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«•

SKETCH

OP THE

RISE AND PALL

OF THE

MANUFACTURING SYSTEM.

X 'af- ^

-. . <. I ■'

. a- f »

♦ -i ': ',

/. '^ .■

H f 1 ;J

/ i i-J':

W. POPLEt rniNTEB,
«7, Chancery !*>»«» **"*<>"•

SIKIB^DIEI

or TME

RISE vVND FALL

0)'

Ct)e iHanufartimng ^j)stem

GREAT HRJTAIN.

In which nreilkowii

THE MISCHIEVOUS EFFECTS

OUR PRESENT RESTRICTIVE LAWS

AND

THE BKXEFICIAL HKSULTS

That would accrue from

A FREE TRADE.

LONDON :

PRINTED FOR J. MILLKR, lUKLlNCTOX-ARt ADK,
riCCADILLT.

1820.

! . ! ) ' ' J ' i

SKETCH

• ■' i .

l>i;'t-"'l>; OFTIIK ■ ■' - ■ ' ■■ •■

RISE AND FALL

•:'';) ': )

- ^' : ■ OF THE

MANUFACTURING SYSTEM,

■ ui r > I j <! 'i^f/ !'irti-i'

. f^'M.'-'-'-

■ V. ; -i M J i J ' ■'. , j>

ih':Jj-/^U.i

It is now universally admitted throughout the
continent of Europe, that the Commerce and
Manufactures ot Great Britain furnished those
copious resources, that enabled her government
to oppose such a resistance to the aggrandizing
spirit of the militaiy adventurer, who swayed
the sceptre of France, as, after being for a time
the only check to his colossal power, at last ac-
complished his overthrow. Pew, however, will
have the hardiness to deny, that this unexpected
strength of the British people was one of those
fortuitous occurrences, which the evervarying
tide of the affairs of nations is continually throw-
ing up. X ^

That the great finance minister of the day,
Mr. Pitt, did liot expect events to turn out as

• i

llicy (lid, c'vitleiicc most conclusive is still to he
found in the published accounts of his speeches ;
and they who had the fortune to hear his ora-
tory will no doubt recollect, that he never ap-
peared to entertain an idea of England's rising
in the stniggle, his only hopes of success resting
on the ruin of the finances of France, and the
assistance of the confederated powers of Ger-
many.

In fact he cowkl not be expected to foresee
such a perfect paradox in political economy;
but he perceived the bands of civil society
about to be rent asunder by a daring system of
innovation, sounded the alarm with all the ma-
gic of his eloquence, and how he was listened to
must still be remembered by many yet in the
vigour of life. Here lay Ws real merit; and
those overzealous friends, who would raise his
judgment above the sphere of htimanity, only
induce others to search for facts, of which there
is no scarcity on record, to prove his pmphetic
talents by no means superior to those of other
men. That, though the summit of his wishes
was at length attained, all his progiH)6tications
proved erroneous, no one will now dispute ; and
this may serve to instruct the rising statesman^
how feeble are the powers of the keenest eye,
when they attempt to penetrate the mists of fu«^
turiiy. ,,^ .,.,, .,;.

It never entered into Mr. Pitt*s calcolatioiU

(and who would indeed have cntertanied the sup-
position ?) that the success of the French arms
in the Netherhmds wouhl provi; an advantage to
England : and France as Httle inuigined, while
she was driving a British prince and a British
army before her victorious troops from the
Scheldt to the Rhine, thatshewas at the same time
driving the capital of the Continen* to enrich
the British funds ; or while laying the towns of
Flanders under contribution, and ruining their
manufacturers, that she was conferring on Great
Britain a complete monopoly of the trade of Eu-
rope.

But, if the unlooked for prosperity of the
country engendered an ardour, that might be
deemed extraordinary in a nation struggling
under the difficulties of a highly expensive war,
the gloom in which wc are now involved seems
proportionally great : and though the experience
of four years hiiS ^iven a fatal contradiction to
those buoyant spirits, who insisted, that our
difficulties were the result solely of a sudden
transition from war to peace, the careful inves-
tigator will not be surprised at all we have suf-
fered, or the greater difficulties still in store for
us, if We obstinately persist in the policy so un-
fortunately adopted. ^
■ It is difficult to say, whether this erroneous
policy spring from the mistaken notions of our
cabinet, or from the unfortunate necessity it

iubuurs iiiiilci' ui conciliating such vuiious inte-
rests, to ivecjj it's niajoritics whole : but, what-
ever it's source may be, it is equally fatal to
the prosperity of the nation. Self-interest is
often blind : but the defects of it's vision arc
never so striking, as when it seeks to benefit by
means of connnercial restrictions.

Scarcely had the nation begun to feel the first
difHculties, to which she was exposed on the
establishment of peace, when restrictive enact-
ments were called for on all hands. The lead-
ing members of what are termed the different
interests, like the inhabitants of a house on fire,
each sought a rug to cover him, and left the
mansion of his former prosperity, the stay of his
future hope, a prey to the flames.

It is truly lamentable to reflect, that such a
superficial policy should Lave grounded itself so
deeply among men of such enlightened under-
standings as our hereditary nobility and country
gentlemen. It is to be accounted for only from
the facility, with which men are imposed upon
by a specious first appearance. On no other
ground surely can we imagine, that the present
corn law could ever be looked to as a perma-
nent security for keeping up the value of land.
How can it ultimately prove any advantage to
the great landholder, to get ten shillings a bushel
for his wheat, if those, who formerly ate both
wheaten bread and beef, must now content

! ■

ihcmselvcs \v\ih bread alone ? or sulisliiule salt-
fish for beef, or potatoes; for bread ? ( -an any ad-
vantage accrue from raising the price of hisc^orn,
if the additional price can be paid only by dimi-
nishing the consumption of meat, butter, and
cheese ? To lay the question of the import
price entirely at rest, suppose it three times
eighty shillings if you will, it can answer in the
end no earthly purpose to raise the price, if >ou
cannot create a proportionate demand. Ima-
gine, for instance, the price of corn, to be kept
up by a restrictive law, till the mechanic cannot
afford bread and beef both ; and this state of
things to continue, till the consumption of but-
cher's meat is reduced one half: the consequence
will be, that half the pasture land of the king-
dom will bo ploughed up for corn, as it would be
useless to employ it in feeding cattle, that could
not be sold. Imagine this system of ploughing
up pasture land to be carried on, till the country
is able to furnish the whole of the corn consumed
in it, which would soon be the case, and even
more than this : of what consequence would it
be, whether the importation price were four
pounds or twelve, when Great Britain became
an exporting country ? and in addition we may
ask, to what country could it export ? - ..»»>o .,
Let not the landholder suppose this to be an
idle theory : the article of hops in the present
year affords a practical demonstration of the

!! i

case. Wc raise the hops required fair our own
consumption. Two years ago the price of hops
was sixteen pounds per cvvt. Last year a good
crop succeeded a diminished demand^ and the
price fell to seven pounds. This year we had
another good crop, while some of last year's
remained on hand ; and the consequence is, the
best Farnham hops may now be bought at four
pounds ten shillings per cwt. Most assuredly the
same thing will take place with respect to corn,
when the quantity of grass land ploughed up
renders the supply more than equal to the de-
mand. ••■.:: ? : ; .-i-f : :::; ;_; /i_i' { -icil).

The landholder, who thinks, that the opera-
tion of the law is advantageous, because his
rents were regularly paid last year, will find
himself sooner or later miserably disappointed.
He must be a careless observer indeed, who
does not see a more natural cause for the tem-
porary prosperity of the farmer, than the effects
of any ill-timed bolstering system whatever.
We have had two such seasons, as have not fol-
lowed in succession for at least a quarter of a
century : and it is well known to every person
versed in country affairs, that the cultivator of
the soil is invariably better paid by aja abundant
produce, than by an} additional price ever ob-
tained in years of scarcity.

Prussia, at the present moment, is precisely in
the situation, to which we are driving. She has

»a

Jie
iad
r's
lie
►ur
:he
in.

also had two good crops ; and, being an export
country, has no consumption for her superfluous
produce. The consequence is, Dantzic wheat,
which generally brings a price equal to the best
Essex in Mark Lane, can now be bought in
any quantity at twenty shillings a quarter.

After this fair statement is laid before his eyes,
can any reasonable man believe, that restric-
tions, though they may keep up the price for a
moment, can ultimately answer the end pro-
posed ?

On the judgment and industry of the hus-
bandmau the landholder may depend for the
quantity of his produce ; but to the merchant
and the manufacturer alone must he look for a
permanent support of it's price. They are all
equally conducing to the increase of his iticome :
and the butcher in the market may as well say,
he is independent of his customer in the square,
because his bill is paid by a house-steward, as the
nobleman imagine the prosperity of the manu-
facturer does not affect the value of his landed
property, because his rents are paid by the far-
mer. The political economist, who separates,
and classes as different, interests, which are in
reality the same, we may strongly presume, has
only skimmed the surface of the question ; and^
upon a more complete investigation, will not
have better cause to be satisfied with his judg"-
ment, than with his philanthropy.

Having tlius endeavoured to remove a preju-
dice, which lias done incalculable mischief in
dividing the energy of the country, by inducing
men to seek in restrictive and irritating enact-
ments, what, dispassionate reason will convince
us, can be obtained only by general prosperity ; I
shall proceed to observe, that it would be highly
advantageous, to conciliate the political and
theoretical opinions held by many gentlemen of
th . first respectability ; at least, so far as to pre-
vent their operation from being injurious to the
investigation necessary for allowing the activity,
industry, and moral habits of the people a fair
chance of reinstating our manufactures and
commerce in the road to prosperity. .. •

I sincrely wish any person, holding this in
view, would consider the small chance emigra-
tion affords of any immediate relief for our press-
ing difficulties. Assuredly the rapid success of the
Spaniards formerly in South America, or of our own
countrymen in Barbadoes, will not be adduced
as arguments in it's favour ; since, to the shame
of civilized man, both were more nearly allied to
the adventures of robbers, than to the peaceful
pursuits of agricultural settlers. Even suppos-
ing our present emigi^ants were equally destitute
of principle, where could they find so good a
harvest ? The wild inhabitants of the Cape are
not likely to make such obedient slaves as the

.. !■•!

13JU-

ft •

(Jaril)!)ee Indians ; or the Caffres to be as well
provided with treasure as the peaceful Peruvians.
Indeed the delay attending the first steps to-
ward emigration seems to militate against any
well founded hope from this quarter. Nearly
six months have now elapsed, since fifty thou-
sand pounds were voted for a trial of emigration ;
and what has been done ? Nothing more than
sending off two hundred and sixty men, chiefly
paupers, who sailed only last v/eek. Surely
emigration on such a plan can never be recom-
mended as a remedy for the distresses of nearly
a million of people, who are acknowledged on all
hands, to have sold their last rags, to satisfy the
cravings of hunger. ^ ■ ... .

' Parliamentary reform, too, has been suggested
as a remedy for the evil ; but it is much to be
questioned, how far this could operate in a case,
that requires an immediate remedy. That a
parliament formed on a broader basis of popular
representation would render any generally ob-
noxious measure diflicult to be carried, or even
impossible, may be granted: but what could
this do, to still the imperious demands of hun-
ger ? Wiiat we want at the present moment is
not legislation, but food. A good system of
legislation may guard against future evils ; but
we now require a remedy for an evil already
pressing upon us in all the aggravated forms of

1 _ «

, V '» ! I 1 1 t «■ • ' .1 • ' 1 «. I

,i 1.,

Assurtxlly parliiimentary i-efoi'iu does not
Htand in need of sueh arguments, as the present
state of the oountry affords ; and it would ])e
deeply to be regretted, should it's bare name
deter it*s opponents from joining in a philanthro-
pic attempt, to remove a grievance now louring
on England, and threatening with ruin it's ex-
igtence as a nation. - • «' '■ "■•'■"^ ^f^* --'* ' 5"'*

And iast of all I must mention with feelings
of undisguised indignation that fariago of cru-
elty and absurdity, which, to the disgrace of the
diay, seems still to draw recruits to it's unhal-
lowed banners. It has been said, and unblush-
ingly said, that we can never expect relief, till
population restricts itself to a wholesome level.
If this mean any thing at all, it must mean, till
two thirds of the jK^ulation are starved to death,
or relieved by the kind hand of some friendly
typhus fever. And do the advocates of this
iiendlike doctrine suppose, that, if 666,667 of
the TmUion., who now can earn upon an average
only five shillings a week, were actually stai-ved
to death, in oixier to. enablethe remaining ,333,333
to earn fifteen sluUings weekly, this third will be
able to consume as much beef and bread, as the
whoie million would have done? or will the chan-
cellor of the exchequer imagine, that one third of
a population can require as many exciseable arti-
ekiSj as ar» demanded by the whole ? Was the
consumption of commodities contributing to the

not
Sent

he
line

II'O-

■ing
ex-

revenue ihruu^lioiit the king"dom, at the time of
it's greatest glory, ever more than is reqiusite
at the present moment, to answer the exigencies
of the state, and prevent recurrence to a loan ?

It is much to be doubted, whether this whole-
some adjustment of population would be found
as salutary in practice, as it professes to be in
theory ; or whether the country gentleman woukl
consider his state in any degree improved, by
having two thirds less demand for his cattle and
corn : and it is by no means likely, that the ap-
petite of the stockholder would be benefitted by
the idea of a national bankruptcy. • '-^-'^ -^ ••

But, setting policy out of the question, this
theory seems branded with the foulest stain in
point of mere moral feeling. The Hindoos, who
carry their dying to the sides of the Ganges, and
fiU^their mouths with it's sacred mud, are patterns
of himianity compared with the advocates of the
modern system. The Oriental barbarians only-
stop the breath of beings insensible to the pain :
we administer the sad prescription to those in full
possession of every feeling, and of every sense.
The detestable law, that doomed to immediate
destruction every Hebrew male infant;, and
caused the sacred historian to owe his life to the
humanity of the daughter of Pharaoh, sinks into
utter insignificance, when compared with this
recent refinement on cruelty. But let us drop

the subject ; and may it's last recollection rot
with the callous heart that gave it birth !

That Great Britain, if she would continue to
pay her taxes, and retain her rank among the
principal nations of Europe, must continue a
populous and a manufacturing country, seems as
clear as day. From the moment she ceases to
be so, she must retrograde ; and the nobleman
of 1819 will soon fall back to the situation, in
which his forefathers were in 1500. The in-
crease of our manufactuiing population, far
from a scourge, is the real source of all our
greatness; and the wealthy landed proprietor,
who does not view things with the jaundiced
eye of prejudice, will see in it only so many
more human beings, all labouring, through their
own wants, to promote his ultimate gain. ^ » i. .

Consequently, tliat such a population requires
the fostering care and protection of every real
lover of his country : . :. ..r

That it's present distresses cannot be relieved
by emigration :

That any mitigation of our present state aris-
ing from parliamentary reform would be too
tardy for the pressing energy of the case : - ? ' >< '

That the redress talked of from reduction of
the population is equally crude and visionary :

Seem conclusions, which, when guided by
dispassionate reason, we have a right to draw.

With lliis view of the matter, it naturally sug-
gests itself, that tlie best prospect of relief for
the present, and of success for the futiu-e, will be
found in removing those restraints, which debar
our mercant.le interests from a fair competition
with those of other states, and through the mer-
cantile, affect the manufacturing classes of the
community.

« iijf

To elucidate a subject of such importance, it
may be advantageous, to show the origin of such
laws, their bad consequences, and the small risk
there would be in commencing their gradual
abolition.

It has long been a maxim with the best poli-
tical writers, that all restrictive systems are ul-
timately injurious to the country, that adopts
them into it*s legislation ; and they have found
proofs enough of the justness of the doctrine,
without the instance of Spain. But the mutual
desire of retaliating the injuries of war occa-
sioned many restrictive laws to be adopted dur-
ing the late arduous struggle, which the com-
mercial policy of Grea^ Britain would have con-
demned in other times: and that such laws
should remain, after the cause that gave them
birth is no more, all sound policy must instantly
disown. To extinguish the influence of the
French among the northern powers, a duty was
laid upon iron and timber, tantamount to a pro-
hibition of them. This duty still remains, and

it's crttiscquences ftre severely felt. Sweden has
nothing to sell but her timber, and her iron;
and, if we will not buy Iier produce, she has
nothing to enable her to purchase our manufac-
tui^s. Accordingly her people are compelled to
substitute their own rude manufactures for those,
with %yhich llicy would otherwise be furnished
from England.

' 1. 1 . 1 - 1 ( « < • ■

' The proprietor of an English iron mine, and
the speculator in timber from our forests in
America, will no doubt say, that the restriction
18 beneficial, because it compels us to depend
upon our own resources ; but this argument will
he found correct, no farther than their private
intertots are concerned. These resources would
not be diminished by our not continually using
them : in fact they would rather be husbanded
against any future emergency. The trees of
America will not cease to grow, because we do
not cut them down ; the iron will not waste in
the mine, because the ore is not extmcted : and
the matter in dispute comes exactly to this ; we
place our hardware manufacturers under a dis-
advantage, compared with those of foreign coun-
tries^ by means of the duty on iron ; and we
deprive our woollen manufacturei-s of the benefit
of the Swedish markets altogether, because we
will not trade with the Swedes. ' r,M^'i^'^i n m>^k
-Thus, by giving a motiopoly t^ the proprietor
of iron mines and the speculator in American

n has
iron;
te has
iiifac-
led to
those,
ishecl

, and
;sts in
•iction
epend
lit will
rivate
w^ould
using"
anded
;es of
we do
ste in
: and
i ; we
I dis-
30nn-
id we
3nefit
?e we

'ietor
rican

timber, wc inflict a general injuiy on two of our
^•eat manufacturing Iwdics ; raise a class of
overgrown capitalists, at tlie expense of onr
trading population ; and foster the system, which
is hastening with rapid strides to root out the
middle ranks of society, and convert us into a
nation of princes and paupers. .. -.^1 ;;n

At the same time an evil spirit of retalia-
tion is generated abroad, and antioommercial
feelings are nurtured on all sides. The northern
states look upon us as the leaders of the reCitric-
tivc scheme, and the continental system of Buo-
naparte becomes the favourite plan of retalia-
tion. In Russia and in Piiissia it is well known
to be at the present moment the favourite topic,
on which their merchants declaim^ and which
they strenuously advocate. •, fv. . ,.,>.•....-.

If the necessities of the state, and the sufferings
of the people, can ever be supposed to warrant an
imperious call on the government, to step for-
ward with a power sufficient to overawe the indivi-
dual interests concerned in supporting restrictive
measures, the present is assuredly the time. We
are now in a fair train for lo^ng the trade of the
north of Europe, and the market that hals long
been open there to our manufectures. The nor^
them states fi*et vmder the same galling re-
straints as ourselves ; and, did o«|r government
show atjy disposition to relax, it would instantly
do ^WAV all the exi^ng prejudices against as ;

and excite such a burst of ft'cVmg amon^ the
merchants abroad, as well as among the nobles,
who derive the principal part of their incomes
from articles of export; that it would com-
pel the most arbitrary government, to bend
before the altar of public opinion.

The present law for regulating the importa-
tion of corn^ to say nothing of it*s general ten-
dency, is fraught with much commercial evil.
Called for as it was by the landholders, and
drawn up in a way least likely to irritate the
rankling wounds of the indigent population, it's
imperfect construction will be readily excused
by all, who know how difficult it is, to conciliate
the jarring interests of men : but now, when the
discounts of the Bank must be regulated by
foreign exchanges, that clause, which makes
foreign corn marketable only when the home
price exceeds a fixed sum, will be found a very
serious evil. ti i; ? ur,-'

The opening of the ports, as it is technically
termed, almost instantly sets on foot a spirit of
gambling adventure, accompanied with every
evil incident to a fluctuating exchange ; while
the steady, regular intercourse, the very life-
blood of trade, creeps on with difficulty, from
the links of it's chain being thus unnaturally
severed. A permanent duty, even if we con-
sider it in it's worst light, would certainly be
less injurious to trade ; and it is very question-

riljlc, wIk'IIiit il. would be more dctiimoulal to
inaniithctnrcrs.

It may be thought, that this appears hul dis-
tantly conuectt'd with the distresses of Lanca-
shire and Yorkshire ; but whoever has had an
opportunity of seeing, how a gleam of prosperity
instantly diverges through all the ramifications of
the manufacturing world, will readily allow, that
inferior and even more remote considerations are
well worthy attention. Having endeavoured to
show the injin-ious consequences of restrictive
laws, where the interests, or imagiiuu'y interests,
of certain classes may be supposed to stand in
the way of their abolition ; we now come to
others, which seem even divested of this shallow
excuse for their continuance.

To what a pitch of absurdity has this restric-
tive mania arrived, when we will not allow goods
in transit to l)e imported without paying a duty!
The present state of the country renders a re-
visal of all laws on this head partic'ularly de-
sirable. Take, for example, the article of fo-
reign linens ; and suppose we were to allow
them to be imported free of duty, under bond
for exportation, instead of paying a duty of
tweny-fivc per cent, as they now do, which is
in fact a prohibition. The consequence would
be, the linens of Germany would find a market
in England, for the purpose of being resold in
North and South America ; and a demand for

■c -■

British cotton and woollen goods would be
(!ruute(l in (Tcrniany in return, or as h(K)U hh
bills on London could be readily obtained on
advantJi<»eous terms. Similar causes would pro-
duce similar ellects tlu'ou^liout all our mercan-
tile connexions ; and, instead of being obliged
to invest our capitals in foreign government se-
curities, we could employ it in trade. No doubt
in the first place it would be paid away ; as the
wheel must be set in motion by those, who now
hold the drag that confines it : but the difference
would be this, our warehouses would be filled
in return with foreign linens, instead of hav-
ing our portfolios filled with foreign govern-
ment securities ; and, should any political nip-
ture take place, it requires not a conjurer to
determine, which is the preferable Becurity.

Let it not be supposed, that 1 mean to throw
blame on the large investments daily made in
foreign stock : on the contrary, while our res-
trictive laws prevent us from employing our ca-
pital in direct trade, it is so far advantageous,
as the loan, by enriching our neighbours, ena-
bles them to be better customers to us. But
the question is, would not the repeal of duties in
transit enable us to employ this money in trade
with equal advantage, and on better secunty ?

In what has been said, our connexion with
the neighbouring countries has been chiefly con-
sidered : but they who are acquainted with the

state ot our inltMiMnii'se with tlie IJniteil SUitcM
of Amcricji, with the West Indies, and wit>!
other established channels of Traiifiatluntic
trade, well know the inconvenience and vexa-
tions, to which it is exposed by our restrictive
laws ; and how much these retard and diminish
the exportation of our mamifactures. This re-
mark, howt'ver, is only made in passing ; for to
enter fully into the subject would extend this
sketch far beyond it's limits.

But I cannot avoid considering it of the
liighest importance, to call the particular atten-
tion of the government to a new channel of
trade; to it*s peculiar advantage in certain
parts, and it's almost boundless extent as a
whole ; which now opens to the sphere of Bri-
tish capital and industry. It is true, wc are
here met in the outset by a branch of our mo-
nopolising and restrictive system, which, like
our evil genius, pursues us from the frigid to
the torrid zone : but, since the advantage we
now contemplate as a consoling balm to our suf-
fering manufacturers cannot prove in the slight-
est degree injurious to the interests of that great
commercial company, which possesses the ex-
clusive chartered privilege of trading to that
quarter of the world, let us hope we may be
enabled at least in one instance to say, that a
monopoly has not stood in the way of the public
welfare.

c 2

'•t

1 III! ■

Perhaps t his may be deemed too sanguine an
anticipation ; l)ut, in whatever way we view the
question, it is impossible to suppose, that the
East India directors can refuse to their own
suffering countrymen a privilege, which is al-
ready enjoyed by the Americans in a way be-
yond theii* control. Whether we Jook to the
company as a body of opulent men, deeply inte-
rested in the prosperity of Great Britain ; or
as sovereigns of an extensive territory, in which
it must ever be their leading policy, to impress
the natives with a high idea of the physical
and moral strength of the British people a
well-founded hope appears, that the favour re-
quires only to be fairly asked, to ensure ifs be-
ing freely granted. ' (; . ' v: .( ,

The directors nuist know, as well as all other
intelligent men, that Britain cannot long exist,
ur^ess some vent be obtained for her manufac-
tured produce. Neither can they be supposed
to be ignorant of the dangerous shock given to
their power by the frequent and continually
increai ing intercourse between the Chinese and
Americans. The deafest ears and dullest capa-
city must both hear and understand the bitter
invectives, and supercilious derision, with which
the trading Americans invariably treat every
thing coupled with the English name. Yet the
Americans carry on a trade between China and
the continent of Europe, the value of which is

'21

r the

the

own

s al-

y be-

the

inte-

vhich

ipress

jrsical

, -.js

scarcely to be credited, from whicli liritish in-
dustry is eoiiipletely cxchidcd by the openition
of the Company's charier.

The value of all ])ranches of trade imperfectly
known is naturally liable, to be much question-
ed : but happily on this before us wc have evi-
dence, that it is scarcely possible to discredit.
By the report made on the state of American
Currency to the House of Hei)resentatives of the
United States, it appears, that " the exportation of
dollars from America to China . i»i 1 81 7, amounted
to twejve millions ; and the sale of China goods
on the continent of Europe," cannot be esti-
mated at less. The quantity of China produce
consumed in the United States amounts to
nearly five millions annuall}^ Hence it may
be concluded, that the United States acquire a
clear gain of five millions annually by the Chi-
na trade."

'Were Great Britain allowed a fair competi-
tion in this trade, the advantage would not be
confined to the inc^'ease of her naval power, and
the security of the company's possessions in
Hindostan, which may now be considered as an
integral part of the British dominions. The
bills obtained on the continent of Europe for
the China produce conveyed to it by our ship-
ping would have a favourable operation on the
rate of exchange, a circumstance that is become
one of the highest importance to us, since the

129

discounts of the Bank will now be regulated by
it. But more than all, as our ability to sup-
ply China with cotton goods at such prices, as
render them marketable under all the disadvan-
tages of the existing monopoly, is now beginning
to be known, it would open a market for our
manufactures, greater than we had in the proud-
est day of our prosperity ; and convert the cot-
tons of Lancashire, and woollens of Yorkshire,
into the medium of exchange between China
and Europe.

Considering the proverbial cheapness of la-
bour in China, many may be inclined to doubt
the fact, of the combined operation of capital
and machinery being able to produce a finished
manufacture sufficiently cheap for such a mar-
ket : but fortunately on this point we have not
to rest on spedulative theory, and darken our
hopes by doubts ; we have the fact on record,
that, while the cotton goods sent to China in
1810 did not exceed the value of eight thousand
pounds, the shipments last year amounted to a
hundred and fifty thousand ; and these too for
the grei'ter part ordered by Chinese merchants.
This fact speaks for itself. l

With this evidence before our eyes, the im-
mense population of China affords a pleasing
prospect to all, who are desirous of revivifying
the strength and resources of our country : and
when experience proves, that the industry aad

ted by
o sup-
es, as
idvan-
inning
)!• our
)roud-
cot-
Lshire,
China

af la-
doubt
apital
lished
mar-
^e not
n our
cord,
na in
isand
[ to a
) for
ants.

! im--
sing

and
and

ingenuity of our manufacturers can defray the
carriage of the raw material from such remote
regions, and return the finished fabric for sale
at a cheaper rate, than it could be afforded for on
the spot ; what opinion must we form of the
judgment of those politicians, who look upon
such a population as a grievance ? or how ap-
preciate the hv.art, that with coldblooded delibe-
ration can doom the unoffending children to
squalid want, and consign the parents to an un-
timely grave through hunger and disease ? But
we seem to have acquired a particular aversion
to looking any thing fairly in the face ; and a
juggling sleight, peculiar to the day, of shutting
one eye against real misery, and opening the
other to speculative philanthropy. The church,
too, appears to be no way behind hand in adopt-
ing the fashion of the moment. There was a
time, when it would not have been counted quite
orthodox, for a clergyman to have insinuated, that
the plans of the Creator of the universe were
founded on error ; and that he had given po-
pulation a natural propensity to increase beyond
all possibility of an adequate augmentation of
it's means of support : but that time seems now
to have gone by, and the church appears to take
a more prominent part in our temporal concerns,
than is well suited to our good, or to her own
dignity. Passing by the conduct of clerical
justices, as a subject too delicate to be handled

Jicic ; it caiiiiol be lorgotten, tiiat llie Report of
the Committee upon tlie Police of the Metropo-
lis exposes some speculations of a subpillar of
the altar, not altogether suited to the cloth.
Proceeding at this rate, perhaps in time we may
be favoiued with an Arreoy under ecclesiastical
patronage ; and hear the diminution of the in-
habitants oi Otaheite urged to prove, how ad-
mirably the institution is calculated to remove
the evils of our alleged superabundant popula-
tion. : ,. . ,,-,.•.-.- .,;, .' ;.,i: ■; ^, , -,.M . ^. ,:-■; ■•

But to return to our subject. ""Ve have not
China alone to look to for a market, if once the
trade of the Eastern seas were fairly opened to
us. Borneo, Celebes, and Java, according to
the reports of their several historians, contain
nearly ten millions of ijihabitants ; and we may
fairly compute the other islands in the two Ar-
chipelagoes, and in the Pacific Ocean, to contain
as many more. From the traffic constantly car-
ried on between the Americans and taese is-
lands \ve know, that the inhabitants are all
willing to exchange their produce for European
manufactured goods : and we know well, that
such produce finds a ready market on the con-
tinent of Europe, in the West Indies, and in
South America. Let not the reader s'Tppose the
statement here presented to be any way over-
coloured, because the advantage displaying it-
self in the features of this trade is so far beyond

what he may probably have expected ; innume-
rable instances might be given in detail to bear
out the most flattering prospects. Cochin Chi-
na alone is said to export annually above thirty-
five thousand tuns of sugar to China Proper,
and to take in return European manufactured
goods, which are furnished principally by the
Portuguese.

Who could doubt the effect of British capital
and enterprise, if allowed a fair competition in
such a trade as this ? If we may calculate on
precedents, would it not in all probability fall
entirely into our hands in the course of a few
years ?

But to such a pitch of folly has our restrictive
system led us, that our own colony in New
South Wales can receive no supplies from this
country, except through the means of the East
India Company's ships, or government trans-
ports : and the consequence is, the Americans
reap whatever benefit is to be derived from this
traffic. Nay, to crown the whole, we learn by
the last accounts from that settlement, that ma-
nufactures are encouraged there ; as if it were
deemed advantageous, to render the colony in-
dependent of the parent state, and wait for the
birth of a second Washington on some future
day, to bid defiance to our power.

A very mistaken notion seems to pervade
the minds of many, that the Chinese are averse

2(i

to every tblu^ except payments in specie. But
tlieir giving a decided preference to the Russian
tommerce, because the Russians bring tliein
furs and cloth, evidently refutes this opinion.
No doubt a great quantity of specie is sent an-
nually to the oriental seas. Pulo Penang is said
to receive half a million of dollars for the article
of opium alone. But when we reflect, that Bri-
tish manufactured goods can now come into the
market only through the expensive and tardy
medium of the East India Company, or the cir-
cuitous voyages of the Americans, we may justly
say, our manufactures have by no means had a
fair trial : yet we find, in spite of all tbese dis-
advantages, the demand has increased since
1810, in the wonderful degree already men-
tioned. 1,. J...,. (Sj/i rr,ii ^.' ., ir^'.i/

: The Chinese are a cunning and suspicious
people, and far from such greenhorns in politics,
as some may be inclined to imagine. We can-
not wonder, tbat they should lend a deaf ear to
any application for trading establishments, when
courted with the accompaniment of a frigate
and hostile array. They cannot be supposed
ignorant of the manner, in which we first got
footing in India; or of our gradual metamor-
phosis from merchants into sovereigns. Indeed
they have very pointedly shown their suspicions
oti this bead, by withdrawing the liberty a pri-
vate individual had enjoyed, as soon as a formal

embassy from t)ic Russian government made it*s
appearance. But whatever opinions may be
entertained of the Chinese as politicians, there
are few merchants, who have had any dealings
with them, but pretty unanimously agree, that
they distinctly enough give us a quid pro quo :
yet on the great point of reciprocal intei-est we
may safely rely for the sale of our manufactures,
if the removal of the restriction only allowed a
single cargo of cotton goods, to find it*s way to
Canton at such a price, as to undersell their
home manufacture; and we might leave the
trade ever after to rest on it's own merits.

Let it not be supposed, that the foregoing re-
marks are designed to cast the slightest odium on
the East India Company. As individuals they arc
justly entitled to the highest esteem: and surely
it can be no disparagement to them to say, that
it is utterly impossible for a minute attention to
be paid to economy in an establishment like
theirs. Of this they seem to be fully aware,
when, on a late concession obtained from them,
they made a successful stand against the admis-
sion of small vessels into the Indian seas. The
reasons adduced were, no doubt, different from
those, by which they were really actuated ; and
the dread of piracy was substituted for that of
rivalry. But such delusions are now at an end ;
and the most credulous could not be persuaded,
to fear an English pirate in seas, that swarm

■i li

WiUi native freebooters ; men from whom the
crew of our ambassador's frigate \' ith difficulty
escaped: and it is sincerely to be wished, that,
whenever government enters into treaty with
them again, freedom for vessels of all sizes in-
discriminately will be obtained. We know,
that small ships are much better fitted for trad-
ing among the islands of the Archipelagoes ;
and likewise, that the Americans will make two
voyages in a vessel not worth 1500/., while the
company's servants are making one in a ship
worth upwards of 30,000/.

Knowing, that it can be of no consequence to
the East India Company, whether teas be carried
to Hamburgh by a British vessel or an Ame-
rican ; and consequently certain, that no consi-
deration of commercial disadvantage can inter-
fere; it may not be out of our way to inquire,
how both the nation and the company are inte-
rested on the score of naval and territorial pre-
servation. From an account of the trade of the
Pacific Ocean, published some time ago by a
gallant naval officer, to which I am indebted for
several of the facts already stated, it appears,
that of twelve ships, which touched at the Sand-
wich islands in 1810, only two were English,
and both of these whalers ; one was a Russian,
and all the rest were Americans. The latter
indeed' have established a mercantile house on
one of the islands, having a branch at New York.

. ^:i

Not contented wilh waiting the arrival of tlie
Malay vessels at the ordinary marts, as is done
by Europeans, these adventurous people traffic
l)crsonally throughout the whole Archipelago,
and thus have constantly a large maritime com-
munity in those seas. The burden of their ships
employed in the China trade in 1817-18
amounted to eighteen thousand tuns, and they
were navigated by fifteen hundred seamen ;
while the tonnage of the East India Company's
shipping the same season was only twenty-one
thousand, and their men two thousand ; being
only three thousand tuns, and five hundred men,
more tlian were employed by the Americans.
At the same time we cannot estimate at less than
two thousand men the addition necessary to be
made to the strength of the Americans, in con-
sequence of their trading in the Archipelago, and
Indian sea, where their numbers cannot be aacer^
tained. Should hostilities at any future period
break out between the two nations, is this a force
to be looked upon with indifference in a quarterof
the world, where our empire is most vulnerable ?
Tlie native princes have ever shown themselves
ripe for revolt against us, on any prospect of
assistance from Europeans : what eflfect then
may we not apprehend from the weight, that the
Americans may in time be empowered to throw
into the scale? , ,j.^j^;,, .j, .,,^, ,,.,,; ^^ .u.Uu,

The trade of the Americans is already greater

than ours ; and, being free from tlie shackles
of monopoly, may be expected to increase with
greater rapidity : while that rancorous hatred,
the Jirst and last of every American's ambition
to avow against all that is English, shows
plainly how their power would be used. Tt is
their invariable practice, to represent us to the
natives as a nation in the wane of our power,
the dupes of a besotted government ; and point
out their own superiority with far too much ap-
pearance of truth. Let not the directors despise
the power of the Americans, beciuise their civic
garb makes them less imj.osing to the eye than
the troops of a sultan : their vanity, ambition,
and thirst of aggrandizement, are parallelled, and
parallelled only, by their daring spirit of adven-
ture : and since the end of last war they openly
boast, that America will in time dispute with
Great Britain the sovereignty of the seas. This
may perhaps be discredited by those, who form
their judgment of the national feeling solely from
the documents published by the government :
but different, far different, will be the opinion
of all, who have any intercourse with the peo-
ple, and closely observe their conduct.

Notwithstanding all this, the United King-
dom is still great. She possesses an elastic
energy in the capital, industry, and moral
habits of her people, which has expanded to
the asionishnient of the world in enabling her to

tMiiei'gc iVom lier dinicuUies; and so it would
ajrain, were a fair field allowed Ibr it*8 aetion.
Only remove those restrictions, which chill and
deaden her commercial spirit ; and leave trade
to itself; private energy ^will work the pnhlic
good. It is true, Great liritain cannot effect
impossihilitics : she cannot pay her increased
taxes with a diminished population ; she cannot
long remain mistress of the seas, if her ships lie
rotting in the docks, while those of another na-
tion are navigating the seas, and trading in their
stead.

But she could support a population greater
than she has ever yet possessed, if allowed a fair
competition in the disposal of her industry ; and
still contiiiue sovereign over her native element,
\f her own ships were permitted, to carry abroad
her own manufactures.

Deeply impressed with the truth of these im-
portant facts, not from any impulse of the mo-
ment, but from years of careful observation, the
author unhesitatingly ushers into the world the
foregoing hints, which but a few days ago were
known as his opinions only to a narrow circle of
friends ; feeling confident, that the geiierous
sympathy of a British public will overlook, in
the advocate of her distressed manufacturers*
the weakness of the man.

THE END.

Ill

! 0*',')(li

fit]

W. POPLK, PIUNTEU,
or, Chancery Lane, Lonilan.