40 BRITAIN FOR THE BRITON 



there was, it is contended, perhaps as much need for reform in 

 the fiscal administration of the country as there is to-day ; few 

 of ns, therefore, would care to carp and cavil at honest attempts 

 to relieve a strained position ; but as the Lest and surest way 

 to arrive at the true value of a thing is to measure it by the 

 amount of success it yields, let us test what our forefathers did 

 for the country by this standard. 



The Failure of Cobden's Scheme 



To prove the utter and complete failure of the scheme 

 thrust upon us over half a century ago, we should calmly view 

 the position from all points, without prejudice and without 

 political bias, because if wc attempt to adjudicate on this 

 momentous question with a mind tainted by the faintest tinge of 

 partisanship we shall surely fail. 



There is no need for elaborate statistical tables or reference 

 to official documents to prove our case here, for the facts are 

 patent to all ; and these facts, unpalatable though they must 

 be to those who uphold in its entirety our present fiscal system, 

 declare the utter worthlessness of a policy which was going to 

 give the people of this country full work and general prosperity, 

 good times all round, and employment for everybody. 



As a matter of fact, the scheme was so badly devised, so 

 unsuited to the fiscal policy of Europe, and therefore quite 

 impracticable, and altogether so unhealthy, that it carried with 

 it, from the period of its inception, the germs of its own 

 destruction. How could any scheme of the kind succeed that 

 aimed at the destruction of a Gkeat National Industry, an 

 industry which is as essential to the people's existence as water 

 is to the thirsty soil ? But experiments docet. 



There is, it is pointed out, ample evidence on every side 

 that there is not work enough for the people ; that distress and 

 poverty abound, and that the standard of living among a large 

 section of the working-classes is far too low ; far below what it 

 need be— a standard of living with not a ray of hope or comfort 

 in it, and of so mean a nature as to be a positive injustice. 



In every trade, profession, and industry the supply of labour 

 ahvays largely exceeds the demand, and this means general 

 precarioiisness of employment, a low wage standard, and certainly 

 a case of No Work for many. 



Increased Cost of Living 



Owing to the increased cost of living, the uncertainty of 

 employment, and the domestic necessity of " making both ends 



