FREE TRADE FOR IRELAND
1779
In 1779 Smith was consulted by various members of the Government with
respect to the probable effects of the contemplated concession of free
trade to Ireland, and two letters of Smith still remain--one to the
Earl of Carlisle, First Lord of Trade and Plantations, and the other
to Henry Dundas--which state his views on this subject. A few
preliminary words will explain the situation. The policy of commercial
restriction has probably never been used with more cruelty or more
disaster than it was used against the people of Ireland between the
Restoration and the Union. They were not allowed to trade as they
would with Great Britain or her colonies, because they were aliens,
and they were not allowed to trade as they would with foreign
countries, because they were British subjects. There were various
industries they had special advantages for establishing, but the
moment they began to export the products the English Parliament, or
their own Irish Parliament under English influence, closed the markets
against them. Living in an excellent grazing country, their first
great product was cattle, and the export of cattle was prohibited.
When stopped from sending live meat, they tried to send dead, but the
embargo was promptly extended to salt provisions. Driven from cattle,
they betook themselves to sheep, and sent over wool; that was stopped,
allowed, and stopped again. When their raw wool was denied a market,
they next tried cloth, but England then bargained for the suppression
of the chief branches of Irish woollen manufacture by promising
Ireland a monopoly of the manufacture of linen. Other infant
industries which gave signs of growing to prosperity were by the same
means crushed in the cradle, and Ireland was in consequence never able
to acquire that nest-egg of industrial capital and training which
England won in the eighteenth century.
All this systematic oppression of national industry had produced its
natural fruit in a distressing scarcity of employment, and in 1778,
though it was a year of plenty, and meal was at its cheapest, many
thousands of the population were starving because they had not the
means to buy it; the farmers were unable to pay their rents because
they got such poor prices; processions of unemployed paraded the
streets of Dublin carrying a black fleece in token of their want; and
the Viceroy from the Castle warned the English ministry that an
enlargement of the trade of Ireland had become a matter of the merest
necessity, without which she could never pay her national obligations
to the English Exchequer.
But it was neither the voice of justice nor the cry of distress that
moved the Government; it was the alarm of external danger. The
strength of England was then strained as it has never been before or
since in an unequal war with the combined forces of France, Spain, and
America, and it was no time either to feed or to neglect discontent at
home. Ireland had already sent many recruits to the revolutionary army
in America, and at this very moment the Irish Protestants, incensed at
the indifference of Government to the protection of their ports, had,
under the lead of Lord Charlemont, raised an illegal army of 42,000
volunteers, and placed them under arms without the consent of the
Crown.
The demand of free trade for Ireland came therefore with sanctions
that could not be ignored, and Lord North's first idea was to give
Ireland the same rights of trading with the colonies and foreign
countries as England enjoyed, except in the two particulars of the
export of wool and glass and the import of tobacco. This proposal was
not satisfactory to the Irish, because it failed to remove their chief
grievance, the restriction on their trade in woollen goods, but it
provoked a storm of indignation in Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, and
all the great manufacturing and trading centres of Great Britain. They
petitioned the Government declaring that the proposed measure would
ruin them, for a reason with which we are still very familiar, because
it would be impossible for any English or Scotch manufacturer to
compete against the pauper labour of Ireland. Lord North, frightened,
as Burke said, into some concessions by the menaces of Ireland, was
now frightened out of them again by the menaces of England, and he cut
down his original proposals till the Irish thought he was merely
trifling with their troubles, and their whole island was aflame.
Associations were formed, commotions broke out; a great meeting in
Dublin in April 1779 pledged itself to buy nothing of English or
Scotch manufacture; many of the county meetings instructed their
representatives in Parliament to vote no money bill for more than six
months till Irish grievances were redressed; and the Lord-Lieutenant
wrote the Government that popular discontent was seriously increasing,
that French and American emissaries were actively abroad, that the
outlook was black indeed if next session of Parliament passed without
giving the Irish a satisfactory measure of free trade, and that
"nothing short of permission to export coarse woollen goods would in
any degree give general satisfaction."
As soon as the Irish Parliament met in October a new member of the
House, who was presently to become a new power in the country, Henry
Grattan, rose and moved an amendment to the address, urging the
necessity for a free export trade; and the amendment was, on the
suggestion of Flood, extended to a general demand for free trade,
including imports as well as exports, and in this form was carried
without a division. The reply to the address, however, seemed
studiously ambiguous, and inflamed the prevailing discontent. On King
William's birthday the statue of that monarch in Dublin was hung over
with expressive placards, and the city volunteers turned out and
paraded round it; a few days later a mob from the Liberties attacked
the house of the Attorney-General, and proceeding to Parliament, swore
all the members they found to vote only short money bills till free
trade were conceded; and then Grattan, in his place in the House,
carried by three to one a resolution to grant no new taxes and to give
only six months' bills for the appropriated duties.
The Government was now thoroughly alarmed; they must at last face the
question of free trade for Ireland in dead earnest, and applied
themselves without delay to learn from all who understood the subject
what would be the real effect on England of removing the Irish
restrictions. They requested many of the leading public men whom they
trusted in Ireland--Lord Lifford, Hely Hutchinson, Henry Burgh, and
others--to prepare detailed statements of their views on the
commercial grievances of their country and the operation of the
proposed remedies. Mr. Lecky, who has seen those statements at the
Record Office, says they are conspicuous for their clear grasp of the
principles of free trade, and I think that they may with great
probability be considered a fruit of Smith's then recently published
work, because Hely Hutchinson's statement, or its substance, has been
published--it was, indeed, the last book publicly burned in this
country--and it makes frequent quotations from the _Wealth of
Nations_. It was in these circumstances that the Board of Trade made a
double application to Adam Smith for his opinion on the subject. Lord
Carlisle, the head of the Board, applied to him through Adam Ferguson,
who had been Secretary of the Commission, of which Lord Carlisle had
been President, sent out to America the year before to negotiate
terms of peace; and Mr. William Eden, Secretary of the Board, applied
to him through Henry Dundas. With Eden (afterwards the first Lord
Auckland) Smith became later on well acquainted; he was married in
1776 to a daughter of Smith's old friend, Sir Gilbert Elliot, but at
the date of this correspondence their personal acquaintance does not
seem to have been intimate.
Smith's letter to Lord Carlisle is as follows:--
MY LORD--My friend Mr. Ferguson showed me a few days ago a
letter in which your Lordship was so good as to say that you
wished to know my opinion concerning the consequence of
granting to the Irish that _free trade_ which they at
present demand so importunately. I shall not attempt to
express how much I feel myself flattered by your Lordship's
very honourable remembrance of me, but shall without further
preface endeavour to explain that opinion, such as it may
be, as distinctly as I can.
Till we see the heads of the bill which the Irish propose to
send over, it is impossible to know precisely what they mean
by a free trade.
It is possible they may mean by it no more than the freedom
of exporting all goods, whether of their own produce or
imported from abroad, to all countries (Great Britain and
the British settlements excepted) subject to no other duties
or restraints than such as their own Parliament may impose.
At present they can export glass, tho' of their own
manufacture, to no country whatever. Raw silk, a foreign
commodity, is under the same restraint. Wool they can export
only to Great Britain. Woollen manufactures they can export
only from certain ports in Ireland to certain ports in Great
Britain. A very slender interest of our own manufacturers is
the foundation of all these unjust and oppressive
restraints. The watchful jealousy of those gentlemen is
alarmed least the Irish, who have never been able to supply
compleatly even their own market with glass or woollen
manufactures, should be able to rival them in foreign
markets.
The Irish may mean by a _free trade_ to demand, besides, the
freedom of importing from wherever they can buy them
cheapest all such foreign goods as they have occasion for.
At present they can import glass, sugars of foreign
plantations, except those of Spain or Portugal, and certain
sorts of East India goods, from no country but Great
Britain. Tho' Ireland was relieved from these and from all
restraints of the same kind, the interest of Great Britain
could surely suffer very little. The Irish probably mean to
demand no more than this most just and reasonable freedom of
exportation and importation; in restraining which we seem to
me rather to have gratified the impertinence than to have
promoted any solid interest of our merchants and
manufacturers.
The Irish may, however, mean to demand, besides, the same
freedom of exportation and importation to and from the
British settlements in Africa and America which is enjoyed
by the inhabitants of Great Britain. As Ireland has
contributed little either to the establishment or defence of
these settlements, this demand would be less reasonable than
the other two. But as I never believed that the monopoly of
our Plantation trade was really advantageous to Great
Britain, so I cannot believe that the admission of Ireland
to a share in that monopoly, or the extension of this
monopoly to all the British islands, would be really
disadvantageous.
Over and above all this, the Irish may mean to demand the
freedom of importing their own produce and manufactures into
Great Britain, subject to no other duties than such as are
equivalent to the duties imposed upon the like goods of
British produce or manufacture. Tho' even this demand, the
most unreasonable of all, should be granted, I cannot
believe that the interest of Britain would be hurt by it. On
the contrary, the competition of Irish goods in the British
market might contribute to break down in part that monopoly
which we have most absurdly granted to the greater part of
our own workmen against ourselves. It would, however, be a
long time before this competition could be very
considerable. In the present state of Ireland centuries must
pass away before the greater part of its manufactures could
vie with those of England. Ireland has little coal, the
coallieries about Lough Neagh being of little consequence to
the greater part of the country; it is ill provided with
wood: two articles essentially necessary to the progress of
great manufactures. It wants order, police, and a regular
administration of justice, both to protect and to restrain
the inferior ranks of people: articles more essential to the
progress of industry than both coal and wood put together,
and which Ireland must continue to want as long as it
continues to be divided between two hostile nations, the
oppressors and the oppressed, the Protestants and the
Papists. Should the industry of Ireland, in consequence of
freedom and good government, ever equal that of England, so
much the better would it be not only for the whole British
Empire, but for the particular province of England. As the
wealth and industry of Lancashire does not obstruct but
promote that of Yorkshire, so the wealth and industry of
Ireland would not obstruct but promote that of England.
It makes me very happy to find that in the midst of the
public misfortunes a person of your Lordship's rank and
elevation of mind doth not despair of the commonwealth, but
is willing to accept of an active share in administration.
That your Lordship may be the happy means of restoring
vigour and decision to our counsels, and in consequence of
them, success to our arms, is the sincere wish of, my Lord,
your Lordship's most obliged and most obedient servant,
ADAM SMITH.[304]
EDINBURGH, _8th November 1779_.
The letter to Dundas was published in the _English Historical Review_
for April 1886 (p. 308), by Mr. Oscar Browning, from a copy in the
Auckland papers then in his possession. Mr. Browning gives at the same
time the previous letters of Dundas to Eden and Smith respectively. To
Eden he writes:--
MELVILLE, _30th October 1779_.
MY DEAR SIR--I received yours last night and have sent it
this morning to Smith. When I see or hear from him you shall
hear again from me upon the different parts of your letter.
The enclosed is a copy of my letter to Smith, which will
show you what are my present crude ideas upon the subject of
Ireland.--Yours faithfully,
HENRY DUNDAS.
His letter to Smith is as follows:--
MELVILLE, _30th October 1779_.
DEAR SIR--I received the enclosed last night from Mr. Eden.
The questions he puts would require a Volume to answer them
in place of a Letter. Think of it, however, and let me have
your ideas upon it. For my own part I confess myself little
alarmed about what others seem so much alarmed. I doubt much
if a free trade to Ireland is so very much to be dreaded.
There is trade enough in the World for the Industry both of
Britain and Ireland, and if two or three places either in
South or North Britain should suffer some damage, which, by
the bye, will be very gradual, from the loss of their
monopoly, that is a very small consideration in the general
scale and policy of the country. The only thing to be
guarded against is the people in Ireland being able to
undersell us in foreign mercates from the want of taxes and
the cheapness of Labour. But a wise statesman will be able
to regulate that by proper distribution of taxes upon the
materials and commodities of the respective Countrys. I
believe a Union would be best if it can be accomplished; if
not the Irish Parliament might be managed by the proper
distribution of the Loaves and Fishes, so that the
Legislatures of the two countrys may act in union together.
In short, it has long appeared to me that the bearing down
of Ireland was in truth bearing down a substantial part of
the Naval and Military strength of our own Country. Indeed,
it has often shocked me in the House of Commons for these
two years past, when anything was hinted in favour of
Ireland by friends of giving them only the benefit of making
the most of what their soil and climate afforded them, to
hear it received as a sufficient answer that a town in
England or Scotland would be hurt by such an Indulgence.
This kind of reasoning will no longer do. But I find, in
place of asking yours, I am giving you my opinion. So
adieu.--Yours sincerely,
HENRY DUNDAS.
To this manly, but somewhat inconsistent letter, acknowledging the
full right of a people to make the most of what their soil and climate
afforded, but yet afraid to give them the whole advantage of their
cheapness of labour, Smith sent the following reply, probably on the
1st of November:--
MY DEAR LORD[305]--I am very happy to find that Your
Lordship's opinion concerning the circumstance of granting a
free trade to Ireland coincides so perfectly with my own. I
cannot believe that the manufacturers of Great Britain can
for a century to come suffer much from the Rivalship of
those of Ireland, even though the Irish should be indulged
in a free trade. Ireland has neither the skill nor the stock
which would enable Her to rival England, and tho' both may
be acquired in time, to acquire them completely will
require the opperation of little less than a Century.
Ireland has neither Coal nor wood; the former seems to have
been denied to her by nature; and though her Soil and
Climate are perfectly suited for raising the Latter, yet to
raise it to the same degree as in England will require more
than a Century. I perfectly agree with your Lordship too
that to Crush the Industry of so great and so fine a
Province of the Empire in order to favour the monopoly of
some particular Towns in Scotland or England is equally
injurious and impolitic. The general opulence and
improvement of Ireland must certainly, under proper
management, afford much greater Resources to Government than
can ever be drawn from a few mercantile or manufacturing
Towns.
Till the Irish Parliament sends over the Heads of their
proposed Bill, it may perhaps be uncertain what they
understand by a Free Trade.
They may perhaps understand by it no more than the power of
exporting their own produce to the foreign country where
they can find the best mercate. Nothing can be more just and
reasonable than this demand, nor can anything be more unjust
and unreasonable than some of the restraints which their
Industry in this respect at present labours under. They are
prohibited under the heaviest penalties to export Glass to
any Country. Wool they can export only to Great Britain.
Woolen goods they can export only from certain Ports in
their own Country and to certain Ports in Great Britain.
They may mean to demand the Power of importing such foods as
they have occasion for from any Country where they can find
them cheapest, subject to no other duties and restraints
than such as may be imposed by their own Parliament. This
freedom, tho' in my opinion perfectly reasonable, will
interfere a little with some of our paltry monopolies.
Glass, Hops, Foreign Sugars, several sorts of East Indian
goods can at present be imported only from Great Britain.
They may mean to demand a free trade to our American and
African Plantations, free from the restraints which the 18th
of the present King imposed upon it, or at least from some
of those restraints, such as the prohibition of exporting
thither their own Woolen and Cotton manufactures, Glass,
Hatts, Hops, Gunpowder, etc. This freedom, tho' it would
interfere with some of our monopolies, I am convinced, would
do no harm to Great Britain. It would be reasonable, indeed,
that whatever goods were exported from Ireland to these
Plantations should be subject to the like duties as those
of the same kind exported from England in the terms of the
18th of the present King.
They may mean to demand a free trade to Great Britain, their
manufactures and produce when Imported into this country
being subjected to no other duties than the like
manufactures and produce of our own. Nothing, in my opinion,
would be more highly advantageous to both countries than
this mutual freedom of trade. It would help to break down
that absurd monopoly which we have most absurdly established
against ourselves in favour of almost all the different
Classes of our own manufacturers.
Whatever the Irish mean to demand in this way, in the
present situation of our affairs I should think it madness
not to grant it. Whatever they may demand, our
manufacturers, unless the leading and principal men among
them are properly dealt with beforehand, will probably
oppose it. That they may be so dealt with I know from
experience, and that it may be done at little expense and
with no great trouble. I could even point to some persons
who, I think, are fit and likely to deal with them
successfully for this purpose. I shall not say more upon
this till I see you, which I shall do the first moment I can
get out of this Town.
I am much honoured by Mr. Eden's remembrance of me. I beg
you will present my most respectful compliments to him, and
that you will believe me to be, my dear Lord, most
faithfully yours,
ADAM SMITH.
_1st November 1779._
I cannot explain the allusion in the closing parts of the letter to
the writer's personal experience of the ease with which the opposition
of manufacturers to proposed measures of public policy could be
averted by sagacious management and a little expenditure of money. Nor
can I say what persons he had in view to recommend as likely to do
this work successfully; but his advice seems to imply that he agreed
with the political maxim that the opposition of the pocket is best met
through the pocket.
He takes no notice of Dundas's suggestion of a union with Great
Britain, but we know from the _Wealth of Nations_ that he was a strong
advocate of a union--not, of course, on Dundas's ground that a union
would better enable the English Parliament to counteract the effects
of the competition of Irish pauper labour, but for a reason which will
sound curiously perhaps in the middle of our present agitations, that
a union would deliver the Irish people from the tyranny of an
oppressive aristocracy, which was the great cause of that kingdom
being then divided into "two hostile nations," to use his words to
Lord Carlisle, "the oppressors and the oppressed." He avers in the
_Wealth of Nations_ that "without a union with Great Britain the
inhabitants of Ireland are not likely for many ages to consider
themselves one people."[306]
FOOTNOTES:
[304] Morrison MSS.
[305] The Lord Advocate is usually addressed as My Lord.
[306] Book V. chap. iii.