Notes and comments on industrial, economic, political and historical subjects.

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About Google Book Search Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web at |http : //books . google . com/| HF 1 4 > NOTES AND COMMENTS* 7^ 2.Z2^ ON INDUSTRIAL, ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, AND HISTORICAL SUBJECTS. BY JAMES M. SWANK, Secbetaby and General Manaoeb of The Amebican Ibon and Steel Association FROM 1872 TO 1897. Author of a History of the Manufacture of Iron in All Ages. Member of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Note it in a book, that it may be for the time to oome.— >Isaiah xxx. 8. PHILADELPHIA : THE AMERICAN IRON AND STEEL ASSOCIATION. 1897. Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year 1897, BY JAMES M. SWANK, In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. Printed by ALLEN, LANE & SCOTT, Noa. 1211-1213 Clover Street, Philadelphia. PEEPACE. The thirty chapters which compose this volume were not written that they might be gathered into a book. Some of them were written many years ago and others in later years. Seferences to recent events have been added whenever neces- sary. As the editor of the publications of the American Iron and Steel Association during the last twenty-five years it has been my duty and pleasure to present to the readers of these publications industrial, economic, and other facts of special in- terest, and to accompany them with such comments as seemed to be pertinent and necessary. The chapters which are bound up in the present volume have been selected from these edito- rial contributions. In making these selections I have confined them in the main to such subjects as are likely to possess pres- ent interest for students of our industrial and economic history. The few concluding chapters which do not relate to these sub- jects are added because, alike with the chapters which precede them, they are relevant to that revival of interest in every phase of American history which is now everywhere so appar- ent. Many chapters necessarily embody only introductory and suggestive comments on the subjects to which they relate. The creeds of political parties in our country have long ex- pressed directly opposite views concerning the best methods of promoting our industrial prosi)erity, one party believing in the fostering influence of tariff legislation and the other party op- posing this policy. In several of the chapters which follow I have recorded the results of these conflicting policies. First, however, considerable space has been devoted to the experience of Great Britain in building up its industries by protective du- ties and through other measures resting for support directly up- IV PREFACE, on the British Government. The industrial history of our own country can not be even briefly summarized without reference to that of the mother country, Great Britain having constantly sought to control our industrial development from colonial times to the present time. Mention of the industrial policy of Great Britain in these pages has also been necessary because of the prevalence in our own country during the greater part of our national existence of a formidable political sentiment that is fa- vorable to the present British policy of free trade. The British theories underlying the Wilson tariff of 1894 were precisely the same as those upon which the Walker tariff of 1846 was based. In fifty years this country had moved in a cycle of so-called political economy and had apparently learned nothing. American workingmen may well study the treatment that the workingmen of Great Britain have usually received from their employers and from the aristocratic classes. In two of the chapters of this volume I have only touched upon this great subject. Those who would know more of the hard life of Brit- ish toilers should read chapters 5 and 16 of Fifty Years Ago, by Walter Besant, published in 1888 ; In Darkest England, by General Booth, published in 1890 ; Masses and Classes, by Henry Tuckley, published in 1893 ; and The White Slaves of England, by Robert H. Sherard, published in 1897. These are all recent publica- tions. Saddest of all let them read the fulsome dispatches from London during the Queen's Jubilee, in June last, which told of the dinner given by the Princess of Wales to the poor of that city. ** About three hundred thousand denizens of the slums were sumpttwusly entertained.*^ This was in the Queen's capital in 1897. We do not want British industrial conditions in our country. The discontent with existing conditions which has so widely prevailed in our own country in recent years, the practically unrestricted immigration of foreigners into our country, the ne- cessity for establishing steamship lines to all parts of the world, and the mistaken policy of reciprocity are subjects of present interest to which a few chapters of this book are devoted. No. 261 South Fotjeth Stbeet, Philadelphia, December 81, 1897. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. ENGLAND ONCE THE INDUSTRIAL SERVANT OF OTHER COUNTRIES. England almost entirely an agricultural country down to the 16th century— For centuries foreign merchants ruled the trade of England absolutely- Other countries supplied her with manufactured goods— Even English agriculture did not flourish— Poverty of the English people while their energies were chiefly devoted to agriculture Pages 1-7 CHAPTER II. BRITISH INDUSTRIES DEVELOPED BY PROTECTION. England began in a feeble way to diversify her industries by protective du- ties in the 14th century— Application of the protective policy long limited to the crudest English products— In the 15th and 16th centuries legisla- tion for the beneflt of English industries gradually grew more restrictive and efibctive— But it was not until Queen Elizabeth's reign (1558-1608) that England became a leading manufacturing and commercial nation- England now began to seek foreign markets for the sale of her flnished products— Under Cromwell the protective policy was further extended, and by means of the navigation acts of his time the foreign trade of England was greatly enlarged— Blackstone's account of England's pro- tective policy— Her protective policy became a prohibitory policy in the 18th century— The protective policy still apparent in British steamship subsidies Pages 8-22 CHAPTER in. THE BRITISH WORKINGMAN UNDER VICTORIA AND HER IMMEDIATE PREDECESSORS. The Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897— The prosperity of Great Britain dur- ing her long reign due largely to the extension of the foreign trade of that country— Warlike spirit of British manufacturing and commercial competition— Efltect of the fierceness of this competition upon British workingmen and their families— Efibrts of British workingmen to better their condition always opposed by the ruling classes of Great Britain- Some examples of this policy— British workingmen systematically under- paid and degraded that British goods may be cheaply produced— Testi- mony upon this subject of various English writers Pages 23-38 VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. THE HOPELESS POOR OF GREAT BRITAIN. England under Queen Victoria not merry with the daily life of her working I)eople— Testimony of Professor James £. Thorold Rogers, Sir Edward Sulliyan, Dr. Edward Young, Hon. William £. Dodge, Benjamin Disraeli, General William Booth, and others ; also of several leading English news- papers—Destitution and wretchedness of the London poor— Pitiable condi- tion of women and children in Great Britain who are poor.... Pages 34-47 CHAPTER V. THE BRITISH POLICY OF FREE TRADE. Mr. Gladstone's claim that free trade has improved the wages of British workingmen refuted by the Sheffield Tel^raph and the London Times- Testimony of Charles Kingsley and Cardinal Manning concerning the ill results of the teachings of the Manchester school— British agriculture not prosperous under free trade— True causes of the improvement in the wa- ges of British workingmen— Mr. Gladstone a poor prophet Pages 48-53 CHAPTER VI. THE DESTRUCTION OF IRISH MANUFACTURES. Irish industries systematically repressed and stamped out by England— Mr. Commissioner Mac Carthy, Edmund Burke, and Dean Swift tell how their destruction was accomplished— William Cobbett and Judge Byles explain the consequences— Futile protests by both houses of the Irish Parliament against the withdrawal of protection from Irish industries by the Act of Union of 1801— Remarkable decline in the population of Ireland from 1841 to 1891— Further proo& by Thomas Francis Meagher and Professor Robert Ellis Thompson of the destruction of Irish manufactures. Pages 54r-60 CHAPTER Vn. AN IMPERIAL BRITISH ZOLLVEREIN. Free trade not popular with all classes in Great Britain— The proposed Brit- ish zoUverein, or customs-union, a protective movement— Reasons why the scheme will not succeed Pages 61-64 CHAPTER Vni. BRITISH STEAMSHIP SUBSIDIES. Great Britain's enormous annual subsidies to steamship companies— Judge Kelley and John Roach, also the Glasgow Herald and the London En- gineering, cite the proofe of the payments of these subsidies -Colonel William F. Prosser explains the benefits of steamship subsidies to British trade— List of European subsidized steamship companies in 1896— The United States should also adopt the policy of subsidizing steamship lines to all parts of the world Pages 65-69 CONTENTS, Vll CHAPTER IX. TARIFF LEGISLATION FROM WASHINGTON TO MCKINLEY. The protective policy approved by the founders of our Government— The protection of American labor one of the reasons for the adoption of the Constitution of 1787— Our fiist tariff act was a measure of protection- Alexander Hamilton's masterly report in 1791 in support of a protective policy— Senator John P. Jones's philosophical speech in 1890 a worthy com- panion of Hamilton's report— The Morrill tariff of 1861 the first in a long series of protective tariff enactments extending to 1894— The Dingley tariff of 1897 a thoroughly protective measure Pages 70-82 CHAPTER X. THE TARIFFS OF 1842, 1846, AND 1867. President Tyler's tribute to the beneficial effects of the protective tariff of 1842— Injurious effects of the revenue tariff of 1846 upon our iron industry —Testimony of Cooper & Hewitt— Statement by W. J. Parsons— Testimony of Professor Francis Bowen— Evil results of ad valorem duties illustrated by citations of iron prices— Extract from President Fillmore's message in 1852— The hard times of 1856— Extract from the New York Tribune— The disastrous consequences of the revenue tariff of 1857— Extract from the Boston Sentinel— Testimony of Judge Kelley.. Pages 88-92 CHAPTER XI. TARIFF LEGISLATION FROM 1870 TO 1897. The Schenck tariff bill of 1870-The Morrison tariff bill of 1876 not con- sidered by the House— The Wood tariff bill of 1878 defeated— The Cov- ert steel-rail bill of 1880 defeated in the Ways and Means Committee— The Tariff Commission of 1882— The tariff of 1883— Mr. Morrison's horizon- tal reduction tariff bill of 1884 defeated— President Cleveland, in his first annual message, in 1885, recommends a reduction of duties— Mr. Morri- son introduces early in 1886 another tariff bill, which is defeated— Mr. Morrison introduces late in 1886 still another bill proposing a reduction of duties, which is also defeated— In December, 1887, President Cleveland sends to Congress his celebrated message again recommending a reduc- tion of duties— Mr. Mills introduces a tariff reduction bill in 1888, which passed the House but did not pass the Senate— The Senate protective tariff bill of 1888 passed by that body in 1889, but not considered by the House —The McKinley protective tariff of 1890— The Wilson revenue tariff of 1894— The Dingley protective tariff of 1897 Pages 93-106 CHAPTER XII. ALEXANDER HAMILTON. Hamilton's unanswerable report in favor of protection— Philadelphia, in which city it was written, the foremost protectionist city in the Union- Hamilton's memory not sufficiently honored Pages 107-108 vm CONTENTS, CHAPTER Xni. TARIFF CONVENTIONS IN THE OLDEN TIME. A national tariff convention at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1827— A national tariff convention at New York in 1831— Two conventions of iron manu- factorers in 1819, one at Pittsburgh and another at Philadelphia, called to protest against the tariff of 1846— A national tariff convention at New York in 1881— Organization of the American Iron Association in 1865 and of the American Iron and Steel Association in 1864 Pages 109-117 CHAPTER XIV. WHY THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY FAILED. Provision in the Constitution of the Confederate States prohibiting protective duties— The South seceded partly to establish free trade— Testimony of Congressman George D. Tillman, of South Carolina— The New Orleans Daily City Item discusses the economic conditions of the Confederacy- General Richard Taylor, of Louisiana, pays a tribute to the superior economic conditions of the Northern States— The South now diversifying its industries Pages 118-120 CHAPTER XV. PROTECTION IS NOT MONOPOLY. Monopolies not necessarily evils— Examples of beneficial monopolies— Monop- olies not created by protection— They exist in free trade England— A mo- nopoly which was long maintained by the American Congress for the ex- clusive benefit of foreign manuf^turers Pages 121-124 CHAPTER XVI. ABANDONED NEW ENGLAND FARMS. Farms in New England not abandoned because protection is hostile to agri- culture—Notable testimony in an address in 1857 or 1858 that New Eng- land farms were then abandoned Pages 125-127 CHAPTER XVn. CHEAPENING THE NECESSARIES OP LIFE. Selfishness and the free trader becloud the question of cheap prices— The free trader endeavors to set class against class— Cheapness that may be obtained without degrading labor— This kind of cheapness the result of protection— Cheapness not the chief good... Pages 128-131 CHAPTER XVIII. CAPITAL THE FRIEND OF LABOR. Henry C. Carey's favorite quotation— A paraphrase for the consideration of American workingmen— The more capital the more employment for la^ bor— Most of our rich men were once poor men Pages 132-136 CONTENTS. IX CHAPTER XIX. OUR COLONIAL IRON INDUSTRY. Beginning of our colonial iron industry in Viiginia and Massachusetts— The ancestors of Washington and Lincoln were ironmakers, as were also sev- eral of the noted men of the Revolutionary period— Statistics of our colonial iron industry— England discouraged the manufEicture of iron in the colonies— Influences which retarded the development of the iron in- dustry in Virginia and stimulated the industry in other colonies— Char- acteristics of our colonial iron industry— The decline of the iron indus- try in New England and in North and South Carolina— New York and New Jersey not maintaining their colonial prestige. Pages 137-144 CHAPTER XX. REMARKABLE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRIES SINCE 1860. An era of great activity and unexampled progress in these industries opened with the enactment of the Morrill tariff in 1861 and the beginning of our civil war— Summary of this progress from 1861 to 1897 in the various branches of production— Old methods of manufocture abandoned— " How far is it to the next foige ? "—All iron and steel products greatly cheap- ened since 1861— Phenomenal reduction in the prices of steel raUs— Rail- roads great consumers of iron and steel— The United States leads the world in the production of iron and steel— The census of 1890 shows how great is the investment of capital and how large the number of workmen employed and the wages paid in our iron and steel industries —Depression in these industries in 1898 and 1894 and again in 1896 and the early part of 1897— The future of these industries.. Pages 145-159 CHAPTER XXI. REVELATIONS OF AN OLD LEDGER. An iron town in Pennsylvania early in the nineteenth century— Primitive methods of transportation— Colonial methods of bookkeeping— Pounds, shillings, and pence— Tons, hundredweights, quarters, and pounds— Early forges and an early fUmace in the Alleghenies... Pages 160-166 CHAPTER XXn. THE EARLY HISTORY OP PITTSBURGH. Pittsburgh the centre of the iron, steel, bituminous coal, and glass industries of the world— The site of Fort Pitt selected in 1753 by Washington— His prominent part in the military operations at Pittsburgh and in its vicin- ity which resulted in driving the French from the Ohio Valley in 1758— His first and only surrender— The important battle of Bushy Run— Wash- ington's last visit to Pittsburgh in 1770— Leading events in the early his- tory of Pittsburgh— Development of its coal and iron industries— Its present prominence—" The State of Allegheny " Pages 167-176 X CONTENTS, CHAPTER XXin. THE RESTRICTION OF IMMIGRATION. Statistics of immigration flx>m 1789 to 1896— Beginning of the great flood of immigration dates firom 1845— Causes which influenced the heavy immi- gration half a century ago— Comparatively few immigrants flx>m Italy or the Slavic countries of Europe prior to 1876— Large arrivals since that year— Statistics of Chinese immigration firom 1858 to 1888— Opposition to immigration dates from about 1844— <3ovemment action directly respon- sible for unrestricted and excessive immigration Pages 177-183 CHAPTER XXIV. THE DRIFT OF POPULATION TO THE GREAT CITIES. Census statistics of urban and rural population— City advantages now pos- sessed by the country and by country towns— Farmers are large gainers by the progressive ideas of the last flfty years Pages 184-188 CHAPTER XXV. THE WESTERN FARMERS' DISCONTENT. The discontent of Western farmers the result of causes beyond anybody's control— Western fiEumers not discriminated against in tariff or other legislation— The homestead law— Government land grants to Western railroad companies— The Department of Agriculture established for the beneflt of fiEumers— Agricultural colleges established and endowed by grants of public lands— The interstate commerce law enacted at the request of fiEumers— Tariff legislation for their special beneflt— The real cause of hard times for Western fiEumers Pages 189-194 CHAPTER XXVI. HISTORY OF RECIPROCITY LEGISLATION. History of the insertion of the reciprocity policy in the McEinley tariff of 1890— The sugar bounty provision of that act an entirely new feature in our tariff legislation— Fishing bounties— A sugar bounty never approved in a Republican national platform— Reciprocity treaties with Canada and Hawaii— Revenue lost under the reciprocity treaties negotiated under the tariff act of 1890— Our exports of iron and steel not helped by reciprocity —Reciprocity in the Dingley tariff— Our experience with Canadian reci- procity described by Senator Morrill Pages 195-201 CHAPTER XXVII. HOW SCHUYLER COLFAX ROSE TO BE VICE PRESIDENT. The House of Representatives has had two Speakers who were editors by profession, Schuyler ColfiEkx and James G. Blaine— Dinner in honor of Mr. ColfiEkx's election to the Speakership in 1863— Address of Samuel Wilkeson .« Folks depend on him"— Secret of Mr. Colfax's succe88.....Pages 202-205 CONTENTS, XI CHAPTER XXVin. BUCKEYES IN AMERICAN HISTORY. Viiginia and Ohio most prominent of all the States in Aimishing the country with distinguished men— Since the surrender at Appomattox Viiginia has lost her ancient prestige in this particular— Ohio has never relaxed her efforts in this direction since her admission into the Union in 1803— list of Ohio's most prominent civilians, including four Presidents and two others bom within her borders— List of Ohio's most prominent military heroes, including Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan— list of Ohio's promi- nent literary men and women Pages 20&-210 CHAPTER XXrX. OUB NEARNESS TO REVOLUTIONARY TIMES. It is only a little over a hundred years since Washington's inauguration- Many persons now living have known Revolutionary soldiers— Lafieiyette died as late as 1834— Two Presidents, Jackson and John Quincy Adams, who were bom in 1767, lived to 1845 and 1848 respectively— Charles Car- roll of Carrollton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, lived until 1832— Notable Philadelphians who have known Revolutionary heroes— Richard W. Thompson, who is still living at Terre Haute, can describe the personal appearance of Jefferson and Madison, who were bom in 1743 and 1749 respectively— Senator Morrill can describe the per- sonal appearance of Monroe and Judge Paine, and Frederick Fraley can describe the personal appearance of Monroe and Chief Justice Marshall— Looking backward one hundred and fifty years Pages 211-217 CHAPTER XXX. HONORING THE MIGHTY DEAD. Notable address of ex-Minister Edward J. Phelps in 1891— Our country's great men are fitly honored— Conspicuous examples of the honors that have been paid to our deceased heroes and sages— Bancroft's eulogy of Lincoln and Blaine's eulogy of Garfield contrasted— Blaine's eloquent words in closing his eulogy of Ctofield— A remarkable peroration— Harrison's un- equaled eulogy of Grant Pages 218-223 CHAPTER I. ENGLAND ONCE THE INDUSTRIAL SERVANT OF OTHER COUNTRIES. Until in very recent years British writers on free trade never tired in commending to the people of the United States the policy of devoting their energies mainly to agri- culture, as if they had just been emancipated from barba- rism and possessed no higher capabiUties and no other re- sources than those which pertain to the most primitive of aQ occupations. The motive in giving this advice was, howev- er, not past finding out. The Birmingham Oaaette remark- ed in 1875 : " While England and America are in a great measure one in language, literature, laws, arts, and religion, the mercantile interests of the two naMons are not identical" The Gazette and other organs of British public opinion did not want the mercantile interests of the two countries to be identical ; their policy and that of the British Government has always been the suppression of all American industries except agriculture. When we were still British colonies the first Lord Shef- field declared that **the only use and advantage of Ameri- can colonies or West India islands is the monopoly of their consumption and the carriage of their produce." Bancroft says that ** England, in its relations with other States, sought a convenient tariff; in the colonies it prohibited industry " In 1816 Lord Brougham, in a speech in Parliament advo- cating the increased exportation of British goods to the 2 NOTES AND COMMENTS, United States, declared that "it was well worth while to in- cur a loss upon the first exportation, in order by the glut to sbijie in the cradle those rising manufactures in the United States which the war has forced into existence contrary to the natural course of things." Mr. Kobinson, a member of Parliament, said in a memorable speech quoted by Henry Clay in 1832 : " Other nations knew, as well as the noble lord opposite and those who acted with him, what we meant by free trade was nothing more nor less than, by means of the great advantages we enjoyed, to get a monopoly of all their markets for our manufactures, and to prevent them, one and all, from ever becoming manufacturing nations." In 1843 the London Spectator said : " More general considera- tions tend to show that the trade between the two countries, most beneficial to both, must be what is commonly called a colonial trade; the new-settled country importing the man- ufactures of the old in exchange for its ovm raw produce. In all economical relations the United States still stand to England in the relation of colony to mother courdry" By the help of our policy of protection to home indus- tries the United States is now fiilly abreast of Great Brit- ain as a manufacturing country, and the advice of British writers to confine our energies to agriculture has given way to serious apprehension concerning the manufacturing and commercial prosperity of their own country. Continental and American manufacturers having successfully invaded the home markets of the United Kingdom, as well as those co- lonial and other markets which British manufacturers once regarded as their exclusive possession. England, always the greater part of Great Britain, once pursued the unwise policy her free traders have commended GREAT BRITAIN'S INDUSTRIAL POLICY. 3 to us. This was particularly so from the twelfth century to the sixteenth century, when all England was almost entirely an agricultural country, her people being chiefly supplied with manufactured goods by enterprising merchants from other countries, who employed the vessels of these countries in mak- ing their exchanges. " Even iron was imported from the Con- tinent for the use of English blacksmiths." In commercial and manufacturing enterprise England was greatly excelled down to the sixteenth century by the powerftil cities of Italy, Spain, Grermany, and the Netherlands, while Portugal and France were feirly her rivals. Commerce and manufectures were so little understood by the people of England in the thirteenth century that important concessions were made by the government to the powerful merchants of the Hanseatic League to induce them to settle in England, with permission to manufacture abroad the goods that the English people would buy. For a hundred years this great corporation en- grossed almost the whole of the foreign trade of England, using its own shipping and frimishing employment to its own factories on the Continent ; and for three hundred years, down to the reign of Queen Elizabeth, it was a powerftd competitor with other foreigners and with native Englishmen for the possession of that trade. Foreign merchants ruled the trade of England absolutely down to the sixteenth cen- tury. In 1483 an English statute referred to the " merchant strangers of the nation of Italy, who bring and convey from the parts beyond sea great substance of wares and merchan- dises . . at their pleasure and there sell the same as well by retail as otherwise." The manufactured goods with which the people of Eng- land were supplied by foreign merchants were largely paid 4 NOTES AND COMMENTS. for with the raw products of English farms and mines and with the fish caught upon English coasts. Macpherson, in his Annals of Commerce, states that, in the fourteenth cen- tury, " England imported none of the raw materials for man- ufactures which are so largely imported into Great Britain to-day, while her exports consisted almost entirely of the most valuable raw materials, and of cloths in an unfinish- ed state, which may also be classed among raw materials." The land was also drained of its precious metals. In the fif- teenth century a commercial writer complained that the for- eigners " bear the gold out of this land, and suck the thrift out of our hand, as the wasp sucketh honey out of the bee." Wool was a principal article of export in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. "Kaising and spreading a story that wool would not be sufiered to be exported in such a year . . was, on account of its being an injury to trade, pun- ished by indictment." The Flemish woolen manufacturers, who bought English wool, had attained such prominence in the thirteenth century and their products such celebrity that an old writer declared that " all the world was clothed in English wool wrought by the Flemish weavers." Foreigners manufactured English wool and finished English woolen cloths and sold them back to England with a profit. It was this condition of afiairs that gave rise to the proverb : " The stranger buys of the Englishman the fox's skin for a groat and sells him the tail for a shilling." While England was thus limiting her energies to a rude agriculture and to the exportation of raw products it is re- corded that the manufactures of Florence were a source of great profit to its people. " Two hundred establishments, with thirty thousand workmen, were employed in the man- GREAT BRITAIN'S INDUSTRIAL POLICY, 5 ufacture of wool." At Bruges, in Flanders, " the merchants of seventeen kingdoms had their factories and domiciles, be- side many from almost unknown lands who flocked within its walls." Bruges was a great manufacturing and commer- cial emporium. "While the merchant frequented the mart the weaver was busy at his loom, in the production of silk and linen fabrics, as well as woolen cloths." For hundreds of years after the revival of trade and com- merce on the Continent of Europe which followed the begin- ning of the Crusades in the eleventh century England pur- sued in the main the losing policy we h^e briefly sketched. Strangers manufactured for her, acted as her merchants in her large cities, and filled her ports with their ships. Nei- ther her commerce nor her manufactures flourished, nor did her agriculture. The last was of the most primitive and wasteftd kind and was far surpassed by that of Italy and the Netherlands. The agriculture of these countries had been greatly benefited by the attention paid to commerce and manufactures. That of Italy was worthy of comparison with the best results of the nineteenth century. "The Nether- lands, too, once covered with swamps and forests, became a rich agricultural country; farms and gardens surrounded the manufactory and the mart ; and the wain richly laden with the treasures of merchandise, as it slowly traversed the roads of Brabant, passed through a rich country, where the mower filled his hand and he that bound sheaves his bo- som." But in England "the tillage of fields was very im- perfect, producing extremely scanty crops ; the implements of husbandry were rude ; oxen were so badly fed that it requir- ed six of them to draw a plow, which barely turned up half an acre in a simimer's day. . . As there was so little 6 NOTES AND COMMENTS. inclosed meadow land, as the cultivation of artificial grasses and- turnips was unknown, winter provender for cattle was very scarce ; hence many were killed before they were fat." In 1563 a royal decree was issued abolishing the "bloomer- ies," or "iron smithies," in Fumess in Lancashire, in com- pliance with a petition of the inhabitants, " because they con- sumed all the loppings and croppings, the sole winter food for their cattle." "Vegetables were scarce. The roots that now smoke on our table, cabbages, carrots, and potatoes, were un- known in England." The harvests frequently failed and great sufiering follo\^ed. **As late as 1547 bullocks bought for the navy weighed less than four hundred pounds." The agriculture of England, like her manufactures, has attained its highest development in the eighteenth and nineteenth cen- turies, but it is not to-day as prosperous as it has been. It can not be said that the English people were prosper- ous while agriculture was almost their sole occupation. The masses certainly were not. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries "the purchase of a pound of candles would have almost absorbed a workman's daily wages. Few persons could have afibrded to break the curfew." Clothing was so dear that ordinary linen shirts were devised by will from one generation to another. Even among the upper classes "the cloak, robe, or gown of the day was often the coverlet at night." Glass windows were practically unknown in the huts of the lower classes. "The sale of wool and woolfels was the chief profit of the farmer," so little did he diversify his crops. Among the masses "the pig was the most important article of diet," and "during half the year salted meat and hard fish formed the subsistence of the greater part of the community." Iron was dear and nearly all of it was import- GREAT BRITAIN'S INDUSTRIAL POLICY, 7 ed. Metal vessels for domestic use were real luxuries. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries iron for the tires of wagons and carts was so dear in England that many wheels were not ironed, and iron teeth for English harrows were unknown. Hallam expresses the opinion that in the four- teenth century the middle classes of Italy were much more comfortable than those of France or England. The people of the Netherlands also at that period possessed more of the comforts of civilization than the people of England. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the houses of the working people of England were still bare of simple comforts and conveniences. "There were very few chimneys even in cap- ital towns ; the fire was laid to the wall, and the smoke is- sued out at the roof or door or window. The houses were wattled and plastered over with clay, and all the furniture and utensils were of wood. The people slept on straw pal- lets, with a log of wood for a pillow." In the sixteenth cen- tury carpets were unknown in England, and the floor of the royal presence chamber of Queen Mary and Queen Eliza- beth was covered with rushes or hay. There is abundant evidence of the fact that, down to the sixteenth century, absorbing devotion to agriculture, with cor- responding neglect of manufacturing and commercial pursuits, improyed neither the agriculture nor the people of England. In the five hundred years from 1075 to 1575 the population of England and Wales but little more than doubled. We can easily imagine what would be the condition of that agri- culture and of that people to-day if the policy which so long made England the industrial follower instead of the industrial leader of nations had been continued. CHAPTER II. BRITISH INDUSTRIES DEVELOPED BY PROTECTION. Restrictive legislation concerning the exportation of wool and the importation of woolen cloths was adopted by England early in the reign of Edward III., in the first half of the fourteenth century. Sir William Blackstone remarks of the legislation in the reign of Edward : " Much also was done, under the auspices of this magnanimous prince, for es- tablishing our domestic manufactures by prohibiting the ex- portation of English wool and the importation or wear of foreign cloth or furs, and by encouraging clothworkers from other countries to settle here." From Edward's time the protective policy is clearly marked in English history, al- though its application was long limited to the crudest indus- tries. Nor was it persistently adhered to by some of Ed- ward's immediate successors. At first only the manufacture of common woolen goods was made the subject of protective legislation ; the Continent still continued without restriction to supply fine cloths, tapestries, silks, linens, laces, cutlery, iron, etc., for many years. Nor did the exportation of wool come to an end; it "became a monopoly of the king's ex- chequer." In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the legislation of England afiecting the importation of foreign goods compet- ing with those of domestic manufacture, or retarding domes- tic manufacturing enterprise, gradually grew more and more restrictive. Under Edward IV., in the fifteenth century, the GREAT BRITAIN'S INDUSTRIAL POLICY. 9 importation of many manufactured articles was entirely pro- Hibited. When Queen Elizabeth was upon the throne, dur- ing the latter part of the sixteenth century, the effect of this policy, of which she was an ardent advocate, was seen in the steady development of the manufacturing and commercial interests of the kingdom. Then, for the first time, England began to manifest the possession of those wonderful capabil- ities which have made her the first commercial and manu- facturing nation of modern times. The policy of Edward III., which gave England her start in many important branches of manufactures, was cotempo- raneous with the settlement in the coimtry of some Flemish weavers. Others of their coimtrymen accepted the induce- ments to immigration which were offered by Edward, and still other skilled foreigners followed the Flemish workmen. In time, however, the large number of foreign artisans who had settled in England excited the jealousy of native man- ufacturers, and in the early part of the sixteenth century many thousand Belgians were expelled from the country by Henry VIII. A few years after the expulsion of the Bel- gians summary measures were successftiUy resorted to by Elizabeth to rid England of the ships and merchandise of the powerful Hanseatic League, which for centuries had en- joyed Parliamentary privileges amounting almost to a mo- nopoly of English commerce. Henry's and Elizabeth's acts were measures of the most radical protectwn, as were those previous enactments which had prohibited the importation of foreign goods. English statesmanship and philanthropy first invited foreign merchants and skilled workmen to cultivate intimate relations with the unskilled people of England, and then, when the lessons so greatly needed had been freely im- 10 NOTES AND COMMENTS, parted, they were informed that their services were no longer required and that their company was not wanted. Elizabeth was, however, in one respect wiser than Henry. She did not banish from England skilled workmen of for- eign birth who had sought her shores. She encouraged the immigration of Huguenot refiigees which had commenced a few years before her accession to the throne, and partly in consequence of this encouragement her reign, as already in- timated, was a prosperous one for her people. The Hugue- nots brought over from France the knowledge of many of the mechanic arts of which England had previously been igno- rant. " In 1560 a pair of black silk stockings, knit in Eng- land, was presented to Queen Elizabeth" as a great achieve- ment. In the closing years of the seventeenth century, af- ter the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685, the acces- sion to her population of other Huguenot refiigees still fiir- ther added to the manufacturing skill and developed the manufacturing resources of England. Soon after the middle of the sixteenth century numerous Grerman miners and smelt- ers were induced by Elizabeth to settle in England. Spe- cial privileges were granted to companies of English mer- chants and vessel owners during the reign of Elizabeth, and this policy proved to be a most efficient means of affording encouragement and protection to the manufacturing as well as to the commercial interests of England. The protective measures we have recited had encouraged the merchants of England to seek foreign markets to ex- change English products for the products of other countries, and at the close of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth century English manufactures had obtain- ed an entrance into the world's markets. Employment was GREAT BRITAIN'S INDUSTRIAL POLICY, H thus found for English shipbuilders and English sailors, as well as for English weavers and other English mechanics. Yet England needed to take one step more to assure the continued growth of her foreign trade. Most of this trade was still conducted in foreign vessels. "Even the produce of the British colonies was brought to England in Dutch bottoms." The important stQp was taken in the passage of the navigation acts in Cromwell's time, about the middle of the seventeenth century. Judge William D. Kelley says of England's navigation acts imder Cromwell : " She legislated in favor of her own ships. The foreign article brought in English bottoms came into her ports under differential du- ties lower than those on the same article coming in on the same day in foreign bottoms. She thus stimulated the build- ing of English ships and created a great English navy." The importation of colonial products in any other than Eng- lish ships was prohibited. The navigation acts of the Crom- wellian Protectorate were supplemented by others of similar character in the reign of Charles II. and afterwards. All these acts were measures of real protection to English trade, as much so as were the laws previously passed to en- courage home manufactures and the sale of their products in foreign markets. The navigation acts of Great Britain were greatly modi- fied in 1849 and in subsequent years. Foreign ships were permitted without restriction to carry foreign merchandise to British ports and to receive return cargoes. Ships not of British build were permitted to be registered as British ships and bear the British flag if wholly owned by British sub- jects. The first concession was made to aid in the extension of British trade, and the second signified nothing, for it had 12 NOTES AND COMMENTS. been demonstrated that British-built ships were as cheap as any that could be bought. Further details of the protection afforded by acts of Par- liament to English industries are instructive. As one result of the Huguenot immigration into England the manufacture of silk was greatly extended. " To cherish the industry the duties on imported silks were trebled and then their impor- tation prohibited" In 1678 an act was passed for the en- couragement of the woolen industry which required that "all dead bodies should be wrapped in woolen shrouds." This act remained in force until 1808. The Irish linen man- ufacture was established through liberal grants from William of Orange and succeeding sovereigns. The fisheries of Scot- land were built up by government bounties. Blackstone, in his chapter on " offenses against public trade," states that "owling, . . the offense of transport- ing wool or. sheep out of this kingdom, to the detriment of its staple manufacture, . . was forbidden at common law . . and by many later statutes. The statute 8 Elizabeth, <5. 3, makes the transportation of live sheep, or embarking them on board any ship, for the first offense forfeiture of goods and imprisonment for a year, and at the end of the year the left hand shall be cut off in some public market, and shall be there nailed up in the openest place ; and the second offense is felony" — ^that is, death. "The statutes 12 Charles II., c. 3, and 7 and 8 William III., c. 28, . . make the exportation of wool, sheep, or fiiller's earth liable to pecuniary penalties, and the forfeiture of the interest of the ship and cargo by the owners, if privy, and confiscation of goods, and three years' imprisonment to the master and all the mariners ;" and the statutes 4 George I. and 12 and GREAT BRITAIN'S INDUSTRIAL POLICY, 13 19 George II. **make it transportation for seven years if the penalties be not paid." These prohibitions of the exporta- tion of wool, sheep, and fiiller's clay were not repealed until the present century. The same distinguished author, in the same chapter, re- cords another restriction upon the freedom of trade which was enforced during the eighteenth century and repealed only after its close : " To prevent the destruction of our home manufactures by tran^orting and sedudng our artists to settle abroad it is provided, by statute 5 Greorge I., c. 27, that such as so entice or seduce them shall be fined £100 and be im- prisoned three months ; and for the second offense shall be fined at discretion and be imprisoned a year ; and the artifi- cers so going into foreign countries, and not returning within six months after warning given them by the British ambas- sador where they reside, shall be deemed aliens and forfeit all their land and goods, and shall be incapable of any legacy or gift. By statute 23 George II., c. 13, the seducers incur, for the first offense, a forfeiture of £500 for each artificer contracted with to be sent abroad and imprisonment for twelve months ; and for the second, £1,000, and are liable to two years' imprisonment ; and, by the same statute, connected with 14 Greorge III., c. 71, if any person exports any tools or utensils used in the silk, linen, cotton, or woolen manufac- tures, (excepting wool cards to North America,) he forfeits the same and £200, and the captain of the ship (having knowl- edge thereof) £100 ; and if any captain of a king's ship, or officer of the customs, knowingly suffers such exportation he forfeits £100 and his employment, and is forever made inca- pable of bearing any public office ; and every person collect- ing such tools or utensils in order to export the same shall, 14 NOTES AND COMMENTS, on conviction at the assizes, forfeit such tools and also £200." In 1825 and again in 1833 the exportation of machinery for the manufacture of cotton, woolen, linen, and silk goods was again prohibited. It was not permitted to be exported until 1845. Near the close of the seventeenth century, in the reign of William III., the exportation of frames or engines for knit- ting gloves or stockings was prohibited under heavy penal- ties. A hundred years later, in 1782, "a special act was passed, prohibiting the exportation of engraved copper-plates and blocks, or enticing any workmen employed in printing calicoes to go beyond the sea, under the penalty of £500 and twelve months' imprisonment." The statutes prohibit- ing artificers from going abroad were not finally repealed until 1825. The acts of Parliament above recited were of general and universal application, and, in the language of Sir William Blackstone, already quoted, were intended "to prevent the destruction of our home manufactures" — more properly to promote their development and growth. The restrictions which the mother country saw fit to impose on her North American colonies were, however, equally as severe as those general prohibitions and penalties which have been quoted. Dr. William Elder states the character of these restrictions as follows : " The colonies were held under restraint so abso- lute that, beyond the common domestic industries, and the most ordinary mechanical employments, no kind of manu- factures was permitted. In 1750 a hatter-shop in Massachu- setts was declared a nuisance by the British Parliament. In the same year an act was passed permitting the importation of pig iron from the colonies, because charcoal, then exclu- GREAT BRITAIN'S INDUSTRIAL POLICY. 15 sively employed in smelting the ore, was well-nigh exhaust- ed in England ; but forbidding the erection of tilt-hammers, slitting or rolling mills, or any establishment for the manu- facture of steel." A law of Virginia, passed in 1684, to en- courage textile manufactures in that province, was annulled in England. Lord Chatham declared that "the British col- onists of North America had no right to manufacture even a nail for a horseshoe." From 1719 to 1732 British mer- chants "complained in memorials to the government that the people of Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Maryland were setting up manufactures of wool- en and linen for the use of their own families, and of flax and hemp for coarse bags and halters." McCulloch, in his Commercial Dictionary^ declares that " it was also a leading principle in the system of colonial policy, adopted as well by England as by the other European nations, to discourage all attempts to manufacture such articles in the colonies as could be provided for them by the mother country." The act of Parliament concerning the manufacture of iron in the colonies, above alluded, to, was passed in the twenty- third year of the reign of Greorge II., and printed in pam- phlet form in 1750 by Thomas Baskett, of London, " Print- er to the King's Most Excellent Majesty." It enacted : "That from and after the 24th day of June, 1750, no mill or other engine for slitting or rolling of iron, or any plating forge to work with a tilt-hammer, or any f