The Apostle of Capitalism: The Economist from 1843-1863 A Thesis Submitted to the College of Graduate Studies and Research in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of History University of Saskatchewan Carla Jeanine Fehr © Carla Jeanine Fehr, September 2009. All rights reserved. i PERMISSION TO USE In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Master’s of Arts Degree from the University of Saskatchewan, I agree that the Libraries of this University may make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this thesis in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who supervised my thesis work or, in their absence, by the Head of the Department of History. It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this thesis or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of Saskatchewan in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my thesis. Requests for permission to copy or to make other use of material in this thesis in whole or in part should be addressed to: Head of the Department of History University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5A5 Canada i ABSTRACT For over 160 years, The Economist newspaper has been one of the most influential, sophisticated, and effective proponents of capitalism. It has consistently championed and conveyed a form of ‘humanitarian political economy’ to its weekly, global audience of professionals and business and government leaders. The Economist began in 1843 to campaign for free trade in agriculture and to advocate for the emerging regime of capitalism in Britain. Its primary concern during its first two decades centered on agricultural change. This thesis examines those first two decades, from 1843-1863, and The Economist ’s focus on ‘improvement’, or capitalist development, in the English countryside. The Economist was a staunch advocate for increased urbanization, private property, and ‘high agriculture’ – a modern system of agriculture that involved scientific techniques, free trade, large landholdings, and significant amounts of capital. It vehemently opposed any attempts to alleviate rural poverty using measures it felt were inconsistent with the principles of political economy and argued rural labourers would be better off if they were forced to sell their labour and submit to the discipline of the market. The Economist repeatedly portrayed this process of capitalist development as beneficial for all and as a natural occurrence, brought about through the free working of the market. Its account contributed to the prominent idea of the ‘success’ of British agriculture in the 19 th century; an idea that has had profound effects on subsequent notions of development. This thesis uses Marxist and Foucauldian concepts to demonstrate that the process of capitalist development in the countryside was not brought about through market forces. Extensive and often oppressive government intervention was needed to dispossess people from the land and to force them into waged labour. Though much of this dispossession had occurred by the 19 th century, The Economist performed a crucial role in advocating for policies that cemented capitalist relations of production. The Economist ’s most important ii function was to spread belief in capitalism by making its inequality and poverty more palatable. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My deepest appreciation goes to my supervisor, Dr. Jim Handy, for his guidance, patience and support. I am grateful to Dr. Handy for drawing my attention to this topic, for discussing and sharing ideas with me, and offering invaluable suggestions that have shaped this thesis. I am greatly indebted to him for my academic formation, both at the undergraduate and graduate level. Dr. Handy’s classes and areas of research were always thought-provoking and his commitment to social justice always inspiring. He instilled confidence, encouraged me to challenge the norm and to imagine other possibilities. His influence in my life will carry on long after I graduate. This thesis benefitted from the encouragement and advice of my committee members Dr. Christopher Kent and Dr. Simonne Horwitz. Thank you for your careful reading of my thesis, for your thoughtful questions and valuable suggestions. Thank you also to my external examiner, Dr. Douglas Thorpe, (from the Department of English) for your recommendations. I appreciate the institutional and financial support provided by the Department of History at the University of Saskatchewan which generously awarded me a Master’s Graduate Scholarship. This research was also carried out with the financial assistance of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. I am very grateful for their support. I benefited from discussion with a number of friends and colleagues. You have my gratitude for your insight, encouragement and for helping make this journey of learning enjoyable. I wish to extend my thanks in particular to Francoise Guigne for her helpful advice and interest in my work and to Myriam Ullah for always cheering me on. Special thanks to my parents who have given practical, emotional and unconditional support in all my endeavours. Finally, a heartfelt thank you to Chris for his encouragement, for sharing in my ideals and actions and for unselfishly celebrating every accomplishment with me. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PERMISSION TO USE ....................................................................................................... i ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .....................................................................................................v INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................1 Purpose and Argument.....................................................................................................6 A Brief History of The Economist ..................................................................................13 The Economist ’s Writing Style ......................................................................................19 Thesis Outline ...............................................................................................................20 CHAPTER ONE - Removing the Barriers to Capitalism .................................................22 European Exceptionalism ..............................................................................................23 ‘Collecting wealth into heaps and population into dense masses’...................................30 Reclaiming the ‘rural and moral wildernesses’...............................................................34 ‘Breaking up the hard clods of ignorance, prejudice, sloth and indifference’..................42 Removing ‘feudal trammels, settlements, and incumbrances’.........................................43 Statistics: ‘The Science of the State’ ..............................................................................45 CHAPTER TWO - Developing a Capitalist Mode of Agricultural Production ...............56 The Move to a Free Trade in Agriculture .......................................................................57 The Economist ’s High Agriculture.................................................................................59 Capital: ‘the deity of their idolatry’................................................................................67 The Ideal Size of Farm...................................................................................................73 Garden allotments: a ‘dangerous and degrading scheme’ ...............................................80 Poverty as a Source of Wealth .......................................................................................86 CHAPTER THREE - ‘Drawing Forth the Force Which Slumbers in the Peasants’ Arm’ .88 Developing ‘a taste for labour’.......................................................................................90 Teaching Submission to the Laws of the Market............................................................93 Shaking off their Feudal Habits and ‘Twaddling Sentimentalism’..................................95 Elevating Their Moral Habits.......................................................................................100 ‘An Education to Give Them That Provident Frugality’...............................................105 ‘More Commodious Cottages’.....................................................................................106 A Strict Administration of the Poor Law......................................................................113 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................119 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................126 v INTRODUCTION “I used to think; now I just read The Economist .” – Larry Ellison, CEO, Oracle Corporation “How did The Economist put it?” – Ronald Reagan, former U. S. president “May be the most sensible publication