VI. Account of the Value of the various Articles of the Produce and Manufacture of the United Kingdom exported to Foreign Parts, according to the real or declared Value thereof, in the Years 1833, 1834, and 1835. There is a slight discrepancy between the numbers in this and the previous table. They were derived from different parliamentary papers, and these do not always agree. Causes of the Magnitude of British Commerce.-The immediate cause of the rapid increase and vast magnitude of the commerce of Great Britain is, doubtless, to be found in the extraordinary improvements, and consequent extension, of our manufactures since 1770. The cotton manufacture may be said to have grown up during the intervening period. It must also be borne in mind, that the effect of an improvement in the production of any article in considerable demand is not confined to that particular article, but extends itself to others. Those who produce it according to the old plan, are undersold unless they adop the same or similar improvements; and the improved article, by coming into competition with others for which it may be substituted, infuses new energy into their producers, and impels every one to put forth all his powers, that he may either preserve his old, or acquire new advantages. The cotton manufacture may be said to be the result of the stupendous inventions and discoveries of Hargraves, Arkwright, Crompton, and a few others; but we should greatly under-rate the importance of their inventions, if we supposed that their influence was limited to this single department. They imparted a powerful stimulus to every branch of industry. Their success, and that of Watt and Wedgwood, gave that confidence to genius so essential in all great undertakings. After machines had been invented for spinning and weaving cottons, whose fineness emulates the web of the gossamer, and steam-engines had been made "to engrave seals, and to lift a ship like a bauble in the air," every thing seemed possible nil arduum visum est. And the unceasing efforts of new aspirants to wealth and distinction, and the intimate connection of the various arts and sciences, have extended and perpetuated the impulse given by the invention of the spinning-frame and the steam-engine. The immense accumulation of capital that has taken place since the close of the American war has been at once a cause and a consequence of our increased trade and manufactures. Those who reflect on the advantages which an increase of capital confers on its possessors can have no difficulty in perceiving now it operates to extend trade. It enables them to buy cheaper, because they buy larger quantities of goods, and pay ready money; and, on the other hand, it gives them a decided superiority in foreign markets where capital is scarce, and credit an object of primary importance with the native dealers. To the manufacturer, an increase of capital is of equal importance, by giving him the means of constructing his works in the best manner, and of carrying on the business on such a scale as to admit of the most proper distribution of whatever has to be done among different individuals. These effects have been strikingly evinced in the commercial history of Great Britain during the last half century; and thus it is, that capital, originally accumulated by means of trade, gives, in its turn, nourishment, vigour, and enlarged growth to it. The improvement that has taken place in the mode of living during the last half century has been partly the effect, and partly the cause, of the improvement of manufactures, and the extension of commerce. Had we been contented with the same accommodations as our ancestors, exertion and ingenuity would long since have been at an end, and routine have usurped the place of invention. Happily, however, the desires of man vary with the circumstances under which he is placed, extending with every extension of the means of gratifying them, till, in highly civilised countries, they appear almost illimitable. This endless craving of the human mind, its inability to rest satisfied with previous acquisitions, combined with the constant increase of population, renders the demand for new inventions and discoveries as intense at one period as at another, and provides for the continued advancement of society. What is a luxury in one age, becomes a necessary in the next. The fact of Queen Eliza. beth having worn a pair of silk stockings was reckoned deserving of notice by contemporary historians; while, at present, no individual, in the rank of a gentleman, can go to dinner without them. The lower classes are continually pressing upon the middle; and these, again, upon the higher; so that invention is racked, as well to vary the modes of enjoyment, as to increase the amount of wealth. That this competition should be, in all respects, advantageous, is not to be supposed. Emulation in show, though the most powerful incentive to industry, may be carried to excess; and has certainly been ruinous to many individuals, obliged sometimes, perhaps, by their situation, or seduced by example, to incur expenses beyond their means. But the abuse, even when most extended, as it probably is in England, is, after all, confined within comparatively narrow limits; while the beneficial influence resulting from the general diffusion of a taste for improved accommodations adds to the science, industry, wealth, and enjoyments of the whole community. We are also inclined to think that the increase of taxation, during the late war, contributed to the improvement of manufactures, and the extension of trade. The gradually increasing pressure of the public burdens stimulated the industrious portion of the community to make corresponding efforts to preserve their place in society; and produced a spirit of invention and economy that we should have in vain attempted to excite by any less powerful means. Had taxation been very oppressive, it would not have had this effect; but it was not so high as to produce either dejection or despair, though it was, at the same time, sufficiently heavy to render a considerable increase of exertion and parsimony necessary, to prevent it from encroaching on the fortunes of individuals, or, at all events, from diminishing the rate at which they were previously accumulating. To the excitement afforded by the desire of rising in the world, the fear of falling superadded an additional and powerful stimulus; and the two together produced results that could not have been produced by the unassisted operation of either. We do not think that any evidence has been, or can be, produced to show, that the capital of the country would have been materially greater than it is, had the tranquillity of Europe been maintained uninterrupted from 1793 to the present moment. We do not state these circumstances in order to extenuate the evils of war, or of oppressive taxation; but merely to show the real influence of taxation on industry, when gradually augmented and kept within reasonable bounds. Under such circumstances, it has the same influence on a nation that an increase of his family, or of his unavoidable expense, has on a private individual. But after every fair allowance has been made for the influence of the causes above stated, and of others of a similar description, still it is abundantly certain that a liberal system of government, affording full scope for the expansion and cultivation of every mental and bodily power, and securing all the advantages of superior talent and address to their possessors, is the grand sine quá non of commercial and manufacturing prosperity. Where oppression and tyranny prevail, the inhabitants, though surrounded by all the means of civilisation and wealth, are invariably poor and miserable. In respect of soil, climate, and situation, Spain has a decided advantage over Great Britain; and yet, what a miserable contrast does the former present, when compared with the latter! The despotism and intolerance of ber rulers, and the want of good order and tranquillity, have extinguished every germ of improve. ment in the Peninsula, and sunk the inhabitants to the level of the Turks and Moors. Had a similar political system been established in England, we should have been equally depressed. Our superiority in science, arts, and arms, though promoted by subsidiary means, is, at bottom, the result of freedom and security-freedom to engage in every employment, and to pursue our own interest in our own way, coupled with an intimate conviction, derived from the nature of our institutions, and their opposition to every thing like arbitrary power, that acquisitions, when made, may be securely enjoyed or disposed of. These form the grand sources of our wealth and power. There have only been two countries,-Holland and the United States, which have, in these respects, been placed under nearly the same circumstances as England; and, notwithstanding they inhabit a morass, defended only by artificial mounds from being deluged by the ocean, the Dutch have long been, and still continue to be, the most prosperous and opulent people of the Continent; while the Americans, whose situation is more favourable, are advancing in the career of improvement with a rapidity hitherto unknown. In Great Britain we have been exempted, for a lengthened period, from foreign aggression and intestine commotion; the pernicious influence of the feudal system has long been at an end; the same equal burdens have been laid on all classes; we have enjoyed the advantage of liberal institutions, without any material alloy of popular licentiousness or violence; our intercourse with foreign nations, though subjected to many vexatious restraints, has been comparatively free; full scope has been given to the competition of the home producers; the highest offices have been open to deserving individuals; and, on the whole, the natural order of things has been less disturbed amongst us by artificial restraints than in most other countries. But without security, no degree of freedom would have been of material importance. Happily, however, every man has felt satisfied, not only of the temporary, but of the permanent tranquillity of the country, and of the stability of its institutions. The plans and combinations of capitalists have not been affected by misgivings as to what might take place in future. Monied fortunes have not been amassed in preference to others, because they might more easily be sent abroad in periods of confusion and disorder; but all individuals have unhesitatingly engaged, whenever an opportunity offered, in undertakings of which a remote posterity was alone to reap the benefit. No one can look at the immense sums expended upon the permanent improvement of the land, on docks, warehouses, canals, &c., or reflect for a moment on the settlements of property in the funds, and on the extent of our system of life insurance, without being deeply impressed with the vast importance of that confidence which the public have placed in the security of property, and the good faith of government. Had this confidence been imperfect, industry and invention would have been paralysed; and much of that capital which feeds and clothes the industrious classes would never have existed. The preservation of this security entire, both in fact and in opinion, is essential to the public welfare. If it be anywise impaired, the colossal fabric of our prosperity will crumble into dust; and the commerce of London, Liverpool, and Glasgow, like that of Tyre, Carthage, and Palmyra, will, at no very remote period, be famous only in history.-(From the Treatise on Commerce, contributed by the author of this work to the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.) (I. Table exhibiting the different Countries to which Articles of the Produce or Manufacture of the United Kingdom have been exported during the Six Years ending with 1835, arranged in the Order of the Magnitude of the Exports to them; and specifying the average annual Amount of the Exports to each during the said Six Years, and the Portion of such Exports destined for each, supposing the whole Exports to be 1,000. II. Account of the Quantities of the Principal articles of Foreign and Colonial Merchandise imported into, exported from, and retained for Consumption in the United Kingdom, with the Nett Revenue accruing thereon, during the Years ending the 5th January, 1837, and 1838. West India -cwts. 3,600,517 3,305,238 278,098 448,382 720,997 912,267 Refined. 248,644 Tallow 1,186,364 1,314,649 Tea 227,807 3,488,399 3,954,810 4,184,165 4,760,365 18,709 52,375 1,314,085 1,289,514 207,799 203,977 49,306,701 36,973,981 4,269,863 4,716,248 49,142,236 30,625,206 4,674,535 3,223,840 Ibs. Timber, viz. Battens and batten ends. Deal and deal ends 69,318 72,832 Masts, 6 and under 8 ins. in dia. 15,677 14,451 152,596 133.806 68,300 66,651 647,581 580,570 Oak planks 3,046 1.968 . 6 2,871 Staves Fir, 8 inches square and up wards III. An account of the Official Value of the Imports into and Exports from the United Kingdom, from and to all Countries, for the Year ending 5th January, 1835, with the Declared or Real Values of the Exports for the Years ended 5th January, 1835, and 1836, distinguishing each Country, and British and Colonial and Foreign Produce. IV. Account specifying the different Articles, and the Real or Declared Value of each, of the Produce and Manufacture of the United Kingdom, exported to Foreign Parts during each of the Three Years ending with 1837. |