FISCAL POLICY AND AGRICULTURE 367 



the bulk of a class from their employment, it seems 

 ludicrous to hold up any slight improvement in the 

 condition of the remnant which still remains on the 

 land as a proof of the success of that policy. But set- 

 ting aside the argument of the party politician, there 

 is a vital view of the question which all thoughtful 

 and patriotic men might be fairly asked to consider. 

 Admit, for the sake of argument, all the advantages 

 claimed for the policy of 1846, add to them, multiply 

 them manyfold, and then consider whether or not 

 these advantages are a sufficient set-off against the 

 great national calamity involved in the destruction of 

 a class of the community which is generally admitted 

 to be the stay and strength of a nation. 



The only sound way of dealing with the question is 

 to trace the condition of the men during the years 

 which followed the legislation of 1846 up to, say, 

 1897 — the date of the final report of the Royal Com- 

 mission on Agriculture. A period of fifty years is 

 surely long enough to show the effect of a policy on a 

 class of men whose position — for good or evil — was 

 necessarily affected by that policy 



Following this course, comparing like with like — 

 comparing the condition of labourers who had employ- 

 ment before the day of free imports with the condition 

 of those with employment during fifty years afterwards, 

 it will be found that the former were much better off, 

 or, to put it more aptly, many degrees less miserable 

 than the latter. 



Cobden himself, writing to Mn Ash worth nine years 

 after the repeal of the Corn Laws, says *Mt is sad to 

 see the bewilderment of the poor people about the 

 price of bread " (bread had gone up instead of down), 

 ** but we ought to be tolerant with them, seeing how 



