On this page

• Text (1)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    Untitled Article

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Untitled Article

    44 The Swiss Confederation shall irrevocably adhere to its establitflied system of free trade and manufacture . ** Hi Under rib cimnnstances , and no conditions , shall it form a part d £ H * & f ifeneh custom-house system , of the Prussian Commercial Lttagiie , or the oustona-house line of any foreign nation . * w > ? > " JIL It shall use every effort for the establishment and extension of th f principles of free trade . ' ? ? # # # * #

    ¦ " VII * In the interior of Switzerland it shall make every exertion to assist industry * and to remove impediments to intercourse , taking care , however , that it do not interfere with the personal concerns of merchahts or manufacturers . "—See Report , p . 10 .

    We feel , after reading such resolutions as these , th ^ t the committee show no more than a just appreciation of what isdtie totfceir country when they add , — c To the honour of Switzerland it will be , that she gave a hagb examplt of wisdom in the adoption , and of perseverance in the support * of a liberal commercial policy /'—See Report \ p . 10 .

    By what right are the laws , when assumed to be made fb frthe manV ; rendered mischievous in other countries ? By what rfght do feratteittien set a limit to the wages of the labourer ' s industry by-ibfblddrng the interchange of his productions with the lab 6 rirkiV 6 f other countries ? Is the very sweat of a poor nuUi ' fcPbrbvv tt > be subject to an embargo , and his family put cm a dhorfe altdwance of comforts , in proportion to the

    shortsigbtedh £ s , 3 6 f niggardly or selfish theorists ? Can our clumsy diplinVattlsts and political economists be surprised at the populat fletti ^ nd of Universal Suffrage , in order that industry may qiricWy •'¦ jgel something more than elbow-room f 6 r it ^ fa stincrteiiing ' mechahical strength , and general knowledge ?

    It is most important , in tracing the influence of any system of | i ( Jlicy , ' ' dn the well-being of a nation ^ to investrga ^^ the condition of its labouring population . Dr Bowring ' s des ^ riptioif \ s highly favourable : —

    u For the last twenty years the small natural resources , the labour , and tne capital of Switzerland , have been left to their spontaneous , urirestf&id&t , iinfbrced development . I doubt whether any country has riiMe th&sitiit dbmparativc progress in prosperity ; I certainly arn acquainted iritfrfeofog ' in which that prosperity has descended so low , lind spread so widely ^ 'As among the laborious classes in the Swiss manufkoturin ^ diatrictd . / ' I was surprised to find what large proportions of them had , by their < mvin £ s ^ aoq&ired lauded property ; how mauy of them dwelt in houfi ^ jiM ^^ ulMvated folds aaid ^ arcbo ^ whiclx the ^ ir tobov ^ hfwi m&d # their jOWft . J ^ ,, t , ^ e mountaioa of the J ^ r * a ^ 4 Appe ^ z ^ U , alopg- % h * borders of the lakes of ? urich and Constancy , e *^ eriy wt \ ere , indee 4 i wnare the operatLvea are settled , I found \ it thieir habitations a mass of enioyiDfiitB . such aa are possessed by few , of similar station m other < JJmz * l- 'WPii& , ori , > : & ¦ fTn ¦¦•¦• • - ^

    Untitled Article

    7 Sft > Commercial Freedom .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1836, page 736, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2664/page/20/