A BRIEF EXAMINATION OF FllEE-TRADE PRINCIPLES 30 



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must preserve that at all risks, and at any cost. Self-xtreserva- 

 tion in the first laio of ■nature, and any sacrifice must be made 

 that this law may be fulfilled. 



Appeal to a man's pocket, and you are sure to get quick 

 results of some sort. Tell a man he is a fool to waste his time 

 over growing turnips when he can make twice the money in 

 spinning cotton, and he will probably believe you. 



Love of Gain the Chief Aim of Life 



Gain of some sort, whether it be the gain of notoriety, 

 praise, fame, or money — chiefly the latter — forms the pivot of 

 life, and upon it most of life's affairs turn. It calls into exist- 

 ence much huniiin effort, and converts latent potentialities into 

 an active living force. 



It bridges the ocean with ships, re-peoples waste continents, 

 girdles the earth with electric bands, and is the parent of most 

 industrial enterprise. 



Taken all round, the lust, or passion, or whatever part of 

 our nature this very common and yet perfectly natural sense of 

 acquisition is allied to, indubitably exercises the most powerful 

 influence over human life ; and when the manufacturer-reformers 

 of the early Victorian era appealed to this sense, with the per- 

 fervid zeal born of the misfortunes of a people, and of their own 

 interests, they were sure of ready listeners and eager followers. 



In the bad times, covered by the period between the close of 

 the Peninsular War and up to, and after, the repeal of the Corn 

 Laws, reformers found splendid soil to work on. Times were 

 bad, bread was dear, the country was full of poverty and dis- 

 content ; and when Cobden, Bright, and theii' zealous colleagues 

 and followers put before the country their scheme which pro- 

 mised cheaper bread, higher wages, and better times all round, 

 the people naturally enough went over to them. 



Gain was the bait here as it is all through life, and who 

 shall blame the people if they swallowed it ? 



Work was hard to get, destitution was the common lot of 

 many, distress was widespread, and, if under such conditions 

 you can show a hungry man how to better his worldly state, he 

 is not likely to hesitate long. 



Starving Men not Fastidious 



The unemployment and destitution of a large portion of the 

 masses to-day furnish an excellent parallel. Point out to 

 these starving ones, who are neither employed by manufactures 



