ABSTRACT
We have now taken a brief but comprehensive survey of our commerce, as it is placed before us in official records; we have seen it rise from its previously depressed state, and advance in a few years as much as fifty per cent.; we have seen it multiplying our relations with states which have been our customers from time immemorial, and at the same instant opening new channels in parts of the world which have hitherto scarcely echoed the British name, and bringing vast districts, which have lain for ages beneath the night of despotism, for the first time in modern history within the magic spell of civilisation. We have beheld the gladdening sight of plenty scattering the countless treasures of her golden horn around the thresholds and hearths of the labouring poor, and industry, sustained by comfort, lured back again to the silent loom, and sending her cheapened products to clothe millions in distant lands. It would require no ordinary measure of hardihood to withhold from Free Trade the credit of these facts. The connexion between the two is natural, obvious, and indisputable. If we plant a tree we forthwith expect to see it grow, and, at the proper season, bear fruit; and if this result follow we should as soon think of asserting, against the evidence of our senses, the nonexistence of the tree, as of ascribing the result to any other cause than that of suitable culture. If a person chose to deny this, and to ascribe its fruitfulness to the colour of the garden wall, or the form of the garden-gate, or the appearance of some new star in the heavens, it would be difficult perhaps to prove him mistaken; – we could carry him no higher than the demonstration of his senses. It is precisely so with our commerce. It was once fettered, it is now free. Ever since its fetters were knocked off it has progressed with unexampled rapidity, and there are some who venture to believe that it progresses the faster because it is free. If any one chooses to say that it moves faster than when its limbs were bound, not because they are unbound, but because an earthquake happened five months since, it is hopeless to attempt a mathematical demonstration to the contrary, but we can point to the facts as amply sufficient to obtain the verdict of all unprejudiced men. The repeal of the corn laws, and the abolition of the imposts previously laid on many hundred articles, occasioned an influx of those commodities which former regulations had kept out. But imports and exports are reciprocal. Protection to native industry says – ‘You shall not receive,’ and the corollary to this is ‘You shall not give.’ Once obtain permission to import, and the nation will forthwith begin to export. The cheapness which Free Trade produces expands all our markets. One of the heaviest burdens formerly sustained by our manufacturer was the necessity of competing with the lightly-taxed foreigner. The reduction which Free Trade has effected in the price of food and the 111raw material places him nearer to a position of equality, and helps to decide the battle of cheapness in his favour. But cheapness is the magic power of trade; at its approach the market gives way on all sides, nation after nation crowds into it, and protective measures, adopted by enlightened communities in self-defence, are thrown up as gross anachronisms. Free Trade is, as we shall see, the means of introducing greater economy into our manufactures, and stimulating all engaged therein to the attainment of greater excellence. Protected interests invariably languish; those who engage in them resemble a number of well-salaried officials who are guaranteed the enjoyment of a fixed income whether they work or not, and who content themselves, in consequence, with the minimum of ingenuity and exertion. Once deprive them of this support, once leave them to take care of themselves, and their conduct will undergo an instant change. Like the man who is reported to have run away with great agility when a set of thieves plundered him of his crutches, they will be compelled to do their best, and will soon equal, if not beat, their rivals. These are all the inevitable results of Free Trade, and the one expression for the whole is just – increased exportation. The condition of our commerce is scarcely more flourishing than it was expected to be. All was foreseen. It blossomed in theory before it blossomed in fact. The Free-trader always said – ‘Only open your ports to the produce of other nations, and your factories will soon be in motion, and the sea will be covered with your shipping, conveying your merchandise to every clime.’ This was the prophecy again and again uttered; in the prosperous times which are passing over us we witness its fulfilment. […]
