amount, but what has been derived either from agriculture or
manufactures, nor any of which the value is not determined by
the success of these, so again this consumer, whatever his rank
or position in society may be, is mainly dependent on them. The
rental of land, the income from houses, or investments in the
public funds, are merely the representatives of so much labour;
and the means necessary to pay them are principally drawn from
either agriculture or manufactures.
"Our annual creation of wealth may be thus stated:--
Agriculture, £250,000,000
Manufactures, deducting the }
value of the raw material, } 127,000,000
Money interest, 37,000,000
Colonial interest, 18,000,000
Foreign commerce, (including }
shipping interest,) 10 per } 15,000,000
cent on amount of exports }
and imports,}
Fisheries, 3,000,000
------------
£450,000,000"
------------
_And from one or other of these does every individual in the land
derive his income or means of support._ The Peer of the realm,
the landed proprietor, the Government annuitant, the clergyman,
the medical and the legal adviser, with the banker, merchant,
dealer, and handicraftsman of every class and kind,--derive what
is necessary to support their state and condition, and their daily
sustenance, from these spring-heads of national wealth. This is the
substance of the nation, and what we call money consists merely
of the counters we use to denote and measure the value of this
substance as it passes from one to another.
"To do equal justice to all classes, the legislation of a
country ought, therefore, to keep steadily in view their
relative importance, not only as regards numbers, but also their
powers of production, and the proportion which they severally
bear of the national burdens. Unless this is the governing
principle, it strikes at the root of their prosperity, and the
injury inflicted on a class is evinced in the gradual decay of
the whole community."
Acting upon these distinct, and, we submit, perfectly sound
principles, Mr Spackman has compiled his tables in the following
manner. The Government returns are quite explicit as to the number
of those engaged directly in agriculture and in manufactures. Mr
Spackman takes each county separately; and having set down the
relative numbers of each class, he divides the remainder of the
population between these according to their proportion. For example,
let us instance his table of the county of Lanark, which is the
great seat of Scottish manufactures. We find, from the official
returns, that the following numbers are directly engaged:--
In Agriculture, 13,169
In Manufactures of all kinds, 61,378
The residue of the population being 352,425, he divides in the same
proportion, and thus gives us as a result:--
Engaged in Agriculture, 13,169
Dependent on, 62,257
------ 75,426
Engaged in Manufactures, 61,378
Dependent on, 290,168
------- 351,546
-------
Total of county, 426,972
In the same way, by estimating the population of Perthshire directly
employed in agriculture and manufactures, Mr Spackman forms his
table thus,--
Engaged in Agriculture, 16,302
Dependent on, 64,233
------ 80,535
Engaged in Manufactures, 11,509
Dependent on, 45,346
------ 56,855
------
Total of County, 137,390
The grand result for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
is as follows:--
Engaged in, and dependent on
agriculture, 18,734,468
Engaged in, and dependent on
manufactures, 8,091,621
----------
Population, exclusive of those
travelling on night of census, 26,826,089
Lest it should be said that Mr Spackman has acted upon any wrong
principle in framing these tables--for we know by experience that
a certain class of political economists can see no virtue in any
figures which are not of their own construction--let us turn to
the Government reports, and extract from them the number of males
_directly_ employed in the two great branches of production.
AGRICULTURE.
Farmers and Graziers, 737,206
Agricultural Labourers, 2,312,388
Gardeners, Nurserymen, &c. 60,767
All others, 9,196
---------
Total Males, 3,118,557
MANUFACTURES.
Above 20, 717,780
Under 20, 168,964
--------
Total Males, 886,744
"It will thus be seen," says Mr Spackman, "that the farmers and
graziers alone, as a body, are more in number than all the males
above twenty years of age employed in manufactures, and only 150,000
short of the whole number of males of all ages so employed. If we
add the two and a quarter millions of labourers which these farmers
and graziers give employment to, the _male_ population employed in
agriculture are nearly as four to one compared with those employed
in manufactures. The same remark will also apply as to age: those
above twenty are four to one; those under twenty are nearly two to
one."
We put forward these statements with no other view than to exhibit
to our readers the national importance of that agricultural interest
which has been so bitterly assailed, and which is threatened still
by a heavier accession of calamity. If the bastard system of Free
Trade is to be considered according to its influence on the welfare
of the majority of the people of Britain, there can be no doubt to
which side the vast preponderance belongs. The "horse-shoe idiots,"
though dull in intellect, are numerous in the flesh to an extent of
which, perhaps, even Mr Cobden was little aware. It is quite true
that the extended area over which they are disposed does not afford
them the same means of combination which are within the reach of the
inhabitants of the factories. The agriculturalists have no wish to
interfere with their neighbours' livelihood, and little inclination
to move at the bidding of mercenary demagogues. They seldom speak
until suffering or a sense of injustice compels them to appeal
to the legislature: and their unwillingness to join in agitation
has, ere now, been made subject of taunt against them. Were it
otherwise, we should not attach one half the importance which we do
to the movement which is visible all over the face of agricultural
England--a movement which the advocates of Free Trade may affect to
despise, but which, in reality, has struck them with consternation.
And no wonder that the movement should have been made. Let us pass
from the mere numerical consideration, and look to the extent of
property which is embarked on the one side and on the other.
We have already stated the annual value of the agricultural
production of these kingdoms to be £250,000,000, whilst that of
manufactures is little more than £127,000,000. To this latter sum
we must add about £50,000,000, being the estimated cost of the raw
material, if we wish to calculate from the exports the importance
of the home market compared with that which is to be found abroad.
For example, if the declared value of the exports shall amount to
69 millions, we are entitled to assume that about 117 millions are
consumed at home in a year of ordinary prosperity. This, of course,
is no more than an approximation to the truth, but it is the nearest
which can be made from such documents, reports, and returns, as are
accessible to the statist. Let us take Mr Spackman's estimate of
the capital employed, referring our readers for the details to his
exceedingly interesting work.
AGRICULTURAL CAPITAL.
Value of the Land, at 25 years' purchase of the annual rental of
Great Britain and Ireland, amounting, to £58,753,615 £1,500,000,000
Farmers' capital, employed in the cultivation of the soil, independent
of the stock on hand, at all times, of cattle, grain, &c., £5 to
£6 per acre on 46,522,970 acres, about 250,000,000
Stock in hand--
About 7,500,000 head of cattle, }
" 31,000,000 sheep and lambs, }
" 1,500,000 horses, } 250,000,000
" £50,000,000 value of timber, }
}
On an average, three months stock of grain, seeds,
hay, and other produce always on hand, }
-------------
Estimated agricultural capital £2,000,000,000
-------------
MANUFACTURING CAPITAL.
In Cotton, £24,500,000
" Woollen, 16,500,000
" Linen, 7,000,000
" Silk, 4,000,000
" Lace, 2,000,000
" Hose, 1,000,000
All others, 23,000,000
-----------
Estimated manufacturing capital, £78,000,000
-----------
The first reflection which must come home to the mind of every one
who considers these tables, is the astounding audacity of those who
have characterised the landlords as a grasping and rapacious class.
Singular, nay, almost incredible as it may appear, the annual value
of the production of manufactures is nearly double the amount of the
whole capital invested. This fact sufficiently explains the manner
in which so many colossal fortunes have been realised, while it
also suggests very painful reflections as to the condition of the
operatives who are the creators of all this wealth. But what are
we to think of the conduct of the men who, not content with such
enormous returns, have leagued together to swell them to a greater
amount, by demanding the free importation of foreign produce, under
the pretext that the people were oppressed by the continuance of a
system which gave remunerative prices, continuous employment, and
the means of livelihood to two-thirds of their aggregate number?
We acquit many of the leading and most respectable manufacturers
from being participators in any such scheme. Those connected with
the home trade have very generally been opposed to the application
of the Free-trade doctrines, the leading advocates of which were
comprised of men who manufactured solely for exportation, and whose
goods were neither intended nor adapted for British consumption.
It was for the exclusive benefit, as at the instigation of the
latter, that the Corn Laws were repealed. Few can be sorry--we
confess we are not--that even they have been disappointed in their
expectations. No tariffs have been relaxed in consequence of the
ill-omened surrender; on the contrary, the Continental states,
as well as the Americans, are protecting their own manufactures
with increased vigilance; whilst, on the other hand, they are
availing themselves of our folly, by deluging our market with their
agricultural produce, securing by these means the double advantage
of promoting both branches of industry. Never was there a vainer
notion than the chimera that other states would abandon their rising
manufactures to reciprocate with Great Britain, when that haughty
power had deliberately deprived herself of the means of enforcing
reciprocity. _The countries from which we import the largest amount
of grain are not the countries which take the largest amount of our
manufactures._ Even if the case were otherwise, we maintain that we
should be heavy losers, and in no way gainers, by the transaction.
Nationally, this is so clear that we need not waste words by arguing
the point; but we go further and say that, even had other states
reciprocated, the manufacturers, as a body, could not have been
gainers by Free Trade, unless the relative proportions between the
amount of home and foreign consumption had been entirely changed.
For, so long as two-thirds of our whole manufactures are annually
consumed in Britain, the condition of the consumers there, and their
power of purchase, must be a matter of greater importance to the
manufacturer than that of consumers abroad. The interest of the
shopkeepers and of the artisans is almost entirely bound up with the
home trade; and nothing can be more suicidal to the traders than
to give any countenance to a system which strikes at the amount of
their profits, by crippling the means of their customers.
Were our object merely to show the glaring injustice which has
been done to the landed interest, we could proceed much further in
disentangling details from the confusion into which they have been
purposely thrown, by such statistical writers as Mr Porter. But we
apprehend that, in the present temper of the nation, there is little
occasion for this. Men of all classes have had that opportunity
which experience can alone give, of testing in their own individual
case the advantages which were so confidently predicted by those
who advocated the commercial change. Those who have benefited by it
will, of course, remain Free traders. We are not unreasonable enough
to expect that they will abandon that policy which is profitable to
themselves, even though they should be convinced that it has proved
the reverse of profitable to others. But we can conscientiously say,
that we are acquainted with very few such persons. In the country
they do not exist: in the towns, we hear of nothing except continued
and weary depression. Almost every day fresh complaints of want of
employment are thrust upon us. Establishments are reduced, because
those who were considered wealthy, and those whose wealth depended
upon produce, have no longer the means to support them as before:
even professional incomes are declining: and no one ventures now
to indulge in that expenditure which, four or five years ago, gave
an impulse to the industry of the people. All this we believe to
be acknowledged, and we have heard it from the lips of many whose
political creed is quite at variance with our own.
Most important testimony to the same effect was borne, at the
recent meeting in Liverpool, by gentlemen who, from profession and
connection, belong to the mercantile and trading classes of the
community. It is no vague apprehension of coming evil, no slight
or ephemeral touch of distress, which has elicited declarations of
opinion so strong as were there expressed. The urgency of the case
is felt and acknowledged; and ere long we have not the slightest
doubt that demonstrations of similar magnitude and importance will
take place in other of the English towns.
From what we have already said, it will be gathered that we
recommend no hasty or precipitate movement. Our strength lies
in the justice of our cause, and in the palpable failure of the
measures against which we have emphatically protested. This is not
a question of mere sentiment, regarding which men can long continue
to maintain divided opinions. It is a practical question, affecting
not only the general welfare of the kingdom, but the property and
means of every man who lives and thrives through his industry. It is
essentially a labour question, and, as such, it cannot long remain
without receiving a distinct solution. In the mean time, however,
it is our duty to make preparation for the change which may arrive
at no distant period. The various Protection societies which are
everywhere organised, offer to those who condemn the present line of
policy the best opportunity of concentrating their efforts, and of
contributing to the ultimate triumph of the cause. These societies
must be supported, for, under existing circumstances, they are
of the utmost value. They present a ready channel through which
the wishes and situation of the people can be communicated to the
legislature or the throne; they establish and preserve communication
between neighbouring districts; and they supply useful information,
and disseminate sound principles, in quarters where good political
knowledge is most especially required. We trust that no one who
entertains opinions similar to our own, and who is deeply impressed
with the necessity of a return to the just system of Protection,
will be backward in lending his aid to these institutions. From the
peculiar position of the agricultural party, such combinations are
absolutely necessary, in order to arrive at a just estimate of our
strength, and the true sentiments of the nation. Private efforts,
however energetically made, are ineffectual in compassion with this
system of union and of order; and although we know that agitation
is in itself a thing distasteful to many, the emergency of the case
is such that we are imperatively bound to adopt all legitimate
means for the furtherance of our object. It may be that under no
circumstances whatever can redress be obtained from the present
Parliament. We have already adverted to the peculiar causes which
would seem to render such an expectation at best a forlorn hope;
yet still that furnishes no reason for relaxing in our efforts. The
Whig Ministry--by the confession of men of all parties--has a most
precarious tenure of office. Already the House of Peers has passed
its gravest censure upon the course of foreign policy which has been
pursued--a course of which it is difficult to say whether its most
prominent feature is culpable recklessness or glaring dishonesty. We
do not know what may be the decision of the House of Commons upon
a point of such importance, or whether unscrupulous influence, and
the dread of a dissolution, may not overcome the dictates of honour
and the force of private judgement in the more popular assembly.
But, whatever may be the fiat of the Commons, this at least is
clear, that a severe blow has been given to the stability of the
Whig Government. Beyond the walls of Parliament they have hardly
any support upon a question which threatens to involve us in direct
hostility with France; and nothing could have more effectually
damaged them, even in this wretched business, than the acerbity of
the tone assumed by Lord John Russell with regard to the European
powers, who are most justly incensed at the paltering and bad faith
of the political incendiary who, to the misfortune of this country,
has been intrusted with the management of foreign affairs. Neither
the honour nor the interests of Britain are safe in such hands.
Therefore we say to the men of the Country Party--Be prepared to
act, for no one can tell how soon the moment for action may arrive.
Ours is a great cause, and it must not be imperilled by slothfulness
or inactivity at a crisis which requires the exertion of all our
energies, and the combination of all our powers. Let us but be true
to ourselves, and ultimate success is certain. Delusions may for a
time have taken hold of the public mind; but the endurance of all
delusions is short, and the mist is rapidly dissipating. Let any man
compare the state of public feeling as it exists now, with what it
was but twelve months ago, and he cannot fail to be impressed with
the amazing rapidity of the change. And yet, why should he wonder at
it? The industry of the nation is at stake, and what marvel that the
people should demand their own?
That cheapness of itself is no blessing, even our opponents admit
in the arguments which they try to direct against us. Read their
accounts of the squalidness and poverty which prevail in the
larger towns--the testimony which has been laboriously collected
as to the lamentable fall of wages, and the diminished profits of
thousands employed in the lower kinds of handicraft. Undoubtedly
competition among themselves has contributed to this state of
matters; but in no degree at all commensurate to the great decline
which has taken place since we commenced the ruinous system of
reducing customs duties. Mr Joseph Hume once ventured to maintain,
in the House of Commons, "that England might exist and prosper as
a purely manufacturing and commercial country, if it did not grow
a single bushel of corn,--if, in exchange for its manufactures and
minerals, it imported from the cheap corn-producing countries every
quarter of wheat required in this country!" How far that statement
is compatible with the ascertained sources of the national wealth,
we leave our readers to decide. This much, however, we shall say,
that England, so situated, would be a very different country from
that which we have known; and that the wildernesses of the West
would offer a place of abode infinitely preferable to that which we
could enjoy here under the gentle sway of the Millocrats, and the
enlightened legislation of the Economists.
_Printed by William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh._
* * * * *
Transcriber's note:
Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.
Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as
printed.
Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where
the missing quote should be placed.
The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the
transcriber and is placed in the public domain.