The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1885-10-23
rnrE TRADE ENGLAND.
Its Relation to tho Prevailing Depression
Ruined Agricultural Interests.

velous bubble, but the nineteenth cell
tury has given birth to bubble, in whose
presence the South Sea initiation sinks into
utter insiguiacance. This new bubble
h,a been blown up for nearly forty years,
and has become so monstrous and all per-
ysding, that the grooming and much
suffering people have in sheer desperation
reused up and are striving TO burst it, by
setting on foot an inquiry "a TO the terrible
depression OF trade which existU, and in
the hope OF finding way oil escape from
the fearful incubus Of this prodigtous
bubble. :.
The name OF the bubble is shRm, forit
is called (Iucu bG non lueendO) Free
Trade" and the bubble itself is a greater
sham than its name.
Under cover Of the bubble, foreign
nations can serd in, duty free, their IN
ierior commodities, which they cannot
sell at home. In fact, poor John Bull,
who gets these livings at a very cheap
rate, thinks himself clever fellow. But
when he desires to sell his commodities to
the foreign nations, he finds their doors
locked, and no admittance without pay
ment OF heavy duties. Thus our exports
for eight months OF 1885 were el42,C6G,-
G57, with decrease Of value oil Gl4,398,-
SIS as compared with the returns for the
corresponding period Of 1884,
The imports for eight months ending
3lst August, 1885, were G253 3O7, 443, or
ELL lao, 7SG in ercesS Of our exports. This,
no doubt, is in tho light Of true Cohen
ito, a source OF exultation. To the un.
enlightened it appears to portend national
bankruptcy, but those behind the scenes
know that turn OF thekaleidoscopeand.a
properreterence to 1.-THE Balance OF Trade"
will make it all right again. Nown poll
tician, nor any statistiCian, has ever yet
been able TO define or explain Intelligent
" this mysterious balance OF Trade"
In former days, before the Golden bubble
had been inflated to It's present magni-
tude, real prosperity existed, while the
excess OF exports over imports was very
large indeed.
Where, then, at that time, was the
balance OF Trader" Why, being now
on the right side, it must then have been
on the wrong side. Yet prosperity reigned
then, and widespread adversely prevails
nOtG.
Free traders only look to quantity,
profits they do not regard. II you are
selling 900 tons Of iron, steel or coal at q
loss OF Is per ton, increase your output and
you will make profit. 20 teach the wise
ones Of the Golden. Club. suppose they
20 on the principle OF two negatives max
ing positive.
Tbs most amazing feature connected
with this bubble blowing is, that the blow
ers take to themselves the credit OF all
the great inventions and improvements
which have been achieved, whilst the in
flation OF tho bubble has been going for
ward. France and America have no Cob.
denite bubble, yet they have gone forward
pdrri pd1u with Great Britain, and they
attribute their great prosperity 10 their
fixed systems OF anti-bubble.
Has the Golden bubble increased the
tonnage OF steamers from 500 to Z, 900 tons i?
Has it brought prosperity to the back
bone Of England, its farming population ?
Has it raised railwayspced from 20 miles
per hour to so or 60?
Did it invent the Bessemer- Mushet pro-
cess for producing cheap steel, the Siemens
process, and the Snelus-Thomas process ?
Did it lay down submarine cables, and
carry electric telegraphy to its marvellous
extent and accuracy?
: Did it create the gold fields Of California
and Australia, which saved England from
bankruptcy, under the lethal baleful in
fluence Of Bright and Cobden's leap in
the dark?
Did it open the colleries TO their present
unparalleled extent, capable Of supplying
almost the whole world with p0lHer, for
coal is p0wer, and steam is its offspring?
Did it create the endless improvements
and inventions in art and sCience, which
have equally with those OF England pro-
greRsed in the anti.bubble nations?
On the other hand, has it not stripped
class after class OF the means OF living?
Has it not driven tens of thousands Of
It's choicest men into exile, leaving the
young children, the infirm and the aged,
10 the tender mercies Of the warehouses;,
miscalled unionsH
Has ii not brought down the price OF
wheat 10 an average OF sos. per quarter,
barley to 25s., oats to 20s., destroying the
agricultural interest, the mainstay OF the
nation, in order to cheaper the peoples
food?
Has it not placed England in a state Of
perilous dependence on foreign nations
Tor the peoples food, whilst her own good
land is fast going out Of cultivation, and
the masses OF the:people are driven to rot
and tester in the large towns?
Is there Cobdenite living who can
point out to me any real permanent coed
which Coblenism has ever effected for the
nation at large? Such Cobdenite would
far outshine the seven wise men OF Greece
rolled into one.
The Cobdenits element is not properly
Represented in the committee for an in
quiry rs to the present great distress.
Possibly Cobdsnites deem the inquiry
needless and beneath their notice, or per-
haps, like rats, they are deserving falling
house, and fear the collapse Of their be-
loved bubble. The sooner 1t bursts and
people get the soap suds out OF their eyes
the better.
Badharvests, said Mr.. Bright, caused bad
trade. Now after two good harvests trade
gets worse and worse. With what feel
ings Of exultation can the British farmer
regard his ripe waving crops Of grain at its
present prices. 1t is true he can fall back
upon his straw, and make straw bonnets
from ii, or he may go in for jam on large
scale, or he may emigrute il no has the
means. II not, the not very distant vista
OF the Union is before him, that monu.
ment Of political wisdom, and there he
can enjoy his otium cum dignii0tc. The
prospect is delightful to contemplate. His
fiscal policy fixing betters, having made
him d pauper, will generously permit him
food and shelter in the Housed
"Union Is strength" indeed, but this is
not the Parish Union.
Yours, &C., r. F. MUsHRr.
Cheiienham, Sept ~, 1885.