>> I've assumed, without the Great Britian matter being within my realm of particular knowledge, that you've reported accurately <<
great britain ushered in free trade with the repeal of the corn laws in 1846. by 1870 britain wasn't even capable of feeding itself.
here:
The Campaign for the Repeal of the Corn Laws
dspace.dial.pipex.com
The protectionists - men who wanted to retain the Corn Laws - were galled by Peel's change of mind and his "treason" to the party. They felt that he had abandoned the Conservatives and should therefore resign his leadership - or at least call an election. Farmers, especially tenants, were determined to use the franchise to defend protectionism. They formed the Anti-League in 1844, led by the Dukes of Buckingham and Richmond. These men had left the Whigs and joined the Conservatives because they suspected Whig policy on the Corn Laws: this was partly responsible for the 1841 Conservative victory. Agricultural MPs were afraid of upsetting their constituents.
On 15 May 1846 the repeal of the Corn Laws was passed by a combination of Conservatives, Whigs and free traders. Only 112 Conservatives voted for it; 241 voted against it. The Bill's passage through the House of Lords probably demonstrates the military discipline which the Duke of Wellington enforced on that House for its own good.
The Campaign for the Repeal of the Corn Laws
victorianweb.org
"The repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 whereby restrictive tariffs were removed from British agriculture and the price of bread reduced, was the result of a long and widespread agitation fostered by Anti-Corn Law leagues in all parts of the country. The repeal was marked by the sale of innumerable emblems, among them crude statuettes of the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel as well as commemorative china inscribed with words of thanksgiving." --Nicolas Bentley, The Victorian Scene: A Picture Book of the Period, 1837-1901. London: Spring Books, 1971.
Past Notes: The Anti-Corn Law League
Part I: The Anti-Corn Law League Timeline
britishhistory.about.com
The Anti-Corn Law League was a group started by Richard Cobden and John Bright, two factory owners and advocates of free trade who would later become Members of Parliament. The Corn Laws had been introduced in 1815 to prevent the import of cheap foreign corn and keep domestic prices high. This resulted in higher bread prices and much distress. The Anti-Corn Law League held many meetings and achieved much popular support. They were able to use this support to get some of their members elected as MPs to lobby the government from inside Parliament. Circumstances also ran in their favour with events such as the Irish Potato Famine putting increasing pressure on the government to reconsider their position. In 1846, the Corn Laws were repealed, and the Anti-Corn Law League was hailed as a success, although it was not without its casualties. The struggle was bitter, the Conservative Party was split, and Robert Peel was forced to resign, while the repeal did little to either save the Irish or lower corn prices.
Manchester School
("Classical Liberals")
cepa.newschool.edu
The "Manchester School" was the term British politician Benjamin Disraeli used to refer to the 19th Century free trade movement in Great Britain. The movement had its roots in the Anti-Corn Law League (ACLL) of Richard Cobden and John Bright, headquartered in Newall's Buildings in Manchester, UK.
The British Corn Laws had been strengthened in 1815 to prohibit the importation of corn (i.e. wheat) until the home price became eighty shillings a quarter. More flexible Corn Laws were instituted in 1828 with a sliding scale of import duties rather than outright prohibition. Although beneficial to landlords, the Corn Laws were detrimental to the populations in the cities, faced with higher food costs, and, consequently, industrial manufacturers, faced with higher wage bills and restricted foreign trade possibilities. The ACLL was thus set up in 1836 by Cobden and Bright and, by 1846, had successfully had them repealed by Parliament.
Since then, the general term "Manchester School" has been used to refer to radical liberalism/libertarianism in economic policy: laissez-faire, free trade, government withdrawal from the economy, and an optimistic stress on the "harmonious" effects of free enterprise capitalism. As a result, the school's nature is largely "political" rather than purely "economic". Its arguments are not necessarily couched in any particular economic theory |
