ABSTRACT
The opposition to the protective system surrounding British foreign trade came from four quarters: writers, independent commentators and economists; ministerial circles in government and officials in some government departments; the business community; and — finally — the legislature, without the concurrence of which the old statutes and duties and restrictions could not be abandoned. The arguments for free trade, or a less restricted trade, were both theoretical, derived from a general system of analysis in the case of certain writers and thinkers, and practical, ad hoc,sectional, deriving from the belief that freer trade in certain particulars would bring direct commercial gain to the interest group advocating the change.
