reign sources, when these could have been supplied at home. They ministered to the wants of the needy, rather than to the craving desires of the affluent They protected property and capital engaged in profitable production, as well as the wages of labour. They sacrificed no man or class of individuals to the blind envy of the multitude; but so long as one human being could be found destitute of the means of providing for his own subsistence, the state, like an affectionate parent, watched over and protected the beginnings of his humble industry. But far different is the course pursued by the Political Economists of the present day; in the midst of wide-spreading misery and suffering, they persevere, with a callousness of feeling, and a disregard of all warnings, peculiar to themselves, in the prosecution of experiments which threaten to destroy for ever the prosperity of this once happy land.

The Political Economists promised those whom they deluded into the folly of countenancing their experiments, that other nations would be induced to follow the example which we set them, and abolish all restrictions upon the importation of foreign commodities. But other nations, blind to the advantages which were held out to them, spurned the suggestions and exhortations of the philosophers. The French, the Dutch, the Prussians, all, in their turn, laughed at the simplicity of the Free Traders, when proposing that foreign commodities should be permitted to compete with the productions of native industry; nay, the Americans went so far as to establish a prohibitory system at the very moment we were relaxing our own. This is the celebrated reciprocity system, for the introduction of which the statesmen and philosophers of this country claim so much credit. Its advantages, however, are all on one side-We allow foreign industry to come into free competition with that of our own population; while other nations rigidly exclude all wrought commodities which can be manufactured at home.

In their eagerness to secure to the rich and monied classes the advantage of cheap commodities, the philosophers have felt no scruples in

throwing an overwhelming burden upon the shoulders of that class which has vested its capital in the purchase of real property. The thousands of able-bodied workmen whom the new system has thrown out of employment, have necessarily fallen for subsistence upon the poor-rates; nay, so great is the reduction which has taken place in the wages of labour, that a very considerable portion of the maintenance of the workmen constantly employed in the cotton trade is drawn from the parish funds. It is indeed calculated, that in almost every district where the cotton trade has been able to support itself, half the expense of fabricating the wrought commodity is defrayed out of the poor-rates. It thus appears, that an immense tax is levied upon the owners of real property, in order to pay a premium upon the production of cotton goods. No wonder, therefore, that under these circumstances-with wages reduced to a minimum, and one-half of this minimum taken, not out of the capital of the manufacturer, but out of the pockets of the agricultural classes the cotton manufacture should as yet be able to maintain its ground. The same observation will apply to the silk trade, to the iron trade, and, indeed, to almost every other trade. They are now upheld against foreign competition solely by the bounty which is raised for their support by taxing the owners of real property. In order that the wealthy and monied classes may get their commodities at a cheap rate, half the expense of fabricating them is, in many instances, taken out of the pockets of the owners of real property. A system thus partial and oppressive should by all means be abolished. The agriculturists should, for their own sake, make every ef fort in their power to withdraw this superabundant population from the factories, in which they are now, at least, partially unproductive, and settle them either as cottagers or colonists in some country district, where they may, by field-labour, replace the whole of the food required for their support.

It will perhaps be said, that, to effect this object, a considerable outlay of capital will be required in the first instance. It will be necessary

to build cottages, and provide the means of maintaining their occupants while tilling the ground during one year, at the very least. It may also be urged, that this amount of capital must be withdrawn from the general capital of the country, and that, therefore, the gain in one place will be counterbalanced by an equivalent loss in some other district. A million sterling, for instance, laid out in establishing cottage-farms, or home colonies, must be abstracted from some other branch of national industry in which it is now employed; and, by being thus withdrawn, it will throw out of work as many persons in the district which has lost it, as it would give employment to in that to which it might be transferred. At the first view of the matter, this seems to be a formidable objection to the scheme now recommended; but when closely analysed, it will, we apprehend, entirely vanish. The question to be disposed of, is not, whether it be expedient to transfer a given amount of capital from a branch of industry, in which it is now productive, into some other department; but whether it be expedient to render a certain amount of capital profitable both to the owners and the public, which is now either entirely wasted, or at best yields but an inadequate return of profit. It will at once be perceived, that we speak here of the enormous capital which is annually squandered in this country in the maintenance of able-bodied but unemployed labourers. The food consumed by this class of persons in a state of idleness, is a pure and unalloyed loss to society. Unlike the food consumed by the industrious labourer, no particle of it is replaced: it is consumption with out the most trifling reproduction. This wasted capital, if properly applied, would prove amply sufficient to carry into effect the sort of arrangement which is required to give profitable employment to the whole mass of our industrious poor. An able-bodied labourer out of employment necessarily falls upon the parish for support; assume that from this source he draws annually for his maintenance fifty quartern loaves. Being unable to get employment, he consumes this allowance in absolute idleness; hence it unavoid

ably comes to pass, that at the end of the year not one ounce of the bread which he has eaten is replaced by the fruits of his own industry. With respect to the inhabitants of the parish who maintain this pauper in unproductive idleness, as well as to the community at large, the effect is precisely the same as if these loaves, or, in the language of the Economists, capital, were thrown into the fire. But assume that a different arrangement had been made for the sustenance of this indigent labourer

suppose that the parish had said to him, "We know that ye have no work, and cannot support yourself by the earnings of your ordinary labour; we are also aware that by the obligation of law, and the principles of humanity, we are bound to find you a maintenance; but upon every principle of honesty and fair dealing, you are equally bound to use your best exertions to replace the food which we advance for your support. We will set apart a small allotment of land for you to cultivate; by an unremitting and judicious application of your industry to the tillage of this portion of land, you will be able at the proper season to gather a crop which will more than replace the food consumed by you while prosecuting your task."

It should also be always borne in mind, that when a portion of the capital of any country is exhausted by unproductive consumers, the national fund for the employment and reward of productive industry is in an equal ratio diminished; hence the evil effect of maintaining an ablebodied labourer in a state of unproductiveness becomes doubled. Suppose an able-bodied and unemployed labourer draws from the funds of the parish to which he belongs an allowance equivalent to fifty quartern loaves; this quantity of food is not only wasted upon a man who does not replace one of the crusts which he consumes, but the amount thus abstracted from the aggregate capital belonging to the inhabitants of the parish, throws another labourer out of employment. Thus it comes to pass, that an unoccupied labourer not only consumes in unproductive idleness the food which he receives from the parish, but by that very act he also deprives another labourer of

profitable employment. Hence it is that the evil of pauperism spreads so rapidly and extensively in every country, where, from a defective or vicious organization of society, any considerable portion of the working classes may be unprovided with reproductive employment.

It is very gratifying to find that the system which has recently at tracted so much attention,-that of attaching a small allotment of land to the cottage of the industrious la bourer, to be cultivated by spade husbandry, spreads so rapidly through out the country. It would be tedi ous to specify the various districts into which it has been introduced; it is sufficient to say, that wherever the experiment has been judiciously made, it appears to answer the most sanguine expectations of its advocates; it emancipates the peasant from the condition of a parochial slave, degraded and demoralized by oppression, and places him in a state of comfort and independence. It obtains the countenance not only of the wealthy landowners, but what holds out the promise of making it still more general, the farmers of the country begin likewise to open their eyes to the palpable advantages of the system. The labouring classes evince the utmost eagerness to obtain these small allotments; they are willing and able to pay for them a much higher amount of rent than could be afforded by the ordinary farmer. In a parish not far from Wells, land appropriated to this purpose lets at the enormous rate of eight pounds per acre; it is no doubt of very good quality; and notwithstanding the present depressed state of agriculture, the industrious cottager is enabled to pay this high rent, and at the same time to derive from his allotment a considerable surplus, as a reward for his own labour. The success of these experiments begins to produce its natural effect; landowners begin to see that, by adopting this system, they can derive a much larger revenue from their property, than by letting it to a common farmer; and among the occupiers of extensive farms, the conviction gradually gains ground that nothing short of the general adoption of this plan can prevent the poor-rates from absorbing not only the whole rent of

the landlord, but also the whole of the profits of the occupying tenant. Impelled by these considerations, parishes begin to adopt these means of relieving their poor; instead of giving money to support them in idleness, they allot land, to the cultivation of which every hour which the labourer can spare may be applied. The industrious workman is thus provided for by means which do not cost the community a single farthing; for in every instance he pays an adequate, and in many cases even a high rent for his allotment.

This is a subject which appears to deserve the serious attention of the Legislature; every obstacle which may tend to impede its extension ought to be removed. If generally adopted, it could scarcely fail to remove the most crying evil of the present day-the hopeless pauperism of able-bodied labourers. This is, the true and only way of relieving the industrious classes in this country from the oppressive influence of the Free Trade system. The superabundant population of the manufacturing districts would be gradually withdrawn; and the wages of the remainder would consequently rise. The condition of the whole working classes would be thus improved, and content and happiness would once more bless this land. The ruin and misery brought upon the labouring poor by the wicked experiments of the Economists would be removed, and we should be no more alarmed by the vapid and absurd declamations about superabundant population. The population of this country is superabundant, merely because our stupid regulations exclude the people from the fields in which their industry would prove highly productive to themselves as well as the community at large. Let the soil of the country be but properly thrown open to the industry of our labouring classes, and we shall hear no more of a surplus population. The cant and nonsense of the pseudoEconomists will sink first into contempt, and then into oblivion. The patience of the public will be no longer teased by absurd schemes for transporting one portion of the community for the benefit of the other portion; and the public feeling will cease to be outraged by horrible sug

gestions for checking population. Let the people of Britain have but a free trade in land and cottages, and we care not one farthing to what other branches of industry this principle may be extended; we are convinced that the practical result of throwing the soil of the empire open to the industry of our population, would be to create a want of hands, instead of a want of employment. The present competition for labour would be changed into a competition for labourers, and this would inevitably secure to the workman the full hire of which he is worthy. To us it appears indeed perfectly unaccountable, that some portion of the overflowing capital of this country has not already taken this direction; it could be rendered perfectly clear, that in no way could it be made so productive as by being invested in building cottages upon small allot

ments of land; and this would the more especially be the case in populous districts. It is well known, that small houses, even now, return a larger profit for the capital expended in building them than more extensive erections; and it cannot be questioned, that a comfortable cottage, with a small allotment of land attached to it, would prove a still more profitable mode of invest ing capital. An incalculable amount of the accumulated capital of the nation might, in this manner, be disposed of to the great advantage both of individuals and the public. While this mode of investing capital would prove an incalculable blessing to the poor, it would, by diminishing the aggregate of our floating capital, and raising the rate of interest, prove extremely profitable to the rich capitalist.