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[The Right of Translation and Reproduction is reserved.] TEIE GEROWTH OF ENGLISH INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE IN MODERN TIMES. BY rº, A..." " - W. CUNNINGHAM, D.D. FELLOW of THE BRITISH ACADEMY ; HON. FELLOW OF GON VILLE AND CAIUs college, FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, AND ARCHDEACON of ELY ; ITORMERLY LECTURER ON ECONOMIC EIISTORY IN HARWARD UNIVERSITY. CAMBERIDGE: AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS 1907 (Cambridge: PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A. AT THE UNIVERSITY PIEESS. > : \ } & CONTENTS. VII. LAISSEZ, FAIR.E. I. THE WORKSHOP OF THE WORLD. 242. The Industrial Revolution in England. The Industrial Revo- lution, which began in England, entails a complete alteration of social conditions, wherever it spreads. Mechanical inventions were not a practical success, till the eighteenth century afforded the requisite opportunities for enterprise. The well-ordered trade of the seventeenth century had been incompatible with the pushing of business, and the old regulations were proving mischievous; in the nineteenth century, though the working classes agitated for the enforcement of existing legislation, Parliament was ready to abandon it. The seventy years of Industrial Revolution changed the whole - face of the country. © º 6O9 243. Machinery in the Textile Trades. Neither the introduction of new processes, nor of new implements, had such marked results as the substitution of machinery for hand labour. . . ſº e g & 613 244. Increasing Influence of Capital. The introduction of machines was a phase in the progress of Capitalism, and led to increased division of processes, and to the shifting of labour, as well as to the migration of industry to localities where power was available. & g º * º 614. 245. Factories and Cottage Industries. The concentration of labour involved the decay of cottage employment, and increased the differentiation of town and country, so that the Weaver ceased to have subsidiary sources of income, while his earnings were more liable to fluctuate. There was rapid material progress, and this involved a loss of stability. . tº { } 616 246. The Rise of an Employing Class. Machinery gave opportunity for the rise of capitalist employers, some of whom were drawn from mercantile business, while others had come from the ranks of the yeoman class. The improvements in production led to the adoption of a new policy for stimulating industry, not by recasting, but by abandoning the whole system. º º e e e 61 7 II. THE INTRODUCTION OF MACHINERY IN THE TEXTILE TRADES. 247. Cottom Spinning. The cotton industry was the field where the revolution first occurred, through the inventions which Arkwright rendered successful; though he failed to maintain his alleged rights, and power- spinning became very general. The weaving of cotton on linen warp had grown up during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but cloth could vi CONTENTS now be made of cotton only; and foreigners were undersold. Ample supplies of material were available, though interruptions of trade were disastrous and there was an increased demand for labour; but the supply of Water-power was limited, and the application of steam-power was followed by the growth of factory towns. . . & e e © o © g º 62O 248. The First Factory Act. The condition of parish apprentices in cotton factories attracted attention, not from the danger of overwork, but because of their defective moral training. The first Factory Act was directly connected with the Elizabethan apprenticeship System. ſº e 628 249. Cotton Weavers and Wages Assessment. Before the power-loom came into use, the cotton weavers enjoyed great prosperity temporarily, but were soon reduced to receiving starvation rates of pay. The Arbitration Act of 1800 proved ineffective; and the weavers demanded an assessment of their wages under the Act of 1563. This had fallen into desuetude, and was repealed, in deference to doctrinaire opinion, with the result of throwing the cotton weavers on the rates in Lancashire. The Scotch weavers, when attempting to secure legal redress, rendered themselves liable to criminal proceedings. . e º te e º g e º & º 632 25O. Calico Printers and Overstocking with Apprentices. The intro- duction of machinery in calico printing led to the substitution of boys for men, and to overstocking with apprentices. The quality of the product in the cotton trades was improved by the use of machinery. & 639 251. The Supply of Wool, Ireland and Australia. The condition of the woollen differed from the cotton trade, as spinning was widely diffused, and native materials were largely employed. The supply of English wool was limited, and seems to have been diminishing, so that there was more reliance on foreign wool, and revived anxiety, which showed itself in all parts of the country, about the smuggling of English wool abroad. A new Source of supply was found, through the transportation of sheep to and develop- ment of Squatting in Australia; but this source was not available for any con- siderable quantity till after the revolution in spinning had taken place. 642 252. Carding and Wool-Combing. A great saving was effected by machines for carding and scribbling, and these had been generally adopted; but the invention of machinery for the preliminary processes of worsted manufacture roused great antagonism among the wool-combers. . 649 253. Spinning-Jennies for Wool. Hand-jennies for wool came into use at the centres of domestic weaving, and spinning with the wheel ceased to be remunerative, even as a by-occupation. In 1793 the Berkshire justices granted allowances from the rates, and this tided over the transition to spinning by jennies in factories, and subsequent spinning by power. 653 254. Legal and Illegal Woollen Weavers. The flying shuttle brought large earnings to those woollen weavers who found employment, but the unemployed commenced an agitation for enforcing the old rules. The obligation of a seven years’ apprenticeship was set aside temporarily, and, despite the evidence in favour of retaining it, the system was aban- doned. . e º º te e e & e te e e 657 255. The Shearmen and the Framework Knitters. The use of gig- mills, though possibly illegal, was permitted, since they did the work well; the newly invented shearing frames deprived skilled workmen of employ-T ment and roused them into violent opposition, in which they were associated with the Luddites. When the regulation of framework knitting by the Company ceased, complaints of hardship arose from the hands, who paid frame rents; and subsequently inferior goods were produced, which spoiled the market. The evils were aggravated by the practice of spreading work, and were not due to machinery, but to reckless competition. o 661 CONTENTS vii III. AGGRAVATIONS OF THE EVILS OF TRANSITION. 256. The War and Fluctuations in Maritime Intercourse. The in- evitable difficulties of transition were aggravated by the fluctuations of trade, which rendered manufacturing speculative and tended to lower the operatives’ standard of life. The breach with the American colonists was taken ad- vantage of by French and Dutch rivals; and Russia insisted on maintaining a new doctrine of neutral trading, to the disadvantage of the English, who Sustained heavy losses, but no permanent damage to their maritime power. Though England relinquished many possessions in 1783, her maritime Superiority was more striking than ever, and enabled her to monopolise the carrying trade and to ruin her rivals. During the Revolutionary War a stimulus was given to English tillage ; and after the Peace of Amiens, to manufactures for American markets. English prosperity was securely founded, as industry and agriculture had all been developed ; a large revenue was derived from customs; England, despite the pressure of debt, could defy competition through her wealth in coal, and was bound to triumph in the end. The attempt of England to destroy the commerce of France embroiled her with the United States, since they had developed a carrying trade between France and her colonies to the disadvantage of British traders. The Orders in Council against neutral trading called forth the Berlin and Milan Decrees; these pressed severely on the customers of England, but did not break down her monopoly, as Napoleon failed to develop industries, and a large contraband trade sprung up. The rupture with the States affected our supplies of material and food as well as our manufactures. With the establishment of peace a period of depression ensued. Though successful Speculators had gained, the community as a whole suffered from the fluctua- tions in trade. º e º ſº º º -> e e e 668 257. Credit and Crises. During the war, industry suffered from want of materials and the interruption of the food supply, and all capitalists were affected by the variations in credit, and the consequent crises. There was frequent temptation to over-trading; while Pitt used his power of borrowing so persistently, and political affairs were so threatening, that the Bank had to suspend cash payments. e o & - e e º 689 258. The National Debt and the Sinking Fund. Much of the fiscal burden was deferred, and while Pitt's Sinking Fund, which avoided the errors in Walpole's scheme, inspired mistaken confidence, it served to encourage reckless borrowing. º º te º e º te 695 259. The Suspension of Cash Payments. After the suspension of cash payments, there was no check on the unconscious depreciation of the currency by the over-issue of paper, which tended to raise general prices and to reduce the purchasing power of wages. The authorities of the Bank contested the fact of depreciation, but recent experience in Ireland rendered the true state of the case clear to the Bullion Committee of 1810, and their principles were adopted in 1819, when cash payments were resumed. 699 26O. The Demand for Food and Higher Farming. The Working classes suffered from the high price of corn, which was partly due to the increased demand of the manufacturing population. There were large supplies of meat, and great pains were taken to manage the available corm to advantage, to encourage the importation of food from abroad, and to dis- courage waste. o e -> - º e º e e tº 7O3 261. Enclosure and the Labourers. With the view of increasing the home production of corn, enclosure was pushed on, in the belief that the viii CONTENTS whole rural population would be benefited; but this hope proved mistaken. In a large number of cases the labourer lost the opportunities of supple- menting his income, and was deprived of the hope of rising in the World. e e o e e o • g º º ſº © 711 262. Rural Wages and Allowances. It appeared impracticable to reintroduce the assessment of Wages; and in a period of severe distress, the justices began to grant allowances to the families of able-bodied men systematically, with disastrous results in pauperising the population, while by-occupations and village industries decayed, and the tendency to migrate to towns increased. . e © e o º c º 715 263. The Agricultural Interest and the Corn Laws. The Corn Law of 1689 had been successful in both its objects, for many years; that of 1773 was intended to secure a food supply, either from home or abroad, at a steady price; but Parliament reverted to the principle of promoting native pro- duction, in 1791, and gave an unhealthy stimulus to tillage for a time, with the result that landlords were threatened with ruin at the Peace. The Act of 1815 was passed on plausible grounds, but in the interest of the landlords as a class, to the detriment of the consumers, and without controlling prices so as to encourage steady agricultural improvement. º t º 723 264. The Combination Laws. The working classes not only failed to obtain redress under the existing laws, but suffered from the passing of a new Combination Act in a time of political panic, and despite protests against its injustice. Friendly Societies continued to exist; but associations for trade purposes were liable to prosecution; though this was not systematic- ally enforced, an intense sense of injustice was roused. tº º 732 265. Economic Experts. The reluctance of Parliament to attempt remedial legislation was due to the influence of economic experts, who concentrated their attention on national wealth, and were uncompromising advocates of laissez faire. The vigour with which they insisted on free play for capital as a right, and denounced traditional views, as to the duty of the State to labourers and the expediency of fostering a native food supply, in- creased class bitterness. The Classical Economists generalised from the special conditions of their own day, and put forward a doctrine of the wages-fund which condemned all efforts on the part of labourers to raise wages, because they happened to be ineffective at that juncture. The Malthusian doctrine, as to the difficulty of procuring subsistence and the rapid growth of population, was a convincing statement of the facts in his time, but left the mistaken impression that all philanthropic effort was necessarily futile. g 737 IV. HUMAN WELFARE. 266. The Humanitarians and Robert Owen. English public opinion, under the influence of John Stuart Mill, became dissatisfied with the mere consideration of means, and began to feel after a better ideal of human life, and to work at the conditions which were necessary to realise it. Attempts had been made to put down the cruel treatment of parish apprentices, and other abuses at home and abroad; and positive efforts to better the con- dition of the poor, by providing new means of education, were generally wel- comed. Robert Owen had extraordinary practical success at New Lanark, not only in his Schools and co-operative store, but in managing his mill so as to contribute to the elevation of the operatives in character. & 745 267. The Removal of Personal Disabilities. The status of the workmen was improved by altering the conditions for the settlement of the poor, and by repealing the restrictions on emigration, as well as by the repeal of the Combination Acts. Despite an outbreak of strikes, which disappointed the CONTENTS ix advocates of repeal, the Combination Acts were not reimposed, and the right of forming Trade Unions was established; the men were defeated in the struggles at Bradford and Kidderminster, but by combining to maintain the standard of life they have secured, with the assistance of the Radicals, a large measure of freedom for joint action. . o e e * 754. 268. Anti-Pauperism. The methods adopted for the relief of the poor, by providing employment and granting allowances, were most demoralising under various forms of administration. Neither the overseers nor the justices exercised effective control; and there was need for a central authority to introduce a better policy. The Poor Law Commission reformed the workhouses, and abolished out-door relief for the able-bodied ; it has been re-organised as a permanent department. © e e e 763 269. Conditions of Children’s Work. The Economists feared that any shortening of hours would drive away trade and add to the distress of the artisans, but they were not ready to welcome interference, even where foreign competition was impossible. From the influence of Robert Owen, an agitation began against the over-working of children, and a Commission was appointed to enquire into the conditions of their labour in the woollen, linen, cotton, and silk mills. The early age of employment was a general evil, and the small mills had a specially bad reputation, but the irregularity of water-power gave an excuse for working excessive time. Most of the evils, which were brought to light, had attached to cottage industry, and parents deserve a large share of blame as well as masters. The Commissioners of 1833 tried to isolate the question of child labour, and hoped that shifts would be organised. Limits were imposed on the employment of children; and inspectors, acting under a central authority, were charged with enforcing the Act. The over-working of children could not be checked effectively till the hours for women were restricted ; and a normal working day of ten hours and a half was at length established, in spite of the forebodings of experts who ignored the results of Owen’s experience. 774 27O. Distress of Hand-loom Weavers. The low standard of comfort of hand-loom weavers was not treated as a subject for State interference. The power-loom was superseding hand work; the concentration of weaving in factories gave facilities for supervision, and encouraged regularity and honesty, so that cottage weavers had no constancy of employment. The depression in the linen trade, during the transition to power weaving, was aggravated by the competition of Irish, and of cotton weavers; and in the silk trade, by the habitual spreading of work. The application of power to Cotton-Weaving was delayed through the cheapness of hand work, and led in the worsted trade to labour shifting. The woollen weavers had lost their abnormally high rates, and suffered a period of depression. State action seemed impracticable, but there has been improvement of wages from other frnfluences, and the conditions for health of factory employment compare iavourably with those that characterised cottage industries. . º 79C) 271. Conditions of Work in Mines. The conditions of work in various industries were the subject of enquiry, and a strong case was established for interfering in regard to mines, when a Commission reported in 1840. The employment of young boys in mines had been increasing, but was now prohibited, as well as that of women under-ground, and a system of State inspection was organised. • - tº º te tº e 8O2 272. Conditions of Life in Towns. The conditions in which labourers lived attracted attention at the outbreak of cholera in 1831, in insanitary districts; and, after thorough enquiry, a Health Department was organised, but on an inadequate scale. The work of providing for the housing of the poor has been partly dealt with by building societies, though the problem is X CONTENTS increasingly difficult either for individuals or municipalities. The new administrative machinery for social purposes is very different from that of the Stuarts, both in its aims and its methods. º © º 806 W. FACILITIES FOR TRANSPORT. 273. Railways and Steamers. The demands of manufacturing dis- tricts for improved transport were met by the development of railway enterprise, which was a boon to the public generally; but it accelerated the decline of rural life in England, especially after the system was introduced in America. The application of steam power to ocean transport was more gradual, and it has greatly benefited the commercial, but not the landed interest. º tº o º º o e e º * º S1 | 274. Joint-Stock Companies. Under the influence of new conditions, facilities were given for the formation of joint-stock companies with limited liability, and these were largely used for trans-oceanic shipping. The trade of the East India Company to India was thrown open in 1813, but the . exclusive trade with China was retained till 1833. The abandonment of well-ordered trade through the Hongists, in favour of open competition, had disastrous results, when the last remnant of monopoly in ocean trade was given up. The danger of monopoly growing up for internal communication led to the interference of Government on behalf of the public, and to the institution of the Railway Commission. * e º - tº 81 6 275. Banking Facilities. The inadequacy, for modern requirements, of the credit system was brought out by the crisis of 1825, which led to a renewed agitation against the monopoly of the Bank of England, and to the development of provincial banks, and of London banks with the power of issuing notes. By the Act of 1844 the responsibility for issuing notes was concentrated in the Bank of England, but this did not prevent the occur- rence of crises; the large amount of capital sunk in railway enterprise, and the necessity for large payments abroad, together with a sudden change, due to a good harvest, in the corn trade, brought about the crisis of 1847. The Bank has justified its position not so much by controlling the issue of notes as by maintaining the reserve. e º e e º o © 822 276. Public Policy in regard to Navigation. The new conditions of commerce gave rise to an agitation by London merchants against the system of commercial regulation through the Navigation Acts. Reciprocal trade under treaties was adopted with several maritime powers, and preferential tariffs were arranged within the Empire. Though the privileges of English shippers were done away with in 1849, English maritime supremacy has been successfully maintained owing to the introduction of iron ship- building. e º e e * -> • e e e & 829 277. Financial Reform. Commercial progress had been hampered by the pressure of taxation ; this was reduced, with the view of encouraging in- dustry, before Peel undertook the thorough reform of the fiscal system. Under reduced rates, trade revived and revenue expanded. The change of system was tided over by the temporary imposition of an income tax, which has been retained as a regular charge, owing to its convenience. º & 833 278. The Relative Depression of the Landed Interest. Economic and political antagonism was roused against the Corn Laws, as recast in 1815, since they benefited a particular class, to the disadvantage of the manufacturing interest. The Irish Famine rendered suspension inevitable, and repeal followed in 1846. The policy of fostering a home-grown food supply was discarded as a failure, and the landed interest was relegated to a secondary place in the State, but the work of improvement was taken CONTENTS xi up by substantial tenants, before the full effects of foreign competition were felt. º º © e & o • e e e 84O 279. Effects on Ireland. The depression of the landed interest was specially noticeable in Ireland after the Union, for she could not take advantage of the new commercial prosperity by obtaining markets for manu- factures; and subsistence farming was maintained, with disastrous results in the Famine. The repeal of the Corn Laws deprived Ireland of an advantage in the English market, and the State has neither succeeded in attracting capitalist farmers nor in developing a peasant proprietary. . e 84.5 28O. Emigration and the Colonies. The economic principles of laissez faire in commerce, combined with a belief that the colonies were an expense to the mother country and that they would gain by independence, rendered the English public indifferent to the retention of the colonies; while the colonists were irritated by occasional interference on behalf of native races in South Africa, and of negroes in the West Indies, where the long protected sugar industry has suffered severely. Protection was also withdrawn from Canadian lumber in accordance with Free Trade doctrine. Emigration was encouraged by Lord Selkirk and the Canada Company, and the advantages of systematic colonisation, as a means of relieving England of redundant population and a plethora of capital, were expounded by Wakefield, whose views were partly adopted in the development of Australia and New Zealand. He helped to create a new enthusiasm at home for colonial empire, while steps were taken, both in Canada and New Zealand, to introduce responsible government and thus plant English institutions and strengthen English influence throughout the world. . e tº º e e º 85O POSTSCRIPT. 281. Laissez Faire in Commerce. The treatment of the recent economic history of England presents unusual difficulties, especially in view of the development of political life throughout the British Empire. Laissez faire in commerce was long ago accepted as an ideal by individuals, both in England and America, and roused the enthusiasm of the opponents of the Corn Laws, but their expectations as to the action of other nations have not been fulfilled. It may be wise to abandon commercial laissez faire for the sake of securing our food supply, and obtaining an open door for our manufactures. This would harmonise with traditional Whig views of the benefit of commerce in stimulating industry and with the Tory tradition as to distributing the burden of taxation. º e * º • 865 282. Analogy with the Elizabethan Age. Recent history presents a parallel with that of the sixteenth century, in the substitution of a new basis for economic organisation ; in the effects of the discoveries of gold and silver on prices and on the relative value of the precious metals; in the facilities for the formation of capital; in the building up of great fortunes, and in changes in business organisation, which have been facilitated by the telegraph system. º ſe - e º º © o - 871 283. The Physical Conditions of Welfare. Whereas Elizabethan statesmen aimed at promoting national Power and the means of attaining it, nineteenth century public opinion is concentrated on the Welfare of the masses, and the conditions for realising it. This affords excuse for exclusive attention to the interests of labour in England and her colonies; while the policy of other countries is more concerned with national Power, or the interests of Capital. The influence of labour is shown in the respective xii - CONTENTs policies of England and her colonies, and in the development of Trade Unions, Friendly and Co-operative Societies. o tº º g 876 284. The English Conception of Welfare. The English conception of Welfare is distinct from that of other peoples, and includes a deep respect for historical tradition and an abandonment of any desire to assimilate other peoples to the English model, as well as a high respect for human life, even in the cases of coloured peoples. tº ſº * e ſº 881. 285. Imperial Administration. The Roman Empire had dealt with the same problems, but it was less fitted to grapple with them, from its military origin, its territorial character, and the economic pressure it entailed, while England has set herself to diffuse political power and to devise an uncorrupt and efficient system of civil administration in con- junction with democratic institutions. * e * g • 883 APPENDICES. A. Wages Assessments, p. 37. (i) The Middlesex Assessment of 166— g º g sy 887 (ii) Wages Assessments, and references to wages assessments, made by Justices of the Peace . º e * > * 894. IB. Enclosure and Depopulation in 1607, pp. 102, 103 . w 897 C. The Action of James I. and Charles I. in regard to Trade and the Colonies, pp. 175, 176, 199, 343. (i) Letters of James I. to the Commissions of Trade on the State of the Woollen Industry . & & * 900. (ii) Instructions to the Council of Trade under Charles I. . 902 (iii) Minutes of the Committee of Trade {º * e © 904. (iv) The Colonial Commission of Charles I. tº tº & 909, D. Colonial and Commercial Administration under Charles II. p. 200. (i) Instructions for the Council of Trade . . e e 913. (ii) Proceedings of the Council of Trade e g e g 915. E. Complaints from the Counties, 1650, p. 179 & g {} 921 F. Statistics of Progress, with Diagrams showing (i) the increase of revenue and of the charge on the debt, and (ii) the growth of population and of the charge for the poor-rate . © º e ſº & * 928. G. Some difficulties in the interpretation of Historical Statistics 937 BIBLIOGBAPHICAL INDEX. . (i) Collections of Documents, and Official Publications . 943 (ii) Histories and Articles, with the dates of the editions used 950 (iii) Single Papers and Contemporary Literature, arranged approximately in chronological order e g & 968. GENERAL INDEX . g º * & & * º w 999 WII. TAISSEZ, FAIRE. Aº I. THE WORKSHOP OF THE WORLD. 242. THE period, which opened with Arkwright's me- The . . chanical inventions, has been the commencement of a new #º. era in the Economic History, not only of England, but of #. im the whole world. It marked one of the great stages in England the growth of human power to master nature. The discovery of the New World, and of the sea route to India, had been events which gradually altered the whole method and scale on which European commerce was carried on. The applica- tion of water-power, and of steam, to do the work which had been previously accomplished by human drudgery, is com- parable with the commercial revolution of the sixteenth century, as a new departure of which we do not even yet. see the full significance. Physical forces have been utilised so as to aid man in his work; and the introduction of machinery continues slowly, but surely, to revolutionise the habits and organisation of industrial life in all parts of the globe. Half- civilised and barbarous peoples are compelled to have re- course, as far as may be, to modern weapons and modern means of communication ; they cannot hold aloof, or deny themselves the use of such appliances. But the adoption of entails a modern methods of production and traffic is hardly consistent §, with the maintenance of the old social order, in any country;, on this earth. England was the pioneer of the application of mechanism to industry, and thus became the workshop of the world, so that other countries have been inspired by her ex- ample. The policy of endeavouring to retain the advantages of machinery for England alone was mooted, but never very seriously pursued, and it was definitely abandoned in 1825. C.* 39 610 - LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D., 1776 —1850. wherever it spreads. The changes which have taken place in England, during the last hundred and thirty years, at least suggest the direction of the movements which may be expected in other lands, as they are drawn more and more to adapt themselves to modern conditions. The time has not yet come to write the History of the Industrial Revolution in its broader aspects, for we only know the beginning of the story; we can trace the origin and immediate results in England, but we cannot yet gauge its importance for the world as a whole. It was not an accident that England took the lead in this matter; the circumstances of the day afforded most favourable conditions for the successful introduction of new Mechanical appliances. Inventions and discoveries often seem to be Žnventions (were not Q, practical S?!CC6SS till the eighteenth century afforded the requisite . opportunt- ties for enterprise. merely fortuitous; men are apt to regard the new machinery as the outcome of a special and unaccountable burst of inventive genius in the eighteenth century. But we are not forced to be content with such a meagre explanation. To point out that Arkwright and Watt were fortunate in the fact that the times were ripe for them, is not to detract from their merits. There had been many ingenious men” from the time of William Lee and Dodo Dudley, but the conditions of their day were unfavourable to their success. The introduc- tion of expensive implements, or processes, involves a large outlay; it is not worth while for any man, however energetic, to make the attempt, unless he has a considerable command of capital, and has access to large markets. In the eighteenth century these conditions were being more and more realised. The institution of the Bank of England, and of other banks, had given a great impulse to the formation of capital; and it was much more possible, than it had ever been before, for a capable man to obtain the means of introducing costly improvements in the management of his business. It had become apparent, too, that the long-continued efforts to build up the maritime power of England had been crowned with success; she had established commercial connections with all parts of the globe, and had access to markets that were prac- tically unlimited. Under these circumstances, enterprising men were willing to run the risk of introducing expensive 1 Calendars S. P. D. 1690–1692, s.v. Inventions. THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN ENGLAND 611 novelties, and inventors could reasonably hope to reap ad- Aº vantage themselves from the improvements they suggested. & In the seventeenth century such an expansion had hardly been possible at all; the dominant principles were still in favour of a well-ordered trade, to be maintained by Securing The well- special concessions; the interlopers, who were prepared to con- ..., the test such privileges and to force their business on any terms º they could, were still regarded as injurious to the sound and healthy development of commerce. But after the Revolution England entered on a new phase of mercantile life; and the keen competition, which had been allowed free play temporarily during the Interregnum, with disastrous results, came to be accepted as the ordinary atmosphere of trade. The principles, which the interlopers had practised, were being more generally adopted, and all merchants became agreed that it was by pushing their wares, and selling goods that were better and cheaper than those of other countries, that new markets could be opened up and old ones retained. The “well-ordered º:;: trade” of the Merchant Companies would hardly have afforded with the sufficient scope for the introduction of mechanical improve- #.." ments in manufacturing. In the civic commerce of the Middle Ages, and during the seventeenth century, merchants had looked to well-defined and restricted markets, in which they held exclusive rights. So long as this was the case attempts were made to carry on industrial production so as just to meet these limited requirements, and to secure favourable conditions for the artisan, by guarding him from competition and authoritatively assessing his wages. As merchants and manufacturers realised that they could best gain, and keep, foreign markets, not by special privileges, but by supplying the required goods at low rates, they aimed at introducing the conditions of manufacture under which in- dustrial expansion is possible. This opinion commended itself and the old & tº .., regulations more and more to men of business and legislators, but it wºre prog. penetrated slowly among the artisans, who preferred the jº..., stability of the life they enjoyed under a system of regulation and restriction. Workmen were inclined to oppose the intro- duction of machinery in so far as it tended to upset the old- established order of the realm", while others seem to have hoped 1 See below, pp. 638, 652. 39—2 612 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 that machinery would confer on England a monopoly of in- T” dustrial power so that she would be able to dictate her own terms to foreign purchasers, and to rear up a new exclusive system. The old ideas, which had given rise to the trade institu- in the tions of the Middle Ages, and which had continued to be nineteenth dominant in the seventeenth century, were not dead at the century g * Fariñºnent opening of the nineteenth century, but they no longer ſº. appealed either to the capitalist classes or to the intelligence ”” of Parliament. No authoritative attempt was made to recast the existing regulations so as to suit the changing conditions. To do so was not really practicable; only two courses lay open to the legislators. They could either forbid the intro- duction of machinery, as Charles I. had done", for fear that people would be thrown out of work, or they could smooth the way for the introduction of the new methods by removing the existing barriers. The House of Commons chose the latter alternative, since the members had come to regard all efforts to prevent the use of mechanical appliances as alike futile and inexpedient. In the absence of any enforcement of the old restrictions, in regard to the hours and terms of employment, the difficulties of the transition were intensified; and the labourers, who had never been subjected to such misery under the old régime, agitated for the thorough though... enforcement of the Elizabethan laws. The working classes, the workin e & ſº #..." for the most part”, took their stand on the opinions as to †. industrial policy which had been traditional in this country, #: , and were embodied in existing legislation. To the demand legislation of the capitalist for perfect freedom for industrial progress, the labourers were inclined to reply by taking an attitude of impracticable conservatism; it was not till many years had elapsed, and freedom for economic enterprise had been secured, that serious attempts were made, from an entirely different point of view, to control the new industrial system so that its proved evils should be reduced to a minimum. The artisans were so much attached to the traditional methods of 1 See above, p. 295. 2. As an exception it may be noticed that Francis Place, who did so much to bring the evidence of working men to the front on particular issues, such as the Combination Laws, had no sympathy with the views of the class from which he d risen on the general policy which should be pursued. MACHINERY IN THE TEXTILE TRADES 613 securing the well-being of the labourer that they hung aloof Aº for a time from the humanitarian effort to remedy particular ſº abuses by new legislation. We have no adequate means of gauging the rapidity and violence of the Industrial Revolution which occurred in England during the seventy years from 1770 to 1840; it the seventy years of t commenced with the changes in the hardware trades, which industrial have been already described, but the crisis occurred when in- JRevolution ventive progress extended to the textile trades. Despite the gradual economic development, it seems likely enough that, while centuries passed, there was little alteration in the general aspect of England; but the whole face of the country was changed the changed by the Industrial Revolution. In 1770 there was ſº CLC& no Black Country, blighted by the conjunction of coal and ** iron trades; there were no canals, or railways, and no factory towns with their masses of population, The differentiation of town and country had not been carried nearly so far as it is to-day. All the familiar features of our modern life, and all its most pressing problems, have come to the front within the last century and a quarter. 243. The changes included in the term Industrial Revo- lution are so complicated and so various that it is not easy to state, far less to solve, the questions which they raise. There have been many different forms of industrial invention. Sometimes there has been the introduction of new processes, §º. as in the important series of experiments by which the duction problem of smelting and working iron, with fuel obtained * from coal, was finally solved; and this, as we have seen, was of extraordinary importance. Other improvements have con- sisted in the employment of new implements, by which the º 720717 skilled labourer is assisted to do his work more quickly or ments, better; one example has been noticed in the flying shuttle, and the substitution of the spinning-wheel for the whorl and spindle was another. But such a change is hardly to be described as the introduction of machinery. A machine, as commonly understood, does not assist a man to do his work", it does the work itself, under human guidance; its 1. There may be machines that go by human power, but do the work in quite a different way from that in which it has previously been done: e.g. the bicycle, or spinning-jenny. 614 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. had such marked results as the substi- tution of machimery for hand labour. The ºn tro- duction of machines 2008 Q, phase in the progress of Capital- 287m, and led to &ncreased characteristic feature is that it is an application of power, and not of human exertion. Hence the introduction of machinery always has a very direct bearing on the position of the labourer. From one point of view we may say that it saves him from drudgery; from another, that it forces upon him the strain of a competition in which he is overmatched, and thus gradually deprives him of employment. The invention of new processes and new implements has not such a necessary and direct result on the employment and remuneration of labour as occurs with the introduction of machines. So far as the wealth of the realm was concerned, the development of the coal and iron trades was of extraordinary importance, but the substitution of mechanical inventions for hand labour in the textile trades brought about a revolution in social life throughout the country. 244. Though the changes effected by the industrial revo- lution have been so startling, it may yet be said, when we view them from an economic standpoint, that they were of un- exampled violence rather than wholly new. After all, the age of mechanical invention was only one phase of a larger movement. We have traced the gradual intervention ofcapital in industry and agriculture, especially during the eighteenth century; we shall now have to note the operation of the same force, but at a greatly accelerated pace. Capitalism obtained a footing and held its ground in the cloth trade", because of the facilities which the wealthy man enjoyed for purchasing materials, or for meeting the markets. Other trades, such as coal mining or iron manufacture, had been necessarily capitalistic in type from the earliest days, because none but wealthy men were able to purchase expensive plant, and to run the risks of setting it up. The invention of mechanical appliances for the textile trades gave a still greater advantage to the rich employer, as compared with the domestic weaver, since only substantial men could afford to employ machines. It was a farther sign of the triumph of the modern system of business management. It is worth while to distinguish some of the principal changes in connection with labour, which resulted from the increase of capitalist organisation and especially from machine ! See pp. 499 and 505 above. INCREASING INFLUENCE OF CAPITAL 615 production. The opening chapter of the Wealth of Nations Aº calls attention to the important improvement which is known as the division of processes. Adam Smith there points out division of that an employer can organise production, and assign each "“” man his own particular task in such a way, that there shall be a saving of time and of skill. There will also be other advantages, such as an increase of deftness, from the acquired facility in doing some one operation rapidly and well. The division of processes is sure to arise under any capitalist system of control; in some districts of the cloth trade, it had been carried out to a very considerable extent for centuries, and it is true to say that increased subdivision has facili- tated the invention of machinery. None the less is it also true that the adoption of mechanical appliances has led to the development of new forms of specialised labour, and has tended to confine men more exclusively to particular departments of work. The invention of machinery, as well as the introduction of and to the s * * * * shifting of new processes, brought about a considerable shifting of labour. idiour The employment of coal for smelting iron tended to the disuse of charcoal burning, and caused an increased demand for hewers in coal-mines; whether there was less employment or more, in connection with the production of a ton of suitable fuel, it was employment of a different kind. The adoption of machinery in the textile trades also caused an extraordinary shifting of labour; for children were quite competent to tend machines which carried on work that had hitherto occupied adults. On the whole, machinery rendered it possible in many departments of industry to substitute unskilled for skilled labour. The tendency, which had been observable during the early as well as part of the century, for manufactures to migrate to particular * districts, was enormously accelerated by the introduction of ; ;" to locali- machinery. So far as the cloth trade was concerned, the * º, trend appears to have been due to the facilities which water-available. power afforded for fulling-mills; and as one invention after another was introduced, it became not merely advantageous, but necessary for the manufacturer to establish his business at some place where power was available. We have in con- sequence the rapid concentration of industries in the West 616 LAISSEZ FAIRE Riding and other areas where water-power could be had, and the comparative desertion of low lying and level districts. The application of steam-power caused a farther readjust- ment in favour of the coal-producing areas; but this new development did not resuscitate the decaying industries of the Eastern Counties, since they were as badly off for coal as they were for water-power. 245. The introduction of machinery rendered it necessary to concentrate the labourers in factories where the machines were in operation; the new methods of work were incom- patible with the continued existence of cottage industry. The man who worked in his own house, whether as a wage- earner under the capitalist system or as an independent tradesman under the domestic system, was no longer required, so soon as it was proved that machine production was econo- mically better. In the same way, the concentration of spinning in factories deprived the women of a by-employment in their cottages. During the greater part of the eighteenth century industrial occupations were very widely diffused, and the interconnection between the artisan population and rural occupation was close". The severance had already begun; but under the influence of the introduction of machinery it went on with greater rapidity, till the differentiation of town from country employment was practically complete. The divorce of the industrial population from the soil tended on the one hand to the impoverishment of the rural districts, from which manufactures were withdrawn, and on the other to a notable change in the position of the workman; he came to be wholly dependent on his earnings, and to have no other source to which he could look for support. The cottage weavers, whether wage-earners or independent men, had had the opportunity of work in the fields in harvest and of supplementing their income from their gardens or through their privileges on the common wastes. When the industrial population was massed in factory towns” they were necessarily deprived of these subsidiary sources of income, and their terms of employment were affected by the state of trade. A.D., 1776 —1850. The con- centration of labour involved the decay of cottage employ- nº.677t and in- creased the differentia- tion of town and cowntry So that the 2000/00/' ceased to have sub- sidiary sources of &ncome, 1 See pp. 562 and 564 above. 2 A Committee of the House of Commons insisted the advantages of allotments to the artisan population and had evidence of a widespread anxiety to obtain them. Reports 1843, VII. 203. FACTORIES AND COTTAGE INDUSTRIES 617 So long as cottage industry lasted, the workmen had some- A.D. 1776 thing to fall back upon when times were bad; but under the Tºº". new conditions the fluctuations were much more violent º: than they had ever been before, and the workman had no Fºuatiºn means of improving his position. The prosperity of the mass * of the population no longer rested on the solid basis of land, but upon the fluctuating basis of trade". The age of invention then was not merely concerned, as There was might at first sight appear, with the improvement of particular ºa arts, it effected an entire revolution in the economic life of mºre the country; for this reason it is not quite easy to weigh against one another the loss and gain involved in such a fundamental change. We see on the one hand the signs of marvellous economic progress; an immensely increased com- mand over material resources of all sorts and an extraordinary development of trade and wealth, with the consequent ability to cope with the schemes by which Napoleon endeavoured to compass our ruin. On the other hand we see a loss of this in- stability of every kind; England as a nation forfeited her self- #. º sufficing character and became dependent on an imported * food supply; and a large proportion of the population, who had been fairly secure in the prospect of shelter and employ- ment and subsistence for their lives, were reduced to a condition of the greatest uncertainty as to their lot from year to year or from week to week. Over against the rapid advance of material prosperity must be set the terrible suffer- ing which was endured in the period of transition; and while we congratulate ourselves on the progress that has taken place, we should not forget the cost at which it has been ob- tained, or the elements of well-being that have been Sacrificed. 246. There were, however, certain sections of the com- Machinery munity which were able to take advantage of the period of ſº change, and to adapt themselves rapidly to the new conditions;” rise a class of capitalist manufacturers came into great prominence, and they were soon able to exercise considerable influence in Parliament. There had of course been wealthy employers in certain districts”, especially in the iron trade, and in the 1 Massie, Plan, p. 69. See above, p. 577. 2 Compare the iron, glass and brass works mentioned by Rudder, Gloucester. shire, 601. 618 - l, AISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. of capitalist employers, cloth trade of the West of England; but the moneyed men of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries had been merchants rather than manufacturers of textile goods. It was only with the progress of the industrial revolution that the wealthy em- ployer of labour attained to anything like the social status which had been accorded to successful merchants from time immemorial. But the triumph of capital in industry involved the rise and prosperity of a large number of captains of industry: It seems probable that there was comparatively little room for the intrusion of new men in the old centres of the cloth trades. There were large and well-established houses engaged in this manufacture in the West of England, and they had an honourable ambition to maintain the traditions of their trades. In Yorkshire, too, there was a class of capitalist merchants who were ready to deflect their energies into manufacturing as occasion arose. The wealthy em- ployers of the West Riding seem to have been chiefly drawn from this class, though they were doubtless reinforced to Some extent by men like Hirst who had risen from the ranks”. There is reason to believe, however, that in Lancashire, and the other areas where the cotton trade was carried on, the course of affairs was somewhat different. This industry was characterised by an extraordinary expansion, and it offered abundant opportunities for new men, of energy and per- severance, to force their way to the front. “Few of the men who entered the trade rich were successful. They trusted too much to others—too little to themselves; whilst on the contrary the men who prospered were raised by their own efforts—commencing in a very humble way, generally from exercising some handicraft, as clockmaking, hatting, &c., and pushing their advance by a series of unceasing exertions, having a very limited capital to begin with, or even none at all, saving their own labour".” The yeomen farmers as a class failed to seize the opportunities open to them; but a “few of these men, shaking off their slothful habits, both of some of whom were drawn from mercantile business and some of whom had risen from the ranks 1 For an admirable examination of the growth of this class see P. Mantoux, La I?évolution Industrielle, 376. * The Woollen Trade during the last Fifty Years, Brit. Mus. 10347. de. 25. * P. Gaskell, Artisans and Machinery, 33. THE RISE OF AN EMPLOYING CLASS 619 body and mind, devoted themselves to remedying other con- Aº ditions with a perseverance certain to be successful. Joining g to this determination a practical acquaintance with the de- tails of manufactures, personal superintendence and industry, several of the most eminently successful steam-manufacturers have sprung from this class of people, and have long since become the most opulent of a wealthy community".” The Peels and the Strutts were examples of families which of the º $/€oman emerged from the ranks of the yeomen and acquired great glass. wealth in the cotton trade. Many of the rich manufacturers in such towns as Stockport, Hyde, Duckenfield and Staley- bridge had in early life worked as “hatters, shoemakers, carters, weavers, or some other trade”.” Some of these self- made men were not disinclined to be proud of their own success, and to be at Once hard and contemptuous towards the man who had shown so little energy as to remain in the labouring class, as if it was less his misfortune than his fault. It was not unnatural that, as the cotton manufacture The im- continued to increase, Manchester should become the centre * of a school of men who were deeply imbued with the belief;...” that in industrial affairs the battle was to the strong and the "º" ºf race to the swift. The system, which the Mercantilists had #ºſ., built up with the view of stimulating industry, seemed to industry, this new race only to stifle and hamper it. Under somewhat different circumstances the capitalist employers might have been eager to secure protection. The nouveaua riches of the fourteenth century were eager to protect English muni- cipalities against the intrusion of aliens; the merchant princes of the seventeenth century organised a restrictive system by means of which they hoped to foster the English industry at the expense of the French and the Dutch. American millionaires have found their protective tariff an assistance in building up gigantic trusts. It is at least con- not by ceivable that the cotton manufacturers of the early part of recastvng the nineteenth century should have endeavoured to retain for a time a monopoly of industrial power, and have forced other peoples to pay such prices as would have enabled them to remodel the conditions of production in a satisfactory. * Gaskell, ib. p. 32. 2 Ib. 96. 620 .* LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. but by abandon- *ng the old System. The cotton &ndustry was the field where the revo- lution first occurred fashion. This policy would have commended itself to the minds of the artisans; had it been adopted, the cleavage between capital and labour would hardly have been so marked. But the spirit of keen competition had caught hold of the employing class; they were of opinion, and in all probability their judgement on this point was perfectly sound, that it was only by a continued exercise of the activity by which they had found their way into foreign markets that they could hope to retain them. The Manchester School were aiming at the same object as the Mercantilists had pursued during the period of Whig ascendancy: they desired to promote the industrial activity of the country; but the means they recommended were the very opposite of those which had been adopted in earlier days. They felt that they could dispense with fostering care and exclusive privileges; this was in itself a tribute to the success of the policy which had been so steadily pursued for generations. The maritime power of England had been built up, the industry had been developed, the agriculture had been stimulated, and the economic life had become so vigorous that it appeared to have outgrown the need of extraneous help. There seemed to be a danger that the very measures which had been intended to support it should prove to be fetters that hampered its growth. II. THE INTRODUCTION OF MACHINERY IN THE TEXTILE TRADES. 247. The cotton manufacture was the first of the textile trades to be revolutionised by the introduction of new machinery. Appliances worked by power had been in opera- tion from time immemorial in the subsidiary operations of the woollen trade, such as the fulling-mills; and silk-mills had been erected on the model of those in Piedmontº ; but the series of inventions, for carding and spinning cotton, which is associated with the name of Richard Arkwright, marks the beginning of a fresh era. He had been brought 1 See above, p. 519. These mills appear to have inspired Arkwright's deter- mination to apply power to the cotton manufacture. Gentl. Mag., 1792, II. 863. COTTON-SPINNING 621 up as a barber, and does not appear to have had either the Aº technical acquaintance with the cotton trade, or the mechani- 50. cal skill, which might be expected in a great inventor. Still he possessed such business ability as to inspire the confidence through the of wealthy patrons, who supplied him with the necessary ºfton funds". “By adopting various inventors' ideas he completed ..." a series of machines for carding and roving. He was enabled successful, to do this the more easily by having the command of a large capital. The inventors of the improvements had not the means of carrying them into effect on an extensive scale; they found the game, but from want of capital were unable to secure it, whilst Mr Arkwright by availing himself of their inventions and by inducing ‘men of property to engage with him to a large amount reaped all the advantages and obtained all the rewards”; and he succeeded in rendering the ideas of other men a practical success. Roller-spinning had been patented by Lewis Paul in 1738°, but his rights had expired. The same principle was applied by Thomas Highs in the waterframe", which was the basis on which Arkwright worked. He set up a spinning-mill with horse- power" at Nottingham in 1771, and afterwards made use of water power in his mill at Cromford, in Derbyshire. In 1775 he obtained a patent, which embraced the inventions of Lewis Paul and others. Arkwright's exclusive claims were though he ignored by other manufacturers, and he had recourse to the #, courts to enforce them ; but finally, in the action which he º brought against Colonel Mordaunt, Arkwright failed to main- tain his alleged rights"; and his appeal to the public, entitled The Case of Mr Richard Arkwright, did not create the 1 He had expended £12,000 on the enterprise before he began to make amy profit. 2 R. Guest, History of the Cotton Manufacture, 27. 8 B. Woodcroft, Brief Biographies, p. 8. This machine was apparently employed for spinning fine wool as well as cotton. Dyer, The Fleece, blº. III. in Anderson Poets, Vol. Ix. p. 569, 571. * Guest, Compendious History of the Cotton Manufacture, 13. A model of this machine was made by John Kay the watchmaker and was exhibited by Arkwright in asking for assistance to prosecute his enterprise. Woodcroft, op. cit. 10. * Baines, Cotton Manufacture, 186. 6 The evidence is discussed at some length by Guest, British Cotton Manu- factures, a reply to an article in the Edinburgh Review (1828), 17. 622 LAISSEZ, FAIRE Aº" favourable impression he had expected. There was hence- forth no hindrance to the general use of power-spinning. The hand-jenny, which was improved from Highs' invention by Hargreave of Blackburn about 1767, had met with serious opposition", and it had hardly been introduced in the cotton districts before it was superseded”, and the work transferred to mills where water-power was available. A further in- vention in 1775 by Crompton, of the Water Mule which combined the principles of the Jenny and the Water Frame, rendered it possible to obtain a much finer thread than had previously been produced by machinery, so that it became and power- possible to develop the muslin manufacture”. Through these $º" changes the carding, roving and spinning of cotton were no .a. longer continued as cottage employments, and weaving was the only part of the manufacture which was not concentrated in factories. The The cotton trade had a peculiar position among English ...”.” manufactures; it was not an industry for which the country Cotton, O77, *** was naturally adapted, for the materials were imported, and had grown £during it had never enjoyed the protection bestowed on some other exotic trades, for there was no serious French competition. The early history of the trade is very obscure; and it is rendered particularly confusing by the ambiguous use of the term cottons, which was applied in the sixteenth century to some kind of cloth manufactured from wool". There can be little doubt, however, that the trade in Manchester goods, in which Humphrey Chetham made his fortune", included cottons 1 The fact that the hand-jennies and carding machines were destroyed in Lancashire, Nottingham, and elsewhere (Rees, Encyclopedia (1819), s.v. Cotton Manufacture) is a further indication that the cottagers who spun cotton were wage-earners. Otherwise they might, like the Yorkshire domestic clothiers (see p. 502) have welcomed the introduction of such hand-machines. They appear to have become reconciled to hand-jennies ten years later, and to have only attacked machines that went by water or horse-power in 1779 (loc. cit.). * Annals of Agriculture (1788), x. 580. * R. Guest, Compendious History of Cotton Manufacture, 31. 4 Defoe among other writers appears to have been misled by this ambiguity: he speaks of the cotton manufacture as earlier than the woollen, Tour (1724) III. Letter iii. p. 216. The tradition of the older sense of the term cottom survived in Lancashire in the nineteenth century, W. Cooke Taylor, Notes of a Tour in the Manufacturing Districts of Lancashire, 140. It seems probable that the same sort of confusion occurs in the use of the term ‘fustian’; cf. 11 H. VII. c. 27. * He and his brothers “betook themselves to the Trading of this County COTTON-SPINNING * 623 and fustians made from the vegetable material. In 1641 A.D. 1776 we have an undoubted mention of the weaving of cotton in —1850. its modern sense; Lewis Roberts' speaks with admiration of sixteenth the enterprise of the Manchester men who bought the cotton ** wool of Cyprus and Smyrna” in London and sold quantities “” of fustians, vermilions and dimities. A few years earlier, in 1626, we have an isolated proposal to employ the poor in the spinning and weaving of cotton wool*; it seems likely enough that the industry was planted in Lancashire about 1685 by immigrants from Antwerp, a city where the fustian manufac- ture had been prosecuted with success". But however it was dealing in Manchester commodities, sent up to London. * * He was High Sheriff of the County 1635, discharging the place with great Honour. Insomuch that very good Gentlemen of Birth and Estate did wear his Cloth at the Assize to testifie their unfeigned affection to him " (Fuller's Worthies, 121). Fuller also explains that several sorts of fustians are made in Lancashire, “whose in- habitants, buying the Cotton Wool or Yarne coming from beyond the Sea, make it here into Fustians, to the good employment of the poor and great improvement of the rich therein, serving mean people for their outsides, and their betters for the Lineings of their garments; Bolton is the Staple place for this commodity being brought thither from all parts of the county’’ (ib. 106). In Rees’ Encyclo- pedia there is an interesting account of the organisation of the fustian trade about the middle of the seventeenth century. “Fustians were manufactured in quantities at Bolton, Leigh, and other places adjacent; but Bolton was the principal market for them, where they were bought in the grey by the Manchester dealers, who finished and sold them in the country. The Manchester traders went regularly on market days to buy fustians of the weavers, each weaver then procuring his own yarn and cotton as he could, which subjected the trade to great inconvenience. To remedy this, the chapmen themselves furnished warps and cottons to the weavers, and employed persons in all the little villages and places adjacent, to deliver out materials, and receive back the manufactured goods when finished. Each weaver's cottage formed at that time a separate and independent little factory, in which the raw material was prepared, carded and spun, by the female part of the family, and supplied woof, or weft, for the goods which were wove by the father and his sons.” S.V. Cotton Manufacture. 1 “The towne of Manchester in Lancashire must be also herein remembered and worthily, and for their industry commended, who buy the Yarne of the Irish in great quantity, and weaving it returne the same againe in Linnen into Ireland to sell; neither doth the industry rest here, for they buy Cotten wool in London, that comes first from Cyprus and Smyrna, and at home worke the same and perfit it into Fustians, Vermilions, Dymities and other such Stuffes, and then returne it to London, where the same is vented and sold, and not seldom sent into forrain parts,” Treasure of Trafficke, 32, 33. The localisation of the cotton trade in Lancashire may have been connected with facilities for obtaining from Ireland the linen yarn, which was then found necessary for the warp of the fabrics. 2 One of the allegations in favour of the Turkey Company was that it provided materials for this manufacture, while the East India Company introduced finished goods. 8 J. Stoit, Brit. Mus. Add. MSS. 12,496, f. 236. * Cummingham, Alien Immigrants, p. 180. 624 LAISSEZ FAIRE planted, it took root in Lancashire and developed steadily till about 1740, when an era of more rapid progress began *. The competition of the East India Company was that which the manufacturers had most reason to fear, and though the cloth they wove of cotton on a linen warp had a practical monopoly in the home market”, they were liable to be undersold by the company in foreign markets. Arkwright's inventions, by spinning a firmer cotton thread than had hitherto been pro- curable and one which was suitable for the warp", made it possible to manufacture a cloth on terms which rendered it, acceptable in markets in all parts of the world. The effect of Arkwright's success was to open up to a trade, that had hitherto been conducted on a small scale, the possi- bility of enormous and indefinite expansion". Materials could be obtained in considerable quantities from the East and the Bahamas; and in the last decades of the eighteenth century increasing supplies were procured from the southern States". A.D. 1776 —1850. bwt cloth. could now be made of cotton? only, and foreigners wndersold. Ample supplies of material *1)07’6” available, 1 The progress was not uncheckered, however, and was closely dependent on the supply of materials. The evidence given before the Select Committee of 1751 seems to show that their French and German rivals could obtain the linen yarn. used as warp more cheaply than the English manufacturers could procure it from Ireland (Reports from Committees of the House of Commons, Reprints, First Series, II. 291, 292). In order to assist them it was resolved that the duties on the importation of foreign linen yarn should be reduced (Commons Journals, xxvi. 234). The English had an advantage in the possession of cotton islands; but their continental rivals offered better prices and secured a large part of the crop. (Reports, op. cit. 296). There were further complaints of decline in the manu- facture in 1766. T., Letters on the Utility of Machinery, 9. 2 9 Geo. II. c. 4. 8 Linen had been previously used for this purpose. In 1774 an Act was passed which repealed 7 Geo. I. c. 7 and rendered it possible for Arkwright to take full advantage of the improvement. 14 Geo. III. c. 72. 4 The average annual import of cotton wool for the years 1701 to 1705 was 1,170,881 lbs. ; it rose in the following decade and from 1716–20 averaged 2,173,287 lbs. I'or quinquennial periods after the invention of the jenny and frame 1771–1775 . . . 4,764,589, 1776–1780 . . . 6,706,013, 1781–1785 . . . 10,941,934, 1786–1790 . . . 25,443,270. In 1800 it reached 56,010,732 and in 1810, 136,488,935, but after this year there was a remarkable drop (as low as 50,966,000 in 1813), and matters did not mend till after the close of the war. Guest, op. cit. 51. 5 The cultivation of cotton had been introduced into the Carolinas and Georgia. from the Bahamas about the time of the War of Independence. Whitney's in- vention of the cotton-gin which separated the fibre from the seed, and prepared the cottom for export, gave an immense stimulus to the production; in 1794, One million six hundred thousand pounds were exported. Leone Levi, History, 83. COTTON.—SPINNING 625 Since plenty of raw material was available, the manufacture Aº advanced rapidly to meet the enlarging demand for cheap cotton cloth. It is to be noticed, however, that the trade was liable to serious interruptions; both for the materials used, and for access to the markets in which the cloth was sold, the Lancashire manufacturers were dependent on foreign commerce; and a breach of mercantile intercourse might dis- organise the whole of the industry”. This occurred to some extent from the decline of the American demand for Man- chester goods during the War of Independence; as a result there was considerable distress among the hands employed. They were inclined to attribute it to the introduction of machinery and there was a good deal of rioting” and destruction of spinning-jennies in parts of Lancashire. Apart from these periods of distress, however, the trade increased by leaps and bounds, and it was alleged in 1806 that a third part in value of all our exports was sent abroad in the form of cotton goods. 1 The first phase of development was the extension of the Lancashire cotton trade at the expense of woollen and limen : “From the year 1770 to 1788 a complete change had gradually been effected in the spinning of yarns—that of wool dis- appearing altogether and that of linen was also nearly gone–Cotton, cotton, cotton was become the almost universal material for employment, the hand-wheels, with the exception of one establishment were all thrown into lumber-rooms, the yarn was spun on common jemmies, the carding for all numbers up to 40 hanks in the pound, was done on carding engines; but the finer numbers of 60 to 80 were still carded by hand, it being a general opinion that machine carding would never answer for fine numbers. In weaving no great alteration had taken place during these 18 years, save the introduction of the fly-shuttle—a change in the woollen looms to fustians and calico, and the linen nearly gone except the few fabrics in which there was a mixture of cotton. To the best of my recollection there was no increase of looms during this period—but rather a decrease.” Radcliffe, Origin of the New System of Manufacture, 61. 2 For an instance of this in 1653, see S. P. D. Inter. LXVIII. 4, Mar. 20, 1653–4. The commissioners of customs had seized twelve bags which had been imported from Dunkirk contrary to the Navigation Acts and the “trade was in danger to return from whence by industry 'twas gained.” See also below, pp. 686, 689. 8 These disturbances called forth the Act 22 Geo. III, c. 40, which counplains of the “destroying the manufactures of wool, silk, linen and cotton, and thematerials, tools, tackle and other utensils prepared for or used therein.” There were riots at Hunslet in Yorkshire when the military were called out (Cookson's Evidence, Reports, 1806, III., printed pag. 81), but these were probably directed against shearing frames, not against jennies (see below, p. 662). There had also been riots on the part of the spinners in 1753, and Kay was forced to leave Bury, as he had been driven out of Colchester in 1738 on account of his shuttle, and from Leeds on account of his power-loom in 1745. Woodcroft, op. cit. p. 4. See also T., Letters on the wtility, p. 20, note. On the hostility to machinery in 1824–30 see S. J. Chapman, Lancashire Cotton Industry, 78. c. * 40 though in- terruptions of trade 2007 & disastrows 626 LAISSEZ FAIRE Aº This unexampled expansion of the industry opened up a and there very much larger field for employment than had been avail- ...a able before the era of these inventions. The abundance of º for yarn, especially after 1788, when mule yarns became available, was such that the services of weavers were in great demand', and considerable quantities of yarn were sent abroad for use on foreign looms. The kinds of labour needed were not very different from those required in the old days of hand spinning and carding, but girls and women were concentrated in factories to tend the machines, instead of spinning with their wheels in cottages. This case affords an excellent illustration of an important principle in regard to labour-saving machinery; when the improvement renders the article cheaper and there- by stimulates the demand, it is quite likely that there will be an increased call for labour”, because the machine has come into use”. The artisans, who thought that such inventions must necessarily deprive them of their occupation, were mis- taken; the number of hands engaged in the cotton trade to-day is undoubtedly very much larger than it was in the time of Arkwright. Much remains to be said about the con- ditions and terms of employment, but there can be no doubt whatever that the introduction of machinery did not diminish the numbers occupied in the cotton trade. but the The only check to the indefinite expansion of the trade supply of gº e & * wate?'- lay in the limited supply of water-power available; that cause power was #...” for apprehension was removed, however, by the invention of Boulton and Watt, and the application of steam as the motive power in cotton mills. Though steam engines had long been in use for pumping water from mines, the improvements, 1 Radcliffe, Origin of the New System of Manufacture, p. 65. 2 Arkwright asserted that when power-spinning was introduced, the spinners were not left idle, but were “almost immediately engaged” in weaving or other branches of the business. Anstie, Observations, 12 n. 8. On one of the limiting conditions, see below, pp. 661, 662. Other illustrations are furnished by the railways, which by rendering intercommunication cheap have developed intercourse of every sort. It is probable that more horses are required now, as subsidiary to railway traffic, than were needed in the eighteenth century to do all the haulage by road: there can be no doubt that there is far larger employment for men. Other illustrations of an increased demand for labour in consequence of the introduction of labour-saving implements are afforded by the type-writer and the sewing-machine. COTTON-SPINNING 627 which reduced the cost of working and rendered it possible Aº to apply steam power to industry, were an immense advance. At Papplewick in Nottinghamshire a steam cotton mill ºft. application was erected in 1785; and the new power was utilised for of steam spinning at Manchester in 1789, and at Glasgow in 1792.” Its full effect was only gradually felt, and water continued to |be economically the better agent during the first quarter of the nineteenth century; but eventually as a consequence of Watt's invention, water-falls became of less value. Instead of carrying the people to the power, employers found it preferable to place the power among the people at the most convenient trading centres. The factory system is older than the application of steam to the textile trades; but the intro- duction of the new mechanical power tended to destroy the ºl, owed by advantage of factory villages on streams, and rendered possible the groith the gradual concentration of the population in factory towns, gºry The cotton trade, as depending on imported materials and supplying foreign markets", was probably a capitalistic trade from the very first ; the suggestion that it was planted by immigration from abroad harmonises with this view; and though the weavers were cottagers, it is likely that they were wage earners” and not men who worked on the domestic 1 See p. 518 above. * The conditions of life during this period of expansion are fully described by Radcliffe. “These families, up to the time I have been speaking of, whether as cottagers or Small farmers, had supported themselves by the different occupations I have mentioned in spinning and manufacturing, as their progenitors from the earliest institutions of society had done before them. But the mule-twist now coming into vogue, for the warp as well as the weft, added to the water-twist and common jinny yarns, with an increasing demand for every fabric the loom could produce, put all hands in request of every age and description. The fabrics made from wool or limen vanished, while the old loom-shops being insufficient every lumber-room, even old barns, carthouses, and outbuildings of any description were repaired, windows broke through the old blank walls and all fitted up for 1oom-shops. This source of making room being at length exhausted, new weavers cottages with loom-shops rose up in every direction; all immediately filled, and when in full work the weekly circulation of money as the price of labour only rose to five times the amount ever before experienced in this sub-division, every family bringing home weekly 40, 60, 80, 100 or even 120 shillings per week.” Origin of the New System of Manufacture, 66. Radcliffe had personal knowledge of these times, for as he says, “I always attended Manchester Market on Tuesdays, bringing from the bank my cash for the wages of the week. Next morning, soon after six, I entered the warehouse to serve the weavers of whom there were generally ten to twenty waiting behind the counter, on which I placed the money to count into the drawer before I began business.” Ib. p. 68. 40–2 628 LAISSEZ FAIRE system". However this may be, the manufacture was or- ganised on capitalistic lines from the time of the introduction of machinery, and the cotton factories which rose in the neigh- bourhood of Manchester and other large towns soon began to attract public attention. 248. From a very early time the state of the factories, and the conditions under which the children employed in them lived and worked called forth severe criticism by public authorities. In 1784, before the great period of expansion had set in, the Lancashire magistrates had deputed Dr Percival and other medical men to institute enquiries on the subject”; their report shows how long the evil was allowed to continue before any serious attempt was made to check it, and how slowly the national conscience was aroused to the necessity of taking active and effective measures. Work in the factories did not in all probability make greater calls upon the powers of the children than work in other occupations"; but the cotton factories brought the evil into light in connection with a growing industry, in which it was practicable to deal with it. The subsequent attempt to enforce regulations in old-established tradesroused less opposition", since a beginning A.D. 1776 —1850. The con- dition of parish ap- prentices in cotton. factories attracted attention, 1 Gaskell (Artisans and Machinery, 31) speaks of yeomen who obtained jennies and tried to compete with the mules. The opportunity of industrial occupation would delay the extinction of the class (see above, p. 558) of Small farmers in this district. Kennedy’s description implies that the cotton weavers owned the implements and turned their own cottages into small factories, before water- power was used. Rise and progress of Cotton Trade, in Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, 2nd Series, III. 120, 9. * Hutchins and Harrison, Factory Legislation, 7. - 8 Mr Cooke Taylor has recorded the impressions of some of the elderly men. with whom he spoke in 1842. One of them appealing to his own youth—about 1770– maintained that these had been “really the days of infant slavery. “The creatures were set to work,’ he said, “as soon as they could crawl,” and their parents were the hardest of task masters. I may remark that on a previous occasion I had received a similar account from an old man in the vale of Todmorden, who declared that he would not accept an offer to live his whole life over again, if it. were to be accompanied with the condition of passing through the same servitude. and misery which he had endured in infancy. Both these old men expressed great indignation at the clamour which had been raised for infant protection; my Todmorden friend quite lost his temper when any reference was made to the Subject, contrasting in very strong terms the severities he had endured, and the heavy labours he had to perform, both in his father's house and afterwards as, an apprentice, with the light toil and positive comfort of the factory children.” Notes of a Tour in the Manufacturing Districts of Lancashire, 141. * The Act of 1802 applied to other factories besides cotton mills, but there seems to have been very little spinning of wool by children in mills at that date. THE FIRST FACTORY ACT (329 had been made with the cotton trade; after the principle of Aºſ" state intervention had once been accepted, it became possible to apply it, step by step, not only to factories, but to work- shops as well. - The main evil, as recognised at this time, lay, not in the ºl. 5 the danger excessive hours of work", but in the conditions under which of oper. the children who had been apprenticed in cotton factories were 2007'A', housed and fed. The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were fully alive to the peril of idleness, as the source of crime of every kind”; the squatters on commons and the weavers, who worked or not as they chose, were regarded as dangers to the prosperity of the country, but the ordinary citizen failed to contemplate the possibility of any evil arising from overwork. Still the public did appreciate the unwhole- some conditions in which the children were housed and fed, and the fact that they were deprived of all opportunity of instruction. Most of them were parish apprentices, who were brought in batches from their parishes, and the parish authorities were very negligent” about seeing that the terms 1 Dr Percival may be regarded as exceptionally far-seeing. In the report which he and other medical men presented to the Lancaster county magistrates in 1784 the following passage occurs. “We earnestly recommend a longer recess from labour at noon and a more early dismission from it in the evening, to all those who work in cotton mills; but we deem this indulgence essential to the present health and future capacity for labour, for those who are under the age of fourteen; for the active recreations of childhood and youth are necessary to the growth, the vigour and the right conformation of the human body. And we cannot excuse ourselves on the present occasion from suggesting to you, who are the guardians of the public weal, this further very important consideration, that the rising generation should not be debarred from all opportunities of instruction at the only season of life in which they can be properly improved.” Apparently in consequence of this report the magistrates resolved that in future they would not allow “indentures of Parish Apprentices whereby they shall be bound to owners of cotton mills and other works in which children are obliged to work in the might, or more than ten hours in the day.” Hutchins and Harrison, Iſistory of Factory Legislation, 8. 2 This point is well brought out by Miss Hutchins and Miss Harrison in their excellent work on Factory Legislation, 3. 8 The system of farming the poor (see above, p. 575) doubtless contributed to the neglect on the part of parish authorities. The officials had, at all events, no interest in interfering on behalf of the children. “It is within the compass of probability, that there have been, and are yet, instances, wherein the overseers of the poor and more especially the assistant overseers, who are mere mercenaries and serve for pay, have been, and are, some of them at least, bribed by the owners of mills for spinning silk, cotton or woollen yarn, to visit the habitation of the 630 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 of the indentures were properly complied with. Apprentice- —1850. ship had always been regarded not merely as a period of but because service, but as an opportunity of training in conduct. The ź. public mind had been uneasy about the treatment of other º parish apprentices', but the number of the cotton factories concentrated in Manchester led to the demands for special regulations for those who were bound to this particular trade”. Sir Robert Peel, who felt the need of more effective regulations than he had been able to give in his own factory", took the matter up, and a measure was passed in 1802, for the protection of apprentices in cotton and other factories. The Act" insists that the interior of the mills should be whitewashed twice a year, and that they should be properly ventilated; it enacts that the apprentices shall be provided with proper clothing by their masters; it forbids work for more than twelve hours, and prohibits night work—with a tempo- rary exception for large mills; it provides that the apprentices shall receive elementary education and religious instruction, and lays down rules as to their sleeping accommodation. The first The measure appears to have been almost inoperative”; Factory t Act it probably led the mill-owners to engage children to work persons receiving parochial aid, and to compel them, when children are wanting, A. utterly regardless of education, health or inclination to deliver up their offspring, or by cutting off the parish allowance leave them to perish for want l” John Brown, Memoirs of Robert Blincoe, p. 29. A writer on the workhouses of Great Britain in 1732 complains of “a very bad Practice in Parish Officers who to save Expense, are apt to ruin children by putting them out as early as they can, to any sorry masters that will take them, without any concern for their Education or Welfare, on account of the little Money that is given with them.” Hutchins and Harrison, op. cit. 6. 1 Jonas Hanway had called attention to the frightful mortality among parish infants (Letters on the importance of the rising generation (1777), I. 27) and to the condition of the chimmey sweeps. For other references see Hutchins and Harrison, op. cit. 6, 14. 2 Compare the resolutions of the Manchester Board of Health (1796) quoted by Sir Robert Peel. Minutes of evidence on Children employed in Manufactories, in Reports, 1816, III. 377, printed pag. 139. 8 Ib. 377. 4 42 Geo. III. c. 73, An Act for the preservation of the health and morals of parish apprentices and others employed in cotton and other mills. 5 Sir Robert Peel seems to have thought that it had had beneficial effects at the time it was passed (Reports, 1816, III. 378, printed pag. 140), but it is difficult to believe that the Act caused any considerable change in the mills generally. Even when the parish authorities were moved to interfere, no obvious improve- ment resulted. It is probable that “the atrocious treatment experienced by the thousands and tens of thousands of orphan children, poured forth from our THE FIRST FACTORY ACT 631 without agreeing to a formal apprenticeship, and in any A.D. 1776 case, it was easy to evade the measure, as there was no —1850. proper machinery for enforcing it". Still, this first Factory Act has a very great importance, as marking the genesis of the modern system of industrial regulation; it served as the thin end of the wedge. The factory legislation of the nine- Hºad teenth century was occasioned by the new conditions which ºa e - e º g h arose, in consequence of the introduction of machinery, but º it was not a wholly new departure. It has its origin in ºn. connection with the mediaeval, and Elizabethan system, of charitable institutions, and from parish workhouses, and the dreadful rapidity with which they were consumed in the various cotton mills, to which they were transported, and the sad spectacle exhibited by most of the survivors, were the real causes, which, in 1802, produced Sir Robert Peel's Bill, for the relief and protection of infant paupers employed in cotton mills. Hence, the extraordinary liveliness evinced by the overseers and churchwardens of Saint Pancras might have been occasioned by the dreadful scenes of cruelty and oppression developed during the progress of that Bill, which Blincoe never heard of, nor ever saw, till eleven or twelve years after it had passed into a law. It would be difficult to produce a more striking instance of the utter contempt, in which the upstart owners of great establishments treated an Act, purposely enacted to restrain their unparalleled cruelty and waste of human life. The Act itself declared the masters, owners, or occupiers of every cotton mill in Great Britain and Wales should have a legible copy of the Act, placed in some conspicuous and public part of each mill, and accessible to everyone ; yet Blincoe who was reared in the cottom mill, never saw or heard of any such law, till eleven or twelve years after it had been enacted “When the committee began their investigation, as to the treatment and condition of the children sent from St Pancras Workhouse, Blincoe was called up among others and admonished to speak the truth and nothing but the truth ! So great however was the terror of the stick and strap, being applied to their persons, after these great dons should be at a great distance, it rendered him and no doubt the great majority of his fellow-sufferers extremely cautious and timid. It is however likely that their looks bespoke their sufferings, and told a tale not to be misunderstood. The visitors saw their food, dress, bedding, and they caused, in conjunction with the local magistrates very great alterations to be made. A new house was ordered to be erected near the mill, for the use of the apprentices, in which there were fewer beds to a given space. The quantity of good and whole- some animal food to be dressed and distributed in a more decent way, was specified. A much more cleanly and decorous mode of cookery and serving up the dinner and other meals was ordered. The apprentices were divided into six classes, and a new set of tim cans numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 were made to be served up to each individual according to the class to which he or she may belong, to hold the soup or porridge l The old governor was discharged, who had given them all such a fright on their first arrival, and several of the overlookers were dismissed and new ones introduced.” John Brown, Memoir of Robert Blincoe, p. 27. 1 The justices were to appoint visitors to inspect the mills, and provision was made for the registration of mills. 632 LAISSEZ FAIRE apprenticeship; this gave a good ground in law" and custom for taking up the matter at all. 249. The great development of cotton spinning suggested the possibility of constructing a machine for weaving; this was actually done by Dr Cartwright”; but he had not the business ability” of Arkwright, and the invention did not come into general use, or greatly affect either the conditions of the trade, or the employment of weavers, during at any rate the first few years of the nineteenth century". Yet owing to A.D. 1776 —1850. Before the power-loom came into 2086, 1 In 1801 Mr Justice Grose sentenced a man named Jouvaux to twelve months hard labour for ill-treating his apprentices. Hutchins and Harrison, op. cit. 14. 2 A previous experiment had been made by John Kay, but seems never to have been taken up; Woodcroft, op. cit. 4. Edmund Cartwright, who was a IKentish clergyman, knew nothing about the textile trades and had never interested him- self in machine construction, until he invented the power-loom. While at Matlock, in 1784, he had had some conversation with spinners there, who were contending that such a vast quantity of yarn was now spun that it would soon be impossible to get hands to weave it. His suggestion that a weaving machine should be invented was apparently treated with scorn; but as he believed that only three movements were required in the process, he set himself to construct a machine with the help of a carpenter and Smith. His machine was cumbrous in the extreme, and it required two strong men to keep it going even slowly, but he was proud of his invention and patented it. It then occurred to him to go and see a weaver at work; with the result that he was able to improve on his first rough attempt and to produce a machine which was eventually a commercial success; Dr Cartwright's own attempts to make it remumerative proved a failure, and it was not till 1801 that mills were started at Glasgow, where it was worked to advantage. (Baines, 231.) 8 The mill which Cartwright erected at Doncaster was not a success, and Grimshaw's mill fitted with power-looms at Manchester in 1790 did not give satisfactory results. Guest, op. cit. 46. * Power weaving hardly became a practical success till after the invention of the dressing-frame. “In the year 1803, Mr Thomas Johnson, of Bradbury in Cheshire, invented the Dressing Frame. Before this invention the warp was dressed in the Loom in Small portions, as it unrolled from the beam, the Loom ceasing to Work during the operation. Mr Johnson's machime dresses the whole warp at once; when dressed the warp is placed in the Loom which now works without intermission. A factory for Steam Looms was built in Manchester, in 1806. Soon afterwards two others were erected at Stockport, and about 1809, a fourth was completed in Westhoughton. In these renewed attempts to weave by steam, considerable improvements were made in the structure of the Looms, in the mode of warping, and in preparing the weft for the shuttle. With these improvements, aided by others in the art of spinning, which enabled the Spinners to make yarn much superior to that made in 1790, and assisted by Johnson's machine, which is peculiarly adapted for the dressing of warps for Steam Looms, the experiment succeeded. Before the invention of the Dressing Frame, one Weaver was required to each steam Loom, at present a boy or girl, fourteen or fifteen years of age can manage two Steam Looms, and with their help can weave three and a half times as much cloth as the best hand Weaver.” Guest, op. cit. 46. COTTON WEAVERS AND WAGES ASSESSMENT 633 the action of other causes, the weavers sank rapidly from a Aº" condition of unusual comfort into one of terrible privation. During the peace which preceded the Revolutionary War, the manufacture had been rapidly developed, and had been in part taken up by speculators who produced recklessly". As the cotton º 2000/09627°S a consequence the payments for cotton weaving rose to an enjoyed * ** * t unprecedented figure”. The attraction of the rates offered was ...º. so great that labour was drawn from other employments; it * was only by agreeing to raise wages that farmers could obtain the necessary hands". As Dr Gaskell writes, “Great numbers of agricultural labourers deserted their occupations, and a new race of hand-loom weavers, which had undergone none of the transitions of the primitive manufacturers were the product of the existing state of things. This body of men was of a still lower grade in the social scale than the original weavers, had been earning a much less amount of wages, and had been accustomed to be mere labourers. The master spinners therefore found them ready to work at an inferior price, and thus discovered an outlet for their extra quantity of yarn. This at once led to a great depreciation in the price of hand-loom labour, and was the beginning of that train of disasters which has finally terminated in reducing 1 “It has arisen in this way, that people having very little or no capital, have been induced to begin by the prospects held out to them, perhaps by people in London, and when they have got the goods into the market, they have been obliged to sell them for less than they cost, or without regard to the first cost, and this has injured the regular trade more than anything else. I think, *** when the regular Manufacturer finds that he cannot sell the goods at the price they cost, he is compelled to lower his wages. * * * Perhaps three, four or five (of the new persons) may be insolvent every year in the neighbourhood (of Bolton), and when they come to be examined before their Creditors, it turns out the cause of their Insolvency is, the goods being sold for less than they cost” (Mr Ainsworth's evidence, Reports, etc., Journeymen Cotton Weavers, 1808, II. p. 102). See also the Report on Manufactures, Commerce, etc., in 1833. “Trade at present requires industry, economy and skill. During the war, profits were made by plunges, by speculation.” Reports, 1833, VI. 27, printed pag. 23. 2 Owing to the plentiful supply of cotton yarn, weavers were attracted from woollen to cotton. Annals of Agriculture, XVI. 423. 8 Reports, 1808, II. 119. Mr Atherton said that the wages of agriculturallabourers near Bolton, which were from 3s. to 3s.6d. a day in 1808, rose at the time when weavers' wages were high; “they rose up from 2s. 4d. a day when wages were so that we (weavers) could get a good living; at that time people would not work out- work, if they could get Weaving.” “The pay of agricultural labour is much higher than it has been, owing to a great many cotton manufactories being erected in this county’’ (Cumberland in 1795). Annals of Agriculture, XXIV. 313. 634 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. but were S007? reduced to receiving starvation rates of £20.3/. The Arbº- tration Act of 1800 1 22 those who have kept to it to a state of starvation".” The good times did not last, however; the interruptions caused by the war reduced the opportunities for employment. Not only was there a danger, which was severely felt during the war of 1812, of an interruption of the supplies of material for the spinners, and consequent diminution of the demand for weaving, but times of peace brought no corresponding advan- tage to weavers, though they benefited the spinners. English yarn was exported and woven by German manufacturers, so that there was little market on the continent for English woven cloth". The wages paid in the overcrowded trade fell to lower and lower rates. In 1808 the cotton weavers seem to have worked for about a half of the wages they had received eight years before”, and the depression continued to get worse and worse". This newly developed and suddenly dis- tressed industry was the field on which the battle, between the old method of regulating wages and the new system of depending on competition, was to be fought out. The first attempt at affording any sort of relief was made immediately after the tide of prosperity had turned. The Arbitration Act of 1800° was intended to provide a cheap and summary mode of settling disputes. It empowered the weavers and their employers to go before Arbitrators in case of any difference as to wages, and arranged that the rates thus fixed should be enforced; but this proved in- operative; the general uncertainty which affected the trade rendered the scheme nugatory. Prices could not be main- tained, and the masters again and again lowered wages, with disastrous effects. The diminution of wages" only tended to 1 Gaskell, Artisans and Machinery (1836), 34. 2 Radcliffe, New System of Manufacture, p. 49 fol. * Reports, 1808, II. 103. It is difficult to calculate precisely, as the length of the piece was increased, while the wages decreased and the outgoings were heavier proportionally on the lower wages. For the piece (two weeks' work) in 1797, fifty shillings was paid, and in 1808, only eighteen shillings. Ib. 116. 4 See the figures in Baines, op. cit. 489: “Fluctuation was a greater evil perhaps than the lowness of the rate; previous to that period (1811) fluctuations to the extent of 30 per cent. took place in the course of a month in the price of labour.” Reports (Artisans and Machinery), 1824, v. 60. 5 40 Geo. III. c. 90. ° It also affected the home demand prejudicially; with starvation wages, labourers could not buy cloth so largely. Brentano, Anfang und Ende der englischen Kornzolle, p. 13. COTTON WEAVERS AND WAGES ASSESSMENT 635 increase the production, as the weavers worked longer hours Aº in the hope of making up the old rate of income"; and they were forced into deeper and deeper misery. As was to be proved expected, the Small masters, who were not in a substantial ineffective; position, were chiefly to blame for cutting prices lower and lower; many of the employers would have been willing to see some method adopted for fixing a minimum wage for the weavers, and gave in their adhesion to the policy which was advocated by the men”. The workmen had been unsuccessful in getting the Arbitration Act amended so as to meet their expectations", and in 1808 an attempt was made to induce Parliament to fix a statutory minimum for weavers' wages". The feeling of the House was decidedly against such a measure, however; though the appeal of the Lancashire and the e te * 2000/06?"S weavers was so piteous that it could not be ignored alto- imanied gether. A Select Committee took evidence on the subject, and reported very decidedly against the proposal as im- practicable and likely to aggravate the distress. At length in 1812 the weavers discovered that there was no need to agitate for fresh legislation, as the law of the land already provided all that they asked for. They appealed to the an assess: º ge e e t magistrates in Quarter Sessions to have the Elizabethan Act ºf * for the assessment of wages put into effect; but the only º result was that the subject came once more under the notice ". of Parliament", and Lord Sidmouth proceeded to move for 1 Reports, etc., 1808, II. 119. 2 Many of the mill-owners as well as the hands would have welcomed it. “‘Do you know whether the head Manufacturers of Bolton are desirous of this minimum ?’ ‘The head manufacturers in general are. Mr Sudell told me he wished it might take place, and he should call a meeting in Blackburn about it; the smaller Manufacturers in our town in general have petitioned for it; there are very few who have objected to it’.” Reports, Misc. 1808, II. 119. See also pp. 98, 108, and Petition, Commons Journals, LXIV. 95. 8 The amending Act of 1804 (44 Geo. III. c. 87) was no more successful than the original measure. 4 The project was again mooted in 1835 as a remedy for the distress among the cotton-weavers. It was advocated by Mr John Fielden. Select Committee on Lſand-Loom. Weavers, Reports, etc. 1835, XIII. p. 31, questions 43, 45, 46. 5 The change in the tone of parliamentary discussion is very noticeable, if We compare the debate in 1795 on Mr Whitehead's bill for fixing a minimum wage, which was read a second time mem. con. and was sympathetically criticised by Fox (Parl. Hist. XXXII. 700), with that on the cotton weavers’ Bill in 1808. Mr Rose himself, in introducing the Bill, indicated his dissent from its principles and excused himself on the ground that he was acting “in compliance with the wishes 636 LAISSEZ, FAIRE . the repeal of this part of the measure, since it had long fallen into desuetude, and the principle of the Act was con- demned by exponents of the fashionable Political Economy of the day". The House of Commons does not appear to have thought it necessary to make any further enquiry into the probable effect of their action on the one class in the com- munity who addressed them on the subject. Petitions were sent from several centres in Lancashire, but the Bolton petition may be quoted at Some length. It sets forth that— “The Petitioners are much concerned to learn that a Bill has been brought into the House to repeal so much of the Statute 5 Eliz. as empowers and requires the Magistrates, in their respective jurisdictions, to rate and settle the prices to be paid to labourers, handicrafts, spinners, weavers, etc., and that the Petitioners have endured almost constant reductions in the prices of their labour for many years, with sometimes a trifling advance, but during the last 30 months they have continued, with very little alteration, so low, that the average wages of cotton weavers do not exceed 5s. per week, though other trades in general earn from 20s. to 30s. per week; and that the extravagant prices of provisions of all kinds render it impossible for the Petitioners to procure food for themselves and families, and the parishes are so burthened that an adequate supply cannot be had from that quarter; and that in the 40th year of His present Majesty, a Law was made to settle disputes between Masters and Workmen, which Law, having been found capable of evasion, and evaded, became unavailing; after which in 1802, 1803, and 1804, applications being made to amend that of the 40th, another Law was A.D. 1776 —1850. This had fallen into deswetude, of the cotton weavers, backed with the consent of their employers.” Parl. Debates, XI. 426, 427. 1 Chalmers held that the true interest of a manufacturing community can alone be effectually promoted by competition, which hinders the rise of Wages among workmen and promotes at once the goodness and cheapness of the manu- facture. Chalmers, Estimate of the Comparative Strength of Great Britain, p. 37. Ricardo gave the sanction of his authority to this manner of dealing with the question when he spoke against any delay in the repeal of the Spitalfields Acts. “The principles of true political economy never changed, and those who did not understand that science had better say nothing about it, but endeavour to give good reasons, if they could find any, for supporting the existing act” (Parl. Debates, N. S. I. 381. Compare Bonar, Letters of David Ricardo to Malthus, p. xi). COTTON WEAVERS AND WAGES ASSESSMENT 637 made varying in some points from the former, but this also is Aß" found unavailing, in as much as no one conviction before a Magistrate under this Law has ever been confirmed at any Quarter Sessions of the Peace; and that several applications have since been made to the House to enact such Laws as they would judge suitable to afford relief to the trade, in which Masters and Workmen have joined, but hitherto with- out any effect; and that, about twelve months since, it was found that the Statute of Elizabeth (if acted upon) was competent to afford the desired relief, and it was resorted to in certain cases, but the want of generality prevented its obtaining at that time, especially as it can be acted upon only at the Easter Quarter Sessions or six weeks thereafter; and that as Petitions to the Magistrates were almost general at the last Quarter Sessions, and all graciously received at each different jurisdiction, much hope was entertained that at the next Easter Sessions, the Magistrates would settle the wages of the Petitioners, and they obtain food by their industry; and that the present Bill to repeal the aforesaid Law has sunk the spirits of the Petitioners beyond descrip- tion, having no hope left; the former laws made for their security being unavailing, there is no protection for their sole property, which is their labour; and that, though the said law of 5 Eliz. was wisely designed to protect all Trades and Workmen, yet none will essentially suffer by its repeal save the Cotton Weavers; the Silk Weavers have law to secure their prices, as have other Artisans. Tradesmen generally received their contracted wages, but Cotton Weavers, when their work is done, know not what they shall receive, as that depends on the goodness of the employer's heart’.” So far ..., ... repeated ºn as the history of the repeal of these clauses can be traced, it #: does not appear that there was any demand for it, or that * any petitions were presented in favour of repeal. The magistrates and weavers in Lancashire were anxious that the Act should remain, and the majority of the employers appear to have been favourable to some measure of the sort. The House of Commons was not moved by manufacturers or practical men of any sort; it seems to have been simply 1 Commons Journals, LXVIII. 229. 638 LAISSEZ FAIRE influenced by the exponents of the principles of Political Economy, who overvalued the reliability of the laissez faire doctrines on which they laid such stress; and the wage clauses of the Statute of Artificers were repealed in 1813. The manufacturing population had always been liable to come on the rates in periods of bad trade”, and the determination of the legislature had the effect of habituating the cotton- weavers to allowances in addition to wages”. It is im- portant to observe, that in this agitation the weavers were maintaining a strictly conservative attitude; they asked to have the law of the land put in execution, and they could not but be deeply incensed at the line taken, both by the legislature and by the magistrates who were charged with the administration of the law. The cotton weavers in Scotland fared even worse. They were anxious to obtain an authoritative list of prices, and at last, after long and very costly proceedings in the Court of Session, they did procure the authoritative recognition of certain rates as legal. So Soon, however, as they endeavoured to enforce it, they found that the magistrates would not A.D. 1776 —1850. with the result of throwing the cotton- QUC0A967°S O72, the rates wn Lanca- shire. The Scotch weavers, when attempting to Secure legal redress 1 53 Geo. III. c. 40. 2 See above, pp. 50, 562 n. 4, 571, 577, and 656 below. 8 Mr Henderson’s report in 1833 is very instructive, and shows that the moral effects were not so disastrous as in the agricultural districts. “The depression of wages, and the difficulty of finding employment, especially for the older weavers, whose habits were fixed, has led to a general practice in the weaving district of making an allowance to able-bodied weavers, with more than two children under 10 years of age. There is no fixed scale for this allowance, but the practice is to make up the earnings of the family to 28., or in some places, to 1s. 6d. a head. This course certainly is an approximation to the payment of wages out of the poor rate; but there are some material distinctions between the case of the weaver and the case of the agricultural labourer. The agricultural roundsman has no spur to exertion, nor interest to please the farmer, who is his master only for the day, consequently his habit of industry is relaxed and destroyed; on the other hand, as the weaver always works by the piece, and the current rate of wages is well- known, it is easy to calculate what he might earn if industrious, and the parish allowance is apportioned accordingly; so that, if he is indolent, he suffers for it; if he is industrious, he reaps the benefit of his exertions; and the fact unquestion- ably is, that the weavers are stimulated beyond their powers under the allowance system.” Reports, 1834, XXVIII. 913. The progress of the power-loom compelled increasing numbers to rely on the allowance system. It had been unknown in Oldham in 1824 (Reports, 1824, VI. 405), but in 1833, the members of the select vestry, who were very careful in administering relief, found that “after providing for the aged, sick, widows with families and other usual dependents on parochial aid, the hand-loom weavers require the principal attention.” No permanent relief was afforded to any able-bodied men except weavers. Reports, 1834, xxv.1LI. 921. CALICO PRINTERS AND OVERSTOCKING WITH APPRENTICES 639 support them, and they were forced to try to fight their Aºº own battle by engaging in the great strike of 1813 in which 40,000 weavers took part". At that date the organisation of such a movement was a criminal offence; the police intervened, ſº. and the strikers were sent to gaol. This great struggle, liable to resulting as it did in the abandonment of all attempts at the gº State-regulation of wages", testifies alike to the miserable” condition of the workmen in this great industry, and to the inability of the government to suggest any remedy. It is well to remember that the distress in this trade cannot be assigned to the introduction of machinery, as the power-loom was still in its infancy. In fact, it appears that the low rates to which the wages of hand-loom weavers were driven down interfered to prevent the introduction of the power-loom; the cost of production was so low that there was little prospect of any saving from the use of machines”; there was not sufficient economic motive to induce manufacturers generally to incur the risk and unpopularity of sinking their capital in costly plant. - - 250. The weavers were not the only body of artisans The intro- employed in the cotton trade who suffered severely during †† the long wars. The calico printers were also in a pitiable #. condition, but there was a reason for their distress which was entirely independent of the trade fluctuations which had affected the weavers. An ingenious and expensive machine for calico printing had been introduced, with the result that the labour of skilled men was hardly required at all; the employment of boys was substituted for that of men on quite 1 An admirable account of the whole proceeding will be found in Mr Richmond's evidence. Reports (Artisans and Machinery), 1824, v. pp. 59–64. 2 There is a curious parallel in the story of the agitation which had occurred in Gloucestershire and Wilts in 1756. The woollen weavers in the Stroud Valley and other centres of the trade had demanded that the practice of assessing wages should be re-introduced, and obtained a new Act of Parliament (29 Geo. II. c. 33) under which a list was published (C. J. xxvii. 732). The clothiers of the West of England would not abide by this schedule of payments, and petitioned Parliament to repeal the new Act and allow wages to be settled by competition. The Committee of the House of Commons reported that the clothiers had proved their case and that attempts to assess weavers' wages were impracticable and injurious. Mr Richmond alleged, however, in 1824 that the measure passed under George II. had “been acted on repeatedly in England, on a small scale.” Reports, 1824, 8 See below, p. 791. V. 60. 640 LAISSEZ, FAIRE a large scale, and the trade suffered from overstocking with apprentices. Calico printing is one of the arts which the Huguenots introduced into this country after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes". This was the period when, under Whig tutelage, strenuous efforts were being made to protect native industries, and Indian prints had been prohibited in order to benefit the English woollen workers. This told in favour of the newly planted printing trade for a time”, since there was no competition to be feared from Indian painted goods, while the calico printers were able to get plenty of Indian white calico to work on. At the close of the eighteenth century, the print- ing trade was still carried on in the neighbourhood of London, where the finest work continued to be done”; it had also been introduced into Lancashire about 1764, by Mr Robert Peel", the father of the first baronet of that name, and it developed rapidly with the growth of the cotton manufacture. Hand printing was effected by means of engraved blocks ten inches long and five wide; these could of course only print in one colour at a time, and great care had to be used in adjusting them”, so as to render the pattern continuous. The printing of a piece of calico twenty-eight yards long in a single colour involved 448 separate applications of the block, and the intro- duction of a second colour would have required a repetition of the same work". This laborious process was superseded about 1785 by the invention of cylinder printing; the cloth was passed over engraved cylinders, so that two or more colours could be printed at the same operation, and only a hundredth part of the labour previously needed was now requisite to produce the same result". Under the new condi- tions boys could be employed in what had been hitherto the work of men; so that on the introduction of the machinery, complaints began to be made by the journeymen as to the undue multiplication of apprentices. There was one shop in Lancashire where fifty-five apprentices had been working at A.D. 1776 —1850. led to the substitu- tion of boys for men. 1 See above, p. 329. 2 The legislature subsequently interfered to check the trade; see above, p. 517. 8 Baines, op. cit. 265. 4 Ib. 262. 5 In 1782, when the trade as carried on by hand labour had reached a high degree of excellence, there was legislation against enticing operatives abroad or exporting blocks. 22 Geo. III. c. 60. 8 Baines, op. cit. 266. 7 Ib. 266. CALICO PRINTERS AND OVERSTOCKING WITH APPRENTICES 641 one time, and only two journeymen'; it was obvious that Aº under such circumstances, the man who had served his time g had very little hope of obtaining employment. The usual contract of apprenticeship in the trade was very one-sided”; the masters were careful to safeguard themselves against any loss which arose from the unskilfulness of the boys, and retained a right of dismissal; while the boys were compelled to work for the full period of seven years, at wages which were very much lower than those which journeymen would have demanded”. The Elizabethan custom of apprenticeship and over. was maintained, but in a form which was very oppressive ...;% towards the apprentices, and most injurious to the adult” workmen. A bill was introduced into Parliament for limiting the proportion of apprentices to journeymen, and insisting that there should be proper indentures for each apprentice". There was an interesting debate on the second reading, when Mr Moore" expressed strong views as to the duty of the State towards the artisan population, and Sheridan" vigorously advocated the cause of the journeymen. But, as might have been expected, the principles of laissez faire prevailed; the bill was dropped, and no other remedy for the admitted evil was attempted. The whole story presents some very curious features, and it is difficult to follow the course of the transition”; 1 This was in 1794; this extraordinary disproportion appears to have been due to wholesale dismissals of journeymen in periods of slack trade (Reports, etc., Calico Printers, 1803–4, v. 594). At the same mill in 1803 there were 51 journey- men to 44 apprentices. Ib. 599. 2 Report, Calico Printers, 1806, III. 1130. 8 A boy in his first year was paid 3s. 6d. a week, and employed on work for which a journeyman would have been paid £1.11s. 6d. Reports, Calico Printers, 1803–4, v. 596. 4 Public Bills, 1806–7, I. 207. Compare also the Report on the Minutes of Fºvidence, in Reports, 1806, III. 1127. 5 “He conceived it the first duty of the government to see that the subjects of the realm had bread.” Parl. Debates (23 April, 1807), Ix. 534. 6 “What was their complaint 2 Why, that after having served seven years to a business confessedly injurious to their health, and which rendered them unfit for any other occupation, they were to be turned loose upon the world, supplanted in their employments by whole legions of apprentices, at 12 or 14 years of age, for the wages of 4s., 6s., or 8s. per week, instead of 25s., the usual average of the journeyman, by whose previous skill and ingenuity the operations of the manufacture were so amplified that children could do the work as well as journeymen.” Ib. 535. 7 It appears that there were no complaints as to the condition of the trade in C.* 41 642 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. The quality of the product was im- proved by the intro- duction of machinery in the Cottom, trades. The con- dition of but at all events, the incident brings out a special form of injury to which labour might be exposed by the adoption of machines, through the shifting of employment from one class of labourers to another, and the loss which fell on the skilled workman. So far as this and other branches of the cotton trade was concerned, the introduction of machinery had tended not only to an immense increase of the quantities produced, but to an improvement of the quality. A machine can go on turning out a perfectly regular yarn, in a way that very few fingers are capable of doing, and the possibilities of error in power weaving and steam printing are reduced to a minimum. There are many wares which lose all artistic interest, when they are turned out by machinery, but cotton yarn is not one of them; the deftest spinners had cultivated a mechanical precision, and the new machinery carried the spinners' art to a high degree of perfection. From every point of view the economic advantage of the new develop- ments was incontestable. 251. The conditions of the woollen trades were in many thºſen respects very different from those of the cotton manufacture. differed from that of the Cotton, trade, As a consequence, the effects of the introduction of machinery were very dissimilar in the two great branches of textile industry. It is also true that the course of the transition in London, but that a due proportion of journeymen were employed there. In fourteen shops there were 37 apprentices to 216 journeymen (Reports, 1803–4, v. 596). It is still more startling to find that the Manchester calico printers in 1815 had a very strong combination and were able to insist on the trade being managed as they desired. One of the employers thus addressed the men: “We have by terms conceded what we ought all manfully to have resisted, and you elated with success have been led on from one extravagant demand to another, till the burden is become too intolerable to be borne. You fix the number of our apprentices, and oftentimes even the number of our journeymen. You dismiss certain proportions of our hands, and will not allow others to come in their stead. You stop all Surface Machines, and go the length even to destroy the rollers before our face. You restrict the Cylinder Machine, and even dictate the kind of pattern it is to print. You dismiss our overlookers when they don’t suit you, and force obnoxious servants into our employ. Lastly, you set all subordination and good order at defiance, and instead of showing deference and respect to your employers, treat them with personal insult and contempt.” Considerations addressed to the Journeyman Calico Printers by one of their Masters, quoted by S. and B. Webb, History of Trade Unionism, 67. On the support which this combination received from other trades, see a pamphlet, to which Mr Webb kindly called my attention, by W. D. Evans, entitled Charge to the Grand Jury, pp. 5, 17. THE SUPPLY OF WOOL, IRELAND AND AUSTRALIA 643 the woollen manufacture is very much harder to trace. Aº Cotton spinning had been, on the whole, concentrated in 90. the Lancashire district, and the introduction of spinning machinery, with the consequent development of the trade, aroused a great deal of interest, and was written about at the time. The spinning of wool, on the other hand, was widely ...; diffused through all parts of the country in the latter part of jºi." the eighteenth century; the course of the change in one district was in all probability very different from the transition in others, and as the revolution did not bring about an immediate expansion of the trade, it did not attract any special attention; we are very badly off for accurate informa- tion on the whole subject. The cotton trade, in the first half of the eighteenth century, had been exposed to fierce competition from manu- facturers on the continent ; it was only by obtaining a start in the introducing of mechanical spinning that England secured for a time a very great advantage over all her rivals in this industry. With the woollen trade it was different; º the supply of raw material had given the English clothiers a were largely position of great economic strength, if not of actual monopoly,” loyed. all through the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centu- ries; the anxiety of the traders was directed not to gaining, but to maintaining their advantage over competitors. These various differences are, however, connected with the fundamental distinction that the clothiers were engaged in working up native materials, while the cotton manufacturers were not. Considerable quantities of Spanish and German wool were imported, especially for use in certain classes of goods; but the English product was the main basis of the trade". From this it followed that there was not the same danger of violent fluctuations in the woollen, as in the cotton trade; the supply of raw material was less likely to be cut off suddenly", but on the other hand there was less possibility of expansion. The cotton manufacturers could look to practi- º; .# cally unlimited areas in distant parts of the globe for an ºool gas increased supply of raw material; while the quantity of limited, English wool obtainable was limited. The clothiers had a 1 See above, p. 495. * See above, p. 625, and below, p. 689. 41—2 644 LAISSEZ, FAIRE Aº" practical monopoly of the wool grown in the country; and there was no considerable area to which they could look for large additional quantities of raw material. - and seems There is some reason to believe that, during the last #;" quarter of the eighteenth century and first few years of $ng, the nineteenth—that is during the period when spinning machinery was being introduced,—the supply of English wool actually diminished". Enclosing in the seventeenth and a great part of the eighteenth century had told in favour of the improvement of pasture; but it seems that towards its close, this was no longer the case. The rising price of corn rendered it profitable to convert grass land to tillage, and the area available for pasture seems to have decreased. The policy of the country, too, had been directed, from the fifteenth century onwards, towards rendering corn growing more profitable than pasture farming: the landowners in the grass countries had never succeeded in the demand that they should be treated more or less like the agriculturists and have liberty to export their wool”, instead of being limited to the home market. The price was thus kept down, and in all probability this reacted sooner or later upon the quantity produced. At all events it appears that about 1794–6 there was a deficiency, which was looked upon as a wool famine; and the ordinary conditions of the supply of raw material were such, that there was no possibility of a rapid expansion ; that of the manufacture. The changes which had been introduced, 67'6, 2003 more in the breeding of sheep, were not favourable to the wool %; * supply, and there was a marked decline in the quality of the * British clip". From 1800 onwards, there was occasion for an 1 The price was very low in 1780, and rose rapidly from that time. Tiong wool was quoted at 4d. and in 1791 at 73d.; short at 43d. in 1780 and at 9d. in 1791. Bischoff, A Comprehensive History of the Wool and Worsted Manufactures, I. 405. 2 In 1816 Lord Milton argued that permission to export would raise the price of wool and thus induce landed men to increase the supply (Bischoff, op.cit. I.4.11). There had been a similar controversy in 1781, when Sir John Dalrymple urged that exportation should be permitted (The Question Considered). This pamphlet called forth answers from Tucker and Forster, and support from Chalmers (Propriety of allowing Qualified Eaſportation, 1782). The gentlemen of Lincoln- shire formally advocated it, while the manufacturers agitated against it. Short View of Proceedings, Brit. Mus. B. 546 (13), gives a full account of the controversy. 8 “The heavier the carcase the coarser the fleece.” Mr Hughes' evidence, THE SUPPLY OF WOOL, IRELAND AND AUSTRALIA 645 increasing reliance on foreign wools, especially those of Aºſ” Saxony, and it seemed as if England were becoming dependent on foreign countries for the materials not only of the cotton trade, but of the long-established woollen industry as well. The anxiety which was felt upon the subject comes out strikingly in one of the incidental controversies that arose over the union of Ireland with England. High as was the price of wool in England, it was dearer still in the sister island; possibly the repression of the woollen manufactures had been only too complete, and wool-growing, under the discouragements to which the manufacture was subjected, had ceased to be so profitable as to lead men to prosecute it on a considerable scale”; but whatever the reason may have been, the fact remains that the price of wool ranged much higher in Ireland”. In the Act of Union it was proposed that there should be a free interchange of goods between England and Ireland. The manufacturers had long en- joyed a monopoly of the home supply; they believed they had reason to fear that export to Ireland, which had hitherto been prohibited, would force them to pay at a still higher rate. There were some signs of the old jealousy of Irish gººd manufactures; but the opposition was chiefly due to a belief about the that English wool, if readily transferred to Ireland, would be .# clandestinely exported thence to the continent, and that our iºd, rivals in France and the Low Countries would secure a regular supply of English wool, which would enable them to Iords Committee on the State of the British Wool Trade, in Reports, 1828, VIII. 400, printed pag. 48. Though the weight of wool was increased, when sheep were fed on clover and turnips, the quality produced was inferior to that from sheep fed on the downs and heath, N. Forster, Answer to Sir J. Dalrymple (1782), p. 27; also Alexander Williams, Address to the Woollen Manufacturers (1800), quoted by Bischoff, I. 334. 1 In 1800 the importation of wool from Germany was 412,394 lbs., in 1814 it was 3,432,465 lbs.; in 1825 it reached the unprecedented figure of 28,799,661 lbs. Jēeports, 1828, VIII. Ap. 1, 681. 2 Pococke in 1752 calls attention to the specially good quality of Wool produced near Galway. Tour, p. 108. Much of the Irish wool thus found its Way to Cork, p. 118. For licenses for export of wool from Ireland see Calendar of State Papers, Home Office, 1760–65, pp. 251, 375, 508, 687. 8 In England in 1795 wool was 83d. per lb. as against 11d. per lb. in Ireland. In 1797 wool in England was 63d. as against 93d. in Ireland, and in 1799 Wool was 8d. per lb. in England as against 1s. 33d. in Ireland. Bischoff, I. 324. 646 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 manufacture goods of a class for which Englishmen believed —1850. they had exceptional advantages. - which The agitation gives us an interesting light on many #, aſ matters connected with this manufacture. A rise in the tºº." price of wool would have affected all branches of the trade, and the outcry came from many parts of the country. The outburst was far less local than in 1697; at that time it had been concentrated in the West of England, whence artisans were migrating. A hundred and thirteen firms in London petitioned against permitting export to Ireland, and they were supported by petitions from Cornwall, Exeter, Totnes, Tiverton, Welshpool, Frome, Bury St Edmunds, Hudders- field, Tavistock, Painswick, Rochdale, Huntingdon, Norwich, Somersetshire, Sudbury, Halifax, Gloucester, Bury, Preston, Market Harborough, Witney, Wiveliscombe, Southwark, Brad- ford, Cirencester, Colne, Burnley, Banbury, Shrewsbury, Leeds, Wakefield, Haworth, Kendal, Addingham, Kidderminster, Reighley, Skipton, Salisbury. A glance at this list shows how widely the trade was diffused; and it is also evident that the manufactures in Yorkshire were coming into promi- nence as compared with those of the Eastern Counties”. Very severe pressure was brought to bear in favour of an amend- ment moved by Mr Wilberforce “to leave out of the resolution what relates to suffering wool to be exported from this country, but that the Irish should be allowed to work up the wool which they themselves grow”; but Pitt was anxious to carry the complete commercial union of the two countries and argued at length against the amendment, which was lost. Eventually, necessity proved the mother of invention, and serious attempts were made, not only to improve the breed of English sheep, by the introduction of merino-sheep from Spain, but to find some new area, under English control, for A new pasture-farming. As a result, advantage was taken of the sº %. facilities afforded by Australia. The development of this ownd source of supply was only accomplished gradually, as very serious difficulties had to be overcome. Some sheep were 1 Bischoff, I. 321. 2 Norfolk was still “full of manufacturers” in 1779. Parl. Hist. xx. 644. 8 Bischoff, I. 327. THE SUPPLY OF WOOL, IRELAND AND AUSTRALIA 647 imported from Calcutta, but the native breed of Bengal is A.D. 1776 not a good stock; the fleece is of a poor colour and bad —1850. quality". The first important step in improving the breed was taken by Captain Waterhouse, who was in command of H.M. Ship Reliance, and called at the Cape in 1797, during through the the first period of British possession, on his way to Australia. *on He then had the opportunity of purchasing twenty-nine ** Spanish merino-sheep, and he bought them, partly on his own account, and partly for friends who were willing to join in the speculation”. The passage from the Cape to Sydney occupied nearly three months, and about a third of the sheep died on the way. When they arrived in Australia, they were carefully tended, however, and as Captain Waterhouse distributed them among several farmers”, the breed in the colony and the quality of the wool was improved in an astonishingly short space of time. By this means it was demonstrated that Australia was admirably fitted for wool-growing, and that there might be a new and practically unlimited supply of the raw material of Our chief manufacture, but it did not become available in any considerable quantity till the second decade of the nineteenth century. Captain Macarthur, who had been en- gaged in farming in Australia for some years, and had a flock of 4000 sheep", was the first man who devoted himself to pushing this new trade; he visited England in 1803, with the double object of raising capital to engage in pasture farming on a large scale, and of getting a grant, from Govern- ment, of lands suitable for a sheep farm. In neither object was he wholly successful, although he obtained the assistance of one powerful authority in pushing his scheme. Sir Joseph Banks, then President of the Royal Society, had accompanied Cook in his voyage of discovery in 1770, when Botany Bay was first sighted, and he had taken a prominent part in the colonisation of New South Wales in 1787. It was now necessary to set aside part of the system which was then adopted in letting land. Grants had hitherto been made with a view to the prosecution of tillage, and 1 Bonwick, Romance of the Wool Trade, 31. 2 Yb. 70. 8 Ib. 71. 4 Ib. 73. 648 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. and deve- lopment of squatting wn Australia, with reference to English territorial ideas. Each of the convicts, as he became free, received a grant of thirty or forty acres, if he chose to apply for it, at a quit rent, for the property in the soil was carefully retained by the State". The pasture of Australia, though plentiful, was poor, and Captain Macarthur calculated” that three acres were necessary for every sheep, and that a square mile would only suffice for a flock of two hundred. There was a strong feeling against allowing any single individual to monopolise large areas of land in the neighbourhood of the growing town. The diffi- culty was met by a proposal which was put forward by Sir Joseph Banks. “As you and the gentlemen concerned with you”,” he wrote, “seem determined to persevere in your New South Wales sheep adventure, and as I am aware that its success will be of infinite importance to the manufacturers of England, and that its failure will not happen without much previous advantage to the infant colony, I should be glad to know whether the adventurers would be contented with a grant of a large quantity of land as sheep walks only, resumable by the Government in any parcels in which it shall be found convenient to grant it as private property, On condition of an equal quantity of land being granted in recompense as sheep walk. The lands to be chosen by your agent in lots of 100,000 acres each, and a new lot granted as Soon as the former has been occupied, as far as 1,000,000 acres.” This was the form of tenure which was eventually adopted; many graziers held the area for grass alone, and re- moved elsewhere, when the Government notified them that the land was required for other purposes; they were in consequence spoken of as squatters". Captain Macarthur may be described 1 Bonwick, 104. 2 Ib. 75. 8 Ib. 77. 4 Ib. 78. The term squatter is associated in England with settling on a common (see above, p. 568). In Australia the first plan was to grant common grazing rights over a considerable area to a group of settlers by lease (Governor King's Proclama- tion, 1804, in Bonwick, 105). This system soon proved too restricted for the rapidly increasing flocks, and in 1820 letters of occupation were granted to some individuals, so as to allow them to range beyond the limits prescribed in this lease (Bonwick, 106). In 1831 (see p. 861 below) the policy of the colony was so far changed that the out-and-out sale of land was introduced, partly, it would appear, through the influence of Mr Wakefield (Art of Colonisation, 45)—though mining rights were still reserved (Bonwick, 107)—but the prices were prohibitive, so far as graziers were concerned, and but little relief was given to them till 1847, when THE SUPPLY OF WOOL, IRELAND AND AUSTRALIA 649 as the first of the class; he obtained from Government a grant Aº of a conditional right to use 5000 acres for pasturing sheep", * > and settled down on the Nepean River. He had failed in obtaining the use of British capital for his enterprise, but he had done not a little to stir up public interest in England, and he certainly laid the foundation of the wool trade on which the prosperity of Australia has been built up. The example which had been set was speedily followed, and the terms of Captain Macarthur's grant laid down the lines of the system under which sheep-farming was gradually developed. Some time elapsed before the supply of Australian wool but this was sufficient in quantity, or adequate in quality, to cause any ºn. serious difference in the prospects of the English cloth manu- º: #. facture. The importation in 1820 was about 190,000 lbs., in ; - 1826 it was over 1,000,000, and in 1828 it was estimated at double that quantity*. After the introduction of the Saxon breeds into New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, there was an extraordinary improvement in the wool obtained, both as to fineness of texture and softness of quality, and a mer- chant could predict that, within fifteen or twenty years, England would be independent of supplies from Spain and Germany". The new source of material had come to be of the utmost importance in the thirties, when the struggle º between hand-weaving and power-weaving was being fought intion in out. But the intervention of machine spinning took place “” in the woollen trade at a time when expansion was im- practicable, because of the limitation in the supply of material. 252. The manufacture of woollen cloth involved an im- mense number of separate processes, which are enumerated in Mr Miles' Report” on the condition of the hand-loom Orders in Council appeared which divided the waste lands of Australia into three classes, and gave the squatters much greater security of tenure than they had hitherto enjoyed. On the settled lands, which were available for purchase, the squatter had only a yearly tenure; on the intermediate lands, he was allowed an eight years' lease; while on the unsettled lands he might obtain a lease for fourteen years, at the rent of £10 for every 4000 sheep in his flocks (ib. 109). The very form of these orders shows how completely English ideas on the subject had changed since Macarthur first approached the Government on the subject in 1803. 1 Bonwick, 81. 2 Mr Donaldson's evidence, Reports, 1828, VIII. 425. * Mr Hughes' evidence, Reports, 1828, vLII. 400. 4 Reports, 1840, xxiv. 389, printed pag. 369. 650 LAISSEZ FAIRE weavers in Gloucestershire in 1840; preparing the wool involved seven distinct processes, and double the number were necessary in order to render the cloth, as taken from the loom, fit for the market". Mr Miles gives a brief statement of the saving made by the introduction of machinery in each of the more important processes. So far as the preparation of the wool was concerned, the carding machinery patented by Lewis Paul in 1748 and introduced by him at Northampton, Leominster and Wigan”, appears to have come into general use before the close of the century, and though it displaced about 75 per cent. of the labour employed”, and some rioting occurred, we hear of wonderfully little disturbance in con- nection with its introduction. In 1793 Arthur Young, writing of Leeds, describes how he “viewed with great pleasure the machines for unclotting and puffing out wool, if I may use the expression, also for spinning and various other operations".” Similarly we hear that in the West Riding, people in general approved of machinery for the preparatory processes, and when wool was given them to weave, took it to the “slubbing engine to be scribbled, carded and slubbed".” Mr Howlett, writing from Dunmow in 1790, in enumerating various recent inventions, mentions mills “for grinding the wool preparatory to carding, by means of this the master A.D. 1776 —1850. A great saving was effected by machines for carding and scribbling 1 The regularly apprenticed Yorkshire clothier had opportunities of becoming practically acquainted with all these processes. Joseph Coope of Pudsey near Leeds gave an interesting account of his training to the Committee on the State of the Woollen Manufacture in 1806. He had been taught when he was eight years old (1783) to spin with a wheel in his parents' house, and subsequently, when jennies were introduced, to card and slub the wool in preparation for the jennies. Be was bound apprentice for seven years when he was thirteem. “The first year,” he says, “I was chiefly put to the loom, in the second year under the care of my master and a servant man, when I was not at the loom I was still employed in slubbing and carding. The second year I was put to the jenny, and towards the latter end of the second year, and during the third, I alternately spun my own web, and then wove it at the same time, a servant man was working and helped me in the same way.” In the fourth year “it was nearly the same only I was getting more proficient in it. The fifth and sixth years, or the two last years rather, my master considered me as competent to do what we commonly call a man’s day work.” Reports, 1806, III. 647, printed pag. 31. * Bischoff, I. 313. Kay had invented a power machine for carding cotton before 1779. Rees, op. cit. s.v. Cotton. 8 Reports, 1840, xxiv. 390. 4 Annals of Agriculture, xxvii. 310. * Reports, Misc. 1806, III. p. 992, printed pag. 400; also Mr Ellis' evidence, Ib. 64. CARDING AND WOOL-COMBING 651 manufacturer has as much done for 136, as used to be Aº performed for 4%d.” The machinery for carding appearsºto and these have been quite acceptable in Yorkshire in 1806; and to had been have been ordinarily used by the domestic manufacturers”; #. similar mechanism had been introduced into Gloucestershire some years earlier". It is obvious, that as the trade could not expand to any considerable extent, the displacement of so much labour involved a loss of employment; and the attempt to introduce machinery in the preparatory processes of the worsted manufacture gave rise to violent opposition. The worsted", as distinguished from woollen, manufacture works up wools with long staple, the fibres of which are straightened out as in the linen or cotton manufacture; while the woollen but the in: manufacture, properly so called, is dependent on wools with ſº a short staple, the fibres of which have much tenacity, and º which can thus be matted into a thick material like felt. ..., Till the time of Edmund Cartwright, wool for the manufac- }º ture of worsted had been combed by hand; but between the years 1790 and 1792 Cartwright perfected his second great invention. The estimate which he gave of the importance of his invention sounds like an exaggeration, but a brief ex- perience showed that there was no real over-statement; “a set of machinery consisting of three machines will require the attendance of an overlooker and ten children, and will comb a pack, or 240 lbs., in twelve hours. As neither fire nor oil is necessary for machine combing, the Saving of those articles, even the fire alone, will, in general, pay the wages of the overlooker and children; SO that the actual saving to the manufacturer is the whole of what the combing costs by the old imperfect mode of hand combing. Machine combed wool is better, especially for machine spinning, by at least 12 per cent, being all equally mixed, and the slivers uniform 1 Annals of Agriculture, XV. p. 262. 2 Reports, 1806, III, printed pagination 6, 32, 34. The scribbling machinery displaced about 750ſo of the male labour employed in Gloucestershire in that process. Reports, 1840, XXIV. 390. 8 About fifty years ago according to Mr Miles in 1840. 4 Machine combing was introduced in 1794 at Tiverton, and did in one hour, with the employment of one overseer and eleven children, work that would have taken a good workman thirty hours; see Report in Commons Journals, XLIX. 322. 652 LAISSEZ FAIRE and of any required length".” With all its advantages, how- ever, it did not immediately become remunerative to the inventor, but its success was sufficient to arouse the antagonism of the hand wool-combers; especially as a machine on a some- what different principle was invented in 1793° by William Toplisº of Mansfield. As nearly fifty thousand men were employed in this trade in different places", the excitement became considerable in many parts of the kingdom, and when a Bill was brought into the House of Commons for suppressing the machine, upwards of forty petitions were presented in its favour. But the eighteenth century legis- lators favoured a policy of non-interference. The Bill was thrown out, and the only relief which was given to the wool- combers was that of relaxing 5 Elizabeth c. 4 in their favour, and allowing them to apply themselves to any trade in any part of the kingdom" without new apprenticeship. One reason, which undoubtedly weighed with the Commons, was the allegation that the wool-combers were wastrels, who would not work more than half their time. Greater security against frauds by the workmen", and an increased prospect of A.D. 1776 —1850. rowsed great antagonism among the wool- combers. 1 Burnley, Wool and Wool-combing, 115, quoting Cartwright, 129. 2 There were similar inventions by Popple, 1792 (Bischoff, I. 316), and by Wright and Hawksley. Burnley, op. cit. 136. 8 He had a power mill for spinning wool at work in 1788, and advertised for woolcombers at 38. and 33.6d. a day to prepare material. Annals of Agriculture, x. 281. 4. A considerable amount of organisation existed among the wool-combers before these events gave it fresh importance. They had Clubs—the nature of which was thus explaimed. It is a Contribution levied upon every Woolcomber (who is willing to be Member of any Club) according to the Exigencies of their affairs. “The one End of it is to enable the Woolcomber to travel from Place to Place to seek for employment, when Work is scarce where he resides; and the other End is to have Relief when he is sick, wherever he may be; and if he should die to be buried by the Club; and it is necessary for him, to enable himself to be relieved by these Clubs, to have a Certificate from the Club to which he belongs, that he has behaved well, in and to the Woolcombing Trade, and that he is an honest Man but if he defrauds any body, he loses his claim to that Certificate, and to the Advantages belonging to it.” Commons Journals, XLIX. 324. 5 Bischoff, I. 316. As a matter of fact the machine only managed to compete in certain classes of work; the real contest between hand and machine combing was delayed till some time after the great strike in 1825. 6 Mr Edward Sheppard said that “in some Instances but not generally the Clothier gladly gives up the Trouble of Superintendence and the Expences of erecting Buildings when he can get the Work done well otherwise; the principal Motive of those Clothiers who have weaving at Home is to guard themselves from these Embezzlements, but he believes they have offered a Reward to those who SPINNING-JENNIES FOR WOOL 653 being able to rely on getting the work done in a given time, Aº were afforded by the new method, and it was welcomed by the employers". 253. The transition, from the old-fashioned spinning by Hand- & g g e : , e enmies for hand in cottages to the power spinning in factories, is much !. * more difficult to trace in the woollen than in the cotton manu-” facture. In the cotton trade Arkwright's system of roller spinning by power, followed hard on Hargreave's introduction of the spinning-jenny which went by hand, but the use of the wheel was maintained generally for the woollen trade”, long after the practical success of the jennies had been demonstrated in the cotton trade. The subsequent mechanical progress was also more gradual, as the jenny when adapted to the spinning of woollen yarn continued to hold its own throughout the eighteenth century. The invention was taken up, especially *. of in the Yorkshire district, by the domestic weavers". It seems domestic to have been a regular thing for weavers to have one or two weavºng, jennies in their cottages, and to have employed their families or hired help to do the work". The Yorkshiremen seem to have been more ready than the West of England clothiers to adopt such improvements", as they were in regard to the will inform against Embezzlement. * * That there is one Brand of Morals which he conceives would be materially benefited by the Employment of Weavers under the Eye of the Master, namely Honesty; and he speaks from Experience, that those Parishes most remote from the Inspection and Superintendence of a Head are the most vicious and that Embezzlements and all the Evils of Night Work and Immorality connected with it prevail in such Places to an enormous Extent.” See Reports, Misc. 1802–3 (Report from Committee on Woollen Clothiers' Petition), v. 257. Also for unfair advantages taken by workmen when prepaid, Considerations on Taaces as they affect Price of Labour (1765), p. 17. 1 Bischoff, I. 316. 2 The new inventions appear to have been very slowly diffused in the old. centres of manufacture. Before 1789 the mule had been generally introduced in Lancashire, and the hand jennies in Yorkshire, but pains were still being directed to improve spinning as carried on by the most primitive process in Norfolk. The Society of Arts was interested in the experiments in fine spinning of wool made by Miss Ann Ives, and awarded her a silver medal for her success. “A sample of the fine Spinning, together with a Spindle and Whirl sent by Miss Ives, and a piece of a Shawl from Mr Harvey of Norwich are reserved in the Society's Repository.” Transactions of the Society of Arts, VII. 150. 3 The jenny appears to have come in about 1785, just when it was being ousted from the cotton trade by the mule. Report, 1806, III. printed pag. 30 (Coope), also 73 (Cookson). 4 W. Child, a journeyman, had two looms and a spinning-jenny in his own house. Reports, 1806, III. printed pag. 103. * This was specially noticeable in regard to spinning-jennies and scribbling and carding machines, and gave Yorkshiremen an advantage over Wiltshire. Anstie, Observations, 17. They held out longer against the shearing frame, which was 654 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —lS50. and spin- ning with the wheel ceased to be. 7°67???070,67°0,- tive, flying shuttle; but we have incidental notices of jennies in various parts of the country. In 1791 spinning-jennies were in use at Barnstaple and Ottery S. Mary; they had caused Some uneasiness among the spinners, but had had no sensible effect on the trade". At Kendal there was machine spinning at the same date; at first it seemed to hurt the hand spinning, but the complaints on this head did not continue”. The true character of the competition was becoming apparent however; for it was observed, at Pucklechurch, that the machines were ousting the inferior spinners, and that there was a demand for finer threads, so that the spinners, who were paid by the pound, were obliged to do more work for the same money”. In Cornwall, in 1795*, the competition of jennies was clearly felt ; and in other cases, the improved rates for weaving rendered the women and children inde- pendent, and unwilling to “rival a woollen jenny.” There were riots at Bury in Suffolk in 1816", which seem to have been partly directed against these implements, and this probably means that they were of comparatively recent intro- duction in the Eastern Counties at that date". In the last decade of the eighteenth century we have a competition between two methods of spinning—by the wheel, and by the domestic machines known as jennies. The jennies would have ousted the wheels under any circumstances Sooner or later, but there were other causes at work which accelerated the change. Chief among these was the scarcity of wool, with a consequent diminution of employment and such low rates of pay that hand spinning ceased to be a remunerative occupation. The change became the subject of not part of a domestic weaver's equipment, but a machine which competed with wage-earning workmen. See below, p. 662. 1 Annals of Agriculture, xv. 494. 2 Ib. 497. 8 Ib. 585. 4 “The earnings by spinning have for the last year been much curtailed, owing to the woolstaplers using spinning engines near their place of residence, in preference to sending their wool into the country to be spun by hand.” Annals of Agriculture, XXVI. 19. 5 Annual Register, 1816, p. 70. 6 T. Writing in 1779 notices that distaff spinning was still maintained in Norfolk. Jetters on the Utility and Policy of employing Machines, p. 14. It is said that spinning—presumably with a wheel—was introduced by an Italian— Anthony Bonvis—about 1505, and that the making of Devonshire kerseys began about the same time (C. Owen, Danger of the Church and Kingdom from Foreigners, 48). The wheel had come into general use in England, but had not apparently penetrated into the area where the textile arts had been longest established. On the modes of spinning in different localities in 1596, S. P. D. El. Ad. xxxHII. 71. SPINNING-JENNIES FOR WOOL 655 complaint as early as 1784, when the price was unusually Aº’” high for a time. Governor Pownall urged in 1788 that wages for spinning must be raised, so that the spinners might have enough to live on, or that machines must be introduced and the manufacture “broken up.’ He calculated that a spinner walked thirty-three miles, stepping back and for- wards to the wheel, in order to earn 2s. 8d.” The lack of employment, with starvation wages for spinning, would of course be most noticeable in districts from which the trade was migrating, as for example in the Eastern Counties; the rates had fallen to 4d. a day as compared with 7d. or 8d. forty years before”. To whatever cause these starvation payments for spinning in the old centres of the manufacture may have been due, the effects were very serious. Spinning was ceas– even as ingº to be remunerative, even as a by-occupation. In 1795, *. when Davies was pleading the case of the rural labourers, he insisted on the importance to domestic economy of the possibility of obtaining an income from this source. But the opportunities of getting work of this sort were being curtailed, at all events in the old centres of manufacture; the fine spinning, which was so much in demand, was badly paid, While the inferior hands were left idle altogether. During * wars, the interruption of the wool supply from Germany and Spain", and the closing of the ordinary channels for - exporting cloth, caused violent fluctuations; and these changes, together with the migration of industry to the West Riding, involved thousands of families in the rural districts of Southern England in great want. The course of this revolution is somewhat obscured by the success of the measures which were intended to relieve this distress. It had been recognised from Tudor times onward, that it was necessary for the government to take special action in times when trade was bad; the difficulties under 1 Annals of Agriculture, X. 546. 2 Tb. XV. 261. 8 In 1793 Mr Maxwell notes in regard to Huntingdonshire that “Women and children may have constant employment in spinning yarn, which is put out by the generality of the country shopkeepers; though at present it is but a very in- different means of employment, and they always prefer out of door's Work when the season comes on.” Annals of Agriculture, XXI. 170. 4 Reports, Misc. 1802–3, v.266. 656 LAISSEZ FAIRE Aº Henry VIII and James I had arisen in connection with weaving, and the remedy adopted had been that of putting pressure on the capitalists to give employment. But this principle could not be applied in the wool famine at the close of the eighteenth century. The failure of spinning was a more widely diffused and serious evil than the distress among In 1793 the the weavers had been. The art had been very successfully ſº introduced into most parts of the country, and offered a by- º occupation for women and children, which was an essential frºm the part of the domestic economy. Spinning had been the main- Tates, * > * > stay of many households, and when it declined, numbers of families, which had hitherto been independent, were unable to support themselves without help from the rates'. The Berkshire justices, whose example in dealing with the difficulty was widely followed, did not see their way to set higher rates for agricultural labour or artisan employments, but tried to grant allowances in lieu of the receipts from spinning, and thus supplemented the wages of the labourers. This ex- pedient might have answered if the depression had been merely temporary; but it could not stay the course of progress and this which was making itself felt. Indeed, the allowance systerå tided over to º º ii. probably accelerated the changes. By relieving distress º ” preventing agitation it smoothed the way for the introductić of jennies and power spinning. The idler part of the women were quite content to receive parochial relief as a regular thing, and even destroyed their wheels”. ! Hand-jennies did the work well, and they were not. very costly, as they did not involve the use of water or to spinning steam power; employers could have the spinning done under ###. supervision on their own premises, and the new implements steadily superseded the immemorial methods of work in cottages. This was the most important step, so far as its social effects were concerned, in the introduction of machinery in the cloth manufacture. So long as the spindle, or the wheel, was in vogue, spinning was practised as a by-occupation 1 The occasional dependence of spinners on aid from the rates had been noticed in 1766 at Chippenham and Calne, Arthur Young (Annals, VIII, 66). He also remarks that spinning was regarded as a manufacture which brought “the burthen of enormous poor charges.” Ib. v. 221, also 420, and see above, p. 638. 2 Annals of Agriculture, XXV. 635. SPINNING-JENNIES FOR WOOL 657 by women who had many other duties to do. But the jenny Aº" with its twenty spindles was a more elaborate machine, and spinning came to be a definite trade on its own account. It ceased to be carried on in ordinary cottages, by One member of the family or another, and became the regular employment of a particular class of workers. Though the regular spinners might earn more at the jenny than they did before, there must have been an immense reduction in the number of those who had earned a little with their wheels. The domestic jenny was not however destined to last. ... equent Mr Benjamin Gott of Leeds appears to have been the first ;. man in that district to introduce spinning by power', and ** factories soon encroached upon the operations of the spinning- jennies. The Yorkshire rates for spinning had been high”, and as the machinery was gradually improved, it must have effected an enormous saving. In 1828°, power-spinning was introduced into the West of England district, and, as it was calculated, effected a saving of 750 per cent. On the cost of spinning by wheel. The introduction, first of jennies and then of power-spinning, was by far the most important change, so far as its social effects are concerned, in the whole revolu- tion; and when we consider its magnitude, it must be a matter of surprise that the new departure attracted so little attention at the time. 254. The introduction of the flying shuttle" appears to The flying have had a remarkable result in the improved position of shuttle brought & . large those woollen weavers who continued to get employment at earnings the trade. They were paid by the piece, and the price of cloth was rising, owing to the increasing cost of wool; but the rate of payment to weavers did not diminish. Those who 1 Bischoff, Comprehensive History of the Woollen and Worsted Manufacture, I. 315, but Hirst seems to have held that he was entitled to this distinction, see below, p. 661, n. 4. Messrs Toplis had erected a spinning mill for wool at Cuckney, seven miles from Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, as early as 1788. Annals of Agriculture, x. 281. * The developing trade of the West Riding found employment for all available hands in 1791; Halifax masters had to pay spinners at the rate of 18. 3d. or ls. 4d. (Annals, XVI. 423). These high rates were partly due to the concurrent demand for labour for cotton-Spinning. Account of Society for Promotion of Industry in Lindsey (1789), Brit. Mus. 103. l. 56, p. 54. * Miles' Report in Reports from Assistant Hand-Loom Weavers' Com- missioners, 1840, XXIV. p. 390. 4 See above, p. 502. C.# 42 658 LAISSEZ FAIRE were good workmen, and chose to work hard, could make very large earnings indeed. The price of cloth in 1803 was said to have risen 30"/, while weavers' wages had increased 100%; there is ample evidence that the weavers looked back on the period of the war as one of exceptional prosperity. This gain took place, however, at the expense of the weavers who were thrown out of employment altogether; owing to the scarcity of material it was inevitable that the trade should contract rather than expand. It could not maintain all the labour that had been previously engaged in it. It cannot be a matter of surprise that, despite the high payments made to the employed weavers, there was much discontent among the class, and this found expression especially in the West of England district, where capitalism was in vogue. The trade was developing in the Yorkshire district, and the Gloucestershire and Wiltshire weavers had difficulty in holding their own. Like all the other workmen's agitations of the time, the demand of the woollen weavers took the form of insisting that the old laws regulating the cloth trade should be carried out. These were very numerous; and in so far as they laid down definite rules for the size and weight of cloth, they were certainly out of date; there was no doubt that clothiers were liable to punishment for infringing them, and in 1803 Parliament passed a temporary measure for preventing prosecution under these Acts, until there should be time to consider the whole subject. A Select Committee of the House of Commons reported, in 1806, on the question of the regulation of the clothing trade. The most pressing diffi- culties arose in connection with the Elizabethan Statute of Artificers. This had fixed on seven years as the period of apprenticeship, and since weaving could be learned in two or three years, many of the best workmen had failed to serve a regular apprenticeship”. There was little cause for surprise 1 Reports, 1840, XXIII. 417. 2 This was the case even in Yorkshire, where apprenticeship had a firmer hold than in the West of England. Mr John Lees, Merchant and Woollen Manu- facturer of Eſalifax, stated in his evidence before the Committee on the Yorkshire Woollen Petition in 1803: “Not one in Ten of the Workmen employed in the woollen manufactory has served a regular Apprenticeship; many have not been A.D. 1776 —1850. to those woollen 2060/06.7°S who found employ- 7ment, but the un- employed commenced Cº. agitation for en- forcing the old rules. The obli- gation of Q, Se??672 gears' apprentice- Shºp apprenticed at all, and the others have been apprenticed for Three, Four, or Five Years according to their Ages. Apprenticeships for Seven Years are quite LEGAL AND ILLEGAL WOOLLEN WEAVERS 659 that, when employment was scarce, the fully trained weavers A.D. 1776 should endeavour to take a stand upon their legal rights, and —185 insist that only duly qualified men should be set to work. The clothiers, on the other hand, would have been unwilling to dismiss good workmen in order to take on men, who had served an apprenticeship, but who were not better workmen than the others. The complaints of the weavers received very full consideration from Parliament, but it was not possible in the then state of public opinion to comply with their demands. The House of Commons decided to set aside the necessity of *m. apprenticeship, first tentatively", and then permanently, in the porarily clothing trades”. There were somewhat similar difficulties in other trades, from the manner in which the apprenticeship system was carried out"; and Parliament was petitioned to render the old system more effectual; but when the question had been once raised, it became clear that the House of Commons was in favour of settling it in another fashion. Still, no immediate action was taken; a Select Committee was appointed to take evidence, with the result that the chairman's view of the case was entirely altered; he had been in favour of sweeping away the legal enforcement of the apprenticeship system, but he was convinced by what he heard, that this would be a serious wrong in all sorts of trade, that it would tend to a deterioration in the quality of goods, unnecessary; a Youth from Sixteen to Eighteen Years of Age would learn the Art of Weaving in Twelve Months. That he has some persons now in his Employ- ment that have been actually engaged for Seven Years, but does not by any means consider them as more competent workmen than others who have not been apprenticed for so long a Time; the Consequence of being obliged to employ none but legally apprenticed Weavers must reduce the Business to One-tenth of its present Extent; That he knows of no legal Weavers now out of Employment, in consequence of others who have not been legally apprenticed being employed; on the contrary Weavers are wanted: That he apprehends Nine tenths of the present workmen would be thrown out of employ if the Statute of the Fifth of Elizabeth, Chapter Four, should be enforced.” Reports, 1802–3, v. 305. 1 The weavers of Yorkshire, who regarded apprenticeship as the bulwark of the domestic system and desired to maintain it against the encroachments of the factory system, had not really adhered to the Statute of Elizabeth, as the Trustees of the Cloth Halls at Leeds had allowed the custom of five years' apprenticeship to spring up, in place of the seven years demanded by law. Reports (Woollen Manufacture), 1806, III. 581, printed pagination 13. - 2 43 Geo. III. c. 136 and continuing Acts. 3 49 Geo. III. c. 109. 4 See above on the calico printers, p. 641, also Reports (Committee on Ap- prentice Laws), 1812–13, Iv. 991. 42—2 660 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. and despite the evi- dence in favour of retaining tt, and to a lowering of the status of the workmen. Petitions in support of this opinion poured in from all parts of the country, and all sorts of trades". But a mere mass of evidence had no chance of producing conviction in minds which were thoroughly imbued with a belief in the all-sufficiency of eco- nomic principles. Mr Sergeant Onslow urged the repeal of the Act, and remarked that “the reign of Elizabeth, though glorious, was not one in which sound principles of commerce were known.”.” Mr Phillips, the member for Ilchester, was still more decided. “The true principles of commerce,” he said, “appeared at that time to be misunderstood, and the Act. in question proved the truth of this assertion. The persons. most competent to form regulations with respect to trade were the master manufacturers, whose interest it was to have goods of the best fabric, and no legislative enactment could ever effect so much in producing that result as the merely leaving things to their own courses and operation”.” On this subject the politicians were only giving effect to the conclusions of economists of repute. Chalmers had been brief, but to the point. “This law, as far as it requires apprentice- ships, ought to be repealed, because its tendency is to abridge the liberty of the subject, and to prevent competition among workmen".” Adam Smith, with his experience of the laxer Scottish usage, had condemned the English system", and it may be doubted if any of his followers, at the beginning of this century, would have dissented from his conclusion on this. point. Once again laissez faire, pure and simple, triumphed through the influence of, and with the approval of economists, and the apprenticeship system was not modified, but swept. away in 1814". It thus came about that the whole Elizabethan labour code, both as regards wages and apprentices, was for- mally abolished. We may notice, however, that whereas the wages clauses had been regarded as a mere dead letter, the House of Commons believed that apprenticeship was in most cases an exceedingly good thing, and that it was already so the system was aban- doned. 1 It appears that there were 300,000 signatures against, and 2000 in favour of: repeal. Parl. Debates, XXVII. 574. 2 Parl. Debates, xxvii. 564, see also 881. 8 Ib. 572. 4 Chalmers, Estimate, p. 36. 5 Wealth of Nations, p. 50. 6 54 Geo. III. c. 96. THE SHEARMEN AND THE FRAMEWORK KNITTERS 661 firmly established that there was no need to strengthen it by Aº legislative Sanctions". 255. Parliament was also called upon to decide on the policy which should be pursued in regard to the use of machinery for dressing and finishing the cloth. A statute of The ºf Edward VI had prohibited the use of gig-mills, and about hº" 1802, when a machine which bore the same name was intro- º, duced into Wiltshire, it gave rise to a good deal of rioting; Pe". though, as it appears, similar machinery had been in use for some time in Gloucestershire”. It was not quite clear whether the new machines were identical with those which had been prohibited in Tudor times”; but the attention of the parlia- mentary Committee on the subject was chiefly directed to the quality of the work done. When the members were once convinced that machine work did not injure the fabric and wrought as well or better than the hand, they were entirely º ºw disinclined to support the workmen in their demand for the work well; enforcement of the old prohibition of gig-mills, or to recom- mend that action should be taken. This Committee of 1806 felt bound to allude at some length to the troubles which had arisen in Yorkshire, in con- ºut ſº * tº * * e newly nection with the introduction of shearing frames. These invented e g . . shearin were undoubtedly a new invention, and as such lay outside;....” the precise sphere of the Committee's enquiries. Mr Gott had introduced them at Leeds", and the employers, who adopted them, could dispense with some of their men. In this, as in other departments of the woollen trade, there could be no hope that manufacture would expand, so that more 1 Parl. Debates, XXVII. 564. 2 Reports (Woollen Clothiers' Petition), 1802–3, v. 254: 1806, III. p. 3. 8 Reports (Woollen Clothiers' Petition), 1802–3, v. 251. The subject is dis- cussed by J. Anstie, in his very interesting Observations on the necessity of introducing improved machinery into the woollen manufacture in the counties of Wilts, Gloucester, and Somerset (1803), 68. See above, p. 297 n. 4. The London Clothworkers complained of the use of gig-mills in the time of Charles I. S. P. D. C. I. ccLVII. 1. 4. A Bischoff, op.cit. ſ. 315. Mr William Hirst of Leeds claimed that the cloth manufactured in Yorkshire before 1813 would not bear gig-finishing, as the West of England cloth did, and that he was the first to manufacture a cloth on which the frames could be used with advantage (Hirst, History of the Woollen Trade during the last Sixty Years (1844), 17. He also claims that he was the first to introduce spinning mules into the woollen manufacture, p. 39. The public recognition which he received shows that he rendered considerable services to the Yorkshire trade. 662 - LAISSEZ FAIRE Aº" labour would be eventually required. That had happened in the cotton trade, where the conditions of the supply of materials were quite different, and Sir Robert Peel argued, from his experience as a cotton manufacturer, that the same ºd thing would occur in the woollen trade as well'. But he was workmen of entirely mistaken; the shearmen who had combined in a secret employment society” were perfectly right in believing that they were being ousted from employment by the competition of machines. They had no hope of continuing to live by the trade in which and roused they had been brought up. Under these circumstances, a ** series of attacks on the new machines was ably planned and * vigorously carried out. The shearmen” had a very complete secret organisation, the working of which has been dramati- cally pourtrayed by Mrs G. L. Banks". One murder occurred in connection with this outbreak, near Huddersfield", and there was an immense destruction of property. This was the only branch of the Yorkshire clothing trades in which the attempted introduction of machinery was signalised by outbursts of mob violence". The rioters in which were closely associated with the Luddites, who had been ... goaded into violent outbreaks by the distress they endured fº... as framework knitters in Nottinghamshire. The circum- stances of the two trades were curiously distinct; the shear- men were agitating against the introduction of a new machine, but this was not the case with the Luddites, as there 1 Reports, 1806, III. 1033, printed pagination 441. 2 They had a powerful combination in Leeds, before 1806, and called out all the shearmen in Mr Gott's employ, because he took two apprentices whose age was not in accordance with their rules. Reports, 1806, III. 959, printed pagination 367. 8 Report from the Committee on the State of the Woollen Manufacture, 1806, III. printed pagination 15. * Bond Slaves. 5 Report from the Committee of Secrecy (Disturbed Northern Counties), 1812, II. 309. 6 The rioters had been successful in 1780 in preventing the use of frames. (See above, p. 625, n. 3.) Hirst, writing in 1844, says: “About sixty years ago an attempt was made to introduce machinery for finishing the cloth, both in the West of England and in Yorkshire. The workmen raised the most violent opposition to it, and after a severe struggle the masters in Yorkshire were obliged to abandon the attempt, while in the West of England they succeeded. They thus had a double advantage, for all their goods were manufactured under their own care, while those in Yorkshire were manufactured in various parts and brought to sell in the Cloth Hall, in Leeds, in the balk state. They were then sent out to be finished, for there were few at that time who manufactured and finished cloth.” Hirst, p. 10. THE SHEARMEN AND THE FRAMEWORK KNITTERS 663 had been no considerable improvement in the stocking frame. Aº It continued to be worked by human power, and the trade was “” for the most part carried on by men who hired machines and worked them in their cottages. Still it was true that the stockingers and the shearmen were alike suffering from capitalist oppression—though in different forms—that the implements in their respective trades were known as frames, and that the destruction of these frames offered the most obvious means of revenging themselves on their employers". Framework knitting was carried on both in the hosiery and When the lace trades, and the circumstances of the industry had hardly º: altered during sixty years preceding 1812°. New machines ſº. were being devised in the lace trade, but had hardly ºw been introduced, and did not affect the stockingers. Up till the middle of the eighteenth century the Framework Knitters' Company had been successful in exercising a certain control over the trade, in Godalming, Tewkesbury and Not- tingham, as well as in London; but there was good reason for saying that they acted as a mere monopoly", and passed regulations which restricted the trade, while they did little to improve it in any way. After a long enquiry the House of Commons resolved to set their by-laws altogether aside in 17534. Shortly after this time, however, there were serious complaints complaints from the workmen in London, Nottingham, º Leicester, Tewkesbury, and other places, of the hardships to ** which they were subjected", especially by the fact that they 1 The evidence appears to show that the Luddites were engaged in executing popular vengeance on wealthy, or hard, owners of frames, and it is difficult to see that their action was in any way connected with the great mechanical progress of the time. On the other hand, the riots in Yorkshire were directed against a newly introduced machine. The mob in the West Riding was carefully discriminating, and concentrated its attention almost exclusively on those parts of the buildings where shearing frames and gig-mills were in operation (Annual Register, 1812, 54; Chronicle, pp. 39, 51, 114). As the work done by the machines was cheaper and better, the rioters were unfortunate in trying to secure a position which Parliament had treated as untenable. * Strutt's apparatus had been patented in 1758 (Felkin, History of Machine- wrought Hosiery, 98); and Heathcote applied power to the frames in 1816, ib. 243. * In 1720, they had attempted to raise a capital of £2,000,000 and carry on the trade as a joint-stock company. Commons Journals, xxvi. 785. 4 Ib. 7SS. * In 1779 John Long, a frame-work knitter, gave evidence to the effect that whereas Workmen used to be able to earn 2s. 4d. per day now they could only earn 1s. 6d. Out of that they had to pay 3d. for frame-rent and about 3d. more for 664 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. who paid frame- rents, and sub- sequently &nferior goods were produced, fe were responsible to the masters for paying frame-rent, whether they had employment given them or not". The proposals to regulate wages were negatived, however, and things dragged on till 1811 and 1812, when the interruption of trade caused a general reduction in the lace-making at Nottingham, and the oppressiveness of the charge for frame-rents was especially felt ; but the disturbance appears to have been aggravated by the action of a new class of masters, who had very little knowledge of the trade, and regarded frames as a profitable investment. At the same time, large quantities of goods were produced of such an inferior quality as to damage the reputation of the trade very considerably”. The Committee of the House of Commons were inclined to recommend the entire prohibition of certain classes of manufactures, and to insist on the publication of a schedule of payments; but after hearing additional evidence, they realised more clearly the very complicated nature of this industry, and the impractic- ability of carrying out the suggestions which had been incorporated in a Bill". A kind of cheap stocking, known winding, seaming, needles and candles. They had to work from 6 to 10 o'clock to earn 13. 7d. When work was given out it took some time to prepare the materials for the loom. Masters would not employ a man who has a frame of his own, but force the persons they employ to hire a frame from their employer. That several hosiers in Tewkesbury compel the men to buy the materials and make the stockings, which they afterwards purchase of them, and sometimes throw them upon the hands of the workmen. The men are compelled to buy the cotton wool from the masters, and sell it to the spinners, and then purchase the thread from the spinners. Commons Journals, XXXVII. 370. 1 A witness (Marsh) said, “That he knows several of the Masters of London who employ journeymen and let out more frames to them than they have Employment for, for the Sake of the Frame Rents.” Commons Journals, xxxvi. 742. Another witness deposed in 1779, “That he has been obliged to pay Frame Rent though his Master had not given him work, and in case of illness he is obliged to pay Frame Rent.” Commons Journals, XXXVII. 370. 2 “It appears by the evidence given before your Committee that all the Witnesses attribute the decay of the trade more to the making of fraudulent and bad articles than to the war or to any other cause. * * * It cannot be necessary for your Committee to state that the making of bad articles and deceitful work in any manufacture tends to bring the Trade into disgrace and ultimately to the ruin of the Trade; of this the Lace Trade at Nottingham, which has been for many years a most lucrative and flourishing trade, is a striking instance. And it appears to your Committee that in this particular branch most gross frauds are constantly practised which must destroy it, unless Some check can be put to these practices by the Legislature.” Report of the Committee on the Framework Knitters’ Petitions, 1812, II. 206. 8 “Your Committee have been confirmed in the Opinion expressed in their THE SHEARMEN AND THE FRAMEWORK KNITTERS 665 as “cut-up work",” was beginning to come into the market Aº –Lö0U. at this time”; and seven years later the disastrous effect on the regular manufacturers of flooding the market with inferior qualities was fully apparent in the neighbouring districts of Leicestershire", which seems to have enjoyed considerable prosperity even at the time of the Luddite riots". Parliament had no success either in putting down the low-class work, or regulating the abuse of frame-rents, or dealing with the owners of independent frames". Bad as the state of affairs had been in 1811, at the time when Byron made his celebrated speech in the House of Lords", former Report, that the Workmen suffer considerable inconveniences and are liable to deductions in various ways, in the payment for their work; but they have found it very difficult to suggest measures that can meet or obviate all those abuses, being of opinion that legislative enactments alone will not have that effect, and that trade of every kind should be left as much as possible to find its own level.” They propose the “removal from the Bill of certain Clauses relative to the IHosiery business and also to recommend the enactment of certain Regulations for the Lace Trade which they confidently hope will tend to remove much dissatis- faction between Masters and Workmen in that Trade, and to encourage the more general use of that article by ensuring its more serviceable and perfect quality.” “* They consider it (the Bill) in some degree as a Bill of experiment and therefore recommend it to be passed only for a limited time.” Second Report of the Committee upon the Petitions of the Framework Knitters, 1812, II. 268. 1 The cut-work was made in one large piece and afterwards cut out to the shape of the leg, the seams by which they are joined being often very ill done. This was much cheaper and depressed the regular woven trade. “The hosiers who do not make the cut-up work are continually lowering the wages to meet them in the market. * * * It has caused men’s ribbed hose, which were in 1814 and 1815 at 12s. a dozen when they were wrought with a selvage...to be reduced so that they are now brought into the market at 5s. a dozen making.” Reports, 1819, v. 416. Cut-work “has a tendency to increase the quantity of stockings in the market and by that means it always keeps the market overstocked with goods, thereby Qbliging the manufacturers to dismiss a large quantity of hands” (ib. 417). The men had to work extra hours and so there was an increased quantity. 2 Report of the Committee upon the Petitions of the Framework Knitters, 1812, II. 207. 8 “The direct effect of the cut-up work is to throw an additional quantity of goods into an already overstocked market which effects a reduction of price in all the articles, not of the cut-up articles only, but also of the better fabric. In the home market it has had the effect of inducing a substitute to be adopted in many families who have been in the habit of wearing our worsted articles.” The foreigners have either purchased through the medium of their agents, or in many cases have come personally into the market to sell out their own articles.” Reports, 1819, v. 430, printed pagination 30. * Report of the Select Committee on the Framework Knitters' Petition (1819), V. 407. * Report of the Commission appointed to inquire into the Condition of the Frame-Work Knitters, in Reports, 1845, xv. 68. 6 Parl. Debates, xxi. 966. which spoiled the market. 666 LAISSEZ FAIRE it had become much worse in 1845, when Mr Muggeridge reported on the state of the trade". All the old evils existed, and new causes of complaint are mentioned as well. There was much loss of time to the workers, who did not receive yarn when they gave back the finished goods at the end of the week, but had to wait till mid-day on Monday”. As the weavers wrought at home they were able to requisition the assistance of their wives and children, and the whole family were occupied for very long hours and at starvation wages, from which the frame-rents had always to be deducted. The business was easily learned, and Owing to the conditions in which it was carried on, the supply of labour, male and female, was practically unlimited. In periods of occasional depression, even benevolent masters had believed they were doing the kindest thing in spreading the work among many families, so as to give all a little to do, on the principle that a little pay was better than none". There was thus a stint." on the employment of each hand, and the irregularity of their earnings was in itself a serious evil. Mr Muggeridge rightly regarded this practice of spreading work as the main cause of A.D. 1776 —1850. The evils QUere aggravated by the practice of spreading work, 1 According to his figures wages had fallen 359/6 between 1811 and 1842. Reports, etc., 1845, xv. p. 51. In 1819 a special appeal to the charity of the nation was made on behalf of the framework knitters by Robert Hall, but the distress was constantly recurring, p. 107. 2 Reports, etc., 1845, xv. 117. The long-established custom of idling on Saturday to Monday to which the Factory Commissioners called attention in 1833 was not so entirely without excuse as they believed, but seems to have been originally due to this unsatisfactory trade usage. Ib. 1833, XX. 534. Report, Factories Inquiry Commission. * Reports, etc., 1845, xv. 65. 4 “The practice of “stinting’ being resorted to in most periods of depression in the trade with the twofold object of lreeping the machinery going, and deriving the full amount of profits from its use in the shape of frame-rents, the workman instead of being driven to seek other employment, as he must necessarily do if left wholly unemployed, is kept, sometimes for months together, on the borders of starvation with just enough of work to prevent him seeking a more extended field of occupation, and too little to maintain either himself or his family in any state approaching to comfort or respectability. * * * Time after time the operatives in particular qualities of goods have been stinted to two or three or four days' work in a week only, for weeks or months together; every obstacle thrown in the way to check their facilities of production, such as deferred or Scanty supplies of the material for manufacture from the Warehouse; complaints of the work when made and heavy abatements on one pretext or another deducted from the scanty pittance of wages earned " " " until at length the continued pressure on the market of goods so produced necessarily sold at any sacrifice by needy manu- facturers has forced down prices to a level which has often, for a considerable THE SHEARMEN AND THE FRAMEWORK KNITTERS 667 all the distress", and appears to favour the granting of Aº allotments” as a means of affording valuable occupation in leisure time. But though this expedient was tried it could not serve to raise wages; the industrial ‘reserve” was so large that the capitalist could force the stockingers to accept any terms, while the charge for frame-rents ran remorselessly on. The stockingers had endeavoured to con- test these claims, and had raised a case under the Truck Acts, but it was given against them”; altogether the circum- stances of the trade were such that capitalists had the opportunity of acting very oppressively towards the men. The evidence seems to show that under these circumstances the larger masters maintained an honourable course on the whole; but that the small capitalists, who had difficulty in carrying on business at all, were less scrupulous. The story of the framework knitters is particularly in- structive for those who desire to analyse the causes of the distress that was felt in the early part of this century. In this particular industry, where conditions were so utterly miserable, there can be no pretence that mechanical improve- ments contributed to the degradation of the workers; this was due to a combination of circumstances which may be and were not due to machinery but to reckless best described as reckless competition. The institutions of compe the Middle Ages, and of the seventeenth century, had aimed at maintaining the quality of goods as a necessary condition of lasting industrial success; the old methods of achieving this result were no longer practicable; but the evils, against which they had been directed, became particularly rampant when manufacturers came to aim at mere cheapness, as the only thing to be considered in the successful conduct of business. So long as this was the case no improvement seemed possible; to raise wages in any way would increase period, almost annihilated particular branches of the trade.” Reports, 1845, XV. 67, printed pagination 55. 1 Ib. 142. * 2 Ib. 138. This practice proved favourable to hand-loom weavers at Bridport (Ib. Reports from Assistant Commissioners on Hand-Loom Weavers, 1840, XXIII. 288), but its success depended on the precise form of the scheme, and one of the methods tried at Frome did little good. (Ib. 300.) On the failure of allotments, where too large, as at Rotherfield in Sussex, or when managed by parish officers, not by private individuals, see Reports 1834, xxvii. 107. 8 F. Engels, Conditions, 84. 4 Felkin, op. cit. 455. tition. 668 LAISSEZ, FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. The wnevitable difficulties of tran- sition 2007'e aggravated by the fluctua- tions of trade, the expense of production, and diminish the sale of the goods; while the low rates of wages were in themselves an obstacle to improved production; it seemed to be a vicious circle, from which there was no escape. III. AGGRAVATIONS OF THE EVILS OF TRANSITION. 256. All periods of rapid transition are likely to be times of difficulty, especially to the poorer classes of the com- munity; under no circumstances could such sweeping changes, as were involved in the Industrial Revolution, have passed over the country without inflicting an immense amount of suffering. Some pains were taken to minimise the trouble, especially where it affected the women and children who practised spinning as a by-employment ; and the strain of the times was partially alleviated by the expedient of parish allowances". With this exception, however, the cir- cumstances of the day were such as to aggravate the inevitable evils of transition. These arose far less from the introduction of new machines, than from the fact that the labourer had come to be so entirely dependent on the state of trade, for obtaining employment, and for the terms on which he was remunerated. Fluctuations of business were fatal to his well-being in every industry, whether it had been affected by the introduction of new processes and appliances or not. The commercial development, which had been going on so rapidly, was not checked by the secession of the colonies, and during the half-century from 1775 to 1825 English trade increased enormously. The Industrial Revolution had been occasioned by the commercial expansion of the earlier part of the eighteenth century, and it led in turn to an unprecedented extension of our trade”. But the political complications with France and America, at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries, were incompatible 1 See above, pp. 638 and 656, also below, p. 718. 2 The tonnage of the shipping belonging to Great Britain in 1780 was 619,000, and in 1790 it had increased to 1,355,000. The shipping of Great Britain and Ireland was 1,698,000 in 1800; 2,211,000 in 1810; 2,439,000 in 1820; 2,201,000 in 1830; 2,584,000 in 1840; 3,565,000 in 1850; and 4,659,000 in 1860. L. Levi, op.cit. pp. 50, 146, 246 and 412. - THE WAR AND FLUCTUATIONS IN MARITIME INTERCOURSE 669 with steady growth. The progress which occurred was the outcome of a series of violent reactions; the alternations of periods of peace and war were continually affecting the con- tº a dº gº tº º e & 7720, ditions under which maritime intercourse could be carried on, É. and business of every kind was highly speculative. That large fortunes were made is true enough; but it is also true that, in such a state of affairs, all attempts to provide steady employment for the operatives, at regular wages, were doomed to failure, and the standard of life could not but be lowered. The minor fluctuations in the cloth trade, in the early part of the seventeenth century, had taxed the abilities of the ad- ministration, but the expansion and contraction, at the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century, were on a very much larger scale, and affected a far greater number of industries. It would be impossible to follow out these ramifications in detail; we can only attempt to indicate the general effects which the wars of this period had, in interrupting, or diverting English commerce, and inducing financial disaster. It does not appear that the immediate effects of the rupture A.D. 1776 —l 850. which rendered 7??!,- turing speculative and tended to lower the operatives’ standard of life. The breach. with the with the United States in 1776, were very much felt by the American. commercial community, or the industrial population. The market for our manufactures there was closed; but there must have been an increased demand for the equipment of our armies. There was probably some difficulty about naval stores; but so long as supplies could be obtained from Canada, and from the Baltic, this can hardly have been serious. The mischief of the revolt Only came home to Englishmen as the country was embroiled in incidental disputes with one after another of the European countries. The French were only too delighted to see the break-up of English power in America, and were ready to foment the quarrel. They were jealous of the magnificent maritime resources which had been revealed to the world, when the influence of Chatham was exerted on English policy; they feared that the French West Indies' would be swallowed up by the British monster, as Canada had been ; and some of them. anticipated that the rise of an independent state in the New 1 Lecky, England in the Eighteenth Century, IV. 39. colonists 670 LAISSEZ FAIRE Aº World would exorcise the commercialjealousy of the European peoples'. For a time the French Government was content with giving clandestine assistance to the colonists”, but this attitude could not be maintained for long; and in 1778 King Louis openly espoused the American cause and concluded a was taken treaty with the United States. When the mask was once º thrown aside, it was impossible to explain away the unfriendly #.” acts of which the French had been guilty, and Englishmen rivals, with heavy hearts" drifted into a war which had become inevitable. The various branches of the House of Bourbon were so closely connected that this involved a quarrel with Spain". The Dutch were eager to reestablish the regular commercial relations with the North American coast from which the Navigation Acts had excluded them, and naturally followed the course pursued by France. They supplied the colonists with arms and ammunition, and joined in the fray when war was declared in 1780. England found herself actively opposed by the most powerful maritime nations of the Continent, at the time when she was seeking to coerce her colonies. Nor was assistance to be hoped for from any of the Powers which were not actually in arms against Great Britain. Frederick of Prussia cherished a grudge against England, and though he gave no open countenance to the Americans, he discouraged the efforts of the English King to utilise his German connection in order to enlist soldiers for employment in dealing with the colonists. But the most serious blow, came from Catharine of Russia, who was pro- bably more inclined to sympathise with England than any of gº the other European monarchs. The English had been strictly mainian scrupulous in respecting Russian commerce, but the Spaniards ºf had been less careful; and Catharine, in self-defence, defined º, a doctrine of neutral trading which she was prepared to enforce. The rule, which she enunciated in 1780, differed from the traditional principles, which England maintained". 1 Turgot, Memoire sur la manière don't la France et l'Espagne devoient envisager les swites de la guerelle entre la Grande Bretagne et ses Colonies, in CEuvres (1809), VIII. 461. * Lecky, op. cit. 44. 8 Parl. Hist. xix. 920, 928. 4 The Spaniards were strongly anti-English and supplied the Americans with gunpowder. Lecky, op. cit. IV. 45. * “The doctrine of maritime law which England had steadily asserted was THE WAR AND FLUCTUATIONS IN MARITIME INTERCOURSE 671 She insisted that neutral vessels should be allowed to trade Aº freely from port to port on the coasts of nations at war, and that all goods belonging to the subjects of belligerent Powers should be free in neutral ships. These principles made it impossible for a belligerent to cut off the commerce of an enemy, and they were favourable to the Americans, since their trade could go on unchecked. This doctrine was also advan- tageous to the smaller maritime Powers, which could claim a right to continue and develop a carrying trade, when England was hampered by hostilities. Sweden and Denmark immedi- ately adopted the same policy as Russia, and Austria, Portugal and the Two Sicilies also joined the Armed Neutrality". These Powers refused to recognise any blockade which was not rendered effective, and thus the different questions, which that which Wattel laid down when he maintained that ‘the effects belonging to an enemy found on board a neutral ship are seizable by the rights of war' (Droits des Gens, book III. § 115). * * * The right of a belligerent to confiscate all goods belonging to an enemy found on neutral vessels had been fully recognised in the Consolato del Mare, which chiefly regulated the maritime law of the Middle Ages. It appears then to have been undisputed, and it is not too much to say that it had been asserted and acted on in more modern times by every considerable naval Power. An ordinance of Lewis XIV., indeed, in 1681, went much beyond the Rnglish doctrine, and asserted, in accordance with what is said to have been the earlier French practice, the right of a belligerent to confiscate any neutral vessel containing an enemy's goods; and this was the received French doctrine for the next sixty-three years, and the received Spanish doctrine for a considerably longer period. In 1744, however, a new French ordinance adopted the English rule that the goods, but the goods only, were liable to confiscation. Holland, in her practice and her professions, had hitherto agreed with England, and the right of a belligerent to confiscate an enemy's property in neutral ships was clearly laid down in the beginning of the eighteenth century by Bynkershoek, the chief Dutch authority on maritime law. Russia herself, during her late war with the Turks, had systematically confiscated Turkish property in neutral vessels (Malmesbury, Diaries, I. 306, 307). The importance, indeed, to any great naval power of stopping the commerce of its enemy, and preventing the influx of indispensable stores into its ports, was so manifest, that it is not surprising that it should have been insisted on; and it is equally natural that neutral Powers which had little or no prospect of obtaining any naval ascendancy, should have disliked it, and should have greatly coveted the opportunity which a war might give them of carrying on in their own ships the trade of the belligerents. The doctrine that free ships make free goods appears to have been first put forward in a Prussian memorial in 1752, at a time when Prussian merchantmen had begun, on Some considerable scale, to carry on trade for the Powers which were then at War; but it never received any sanction from the great maritime Powers till France, with the object of injuring England, adopted it in 1778. The accession of Russia in 1780 at once gave it an almost general authority.” Lecky, op. cit. IV. 156. 1 Koch and Schoell, I. 477, 479. to the dis- advantage of the English, 672 LAISSEZ FAIRE were to become so prominent in the great struggle with Napoleon, were definitely raised. Hence the indirect effect of the break with the colonies was to bring about a serious dislocation of trade, and to expose the English mercantile marine first to the attacks of American privateers, and sub- sequently to those of other countries. To adequately protect English vessels, against the cruisers of so many different nations, was practically impossible; it appears that the fright- ful increase of risk, attending all trading operations, was the principal evil of this period, rather than the mere interruption of any one branch of commerce. Some of the rates for insurance for ships appear to have increased from two guineas to £21 per cent.". This was the period in which the practice of marine insurance came to be regularly adopted by ship- owners; and commercial relations were strained in many directions. But after all, warfare on the high seas was a game in which England was well prepared to take a part, and she played it with much success. The American privateers did less damage than had been anticipated”; the tonnage of British-built shipping increased during the years of the war", while in a couple of years the Americans lost something like 900 vessels; and the Atlantic coast was exposed to ruthless raids, such as those which destroyed Newhaven in Connecticut and Suffolk in Virginia". Nor were the tables turned after the European Powers threw themselves into the struggle. “The combined fleets of France and Spain,” as Washington wrote in 1780, “last year were greatly superior to those of the enemy. Nevertheless the enemy sustained no material damage, and at the close of the campaign gave a very important blow to our allies. This campaign the difference between the fleets will be inconsiderable....What are we to expect will be the case if there should be another campaign 2. In all probability the advan- tage will be on the side of the English, and then what would become of America? We ought not to deceive ourselves. The A.D. 1776 —1850. who sus- tained heavy losses, but no permanent damage 1 Leone Levi, History, 45. 2 In 1818, “by sound seamanship, by good fortune, and by the neglect of the onemy an important fleet of merchantmen from the East Indies, another from Lisbon, and a third from Jamaica all arrived in Safety.” Lecky, op. cit. IV. 94. 8 Chalmers, Opinions on subjects arising from American Independence, p. 99. 4 Lecky, op. cit. IV. 94, 116. THE WAR AND FLUCTUATIONS IN MARITIME INTERCOURSE 673 maritime resources of Great Britain are more substantial and Aº real than those of France and Spain united’.” The attempt º of the Dutch to carry on their trade, according to the newly defined rights of neutrals, involved them in ruinous losses. The surrender of the island of S. Eustatius was a very serious disaster, as many ships and valuable stores were seized by the English”, and the Dutch East India Company received a shock from which it never recovered”. Anxious as the times were to their for the merchants, England was able to give as hard blows as rººm. she received, and her rivals were the principal sufferers. When England at length acknowledged the independence of the United States, and the treaty of Versailles with the other belligerents was signed in 1783, many valuable islands Though and places of trade were restored to Spain and to France. #. e º ſº tº - e. -> ed many Spain obtained Minorca and the Philippines, as well as possessions Florida; while England only received the Bahamas, and ºn 1788, rights for the timber trade in Honduras. France was less fortunate, though her commercial stations in the East Indies were secured to her; she obtained the island of Tobago, which then yielded the best supplies of cotton, and she insisted on a more favourable interpretation of the disputed rights in the Newfoundland fisheries. England was at no pains to retain her recent acquisitions or enlarge her responsi- bilities, and apart altogether from the loss of her Colonies, the territorial readjustments were not in her favour; but her maritime Superiority stood out more markedly than ever, her. 7)70.7%tºmé The Dutch had suffered irreparable losses both in the East superiority and West; the maritime resources of France had been strained ...” to man the navy; and the development of shipping by the ** Americans had received a severe check". England emerged 1 Sparks, Writings of George Washington, VII. 59. Washington continues with an interesting remark: “In modern wars the longest purse must chiefly determine the event. I fear that of the enemy will be found to be so. Though the govern- ment is deeply in debt and of course poor, the nation is rich, and their riches afford a fund, which will not be easily exhausted. Besides their system of public credit is such that it is capable of greater exertions than that of any other nation.” * Lecky, op. cit. IV. 166. 8 Beer, Allgemeine Geschichte des Welthandels, II. 225. 4 During the years of the war there was an extraordinary revival of Ship- building in English yards; the Americans did not fare so well as they had done, when they were deprived of the advantage afforded to their commerce by the British Navigation Acts. Macpherson, IV. 10 m. C.* 43 674 LAISSEZ FAIRE from the struggle without a rival in ability to carry on the commerce of the World, during the very decade when the great development of the hardware and of the cotton trades was taking place. As a consequence England succeeded in retaining her hold on the trade of the United States, and neither France nor Holland was able to obtain a substantial share of this commerce. Pitt failed in his attempt to main- tain the full freedom of intercourse with the new republic, which he would have desired"; but the trade of the United States with England expanded very rapidly, especially after the development of cotton growing in Carolina. It was found that Dean Tucker's forecast was amply justified”, and that the political severance from the United States did little to injure our commercial dealings with the people. Economists began to realise how firmly the material pro- sperity of England was founded, when this blow to her prestige caused so little injury Still more striking testi- mony to the economic strength of England was afforded when the treaty of 1786 opened up freer intercourse with France, and English goods commanded a ready sale in conti- nental markets. So strongly was English maritime power established at this time, that her rivals had little means of attacking her; and the war of 1793, which followed the outbreak of the Revolution in France, was much less injurious to English commerce than the War of Independence had been. England set herself, with considerable success, to ruin the trade and shipping of France; and her high-handed measures with this object were resented by the United States, as well as by Norway and Sweden, who sought to preserve their rights as neutrals. But English relations with the neutral powers, though strained, were not broken, and her commerce continued to flourish. In 1795 France succeeded in mastering Holland, and England engaged in the attempt to destroy both her A.D. 1776 and en abled her to 777.0700- polise the carrying trade and to ruin her rivals. 1 Trade was not permitted between the United States and the West India Islands. This was a serious grievance to the planters (Commons Journals, xxxix. 840), but the restriction was maintained in the hope of preventing American competition in the carrying trade. Holroyd, Observations on the Commerce of the American States, 79. 2 J. Tucker, True Interest of Great Britain (1776), p. 51. Also A Series of Answers, p. 30, Brit. Mus. 522. g. 5 (5). - THE WAR AND FLUCTUATIONS IN MARITIME INTERCOURSE 675 ancient rivals at once. They were unable, even when united, A.P." to do her serious damage"; the distant trades with India, During the Africa and Brazil, and with the United States, remained * open, though they were of course attended with unusual risk. The chief privation was due to the fact that none of these distant trades served, as European trade might have done, to replenish the supplies of food in the years of dearth; for the Armed Neutrality cut us off from the areas of wheat on the Baltic”. The serious risk of not being self-sufficing in our food supply was clearly felt, though there were possibilities of importation even then, as the United States exported food stuffs" to Spain and Portugal. The most obvious result of a stimulus the war was to give an unhealthy stimulus to English tillage, .#. and to force on rapid changes in the rural districts, but it must * have caused much uncertainty in various industries, and con- tributed to the distress of which we hear among operatives. With the Peace of Amiens in 1802, hopes were entertained of still greater developments, as the trade of the whole world was suddenly thrown open to England. The Dutch indeed were replaced in the possession of the colonies they had lost, but their marine had suffered severely, and the triumph of England over her old rival was at last complete. Great and after Britain had attained to the same sort of maritime supremacy ºfº, which Holland had secured in 1648, while the rapid develop-º. ment of the textile and iron manufactures gave her prosperity a prospective stability which Holland had never enjoyed in the same degree". English traders and manufacturers were, 1 Reinhard, Present state of the Commerce of Great Britain, 19, 46. 2 Rose, Our Food Supply, in Monthly Review, March 1902, p. 67. 8 Yeats, Recent and Easisting Commerce, 237. 4 Though the Treaty of Amiens restored to the Dutch most of the colonial possessions they had lost, they never recovered the effects of this war, in which they were crushed by the hostility of their larger neighbours. Their exclusion from American trade by the English parliament in 1651 was felt as a grievance in the middle of the eighteenth century, i.e. so soon as their development in other directions was checked, and this later experience appears to have given rise to the opinion that the maintenance of the Navigation Acts inflicted serious injury, even after 1667 when the Dutch had been admitted as intermediaries in the German trade (Dumont, op. cit. VII. i. 48). The greatness of Holland, like that of Carthage, had been raised, not on the stable basis of land, but on the fluctuating basis of trade. “The manufacturers became merchants, and the merchants became agents and carriers; so that the solid sources 43–2 676 LAISSEZ, FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. for American markets. English prosperety QUCIS S600/76- ly founded, QS tndustry however, only able to take full advantage of these great opportunities for a few months; the quantity of English goods exported was enormously increased for a time, especially in trade with the United States and Brazil. But the stimulus given to production was not altogether wholesome; the expansion was so rapid that business men had attempted to strain their credit to the utmost in order to engage in vast speculations, and there was a very serious revulsion when the war broke out again in 1803. The final crisis had now arrived in the great struggle between France and England for predominance in the world. It seemed possible that the nineteenth century might reverse the story of the eighteenth, and that a rejuvenated France might assert a new power against her ancient rival, not only in Europe but in India and the West Indies. There was a general impression that English prosperity rested on very insecure foundations, and that these might be completely undermined; this opinion gave rise to much anxiety in England, while sanguine expectations of successful rivalry were cherished in France. The economic relations of the two countries had been completely reversed since the Restoration period; after the Peace of Versailles, France had been in constant danger of being flooded by English goods, and French manufacturers demanded the strenuous enforcement of pro- tective legislation in the interest of native industries'. The of riches gradually disappeared.” Playfair, Inquiry into the permanent Causes of the Decline and Fall of wealthy and powerful Nations, 66. His whole account of the decline of Holland is interesting. Her one important manufacture, that of linen, was weighted by the pressure of taxation in competing with other countries, and the increasing use of cotton must surely have affected the demand for the higher-priced fabric. The Dutch carrying trade, which had revived during the War of Independence, was fatally injured when Holland was forced to side against England in the Revolutionary War, and the blows she then received were anticipations of the complete destruction of her greatness which ensued, when she was drawn by Napoleon into the Continental System. It is not uninteresting to notice that these causes of the eventual fall of Holland were noted by Cary, whose comments on Dutch trade are instructive. Writing in 1695 he says, “The Trade of the Dutch consists rather in Buying and Selling than Manufactures, most of their Profits arising from that and the Freights they make of their Ships. * * * Such a Commerce to England would be of little Advantage no more than jobbing for guineas, this Nation would no way advance its Wealth thereby, whose Profits depend on our Product and Manufactures.” Essay on the State of England in relation to its Trade (1695), pp. 123, 124. 1 Mr Welsford points out the influence of these conditions in bringing about the Reign of Terror. Strength of Nations, 188. N THE WAR AND FLUCTUATIONS IN MARITIME INTERCOURSE 677 Revolutionary government hoped, by closing French markets Aº and attacking English commerce, to ruin this country. The natural resources of France were such that she seemed to be able to stand alone, while England was dependent on her commerce. The French authorities absolutely discarded the free trade views which had been diffused by Quesnay under the monarchy, and prohibited the importation of English goods", in the hope that they would “soon tear down the veil which envelopes the imposing Colossus of British Power”.” They had, however, greatly underrated the economic strength of this country. Vastly as the carrying trade and commerce had increased, this was only one side of English development ; industry had been improved to such an extent, both as regards the quality and the cheapness of goods, that other countries found it impossible to dispense altogether with British manu- factures. Gallant efforts had been made, too, by the intro- duction of better methods of stock-raising and tillage to º, d render the food supply sufficient, at least in favourable years, all been for our greatly increased population. England was really developed; far better prepared to engage in this great struggle than she appeared to her antagonists, and it is worth while to quote the opinion of a contemporary observer, who realised what a commanding position England had attained in the commercial and industrial world. “It is a fact of public notoriety, that within the last fifty years almost all the English colonies have been improved, and made to yield more plentiful returns; that their population, and even that of the three united kingdoms in Europe, has been considerably augmented: that their manufactures have acquired a much greater degree of perfection; and of course a more wide-spread circulation; by which means their trade and navigation have been increased by nearly one-half. It is farther known, that within the last thirty years almost every necessary has been enhanced by one-third part of its former price. It is therefore natural that the English receive at a large º 7°62)67770.6 M50.3 present more money for their manufactured products and for derived * Mollien, Mémoires d'un Ministre du Trésor Public, III. 314. See also Sorel, L'Europe et la Révolution Franç. III. 245. * Brissot, quoted by Rose in Eng. Hist. Rev. VIII. 704. 678 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. from customs, and Fingland could defy competition through her wealth in coal, the commodities which they import from both Indies, than they used to do formerly; and that in consequence they are greater gainers by it, and can afford, better than ever, to pay taxes. In all the well governed states of Europe the ex- penditure has been rising for the last thirty years, and the revenues have risen in proportion. “He who doubts the advanced flourishing condition of the British commerce and the wealth of the nation, may easily convince himself of his error, merely by comparing the former and present English custom-house entries, the list of imports and exports, and the amount of the duties which they necessarily occasion: to this ought to be added, that the English are now in possession of the greater part of the commerce of the world, and by these means have it in their power to fix the standard price of almost every commodity. They have besides this, immediately after the commencement of the present war, captured from the French and Dutch great numbers of ships with rich cargoes, the amount of which is estimated to exceed £14,000,000 sterling. “Allowing that the other commercial nations who are competitors with the English in trade over all the world, even felt themselves inclined to undersell the English in their prices, it would in the first place be incompatible with their interests; in the second, it is out of their power to supply all nations sufficiently, out of the scantiness of their stores. The English possess quantities immensely larger than they do, and barter them for the produce of their manufactures; which is generally the case in every corner of the globe. There Is scarcely a single commodity, a single article either of luxury or convenience, that is not manufactured by the English, with the most consummate skill, and in the highest state of perfection. “The soil of Britain does not indeed produce a quantity of corn sufficient for the exigencies of its inhabitants; and for this reason it becomes necessary, every year, to remit large sums of money for its purchase to the ports in the Baltic; but then nature has indemnified that country with her rich coal mines, the envy of foreigners, who by this means become, in a certain manner, tributary to England; for the THE WAR AND FLUCTUATIONS IN MARITIME INTERCOURSE 679 English parliament has laid a considerable duty on the ex- A.D. 1776 portation of coals, which foreign nations are obliged to pay. " 50. “A nation whose active commerce is so preponderating, compared with its passive trade, who is herself the ruler of the most numerous and fertile colonies in all parts of the world; a nation that sends the produce of her industry to every zone; that has so formidable a navy, and so wide- spread a navigation; a nation, that by her activity and the genius of her citizens, manufactures its numberless articles of merchandise, infinitely finer, in much superior workmanship, in far more exquisite goodness, than all other nations, without exception; and that is able to sell them infinitely cheaper, owing to her admirable engines, her machines, and her native coal; a nation, whose credit and whose capital is so immense despite the as that of England; surely such a nation must render allº." of foreigners tributary; and her very enemies must help to bear the immense burthen of her debt and the enormous accumu- lation of her taxes. “The commerce of France and Holland is at present almost totally suspended by the blockade of most of their ports". Both countries are totally cut off from their possessions in the East Indies, and are allowed to carry on but a very insignificant trade with their West India colonies. How 1 “Before the Revolution France employed, in its colonial trade, 180,000 tons of shipping. Between the years 1763 and 1778, the returns in produce from the Erench colonies, consisting of Sugar, coffee, indigo, cocoa and Cottom, amounted to the annual value of about £6,400,000 sterling. Of these one-half was consumed in France, the other half exported to other parts of Europe. In 1788 the tonnage employed in the French colonial trade had been augmented to 696 vessels of the burthen of 204,058 tons. The imports rose in that year to the value of about #7,000,000 sterling. “From an official paper of the French minister of the interior, we learn, that in the year ending Sept. 1800, # Sterling. The value of the imports of France was . & e sº 13,500,000 Of the exports . © & º & e tº © º 11,300,000 Balance against France in 1800 2,200,000 In the year ending Sept. 1801, the imports were . © 17,370,000 Exports * o dº © º e º & e g 12,716,000 4,654,000 Value of prizes captured this year from the enemy . ge 670,000 Balance against France in 1801. g3,984,000.” 680 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.P.1776 then can these two powers wage war with the produce of —1850. * & e . their commercial dealings as England does 2 England alone has room, notwithstanding the harbours that are shut against her, on the extensive globe, and the vast oceans that sur- round it. “The sums which Spain and Portugal are obliged to pay to France for their neutrality, cannot, at any rate, indemnify the latter for the expenses of the war, for the obstruction of her commerce, and the loss of her colonies. Add to this, that the credit which France and Holland once had, is now so very, very trifling, as to cripple and paralyse every important enterprise in which they may happen to embark. “What then will be the end of this new war, carried on with so much fury 2 What are the catastrophes that will at last bring back peace, and appease enraged minds 2 No mortal will dare to give a decisive answer to these questions. so that But the attentive observer of the history of his time is, } e & ºf however, at liberty to take a view of matters of fact, and of ** the resources of the contending parties, from which he may deduce tolerably accurate conclusions'.” Had English statesmen been a little more confident of their real strength they might have been saved from a costly blunder; but in the terrible strain of the struggle they were tempted to make a ruthless use of their advantages. It was of course our object, as in the Revolutionary War, to destroy The the commerce of France and Holland. In this we were º % extraordinarily successful. “Not a single merchant ship,” as ...” was asserted in 1805, “under a flag inimical to Great Britain, CO7727,767'C6 2 22 * ;%#. now crosses the equator or traverses the Atlantic Ocean”. her with . Markets formerly closed were now opened by force; England the United tº , º sales” was able to take advantage of her maritime Supremacy to prevent the transport of goods by other traders; she was thus once more brought into conflict with neutrals, and especially with the people of the United States. American shipowners had enjoyed a period of unwonted prosperity from 1793–1802 during the Revolutionary War; they had temporarily become the principal carriers in the trade between the French West Indian colonies and the 1 Reinhard, op. cit. pp. 43–46. * War in Disgwise, p. 71. THE WAR AND FLUCTUATIONS IN MARITIME INTERCOURSE 681 mother country; previously this trade had been closed to them, Aº but during the war it was convenient to the French that it - should be conducted in ships sailing under the United States flag. At the Peace of Amiens in 1802 the government of France at once resumed the colonial monopoly, and excluded the United States ships from a trade which they had enjoyed during the war". Hence during the brief period of peace, the French and Dutch trade revived, and the shipping of the States, which had increased enormously during the Revolu- tionary War, suffered a corresponding decline. With the outbreak of the Napoleonic War, however, the French com- mercial policy was changed again, and the trade between the mother country and the colonies was thrown open to neutrals. The United States took full advantage of their opportunity, ;ºv and a new period of prosperity for their shipping began”. veloped a By calling at an American port and taking out fresh papers, ...” a vessel could carry on a regular trade between France and #. Prance her colonies, without having any reason to elude our privateers. ** colonies Indeed the cessation of the restrictive policy, which France and Spain had pursued, favoured the rapid development of their colonies”; and as the neutral traders had no need of convoys, or special rates of insurance, the sugar of the French colonies could be imported on cheaper terms than that from our own islands, even at the very time when we had a complete supremacy at sea. It was further contended that this trade was not a genuine neutral trade, since, owing to the French navigation laws, the neutrals would never have had the opportunity of engaging in it, but for the war; as a matter of fact it had been held illicit in 1756, and our courts had never departed from the rule which was then laid down". 1 War in Disguise, 1805 [by A. Stephen], p. 19. 2 Though none of the United States ports lay on the direct route from South America or the West Indies to France and Holland, the trade winds and Gulf Stream (War in Disguise, 1805, p. 42) served in such a fashion, that there was but little delay in transmitting goods by way of some North American port, so that the stream of trade between France and Holland and their West Indian colonies readily shifted, according to the exigencies of the times. 8 War in Disgwise, p. 75. 4 “The general rule is, that the neutral has a right to carry Oñ, in time of war, his accustomed trade, to the utmost extent of which that accustomed trade is capable. Very different is the case of a trade which the neutral has never possessed, which he holds by no title of use and habit in times of peace; and 682 LAISSEZ FAIRE In so far then as trade was a source of profit and power to France, it appeared that, though we had destroyed her shipping, we had not cut off her commerce. It was not only carried on by neutral vessels to her own ports, but it reached her through the neutral markets of Hamburg, Altona, Emden, Copenhagen, Gottenburg and Lisbon. The rivers and canals of Germany and Flanders carried produce and East Indian fabrics in all directions from these centres, so as to affect not only our commerce but our manufactures. “They supplant, or rival the British planter and merchant, throughout the continent of Europe, and in all the ports of the Mediterranean. They supplant even the manufacturers of Manchester, Bir- mingham and Yorkshire; for the looms and forges of Germany are put in action by the colonial produce of our enemies, and are rivalling us, by the ample supplies they send under the neutral flag, to every part of the New World'.” Under these circumstances, the British Government determined to attempt, not only to destroy French shipping, but to cut off French trade, by putting a stop to “the frauds of the neutral flags.” The first definite action in the matter was taken in 1806, when England endeavoured to strike at the neutral trading, by declaring a blockade along the whole of the Channel from Brest to the Elbe. This was merely declaratory, as the blockade was only enforced at the mouth of the Seine”, and in the narrow seas, but it gave Napoleon the opportunity of posing as a champion who would redress the wrongs of neutral powers. France had assumed the rôle of the deliverer of the European peoples from privileged tyranny, and it suited Napoleon to come forward as the maintainer of national rights against the economic and com- mercial tyranny of Great Britain. In the Berlin Decree of November 1806, he represented the Orders in Council as an infraction of the recognised principles of International Law, A.D. 1776 —1850. to the dis- advantage of British traders. The Orders in Council against neutral trading called forth the Berlin. which in fact he can obtain in War, by no other title than by the success of one belligerent against the other and at the expense of that very belligerent under whose success he sets up his title; and such I take to be the colonial trade generally speaking.” Judgment of Sir William Scott, quoted in War in Disguise, 13. 1 War in Disguise, 73, 71. 2 According to the doctrine which Napoleon maintained, the restrictions in regard to blockade only applied to places actually invested; England claimed to interrupt commerce at ports which she had not invested. THE WAR AND FLUCTUATIONS IN MARITIME INTERCOURSE 683 and claimed the right to use against England the same Aº measure which she had meted out to other traders. He accordingly declared the British Isles in a state of blockade; that all commerce and correspondence with Britain should cease; that all British subjects found in countries occupied by French troops should be prisoners of war; that all mer- chandise and property of British subjects should be a good and lawful prize; and that all British manufactures or mer- chandise should be deemed a good prize”. In responding to this manifesto England drifted into an act of aggression towards neutral states, which forced them, as during the War of Independence, into a position of hostility. By the Order in Council, issued January 7th, 1807, she declared that neutral vessels were not to trade from port to port on the coasts of France, or of French allies; and further, on the 11th of November, the order appeared, which insisted that neutrals should only trade with a hostile port after touching at a British port, and after paying such customs as the British Government might impose. Napoleon retorted with the Milan Decree (Dec. 1807), which declared that any vessel, which had submitted to the British regulations, was thereby denationalised and good and lawful prize. By these steps Napoleon was successful in embroiling England in fresh and serious difficulties. The immediate loss to the continental countries was indeed great, as Napoleon insisted on the enforcement of his decrees all over Europe. Denmark, Sweden, and for a time Turkey submitted to his mandates; the Portuguese, who neglected his orders, were severely punished, and vast quantities of English goods were seized at Hamburg, Bremen and Lubeck. The French Minister of Commerce congratulated himself prematurely. “England” he wrote “sees her wares repudiated by the whole of Europe. Her vessels, laden with immense riches, are 1776 50. 1 England was acting in accordance with the rule of 1798 “not to seize any neutral vessels which should be found carrying on trade directly between the colonies of the enemy and the neutral country to which the vessel belonged, and laden with property of the inhabitants of such neutral country, provided that such neutral vessel should not be supplying, nor should have on the outward voyage supplied, the enemy with any articles of contraband of war, and should not be trading with any blockaded ports.” Leone Levi, History, 104. 2 Leone Levi, History, 106. and Milan. Decrees; these presse severely on the Customers of England 684 LAISSEZ, FAIRE wandering over those wide seas where she claims the monopoly, and they seek in vain from the Straits of the Sound to the Hellespont for one port which will open to receive them. * * * “The war itself is nothing more or less than a war for the freedom of commerce. Its violation was the original cause of the outbreak of hostilities. Europe is well aware of its danger, and the Emperor has constantly tried to make freedom for commerce the preliminary of all negotiations. Each of his conquests, by closing an outlet for English trade, has been a victory for French commerce. Thus this war, which has for the moment suspended all the commercial relations of France, has been a war made in her interest, as well as in the interest of the whole of Europe, which up to now has been ground down by the monopoly of England'.” Napoleon looked forward with satisfaction to a speedy rupture between England and the United States. But it was much easier to attempt to interrupt existing com- merce, than to call the machinery of production into being. Napoleon's positive scheme of establishing a Continental System, which should foster national prosperity and military resources in France, was an entire failure. He tried to develop the cultivation of cotton in Corsica, and the manufacture of beet-root sugar, so as to provide substitutes for colonial produce; this industry was widely diffused, but it had no real vitality, and collapsed on the fall of the Empire. He allowed the export of food-stuffs to England in 1811, when they were sorely needed, as he believed this would stimulate French and Italian agriculture, and drain Britain of gold”. A.D. 1776 —1850. but did not break down her monopoly; Napoleon failed to develop industries, 1 The report of the Minister of Commerce made 24 Aug. 1807. Correspondance de Napoleon Ier, vol. xv. p. 528. 2 This point has been excellently worked out by Mr Rose in the Monthly JReview, March, 1902: “Thus, at the time when Napoleon was about to order British and colonial goods (for he now assumed that all colonial goods were British) to be confiscated or burnt all over his vast Empire, he seeks to stimulate exports to our shores. And why? Because such exports would benefit his States and enable public works to be carried out. We may go even further and say that Napoleon believed the effect of sending those exports to our shores would be to weaken us. His economic ideas were those of the crudest section of the old Mercantilist School. He believed that a nation's commercial wealth consisted essentially in its exports, while imports were to be jealously restricted because they drew bullion away. Destroy Britain's exports, and allow her to import what- ever his own lands could well spare and she would bleed to death. Such, briefly THE WAR AND FLUCTUATIONS IN MARITIME INTERCOURSE 685 The condition of the less favoured members of the system Aºſić was even worse; their interests were entirely subordinated to those of France, while their commerce was diverted, or interrupted, in a way that caused serious trouble in all parts of the continent, and did comparatively little harm to England. Her colonial and distant commerce increased and gave ample employment to shipping that would otherwise have been engaged in European waters; English manufactures were so and a large far indispensable", that a large contraband trade sprang up at jºuana once, and quantities of goods were also imported by officials” who had licences permitting them to engage in the prohibited traffic”. Napoleon, in the hope of doing something for native manufactures, at last determined to confiscate and destroy all English goods; and large bonfires were lighted in Antwerp, Nantes, Ratisbon, Leipsic, Civita Vecchia and many other places. This was the beginning of the end; the loss Incurred, following as it did on a long period of uncertain and speculative trade, brought about a collapse of business everywhere; even the favoured French manufacturers were in despair, and the other members of the Continental System, who had been obliged to join in the exclusion of English products, became utterly disaffected by the tyranny imposed on them in the name of commercial liberty. Russia suffered especially, and the military expedition to Moscow” was rendered necessary by Napoleon's determination to maintain the Continental System; the weapon which he had forged in the hope of dealing a fatal blow at English prosperity" was turned against himself. stated, was his creed. At that time, wheat fetched more than £5 the quarter; and our great enemy, imagining the drain of our gold to be a greater loss to us than the incoming of new life was gain, pursued the very policy which enabled us to survive that year of scarcity without a serious strain. In 1811–1812 those precious. exports of corn from the Napoleonic States ceased, but only because there was not enough for their own people. “In the latter year, especially, the bread-stuffs of Prussia and Poland were drawn into the devouring vortex of Napoleon's Russian expedition; and this purely military reason explains why the best Danzig sold at Mark Lane at £9 the quarter, and why England was on the brink of starvation. There is not a shred of evidence to prove that the autocrat himself ever framed that notion of cutting off our food supplies, which our Continental friends now frankly tell us would be their chief aim in case of a great war.” p. 74. * Rose, Eng. Hist. Rev., 1893, p. 722. * Rose, Life of Napoleon, II. 222. 8 Ib. II. 235. 4 Ib. II. 103 and 211—216. 686 LAISSEZ FAIRE So far as England was concerned, the most serious difficulty to our manufacturers, involving as it did the suffering of the operatives, was due to the indirect effect of the measures which had been taken by Government in the supposed in- terests of British trade. As the United States had profited more than any of the other neutrals from carrying on the trade between France and her colonies, American ship-owners suffered more than those of other neutral nations by the Orders in Council and the Berlin and Milan Decrees; both of the bel- ligerents' had imposed and enforced restrictions on American commerce, and their action roused increasing indignation in the United States. The Orders in Council were not issued in England without considerable opposition from those who wished to maintain friendly relations with America. In 1809 the United States passed a non-intercourse Act, and made preparations for open hostilities. Hence these Orders, by straining our relations with the United States, had most serious results on the condition of this country. When their produce was not shipped to Spain and France, the United States could not deal so largely in our manufactures; the in- terruption of trade with them threatened a third of our foreign commerce, increased the difficulties of our food supply, and cut off a portion of the supply of raw cotton for the Lancashire spinners. As competitors in trade, they had foiled our at- tempts to isolate France and throw her on her own resources. War in disguise had been carried on under the colour of a neutral flag; but in retaliating for this evil, the British Government brought about a condition of affairs, in which every branch of trade connected with America suffered, and suffered severely. Smuggling of every kind, with all its attendant evils, was of constant occurrence”, and English public opinion became more and more sensible of the mischiefs caused by the policy we had adopted. The Government, however, pursued its course, though assenting, in answer to an appeal from Lord Brougham”, to a conditional repeal of the Orders in Council, when Napoleon's Decrees should be withdrawn. Before effect could be given to this view, however, A.D. 1776 —1850. The rupture with the States affected our supplies o material and food as well as O?!?” 7720,7274- factures. 1 Tucker, Life of Jefferson, II. 291. 2 Marquis of Lansdowne, quoted by Leone Levi, op. cit. 110. 8 Ib. 171. THE WAR AND FLUCTUATIONS IN MARITIME INTERCOURSE 687 the patience of the United States had been exhausted. The Aº American supporters of Great Britain were foiled; war was declared in 1812, and the quarrel, with all its disastrous conse- quences to trade and industry, was only healed at the Congress of Vienna. * With the establishment of peace, in 1815, maritime com- With the establish- munication was of course resumed, but material prosperity ment ºf did not at once revive. Indeed the depression affected all** sides of national life simultaneously, and gave rise to expres- sions of complaint in many quarters. “During the earlier part of the year, the distress had appeared particularly confined to the agricultural labourers, at least the evils pressing upon them were those which had almost exclusively engaged the attention of the parliamentary speakers. But as the season advanced, and an unusual inclemency of weather brought with it the prospect of a general failure in the harvests of Europe, and a rapid rise in the corn market, much more serious distress burst forth among the manu- facturing poor, who began to murmur that their reduced wages would no longer satisfy them with bread. “By the sudden failure of the war-demand for a vast g g depression period of variety of articles, which was not compensated as yet by the ensued; recovery of any peace-market, foreign or domestic, thousands. of artisans were thrown out of employment, and reduced to a state of extreme want and penury. A detestable spirit of conspiracy, which manifested itself in the early part of the year in the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Huntingdon, and Cambridge, directed against houses, barns, and rick-yards, which were devoted to the flames, was probably the result of a want of agricultural employment, joined to the love of plun- der. But the distressing scenes which afterwards took place amongst the colliers of Staffordshire, and the attempts made by the assembled workmen of the iron manufacturing districts of South Wales, to stop by force the working of the forges, arose from the causes above referred to. In general, however, the workmen conducted themselves without violence, and re- ceived with gratitude the contributions made for their relief “The general sense of suffering found vent throughout the country in meetings called for the purpose of discussing the 688 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. though successful speculators had gained, causes and remedies of these evils, and petitions for redress of grievances, for economy and for parliamentary reform, poured in on all sides.” There was a bitter irony in the fact that the success of England, in foiling the attack on her commercial prosperity, should be marked by “urgent symptoms of suffering which broke out over the whole face of the country and in almost all classes of the community'.” The various international struggles had far-reaching results on the business habits and economic condition of the country. The laissez faire policy had led to a practical abandonment of industrial regulations of every kind, and manufacturers were much more free to expand their business, and take advantage of fresh openings, than would have been possible in the old days. The man of enterprise had his reward, and the in- dustrial and agricultural revolutions were doubtless accelerated by the political events of the time. The ultimate result was the triumph of England; and the gain to the country, as measured by the volume of trade and the increase of shipping, . was immense”. But if we take the welfare of the community as a criterion, the subject assumes a very different aspect; pauperism abounded and the burden of poor rates was a heavy charge”. The increased rapidity of the transition was in itself an aggravation of the misery it entailed; the specu- lative character which business assumed was inconsistent with the steady maintenance of a standard of comfort, and the occasional interruptions from which the various textile trades suffered in turn were most disastrous. To con- temporary observers much of the suffering of the time, and especially the distress after the peace, was inexplicable; though the teaching of Adam Smith might have given them a clue to explain the main features of the situation". England had become a great commercial nation; her prosperity had ceased to depend primarily, as it did in the sixteenth, and even in the seventeenth century, on the prosperity of the landed interest". It rested on the fluctuating basis of trade. This the com- munity as a whole suffered 1 Annual Register, 1816, Preface iv. 2 The Government was thus enabled to obtain an enormously increased revenue from customs; these increased from £3,948,000 in 1794 to £10,321,000 in 1810. Reports, 1828, v. 610,625. 8 Reports, Ix. 139. 4 See above, p. 596. * See above, pp. 112, 386. CREDIT AND CRISES 689 country could only be flourishing when her neighbours were A.D. 1776 sufficiently well off to be good customers for her goods. So zºº. long as the exhaustion, due to the war, continued on the fluctua. Continent there was little room for fresh activity at home. * Agricultural land will recover from the devastating effects of war in a year or two, if seed and stock and labour are avail- able", but trade connections may not be easy to reestablish, and purchasing power does not recuperate at short notice. 257. It would be impossible to follow out the rami- fications of the influence of these political changes in detail, but an attempt may be made to point out some of their effects on the main factors in production. The changing #. conditions of war and peace had grave results upon the industry supply of materials for some of the staple trades. Spanish ſº wool was used for many fabrics, and certain branches of ** trade relied almost entirely on Saxony wool. The inter- ruption of communications—apart from all questions of Napoleonic policy—could not but cause distress. The cotton trade, which depended exclusively on imported materials, was on the whole well supplied by English shippers; but the loss of Tobago” was severely felt at the time, and the war of 1812, by cutting us off from Carolina, caused a serious scarcity. The influence of the changing political conditions in ſº, opening and closing foreign markets was very noticeable at of sales, the time", though the development of clandestine trade was so great, that the actual distress due to this cause was probably less than might have been anticipated. There seem to have been curiously discriminating changes of foreign demand, for 1 J. S. Mill, Principles of Political Economy, Bk. I. v. § 7. 2 Parl. Hºst. XXII. 778. 8 The war had something to do with bringing in the low rates of spinning in 1793. “In several villages where the spinners could get a shilling for jenny- spinning before the war they were taken off threepence when the war broke out. In these very villages, one of which I have lately visited, in Huntingdomshire, five- - pence are now taken off, in some sixpence, and even sevenpence. So that in many places the poor, if they can possibly help it, will not spin at all. There is indeed no sale for the yarn, and on conversing with a gentleman who has large concerns in the wool trade and in whose county I met with many spinners who had seven- pence in the shilling taken off, he assured me he should lose in the course of the last six months a thousand pounds by the war.” The Complaints of the Poor People of England, 1793. Brit. Mus. C. T. 104. 11. C.# 44 690 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. and the in- terruption of the food supply, and all capitalists QU67°6 affected by the varia- tions in credit finished wares obtained a sale, during times of war, when half manufactured goods, like cotton yarn, were no longer exported". So far as the industrial population was concerned the keenest distress arose when the fortunes of war deprived us of access to regions from which food could be obtained, in a season when the home supply had fallen short. This was the case in the last years of the Revolutionary War (1801–2), and again in 1811. It is probable that the disturbed state of the country, which called forth the Combination Acts and expressed itself in the Luddite Riots, was more directly con- nected with this cause, than with political disaffection, or the introduction of machinery. - While labour bore the brunt of the distress it cannot be said that capital went scatheless. In the latter part of the eighteenth century, the large employers of labour, both in manufacturing and tillage, had become accustomed to rely on borrowed capital; the terms, on which bankers would be willing to make or renew advances, were of vital importance for the conduct of business affairs. The losses, which merchants and manufacturers sustained from the difficulties caused by the wars, in connection with the transport of goods, would have been comparatively trivial, if they had not served as the occasion for reckless speculation and subsequent contractions of credit. The alternation of peace and war gave rise to conditions which inevitably called forth a series of commercial crises. When prices are high and the prospects of trade are good, all merchants and manufacturers are inclined to increase their business as much as possible, and the banks are ready to advance them capital for the purpose on their personal credit. The bills which thus get into circulation are a practical addition to the paper-money of the country, and the issue and acceptance of so much paper tends to raise prices still farther, and to encourage merchants to engage in larger trans- actions. If the bankers are not alive to the danger of this state of affairs, they may foment the evil by continuing to lend readily; they have it in their power to check the speculative enthusiasm by raising the terms on which they are prepared to and the consequent C7%.S63. 1 See above, p. 634. CREDIT AND CRISES 691 grant loans. When the period of increasing inflation is allowed Aº to continue too long, some unlooked-for incident may force the banks to reconsider their position, and suddenly refuse to continue the accommodation they have been giving to mer- chants and manufacturers. As a consequence, some traders, who are really quite solvent, may have great difficulty in ob- taining money with which to pay their way, and will be forced either to realise their stocks at great loss, or to suspend payment. The bills of such a firm will at once become dis- credited, and those who hold them will have increased difficulty in discharging their own obligations, so that one firm after another may be dragged into the vortex and go down. Illustrations of the manner in which political changes ſº affected the state of commercial credit have already been temptation given in connection with the over-trading which occurred, on tºº, the cessation of hostilities with the American colonies in 1782, and again after the years of rapid progress which were suddenly checked by the outbreak of the Revolutionary War in 1793. The ‘short and feverish peace’ of 1803 did not last long enough to allow of a serious development of speculative trading, but the conditions of business in 1809–10 lured many merchants to disaster. The high range of prices in England gave an unhealthy impulse to importation, and there was also a development of speculative trading with South America". The sudden closing of the Baltic trade seems to have been the chief incident which brought about the actual collapse, which was extraordinarily severe, and from which there was little opportunity to recover. It is, of course, true that the alternations of peace and war were not the only causes at work in producing these results; the bad times in 1793 and 1797 were connected with the progress of the industrial revolution. The sinking of capital in factories and machinery and the making of canals’ caused an internal drain on the reserve of the banks”; these years were in some ways an anticipation of the troubles caused by the railway mania"; still the political storms were the most important factors in bringing about sudden fluctuations in trade and credit. 1 Tooke, History of Prices, I. 276, 303. 2 Macpherson, Annals, IV. 226. * Nicholson, Principles of Political Economy, 11. 210. 4 See p. 826 below. 44–2 692 LAISSEZ FAIRE To some extent the difficulties of private traders were due, not to the conditions of commerce, but to the state of public credit, and the extraordinary demands of the Government upon the resources of the Bank of England. This comes out very clearly in the financial history of the four years which followed 1793. At that time Pitt succeeded in carrying a measure, which had been intended to protect the Directors in. meeting the convenience of the Government, but which really gave the ministers of the day irresponsible control over the management of the Bank. In the original Act which created. the Bank, the legislature had been careful to provide against. the lending of money to Government without the permission of Parliament; but a practice had grown up of advancing sums. to the ministry, which might amount to £20,000 or £30,000 at a time, in payment of bills of exchange. The Directors how- ever had some doubts as to the legality of the practice; and endeavoured to procure an Act of Indemnity for these trans- actions in the past, as well as powers to continue them to a limited amount such as £50,000. Pitt succeeded in passing the Bill without any specified limitation, and he was therefore able to draw on the Bank as freely as he chose, trusting to the unwillingness of the Directors to dishonour his bills. In December 1794, the Directors began to find themselves in a position of great difficulty, as their reserve was very low”, A.D. 1776 —1850. while Pitt w8ed his power o borrowing 1 This was partly due to the war expenses abroad which were estimated at. #32,810,977 for the years 1793–7, and partly to the advancing of loans to the Emperor and the King of Prussia. Third Report from Committee of Secrecy, in Reports, xi. 122. There was also an internal drain. “In addition to these causes. of actual expence, your Committee think proper to advert to various circum- stances, which may contribute either to the delay of the due return of commercial. dealings, or require enlarged means of circulation in the country. Of this nature are, the habit of the British merchant to give longer credit to the Foreign merchant than he receives in return; the change of the course of trade since the War, and the opening of new accounts with new customers; the circuitous. remittance of money from various parts, in consequence of interruptions in the means of direct communication, and the state of some of the countries from which considerable remittances are due: To these are to be added the increase of domestic commerce, the increase of manufactures for home consumption, the general spirit of internal improvement in agriculture, and in the formation of canals and other public works: To these may also be added, as producing a further necessity for a greater quantity of circulating medium, other causes of a different . nature, and in other respects of an opposite tendency, and particularly the increased price of freight, shipping, insurance, demurrage, and a variety of other articles, generally affecting the trade of the country, both in its former and in its . CREDIT AND CRISES 693 and they made repeated representations to Pitt to reduce his demands. Their remonstrances were ineffective, and they did not perhaps show as much firmness as might have been desirable in the face of the continued drain of gold. They did however contract their issues to commercial men to such an extent as to cause great complaint in the City", while Pitt continued to press for further advances. He had more than once promised the Directors to make payments which would reduce the advances on Treasury Bills to £500,000, but in June 1796, the debt amounted to £1,232,649, and he succeeded in obtaining £800,000 in the July, and a similar sum in the August, of that year”. The Bank was perfectly solventº, and might have succeeded in weathering the storm, increased state; the advanced price of labour, and of all the necessaries of life, and almost every kind of commodity. Added to all these circumstances, the operations and expences of the War may be supposed to require a greater quantity of circulating medium for intermal as well as for external purposes.” Third Report, in Reports, XI. p. 123. 1 “It appears, on the other hand, to have been the opinion of persons engaged in commercial and pecumiary transactions, that the diminution of Bank notes Since December 1795, so far from tending to secure the Bank from the danger of a drain of Cash, by contracting their engagements within a narrower compass, has in effect contributed to the embarrassment which they have lately experienced, by reducing the requisite means of circulation, diminishing the general accommo- dation by way of discount, and thus occasioning a more pressing demand for specie, for which the Bank itself is the readiest as well as the ultimate source of supply. “There appears to Your Committee good reason to apprehend, that the country Bank notes in circulation have been reduced one-third from the time of the difficulties in 1793 to December 1796, and that they have since that period suffered a still further diminution; and from hence has been inferred the necessity of providing from the Bank an adequate supply of their notes to compensate for this chasm in the circulation of the country. “Your Committee conceive it may be thought important to state, that the amount of the Cash and Bullion in the Bank, during a great part of the year 1782, and a very considerable part of the year 1784, was below the amount at which it stood in any part of the year 1796; and that, during the whole of 1783, the amount was lower, and during some parts of that year was considerably lower than it was on the 26th of February last ; and that the Bank did not at those periods lessen the amount of their discounts or notes, and the circulation of the country suffered no interruption.” Third Report, in Reports, XI. p. 123. 2 Macleod, I. 523. 8 The Bank was perfectly solvent at the time of the suspension. “Your Committee find, upon such examination, that the total Amount of Outstanding Demands on the Bank, on the 25th day of February last (to which day the Accounts could be completely made up) was £13,770,390; and that the total Amount of the Funds for discharging those Demands (not including the permanent Debt due from Govern- ment of £11,686,800, which bears an interest of Three per Cent.) was on the same A.D. 1776 —1850. so persist- ently 694 LAISSEZ, FAIRE but for unlooked-for difficulties which arose during the month of February 1797. In December 1796, the French expedition which had been prepared for the invasion of Ireland was dispersed, but the mere attempt created a sense of insecurity which was felt in all parts of the country and especially on the coasts. The excitement among the neighbouring farmers caused a run on the bank at Newcastle", and the Bank of England was quite unable to meet the demands for cash which came upon it from all quarters. The Directors were obliged in self-defence to curtail their issues; and as private bankers found it necessary to take a similar course, the mercantile community were put to the greatest straits in order to meet their engagements. Still, in spite of all efforts at retrench- ment, the reserve at the Bank fell so low, that Pitt con- sented to issue an order suspending the obligation of the Bank to pay its notes in coin. When relieved from this necessity, the Bank was able to lend more freely and thus A.D. 1776 —1850. and poli- tical affairs QU67°6 SO threatening that the Bank had to 8w8pend cash payments, 25th day of February last £17,597,280; and that the result is, that there was on the 25th day of February last a surplus of effects belonging to the Bank beyond the Amount of their Debts, amounting to the sum of £3,826,890, exclusive of the above-mentioned permanent Debt of £11,686,800 due from Government. “And Your Committee further represent, that since the 25th of February last considerable Issues have been made by the Bank in Bank Notes, both upon Government Securities and in discounting Bills, the particulars of which could not immediately be made up ; but as those Issues appear to Your Committee to have been made upon corresponding Securities, taken with the usual care and attention, the actual Balance in favour of the Bank did not appear to Your Committee to have been thereby diminished.” First Report, reprinted in Reports, XI. p. 120. - 1 “Your Committee find, that in consequence of this apprehension, the farmers suddenly brought the produce of their lands to sale, and carried the notes of the Country Banks, which they had collected by these and other means, into those banks for payment; that this unusual and sudden demand for Cash reduced the several Banks at Newcastle to the necessity of suspending their payments in specie, and of availing themselves of all the means in their power of procuring a speedy supply of Cash from the metropolis; that the effects of this demand on the New- castle Banks, and of their suspension of payments in Cash, soon spread over various parts of the country, from whence similar applications were consequently made to the metropolis for Cash; that the alarm thus diffused, not only occasioned an increased demand for Cash in the country, but probably a disposition in many to hoard what was thus obtained; that this call on the metropolis, through what- ever channels, directly affected the Bank of England, as the great repository of Cash, and was in the course of still further operation upon it, when stopped by the Minute of Council of the 26th of February.” Third Report, in Reports, xI. pp. 121–2. THE NATIONAL DEBT AND THE SINKING FUND 695 succeeded in restoring mercantile credit. The restriction on Aº cash payments was continued, when the crisis was past", so that the Bank might be free to provide a generally accept- able paper currency, and save the commercial world from and an . . further disaster. The discretionary power vested in the .º. Directors served as a safety valve. It was extremely con-º. vided the venient to traders to be able to count on facilities for requisite e gº & e gº * º circulating borrowing, without having their claims to consideration medium, gº tº º e * and allanted automatically limited in consequence of the extraordinary ... demands which Government made for military purposes. 258. Such were the immediate effects of the finance of Much of the period upon commerce and industry; it must be remem-###". bered, however, that a great part of the burden of the *ſº expenditure was deferred, and has been borne by subsequent 1 The following Resolution was agreed to by the Court of Directors of the Bank on Thursday the 26th October, 1797: “RESOLVED, That it is the opinion of this Court, That the Governor and Company of the Bank of England are enabled to issue Specie, in any manner that may be deemed necessary for the accommodation of the Public; and the Court have no hesitation to declare, that the affairs of the Bank are in such a state, that it can with safety resume its accustomed functions, if the political circumstances of the country do not render it inexpedient : but the Directors deeming it foreign to their province to judge of these points, wish to submit to the wisdom of Parliament, whether, as it has been once judged proper to lay a restriction on the payments of the Bank in Cash, it may, or may not, be prudent to continue the same.” “Your Committee having further examined the Governor and Deputy Governor, as to what may be meant by the political circumstances mentioned in that Reso- lution, find, that they understand by them, the state of hostility in which the Nation is still involved, and particularly such apprehensions as may be enter- tained of invasion, either in Ireland or this country, together with the possibility there may be of advances being to be made from this country to Ireland; and that from those circumstances so explained, and from the nature of the war, and the avowed purpose of the enemy to attack this country by means of its public credit, and to distress it in its financial operations, they are led to think that it will be expedient to continue the restriction now subsisting, with the reserve for partial issues of Cash, at the discretion of the Bank, of the nature of that contained in the present Acts; and that it may be so continued, without injury to the credit of the Bank, and with advantage to the Nation. “Your Committee, therefore, having taken into consideration the general situation of the country, are of opinion, that notwithstanding the affairs of the Bank, both with respect to the general balance of its Accounts, and its capacity of making payments in Specie, are in such a state that it might with safety resume its accustomed functions, under a different state of public affairs; yet, that it will be expedient to continue the restriction now subsisting on such payments, for such time, and under such limitations, as to the wisdom of Parliament may seem fit.” Appendia, Third Report, in Reports, XI. p. 192. 696 LAISSEZ, FAIRE generations. Pitt was keenly alive to the disadvantages of public borrowing, and endeavoured to avoid it; but circum- stances were against him. He was alarmed by the rate at which the debt was increasing; £121,000,000 had been added during the American War"; the amounts were large, and the terms which ministers made with the public creditors were extravagant; instead of borrowing at a high rate of interest, in the hope of subsequently financing the debt, they borrowed at a low rate of interest, and were forced to offer all sorts of extra inducements. Thus in 1782 for every £100 subscribed, the Government allotted £100 in the three per cents, £50 in the four per cents, with an annuity of 17s. 6d. for seventy-eight years", and extra inducements were given in floating the loans by connecting them with lotteries”. The permanent indebtedness was swelled from time to time by funding Exchequer and Navy Bills", and in 1786 the debt amounted to £245,466,855, involving an annual charge of #9,666,541°. Pitt set himself to reduce this terrible in- debtedness, and established a Sinking Fund, by means of which he was able to pay off about £10,000,000, before the exigencies of the Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars rendered fresh borrowing inevitable. The main outlines of the scheme which Pitt introduced" had been formulated by A.D. 1776 —1850. and while Pºtt’s Sinking Fund, 1 Sinclair, History of the Public Revenue, II. 93. 2 22 Geo. III. c. 8. 8 Hamilton, An Inquiry concerning the Rise and Progress of the National Debt of Great Britain (1814), p. 212. 4 Sir John Sinclair thus describes the progress of the debt. “At first when a nation borrows, it is under the necessity of providing a fund for defraying not only the principal but the interest of its debts. The creditor is afterwards perfectly satisfied, if he is secured in the punctual payment of the interest, knowing perfectly well that his capital will at any time fetch an adequate value in the market: and in process of time he is contented without any fixed security either for his principal or interest, except the general faith and credit of the public. In this manner the unfunded debt of the nation has arisen. At present it consists of Exchequer Bills, of bills granted by the navy and victualling boards, and of various claims and other expenses.” History of the Public Revenue, III. 258. Hamilton points out that “the funded capital has been increased in a manner different from loans. Exchequer and Navy Bills have been funded to a great extent. That is, instead of paying these bills, capital in one or more funds has been assigned to the holders on such terms as they were willing to accept of.” Inquiry concerning the Eise and Progress of the National Debt, 64. 5 Fenn, Compendium of the English and Foreign Funds, 5. 6 26 Geo. III. c. 31. THE NATIONAL DEBT AND THE SINKING FUND 697 Dr Price, and it avoided the errors which had rendered Aº" Walpole's Sinking Fund nugatory”. There was now ample security that the money set aside every year should really be * the devoted to the reduction of debt, and not diverted, as Walpole's mººs in Sinking Fund had been, to bear the ordinary expenses of lº government. According to Pitt's scheme £1,000,000 a year was paid to commissioners who were to invest in the National Debt, until a sum stood in their names which gave an income, along with the £1,000,000 contributed by the country, of £4,000,000 a years. With the £4,000,000, which thus be- came their annual income, they were to buy up additional portions of the National Debt, the dividends of which should be extinguished". In this way it was hoped that the charge for interest would be gradually reduced while the principal debt would be transferred to the credit of the commissioners at the rate of £4,000,000 a year. Upon paper, the scheme appeared to be admirable"; and it had many merits; indeed it was in its very plausibility that its chief danger consisted, inspired as it appears to have lulled the mind of the ministers and º, the public into a false sense of security in the matter of borrowing". Possibly the vast additions to the debt would have taken place under any circumstances; as a matter of fact £271,000,000 was borrowed during the Revolutionary War, and £618,000,000 in the struggle with Napoleon; but it seems probable that the House of Commons was much more complacent over this unexampled increase of the National 1 The State of the Public Debts and Finances (1783), p. 29; also see the Introduction. 2 Price, Observations on Reversionary Payments (1773), 163. 8 26 Geo. III. c. 31, § 20. - 4 This provision was repealed in 1802 (42 Geo. III. c. 71). An admirable history of the Sinking Fund will be found in the Earplanatory and Historical Notes of the Several Heads by Public Income and Eaſpenditure, which forms Appendix 13 to the Account relating to Public Income and Eagenditure, 1868–9. Accounts and Papers, 1868–9, xxxv. 1197, printed pagination 713. * For a very sanguine view of the operation of the Sinking Fund see G. Rose, A Brief Ela'amination into the Increase of the Revenue, Commerce and Manu- factures of Great Britain from 1792 to 1799, p. 26. 6 This was a point on which Cobbett laid stress, “By giving people renewed confidence in the solidity of the Funds and Stocks it rendered Government borrowing more easy.” Paper against Gold (1815), I. 65. Cobbett was a vigorous critic of the Sinking Fund in 1803 and onwards (Noble Nonsense (1828), p. 10), before Hamilton wrote or Grenville was convinced of its futility. 698 LAISSEZ FAIRE Debt, because they were under the impression that a self- acting mechanism for paying off debt was in operation, and that, however recklessly they borrowed, the Sinking Fund would soon suffice to set things straight. The Sinking Fund did not provide new sources of wealth, as it did not afford means of either using the land, or applying labour to better advantage. It did not give us fresh resources, it only served as a new method of keeping account of the monetary resources at the command of the community; there could be no real discharge of debts when the available in- come did not exceed expenditure". It was an entire mistake to suppose that the country was becoming more solvent.” when the Government borrowed large amounts on one side, and paid off Small amounts on the other”. Indeed during some part of the operation of the Sinking Fund, which existed from 1786 to 1829*, things were really going from bad to worse, as new debt, incurred at high rates of interest, was used to pay off sums that had been borrowed on easier terms". There was a curious irony in the fact that the A.D. 1776 —1850. it served to encourage reckless borrowing. 1 This was the point insisted on by Hamilton, “The excess of revenue above expenditure is the only real Sinking Fund.” Inquiry, p. 10. 2 Grenville [Essay on the Sinking Fund (1828)] discussed the principles of a sound scheme and showed the inutility of all borrowed sinking funds, and the impossibility of deriving benefit from a sinking fund which continued to operate in times of deficient revenue (p. 72), since the discharge of debt could only take place through the existence of surplus revenue. Price had made it an essential that the fund should continue undiverted in time of war as well as of peace. State of Public Debts, 35. 8 During the period from 1793 to 1829 there was only one year (1817) in which money was not raised by loan in order to aid the Sinking Fund. Accounts relating to Public Income and Ea:penditure, Appendix 13, 1868–9, XXXV. printed pag. 718. 4 10 G. I.W. c. 27. 5 Fourth Report from Select Committee on Public Income and Eagenditure, 1828, v. 557. The case is stated more fully in a subsequent paper. “The actual result of all these Sinking Fund operations was that the total amount of #330,050,455 was raised at £5. 0s. 6d. per cent. per annum to pay off debt carry- ing interest at 4% per cent. per annum. The difference between these two rates is 10/6 per cent. per annum, amounting upon the total capital sum of £330,050,455 to £1,627,765 per annum, which may be set down as the increased annual charge of our Funded Debt, and a real loss to the public from this deceptive Sinking IFund System, without taking into account the expenses of management of the Sinking Fund, and the increased amount of capital of debt, consequent upon the practice of borrowing on less advantageous terms, far larger sums than were required to meet the actual public expenditure.” Accounts relating to Public Income and Earpenditure, Pt. II., Ap. 13, 1868–9, XXXV. 1202, printed pag. 718. THE SUSPENSION OF CASEL PAYMENTS 699 system which Pitt introduced, in his anxiety to reduce the Aº debt of the country, should have operated so as to add to the burden of national obligations, and should by the mistaken expectations it engendered have served as an incentive to reckless borrowing. 259. It has been pointed out above that the suspension. After the of cash payments enabled the Bank of England to give º’" increased accommodation to the public, and thus to restore * commercial credit"; but the measure which effected this desirable result entirely changed the character of the paper currency of the country. The value of the bank-notes was no longer based on that of the precious metals; they had really become inconvertible; it was only by the exercise of great judgment in restricting the issues of paper, that the Directors could hope to maintain the notes at par. As a matter of fact, they failed sufficiently to limit the quantities which were put in circulation, with the result that the country began to suffer from the evils of a depreciated currency. The ulterior and indirect effects of the pressure, which Pitt put on the Bank in 1797, were seriously felt during the first quarter of the nineteenth century; prices were inflated, and the exchanges with foreign countries tended to be unfavourable. It may be impossible to gauge the precise amount of mischief which was due to this cause in particular, we can only note it there was as a serious aggravation, and as one which affected all classes, . #:... rich and poor. Depreciation of the circulating medium ren-º.” dered the purchasing power of money less at a time when sº the wages generally were low, and were falling. The evils are well stated by the Committee which was appointed to in- vestigate the subject. “Your Committee conceive that it would be superfluous to point out, in detail, the disadvantages which must result - to the country, from any such general excess of currency as by the lowers its relative value. The effect of such an augmentation . of prices upon all money transactions for time; the unavoid- able injury suffered by annuitants, and by creditors of every description, both private and public; the unintended ad- vantage gained by Government and all other debtors; are 1 See above, p. 694. 700 LAISSEZ FAIRE : A.D. 1776 —1850. which tended to Taise general prices and reduce the purchasing power of 200ges. The authorities of the Bank con- tested the fact of de- preciation consequences too obvious to require proof, and too repugnant to justice to be left without remedy. By far the most important portion of this effect appears to Your Committee to be that which is communicated to the wages of common country labour, the rate of which, it is well known, adapts itself more slowly to the changes which happen in the value of money, than the price of any other species of labour or commodity. And it is enough for Your Committee to allude to some classes of the public servants, whose pay, if once raised in consequence of a depreciation of money, cannot so conveniently be reduced again to its former rate, even after money shall have recovered its value. The future progress of these inconveniences and evils, if not checked, must at no great distance of time work a practical conviction upon the minds of all those who may still doubt their existence".” Curiously enough, controversy raged for many years on the simple matter of fact as to whether the notes of the Bank of England had depreciated or not. There was no doubt that the value of notes relatively to gold had changed; and that whereas the Mint price of gold ought to be £3.17s. 10}d. an ounce, the market price in 1810 had risen to £4. 10s. 0d.”, while the rates of exchange with Hamburg had fallen 9 per cent. and with Paris 14 per cent. The Directors of the Bank of England, the Government of the day, and the mercantile community generally were of opinion that there had been no depreciation of notes up to 1810, but that gold had been very scarce and had risen in value. On the other hand the experts, who sat on the Bullion Committee of the House of Commons, were clear that the monetary phenomena of the day, and especially the foreign exchanges, were inexplicable on any other hypothesis than that of the depreciation of the circulating medium. Even as late as 1819° the majority of the Directors adhered to the view which the Bank had persistently maintained, that since the public were always ready to accept their notes there could not be a real depreci- ation of value. According to their opinion, the fact that 1 Report from the Select Committee on the High Price of Gold Bullion, in I?eports, 1810, p. 31. 2 McLeod, Theory and Practice of Banking, II. 29. 8 McLeod, Theory and Practice, II. 80. THE SUSPENSION OF CASH PAYMENTS 701 -mo © te e ++ c, A.D. 1776 paper-money circulated freely, showed that it retained its *i;..." value; after all, this only meant that so long as the credit of the Bank was good, its paper-issues were valuable; but it did not prove, as the Directors thought, that the paper retained its original value. They and their supporters were ready to argue that, in so far as there was a marked divergence be- tween the value of gold and the value of a note, this was due, not to a depreciation of the paper, but to an appreciation of gold, brought about by an unusual continental demand, owing to the requirements of the French armies and an in- creased disposition to hoard'. Experience was being gradually collected however; and as it accumulated, the fact became clearer that an over-issue of notes was the real cause of the trouble. There had been an enquiry, in 1804, into the reasons but recent for the extraordinary difference between gold prices and .*. paper prices in Dublin, and for the unfavourable state of the exchanges between Dublin and London”, and good grounds had been shown for believing that the phenomena were due to the greatly increased circulation of notes by the Bank of Ireland". The monetary conditions, into which the Bullion Committee was appointed to enquire in 1810, were similar in ...”.” every respect, and that enquiry resulted in an admirable re-state ºf the case clear port in which the Committee showed that a real depreciation to the of notes had occurred". It insisted that the Directors should *. 1 Report from the Select Committee on the High Price of Gold Bullion, 1810, III. 2. 2 Report of the Committee on the Circulating Paper, the Specie, and the Current Coin of Ireland, 1804 (reprinted in 1810). Accounts and Papers, 1810, III. 385. 8 McLeod, Theory and Practice, II. 13. There was a difference of twelve per cent. in the exchanges at Belfast, where Irish bank-notes did not circulate, and at Dublin, where they did. 4 “Upon a review of all the facts and reasonings which have been submitted to the consideration of Your Committee in the course of their Enquiry, they have formed an Opinion, which they submit to the House:—That there is at present an excess in the paper circulation of this Country, of which the most unequivocal symptom is the very high price of Bullion, and next to that, the low state of the Continental Exchanges; that this excess is to be ascribed to the want of a suffi- cient check and control in the issues of paper from the Bank of England; and originally, to the suspension of cash payments, which removed the matural and true control. For upon a general view of the subject, Your Committee are of opinion, that no safe, certain, and constantly adequate provision against an excess of paper currency, either occasional or permanent, can be found, except in the convertibility of all such paper into specie. Your Committee cannot, therefore, 702 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. be guided by the state of the exchanges in making their issues". But the opposite party were not prepared to give but see reason to regret, that the Suspension of cash payments, which, in the most favourable light in which it can be viewed, was only a temporary measure, has been continued so long; and particularly, that by the manner in which the present continuing Act is framed, the character should have been given to it of a permanent war measure.” Report from the Select Committee on the High Price of Gold Bullion, in Reports, 1810, p. 30. - 1 “It is important, at the same time, to observe, that under the former system, when the Bank was bound to answer its Notes in specie upon demand, the state of the Foreign Exchanges and the price of Gold did most materially influence its conduct in the issue of those Notes, though it was not the practice of the Directors systematically to watch either the one or the other. So long as Gold was demand- able for their paper, they were speedily apprized of a depression of the Exchange, and a rise in the price of Gold, by a run upon them for that article. If at any time they incautiously exceeded the proper limit of their advances and issues, the paper was quickly brought back to them, by those who were tempted to profit by the market price of Gold or by the rate of Exchange. In this manner the evil Soon cured itself. The Directors of the Bank having their apprehensions excited by the reduction of their stock of Gold, and being able to replace their loss only by reiterated purchases of Bullion at a very losing price, naturally contracted their issues of paper, and thus gave to the remaining paper, as well as to the Coin for which it was interchangeable, an increased value, while the clandestine exporta- tion either of the coin, or the Gold produced from it, combined in improving the state of the Exchange, and in producing a corresponding diminution of the difference between the market price and Mint price of Gold, or of paper con- vertible into Gold. “It was a necessary consequence of the suspension of cash payments, to exempt the Bank from that drain of Gold, which, in former times, was sure to result from an unfavourable Exchange and a high price of Bullion. And the Directors, released from all fears of such a drain, and no longer feeling any inconvenience from such a state of things, have not been prompted to restore the Exchanges and the price of Gold to their proper level by a reduction of their advances and issues. The Directors, in former times, did not perhaps perceive and acknowledge the principle more distinctly than those of the present day, but they felt the in- convenience, and obeyed its impulse; which practically established a check and limitation to the issue of paper. In the present times, the inconvenience is not felt; and the check, accordingly, is no longer in force. But your Committee beg leave to report it to the House as their most clear opinion, that so long as the suspension of Cash Payments is permitted to subsist, the price of Gold Bullion and the general Course of Exchange with Foreign Countries, taken for any con- siderable period of time, form the best general criterion from which any inference can be drawn, as to the sufficiency or excess of paper currency in circulation; and that the Bank of England cannot safely regulate the amount of its issues, without having reference to the criterion presented by these two circumstances. And upon a review of all the facts and reasonings which have already been stated, Your Committee are further of opinion, that, although the commercial state of this Country, and the political state of the Continent, may have had some influence on the high price of Gold Bullion and the unfavourable Course of Exchange with Foreign Countries, this price, and this depreciation, are also to be ascribed to the want of a permanent check, and a sufficient limitation of the paper currency in this Country.” Report from the Select Committee on the High Price of Gold Bullion, 1810, III. 20, 21. THE DEMAND FOR FOOD AND HIGHER FARMING 703 in; the House of Commons rejected Mr Horner's resolutions, Aº which were based on the report of the Committee, by a g majority of two to one", and subsequently passed a measure” which rendered the refusal to accept bank-notes at their face value as the equivalent of gold” as a misdemeanour. The victorious, though mistaken view was so strongly held, that and º º g g tº 7°2,776 a favourable opportunity, which occurred in 1816, of restoring ºpe ſº e * º dopted the currency to its metallic basis was lost"; and it was not º till 1819 that the soundness of the principles of the Bullion Report was recognised, and that the younger Sir R. Peel, who had voted in the majority in 1810, brought in a Bill for the resumption of cash payments. There was some fear when cash gº e º e e - tS that a contraction of the circulating medium would be in-fl." juriously felt in the City"; and the period of inflated prices” had lasted so long, that question was raised" as to the fairness of insisting that contracts for payments, agreed on under the old conditions, should be enforced without modification on the basis of the restored standard. But any injustice to in- dividuals arising from this cause appears to have been very slight, and the advantage to the community of re-establishing a sound currency was incalculable. - 260. The bearing of the suspension of cash payments on The pork. the welfare of the working classes was so remote that they * did not recognise it; but the high price of food was a grievance %*. of which they were well aware, and it obviously aggravated of corn, their sufferings and roused their passions. The rioting of which we hear, was occasioned in some cases by the introduc- tion of machinery; but these outbreaks usually occurred in 1 McLeod, op. cit. II. 54. 2 51 Geo. III. c. 127. 8 This was occasioned by Lord King's conduct in issuing a circular to his tenants giving them notice that rents were to be paid in gold. Cobbett, Paper against Gold, I. 456. 4 From July 1816 to July 1817 the market price of gold did not exceed £3. 19s. 0d. per ounce. The exchanges with the Continent for a very consider- able portion of that period were in favour of the country; but Parliament though desirous of restoring the currency to a cash basis determined to continue the suspension temporarily so as to give the Directors time to prepare for the change (56 Geo. III. c. 21). Second Report from the Secret Committee on the ea:pediency of the Bank resuming Cash Payments, 1819, III. 3, 4. * A petition signed by 500 merchants was presented against the Bill, McLeod, II, 79. 6 Compare the debates in the Commons in 1822 and 1823, McLeod, op. cit. II. 99, 103. 704 LAISSEZ, FAIRE times of dearth, and there were bread riots in many places where no industrial improvements were being made. The average price of corn during the twenty-five years which terminated with the Battle of Waterloo was very high, and there were not a few periods which might be rightly described as times of famine. This state of affairs, which contributed so much to the distress of the transition, was to some extent, a result of the Industrial Revolution. Apprenticeship, and the difficulty of finding an opening to start as a domestic worker had been a barrier to early marriage, but this was broken down; there was ample opportunity for obtaining houses near the factories, and the war on cottages no longer served to check the establishment of new households. As early as 1792, attention was called to the way in which the development of industrial employment, along with other causes, had given rise to a fresh demand for the means of subsistence". The great increase of the cotton manufacture, and the rise of new towns, where the spinners and weavers lived, reacted on agricultural enterprise, the demand for food was greater than ever before”; and as active efforts had been A.D. 1776 —1850. which was partly dwe to the increased demand 1 The relation of these phenomena had been admirably stated in anticipation by Sir J. Steuart. Works, I. 155. The influence of commerce and artificial wants in promoting the growth of population is very clearly put by Caldwell, Enquiry, in Debates, 747 (1766), and still earlier by William Temple, a clothier of Trow- bridge, in his Vindication of Commerce and the Arts (1758), pp. 6, 20, 74. He criticises W. Bell, whose Dissertation on Populousness (1756), p. 9, had advocated the development of agriculture as the best expedient for bringing about an increase of population; this essay, which obtained a Member's Prize at Cam- bridge, achieved some celebrity, and was translated into German by the Economic Society of Berne (Kleine Schriften, 1762). Temple's Vindication was published under the pseudonym I. B., M.D.; see Brit. Mus. 1029. e. 9 (16), (McCulloch, Select Tracts on Commerce, p. xii); I feel confident that he was also the author of the anonymous tract Considerations on Taa’es as they are supposed to affect the price of labour in our manufactories, subsequently enlarged into an Essay on Trade and Commerce (1770), Brit. Mus. 1139. i. 4; the arguments of the Vindica- tion are reproduced, and there is a similarity in style and arrangement. This is confirmed by an examination of the amusing autograph M.S. notes in Temple's copy of A View of the Internal Policy of Great Britain, 1764 (Brit. Mus. 1250. a. 44). Temple also wrote a refutation of part of Smith's Chronicon Rusticum, as I gather from Smith's reply, Case of English Farmer (Brit. Mus. 104. m. 27). 2 Governor Powmall “entered into an explanation of the actual state of the supply and consumption of the kingdom; and shewed that the present difficulties did not arise from any scarcity; that there was as much, if not more corn grown than formerly; but, from the different circumstances of the country, the con- sumption was considerably more than the supply; and that this disproportion THE DEMAND FOR FOOD AND HIGHER FARMING 705 made to meet these requirements', by facilitating the import- A.D. 1776 ation of food, opportunity was given for a further growth of T numbers. It was obvious that population was increasing on of the 727ſ,” every side; and the anxiety, which had been felt in regard to ſºng the alleged decrease in the number of the people and inability;” to maintain our naval and military position”, was seen to be groundless. According to Chalmers' Estimate”, there was an addition to the population of 2,830,000 in the years between 1689 and 1801; and this would, on the ordinary reckoning, necessitate an additional annual supply of nearly three million quarters of grain”. But it was held that the demands of the public had increased more rapidly than the numbers, as it was believed that habits of luxury and wastefulness", which had come into vogue, made still larger quantities requisite. During the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars there 4. QCé?"e arge 20, was no serious alarm about the numbers of men, but the very sº: gravest anxiety was felt as to the supply of food. England" meat; was far better provided, than ever before, with the means of victualling her navy; the development of stock-breeding, on arose from the late immense increase of manufacturers and shopkeepers, the prodigious extent of our commerce, the number of people employed by Government as soldiers, sailors, collectors of revenue, &c., &c., and also the prodigious number of people who live upon the interests of the funds; also the great increase of the capital, the manufacturing and seaport towns; that the surplus which we used to produce was about 1-36th part of the whole growth; and that anyone might consider, whether the number of people he had mentioned were not more than one 36th of the whole people; and that therefore the real fact was, we had no longer a surplus.” Parl. Hist. XVII. p. 476. 1 The severe distress which was experienced in the winter of 1782–3 was referred to in the King's Speech as requiring the “instant interposition" of Parliament (Parl. Hist. XXIII. 209). A Committee was appointed which heard a considerable amount of evidence, and recommended modifications in the arrange- ments for the external trade in corn. Reports, Ix. 27, 34. See below, p. 726. 2 Dr Richard Price, in his Essay on the Population of England (1780), argued that population was decreasing, and adduced interesting statistical arguments in support of his view; but the Rev. J. Howlett showed (An Easamination of Dr Price's Essay (1781), p. 80) that his reasoning was illusory. Cf. also W. Wales, Inquiry (1781), pp. 35, 67. At the same time, the opinion that there was a serious danger to the country from an insufficient population, was commonly held and found frequent expression; as in the speeches of Chatham or Shelburne, on the anxiety about defence at home caused by the loss of men in the American War (Parl. Hist. xix. 599; xx.I. 1036). The success achieved by Malthus, in investi- gating the doctrine of population, is most easily measured, when we read such speeches; they were impossible after the Essay on Population had made its mark. 8 Chalmers' Estimate (1804), p. 221. - 4 Ib. 315. 5 Ib. 316. C. * 45 706 LAISSEZ, FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. the lines suggested by Mr Bakewell, had been widespread, and sheep and cattle were raised for the sake of the carcasel, rather than for the wool or for draught. Some complaint was made that this form of pasture farming was pursued at the expense of tillage; but the increase of cattle-breeding was chiefly due to the careful cultivation of turnips, and the farmer really had an additional inducement to improve his system of cultivation. Still, though the supply of butchers' meat was enlarged, there was very serious difficulty in meet- ing the increasing demand within the country for cereals; and one Committee of the House of Commons after another” investigated the prospects of the harvest, and advised on the best means of providing for the population. An elaborate system of registration had been devised”, by which information could be obtained as to the price and probable stocks of grain throughout the country, and the problem was faced, great pains were taken to manage the Supply of CO777 to advantage, 1 Sir John Sinclair wrote in 1795: “The difference between the size of cattle and sheep now, and in the reign of Queen Anne, when half the stock of the kingdom were fed on Commons, is hardly to be credited. In 1710, the cattle and sheep sold at Smithfield Market, weighed, at an average, as follows:—Beeves, 370 lb.; Calves, 50lb.; Sheep, 28 lb.; Lambs, 18 lb. Now it may be stated, Beeves, 800 lb.; Calves, 143 lb.; Sheep, 80 lb.; and Lambs, 50lb. The increase is principally, if not solely, to be attributed to the improvements which have been effected within these last 60 years, and the feeding of our young stock, in good inclosed pastures, instead of wastes and commons.” Reports, Ix. p. 204, note. 2 1774. A Committee to consider the methods practised in making flour from wheat. 1783. A Committee to take the Act for regulating and ascertaining the Importation and Exportation of grain...into consideration (two reports). 1795. Select Committee to take into consideration the present High Price of Corn (five reports). 1800. Committee to consider means of rendering more effectual the Act for better regulating the Assize of bread (two reports). Committee to consider the present High Price of Provisions (six reports). 1801. Committee appointed to consider of the present high price of provisions (seven reports). There was besides, a Committee on the corn trade between England and Ireland, in 1802, and Committees on the improvement and enclosure of waste, unenclosed and un- productive lands, in 1795, 1797 and 1800. The reports of these Committees will be found in the reprints of the Reports of the Committees of the House of Commons (1803), Ix. 8 The duty on importation which had been imposed under Charles II. (22 C.II. c. 13) varied, according as English corn was being sold above or below a definite price. According to 1 James II. c. 19, the justices of each county were to certify the “common market price of middling English corn.” The necessity of knowing the price of corn for fiscal purposes led to several changes in administra- tive machinery (2 Geo. II. c. 18; 14 Geo. III. c. 64). A system of registration of the price of corn at the different markets was instituted in 1769 (10 Geo. III. c. 39); a paid inspector for London was appointed in 1781 (21 Geo. III. c. 50), and ten inspectors were instituted for the maritime counties in 1789. 29 Geo.III. c. 58. THE DEMAND FOR FOOD AND HIGHER FARMING 707 under parliamentary control, in much the same spirit in Aº which it had been dealt with by the Commissioners of Grain e and Victuals” and the Clerks of the Market, under Elizabeth and the earlier Stuarts”. Since 1773, when additional facilities had been given for and to encourage the importation of corn”, England had been becoming more the im: e : portation and more dependent on regular supplies from abroad; in years when the crops at home were short, it was obviously wise to try and make up the deficiency by procuring grain from other European countries, from the United States" or even from India. There was some discussion in 1795 as to 1 See above, pp. 86 and 96. In March 1801, the Committee on the High Price of Provisions report that they “have received information respecting the situation of certain parts of the country, namely, about Braintree, Bocking, Halstead, and Coggleshall, in the county of Essex; the parish of Foleshill near Coventry; and the townships of Dewsbury, Ossett, Ovenden, Clayton, and Northowram, in the West Riding of the county of York; to which they feel it indispensable to call the serious attention of the House. From the extreme dear- ness of Provisions, combined with the temporary and partial interruption of some branches of Manufacture, the pressure upon the above-mentioned places is become so great as to require immediate relief, beyond what their own means are in the present moment capable of affording.” Reports, IX, p. 138. 2 Compare also the Lord Keeper's letter to the Worcestershire Justices. Willis Bund, Worcestershire County Records, 398. 8 See below, p. 724. 4 The stocks in all these areas were discussed by the same Committee in December 1800. They say, “Setting aside, for the present, the consideration of the further supply of Grain which may be received from Europe, the first Object to which Your Committee will advert, is, the Importation from the United States of America. There is a peculiar advantage attending the Supply from this quarter, that some part of it may be expected to arrive during the next month, and will continue during that period of the year when the importation from Europe is usually interrupted by the frost. The harvest in Canada is stated to have been abundant, and an Importation may be expected from that country, amounting at least to 30,000 quarters. In addition to this supply of Wheat and Flour, a considerable quantity of Rice may be drawn from different parts of the World. From the Southern States of North America, Your Committee are informed that a supply may be obtained of 70,000 barrels (each weighing 5 cwt.), of which a part will probably arrive in January, and the remainder successively in the ensuing months. “Erom India, a much larger quantity may ultimately be expected; but, as little, if any, of what may be obtained from thence by the means of ships which have sailed from this country, can arrive before the beginning of October 1801, Your Committee have confined their estimate, in this view of the subject, to that part which may be sent from India in country or neutral ships, in consequence of orders dispatched from hence in September last : This has been stated at from 7,000 to 10,000 tons (equal from 28,000 to 40,000 barrels of 5 cwt. each). The latter quantity is represented as the most probable of the two; and if sufficient shipping should be disengaged in India, it may rise to a much greater amount. It seems therefore not unreasonable to expect from that quarter, in the months of 45–2 708 LAISSEZ, FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. of food TO77. abroad, the relative advantage of organised import on the part of the government", or of leaving the matter in the hands of private traders acting under the stimulus of a bounty”, and it is needless to say that the latter course was preferred. At the same time, attention was given to the possibility of intro- ducing rice", maize", or other food stuffs from abroad, and to August and September, about 35,000 barrels; which, added to the importation from America, will amount to 105,000 barrels.” Reports, Ix. p. 126. 1 The Committee in 1795 “proceeded to enquire what measures, in the judg- ment of these persons, afforded the best probability of obtaining such a supply. They thought it right to bring distinctly under their consideration the alternative of leaving the whole care of such purchases to the Executive Government, who would (it was conceived) be in such case the only purchasers, and be publicly known to be so; or of leaving the same to the speculation of individual merchants, encouraged by a liberal bounty on importation, and by a public declaration on the part of Government (as soon as such declaration shall be practicable) of the quantity which they may then have at their disposal, in consequence of former orders, and of their intention to give no further orders for the purchase of Corn, and to sell what may have been procured in limited quantities, and at the market price. It appeared to Your Committee to be the preponderant opinion amongst those persons to whom this alternative was stated, that, upon the whole, the restoration of the trade in Corn to its natural channel, with the additional encouragement of a bounty, was the most eligible mode of endeavouring to procure from foreign parts, such supplies as those markets might be found able to furnish. Your Committee were further confirmed in this opinion by the informa- tion they received from some of their Members, that there were merchants who had stated to them their readiness, under those circumstances, to engage in speculations to a large extent. After a full consideration and discussion of this important point, Your Committee were of opinion, ‘That it was expedient for the Executive Government to desist from making any further purchases of Corn; and that a bounty should be granted upon the importation of certain sorts of Grain into this country, for the encouragement of private speculation’.” Reports, Ix. p. 45. 2 The payments were considerable, and at least brought temporary relief. The Committee on Waste Lands point out “that the bounties paid on grain imported for one year ending 5th of January 1797, amounted to no less a sum than #573,418.4s. 9d., a sum borrowed under all the disadvantages of raising money in time of war....It is impossible here not to remark an unfortunate prejudice which exists, regarding the expenditure of any part of the public income in promoting the improvement of the country. The sum above-mentioned was paid out of the public treasury by bounty or premium on foreign Corn imported. Had any person proposed to lay out that Sum, or even one year's interest thereof, in promoting cultivation at home, in defraying the expence of private Acts of Inclosure, or removing other obstacles to improvement, it would have been considered an extra- ordinary proposition, hardly entitled to serious consideration. But let that money be sent out of the country, or let it be expended in promoting foreign agriculture and extraneous improvements, and it is immediately held forth as a wise and provident application of the treasure of the Public.” Reports, IX. p. 224. 8 Reports, Ix. 92. 4 “The Importation of Indian Corn has also been encouraged by the prospect of a liberal bounty. The excellence of that grain, as the food of man, cannot be THE DEMAND FOR FOOD AND HIGHER FARMING 709 the cultivation of potatoes at home", while every pains was A.D. 1776 taken to prevent any waste in the use of grain of any sort". . d to dis- Distillers were obliged to stop working, and the manufacture courage of starch was checked", while recommendations were issued", ºwa Ste. and apparently acted on to some extent, as to the duty of the doubted, as it forms the chief subsistence of the southern part of the United States of America. The use of it here has however been hitherto so little known, that it is difficult to estimate either what quantity may be expected, or in what proportion it may be introduced into the consumption of this country; but as it is also applicable, with the greatest advantage, to the food of cattle, hogs, and poultry, it cannot fail to operate, either directly or indirectly, as a valuable addition to the general stock of Grain.” Reports, Ix. 126. 1 The Committee on the High Price of Provisions resolved in Feb. 1801, “That it is the opinion of this Committee, That that part of the United Ringdom called Great Britain be divided into Twelve Districts; and that Premiums, not exceeding in the whole the sum of £12,000 be offered for the culti- vation of Potatoes by Proprietors and Occupiers of land, not being Cottagers. That it is the opinion of this Committee, That Premiums to the amount of £13,000 be offered for the encouragement of the culture of Potatoes by Cottagers in England and Wales, to be distributed in sums not exceeding £20, for each district or division in which Magistrates act at their Petty Sessions in their several counties; and that such Day Labourer, Artificer, or Manufacturer, being a Cottager in each of the said districts or divisions, who shall raise on land in his occupation in the present year, the largest average crop of Potatoes per perch:- In not less than 12 square perch of land . e © te fºLO To the second largest crop on do. º º e e tº #6 To the third largest crop on do. . * * se tº Q :É4.” Ireports, IX, p. 132. * 2 “Your Committee have heard, with very great concern, that from the mistaken application of the charity of individuals, in some parts of the country, Elour and Bread have been delivered to the poor at a reduced price; a practice which may contribute very considerably to increase the inconveniencies arising from the deficiency of the last crop : And they recommend that all charity and parochial relief should be given, as far as is practicable, in any other articles except Bread, Flour, and Money, and that the part of it which is necessary for the sustenance of the poor, should be distributed in soups, rice, potatoes, or other substitutes. Your Committee are of opinion, that if this regulation was generally adopted, it would not only, in a very great degree, contribute to economize at this time the consumption of Flour, but that it might have the effect of gradually intro- ducing into use, a more wholesome and nutritious species of food than that to which the poor are at present accustomed.” Reports, Ix. p. 68. 8 41 G. III. c. 3. The Committee anticipated the following results from this measure, “The quantity of Wheat which will be saved for Food by the pro- hibition of the manufacture of Starch from that Grain, will be about 40,000 quarters. In consequence of the stoppage of the Distilleries, at least 500,000 quarters of Barley, which would have been consumed in that manufacture, will remain applicable to the subsistence of the People; but as it may be supposed that eleven bushels of Barley are not more than equivalent to one quarter of Wheat, this can only be stated at 360,000 quarters.” Reports, Ix. p. 126. 4 The King, in answer to an address on the subject from the two Houses of Parliament, issued a proclamation “most earnestly exhorting and charging all 710 LAISSEZ, FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. rich to exercise economy in their households'. But such measures were regarded as special and temporary methods of dealing with the distress, and it was generally felt that the only real cure lay in making the most of the English soil. Each experience of temporary distress gave a stimulus to the those of Our loving subjects who have the means of procuring other Articles of Food than Corn, as they tender their own immediate interests, and feel for the Wants of others to practise the greatest Economy and Frugality in the Use of every species of Grain; and We do, for this Purpose, more particularly exhort and charge, all Masters of Families to reduce the Consumption of Bread in their respective Families, by at least One Third of the Quantity consumed in ordinary Times, and in no case to suffer the same to exceed One Quartern Loaf for each Person in each Week; to abstain from the Use of Flour in Pastry, and, moreover, carefully to restrict the Use thereof in all other Articles than Bread; And do also, in like Manner, exhort and charge all Persons, who keep Horses, especially Horses for Pleasure, as far as their respective circumstances will admit, carefully to restrict the Consumption of Oats and other Grain for the Subsistence of the same.” 3 December, 1800 [Brit. Mus. 1851. d. 2 (2)]. Compare also Reports, Ix. 126. 1 The Committtee of 1795 considered the possibility of sumptuary legislationi on the lines of the Assize of Bread, but discarded it as they entertained “great hopes, that without applying this principle to the present case, the general im- pression produced by the late distress, and continued by the present scarcity, will incline men of all descriptions to unite voluntarily in the only measure which can give effectual and immediate relief; and they conceive that if this House should give to such a measure the sanction of its example and recommendation, there could be little doubt of its being immediately adopted by a proportion of the . community sufficiently numerous to secure the attainment of the object in view. “Your Committee beg leave to submit this suggestion for the wisdom of the House; and they hope it will not be thought beyond the line of their duty, if upon an occasion so urgent in point of time, they presume also to suggest the principal points which such an engagement ought, in their humble opinion, to embrace. To reduce the consumption of Wheat in the families of the persons subscribing such engagement, by at least one-third of the usual quantity consumed in ordinary times. “In order to effect this purpose, either to limit to that extent the quantity of fine Wheaten Bread consumed by each individual in such families; Or, to consume only mixed Bread, of which not more than two-thirds shall be made of Wheat; Or, only a proportional quantity of mixed Bread, of which more than two-thirds is made of Wheat; Or, a proportional quantity of Bread made of Wheat alone, from which no more than five pounds of Bran is excluded. “If it should be necessary, in order to effect the purpose of this engagement, to prohibit the use of Wheaten Flour in pastry, and to diminish, as much as possible, the use thereof in other articles than Bread. “By one or more of these measures, or by any other which may be found equally effectual, and more expedient and practicable, in the respective situations of persons subscribing to ensure to the utmost of their power the reduction above mentioned. - “This engagement to continue in force until fourteen days after the next Session of Parliament, unless the average price of Wheat shall, before that time, be reduced to an amount to be specified.” Third Report, in Reports, Ix. p. 54. ENCLOSURE AND THE LABOURERS 7II efforts of public spirited and philanthropic men to remove all A.P.1776 © & —1850. obstacles to the increase of the area of tillage. 261. There were improvers who saw with alarm that the With the di t | * e view of readiness to rely on imported corn was a hindrance to the ...ing development of our own agriculture to its highest capacity, * and viewed this trade with regret"; and a general consensus of ºf corn, opinion had been reached as to the necessity of doing away with the wasteful methods of cultivation in common fields, and facilitating the enclosure of land. The Board of Agriculture, under the presidency of Sir John Sinclair, moved earnestly in the matter, and it was fully discussed by Committees of the House of Commons in 1795, 1797 and 1800. The chief obstacle to carrying out this improvement lay in the heavy expenses, parliamentary and legal, which had to be borne, as well as the costs of obtaining surveys and erecting fences. It appeared that if a General Enclosure Act were passed, it ººloº was pushed would cause a considerable saving in the outlay involved". on, This would be an encouragement to proprietors to proceed with schemes of the kind; while it was also believed that, if the expenses were reduced, the real gain, which sometimes accrued to the cottagers", would be more generally realised. 1 The Committee of 1797 on the Cultivation of Waste lands endorsed the view that “nothing can more clearly exemplify the advantages resulting from agri- cultural industry, than the flourishing state of this country, for many years posterior to the Revolution; during which period, with but few exceptions, con- siderable quantities of Corn were annually exported. By means of that exporta- tion, large sums were brought into the kingdom, yet the price was steady and uniform, and in general rather low than otherwise. The farmer, however, was satisfied, because he considered himself under the special protection of the legislature, and had a reasonable prospect of having his industry rewarded. But since importation has been relied on, the consequences have been of a very opposite nature. The prices have been often high, and always unsteady. High prices occasion public discontent. With unsteady prices, it is impossible for the landlord to know what he ought to demand, nor the tenant what rent he ought to pay. To persons of small or even moderate incomes, also, such a circumstance is extremely injurious. When prices are high, they can scarcely procure for them- selves and their families a sufficient supply of wholesome provisions; when low, they are too apt to run into a system of expence, which it is not easy afterwards to relinquish; whereas, when the price is steady and uniform, they can make their expenditure tally with their income. The system therefore of encouraging agri- culture, and promoting the exportation of a surplus on ordinary occasions, which in unfavourable seasons can be retained at home, is the only mode of securing the comfortable subsistence of the great body of the people.” Reports, IX, pp. 224–5. 2 Reports, Ix. 230. * Davis, Oa:ford Report, quoted in Reports, Ix. 204 m. "712 LAISSEZ FAIRE Aº ‘It is impossible,” said Sir J. Sinclair, “to suppose that the Poor should be injured by that circumstance, which secures to them a good market for their labour (in which the real in the belief riches of a Cottager consists) which will furnish them with ºr. the means of constant employment, and by which the Farmer º will be enabled to pay them better wages than before. If a benefited, general Bill for the improvement of Waste Lands were to be passed, every possible attention to the rights of the Commoners would necessarily be paid; and as inclosures, it is to be hoped, will, in future, be conducted on less expensive principles than heretofore, the Poor evidently stand a better chance than ever of having their full share, undiminished. Some regulations also must be inserted in the Bill, to secure the accommodations they may have occasion for, by inlarging, where circumstances will admit it, the gardens annexed to their respective cottages, giving them a decided preference with respect to locality over the larger rights; throwing the burden of ring fences upon the larger Commoners, and allotting, where it is necessary, a certain portion of the Common for the special purpose of providing them with fuel; and thus the smallest proprietor will in one respect be obviously benefited, for any portion of ground, however incon- siderable, planted with furze or quick growing wood, and dedicated to that purpose solely, would, under proper regula- tions, be as productive of fuel, as ten times the space where no order or regularity is observed. If by such means the interests of the Cottagers are properly attended to, if their rights are preserved, or an ample compensation given for them; if their situation is in every respect to be ameliorated, it is hoped that the legislature will judge it proper and expedient, to take such measures as may be the best calculated for bringing into culture so large a portion of its territory, though it may not accord with the prejudices of any particular description of persons, whose objections evidently originate from the apprehension, rather than the certainty of injury, and who will consider it as the greatest favour that can be conferred upon them, when the measure is thoroughly under- stood".” 1 Reports, IX. p. 204. ENCLOSURE AND THE LABOURERS 713 In accordance with these views a General Enclosure Act 1 A.D. 1776 o tº —1850. was passed in 1801; the work of breaking up the common fields and utilising the common waste for tillage went on rapidly in all parts of the country, but the anticipations of the but this expert as to the boon which would be conferred were not * realised. The social effects of the change, in practically ex- * tinguishing the class of small farmers and introducing a body of tenants who worked large holdings, have been already considered”; it is necessary, however, to look at the results of the movement as it affected the cottagers and labourers. As one consequence of the change the labourer became The e . lab more entirely dependent on the wages he earned from his i.º.d opportunt- employer than had formerly been the case. In some cases, º. cottagers, who had no legal rights, had encroached upon the ſºlº his income waste, and the owners had connived at the practice, and allowed them to keep a cowº, and to take a little fuel”. But when the common waste and common fields were alike enclosed, there was no longer any opportunity for the labourer to exercise such privileges and add to the family resources. Even those labourers who had legal rights of this kind, of which the commissioners could take account, were seriously injured by enclosure". The capitalised value of pasture rights was exceedingly small, and the scrap of land, allotted to º ; * g * g 72 Of U67? a cottager, might be of little use to him, either as garden provided g * * * * & th. ground or for keeping a cow". When judiciously assigned", jj allotments were most beneficial, as was shown by the evidence “” collected in 1843°; but those who urged that distress in rural districts should be systematically dealt with on this plan”, failed to get a hearing”. 1 41 Geo. III. c. 109. * See above, p. 558. 8 General Report on Enclosures drawn up by order of the Board of Agri- culture (1808), p. 12. Brit. Mus. 988. g. 14. 4 Ib. p. 160. * A summary of the facts will be found in the General Report of Enclosures drawn up by order of the Board of Agriculture (1808), App. Iv. p. 150. 6 A commissioner of enclosures, in looking back on the effects of twenty enclosures in which he had taken part, “lamented that he had been accessory to injuring two thousand poor people at the rate of twenty families per parish.” .4mmals, XXXVI. 516. 7 For some unsuccessful experiments see p. 667, n. 2, above. * For the experience of the Labourers Friend Society compare 3 Hansard 1.xvii.I. 191, also Reports 1843, VII. 9 The practical difficulties, both administrative and technical, were considerable. See pp. 714 m. and 744 m. below. 10 3 Hansard, LXVIII. 857. 714. LAISSEZ, FAIRE A.D. 1776 ——1850. Arthur Young, who had done so much in advocating enclosure, was greatly distressed to find that the labourers had suffered so severely. He set himself to collect evidence" on this special point in 1800, and found that out of thirty- seven enclosed parishes for which he had full details, there were only twelve in which the labourers had not been injured. From the fact that there were twelve, he rightly argues that it was possible to carry out enclosure, and to obtain all the national benefit which it afforded, without perpetrating such injustice on the poor; but he urges that in all future acts of enclosure special care should be taken to insert clauses which would adequately protect the labourer in his accustomed privileges". Even if this had been attended to most strictly, Generally speaking the labourer 1 Annals, XXXVI. 513, * Sir G. Paul urged (General Report on Enclosures, p. 19) that it was possible to do much to replace the labourer in his old position by granting allotments. Investigation as to different parts of the country showed that the pauperism was much worse in some districts than in others; and a comparison of different parishes served to bring out the fact that where the labourers had land of their own to work, they were much less likely to lose the spirit of independence; see especially Mr Gourlay's long paper on the Lincolnshire cottagers in the Annals, xxxvii. 514; Arthur Young seems to have believed that the general formation of suitable allotments would enable the labourers to maintain themselves. The desire of doing so would render them diligent and independent, while even the prospect of sooner or later obtaining such a cottage and allotment would give the labourer a prospect in life which would have a beneficial effect. It was however a sine qua non with Arthur Young that these allotments should be forfeited by men who became dependent on the rates (Ammals, XXXVI. 641, and still more strongly XLI. p. 214), as he desired to make them the means of en- couraging independence and not merely a method of relieving the poor. Arthur Young was of course aware that many Irish cottiers and French peasants led a miserable existence, despite the fact that they had little farms of their own. He was clear that the labourers’ allotments should be of such a size that they could be really made to answer, and he therefore desired that the allotments should be rented. After his experience of the French peasantry he would not dare to trust the English labourer with the fee simple of the land, as he feared that this would inevitably lead to subdivision. This has not been sufficiently taken into account by those who have quoted his phrases about the ‘magic of property,’ and repre- sented him as approving of a peasant proprietary. He advocated a system by which the peasantry might have the opportunity of using land on their own account, but he thought it was undesirable that they should own it. His remarks coincide in many points with those of Sir James Steuart (Works, I. p. 112). It was by no means easy to lay down in general terms the size and nature of the allotment which would be really satisfactory. In the grazing counties, it was pro- posed to assign the labourer a garden, and enough grass for a cow. A poor family ENCLOSURE AND THE LABOURERS 715 however, the labourers' condition was changed for the worse by the extinction of small farms; in the old days there had always been a possibility that he might become an inde- pendent farmer, but he was practically precluded from ob- taining such capital as was requisite for working a large farm. He was thus cut off from any hope of bettering himself, or becoming his own master; through the progress of enclosure he was rendered entirely dependent on his wages as a labourer', and at the same time he was deprived of any prospect of ever being more than a wage-earner, and of attaining an improved status. 262. At the very time when the rural labourer was which could keep a cow was as well off as if they had five or six shillings of parish allowance (Annals, xxxvi. 510); and Arthur Young's idea of suitable land seems always to have been such land as would enable them to keep One cow, or at all events some sort of stock (Ib. 541). Sir John Sinclair discusses how this might be managed in connection with arable allotments, and in counties where little or no grazing land was available (Ib. XXXVII. 232), and he lays down the following principles (Ib. 233). “1st. That the cottager shall raise by his own labour some of the most material articles of subsistence for himself and his family. “2nd. That he shall be enabled to supply the adjoining markets with the smaller agricultural productions; and “3rd. That both he and his family shall have it in their power to assist the neighbouring farmers, at all seasons of the year, almost equally as well as if they had no land in their occupation.” The last of these touches on the crucial difficulty. If the labourers' allot- ments demanded more than ‘the leisure hour horticulture’ (Annals, XXXVI. 352), it would interfere with the labourers’ employment and consequently with his wages. The problem therefore of providing suitable allotments was of this kind,-that the labourer should have so much land as would enable him to keep a cow, but not enough to interfere with his ordinary work for an employer. There was a very general feeling, at the beginning of this century, that this problem did not present insuperable difficulties; but it is obviously one which is not capable of solution in general terms by such a formula as “three acres and a cow.' A good deal of attention was given to this mode of affording assistance to cottagers, but it may be doubted how far it produced the improvement that Arthur Young had hoped for, as those who received allotments were not thereby excluded from participation in poor relief. On the other hand, there were many economists who were inclined to condemn the arrangement, as they held that such assistance would, like parish allowances, lower the rate of wages; while Malthus and his followers regarded it as an inadequate solution of the recurring problem presented by the pressure of population. See below, p. 743 n. 2. I am inclined to believe that these doctrinaire criticisms prevented the scheme from being so generally tried as might have been desirable. Had it been more generally adopted, and subsistence-cultivation re- introduced even to a small extent, the fall of prices in 1815 could surely not have been attended by such distress, and there would have been less excuse for an expedient like the Corn Law of that year. 1 See p. 723 below. A.D. 1776 and was deprived of the hope of rºsvng ºn the world. 716 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. becoming dependent upon his earnings, it was notorious that his wages were insufficient for the maintenance of himself and his family. The policy of a living wage, for which the cotton weavers vainly contended in 1813, had found many advocates in the rural districts in the preceding decade; there was a very general feeling in favour of reintroducing the It appeared practice of assessing wages in accordance with the price of imprac- ticable to reintro- duce the assessment of wages, corn", and it seems to have been generally, if not universally agreed, that this was the fair principle on which to proceed”. There was, however, a great difference of opinion as to whether this should be done by authority, or whether it could be brought about in the Ordinary course of bargaining between employers and employed. Arthur Young's corre- spondents were of opinion that the law would be inoperative. It was urged that the inefficient labourers, if they had to be paid the full wages appointed by law, would find no employ- ment at all”. Others feared that such a measure would cut down the earnings of all to the same level, and thus discourage the more industrious men". Besides this, it was clear that wages were rising, slowly but surely, and this gave some reason for hoping that they would reach a level which would serve to maintain the labourer in comfort, without legislative interference". On the other hand, it was argued that “to expect that the farmers and other employers of the poor should generously come forward, and of their own accord vary and increase the wages of their workmen, in exact proportion to their varying and increasing necessities, is utterly hopeless; they will no more do it than they would make good roads without the aid of turnpikes, or the prescription of statutes enforced by the magistrates, though both one and the other would be often really and truly their interest".” The Suffolk justices petitioned in favour of a legislative regulation of 1 Davies, Case of Labourers, 106; also Pownall, Considerations on Scarcity, reprinted from Cambridge Chronicle, 1795. 2 Mr Howlett, whose opinion was worthy of great respect, held that corn did not form such a predominating element in the labourers' expenditure that wages should be regulated by it alone. He was however strongly of opinion that the labourer's income should be regulated by law on the basis of the food, fuel, and clothing necessary for a family in each district. Annals, xxv. 604, 612. * Annals, xxv. 618; xxxvi. 270. 4 Ib. xxv. 502, 626. * Ammals, xxv. 565. 6 Ib. xxv. 612. RURAL WAGES AND ALLOWANCES 717 wages, and Arthur Young appears himself to have inclined Aº." to approve this policy". On the whole it appears that this 1 Ib. 640. There was no more interesting argument in support of the pro- posal, however, than that of the Norfolk labourers who held a meeting in Heacham church (Nov. 5, 1795) “in order to take into consideration the best and most peaceable mode of obtaining a redress of all the severe and peculiar hardships under which they have for many years so patiently suffered. The following resolutions were unanimously agreed to:— “1st. The labourer is worthy of his hire, and that the mode of lessening his distresses, as hath lately been the fashion, by selling him flour under the market price, thereby rendering him an object of a parish rate, is not only an indecent insult on his lowly and humble situation (in itself sufficiently mortifying from his degrading dependence on the caprice of his employer), but a fallacious mode of relief, and every way inadequate to a radical redress of the manifold distresses of his calamitous state. “2nd. That the price of labour should, at all times, be proportioned to the price of wheat, which should invariably be regulated by the average price of that necessary article of life; and that the price of labour, as specified in the annexed plan, is not only well calculated to make the labourer happy without being injurious to the farmer, but it appears to us the only rational means of Securing the permanent happiness of this valuable and useful class of men, and, if adopted in its full extent, will have an immediate and powerful effect in reducing, if it does not entirely annihilate, that disgraceful and enormous tax on the public—the POOR. RATE. “Plan of the Price of Labour proportionate to the Price of Wheat. When wheat shall be £14 per last, the price of labour shall be 14d. per day. fºL6 2 3 5 5 3 3 22 16d. } } #18 53 53 32 52 18d. 3 y #20 25 35 9 3 33 20d. 32 :922 32 35 2 3 53 22d. y 5 #24 5 y 53 3 * 33 2/- } % :526 32 3 y 35 53 2|2 33 fº?8 52 35 }} 55 2/4 3 y fºë0 22 53. 99 5 y 2/6 55 :532 93 5 y 5 y 15 2/8 5 * :634 35 5 y 33 * > 2/10 3 y :#36 9 3 99 5 y 3|- } } 3 9 And so on, according to this proportion. “3rd. That a petition to Parliament to regulate the price of labour, con- formable to the above plan, be immediately adopted; and that the day labourers throughout the county be invited to associate and co-operate in this necessary application to Parliament, as a peaceable, legal, and probable mode of obtaining relief; and in doing this, no time should be lost, as the petition must be presented before the 29th of January, 1796. “4th. That one shilling shall be paid into the hands of the treasurer by every labourer, in order to defray the expenses of advertising, attending on meetings, and paying counsel to support their petition in Parliament. “5th. That as soon as the sense of the day labourers of this county, or a majority of them, shall be made known to the clerk of the meeting, a general meeting shall be appointed, in some central town, in order to agree upon the best and easiest mode of getting the petition signed; when it will be requested that one labourer, properly instructed, may be deputed to represent two or three 718 LAISSEZ, FAIRE : . : . . A.D. 1776 —1850. and in a period of S62)67 & distress the justices began t .: measure, which was advocated in more than one session by Mr Whitbread", was generally considered impracticable; while there seemed to be a danger that it would deprive inefficient men of all employment and would depress the earnings of the more industrious men. There was very little prospect that effect would be given to this proposal after 1795, when a simpler expedient for amplifying the receipts of the rural labourers began to be adopted. Owing to the wool famine and the decay of spinning, the women and children were left without their usual em- ployment, and the rural labourer was deprived of an important subsidiary source of family income. The evil was severe, but it was probably regarded as merely temporary; spinning had been plentiful and well paid at Reading in 1793*, but it appears to have been very much less remunerative, and harder to get, in subsequent years, and there doubtless seemed to be good reasons for taking exceptional steps to tide over a period of bad trade, which might perhaps be of no long con- tinuance. The Berkshire justices met in the Pelican Inn at Speenhamland to consider the situation, and agreed to the following resolutions: “1. That the present state of the poor does require further assistance than has generally been given them. 2. That it is not expedient for the magistrates to grant that assistance by regulating the wages of day labourers according to the directions of the statutes of the 5th Elizabeth and 1st James; but the magistrates very earnestly recommend to the farmers and others throughout the county, to increase the pay of their labourers in proportion to the present price of provisions; and agreeable thereto, the magistrates now present have unanimously resolved that they will, in their contiguous parishes, and to attend the above intended meeting with a list of all the labourers in the parishes he shall represent, and pay their respective Sub- scriptions; and that the labourer, so deputed, shall be allowed two shillings and six pence a day for his time, and two shillings and six pence a day for his expenses. “6th. That Adam Moore, clerk of the meeting, be directed to have the above resolutions, with the names of the farmers and labourers who have subscribed to and approved them, advertised in one Norwich and one London paper; when it is hoped that the above plan of a petition to Parliament will not only be approved and immediately adopted by the day labourers of this county, but by the day labourers of every county in the kingdom. “7th. That all letters, post paid, addressed to Adam Moore, labourer, at Heacham, near Lynn, Norfolk, will be duly noticed.” Annals, XXV. 504. 1 Parl. Hist. xxxLI. 700, xxxiv. 1426. 2 Annals of Agriculture, XX. 179. RURAL WAGES AND ALLOWANCES 719 several divisions, make the following calculations and allow- Aº 2 ances, for the relief of all poor and industrious men, and their, grant families, who, to the satisfaction of the justices of their parish, allowances e to the shall endeavour (as far as they can) for their own support families of and maintenance; that is to say, when the gallon loaf of iº seconds flour, weighing 8 lbs. 11 oz. shall cost 1s., then every "y poor and industrious man shall have for his own support 3s. weekly, either procured by his own, or his family's labour, or an allowance from the poor-rates; and for the support of his wife, and every other of his family, 1s. 6d. When the gallon loaf shall cost 1s. 6d., then every poor and industrious man shall have 4S. weekly for his own support, and 1s. 10d. for the support of every other of his family. And so in proportion, as the price of bread rises or falls (that is to say) 3d. to the man, and 1d. to every other of his family, on every 16, which the loaf rises above 1s.”.” Occasional out-door relief had been given in many parishes, but these justices now made use of their powers under Gilbert's Act”, to give it systematically, and to the able-bodied poor. The example they set was generally followed, and received legislative endorsement in the same year, as an Act was passed which rendered it possible for the overseers, in parishes which had not come under the provisions of Gilbert's Act, to pursue the same course, and gave the justices power to order the granting of out-door reliefs. This practice must have tended to check the rise 1 Pashley, Pauperism and Poor Laws (1852), 258; compare also the table in Annals of Agriculture, xxv. 537, and see p. 765 below. 3 22 Geo. III. c. 83, § 32. See above, p. 578. 3 The Act of 1723 had given any parish power to establish houses for the poor, and to refuse all out-door relief to those who would not go into them, but this was amended in 1795, as it was “found to be inconvenient and oppressive, inasmuch as it often prevents an industrious poor person from receiving such occasional relief as is best suited to the peculiar case of such poor person, and inasmuch as in certain cases it holds out conditions of relief injurious to the comfort and domestic situation and happiness of such poor persons.” The workhouse test was thus abolished under 36 Geo. III. c. 23. An effort appears to have been made to retain it in certain districts in the Eastern Counties, where Houses of Industry had been established (Ib. § 4) under private Acts of Parliament. Ruggles gives a very favourable account of these establishments and contrasts them with the ordinary poor-houses, History of the Poor (1797), 308, 324. He held that they were bene- ficial in every way, and could be so managed as to diminish rates (Ib. 333). But these parishes were unable to resist the tendency of giving out-door relief (Ib. 315) though they struggled against it. Rules and Orders for regulating the meetings and proceedings of the Directors and for the better governing, regulating and 720 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 : —1850. and with disastrous results in pauper- a sing the population, of wages which would naturally have followed in the circumstances of the times, from the increased area under tillage; in some districts an increase of money wages appears to have occurred in spite of it". No obvious oppor- tunity of discontinuing this system arose, and what had been introduced as a temporary expedient became a permanent practice. Whatever excuse there may have been for adopting this course at first, its ultimate effects on rural society were most disastrous. By securing an income to all the labourers, it offered a direct encouragement to carelessness on the part of the men, so that the farmers complained they could not obtain efficient labour; while the remaining mem- bers of the community had a grievance, inasmuch as they contributed, through the rates, for the payment of services rendered to other people. Altogether this custom tended to degrade the character of the labouring class". The Committee which investigated the subject in 1824 went back to first principles in making their reports. “There are,” they said, “but two motives by which men are induced to work: the one, the hope of improving the condition of themselves and their families; the other, the fear of punishment. The one is the principle of free labour, the other the principle of slave labour. The One produces industry, frugality, sobriety, family employing the poor of the Hundreds of Loes and Wilford (1792), [Brit. Mus. C. T. 104 (3)], p. 3. 1 Bowley, Wages in the United Kingdom, 39. 2 The demoralising effects became apparent to one observer at least before it had been in operation many months (Annals, xxv. 634). “From what will follow, emulation and exertion will be totally destroyed; a man working extra hours, etc., not doing it for his own benefit, but that of the parish. This has been the effect of a plan recommended by our magistrates; which, notwithstanding, I cannot but highly approve, as founded on liberal principles, and perhaps as little exception- able as anything which could have been adopted. “The effect of this is, that an industrious fellow, who heretofore has earned his fourteen shillings per week, will now only earn the price of day labour (nine shillings); nor will I blame him, for extraordinary exertions should have extra- ordinary reward; nor can a man be expected to work over-hours for the relief of the poor-rates. Another effect is, those who work none, receive as much as those who do; but this we have remedied, by saying, a man having no debility ought to earn nine shillings. The profligate part of the women have destroyed or have no wheels, and say they cannot earn anything unless supplied by the parish. Our rates are thus risen to about three times their usual quantum, which makes the farmers highly dissatisfied. * * * “To avoid this table, the parish are at this moment in the act of beginning a work-house; but, fortunately for the industrious poor, the bill for the relief of the poor in their own houses meets that oppression.” RURAL WAGES AND ALLOWANCES 721 affection, and puts the labouring class in a friendly relation Aº with the rest of the community; the other causes, as certainly, ſº idleness, imprudence, vice, dissension, and places the master and the labourer in a perpetual state of jealousy and mistrust. Unfortunately, it is the tendency of the system of which we speak, to supersede the former of these principles, and intro- duce the latter. Subsistence is secured to all; to the idle as well as the industrious; to the profligate as well as the sober; and, as far as human interests are concerned, all inducement to obtain a good character is taken away. The effects have corresponded with the cause. Able-bodied men are found slovenly at their work, and dissolute in their hours of relax- ation; a father is negligent of his children; the children do not think it necessary to contribute to the support of their parents; the employers and the employed are engaged in perpetual quarrels, and the pauper, always relieved, is always discontented; crime advances with increasing boldness, and the parts of the country where this system prevails are, in spite of our gaols and our laws, filled with poachers and thieves'.” This picture of the effects of the allowance system is sad while by- enough; and it must be remembered that there were other ...; influences at work which made for the disintegration of º village life. The Industrial Revolution tended to diminish the opportunities for industrial, as distinguished from agri- cultural employment in rural districts”. The concentration of spinning in villages, and later in factory towns, was one of the steps in the process by which the differentiation of town and country became complete. In old days” a considerable number of trades were represented in each village, but in recent times the services of the village artisan are hardly required. Tiles and slates have taken the place of thatch, and the husbandman, who has skill as a thatcher, has fewer opportunities of adding to his income. The capitalist farmer in all probability prefers the goods, which he buys for less money at a distance, to the local wares; as a consequence there have come to be fewer by-occupations than before, 1 Reports, etc. 1824, VI. 404. * On the old state of affairs compare A. Young, Annals, xxxii. 220. * See above, pp. 502, 564. J. Cowper, Essay proving that enclosing etc., p. 8. C. § 46 722 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. “Hitherto" the rude implements required for the cultiva- tion of the soil, or the household utensils needed for the comfort of daily life, had been made at home. The farmer, his sons, and his servants, in the long winter evenings carved the wooden spoons, the platters, and the beechen bowls; plaited wicker baskets; fitted handles to the tools; cut willow teeth for rakes and harrows, and hardened them in the fire; fashioned ox-yokes and forks; twisted willows into the traces and other harness gear. Travelling carpenters visited farm- houses at rare intervals to perform those parts of work which needed their professional skill. The women plaited the straw for the neck-collars, stitched and stuffed sheepskin bags for the cart-saddle, wove the straw or hempen stirrups and halters, peeled the rushes for and made the candles. The spinning-wheel, the distaff, and the needle were never idle; coarse home-made cloth and linen supplied all wants; every farm-house had its brass brewing kettle....All the domestic industries by which cultivators of the soil increased their incomes, or escaped the necessity of selling their produce, were now supplanted by manufactures.” While by-employments were dying out, there was also a tendency for weavers and other craftsmen to migrate from the villages to the towns”, and this would certainly affect the village prosperity by reducing the demand for its produce. The small manufacturing population created a demand on the spot; and articles could be sold which might not perhaps bear the expense of transport to the towns. It might appear that the villager would gain by the improvement in produc- tion and would pay less for his clothes"; but the double cost of carriage, of his produce to the town and his purchased cloth to the village, would diminish his receipts, and might enhance the price which he had formerly paid, so that his gain from this source would hardly be appreciable. This destruction of local demand was certainly an important matter, and the tendency to mºgrate to to?!???.S &ncreased. 1 Prothero, Pioneers, 67. For an interesting picture of village life in Hamp- shire at a later date, see Thorold Rogers, Siac Centuries, 502. - 2 This trend of the industrial population had been foreseen by Sir J. Steuart, Works, I. 113. 8 On the change in the habits of farm servants compare Select Committee on Agriculture, in Reports, 1833, V. questions 6174–7, 10324 f. f THE AGRICULTURAL INTEREST AND THE CORN LAWS 723 at the time when steam was superseding water-power. In Aº the first days of the factory industry, there were many * villages situated on a stream with sufficient force to drive a single mill, and village factories, as we may call them, flourished for some time in many places. When, however, improved machinery was introduced, they were no longer remunerative and had to be closed". Neither agriculture nor manufacture offered good employment in rural districts, and village life in all its aspects seemed to present a succession of pictures of misery and decay”. 263. The increasing distress in the country, at a time when so much was being done to foster the landed interest, was a standing puzzle to the men of the time. The matter The Corn g tº g ty Law of becomes easily explicable, however, when we bear in mind it; certain conditions of agricultural production, which were very imperfectly understood at the beginning of last century. The points will become clearer if we go back to a still earlier period in order to obtain a retrospect of the policy which had been pursued in regard to corn. The Act of 1689°, which allowed a bounty on exportation was º: e CéSS fººt, 2.72. when the price of wheat fell below 488. a quarter, was, by a . #. general consensus of opinion, successful, both in maintaining ºfO?” prices at a steady level, and in giving a stimulus to English Jº; agriculture, during the first half of the eighteenth century". In some succeeding years, however, the supply fell short, and it became necessary to introduce occasional measures both for suspending exportation and encouraging the import of grain. In 1772, Governor Pownall, while introducing a bill for the purpose of giving temporary relief, proposed a series * One such mill, originally a paper mill (Nash, Worcestershire, 1782, II. 232) and subsequently a silk mill, existed at Overbury in Worcestershire. The pro- prietors were accustomed to get the work done almost entirely by apprentices, and their apprentices who had served their time and could obtain no employment were a serious evil in the villages. * Compare the description of the rural population in Wakefield's Swing un- masked, 9, and England and America, I. 44. 8 See above, p. 541. * The Corn Bounty Act of 1689 had apparently served its purpose on the Whole, for a considerable period (Thaer, Beyträge, II. 149–162). The measure had been framed “so as to prevent grain from being at any time either so dear that the poor cannot subsist, or so cheap that the farmer cannot live by growing of it.” C. Smith, Considerations on the Importation and Eaſportation of Corn (1759), p. 72. Compare also Naudé, Getreidehaudelspolitik, 117, and p. 711 n. 1, above. - 46—2 724 LAISSEZ FAIRE Aº of resolutions, which fundamentally changed the whole system - of policy, in the hope that the constant tinkering, which had # º, gone on in recent years, would no longer be necessary. His intended scheme, which was in its main features embodied in the Act. of 1773", was an endeavour to keep the price of corn steady, at about 488, the quarter, by giving facilities for importation duty free, when English corn was selling at a higher rate. As his speech explains, “the end proposed by this Bill is that of creating an influx of bread corn for home consumption, ºº in case of internal scarcity; and an aid to our foreign trade sº, in case of our not having a quantity of corn adequate to jº" that important and beneficial commerce. This purpose is º,” conducted under such regulations as shall prevent any inter- price; ference with the landed interest. In other words (said he), if I may be permitted to use an allusion to natural operations, it means to introduce into our supply an additional stream, and to fix such a wear at such a height as shall always keep the internal supply equal, and no more than equal, to internal want, yet preserve a constant overflow for all the surplus, so as never on one hand to endanger the depression of the landed interest, nor on the other the loss of our foreign market for corn—by our not being able, as has been the case for several years past, to supply the demands of that foreign market—as it is hoped that this measure will be formed into a permanent law. It is meant by the provisions in the Bill formed for the carrying it into execution—that its operations. may go on, as the state of things does actually and really require, not as the interests of designing men may wish and will them to go; that this commercial circulation of subsistence may flow through pools whose gates are to open and shut as the state of the droughts, and floods, and tides may require, not to consist of sluice-doors which are to be locked up and opened by the partial hands and will of men.”.” This measure may be regarded as of the nature of a com- promise; in so far as they accepted it, the representatives. of each of the historic parties departed from the traditional policy which was associated with Whigs and Tories re- spectively. The Whigs, who had been eager to encourage 1 13 Geo. III. c. 43. 2 Parl. Hist. XVII, pp. 477–478. THE LANDED INTEREST AND CORN LAWS 725 commerce in such a way as to stimulate employment, were *º" accepting a measure that exposed the British agriculturist to foreign competition. The Tory, who had advocated foreign commerce in the interest of the consumer, looked askance at it, when it threatened to undersell his tenants in the home market. Like other compromises, the measure failed to satisfy any one, and it did not even answer the expectations of its author. Englishmen found that they could not count upon a steady stream from other countries, as the interruptions to commerce, and demands abroad, might render it impossible for merchants to supply the deficiencies caused by a poor harvest at home. In bad years the consumer suffered, while the foreign corn which was imported might be warehoused and increase the stock of corn, so that the English producer would find prices range very low in some ordinary years. The effort to maintain a steady price, partly from the home but Parlia- supply and partly from foreign sources, proved a failure"; §. º and in the last decade of the eighteenth century the most ;ſ prominent agriculturists of the time demanded a return to º the policy of stimulating home production. Sir John Sinclair argued that the passing of a general Inclosing Bill was “the first and most essential means of promoting the general improvement of the country; and the importance of that measure has not as yet perhaps been so distinctly stated as it deserves. In general, those who make any observations on the improvement of Land, reckon alone on the advantages which the landlord reaps from an increased income; whereas, in a national point of view, it is not the addition to the rent, but to the produce of the country, that is to be taken into consideration. It is for want of attending to this important distinction, that people are so insensible of the wonderful prosperity that must be the certain result of domestic im- provement. They look at the rental merely, which, like the * Arthur Young's protest against the changes introduced by the Act of 1773 on the ground that the price at which export was permitted should not be too low, was justified by events. He held that, with the increasing demand and increasing difficulties of production, the farmer in 1770 ought to be able to calculate on a higher price than he could look for in 1689, and that the legislature should endeavour to keep the price of corn as steadily as possible at this higher level. Parliament had attempted instead to make corn cheaper, with disastrous results, to the consumer in bad years, and to the producer in good ones (Ammals of Agriculture, XLI. p. 308). 726 LAISSEZ FAIRE hide, is of little value, compared to the carcase that was inclosed in it. Besides, the produce is not the only circum- stance to be considered: that produce, by the art of the manufacturer, may be made infinitely more valuable than it originally was. For instance: If Great Britain, by improving its wool, either in respect to quantity or quality, could add a million to the rent-rolls of the proprietors of the country, that, according to the common ideas upon the subject, is all the advantage that would be derived from the improvement: but that is far from being all, the additional income to the landlord could only arise from at least twice the additional produce to the farmer; consequently, the total value of the wool could not be estimated at less than two millions: and as the manufacturer by his art would treble the value of raw material, the nation would be ultimately benefited in the amount of six millions per annum. It is thus that internal improvements are so infinitely superior, in point of solid profit, to that which foreign commerce produces. In the one case, lists of numerous vessels loaded with foreign com- modities, and the splendid accounts transmitted from the Custom House, dazzle and perplex the understanding; whereas, in the other case, the operation goes on slowly, but surely. The nation finds itself rich and happy; and too often attributes that wealth and prosperity to foreign commerce and distant possessions, which properly ought to be placed to the account of internal industry and exertion. It is not meant by these observations to go the length that some might contend for; namely, to give any check to foreign commerce, from which so much public benefit is derived; but it surely is desirable that internal improvement should at least be considered as an object fully as much entitled to attention as distant speculations, and, when they come into competition, evidently to be preferred".” So far as external commerce is concerned effect had been given to these views by the Act of 1791°, which repealed all the existing corn laws; it aimed at keeping the price ranging between 46s, and 54s, the quarter. A bounty of 5s. was to be paid on the export of wheat when 1 Reports, IX. pp. 209–210. A.D. 1776 —1850. in 1791, 2 31 Geo. III. c. 30. On the working of this measure see Reports, 1803–4, v. 699, 793, and the amending Act of 1804, 44 Geo. III. c. 109. THE LANDED INTEREST AND CORN LAWS 727 the price was as low as 44s, but on the other hand a prohibi-Aºſ" tive duty was levied on importation when the price was below 50s., and only 6d. a quarter was charged on imported wheat when the pricerose above 54s. The interruption to commerce, even though no serious effort was made to cut off our food supply during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars", seems to have given a practical and effective protection to home production; prices rose and the process of bringing additional land into cultivation went on apace. As a matter of fact, however, the advantages to the com-ºne munity generally, which Sir John Sinclair had anticipated, healthy did not arise. By far the greater part of the gain which #º came from the war prices went to the proprietors of land. ** Agriculturists took in new ground and had recourse to inferior soil and worse situated land, but additional supplies could only be obtained at an increasing rate of cost”. Those men, who had good and well situated arable land, were able to obtain the same high price, as was necessary to recompense the man who worked under less favourable conditions. The advantage which accrued from the superior properties or exposure of the land, did not affect the labourers at all, and could only go temporarily to the tenant during the period of his lease; the gain was eventually transferred to the owners of property, whether they were enterprising or not. As recourse was had to worse soil and the margin of cultivation descended, the land-owner and the tithe-owner gained. The rise of prices, which rendered more strenuous tillage possible, swelled their incomes immensely”. Though the farmer might 1 See above, p. 684. * This law of diminishing return is a simple statement of a physical fact; it was brought into prominence by Ricardo, who made it the basis of his doctrine of Rent. It is well to remember too that the form of expression used by Ricardo might have been suggested by the actual occurrences of his time. Farming in 1815 was still largely extensive; a fall of prices resulted immediately in certain land going out of cultivation. If prices rose again it might be predicted with certainty that the same land would be brought back again into cultivation. It was thus perfectly possible to point out the land that was on the margin of cultivation and which paid no rent. Now that land is carefully prepared and drained, and the soil made, the conditions are very different; and the language which applied to a time when most English farming was still extensive, is mot exactly suitable to modern conditions when tillage is so highly intensive (Prothero, 104). In bad times land may fall out of condition, but not immediately out of cultivation. 8 These were the facts for which Ivicardo's theory of Rent afforded the 728 LAISSEZ, FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. get high profits occasionally during the wars with France and the United States, a sudden fall of prices ensued at the times when importation became possible, and this proved disastrous to the men who were cultivating inferior lands or who had a very small capital. Similar results occurred in years of plenty, when prices dropped suddenly". On the whole there was an immense stimulus to agriculture, and the landed proprietors gained largely; but, like other trades, farming was subject to fluctuations, and the business of the tenants had a much more speculative character than formerly. The prospect of peace in 1815, and of the importation of cereals grown in America and the Baltic lands to English ports, suddenly opened the eyes of landed proprietors to the instability of their prosperity. A fall of prices would have placed many of the land-owners in grave difficulties; there had, of course, been an unprecedented rise of their incomes during the war. Rents had increased, as it was said, about seventy per cent. since the war began; and few of the land- owners had realised that their gains were merely temporary. They had burdened their land with jointures, or mortgaged it to make real or fancied improvements; and thus, when there began to be a difficulty about getting rents paid, there was a general feeling among the landlords, that if there was a fall either of rents or prices, they would be unable to meet the obligations which they had incurred. It was necessary that the inflated prices of the war period should be main- tained somehow, if the landed proprietors, as a class, were to be saved from ruin. As the whole course of agricultural improvement had been pressed on by their enterprise, and to some extent at their cost”, it appeared that the agricultural - 6 landlords were threat- ened with rwin at the Peace, explanation. There must have been much land in his time which was actually on the margin of cultivation, and was sown with corn or not, according to the prospects of a high or low price. In giving his explanation a general form, Ricardo enunciated a doctrine which applies to differential advantages of every kind; but the public did not sufficiently appreciate the fact that the payments made by the tenant to the landlord are not merely differential, but at all events include the landlord's share of profit for the capital which he has sunk in the land (Cummingham, Modern Civilisation, 161). The mistaken impression thus diffused tended to increase the irritation which was felt in the commercial community against the landed interest. * Arthur Young, Ammals of Agriculture, XLI. p. 309. * The cost of actual enclosure, and of erecting buildings suited to the improved System of cultivation, had been largely defrayed at the expense of the landlords. THE LANDED INTEREST AND THE CORN LAWS 729 system of the country would go to pieces if they became A:..." bankrupt, while the finance of the realm would be thrown into disorder. In any case they could urge that they had an equitable claim for the fullest consideration, owing to the incidence of national and local taxation. It was on these Thé49t grounds that a stringent Corn Law was passed in 1815, by ºsed which the importation of foreign corn was prohibited, so long as the price of wheat did not rise above 80s.". It was possible to urge, and to urge in good faith, that the course which was so essential to the landlords as a class was also beneficial to the community. There was an obvious *ill. political danger in allowing the country to be normally grounds, dependent for its food supply on foreign sources; the nation had experienced the misery of famine, during the recent wars, at the times when the harvest had fallen short and the in- terruption of commerce had prevented adequate importation. It was plausible to insist that the country must endeavour to raise her own food supply from her own area, and not be dependent on maritime intercourse for the necessaries of life; and it seemed possible that by artificially maintaining a high price, agricultural production might be so stimulated as to call forth an ample supply in good years, and a sufficient supply in bad ones. This was only, after all, a modification of the immemorial policy of the country”, in seeking to foster a vigorous rural population and provide adequate food. - But times had changed since the English Revolution. but in the The public interest no longer coincided with the private jºgſ interests of the landlord class, as had been approximately the ºff. case in 1689°; it had come to be closely associated with the private interest of the manufacturers. The hardware and textile industries were becoming the chief source from which the wealth of the country was derived. Shipping was needed, to fetch materials and to carry away finished goods; it had long ceased to have much employment in exporting our surplus corn. Maritime prosperity was bound up with the development of industry; the shipping interest was indifferent to the maintenance of English tillage; and might even be opposed to it, since the regular importation of corn would 1 55 Geo. III. c. 26. * See above, p. 85. 8 See above, pp. 541, 542. 730 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. open up lines of steady trade. It was clear, moreover, that for the well-being of the manufacturing interest, cheap food was of the highest importance. The corn law of 1689 had tended to the detri- ment of CO7?S707716)'S, It did not Se7've to control prices so as to encourage to increase the normal food supply of the country and to make prices steady; it had not been inconsistent with the interests of the capitalist employer, and it had made for the comfort of the labourer on the whole. But the attempt to maintain a high price, so as to extort a sufficient supply from the soil of England, imposed a very serious burden on all consumers. Had it been in the clear interest of the com- munity, it might have been borne patiently; but this was not the case. The policy was only in the obvious interest of a class, and as it could be depicted as demanding the sacrifice of the masses of the population for the benefit of a small class, it was resented accordingly. - The issue, which had been concealed when the com- promise of 1773 was adopted, came into clear light in 1815. Industrial progress had changed the internal balance of the economic powers within the realm. The policy of stimulating agriculture, to meet both home require- ments and foreign demand according to circumstances, was ceasing to be practical in 1773; in 1815 it was an utter anachronism. The advocates of protection failed to recognise that under altered circumstances, the measures which had served to stimulate agriculture in the eighteenth century were no longer applicable. The conditions of the problem of the food supply had entirely changed, at the time when the home demand increased so much that England ceased to be a corn-exporting country. So long as it had been possible to count upon outflow, it was feasible by legislative regulation to affect its rate, and thus to keep up a steady supply within the country; but when the range of home prices was so high that there was no foreign demand for English wheat, the mere prohibition of import, except at famine prices, could have no effect in rendering the conditions of agriculture stable. Indeed, the new enactment only served to exaggerate the variations which necessarily occurred with differences in the seasons; the effect of the Corn Law of 1815 was to render farming a highly speculative business. The normal food production, with the existing methods, was insufficient THE LANDED INTEREST AND THE CORN LAWS 731 for the population". In years of scarcity a comparatively Aº small deficiency in the crop immediately caused a startling & rise in price. Encouraged by these rates, farmers would break up more ground and take crops on a larger area, but a year or two of lower prices would soon compel them to give up steady agri- the task of trying to grow wheat, except on their better land; * the uncultivated area was often left wild, without any attempt * at laying down pasture. The most serious of these variations of price occurred just after the conclusion of the war. In January 1816, notwithstanding the protective legislation, wheat was selling at 52s. 6d.”; owing to a deficient harvest in 1816, not so much in our own country as abroad, the price rose very rapidly, and in June 1817 stood at 117s.”. Similar startling fluctuations characterised the end of the period, and rendered the farmer's business a constant speculation in which hundreds were ruined°. Under these circumstances it was true that only a section of the landed interest, the proprietors and the tithe-owners, gained by the continuance of the traditional policy with regard to corn, while the mischievous consequences of the dearness of bread were felt by consumers in all classes. The uncertainty and scarcity in regard to food, which had been temporarily introduced by the war, continued to cause in- creasing distress. No substantial difference was made by the sliding scale of 1828", which permitted foreign corn to be imported and warehoused, on the payment of duties, if it was sold for consumption at home. Some relaxation was indeed allowed in the famine year of 1823, but on the whole the system of protection was strictly maintained, but with more and more hesitation", till it was at length abandoned in 1846°. 1 The Committee of 1821 believed that enough wheat was grown for the requirements of the country, Report from Select Committee to whom the several Petitions complaining of the depressed State of agriculture were referred (Report, etc., 1821, Ix. 9); while that of 1833 recognised that we were dependent on foreign supplies “in years of ordinary production.” Ib. 1833, v. 5. 1 Toolke, II. p. 4. 2 Tooke, II. 18. * One Parliamentary Committee after another reported on the state of the agricultural interest. In 1821 it was shown that there had been many failures among the farmers in Dorsetshire in the preceding years. Reports, 1821, Ix. 138. 4 9 Geo. IV. c. 60. * Sir R. Peel's sliding scale in 1842 was quite an inadequate reform. 6 9 and 10 Wict. c. 22. 732 LAISSEZ, FAIRE A.D. 1776 264. The anomalies of the system of representation at 7. , the beginning of last century were a discouragement to the b6, 2007”/6- g g & º & ing classes artisans in seeking for redress on conservative lines. The % operatives and labourers had reason to be embittered at the %."... failure of the government to administer the law of the land #. ºriting as contained in the Statute book, and to enforce reasonable rates of wages by authority. It was a still greater grievance that they were prevented from trying to do their best for themselves, and that all attempts on their part at collective bargaining were treated as criminal. The measures which had been devised in old days for the protection of the work- man were allowed to become a dead letter, while those which º:gººd limited his powers of self-defence against capitalist oppression 'passing of were re-enacted" in a more stringent form. The passing of ºna. the Combination Act of 1799°, which was amended and re- ** affirmed in 1800°, was on the face of it a piece of gross injustice; and the information regarding the history of the measure is so slight, that there is great difficulty in understanding the reason for inflicting it. There was much distress in the country, and long debates took place in both houses in 1800 on the best methods of alleviating the general suffering; but there were no special features in the economic conditions of the day which render the introduction of such a drastic measure at all intelligible. It seems reasonable to suppose that the motives, which weighed with the Government of the day in 1799, were political *.*.*., and not merely economic. This bill gave an additional of political e * panic, weapon to deal with those who were concerned in any out- breaks which might arise in a period of scarcity, and it provided an engine for suppressing seditious societies, which might cloak themselves under a pretence of trade objects”. 1 See Vol. I., also S. and B. Webb, Trade Unionism, 63, 2 39 Geo. III. c. 81. An Act to prevent wºn lawful combinations of workmen. 3 39 and 40 Geo. ITI. c. 106. The principal modification was the addition of §§ 18 to 22 which gave greater facilities for arbitration between masters and men on any trade disputes, and § 17 which rendered combinations among masters illegal. * This view is confirmed by the fact that a very severe measure against debating societies passed in the same year. 39 Geo. III. c. 79. The only Suggestion I have come across of a connection between workmen’s societies and seditious gatherings occurs in April 1801, before the Combination Acts had rendered THE COMBINATION LAWS 733 The measure seems to have been rushed through the House A.D. 1776 of Commons under the influence of panic; its earlier stages —1850. were taken on three successive nights". There were no petitions in its favour and there is no report of any debate in Hansard; it was not introduced because of pressure from the outside, but it was hurried on by Government. The Bill was not accepted so readily when it was introduced into the and despite House of Lords. The London artisans had come to hear of º Żts the proposal which was being pushed on so fast, and the Calico” Printers petitioned the Lords against it. Counsel was heard on their behalf, and the opponents of the scheme thought it worth while to divide the House, though the Government carried the day. But the matter did not rest here, as there were numerous petitions from all parts of the country point- ing at the injustice of the Act and demanding its repeal”. The matter came up for re-consideration in the next session; but whatever may have been the original motives for introducing the Bill, there were, in the then temper of the legislature, valid economic grounds for maintaining the measure. Parliament had honestly considered the practica- bility of fixing a minimum rate of wages, and had come to the deliberate conclusion that any attempt to do so would be futile so far as the labourers were concerned, and would Trade Societies criminal. “At the same period seditious emissaries were first. detected endeavouring to excite insurrection among the manufacturers of different parts of Lancashire. This was to be done by associating as many as possible under the sanction of an oath, nearly similar to that adopted in London and which, with an account of the secret sign which accompanied it, has been trams- mitted from various quarters to Government and laid before your Committee; dangerous meetings were disguised, as in London, under the appearance of Friendly Societies, for the relief of Sick Members.” Second Report from Com- mittee of Secrecy relative to State of Ireland. Reports, reprints, 1801. First series, X. 831. 1 17, 18, 19 June, 1799. Commons Journals, LIV. pp. 653, 662, 666. 2 Commons Journals, Lv. 645. The London petition runs thus: “That during the last session, an Act was passed to prevent unlawful Combination of Workmen, ...and that the said Act by the Use of such uncertain Terms, and others of the same Nature, has created new Crimes of boundless Extent, to which are affixed Fines, Forfeiture and Imprisonment,...and that in many Parts of the said Act, the Law is materially changed to the great Injury of all Journeymen and Workmen; and that, if it be not repealed it will hereafter be dangerous for the Petitioners to . converse with one another, or even with their own Families; and that its im- . mediate Tendency is to excite Distrust and Jealousy between their Masters and them, and to destroy the Trades and Manufactures it purports to protect.” 734 LAISSEZ FAIRE probably be mischievous to trade. They might readily believe that if a fixed minimum of wages, even when it emanated from public authority, was an evil and tended to aggravate distress, the attempts of private individuals to take the matter into their own hands, and enforce such regulations by the strength of a combination, were still more to be deprecated; this seemed to be doing a bad thing in the worst possible way. There was a diametric opposition between the operatives, whose chief aim was to uphold the Elizabethan policy, and the legislature, which regarded the old system as mischievous, and felt justified in treating all efforts to restore it indirectly as criminal. The Act did not affect associations which existed for approved objects, but merely the employment of the powerful weapon of combination for purposes which the legislature regarded as mischievous". There was at this time a very general interest in Friendly Societies, and a desire on the part of the Government to give them a better status. The Act, which Mr Rose had carried through in 1793*, had en- couraged these societies to bring their constitutions and rules before the justices for approval; and conferred on them a definite legal status if they did so; as these bodies were able to use their funds to assist their members when out of work or when travelling in search of it”, a considerable field of activity in connection with trade affairs was open to them. There appear to have been many such societies in all parts of A.D. 1776 —1850. Friendly Societies continued to eacist, 1 “All contracts...made...between any journeymen manufacturers or other workmen...for obtaining an advance of wages,...lessening or altering their or any of their usual hours or time of working...or for preventing or hindering any person or persons from employing whomsoever he, she or they shall think proper to employ in his her or their business, or for controlling...any person or persons carrying on amy manufacture, trade, or business, in the conduct or management thereof, shall be...illegal.” 39 Geo. III. c. 81. * 33 Geo. III. c. 54. An Act for the Encouragement of Friendly Societies. 8 A clear account of the objects of one of these societies will be found in the evidence given before a Committee of the House of Commons in 1794. It is clear that an out-of work benefit was allowed and it was also stated that there was not one out of a hundred of the Woolcombers that did not belong to some society, William Eales’ evidence, C. J. XIIX. p. 323. The practice of associating for trade objects and other benefits had existed among the wooicombers for many years. See above, pp. 508 and 652 m. 3. THE COMBINATION LAWS 735 England, and the total membership was enormous”. Just Aº because there were such facilities for the formation of legiti- g mate associations, the Legislature would have less scruple in prohibiting the formation of trade societies, and the diversion but associa- tº ſº - & e { } - ſº . . $7,0778 fon of the activities of friendly societies to purposes of which %. tº s: tº a tº 3 poses were neither the legislature nor the justices approved”. liable to From this point of view, the determination of the legis-gºº. lature to maintain these Acts becomes intelligible, and we 2 can also get clearer light on the difficult question as to the 1 Very full information in regard to these societies in the Newcastle district is preserved in five volumes in the British Museum, marked 8275. bb. 1–5. Most of the societies confined their benefits to sick members and Superannuation, and make no explicit provision for out-of-work benefits. This occurs, however, in the Clerks’ Society (rule 11, 1807), a member of which who lost his employment was allowed 10s. a week for 26 weeks. In the society instituted among Messrs Angas' coachmakers, temporary loss of work (p. 19) is acknowledged to be a case of “diffi- culty and distress, that its benevolence cannot relieve in any competent degree”; this society's rules had several fines for industrial offences, and are framed from a capitalist standpoint. The Maltsters’ Society (1796), apparently of small masters, also took cognisance of trade offences (rules 4, 16). The Masons, rule 20 (1811), recommends “that all persons thereto belonging do encourage one another in their respective trades and occupations”; this probably refers to dealing at one another's shops; but it appears that the trade ideas and benefit club aims were not kept distinct. 2 Compare the interesting statistics for each county appended to Mr George Rose's Observations on the Poor Laws, 1805. He gives the total membership for England and Wales at 704,350 (Table, Appendix); in 1815 it had increased to “925,439 being about one-thirteenth part of the population.” Bechey, Consti- twtion of Friendly Societies (1826), p. 49. / 8 The justices had no authority to enquire into the real as distinguished from the ostensible objects of an association applying to them. “Every Society which professed to provide for sickness or old age and declared no unlawful purpose was necessarily admitted.” Report from the Select Committee on the Laws respecting Friendly Societies (1825), Iv. 326, printed pagn. 6. Mr Bechey quotes the allegation that the Friendly Societies “have been too frequently converted into engines of abuse by paying weekly sums to Artisans out of work, and have thereby encouraged combinations among workmen not less injurious to the misguided members than to the Public Weal.” Constitution of Friendly Societies (1826), 55. Some instances were noted in Lancashire about 1815. “The regulations of hatters, small-ware weavers and other trades, have appeared in print and are of the most tyrannical and arbitrary character, and are well known to be enforced with the most rigid severity. Societies are formed of persons carrying on the same business, ostensibly for the laudable purpose of relieving the members in time of sickness, but in reality for the maintenance of illegal combinations, from the funds of which a supply is obtained for the most illegal purposes. On the 6th or 7th of March 1817, a supply of £20 was sent from a Society of Cotton Spinners for the purpose of assisting in the illegal object of a body of several thousand persons proceeding in regular array to London, under pretence of presenting a petition to the Prince Regent.” W. D. Evans, Charge to the Grand Jury, 17, a tract to which my attention has been directed by Mr S. Webb. 736 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. though this was 72Ot Systematº- cally enforced, enforcement of the Acts. The general impression created by the careful investigations of Mr and Mrs Webb" is that the Act, though enforced spasmodically and occasionally with great severity, remained to a considerable extent a dead letter. The workman had on the whole been endeavouring to insist that existing laws should be carried out ; and the mere fact of combination for this purpose could hardly be regarded as illegal. The Glasgow Cotton Weavers were - allowed to combine to obtain a decision on the rates of wages; but their leaders were arrested as criminals, when they tried to enforce the rate themselves and organised a strike”. In various trades the practice of arranging a list at a conference between masters and men was in vogue", and though this might have easily led to breaches of the Combi- nation Laws, it was apparently held that, where the masters were ready to meet the men in conferences publicly called, the idea of conspiracy hardly came in. There certainly were cases when the masters had a very strong case under the Acts, and did not invoke their assistance"; so that it is probably true to say that, on the whole, the law was not often set in motion, and that things went on in an ordinary way, as if no such statute was in existence". In case of any dispute between masters and men, or of a strike, the em- ployers were able to have recourse to this Act at any moment, and summarily to crush all opposition; and the severe sentences which were inflicted under the Act on Bolton Calico Printers in 1817, and on the Sheffield Scissors Grinders in 1816, must have rankled deeply in the minds of the victims. It is impossible to say to what extent the existence of the Acts, even when spasmodically enforced, affected rates of pay or increased the privations of the working classes, but there can be no doubt that they added immensely to their sense of wretchedness and helplessness. The impotence an intense sense of Žnjustice was rowsed. 1 Hist. of Trade Unionism, 58, 65. * See above, p. 638. * Lists of Prices were agreed on by the London Printers in 1805, and by the London Coopers in 1813, 1816, and 1819; by the Brushmakers in 1805, and there were strong societies among the Cabinet Makers in Edinburgh, London and Dublin. Webb, op. cit. 66–68. - 4 See above, p. 642 n. - * See the quotation from George White in Webb, op. cit. 68. ECONOMIC EXPERTS 737 of the artisans is the prominent feature of the time. Nor Aº" were their leaders inclined at first to take any part in legislative movements for improving any particular social conditions; their energies were entirely absorbed in the effort to obtain a share of political power", in the hope that they could then remedy all their wrongs.” Their keenest feeling was a sense of the injustice done them, and of the hopelessness of attaining real redress until they had an effective voice in the government of the country. 265. While the working classes were waiting angrily for #. the power and opportunity of giving effect to their views, gº ºf Parliament seemed to be singularly supine. At no previous” time of widely diffused suffering throughout the country had the Legislature been content to remain so inert as it was in the period after the long wars. An impression began to be disseminated that the propertied classes were wholly in- different to the sufferings of the poor. But this was not the case; the inaction of the House of Commons was due to the opinion, which had become more and more prevalent among educated men, that any interference on the part of the Government was injurious to the material prosperity of the º community, and that no legislative remedy could be devised legislation which would really mitigate the miseries of the poor. It was not so much that Parliament failed to devise satisfactory - remedies, during the first quarter of the nineteenth century, as that the Legislature regarded itself as excused from at- tempting to find either palliatives or a cure. The paralysis which affected State action during this period, was chiefly due to the influence of the economic experts of the day. Ricardo, Malthus, the elder Mill and *. other writers of the school of Adam Smith, were clear and fluence of vigorous thinkers, who were keenly interested in developing º" the science which he had founded. They added immensely to the understanding of some aspects of social and economic progress; but as guides on practical matters they were most misleading. They were wholly unaware that the principles they enunciated were only true under certain limitations. 1 Adolph Held, Zwei Bücher zur socialen geschichte Englands, p. 340. C. § - 47 738 LAISSEZ, FAIRE A.D. 1776 Adam Smith's practical sense had saved him from the —1850. exaggeration into which they fell; he dealt with concrete instances and the actual life of a nation. His disciples ** **, followed him in separating out the economic side of human trated g tº º ſº º te ; : life, but they treated it as if it were an independent entity, †" and not as conditioned by the political circumstances of the * community, and by the personal welfare of the citizens. It is convenient for purposes of investigation to separate the economic from other aspects of society; but the student who allows himself to forget that he is dealing with an abstraction, and that the economic factors and functions he studies have no separate existence of their own, is not likely to deal wisely and judiciously with practical issues. The principles of Natural Liberty, which formed the basis of Adam Smith's criticism of actual measures, were accepted by his disciples as and were an ideal which they strove to realise. Even if Ricardo and *ing the Manchester School were right in thinking that a thorough- .#. going acceptance of laissez faire was essential, in their age, faire. for the most rapid accumulation of material goods, it did not necessarily follow that this policy was the wisest for the personal welfare of individuals generally, or the continued maintenance of Sound national life. The National Wealth, of which Economic Science treats, is after all an abstraction; the component parts, of which it actually consists, are by no means the same in different countries, or in the same country at different times. Hence, free play for the economic forces, which form and maintain the actual national wealth at any given time and place, must necessarily work out somewhat differently at distinct stages of social development. At the beginning of the nineteenth century England had reached a phase of her history when capital had become the predominant factor in her material prosperity. Her political power rested on the expansion of her commerce, rather than on the resources of her soil; and the moneyed men had completely asserted a right to be treated with greater consideration than the landed interest. In manufacturing also, the triumph of capitalism had been complete, as machinery rather than human labour had become the more important element in the production of goods. ECONOMIC EXPERTS 739 National interests seemed to be involved in giving play to A.P." the captains of industry to manage their own affairs without let or hindrance. Those who regarded freedom for enterprise as an ideal, were inclined to insist that it was a natural right which had been preserved by constitutional safeguards”. A Committee of the House of Commons gave a new reading of the rights of Englishmen. “The right of every man to #. ‘... employ the Capital he inherits or has acquired according to º * his own discretion without molestation or obstruction, so long jº, as he does not infringe on the rights or property of others is:º: one of those privileges which the free and happy Constitution of this Country has long accustomed every Briton to consider as his birth-right".” The body to whom these words were addressed had definitely adopted the standpoint of the economic experts of the day, and they in turn constituted themselves the apologists of the enterprising capitalists. In looking back we can see that, while it was necessary to sweep away the barriers to industrial progress, something might have been done to mitigate the evils by which the change was accompanied. But the House of Commons came to believe that all attempts at interference with the free play of enter-gº..., prise were mischievous, and the language adopted by economic traditional experts accentuated the differences and widened the breach “” between the various elements in the community. The prac- tical partisanship of such classical writers as Ricardo, Malthus, and Mill, together with the pronouncements of the Manchester School, comes out in the attitude they took towards those who laid stress on elements other than capital in national prosperity. In the early part of the nineteenth century, the as to the working classes continued to hold to the Elizabethan view of gº.” the duty of the State to foster a busy and prosperous work- * ing class; and economic experts denounced them for their ignorance, and solemnly warned as to the consequences of , º, their shortsighted folly. The landed interest, who adhered to expediency the traditional principle as to the necessity of protecting and gºing encouraging agriculture, in order to maintain the food supply º, * On the fact that the promotion of national economic interests must always favour the interests of certain classes to the disadvantage of others, see above, p. 16. 2 On the tradition of freedom in economic matters, see above, p. 286. * Quoted by S. and B. Webb from Reports, 1806, III, 12. 47–2 740 LATSSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. increased class bitterness. of the country, were held up to scorn for their selfishness. The economic science of the day supplied admirable weapons for mutual recrimination, and helped to embitter the relations of class with class; but the general policy which it approved was that of letting things drift, and the House of Commons was nervously afraid of taking any step which, in the opinion of economic experts, might in any way injure the trade of our merchants and manufacturers. - This indisposition to act was specially noticeable in re- gard to matters which affected the well-being of the working classes. The masters at the beginning of last century do not appear to have been unscrupulous advocates of their own interests; some of them were prepared to accept the legis- lative interference which was demanded by the hands. The thoroughgoing support of the capitalist position was under- taken by economic experts, and the doctrines they propounded led men to think that the sufferings of the poor were not only their misfortune but their fault, and that to try to aid them was foolish and mischievous. This was the impression produced on public opinion by the theory of the Wages Fund and the teaching of Malthus in regard to population. The Classical Economists were apparently unaware that in their studies of particular problems they were necessarily examining the phenomena in a form which was determined by the conditions and circumstances of their own time. Their analysis was acute and of permanent value; but in attempting to give the results they reached a scientific character, the economists were occasionally guilty of hasty generalisation. Political Economy co-ordinates recent ex- perience and lays down the ‘law” as to what will happen so long as Social and physical conditions remain unchanged; but social and physical conditions are always changing, and throwing the formulae of the economist out of date. The positive doctrines of the classical economists were received with exaggerated deference in their own day as if they had enunciated maxims which hold good for all time; a re- action has since set in, and their teaching has been unduly The Classical Economists generalised from the special com- ditions of their own day 1 On the confusion consequent on the use of this term in Economics, see Cunningham, A Plea for Pure Theory, in Economic Review, II. 37, 41. ECONOMIC EXPERTS 74.1 disparaged. It is possible, however, at this date to give them Aº discriminating appreciation. The doctrine of the Wages Fund, and the popular dread of over-population, were well- founded in fact, in the first quarter of the nineteenth century; #. but in so far as the teaching, which was true in the ex-doctrine of ceptional conditions of the time, was formulated in principles º which were supposed to be valid for all future ages, it was ºna mistaken and misleading. The exponents of the Wages Fund maintained the position that it was impossible for combinations of workmen to raise wages. They held that the rate of wages was necessarily determined by the relation between the numbers applying for work and the fund set apart by the capitalists for the payment of wages. This principle is convenient for purposes of special analysis; at any given moment there is, as a matter of fact, a wages fund which consists of all the money available there and then for paying labour. It is altogether a mistake, however, to suppose that this sum is in any sense fixed; as it is constantly fluctuating, according as masters find it worth their while to set a greater or a smaller amount of labour at work. The Classical Economists were guilty of neglecting all efforts this constant fluctuation in the sums assigned to the payment ###, of wages; the circumstances of their time did not allow them . to observe it. As a matter of fact the wages fund was practically stationary during the period of depression which succeeded the war. This fund appeared to be fixed, because the conditions which would have enabled masters to raise wages were rarely realised. This was particularly true of those trades in which the cost of production by machinery and by hand were nearly balanced. If the rates of payment to labour were raised, then production by hand would be un- remunerative, and it would be displaced by the introduction of machines; or on the other hand, if prices improved and it became profitable to manufacture on a larger scale, it would pay to introduce machines rather than to increase the number of hands. The competition of machinery gave a regular since they fixity to the wages fund at this time; but the Classical º Economists allowed themselves to generalise from the circum- #. stances of their own day, as if they were normal for all time. 742 LAISSEZ, FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. The Mal- thusian doctrine as to the difficulty of procurºng -subsistence, They did not attempt to investigate the conditions which tend to render the wages fund steady for a time, and preclude the increase of the labourers' wages during that period. The labourers were poorly paid, not because the wages fund was invariable, but because the introduction of machinery was restricting it at the time; this was precisely the view taken by the labourers, though they gave it less cumbrous and more forcible expression. While economists denounced the ineptitude of all efforts on the part of labourers to raise the rates of wages, they were equally scornful of all philanthropic proposals for ameliorating the condition of the poor. All poverty was said to be due to the increase of population at a more rapid rate than the increase of the means of subsistence; and it seemed to follow that any charity, which gave the opportunity for more rapid multiplication, would increase the evil it professed to relieve. This was the position of the followers of Malthus, and his mode of statement gave some excuse for the exaggeration; he based his doctrine on a very careful inductive argument. He cites instances from every age, from every climate, and from every soil, to show that there is everywhere a tendency for population to increase faster than the means of sub- sistence; and he draws from it the inevitable conclusion that the anxiety which politicians displayed, to provide conditions for the growth of population as an element in national power, was quite illusory. The difficulty lay, not in the birth-rate, but in the raising of children to be efficient men and women; a low rate of infant mortality seemed to him to be on the whole the best guarantee for a sound and well- nourished population. The conditions of society, at the time when Malthus wrote, were such as to render the truth of his principle obvious when once it was stated. On the one side there was the greatest difficulty in procuring additional means of sub- sistence; the war imposed hindrances to the purchase of supplies from abroad; and though agriculturists were busy in ploughing up waste ground and taking in a larger area for the cultivation of wheat, they were finding that the task of adding to the regular produce became harder and harder. ECONOMIC EXPERTS 743 The means of subsistence could only be procured with a severer strain at that time; the obstacles, that had thus to be overcome, are much less noticeable in our days, when the powers of purchasing food are freely used, and the skill in producing it has advanced beyond anything that Malthus could anticipate. In his days, and so far as the outlook could be forecast, he was justified in urging that the available means of subsistence were being increased but slowly, if at all. With population it was different. The rapid development of cotton-spinning had called new towns into existence; and the newly-expanding industries were, as Sir James Steuart foresaw', stimulating the development of population. Besides this, there was an accidental and unwholesome stimulus given by the arrangements of the poor law. The allowances per head, per child, rendered it a distinctly profitable specu- lation for the ordinary labourer to marry, and claim parish assistance for his offspring; and there was every reason to fear that the eighteen-penny children would replenish the whole land with hereditary paupers. On every hand it was obvious that population was increasing; and that the numbers, which were added, were brought into the world without any real attempt being made to provide, by additional effort, for their subsistence. The circumstances of the times conspired to render the tendency, which Malthus noted, specially dominant; at his time and under the existing circumstances it was working in the fashion that he describes. He regarded the tendency for population to increase as a physical force, which could only be effectually controlled by a stronger sense of duty acting under better social conditions. He was a little apt to under- rate the contributory circumstances that might tend to modify” the recklessness he deplored; but he never forgot 1 See above, pp. 494, 704. * Malthus lies especially open to this charge in his controversy with Arthur Young in regard to pauperism. Malthus would have absolutely abolished the relief of the poor by the State; as he proposed that children born after a certain date should be excluded by statute from any claim for relief. In this way he believed that pauperism would be gradually extinguished, and that self-reliance and better conceptions of parental responsibility would be formed, if the pressure of circumstances were brought to bear. Arthur Young, on the other hand, believed that his independence of spirit would be fostered by giving the labourer A.D. 1776 85 and the rapid 7 growth of population 2U) C/S 0, convvmcvng Statement 744 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.T). 1776 —1850. of the facts in his time, that the impulse was one that was susceptible of moral control. He has managed, however, to leave a somewhat different impression of his doctrine, that population tends to increase faster than the means of subsistence increase, by formulating it as if it were a law of physical nature. The preventive checks, which are brought to bear by rational self- control, do not occupy so prominent a place in his essay as to have sufficiently attracted the attention of his readers. At a time of rapid transition and extreme fluidity, rational foresight has little to go upon, and it could not prove an effective force during the Industrial Revolution. Hence it follows that Malthus, looking at the circumstances of his own era, formulated the principles of population in terms which give an exaggerated impression of the remorselessness of the tendency for a redundant population to arise. What he said was fully justified in his day; but circumstances have so far changed since, that the mode of statement he adopted needs to be modified if we would put, in simplest form, the truth about the increase of population as it generally occurs. We may see that there were in his time unwonted obstacles to procuring food by human exertion, whether directed to industry or to tillage; while there were, both in the develop- ment of the factories and in the nature of the poor-relief, unusual hindrances to the operation of the preventive checks. more interests and responsibilities in life, and allowing him to have, under proper safeguards, the use of suitable land together with a cow. To Arthur Young, Malthus' scheme seemed drastic (Annals, XLI. 221) and impracticable; while Malthus contended that Arthur Young's suggestions gave no immunity (Essay, III. . 353) from the recurrence of the danger. It was obvious that in so far as the spirit of independence was not cultivated by giving the labourer land, his enlarged resources would only tend towards the increase of population in the same way as the parish allowances had done. From the premises he laid down Malthus’ argu- ment was sound : the mere fact that Arthur Young insisted on so many safeguards in connection with his proposal, shows that he did not regard it as a complete panacea. On the other hand Malthus had no practical suggestion to make with the view of cultivating the spirit on which he laid such stress. He had more sympathy with Arthur Young's proposals than might appear (b. 365), but he argued that they were no complete remedy. His followers interpreted him how- ever as if he had condemned benevolent action as such ; they feared that improve- ments in the labourers’ condition would be inevitably followed by an increase of population, and they desisted from the schemes on which Arthur Young had relied for improving, not merely the condition, but the character of the labourer (Annals, XLI. 230). The admirable report of the committee on allotments in 1843 seems to have had no practical effect. See above p. 713. * See Cummingham, Path towards Knowledge, p. 25. THE HUMANITARIANS AND ROBERT OWEN 745 It was little wonder that population sprang forward apace, or Aº that the truth of his doctrine was so terribly confirmed, when & the death-rate of the factory towns, and the visit of the cholera, demonstrated the potency of the positive checks. In but left the So far as his teaching induced a sense of hopelessness, and a :..., feeling that no real amelioration was possible, it was very #: mischievous; it gave the capitalist an excuse for disclaiming º, CIS any responsibility for the misery among his operatives, and necessarily raised a barrier against all attempts at improvement by legis- 'utile. lative enactment. This was, as we shall see, the most disastrous result of the laissez faire attitude taken by the exponents of economic science; the labourers were ignorant, though not so ignorant as was alleged, and their favourite projects would probably have proved injurious to the country; the landlords were selfish, though there were many plausible excuses for main- taining the old policy as they tried to do; but it had ceased to be beneficial, and it was rightly condemned. Unsym- pathetic criticism that has a basis of truth is much less harmful than exaggerated approbation; and it was most unfortunate that the most advanced science of the day should insist on free play for the capitalist, as a right, while it provided him with excuses for neglecting his responsibilities. IV. HUMAN WELFARE. 266. During the twenties, and still more in the thirties English and forties, a considerable change came over public opinion º, on industrial questions. Unexampled progress had been made during the last decade of the eighteenth, and the beginning of the nineteenth century, but there was no reason to believe that Englishmen were either better or happier. There seemed to be no result that was worth having; and the detached attitude which economic experts assumed was not reassuring. They appeared to confine themselves to the study of ways and means, without en- deavouring to form a clear and positive conception of the end to be pursued. The economist of the early part of last century was ready to explain how the greatest amount of 746 LAISSEZ FAIRE material wealth might be produced, but not to discuss the uses to which it should be applied; he was prepared to show on what principles it was distributed among the various individuals who formed the nation, and to leave the question of consumption to each personally. But philanthropic senti- ment and religious enthusiasm were not content to leave the matter there, and public opinion was gradually roused to demand that practical statesmen and their expert advisers should look farther ahead. Under the influence of these larger views, John Stuart Mill gave a new turn to economic study. He was not satisfied with discussing mere material progress. He could contemplate a stationary state with calmness; he could not but dwell with bitterness on the great misery which accompanied increasing wealth; and he tried to formulate an ideal of human welfare in his chapter On the Probable Futurity of the Working Classes". In this way he succeeded in indicating an end towards which the new material resources might be directed, and thus restored to Economics that practical side, which it had been in danger of losing since the time of Ricardo. It is important that we should have a method for isolating economic phenomena and analysing them as accurately as may be, and this Ricardo has given us; but it is also desirable that we should be able to turn our knowledge to account, to see some end at which it is worth while to aim, and to choose the means which will conduce towards it; this we can do better, not merely in- tuitively and by haphazard, but on reasoned grounds, since the attempt was first made by Mill. The change was not only noticeable in the economic literature of the day, it comes out clearly in the work of the Legislature. Under the guidance of the laissez faire school. Parliament had been inclined to hold its hand altogether, lest its action should only work mischief. The dominant party were satisfied, in accordance with the views of experts, to provide the conditions which tended to the most rapid material progress, in the expectation that if they sought this first, all other things would be added thereto, gradually and indirectly. From the time of the Peace of 1815 onwards, however, and more obviously in the Reformed Parliament, A.D. 1776 —1850. wnder the influence o John Stuart Møll became dis- satisfied with the 772.67% CO72- sideration of means 1 Principles of Political Economy, Bk. IV. c. 7. THE HUMANITARIANS AND ROBERT OWEN 747 there were signs of a determination to treat human welfare, Aº in all its aspects, physical and moral, as an object of which definite and direct account should be taken by Parliament in the work of legislation. - The elements of which human welfare consists are very ºpen various, and there have been and are very different views after a current of the relative importance of the factors which con- º tribute towards it. Material conditions, and personal faculties” and character, react on one another; there may be great diversity of opinion as to the best starting-point to take in trying to introduce improvement. Even greater difficulties arise in regard to the means to be adopted; the habits and character of the individual are to a large extent formed by the society in which he lives; while it is also true that the tone and institutions of society can be modified by the individuals of whom it is composed. Wide divergences in regard to social questions of every sort are likely to follow from differences of opinion, or inability to form opinions, on the relations of Man and his environment, and on the mutual connections between human Society and individual lives. But those who disagree on fundamental principles may yet chance to find themselves, from time to time, in the same camp They may agree that a step should be taken in some definite direction, possibly for incompatible reasons, and because they cherish opposite anticipations as to the results to be expected. The advocates of any movement for social amelioration may have very different views as to the precise importance of the object which they desire; and there may also be casual conjunction among the opponents of a proposed change. Even those who are most closely agreed, in their aims and objects, may be much divided on questions of expediency, and have very different views as to the wisest course to pursue at particular junctures. As the force of the ºº laissez faire movement was dissipated, a fusion of conflicting conditions principles and views occurred, and a new body of legislation on social and industrial topics eventually emerged; but it is difficult to assess the precise influence of each of the distinct parties, and groups, in shaping the course that was actually taken. The intervention of the Legislature was experimental 748 LAISSEZ, FAIRE and tentative; the final form which each measure assumed was the result of compromise; it is singularly hard to trace the connection between opinion and action. There was, at least, a very general consensus of feeling that something must be done, and that it was worth while for the State to make definite efforts to foster and promote human well-being. We can follow the course of affairs most easily if we fix our attention in turn on subjects which successively attracted the consideration of Parliament. There were (a) some measures which tended to the amelioration of existing conditions by giving a better status to the workman personally; (b) some which were specially directed to improving the conditions of work in various callings; while (c) others embodied attempts to ensure more favourable conditions of life. These objects had not of course been wholly ignored even in the days when the Industrial Revolution was in full swing, and laissez faire was dominant. The horrors of the slave trade" and the condition of pauper apprentices generally had deservedly excited commiseration and called forth legislative interference” and charitable efforts”, and Acts were passed for improving the position of Scotch colliers", for protecting sailors" against evils precisely similar to those to which Mr Plimsoll afterwards called attention". Some pains were taken to define their proper rations", and attempts were made to secure the humane treatment of Lascar and other Asiatic sailors during their sojourn in this country”. The continued interest which was shown in improving the con- dition of negro slaves, and the diplomatic engagements with A.D. 1776 —1850. which were necessary to realise it. Attempts had been made to put down the cruel treatme??? of parish appren- tº Cés, 1 See above, pp. 477, 607. 2. “Whereas many grievances have arisen from the binding of poor children as apprentices by Parish officers to improper Persons and to Persons residing at a distance from the Parishes to which such poor Children belong, whereby the said Parish Officers and Parents of such Children are deprived of the opportunity of knowing the manner in which such Children are treated and the Parents and Children have in many Instances become estranged from each other,' etc. 56 Geo. III. c. 139. 8 A philanthropic society for training and apprenticing neglected children of both sexes was founded in 1788, and organised an industrial school called the Philanthropic Reforms in S. George's Fields. An account of the nature and views of the Philanthropic Society, 6. * See above, p. 531. 5 31 Geo. III. c. 39; 3 and 4 Vic. c. 36. 6 3 Hansard, ccxlv. 1319. 7 30 Geo. III. c. 33. This Act only applied to the African trade. 8 54 Geo. III. c. 134. THE HUMANITARIANS AND ROBERT OWEN 749 other lands, into which we entered with the view of benefiting Aº them, are an interesting evidence of a wider range of humanitarianism than had been observable before. English philanthropy showed itself in many directions; it was a ...º: sentiment which was aroused by human misery and degrada- home gnd tion, either at home or abroad; thus it gave rise, on the one road, hand, to protective measures on behalf of certain classes of the community, and on the other, to cosmopolitan intervention in favour of down-trodden races. This sentiment was closely connected with the evangelical revival" and with religious activity at home and abroad. The importance of this humanitarian and philanthropic and pºst. tive efforts movement became more obvious in 1796, in a time of serious to better the condition privation, when the Society for Bettering the Condition of the ..., Poor was founded by Dr Shute Barrington, Bishop of Durham, and Sir Thomas Bernard”. Their energy came to be more and more concentrated in promoting the spread of education*, and in this matter the economic experts and philanthropists could make common cause. There was a free field to work in, for the educational facilities, which had been compatible with the ages of civic economy and domestic manufacture, 1 The association of religion and philanthropy was very close among the prominent men of the so-called “Clapham Sect.’ Hutton, in Social England, VI. 20. The precursors of the evangelical movement had taken a different line, as they retained the Puritan attitude both in regard to slavery and the reckless treatment of natives. Whitefield complains when writing in Georgia (1738), “The people were denied the use both of rum and slaves * * * So that in reality to place people there on such a footing was little better than to tie their legs and bid them walk.” Tyerman, Whitefield, I. 141. * Holyoake, Self-help, a hundred years ago, p. 19. 8 The Reports of the Society for Bettering the Condition of the Poor show an increasing interest in this matter, especially as the Malthusian doctrine took firmer hold, and the advantages of parochial charities or cheap foods came to be questioned. (See a paper read at the Owestry Society, Remarks on the Present State of the Poor, 1826; Brit. Mus. 8277. c. I. (2) p. 16.) The formation of the British School Society (1808) and the National Society (1811) is additional evidence of the importance attached to it. The immediate effects promised well. “Last August (1807), being at Rodburgh, in Gloucestershire, I (Dr Haygarth) inquired what effect had been produced upon the inhabitants by the introduction of machinery into the woollen manufactures of that valley, fearing to receive a very unfavourable report. But I was informed that the poor manufacturers had lately become much more orderly, sober, and industrious; and as a proof of the truth of this remark the landlord of the Inn assured me that he now sold £300 worth less of ale and spirits in a year than he had done fourteen years ago. This change in the behaviour and morals of the people he wholly ascribed to the effect of their education by dissenters.” Of the Education of the Poor (1809), p. 39 (Brit. Mus. 288. g. 17). 750 LAISSEZ, FAIRE were unsuited to the wants of the new era. Apprenticeship had offered a system of training, not only in the skill of a craft, but for the duties of life in a particular calling and a definite social status. There was need to substitute some system, which should be adapted for the wider prospects which were opening up, and which should treat each child as a unit in the State. It was possible for the manufacturers to urge that the discontent, and still more the violence, of the operatives was due to their ignorance, and that education was the means which would enable them to act not from short-sighted passion, but from an enlightened self-interest. The education of the poor thus came to be undertaken on a large scale, partly out of charity” and partly as a work to which the governing classes applied themselves in mere self-defence. The philanthropists could not count, however, on the interested support of manufacturers, when they turned their attention to the conditions under which the great staple industries of the country were carried on; and the best scientific opinion of the day was inclined to condemn any interference by the State, as useless when it was not mis- chievous. Economic experts were on the whole opposed to the protective legislation which was brought forward in the interests of women and children. They had foretold the ruin A.D. 1776 —1850. by pro- .#. 7.620 means of education, Q067'e generally welcomed. 1 Godwin had been one of the most effective advocates of the diffusion of education, from the desire of letting the poor see where their true interest lay (Political Justice, I. 44). The earliest efforts of Government were deli- berately confined to supplementing voluntary agency, and any other course appeared to them injurious. “In humbly suggesting what is fit to be done for promoting universal education, your Committee do not hesitate to state that two different plans are advisable, adapted to the opposite circumstances of the town and country districts. Wherever the efforts of individuals can support the requisite number of schools, it would be unnecessary and injurious to interpose any parliamentary assistance. But your Committee have clearly ascertained, that in many places private subscriptions could be raised to meet the yearly expenses of a school, while the original cost of the undertaking, occasioned chiefly by the erection and purchase of the school-house, prevents it from being attempted. Your Committee conceive that a sum of money might be well employed in supplying this first want, leaving the charity of individuals to furnish the annual provision requisite for continuing the school” (Third Report of Select Committee on the Education of the Lower Orders, in Reports, 1818, Iv. 59). In accordance with these views Lord Althorp succeeded in 1833 in obtaining some grants to defray the first cost of elementary Schools. The work of adult education which was being vigorously carried on in Mechanics' Institutes, though begun somewhat earlier, received a new impulse at this time. THE HUMANITARIANS AND ROBERT OWEN 751 of this trade or that, and had prophesied ultimate and serious Aº loss'. It seems as if it would have been impossible for the humanitarians, even with the sympathy of some of the landed gentry and the approval of unrepresented artisans, to make any impression on the phalanx opposed to them, if it had not been for the results obtained by Robert Owen. In his mills Robert tº º * - 9 :en h at New Lanark he realised the ideals of the humanitarians of 9. ad the day. His system attracted very general attention, and ;: though it was not destined to last, it sufficed to demonstrate * that extraordinary improvement, in conditions of work and habits of life, was not by any means necessarily incompatible with commercial success. From the first he made the condition of the living machinery the main object of his consideration; and what he accomplished was wonderful. In the sphere which came within his own control, he an- ticipated most of the reforms which were carried through subsequently by legislation. But the principles by which he accounted for his own success, and on which he based his advocacy, were not generally acceptable, so that compara- tively few of those who admired him were able and willing to work with him. His enthusiasm and personal character commended him to a wide and influential body of the public, but his economic principles” roused the scorn of the experts”, and his attitude towards Christianity alienated the sympathy of some of his supporters. Robert Owen had already acquired considerable experience jº, in the cotton trade in Manchester before 1797, when an opportunity occurred for him to take over the management of mills at New Lanark. The situation was excellent, as there was abundance of water-power, and labour had been 1 It was in no small degree the work of John Stuart Mill that this opposition has so greatly ceased; and that economists have so largely devoted themselves to the conscious and reasoned pursuit of philanthropic objects. It was in connection with the abolition of slavery that the forebodings of the economists were most nearly fulfilled; Cairnes, the most brilliant of the followers of Mill, in his Slave Power demonstrated the economic weakness of the system which the philan- thropists condemned on moral grounds. * He was opposed to the doctrines of Malthus, he advocated the limitation of machinery, and cherished some curious notions about the currency. Life of I?. Owen, written by himself. Supplementary Appendix, 266. * Compare the criticism in the Edinburgh Review (Oct. 1819), xxxHI. 467. 752 LAISSEZ, FAIRE attracted in considerable quantities from the Highlands. The mills had been admirably managed by Mr David Dale, who had established them", and Owen made few changes at first. After he had had fourteen years' experience, the business at New Lanark was reconstructed on lines which gave him a freer hand to develop educational institutions”; these were partly supported by the profits of a shop at which articles of good quality were sold in small quantities at moderate prices. About the same time he formulated his doctrines more definitely in his New View of Society"; he insisted on the A.D. 1776 —1850. not only in his schools and co- operative store, but * See the account by Sir T. Bernard in the Reports of the Society for Betteryng the Condition of the Poor, II. 251. Mr Dale took workhouse children at an early age, but though they were well fed and cared for, Owen regarded the arrangement as injurious and discontinued it. Reports, etc. 1816, III. 254. * Owen's evidence before the Committee in 1816 is very instructive. “There is a preparatory school into which all the children, from the age of three to six, are admitted at the option of the parents; there is a second school, in which all the children of the population from six to ten are admitted; and if any of the parents from being more easy in their circumstances and setting a higher value upon instruction, wish to continue their children at School, for one, two, three or four years longer, they are at liberty to do so. “A store was opened at the establishment into which provisions of the best quality, and clothes of the most useful kind were introduced, to be sold at the option of the people, at a price sufficient to cover prime cost and charges, and to cover the accidents of such a business, it being understood at the time that whatever profits arose from this establishment these profits should be employed for the general benefit of the workpeople themselves; and these school establishments have been supported as well as other things by the surplus profits, because in consequence of the pretty general moral habits of the people there have been very few losses by bad debts, and although they have been supplied considerably under the price of provisions in the neighbourhood, yet the surplus profits have in all cases been sufficient to bear the expense of these school establishments; therefore they have been literally supported by the people themselves. “I have found other and very important advantages in a pecuniary view from this arrangement and these plans. In consequence of the individuals observing that real attention is given to their comforts and to their improvements, they are willing to work at much lower wages at that establishment.” He added an example of a man getting 18s. a week, who went to Glasgow for 218. and was glad to come back for 14s. The schools did not succeed in Manchester because the children could go into the manufactories younger. Owen only took them at 10. “I found that there were such strong inducements held out, from the different manufactories in the town and neighbourhood, to the parents, to send the children early to Work, that it counterbalanced any inclination such people had to send them to School.” Iłeports, 1816, III. p. 256, printed pagination 22. - 8 “Any general character from the best to the worst, from the most ignorant to the most enlightened, may be given to any community even to the World at large, by the application of proper means; which means are to a great extent at the command and under the control of those who have influence in the affairs of THE HUMANITARIANS AND ROBERT OWEN 753 possibility of so moulding the characters of individuals that **, º they might find personal happiness in conduct which con- tº duces to the common good, and he supported his principles by facts drawn from experience among his own workmen. For the next ten years the arrangements and organisation at New Lanark attracted thousands of visitors; as Owen appeared to have demonstrated the possibility of providing the best conditions for the training of children, and bringing elevating influences to bear on the hands, in connection with the work- ing of a large mill. The success which was due to his in man-, . personal business ability, he himself regarded as testifying to º!. to the wisdom of his doctrines; his desire to give them more ...” thorough effect, led to differences with his partner, and in 1829 he severed his connection with New Tanark. From this time he became more of a dreamer and lost much of the remarkable influence he had exercised; the failure of ex- periments to organise establishments on his principles at Orbiston", and at New Harmony” in Indiana, discredited him still farther; but the impression created by his work at New Lanark had been invaluable in convincing the public that deliberate attempts to improve the condition of the operatives were far from hopeless. Others were inspired to emulate his example, and it is hardly possible to exaggerate the effect of the impulse he gave to the work of social amelioration. His influence was felt in Imany ways, but it was in connection with factory reform that it proved most potent. He did not attempt to adapt the system of by-gone; º, days to the needs of the present", but he boldly made a new º departure, in the hope of introducing an infinitely better haracter. future. The improvement of character was the aim he put chiefly before him, but, as a means to that end, he became the pioneer of industrial reform. He fought all the evils of the day,+the stunting of children in mind and body, insani- tary conditions of work and life, and truck; he demonstrated men. A New View of Society or Essays on the principles of the formation of the Human Character preparatory to the development of a plan for gradually ameliorating the condition of Mankind. First published in 1813 (1816), 19. 1 This was conducted, after 1826, on communistic principles. 2 Booth, Robert Owen, 97—104. 8 As had been done in the first Factory Act. See above, p. 631. C.* - 48 754 LAISSEZ, FAIRE Aº" the practicability of improvement by setting an example, and he was ready to join in inducing the Government to enquire into the system and introduce remedial legislation". But this was not a task that could be carried through at once. It required a long continued agitation, and years of legislative and administrative activity, to bring up the con- ditions of textile industry in the country generally to those which he had voluntarily introduced in connection with his own works. - The status 267. The influence of the economic experts had been %;" used for the most part to justify the views of the capitalists ” and manufacturers. Their main efforts had been directed to sweeping away restrictions on the employment of capital, but they were after all in sympathy with any changes which gave greater freedom and independence to the labourer. So far as his position was concerned, the principles of laissez faire had a constructive, as well as a destructive tendency. There were various ways in which the individual labourer was hampered in the effort to obtain employment on the best terms available. His opportunities for bargaining were re- stricted by the legislation which prevented him from enjoying freedom of movement, and also by the Combination Acts which refused him the liberty to associate himself with his fellows for the prosecution of their common interests. These limitations, on whatever grounds they might be excused, were infractions of personal liberty, and as such seemed to be inconsistent with generally accepted principles. hºw In regard to the restrictions on freedom of movement ditions for there was, about 1820, a general consensus of opinion in the settle- e iº tº ...ſº favour of sweeping them away. The hindrances which pre- ** vented artisans from travelling within the country had never been intentionally imposed; they had grown up incidentally since the Restoration in connection with the administration of the poor law. The overseers of each parish were careful to prevent any artisan from being hired for a year, as that period of service gave him a settlement or the right to relief in his new locality”. As a consequence the eighteenth century 1 See below, p. 776. r 2 The Act had the effect of gradually revolutionising the conditions of employ- ment in rural districts. “The fear that in hiring a servant or treating a servant THE REMOVAL OF PERSONAL DISABILITIES 755 labourers were almost as closely astricted as the mediaeval Aº villeins to the places of their birth for permanent engage- ments. This restriction, the injustice of which had been denounced by Tucker", was first set aside in the case of members of Friendly Societies by Mr Rose's Act”, and ac- cording to a subsequent measure, no person was liable to removal until he had actually become chargeable". The Act of 1834", by abolishing settlement by service, did away with the motive for preventing the incursion of new comers; and the legislation of 1865, which constituted one year's continuous residence a title to irremovability, and abolished removal from One parish to another within the same union, has gone a long way to reduce the mischief of the system to a minimum". The restrictions on the emigration of artisans were of a different character; these had been originally introduced with a view to protecting our own industries, and preventing the disclosing of trade secrets to foreigners". The hardship in any way that might be construed into a yearly hiring, the employer, for the temporary advantage of the service which he could obtain nearly as well in another way, should subject himself and all his parish to a permanent charge, operated immediately to put an end throughout England and Wales to all permanent and annual hirings. Previously, the Statutes of labourers and the habits of the country made the yearly service the common rule in all such transactions; but from the time when the Acts of William's reign gave the settlement by a year's hiring and by a year's service, it became necessary to make a break in the engagement and employment, or to make the contract but a part of the year. The interval of non-employment thus caused, being almost universally at one time—Michaelmas, —became a time of idleness and corruption, especially to the younger people. “The practice of keeping in the same house, whether of the gentry, the farmers, the tradesmen, or the artisans, of young lads and maids as part of the family, which had been universal before, was now as universally abandoned; an irretrievable national loss, by which a valuable moral education and an economical and industrial training of the very poorest and most numerous class of the people was sacrificed for ever. “The servants thus thrown out, the young people thus cut off from permanent, comfortable and improving employment, were made an incumbrance of the over- peopled cottages, of their families, idlers on the road side or common, and with fearful rapidity the tenants of the parish houses, and the dependents on parochial relief. The more mature in age became the frequenters of the ale-shops, the complaint of the growth of which accompanied the progress of able-bodied pauperism and of poaching, and other rural crimes from this time forwards.” Sir G. Coode, Report on the Law of Settlement, in Reports, 1851. XXVI. 272, printed pag. 78. 1 Manifold causes of the Increase of the Poor (1760), p. 6. Also by A. Smith, Wealth of Nations, 58, 191. 2 33 Geo. III. c. 54. 8 35 Geo. III. c. 101. 4 4 and 5 W. T.W. c. 64. * Mackay, op. cit. III. 364. 6 See above, p. 587. and by repealing the restric- tions on emigration, 48–2 756 LAISSEZ FAIRE caused by these measures was generally admitted; and a Parliamentary Committee of 1819, on the Relief of the Poor', expressed a decided opinion that “all obstacles to seeking employment wherever it can be found, even out of the realm, should be removed and every facility that is reasonable afforded to those who may wish to resort to our own colonies, for it seems not unnatural that this country should at such a time recur to an expedient which has been adopted success- fully in other times, especially as it has facilities for this purpose which no other state has ever enjoyed to the same extent, by the possession of Colonies affording an extent of unoccupied territory.” In 1824 a Select Committee of the House of Commons was appointed to make enquiries and take steps for the removal of these disabilities. Huskisson and other statesmen, who were adherents of the school of Adam Smith, were quite ready to recognise the injustice of imposing any obstacles on freedom of individual movement and were prepared for the repeal of the Acts against emigration”, but they were by no means clear that it was wise to remove the Combination Laws. Baneful as the Acts were, in creating an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust and forcing the artisan into criminal surroundings, there was some doubt as to the probable effects on the industry of the country, if the measures were repealed, and liberty of association extended to the artisan as well as to other Englishmen. The question of including these Acts in the measure, which was being framed for the removal of other restrictions, long hung in the balance; but some of the most eminent laissez faire economists had the courage of their principles. McCulloch, who was then editor of the Scotsman newspaper, was fully convinced on this point, and in a trenchant article in the Edinburgh Review” he demonstrated the injustice of the Combination Laws, and argued that no serious mischief could result from their repeal. It is scarcely likely, however, that the experiment would have been tried, if it had not been for the vigour with which A.D. 1776 —1850. as well as by the repeal of the Com- bination Acts. 1 Reports, 1819, II. 257. 2 This was effected by 5 Geo. IV. c. 97, An Act to repeal the Laws relative to Artificers going into foreign parts. 8 Jan. 1824, Wol. XXXIX. 315. THE REMOVAL OF PERSONAL DISABILITIES 757 Francis Place, a London tailor" who had been deeply impressed Aº by the injustice and impolicy of the Acts”, marshalled the evidence against them, and the sturdiness with which Joseph Hume fought for repeal. He insisted on including the Combination Laws in the reference to the Select Committee, he drafted the resolutions” which were based on the evidence presented, and he succeeded in carrying the measures with a minimum of discussion in both Houses". And then the trouble began. The immediate effect of ſº."of the repeal was the outbreak of a number of strikes, which strikes, could not now be suppressed in the old fashion; the fore- bodings of the opponents of repeal were confirmed, and the expectations of Place and his friends were completely falsified". 1 This remarkable man, with the assistance of the Gorgom, Organised the whole campaign which was eventually successful; he convinced both Hume and McCulloch, the public champions of the cause, of the mischief Wrought by the Acts. Webb, Eſistory of Trade Unionism, 88. 2 He was specially impressed by the injustice committed in the prosecution of the Times printers in 1810, when curiously enough this case proceeded under the common law of conspiracy and not under the Combination Act of 1800 at all. Place Papers, Brit. Mus. Add. MSS. 27801, p. 282. The men were imprisoned for two years, whereas three months was the greatest penalty that could be inflicted under the Act of 1800. The Times wrote in a leader on the subject (June 4, 1824), Place Papers, 27801, p. 164. “The aggrieved party did not choose to prosecute upon the Combination Laws, and for an obvious reason, because he knew that by those laws the offenders could only be sentenced to two or three months' imprisonment, and that they had funds subscribed to maintain all of them in idleness for a much longer period. He therefore went upon the Common Law of the land for com- spiracy, and obtaining sentences of two years', of eighteen months' and of mine months’ duration (though he himself sued for a remission to the penitent as soon as they were penitent) yet he by that method ruined their funds whilst he was anxious that their persons should suffer as little as possible.” Under these circumstances it is very singular that Place should have taken this case as typical of the injustice wrought by the Acts. He writes “It was this prosecution and its fatal consequences that made me resolve to endeavour to procure the repeal of the laws against combination of workmen.” (Place, in Brit. Mus. Additional MSS. 27, 798, p. 7 back). It is stillmore singular that he should have been so satisfied with the repeal of the Acts when the Common Law remained. The statement of the Times does not seem to have been taken into account by a recent commentator on the law of combination. Wright (Law of Criminal Conspiracies and Agreements, p. 56) holds that there was no rule of common law that combinations for con- trolling masters were criminal in the 18th century, and that cases decided since 1825 afford a “modern instance of the growth of a crime at common law by reflection from statutes and of its survival after the repeal of those statutes.” 8 Sixth Report of Committee on Artisans and Machinery (1824), v. 589. 4 Wallas, Life of Francis Place, 216. 5 Geo. IV. cc. 95, 97. 5 Place persisted in his opinion that the repeal of the laws would bring about a disuse of combination eventually, though it was obvious that it had not dome so at once. “Temporary associations, or combinations, as well of masters as of men, 7.58 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D., 1776 —1850. McCulloch had argued that peaceful combinations among workmen might raise the rate of wages in any trade, if they had fallen below the normal level; he held that combinations were powerless to raise wages above the natural rate. He argued that if they did so temporarily, there would be a diminution in the opportunities of employment offered by masters, and that this would soon work the needed cure, without legislative intervention; he was quite convinced that the working classes incurred heavy losses and could not possibly gain by engaging in strikes. It was a great dis- appointment to the men, who had worked so hard in the cause of repeal, that the first use which the working classes made of their freedom was to embark in a course of conduct that their advocates, as well as their opponents, regarded as necessarily mischievous, not only to the country as a whole, but to the operatives in particular. The dislocation of business in many places became very serious. The Thames shipbuilding trade was completely disorganised; despite the efforts of Hume and Place to prevent them", the Glasgow cotton-weavers came out on strike; and there were similar trade disputes in many parts of the country. It was little wonder that the great shipowners and other employers” were roused to demand the re-enactment of the laws which had been so recently repealed, and drafted a bill to be laid before Parliament. Mr Huskisson had been much influenced by the ship-builders", and the opinion he had held as to the necessity of retaining the Combination Laws was so far confirmed by the results, that he was glad to have another Committee on the subject. According to Place", he intended to hold a formal enquiry, and thus give apparent sanction to the determination he had already taken to carry the shipowners' bill for re-enacting the laws. Hume and Place set themselves to balk this design: the operatives, who had formerly been must occasionally take place; money matters can be regulated in no other way and by no other means; but beyond these there will be very little association of any kind, nothing deserving the name of combination in the sense this word is usually understood.” Observations on Mr Huskisson's Speech on the Laws Telating to Combinations of Workmen (1825), p. 21. 1 Wallas, Life of Francis Place, 218. sº 2 The great strike of woolcombers at Bradford was imminent, and the which dis- appointed the advo- cates of repeal, the Com- bination Acts were 77 of re- timposed, employers urged the desirability of re-enacting the Laws. Burnley, Wool and Wool-combing, 168. * Wallas, Life of Francis Place, 226. 4 Ib. 226. THE REMOVAL OF PERSONAL DISABILITIES 7.59 apathetic on the subject, were now keenly alive to the advant-Aºſ" age of retaining their new-found freedom; and on the main issue they were successful, for Trade Unions were permitted to exist, but the operatives and their friends were defeated on one very important point. The Act of 1824 had protected com- bined workmen from prosecution for criminal conspiracy under the common law, and this privilege was not continued”; though the enacting clauses of the Act of 1825 appeared to Place to confer this immunity”. The responsible authorities, however, construed the Act differently; being disinclined to give the unions free scope to develop, they took advantage of every opportunity to show the suspicion they felt". Henceforward ºhº & * * e right of Trade Unions had a legal right to exist, but their members forming were in constant danger of overstepping the narrow limits tº was within which combined action was admissible". But agreement #:a; 1 5 Geo. IV. c. 95 § 2. * It seems that the Committee hoped that the operation of the Common Law should be in future rendered more favourable to the workmen. “Your Com- mittee however in recommending that the common law should be restored are of opinion that an exception should be made to its operation, in favour of meetings and consultations amongst either masters or workmen, the object of which is peaceably to ‘consult upon’ the rate of wages to be either given or received, to agree to co-operate with each other in endeavouring to raise or lower it, and to settle the hours of labour; an exception, they trust, which, while it gives to those in the different classes of masters and workmen the ample means of maintaining their respective interests, will not afford any support to the assumption of power or dictation in either party to the prejudice of the other, least of all that assumption of control on the part of the workmen in the conduct of any business or manufacture which is utterly incompatible with the necessary authority of the master, at whose risk and by whose capital it is to be carried on.” Report from the Select Committee on the Combination Laws (1825), Iv. 508. 8 Wallas, op. cit. 238. Place evidently had no great confidence in this view, however. The nature of the difference between the two Acts may be rendered clear when we recall the fact that a recurrence of the printers' prosecution and sentences in 1810, which would have been prohibited by the Act of 1824, was perfectly possible under the Act of 1825. See above, p. 757 n. 2. 4 When, in August 1833, the Yorkshire manufacturers presented a memorial on the subject of “the Trades Union,” Lord Melbourne directed the answer to be returned that “he considers it unnecessary to repeat the strong opinion enter- tained by His Majesty's Ministers of the criminal character and the evil effects of the unions described in the Memorial,” adding that “no doubt can be entertained that combinations for the purposes enumerated are illegal conspiracies, and liable to be prosecuted as such at common law.” Webb, Trade Unionism, p. 127. 5 “Although combination for the sole purpose of fixing hours or wages had ceased to be illegal, it was possible to prosecute the workmen upon various other pretexts. Sometimes, as in the case of some Lancashire miners in 1832, the Trade Unionists were indicted for illegal combination for merely writing to their employers that a strike would take place. (R. v. Bykerdike, 1 Moo and Rob, 179, Lancaster Assizes, 1832. A letter was written to certain coal-owners, ‘by order 760 LAISSEZ, FAIRE to engage in a strike had ceased to be in itself criminal; the weapon which the operatives thus secured was one which might be used very unwisely and foolishly, but it was something to have a weapon, and to be able to try to enforce their own side in trade disputes. In 1824 the operatives had been fairly suc- cessful in bringing pressure to bear" on their employers; but owing to the depressed state of trade, the conditions in the following years were less favourable, and the unions failed in their attempts to stop the reduction of wages. The most severe contest occurred in the wool-combing trade at Bradford; a strike was organised by a large union among the hands, which received much support from sympathisers in other towns. The committee were able to pay as much as £800 or £900° a week to the men on strike, and the operatives succeeded to a very large extent in boarding out their children during the summer months; the men appeared to be holding well together, while there were some dissensions among the masters, who had entered on an aggressive policy and were endeavouring to break up the union altogether. The Leeds wool-combers joined those of Bradford in their strike; but, after standing out for twenty-two weeks, the men were forced to give in on every point, and returned to work at the wages which they had been receiving five months before; this, according to the contention of the masters, was the highest rate that the trade would bear. The loss in wages amounted to £40,000, though something like half this sum had been received in the form of subscrip- A.D. 1776 —1850. the men were de- feated wn the struggles at Bradford of the Board of Directors for the body of coal-miners,’ stating that, unless Certain men were discharged, the miners would strike. Held to be an illegal combination. See Leeds Mercury, May 24, 1834.) Sometimes the ‘molestation or obstruction' prohibited in the Act of 1825 was made to include the mere intimation of the men's intention to strike against the employment of non- unionists. In a remarkable case at Wolverhampton in August, 1835, four potters were imprisoned for intimidation, solely upon evidence by the employers that they had ‘advanced their prices in consequence of the interference of the defendants who acted as plenipotentiaries for the men,” without, as was admitted, the use of even the mildest threat. (Times, August 22, 1835.) Picketing, even of the most peaceful kind, was frequently severely punished under this head, as four South- wark shoemakers found, in 1832, to their cost. (Poor Man's Guardian, September 29, 1832.) More generally the men on strike were proceeded against under the laws relating to masters and servants, as in the case of seventeen tanners at Bermondsey in February 1834, who were sentenced to imprisonment for the offence of leaving their work unfinished. (Times, February 27, 1834.)” Webb, Trade Unionism, pp. 127–8. 1 Webb, Trade Unionism, p. 99. 2 Burnley, Wool and Wool-combing, 169. THE REMOVAL OF PERSONAL DISABILITIES 761 tions to the union. When the work was taken up again some A.D. 1776 seventeen hundred men found that their places were occupied —1850. and that they could not return to the employment they had given up". Their union was broken up; and a six months #2. strike among the carpet-weavers at Kidderminster was also mºnster, a disastrous failure. The repeal of the Acts seemed to have done nothing for the benefit of the operatives; but, though the loss from trade disputes has been very great, it was an immense advantage to the community that these differences could be fought out above-board and not by secret and criminal means, while the working classes have gained enormously in self-respect and independence by the fact that they were not debarred from fighting their own cause. The moral effect of the repeal, in removing the sense of helplessness and apathy which had oppressed the working classes, was extraordinary, and it marks an era in the history of Trade Unions. Hitherto they had either been secret Societies of a most unwholesome type, since they could only hope to attain their objects by criminal action, and were sometimes held together by a species of terrorism, or they had been constituted as Friendly Societies and engaged surreptitiously in trade affairs; but from this ºut by ºom- - * & - º bining to time onward the action of Trade Unions, which existed for maintain the purpose of maintaining the standard of life” among a ...;;. particular class of artisans, could be clearly differentiated from other benefit societies. The changed status which the artisans secured by the * The Bradford manufacturers were inclined to forestall the recurrence of Such demands by the introduction of machinery. Though so many years had elapsed since Cartwright's wool-combing machine had been invented, it had not as yet been generally introduced; despite the commotion which had attended its first introduction some thirty years before, the wool-combers appear to have believed that the scare was idle, and that machines could not really compete with hand labour, except perhaps in Wools of a special sort, the combing of which was badly paid. In 1825, the men still shared this confidence, and the assertion that the masters would introduce machinery was regarded as an empty threat. There can be but little doubt that the events of that year, disastrous alike to masters and men, gave a stimulus to the improvement and introduction of machinery, and before 1845 the trade was completely revolutionised. * The Select Committee on Manufacturers' Employment (1830) recognised the advantage which accrued to the London tailors and other organised trades from the fact that they had funds from which an out-of-work benefit was paid. They proposed the extension of friendly societies which should have this object, but which would not as they hoped act as combinations to keep up the rate of wages in the manufacture of articles of export. Reports, 1830, x. 228. 762 LAISSEZ, FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. repeal of the Combination Acts had very little immediate and apparent result as gauged by the improved terms they obtained from their employers, but for all that it was of fundamental importance. The alliance which Place effected between the advocates of artisan interests and the Radicals in Parliament was exceedingly significant; eventually it proved to be extraordinarily fruitful. To the public the Trade Union appeared to be an immoral terroriser, oppressing the indi- vidual; but the Radicals, whom Place instructed, insisted that the questions which had been raised should be decided in such a sense as to give legal protection to the individual labourer in asserting his claims. The Radical sense of justice demanded that the labourer should be in the same position as the employer in this matter, and that the combination of labourers should not be regarded as a crime, when the com- binations of masters were permitted to exist. The Radical sense of justice was also involved in the assertion of the principle which lay at the basis of Trade Union agitation up - till 1875,-that no action which was legal, if done by other persons for other purposes, should be condemned as criminal when it was done by a Trade Union for trade purposes. The association of labour movements with Radicalism has brought about a new cleavage in English political life. Hitherto the landed gentry had been inclined to take the responsibility of doing their best to protect the labourer from the capitalist and moneyed man; but they were now viewed with suspicion by the artisans, for the corn-law agitation had opened up a wide gulf between the industrial and agricultural interests. Nor were the Whigs, who came into power with the Reform Bill, inclined to break with their capitalist con- nection, and to trust the artisan with any real power in the matters which concerned him most deeply. The Radicals had insisted that he should have fair play, so far as the adminis- tration of the law was concerned; and this result was attained in 1875 by measures' passed in the first House of Commons in which the power of the enfranchised artisans was clearly felt”. they have, with the assistance of the Radicals, secured a large measure of freedom for joint action. 1 The Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act and Employers and Work- men Act (38 and 39 Vict. 86, 90). 2 Webb, Trade Unionism, 270. The fact that the Conservatives were then in power did not greatly affect the attitude of working class leaders towards political parties. - ANTI-PAUPERISM 763 268. The poor law system, as administered during the first Aºº quarter of the nineteenth century, was not the least of the evils of the time. It was terribly costly in money" and threatened to bring utter ruin on some of the rural districts”, while the burden of maintaining the system pressed very heavily on men who were little able to bear it. The methods of relief.” adopted were demoralising. Sometimes assistance was given to the able-bodied poor in the form of food, or of fuel; more frequently they were enabled to obtain house-room on favour- able terms, either by exemption from the rates", or grants towards the payment of rent". There were also various 1 The average charge in 1748, 49, 50 had been £689,971 yearly. In 1776 the whole sum raised expended on the poor was £1,556,804; on the average of the years 1783, 1784, 1785, the sum expended on the poor was £2,004,238; in 1803 the sum expended on the poor was £4,267,965; in 1815 the sum expended on the poor amounted to £5,072,028. Report from the Select Committee on Poor Laws (1817), v1. 5, also App. C, Reports, 1821, IV. 277. 2 The inhabitants of the parish of Wombridge in Salop stated that “the annual value of the lands, mines and houses in this parish is not sufficient to maintain the numerous and increasing poor, even if the same were to be set free of rent.” Report from the Select Committee on the Poor Laws (1817), VI. 158, App. D. 8 Mackay, Public Relief of Poor, pp. 52, 58–68. 4 Report, 1834, xxvii. p. 9. The evidence in regard to S. Clement's, Oxford, is interesting. “The rents are, in fact, levied to a considerable degree upon those who pay rates. In the first place, by the abstraction of so much property from rateable wealth, the remainder has to bear a heavier burden; secondly, the rents are carried to as great a height as possible, upon the Supposition that tenements so circumstanced will not be rated; the owner, therefore, is pocketing both rate and rent; and thirdly, the value of his property is increased precisely in pro- portion that his neighbour's is deteriorated, by the weight of rates from which his own is discharged. Neither is this all; as it is always regarded by the tenant as a desirable thing to escape the payment of rates, the field for competition is narrowed, and a very inferior description of house is built for the poor man. In order to make out a case for the non-payment of rates, it is necessary to have inconveniences and defects; and thus it happens that a building speculation, depending upon freedom from rates for its recommendation, always produces a description of houses of the worst and most unhealthy kind. Those who would build for the poor with more liberal views, and greater attention to their health and their comfort, are discouraged, and a monopoly is given to those whose sole end is gain, by whatever means it may be compassed.” 5 Report, 1834, xxvii. p. 9. “The payment of rent out of the rates is nearly universal; in many parishes it is extended to nearly all the married labourers. In Llanidloes out of £2,000 spent on the poor, nearly £800, and in Bodedern out of $360, £113, are thus exhausted. In Anglesea and part of Caernarvonshire, over- seers frequently give written guarantees, making the parish responsible for the rent of cottages let to the Poor....Paupers have thus become a very desirable class of tenants, much preferable, as was admitted by several cottage proprietors, to the independent labourers, whose rent at the same time this mode of relief enhances. Of this I received much testimony; amongst others, an overseer of The methods adopted for the relief of the poor 764 LAISSEZ, FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. by pro- viding em- ployment arrangements for securing employment to the poor; this was sometimes done by a parish when paupers were employed on the maintenance of roads", or even on the work of a small farm taken for the purpose”. In other cases the paupers were roundsmen set to work by private persons, but partly at the parish expense”. Another practice which was specially Dolgelly stated that there were many apartments and small houses in the town not worth to let £1 a year, for which, in consequence of parochial interference with rents, from £1. 14s. to £2 was paid: and the clerk to the Directors of Montgomery House of Industry mentioned an instance of a person in his neigh- bourhood who obtained 10 cottages from the land owner at a yearly rent of £18, and re-let them separately for £50; eight of his tenants were parish paupers. “This species of property being thus a source of profitable investment, speculation, to a considerable extent, has taken that direction.” 1 The pauper labour was so unprofitable that this practice was being dis- continued in 1834. “The superintendent of pauper labourers has to ascertain, not what is an average day's work, or what is the market price of a given service, but what is a fair day's work for a given individual, his strength and habits considered, at what rate of pay for that work, the number of his family con- sidered, he would be able to earn the sum necessary for his and their subsistence; and lastly, whether he has in fact performed the amount which, after taking all these elements into calculation, it appears that he ought to have performed. It will easily be anticipated that this superintendence is very rarely given; and that in far the greater number of the cases in which work is professedly required from paupers, in fact no work is done. In the second place, collecting the pāupers in gangs for the performance of parish work is found to be more immediately in- jurious to their conduct than even allowance or relief without requiring work. Whatever be the general character of the parish labourers, all the worst of the inhabitants are sure to be among the number; and it is well known that the effect of such an association is always to degrade the good, not to elevate the bad. It Was among these gangs, who had scarcely any other employment or amusement than to collect in groups and talk over their grievances, that the riots of 1830 appear to have originated” (Report, 1834, XXVII. p. 21). At Eastbourne, where the pauper labourer received sixteen shillings and the independent workman was only paid twelve, no wonder that two women there should complain of the conduct of their husbands in refusing to better their condition by becoming paupers. Ib. p. 23. 2 See, in regard to the farm of the incorporated parishes in the Isle of Wight, Report, XXVII. 23; also for cases in East Anglia, App. A, pt. I. 346. - 8 “The Parish in general makes some agreement with a farmer to sell to him the labour of one or more paupers at a certain price, and pays to the pauper, out of the parish funds, the difference between that price and the allowance which the scale, according to the price of bread and the number of his family, awards to him. In many places the roundsman system is effected by means of an auction. Mr Richardson states that in Sulgrave, Northamptonshire, the old and infirm are sold at the monthly meeting to the best bidder, at prices varying, according to the time of the year, from 18. 6d. a week to 38. ; that at Yardley, Hastings, all the unemployed men are put up to sale weekly, and that the clergyman of the parish told him that he had seem ten men the last week knocked down to one of the farmers for 5s., and that there were at that time about 70 men let out in this manner out of a body of 170.” Report, 1834, XXVII. p. 19. ANTI-PAUPERISM 765 injurious to the chances of the non-pauper in securing employ- Aº" ment was the labour-rate. By this system a ratepayer was obliged to employ a certain number of pauper labourers in accordance with his assessment; and to pay them regulated wages without reference to their work". An employer might thus be forced to dismiss good hands in order to give employ- ment to inefficient paupers. But by far the most common form of relief was the granting of money allowances to supplement wages according to a definite scale”, though the practice of different counties was dissimilar, and some had hardly adopted it at all”. The granting of allowances per child has been freely stigmatised as a mischievous stimulus to population"; as a matter of fact it was much worse; there is some evidence to show that it acted as a direct and 1 Reports, etc., 1834, XXVII. 108. 2 The calculations for the original Berkhampstead scale have been preserved by Eden, The State of the Poor, I. 577. The Cambridge scale issued by the magis- trates for the town of Cambridge on 27 November, 1829, was as follows— “The Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor are requested to regulate the incomes of such persons as may apply to them for relief or employment, according to the price of fine bread, namely, “A single woman, the price of e © º . 3% quartern loaves per week. “A single man 33 ë e & . 4% y 5 5 x “A man and his wife ,, * • ... 8 33 33 52 92 and one child the price of . 9% 53 5 y 99 9 3 and two children y y . 11 5 y 32 35 3 × and three ,, 35 . 13 “Man, wife, four children and upwards at the price of 2% quartern loaves per head per week. “It will be necessary to add to the above income in all cases of sickness or other kind of distress; and particularly of such persons or families who deserve encouragement by their good behaviour, whom parish officers should mark both by commendation and reward.” Reports, etc., XXVII. 13. 8 In Northumberland, Cumberland, Lincolnshire, and parts of Worcestershire and Staffordshire, there was very little ground for complaint ; in Suffolk, Sussex, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Dorsetshire and Wiltshire, things were at their worst. There was a serious difference in the rates of wages, and amount of relief allowed in the Wigan and in the Oldham districts of Lancashire. Report from the Select Committee on Labourers' Wages, 1824, VI. 405. 4 “A surplus population is encouraged; men who receive but a small pittance know that they have only to marry, and that pittance will be augmented in pro- portion to the number of their children. Hence the supply of labour is by no means regulated by the demand, and parishes are burdened with thirty, forty, and fifty labourers, for whom they can find no employment, and who serve to depress the situation of all their fellow-labourers in the same parish. An intelligent witness, who is much in the habit of employing labourers, states that, when complaiming of their allowance, they frequently say to him, “We will marry, and you must maintain us’.” Report from Select Committee on Labourers' Wages, 1824, VI. 404. granting allowances 766 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. 2067-6 7720St demoral- 287.79 incentive to immorality". But the most patent evils arose from the fact that this scheme tended to render the inefficient pauper comfortable, at the expense of the good workman who really tried hard to earn his own living. The whole system must have had the effect of diminishing the rates of wages”, and forcing men to depend upon assistance in One form or an- other from the rates. It was essential, if the rural population were to be rescued from dull acceptance of a miserable de- pendence”, that the system should be fundamentally changed. In probing the existing evils, and devising possible remedies, several of the economic experts of the day did excellent service. Under any circumstances it would have been difficult to transform the system, but the task was rendered specially hard, since there were so many persons who had come to be directly interested in the maintenance of abuses and were opposed to any reform". Some interesting 1 Aschrott, The English Poor Law System, p. 30. * “The practice of paying the wages of manufacturers out of the rates is strongly illustrated in the case of Collumpton, at a short distance from Tiverton, where the weaving of serge and cloth is carried on by two manufacturers...one of these manufacturers however receives at present regular annual payments from the parishes in the neighbourhood to employ their paupers, the sums paid being less than the cost of their support by the parishes...the first effect of such a measure was to increase the number of persons unemployed at Collumpton and consequently to reduce wages” (Reports, etc. 1834, XXVII. 43). This was not a solitary case. “A manufactory worked by paupers is a rival with which one paying ordinary wages of course cannot compete, and in this way a Macclesfield manufacturer may find himself under-sold and ruined in consequence of mal- administration of the Poor Laws in Essex.” Ib. 43. Similar evidence comes from Leicestershire. “From the practice of parish officers, where trade is perhaps suffering under temporary depression, soliciting work for the number of men on their hands from the various manufacturers (at any price), and making up the remainder necessary for the support of their families out of the poor rate, good trade becomes in a great measure annihilated. Stocks become too abundant, and when a demand revives the markets are not cleared before a check is again experienced, the same practice is renewed by the parish officers, and thus the wily manufacturer produces his goods, to the great emolument of himself, half at the cost of the agricultural interest.” Ib. 43. 8 See above, p. 720. * There was no end to the ramifications of the mischief in these pauperised parishes; many of the workhouses, which had once existed, had fallen into decay; and there was a great deal of perfectly safe business to be done in providing for the requirements of the paupers and obtaining payment from the parish. “The owner of cottage property,’” said Mr Nassau Senior, “found in the parish a liberal and solvent tenant, and the petty shop-keeper and publican attended the Westry to vote allowances to his customers and debtors. The rental of a pauperised parish was, like the revenue of the Sultan of Turkey, a prey of which every administrator hoped to get a share.” (Edinburgh Iteview, Vol. LXXIV. p. 23.) ANTI-PAUPERISM 767 enquiries had been instituted by a Select Committee in 1817; A.D. 1776 e —1850. but no useful result accrued from their labours. Matters dragged on till the Reformed Parliament set to work to investigate the subject with characteristic energy, and a Royal Commission was appointed in 1832. The Report of the Commission" testifies to the most curious variety in regard to the machinery for the adminis- under tration of relief in different districts”, and to the disastrous ;: of results of the policy which had been generally pursued". º There were some exceptions which proved the rule. At Southwell in Nottinghamshire, Sir George Nicholls had given great attention to the management of the work- house; under his advice out-door relief was refused to the able-bodied, and given but rarely to others. The rates were reduced by this means between 1820 and 1823 from £2,006 to £517, and they remained at the latter figure". Similar experience was adduced from Bingham and Cookham and Hatfield", where the able-bodied men were Only al- lowed the opportunity of work at less than the current rates of wages; but on the other hand there were parishes where the pauper appeared to be supreme. At Cholesbury in Buckinghamshire, the poor-rate had risen from £10. IIs. in 1801 to £367 in 1832. Here the whole land was offered to the assembled poor, but they thought it wiser to decline and have it worked for their advantage on the old system". This was an extreme instance of an evil that existed in different degrees throughout the country generally. The Report of the Commissioners helps us to understand how this disastrous state of affairs had been brought about ; their suggestions as to remedial legislation were based on a careful diagnosis of the nature of the disease. The whole machinery which had been created by the Elizabethan statute had got out of working order; the control which had been exercised by the Council in the period 1 Report from Commissioners for inquiring into the Administration and Practical Operation of the Poor Laws. (Reports, etc., 1834, XXVII.) 2 Many parishes retained the Elizabethan system, some were incorporated under Gilbert's Act, and some had private Acts. See p. 578 above. 8 See above, 719 m. 3. 4 Nicholls, Hist. of Poor Law, II. 229, 230; Becher, The Anti-pauper System (1828), 18. * Reports, 1834, XXVII. * Ashcroft, op. cwt. 32. 768 LAISSEZ FAIRE before the Civil War had ceased to be effective. Here and there exceptional men devoted themselves to grappling with the difficulties of the task in the early part of the nineteenth century, and the poor relief in their localities was admirably managed; but there were no means of bringing the practice in other places up to this standard. Throughout the country generally the local authorities, whether parochial overseers or county justices, varied between a policy of extreme severity and one of unwise laxity. The duty of the overseers, as they had for the most part understood and acted upon it, had been that of defending the parish against the establishment of new claims upon it, and of relieving the poor without any unnecessary cost. The tradition of the office had been one of harshness; this is the impression conveyed by Dr Burns' pungent sentences in 1764. “The office of an overseer seems to be understood to be this: to keep an extraordinary look- out to prevent persons coming to inhabit without certificates, and to fly to the justices to remove them; and if a man brings a certificate, then to caution all the inhabitants not to let him a farm of £10 a year, and to take care to keep him out of all parish offices; to warn them, if they will hire servants, to hire them half-yearly,...... or, if they do hire them for a year, then to endeavour to pick a quarrel with them before the year's end, and so to get rid of them. To bind out poor children apprentices, no matter to whom, or to what trade, but to take especial care that the master live in another parish’.” It does not appear that there had been any marked improvement in the intervening period”. Certainly in those A. D. 1776 — 1850. Neºther the O736)'See?'S 1 Burn, History of Poor Law, 211. * See Gilbert, Considerations on the Bills for the Better Relief and Employ- ment of the Poor (1787), p. 11. Also the statement in 1834: “As a body I found ammual overseers wholly incompetent to discharge the duties of their office, either from the interference of private occupations, or from a want of experience and skill; but most frequently from both these causes, their object is to get through the year with as little unpopularity and trouble as possible, their successors therefore have frequently to complain of demands left unsettled and rates uncollected, either from carelessness or a desire to gain the trifling popularity of having called for fewer assessments than usual. In rural districts the overseers are farmers; in towns generally shopkeepers; and in villages usually one of each of those classes. The superiority of salaried assistant-over- seers is admitted wherever they exist, and in nearly all the instances where a select vestry has fallen into desuetude, the assistant-overseer has been retained. In short so bad is the annual system considered, that an enactment was frequently ANTI-PAUPERISM 769 parishes where the Elizabethan administration was retained Aº" and the office was an annual one, the duties were discharged in a most perfunctory manner". It cannot be said, moreover, that the supervision exercised over these parochial officers by the county magistrates was nor the either judicious or effective. They appear to have been” disinclined to support the overseers in any case whatever. The officials had got a reputation for harshness; and the justices seem to have thought that the easy course was also the safe one, and as a matter of fact they almost in- variably supported the claims of applicants for relief, however undeserving they might be”. There seems to have been a proposed for compelling all parishes to appoint and remunerate permanent over- seers.” Reports, 1834, XXVII. p. 56. 1 The system of farming the poor-house presented the means by which the overseers could get rid of their responsibilities at least cost. It appears to have had disastrous results according to Sir W. Young, Considerations on the subject of Poor-houses or Work-houses, 1796, p. 8, and it does not even seem to have been economical. Compare A Charge to the Overseers of the Poor, by Sir T. Bernard. “We find, from the different returns throughout the kingdom, that, where work- houses have been farmed, though there was some saving at first, yet in a few years the expenses have thereby been greatly increased, and the poor-rate accumulated to an alarming amount. Where, indeed, a principal land-owner, or land-occupier, of a parish can be induced to contract for the parish workhouse, he has an interest in the permanent improvement of its condition, and in the diminution of the dis- tresses of the poor; but where a vagrant speculating contractor visits your parish, with a view of making his incidental profit by farming your workhouse, we trust you will consider the Christian principle of doing as you would be done by ; and that you will not confide the poor, whose guardian and protector it is your duty to be, to one, into whose hands you would not trust an acre of your land, or any portion of your own property.” Hunter, Georgical Essays, II. 179. 2 “Dr Webb, Master of Clare Hall, the present Vice-Chancellor of the Uni- versity, has acted as county magistrate for more than sixteen years; and being resident a great part of the year at his vicarage in Littlington, he has personally superintended the relief of the poor in that parish, as well as in Great Gransden, in Huntingdonshire, where the college has been obliged to occupy a farm of 700 acres, in consequence of their not being able to obtain a tenant for the same at any price. He is strongly of opinion that a great part of the burthen of actual relief to the poor arises from the injudicious interference of magistrates, and the readiness with which they overrule the discretion of the overseers. He has attempted in both the parishes above-mentioned to introduce a more strict and circumspect system of relief—with great success in Littlington, as appears by the descending scale of poor-rates in that parish since 1816;...the population at the same time having nearly doubled itself since 1801....In Gramsden he has found less success, being seldom personally present there, and acting principally through his bailiff. Also he had had less time by some years for effecting any steady improvement in that parish. He showed me, however, by a reference to the books, that he had made the practice of allowing relief to married men, when C.# 49 b ! 770 LAISSEZ FAIRE misplaced sense of duty in this matter", and the liberal spirit in which they treated the particular cases which came before them, rendered it almost impracticable for a capable over- seer” to render the parochial administration even temporarily efficient. As the Commissioners reported of the greater part of the districts they had examined, “the fund, which the 43rd of Elizabeth directed to be employed in setting to work A.D. 1776 —1850. employed by individuals, in respect of their families, entirely disappear from the late accounts. The principal impediment to the introduction of a better system, he found in the power of the pauper, when refused relief by the overseer, to apply to the bench in petty sessions; which nothing but the advantage of an intimate knowledge of his own parishioners, and of uniting in himself the functions, not the office, of overseer and magistrate, enabled him, by perseverance, to overcome. The following case is a sample of their unwillingness to take the circumstances or character of the applicant into due consideration. He refused relief (Nov. 27th, 1829) to Samuel Spencer, knowing him to have received a legacy of 400!. within two or three years before the application. The man applied to the bench in petty sessions, where Dr Webb produced to them an extract from the will (proved 1826), and the assurance of the executor that he had paid the pauper money since proving the will, to the amount above-mentioned. Notwithstanding this, they made an order of relief; and the man (able-bodied) has been from time to time on the rates ever since.” Eactracts from Information received, pp. 125, 126. Appendia: to First Report from the Commissioners on the Poor Laws, 1834, XXVIII. p. 240. 1 Prebendary Gisborne in Writing on the duty of magistrates as regards the poor, seems to think, that their sole function was to be merciful, and not to help to render the system efficient. Enquiry into the Duties of Man (1795). 2 “At Over,” says Mr Power, “a village not far from Cottenham, I found a person of great judgment and experience in Mr Robinson, the principal farmer in that place. He is now serving the office of overseer for the fourth time. At present there are 40 men and more upon the parish; the average during eight months is 25. Part of this arises from farmers living at Willingham and Swavesey, occupying about one-fifth of Over parish; these persons employ none but Willingham and Swavesey labourers; it arises also in part from the growing indifference to private employment generated by the system of parish relief. A man with a wife and four children is entitled to 108., and more from the parish for doing nothing; by working hard in private employ he could only earn 12s., and the difference probably he would require in additional Sustenance for himself; consequently all motive to seek work vanishes. Coming into office this year, Mr Robinson found 12 married men on the box, some of the best men in the parish; he knew they could get work if they chose at that time; he set them to work digging a piece of land of his own at 3d. a rod; they earned that week only about 7s.6d. each, though they might have earned 128. ; and the next week they disappeared to a man. He complains bitterly of the obstruction given to these exertions by the decisions of the magistrates; they are always against him, and he regrets some unpleasant words Spoken to him very lately by one of the bench. On one occasion he had refused payment of their money to some men who would not keep their proper hours of Work upon the road; they complained to the bench at Cambridge, alwa beat him as usual, and returned to Over, wearing favours in their hats and button-holes; and in the evening a body of them collected in front of his house, and shouted in triumph.” Reports, 1834, xxvii. 77. ANTI-PAUPERISM 77I children and persons capable of labour, but using no daily Aº trade, and in the necessary relief of the impotent, is applied cºrºd to purposes opposed to the letter, and still more to the spirit ::::::: of that Law, and destructive to the morals of the most and numerous class, and to the welfare of all’.” Considerable changes were needed to give effect, under altered circumstances, to the aims which the Elizabethan legislators had had in view. The Commissioners of 1832;º advocated the introduction of one type of administrative a cºntrºl machinery throughout the country generally”, and advised awthority the appointment of a Poor-law Commission, which might be a permanent authority in all matters of administration, and which might use its influence to bring up the practice of the local functionaries in every part of the country to a satisfactory level". There was need for the reintroduction of a central authority to exercise a general supervision, as the Council had done in Elizabethan times. They also proposed to adopt the safe course of being guided by actual experience in regard to the granting of assistance, and laid down the principle “that those modes of º administering relief, which have been tried wholly or partially, better and have produced beneficial results in some districts be * olicy. introduced with modifications according to local circum- stances, and carried into complete execution in all".” The first recommendation which they made was that “ of abolishing all relief to able-bodied persons or their families except in well regulated workhouses.” The re-institution of a workhouse test", which had been abandoned in 1782 and 1795, was the corner-stone of the new policy"; but in order that this position might be secured, it was necessary that proper management 1 Reports, 1834, xxvii. p. 8. 2 On the whole they recommended the system which was in vogue in the Gilbert incorporations as a model for general adoption. 8 Reports, 1834, xxvii. 167. 4 Ib. 1834, XXVII. p. 146. 5 See above, 719 n. 3. 6 lt is extraordinary to see how many years passed, after the House of Commons was convinced of the necessity of recasting the system, before the change was actually carried out. The Report of the Commons Committee in 1759 advocates a scheme which is similar in many features to that actually adopted (O. J. XXVIII. 599); it appears to have been the basis of Mr Gilbert's first bill which passed the House of Commons in 1765 (O. J. XXX. 164) and was read a second time in the House of Lords (L. J. xxxi. 107) but never became law (Parl. Hist. XVIII. 544 and XXII. 301). 49—2 772 LAISSEZ FAIRE should be introduced, as the condition of the existing houses, especially in small parishes, was disgraceful in the extreme'. The Act of 1834, which embodied the recommendations of the Commissioners in a less stringent form than they would themselves have desired, was passed by large majorities”. The new system did not get into complete working order for nearly ten years; but during that period, local administration was transferred to Boards of Guardians, elected for the pur- pose in each newly constituted union, and they employed salaried relieving officers". A central authority was created in the Poor Law Commissioners, who were charged with the ad- ministration and control of public relief, and were empowered to make rules for the management of the poor, the government of workhouses, and the education and apprenticeship of poor children. Much of their time, during the first years of the Commission, was taken up with the formation of unions of parishes for the provision of workhouses, with introducing a proper classification of the inmates, and similar regulations in regard to discipline and diet, and with the laying down of orders in regard to the administration of relief. They were also given power to remove any workhouse master and any paid officer for incompetence, and without their permission no salaried officer might be dismissed. In this way the per- manent officials were taught to look to the central government for orders rather than to the local board. Permanence was assured to them only if they obeyed the orders of the central government. The Act further directed the Commissioners A.D. 1776 —1850. The Poor Law Com- 772?, SS2070, reformed the work- houses 1 A. Young, Conduct of Workhouses, 1798, in Ammals, XXXII. 387. Also the following remarks of the Commissioners. “In such parishes, when overburthened with poor, we usually find the building called a workhouse occupied by 60 or 80 paupers, made up of a dozen or more neglected children (under the care, perhaps, of a pauper), about twenty or thirty able-bodied adult paupers of both sexes, and probably an equal number of aged and impotent persons, proper objects of relief. Amidst these the mothers of bastard children and prostitutes live without shame, and associate freely with the youth, who have also the examples and conversation of the frequent inmates of the county gaol, the poacher, the vagrant, the decayed beggar, and other characters of the worst description. To these may often be added a solitary blind person, one or two idiots, and not unfrequently are heard, from amongst the rest, the incessant ravings of some neglected lunatic. In such receptacles the sick poor are often immured.” Reports, 1834, XXVII. 170. 2 4 and 5 Will. IV. c. 76. 3 Under the new régime the overseer was relieved of much of his responsibility and sank into the position of a rate-collector. ANTI-PAUPERISM 773 to make rules for outdoor relief. These rules, which forbade Aºſ" relief to the able-bodied, were only applied at first in the and worst districts, but were gradually extended to the whole º owt-door country. During the commercial depression of 1836, a great ºr wº tº ſº the able- strain was put upon the new system, and the Commissioners bodied; came in for a full share of that unpopularity which the officials, under the older system, had so studiously endeavoured to avoid. Indeed there seemed to be some doubt as to whether Parlia- ment would renew their powers, at the end of the five years for which they had been appointed. But the account of the work they had actually done, which they laid before Parlia- ment, spoke strongly in their favour. Their powers were continued, from year to year, until 1842, and then for five years; before this term of office expired, they drew up the General Order of 1847; this lays down rules for continuing to work the new system” which the Commissioners had introduced. The public were beginning to realise, moreover, that the functions which had been discharged by the Com- missioners could not be discontinued; and the Poor Law it has Board was organised as a permanent Government department been re- organised in 1847°. The whole of England was divided into eleven ... permanent districts, over which Inspectors were appointed. It became dºº their duty to see that the orders of the central authority were carried out, while supervision over local bodies could be exercised by the systematic audit of their accounts. The new department was also brought into closer relations with the House of Commons. The Commissioners had been occasionally placed in a disagreeable position from the fact that there was no official to defend their conduct when it was criticised in Parliament; but under the new Act the President of the Board was eligible to sit in Parliament and 1 This was done by the Outdoor Relief Prohibitory Order of 1844. 2 Aschrott, op. cit. 47. Sir I. F. Lewis, Sir J. G. Shaw-Lefevre, and Sir George Nicholls were the three Commissioners who accomplished this great work. Chadwick was their secretary. Their action, of course, was deeply resented by the paupers and those who were interested in the abuses of the old system; but it also found many critics among doctrinaire politicians, who were afraid of the influence of centralised departments, and anxious that those who raised the money for the rates should have a full responsibility for the manner in which it was employed. McCulloch, Principles of Political Economy, 424. 8 The Poor Law Board was merged in the Local Government Board in 1871. 774 LAISSEZ FAIRE answer for the proceedings of his department, or initiate legislative improvements. By the establishment of a central authority with a power of control, similar to that which had been exercised by the Council in the time of Elizabeth, the worst evils which had characterised the long era of chaos were brought to an end. But the new administrative system, in all its parts, was the creation of Parliament; it was in complete accord with the institutions of a country which, while still preserving a monarchical form of government, had come to be very democratic in fact. - 269. When Parliament was dealing with such matters as the removal of the personal disabilities of workmen and the reform of poor law administration, the philanthropists and the economists could unite in approving the changes. It was a different matter, however, when public attention was called to the baneful conditions under which work was carried on. Antagonism began to develop at once. The economists believed that any shortening of hours would certainly involve a reduction of the output, and that a reduction of wages must necessarily follow. They were of opinion that this decrease of command over the comforts and requisites of life would be fraught with serious evil for the poorer classes. Since it involved this prospective loss of wages and food, any gain to health, that might accrue from shortened hours, seemed to them wholly illusory. The agita- tors seemed to be mere sentimentalists, who wilfully shut their eyes to plain facts; the crusade might have appeared more reasonable, if the English manufacturers had had a monopoly and could conduct their business as they pleased; but in the existing conditions of trade, the employers felt that they were not free agents, and resented being branded as criminals. Foreign tariffs were prohibitive, and foreign industry was advancing; and as the restrictions on the import of corn hindered the sale of our goods abroad, manufacturers found it difficult to make any profit. It was stated in 1833 that for the seven preceding years, the cotton-spinners had hardly been able to carry on business at all", that the trade was in a most uncertain condition, and that capital was A.D. 1776 —1850. The Eco- nomists feared that any short- ening of hours 1 3 Hansard, XIX. 897. CONDITIONS OF CHILDREN'S WORK 775 being frightened away to new investments'. The phil- Aº anthropists were inclined to assume that English textile manu- facturers had such a commanding position that, even if the hours were reduced and the cost of production increased, we could still hold our own. Many of the operatives hoped that, when the product was limited, prices would rise and their own wages would improve”. But this optimist view had sº §: little to support it. The cotton manufacture was springing up, both in the United States and in France; the annual output of these two countries alone was two-thirds of that of Britain”, and there was a real danger of driving away trade, and therefore employment, altogether. As Lord Althorp said, when criticising the original form of the Factory measure in 1833, “Should its effect be (and he feared it was but too reasonable to apprehend it might be) to increase the power of foreigners to compete in the British market, and so to cause the decline of the manufacturing interest of the country * * * so far from a measure of humanity it would be and add to one of the greatest acts of cruelty that could be inflicted".” º Under these circumstances it is impossible to regard the “” opponents of the Factory Acts as necessarily callous to human suffering. & At the same time the economic experts concentrated their but they attention so much on the production of increased quantities ; of material goods, as the only means by which amelioration * could be effected, that they seemed to attach very little ...” importance to measures for the direct protection of humnºw, life, even in cases when there was no reason to fear foreign fºil. competition. The chimney-sweep boys were a class who were subjected to brutal ill-treatment; an attempt had been made to regulate the trade in 1788", but this measure was very ineffective, to judge by the shocking revelations which were made before the Parliamentary Committee of 1816". The laissez faire economists were not easily impressed how- ever, and their quarterly organ, after reciting some of the 1 Reports, etc., 1833, xx. 54, 371. . 2 Ib. xx. 40. 8 3 Hansard, xix. 911. 4 Ib. 221. 5 28 Geo. III. c. 48. 6 Report from the Committee on Employment of Boys in Sweeping of Chimmies. Ičeports, 1817, VI. 171. - 776 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. Prom the ºnfluence o Robert Owen terrible suffering that was wantonly inflicted, continues: “After all we must own that it was quite right to throw out the Bill for prohibiting the sweeping of chimneys by boys— because humanity is a modern invention; and there are many chimneys in old houses that cannot possibly be swept in any other manner".” The agitation on the subject con- tinued, however, and much more stringent rules were success- fully introduced in 1834°. In the meantime, public attention was being steadily directed to the factory children, and to the prejudicial effects of the long hours during which many of them were accustomed to work. The Act of 1802 was easily evaded, as children who were not regularly apprenticed did not obtain protection under it. The impulse for a fresh agitation on the subject was given by Robert Owen", who aimed at reconstituting the conditions of factory life, so that a better type of factory operative might be developed. He did not aim merely at protecting individuals, but at introducing a better system. In 1815 he published his Observations on the effect of the manufacturing system, with hints for the improvement of those parts of it which are most injurious to health and morals, and endeavoured to interest Sir Robert Peel in the passing of a fresh Act, which should render some of the changes he had made at New Lanark, compulsory on other employers; he was particularly anxious that no child of less than ten years of age should be set to work in a mill, that until they were twelve they should only work six hours, and that the hours of labour should be reduced to ten and a half for all". A Select Committee was appointed to consider the matter, and much interesting evidence was put on record", but no immediate action was taken; the Act which was passed in 1819° greatly 1 Edinburgh Review, 1819, xxxH. 320. The radical paper, the Gorgon, was also inclined to sneer at the House of Commons for “its ostentatious display of humanity” in dealing with “trivialities” like the Slave Trade, the climbing boys, and the condition of children in factories, p. 341 (13 March, 1819). 2 4 and 5 Wrm. IV. c. 35. 8 See Sir R. Peel's evidence in the Report of the Minutes of Evidence taken before the Select Committee on the State of the Children employed in the Cotton Manufactures of the United Kingdom (1816), III. 370. 4 Robert Owen, Observations, p. 9. * Reports (1816), III. 235. 6 59 Geo. III. c. 66. It prohibited the labour of children under nine years of CONDITIONS OF CHILDREN’s work 777 disappointed Robert Owen's hopes. It did not insist on a *..." ten hours limit, and its provisions remained inoperative; there was not sufficient inducement offered to stimulate the efforts of the common informer to enforce its provisions", and comparatively little improvement resulted from the measure. No considerable share of public attention was directed to tºº, the subject till 1830, when Mr Richard Oastler began a against the e e 9 e O?? 6.7°- crusade on the subject in Yorkshire”, and Michael Sadler took ſºng of the matter up and obtained a Committee of the House of * Commons; he arranged to bring a number of witnesses from the factory districts in order to establish his point that legislative interference was necessary. The session had closed, however, before the evidence which the employers” desired to put in could be heard; and the sense of this onesidedness rankled in their minds, while the assertions were in many re- spects untrustworthy". Still, the allegations were so frightful that many people believed that immediate action was necessary at any cost; and the proposal, in the following year, to have a Commission was treated as a mere excuse for delay". Public feeling was greatly excited, and a Bill was introduced by Mr Sadler, and in the following session by Lord Ashley", but it was obviously impossible to attempt a remedy until the charges were thoroughly sifted, and an opinion could be formed as to the extent and character of the evils. A Com- and g Com- gº tº tº * : te 77??.SS7,071, mission of enquiry was appointed, which was excellently was ap: e gº e pointed to organised, and obtained an extraordinary amount of accurate . information in a short space of time. The Commission of 1833 specially addressed their en- quiries to the alleged degradation of the population as a age and fixed a limit of 12 hours, but even this might be exceeded to make up for stoppages due to want of water-power. 1 A reward was offered for the common informer; but as no one but the workmen employed in the mill were in a position to give information, and they would have lost their employment if they had come forward to initiate pro- ceedings, the whole was inoperative. Hutchins and Harrison, op. cit. 36. * Alfred [Samuel Kydd], History of the Factory Movement, I. 96. His interest in the position of the slaves abroad led him to consider the condition of operatives at home. The movement for factory reform was thus directly associated with the Anti-Slavery agitation. 8 3 Hansard, xv. p. 391. 4 See the opinion of Mr Drinkwater and Mr Power, Reports, 1833, xx. 491, 602. 5 3 Hansard, xvi. 640. 6 Mr Sadler failed to obtain re-election in the first reformed Parliament. 778 LAISSEZ FAIRE national evil; and hence the points, which demanded atten- tion, were the influence of the Factory system on the children who would grow up to be workers, men and women, of the next generation. If there was physical and moral taint at these sources, the future of the English race was imperilled". The overworking of children, resulting as it often did in physical deformity, occurred very generally, but there were different degrees in which the evil existed in different branches of the textile trades, and it is necessary to consider them separately. i. With regard to the woollen trade, it appears that there were considerable differences between the conditions in the West of England and those which existed in Yorkshire. The Medical Commissioners, after visiting the Stroud Valley, gave exceedingly favourable testimony in regard to the con- ditions of work in that district”, and indeed, throughout the West of England district; though the trade was declining” and several mills had been shut up. The Commissioners particularly testified to the kindly interest which the em- ployers in this district took in their hands"; and though there were many matters in which amelioration was possible, they found that the employers were, on the whole, ready to make any improvements, the desirability of which was pointed out; they could find no evidence that seemed to them to justify legislative interference. The employers in Yorkshire were equally sure of their position; the trustees of the White Cloth Hall at Leeds met the Commissioners with a petition for exemption from any proposed legislation, on the ground that there were no abuses in their trade which called for it, but they failed to establish their case. Parts of the work were very dirty, though Mr Power, the District Commissioner, appears to have been Satisfied, after his enquiries, that these operations were not deleterious". From his remarks, it seems, that the one point on which he was thoroughly dissatisfied was the early age at which children went to work in these mills". “The grand evil,” which offered the supreme ground A.D. 1776 — 1850. into the conditions of their em- ployment in the woollen, 1 Reports, etc., 1833, XX. 39, 51. 2 Ib. 1833, xxi. 16. 8 Reports, etc., 1833, xx. 951, 960. 4 Ib. 1006. * Reports, 1833, xx. 601. 6 Ib. 602, 604. CONDITIONS OF CHILDREN'S WORK 779 for legislative interference, was “the liability of children to A.D. 1776 be exposed, during a very tender age, to confinement, and a —1850. standing position for a period daily,” which was “often pro- tracted beyond their physical power of endurance".” ii. This cause of mischief was common to all the textile linen, factories; but there were special evils which were peculiar to the linen trade. Owing to the nature of the material, it was convenient to spin and weave flax when it was wet ; and, as a consequence, the workers were subjected to a continual spray, from which special clothing was unable to protect them adequately; while they were also forced to stand in the wet, and their hands were liable to constant sores from never being dry. Long-continued work of this kind was fraught with serious mischief, and the Commissioners felt that every effort should be made to reduce these causes of discomfort”. There was besides a process known as heckling", which was almost entirely done by children. The machines used in heckling were not large, so that there could be great numbers working in each room; the children had to be on the alert all the time, and to be so quick that the strain on 1 The culpability of parents for the overworking of children in their own homes was recognised by the Children's Employment Commission, who stated that children have a right to protection against the abuse of parental power (Reports, 1864, xxii. 25, 26). The case of sending them to work in unwholesome conditions is less clear: “Up to a certain period of life, the children are absolutely dependent on their parents for support; and before that period it is that a tyranny is often imposed on them, beyond their physical powers of endurance. Ihave found undoubted instances of children five years old sent to work thirteen hours a day; and frequently of children nine, ten and eleven consigned to labour for fourteen and fifteen hours. The parents, at the same time, have appeared to me, in some of these instances, sincerely fond of their children, and grieved at a state of things they considered necessary to the subsistence of themselves and families. The parental feeling, however, is certainly not displayed in sufficient intensity to be trusted on this point, as will have been gathered most abundantly from the evidence which I have heretofore submitted to the Central Board; I allude both to evidence derived from the parents themselves, and particularly to that of the masters of workhouses in Leeds and the neighbourhood; from whom it appears, that although the difference in income from a child employed as compared with that from a child unemployed at the age of nine or ten, is only 18. Or at most 1s. 6d. in the week, it never happens that they attempt to excuse the non-employ- ment of their children at that age, by alleging the length of the factory hours, or that, in fact, they seek to evade their employment there in any way, at as early an age as they can induce the masters to take them.” Reports, 1883, xx. 604. 2 Reports, etc., 1833, xx. 328. 8 Ib. 600. 780 LAISSEZ, FAIRE Aº" them was very considerable; while a frightful amount of dust was set free in the process, and the state of the atmo- sphere in the room was exceedingly bad. cotton and iii. The conditions of cotton-spinning were similar, in many ways, to those of flax, though there was nowhere so much dust as in the heckling rooms, and no wet spinning, but the temperature in which the hands worked was often very high; to this, the operatives did not object, but it was unwholesome, and there is no reason to believe there had been any improvement in the state of things which existed in 1816. silk mills. iv. The silk mills, in 1833, were generally speaking in a most unsatisfactory condition'. The work was chiefly done by girls who were parish apprentices, and there was grave reason for complaint as to the demoralising effect of huddling them together during their years of service, as well as of the reckless manner in which they were cut adrift when they had served their time. In attempting to estimate the general result, it is well to bear in mind that, in 1833, weaving-sheds were not a regular department of a mill, and that the mill hands were chiefly engaged in preparing the materials and in spinning, though in some cases the work of cloth dressing had been added. The early Though there were some differences in the machinery em- ºne, ployed, the necessity of standing for long hours and of jºu stooping was similar in most of them; and there is abundant evil, evidence that many children were crippled for life and that young women were seriously injured by their occupations. The worsted-spinning at Bradford had a special notoriety in this respect”. The Commissioners rightly connected it with the very early age at which children went to work, and the long hours during which they were employed, and the medical testimony proved that mischief of this kind was common in all the great industrial centres”. The Com- missioners are careful to note that the physical evils due to * In this branch of industry, as in the woollen trade, the arrangements in the West of England district were so good that the Commissioners saw no cause for legislative interference. Reports, 1833, xx. 968 (Ap. B. 1, 70). 2 Reports, 1833, xx. 603. 8 Ib. 32—35. CONDITIONS OF CHILDREN'S WORK 781 the over-fatigue of children were prevalent in the well-A.P." managed, as well as in the badly-managed mills. For after all there were mills and mills; and though there was room for improvement in all of them, the crying evils were much more pronounced in some cases than in others. In every respect the small mills were decidedly the ºil. worst', they were carried on by men who had but comparatively had a little capital, and who had to compete against the better ;: machinery and better power of their neighbours”. These * smaller mills were in much greater need of supervision than the others. The cases where children were severely punished by the workmen they assisted were not so common as was popularly supposed, but it was clearly established that this practice was carried on by some of the slubbers”, though on the whole the evil was abating in 1833°. It does not seem that the connivance of the masters in such cruelties was proved, and in some cases they endeavoured to prevent them". In fact this abuse appears to have been chiefly due to a few of the more dissipated workmen. In regard to matters of morality, too, the smaller mills had a bad reputation. They were carried on by men of a specially coarse type, who were particularly inclined to tyrannise over a class but slightly beneath them, yet completely in their power"; there had been some improvement, but in all respects the small factories were unfavourably distinguished". In fact, it is obvious that the worst evils occurred, not where the capi- talist was so powerful that he could do as he liked, but in cases where the capitalist was struggling for his very existence, and was forced to carry on the trade in any way he could. Similarly, the small factories were the worst places in regard to length of hours, as it was most difficult to enforce any limitations”. The old-fashioned mills were dependent on 1 Reports, 1833, xx. 25, 63. 2 Ib. xx. 20, 24, 1840; xx.III. 248. 8 Ib. 1883, xx. 23, 28, 49. 4 Ib. 26. B Ib. 28. 6 Ib. 20. 7 F. Engels, Condition of the Working Classes, p. 148. Reports, 1833, XX. 24, 136, 145. 8 An illustration of this difficulty occurs in the case of the girls who worked as dressers in the manufacture of Brussels carpets at Kidderminster; the conditions of employment are thus described: “The working hours are extremely irregular, 782 LAISSEZ FAIRE water-power; but in many instances the supply was in- sufficient and the mill worked with great irregularity. Under such circumstances the hands were obliged at times to work for long hours when the water was available, in order to make up for a deficiency in their wages, owing to the time when they had been left idle from the deficiency of power. This irregularity of employment was only too apt to render the men dissipated, as they were forced to alternate periods of excessive work and of entire idleness. They frequently had to put in extra hours without extra pay, in order to make up for stoppages; by far the worst cases, in connection with the treatment of children, were due to instances where they were under the control of men who were working irregularly and with whom they had to keep pace". The race between steam- and water-power was not finally decided in 1833; but water-power was long considered cheaper, even though steam was preferred, as without it the manufacturers could not count on a constant supply of power. It is thus obvious that at the time of the Commission things were already beginning to mend. The little mills, and water-mills, were the worst in every respect, but they were dying out in competition with A.D. 1776 —1850. while the ir- regularity of water- power gave Q.70 €a:C?&Sé for working eaccessive time. from two causes: the chief of these is the dissipated habits of many of the weavers, who remain idle for two or three days, and make up their lost time by working extra hours, to finish their piece on Saturday. All the work is paid by the piece. The other cause is, that the weaver has often to wait for material from the master manufacturer, when particular shades of colour may have to be dyed for the carpet he is weaving. In both cases this irregularity tells very severely on the drawers, who must attend the weaver at whatever time he is at work: they are often called up at three and four in the morning, and kept on for sixteen and eighteen hours. The drawers are entirely under the controul of the weavers, both as to their time of work and payment; the masters neither engaging them, nor exercising any farther controul than requiring them to be dismissed by the weaver in cases of misconduct. It appears to us that this power of overworking the drawers calls for interference on the part of the legislature, if an efficient remedy can be found: but this will be difficult, from the system of the trade. The looms belong to the master manufacturers, and are, in most cases, in what is termed his factory; that, however, is not one large building, but several small houses, generally two, seldom three stories high. If there were one building, that could be closed by one key, the masters could prevent the weavers working at irregular hours; but it appears, from the evidence of Mr Thomas Lea, that there are only two factories in the place where this could be done. The keys of the smaller workshops are entrusted to foremen, and sometimes a journeyman, and it would be very difficult to prevent the evasion of any regulation for opening and closing them at fixed hours.” Reports, 1833, xx. 909. * Reports, etc., 1833, XX. 12, 15, 16. CONDITIONS OF CHILDREN'S WORK 783 the large capitalists who worked by steam. The Report of A:..." the Commission of 1833 enables us to form an opinion as to the reasons which rendered it necessary to legislate in regard to these deplorable evils. Very many of them were not Tººls tº e which we by any means new, though the introduction of the factory jº." system had served to bring them into light. The sanitary §. conditions, under which cottage industry were carried on, .3/5 were perpetuated in the earlier factories, and parents may - occasionally have been harsh masters to the children who helped them". Still, the evil, in its obvious forms, was of recent development, and there was much mutual recrimination at the time in regard to its cause. Colonel Williams probably expressed the commonest opinion, both in the House and out-of-doors, when he said that “this practice of overworking children was attributable to the avarice of the masters”.” Mr Hume, on the other hand, defended the capitalists, and as he had presided over the Select Committee, which reported against the Combination Laws, his opinion on industrial con- ditions was entitled to respect. He held that the distress of the country was wholly due to the corn laws, and laid the blame on the owners of land". Mr Cobbett, who was member for Oldham and had abundant opportunity of forming a judgment in his own constituency, exonerated the employers. He held that the immediate blame lay with the parents, but that they should not be too harshly judged, as they were driven to it by the pressure of taxation, which as he believed was the ultimate reason of their distress". 1 The Commission of 1833 called for no evidence as to the overworking of children who assisted their parents at home, but there is no reason to believe that they fared better than their companions in the mills. In only one point, and that a most important one, was it alleged that the condition of the domestic workers was preferable. Parents could look after their own children and the elder girls if they worked at home, whilst the factories had an evil repute. Careful parents had to choose between bringing up their children to an overcrowded and under- paid trade, and the risk of placing them in demoralising surroundings (Reports, etc., 1833, xx. 532, 538). The bad repute of factories was not improbably due to their being the resort of apprenticed children and a shifting population, when they were first organised. At the same time it is probable that these evils diminished, as the smaller mills were broken up ; and Mr Bolling, the member for Bolton, appears to have regarded the charges against the factories as illusory, so far as his constituency was concerned (3 Hansard, XIx. 910). 2 3 Hansard, xv. 1160. 8 Ib. 1161. 4 Ib. 1294. 784 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. and parents deserve a large share of blame So far as the parents are concerned, it is probably true that many of the baser sort were very reckless in regard to the treatment of their children, and were not unwilling to sacrifice them in order to profit by their earnings; but there were many who felt the evils most bitterly, and who petitioned for an alteration". At the same time, it is difficult to ex- onerate them altogether, if, as seems to have been the case, their wages were as good or better than those of other labourers. Mr Power, the Assistant Commissioner, seems to have felt this, when he wrote that “children ought to have legislative protection from the conspiracy insensibly formed between the masters and parents to tax them with a degree of toil beyond their strength”.” It is probable that the opportunity of obtaining the children's earnings was a tempta- tion which few parents could resist, even though they might afterwards deeply regret it, when the employment resulted in the deformity of their children. There is no difficulty in reconciling the two statements, that on the one hand the parents frequently succumbed to this temptation, and that on the other they were anxious to have the temptation removed. So far as the landlords, and the corn laws, are concerned, little need be said. This was a cause which affected the textile industries, like other industries, as it rendered food dear to all labourers; but it will not serve to account for the special mischiefs of the factory system. t With regard to the masters, it may be stated at once that it is impossible to exonerate them from all blame, as many of them had been exceedingly careless about a matter which lay entirely within their control, and to which no allusion has yet been made. The frequency of accidents in the mills, with injury of life and limb, was a feature which specially shocked the public, and it seems to have been clear that many of the accidents were preventable, and need not have occurred, if certain machines had been properly fenced". So long as any part of the evils were due to arrangements directly under the master's control and with which no one as well as 777 a SterS. 1 3 EIansard, xv.1. 642. * Reports, 1833, xx. 604. 8 Ib. 76. CONDITIONS OF CHILDREN'S WORK 785 else could interfere, it is clear that the blame lay with them Aº or with their agents". It was much easier to report on the extent of the evil and to analyse its causes, than to devise a satisfactory remedy. Enthusiasts like Owen would have tried to introduce an ideal system for all those who worked in the mills. But the lºgº, Government were forced to move more slowly, and to content of 1833 themselves with attempting to prohibit or limit the recognised £ºn. evils. The overworking of boys and girls seemed to stand by ###".” itself; the mischief was most patent, and as the children were * obviously unprotected and unable to protect themselves in any way, there was a much stronger case for interference than there seemed to be in regard to adult labour of any kind. The operatives were naturally anxious to have the systematic reform, which Owen had initiated, carried through in its entirety by the State”; but this was a proposal which the Commissioners did not endorse; they tried to put forward a discriminating scheme, by which the question of child labour should be isolated and dealt with separately, while they thought the hours in which other workmen were employed should be a matter of agreement, so long as the very wide limit introduced in 1802° was not exceeded. The Commissioners did not feel that Owen's principle of a Ten Hour Day was the right one, as it would not in itself afford sufficient relief to the children", while it appeared to be unnecessary, and possibly 1 The punishments which Lord Ashley proposed to inflict on employers in commection with accidents in their mills were very severe. Parliament appears to have supposed that they were so excessive that they would never have been enforced. 3 Hansard, XIX. 223. * The operatives believed that the shortening of their hours would lead to a rise of wages (Reports, etc, 1833, XX. 39, 51), and advocated it on this account; but their wages were good when compared with the payments in other callings (Reports, etc., 1833, xx. 307, 1008, and XXI. 31, and especially 65), and the Com- missioners would have deprecated any change that would seriously interfere with market conditions. 8 Hutchins and Harrison, op. cit. 17. This was hardly a new limitation, as it closely resembles the recognised day labour of the sixteenth century. Vol. I. 535. 4 The following instances of excessive work on the part of the young were specially referred to by the Commissioners. “Am twelve years old. Have been in the mill twelve months. Begin at six o'clock, and stop at half past seven. Generally have about twelve hours and a half of it. Have worked over-hours for two or three weeks together. Worked breakfast-time and tea-time, and did not go away till eight. Do you work over-hours or not, just as you like 2–No; them as C.* 50 786 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. and hoped that shifts would be organised. injurious, so far as adults were concerned". The Commissioner proposed instead, that shifts should be arranged”, and that the labour of children should be so organised that they should work in the same mills, but for shorter hours than the adults. An experiment of this kind was tried with great success in works must work. I would rather stay and do it than that any body else should come in my place.” “ * * “Have worked here (Milne's) two years; am now fourteen; work sixteen hours and a half a day. I was badly, and asked to stop at eight one night lately, and I was told if I went I must not come back.” “I have worked till twelve at night last summer. We began at six in the morning. I told book-keeper I did not like to work so late; he said Imote. We only get a penny an hour for over-time.” “We used to come at half-past eight at night, and work all night, till the rest of the girls came in the morning. They would come at seven. Sometimes we worked on till half-past eight the next night, after we had been working all the night before. We worked in meal-hours, except at dinner. I have done that sometimes three nights a week, and sometimes four nights. It was not regular; it was just as the overlooker chose. Sometimes the slubbers would work on all might too, not always. The piecemers would have to stay all night then too. They used to go to sleep, poor things! when they had over-hours in the night.” “In 1829 they worked night and day. The day set used to work from six till eight and nine, and sometimes till eleven or twelve. The children who worked as pieceners for the slubbers used to fall asleep, and we had much trouble with them.” Reports, 1833, xx. 16. 1. It appeared probable to the masters and economic experts that a reduction of hours would involve a reduction of wages. * The difficulty which they tried to meet is well stated by the Commissioners: “The great evil of the manufacturing system, as at present conducted, has appeared to us to be, that it entails the necessity of continuing the labour of children to the utmost length of that of the adults. The only remedy for this evil, short of a limitation of the labour of adults, which would in our opinion create an evil greater than that which is sought to be remedied, appears to be the plan of working double sets of children. To this plan there have been intimated to us great objections on the part both of masters and of workmen: on the part of the masters, because it will be attended with inconvenience, and somewhat higher wages: on the part of the workmen for various reasons; 1st, Because when working by the piece increased expense in hiring or increased trouble in teaching children will necessarily diminish their net earnings:—2nd, Because by a more general limitation to ten hours they expect to get twelve hours' wages for less work:—3rd, Because the reduction to half wages or little more of the children reduced to six or eight hours’ work must necessarily in so far tend to reduce the earnings, and consequently the comforts of the family: “There can be no doubt, from the whole tenor of the evidence before us, that the plan of double sets will be productive of more or less inconvenience and expense to the manufacturer. It has appeared to us, however, that the same objections must attach more or less to any change of the present modes of working; but we consider the object aimed at by the working of double sets, namely, that of counteracting the tendency to an undue employment of infant labour, to be such as more than compensates for the sacrifice to be made in attaining it. And no other mode of effectually accomplishing that most desirable object has occurred to us likely to be attended with so little evil or suffering as that which we have ventured to recommend.” Reports, 1833, XX. 57. CONDITIONS OF CHILDREN'S WORK 787 Messrs Marshall's flax-mills at Holbeck, near Leeds. This was, A.D. 1776 however, a difficult arrangement to carry out, and in country —1850. villages it was not easy to find a double shift of child labour. The manufacturers disliked a proposal that would hamper them, and the parents were on the whole glad to get an income from the children's labour; still this suggestion went on the line of least resistance, and Government carried a Bill which practically gave effect to the recommendations of the Commission. The chief debate was upon the proposal to limit the work of those under eighteen to ten hours. Lord Ashley was defeated on this point, as the Government thought it necessary to go farther and limit those under fourteen to eight hours; and from the time of this defeat, the Bill became a Government measure to which Lord Ashley gave inde- pendent support. And in the main the recommendations of the Commissioners were accepted by Parliament". By the †. Act of 1833 the employment of children under nine years of posed on age was forbidden. The time of work for children under ºw se thirteen years old was limited to nine hours, and for young “” persons, of from thirteen to eighteen years, to twelve hours; and night work was prohibited, i.e., work between 8.30 p.m. and 5.30 a.m. But the real importance of the measure lay in the fact that new administrative machinery was now created. Previous Acts had failed partly, at least, because there had been no sufficient means of enforcing them. The establish- ment of local inspectors was originally suggested by the masters, apparently as a means of seeing that their neighbours did not indulge in unfair competition by evading the law, and the operatives viewed it with suspicion. In the form in and which the proposal was incorporated in the Act it created an º independent body of men, acting under a central authority, ºft authority sº 206) & who have proved to be not merely a means of enforcing but charged of amending the law. “The introduction of an external au- ; thority, free from local bias and partiality, greatly improved the Aet. the administration of the law, lessened the friction between the manufacturers and operatives, and provided a medium of communication between the Government and the people at a time when knowledge of industrial matters was scanty in the extreme”.” - l 3 and 4 Will. IV. c. 103. * Hutchins and Harrison, op. cit. 40. 50–2 788 LAISSEZ, FAIRE The Act of 1833 had endeavoured to isolate the question of child labour, but as a matter of fact this could not be done. The children assisted the work of adults, and the masters were inclined to evade the restrictions on the time when boys and girls were employed, as this was the way in which the customary hours for men could be most con- veniently maintained. The inspectors found that it was practically impossible to check the time during which any one boy or girl remained at work, as the machinery was kept running for longer hours than those in which children might be legally employed". The intimate connection be- tween the various elements in the organisation of a factory had been asserted by the advocates of a Ten Hours Bill all along", and the nature of the changes which were necessary, in order that the measure passed in 1833 might be rendered effective, was only gradually recognised. In 1844 another step was taken, and the argument for State-interference on behalf of children was extended; a strong case had been made for legislative action to protect adult women, both as regards the mischief of physical injury, and their own in- ability to drive independent bargains, and it was enacted that women were to be treated as young persons”. In 1847 the hours for young persons and women were still further reduced by the passing of the Ten Hours Bill, and it was generally expected that this new restriction would have the effect of limiting the hours during which the machinery was kept in motion. When trade revived in 1849, however, A.D. 1776 —1850. The over- working of children. could not be checked effectively tºll the hours for 2007/2672, 71; 627'6 restricted; 1 After 1833, though there was a twelve hour day, it might be worked between 5.30 a.m. and 8.30 p.m. and meal times might be distributed as the employer chose. Those who were working had to do double work, while others were having meals—thus demanding a greater intensity of effort from those at work. It was quite impossible to tell whether any particular persons had had meals, or whether they were working over-hours or mot, since the employer could always plead that they began late. 2 “The mistake of Parliament,” said Mr Hindley, the member for Ashton, “has arisen from supposing that they could effectively legislate for children without including adults—they are not aware that labour in a mill is, strictly speaking, family labour, and that there is no longer the system of a parent main- taining his children by the operation of his own industry.” Hutchins and Harrison, op. cit. 47. 8 7 and 8 Wict. c. 15, § 32. The hours of young persons were limited to 12 hours by the Act of 1833. CONDITIONS OF CHILDREN'S WORK 789 the masters found it worth while to keep the machinery A.D. 1776 going for fifteen hours, and managed to evade the law by 0. means of relay systems". An amending Act of 1850 in- ºd.” sisted that the hours of work for protected persons must fall working within the twelve hours from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. with an hour day and a half for meals, and thus established a normal day for women”. Curiously enough, its provisions did not apply to children, and they could be employed on the relay system in helping the men, after the women had left off working. In 1853, the risk of evasion in this manner was brought to oftenhours an end, the normal working day of ten and a half hours was . gºal established by law for all factory workers”, other than adult #na, males, and it soon became customary for them as well. It thus came about that the programme of factory reform which Owen had advocated in 1815 was at length to be generally accepted. Each step was gained in the face of strong opposition, for the economic experts of the day—of in spite whom Mr Nassau Senior was the most effective spokesman— %; were clear that a reduction of hours would mean such a * serious loss to the employers that the trade of the country must inevitably suffer, and the mischievous effects react on the workmen themselves. It was argued that if the last hour of work were cut down, the profit on the capital invested in plant would vanish altogether". Strong in the support of such academic authorities, the employers felt no scruple in evading the law, when they could ; but the excuse was a mistaken one. Robert Owen's experience had established the fact that the product in textile trades did not vary directly according to the hours of labour. He found that the influence i Mr Howells thus describes it: “The system which they seek to introduce under the guise of relays is one of the many for shuffling the hands about in endless variety, and shifting the hours of work and of rest for different individuals throughout the day, so that you never have one complete set of hands working together in the same room at the same time.” Reports, 1849, XXII. 225. The intervals when the hands were not actually working were so short, and so arranged that they might be of very little use either for purposes of rest or recreation. Hutchins and Harrison, op. cit. 80, 101. 2 13 and 14 Wict. c. 54. 8 Women, young persons and children might not be employed before 6 a.m. or after 6 p.m. (16 and 17 Vict. c. 104), and they were to be allowed an hour and a half for meals (3 and 4 Will. IV. c. 103 $ 6). 4 N. Senior, Letter on the Factory Act, 12. 790 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 of increased care and attention was very noticeable when the T” hours were shortened, and that waste was avoided. He had for a time reduced the hours of work at New Lanark, without *ho ignºed loss; and he found that when they were lengthened again, the results te ſe s tº of ouen's the product was not increased in proportion to the increase of ” hours. He had already demonstrated, in his own experience, that the policy of working excessive hours was unsound, not merely on humanitarian, but on economic grounds. As this view was gradually confirmed by subsequent observation, the attitude of public opinion towards restrictive legislation underwent a marked change”. The benefits, which accrued to the population employed in textile factories under the modern system of centralised supervision, have been so great that efforts are being steadily pressed on for bringing all sorts of other industries under similar control. 270. The agitation of the factory operatives for State interference with their hours of labour, which was being carried on so vigorously in 1840 has eventually been suc- The low cessful. There was, however, another class of the manufac- tºy turing population who were in a very serious plight, and on ...?" whose behalf State intervention was demanded. The hand. loom weavers were suffering from the irregularity and un- certainty of employment; it was impossible for them to maintain a decent standard of comfort, and a commission was appointed in 1839 to see whether anything could be done to place them in more favourable conditions. - ſº The principles of laissez faire had such a strong hold that 1’ Q. g º 㺠it was not to be expected that the weavers would obtain much º" support; and as we look back we may see that this was not Jº", a case in which it was desirable for Government to interfere. The factory industries were growing; and it was distinctly advantageous to have lines authoritatively laid down along which they should develop. But hand-loom weaving was already doomed; the competition of the power-loom was threatening to drive it out of existence, at all events in some branches of manufacture. The only benefit which could be 1 Reports, 1816, III. 255, 272, also 1833, xx. 194. 2 The publication of the Reports of the Children's Employment Commission, which was moved for by Lord Shaftesbury in 1861, appears to have been the occasion of this change. Hutchins and Harrison, op. cit. 150. DISTRESS OF HAND-LOOM WIEAVERS 7.91 conferred on the weavers was to help them to leave a decaying trade"; this was more a matter for individual and charitable action than for administrative interference. The competition between hand-weaving and power-weav- ing brings out one aspect of the case which was less noticeable in connection with spinning. The series of inventions, which led up to the self-acting mule, introduced an extraordinary improvement, in the quality—the firmness and regularity— of the yarn, as well as in the pace at which it could be produced. These advantages occurred to a much smaller extent in weaving; in 1840 it was doubtful whether machines could ever be invented which would weave fabrics of which only small quantities were required or in regard to which there were rapid changes of fashion”; while the rates of wages of hand-weavers of low-class goods enabled the em- ployers to produce very cheaply, and there was scarcely any saving in machine production”. To some extent the power- loom was better and cheaper; and as it was more readily applicable to some materials and qualities of goods than to others, there was a curious difference in the extent to which it was used in different trades. The real issue, however, lay deeper; it was not so much the competition of a machine with a hand implement, as competition between two systems of industrial Organisation. The hand-loom weaver was the last survival of cottage industry; he had been drawn into the capitalist system and become a wage-earner, but he still enjoyed a measure of independence as to his hours of working and his habits of life. He clung to his liberty, and was most reluctant to seek other employment, even when his takings * Mr W. E. Hickson, one of the assistant commissioners in 1840, summarised his opinion thus: “I believe the young men are either earning better wages, or are abandoming the trade. The class entitled to the most commiseration consists of the old, of whom there are many, who, having lived on in hope of better times, while the trade has gradually declined, now find themselves, with failing sight, and failing limbs, strength scarcely sufficient to throw the shuttle, and none to help (their children married and gone away), left to depend upon the miserable pittance they can yet earn at the loom, which they cannot leave till they leave the world and the trade together.” Reports, 1840, xxiv. 650. 2 This was the case with Paisley shawls. Accounts, 1839, XLII. 543. See also Reports, 1840, XXIV. 651. 8 Mr Symons writes, “The power-loom is applicable to many fabrics which the exceedingly low rate of wages alone enables the hand-loom to obtain.” Accounts, 1839, XLII. 609. A.D. 1776 850. The power- loom was Super- Seding hand work; and the con- centration of weaving in factories 792 LAISSEZ, FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. gave fact- lities for Supervºston were reduced to a starvation point. But the practice of setting labourers to work in their cottages was not convenient to the capitalists. The cottage system gave in many ways opportunity for inefficient work", and the employers preferred to have the men under their own eyes. This was the only method by which they could secure punctuality in the de- livery of goods”, and could exercise an effective supervision all the time”. One circumstance which specially impressed Mr Hickson was “that the factory system is beginning to be extensively applied to the labour of hand-loom weaving, and that the weavers who now maintain, and may continue to maintain, a successful competition with the power-loom, will not be cottage weavers“, but weavers assembled in factories to work under the eye of a master. There are now many 1 Mr Hickson reported: “One hundred webs, therefore, in a factory of hand- loom weavers, would be finished even in Manchester, in the time in which 50 would not be finished by an equal number of domestic weavers. But in Ireland the disparity is much more striking. I was assured by Mr M'Cauley of Belfast, that it would be necessary for him to employ 400 country weavers to get him through the same quantity of work in a given time which he could produce from 100 hand-looms employed in his factory, under his immediate superintendence. Reports, 1840, XXIV. 648. 2 Mr Hickson writes: “The cotton-weavers, in most cases, work at home; but the practice is beginning to extend itself of assembling them in factories. There are hand-loom factories, as well as power-loom factories. In large manu- facturing towns, a saving of time is regarded as a saving of money. One thousand pounds capital, if it can be returned four times in the year, is equal to a capital of £4,000 returned once; and the interest on £3,000 is the saving effected. Hence the anxiety of every good man of business to despatch his orders quick, and hence the urgency of merchants, when writing to the manufacturer, to ship without delay. In fact, promptitude of execution is often a more important consideration than price. A merchant, not limited by his foreign correspondents, but left to his own discretion, will give his orders to the manufacturer, who, on a given day and month, will engage to have his goods on board a ship in the export docks, and will disregard the offer of another manufacturer less punctual, and more dilatory in the conduct of his business, although cheaper, perhaps by five per cent. On this account factory labour is much more advantageous to the manufacturer than domestic labour. The domestic weaver is apt to be irregular in his habits, because he does not work under the eye of a master. At any moment the domestic weaver can throw down his shuttle, and convert the rest of the day into a holiday; or busy himself with some more profitable task; but the factory weaver works under superintendence; if absent a day, without sufficient cause, he is dismissed, and his place supplied by one of greater power of application.” Reports, 1840, XXIV. 647–8. 8. It was difficult to guard against the embezzlement of materials and the fraud of weaving thin. Accounts, 1839, XLII. 599. 4 Mr Hickson speaks of them as “domestic weavers.” I have ventured to alter this phrase so as to bring it into accord with the terminology adopted in this volume. See above, p. 497. DISTRESS OF HAND-LOOM WIEAVERS 793 fabrics woven by power at a somewhat dearer rate than the Aºſ" productions of the hand-loom (taking into consideration the cost of machinery, repairs, and the wages of the workers); but the power-loom manufacturer, as before explained, can execute an order with certainty and despatch, from the regularity of his process; while the employer of cottage weavers can never tell within a fortnight or three weeks when every web sent out to the neighbouring villages will be returned. This disadvantage is partly overcome by assembling * d the weavers in factories, and requiring them to work under regularity superintendence. The system is also favourable to a large *. manufacturer, in protecting him, to some extent, against the embezzlement of yarn. His property is safe in his own possession, and he runs no risk of the work being taken out of the loom to be sold or pawned by a dishonest weaver. The subjects of wrangling and dispute between his foreman and the men are also less numerous upon the factory than upon the out-door system. The men have not to lose hours and days in dancing attendance upon the foreman's leisure; and the daily inspection of the master enables him to see that his directions are understood and followed by all parties.” The struggle, which attracted such attention in 1840, was the last phase of the contest between cottage-industry and factory- industry in the staple manufactures of the country”. As a consequence, the line, between the distressed weavers so that and the others, is to be drawn between those who took out *. materials to weave in their own homes, and those who worked º stancy of in factories, whether at hand- or power-looms. Weaving ºr sheds containing hand-looms were coming to be a common 7.672t. appendage to spinning-mills, and these factory hand-loom weavers had little to complain of”. The rates of wages per piece had kept up, at all events in the West of England cloth trade; the trade was on the whole developing, and the factory hand-weavers were apparently absorbed as the power-loom was introduced. The cottage-weavers suffered, however, not so much from low rates of pay as from extreme 1 Reports, 1840, xxiv. 683. 2 Many of the cottage weavers were small farmers and emigration offered the best hope of relieving them. S. J. Chapman, Lancashire Cotton Industry, 45. 8 Accounts, etc., 1839, XLII. 522. 794 LAISSEZ FAIRE *..." irregularity of employment. In periods of depression little —1850. The work was given out, but their earnings in good times jº. were sufficient to keep them from recognising that the trade 2.7°2,72 R6 g e e transition was terribly overcrowded. Instances of the organisation of to power º • e º, hand-weaving in factories had occurred as early as the fifteenth century, and it is hopeless to try and obtain in- formation as to the gradual extension of that system. Some evidence has survived, however, in regard to the introduction of the power-loom, and we are justified in concluding that this would not have occurred unless a thoroughgoing system of capitalist Supervision had already come into vogue. It will be convenient to consider the course of the changes in different branches of the textile trades in turn. in the linen i. The linen-weavers were reduced to as miserable a ºa condition as any other class of weaver in 1839. Their wages %:... had steadily fallen; they had resorted to strikes, over and petition of ſº over again, but always without success; several distinct price- of cotton weavers, lists had been issued, as in 1829 and in 1837, but the masters did not adhere to them, and each new list gave greatly reduced figures". This depressed condition was partly due to the competition of Irish immigrants”, but the trade was also overcrowded by cotton-weavers. The power-loom had been very generally introduced, so far as cotton fabrics were concerned", and the cotton hand-weavers took refuge in the linen trade; thus, before the power-loom had been applied to linen fabrics, the artisans were suffering seriously from an indirectly induced competition". The overcrowding of 1 Reports, 1840, xxLII. 317. 2 Ib. 315. 8 See below, 797, n. 5. 4 See the statement in regard to Yorkshire linen-weavers. “There are many causes that have been at work in bringing the hand-loom weavers' wages to this starvation price, and we will beg leave to state our opinion of a few of them. The power-loom is one, and though but little progress has yet been made in working linen goods, yet, by having nearly destroyed the cotton-weaving, and greatly injured the stuff and woollen weavers’ trade, it has driven many out of those branches into the limen trade, and over-stocked the market with hands; and the manufacturers have taken the advantage, and reduced the wages; but we believe it is nothing to their profit. Now, these power-looms contribute nothing to the revenue; on the contrary, they have been the means of throwing great numbers out of employment, and has (sic) brought thousands and tens of thousands to sup the cup of misery even to its very dregs, and, if not speedily checked, will, ere long, bring the whole of the weaving trade to complete ruin. We think at any DISTRESS OF HAND-LOOM WIEAVERS 795 this trade was the more remarkable as linen weaving was exceedingly heavy work, in which women did not compete". ii. The condition of the silk-weavers is not exactly similar to that of men engaged on other fabrics, as this had always been an exotic trade; from the time of the repeal of the protective legislation in 1824, they had been in great difficulties. Their business was not at all hard to learn, and this manufacture also was overcrowded, as linen-weaving was overcrowded, by men who had drifted into it from a similar calling. When the cloth manufacture migrated” from Essex and Suffolk and Norfolk to Yorkshire, the Eastern County weavers took up the silk trade”; but even in the best days they had to work at lower prices than the weavers in Spital- fields". In this case they had suffered from every kind of competition; that of women's work, of those who picked up the trade hastily, of foreign weavers, and of the power-loom. There was violent resistance to the introduction of the power- loom at Coventry in 1831*; but the trade, as taken up and im- proved in Manchester and Macclesfield", completely undersold the efforts of the Spitalfields and Eastern Counties weavers, among whom, apparently, the feeling against machinery was so strong that no one attempted to introduce it. In the rate the power-loom ought to pay as much as the hand-loom weaver pays, and then we should have some chance of competing with them. Besides the many indirect taxes that we have to pay to the Government, we have other taxes of a still more grievous nature, and, it is said by many writers, of far greater amount. These taxes cut like a two-edged sword; it is not only the great amount that We have to pay, but at the same time it greatly injures our trade. This tax is what they call ‘protecting duties’ to the great landed property men of this country, not only the heavy duty on corn, but on every necessary of life, even to an egg.” Reports, 1840, XXIII. 335. 1 Reports, 1840, XXIII. 191. 2 The migration of the cloth manufacture from the Eastern Counties to York- shire received a considerable impetus during the long war. The flying shuttle and mill yarn were used in Yorkshire about 1800 (Reports, 1840, XXIII. 417), and wages there were “comparatively high" (Ib. 399), while all machinery appears to have been tabooed in the Eastern Counties (Ib. 147), unless in some newly introduced trades (Ib. 175). The last remnants of the Eastern Counties' cloth manufacture were the camlets which were made for the Chima market as long as the East India. Company had the monopoly, but when the trade was thrown open in 1833 the Yorkshiremen undersold them in this article also (Reports, 1840, XXIII, 142). The West of England manufacture of serges suffered in a similar fashion (Ib. 250). 3 Ib. 129. 4 Ib. 125. 5 lb. 1833, xx. 899. 6 Ib. 1840, xxiv. 653. A.D. 1776 —1850. and in the Silk trade, 796 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. Southern centres of the trade this employment gave early instances of the phenomena of spreading work, and of an industrial reserve army". One of the Braintree witnesses describes how “a manufacturer would give out work to twelve men, where seven would have been enough to do it, if warp and shute had been given to them as fast as they worked it up. The object of this system evidently was to keep a great number of hands in the trade always at com- mand, in order that when there was a great demand for goods the manufacturer might have it in his power to produce them. * * * Thus the earnings of the weavers were kept down, though they were said to be employed. This system also kept a greater number of hands in the trade and thereby kept up a greater competition for employment, and prevented a rise of price when there was an increased demand for goods”.” The chief remedies which the weavers themselves proposed were, either a more rigid system of apprenticeship by which the number of competitors might be kept down, or an authoritative price-list, such as they had had under the Spitalfields Act; but even under that Act they had not enjoyed constant employment, and the system had proved unworkable”. It was absurd to ask for elaborate rules of apprenticeship, which were not needed for the purpose of training the workmen properly"; this limitation was merely intended to be an arbitrary restriction on the number of com- petitors". Such an expedient could not possibly help them to stand better against the competition of English machinery or by the habitual spreading of work. 1 See above, p. 667. * Reports, 1840, xxLII. 126. * As Dr Mitchell, an assistant commissioner, stated: “The Spitalfields Acts secured to the weavers a fixed price for their labour; but no Act of Parliament could secure to them full employment, and when from the caprices of fashion or from any other cause there ceased to be a demand for the goods, a part of the weavers who made them were necessarily out of employment, and such of them as had not laid by some of their earnings to meet an evil day were in distress. There was however, this difference between the periods of distress in those times and the distress at present, that whatever work was given out was paid for at the full price, and when a demand for goods and for labour arose the weavers returned to a state of prosperity, whereas distress now may occasion reduction of wages, and when full employment returns the weaver is not paid as he was before.” Reports, 1840, XXIII. 200. 4 The trade was not at all hard to learn (Ib. 215). 5 Ib. 221. DISTRESS OF HAND-LOOM WEAVERS 797 foreign workmen. What the commissioner said of weavers A.P. 776 in general was specially true of the silk-weaver—“The best friends of the weaver are those who would advise and assist him to transfer his labour to other channels of industry".” iii. The cotton was the first industry in which power- The appli- spinning was introduced; there had been a real difficulty in : g getting weavers in sufficient numbers to work the yarn that . weavºng was spun, and it was in this trade that the power-loom had been most generally applied at the time of the enquiry. The new mode of weaving had brought about an extra- ordinary expansion of the trade, and it was said that com- paratively few hand-looms had been put out of operation iſſued altogether”. At the same time part of the work that was #º the done by hand consisted of goods of a class for the making of which wages were so low that machinery did not pay”. The º 72 competition of Irish immigrants was also severely felt in the work, West of Scotland cotton district". Wages were exceedingly low, employment for hand-loom weavers was irregular, and in bad times practically ceased. There had been a great deal of distress among the Scottish weavers both in 1819 and 1826. Large relief funds were started, to which the upper classes contributed more largely than they would have done in England, where the Poor Law afforded so much relief". But the most serious 1 Reports, 1840, xxiv. 659. 2 “Before passing from the case of cotton-weavers,” Mr Hickson writes: “I may express the surprise I felt at the discovery, that, notwithstanding the gigantic competition of the power-loom, the number of hand-looms employed in this branch of the trade of weaving is not only very considerable, but, from universal testimony, almost as great as at any former period. “After visiting the power-loom factory of Messrs J. and W. Sidebottom at Mottram, where, in one immense apartment, 125 yards in length by 25 yards in width, I saw 620 looms working by power, and producing, almost with the rapidity of light, as much cotton cloth, apparently, as would suffice for the consumption of the whole country, I was struck with the fact as extraordinary, not that the labour of the cotton-weaver at the hand-loom should be ill remunerated, but that his employment should not have been altogether superseded. It would seem, however, that the power-loom had created for itself a market almost sufficient to carry off its own productions, leaving the demand for hand-loom cotton cloth nearly as great as before.” Reports, 1840, xxiv. 650. 8 Among these may be specified blue and white stripes and checks for export trade. Accounts and Papers, 1839, XLII. 535. 4 Reports, etc., 1840, XXIV. 644; Accounts and Papers, 1839, XLII. 533, 559. 5 Accounts and Papers, 1839, XLII. 523. 798 - LAISSEZ, FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. distress occurred throughout all the textile trades after the American panic in 1837; and this exceptional distress had been the reason for appointing a Commission to enquire into the condition of hand-loom weavers generally". iv. Much of what has been said in the preceding sections applies to woollen, as well as to cotton weaving; but there are several special points in regard to this ancient industry which demand attention. The power-loom had been generally introduced in the worsted trade which centred at Bradford, but it had only been recently adapted to the woollen trade, for which Leeds was the great market”. As the power-loom was introduced the market seems to have expanded; or at any rate there was employment for a large number of hands in attending the looms; but still the weavers suffered severely, and were entirely displaced, as the new work was done not by men, but by women and girls, who had been employed to some extent before, but who now seemed to be preferred to the exclusion of male weavers". This was one reason for the distress felt in this industry, but there was also a complaint of some standing in regard to wages. From 1801 to 1815 wages had been exceptionally high in the cloth trades in Scotland, as well as in Yorkshire. The special advantages of that kingdom were attracting to it the employment which had been previously diffused through other districts; and though wages had not fallen back below the eighteenth century standard of comfort, the weavers had never reconciled themselves to the loss of the prosperity they had enjoyed during the war". And indeed, though the rates of wages had apparently kept up, the work had become somewhat harder, as heavier cloths were being made". In Scotland the wages of woollen-weavers were higher than those of cotton-weavers, especially in the Galashiels district, where they made a class of goods which was in great demand and in the production of which there was little competition". and led in the worsted trade to labour shifting. The woollen 2000,076.7°S, had lost their ab- normally high rates 1 Reports, 1840, xxiv. 642. 2 Ib. XXIII. 431. 8 Ib. 431. 4 Reports, 1840, XXIII. 339. Accounts and Papers, 1839, XLII. 563. The decline of wages was partly to be ascribed to the number of discharged soldiers who took up an easily learned employment and “exchanged the musket for the shuttle.” Ib. 568. 5 Reports, 1840, xxIII. 397. 6 Accounts and Papers, 1839, XLII. 570. “As the weavers possess and equitably DISTRESS OF HAND-LOOM WIEAVERS 799 As in the spinning-mills, so in regard to the manufacture of A.D. 1776 cloth, the wool trade in all its branches appears to have been —1850. and suffer- On the whole better conducted than the other trades; but the ed a period chief distress was in the West of England, whence the #ion. migration to Yorkshire was still continuing; in that region exercise the power of preserving a just remuneration for their labour, there is no excess of hands. The masters everywhere expressed themselves desirous not to lower wages, fearing that their profits would likewise fall.” See also Ib. 555, 556. 1 Mr Austin, one of the assistant commissioners in 1840, reported: “Twenty- three years ago the whole of the preceding great clothing district was in its most flourishing condition; the manufacturers were at least twice as numerous as at the present time, and employment could be had at good wages by all who were willing to obtain it. About this time the Corn Laws and the Resumption of Cash Payments Acts were passed; the trade fell off. (One manufacturer states that 25 years ago 200 pieces of cloth were manufactured in a week, and now not above 100. This ruin of the cloth trade following so closely on the heels of the corn law, was naturally considered as an effect of that law.) Many manufacturers failed, or gave up business, and the Sufferings of the manufacturing labourers, for want of work, was extreme. The usual measures were resorted to, such as altering roads and allotments of land (which brought many to permanent out-door work), charitable donations, etc. At that time parish relief was also among the means of subsistence within their reach; the number of weavers gradually diminished, but there are still one-third more than the trade requires, or is likely to require. Power-looms are not extensively used in this district, and have not been the cause directly or indirectly of lowering the wages (which in fact have remained stationary for many years); but it is to be feared that their intro- duction into the neighbouring county (Gloucestershire), and the effect produced on the wages there, will ere long be felt in this part of the country.” Reports, 1840, xxLII. 277. In the progress of society the introduction of more powerful methods of production was inevitable, and cannot be a matter for regret; the attractive power of capital and the higher wages it offered had broken up the old system, and the misery which followed was chiefly due to extraneous causes, for the large mill-owners never initiated a decline of wages. “A reduction of wages,” according to Mr Hickson, “is never the act of a prosperous manufacturer trading to the full extent of his capital. It begins with those whose capital would other- wise be idle and with the unemployed. A weaver having tried in vain to obtain work at the old standard of wages offers his labour at a lower rate and thereby tempts the manufacturer to make up stock for which there is no immediate demand. When the Weaver does not succeed even on these terms in procuring employment, his next attempt is to manufacture upon a small scale on his own account. * * * The weaver in Ireland having no capital on which to fall back, cannot hold lais little stock, as a large manufacturer would do, but is obliged to sell at a sacrifice, and by so doing brings down prices and the value of the labour more rapidly and to a lower point than ever happens in this country. In England wages though slow to rise are as slow to fall. The large manufacturer is the first to gain the advantage of an improvement in trade, but losses on stock upon which full wages have been paid in the hope of prices which cannot be realized, fall exclusively upon himself. It is true he then sets about a reduction of wages but before he can effect it perhaps trade revives and prices show a tendency to advance, he is induced to go on as before.” (Reports, 1840, XXIV. 660.) 800 -- LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. State action seemed impractº- cable : but there has been im- provement of wages from other 2nfluences, there had never been the same jealousy of machinery, and there was reason to believe that the introduction of the power-loom would invigorate the trade and provide in- creased occupation". No measure which Parliament could have taken would have served to prevent the fall of wages under these circumstances; the policy of attempting to lay down a minimum rate and fix living wages had been aban- doned”, the scheme which Owen had advocated” of limiting the out-put of machinery in the interest of the hand workers would have been disastrous to the trade of the community”. No legislative enactment was the outcome of this inquiry; and improvement in wages has been gradually brought about with the steady increase of trade, especially since 1850, and the success with which Trade Unions have urged their demands from time to time. It is in districts where cottage industry survives that the starvation wages and unsanitary conditions", which were common in the thirties and forties, still prevail. 1 Labour shifting had to be taken into account (Reports, 1840, xxLII. 431). * It would have been a great advantage if the rate of pay could have been maintained. The Report of the Select Committee on Manufacturers' Employment points out the important difference which arises in a falling market, according as masters maintain the rate of pay and diminish the employment, or try to force the market by giving an increased out-put at a lower rate of pay. Reports, 1830, X. 227. 8 Life of Robert Owen. Sup. Ap. p. 55. 4 One of the most interesting parts of the Commissioners' Report contains the results of the enquiry they instituted in regard to the condition of hand-loom weavers on the Continent. Their comfort contrasted strikingly with the misery of the operatives at home. In Austria, in Switzerland, the work was done, as had been formerly the case in England, by the peasantry. Weaving was a by- occupation (Accounts, 1839, XLII. 623, 629); though wages were low, the people were able to live in comfort, as they had two mainstays to the household. Only in one country did they report a state of affairs that at all corresponded with the condition of the English operatives, this was in Normandy (Accounts, 1839, XLII. 639): the only Scottish weavers who are specified as having a by-occupation were those of Largs, who did a little fishing (Ib. 519). In this case also weaving was practised as a sole occupation by those who had no other means of support. The English weavers were dependent on the fluctuating basis of trade instead of the solid basis of land. They were exposed to all the variations of circumstances which might arise from changes in foreign markets or contractions of credit. When times were bad they suffered far more severely than the continental peasant, who had his holding to rely on, and though they might get far higher wages than he ever dreamed of, they were not able to recoup themselves for losses in bad times. 5 Mr Hickson's comparison is very instructive: “With regard to health, having DISTRESS OF HAND-LOOM WEAVERS 80] The evidence adduced before the Commission on hand- Aº loom weavers seems to show that, even at that date, the evils which had been brought to light by the Industrial Revolu- tion, or arose in connection with it, were beginning to pass away. The conditions of Sanitation and ventilation in the ºd ś conditions factories were coming to compare favourably with those for health which prevailed in the cottages, and the moral tone of the of factories had distinctly improved". It certainly appears that in 1840 the stigma, which had formerly attached to operatives in the cotton-mills, was no longer deserved; at all events, the domestic weavers scarcely maintained their reputation as examples of honest toil”. The Commissioners gathered the impression” that the older generations of weavers were a fine class of men, though other evidence seems to show that there were black sheep among them; but the trade had been decaying since the great war, and those, who factory em. & ºt gº - © ployment had been brought up in it, under the new conditions of great compare irregularity and poor remuneration, were of the type of favourably dissipated men, and alternated periods of very severe work with periods of entire and not always involuntary idleness. That they were thus demoralised was undoubtedly their misfortune rather than their fault, but the fact is worth seen the domestic weaver in his miserable apartments and the power-loom weaver in the factory, I do not hesitate to say that the advantages are all on the side of the latter. The one if a steady workman confines himself to a single room, in which he eats, drinks and sleeps, and breathes throughout the day an impure air. The other has not only the exercise of walking to and from the factory, but, when there, lives and breathes in a large roomy apartment, in which the air is con- stantly changed. * * * The reason of the better morals of the factory hands was said to be, ‘regularity of hours; regularity therefore of habits, and constant superintendence through the great part of the day. I believe * * * that journey- men tailors, journeymen shoemakers, domestic weavers, and all classes employed at piece-work, at their own homes, will be found to yield more readily to the temptations of idleness and intemperance than the classes who have to attend a warehouse or shop, or to work in a factory. One of the greatest advantages resulting from the progress of manufacturing industry is its tendency to raise the condition of women,” by offering an alternative employment to the needle. “The consciousness of independence * * * is favourable to the development of her best moral emergies.” Reports, 1840, XXIV. 681. 1 Gaskell notes that there had been an improvement in this respect before 1833. Manufacturing Population in England, 66. See Webb, Industrial Demo- cracy, II. 497. 2 As early as 1833 the Glasgow weavers had a very bad reputation. Reports, 1833, xx. 299. 8 Accounts, 1839, XLII. 609. C.# 51 802 LAISSEZ FAIRE noting. It shows that the Industrial Revolution was becoming complete, and that the workers who were not only better off as far as wages went, but better in character, were those who had cast in their lot with the new order of things". The six years of factory inspection had doubtless contributed to raise the tone among mill-workers; the conditions of life in factory towns, especially with regard to intellectual im- provement, and even in some quarters in regard to sanitation and the housing of the poor, were better than in rural districts. In the opinion of one at least of the Commissioners migration from the country to the towns was but the means by which the population obtained better opportunities of employment and ultimately better conditions of comfort”. 271. There was plenty of room for effort to improve the conditions of work in other industries than the textile trades. The Commission of 1833 had called attention to the state of affairs which existed in the potteries and other employments, but it seemed impossible to bring them under any system of inspection and supervision at that time. The manufacturers were inclined to allege that there was need for reform in connection with rural labour, and that the landowners, who had voted for factory regulation, were by no means blameless. In 1843 special Poor Law Commissioners were appointed to investigate the condition of women and children in agriculture. But when they met, it soon became clear that there was no real case for enquiry. The transition in the rural districts, and disappearance of small farms and cottage industries, had been accompanied by much misery; but the new economic relationships which had been established, under capitalist employers, were not on the whole oppressive”. Agricultural A.D. 1776 —1850. with those that cha- racterised cottage industries. The con- ditions of work in various $ndustries were the subject of enquiry, 1 Reports, 1840, XXIV. 681, Robert Owen’s experiment at New Lanark was perhaps the first instance of a well-regulated factory population, but it did not stand alone, as we may see from the account of Mr Ashton's mills at Hyde. Ib. 682. 2 Reports, 1840, xxiv. 677. 8 There were however some peculiar cases of contract in different parts of the country which required attention. The worst evils connected with parish apprentices were a thing of the past. It had been the practice of overseers to take the children of parents who had parish allowances, and to assign them by lot to farmers to whom they were bound till they were twenty-one years of age. In some exceptional cases everything went well, but much more commonly the system worked badly, alike for the apprentice who was bullied, and for the master CONDITIONS OF WORK IN MINES 803 labour was not prejudicial to health in any obvious way, and young children were not employed at all. There was, however, another large and growing industry in which a strong case for State intervention was made out, so soon as the matter was investigated. The degradation of the mining population was not in any sense due to the intro- duction of machinery, and was only indirectly connected with the Industrial Revolution. The grievances, in so far as they affected adults, had been brought about by the increased development of capitalist organisation, and a change of system. It appears that in old days it had been the habit of the miners to undertake work in a particular seam, and that an element of speculation entered into the terms they made". The basis on which wages were paid by the capitalist who exacted unwilling service. There were some remains of the system in Devonshire as late as 1843 (Reports, etc., 1843, XII. 59), but the worst evils had been corrected in 1816 (56 Geo. III. c. 139). In the neighbourhood of Castle Acre, in Norfolk, a system of ‘ganging” had grown up within very recent years. The parish of Castle Acre was held by several proprietors who did not attempt to limit the cottages; it thus came to be overcrowded with the Surplus population of all the surrounding district. There was no sufficient employment for them in Castle Acre, and in many of the neigh- bouring parishes the farmers were short-handed, so that it was convenient to organise gangs; these worked in the fields under an overseer who had taken a contract for doing a certain piece of work. The gangs were often composed of children, and the overseer was a sweater; the system was thoroughly bad, but it appears to have been quite exceptional even in Norfolk, and unknown elsewhere (Reports, etc., 1843, XII. 237). There was also a special custom in Northumberland, where farm labour appears to have been in great demand. The villages were so few and distant that cottages were built on each farm; the labourer was engaged for a year, and was bound to furnish the labour of a woman on the farm as well as his own. The system appears to have been advantageous in many ways to the labourer, but it was said that the houses provided were inferior to cottages which were rented in the usual way. Still there was little substantial grievance in the system, but the name of the bondager roused sentimental objections, of which Cobbett made himself the exponent. Certainly the Northumbrian labourers seem to have been well off as com- pared with those in the southern counties. See especially the very complete labourers’ budget. Ib. 318. * This was most obviously true of copper and lead mining, but appears to have held good of coal mining as well. Prebendary Gisborne wrote, “Hence there is a fundamental diversity between the gains of the miner and those of the husband- man. The husbandman, in general, earns a fixed sum per week. If he sometimes undertakes task work, the amount of his earnings may still be foreseen with tolerable accuracy; and it has a known limit in the strength of his body and in his skill in this particular sort of work. But the pay of the miner depends upon A.D. 1776 —1850. and a strong case was estab- lished for **terfering &n regard to ??????éS, 51—2 804. LAISSEZ, FAIRE Aº employer had survived from the time when this older practice had been generally current. There came, in consequence, to be elements of uncertainty, and serious deductions from the miner's pay, which prevented him from receiving a regular reward for the time spent at his work". This matter, however, like all questions in regard to adult male labour, lay outside the scope of the investigation *::::. which was undertaken on the motion of Lord Ashley. He sion re. had been taunted with a special animus against factory- Jorted in e tº & ††, owners, and in 1840 he proceeded to move that a Commission should be appointed to investigate the whole subject of the employment of women and children in collieries and mines”. In 1842, the Commission presented their Report", which revealed such a disgusting and brutalising state of affairs, that there was a unanimity of opinion in favour of an immediate measure of redress. This was all the more chance. The working miner is almost always in some measure a gambler, and embarks in the adventures of the mine. In common, the miner is not disposed to adjust the scale of his expenses to the average of his earnings. Being accustomed to the occasional receipt of considerable sums of money, money too which has flowed in suddenly upon him, rather from good fortune than from proportionate exertions, he often raises his expenditure and mode of living to a pitch, to which the labourer in agriculture ventures not to aspire. He feeds on better diet, and wears clothes of finer materials than the husbandman. “And, in general, he persists in this manner of life, in spite of a change of circumstances. He is buoyed up with the sanguine hopes of a gamester: and for what he cannot pay to-day draws on the favourable luck of to-morrow. This natural propensity is cherished and aggravated by the ease with which he obtains credit, in comparison of those classes of labourers whose gains though steady, are limited. If he happens to be unsuccessful, he is trusted nevertheless at shops, and permitted to run up long scores at public-houses, through the hopes enter- tained by the shopkeeper and the publican that a day will come when fortune will smile on the debtor. Thus the habits of the miner are seldom interrupted by any rubs and difficulties which may teach him caution. He has less occasion than most other men to dread the immediate inconveniences of poverty; and does not willingly learn the necessity of frugality and forecast.” Georgical Essays, by A. Hunter, Vol. II. (1803), 49, On the Situation of the Mining Poor, by Rev. T. Gisborne. t 1 This state of things constituted a ground of appeal to the public. “Let me tell you, brave men, that the great object which you at present seek becomes pretty generally known to the public, to consist simply in getting twelve hours wages for every twelve hours you labour, as no other men on earth have ever been required to toil.” An earnest Address and Urgent Appeal to the People of England in behalf of the oppressed and suffering Pitmen of the Counties of Northumberland and Durham, by W. Scott, 1831, p. 19. On the irregularity of payment to lead miners, see F. Hall, Appeal to the Poor Miner (1818), p. 40. 2 3 Hansard, Lv. 1260. 8 Reports, 1842, xv. XVI. XVII. CONDITIONS OF WORK IN MINES 805 important as the evils were increasing with frightful rapidity, Aº and were to some extent an indirect consequence of the Factory Act of 1833. The education clauses in that Act had resulted in the discontinuance, in many districts, of the employment of children in factories who were under thirteen The em. years of age. There was, however, nothing to prevent their ; working in mines from very early years and for the longest º hours. “Amongst the children employed,” as Mr Hickson writes, “there are almost always some mere infants * * *; the practice of employing children only six and seven years of age is all but universal, and there are no short hours for them. The children go down with the men usually at 4 o'clock in the morning, and remain in the pit between 11 and 12 hours.” To ascertain the nature of the employment of these young children, he went down a pit 600 feet deep. The galleries were secured by traps or doors to prevent inflammable drafts. “The use of a child six years of age is to open and shut one of these doors when the trucks pass and repass. For this object the child is trained to sit by itself in a dark gallery for the number of hours I have de- scribed".” In some of the collieries young girls as well as boys had been sº s ſº ºn CréaSºng, appear to have been employed, and the British parent who could no longer exploit his children in factories forced them to go to work in the neighbouring mines. This is one of the pieces of evidence which goes to show that the capitalist was not solely to blame in regard to the maltreatment of children, but that there was at least a reckless connivance on the part of the parents. This fact became still more obvious when colliers worked their own children in this way; they had not, generally speaking, the excuse of poverty, as their wages ranged considerably higher than in other callings”. The measure, which was passed, followed on the lines which had proved successful in regard to factories, by arranging for the employment of inspectors, but in other ways the circum- stances of the case demanded special treatment. Boys under but was ten years of age were not to be employed in the pits, and the ###" 1 Reports, 1840, XXIV. 687. 2 Reports, 1840, xxiv. 688. Their average wages, according to the Report, were 24s. a week, cottage rent-free, garden ground and coal free. 806 LAISSEZ FAIRE underground work of women and girls was to cease absolutely within a specified time, which it was hoped might allow for their obtaining employment in other callings". There were also careful provisions with regard to the prevention of accidents; and the period of apprenticeship was defined so as to avoid the recurrence of that practical bondage which was once so common in Scotland”. In this way the exercise of constant State supervision, both in regard to factories and mines, came to be recognised as desirable, with a view to securing the welfare of the labour- ing population. There was no conscious abandonment of the principles of laissez faire. The advocates of interference were content to maintain that they were dealing with ex- ceptional cases. Still the recognition of the fact that there were exceptions, which demanded special treatment, brought about an important new development in practice. The exclusion of women and mere children from mines became so complete, that the excuse of legislating on their behalf could no longer be maintained. The inspectors of mines were as a matter of fact chiefly concerned in enforcing laws and suggesting improvements in the conditions under which work was done by adult men. - 272. The State had done a great deal for improving the conditions in which the operatives worked before any neces- sity was felt for legislating in regard to the homes in which they lived. It was at the centres of the cotton manufacture that the difficulty first attracted attention, and it came into prominence, not as a sign of poverty", but as presenting a A.D. 1776 —1850. as well as that of 200772672, wnder- ground, and a system of State in- spection QUCIS organised. The con- ditions in which labowyers lived 1 5 and 6 Wict. c. 99. % Reports, 1844, XVI. 9. See above, p. 531. 8 It is most remarkable to find that public attention was still forced to the old, rather than to the new social difficulties, in regard to the whole question of poor relief. The insuperable problems of our time seem to be those connected with great cities, with great masses of men huddled together, where there are none of the middle and upper classes to attend to the ordinary machinery of government in the widest sense of the word. So far as the Poor Law Com- missioners of 1834 are concerned these difficulties might Scarcely have existed. That they did exist and were very real we know from other sources. Dr Chalmers had endeavoured to organise a system of relief in Glasgow, which should be given on grounds of charity, and which should not have the demoralising effects of the aid that could be claimed as a matter of right (Christian and Civic Economy of Large Towns, II. pp. 225–365: Political Economy, Works, XIX. 400). He was not apparently aware that the legal relief, which he denounced, had been, as a matter of fact, the outgrowth of a system of voluntary and charitable assistance, such as * CONDITIONS OF LIFE IN TOWNS 807 danger to health. In Manchester, and the towns round it, A.P. 776 there was a vast increase of population, and as early as 1795 Dr Aikin' and Dr Percival called attention to the miserable character of their accommodation. The sudden flocking of attracted the population to these towns was the occasion of over- atteºtto?? crowding in its worst forms, and gave the speculative builder a magnificent opportunity for erecting insanitary dwellings. Friedrich Engels' painstaking description of the housing of the Manchester poor is well worth perusal”. The evil had then been of long standing, and was probably connected with the decay of municipal institutions which was so noticeable in the seventeenth and eighteenth century. In mediaeval times the townsmen had been eager for the maintenance of public health, but it was only after the Municipal Reform of 1833° that administrative authorities were available to attempt to deal with the new problem. Even then an out-ºº: break of side stimulus was needed: not till the cholera appeared, fºre in and it became obvious that the condition in which the labourer constantly lived was a source of public danger in he highly extolled. The changed character of poor relief in modern times is but an instance of the alteration which has taken place in regard to so many duties; as they become common, they also become secularised. There was less difference between the law in England and Scotland than is generally supposed, though there was a very great difference in the administration. Reports, 1839, xx. 168. 1 J. Aikin, A description of the cowntry from thirty or forty miles round Manchester, 1795, p. 192. 2 Engels, Condition of the Working Class, pp. 24–66. 8 The increased efficiency of municipal institutions reorganised under parlia- mentary authority has been one great factor in progress. The old state of affairs is thus described: “In conclusion we report to your Majesty that there prevails amongst the inhabitants of a great majority of the incorporated towns a general and in our opinion a just dissatisfaction with their Municipal Institutions; a distrust of the self-elected Municipal Councils; whose powers are subject to no popular control and whose acts and proceedings being secret are unchecked by the influence of public opinion; a distrust of the Municipal Magistracy tainting with suspicion the local administration of justice, and often accompanied with contempt of the persons by whom the law is administered; a discontent under the burthen of Local Taxation, while revenues that ought to be applied for the public advantage are diverted from their legitimate use, and are sometimes wastefully bestowed for the benefit of individuals, sometimes squandered for purposes injurious to the character and morals of the people. We therefore feel it to be our duty to represent to your Majesty that the existing Municipal Corporations of England and Wales neither possess nor deserve the confidence or respect of your Majesty's subjects, and that a thorough reform must be effected before they can become, what we humbly submit to your Majesty they ought to be, useful and efficient instruments of local government.” Municipal Corporations Commission Report, in Reports, etc. 1835, XXIII. 49. 808 LAISSEZ, FAIRE times of pestilence, were serious measures taken to improve industrial dwellings and to remedy the defective sanitation of our great towns. There is a curious parallelism between the history of the first great outbreak of cholera in Europe and the accounts of the Black Death; though there are also marked differences. Each originated in the East, though not at the same point; each travelled in the course of trade to Europe, though along different routes; and each ran a most devastating course when it reached this island, though one ravaged the country generally, and the other fastened especially on the insanitary areas of towns, and the poorest and famished inhabitants. The character of the disease was well known to medical men; they watched its course from Bombay through Astrakhan to Riga, and predicted with considerable accuracy the points which it was likely to attack". The first case was noticed at Sunderland in 1831; from that place it seems to have spread through the Tyne district; and outbreaks followed shortly after in many of the seaport towns and manufacturing districts”. The most serious epidemic occurred at Bilston in the Black Country, where out of a population of 14,492 there were no fewer than 3,568 cases in seven weeks, and of these 742 proved fatal. The textile districts round Manchester and in the West Riding suffered severely, and the outbreak in Glasgow was very serious. Typhoid had been prevalent in similar areas for many years, and nothing had been done; and even after the cholera scare, some years elapsed before it was felt requisite to take general action in regard to insanitary conditions”. Public opinion was gradually im- pressed, as to the necessity of Governmental action, by the investigations instituted by the Royal Commissioners for enquiring into the state of large towns and populous districts; they insisted that much of the disease in the country was due to preventable causes, and that, in many districts, improved A.D. 1776 —1850. wn in- sanitary districts, and after thorough enguºry 1 R. Orton, An Essay on the Epidemic Cholera of India (1831), 462—469. 2 Compare the table in Creighton, History of Epidemics in Britain, II. 821. * The influence of the cholera epidemic in 1831 in leading to some immediate though minor reforms locally, and the effect of the later visitations in 1849 and 1854 in inspiring the Legislature to renewed activity, is pointed out in the Second Report of the Royal Sanitary Commission (1871), XXXV. 10–14. ‘p. CONDITIONS OF LIFE IN TOWNS 809 drainage, or a sufficient water-supply, would contribute to a A.P.” diminution of mortality". They also pointed out that the injury to health, which arose from noxious manufactures, might be minimised by proper precautions”. The Public º * * epart- Health Act of 1848° was based on their recommendations; ment was e tº sed it created a central authority" to take steps through the “” action of inspectors for constituting local boards; the powers given under the Act provided for the removal of nuisances, and for insisting that any new buildings" erected should conform with a new standard of sanitary requirement. Ad- ditional powers were conferred from time to time", as to the removal of nuisances and insanitary property, but so long as the Local Boards were separate and independent bodies little progress was made in enforcing the Acts. Since the consti- tution of the Local Government Board in 1871", there has been more possibility of bringing pressure to bear on the local authorities, and of exercising some control over sanitary conditions in all parts of the country. The analogy of the system of factory and mining reform has not been followed very far, however, as various aspects of the sanitary problem ºut ºn an tº g * g *nadequate are dealt with by different departments, instead of being scale. committed to one central authority, and there is not sufficient staff for constant inspection. In the meantime a beginning was made in dealing with another side of the problem. It was not only necessary to The work see to the qualitative conditions of the labourers' dwellings, but § for º º * - s the housing to take steps with a view to providing all amount of accommo-ºff. dation that should meet local requirements, without serious danger of overcrowding. Lord Shaftesbury's Labouring 1 Reports of Commissioners for inquiring into the State of Large Towns, 1845, ZVIII. 7. 2 Reports, 1845, xvi.II. 51. 8 11 and 12 Vict. c. 63. 4 The Central Board was reconstituted in 1854, and in 1858 its powers were transferred to the Privy Council. * The Report of the Select Committee of 1840, which contains some interesting statistics as to the rapid growth of Manchester, Glasgow, and other factory towns (Reports, 1840, XI. 279), advocated the introduction of a General Building Act. Rules were laid down for London in 1844 (7 and 8 Vict. c. 84) and permissive powers were conferred on local authorities generally in 1858. 6 18 and 19 Vict. c. 121 and 29 and 30 Vict. c. 90. 7 The necessity of better sanitary administration was one of the chief reasons for taking this step. Reports, 1871, xxxv. 37. 810 LAISSEZ FAIRE AD. It's Classes Lodging-House Act" empowered local authorities - —1850. to purchase houses, which should be used under their control for the letting of lodgings; and the series of Torrens and Cross Acts” not only deal with the demolition of insanitary property, but authorise the building and maintenance of improved dwellings by municipalities. º ... This difficult problem has not been entirely left to public º, authority however, as much useful work has been done, through ; the frugality and enterprise of the higher grades of artisans, in providing themselves with comfortable houses. This has been effected in many cases by the agency of building societies, which enable their members to save money and then to lend to one another on excellent security and easy terms, so that they can build their own houses and even- tually live rent free. This form of self-help was put on a legal basis by an Act in 1836° and has been very widely taken advantage of, though it appears that its popularity among artisans has been declining in recent years. though the There is no question in regard to which it is more diffi- #. cult to lay down the limits of interference by public authority * *ffº” with private transactions than that of the housing of the poor. The standard of Sanitary requirements is changing rapidly, as medical Science throws fresh light on the causes of disease, and the evils of overcrowding become more patent. It has often been found hard to bring home the responsibility for the insanitary state of property to the proper person; and it may be physically impossible to provide sufficient accom- modation, within a limited area, at prices which the poor can afford to pay. Recent improvements in rapid transit are doing something to simplify the problem, but public authority seems to be placed in the dilemma of attempting, either to force individual builders and landlords to carry on their business under unremunerative conditions, or to provide shelter by its own action for the poorest classes in the com- munity at the expense of the rest. 1 14 and 15 Wict. c. 34. * These were consolidated in the Housing of the Working Classes Act in 1890. * 6 and 7 William IV. c. 32, An Act for the Regulation of Benefit Building Societies, RAILWAYS AND STEAMERS 811 We are not concerned with the solution of this difficulty, Aº however, but only with the fact that since 1845 serious attempts & have been made to face it. During the second quarter of the #. nineteenth century administrative machinery had been created ºrating to supervise the conditions of work in many trades and to deal ſº with the conditions of life in general. Henceforth account was gº to be taken of the principal conditions of welfare, so far as the different poorest members of the community were concerned. At first ſº sight it seems to be a return, under new forms, to the paternal Stuarts government of the Tudor and Stuart monarchy; but the differ- ence lies deeper than in the fact that the new administrative bodies derive their authority from statute and not merely from the Crown. The new conception of human welfare is larger; the aims of modern officials are more ambitious. Just as we in its aims have learned that national wealth consists of the aggregate of individual wealth at least, whatever else it may include, so do we recognise that the aggregate of individual welfare constitutes a large part of national welfare. The Stuarts aimed at promoting definite and important national interests, if need be at the expense of individual interests", while modern legislation aims at having a regard to all private interests— chiefly by giving them free play, but also, by fostering them when necessary—as the true means of promoting national interest. At no other period have such pains been taken to secure the healthy development, physical and moral, of the rising generation in all parts of the realm, or has there been and such completely organised national machinery for exercising methods. a control over the conditions in which work is done. W. FACILITIES FOR TRANSPORT. 273. The staple industries of the country had been The de- revolutionised by the introduction of machinery, before serious º of efforts were made to bring inventive power to bear on im-º." proving facilities for transport within the country and by sea. The system of internal communication, both by land and water, had been enormously improved during the last quarter of the eighteenth and the first of the nineteenth century, but * See p. 17 above. 812 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. for im- proved transport QDe're met by the develop- ment of railway enterprise, it failed to keep pace with the increasing demands which had arisen in the manufacturing districts. There was such a congestion of traffic on the canal between Liverpool and Manchester that the proprietors were able to charge very heavy rates. Any scheme, which offered a prospect of estab- lishing a successful competition and bringing about a fall in the cost of carriage, was sure of an eager welcome from the mill- owners; and the project of building a railway, to be worked by locomotive engines, was readily taken up, and obtained Parliamentary sanction in 1825. George Stephenson had already rendered steam-traction a practical success, on a small scale, at Killingworth; and the Stockton and Darlington Railway had been empowered to use the new motor in 1823. The object of the projectors was to obtain a better mode of hauling heavy goods, and they seem to have had no idea of the high rate of speed at which the trains would run; Stephenson had estimated it at fourteen miles an hour. The formal opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, saddened as it was by the accident which caused Mr Huskisson's death, impressed the public mind with the extraordinary possibilities of the railway engine. It was at once obvious that the new system was not only preferable for hauling heavy goods, but for rapid communication as well; the mails were transferred to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway soon after it was opened, and year by year, one or another of the well-appointed coaches, which had been the subject of so much pride, was forced off the road. Ever since 1830 the building and improving of lines of railway has gone on steadily; goods can now be profitably carried at rates which were impossible before, and there has been an extraordinary saving of time as well. As Professor Levi wrote in 1872, “Before the railway was established between Liverpool and Manchester there were twenty-two regular and seven occasional extra coaches, which if full would carry 688 persons. The rail- way carried in eighteen months 700,000 persons, or on an average 1,070 per day. The fare per coach was 10/- inside, 5|- outside; by railway 5/- inside, 3/6 outside. By coach it took four hours to go from Liverpool to Manchester or vice versa, by railway 13 hours. The rate of goods was 15/- per RAILWAYS AND STEAMERS 813 ton, by railway 10/8. By canal, goods took 20 hours, by Aº railway 2 hours'.” º None of the other improvements of the nineteenth century awakened so much foreboding as was roused by the railways at first, and in no other case has the boon to the public been º so immediate and obvious. The profits of the Liverpool and the public Manchester Railway were so large that the market price of” the shares doubled; and the development of traffic was such that the waggons, which had carried goods for long distances before, might have been absorbed in the subsidiary employ- ment of taking goods to and from the stations. The loss involved, in superseding the old methods of transport by a new one, was comparatively slight, and a wonderful stimulus was given to business of every kind. Under the new Poor Law the labourer was much more free to migrate, and the railway gave him facilities to transfer his labour to the districts where it was most wanted. The saving of time and money was a boon to the capitalist, and the rapidity of transit by rail rendered it possible to fetch fruit, dairy produce, fish and other perishable goods, from long distances, to markets in London and other large towns. All classes in the community, both producers and consumers, have derived some economic advantage from increased facilities for inter- communication. The introduction of railways has also served to accelerate but it & e . . accelerated some of the changes which were already at work in English i. i.i. economic life. The effect of the factory system had been to gº concentrate industry in certain localities, where power or *9”. materials were easily obtainable. Manufacturing on a large scale, with much division of labour, became more feasible when there were better means of distributing the goods and finding a market in the most distant parts of the country. This concentration of labour in factories has had a correspond- ing effect on rural districts; there has been an increased differentiation between town and country, and diminished scope for the employment of the village artisan, or for the tradesman who catered, in market towns, for a rural neigh- bourhood. The introduction of railways has given an immense * Leone Levi, op. cit. 193. 814 LAISSEZ, FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. especially after the system was introduced 2n America. The appli- cation of Sté0/m2 power stimulus to the material prosperity of the country as a whole; but there are districts which have profited little, if at all, by the change, while the increase of wealth in the progressive centres has been unexampled. Great as was the impulse which was given to economic progress by the building of railways in England, the revolu- tion they effected in other lands was even more remarkable. Distances in Great Britain are comparatively short, and the obstacles to internal communication by road, or water, are not insuperable; railways only served for the most part to improve existing lines of traffic. In America the conditions were entirely different; railways rendered it possible to establish direct connection between the Eastern and the Middle States; the great plains, beyond the Alleghanies, which had been dependent for all their traffic on the Ohio, the Tennessee and the Mississippi, now found means of direct access to the Atlantic coast, and the railways have enabled successive generations of pioneers to push farther and farther West. Steam traction shows itself at its best in hauling freight over great distances; it is under those circumstances that the full convenience of the railway system comes out most clearly. The United States had begun to supply this country with cereals to some extent, before and during the Napoleonic War, but it has only been as a consequence of the intro- duction of railways that the English farmer is regularly and ordinarily exposed to competition with the wheat growers of the most fertile regions of the West. The development of the railway system in America has done much to deprive the landed classes in England of the natural protection, which was afforded by distance and difficulty of transport". The application of steam power to shipping has had somewhat similar results. At first it was introduced in connection with internal communications in canals. The Charlotte Dundas was the first steam-tug that ever plied; in 1803 she was at work on the Forth and Clyde Canal. A more ambitious attempt was successfully carried out in America in 1807, when regular communication by steam- packet was established on the Hudson, between New York 1 Reports, 1888, XLV. 362. RAILWAYS AND STEAMERS 815 and Albany. Farther progress was comparatively slow, as it A.P. º was not till 1820 that steamers were employed between g Dublin and Holyhead; and it was only in 1838 that the first Transatlantic voyages were attempted. The Enterprise fº. had made the voyage to Calcutta in 1827, but this proved mºre unremunerative, and the difficulties of obtaining fuel and gradual, Working engines in the tropics, rendered the success of such long and distant trips problematical. Still the new invention opened up a prospect of rendering communication with India much more rapid, and the Government, along with the East India Company, organised a system for reopening the old route to the East through Egypt. This was a scheme which we inherited from Napoleon, and it was well-adapted for the early days of steaming, as the long voyage was interrupted by a brief journey overland. In 1835 steamers were regularly passing between Bombay and Suez, while the English Govern- ment despatched vessels to convey letters to Alexandrial. The detailed facilities for this overland route were carried out by Lieutenant Waghorn; and the dromedary post which had been organised by Bagdad, Damascus, and Beyrout was superseded. The superiority of the steamer in regularity and punctu- ality was obvious from the first, so far as passenger traffic was concerned; and the increase of steam-shipping went on side by side with that of sailing-vessels for thirty years. Steam had no such superiority over sailing as to supersede the older system on the water, in the rapid manner in which the locomotive asserted its superiority on land. Gradually, however, the regularity and punctuality of steam-ship voyages . #ſº began to tell for freight, as well as for travellers, and since benefied 1860 the increase of steam-shipping appears to have occurred *::::: to some extent at the expense of the sailing-vessels. The new motor power has played a part in the recent develop- ment of British commerce. This has been advantageous to the manufacturer, as giving facilities both for the purchase of materials and the sale of goods, but the landed interests but not the have derived little advantage and have been exposed to *:::::. keener competition. On the whole it would seem that the * Lindsay, Merchant Shipping, Iv. 358. 816 LAISSEZ FAIRE introduction of improved facilities for traffic has tended to depress the landed interest relatively to the merchant and manufacturer. - 274. The development of the means of transport during the first half of the nineteenth century was accompanied by considerable changes in business organisation. The new undertakings, which were called for in order to carry on the trade of the country, were on such a scale that they offered a field for associated rather than private enterprise. This form of trading had been greatly discredited', since the era of speculation, when the South Sea Scheme had been floated. In 1719 the Bubble Act was passed”, which prohibited the formation of companies with transferable shares, unless they obtained incorporation by charter from the Crown or by Act of Parliament. Unincorporated companies had no legal existence, since they could neither sue nor be sued, and they were not partnerships, as the shares were being constantly transferred; they were an anomaly in the business world, since contracts could not be enforced or debts recovered. Even the chartered corporations had an unfair advantage in trade; as the members were only liable for the amount of their contribution, and no individual was personally responsible for the debts incurred by the corporation. When in 1825 the Bubble Act was repealed”, and opportunity was given for the formation of joint-stock companies, pains were taken to protect the public in their dealings with companies. Power was given to the Crown, when granting a charter of incorporation to a trading company, to render the members who composed it personally liable for the whole or any part of the debts of the corporation. From this time onwards, when the complete responsibility of the members of corporations was secured, there has been a tendency to facilitate the formation of joint-stock companies rather than to discourage them. In 1844 arrangements were made by which trading companies could obtain a Certificate of Incorporation" on simple conditions and without the delay and expense which were involved in appealing to A.D. 1776 — 1850, Under the $nfluence of new conditions facilities were given for the formation of joint stock companies 1 Napier, in A Century of Law Reform, 580. * 6 Geo. I. c. 18, § 18. 8 6 Geo. IV. c. 91. * 7 and 8 Vict. c. 110. JOINT-STOCK COMPANIES 817 the Crown or Parliament. A still more remarkable change A.P.1776 occurred in 1855, when the principle of the limited liability ..., of shareholders, which previous generations had considered to §, be so dangerous, was recognised as reasonable. Companies, y with shares of £10 and upwards, could henceforth be formed, the shareholders of which were not, in the event of the bankruptcy of the company, liable for more than the amount of their shares. The Company Acts were consolidated in 1862°, and greater opportunity was given than before for obtaining a number of small contributions towards the large capital which was necessary to carry on the trade of the world. There had been some discussion, during the eighteenth and these e © & were largely century, as to the kinds of business for which Company used organisation was adapted, and Adam Smith had laid down the canon that it could only be suitably introduced in cases where the conduct of affairs could be reduced to some sort of routine; but owing to changed circumstances it was possible to bring much of the external traffic of the realm under these appropriate conditions. The business of carrying became more completely differentiated from that of trading in goods, and companies were formed to organise and maintain fleets of steamers and sailing-vessels, which should ply at regular intervals between definite ports. In 1840, a firm of ship-for trans- owners, which was already responsible for the conveyance of ºig. mails to the Peninsula, was reconstituted on a joint-stock basis, and obtained such a command of capital as to be able to provide a regular service of steamers between London and Alexandria, and between Suez and Bombay". Similarly the partnership of Messrs Cunard, Burns, and McIver, to whom the contract” for conveying the Atlantic mails by steamer was given in 1838, was the foundation of the Cunard Company. Communication with the West Indies was accelerated by the formation of the Royal Mail Steam-Packet Company, which started on a large scale; the venture did not prove re- munerative at first, and the company only maintained its l 18 and 19 Vict. c. 133. 2 25 and 26 Wict. c. 89. ° Lindsay, History of Merchant Shipping, IV. 388. 4 Ib. 180. C.* 52 818 LAISSEZ, FAIRE existence through the aid of considerable subsidies granted by Government"; the Pacific Steam Navigation Company had even greater difficulty in developing the trade which was necessary to render their enterprise profitable. It was only gradually that the conditions, in which the competition of steamers, whether under company or private management, with Sailing-vessels could be successfully carried on, came to be better understood. These new shipping companies had no pretensions to exclusive rights, and were in this way entirely unlike the great trading companies of the seventeenth century. The regulated companies had for the most part been thrown open about the time of the Revolution, and during the eighteenth century they seem to have gradually lost their practical importance, but the two great joint-stock companies were retained. The conditions, which had rendered company trading with Hudson Bay desirable, still prevailed; but the very success of the East India Company, in the exercise of its political and military powers, removed the excuse for con- tinuing its exclusive trade. The fact that a stable Government had been established, rendered it possible for any Englishman to trade with India, without causing difficulties with the native potentates. In 1813 the trade to India was thrown open to all British subjects”; but the Company still retained a monopoly of the trade with China, and controlled the supply of tea. This had become an article of common consumption in England during the eighteenth century, and the Company appeared to reap a large profit from the terms on which they Supplied it. The controversy, which arose on this subject, was a curious echo of the seventeenth century debates onwell-ordered trade, though the point in question was the dearness of an import”, and not the diminution of the vent for English cloth". 1 Lindsay, History of Merchant Shipping, Iv. 295. 2 The Company continued to transmit a certain quantity of goods to this country, as that was the most convenient form in which to make their remittances, but they practically ceased to take any part in the export trade from this country. Mill, History (Wilson), Ix. 332. 8 There is a certain analogy with the fourteenth century disputes about the vintners and the high price of wine. Vol. I. p. 318. A.D. 1776 —1850. The trade of the East Jndia Co. to India was thrown open in 1813, 4. On the complaints which were urged against the Merchant Adventurers for their stint see above, p. 231 n. 4. JOINT-STOCK COMPANIES 819 The Company were able to limit the quantity of tea imported Aº and thus to control the price. The method of sale had been defined by the Act of 1784, when it was determined that the Company should, four times a year, put up for auction a quantity of tea, which they supposed would meet but the the demand. The upset price was to be such as would fº, defray the prime cost, freight, etc. The Company however * calculated these various items on a system which gave rise to much complaint. It was held that, if they pushed the sale of English manufactures in China, they could procure the goods on far cheaper terms, that their charges for freight were excessive, and that their costly establishments were an un- necessary burden. The merchants pointed out that the price of tea in Hamburg was about half of that paid at the East India auctions in London; but the Company retorted that the critics took no account of the difference of quality. The interest of the English consumers prevailed, however, against a privileged body of traders; and the China trade was thrown open in 1833. The difficulties which have been found since that time, in maintaining satisfactory political relations with the Chinese authorities, and in affording protection to and exercising authority over European traders, have been very great it may at least be doubted whether the old method of trading, through an exclusive company, was not after all well adapted to the circumstances of the country. Till 1833 all trade be- ºãºn tween the Chinese and the outside world had been carried 1833, on through the agency of a corporation of native merchants known as the Co-hong, who seem to have exercised the same sort of privileges which were formerly bestowed on Gilds merchant. They were responsible for one another's debts, an arrangement which enabled some of them to trade recklessly on credit, and caused frequent difficulty"; and a Hongist was responsible for the good behaviour of each foreign merchant". An exclusive mercantile company, like the East India Com-º: abandon- pany, was organised on lines which they understood; but the ulemſ of g * * * * tº well-order- Chinese had no respect for the civilisation, or powers, of ed trade e ë through th European States. The policy of the East India Company, #º l6 * J. F. Davis, The Chinese (1840), 46. 2 Ib. 47, 60. 52—2 820 LAISSEZ FAIRE and of the central Chinese Government, had harmonised in regard to the smuggling of opium. The East India Company were anxious to maintain their monopoly in the growth of Indian opium, while the Chinese desired to limit and control the consumption of the drug. Opium had been regularly imported under a duty till 1796, when the importation was prohibited; and systematic Smuggling was subsequently developed on a large scale”. Dire confusion in regard to this and all other branches of commerce followed from the sudden suppression of the exclusive powers of the Company. The attempt to estab- lish political, as distinguished from commercial relations, was a failure, for when Lord Napier arrived in Canton, in 1834, as the direct representative of the British Crown, the Chinese Government treated him with contempt. The new commercial methods did not commend themselves to the Chinese; the Hongists were dissatisfied with the change, and demanded that the English should elect a com- mercial chief to control their shipping". The English merchants too, as isolated individuals, had greater difficulties about recovering debts than in former days". All regu- lation was at an end; the illicit trade in opium, against which the Chinese had protested, was now carried on with- out disguise at Canton; and the enforced surrender by British merchants of a large quantity of the drug led to the necessity of armed intervention. The so-called Opium War A.D. 1776 —1850. in favour of open compe- tition had disastrous results, 1 The East India Company had endeavoured to put down the growth of the poppy in Rajputama; though the treaties by which the suppression of the culti- vation was secured could not be strictly enforced, they did succeed in greatly limiting the trade. Mill, op. cit. Ix. 174. * The opium which was thus smuggled was mostly grown in Mahoor and other Rajputama States, whence it was conveyed to Karachi to be shipped. Much of this contraband business was chiefly carried on by the Portuguese at Macao, and by other traders, most if not all of them British, at Lintin, a small island at the mouth of the Canton river. Davis, op. cit. p. 49. 8 This was much needed, as some of the British traders were mere buccaneers, who were prepared to indemnify themselves by acts of reprisal on their own account (Davis, 57). The Chinese were quite incapable of controlling their own subjects. About 1810 the seas were completely infested by a body of pirates, known as Ladrones, who were latterly commanded by a woman (Ib. 34). We can perhaps find a parallel in Europe in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, with the Rovers of the Sea (Vol. I. p. 366), or Victual Brothers. 4 Davis, op. cit. 59. JOINT-STOCK COMPANIES 821 was concluded in 1842 by a treaty, under which Hong-kong Aº" was ceded to England, and trade at Shanghai, Canton, Amoy, Ningpo, and Foo-chow-foo was opened to British subjects; while the monopoly of the Hongists, as the agents for foreign trade, was entirely done away. For good or for evil, the system of relieving the Govern- ment of responsibility for distant trades, by conferring com- bined political and trading rights on an exclusive company, had come to an end. The East India Company had lost its ſº trading character, and continued as an administrative body mant of for political and military purposes till the outbreak of the ſº Mutiny in 1857, when the governmental system of India was ; * reconstructed. The other great seventeenth century company which survived, retained its character as a trader, but had lost much of its political significance". Since the conquest of Canada, the forts on Hudson's Bay had ceased to be the out- posts of English encroachment on the sphere of French influence. In so far as the company form has been retained in more recent times in connection with the development of Borneo or of Rhodesia”, there is no real reversion to the old type. The company system has been adopted, not as a means of relieving the Government of responsibility, but as an administrative form through which the duty of the State, for the protection of English traders and of native races, can be most effectively exercised. In the same decade, in which the last vestiges of monopoly The danger ſe $º º Of 7720700- in the foreign trade of the country were being broken down, join grow. it became necessary to guard against the danger of a new §.ſº monopoly arising in connection with internal communications. ..." In countries where railways had been built by the State, Catton, the difficulty of protecting the public welfare from private interests did not arise; but in England, the development of the new system of transport was left to associated enterprise, and was effected by joint-stock companies. The legislature had anticipated that the roads laid down by the railway companies would be available for private persons to run their own engines and waggons, subject to the payment of tolls. It 1 See above, p. 279 n. 4. * Nicholson, Political Economy, II. 254. 822 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. Zed to the interference of Govern- 7ment. On behalf of the public and to the institution of the Railway Commis- Sion. The ºn- adequacy soon became clear, however, that this plan was impracticable, and that it was necessary that there should be on every line “one system of management under one superintending authority, which should have the power of making and of enforcing all regulations necessary for the protection of pas- sengers, and for duly conducting and maintaining this new mode of communication. On this account it is necessary that the company should possess a complete control over their line of roads, although they should thereby organise an entire monopoly of the means of communication’.” So soon as the actual condition of affairs was recognised it was felt that these private companies should be “so controlled, as to secure the public, as far as possible, from any abuse which might arise under this irresponsible authority.” It was necessary on one hand to provide that every reasonable precaution should be taken to insist on the safety of the travelling public, and on the other to see that the companies did not charge excessive fares. An important step in this latter direction was taken by the Act of 1844, which rendered the running of trains at the fare of one penny a mile obligatory”, while the establishment of a Railway Commis- sion”, in 1873, has afforded the means of exercising a constant supervision over rates in the public interest. This was a remarkable development of State interference; it could no longer be treated as exceptional action in order to protect those who were too helpless to protect themselves; there was here a definite revolt from laissez faire, and an assertion of the necessity of controlling the manner in which business was carried on, so that there should be due regard to public welfare. 275. The increase of commercial intercourse, which of the crédit occurred during the earlier part of the nineteenth century, system for modern re- quirements involved a great development of the credit system of the country. Several changes in the organisation and manage- ment of banks were brought about, for experience was growing, and the necessity of altering financial practice had been forced 1 I'eport, 1839, X. 133; second report, p, vii. 2 7 and 8 Vict. c. 85. 8 36 and 37 Vict. c. 48. EANKING FACILITIES 823 upon the attention of the country by the recurrence of Aº commercial crises. © There was wide-spread and severe disaster in 1825. The was failure of Spain to retain her hold over her colonies had º: opened up Mexico and Spanish South America as fields for * * the sale of English goods, and the investment of English capital. This gave rise to a sudden development of mining speculation", and a large exportation of English manufactures; while there was also a considerable response on the part of the English public to the demands of the new republican government for loans for public purposes”. As a conse- quence a rapid drain of gold began, and the Bank failed to check it by contracting its issues; since large quantities of paper were put into circulation by the country banks, and merchants were compelled to realise, there was an inflation of prices. After credit had thus unduly expanded, the Bank decided that a sudden change of policy was necessary, and in May 1825 contracted its issues. Alarm spread, and many of the country banks were unable to meet their engagements, or honour the notes which they had issued; a deficiency of the circulating medium was in consequence brought about. It became impossible to borrow money on any terms”, and numerous important firms failed; but the Bank had been able to hold its own, partly by utilising £1 notes; bullion began to come from France; and the Bank, by issuing freely as soon as the worst was over, replaced the gap in the circu- lating medium that had been caused by the discredit of the which led notes of country banks. ºwa The disasters of the time were alleged to be due to the :::::::: he policy which had been pursued in granting a monopoly to º the Bank of England, as against other companies". This was #. 1 McLeod, Theory and Practice of Banking, II. 110. * The conversion of the English debt in 1824 and reduction of interest on 4 per cent. stock to 3% per cent. caused investors to look out for foreign securities that offered higher rates. Ib. II. 108. * The usury laws, which rendered interest above 50/o illegal, proved an obstacle to prevent lenders from offering money at the high rates which the state of the market justified. Ib. 112. * This was Lord Liverpool's opinion: “What was the system in existence at present 2 Why the most rotten, the most insecure, the very worst in every respect that could possibly be conceived. Any petty tradesman, any grocer or 824 LAISSEZ FAIRE said to have prevented any general development of banking facilities throughout the country, such as had occurred in Scotland through the competition of powerful banks. The Bank of England took some steps to follow the example of the Scotch banks, by starting branches in Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham, and other towns". At the same time, a measure was passed which broke down the monopoly of the Bank of England in the provinces, as it allowed the formation of joint-stock companies, to carry on banking business at any place which was distant more than sixty-five miles from London”; but comparatively little progress was made". Joint- stock enterprise laboured under many disadvantages", and it was only after 1838, when these banking companies obtained power to sue and be sued", that they began to increase not Only in numbers, but in reputation as substantial under- takings; additional facilities for forming such banks were given in 1844". Even before the commencement of provincial joint-stock banking, the question had been raised as to whether the charter of the Bank of England really prevented the starting of new banking companies', or whether it merely prevented a new banking company, when started, from engaging in certain kinds of business. When the Bank charter was re- newed in 1833 the Directors endeavoured to secure a definition of their claim which would strengthen their position, but the Government refused to impose any new restriction, and set the matter at rest by a declaratory clause”. Advantage was at once taken of the permission, thus accorded, to organise the London and Westminster Bank. It had no power to issue notes; but it was in a position to receive deposits, and make advances to traders. The success, which attended its opera- A.T). 1776 and to the develop- ment of provincial banks, and of banks with power of tissuing notes in London. cheesemonger, however destitute of property, might set up a bank in any place, whilst a joint-stock company, however large their capital, or a number of in- dividuals exceeding six, however respectable and wealthy they might be, were precluded from so doing.” Hansard, N.S. XIV. 462. - 1 McCulloch, Dictionary (1840), 76. 2 7 Geo. IV. c. 46. 8 M&Leod, op. cit. II. 383. 4 See above, p. 816. 5 1 and 2 Vict. c. 96. 6 7 and 8 Wict. c. 113. 7 Mr Joplin argued in 1823 that the existing charter of the Bank did not exclude joint-stock companies. McLeod, op. cit. II. 384. 8 3 and 4 Will. IV. c. 98, § 3. EANKING FACILITIES 825 tions, gave the public a new conception of the nature of banking business, and showed that this might be largely developed, without interfering with the responsibility of the Bank of England in issuing notes. Such was the state of affairs in 1844, when an opportunity occurred of revising the terms on which the charter of the Bank was granted". Sir Robert Peel treated the difference which had emerged, between the issue of notes and dealing in other forms of paper-money”, as a matter of principle, and divided the Bank of England into two departments; one of these carried on banking, in competition with other institu- tions, while the other was concerned with the issue of notes. It was his opinion that the inflation of prices in 1825, and the crisis of 1837, had been due to over-issues of notes, and that the power of augmenting the circulating medium should be restricted. This view had been gaining ground for some time; it had so far met with acceptance that the issue of £1 notes had been discontinued in England”. By the Act of 1844 it was determined that no new institution should have a right of issuing notes, and provision was made with a view to extinguishing the right in the case of existing banks, or of transferring it to the Bank of England". Sir Robert Peel desired to get the whole business of issuing notes concentrated in the hands of the Bank of England. He refused, moreover, to leave any discretion to the directors in the management of this Issue Department. £14,000,000 in Government se- curities was to be transferred to the issue department, and for every note that was issued beyond this amount, bullion was to be retained in the vaults of the Bank. It was hoped that in this way the currency of the country would be mechanically kept on the same level as if it actually consisted of gold", and that variations in credit would not react on the ordinary circulating medium. A.D. 1776 —1850. 1 The privileges conferred in 1833 did not actually expire till 1855, but Parliament had a right of revision in 1844. 3 Hansard, LXXIV. 720. * He distinguished between paper currency and paper credit. 3 Hansard, LXXIV. 734. 8 7 Geo. IV. c. 6. 4 7 and S Wit. c. 32. 5 Sir R. Peel said in introducing his measure:—“My first question, therefore, is, What constitutes this Measure of Value? What is the signification of that By the Act of 1844 the respon- sibility for tissuing 720téS 70 QS CO72- centrated in the Pank o England, 826 LAISSEZ, FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. The expectations of Sir Robert Peel were soon to be falsified, however; before three years had elapsed a very serious crisis occurred. This had not been brought about by over-trading and the inflation of prices; indeed it followed a period of commercial depression, which was chiefly due to the vigour with which railway enterprise was taken up, and the fact that the ordinary course of commercial transactions was dislocated. In the autumn of 1845, 2,069 miles of railway were opened, with a capital of £64,238,600; while 3,543 miles of railway were in progress, involving capital to the amount of £74,407,520%. Of course there was no im- mediate return on this large amount of capital; it was for the time absolutely sunk; the investment of so much money, in forms that were not immediately productive, had the result of injuring many branches of industry, and depressing commerce. In so far as the wealth devoted to railway enter- prise was withdrawn from circulation in the form of wares, the effects were for the time being disastrous. The proprietors had less means available to purchase goods. Capitalists found that their sales diminished; they were unable to replace their stock of materials, or to continue to pay wages, until their stores of finished goods were realised; and a general stagnation resulted”. As Mr Wilson puts it, “Let but this did not prevent the occur- rence of crises. The large amount of capital sunk in railway enterprise word ‘a Pound,’ with which we are all familiar 2 What is the engagement to pay a “Pound 2 Unless we are agreed on the answer to these questions it is in vain we attempt to legislate on the subject. If a “Pound' is a mere visionary abstraction, a something which does not exist either in law or in practice, in that case one class of measures relating to Paper Currency may be adopted; but if the word “Pound,’ the common denomination of value, signifies something more than a mere fiction—if a “Pound’ means a quantity of the precious metals of certain weight and certain fineness—if that be the definition of a “Pound,’ in that case another class of measures relating to Paper Currency will be requisite. Now, the whole foundation of the proposal I am about to make rests upon the assumption that according to practice, according to law, according to the ancient monetary policy of this country, that which is implied by the word “Pound” is a certain definite quantity of gold with a mark upon it to determine its weight and fineness, and that the engagement to pay a Pound means nothing, and can mean nothing else, than the promise to pay to the holder, when he demands it, that definite quantity of gold. * * * We want only a certain quantity of paper, not indeed fixed and definite in nominal amount, but just such a quantity, and that only, as shall be equivalent in value to the coin it represents.” 3 Hansard, LXXIV. 723, 736. 1 Wilson, Capital, Currency and Banking, p. vi. 2 The doctrine that demand for commodities is not demand for labour, is often stated in a form which neglects the necessity for the replacement of capital, by the BANIKING FACILITIES 827 us suppose manufacturers in Lancashire paying five millions Aº of pounds in wages; that money is expended in provisions, g clothing, &c., by their work-people; and a very large portion in commodities produced abroad; such as the sugar, tea, coffee, a great part of the material of their clothes, &c.; but and º all these commodities are paid for by a portion of their }; labour exported in the form of cotton goods. But on the ſº other hand, suppose five millions paid for wages on railways'; the same portion goes for the consumption of imported com- modities, tea, sugar, coffee, materials of clothing, &c., but no portion whatever of their produce is exported, or can be so, to pay for those commodities. Again, with respect to the money paid for iron; the demand for this article increases the quantity made, which is all absorbed in these under- takings, but the largest portion of the price goes to pay wages, which are again to a great extent expended in articles of foreign import, while no equivalent of export is produced against them, so that a large portion of the whole money expended in railways is actually paid for imported com- modities, while no equivalent of export is produced. Now this state of things acts in two ways on the commerce of the country, next upon the exchanges, and quickly upon the money market. The extraordinary expenditure at home increases very much the consumption of all commodities, both of foreign import and home production, and raises their price, as is the case at this time. The high price of foreign commodities induces to a large importation; the high price and home demand for domestic produce cause a decreased export. The exchanges are thus turned against us, and we must remit money for the payment of that balance created by the use of those foreign commodities consumed in sale of goods which have been actually produced. Unless capital is replaced by sale and thus realised, it cannot be transferred to other directions of employment. The permanent effects of increasing unproductive, at the expense of productive consumption, are frequently dwelt on in economic treatises, but the railway mania illustrates the mischiefs which may temporarily arise, from a sudden increase of productive consumption, and a sudlem cessation of the ordinary consumption, whether productive or not. 1. As wages are paid in coin, not in paper, large permanent works are apt to cause an internal drain on the reserve of the Bank, and thus to entail difficulties in regard to credit. Nicholsom, op. cit. II. 210. 828 LAISSEZ FAIRE this country by those, no part of whose produce had been exported to represent their consumption. One of the most certain symptoms that can be shown of an undue absorption of capital going forward in internal investments, is when we See our imports increasing more rapidly than our exports, or when the former are increasing and the latter are diminishing".” The phenomena thus described continued to manifest themselves for several years; and their effects were in many ways peculiar; in none more so than in bringing about large payments for customs and excise, so that there were prosperous budgets while trade was generally speaking depressed”. The irony of the situation seemed complete, when an abundant harvest induced a crisis, by bringing about a fall in the price of corn. During the preceding years there had been large importations of cereals from the United States, which were partly occasioned by the potato famine in Ireland. The Liverpool merchants were unable, in the autumn of 1847, to obtain the prices they anticipated; several firms collapsed, and more than one of the Liverpool and Manchester banks stopped payment. The position of the Bank of England seemed critical, as the reserve was reduced, during the last fortnight of October, from over £3,000,000 to £1,600,000°. Paper of every sort was so discredited that there was great difficulty in carrying on monetary transactions, and at last the Government yielded to the pressure of mercantile opinion and suspended the Bank Act, so that notes could be issued, while at the same time the rate was raised to 8 °/o. The mere knowledge that reliable paper was forthcoming served to allay the tension, and the Bank did not find it necessary, after all, to issue notes beyond the number permitted by the Act of 1844. - The incident did much to discredit the reputation of Peel as a financial authority. The measure, which had been intended to prevent the inflation of prices, had served to check the action of the Bank in intervening to redress the A.D. 1776 —1850. together with a sudden change in the corn trade from a good harvest, brought about the crisis of 1847. The Bank justifies its . position, 1 Wilson, Capital, Currency and Banking, p. xvii. 2 Northcote, Twenty Years, 83. * Palgrave, Dictionary, S.V. Crisis. PUBLIC POLICY : NAVIGATION 829 mischief and restore confidence. The current diagnosis of Aº the causes of a crisis seemed to be mistaken, as the disaster of 1847 had followed on a period of depression, when the issue of notes had been well below the average. The only tº & g ſº ... by control- speculation that occurred took place in connection with ling the railroad shares, and had no influence on general prices º Of Subsequent experience has confirmed the view that the importance of bank notes, as an element in commercial transactions, is not so great as had been supposed; but the result of the legislation of the period has been to give much greater freedom for banking. The unique position of the tº. Bank of England now consists chiefly in its responsibility for reserve. maintaining a reserve on which the fabric of credit ultimately rests. The granting of permission to found a number of rival institutions has been amply justified. There has been an increasingly wide and varied experience as to the guidance of commercial affairs through the increased facilities of credit which are afforded to the community. 276. These greatimprovements in the means of transport ..., and in the facilities for trade synchronised with a change in of com- the commercial policy of the realm. The principle of laissez" faire, which had been adopted with regard to industry, in the beginning of the nineteenth century, was gradually recognised as applicable to the foreign commerce of the country. Under the mercantile system, in its various phases, an effort had been made to regulate the maritime trade, so as to build up the power of the country by the Navigation Laws, to stimu- late industry by protective tariffs, and to foster agriculture by means of Corn Laws. Those objects were to some extent incompatible, and the means, which were adopted for pursuing one of these ends, were apt to prove injurious as regards another. The thirty years, which succeeded 1820, saw a complete abandonment of the old method of interfering with the course of trade. The first step in revolutionising English tºise policy was taken by the merchants of London, who presented agitation a petition in 1820°, which lays down the principles of ...” 1 Hansard, N.S. I. 179. The petition led to the appointment of a Committee of the House of Commons, the report of which expresses a general agreement with the views of the merchants. Ib. II. 546. 830 LAISSEZ FAIRE Aº unrestricted commercial intercourse. They laid stress on agains, the the desirability of enquiring into the effects of the existing fººd System and seeing how far it had induced the depression regulation of which they complained. They also noted that the main- tenance of protective tariffs of any kind in England provoked retaliatory measures on the part of other nations, and that English trade was seriously affected by restrictions imposed in foreign countries. There was one small but immediate measure of relief. Since 1714 the importers of tobacco, rice, and other colonial products had had the opportunity of depositing goods under bond in warehouses, without paying customs, and with a view to subsequent exportation. This privilege was ex- tended to all merchants importing goods of any sort", in the hope of making England a depôt, not only for colonial produce, but for all kinds of merchandise. The same object - was put forward in the following session as a reason for %. greatly modifying the Navigation Laws. The question as to Acts. whether these Acts were beneficial or not had been much debated in the seventeenth century”, but in the nineteenth there seemed to be a general consensus of opinion as to their operation. An opponent of any change admitted that the navigation policy in vogue, “is certainly not favourable to the growth of our own foreign commerce, or of that opulence which arises out of it, but while it makes commercial profit a subordinate object, it lays the foundation of naval power".” The advocates of abandoning the system did not disparage it; but argued that it had served its political purpose", and that the shipping of the country might be trusted to flourish so long as commerce prospered. “What,” Mr Wallace asked, “was the best and truest support of the navy, but a large, extensive, and flourishing commerce : He did not know a country in the world that had a great navy without an extensive commerce, neither did he know any State that had a flourishing commerce without being at the same time a great naval power".” As things stood, the colonial trade was 1 1 George IV. c. 7. 2 See above, p. 210. 8 Mr Marryat in Hansard, N.S. v. 1300. 4 Mr Wallace in Hansard, N.S. VII. 714. 5 Mr Wallace in 3 Hamsard, VII. 713. PUBLIC POLICY : NAVIGATION 831 entirely confined to British ships, and must pass directly Aº between the mother-country and the colonies; but countries which had shipping of their own, including not only the European countries but the United States and Brazil, could have commercial intercourse with Britain, either in their own or in British ships. The measure of 1822 repealed disabilities which had been imposed out of antagonism to the Dutch”, but made no substantial change in our relations with other maritime nations; so far as they were concerned, a far more important step was taken in the following years, when power Reciprocal was given to the Crown to agree by treaty to reciprocal ſ:". trade with any country on equal terms", and to refrain from ...}..., continuing the discriminating duties which were imposed on .." goods imported in foreign ships". By this means the danger y of retaliatory duties being maintained by foreign powers was averted, as all the leading commercial nations entered into agreements for reciprocity in this matter". There was also a considerable relaxation in the navigation gºd º policy as regards the colonies, for they were allowed to º export their produce direct to foreign ports in Europe, .#. instead of being obliged to ship them by way of the mother- * country". At the same time, a revised tariff embodied the principle of giving preference to colonial products in the English market", and a serious attempt was made to bring about increased economic co-operation between the different parts of the Empire, while intercommunication was still to be carried on in British Shipping. In 1845 it appeared that this policy was on the whole working satisfactorily, and the Navigation Acts were codified". But grievances arose, and British shippers were accused of making use of their 1. 3 George IV. c. 43. 3 DIansard, N.S. VII. 715. 8 4 George IV. c. 77. 4 Huskisson in Hamsard, N.S. Ix. 793. * Leone Levi, op. cit. 166 n. 6 3 George IV. c. 45. 7 Hills, Colonial Preference in Compatriot Club Lectures, 285. 8 In 1844 a Committee of the House of Commons was appointed on the mercantile marine at the instance of shipowners, who desired protection against colonial shipping. Lindsay, Merchant Shipping, III. 70. See Mr Labouchère's speech on the products of the inland States. 3 Hansard, xCVIII. 997. 832 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. monopoly of the colonial trade to charge excessive freights". The Irish famine had led to a temporary suspension of the Acts, so far as the importation of cereals was concerned; as Canada had been, for a time, on the same level with the States in regard to shipping facilities, the prospective reimposing of the restrictions brought the agitation to a head”. Instead of endeavouring to modify the conditions so The special as to meet these special circumstances, Labouchère moved for privileges of English Shippers were done away in 1849, the entire abandonment of the principle of granting any preference to British shipping in Ocean trade, and, in spite of effective protests”, the Navigation Acts were repealed”. England's maritime power had grown up under the pro- tecting influence of the Navigation Acts. Long custom appears to have set at rest the doubts which were expressed in the seventeenth century as to the effects of the Acts; and there was grave anxiety as to the maintenance of our naval supremacy under a system of competition. It would appear that when protection was withdrawn the shipowners were somewhat aggrieved", but that a new spirit of enterprise was developed in the trade. Had the old methods of ship- building been retained, however, it would hardly have been possible for England to reassert her supremacy in Ocean trading. The advantage which America possessed, in timber and naval stores, would almost certainly have told in her favour; but the aspect of affairs was entirely changed by a new application of engineering industry, and the introduction of iron ship-building. Preliminary experiments had been so far successful, that Messrs Laird of Birkenhead began the but owing to the ºn tro- duction of iron ship- building, 1 The United States had rapidly recovered from the destruction of their marine, which had taken place during the War of 1812, and were engaged in an eager contest with Great Britain for the command of the carrying trade on the Atlantic (Lindsay, Merchant Shipping, IV. 165). The Canadians complained bitterly that the better facilities for shipping, which the States enjoyed, placed the British colonists at a disadvantage in supplying the English market; and the West Indian planters also insisted that the freights charged were higher than would be the case, if competition were allowed between English and foreign shipowners (3 IIansard, xoVIII. 1002). * Reports, etc. 1849, LI. 149. * Cunningham, Rise and Decline of Free Trade, p. 69. 4 12 and 13 Wict. c. 29. * Compare Disraeli's speech (Dec. 3, 1852) in introducing his unsuccessful attempt to bring the financial and commercial systems of the country into lime. 3 Hansard, CXXIII. 839. FINANCIAL REFORM 833 building of iron ships for ocean traffic in 1832, and the Aºſ" conditions of the competition for marine Supremacy were entirely changed. It is impossible to say how much of the increased prosperity which has attended British Shipping is due to a change of policy, and how much to the application of engineering skill in giving increased facilities for Ocean traffic, English but the expansion of foreign trade in the twenty years which º, followed the repeal of the Navigation Laws was unprecedented. º The total imports and exports of British and foreign produce ſº." almost trebled”, and English shipping interests shook off for a time their anxiety as to being outdone by their competitors in the United States. 277. In spite of all these new openings and increased *ia. facilities, it was impossible for trade to make rapid progress progress in the twenties and thirties, as it was hampered by the impered burden of taxation which was part of the heritage of the long " war. The demands of Government had been gradually worked up till, in 1815, they had attained enormous dimensions. The debt stood at £860,000,000, or about £43 per head of the population; and the revenue, which was required to defray the interest on the debt and the necessary expenses of government, amounted to seventy-four millions and a half; a quarter of the sum had sufficed before the long war. As a necessary result, taxes had been laid upon everything that was taxable and there was no incident of life in which the pressure of taxation was not felt. Sidney Smith's immortal summary can never be surpassed, “Taxes upon every article which enters into the mouth, or covers the back, or is placed under the foot—taxes upon every thing which it is pleasant to see, hear, feel, smell or taste—taxes upon warmth, light, locomotion—taxes on everything on earth, and the waters under the earth—on everything that comes from abroad or is grown at home—taxes on the raw material—taxes on every fresh value that is added to it by the industry of man —taxes on the Sauce which pampers a man's appetite, and the drug that restores him to health—on the ermine which decorates the judge, and the rope which hangs the criminal— 1 Lindsay, Merchant Shipping, Iv. 90. * Bowley, England's Foreign Trade, Diagram I. C.* 53 834 LAISSEZ, FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. the pres- sure of taaration, on the poor man's salt, and the rich man's spice—on the brass nails of the coffin, and the ribands of the bride—at bed or board, couchant or levant, we must pay:-The school-boy whips his taxed top; the beardless youth manages his taxed horse, with a taxed bridle, on a taxed road; and the dying Englishman pouring his medicine, which has paid seven per cent, into a spoon that has paid fifteen per cent., flings himself back upon his chintz bed, which has paid twenty-two per cent, makes his will on an eight pound stamp, and expires in the arms of an apothecary, who has paid a licence of £100 for the privilege of putting him to death. His whole property is then immediately taxed from two to ten per cent. Besides the probate, large fees are demanded for burying him in the chancel. His virtues are handed down to posterity on taxed marble, and he will then be gathered to his fathers to be taxed no more".” 1 Sidney Smith, Works (1839), II. 13. Edinburgh Review, xxxHI. (Jan. 1820), p. 77. The following summary, extracted from Mr Dowell's work, II. p. 257, gives a convenient view of the mature of the taxation levied in Great Britain in 1815. I. Direct Taxes. :É The land tax . º º e e © º * - 1,196,000 The taxes on houses and establishments. * - º . . 6,500,000 Property and income tax . g - - º - º e . 14,600,000 Property insured º o e - - * - - * sº 918,000 The tax on succession to property . - * - - * - 1,297,000 Property sold at auction . º e - s - - . . 2S4,000 Coaches, posting and hackney cabs . - tº * - * e 471,608 Tonnage on shipping . tº º • . * º º * & 171,651 Total £25,438,259 II. Taxes on Articles of Consumption. Eatables: Salt . º º e 1,616,671 Sugar º e e - - * • . 2,957,403 Currants, &c. . a . * º sº * . 541,589 Drinks: Beer, malt, hops . - e te º , 9,596,346 Wine Q - * p e * g . 1,900,772 Spirits - - t - • g º . 6,700,000 Tea . o - - * • º º . 3,591,350 Coffee © . . 3. - * º . 276,700 22,065,168 Tobacco . º o © º -> e g © º 2,025,663 Coals, raw materials for manufactures, buildings, ship-building and other trades © e º w - e • S • e e 6,062,214 Manufactures . º e : º - Jº © o º tº 4,080,721 III. Stamp Duties. JBills and notes . -> º sº º º e g º e º 841,000 Peceipts . e tº º e o º e © º tº e 210,000 Other instruments . tº g º º º * º e & 1,692,000 Total £67,530,6ss FINANCIAL REFORM 835 In imposing these burdens, successive ministers had been Aº unable to keep any definite principles in view. The Govern- & ment had been living from hand to mouth, and had been forced to have recourse to every possible source of revenue, without having much respect, either to the pressure on the taxpayer, or to the influences of the tariff on economic progress. So soon as the war was over, an attempt was made to render the pressure of taxation less onerous. The income which gas tax seems to have been the most serious burden; public reduced opinion was strongly set against it, and it was repealed in 1816*. A corresponding boon was given, at the same time, to the masses, as the last additions to the malt tax were also abandoned; though it was necessary to increase the excise on soap, in order to make up the deficiency which these remis- sions caused. The next steps in financial reform show a reversion to the point of view which had been adopted by Walpole; as serious efforts were made for modifying our fiscal system so as to give freedom for the development of industry and commerce; Robinson and Huskisson set themselves to reduce with the e * . view of en- and remove the taxes on raw materials. This was done in couraging regard to raw silk; while at the same time the strict monopoly ;7.3/, of the home market, which the silk manufactures had hitherto possessed, was withdrawn, and foreign silks might be im- ported on paying a thirty per cent. duty. Huskisson pursued the same course in regard to other trades; the duties on copper, and zinc, and tin, were reduced to half the former amount; the duty on wool was also halved, and at the same time the very high tariffs on foreign manufactures of different sorts were reduced. Thus in 1824 and 1825 very consider- able reductions, as well as simplifications, were made in our tariff, and on principles which relieved the manufacturing interest. The various Chancellors of the Exchequer were able to proceed gradually with the remission of taxation, but in 1836 the commercial outlook became most threatening. The crisis of 1837, followed as it was by commercial stagnation, told 1 The income-tax had been dropped in 1803, but immediately re-imposed. Vocke, Geschichte der Steuer des Britischen Reichs, 527. 53—2 836 LAISSEZ FAIRE seriously on the revenues; the deficit in 1838 was about a million and a half; in 1839 nearly half a million; in 1840 a. million and a half; and in 1841 a million and three quarters; and in 1842 more than two millions". Under these circum- stances it was necessary that financial affairs should be thoroughly overhauled, and this was done by Sir Robert Peel in his great budget of 1842. In imitation of the policy of Pitt, he determined to make a temporary provision for the expenses of government, until the new changes had had time to operate”. With this view, he desired to re-impose an income tax of sevenpence in the pound for a period of five years, so that he might be free to deal in earnest with the reform of the tariff. This was a great task; but it was one for which there had been considerable preparation. The principles on which it should proceed had been worked out in 1830 by Sir Henry Parnell, in his treatise On Financial Reform, and a Select Committee of the House of Commons had considered the subject in 1840°. Peel hoped to revive our manufacturing interest, by abolishing or reducing the taxes on raw materials, and half-manufactured goods. For the first two years the expected revival did not occur, but the reduction of import duties continued; in 1845 matters were pressed still further. There was a great simplification of the customs, and the duties on four hundred and thirty articles of an unimportant kind, which produced but little or A.D. 1776 —1850. Peel under- took the reform of the fiscal system. Under reduced rates 1 Northcote, Twenty Years, pp. 6, 12. 2 Northcote, pp. 17, 61. 8 This report contains some severe criticism : “The Tariff of the United Ringdom presents neither congruity nor unity of purpose; no general principles seem to have been applied. * * * The Tariff often aims at incompatible ends; the duties are sometimes meant to be both productive of revenue and for protective objects, which are frequently inconsistent with each other; hence they sometimes operate to the complete exclusion of foreign produce, and in so far no revenue can of course be received; and sometimes, when the duty is inordinately high, the amount of revenue becomes in consequence trifling. They do not make the receipt of the revenue the main consideration, but allow that primary object of fiscal regulations to be thwarted by an attempt to protect a great variety of particular interests, at the expense of the revenue, and of the commercial inter- course with other countries. Whilst the Tariff has been made subordinate to many small producing interests at home, by the sacrifice of Revenue in order to support these interests, the same principle of preference is largely applied, by the various discriminatory Duties, to the Produce of our Colonies, by which exclusive advantages are given to the Colonial Interests at the expense of the mother country.” Reports, 1840, v. 101. FINANCIAL REFORM 837 no revenue, were swept away". So far as the effects on A.D. 1776 the revenue of the country were concerned, Peel's anticipations —1850 were at length fully justified’. Under the reduced rates trade trade revived, and the income obtained from this branch of revived taxation did not eventually suffer. From the increased volume of trade, Government was able to levy at low rates an income which was practically equivalent to the sums which had been obtained under the high tariffs which had so in- juriously affected our trade. The success which attended this change in policy was admirably summarised by Mr Gladstone in justification of the still greater changes which he carried through”. “I wish, however, Sir, to show more particularly the connection that subsists between commercial reforms, as affecting trade and industry, and the power to pay the high taxes you have imposed. These two subjects are inseparably locked the one in the other. You shall have the demonstra- tion in figures. I again ask you for a moment to attend with me to the experience of two periods. I take the ten years from 1832, the crisis of the Reform Bill, down to 1841, during which our commercial legislation was, upon the whole, stationary; and I take the twelve years from 1842 to 1853, within the circuit of which are comprehended the beneficial changes that Parliament has made. In the ten years from 1832 to 1841 this was the state of things:–You imposed of Customs and Excise duties £2,067,000, and you remitted #3,385,000, exhibiting a balance remitted over and above what you imposed of £1,317,000, or at the rate of no more than £131,000 a year. Now observe the effect on the state 1 Northcote, Twenty Years, p. 66. This wholesale reduction of tariffs, though welcomed by the manufacturers, was not universally approved. Those who relied on commercial treaties as means of opening or of securing foreign markets were somewhat alarmed, as we removed one by one charges which might have formed the basis of negotiation with other countries. * He had said: “I have a firm confidence, that such is the buoyancy of the consumptive powers of this country, that we may hope ultimately to realize increased revenue from diminished taxation on articles of consumption.” 3 Hansard, LXI. 437. * A principle which cannot be traced in Peel's financial measures underlay those of Mr Gladstone, who was more completely swayed by Cobden. (See p. 840 m. 1, below.) It was Gladstone's effort to relieve the masses of the people as con- Sumers, and the mercantile and manufacturing capitalists. In pursuing this object he and his followers have deliberately granted this relief at the expense of the landed interest, by the extension of the succession duties in 1853, and the death duties in 1894. 838 LAISSEZ, FAIRE Aº of the revenue. During these ten years the Customs and Excise increased by £1,707,000, or, at the rate of £170,000 a. year; while the increase of the export trade was £15,156,000, or, at the annual rate of £1,515,000. Let us next take the twelve years from 1842 to 1853. You remitted during that period of Customs and Excise £13,238,000, and imposed £1,029,000, presenting a balance remitted of £12,209,000, or, an annual average of £1,017,000. What was the effect on revenue 2 The Customs and Excise increased £2,656,000, or, and at an annual rate of £221,000. When you remitted practi- *ia. cally nothing, your Customs revenue, in consequence of the increase of the population, grew at the rate of £170,000 per annum; and when you remitted £1,017,000 a year, your Customs and Excise revenue grew faster than when you remitted nothing, or next to nothing at all. I ask, is not this a conclusive proof that it is the relaxation and reform of your commercial system which has given to the country the disposition to pay taxes along with the power also which it now possesses to support them 2 The foreign trade of the country, during the same period, instead of growing at the rate of £1,515,000 a year, grew at the rate of £4,304,000.” The effect of Peel's measures was to demonstrate how much the trade and industry of the country might be encouraged by the re-adjustment of fiscal burdens, but it was none the less a complete realisation of the principle of laissez faire in fiscal arrangements. The taxation of the country was arranged simply and solely with reference to revenue; all attempts to foster an element in national economic life at the expense of others were abandoned. The change This change could not have been carried through success- %; fully, but for Peel's care to provide a temporary source of º: revenue, in order to allow time for trade to respond to the ºposition stimulus of reduced tariffs. The particular expedient he of g tº & * adopted, of imposing an income-tax for a time, proved to the public what large supplies might be obtained from this Source. Once again its fruitfulness was remarkable. A tax of this type" had afforded the means by which Pitt maintained the struggle with France, under unexampled conditions of discouragement in 1798, and it served as the source on which 1 Vocke, Geschächte der Steuer, p. 523. FINANCIAL REFORM 839 Peel relied in carrying through his reconstruction of our Aº fiscal system in the interest of trade. The tax thus intro- & duced, as a temporary expedient, proved so successful that it has since become part of the Ordinary revenue system of the country. The budget of 1845 was unexpectedly epoch-ºncome. making, since it marks the beginning of a new development of direct taxation. This result was not attained without a struggle. Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton was the mouthpiece of those who believed that this powerful fiscal instrument should be re- served for use on special emergencies"; but it has been too convenient to be lightly sacrificed, and it cannot be regarded ſº been re- as inequitable. Indeed, it may be said that by the imposition tº as of this tax the means were at last available for redressing the º injustice of which the landed interest had complained for a couple of centuries”, and for forcing the moneyed men to pay on the income derived from accumulated wealth. It is not clear that Peel would have had any scruple in retaining the income-tax as a permanent thing, or that Pittº would have regarded it as unfair; but there was much room for question as to whether it was expedient in the new conditions of English life. The basis of general prosperity had shifted from the landed to the trading interest; and it was possible to argue that the well-being of the public was advanced by fostering the enterprise of the country in every way. Mr Gladstone was persistent in his opinion as to the demerits of this tax, and attempted to do away with it in 1853, in 1863, and again in 1874". He believed that the tax was objectionable, in so far as it fell upon the active business energy of the day; he desired to give relief “to intelligence and skill as compared with pro- perty".” But in this, as in other financial matters, practical ** convenience has had an overwhelming influence. The country venience. was uneasy about the probity of the funding system, in the early eighteenth century, but no statesman, when really pressed, could dispense with it, and the income-tax when re-introduced could not be discarded; it had come to stay. 278. The application of laissez faire principles to our commercial system aroused comparatively little opposition, as 1 3 Hamsard, oxxvi. p. 455. * See above, p. 425. 8 Parl. Hist. xxxHII. 1086. 4 S. Buxton, Mr Gladstone, pp. 120, 127, 129. * 3 FIansard, Cxxv. 1422. 840 LAISSEZ, FAIRE regards the modifying of the Navigation Laws and the read- justment of the tariff. It was a very different matter when an attack was made on the legislation which interfered with free trade in corn, and afforded special protection to the landed interest. The controversy thus aroused was not merely, or even chiefly, of economic interest; its far-reaching political importance was foreseen from the first". The formation of the Anti-Corn-Law League in 1839°, with the agitation which was organised by Cobden and Bright, was a serious attempt to educate the minds of the citizens of a great country on a question of public interest. The force of Radicalism, as a power in the State, was increased immensely; it had already associated itself with the interest of working men by the attitude which some of its leaders had taken in regard to the Combination Laws, and the progress of Trade Unions; and now it rallied the masses, who required bread to eat, under its banner. The days, when the Tory could pose as the friend of the people in their contest with ruthless employers, were over, and the Conservatives, who had prided themselves on their patriotism, were astonished and indignant to find themselves denounced as selfish drones in the community. The contest in regard to the Corn Laws was of course determined by the new character which they had assumed in 1815. It was then that a measure was definitely passed to protect the landlords, and to enable them to maintain the burdens which had fallen upon them, or which they had too readily undertaken”. From that time onwards, it was possible to represent the Corn Laws as a merely class measure, and to treat the whole question, as the advocates of the League habitually did, as that of a tax imposed upon the community A.D. 1776 —1850. The eco- nomic and political antagonism was rowsed against the Corn Laws as recast in 1815, 1 Cobden appears to have been chiefly attracted to the subject at first, because it offered a field for political agitation. “We must choose,” he wrote in 1838, “between the party which governs upon an exclusive or monopoly principle, and the people who seek, though blindly perhaps, the good of the vast majority. If they be in error, we must try to put them right, if rash to moderate, but never never talk of giving up the ship....I think the scattered elements may yet be rallied round the question of the corn laws. It appears to me that a moral, and even a religious spirit may be infused into that topic, and if agitated in the same manner that the question of slavery has been, it will be irresistible.” Morley, Life of Cobden, I. 126. 2 It was enlarged in this year from an Anti-Corn-Law Association which had been formed in 1838. Ashton, Recollections of R. Cobden and the Anti-Corn-Law League, 23. 8 55 Geo. III. c. 26. THE RELATIVE DEPRESSION OF THE LANDED INTEREST 841 in the sole interest of a special class. Who were the land-Aºſº lords, and what had they done, that they should be thus favoured ? And when the question was put in this way, it i. #, was obvious that there could be but one answer. An arrange- particular ment, which pressed heavily upon the community, must be class allowed to drop; even though it did enable the class on whom a large share of national, and the chief burden of local taxation ultimately fell, to meet the demands of the State. It was as a class question that the matter was discussed, and decided; and the sense of bitterness it roused was not allayed when the repeal was effected. Some of the legislation of the latter half of the nineteenth century seems to have been affected by an unworthy desire to retaliate on the landed proprietors for the special indulgence they had secured for a generation". The case against the Corn Laws was so strong that, when tºº. once the issue was fully raised, repeal was inevitable. On of the the one hand there was all the evidence of the Commission #ºng on hand-loom weavers, which showed that the limitation of” the food-supply was the greatest grievance to the operative classes; owing to the large proportion of their earnings which was spent in food, their power of purchasing clothes was curtailed, and the home demand for manufactures was checked. The Corn Laws also interfered indirectly with our foreign commerce; the high tariff on imported corn introduced an obstacle to the export of our manufactures. There were many of our customers who had not the means of paying for our goods; the Baltic ports and the United States were regions from which food might have been obtained, but for 1 Mr Gladstone's Budget of 1853 was regarded at the time as an intentional blow at the landed interest as such. Disraeli said: “I have shown you that in dealing with your indirect taxation you have commenced a system and you have laid down a principle which must immensely aggravate the national taxation upon the British producer. I have shown you in the second place that while you are about to pursue that unjust and injurious policy, * * * while you are aggravating the pressure of indirect taxation upon the British producer, you are inflicting upon the cultivator of the soil a direct tax in the shape of an income tax, and upon the possessor of the soil a direct tax in the shape of a tax upon successions. * * * I will not ask you was it politic, was it wise, or was it generous to attack the land, both indirectly and directly, after such an immense revolution had taken place in those laws which regulated the importation of foreign produce. * * * I will remind you that the Minister who has conceived this Budget * * * is the very Minister who has come forward and in his place in parliament talked of the vast load of local taxation to which real property is exposed.” 3 Hansard, oxxvi. 985. 842 IAISSEZ FAIRE this there was, owing to the Corn Laws, no market in England; suitable return cargoes could not be readily secured, and commerce languished in consequence. The controversy would undoubtedly have been protracted for a longer period, if it had not been for the ghastly picture presented, in Ireland, of the horrors which might arise from an insufficient food- supply. In 1845 the harvest was a failure, and prices rose rapidly; Sir Robert Peel was inclined to open the ports, and allow, for a time at least, the admission of foreign corn, on a merely nominal duty. But there are some measures which, if adopted once, are adopted permanently. Sir James Graham" and other members of the Cabinet saw that the suspension of the Corn Laws would in itself be an admission that the system aggravated the evils of scarcity, and that, if this point was conceded, the whole system would have to go. For this the Cabinet were not prepared; and Sir Robert Peel placed his resignation in the hands of the Queen. As no other Government could be formed, however, he returned into office on December 20th, 1845, with the full determination of carrying through the repeal of the Corn Laws. The subject was debated at great length in January and February 1846, and the Government proposals were carried by a majority of ninety-seven”. There was to be a temporary protection, by a sliding scale, which levied four shillings when the price of corn was fifty shillings a quarter, and instead of this com- paratively light duty, a merely nominal tax of one shilling a quarter was to be levied after February 1st, 1849. Even this nominal duty has been more recently removed. In the hubbub of conflicting interests the fundamental issue, which was involved in this change of policy, was com- pletely obscured. The measures, which gave encouragement to tillage, had not been originally introduced with any view of benefiting the landlord class; the object of earlier measures, and of the great Corn Law of 1689, had been to render a larger and more regular supply of food available for the community. If the Corn Laws were defensible, they were defensible as a benefit to the nation as a whole; the under- lying aim of the original system had been to call forth sufficient sustenance for the English population. In this A.D. 1776 —1850. The Irish famine rendered suspension *nevitable, and the repeal followed &n 1846. The policy of fostering a home- grown food- supply 1 Dowell, II. 329. 2 9 and 10 Wict. c. 22. THE RELATIVE DEPRESSION OF THE LANDED INTEREST 843 they had succeeded till 1773; but the history of English Aº agriculture, since the Peace, appeared to show that they were g succeeding no longer. In so far as the British agriculturist, with protection, failed to supply the British nation regularly, with sufficient food, on terms that were not exorbitant, in so far protection was a failure; and according to this, the deeper test, which was but little argued at the time, the Corn Laws were completely condemned; they had failed to *. provide the nation with a sufficient food-supply of its own a failure, growth. In ceasing to rely for our food-supply on our own soil, and in deliberately looking to trade as the means whereby we might procure corn, we were throwing aside the last elements of the policy which had so long dominated in the counsels of the nation, and were exposing our very existence to a serious danger". A home-grown food-supply was a chief element of power”; since no enemy, however strong his navy might be, could succeed in cutting off our supplies. It gave the opportunity for maintaining a large population, accustomed to out-door exercise and in good condition for fighting; but these elements of power were now forgotten, in the desire to have food, in as large quantities, and at as low rates, as possible. We reverted from the pursuit of power in our economic policy to the pursuit of plenty". This object was put forward not merely with regard to the luxuries of the rich, as had been the case under Edward III., but was forced upon us by the requirements of the labourer and the artisan. The nation, in abandoning the traditional policy of relying and the for its food-supply on the corn grown within its boundaries, º, deliberately relegated the landed interest to a subordinate ºf gated to a position in the economy of the State. Under the fostering sºondary lace in care of the State, the landlords had enjoyed a great deal of tºº, 1 See above, p. 684, on the corn supply in the Napoleonic Wars. * Compare Strafford's effort to keep Ireland politically dependent by making her economically dependent for clothing, and for salt to preserve meat, her staple product. Letters, I. 193. See above, p. 368. * See above, Vol. I. p. 416. The triumph of this policy was commemorated by the Anti-Corn-Law League with a medal, which is figured on the title-page, by the kind permission of the authorities of the British Museum, from the example in their possession. 844 LAISSEZ FAIRE Aº prosperity, and they had been encouraged to do their best. There had been steady progress during the eighteenth century, and this continued in the nineteenth. The chief new departure" which occurred was the systematic introduc- tion of thorough drainage. This practice had been locally pursued in Essex since the seventeenth century; but it was made the subject of experiments by Mr Smith of Deanston. but the . By taking the water off the land, he improved the quality of work of im- & g tº provement the soil, and greatly increased the number of days when it ºº:: was available for working. His experiments were first pub- ... lished in 1834; but so rapidly did they take hold of the public mind that, in 1846, Parliament consented to grant loans to landlords to carry out these improvements”. It was no longer the case that improvement was intro- duced exclusively, or even chiefly, by the landlord class; a new class of tenant farmers had arisen” who were not only possessed of capital, but capable of employing it in introducing scientific methods of farming. They were ready to have recourse to manures of many kinds, in order to restore the fertility of land from which large crops were frequently extorted, and they were able to make the business pay, by combining corn-growing with the raising of stock. The full effects of foreign competition were not felt immediately, as the Russian war cut off the Baltic supply for a time, and the American Civil War checked the growth of the grain trade before from the United States. Since 1874, the prices of corn and the full e & g effects of of stock have been alike affected by greatly increased im- *ion portation from abroad; the free-trade policy at length resulted ** in a state of affairs in which the farmer could no longer pay his way, and a fall in rents became inevitable. The depres- sion of the landed interest has been so serious, that proprietors have been without the means of attempting to introduce improvements, while there is less reason than formerly to 1 There was also a great increase in knowledge of methods of manuring the land, since agricultural chemistry was coming to be pursued as a branch of science and not treated as mere rule of thumb. It was found that there were valuable elements in all sorts of refuse, as for example in bones, while the better means of communication rendered it more possible for farmers to avail themselves of fertilisers which were not native to their own district. Prothero, Pioneers, 99. 2 Prothero, op. cit. 97–98. 8 Ib. 111. EFFECTS ON IRELAND 845 count on an adequate return, in rent, for money sunk in an A.D. 1776 estate. The stimulus to enterprise in the management of —1850. land, which was afforded by the prospect of gain, has been withdrawn, with the result that the gentry are more apt to devote themselves to remunerative forms of sport, and less inclined, than was once the case, to be pioneers in the work of agricultural improvement. 279. The changes, which tended to depress the landed #º,ºf interests in England, must necessarily have told with even the landed g 2nterest 700S greater effect upon the fortunes of such a purely agricultural ºil) country as Ireland. There were, moreover, special circum- noticeable stances which aggravated the evils in the sister island, while there was no compensating advantage. Ireland had suffered from English jealousy, and her lot remained pitiable when she entered on an ill-assorted partnership. Her economic development had been subordinated for generations to that of England, and she had no great increase of prosperity when the two countries were united in 1800. It is very º difficult to estimate the precise economic effects of that Act, ºnion, though the rapid increase of population renders it probable that the wealth was larger than before. In some respects there was improvement; the special legislation, which had been designed to promote English interests, had been aban- doned; but, on the other hand, Irish manufacturers did not enjoy the extravagant encouragements which they had re- ceived in 1784. Her lot was cast in with that of England, and the stream of her economic history has been mingled with that of the larger country, but the results worked out in different ways. Just because the industrial resources of for she Ireland were so little developed, she was able to obtain only tºº. a comparatively small share in any of the prosperity which º 70,620 CO772- English merchants and manufacturers enjoyed; on the other . hand, she suffered with the agricultural interests in England, prosperaty but much more severely". The chief gain which accrued to England, during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, was the monopoly which she practically secured of the shipping of the world. The United States was a real competitor; but England obtained a 1 The subject is discussed in detail by Miss Murray, History of Commercial and Financial Relations between England and Ireland, 342. 846 LAISSEZ, FAIRE position which she had never attained before. Ireland, however, had little or no mercantile marine; the profits of the carrying trade, and of the trade with distant countries, were not for her. What she could do was to provide for the victualling of vessels, as well as to furnish supplies of Sail-cloth; the Irish salt beef, which ships obtained at Cork, had a high reputation, but a certain new activity in these trades was almost the only advantage which accrued to Ireland from the great commercial monopoly by which England gained so much. So far as articles of export were concerned too, she was not able to supply the goods which were so much sought for abroad, and by means of which England was able to force unwilling nations to purchase her wares. Cloth was needed for the French and Russian armies, and this cloth was pro- cured from English looms; but the Irish woollen trade was unimportant". The cotton manufacture, which developed so enormously in England during the war, had been scarcely introduced into Ireland, though much had been spent on it in 1784 and succeeding years. Linen, the one department in which Ireland excelled, was hardly a fabric for which foreign countries looked to England at all”. Hardware, in which England did such a large business, had ceased to be an Irish manufacture, and the sister kingdom was practically debarred from all the advantages which came to England during the time of war-prices and commercial monopoly. On the other hand, Irish industry felt the disadvantages to which English manufacturers were exposed. A silk manufacture had been galvanised into existence by encouragements similar to those which the Spitalfields Act” gave in England; but the weavers were of course dependent on material brought from abroad; A.D. 1776 —1850. by obtain- $ng markets for manu- factures, 1 So long as water-power was the chief agent employed in manufacturing, Ireland offered, in some districts, great attractions to capital, and the woollen trade obtained a measure of protection. There was however even a more decided objection among Irish than among English workmen to the introduction of machinery, and the progress was not very rapid; with the more general adoption of steam-power, the advantage which Ireland had possessed was neutralised. Martin, Ireland before and after the Union, 70, 72, 73. * Both the quantities manufactured, and the quality of the goods produced, serve to show that the trade was steadily advancing. Martin, op. cit. 75. 8 See above, pp. 519, 795. EFFECTS ON IRELAND 847 and the Berlin Decrees caused a silk famine in 1809, which A.P., 1776 e - tº ... —1850. reduced them to dire distress'. In so far as the war-prices gave a stimulus to agriculture, the Peace must have brought a reaction similar to that which, despite the action of the Corn Law of 1815, was so seriously felt in England. While Ireland had shared but little in the prosperity of war times, she undoubtedly suffered from the succeeding depression. The conditions of life were exactly those which made her feel the brunt of the trouble most severely. In and sub- sistence England, where there was large capital, the distress did to fºrming some extent act as a stimulant to call out more skill and ...” enterprise; in Ireland, where farming had not yet become a trade” but was an occupation by which men procured sub- sistence, the slightest signs of increased prosperity acted directly in encouraging an increase of population, while the pressure of distress could not force on any improvement; it only rendered labourers more miserable than before. The wretchedness in England was so great, that there was little inclination to attend to the condition of the Irish; though in 1822, and in 1831, when the potato crop was short, some public liberality was shown on their behalf. These years, however, were but a premonitory symptom of the frightful disaster of 1845 and 1846, when the state of Ireland was forced upon public attention, by the outbreak of the potato disease; the late crop of potatoes, on which the people depended for food, was entirely lost. As they had obtained with fair prices for other produce, they might have got through º the disaster with comparatively little help, and the Govern- ** ment contented itself with purchasing £100,000 worth of Indian corn, and forming depôts where relief was administered. In the following year, however, the destruction caused by the disease was complete; though both public and private charity were largely exerted, the shameful admission remains that very large numbers died through starvation, or from those fevers which are directly due to insufficient nourishment. Public works were opened, and there was very wide-spread sympathy shown to the Irish sufferers from all parts of the world. 1 Martin, 87. * On this change in England, see pp. 109, 545. 848 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. The repeal of the Corn Daws deprived Ireland of an advan- tage in the Enoglish market, The Irish famine was the direct occasion of breaking down the policy of agricultural protection; the importation of food-stuffs was temporarily encouraged for the sake of the starving peasantry; but the complete abandonment of the Corn Laws proved to be a very serious blow to the more energetic elements in the population. The Irish farmer and stock raiser had had an advantage, since the Union, over the agriculturists of other regions, in supplying the English market; but under the system of Free Trade this advantage was lost; the prices of produce fell rapidly. Numbers of the peasantry were forced to migrate; on numerous estates, which had been burdened with obligations, the rents fell so much that their nominal owners were hopelessly impoverished. It is idle to speculate as to the remedy which might have been most wisely brought to bear on this disastrous state of affairs; but the direct application of the results of English experience to the Irish problem seems to have done more harm than good. In 1860, it seemed that agriculture might be made to flourish if all restrictions were removed, so as to allow the ready transfer of land; if it passed under the control of wealthy men, who could apply capital to develop, and introduce, improved methods of tillage, there appeared to be good reason to believe that Irish agriculture would re- cover, as English had already done, from the first effects of exposure to free competition. But the social conditions and traditions of Ireland rendered it exceedingly difficult to carry through an effective reform of the methods of agricultural production; the habits of the peasantry were unfavourable to improvement, either by spirited proprietors, or enterprising tenants. As the proprietary changed, the land passed into the hands of owners who abandoned serious attempts to initiate progress, and had less scruple in accepting rack rents than the easy-going men they had displaced. The Irish cottiers had neither the independence, nor the foresight, which were necessary" to make the system of free competition tolerable. After some experience of laissez faire, in con- ditions to which it was inappropriate, there was a sudden re- version to a system which seemed altogether an anachronism. and the State has neither Swcceeded in attract- 'mg capital- 1st farmers * Nicholson, Principles of Political Economy, III. 167. EFFECTS ON IRELAND 849 The authoritative fixing of rents was adopted by the Govern- Aº ment as the only means of protecting the peasantry from the e evils of reckless competition. The system of natural liberty had been tried, and in one department of life after another it had been found necessary to introduce a corrective. Ad- ministrative organs had been instituted in England for protecting children from over-work, and for controlling the conditions of labour in factories and mines, as well as for seeing to sanitary welfare. In Ireland, however, the swing of the pendulum has gone much farther, inasmuch as it has led to judicial interference in the terms of the bargain between landlord and tenant. Still, startling as it appears, this case does not stand alone; the State had already under- taken to protect the public against monopolies in transport or nor in . lighting by fixing a maximum of railway rates and of gas º dividends; the justification for the fixing of rents lay in the ...” belief that in the conditions of life in Ireland, and in the presence of the land hunger they engendered, there was need to protect the peasantry against the owners of the soil. There is a curious monotony in the story of English influence on the agricultural interest in Ireland. Racial animosity, religious differences, and political contests were always at work in one form or another; the land never had such rest that a sense of security could grow up, or that the country could become an attractive field for the investment of capital by moneyed men, either as proprietors or tenants. It was still more unfortunate that, from its near neighbourhood, Ireland was destined to be affected by all that was done for the benefit of England; the Corn Bounty Act depressed her tillage, in the interest of English producers. While industrial protection was in vogue in England, little stimulus was given to real improvement of any kind in Ireland, but her whole system suffered a severe blow when protection was with- drawn, and the interests of the agricultural community were subordinated to the welfare of a manufacturing population. The régime of ill-assorted companionship has been almost as baneful as the period of jealous repression and Protestant ascendancy. C. * 54 850 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. The economic principles of laissez faire in CO727726.7°Cé, combined with a belief that the colonies 2007'0 072, eapense to the mother Cowntry, 280. The policy of non-interference has never been applied consistently to Ireland. From her geographical position she necessarily stood in close relations to England, and it was not deemed possible for the predominant partner to let her go her own way either economically or politically. The case of the transoceanic Colonies was altogether different; abundant reason could be alleged, which commended itself to the statesmen of the early part of the nineteenth century, for letting them severely alone. The opinion was freely mooted that the founding of colonies had been in itself a mistake, since the country got little or nothing out of them, either in the way of wealth or prestige, and was only burdened with cost in administering and protecting them. Sir John Sinclair's utterances are so far typical of educated opinion on the public questions of the day that it is worth while to quote the views he has put on record. He pointed out that the North American Colonies had cost us £40,000,000, and the wars in which we had been involved in consequence of possessing them amounted to £240,000,000 more. “It is the more necessary,” he adds, “to bring forward inquiries into this branch of our expenditure, as the rage for colonisation has not yet been driven from the councils of this country. We have fortunately lost New England, but a New Wales has since started up. How many millions it may cost may be the subject of the calculations of succeeding financiers, unless by the exertions of some able statesman that source of future waste and extravagance is prevented.” The men in this period who considered not only British interests in the colonies, but British responsibilities as well, had little opportunity of giving effect to their views”. The Colonial department maintained the traditions of bureaucratic administration, as it had been carried on in the eighteenth century”. There was no intelligent discussion in Parliament and that they would gain by independ- €72C6, 1 History of the Public Revenue of the British Empire (1790), II. 87. 2 Cunningham, Wisdom of the Wise, 43. • . * Mr Buller's scathing description of the system is all the more severe, as he was careful to avoid any attack upon individuals personally. “Thus, from the general indifference of Parliament on colonial questions, it exercises, in fact, hardly the slightest efficient control over the administration or the making of laws for the colonies. In nine cases out of ten it merely registers the edicts of EMIGRATION AND THE COLONIES 851 of colonial affairs, and Radical sentiment was roused, both by Aº © & e - 9U. the inefficiency of the system, and by pretensions to authority over distant and unrepresented communities. The example the Colonial Office in Downing-street. It is there, then, that nearly the whole public opinion which influences the conduct of affairs in the colonies really exists. It is there that the supremacy of the mother-country really resides: and when We speak of that supremacy, and of the responsibility of the colony to the mother- country, you may to all practical intents consider as the mother-country—the possessor of this supremacy—the centre of this responsibility—the occupants of the large house that forms the end of that cul-de-sac so well known by the name of Downing-street. However colonists or others may talk of the Crown, the Parliament, and the public—of the honour of the first, the wisdom of the second, or the enlightened opinion of the last—nor Queen, nor Lords, nor Commons, nor the great public itself, exercise any power, or will, or thought on the greater part of colonial matters: and the appeal to the mother-country is, in fact, an appeal to ‘the Office.” “But this does not sufficiently concentrate the mother-country. It may, indeed, at first sight, be supposed that the power of ‘the Office’ must be wielded by its head: that in him at any rate we have generally one of the most eminent of our public men, whose views on the various matters which come under his cognizance are shared by the Cabinet of which he is a member. We may fancy, therefore, that here, at least, concentrated in a somewhat despotic, but at any rate in a very responsible and dignified form, we have the real governing power of the colonies, under the system which boasts of making their governments responsible to the mother-country. But this is a very erroneous supposition. This great officer holds the most constantly shifting position on the shifting scene of official life. Since April, 1827, ten different Secretaries of State have held the seals of the colonial department. Each was brought into that office from business of a perfectly different nature, and probably with hardly any experience in colonial affairs. The new minister is at once called on to enter on the consideration of questions of the greatest magnitude, and at the same time of some hundreds of questions of mere detail, of no public interest, of unintelligible technicality, involving local considerations with which he is wholly unacquainted, but at the same time requiring decision, and decision at which it is not possible to arrive without considerable labour. Perplexed with the vast variety of subjects thus presented to him—alike appalled by the important and unimportant matters forced on his attention—every Secretary of State is obliged at the outset to rely on the aid of some better informed member of his office. His Parliamentary Under-Secretary is generally as new to the business as himself: and even if they had not been brought in together, the tenure of office by the Under-Secretary having on the average been quite as short as that of the Secretary of State, he has never during the period of his official career obtained sufficient information to make him independent of the aid on which he must have been thrown at the outset. Thus we find both these marked and responsible functionaries dependent on the advice or guidance of another; and that other person must of course be one of the permanent members of the office. We do not pretend to say which of these persons it is, that in fact directs the colonial policy of Britain. It may be, as a great many persons think, the permanent Under-Secretary; it may be the chief, it may be some very subordinate clerk; it may be one of them that has most influence at one time, and another at another; it may be this gentleman as to ome, and that as to another question or set of questions: for here we get 54—2 852 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. rendered the English public indifferent of the United States, and the rapidity of their growth, offered a striking contrast to the slow development of Canada", the West Indies, the Cape, and Australia. The laissez faire beyond the region of real responsibility, and are involved in the clouds of official mystery. That mother-country which has been narrowed from the British isles into the Parliament, from the Parliament into the executive government, from the executive government into the Colonial Office, is not to be sought in the apart- ments of the Secretary of State, or his Parliamentary Under-Secretary. Where you are to look for it it is impossible to say. In some back room—whether in the attic, or in what story we know not—you will find all the mother-country which really exercises supremacy, and really maintains connexion with the vast and widely-scattered colonies of Britain. We know not the name, the history, or the functions of the individual, into the narrow limits of whose person we find the mother-country shrunk. * * * The system of intrusting absolute power (for such it is), to one wholly irresponsible is obviously most faulty. * * * It has all the faults of an essentially arbitrary government, in the hands of persons who have little personal interest in the welfare of those over whom they rule—who reside at a distance from them—who never have ocular experience of their condition—who are obliged to trust to second-hand and one-sided information—and who are exposed to the operation of all those sinister influences which prevail wherever publicity and freedom are not established. In intelligence, activity, and regard for the public interests, the permanent functionaries of ‘the Office’ may be superior to the temporary head that the vicissitudes of party politics give them; but they must necessarily be inferior to those persons in the colony, in whose hands the adoption of the true practice of responsible government would vest the management of local affairs.” Mr Buller's Responsible Government for the Colonies, quoted by Wakefield, Art of Colonisation, 283—288. 1 Lord Durham's Report draws a vivid picture of the contrast, which he ascribes principally to the different systems adopted in the disposal of public land. “On the American side all is activity and bustle. The forest has been widely cleared; every year numerous settlements are formed, and thousands of farms are created out of the waste; the country is intersected by common roads; canals and railroads are finished, or in the course of formation; the ways of communication and transport are crowded with people, and enlivened by numerous carriages and large steam-boats. The observer is surprised at the number of llarbours on the lakes, and the number of vessels they contain; while bridges, artificial landing-places, and commodious wharves are formed in all directions as soon as required. Good houses, warehouses, mills, inns, villages, towns, and even great cities, are almost seen to spring up out of the desert. Every village has its schoolhouse and place of public worship. Every town has many of both, with its township buildings, its book-stores, and probably one or two banks and news- papers; and the cities, with their fine churches, their great hotels, their exchanges, court-houses and municipal halls, of stone or marble, so new and fresh as to mark the recent existence of the forest where they now stand, would be admired in any part of the Old World. On the British side of the line, with the exception of a few favoured spots, where some approach to American prosperity is apparent, all seems waste and desolate. There is but one railroad in all British America, and that, running between the St Lawrence and Lake Champlain, is only 15 miles long. The ancient city of Montreal, which is naturally the commercial capital of the Canadas, will not bear the least comparison in any respect with Buffalo, which is a creation of yesterday. But it is not in the difference between the EMIGRATION AND THE COLONIES 853 school argued that it would be wise to cut the colonies adrift Aº and leave them to work out their own destiny. º This attitude of lofty indifference in regard to Colonial..., possessions was sufficiently irritating to the Englishmen who?..., ; had made their homes in distant parts of the Empire; but occasional interference proved even more galling than habitual while the colonists neglect. In one way or another dominant British senti- were irri- e o º tated b ments, philanthropic and economic, made themselves felt, ºal and influenced the Colonial authorities to give effect to jºice. measures which were deeply resented by the men whose interests were immediately affected, at the Cape, in the West Indies, and Canada. The strong objection which was officially taken to any extension of our Colonial responsibilities was re-enforced by a desire to mete out fair treatment to the on behalf native races. To the Home Government, it seemed important º to refrain from encroaching upon them in any way". The §. invasions of the Kaffirs, who were immigrating southwards, exposed Cape Colony to great danger, and an attempt was made to raise a barrier by planting the neighbourhood of Port Elizabeth with English and Scotch settlers, and for a time to maintain a belt of unoccupied area. As the white population in South Africa increased troubles ensued, for which English public opinion, stirred by the representations of a Congregational missionary”, was inclined to lay the entire blame upon the Dutch element in the population. According to the theory of the Home Government the Kaffirs were re- garded as forming a civilised state, which could be relied on larger towns on the two sides that we shall find the best evidence of our own inferiority. That painful but undeniable truth is most manifest in the country districts through which the line of national separation passes for 1,000 miles. There, on the side of both the Canadas, and also of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, a widely scattered population, poor, and apparently unenterprising, though hardy and industrious, separated from each other by tracts of intervening forest, without towns and markets, almost without roads, living in mean houses, drawing little more than a rude subsistence from ill-cultivated land, and seemingly in- capable of improving their condition, present the most instructive contrast to their enterprising and thriving neighbours on the American side.” Reports, 1839, xv.11. 75. * This had been the American policy recommended by the Home Government immediately after the conquest of Canada from the French. Attempts were made to prevent the plantation of the plains west of the Alleghanies. * Rev. J. Philip, whose Researches in South Africa gave a very one-sided trepresentation of affairs. 854 LAISSEZ FAIRE to carry out treaty obligations, and to maintain an efficient frontier police. But this system did not work in practice; the homes and farms of British subjects were constantly raided; the fact that no punishment followed was interpreted by the natives as a sign of mere weakness, and the life of the farmers became intolerable. In 1836 the great emigration of the Dutch began towards regions beyond the Orange River, where they hoped to be able to carry out their own system of dealing with frontier troubles by organised com- mandos. The inability of the Home Government to grasp the actual difficulties of the situation and its susceptibility to the opinions of enthusiasts and doctrinaires, bore fruit in vacilla- tion and mismanagement, and sowed the seeds of bitter hatred between two races that might easily have amalgamated at the Cape as completely as they have done in New York. The newly aroused sentiment, as to the duties of English- men towards African races, gave rise to difficulties, not only in the Dark Continent itself, but in the West India islands, where the planters had been so long dependent on imported labour. The humanitarian movement, for putting down the traffic in slaves, had been aroused by the misery it caused in Africa and in the Middle Passage; but the logical result was an agitation against the existence of slavery in British possessions, and this was headed by Lord Brougham. The British Government paid a sum of twenty millions in com- pensation to the planters when slavery was abolished in 1834. This was of course not a full compensation, as the value of West Indian slaves was said to be forty-three millions'. It might of course appear that the command which the planters had over a resident labouring population would enable them to carry on their operations without a full compensation for the money they had invested in stocking their estates with negroes. But as a matter of fact, and when viewed retrospectively, it is difficult to say that any compen- sation would have made up to the planters for losing control over their hands. There undoubtedly are populations who A.D. 1776 —1850. and of negroes in the West Indies. 1 The compensation appears to have varied from a quarter to a half of the sworn value of slaves of different classes and ages. Accounts, 1837–8, XLVIII. 680. EMIGRATION AND THE COLONIES 855 would be stimulated to greater exertions by the sense of A.D. 1776 freedom; but the West Indian negro, at all events, preferred T* to be idle and poor", rather than to exert himself even for comparatively high wages. The whole management of the estates was disorganised; and though the planters strove vigorously to manage their business on new lines, the effort was very severe and many of them were ruined in the attempt. When the hope of continued protection was with- The long protected drawn, and they were exposed to the competition” of the sugar in- º * º © * - e. dustry h slave-grown sugar on neighbouring islands, their condition .# CLS became desperate. Slave labour was less expensive than free * labour in this particular case, and the sugar growing in Cuba. and Brazil received an immense stimulus; as a consequence the traffic from Africa, which we had done so much to put down, revived anew and eluded the efforts we made to checkit. In more recent times the islands have also suffered from the State-aided production of beet-root sugar on the Continent; so that the emancipation of the slaves may be regarded as marking the beginning of the decline of that great sugar industry which was so highly prized in the eighteenth century. The question of the treatment of coloured races did not come into prominence in connection with Canada, partly because the Hudson's Bay Company appears to have 1 On a corresponding condition in Ireland compare Ricardo, Letters to Malthus, 138, 139. The pleasure of pure idleness is seldom sufficiently recognised by modern economists in working out the calculus of measurable motives. It was perhaps overrated in the eighteenth century. “Mankind in general are naturally inclined to ease and indolence; and nothing but absolute necessity will enforce labour and industry. * * * Those who have closely attended to the disposition and conduct of a manufacturing populace have always found that to labour less, and not cheaper, has been the consequence of a low price of provisions.” Essay on Trade, pp. 15, 14. In spite of the operation of this principle the standard of comfort throughout the country generally seems to have risen during the eighteenth century. Arthur Young frequently calls attention to the increase of tea-drinking, and wheat-flour was again replacing rye (Farmer's Letters, 197 and 283; C. Smith, Three Tracts, 79). Another writer in 1777 treats butter as a new luxury among cottagers, Essay on Tea, Sugar, White Bread and Butter (Brit. Mus. 8275. aaa. 10). There is much interesting evidence as to the actual standard of living of the labourers in different counties in Davies, Case of Labourers (1795). See also J. W., Considerations (1767), for the estimated budget of a clerk on £50 a year. - * 8 and 9 Vict. c. 63. The preferential sugar duties were finally withdrawn in 1874. 856 LAISSEZ FAIRE A.D. 1776 —1850. awakened to a new sense of responsibility to the Indians at an early date in the nineteenth century. The interrup- tion of trade during the Napoleonic War" had brought the Company to the verge of ruin; and the Indians, who had come to be dependent for their very existence on supplies of ammunition from Europe, were reduced to a state of terrible distress”. The most serious economic difficulties, in connection with the remaining British possessions on the American Continent, arose in consequence of the new economic policy which England was adopting. The com- plications which occurred in regard to the importation of cereals from Canada were the occasion of the repeal of the Navigation Acts, and the adoption of Free Trade led, in 1860, to the discontinuance of the preference which Canada had enjoyed, since 1803, for the supplying the mother- country with timber”, while the West Indies suffered in a Protection was with- drawn from Canadian lumber in accordance with Free Trade doctrine. 1 The exportation of furs for sale at the markets of Leipsic and Frankfort became impossible for some years after 1806. Willson, The Great Company, 362. - * In a petition sent in 1809 to the Chancellor of the Exchequer the Company states that “the nations of hunters taught for one hundred and fifty years the use of fire-arms could no more resort, with certainty, to the bow or the javelin for their daily subsistence. Accustomed to the hatchet of Great Britain, they could ill adopt the rude sharpened stone to the purposes of building, and until years of misery and of famine had extirpated the present race they could not recur to the simple arts by which they supported themselves before the introduction of British manufactures. As the outfits of the Hudson's Bay Company consist principally of articles which long habit have taught them now to consider of first necessity, if we withhold these outfits we leave them destitute of their only means of support.” Beckles Willson, Great Company, p. 363. 3 The Northern Colonies had never had such favour bestowed upon them as the West Indian Colonies; but lumber, one of their principal products, had been protected by a discriminating duty. This pressed very heavily on timber imported from Memel and the North of Europe. During the war the duty on European timber per load of 50 cubic feet was raised from 6s. 8d. to 65s., while the duty on colonial timber was never more than 2s. and that was removed before the close of the war. In 1821, in accordance with the recommendations of a Parliamentary Committee, the rate on European timber was fixed at 55s. and on colonial at 10s. (Porter, Progress of Nations, 374), and this appears to have had the effect of greatly invigorating the colonial timber trade. It was, however, alleged that the effect of these duties was to render timber dear in this country, to put a premium on the use of inferior qualities, and to encourage owners to use ships which had better have been broken up for fuel. There was consequently a steady attack upon the timber duties, as there had been on the sugar duties; but as they did not affect an article of ordinary domestic consumption, comparatively little public interest was aroused on the matter, and Canada continued to enjoy the advantage of this tariff till 1860 (Dowell, op. cit. II. 358). EMIGRATION AND THE COLONIES 857 similar fashion by the abandonment of the system which Aº" had secured them a monopoly of the English sugar trade. There was ample excuse for the feeling, which spread through the Colonies, that their interests and sentiments were entirely ignored; and their loyalty was in consequence subjected to a very severe strain. During this period of indifference and estrangement, however, there was a stream of emigration which increased in volume, from all parts of the British Isles to the trans- oceanic Colonies. The first considerable movement was Emigra- * e tº , e tion was organised by Lord Selkirk, as a means of assisting the encouraged tenantry who were displaced from the Sutherland estates in # 1803. One batch of emigrants was settled in Prince Edward's Island; and a much more ambitious scheme was carried out, in conjunction with the Hudson's Bay Company, for planting territory on the Red River in Rupert's Land. The immi- grants were not all well adapted for the rough and laborious life of pioneers, and they suffered from the bitter quarrels between the Hudson's Bay Company and their rivals in the fur trade—the North West Company, who inherited the business which had been organised by the French—till the two bodies were amalgamated in 1821. The settlement had been recruited from the ranks of foreign soldiers, who had taken part in the war of 1812, and despite political com- plications with the United States, its success was so far assured as to direct serious attention to this form of enter- prise. The pressure of circumstances led to the formation of the º, Canada Company, which was organised in Scotland, for effect- Company, ing settlements in the Huron tract. Among its most promi- nent men were John Galt and William Dunlop, who were drawn from the literary coterie which was associated with Blackwood's Magazine. The settlers were men of a different type from the poverty-stricken and broken-spirited High- landers, on whose behalf Lord Selkirk had exerted himself, as they had both the means and the capacity to face the diffi- culties of pioneer life". A similar middle-class settlement * The home conditions which have rendered any considerable section of the population desirous to emigrate have varied greatly at different times. (See 858 LAISSEZ FAIRE *::::::" had been carried out, partly at Government expense, in the east of Cape Colony in 1820. The condition of affairs which had been brought about in England by the Industrial Revolution, predisposed several of the leading economists of the time to look favourably on **... emigration as the best remedy for existing evils. They made advantages of system- a careful diagnosis of the ills that affected society, and came atic colo- e e e e ſº & misatiºn, to the conclusion that territorial expansion and emigration would afford the greatest measure of relief. The leading exponent of these new views was Mr E. G. Wakefield, and he succeeded in rallying round him a very remarkable group of men; expression was given to his views by Dr Hinds, the Dean of Carlisle, by Mr Charles Buller in the House of Commons, and most important of all by John Stuart Mill in his Principles of Political Economy. Mr Wakefield and his coadjutors were theorists; they arrived at their views on a question of practical political administration by reasoning based on accepted economic doctrines. Since the time of Malthus it had become a commonplace to maintain that there was a redundancy of population in as a means the country”; but the colonising school maintained that this of relieving e . . . išnjianá" redundancy was felt in every class of society, and not merely * among the poorest”. They also urged that England was * suffering from a plethora of capital; they argued that the and a pletiº of steady formation of capital, while no new fields for enterprise capital ſe & sº & & s tº were available, led in an ordinary way to feverish competition above, p. 345.) In this connection the following sentences are of interest. “Towards 1825, the year of the organization of the Canada Company, the reduced scale of the Army and Navy and the economy introduced into all departments, withdrew many sources of income. Manufactures and trade were only advantageous when carried on upon a large scale, with low profits upon extensive capital. There remained only the learned professions, with clerkships in banks, insurance companies and similar establishments. For these pursuits an increased population, and the rapid growth of education, caused a keen com- petition. This secured for national purposes a great degree of talent; but the pressure on the middle classes grew yearly heavier. There were many who possessed small capital—from five hundred to one thousand pounds—but it was not everyone who possessed the judgment and industry required for a life in the bush.” Lizars, In the Days of the Canada Company, 19. 1 Egerton, A Short History of British Colonial Policy, 272. * Emigration seems to have been looked on as the best means of relieving this country of pauperism (Reports 1826, Iv. 4), and an immense amount of attention was given to it. See the Index in Reports 1847, LVIII. pl. 4. 8 Wakefield, A View of the Art of Colonisation, 66, 74. EMIGRATION AND THE COLONIES 859 among capitalists at a very narrow margin of profit, and A.D. 1776 occasionally, by a not unnatural reaction, to outbursts of * wild speculation and consequent waste of capital'. From their point of view what we needed was additional land. “Neither by improvements of agriculture, nor by the im- portation of food, if these fall short of the power of the people to increase, is the competition of excessive numbers in all classes diminished in the least. By whatever means the field of employment for all classes is enlarged, unless it can be enlarged faster than capital and people can increase, no alteration will take place in profits or wages, or in any sort of remuneration for exertion; there is a larger fund, but a corresponding or greater increase of capital and people, so that competition remains the same, or may even go on becoming more severe. Thus a country may exhibit a rapid growth of wealth and population—such an increase of both as the world has not seen before—with direful competition within every class of Society, excepting alone the few in whose hands very large properties have accumulated. * * * We trace the competition to want of room; that is to a deficiency of land in proportion to capital and people or an excess of capital and people in proportion to land. * * * If we could sufficiently check the increase of capital and people, that would be an appropriate remedy, but we cannot. Can ***. o powmded by we then sufficiently enlarge the whole field of employment Wakefield. for British capital and labour, by means of sending capital and people to cultivate new land in other parts of the world 2 If we sent away enough, the effect here would be the same as if the domestic increase of capital and people were suffi- ciently checked. But another effect of great importance would take place. The emigrants would be producers of food; of more food, if the colonisation were well managed, than they could consume; they would be growers of food and raw materials of manufacture for this country; we should buy their surplus food and raw materials with manu- factured goods. Every piece of our colonisation, therefore, would add to the power of the whole mass of new countries 1 Wakefield, Art of Colonisation, 76. Mr Wakefield's letters are well worthy of perusal, as the observations of a judicious and far-seeing man on the actual condition of and probable changes in England. See especially pp. 64–105. 860 - LAISSEZ FAIRE to supply us with employment for capital and labour at home. Thus, employment for capital and labour would be increased in two places and two ways at the same time; abroad, in the Colonies, by the removal of capital and people to fresh fields of production; at home, by the extension of markets, or the importation of food and raw materials'.” These enthusiasts for colonisation were more successful in their analysis of existing conditions than in their practical efforts in regard to the planting of new lands. The promoters of new enterprises were obliged to oppose the traditional policy of the Colonial Office, and they are hardly to be blamed for the defects of schemes which had only given a partial embodiment to their views. They regarded economic considerations as of primary importance in connection with colonisation, but they did not neglect political and social points as well. In 1830 they established a society for pro- moting systematic colonisation; from that time onwards they were increasingly successful in obtaining public attention. They failed to get their principles thoroughly and consist- ently applied in any region, but they were able to introduce important modifications in the plans that were carried out with regard to South Australia”; and Wakefield had a large share in promoting the Company which colonised New Zealand”. They had to insist once more on the common- sense principles which had been set forth by John Smith in regard to Virginia. They held that a serious wrong had been done in the preceding half-century, since emigration had been for the most part the mere deportation of convicts" and paupers, instead of the systematic planting of a civilised community. It may, however, be doubted whether any other means of securing the migration of a white population A.D. 1776 —1850. , IHis views were partly adopted in the de- velopment of Aus- tralia, and New Zealand, 1 Wakefield, Art of Colonisation, 91. 2 Jenks, History of the Australian Colonies, 129. 8 Ib. 172. 4 The transportation of convicts chiefly to the southern States had gone on till the Declaration of Independence, at the rate of about 500 a year (Egerton, op. cit. 262). A Parliamentary Committee was appointed on the subject in 1779, and a statute empowering the King in Council to create Convict Settlements was passed in 1783 (24 Geo. III. c. 65). Another Committee on Transportation was appointed in 1837, and reported against the continuance of the system (Reports, 1838, xxH. 46), which was still retained in New South Wales, Van Diemens Iland, Bermuda, and Norfolk Island. EMIGRATION AND THE COLONIES 861 had been previously available", and whether it was not, in Aº the existing economic conditions, the best available means for developing the new lands. But a time had arrived when a better system of recruiting the population could be intro- duced, and Mr Wakefield rightly attached great importance to every circumstance that might induce good citizens to emigrate; he was anxious that they should have full political freedom and abundant opportunity for the exercise of their religion”. Besides laying stress on the quality and character of the emigrants, Mr Wakefield insisted on the importance of attracting capital to the Colonies, and the formation of capital in the Colonies. The first point of his programme, which Government adopted", was the proposal to discontinue the practice of making free grants of land; he urged that by selling the unoccupied land it would be possible to prevent too great diffusion, and to form a fund which might serve to promote and assist the emigration of selected labourers”. The agitation which was commenced by Wakefield is He helped © º tº º e & to create important as marking the beginning of the reaction against nºn- the indifference with which the Colonies had been regarded. %;a The movement did not make much headway at once, but it ; (Lt. has grown in strength, and given rise to the intense en- thusiasm for imperial development, which was exhibited at the Great Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Wakefield did not regard the settling of new lands as a mere relief to con- gestion at home; he believed that this form of enterprise would react on the old country, so as to insure still greater prosperity than before. “Colonisation,” he insists, “has a tendency to increase employment for capital and labour at home. * * * The common idea is that emigration of capital 1 Australian public opinion in 1840 appears to have still been divided on the question whether it was desirable to dispense with this method of recruiting the labouring population. Merivale, Lectures on Colonisation (1861), 355. * Wakefield, Art of Colonisation, 55. * In 1831 a new departure was taken in the mother colony of Australia, as Lord Ripon instituted the system of disposing of land by public auction; but the practice of making free grants was not altogether discontinued till 1838. In 1840 the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission was created, and the rule was laid down that the proceeds of land sales should be held in trust by the Imperial Government for the benefit of that part of the colony in which the land was situated. Jenks, op. cit. 62. * Wakefield, Art of Colonisation, 44. 862 LAISSEZ, FAIRE and people diminishes the wealth and population of the mother-country; it has never done so, it has always increased both population and wealth at home".” “Every fresh im- portation of food by means of exporting more manufactured goods is an enlargement of the field of production, is like an acreable increase of our land; and has a tendency to abolish and prevent injurious competition. This was the best argu- ment for the repeal of our corn laws’.” Mr Mill re-enforced a similar doctrine. “There needs be no hesitation,” he says, “in affirming that colonisation, in the present state of the world is the very best affair of business in which the capital of an old and wealthy country can possibly engage’.” The necessity of preserving coaling stations and harbours for our commerce, such as Vancouver, has been another motive which has brought the economic importance of distant possessions into light, and has contributed not a little to the change of sentiment on the subject. The sense of grievance on the part of colonists was greatly reduced, when the wise policy of granting them the fullest possible measure of responsible government was initiated. The seventeenth century tradition of political institutions had been perpetuated in all the Colonies, and the assemblies had had power to harass but not to control the executive authority. The problem of developing effective administration by a representative body was worked out in Canada under circumstances of exceptional difficulty, from the conflict of interest between the two provinces, from the traditions of the French population in Quebec", and the pretensions of the loyalist refugees and older colonists in Toronto". The wisdom and courage of Lord Durham did much to solve the difficulty in Canada; the system he established was adopted in 1855, with appropriate modifi- cations, in Australia", and through Mr Wakefield's influence in New Zealand as well". The importance of Lord Durham's achievement was very imperfectly appreciated at the time; A.D. 1776 —1850. and steps were taken both in Canada. and New Zealand to . introduce responsible government 1 Wakefield, Art of Colonisation, 92. 2 Ib. 89. 8 Principles of Political Economy, Bk. V. ch. xi. § 14 (People's edition, p. 586). 4 Bourinot, Canada under British Rule, 125. Ö Ib. 140. - * Jenks, History of the Australian Colonies, 238. 7 Ib. 247. EMIGRATION AND THE COLONIES 863 but we can see, as we read his report. how clearly he realised Aº the magnitude of the interests involved in North America alone. “An almost boundless range of the richest soil still remains unsettled, and may be rendered available for the purposes of agriculture. The wealth of inexhaustible forests of the best timber in America, and of extensive regions of the most valuable minerals. have as yet been scarcely touched. Along the whole line of sea-coast, around each island, and in every river, are to be found the greatest and richest fisheries in the world. The best fuel and the most abundant water- power are available for the coarser manufactures, for which an easy and certain market will be found. Trade with other continents is favoured by the possession of a large number of Safe and spacious harbours; long, deep and numerous rivers, and vast inland seas, supply the means of easy intercourse; and the structure of the country generally affords the utmost facility for every species of communication by land. Un- bounded materials of agricultural, commercial and manufac- turing industry are there: it depends upon the present decision of the Imperial Legislature to determine for whose benefit they are to be rendered available. The country which has founded and maintained these Colonies at a vast expense of blood and treasure, may justly expect its compen- sation in turning their unappropriated resources to the account of its own redundant population; they are the rightful patrimony of the English people, the ample appanage in the hope which God and Nature have set aside in the New World for ſº." to plant those whose lot has assigned them but insufficient portions ºgº.º. Statutº O72S in the Old. Under wise and free institutions these great and advantages may yet be secured to your Majesty's subjects; #" and a connexion secured by the link of kindred origin, and %. mutual benefits may continue to bind to the British Empire **** the ample territories of its North American Provinces, and the large and flourishing population by which they will assuredly be filled’.” He concluded with a vigorous protest against the prevailing carelessness. “It is by a sound system of colonization that we can render these extensive regions available for the benefit of the British people. The mis- * Reports, 1839, XVII. 7. 864 LAISSEZ FAIRE management by which the resources of our Colonies have hitherto been wasted, has, I know, produced in the public mind too much of a disposition to regard them as mere sources of corruption and loss, and to entertain, with too much complacency, the idea of abandoning them as useless. I cannot participate in the notion that it is the part either of prudence or of honour to abandon our countrymen, when our government of them has plunged them into disorder, or our territory, when we discover that we have not turned it to proper account. The experiment of keeping Colonies and governing them well ought at least to have a trial, ere we abandon for ever the vast dominion which might supply the wants of our surplus population, and raise up millions of fresh consumers of our manufactures, and producers of a supply for our wants".” A.D. 1776 —1850, 1 Reports, 1839, XVII. 118. POSTSCRIPT. 281. THE story of the growth of English Industry and ź.º. Commerce has not come to an end; and no narrator can º: pretend to follow it to the close; he is forced to choose some ºf point at which he thinks it convenient to break off the * thread. There are many reasons why it seems wise to the present writer not to attempt to enter on the recent economic history of the country, or to delineate the course of affairs since 1850. At that period the abandonment of Mercantilism had become complete, and the reaction against Laissez Faire had begun to make itself clearly felt, so far as the regulation of industry and of internal transport are concerned. The treatment of recent history would necessarily be presents different from that which has been attempted in dealing ºia, with the affairs of other days. Contemporaries enjoy an admirable position for chronicling events and putting on record vivid descriptions of passing occurrences, but they are not necessarily better fitted than those who look on from a distance, to analyse the conditions which have brought about a change. Since economic causes do not lie on the surface, there is all the more danger that men may fail to appreciate the really important forces that are at work in their generation. It does not come easy to everyone to hold himself severely aloof from the interests and sentiments of his own day, so that he can hope to form the dispassionate judgment which is possible in tracing the course of affairs in bygone times. The financial and economic history of England, during the last fifty years, has been deeply affected by the personal influence of Cobden's most notable disciple. Men, who have felt the magnetic attraction which Mr Gladstone exercised, are hardly fitted to judge how far the extraordinary development of particular sides of economic life, which took C.” 55 866 POSTSCRIPT especially in view of the develop- ment of political life throughout the British Empire. place under the fiscal and legislative measures he carried, has been altogether wholesome. It will be for future ages to decide whether he was the wisest of democratic leaders, or the greatest of unconscious charlatans. Nor does it seem possible to apply the method which has been pursued throughout the foregoing pages, in tracing the fortunes of the English people for nineteen hundred years", to the industrial and commercial growth of the last half- century. It has been the object of this book to co-ordinate the story of economic life with that of political development, and to bring out the relations between the two. In each era political aims have affected the direction and manner of economic growth; the story of material development is only intelligible, when the underlying sentiments and objects are clearly understood. But with the fall of the Mercantile System, the power of the English realm, in its narrower sense, which was for centuries the determining factor in shaping the economic growth of the country, has ceased to be treated as an adequate, far less as an exclusive object of consideration. There is a far wider outlook before us in discussing the economic policy of the realm, and we have hardly yet focussed our view as to the direction in which we may most wisely try to move. Account must be taken of the great communities and dependencies beyond the sea, both as re- gards our political institutions, our naval and military ex- penditure, and our material prosperity. Not till the new forms, which the life of the British Empire is assuming under our very eyes, are more clearly defined, will it be possible to trace the process of economic readjustment which has been involved in attempting to meet these new requirements. Political and economic factors react upon one another; the doctrine of laissez faire has vanquished the narrower national- ism of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; but has it said the last word in regard to our mercantile relations with all parts of the world ! We have discarded this doctrine, deliberately and finally, in regard to the conditions of in- dustrial life, and the management of traffic within Great Britain. Who shall say what the issue will be when the 1 B.C. 55 to A.D. 1850. JA ISSEZ FAIRE IN COMMERCE 867 question of its continued applicability to English commerce is once fairly raised"? The entire abandonment of national commercial regula- tion, either through Navigation Laws or by means of tariff, was an ideal which was hailed with enthusiasm by many writers at the close of the eighteenth century. Sir John Laissez Sinclair held very decided views on the subject. “It is ºw unnecessary,” he wrote in advocating a general colonial . * emancipation, “to point out the advantages which Europe in ºf . 5 'deal by general would receive were such an important alteration to º both take place in the situation and circumstances of the most in England fertile and valuable provinces which the world contains. My breast glows at the idea that a time may possibly soon arrive when the ships of Denmark, of Sweden, and of Russia, of Holland, of Austria, of France itself, and of Great Britain shall no longer be debarred from sailing to the coasts of Chili and of Peru, or be precluded by any proud monopolist from exchanging the commodities of Europe for the riches of America; and when every state, in proportion to the fertility of its soil, and to the industry of its inhabitants, may be certain of procuring all the necessaries and the conveniences of life. With such a new and extensive field opened to the exertions of mankind, what discoveries might not be expected, what talents might not break forth, to what a height would not every art and science be carried ? The mind of a philan- thropist need not be overpowered with the magnitude and importance of the ideas which present themselves to his view, when he can figure, for a moment, mankind united together by mutual interest, and bound by the ties of commercial intercourse to promote the general happiness of the species”.” It seemed to many people, however, that the best chance of realising this ideal was in a new country, where there was less respect for a traditional policy or for vested interests, and many economists looked hopefully to the United States ºw. to be the pioneer of Free Trade. Jefferson, who was much influenced by French writers, expressed himself decidedly on 1 Mr Chamberlain's speech on May 15, 1903, marks an epoch, as it recognised the necessity of bringing our economic policy into accord with Imperial ideas. * Sinclair's History of the Public Revenue, II. 105. 55—2 868 POSTSCRIPT the subject. “I think,” he wrote in 1785 to John Adams, whose views, like those of Franklin, were in close accord with his own, “all the world would gain by setting commerce at perfect liberty'.” But events proved too strong for the young Republic. Both France and England were anxious to maintain their own commercial systems, and though it was possible to adjust trade differences with France”, the English shipowners were unwilling that the Americans should com- pete with them on even terms in any branch of trade”. Had the Bill" which Pitt drafted in 1783 been adopted, America might have grown up as a Free Trade state, but Fox and his supporters" succeeded in maintaining the exclusive policy of the Navigation Act. American statesmen had reason to fear that their nascent commerce would be crushed out of exist- ence. It thus came about that, under English influence, the inclinations of the leaders of opinion in America were modified"; the transatlantic Republic, which adopted internal freedom of commerce and industry with enthusiasm, did not rely on the new principles for foreign trade, but set herself to carry on the old nationalist tradition in the New World. The ideal of perfectly free commercial intercommunication and roused was not abandoned, however; it took a hold of the imagina- tions of the Englishmen who agitated against the high pro- tective duties on corn, which pressed so severely after 1815 he Corn on the manufacturers and the poor. The principles of the Anti-Corn-Law League were so clear that anyone who opposed them seemed to be actuated by selfish prejudices rather than by any reasonable objection. The Free Traders were con- vinced that if England took the bold course, and abandoned her merely nationalist system, all other countries would be inspired by her example. The national prosperity of England has increased by leaps and bounds since 1846, far beyond the 1 Randolph, Memoirs, Correspondence, etc. of Thomas Jefferson, I. 264. On political grounds Jefferson would have preferred that American citizens should keep to rural pursuits and not develop commerce, or manufacturing. Tucker, Life of Jefferson, I. 200, also Notes on Virginia, 275. 2 McMaster in Cambridge Modern History, VII. 323. * See p. 674 above. 4 Commons Journals, XXXIX. 239; Leone Levi, op. cit. 57. 5 Compare Disraeli's speech in 3 Hansard LXVI., Feb. 14, 1843. 6 Austin, Soundness of the policy of protecting domestic Manufactures, 1817. Hamilton, Report on Manufactures, pp. 4, 31. IAISSEZ FAIRE IN COMMERCE 869 expectations of those who advocated a change in our fiscal policy—but there is little disposition on the part of other but tº: peoples to follow the line we have pursued. Indeed, the . * to attitude of a country, which poses as a great example to *::::: other nations, is not necessarily attractive. It is less likely to ſº. call forth enthusiastic imitation than to give rise to carping tº not criticism. The expectations of Cobden have been falsified" iſºla other nations are inclined to imitate the steps by which England attained to greatness, and to try to build up a commercial and industrial system by the protectionist methods she pursued in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, rather than to take over her recent policy ready made. It may be pointed out with truth that the system of unfettered intercourse was opportune for England, because she had reached a particular phase of development as an industrial nation, but that it is not equally advan- tageous to countries in which the economic system is less advanced”. The Free Traders made the error which was so common among the economists of the day”, and based on the particular conditions of England, a maxim which they regarded as of universal validity. Cobden had no scruple in separating himself from the thorough-going Free Traders” and falling back upon a system of commercial treaties in 1860. But his anticipations as to the collapse of protectionism in France" have not been realised; the network of treaties which was framed, has not secured a gradual advance towards universal Free Trade". The rise of national enthusiasms, both On continental Europe and in America, has had its natural result in kindling an increased desire for national economic life; and England has bereft herself of the means of bargain- ing" with any foreign country, so as to make better terms for the admission of her goods. A modification of our It may be fiscal system, which would enable us to offer free import ... abandon for the corn of Canada, India, Australia, and other parts of the ſº.” ir * faire Empire, would secure us an ample food supply; we would for the sake then be able to impose duties on the goods imported from of securing countries which endeavour to exclude our manufactures; ºff." 1 Cobden, 15 Jan. 1846; Speeches, I. 360. * List, National Political Economy, 186. 8 See above, p. 740. 4 Morley, Cobden, II. 338. 5 Ib. II. 246. 6 Ib. II. 343. . 7 Fuchs, The Trade Policy of Great Britain and her Colonies, xxix. 201. 870 POSTSCRIPT and thus have a prospect of either obtaining a revenue, or of inducing our neighbours to give us better terms. It seems as if a time were coming when it would only be by specific agreement that we shall have access to markets in which to dispose of the wares with which we purchase the necessaries of life, and of industrial activity. The imposition of retaliatory tariffs on protectionist countries may be forced upon us as the only means of strengthening our business connection" with the great self-governing colonies, and of thus securing the command of supplies of food and raw materials. It is possible that England would by this means not only ward off the dangers which threaten her very existence, but enter on a path by which the completest economic co-operation between the distant regions which form parts of the Empire may be most quickly and easily realised. The persuasive force of economic principles becomesgreater when concrete instances, which affect immediate interests, can be adduced in supporting them. The manufacturers in 1846 realised that by the adoption of Free Trade and the admission of foreign cereals, the demand for our manufactures would be enormously increased”. They had such a belief in the su- periority of our methods of production, and the eagerness of foreigners to buy on the cheapest terms, that they could not conceive that any market which was once open to our goods would ever be deliberately closed against us. Circumstances have so far changed, and our industrial rivals have so far developed in efficiency and in commercial influence, that the question is forced upon public attention whether it is prudent for us to continue to trust entirely to laissez faire, or whether we are not compelled to take active measures to retain and extend the market for our goods. Under changed conditions there may be a new reading of the Whig commercial tradition, and securing an open door for O11.7° 7720,727%- factu, e3. This course would harmonise with tra- ditional Whig views of the benefit of COINT).01°C6, 1 Such retaliation is quite different in economic character from any scheme for reverting to the protection of home industries, as it was in vogue in the eighteenth century, or is maintained in any country which regulates economic life on a strictly National basis. Huskisson attempted to modify our tariffs in such a fashion as to create new ties of common interests throughout the Empire, but his plan would not be applicable to present conditions. (Cunningham, Wisdom of the Wise, 50.) The scheme for an Imperial Zollverein is discussed sympathetically by Lord Elgin, who regarded it as no longer practicable, Letters and Journals, 61. But it may still be possible to introduce particular measures that benefit the mother-country and some particular colony too, without attempting to impose one system on all the members of the Empire. * Morley, op. cit. I. 141. ANALOGY WITH THE EIIZABETHAN AGE 871 which insisted on the advisability of managing trade so that it might react on home industry". Our manufacturers may jºr recognise that some leverage is necessary if we are to Secure an industry, open door for the sale of our goods. A duty on the corn im- ported from countries which tax our manufactures heavily would be the most obvious mode of bringing pressure upon customers who look to us for the sale of their products. In so far as such duties yielded a revenue, they would be in and with accordance with the fiscal tradition of the Tories”, which has ####, always favoured schemes for placing the burden of taxation #; on as wide a basis as possible, instead of concentrating it on § * a single class. A modification of our fiscal policy, which shall bring it into accord with the fundamental economic views of each of the historic parties, and shall render it more accept- able to the developing British colonies, may not occur imme- diately; but many circumstances are tending in that direction”. 282. The trend of events during the last fifty years is Recent particularly difficult to interpret because the half century has * Q, been one of such rapid changes. In this it is comparable;', with the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries rather than of the with any other period. The facilities of transport, which had : been introduced during the preceding decades, have been rapidly developed, and cosmopolitan organisation of inter- course is beginning to show itself. The importance to the whole world of a postal and telegraphic service is clearly felt", and the primacy of cosmopolitan over territorial interests is recognised, in the denationalisation of certain great water- ways, such as the line of lakes in North America, and the Suez Canal; there is a curious contrast with the mediaeval demarcation of marine spheres of influence, or the seventeenth century claims of the English to the Sovereignty of the Seas. Attempts to secure cosmopolitan agreement as to the standard º, §ºf of value show a new desire among the peoples of mankind to a new basis meet the common convenience". The days of the supremacy *m. of the nation as the unit for economic regulation seem to be º passing away, as civic economic institutions and intermunicipal commerce have been merged, but not lost in national economic 1 See p. 457 above. 2 See p. 600 above. 8 Fuchs, Die Handelspolitik Englands (1893), p. 312. 4 Wells, Recent Economic Changes, 32. 5 Cummingham, Western Civilisation, II. 264. 872 POSTSCRIPT life. Cosmopolitanism has hitherto failed to suppress the national ‘will to live’; indeed, there has been a fresh develop- ment of patriotic sentiment in new lands", as well as in the old world, but it need not necessarily express itself in inter- national and inter-racial competition all over the world. Patriotic traditions and aspirations may have full scope in nationalities, which are yet federated, for common political action and conscious economic co-operation, in one great Empire. The rapidity of change has also been stimulated by the success which has attended gold-mining during the last half- century. The discovery of gold in California in 1849 and the working of the Australian diggings in 1851 added immensely to the world's stock of gold. This has been esti- mated as £560,000,000 in 1848, while it is believed that no less than £240,000,000 had been added before the close of 1860 —or an increase of nearly fifty per cent”. The effects of the opening up of these sources of supply have been many and far-reaching. The most obvious has been a rapid fall in the value of gold, and, as a consequence, a rapid rise in prices in England, since gold is now the standard of value. We have very full records of the prices of commodities of all sorts for the period 1845–50, before the influence of the newly dis- covered gold was felt; and we see that in 1853 general prices ranged 113 per cent. higher, and that the increase went on till, in 1857, there had been a rise of no less than 28.8 per cent. on the prices for the quinquennial period which closed in 1850°. The changes in prices have been accompanied by variations in the relative value of the two precious metals; from 1850 till 1870 gold slightly depreciated relatively to silver; though this has been obscured in retrospect by the still greater changes of an opposite kind which occurred through the opening up of the silver mines in Nevada, and the new demands for gold which were set in motion by the alteration of the German monetary system in 1872, when gold was adopted in place of a standard that had been practically bi-metallic. The corresponding movements, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, resulted in a difference of the rating of gold in different countries, all of which were chiefly silver- in the effects of the dis- coveries of gold and silver on prices amd on the relative value of the precious metals; * R. C. Jebb, Studies in Colonial Nationalism, 1. * Jevons, Investigations in Currency and Finance, 65. * Jevons, Ib. 47. See Append. G. ANALOGY WITH THE ELIZABETHAN AGE 873 using; in recent years it has brought about a marked cleavage between the gold-using and the silver-using coun- tries. The financial and commercial relations between England and India have been altered; Indian production, both of raw products and textiles, has been stimulated by the high silver prices which could be obtained in gold-using countries, and in England the agricultural interest appears to have been depressed by the importation of grain ripened in a silver- using country", while English manufactures cannot be so profitably exported to the silver areas”. The remarkable development of trade, from 1850 to 1874, appears to be directly connected with the rise of prices which followed the discoveries of gold”, while the subsequent depression is equally clearly connected with the dislocation which has been due to the fall in the value of silver relatively to gold". The material prosperity of England is dependent on trade, and the main influences which have affected her industrial and agricultural life during the last half-century have originated in events which occurred in distant parts of the world. The parallel, between the period which followed the discovery of the New World and the last half-century, holds good, not only in regard to prices, but in other ways as well. There has been an unprecedented opportunity for the forma- tion of capital; and the new means of communication which have been opened up, have made it possible for enterprising men to invest it, in developing the resources and industry of any part of the globe. In the sixteenth century England was a backward country, and capitalists seeking for invest- ments looked towards it from all the continental monetary centres. During the last half-century London has been the city in which financial business has been chiefly concentrated, and English capital has flowed out to engage in industrial and commercial and engineering undertakings in our colonies, in foreign countries, and in uncivilised lands. There is another aspect in which the parallel holds good; the addition which accrued to the world’s bullion—stimulating 1 Report of Gold and Silver Commission, in Reports, 1888, XLV. 331. * Bowley, England's Foreign Trade, 98. * Nicholson, Money and Monetary Problems, 180. * Ll. Price, Money and its Relation to Prices, 181. in the facilities for the formation of capital; 874, POSTSCRIPT as it did the industry and commerce of the time—appears to have produced a general diffused increase of comfort, in England at all events, but it certainly led to the accumulation of large fortunes. This was also the case in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; the moneyed class rose in im- portance; there was a steady trend of new men, who had been successful in the City, to fill up the ranks of the landed gentry; but the merchants and financiers continued to grow in wealth and power. The farmers of the taxes under Charles I, the goldsmiths in the Restoration period, and the company promoters of the time of Queen Anne were men who often rose from small beginnings to be the possessors of large fortunes. The new accession of wealth during the last half-century has brought about an improved standard of comfort among the working classes generally, and among the middle classes, and modern conditions have also afforded opportunities for the accumulation of unprecedented fortunes in business. The poor are not growing poorer, but the very rich are becoming much richer. There were not a few complaints of the disintegrating influence which the absentee landlords and new men exercised in Elizabethan and Stuart times, and the millionnaire of the present day also seems to find it difficult to choose, among the various continents, the one in which he prefers to make his headquarters, to discern his duty to his neighbours there, and to do it. The rise of individuals to great wealth, in the seventeenth century, was associated with changes in the methods of business organisation. The civic and municipal gilds had fallen into decay, and the companies, which strove to carry on a regulated trade on national lines, failed to justify their existence. Commerce came to be conducted on new principles, and each individual was free to push his business as best he could ; or it was handed over to joint-stock companies which enjoyed large concessions and judicial and military status. The whole of the elaborate system, by which efforts had been made in the Middle Ages to secure and enforce good order in commercial transactions, or in industrial life, broke down utterly and for ever. Free competition triumphed over the methods of careful organisation, and the right to freedom in bargaining, &n the building wip of great Ortv726S, and in changes in business organi8a- tion, 1 Giffen, Essays in Finance, Second Series, 405 ANALOGY WITH THE ELIZABETHAN AGE 875 which had been traditionally maintained outside municipal boundaries, asserted itself in the seventeenth century. In recent years there have been similar changes; the com- petition of comparatively small capitalists with one another can no longer be assumed; immense strides have been made in the way of organising business management, so as to control the whole process of production in some great depart- ment of industry. The growth of trusts in America, which are profoundly affecting English industry, both by their example and by the competition they carry on, is in many ways alien to English commercial tradition. The sentiment in favour of publicity in transactions, and the competition of buyers and sellers in a market, has never obtained such a hold in America as it had in English life. The mediaeval dislike of forestalling and regrating—of private bargaining outside the market—never seems to have crossed the Atlantic ; and there has in consequence been greater oppor- tunity for organising systems of control, which embrace the production of the material for some manufacture and the distribution of the product by retailing agents. It is not possible for all the buyers and sellers, who are practically interested in transactions in some class of goods, to meet on the same spot; the old methods of securing publicity are in- applicable; “common estimation’ can no longer be discerned from the higgling of the market. The facilities for transport which have are so great, that buyers of the produce of Virginia or ºff" California are to be found all over the globe. The postal º'ph service and the electric telegraph bring buyers and sellers system. from distant regions into communication; while they help to diffuse information publicly through the newspapers, they have a still greater effect in giving extraordinary facilities for private communication. Since the seventeenth century, when business became a matter of private enterprise, it has tended more and more to take a speculative character. Reliable private information and judicious forecasts of probable changes are the chief elements in planning and carrying through a successful deal. The methods, which are appropriate for transactions involving considerations of world-wide supply and demand, are completely different from those which were 876 POSTSCRIPT Whereas Eliza- bethan StateSmem. aimed at promoting National Power and the means of attaining it, in vogue a hundred years ago. The competition of small capitalists, within the limits of a single country, is being rapidly superseded as the determining factor in price; a revolution is occurring, similar to that by which private enterprise ousted civic regulation and well-ordered trade. In every particular, the transition which has been recently taking place corresponds to the changes which occurred after the discovery of the precious metal in the New World, save that, in modern times, the movements are more rapid and more widespread in their effects. 283. The parallel between the economic conditions of the Elizabethan age, with which this volume opened, and those of recent times in England is clear enough; but there are differences which are well worth noting. The object which Lord Burleigh and many succeeding generations of statesmen kept steadily before them was that of building up English power and prestige. They were determined that the nation should be free, economically and politically, to live her own life, and work out her destiny in the world for herself, uncontrolled by the Pope, or any of the Roman Catholic powers. Their whole scheme of industrial and commercial life was devised with a view of fostering the elements that made for national power. Adam Smith and the classical economists did not really abandon this point of view; they only insisted on a new means of obtaining the recognised end of political economy, as they understood it. They pointed out that wealth of any kind was the source of power, and that laissez faire principles were favourable to the rapid increase of nineteenth century public opinion wealth, both individual and national, and therefore to the in- crease of the power of the nation. The change, which occurred in nineteenth century opinion, was somewhat deeper; it depended on new views, not of the means to be used, but of the end to be pursued. The welfare of the people committed to their charge was not left out of account, or forgotten, by the statesmen of the Elizabethan and Stuart period, but their chief care was for national power; in the last half century, national power and prestige still kindle the keenest en- thusiasm, but the main thought and effort of public men is given to the improvement of the condition of the masses of THE PHYSICAL CONDITIONS OF WELFARE 877 the people. There has been a conscious effort to preserve ::::::::: the welfare of the community, in all its various aspects, and the Welfare a tendency to disparage the ambition for national power; *. this finds its fullest expression in Socialism, but it has influenced public opinion in many ways, and affected govern- mental action. There has at least been a noticeable change in the stress laid on these different objects. In 1850 England had consciously discarded the old scheme for foster- ing the various factors of national power, but assiduous thought has been constantly given to the elements which go to constitute human welfare, and to the best means of attaining them either by State action or associated effort. It has been possible to trace the influence of philanthropic sentiment in checking abuses of many kinds, but it is not easy to delineate with any precision the positive conception of welfare on which it has been based. We are forced to separate it from the ideals of religion altogether, though these may do much to mould the personal attitude towards social duty". Religious motives have done and may do much to stimulate to philanthropic action; but the aims which are comprised in the current ideals of welfare are purely mundane. They cannot be universal, similar for all human beings alike, but must be adapted to the temperament and conditions of different races; they cannot be eternal, since they concentrate attention on earthly existence. They offer a practical aim, ... which is attractive to many whose enthusiasm is not kindled for real- by ideal objects. Among the conditions of welfare in human” life, a supply of the comforts and conveniences of life occupies a large place; the increase of material goods affords the possibility of leisure, and freedom from constant drudgery; these are conditions without which high national attainment in literature or science or art do not seem to be possible. Hence the classical political economy of Adam Smith and his successors has a permanent importance; the causes of the wealth of nations, the increase of physical resources, and of 1 On the different attitude taken to work—as a matter of expediency or of duty—see Cunningham, Gospel of Work, p. 54. The influence of religion is treated more generally by Professor Nicholson in his excellent chapter on the Relation of Political Economy to Morality and Christianity, in Principles, III, 427. See also. Cunningham, Modern Civilisation, 189. 878 POSTSCRIPT national prosperity have an abiding interest. But it is important to remember that the Science of Political Economy, as they formulated it, only deals with one aspect of human life, or with the material and physical conditions of exist- ence and progress, rather than with life itself. These con- stitute a very important aspect; and they are very difficult to deal with, as the severance between private and public in- terest, or the divergence of temporarily conflicting interests, is more marked in this connection than in the other elements of welfare. The interests of landed and moneyed men, or of capital and labour, or of an old and an undeveloped country, often are distinct, and the chief problem of modern political life is to prevent any one interest from becoming dominant and allowing itself to pursue its own advantage in disregard of the common weal. Since 1832, when England became consciously demo- cratic, and still more since 1874, when the new principles were more thoroughly applied, the physical well-being of labour has been kept very prominently in view by English legislators and administrators. Political power rests with the working classes, and they may possibly use it so as to burden the owners of property unduly, and prevent the formation of capital, or so as to harass employers in the So as to afford eaccuse for eacclusive attention to the £nterests of labour in England 1. An attempt has been made by Jevons and his followers to revolutionise Political Economy and to recast it in a form in which it appears to offer a scientific account of Human Welfare. They start from the conception, which Adam Smith discarded, of value-in-use, instead of value-in-exchange, and explain transactions in terms of the degrees of utility or disutility involved. This is a convenient mode of statement for treating certain problems, particularly those of con- sumption, but the analysis of subjective motives has always seemed to me a cumbrous and inconvenient way of approaching the facts of the actual exchange of goods, as it goes on in the world. It is comparatively easy to take a certain type of human being and analyse his probable conduct, but the principles thus obtained are not real generalisations from observed fact (Cunningham, Plea for Pure Theory, in Economic Review, II. 35). It is difficult to see within what limits they are applicable, or what corrections it is necessary to apply in order to make them the basis of practical maxims. According to Adam Smith's treatment exchange-value is the fundamental conception; and in modern life the conditions - of exchange dominate over the methods of production and the terms of distri- bution. The most recent English writers, Professor Nicholson in his elaborate treatise, and Mr Devas in his manual, while embodying the results obtained on the new methods, show a decided reaction against the mode of statement intro- duced by Jevons, and a tendency to revert to the objective treatment which was adopted by Adam Smith and the Classical Economists. THE PHYSICAL CONDITIONS OF WELFARE 879 management of their business; in either case the community will suffer, and the working classes will have to bear their share in the general disaster. But on the other hand, there is good reason to hope that they will attain to such a measure of political wisdom, and such a sense of political responsi- bility, as to endeavour to avoid these dangers, and so may refrain from pushing the interest of their class beyond the point where it ceases to be consonant with the well-being of the community as a whole. The accentuation of this element of care for labour, which is a characteristic feature of modern English life, is reproduced in the daughter communities which have grown up during the last half-century. Labour is the predominant factor in the political life of Australia and New Zealand; the conditions of labour occupy much of the consideration of the legislature, and the welfare of labour takes a very prominent place in the conception of the welfare of the community. In other modern States this is not the case to nearly the same extent. Among continental peoples, the necessity of maintaining large military organisations is still regarded as paramount. Power rather than Welfare is the main object of economic policy; France, Germany, and Russia are neces- sarily pursuing a course that is more closely parallel to that of England in the seventeenth century, than to that of England to-day. In Germany in particular the efforts of the government to retain the mastery, and yet to exercise it benevolently, bear a curious analogy to the work of the Council under James I. and Charles I. In America, with the extraordinary possibilities of settling on the land which it offers, the necessity of taking active steps to promote, or to protect, the interests of labour have never been recognised. There may be a change in this respect, now that the field for extension is so clearly defined", but up to the present time the government has been inclined to give facilities for the accumulation and profitable employment of capital, as the best expedient for promoting the development of industrial employment and the good of the community. So far as the American economic system is concerned, it appears to be 1. F. J. Turner, Significance of the Frontier in American ſlistory, 199. and her colonies; while the polic; of other countries as more concerned with National Power, or the - interests of capital. 880 POSTSCRIPT The of labour 78 shown wn the respective policies of England and her colonies, O2Der and ºn the develop- ment of Trade Unions, ** Friendly, and Co- operative ASocieties. generally thought that if attention is given to the interests of capital, those of labour will also be saved indirectly, but none the less really and in the best way. Unlike as Russia, Germany, and America are in many ways, they are similar to one another and distinguished from England by this common feature, that in all of them labour is still struggling for primary consideration at the hands of the government. It is not yet secure in the enjoyment of the power of association to attend to its own interest, and is apt, from a sense of official want of sympathy, to ally itself with the socialist and anarchist opposition to the established order. It is not a little curious to notice that, in the different circumstances of the mother-country and the colonies, the same cause, the dominance of labour, has brought about an opposite influence to bear on economic policy. In England the working classes have become firmly attached to the free trade principles which tell in favour of cheap food to the con- sumer; in Victoria and some other colonies, they are more inclined to adopt a policy which favours producers. But the power of this factor in national life is shown, not only in the trend of legislation, but in the character and work of the asso- ciations of English working men. In various ways they have contributed to the maintenance of a high standard of comfort. This has been the direct object of Trade Unions, and whether their existence has been a contributing cause or not, there can be little doubt that the working classes generally, and the skilled artisans in particular, have attained to a much greater command over the comforts and conveniences of life than they formerly enjoyed. Friendly Societies continue to flourish and to guard their members against the risk of being submerged through the loss of health or other unforeseen occurrences. In addition, by means of the Co-operative movement, the poor consumer has been able to bring effective supervision to bear on the quality and price of the goods supplied to him. The guarantee which the Assize of Bread and Ale were supposed to afford can be much more completely brought into operation, and at far less cost, by the agency of these great trading bodies. On all these sides a remarkable system of self-help has been organised, and the labourer has THE ENGLISH CONCEPTION OF WELFARE 881 been able to protect himself against the degrading influence of reckless competition, and to secure that a measure of the increasing wealth of the realm shall be diffused so as to give better opportunities of welfare to the masses of the people. 284. A consideration of the course of recent legislation The . and the working of English institutions seems to show that tºo. the conception of welfare, as it presents itself to the English g ; mind now-a-days, is not identical with the views that are ſº cherished in other communities. The differences come into peoples, clearer light when we turn from questions connected with the º diffusion of material wealth, to the moral elements which are involved in the idea of well-being. In all economic concep- tions there is relativity; while on one side there are material objects, on the other we have the human beings by whom these objects are used; varieties of disposition and tempera- ment must introduce considerable differences in the aims they cherish. These are perhaps of greater importance with respect to the influence exercised on subject peoples, than in connection with the condition of the citizens themselves. There are two points in the mental attitude of English- a deep men which are at least less noticeable in other communities ºf There is, for one thing, a remarkably strong historic sense,” and regard for tradition. We have long prized our own, we have more lately learned to be respectful in our attitude to- wards those of other races. The sentiments of other peoples, as embodied in their literature and institutions, have been treated with marked tenderness, during the greater part of the nine- teenth century. So far are we from trying to stamp them out, and force English ways and habits of thought upon other peoples, that we are sedulous in the effort to exercise our influence to preserve and foster rather than to supersede. There was no similar feeling among English statesmen of the seventeenth century; the aim of James I. and of Strafford and Laud was to assimilate the institutions and habits of thought of the realm of Great Britain and Ireland to one model, by recasting the ecclesiastical system of Scotland and bringing about thorough changes in the social conditions of Ireland. In Ireland that effort for assimilation has gone on, though in recent years there has been a reaction, and more attempt has C.# - 56 882 POSTSCRIPT been made, for good or evil, to govern Ireland according to Irish ideas, and to introduce and diffuse a wider acquaintance with the Erse language and literature. The Scotch failed in their endeavour to impose their habits of thought and insti- tutions on England, as the price of their assistance in the Great Rebellion; and since the Restoration the effort at #. expanding the English model, and introducing it in all parts ºf the of the English realm, has been abandoned. The North º, American colonies were allowed to develop on their own * , religious and social lines, and at the Union in 1707, the the English Scottish ecclesiastical institutions and the Scottish legal model, gº e e o systems were preserved intact, and side by side with those of England. The right and freedom for different nations to preserve their own language and traditions and sentiments within a single political community has been acknowledged, and this is the basis of English policy in all parts of the world. There is no other great civilised community in modern times which has shown itself ready to take this line; in the United States the need of assimilating the alien elements which immigrate there is constantly before men's minds. The Tories and Loyalists were thrust out after the successful struggle against the British Crown", and there is a determination so far as possible to keep out those who do not easily adapt themselves to American conceptions of citizen- ship. In Russia and Germany the pressure of the military system renders still more active measures inevitable; and the troubles in the Polish provinces of Prussia, and in Finland, mark the contrast between the prevailing ideas in England and in other great States upon the respect to be shown to racial sentiment and tradition. gº (LS It is perhaps less obvious that in England there is a respºt for remarkably highly developed care for human life as such. The ” difference on this point between all Western peoples and Savage tribes or the civilisations of the East is very marked; and when East and West come in contact, there is a tendency for the higher races to take the Savage or half-civilised at their own valuation. In England, since the agitation against the slave-trade began, there has been a serious effort to apply 1. McMaster in Cambridge Modern History, VII. 307. THE ENGLISH CONCEPTION OF WELFARE 883 the European estimate of the value of life to the coloured peoples with whom we come in contact. In the two branches of the Anglo-Saxon race there appears to be some divergence in this matter; the attitude of aloofness towards the negro even in which characterises the United States generally, and the long ºf frontier wars with the Indians, have tended to produce a tone * of sentiment in regard to black, red, and yellow races with which the Englishman does not find himself in full sympathy. At the same time the horror of grandmotherly interference by the Government appears to be stronger in America than in Europe generally or in England, and the sense that it is the business of the individual to take care of himself and preserve his own life militates against the exercise of police super- vision and protection on a large scale. There are no means of gauging it accurately or instituting a definite comparison, but it certainly appears that the duty of the State to protect the persons and lives of men of all races alike is less clearly recognised in the United States than it is among the other branches of the English race. It is to a large extent the consciousness of this difference of sentiment which gives the Englishman a feeling of destiny in regard to the exercise of influence over subject peoples. Free play for the men of all races to attain to the best that is in them is the principle which British rule has sedulously endeavoured to realise in all parts of the globe, by introducing institutions for the protection of life and property, and for giving all possible scope to varieties of tradition, sentiment and culture. There is little danger of underrating the greatness of the task that has thus come to our hands. But to men who are men, these very difficulties sound a call of duty; and the best of the coming generation are showing a keen enthusiasm to have their personal part in the mission of England, and to serve their country in any part of the world. - 285. The only parallel with England in the work on The Roman which she has now entered is to be found, not in any of the fººd peoples of the modern world, but in the Roman Empire of.” ancient times. There is the same complex political problem, Pºº", from the wide extent of the Empire and from the fact that in so many parts of it two or more races with distinct sentiment 56—2 884. POSTSCRIPT but it was less fitted to grapple with them, - from its military origin, and traditions are living side by side on the same soil, and there are pessimists who are always ready to point to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, as a warning of the fate which is in store for England, since she has undertaken a similar task. But we may remember the differences, as well as the resemblances between the two Empires; whatever the weakness of the English system may be, it does not suffer from the evils which were most noticeable in Rome. The Origin of the two Empires is distinct, as the one was formed by military successes, the other by the gradual extension of commerce. The physical character of the two Empires is distinct, as the one stretched over large areas of contiguous territory, traversed by magnificent roads, while the other consists of Scattered possessions, to which access is obtainable by sea. The cost of maintaining the defence of the frontiers and communications within a great land empire was enormous, and drained the resources of the Empire; while the navy serves to protect the commerce which is the very basis of England's wealth. Conquered countries were ruined and exhausted by Roman government; but the outlying parts of the British Empire are strong and vigorous communities. The expenses of government and magnificent public works at Rome entailed a burden of taxation which ruined the landed interests and rendered fertile regions desert; while English influence has brought vast tracts under the plough and made provision for a greatly increased population throughout the Empire. The moneyed men were forced to bear a costly and unwilling part in the affairs of State"; while the modern system of public borrowing—with all its disadvantages—brings the moneyed men and the Government into partnership, for their mutual advantage. It might be difficult to specify the precise aims which Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, and Julian set before them ; but there was little sign of that constant care for the welfare of the masses of the peoples—of all tribes and languages alike—which is the aim of the ruling race to-day. - Striking as are the economic differences between these two great Empires, the political contrasts are even more its terri- torial character, and the economic pressure it entailed; 1 Cunningham, Western Civilisation, I. 188. IMPERIAL ADMINISTRATION 885 remarkable. Rome did indeed allow—with a half-contemp- tuous indifference—the subject peoples to retain their own customs and religions, but she encroached more and more upon the political liberties of her most cherished allies, till all were embraced in the iron grasp of one great administrative system. England has set herself from the first to carry out ºft, d a devolution of authority to the largest extent possible. In #: to 1619 King James granted a constitution under which English- i.e men living in Virginia were able to express their views as to pººl the manner in which the government of the colony should be carried on. In one after another of the territories which have been planted since that time, governmental institutions, on the model of those at home, have been created; and efforts are made, not only to enable Englishmen to retain the practice of self-government in their new homes, but to train subject peoples for the discharge of similar responsibilities. As English constitutional liberties have developed, the type of government which is created in the new countries has been modified. The government of the American colonies reflected the ideas of the Stuart monarchy; while the new nineteenth century colonies have been modelled on demo- cratic lines, where authority lies in the hands of a cabinet which is responsible to the citizens for its measures. The contrast is noticeable, too, when we look not merely at the diffusion of political power in the English Empire but at the character of the civil administration. The creation of * administrative machinery was the great feature of English incorrupt economic history in the middle of last century, and a º corresponding change was taking place in the government of;. the country and her dependencies. There are areas where * the older type of administration survives, and the officials of a royal household are responsible for the control of public affairs; there is still a castle in Dublin. But, on the whole, it is true that the method of selecting the personelle of the administration throughout the various parts of the Empire is wholly appropriate to a democratic realm. The Roman Empire was governed by an official class; there is always a danger that such a caste may become the slave of its own traditions, or that it should avail itself of opportunities of 886 POSTSCRIPT enriching itself. In England, with the publicity of parlia- mentary government and the effectiveness of the criticism that is possible under the party system, the difficulty of securing administrative excellence under a democracy has been reduced to a minimum. A method has been devised for obtaining the services of men of capacity and yet subject- ing them to the control of independent authorities from outside. There is no official caste, and if we lose something by being careless of expert training and setting amateurs to learn their business by their mistakes, we have a constant supply of men who have intimate relations with the non- official world, and bring their common sense to bear on the problems that present themselves. The Indian Civil Service" has given the type on which other administrative bodies have been modelled—in regions where responsible self-govern- ment is impossible,_and this service is the product of the East India Company and Parliament. There is an impressive fitness in the fact that the characteristic institution of a com- mercial empire should have been developed, not solely by the wisdom of political rulers, but also by the Sagacity of English merchants guiding a commercial enterprise. wn con- junction with demo- cratic in- stitutions: 1 The training of candidates, for posts under the Company, at a college for four years was insisted on by the Act of 1813 (53 Geo. III. c. 155, § 46), and an exam- ination for admission was required by 3 and 4 W. III. c. 85, §§ 104–106, and patronage in the nomination of candidates was abolished by 16 and 17 Vict. c. 36. The system which was thus organised was taken over without substantial alteration by the Civil Service Commissioners in 1858 (21 and 22 W. c. 106, § 32). Sir C. E. Trevelyan, who had long experience of the working of the official system in India, was a prime mover in the reform of the Home Civil Service in 1854. Reports, etc. 1854, XXVII. p. 8. APPENDIX A. WAGES ASSESSMENTs, p. 37. THE nature of the attempts which were made under the Act of 1563 to regulate wages may be best illustrated by the repro- duction of one particular example. The specimen selected is a very detailed Middlesex Assessment; it is undated, and appears to have been printed as a form that might be issued from time to time, without substantial alteration. The original is in the British Museum [190. g. 13 (202)] A list has been added of the examples of assessments, and allusions to assessments, which have come under my notice. The recently published assessment for weavers in Wiltshire in 1602, is of special interest, as well as the reasons alleged by the Grand Jury for regulating wages in 1661. Hist. MSS. Comm. 1901, Various Collections, I. 322. i. THE MIDDLESEx AssBSSMENT OF 166—. At the Generall Quarter Sessions of the Peace, of our Sovereign Lord the King, held for the County of Middlesex at Westminster in the said County, upon next after the Feast of Easter (to wit) the Day of in the Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord Charles the Second, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc. the The Rates of Servants Wages, Labourers, Workmen and Artificers (in pursuance of the Statute of the Fifth of Queen Elizabeth, in that behalf made and pro- vided) are rated and assessed by the Justices of the Peace of the said County at the said Sessions assembled (calling to their assistance some others of the discreet Inhabitants of the said County) as hereafter followeth : And it is ordered by the said Justices, that the Sheriff of the said County shall cause the said Rates to be Proclaimed and Published according to the Statute in that Case also made and provided; and that after such Proclamation and Publication made 888 APPENDIX. A of the said Rates, that no person whatsoever (which may be therein concerned) shall (this present Year) presume to give, allow, demand, receive, or take any greater Wages then such as are mentioned in the said Rates; neither shall any Master, or Mistress, entertain or put away any Servant, Workman or Labourer; ' neither shall any Servant, Workman, or Labourer, depart from any Master or Mistress, which may be mentioned or intended in the said Statute of the Fifth of Queen Elizabeth or any other Statute in that behalf provided, without due observa- tion of the said Statutes, under such pains and penalties as are therein respectively mentioned. The Rates of Wages for Labourers and Artificers, published within the County of MIDDLESEx, for the Year of our Lord, 166—. Artificers working by the Year, find themselves Tools. #3 Free Masons: Of the best sort, 12. Of the second sort, 8. Carpenters: Of the best sort, 12. Of the second sort, 8. Joyners: Of the best sort, 12. Of the second sort, 8. Carvers: Of the best sort, 12. Of the second sort, 8. Wheelwrights: Of the best sort, 10. Of the second sort, 6. Rope-Makers: Of the best sort, 10. Of the second sort, 6. Coller-makers: Of the best sort, 10. Of the second sort, 6. Bricklayers: Of the best sort, 12. Of the second sort, 8. Tylers: Of the best sort, 12. Of the second sort, 8. Blacksmiths: Of the best sort, 10. Of the second sort, 6. Plowrights: Of the best sort, 10. Of the second sort, 6. Tanners: Of the best sort, 10. Of the second sort, 6. Curriers: Of the best sort, 10. Of the second sort, 6. APPENDIX A 889 Wind-millers : Shoemakers: Bakers being Butchers being Furners" : Foremen : Brewers: Sawyers: Plaisterers: Taylors: Glovers : Turners: Fletchers : Sadlers: Coopers: Water Corn Millers : Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the Of the best sort, second sort, best sort, second sort, best sort, second sort, best sort, second sort, best sort, second sort, best sort, second sort, best sort, second sort, best sort, second sort, best sort, second sort, best sort, second sort, best sort, second sort, best sort, second sort, best sort, second sort, best sort, second sort, 20. 10. 12. " 1 1 1 8. 1 i Artificers working by the Day from the midst of March to the Free Masons: Of the best sort with meat and drink, 25 ,, without , Of the second sort with , 35 9 3 25 Carpenters: 23 without , midst of September. 32 35 Of the best sort with meat and drink, ,, without , 32 }} $ 2 * A man who has charge of an oven. 890 APPENDIX A [Carpenters]: #3 Of the second sort with meat and drink, 95 99 55 without , Joyners: Of the best sort with meat and drink, 95 25 ,, without , 93. Of the second sort with , 25 55 53 32 without 53 Carvers: Of the best sort with meat and drink, 33 55 3 ) without 33 25 Of the second sort with , 55 55 22 55 without 93 Bricklayers: - Of the best sort with meat and drink, 52 ?? ,, without , 22 Of the second sort with , 39 35 25 95 without 95 Tylers: Of the best sort with meat and drink, 25 53 35 without 29 - 2 3 Of the second sort with , 32 3 3 33 33 without , Thatchers: Of the best sort with meat and drink, 95 5 5 ,, without , 25 Of the second sort with , » 99 53 32 without , A paire of Sawyers: With meat and drink, Without meat and drink, Artificers working by the Day from the midst of September to the midst of March. Freemasons:. . Of the best sort with meat and drink, 2 º' 52 52 without 29 25 Of the second sort with , 55 2 3 92 25 without 22 Carpenters: Of the best sort with meat and drink, 39 55 92 without 22 25 2 2 12. 10. 20. APPENDIX A 891 [Carpenters]: Of the second sort with meat and drink, 52 52 32 without 33 Joyners: - Of the best sort with meat and drink, 95 25 29 without 33 5 y Of the second sort with , 22 35 92 35 without , Carvers: Of the best sort with meat and drink, 35 25 55 without ,, 55 Of the second sort with , 33 95 22 25 without 52 Bricklayers: Of the best sort with meat and drink, 99 22 25 without 5 7 52 Of the second sort with , , 35 92 2 3 without , Tylers: Of the best sort with meat and drink, 22 35 ,, without , } } Of the second sort with , , 39 95 25 92 without 29 Thatchers: Of the best sort with meat and drink, 52 52 25 without 52 - 35 Of the second sort with , 32 35 3% 25 without , A paire of Sawyers: With meat and drink, Without , } } --- Sawyers working by the great, - For sawing of Boards by the hundred, for every hundred, For sawing of slitting work by the hundred, for every hundred, Husbandmen and Hindes serving by the Year. Carters or Drivers: Of the best sort, Of the second sort, Of the third sort, 6 10. 20. 12. 10. 20. 12. 10. 20. 12. 0. 10. 20. 12. 2 0. 0 10. 20. 18. 16. 20. º 892 APPENDIX A Hindes or Husbandmen: # Of the best sort, 6 Of the second sort, 4 Of the third sort, 3 Gardiners: Of the best sort, 8 Of the second sort, 6 Of the third sort, 4 Gardiners working by the day: Without meat and drink, With meat and drink, Of the second sort without meat and drink, 32 } % 22 with 3) : 3 3 y Common Labourers and Workmen by the Day. For mowing Corn and Grass by the day with meat and drink, Without meat and drink, For reaping of Corn with meat and drink, 55 2 3 33 without 55 55 For making of Hay with meat and drink, 33 35 33 without 25 33 Labourers of the best sort from the midst of September to the midst of March with meat and drink, Without meat and drink, The same of the second sort with meat and drink, Without meat and drink, The same of the best sort from the midst of March to the midst of September with meat and drink, Without meat and drink, The same of the second sort with meat and drink, Without meat and drink, Mowing of Grass well grown by the Acre, Mowing of Barley Mowing of Oats 25 25 22 32 Mowing of Beans by the Acre Reaping, binding and laying in shacks of Wheat or Rie well grown, and not very sore Lidge' by the Acre, 1 Corn not very badly laid. : : . 18. 12. 12. 12. 16. 22 25 25 27 16. 12. 10. 18. 14. 1. 14. 2 6. APPENDIX. A 893 Thrashing and making clean Wheat by the Quarter, The like for Rie by the Quarter, The like for Barly by the Quarter, The like for Oats and Beans by the Quarter, For pleshing" of a good Quick Hedge by the Rod, Making of a Hedge, Ditch, with double Quick-set, the Ditch being 2 foot and an half deep, 4 foot wide at the brim, and one foot wide in the bottom ; for every Pole the workman find- ing Quick, The same, the Ditch being 2 foot deep, 3 foot wide, and less than one foot in the bottom; for a Pole, Scowring and paring the Bank of an old Ditch, Felling and making tall Wood by the Load, Felling and making Billet by the thousand, Felling and hewing Colewood by the dozen, Felling, making and binding of Faggots, and Brush, or Lash Baven” by the hundred, Women serving or working by the Year and by the Day. The best Woman Servant by the year, The second sort by the year, The third sort, 33 35 Women making Hay by the day with meat and drink, Without meat and drink, The same for reaping Corn with meat and drink, Without meat and drink, The same for other Harvest Work with meat and drink, Without meat and drink, 1 Plaiting. 2 Brushwood. : 2 2 0. 2 0. 14. 14. 14. 2 0. 894 APPENDIX A ii. Wages Assessments and References to Assessments made by the Justices of the Peace'. Norfolk. 9 H. VI. Assessment. Printed in English Hist. Jeeview, Vol. XIII. Northamptonshire, 1560. Assessment among Earl Spencer's MSS., Hist. MSS. Commission, II. Ap. 18. Cf. Economic Journal, II. 504 n. Buckinghamshire, 1562. Assessment. Economic Jowrmal, Vol. VIII. p. 343. Rutland, 1564. Assessment. Bodleian, Arch. F. c. 11. Lincoln (County of), 1564. Assessment in Queen's College, Oxford. Proclamation Book, fol. 77—79. Southampton, 1564. Bodleian, Arch. F. c. 11, preamble of an Assessment. Ringston-upon-Hull, 1570. Assessment. Dyson, Proclama- tion Book. Brit. Museum, G. 6463 (77). Warwick (Town), 1586. Reference to the practice in Book of John Fisher, p. 156. - Chester, City of, 1591. Assessment. Thorold Rogers, History of Agriculture and Prices, Vol. VI. p. 685. Yorkshire (East Riding), 1593. Assessment. Thorold Rogers, op. cit., Vol. VI. 686°. - Chester, City of, 1594. Assessment. Thorold Rogers, op. cit., VI. p. 685. T)evonshire, 1594. Assessment. Hamilton, Quarter Sessions Records, p. 12. Lancaster, 1595. Assessment. Thorold Rogers, op. cit. p. 689. New Sarum, Wilts, 1595. Assessment in Proclamation Book, Queen's College, Oxford, f. 331. Higham Ferrers, Northampton, 1595. Assessment in Pro- clamation Book, Society of Antiquaries. Cardigan, 1595. Assessment in Dyson, op. cit. (331 B.). London. Reference to almost continuous Assessment, made * As to the rating of Wages by Gilds and Town Authorities, numerous examples are given of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in an article by Miss B. L. Hutchins: The Regulation of Wages by Gild and Town Authorities. Economic Journal, Vol. x. p. 404. * In the year 1593 bills were drafted for regulating the wages of weavers and spinners by the piece. The assessment annexed was apparently intended to have statutable authority. S. P. D. El. ccxLIv. 129, 130. APPENDIX A 895 from 1514 to 1607. E. A. McArthur: “Regulation of Wages in the Sixteenth Century,” Eng. Hist. Review, Vol. xv., and also to assessments for other parts of the country, 1565, 1578, 1581, 1586, 1588, 1590, 1591, 1592, 1593, 1596. Middlesex. Reference to Assessments in 17th century. See Miss E. A. McArthur, op. cit., p. 455. - Wiltshire, 1602–85, Assessments and continuing orders. Hist. MSS. Comm. 1901, Various Collections, I. 161. Yorkshire (North Riding), 1608. Reference to the existence of an Assessment, a gentleman being presented for giving higher wages than those fixed, North Riding Record Society, Quarter Sessions Records, ed. Atkinson, I. p. 148. A labourer was also presented at another Sessions (April), for refusing to work for such wages as the statute appointed, b. II. 114, and another instance occurs in the following January, II. 141. Yorkshire (North Riding), 1610. Two presentments. Vol. II. 202, 220, of men who refused to work at the statute rate testify to the existence of Assessments. A woman was also presented that year for giving too much wages, and two others for refusing to state the amounts their servants received, ib. II. 207. Norfolk, 1610. Assessment. Eng. Hist. Review, XIII. p. 523. Rutland, 1610. Assessment. Thorold Rogers, op. cit. p. 691. Yorkshire (North Riding), 1613. A man was presented for giving wages contrary to the Statute, op. cit., II. p. 37. Yorkshire (North Riding), 1614. A man was presented to the justices for refusing to work for statute wages. Lincolnshire, 1619. Assessment among the MSS. of the Duke of Rutland, Hist. MSS. Commission, XII. Ap. iv., p. 455. Lincolnshire, 1621. Assessment. Hist. MSS. Commission, XII. Ap. iv., p. 460. Cambridge, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, 1630. The Council ordered Assessments to be made in a letter to the justices of these four counties, English Hist. Review, Vol. XIII. Suffolk, 1630. Assessment. English Hist. Review, Vol. XII. Norwich, 1630 reported having made an Assessment to the Council, S. P. D. C. T. CLXXVI. 1. St Albans, 1631. Assessment. Gibbs, Corporation Records of St Albans, p. 281. Hertfordshire, 1631. Assessment. Clutterbuck, The History and Antiquities of the County of Hertford, I. p. xxii. j 896 APPENDIX A Derbyshire, 1634. Assessment. Cox, Three Centuries of Derbyshire Annals, II. p. 239. - Yorkshire (North Riding), 1647. A man was presented for paying unreasonable wages to labourers contrary to the law, Iv. p. 270. - Nottinghamshire (Mansfield), 1648. Reference to Assess- ment in George Fox’s Jowrmal, 1694 (p. 17). Derbyshire, 1648. Assessment. Cox, op. cit., p. 241. Essex, 1651. Assessment. Thorold Rogers, op. cit., vi. p. 696. Devonshire, 1654. Assessment, Hamilton, op. cit., p. 163. London, 1655. Assessment in British Museum, 21. h. 5 (61). Yorkshire (North Riding), 1658. Assessment. Quarter Sessions Records, Vol. VI. p. 3. Middlesex, 166–. Assessment in British Museum, 190. g. 13 (202). See p. 885 above. Essex, 1661. Assessment. Thorold Rogers, op. cit., VI. 697. Worcestershire, 1663. Assessment. Hist. MSS. Comm. 1901, P'arious Collections, I. 323. Yorkshire (North Riding), 1680. Reference to the justices having assessed wages, op. cit. VII. pp. 34, 45. 57 masters and their servants were presented in the January sessions for giving and receiving more wages than were rated. In the following sessions (18 January) five more masters were presented, and in April 1681 seven more cases were brought up. Lincolnshire, 1680. Assessment. P. Thompson, History of Boston, p. 761. Suffolk, 1682. Assessment. Thorold Rogers, op. cit., VI 698. Warwickshire, 1684. Assessment. Thorold Rogers, op. cit., p. 699. Buckinghamshire, 1688. Assessment. Hamilton, op. cit., p. 249. Yorkshire (North Riding), 1692. Wages ordered to be re- published as they were appointed and settled last year. Quarter Sessions Records, VII. p. 128. Yorkshire (West Riding), 1703. Assessment. Thorold Rogers, Vol. VII. p. 610. This Assessment was re-issued in 1704, 1705, 1706, 1707, 1708, 1722. Shropshire. Reference to Assessments in 1710, 1711, 1712. The Assessment of 1732 is given in full in Economic Journal, Vol. Iv. p. 516. This was republished in 1733, 1734, 1735, 1738, 1739. Devonshire, 1712. Hamilton, op. cit., p. 273. APPENDIX A 897 Nottinghamshire, 1724. Assessment in British Museum, 1882, d. 2 (192). Lancashire, 1725. Ammals of Agriculture, xxv. p. 305. Gloucestershire, 1727. A State of the Case, dºc. of the late Commotions (1757), quoted by Hewins, English Trade and Finance, 160. Kent, 1732. Assessment. Thorold Rogers, op. cit., VII. p. 623. Gloucester, 1732. Assessment. Id., op. cit., Vol. VII. p. 610. Lincolnshire, 1754. Assessment. P. Thompson, History of Boston, p. 766. The existence of 47 assessments is mentioned by Mr Hewins in his article on “The Regulation of Wages by the Justices of the Peace,” in the Economic Journal, Vol. VIII. 344. As references are not given to the place and date of these assess- ments, it is difficult to say how far the instances he has collected coincide with those enumerated above. That they supplement the foregoing list to some extent is clear from the fact that it does not contain assessments from Cheshire, Colchester, Dorset and Somersetshire, though Mr Hewins has come across examples from these places. APPENDIX B. ENCLOSURE AND DEPOPULATION, 1607. The following paper, endorsed A consideration of the cause in question before the Lords touchinge depopulation and dated 5 July 1607, has been preserved among the Cottonian MSS. at the British Museum (Tit. F. Iv. f. 319). It appears to consist of memoranda for consideration by the Council in connection with the Northamptonshire riots. See above, pp. 102, 103. JULY 5, 1607. A CONSIDERATION OF THE CAUSE IN QUESTION BEFORE THE LORDS TOUCHINGE DEPOPULATION. In redresse of these offences. Inclosurs conuertinge of Arrable. Depopulation made the pretended causes of this last tumulte. 2 thinges may falle into consideration 1 Whether the tyme be fitte to gyue remedie, when suche encouragement may moue the people to seeke redresse, by the like outrage, and therfore in Edw: the sixte his tyme the remedie was not pursued untill twoe Yeares after the rebellion of Kette. 2. Whether these pretended be truly inconvenyent and therfore fitt to consider what iust reason may be alleaged for I Inclosures won are 1 Securitie i ſº Invadors whoe cannot soe easelie marche spoile and forraye in an enclosed Countrie, as a Champion. % ** ii Domestike commotions whiche Wilbe preuented when their false pretences (Inclosieurs wº they use ad faciendum 7"O772, populum ar taken awaye. i (A contrario: the Nurseries of Beggars are Commons as appeareth by fenns and forests of Welthie people the enclosed Countries as Essea. Somersett Devon &c: fewell wºn they want in the Champion, is supplied by Inclosures. And laborers, encreased as are their employments by Hedgeinge and ditcheinge. 20 lances IEI JNortht. { 80 light horse 2 Increase ..H.O.TS6S 50 lances of welthe - . Somersett 250 light horse and ii ś A comparatis: as Northamptonshire / People for the Musters of 60 petronells people and Somersett the one most North 600 trayned proued Champion, more ground, Litle ffoot Orthº. 600 untrayned Waste, the other all enclosed but - OOt:0 Somerset { 4000 trayned inferiour in quantitie and qual- omerset \12000 untrymed litie: Yett by aduantage of se- Subsid Northt. 9764. 1s. 4 veraltie, i. : of employ- upsidy Somers 3832. 12.10 ment exceedinge farre in º 7°th t. 63. 0. 0 \ ceeding Profitt or Welthe by the Fifteme § º: i. 0. 0 , [IWortht. 2171. 0. 0 Tenths clert. 651. 0. 0 II Leaueinge the Imployment of the ground to discretion of the occupants: soe all the howses and Land may be maynteyned in severalle tenantries, Ingrosinge beinge truly the disease and not conuertinge wiche may be iustified for 1 Equallite, for the Lawe of tillage haveinge Lefte Essex and many other Shires to their choice, and therby moe Inconvenience in the stat found, and that all Arguments alleaged for those Counties will infer as muche for the imland shires of Northampton Leicester &c. and because their situation soe remote from any porte or nauigable Ryuer (whearby the charge of carriage farre exceedinge the full worthe of the Corne they sell) leaueth to them a disaduantage only: it weare more iuste to gyue the free employeinge of their ground to suche Husbandrie as will reduce them to an equalitie of benefitt w” the Nawigable shires, (w" is by graseinge (to wºn their soyle is more fitte then other Counties) whearby the vent of suche their Commodities shalbe more easie beinge by drifte and not by carriage. É S; 2 for the true ballanceinge of our beste commodities, Wolle and Corne (whearin the ouerwaight will appear in the Laste) for in Henr. the 8. his tyme wolle was the Todde vijº and viij". Barlye (the greatest grayne of the Inland shires) vi" and viii" the bushell the one is nowe vsually xxiiijº the todde the other xviiju and xx" the strike. Soe Wolle risen above 2 thirdes holdeth almoste a proportion wºn all other Comodities treble emproued by the encrease of moneys. And Corne Litle more then doble, is the reason of comuertinge arable to reduce the profites equall to the Husbandman, for keepinge the Land in diuided Tenantry. the good indiuiduall is the good generall: for Corne beinge dearer then Clothe or meat comparatively the Husbandman will plowe: since his only ende is profite. if equall or vnder noe reason to constraine him for that Lawe which divideth labor from profitte (as the Årt of tillage) is that wºn causeth the greate difference of the Welthes and abilities of severall shires as the ar oppressed with that Statute. - III Depopulation wº" (as all other engrossement) admitteth noe defence doth iustlie moue a course of remedie wº" muste be for i (A newe Lawe (for the Ould is defectiue and will hardly support an Information) And to reache to all is moste iust, since by noe reason Antiquitie ought to turne mischefe into conuenyencie, when it weare more fitte that 1 Redresse of he that by Longest offendinge hath done the most prejudice and receyued the beste benefitt, should in the what is al- punishment vndergoe the greatest Censure. And therfore it weare conuenyent to tye by Statut, all men to hould as their Demeasme not aboue the 4th parte of any Mannour, the other 3 to be deuyded into tenements and noe one to exceede 100 Acres. And that noe man in the same parishe should keepe twoe such tenementts in his occupation Ol' g ii | By authoritie of Counsaill, as about the 9 of Henr. 7; 22 Henr. 8; and 4 or 5 of Ed: 6 when the offendors weare called uppe, and weare by Order enioyned to reedifie, halfe as many in euery Manmour as they had decayed, Or and, became bound by recognisance as appeareth in the Earchequor in the case of Andrews of Winwick and ; º tyme to tyme to maynteyne soe many and soe much Land to them as they were ordered by the ordes to doe. redy done either by 2 Prevention of that to come. And that may best be to cause throughe the Champion Countries or the whole Kingdome Suche a survey to be made by Commission as was 7° of Edw: the first retorned into the Chauncerie and at this daye called the Hundred Rolles expressenge what Lande is the Lordes Demeasme, and the particular nomber of all the howses and quantitie of Lande belonginge to them in euery Parishe in the Kingdome. That done to emioyne in euery Parishe by a newe Lawe that number to be maynteyned: and the Judges in their Circuits usually to enquire of all defaults thearin. And that uppon euery decaye or vmpeopleinge of any of those Howses recorded, and noe other wººin the space of one Yeare builded w”in the same Mannour or neare thear vnto wºº a like quantitie of ground annexed to it, it shalbe lawful for the Lord Tresorer and Barons of the Earchequor to Lease it for 21* Yeares only as a Mortmayne, and demise it for that tearme to the King's Vse, and retorne it in charge into the Earcheguor. - By redressinge the fault of Depopulation and Leaueinge encloseinge, and comuertinge arbitrable (sic) as in other shires the poore man shalbe satisfied in His ende; Habitation; and the gentleman not Hindred in his desier: Improuement. But as thear is now a Labour to sute out Dwellinges for as muche stocke of people as the Comon Wealth will beare it muste likewise be fitt, as good husbandes doe withe their groundes to prouide that you doe not over burthen it. But as they doe wºº their encrease remoue them to other places: Soe must the state either by transferinge to the Warres or deduceinge of Colonies vent the daylie encrease that ells will surcharge the State: for if in London a place more contagious then the Countrye the momber of Cristenings doth weekely by 40 exceede the burialls, and that the Countries proportionally doth equall if not outgoe that º: cannot be but that in this State, as in a full bodie theare must breake out Yearely tumors and Impostures as did Of 1856. É 900 APPENDIX C APPENDIX C. THE ACTION OF JAMES I. AND CHARLES I. IN REGARD TO TRADE AND THE COLONIES. pp. 175, 176, 199, 343. The question as to the success of the early Stuarts in their efforts to promote commerce and colonisation may give rise to much difference of opinion; it is at all events clear that an attempt to control the development of material progress by means of monarchical authority was not likely to be favourably received in the circumstances of the time. The following extracts may serve to show that whether the course they pursued in regard to trade and colonisation was wise or not, neither James T. nor Charles T. was wholly supine or careless in the matter. James I. contemplated the creation of a Council of Trade, and this idea was taken up by Charles I. It had for a time at least regular sittings at which His Majesty was present and himself made suggestions. Not merely was there this activity as regards trade ; a special body of Lords Commissioners for the Plantations was created with full powers to control the development of newly settled lands beyond the seas. i. Letter of James I. to Commissioners of Trade, on the State of the Woollen Industry. See above, p. 199. Brit. Mus. Add. MSS. 12,496, f. 113. Right trustie and welbeloved Councellors and the rest. Wee greete you well. Not long since, for the more quiet trade and Comerce within this our Kingdome. And for the better advauncement of our Customes, and the keeping of our subiects from Idlenes by restraining of the Woolles of this Realme from exportation and by draping of them all here at home, being the principall staple comoditie of this our Kingdom. Wee did direct a Commission to you touching the advauncement of Trade. And whilest you did attend the service required by that Commission wee founde many particular benefitts to arrise to us and our subjects thorough APPENDIX C 90L your paines and endevors taken in that behalfe. As namely the increase of our Customes, the vent and sale of a greater bulke of Cloth than formerlie was vented. The price of the Woolles risen in many of our Counties to 4" and 5° in a Todd more then it was wont to be solde for. The poore Clothiers and Clothworkers were then freed and disburdened of many vexatious and charge- able Suites brought against them by troublesom Informers and Aulnagers. And our Marchants incouraged and perswaded by your care to buy up clothes in a rounder and greater proportion than they were accustomed to doe. But for so much as wee are now given to understand that since you gave over your sitting upon the sayd Commission many things are much out of Frame. The woolles are weekely and familiarly transported into France Holland and other forreine parts to the decay of our Customes and of the quantitie of cloth which was wont to be made yearlie here. Our Clothiers and Clothworkers disquieted and troubled, by unjust suites comenced against them, by Informers, Aulnagers and many other greate disorders and abuses committed by Sundrie persons since you neglected your Attendance uppom the said Commission. Theis are therefore to will and require you all delayes and excuses sett aparte, to meete constantlie once a Weeke at Haberdashers Ball about this Commission of Trade. For wee hold it necessarie to keepe that Commission still afoote, seeing nothing can concerne the welfare of our Revenue in point of our Customes more than the due execution thereof. Besides new Accidents doe daylie and ordinarilie befall in matters of Trade which cannot be well reformed or remedied without your travaile and paymes to execute that Commission. And weekely to consult and conferr together how to cutt off all mischiefes and inconvenience which are alreadie crept in or shall hereafter come to your knowledge. So expect- ing your attendance and care hearunto, And also to acquaint us from time to time with your proceedings herein wee bidd you heartilie farewell. Given at our Court at Newmarket the 23* of Januarie 1624. To our right trustie and welbeloved Cosen and Councellor Henry Vicecount Mandevile President of our priuie Councell and to our right trustie and right welbeloved Councellors Fulke, Lord Brooke, Sir John Suckling Knight Comptroller of our Household Sir George Caluert Knight one of our principall Secretaries Sir Julius Caesar Knight Maister of the Rolles and to our trustie and welbeloved the rest of our Commissioners for Trade. 902 APPENDIX C ii. Instructions to the Council of Trade under Charles I. See p. 175 n. 3. S. P. D., C. I. XIIv. 20. Whereby a Committee, Lately chosen ; Wee have bene certe- fyed of the diverse and severall causes of the decaye of trade and commerce within our severall domynions, with the remedyes thereof amongst which it was conceived that a standinge Com- mittee of select persons of quallitie, to whom the subject in cases of difference, disorder, practise and combynacion of trades and artifycers impedymentinge the prosperitie of the kingdome, might haue reference unto, Is both usefull and of necessytie for the orderly gouerninge and Ballancinge of trade and redye reformacion of any matter or cause repugnant to, or interruptinge the same for which purpose wee have assigned etc. Authorising them to consyder and examyne the seuerall causes of the aforesaid decaye and how the Native Comodities improvinge the revenue of the Tand may be vented, the people upon Manufactories or otherwise imployed, and the Nauie by traffique and Commerce increased or any matter, cause, or thinge conducinge to all or any the pre- misses before specifyed, with power by informacion or otherwise to summon by warrant under theire hands or any VI of them any person or persons knowne, Suspected or pryvie to the trans- portacon of any Woolle, Wooll-fells, Wollen yarne, Fullers earth woad ashes or any other Materyall incident to the makinge of Cloth or other Manufactories, Inhibited by any Lawe or pro- clamacon; and upon such theire examynacon and conviction, they shalbe by the said Comissioners, turned over to our Attorney Generall to be proceeded against for such their contempt in our high Courte of Starr Chamber And all other persons, in any cases wherein the said Commissioners shall require shall redylie assist and perform such theire orders and directions. And for the avoyding of Confederacies and combynacions incydent by contynuance of tyme amongst Merchants in Com- panyes and Corporacions they shall by like authorite survey all such orders and institutions alredy made or hereafter to be made, and the same not to be put in execution without the allowance and approbacion of the said Comissioners: the greater number or any VI of them, in case the said ordynances and Instrucions tend more to the pryvate then publike good, and with like power to consyder how farr the said societies are fitt to be enlarged in Number of traders, As also of vendible returnes for the Eastland Merchants in recouerye of that and the like lost trades. And APPENDIX G 903 how mony the principall thinge whereof our kingdomes neede may be imported and contynued within the same for the redye ballancinge of Comodities in Commerce betweene man and man And further to bringe the Cloth and other the Woollen Manu- factories into theire ancyent Credite and estymacion they shall out of the many Lawes alredye made, recollect soe much at present usefull with supply of further observacions and directions incydent to the true makeing, dyeing and dressing as well for the new draperyes as the owld And for that nothinge cann be more hurtfull to any Merchant or tradesman then the wastfull exspence of mony and tyme attendinge litigious suites, in prevention whereof any VI of the said Commissioners nominyated and chosen shall heare and determyne all such differences arising betweene the Wooll grower, Clothyer and Merchant not exceeding the some of 2003 restinge due or in demand either from other unlesse by joynt. assent and agreement of all parties from whose sentence moe appeale to be admitted, otherwise they shall only proceed to heare and certefye and for their better informacion and dis- couverye of the truth in the proceedings herein, they shall examyn upon oath witnesses or parties themselues who uppon notice by warrant as before said shall give them....... 1. That not any Woolls etc. be carryed or transported to any the partes beyond the seas out of his Majesties domynions of England, Scotland or Ireland or any the Isles or Ports thereof And in case Irelande have more then they cann indrape they shall bring them to [. | there to be stapled, And for the redye vent of the Scottish woolles in respect they have not the use of Manufactory they shall bring them either in Wooll or yarne to [ ] there to receive in barter for them Cloth with Libertie to carrye them wheresoever they please paying the Ordynarye duties due therin, 2. That Blackes at funeralls be in Cloth and stuffes of English wooll made within the Kingdome. 3. That such Cloth and Stuffes as apprentices servants and labourers doe weare be of English wooll made within the Ringdome. 4. That huswives make not Cloth other then for their owne spending but not to sell to the discouragement of the Clothyer and the Draper. - 5. That all false dyeing stuffes be banished and not used in Cloth or Stuffs. 904 - APPENDIX C iii. Minutes of the Committee of Trade. S. P. D., C. I., coLXXXIII. 13. p. 176 n. 5 Feb. 1634. His Majesty present. 1. To consider of the booke of Rates. 2. Imposition upon horses. 3. Imposition upon Corne especially Branks. 4. Imposition upon Raw silkes or English manufacturing of it and the law against strangers the manufactors to be Con- sidered of. 5. Improvement upon salt. Retribution of custom and impost to be regulated. Wine 20° per tonn. Groates and threepenies. Refiners of siluer to be suppressed. : The 14 Feb. 1634. His Majesty present. Mr Serjeant Heath read at the boord a paper of the pro- posicion of salt, in which among other things it was desired that the salt of Scotland might be limited to the quantity (heere imported) and the price as in former times, of which particular his Majesty comanded a paper by itselfe to be given him, and approved the busines in generall and ordered 1. Letters from the boord to such as had panns and must be compounded with. 2. Defalcacion of imposition in case of disturbance by Warrs etc. 3. The measure Winchester gallons the manner of measuring to be enquired. 4. The price 2° per bushell. 5. A corporacion desired. [Concern]ing Tobacco. The Lord Treasurer propounded the garbling of Tobacco: ordered the fermors to be spoken with. The Lord Treasurer acquainted the boord that the fermors complained that the merchants pay them not the custom because the wines are not taken by the vintners. Upon debate it was propounded that the Vintners might have liberty to victuall again paying to his Majesty something upon the consumption of Wyne which was left to the Lord Treasurer to treate his Majestie and the Lordes well approving for the present. APPENDIX C 905 The Lord Privy Seale moued the business to Mr Evelin one of the 6 Clerkes, and thereupon it was debated if the busines of the 6 Clerkes should be compounded. His Majesty resolued that if they wold all compound, the Lord Treasurer shold treate with them all, 21 Feb. 1634. His Majesty present. Certaine demands of the Company of Vintners presented by the Lord Treasurer for dressing of meate, selling Tobacco, free buying without forestalling, lessening the nomber of licenses as they shall fall voide, etc. 1. Victualling with moderation etc. not disliked. 2. Tobacco as it may stand with his Majesty's proffit. 3. Regrating or reselling of wine aproued. 4. No more licenses, but diminished as they fall. The nomber not to be increased. for which fauors it is reported to the boord they will pay the King £6000 presently and for hereafter be regulated (by way of setting the price) to pay what shalbe thought fitting to his majesty upon every Tonne. Resolued that the £6000 shalbe taken with some engage- ment from the Company before the Lord Treasurer the Lord Cottington and Secretary Windebank to pay the next yeere what shalbe thought fitting upon the Consumption of Wyne. His Majestie required some aduise touching the cause now in hearing about the Londoners plantations in Ireland. 2 Mar. 1634. Agreed the Vintners shall have leaue to victuall by conni- vance (by way of probacion) for one yeere, forbidding venson partridges fesants etc. The Lord Keeper declared to the Company his Majesties pleasure to this effect and so it was resolved: His Majestie brought a paper to the boord concerning malting, and commanded Mr Attorney to reade it. The project is the makeing the maltsters a Corporacion and regulating the nomber. Those that are to be licensed, to pay 4” or 6" upon the quarter to his Majesty. When it was demanded what way was fitt to be helde to begin] the worke: Mr Attorney answered that diuers have allredy made] voluntary offers to that ende by petition. Wher- upon it was resolued that those who have petitioned shalbe 906 APPENDIX C instantly delt with, that the speediest course may be taken for execution: to which ende the Lord Cottington and Mr Attorney are to confer with the parties that sollicit. 14 Mar. 1634. His Majesty present. The Lord Cottington and Mr Attorney related to the boord the conferences they haue had with Maltsters, and how they offered fines and rentes to be incorporated. Whereupon it was resolued to wait the coming of others out of Yorkshire and then to propound the raising so much upon the quarter. Manufacture of cardes heere in England to be proposed the Committee. 24 Mar. 1634. His Majesty present. Salt. The proposition of Murford concerning salte was represented and himselfe came in person. For the aduancing of this project of salt, lent and fasting daies to be strictly obserued. An act of state to be made that no licences be granted to butchers from the Lords or others of the Counsell. Malte. A letter drawn by Mr Attorney and now read from their Lordships to the Justices of peace of seuerall counties or to any 2 of them in every diuision to certify the boord what maltsters there are and what nomber fitt to be allowed. - The Lord Cottington made reporte of these particulars following: The business of the booke of Rates referred to the next session by reason of the indisposicion of Sº Abraham Dawes. Order to be given touching institution of imposicion 13. monethes to be giuen because the East India Company have the like time the order to be drawne by Mr Attorney. Horses. 40° to be paid for every horse transported and £5 for every mare: this £5 was moued by the King himselfe. Seacole. The custom abated for Jersey Gernesy Ireland and the poore of London by which the King looses a greate reuenue; the abatement is 12" upon the Caldron in an order to be given to the customers not to give way to this defalcacion 10,000 chaldron of this abated for the poore of London: the King will know whether the poore have really the benefit heerof: the L. Privy Seale gave some account of the well employment of this to the poore of London. Ordered that a certificate be made hereof by the City. APPENDIX C 907 Lead. 20° to be laid upon a fether of lead exported. Cardes. Cost the King 7 or £800 per ann. out of his purse: the King paid 2/ upon every grosse of cardes: the King receives £50 per ann. and looses 3800 the customers forbidden to abate this custom. Brankes: french wheate to be deported paying 3/4 the quarter. Magazins of corne in seuerall townes to be considered of. Irish hides to be marked that they may be transported again as heretofore English hides transported with them here to fore : which abuse hath interrupted this trade and his Majesty looses much by it in his customs. 6 Apr. 1634. His Majesty present. Sº Abraham Dawes delivered his opinion : as much to be sett generally upon all as the impost is allredy which is 5 per cent : whereas his Majestie hath 10 per cent he shall have 15. It will come to betweene 30 and 40 thousand. His Majesty's subjects in Spaine pay after 30 per cent. The Lord Keeper proposed that the imposition might be raised rather upon such commodities as come from those nations who lay greatest upon ours, than upon others; but this his Majestie approved not. - Sº Abr. Dawes represented that by laying no imposition upon raw silk in K. James time which was done to bring in the manufacture into England : looseth now 15 thousand per ann at the least by reason of the stuffes made here which were wont to be brought from Forain partes. But now that manufacture is managed by aliens and strangers only, and not his Majestie's subjects. To remedy this, an imposicion to be laid upon every loome and to that ende. To know how many strangers loomes there are in England. A note to be delivered by Sº Abr. Dawes as well of these things that are not rated as those that are underrated. A Privy Seale for renewing the book of rates. In France they have raised 15 per cent. To have it generall over all nations as it is in Spaine. The Lord Privy Seale made a doubt whether this will not decay trade: Sº Abraham Dawes assured not. Besides the merchant will sell his commodity so much the deerer and we are yet under the rate of other nations for the im- posicions: especially Spain which is 30 per cent. 908 APPENDIX C Lead. Leade and the ore of it, the transportacion of it to be considered of by Dawes and an answer made by him upon Thursday even sevenight being 16 April Dawes to be admonished to keepe those imposicions secret till his Majestie communicate them to the whole boord and an act of State be made of it. This my Lord Marshall proposed. Salt. Salt to be considered of by the Committee tomorrow. Malt. Malt. Mr Dickinson assoured the letters are sent away. Messengers. The Messingers that failed in the service of the shipping. Mr Attorney gave accompt he hath them in the Star Chamber some of them in the meantime to be suspended. The Retribution imposicion: the 13. moneths to be under- stood calendary moneths which are but 12. Young Caesar having an offer from his Majesty to have a new grant of the place of one of the six clerkes, but he refused it to the Lord Cottington, and will stand upon the validity of his old patent ; an act of state to be made of his refusall Another act of state to be read concerning the rightes of the places of the Six Clerks as they are now settled. - The maritim Countres to be brought into the contribution for shipping the next yeere. The next contributions to be made more equall. Cardes : the King to be sole merchant of them : and to sell them for 9" the paire. The defalcacion of the 800 per annum allredy setled. Dice in like manner to be sealed and the King the sole merchant. Accompt of this at the next meeting. Irish hides marking : respited. 16 Aprill 1635. His Majesty present. The Lord Cottington reported to his Majesty the business of the powder. His Majesty was pleased to tell us that S* Ar: Mannering and Pitkairne will serve powder within halfe a yeere for so much time of respit they desire at 8° per lb. Ev: Newport and Sir Jo: Haydon offer to make it with a stock, at 7” the pound. Six one and one is six parts of saltpeeter one of cole and one of brimstone. If upon his Majesty's stock of £4000 the Earl of Newport and Sir Joh. Heydon will serve it for 7°, if upon their owne stock they will serve for 8*. APPENDIX C 909 Evelin to furnish powder at 8° for six months after the contract ended 16 last the month. Mr Attorney ordered to call upon Evelin and see this performed. Two of these saltpetermen that Sº John Heydon hath under- taken for, have milles. Salt. Mr Comptroller gave accompt of what he had done with Murford. iv. The Colonial Commission of Charles I. (S. P. Colonial, VIII. 13). See p. 343 n. 1. A Commission for the making Lawes and Orders for Govern- ment of English Colonies planted in Forraigne parts. 28 Apr. 1634. Charles by the grace of God King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith etc. To the most reverend Father in Christe our well beloved and most faithfull Counsellor William by divine providence Archbishop of Canterbury of all England Primat and Metropolitan our well beloved and most faithfull Counsellor Thomas Lord Coventrye Lord Keeper of our Greate Seale of England The most reverend father in Christe our wellbeloved and most faithfull Counsellor Richard by Divine providence Archbishop of Yorke of England primate and Metropolitan our well beloved and most faithfull Cozens and Counsellors Richard Earl of Portland our high Treasurer of England, Henry Earle of Manchester Keeper of our privie Seale Thomas Earle of Arundell and Surry Earle Marshall of England Edward Earle of Dorsett Chamberlin to our most dear consort the Queene And to our beloved and faithfull Counsellors Frauncis Lord Cottington Chancellor and under Treasurer of our Exchequer Sir Thomas Edmonds Knight Treasorer of our Howse- hold Sir Henry Fane knight Controller of the same howsehold Sir John Coke knight one of our priuie Secretaries and Sir Francis Windebank knight one other of our priuie Secretaries greeting. Whereas very manie of our Subiects and of our late fathers of beloved memorie our Soveraigne Lord James, late king of England by meanes of license Royall : Not only with desire of inlarging the Territories of our Empire, But cheifely out of a pious and religious affection and desire of propagating the Gospell of our Lord Jesus Christe with great industry and expenses have caused to be planted large Colonies of the English nation in 910 APPENDIX C divers parts of the world altogether unmanured and voyd of Inhabitants or occupied of the Barbarous people that have no knowledge of divine worship. Wee being willing gratiously to provide a remedy for the tranquility and quietnes of those people And being very confident of your faith wisdome justice and provi- dent circumspection have constituted you the aforesaid Arch bishop of Canterbury [names repeated] and anie five or more of you our Commissioners and to you and anie five or more of you Wee doe give and committ power for the Government and safegard of the said Colonies drawne or without of the English Nation hereafter into those parts shalbe drawne To make lawes constitutions and ordinances pertaining either to the publike State of those Colonies or to the private proffit of them And concerning the lands goods debts and succession in those partes And how they shall demeane themselves against and towards forraigne Princes and theire people, or how they shall beare themselves towards us and our subjects as well in anie forraigne parte whatsoever or on the Seas in those parts or in theire retorne sailing home Or which may appertaine to the maintenance of the Clergi government or the Cure of Soules amongst the people living and exercising trade in those partes by designing out congruent porcions ariseing in Tithes oblations and other things there according to your sound discretions in politicall and Civile causes. And by haueing the advise of two or three Bishops for the settling makeing and order- ing of the business for designing out necessarie Ecclesiasticall and Clergi portions, which you shall cause to be called and taken to you. And to make provision against the violators of those lawes constitutions and ordinances by imposing of penalties and mulcts imprisonment if therebe cause and that the qualitie of the offence do require it by deprivation of member or life to be inflicted. With power also our assent being had to remove and displace the Governors or Rulers of those Colonies for causes which to you shall seeme lawfull and others in theire steed to constitute, And to require an accompt of theire Rule and Govern- ment And whome you shall finde culpable either by deprivation from the place or by imposition of a mulet upon the goods of them in those partes to be levied or banishment from those Provinces in which they haue bin Governors or otherwise to chastice according to the quantitie of the fault, And to con- stitute Judges and magistrates politicall and civile for civile causes and under the power and forme which to you five or more of you APPENIDIX C 911 shall seeme expedient And to ordaine Judges Magistrates and Dignities to causes Ecclesiasticall and under the Power and forme which to you five or more of you with the bishops vicegerents (provided by the Archbishop of Canterbury for the time being) shall seeme expedient And to ordaine Courts Pretorian and Tribunall as well ecclesiasticall as Civile of Judgments To deter- mine of the formes and manner of proceedings in the same and of appealing from them in matters and causes as well criminall as Civile personall reale and mixt, and to the seats of Justice what maie be equally and wellordered and what crimes faults or excesse of contracts or iniuries ought to belong to the Ecclesiasticall Courts and what to the Civile Court and seate of Justice. Provided neverthelesse that the lawes ordinances and consti- tutions of this kinde shall not be put in execution before our assent be had thereunto in writing under our signet signed at least. And this assent being had and the same publikly pro- claimed in the Provinces in which they are to be executed wee will and command that those lawes ordinances and constitutions more fully to obtaine strength and be confirmed shalbe inviolably observed of all men whome they shall concerne. Notwithstand- ing it shalbe lawfull for you five or more of you (as is aforesaid) although those lawes constitutions and ordinances shalbe pro- claimed with our Royall assent To change revoake and abrogate them and other new ones in forme aforesaid from tyme to tyme to frame and make as is aforesaid. And to new evills arising or dangers to applie new Remedies as is fitting so often as to you it shall seeme expedient. Furthermore you shall understand that we have constituted you and every five or more of you the aforesaid etc. [names as before]...our Commissioners to heare and determine according to your sound discretions all manner of Complaintes either against those Colonies or their Rulers or governors at the instance of the partie greived or at the accusation brought con- cerning iniuries from hence or from thence to be moved betweene them and theire members, and to call the parties before you and to the parties or theire procurators from hence or from thence being heard The full complement of Justice to be exhibited. Giving unto you and to anie five or more of you Power, That if you shall finde anie of the Colonies aforesaid or anie of theire cheife Rulers upon the Jurisdiction of others by uniust possession or usurpation or one against an other making greivance or in Rebellion against us by withdrawing from our allegiance or our 912 APPENDIX C mandates not obeyinge consultation in that case with us first had. To cause these Colonies or the Rulers of them for the causes aforesaid or for other just causes either to retorne to England or to command them to other places designed even as according to your sound discretions it shall seeme to stand with equitie Justice or necessitie. Moreover wee doe give unto you or anie five or more of you Power and speciall command over all the charters letters Patents and rescripts Royall of the Regions provinces Islands or Lands in forraigne partes graunted raising colonies To cause them to be brought before you and the same being reviewed If aniething surreptitively or unduly have bin obtayned, or that by the same privilege Liberties or Preroga- tives hurtfull to us or our Crowne or to forraigne Princes have bin preiudicially suffered or graunted The same being better made knowne unto you five or more of you To command them accord- ing to the lawes and customes of our Realme of England to be revoaked Amd to doe such other things which to the government proffit and safeguard of the aforesaid colonies and of our subjects resident in the same shalbe necessarie And therefore wee doe command you that about the premisses at daies and tymes which for those affaires you shall make provision That you be diligent in attendance as it becometh you. Giving in precept also and firmly inioyning Wee do give com- mand unto all and singular Cheife Rulers of Provinces unto which the Colonies aforesaid have bin drawne or shalbe drawne and concerning the Colonies themselves and concerning others that haue anie interest therein That they doe give attendance upon you and be observant and obedient unto your warrants in those affaires as often as and even as in our name they shalbe thereunto required at theire perill. In testimonie whereof we have caused these our letters to be made patent Witnesse ourselfe at West- minster the 28* day of Aprill, in the tenth yeare of our Raigne. 1634. by writ from the privy Seale WILLYS. APPENDIX D 913 APPENDIX D. CoLONIAL AND COMMERCIAL ADMINISTRATION UNDER CHARLES II. p. 200. i. Instructions for the Cowmcell of Trade. S. P. D., C. II., xxi. 27. 1. You shall take into your Consideracion the Inconueni- ences which the English Trade hath suffered in any partes beyond the Seas And are to inquire into such Articles of former Treaties as haue byn made with any Princes or States in relacion to Trade and to drawe out such observacions and Resolucions from thence ... as may be necessary for us to advise or insist upport in any forraigne Leagues or Allyances that such Evills as haue befallen these our Kingdomes through want of good informacion in those great and publick concernments may be provided against in time to come. 2. You are to consider how and by whome any former Articles or Treaties have byn neglected or violated What new Capitulacions are necessary either to the freedome of Sale of your Commodities of all sorts as to price and payment ; to the best expedicion of Justice to the recovery of debts or to the security of Estates of all factors and theire Principalls in case of the factors death or to the prevencon of those Interrupcions which the Trade and Navigacion of our Kingdomes have suffered by Imbargoes of forreigne Princes or States or impresting the Shipps of any of our subjects for theire service. 3. You are to consider well the interest of all such Trades as are or shallbe incorporated by our Royall Charters And what jurisdictions are necessary to be obtained from such as are or shallbe in allyance with us for the more regular managment and government of the Trade and of the Members of those our Corporacions in forraigne factories. 4. You are to consider of the seuerall Manufactures of these our Kingdoms how and by what occacions they are corrupted debased and disparadged And by what probable meanes they may be restored and maintained in theyre Auntient goodness and Reputacion And how they may be farther improved to theyre C.* F. S. 9I4. APPENDIX I) utmost advantage by a just Regulacion and Standard of Weight Length and breadth that so the Privat and profitt of the Trades- men or Merchants may not destroy the Creditt of the Com- moditie and thereby render it neglected and unvended abroad to the Great Loss and Scandall of these our kingdomes. 5. You are also to take into your Consideracion all the Native Commodities of the growth and producion of these our kingdomes and how they may be ordered nourished increased and manufactured to the imployment of our people and to the best advantage of the Publick. 6. You are specially to consider of the whole business of the fishings of these our kingdomes or any other of our distant Dominions or Plantacions, and to consult of some effectuall meanes for the reinforceing encourageing and encreaseing and for the regulateing and carrying on of the Trade in all the partes thereof to the end that the people and Stock and Navi- . gacon of these our kingdomes may be imployed therein; and our Neighbours may not be enriched with that which so properly and advantageously may be undertooke and carried on by our owne Subiects. - 7. You are seriously to consider and inquire whether the importacion of forraigne Commodities do not overbaleance the exportacion of such as are native And how it may be so ordered remedied and preparationed that we may haue more Sellers then buyers in every parte abroad. And that the Coyne and present Stock of these our king- domes may be preserved and increased, We judging that such a Scale and Rule of proportion is one of the highest and most prudenciall points of Trade by which the Riches and Strength of our Kingdomes may be maintayned. 8. You are to consider and examine by what wayes and meanes other Nacions doe preferr theyre owne growth Manu- factures and Importacions and doe discourage and suppress those of these our Kingdomes and how the best Contrivances and Managment of Trade exercised by other Nacions may be rendered applicable and practicable by these our Kingdomes. 9. You are well to consider all matters of Navigacion and to the increase and the securitie thereof. '10, You are throughly to consider the severall matters relate:fg to money how Bullion may be best drawne in hither and how any obstrucons uppon our Mint may be best removed. APPENDIX D 915 11. You are to consider the Generall State and Condicon of our foreigne Plantacions and of the Navigacion Trade and seuerall Comodities ariseing thereuppon and how farr theire future improvement and prosperity maybe advanced by any dis- couragment Imposition or Restraint uppom the importacion of all goods or Comodities ariseing thereuppon and how farr theyre future improvement and prosperity may be advanced by any dis- couragment Imposicion or Restraint uppom the importacion of all goods or Comodities with which these Plantacions doe abound and may supply these our Kingdomes And you are allso in all matters wherein our forraigne Plantacions are concerned to take advice or Informacion (as occason shall require) from the Councell appointed and sett apart by us to the more perticuler inspeccion Regulacion and Care of our forraigne Plantations. 12. You are to consider how the transportacion of such things may be best restreined and prevented as are either for- bidden by the Lawe or may be inconvenient or of disadvantage by being transported out of these our Kingdomes and Dominions. (Endorsed) Instructions for the Councell of Trade annexed to theire Commission. ii. Proceedings of the Council of Trade. (S. P. D., C. II., xxxi. 62–64.) By his Majesties Councell of Trade. Thursday 3* Janry 1660. The Right Hon” the Lord Roberts Reports the delivery of a Paper to his Majesty from this Councell conteyneing theyre opinion and advice in the matter concerning the Exportation of forreine Coyne and Bullyon And that it was his Majesties Pleasure that all future addresses should be made by this Councell should be presented either by a Lord of his Majesties Privy Councell present when the Matters were debated Or otherwise in the absence of such Lord They should be delivered into the hands of one of his Majesties Principall Secretaryes of State by the Secretary attending this Counsell to the end they may come safe to his Majesties handes. Uppon Reading of the third Article of his Majesties Instruccions annexed to the Commission by which this Councell is established which directeth this Councell to consider of all such Trades as are or shallbe in- corporated by his Majesties Charters and what Jurisdictions are 58—2 916 APPENDIX ID necessary to be obteyned from such as are or shallbe in allyance with his Majesty for the more regular Management and Govern- ment of the Trade and of the members of such Corporacions and forreigne factoryes Ordered that it be read again Thursday 10 of Jan. and that the Merchant Adventurers of England do in the meane tyme bring in theyre Charter. Report was this day made by the Committee in the busines concerning the Trade of the Merchants of London into the East Indyes. Ordered that it be reported to his Majesty by the Lord Roberts. The Business concerning free Portes moved and ordered to be resumed that day seavenight. The Petition of diuers Workemen who have provided neces- Saryes for this Councell and want theire money read and com- mitted. Tuesday, Jan. 8th 1660. The right Homb” the Lord Brouncher Reports the delivery of Certayne Papers from this Councell conteyneing theyre opinion and humble advice to his Majesty uppon the Petition of the Merchant Adventurers concerning the States of the United Brovinces of the Netherlands for theyre Breach of Articles uppon severall Treatyes to S' Edward Nicholas K* one of his Majesties Principall Secretaryes of State to be presented to his Majesty. TJppon informacion given to this Councell of great deceipts used in the weights and standards of gold and silver Ordered that it be referred to the Committee to examyne the severall weights and standards of the Exchequer the Tower of London and of Goldsmiths hall And to call before them such of the officers of the Minte and other persons and to send for such Papers Books and Records as may be usefull to them And to report to this Councell what they find. A Petition from severall Merchants Clothyers and others of Exon and Devon complayneing against the Company of Merchant Adventurers of England for ingrossing that Trade and for impose- ing many restrictions and interrupcions uppon the Makers of Wollen Manufactures was now presented and read And there- uppon Ordered That the debate heereof be resumed on this day seavenight and that Mr Doncaster by whome this Petition do then attend this Cooncell. APPENDIX I) 917 Ordered that this Cooncell be adiourned to some more Con- venient place and that the Secretary of this Cooncell do endeauour to provide the same and report therein to this Cooncell this day seven night. The debate concerning Free Portes beeing now entred uppon it was after some tyme spent therein Ordered That it be referred to the Committee to consider and report how many free Portes may be fitt to be made in his Majesties Domynions and in what place how the same may be effected and under what Rules of Regulation and Government. |Uppon a Debate concerning Convoys for Merchants att Sea. Ordered That it be referred to the Committee to Consider and report how many Convoys will be necessary to be setled and in what places to be constantly attending and to digest such a forme and modell of Government therein as may be fitt for this Cooncell to propose to his Majesty therein. Thursday the 10th Jany 1660. According to former Order Mr Squibb appeard before this Councell and brought with him and presented the same to this Cooncell diuers Papers conteyneing a Report from a former Comittee of the Abuses used and of the wayes and meanes by which to improue the Manifactures of this kingdome, the Con- sideracion whereof is referred to the Comittee who are desyred to report what may be fitt for this Councell to offer to his Majesty therein. Ordered that the Charter of the Merchant Adventurers be brought into this Counsell and there Contynue till farther Order. Day beeing prayed for the bringing of it in and granted but not brought in further day prayed and not brought in. Upon a mocion that before the Treaty with the King of Denmark be concluded some express provision may be made for his Majesties men of Warr to pass through the Sound into the Baltique Sea. That the Dane be desyred to resigne Trincombe Barr And that a free Trade may be given by that King to the English into Island. Ordered that it be referred to the Com- mittee to consider and report therein to this Counsell which report is now reddy. Uppon a mocion made that Banckes may be sett up in England as in Holland and of the great advantage that ensew to 918 APPENDIX ID his Majesty therby Ordered that it be referred to the Committee to consider and report heerin to this Counsell. Uppon a debate of Corporacions uppon the third Article of his Majestyes instructions Ordered that letters be written by this Cooncell to the Merchants of all the Outports giveing them notice of the Incorporacion of the Spanish and Portugall Mer- chants And that it be referred to the Committee to Consider and Report therein to this Cooncell. Thursday 17th Jany 1660. There was now presented to this Cooncell his Majesties Order of reference uppon the Petition of Mr Squibb with certayne Bapers thereunto annexed conteyneing a Report of the Causes of the decay of the Went of our English Clothes and Certaine Remedyes to prevent the same which beeing read It was there- uppon Ordered that it be referred to the Committee to consider of the perticulers thereof and to Report what may be fitt for this Cooncell to present to his Majesty therein. There was allso this day presented to this Cooncell A. Petition from diuers Clothyers and others of the Citty of New Sarum complayneing of the decay of theyre Trade by the importacion of Dutch Cloth and praying that the ymportacion thereof maybe prohibited soch Petition beeing read it was thereuppon very much debated and Ordered That it be referred to the Comittee who are to consider thereof and to report theyre Opinions to this Cooncell. For the more speedy dispatch of Business Ordered That there be only one Committee of this Cooncell to make Inspeccion into all matters brought before this Cooncell and to prepare them for the Cooncells Debate. Ordered that the Coonsayle sitt only uppom Thursdayes in the afternoone till farther Order. Ordered uppon debate of the business concerning Convoys That the officers of his Majestyes Navy be desyred to be att this Cooncell on Tuesday next. Uppon debate of the business concerning Charters It was this day ordered That the Merchant Adventurers Charter brought into Nhis Cooncell by former Order be referred to the Committee. Orblered uppom the Petition of diuers Workemen and others who hautº provided necessaryes for this Cooncell that it be referred APPENDIX ID 919 to the Comittee to consider and report how money may be raysed for payment of them. Thursday 24th Jany 1660. A Petition recommended to this Cooncell by the right Hon” the Lord high Treasurer conteyneing the desyres of diuers Merchants Factors and others for the setling of a Composition trade in Dover as formerly was this day read And after very much debate therein Ordered that it be referred to the Com- mittee who are desyred to consider thereof and to report theyre opinions what may be fitt for this Cooncell to present to his Lordship as theyre opinion therein. Ordered that untill the Causes now depending before this Cooncell be fully heard and determyned That no new Causes or matters be taken into Consideracion except such as relate to forreigne Treatyes or shall Come recomended to this Cooncell by his Majesties speciall order. TJppon a mocion now made That a Peremptory day may be assigned for a full debate of the Merchant Adventurers Charter and the Constitution and Practice of that Fellowship Ordered That it be the next matter to be debated after those now depending shall be heard. - This day 7 night Peremptory is given to Mr Doncaster to make good the matters conteyned in a Petition by him presented to this Cooncell in the name of certeyne Clothyers and others of Exön and Devon complayneing against the Merchant Ad- venturers Charter for beeing a Monopoly of the Trade of Cloth. A list of the nomber of Shipps and of the severall Portes and places att which they should be constantly attending for the Convoy of Merchants was read and agreed to in parte and Ordered that before it be presented to his Majesty or that this Cooncell deliuer any possitive opinion therein That it be referred to the Comittee to reduce the nomber and in respect of his Majesties great Charge and small receipts of his Revennue to lessen the Charge as much as may be and that such a nomber be only proposed as shall be necessary for the present and Con- venyent for his Majesty to allow to that purpose. Uppon reading of a Petition from the Governour Assistants and Fellowship of the Merchants of Eastland Complayneing against the Swede for Monopoliseing of Pitch and Tarr and for 920 APPENDIX I) venting the same att excessiue rates and under hard Restricions to the English Ordered That it be referred to the Comittee to report therein together with those other matters that are before them concerning the Swede. There was now brought in, read and allowed a Report from the Comittee in relacion to the King of Denmarke and desyreing That in this Treaty with that Kinge That it may be insisted uppon That free Passage may be allowed to his Majesties Men of Warr through the Sound That a Port called Trinicombe Barr if that King incline to parte with it may not be Disposed of by that Ring but to the English East India Company they giveing reasonable satisfacion for the same And That the English may have a free Trade into Island. All which beeing assented unto Ordered That it be forthwith Reported to his Majesty as the Opinion and advise of this Cooncell And that the Lord Broonker and Mr Anthony Ashley Cooper be desyred to present the same accordingly. TJppon debate of a Petition formerly presented to this Cooncell by the Clothyers of new Sarum Ordered that Comittee do consider and Report by what wayes and meanes it comes to pass That the Dutch can afford theyre fine Clothes cheaper than we doe and what may be the remedyes. How the importacion of Dutch Clothes may be prevented and whether the importacion of Forreigne Cloth be preiudiciall to the Manifacture of this Kingdome And the officers of the Customes are desyred to Certify what Customes they haue received for Dutch Clothes imported Complaint being againe made to this Cooncell by diuers Workemen for want of money It was thereupport Ordered That the Lord Brounker, Mr Slingsby and the Secretary of this Cooncell do attend the Lord Treasurer therein and report his Lordships pleasure to this Cooncell. Thursday 31 Jany 1660. The Lord Broonker etc. Report the Commission by which this Cooncell is established to be defective in the directive parte for money to be payd out of the Exchequer and thereoppon Ordered That his Majesty or One of his Majesties Principall Secretaryes of State be attended therein by the Lord Broonker and Mr Coventry and that a Privy Seale be desyred of his APPENDIX ID 92.1 Majesty to supply the defects of the Commission and his Majestyes pleasure therein reported to this Cooncell. A list of such shipps as are thought necessary by this Cooncell to be allowed for Convoys Reported and allowed But Ordered That till the business of Free Portes be reddy That the Convoys be not reported to his Majesty. Ordered That in the business concerning Free Portes and of the Composition Trade att Dover the Commissioners of his Majesties Customes be desyred to bring in theyre Opinion in writeing on Tuesday next As to what Places it may be fitt to make Free Portes. How many and under what Regulacions And likewise what amendments they thinke fitt to be made in the Articles for settling the Composition trade of Dover what the Auntient rates were and what they conceiue may be fitt to be payd now in these tymes wherein there is no Warr to his Majesty Or whether to Contynue it in the same way for the tyme to Come as it hath byn in tymes past. By Command from his Majesties Cooncell for Trade. G. DUISE. (Endorsed) Councell of Trade 2nd Jany 1660. APPENDIX E. COMPLAINTS FROM THE COUNTIES, 1659, p. 179. The blight which had fallen on the economic life of the country during the Interregnum was alluded to in the addresses which were sent from different counties to General Monk in 1659. It may be added that the complaints here printed occur in letters sent by supporters of the parliamentary party; they demand the “restauration’ of the ejected members of the Long Parliament. There may be good grounds for discounting the statements of the anonymous author of the World's Mistake in Oliver Cromwell, but this evidence is entirely different in character. It is interesting to compare the Declaration of the supporters of the Good Old Cause in Gloucester in 1659 with that of the Royalists in 1660. (Brit. Mus, 190. g. 13 (302 and 303).) 922 APPENDIX E Devonshire. Brit. Mus. 190. g. 13 (300). A Declaration of the Gentry of the County of Devon. Met at the Generall Quarter Sessions at Exeter, for a Free Parlia- ment. Together with a letter from Exeter. To the Right Honourable William Lenthall, Speaker of the Parliament. We the Gentry of the County of Devon, finding ourselves without a Regular Government, after your last interruption, designed a publick Meeting, to consult Remedies, which we could not so conveniently effect till this Week, at our Generall Quarter Sessions at Eacon. : Where we find divers of the Inhabitants groaning under high Oppressions and a generall defect of Trade, to the utter ruine of many, and fear of the like to others, which is as visible in the whole County, that occasioned such disorders, that were no small trouble and disturbance to us; which, by God’s blessing upon our endeavours, were soon supprest and quieted, without Blood. And though we find since our first purposes, an alteration in the state of Affairs, by your Re-assembling at the Helm of Government, yet conceive, that we are but in part Redrest of our Grievances; and that the chief Expedient for it will be the recalling of all those Members that were secluded in 1648, and sat before the first Force upon the Parliament. And also by filling up the vacant places. And all to be admitted, without any Oath and Engagement, previous to their Entrance. Eor which things, if you please to take a speedy course, we shall defend you against all Opposers, and future Interrupters, with our Lives and Fortunes. For the Accomplishment whereof we shall use all Lawfull Means, which we humbly conceive may best conduce to the Peace and Safety of this Nation. Exon. 14 of Jany, 1659. Sir The Inclosed is a Copy of what this Grand Meeting, to which the most Considerable of the Gentry have Subscribed. Mr Bampfield, Recorder of Exon, is gone this night Post to deliver it to the Speaker. That the Cornish men have done more is no Newes. - This City in very great numbers, Loudly exprest their desires for a Free Parliament. The Apprentices and Young men of the APPENDIX E 923 City got the Keys of the Gates, and keep them lockt, without taking notice of the magistrates, and lesse of the Souldiers. Rent. Brit. Mus. 190. g. 13 (306). The Declaration of the Nobility, Gentry, Ministry and Com- monalty of the County of Kent. Together with the City and County of Canterbury, the City of Rochester, and the Ports within the said County. Having with sadness weighed the multiplied calamities where. in we are at present involved, how friendless we are Abroad, and how divided at home ; the loud and heart-piercing cries of the poore, and the disability of the better sort to relieve them; the total decay and subversion of Trade, together with the for- feiture and loss of honor and reputation of the Nation, and (what is more dear to us than all these) the apparent hazard of the Gospel through the prodigious growth of Blasphemies, Heresies and Schism, all of which own their birth to the instability of our Governors, and the unsettlement of our Government. Lastly, how in all these, an universal ruine threatneth us, and wil (if not timely prevented) doubtless overwhelm us. We thought it our bounden duties, both as Christians, out of tenderness to our Religion, as Englishmen, to our Country, and as Friends, to our selves and our Relations, to represent and publish to the world our just griefs for, and our lively resentments of this our deplorable condition, and to seek all lawful and probable means to remedy and redress the same. Wherefore having the leading Examples of the renowned Cities of London and Ea:eter, together with the Counties of the West, before our eyes; and the clamours and out-cries of the People alwaies in our ears, (whereof the one encourageth, and the other enforceth us to this our Declaration) we thought that we would not be silent at such a time, when our silence would speak us to be either Assentors to our own ruine, or Abettors of such proceedings as have neither Law nor Equity to support them. We therefore, the Mobility Gentry Ministry and Commonalty of the County of Kent, together with the City and County of Canterhwry, the City of Rochester and the Ports within the said County, do by these Presents unanimously Declare, that our desires are for a Full and Free PARLIAMENT, as the only probable means, under God, to lead us out of this Maze and Labyrinth of confusions in which we are at present engag’d ; that is, that the 924, APPENDIX E old secluded Members, so many of them as are surviving, may be readmitted into the House, and that there may be a free Election of others to supply the places of those which are dead, without any Oath or Engagement previous to their Entrance, these we shall own as the true Representatives of the People; these we shall with our Lives and Fortunes, to the uttermost of our power, assist and with all cheerfulness submit to, and acquiess in what- soever they shall Enact or Ordain. Thus concluding, that all publick spirited men, and good Patriots, wil with all readiness join and concur with us in a matter of so universal concernment, and that we shall find Opposi- tion from none but such as prefer their own private Interests and temporal respects, to their Religion and Jaws of the land ; we shall as boldly subscribe our Names as we do heartily declare our Desires. (Undated.) Compare also the following letter. Brit. Mus. 190. g. 13 (355). To the Supreme Authority The Parliament of the Common- wealth of England Assembled at Westminster. The hearty Congratulations and humble Petition of thousands of well-affected Gentlemen Freeholders and Inhabitants of the County of Kent and City of Canterbury. - ...Wherefore we take boldnesse humbly to offer at present to your grave and serious Considerations, These few particulars fol- lowing....... That you would be mindfull for the quickning of Trade so much decayed, principally that of Clothing which greatly concerns this County; the fail wherof hath greatly impoverished and ruinated many families. 4 June, 1659. Lincoln. Brit. Mus, 190. g. 13 (310). The Declaration of the Gentry, Ministers, Free-holders of the County and Citty of Lincolne. Wee the Gentry, Ministers and Freeholders of the County and Citty of Lincolne, being truly sensible of our Misseries and Greivances, namely the sad consequents of intestine Warre, the fear of Invasion from abroad, at the time of our Distractions and Divisions both in CHURCH and State, the violent alteration of GoverNMENT, the heavy imposition of unheard of TAXES ; All APPENDIX E 925 of which of late Yeares hath ruined our TRADE, and impoverished the whole Nation, and are all occasioned by reason of the many Violences and Breaches made upon our known established Lawes and Fundamentall Liberties, Doe therefore humbly propose and declare (having first met and consulted, as other Countryes have done) that the onely remedy for our said Grievances, will be for A Free Full PARLIAMENT, speedily to be called and assembled to sit according to our said knowne established Lawes, wherein the Free votes of all Free People of this Nation might be included. 1659. Norfolk. Brit. Mus. 190 g. 13 (311). The Declaration of the Gentry of the County of Norfolk and of the County and City of Norwich. We the Gentry of the County of Norfolk, and County and City of Norwich, being deeply affected with the sence of our sad Dis- tractions, and Divisions, both in Church and State, and wearied with the miseries of an Unnatural Civil War, the too Frequent Interruptions of Government, the Imposition of several heavy Taxes, and the loud Out-cries of multitudes of undone, and almost Eamished People, occasioned by the General decay of Trade, which hath spread itself throughout the whole Nation, and these Counties in particular; and having met together, and consulted what may best remedy and remove our and the Nations present Grievances and Distractions, Do humbly conceive, that the chief Expedient will be, the recalling of those Members that were secluded in 1648 etc. This declaration subscribed by three hundred Gentlemen, was delivered to the Hon. Will. Lenthal Speaker of the Parliament ; on Saturday the eight and twentieth of January 1659 By the Lord Richardson, Sº John Hobart and Sº Horatio Tounsend, Baronets. Warwick. Brit. Mus, 190. g. 13 (316). Wee the Knights, Gentlemen, Ministers, and Free-Holders of the County of Warwick. Being deeply affected with, and sadly sensible of the present Miseries, which both our Selves and the whole Nation groan under, We can no longer forbear to express our Griefs, and declare our Desires and Thoughts of the most probable means (by 926 APPENDIX E Gods assistance) to give some remedy to our present sufferings, and prevent those yet greater Calamities which threaten our speedy and utter Ruine. The cause of our present Calamities (we conceive) proceeds from the many Revolutions, through Male- Administration of Government, and want of the right Constitu- tion of Parliaments: And that after all our great and intolerable Sufferings, the vast expence of Blood and Treasure, for our Rights and Liberties, and Priviledges of Parliament (which we take to be the good old Cause) we, with most of the Counties of this Nation, have not our Representatives in a Free Parliament etc. “Subscribed by many Thousand hands.” Yorkshire. Brit. Mus. 190. g. 13 (317). The Declaration of Thomas Lord Fairfax And the rest of the Lords, Knights Esquires Citizens Ministers and Freeholders of the County and City of York. Whereas this Famous County, Honoured formerly for its puissance and strength by which they have always been taken for the Bulwork of this Nation, are now reputed so inconsiderable that they have not at this time a Representative in Parliament: and being deeply sensible of the Confusions and Distractions of the Nation, the particular Decay and Ruine of the Cloathing Trade of this County, which necessarily bears an influence upon the IPublick: as also the Future Evils that will attend this Vacancy of Government during the imperfection and incompleatness of Our Parliaments, whose entireness, and Full Number hath been in all times (as to a Right English Constitution) the only conservation of our Liberties etc. Leeds. Feb. 13. 1659. An Extract of a Tuetter from York dated the 31 of Dec. 1659 concerning the Lord Fairfax's Raising that County in Arms against illegal Taxes and Free quarter and for the Freedom of Parliament as it was in the Year 1648. Brit. Mus. 190. g. 13 (248). ... “And the Trade of Cloathing being dead, by reason of the Warres with Spain, makes those Parts rise in abundance, to do anything for the having of a Free Parliament which (they think) will procure the opening of Trade again.” APPENDIX E 927 London. Brit. Mus. 190. g. 13 (123). A Letter agreed unto and subscribed by the Gentlemen, Minister, Freeholders and Seamen of the County of Suffolk pre- sented to the Right Honorable, the Lord Mayor, Aldermen and Common Councell of the Citty of London Assembled Jan. 30. 1659. Right Honorable Please you to accept this Paper as a testimony, that we are highly and gratefully sensible of those Breathings and Essaies towards Peace, which your Renowned City has lately declared to the World. And we earnestly wish, that our serious and unanimous Concurrence, may ripen them to a perfect Accom- plishment. We are willing to consider it as an Omen of Mercy, when we observe the Nation in generall, lifting up its Vowes to Heaven for a Free and Full PARLIAMENT, 'Tis that alone in its Genuine Sense, which our Laws prescribe and present to us, as the Great Patron and Guardian of our Persons, Liberties and Proprieties, and whatsoever else is justly pretious to us. And if God shall, by your hand lead us to such an obtainment, after- ages shall blesse your Memory, 'Tis superfluous to spread before you, your Merchandise decay’d, your Trade declin’d, your Estates wither'd. Are there not many within your Walls, or near them, that in your ears deplore such miseries as these? Your Lordship may believe, that our Prayers and Persons shall gladly promote all lawfull means for our Recovery. And we entreat, that this cheerfull suffrage of ours may be annex’d, as a Labell to your Honorable Intendments. 1659. The Engagement and Remembrance of the City of London Subscribed by 23500 hands. Brit. Mus. 190. g. 13 (249). ...Not to insist upon the losse of Trade; how many Thou- sand Families have nothing now to do, but Begg and Curse these Wretches. Dated in MS. Dec. 1659. 928 APPENDIX F APPENDIX F. STATISTICS OF PROGRESS. It is with some hesitation that I append a few statements of statistics; information in a numerical form has an appearance of accuracy and completeness which may be misleading. While there is an abundance of reliable information for last century on many points connected with population and trade, the data for earlier times are often uncertain, and estimates must be made to do duty for actual enumeration. When an attempt is made at comparison there is no sufficient basis to work upon. It may be convenient, however, to reproduce figures given by some well- known investigators, as the best available. Political Arithmetic, the mere counting up of similar objects or amounts at two different periods, may be very instructive up to a certain point. It serves to show the direction of change at a glance—whether e.g. shipping was increasing or declining— and to measure the amount of change in a given time. It may be advantageously employed to bring out the growth of some particular industries, the progress of commerce, shipping, and of population. The graphic method offers a convenient means of bringing before the eyes some of the changes in the prosperity of the country, as indicated by a comparison of revenue with indebtedness and of population with pauperism. Miss E. A. 1McArthur of Girton College, who constructed these diagrams, has kindly allowed me to insert them. T. THE PROGRESS OF PARTICULAR INDUSTRIES is illustrated by the following figures. The first Table shows the rapid progress which took place in the woollen manufactures of the West Riding during the second quarter of the eighteenth century. The second shows the progress of the woollen manufacture in Great Britain, so far as that is indicated by the accounts of the raw material imported, of the quantities of wool grown there is no trustworthy information ; and the third gives the quantities of cotton Wool imported. The fourth gives the quantities of pig-iron made in Great Britain, since coal-smelting began. APPENDIX F. - 929 i. Progress of Woollen Manufacture. Massie, writing in 1764, says that the exports of woollen manufacture, which under Charles II. and James II. “did not much exceed the yearly value of one million pounds, amounted in 1699 to almost three millions sterling, from which vast sum, with occasional ebbings and flowings our annual exports of Woollen Manufactures have gradually risen to full four millions of late years.” Observations on New Cyder Taw, p. l. Detailed statements of the values of woollen manufactures exported for every year from 1697–1781 will be found in Considerations woon the present state of the Wool Trade (1781), p. 83 [Brit. Mus, 1103. a. 3 (10)]. These are continued to 1840 in Bischoff, II. Ap. VI. The highest point reached was £7,900,000 in 1833. These tables also give the price of wool for each year, but do not discriminate the qualities for which these varying prices were charged. . No. of Pieces” of Broad Woollen Cloth manufactured in W. Riding, 1726–1750, extracted from Registers books kept in said County”: 1726 26,671 1739 43,086% 1727 28,990 1740 41,441 1728 25,223% 1741 46,364 1729 29,643% 1742 (44,954 1730 21,579% 1743 45,178% 1731 33,563 1744 54,627% 1732 35,548% 1745 50,453 1733 34,620 1746 56,637 1734 31,123 1747 62,480 1735 31,744% 1748 60,705% 1736 38,899 1749 60,447% 1737 42,256 1750 60,964 1738 42,404 ii. Foreign and Colonial Wool imported into England (the United Kingdom from 1766–1857): lbs. lbs. lbs. 1766 1,926,000 1800 8,609,000 1840 49,436,000 1771 1,829,000 1810 10,914,000 1850 74,326,000 1780 323,000 1820 9,775,000 1855 99,300,000 1790 2,582,000 1830 32,305,000 1857 127,390,000 1799 2,263,000 An account of the woollew trade of Yorkshire, by E. Baines, in T. Baines, Yorkshire, Past and Present, I. 637. Cf. also Bischoff, II. App. II. 1 Until 1733 or 1734 there were between 30 and 40 yds. in each piece—since then the length has been gradually increased, and each piece is now (1764) near 70 yards. - 2 Massie, Observations on the New Cyder Taa (1764), p. 3. C.# 59 930 APPENDIX F. iii. Cotton Wool imported. Returns from Records by Custom 1697 1701 1710 1720 1730 1741 1751 1764 Płowse. lbs. 1,976,359 1,985,868 715,008 1,972,805 1,545,472 1,645,031 2,976,610 3,870,392 Baines, Hist. of the Cotton Manufacture, 109. Cotton Wool imported for spinning' into England and Scotland, 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 iv. land, 1740–1852. 1740 1788 1796 II. lbs. 3,198,778 11,828,039 9,735,663 11,482,083 18,400,384 19,475,020 23,250,268 20,467,436 32,576,023 31,447,605 28,706,675 34,907,497 19,040,929 24,358,567 26,401,340 32,126,357 23,354,371 31,880,641 1781—1832. lbs. 1799 43,379,278 1800 56,010,732 1801 56,004,305 1802 60,345,600 1803 53,812,284 1804 61,867,329 1805 59,682,406 1806 58,176,283 1807 74,925,306 1808 43,605,982 1809 92,812,282 1810 132,488,935 1811 91,576,535 1812 63,025,936 1813 50,966,000 1814 60,060,239 1815 99,306,343 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 lbs. 93,920,055 124,912,968 177,282,158 149,739,820 144,818,100 123,977,400 135,420,100 191,402,503 149,380,122 228,005,291 170,500,000 264,330,000 222,750,000 218,324,000 259,856,000 280,080,000 277,260,490 Baines, Hist. of the Cotton Manufacture, in Hist. of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster, vol. II. 496. Quantity of Pig-Iron made in England, Wales, and Scot- Tons 17,350 68,300 125,079 1806 1825 1830 Tons 258,206 581,367 678,417 Tons 1839 1,248,781 1847 1,999,608 1852 2,701,000 Scrivenor, 136 (ed. 1854), 256, 302. THE INCREASE of THE COMMERCE of the country is shown by the tables of exports and imports; these are taken for the longest period where comparison is possible, as the change from 1 In spinning this, allowance for loss 1% oz. per lb. should be made, to estimate total amount of yarn spun. Baines, II. 502. APPENDIX F 931 official to real values, though giving greater accuracy, renders it less easy to indicate the rate of change. To this is added Chalmers’ table of the increase of shipping. (Estimate, 234.) i. Official Value of Ea:ports and Imports. Eacports. ſ16131 2,487,435 Misselden, Circle of Commerce, 121. 1622 2,320,436 9 3 3 y 3 y 128. 1662 2,022,812 Macpherson, Annals of Commerce, II. 707. 1688 4,310,000 Davenant, Works, II. 270. 1699 6,788,166 Macpherson, Annals, II, ſº 1720 6,910,899 3 3 , , III. 116. England {i}; Śiś $ 5 ,, III. 160. - 1740 8,197,788 5 3 ,, III. 227. 1750 12,699,081 2 3 , , III. 283. 1760 14,694,970 * 3 ,, III. 339. #: § Finance Reports, 1797, II. 22, 36. ; , , ; , |1798 27,317,057 Gt Britain #: 34,381,617 1805 31,064,492}. Accounts and Papers, 1830, xxvii. 208—ll. 1810 43,568,757 1815 58,624,550 1820 48,951,537 Accounts and Papers, 1833, XLI. 48. United 1825 56,320,182 Ringdom) 1830 69,691,303 1835 91,174,456}. Accounts and Papers, 1851, xxxi. 170. 1840 116,479,678 1845 150,879,986 1850 197,330,265 Accounts and Papers, 1852–53, LVII. 198. Imports. - 1613 2,141,151 Misselden, Circle of Commerce, 122. 1622 2,619,315 2 3 3 3 2 3 129, 1688 7,120,000 Davenant, Works, II. 270. 1720 6,090,083 Macpherson, Ammals, III. 116. 1730 7,780,019 2 3 3 y III. 160. England Kiº, ºg 3 2 , , III. 227. 1750 7,772,039 5 § ,, . III. 283. 1760 9,832,802 3 * y 5 III. 339. 1783 11,651,281 1796 ;} ;4,3,..., (1798 25,122,203 Gt Britain #: 28,257,781 ſº 28,561,270 Accounts and Papers, 1830, xxvii. 209. 1810 39,301,612 1815 32,987,396 - 1820 32,438,650 Accounts and Papers, 1833, XLI. 48. United J 1825 44,208,807 Kingdom) 1830 46,245,241 1835 48,911,543 Accounts and Papers, 1851, XXXI. 170. 1840 67,432,964 - 1845 85,281,958 \1850 100,460,433 Accounts and Papers, 1852–53, LVII. 198. Finance Reports, 1797, II, 22, 36. 1 In 1570 the official value of Exports and Imports according to a State Paper in the Cotton Collection is given as £26,665 and £45,356 (Hall, Customs, vol. II. App.). It may be doubted however whether this was not a partial return for the purpose of a contemporary agitation against foreign competition, i.e. to show that the “balance of trade” was against England. 59—2 932 APPENDIX F. ii. Increase of Shipping. THE EPoCHS. ū tº 1663 The Restoration ......... | #} The Revolution ......... 1688 The Peace of Ryswick... 1697 The last years of #. William III. ............ 1702 - - 1709 The Wars of Anne ...... {#. 1715 1713 The first of George I.... 1714 1726) The first of George II. A 1727 1728 j 1736 The peaceful years ...... 1737 1733) 1739 1740 (1741 1749 The peaceful years ...... 1750 1751 1755 The War of ............... 1756 1757 The first of g 1760 George ii.) e - © tº º º sq 1761 B (1762 ſ1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 U1774 i < THE SHIPS CLEARED OUTWARDS. Tous Do. -se ENGLISH. FOREIGN. TOTAL, 95,266 47,634 142,900 190,533 95,267 285,800 144,264 100,524 244,788 273,693 43,635 317,328 243,693 || 45,625 | 289,318 326,620 29,115 355,735 421,431 26,573 448,004 432,832 23,651 456,483 476,941 26,627 503,568 384,191 87,260 471,451 609,798 51,386 661,184 451,254 73,456 524,710 471,241 102,737 573,978 508,220 | 117,835 | 626,055 480,444 | 120,126 600,570 561,724 87,293 649,017 583,934 | 74,800 658,734 651,402 || 67,855 719,257 684,281 | 61,753 || 746,034 645,835 | 63,206 || 709,041 668,786 72,734 741,520 709,855 63,020 772,875 703,495 57,476 760,971 773,390 63,532 836,922 818,108 72,603 890,711 771,483 54,820 826,303 798,240 65,273 863,513 APPENDIX F. 933 Increase of Shipping (continued). THE EPOCHS. 2–~ ; i p: 5. PEACE ; 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 |#: 1795 i 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801 : 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 TEIE SHIPS CLEARED OUT WARDS. _- Tons ENGLISHI. 783,226 778,878 736,234 657,23S 590,911 619,462 547,953 552,851 795,669 846,355 951,855 982,132 1,104,711 1,243,206 1,343,800 1,260,828 1,333,106 1,396,003 1,101,326 1,247,398 1,030,058 1,108,258 971,596 1,163,534 1,145,314 1,269,329 1,190,557 º 1,245,560 1,248,796 1,284,691 1,258,903 1,190,232 1,153,488 1,318,508 —º- Do. FOREIGN. 64,860 72,188 83,468 98,113 139,124 134,515 163,410 208,511 157,969 113,064 103,398 116,771 132,243 121,932 99,858 144,132 178,051 169,151 180,121 209,679 370,238 454,847 379,775 345,132 390,612 654,713 767,816 435,427 543,208 553,267 572,961 538,700 600,840 272,104 674,680 TOTAL. 848,086 851,066 819,702 755,351 740,035 753,977 711,363 761,362 953,638 959,419 1,055,253 1,098,903 1,236,954 1,365,138 1,443,658 1,404,960 1,511,157 1,565,154 1,281,447 1,457,077 1,400,296 1,563,105 1,351,371 1,508,666 1,535,926 1,924,042 1,958,373 1,895,116 1,788,768 1,802,063 1,857,652 1,897,603 1,791,072 1,425,592 1,993,188 - 934 APPENDIX F III. The PROGRESS OF THE REVENUE and the increased CHARGE ON THE NATIONAL DEBT are shown in the first diagram : the figures on which it is based are as follows: i. Revenue. England, 1660–1789. Great Britain and Ireland, 1792–1850. 1660 £1,200,000 Dowell, History of Taxation, II. 17. 1690 1,200,000 95 $ 3 93. II. 44. 1712 3,043,000 1740 3,997,000 1756 5,150,000 1762 6,711,000 1774 7,137,000 1784 12,995,000 1789 15,460,000 Statistical Journal, xv.1II. 250. 1792 18,900,630 1795 19,657,993 1800 33,069,775 1805 50,348,263 1810 66,704,985 1815 71,900,005 1820 53,880,373 1825 52,065,389 1830 49,889,995 1835 º 1840 47,351,563 1845 51,719,118 1850 #} Reports, 1828, v. 610—645. Accounts and Papers, 1841, xIII. 188. Accounts and Papers, 1851, xxxI. 166. ii. Annual Charge on the National Debt. 1688 £39,855) 1702 1,310,942 1714 3,351,358 1727 2,217,551 1739 1,964,025 1748 3,061,004). Sinclair, History of the Public Revenue, Part II. 1755 2,396,717 93. 1762 4,840,821 1776 4,476,821 1784 9,669,435 1790 9,479,572) 1815 30,458,204 k 1820 30,1 #} Reports, 1828, v. 657. 1825 29,197,187 1830 29,118,859 1835 28,514,610 1840 29,381,718 1845 28,253,872 1850 28,091,590 Accounts, 1851, XXXI. 166. | IV. The INCREASE OF POPULATION is also shown by a diagram, and is compared with the annual charge for poor-relief, so far as it was reported to Parliament. The figures are as follows: DIAGRAM II. See Appendix p. 935. O 1690 17OO 171 O 172O 173O 174O 1750 176O 177O 1780 1790 18OO 1810 182O 183C) 1840 185 E 18,000,000 | - y 17,000,000 - 16,000,000 - . - - — / … " 15,000,000 14,000,000 13,000,000 12,000,000 11,000,000 - - 10,000,000 —----. . 9,000,000 Z +---T * * 8,000,000 Aſº - _ • R .# | 7,000,000 --- sº - -\" / _2+” " ^ e e _--" f 6,000,000 | - * * \,7 * - * E. k- - - - - - * * • ** .* A. 5,000,000 • 4,000,000 -: 3,000,000 7. 2,000,000 * - 24 sº sº ... • * * * sº **'. 1,000,000 ſt-=== ---------------------- +--- T* ---...---. ------4-- $* E = Population e = Poor Rate DIAGRAM. I. See Appendix p. 934. 16OO. 1650 17OO 1750 18OO 1850 £75,000,000 £70,000,000 £60,000,000 £50,000,000 - V £40,000,000 £30,000,000 Y-CSG," d £20,000,000 | * 210,000,000 D=Revenue *=Annual Charge on National Debt APPENDIX F. 935 16SS 1700 1710 1720 1730 1740 1750 1760 1770 1780 1790 1801 1811 1821 1831 1841 1851 Average, March, i. Population of England and Wales. 5,500,520 G. King in Davenant, Works, II, 184. 5,475,000) 5,240,000 5,565,000 5,796,000 6,064,000 * * 6,467,000 } Statistical Journal, XLIII. 462. 6,736,000 7,428,000 7,953,000 8,675,000) 8,892,536 10,164,256 #; Accounts and Papers, 1852–3, Lxxxv, xxxiii. 15,914,148 17,927,609 ii. Poor-rate. Average, 1748–49–50 £689,971) 1776 1,521,732 1783–84–85 1,912,241 1803 4,077,891 1812–13 6,656,105 1813–14 6,294,584 1814–15 5,418,845 * Reports, 1821, Iv. 277. 1815–16 5,724,506 1816–17 6,918,217 1817–18 7,890,148 1818–19 7,531,650 1819–20 7,329,594/ 1820–21 6,958,445) 1821–22 6,358,703 1822–23 5,773,096 1823–24 5,734,216 1824–25 5,786,991 1825–26 5,928,502 1826–27 6,441,088 1827–28 6,298,000 1828–29 6,332,410 1829–30 6,829,042 1830–31 6,798,889 1831–32 7,036,968 w 1832–33 6,790,800 > Accounts, 1845, XLI. 393. 1833–34 6,317,255 1834–35 5,526,418 1835–36 4,717,630 1836–37 4,044,741 1837–38 4,123,604 1838–39 4,406,907 1839–40 4,576,965 1840–41 4,760,929 1841–42 4,911,498 1842–43 5,208,027 1843–44 4,982,096) 1844–45 5,039,703 Accounts, 1847, XLIx. 51. †: ;} Accounts, 1847-8, In, 181, 183. 1847–48 6,180,765 Accounts, 1849, XLVII. 615. iii. The rate and distribution of the increase of population during the eighteenth century is excellently shown in the following table quoted from Chalmers. (Estimate, 216.) A COMPARATIVE VIEW of the Number of Hous Es, in each County of England and Wales, as they appeared in the Hearth-books of Lady-day 1690; as they were made up at the Tax-office, in 1708–1750–1781; and, as they appear from the enumeration of 1801. No. of No. of No. of Houses, No. of I [ouses, IIouses, enumerated, CountDES. No. Of Houses charged charged p *...* | * | *... . . . Tº-Hi 1690. |a.º. a.º. Inhabited. ||. Bedfordshire ...... 12,170 5,479 6,802 || 5,360 11,888 185 Berks ............... 16,996 7,558 9,762 8,227 20,573 622 Bucks ............... 18,688 8,604 || 10,687 8,670 | 20,443 543 Cambridge ......... 18,629 7,220 9,334 9,088 | 16,139 312 Chester ............ 25,592 11,656 | 16,006 || 17,201 34,482 | 1,139 Cornwall............ 26,613 9,052 14,520 | 15,274 || 32,906 | 1,472 Cumberland ....... 15,279 2,509 || 11,914 || 13,419 21,573 872 Derby ............... 24,944 8,260 | 13,912 || 14,046 31,822 1,369 Devon ............... 56,202 16,686 30,049 28,612 || 57,955 3,235 Dorset............... 17,859 4,133 11,711 || 11,132 21,437 825 * Durham ............ 53,345 6,298 || 10,475 | 12,418 27,195 | 1,171 York ............... 121,052 44,779 || 70,816 || 76,224 168,439 || 6,418 Essex ............... 40,545 16,250 | 19,057 18,389 || 38,371 | 1,027 Gloucester ......... 34,476 13,285 | 16,251 || 14,950 46,457 | 1,715 Hereford............ 16,744 6,913 | 8,771 8,092 17,003 941 Hertford............ 17,488 7,447 9,251 | 8,628 17,681 491 Huntingdom ...... 8,713 3,992 4,363 3,847 6,936 136 Kent ............... 46,674 21,871 30,029 || 30,975 51,556 | 1,413 Lancashire......... 46,961 22,588 || 33,273 || 30,956 114,270 3,394 Leicester............] 20,448 8,584 || 12,957 | 12,545 25,992 742 Lincoln ............ 45,019 17,571 24,999 || 24,591 || 41,395 | 1,094 London, &c. ...... 111,215 || 47,031 || 71,977 || 74,704 || 112,912 || 5,171 Norfolk ............. 56,579 12,097 20,697 | 20,056 47,617 | 1,523 Northampton...... 26,904 9,218 12,464 || 10,350 26,665 736 *Northumberland...|{";"|| 6,787 | 10,543 | 12,431 26,518 1,534 Nottingham ...... 17,818 7,755 | 11,001 || 10,872 25,611 542 Oxford............... 19,627 8,502 || 10,362 8,698 || 20,599 594 Rutland ............ 3,661 1,498 || 1,873 || 1,445 3,274 87 Salop ............... 27,471 11,452 13,332 | 12,895 || 31,182 929 Somerset............ 45,900 | 19,043 27,822 26,407 || 48,040 2,136 Southampton, &c.| 28,557 14,331 18,045 15,828 38,284 906 Stafford ............ 26,278 || 10,812 | 15,917 | 16,483 || 45,521 2,003 Suffolk ............ 47,537 | 15,301 | 18,834 || 19,589 || 32,253 552 Surrey, &c.......... 40,610 || 14,071 | 20,037 | 19,381 || 46,072 | 1,514 Sussex............... 23,451 9,429 || 11,170 | 10,574 || 25,060 718 Warwick............ 22,400 9,461 | 12,759 || 13,276 || 41,069 2,946 Westmoreland ...| 6,691 1,904 || 4,937 6,144 7,897 315 Wilts .............. 27,418 11,373 || 14,303 | 12,856 28,059 1,170 Worcester ......... 24,440 9,178 9,967 8,791 26,711 | 1,109 Anglesea............ \ g 1,040 | 1,334 2,264 6,679 127 Brecon............... £ 3,370 3,234 || 3,407 6,315 479 Cardigan............ E- 2,042 2,542 2,444 8,819 221 Carmarthen ...... go 3,985 5,020 || 5,126 13,449 371 Carnarvon ......... E. 1,583 || 2,366 2,675 | 8,343 | 129 Denbigh ............ 2. 4,753 6,091 5,678 || 12,621 427 Flint ............... 3 2,653 3,520 2,990 || 7,585 194 Glamorgan......... 5- 5,020 6,290 5,146 || 14,225 537 Merioneth ......... : 1,900 2,664 || 2,972 5,787 193 Monmouth ......... - §2. 3,289 || 4,980 || 4,454 8,948 || 417 Montgomery ...... % 4,047 4,890 5,421 8,725 223 Pembroke ......... e-º-º- 2,764 2,803 3,224 11,869 398 Radnor ............ J 7,921 2,092 2,425 || 2,076 3,675 212 1,319.215 |508,516 |729,048 |721,351 1,574,902 |57,529 APPENDIX G 937 APPENDIX G. SOME DIFFICULTIES IN THE INTERPRETATION OF HISTORICAL STATISTICS. It is rarely possible to obtain reliable and precise information in regard to affairs in the past, so that it is all the more tempting to try to make the most of the figures which do survive, and draw as much as possible from them. The interpretation of quotations of prices and other information of a similar kind is beset by many difficulties. It must be remembered that statistics only serve to set economic problems before us in a very precise form ; the greatest care and skill is needed to solve the questions they present for our consideration. Figures, however correct they may be, show the amount of some changes, but they do not in themselves give us any light as to the reason of the changes, or as to ulterior results brought about in social life, or economic conditions. These must be the matter of carefully reasoned enquiry. An illustration from the subject of pauperism may bring out the extremely limited character of the information we get from figures. It is perfectly clear that the sums expended on the relief of the poor diminished during the earlier part of the eighteenth century; but the figures in themselves and by themselves do not tell us whether this was due to greater strict- ness of administration, or to improved trade and better employ- ment. The figures give us the combined effect of both causes, and do not help us to discriminate the action of one from that of the other. There are always many influences at work in any social movement, and we have no sufficient means of discrimin- ating the precise effect exerted by any one factor singly. A number of complex considerations are involved even in the apparently simple attempt to compare the prices charged for a particular commodity at different times and under different circumstances. Any single quotation of price is a summary statement of the value of a commodity in terms of some form of 938 APPENDIX G money. But neither the measure of value nor the thing measured can be regarded as constant. There have been changes in the range of general prices which have originated in alterations in the circulating medium ; and on the other hand there are very few commodities—besides precious stones—in regard to which we can be certain that the quality has remained unaltered. The quality of a pound of mediaeval beef probably differed consider- ably from the prime cuts of the present day'; and at all events, the ox or the sheep was undoubtedly inferior to modern breeds in size and weight. These are the difficulties which must be faced, before satisfactory data can be obtained from mere quotations of price, for discussing such an apparently simple matter as the differences in the value of the same object in the same country at two different periods. Indeed an enquiry that seems to be very roundabout may prove much more instructive. The study of the relative prices of two or more commodities at different times, enables us to evade some of the confusions which arise from changes in the value of the Circulating Medium. Professor Nicholson has shown from his admirable chapter on this subject” how much light may be thrown on social and economic changes by the careful pursuit of this line of investigation. The difficulty is greatly enhanced if we set ourselves to com- pare such ill-defined quanta as the “material comfort ’’ of the labourer in different centuries. To solve the question at all we must know (a) not only what he could get by paying for it, as compared with what the modern labourer can get, but we must take account (b) of cases where the modern labourer has to pay for things which the mediaeval labourer got for nothing, and (c) of things which the modern labourer habitually uses, and which the mediaeval labourer never had at all. That is to say, to estimate the standard of comfort, we must not only know (a) the purchasing power of wages, but take account (b) of the increased necessity of purchasing fuel in modern times, and (c) of the increased use of tea, tobacco and so forth. These last obviously imply a change in the standard of comfort, for the better if they are additional luxuries, and for the worse, if they are substitutes for things containing more sustenance. There is a further difficulty; it is now recognised that the question of a labourer's comfort depends, not merely on his own 1 H. Hall, The Roast Beef of Old England, in the Antiquarian, 1882. ? Principles of Political Economy, III. 65. APPENDIX G 939 wages, but on the family income"; Le Play and his school have put this matter beyond discussion. Before, then, we can get satisfactory information regarding the standard of comfort we must know what opportunities there are for bye-employment and domestic industry. These considerations are all necessary to get any statement on the subject which shall be worth having ; but they are so compli- cated, that it seems impossible to give each of them their due weight. On this ground Professor Thorold Rogers has taken the bold course of simplifying the problem as much as possible, by leaving these confusing elements on one side”. He takes indi- vidual earnings as typical of family earnings, and discusses the standard of comfort of the labourer on the simpler issue of the purchasing power of his wages. But the quotations for rates of wages, on which he relies, are often statements of payments made per day; if the standard of comfort is to be estimated by the free income, which the labourer had (for clothes, &c.) after pur- chasing necessary food, it is necessary to know how regularly he was employed. Where we do not know this, we are forced to assume it, so as to discuss the problem at all. But regularity of employment depends on (1) opportunity of employment, and (2) on willingness to work; and these are uncertain elements which make it very difficult to hazard a reasonable assumption for any period in the past. There are two periods during which it appears, from comparing the price of food and the rates of wages, that the labourer must have been specially well off, viz. 1401–1499, and 1701–1766. But it seems very doubtful whether there was much regularity of em- ployment at either time. The evidence of the decay of towns 1 The family is an element of uncertainty both as to income and expenditure. The difficulties of comparing the price of labour in our land in different centuries, are brought out in a few sentences about the price of labour in different states at the same date. “1st. The necessaries of a family is a vague term. 2dly. A family is vague; it may be four or ten persons. 3dly. A day's work is vague; it may be six hours or sixteen. 4thly. The quantity of labour in a state is uncertain. 5thly. The seasons and weather are various as to heat and cold, which must vary the price of labour. 6thly. The value of money is different, so that in one country an ounce of silver will purchase a sack of wheat, and twenty days' labour; in another but a bushel, and five days' labour. What a perplexity arises hence! But when the price of labour is talked of, and compared between two states, &c., all these ought to be considered.” [Temple] Considerations on Taa’es, p. 42 n. * “I assumed that the peasant and the artisan work 300 days in the year. It is quite possible that they did not get so much employment, perhaps that they worked more days, or on certain occasions increased their earnings by bye-employ- ments, by the labour of their wives, their sons, and their daughters. But in cal- culations such as I am making, provided you take what it may be conceived the workmen could not do without, the comparison is made more obvious if the fewest and simplest factors are taken.” Agriculture and Prices, v. 618. 940 APPENDIX G (Vol. I., pp. 453, 507), and increase of sheep-farming (Vol. I., pp. 403, 526) goes to prove that there were many districts where employment was not to be had at all regularly during the fifteenth century. Again, the constant complaint of laziness in the eighteenth century seems to show that the labourers, who had the opportunity of working, often preferred to take out their enjoyment in the form of idling. (See above, pp. 566, 855 n. 1.) It has been the habit of economists from the time of the statute of Elizabeth to think of wages as varying according to the plenty and scarcity of the time; that is, that when food is dear wages should be high, and that wages may be low when food is cheap. But Temple, if he was the author of the Essay on Trade and Commerce, gives expression to an opposite view. “It is the quantity of labour and not the price of it, that is determined by the price of provisions and other necessaries.” (p 40.) Accord- ing to his observations, when men could easily earn a living, they would not work more than half their time, but when food was dear, they were ready to put in six days a week. This doctrine, which was formulated after experience of a period of comparative plenty, was certainly confirmed during the miserable days which succeeded the peace, when the men were accustomed to labour for excessive hours because food was so dear. Where there are high rates of wages and plenty of employ- ment is to be had, it is clear that the labourers have an oppor- tunity of raising their standard of material comfort. There are too many pessimists who call attention to the strength of human passions, and human folly, and who despair of these opportunities being ever well used. The followers of Malthus are inclined to say that if food is cheap, there will only be a reckless increase of the population; teetotalers are inclined to insist that high wages too often mean a large drink bill; and others may urge that high wages only lead to idleness and dissipation. With so many temptations at work, it need be no matter for surprise that during all these centuries of increasing wealth, the labourers' standard of comfort has changed but little for the better; that while many have risen out of the labouring class, the standard of the class has been hardly altered at all. But at least the experience of the past may help us to understand that no permanent improvement is necessarily brought about by increased opportunities for material well-being, but only by the intellectual and moral changes which APPENDIX G 941 enable men to take advantage of the opportunities that offer, be they great or small. From the foregoing remarks it appears that very little re- liance can be placed on conclusions drawn from quotations of prices as to the actual material comfort enjoyed by the labourer at any period. At the same time, as the question is constantly raised, it may not be out of place to give the calculations made by Arthur Young and commended by Tooke, for what they are worth. PRICES AND WAGES IN ENGLAND, 1200 to 1810.-Comparative Statement framed by Arthur Young in 1812, upon the principle of representing the facts of 1810 by the number twenty (20), and the facts of the preceding periods by the proportion (in figures) borne by them to that Number. 1. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 FooD. # OTHER ARTICLES. WAGES. & rº; -: .* 5 3 || 5 * 5 § %5 º, : H : o, a Ś § esºs § 5 g à <--> —res S. H §: --> * PERIODS. & ge. d § 3 || C → 3. *: - <--> P- tº © tº © <º ºf -5 3 || 3 | ".3 || 3 || $ | # # ##| || = | # # . # || 3 || } | # # # || 5 || 3 à | *3 Tº: B: # | # § 3. ‘53 3 .cº º < 5 3 ºn .S2 cº sº O ſº P- 3 || > 100 | 1200–99 5% 4; * † tº e tº º tº tº º © tº ſº ... tº gº º 3% g is $ ,, . 1300–99 6# 5 * * * * G - tº º sº tº º º tº e & tº g tº 4; 4% ,, . 1400–99 3 2; e & gº tº 8 ºr tº º º tº gº º tº gº º * - 4 5% 5; ,, . 1500–99 6 4; ſº tº º tº tº º e e ºl º e e ë e º tº g tº 5% 4% ,, . 1600–99 9+ 8#. * * * * * * * * * tº tº e e tº º tº tº tº 8 7 ,, . 1700–99 9+ | 11+ 10+ & Cº a e & ºt tº ſº tº & e g & ſº e 12% ll# 66 1701–66 7; 7+ 7% 7+ || 12 15; 13% 14 10 23 1767–89 11 11 || 11% || 11 15% 17# | 1.4% 14 12% 14 1790–1803|| 13 16# 16% || 17 16} | 19% 15% 15% || 16# e e ſº 7 1804–10 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 34 1767–1800|| 12 11% 13+ || 12} || 12 in º º 144 15% || 14 NoTE.—This Table may be read thus:—The price of a given quantity of, say, wheat (col. 3), was represented in 1810 by the number 20; and the price of the same quantity of wheat in coinage, of the same weight and fineness, was, in the period, say 1500–99, represented by the number 6; hence, the price of wheat in 1810, compared with 1500–99, had risen 233 per cent. The “Manufactures at Greenwich Hospital” (col. 10) include shoes, stockings, hats, and mops. 942 APPENDIX G Arthur Young combined several of the separate elements to- gether, in order to simplify the general view, and the following were the results, viz.: Combinations obtained from the preceding Table. l 2 3 - 4 5 6 Wheat, Bar- Wheat and Corn and Labour, Corn, ley, and Oats Beef, &c. Beef, &c. and Beef, &c. Periods. wnited. w?vited. united. wnited. Labour singly. (Cols. 3 (3 and 5.) (3, 4, (3, 4, 5, (11.) and 4.) and 5.) and 11.) 1200–99 5 º - -- - 3% 1300–99 5% — - wº- - 4; 1400–99 3 — . . . - sº-sº - 5% 1500–99 5 -º- 54 – º - 5% 1600–99 8# – 8 — * - 8 1700–99 10+ — 94 – - – 12% 1701–66 7% – 7# — 7% – 84 – 10 1767–89 11 – 113 – 114 – 11% – 12% 1790–1803 14% – 143 – 15% – 16 – 16# 1804–10 20 º 20 - 20 º 20 - 20 1767–1800 11% – 12# – 123 – 13 – 14 According to these figures, it is obvious that the periods during which a given quantity of Labour would command the largest quantity of Food, were the periods 1400–99 and 1701–66. Tooke, Prices, vi. 391. - For more recent periods it is possible to express the variations in the purchasing power of money by means of an index number, which is obtained by stating the price of each of a number of commodities in any subsequent year in the form of a percentage of the price of the same commodity in 1845—50, and then taking the sum of these percentages for the whole number of commodi- ties. This is the plan adopted by the Economist, based on the figures for twenty-two articles. It gives 2947 as the index number for 1873, or an average rise of from 100 to 134. Want of data renders it impossible to calculate these changes for the sixteenth, seventeenth, or eighteenth centuries. DIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX. I. DOCUMENTS AND OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS. Collections of Papers. Proclamations in the British SMuseum, Society of Antiquaries and Public Record Office. Acts of the Privy Council of England. Rotuli Parliamentorum. Statutes of the Realm, 1810. Statutes at Large. Scobell, H. A collection of Acts and Ordinances of general use made in the Parliament (1640–1656). - Statutes at large passed in the Parliaments held in Ireland. Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland. Journals of the House of Lords. Journals of the House of Commons. Journals of the House of Commons of the Kingdom of Ireland. Parliamentary or Constitutional History of England, 1751. Parliamentary History (Cobbett). 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Haynes, S. A Collection of State Papers relating to affairs in the reigns of King Henry VIII., King Edward VI., Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth from the year 1542 to 1570...left by William Cecil, Lord Burghley. Rushworth, J. Historical Collections of private passages of State, of weighty matters in law, remarkable proceedings in five Parlia- ments, etc., 1618–1649. sº A Collection of the State Papers of John Thurloe, Esq., Secretary first to the Council of State and afterwards to the two Protectors (1638–1660). Ed. T. Birch, 1742. Grants, Concessions, and Original Constitutions of the province of New Jersey. N. D. Reports of Royal Commissions and Select Committees published by the authority of Parliament. (Chronologically arranged.) The pages at the end of each entry refer to the present work, not to the Report or work mentioned in the entry. Report from the Committee on the Petition of the Dealers and Manu- facturers of Linens, 1744. In Reports from Committees of the House of Commons which have been ordered to be printed and which are not inserted in the Journals, reprinted by order of the House, II. p. 522. Report from the Committee appointed to enquire into the State and Condition of the Countries adjoining to Hudson's Bay and of the Trade carried on there, 1749. Reprints II. pp. 282, 283. Report from the Committee appointed to enquire into the present State. of the Linen Trade in Great Britain and Ireland, 1773. Reprints, III. p. 522. - Report from the Committee appointed to consider of the Methods, practised in making Flour from Wheat ; the prices thereof and how far it may be expedient to put the same again under the Regulations of an Assize, 1774. Reprints IX. pp. 706, 319. Report from the Committee to whom the Petition of the Framework knitters...was referred 1778, in Commons Journals xxxvi. 740, p. 664. Report from the Committee to whom the Petition of the several Persons whose Names are thereunto subscribed on behalf of DOCUMENTS AND OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS 945 themselves and other Framework knitters...were severally re- ferred, 1779, in Commons Journals xxxvii. 370, p. 664. First Report from the Select Committee on the Importation and Exportation of Corn and Grain, 1783. Reprints IX, p. 705. First and Second Report from the Select Committee who were appointed to take an Act made in the 21st Year of His present Majesty, intituled “An Act for further regulating and ascertaining the Importation and Exportation of Corn and Grain within several Ports and Places therein mentioned,” into Consideration and who were instructed to consider so much of His Majesty's most gracious speech to both Houses of Parliament as relates to the Scarcity and High Price of Corn 1783. Reprints Ix. p. 706. Report from the Committee to whom the several Petitions presented to this House in this Session of Parliament from the Wool Combers complaining of certain Machines constructed for the combing of wool, were referred 1794, in Commons Journals XLIX. 322, pp. 651, 652. . Report from the Select Committee appointed to take into Consideration the means of promoting the Cultivation and Improvement of the Waste, Uninclosed and Unproductive Lands of the Kingdom, 1795. Reprints IX, pp. 706, 726. Reports (five) from the Select Committee appointed to take into Con- sideration the present High Price of Corn and to collect evidence relative thereto, 1795. Reprints IX. pp. 706, 708, 710. Report from the Committee of Secrecy upon the Restriction on Pay- ments in Cash by the Bank, Nov. 1797. Reprints XI. p. 695. Report from the Committee appointed to take into Consideration the Means of promoting the Cultivation and Improvement of the Waste, Uninclosed and Unproductive Lands, and the Common Arable Fields, Common Meadows and Common of Pasture in this Kingdom, 1797. Reprints IX. pp. 706, 708, 711. First Report from the Committee of Secrecy on the Outstanding Demands of the Bank of England, Mar. 1797. Reprints XI. p. 694. Third Report from the Committee of Secrecy appointed to examine and state the total amount of Outstanding Demands on the Bank of England and likewise of the Funds for discharging the same, April 1797. Reprints XI. pp. 692, 693. Report from the Select Committee appointed to consider of the most effectual Means of facilitating under the Authority of Parliament, the Inclosure and Imprevement of the Waste, Uninclosed and Unproductive Lands, Commons, Common Arable Fields, Common Meadows and Common of Pasture in this Kingdom, 1800. Re- prints IX, pp. 706, 711. Report from Committees on the Coal Trade, 1800. Reprints x. p. 530. C.* 60 946 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX Reports (six) from the Committee appointed to consider of the present High Price of Provisions; and to whom so much of His Majesty's most gracious Speech from the Throne to both Houses of Parlia- ment, as relates thereto; and also the Several Petitions presented to the House, complaining of the High Price of Provisions were referred, 1800. Reprints Ix. pp. 319, 706, 707, 708, 709, 710. Reports (two) from the Committee appointed to consider of Means for rendering more effectual the Provisions of an Act made in the 13th year of the reign of his present Majesty, intituled “An Act for better regulating the Assize and Making of Bread” and who were instructed to consider of the most effectual Means of remedy- ing any Inconveniences which may arise from the Deficiency of the last Crop of Grain, 1800. Reprints IX. pp. 706, 709. Reports (seven) from the Committee appointed to consider of the present High Price of Provisions, 1801. Reprints Ix. pp. 688, 706, 707, 709. Second Report from the Committee of Secrecy appointed to examine and consider the several Papers which were presented (sealed up) to the House by Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer upon the 1st and 2nd days of April by His Majesty's Command;—containing Secret Information received by His Majesty's Government, relative to the state of Ireland, and to the proceedings of certain disaffected persons in both parts of the United Kingdom, 1801. Reprints x. p. 733. Report from the Committee appointed to consider of the State of the Corn Trade between Great Britain and Ireland, 1802. Reprints Ix. p. 706. Beport on Yorkshire Woollen Petitions, in Reports 1802–3. v. p. 658. Report from the Committee on the Woollen Clothiers' Petition. Reports, 1802–3, v. pp. 652, 655, 661. Minutes of the evidence taken before the Committee to whom the Petition of several Journeymen Callico Printers and others working in that trade...was referred July 1804, in Reports, 1803–4, v. pp. 641, 642. Reports from the Committee on the Corn Trade, in Reports 1803–4, v. p. 726. Report and Minutes of Evidence from the Committee on the State of the Woollen Manufacture of England. Reports, 1806, III. pp. 497, 499, 502, 605, 625, 641, 650, 651,653, 659, 663, 739. Report from the Committee on the Minutes of Evidence respecting the Callico Printers, 1806, III. pp. 608, 641. A Bill for adjusting the disputes between the Master Callico Printers and their Journeymen, in Reports. Public Bills, 1806–7, I. p. 641. Report from the Committee on Petitions of Several Cotton Manu- facturers and Journeymen Cotton Weavers, 1808, II. pp. 633, 634, 635. DOCUMENTS AND OFH'ſ CIAL PUBLICATIONS 947 Report, Minutes of Evidence and Appendix from the Committee on the Circulating Paper, the Specie and the Current Coin of Ireland, 1804, in Accounts and Papers, 1810, III. p. 701. Report from the Select Committee on the High Price of Gold Bullion, 1810, III, pp. 700, 701, 702. Report from the Committee on the Framework Knitters' Petitions, 1812, II. pp. 664, 665. Report from the Committee of Secrecy (Disturbed Northern Counties), 1812, II. p. 662. Report from Committee on the several Petitions presented to this House respecting the Apprentice Laws of this Kingdom, 1813, in Reports, 1812–13, IV. p. 659. Report of the Minutes of Evidence taken before the Select Committee on the State of the Children employed in the Manufactories of the United Kingdom, 1816, III. pp. 630, 752, 776, 791. Report from the Committee on the Employment of Boys in Sweeping of Chimnies, 1817, WI. p. 775. - Report from the Select Committee on Poor Laws with Minutes of Evidence, 1817, VI, p. 763. Reports of the Select Committee on the Framework Knitters' Petition, together with the Minutes of Evidence, 1819, V. p. 665. Report from the Committee on the Poor Laws, 1819, II. p. 756. Second Report from the Secret Committee on the expediency of the Bank resuming Cash Payments, 1819, III. p. 703. Third Report from the Select Committee on the Education of the Lower Orders, in Reports, 1818, Iv. p. 750. Report from the Select Committee to whom the several Petitions com- plaining of the depressed state of the agriculture in the United Kingdom were referred. Reports, 1821, IX. p. 731. Report from the Select Committee on Poor Rate Returns, 1821, IV. p. 763. - First Report from the Select Committee on Artisans and Machinery, 1824, v. pp. 634, 638, 757. Report from the Select Committee on Labourers' Wages, 1824, VI. pp. 765, 721. - Report from the Select Committee on the Laws respecting Friendly Societies, 1825, IV. p. 735. t Report from the Select Committee on the Combination Laws, 1825, IV. p. 759. * - Report from the Select Committee on Emigration from the United Kingdom, Reports, 1826, IV. p. 858. Report from the Lords' Committees appointing a Select Committee to inquire into the State of Circulation of Promissory Notes under the value of £5 in Scotland and Ireland and to report to the House, 1826–7, WI. pp. 454, 455, 456. 60—2 948 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX Fourth Report from the Select Committee on the Public Income and Expenditure of the United Kingdom, 1828, v. pp. 688, 698. Report from the Select Committee of the House of Lords on the State of the British Wool Trade, 1828, VIII. pp. 645, 649. Report from the Select Committee on Manufacturers' Employment, 1830, x. pp. 761, 762, 800. Report of the Select Committee on the State of the Coal Trade. Re- ports, 1830, VIII. p. 531. - Report from the Select Committee on Agriculture, 1833, v. p. 722. Report from the Select Committee on Manufactures, Commerce and Shipping, 1833, VI, p. 633. Report (First) of the Central Board of His Majesty's Commissioners appointed to collect Information as to the Employment of Children in Factories and as to the Propriety and Means of Curtailing the Hours of their Labour. Reports, i833, xx. pp. 666, 775, 777, 778, 779, 780, 781, 782, 784, 785, 786, 790, 796, 801. Report (Second) of the Central Board of His Majesty's Commissioners for inquiring into the Employment of Children in Factories, 1833, XXI. p. 778. Report from His Majesty's Commissioners for inquiring into the administration and practical operation of the Poor Laws, 1834, xxvii. pp. 576, 763, 764, 765, 766, 767, 769, 770, 771, 772. Report from His Majesty's Commissioners for inquiring into the ad- ministration and practical operation of the Poor Laws. Appendix A. 1834, xxvii.I. pp. 575, 576, 770. Report from the Select Committee on Hand-Loom Weavers' Petitions, 1835, XIII. p. 635. Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Municipal Corporations of England and Wales, 1835, xxLII. p. 807. Copies of and Extracts from all correspondence which has taken place since 1823 between H.M. Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and H.M. Consul at Hamburgh relative to grievances complained of by British Subjects resident in that City. Reports, 1835, XLVIII. pp. 232, 234. Report from the Select Committee on Transportation, 1837–8, xxII. p. 860. Accounts of Slave Compensation Claims for Jamaica, Antigua, Hondu- ras, St Christopher's, Grenada, Dominica, Nevis, Virgin Islands, St Lucia, British Guiana, Montserrat, Bermuda, Bahamas, Tobago, St Vincent's, Trinidad, Barbadoes, Mauritius, Cape of Good Hope, in Accounts and Papers, 1837–8, XLVIII. p. 854. Second Report from the Select Committee on Railways together with the Minutes of Evidence, 1839, x. p. 822. Report on the Affairs of British North America from the Earl of Durham. Reports, 1839, XVII, pp. 852, 862, 863. DOCUMENTS AND OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS 949 Report by a Committee of the General Assembly on the Management of the Poor in Scotland, 1839, xx. p. 807. Reports from Assistant Hand-Loom Weavers' Commissioners, Accounts and Papers, 1839, XLII. pp. 791, 792, 793, 798, 799, 801. Report from the Select Committee on Import Duties, 1840, v. p. 836. Report from the Select Committee on the Health of Towns together with the Minutes of Evidence, 1840, XI. p. 809. Reports from Assistant Hand-Loom Weavers' Commissioners, 1840, xxIII. pp. 369, 520, 658, 667, 794, 795, 796, 797, 798, 799. Reports from Assistant Hand-Loom Weavers’ Commissioners, 1840, xxiv. pp. 563, 791, 792, 793, 795, 797, 800, 649, 651, 657, 800, 801, 802, 805. Reports of the Commissioners for inquiring into the Employment and Condition of Children in Mines and Manufactories, 1842, xv. XVI. XVII. p. 804. Report from Select Committee on Labouring Poor (Allotments of Land) 1843, VII. pp. 616, 713, 744. Reports of Special Assistant Poor Law Commissioners on the Employ. ment of Women and Children in Agriculture. Reports, 1843, XII. p. 803. Report from the Select Committee on Commons Inclosure, 1844, v. p. 552. Report of the Commissioner appointed under 5 and 6 Vict. c. 99 to inquire into the operation of that Act and into the state of the population in the Mining Districts, 1844, XVI. pp. 532, 806. Report of the Commissioner appointed to inquire into the condition of the Frame-work Knitters, 1845, xv. pp. 665, 666, 667. Second Report of the Commissioners for inquiring into the State of Large Towns, 1845, XVIII. pp. 807, 809. Index to Reports of Commissioners 1828–47 (Emigration). Reports, 1847, LVIII. part iv. p. 858. Correspondence between the Governor General of Canada and the Secretary of State for the Colonial Department upon the operation of the Navigation Laws. Reports, 1849, LI. p. 832. Report of the Poor Law Board on the Law of Settlement and Removal. Reports, 1851, XXVI. pp. 578, 755. Report on the Organization of the Permanent Civil Service, 1854, xxvii. p. 886. Notices of the various forms of the Public Debt, its origin and pro- gress, in a Return of the Amount of the National Debt. Accounts and Papers, 1857–8, XXXIII. p. 420. Second Report of the Commissioners on Children's Employment, in Reports, 1864, XXII, p 779. Explanatory and historical notices of the several heads of Public Income and Expenditure included in the preceding Accounts from 950 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 1688 to 1869, and of matters relating to these financial Accounts, being App. 13 in Accounts relating to the Public Income and Expenditure of Great Britain and Ireland, 1868–9, XXXV. pp. 410, 424, 697, 698. Second Report of the Royal Sanitary Commission, 1871, XXXV, pp. 808, 809. Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the several matters relating to Coal in the United Kingdom. Reports, 1871, xVIII. pp. 319, 527, 529. Reports of the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the recent changes in the relative values of the Precious Metals, 1888, XLV. p. 814. II. HISTORIES AND ARTICLES. (With the dates of the Editions used.) Agnew, D. C. A. Protestant Exiles from France in the reign of Louis XIV., 1866, pp. 328, 329, 331. Alexander, W. Notes and Sketches illustrative of Northern Rural Life in the Eighteenth Century, 1877, p. 549. - Alfred. [Samuel Kydd] History of the Factory Movement from the year 1802 to the enactment of the Ten Hours Bill, 1857, p. 777. Anderson, A. An Historical and Chronological Deduction of the Origin of Commerce, 1764, p. 244, see also Macpherson, Annals. Anderson, J. S. M. History of the Church of England in the Colonies, 1856, pp. 102, 175, 339, 340, 353. Andréadès, A. Histoire de la Banque d’Angleterre, 1904, pp. 420, 449. Andrews, W. Curiosities of the Church, 1890, p. 73. Archbold, W. A. J. A. Manuscript Treatise on the Coinage by John Pryse in 1553. In English Historical Review, XIII. 1898, p. 161. Arnot, H. The History of Edinburgh, 1779, p. 529. Aschrott, P. F. The English Poor law System, Past and Present, 1902, pp. 766, 767, 773. Ashbee, C. R. Last Records of a Cotswold Community, 1905, p. 554. Ashley, W. J. Introduction to English Economic History, 1892, p. 9. Ashley, W. J. Surveys, Historic and Economic, 1900, pp. 405, 456, 458, 480, 481, 482, 485, 584. - Ashworth, H. Recollections of Richard Cobden, 1876, p. 840. Atkinson, J. C. Quarter Sessions Records of Yorkshire, North Riding Record Society, 1883 etc., pp. 40, 535. Avenel, G. d’. Histoire Economique de la propriété, des salaires des denrées et de tous les prix en général 1894, p. 168. THISTORIES AND ARTICLES 951 Bagehot, W. Lombard Street, 1873, p. 159. Baines, E. History of the Cotton Manufacture in Great Britain, 1836, pp. 517, 621, 632, 634, 640. Baird, H. M. The Huguenots and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 1895, p. 329. Baird, R. Religion in the United States of America, 1844, p. 340. Ballagh, T. C. White Servitude in the Colony of Virginia. Johns Hopkins Studies, XIII. 1895, p. 349. Bancroft, G. History of the United States of America from the dis- covery of the Continent, 1839, pp. 340, 341, 475, 476, 477. Banks, Mrs G. L. (Warley, I.) Bond Slaves, 1893, p. 662 Bannister, S. William Paterson, 1858, p. 200. Bastable, C. F. Public Finance, 1895, p. 424. Bauer, S. Nicholas Barbon, in Conrad's Jahrbücher für National- Ökonomie, N. F. XXI. Jena, 1890, p. 401. Beckmann, J. History of Inventions, 1846, p. 293. Bede. Ecclesiastical History of England, 1875, p. 3. Beer, A. Allgemeine Geschichte des Welthandels, 1860–84, p. 673. Beer, G. L. Cromwell's Economic Policy in Columbia University Political Science Quarterly, XVI. Dec. 1891; XVII. March, 1902, pp. 193, 336, 342. Beer, G. L. Commercial Policy of England towards the American Colonies, 1893. Columbia College Studies, III. pp. 472, 473, 474, 484, 586, 587. Bell, I. L. On the Manufacture of Iron in connexion with the Northumberland and Durham Coal Field, in Report of the Thirty- third Meeting of the British Association, 1863, pp. 522, 523. Bewes, W. A. Church Briefs or Royal Warrants for collections for charitable objects, 1896, p. 328. Birdwood, Sir G. The Register of Letters of the Governour and Company of Merchants trading with the East Indies, 1893, p. 255. Bischoff, J. A. Comprehensive History of the Woollen and Worsted Manufactures, 1842, pp. 504, 644, 645, 646, 650, 652, 653, 657, 661. Blomefield, F. An Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk, 1739, pp. 36, 305. Bonar, J. Letters of David Ricardo to T. R. Malthus, 1887, p. 636. Bonar, J. Philosophy and Political Economy in Some of their historical relations, 1893, p. 4. Bonn, M. J. Die englische kolonisation in Irland, 1906, p. 122. Bonnassieux, P. Les grandes Compagnies de Commerce, 1892, p. 253. Bonwick, J. Romance of the Wool Trade, 1893, pp. 647,648, 649. Booth, A. J. Robert Owen, the Founder of Socialism in England, 1869, p. 753. Boulinot, Sir J. G. Canada under British Rule, 1900, p. 862. 952 IBIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX Bowley, A. L. A short account of England's Foreign Trade in the Nineteenth Century, 1893, pp. 833, 872. Bowley, A. L. Wages in the United Kingdom in the Nineteenth Century, 1900, p. 720. Boyle, J. R. and Dendy, F. W. Extracts from the Records of the Merchant Adventurers of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, published for the Surtees Society, Wols. XCIII, CI., pp. 232, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249. Brand, J. The history and antiquities of the Town and County of the Town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1789, pp. 220, 248, 527, 528, 529, 530. Premner, D. The Industries of Scotland: their rise, progress, and present condition, 1869, pp. 520, 521. - Brentano, L. Anfang und Ende der englischen Kornzölle, 1892, p. 634. Brodrick, Hon. G. C. English Land and English Landlords, 1881, p. 106. Brown, A. First Republic in America, 1898, p. 342. Bruce, James, Earl of Elgin, Letters and Journals of, edited by J. Walrond, 1872, p. 869. Bruce, John, F. S. A. Preface to Calendar of State Papers, Domestic, 1635–6, p. 307. Bruce, John, M.P. Annals of the Honourable East India Company, from their establishment by the Charter of Queen Elizabeth, 1600 to the Union of the London and English East India Companies, 1810, pp. 266, 267, 268, 269. - Bruce, P. A. Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century, 1896, p. 368. Burgon, J. W. The Life and Times of Sir Thomas Gresham, 1839, pp. 130, 147, 224, 225, 226. Burke, E. Works, 1834, pp. 560, 587, 589. Burn, J. S. History of French, Walloon, Dutch, and other Foreign Protestant Refugees settled in England, 1846, p. 330. Burnley, J. The history of Wool and Wool Combing, 1889, pp. 652, 760. Burton, J. H. History of Scotland from the Revolution and the extinction of the last Jacobite Insurrection, 1853, pp. 416, 417. Butler, J. D. British Convicts shipped to American Colonies, in Ameri- can Historical Review, 1896, p. 348. Butler, R. F. Social and Economic History, in Victoria County History, Gloucester, II. 1907, pp. 552, 553. : Buxton, S. C. Mr Gladstone as Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1901, p. 839. Cairnes, J. E. The Slave power: its character, career and probable designs, 1862, p. 751. Camden, W. The history of the most Renowned and Victorious Princess Elizabeth, 1688, pp. 75, 123, 126, 235, 259, 301. HISTORIES AND ARTICLES 953 Cannan, E. See Smith, Adam. Cannan, E. History of Local Rates in England, 1896, p. 430. Carew, R. Survey of Cornwall, 1769, p. 553. Carlyle, T. Oliver Cromwell's Letters and Speeches, 1845, pp. 179, 185, 195, 348. Carroll, W. G. Life of Hely Hutchinson, in Commercial Restraints of Ireland, 1888, p. 409. Carte, T. A. History of the Life of James, Duke of Ormonde, 1736, pp. 370, 372, 373, 374. Casgrain, H. R. Un pèlerinage au Pays d'Évangéline, 1887, p. 588. Cawston, G. and Keane, A. H. The Early Chartered Companies, 1896, pp. 250, 273. Chalmers, G. An estimate of the comparative strength of Great Britain during the present and four preceding reigns. New edition, 1804, pp. 660, 705, 931. Channing, E. Town and County Government in the English Colonies of North America. Johns Hopkins Studies, II. Ser. No. 10, 1884, p. 355. Chapman, S. J. The Lancashire Cotton Industry, 1904, pp. 625, 793 Chesney, G. Indian Polity, 1868, p. 469. Clarke, Sir E. Agriculture and the House of Russell, 1891, in Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, 3rd Series, II, p. 118. Clément, P. Histoire de Colbert et de son administration, 1874, pp. 406, 540. Clifford, F. A history of Private Bill Legislation, 1885, pp. 555, 562. Clode, C. M. Memorials of the Guild of Merchant Taylors, 1875, p. 11. Clode, C. M. The Early History of the Guild of Merchant Taylors, 1888, pp. 11, 33, 34, 35, 66. Clutterbuck, R. The History and Antiquities of the County of Hert- ford, 1815, p. 315. Colston, J. The Incorporated Trades of Edinburgh, 1891, p. 331. Colston, J. The Guildry of Edinburgh, 1887, p. 323. Cooper, C. H. Annals of Cambridge, 1842, pp. 49, 52. Cooper, W. D. Lists of Foreign Protestants and Aliens resident in England, 1618–1688. Camden Society, LXXII. 1862, pp. 81, 328. Cooper, W. D. Savile Correspondence, edited by, Camden Society, LXXI. 1858, p. 328. Corey, D. P. History of Malden, Mass. 1899, p. 355. Cotton, W. An Elizabethan Guild of the City of Exeter, an account of the proceedings of the Society of Merchant Adventurers during the latter half of the 16th century, 1873, p. 243. Cox, J. C. Three Centuries of Derbyshire Annals as illustrated by the Records of the Quarter Sessions of the County of Derby, 1890, pp. 92, 94. Cox, R. Hibernia Anglicana or the History of Ireland, 1689, pp. 292, 357, 364, 365, 368, 369, 370. 954, BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX Coxe, W. Memoirs of the Life and Administration of Sir Robert Walpole, Earl of Orford, 1798, pp. 428, 429, 430,470. Crawfurd, G. History of the Shire of Renfrew, 1782, p. 331. Creighton, C. A history of Epidemics in Britain, 1891, pp. 315, 808. Creighton, M. Cardinal Wolsey, 1888, p. 172. Cross, F. W. History of the Walloon and Huguenot Church at Canterbury, 1898, p. 82. - Cunningham, W. Path towards Knowledge, 1891, p. 744. Cunningham, W. The Use and Abuse of Money, 1891, p. 8. Cunningham, W. A. Plea for Pure Theory, in Economic Review, II. 1892, pp. 740, 877. Cunningham, W. Modern Civilisation in some of its Economic Aspects, 1896, pp. 728, 877. Cunningham, W. Alien Immigrants to England, 1897, pp. 33, 79, 80, 84, 119, 208, 247, 305, 328, 329, 331, 485, 515, 519, 623. Cunningham, W. Western Civilisation in its Economic Aspects. Vol. I. Ancient Times, 1898, p. 4. Vol. II. Modern Times, 1900, pp. 6, 8, 27, 151, 165, 871. Cunningham, W. On the Value of Money. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Boston, 1899, p. 167. Cunningham, W. American Currency Difficulties in the Eighteenth Century, in Economic Review, XI. 1901, p. 141. Cunningham, W. The Gospel of Work, 1902, p. 877. Cunningham, W. The Rise and Decline of the Free Trade Movement, 1905, p. 832. Cunningham, W. The Wisdom of the Wise, 1906, pp. 193, 851, 870. Cunningham, W. Back to the Land in Economic Review, 1907, p. 553. Davies, C. M. History of Holland, 1842, p. 259. - Davis, J. F. The Chinese: a general description of China and its inhabitants, 1840, pp. 819, 820. Davis, N. D. Cavaliers and Roundheads in Barbados, 1887, p. 350. Dendy, F. W. See Boyle. Doren, A. Studien aus der Florentiner Wirtschaftsgeschichte, 1901, p. 498. Doubleday, T. A Financial Monetary and Statistical History of England from the Revolution of 1688 to the Present Time, 1847, pp. 421, 422. Dowell, S. A history of Taxation and Taxes in England, 1888, pp. 170, 176, 180,426,427, 430, 602, 604,605, 606, 834, 842, 856. Duchesne, L. L'évolution économique et sociale de l’industrie de la Laine en Angleterre, 1900, p. 499. Dugdale, W. The History of Imbanking and Drayning of divers Fenns and Marshes, 1662, pp. 112, 113, 115, 116, 117, 118. Duke, E. Prolusiones Historicae, 1837, p. 311. EIISTORIES AND ARTICLES 955 Dunlop, R. The Plantation of Munster, 1584–1589, in English Histori- cal Review, III. 1888, p. 123. Dunsford, M. Historical Memoirs of the town and parish of Tiverton, 1790, p. 509. Durham, F. H. Relations of the Crown to Trade under James I., in Royal Historical Soc. Trans. N. S. XIII. 1899, p. 230. Eden, Sir F. M. The State of the Poor, 1797, pp. 166, 570, 573, 574, 575, 765. Edwards, B. The History, Civil and Commercial, of the British Colonies in the West Indies, 1793, pp. 473, 474, 475, 477, 478. Egerton, H. E. A Short History of British Colonial Policy, 1897, pp. 198, 858, 860. Eggleston, E. Social Conditions in the Colonies, in Century Magazine, N. S. 1884, xxvi II. p. 349. Ehrenberg, R. Hamburg und England im Zeitalter der Königin Elisabeth, 1896, pp. 59, 74, 147, 223, 225, 226, 227, 230. Ehrenberg, R. Das Zeitalter der Fugger. Geldkapital und Creditverkehr im 16. Jahrhundert, 1896, Wols. I. and II. p. 29. Elgin, Lord. See Bruce. Engels, F. The Condition of the Working Class in England, translated by F. K. Wischnewetzky, 1892, pp. 667, 781, 807. Faber, R. Die Entstehung des Agrarschutzes in England, in Abhand- lungen aus dem Staatswissenschaftlichen Seminar zu Strassburg, V. 1888, pp. 85, 98, 541. Fagniez, G. L'économie sociale de la France sous Henri IV., 1897, pp. 58, 532, 546. Farren, E. J. Historical Essay on the Rise and Early Progress of Life Contingencies, 1844, p. 493. Felkin, W. A history of Machine Wrought Hosiery and Lace Manu- facture, 1867, pp. 513, 514, 663, 666, 667. Fenn, C. Compendium of the English and Foreign Funds, 1876, p. 696. Ferguson, R. S. and Nanson, W. S. Some Municipal Records of the City of Carlisle, 1887, p. 36. Firth, C. H. Cromwell's Army, 1902, pp. 185, 200. Fisher, J. The Book of John Fisher, Town Clerk and Deputy Recorder of Warwick, 1580–1588, ed. Kemp, 1900, pp. 40, 73, 94. - Fisher, S. G. Men, Women, and Manners in Colonial Times, 1898, p. 211. Fiske, J. The War of Independence, 1889, p. 588. Fiske, J. Civil Government in the United States considered with some reference to its origin, 1890, p. 413. Fleetwood, Bp W. Chronicon Preciosum, 1745, p. 166. Forbes, Sir W. Memoirs of a Banking House, 1860, p. 455. Ford, P. L. The true George Washington, 1897, p. 185. 956 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX Fortescue, J. W. A history of the British Army, 1899, etc. p. 2. Fox, G. Journal, 1694, p. 44. Francis, G. G. Smelting of Copper in the Swansea District, 1881, p. 60. Froude, J. A. A history of England, 1872, pp. 69, 121, 122, 123, 130. Fuchs, C. J. The Trade Policy of Great Britain and her Colonies since 1860, 1905, p. 869. Fuller, T. History of the University of Cambridge (1655), ed. Prickett, M. and Wright, T., 1840, p. 157. Funk, F. X. Zins und Wucher, 1868, p. 158. Galton, F. W. Select Documents illustrating the History of Trade Unionism. The Tailoring Trade, 1896, p. 513. Gardiner, S. R. 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Preface to Calendar of State Papers, Colonial, America, and West Indies, p. 199. Salomon, F. William Pitt, 1901, pp. 589, 594,601, 602. - - Schanz, G. Englische Handelspolitik gegen Ende des Mittelalters, 1881, p. 28. - HISTORIES AND ARTICLES 965 Schmoller, G. The Mercantile System. Economic Classics, ed. by W. R. Ashley, 1896, p. 6. Schulze-Gaevernitz, G. v. Britischer Imperialismus und Englischer Freihandel, 1906, pp. 193,220. Scotland, Acts of the General Assembly of the Church of, 1638–1842, Church Law Society, 1843, p. 157. Scott, W. R. The Constitution and Finance of the Royal African - Company of England, in American Historical Review, VIII. p. 274. Scott, W. R. The King's and Queen's Corporation for the Linen Manufacture in Ireland. Proceedings, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, xxxi. pp. 329, 370, 520. - Scott, W. R. The Records of a Scottish Cloth Manufactory at New Mills, 1905, pp. 321, 329. Scrivenor, H. A comprehensive History of the Iron Trade from the Earliest Records to the Present Period, 1841, pp. 524, 525. Seeley, J. R. Growth of British Policy, 1895, p. 194. Sellers, M. The Arts and Ordinances of the Eastland Company, Camden Society, 1906, pp. 236, 238, 242, 245, 268. Sharp, C. History of Hartlepool, 1887, p. 37. Sharp, T. A dissertation on the Pageants anciently performed at Coventry by the Trading Companies of that City, 1825, p. 36. Sharpe, R. R. London and the Kingdom, 1891, pp. 66, 147, 160,234. Shaw, John. Charters relating to the East India Company from 1600 to 1761, 1887, pp. 260, 262, 263,266. Shaw, P. Digest of Cases in the Supreme Courts of Scotland, 1843, p. 323. Shaw, W. A. The History of Currency, 1896, pp. 139,233,432, 433,438. Shaw, W. A. Select Tracts and Documents illustrative of English Monetary History, 1626–1730, 1896, pp. 411, 420, 432, 438. Shaw, W. A. Beginnings of the National T)ebt, in Owens College Historical Essays, ed. T. F. Tout, 1902, pp. 143, 179, 194, 200, 420, 425. Sinclair, Sir J. The history of the Public Revenue of the British Empire (1785–1790), pp. 419,696, 850, 867. ^ Smiles, S. The Huguenots, in England and Ireland, 1889, p. 518. Smiles, S. Industrial Biography. Iron Workers and Tool Makers, 1879, p. 523. Smiles, S. Lives of the Engineers, 1861–2, pp. 2, 118, 533, 534, 535. Smith, Adam. An enquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, ed. J. S. Nicholson, pp. 97, 167, 324, 409, 443, 450, 460, 461, 462, 481, 504, 571, 594, 597, 605, 661, 755. Smith, Adam. Lectures on Justice, Police, Revenue, and Arms, ed. E. Cannan, 1896, p. 593. Smith, C. E. Religion under the Barons of Baltimore, 1899, pp. 341, 354. 966 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX Smith, J. Chronicon Rusticum-Commerciale, or Memoirs of Wool, 1747, pp. 375, 459, 461, 462, 463. Smith, Sydney. Works, 1839, p. 834. - - - , Society of the Governor and Assistants of London, of the New Planta- tions of Ulster, A concise view of the Origin, Constitution and Proceedings of the, 1822, p. 362. Soetbeer, A. Edelmetallproduktion und Werthverhältniss Zwischen Gold und Silver seit der Entdeckung Amerika's. Mittheilungen aus Justus Perthes Geographischer Anstalt, 1879, p. 165. Somers, R. The Scotch Banks and system of issue, 1873, p. 453. Sorel, A. L'Europe et la Révolution Française, 1885, p. 677. Sparks, J. The Writings of George Washington, being Correspond- ence, Addresses, Messages, and other papers, official and private, 1835, p. 673. Spedding, J. The Letters and Life of Francis Bacon (1861–1872), pp. 101, 294. Stanhope, P. H., 5th Earl. History of England, comprising the reign of Queen Anne until the Peace of Utrecht, 1870, p. 460. Stephen, Leslie. Wilberforce, W., in Dictionary of National Biography. p. 607. º Stephens, A. J. See Merewether. Stevens, H. 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History and Antiquities of Boston, 1856, pp. 896, 897. Tooke, T. A history of Prices and of the State of the Circulation, 1838, pp. 555, 559, 691,731. HISTORIES AND ARTICLES 967 Toulmin Smith, Joshua. The Parish, 1857, p. 145. Tucker, G. The Life of Thomas Jefferson, 1837, pp. 686, 868. Turner, F. J. The significance of the Frontier in American History, in Report of American Historical Association, 1893, p. 879. Tyerman, L. The Life of George Whitefield, 1876, pp. 590,749. Unwin, G. A. Seventeenth Century Trade Union, in Economic J ournal, X. 1900, pp. 512, 515. Unwin, G. Industrial Organisation in the xvii and xvii.1 Centuries, 1904, pp. 36, 182, 234, 499. Vocke, W. Geschichte der Steuern des britischen Reichs, 1886, pp. 835, 838. Way, A. Relics of Roman Metallurgy, Archaeological Journal, 1859, XVI. p. 3. Walker, C. The Compleat History of Independency, 1661, pp. 182, 184, Walker, F. A. Money, 1878, pp. 1, 60. Wallas, G. Life of Francis Place, 1898, pp. 757, 758, 759. Warner, G. T. Landmarks in English Industrial History, 1899, p. 104. Washburn, E. Slavery as it once prevailed in Massachusetts, in Lowell Lectures on the Early History of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Historical Society, 1869, p. 475. Webb, S. and B. The History of Trade Unionism, 1902, pp. 732, 736, 757, 759, 760, 762. Webb, S. and B. Industrial Democracy, 1902, p. 801. Weeden, W. B. Economic and Social History of New England, 1890, pp. 44, 272, 355, 476, 479, 480, 526, 548. Wells, D. A. Recent Economic Changes and their effect on the produc- tion and distribution of wealth, 1890, p. 871. Welsford, J. W. The Strength of Nations, 1907, p. 676. Wheeler, J. H. Historical Sketches of North Carolina, 1851, p. 201. Wheeler, W. H. A. History of the Fens of South Lincolnshire, 1897, pp. 112, 113, 117. Whitworth, Sir C. State of the Trade of Great Britain in its Imports and Exports progressively from the year 1697; 1776, p. 213. Whitworth, R. Advantages of Inland Navigation, 1766, pp. 534, 535 Wiebe, G. Zur Geschichte der Preisrevolution des 16 und 17 Jahrhun- derts, 1895, in Miaskowski, A. W., Staats und social wissenschaft- liche Beiträge, pp. 141, 164. Willis-Bund, J. W. Worcestershire County Records, 1902, p. 707. Willson, B. The Great Company, 1900, pp. 279, 280, 281, 282,283, 821, 855, 856. Wilson, James. Capital, Currency, and Banking, 1859, pp. 826, 828. Wilson, Wodrow. The State, 1899, p. 355. Winstanley, W. The Loyall Martyrology, 1665, p. 181. Witt, J. de. The true Interest and Political Maxims of the Republick of Holland and West Friesland, 1702, p. 201. 968 T}IBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX Wolf, L. Manasseh Ben Israel's Mission to Oliver Cromwell, 1901, pp. 193, 325, 326, 327. - Woodcroft, B. Brief Biographies of Inventors of Machines for the manufacture of Textile Fabrics, 1863, pp. 502, 621, 625, 632. Wragge, P. Social and Economic History, in Victoria County History, Sussex, II. p. 99. - Wright, R. S. Law of Criminal Conspiracies and Agreements, 1873, p. 757. Young, Sir W. The West Indian Common-place Book, 1867, p. 477. III. CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE. (ARRANGED APPROXIMATELY IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.)” Bosebonderie, edited by E. Lamond, in Walter of Henley, 1890, p. 109. Libelle of English Polycye, 1436, in Political Songs. (Rolls Series) I. 1861, p. 120. Fortescue, Sir John. Comodytes of Englond, in Works, 1869, p. 160. Fitzherbert, J. Surveyenge, 1539, p. 110. Molinoeus, C. Tractatus commerciorum et usurarum, redituumque pecunia constitutorum et monetarum, 1546, p. 156. Hales, J. A discourse of the Commonweal of this realm of England, 1549, edited by E. Lamond, 1893, pp. 4, 87, 97, 129, 162, 168, 169. Burleigh, Lord. Expenses of an acre of hemp, in Lord Burleigh's private memorandum book, 1552–1557. Lansd. CXVIII. 39, p. 65. Pryse, J. Manuscript treatise on the coinage, 1553. English Historical Review, XIII. 1898, p. 161. Humfrey, W. Treatise or Discriptyone of things cheefly appertayning to the Mintage, with the ways and meanes for reformacion of the Disorders thereof, dedicated to Sir Thomas Parry, Knight, Master of the Wards, Treasorere of the Queenes Maiestie's Household, N. D. Harleian DCLX. 25, p. 127. Mr Fitzherbert's proposals for Amendment of the Base Coin, 1559. Lansd. IV. 19, p. 127. 1560 Cooper, T. Continuation of Lanquet's Epitome of Chronicles, 1560, p. 130. - - An order how to avoyde the stealing of the quenes maiesties customs and to provide that no golde shall be caried oute of the weste partes of England. Lansd. CX. 48, p. 134. Reasons ageynst the decryeng of Money. Cotton, Julius, F. VI. 54, p. 128. Certen reasons to furder and allow the reducing of the oz. of Silver from 5/- to 3/4 and the ounce of goulde from £3 to 40/-. Cotton, Julius F. VI. 53, p. 127. . 1 The date of first publication has been adopted as the best indication available of the time of writing. Dates in the notes to the text generally indicate the edition which has been used. CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE 969 D'Ewes, Sir S. Journals of all the Parliaments during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, pp. 27, 61, 288. . Awdeley, J. S. Fraternitye of Vacabondes, 1561. Early English Text Society, Extra Series, Vol. Ix., p. 45. A brief estimate of the charges of the Refyning of the base moneys receaved into the Mynte Sithence Michelmas 1560 until Michelmas 1561 & of the charge of the workmanshipp or coynage of the fyne moneys therof made, withe a note of the provisions and other charge insident to the same the waste of melting & blanching being borne. Lansd. IV. 58, pp. 127, 129. Smith, Sir T. A discourse written to Sir William Cecyl, Secretary of State, upon a question put, viz.: What was the value of the Roman foot-soldier's dayly wages? with tables at the end whereby any Somme writtene of any oulde Latten Aucthore maye be knowne what it is worthe of our Englishe money without long accompts. Lansd. IV. 25, p. 129. The diet of the Secretary on flesh and fish days in the Court, 1563, Lansd. VI. 5, p. 72. A Conference of the Waights of Bullyone and Vallues of the Sylvere Moneyes of England, and the Sylver Moneys of the Lowe- Countreys, with a comparysone of the Exchanges used to and froe, betweene the Burse of Antwarpe and Lumbarde streete in London, 1564. Harl. DCLX. 38, pp. 148, 163, 177. Epistle to the most noble and illustrious Princes Edzart and John, Earles of Estfrizland, Lordes of Embden, 1564, Sloane MSS. DCCCXVIII., pp. 74, 224, 225, 226. Clough, R. Letter to Sir Thomas Gresham on the Merchant Ad- venturers trade in the Netherlands. Cotton, Galba, B. XI. f. 264, p. 226. Harman, T. Caveat, in Early English Text Society, Vol. Ix. 1567, p. 45. Soto, D. de. Libri decem de justitia et jure recogniti, 1569, p. 275. Letter of Sir Thomas Gresham to Sir William Cecil concerning the value of goods shipped from Hamburgh, the Queens credit etc. Aug. 14, 1569. Lansd. XII. 8, pp. 148, 227. The note of such sommes of monneye as that Thomas Gresham hathe taken up in the Citie of London the 26 daie of Nouember anno 1569 for six moneths daie of paiement, 1569. Lansd. XII. 14, p. 147. Porder, R. A. Sermon of God's fearefull threatenings for Idolatrye, 1570, p. 151. Certeine thinges to be considered of, for the speciale welth of the realm of England, Aug. 15, 1571. Lansd. C. 25, p. 83. Wilson, T. Discourse uppom Usurye, 1572, pp. 144, 148, 152, 153, 155, 157. Discours sur les causes de l'extrème cherté qui est aujourdhuy en 1570 970 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX France, 1574, in Cimber, L. and Danjon, F., Archives curieuses de l'histoire de France, 1* Série, VI, 1865, p. 161. A brief of the Suite delivered and desyred by Sir William Russell and Sir Thomas Gorges, Knights and Thomas Maria Wingfield, Esq. (for the office of registering apprentices). Lansd. CXIV. 5, p. 35. Notes of the braunches or articles of the Statute 5 Eliz. c. 4 touchinge artificers whereupon the erecting and makinge of this office and officer is chieflye grounded. Lansd. CXIV. 3, p. 34. Burghleigh, Lord. A nomber of causes of the increase of chardge (in the Queen's household) July 1576. Lansd. XXI. 62, p. 56. Reformations to be had & put in use for the diminution of the great expenses of her Majesty's House (with marginal observations by Lord Burghleigh 1576). Lansd. XXI. 63, p. 56. Burleigh, Lord. Remedies to be used for reformation of expenses in some of the particular offices of the Household, 1576. Lansd. xxi. 64, p. 56. General causes of the extraordinary charges in the Queen's household, 1576. Lansd. XXI, 65, p. 56. : Harrison, W. An historicall description of the Islande of Britayne, 1577, in Holinshed's Chronicles, 1807, pp. 77, 97, 104, 105, 106, 107, 144, 166, 167. Bodin, J. Discours sur le rehaussement et diminution des monnoyes, 1578, p. 161. . Burleigh, Lord. Notes on the profits of making oils from seed and the yield of seed, 1578, Lansd. xxvi. pp. 47, 65. Caesar, P. A general Discourse against the damnable sect of Usurers, translated by T. Rogers, 1578, p. 154. Hemming, N. A godlie treatise concerning the lawfull use of ritches, translated by T. Rogers, 1578, p. 154. - A draft of a proclamation of the Queen for sowing hemp & flax, 1578, corrected by Lord Burleigh. Lansd. xxv. 99, p. 65. Russel, Sir W. Petition to the Council to grant leave to some Hollanders to drain the fens in his lands Cambridgeshire. Lansd. Cx. 4, p. 116. Petition from the inhabitants of the Deepings in the Fens to the Lord Treasurer that he would confer with one Engelbert for draining the said Fens. Lansd. Cx. 7, p. 119. Johnson, J. His devise for a marte to be had in England, Lansd. xxvi. 36, 1578, p. 228. Johnson, J. Allegations and reasons grounded upon experience whearby the navigation of this realme shalbe increased by the having of a marte Towne within this Realme, 1578. Lansd. xxvi. 38, p. 228. Johnson, J. The Order for merchants that shall trade to the Marte Town to be kept in England, 1578, Lansd. xxvi. 35, p. 228. The platt of stablishinge a fre Marte at Ipswiche, devised by John CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE 971 Johnson, stapler, and Christopher Goodwin, Merchant Adventurer, Dec. 1578, Lansd. XXVI. 33, p. 228. Johnson, J. The order for merchantes that shall trade to the Marte Towne, to be kept in England, 1578, Lansd. XXVI, 35, p. 228. Johnson, J. A discourse touching losses sustained by English Merchants of the contention with strangers for privileges, and how bothe may be remedyed, 1578. Lansd. XXVI. 34, p. 228. Johnson, J. Reasons to prove, that the buying and selling of wooles in England by Lycence is moche against the Quenes moest excellent Majesty's proffit in her Revenewes, July, 1579. Lansd. xxvi II. 27, 1579, p. 298. Captain Winter's voyage with Mr Drake to the Straits of Magellan, June 2, 1579, written for the use of Lord Burghleigh. Lansd. C. 2, p. 74. Hitchcock, R. Politic Plat, 1580, in Arber's English Garner, II. 1879, 1580 pp. 67, 146, 208. Wanderpere, E. Information for a bank for money, 1580, Lansd. XXX. 37, p. 324. The Emperor's letter in favor of the Hanse Merchants against the - Aduenturers to the Erl of Eastfresland, and the answer of the Earl to the Emperor, 1580. Cotton, Faustina C. II. 19, p. 228. An abridgment of a Treatise concerning the under valuation of gold and silver in Englande whych is proved to have beyn hurtfull unto our State; the reformation whereof, as yt shalbe needfull nowe above former tymes for Commonwelthe, soe shall yt bringe a present Masse of Treasure into her Majestie's coffers by a course very plausible. Lansd. CXXI. 16, pp. 141, 165. Hagenbuck, C. Device for the establishment of a bank in England, in S. P. Domestic, 1581, p. 419. Principall reasons selected from a Discourse more at large, veary profitable, searching out the radicall cause of our State and Commonweale, Jany. 1581. Lansd. CXXI. 17, p. 91. S., W. A compendious or briefe Examination of Certayne ordinary Complaints of divers of our Countrymen in these our Days; which although they are in some part unjust and frivolous, yet are they all by way of dialogues thoroughly debated and discussed, 1581. (See also J. Hales, 1549), pp. 162, 168. Letter of Lord Burleigh to Mr Whyte in Ireland, Sep. 11, 1582, Lansd. CII. 108, p. 57. Johnson, J. His opinion touching a Staple to be appointed for wools in England, Oct. 1582. Lansd. XXXIV. 68, p. 298. Johnson, J. An estimate of the proffit that will yearely growe unto the Queene's most excellent Magestie by the ordeyning of straungers in England to make cloth after the maner and of the same sortes 972 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX that have been used to be made in the Lowe Countreys. Lansd. xxxiv. 69, p. 298. A Letter from Mr Recorder and Mr Osborne to the Council with some City Laws relating to artificers & apprentices...Aug. 1. 1583. Lansd. MSS. xxxvi II. 14, p. 33. Andrewes, L. De usuris, 1585. Opuscula Posthuma, in Library of Anglo-Catholic Theology, p. 154. Captain Wytherington's and Captain Lyster's voyages to the South Seas, June 26, 1586, compiled by John Sarocould and copied for the use of Lord Burleigh, Lansd. C. 3, p. 74. An order how to avoid the stealing of the queens majesty's customs. Lansd. CX. 48, p. 134. Burleigh, Lord. Memorial on the question of preparing for the Spanish invasion, 1587. Cotton, Vesp. C. VIII. 4, p. 173. Baro, P. Fower Sermons and two Questions in appendix to A speciall Treatise of God's Providence, 1588, p. 158. . Burleigh, Lord. Notes of things to be observed in the [Navy]. Cotton, Otho E. VIII. f. 169, p. 56. 1590 Burleigh, Lord. Minutes of a letter from the Queen to the Lord Mayor of London allowing the Merchants to lend money to the French King on the securities of his Customs. Lansd. CIV. 50, p. 144. Smith, Henry. Examination of Usury, 1591, p. 155. Burleigh, Lord. . Draft of the Queens Proclamation to her subjects to withhold corn & munition from the Spaniard. Lansd. CIV. 47, pp. 57, 62. Burleigh, Lord. . A treatise touching the traffic of the East Countries into Spain, 1591. Lansd. CIV. 30, p. 62. Letter from the Commissioners of Sewers in Lincolnshire to Lord Burghleigh for £300 more for their works on the river Welland. Aug. 30, 1592. Lansd. LXXI. 61, p. 113. Jeninges, E. Brief discovery of the damages that happen to this realme by disordered and unlawfull diet, 1593, p. 73. Platt, Sir H. The Jewell House of Art and Nature, Part II. Diverse new sorts of soyle not yet brought into any publique use for manuring both of pasture and arable ground, 1594, p. 545. Burleigh, Lord. Letter to Isabella Countess of Rutland complaining of her waste of the timber in Sherwood Forest. July 28, 1594. Lansd. CIII. 80, p. 65. - A briefe note of the benefits that grow to this Realme by the observa- tion of Fish daies, 1595, p. 72. Mosse, M. The arraignment and conviction of Usurie, 1595, p. 154. Spenser, E. View of the State of Ireland, 1596, in Works, VIII. Edited by H. J. Todd, 1805, p. 121. Hall, J. Satires, 1597, p. 105. CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE 973 The complete statesman, in Peck, Desiderata. Curiosa, 1779, pp. 52, 56, 57, 131. Malynes, G. A treatise on the disease of the body politic of the English Commonwealth in the proportion between money and landed property, printed in 1601 as A treatise of the Canker of England's Commonwealth. Brit. Mus. Cotton, Otho, E. X. f. 65, pp. 141, 148, 160, 163. Hakluyt, R. Voyages, Navigations, Traffiques, and Discoveries of the 1600 - English Nation, 1600, pp. 124, 125, 336. Powell, J. The Assize of Bread, 1600, p. 318. Keymor, J. Observations made upon the Dutch fishing 1601, in the Phenix, 1707, p. 206. Keymor, J. Booke of Observations, in Sir W. Raleigh, Works VIII. p. 206. Malynes, G. de. St George for England, 1601, p. 159. Wheeler, J. Treatise of Commerce wherein are shewed the commodities arising by a wel-ordered and ruled trade, 1601, pp. 159, 220, 221, 229, 230, 233, 237, 238. Malynes, G. de. England's View in the unmasking of two paradoxes, 1603, pp. 97, 140. Milles, T. The Replie or Second Apologie, 1604, pp. 128, 141. Some reasons in behalfe of the Merchants Adventurers and the other Companies that the maintenance of them in State as they are is better for the Kinge and Commonwelth then such a liberty as the Lower House of parlament haue agreed uppom. Cotton, Titus F. IV. 24, p. 232. Instructions touchinge the Bill for Free Trade in the Parliament, 3 James. Cotton, Titus F. IV. 24, pp. 230, 287. In defence of Inclosure and Conuerting Arable in the Inlandshires to Pasture, 1605. Cotton, Faustina C. II. p. 103. Dekker, T. Seven Deadly Sinnes of London, 1606, p. 192. Consideration of the cause in question before the Lords touchinge Depopulation, 1607, pp. 103, 897. Norden, J. The Surveyor's Dialogue, 1607, pp. 104, 106, 107, 542, 543. The Lawes, Customes, and Ordinances of the Fellowshippe of Merchantes Adventurers of the Realme of England. Collected and digested into order by John Wheeler, Secretarie to the said Fellowshippe, A.D. 1608, Add. MSS. 13913, and printed by W. E. Lingelbach in the University of Pennsylvania Translations and Reprints from the original source of European History, Second Series, Vol. II. 1902, pp. 219, 220. - Milles, T. Customer's Alphabet, 1608, pp. 141, 148, 221, 223. I., R. Nova Britannia, Offring most excellent fruites by Planting in Virginia, 1609, pp. 334, 337. Milles, T. Customer's Apologie, p. 97. Symonds, W. Virginia, a sermon on Gen. xii. 1–3, preached at 974. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX Whitechapel in the presence of the adventurers and planters for Virginia, 1609, p. 102. - - - 1610 A true and sincere declaration of the purpose and ende of the Plantation begun in Virginia. Set forth by the authority of the Governors and Councillors established for that Plantation, 1610, p. 337. Pindar, Paul. Letter to Lord Salisbury on erecting a bank for the Crown upon occasion of the King demanding a Loan from the City, Lansd. CVIII. 90, p. 419. Vaughan, Rowland. Most approved and long experienced water-workes containing the manner of Winter and Summer drowning of Medow and Pasture, 1610, edited by E. B. Wood, 1897, pp. 111, 116. A briefe Collection of the Alterations which have been made in the monies of this Realme, sithence the time of Kinge Edward the First, 1611. Lans. DCCVI. 1, pp. 127, 137. Fenton, R. A treatise of Usurie, 1611, pp. 154, 155. Of fishing the Seas and converting waste into wealth, 1612, p. 103. Cope, Sir W. Certen brief Remonstrances offered to his Maiestie, 1613, pp. 141, 164. - May, J. A declaration of the Estate of Clothing now used within this Realme of England, 1613, p. 296. - Andrewes, L. Sermons, 1614, in Library of Anglo-Catholic Theology. p. 175. Gentleman, Tobias. England's way to win wealth, and to employ ships and mariners, 1614, p. 208. Britain's Buss, 1615, in Arber's Garner, III., p. 208. Digges, Sir D. The Defence of Trade, 1615, p. 258. Trade's Increase, 1615, pp. 230, 240, 247. The reasons of the Marchante Adventurers in Answere of a Petition deliuered to his Excellent Majestie by the Clothworkers and dyers of London for the dying and dressing of all clothes and kersies before they bee transported out of the kingdome. Lansd. CLII. 56, 1616, p. 234. Minute of a treaty with the Ambassadors of Muscovy respecting the loan of 100,000 rubles, 1618. Lansd. CLX. 71, fol. 248, p. 144. The names of the undertakers for draining the fens in Lincolnshire, Isle of Ely, Norfolk, within fifty years last past, 7 Sept. 1619. Lansdowne, CLXII. 12, p. 116. Pynnar, N. Survey of Ulster, 1619, in Harris’ Hibernica, p. 363. 1620 Burton, R. Anatomy of Melancholy, 1621, pp. 101, 203, 552. Culpepper, Sir T. Tract against Usury, 1621, p. 384. An Answer to the Hollanders’ Declaration, concerning the occurrents of the East India Company, 1622, p. 261. . S., M. Greevous Grones for the Poore done by a Well-Willer who CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE 975 wisheth that the poore of England might be so provided for as none should neede to go a begging, 1622, p. 570. Heath, Sir R. Propositions showing the great utility of a bank and recommendation for erecting one in London, 1622, in State Papers, Domestic, p. 419. Malynes, G. de Consuetudo vel Lex Mercatoria, 1622, p. 157. Malynes, G. de. The Maintenance of Free Trade according to the three essentiall parts of traffique, 1622, pp. 230, 233. Misselden, E. Free Trade, 1622, pp. 215, 230, 233, 262. A relation of a ship of Bristol, 1622, p. 174. Misselden, E. Circle of Commerce, 1623, pp. 233, 260, 931. Malynes, G. Center of the Circle of Commerce, 1623, p. 260. Alexander, Sir W. An Encouragement to Colonies, 1624, p. 351. Smith, Capt. John. The generall Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles, 1624, in Works, ed. by E. Arber, in English Scholars' Library, 1884, pp. 334, 352, 358. True Relation of the Unjust, Cruell, and barbarous Procedings against the English at Amboyna, 1624, p. 261. Letter to the Lords and others Commissioners for trade, from the King 23 Jany. 1624. Add. MSS. 12496. f. 113, p. 199. Bacon, Sir F. Essay on Plantations, 1625, p. 334. Markham, G. Farewell to Husbandry, 1625, p. 545. Purchas, S. His Pilgrimes, 1625, pp. 263, 334, 337, 339. Cotton, Sir R. Speech touching the alteration of Coin, 1626, in Shaw, Select Tracts illustrative of English Monetary History, p. 432. Stoit, J. Propositions offered to the Justices of the peace for Middlesex, 1626. Add. MSS. 12496, f. 236, p. 623. Letter from the King to the Commissioners for trade, on reforming the Book of Rates 26 Dec. 1626. Add. MSS. 12496. f. 359, p. 290. A Memento to the East India Companies or an abstract of a re- monstrance presented to the House of Commons by the East India Company in the year 1628, p. 464. Petition and Remonstrance of the Governor and Company of the Merchants of London trading to the East Indies, 1628, p. 261. L., A. Relation of some abuses which are committed against the Commonwealth composed especiallie for the Benefit of this Countie of Durhame, 1629. Camden Miscellany III. p. 523. Philips, Sir T. A letter from Sir Th. Philips to King Charles I. 1630 concerning the Plantations of the Londoners, 1630% in Harris, Hibernica, p. 364. Smith, Capt. John. Advertisements for the unexperienced Planters of New England or anywhere or the Pathway to erect a Plantation, 1631, in Works, edited by E. Arber, English Scholars' Library, 1884, pp. 334, 339, 340, 353. 976 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX Whitelock, B. Memorials of the English affairs or an historical account of what passed from the beginning of the reign of King Charles the First to King Charles the Second, his happy restauration, pp. 191, 192, 540. Cottoni Posthuma. Edited by J. Howell, p. 129. Lupton, D. London and the Countrey Carbonadoed, 1632, in Harleian Miscellany, Ix. p. 301. Wentworth, T., Earl of Strafford. Letters and Dispatches, edited by W. Knowler, 1739, pp. 288, 368, 843. Fitzgeffrey, C. Compassion towards Captives, chiefly towards our Bretheren and Countrymen who are in miserable bondage in Barbarie, 1637, p. 174. Selections from the Rules and Orders of the Court of the Clothworkers Company, together with the ordinances or bye laws sanctioned by judges in the year 1639, &c., p. 497. 1640 Davies, John. An Answer to those printed papers published in March last, 1640, by the late patentees of salt, 1641, p. 309. Best, H. Rural Economy in Yorkshire in 1641, edited by C. B. Robinson for Surtees Society, 1857, p. 106. Roberts, L. The Treasure of Traffike, 1641, pp. 176,369, 623. Robinson, H. England's Safety in Trades' Encrease, 1641, pp. 73,260, 411, 420. - Sir Thomas Roe's Speech in Parliament, wherein he sheweth the Causes of the Decay of Coin and Trade in this Land, especially of Merchants' Trade, 1641, pp. 313, 432. A short and true relation concerning the Soap buisnes, 1641, pp. 306, 307. A true discovery of the Projectors of the Wine Project, 1641, p. 290. A true Relation of the proposing threatning and perswading the Vintners to yeeld to the Imposition upon Wines, 1641, p. 290. Bushell, T. Just and True Remonstrance of His Maiestie's Mines. Royall in the Principality of Wales, 1642, p. 3. A declaration of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament for the Incouragement of all such Apprentices as have or shall volun- tarily list themselves to go in this present expedition for the defence of Religion, the preservation of this City, the King and the Kingdome under the Command of his Excellency the Earl of Warwick, Nov. 1642, p. 18. - - Fuller, T., Holy State, 1642, pp. 101, 351, 553. Lechford, T. Plaine Dealing or Newes from New England, 1642, p. 340. Robinson, H. Libertas or Reliefe to the Englishe captives in Algier, 1642, p. 175. Vintners' Answer, 1642, p. 290. Sea Coale, Charcoale, and Small Coale, 1643, p. 527. CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE - 977 Battie, J. Merchants' Remonstrance, 1644, pp. 190, 234, 397. True Report of the Great Costs and Charges of the Foure Hospitals in the City of London, 1644, pp. 5, 70. The Western Husbandman's Lamentation, 1644, p. 185. Artificial Fire or Coale for Rich and Poor, 1644, p. 319. Declaration and Appeale to all the Freeborne People of this Kingdome in Generall, 1645, p. 191. A discourse, consisting of Motives for Enlargement and Freedome of Trade...engrossed by a company of private men who stile themselves Merchant Adventurers, 1645. - I., S. Declaration of Sundry Grievances, concerning Tinne and Pewter, 1646, p. 299. Stanleye's Remedy, 1646, p. 572. London's Account, or A Calculation of the Arbytrary and Tyrannicall Exactions, Taxations, Impositions, Excises, Contributions, Twentieth Parts; and other assessments within the lines of communication during the foure yeeres of this Unnatural Warre, 1647, p. 178. Mournful Cryes of many thousand Poore Tradesmen who are ready to famish through decay of Trade, 1647, p. 182. N An ordinance of the Lords and Commons for the constant Teliefe and Imployment of the Poore, 1647, p. 573. Parker, H. Of a Free Trade, 1648, p. 146. Cooke, Sir J. Unum necessarium or the Poore Man's Case, 1648, pp. 191, 569, 573. Humble petition of divers well affected English Masters and Com- manders of Ships, 1648. Commons Journals, VI, p. 189. Blith, W. The English Improver or a new Survey of Husbandry, 1649, pp. 102, 545, 553. Bullock, W. Virginia impartially examined, 1649, p. 347. Chamberlen, P. The Poore Man's Advocate, 1649, p. 573. Declaration from the Poor oppressed people of England, directed to all that call themselves or are called Lords of Manors, 1649, p. 571. Discourse between Lieutenant-Col. John Lilburn, close prisoner in the Tower of London, and Mr Hugh Peters, 25 May, 1649, p. 185. Gray, W. Chorographia, or a Survey of Newcastle-upon-Tine, 1649, p. 528. Nickolls, J. Original Letters and papers of State addressed to Oliver Cromwell concerning the affairs of Great Britain from the year 1649–1658, p. 564. Needham, M. Case of the Commonwealth of England stated, 1650, 1650 - p. 181. Antiprojector, or the history of the fen project, p. 115. D., I. Clear and Evident Way for enriching the Nations of England and Ireland and for setting very great Numbers of Poore on Work, 1650, p. 573. C.* 62 978 - BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX A letter concerning the “Ordinances” of the Company of Cloth- workers, p. 497. - Hobbes, T. Leviathan, 1651, in English Works, edited by Sir W. Molesworth, 1839, p. 380. Y- Gerbier, B. Some considerations on the two grand Staple Commodities of England, 1651, p. 411. Hartlib, S. [Dymock, C.] His Legacie, 1651, pp. 100, 107, 545, 546, 568, 571. Lilburne, J. Case of the Tenants of the Mannor of Epworth, 1651, p. 117. Potter, W. Humble proposalls to the Honorable the Councell for Trade...shewing what particulars if enacted by Parliament would... conduce to advance trade, employ the poore, and prevent the cruelty of creditors, 1651, p. 419. Darell, J. Strange News from th’ Indies or East India. Passages. further discovered, 1652, p. 264. - Sheppard, W. Whole Office of the Country Justice of Peace, 1652, p. 43. * Taylor, S. Common Good or the Improvement of Common Forests. and Chases by Inclosure, 1652, pp. 107, 552, 554, 567, 568, 569. Weston, Sir R. A. Discourse of Husbandrie used in Brabant and Flanders (edited by S. Hartlib), 1652, p. 546. Conservatorship of the river of Tyne, 1653, in M. A. Richardson's Reprints of Rare Tracts, III. 1849, pp. 488, 528. * * Filmer, Sir R. Quaestio quod libetica or a discourse whether it be lawfull to take use for money, 1653, p. 154. Ll., O. A despised Virgin Beautified or Virginia benefited, 1653, p. 340. Moore, A. Bread for the Poore and advancement of the English nation promised by enclosure of the wastes and common ground of England, 1653, p. 567. Moore, J. Crying Sin of England of not caring for the poor wherein Inclosure being such as doth unpeople Townes and uncorn fields is arraigned, 1653, p. 553. Hooker, T. Preface to [E. Johnson's] Wonder-working Providence of Sion's Saviour, in A History of New England from the English planting in the Yeere l628 untill the Yeere 1652. London, 1654, p. 340. Pseudonismus. Considerations concerning Common Fields and in- closures, 1654, p. 555. Gardiner, R. England's grievance discovered in relation to the coal- trade, 1655, p. 528. - - Petty, Sir W. The History of the Survey of Ireland, commonly called the Down Survey, 1655–6. Edited by T. A. Larcom for the Irish Archaeological Society, 1851, p. 366. CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE 979 Tee, Joseph. Eötačía row dypod or a vindication of a regulated en- closure, 1656, p. 553. . Moore, J. A. Scripture word against Inclosure, viz.: Such as doe unpeople tounes and uncorne fields, 1656, p. 553. Pseudonismus. A Windication of the Considerations concerning com- mon-fields and Inclosures, 1656, p. 553. S., W. gent. The Golden Fleece, 1656, p. 311. Harrington, J. The Oceana and other works, edited by J. Toland, 1737, p. 412. Lambe, S. Seasonable observations humbly offered to... the Lord Protector in 1657 Somers Tracts, VI., pp. 443, 444, 445. C., W. Trade's Destruction is England's Ruin or Excise Decryed, 1659, p. 425. A character of England, as it was lately presented in a letter to a nobleman of France, 1659. Harl. Misc. x., p. 302. France no Friend to England or the Resentments of the French upon the Success of the English, as it is expressed in a Most Humble and Important Remonstrance to the King of France, upon the Surrendering of the Maritime Ports of Flanders into the hands of the English, 1659, p. 194. Pepys, S. Memoirs of Samuel Pepys, Esq., F.R.S., comprising his Diary from 1659 to 1669, p. 143. Rivers, M. T. England’s slavery or Barbados merchandize, 1659, p. 350. Sheppard, W. New Survey of the Justice of the Peace, his office, 1659, p. 43. Advice of his Majesty's Council of Trade concerning the Exportation of 1660 gold and silver in Foreign Coins and Bullion, 1660, in McCulloch's Select Collection of Rare Tracts on Money, pp. 200, 433. A condemnation of the Brief Narrative and of the Sufferings of the Irish under Cromwell, 1660, p. 366. Cradocke, F. An expedient for taking away all Impositions and raising a revenue without Taxes, 1660, p. 443. Mystery of the Good Old Cause, 1660, in Parliamentary History, III. p. 117. . Violet, T. An appeal to Caesar, 1660, p. 143. Cradocke, F. Wealth discovered or an Essay upon a late Expedient for taking away all Impositions or raising a Revenue without Taxes, 1661, p. 443. Smith, W. M. An Essay for recovery of trade, 1661, pp. 299, 311. Smith, John. Trade and fishing of Great Britain display’d, 1661, p. 342. Violet, T. Petition against Jewes, 1661, pp. 326, 327, 386. A Remonstrance proving that Confinement of Trade to particular Companies is of general losse to His Majesty and his people, p. 231. 62—2 980 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX Reasons offered by the Merchant Adventurers of England and Eastland Merchants residing at Hull, for the preservation of their Societies and Regulations as being reasonable, just and necessary to the liberal and profitable vent of our Native Manufactures in the Forreign Parts, 1661, pp. 236, 239. Fuller, T. Worthies of England, 1662, pp. 3, 500, 623. Graunt, J. Natural and political observacions mentioned in a following Index and made upon the Bills of Mortality...with reference to government, religion, trade, growth, age and diseases of the said city, 1662, pp. 390, 392. Petition of the Lord Maior, Aldermen and Common Councilmen of the City of London...to the Parliament for the reducing all foreign trade under government, 1662, pp. 33, 218. Petty, Sir W. Treatise of Taxes and Contributions, 1662, pp. 382, 383, 385, 387, 494. Bland, J. The Humble Remonstrance of John Bland of London, Merchant, on behalf of the Inhabitants and Planters in Virginia and Mariland, 1663, in Virginia Magazine of History and Bio- graphy, 1893, pp. 212, 359, 360. Fortrey, S. England's Interest and Improvement, consisting in the increase of the store and trade of this Kingdom, 1663, pp. 383, 387, 392. Gookin, W. The Great Case of Transplantation in Ireland discussed, 1663, p. 370. Killigrew, Sir W. A proposal showing how the Nation may be vast gainers by all the sums of money given to the Crown, 1663, pp. 420, 439. A description of the Office of Credit, 1665 (Brit. Mus. 1139, d. 13), p. 419. Sheppard, W. Of the Office of the Clerk of the Market, 1665, p. 94. Answer of the Company of Royal Adventurers of England trading to Africa to the petition exhibited by Sir Paul Painter, 1667, pp. 274, 278. England's Wants, or several Proposals probably beneficial for England, 1667, p. 386. Philipps, F. An Expedient or Meanes in want of money to pay the Sea and Land forces or as many of them as shall be thought expedient without Money in this Year of an almost Universal Povertie of the English Nation, 1667, in Archaeologia, XIII. p. 437. Child, Sir J. Brief Observations concerning Trade and Interest of Money, 1668, p. 384. Culpepper, Sir T., Jr. Discourse shewing the many advantages which will accrue to this Kingdom by the abatement of Usury, 1668, p. 384. - Interest of money mistaken or a Treatise proving that the Abatement. CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE 981 of Interest is the Effect and not the Cause of the Riches of a Nation, and that Six per Cent. is a proportionable Interest to the present condition of this Kingdom, 1668, p. 384. The World's Mistake in Oliver Cromwell or a short political discourse shewing that Cromwell's Mal-administration (during his four years and nine months pretended Protectorate) laid the Foundation of our Present Condition in the Decay of Trade, 1668. Harl. Misc. I. pp. 570, 921. Hyde, E., Earl of Clarendon. A life of Edward, Earl of Clarendon... written by himself, pp. 143, 199, 200. Worlidge, J. Systema Agriculturae, the mystery of Husbandry dis- covered, 1669, pp. 545, 546, 554, 569. England's Interest asserted in the improvement of its native Commodi- ties, 1669, p. 204. Manley, T. Usury at Six per Cent. examined, 1669, pp. 188, 234, 384. Minutes of the proceedings of the Committee appointed to consider of the causes and grounds of the fall of rents and decay of trade within this kingdom, 1669, in Hist. MSS. Comm. Ap. to v1.11. Report, pp. 263, 312, 324, 442. The humble petition of William Smith on behalf of the clothiers, p. 205. Narrative concerninge the Salt Workers of South and North Shields, in Mr A. Richardson's Reprints of Rare Tracts, III. 1849, pp. 309, 310. Johnson, W. Some Inquiries concerning the Salt Springs and the way of Salt-making at Nantwich, in Philosophical Transactions III. 1669, p. 310. Carter], W. England's interest by trade asserted wherein is Discovered that many Hundred Thousand Pounds might be gained to the Ring and Kingdom by the improvement of the Product thereof, more particularly by wool and the evil consequences of its exporta- tion unmanufactured, 1669, p. 495. Coke, R. Discourse of Trade, 1670, pp. 187, 210, 212. Milton, J. History of England, in Works, III. (1851), p. 184. Culpepper, Sir T., Jr. Necessity of abating usury reasserted, 1670, p. 384. - Smith, John. England's Improvement revived, 1670, p. 208. Reasons humbly offered to consideration why the Incorporating the whole Trade of the Woollen Manufactures of this Kingdom to the Company called the Merchant Adventurers of England is and will prove more and more detrimental as to the Country in general and especially to the County of Devon and City of Exeter, 1670, p. 232. Temple, Sir W. Observations upon the United Provinces of the Netherlands, 1672. Works, 1814, p. 210, Temple, Sir W. An Essay upon the Advancement of Trade in Ireland, 1673, in Works, 1814, p. 372. 1670 982 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX Grand Concern of England explained in several Proposals offered to the Consideration of the Parliament, 1673, Harleian Miscellany, VIII. pp. 301, 573. Proposals for subscriptions of Money, 1674, p. 491. Waughan, R. Discourse of Coin and Coinage, 1675, p. 141. Trevers, J. An Essay on the restoring of our decayed trade wherein is described the Smugglers, Lawyers and Officers frauds, 1675, pp. 234, 374. A true Narrative of all the Proceedings against the Weavers, 1675, p. 507. Murray, R. Proposal for the advancement of trade upon such principles as must necessarily enforce it, 1676, p. 443. Molloy, C. De jure maritimo et navali, 1676, p. 228. Mystery of the Newfashioned Goldsmiths or Bankers, 1676, pp. 142, 143. News from New England, 1676, p. 340. Answer of the Company of Royal Adventurers trading to Africa, 1677, p. 273. England's Great Happiness or a Dialogue between Content and Com- plaint, 1677, in McCulloch, Early English Tracts on Commerce, p. 393. Haines, R. Proposals for building in every County, a Working Alms- House or Hospital, as the best Expedient to perfect the Trade and Manufactory of Linen Cloth, 1677. Harl. Miscellany, IV. 1809, pp. 369, 573. Goffe, W. How to advance the Trade of the Nation, and employ the Poor, in Harleian Misc. IV. p. 573. tº The languishing state of our Woollen Manufacture humbly Represented to Parliament, 1677–8, p. 204. A letter from a Gentleman in Ireland to his brother in England relating to the Concerns of Ireland in the matter of Trade, 1677, printed in Smith's Chronicon Rusticum, p. 375. Reasons for a limited Export of Wooll, 1677, p. 179. Yarranton, A. England's Improvement by Sea and Land, 1677, pp. 318, 533, 573. - - - An Act of Common Council for regulation of Blackwell Hall, Leadenhall, and the Welch hall, and for prevention of foreign buying and selling, 1678, p. 33. - Lewis, M. Proposals to the King and Parliament or a large Model of a Bank, 1678, Brit. Mus. 1139. f. 19, p. 419. A narrative of the whole proceedings in the last two Sessions of Parlia- ment, ending July 15, 1678, concerning the transportation of Wooll, p. 204. Rastell, T. An account of the Saltworks in Droy twych, in Philo- sophical Transactions, Royal Society of London, XI. 1678, p. 310. 1680 Britannia Languens or a discourse of trade, 1680, pp. 333, 373, 388, 393, 399. CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE 983 Certain Considerations relating to the Royal African Company of England, 1680, pp. 273, 275. - Collins, J. Plea for bringing in Irish Cattel, 1680, p. 373. The Groans of the Plantations, 1680, p. 278. Newbold, A. London's Improvement and the Builder's Security As- serted, 1680, p. 490. R., L. A Second Letter to his honoured friend Mr M. T. one of the Committee chosen by the Common Council of London for the insuring of Houses from Fire, p. 490. Rates charged by the City for insuring houses against fire, 1681, p. 490. The allegations of the Turkey Company and others against the East India Company, 1681, pp. 254, 414. A Collection of Letters for the Improvement of Husbandry and Trade, 1681, p. 555. - Temple, Sir W. Miscellanea, p. 370. Collins, John. Salt and fishery, a discourse thereof, l082, p. 310. Petty, Sir W. An Essay concerning the Multiplication of Mankind, 1682, p. 391. Petty, Sir W. Quantulumcunque, concerning money, 1682, p. 385. A table of the Insurance Office at the Back Side of the Royal Exchange, 1682, p. 490. Hale, Sir M. A discourse touching provision for the Poor, 1683, pp. 43, 369, 567, 573. Barbon], Nicholas]. A letter...giving an account of two insurance offices, 1684, p. 490. - Aubrey, J. Introduction to the Survey of North Wiltshire, in Miscellanies, 1714, p. 101. Aubrey, J. Natural History of Wiltshire edited by J. Britton, 1847, pp. 101, 557. Aubrey, J. Topographical Collections edited by J. E. Jackson, 1862, p. 554. Scrivener, M. A Treatise against Drunkennesse, 1685, p. 303. A treatise of Wool and the Manufacture of it, 1685, p. 495. Manley, T. Present State of Europe briefly examined and found languishing, 1689, in Harleian Miscellany, I., p. 188. Tench, N. Reasons humbly offered by the Governor Assistants and Fellowship of Eastland Merchants against giving a general Liberty to all persons whatsoever to export the English Woollen Manu- facture whither they please, 1689, pp. 234, 238,239. Locke, J. Civil government, 1689, in Works, 1794, pp. 380, 392. Barbon, N. Discourse of Trade, 1690, pp. 380, 392. 1690 Some remarks upon the present state of the East India Company's - Affairs, 1690, p. 265. An Essay towards a scheme or model for erecting a national East India Joynt Stock, 1691, p. 262. North, D. Discourses upon Trade, principally directed to the Cases of the Interest, Coynage, Clipping, Increase of Money, 1691, in Select 984 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX * Collection of Early English Tracts on Commerce, edited by J. R. McCulloch, 1856, p. 433. Petty, Sir W. The Political Anatomy of Ireland, 1691, pp. 362, 369, 372, 391. The Humble Petition of above one Thousand Sea-men's Widdows besides their Fatherless Children, and some hundreds of Blind and Lame: who are Relieved by the Right Honourable the East India Company, p. 258. - Houghton, J. A. Collection for Improvement of Husbandry and Trade, 1692, pp. 553, 555. Locke, J. Considerations of the consequences of the lowering of Interest and raising the value of money, 1692, pp. 385, 387, 395, 541. Jones, D. A Farewel Sermon, 1692, p. 154. Lombard-street J_ecturer's late Farewell Sermon answered or the Welsh Levite toss'd de Novo, 1692, p. 154. An Abstract of the proceedings of W. Carter, 1694, p. 505. A brief account of the intended Bank of England, 1694, p. 411. Child, Sir J. New Discourse of Trade, 1694, pp. 210, 212, 213, 236, 384, 389, 486, 586. Halley, E. An Estimate of the Degrees of the mortality of Mankind, drawn from curious Tables of the Births and Funerals at the City of Breslaw; with an attempt to ascertain the Price of Annuities upon Lives, 1694, in Philosophical Transactions, XVII. p. 493. Coke, Roger. Detection of the Court and State of England during the four last reigns, 1694, p. 233. Angliae Tutamen, or the Safety of England, being an account of the banks, lotteries, mines, diving, draining, and other engines...tending to the destruction of Trade, 1695, pp. 369, 519. Brewster, Sir F. Essays on Trade and Navigation, 1695, pp. 212, 360. Cary, J. An Essay on the State of England in relation to its trade, 1695, pp. 195, 213, 676. Coke, R. Reflexions upon the East Indy and Royal African Companies with animadversions concerning the Naturalisation of Foreigners, 1695, p. 275. - Davenant, C. An Essay upon Ways and Means, 1695, pp. 212, 421, 422, 423, 425, 426, 427, 430, 445. º: Locke, J. Further Considerations concerning raising the value of money, 1695, pp. 434, 438. Lowndes, W. A. Report containing an Essay for the Amendment of the Silver Coins, 1695. Select Tracts on Money, edited by J. R. McCulloch, 1856, pp. 435, 436. Lowndes, W. A further Essay for the Amendment of the Gold and Silver Coins, 1695, p. 438. Barbon, N. A discourse concerning Coining the new money lighter. CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE 985 In answer to Mr Lock's consideration about raising the value of money, 1696, pp. 392, 399, 434. H., E. Decus and Tutamen, or our new money as now coined in full weight and fineness proved to be for the advantage of England, 1696, p. 436. Murray, R. A proposal for the more easy advancing to the Crown any fixed sum of Money, 1696, p. 441. Review of the Universal Remedy for all Diseases incident to Coin, 1696, pp. 432, 440, 442. Temple, Sir R. Some Short Remarks upon Mr Locke's Book, 1696, p. 436. Evelyn, John. Diary and Correspondence, p. 437. Locke, J. Report of the Board of Trade to the Lords Justices respecting the relief and employment of the Poor, 1697. C., N. The great Necessity and Advantage of Preserving our own Manufactures, 1697, p. 465. - Davenant, C. An Essay on the East India. Trade, 1697, pp. 393, 465, 516. Defoe, D. An Essay upon Projects, 1697, p. 448. Pollexfen, Sir H. A discourse of Trade, Coyn, and paper Credit, 1697, pp. 290, 344, 464, 473. S., T. Reasons Humbly Offered for the Passing of a Bill for the Hinder- ing of the Home Consumption of East India Silks, 1697, p. 465. Answer to a letter from a Gentleman in the Country to a Member of the House of Commons on the votes of the 14th instant relating to the trade of Ireland, 1698, p. 371. Davenant, C. Discourses on the Public Revenues and on the Trade of England, 1698, in Works, 1771, pp. 212, 486, 598, 599, 698. Some Considerations relating to the enlarging the Russian trade, p. 241. Davenant, C. An Essay upon the Probable Methods of making a People Gainers in the Balance of Trade, 1699, pp. 401, 572, 573. Petty, Sir W. Several Essays in Political Arithmetick, 1699, pp. 361, 391, 527. . Reasons humbly offered for passing the Bill for encouraging and improving the Trade to Russia, p. 241. Cary, J. A. Proposal offered to the Committee of the Honourable House of Commons appointed to consider of Ways for the better providing for the Poor and setting them on Work, p. 573. The Fann Makers Grievance by the Importation of Fanns from the East Indies, p. 464. Reasons for Renewing the Office for finding out and punishing the Abuses in Silk Dyeing, p. 300. Reasons humbly offered for supporting the Company of Merchant Adventurers of England in their trade to Germany, p. 232. 986 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX Adam armed: Or an Essay endeavouring to prove the advantages and improvements the Kingdom may receive by means of a well ordered and duly ratified Charter for incorporating and regulating the Professors of the Art of Gardening, pp. 545, 712. 1700 Cary, J. An Account of the Proceedings of the Corporation of Bristol, in Execution of the Act of Parliament for the better Employing and Maintaining the Poor of that City, 1700, p. 574. England's Almanack showing how the East Indies Trade is prejudiciall to this Kingdom, 1700, p. 263. Haynes, Hopton. Brief Memoirs relating to the Silver and Gold Coins of England with an Account of the Corruption of the Hammer'd Monys and of the Reform by the Late Grand Coynage at the Tower and the five Country Mints, 1700, pp. 432, 433, 434, 435, 436, 437, 440. Penn, W. The benefit of Plantations or Colonies, in Select Tracts relating to Colonies, edited by J. R. McCulloch, p. 333. Povey, C. A discovery of indirect practices in the Coal trade, 1700, p. 319. Newton, Sir I. Mint Reports, 1701—24, p. 438. Povey, C. Unhappiness of England as to its Trade by Sea and Land truly stated, 1701, pp. 43, 328, 528. Proposals and reasons for constituting a Council of Trade, 1701, pp. 417, 418. Davenant, C. The true Picture of a modern Whig, 1702, pp. 404, 407. A brief History of Trade in England, 1702, p. 572. Sherlock, W. An exhortation to the redeemed Slaves, 1702, p. 175. Veitía Linage, J. de. The Spanish Rule of Trade to the West Indies, containing an account of the Casa de Contratacion or India House, made English by J. Stevens, 1702, p. 489. Defoe, D. Giving Alms no Charity and employing the Poor a grievance to the Nation, 1704, pp. 566, 567, 574. Mortimer, J. The whole Art of Husbandry or the way of managing and improving the land, 1707, p. 557. & Reflections on the Prohibition Act, wherein the Necessity, Usefulness, and Value of that Law are evinced and demonstrated, 1708, p. 466. A letter from a Merchant at Jamaica to a Member of Parliament in London touching the African Trade, 1709, p. 278. Reflections upon the Constitution and Management of the Trade to Africa through the whole course and progress thereof, 1709, pp. 273, 274. - Reasons against establishing an African Company at London, Exclusive to the Plantations and all the Outports and other subjects of Great Britain, p. 250. 1710 Proposals set forth by the Company of London-Insurers, 1710, p. 491. - CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE 987 Addison, J. Essay on Public Credit. Spectator, March 3, 1711, p. 412. The Case of Dorothy Petty, in relation to the Union Society at the White Lion by Temple Bar whereof she is Director, 1711, p. 491. Case of the Royal African Company, p. 276. The Case between the African Company and the people of England, p. 276. Molesworth, R. Franco Gallia or an account of the ancient free State of France, 1711, p. 322. An Act of Common Council concerning Foreigners, 1712, p. 33. Davenant, C. A Report to the Honourable the Commissioners for putting in Execution the Act intituled, An Act for the taking, examining, and stating the publick Accounts of the Kingdom, 1712, p. 540. - King, C. The British Merchant or Commerce Preserved, pp. 459, 460, 461, 462, 463. - Swift, J. Public Spirit of the Whigs, 1714, in Works, 1824, p. 415. Povey, C. English Inquisition or money raised by the new secret extent law without Act of Parliament, 1718, p. 491. The Weavers Pretences Examin'd, being a Full and Impartial Enquiry into the Complaints of their Wanting Work and the true Causes assigned. By a merchant, 1719, pp. 501, 509. Hutcheson, A. A Collection of Treatises relating to the National 172O Debts and Funds, 1721, pp. 423, 424. Owen, C. Danger of the Church and Kingdom from Foreigners con- sider'd in Several Articles of the Highest Importance, 1721, pp. 213, 613, 654. Braddon, L. Particular Answers to the most Material Objections made to the Proposal for Relieving, Reforming, and Employing the Poor of Great Britain, 1722, p. 574. - Burnet, G., Bishop of Salisbury. History of my own times, published 1724–34, pp. 147, 404, 408. Defoe, D. Tour through the whole island of Great Britain, 1724, (see also under 1742), pp. 500, 501, 533, 544, 546, 622. An Account of Several Workhouses for Employing and Maintaining the Poor, setting forth the Rules by which they are Governed, their Great Usefulness to the Publick and in particular to the Parishes where they are erected, 1725, p. 574. Armstrong, J. The history of the Ancient and Present State of the Port of King's Lyn and of Cambridge, 1725, p. 118. Grasier's Complaint and petition for redress or the necessity of Re- straining Irish Wool and Yarn, by a Lincolnshire Grasier, 1726, pp. 378, 495, 557. Gould, N. Essay on the Public Debts of this Kingdom, 1726, in McCulloch, Select Collection of Scarce Tracts on the National Debt, p. 424. 988 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX Lawrence, T. A New System of Agriculture, 1726, p. 557. A brief deduction of the origin...of the British Woollen Manufacture, 1727, p. 517. - Excidium Angliae or a View of the Fatal Consequences attending the Smuggling of Wool. By the Cheshire Weaver, 1727, p. 505. Hamilton, Capt. Alexander. New Account of the East Indies, 1727, p. 265. Laurence, E. The Duty of a Steward to his Lord, 1727, pp. 502, 557. Defoe, D. A Plan of the English Commerce, 1728, pp. 495, 504, 517, 640. Dobbs, A. An Essay upon the Trade and Improvement of Ireland, 1729, p. 378. - Gee, J. Trade and Navigation of Great Britain, 1729, p. 586. List of Absentees, 1729, in Collection of Tracts concerning the State of Ireland, p. 378. 1730 B., J. The South Sea Kidnapper, 1730, p. 587. Hall, F. Inmportance of the British Plantations in America to this Kingdom, 1731, p. 474. Cowper, J. An Essay proving that inclosing Commons and common field Lands is contrary to the Interest of the nation, 1732, pp. 557, 721. Great Improvement of Commons that are Enclosed for the Advantage of the Lords of Manors, the Poor, and the Publick, 1732, p. 557. Lindsay, P. Interest of Scotland considered, 1733, pp. 322, 330, 504, 520. Tull, J. Horsehoing Husbandry or an Essay on the principles of Tillage and Vegetation, 1733, p. 551. Walpole, R. Some general Considerations concerning the alteration and improvement of the revenues, 1733, p. 429. An Old Almanack, 1735, p. 557. Byrd, Colonel W. Letters, in American Historical Review, I. p. 349. Lee, Weyman. An Essay to ascertain the value of leases and annuities for years and lives, and to estimate the chances of the duration of lives. Wherein are many observations on the bills of mortality, on the state of the coin, the interest of money, and the price of things in different ages...also rules...for reducing leases for years or lives to clear annuities, 1738, p. 493. 1740 Allen, W. Ways and means to raise the value of land or the landlord's companion, with political discourses on the land tax, war, and other subjects, 1742, p. 582. Defoe, D. Tour through the whole island of Great Britain divided into Circuits or Journeys, edited by S. Richardson, 1742, pp. 320, 500, 501, 527, 533, 539, 540, 546, 577. CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE 989 Essay on the Causes of the decline of the foreign trade, 1744, pp. 378, 427. Horsley, W. Serious Considerations on the High Duties examined, 1744, p. 427. Postlethwayt, M. The African Trade the Great Pillar and support of the British Plantation Trade in America, 1745, pp. 279, 476. Alarm Bell or considerations on the present dangerous state of the Sugar Colonies, 1749, p. 278. A detection of the Proceedings and Practices of the Directors of the Royal African Company of England, 1749, p. 274. Postlethwayt, M. Considerations on the Revival of the Royal British Assiento, 1749, pp. 252, 279. - Smith, J. The Case of the English Farmer and his Landlord, p. 705. An Appeal to Facts regarding the Home Trade and Inland Manu- 1750 factures of Great Britain and Ireland, 1751, p. 520. Fielding, H. An Inquiry into the causes of the late Increase of Robbers, 1751, p. 563. Proposals made by his late Highness the Prince of Orange to their High Mightinesses the States General and to the States of Holland and West Friezland for redressing and amending the trade of the Republic, 1751, pp. 213, 406. - Pococke, R. Tour in Ireland in 1752, edited by G. T. Stokes, 1891, pp. 335, 365, 369, 580, 590, 645. Reflections on Various Subjects relating to Arts and Commerce, 1752, pp. 43, 518. Fielding, H. A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor, for amending their Morals, and for Rendering them useful Members of the Society, 1753, p. 576. Country Gentleman. Reflections upon Naturalization, Corporation and Companies, 1753, p. 322. Some remarks on a late Pamphlet, intituled Reflections on the Ex- pediency of opening the Trade to Turkey, 1753, p. 253. Tucker, J. Letter to a Friend concerning Naturalisations, 1753, p. 254. Nickolls, Sir J. [J. Tucker.] Remarks on the advantages and disad- vantages of France and Great Britain with respect to commerce, 1754, pp. 35, 509, 564. Tucker, J. The Elements of Commerce and Theory of Taxes, 1755, p. 429. - Bell, W. A. Dissertation on the following subject: What Causes principally contribute to render a nation populous ! And what effect has the Populousness of a Nation on its Trade 7, 1756, p. 704. The Case of the Importation of Bar Iron from our Colonies of North America, 1756, p. 526. Decker, Sir M. Serious Considerations on the several High Duties which the Nation in General (as well as its Trade in Particular) 990 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX labours under: with a Proposal for preventing the Running of Goods, discharging the Trader from any Search, and raising all the Publick Supplies by One Single Tax, 1756, pp. 410, 427. Hale, T. Compleat Body of Husbandry, 1756, p. 588. Dyer, J. The Fleece, 1757, in Anderson, Poets of Great Britain, Vol. IX. pp. 556, 621. Reflections on the importation of Bar Iron from our own Colonies of North America, 1757, p. 526. Massie, J. A plan for the establishment of Charity Houses for exposed or deserted women and girls....Considerations relating to the poor and poor's laws. Also a new system of policy...for relieving the poor, 1758, pp. 516, 564, 571, 578, 617. Massie, J. Reasons humbly offered against laying any further British Duties on Wrought Silks of the Manufacture of Italy, the Kingdom of Naples, and Sicily or Holland, 1758, p. 516. Smith, C. A Short Essay on the Corn Trade and Corn Laws, 1758, in Three Tracts on the Corn Laws, 1766, pp. 318, 544, 598. Morris, C. Essay towards deciding the question whether Britain be permitted...to insure the ships of her enemies, 1758, p. 489. Bailey, W. Treatise on the better employment and more comfortable support of the Poor in Workhouses, 1758, p. 576. B., I. [Temple, W.] Vindication of Commerce and the Arts, proving that they are the Source of the Greatness, Power, Riches and Populousness of a State, 1758, pp. 427, 566, 704. Smith, C. Considerations on the Laws relating to the Importation and Exportation of Corn, 1759, pp. 541, 855. Thoughts on the pernicious consequences of borrowing money, 1759, p. 427. - - Steuart, Sir J. Inquiry into the Principles of Political Economy (written 1759, Hist. MSS. Comm. III. Ap. 205), in Works, 1805, pp. 494, 704, 722, 743. 1760 Essay on the Antient and Modern State of Ireland, 1760, p. 522. Tucker, J. The Manifold Causes of the Increase of the Poor distinctly set forth, together with a Set of Proposals for removing and pre- venting some of the principall Evils and for lessening others, 1760, p. 755. Massie, J. A. Representation concerning the Knowledge of Commerce as a National Concern; pointing out the Proper Means of promoting such knowledge in this Kingdom, 1760, p. 516. Scott, D. Every Man his own broker, 1761, p. 493. Harte, W. Essays on Husbandry, 1764, p. 565. Burn, R. The History of the Poor Laws: 1764, p. 768. Hippisley, J. Essays. I. On the Populousness of Africa. II. On the Trade at the Forts on the Gold Coast. III. On the Necessity of erecting a fort at Cape Appolonia, 1764, pp. 277, 477. CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE 991 Massie, J. Observations on the New Cyder Tax, so far as the same may affect our Woollen Manufacturies, 1764, pp. 376, 929. Caldwell, Sir James. An Enquiry how far the Restrictions laid upon the Trade of Ireland by British Acts of Parliament are a benefit or a disadvantage to the British Dominions in general and to England in particular, for whose separate Advantage they were intended, in Debates relative to the Affairs of Ireland in the years 1763–1764, 1766, pp. 378, 582, 591, 704. A view of the internal policy of Great Britain, 1764, p. 705. [Temple, W.] Considerations on Taxes as they affect the Price of Labour in our Manufacturies, 1765, pp. 653, 705, 939. Homer, H. Essay on the Nature and Method of ascertaining the Specifick Shares of proprietors upon the Inclosure of Common Fields, 1766, p. 557. Johnson, S. Considerations on the Corn Law, p. 541. Whitworth, R. The Advantages of Inland Navigation, 1766, pp. 534, 535. IEnquiry into the reasons for and against Inclosing the open Fields, 1767, p. 157. Forster, N. Enquiry into the Causes of the present high price of provisions, 1767, p. 541. Hanway, J. Letters on the importance of the rising Generation of the labouring part of our fellow subjects, 1767, p. 630. Homer, H. S. An Inquiry into the means of Preserving and improving the Publick Roads of this Kingdom, 1767, pp. 536, 539. W., J. Considerations on the Expediency of raising, at this time of general dearth, the Wages of Servants that are not domestic, particularly Clerks in Publick Offices, 1767, p. 855. Young, A. A six weeks Tour through the Southern Counties of England and Wales, 1768, pp. 536, 548, 549, 557. Porter, Sir T. Observations on the Religion, Law, Government and Manners of the Turks, 1768, p. 253. Young, A. The Farmers Letters to the People of England, 1768, pp. 504, 516, 539, 549, 565, 566. Pennington, W. Reflections on the various advantages resulting from the draining, inclosing, and allotting of large Commons and Com- mon Fields, 1769, pp. 557, 558. Treatise upon Coal Mines, 1769, p. 529. [Temple, W.] An Essay on Trade and Commerce: containing Con- 1770 siderations on Taxes, as they are supposed to affect the Price of Labour in our Manufactories, together with some interesting Reflections on the Importance of our Trade to America, 1770, pp. 510, 566, 855. Young, A. A six months Tour through the North of England, 1771, pp. 484, 504, 547, 548, 549, 550, 551. 992 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX Arbuthnot, J. An Inquiry into the connection between the present Price of Provisions and the Size of Farms, 1773, p. 543. Tucker, J. Four Letters on important national Subjects, 1773, p. 333. Price, R. Observations on Reversionary payments, on schemes for providing annuities for widows, and on the national debt, 1773, p. 697. -- Correspondence of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, edited by the executors of his son John, Earl of Chatham, 1838–40, p. 599. Tucker, J. A. Review of Lord Wiscount Clare's Conduct as Representa- tive of Bristol, 1775, p. 333. Tucker, J. A series of Answers to certain popular Objections against separating from the rebellious colonies and discarding them entirely, 1776, p. 674. Tucker, J. The true interest of Great Britain set forth in regard to the Colonies, 1776, pp. 603, 674. Turgot, A. R. J. Mémoire sur la manière dont la France et l'Espagne devoient envisager les suites de la querelle entre la Grande Bretagne, 1776, et ses Colonies, in CEuvres, VIII. p. 461. Essay on Tea, Sugar, White Bread and Butter, Country Alehouses, Strong Beer, and Geneva and other modern Luxuries, 1777, - p. 855. 1780 T. Letters on the liberty and policy of employing machines to shorten labour, occasioned by the late disturbances in Lancashire, 1780, pp. 502, 624, 625, 654. - Young, A. Tour in Ireland, with general observations on the present state of that Kingdom, 1780, pp. 405, 590. Diaries and Correspondence of James Harris, first Earl of Malmesbury, 1844, p. 671. Enquiry into the advantages and disadvantages resulting from Bills of Inclosure, 1780, pp. 558, 562. Considerations upon the present state of the Wool Trade, 1781, p. 929. Observations on a Pamphlet entitled an Enquiry into the Advantages and Disadvantages resulting from Bills of Inclosure, 1781, p. 567. Dalrymple, Sir J. The Question Considered whether Wool should be allowed to be exported when the price is low at Home on paying a duty to the Public, 1781. Price, R. Essay on the Population of England, from the Revolution to the Present time, 1781, p. 705. Howlett, J. An Examination of Dr Price's Essay on the population of England and Wales and the doctrine of an increased population in this Kingdom established by facts, 1781, p. 705. Tucker, J. Treatise concerning civil government, 1781, p. 428. CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE - 993 Wales, W. Inquiry into the Present State of Population in England and Wales and the Proportion which the present number of Inhabitants bears to the Number at former Periods. 1781, p. 705. Chalmers, G. Propriety of allowing a Qualified Exportation of Wool discussed historically, 1782, p. 644. The Contrast or a Comparison between our Woollen, Linen, Cotton, and Silk Manufactures, 1782, p. 504. Porster, N. Answer to Sir J. Dalrymple's Pamphlet upon the Exporta- tion of Wool, 1782, p. 645. Turnor, E. Short view of the Proceedings of the several Committees and Meetings held in consequence of the intended Petition to Parliament from the County of Lincoln for a limited Exportation of Wool, 1782, p. 644. Price, R. The State of the Public Debts and Finances at signing the preliminary articles of peace in January 1783, with a plan for raising money by public loans and for redeeming the public debts, 1783, pp. 697, 698. Holroyd, J. B. Lord Sheffield. Observations on the Commerce of the American States, 1783, p. 674. Chalmers, G. Opinions on interesting Subjects of Public Law and Commercial policy arising from American Independence, 1784, p. 672. Young, A. A. Five Days' Tour to Woodbridge, 1784, in Annals of Agriculture II. p. 503. Political Enquiry into the Consequences of enclosing waste lands and the causes of the present high price of butcher's Meat, 1785, p. 567. Cursory Remarks on Inclosures by a Country Farmer, 1786, pp. 557, 558. Gilbert, T. Considerations on the bills for the better relief and Em- ployment of the Poor, 1787, pp. 578, 769. Stone, T. Suggestions for rendering the Inclosure of common fields and waste lands a Source of population and riches, 1787, p. 556. Jefferson, T. Notes on the State of Virginia, 1787, p. 868. Young, A. Spinning Mills for Wool, 1788, in Annals of Agriculture x. pp. 652, 657. Pownall, T. Reply to queries concerning the price of wool, 1788, in Annals of Agriculture X. p. 655. Gates, R. Letters in regard to Miss Ives and fine spinning, 1789, in Transactions of the Society of Arts, VII. p. 653. An Account of the Origin, Proceedings, and Intentions of the Society for the Promotion of Industry in the Southern District of the parts of Lindsey in the County of Lincoln, 1789, p. 657. Dalrymple, Sir J. Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland, 1790, pp. 436, 1790 437, 600. IHowlett, J. Reply to Queries, 1790, in Annals of Agriculture xv. p. 655. C.* 63 994 DIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX Gullet, C. Reply to Queries, 1791, in Annals of Agriculture xv. p. 654. Young, A. Wool, 1791, in Annals of Agriculture XVI. pp. 633, 657. Sinclair, Sir J. The Statistical Account of Scotland, 1791, p. 524. Jenkinson, J. Reply to Queries, 1791, in Annals of Agriculture xv. p. 654. Swayne, G. Reply to Queries, 1791, in Annals of Agriculture xv. p. 654. Hamilton, Alexander. Report of the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States on the subject of Manufactures, 1791, p. 868. Arkwright, R., in Gentleman's Magazine, 1792, p. 620. Rules and orders for regulating the meetings and proceedings of the Directors and acting guardians of the poor and for the better governing, regulating, and employing the Poor of the Hundreds of Loes and Wilford, 1792, p. 719. r Napoléon I. Correspondance de Napoléon I* publiée par ordre de l'Empereur Napoléon III., 1858, p. 684. The Complaints of the Poor People of England, 1793, p. 689. Walpy, R. Replies to the foregoing Queries, 1793, in Annals of Agri- culture XX. p. 715. Maxwell, G. Description of the Agriculture of the County of Hunting- don, 1793, in Annals of Agriculture XXI. p. 655. Tomlinson, N. Replies to the Editor's Circular Letter, 1794, in Annals of Agriculture, XXV. p. 717. Davies, D. Case of Labourers in Husbandry stated and considered, 1795, pp. 41, 560, 716, 855. Gisborne, T. Enquiry into the Duties of Men in the higher and middle classes of Society in Great Britain, 1795, p. 770. [Pownall, T.] Considerations on the Scarcity and high prices of Bread- Corn and Bread at the Market, 1795, p. 716. Twentyman, L. Reply to the Editor's Circular Letter, 1795, in Annals of Agriculture, XXIV. p. 633. Howlett, J. Replies to the Editor's Circular Letter, 1795, in Annals of Agriculture XXV. pp. 40, 716. Young, A. Political Remarks on the High Price of Corn, 1795, in Annals of Agriculture XXV. p. 559. Ward, G. Replies to the Editor's Circular Letter, 1795, in Annals of Agriculture XXV. pp. 656, 720. Stickney, W. Replies to the Editor's Circular Letter, 1795, in Annals of Agriculture XXV. p. 716. Bevan, S. Replies to the Editor's Circular Letter, 1795, in Annals of Agriculture XXV. pp. 716, 718. Bernard, Sir T. Replies to the Editor's Circular Letter, 1795, in Annals of Agriculture XXV. p. 716. Civis, Queries and Hints relative to Mr Whitbread's Bill, 1795, in Annals of Agriculture XXV. p. 716. CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE 995 Wages of Labour proportional to the Price of Corn, as settled by the Berkshire magistrates, 1795, in Annals of Agriculture XXV. p. 719. Dryman, –. Replies to the Editor's Circular Letter, 1795, in Annals of Agriculture XXVI, p. 654. Aikin, J. A. Description of the country from thirty to forty miles round Manchester, 1795, p. 867. Rules and Orders of the Brotherhood of Maltsters in the Town and County of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1796, p. 735. - Young, Sir W. Considerations on the subject of poor houses, 1796, p. 769. - Ruggles, T. History of the Poor, 1793, p. 719. Godwin, W. Enquiry concerning Political Justice and its influence on Morals and Happiness, 1798, p. 750. Malthus, T. R. An Essay on the Principle of Population as it affects the future improvement of Society, first edition, 1798 (edition used 1817), p. 744. An account of the nature and views of the Philanthropic Society, instituted in 1788 for the prevention of crimes, London, 1799, p. 748. Rose, G. A brief examination of the Increase of Revenue, Commerce, and Manufactures of Great Britain, 1799, p. 697. - Hutchinson, J. H. The Commercial Restraints of Ireland, 1799 (edited by W. G. Carroll, 1882), p. 409. Young, A. Of Manufactures mixed with agriculture, 1799, in Annals of Agriculture XXXII. p. 721. Williams, Alexander. An address to the Woollen Manufacturers of 1800 Great Britain on the subject of the proposed Exportation of Wool to Ireland, 1800, quoted in Bischoff, A comprehensive history of the Woollen Manufactures, 1842, p. 645. Young, A. An Inquiry into the Propriety of Applying Wastes to the better maintenance of the poor, 1801, in Annals of Agriculture XXXVI. pp. 714, 715. Long, C. A temperate Discussion of the causes which have led to the present high price of bread, 1801, in Annals of Agriculture XXXVI. p. 716. Country Clergyman, On the Wages of Labourers in Husbandry, 1801, in Annals of Agriculture XXXVII. p. 560. Gourlay, R. An inquiry into the State of the Cottagers in the Counties of Lincoln and Rutland, 1801, in Annals of Agriculture XXXVII. p. 714. Sinclair, Sir J. Observation on the means of enabling a Labourer to keep a cow, 1801, in Annals of Agriculture XXXVII. p. 715. Pennant, T. A Journey from London to the Isle of Wight, 1801, pp. 84, 484, 487, 489, 504, 576. 63—2 996 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX Bernard, Sir T. A charge to the Overseers of the poor, in Hunter, A., Georgical Essays, Vol. II. 1803, p. 769. Gisborne, T. On the situation of the Mining Poor, in Hunter, A. Georgical Essays, II, 1803, p. 803. Young, A. Woburn Sheep Shearing, Holkham Sheep Shearing, 1803, in Annals of Agriculture XXXIX. p. 556. Young, A. Revision of the Corn Laws, 1803, in Annals of Agriculture XLI. pp. 725, 728. - Anstie, J. Observations on the necessity of introducing improved machinery into the woollen manufacture in the counties of Wilts, Gloucester and Somerset, 1803, pp. 626, 653, 661. Young, A. On the application of the Principles of Population to the question of assigning Land to Cottages, 1804, in Annals of Agri- culture XLI. pp. 714, 744. Playfair, W. Inquiry into the Permanent Causes of the Decline and Fall of Powerful and Wealthy Nations, 1805, p. 676. Reinhard, C. A concise history of the present state of the Commerce of Great Britain, translated by J. Savage, 1805, pp. 675, 677–680. Bernard, Sir T. Introductory letter to William Wilberforce, 1805, in Reports of the Society for Bettering the Condition of the Poor, v. 1808, p. 41. Rose, G. Observations on the Poor Laws and on the management of the poor in Great Britain arising from a consideration of the returns now before Parliament, 1805, p. 735. Stephen, J. War in Disguise; or, the Frauds of the Neutral Flags, 1805, pp. 489, 680, 681, 682. Articles and Rules of the Clerk's Society (Newcastle), 1807, p. 735. General Report on Enclosures drawn up by the order of the Board of Agriculture, 1808, pp. 713, 714. - Of the Education of the Poor, being a first part of a Digest of the Reports of the Society for bettering the Condition of the Poor, 1809, p. 749. 1810 Ricardo, D. Letters of David Ricardo to T. R. Malthus, 1810–1823, edited by J. Bonar, 1887, p. 854. Articles, Rules and Regulations of the Newcastle upon Tyne Ancient Masonic Benefit Society, established 25 Oct. 1811, p. 735. Annual Register, 1812, p. 663. - Cobbett, W. Paper against Gold, glory against prosperity, 1815, pp. 697, 703. - Owen, R. Observations on the effect of the Manufacturing System; with hints for the improvement of those parts of it which are most injurious to health and morals, 1815, p. 776. Considerations addressed to the Journeymen Calico Printers by one of their Masters, 1815, quoted in S. and B. Webb, History of Trade Unionism. p. 642. CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE 997 Annual Register, 1816, pp. 654, 687, 688. A short account of the Benevolent Society and Saving Fund at Messrs Angas' Manufactory, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1816, p. 735. Owen, R. A new view of Society or Essays on the principle of the Formation of the Human Character, 1816, p. 753. The soundness of the policy of protecting manufactures fully estab- lished, by A. Hamilton, in his report to Congress, and by T. Jefferson, in his letter to B. Austin, p. 868. Evans, W. D. Charge to the Grand Jury at the Quarter Sessions of the Peace for the County of Lancaster, 1817, pp. 642, 735. Hall, F. An appeal to the Poor Miner, 1818, p. 804. Climbing Boys, in Edinburgh Review, 1819, p. 776. The Gorgon, edited by J. Wade, 1819, p. 776. Mr Owen's Plans for Relieving the National Distress, 1819, in Edin- burgh Review, XXXII. p. 751. Smith, S. America, in Edinburgh Review, XXXIII. 1820, p. 834. 1820 Chalmers, T. The Christian and Civic Economy of large Towns, 1821, p. 806. Restraints on Emigration, Edinburgh Review, XXXIX. 1823, p. 756. Place, F. Collections on the repeal of laws against trade combinations. British Museum, Add. MSS. 27801, p. 757. Place, F. Observations on Mr Huskisson's Speech on the Laws re- lating to Combinations of Workmen, 1825, p. 758. Becher, J. T. The Constitution of Friendly Societies, 1826, p. 735. Remarks on the present State of the Poor, 1826, p. 749. Becher, J. T. The Anti-pauper system exemplifying the positive and practical good realized by the relievers and the relieved under the frugal, beneficial, and lawful administration of the Poor Laws prevailing at Southwell, 1828, p. 767. Cobbett, W. Noble Nonsense, 1828, p. 697. Grenville, R. Essay on the supposed advantages of a Sinking Fund, 1828, p. 698. Guest, R. The British Cotton Manufactures and a reply to an article on the Spinning Machinery contained in a recent number of the Edinburgh Review, 1828, p. 621. Radcliffe, W. Origin of the New System of Manufacture commonly called “Power Loom Weaving,” and the purposes for which this system was intended and brought into use, fully explained in a narrative, 1828, pp. 625, 626, 627, 634. Scott, W. An Earnest Address and Urgent Appeal to the people of 1830 England in behalf of the oppressed and suffering Pitmen of the Counties of Northumberland and Durham, 1831, p. 804. Orton, R. An Essay on the epidemic cholera of India, 1831, p. 808. Wakefield, E. G. Swing unmasked, or the Causes of Rural In- cendiarism, 1831, p. 723. 998 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX Brown, John. A Memoir of Robert Blincoe, an orphan boy sent to endure the horrors of a Cotton Mill, 1832, pp. 629, 630, 631. Chalmers, T. On Political Economy, 1832, in Works, XIX. 1836, p. 806. - - Gaskell, P. Manufacturing population of England, its moral, social, and physical conditions, and the changes which have arisen from the use of steam machinery, 1833, p. 801. Wakefield, E. G. England and America, 1833, p. 476, 723. Gaskell, P. Artisans and Machinery, 1836, pp. 618, 619, 628, 634. Senior, N. Letters on the Factory Act as it affects the cotton manu- facture, 1837, p. 789. 1840 Buller, C. Responsible government for Colonies, 1840, p. 852. Poor Law Reform, in Edinburgh Review, LXXIV. 1841, p. 767. Cooke Taylor, W. Notes of a Tour in the Manufacturing Districts of Lancashire, 1842, pp. 623, 628. l Hirst, W. History of the Woollen Trade during the last Sixty Years, - 1844, pp. 618, 661, 662. - Cobden, R. Speeches on questions of public policy, edited by J. Bright and J. E. T. Rogers, 1870, p. 869. Wakefield, E. G. A view of the art of Colonization with present reference to the British Empire, 1849, pp. 649, 852, 858, 859, 861. Owen, R. The Life of Robert Owen written by himself, 1857–8, pp. 751, 800. . Philip, J. Researches in South Africa, p. 853. IND EX. Aberdeen, 454 Abingdon, 68 m. Absenteeism, 104 m., 874; in Ireland, 581 Acadia, 588 Adams, J., 868 Addingham, 646 Administration, 20, 21; after Resto- ration, 22, 205, 206; breakdown of, 202, 203; changes in local, 179; colonial, 850, 851, 862; control of, by Parliament, 22, 23, 406; corrup- tion of, 180; Elizabethan, 22; French, 207; new type of, 885, 886; of corn trade, 88, 92, 94, 95; of industry, 207; see also Industry; of navy, 172; of Stuarts, 21, 22, 285 f.; under Cromwell, 184 Adventurers, Merchant, see Merchant Adventurers Africa, 209; and slave trade, 477, 854, 855; Dutch trade with, 273; English trade with, 249 n., 273, 476 African Company, 272; and inter- lopers, 272, 273, 275; and slave trade, 278; as a regulated com- pany, 276, 277; attacks on, 275 n., 278; after the Restoration, 274; dissolution of, 277 m. ; imports of, 274; origin of, 273; possessions of, 332 m. ; price of stock of, 276; reconstruction of, 274 ; trade thrown open, 275; want of capital of, 276 Agriculture, 6; and capital, 11; and food supply, 766; and foreign com- petition,844; and French wars, 727, 728; and House of Commons, 409; and internal communication, 535, 537, 538, 539; and railways, 814; as a by-employment, 564, 565; bounties given to, 409, 541 f., 723; business methods in, 544; capital- ists in, 544, 545, 559; character of seasons, 545 m., 559; depression • *; 731 ; distress in, 559; effect of #. ... --> in * French wars on, 675, 711 f.; effect of Industrial Revolution on, 704; growth of large farms, 543, 557; importance of native, 725, 726; in New England, 548 m.; Irish, 580, 581, 589, 590, 847, 848; French, 463 m. ; loss of by-employments, 616; new methods of, 498 m., 551, 844; protection given to, 540; scientific, 542, 543, 545 m., 546, 844 m. ; slovenly, 548, 549, 550; survivals of primitive practices, 548; Whig attitude towards, 540, 541; women and children in, 802. See also Cattle-breeding, Common-fields, Convertible hus- bandry, Corn, Dairy-farming, Em- closure, Farmers, Landed interest, Pasture farming, Sheep, Tillage Agricultural labourer, see Labourer, agricultural Agricultural Revolution, 546 f., 705f.; see also Cattle-breeding, Enclosure Aikim, Dr, 807 Aire, 502 Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of, 476 n. Albany, 815 Albemarle, Earl of, 198 m. Alcester, 25 Ale, Assize of, 301 Alehouses, 71; and harbour repair, 66; supervision of, 301, 302, 303 Aleppo, 250 Alexander, Sir W., 332 n., 351 Alexandria, 251, 815, 817 Algiers, captives in, 174, 175; pirates of, 173, 174 Aliens, 33, 58, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 122, 324, 495; and coal trade, 247; and cloth trade, 296; and cotton trade, 623; and Devonshire kersies, 654 m. ; and drainage, 116, 117, 119 m.; and English industry, 515, 516, 517; and English trade, 325; and linen trade, 370; and re-coinage, 129; as financiers, 141, 142, 148 m. 1000 INDEX Aliens, capital of, 518; in Holland, 519; in Ireland, 374 Aliens, introduction of Spinning wheel by, 654 n.; naturalisation of, 325; Palatines, 485. See also Dutch, French, Huguenots, Jews, Walloons Alleghanies, 853 n. Allotments, 616 n., 667, 713, 714 n., 715 m., 743 n. Allowances, 562 n., 668, 718; and cotton weavers, 638, 766; and in- crease of population, 743; and manufactures, 766 n. ; and rates, 720 m. ; and wages, 765, 766; de- moralising effect of, 638 m., 720, 721, 765, 766, 770 m.; granting of, 656; prevalence of, 765 m. ; scale of, 719, 765 m. See also Labourer, agricultural Althorp, Lord, 750 m.; and Factory Acts, 775 Altona, 682 Alum, 293 - Alva, Duke of, 2 n., 69, 147, 226, 227 Amboyna, massacre of, 257, 260 America, 209 n. ; Central, trade with, 473; plantations in, 124, 331 f., 471 f.; see Plantations; Spanish, 449; United States of, see United States Amicable Assurance Society, 493 m. Amiens, Peace of, 675, 681 Amoy, 821 Amsterdam, 159, 235 m., 360, 411, 450, 513 m.; Bank of, 419 n., 443 n.; capitalists of, 324; granaries of, 236 Amurath III., 75 Andalusia, 196 Anderson, A., 516 Anderson, B., 248 n. Andros, Governor, 482 Anglesea, 763 n. Annuities, permanent, see National Debt Anti-Corn-Law League, 840, 843 n., Antigua, 198 n., 332 m. [868 Antinomians, 340 Antwerp, 9, 74, 83, 84, 146, 147, 148, 159, 163 m., 229 m., 623; and Merchant Adventurers, 224, 225, 226, 227 Appletree, Mr, 573 Apprentices, 10, 18 n., 26 n., 126, 322; and banking, 142; and cotton mills, 628, 629; and Factory Acts, 630, 631, 632 n. ; controlled by combinations, 508, 642 n., 662 m.; financial transactions of, 153 n., 159 m. ; in calico printing, 640, 641, 642 n. ; in cloth trade, 658, 659; in factories, 723 m., 776; limitation of, 32, 513, 796; of East- land Company, 220; of Merchant Adventurers, 220 ; over-stocking with, 641; pauper, 52, 629, 630, 748, 768, 772, 780, 802 n.; quali- fications for, 31; registration of, 34; relaxation of regulations for, 641, 652, 659, 660; State pro- tection of, 632; to aliens, 80; to seafaring, 488; to husbandry, 31; training of, in cloth trade, 650 n.; wages of, 42 Apprenticeship, 29, 30, 204, 287 n., 311 n. ; agitation to enforce, 659, 660; abandonment of regulation of, 641, 652, 659, 660; and aliens, 33, 81 m. ; and country gentlemen, 345; and mining, 806; effect of, On population, 704; function of, 750; in coal trade, 532; in 18th century, 35 m.; in framework knit- ting trade, 514; in Chester, 35 m.; in London, 34 n. ; in Norwich, 34, 35 m. ; in Yorkshire, 658 n., 659 n. Arable land, conversion of, 287 n. ; See Enclosure for pasture Arbitration, 732 m.; Act, 634, 636 Archangel, 416 Arkwright, R., 609, 610, 620, 621, 624, 626 n., 632 Armada, 13, 62, 146, 148, 172, 173 m.; and cloth trade, 232 Armaments, necessity for, 57 Armed neutrality, 671 Army, 184, 185, 202 Artificers, 26 n., 29, 243 n., 347 n., and rise in prices, 169, 170; emi- gration of English to India, 464; in the country, 28, 553; status of, 245 m. ; training of, 27, 29, 30. See also Artisans. Artificers, Statute of, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 108; and aliens, 33, 80; criticism of, 660; non-observ- ance of, 33 n., 658, 659 n. ; partial abandonment of, 637, 638, 641, 652, 658, 659, 660, 754 n. Artisans, and allowances, 638, 766; and by-employments, 553, 666; and combination, 732, 733; and Corn Laws, 841; and economists, 741 f.; and education, 749 n., 750; and Friendly Societies, 734; and housing, 810; and Radicals, 762; and railways, 813; and regu- lated trade, 611, 612; and repre- sentation, 732, 737, 762; and Suspension of cash payments, 699; and Tories, 608; as wage-earners, INDEX I 00I. 497; dishonesty of, 507, 510; dis- tress of, 687, 688; effect of com- bination laws on, 736 ; effect of machinery on, 615, 626, 639, 641, 642 n., 650, 651, 662; emigration of, 378, 587, 640, 756; hours of, in factories, 788, 789; loss of stability, 617; migration of, 615; . migration of, to towns, 571 m. ; restrictions on, 754; see Combi- nation Acts, Emigration; rise of, in cotton trade, 619; standard of comfort of, 874, 880; village, 721. See Wage-earners Ashburton, 376 n. Ashley, Lord. See Shaftesbury Ashley, Professor, 456, 584 Ashton, Mr, 802 n. Asia, 198 n., 209 m. Assaville, Nicholas d’, 330, 521 Assessed taxes, 604 m. Assessments of wages, see Wages Assiento Contract, 279, 449 m., 475, 476 n. Assize of Ale, 880 Assize of Bread, 318 n., 706 n., 710 n., 880 Audit, 773 Aulnager, 296; in Ireland, 375; of new drapery, 297 Aurungzebe, 265 Australia, 853; and convicts, 860, 861; development of sheep-farming in, 646–649; gold in, 872; labour in, 879; land system of, 647, 648, 649 n., 861 n. ; responsible govern- ment in, 862 Austria, 800 m., 867 Avalon, 351 Awdeley, J., 45 Axholme, Isle of, 117 Ayr, 489 Ayr Bank, 451, 455 Bacon, Francis, 101, 180, 293 Ragdad, 250 n., 815 Bahamas, 332 n., 673; and raw cotton, 624 Bakewell, Mr, 546, 551, 706 Balance of trade, 217 n., 395, 396, 397, 399, 401 ; and colonists, 472 n. ; and mercantilists, 177; and Whigs, 457; difficulty of cal- culating, 399, 400 ; particular balance, 264 n., 395, 396, 401 ; sixteenth century, 71, 163 m. ; Adam Smith's criticism of, 596 Baltic, corn from, 87 n., 675, 841, 844; trade, 212 n., 213, 228, 234, 236, 360, 485, 691, 841 Baltimore, Md., 340 m. ~. Baltimore, Co. Cork, destruction of, 174 m. Baltimore, Lord, 332 n. Banbury, 646 Bank Charter Act, 825; suspension of, 828 Bankers, 141, 142, 143; city, 160; European, 141, 149, 150, 151. See also Goldsmiths Banking, 142, 143, 148, 149, 151, 324 m., 452 ; and usury, 152; at Antwerp, 146, 147; deposit, 455; Scotch, 453, 454, 455, 456; Scotch, Special features of, 454, 455. See also Land Bank and Banks Dank notes, 411, 439, 440, 441, 442; arguments for convertibility, 702 n. ; country, 823; depreciation of, 700, 701; errors in regard to issue, 452, 693 n., 694, 699, 703, 829; limitation of, 825; Irish, 701; Scotch, 452, 453, 454 Bank of Amsterdam, see Amsterdam Bank of England, and Bank Charter Act, 825; and circulating medium, 411; and Dutch capital, 324 n. ; and formation of capital, 413,446; and French wars, 692; and govern- ment loans, 692, 693 ; and In- dustrial Revolution, 610; and joint- stock banks, 824; and convertible paper, 439, 440, 441, 702 n. ; and National Debt, 419 f.; assistance to traders given by, 442, 444, 445; attack on monopoly of, 823, S24; directors of, 702 m. ; business dome by, 439, 440; constitutional im- portance of, 410, 411, 412, 421; convenience of, 420; crises in affairs of, 440, 450, 451, 452, 692, 694, 823, 826, 828; criticism of, 421, 422, 423; directors of, 692, 693, 694, 699, 700, 701; early projects for, 411 n., 419, 442 m. ; foundation of, 420; growth of busi- ness of, 450; issue of notes by, 825; see also Bank notes; modern position of, 829; over-issue of notes by, 701; rate of, 828; reserve of, 692, 693 m., 694, 829; restriction, 673; see Suspension of cash pay- ments; resumption of cash pay- ments by, 703; Whig support of, 421 Bank of Genoa, see Genoa Bank of Scotland, 418 m., 453, 454, 455; crisis in affairs of, 454 Bankruptcy, 144, 190, 191, 192 Banks, country, 452, 559, 822, 823; joint-stock, 823 m., 824; London, 824; Scotch, 824. See Crises Banks, Mrs G. L., 662 1002 INDEX Banks, Sir J., 647, 648 Bantam, 257 Baptism, 477 n. Barbadoes, 198 m., 332 n., 348, 360, 366 n. - Barbary, trade with, 75 Barbon, N., 380 m., 401 Darcelona, 489 m. Bardi, 324 Barella, 264 n. Bargain, forms of, 9 n. Bar-iron, see Iron, pig Barley, 551 Barnard, Sir J., 448 n. Barnstaple, 376 n., 505 m. ; spinning- jennies in, 654 Baro, P., 157 Barrington, Dr, 749 Barrow, 590 Bawne, 363 Baylie, Capt., 347 n. Bays, 83; see Colchester Beans, 549 Beaumont, 529 Beaver makers, 305 m. Bedburn, 522 Bedford, and re-coinage, 133 m. Bedford, Earl of, and drainage, 118 Bedford, Duke of, 552 n. IBedfordshire, allowances in, 765 m. ; lace manufacture in, 84 ; work- houses in, 575 m. Deet-root sugar, 684, 855 Beggars, see Poor Belfast, 330 m., 701 n. Belhaven, Lord, 418 Bellomont, Earl of, 271 Bencoolen, 257 Bengal, 266 n. Berkeley, Lord, 198 n. Berkhamstead, 765 Berkshire, clothiers of, 233; cloth trade of, 507; justices of, 656, 718 Berlin Decree, 682, 847 Bermuda, 332 n., 339 m. ; convicts in, 860 n. Bernard, Sir T., 749, 752 n. Beverley, agriculture near, 548 ; cap trade of, 25 n. ; poor in, 47 n. Bewdeley, 25 n. Beyrout, 251, 815 Bideford, 505 m. Bills, Exchequer, 442; see Exchequer Bills Bills of Exchange, 143, 151, 397, 400 m. Bills of Mortality, 315 Bilston, 808 Bimetallism, see Coinage Bingham, poor in, 767 Birmingham, 84, 518, 824 ; mail- makers of, 526 n. ; silversmiths of, Blackburn, 635 n. [321 Black Death, 7, 85, 108 Blackwell, 507 m. Blackwell Hall, 33, 203, 244, 297 n., 507 n. Blake, Admiral, 14, 189, 251 Bland, J., 359 m. Blast furnaces, 523 m., 524 Blincoe, R., 631 n. Blith, W., 102 m, Blockade, 682 n., 683 Board of Agriculture, 560 n., 561 n., 711 Board of Trade, 407, 408 ; and Plantations, and naval stores, 485. See also Council of Trade, Com- mittee of Trade Board of Trustees for Manufactures, 520 Bocking, 32, 500 m., 577 m. Bodedern, 763 m. Bodgers, see Corn-dealers Bolingbroke, Lord, 461 Bolton, and minimum wage, 636; cotton trade in, 623 m. ; combina- tions in, 736 Bombay, 197, 257, 332 n. ; steam communication with, 815, 817 Bondagers, 531, 532; in agriculture, 803 m. Bonhomme, Mons., 519 Bonvis, A., 654 Book of Rates, 201, 221 n., 289 . Bordeaux, 71, 400 m. Borneo Company, 821 Boston (Lincs.), 133 m., 489 Boston (Mass.), 280, 587 Boswell, W., 175 m. Bottomry, 146, 489 Boulton, Mr, 626 Bounties, 324, 409; adverse criticism of, 516 n. ; in Ireland, 591; on corn export, 104, 541; on corn export, result of, 541; on fishing, 483, 484; on innport of corn, 708; on Irish corn, 589, 590; on linem, 522; on naval stores, 486; on ships, 484; on silk exports, 516. See also Corn Bounty Act Boyde, A., 301 m. Boyle, Mr, 340 m. Boxstead, 32 Boyne, 590; battle of, 367 Boynton, 548 Bradford (Wilts.), 498 n. Bradford (Yks.), 646; and power loom, 798; factories in, 780; ma- chinery in, 761 n. ; strike in, 760 Bradley, H., 119 n. Braintree, 500 m., 796 Brandy, 301 n. ; 459 m. INDEX 1003 Brass manufacture, 60, 84 Brazil, 855 ; bullion from, 460; trade with, 195, 274, 325, 676 Brazil Company, 195 m. Bread, Assize of, 318 m., 706 n., 710 n., 880 Bread scales, 719, 765 n. ; see Allow- a, Il CeS Bremen, 683 JBrest, 682 Brewers’ Company, 302 n. Bribery, 268 Bricklayers' Company, 321 Brickmakers’ Company, 305 m. Bricks, 305 m., 316 n., 317 Bridewell, 47 Bridgewater, Duke of, 532, 533, 534 Bridgnorth, 25 Bridlington, 489 Bridport, 667 m. Briet, P., 56 Bright, J., 840 Brindley, J., 532, 533, 534, 535 Brissac, M. de, 2 n. Bristol, 11 n., 25, 27, 31, 188, 347, 362 m., 436 n., 505 m. ; and slave trade, 477; and re-coinage, 133; corn supply of, 97 ; harbour of, 489; poor relief in, 574; trade de- pression in, 507 n. ; traders of, 244 IBritish Linen Company, 455, 521 British Merchant, 461 n., 463 Broadstairs, 484 m. Brooke, Lord, 901 Brougham, Lord, 686, 854 Broughton, 330 m. Bruges, 224, 226 Bubble Act, 816 Bubble companies, 448, 449 Bucer, 155 Buckingham, Duke of, 172, 230 n., 332 in. Buckinghamshire, and fish days, 72; lace manufacture in, 84; work- houses in, 574 m. Buckles, 295 m. Buffalo, 852 n. Building, increase of, 104 Building trades, 29 m. Building societies, 810 Buller, Mr, 850 n., 858 Bullion, 134, 144 n., 398, 399, 400, 457, 914; and East India Com- pany, 463; free export of, 432; import of, from Brazil, 461; from Spain, 165 n. Bullion Committee, 699, 700, 701 n., 702, 703 Bullionist policy, 134 n. Bullionists, 177, 395 Burghs, Scotch, 322, 323 Burke, E., 587, 589 m. Burlamachi, P., 175 n. burleigh, Lord, 1, 20, 27 n., 53 f., 172, 401, 456, 519, 876; adminis- trative ability of, 56; and ad- ministrative corruption, 180; and alien settlers, 79, 82 n., 84, 515; and alum, 293; and balance of trade, 71; and commodities, 62; and exploration, 74; and fish days, 72; and fishing trades, 67; and glass manufacture, 56; and har- bours, 66; and Ireland, 122, 123; and mercantile companies, 74, 75; and Merchant Adventurers, 224; and mining, 59, 60; and Naviga- tion Laws, 71 m. ; and new in- dustries, 225; and ordnance, 57; and patents, 58, 59, 75, 76; and poor, 52 m. ; and Privy Council, 54 m. ; and re-coinage, 127, 129 n., 131 n., 132; and sail-cloth manu- facture, 65 ; and scarcity orders, 98 m. ; and shipping, 63, 64 and n., 173 m., 176; and soldiers, 56 n. ; and tillage, 54 n. ; and timber, 65; and trade, 73, 74; and treasure, 62 m. 2.; and Turkey trade, 250 m. ; and wine trade, 70 Burleigh, Lord, as Secretary of State, 53, 54; as Lord Treasurer, 54; drafts of, 55, 57, 62, 64, 65, 66, 68, 69, 71, 74, 77, 98, 132; incorruptibility of, 56, 57; memo- randa of, 54, 55 n. ; methods of work of, 54 Burn, Dr, 768 Burnet, Bishop, 146, 421 m., 427 n. Burnley, 646 Bury, 133 n., 646 ; riots against machinery in ,625 m. ; spinning- jennies in, 654 Bury St Edmunds, 646 Butter, 855 m. ; see Dairy-farming Buttonholes, 515 Buttons, 515 By-employments, 564, 565; decline of, 616, 655, 656, 721, 722 Byron, Lord, 666 Caernarvonshire, 763 n. Caesar, Sir J., 901 Cairnes, J. E., 751 m. Caithness, 521 Calais, 57, 298 Calamine stone, 60 Calcutta, 815 Calico printers, 608 m. ; and Com- bination Laws, 733, 736; and ma- chinery, 639; combinations of, 642 Calico printing, 330, 517; by hand, 640; cylinder, 640; difficulties in trade, 641; early history of, 640 1004 INDEX Calicos, printed, 464, 465, 640 California, 872, 875 Calne, 656 n. Calverly, Sir W., 502 Calvert, Sir G., 341, 351, 901 Calvin, 155, 156 Cambrics, 516, 519 n. Cambridge, 539, 687; allowances in, 765; and recoinage, 133 m. Cambridgeshire, drainage in, 116, 118; fens, 113 Camlets, 267 m. Campeachy, 474 m. Canada, 279, 332 m., 356, 588, 821, 831, 832; and free trade, 856; Company, 857; corn trade of, 707, 856; development of, 852, 853; natural resources of, 863; responsible government in, 862; timber trade of, 856 Candler, R., 490 Canals, 532, 533, 534, 535; and capital, 691; Irish, 590; opposi- tion to, 534 m. ; rates of, 535, 812; reduction in cost of carriage, 535 Canaries, trade with, 187 Canongate, 323 m. Canterbury, 25, 923, 924; and aliens, 80, 82; and re-coinage, 133; and silk weaving, 84; migration from, 519; trade of, 466 Canton, 820, 821 Cape Colony, 853; and natives, 853, 854 emigration to, 858 Capital, and Bank of England, 413, 446, and canals, 532; and colonies, 861; and drainage, 118; and emi- gration, 858; and industry, 36 n., 496, 497, 498, 499; and interest, 395; and inventions, 621 ; and linen trade, 519; and machinery, 610, 614, 691; and plantations, 351; and sail-cloth manufacture, 519; and usury, 159; economic opinion concerning, 384, 394; effect of fixed, 826, 827; effect of French Wars on, 690 f.; English, invested abroad, 263 n., 823, 873 ; IEnglish reserve of, 673 m.; foreign, invested in England, 190, 263 n., 450; formation of, 8, 160, 873, 874; free play for, 739, 745; in agriculture, 110, 111, 544, 545; in coal-mining, 529; in hardware trade, 522; in industry, 510 f.; in Middle Ages, 8; in silk and cotton trades, 517, 518, 519; in United States, 875, 879, 880; of Hugue- nots, 329; of railways, 826; predominance of, a modern feature, 12; scarcity of, 262, 263; sinking of, in factories, 691; sinking of, in railways, 826, 827; transference of, 9; want of, during Inter- regnum, 190 Capitalists, alien, 147,148, 324; and Armada, 146 n. ; and bad times, 50, 206, 507, 656; and Bank of England, 412; and cloth trade, 28, 503 f.; and colonial develop- ment, 342; and draining opera- tions, 118; and economists, 739, 740, 745; and Industrial Revolu- tion, 617,618; and landed interest, 12, 111, 160 m., 738, 843, 874; and Puritanism, 206; and rise in prices, 169; and taxation, 600; and Tories, 607; and wage-earners, 878, 879; growing importance of, 160; in agriculture, 12, 111, 558, 559, 844; in commerce, 9, 10; in cotton trade, 618; in industry, 11, 496 f.; in iron trade, 526 n. ; in recent times, 873 f.; in Tudor times, 50; oppression by, 664, 666; oppres- sion of, 663; in Rome, 4 n. ; pre- ponderance of, 738; supervision . by, 510; taxation of, 839. See also Cloth trade, Competition, Industry, Laissez faire, Landed interest Caps, 25 Cardigan, 40 m., 41 n. Cardiganshire, 3 n. Carding, 625 n. ; machines, 650, 651, 653 m. Carey, Sir G., 180 n. Carlisle, 133 m.; craft gilds of, 36; companies in, 305 Carlisle, Dean of, 858 Carlisle, Earl of, 332 m. Carolina, 198 n., 201, 332 n., 340 n., 341, 472, 474 n., 689 Carpet-weaving, 305 m. Carré, J., 56 Carriages, 539 Carron, 524 - Carrying trade, Dutch, 676 n. ; in war time, 680 f.; struggle for, 831. See also Neutral trading, Naviga- tion Acts Carthage, 675 m. Cartwright, Dr, 632, 651 Cary, Mr, 574, 676 Cash credits, 454 Castle Acre, 803 m. Catalonia, 369 m. Catharine of Russia, 670 Cathay, 259 Cattle, import of Irish, prohibited, 546; improved breeds of, 546; Scotch, 540 Cattle-breeding, 100 n., 103, 104 n., INDEX 1005 \ 546, 706, 844; improvements in, 551; in Ireland, 372 Caulfield, Sir T., 334 m. Cavendish, Mr, 591 m. Chadwick, E., 773 n. Chalmers, G., 660, 705 Chalmers, Dr, 806 n. Chamberlain, Mr J., 867 n. Chamberlayne, Dr, 452 Charles I., and Algerian corsairs, 174; and Committee of Trade, 902 f.; and corn trade, 98 ; and currency, 432; and drainage, 117, 118; and Eastern trade, 197 m. ; and enclosure, 557; and exchanges, 164; and industry, 203, 290, 305, 306, 307; and London, 21, 316 n., 320 ; and Merchant Adventurers, 230, 231; and Navigation Acts, 211, 359; and navy, 14, 172, 175; and patents, 288; and plantations, 342, 345 n., 356, 357, 359, 909; and Portuguese trade, 195, 197; and press-gang, 487 n. ; and revenue, 289; and salt, 309; and tolls at the Sound, 235; and trade, 176 n., 199; economic ideals of, 171; economic importance of, 403; finance of, 419, 420 m.; financial difficulties of, 170, 176, 411; trade policy of, 900 - Charles II., and commercial treaties, 197; and East India Company, 199; and expansion, 199; and free export of bullion, 432; and French trade, 458 m.; and Huguenots, 328; and industry, 308; and Ireland, 872; and Jews, 327; and planta- tions, 14, 198, 199; and Spanish trade, 196; character of, 22, 194, 195; colonial governors under, 198 n.; economic importance of, 403; finance of,420; financial difficulties of, 194; marriage of, 195; trade policy of, 913 f. Charles W., Emperor, 2 Charts, 489 Chatham, Earl of, 599, 600, 602 Chatham, workhouse of, 576 n. Cheshire, silk weaving in, 519 Chester, 25, 436 n., 505 m. ; and ap- prenticeship, 35 m.; and re-coinage, 133 m. ; navigation to, 488 Chetham, H., 622, 623 m. Chichester, 133 m. ; corn trade in, 544 Chichester, Sir A., 335, 361 n., 362 Child, Messrs, bankers, 534, 535 Child, Sir John, 265 Child, Sir Josiah, 265 and n., 312 n., 381, 404; and rate of interest, 384 Children, and calico printing, 639, 640; and parental tyranny, 779 m., 783, 784, 805; and power weaving, 632 n. ; and wool-combing, 651; education of, 752; in agriculture, 802; in domestic industry, 628 n., 779 m., 783 Children in factories, 628, 629, 630, 631 m., 752 n., 753, 776, 777, 778, 779, 780, 781, 782, 783, 788; hours of, 785 m. ; shifts of, 786 m., 789 Children in mines,804,805; neglected, 748 m. ; pauper, 772; protection of, 750, 785. See also Apprentices, Chimney sweeps Chili, 867 Chimney sweeps, 630 m., 775, 776 China, 259, 795 m., 818; methods of trading with, 819; trade to, thrown open, 820 Chippenham, 145 m., 656 n. Chocolate, 429 Cholera, 807, 808 Cholesbury, 767 Cinque Ports, 174 Cirencester, 646 Civil Service, Home, 886 n. ; Indian, 886 Civil War, and banking, 142; and break-down of poor relief, 563, 569; and commercial companies, 244 m. ; and drainage operations, 116; and fiscal system, 424; and linen trade, 370; changes brought about by, 202 f.; causes of, 170; disorganisation caused by, 176, 188, 189, 202 f., 249; distress caused by, 182 n., 183, 185 m., 190, 921 f.; interruption of coal trade, 527; supply of saltpetre during, 61; trade during, 182 n., 187 f., 195. See also Finance Clamdeboy, 124 Clapham sect, 749 m. Clarendon, Earl of, 198 n., 199, 200 m. Clark, J., 349 Clarkson, T., 607 Clayton, Sir R., 490 m. Clerk of the Market, 20, 94, 95, 205, 318 m., 707 Clerks’ Society, 735 m. Clive, 467, 468 n., 469 Clonmel, 374 Cloth, 196 n., 288 m. ; dressing of, abroad, 224 n. ; dressing and dye- ing of, 233, 234, 294; export of, 233, 235, 249; finishing of, 503 m.; for India, 267 n. ; licences to ex- port, 228 m., 233; sale of, 259; undressed, 224, 233; Welsh, 304 1006 INDEX Cloth-finishing, capitalistic organi- sation of, 511, 512; in West of England, 662; in Yorkshire, 662 : machinery for, 618, 661 Cloth Hall, 659, 778 Cloth manufacture, 160 m., 221 m. ; and aliens, 82, 83; encouragement of, 394 n.; in Holland, 231, 233, 234 m.; in Ireland, 375, 376, 377; in Portugal, 459; in West of Eng- land, 376; supervision of, 36 n., 96, 203 f., 296, 297, 298, 510 Cloth trade, 32, 49, 109, 900, 901, 903, 918, 924; abandonment of legal apprenticeship in, 659; aban- donment of regulations for, 658, 659, 661; abuses in, 204 n., 311 m., 312 n. ; and African trade, 274 n. ; and competing industries, 464, 465, 517,522; and farming, 565 p.; and Merchant Adventurers, 222, 224, 231 n., 232 and n. ; and power loom, 798; apprentices in, 31 n., 658, 659; capitalistic organisation of, 28, 499, 501, 502, 503, 504, 507 f., 614, 618; conditions pre- vailing in, 778; depressions in, 50, 507; description of,517 m.; disputes in, 507 n., 508, 509; distress in, 311 m.; districts of, 646; domestic system in, 499, 501, 502, 503; effect of machinery in, 625 n., 642, 650 f.; encouragement of, 503; in Ireland, 309 m., 368; introduction of machinery into, 650; inventions in, 502, 621 m., 650, 651, 652; Irish, 846; material for, 504, 649; see also Wool; migration of, 500, 615, 795, 799; of France, 252; paupers in, 766 n.; processes of, 650; slow progress of machinery in, 653; special features of, 643; statistics of, 929; trade-marks in, 311; West of England, 232, 244; West of England, decline of, 799; with France, 458; with Levant, 250; with Portugal, 459, 461 m.; with Russia, 241; Yorkshire, 40 m., 928 f. - Cloth trade, see also Capitalists, Col- chester, Companies, commercial, Devonshire, Eastern Counties, East India Company, Eastland Com- pany, Employers, Industry, Levant Company, Merchant Adventurers, Muscovy Company, Norwich, Plantations, Wool-weavers, York- shire Clothiers, 103 m., 109; and depres- sions, 221; and Interregnum, 190; and Irish cloth trade, 375, 376; and Merchant Adventurers, 222, 233; and searchers, 311 m.; and unemployed cloth-workers, 50 ; Irish, 377 m. ; training of, 650 m. Clothworkers, gild of, 497 m. Clothworkers’ Company, 511 Clough, R., 226 Clover, 546, 551 Clyde, navigation on, 489 Coachmakers, Society of, 735 Coal, as domestic fuel, 319, 527; as fuel in London, 527,906; control of output of, 530, 531 ; export of, 247, 527, legislation against, 319 m.; price of, 528 n., 529 m.; smelting with, 65 n., 294, 523, 524; social effects of, 615; statistics of output of, 530 m. ; surveyer of, 300; taxes on, 834. See also Smelting Coaling stations, 862 Coal-miners, 529 m., 531, 532, 803; Scotch, 531, 748 Coal mines, 678 Coal-mining, 803 m. ; improved ap- pliances for, 529 Coal trade, 247, 248 m., 489 m. ; dangers to vessels in, 527; dis- putes in, 528 n. ; early history of, 527 n. Cobbett, 697 n., 783 Cobden, R., 840, 869 Cockayne, Sir W., 175 m., 234, 294, 504 n. Coeur, Jacques, 251 Coffee, 429; houses, 492; taxes on, 834 n. - Coggeshall, 32 Cohong, 819, 820, 821 Coinage, and prices, 137, 167 n., 435; clipping of the, 432 n., 434; de- basement of, 130 n., 160 m., 432; free mintage of, 433; gold, 141, 438; gold, condition of, 137, 138; gold, export of, 139, 140 m.; in Eu- rope, 140; in Plantations, 140 m.; rating of, 138, 139, 140, 141, 433, 438 Coinage, restoration of the, and paper money, 440, 441, 442; commis- sioners for, 127; cost of, 130, 438; in sixteenth century, 127–136; in seventeenth century, 436–438 Coinage, schemes for amendment of, 435,436; silver, exportation of, 438; silver, scarcity of, 432; state of, in Seventeenth century, 434, 435 ; uniform, 7; variations in size of, 433 Coke, 523 m. Coke, Mr, of Holkham, 552 n. Coke, R., 187 Coke, Sir John, 335 m. Colbert, 207, 458, 540 m.; and Turkey INDEX 1007 trade, 252; economic policy of, 405; imitation of, 406 Colbertism, and Adam Smith, 594, 596; breakdown of, 583 f.; English, 403, 406 f.; Irish, 589 Colchester, 33, 204 m.; and aliens, 83; and fish days, 72 m. ; and re- coinage, 133 m. ; bays of, 311 n., 312 n. ; flying shuttle in, 502 m., 503 n. ; objections to machinery in, 625 m. ; poor in, 563 m. ; riot against cotton in, 517; Workhouse in, 574 Coleraine, 362 n. Collins, J., 310 m. Collumpton, 766 m. Colne, 646 Cologne, 147 n. Colonial Land and Emigration Com- mission, 861 Colomies, 16, 24, 866, 870 m.; ad- ministration of, 850–853, 862; ad- vantages of, 859–862; and capital, 858, 859, 861; and laissez faire, 850; and relaxation of Navigation Laws, 831, 832; and tariffs, 836 m.; and timber trade, 856 n. ; and Whig government, 22; convicts in, 348, 860; cost of, 850; develop- ment of, 852, 853; Australian, 646–649; disadvantages of, 850; government in, 885; indifference to, 850, 853, 861, 864; labour in, 879, 880; responsible government in, 862. See Durham, Lord, also Plantations Colonisation, systematic, 860, 863 Combe Martin, 3 Combinations, among calico printers, 642; and conspiracy, 757 n., 759; and Francis Place, 757 n. ; and Friendly Societies, 735 n.; and wages, 741, 758; early instance of, 514 m. ; legal status of, after 1825, 759; of masters, 510; of printers, 757; of shearmen, 602; of workmen, 508; prohibition of, 509; prosecutions of, 736, 757, 759 n. Combination Acts, 690, 732 et seq., 757 m.; and Radicals, 840; enforce- ment of, 736; repeal of, 756–759; repeal of, effect of, 759–762 Commerce, 21; and discoveries, 609; and laissez faire, 829 f., 838, 840 f., 867; change in character of, 2; changes in conditions of, 611 ; civic, 6; effect of wars on English, 669 f.; expansion of, 9; flourishing condition of, 678; foreign, and Corn Laws, 841, 842; in English hands, 75; freedom of, 829 f.; national, 5; new methods of, 9; procuring bullion by, 3; regulation of, to promote industry, 459; under Charles II., 22; under Whig ascend- ancy, 456–483; Walpole's aims with regard to, 429, 430 Commercial practice, changes in, 447 Commission, business on, 9 Commissioners, for Bankruptcy, 191; for English and Irish trade, 591; for Plantations, 343, 346 n. ; see also Appendix; for recoinage, 127; for Restraint of Grain and Victuals, 86, 707; for Union of England and Scotland, 417; for Virginia, 356; Naval, 172; of harbours, 66; of Sewers, 113, 114 and n., 115, 117 n., 119; of Trade, 175 n., 216, 289, 900, 901; on enclosing, 102; Poor Law, 772, 773, 802; special, for cloth trade, 297 m. Committee of Trade, 175, 199, 299, 904; constitution of Charles II., 200; functions of, 200; instruc- tions for, 900, 902; minutes of ; 904 f.; Sub-committees of, 200. See also Council of Trade Committee, parliamentary, on ap- prenticeship, 659; bullion, 699, 700, 701 m., 702, 703; on children in factories, 778 f.; on Combina- tion Laws, 757; on Education, 750 n. ; on enclosing, 711 ; on factory reform, 776–778; on food Supply, 706 f.; on free trade, 829 m., 836; on hand-loom weaving, 790 f.; on mining, 804; on Navigation Acts, 832; on Poor Law Reform, 720, 767 f.; on Poor Relief, 756, 766; on Sanitation, 808 ; on Transportation, 860 m.; on Wages Assessment, 635; on Woollen Manufacture, 650 n., 658, 661, 739 Common Council, 33 Common estimation, 875 Common informer, 20, 99, 777 m. Common-fields, 552; extent of, 55S ; disadvantages of, 552, 55.4 n. Commoners, and new husbandry, 555; and fuel, 571 m. Commons, and poor, 567, 568; de- struction of, 571; squatting on, 570 m. See also Enclosure Commons, House of, 21, 23, 403; and apprenticeship, 641, 659, 660; and assessment of wages, 639 m. ; and Charles I., 411; and cloth-finishing machinery, 661; and colonies, 850 m., 851, 852; and Combina- tion Laws, 733–735; and condition 1008 INDEX of miners, 803; and conditions of work, 811; and education, 750 m.; and encouragement of industry, 515; and framework knitters, 663–665; and hand-loom weavers, 800; and housing, 810; and in- troduction of machinery, 612; and Ireland, 372, 848, 849; and iron trade, 526; and laissez faire, 635–638, 737, 739, 740, 746; and Merchant Adventurers, 230; and Poor Law Reform, 771 m. ; and private interests, 18; and protection of industry, 516; and railways, 821, 822; and regulation of wages, 635, 733, 734; and Sup- pression of machinery, 652; and Union with Ireland, 591–593; and Union with Scotland, 415 f.; atti- tude towards capital, 739; bribery of, after Revolution, 404; control of administration by, 406, 409; control of expenditure by, 408; control of industry and commerce by, 22; control of public borrowing by, 410, 411; control of taxation by, 410; economic methods of, 409 ; enlargement of sphere of control of, 24, 413. See also Parliament Commonwealth, and Muscovy Com- pany, 240; Customs collection during, 407 n. ; disorder under, 21; failure of, 178, 179. See also Cromwell, O., Interregnum Commutation Act, 604 n. Companies, bubble, 446 Companies, commercial, 21, 214, 217–221, 239; at Restoration, 201; during Interregnum, 187; effect of throwing open, 611; local connections of, 242 f. See Merchant Adventurers, Muscovy Company, Eastland Company, East India Company, Levant Company Companies, eighteenth century, 447, 448; fishery, 483; for naval stores, 485 Companies, for plantations, 332 n., 352, 353; at Restoration, 201. See also Virginia Company, Plymouth Company Companies, industrial, 33 n., 35, 36, 205, 300, 303–305, 497 n. ; and aliens, 37; after Restoration, 201, 305 m., 321; decay of, 37, 322; framework knitters, 513, 514; during Interregnum, 305 m. ; re- vival of, 81 Companies, Insurance, 490, 491 Companies, Joiut-Stock, 215, 255, 256, 272, 279, 284, 816, 817; and outports, 249 ; for new trades, Companies, London, and aliens, 80, 81; and plantation of Ulster, 362, 364; financial transactions of, 148 Companies, Marine Insurance, 492 Companies, modern, for developing new lands, 821 Companies, regulated, 215, 216, 222, 223, 239, 255; and the outports, 249; decline of, 284 Companies, Steam-ship, 817 Company of Massachusetts Bay, 353 Company of Mines Royal, 60 Company of the Royal Fishery, 483 Company promoters, 874 Company promoting, 448 n. Competition, and wages, 639; effect of, on framework knitters, 667; foreign, 774, 775; in commerce, 611; freedom of, 619, 620, 660, 874,875 f.; in industry, 612; limita- tion of, 611; of plantations, and Ireland with England, 414. See Laissez faire Comptroller-General, 407 n. Connaught, 364, 365 Connecticut, 340, 353 Consolidated Fund, 424, 604 n. Constantinople, 251 Consuls, 215, 252 Consumers, 456; and Corn Laws, 730, 731; and Tariff Reform,837 m.; consideration of, by Tories, 601– 603 Consumption, encouragement of, 515. Continental system, 225, 683, 684; collapse of, 685; effect of, in France, 684 Contractors, frauds of, 180 Contractors of workhouses, see Work- houses and Poor Contractus trimus, 9 n. cºrtible husbandry, 100, 101, 110, 5 cºsts deportation of, 348, 860, 861 Convoys, 173 m., 174 n., 188 m., 189, 190, 195, 201 Cooke, Sir J., 572 Cooke Taylor, W., 628 n. Cookham, poor in, 767 Co operation, 752, 880 Copenhagen, 682 Copper, 60, 835 Copper-mining, 803 m. Copyholders, 107 Copyright, 321 m. Cordage, 236 m. Cordwainers, 36 n., 304 m. INDEX 1009 Cork, 330 n., 374, 379 n., 846 Corn, 8, 243 n., 247 n., and con- sumer, 85, 98; and producer, 85, 86, 98; and shipping, 16, 87; and sliding scale, 731, 842; and the poor, 51; and wages, 716 n., 717 m.; as a standard of value, 166–8 Corn, bounties on export of, 104, 541, 711 n., 726 ; on import, 708; on Irish, 582, 589, 590; result of, 541 Corn Bounty Act 1689, 104,409, 505, 541, 723, 730; and Ireland, 849; effect of on Ireland, 580 Corn, carriage of, 533, 537, 539 Corn dealers, 92, 93, 95, 97 Corn Duties, 85, 98, 540, 706 n., 724, 727, 868, 871; abolition of, 842; and weavers, 795 m.; economy of, 709, 710 m. Corm export, 11, 66, 85–91, 93 n., 98, 387, 540, 711 n., 724, 725; from Ireland, 580 m., 590; ces- sation of, 559, 730; restrictions on, 86, 89, 90; from India, 707 Corn, growing (eighteenth century), 551; import of, 91, 190, 675, 678, 707, 724, 725, 727, 729, 730; See also Food Supply; inspectors of, 706 n. ; internal trade, 92 Corn Laws, 724, 726, 728, 729– 731, 799 m. ; and consumer, 730, 731 ; and weavers, 841; attack on, 841; effect of, 841, 842; reasons for, 725, 726,729, 842, 843; repeal of, 731, 840 f. , 862, 870; repeal of, and Ireland, 845, 848, 849 ; repeal of, and landed interest, 844. See also Corn Bounty Act Corn, local variations in production of, 86; plenty of, 101 Corn, price of, 51, 166, 167, 687, 703, 704, 711 n., 728, 730, 731, 828; fixed, 569 m. ; fluctuations in, 559 Corn, registration of, 706 ; Scarcity of, 92 f., 101, 685 m., 704, 708– 710, 732; scarcity orders, 92, 93, 97, 98 m. ; supply of, 707, 708; town granaries, 90 Corn Trade, 85, 455; administration of, 88, 92, 94, 95, 96, 97; and railways, 814; and shipping, 729; Baltic, 675, 841, 844; Canadian, 707 n. ; changes in conditions of, 545; colonial, 831, 882; enterprise in, 544 n. ; European, 15, 87, 236, 237, 684, 707; Indian, 707; United States, 675, 707,844; stimu- lated by bounties, 409; to Spain, 63 Cornwall, 32; cloth trade in, 646; spinning in, 654 C.” Cornwallis, Lord, 469 m. Corporations, 322; Scotch, 324; trade, 328 n. See also Towns Correction, House of, 47 Corruption, 181; of administration, 180, 407; of Long Parliament, 182, 183 Corsica, 684 Cort, H., 524 Cosin, Bishop, 175 Cosmopolitanism, 871 n. Cost of production, see Machinery Cotterell, C., 303 n. Cottiers, 553 Cotton, carding machine for, 650 n. ; ; 624 n. ; meaning of the term, 22 Cotton, Sir R., 129,432 n. Cotton-Spinning, conditions of fac- tory, 780 Cotton Trade, and Factory Acts, 628 m., 630; capitalistic organiza- tion of, 517; conditions in, 565, 628 f.; see also Factories; dislike of machinery in, 622 n. ; early history of, 83, 622–624; effect of machinery on, 624, 625 m., 643; effect of power-loom in, 797; em- ployments im, 626; European, 83; expansion of, 624–627 m. ; fluctua- tions in, 625, 634; French, 684; introduction of machinery in, 620; inventions in, 621, 622; Irish, 591, 846; new men in, 618, 619;. opposition to, 517; riots im, 625; steam power in, 626, 627; wages, in, 633, 634, 636; weavers in, 626, 627 n., 633–639 Cotton, raw, enumerated, 472 ; in Corsica, 684; scarcity of, 686, 689; supply of, 603 n., 623 m., 624, 643, 673, 674 Cotton weavers, see Weavers Cotton-yarn, export of,626,634; effect of machinery on, 642, 690 Council of State, 14 Council of Trade, 196, 201 m. ; and free export of bullion, 432 ; Com- mittees of, 196 m., 198 m. ; in- structions for, 913 f.; minutes of, 915 f. See also Committee of Trade Courten, Sir W., 261 Coventry, 25, 68 n. ; and gilds, 36; and re-coinage, 133; companies in, 305, 322; and power-loom, 795 Cradocke, F., 442 n. Craft gilds, 10, 11, 26, 35, 36 n., 144, 286, 497 n. ; and wages, 39, 894 m.; decay of, 874; in Scotland, 323 p. Cranage, G., 523 Cranbrook, 500 m. 64 I010 INDEX Credit, 23, 149,413; growth of, 446, 447; misuse of, 447. See also IBanking, Bank Notes Cringlety, Lord, 323 n. Crises, 450–452, 559, 676, 691, 694, 823, 826, 828, 835; causes of, 690, 691, 825; in Scotland, 454, 455 Cromford, 621 Crommelin, L., 329 m., 330 m., 520 Crompton, S., 622 Cromwell, H., 348 n. Cromwell, O., 143, 178, 179, 183; administration of, 184,408 m. ; and Amboyna Massacre, 261 m. ; and Army, 185; and commercial Com- panies, 189; and drainage, 117; and East India Company, 261 n. ; and expansion, 193, 194; and export of corn, 540 m.; and French trade, 458 ; and Hispaniola, 336; and hostmen, 528 m.; and Ireland, 335, 348, 366 ; and Jews, 326; and local administration, 205; and Merchant Adventurers, 231 ; and Muscovy Merchants, 241 m. ; and Navigation Act, 210–212, 360; and Navy, 15; and parliamen- tary corruption, 181; and plan- tations, 198, 348; and Portugal, 197 m.; and trade, 188, 195, 196 n., 198; and tolls at the Sound, 235; Council of Trade of, 199; desire for treasure, 198 n. ; financial embarrassments of, 179; foreign policy of, 198 n. ; rewards obtained by, 185 Crow, S., 175 m. Crowland, Abbey of, 113; Abbot of, 114 n. Crown, and rise in prices, 170, 178. See Elizabeth, James I., Charles I., Charles II. Crown lands, 170, 410 Cuba, 855 Cuckney, 657 Culpeper, Sir T., 384 Cunard, Steam Ship Company, 817 Cunningham, A., 323 m. Cunningham, J., 363 Currency, difficulties in sixteenth century, 130 f., 431, 432; diffi- culties in seventeenth century, 431 f.; inconvertible, 694; see Sus- pension of Cash Payments; paper, 439, 825; principle, 825. See also Bank Notes, Coinage Curriers, 304 Customs, 170, 180, 184, 221, 296 m., 298, 327, 361, 457, 604 n., 688 n., 828, 838; and Burleigh, 56; and Commonwealth, 186; change in collection of, 407 n. ; diminution of by Navigation Acts, 359; farmers of the, 419, 420; loss of, 289, 293; parliamentary control of, 407; re- form of, 604 n., 836, 837; Scotch, 418. See also Book of Rates Cutler’s Company, 305 Cutlery, 25, 84 Cut-up work, 665 Cyfartha, 525 Cylinder printing, 640 Cyprus, 623 m. Dairy farming, 100, 546 n. Dale, D., 752 Dalrymple, J., 644 m. Dammum emergens, 386 Danes, 3 n. Darby, A., 523, 527 Darien Company, 267 Darien, isthmus of, 382 n. Darien scheme, 353, 415, 416, 418, 420 m., 453, 454 Darley, R., 182 n. Darlington railway, 812 Davenant, C., 401; and colonies, 598; and taxation, 541 m., 604; views of, 431 m.; writings of, on finance, 423, 425, 426 Davies, D., 655 Davies, Sir T., 335 Davis, J., 259 Debtors, see Bankruptcy Declaration Act, 471 m. Declaration of Independence, 583, 860 m.; causes of, 584 Declaratory Act, 589 m. Decker, Sir M., 427 m. T)edham, 32 Deeping Fen, 114 n. Defences, national, 13. See also Bur- leigh, Lord Defoe, D., 319, 462, 500, 517, 527; on poor relief, 474 T]emocracy, and administration, 886; and efficiency, 19, 214 n. Denmark, 867; and continental sys- tem, 683; and tolls at the Sound. 69, 234 m.; trade with, 234, 236; Treaty with, 197 Depopulation, 45, 88 m., 101 n., 102, 553 n., 897; and enclosure, 557. See also Enclosure Depression, see Trade, Landed Interest Terby, 25, 133 m.; silk throwing in, 519 n. Derbyshire, corn trade in, 92 Derry, 362 n. Desmond, Earl of, 122 Devas, Mr, 878 n. Devonshire, 27 n.,922; and Merchant. Industry, INDEX 10II Adventurers, 232 m. ; cloth trade in, 32 n., 232 m., 499 m. ; combina- tions in, 508, 509 m.; corn trade in, 86, 92; draining in, 111 m.; kerseys of, 654 m.; migration of cloth-workers of, 376; parish ap- prentices in, 803 m.; weavers of, 502 m. Derwentwater, Earl of, 487 Diminishing Return, 727 n. Discoveries, geographical, 2, 5, 9, 0 9 Disraeli, B., Lord Beaconsfield, 832 n., 841 n. Distilleries, 709 Distillers, 305 Distress, 182, 183 Dobbs, A., 283 Domestic system, 497, 498, 499. See also Industry Doncaster, power-looms in, 632 Dordrecht, 231 Dorsetshire, and allowances, 765; farming in, 731 m. Dover, harbour of, 67, 489 Dowlais, 525 Downham, 575 n. Down Survey, 366 n. Downing, Sir G., 184 n., 199 n. Downing Street, 850 n. D'Oyley, E., 198 m. Drainage, adventurers in, 116, 119 n.; fen, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119; improvements in, 844; in Devonshire, 111; in Hereford- shire, 111; inventions for, 119 m. Drake, Sir F., 79, 125 Drapers, 304 Drapery, new, 82. See Cloth Manu- facture Dressing-frame, 632 m. Drill, 551 Drogheda, 348 Droitwich, 77, 310 Drumsheugh, 331 m. Drunkenness, 71, 301, 302. See Ale- houses - Dublin, 374, 376, 378, 379, 885; breweries of, 590; coal supply of, 527 m.; combinations in, 736 m. ; Linen Hall, 522; prices in, 701; refugees in, 330 m. ; steam com- munication with, 815 Duckett, Alderman, 59 Dudley, D., 523, 610 Duncombe, S., 303 n. Dundalk, 330 m. Dundee, 454, 455 Dumfermline, 331 n. I)umkirk, 625 m.; cession of, 193; pirates of, 173; privateers of, 188m. Dunlop, W., 857 Dunning, Mr, 573 Dunster, H., 340 n. Dupin, M., 519 Durham, 101, 133 m. Durham, Bishop of, 522 n. Durham, Lord, 852 n., 862, 863, S64 Dutch, 14, 198, 201, 204 n., 215 m.; and African trade, 273, 274; and Baltic trade, 212, 213; and Eastern trade, 198; and English cloth, 190, 231, 233; and English East India Company, 261; and European corn trade, 236; and herring fishing, 483; and horticulture, 545 m. ; and loans, 148 m., 324; and Navigation Act, 210, 211, 212, 213, 359, 670, 831; and N.E. passage, 259 m.; and plantation trade, 212, 344 n., 360; and Portuguese trade, 195; and Russian trade, 240; and Span- ish trade, 188, 197; and sugar trade, 360; and tolls at the Sound, 235 m. ; and whale fishery, 484; capital invested in England, 324 m.; character of trade of, 676 m. ; cloth manufacture of,231.m., 233; colonies of, 360; corn trade of, 87, 236; decline of, 422 m. ; East India. Company of, 267 n., 270 m.; Eng- lish rivalry with, in fishing trade, 208 m., 483, 484; English trade with, 196; imitation of the, 206, 208, 209, 545; in South Africa, 853, 854; in the East, 332 m. ; introduction of new arts by, 331; linen weavers in Scotland, 331 m.; losses of, in war, 673. See Navi- gation Acts Dyeing, 224 m., 331 m.; silk, 300 Dyers’ Company, 321 Dyes, 274 Dymock, 545 m., 568 Dyson, H., 41 n. East Anglia, 764 East Friezeland, Earl of, 228 East India Company, 70, 197, 198 n., 200, 216, 218, 416 ; abolition of exclusive trade of, 261, 268, S18; administration of, 469, 470, 471; after Restoration, 199, 264, 265; after Revolution, 264, 267; and African trade, 273; and American privateers, 480 m. ; and bullion, 259, 260, 395 m. ; and Charles I., 261; and Charles II., 262; and cloth trade, 267 n., 503, 795 m. ; and colonists, 271, 587; and Cromwell, 198 m., 261; and Dutch, 257, 261; and English cotton trade, 624; and interlopers, 261, 264, 265, 266, 269; and James I., 64—2 1012 INDEX 261'; and private trading, 256, 263 m. ; and saltpetre, 61, 263; and shipping, 258; and steam- ships, 815; and Turkey trade, 254; and Whigs, 265, 406; as a political power, 262,467; as joint- stock company, 256; attacks on, 463, 464, 465; bills to regulate, 595 m. ; bribery by, 268, 404; business methods of, 468, 469; capital of, 257 m.; charters of, 262, 263 n., 267, 269 m. ; China trade of, 819, 820; creation of rival company, 268, 269; criticism of, 258, 259, 260, 262, 263, 264; de- fence of, 465; dissolution of, 821; dividends of, 267, 270 m. ; during Commonwealth, 189; exports of, 267; see Bullion; factories of, 257, 332 m.; formation of, 255, 257 m.; government control of, 470, 471; imports of, 263, 264, 464, 468; in- terest paid by, 385; loans to govern- ment by, 270, 466; opium trade of, 820; printed goods of, 464, 465, 640; reconstruction of, 271 ; re- strictions on, 465; Scotch, 267; servants of, 170, 256, 467, 468, 469; tea trade of, 818, 819; union of two companies, 269; want of capital of, 270 East India Company, Dutch, 267 n., 466, 469 m., 673; profits of, 270 m. East India Company, French, 466 m., 470 East India trade, capital in, 473 m. Eastbourne, poor in, 764 n. Eastern Counties and improved im- plements, 502; and machinery, 795; and silk trade, 795; cloth trade in, 646; decay of industrial prosperity of, 616; migration from, 500; spinners' wages in, 655; spin- ning-jenny in, 654 Eastland Company, 74, 189, 200, 219 n., 228, 234, 235, 236, 237,238, 239, 369 m., 902, 919; and Muscovy Company, 246 n. ; imports of, 236 n. ; local connections of, 242, 245 m., 246 n. Ecclesfield, 548 Economic doctrine, 380. See Political Economy Economists, and apprenticeship, 660; and chimney sweeps, 775, 776; and Combination Acts, 756; and Factory Acts, 750, 774, 775, 786 n., 789; and freedom for capital, 739, 740, 745; and human welfare, 746, 751 m. ; and laissez faire, 737, 739, 740; and poor, 567, 568, 569, 572, 573, 766; and rate of interest, 385; and revenue, 383; and usury laws, 384, 385, 386; and Wages Fund, 741; classical, 740, 741, 745, 878m.; seventeenth century, 381, 382 Eddystone, 488 Eden, Sir F., 166 Edinburgh, 323 m., 331 m.; aliens in, 521; combinations in, 736 m. - Education, adult, 750m.; and R. Owen, 752; grants, 750 m. ; movement for, 749, 750 Edward I., 7, 25 Edward VI., 129 Egypt, 815 Elbe, 228, 229 Elgin, Lord, 870 m. Eliot, J., 340 m. Elizabeth, a codifier, 7; and aliens, 79, 80; and centralisation, 25; and corn trade, 89; and draining, 113 n., 114 m. ; and Eastland mer- chants, 237; and Hanse merchants, 227; and Ireland, 122; and Levant Company, 250; and London, 314; and merchants of Antwerp, 227; and navy, 14; and Netherlands, 187; and new industries, 78; and patents, 288 m. ; and plantations, 125; and recoinage, 130, 136; and Spanish corn supply, 237; and Spanish treasure, 2 m. ; and state economy, 170, 171; and tolls at the Sound, 235 m. ; and trade, 75; financial transactions of, 147, 148 Elizabethan Era, characteristics of, 1, 20, 22, 23; commencement of modern times, 1, 5; prosperity of, 104 Elsinore, 235 m. Emden, 226, 227 n., 228, 229 m. ; and French trade, 682 Emigration, 126, 345, 346, 347, 348, 755, 756, 857, 858; convict, 860 : from Ireland, 848: of English ay tisans, 190, 231 m. ; pauper, 858 m.; prohibition of, 345 m., 587; pro- hibitions against removed, 756; Systematic, 860, 861; to Canada, 857. See also Convicts, Plantations Employer, advantages of, 499 Employers and cloth-finishing, 511; and Factory Acts, 777; and factory hands, 778, 781, 783, 784; and felt-makers, 512; and minimum wage, 635 m. ; and wages, 798 n., 799 n. ; combinations of, 510; de- cay of Small, 496; in agriculture, 544; in bad times, 50, 206, 507, 656; in cotton trade, 518, 627; in frame-work knitting trade, 513, 514; in silk trade, 518, 519; in tailoring trades, 512; new class of, INDEX 1013 618; small, 635, 667, 781, 782; Supervision by, 511, 512, 652 n., 792, 793. See also Capitalists Employment, age of, 776, 780, 787; agricultural, 557 m. ; and carding machinery, 650; and cylinder printing, 639, 640, 642; and emi- gration, 858 m. ; and fluctuations of trade, 49, 668; and wars, 669; change of, 31; choice of, limited, 30, 31; conditions of, 754 m. ; conditions of, reform of, 751; division of sixteenth century, 25; effect of foreign trade on, 396; effect of power-loom on, 632 n., 638 m., 639; in cotton weaving, 634, 635; increase of, and ma- chinery, 626; irregularity of, 666, 782, 794, 796, 797; length of, 29; loss of, and machinery, 650, 651, 654, 655, 661, 662, 794 n., 798; loss of, and wool famine, 654, 658, 662; of English artificers, 464; of poor, 46, 48; regularity of, 29, 565, 566; terms of, 37. See also Artisans, Children, La- bourers, Wages, Women Encouragement of agriculture, 87; of alien settlers, 83, 84; of fishing trades, 16, 72; of industry, 75, 76, 77, 78, 494, 515, 516; of Irish agriculture, 589, 590; of linen trade, 520; of shipping, 16, 73, 483, 484, 485, 486 Enclosure Acts, 555 n., 558 m., 711, 713, 725 Enclosure, advantages of, 387, 552, 558, 712; and depopulation, 88 m., 101 m., 102, 555 Enclosure for cattle breeding and tillage, 110, 551, 711, 712; and labourers, 564, 713, 714; and tithes, 561 n., 562; and wool supply, 644; expense of, 560, 561, 711, 728 m. ; methods of, 558 ; social effects of, 553, 713 Enclosure for sheep-farming, 45, 88 n., 101, 102, 103, 897, 898; and riots, 102 n., 118 m.; cessation of, 98, 101 Engels, F., 781, 807 England, advance of, in eighteenth century, 601,603 m., 610,928 f.; and colonies, 343, 344,882,885; see also Colonies, Plantations; and de- mocratic administration, 885, 886; and expansion, 336 f.; and Indus- trial Revolution, 617; and machi- nery, 609; and native races; see Native Races; and power, 876; and precious metals, 141; and recent developments, 875, 876; and Spanish silver, 2, 165; as a staple, 472; as a workshop, 494; attitude towards Ireland, 881, 882; See also Ireland; attitude towards Scotland, 881, 882; change in character of, 688, 729, 738; charac- teristics of rule of, 883; commercial Supremacy of, 678; contrast with the Roman Empire, 883, 884, 885; economic future of, 870; effect of Irish policy on, 378,379; exports of, 83 m., 213 n., 931; French attempt to ruin, 670 f.; historic sense in, 881; imports of, 225 m.; imitation of Dutch by, 206, 208; imitation of France by, 207; imports into, value of, 931; industrial supre- macy of, 674, 677, 679; maritime superiority of, 672, 673, 675, 680; See Navigation Acts; national policy of, 7, 13; prosperity of, 869; respect for human life in, 882, 883; Spanish attempt to ruin, 225, 237, 238; standard of com- fort in, 104, 855 m., 874, 880; statistics of progress of, 929 f.; wealth of, 673 m. Engrossers, see Corn dealers, Wool Ensigns, 366 Enterprise, 815 - Enumerated commodities, 472 Equitable Assurance Society, 493 m. Erskine, Lord, 321 m. Essex, 507; aliens in, 80; drainage in, 844; Earl of 64 n., 124; en- closures im, 552 n. ; price of pro- visions in, 707; workhouses in, 574 Estate management, 109. Tillage Evangelical revival, 749 Exchanges, 141, 148 m., 163 n., 164, 703 m., 827; and balance of trade, 400; and inconvertible paper, 699, 700, 701; and note issue, 702 m. ; report on, 177 n. Exchequer, closing of the, 420 Exchequer Bills, 420, 441, 442, 452, 696 Excise, 186 m., 208, 289, 308, 425, 426, 427; and Sir R. Walpole, 429, 430; on salt, 309 Exeter, 25, 312 n., 436 n., 505 m., 646; and re-coinage, 133 m., 135 m. ; banks of, 452; cloth trade of, 232 m.; Merchant Adventurers of, 243; workhouse in, 574 Exploration, 74 Exports, 83 n., 213 n. Extensive culture, 548 See also 1014 INDEX Faber, Dr, 541 m. Factories, advantages of, 792, 793; and railways, 813; and Steam power, 627; children in, 628, 629, 630; condition of, 778 f.; effect of reduction of hours, 789, 790 ; growth of, 792, 793, 794; hand loom, 792 n. ; bours in, 776, 780, 781, 782, 785, 787, 788, 789; inspection of, 631, 777 n., 787, 802 ; labour im, 626 ; model, 802 m. ; see also Owen, Robert ; morals of, 781, 783 n., 801 n. ; power-loom, 792 n. ; sanitation of, 801 m. ; shifts in, 786, 787; social effects of, 616 Eactory Acts, 608, 628 m., 630, 631, 776, 787, 788, 789 ; and mines, 805; and Robert Owen, 753, 754; and wages, 774, 775, 785 m. ; evasions of, 630, 777, 788, 789 ; objections to, 774, 775. See also Inspectors Factories, Merchant, 219, 224, 226, 228, 251, 257, 266 n., 273, 281 Faggots, 319 Falkirk, 418 Famine, see Corn, Scarcity, Ireland Fan-makers, 464 Fardinando, A., 326 Farmers, and tithe, 561 m. ; capitalist, 543, 544, 844 ; occupations of, 722; prosperity of, 546. See also Agriculture Farmers, Small, and enclosing, 560, 561; and Poor Law, 560; disad- vantages of, 542 n., 543, 544; dis- appearance of, 558, 559; hard lot of, 565 n. Farming, in the plantations, 345; speculative character of, 727, 728, 730, 731 Federation, 600, 870 m. Felt-makers, 512; Company, 512; supervision of, 515 m. Fencing, see Enclosure Fens, drainage of, 112 f.; see Drain- age; geese from, 539 Few, T., 272 n. Ffanshawe, T., 175 m. Fielden, J., 635 m. Finance, Commonwealth, 178, 179, 186, 424, 425 ; Dutch, 421 m., 422 n. ; expedients of Whig, 420 f.; new system of, 4, 419 f.; royal, 147, 176, 178, 419, 420, 424, 425. See also Bank of England, National Debt, Revenue, Sinking Fund, Taxation Financial Reform, 835 f. Sir R., Pitt, W., Walpole Finland, 882 See Peel, Fire Insurance, see Insurance Fire of London, 317 Firmin, 573 m. Fish Days, aims of, 67, 68, 69; burleigh's diet on, 72 m. ; dispen- sations of, 68 m. ; economy of, 72 ; increase of, 69; observance of, 68, 72 n. - Fish, salt, 68 n. Fishing boats, 67 m. Fishing trade, 15, 124, 146 n., 201 n., 209 n. ; and poor, 573 m. ; and seamen, 67 n., 483; bounties on, 410, 483, 484 ; companies for pro- moting, 483; condition of, 71 m., 483; Dutch, 483, 484; encourage- ment of, 72; Turopean, 67, 68 n., 71 m., 124, 483, 484; Irish en- couragement of, 591; off New- foundland, 124, 481 ; plantation, 481; Scotch, 418, 456 Fitch, 250 n. FitzAllwyn, H., 316 m. Fitzherbert, 110, 555 Five Nations, 588 - Flanders, 67, 232 n., 248 m., 545 m. ; leases in, 107 m. Flax, 237 n., 369, 370 m. Flax mills, 779 Fleet prison, 191, 192 Fleetwood, 166 I'leming, Sir T., 116 Flemings, 67 m. Fletcher, Governor of New York, 271, 272 m. Fletchers, 305 m. Florence, weaving trade in, 498 m. Florida, 125, 340 m. Fluidity of Labour, see Artificers, Statute of, Settlement Flying shuttle, 657, 795 m., 502; objections to, 502, 503 n. Foo-chow-foo, 821 Food supply, 675, 677, 690, 729, 730, 731, 742, 841, 843, 859, 869; and colonies, 859,862; and poor, 709m.; and riots, 704; civic, 6; deficiency in, 704, 705, 706, 707, 708, 709; during Napoleonic wars, 684,.685 m., 686; efforts to secure, 724. See also Agriculture, Corn Laws Forbes, Sir W., 455 Fordyce, Mr, 451 Eorest of Dean, 65, 523 Forestalling, see Corn dealers Forests, see Timber Fort Albany, 281 Forth, 814 Fortrey, S., 383, 387 Fox, C. J., 471, 595 n. Fox, G., 41 n., 44 Frame rents, 664, 665, 667 INDEX 1015 Framework Knitters, and truck, 664 n., 667; Company of, 663 ; distress of, 662 ; sweating of, 663, 664, 666,667; wages of, 663 m., 666 Framework knitting trade, capital- ists in, 513; deterioration of quality in, 664, 665; disputes in, 514; ex- port of frames prohibited, 513 m. ; history of, 513; inventions in, 663 m. ; migration of, 514; over- production in, 665 France, 7, 13, 194, 378, 391, 867; and Canada, 279 f.; see Hudson’s Bay Company ; and continental system, 684 f.; and English coal, 247, 248 n. ; and English East India Company, 467; and English industry, 676, 677; and Naviga- tion Acts, 474 n. ; and neutral trading, 671 m. ; and Treaty of Versailles, 673; and tolls at the Sound, 235 m. ; and United States, 669, 670, 674, 680, 681, 868; and West Indies, 279, 479; attack on English trade, 683; canals of, 532; capital of, and national develop- ment, 58 m. ; colonies of, 479, 681; colonial trade of, 679 m. ; com- mercial treaty with, 602; cotton manufacture of, 775; credit in, 450; economic policy of, 405; imi- tation of, 207, 208; King of, 144 n. ; legislation of, 409 m. ; loss through Huguenot emigration, 329 m. ; navy of, 173 m. ; Petty’s opinion of, 391; productive system of, 676, 677; recent policy of, 879; shipping of, 674, 679 m., 680; trade in war time,682; trade negotiations with, 461 France, trade of, and Tories, 600, 602, 603; with American plan- tations, 481, 482; with England, 186, 187, 243, 244, 458; with England prohibited, 414, 458, 462, 463; with England, results of, 392; with Turkey, 251, 252, 253 France, war with, 670 f.; Whig jealousy of, 406, 458. See also Colbert Frankfort, 224, 400 m., 856 m. ; weav- ing trade of, 234 Franklin, 868 Frederick the Great, 670 Freedom, economic, 286, 287. See Laissez faire Freeman, Alderman, 175 m. Free Trade, 405 m., 829 f., 845; and Europe, 869; and labouring classes, 880; failure of, in United States, 867, 868. See Corn Laws, repeal of, Navigation Acts, Tariff, Trade French immigrants, see Huguenots French in Canada, 862 Friendly Societies, 733 m., 734, 761 n., 880; and combinations, 735; and settlement, 755; in Newcastle, 735 m. ; membership of, 735 n. Frieze, Irish, 368 n., 377 n. Frome, 646, 667 m. Fuel, see Coal, Timber Fuller, T., 500 Fuller's earth, 504 n. Fulling mills, 615, 620 Funds, see National Debt Fur trade, 279, 280, 283, 856 n. Fustians, 622 n. Galt, J., 857 Galway, 335, 366 Gambia, 332 m. Gambling in stocks, 447, 448, 449 Ganging, 803 n. Gardening, 84, 545 m. Gardiner, S. R., 193 Gardner, R., 528 m. Geese, 539 General Order, 773 General Report on Enclosures, 560 m. Geneva, 155 - Genoa, 411; Bank of, 419 n. George III., and farming, 552 Georges, Ferdinando, 278 m. Georgia, 349 n. Gerbier, B., 411 n. Germans, 58, 79 ; and re-coinage, 129; and salt manufacture, 77; . armourers, 58 m.; as miners, 9 Germany, 880; and Poles, 882; English trade with, 227, 228, 229 ; mining in, 165; recent policy of, 879 Gibson, Bishop, 477 n. Gig mills, 295 m., 297 n., 661 Gilbert, Mr T., 578, 771 m. Gilbert, Sir H., 122, 124, 125, 382 n. Gilbert’s Act, 578, 719 Gild merchant of Newcastle, 247, 248 Gilds, see Craft gilds Gild system, 497 n. Gilpin, G., 228 Gisborne, Prebendary, 770 n., 803 n. Gladstone, Mr, 837, 839, 841 n., 865, 866 Glasgow, 454, 489; and steam power, 627; cholera in, 808 ; cotton weavers of, 736 ; crisis in, 452; growth of, 809 m. ; linen trade in, 331 m. ; poor relief in, 806 n. ; power-looms in, 632 Glass manufacture, 56, 76, 78, 84, 294 n., 321, 518, 583 n., 617 n. 1016 INDEX Glastonbury, 79, 80 m. Gloucester, 32, 507 n., 646; and re-coinage, 133 n. ; workhouse in, 574 Gloucestershire, 510; and assess- ment of wages, 639 n. ; carding machines in, 651; cloth trade of, 231, 658; clothiers in, 50 ; gig mills in, 661; hand-loom weavers in, 650 ; iron trade in, 525 ; machinery in, 749; power-loom in, 799; trade disputes in, 507 Glover, Sir T., 304 n. Goa, 197 n., 261 Godalming, 663 Godolphin, Lord, 269 Godwin, 750 m. Gold, 140 n., 274, 333 n. ; and prices, 872; discoveries of, 872, 873; in crease in demand for, 872; price of, 700, 703 m. ; rating of, 137 f., 438, 872; re-coinage of, 438. See also Precious Metals Gold Coast, 332 n. Gold coins, 137 f.; see also Guineas Goldsmiths, 8, 142, 143, 148, 160, 164, 320, 324, 420, 440, 455, 874; and re-coinage, 132, 183; frauds by, 304 Gold standard, 438, 439 Gold thread, 292 Gophor, Abdul, 266 Gorges, Sir T., 35 n. Goringe, Sir G., 175 n. Gott, B., 657, 661 Gottenburg, 682 Graham, Mr, 502 n. Graham, Sir J., 842 Granaries, 317, 318, 533, 544 n., 907 Grand Junction Canal, 535 Gramsden, 769 m. Grasses, 550 ; artificial, 546 Graunt, J., 388, 389, 390 Graziers, 16, 87 n., 102 n., 103 Great Yarmouth, 66, 489 Greenland Company, 416; see East- land Company Greenland trade, 187, 212, 241 n. Grenville, 698 m. Greenwich Hospital, 487 Gresham, Sir T., 1, 59, 130, 131 m., 145, 147 n., 148 m., 180, 224 Groselliers, 279 Grosseteste, R., 11 Guardians, 578 Guiana, 332 m. Guildford, 500 m. Guildry, 323 m. Guinea, 187, 272, 273, 361 n. Guineas, 274 m.; rating of, 438 Gun-making, 518 Gunpowder, 57, 60, 263,292 Haberdashers, 303 Hadrian, 884 Hagenbuck, C., 419 n. Hakluyt, 336 Hale, Sir M., 573 Hales, J., 87 Halifax, 313 n., 646; increase of population of, 322 n. ; wool supply of, 506 Hall, Hubert, 102 n., 200 n. Hall, R., 666 n. Hamburg, 74, 147, 226, 227, 228, 229; and continental system, 683; and French trade, 682; price of tea in, 819 Hamburg Company, see Merchant Adventurers Hampshire, clothiers of, 233; village life in, 722 n. Hammermen, 323 m. Hanway, J., 630 m. Hanse Merchants, 15, 74, 147, 220, 223, 224, 227, 228, 233 m.; and coal export, 248 n. ; and Merchant Adventurers, 74, 223, 224, 227, 228; and naval stores, 230; and Spain, 62, 63 Hanse Towns, and corn trade, 87 n., 91 m.; decline of, 235 m., 237 Harbours, repair of, 66; improve- ment of, 487, 488 Hardware, 25, 225, 522, 846; capi- talists in, 522, 526 m. ; difficulties of Smelting, 523 ; importance of, 729; progress of, 524. See also Iron Hargreaves, J., 622 Harman, T., 45 Harrington, J., 412 Harrison, Captain J., 174 n. Harrison, John, 489 Harrison, W., and price of corn, 167, 500 Hartlepool, 37 Hartlib, S., 568 Harvey, E., 182 Harvie, C., 175 m. Hatfield, 767 Hatfield Chase, 117 Hats, 283, 303; manufacture of 587 Hawkins, Sir J., 64 m., 172, 250 m. Hawksley, -, 652 Hawkwood, 2 n. Haworth, 646 Haynes, H., 433, 437, 440 Heacham, 717 Heale, Messrs, 451 Hearth Tax, 600 m. Heath, General, 332 n. INDEX 1017 Heath, Sir R., 419 n. Heathcote, 663 m. Heckling, 779 Hemp, 65 n., 237 n., 485, 486 Henrico, 339 Henry IV., 207 Hereford, 25; and re-coinage, 133 n. ; poor relief in, 574 Herefordshire, drainagein, 111,116m.; farming the poor in, 575 n. Herlle, W., 60 Hertfordshire, 574 m. Hewins, Prof., 43 n., 897 Hickson, Mr, 792, 805 Higham Ferrers, 40 m. Highs, T., 621 Hinds, Dr, 858 Hirst, Mr W., 618, 657 n., 661 Hispaniola, 336 n. Hobbes, T., 380 Hoby, Sir E., 298 m. Hochstetter, D., 59 Holbeck, 787 Holden, H., 158 Holdings, 498 m., consolidation of, 555 Holland, 6, 7, 231 n., 391, 396, 400 m., 442, 867; and corn trade, 15; and neutral trading, 671 m.; canals of, 532; cloth trade of, 920; decline of, 673, 675, 676 m.; domestic in- dustries in, 519 n. ; English cloth dyed in, 294; finance of, 421 m., 422 m. ; rate of interest in, 384; war with, 670, 674 Holyrood, Abbot of, 323 m. Homer, H., 537 Honduras, 332 n., 673 Bong-kong, 821 Hooghly, 257, 332 m. Hore, —, 272 Horsepacks, 539 m. Hosiery, see Framework knitting Hospitals, 52 Hostmen, 247, 248, 527, 528 Houblon, Sir J., 458 House of Commons, of Lords, see Commons, Lords House-painters, 304 Housing, 807, 809; Acts, 810; and poor, 763 n.; by building societies, 810; by municipalities, 809, 810 Howlett, Mr, 650, 716 n. Huddersfield, 646 Hudson's Bay, 332 m. Hudson’s Bay Company, 821; and emigration, 857; and French wars, 856; and Indians, 281, 856; at- tacks on, 283 ; Charter of, 282; monopoly of, 279; origin of, 279; princely patronage of, 280; profits of, 282 ; rivalry with the French, 280, 281 Huguenots, 33, 327, 495, 515; and calico printing, 517, 640; and limen trade, 519, 520, 521; and sail- cloth, 519; and silk trade, 516; assistance given to, 328; capital of, 329 n. ; English gain from, 330, 331; new industries started by, 329, 330; number of refugees, 328 m. ; settled in London, 330 Hull, 39, 47 n. ; and aliens, 81 ; and Eastland Company, 236, 238 m., 239, 242 n. ; and re-coinage, 133 m.; companies in, 35, 305, 322; cord- wainers of, 33; fish days, 73; fisheries of, 484; gilds, 36; Gold- Smiths’ Company, 36 ; harbour of, 489; Eastland Merchants of, 245 m.; Merchant Adventurers of, 245; merchants of, 186 m., 244 ; wages in, 40, 42 ; workhouse in, 574 Human welfare, 747, 811, 876, 877, 878, 879; and religion, 877 Humanitarian movement, 748, 749 Humboldt, 165 Hume, J., 757, 758, 783 Humphrey, W., 60 Hunslet, 625 m. Hunter, Colonel, 485 Huntingdon, 133 n., 646; riotsin, 687 Huntingdonshire, poor in, 709; spin- ning in, 655 n. Hutcheson, A., 449 n. ; and National Debt, 423 Huron, 857 Huskisson, Mr, 756, 812,835, 870 m. Hyde, 619 Hyde, E., see Clarendon Hythe, 36 Iceland, 484 m. Income Tax, 606, 834 n., 836, 838, 839, 841 m.; repeal of, 835 Independents, 184 Index numbers, 942 India, 250 m., 873; abolition of East India Company, 821; Civil Service of, 886; corn from, 707, 873; steam communication with, 815, 817. See also East India Company Indian corn, 708 n., 847 Indians, 883; in Canada, 281, 856 Individualism, 595 Industrial Revolution, 10; advan- tages of, 617; aggravations of, 668 f.; and by-occupations, 721; and capitalists, 617, 618; and migration of industry, 616; and poor relief, 563; and population, 704; and workers, 802; causes of, 610, 611; changes brought about by, 613, 614; social effects of, 615, 616, 617; suffering caused by, 617; universal importance of, 609 1018 INDEX Industry, and French trade, 458; and House of Commons, 404 ; and |Manchester School, 620; and pa- tents, 76, 77, 78, 79 ; and planta- tion trade, 471; and trusts, 875; breakdown of restrictions in, 612; breakdown of supervision, 203, 204 . Industry, capitalistic, 10, 11, 32, 507; advantages of, 499; growth of, 496, 497, 498, 510, 511, 512, 514; organisation of new trades, 517, 518, 519 Industry, decline of, during Inter- regnum, 190, 192, 193 m. ; de- terioration of quality of, 204, 311; development of native, 75 f. Industry, domestic, 5, 498; advan- tages of, 498; and cloth finishing, 511, 512; and inventions, 653; and sanitation, 801 m. ; character of, 501; children in, 628 m. ; decay of, 497, 499, 518, 614, 722, 791; disadvantages of, 505, 506; inde- pendence of, 501, 502 Industry, economic opinion concern- ing, 392, 393; effect of commerce on, 396, 397, 398; effect of wars on, 669, 672, 673, 689; encourage- ment of Irish, 591; expansion of, 618 ; French, 207; French attack on English, 677; TIouses of, 719 m.; improved implements in, 502; lightening of fiscal burdens on, 428, 835; limitations on expansion of, 495; machinery in, 609 f.; medieval, 5 ; migration of, 11 m., 500, 501, 615, 627, 655; motives for regulation of, 291, 292, 293, 294; national regulation of, 5, 26; new branches of, 76, 77, 78, 82, 83, 84, 330, 331 n., 495, 515, 516, 517, 519, 520; new processes in, 295; oppression of capitalists in, 513; protection of, 25, 393, 406, 458, 463; raw materials for, 835, 836, 869, 870 Industry, regulation of, after Restor- ation, 22, 309, 310, 321 ; after Revolution 1689, 22 ; by Stuarts, 20, 21, 285, 290; by Whigs, 456, 457, 458, 459 ; under Elizabeth, 20 Industry, rise of captains of, 618 Industry, supervision of, by com- panies, 300, 303, 304, 305; by employers, 499 m., 511, 512, 652; after Restoration, 308; by officials, 207, 296,297, 298, 299, 300; under Privy Council, 207, 296,297 Industry, supremacy of English, 676, 677, 678, 679; Tory attitude to- wards, 600, 601; triumph of capital in, 614; Whig attitude towards, 494; Whig policy concerning, 405, 515. See also Aliens, Cloth, Cotton, Laissez faire, Linen, Machinery, Paper, Silk Innocents, 366 Inspectors, 510, 802; of corn, 706 n. ; of factories, 787, 788; of mines, 805; Poor Law, 773; Sanitary, 809 Insurance, 145, 146; curiosities of, 491 m. ; fire, 490, 491 m.; life, 490, 493 Insurance, marine, 146, 489; early history of, 489 m.; in war time, 672; Lloyd's, 492, 493; rates of, 489 m., 490 m. Internal communication, 532 f. ; Irish, 590. See also Canals, Rail- ways, Roads Interest, breakdown of restrictions on, 8, 9; rate of, 151, 153, 209, 262 n., 394, 395 ; rate of, reduced, 384; rate of, conditions governing, 385. See Usury Interlopers, 10, 216, 222, 228, 229, 239, 242, 244, 261, 265, 266, 275, 286, 611 ; and Commonwealth, 189 ; in plantations, 351 n. Interregnum, and East India Com- pany, 261; bankruptcy during, 191, 192, 193 m. ; decay of trade during, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 193 m., 921 f.; finance of, 179, 180, 186; freedom of trade between Scotland and England during, 417; industry during, 190, 192; shipping during, 188, 189. See also Commonwealth, Cromwell, O. Inventions, for cloth finishing, 661; for drainage, 119 n. ; for power spinning, 657; for weaving, 632; for Wool-combing, 651, 652; in cloth trade, 650; in cotton trade, 620, 621, 622; in iron trade, 523, 524; in wool trade, 621 m. See also Carding, Cloth Trade, Cotton Trade, Cylinder printing, Dress- ing-frame, Employment, Flying shuttle, Fulling mills, Patents, Power-loom, Wages, Wool-combing Ipswich, 228m., 330, 488; and loans, 145; and re-coinage, 133 m.; organi- sation of cloth trade in, 511, 512 Ireland, 22, 23, 24, 134, 198, 346, 360, 855 m. ; administrative cor- ruption in, 408 m.; after Restor- ation, 367, 368, 372; agricul- ture in, 580, 581, 582, 847, 848, 849; and Cromwell, 348; and free INDEX 1019 trade, 845, 846, 847, 848, 849; and internal communication, 590; and James II., 367; and Man- chester, 623 m.; and Navigation Acts, 373; and Strafford, 365, 368, 369; aulnager in, 375; Bank of, 701; cattle-breeding in, 372, 373; cloth manufacture in, 368, 369 m., 374, 375, 376, 377, 379 n., 846; cloth manufacture of, re- strictions on, 369, 376; cloth manufacture in, supervision of, 296 m.; commercial disabilities of, removed, 589; competition of, with England, 414; condition of, after Union, 845, 846, 847; condition of, xv.1. century, 120, 121; de- pendence of, 843 m.; destruction of timber in, 525, 583; develop- ment of, 849; during Interregnum, 365, 366; effect of French wars on, 846, 847; effect of restrictive policy on, 378, 379, 582, 583, 586; efforts to assimilate,881; emigrants to, 374; encouragement of agricul- ture in, 589, 590; encouragement of industry im, 591, 592; export of wool to, 645, 646; famine in, 832, 842, 847, 848; farming in, 847 f.; Huguenots in, 329, 330; insecurity of tenure in, 362; laissez faire in, 848; linen manufacture in, 330, 369, 370, 496, 520, 846; native problem in, 361; objection to machinery in, 846; Petty’s opinion concerning, 390; pig iron in, 525; plantation of, 122, 123, 124, 334, 335, 364, 368; prohibition of glass manufacture in, 583 m.; reasons for planting, 334, 335 Ireland, restrictions in, motives for, 370 f.; on cattle trade of, 372, 373, 546; on export trade of, 373, 376, 546; linen trade of, 521, 522; victualling trade of, 373 Ireland, settlers in, 362, 363; silk manufacture in, 846; smelting in, 583; subjection of, 335; tobacco in, 292, 357; trade of, with France, 378, 414, 582 n., 591; trade of, with plantations, 474 n., 582 n., 589 m. ; union with Great Britain, 591, 592, 593; victualling trade of, 373, 582; wool of, 373, 378,495 m., 505. See also Strafford, Earl of Ireton, H., 185 m. Irish, deportation of, 366; native, 362, 363, 364; weavers, 794, 797 Iron, first bridge of, 523; import of pig, from Ireland, 525, 583; import of pig, from plantations, 526; im- port of pig, from Sweden, 525; increase of production of, 524; invention of puddling, 524; mi- gration of the trade, 525; smelting of, 64, 65, 523, 524; statistics of manufacture, 930; steam in manufacture of, 525; transmuta- tion of, 58; use of rollers in manufacture, 524. See Mining Iron trade, capitalists im, 526 m., 617; in plantations, 526; super- vision of, 300 Irwell, 533 Isle of Wight, alum in, 293 m.; house of industry im, 576 n. ; poor in, 764 Ives, Miss, 653 m. Ivory, 274 Jackson, G., 245 Jacob, A., 175 m. Jacob, W., 165 m. Jamaica, 198, 332 m., 474 Jambee, King of, 264 n. James I., aims of, 881; and admin- istrative corruption, 180; and aliens, 83; and cloth trade, 233, 234; and committee for trade, 1991). ; and drainage, 117; and East India Company, 257 n., 261; and enclosing, 98, 557; and industry, 203; and Ireland, 361; and London, 316, 317; and Navigation Acts, 210; and out-ports, 245 m. ; and plantations, 342, 356, 885; and tolls at the Sound, 235 m.; policy of, 171, 172, 900, 901 James II., 14; and Huguenots, 329; and Ireland, 367 Jamestown, 338 m. Japan, 258 Jefferson, T., 867, 868m. Jehamgir, 266 n. Jenkinson, A., 250 Jennies, see Spinning-jenny Jesuits, 341 Jevons, Prof. Stanley, 870 m. Jews, and Charles II., 327; and Cromwell, 326; and Parliamentary party, 325; and plantation trade, 360 m.; hostility to, 326; lines of trade open to, 327; naturalisation of, 254; Petty’s opinion of, 386; Spanish, 325, 326. See also Mar- l’8,11OS John IV., 197 n. Johnson, J., 228 m. Johnson, S., 607 Johnson, T., 632 m. 1020 INDEX Joint-stock Companies, XVII. century, 215, 249, 255, 256, 272, 279, 284, 518, 874; xIx. century, facilities for forming, 816, 817; for banking, 824; for railways, 821 f.; limited liability of, 817 Jones, Paul, 494 n. Joplin, Mr, 824 n. Journeymen, 32, 109; abandonment of statutory regulation of, 641; in calico printing, 640, 641, 642 n. Jubilee, 861 Julian, 884 Justices of the Peace, after Restora- tion, 203, 205; and alehouses, 302 n. ; and allowances, 656, 718; and clerk of the market, 95; and cloth trade, 311 n., 510; and corn, 88, 97 n., 545, 706 n. ; and emigra- tion, 346 n. ; and Factory Acts, 631 n. ; and fish days, 72 n. ; and friendly societies, 735; and local administration, 20, 21, 53, 105 m., 112; and poor relief, 46, 48, 50, 52, 578, 768, 769, 770; and prices, 137, 170 ; and re-coinage, 132, 134 n. ; and regulation of wages, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 509; and regulation of wages, XVIII. century, 635, 636, 637, 639; and roads, 535; and scarcity orders, 93; func- tions of, 105, 112; importance of, 53, 112; in Berkshire, 656, 718; in Devonshire, 48; in Norfolk, 48 Kaffirs, 853 Kay, J., 502, 621 n., 625 m., 632 n., 650 n. Keswick, 59 Keighley, 646 Kemp, J., 498 Kendal, 646; machine spinning in, 654 Kent, 27, 32 n., 507, 923; aliens in, 84; clothiers of, 233; enclosures in, 552 n. ; iron trade, 65; wood from, 319 Kettering, 565 Kidd, Captain, 408 Kidderminster, carpet weaving in, 305 m.; cloth trade in, 646; fac- tories in, 781 n.; strike in, 761 Kidnapping for plantations, 349 Kilkenny, 330 m., 366 Killigrew, Sir W., 420, 439 Rillingworth, 812 King, Lord, 703 n. King's Lynn, 46 Ringston-on-Thames, 68 m. Einsale, 374 Labouchere, Mr, 832 Labour, employment for, 391, 392, 393 ; importance of, 494 ; in colonies, 879, 880; in Europe, 879, 880; in United States, 879, 880; rate, 765; welfare of, 877, 878, 880, 881 Labourers, and by-employments, 565; and rise in prices, 169; condition of, in XVIII. century, 564, 565; Elizabethan attitude towards, 563; for plantations, 347, 349; idleness of, 566 ; in plantations, 350 ; mi- gration of, 557 n. ; unemployed, 7 Labourers, agricultural, 29 ; and allowances, 638 m., 718, 719, 720, 721; and bank restriction, 700; and by-occupations, 721, 722; and en- closure, 557, 558, 713, 714, 715; and poor relief, 569; condition of, 107, 108 ; degradation of, 765, 766, 770 m. ; distress of, 687; habits of, 722 m. ; in Norfolk, 803 m.; in Northumberland, 803 n.; standard of living of, 855 m.; train- ing of, 30; wages of, 633 m., 716, 717 Labourers Friend Society, 713 n. Lace making, 84, 331 m. ; see Frame- work knitting Ladrones, 820 m. Lagos, 332 n. Laird, Messrs, 832 Laissez faire, 12, 19, 205, 214, 380, 601 ; advantages of, 688; and apprenticeship, 641, 659, 660; and artisans, 612; and Charles I., 18; and combination laws, 734; and emigration, 756; and hand- loom weavers, 790; and House of Commons, 635 m., 636, 637, 638, 739; and Ireland, 848; and power, 876; and wool-combing, 652; era of, 609 f.; exponents of, 737, 738; in colonial policy, 850; in commerce, 829 f., 838, 840; in commerce, wisdom of, 869; reaction from, 747, 748, 790, 806, 865, 866; reaction from, and rail- ways, 822; reaction from, in Ire- land, 848, 849 Lambe, S., 442 Lancashire, calico printing in, 640; cotton trade of, 622, 623 m., 624; employers in, 618; linen trade in, 369 m. ; mule in, 653 m. ; out-door relief in, 765 m. ; riots in, 625; weavers of, 635, 636; workhouse in, 575 Lancaster, and re-coinage, 133 m. ; and slave trade, 477 Land, Australian, 647, 648, 861 INDEX 1021 Land, as a basis for credit, 452 n. ; as an investment, 110, 111, 342; drainage of, 111, 112–119; manage- ment of, 109; taxation of, 426 Land Bank, 421, 452 Land Tax, 430, 431, 541m., 604, 834 m. Landed interest, 160, 386, 412 n., 457, 465, 495, 839; and absentee- ism, 104, 105; and agricultural improvements, 110, 111, 542, 543; and artisans, 762 ; and Bank of England, 421; and capitalists, 111, 607,843,874; and Cornbounty Act, 541; and Corn Laws, 724, 725, 726, 728, 730, 731 ; and discoveries of gold, 873; and discoveries of silver, 169; and export of wool, 505; and factory reform, 608, 802; and fall in prices, 873; and French wars, 727, 728; and internal com- munication, 538, 539; and Irish competition, 372, 580, 582; and iron smelting, 526 n. ; and local government, 111, 112, 203; and plantations, 119, 120; and poor, 766 n. ; and railways, 814; and re-coinage, 542 m. ; and rents, 12, 111 ; and steam ships, 815; and tariff reform, 837 m. ; attack on, 837 n., 840 f.; decline in import- ance of, 729; depression of, 844, 845, 873; depression of Irish, 845 ; in Virginia, 355 ; legislation in favour of, 386, 387; prosperity of, 104, 105; taxation of, 841 n. ; see also Land Tax; Tory policy towards, 598. See also Justices Landlords, and tenants, 107; Irish, 12]. See Landed interest Langhan), 32 Langton, B., 607 Las Casas, B. de, 475 Latten, 78 Laud, Archbishop, 909; aims of, 881; and patents, 288 Launceston, 133 n. Law, John, 450 Lawrie, Governor, 359 m. Lead, mining, 3 n., 60, 803 m.; surveying of, 299 Leases, 107 n. Leather manufacture, 304 Lechdale, 533 Lechford, T., 340 m. Lee, Mr W., 76 n., 610 Leeds, 313 m. ; banking in, 824; cloth trade in, 646 ; combinations in, 662 m. ; machinery in, 650; ob- jections to machinery in, 625 m. ; power-loom in, 798 ; shearing frames in, 661; Strike in, 760 Leicester, 25, 551; and re-coinage, 133 n., 135 n. ; fish days, 72 n. ; framework knitting in, 514, 663; poor in, 47 n. ; Earl of, 58 Leicestershire, and enclosures, 102, 557; framework knitting in, 665; linen trade in, 369 m. ; poor in, 766 n. Leigure, Sir S., 175 m. Leipsic, 856 m. Leland, 500 Lennox, Duke of, 297 Lenthall, Sir John, 191 Lenthall, W., 182, 183 n. Leominster, carding machinery in, 650 Leonard, Miss E. M., 38 n., 44 Letterkenny, 590 m. Levant Company, 148 m., 189, 200, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 464 n. ; and cotton trade, 623 m. ; criticism of, 253 ; incorporated, 75 Levant trade, 197 Levi, Professor, 812 Lewis, Sir I. F., 773 n. Lewis, M., 419 m. Licences, corn export, 85, 87; for cloth export, 228 m., 233; for corn export, 92, 98 ; from Napoleon, Lichfield, 25 [685 Life annuities, 493 m. Life insurance, see Insurance Light-houses, 488 Lilburn, J., 117, 185 m. Limerick, 367, 369 m., 374 Limited liability, 274 m., 817 Lincoln, 133 Lincoln, Earl of, llê n. Lincolnshire, 113; and fish days, 72 m.; drainage in, 115, 116, 117 m.; wages in, 40, 509 m. ; workhouse in, 575 m. Lindsay, P., 529 Linen, burying in, 393 m. ; Dutch, 676 m.; export of, 521, 846; import of, 459 m. Linen manufacture, 82, 237 m., 329, 330, 519; and bounty system, 409; and new inventions, 625 m. ; and poor, 573; conditions in, 779; en- couragement of, 516, 520, 521; establishment of, 496, 519 ; in England, 369 m., 519 m.; in Ireland, 369, 370, 496, 520, 522; in Scot- land, 520, 521 Linen yarn in cotton manufacture, 517, 624 Linlithgowshire, 500 Lisbon, 682 - Lisburn, 329 n., 330 m. and drainage, I022 INDEX Littlington, 769 n. Liverpool, 505 m. ; and slave trade, 477; banking in, 824; railway, 812 Liverpool, Lord, 438, 823 m. Llanidloes, 763 m. Lloyd, E., 492 Lloyd’s Coffee House, 492 Lloyd’s List, 492 Loans, 144 m., 145, 146, 147, 148, 151,152; in anticipation of revenue, 9, 419, 420; to Government by East India Company, 268, 270, 466 n. ; to princes, 8, 147, 420 m. Local Government Board, 773 n., 809 Locke, J., 319 n., 380, 381, 385; and coinage, 436; and poor relief, 573; opinions of, concerning interest, 394; opinions of, on taxation, 426, 541 m. Lombe, Sir T., 519 n. London, 225, 347, 390, 437; aliens in, 33 m., 79 n., 80, 81, 324, 325; and Eastern trade, 75 ; and fire insurance, 490; and fish days, 72; and free trade, 829, 830 ; and Hanse merchants, 223, 227; and joint-stock companies, 249; and life insurance, 490, 491 m. ; and planta- tion of Ulster, 362; and poor, 47, 48; and press-gang, 488 m. ; and re-coinage, 131, 132 ; and slave trade, 477; apprenticeship in, 30, 31 m., 34 n., 126; as a financial centre, 148, 159, 160, 450, 873; Assurance Corporation, 491, 492; banking in, 148, 150, 824; bricks for, 305 m. ; building regulations for, 316, 317; calico printing in, 640; cloth finishing in, 511; com- binations in, 736 n. ; commercial pre-eminence of, 249; companies and patentees, 305 m. ; companies and royal officials, 320; condition of, under Stuarts, 313, 314, 315, 316; corn supply of, 51, 86, 97, 318, 544 m. ; decay of trade in, 923, 927; felt-makers in, 512; food supply of, 315, 316, 317, 532; framework knitters in, 513, 514, 663; fuel supply of, 319, 527, 528 m. ; goldsmiths of, 142; see Goldsmiths; government of, 320 ; growth of, 501; growth of, forbidden by proclamation, 314, 315; growth of, predicted, 391; Huguenots in, 330; importance of, 312; increase of shipping at, 213 m.; industrial freedom in, 324m. ; Jews in, 326; loans from city of, 147, 148; merchant companies, 223, 242, 249 ; merchants of, and American plantations, 126, 337, 342, 346, 347; Merchant Taylors, 33; orphans of, 151, 152 n., 154 n. ; overcrowding in, 346; plague in, 315, 316 ; political power of, 21, 160, 161, 313; potteries in, 84; rebuilding of, 324, 342 m. ; riot of weavers in, 507; silk weaving in, 519; soap companies in, 306, 307; statistics of, 388 ; steamship companies, 817, suburbs of, 322; supervision by companies in, 35 m., 304; surveyor of coal in, 301 n. ; tailors of, 512, 513; upholsterers, 36 n. ; wages in, 38 m., 40, 41, 43; Walpole's aims regarding, 430; water supply of, 315 n. ; weavers of, 466; work- houses of, 576 n. - London and Westminster Bank, 824 Londonderry, 362 Long Acre, 330 Long Island, 332 n. Long Parliament, 181; and Ireland, 365, 366 ; corruption of, 182; finance of, 178, 179, 420, 425 ; inefficiency of, 178 Longitude, discovery of, 489 Lopez, R., 325 n. Lords, House of, and Merchant Ad- venturers, 230; and Ireland, 372 Ilords Commissioners for Planta- tions, see Commissioners Lotteries, 383, 696; for harbours, 66; government, 448 Lowell, T., 114 n. Lowndes, W., 435 Tuubeck, 683 Tuddites, 662, 663 n., 690 Lumber, see Naval Stores, Timber Lynn, colliers of, 527 m.; workhouse in, 574 Lytton, Sir E. B., 839 Macarthur, Capt., 647–649 Macarthur, Miss E. A., 39 m., 40 n., 41 n., 43, 928 Macchiavelli, 2 n. Macclesfield, 795 McCulloch, J. R., 756, 757 n., 758 Machinery, adoption of, in cloth trade, 649–662; and artisans, 614, 615; and capital, 691; and cost of production, 640, 650, 651, 657, 663 m. ; and employment, 626; and factories, 616; and hand-loom Weaving, 791; and steam power, 626, 627; and wages, 794 m.; and Wages fund, 741, 742; attempt to Suppress, 652; effect of, in cotton INDEX I023 trade, 624; effect of, on the pro- duct, 642; export of forbidden, 513; for carding, 621; for cloth finishing, 661; for roller spinning, 621; for silk throwing, 519; for wool combing, 651; importance of, 609; in calico printing, 639, 640; in worsted manufacture, 651 ; in- troduction of, 610, 620; limitation of, 800; meaning of, 613; objection to, 795 m.; objection to, in Ireland, 846 n. ; prohibition of, 295, 612; riots against, 622 n., 625, 650, 654, 661, 662, 663 m., 795 Mackworth, Sir H., 449; and poor relief, 574 * Madder, 504 m. Madras, 257, 332 n. Magdeburg, 97 Maidstone, 84 Maine, 353 Maize, 708 Majors-General, 179, 205 Malt, 289 Maltsters’ Society, 735 n. Malthus, 737, 858; and allotments, 715 m. ; and poor, 743; 'effect of doctrines of, 745; followers of, 744; theory of, 742 f. Malynes, G., 160 m. ; and banking, 148; and exchanges, 164 Manchester, 83, 313 n., 369 m., 507 n., and Factory Acts, 630; and steam looms, 632 m. ; and steam power, 627; calico printers in, 642 n. ; canals to, 532, 534; cholera in, 808; cotton trade of, 622, 623; education in, 752 n. ; factories in, 628; growth of, 809 n. ; housing in, 807; population of, 807; power looms in, 632; railway from, 812; silk trade in, 795 Manchester School, 496, 619, 620; criticism of, 738; relation to Adam Smith, 595 n. Mandevile, Lord, 901 Manley, T., 384 Mansell, Sir R., 172 Mansfield, 44, 896 Manufacturer, early meaning of the term, 510 m. Manufacturers and paupers, 766 n. Manufactures and increase of poor, 577, 578; see Industry Manures, 545 Marcus Aurelius, 884 Marine Insurance, see Insurance Market Harborough, 646 Markham, 545 m. Maryland, 211 m., 212 n., 332 m., 340 m., 341 213 m., Marl, 545 m. Marranos, 325–327 Marseilles, 252 n. Mary, Queen, 147 Masons’ Society, 735 m. Massachusetts, 340, 353, 585; and wages, 44 Massie, J., 577, 929 Masts, 485, 486 Medway, improvement of, 533 Melbourne, Lord, 759 Memel, 856 n. Menzies, M., 529 Mercantile marine, see Shipping Mercantile system, 12, 16, 18, 23; and Whigs, 19; see also Whigs; abandonment of, 829, 843, 865, 866; break-up of the, 583 f.; economists’ attack on, 593–596; success of, 601 [401 Mercantilists, 177, 380 m., 394, 395, Merchant Adventurers, 10, 73, 128 m., 134 m., 200, 216, 218–227, 232, 294, 353 m., 916, 919; and cloth manu- facture, 232, 233; and German trade, 228, 229; and Newcastle Company, 248; attacks on, 229, 230–232; charter abrogated, 233; critics of, 230 m.; during Inter- regnum, 189 and n. ; fines of, 231, 232; local connections of, 244– 246; monopoly of, 228, 229, 231 n., 233, 240; of Exeter, 243, 24.4; of Newcastle, 246, 248, 249; renewal of charter, 234; rules for purchas- ing cloth, 231 m. ; supporters of, 230 m. ; transference of factory, 74 Merchants, and rise in prices, 169; as landowners, 106,342. See Capi- talists, Commerce, Companies, Trade Merino sheep, 646, 647 Mersey, 534 Methuen Treaty, 459–461, 503 : see. also Portugal Methwin, P., 498 m. Methwold, 197 m. Mexico, 8, 165, 474, 823 Middleburg, 229 Middlesex, 575 m.; Wages Assess- ments, 40 m., 41–43, 886 Middleton, Sir T., 175 m. Middle Passage, 477, 854 Milan Decree, 683 Mildmay, Sir T., 76, 81 Miles, Mr, 649, 650 Milford Haven, 489 Mill, James, 737 Mill, John Stuart, 746, 751 n., 858, 862 1024 INDEX Milles, T., 223 Mills, see Factories Milton, J., 183 Milton, Lord, 644 m. Minehead, 505 m. Mineral and Battery Company, 60 Miners, German, 59 Miners, habits of, 804 m. ; remunera- tion of, 803, 804; wages of, 805 Mines, 3; Acts, 805; inspection of, 805, 806; silver, 3 n., 61, 165; steam-power in, 627; women and children in, 804, 805 Mining, and ordnance, 59 n., 60; Companies for, 59, 60; develop- ment of native, 58, 59; in planta- tions, 124, 125, 333 m., 334 n., 352; in the North, 59; in Somer- setshire, 60; Spanish, 58 m., 61. See also Coal, Copper, Lead, Silver Minorca, 673 Mint, 127, 128; and Burleigh, 56; during re-coinage of 1696, 436 Modyford, Sir T., 198 n. Mogul, 266 Molasses Act, 458 m., 482 Monasteries, and drainage, 113; and poor, 45 Money, 23, 217 n., 903; amassing of, 177; fall in value of, 4; increased importance of, 1,4; investment of, 8; opinion concerning, 3, 161, 164; purchasing power of, 163, 164, 167 m.; sinews of war, 2. See also Capital Moneyed Interest, see Capitalists Monmouth, 25 Monopolies, 288 m.; for State reasons, 293; objections to, 286; royal, 290, 291 m.; violation of a natural right, 287. See Patents Monopoly, of East India Company, 255; of Merchant Adventurers, 228, 229, 231 n., 233; of Muscovy Company, 240; of tobacco, 241 Monson, Sir William, 74 Montague, C., 436, 441 Montgomery, Earl of, 382 n. Montreal, 852 n. Montrose, 454 Montserrat, 198 n. Moore, Adam, 718 m. Moore, Rev. J., 553 n. Moore, P., 641 Mordaunt, Col., 621 Morea, 272 Mory, R. B., 212 n. Mosing Mills, 295 m. Moultrie’s Hill, 331 m. Mountjoy, Lord, 293 m. Moyegh, 363 Muggeridge, Mr, 666, 667 Mulberry trees, 546 n. Mule, 622, 653 m. Mun, Sir T., 175 m., 260, 457 Municipalities, see Towns Municipal Reform Act, 807 Munster, 335; plantations of, 122 Muscovy, loans to, 144 m. ; trade to, 187. See also Russia Muscovy Merchants, 75, 238–241, 246 n., 416; and North-west Pas- Sage, 260; joint-stock trading of, 255 m. ; monopoly of, 240, 241 Muslin trade, English, 622 Nail-making, 522, 526 n., 565 m. Nantes, 366; Revocation of the Edict of, 328, 329 Nantwich, 25 Napier, Lord, 820 Napoleon, and continental system, 232, 682, 683, 684, 685 ; and English trade, 617; and the East, 815; economic ideas of, 684 Narva, 239 National Debt, 420, 449 m., 606; amount of, 833; charge on, 934; conversion of, 424, 430, 823 m. ; growth of, 696, 697; objections to, 422; projects for repayment of, 423, 424; reduction of, 696, 697; unfunded, 696 National regulation, and cosmopoli- tanism, 871 National Society, 749 n. Nationalisation, 25 Nationalities, rise of, 5 Nations, economic policies of dif- ferent, 7 Native Races, 853, 854, 856, 881, 883 Natural Economy, 8 Natural Liberty, 229 n. Naturalisation, 254, 328 n. Naval Stores, 15, 64, 65, 230, 235, 236, 669; supply of, from planta- tions, 485, 486; Spanish, 62 n., 237, 238 n. Navigation Acts, 15, 16, 73,209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 235 m., 236 m., 327, 474, 494, 670, 868 n. ; and Ameri- can shipping, 673 m.; and Burleigh, 71; and Colonies, XIXth century, 831, 832; and cotton trade, 625 m. ; and Cromwell, 360; and injury to Dutch, 675 n. ; and Ireland, 373, 376, 580; and plantations, 343, 354, 472; effect of, 249, 358, 359, 360, 361, 479, 480, 483, 830; evasions of, 482; non-observance INDEX 1025, of, 359, 360 m. ; relaxation of, 603, 830, 831, 832; repeal of, 832, 856; repeal of, effect of, 833; Spanish, 69 m. . Navy, 4, 13, 179 n., 180; additions to, 175; and Burleigh, 56, 63, 64; and Charles I., 172; and James I., 172; and mercantile marine, 15; a national ambition, 14 ; condition of, 172, 173 and n. ; French, 173 m. ; Spanish, 62, nn. Needham, G., 181 m. , Needle manufacture, 83, 84, 295 Negroes, and freedom, 855; in United States, 883; legal position of, 478; numbers of, 477; treatment of, 477, 478. See Slave Trade Netherlands, see Holland Neufville, 450 Neutral trading, 237, 670, 671, 673, 674, 680, 681, 682, 683, 686 Nevada, 872 Nevis, 198 m. Newberry, -, 250 m. Newbold, Mr., 490 m. New Brunswick, 853 m. Newcastle, 300 n., 344 n., 361 m.; and re-coinage, 133 n. ; bankers of, 452; banks of, 694; coal trade of, 247, 305 m., 319, 527, 530, 531; companies in, 305, 528 m. ; corn supply of, 247; craft gilds of, 36; Eastland merchants of, 246; IFriendly Societies in, 735; gild merchants of, 247, 248; merchants of, 244; Merchant Adventurers of, 246; poor in, 575 m. See also Hostmen New drapery, 296 New England, 332 n., 339, 340, 359, 360, 850; agriculture im, 548; and Cromwell, 198; and glove trade, 476; character of settlement of, 354, 355 ; effect of Navigation Acts on, 479; French trade of, 414, 415 ; government of, 353; illicit trade of, 481, 482; iron works of, 526 ; local government in, 355; possible competitor with England, 414; revolt of, 585; trade of, 472 Newfoundland, 124, 331, 332 n., 481, 482, 673 New Hampshire, 485 New Harmony, 753 Newhaven, Conn., 341, 672 New Jersey, 296 m., 341, 353, 355 n., 359 New Lanark, 751, 752, 776, 790, 802 n. New South Wales, 850; convicts in, 860 m. ; sheep-farming in, 647– 649 - G.3% Newspapers, 875 Newton, Sir I., 436, 437; and rating of coins, 438 New View of Society, 752 New York, 199, 212 n., 281, 332 m., 359, 854; pirates of, 271, 272 New Zealand, 860, 879; responsible government in, 862 Nicholls, Sir G., 767, 773 n. Nicholson, Professor, 878 m. Nicholson, Mr, 514 Ningpo, 821 Non-Intercourse Act, 686 Norden, J., 106 Norfolk, 112,925; and corn, 86; cloth trade in,646 m.; ganging in, 803 m. ; labourers of, 717 n. ; spinning in, 654 n. ; riots in, 687 ; workhouse in, 575 Norfolk Island, 860 Normandy, 800 p. North, Lord, 589, 605 North America, 863, 871 North-East Passage, 259 m. North of England, 525 North-West Company, 857 North-West Passage, 259, 2S3 - Northampton, 25 ; and corn export, 86; and fish days, 72 ; and re- coinage, 133 m.; carding machinery in, 650 Northamptonshire, and enclosures, 102 ; poor in, 764; workhousesin, 574 Northumberland, agriculturallabour- ers in, 803; mines in, 59 economic effect of, 260, Norway, 187, 212 m. Norwich, 27, 31 n., 33, 34, 204 m., 436 n., 646,925; and alien refugees, 78–82; and poor, 48; and re-coin- age, 133 m. ; cloth trade of, 374 n., 465, 466; companies in, 305; craft gilds of,36; manufactures of, 501.m.; strike at, 509; wool supply of, 506; Workhouse in, 574 Nottingham, combinations in, 514 n, ; framework knitting in, 514, 663, 664; and re-coinage, 133 m. ; spin- ning mill at, 621 Nottinghamshire, framework knit- ting in, 513; and stocking-frame, 77 m. ; poor in, 767; wages in, 40 m. Nova Scotia, 332 n., 351, 853 m. Nuremberg, 224 n., 225 n., 228; corn supply of, 97 Oastler, R., 777 Officials, 296 f.; see Administration, Aulnager, Clerk of the Market, 65 T026 INDEX Commissioners, Industry, Inspec- tors, Justices Officials of East India Company, see East India Company Offley, 549 Oil, monopoly of, 288 Oldham, allowances in, 638 One Pound Notes, 453, 823, 825 Onslow, Mr, 660 Open fields, 556, 557; see Common- fields Opium, 820, 821 Optional clause, 454 Orbiston, 753 Orders in Council, 682, 683, 686 Ordnance, 12, 15, 56, 57, 59, 60 Ormonde, Duke of, 370 m., 372, 373, 374 m. Ormuz, 250 m. Orphans, 151 m., 152 n., 154 n., 245 n. Osborne, E., 250 Ostend, 366 Ottery St Mary, 654 Outdoor Relief, 575, 579, 719, 769 n., 770 m. ; forms of, 763 f.; at South- well, 767; limitation of, 771, 773; see Workhouse Test; prohibitory order, 773. See also Allowances Outports, 199 m., 246, 249 ; trade of, 242, 245 Over, 770 m. Overbury, 723 n. Overseers, see Poor Relief Owen, R., 751–753, 776, 777, 785, 789, 790, 800, 802 n. Oxford, 31 m. ; and re-coinage, 133 n. Oxfordshire, and dearth, 101 m. ; cloth trade of, 231 Pacific Steam Navigation Company, 818 Painshill, 546 n. Painswick, 646 Painter, Sir Paul, 278 m. Paisley, 331 Palatines, 349 n., 485; in Ireland, 520 n. Paper, 288 m., 459 m. Paper making, 84, 331, 518 Paper mill, 723 m. Paper money, see Bank Notes Papillon, T., 458 Papplewick, 627 Parishes, and employment of poor, 764; and Gilbert’s Act, 771 m. ; and poor relief, 48, 52, 563, 564, 568, 767 m. ; union of, for poor relief, 578, 772 Parish workhouses, 772; Workhouses 8ee also Parliament, and industrial companies, 321 ; and Ireland, 371, 379; and plantations, 343; and the ad- ministration, 406, 407; as arbiter of economic life, 403, 405; Irish, 375, 379 n. ; Irish, and industry, 589; Irish, and union, 591, 592; regulation of industry by, 309, 310, 324, 456 et seq. See Commons, Lords, House of Parma, Duchess of, 226 Parnell, Sir H., 836 Pasture farming, see Enclosure, and Sheep-farming Patentees, 20, 180, 205; agents of, 288 m.; and cloth trade, 96; and corn trade, 96; for ale houses, 303 n. ; for aliens,81; for draining marshes, 119 m. ; for dredging machine, 78; for glass, 76; for gold and silver thread, 293; for ovens, 78; for Salt, 77; for saltpetre, 78, 292; for Searching buff and chamois leather, 304 m. ; for soap, 78, 306, 307; for starch, 78; for sugar refining, 77; for tin, 299; for vinegar, 79; for wool, 298 n. Patents, 21, 58, 59, 76, 77, 78, 409; abuse of, 78, 79; as means of revenue, 288 and n. ; for alum, 293; for hiring out chairs, 303 m. ; for import of bullion, 293; for mining, 60; for sulphur, 60, 61 ; for new arts, 294; for planting in Ireland, 364; for registering in- Surance policies, 490; for saltpetre, 60, 61; objections to, 287, 288; revoked by James I., 287 m. ; un- popularity of, 307, 308 Paterson, W., 420 Paul, Sir G., 714 n. Paul, L., 621, 650 Pedlars, 286 - Peel, family of, 619 Peel, Mr Robert, 640 Peel, Sir R., elder, 630, 662, 776 Peel, Sir R., younger, 703, 825, 836, 838, 839, 842, 867; and banking, 825, 826, 828; and sliding scale, 731 n. Penal Laws, 367 Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Company, 817 Penn, W., 332 m., 333 m. Pennsylvania, 199, 201, 332 n., 341, 485 Pepper, 255 n., 259, 201 m. Pequod tribe, 340 Percival, Dr, 628, 629 n., 807 Periculum sortis, 386 Permanent Annuities, see Bank of England INDEX 102.7 Persia, 75, 250, 258 Perth, 418 Peru, 8, 165, 867 Petty, Dorothy, 491 n. Petty, Lord Henry, 524 Petty, Sir W., 184 n., 316, 319, 381, 382 n., 383, 385, 387, 388, 390, 391 Philadelphia, 349 m. Philanthropy, 749; and education, 749, 750; and Malthus, 744 m., 745, 749 m. See also Children, Poor, Slave trade Philanthropic reforms, 748 m. Philanthropists and factory reform, 775 Philip II., 227, 333; and refugees, 79 m. ; commercial schemes of, 225, 226 Philippines, 673 Philip, Rev. J., 853 Phillips, F., 437 m. Phillips, G., 660 Physiocrats, 380 m., 602 Picardy, aliens from, 330 m. Picardy Place, 521 Picketing, 760 m. Pilgrim Fathers, 339, 352 Bindar, Sir P., 175 m., 419 m. Pin-makers, 25 Piracy, 66, 69, 70; in Eastern seas, 266; in Eastern seas by English colonists, 271, 272; Mediterranean, 251 Pirates, 494 m. ; Algerian, 173, 174, 188, 189, 487 m.; and coal trade, 527; Chinese, 820 m.; Dunkirk, 173; Madagascar, 408; Spanish, 189 m. ; Turkish, 189 m., 197 Tºisa, 489 m. Pitt, see Chatham, Earl of Pitt, W., 463, 595 m., 836, 839, 868; and BankofEngland, 692; and East India Company, 471; and national debt, 606, 696, 697; and Tory policy, 602 ; and Union with Ireland, 646; and United States, 674; and wages, 41 n. ; French treaty of, 602, 603 ; taxation reforms of, 604 m., 605, 606 Place, F., 757–759, 762 Plague, 314, 315, 316, 390 Plantations, 119–126, 187, 331; and Charles I.,909; and Charles II.,198, 199, 915 ; and Earl of Chatham, 599, 600 ; and Cromwell, 198 and n., 348; and East India trade, 359 m. ; and export of pig iron, 526; and Hudson’s Bay Company, 281; and Irish trade, 589 m. ; and James II., 198; and naval stores, 236, 485, 486; and Navigation Acts, 209 m., 211, 343 m., 359, 360, 472 f., 479, 480, 483; and oppo- sition to Spain, 336; and slave trade, 476 f.; and Whig rule, 413, 414, 472, 586, 587; as an outlet for population, 337; capital invested in, 342; character of the settlements, 345; character of the emigrants to, 338, 344–348; com- panies in, 352–353; condition of servants in, 350; convicts sent to, 348; council of, 198; development of, 351 ; economic grievances of, 586, 587; effect of Declaration of Independence, 668; federation of, 340,600; French trade of, 481–483; government of, 343 and n., 353, 354; see also Appendix, 909 f.; hardware manufacture prohibited, 526; illicit trade of with India, 271, 272; inter- lopers in, 351 m. ; list of, 332; Lords Commissioners for ; see Ap- pendix, 900; manufacture of hats in, 587; natives in, 339, 340 and note; national advantage of, 343, 344; negroes for, 352 ; objections to, 333; proprietors in, 1981m., 351, 354; reasons for undertaking, 333, 334, 337,339,341,342; regulation of trade of,472, 481; religious element in, 338 m., 339–341; restrictions on emigration, 345 m., 386 n. ; revolt of the American, 584–588; Security of tenure in, 361; supply of labour for, 347, 348, 349; taxation of, 354; toleration in, 341; Tory attitude towards, 598, 599; trade with, 361 m. See also Navigation Acts, Maryland, Virginia, New England, West Indies Plenty, policy of, 843 Ploughing, 548, 549 Plymouth, 350 m. ; and loans, 145; workhouse in, 574 Plymouth, Mass., 340 Plymouth Company, 351 Pococke, 369 m. Poena conventionalis, 153 Poland, 234 Poleroon, 257 Political Economy, and Adam Smith, 593, 594; as a science, 594 m., 597 ; eighteenth century, 593; function of, 740; limitations of, 878 ; name, 382 ; seventeenth century, 380, 381, 386, 593 Political Lent, see Fish Days Pollexfen, Sir H., 290 m. Pombal, Marquis of, 460 m., 602 Poor, and allotments, 714 m.; and Coimage, 130; and corn supply, 51, 92, 98; and education, 750 m.; and fen draining, 115; and food 65–2 1028 INDEX supply, 709 m.; and fluctuations in trade, 49, 50, 572; and Houses of Industry, 576 n., 719 m.; see Workhouses; and manufactures, 562 and n., 577, 578, 766 n. ; and plantations, 346, 347, 858 n. ; and private beneficence, 52, 243 m.; and squatting, 567–569,570 m., 576; and Tories, 607; children of the, ap- prenticing of, 52, 488; food of, 166 m.; housing of, 763 n., 766 n., 802, 806 n. ; idleness of, 566 ; increase of, 45; number of, 572; riots of, 764 m. ; stock for, 46, 573 m. ; settle- ment of, 48 m., 564 n., 570, 571, 754; vagrants, 45, 47–49, 205; wages raised, 96 n. See also Allow- ances, Apprentices, Children, Out- door Relief, Parishes, Settlement, Workhouses Poor Law, Elizabethan, 29, 46, 47, 770; Board, 773; Commission, 771, 772 Poor Laws, 46, 47, 49, 570, 576, 578, 579, 772 Poor Rates, 46, 52, 560, 562, 570 m., 608 n., 688, 769 n. ; and rents, 763 m.; and spinners, 656 m.; and wages, 766 n. ; and workhouse test, 576, 577; at Southwell, 767; Cholesbury, 767; statistics of, 572, 577, 763, 935 Poor Relief, administration of, 46, 48, 49, 51, 578; administration of, defects in, 767–769, 776; after Re- storation, 205, 206, 563, 570; and Gilbert's Act, 578, 579; and labour rate, 764; and private bills, 562, 579; by allowances, 560, 718, 719, 765; by farming out, 575, 578, 629 m., 769 n.; by parish employ- ment, 764, 770 m.; civic, 44, 47, 48 ; creation of guardians for, 578; Defoe's criticisms of, 566 n.; disorganisation of, during Civil War, 570; during Commonwealth, 573; eighteenth century, 562 f., 763 f.; experiments in, 573, 574; general order for, 773; national- ised, 45–47 Poor Relief, overseers of, 48, 52, 754, 763 n., 768, 769, 772 n. ; and Gilbert’s Act, 579; and justices, 769, 770; and workhouse test, 576; character of, 577; salaried, 768 lu. Poor Relief, parochial administration of, 564; reform of administration of, 767, 771–774; schemes for, 572, 375; roundsmen system of, 764; under Privy Council, 49–52; unions for, 772; workhouses for, 574, 575 Popham, Sir J., 116 Popple, W., 652 m. Population, and allowances, 765 ; and emigration, 858, 859; distri- bution of, 936; doctrine of, 742, 743; increase of, 91 m., 337 n., 345, 704, 705, 743; increase of town, 807; economic opinion con- cerning, 387, 390, 393; in Ireland, 845, 847; statistics of, 935 Port Elizabeth, 853 Porter, 590 Portlough, 363 Portsmouth, 91 n. Portugal, 396 ; and continental sys- tem, 683; and India, 2, 469 m. ; and neutral trading, 671 ; and opium trade, 820; and plantation trade, 486; and trade with the East, 267 n., cloth manufacture in, 459, 460 m. ; English trade with, 195, 197, 459, 461, 462; trade with, decline of, 602; territory obtained from, 197; treaty with, 197 m.; see also Methuen Treaty Post, 871 Potatoes, 709; in Ireland, 847 Potter, W., 19 n. Pottery manufacture, 84,331 m., 535; conditions in, 802 Pound, 826 n. Povey, C., 184 n. Powell, J., 318 m. Power, Mr., 778, 784 Power-loom, and allowances, 638; and wages, 799 ; effect of, 632 m. ; in cloth trade, 798; in cotton trade, 794, 797; in silk trade, 795; in- troduction of, 632 n., 639, 791; invention of, 632; social effects of, 8ee Weaver, cotton and handloom, Employment Power, mechanical, 609; national, 393, 456, 843, 866, 876, 877; national, in Europe, 879 Pownall, Governor, 655, 723 Poynings' Law, 589 n. Precious Metals, 3; economic opinion concerning, 392 ; free export of, 200. See also Gold, Silver Preston, 646 Preston (Sussex), 576 Prices, 100 n., 109, 131 m., 164, 168, 203,318, 677,690, 691, 706 m., 707, 711 n., 725, 727, 825, 827; and gold discoveries, 872, 873; and in- convertible paper, 699, 701, 703; and re-coinage, 128 n., 137; and rents, 105 m.; and silver-using countries, 873; and wages, 941; difficulty of interpreting, 938 f.; effect of taxation on, 425; fall in, INDEX 1029 873; lists of, 736 n. ; of agri- cultural produce, 556 n. ; of corn, 87 n., 88, 89, 91, 101, 559; of provisions, 636; of wool, 103, 169 n., 289 n., 557, 644 n., 645; opinion concerning, 161, 163 Prices, regulation of, 41, 51, 92–95, 97, 205; by companies, 220 Prices, rise in, 160–162, 164, 166, 167, 178; effect of, 169, 170 Prince Edward Island, 857 Printers (Times), 757 m. Printing on Cloth, 295 m. Private bills, see Turnpikes, Poor Private Interests, 595, 811, 878; consideration for, 18; disregard of, 17 Privy Council, 20, 29, 38 n., 879; and alien settlers, 83; and Com- mittee for Trade, 176 n., 200; and corn trade, 51, 86, 97, 98; and drainage, 115 m.; and enclosures, 102; and Plantations, 343 m, ; and poor, 48, 49, 563, 767, 771; and scarcity orders, 92; and unem- ployed, 50; and wages, 41 m., 44; and wool supply, 103; decline in powers of, 203; importance of, 53 Proclamations, 20,321 m.; and wages, 37 m. ; corn, 89 Protection, against Irish competition, 582; and Manchester School, 619, 620; and weavers, 795 m.; European adherence to, 869; of agriculture, 540; of industry, 495 and n., 515, 516; under Elizabeth, 25. See Corn Duties, Corn Laws, Industry, Taxes Brotectorate, see Cromwell Prunellos, 394 n. Prussia, 671 Prussian Company, Company |Public Health Act, 809 Public welfare, and private interests, 17; and democracy, 19; judges of, 18 Pucklechurch, 654 Puddling, 524 Pudsey, 564 Pumping engine, 529 Puritanism, 220, and usury, 154–156; and colonisation, 339, and com- mercial morality, 246 Pynmar, Captain, 363 Quality, see Industry Quebec, 862 Queens’ College, 65 n. Quicksilver, 165 Quakers, 341, 348 n. Quenny, E., 526 see Eastland Quesnay, F., 677 Radcliffe, W., 627 n. Radicals, 762; and colonies, 851; and Corn Laws, 840 Radisson, P., 279 Railway Acts, 822 Railways, advantages of, 812, 813; and American development, 814; and English farming, 814; and factories, 813; building of, 812; building of, and exchanges, 827; capital of, 826; Commission, 822; effect of, on employment, 626m.; ex- tension of,826; Liverpooland Man- chester, 812, 813; profits of, 813; rates, 812, 822; regulation of, 821, 822; speculationin,826,829; Stock- ton and Darlington, 812 Raleigh, Sir W., 1, 125, 299, 336 n. Ramsgate, 489 Ranke, L. v., 193 Rath Raile, 330 n. Reading, 133 m., 507 n., 718; poor in, 573 m. Receiver General of Customs, 407 m. Reciprocity, 831 - Re-coimage, see Coimage Red River, 857 Regulation, breakdown of, 205, 206; breakdown of, in commerce, 284; by Parliament,19,403 f.; Elizabethan, 19, 20, 25; of bullion supply, 177; of children’s work, 629; see Factory Acts; ofcommerce,18,201,214,611; of corn trade, 85 f.; see Corn Trade; of industry, 18, 25–37, 201, 203; See also Industry, supervision of; of labour, 27; of trade, 219; of Wages, 37–44; of wages, abandon- ment of, 638, 639; of wool trade, 103; opinion concerning, 229 n. ; Stuart, 19, 21, 285, 286; unpopu- larity of, 21 Religion, 877 Renfrew, 331 m. Rents, 107 n., 110, 399; and cost of production, 168 m. ; and diminish- ing return, 727; and discoveries of silver, 169; and national pro- sperity, 386, 387; and rates, 763r.; and Whigs, 541; by competition, l2; Irish, 364, 848, 849; rack, 542 m.; rise in, 105, 106 m., 728 Resources, national, 4 Restoration, 193; and administra- tion, 202, 203, 206; economic changes after, 21, 202, 205, 206; expansion during, 198, 199; re- vival of trade at, 195—197 Restriction, Bank. See Suspension of cash payments 1030 INDEX Restrictions, English objection to, 286; on individuals, 16; on private persons, 17; see also Regulation Resumption of cash payments, 703, 799 Revenue, 208 n., 407 n., 934; and the land, 1.12; see Land Tax; and tariff reform, 837, 838; collection of, 9, 56, 407 n., 419, 420, 874; deficit in, 836; economic opinion concerning, 382, 383, 401; frauds in connection with, 180 m.; from coal trade, 319; from corn trade, 85, 98; from patents, 288, 289; from royal estates, 4, 170, 410; inadequacy of, 4, 170, 194, 202; of Charles I., 289; of Charles II., 194, 202, 919; sources of, 383, 386; Tory attitude towards, 457 Revolution, change in economic methods after 1689, 456; control of taxation obtained at, 410; eco- nomic importance of, 22, 403 Rhode Island, 341 Bhodesia, 821 Ricardo, 727 n., 737, 738, 746 Riccart, farmer, 557 |Rice, 472, 474 m., 708, 830 Rich, Sir R., 273 Richelieu, 173 m., 207 Richmond, 25, 330; calico printing at, 517 Biots. See Machinery Bipon, Earl of, 835, 861 n. Roads, and cost of carriage, 539; condition of, 535, 536, 537; im- provement in, 538, 539, 540; Irish, 590 m. ; parish work on, 764; re- pair of,536; surveyors of, 535 andn. Boberts, Lewis, 623 Robinson, F. J. See Ripon Robinson, Henry, 411 n. Roch, Lady, 366 n. Rochdale, 646 Rodburgh, 749 n. Roe, T., 235 n., 266 n., 313, 335 n. Roebuck, 524 - Rogers, J. E. T., 105 m., 166; and price of wool, 103 Roman Empire and English Empire, 883, 884, 885 Romans, 3 n. Romney Marsh, 112, 505 Root-crops, 546, 550, 551 Roscher, 165 Rose, G., 635 m., 734 Rotherfield, 667 n. Rouen, 71 Roundsmen, 764 Rovers of the sea, 820 n. Royal Bank of Scotland, 418 m., 454, 455 Royal Exchange Assurance Corpora- tion, 491 - Royal Lustring Company, 519 m. Royal Mail Steam Packet Co., 817 Runcorn, 534 Rupert, Prince, 274; to Hudson Bay Company, 280 Rupert’s Land, 857 Russel, Sir W., 35, 116, 175 Russia, 867, 880; and alien elements, 882; and France, 685; and neu- tral trading, 670, 671 m.; recent policy of, 879. See also Muscovy Russian Company, see Muscovy Merchants Rutland, 40 m. Rye, 855 m. ; orphans of, 152 Ryswick, Peace of, 281, 332 S., W., 162, 168 Sadler, M. T., 608, 777 Saddlers, 304 Sail-cloth, 15, 82, 330, 519, 846 St Albans, and re-coinage, 133 m.; companies in, 36 n. St David's, Bishop of, 56.1 St Eustatius, 673 St Helena, 332 n. St Ives, 489 St Malo, 366 Salisbury, 37 n., 646; and re-coinage, 133 m. ; clothworkers of, 233 m. Sallee, 174; see Algiers Salmasius, 157 Salt, 77, 78 n., 288 m., 289, 309, 310, 368 m., 459 m., 843 m.; and canals, 535; taxes on, 834 m. Saltpetre, 57, 60 and n., 61, 78,263, 290, 291, 292; Spanish, 62 Sands, Mr, 290 m. Sandwich and alien settlers, 82, 83 Sandys, Sir E., 223 n., 230 m. Sanitation, 801 m.; absence of, 808; improvement of, 809 Savage, Sir T., 175 m. Savile, Sir H., 328 Scanderoon, 252 n. Scandinavia, 234 Scarcity, 192, 318 n.; years of, 545 n. See Corn, Poor, Seasons Schmoller, Prof., 497 n. Scio, 250 Scissors grinders, 736 Scotch, 362, 364 Scotland, 23, 24, 105 m., 353, 360 n., 376, 393 n., 881; and coal trade, 529 m.; and corn, 86 m.; and Darien scheme, 416; and French trade, 414; and Navigation Acts, 360 m.; see Navigation Acts; and usury, 157; apprentices in, 30 n. ; bank- ing in, 453 f., 521,824; bank-notes INDEX 1031 in, 453; bondagers in, 531; com- mercial crisis im, 451; condition of, under dual monarchy, 417, 418 m. ; cotton weavers in, 638; effects of the Union, 418, 419; English sentiment regarding, 414; Huguenots in, 330, 331; iron trade in, 525; linen trade in, 330, 496, 520, 521; mining in, 806; new industries in, 331 n. ; poor relief in, 48m., 807 n. ; salt of, 309; union of, with England, 415, 417, 418, 592; wages in, 40 m., 798; woollen trade of, 504 Scribbling machinery, 651 m., 653 m. Seamen, 176, 209, 344 m.; attempt to improve conditions of, 488; difficulties of procuring, 487; im- pressing of, 487; protection of, 748; registration of, 487; supply of, 15, 67, 69; treatment of, 181 Search, 36, 296,297; breakdown of, 311. See Industry, supervision of Seasons, XVII. century, 545; XVIII. century, 559. See also Scarcity Seigniorage, abolition of, 433 Selkirk, Lord, 857 Sellers, Miss M., 242 n., 245 n. Senegal, 277 n., 279 Senior, N., 766 n., 789 Serfs, 109 n. Servants, 42, 754 n. ; in plantations, 349, 350; tax on, 605 Servitors, 362, 365 Settlement, 754, 755, 768; Act of, 570; Act of, effect of, 571; modifi- cations in law of, 579, 755. See Poor Severn, iron bridge over, 523 Severn valley and corn trade, 86 Sewers, 113; see Commissioners Shaftesbury, First Earl of, 198 m. Shaftesbury, Seventh Earl of, 777, 785 m., 787, 790, 809; and mines, 804 Shaftesbury, poor relief in, 574 Shanghai, 821 Shannon, 590; plantation near, 365 Shaw, W. A., 233 m. Shaw-Lefevre, J. G., 773 m. Shearing frames, 625 m.; 653 m. ; riots against, 661, 662 Shearmen, 503 n., 511 n. ; combina- tions of, 662. See also Cloth- finishing Sheep, improved breed of, 551, 644, 646; weight of, 706 n. Sheep-farming, 11, 99, 100, 101, 102 n., 103 m., 110, 556 n. ; and absenteeism, 104 m. ; decline of, 505, 644; in Australia, 646–649. See also Enclosure Sheffield, 347 n. ; Cutlers’ Company of, 305; cutlers of, 564; silver- Smiths of, 321 Sheridan, 641 - Shields, 289; ale-houses in, 302 m.; salt in, 309 Shillings, 136; see also Coinage Ship-building, 208 m., 673 n.; Ameri- can, 485 m.; bounties on, 64, 484; iron, 832, 833; New England, 479, 480; strikes in, 758; taxes on, 834 n. Shipping, 14, 15, 65 n., 209 m.; and Burleigh, 64 f.; and corn trade, 87, 88, 541, 729; and East India Com- pany, 258; and Merchant Adven- turers, 229, 230; and Navigation Acts, 210, 212, 213 n., 361 m.; and plantation trade, 343, 344 n. ; and slave trade, 475, 477; at Restora- tion, 197; British, during French wars, 493 n., 672, 674, 679, 685; captures of, 678; causes of decay, 69; condition of, under Elizabeth, 64 n., 173; employment of, 70; encouragement of, 73, 483, 485, 486; English monopoly of, 845; in Chinese waters, 820; increase of, 67 n., 73, 173 m., 176, 672; insecurity of, during Interregnum, 188, 189; insecurity of, from pirates, 174 n.; losses of Dutch, 675; of United States, 672, 673 n., 680, 681, 831, 832; repeal of protection of, 831, 832; ruin of French, 674, 679 n. ; safety of, 66, 173 n., 174 n., 175, 488, 489; see also Convoy; statistics of, 932, 933; supremacy of British, 832; See also England; steam-power for, 814 f.; see Steam-ships. See also Marine Insurance Ship money, 176 Shipowners, 808; grievances of, S32 Shoemakers, 304 Shrewsbury, 25; and re-coinage, 133 n. ; cloth finishing in, 511 n. ; cloth trade in, 646; craft gilds of, 36; drapers of, 304 ; mercers, 33 ; wages assessment, 43 m. Shrewsbury, Countess of, 45 m. Shropshire, development of, 500; farming the poor in, 575 m. ; iron trade in, 523 Sidmouth, Lord, 635 Silk, and Navigation Act, 209 n. ; bounties on, 516m.; French, 459 m.; from Levant, 250; Indian, 463 ; mills, conditions in, 780; office for dyeing, 300; supervision of manu- facture, 300, 305 m.; taxes on, 835 1032 INDEX Silk trade, and alien immigrants, 84, 330, 516; capitalistic organi- sation of, 517, 519; condition of, 795, 796; domestic, 518; in Ireland, 846; machinery in, 620; wages in, 519, 637 Sinclair, Sir J., 419, 696 n., 711, 712, 715 m., 725, 850, 867 Sinking Fund, 424, 696, 697, 698; see also National TJebt Silver, and prices, 161, 164,435, 873; amount obtained, 165 m. ; de- monetisation of, 140, 438 Silver, discoveries of, and landed interest, 104, 111, 169 ; and wages, 109, 169; effect of, 8, 104, 109, 111, 161, 164, 165, 169, 170 Silver, export of, 200 ; in relation to gold, see Coimage, rating of ; mercantile view of, 177; mines, 3 n., 8, 61, 68, 333 n. ; re-coinage of, 127 f., 433 f.; rise in value of, 164; supply of, 8, 141, 160, 162, 164, 165, 872. See also Bullion, Coinage, Mines, Mint, Precious Metals, Seigniorage Skerries, 488 Skinner, T., 264 n. Skipton, 646 Slaney, H., 273 Slavery, abolition of, 751 n., 854; Smith, Sir T., 58, 123, 180, 338 m.; and Ireland, 123 m., 124; and re- coinage, 129 Smithfield Club, 556 m. Smuggling, 410, 459, 460 m., 473, 474, 604 m. ; in Napoleonic wars, 685, 686; Irish, 591; opium, 820; wool, 505 Smyrna, 250, 252 n., 623 n. Soap, 78, 290; manufacture of, 306, 307 Socialism, 877 Society, British School, 749 n. Society, for bettering the Condition of the Poor, 749; for Propagation of the Gospel, 340 n. ; of the Governor and Assistants of London of the new plantation of Ulster, 362 Soho, 330 Soldiers, 72 n. Somers, Lord, 408 Somerset, 32, 507 n. ; cloth trade in, 499 m. ; combinations in, 508 Somerset, Earl of, 79 Somersetshire, 231 n., 510, 646 Sound dues, 920. See Denmark South America, 691 Southampton, 25, 507 m.; decline of, 75 and sugar trade, 855. See also Negroes Slave trade, 70, 274, 275, 278, 449, 474, 475, 476, 477, 748; agitation against, 607, 608, 882; and evangelicals, 749; and factory reform, 777; extent of, 477; result of, 478 Slubbing engine, 650 Smelting, 523, 524, 525, 527, 615; in plantations, 526 Smith, Adam, 16, 381, 382, 392 n., 402,459, 471, 688; and apprentice- ship, 660; and bounties, 596; and capitalists, 496; and companies, 817; and division of labour, 615; and fisheries, 484; and free inter- course, 596; and national power, 876; and Portuguese treaty, 460; and price of corn, 166; and pro- tection, 458; and taxation, 604 n.; and wealth, 594, 595; and Whig policy, 597; followers of, 738; theory of value, 878 n. ; unique importance of, 593 f., 877 Smith, Henry, 154 Smith, Captain John, 340 n., 358 m., S60 Smith, J., of Deanston, 844 Smith, Sidney, 833 South Australia, 860 _South Sea Bubble, 282, 449, 816 - South Sea Company, 279; and whale fishery, 484 South Wales, ironworks in, 525 Southwark, 646 Southwell, 767 Sovereignty of the Seas, 871 Spain, 13, 360 m., 396 ; alum from, 293m. ; and Cromwell, 198 m. ; and Darien Scheme, 416; and English ordnance, 57; and English planta- tions, 335, 336, 342, 343 m. ; and Hanse merchants, 62; and Ireland, 335, 374 n. ; and neutral trading, 671 m. ; and slave trade, 275 m. ; and Treaty of Versailles, 673; attack of, on English trade, 225, 237; colonies of, 681, 823; com- manding position of,2; corn supply of, 89, 90, 196 m., 236, 237; eco- nomic policy of, 61, 62, 165 m. ; English trade with, 187, 188, 193 m., 242, 243, 325, 926; English trade with, after Restoration, 196; iron from, 293 m. ; navigation laws of, 343; silver mines of, 165; see also Silver ; trade with Central America, 473 m. ; trade with Ger- many, 237, 238 m.; war with, 670; weakness of, 63 m. & INDEX 1033 Speculation, 447, 448, 449, 875; in cotton trade, 633 m. ; in farming, 545 m., 559; mining, 823 Speenhamland, 560, 718 Spenser, E., 365 Spice Islands, 257 Spices, 260, 263, 464 Spinners, 49, 657; and cotton in- ventions, 626 m. ; and poor rates, 656 m. ; cotton, 774; effect of machinery on wool, 654, 655; riots of, 625 m. ; wages of, 654 m., 655, 657 n. See Cotton, Linen, Wool Spinning, 47 n., 52, 107, 263 n., 564; and allowances, 656; and French wars, 689 m. ; as a by-ccupation, 656; as a trade, 657; by hand, 616, 643, 653 n., 654; by hand, decline of, 655, 718; by power, 621, 622, 650, 652, 654, 657, 661 n. ; conditions of, in factories, 779, 780; distaff, 654 m. ; inventions for cotton, 621, 622, 624, 632 n. ; inventions for wool, 653, 657 Spinning, loss of employment in, 654, 655; loss through decline of, 656; market, 97 n., 510 Spinning-jennies, 503, 622, 625 n., 650 m. ; in factories, 656; in wool trade, 653, 654; riots against, 654 Spinning-wheel, 653, 654 Spitalfields, 314, 330, 519, 795 Spitalfields Acts, 519, 796, S46 Sprague, Dr, 514 n. Spreading work, 666, 667, 796 Spurn lighthouse, 488 Squatters, Australian, 648; on com- mons, 555, 567, 568, 569; see also Poor Stade, 228, 229 n. Stafford, 25, 133 n. Staffordshire, 532 Staleybridge, 619 Stamford, 52, 82; and re-coinage, 133 n. Stamp Tax, 354 Standard of comfort, 104, 855, 874, SS0 Stanhope, 575 m. Staple, merchants of the, 73, 103 n., 216, 219 m., 221, 228 m., 298, 504 Star Chamber, Court of, 203, 557 Starch, 78, 93 m., 288 n., 305, 709 m.; surveyor of, 305 m. State Interference, 849; see Com- mons, House of, Factory Acts, Ireland, Laissez faire, Mines, Rail- Ways Stationers’ Company, 321 m. Statistics, study of, 388, 389 ; value of historical, 928, 937 f. Statute of Artificers, see Artificers Steam, 609; in iron trade, 525; power, 626, 627, 782; power and weaving, 632; social effects of, 616; traction, 812 Steamships, advantages of, 815; com- panies, 817, 818; increase of, 815; introduction of, 814, 815; in Tropics, 815 Steelyard, see Hanse Merchants Steeple Ashton, 145 Stephenson, G., 812 Steuart, Sir J., 595, 743 Stint, 220, 231 m. ; in framework knitting, 666 Stinton, J., 46 Stocking frame, 76 n. ; see Frame- work knitting Stockport, and steam looms, 632 n. ; manufacturers of, 619 Stockton, 812 Stourbridge Fair, 539 Strafford, Earl of, 292, 357 n., 369, 370, 371, 843 n., 881; and Ireland, 365, 368; and Irish linen, 369, 520; and patents, 288, 289 Strikes, 509, 736, 757, 758, 760, 794; of Scotch cotton weavers, 639; of wool combers, 652 n. Stuarts, 396 ; and expansion, 193; and human Welfare, 811; and plantations, 331; economic aims of, 285; government, character- istics of, 20, 22, 23 ; industrial policy of, 295 f.; objections to system of, 286. See also James I., Charles I., Charles II., James II. Sturlevant, P., 294 n. Strutt, family of, 619, 663 n. Subsidies, 170 and n., 202, 407 n. Succession duties, 605, 834 n., 837 n., 841 n. Suckling, Sir J., 901 Sudbury, 646; workhouse in, 574 Suderman, H., 227 n. Suez, 815, 817; canal, 871 Suffolk, 507, 575 m. ; allowances in, 765 m. ; clothiers of, 233; cloth trade, 32; justices of, 716; riots in, 687 Suffolk, Va., 672 Sugar, 342, 344 n., 360, 414, 472, 479, 681; and abolition of slavery, 855; beet-root, 684, 855; boiling, 331 n. ; duties on, 855 m., 856 m. ; refining, 77; taxes on, 834 n. Sulphur, 60 Sumptuary laws, 104 and n., 392, 515, 516 Supervision of quality, see Ale, Assize of Bread, Charles I., In- dustry L034 INDEX Sunderland, 808 Surat, 197 n., 257, 266 n., 332 n. Surinam, 198 Suspension of cash payments, 453, 693, 694, 695, 702; effect of, 699, 700 Sussex, 667 n. ; allowances in, 765 n. ; enclosure in, 99 m.; iron works of, 65, 500, 523, 525 Sweden, 212 n., 439, 485, 867; and tolls at the Sound, 235; import of iron from, 525 Switzerland, 800 m. Tailors, 11 m.; capitalistic organisa- tion of, 512, 513; Trade Union of, Tallies, 441 [513 Tangiers, 197 Tapestry manufacture, 201 n. Tar, 485, 486 Tar Company of Sweden, 485 Tariff, 830, 835, 870; and revenue, 837; condition of, 836 n. ; reduction of, 602; to protect agriculture, 540; reform of, 835 f.; reform of, and revenue, 837, 838; preferential, 831 Tariff reform, 856 Taunton, 376 n. ; cloth trade of, 311 m.; silk weaving in, 519 Taverns; see Ale-houses Tavistock, 646 Taylor, S., 554, 568 - Taxation, 160, 170,208,386, 387,924; and American colonies, 587 m. ; and French wars, 833, 834, 835; and Income Tax, 838, 839; and Long Parliament, 179, 183 n. ; and Protectorate, 179; and Stuarts, 176–178; changes introduced by Walpole, 428–430; characteristics of Whig, 431; effect of National Debt on, 423; incidence of, 382, 383 ; increased importance of, 4; of landed interest, 841 m. ; new sources of, 427; parliamentary con- trol of, 410; Pitt's changes in, 604 n., 605, 606; pressure of, 833 f.; problems of post-Restora- tion, 425, 426; reform of, 835 f.; theories concerning,426,427; Tory attitude towards, 598, 600, 604, 871. See also Customs, Excise, Finance, Income Tax, Land Tax, National Debt, Revenue, Succes- sion Duty Taxes, farming of, 9,419,420; farmers of the, 874 Tea, 429, 604 n., 818, 819, 855 m.; Smuggling of, 410 m. ; tax on American, 588; taxes on, 834 n. Teasels, 504 n. Telegraph, 871, 875 Temple, Sir W., 704 n. Tench, N., 238–241 Tenths and fifteenths, 170, 202 Testimonials, of labourers, 29 Testoons, 131, 134, 135 Tewkesbury, 663 Textiles, importance of, 729. See also Cotton, Linen, Silk, Wool Thorpe, Mr, 182 n. Thread-making, 84, 331 n. Three-field System, survival of, 548 Tillage, 28, 85, 88, 91, 98, 101, 103, 110; and wine trade, 71; as a trade, 11, 109; encourage- ment of, 4, 104; in Ireland, 304; revival of, 99–101. See also Agri- culture Timber, 15, 64, 65, 235, 300, 316 n., 856, 863; as fuel, 495, 571 m.; carriage of, 533; consumption of, 60; destruction of Irish, 582, 583; duties on, 856 n. ; for Smelting, 526 n. ; scarcity of, 294, 301 n., 523; scarcity of, for smelting, 525 Tin, 288 m., 299, 835 Tintern, 60 Tithes, 561 m. Tiverton, 376 n., 646; wool-combing by machinery in, 651 n. Tobacco, 291 m., 342, 344 n., 356, 357, 414, 472, 830; duties on, 357 n., 358, 838 n. Tobacco-growing, in England, 357, 358 m.; in Ireland, 292, 357 m. ; in Virginia, 358 Tobacco, sale in Russia, 241 Tobago, 673, 689 Tolls at the Sound, 234 n., 235 m. Tontines, 420 Toplis, W., 652, 657 n. - Tories, and consumer, 601–603; and Corn Laws, 540, 724, 725, 840; and factory reform, 608; and French trade, 461; and humani- tarianism, 607, 608; and industry, 456, 457, 600, 601; and landed interest, 598; and moneyed in- terest, 607; and Navigation Acts, 603; and plantations, 598, 599; and poor, 607, 608; and revenue, 457; and slave trade, 607; and State bank, 421; economic policy of, 208 m., 405, 598; fiscal policy of, 541, 598, 600, 604, 871; trade policy of, 597, 600, 601 Toronto, 862 Totnes, 646 Town meetings, 355 Towns, and apprenticeship, 30; and corn supply, 51, 97; and in- dustry, 26; and loans, 145; and INDEX 1035 poor, 44, 47, 48; and railways, 813; as unit of regulation, 5, 6; Building Acts, 809 m.; Corporations of, 322, 807 n. ; decay of, 26, 28; growth of factory, 616, 627, 704, 743, 807, 809 m.; housing in, 809, 810; mediaeval, 6, 7; migration to, 571 m., 721, 722, 802, 813; revival of, 32 Township, 355 Trade, and Civil War, 176, 182 n., 183 n. ; see Appendix ; and James I., 900, 901; and Merchant Adven- turers, 222; and Philip II., 225, 227 n., 237; and tolls, 235 m. ; balance of, see Balance; charac- teristics of mediaeval, 611; Com- mission of, 216, 236 m.; Committee of, 175, 176, 199, 200; control of, by Parliament, 407; Council of, 196, 199, 201 m.; decline of regu- lated, 284 Trade, depressions of, 17 n., 507, 528 m.; after French war, 687; during French wars, 675, 682, 683, 685, 689, 690; during Inter- regnum, 186–190, 195, 922 f. Trade, economic opinion concerning foreign, 396–398; effect of War of Independence on, 669, 672, 674; encouragement of, 73; English, menaced by the Darien scheme, 416; expansion of, 74, 361 m., 617, 668, 674–677, 685, 688, 833, 838; fluctuating basis of, 578, 617, 675 m.; fluctuations of, 49, 634 m., 655; freedom of, 231 n. ; freedom of internal, 286; French attack on British, 683; see Continental System ; importance of West In- dian, 473; in Elizabethan era, 73 m. ; interruptions of, in war- time, 625, 686; loss of, 188, 189, 190, 204 m. ; new methods of, 9, 10, 159; of outports, 242; of West of England, 188 m.; permanent Board of, 408; reciprocity of, 831; regula- tion of, by companies, 10, 218, 220, 221; removal of restrictions on, 602, 603, 829 f., 830; revival of, at Restoration, 195—197; Scotch, 323 m. ; Tory opinion concerning, 405, 456, 600; under Stuarts, 187; unregulated, 239; well-ordered, 222, 223, 611; Whig attitude to- wards, 405, 457; with Africa, charters granted for, 273; with the Baltic, 228, 234, 236; with Brazil, 676; with Denmark, 234 n., 236; with France, 392, 399 m., 414, 457, 458, 461–463, 600, 602, 603; with Germany, 228, 229; with Greenland, 241 m. ; with Holland, 196; in the Levant, 189; with Portugal, 195, 460–462; with Russia, 239–241; with Spain, 196, 242, 243, 325; with Sweden and Norway, 236; with the East, 197, 257, 258, 260, 271; with Turkey, 250, 251; with United States, 674, 676 Trade-marks, 311 Trade Unionists, prosecutions of, 759 m. Trade Unions, 497 n., 508, 509, 512, 642 n., 652 n., 734 n., 736 m., 760 f., 800; and standard of comfort, 880; and Radicals, 840; status of, 759, 761. See also Combinations Tramps, see Poor Transport, 811 f.; see Canals, Rail- ways, Roads, Shipping, Steam- ships Treasure, 176, 177, 221, 395, 396; export of, 397; national, 398; Spanish opinion of, 61, 62. See also Bullion, Capital, Money Treaties, 913, 917, 919, 920; Aix-la- Chapelle, 476 n. ; Amiens, 675 n., 681; of Ryswick, 281; of Utrecht, 223, 461, 462; of Versailles, 673; Spanish assiento, 475; with Algiers, Tripoli and Tunis, 197; with Den- mark, 197; with France, 197; with France (1786), 602; with Holland, 197; with Portugal, 195, 197 n., 459–463, 602; with Spain, 196 Trench, W., 488 Trevelyan, Sir C. E., 886 n. Trinidad, 332 n. Trinity House, 230, 488 Triple Assessment, 606 Truck, 507, 667, 753 Trumball, Mr, 175 Trusts, 875 Tucker, Dean, 674, 755; and colonies, 603 Tull, J., 551 Tunis, 189 Turkey, and Continental System, 683; trade with, 187, 250, 251; trade with, French, 251, 252 Turkey Company, see Levant Com- pany Turnips, 546 n., 551, 706; introduc- tion of, 549, 550 Turnpikes, 536 Two-field system, survival of, 548 Tyrone, Earl of, 334 n., 335 m., 362 Ulm, 83 Ulster, plantation of, 122, 123, 346, 362, 363 L036 INDEX Umfraville, G. d’, 522 n. Union of Great Britain and Ireland, 591, 592, 593; effect of, 845, 846 Union of England and Scotland, conditions of, 417, 418, 592; result of, 418 Unions, 578; see Workhouses United States, 857; and alien ele- ments, 882; carrying trade of, 680, 681, 686; corn trade of, 675, 707, 814, 828, 844; cottom manu- facture of, 775; development of, 852 n.; effect of war on, 672, 673; English trade with, 674, 676, 686, 841; and France, 670, 674, 680, 681, 868; freedom for capital in, 875, 879, 880; and free trade, 867, 868; labour in, 879, 880; and Navj- gation Acts, 603, 868m.; and negro, 883; and neutral trading, 680, 681; and protection of life, 883; railways in, 814; and raw cotton, 624; shipping of, 831, 832; see Shipping; steam communication with, 815, 817; trusts in, 875; war with, 686; war with, and English trade, 669, 672, 674 Usury, 144; laws, 153, 154, 823 m.; opinion concerning, 152, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 384, 385, 386; see also Interest, rate of Utrecht, treaty of, 282, 414 Vagrants, see Poor Vancouver, 862 Vanderpere, E., 324 m. Van Diemen’s Land, convicts in, 860 m. ; sheep-farming in, 649 Wattel, E. de, 671 m. Vaughan, R., 111 Wend, 530, 531 Vermuiden, C., 117 Winegar, 288 m., 459 m. Venice, 263 m., 411; Bank of, 419 m.; corn supply of, 97 m.; trade of, 69 m.; trade of, with England, 74 Werney, Lady, 182 n. Victoria, Queen, 861 Willages, decline of, 813; factory, 723; life in, 721, 722; migration from, 722. See also Industry Wintners’ Company, 290 m., 305 m. Violet, T., 190, 411 Virginia, 125, 332 n., 336, 351, 414, 875, 885; capital invested in, 342; character of settlements in, 355; Company, 125, 337,352; emigrants, 338 m.; exports to, 213 m. ; govern- ment of, 352, 353, 356 n. ; local government in, 355; and Naviga- tion Acts, 211, 212 n., 343 n., 359, 360 m.; religious services in, 338 m.; royal policy concerning, 342; ser- wants in, 349 Wos, Cornelius de, 293 m. Wade, A., 60 Wage-earners, 497, 518; and capi- talists, 878; cloth finishers as, 512; combinations of, 508; in cotton trade, 622 n., 627, 633; framework knitters as, 513; in- crease of, 507; spinners as, 511, tailors as, 512, 513; welfare of, 876, 877 Wages, and allowances, 638, 718, 719, 720, 765, 765 m., 766; and arbi- tration, 634, 636; and Industrial Revolution, 616, 617; and poor rates, 766 n. ; and power-loom, 791, 794, 799 m. ; and prices, 939, 940; and silver discoveries, 169, 170; and banking, 827 n. ; and combinations, 734, 741, 758; and corn, 716 n., 717 n. ; and em- ployers, 799 m. ; and Factory Acts, 774, 775, 785, 786 m. Wages, assessment of, 7, 37 n., 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 509, 563, 569 n., 639 m., 716, 887 f.; after Restoration, 205; in Scotland, 638, 639 Wages Fund, 740, 741 Wages, in Yorkshire, 795; minimum and cotton weavers, 635, 636, 637, 638, 639; piece-work for weavers, 506; price lists of, 794, 796; of agri- cultural labourers, 633 m., 716, 717, 718, 7.19; of calico printers, 641; of cloth weavers, 657, 658,798, 799 m.; of cotton weavers, 633, 634, 636, 639, 639 m., 798, 799 n.; of factory weavers, 793; of frame-work knitters, 663 n., 666; of linen weavers, 794; of miners, 529 n., 805 m. ; of silk weavers, 637, 795, 796; see also Spitalfields Acts; of spinners, 510, 511, 657 n. ; raised by Proclamation, 96; rise of, 107; Variation in, 41; winter and sum- mer, 41 Waggons, 536, 539 n., 813; tax on, 605 Waghorn, Lieut., 815 Wagstaffe, Mr, 490 n. Wakefield, E. G., 501 n., 646, 858, 859, 860, 861, 862; influence of, 648 m. Wales, 32 n., 133; farming the poor in, 575; mines in, 32 Walloons, 33, 79, 116, 234 m., 296, 374 n. Walpole, Sir R., 177 m.; and ware- housing system, 429, 430; finance INDEX 1037 of, 424, 428, 429, 430, 431 m., 604, 835; industrial policy of, 494 ; sinking fund, 697 Walter, of Henley, 11 Waltham Cross, 46 War, and agriculture, 711 f., 727, 728; and circulating medium, 692 n. ; and cotton trade, 634; and dis- organisation of trade, 655; and English credit, 673 m., 692 f.; and food supply, 675, 684, 685 m., 690, 705; and French trade, 679; and Hudson Bay Company, 856; and industry, 501; and National Debt, 696, 697, 833; and Spanish trade, 680; change in character of, 1, 2 ; depression after Napoleonic, 687, 688, 689; French and English shipping, 845; French and taxa- tion, 605, 606, 695 f.; Napoleonic, 680, 682 f.; Revolutionary, 674; with Holland, 670; with Spain, 670; with United States, 686, 687 War of Independence, 625, 669, 670; and English trade, 625, 669, 672, 674; and shipping, 672; result of, 673, 674 Wars, French, effect of, on Ireland, 846, 847 Warehousing, 429, 830 Warwick, and loans, 145; and re- coinage, 133 m. ; fish days, 73; wages in, 40 Warwickshire, and enclosure, 102, 925; workhouse in, 575 n. Washington, G., 672 Waterford, 330 m., 362 m., 366 Water-frame, 621 Waterhouse, Capt., 647 Watt, J., 610, 626 Watts, Sir J., 336 n. Waymouth, Mr G., 259 Wealth, 393 ; and power, 594, 595, 597; as subject of economics, 593, 594, 595; economic opinion com- cerning, 392; factors of national, 386, 387 Wealth of Nations, 593, 597, 615 Weavers, 32 m., 49, 83, 96 m., 108; agricultural occupations of, 565; and allotments, 667 m.; and ap- prenticeship, 659; and Corn Laws, 795 m., 841; and factories, 792, 793; and fluctuations of trade, 232, 507, 800 m.; and flying shuttle, 502; handloom, condition of, 790 f.; and power loom, 632 and n. ; and pur- chase of wool,506; as wage-earners, 507 m.; combinations of, 508 ; corporation of, 305 m.; cloth, wages of, 36 n., 657, 658, 798; continen- tal, 800 m.; cottage, 792, 800 Weavers, cotton, 623 m. ; and allow- ances, 638; and combinations, 736; and wages assessments, 635– 637; effect of new inventions on, 627, 628 n., 632 n., 633 and n. ; in Scotland, 638; misery of, 635– 636; wages of, 633, 634, 797; demand for, 626 Weavers, dishonesty of, 652 n., 792, 793, 801; foreign, 79 ; habits of, 629, 782 m., 792 n., 793, 801; idling of, 666 n. ; Irish, 379 n., 794, 797, 799; linen, condition of, 794; migration of, 501 m., 722; riot of, 507 m.; Scotch, 323 m., 797, 800 m., 801 m. ; strike of, 509; silk, 795; silk, wages of, 637, 795, 7.36 ; wages of, 38, 40, 170, 506, 507, 799, 800, 894 m. ; West of England, 32 m., 799 m. Weaving, 263 m.; cotton, and ma- chinery, 797; by power, 791; steam power in, 632 n. ; woollen, and machinery, 798. See also Power-loom Webb, Mr S., 735 m., 736 Webb, Dr, 769 n. Wedgwood, J., 535 Weights and Measures, 7, 94–96, Weights, for coins, 139 (205 Wellington, 25 Wells, Norfolk, 489 Welshford, 646 Westhoughton, 632 West Indies, 165, 198 n., 335 m., 344 n., 356, 414, 853, 856 m., 857, 868 m. ; abolition of slavery in, 854, 855; and Navigation Acts, 360, 479, 831; and slave trade, 278, 279, 474, 475; development of, 342; French, 679; importance of, 473; Irish sent to, 366; rum trade of, 582 m.; servants in, 350; trade of, 474; trade of, with the States, 674 m. - West of England, and machinery, 653; and open trade, 243, 244; and Supply of wool, 505 ; appren- ticeship in, 658 m.; capitalists in, 618; cloth finishing in, 661 m., 662 m.; cloth trade of, 232, 244, 500 n., 503, 510,778, 795 n. ; cloth trade of, with Spain, 188 m.; de- clining trade of, 658; distress in, 799; flying shuttle in, 503 n.; migration from, 375, 376, 502; opposition to machinery in, 662 ; power loom in, 799 m.; power spin- ning in, 657; silk mills in, 780 m. Weston Subedge, 554 n. Wexford, 361 Whale Fishery, 241, 272, 449, 448 1038 INDEX Wheeler, J., .229 n. Whigs, and Adam Smith, 596, 597; and agriculture, 540, 541, 724; and Bank of England, 412, 421; and cloth trade, 503, 505 ; and rents, 541; and union of Scotland and England, 415; anti-French policy of, 414, 415, 458; colonial policy of, 413, 414, 472, 598; con- trasted with Tories, 597 f.; eco- nomic policy of the, 208 n., 405, 406, 600; efficiency under, 19, 22; industrial policy of, 457, 458, 540, 640, 870; result of policy of, 22, 60}. Whitacre, 175 Whitaker, E., 407 n. Whitbread, Mr, 41, 718 Whitefield, Rev. G., 749 m. Whitehaven, 489 Whitehead, Mr, 635 m. Whitney, 624 n. Whitworth, R., 534 n. Whyte, Sir T., 145 Wilberforce, Mr, 607 Wigan, 650 William III., revenue of, 427 n. Williams, Col., 783 Williams, R., 340 m., 341 Williamson, 184 n. Willoughby, Sir H., 240 Willoughby, Lord, 198 m., 360 Wilson, Rowland, 273 Wiltshire, 32, 507, 510; and allow- ances, 765 n.; and assessment of wages, 41 n., 639 n. ; clothiers of, 233; cloth trade of, 36 n., 231, 658; enclosure in, 101; gig-mills in, 661; objections to machinery in, 653; workhouse in, 575 m. Winchcomb, 358 n. Winchester, and re-coinage, 133 m.; companies, 36 n., 305 Window tax, 605 Windsor, Lord, 198 n. Wine, American consumption of, 460n. ; French, 459 m., 460, 461m., 462, 463 m. ; Portuguese, 460; price of, 818 m. ; taxes on, 834 n. ; trade, 70, 71, 73 m. Winstanley, H., 488 Wire drawing, 60 Wither, A., 297 n. Witney, 646 Witt, J. de, 201 Wiveliscombe, 646 Woburn, 548, 552 n. Wolsey, Cardinal, 50, 171, 172 Wolstatt, D., 130 Wolstenholme, Sir J., 175, 344 n. Wombridge, 763 n. Women, 313; and linen weaving, 370; and spinning, 616, 654, 655, 656; as pirates, 820 m. ; in agri- culture, 802; in factories, 626, 778, 780, 781 n., 801 n. ; in factories, hours of, 788, 789; in mines, 804; objection of, to coal, 319 m.; ousting of men by, 798; protec- tion of A750, 788 Wool, 11, 25, 46, 204 n., 376 n., 465; vº duties on, 835; engrossing of, ió3.” 506; export of, 103, 249, 298, 299, 644 n., '902, 903; export of Irish, 378,591 Nexport of, prohibited, 179, 504, 505; export of, to Ireland, 646, 647; German, 643, 645, 689; import of, 495, 645 m., 929; inter- ruptions in supply of, 655; intro- duction of Australian, 649; Irish, 373, 374, 495, 505, 582,645, 645 m.; licences to export Irish, 645 m.; price of, 103, 169 n., 298 n., 557, 644 m. ; price of, in Ireland, 645; purchase of, 506, 507; quality of, 103, 644 n. ; scarcity of, 643, 644, 645, 646, 654, 656, 658; Scotch, 495 m. ; Smuggling of, 410 m. ; Spanish, 495, 643, 689; superiority of English, 462 n., 504 n. ; supply, development of Australian, 646– 649; supply of, 495, 643, 644, 645. See also Staple, Merchants of the Wool combers and machinery, 651, 761 n. ; clubs of, 652 n., 734 n., combinations of, 508; strike of, 758 m., 760 Wool combing, 263 n. ; economy of machines, 651; machinery for, 651, 652, 761 n. Woollen, burying in, 393 n. Worcester, 25; and re-coinage, 133 m.; battle of, 348 Worcestershire, workhouse in, 575 m. Workhouse Acts, 575, 578 Workhouse test, 719 n., 771 Workhouses, 566, 573 m., 574, 576 n., 720 m., 766 n., 772; condition of, 576; contracting for, 575, 769 m.; reform of, 772; unions for, 772. See also Poor Worsley, 532, 533 Worsted manufacture, chinery in, 651 Wren, Sir C., 317 Wright, H., 652 n. Wye, valley of, llón.; navigation of, 533 Ximenes, Cardinal, 275 204 ; ma- Yardley, 764 m. Yarmouth, colliers of, 527 m.; pas- ture farming, 546 n. INDEX 1039 Yarn, see Cotton, Cloth, Linen, Spinning, Wool, Industry Yarranton, A., 318, 532; and poor relief, 573 Yeoman gilds, 497 n. Yeomanry, disappearanceof, 559,560, 561, 562; see also Farmers, small Yeomen farmers, and cotton trade, 618, 619,628 m.; condition of, 106, 107, 108, 565 Young, A., 500; and allotments, 714 n., 715 m. ; and condition of roads, 536; and corn laws, 725; and course of husbandry, 551; and enclosure, 714; and fisheries, 484; and Irish agriculture, 580; and luxuries, 855 m.; and machinery, 650; and poor, 743; and regula- tion of wages, 717; and spin- ning, 655 m. ; and spirited pro- prietors, 543; and turnips, 546; and yeoman farmer, 565 m.; criti- cism of old husbandry, 549, 550; tours of, 547, 548; work of, 547 Young persons, 788 • * York, 25, 436 n. ; and re-coinage, 133 n., 135 m.; Eastland Merchants of, 242, 245 m. ; Merchant Adven- turers of, 245; merchants of, 244; wages assessments, 42 ; weavers, 35 m. York, James, Duke of, 274, 332 n. ; and Hudson Bay Company, 280 Yorkshire, 926; agriculture in, 548; alum in, 293; and machinery, 650; apprenticeship in, 658 m., 659 m.; capitalists in, 618; carding ma- chines in, 651; cholera in, 808; cloth finishing in, 511 n., 661 m., 662 m.; cloth trade in, 501,502, 503, 510 n., 615, 646, 658, 778, 795 m., 798, 928 f.; development of, 580; domestic system in, 502, 566 n. ; fens, 113; linen weavers of, 794 m.; migration to, 799; see West of England, Eastern Counties; mi- ning im, 527 n. ; price of provisions in, 707 m.; riots in, 625 m., 661, 662, 663 m.; spinning by power in, 657; spinning-jennies in, 650; wages in, 40 m., 43, 795 m., 798; weavers in, 506 Zinc, 835 CAMBRIDGI; ; PRINTED BY JOHN CLAX, M.A. AT THE UNIVERSITY PRIESS. j } . --~~~~，~….–…） <&&！\, - … →s*-*…---- . . |---- ±∞）. G=) – E |---- ~）; }） G=) |---- (=) (~=? 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