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Free Trade. II. Corn-Laws.—Mr The Online Library of Liberty A Project Of Liberty Fund, Inc. Richard Cobden, Speeches on Questions of Public Policy. Vol. 1 Free Trade and Finance [1870] The Online Library Of Liberty This E-Book (PDF format) is published by Liberty Fund, Inc., a private, non-profit, educational foundation established in 1960 to encourage study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. 2010 was the 50th anniversary year of the founding of Liberty Fund. It is part of the Online Library of Liberty web site http://oll.libertyfund.org, which was established in 2004 in order to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. To find out more about the author or title, to use the site's powerful search engine, to see other titles in other formats (HTML, facsimile PDF), or to make use of the hundreds of essays, educational aids, and study guides, please visit the OLL web site. This title is also part of the Portable Library of Liberty DVD which contains over 1,000 books and quotes about liberty and power, and is available free of charge upon request. The cuneiform inscription that appears in the logo and serves as a design element in all Liberty Fund books and web sites is the earliest-known written appearance of the word “freedom” (amagi), or “liberty.” It is taken from a clay document written about 2300 B.C. in the Sumerian city-state of Lagash, in present day Iraq. To find out more about Liberty Fund, Inc., or the Online Library of Liberty Project, please contact the Director at [email protected]. LIBERTY FUND, INC. 8335 Allison Pointe Trail, Suite 300 Indianapolis, Indiana 46250-1684 Online Library of Liberty: Speeches on Questions of Public Policy. Vol. 1 Free Trade and Finance Edition Used: Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by Richard Cobden, M.P., ed. by John Bright and J.E. Thorold Rogers with a Preface and Appreciation by J.E. Thorold Rogers and an Appreciation by Goldwin Smith (London: T.Fisher Unwin, 1908). 2 volumes in 1. Vol. 1 Free Trade and Finance. Author: Richard Cobden Editor: John Bright Editor: James E. Thorold Rogers Introduction: Goldwin Smith About This Title: Volume 1 of a two volume collection of Cobden’s speeches on Free Trade, Finance, War, Foreign Policy, and Parliamentary Reform. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 2 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/927 Online Library of Liberty: Speeches on Questions of Public Policy. Vol. 1 Free Trade and Finance About Liberty Fund: Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. Copyright Information: The text is in the public domain. Fair Use Statement: This material is put online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Unless otherwise stated in the Copyright Information section above, this material may be used freely for educational and academic purposes. It may not be used in any way for profit. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 3 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/927 Online Library of Liberty: Speeches on Questions of Public Policy. Vol. 1 Free Trade and Finance Table Of Contents Preface An Appreciation By Goldwin Smith An Appreciation By J. E. Thorold Rogers Free Trade. I. Her Majesty's Speech.—amendment On the Address. House of Commons, August 25, 1841. Free Trade. II. Corn-laws.—mr. Villiers' Annual Motion. House of Commons, February 24, 1842. Free Trade. III. Distress of the Country. House of Commons, February 17, 1843. Free Trade. IV. Corn-laws. House of Commons, May 15, 1843. Free Trade. V. London, September 28, 1843. Free Trade. VI. London, October 13, 1843. Free Trade. VII. Manchester, October 19, 1843. Free Trade. VIII. London, February 8, 1844. Free Trade. IX. Effect of Protective Duties. House of Commons, March 12, 1844. Free Trade. X. London, May 8, 1844. Free Trade. XI. London, July 3, 1844. Free Trade. XII. Manchester, October 24, 1844. Free Trade. XIII. London, December 11, 1844. Free Trade. XIV. London, January 15, 1845 Free Trade. XV. Agricultural Distress. House of Commons, March 13, 1845. Free Trade. XVI. London, June 18, 1845. Free Trade. XVII. Manchester, October 28, 1845. Free Trade. XVIII. Birmingham, November 13, 1845. Free Trade. XIX. London, December 17, 1845. Free Trade. XX. Manchester, January 15, 1846. Free Trade. XXI. Corn-laws. House of Commons, February 27, 1846. Free Trade. XXII. Manchester, July 4, 1846. Free Trade. XXIII. House of Commons, March 8, 1849. Free Trade. XXIV. Leeds, December 18, 1849. Free Trade. XXV. Aylesbury, January 9, 1853. Letter From Mr. Cobden to the Tenant Farmers of England. Finance. I. Manchester, January 27, 1848. Finance. II. Manchester, January 10, 1849. Finance. III. House of Commons, March 8, 1850. Finance. IV. International Reduction of Armaments. House of Commons, June 17, 1851. Finance. V. House of Commons, December 13, 1852. Finance. VI. House of Commons, April 28, 1853. Finance. VII. House of Commons, July 22, 1864. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 4 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/927 Online Library of Liberty: Speeches on Questions of Public Policy. Vol. 1 Free Trade and Finance PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 5 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/927 Online Library of Liberty: Speeches on Questions of Public Policy. Vol. 1 Free Trade and Finance [Back to Table of Contents] Preface The Speeches contained in these two volumes have been selected and edited at the instance of the Club which was established for the purpose of inculcating and extending those political principles which are permanently identified with Cobden's career. They form an important part of the collective contribution to political science, which has conferred on their author a reputation, the endurance of which, it may be confidently predicted, is as secure as that of any among the men whose wisdom and prescience have promoted the civilization of the world. These Speeches are not in any sense compositions. Cobden was, in the strictest meaning of the words, an extempore speaker. He pretended neither to rhetoric nor to epigram, though the reader will find passages in these volumes the unaffected grace of which is as pleasing as the highest art, and illustrations which have all the force of the liveliest humour. But, as a rule, the speech is, as Sir Robert Peel called it, when the speaker's career was in its beginnings, "unadorned." The style is homely, conversational, familiar, and even garrulous. But it is always clear, and invariably suggests such a comprehension of the subject which is discussed, as gives the exposition all the force of a debate. So cogent and exhaustive was Cobden's reasoning, that, in almost every case, they who attempted to resist the effect of his conclusions were constrained to betake themselves to some irrelevant issue, or to awaken some prejudice against him. What he said, too, was stated with great geniality and kindliness. It was difficult to refute the speaker, it was impossible to quarrel with the man. He was as popular as he was wise. His manner was as modest as his speech was lucid. There is no subject which Cobden treated which he did not take care to know perfectly well. He was never unprepared, for he never spoke on any topic with which he was not thoroughly conversant. He read up everything which he talked about. Hence his facts were as indisputable as his inferences were precise. He was never obliged to repudiate a principle which he had once adopted and announced, for he never accepted a compromise on any question of public policy. Hence he has done more than any other statesman to make the administration of public affairs an exact science. And for the same reason, as he entered into Parliament in the full maturity of his powers, he never had to abandon a single position which he accepted, maintained, and affirmed. Cobden's name is principally identified with the agitation which led to a Free Trade in Food. This is not the place to enter into the history of that great financial reform, because an examination of all the statements which were made in defence of that restrictive policy to which the Corn-laws were the coping-stone, would require, in itself, the space of a special treatise. Most of them, it will be found, are taken and refuted in the Free-trade speeches with which these volumes commence. A quarter of a century after the final overthrow of the system, we can have no conception of the warmth and vindictiveness with which that system was defended, and of the courage, PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 6 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/927 Online Library of Liberty: Speeches on Questions of Public Policy. Vol. 1 Free Trade and Finance readiness, and learning which were needed in order to combat protective theories, and finally to overthrow them. The immediate object of the organisation with which Cobden was associated, was the repeal of all protective taxes. For the purpose of carrying out this work, Cobden sacrificed fortune and health. The labours which he undertook during the campaign against the Corn-laws materially injured a constitution which, like that of all his family, was never robust. The unremitting attention which he gave to the details of an agitation, which confronted such vast and such angry interests, left him no leisure for conducting the affairs of his own manufacture. But once embarked in political life, Cobden could not abandon it, or retreat from it. He knew very well that after he had organised and carried out the campaign against the Corn-laws, there were other violations of economical laws, which characterised the social system of this country, the correction of which was only less important than the repeal of those monopolies, though the machinery for correcting them was by no means equally available.
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