ABSTRACT
Britain's so-called Fiscal-Military State was dismantled in the thirty years after 1815 as governments embraced both free trade to increase national wealth and a low taxation regime. In economic terms, laissez-faire means non-interference by government. Associated with the ideas of Adam Smith and Jeremy Bentham, a laissez-faire policy leaves agriculture, industry and commerce to operate in a climate of free competition. It also holds that individuals should be free to control their own lives, make their own decisions and operate in a free market unconfined by tariffs, tolls or other restrictions. The role of the state should be reduced to bare essentials defence of the nation and the provision of a framework within which the liberty of law-abiding citizens is guaranteed. Samuel Smiles was first a supporter of radical causes, but physical-force Chartism tempered his radicalism. He was increasingly associated with Liberal politics and wrote much about forms of self-improvement.
