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have in this manner entailed on the country. But without affecting minute accuracy, to which, on such a subject, it is impossible to attain, we believe we shall be considerably within the mark, if we estimate, with Dr. Colquhoun, the price of the different kinds of grain annually consumed in Great Britain and Ireland at 75,734,0001. ;* and we shall be equally within the mark, if we suppose, that, in the event of the restrictions on the trade in corn being abolished, the same quantity of produce might be obtained for two-thirds of this price, or for 49,156,000l. This statement, we are convinced, is not liable to the charge of exaggeration; and it shows, that the restrictions on the importation of foreign grain are really equivalent to a tax on corn, which should yield an annual revenue of 24,578,0007.—a tax, it will be remembered," which had no existence in 1793, and which is, of itself, nearly double the entire expenditure of the Government, including the interest of the public debt, at that epoch!

We are not left to infer from general principles, however well established, what must be the effect of thus forcibly enhancing the price of the prime necessary of life, and the chief regulator of wages. The example of Holland-an example pregnant with instruction-ought to have warned us to abstain from so fatal an experiment. Notwithstanding the laudable economy of its Government, the public debt of that Republic became so enormous, that, in order to raise the sums required to pay the interest, heavy duties were imposed on the most indispensable necessaries; and, among others, on flour and meal when ground at the mill, and on bread when it came from the oven. In lieu of a part of these imposts, the country people of Holland paid an annual composition of so much a head, according to the sort of bread they consumed. Those who made use of wheaten bread paid about 68. 9 d., and those who lived on oats, rye, etc., paid proportionable sums.† The consequences were such as might have been anticipated. In a very valuable and authentic Memoir, "On the Means of Redressing and Amending the Trade of the Republic," drawn up from information communicated by the best informed merchants, by order of William IV, Prince of Orange, and presented to the States-General in 1751, it is expressly stated, that "oppressive taxes must be placed at the head of the various causes which have co-operated to the prejudice and discouragement of the commerce of Holland; and it may justly be said, that it can only be attributed to those taxes, that the trade of this country has been diverted out of its channel, and transferred to our neighbours, and must daily be still more and more alienated and shut out from us, unless the progress thereof be stopt by some quick and effectual remedy. Nor is it difficult to see, from these contemplations on the state of our trade, that the same can be effected by no other means than a diminution of all duties."‡

It would be easy to add innumerable proofs to those given in the Memoir just quoted, to show that excessive taxation was the real cause of the decline of the commercial greatness of Holland. "Tel est l'effet," says the well

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informed author of the Richesse de la Hollande, published in 1778, " du haut prix de la main d'œuvre que le système de l'impôt a produit. Les guerres ont forcé des emprunts, et les emprunts ont exigé des impôts pour en payer les intérêts, ou faire des remboursements. Mais était-il indis

pensable d'étendre les impôts sur les choses les plus nécessaires à la vie, sur toutes les denrées de première nécessité. L'augmentation du prix de la main d'œuvre devait nécessairement suivre de cette direction de l'impôt, et porter avec elle la destruction de la source même de l'impôt." And, farther on, he observés, "L'augmentation successive des impôts, que les payments des intérêts et les remboursements ont rendue indispensable, a détruit une grande partie de l'industrie, a diminué le commerce, a diminué ou fort altéré l'état florissant où était autrefois la population, en resserrant chez le peuple les moyens de subsistance. It is to the same cause-to the rise of wages occasioned by the increased price of necessarics resulting from excessive taxation, that the fall in the rate of profit, and the transfer of Dutch capital to every country in Europe, is to be ascribed. The author of the Richesse de la Hollande states, that, in 1778, the capitalists of Holland had above 1500 millions of livres tournois invested in the public funds of France and England, for which, owing to the decline of industry, they were no longer able to obtain any advantageous employment at home.

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But the system of taxation which was productive of these fatal effects in Holland was, in reality, much less oppressive than that to which this country is now subjected. For example, a British workman might, if he were permitted to buy his food in the cheapest market, purchase a quarter of wheat for 458., or at most 508. ; but the prohibition against importation, by raising its price to 808., has precisely the same effect as if he were obliged to pay a direct tax of 308. or 358. on every quarter he consumes; and averaging the consumption of each individual at three fourths of a quarter of wheat, it is really equivalent to a capitation tax of 228. 6d., or to more than three times the sum paid by the people of Holland as a composition for the tax on bread. We feel it to be unnecessary to make any commentary on this statement. It is not contended that there is any thing peculiar in the situation of this country; but, unless such were really the case, must we not conclude, that the same abuse of the taxing and funding system which forced the capitalists of Holland to have recourse to foreign investments-degraded the condition of her labourers-and ultimately stript her of her commerce, fisheries, and manufactures, will be equally fatal in Great Britain? If we do not adopt the advice of the Prince of Orange to the States-General, and diminish all duties, we must not flatter ourselves with the vain and delusive idea, that we shall be able to escape the fate of those by whom it was rejected.

It is perhaps impossible accurately to determine the precise portion of the produce of the capital and labour of the productive classes of Great Britain and Ireland drawn from them by means of direct and indirect taxation by the operation of the Corn Laws-and as contributions for the support of the church, the poor, and other public burdens. We believe, however, that the following estimate will be found to be a pretty near approximation to the truth.

It appears, from the official statements given in the Finance accounts for 1818, that the gross produce of the revenue of Great Britain and Ireland,

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for the year ending 5th January, 1819, amounted to 64,506,2037. Now, if to this sum we add 24,578,0007. on account of the unnatural enhancement of the price of corn, and allow for Poor-rates and other county burdens 12,000,0007., and for the Church establishment 5,000,000Z., the total aggregate amount of the public burdens may be taken at 106,084,2037.

It is much more difficult, however, to ascertain the amount of the National Income, or the sum which remains as rent, profit, and wages, after replacing the capital employed in the great work of production. Dr. Becke, in his very valuable and elaborate pamphlet on the Income Tax, published in 1800, estimated the income of Great Britain arising from land, labour, professions, and every other source, at 218 millions; and supposing the income of Ireland to be equal to one fifth of that of Great Britain, we should have 261 millions as the total income of the Empire. Since 1800, the national income has been considerably augmented, though not perhaps to the extent generally believed. But, assuming that it has in the interval beer increased one third, or 87 millions, that would give 348 millions as the present income of the United Kingdom. We are satisfied that this estimate is rather over than underrated. It is true, Dr. Colquhoun estimates the value of the new property annually produced in Great Britain and Ireland at 430 millions. But new property and income are very different things. The former, besides rent, profit, and wages, includes the sum which must be set apart to replace the capital consumed in production. The new property produced by a farmer or manufacturer may be equal to ten or twenty times the value of their incomes; nor is it possible to form any accurate estimate of the income of a country merely from the insulated fact of its new property being equal to such and such a sum. Supposing, however, that the fixed and circulating capital of Great Britain and Ireland are together equal to 2500 millions (Dr. Colquhoun estimates them at 2647 millions, and that the annual waste in production is ? per cent., which is surely a very moderate allowance, that would give 50 millions to be deducted from the value of the new property, in order to replace capital. But this is not the only correction to be made. Dr. Colquhoun's estimate was framed for 1812, when bank paper, or the money in which his valuations were made, was at least 20 per cent. less valuable than at this moment; so that, when both these circumstances are taken into account, it will be found that Dr. Colquhoun's estimate is not materially different from our own.

But on the hypothesis that the present income of the United Kingdom is equal to 350 millions, it is plain that very little less than one third of the entire revenue of the industrious classes is swallowed up by taxation, and by the bounty to the growers of Corn; or, which is the same thing, every poor man is obliged to labour two days out of six, not for the benefit of himself or his master, but in order to satisfy the demands of the Treasury; and this in addition to one third of the profits of all fixed capital, such as land, machinery, etc., and of professional incomes devoted to the same purpose Surely it is unnecessary to seek elsewhere for an explanation of the difficulties in which we are involved. No country was ever subjected to such a scourge. Nor can there be the shadow of a doubt that it is owing to the Government claiming for themselves, and allowing or rather forcing the growers of corn to claim, in exchange for their produce, too great a share of the earnings of the industrious classes, that the latter have not enough left to support themselves.

EFFECTS OF MACHINERY AND ACCUMULATION.*

From the publication of the "Wealth of Nations" in 1776, down to the peace of 1815, it appears to have been generally agreed, that the great practical problem of the science of Political Economy resolved itself into a discussion of the means whereby the greatest possible produce might be rendered obtainable with the least possible expense; and that the true measure of the increase or diminution of national wealth was to be found in the extent to which the commodities produced in a given period exceeded or fell short of those consumed in the same period. The principles from which these conclusions were deduced appeared to be almost self-evident and incontrovertible. "" Every man is rich or poor, according to the degree in which he can afford to enjoy the necessaries, conveniencies, and amusements of human life." And, as it is conceded on all hands, that these necessaries and conveniencies,-whatever effect the institutions of society may have had on their distribution,-must have been primarily obtained by labour, it seems impossible to doubt, that the wealth and riches of every country, or, which is the same thing, its supply of necessaries and conveniencies, must be augmented whenever the quantity of labour required for their production is diminished. Suppose the labour necessary to produce hats were reduced to a tenth of what it is at this moment, it is plain that the same quantity of labour which is now required to obtain one hat would then obtain ten hats; and as the great bulk of mankind have only labour to give in exchange for commodities, their condition would, in consequence, be considerably improved. Instead, however, of being confined to one, a similar reduction might take place in the cost of producing all commodities; and, if such were the case, it is extremely difficult to perceive how we should not be ten times richer-that is, have ten times more of the necessaries and luxuries of life at our disposal.

But, notwithstanding the apparent reasonablenesss of these conclusions, their correctness has lately been called in question by writers of considerable eminence. Dr. Smith is accused of having mistaken the object of the science. That object, it is now said, is not to facilitate production, but to stimulate consumption. An increase of demand, and not of supply, is stated to be the real desideratum-we are said to produce too much, and to consume too little. And the regorgement which has been felt in almost all the channels of industry since the peace, added to the extreme difficulty of finding a market for various commodities whose cost of production has been much diminished, has been triumphantly appealed to as a conclusive proof of the soundness of the theory which teaches, that the saving of labour in the production of commodities may be carried too far-that the excess of wealth may be accompanied with all the evils of poverty,-and that a great propensity to save and accumulate capital, or a sudden reduction of laxation, may frequently reduce the population to a state of absolute

starvation?

But whatever truth may be in these novel and extraordinary conclusions, they can derive no support from the distresses in which the productive classes in this country have been involved during the last five or six years.

The Opinions of Messrs. Say, Sismondi, and Malthus, on the Effects of Machinery and Accumulation, stated and examined. London, 1821.-Vol. xxxv. page 102. March, 1821. + Wealth of Nations, vol. i. page 43.

These may be satisfactorily accounted for, on the supposition that they have proceeded from entirely different causes; from our being suddenly deprived of that monopoly of the commerce of the world we enjoyed during the latter years of the war; and from the increase in the value of the currency, which has really added from 25 to 30 per cent. to the already enormous weight of the public burdens. We have, in former articles, endeavoured to show, that these have been the principal causes of the comparative embarrassments of the commercial and agricultural classes since the peace. And as it is impossible to deny that they must have exerted a very powerful influence, it is plain the existing distress does not afford any solid presumption in favour of the opinions of Messrs. Sismondi and Malthus, the principal supporters of the new doctrines. They must, therefore, be tried by a different test. And as there is no conclusive experience in their favour, we must endeavour, by the aid of a careful analysis, to ascertain their truth or falsehood.

Before proceeding to examine the objections which have been stated to the continued reduction in the price of commodities caused by the indefinite extension and improvement of machinery, we may observe, that the same objections would equally apply to the continued and indefinite improvement of the skill and industry of the labourer. If the construction of a machine that would manufacture two pairs of stockings for the same expense that had previously been required to manufacture one pair, be in any circumstances injurious to society, it would be equally injurious were the same thing accomplished by an increase of dexterity and skill on the part of the knitters-if, for example, the females who were in the habit of knitting two or three pairs of stockings in the week should in future be enabled to knit four or six pairs. There is obviously no difference in these cases. And if the demand for stockings was already sufficiently supplied, Mr. Sismondi could not, consistently with the principles he has advanced in his late work (Nouveaux Principes, tome 2de, p. 318.), hesitate about condemning this improvement as a very great evil-as a means of throwing half the people engaged in the stocking manufacture out of employment. The question respecting the improvement of machinery is, therefore, at bottom, the same with the question respecting the improvement of the science, ingenuity, skill, and industry of the labourer. The principles which regulate our decision in the one case must also regulate it in the other. If it be advantageous that the skill of the labourer should be indefinitely extended-that he should be enabled to produce a vastly greater quantity of commodities with the same, or a less, quantity of labour, it must also be advantageous that he should avail himself of the assistance of such machines as may most effectually assist him in bringing about this result.

In order the better to appreciate the effects resulting from an increase in the manual skill and dexterity of the labourer, or from an improvement in the tools or machines used by him, let us suppose that the productive powers of industry are universally augmented, and that the workmen. engaged in every different employment can, with the same exertion, produce ten times the quantity of commodities as at present: is it not evident that this increased facility of production would increase the wealth and enjoyments of every individual in a tenfold proportion? The shoemaker who had formerly only manufactured one pair of shoes a day would now be able to manufacture ten pairs. But as an equal improvement had taken place in every other department of industry, he would be able to obtain ten times the

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