42 chapters
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42 chapters
INTRODUCTION.
INTRODUCTION.
M y design in this little volume is to refute some of the arguments which are urged against the Freedom of Trade. I do not propose to engage in a contest with the protectionists; but rather to instil a principle into the minds of those who hesitate because they sincerely doubt. I am not one of those who say that Protection is founded on men's interests. I am of opinion rather that it is founded on errors, or, if you will, upon incomplete truths . Too many people fear liberty, to permit us to con
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I. ABUNDANCE, SCARCITY.
I. ABUNDANCE, SCARCITY.
W hich is best for man, and for society, abundance or scarcity? What! you exclaim, can that be a question? Has any one ever asserted, or is it possible to maintain, that scarcity is at the foundation of human wellbeing? Yes, this has been asserted, and is maintained every day; and I hesitate not to affirm that the theory of scarcity is much the most popular. It is the life of conversation, of the journals, of books, and of the tribune; and strange as it may seem, it is certain that Political Eco
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II. OBSTACLE, CAUSE.
II. OBSTACLE, CAUSE.
T he obstacle mistaken for the cause,—scarcity mistaken for abundance,—this is the same sophism under another aspect; and it is well to study it in all its phases. Man is originally destitute of everything. Between this destitution and the satisfaction of his wants, there exist a multitude of obstacles which labour enables us to surmount. It is curious to inquire how and why these very obstacles to his material prosperity have come to be mistaken for the cause of that prosperity. I want to trave
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III. EFFORT, RESULT.
III. EFFORT, RESULT.
W e have just seen that between our wants and the satisfaction of these wants, obstacles are interposed. We succeed in overcoming these obstacles, or in diminishing their force by the employment of our faculties. We may say in a general way, that industry is an effort followed by a result. But what constitutes the measure of our prosperity, or of our wealth? Is it the result of the effort? or is it the effort itself? A relation always subsists between the effort employed and the result obtained.
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IV. TO EQUALIZE THE CONDITIONS OF PRODUCTION.
IV. TO EQUALIZE THE CONDITIONS OF PRODUCTION.
I t has been said.....but in case I should be accused of putting sophisms into the mouths of the protectionists, I shall allow one of their most vigorous athletes to speak for them. "It has been thought that protection in our case should simply represent the difference which exists between the cost price of a commodity which we produce and the cost price of the same commodity produced by our neighbours.... A protective duty calculated on this basis would only ensure free competition....; free co
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V. OUR PRODUCTS ARE BURDENED WITH TAXES.
V. OUR PRODUCTS ARE BURDENED WITH TAXES.
W e have here again the same sophism. We demand that foreign products should be taxed to neutralize the effect of the taxes which weigh upon our national products. The object, then, still is to equalize the conditions of production. We have only a word to say, and it is this: that the tax is an artificial obstacle which produces exactly the same result as a natural obstacle, its effect is to enhance prices. If this enhancement reach a point which makes it a greater loss to create the product for
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VI. BALANCE OF TRADE.
VI. BALANCE OF TRADE.
O ur adversaries have adopted tactics which are rather embarrassing. Do we establish our doctrine? They admit it with the greatest possible respect. Do we attack their principle? They abandon it with the best grace in the world. They demand only one thing—that our doctrine, which they hold to be true, should remain relegated in books, and that their principle, which they acknowledge to be vicious, should reign paramount in practical legislation. Resign to them the management of tariffs, and they
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VII. OF THE MANUFACTURERS
VII. OF THE MANUFACTURERS
OF CANDLES, WAX-LIGHTS, LAMPS, CANDLESTICKS, STREET LAMPS, SNUFFERS, EXTINGUISHERS, AND OF THE PRODUCERS OF OIL, TALLOW, ROSIN, ALCOHOL, AND, GENERALLY, OF EVERYTHING CONNECTED WITH LIGHTING. To Messieurs the Members of the Chamber of Deputies. Gentlemen,—You are on the right road. You reject abstract theories, and have little consideration for cheapness and plenty Your chief care is the interest of the producer. You desire to emancipate him from external competition, and reserve the national ma
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VIII. DIFFERENTIAL DUTIES.
VIII. DIFFERENTIAL DUTIES.
A poor vine-dresser of the Gironde had trained with fond enthusiasm a slip of vine, which, after much fatigue and much labour, yielded him, at length, a tun of wine; and his success made him forget that each drop of this precious nectar had cost his brow a drop of sweat. "I shall sell it," said he to his wife, "and with the price I shall buy stuff sufficient to enable you to furnish a trousseau for our daughter." The honest countryman repaired to the nearest town, and met a Belgian and an Englis
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IX. IMMENSE DISCOVERY.
IX. IMMENSE DISCOVERY.
A t a time when everybody is bent on bringing about a saving in the expense of transport—and when, in order to effect this saving, we are forming roads and canals, improving our steamers, and connecting Paris with all our frontiers by a network of railways—at a time, too, when I believe we are ardently and sincerely seeking a solution of the problem, how to bring the prices of commodities, in the place where they are to be consumed, as nearly as possible to the level of their prices in the place
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X. RECIPROCITY.
X. RECIPROCITY.
W e have just seen that whatever increases the expense of conveying commodities from one country to another—in other words, whatever renders transport more onerous—acts in the same way as a protective duty; or if you prefer to put it in another shape, that a protective duty acts in the same way as more onerous transport. A tariff, then, may be regarded in the same light as a marsh, a rut, an obstruction, a steep declivity—in a word, it is an obstacle , the effect of which is to augment the diffe
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XI. NOMINAL PRICES.
XI. NOMINAL PRICES.
D o you desire to be in a situation to decide between liberty and protection? Do you desire to appreciate the bearing of an economic phenomenon? Inquire into its effects upon the abundance or scarcity of commodities , and not upon the rise or fall of prices . Distrust nominal prices ;* and they will only land you in an inextricable labyrinth. M. Matthieu de Dombasle, after having shown that protection raises prices, adds— "The enhancement of price increases the expense of living, and consequentl
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XII. DOES PROTECTION RAISE THE RATE OF WAGES?
XII. DOES PROTECTION RAISE THE RATE OF WAGES?
A n atheist, declaiming one day against religion and priestcraft, became so outrageous in his abuse, that one of his audience, who was not himself very orthodox, exclaimed, "If you go on much longer in this strain, you will make me a convert." In the same way, when we see our beardless scribblers, our novel-writers, reformers, fops, amateur contributors to newspapers, redolent of musk, and saturated with champagne, stuffing their portfolios with radical prints, or issuing under gilded covers the
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XIII. THEORY, PRACTICE.
XIII. THEORY, PRACTICE.
A s advocates of free trade, we are accused of being theorists, and of not taking practice sufficiently into account. "What fearful prejudices were entertained against M. Say," says M. Ferrier,* "by that long train of distinguished administrators, and that imposing phalanx of authors who dissented from his opinions; and M. Say was not unaware of it. Hear what he says:—'It has been alleged in support of errors of long standing, that there must have been some foundation for ideas which have been a
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XIV. CONFLICT OF PRINCIPLES.
XIV. CONFLICT OF PRINCIPLES.
T here is one thing which confounds me; and it is this: Sincere publicists, studying the economy of society from the producer's point of view, have laid down this double formula:— "Governments should order the interests of consumers who are subject to their laws, in such a way as to be favourable to national industry. "They should bring distant consumers under subjection to their laws, for the purpose of ordering their interests in a way favourable to national industry." The first of these formu
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XV. RECIPROCITY AGAIN.
XV. RECIPROCITY AGAIN.
M de Saint-Cricq inquires, "Whether it is certain that the foreigner will buy from us as much as he sells?" M. de Dombasle asks, "What reason we have to believe that English producers will take from us, rather than from some other country of the world, the commodities they have need of, and an amount of commodities equivalent in value to that of their exports to France?" I wonder how so many men who call themselves practical men should have all reasoned without reference to practice! In practice
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XVI. OBSTRUCTED NAVIGATION PLEADING FOR THE PROHIBITIONISTS.
XVI. OBSTRUCTED NAVIGATION PLEADING FOR THE PROHIBITIONISTS.
S ome years ago I happened to be at Madrid, and went to the Cortes. The subject of debate was a proposed treaty with Portugal for improving the navigation of the Douro. One of the deputies rose and said: "If the navigation of the Douro is improved in the way now proposed, the traffic will be carried on at less expense. The grain of Portugal will, in consequence, be sold in the markets of Castile at a lower price, and will become a formidable rival to our national industry . I oppose the project,
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XVII. A NEGATIVE RAILWAY.
XVII. A NEGATIVE RAILWAY.
I have said that when, unfortunately, one has regard to the interest of the producer, and not to that of the consumer, it is impossible to avoid running counter to the general interest, because the demand of the producer, as such, is only for efforts, wants, and obstacles. I find a remarkable illustration of this in a Bordeaux newspaper. M. Simiot proposes this question:— Should the proposed railway from Paris to Madrid offer a solution of continuity at Bordeaux? He answers the question in the a
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XVIII. THERE ARE NO ABSOLUTE PRINCIPLES.
XVIII. THERE ARE NO ABSOLUTE PRINCIPLES.
W e cannot wonder enough at the facility with which men resign themselves to continue ignorant of what it is most important that they should know; and we may be certain that such ignorance is incorrigible in those who venture to proclaim this axiom: There are no absolute principles. You enter the legislative precincts. The subject of debate is whether the law should prohibit international exchanges, or proclaim freedom. A deputy rises, and says: If you tolerate these exchanges, the foreigner wil
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XIX. NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE.
XIX. NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE.
A mong the arguments which we hear adduced in favour of the restrictive regime , we must not forget that which is founded on national independence . "What should we do in case of war," it is said, "if we are placed at the mercy of England for iron and coal?" English monopolists do not fail to cry out in their turn: "What would become of Great Britain, in case of war, if she is dependent on France for provisions?" One thing is overlooked, which is this—that the kind of dependence which results fr
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XX. HUMAN LABOUR, NATIONAL LABOUR.
XX. HUMAN LABOUR, NATIONAL LABOUR.
M achine-breaking—prohibition of foreign commodities—are two acts founded on the same doctrine. We see men who clap their hands when a great invention is introduced, and who nevertheless adhere to the protectionist regime . Such men are grossly inconsistent! With what do they reproach free trade? With encouraging the production by foreigners, more skilled or more favourably situated than we are, of commodities which, but for free trade, would be produced at home. In a word, they accuse free trad
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XXI. RAW MATERIALS.
XXI. RAW MATERIALS.
I t is said that the most advantageous of all branches of trade is that which supplies manufactured commodities in exchange for raw materials. For these raw materials are the aliment and support of national labour . Hence the conclusion is drawn: That the best law of customs is that which gives the greatest possible facility to the importation of raw materials, and which throws most obstacles in the way of importing finished goods. There is no sophism in political economy more widely disseminate
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XXII. METAPHORS.
XXII. METAPHORS.
A sophism sometimes expands, and runs through the whole texture of a long and elaborate theory. More frequently, it shrinks and contracts, assumes the guise of a principle, and lurks in a word or a phrase. May God protect us from the devil and from metaphors! was the exclamation of Paul-Louis. And it is difficult to say which of them has done most mischief in this world of ours. The devil, you will say; for he has put the spirit of plunder into all our hearts. True, but he has left free the mean
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SECOND SERIES.
SECOND SERIES.
W hy should I go on tormenting myself with this dry and dreary science of Political Economy? Why? The question is reasonable. Labour of every kind is in itself sufficiently repugnant to warrant one in asking to what result it leads? Let us see, then, how it is. I do not address myself to those philosophers who profess to adore poverty, if not on their own account, at least on the part of the human race. I speak to those who deem wealth, of some importance. We understand by that word, not the opu
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COMMENTARY.
COMMENTARY.
Were this little book destined to last for three or four thousand years, and, like a new Koran, to be read, re-read, pondered over, and studied sentence by sentence, word by word, letter by letter; if it were destined to a place in all the libraries of the world, and to be explained by avalanches of annotations and paraphrases, I might abandon to their fate the preceding observations, though somewhat obscure from their conciseness; but since they require a gloss, I think it as well to be my own
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JUSTIFICATION.
JUSTIFICATION.
In saying so, they would only speak undoubted truth. But are we to conclude from this that Athens and Rome were inhabited only by bad and dishonest people, and hold in contempt Socrates and Plato, Cato and Cincinnatus? Who could entertain for a moment any such thought? But these great men lived in a social medium which took away all consciousness of injustice. We know that Aristotle could not even realize the idea of any society existing without slavery. Slavery in modern times has existed down
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II. TWO PRINCIPLES OF MORALITY.
II. TWO PRINCIPLES OF MORALITY.
H aving reached, if he has reached, the end of the last chapter, I fancy I hear the reader exclaim: "Well, are we wrong in reproaching economists with being dry and cold? What a picture of human nature! What! Is spoliation, then, to be regarded as an inevitable, almost normal, force, assuming all forms, at work under all pretexts, by law and without law, jobbing and abusing things the most sacred, working on feebleness and credulity by turns, and making progress just in proportion as these are p
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III. THE TWO HATCHETS.
III. THE TWO HATCHETS.
Petition of Jacques Bonhomme, Carpenter, to M. Cunin-Gridaine, Minister of Commerce . Monsieur le Fabricant-Ministre, I am a carpenter to trade, as was St Joseph of old; and I handle the hatchet and adze, for your benefit. Now, while engaged in hewing and chopping from morning to night upon the lands of our Lord the King, the idea has struck me that my labour may be regarded as national , as well as yours. And, in these circumstances, I cannot see why protection should not visit my woodyard as w
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EFFECTS OF PROTECTION.—REPORT OF THE TAILORS.
EFFECTS OF PROTECTION.—REPORT OF THE TAILORS.
Inconveniences. 1st, In consequence of the policy of protection, we pay dearer for bread, meat, sugar, firewood, thread, needles, etc., which is equivalent in our case to a considerable reduction of wages. 2d, In consequence of the policy of 'protection, our customers also pay dearer for everything, and this leaves them less to spend upon clothing; whence it follows that we have less employment, and, consequently, smaller returns. 3d, In consequence of the policy of protection, the stuffs which
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EFFECTS OF PROTECTION.—REPORT OF THE BLACKSMITHS.
EFFECTS OF PROTECTION.—REPORT OF THE BLACKSMITHS.
1st, The policy of protection imposes a tax upon us every time we eat, drink, or warm or clothe ourselves, and this tax does not go to the treasury. 2d, It imposes a like tax upon all our fellow-citizens who are not of our trade, and they, being so much the poorer, have recourse to cheap substitutes for our work, which deprives us of the employment we should otherwise have had. None. 3d, It keeps up iron at so high a price, that it is not employed in the country for ploughs, grates, gates, balco
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SUPPLEMENT.*
SUPPLEMENT.*
The article which we have published under the title of Dearness, Cheapness, has brought us several letters. We give them, along with our replies:— Mr Editor,—You upset all our ideas. I endeavoured to aid the cause of free trade, and found it necessary to urge the consideration of cheapness. I went about everywhere, saying, "When freedom of trade is accorded, bread, meat, cloth, linen, iron, fuel, will go on falling in price." This displeased those who sell, but gave great pleasure to those who b
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VI. TO ARTISANS AND WORKMEN.
VI. TO ARTISANS AND WORKMEN.
M any journals have attacked me in your presence and hearing. Perhaps you will not object to read my defence? I am not suspicious. When a man writes or speaks, I take for granted that he believes what he says. And yet, after reading and re-reading the journals to which I now reply, I seem unable to discover any other than melancholy tendencies. Our present business is to inquire which is more favourable to your interests,—liberty or restriction. I believe that it is liberty,—they believe that it
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VII. A CHINESE STORY.
VII. A CHINESE STORY.
W e hear a great outcry against the cupidity and the egotism of the age! For my own part, I see the world, Paris especially, peopled with Deciuses. Open the thousand volumes, the thousand newspapers of all sorts and sizes, which the Parisian press vomits forth every day on the country—are they not all the work of minor saints? How vividly they depict the vices of the times! How touching the tenderness they display for the masses! How liberally they invite the rich to share with the poor, if not
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VIII. POST HOC, ERGO PROPTER HOC.
VIII. POST HOC, ERGO PROPTER HOC.
T his is the greatest and most common fallacy in reasoning. Real sufferings, for example, have manifested themselves in England.* These sufferings come in the train of two other phenomena: 1st, The reformed tariff; 2d, Two bad harvests in succession. To which of these two last circumstances are we to attribute the first? The protectionists exclaim: It is this accursed free-trade which does all the harm. It promised us wonderful things; we accepted it; and here are our manufactures at a standstil
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IX. THE PREMIUM THEFT.
IX. THE PREMIUM THEFT.
T his little book of Sophisms is found to be too theoretical, scientific, and metaphysical. Be it so. Let us try the effect of a more trivial and hackneyed, or, if you will, a ruder style. Convinced that the public is duped in this matter of protection, I have endeavoured to prove it. But if outcry is preferred to argument, let us vociferate, A burst of plain speaking has more effect frequently than the most polished circumlocution. You remember Oronte, and the difficulty which the Misanthrope h
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Jacques Bonhomme, a Vinedresser.
Jacques Bonhomme, a Vinedresser.
M. Lasouche, Taxgatherer. L.: You have secured twenty tuns of wine? J.: Yes; by dint of my own skill and labour. L.: Have the goodness to deliver up to me six of the best. J.: Six tuns out of twenty! Good Heaven! you are going to ruin me. And, please, Sir, for what purpose do you intend them? L.: The first will be handed over to the creditors of the State. When people have debts, the least thing they can do is to pay interest upon them. J.: And what becomes of the capital? L.: That is too long a
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XI. THE UTOPIAN FREE-TRADER.
XI. THE UTOPIAN FREE-TRADER.
I f I were but one of His Majesty's ministers!... "Well, what would you do?" "I should begin by—by—faith, by being very much at a loss. For it is clear I could only be a minister in consequence of having the majority in my favour; I could only have the majority in my favour by securing the popular suffrage; and I could attain that end, honestly at least, only by governing in accordance with public opinion. If I should attempt to carry out my own opinions, I should no longer have the majority; an
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XII. THE SALT-TAX, RATES OF POSTAGE, AND CUSTOMHOUSE DUTIES.
XII. THE SALT-TAX, RATES OF POSTAGE, AND CUSTOMHOUSE DUTIES.
W e expected some time ago to see our representative machinery produce an article quite new, the manufacture of which had not as yet been attempted—namely, the relief of the taxpayer . All was expectation. The experiment was interesting, as well as new. The motion of the machine disturbed nobody. In this respect, its performance was admirable, no matter at what time, in what place, or under what circumstances it was set agoing. But as regarded those reforms which were to simplify, equalize, and
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XIII. PROTECTION; OR, THE THREE CITY MAGISTRATES. Demonstration in Four
XIII. PROTECTION; OR, THE THREE CITY MAGISTRATES. Demonstration in Four
Tableaux. Scene I.—House of Master Peter.—Window looking out on a fine park.—Three gentlemen seated near a good fire. Peter: Bravo! Nothing like a good fire after a good dinner. It does feel so comfortable. But, alas! how many honest folks, like the Boi d'Yvetot, Miserable creatures! A charitable thought has just come into my head. You see these fine trees; I am about to fell them, and distribute the timber among the poor. Paul and John: What! gratis? Peter: Not exactly. My good works would soon
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XIV. SOMETHING ELSE.
XIV. SOMETHING ELSE.
W hat is restriction?" "It is partial prohibition." "What is prohibition?" "Absolute restriction." "So that what holds true of the one, holds true of the other?" "Yes; the difference is only one of degree. There is between them the same relation as there is between a circle and the arc of a circle." "Then, if prohibition is bad, restriction cannot be good?" "No more than the arc can be correct if the circle is irregular." "What is the name which is common to restriction and prohibition?" "Protec
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XV. THE LITTLE ARSENAL OF THE FREE-TRADER.
XV. THE LITTLE ARSENAL OF THE FREE-TRADER.
I f any one tells you that there are no absolute principles, no inflexible rules; that prohibition may be bad and yet that restriction may be good, Reply: "Restriction prohibits all that it hinders from being imported.": If any one says that agriculture is the nursing-mother of the country, Reply: "What nourishes the country is not exactly agriculture, but corn." If any one tells you that the basis of the food of the people is agriculture, Reply: "The basis of the people's food is corn. This is
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Report Addressed to the King.
Report Addressed to the King.
Sire, W hen we observe these free-trade advocates boldly-disseminating their doctrines, and maintaining that the right of buying and selling is implied in the right of property (as has been urged by M. Billault in the true style of a special pleader), we may be permitted to feel serious alarm as to the fate of our national labour; for what would Frenchmen make of their heads and their hands were they left to their own resources? The administration which you have honoured with your confidence has
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