North had been defeated, the 
 destruction of the Union would not have brought coal and 
 iron to localities where they are not now to be found. The 
 climate, the soil, would not have been changed. States, 
 the climate of which is too cold for the growth of cotton, 
 would not suddenly have acquired a tropical temperature. 
 It therefore appears that in no single respect does the 
 economic gain which is admitted to result from the free 
 interchange of commodities, between different parts of the 
 same country, become in the smallest extent diminished if 
 the districts between which the exchange takes place cease 
 to belong to the same nationality. If it were advantageous 
 that there should be perfect freedom of trade between 
 Alsace and the rest of France, when Alsace constituted a 
 part of the French nation, it cannot be economically less 
 advantageous that there should be the same freedom of 
 trade now that Alsace has been incorporated with Germany. 
 The imposition of commercial restrictions on the trade 
 between France and Alsace, may undoubtedly impede the 
 prosperity of Alsace a loss may thus be inflicted on 
 Germany; but it cannot be too distinctly borne in mind 
 that it is impossible for this loss to be inflicted on Germany, 
 without a loss being at the same time inflicted on France. 
 The injury done to each country is in fact to be exactly 
 measured by the loss which would be caused to the people 
 both of Alsace and of the rest of France, by restricting 
 the Alsatian trade, when Alsace still remained a French 
 province. A policy of commercial restriction, therefore, 
 can only be regarded as economically defensible on the
 
 in.] FREE TRADE AND RECIPROCITY. 59 
 
 supposition that it is advantageous for a country to make 
 a considerable pecuniary sacrifice in order to hinder the 
 prosperity of neighbouring countries. It is evident that if 
 this were the principle on which the commercial relations 
 between different nations were arranged, countries might be 
 regarded as being in a state of perpetual war ; for even in 
 a time of peace, although there would be a cessation of 
 military conflict, industrial hostility would not for a moment 
 be suspended. 
 
 Enough has now perhaps been said to show the general 
 economic advantages which result from free trade. It 
 appears, however, necessary to consider the subject from 
 another point of view, because it seems to be not unfre- 
 quently supposed that a country would derive great benefits 
 from free trade, if other countries would adopt the same 
 policy; but that a nation, such as England, is seriously 
 injured, because, prompted by a spirit of foolish and 
 Quixotic generosity, she permits countries which impose 
 protective duties on her products, to send their goods freely 
 to her markets. 
 
 Allusion has already been made to the fact that many 
 who profess thorough adherence to the principles of free 
 trade denounce " one-sided free trade as an absurdity," and 
 assert that if other countries impose restraints on our 
 commerce, we ought in self-defence to impose restraints 
 on their commerce. It will not be necessary to consider 
 the question as one of moral right. It may be admitted 
 that if our manufactured goods are kept out of the American 
 markets by heavy protective duties we should be justified in 
 imposing duties with the view of impeding the importation 
 of American produce. But, however completely our right 
 to carry out such a policy of retaliation may be acknow- 
 ledged, the important practical question remains for us 
 to consider : what are the consequences which such a 
 policy would produce? The protective tariffs which are 
 maintained by the United States, and other countries,
 
 6o 
 
 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. 
 
 [CHAP. 
 
 undoubtedly inflict a very serious injury upon our trade ; and 
 the simple point to be determined is, whether this injury 
 would be diminished, or. whether it would not be most 
 materially aggravated, if we, in order to avenge ourselves, 
 imposed protective duties on their produce. If it were 
 thought expedient to adopt such a policy of retaliation, it 
 might undoubtedly be most reasonably carried out against 
 the United States. The greatest harm which is done to 
 our trade by protection is the loss of free access to the 
 American market, and the tariff of the United States is far 
 more protectionist in its character than the tariff of any 
 other country. This will at once be shown by comparing 
 the import duties imposed on certain English products 
 imported into the United States, France, Germany, Russia, 
 and Austria respectively. 1 
 
 Iron (Bar) . 
 
 UNITED 
 STATES. 
 
 FRANCE. 
 
 GERMANY. 
 
 RUSSIA. 
 
 ad val. 
 50% 
 
 AUSTRIA. 
 
 ad val. 
 67 to 100 % 
 
 ad val. 
 35% 
 
 ad val. 
 Free 
 
 ad val. 
 35% 
 
 Copper . 
 
 30% 
 
 Free 
 
 Free 
 
 Free 
 
 Free 
 
 Cotton Yarns 
 
 S3 to 85% 
 
 
 
 4 to 9 % 
 
 23% 
 
 6 to 9 % 
 
 Woollen . 
 
 S% 
 
 
 
 i% 
 
 13% 
 
 i to a % 
 
 Jute manufactures 
 
 30 to 40 / 
 
 II t026/ 
 
 5% 
 
 10% 
 
 4% 
 
 It will be seen from the above figures that by far the 
 highest import duties, which are levied gp English goods, are 
 those which are imposed by the tariff of the United States. 
 Not only are the duties in this tariff exceptionally high, but 
 it embraces a far greater number of articles than the tariff of 
 any other country. By the existing tariff of the United 
 States, import duties are imposed on about 1,500 articles ; 
 and there is scarcely a single English product which is 
 
 1 See Parliamentary Return, No. 291, 26th June, 1877, "Import 
 Duties on British Goods (Foreign Countries)." The Return was issued 
 by the Board of Trade, and was prepared under the direction of Mr. R. 
 Giffen.
 
 in.] FREE TRADE AND RECIPROCITY. 61 
 
 allowed free access to the American ports. By far the 
 greater number of these duties are protective ; for it rarely 
 happens in the United States that an Excise duty is imposed 
 on a home product to counterpoise the duty on the same 
 product when imported. The tariff of the United States 
 undoubtedly inflicts a very serious injury on English trade ; 
 and it can be a matter of no surprise that the loss we thus 
 have to bear should be the more keenly resented, because 
 England is so good a customer of the United States, that of 
 the aggregate amount of her exports, more than three-fifths 
 are purchased by England. In 1876, the value of the ex- 
 ports from the United States was 109,490,0007. ; and of this 
 entire quantity, 72,307,0007. * was sent to England. So 
 seriously does the tariff of the United States hinder the 
 importation of English goods into America, that whereas 
 the value of the exports from the United States to England 
 is 72,ooo,ooo/., English goods are made so unnecessarily 
 dear in the American markets by protectionist duties, that 
 the value of the goods America annually purchases from us 
 is only of the average value of about 25,000,0007. These 
 figures certainly show that, with regard to the injury which 
 is inflicted on our commerce by the maintenance of pro- 
 tectionist tariffs, we have a much stronger ground of com- 
 plaint against the United States, than we have against any 
 other country. Consequently, in considering whether it 
 would be expedient to impose a duty on some article of 
 American produce, in order to retaliate upon her for the 
 injury which is done to our trade by her protectionist tariff, 
 the strongest case is taken that can be adduced, in support 
 of what is called a policy of reciprocity. 
 
 It is frequently said by the advocates of reciprocity, that 
 nothing can be more unjust than to allow various articles of 
 American manufacture to be sent to England to compete on 
 equal terms with our manufactures, when we are forbidden 
 free access to the American market. Whenever trade 
 1 Statistical Abstract, 1877.
 
 62 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 becomes depressed, great stress is laid upon the injury which 
 we suffer from foreign competition ; and the impression 
 becomes widely spread that this depression is, at least in 
 part, brought about by American goods forcing their way 
 into our markets. But when the statistics of American 
 trade are examined, it is at once made manifest that the 
 injury which is thus done to English trade is so infini- 
 tesimal as scarcely to be worthy of consideration. The 
 amount of manufactured goods which is sent from America 
 to England is so extremely small that it could make scarcely 
 any difference if this particular part of the trade between the 
 two countries were to cease altogether. Reference is con- 
 stantly made to the harm which is done to the cotton trade 
 of Lancashire, and to the hardware trade of Birmingham, 
 Sheffield, and other towns, by the importation of cotton 
 goods and of hardware from America. Yet in 1876, a year 
 of great depression, the value of the entire quantity of 
 manufactured iron and steel imported into England from 
 the United States, was only 241,8397., and the value of the 
 manufactured cotton imported from the United States to 
 England was 451, 8767. This importation, small though it 
 is, was exceptionally large. In the previous year, the value 
 of cotton goods imported from the United States to England 
 was only 95,ooo/. And in 1877, it was only 163,0007., or 
 less than one-third of what it had been in 1876. The value 
 of the entire quantity oftnanufactured cotton imported into 
 England in 1876 was not more than i, 810,7597. The un- 
 reasonableness of supposing that this trifling importation 
 could to any appreciable extent affect the prosperity of the 
 English cotton trade, is at once made apparent when it is 
 remembered that the value of the cotton manufactures 
 exported from England in the same year amounted to 
 no less than 67,641,2687. 
 
 It therefore appears that no influence of any moment 
 could be produced by levying duties, as the advocates 
 of reciprocity propose, on those articles of American
 
 HI.] FREE TRADE AND RECIPROCITY. 63 
 
 manufacture, imported into England, which come into 
 direct competition with our own manufactures. If we 
 desire to retaliate with effect upon America for the injury 
 which by her tariff she inflicts on our commerce, we must 
 levy duties, not on articles whkh only constitute a few 
 insignificant items of her trade, but on articles which are 
 exported in such large quantities, that, if the demand for 
 them in England were to decline, the effect would be at 
 once widely felt in America. The commodities which we 
 import in by far the largest quantities from America are 
 products which are either used as food, or which supply 
 the raw material of our most important branches of 
 manufacturing industry. 
 
 The following table, the items of which are condensed 
 from the Statesman's Year Book, 1878, clearly shows that the 
 produce which we purchase from the United States consists 
 almost entirely of food stuffs, and the raw material of 
 various manufacturing industries : 
 
 Raw Cotton . 
 Wheat . 
 Maize . . 
 Bacon and Hams 
 Beef and Pork 
 Cheese . 
 Tobacco 
 
 25,120,512 
 
 12,017,659 
 
 8,656,338 
 
 7,144,798 
 
 1,079,238 
 
 2,564,977 
 2,182,099 
 
 Lard 1,411,147 
 
 Oil-seed Cake ; 1,322,852 
 
 Tallow and Stearine ." 1,244,512 
 
 Butter, Fruit, Hops, various Oils, Wood, 
 
 Naphtha, Rosin, Skins, Furs, and Caoutchouc 5,442,150 
 
 68,186,282 
 
 As the total value of the exports from the United States to 
 England is 75,899,0087., it apears that at least nine-tenths 
 of these entire exports consist of the articles of food and 
 raw produce enumerated in the above table. 
 
 If, therefore, we desire to make the American people 
 suffer some of the same loss and inconvenience which they
 
 64 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 inflict on our commerce by the protectionist tariff they now 
 maintain, it would be necessary to impose import duties 
 either on raw cotton, wheat, or on some of the articles of food 
 which are imported in such large quantities from America. 
 It would, no doubt, be possible in this way to do a very- 
 serious amount of injury to many of the most important 
 commercial interests in America. It is ^supposed that one- 
 half of the entire labour and capital of America is employed 
 in agriculture. The prosperity of American agriculture 
 would be materially impeded if, by the imposition of heavy 
 duties, American produce was to any considerable extent 
 shut out from the English markets. But the question at 
 once suggests itself : Could we thus punish America without 
 at the same time punishing ourselves ? In endeavouring to 
 answer this question it can, I think, be shown that although 
 great harm would be done to America we should inflict a 
 much more serious injury upon our own country. 
 
 Suppose, for example, that a duty of ten per cent, was 
 levied on American cotton imported into England. This 
 duty would increase the price of cotton in England, and as 
 a consequence the demand for American cotton would some- 
 what diminish. England would, in fact, be not so good a 
 customer for American cotton as she was before, and this 
 would be undoubtedly a disadvantage to America. But how 
 trifling is any loss which could be caused to America by this 
 falling off in the demand for her cotton, compared with 
 the widespread mischief which would result to England from 
 the imposition of such a duty. Complaints recur at frequent 
 intervals about the depressed condition of the cotton trade 
 in England. It is often said that the home demand for 
 cotton goods is not so great as it was, and that competition 
 is so active that our manufacturers find it more and more 
 difficult to obtain a profitable market in foreign countries. 
 But if an import duty were imposed on raw cotton every- 
 thing that is now regarded as unsatisfactory in our cotton 
 trade must inevitably become more unsatisfactory. The
 
 in.] FREE TRADE AND RECIPROCITY. 65 
 
 duty, by increasing the price of raw cotton, would make 
 cotton goods dearer, and this would prejudicially affect the 
 home demand. The consequences however to our foreign 
 trade might be much more serious. If competition with our 
 foreign rivals is now found difficult, what chance would there 
 be of successfully competing with them, if we had to bear the 
 burden of having to pay a higher price for cotton than that 
 at which it could be purchased by foreign manufacturers ? 
 The Americans, it is said, are beginning to manufacture 
 cotton goods nearly as cheaply as we can ; and they would 
 undoubtedly be able to make them much more cheaply, if 
 we imposed a duty which caused us to pay an unnecessarily 
 high price for raw cotton. The effect of such a duty might 
 be to imperil the prosperity of our own cotton trade ; whereas 
 it might at the same time give an important stimulus to 
 the manufacture of cotton in America. With regard there- 
 fore to the product which represents in value almost 
 exactly one-third of our entire imports from America, we 
 are precluded from pursuing a policy of retaliation, because 
 any tax which we might impose on cotton would cause 
 America a loss of trifling importance in comparison with 
 the loss which we should inflict on ourselves. 
 
 It can, in a similar way, be shown that whatever harm 
 might be done to America, by impeding the import of any 
 of those articles of food which she sends to us in such large 
 and increasing quantities, would react upon ourselves with 
 redoubled force. Wheat next to cotton is the article which 
 England purchases most largely from America. It has 
 already been shown that in 1876 the value of wheat and 
 flour imported into England from America amounted to 
 12,017,6597., and in 1874 it reached the high figure of 
 I7,i2o,oi6/. The American farmers would no doubT be 
 considerable losers if they were prevented having a free 
 access to our markets; but the loss which might be thus 
 caused them scarcely deserves consideration when compared 
 with the mischief which would be done to the entire English 
 
 F
 
 66 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 nation by the imposition of even a very moderate duty on 
 American wheat. Suppose the duty were 2s. a quarter, 
 the price of all wheat in the English market, whether 
 of foreign or home growth, would be raised by an amount 
 equivalent to the duty, and consequently the duty would 
 take from the English people an amount largely in excess 
 of the revenue yielded to the state. If one-half of 
 the entire quantity of wheat consumed in England were 
 imported from America, the people, in the higher price which 
 they would have to pay for their bread, would be just as 
 much taxed, as if not only an import duty were imposed on 
 foreign wheat, but an equivalent excise duty were levied on 
 home-grown wheat. As such an excise duty would never 
 of course be levied, the first effect of the import duty 
 would be to give a protection of 2s. a quarter to English 
 wheat growers. The additional price which would be 
 obtained for English wheat, could not, as already explained, 
 be permanently retained by the farmer, but would certainly 
 be sooner or later appropriated by the landowner in the 
 form of increased rent ; or putting it in another form, the 
 poorest classes would be taxed with the result of enriching 
 the richest. But this taxation of a first necessary of life, 
 serious though it would be, does not by any means repre- 
 sent all the mischief which might be produced by thus 
 artificially increasing the price of wheat. As bread became 
 dearer the general trade of the country would suffer, for 
 all industry would .be carried on under more unfavour- 
 able conditions. Suppose, for instance, that wages were 
 advanced sufficiently to compensate the labourers for the 
 rise in the price of bread, this advance would have one of 
 two effects, either it would diminish profits, and as profits 
 became reduced there would be less inducement to invest 
 capital in industry, or if manufacturers attempted to compen- 
 sate themselves for the higher wages by charging higher 
 prices for their goods, this advance in prices might 
 seriously affect the home demand for their goods, and thus
 
 III.] . FREE TRADE AND RECIPROCITY. 67 
 
 tend to neutralise the advantage the labourer had gained by 
 higher wages ; it also would place the English manufacturers 
 at a disadvantage in competing for custom in foreign 
 markets. If, on the other hand, wages were not advanced 
 sufficiently to compensate the labourers, then they would 
 have to spend a greater portion of their wages in purchasing 
 bread, and they would consequently be able to lay out less 
 money upon other articles. This falling off in the demand 
 of by far the most numerous class in the community would 
 be felt by almost every trade in the country. It therefore 
 appears that it is impossible for us to retaliate upon America 
 for the injury which she inflicts on us by her protective 
 tariff, because we cannot punish her without at the same 
 time punishing ourselves to a far more serious extent. 
 Although much is often said about the harm which is done 
 to our manufacturers by American competition, yet it is con- 
 clusively shown by the trade statistics of the two countries 
 that the manufactures which are imported from America are 
 so trifling in amount that scarcely any effect at all would be 
 produced even if their importation was entirely prohibited. 
 It will perhaps however be thought that these objections 
 would not arise if England carried out a policy of retaliation 
 and imposed reciprocal duties against other protectionist 
 countries. It may be argued that whenever an article 
 -imported from abroad comes into direct competition with 
 articles of the same kind produced at home, the home 
 trader may be fairly protected against this foreign com- 
 petition if the countries from which the imports come 
 maintain against us protectionist tariffs. But even if our 
 theoretical right to pursue such a policy is admitted, an 
 insurmountable difficulty presents itself, if it is attempted to 
 be carried out. Whenever there is any decline of industrial 
 activity in this country, complaints are invariably circulated 
 about foreign competition, and the depression of trade is 
 sure to be attributed to the home market being overstocked 
 with foreign goods ; it is at the same time said that our 
 
 K 2
 
 68 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 merchants find that protective duties exclude them to a 
 large extent from foreign markets. Just at the present 
 time the iron trade is the particular industry which is most 
 depressed, and from the remarks that are frequently made 
 on the subject it appears to be generally assumed that this 
 depression has been to a great extent brought about by iron 
 being sent to our market from Belgium and other countries 
 at a cheaper rate than the English iron-masters can afford 
 to make it. But a comparison of the quantities of iron 
 which England imports and exports, at once shows that 
 foreign competition can have exercised but little influence 
 in creating the present depression. In the year 1876 when 
 the iron trade was most inactive, the entire quantity of iron 
 and steel manufactured and unmanufactured imported into 
 England amounted to only 2,520,9737. whereas the quantity 
 exported was no less than 20,737, 4io/. These figures at 
 once show that the foreign iron-masters cannot sell us 
 iron at a cheaper rate than we can make it ourselves; 
 because if they possessed any such advantages in the pro- 
 duction of iron they would drive us out of those foreign 
 markets to which they and we have equal access, and they 
 would gradually appropriate to themselves the larger portion 
 of our export trade. But instead of this taking place the 
 entire value of iron and steel exported from Belgium, the 
 country from whose competition it is said that England has 
 so much to dread, amounted in 1876 to only i,8oo,ooo/., 
 less than one-tenth of the value of iron and steel exported by 
 England during the same year. Hence England has little 
 to fear from Belgium in those foreign markets to which they 
 have equal access. With regard to Belgian iron competing 
 successfully against English iron in our own market, so little 
 reason is there to suppose our trade can be thus injured 
 that the quantity of iron and steel imported from Belgium 
 into England is so trifling that it is not enumerated in her 
 articles of export, whereas iron is mentioned ' as one of the 
 1 Statesman's Year Book, 1878.
 
 HI.] FREE TRADE AND RECIPROCITY. 69 
 
 chief articles which Belgium imports from England. In 
 1876, the value of the iron sent from England to Belgium 
 was 5 74,8 1 3/. It therefore appears that the Belgian iron- 
 masters have far more to fear from the competition of 
 England than the English iron-masters have from the 
 competition of Belgium. 
 
 Example after example might be repeated similar to the 
 one just described, which would show that the circumstances 
 of England's foreign trade are such, that a policy of retalia- 
 tion on her part, even if it were desirable, is impracticable. 
 No single case can be brought forward in which English 
 trade suffers to any appreciable extent by foreign products, 
 underselling in our own markets the same articles oi 
 English manufacture. Even in those industries, where there 
 are most complaints about foreign competition, not only 
 will it be invariably found that the aggregate quantity 
 which is imported represents a mere fraction of the entire 
 quantity which is produced by the home trade ; but it would 
 be erroneous to conclude that this importation, small 
 though it is, displaces goods of an equivalent value from the 
 home market. Take, for instance, the importation of iron 
 and steel. A very great variety of articles which are im- 
 ported, are described under the general category of iron and 
 steel. All sorts of implements, and various kinds of 
 machinery, are included in this description, and as some of 
 these, for example American sewing-machines, are not made 
 in England, they cannot be considered to compete with 
 English trade. In a few cases it has no doubt happened 
 that some branch of English trade has for a time at least 
 been injured by foreign goods being freely admitted to our 
 markets. Great stress is laid by the advocates of reciprocity 
 on the injury which was caused to the riband and silk trades 
 of Coventry, Macclesfield, and other places by the abolition 
 of the import duties on foreign silks at the time of the 
 French Commercial Treaty. It is alleged that the French 
 have been enabled so much to* undersell us in our own
 
 70 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 markets, that our silk trade has been almost ruined. It will, 
 however, be found, that although French silks are more 
 largely purchased in this country than formerly, yet any 
 superiority which they are supposed to possess over English 
 made silks does not arise from greater cheapness, but de- 
 pends rather upon the better taste which is often shown by 
 the French, both with regard to colour and to the selection 
 of designs for patterns. It is also believed that the French 
 climate, and the quality of the water at Lyons and other 
 French towns, provide more favourable conditions for the 
 dyeing of the silk, and the fixing of the colours, than are 
 to be found in England. In such a case therefore, if the 
 home manufacturer were protected against foreign competi- 
 tion, protection would be virtually given to him, not to secure 
 him against the cheaper labour of his rivals, but to avert, 
 both from employers and employed, the consequences of 
 not taking the requisite trouble to acquire the skill and other 
 qualities which are possessed by their foreign competitors, or 
 of not being provided with equally great natural advantages. 
 If the English silk manufacturers suffered in consequence of 
 the competition of cheap French labour, there is no reason 
 whatever why the same competition should not make itself 
 felt in the cotton trade and other branches of manufacturing 
 industry; and yet England still holds such undisputed 
 supremacy in the cotton trade, that, whereas the value of 
 the cotton goods which she exported in '1876 was 
 67,ooo,ooo/., the value of the cotton goods exported by 
 France in the same year was only 2,6oo,ooo/. 
 
 But even if it could not be proved as conclusively as I 
 believe it can be, that so far as our own country is con- 
 cerned, a policy of reciprocity is impracticable ; the most 
 cogent reasons might still be adduced why such a policy 
 should not be adopted. Suppose that the injury which was 
 done to the iron trade by foreign competition, were not as 
 imaginary as it has been shown to be, and that Belgian 
 iron and steel were sent in considerable quantities into the
 
 ill.] FREE TRADE AND RECIPROCITY. 71 
 
 English market. If an import duty were imposed with the 
 object of checking this importation, the effect of such a 
 duty would be not only to raise the price of the iron im- 
 ported, but the price of all the iron produced in England 
 would be advanced by an amount equivalent to the duty. 
 At the present time, the aggregate quantity of iron imported 
 into England is not one-fortieth of the quantity produced in 
 England. But for the sake of argument let it be assumed 
 that the quantity of iron imported is much larger than it is ; 
 that after an import duty has been imposed, England im- 
 ports one-tenth of all the iron which she annually uses. 
 Under these circumstances it is evident that the duty would 
 have the effect of taking from the general body of the 
 English people, in the form of the increased price which 
 they would be compelled to pay for iron, an amount ten 
 times as large as that which the duty yields to the State. In 
 1875, the production of pig iron in England was 6,365,462 
 tons. If therefore the price of iron were raised one pound 
 a ton by the imposition of an import duty of this amount, 
 the English people would be taxed to the extent of at least 
 6,365,0007., and the proceeds of this tax would not be 
 devoted to the purposes of the State, but ultimately would 
 be appropriated by those who were the owners of iron 
 mines. The rise in the price of iron, thus artificially created, 
 might in the first instance confer an advantage upon those 
 who were concerned in the manufacture of iron, whether as 
 employers or employed; but, as already explained, com- 
 petition would force down profits and wages to their normal 
 rate, and the benefit would ultimately accrue to the owners 
 of the mines. 
 
 The effect of thus raising the price of iron, in order to 
 benefit a special limited class, would be widely felt through- 
 out the entire nation. Everyone who used an article which 
 was wholly or partly made of iron, would find the price he 
 had to pay for it artificially and unnecessarily increased. 
 The consequence of this rise of price to the general com-
 
 72 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 munity would be precisely the same as if a tax were imposed 
 on every article in which iron was used, on ships, machinery, 
 railway metal, ploughs, harrows, spades, and on a countless 
 number of articles in domestic use. It will be subsequently 
 shown that if one special trade were thus subsidised at the 
 public expense, others would promptly come forward to 
 press their claims for similar consideration. It would soon 
 appear that no valid reason could be assigned why the pro- 
 tection given to one industry should be denied to others ; 
 and the system, once commenced, would be rapidly and 
 inevitably extended. 
 
 As a policy of reciprocity seems to derive its chief 
 support from those who propose it as a remedy for in- 
 dustrial depression, it will be desirable, before leaving the 
 subject, to show how materially this depression would be 
 increased by the adoption of such a policy. Reverting to 
 the example which has just been considered, it is obvious 
 that if an import duty were placed on iron, and its price 
 were thus raised, every industry in which iron was used 
 would be carried on under more unfavourable conditions. 
 The shipping trade, for instance, has shared in the general 
 depression as much as any other industry in the country. 
 But, depressed as it has been, it would become still more 
 depressed if everyone who wished either to build or pur- 
 chase a ship found that the iron of which it was constructed 
 was taxed, in order to make it dearer. A mischief of a 
 serious and a permanent kind might result to the trade, for if 
 by the exclusion of foreign iron, English iron were kept at 
 an abnormally high price, it might become advantageous 
 for English shipowners to build their ships, not on the Tyne 
 or the Clyde, but in some foreign port where cheap foreign 
 iron could be used. Again, every manufacturer who pur- 
 chases machinery, would in consequence of iron being 
 dearer, have to pay a higher price for his machinery, and 
 consequently the cost of producing his goods would be 
 increased ; he would thus be placed at a disadvantage with
 
 in.] FREE TRADE AND RECIPROCITY. 73 
 
 his foreign competitors. It therefore appears that when- 
 ever an attempt is made to protect one industry against 
 foreign competition, an additional burden is thrown upon 
 other industries, which places them at a disadvantage with 
 heir foreign competitors. 
 
 Although a great variety of other illustrations may be 
 given to show that industrial depression would not be 
 lessened, but would on the contrary be greatly aggravated 
 by the adoption of a policy of reciprocity, yet it is not 
 necessary to refer to the subject at greater length here, 
 because there will be occasion to recur to it when pro- 
 ceeding to consider, in the next chapter, the leading argu- 
 ments ori which at the present time reliance is placed 
 by those who support a system of protection.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 
 
 AFTER a careful consideration of the arguments which 
 are adduced in support of protection by those who may be 
 regarded as its leading advocates in America, in the Colonies, 
 and in various Continental countries, I think it will be 
 admitted that a full and complete statement of their case 
 will be given by arranging the arguments which are now 
 advanced in support of protection under the following 
 thirteen heads. It will be observed that some of these 
 arguments are of a contradictory character. This circum- 
 stance is however accounted for by the fact that protection 
 is regarded from different points of view, and supported for 
 different reasons in different countries, and I have been 
 anxious to omit no argument to which importance is attri- 
 buted by those who defend protection in the various 
 countries in which it is maintained : 
 
 1. Protection is desirable, and especially so in a young 
 country, because it secures diversity of industry. A country 
 such as America or Australia possessing an almost bound- 
 less extent of fertile land, has exceptional facilities for the 
 production of raw material. If therefore manufactures 
 are not fostered by protection, labour and capital will be 
 chiefly devoted to argriculture, and the growth of towns will 
 be discouraged. 
 
 2. Protection, by encouraging various branches of home 
 industry, makes a community much less dependent upon 
 foreign countries.
 
 CHAP, iv.] THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 75 
 
 3. The American protectionists assume that in foreign 
 trade the cost of carriage is paid by the exporting country. 
 Raw produce being more bulky than manufactured goods of 
 the same value is more costly to export. They therefore 
 argue that America would be placed at a disadvantage com- 
 pared with England if she imported all the manufactured 
 goods she wanted in exchange for raw produce. 
 
 4. It is said that the home manufacturer has to pay 
 various taxes which are not levied from his foreign com- 
 petitor, and therefore if he does not receive some compensa- 
 tion in the form of protection, he must necessarily be placed 
 at a disadvantage. 
 
 5. Protection is advantageous to a country because it 
 encourages various branches of home trade, and discourages 
 to the same extent the trade of foreign countries. 
 
 \ 6. A protective import duty, it is asserted, is ultimately 
 almost entirely paid by the foreign producer. Consequently 
 protection secures the double advantage of taxing the 
 foreigner and of encouraging home industry. 
 
 7. As profits and wages are not higher in protected 
 industries than in those which are not protected, the ob- 
 jection ordinarily urged against protection that it benefits 
 a special trade at the expense of the general consumer 
 cannot be fairly maintained. 
 
 8. Protection is economically advantageous because it 
 a country obtains its produce at home instead of importing 
 it, the labour employed in transporting produce from a 
 distance is saved, and this labour is assumed to be un- 
 productive. 
 
 9. Production is represented as conferring great benefit 
 upon the working classes in America, because the wages 
 which are paid in certain industries which enjoy protection 
 in America, are higher than the wages in the same industries 
 in free-trade England. 
 
 10. Protection would be unjust if only one industry were 
 protected, because the general public would obtain no
 
 76 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 compensation for the increased price they would have to pay 
 for the product of this particular industry. They however, 
 obtain this compensation, if protection is so extended that 
 the entire industry of the country participates in its 
 advantages. 
 
 11. Protection has been defended on the ground that 
 wages being higher in America and in the Colonies than in 
 England the American and the Colonial traders require 
 protection in order to place them in a position of equality 
 with their English competitors. 
 
 12. Protection, having been once established, cannot be 
 abolished without causing great loss to employers and 
 employed in those trades which have been protected. 
 
 13. Protection can be advantageously introduced into a 
 young country as a temporary expedient, since various 
 industries which will ultimately prosper without protection 
 require its aid in the early stages of their existence. 
 
 I will now proceed to consider these arguments in the 
 order in which they have been stated. 
 
 i. // will be observed that in the foregoing enumeration of 
 the reasons which are advanced in support of protection the 
 first position has been given to what is known as the " diversity 
 of industry " argument, because there is no single point on 
 which so much stress is laid by American and Colonial 
 protectionists. 
 
 It is contended that a country which has almost inex- 
 haustible supplies of fertile land, considerable portions of 
 which are still unoccupied, possesses such exceptional ad- 
 vantages for agriculture that its labour and capital will be 
 chiefly concentrated on the production of raw produce ; it 
 is accordingly maintained that although it might be cheaper, 
 for instance, for America to purchase from foreign countries 
 various articles of manufacture with this raw produce instead 
 of making the articles for herself, yet the gain thus secured 
 would be dearly bought because of the harm which would be 
 done to America if there were no variety in the occupations
 
 iv.] THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 77 
 
 of her people. If scarcely any industry were carried on 
 except agriculture, many who were not suited for out- 
 door work but who could acquire a skill which would enable 
 them to excel in some handicraft, might find it impossible 
 to obtain any employment for which they were qualified ; 
 there would consequently be a great waste of industrial 
 power. It is also alleged that the social development and 
 progress of the country would be most seriously impeded, 
 if the greater part of its population devoted itself to field 
 work, and lived in scattered settlements ; whereas if manu- 
 factures were established people would become more con- 
 centrated, the growth of towns would be ensured, and in 
 addition to the foreign demand, there would arise a large 
 home demand for agricultural produce. 
 
 It is evident that the whole of this reasoning rests on the 
 hypothesis that it is impossible for manufacturing industry 
 to exist in a young country unless it receives the fostering 
 aid of protection. It can, I believe, be shown that this 
 hypothesis is not warranted either by theory or by experi- 
 ence. When a country is first settled and is consequently 
 very sparsely peopled, it possesses no sufficient supply of 
 labour for the establishment of manufactures on an extensive 
 scale. Gradually however as population increases there 
 will arise various branches of domestic industry which will 
 supplement and assist in various ways the labour of those 
 who are engaged in agriculture. However purely agricul- 
 tural the industry of a country may be, there must always be 
 a great deal of work to be done which will provide many 
 different kinds of employment besides the mere tilling of 
 land. Houses and other buildings have to be erected, 
 roads have to be made, agricultural implements and ma- 
 chinery have to be repaired, and the cost of carriage will 
 make many articles, especially those of a bulky kind, so 
 expensive to import that, although labour may be dearer in 
 a new country, it will be found cheaper to make the articles 
 at home. The various trades and handicrafts which are
 
 78 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 thus called into existence will create an increasing demand 
 for skilled labour, and in this way that industrial uniformity 
 about which the protectionists express so much alarm will 
 be avoided. It has been already explained that the home 
 trader, even where no protective duties are imposed, enjoys 
 a natural protection so far as the home market is concerned, 
 because he can bring his produce to this market at a much 
 less cost, than can his foreign competitors. 
 
 Although the desirability of securing diversity of industries 
 is constantly put forward as one of the chief reasons why 
 protection is supported, yet the tariff which is at the present 
 time maintained in the United States affords a conclusive 
 proof that motives of a very different kind must exercise a 
 powerful influence on those who favour protection. It will 
 be found by referring to this tariff, that protective duties are 
 not solely imposed on manufactures. No article for instance 
 is subjected to a heavier import duty than timber. It cannot 
 be supposed that by excluding Canadian and other timber 
 from the American market and thus making timber dearer 
 than it otherwise would be, the growth of towns will be 
 encouraged, and that a greater amount of suitable employ- 
 ment will be forthcoming for those who possess the skill 
 required in various handicrafts and who are not fitted for 
 rough out-door work. Such a duty exercises an influence in 
 exactly the opposite direction : for when the home timber 
 trade is thus artificially encouraged by protection, a greater 
 number of the population are scattered far and wide over 
 the country, employed in cutting timber and bringing it to 
 market. The most serious objection to be urged against 
 the policy of imposing duties in order to force into an un- 
 natural existence certain branches of industry arises from 
 the fact, that when the aid of such an agency has once 
 been resorted to, its future operation cannot be con- 
 trolled. Although it may have been intended by those who 
 first introduced protection into the United States, to do 
 nothing more than give a temporary assistance to certain
 
 iv.] THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 79 
 
 manufacturers in order to enable them to struggle against 
 the difficulties which often beset a new industry, yet the aid 
 which was thus given, far from being temporary, has been 
 continued for nearly a century ; and instead of a few pro- 
 ducts being protected against foreign competition there is 
 scarcely a single article that can be produced in the United 
 States which is not now subjected on importation to a high 
 protective duty. This extension of protection is not due to 
 any accidental circumstances. Fire is not more certain to 
 spread amongst inflammable material than is protection 
 when once sanctioned to embrace a constantly increasing 
 number of industries within its influence. Each new pro- 
 tective duty which is imposed inevitably creates a demand 
 for more protection in other industries. The iron-masters, 
 for example, of the United States may not improbably 
 demand a greater amount of protection, for high as are the 
 protective duties now imposed on imported iron, amounting 
 in some instances to 100 per cent, foreign iron still finds 
 its way in considerable quantities to the American market 
 In 1874 no less than 3,ooo,ooo/. worth of iron was im- 
 ported. This influx of foreign iron, it may be urged, con- 
 stantly forces down prices, deprives the iron-masters and 
 those whom they employ of a part of the prosperity to which 
 they are fairly entitled when trade is active, and intensifies 
 the depression of adverse times. If a demand for more 
 protection were conceded, the supply of foreign iron in the 
 American market might be greatly curtailed and the price 
 of American iron would be considerable increased. But the 
 moment this advance in price occurred a signal would be 
 given to demand more protection in a great number of 
 other industries. Every article which was made of iron 
 would become dearer, and those who had to purchase these 
 articles would find a new burden imposed upon them. The 
 American cotton and woollen manufacturers might fairly 
 say " It has been scarcely possible for us to hold our 
 own against our foreign competitors, but now that in order
 
 So FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP 
 
 to benefit the iron trade the price of iron has been increased, 
 we have to pay more for our machinery ; this places us at a 
 disadvantage compared with English, French, and other 
 manufacturers ; we have consequently a right to demand an 
 increase of protection, in order to compensate us for the 
 advantage which would otherwise be given to our foreign 
 rivals. " 
 
 In discussing the various arguments which are adduced in 
 support of protection it will not be sufficient to consider the 
 subject simply in its economic aspects. Thus, as already 
 stated, the social and other benefits which are conferred upon 
 a country by its possessing a diversity of industries are sup- 
 posed to provide an ample compensation for any economic 
 loss which may be caused by protection. As complaints are 
 constantly made by protectionists that their opponents per- 
 sistently ignore all the results of protection which are not 
 economic, I will be careful to consider these results, and I 
 shall be the more anxious to do so because without such 
 consideration the real magnitude of the mischief which is 
 done by protection cannot be adequately understood. 
 There is nothing more calculated to exercise a deteriorating 
 influence upon a country than to encourage its industrial 
 classes to be perpetually looking to the State for assistance. 
 When a nation becomes thoroughly imbued with the 
 doctrines of protection, it seems to display towards compe- 
 tition the same sort of helpless terror as is shown by a timid 
 child terrified by the fancied presence of a ghostly appari- 
 tion. The statistics of exports and imports are eagerly 
 scanned, and whenever the import of any particular article 
 is discovered to be on the increase a piteous cry is raised 
 for more legislative protection against this growing foreign 
 competition. Instead of trying to ascertain whether if the 
 foreign producer is gaining an advantage, it is not being 
 secured through greater industrial enterprise, recourse is 
 immediately had to all the political artifices by which any 
 particular trade interest can bring its influence to bear on
 
 iv.] THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 81 
 
 the government. The efforts which are thus being constantly 
 made by those engaged in different industries to secure 
 legislative aid, have probably done more than anything else 
 to encourage that "lobbying" and " wire pulling" which form 
 such prominent features in the politics of the United States. 
 No inconsiderable portion of the energy of her public men, 
 which should be devoted to further objects of national 
 importance, is employed in gaining for some particular 
 trade what is supposed to be the privilege of a higher pro- 
 tective duty. This opinion is forcibly confirmed by an able 
 American economist, Professor W. G. Sumner, who says : 
 
 " This continual law-making about industry has been 
 prolific of industrial and political mischief. It has tainted our 
 political life with log-rolling, presidental wire-pulling, lobby- 
 ing, and custom-house politics. It has been intertwined 
 with currency errors all the way along. It has created 
 privileged classes in the free American community, who were 
 saved from the risks and dangers of business to which the 
 rest of us are liable. It has controlled the election of con- 
 gressmen, and put inferior men in office, whose inferiority 
 has reacted upon the nation in worse and worse legislation. 
 Just now we are undergoing a spasm of indignation at 
 official corruption, and we want to reform the civil service, 
 but there is only one way to accomplish that, and that is to 
 cut up the whole system which has made the civil service 
 what it is." l 
 
 It would therefore seem to be conclusively established 
 that protection may produce social and political conse- 
 quences even far more mischievous than the economic loss 
 it causes to a country. 
 
 2. The second argument in favour of protection is, that by 
 encouraging various branches of home industry, a community 
 is made much less dependent upon foreign countries. 
 
 This argument may be at once admitted to constitute the 
 
 1 Lectures on the History of Protection in the United Staffs, by 
 Professor W. G. Sumner. 
 
 O
 
 82 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAI-. 
 
 only logical basis on which a protective system can be sup- 
 ported ; for if it could be assumed that the normal condition 
 of a country was to be perpetually at war with its neighbours, 
 it would become of the first importance to make it, as far 
 as possible, industrially independent of them. Under such 
 circumstances it might be expedient, at whatever cost, to 
 impose protective duties with the view of establishing and 
 maintaining various branches of home industry. It is on 
 grounds such as these that protection is probably most 
 frequently defended. Thus the French consider that they 
 are amply justified in imposing a protective duty on salt, 
 because without such a duty, no salt would be produced in 
 France, and all the salt which the French people consume 
 would consequently have to be imported. It is said that in 
 time of war, the coast of France and her frontiers might be 
 so effectually blockaded that no salt could be imported; 
 time would be required to create the necessary appliances 
 for its manufacture : her people might thus be deprived of 
 the supplies they required of a first necessary of life, and 
 they would be placed at a great disadvantage in the war in 
 which they might be engaged. It is therefore maintained 
 that rather than incur this risk it is better for the French 
 people to pay an increased price for the salt which they 
 consume. Let us however endeavour to estimate the 
 exact degree of risk which France would incur of being 
 deprived of its supplies of salt if it were freely imported, and 
 then we shall be better able to judge whether the price which 
 is now paid to avert this supposed danger can be regarded 
 as a wise and judicious expenditure. 
 
 It is scarcely possible to imagine any conjuncture of cir- 
 cumstances which would cause France to be engaged in 
 such a universal war that she had not a single ally or a single 
 neutral power on her frontier. The first Napoleon was at 
 one time carrying on war with the greater part of Europe ; 
 and yet there was never a moment even in his unparalleled 
 caieer of military aggression, when all the coasts and all the
 
 iv.J THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 83 
 
 frontiers of France were so completely blockaded that no 
 foreign product could find its way to her markets. There 
 would therefore seem to be every reason to conclude that 
 the danger which protection is supposed to avert is a purely 
 imaginary one. But even if we admit the bare possibility 
 of its occurrence, the question is at once suggested, Cannot 
 some 'other means be devised of guarding against it, which 
 will prove less burdensome to a country, than compelling its 
 entire people, whether rich or poor, to pay an unnecessarily 
 high price for articles of the first necessity? The con- 
 sumption of salt in France for domestic purposes may be esti- 
 mated at about 360,000,000 Ibs. Salt is subjected to an excise 
 duty in France of 4?. per cwt. ; but the duty which is im- 
 posed on foreign salt when imported being thirty-three per 
 cent, higher than the excise duty, French salt is by this 
 duty so effectually protected that scarcely any salt is im- 
 ported. It is affirmed on the authority of those who have 
 an intimate practical knowledge of the salt trade that this 
 restriction of foreign importation increases the price of salt 
 in France by a halfpenny a pound ; consequently the pro- 
 tective duty imposes a tax on the French consumers of salt 
 of at least 750,0007. a year, beyond the amount which the 
 duty on salt yields to the French revenue. When it is 
 remembered that salt is used for many purposes in manu- 
 facturing and agricultural industry, it is a moderate estimate 
 to assume that the protective duty on salt annually imposes 
 a fine of i,ooo,ooo/. on the French people, beyond the 
 amount which is directly levied from them by the salt tax. 
 This i,ooo,ooo/. a year is taken from them, in order to give 
 encouragement to the home manufacture of salt, and in 
 order to make France independent of foreign supplies. It has 
 also to be borne in mind that the protective duty, although 
 it imposes this heavy fine on the French people, far from 
 adding anything to the revenue, actually diminishes it to a 
 considerable extent. If no protective duty were imposed on 
 foreign salt, and if the excise and import duty were exactly
 
 84 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 the same, the price of salt would be materially reduced 
 in France : the consumption of salt would consequently 
 be increased, and the revenue would be proportionately 
 augmented, if the import duty were reduced to the same 
 rate as the present excise. Not only therefore does pro- 
 tection injure the revenue, but by unnecessarily increasing the 
 price of salt it imposes a tax of at least i,ooo,ooo/. a year on 
 the French people. Not one shilling of this large amount can 
 be appropriated by the government to the general purposes 
 of the State, for it has to be entirely devoted to compensate 
 the French manufacturers of salt for the disadvantages 
 under which they carry on their industry, compared with the 
 favourable conditions under which salt can be produced in 
 England and in other countries. 
 
 It is not necessary to express any opinion here with 
 regard to the expediency of taxing such a necessary of life 
 as salt. I am simply attempting to trace the effect of pre- 
 venting the importation of salt by a protective duty ; and 
 however high the duty imposed on salt might be, it would 
 cease to be protective if home-made and foreign salt were 
 taxed at the same rate. From the figures just given an idea 
 can be formed of the price which is annually paid by the 
 French people, with the object of guarding themselves 
 against the remote contingency of a war so universal that 
 every avenue by which foreign produce could find its way 
 into France would be completely closed. As such an event 
 has never yet happened, the greatest alarmist can scarcely 
 suppose that it will occur more than once in a century. It 
 would thus appear that in order to provide against it a con- 
 tribution amounting in the aggregate to 1 00,000, ooo/. would 
 be levied from the French people. 
 
 If this policy of making a country independent of foreigners 
 is to be carried out, it will not be sufficient simply to pro- 
 tect the home manufacturer of salt against his foreign com- 
 petitor. The home production of numerous other articles 
 must be similarly fostered ; the price of all these must be
 
 iv.] THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 85 
 
 artificially raised to such a point as will compensate the 
 home trader for the disadvantages under which he may 
 have to carry on his industry, and thus the loss which is 
 caused to France by making her independent of foreign 
 countries for her supplies of salt may be indefinitely in- 
 creased. A most serious burden might in this way be cast 
 upon the entire industry of a nation, and even in periods of 
 profound peace a country would thus be virtually making 
 the most costly preparations for war. If it were really 
 worth while for a country to take precautionary measures 
 against a danger so shadowy and remote, it would be far 
 cheaper on the eve of hostilities to accumulate stores of the 
 products which are imported, than for the people constantly 
 to have to bear the serious loss which is inflicted on them 
 by articles which they are obliged to purchase being made 
 unnecessarily dear. 
 
 Although the supposed desirability of making a commu- 
 nity independent of foreign countries is one of the argu- 
 ments most commonly advanced in favour of protection 
 both in America and in our Colonies, yet all the reasons 
 which have been adduced against protection being main- 
 tained for this purpose by such a country as France apply 
 with tenfold force to the United States and Canada. Great 
 as is the improbability that France can ever be cut off from 
 her supplies of foreign products, the improbability is still 
 greater that the United States, Canada, and Australia, with 
 their thousands of miles both of land and sea frontier, could 
 ever be so completely surrounded by hostile forces that 
 they could not continue to obtain supplies from foreign 
 countries. 
 
 3. // is argued in favour of protection, and especially by 
 writers on the subject in America, that the cost of exporting 
 produce being paid by the exporting country, America would be 
 placed at a disadvantage compared with England if the com- 
 merce between the two countries consisted chiefly in sending 
 raw produce from America in exchange for manufactured
 
 86 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 goods ; because the former, being in proportion to its value 
 more bulky than the latter, will be more expensive to export. 
 
 It can be readily shown that this argument possesses no 
 validity, for it is based on the erroneous assumption that 
 the cost of exporting produce is paid by the exporting 
 country. In order to prove the fallacy of this assumption, 
 let us inquire what would be the effect of reducing from 6s. 
 to 3-r. the cost of sending a quarter of wheat from New 
 York to Liverpool. If, after this reduction in freight took 
 place, American wheat continued to sell in England at the 
 same price as it did before, the profit realized on every 
 quarter of American wheat sold in England would be 
 increased by 3^. This opportunity of securing extra profit 
 would inevitably cause increased supplies of American 
 wheat to be sent to England, and this would continue until 
 the price of American wheat was so much reduced in Eng- 
 land that it was not more profitable to sell it there than in 
 America. The difference in the price of wheat in New 
 York and in England cannot be permanently greater than 
 is the cost of exporting wheat from New York to England. 
 If therefore this cost is reduced, the price of American 
 wheat in England must be also reduced by nearly an equi- 
 valent amount. The fall in pnce would not probably be 
 quite equal to the reduction in the cost of carriage ; because 
 as American wheat became cheaper in England, the demand 
 for it would become greater, and this increase in demand 
 might produce a slight rise in its price in America. It still, 
 however, is certain that a lessening of the cost of carriage 
 would produce a reduction of price in the importing country 
 of almost exactly the same amount, and consequently it 
 follows that the cost of carriage instead of being borne, as 
 is assumed by American protectionists, by the exporting 
 country, falls almost entirely upon the importing country. 
 It is obvious that the first effect of a rise in the freight be- 
 tween America and England would be to increase the price, 
 to the English consumer, of wheat and all other produce
 
 iv.] THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 87 
 
 imported from America ; and any reduction in freights 
 would in the same way confer a greater advantage upon 
 England than upon America, because the price of all 
 American produce in the English market would be reduced 
 by an amount nearly equivalent to the saving in the cost of 
 carriage. 
 
 4. The next argument advanced in support of protection 
 is that the home trader needs protection, because, since he has 
 to pay various taxes which cannot be levied from his foreign 
 competitors, it is necessary, in order to place him on a position 
 of equality with them, that he should receive some compensating 
 advantage. 
 
 With regard to . this argument it may be remarked that 
 the foreign producer has to pay the taxes which are imposed 
 in his own country, and it is a mere matter of chance 
 whether these taxes in the aggregate are heavier than those 
 that are imposed in the protectionist country. If protec- 
 tionists argue that the burdens on production are always 
 more onerous in a protectionist country, such an admission 
 may be fairly regarded as a conclusive condemnation of the 
 protectionist system. The aggregate amount which has to 
 be raised by taxation in an old country, such as England, 
 is in proportion to her population far larger than is 
 required by the government in the United States. The 
 imperial revenue raised in England at the present time 
 represents a charge of about zl. los. a head ; whereas in 
 the United States the charge is less than i/. ioy. a head. 
 If therefore the raising of this larger amount in England 
 proves less burdensome to her industry than the raising of 
 a smaller amount in protectionist countries, it proves that 
 their system of taxation is radically defective. 
 
 It is also worthy of notice that if the home trader is to 
 be protected in proportion to the taxation which he has to 
 bear, each addition that is made to taxation in a protec- 
 tionist country will become doubly burdensome to the 
 general community; because it will create a demand for
 
 88 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 fresh protection. Thus if a larger revenue is required in 
 America, and it becomes necessary to impose a tax on 
 dwelling-houses and business premises, the American manu- 
 facturer would immediately put forward a claim for more 
 protection. He might, for instance, urge that before this 
 new taxation he was only just able to compete with his 
 foreign rivals ; the new burdens which he has to bear will 
 place him at a disadvantage, and he will, therefore, claim 
 that he should be compensated by heavier import duties 
 being imposed on the goods which come into competition 
 with those which he produces. The price of cotton and 
 woollen goods, of iron, and of various other manufactured 
 articles, would thus be increased through the imposition of 
 these higher duties. Consequently the people would be 
 doubly taxed : they would not only have to provide the 
 additional revenue which is required, but they would have to 
 pay a higher price for all those various articles which were 
 subjected to increased import duties. The increase of these 
 duties, although extremely burdensome to the people, might 
 not yield any additional revenue to the State ; on the 
 contrary, importation would probably be restricted, and 
 thus the revenue yielded might be less than it was before. 
 
 The argument we are now considering affords a striking 
 illustration of the mischievous influence which must be 
 exerted by protection, if a policy of commercial restriction 
 is carried out with logical consistency. The tendency of 
 protection must necessarily be, to deprive the population of 
 the country in which it is maintained, of the advantages 
 arising from any improvements in productive industry, 
 which may be introduced into other countries. Thus, if a 
 mechanical invention cheapened the production of a manu- 
 factured article in England, or reduced its cost of carriage 
 so much that the English manufacturer was able to sell it in 
 the United States at a reduction of ten per cent, on its 
 former price, the American manufacturer would immediately 
 put forward a claim to higher protective duties. It is in
 
 iv.] THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 89 
 
 strict accordance with the principles of protection that this 
 claim should be granted ; and if it were granted the 
 American people would lose the benefit they would other- 
 wise gain in being able to purchase a particular article at a 
 considerably reduced price. In the absence of protection, 
 the home manufacturer who found himself placed at a 
 disadvantage in consequence of his foreign competitor 
 having adopted some mechanical improvement, would 
 endeavour to improve his own manufacture, so as to be 
 able to sell his goods at the same rate as the foreigner. 
 It would thus become a trial of skill against skill, instead 
 of a competition of skill against restriction. 
 
 5. One of the most important advantages claimed for pro- 
 tection by its advocates, is that it not only encourages various 
 branches of home industry, but discourages the trade of foreign 
 countries to a corresponding extent. 
 
 Thus it is argued that if iron were freely imported into 
 the United States, the many millions which are now ex- 
 pended in America in the purchase of iron, instead of being 
 distributed amongst the American manufacturers of iron 
 and their workpeople, would be sent to England. Such 
 a transfer it is assumed would enrich England and im- 
 poverish America. It is, however, evident that those who 
 hold this opinion must consider that a community is injured 
 by any circumstance which promotes the prosperity of 
 neighbouring countries. Protectionists may perhaps hesi- 
 tate to avow such a doctrine when stated in plain terms, 
 but it can be readily shown that this is the conclusion to 
 which the principles they profess inevitably lead. 
 
 Protection, as previously remarked, may be regarded as 
 a survival of the mercantile system ; the opinions which 
 were propounded by its adherents bear a remarkable 
 resemblance to those which are expressed by the protec- 
 tionists of the present day. Thus when they insist on the 
 harm which would be done to America if iron were more 
 largely imported from England, they constantly speak as if
 
 90 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 the additional iron which would be bought from England 
 would have to be paid for with hard cash, and it seems to 
 be thought that America would constantly have more and 
 more money drained away from her. Nothing, however, 
 is more certain than that if America purchased goods more 
 largely from England, the English people would in their 
 turn increase their purchases of American produce. If it 
 were advantageous for a country as far as possible to 
 diminish the quantity of products imported, that country 
 would derive the maximum profit from foreign commerce 
 whose exports were large compared with her imports. To 
 secure a large excess of exports over imports seems in fact 
 to be the goal to reach which protectionists are ever striving. 
 Side by side with the imposition in the United States ot 
 innumerable import duties, many of which are so high as to 
 be prohibitive, such eager anxiety is shown that not the 
 slightest impediment should be thrown in the way of foreign 
 countries freely purchasing American produce, that not only 
 is no proposal ever made of levying an export duty in the 
 United States, but the" imposition of such a duty is for- 
 bidden by the American constitution. Amongst French 
 protectionists the same terror is shown of an excess of 
 imports over exports. Thus in a recent address of the 
 Chamber of Commerce of Elboeuf, protesting against the 
 renewal of the Commercial Treaty with England, it was 
 stated that whereas in 1875 the exports of France exceeded 
 her imports by 297 million francs, in the next year the 
 imports were in excess of the exports by 271 million francs, 
 and it was said that consequently there had been a transfer 
 in this period of nearly 600 million francs " to the 
 prejudice of France." But if a country is benefited by its 
 exports and injured by its imports, we are led to the con- 
 clusion that a community is enriched in exact proportion 
 to the smallness of the return which it receives in exchange 
 for the produce which it sends abroad. But if this were the 
 case a community would derive the maximum advantage
 
 IV.] THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 91 
 
 from foreign commerce when in exchange for various useful 
 products which it exported it received scarcely anything 
 except money. Such a result might no doubt be brought 
 about if a protectionist policy were carried out with sufficient 
 thoroughness and completeness. Suppose for instance that 
 protective duties were increased in the United States ; the 
 quantity of articles imported from England and other coun- 
 tries might be greatly diminished, whilst the demand of these 
 countries for American produce would continue. If Eng- 
 lish harvests, for example, were deficient and America had 
 wheat to spare, this wheat would be gladly purchased by the 
 English people. They would not deprive themselves of 
 bread because America had increased her import duties. 
 If, however, produce continued to be thus exported whilst 
 imports were more and more reduced, a larger portion of 
 these exports would have to be paid for with money, and 
 a larger amount of money would consequently have to be 
 annually transmitted to America. This being the case the 
 question is at once suggested, would such a transmission 
 of money be more advantageous to America than if, in 
 exchange for the products she exported, she obtained 
 various manufactured goods and other articles which would 
 minister to the wants and enjoyments of her people? 
 
 The value of gold and silver is determined by the same 
 laws as those which regulate the value of other articles of 
 mineral produce. If money were constantly poured into 
 a country in the manner just supposed its supply would 
 be increased, and its value would proportionately diminish. 
 Hence, a commerce which consisted in exporting useful 
 products in exchange for money, instead of being peculiarly 
 beneficial would really be specially disastrous to a country ; 
 for produce would be sent abroad which might be used 
 in furnishing the people with the necessaries and enjoy- 
 ments of life ; and in exchange for the real and tangible 
 advantages which were thus parted with, nothing would 
 be secured but an increased supply of money, with a
 
 92 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 consequent depreciation in its value, producing a rise in 
 general prices. 
 
 The policy having been once commenced of creating 
 a "favourable balance of trade" by discouraging imports, 
 could not be continued without imposing more and more 
 onerous and mischievous restrictions on commerce. The 
 rise in general prices which it has been shown would occur 
 in America if she were chiefly paid for her exports with 
 money and not with produce, would obviously tend to 
 diminish the amount of her exports and to increase her 
 imports. If wheat and maize and other articles became 
 dearer in America a less quantity of these articles would 
 be purchased by other countries, and consequently her 
 exports would diminish. At the same time the rise in 
 prices in America might make it profitable for England 
 and other countries to send goods there which before could 
 not be sent except at a loss, and this increase in imports 
 would cause the imposition of higher protective duties to 
 be demanded. 
 
 The case which has just been investigated affords another 
 example of the fact that any injury which a country inflicts 
 on the commerce of other nations, instead of yielding her 
 any advantage, is sure sooner or later to react upon herself, 
 and generally with redoubled force. Protectionists, as we 
 have seen, are always most anxious to promote exports and 
 to discourage imports ; and yet every new protective duty 
 which is imposed is just as effectual in impeding an export 
 trade as if a duty were levied on every article which is sent 
 abroad. It has, for instance, just been shown that an inevit- 
 able result of a protectionist policy is to make the articles 
 which are exported dearer, and consequently to diminish 
 the foreign demand for them. This falling off in the foreign 
 demand will still further be aggravated by the loss which a 
 country inflicts on others besides herself by the maintenance 
 of a protective tariff. England no doubt suffers seriously 
 from the protective duties of America, but the more serious
 
 iv.] THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 93 
 
 the injury which is thus inflicted on her, and the greater the 
 loss of wealth which it causes, the more will her power of 
 purchasing the goods which America wishes to send her 
 be diminished. If trade improved in England, if employ- 
 ment became more abundant, if profits increased and wages 
 advanced, there is not a single article of general consumption 
 for which the demand would not increase ; and this increase 
 in demand is just as certain to take place, whether the 
 article is made at home or whether it is imported. 
 
 6. It is argued by protectionists that a protective import duty 
 is ultimately almost entirely paid by the foreign producer, and it 
 is therefore supposed that protection secures the double advantage 
 of compelling foreign countries to contribute to the home revenue, 
 whilst at the same time encouragement is given to home 
 industry. 
 
 This argument is supported with much ingenuity by a 
 well-known American economist. Mr. Francis Bowen. 1 It 
 is contended by him that if America imported 40,000,0007. 
 worth of manufactured goods when an import duty of 10 per 
 cent, was levied, and if when this duty was raised to 35 per 
 cent, only 20,ooo,ooo/. worth of goods were imported, the 
 government would not only obtain a larger revenue from the 
 smaller importation, but England in consequence of the 
 falling off in the demand for her goods would be compelled 
 to sell them at a lower price. It is therefore urged that the 
 effect of a protective duty is to enable a country to purchase 
 foreign produce at a cheaper rate, and consequently the 
 country which maintains protection is placed in a position 
 to make a better bargain with those from whom this produce 
 is bought. In this reasoning the fact is altogether ignored 
 that although the price which the English may obtain for 
 their goods is somewhat less than it was before the duty was 
 raised, yet this reduction in price is extremely trifling com- 
 pared with the extent to which the price is raised in the 
 importing country in consequence of the increase of duty ; 
 1 See American Political Economy, by Francis Bowen, p. 487.
 
 94 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 therefore those who purchase the article in America, although 
 they may find its price not advanced by the full amount of 
 the duty, yet the advance will be sufficient to cause by far 
 the greater part of the duty to fall upon those who consume 
 the article in America, and not upon those who produce it 
 in England. 
 
 In order to show this, let it be assumed, following the 
 example given by Mr. Bowen, that 100,000 pieces of woollen 
 cloth, the value of which in England is i,ooo,ooo/., are ex- 
 ported from England to America when the import duty is 
 10 per cent. Suppose the cost of the carriage of this cloth 
 is i/. a piece, and the duty being 10 per cent, will also be 
 i/. a piece. Consequently the price at which the cloth will 
 sell in America will be approximately i2/. a piece because 
 the price must be sufficient to provide a compensation for 
 the cost of carriage and for the duty. If the price were more 
 than sufficient to do this it would be more profitable to sell 
 cloth in America than in England, and the price would be 
 inevitably forced down by those who had cloth to sell being 
 naturally anxious to secure the advantage of this extra profit. 
 If, on the other hand, the difference in the price of cloth in 
 the American and English markets were not sufficient to pay 
 the cost of carriage and the duty, then it would be less 
 profitable to sell English cloth in America than in England, 
 and English manufacturers would consequently refuse to 
 export cloth. When the duty is raised from 10 per cent, to 
 35 per cent, a piece of cloth which was worth io/. in England 
 would have to be sold in America not at ia/. but at i4/. IQS. 
 because the difference between its price in the two markets 
 must be sufficient to cover the duty as well as the cost 
 of carriage ; the cost of carriage is still i/., but the duty, 
 having been raised from io per cent, to 35 per cent, is 
 3/. los. The protectionists however are no doubt right in 
 their contention that with this great increase in the price 
 of English cloth in America, there would be a consider- 
 able falling off in the American demand. Accepting the
 
 iv.] THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 93 
 
 hypothesis on which the argument advanced by Mr. Bowen 
 is based, let it be assumed that the importation of English 
 cloth into America is reduced from 100,000 to 50,000 pieces. 
 This diminution in the demand for cloth would undoubtedly 
 affect its price in England, but the reduction in price would 
 inevitably be small when compared with the increase of 
 duty. The price cannot permanently fall below such a point 
 as will make the manufacture of cloth less remunerative 
 than other branches of industry. 
 
 It would be an excessive estimate to suppose that a falling 
 off to the extent of one-half in one branch of the foreign 
 demand for English cloth, resulting from an increase of the 
 American protective duties, would cause a reduction in 
 price of 10 per cent. But even if it is assumed that the 
 price is reduced by this amount, a piece of cloth which be- 
 fore was worth io/. in England would now be worth 9/., 
 and its price in the American market would be i3/. 3^. 
 instead of i4/. los. ; because the difference in its price in 
 the two markets must be sufficient to pay the cost ot 
 carriage, which is i/., and the duty, which is 3/. 3^., being 
 35 per cent, on the value of the cloth which is now 9/. It 
 therefore appears that although the price of English cloth 
 in America is not advanced by the full amount of the in- 
 crease of duty, yet the price is raised from i2/. to i3/. 3^. j 
 in fact cloth is made so dear that the American people can 
 only afford to buy half as much from England as they 
 formerly purchased. An injury will no doubt be inflicted 
 on English trade by this falling off in the American demand : 
 it must however be borne in mind that the loss which may 
 be thus caused to a special branch of English industry may 
 bring with it a compensating advantage. Thus it has been 
 assumed that owing to less cloth being exported to America, 
 cloth becomes cheaper in England by 10 per cent. Every- 
 one therefore who wishes to purchase English cloth, whether 
 at home or abroad, will be benefited by its being thus made 
 cheaper. With this fall in price, the general demand will
 
 96 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 increase ; this will inevitably lead to a considerable recovery 
 in the price of cloth, and this circumstance will go far to 
 compensate the English manufacturers for the falling off in 
 the American demand. 
 
 It therefore appears that instead of a protective duty 
 being chiefly paid, as American and other protectionists 
 suppose, by foreign countries, such a duty must cause a 
 much more serious loss to the community which imposes it 
 than it causes to those countries who export the produce 
 on which the duty is levied. Thus it has been shown in 
 the foregoing example, that whatever loss might ultimately 
 be caused to the English cloth manufacturers by an increase 
 of the American import duties on cloth, this loss is, so 
 far as the English people are concerned, accompanied by 
 the advantage that they are able to purchase cloth at a 
 somewhat lower price. One special branch of English 
 trade is injured : whereas the general body of English 
 consumers are benefited. In America, however, where the 
 higher protective duty is imposed, exactly the reverse takes 
 place. Whatever effect the increased duty may have upon 
 the American cloth manufacturers, the increase of the duty 
 causes a most serious loss to the American people. 
 
 The arguments that are adduced in favour of protection 
 so habitually ignore the interests of the general consumer, 
 that it is of the first importance to remember that in the 
 case just investigated, the increase of the protective duty 
 on cloth would not simply raise the price of imported cloth, 
 but would produce a corresponding advance in the price of 
 all the cloth which was purchased by the American people, 
 whether of home or of foreign manufacture. If therefore, 
 of the entire cloth used in America only one-twentieth were 
 imported, the protective duty on cloth would impose a 
 fine on the American people twenty times as large as the 
 amount which the import duty yielded to the revenue. The 
 injury therefore which is done to a foreign country by the 
 imposition of a protective duty, is trifling compared with
 
 iv.] THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 97 
 
 the injury which the country imposing the duty inflicts 
 on herself. 
 
 7. A striking illustration is afforded of the opposite aspects 
 under which the advantages of protection are represented by its 
 advocates, when it is argued that the general body of consumers 
 cannot be injured by protection, because profits and wages are 
 not higher in the protected industries than in those which are 
 not protected. 
 
 The employment of such an argument is imprudent, 
 because the fallacy which it involves can be readily ex- 
 plained ; whilst the admission it contains, as to the equality 
 of wages and of profits in protected and unprotected 
 industries, affords a complete refutation of many of the 
 arguments on which most reliance is placed by those who 
 support protection. Such an admission in fact disposes of 
 a very considerable number of the reasons which are 
 ordinarily urged in defence of protection. If it is con- 
 ceded that profits and wages are not higher in trades which 
 are protected than in those which are not protected, it at 
 once becomes evident, as we have attempted to show in a 
 previous chapter, that if commodities are made dearer by 
 protection, the loss which is thus caused to the consumer of 
 these commodities is not counterbalanced by any special 
 advantage being enjoyed by those who supply the capital 
 and labour requisite to produce them. When the price of 
 any product is increased through protection, the extra price 
 does not represent higher profits or wages, but is simply an 
 equivalent for increased cost of production. 
 
 In order to prove the fallacy involved in the argument 
 that the consumer cannot be injured by protection because 
 the imposition of a protective duty, in any branch of 
 industry, does not increase its wages and profits beyond the 
 average rate, it is only necessary to consider what would be 
 the effect of again levying in England an import duty on corn. 
 As previously explained, the inevitable effect of such a duty 
 would be to raise the price of corn in England. Less 
 
 H
 
 95 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 foreign corn would be imported, and more would be grown 
 on our own soil. This rise however in the price of corn, 
 as is admitted by the protectionists in the argument we are 
 now considering, would not increase the profits of the 
 farmer; the extra price which he received for his corn 
 having to be devoted to pay the additional rent which 
 now would be demanded from him, he would gain nothing ; 
 but the fact that he is not benefited, would not in the 
 slightest degree lessen the loss which would be inflicted 
 on the general body of the consumers ; for, in consequence 
 of the protective duty, everyone would find that he had to 
 pay more for the bread he purchased. 
 
 8. // is alleged that protection must be economically advan- 
 tageous, because ivhen a country produces commodities for itself, 
 instead of obtaining them from abroad, the labour employed in 
 transporting them is saved, and this labour is assumed to be 
 unproductive. 
 
 There is, however, not the slightest foundation for the 
 assumption that the labour employed in transporting a com- 
 modity is in any degree more un-productive than the labour 
 which is employed in actually producing it. The labour of 
 the ploughman who ploughs the land on which wheat is 
 grown, is not more useful or essential than is the labour of 
 those who bring the wheat to the place where it is required 
 for consumption. The finest fields of wheat would be per- 
 fectly worthless if the wheat had to be left on the fields 
 where it grew. There may be millions of tons of coal at the 
 pit's mouth, and this coal would be of no more use than if 
 it had never been dug, unless there is labour to convey it to 
 the places where it is wanted. 
 
 It is supposed that a coal-field extends under the entire 
 town of Liverpool. If this is the case, it would be possible 
 for the people of Liverpool to obtain coal close to their own 
 doors. This coal, however, being at a much greater depth 
 than the coal in other coal-fields in the locality, would 
 be more expensive to work. T ?t it be assumed that the
 
 iv.] THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 99 
 
 additional cost of working the coal will be 5.?. a ton, and 
 that the cost of carrying coal from the coal fields which now 
 supply Liverpool is 2s. a ton. It is obvious that this cost 
 of carriage would be saved, if the coal immediately below 
 Liverpool were worked. But in order to save this 2s., 
 5-r. would have to be spent ; and therefore the net loss 
 on each ton of coal used in Liverpool would be 3-r. 
 
 It therefore appears that saving the labour employed in 
 transporting produce is not necessarily economically advan- 
 tageous, for the amount thus saved may be altogether 
 inadequate to the increased cost involved in obtaining a 
 commodity under more unfavourable conditions. 
 
 9. Protection has been represented to the working classes in 
 America as conferring a great benefit upon them, because it is 
 said that wages are higher in the protected industries in 
 America than they are in the same industries in free-trade 
 England. 
 
 Even if the difference in the remuneration of labour in the 
 United States and in England had continued to be as great 
 as it was formerly, it is obvious, after what was stated when 
 considering the seventh argument, that this difference in 
 wages could not have been due to protection. It was shown 
 that protectionists themselves admit that wages are not 
 higher in protected than in unprotected industries ; con- 
 sequently the greater remuneration which labour obtains in 
 one country than in the other must be due to causes which 
 are independent of protection, and which exert a similar 
 influence upon all employments. A consideration of some 
 of the more prominent features in the economic condition 
 of England and America respectively will at once enable us 
 not only to say what these causes are, but will also show 
 that far from protection increasing the remuneration of 
 labour in the United States, it is gradually depriving 
 labour of so much of its productiveness, that it seems 
 probable wages will soon be reduced there to the same 
 level which they have reached in England. 
 
 H 2
 
 ioo FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 The most striking point of difference in the economic 
 position of England and the United States, is the compara- 
 tively small quantity of fertile land which is possessed by the 
 former country in proportion to its population. The quan- 
 tity of food which is grown upon English soil would be 
 altogether inadequate for the support of its population ; and 
 each year we are becoming more and more dependent upon 
 America to make good this deficiency in our supplies of 
 food. It is calculated that the quantity of wheat annually 
 consumed in England is about 22,000,000 quarters ; the 
 yield of our own harvest this year is estimated at 9,000,000 
 quarters. 13,000,000 quarters will consequently have to ba 
 imported, and by far the larger portion of this will be 
 obtained from America. The quantity of meat, butter, 
 cheese, and other articles of food which are annually im- 
 ported from America is rapidly increasing. It is not, how- 
 ever, only with regard to food that England has so largely 
 to depend on foreign countries for the supplies she requires. 
 A great part of the raw material which is used in many of 
 her most important manufacturing industries is not obtained 
 from her own soil. For instance, a very large portion of the 
 wool which is annually manufactured in England is of 
 foreign growth ; and the English climate not being suited 
 to the production of silk and cotton, all the raw silk and raw 
 cotton which she requires must necessarily be imported. So 
 large a portion of this cotton is obtained from the United 
 States, that the value of the raw cotton which is imported 
 thence has in some years amounted to 30,000,0007. It 
 therefore appears that the United States, when compared 
 with England, enjoys the great advantage of possessing a 
 more abundant and cheaper supply, not only of food, but 
 also of the products which provide the raw material of the 
 most important branches of manufacturing industry. It 
 would seem necessarily to follow that wages and profits 
 would both be much higher in the United States than in 
 England. Fertile land is so plentiful in the former country,
 
 iv.] THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 101 
 
 that it can be obtained in any quantity for the payment of 
 almost a nominal sum ; whereas those in England who wish 
 to cultivate land often have to pay in a single year, in rent, 
 as much as would represent the fee-simple of land of the 
 same quality in the United States. In the one country the 
 entire produce of the land may be devoted to remunerate 
 capital and labour ; whereas in the other country a not in- 
 considerable portion of the produce has to be appropriated 
 as rent. The amount which an English farmer has to pay 
 in rent is often equivalent to the entire amount which he 
 expends in wages. Consequently there will be a smaller 
 aggregate sum left to be divided in the form of profits and 
 wages amongst those who have supplied the capital and 
 labour requisite for the cultivation of the land. It therefore 
 appears that a higher rate of profits and wages must be 
 yielded by agriculture in the United States than in England, 
 and as it has been proved that wages and profits in different 
 industries in the same country approximate to equality, it 
 follows that capital and labour ought both to obtain a 
 higher remuneration in the United States than in England. 
 This higher remuneration is due to circumstances which are 
 altogether independent of protection. It can, moreover, be 
 shown that an influence of so exactly an opposite kind is 
 exerted by protection, that at the present time it is imposing 
 on the industrial classes in America a burden, which to a 
 great extent is neutralising the advantages conferred upon 
 them by the possession of those great natural resources to 
 which attention has just been directed. 
 
 A change of the utmost significance has recently taken 
 place in the economic relations between England and the 
 United States. For many years a large stream cf emigra- 
 tion continuously flowed from Great Britain and Ireland to 
 America. Those who left were so well satisfied with theii 
 new home, that between 1847 and 1864, the Irish emigrants 
 alone transmitted io,ooo,ooo/. from America, to enable 
 their friends and relations in the old country to go and
 
 102 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP 
 
 share the prosperity and comfort which they were then 
 enjoying. It has, however, now come to pass that 
 labourers seem as desirous to leave, as they once were 
 to reach, the United States. The tide of emigration, once 
 so strong, is now beginning to turn, for in 1877 the number 
 of those who emigrated from England to the United States 
 only exceeded by 603 the number of those who emigrated 
 from the United States to England. 
 
 It may of course be said that labourers have been induced 
 to leave the United States in consequence of great depres- 
 sion in trade, but if trade is more depressed there than in 
 England, the fact still remains that labourers are leaving the 
 United States because the labour market of that country 
 ceases to offer the advantages it once possessed. It there- 
 fore appears that American protectionists can no longer use 
 the argument which was once employed with so much effect, 
 that protection secures to labour the advantage of a higher 
 remuneration than can be obtained in countries which have 
 adopted free trade. 
 
 After what has been stated in a previous chapter, the 
 prejudicial effect which must be exercised upon the remu- 
 neration of labour by such a protectionist tariff as that which 
 is now maintained in the United States will be readily 
 understood. A protective duty by making the product 
 on which it is imposed unnecessarily dear, virtually levies 
 a tax from all those who purchase it. When the commodities 
 which are subjected to such a duty are those in general use, 
 the effect of the duty is precisely the same as if an income tax 
 were levied from the entire community. Such a tax cannot 
 be adjusted or equalised as is the case with the income tax 
 in our own country. Small incomes cannot be exempted j 
 for, however poor a man may be, the tax will fall with 
 unerring certainty on all that poition of his income, or 
 his wages, which is expended in the purchase of those 
 articles which are protected. But this is not the only tax 
 which protection compels a community to pay. When the
 
 iv.] THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 103 
 
 instruments and the plant of industry are made more costly, 
 the products of that industry necessarily become more ex- 
 pensive. Iron, copper, and timber are, as we have seen, 
 all made dearer in the United States by protection. Con- 
 sequently the machinery which is made of copper and iron 
 becomes more expensive ; the cost of buildings also, in the 
 construction of which iron and timber are used, is increased ; 
 and this being the case, those who pay a higher price for 
 this machinery must be compensated by obtaining a higher 
 price for the products which they manufacture ; and those 
 who erect the buildings will be able to claim an increased 
 rent, in order that they may be adequately remunerated for 
 the additional cost of their construction. 
 
 Protection is thus in a thousand different ways perpetually 
 taxing the American people. There is not one single branch 
 of her industry on which it does not impose a penalty more 
 or less severe. Its influence may be traced far and wide over 
 the country. It increases the cost of the implements by 
 which the land in the far west is tilled ; it causes a higher 
 rent to be paid by the poorest artizan, lodged in a back 
 street of New York. The burden thus cast upon the in- 
 dustrial classes is so severe as to gradually neutralize her 
 great natural advantages ; and thus we find that though trade 
 is depressed in England, it is still more depressed in 
 America, and workmen are beginning to discover that 
 although wages are nominally higher in the United States 
 than they are in England, yet the American labourer has to 
 pay so much more for house-rent, and many articles which 
 he must purchase are made so unnecessarily dear, that with 
 higher wages he is not so well off, as he would be with 
 smaller wages in England. 
 
 10. When protection has once been introduced into a country, 
 it is argued that it should embrace as many industries as 
 possible; because if only one industry were protected, the general 
 public would receive no compensation for the higher price which 
 they would have to pay for the product of this particular
 
 104 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 industry. If, however, protection embraces the entire industry of 
 the country, each industrial class is in its turn benefited, and is 
 amply compensated for the increased dearness of various articles. 
 
 This argument has been enforced with much ingenuity 
 by M. Alby, a well-known French protectionist. He con- 
 tends that if the iron interest alone were protected in France, 
 the policy would be absolutely indefensible, because every 
 one in France would have to pay more for iron in order to 
 give an advantage to those engaged in the French iron 
 trade ; but he urges that this objection is entirely removed 
 if all industries are equally protected. For instance, if the 
 cloth trade is protected, the benefit which those engaged in 
 it are supposed to derive, more than compensates them for 
 the loss they have to bear in paying an increased price for 
 iron. It has been shown with great clearness by the late 
 Professor Cairnes, 1 that it is impossible to extend protection 
 to all industries in the manner here contemplated; and even 
 if such an extension were practicable, the compensation 
 which it is assumed the community would receive, would be 
 entirely illusory. It is obvious, in the first place, that this 
 argument entirely overlooks the interests of the professional 
 and other classes who obtain their incomes otherwise than 
 by trade. A physician with i,ooo/. a year, or a policeman 
 with i/. a week, would find that almost everything he pur- 
 chased was made dearer by protection ; while his income 
 was in no way increased by it. 
 
 With regard to the impracticability of extending protection 
 to all industries, it is only necessary to remark that in many 
 industries there is no foreign competition, and it is con- 
 sequently impossible to extend protection to them. For 
 example, wine is not imported into France, and wheat is not 
 imported into America. An import duty imposed upon 
 wine in France, or on wheat in America, would therefore 
 be of no advantage to the French wine-grower, or to the 
 American farmer. They are consequently precluded from 
 1 Leading Principles of Political Economy, p. 454 et seq.
 
 iv.] THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 105 
 
 receiving any compensation for the higher price which they 
 are compelled to pay for the various articles that are made 
 dearer through the operation of protective duties. But 
 even if it were practicable to extend protection to the entire 
 trade of the country, it can be readily shown that nothing 
 would be gained even by those who were interested either 
 as employers or employed in the various industries thus 
 protected, as a set-off against the very serious loss which 
 would be caused to the whole community. The only way 
 in which the general rate of wages and profits prevailing in 
 a country can be advanced, is to increase the productiveness 
 of capital and labour. If more is produced by the expendi- 
 ture of a given amount of capital and labour, there will be 
 more to distribute in profits and wages. If less is produced 
 there will be less to distribute, and profits and wages will be 
 reduced. Whatever may be the social and political advan- 
 tages claimed for protection, such for instance, as that it 
 secures a diversified industry, and makes a community in- 
 dependent of foreign countries, its advocates do not attempt 
 to maintain that it increases the productiveness of capital 
 and labour. They are in fact forced to admit that if pro- 
 tection were regarded simply in its economic aspects it could 
 not be defended ; but they maintain that the social and 
 political advantages which they suppose result from it, are 
 more than sufficient to counterbalance the economic loss 
 which is caused to a country by diverting a portion of its 
 labour and capital to industries which can be carried on 
 under less favourable conditions at home than abroad. 
 
 1 1. Protection is defended in America and the Colonies on 
 the ground that, as wages are higher tfiere than in England, 
 the American and Colonial traders require protection in order 
 to place them in a position of equality with their English com- 
 petitors, 
 
 This claim for protection is evidently based on the 
 assumption that the amount of wages paid to labourers is 
 the only element of which account need be taken when
 
 106 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 considering the cost of producing a particular article. The 
 fallacy of such an opinion at once becomes apparent, when 
 it is remembered that agriculture is the particular branch of 
 industry in which the difference between the wages paid in 
 England and those paid in America or Australia is the 
 greatest. And yet it is in agriculture that America and 
 Australia can without the slightest protection compete most 
 successfully against England. The Illinois or Australian 
 farmer has to pay his 'labourers at least three or four times 
 as much as is paid by the Dorsetshire or Wiltshire farmer, 
 and yet wheat can be produced much more cheaply in 
 Australia or America than in England. It is therefore 
 obvious that other circumstances, besides the amount of 
 wages which may be paid, determine the cost at which any 
 particular article can be produced ; if this were not so, 
 the American farmer would have a much stronger claim to 
 protection against the cheap labour of England than the 
 American manufacturer. The efficiency of labour must 
 manifestly exert quite as much influence on the cost of pro- 
 duction as the amount of wages which the labourers receive. 
 The great abundance of cheap fertile land in Australia and 
 America, so much promotes the efficiency or productiveness 
 of the labour employed in its cultivation, that the cost of 
 producing wh'eat and other agricultural products is much 
 less than in England, where considerably lower wages are 
 -paid to farm labourers. Again with regard to mining in- 
 dustry, it is evident that various circumstances, such for 
 instance as the richness of the mineral deposits and their 
 depth from the surface, must exercise a far greater effect 
 upon the cost of production than the wages which may 
 happen to be paid to the miners. In manufacturing in- 
 dustry also, the possibility of one country obtaining raw 
 material at a less cost than another, may more than com- 
 pensate the additional expense which may be thrown upon 
 the manufacturers of the former country by the payment of 
 higher wages. With regard to America and Australia, it is
 
 iv.] THE; ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 107 
 
 to be particularly noted that the great natural resources 
 which they possess must confer upon them many advantages 
 in industrial competition of which there is no probability 
 that they can be deprived. Their almost inexhaustible 
 supplies of fertile land give them advantages such as are 
 possessed by scarcely any other country. Their mineral 
 resources are so great that if they suffer from foreign com- 
 petition, it must be through their own want of skill and 
 enterprise. Even in manufacturing industry, where it is 
 supposed that protection is most needed, it must be remem- 
 bered, that as England imports large quantities of cotton 
 from America, and of wool from Australia, these countries 
 must with regard to some most important branches of 
 manufacturing industry enjoy the advantage of cheaper 
 raw material. It is moreover deserving of special remark, 
 that the difference in wages in countries between which 
 there is an extensive migration of labour must constantly 
 diminish. When emigration has continued for some time, 
 the objections to it are sure gradually to lessen ; it becomes 
 much more of a national habit, and the prospect of a com- 
 paratively small advance of wages may be sufficient to 
 induce people to leave their own country, if they think they 
 shall be settling amongst friends and relations, which would 
 prove altogether inadequate if they had to seek a new home 
 amongst strangers. This increasing readiness to emigrate 
 must exert an equalising influence on wages, and must cause 
 the difference in wages in the two countries, between which 
 the emigration takes place, steadily to diminish. So much 
 is this the case with the United States, that, as previously 
 pointed out, it is now considered that the remuneration 
 received for various kinds of labour is higher in England 
 than in the United States; and there is at the present 
 time nearly as much emigration from America to England 
 as theie is from England to America. When the re- 
 muneration of labour has ceased to be higher in America 
 than in England, when skilled workmen such as masons are
 
 io8 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 found willing to come from New York to work in London 
 for wages which are refused by English masons, there cannot 
 be a shadow of pretext for demanding protection on the 
 ground that the American employer has to pay a higher 
 price for labour than his English competitor. If with labour 
 as cheap as it is in England, if with the unequalled natural 
 resources, inexhaustible supplies of coal, iron and almost 
 every other mineral, boundless tracts of fertile land, un- 
 surpassed facilities for internal navigation ; if with these and 
 countless other advantages the American manufacturer is 
 unable to contend with his foreign competitors, it must be 
 because he and those he employs are deficient in skill and 
 energy, and are wasteful of the great gifts with which their 
 country has been endowed. 
 
 12. Another argument against free trade is that protect ion 
 having been once established cannot be abolished without cattsing 
 great loss both to employers and employed in those trades which 
 have been protected. 
 
 It cannot, I think, be doubted that the loss which might 
 be inflicted upon many special trade interests by the aboli- 
 tion of protection constitutes by far the most serious obstacle 
 in the way of the general adoption of free trade. Exaggerated 
 estimates are no doubt formed of the loss which would be 
 actually caused ; but however great may be the stimulus 
 which free trade would give to the prosperity of such a 
 country as the United States, it would in my opinion be 
 impossible suddenly to abolish protection without causing 
 considerable loss to the employers and employed in many 
 trades which, through its aid, had been fostered into a kind 
 of unnatural ,_ existence. No industrial change, however 
 beneficial, has ever been introduced without causing some 
 loss and inconvenience to certain special classes. The 
 mechanical inventions, which have done most to enrich 
 mankind, were not brought into general use without causing 
 great loss and suffering to many whose labour they sup- 
 planted. Seldom has a class endured more severe hardships
 
 iv.l THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 109 
 
 than were borne by our handloom weavers, during the years 
 that they carried on a prolonged and hopeless struggle, 
 striving in vain to compete with products which were made 
 by machinery at a far cheaper rate. Even stage-coaches 
 could not be superseded by railways without some indi- 
 viduals being injured by the change. Although the aggre- 
 gate wealth of the country was enormously increased, yet 
 in certain special cases property which was before of great 
 value became almost worthless. Along the roads which 
 used to be our great thoroughfares, are still to be found the 
 remains of large inns and posting-houses which formerly 
 let for many hundreds a year ; but immediately the railways 
 drew away the traffic these inns so entirely lost their custom 
 that they had scarcely any value at all ; many of them were 
 pulled down, and others were converted into cottages. Any 
 attempt to oppose the use of a mechanical invention, because 
 of the loss which it may cause to certain individuals, meets 
 with almost universal disapprobation. Nothing it is main- 
 tained can be more unreasonable than to allow the tem- 
 porary interests of a few to stand in the way of the permanent 
 advantage of the entire nation. If this principle holds good 
 with regard to the benefits conferred upon a nation by the 
 introduction of a mechanical invention, it holds equally true 
 with regard to the still greater benefits which a nation will 
 derive from the adoption of an unrestricted commercial 
 policy. 
 
 13. Protection can be advantageously introduced into a young 
 country as a temporary expedient, since various industries which 
 will ultimately prosper without protection require its aid in the 
 early stages of their existence. 
 
 This argument in favour of protection, which has been 
 reserved to the last for consideration, is deserving of special 
 attention, not only because of the great weight which is 
 attributed to it by the advocates of protection in 'the 
 Colonies and in the United States, but also because it has 
 obtained a great amount of importance from the support
 
 i io FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 it received from the late Mr. J. S. Mill. In a passage 
 which protectionists at the present day so repeatedly quote 
 that they seem almost to regard it as the charter of their 
 policy, Mr. Mill says : 
 
 " The only case in which, on mere principles of political 
 economy, protecting duties can be defensible, is when they 
 are imposed temporarily (especially in a young and rising 
 nation) in hopes of naturalizing a foreign industry, in itself 
 perfectly suitable to the circumstances of the country. The 
 superiority of one country over another in a branch of 
 production often only arises from having begun it sooner. 
 There may be no inherent advantage on one part, or dis 
 advantage on the other, but only a present superiority of 
 acquired skill and experience. A country which has this 
 skill and experience yet to acquire may in other respects 
 be better adapted to the production than those which were 
 earlier in the field : and besides, it is a remark of Mr. Rae, 
 that nothing has a greater tendency to promote improve- 
 ments in any branch of production than its trial under a 
 new set of conditions. But it cannot be expected that 
 individuals should at their own risk, or rather to their 
 certain loss, introduce a new manufacture, and bear the 
 burden of carrying it on until the producers have been 
 educated up to the level of those with whom the processes 
 are traditional. A protecting duty, continued for a reason- 
 able time, will sometimes be the least inconvenient mode 
 in which the nation can tax itself for the support of such 
 an experiment. But the protectionism should be confined 
 to cases in which there is good ground of assurance that the 
 industry which it fosters will after a time be able to dispense 
 with it ; nor should the domestic producers ever be allowed 
 to expect that it will be continued to them beyond the 
 time necessary for a fair trial of what they are capable of 
 accomplishing." 1 
 
 1 See Principles of Political Economy, by J. S. Mill, fifth edition, 
 vol. ii. p. 525.
 
 iv.] THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. in 
 
 There is no one more ready than I am to recognise the 
 high authority of Mr. Mill as an Economist, and I will at 
 once admit that the arguments which he advances in favour 
 of the imposition of protection in a young country would 
 be conclusive if there were a reasonable probability that 
 the conditions under which he supposes that such a pro- 
 tective duty could be imposed would ever be realized. It 
 will be observed in the passage above quoted that he is 
 most careful to explain that protection can only be justified 
 as a temporary expedient ; and every word which he says 
 in support of protection rests on the supposition, that 
 when an industry has been fairly established the protective 
 duty will be at once voluntarily surrendered by those who 
 are interested in the particular industry. It is, however, 
 incontestably shown by what has happened in the United 
 States and other countries where protection has been long 
 established, Hhat it is absolutely impossible to impose a 
 protective duty under the stipulations on which Mr. Mill 
 so emphatically insists. Whatever professions may be made 
 by those who first ask for protection that it is only required 
 for a limited period, and that it is only needed to enable 
 an industry to tide over the obstacles which may beset its 
 first establishment, it is invariably found that when an 
 industry has once been called into existence through pro- 
 tection, those who are interested in it, whether as employers 
 or employed, instead of showing any willingness as time 
 goes on to surrender protection, cling to the security and 
 aid which they suppose it gives their trade with ever- 
 increasing tenacity. This is shown in a very striking manner 
 by the experience of nearly a hundred years of protection 
 in the United States. In no single instance has a protective 
 duty when once imposed in that country been voluntarily 
 relinquished. Far from any tendency being shown by 
 those who are connected with the industries which enjoy 
 protection to face free competition, they constantly display 
 a feeling of greater dependence, ard demand with reiterated
 
 112 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 urgency additional safeguards against their foreign rivals. 
 A well-known American economist, Professor Sumner, has 
 said : "Instead of strong, independent, industries, we have 
 to-day only a hungry and clamorous crowd of ' infants.' " 
 Again, Mr. Wells, with equal force, has remarked : 
 " Although the main argument advanced in the United 
 States in support of protective duties is that their enact- 
 ment is intended to subserve a temporary purpose, in order 
 to allow infant industries to gain a foothold and a develop- 
 ment against foreign competition, there has never been an 
 instance in the history of the country where the represen- 
 tatives of such industries, who have enjoyed protection for 
 a long series of years, have been willing to submit to a 
 reduction of the tariff, or have voluntarily proposed it. 
 But, on the contrary, their demands for still higher and 
 higher duties are insatiable and never intermitted." 1 
 
 No amount of theoretical reasoning as to the desirability 
 of imposing a protective duty, as a temporary expedient in 
 a young country, can outweigh the warnings derived from 
 experience that no security can be provided against the 
 permanent continuance of a protective duty when it has 
 been once imposed. If after protection has been in opera- 
 tion for nearly a hundred years in the United States, the 
 various protected interests display a growing determination 
 to resist any change in the direction of free trade, what 
 reason is there to suppose that what has happened in 
 America will not in future years occur in Australia and 
 other countries, if they should carry out the policy which 
 now seems to find favour with them, of calling into exist- 
 ence various branches of industry by the imposition of 
 protective duties? 
 
 It is sometimes said that a country may safely adopt a 
 protective policy, because when the proper time arrived free 
 trade took the place of protection in England. It has how- 
 ever already been shown that the introduction of free trade 
 1 Cobden Club Essays, second series, 1871, p. 529.
 
 iv.] THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 113 
 
 into England was brought about by events so exceptional 
 in their character, that a protective system when once 
 established in other countries cannot be assailed with the 
 same weapons by which its overthrow was effected in Eng- 
 land. Agriculture was the industry which, more than any 
 other, was protected in England against foreign competition. 
 In all the countries however, such as America, Germany, 
 France, and Australia, in which protection now finds favour, 
 it is chiefly confined to manufacturing industry. All these 
 countries are large exporters of food, whereas England is 
 only able to obtain from her own soil a portion of the food 
 which her people require, and consequently is to a great 
 extent dependent upon foreign supplies. When protection, 
 by interfering with the free importation of food, makes food 
 dear, and in a period of national distress deprives the mass 
 of the people of their supply of a first necessary of life, an 
 amount of popular indignation can be excited against the con- 
 tinuance of a system of restriction, which cannot be aroused 
 against it when the results it produces that can be most 
 tangibly brought home to the people, are that it makes various 
 articles of wearing apparel and household furniture dearer. 
 It has been previously shown that an addition to the price 
 of certain articles in general use, represents only a very small 
 portion of the mischief which is produced by such a pro- 
 tective system as that which is maintained in the United 
 States. Amongst other evils which result from protection, 
 it has, for instance, been proved that it places obstacles in 
 fhe way of the general prosperity of the country; that it 
 exerts an influence in lessening the remuneration obtained by 
 capital and labour ; that it discourages industrial enterprise 
 by weakening the feeling of self-reliance ; and that it fosters 
 political corruption by inducing various trade interests to use 
 their influence in securing the imposition of duties specially 
 to benefit themselves. These and other evils, inseparably 
 associated with protection, although they inflict an incalcul- 
 able injury upon a country, are not brought home to the 
 
 i
 
 1 1 4 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 general body of the people with the same distinctness as 
 when, in every humble English home, those who were 
 pinched by hunger could be made to feel that a corn law 
 was in operation which kept from them the food which they 
 so urgently needed. 
 
 Nothing can be more unfortunate than if the people of a 
 young country like Australia, who seem to be contemplating 
 the imposition of protective duties, should be misled by the 
 example of England, and suppose that they would be easily 
 able to return to a policy of free trade whenever the industries, 
 which they hope to call into existence by protection, are 
 once fairly established. England instead of affording an 
 example to be copied, should furnish rather a warning of 
 that which is to be avoided. Great as was the injury which 
 protection inflicted on England, there seems every proba- 
 bility that the policy of commercial restriction might have 
 continued in operation for an indefinitely longer period, 
 had it not been for the wide-spread misery which was 
 caused by the Irish famine. So strong was the position 
 of those who were interested in the various monopolies, 
 which had been called into existence in England by pro- 
 tection, that only two or three years before protection was 
 abolished some of the most prominent advocates of free 
 trade in England almost despaired of success. When it 
 is thus seen that it required such a national catastrophe 
 as the sweeping away of tens of thousands by starvation, 
 to destroy protection in England, the Australian people 
 should feel that if they allow a system of industrial mono- 
 poly once to take root in their country, they may have, 
 before it can be got rid of, to pay a penalty not less severe 
 than that paid by the people of our own country before they 
 were able to introduce free trade. 
 
 Protection wherever it is once established, never fails, for 
 reasons previously described, to obtain a firm hold. There is 
 no reason why protection if once introduced into Australia 
 should not in future years become as strongly established
 
 iv.] THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 115 
 
 as it now is in the United States. Those who are engaged 
 in all the various industries which are protected, are sure to 
 feel that they are deeply interested in the continuance of the 
 system ; and Australia would experience the same difficulty 
 that is now found in the United States in resisting so 
 powerful a combination of interested opposition. 
 
 Enough has now been said to show the extreme peril 
 which would be incurred by any country which should 
 adopt a protectionist policy on the plea that it is only 
 resorted to as a temporary expedient. With whatever 
 plausibility such an argument may be advanced, all experi- 
 ence proves that when the paths of restriction have once 
 been entered upon, it becomes increasingly difficult for a 
 nation to retrace her steps. But even if there were any 
 foundation for the opinion of those who apparently believe 
 that protection would be surrendered when the proper time 
 came for its abandonment, I think there is good ground to 
 suppose that the industrial development of a country would 
 be far more surely promoted by freedom thar by restriction. 
 Directly the principle is sanctioned that certain special 
 industries are to be fostered by the State, the trade of a 
 country at once ceases to be regulated on purely com- 
 mercial considerations, and is placed under official and 
 political guidance. The State, in fact, is made the arbiter 
 and superintendent of the entire industrial economy of 
 the country. The State decides what industries shall be 
 called into existence by protection, and determines what is 
 the exact amount of encouragement that shall be given to 
 each particular trade. It is impossible to imagine that any 
 government can be qualified to discharge such functions; 
 but even if it were qualified to do so, no one can doubt 
 that in determining the exact amount of protection which 
 should be given to particular trades, whether in one in- 
 stance the duty should be 10 per cent, and in another 
 20 per cent., the political influence which would be brought 
 to bear by special interests would exercise a far more potent 
 
 I 2
 
 n6 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 effect than any conclusions which might be arrived at from 
 carefully weighed industrial considerations. 
 
 No one who observes what are the most prominent 
 characteristics in the economic condition of such a recently 
 settled country as Australia, can doubt that if industry is 
 there left to its own natural development various trades and 
 manufactures, which it is sought artificially to stimulate by 
 protection, are sure gradually to be established without its 
 aid. The Australian protectionists say that they want pro- 
 tection in order to enable them to compete against cheap 
 English labour. But the remarkable prosperity which is at 
 the present time enjoyed by their own most important branch 
 of industry, agriculture, conclusively proves that the higher 
 wages paid in Australia ought to be regarded as a measure 
 of the greater natural advantages which she possesses. If 
 the mere fact of having to pay higher wages constituted a 
 claim for protection, the Australian farmer who has to pay 
 wages three or four times as high as are generally received 
 by English agricultural labourers, would not be able to carry 
 on his industry unless he were protected against foreign 
 competition. It is scarcely necessary, however, to remark 
 that although very high wages are paid to farm labourers in 
 Australia, fertile land there is so cheap and abundant that 
 many agricultural products, such as wheat and wool, are 
 produced at a cheaper rate in Australia than they are in 
 England. Large quantities of these articles are annually 
 exported from the one country to the other, and thus it 
 appears that Australia with dearer labour is able to under- 
 sell England with cheap labour, even in the English market. 
 
 Every circumstance which at the present time impedes 
 the extension of manufactures in Australia will be certain, 
 with the progress of the country, to exert less and less in- 
 fluence, if no commercial restrictions are permitted to 
 interfere with the free development of her industrial 
 economy. The population of Australia is rapidly advanc- 
 ing, and with this advance in population labour will not
 
 iv.] THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 117 
 
 only become cheaper, but as its supply increases, there will 
 bo a larger surplus available for employment in other in- 
 dustries besides those on which her labour and capital are 
 now chiefly concentrated. Moreover, it must be borne in 
 mind that the English people are gradually becoming more 
 accustomed to emigration. They are now much less disin- 
 clined than they were formerly to leave their own country. 
 Emigration to Australia was once regarded almost as 
 banishment to a strange and unknown land. English agri- 
 cultural labourers used to be in such a condition of 
 ignorance and dependence that they went on year after 
 year working for a miserable pittance of 8s. or 9-r. a week ; 
 they were so deficient in enterprise, and were reduced to a 
 state of such utter helplessness, that they would continue 
 clinging to their own wretched poverty at home, being 
 unwilling or incapable of taking advantage of the prosperous 
 future that was offered to them in other lands. Within the 
 last few years, however, there has been a most remarkable 
 change. The English agricultural labourer, stimulated by 
 various circumstances, such as the spread of education, is 
 rapidly rising from his former condition of torpor and help- 
 lessness ; he is beginning to show as much readiness as 
 other labourers to take advantage of any opportunity that 
 may be offered him of improving his condition. It is also 
 to be remembered that each one who emigrates and finds 
 success in his new home, stimulates others to follow in his 
 footsteps. Tidings of the prosperity which he is enjoying 
 are brought to the village which he has left; and a great 
 part of the disinclination which is naturally felt to settling 
 in a new country passes away when it is felt that the new 
 home will be amongst friends and relations, and not entirely 
 amongst strangers. 
 
 This increasing readiness on the part of the English 
 labouring population to avail themselves of any opportunity 
 which may be offered to them of improving their condition 
 by settling in a new country, must inevitably cause the
 
 u8 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 remuneration of labour to approximate more nearly to an 
 equality in England, and in the countries which are mainly 
 peopled by her emigrants. If therefore matters are allowed 
 to take their own natural course, any difficulties which may 
 now impede the establishment of manufacturing industries in 
 Australia will steadily diminish and ultimately pass away. 
 On the other hand, if the industrial economy of that country 
 once becomes involved in the trammels of a wide-spread 
 system of protection, every article on which a protective 
 duty is imposed will be made artificially dear, and the cost 
 of living will be materially increased. English labourers 
 will fail to obtain the advantages from settling in Australia 
 which they might otherwise enjoy. Emigration will conse- 
 quently be checked, and the result of a protectionist policy 
 must inevitably be to deprive, to a great extent, such a 
 country as Australia of those additional supplies of labour, 
 which above all things are essential for the successful 
 establishment of manufacturing industry. Australia should 
 in time be warned by what is now occurring in the United 
 States. Until quite recently America was regarded as the 
 most favourable field for English emigration. Although 
 wages are still in many industries nominally much higher in 
 the United States than they are in England, yet the general 
 cost of living has been so greatly increased in the United 
 States by the imposition of onerous protective duties on 
 almost every article of general consumption, that labourers 
 find that they are scarcely so well off there as they are in 
 England with lower wages ; consequently, as already pointed 
 out, we are at the present time witnessing the extraordinary 
 phenomenon that nearly as many labourers are leaving the 
 United States as are settling in that country. Whilst, how- 
 ever, emigration from England to the United States is thus 
 now almost counterbalanced by a flow of population in the 
 opposite direction, there continues to be a steady stream 
 of emigration from England to Australia. Last year more 
 than 30,000 persons, of whom a large proportion belonged
 
 iv.] THE ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTIONISTS. 119 
 
 to the agricultural labouring class, emigrated from England 
 to Australia, and less than 5,000 returned. If, however, 
 a policy of protection should once be commenced in 
 Australia, it will surely and rapidly spread. All experience 
 shows that it is impossible to confine protection within 
 narrow and well-defined limits. If one trade obtains what 
 is considered to be the benefit of protection, a powerful 
 inducement is immediately offered to a countless number 
 of other trades to demand that similar privileges should 
 be conferred upon them. With the imposition of each 
 fresh protective duty some article would be made dearer, 
 and thus as the system became generally extended, that 
 would surely occur, which has already happened in America ; 
 the cost of living would be so much increased that English 
 labourers would be no better off than they are in their 
 country; emigration would cease, and Australia would 
 lose that supply of labour which will not only do so much 
 to create a home demand for her produce, but which she 
 needs for the adequate development of her great natural 
 resources. 
 
 Having now discussed in sufficient detail all the leading 
 arguments that are advanced in support of protection, I 
 will next proceed to consider to what extent the com- 
 mercial depression which has lately so generally affected 
 industry can be traced on the one hand to the adoption 
 of a policy of free trade, or, on the other hand, to the 
 maintenance of a system of protection.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 COMMERCIAL DEPRESSION. 
 
 THE very serious depression which has affected the trade 
 of so many countries during the past three or four years, 
 has given a new interest and vitality to a discussion as to 
 the relative advantages of protection and free trade. This 
 commercial depression seems to be producing exactly 
 opposite effects on public opinion in protectionist and free 
 trade countries respectively. In the former it is undoubt- 
 edly to a considerable extent undermining the confidence 
 which many before felt in the efficacy of protection to 
 secure prosperity; while in such a country as England, 
 where scarcely any one until lately ventured to utter a 
 dubious word with regard to the benefits conferred by free 
 trade, an inclination is now being shown in many quarters 
 again to lapse into some of the fallacies of protection. 
 
 Allusion has already been made to the fact that in 
 many English chambers of commerce, resolutions have 
 been recently passed in favour of reciprocity. What is 
 termed '""one-sided free trade " has been strongly con- 
 demned by some of those who were, until recently, the 
 stoutest defenders of the principles of unrestricted com- 
 merce. The opinion certainly seems to be spreading, that 
 a country commits an act of foolish self-sacrifice, if she 
 persists in opening her markets freely to the products of 
 other countries, when her own products are excluded from
 
 -. v.] COMMERCIAL DEPRESSION. 121 
 
 foreign markets by protectionist tariffs. This change in 
 public opinion, far from exciting any surprise, may be re- 
 garded as the natural result of the manner in which the 
 advocates of free trade and protection respectively have in 
 former years pleaded their cause. Before the present com- 
 mercial depression, the trade of England had, for a quarter 
 of a century, uninterruptedly advanced with unprecedented 
 rapidity. In the days when we were enjoying this pros- 
 perity it used to be perpetually referred to, as affording a 
 conclusive proof of the extraordinary advantages conferred 
 upon a country by free trade. The many other circum- 
 stances which have assisted in producing this prosperity 
 were very generally ignored ; the statistics of increasing 
 exports and imports were triumphantly appealed to with 
 the confidence that nothing more was required for the vindi- 
 cation of free trade, and for the refutation of the doctrines 
 of protection. 
 
 Such a mode of considering the subject, naturally accus- 
 tomed people to the idea that the commercial progress of 
 England was wholly due to free trade ; consequently many 
 of those who, in prosperous times, were foremost in express- 
 ing their approbation of free trade, are now the first to blame 
 it for the depression which has fallen upon the commerce 
 of the country. Exactly the reverse of what has occurred 
 in England is" happening in the United States. Until 
 quite recently the United States enjoyed a prosperity 
 scarcely inferior to that of England. Although, as I have 
 endeavoured to show, she enjoyed this prosperity, not in 
 consequence, but in spite of protection, it was not un- 
 natural that as long as this prosperity continued, the people 
 of the United States were induced to believe that it was 
 the result of protection. It could be plausibly urged that 
 simultaneously with a great development in her trade and a 
 remarkable increase in her wealth, her tariffs had become 
 more and more protective in their character. Since 1789 
 the tariff of the United States has been altered no less than
 
 122 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 forty times, and the tendency of the great majority of these 
 changes has been to make her fiscal system more pro- 
 tective in its character. At the commencement of this 
 period the import duties imposed, averaged about 8J per 
 cent with the term of protection limited to seven years ; 
 these duties have been steadily increased until they now are 
 40, 50, 60, and even, in some instances, 125 per cent. 
 Nothing consequently could be easier than inseparably to 
 associate as cause and effect in the popular mind, increased 
 protection and growing prosperity. Now that depression 
 has fallen upon the trade of the United States, even more 
 severe than that which has fallen upon the trade of England, 
 a revulsion of feeling has occurred there similar to that 
 which has taken place in England. The people having been 
 in prosperous times taught to believe that the condition of 
 the commerce of their country was far more powerfully in- 
 fluenced by protection than by any other agency, not 
 unnaturally in adverse times single out protection as the 
 chief cause of commercial depression. So long as pros- 
 perity continued, the protectionists in the United States 
 held a position which appeared to be unassailable. Until 
 recently there seemed to be every probability that the tariff 
 of the United States would gradually be made more pro- 
 tectionist. A remarkable change in public opinion has 
 lately taken place, and within the last few months a new 
 tariff has been proposed, much less restrictive than that 
 which is now in operation. According to this tariff, import 
 duties generally would be reduced to about 25 per cent. 
 Many articles, especially the raw material of various manu- 
 facturing industries, would be admitted duty free, and the 
 number of articles liable to import duties would be dimin- 
 ished from about 2,000 to little more than 500. It is anti- 
 cipated that this new tariff will pass the House of Repre- 
 sentatives, and although it is probable that it will for the 
 present be rejected by the Senate, yet the support it has 
 already obtained in the United States may be regarded
 
 v.] COMMERCIAL DEPRESSION. 123 
 
 as affording an indication that the American people are 
 beginning to lose some of their faith in protection. 
 
 It will not be difficult to show that nothing connected 
 with the present commercial depression should cause the 
 English people in the slightest degree to waver in their 
 attachment to the principles of free trade: If commercial 
 depression had alone fallen on those countries which main- 
 tain a free trade policy, or if the severity of this depression 
 could be shown to be in any way proportionate to the 
 extent to which the commerce of a country was unrestricted, 
 there might be then some justification for the demands which 
 are now in certain quarters made, that we should relinquish 
 our present commercial policy in favour of some form of 
 protection, such for instance as the imposition of reciprocal 
 duties. But however severe may be the depression from 
 which England and other free trade countries are suffering 
 at the present time, the depression is certainly much greater 
 in the United States and in other countries where protective 
 duties are maintained. If the present commercial condition 
 of England is compared with that of the United States, the 
 comparison is to a remarkable extent in favour of the former 
 country. No country in the world has greater or more varied 
 natural resources than the United States. She possesses a 
 boundless extent of fertile land ; her supplies of coal, iron, 
 copper, and other minerals are practically inexhaustible; 
 her means of internal communication are unsurpassed ; 
 within her own boundaries there is almost every variety 
 of climate from the temperate to the tropical, and con- 
 sequently there is hardly any product that cannot be raised 
 from her soil ; and yet with all these natural advantages, 
 although her population at the present time exceeds that of 
 Great Britain by at least 25 per cent., her aggregate foreign 
 trade does not equal one-third of the foreign trade of Eng- 
 land. In 1876 the aggregate exports and imports of the 
 United States were 2c8,5oo,ooo/., whereas in the same 
 year the exports and imports of Great Britain were no less
 
 124 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 than 631,900,0007. Throughout the present period of com- 
 mercial depression there has been a considerable falling off 
 in the amount of produce imported into the United States. 
 Her imports between 1874 and 1877 have fallen from 
 ii3,ooo,ooo/. to 9o,ooo,ooo/., representing a reduction of 
 about 20 per cent. During the same period the imports 
 into England, instead of diminishing, have slightly increased 
 in value, and consequently the capacity of the English 
 people to pay for foreign produce has not been materially 
 affected by the present decline in industrial prosperity. 
 There has no doubt been a falling off in the export trade 
 of England, but this decline is by no means so serious as at 
 first sight it might be supposed to be. Between 1860 and 
 1870 there was an extraordinary increase in the export 
 trade of England. During this period the exports advanced 
 from 164,500,0007. to 244,ooo,ooo/., and at the present 
 time, when the depression of trade is most severe, the 
 exports from England are i2,ooo,ooo/. a year more than 
 they were in 1870. It therefore appears that the steady 
 progress of English trade has not been arrested. All that 
 has happened is that her trade has not been maintained at 
 the abnormally high point to which, during two or three 
 years after 1871, it was to a great extent artificially forced, 
 by a speculative demand so unsound that it could not be 
 permanently continued. 
 
 In bringing forward the foregoing statistics of the foreign 
 commerce of the United States and England, I do not wish 
 it to be supposed that I attribute the remarkable difference 
 in the trade of the two countries solely to the fact that the 
 one maintains a protectionist tariff, whereas the other has 
 adopted a free trade policy. As, however, the opinion is 
 so frequently expressed, that the depression from which 
 English industry is now suffering is due to free trade, it is 
 well to point out that this depression has fallen far more 
 heavily upon the United States where protectionist prin- 
 ciples are carried out in their most extreme form. Nothing
 
 v.] COMMERCIAL DEPRESSION. 125 
 
 can more conclusively show this than the fact to which 
 reference has already been made, that the advantages which 
 were once offered to labour by the United States, compared 
 with the advantages offered by England, have now so 
 entirely ceased that the number of English labourers who 
 settle in the United States scarcely exceeds the number of 
 those who leave the United States for England. In 1877 
 the number of persons of British origin who emigrated to 
 the United States was 45,481, and in the same year the 
 number of persons of British origin who emigrated from 
 the United States to England was 44,87s. 1 However great, 
 therefore, may be the depression of trade in England, it 
 must be relatively much greater in the United States. Be- 
 fore the depression commenced, the demand for labour in 
 the United States was so active, and wages were so high, 
 that tens of thousands of labourers were attracted there 
 from England. In the five years from 1869 to 1873, the 
 number of persons emigrating from Great Britain to the 
 United States averaged more than 200,000, and during this 
 time there was scarcely any emigration from the United 
 States either to England or to any other country. Now 
 however, employment in the United States has become so 
 scarce, the falling-off in the demand for labour is so much 
 more serious than it is in England, wages have been so 
 much reduced, and at the same time the cost of living is 
 so much increased by the high prices caused by protective 
 duties, that labourers are returning in great numbers to 
 England, even at a time when English trade is exceptionally 
 depressed. 
 
 Some hesitation might be felt with regard to the sound- 
 ness of the principles of free trade, if it could be shown 
 that in a time like the present, industrial depression fell 
 least heavily upon those countries whose tariffs were most 
 protectionist. What is happening, however, is exactly the 
 
 1 See Statistical Tables relating to Emigration and Immigration. 
 Board of Trade. 1878.
 
 126 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 reverse of this ; for at the present time, no country main- 
 tains such high protective duties as the United States ; and 
 in no country is depression now so severely felt, especially 
 in those very industries which have been most carefully 
 protected against foreign competition. The temporary 
 falling off in the export trade of England is due to a general 
 decline in the foreign demand, and has not been in the 
 slightest degree produced by our being driven out of neutral 
 markets by the competition of protectionist countries. It 
 was shown in a previous chapter, that of the exports sent 
 from America to England, at least nine-tenths consist of 
 agricultural produce, and the raw material of our manu- 
 facturing industries. A further examination of the export 
 trade of the United States shows that what is true of her 
 exports to England, is true of her exports to all the rest of 
 the world. The commodities which other countries buy of 
 her are almost entirely agricultural as distinguished from 
 manufactured products. The exports of the United States 
 consist chiefly of such agricultural products as raw cotton, 
 wheat, tobacco, meat, &c. In 1876 out of her entire 
 exports of ii2,5oo,ooo/., the following table shows that no 
 less than 93,000,0007. consisted of such products as those 
 just mentioned : 
 
 VALUE OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS EXPORTED FROM UNITED 
 STATES. 1876. 
 
 Cotton, raw ^38,500,000 
 
 Wheat and Flour 18,400,000 
 
 Com, Indian 6,600,000 
 
 Bacon and Hams 7,900,000 
 
 Lard 4,400,000 
 
 Cheese 2,400.000 
 
 Pork and Beef 1,700,000 
 
 Petroleum, refined 5,700,000 
 
 Petroleum, crude 500,000 
 
 Oilcake 1,100,000 
 
 Tallow 1,300,000 
 
 Tobacco, unmanufactured 4,500,000 
 
 93,000,000
 
 v.] 
 
 COMMERCIAL DEPRESSION. 
 
 127 
 
 These figures contrast in a very striking manner with the 
 comparatively trifling value of the manufactures which are 
 exported from the United States. Much vague alarm is 
 not unfrequently expressed in England that ruin will be 
 brought upon our manufacturing industry by American com- 
 petition. If a bale of cotton goods or some machine of 
 American construction is offered for sale in England, the 
 fact is sure to be carefully chronicled as if it were one be- 
 tokening impending disaster to our trade. The following 
 table which shows the amount of the chief articles of manu- 
 facture exported by England and the United States 
 respectively clearly proves how groundless are the fears that 
 with regard to manufacturing industry England is being 
 defeated either in her own or in foreign markets by 
 American competition : 
 
 VALUE OF PRINCIPAL MANUFACTURED ARTICLES EXPORTED FROM 
 ENGLAND AND THE UNITED STATES RESPECTIVELY IN 1876 : 
 
 
 ENGLAND. 
 
 AMERICA. 
 
 Manufactures of Cotton . . . 
 
 .67,640,000 
 
 1,540,000 
 
 Iron, and manufactures of . . 
 
 19,100,000 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 Machinery, including steam and 
 
 
 
 other engines, agricultural im- 
 
 
 
 plements, and, in the case of 
 
 
 
 America, sewing machines 
 
 7,620,000 
 
 1,480,000 
 
 Linen and Jute Yarn .... 
 
 1,670,000 
 
 
 ,, ,, manufactures 
 
 7,170,000 
 
 
 Silk Yarn and manufactures . 
 
 2,870,000 
 
 
 Woollen and Worsted Yarn and 
 
 
 
 manufactures 
 
 23,000,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 TOTAL 
 
 f 1 2Q. O7O.COO 
 
 /"A. 020.000 
 
 
 A> *^:7> '-'/'-', ^vv 
 
 A? ^* v^tv, wv 
 
 The exports (if any) of the last four commodities from 
 America are too insignificant to be given in the " Table of
 
 128 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 the Principal Articles Exported from the United States." ' 
 The figures just enumerated show with striking distinctness 
 that the present depression in English trade cannot be in 
 the slightest degree attributed to American competition. 
 The export trade of the United States may, on the contrary, 
 be regarded as conferring on England unmixed benefit. 
 From the United States, we obtain not only the raw material 
 of many of our most important branches of manufacturing 
 industry, but we also derive supplies of food, which are 
 essential to the comfort and well-being of the country. 
 
 Reference has already been made to the circumstance 
 that during the continuance of the present industrial inac- 
 tivity, there has been no decline either in the value or the 
 quantity of the goods imported into England. It therefore 
 appears that the English people are as large purchasers and 
 consumers of foreign products as they were before this de- 
 pression in trade commenced. From this and other facts, 
 to which reference will presently be made, I think the 
 conclusion may be fairly drawn that the effect of this de- 
 pression on the general prosperity of the country has been 
 very considerably exaggerated; and that although those 
 engaged, whether as employers or employed, in certain 
 special trades, have been very seriously affected, yet there 
 is nothing in the general condition of the country to excite 
 apprehension. In the meantime, however, it may be desir- 
 able to direct attention to the fear which has lately been 
 expressed, that the maintenance of our import trade at its 
 present high point, now that there is a certain diminution in 
 exports, is a subject for grave misgiving, and shows that the 
 seeds of future mischief are being sown which are certain 
 hereafter to bring disaster upon our national industry. 
 These fears have their origin in the large excess which 
 there is at the present time in the value of the goods 
 which are imported by England, compared with the value 
 of goods exported. Taking the figures of the latest year 
 1 See Statistical Abstract for Principal Foreign Countries, 1877, p. 82.
 
 v.] COMMERCIAL DEPRESSION. 129 
 
 (1876), for which they are given in the Statistical Abstract, 
 issued by the Board of Trade, it will be seen that this 
 excess amounts to no less a sum than 118,000,0007. Re- 
 calling the language, and possibly also reviving some of the 
 fallacies of the mercantile system, it is apparently by some 
 supposed that the balance of trade, being, as it is termed, 
 so unfavourable to England, is an indication that at the 
 present time the nation is living beyond its means ; that 
 the English people are annually spending more than they 
 earn, and that, in order to make good the deficit, we are 
 gradually using up our savings and devoting capital to 
 income. The maintenance of our imports at a time oi 
 industrial depression, instead of being regarded with satis- 
 faction, should rather, it is argued, be considered as a 
 measure of the prodigality with which the people are 
 living, and with which the nation is exhausting its re- 
 sources. Those by whom these opinions are entertained 
 seem to find additional cause for alarm in the fact that 
 in no other country is there any considerable excess of 
 imports as compared with exports, while in some countries 
 the exports considerably exceed the imports in value. 
 Thus, in the United States, this excess of exports over 
 imports is i6,6oo,ooo/. In India it is about i3,5oo,ooo/. 
 I think, however, it can be shown that the maintenance 
 of the present large import trade of England, far from 
 indicating that there is anything unsound in her national 
 economy, may be fairly regarded as one of the most 
 satisfactory features in her present condition. 
 
 In the first place, it is to be remarked, that in pre- 
 paring a statistical table of exports and imports, the value 
 at which any article which is imported is estimated includes 
 the cost of carriage, and the profits of the merchant who 
 imports it : whereas, in estimating the value of exports, 
 both the cost of carriage and the profits of the exporting 
 merchant are excluded. Thus, if a quarter of wheat is 
 bought at New York at 405., and the cost of shipping this 
 
 K
 
 i 3 o FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 wheat from New York to Liverpool is 4s., and the profit of 
 the importing merchant is 2s., its value when imported is 
 reckoned at 46*. In order, however, to show the different 
 manner in which the value of exports is estimated, let it 
 be assumed that a merchant buys a thousand pounds 
 worth of machinery for shipment to Australia ; the value 
 of this machinery in forming a table of exports would 
 be stated at i,ooo/. But in estimating the amount which 
 Australia has to transmit to England for this machinery, 
 account has to be taken not only of the freight, but also of 
 the exporting merchant's profits. Suppose that the freight 
 is ioo/., and that the profit is iso/., Australia will pay 
 i,25o/., and England will receive an amount exceeding 
 by 25 per cent, the amount stated to be the value of the 
 machinery exported. As by far the greater part of the 
 foreign trade of England is carried on in her own ships, 
 and by her own merchants, it follows that England receives 
 for her exports an amount considerably larger than is repre- 
 sented by the value of these exports, because, in addition 
 to their value as given in at the port from which they are 
 shipped, there is to be added the cost of carrying them to 
 the various countries to which they are exported, and the 
 profits of the merchants who export them. On the other 
 hand, from the amount which England has to- pay for her 
 imports, there is to be deducted the cost of bringing them 
 from the countries from which they are imported. Thus, 
 for the quarter of wheat which is imported into Liverpool 
 from New York, and which is entered as worth 46^., England 
 has to pay America only 40^. ; the remaining 6s. is received 
 by the English shipowner and the importing merchant. 
 England therefore has to pay to foreign countries, for the 
 goods she imports from them, an amount very considerably 
 less than is represented as the declared value of these 
 imports. On the other hand, she receives from foreign 
 countries, for the goods she exports, an amount which is 
 much greater than that which is represented as the declared
 
 v.J COMMERCIAL DEPRESSION. 131 
 
 value of these exports. It would therefore follow that even 
 if the amount which she has thus to pay for her imports 
 were exactly equal to the amount which she receives for her 
 exports, there would in the Board of Trade returns still 
 appear to be a considerable excess in the value of the 
 imports when compared with the value of the exports. Far, 
 however, from the existence of such an excess being an 
 indication that England was living beyond her means, and 
 was being drained of her resources, it would simply show 
 that our foreign trade was chiefly carried on by our own 
 merchants and by our own shipowners, and that they were 
 enjoying the profits resulting from this trade. 
 
 As previously explained, the foreign commerce of the 
 United States, with regard to the relative amount of imports 
 and exports, is exactly in the opposite position to that of 
 England. The value of goods exported from the United 
 States largely exceeds the value of those imported ; this is 
 to some extent due to the fact that a great part of the 
 foreign trade of the United States is carried on by English 
 merchants and English shipowners ; a considerable portion 
 of the profits resulting from this trade has thus to be trans- 
 mitted to England, and this makes an important addition to 
 her aggregate imports. " The international commerce of the 
 United States is at present mainly carried on in foreign 
 bottoms, which took over 70 per cent, of the aggregate 
 imports and exports of the fiscal year 1874-75. Previous 
 to the year 1860, from 75 to 80 per cent, of the total com- 
 merce was carried on in vessels belonging to the United 
 States." l In striking contrast with these figures it appears 
 that in 1876 of the aggregate tonnage entering English 
 ports, 67 per cent, belonged to British owners, and only 
 33 per cent, belonged to foreign owners. When, therefore, 
 apprehension is expressed that England is in an unsatis- 
 factory position compared with the United States, because 
 her imports are so largely in excess of her exports, it should 
 1 See Statesman's Year-Book, 1878, p. 602. 
 
 K 2
 
 132 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 be remembered that a considerable part of this excess is 
 due to the fact that her mercantile marine is so extensive 
 that not only the greater part of her own foreign trade, but 
 of the foreign trade of other countries, is carried on in Eng- 
 lish ships. This, far from giving any just cause for alarm, 
 should make us feel renewed confidence in the principles on 
 which our present commercial system is based. 
 
 There is also another circumstance which causes the 
 aggregate of England's imports to be considerably in excess 
 - of her exports. No other country has so large an amount of 
 capital embarked in various foreign investments. Although 
 it is impossible to form an exact estimate of the amount of 
 English capital which is invested, not only in foreign loans, 
 but also in Various industrial undertakings, such as foreign 
 mines, railways, banks, shipping companies, etc., yet it 
 cannot be doubted that the interest which has to be 
 annually remitted to England on the capital thus embarked 
 represents a very considerable portion of the amount by 
 which her imports exceed her exports. It has been calcu- 
 lated by competent authorities that the balance annually 
 due to England as interest on capital invested in India and 
 in America alone, is about 3o,ooo,ooo/., 1 and this debt has 
 to be liquidated by these countries sending to England 
 either goods or bullion. Hence the amount of the exports 
 sent to England from America and India must not only 
 be sufficient to pay for the goods imported from Eng- 
 land, but must also be sufficient to pay the interest on the 
 large sums of English capital invested in America and 
 India. Those countries, therefore, which are largely in 
 debt to foreign nations, must export more than they import ; 
 and in those countries which possess surplus capital and 
 lend it abroad, the imports will exceed the exports. Con- 
 sequently, the comparisons unfavourable to England which 
 are often made by American protectionists between the 
 industrial position of their own country and that of Eng- 
 1 See Economist, December 15, 1877.
 
 v.] COMMERCIAL DEPRESSION. 133 
 
 land, because of the large excess of English imports over 
 exports, have so little foundation, that this excess may be 
 regarded as affording evidence of the great extent to which 
 they and other countries have been assisted by English 
 capital 
 
 Nothing can be more erroneous than to conclude that the 
 foreign commerce of a country is in an unsatisfactory posi- 
 tion, and that she is being drained of her resources, if it is 
 observed that imports are largely in excess of exports, when, 
 as in the case of England, the foreign trade of a country is 
 chiefly carried on by her own merchants and in her own 
 ships, and when the amount of wealth accumulated by her 
 people is so great that it not only suffices to supply capital 
 for her own industry, but a large surplus annually remains 
 to be lent to foreign governments! and to be employed in 
 various foreign undertakings. The dread and alarm about 
 imports exceeding exports, and about the balance of trade 
 being unfavourable to a country, may no doubt be con- 
 sidered as a survival from the time when the principles of 
 the mercantile system obtained almost universal acceptance. 
 Thus from the remarks that are frequently made about an 
 excess of imports, it seems to be by many supposed that 
 when imports are in excess of exports a nation must be 
 pursuing just the same career of extravagance as an indi- 
 vidual who is living beyond his means, buying more than 
 he sells, and thus steadily getting into debt. American 
 protectionists have lately been expressing great satisfaction 
 because the exports from their country exceed in value the 
 imports ; they apparently consider that in this respect the 
 industrial condition of their country compares most favour- 
 ably with that of free trade England. In the opinion of the 
 French protectionists there seems to be no weapon with 
 which the renewal of the Commercial Treaty with England 
 can be so effectually assailed, as to point out that under the 
 operation of that treaty the trade of France has been so 
 entirely changed, that whereas her exports were formerly in
 
 134 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 excess of her imports, and she was thus enriched by foreign 
 commerce, now her imports exceed her exports, and she is 
 consequently being drained of her resources. It can how- 
 ever be readily shown, after the explanation which has been 
 given of the circumstances which cause the imports of a 
 country to exceed her exports, that the present position of 
 the foreign commerce of the United States and France, far 
 from affording any justification for a protectionist policy, 
 may be regarded as greatly strengthening the case in favour 
 of free trade. If the goods which America sends to Eng- 
 land exceed in value those which she receives from England, 
 it is evident that America is in debt to England ; and that 
 this indebtedness is due to the fact that she has borrowed 
 capital from England, and that, in carrying on her foreign 
 trade, she is largely employing English ships and English 
 merchants. Such indebtedness cannot be an advantage, 
 but must be a disadvantage to a country, and therefore, so 
 far as it is due to protection, it may be considered as 
 evidence of the injury inflicted on America by a policy of 
 commercial restriction. There is also no circumstance 
 connected with the present commercial position of the 
 United States which should be regarded by the people of 
 that country with more apprehension than the decline in 
 her shipping trade which is shown by the large extent to 
 which her foreign commerce is carried on in English ships 
 and by English merchants. The protective duties which 
 are imposed by the tariff of the United States on iron, 
 copper, wood, and almost all the other materials which are 
 employed in shipbuilding add so much to the cost of con- 
 structing a ship, that the shipping interest in the United 
 States has declined to a most serious extent with the 
 increase in recent years of her protective duties. It has 
 already been stated that 70 per cent of the entire commerce 
 of the United States is now carried on in foreign bottoms ; 
 whereas previous to 1860 between 75 and 80 per cent, of 
 that commerce was carried in her own ships. Again, with
 
 v.] COMMERCIAL DEPRESSION. 135 
 
 regard to the change which has lately taken" place in the 
 foreign commerce of France, it appears that whereas the 
 French people used to send abroad more than was received 
 back in return, they now receive more than they send to 
 foreign countries : in other words, while France used to be 
 in debt to foreign countries foreign countries are now in 
 debt to her. So far as this alteration in her position is due 
 to her Commercial Treaty with England, it will be scarcely 
 denied that the existence of that Treaty ought to be a 
 subject for congratulation rather than regret. 
 
 The statistics of the English exports and imports of 
 bullion and specie during the last few years show in a very 
 striking manner that a great excess of imports over exports 
 may be entirely due to the circumstances before explained. 
 Instead of there being any drain of money from England 
 to adjust a so-called unfavourable balance of trade, the 
 amount of bullion and specie which has been imported 
 into England during the ten years from 1867 to 1876 has 
 exceeded by no less than 53,800,0007. the amount which 
 has been exported ; although during this period the aggre- 
 gate value of her imports exceeded by no less than 
 8o4,ooo,ooo/. the value of her exports. It therefore appears 
 that so large an excess of imports over exports, as that 
 which characterises the foreign trade of England, need not 
 necessarily be accompanied by any drain of bullion or of 
 specie ; for during the period when this excess of imports 
 has been most marked, England has on the average of 
 years been adding about 5,ooo,ooo/. to her stock of bullion 
 and specie, and this is supposed to be the amount which 
 is annually required for fresh coinage and for various 
 manufacturing purposes. 1 
 
 In attempting to draw a favourable instead of an un- 
 favourable conclusion as to the commercial position of 
 England, from the fact that while there has been a con- 
 siderable decline in her export trade, her imports have 
 1 See Statistical Abstract.
 
 136 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 rather increased than diminished, nothing is farther from 
 my intention than to deny the existence of very severe 
 depression in many important branches of industry. As 
 this industrial depression is not unfrequently attributed to 
 the policy of free trade which has been adopted by England, 
 it is important to prove that far from protection being an 
 antidote to industrial depression, protectionist countries 
 such as the United States are at the present time in a far 
 more unsatisfactory position than England. It sometimes 
 however seems to be supposed that much darker days are 
 in store for England, and that she has hitherto been able to 
 ward off the worst consequences of bad trade by a series of 
 artificial expedients, which can only be looked upon as 
 temporary shifts. How, it is asked, can a nation, without 
 burdening herself with debt, and laying up for herself a 
 store of future embarrassment, continue to spend as much 
 at a time when trade is bad, as when it was in a state of 
 exceptional prosperity? The amount of goods imported 
 into England shows no falling off; the people continue to 
 purchase, even more largely than they did before, all the 
 foreign products which minister either to their wants or to 
 their enjoyments. It is generally admitted that the quantity 
 of tea which is annually consumed by the English people 
 affords a very correct index of the prosperity of the country. 
 When there is a bad harvest at home there is naturally a 
 large increase in the importation of wheat. When however 
 it is found that there is a great addition to the quantity of 
 tea which is imported and retained for home consumption, 
 the conclusion is irresistible that the people can afford to 
 spend a larger sum on an article which may be regarded to 
 some extent as a luxury. The quantity of tea, which has 
 been imported into England and retained for home con- 
 sumption, has increased in a very striking manner since 
 1862. In that year the quantity so imported was 78,793,977 
 Ibs. ; in 1876, a year that is constantly spoken of as one of 
 exceptional depression, the quantity was 149,104,194 Ibs.,
 
 v.] COMMERCIAL DEPRESSION. 137 
 
 or an increase of nearly 100 per cent. A part of this increase 
 may no doubt be attributed to the fact that the duty on tea 
 had been reduced between 1862 and 1876 from is. $d. to 
 6d. a Ib. It is however worthy of special remark, as bearing 
 on the subject we are now considering, that the consumption 
 of tea during the present period of commercial depression 
 has continued steadily to increase, and that this consump- 
 tion is now much larger than it was during the time when 
 the trade of the country was in a state of the greatest 
 activity. The years 1872-3-4 are frequently referred to as 
 a time when English trade was at the zenith of its prosperity. 
 The quantity of tea imported and retained for home con- 
 sumption in these three years respectively was : 
 
 1872. 1873. 1874. 
 
 127,661, 360 Ibs. 131,881, 476 Ibs. 137,279,891 Ibs. 
 
 The present industrial depression is generally thought to 
 have commenced in the closing months of 1874, and it 
 increased in intensity throughout 1875 and 1876. Yet in 
 these years, the annual increase in the consumption of tea 
 was fully maintained ; the quantity retained for home con- 
 sumption being : 
 
 1875. 1876. 
 
 145,327,432 Ibs. 149, 104, 194 Ibs. 
 
 No part of the increased consumption of tea which has 
 taken place in these later years is due to a reduction of 
 duty, for the duty has remained unchanged since 1866. 
 
 It may be thought that such a state of things as that just 
 described cannot continue, and that if in a period of 
 industrial depression a nation purchases more largely articles 
 of general consumption, savings are either being used up or 
 future liabilities are being incurred. The benefit which is 
 conferred on a nation as a whole in a period of such 
 exceptional industrial activity as that of a few years since is, 
 I believe, by no means so great or so widely diffused as is
 
 138 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 commonly supposed. It can, I think, be shown that such 
 prosperity is accompanied by some very serious drawbacks ; 
 that the advantages which result from it are by no means 
 diffused over the entire nation ; and that although at such a 
 time many are enriched, yet the additional wealth which 
 they secure cannot be regarded as so much pure gain ; a 
 portion of it at least represents a forced contribution from 
 some of their less fortunate fellow-countrymen. 
 
 Those who suppose that great industrial activity neces- 
 sarily implies an increase of well-being to the entire com- 
 munity, may be asked to consider what was the effect on 
 the nation generally of the extraordinary prosperity which 
 was recently enjoyed by the coal and iron trades. A 
 sudden increase in the demand for coal, consequent to a 
 large extent on an increased demand for iron, produced an 
 unprecedented rise in the price of coal, the rise being no 
 less than 13^. 6d. a ton. It has been frequently asserted that 
 this rise was chiefly brought about by the action of trades 
 unionists, who, taking advantage of the increased demand 
 for labour at a time when trade was exceptionally active, 
 forced up wages to such a point that their employers were 
 obliged to advance the price of coal in order to compen- 
 sate themselves for the higher wages which they were 
 compelled to pay. It has, however, been conclusively 
 established that so small a portion of the increase in the 
 price of coal was due to the cause just mentioned that a 
 rise of zs. 6d. a ton would have been amply sufficient to com- 
 pensate the employer for the extra wages which he paid. 1 
 
 1 See Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons 
 appointed in 1873, to inquire into the causes which had produced the 
 recent rise in the price of coal. From some evidence given before this 
 Committee it appears that the rise in the price of coal was greater and the 
 advance in the wages of the workmen less than above estimated. Thus, 
 in a table given in the Evidence at page 191, it is stated that in the 
 West Yorkshire district, between October 1871 and March 1873, there 
 was an advance in the price of coal at the pit's mouth of 15*. $d, a ton,
 
 v.] COMMERCIAL DEPRESSION. 139 
 
 By far the greater part of the increased value which coal 
 suddenly acquired must therefore be regarded as affording a 
 source from which an enormous addition was made to the 
 income obtained by the fortunate owners or lessees of coal 
 mines. On every ton of coal raised there was at least an 
 additional us. to be given either to the owner or to the 
 lessee of the mine. Profits in this industry consequently 
 advanced with unprecedented rapidity. The annual output 
 of coal at the time was about 120,000,000 tons. Conse- 
 quently the rise in the price of coal caused no less a sum 
 than 66,ooo,ooo/. in a single year to be distributed among 
 the owners and lessees of mines, whereas the amount dis- 
 tributed in the form of extra wages was not more than 
 i5,ooo,ooo/. As the aggregate production and consumption 
 of English coal is about 120,000,000 tons, it follows that 
 the rise in price of 13*. 6d. a ton caused no less a sum than 
 8i,ooo,ooo/. sterling to be taken in a single year from the 
 consumers of this coal. As the export of coal from England 
 at that time was not more than 12,000,000 tons, nine-tenths 
 of this enormous sum, or about 72,ooo,ooo/., had in this 
 single year to be contributed by the consumers of coal in 
 England. A portion of this amount was no doubt repaid 
 to England by foreign countries. A rise in the price ot 
 coal increases the cost of all those articles in the manu- 
 facture of which coal is used. The price of such articles 
 will consequently have to be advanced in order to com- 
 pensate those who produce them. When therefore an 
 article, the price of which is thus advanced, is exported, the 
 burden of the extra price falls, not upon the English pro- 
 ducer or merchant, but upon the foreign consumer. A part 
 therefore of the loss which was caused to the consumers of 
 English coal, no doubt fell not only upon those foreign 
 
 while wages in this period were advanced only is. ifyf. a ton. During 
 this time the price of coal was raised on eight different occasions, while 
 on only five occasions was there any rise in wages. In every single 
 instance the rise in wages was subsequent to the rise in the price of coal.
 
 HO FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 countries which used English coal, but also upon the foreign 
 consumers of various English products. When, however, 
 the most ample allowance has been made for this circum- 
 stance, the fact still remains that so great a rise in the price 
 of coal must have inflicted a most serious loss on the 
 general body of the English people ; the nature and extent 
 of this loss have, I believe, not yet received adequate 
 consideration. 
 
 Unprecedented as were the gains of the owners and 
 lessees of coal mines, and important as was the addition 
 made to the wages, of those who were employed in these 
 mines, yet it should not be forgotten that the advantage 
 thus secured was to a great extent purchased at the expense 
 of the general community. A rise in the price of coal must 
 be just as severely felt by the people as if a first necessary 
 of life were subjected to a heavy tax. It is an impost from 
 which the humblest cannot escape. An income-tax may be 
 so adjusted that the poor do not contribute to it, but in 
 such a climate as that of England fuel is scarcely less 
 essential than food ; and no small portion of the enormous 
 fortunes which were realised when the coal famine was at 
 its height may be regarded as made up from the forced 
 contributions of the very poorest in the land. The annual 
 consumption of coal for household purposes, in England, 
 is estimated at 20,000,000 tons. Consequently when coal 
 rises iy. 6d. a ton the English people have annually to pay 
 i3,5oo,ooo/. more for the coal which is used for household 
 purposes. An extra tax is thus imposed upon them not 
 less in amount than half the interest on the National Debt. 
 Such a tax, onerous though it is, represents only a portion 
 of the heavy impost which is levied upon them by a rise in 
 the price of coal. Such a rise must directly lead to the 
 price of all those articles being advanced in the manufacture 
 of which coal is employed. It has been calculated that it 
 requires about 2\ tons of coal to smelt one ton of iron; con- 
 sequently if the cost of the coal with which a ton of iron is
 
 v.] COMMERCIAL DEPRESSION. 141 
 
 smelted is increased by i/. I3J. <)d. there must be a corre- 
 sponding addition to the price of iron. Every one therefore 
 who wants to purchase any article of hardware will have to 
 pay considerably more for it. Manufacturers and farmers 
 will find machinery and implements materially increased in 
 price ; every steam-engine will also have to be worked at 
 a much greater cost ; and in order that the manufacturers 
 may be compensated for these increased charges it will be 
 necessary that the price of the articles which they produce 
 shall be advanced. One result of the present industrial 
 inactivity has been that the price of coal has been reduced 
 to its former level ; the country has consequently been 
 relieved of a most serious burden. The advantage which 
 has thus been gained by the general body of the people 
 ought to be regarded as a not inconsiderable compensation 
 for the losses which have undoubtedly been brought on 
 certain special classes by the present depression of trade. 
 It is well that the subject should be looked at from this 
 point of view, in order that the fears of those may be 
 allayed, who appear to be alarmed because the industrial 
 depression from which the country is now suffering has not 
 been more widespread in its effects, and has not exerted a 
 more marked influence on the general condition of the 
 country. 
 
 During the continuance of this depression, which has now 
 lasted for four years, not only has there been no falling off 
 in the demand for articles of general consumption, but there 
 are other and more positive indications that the real pros- 
 perity of the country cannot have been to any serious 
 extent undermined. If there were widespread popular 
 distress, it would certainly be shown by an increase ot 
 pauperism. It is, however, a remarkable fact that through- 
 out the continuance of the present industrial depression, 
 the amount of pauperism has steadily declined. This is 
 shown by the following table, which gives the number of 
 persons, exclusive of vagrants, who were in receipt of
 
 1 42 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 parochial relief in England and Wales on the ist of January 
 in each year : 
 
 1871 . . . 1,081,926 
 
 1872 . . . . 977,664 
 
 1873 .... 890,372 
 
 1874 .... 829,281 
 
 1875 .... 815,587 
 
 1876 . . . . 749,593 
 
 1877 .... 728,350 
 
 There has also been a similar decline during the same years 
 in the pauperism of Scotland and Ireland. 
 
 The remarkable diminution of pauperism which is shown 
 by the above figures, is no doubt partly due to an improved 
 administration of the poor-law. Within the last few years 
 there has been an increasing tendency to restrict out-door 
 relief; and the decline in pauperism has taken place almost 
 entirely through a reduction in the number of out-door 
 paupers. But making the fullest allowance for this cir- 
 cumstance, the significance of the fact still remains, that 
 throughout a period of great industrial depression, there 
 has been a steady decline in pauperism. It thus appears 
 to be conclusively shown, that although this industrial 
 depression has undoubtedly been severely felt by certain 
 special trades, it cannot have produced any very serious 
 effect upon the nation as a whole. 
 
 Other facts may be adduced which clearly indicate that 
 the industrial depression, from which the trade of England 
 has been recently suffering, has not produced any very 
 marked effect upon the general condition of the country. 
 In a period of wide-spread national distress there would 
 inevitably be a marked diminution in the amount of Savings 
 Banks deposits, accompanied by a considerable increase in 
 the sums withdrawn. Taking 1873 as a year of maximum 
 trade activity, and comparing it with 1876, a year of severe 
 depression, it is found that in 1876 the amount deposited 
 in the Savings Banks was 18,895,5607., and this amount
 
 v.] COMMERCIAL DEPRESSION. 143 
 
 exceeds by no less a sum than i, 673,5897. the amount de- 
 posited in 1873. The amount withdrawn in 1876 exceeded 
 the amount withdrawn in 1873 by a sum almost exactly 
 equivalent to the increase in the amount deposited. So 
 far, therefore, as the Savings Banks deposits may be regarded 
 as affording a test of the general condition of the country, 
 the figures just quoted are strongly confirmatory of the 
 opinion, which has been already expressed, that the present 
 industrial depression has not produced any marked effect 
 upon the general condition of the nation. The consider- 
 able increase in the withdrawals from Savings Banks un- 
 doubtedly shows that there has been severe distress in 
 certain localities ; but the counterbalancing increase in the 
 deposits proves that the capacity to save of the general 
 body of the people has not been affected, and that the loss 
 suffered by the working classes in certain localities has been 
 accompanied by an improvement in their condition in other 
 localities. 
 
 The traffic returns of the railways may be referred to as 
 affording another proof that the inactivity in some special 
 branches of trade has produced much less effect on the 
 general condition of the country than is usually supposed. 
 From the complaints that are constantly made about the 
 stagnation of business it might be fairly concluded that there 
 would be a serious falling off in the traffic returns of the 
 railways. There has, however, been no such falling off. 
 On the contrary, again comparing the years 1873 and 1876, 
 it will be found that in the latter year the number of miles 
 of railway open in England had increased, and that the 
 gross receipts per mile had also increased from 4,1397. in 
 1873 to 4,212!. in 1876. 
 
 The facts which have just been quoted have not been 
 brought forward with the intention of showing that de- 
 pressed trade is no disadvantage to a country : the object 
 I have had in view, is to point out that an exaggerated 
 estimate is habitually made of the benefit which the nation
 
 144 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 derives from special branches of industry enjoying excep- 
 tional prosperity. A large portion of the additional wealth 
 which appears to be created when certain trades are un- 
 usually active, really represents no increase whatever in the 
 aggregate wealth of the nation. It is simply a transfer of 
 wealth from the general public to a special class : the few 
 are enriched by the contributions of the many. When, 
 for instance, it is now said that the coal trade is in a 
 deplorable condition, it would be altogether erroneous to 
 conclude that the production of coal has greatly diminished, 
 and that less coal is being used than formerly. On the 
 contrary, the production of coal has increased. In 1873, 
 the year of maximum prices, 127,016,747 tons of coal 
 were produced; in 1875^ a year of extreme depression, 
 131,867,105 tons of coal were produced. Within these 
 two years there had been no doubt a great decline in the 
 profits of the coal-owners, and a very considerable falling 
 off in the wages of the colliers ; but, on the other hand, the 
 consumers of coal, representing the entire nation, enjoyed 
 the great advantage of having to pay 13$. or 14^. less for 
 every ton of coal they purchased. The community has 
 been in fact relieved of a most onerous burden of many 
 millions a year. Although, therefore, the coal-owners and 
 those whom they employ are much less well-off than they 
 were before, and must consequently reduce their expendi- 
 ture, yet as what has been lost by them has been to a great 
 extent gained by the rest of the nation, there is no reason 
 why the amount which the nation can expend on articles of 
 general consumption should diminish. This no doubt indi- 
 cates one reason why, as previously shown, the consumption 
 of articles in general use has not decreased ; and why, 
 throughout the continuance of the present depression, there 
 has been no falling off in the import trade of the country. 
 
 The remarks which have been made in reference to the 
 coal trade apply to many other industries. The fall in 
 1 1875 is the latest year given in the Statistical Abstract for 1877.
 
 v ] COMMERCIAL DEPRESSION. 145 
 
 prices has widely extended, and in every instance in which 
 it has occurred it is equally true, as pointed out in regard 
 to the price of coal, that a considerable portion of that 
 which is lost by the producer is gained by the consumer. 
 It is no doubt a serious disadvantage to mill-owners and 
 operatives that cotton and woollen goods should not sell 
 for as much as they did formerly ; but, at the same time, the 
 fact should not be lost sight of, that it is a great advantage 
 to all the people who wish to purchase these goods, that 
 they are able to buy them more cheaply than formerly. 
 In discussions with regard to the effect on the country of a 
 particular state of trade, attention is generally entirely con- 
 centrated on the interest of the producer ; and the interest 
 of the consumer is passed over almost unnoticed. The 
 inflation of prices which occurs in a period of great activity 
 inflicts a severe injury upon all that numerous class whose 
 incomes are fixed in pecuniary amount. The annuitant, 
 the fundholder, the person in receipt of a fixed salary, the 
 numerous class whose wages do not vary with the state of 
 trade, all these suffer severely when prices are forced up 
 in a period of exceptionally active trade ; their income or 
 their earnings remaining the same, while almost everything 
 they have to purchase is becoming dearer, they do not 
 receive any compensation for the loss which is thus inflicted 
 upon them. As they find that their incomes possess less 
 and less purchasing power, it is no advantage for them to 
 hear that certain persons, possibly the fortunate owners of a 
 mineral monopoly, are becoming rich with unprecedented 
 rapidity. 
 
 If a comparison is made between the prices of articles of 
 general consumption, in England, in 1873, and their prices at 
 the present time (April, 1878), it will be at once seen that 
 there has been a fall sufficient to produce a not inconsider- 
 able reduction in the cost of living. It is estimated that 
 the cost of maintaining the household of an artizan is, on 
 the average, from seven to eight per cent, less than it was 
 
 I,
 
 146 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 five years ago. 1 It therefore appears that all those who 
 are in the receipt of fixed pecuniary incomes, whether these 
 incomes are derived from investments, salaries, or wages, 
 are decidedly better off than they were when the trade of 
 the country was in a state of maximum activity, and when 
 the nation was said to be enjoying unusual prosperity. 
 The persons, who are in the position just described, con- 
 stitute a numerous and important section of the community, 
 and the addition which has thus been virtually made to 
 their incomes enables them to become larger purchasers 
 of articles of general consumption. An extra demand for 
 these articles is thus created, which may counter-balance 
 the falling-off in the demand of those who are employed 
 in the trades which are specially depressed, and whose 
 wages have consequently been considerably reduced. It 
 is also to be borne in mind, that this fall in the prices 
 of articles of general consumption, makes a reduction in 
 wages less serious than it otherwise would be. 
 
 It would be scarcely appropriate, in discussing the 
 subject of protection and free trade, to attempt to inves- 
 tigate all the economic phenomena associated with a 
 period of commercial depression. I have, however, thought 
 it desirable to consider those aspects of the subject to 
 which attention has been here directed, because it is 
 important to show whether, in periods of industrial de- 
 pression, the effects which are produced by such depres- 
 sion, are more serious to a country which has adopted a 
 policy of free trade, than they are to a country which 
 maintains a system of protection. In view of the disap- 
 pointment which is sometimes expressed, that after England 
 has adopted free trade for thirty years, severe depression 
 should have fallen on some branches of her industry, it 
 becomes important to show that although the effects of this 
 depression are more severely felt in protectionist than in 
 free-trade countries, yet if the commerce of every country 
 1 See Economist, 2oth April, 1878.
 
 v"] COMMERCIAL DEPRESSION. 147 
 
 were as entirely freed from protective restrictions, as is the 
 commerce of England, periods of depressed trade would 
 inevitably occur. The depression from which various 
 branches of industry are suffering at the present time, may 
 be regarded as the natural outcome of the prosperity which 
 these same industries were enjoying a few years since. It 
 is not more certain that night will follow day, or that winter 
 will follow summer, than that a time of exceptional pro- 
 sperity in trade will be succeeded by a period of corre- 
 sponding depression. The extremely high profits which 
 were realised by coal-owners and iron-masters five years 
 since, have undoubtedly produced the low rate of profit 
 which is returned to capital invested in these industries at 
 the present time. Whenever any particular trade becomes 
 exceptionally remunerative, people eagerly strive to share 
 the advantages which that trade offers ; a largely increased 
 amount of capital is pressed into it ; new mines are opened, 
 or new works or manufactories are built, and the means 
 of production are greatly extended. If the demand which 
 originally created the exceptional activity is not perma- 
 nently maintained, those engaged in the trade are in the 
 position of possessing appliances for a great increase in 
 the supply, at a time when there is either a diminution of 
 the demand, or when there is no increase corresponding 
 to the larger supply. The inevitable consequence is a rapid 
 fall in prices, and a diminution in profits and wages, such 
 as that which has taken place in all those industries which 
 were most prosperous a few years since. 
 
 It has already been shown that the quantity of coal 
 which is raised, and also the quantity at the present time 
 used, in England, is greater than it was five years since, 
 when the price of coal was exceptionally high. The 
 high prices which then prevailed, and the large profits 
 which were then realised, caused many new mines to be 
 opened, and the works in existing mines to be greatly 
 extended. This -particular branch of industry being thus 
 
 L 2
 
 148 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 much enlarged, an increased quantity of coal is annually 
 raised ; but as the circumstances which caused an excep- 
 tionally active demand for coal in 1873 are no longer in 
 operation, the additional coal which is now raised cannot 
 be sold except at a considerable reduction in price. Unless 
 an industry becomes depressed in consequence of a per- 
 manent falling off in the demand, or in consequence of the 
 demand being satisfied from some cheaper source, it is 
 perfectly certain that the depression cannot permanently 
 continue. When profits are exceptionally low, there is just 
 the same inducement to contract a business as there is to 
 extend it when profits are exceptionally high. In the pre- 
 sent state of the coal trade, few new mines will be opened 
 to take the place of those which are gradually being ex- 
 hausted ; the supply will thus become restricted, there will 
 be a tendency for prices to rise, and a sudden increase in 
 the demand may again produce a rise in prices as marked 
 as that which occurred five years since, and thus excep- 
 tional prosperity and exceptional depression succeed each 
 other in regular cycles. As an example, it may be men 
 tioned that within the last fifty years there have been in 
 the English cotton trade five periods of great prosperity, 
 succeeded in each instance by periods of corresponding 
 depression. The large returns which are yielded both 
 to capital and labour in periods of prosperity should be 
 regarded as exceptional. The employers and the employed 
 in any trade should never fail to remember that the equal- 
 ising force of competition is ever present to prevent an 
 abnormally high rate of profits and wages being perma- 
 nently secured by those engaged in any particular branch 
 of industry. Consequently a portion of the remuneration 
 which is secured both by capital and labour in a time of 
 exceptional activity, should be regarded as a reserve, to com- 
 pensate the employers and the employed, for the reduction 
 in profits and wages which will inevitably ensue. 
 
 There is therefore nothing connected with the present
 
 v.] COMMERCIAL DEPRESSION. 149 
 
 industrial depression in England, which can lead to the 
 conclusion that it will permanently continue, and there is 
 certainly no reason to suppose that its effects could be 
 mitigated in the slightest degree by the adoption of a 
 policy of commercial restriction. It has in fact been 
 shown from the statistics of pauperism, and other facts 
 which have been adduced, that this depression has exerted 
 very much less effect on the general condition of the 
 country than is usually supposed. No circumstance has 
 probably so much contributed to enable the country thus 
 to tide over a period of bad trade as the reduction in 
 the cost of living, which has resulted from the fall in the 
 price of many articles of general consumption. When an 
 article of general consumption is cheapened, the loss to the 
 producer may be compensated by a gain to the consumer. 
 Under a system of protection, however, there is no chance 
 of bringing into operation such an influence to neutralise 
 the consequences of depressed trade. An exactly opposite 
 course is pursued, for by increasing the price of various 
 commodities, through the imposition of protective duties, 
 the cost of living is increased, and the general consumer 
 is taxed in order to benefit the producer. In the United 
 States, import duties are imposed on no less than 2,000 
 different articles. In England every article that is im- 
 ported, except seven or eight, is admitted to her ports 
 duty free. It has consequently happened that at a time 
 when there has been a reduction in the cost of living in 
 England, it has been so much increased in the United 
 States, by the imposition of protective duties, that the 
 American labourer with higher wages is scarcely so well 
 off as is the English labourer with lower wages, and 
 workmen are in large numbers leaving the United States in 
 order to return to England. From all the facts which can 
 be most relied upon as showing the general condition of a 
 country, it may be concluded that the present industrial 
 depression has been far more severely felt in the United
 
 ISO FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 States, than it has been in England. Throughout the 
 continuance of this depression there has been a steady 
 decline of pauperism in England. Her people purchase 
 an increased quantity of articles of general consumption ; 
 the traffic returns of her railways are maintained ; and the 
 amount deposited in the Savings Banks has increased. In 
 the United States, on the contrary, there has been, during 
 the same period, a steady increase in pauperism and desti- 
 tution. Thus, in the State of Massachusetts, the number of 
 vagrants has so largely increased, that whereas 43,000 were 
 relieved in 1873, the number in 1876 was not less than 
 148,000. Whilst the traffic returns of the English railways 
 have been maintained, the American railways have had to 
 bear such disastrous losses, that in 1876 and 1877 no fewer 
 than eighty-four railways, covering 1 7,721 miles, were sold 
 under foreclosure. The industrial depression, which has 
 been shown to have scarcely affected the condition of 
 the general body of the English people, has produced such 
 widespread distress in the United States, that labour dis- 
 putes have induced the workmen to make socialistic 
 demands, such as, for many years, have scarcely been heard 
 of in England. The people of America, having been long 
 accustomed by the system of protection to look to the 
 State for aid in their industry, not unnaturally seek State 
 assistance in a time of trade depression; and demands 
 which may assume a serious communistic development are 
 now made by unemployed American workmen, that the 
 municipal authorities should find work for all applicants. 
 
 In a petition which has been signed by some of the 
 leading merchants and manufacturers in the United States, 
 and which is about to be presented to the Senate and the 
 House of Representatives, in favour of unrestricted trade, 
 it is stated that at the present time there is "unspeakable 
 distress" among the working classes in America. It is 
 
 1 See Paper read by A. J. Mundella, Esq., M.P., before the 
 Statistical Society of London on February igth, 1878.
 
 v.] COMMERCIAL DEPRESSION.' 151 
 
 also said, " Pauperism and crime increase daily within our 
 borders; skilled mechanics tramp the country over in vain 
 search for the means of living; and instances are not 
 lacking where some of our best artizans have been induced 
 to leave our shores to accept the so-called ' pauper wages ' 
 of other countries. ... A day's labour in England will 
 purchase from twenty-five to thirty per cent, more than a 
 day's labour in the United States." 
 
 The accuracy of this description of the present condition 
 of the United States will not be, I believe, disputed. When 
 it is remembered that the unequalled natural resources 
 possessed by that country ought to make her the most pro- 
 sperous in the world, it becomes abundantly clear that the 
 maintenance of a system of protection to a great extent 
 paralyses the efforts, of a people to meet the difficulties 
 which have to be encountered in those periods of depres- 
 sion, which are apparently inseparably associated with the 
 industrial system of every country, in which capital and 
 labour actively compete for remunerative employment 
 
 In attempting to show the effects produced on a free 
 trade, and a protectionist country, respectively, in a time of 
 industrial depression, a comparison might be made, not 
 simply between England and the United States, but between 
 England, Germany, Russia, and other countries, where 
 a policy of commercial restriction is still maintained. I 
 have, however, been induced to contrast the present con- 
 dition of England and the United States, because in Russia 
 and Germany, for instance, other circumstances are in 
 operation which are independent of tariffs, and which 
 materially affect the industrial condition of those countries 
 at the present time. Russia has now to bear the strain of a 
 costly war ; and there can be no doubt that the military 
 system which is maintained in Germany, and in other Con- 
 tinental countries, exerts a most important influence on their 
 industrial economy. Not only are the resources of these 
 countries severely taxed by their enormous armies, but even
 
 152 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 a more serious loss is inflicted on them by the conscription, 
 which draws away from industrial pursuits a large proportion 
 of their population at the very period of life when they 
 could render to the nation the most valuable services as 
 productive labourers. Men have to devote themselves to 
 military training, and to learning military manreuvres, at the 
 time when they are best fitted to acquire skill in some handi- 
 craft. It is scarcely possible to over-estimate the direct and 
 indirect loss which is thus inflicted on a community. Taking 
 the last figures accessible, 1 it appears that the following is 
 the strength, on a peace footing, of the armies of the five 
 chief European Powers : 
 
 Germany 419,000 
 
 Austria 267,000 
 
 Russia 768,000 
 
 France 430,000 
 
 Italy 199,000 
 
 TOTAL 2,083,000 
 
 These five Powers consequently have to bear, even in a 
 time of peace, the enormous burden of maintaining more 
 than 2,000,000 men in arms. Not only has the direct cost 
 of their maintenance to be borne, but this vast number of 
 men, in the prime of life, are drawn away from industrial 
 pursuits. In order, however, to form an adequate idea of 
 the loss caused to these countries by this rivalry in military 
 armaments, which was inaugurated with the advent of the 
 Second Empire in France, it is necessary to bear in mind 
 that so large a proportion of the entire population have to 
 spend some of the best years of life in military training, 
 that these armies, immense though they are in time of peace, 
 can be immediately trebled and quadrupled if it is decided 
 to place them on a war footing. In face of such facts as 
 these, I feel that it would be unfair to make a comparison 
 between the present industrial condition of Germany and 
 1 See Statesman's Year-Book, 1878.
 
 v.] COMMERCIAL DEPRESSION. 153 
 
 England, and attribute the greater industrial depression 
 which prevails at the present time in the former country to 
 the policy of protection which she so zealously maintains. 
 It could be easily shown that the depression in her trade, 
 and the widespread distress which prevails amongst her 
 workmen, are most materially aggravated, as is the case in 
 the United States, by the system of commercial restriction 
 which she so tenaciously supports ; but it cannot be denied 
 that this depression and this distress are at least as much 
 due to the perpetual incubus which is imposed upon in- 
 dustrial development by such a military system as that which 
 is, at the present time, maintained in Germany and other 
 Continental countries.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 COMMERCIAL TREATIES. 
 
 THE opposition which is at the present time offered to the 
 negotiation of commercial treaties, has undoubtedly caused 
 great surprise and disappointment to the advocates of free 
 trade. When the commercial treaty, between France and 
 England, was negotiated, it was confidently anticipated that 
 through the agency of such treaties a very powerful stimulus 
 would be given to the progress of free trade. Although the 
 Anglo-French Treaty has benefited the trade of the two 
 countries to a far greater extent than was expected, yet the 
 opposition to the treaty has so much increased in France 
 that its renewal now appears to be extremely doubtful. A 
 similar hostility to commercial treaties is shown in other 
 countries ; and it cannot be denied that the negotiation of 
 these treaties will now meet with much more formidable 
 difficulties than had to be encountered a few years since. 
 It therefore becomes important to inquire how this change 
 of opinion has been produced, and whether it is due to 
 causes which should in the slightest degree make England 
 waver from the policy of complete free trade which she has 
 adopted. 
 
 In a period of industrial depression any circumstance 
 which is prominently connected with the commerce of a 
 country, is sure to be singled out as one of the chief causes 
 by which this depression has been produced. In the United 
 States bad trade is making many, who once placed implicit
 
 CHAP, vi.] COMMERCIAL TREATIES. 155 
 
 faith in protection, doubt its efficacy ; and in England, where 
 in prosperous times there was an unanimous approval of 
 free trade, the opinion is now not unfrequently expressed 
 that we have carried out a policy of commercial freedom 
 almost too thoroughly and too precipitately. France has 
 not escaped the industrial depression which at the present 
 time exists in other countries; and wherever a trade, which 
 has been affected by the treaty, happens to be suffering from 
 this depression, those who are engaged in it fasten on the 
 treaty for special denunciation. The opposition therefore 
 which is now shown to the renewal and negotiation of com- 
 mercial treaties, is no doubt partly due to the prevailing 
 industrial depression. It is also to be borne in mind that a 
 commercial change, however great may be the advantage 
 which it confers upon the community as a whole, can rarely 
 be introduced without causing some loss to certain special 
 classes. The benefit which is diffused over the rest of the 
 nation is little spoken of. The million may gain by finding 
 some article of general consumption cheapened. They 
 accept the boon without either recognising, or taking the 
 trouble to ascertain, the source from which it comes. The 
 many who are benefited are silent ; the few who are injured 
 are ceaseless and clamorous in their complaints. 
 
 Between 1858, just before the negotiation of the Anglo- 
 French Treaty, and 1876, the imports from France to 
 England have increased from 13,271,0007. to 41,200,0007., 
 and the exports from England to France from 9,242,0007. to 
 26,ooo,ooo/. This great increase in the trade between the 
 two countries shows that the French and the English obtain 
 rom each other, respectively, a larger quantity of commodi- 
 ties which could not be obtained at all unless they were 
 imported, or which can be imported at a cheaper rate than 
 they can be produced at home. In thus opening the 
 French market more freely to the English, and the English 
 market more freely to the French, it may no doubt have 
 happened that the demand for some particular article may
 
 156 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 have been reduced in consequence of the home demand 
 for it being diminished. Thus in 1858 the amount of silk 
 manufactures, and silk imported from France into England 
 was only 2,3oo,ooo/. ; it was 9,800, ooo/. in 1875. Although 
 it appears from these figures that the English purchase a 
 greater quantity of French silk than they did before, it does 
 not necessarily follow that less silk is in the aggregate manu- 
 factured in England. The home and foreign demand for an 
 article may both be so much increased that a larger impor- 
 tation may be accompanied by a considerable augmentation 
 in the home production. Thus the value of woollen cloth 
 and yarn imported into France just before the Treaty in 
 1859 was 100,000!. ; the value exported in the same year 
 was 7,ooo,ooo/. Thus the value of these goods exported 
 exceeded that imported by 6,900,000/1 After the Treaty 
 had been in operation for sixteen years, the value of the 
 woollen cloth and yarns imported into France, had increased 
 to no less an amount than 3,7oo,ooo/. But in the same 
 time, the value of these goods exported from France had 
 increased to i4,ooo,ooo/. It therefore appears that although 
 the French woollen manufacturers complain more than any 
 other class of traders of the injury that has been inflicted 
 upon them by the increased importation into France of 
 woollen goods from England, yet at the very time when this 
 increased importation has been taking place the French 
 woollen manufacture has been developed to a remarkable 
 extent ; for the figures just quoted show that during the 
 time the Treaty has been in operation, an increase of the 
 import of woollen goods of 3,6oo,ooo/. has been accom- 
 panied by an increase in the export of no less than 
 7,ooo,ooo/. The amount, therefore, by which the export 
 of woollen goods has increased, exceeded by nearly 100 
 per cent., the amount by which the imports have in- 
 creased. Such facts as these are persistently ignored by the 
 French protectionists who oppose the renewal of the Treaty. 
 They constantly refer to the additional quantity of manu-
 
 vi.] COMMERCIAL TREATIES. 157 
 
 factured articles imported from England, as if each bale of 
 woollen or cotton goods sent from England to France 
 necessarily caused a corresponding decrease in the quantity 
 of these goods manufactured in France. The depression 
 in the woollen trade in France cannot be produced by 
 foreign importation, when there has been so great an in- 
 crease in her export of woollen manufactures. This 
 depression has undoubtedly been brought about by causes 
 analogous to those which have produced depression in 
 England and other countries; it simply represents one of 
 those vicissitudes or reactions to which every trade is 
 liable. 
 
 The opposition which is being offered in France to the 
 renewal of the Commercial Treaty with England, has been 
 assisted by another circumstance to which it is desirable to 
 direct attention, because it affords an instructive example 
 of the influence which economic fallacies, which are gener- 
 ally supposed to have been long since exploded, can still 
 exercise on public opinion. There is no single point on 
 which greater stress is laid, by various chambers of commerce 
 in France, that have been most prominent in opposing the 
 Treaty, than the change which has lately taken place in the 
 relative amount of French exports and imports. For some 
 years previous to 1876 the exports from France exceeded 
 her imports. The average annual amount of this excess 
 was about 9,ooo,ooo/. In 1876 the balance was turned in 
 the opposite direction ; for, in that year, the value of the 
 produce imported into France exceeded the value of that 
 exported by i6,ooo,ooo/. This change in the condition of 
 her trade seems to have created great alarm ; the fear is 
 widely expressed that France is being drained of her 
 resources, and the Commercial Treaty is consequently the 
 more strongly denounced because it is considered to have 
 been instrumental in producing this " unfavourable balance 
 of trade." No trustworthy conclusions with regard to the 
 industrial position of a country can be drawn from the
 
 158 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 trade statistics of a single year. This excess of French 
 imports over exports may be due to accidental and tem- 
 porary circumstances; but if it should continue to be a 
 permanent feature of the trade of France in the same way 
 as it is of that of England, it would follow, as was shown 
 in the last chapter, that there had been a marked improve- 
 ment in the condition of France: that whereas formerly 
 she was so much in debt to foreign countries that each year 
 she had to send a considerable amount of produce abroad 
 in order to liquidate this indebtedness, these countries 
 have become so much indebted to her, her wealth has in 
 fact so much increased, that, besides receiving payment 
 for the goods she exports, there is annually due to her a 
 surplus amounting to many millions. 
 
 When it is thus seen that the renewal of the Treaty is 
 opposed on so many different grounds, it may not impro- 
 bably happen that an attempt to negotiate another treaty 
 between France and England will fail. If this should be 
 the case there are many of our own countrymen who will no 
 doubt think that England should depart from the policy 
 which she has been pursuing, that she should take some 
 steps to defend her own interests, and that she should no 
 longer continue, as is so often said, " to give everything to 
 foreigners and get back nothing from them in return." If 
 France, refusing to renew the Treaty, should increase the 
 duties on English products which were reduced at the time 
 the Treaty was first negotiated, there are those who maintain 
 that England should in turn impose heavier duties on the 
 articles which she imports from France. Such a policy of 
 retaliation has already been recommended by many English 
 chambers of commerce. Although the undoubted right of 
 England, under such circumstances, to increase the duties 
 levied on French products, may be fully admitted, yet the 
 important question to be determined is, not whether it 
 would be justifiable, but whether it would be expedient for 
 England to pursue such a course. It cannot be denied that
 
 vi.] COMMERCIAL TREATIES. 159 
 
 a country which has carried out a free-trade policy with 
 thorough completeness is not in a favourable position to 
 bring pressure to bear upon another country to accept a 
 commercial treaty. If in England it were believed that an 
 dvantage would be derived from the imposition of a pro- 
 tective duty, we should then be able to propose to com- 
 pensate ourselves by the imposition of such a duty, for any 
 injury that France might inflict on our trade by increasing 
 the duties on English goods imported into France. A 
 protectionist country is obviously in a much better position 
 to negotiate a commercial treaty than one that has adopted 
 a complete free-trade policy. France knows that she might, 
 for instance, raise all her import duties to the point at 
 which they stood before they were reduced by the Treaty, 
 without incurring any real risk that England would, in order 
 to retaliate upon her, depart from the principles of free 
 trade and impose protective duties on French products. 
 The import duties which are imposed by the tariff of the 
 United States are far higher than those which were levied in 
 France before the Treaty ; and yet, as previously explained, 
 we are absolutely powerless to retaliate upon the United 
 States for the very serious injury which her tariff inflicts on 
 English trade, without such a policy recoiling with disastrous 
 effect upon ourselves. It would be possible by the imposi- 
 tion of a high protective duty, on some article which is 
 largely imported into England from the United States, to 
 make the people of that country suffer a loss, similar to that 
 which is inflicted on England by the maintenance of their 
 protective tariff. More than three-fifths of all the produce 
 which is exported from the United States is sent to England ; 
 and the trade of America might be very seriously crippled 
 if she were excluded from the English market by a system 
 of protection similar to that with which she prevents other 
 countries obtaining free access to her own markets. But 
 serious as is the harm which might thus be done to the 
 United States, it is trifling compared with the disastrous
 
 160 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 consequences which would be brought upon England, if 
 we imposed protective duties with the object of impeding 
 the importation of American produce. It has been clearly 
 shown, by the statistics of American trade, that in order to 
 retaliate upon her with any effect it would be necessary to 
 levy protective duties either on articles of general con- 
 sumption, or on products which represent the raw material 
 of our most important branches of manufacturing industry. 
 By thus making the food of the people dearer, we should 
 cause ourselves, as a nation, an amount of loss and incon- 
 venience compared with which the disadvantage to America 
 which would result from the diminution of her export trade 
 would be trifling. Again, by artificially raising the price of 
 cotton and other products, which form the raw material of 
 some of our leading industries, their very existence might 
 be imperilled. 
 
 It may, however, be thought that the position of American 
 trade is exceptional, and that our imports from no other 
 country consist to so large an extent of food and raw 
 material. Such articles of manufacture as silks, cottons, 
 and woollens are imported to a very considerable amount 
 into England from France, and as many of these articles 
 come into direct competition with the products of English 
 industry, it may be supposed that although we are precluded 
 by the nature of our trade with the United States from 
 pursuing a policy of retaliation towards her, yet we might 
 with advantage impose duties on French manufactures, if 
 France, refusing to renew the Commercial Treaty, subjects 
 English trade to new restrictions. Such a proposal has 
 already met with considerable support from several English 
 chambers of commerce ; and it has been suggested that if 
 the treaty is not renewed, the English Government should 
 be asked to impose duties on silks and other articles of 
 French manufacture. It therefore becomes important to 
 consider what would be the result of carrying out the policy 
 thus indicated.
 
 vi.] COMMERCIAL TREATIES. 161 
 
 The value of the manufactured silk annually imported 
 into England from France is about 6,ooo,ooo/. ; and this 
 importation would no doubt be considerably reduced if an 
 import duty of 10 per cent, were imposed. Let it be 
 assumed that this duty is a general one, and is levied 
 on all manufactured silk from whatever country imported. 
 The only effect of attempting to confine such a duty to 
 French silks would be that the purpose of the duty would 
 be almost entirely defeated. Nothing would be more easy 
 than for the French manufacturer to send his silks, in the 
 first place, to another country, prior to their exportation to 
 England, and thus secure their entrance into the English 
 mafket duty free. If the duty were imposed on all foreign 
 silks, the price of these would be increased in the English 
 market by somewhat more than the amount of the duty. 
 The foreign manufacturer would thus be placed at a disad- 
 vantage in the English market, compared with the home 
 manufacturer; and the English people would purchase a 
 larger quantity of English silks and a less quantity of 
 foreign silks. The price of silks in the English market, 
 whether of foreign or of home manufacture, would be 
 increased. The advance in the price of the former must 
 be sufficient to compensate the foreign manufacturer for 
 the duty which he now has to pay. The rise in the price 
 of English silk could not permanently be of any advantage 
 to silk manufacturers or their operatives, because, as has 
 been so frequently shown, the competition of capital and 
 labour, seeking remunerative employment, prevents the 
 continuance of an abnormally high rate of profit and 
 wages in any special industry. An increased amount of 
 capital and a greater proportion of the labour of the 
 country would be employed in the silk trade ; but after 
 the trade had settled down to its regular condition, a 
 larger return could not be yielded to this capital and 
 labour than is yielded in other industries. With regard 
 to the interests of the consumer, as distinguished from 
 
 u
 
 162 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 those of the producer, it is evident that every one who 
 had to purchase silk, would have to pay a higher price 
 for it. This extra price would, however, only represent 
 a part of the loss to the general consumer. French silks 
 are not always purchased in England on account of their 
 greater cheapness ; they are often preferred because they 
 are considered to be superior in colour, and are more 
 attractive in other respects. Without desiring to express 
 any opinion as to whether this preference is well-founded, 
 it is obvious that if a protective duty were imposed, those 
 who wished to buy French silks, would be fined, because 
 they preferred them to silks of English manufacture. It 
 therefore follows, as is the case with all taxation imposed 
 with the object of protecting home industry, that the 
 amount which the taxation yields to the revenue of the 
 State, very inadequately represents the loss and incon- 
 venience which are caused to the general community. 
 
 A more serious objection, however, against imposing a 
 duty on some article of French manufacture, with the view 
 of punishing the French for refusing to renew the Com- 
 mercial Treaty, arises from the fact that if such a policy 
 were once commenced it is impossible to foresee the extent 
 to which it might not be developed. It may, for instance, 
 be said that silk is a luxury; and that there could be no 
 very great hardship if those who purchased such a luxury had 
 to pay a somewhat higher price for it. If we could impose 
 a duty on French silk, and then stand still, little harm 
 might possibly result. But every trade in England which is 
 injured, or which supposes itself injured, by foreign com- 
 petition, would immediately set up a claim for legislative 
 protection. The very first bale of cotton goods that might 
 be sent from America to England, after the silk manufacturer 
 had obtained protection, would inevitably unite the whole 
 cotton interest in Lancashire to demand that their trade 
 should enjoy a similar security against foreign competition. 
 Parliament would be petitioned, deputations would wait
 
 vi.] COMMERCIAL TREATIES. 163 
 
 upon the Government, and an amount of political influence 
 would be brought into activity which there would be no 
 chance of successfully resisting. It is almost impossible 
 for a country to depart, however slightly, from the prin- 
 ciples of free trade, without rendering a further departure 
 inevitable. From each step that is taken in the paths of 
 protection, increasing momentum is acquired, which will 
 hurry a country on still farther in a policy of commercial 
 restriction. 
 
 As it appears therefore to be impracticable for a country 
 to resort to retaliatory import duties, unless it is prepared to 
 sanction an indefinite extension of protection, it may be 
 desirable to consider whether greater success would attend 
 the imposition, as has been often proposed, of an export 
 duty on some article for which there is a demand in those 
 countries to whose markets free access for English goods is 
 denied. There are many, for instance, who consider that 
 it would be highly advantageous for England to impose an 
 export duty on coal. It is supposed that through such a 
 duty we might obtain a considerable revenue from foreign 
 countries ; and it is also thought that the possible increase 
 of the duty might be kept as a weapon in reserve, which 
 might be used to threaten foreign countries, if they sub- 
 jected our commerce to increased restrictions. It is thus 
 said that nothing would probably exert a more powerful 
 influence in preventing the French increasing their duties 
 on English goods, than if they could be told that from the 
 very moment they increased these duties we should compel 
 them to pay a higher price for every ton of English coal 
 they purchased. It can, however, be easily shown that it is 
 rarely, if ever, possible to impose an export duty without 
 producing consequences, and incurring risks, which, at the 
 time the duty is imposed, are not foreseen. As an example, 
 it may be mentioned that when the Anglo-French Treaty 
 was discussed in the English Parliament, a considerable 
 amount of support was given to a proposal to levy. an 
 
 M 2
 
 164 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 export duty on coal. It was then very generally thought 
 that England possessed such advantages in the production 
 of coal, that the imposition of a moderate export duty 
 would scarcely affect the foreign demand for English coal. 
 In thus compelling foreigners to contribute to our revenue, 
 whilst no injury was done to any branch of our own trade, 
 it was argued that we should be partly compensating our- 
 selves for the loss inflicted upon us by the commercial 
 restrictions of other countries. From events which are now 
 happening, it appears that if such an export duly had been 
 sanctioned, foreign countries would gradually have ceased 
 to purchase coal from us, and would have obtained it from 
 other sources. Thus, a certain quantity of American coal is 
 at the present time being sent to Europe ; and it is confi- 
 dently anticipated by the people of the United States that 
 they will be able in future greatly to extend this trade. It 
 may, therefore, with certainty be concluded that if the 
 export of coal from England had been burdened with a 
 duty, we should soon have entirely lost the foreign market 
 for our coal. In a period of depressed trade like the 
 present, the maintenance of such a duty would be im- 
 possible. There has been a great diminution in the profits 
 of the proprietors of coal-mines ; their workmen are suffer- 
 ing great distress in consequence of the reduction of wages 
 to which they are obliged to submit ; and it would be felt 
 that there could be no justification whatever for adding to 
 the difficulties which have thus to be encountered, by con- 
 tinuing to maintain a duty which, though it might yield 
 nothing to the state, would have the effect of destroying 
 the foreign demand for English coal. 
 
 Equally serious objections apply to every proposal which 
 has been made for the imposition of a retaliatory export 
 duty. Thus it has been suggested by some economists of 
 authority, that with the object of benefiting our manufac- 
 turers, it would be desirable to impose an export duty on 
 English machinery. Various foreign countries, it is said,
 
 VI.] COMMERCIAL TREATIES. 165 
 
 which restrict the importation of our goods by protective 
 duties, employ English machinery, to a large extent, to 
 manufacture articles which compete with the products of 
 our own industry ; and in this way we supply the weapons 
 of our own discomfiture. But if such a duty had been 
 sanctioned it would, like an export duty on coal, have led 
 to consequences which at the time of its imposition were 
 not anticipated. Although at one time the machinery which 
 foreign countries imported was chiefly obtained from Eng- 
 land, yet there was nothing to warrant the conclusion that 
 these countries must always necessarily look to England for 
 the mechanical appliances which their own industry did not 
 supply. We possess neither a monopoly of inventive skill, 
 nor a monopoly of the iron, copper, and other materials 
 from which machinery is constructed. The American 
 people are at least as inventive as ourselves, and with their 
 inexhaustible mineral resources, there is no reason why 
 machinery of American manufacture should not be as cheap 
 and as good as machinery made in England. It would 
 therefore be impossible to impose an export duty on English 
 machinery without greatly diminishing the foreign demand 
 for it, and we should thus inflict a very serious injury on an 
 important branch of English trade with no other result than 
 compelling the French, the German, and the American 
 manufacturers either to purchase their machinery from their 
 own countrymen, or instead of buying it from England, to 
 import it from some other country. This falling-off in the 
 foreign demand may, however, be regarded as representing 
 only a part of the harm which might be done by such a 
 duty. With the gradual diminution of the foreign demand 
 for English machinery, an important stimulus to enterprise 
 and invention would cease to operate. Nothing is so likely 
 to secure constant watchfulness to introduce every possible 
 improvement into machinery, as the knowledge that in 
 foreign markets we shall have to contend with the keen 
 and active competition of other countries. It might also
 
 166 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 happen that if there were any discouragement to mechanical 
 invention in England, foreign machinery might be more 
 largely employed in our own industry, and thus a double 
 disadvantage would result : for there would be a decline 
 not only in the foreign, but also in the home demand for 
 English machinery. 
 
 As therefore it appears to be impossible for England, 
 without inflicting upon herself very serious injury, to impose 
 either import or export duties with the object of bringing 
 pressure to bear on those countries which refuse to arrange 
 commercial treaties with her, the question will no doubt be 
 asked : " Can nothing be done ? " It is, for instance, often 
 said that it cannot be right for England to pursue a policy 
 of passive indifference, and to continue to adhere strictly to 
 the principles of free trade, when on all sides her proposals 
 for commercial treaties are rejected, and when her access to 
 foreign markets is being barred by more onerous restrictions. 
 To the inquiry : " What ought under these circumstances to 
 be done ? " it seems that we are irresistibly led to the 
 conclusion, that, however much we may be prompted by a 
 natural feeling of annoyance and disappointment to adopt 
 retaliatory measures, we cannot by any possibility enter 
 upon such a course of retaliation, without greatly aggra- 
 vating instead of mitigating the mischief which is done to 
 our trade by the protectionist tariffs of other countries. It 
 has been shown that whether it be by the imposition of 
 protective duties on the goods which we import from these 
 countries, or by the levying of an export duty on the products 
 which they purchase from us, England cannot carry out a 
 policy of retaliation without very seriously imperilling her 
 own industrial interests. Nothing would give more en- 
 couragement to foreign protectionists than the slightest 
 departure on our part from the principles of free trade. 
 Such a departure would be welcomed as an omen that we 
 had at last found it necessary to secure our industry against 
 the evils of foreign competition. If, however, we are firmly
 
 vi.] COMMERCIAL TREATIES. 167 
 
 resolved not to be drawn by any provocations, great though 
 they may be, from a policy of commercial freedom, events 
 will again and again occur which we may confidently an- 
 ticipate will gradually bring conviction even to the staunchest 
 supporters of protection, that the policy we thus maintain is 
 not less just to others than beneficial to ourselves. Circum- 
 stances connected with the present industrial depression are 
 undoubtedly giving a powerful assistance to the cause of 
 free trade. So long as prosperous times continued, wealth 
 was so rapidly accumulated in the United States, that the 
 American people could hardly be expected to take much 
 heed- when they were told that if protection were abolished 
 their country would become even still richer. Now, how- 
 ever, when this prosperity has temporarily passed away, and 
 wide-spread distress prevails, every cause that may have 
 heightened this industrial depression, is inquired into with 
 anxious solicitude, and the wisdom of maintaining restricted 
 tariffs is now doubted by many who, until recently, were 
 their most unhesitating supporters. Two or three years ago, 
 protection seemed to occupy a far more unassailable position 
 in the United States than in any other country. The com- 
 parative ease with which a period of industrial depression 
 has been tided over in England, contrasted with the serious 
 consequences which it has brought upon the United States, 
 has caused so important a section of the American people 
 to look with favour upon free trade, that it seems not im- 
 probable that the principles of unrestricted commerce will 
 gain ground most rapidly in the country where protection 
 has hitherto held its strongest position. 
 
 As affording some compensation for the loss and incon- 
 venience that may be caused if the French refuse to renew 
 the Commercial Treaty with England, it should be re- 
 membered that great as are the advantages which result 
 from such a Treaty, they are accompanied by at least one 
 important disadvantage. When certain fiscal arrangements 
 are entered into between two countries which are to remain
 
 168 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 in operation during a fixed number of years, it is evident 
 that throughout the continuance of this period, the freedom 
 of each country to introduce changes in its tariff is some- 
 what curtailed. Thus by the Anglo-French Treaty, it was 
 stipulated that only certain denned duties should be levied 
 upon French wines imported into England. Some event 
 might have occurred, such, for instance, as a prolonged and 
 costly war, which might have made it necessary for England 
 to have raised additional revenue by indirect taxation. It 
 this had been the case, the Treaty stipulations into which 
 she had entered would have virtually prevented her obtain- 
 ing any portion of this additional revenue by increased 
 taxation on alcoholic drinks. Although it appears from 
 the interpretation usually given to the terms of the Treaty, 
 that if the duty on home-made spirits were increased, it would 
 be possible to levy an equivalent increase of duty on spirits 
 imported from France and other foreign countries, yet we 
 should have been precluded from imposing an additional 
 duty on French wines, because the Treaty only permits the 
 duty on French products to be increased when this 
 additional duty can be counterbalanced by a corresponding 
 addition to the excise duty which is imposed on the same 
 article when produced in England. The French have com- 
 plained that their wines, even under the Treaty, are more 
 heavily taxed than English beer, and we have met these 
 complaints by affirming that French wine does not come 
 into direct competition with beer. The same argument 
 would have been used against us, if we had attempted, in 
 apparent contradiction to the provisions of the Treaty, to 
 increase the duty on French wines. If, however, an addi- 
 tion had been made to the duty on malt and spirits, while 
 the duty on French wines remained unaltered, it would 
 have been at once objected that malt and spirits were 
 unfairly taxed : not only the consumers of these articles, 
 but English farmers, brewers, and distillers would have 
 been able with justice to urge, that they would be placed
 
 VI.] COMMERCIAL TREATIES. 169 
 
 at a disadvantage, and that the growers of French wines 
 would enjoy protection at the expense of English traders, 
 if no addition were made to the duties levied on French 
 wines. Again, if the duties were increased on all foreign 
 wines except those which were imported from France, all 
 the other wine-producing countries would have felt that 
 they were unfairly treated, and they would not improbably 
 have retaliated by subjecting English commerce to special 
 restrictions. It seems that at the present time, we incur 
 some risk of bringing such a spirit of retaliation into 
 activity, in consequence of the agreement which we made 
 with France, as to the particular amount of duty which 
 should be levied on her wines. It is alleged by Spain that 
 our duties are so adjusted as to place many wines which 
 she produces at a disadvantage in the English market. The 
 feeling that she has thus been unjustly treated, has prompted 
 her to impose higher duties upon various products imported 
 from England, than upon the same products imported from 
 other countries. By the Anglo-French Treaty it was arranged 
 that the duty imposed on foreign wines imported into Eng- 
 land should vary with their alcoholic strength. The duty 
 on wine of less than twenty-six degrees of alcoholic strength 
 is is. per gallon ; on wines possessing an alcoholic strength 
 between twenty-six to forty-two degrees the duty is zs. td. ; 
 and on wines of greater alcoholic strength still higher duties 
 are imposed. It is alleged by Spain that the sudden leap 
 in the duty from is. to zs. 6d. subjects her to a special 
 injustice ; for it is maintained that the majority of the light 
 wines of France possess less than twenty-six degrees of 
 alcoholic strength ; and therefore they can be imported at 
 the minimum duty of is. ; whereas a great many of the 
 light wines of Spain possessing an alcoholic strength slightly 
 exceeding twenty-six degrees, are compelled to pay the 
 comparatively high duty of 2s. 6d. per gallon, and are 
 thus virtually excluded from the English market. Without 
 expressing a positive opinion as to the justice of these
 
 170 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 complaints, belief in them is so general in Spain, that the 
 Government of that country was induced last year so to 
 frame its budget as to place English commerce at a special 
 disadvantage. Such an occurrence shows how important 
 it is that a country which desires, in accordance with the 
 principles of free trade, to place the goods of all other 
 countries on an equality in its own markets, should not, in 
 order to facilitate the negotiation of a commercial treaty 
 with any particular country, admit its goods on exceptionally 
 favourable terms. 
 
 A consideration of the causes which at the present time 
 retard the negotiation of commercial treaties, may be con- 
 cluded by referring to one circumstance, which is supposed 
 by some not only to impede the acceptance of these treaties, 
 but also to give encouragement to the supporters of pro- 
 tection in foreign countries. It has lately been frequently 
 asserted by many who are engaged in one of the most im- 
 portant of English industries, that it is vain for us to expect 
 other countries to adopt the principles of free trade while we 
 sanction the continuance of a protective duty in a dependency 
 whose financial arrangements are directly under our con- 
 trol. It has been urged with much persistency that the 5 per 
 cent, duty which is imposed upon cotton goods imported 
 into India, being a protective tax, ought at once to be 
 repealed by the authority of the English Parliament, and 
 that as long as the duty is permitted to remain, a national 
 sanction is given on the part of England to protection. The 
 subject has lately excited an unusual amount of attention ; 
 because within the last few years many large cotton-mills 
 have been erected in Bombay, and as some of the cotton 
 goods which are imported into India, are of the same kind 
 as the goods which are manufactured in these mills, it is 
 evident that the Bombay manufacturers enjoy a protection 
 of 5 per cent, on all the products they make which are 
 similar in character to those imported. All the economic 
 objections which can be urged against any protective duty
 
 vi.] COMMERCIAL TREATIES. 171 
 
 of course apply to this particular tax. The price not simply 
 of those cotton goods which pay the duty is raised, but the 
 duty causes the price of those goods which are made in 
 India to be also raised ; consequently the tax takes from 
 the people of India an amount far exceeding that which it 
 yields to the State. The tax therefore, like every other tax 
 which is protective in character, must be, on economic 
 grounds, unhesitatingly condemned. The subject, however, 
 cannot be regarded as one involving simply economic con- 
 siderations. It would scarcely be appropriate here to dis- 
 cuss the question in its political bearings, but it is perfectly 
 obvious that the control which it is just and wise for the 
 English Parliament to exercise over the taxation of any of 
 its dependencies, involves political considerations of the 
 first importance. A more serious error can scarcely be 
 committed than to impose taxation on a people regardless 
 of their feelings and their sentiments. The most equitable 
 system of taxation which it is possible to devise for one 
 country, may be altogether unsuited to other countries. 
 Many financiers of authority who consider that the income- 
 tax ought to be permanently maintained in England, are 
 of opinion that in consequence of the many abuses which 
 are inseparably associated with the collection of the in- 
 come-tax in India, nothing but extreme necessity could 
 justify its re-imposition in that country. In deciding 
 whether the duties now imposed on cotton goods im- 
 ported into India, ought at once to be repealed, it is of the 
 first importance to bear in mind the peculiar and critical 
 position of Indian finance. The great mass of the people 
 of that country are so poor, and live with such extreme 
 frugality, that with the exception of salt there is no article 
 of general consumption which it is possible to tax ; and 
 the duty on salt has been strained to its utmost point, 
 being one of the heaviest duties ever imposed on a first 
 necessary of life. As therefore there remains no article of 
 general consumption which can be taxed, it is obvious that
 
 172 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. [CHAP. 
 
 the resources of taxation are extremely small in India ; for 
 it is scarcely necessary to remark that the taxation which is 
 most productive is that which is levied on some article in 
 universal use, to which therefore the whole nation has to 
 contribute. In recent years the expenditure in India has 
 steadily and surely increased ; her revenue has advanced 
 far more slowly; frequently-recurring deficits have had to 
 be met by borrowing ; and her debt has been constantly 
 augmented. Her financial position has been still further 
 embarrassed by the recurrence within the last eleven years 
 of no less than four famines, the cost of the last two of these 
 famines reaching the sum of i6,ooo,ooo/. Under these 
 circumstances no existing source of revenue can with 
 prudence be surrendered ; and therefore the proposal to 
 abolish the existing import duties on cotton goods cannot 
 be dissociated from the question : What new taxation is to 
 be imposed to fill the void in the revenue which the repeal 
 of these import duties would create ? Hitherto those repre- 
 sentatives of the English manufacturing interest who so 
 strongly condemn these duties, have not recommended 
 any other taxation to take their place, and no new tax has 
 been suggested which would not be either far more burden- 
 some, or far more disliked by the people of India them- 
 selves. If by greater economy or by better administration, 
 the expenditure of India were reduced, a sufficient surplus 
 might be provided to enable these import duties to be 
 repealed. But this greater economy and better administra- 
 tion ought to be ensured before the revenue which these 
 duties yield is relinquished. 
 
 Many of those who have taken a prominent part in 
 advocating the repeal of these cotton duties, have un- 
 doubtedly been prompted by a sincere dislike to England 
 being either directly or indirectly concerned with the 
 maintenance of any form of protection. In urging, how- 
 ever, the immediate repeal of this protective duty, it should 
 be remembered that many English colonies maintain a
 
 vi.] COMMERCIAL TREATIES. 173 
 
 system of protection far more extended and far more 
 onerous in its character. If no attempt is made to inter- 
 fere with the colonies, while it is insisted on the part 
 of England, regardless of the wishes of the Indian people, 
 that a particular duty which is imposed in that country 
 shall be repealed, the impression will not unnaturally be 
 produced that India is unfairly treated, and that she is 
 sacrificed to the interests of English manufacturers. Such 
 a feeling no doubt already exists in India ; and it has been 
 much intensified by the manner in which the question of 
 the repeal of these duties has been advocated in England. 
 The subject is habitually treated from the English rather 
 than from the Indian point of view. The injury which 
 is done to English trade by a restrictive duty is brought 
 prominently to the foreground, and comparatively little 
 notice is taken of the most cogent objection to be urged 
 against this and every protective tax, that it takes from 
 the people on whom it is imposed an amount which far 
 exceeds that which it yields to the revenue of the State. 
 In the appeals that are so often made that the Indian 
 cotton duties should be abolished, in order that England 
 may consistently maintain her adherence to the principles 
 of free trade, the mistake which may be regarded as the 
 cardinal error of the protective system, is not unfrequently 
 committed : The interest of the manufacturers, as pro- 
 ducers, is considered; the interest of the people, as 
 consumers, is ignored.
 
 LONDON : 
 
 R. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS, 
 BREAD STREBT HILL,
 
 WORKS BY 
 
 HENRY FAWCETT, M.P., 
 
 Professor of Political Economy in the University of Cambridge. 
 
 MANUAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 
 
 Fifth Edition, with New Chapters on the Depreciation of 
 Silver, &c. Crown 8vo. I2S. 
 
 The Daily News says : "It forms one of the best introductions to the 
 principles of the science, and to its practical applications in the problems 
 of modern, and especially of English, government and society. 
 
 In reviewing the last edition, the Daily News says: "The new 
 chapters, like the rest of the work, exhibit that clear view and strong 
 grasp of his subject which mark Mr. Fawcett's treatment of nearly every 
 topic he takes in hand." 
 
 SPEECHES ON SOME CURRENT 
 POLITICAL QUESTIONS. 
 
 8vo. los. 6d. 
 
 CONTENTS : Indian Finance and Budget, 1872-1873 Birmingham 
 League and Education Act, 1873 The Nine Hours Bill Election 
 Expenses Women's Suffrage Household Suffrage Irish University 
 Education Enclosure of Commons Law Officers of the Crown 
 Speech at Brighton, 1873. 
 
 THE ECONOMIC POSITION OF THE 
 BRITISH LABOURER. 
 
 Extra fcap. 8vo. $s. 
 
 CONTENTS : Introductory Remarks The Land Tenure of England 
 Co-operation Causes which Regulate Wages Trades Unions and 
 Strikes Emigration. 
 
 MACMILT.AN & CO., LONDON.
 
 WORKS BY 
 
 MRS. FAWCETT. 
 
 New Edition, i8mo., price 2s. 6d. 
 
 POLITICAL ECONOMY FOR 
 BEGINNERS. 
 
 WITH QUESTIONS. 
 
 " Clear, compact, and comprehensive." Daily News, 
 
 " Mrs. Fawcett's treatise is perfectly suited to hs purpose." 
 
 Spectator. 
 
 "The relations of capital and labour have never been more simply 
 
 or more clearly expounded." Contemporary Review, 
 
 TALES IN POLITICAL ECONOMY. 
 
 Crown 8vo. 3^. 
 
 " The idea is a good one, and it is quite wonderful what a mass of 
 economic teaching the author manages to compress into a small space. 
 . . . The true doctrines of International Trade, Currency, and the 
 ratio between Production and Population, are set before us and illus- 
 trated in a masterly manner." Athewzum, 
 
 In 8vo., price IQS. 6d. 
 
 ESSAYS AND LECTURES ON SOCIAL 
 AND POLITICAL SUBJECTS. 
 
 By PROFESSOR FAWCETT, M.P., and MRS. FAWCETT. 
 
 CONTENTS : Modern Socialism General Aspects of State Inter- 
 vention Free Education in its Economic Aspects Pauperism, Charity, 
 and the Poor Law National Debts and National Prosperity The 
 Education of Women Why Women Require the Franchise The 
 House of Lords &c., &c. 
 
 MACMILLAN & CO., LONDON.
 
 BEDFORD STREET, STRAND, LONDON, W.C. 
 February 1878. 
 
 MACMILLAN & Co.'s CATALOGUE of Works 
 in the Departments of History, Biography ', 
 Travels, Critical and Literary Essays, 
 Politics, Political and Social Economy, 
 Law, etc.; and Works connected with Lan- 
 guage. 
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, &c. 
 
 Albemarle. FIFTY YEARS OF MY LIFE. By GEORGE 
 THOMAS, Earl of Albemarle. With Steel Portrait of the first Earl 
 of Albemarle, engraved by JEENS. Third and Cheaper Edition. 
 Crown 8vo. Js. 6d. 
 
 " The book is one of the most amusing of its class. . . . These remi- 
 niscences have the charm and flavour of personal experience, and they 
 bring us into direct contact with the persons they describe." EDINBURGH 
 REVIEW. 
 
 Anderson. MANDALAY TO MOMIEN ; a Narrative of the 
 
 Two Expeditions to Western China, of 1868 and 1875, under 
 Colonel E. B. Sladen and Colonel Horace Browne. By Dr. 
 ANDERSON, F. R. S.E., Medical and Scientific Officer to the Ex- 
 peditions. With numerous Maps and Illustrations. 8vo. 2U. 
 "A handsome, well-timed, entertaining, and instructive volume" 
 ACADEMY. 
 
 "A pleasant, useful, carffully-written, and important work" 
 ATHEN^UM. 
 
 Appleton. Works by T. G. APPLETON : 
 A NILE JOURNAL. Illustrated by EUGENE BENSON. Crown 
 
 8vo. 6s. 
 SYRIAN SUNSHINE. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 Arnold. ESSAYS IN CRITICISM. By MATTHEW ARNOLD. 
 New Edition, Revised and Enlarged. Crown 8vo. o^r. 
 
 Atkinson. AN ART TOUR TO NORTHERN CAPITALS 
 OF EUROPE, including Descriptions of the Towns, the Museums, 
 and other Art Treasures of Copenhagen, Christiania, Stockholm, 
 3000.3.78. A
 
 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 Abo, Helsingfors, Wiborg, St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Kief. 
 
 By J. BEAVINGTON ATKINSON. 8vo. izs. 
 
 " Although the main purpose of the book is strictly kept in -view, and we 
 never forget for long that -we are travelling with a student and connoisseur, 
 Mi: Atkinson gives variety to his narrative by glimpses of scenery and 
 brief allusions to history and manners which are always welcome when 
 they occur, and are never wordy or overdone. We have seldom met with 
 a book in which what is principal and what is accessory have been kept in 
 better proportion to each other." SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 Awdry. THE STORY OF A FELLOW SOLDIER. By 
 
 FRANCES AWDRY. With Six Illustrations. Second Edition. 
 
 Extra fcap. 8vo. 3^. 6d. 
 
 " This is a life of ihat brave, single-minded, and untiring Christian 
 Soldier, Bishop Patteson, written for the young. It is simply and 
 pleasantly written, and presents a lively picture of the labours, hardships, 
 troubles, and pleasures oj earnest Missionary work among the Polynesian 
 Islands. " STANDARD. 
 
 Baker (Sir Samuel W.) Works by Sir SAMUEL BAKER, 
 Pacha, M.A., F.R.G.S. : 
 
 COLONEL GORDON, in a. letter to SIR SAMUEL BAKER, says : " You 
 may rest assured that whatever may be said to the disparagement of your 
 proceedings, there will remain the fact that you have done more for these 
 countries than any living man can or will do hereafter, and history will 
 nnier put my puny efforts in any way near your own." 
 
 ISMAILIA : A Narrative of the Expedition to Central Africa for 
 
 the Suppression of the Slave Trade, organised by Ismail, Khedive 
 
 of Egypt. With Portraits, Maps, and fifty full-page Illustrations 
 
 by ZWECKER and DURAND. 2 vols. 8vo. 36^. 
 
 "A book which will be read with very great interest." TIMES. " Well 
 
 written and full of remarkable adventures" PALL MALL GAZETTE. 
 
 " These two splendid volumes add another thrilling chapter to the history 
 
 of African adventure." DAILY NEWS. " Reads more like a romance 
 
 .... incomparably more entertaining than books of African travel usually 
 
 are" MORNING POST. 
 
 THE ALBERT N'YANZA Great Basin of the Nile, and Explora- 
 tion of the Nile Sources. Fifth Edition. Maps and Illustrations. 
 Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 " Charmingly written;" says the SPECTATOR, "full, as might be 
 expected, of incident, and free from that wearisome reiteration of useless 
 facts which is the drawback to almost all books of African tmvel." 
 
 THE NILE TRIBUTARIES OF ABYSSINIA, and the Sword 
 Hunters of the Hamran Arabs. With Maps and Illustrations. 
 Sixth Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 The TIMES says : "ft adds much to our information respecting Egyptian 
 Abyssinia and th> different races that spread over it. It contains, more-
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 3 
 
 over, some notable instances of English, daring and enterprising skill ; 
 it abounds in animated tales of exploits dear to the heart of the British 
 sportsman ; and it will attract even the least studious reader, as the author 
 tells a story well, and can describe nature with uncommon power, " 
 
 Bancroft. THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 
 OF AMERICA, FROM THE DISCOVERY OF THE CON- 
 TINENT. By GEORGE BANCROFT. New and thoroughly Re- 
 vised Edition. Six Vols. Crown 8vo. 54^. 
 
 Barker (Lady). Works by LADY BARKER : 
 
 STATION LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND. Third Edition. Globe 
 8vo. 3-r. 6d. 
 " We have never read a more truthful or a pleasanter little book" 
 
 ATHEN/GUM. 
 
 A YEAR'S HOUSEKEEPING IN SOUTH AFRICA. With 
 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. gs. 
 
 " We have to thank Lady Barker for a very amusing book, over whick 
 we have spent many a delightful hour, and of which lue will not take 
 leave without alluding to the ineffably droll illustrations which add so -very 
 much to the enjoyment of her clear and sparkling descriptions.'' 1 MORNING 
 POST. 
 
 Blackburne BIOGRAPHY OF THE RIGHT HON. 
 
 FRANCIS BLACKBURNE, Late Lord Chancellor of Ireland. 
 Chiefly in connexion with his Public and Political Career. By his 
 Son, EDWARD BLACKBURNE, Q.C. With Portrait Engraved by 
 JEENS. 8vo. \zs. 
 
 Blanford (W. T.) GEOLOGY AND ZOOLOGY OF 
 ABYSSINIA. By W. T. BLANFORD. 8vo. 2is. 
 
 Brimley. ESSAYS BY THE LATE GEORGE BRIMLEY, 
 
 M.A. Edited by the Rev. W. G. CLARK, M.A. With Portrait. 
 Cheaper Edition. Fcap. 8vo. zs. 6d, 
 
 Bronte. CHARLOTTE BRONTE. A Monograph. By T. 
 WEMYSS REID. With Illustrations. Second Edition. Crown 
 Svo. 6s. 
 
 Mr. Reid's little volume, which is based largely on letters, hitherto 
 unpublished, from Charlotte Bronte to her school-fellow and lift-long 
 friend, Miss Ellen Nussey, is meant to be a companion, and not a rival, 
 to Mrs. GaskMs well-known "Life? To speak of the advantage of 
 making biography autobiographical by the liberal use of correspondence has 
 
 A 2
 
 4 MAC Ml LLANOS CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 she was by nature (as Mr. Reid puts it) "a hatpy and high-spirited girl, 
 and that even to the -very last she had the faculty of overcoming her 
 sorrows by means of that steadfast courage which wis her most precious 
 possession, and to which she was indebted for her successive victories over 
 trials and disappointments of no ordinary character." 
 
 The book is illustrated by a Portrait of the Rev. Patrick Bronte, several 
 Views of Haworth and its neighbourhood, and a facsimile of one of the 
 most characteristic of Charlotte's letters. 
 
 Brooke. THE RAJA OF SARAWAK : an Account of Sir 
 James Brooke, K.C.B., LL.D.. Given chiefly through Letters 
 or Journals. By GERTRUDE L. JACOB. With Portrait and 
 Maps. Two Vols. 8vo. 25*. 
 
 " They who read Miss Jacob's book and all should read it: all ivho 
 are under the delusion that in our time there is no scope for heroism, aitti 
 no place for romantic adventure, and noplace for enterprise and ambition 
 will see how incident is crowded upon incident, and struggle upon 
 struggle, till in the very abundance of materials that come to her hand 
 the authoress can scarcely stop to give sufficient distinctness to her 
 wonderful narrative." ACADEMY. 
 
 Brooke. RECOLLECTIONS OF THE IRISH CHURCH. 
 By RICHARD S. BROOKE, D.D., late Rector of Wyton, Hunts. 
 Crown 8vo. 4?. 6d. 
 
 Bryce. Works by JAMES BRYCE, D.C.L., Regius Professor of 
 
 Civil Law, Oxford : 
 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE. Sixth Edition, Revised and 
 
 Enlarged. Crown 8vo. "js. 6d. 
 
 "It exactly supplies a want : it affords a key to much which men 
 read of in their books as isolated facts, but of which they have hitherto 
 had no connected exposition set before them.'" SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 TRANSCAUCASIA AND ARARAT : being Notes of a Vacation 
 Tour in the Autumn of 1876. With an Illustration and Map. 
 Third Edition. Crown 8vo. gs. 
 
 "Mr. Bryce has written a lively and at the same time an instructive 
 description of the tour he made last year in and about the Caucasus. When 
 so well-informed a jurist travels into regions seldom visited, and even 
 walks up a mountain so rarely scaled as Ararat, he is justified in think- 
 ing that the impressions he brings home are worthy of being communicated 
 to the world at large, especially when a terrible war is casting a lurid glow 
 over the countries he has lately surveyed." ATHENAEUM. 
 
 Burgoyne. POLITICAL AND MILITARY EPISODES 
 DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE REIGN OF 
 GEORGE III. Derived from the Life and Correspondence of
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 5 
 
 the Right Hon. J. Burgoyne, Lieut. -General in his Majesty's 
 Army, and M.P. for Preston. By E. B. DE FONBLANQUE. With 
 Portrait, Heliotype Plate, and Maps. 8vo. i6j. 
 
 Burke. EDMUND BURKE, a Historical Study. By JOHN 
 
 MORLEY, B.A., Oxon. Crown 8vo. "js. &/. 
 
 " The style is terse and incisive, and brilliant with epigram and 
 point. Its sustained power of reasoning, its wide sweep of observation 
 and reflection, its elevated ethical and social tone, stamp it as a work of 
 high excellence." SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 Burrows. WORTHIES OF ALL SOULS : Four Centuries of 
 English History. Illustrated from the College Archives. By 
 MONTAGU BURROWS, Chichele Professor of Modern History at 
 Oxford, Fellow of All Souls. 8vo. 14*. 
 " A most amusing as well as a most instructive book. GUARDIAN. 
 
 Campbell. LOG-LETTERS FROM THE "CHALLENGER." 
 
 By LORD GEORGE CAMPBELL. With Map. Fifth and cheaper 
 Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 "A delightful book, -which we heartily commend to the general reader." 
 SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 " We do not hesitate to say that anything so fresh, so picturesque, so 
 generally delightful, as thtse log-letters has not appeared among books of 
 traz>el for a long time.' 1 EXAMINER. 
 
 ' ' A more lively and amusing record of travel we have not had the 
 fortune to read for some time. The whole book is pervaded by a spirit of 
 life, animation, and fun" STANDARD. 
 
 Campbell. MY CIRCULAR NOTES : Extracts from Journals ; 
 Letters sent Home ; Geological and other Notes, written while 
 Travelling Westwards round the World, from July 6th, 1874, to 
 July 6th, 1875. B 7 J- F - CAMPBELL, Author of "Frost and 
 Fire." 2 vols. Crown 8vo. 25-r. 
 
 " We have read numbers of books of travel, but we can call to mind 
 few that have given us more genuine pleasure than this. A more agree- 
 able style of narrative than his it is hardly possible to conceive. We seem 
 to be accompanying him in his trip round the world, so life-like is his 
 description of the countries he visited." LAND AND WATER. 
 
 Campbell. TURKS AND GREEKS. Notes of a recent Ex- 
 cursion. By the Hon. DUDLEY CAMPBELL, M.A. With Coloured 
 Map. Crown 8vo. 3^. 6d. 
 
 Carstares. WILLIAM CARSTARES: a Character and Career 
 of the Revolutionary Epoch (16491715). By ROBERT STORY, 
 Minister of Rosneath. 8vo. I2J.
 
 6 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 Chatterton : A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY. By DANIEL 
 WILSON, LL.D., Professor of History and English Literature in 
 University College, Toronto. Crown 8vo. 6s. 6d. 
 The EXAMINER thinks this "the most complete and the purest bio- 
 graphy of the poet which has yet appeared, " 
 
 Chatterton : A STORY OF THE YEAR 1770. By Professor 
 MASSON, LL.D. Crown 8vo. 5.?. 
 
 Cooper. ATHENE CANTABRIGIENSES. By CHARLES 
 HENRY COOPER, F.S.A., and THOMPSON COOPER, F.S.A. 
 Vol. I. 8vo., 150085, i&. ; Vol. II., 15861609, i8j. 
 
 Correggio. ANTONIO ALLEGRI DA CORREGGIO. From 
 
 the German of Dr. JULIUS MEYER, Director of the Royal Gallery, 
 Berlin. Edited, with an Introduction, by Mrs. HEATON. Con- 
 taining Twenty Woodbury-type Illustrations. Royal 8vo. Cloth 
 elegant. 3U. 6d. 
 
 " The best and most readable biography of the master at present to be 
 found in the English language." ACADEMY. "By its pictures alone 
 the book forms a worthy tribute to the painter s genius." PALL MALL 
 GAZETTE. 
 
 COX (G. V.) RECOLLECTIONS OF OXFORD. By G. 
 V. Cox, M.A., New College, late Esquire Bedel and Coroner 
 in the University of Oxford. Cheaper Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 "An amusing farrago of anecdote, and will pleasantly recall in many 
 
 a country parsonage the memory of youthful days." TIMES. 
 
 " Daily News." THE DAILY NEWS' CORRESPOND- 
 
 ENCE of the War between Germany and France, 1870 i. Edited 
 with Notes and Comments. New Edition. Complete in One 
 Volume. With Maps and Plans. Crown 8vo. 6j. 
 
 THE DAILY NEWS' CORRESPONDENCE of the War between 
 Russia and Turkey, to the fall of Kars. Including the letters of 
 Mr. Archibald Forbes, Mr. J. E. McGahan, and other Special 
 Correspondents in Europe and Asia. Second Edition, enlarged. 
 Crown 8vo. ioj. 6d. 
 
 Davidson. THE LIFE OF A SCOTTISH PROBATIONER ; 
 being a Memoir of Thomas Davidson, with his Poems and 
 Letters. By JAMES BROWN, Minister of St. James's Street 
 Church, Paisley. Second Edition, revised and enlarged, with 
 Portrait. Crown 8vo. fs. 6d. 
 
 . THE RIVER CLYDE. An Historical Description of the 
 Rise and Progress of the Harbour of Glasgow, and of the Im- 
 provement of the River from Glasgow to Port Glasgow. By J. 
 DEAS, M. Inst. C.E. 8vo. los. 6d.
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. ^ 
 
 Denison. A HISTORY OF CAVALRY FROM THE EAR- 
 LIEST TIMES. With Lessons for the Future. By Lieut. -Col. 
 GEORGE DENISON, Commanding the Governor-General's Body 
 Guard, Canada, Author of " Modern Cavalry." With Maps and 
 Plans. 8vo. l8j. 
 
 Dilke. GREATER BRITAIN. A Record of Travel in English- 
 speaking Countries during 1866-7. (America, Australia, India.) 
 By Sir CHARLES WENTWORTH DILKE, M.P. Sixth Edition. 
 Crown 8vo. dr. 
 
 " Many of the subjects discussed in these pages" savs the DAILY NEWS, 
 " are of the -widest interest, and stick as no man who cares for the \ future 
 of his race and of the -world can afford to treat with indifference. " 
 
 Doyle. HISTORY OF AMERICA. By J. A. DOYLE. With 
 
 Maps. i8mo. 4?. 6d. 
 
 "Mr. Doyle's style is clear and simple, his facts are accurately stated, 
 and his book is meritoriously free from prejudice on questions where 
 partisanship runs high amongst us." SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 Drummond of Hawthornden : THE STORY OF HIS 
 LIFE AND WRITINGS. By PROFESSOR MASSON. With Por- 
 trait and Vignette engraved by C. H. JEENS. Crown 8vo. IOJ. 6</. 
 " Around his hero, Professor Masson groups national and individual 
 episodes and sketches of character, which are of the greatest interest, and 
 which add to the value of a biographical work which we warmly recom- 
 mend to the lovers of thoroughly healthy books." NOTES AND QUERIES. 
 
 Duff. NOTES OF AN INDIAN JOURNEY. By M. E. GRANT- 
 DUFF, M.P., late Under Secretary of State for India. With Map. 
 8vo. IOJ. 6d. 
 " These notes are full of pleasant remarks and illustrations, borrowed 
 
 from every kind of source. 1 ' SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 Elliott. LIFE OF HENRY VENN ELLIOTT, of Brighton. 
 
 By JOSIAH BATEMAN, M.A., Author of "Life of Daniel Wilson, 
 
 Bishop of Calcutta," &c. With Portrait, engraved by JEENS. 
 
 Extra fcap. 8vo. Third and Cheaper Edition, with Appendix. 6s. 
 
 "A very charming piece of religious biography ; no one can read it 
 
 without both pleasure and profit." BRITISH QUARTERLY REVIEW. 
 
 Elze. ESSAYS ON SHAKESPEARE. By Dr. KARL ELZE. 
 
 Translated with the Author's sanction by L. DORA SCHMITZ. 
 
 8vo. 12s. 
 
 "A more desirable contribution to oiticism has not recently been made." 
 ATHENJEUM. 
 
 Eton College, History of. By H. C. MAXWELL LVTE, 
 M.A. With numerous Illustrations by Professor DELAMOTTF, 
 Coloured Plates, and a Steel Portrait of the Founder, engraved
 
 8 MAC MI LLANOS CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 by C. H. JEENS. New and cheaper Issue, with Correction 
 Medium 8vo. Cloth elegant. 2\s. 
 
 " Hitherto no account of the College, with all its associations, has 
 appeared which can compare either in completeness or in interest with 
 this. . . . It is indeed a book worthy of the ancient renown of King 
 Henry's College.'" DAILY NEWS. 
 
 " We are at length presented with a work on England 's greatest public 
 school, worthy of the subject of which it treats. . . . A really valuable and 
 authentic history of Eton College." GUARDIAN. 
 
 European History, Narrated in a Series of Historical 
 
 Selections from the best Authorities. Edited and arranged by 
 
 E..M. SEWELL and C. M. YONGE. First Series, crown 8vo. 6s. ; 
 
 Second Series, 1088-1228, crown 8vo. 6s. Third Edition. 
 
 " We know of scarcely anything" says the GUARDIAN, of this volume, 
 
 "which is so likely to raise to a higher level the average standard of 
 
 English education." 
 
 Faraday. MICHAEL FARADAY. By J. H. GLADSTONE, 
 Ph.D., F. R.S. Second Edition, with Portrait engraved by JEENS 
 from a photograph by J. WATKINS. Crown 8vo. 4^. 6d. 
 PORTRAIT. Artist's Proof. $j. 
 
 CONTENTS : 7. The Story of his Life. II. Study of his Character. 
 III. Fruits of his Experience. IV. His Method of Writing. V. The 
 Value of his Discoveries. Supplementary Portraits. Appendices: List 
 of Honorary Fellowships, etc. 
 
 Fisher. THE CALIFORNIANS. By WALTER M. FISHER. 
 
 Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 " His volume is of great intej-est and value." WESTMINSTER REVIEW. 
 
 Forbes. LIFE AND LETTERS OF JAMES DAVID 
 
 FORBES, F.R.S., late Principal of the United College in the 
 University of St. Andrews. ByJ. C. SHAIRP, LL.D., Principal 
 of the United College in the University of St. Andrews ; P. G. 
 TAIT, M.A., Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University 
 of Edinburgh; and A. ADAMS-REILLY, F.R.G.S. 8vo. with 
 Portraits, Map, and Illustrations, l6s. 
 
 1 ' Not only a biography that all should read, but a scientific treatise, 
 without which the shelves of no physicists library can be deemed com- 
 plete. " STANDARD. 
 
 Freeman. Works by EDWARD A. FREEMAN, D.C.L.,LL.D. : 
 HISTORICAL ESSAYS. Third Edition. 8vo. los. 6d. 
 CONTENTS: /. "The Mythical and Romantic Elements in Early 
 
 English History;" II. "The Continuity of English History;" III. 
 
 "The Relations between the Crowns of 'England and Scotland ;" IV. 
 
 " St. Thomas of Canterbury and his Biographers;" V. " The Reign oj 
 
 Edward the Third:" VI. "The Holy Roman Empire;" VII. "The
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 9 
 
 Franks and the Gauls;" VIII. "The Early Sieges of Paris;" IX. 
 "Frederick the tirst, King of Italy ;" X. "The Emperor Frederick the 
 Second;" XI. "Charles the Bold ;" XII. " Presidential Government." 
 
 A SECOND SERIES OF HISTORICAL ESSAYS. 8vo. 
 icxr. 6d. 
 
 The principal Essays are : " Ancient Greece and Mediaeval Italy : " 
 " Mr. Gladstone's Homer and the Homeric Ages : " " The Historians 
 oj Athens:" " The Athenian Democracy:" "Alexander the Great:" 
 "Greece during the Macedonian Period:" "Mommsen's History of Rome :" 
 "Lucius Cornelius Sulla :" " The Flavian C&sars." 
 
 COMPARATIVE POLITICS. Lectures at the Royal Institution. 
 To which is added the " Unity of History," the Rede Lecture at 
 Cambridge, 1872. 8vo. 14^. 
 
 THE HISTORY AND CONQUESTS OF THE SARACENS. 
 Six Lectures. Third Edition, with New Preface. Crown 8vo. 
 y. 6d. 
 
 "Mr. Freeman opportunely reprints his erudite and valuable lec- 
 tures" DAILY TELEGRAPH. 
 
 HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL SKETCHES: 
 chiefly Italian. With Illustrations by the Author. Crown 8vo. 
 icw. (>d. 
 
 "Mr. Freeman may here be said to give us a series oj 'notes on the 
 spot ' in illustration oj the intimate relations of History and Architecture, 
 and this is done in so masterly a manner there is so much freshness, so 
 much knowledge so admirably condensed, that -we are almost tempted to 
 say that we prefer these sketches to his more elaborate studies." NONCON- 
 FORMIST. 
 
 HISTORY OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, from the Foun- 
 dation of the Achaian League to the Disruption of the United 
 States. Vol. I. General Introduction, History of the Greek 
 Federations. 8vo. 2is. 
 
 OLD ENGLISH HISTORY. With Five Coloured Maps. Fourth 
 Edition. Extra fcap. 8vo., half-bound. 6s. 
 
 " The book indeed is full of instruction and interest to students of all 
 ages, and he must be a well-informed man indeed who will not rise 
 from'jts perusal -with clearer and more accurate ideas of a too much 
 neglected portion of English history." SPECTATOR. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF WELLS, 
 as illustrating the History of the Cathedral Churches of the Old 
 Foundation. Crown 8vo. 3J. 6d. 
 
 " The history assumes in Mr. Freeman's hands a significance, and, we 
 may add, a practical value as suggestive of what a cathedral ought to be, 
 which make it well worthy of mention." SPECTATOR.
 
 io MAC MILLARS CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 Fr e e m a n continued. 
 
 THE GROWTH OF THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION 
 FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES. Crown 8vo. 5*. Third 
 Edition, revised. 
 
 GENERAL SKETCH OF EUROPEAN HISTORY. Being 
 Vol. I. of a Historical Course for Schools edited by E. A. 
 FREEMAN. Fifth Edition, enlarged. With Maps, Chronological 
 Table, Index, &c. i8mo. 3^. f>d. 
 
 "ft supplies the great want of a good foundation for historical teach- 
 ing. The scheme is an excellent one, and this instalment has been 
 accepted in a way that promises much for the volumes that are yet 
 to appear." EDUCATIONAL TIMES. 
 
 THE OTTOMAN POWER IN EUROPE : its Nature, its Growth, 
 and its Decline. With Three Coloured Maps. Crown 8vo. 
 ^s. 6d. 
 
 Galileo. THE PRIVATE LIFE OF GALILEO. Compiled 
 
 principally from his Correspondence and that of his eldest 
 daughter, Sister Maria Celeste, Nun in the Franciscan Convent of 
 S. Matthew in Arcetri. With Portrait. Crown 8vt>. 7^. 6J. 
 
 Gladstone Works by the Right Hon. W. E. GLADSTONE, 
 M.P. : 
 
 JU VENT US MUNDI. The Gods and Men of the Heroic Age. 
 Crown 8vo. cloth. With Map. los. 6d. Second Edition. 
 
 "Seldom," says the ATHENAEUM, "out of the great poems themselves, 
 have these Divinities looked so majestic and respectable. To read these 
 brilliant details is like standing on the Olympian threshold and gazing at 
 the ineffable brightness within." 
 
 HOMERIC SYNCHRONISM. An inquiry into the Time and 
 Place of Homer. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 "It is impossible not to admire the immense range of thought and 
 inquiry -which the author has displayed." BRITISH QUARTERLY 
 RF.VIEW. 
 
 Goethe and Mendelssohn (18211831). Translated from the 
 German of Dr. KARL MENDELSSOHN, Son of the Composer, by 
 M. E. VON GLEHN. From the Private Diaries and Home 
 Letters of Mendelssohn, with Poems and Letters of Goethe never 
 before printed. Also with two New and Original Portraits, Fac- 
 similes, and Appendix of Twenty Letters hitherto unpublished. 
 Crown 8vo. 5*. Second Edition, enlarged. 
 
 " . . . Every page is full of interest, not merely to the musi- 
 cian, but to the general reader. The book is a very charming one, on 
 a topic of deep and lasting interest" STANDARD.
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC, n 
 
 Goldsmid. TELEGRAPH AND TRAVEL. A Narrative of 
 the Formation and Development of Telegraphic Communication 
 between England and India, under the orders of Her Majesty's 
 Government, with incidental Notices of the Countries traversed by 
 the Lines. By Colonel Sir FREDERIC GOLDSMID, C.B., K. C.S.I., 
 late Director of the Government Indo-European Telegraph. With 
 numerous Illustrations and Maps. 8vo. 2U. 
 " The merit of the work is a total absence of exaggeration, -which does 
 
 not, however, preclude a vividness and vigour of style not always character' 
 
 istic of similar narratives." STANDARD. 
 
 Gordon. LAST LETTERS FROM EGYPT, to which are added 
 
 Letters from the Cape. By LADY DUFF GORDON. With a 
 Memoir by her Daughter, Mrs. Ross, and Portrait engraved by 
 JEENS. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. gs. 
 
 " The intending tourist who wishes to acquaint himself with the country 
 he is about to visit, stands embarrassed amidst the riches presented for his 
 choice, and in the end probably rests contented with the sober usefulness of 
 Murray. He will not, however, if he is well advised, grudge a place in 
 his portmanteau to this book." TIMES. 
 
 Gray. CHINA. A History of the Laws, Manners, and Customs 
 of the People. By the VENERABLE JOHN HENRY GRAY. LL.D., 
 Archdeacon of Hong Kong, formerly H. B. M. Consular Chaplain 
 at Canton. Edited by W. Gow Gregor. With 150 Full-page Illustra- 
 tions, being Facsimiles of Drawings by a Chinese Artist. 2 Vols. 
 Demy 8vo. 32^. 
 
 Green. Works by JOHN RICHARD GREEN: 
 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE. Vol. I. Early 
 England Foreign Kings The Charter The Parliament. With 
 8 Coloured Maps. 8vo. i6s. Vol. II. To the end of Elizabeth's 
 Reign. 8vo. l6s. [To be completed in 5 Vols. 
 
 "Mr. Green has done a work -which probably no one but himself could 
 have done. He has read and assimilated the results of all the labours of 
 students during the last half century in the field of English history, and 
 has given them a fresh meaning by his own independent study. He has 
 fused together by the force of sympathetic imagination all that he has so 
 collected, and has %iven us a viviil and forcible sketch of the march of 
 English histoty. His book, both ,in its aims and its accomplishments, 
 rises far beyond any of a similar kind, and it will give the colouring to the 
 popular view to English history for some time to come." EXAMINER. 
 
 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE. With 
 Coloured Maps, Genealogical Tables, and Chronological Annals. 
 Crown 8vo. 8s. 6d. Fifty-second Thousand. 
 
 " To say that Mr. Green's book is better than those which have prt' 
 ceded it, would be to convey a very inadequate impression of its merits. It
 
 12 MACMILLAWS CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 stands alone as the one general history of the country, for the sake of 
 which all others, if young and old are wise, will be speedily and surely set 
 aside." 
 
 STRAY STUDIES FROM ENGLAND AND ITALY. Crown 
 8vo. 8s. 6d. Containing : Lambeth and the Archbishops The 
 Florence of Dante Venice and Rome Early History of Oxford 
 The District Visitor Capri Hotels in the Clouds Sketches 
 in Sunshine, &c. 
 
 " One and all of the papers are eminently readable." ATHEN/EUM. 
 
 Hamerton. Works by P. G. HAMERTON : 
 
 THE INTELLECTUAL LIFE. With a Portrait of Leonardo da 
 Vinci, etched by LEOPOLD^ FLAMENG. Second Edition. Crown 
 IOJ. f>d. 8vo. 
 
 " We have read the whole book with great pleasure, and we can re- 
 commend it strongly to all who can appreciate grave reflections on a very 
 important subject, excellently illustrated from the resources of a mind 
 stored with much reading and much keen observation of real life" 
 SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 THOUGHTS ABOUT ART. New Edition, revised, with an 
 Introduction. Crown 8vo. Ss. 6d. 
 
 "A manual of sound and thorough criticism on art." STANDARD. 
 " The book is full of thought, and worthy of attentive consideration" 
 DAILY NEWS. 
 
 Hill. WHAT WE SAW IN AUSTRALIA. By ROSAMOND 
 
 and FLORENCE HILL. Crown 8vo. IQJ. 6d. 
 
 " May be recommended as an interesting and truthful picture cf the 
 condition of those lands which are so distant and yet so much like home." 
 SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 Hole. A GENEALOGICAL STEMMA OF THE KINGS 
 OF ENGLAND AND FRANCE. By the Rev. C. HOLE, 
 M.A., Trinity College, Cambridge. On Sheet, is. 
 
 A BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. Compiled and 
 Arranged by the Rev. CHARLES HOLE, M.A. Second Edition. 
 i8mo. 4J. 6d. 
 
 Hozier (H. M.) Works by CAPTAIN HENRY M. HOZIER, 
 late Assistant Military Secretary to Lord Napier of Magdala : 
 
 THE SEVEN WEEKS' WAR ; Its Antecedents and Incidents. 
 New and Cheaper Edition. With New Preface, Maps, and Plans. 
 Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 "All that Mr. Hozier saw oj the great events of the war and he saw 
 a large share of them he describes in clear and vivid language.'" 
 SATURDAY REVIEW.
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 13 
 
 (H. M.) continued. 
 
 THE BRITISH EXPEDITION TO ABYSSINIA. Compiled 
 from Authentic Documents. 8vo. gs. 
 
 " This" says the SPECTATOR, " will be the account of the Abys- 
 sinian Expedition for professional reference, if not for professional 
 reading. Its literary merits are really very great." 
 
 THE INVASIONS OF ENGLAND : a History of the Past; with 
 Lessons for the Future. Two Vols. 8vo. 28^. 
 
 The PALL MALL GAZETTE says : "As to all invasions executed, or 
 deliberately projected but not carried ouf, from the landing of yulius 
 Casar to the raising of the Boulogne camp, Captain Hozier furnishes 
 copious and most interesting particulars. Nor is his manner inferior to 
 his matter. He writes with admirable lucidity. His narrative, too, in 
 addition to its clearness and animation, is flavoured with much delicate 
 humour, often of a verv significant kind." 
 
 Hiibner. A RAMBLE ROUND THE WORLD IN 1871. By 
 
 M. LE BARON HUBNER, formerly Ambassador and Minister. 
 Translated by LADY HERBERT. 2 vols. 8vo. 25*. 
 " It is difficult to do ample justice to this pleasant narrative of travel 
 . ... it does not contain a single dull paragraph" MORNING POST. 
 
 Hughes. Works by THOMAS HUGHES, Q.C., Author of "Tom 
 
 Brown's School Days." 
 
 MEMOIR OF A BROTHER. With Portrait of GEORGE HUGHES, 
 after WATTS. Engraved by JEENS. Crown 8vo. $s. Sixth 
 Edition. 
 
 " The boy who can read this book without deriving from it some addi- 
 tional impulse towards honourable, manly, and independent conduct, has 
 no good stuff in him." DAILY NEWS. 
 
 ALFRED THE GREAT. New Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 Hunt. HISTORY OF ITALY. By the Rev. W. HUNT, M.A. 
 
 Being the Fourth Volume of the Historical Course for Schools. 
 
 Edited by EDWARD A. FREEMAN, D.C.L. i8mo. 3^. 
 " Mr. Hunt gives us a most compact but very readable little book, con- 
 taining in small compass a very complete outline of a complicated and 
 perplexing subject. It is a book which may be safely recommended to 
 others besides schoolboys." JOHN BULL. 
 
 Irving. THE ANNALS OF OUR TIME. A Diurnal of Events, 
 
 Social and Political, Home and Foreign, from the Accession of 
 
 Queen Victoria to the Peace of Versailles. By JOSEPH IRVING. 
 
 Fourth Edition. 8vo. half-bound. i6j. 
 
 ANNALS OF OUR TIME. Supplement. From Feb. 28, 1871, 
 
 to March 19, 1874. 8vo. 4;. 6</. 
 
 " We have before us a (rusty and ready guide to the events of the 
 fast thirty years, available equally for the statesman, the politician, the 
 public writer, and the general reader" TIMES.
 
 14 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 Killen. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF IRELAND, from 
 the Earliest Date to the Present Time. By W. D. KILLEN, D.D., 
 President of Assembly's College, Belfast, and Professor of Eccle- 
 siastical History. Two Vols. 8vo. 2$s. 
 " Those who have the leisure will do -well to read these two volumes. 
 
 They are full of interest, and are the result of great research. . . . We 
 
 have no hesitation in recommending the work to all who wish to improve 
 
 their acquaintance with Irish history." SPECTATOR. 
 
 Kingsley (Charles). Works by the Rev. CHARLES KINGSLEY, 
 M.A., Rector of Eversley and Canon of Westminster. (For 
 other Works by the same Author, see THEOLOGICAL and BELLES 
 LETTRES Catalogues.) 
 
 ON THE ANCIEN REGIME as it existed on the Continent before 
 the FRENCH REVOLUTION. Three Lectures delivered at the 
 Royal Institution. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 AT LAST : A CHRISTMAS in the WEST INDIES. With nearly 
 
 Fifty Illustrations. Fifth Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 Mr. Kingsley's dream of forty years was at last fulfilled, when he 
 started on a Christmas expedition to the West Indies, for the purpose oj 
 becoming personally acquainted with the scenes which he has so vividly 
 described in " Westward Ho !" These two volumes are the journal of his 
 voyage. Records of natural history, sketches of tropical landscape, chapters 
 on education, views of society, all find their place. " We can only say 
 that Mr. Kingsley's account of a ' Christmas in the West Indies ' is in 
 every way worthy to be classed among his happiest productions" 
 STANDARD. 
 
 THE ROMAN AND THE TEUTON. A Series of Lectures 
 delivered before the University of Cambridge. New and Cheaper 
 Edition, with Preface by Professor MAX MULLER. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 PLAYS AND PURITANS, and other Historical Essays. With 
 Portrait of Sir WALTER RALEIGH. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 
 
 5*- 
 
 In addition to the Essay mentioned in the title, this volume contains 
 other two one on "Sir Walter Raleigh and his Time," and one on 
 Froude^s " History of England. " 
 
 Kingsley (Henry). TALES OF OLD TRAVEL. Re- 
 narrated by HENRY KINGSLEY, F.R.G.S. With Eight Illus- 
 trations by HUARD. Fifth Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 " We know no better book for those who want knowledge or seek to 
 
 refresh it. As for the ' sensational J most novels are tame compared with 
 
 these narratives" ATHENAEUM. 
 
 LaOCOOn. Translated from the Text of Lessing, with Preface and 
 Notes by the Right Hon. SIR ROBERT J. PHILLIMORE, D.C.L. 
 With Photographs. Svo. 12s.
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 15 
 
 Leonardo da Vinci and his Works. Consisting of a 
 Life of Leonardo Da Vinci, by MRS. CHARLES W. HEATON, 
 Author of " Albrecht Diirer of Niirnberg," &c., an Essay on his 
 Scientific and Literary Works by CHARLES CHRISTOPHER 
 BLACK, M.A., and an account of his more important Paintings 
 and Drawings. Illustrated with Permanent Photographs. Royal 
 8vo. cloth, extra gilt. y.s. 6d. 
 
 " A beautiful -volume, both -without and -within. Messrs. Macmillan 
 are conspicuous among publishers for the choice binding and printing of 
 their books, and this is got up in their best style. . . . No English 
 publication that we know of has so thoroughly and attractively collected 
 together all that is known of Leonardo." TIMES. 
 
 Liechtenstein, HOLLAND HOUSE. By Princess MARIE 
 LIECHTENSTEIN. With Five Steel Engravings by C. H. JEENS, 
 after Paintings by WATTS and other celebrated Artists, and 
 numerous Illustrations drawn by Professor P. H. DELAMOTTE, and 
 engraved on Wood byj. D. COOPER, W. PALMER, andjEWiTT & 
 Co. Third and Cheaper Edition. Medium 8vo. cloth elegant. 
 i6s. 
 
 Also, an Edition containing, in addition to the above, about 40 
 Illustrations by the Woodbury-type process, and India Proofs of 
 the Steel Engravings. Two vols. medium 4to. half morocco 
 elegant. 4/. 4^. 
 
 " When every strictly just exception shall have been taken, she may be 
 conscientiously congratulated by the most scrupulous critic on the produc- 
 tion of a useful, agreeable, beautifully -illustrated, and attractive book." 
 TIMES. " It would take up more room than we can spare to enumerate 
 all the interesting suggestions and notes which are to be found in these 
 
 volumes The woodcuts are admirable, and somt of the autographs 
 
 are very interesting" PALL MALL GAZETTE. 
 
 Lloyd. THE AGE OF PERICLES. A History of the Arts and 
 Politics of Greece from the Persian to the Peloponnesian War. 
 By W. WAI KISS LLOYD. Two Vols. 8vo. 21 s 
 " No such account of Greek art of the best period has yet been brought 
 
 together in an English work Mr. Lloyd has p) oduced a book of 
 
 unusual excellence and interest." PALL MALL GAZETTE. 
 
 Macarthur. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND, By MARGARET 
 
 MACARTHUR. Being the Third Volume of the Historical Course 
 
 for Schools, Edited by EDWARD A. FREEMAN, D.C.L. Second 
 
 Edition. i8mo. zs. 
 
 " It is an excellent summary, unimpeachable as io facts, and putting 
 
 them in the clearest and most impartial light attainable" GUARDIAN. 
 
 " No previous History oj Scotland of the same bulk is anything like so 
 
 trustworthy, or destines to be so extensively used as a text-book.'" GLOBE.
 
 16 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 Macmillan (Rev. Hugh). For other Works by same Author, 
 see THEOLOGICAL and SCIENTIFIC CATALOGUES. 
 
 HOLIDAYS ON HIGH LANDS ; or, Rambles and Incidents in 
 search of Alpine Plants. Second Edition, revised and enlarged. 
 Globe 8vo. cloth. 6s. 
 
 "Botanical knowledge is blended with a love of nature, a pious en- 
 thusiasm, and a rich felicity of diction not to be met with in any works 
 of kindred character, if we except those of Hugh Miller." TELEGRAPH. 
 "Mr. Macmillan's glowing pictures of Scandinavian scenery." 
 SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 Macready. MACREADY'S REMINISCENCES AND SE- 
 LECTIONS FROM HIS DIARIES AND LETTERS. Edited 
 by Sir F. POLLOCK, Bart., one of his Executors. With Four 
 Portraits engraved by JEENS. New and Cheaper Edition. Crown 
 8vo. ^s. 6d. 
 
 " As a careful and for the most part just estimate of the stage during 
 a very brilliant pet iod, the attraction of these volumes can scarcely be 
 surpassed. .... Readers who have no special interest in theatrical 
 matters, but enjoy miscellaneous gossip, will be allured from page to page, 
 attracted by familiar names and by observations upon popular actors and 
 authors. " SPECTATOR. 
 
 Mahaffy. Works by the Rev. J. P. MAHAFFY, M. A., Fellow of 
 
 Trinity College, Dublin : 
 
 SOCIAL LIFE IN GREECE FROM HOMER TO MENAX- 
 DER. Third Edition, revised and enlarged, with a new chapter 
 on Greek Art. Crown 8vo. qs. 
 
 " It should be in the hands of all who desire thoroughly to understand 
 and to enjoy Greek literature, and to get an intelligent idea of the old Greek 
 life, political, social, and religious." GUARDIAN. 
 
 RAMBLES AND STUDIES IN GREECE. With Illustrations. 
 
 Crown 8vo. New and enlarged Edition in the Press. 
 "A singularly insti-uctive and agreeable volume." ATHENAEUM. 
 
 Margary. THE JOURNEY OF AUGUSTUS RAYMOND 
 MARGARY FROM SHANGHAE TO BHAMO AND BACK 
 TO MANWYNE. From his Journals and Letters, with a brief 
 Biographical Preface, a concluding chapter by Sir RUTHERFORD 
 ALCOCK, K.C.B., and a Steel Portrait engraved by JEENS, and 
 Map. 8vo. los. 6d. 
 
 " There is a manliness, a cheerful spirit, an inherent vigour which 
 was never overcome by sickness or debility, a tact which conquered the 
 prejudices of a strange and suspicious population, a quiet self-reliance, 
 always combined with deep religious feeling, unalloyed by either priggish- 
 ness, cant, or superstition, that ought to commend this volume to readers 
 sitting quietly at home who feel any pride in the high estimation accorded 
 to men of their race at Yarkand or at Khiva, in the heart of Africa, or 
 on the shores of Lake Seri-kttl." SATURDAY REVIEW.
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. I? 
 
 Martin. THE HISTORY OF LLOYD'S, AND OF MARINE 
 INSURANCE IN GREAT BRITAIN. With an Appendix 
 containing Statistics relating to Marine Insurance. By FREDERICK 
 MARTIN, Author of "The Statesman's Year Book." 8vo. iqs. 
 " We have in the editor of the 'Statesman's Year Book' an in- 
 dustrious and conscientious guide, and we can certijy that in his ' History 
 of Lloya's" 1 he has produced a work of more than passing interest ." 
 TIMES. 
 
 Martineau. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, 18521875. 
 By HARRIET MARTINEAU. With Additional Sketches, and Auto- 
 biographical Sketch. Fifth Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 " Miss Martineau' s large literary powers and her fine intellectual 
 training make these little sketches more instructive, and constitute them 
 more genuinely works of art, than many more ambitious and diffuse 
 biographies. " FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW. 
 
 MaSSOn (David). For other Works by same Author, see PHILO- 
 SOPHICAL and BELLES LETTRES CATALOGUES. 
 
 CHATTERTON : A Story of the Year 1770. By DAVID MASSON, 
 LL.D., Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature in the Uni- 
 versity of Edinburgh. Crown 8vo. $s. 
 
 " One of this popular writer's best essays on the English poets " 
 STANDARD. 
 
 THE THREE DEVILS : Luther's, Goethe's, and Milton's ; and 
 other Essays. Crown 8vo. * $s. 
 
 WORDSWORTH, SHELLEY, AND KEATS; and other 
 Essays. Crown 8vo. $s. 
 
 Maurice. THE FRIENDSHIP OF BOOKS ; AND OTHER 
 LECTURES. By the REV. F. D. MAURICE. Edited with Pre- 
 face, by THOMAS HUGHES, Q.C. Crown 8vo. los. 6d. 
 " The high, pure, sympathetic, and truly charitable nature of Mr. 
 Maurice is delightfully -visible throughout these lectures, which are ex- 
 cellently adaptea to spread a love of literature amongst the people." 
 DAILY NEWS. 
 
 Mayor (J. E. B.) WORKS edited by JOHN E. B. MAYOR, 
 M. A. , Kennedy Professor of Latin at Cambridge : 
 
 CAMBRIDGE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. Part II. 
 Autobiography of Matthew Robinson. Fcap. 8vo. $s. 6d. 
 
 LIFE OF BISHOP BEDELL. By his SON. Fcap. 8vo. 3*. &/. 
 
 Melbourne. MEMOIRS OF THE RT. HON WILLIAM, 
 SECOND VISCOUNT MELBOURNE. By W. M. TORRENS, 
 M.P. With Portrait after Sif. T. Lawrence. 2 Vols. Svo. 32*. 
 B
 
 iS MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 ' ' As might be expected, he has produced a book which will command 
 and reward attention. It contains a great deal of valuable matter and 
 a great deal of animated, elegant writing." QUARTERLY REVIEW. 
 
 Mendelssohn. LETTERS AND RECOLLECTIONS. By 
 
 FERDINAND HILLER. Translated by M. E. VON GLEHN. With 
 Portrait from a Drawing by KARL MILLER, never before pub- 
 lished. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. fs. 6</. 
 
 " This is a very interesting addition to our knowledge of the great 
 German composer. It reveals him to us under a new light, as the warm- 
 hearted comrade, the musician whose soul was in his work, and the home- 
 loving, domestic man" STANDARD. 
 
 Merewether. BY SEA AND BY LAND. Being a Trip 
 
 through Egypt, India, Ceylon, Australia, New Zealand, and 
 America all Round the World. By HENRY ALWORTH MERE- 
 WETHER, one of Her Majesty's Counsel. Crown 8vo. Ss. 6d. 
 
 Michael Angelo Buonarotti ; Sculptor, Painter, Architect. 
 
 The Story of his Life and Labours. By C. C. BLACK, M.A. 
 
 Illustrated by 20 Permanent Photographs Royal 8vo. cloth 
 
 elegant, 31.1. 6d. 
 
 " The story of Michael Angelo s life remains interesting whatever be the 
 manner of telling it, and supported as it is by this beautiful series of photo- 
 graphs, the volume must take rank among the most splendid of Christmas 
 books, fitted to serve and to outlive the season" PALL MALL GAZETTE. 
 
 Michelet. A SUMMARY OF MODERN HISTORY. Trans- 
 lated from the French of M. MICHELET, and continued to the 
 present time by M. C. M. SIMPSON. Globe 8vo. 4J. 6a. 
 " We are glad to see one cf the ablest and most useful summaries of 
 European histoiy put into the hands of English readers. The transla- 
 tion is excellent." STANDARD. 
 
 Milton. LIFE OF JOHN MILTON. Narrated in connection 
 with the Political, Ecclesiastical, and Literary History of his Time. 
 By DAVID MASSON, M.A., LL. D., Professor of Rhetoric and 
 English Literature in the University of Edinburgh. With Portraits. 
 Vol. I. i8j. Vol. II., 16381643. 8vo. i6j. Vol. III. 
 1643 1649. 8vo. i8j. Vols. IV. and V. 1649 1660. 32^. 
 This work is not only a Biography, but also a continuous Political, Eccle- 
 
 siistical, and Literary History of England through Milton 1 s whole time. 
 
 Mitford (A. B.) TALES OF OLD JAPAN. By A. B. 
 
 .\IITFORD, Second Secretary to the British Legation in Japan. 
 
 With upwards of 30 Illustrations, drawn and cut on Wood by 
 
 Japanese Artists. New and Cheaper Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 " These very original volumes will always be interesting as memorials 
 
 of a most exceptional societv, while regarded simply as tales, they are 
 
 sparkling, sensational, and dramatic, and the originality of their idea
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 19 
 
 and the quainlness of their language give them a most captivating 
 piquancy. The illustrations are extremely interesting, and for the 
 curious in such matters have a special and particular value? PALL 
 MALL GAZETTE. 
 
 Monteiro. ANGOLA AND THE RIVER CONGO. By 
 
 JOACHIM MONTEIRO. With numerous Illustrations from Sketches 
 taken on the spot, and a Map. Two Vols. crown 8vo. 2ls. 
 " Gives the first detailed account of a part of tropical Africa which is 
 little kniwnto Englishmen ..... The nmarks on the geography ait d 
 -oologv of the country and the manners and customs of the various races 
 in habiting it, are extremely curious and interesting." SATURDAY RE- 
 v I E\V. ' ' Full efraluable information and much picturesque description. " 
 PALL MALL GAZETTE. 
 
 MoriSOn. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SAINT BERNARD, 
 Abbot of Clairvaux. By JAMES ^COTTER MORISON, M.A. New 
 Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 The PALL MALL GAZETTE calls this " A delightful and instructive 
 e, and one of the best products of the modern historic spirit" 
 
 Napoleon. THE HISTORY OF NAPOLEON I. By P. 
 LANFREY. A Translation with the sanction of the Author. Vols. 
 I. II. and III. 8vo. price 12s. each. 
 
 The PALL MALL GAZETTE says it is "one of the most striking 
 pieces of historical composition of which France has to boast, " and the 
 SATURDAY REVIEW calls it "an excellent translation of a work on every 
 ground desei ving to be translated. It is unquestionably and immeasurably 
 tfit best that has been produced. It is in fact the only work to which we 
 can turn for an accurate and trustworthy narrative of that extraordinary 
 career. . . . The book is the best and indeed the only trustworthy history 
 of Napoleon which has been written." 
 
 Nichol. TABLES OF EUROPEAN LITERATURE AND 
 HISTORY, A.D. 2001876. By J. NICHOL, LL.D., 
 Professor of English Language and Literature, Glasgow. 410. 
 6s. 6d. 
 
 TABLES OF ANCIENT LITERATURE AND HISTORY, 
 B.C. 1500 A.D. 200. By the same Author. 410. 4?. 6d. 
 
 Oliphant (Mrs.). THE MAKERS OF FLORENCE . Dante 
 
 Giotto, Savonarola, and their City. By Mrs. OLIPHANT. With 
 numerous Illustrations from drawings by Professor DELAMOTTE, 
 and portrait of Savonarola, engraved by JEENS. Second Edition. 
 Medium 8vo. Cloth extra. 2is. 
 
 " Mrs. Oliphant has made a beautiful addition to the mass of literature 
 already piled round the records of the Tuscan capital." TIMES.
 
 20 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 " We are grateful to Mrs. Oliphant for her eloquent and teautiful 
 sketches of Dante> Fra Angelica, and Savonarola. They are picturesque, 
 full of Ufa and rich in detail, and they are charmingly illustrated by tht 
 art of the engraver " SPECTATOR. 
 
 Oliphant THE DUKE AND THE SCHOLAR; and othe 
 
 Essays. By T. L. KINGTON OLTPHANT. 8vo. "js. 6d. 
 " This Z'olii 'tie contains one of the most beautiful biographical essays we 
 have seen since Macaulay's diys." STANDARD. 
 
 Otte. SCANDINAVIAN HISTORY. By E. C. OTTE. With 
 
 Maps. Extra fcap. 8vo. 6s. 
 
 " We have peculiar pleasure in recommending this intelligent resume 
 of Northern history as a book essential to every Englishman who interests 
 himself in Scandinavia." SPECTATOR. 
 
 Owens College Essays and Addresses. By PRO- 
 
 FESSORS AND LECTURERS OF OWENS COLLEGE, MANCHESTER. 
 Published in Commemoration of the Opening of the New College 
 Buildings, October 7th, 1873. 8vo. i^s. 
 
 Palgrave (Sir F.) HISTORY OF NORMANDY AND 
 OF ENGLAND. By Sir FRANCIS PALGRAVE, Deputy Keeper 
 of Her Majesty's Public Records. Completing the History to the 
 Death of William Rufus. Vols. II. IV. 2U. each. 
 
 Palgrave (W. G.) A NARRATIVE OF A YEAR'S 
 
 JOURNEY THROUGH CENTRAL AND EASTERN 
 ARABIA, 1862-3. By WILLIAM GIFFORD PALGRAVE, late of 
 the Eighth Regiment Bombay N. I. Sixth Edition. With Maps, 
 Plans, and Portrait of Author, engraved on steel by Jeens. Crown 
 8vo. 6s. 
 
 " He has not only -written one of the best books on the Arabs and one 
 
 of the best books on Arabia, but he has done so in a manner that must 
 
 command the respect no less than the admiration of his fellow-country" 
 
 men." FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW. 
 
 ESSAYS ON EASTERN QUESTIONS. By W. GIFFORD 
 
 PALGRAVE. 8vo. icw. 6d. 
 
 " These essays are full of anecdote and interest. The book is decidedly 
 a valuable addition to the stock of literature on which men must 
 base their opinion of the difficult social and political problems sug- 
 gested by the designs of Russia, the capacity of Mahometans for 
 sovereignty, and the good government and retention of India" 
 SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 DUTCH GUIANA. With Maps and Plans. Svo. 9*. 
 ' ' His pages are nearly exhaustive as far as facts and statistics go, 
 while they are lightened by graphic social sketches 'as well as sparkling 
 descriptions of scenery." SATURDAY REVIEW.
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 21 
 
 PattCSOn. LIFE AND LETTERS OF JOHN COLERIDGE 
 
 PATTESON, D.D., Missionary Bishop of the Melanesian Islands. 
 
 By CHARLOTTE M. YONGE, Author of " The Heir of Redclyffe.' 
 
 With Portraits after RICHMOND and from Photograph, engraved by 
 
 JEENS. With Map. Fifth Edition. Two Vols. Crown 8vo. 12s. 
 
 ' ' Miss Yongfs -work is in one respect a model biography. It is made 
 
 up almost entirt!y of Pattesotts own letters. Aware that he had left his 
 
 home once and for all, his correspondence took t 'he form of a diary, ana' 
 
 as we read on we come to know the man, and to love him almost as if wt 
 
 had seen him." ATHEN/EUM. "Such a life, with its grand lessons oj 
 
 unselfishness, is a blessing and an honour to the age in which it is lived ; 
 
 the biography cannot be studied without pleasure and profit, and indeed 
 
 we should think little of the man who did not rise from the study of it 
 
 better and wiser. Neither the Church nor th. nation which produces 
 
 such sons need ever despair of its future." SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 Pauli. PICTURES OF OLD ENGLAND. By Dr. REINHOLD 
 PAULI. Translated, with the approval of the Author, by E. C. 
 OTTE. Cheaper Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 Payne. A HISTORY OF EUROPEAN COLONIES. By 
 
 E. J. PAYNE, M.A. With Maps. i8mo. 4.?. 6d. 
 The TIMES says : " We have seldom met with a historian capabk oj 
 forming a more comprehensive, far-seeing, and unprejudiced estimate of 
 events and peoples, and we can commend this little work as one certain to 
 proi'e of the highest interest to all thoughtful readers.'" 
 
 Persia. EASTERN PERSIA. An Account of the Journeys of 
 the Persian Boundary Commission, 1870-1-2. Vol. I. The Geo- 
 graphy, with Narratives by Majors ST. JOHN, LOVETT, and EUAN 
 SMITH, and an Introduction by Major-General Sir FREDERIC 
 GOLDSMID, C.B., K. C.S.I., British Commissioner and Arbitrator. 
 With Maps and Illustrations. Vol. II. The Zoology and Geology. 
 By W. T. BLANFORD, A.R.S.M., F.R.S. With Coloured Illus- 
 trations. Two Vols. 8vo. 42^. 
 
 " The volumes largely increase our store of information about 
 countries with which Englishmen ought to be familiar. .... 
 They throw into the shade all that hitherto has appeared in our tongue 
 respecting the local features of Persia, its scenery, its resources, even its 
 social condition. Thev contain also abundant evidence of English 
 endurance, daring, and spirit" TIMES. 
 
 Prichard. THE ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. From 
 1859 to 1868. The First Ten Years of Administration under the 
 Crown. By I. T. PRICHARD, Barrister-at-Law. Two Vols. 
 Demy 8vo. With Map. 2is.
 
 22 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 Raphael. RAPHAEL OF URBINO AND HIS FATHER 
 
 GIOVANNI SANTI. By J. D. PASSAVANT, formerly Director 
 of the Museum at Frankfort. With Twenty Permanent Photo- 
 graphs. Royal 8vo. Handsomely bound. 31.?. 6d. 
 The SATURDAY REVIEW says of them, " We have seen not a few 
 
 elegant specimens of Mr. Woodbury's new process, but we have seen 
 
 none that equal these. " 
 
 Reynolds. SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS AS A PORTRAIT 
 PAINTER. AN ESSAY. By J. CHURTON COLLINS, E.A. 
 Balliol College, Oxford. Illustrated by a Series of Portraits of 
 distinguished Beauties of the Court of George III. ; reproduced 
 in Autotype from Proof Impressions of the celebrated Engravings 
 by VALENTINE GREEN, THOMAS WATSON, F. R. SMITH, K. 
 FISHER, and others. Folio half-morocco. $ 5.?. 
 
 Robinson (H. Crabb). THE DIARY, REMINISCENCES, 
 
 AND CORRESPONDENCE, OF HENRY CRABB ROBIN- 
 SON, Barrister-at-Law. Selected and Edited by THOMAS 
 SADLER, Ph.D. With Portrait. Third and Cheaper Edition. 
 Two Vols. Crown 8vo. 12s. 
 
 The DAILY NEWS says : " The two books which are most likely to 
 survive change of literary taste, and to charm while instructing generation 
 after generation, are the 'Diary' of Pepys and Boswell's l .Life of 
 Johnson. ' The day will come when to these many will add the ' Diary of 
 Henry Crabb Robinson' Excellences like those which render the personal 
 revelations of Pepys and the observations of Bonvell such pleasant reading 
 abound in this work." 
 
 Rogers (James E. Thorold). HISTORICAL GLEAN- 
 INGS : A Series of Sketches. Montague, Walpole, Adam Smith, 
 Cobbett. By Prof. ROGERS. Crown 8vo. 4*. 6d. Second Series. 
 Wiklif, Laud, Wilkes, and Home Tooke. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 Routledge. CHAPTERS IN THE HISTORY OF POPULAR 
 
 PROGRESS IN ENGLAND, chiefly in Relation to the Freedom 
 of the Press and Trial by Jury, 16601820. With application to 
 later years. By J. ROUTLEDGE. 8vo. i6.r. 
 
 " The volume abounds in facts and information, almost always useful 
 and often curious" TIMES. 
 
 Rumford. COUNT RUMFORD'S COMPLETE WORKS, 
 with Memoir, and Notices of his Daughter. By GEORGE ELLIS. 
 Five Vols. 8vo. 4/. 14?. 6d. 
 
 Seeley (Professor). LECTURES AND ESSAYS. By 
 
 J. R. SEELEY, M.A. Professor of Modern History in the 
 University of Cambridge. 8vo. los. 6d. 
 
 CONTENTS: Roman Imperialism: I. The Great Roman Revolu- 
 tion; 2. The Proximate Cause of the Fall of the Roman Empire;
 
 HIS TOR Y, Bl OGRA PH Y, 7 RA VELS, ETC. 23 
 
 The Later Empire. Milton's Political Opinions Milton's Poetry 
 Elementary Principles in Art Liberal Education in Universities 
 English in Schools The Church as a Teacher of Morality The 
 Teaching of Politics : an Inaugural Lecture delivered at Cambridge. 
 
 Shelburne. LIFE OF WILLIAM, EARL OF SHELBURNE, 
 
 AFTERWARDS FIRST MARQUIS OF LANSDOWNE. 
 With Extracts from his Papers and Correspondence. By Lord 
 EIXMOND FITZMAURICE. In Three Vols. evo. Vol. I. 1737 
 1766, I2J. ; Vol. II. 17661776, I2J. ; Vol. III. 1776 1805. 
 l6j. 
 
 " Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice has succeeded in placing before us a 
 wealth of new matter, -which, while casting valuable and much-needed 
 light on several obscure passages in tlit political history of a hundred 
 years ago, has enabled us for the first time to form a clear and consistent 
 idea of his ancestor." SPECTATOR. 
 
 Sime. HISTORY OF GERMANY. By JAMES SIME, M.A. 
 
 i8mo. y. Being VoL V. of the Historical Course for Schools, 
 
 Edited by EDWARD A. FREEMAN, D.C.L. 
 
 " This is a remarkably clear and impressive History of Germany. Its 
 great ei'ents are wisely kept as central figures, and the smaller events are 
 carefully kept not only subordinate and subservient, but most skilfully 
 woven into the texture of the historical tapestry presented to the eye." 
 STANDARD. 
 
 Squier. PERU : INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL AND EX- 
 PLORATION IN THE LAND OF THE INCAS. By E. G. 
 SQUIER, M.A., F.S.A., late U.S. Commissioner to Peru. 8vo. 
 With 300 Illustrations. z\s. 
 The TIMES says: " No more solid and trustworthy contribution has 
 
 been made to an accurate knowledge of what are among the most wonderful 
 
 ruins in the world. .... The work is really what its title implies. 
 
 While of the greatest importance as a contribution to Peruvian archceology, 
 
 it is also a thoroughly entertaining and instructive narrative of travel. 
 
 .... Not the least important feature must be considered the numerous 
 
 well execuled illustrations" 
 
 Strangford. EGYPTIAN SHRINES AND SYRIAN SEPUL- 
 CHRES, including a Visit to Palmyra. By EMILY A. BEAUFORT 
 (Viscountess Strangford), Author of " The Eastern Shores of 
 the Adriatic." New Edition. Crown 8vo. 7^. 6d. 
 
 Thomas. THE LIFE OF JOHN THOMAS, Surgeon of the 
 
 "Earl of Oxford" East Indiaman, and First Baptist Missionary to 
 Bengal. By C. B. LEWIS, Baptist Missionary. 8vo. los. 6d.
 
 24 MACMILLAWS CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 Thompson. HISTORY OF ENGLAND. By EDITH THOMP- 
 SON. Being Vol. II. of the Historical Course for Schools, Edited 
 by EDWARD A. FREEMAN, D.C.L. New Edition. i8mo. 2s. 6d. 
 " Freedom from prejudice, simplicity of style, and accuracy of state- 
 ment, are the characteristics of this volume. It is a trustworthy text-book, 
 and likely to be generally serviceable in schools." PALL MALL GAZETTE. 
 " In its great accuracy and correctness of detail it stands far ahead of the 
 general run of school manuals. Its arrangement, too, is clear, and its 
 style simple and straighljonvard." SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 Todhunter. THE CONFLICT OF STUDIES ; AND 
 
 OTHER ESSAYS ON SUBJECTS CONNECTED WITH 
 EDUCATION. By ISAAC TODHUNTER, M.A., F.R.S., late 
 Fellow and Principal Mathematical Lecturer of St. John's College, 
 Cambridge. 8vo. IQJ. 6d. 
 
 CONTENTS : 1. The Conflict of Studies. II. Competitive Exa- 
 minations. III. Private Study of Mathematics. IV. Academical 
 Reform. V. Elementary Geometry. VI. The Mathematical Tripos, 
 
 Trench (Archbishop). For other Works by the same Author, 
 see THEOLOGICAL and BELLES LETTRES CATALOGUES, and 
 page 30 of this Catalogue. 
 
 GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS IN GERMANY, and other Lectures 
 on the Thirty Years' War. Second Edition, revised and enlarged. 
 Fcap. 8vo. 4?. " 
 
 PLUTARCH, HIS LIFE, HIS LIVES, AND HIS MORALS. 
 Five Lectures. Second Edition, enlarged. Fcap. 8vo. 3-r. 6J. 
 
 LECTURES ON MEDIEVAL CHURCH HISTORY. Being 
 the substance of Lectures delivered in Queen's College, London 
 8vo. 12s. 
 
 Trench (Maria). THE LIFE OF ST. TERESA. By MARIA 
 
 TRENCH. With Portrait engraved by JEENS. Crown 8vo. cloth 
 extra. 8.f. 6d. 
 " A book of rare interest" JOHN BULL. 
 
 Trench (Mrs. R.) REMAINS OF THE LATE MRS. 
 
 RICHARD TRENCH. Being Selections from her Journals, 
 Letters, and other Papers. Edited by ARCHBISHOP TRENCH. 
 New and Cheaper Issue, with Portrait. 8vo. 6j. 
 
 Trollope. A HISTORY OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF 
 
 FLORENCE FROM THE EARLIEST INDEPENDENCE 
 OF THE COMMUNE TO THE FALL OF THE REPUBLIC 
 IN 1831. By T. Anoi.rurs TROLLOPE. 4 Vols. 8vo. Half 
 morocco. 2ls.
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 25 
 
 Wallace. THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO: the Land of the 
 
 Orang Utan and the Bird of Paradise. By ALFRED RUSSEL 
 WALLACE. A Narrative of Travel with Studies of Man and 
 Nature. With Maps aud numerous Illustrations. Fifth Edition. 
 Crown 8vo. 7-r. 6d. 
 
 ' ' The result is a vivid picture of tropical life, -which may be read with 
 unflagging interest, and a sufficient account oj his scientific conclusions to 
 stimulate our appetite without wearying us by detail. In short, -we may 
 safely say that we have never read a more agreeable book of its kind" 
 SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 Waller. six WEEKS IN THE SADDLE : A PAINTER'S 
 
 JOURNAL IN ICELAND. By S. E. WALLER. With Illus- 
 trations by the Author. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 " An exceedingly pleasant and naturally written little book. . . . 
 Mr. Waller has a clever pencil, and the text is well illustrated with his 
 own sketches." TIMES. " A very lively and readable book." ATHE- 
 N.CUM. " A brig/it little book, admirably illustrated." SPECTATOR. 
 
 Ward. A HISTORY OF ENGLISH DRAMATIC LITERA- 
 TURE TO THE DEATH OF QUEEN ANNE. By A. W. 
 WARD, M.A., Professor of History and English Literature in 
 Owens College, Manchester. Two Vols. 8vo. 32^. 
 
 " As full of interest as of information. To students of aromatic 
 literature invaluable, and may be equally recommended to readers for 
 mere pastime." PALL MALL GAZETTE. 
 
 Ward (J.) EXPERIENCES OF A DIPLOMATIST. Being 
 recollections of Germany founded on Diaries kept during the years 
 18401870. By JOHN WARD, C.B., late H.M. Minister- 
 Resident to the Hanse Towns. 8vo. ior. (to 1 . 
 
 Wedgwood. JOHN WESLEY AND THE EVANGELICAL 
 
 REACTION of the Eighteenth Century. By JULIA WEDGWOOD. 
 Crown 8vo. 8j. 6d. 
 
 " In style and intellectual power, in breadth of view and clearness oj 
 insight, Miss Wedgwood's book far surpasses all rivals." ATHENAEUM. 
 
 Whewell. WILLIAM WHEWELL, D.D., late Master of 
 Trinity College, Cambridge. An Account of his Writings, with 
 Selections from his Literary and Scientific Correspondence. By 
 I. TODHUNTER, M.A., F.R.S. Two Vols. Svo. 2$s.
 
 26 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 White. THE NATURAL HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES 
 OF SELBORNE. By GILBERT WHITE. Edited, with Memoir 
 and Notes, by FRANK BUCKLAND, A Chapter on Antiquities by 
 LORD SELBORNE, Map, &c., and numerous Illustrations by 
 P. H. DELAMOTTE. Royal 8vo. Cloth, extra gilt. Cheaper 
 Issue, zis. 
 
 Also a Large Paper Edition, containing, in addition to l!.e above, 
 
 upwards of Thirty Woodburytype Illustrations from Drawing; by 
 
 Prof. DELAMOTTE. Two Vols. 410. Half morocco, elegant. 4/. 4-r. 
 
 " Mr. Delamotte's charming illustrations are a -worthy decoration of so 
 
 dainty a book. They bring Selborne before us, and really help us to 
 
 understand why White's love for his native place never grew cold." 
 
 TIMES. 
 
 Wilson. A MEMOIR OF GEORGE WILSON, M. D. f 
 F. R.S.E., Regius Professor of Technology in the University of 
 Edinburgh. By his SISTER. New Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 " An exquisite and touching portrait of a rare and beautiful spirit. " 
 
 GUARDIAN. 
 
 Wilson (Daniel, LL.D.) Works by DANIEL WILSON, 
 LL.D., Professor of History and English Literature in University 
 College, Toronto : 
 
 PREHISTORIC ANNALS OF SCOTLAND. New Edition, 
 
 with numerous Illustrations. Two Vols. demy 8vo. 36^. 
 " One of the most interesting, learned, and elegant works -we have 
 seen for a long time.'" WESTMINSTER REVIEW. 
 
 PREHISTORIC MAN : Researches into the Origin of Civilization 
 in the Old and New World. New Edition, revised and enlarged 
 throughout, with numerous Illustrations and two Coloured Plates. 
 Two Vols. 8vo. 36*. 
 
 "A valuable -work pleasantly written and well worthy of attention 
 both by students and general readers." ACADEMY. 
 
 CHATTERTON : A Biographical Study. By DANIEL WILSON, 
 LL.D., Professor of History and English Literature in University 
 College, Toronto. Crown 8vo. 6s. t>d. 
 
 Wyatt (Sir M. Digby). FINE ART : a Sketch of its 
 
 History, Theory, Practice, and application to Industry. A Course 
 of Lectures delivered before the University of Cambridge. By 
 Sir M. DIGBY WYATT, M.A. Slade Professor of Fine Art. 
 Cheaper Issue. 8vo. $s. 
 "An excellent handbook for the student of art." GRAPHIC. " The 
 
 book abounds in valuable matter, and will therefore be read with 
 
 pleasure and profit by lovers of art " DAILY NEWS.
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 27 
 
 Yonge (Charlotte M.) Works by CHARLOTTE M. YOXGE, 
 Author of "The Heir of Redclyffe," &c. &c. : 
 
 A PARALLEL HISTORY OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND -. 
 
 consisting of Outlines and Dates. Oblong 410. 3J. 6V. 
 
 CAMEOS FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. From Rollo to Edward 
 II. Extra fcap. 8vo. Third Edition. 5*. 
 
 A SECOND SERIES, THE WARS IN FRANCE. Extra fcap. 
 8vo. Third Edition. 5-r. 
 
 A THIRD SERIES, THE WARS OF THE ROSES. Extra 
 fcap. 8vo. 5^. 
 
 "Instead of dry details" says (he NONCONFORMIST, "we have living 
 pictures, faithful, rnvid, and striking. " 
 
 Young (Julian Charles, M.A.) A MEMOIR OF 
 
 CHARLES MAYNE YOUNG, Tragedian, with Extracts 
 
 from his Son's Journal. By JULIAN CHARLES YOUNG, M.A. 
 
 Rector of Ilmington. With Portraits and Sketches. New and 
 
 Cheaper Edition, Crown 8vo. 7.?. 6d. 
 
 " In this budget of anecdotes, fables, and gossip, old and new, relative to 
 Scott, Moore, Chalmers, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Croker, Mathews, the 
 third and fourth Georges, Bowles, Beck ford, Lockhart, Wellington, Peel, 
 Louis Napoleon, D' Orsay, Dickens, Thackeray, Louis Blanc, Gibson, 
 Constable, and Stanfield, etc. etc. , the reader must be hard indeed to please 
 who cannot find entertainment." PALL MALL GAZETTE.
 
 MACMILLAX'S CATALOGUE OF 
 
 POLITICS, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL 
 ECONOMY, LAW, AND KINDRED 
 SUBJECTS. 
 
 Anglo Saxon Law. ESSAYS IN. Contents: Law Courts 
 Land and Family Laws and Legal Procedure generally. With 
 Select cases. Medium 8vo. i&r. 
 
 Bernard. FOUR LECTURES ON SUBJECTS CONNECTED 
 WITH DIPLOMACY. By MONTAGUE BERNARD, M.A., 
 Chichele Professor of International Law and Diplomacy, Oxford. 
 8vo. gs. 
 
 "Singularly interesting lectures, so able, clear, and attractive." SPEC- 
 TATOR. 
 
 Bright (John, M. P.) SPEECHES ON QUESTIONS OF 
 
 PUBLIC POLICY. By the Right Hon. JOHN BRIGHT, M.P, 
 Edited by Professor THOROLD ROGERS. Author's Popular Edition. 
 Globe 8vo. 3.?. 6d. . 
 
 "Mr. Bright* s speeches -will always deserve to be studied, as an 
 apprenticeship to popular and parliamentary oratory ; they will form 
 materials for the history of our time, and many brilliant passages, 
 perhaps some entire speeches, will really become a part of the living litera- 
 ture of England." DAILY NEWS. 
 
 LIBRARY EDITION. Two Vols. 8vo. With Portrait. 2$s. 
 
 Cairnes. Works by J. E. CAIRNES, M.A., Emeritus Professor of 
 Political Economy in University College, London. 
 
 ESSAYS IN POLITICAL ECONOMY, THEORETICAL 
 and APPLIED. By J. E. CAIRNES, M.A., Professor of Political 
 Economy in University College, London. 8vo. ioc. 6d. 
 
 " The production of one of the ablest of living economists. " ATHE- 
 N.EUM. 
 
 POLITICAL ESSAYS. Svo. los. 6d. 
 
 7%? SATURDAY REVIEW says; " We recently expressed *ur high 
 admiration of the former volume ; and the present one is no less remark- 
 able for the qualities of clear statement, sound logic, and candid treat- 
 ment of opponents which were conspicuous in its predecessor. . , . We 
 may safely say that none of Mr. Mill's many disciples is a worthier repre- 
 sentative of the best qualities of their master than Professor Cairnes." 
 
 SOME LEADING PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL ECONOMY 
 NEWLY EXPOUNDED. Svo. 14*. 
 
 CONTENTS -.Part I. Value. Part II. Labour and Capital. Part 
 III. International Trade.
 
 WORKS IN POLITICS, ETC. 29 
 
 Caimes. continued. 
 
 " A work which is perhaps the most valuable contribution to the science 
 made since the publication, a quarter of a century since, of Mr. Mill 's 
 1 Principles of Political Economy.' " DAILY NEWS. 
 
 THE CHARACTER AND LOGICAL METHOD OF POLL 
 TICAL ECONOMY. New Edition, enlarged. 8vo. JA &/ * 
 " These lectures an admirably fitted to correct the slipshod generaliza- 
 tions which pass current as the science of Political Economy." TIMES. 
 
 Clarke. EARLY ROMAN LAW. THE REGAL PERIOD. 
 By E. 4 C. CLARKE, M.A., of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister-at-La\v, 
 Lecturer in Law and Regius Professor of Civil Law at Cam- 
 bridge. Crown 8vo. 5^. 
 "J/r. Clarke has brought together a great mass of valuable mat'a in 
 
 an accessible form ." SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 Cobden (Richard). SPEECHES ON QUESTIONS OF 
 
 PUBLIC POLICY. By RICHARD COBDEN. Edited by the 
 Right Hon. John Bright, M. P., andj. E. Thorold Rogers. 
 Popular Edition. 8vo. 3^. &/. 
 
 Fawcett. Works by HENRY FAWCETT, M.A., M.P., Fellow of 
 - Trinity Hall, and Professor of Political Economy in the University 
 of Cambridge : 
 
 THE ECONOMIC POSITION OF THE BRITISH 
 LABOURER. Extra fcap. 8vo. $s. 
 
 MANUAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. Fifth Edition, with 
 New Chapters on the Depreciation of Silver, etc. Crown 8vo. 
 I2J. 
 
 The DAILY NEWS says: " It forms one of the best introductions to the 
 principles of the science, and to its practical applications in the problems 
 of modern, and especially of English, government and society." 
 
 PAUPERISM : ITS CAUSES AND REMEDIES. Crown 8vo. 
 
 5s. 6d. 
 
 The ATHENAEUM calls the work "a repertory of interesting and vftll 
 digested information" 
 
 SPEECHES ON SOME CURRENT POLITICAL QUES- 
 TIONS. 8vo. lor. 6.</. 
 
 " They will help to educate, not perhaps, parties, but the educators cf 
 fartifs."T).\iLY NEWS. 
 
 ESSAYS ON POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SUBJECTS. By 
 PROFESSOR FAWCETT, M.P., and MILLICENT GARRETT 
 FAWCETT. 8vo. ios. 6d. 
 
 " They will all repay the perusal cf the thinking reader.' 1 '' DAILY 
 NEWS.
 
 30 MACM/LLAATS CATALOGUE OF 
 
 Fawcett (Mrs.) Works by MILLICENT GARRETT FAWCETT. 
 
 POLITICAL ECONOMY FOR BEGINNERS. WITH QUES- 
 TIONS. New Edition. i8mo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 The DAILY NEWSOZ//J it "clear, compact, and comprehensive;" anj 
 the SPECTATOR says, "Mrs. Fawcetfs treatise is perfectly suited to i.'s 
 purpose." 
 
 'TALES IN POLITICAL ECONOMY. Crown 8vo. 3*. 
 " The idea is a good one, and it is quite wonderful what a mass of 
 economic teaching the author manages to compress into a small space. . . The 
 true doctrines of International Trade, Currency, and the ratio between 
 Production and Population, are set before us and illustrated in a masterly 
 manner" ATHEN^UM . 
 
 Freeman (E. A.), M.A., D.C.L. COMPARATIVE 
 
 POLITICS. Lectures at the Royal Institution, to which is 
 added " The Unity of History," being the Rede Lecture delivered 
 at Cambridge in 1872. 8vo. 14^. 
 
 " We find in Mr. Freeman's new volume the same sound, careful, 
 comprehensive qualities which have long ago raised him to so high a place 
 amongst historical writers. For historical discipline, then, as well as 
 historical information, Mr. Freeman 1 s book is full of value. 1 ' PALL 
 MALL GAZETTE. 
 
 Goschen. REPORTS AND SPEECHES ON LOCAL TAXA- 
 TION. By GEORGE J. GOSCHEN, M.P. Royal 8vo. $j. 
 " The volume contains a vast mass of information of the highest value." 
 ATHEN/EUM. 
 
 Guide to the Unprotected, in Every Day Matters Re- 
 lating to Property and Income. By a BANKER'S DAUGHTER. 
 Fourth Edition, Revised. Extra fcap. 8vo. 3J. 6d. 
 "Many an unprotected female will bless the head which planned and 
 the hand which compiled this admirable little manual. . . . This book 
 was very much wanted, and it could not have been better done" 
 MORNING STAR. 
 
 HarwOOd DISESTABLISHMENT : a Defence of the Principle 
 
 of a National Church. By GEORGE HARWOOD, M. A. 8vo. 12s. 
 
 Hill. HOMES OF THE LONDON POOR. By OCTAVIA 
 
 HILL. Extra fcap. 8vo. 3*. 6d. 
 "She is clear, practical, and definite." GLOBE. 
 
 Historicus. LETTERS ON SOME QUESTIONS OF 
 INTERNATIONAL LAW. Reprinted from the Times, will. 
 considerable Additions. 8vo. 7-r. '6d. Also, ADDITIONAL 
 LETTERS. 8vo. 2s. &/.
 
 WORKS IN POLITICS, ETC. 31 
 
 Holland. THE TREATY RELATIONS OF RUSSIA AND 
 TURKEY FROM 1774 TO 1853. A Lecture delivered at Oxford, 
 April 1877. By T. E. HOLLAND, D.C.L., Professor of Inter- 
 national Law and Diplomacy, Oxford. Crown 8vo. 2j. 
 
 Jevons. Works by W. STANLEY JEVONS, M.A., Professor of 
 Political Economy in University College, London. (For other 
 Works by the same Author, see EDUCATIONAL and PHILO- 
 SOPHICAL CATALOGUES.) 
 
 THE COAL QUESTION : An Inquiry Concerning the Progress 
 of the Nation, and the Probable Exhaustion of our Coal Mines. 
 Second Edition, revised. 8vo. IQJ. 6d. 
 
 THE THEORY OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 8vo. 9*. 
 
 "Professor Jevons has done invaluable service by courageously claiming 
 political economy to be strictly a branch of Applied Mathematics." 
 WESTMINSTER REVIEW. 
 
 Laveleye. PRIMITIVE PROPERTY. By EMILE DE 
 
 LAVELEYE. Translated by G. R. L. MARRIOTT, LL. B., with an 
 Introduction by T. E. CLIFFE LESLIE, LL.B. 8vo. 12s. 
 
 Leading Cases done into English. By an APPRENTICE 
 
 OF LINCOLN'S INN. Third Edition. Crown 8vo. zs. 6d. 
 " Here is a rare treat for the lovers of quaint conceits, who in reading 
 this charming little book -will find enjoyment in the varied metre atui 
 graphic language in which the several tales are told, no less than in the 
 accurate and pithy rendering of some of our most Jamiliar ' Leading 
 Cases' SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 Macdonell. THE LAND QUESTION, WITH SPECIAL 
 REFERENCE TO ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. By 
 JOHN MACDONELL, Barrister-at-Law. 8vo. los. 6/. 
 
 Martin. THE STATESMAN'S YEAR-BOOK: A statistical 
 
 and Historical Annual of the States of the Civilized Worlr, 
 
 for the year 1878. By FREDERICK MARTIN. Fifteenth Annual 
 
 Publication. Revised after Official Returns. Crown 8vo. lev. 6c'. 
 
 The Statesman's Year-Book is the only work in the English langua^ e 
 
 which furnishes a clear and concise account of the actual condition of all 
 
 the States of Europe, the civilized countries of America, Asia, atin 
 
 Africa, and the British Colonies and Dependencies in all farts of tin 
 
 world. The neiv issue of the work has been reinsed and corrected, on tin 
 
 basis of official reports received direct from the heads of the leading Cover // 
 
 ments of the world, in reply to letter' sent to them by the Editor. Through
 
 32 MACMILLAXS CATALOGUE OF 
 
 the valuable assistance thus given, it has been possible to collect an amount 
 of information, political, statistical, and commercial, of the latest date, and 
 of unimpeachable trustu'orthiness, such as no publication of the same 
 kind has ever been able to furnish. "As indispensable as Bradshaw" 
 TIMES. 
 
 Paterson. THE LIBERTY OF THE SUBJECT AND THE 
 
 LAWS OF ENGLAND RELATING TO THE SECURITY 
 OF THE PERSON. Commentaries on. By JAMES PATERSON, 
 M.A. , Barrister at Law, sometime Commissbner for English and 
 Irish Fisheries, etc. Two Vols. Crown 8vo. 32.?. 
 ' ' Two cff three hours' dipping into these volumes, not to say reading them 
 through, -will give legislators and stump orators a knowledge of the liberty 
 of a citizen of their country, in its principles, its fulness, and its modi- 
 fication, such as they probably in nine cases out of ten never had before.'' 
 SCOTSMAN. 
 
 Phillimore. PRIVATE LAW AMONG THE ROMANS, 
 from the Pandects. By JOHN GEORGE PHILLIMORE, Q.C. 8vo. 
 
 Rogers. COBDEN AND POLITICAL OPINION. ByJ. E. 
 THOROLD ROGERS. 8vo. ioj. 6</. 
 
 " Wi'l be found most useful by politicians of every school, as it forms a 
 sort of handbook to Cobderfs teaching." ATHENAEUM. 
 
 Smith. THREE ENGLISH STATESMEN : PYM, CROM- 
 WELL, PITT. A Course of Lectures on the Political History of 
 England. By Professor GOLDWIN SMITH. Extra fcap. 8vo. 
 New and Cheaper Edition. 5.?. 
 
 Stephen (C. E.) THE SERVICE OF THE POOR; 
 
 Being an Inquiry into the Reasons for and against the Establish- 
 ment of Religious Sisterhoods for Charitable Purposes. By 
 CAROLINE EMILIA STEPHEN. Crown 8vo. 6s. 6d. 
 " The ablest advocate of a better line of work in this direction that-^i 
 have ner seen." EXAMINER. 
 
 Stephen. Works by Sir JAMES F. STEPHEN, K.C.S.I., Q.C. 
 A DIGEST OF THE LAW OF EVIDENCE. Third Edition 
 with New Preface. Crown 8vo. 6.f. 
 
 A DIGEST OF THE CRIMINAL LAW. (Crimes and 
 Punishments.) 8vo. i6j. 
 
 " We feel sure that any person of ordinary intelligence who had nez<er 
 looked into 'a law-book in his life might, by a ftia days 1 careful study of 
 this volume, obtain a more accurate understanding of the criminal law,
 
 WORKS ON LANGUAGE. 33 
 
 a more perfect conception of its different bearings a more thorough 
 and intelligent insight into its snares and pitfall*, than an ordinary 
 practitioner can boast of after years of study of the ordinary text- 
 bocks and practical experience of the Courts unassisted by any competent 
 guide." SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 Thornton. Works by W. T. THORNTON, C.B., Secretary for 
 
 Public Works in the India Office : 
 
 ON LAFOUR: Its Wrongful Claims and Rightful Dues ; Its 
 Actual Present and Possible Future. Second Edition, revised, 
 8vo. 14.-. 
 
 A PLEA FOR PEASANT PROPRIETORS : With the Outlines 
 of a Plan for their Establishment in Ireland. New Edition, 
 revised. Crown 8vo. 7-r. 6J. 
 
 INDIAN PUBLIC WORKS AND COGNATE INDIAN 
 TOPICS. With Map of Indian Railways. Crown 8vo. 8j. 6d. 
 
 Walker. THE WAGES QUESTION. A Treatise on Wages 
 and the Wages Class. By F. A. WALKER, M.A., Ph.D. Pro- 
 fessor of Political Economy and History, Yale College. 8vo. 141. 
 
 WORKSCONNECTED WITH THE SCIENCE 
 OR THE HISTORY OF LANGUAGE. 
 
 Abbott. A SHAKESPERIAN GRAMMAR: An Attempt to 
 illustrate some of the Differences between Elizabethan and Mode;n 
 English. By the Rev. E. A. ABBOTT, D.D., Head Master of the 
 City of London School. New and 'Enlarged Edition. Extra 
 fcap. 8vo. 6s. 
 "Valuable not only as an aid to the critical study of Shakespeart, 
 
 but as lending to familiarize the reader -with Elizabethan English in 
 
 general. " ATHEN^UM. 
 
 Besant. STUDIES IN EARLY FRENCH POETRY. By 
 WALTER BESANT, M.A. Crown 8vo. 8s. 6d. 
 
 Breymann. A FRENCH GRAMMAR BASED ON PHILO- 
 LOGICAL PRINCIPLES. By HERMANN BREYMANN, Ph.D., 
 Professor of Philology in the University of Munich late Lecturer 
 on French Language and Literature at Owens College, Man- 
 chester. Extra fcap. 8vo. 41. 6</. 
 
 " We dismiss the work with every feeling of satisfaction. It cannot 
 fail to be taken into use by all schools which endeavour to make the study 
 of French a means towards the higher culture" EDUCATIONAL TIMES.
 
 34 MACMILLAWS CATALOGUE OF 
 
 Ellis. PRACTICAL HINTS ON THE QUANTITATIVE 
 PRONUNCIATION OF LATIN, FOR THE USE OF 
 CLASSICAL TEACHERS AND LINGUISTS. By A. J. 
 ELLIS, B.A., F.R.S., &c. Extra fcap. 8vo. 4*. 6d. 
 
 Fleay. A SHAKESPEARE MANUAL. By the Rev. F. a 
 
 FLEAY, M. A., Head Master of Skipton Grammar School. Extra 
 fcap. 8vo. 4-f. 6d> 
 
 Goodwin. SYNTAX OF THE GREEK MOODS AND 
 TENSES. By W. W. GOODWIN, Professor of Greek Literature 
 in Harvard University. New Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 6d. 
 
 Hadley. ESSAYS PHILOLOGICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 Selected from the Papers of JAMES HADLEY, LL.D., Professor of 
 Greek in Yale College, &c. 8vo. i6j. 
 
 Hales. LONGER ENGLISH POEMS. With Notes, Philo- 
 logical and Explanatory, and an Introduction on the Teaching of 
 English. Chiefly for use in Schools. Edited by J. W. HALES, 
 M.A., Professor of English Literature at King's College, London, 
 &c. &c. Fifth Edition. Extra fcap. 8vo. $s. (>d. 
 
 Helfenstein (James). A COMPARATIVE GRAMMAR 
 
 OF THE TEUTONIC LANGUAGES : Being at the same 
 time a Historical Grammar of the English Language, and com- 
 prising Gothic, Anglo-Saxon, Early English, Modern English, 
 Icelandic (Old Norse), Danish, Swedish, Old High German, 
 Middle High German, Modern German, Old Saxon, Old Frisian, 
 and Dutch. By JAMES HELFENSTEIN, Ph.D. 8vo. i8j. 
 
 Masson (Gustave). A COMPENDIOUS DICTIONARY 
 
 OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE (French-English and English- 
 French). Followed by a List of the Principal Diverging Deriva- 
 tions, and preceded by Chronological and Historical Tables. By 
 GUSTAVE MASSON, Assistant-Master and Librarian, Harrow 
 School. Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo. Half-bound. 6s. 
 "A book which any student, -whatever may be the degree of his ad- 
 vancement in the language, -would do well to have on the table close at 
 hand -while he is reading"- -SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 Mayor. A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CLUE TO LATIN LITE- 
 RATURE. Edited after Dr. E. HUBNER. With large Additions 
 by JOHN E. B. MAYOR, M.A., Professor of Latin in the Univer- 
 sity of Cambridge. Crown 8vo. 6s. 6d. 
 "An extrtmely useful volume that should be in the hands of all 
 
 scholars. ATHEN/EUM.
 
 WORKS ON LANGUAGE. 35 
 
 Morris. Works by the Rev. RICHARD MORRIS, LL.D., Member 
 of the Council of the Philol. Soc., Lecturer on English Language 
 and Literature in King's College School, Editor of " Specimens 
 of Early English," etc., etc. 
 
 HISTORICAL OUTLINES OF ENGLISH ACCIDENCE, 
 comprising Chapters on the History and Development of 
 the Language, and on Word- formation. Sixth Edition. Fcap. 
 8vo. 6j. 
 
 ELEMENTARY LESSONS IN HISTORICAL ENGLISH 
 GRAMMAR, containing Accidence and Word-formation. Third 
 Edition. i8mo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 Oliphant. THE SOURCES OF STANDARD ENGLISH. 
 By T. L. KINGTON OLIPHANT, of Balliol College, Oxford. 
 Extra fcap. 8vo. 6s. 
 
 "Mr. Ohphanfs book is, to our mind, one oT the ablest and most 
 scholarly contributions to our standard English we have seen for many 
 years." SCHOOL BOARD CHRONICLE. "The book comes nearer to a 
 history of the English language than anything we have seen since suck a 
 history could be written, without confusion and contradictions" 
 SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 Peile (John. M.A.) AN INTRODUCTION TO GREEK 
 
 AND LATIN ETYMOLOGY. By JOHN PEILE, M.A., 
 
 Fellow and Tutor of Christ's College, Cambridge. Third 
 
 and revised Edition. Crown 8vo. loj. 6d. 
 
 "TAe book may be accepted as a very valuable contribution to tht 
 
 science of language." SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 Philology. THE JOURNAL OF SACRED AND CLAS- 
 SICAL PHILOLOGY. Four Vols. 8vo. 12s. 6d. each. 
 THE JOURNAL OF PHILOLOGY. New Series. Edited by W. 
 G. CLARK, M.A., JOHN E. B. MAYOR, M.A., and W. ALDIS 
 WRIGHT, M.A. 4^. &/. (Half-yearly.) 
 
 Roby (H. J.) A GRAMMAR OF THE LATIN LANGUAGE, 
 FROM PLAUTUS TO SUETONIUS. By HENRY JOHN 
 ROBY, M.A., late Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge. 
 In Two Parts. Second Edition. Part I. containing : Book I. 
 Sounds. Book II. Inflexions. Book III. Word Formation. Ap- 
 pendices. Crown 8vo. 8j. 6d. Part II. Syntax, Prepositions, 
 &c. Crown 8vo. IQJ. f>d. 
 
 "The book is marked by the clear and practical insight of a master in 
 his art. It is a book which would do honour to any country." 
 ATHEN^UM. "'Brings before the student in a methodical form the best 
 results of modern philology bearing on the Latin language" SCOTSMAN.
 
 36 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE. 
 
 Taylor. Works by the Rev. t ISAAC TAYLOR, M.A.: 
 ETRUSCAN RESEARCHES. With Woodcuts. 8vo. 14*. 
 The TIMES says: " The learning and industry displayed in this 
 volume deserve the most cordial recognition. The ultimate verdict of 
 science we shall not attempt to anticipate ; but we can safely say this, that 
 it is a learned book -which the unlearned can enjoy, and that in the de- 
 scriptions of the tomb- builders, as well as in the marvellous coincidences 
 and unexpected analogies brought together by the author, readers of every 
 grade may take delight as well as philosophers and scholars." 
 
 WORDS AND PLACES ; or, Etymological Illustrations of 
 History, Ethnology, and Geography. By the Rev. ISAAC TAYLOR. 
 Third Edition, revised and compressed. With Maps. Globe 
 8vo. 6s. 
 
 Trench. Works by R. CHENEVIX TRENCH, D.D., Archbishop of 
 
 Dublin. (For other Works by the same Author, see THEOLOGICAL 
 
 CATALOGUE.) 
 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. Eighth Edition, 
 
 enlarged. 8vo. cloth. I2s. 
 
 tt ffe is," the ATHENAEUM says, "a guide in this department of 
 knowledge to whom his readers may entrust themselves with confidence." 
 ON THE STUDY OF WORDS. Lectures Addressed (originally) 
 
 to the Pupils at the Diocesan Training Scnool, Winchester. 
 
 Sixteenth Edition, enlarged. Fcap. 8vo. $s. 
 ENGLISH PAST AND PRESENT. Tenth Edition, revised 
 
 and improved. Fcap. 8vo. 5 J - 
 A SELECT GLOSSARY OF ENGLISH WORDS USED 
 
 FORMERLY IN SENSES DIFFERENT FROM THEIR 
 
 PRESENT. Fourth Edition, enlarged. Fcap. 8vo. 4*. 
 
 Whitney. A COMPENDIOUS GERMAN GRAMMAR. By 
 W. D. WHITNEY, Professor of Sanskrit and Instructor in Modern 
 Languages in Yale College. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 " After careful examination we are inclined to pronounce it the best 
 
 grammar of modern language we have tver seen" SCOTSMAN. 
 
 Whitney and Edgren. A COMPENDIOUS GERMAN 
 
 AND ENGLISH DICTIONARY, with Notation of Correspon- 
 dences and Brief Etymologies. By Professor W. D. WHITNEY, 
 assisted by A. H. EDGREN. Crown 8vo. js. 6d. 
 
 Yonge HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN NAMES. By CHAR- 
 LOTTE M. YONGE, Author of "The Heir of Redclyffe." Two 
 Vols. Crown 8vo. I/, is. 
 
 R. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PKINTK.KS. UONLKlN.
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A A 000058869 9 
 
 NIVERSIIY OF CA RIVERSIDE LIBRARY 
 
 3 121000942 5024
 
 mm 
 
 
 
 ^mt^SKm?SnS8SfSsno^mSSvSfsKS^sStioSli 
 fs^t^aSa^KaSiBivKww^SsSSSa^SsBaHSSSBOSS 
 
 WfKmfftfttmSfSw^ 
 |^^HHH^HHH^H|^^^HH^^