Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-08-17

frequent conflicts took place and much
blood was shed, the object was not at
tanned, and the contraband trade contin-
ued to flourish till %extirpated by the more
gentle and more effective process of fiscal
reform"
80. In 1924 foreign wheat was totally
prohibited from entering the united king
dom until the average price throughout
the country had reached 70s. per quarter.
When the price exceeded that figure i'm
portation was allowed at a high duty.
decreasing to 5s. I'd. per quarter when
the current price reached SOS. per quar-
ter. This corr law, which was enacted
in 1922, under Lord %Liverpool's admins
tration, was bad enough, since it gave
the landlords a monopoly of the wheat
trade up to 70s. per quarter, and afford
ed no effectual relief till the price reached
Sos. 1t was, however, rather less string
ent than that which preceded it, for that
totally prohibited the importation of for
eign wheat until the current price in Eng
land had reached SOS. per quarter. That
price for wheat meant something like Is.
i'd. per quartern Loaf
"This earlier corn law had been passed
in 1915, and no wonder that at the time
of its being enacted popular indignation
was excited to its utmost. Riotous as
semblages had to be dispersed by armed
force, and the House of Commons itself
had to be protected bv the soldiery, when
the third reading of the bill was voted by
a large majority. This harsh measure.
which took from the nation to give to a
class soon produced its inevitable re-
suits. = =
'3. Under the navigation act in force
at the period from which we start. viz.
in 1921, foreign commodities could only
be imported in British ships, or in ships
of the country from which the goods
were exported, or of which the goods
were the produce, and the colonial trade
was entirely confined to the medium of
British ships. Stringently as these laws
operated in favor of the British ship
o"hcl, thoy "clc HlIu Ill comparison
with the navigation laws as they existed
previous to 1915. Then the restriction
extended to exports. No British goods
could be exported except in British ships.
Naturally enough, foreign nations retail
ated, and the loss and annoyance to all
parties were in%calculable. Thus British
ships conveyed our manufactures to
America, and had to return in ballast,
while American ships conveyed cotton to
Liverpool. and had also to return empty.
Could absurdity and wastefulness 90 far
Their? Two sets of ships were employed
to perform II voyage, However, in
1915, by a convention with the United
States. those disabilities were removed
on both sides, and gradually similar ar
rangements were made with other coun.
tries.
But in every other respect the old nav.
igation laws were upheld in all their eX-
clusiveness, and were in 1924 regarded by
the majority of the people as the palladi.
UNI of u maritime supremacy.
"Such, then, was the position in 1924 OF
our fiscal ordinances in regard to oul
commercial intercourse with other ma,
tons. 1t will be observed that there wa:
not a single avenue through which the
produce of foreign labor could obtain
admittance into this country without the
payment Of a heavy toll. Every device
was resorted to in order to induce the
foreigner to buy of us, and to prevent u,
from buying of him. This was called
maintaining the balance of trade in oul
favor But England was by no mean.
the only country that pursued that delu
sive phantom, 'the balance of trade.
All other countries used the same mean:
for obtaining the same end. All soughr
to sell much and to buy little-to accom-
plish, in fact, a sheer impossibility. i
would have been just as reasonable tC
suppose that the distance from point A Il
point b being ten miles, it might only be
six miles from point b to point \; thus
giving a balance of distance of foul
miles in favor of b.
"The process of curtailing purchases
from abroad was easy enough, and it wa,
adopted by all nations alike. 1t consist
ed simply in prohibiting or checking by
heavy duties the admission of foreign
goods. But how, at the same time, t
prevent that very process from curtailin.
sales to the foreigrer-that was the insol
uble problem which grave Statesmen
vainly set themselves to solve. Each ma
ton hoped that this imaginary balance
of trade would be paid to it in gold
Everybody fondly and foolishly LOOKED
to receive an annual tribute of bullion
from everybody else. OF course, thi
dream was never realized, and neve
could be. These modern Tantali hell
forth their bowls to receive the goldel
showers, but the bowls never reacheI
their lips otherwise than empty. Tn
only practical issue of the successful en-