The Sun.
London, England, 1846-08-21 00:00:00

GRAND DINNER TO MR. COBDEN

IN PARIS,
( For the Journal (Ps Debuts of Wednesday.)
This day the banquet offered to Mr. Cobden by the So-
ciete des Economistes took place. Besides the members of
the society several members of the two Chambers, merchants,
and other notabilities. attended. The Duke d'llarcourt,
Peer of France, who is President of the Societe des Libres
Echanges, presided at the dinner. Opposite to the President
sat M. Horace Say, one of the vice-presidents of the Societe
des Economistes. Mr. Cobden was on the right of
the President. Among those present on the occasion we
observed M. Anisson-Duperron, Peer of France, M.
Renouard, Peer of France, M. Blanqui, Deputy, M.
Gustave de Beaumont; Deputy, M. Chegaray, Deputy,
M. d'Eicthal,.Deputy, M. Leon Faucher, Deputy, M. de la
Grange, Deputy, M. de las Cazes, Deputy, M. Paulmier,
Deputy, M. Louis Reybaud, Deputy, M. Sallandrouze,
Deputy, M. Vernez,, Deputy-Governor cf the Bank of
France, the Baron Billing, Minister of France in Denmark,
M. Micheal Chevallier, professor of political economy in the
:!ollege de France, M. Joseph Gamier, professor of political
economy at the Athenee, M. Frederic Bestial, author of
"Cobden and the League," M. Perrot, engineer, Messrs. Thayer
and Perrier, Members of the Municipal Council of Paris, M.
Amadie Pichot, M. Dussard, M. Jules Buret, M. Charles
lieybaud, M. Molinari, and several other writers who have
directed their attention particularly to political economical
subjects, M. Cassimir Chevreux, M. Potonie, M. Riglet,
Messrs. Germain and Dumas, and several others representing-
the trade and commerce of Paris. The president and most of
the vice-presidents of the Societe des Economistes were not
present, several of them being absent from Paris, and others
being unwell. M. Rossi is at Rome. M. Charles Dunoyer.
in the Department of the Lot, M. Hippolyte Passy is confined
to his house by illness.
This laequat is not alone an act of simple politeness to a
man of rare talent, who has shown himself an indefatigable
wrestler during the seven years that the labours of the
English League against the corn-laws has lasted, and _who,
more than any one else, has contributed in effecting that
revolution in public opinion in England in consequence of
which we have seen Sir Robert Peel himself solemnly de-
claring in Parliament that in the matter of customs du-
t es he has been hitherto foster ing an error, and that the
truth was in the doctrines taught by Adam Smith, the
prince of economists. The Societe des Economistes deter-
mined on le ing the man whose sustained labours, in con-
cert with those of his eloquent friends, had achieved that
-triking homage to economical science. But the object
of this numerous meeting, among whom were to be found
so many enlightened men, was not alone to show the satis-
taction felt at the triumph of the science; it was more
especially directed to the object of recommending to the
country the ideas which, in consequence of the prodigious
labours cf the English League, have all of
,a sudden been so
fortunate in England as to upset the whole edifice of prohi-
bition, and to triumph even over the interests of the landed
aristocracy, which appeared to have the perpetual right of
laying down the law in everything in England.
This manifestation in favour of commercial liberty assumes
a real importance from the feet of its havi g been made after
several local manifestations and several isolated professions of
faith. These opinions gain ground. Are we to regret or are
we to applaud this? Is this not liberalism of a good stamp?
Is the liberty of commerce, applied gradually and at every
moment to a proper extent, not advantageous to the public
prosperity? Does it not accord perfectly with our other
liberties, and is it not the veritable consequence of them?
Ought it not to contribute to order, and is it not eminently
favourable to the holy and noble cause of the peace of the
world?
When the founders of the English League commenced the
great enterprise they found themselves surrounded with
inveterate prejudices. Protection, which each person trans-
lated into prohibition of the article which be himself manu-
factured, appeared to be the primary condition cf prosperity
and industry. It had become an axiom on the other side of
the Straits as it is among ourselves, that it was necessay to
be protected against the invasion of foreign products, that it
was a calamity to buy in foreign countries what could be
produced at home, no matter at what price, and that national
labour oughtabsolutely to be guaranteed against the attacks
of other nations. Consequently these persons wished to have
duties which would exclude all foreign produce; and at the
same time they had the pretension and desire to sell a great
deal in foreign markets. The League has finished by making
it clear that these opposite pretensions destroy each other;
that if the people wish to sell a great deal to foreigners it
is necessary to buy as much, for productions are only paid
for by productions, and whether payment be made directly,
or through an intermedium, is of little importance.
In the natural state of things—in the absence of all pro-
tecting duties—each country would give to the general
market those articles in the productions of which it excelled,
and would draw from abroad those which foreign labour
could give at a lower price. The more different nations de-
part from liberty of commerce, and the more each of them
sees closed the openings which it hopes to give to the pro-
ductions in which it succeeds best, the more also is it em-
barrassed by those hot-house industries which produce at a
great expense what a free international interchange would
have procured on excellent terms. With liberty 4 f com-
merce every nation provides itself easily and from wherever
it pleases with such matters as it may require; pro-
duces whatever best suits it; produces as cheaply as pos-
sible, and sells wherever it can do so to most advan-
tage. With prohibition everything becomes complicated
and false, everything becomes difficult, and everything be-
comes dear. People imagine themselves protected because
they are sheltered from foreign competition, which, if
looked at narrowly, would appear in most cases not very
formidable, and they do not see the price at which the pre-
tended protection is bought. They do not calculate how
heavily they are taxed by the .protection accorded to
other industries. In short the protective system rests upon
deception and delusion. It is profitable only to a very small
number of branches of human labour, which are directed by
men more able or more powerful than the rest. In Eng-
land it was corn and other articles of food. In France
agriculture, in place of exercising a monopoly, is of all
branches of industry that upon which liberty weighs
heaviest. It is other branches of industry, to which every
one may point, that absorb entirely the whole profits of
the system, of which, however, every one who has a field
or a manufactory imagines in his simplicity he is getting a
good part. And besides, what an evil results, in a moral
point of view, from a system which engenders a popula-
lation living by contraband, that is to say, by the viola-
lation of the laws, and which requires as a means of pre-
vention those examinations of the person to which the wife
or daughter of any of ua ie empe-aed at the frontier—a mon-
strosity in which none of us would believe if he read it in
an account of travels among a semi-civilized people. All
the Governments of Europe are rivalling each other in zeal
for the maintenance of peace. Is the peace real when the
commerce which is destined to cement it is subjected to vex-
ations and fetters without number? All countries impose
enormous sacrifices on themselves to improve their commu-
nications, and to cover Europe with a net of railways. Does
any one believe that this is done for the mere pleasure of the
idle travellers who carry their ennui from capital to capital?
Certainly not. For such a purpose the undertaking of
European railways would be an immense folly. The object
of the railways is to favour intercourse, transactions, and
exchange—to permit each to make the most lie can of his
soil, of his force, and of his intelligence, and •to partici-
pate in the advantages enjoyed by his neighbours. Thus
the force of things drives us towards a system of com-
mercial liberty more and more extended, and towards the
more and more complete overthrow of the prohibitive
system. Up to this day the folindation of all the codes of
custom-house laws among European nations was prohibition.
It was the effect of the prejudices and illusions of some, and
of the violent or crafty domination of others. Henceforth
liberty must be the avowed end of all commercial systems.
The prejudices which are opposed to this shall be corrected
among us and everywhere else, as they have been in Eng-
land. Neither cunning nor audacity can prevent this
long. The tariff .of England has undergone a complete
revision with a view to liberty, and the consequence has
been that at one blow six hundred articles have been ex-
empted from duty. Ours must submit to a similar ope-
ration. To attain this end we' •ettemeive that time will be
required, and we shall not oppose that ; but it is necessary
to begin in spite of vain clamours. It is necessary, in the
first place, to enlighten the public mind, and to make those
people think and calculate who are able to do so, and then
the public voice will demand the revision of the tariff in a
manner not to be refused. It is thus that they proceeded in
England, and it is thus only that we will succeed ; and we
draw attention to the banquet given to Mr. Cobden, because
the language used by all the speakers appeared to us to be
calculated to make some impression on all moderate minds,
and on all practical men. The toasts proposed were in gene-
ral warmly applauded. The speech of Mr. Cobden, which
was very well spoken in French, was particularly inter-
rupted by numerous and animated marks of approbation.
All that he said about France was in very good taste. The
summary refutation of the principal arguments used against
the English League, and which are the same as are now re-
produced in France, was also very successful. It was consi-
dered as showing rare good sense, and in a very original
form. We give the speech at length.
The first toast. was the King, proposed by the CHAIRMAN,
accompanied with the following sentiment:—" May the
establishment of freedom of commerce add a new eclat to a
reign‘. which has been already signalised by so many. ser-
t-iiicelleiNS.,rollernioddilA,e,red to the prosperity of industry and the peace of
cr. SAY, the vice-president, then proposed the
health of Richard Cobden," said—Was there occasion
ttr
noh
oeldst oenlet t
sympathies,%
g' oar
Nt_l
e t
ro i ht
eehve toast?ezrya'
mw
same It
rdee
a's.taot name was in every
the same sentiments,
v
picture of feudality crushed in England uNnSes t
r tcl)le them the
able blows of good sense. It is the emancipation of t-la-
bourers, who tOund in the liberty of exchange the com-
pletion of the right of property over the fruit of their labours.
It is the peace of the world by the tie which time liberty of
commerce will establish between all nations. In Mr. Cobden
we find personated that League which, after seven years of
perseverance, talent, and courage, has concluded one of the
greatest revolutions of modern times. The result has been
obtained not only by the abolition of the iniquitous corn-
laws, but besPes them, and it is of importance to the whole
world, by the inauguration of the great principle of the liberty
of exchange. The means employed was open discussion
throughout the country— discussion which has enlightened
public opinion, destroyed prejudices, and done justice to the
sophisms continually reproduced in favour of monopoly—dis-
cussions in which the Villierses, Wilsons, Brights, and Foxes
have shewn that the highest eloquence is that which sup-
ports truth, and pleads for the sacred cause of humanity. Let us
rejoice to see amongst us the man who was the real soul of the
League, by his noble character, his powerful language, his
irresistible logic, which more than all others have contributed
to success. To the health of Richard Cobden !—(Cheers.)
Mr. COBDEN replied in French, but the following is a
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mostuthn csftgeahseva:otoeNuevt
nrchhlahe:b.rr: Teep Goueindtlebneleinn—tlhtisisctoommpaenaysomuorcree
lt
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emotions;
oienri
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wouldi sh obwu t
impossible,
pedoilsffil
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icabirt.
tl
circumstancesaenn
ts
then, must it be to express my feelings
in a language that is,
unfortunately, not familiar to me. G, ntleteen, I beg
you to
believe that lam heartily grateful for the cordial manner in
which you have responded to the much too flattering terms
in which our excellent President has been pleased to intro-
duce my name to your notice. I will, with your permission.
claim for others a large share of his commendation. lam
but one humble indivic'uul amongst many of far higher merit,
who have laboured long for the triumph of a great and bene-
ficent principle. On behalf of my absent l col eagues let me
thank you fur your sympathy. But having
disavowed for my-
self any exclusive merit in the work which has been accom-
plished, I may be allowed without egotism to agree with this
meeting in the views it entertains of the importance of our
victory. Free • trade is another clause added to the charter
of human freedom. It is a new land n ark erected in the
pathway of nations to illustrate the progress of civilization
in the nineteenth century. We had already achieved the
rights of conscience, the liberty of speech, and the invio-
lability of the press, and now we possess the freedom of in-
dustry. And I must avow that I could not consider myself
the citizen of a perfectly free nation so long as that last
badge of slavery remained in the form of monopolies which
deprived my countrymen of the right to enjoy the full re-
ward of their labour and ingenuity. Gentlemen, I speak as
an Englishman, and of the rights. of Englishmen. I have no
title to appear before you in any other capacity. Ido not
stand here as a propagandist. You will do us the justice to
acknowledge that we confined °umbra ettictly within oar