pity, the masses of their own people in idleness and degradation, under circumstances which would perpetuate such conditions without that protection which it was within their power to extend.

The question of finding employment for labor was never so pressed home upon any people, as it was upon the English people at this time. The contrast between their condition during the period above treated and that which prevailed when the full effects of the protective system were felt will appear in a subsequent chapter. For the present it suffices to say that there is no example in the history of any country, of a greater change and improvement following the adoption of protection than is found in the history of this people. In the course of time every village and borough, town and city in the whole realm, was converted into a bee-hive of industry where men and women found employment, not only in making all articles for their own use, but in the manufacture of all sorts of wares, from the crudest implements to the most delicate and costly fabrics.

mental interference.

Protective legislation, having its beginning in the exclusion of Governforeigners from the retail trade of the country, was extended later to the development of a great variety of domestic industries. The first idea seems to have been, to keep their wool at home to build up their woolen industries and turn the labor of Englishmen to providing their own people with cloth. As we have seen, English wool had hitherto been exported to Flanders and returned in the form of cloth, with the labor and profits of the Flemish added. The interference of aliens with the retail trade of the merchants of London was very injurious. The foreign importer, by bringing the wares into the country, could demand whatever price he saw fit. The monopoly thus held excluded the citizens of London from a participation in trade. The policy of interference of the government in behalf of its own citizens was most wise and just. If governments are ordained for the protection of property, one of their first duties is to make it possible for their own citizens to acquire property.

Contrast

between

When we contrast the result of this policy with the encouragement given to the Flemish, Germans and Italians to bring their wares into England, resulting in giving employment to the artisans of those countries, the investment of capital and building up of industrial centres on the Continent, instead of in England, we can readily see why Holland and protecand Flanders became rich and powerful, while England remained poor and her people unskilled and degraded. The excessive rate of interest. and the galling exactions of the Florentine bankers had undoubtedly taught Edward how impolitic it always is for a nation to rely upon foreigners in time of need. The English must, at this time, have been reduced to a very low financial condition, when her ruler was compelled to pawn his crown jewels to raise money. The very coin that he borrowed on the Continent might have been drawn from the English people and drained from the country by the free trade policy which prevailed.

The very fact that it was necessary to bring skilled artisans from foreign lands to teach the English people the arts of industry shows how a people under a system of free trade will cling to rural pursuits without any desire or ambition to embark in new enterprises. Such foreign competition was then, as it has been in all countries when given full sway, a perpetual blight upon home industry. Edward's proud spirit undoubtedly felt keenly the inferior position in wealth and industrial life of his own people. When English monarchs grasped the great economic truth that they should favor their own people against strangers in every department of trade in which they were at a disadvantage, the problem of English supremacy was solved. Although this great principle was not fully appreciated and embodied in a comprehensive industrial code and national policy until the time of Queen Elizabeth, yet successive monarchs and parliaments sufficiently recognized its application to the conditions of the English people, to make a steady progress under its beneficent influence. The intervention of wars, both foreign and internal, between the time of Edward IV. and Queen Elizabeth, left little room for industrial activity. It was during this period that the wars between the houses of York and Lancaster plunged the nobility into a fierce struggle for the crown. The establishment of the Church of England by Henry VIII., his suppression of the monasteries and seizure of the property of the Roman Catholics, disarranged the business affairs of the realm with injurious results. The struggle between Catholics and Protestants, which continued to the time of Queen Elizabeth, prevented a rapid industrial development under this policy. At times and for long periods it was almost wholly lost sight of. The system of collecting revenues and enforcing prohibitions on imports was so imperfect that smuggling was constanty and persistently indulged in. Besides this it was not until the early part of the sixteenth century that England had become strong enough to defy foreigners and take from the Hanseatic League its privileges.

PART III.

MODERN ENGLAND UNDER PROTECTION.

CHAPTER I.

THE PROTECTIVE POLICY OF GREAT BRITAIN FROM 1558 TO 1800 AND
WHAT IT TEACHES.

to native

industries policy of Britain.

the settled

Great

“A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.”—Bacon. The system of protection gradually ripened into a settled national Protection policy, which continued from the time of Queen Elizabeth uninterrupted and persistently strengthened at every point until 1846, when it was in the main abandoned. England was not, however, without political parties and bitter controversies over policies and forms of government took place. From the reign of Elizabeth until the latter part of the seventeenth century, the main question was whether the sovereign power of the realm was vested in the king by divine right or rested in that great body of English freemen represented by the House of Commons. This question was ultimately settled by a resort to arms. It brought Charles I. to the block, established the commonwealth, and ultimately placed it in the power of the people of England by an act of succession to choose their own ruler, make their laws and establish for themselves a form of government. But through all this controversy, there was one question upon. which the English people were agreed. It mattered not what party was in power, whether Puritans or Royalists, Whigs or Tories, the industrial development of England by a system of protective tariffs, navigation laws and governmental regulations was recognized as the best means of securing commercial and industrial greatness. A spirit of loyalty to England and to Englishmen pervaded all classes of people and found expression in deeds of bravery and heroism on land and sea, in defending and extending their dominions, building up their industries, and making the power and name of England supreme in the world.

Elizabeth.

The reign of Queen Elizabeth, which began in 1558 and closed in Reign of 1603, forms one of the most important commercial epochs in the history of the country. The most renowned in literature, it should be no less distinguished for the influences exerted on trade and commerce. This was the age of Shakespeare and Lord Bacon, two of the greatest men of all time. As a statesman, jurist and philosopher, Lord Bacon is without |

a peer. Undoubtedly his genius gave form and order to the national policy of protection, which hitherto had been indefinite and unstable. At this time the legislation of preceding reigns was gathered together, re-enacted and formed into a comprehensive, industrial code, having for its specific purpose the development of all branches of productive industry and commerce. The purpose of such a policy is disclosed in the several branches of industrial life, which were sought to be specifically regulated and fostered by the following legislation:

1. The Statute of Apprentices or Laborers.

2. Poor Laws.

3. Protection to Agriculture and Manufacturing.

4. Encouragement of Fisheries.

5. Encouragement of Shipping and the Extension of Foreign

Trade.

While all these important branches received legislative sanction and recognition at this time, the policy thereby definitely begun was not only adhered to by successive English administrations, but was constantly strengthened and improved upon, until every country on the face of the globe felt its influence, and England became the richest commercial nation in Christendom. It is a fact worthy of consideration that the supremacy of England was reached at the close of the eighteenth century, before the Napoleonic wars. The navigation laws passed in the time of Cromwell were the crowning acts of this series of industrial legislation, having for their definite purpose the establishment of industries and the expansion of trade and commerce.

The "Statute of Apprentices" or "Laborers," as it is sometimes called, passed by parliament in the fifth year of the reign' of Elizabeth, continued in force from 1563 to 1825. While it cannot be commended in all respects, it can be approved in some. It throws much light upon the statesmanship and sound economic ideas which prevailed. The necessity of finding employment for labor, at good wages, and the regard which every well-regulated state should have for the welfare of its artisans, were certainly comprehended by the statesmen of this period. Although the means by which it was sought to accomplish such a result were ineffectual, and in some respects unwise, yet the misery and degradation inflicted upon the artisans of a country by a depression of wages are so necessary to be avoided, that experiments of this character should be treated with great consideration by those who are unable to understand fully the conditions under which production was carried on and subsistence procured at this time.

One of the chief purposes of this enactment was to secure an increase in the wages of laborers which could not be obtained under the old statutes. This is expressly stated in the preamble, as follows:

15th, Elizabeth, c. 4.

Chiefly for that the wages and allowances limited and rated in many of the said statutes, are in diverse places too small and not answerable to this time respecting the advancement of prices of all things belonging to the said servants and laborers, the said laws cannot conveniently without the great grief and burden of the poor laborer and hired man be put in good and due execution.

This effort to improve the condition of labor by governmental aid has been most severely criticised by recent English writers, and especially by those who advocate free trade. They condemn not only the specific details of this legislation, but the whole policy under which conditions favorable to artisans were brought about. When we come later to contrast the effect of free competition on English industries, during the past twentyseven years, with the marvelous development and improvement which followed the legislation under Elizabeth, the discredit will be cast upon those who regard low wages as an economic advantage to a country. The legislation in question attempted to regulate the whole system of apprenticeship, wages, terms of employment and length of day's labor in agriculture and manufacturing. Instead of leaving the question of wages to be settled by free competition or free contract, entered into between the employed and employer, it provided that justices of the peace should meet on or before the tenth of June of each year to fix the rate of wages to be paid during the ensuing season. The statute says, the justices of the peace, after fixing the time of their meeting, "calling to them such Attempt to discreet and grave persons, as they shall think meet, and conferring together respecting the plenty or scarcity of the times, and other circumstances necessary to be considered," shall limit and appoint the wages for every kind of manual labor skilled or unskilled, by the year, week or day, and with or without allowance of food. It was made a penal offence to pay less wages than those fixed by the magistrates. This portion of the statute, however, which vested justices of the peace with power to fix wages, became a dead letter, although it remained unrepealed until 1825. But few instances are found in which it was ever acted upon. The reason is undoubtedly the general improvement of the masses, and the increase of wages which followed. As opportunities for work increased and new fields opened for the investment of capital in manufacturing, shipping and agriculture, the demand for labor tended to prevent the occurrence of the conditions which were sought to be alleviated through the statute.

wages.

fix rate of

fix term

The statute also provided a seven years' apprenticeship for artisans, and authorized an agriculturalist to take a boy and instruct him in farm labor, until he arrived at the age of twenty-one years. Every master Attempt to who had three apprentices was required to employ at least one journeyman of employ for each extra apprentice. The statute was designed to secure stability and permanence of employment. Terms of service were fixed and penalties imposed upon laborers for quitting within the limitations, as well as upon

ment, etc.