If to 
 
9 
 
 * 
 
 
MANCHESTER STATISTICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 The Economic Conditions of Good Trade . 
 
 By William Hoyle. 
 
 {Read May 12th, 1880.] 
 
 Economic Science Is the science which has to do with the 
 development of wealth. It is not only a deeply interesting but a 
 highly useful science. As the student of nature will know, 
 throughout all creation there is the universal reign of law, and 
 it is the aim of the student to investigate the laws which govern 
 the operations of nature, so as to secure to the fullest extent the 
 benefits arising therefrom; and though economic science does not 
 come so fully within the domain of what are called the natural 
 sciences, having more to do with the actions of society, yet it is as 
 certainly governed by laws as they are, and the aim of the student 
 should be to investigate the laws which govern society in its 
 relations to the development of wealth, so as to secure to the full 
 the benefit of those laws. 
 
 I have said that economic science is the science which has to do 
 with the development of wealth. 
 
 By wealth I understand those articles or materials which satisfy, 
 or are thought to satisfy, human wants or desires, but which 
 can only be obtained by labour, or by money, which represents 
 labour. 
 
MR. WILLIAM HOYLE 
 
 Economic science expounds the conditions or arrangements which 
 must exist in society in order to insure the greatest development 
 or production of wealth. 
 
 If time permitted I might refer at length to the marvellous 
 progress which, during the last century or so, has been made in 
 the power of production. The discoveries of science, the inven¬ 
 tion of machinery, the organisation of labour, and the perfecting 
 the commercial arrangements of the nation, have all contributed 
 to this. 
 
 Going back 200 years in the nation’s history we are landed in 
 times when the steam engine was unknown, and when machinery, 
 except of the rudest kind, had not come into use. At that time the 
 motive power which impelled such machinery as did exist was either 
 the gin worked by manual labour, or by brute force, or it was manual 
 labour, or brute force, unaided by the gin. Here and there a fall 
 of water was utilised to develope power,, or perhaps a windmill 
 was erected, but the main producing power of the country was the 
 labour of animals or man. 
 
 The invention of the steam engine by Savery and Newcomen, 
 and its further development by Watt, introduced a complete 
 revolution in regard to motive power; and being followed by the 
 invention of the mule, the jenny, the water-frame, the loom, and 
 mechanical appliances of all kinds, and adapted to all manner of 
 trades, it augmented the power of producing wealth to an extent 
 almost exceeding the dreams of avarice. 
 
 And yet, notwithstanding all these inventions, if we examine 
 the growth of our trade during the earlier decades of the present 
 century, we shall see that but little progress was made; indeed, 
 our foreign trade decreased, for whilst our total exports for the 
 ten years ending 1809 were £398,412,224 in value, for the ten 
 years ending 1829 they only amounted to £364,158,419, being a 
 falling off of over £34,000,000. 
 
 An inquiry as to the regulations affecting trade and commerce 
 during the period here referred to, will supply the explanation for 
 
 \^ot 
 
 \A^5 
 
ON THE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OE GOOD TRADE. 
 
 93 
 
 the chronic condition in which our trade remained so long; for 
 almost, if not entirely, every article was heavily taxed, protection 
 was rampant, especially after 1815, and the other grievous restric¬ 
 tions which encumbered our commerce still further aggravated 
 the paralysis which existed in trade. 
 
 The entrance of Huskisson, Poulett Thompson, and others, into 
 the political arena, which occurred about the year 1823, was the 
 beginning of a sounder public teaching in regard to commercial 
 matters. Huskisson and his friends had mastered the principles 
 laid down in the great work of Adam Smith—“ The Wealth of 
 Nations”—and they had in the main accepted the free trade 
 doctrines which are there inculcated; but the country was ignorant, 
 and the ruling classes, who were largely landowners, believed that 
 their interests were bound up in the maintenance of protection 
 and of heavy tariffs, and hence any real reform was impossible. 
 Some slight changes, however, were made in 1825 and 1826, which 
 were followed by still greater changes in 1832 and 1833, when the 
 Reform Ministry came into power; but though the reforms 
 secured were comparatively trifling they were a beginning, and the 
 benefits resulting from them paved the way for greater reforms in 
 the future. 
 
 The formation of the Anti-Corn-Law League in 1838, backed up, 
 as it was, by the economic teachings of its illustrious leaders, 
 Messrs. Cobden, Bright, and others, was the one great event which, 
 more than anything else, and probably more than all other things 
 combined, led to the acceptance by the nation of sounder views 
 in regard to trade and commerce. Messrs. Cobden and Bright 
 belonged to the Liberal party, but fortunately at that time the 
 leader of the Conservative party, Sir Robert Peel, who from 1841 
 to 1846 was head of Her Majesty’s Government, was a man 
 pre-eminently enlightened as an economist and fiscal reformer. 
 Sir Robert Peel promoted large reductions in our tariff, and in 
 1846 he adopted Free Trade. This was the beginning of an era 
 of trade expansion such as the world had never before seen. 
 
94 
 
 MR. WILLIAM HOYLE 
 
 In order more fully to illustrate the development which ha, 
 i on place in our trade I have added up the totals of our 
 exports for the ten years ending 1879, and for each of the 
 previous ten years during the present centuiy. The fibres 
 are as follows :— ° 
 
 ™ C ’ hoWimJ the Ex V°« T '”de of ^ United Kingdom for each Ten Tears of 
 the Present Century. 
 
 Ten years ending £ 
 
 1309 . 398,412,224 
 
 1819 . 428,979,769 
 
 1829 . 364,158,419 
 
 1339 . 439,307,837 
 
 1849 . 554,470,620 
 
 1859 ... . 1000,613,393 
 
 1369 . 1597,596,701 
 
 1879 . 2180,283,873 
 
 £ 
 
 Increase 30,567,545 
 Decrease 64,821,350 
 Increase 75,149,418 
 „ 115,162,713 
 
 „ 446,142,783 
 
 „ 596,983,308 
 
 „ 526,817,172 
 
 These returns fully confirm the remarks I made touching the 
 influence of Protection upon our trade, and they show that in 
 proportion as the shackles of Protection were removed it increased 
 in its development, and when Free Trade in its entirety was 
 adopted, it grew in volume to an extent wholly unparalleled. 
 
 There is another fact which it will be interesting to know, 
 aud which in a review of British commerce ought not to be over¬ 
 looked. It is this —that during the whole of the present century, 
 prior to the year 1873, the export trade of the United Kingdom 
 never declined in value for more than two years together, 
 and very rarely for more than one; but since then it has not 
 ceased to droop, and last year was the seventh year of this 
 continued declension, though, as I have already said, prior to this 
 period trade had never fallen more than a couple of years 
 consecutively during the whole of the present century. 
 
 Comparing the second half of the past ten years with the first, 
 
 I find that the reduction has been somewhat considerable. In 
 order to show this I givo the figures for each year:— 
 
ON THE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OP GOOD TRADE. 
 
 95 
 
 Table shotting the Value of the Exports of the United Kingdom, for each year of 
 
 
 the Five Years 
 
 ending 187If. and 1879 . 
 
 
 
 £ 
 
 
 £ 
 
 1870 .... 
 
 . 199,586,822 
 
 1875 . 
 
 ... 223,465,963 
 
 1S71 ..... 
 
 . 223,066,162 
 
 . 1876 . 
 
 
 1872 ... 
 
 . 256,257,347 
 
 1877 . 
 
 ... 198,893,065 
 
 1873 .... 
 
 . 255,164,603 
 
 . 1878 . 
 
 ... 192,848,914 
 
 1874 .... 
 
 . 239,558,121 
 
 . 1879 . 
 
 ... 191,503,672 
 
 
 £1173,638,065 
 
 
 £1007,350,818 
 
 Showing a falling off during the latter period of five years as com¬ 
 pared with the former of £166,282,237, or 14*6 per cent. 
 
 Time will not permit me to refer to the many influences which 
 have been at work producing this change; and the object of my 
 paper is not so much to explain the trade of any particular period 
 as to endeavour to elucidate the laws affecting trade at all periods. 
 If I succeed in throwing light upon this it will remain for each 
 individual to apply the principles which may be established to the 
 circumstances of the past few years, or any other period, and thus 
 form his own conclusion as to the causes which have operated 
 to produce the depression from which the country has suffered. 
 
 I have already referred to the marvellous increase in the pro¬ 
 ductive power of the community resulting from the invention of the 
 steam engine, <fcc. So great has this been the case that a given 
 number of men, aided by machinery, and with a skilful division of 
 labour, will produce as much, or more, than ten times the number 
 oould do before these appliances were at command, and in propor¬ 
 tion as invention and science progress this productive power will 
 continue to increase. 
 
 Possibly the question may arise in some minds, are we not 
 getting towards a point in our producing power when, in conse¬ 
 quence of our great production, the world -will be glutted with 
 goods, and when, owing to the excess of commodities which this 
 augmented production will cause, the demand for them will fall 
 off, and as a consequence there will be distress and want 1 
 
96 
 
 MR. 'WILLIAM HOYLE 
 
 A few moments’ consideration will show how utterly impossible 
 this is, for it will be self-evident that if the world be glutted with 
 goods there cannot in such a case be distress and want. To talk of 
 an excess of goods as the cause of want is as unreasonable as to say 
 that darkness is caused by there being too much light. True, 
 there may be glut in one place and want in another, but that 
 arises from the violation of some economic law affecting either the 
 production, distribution, or consumption of wealth, and what in 
 such a case should be done is to find out where this violation of 
 law is being perpetrated, and correct it. There will then be plenty 
 for all, and no glut anywhere. 
 
 A universal glut is an impossibility, for the simple reason that 
 when people everywhere become possessed of the comforts of life 
 in such abundance as that all their desires are met they will cease 
 to produce. People toil, not for the love of toil, but for its pro¬ 
 ceeds—that is, to supply their wants—and this being done, the 
 motive to labour is gone. They will then cease to labour, and over¬ 
 production will be immediately checked. 
 
 And there is another point which must not be overlooked in con¬ 
 sidering the question of glut. It is this : the wants of a community 
 invariably increase in proportion as the means of supply grow. We 
 see this daily; for if a man by attention to business makes money, 
 or if he be a workman and gets a fair advance of wages, he at once 
 adds to his comforts. Perhaps he goes into a larger and better 
 house. He then wants more furniture, more books, and more of 
 everything ) and thus he goes on, the limit of his demand being 
 only bound by the extent of his supply. 
 
 As is the case individually, so it is nationally—the limit of what 
 society generally is prepared to utilise for its enjoyments and 
 wants is only bounded by the limit of its power to produce; and 
 therefore the discoveries in science, and the inventions of machinery 
 which have done so much to augment our producing power, instead 
 of causing a glut in the markets of the world, and thereby involving 
 stagnation in trade, have but multiplied our comforts, stimulated 
 
01? THE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF GOOD TRADE. 
 
 97 
 
 our industries, and so increased the material, social, and domestic 
 happiness and well-being of the people. 
 
 Neither will this increased power of production injure trade—it 
 will help it; for trade being the interchange of the commodities 
 which one person or nation produces for those which are produced 
 by others, it will be evident that the extent of trade must be 
 proportioned to the increase of production; and therefore, if 
 people produce little they will have little wherewith to trade; on 
 the other hand, if they produce much their means of interchange 
 will be great accordingly. 
 
 There is one other thought I wish to refer to before passing 
 immediately to the main topic of my paper. It is this : if by the aid 
 of machinery, <fcc., people can produce, say, ten times as much as 
 they could 150 or 200 years ago, the risk of poverty and want 
 ought to be proportionately lessened—indeed, the risk ought 
 virtually to be annihilated ; for if in former times people could 
 subsist in any degree of comfort whatever, when they possessed only 
 one-tenth of the producing power they now have, they ought now 
 not only to be beyond the reach of want, but to be rolling in 
 abundance and comfort; and so they would be, did they observe the 
 Economic conditions which are needed to insure sound and prosperous 
 trade. 
 
 As briefly as I can, then, I will proceed to refer to these 
 conditions; and in order better to elucidate the subject I will classify 
 i't under four heads or departments. 
 
 I.—The Governmental Department of Trade. 
 
 II.—The Producing Department of Trade. 
 
 III. —The Distributing Department of Trade. 
 
 IV. —The Spending or Consuming Department of Trade. 
 
 I.—THE GOVERNMENTAL DEPARTMENT. 
 
 One of the primary conditions needed to secure good trade is 
 that of good government. Governments help or injure trade in 
 
98 
 
 MR. WILLIAM HOTLEJ 
 
 many ways. I cannot, in the time at my command—even if I 
 were able—allude to all the duties of government that influence 
 trade, but I will refer to a few. 
 
 1. Government ought to insure to persons who, by their own 
 skill and industry, produce valuable inventions such protection 
 as will insure to them the reward of their skill and toil, and this 
 ought to be done without these persons being obliged to pay so 
 heavily to secure it. Such payments are taxes upon genius and 
 industry, and they are especially unjust to persons who are poor, 
 because they make it impossible for such individuals to obtain the 
 reward of their own skill and industry. Our patent laws ought 
 therefore to be revised so as to correct these evils, and enable 
 inventors for the smallest fee, and with as little trouble as possible, 
 to secure the. benefit of their labours. 
 
 2. Government should see to it that the laws affecting trade and 
 commerce are as effective as possible; and also that they cost as 
 little as possible in their administration. The laws of the country 
 should be so framed as to make it easy for traders to recover 
 debts, and also to protect themselves from the frauds of persons 
 who are unscrupulous and dishonest. All needless cost and 
 insecurity in these matters are so many weights that repress and 
 damage our trade and industry. 
 
 3. It is the duty of a Government to arrange matters, so that 
 all the resources of the country shall be placed upon a footing 
 that will give to every citizen the fullest facility to make use of 
 them. The position of our land laws is a ease in point, and the 
 obstacles which exist to the acquisition and cultivation of land 
 ought to be removed, so that the population may have opportunity 
 to invest their money, or apply their labour to developing the 
 resources of the soil. At the present time most of the laud in this 
 country is virtually locked up, and, according to Mr.. Caird, the 
 total annual output from the soil is only £260,000,000 in value, 
 hut if the obstacles to improved agriculture were removed, and the 
 land was fairly cultivated, the output, according to Mr. Mechi, would 
 
ON THE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF GOOD TRADE. 
 
 99 
 
 reach £588,000,000 in value, or more than double what it now is ! 
 Such an improvement would largely augment the nation’s wealth. It 
 would create a great demand for additional labour; it would enable 
 the country to supply itself with food instead of having to purchase 
 such large quantities from other countries; and the money thus 
 expended at home, and the wealth thus created, would correspond¬ 
 ingly increase our trade and promote our industries. 
 
 4. A Government ought to impose as few taxes upon its subjects 
 as possible, and it ought also to arrange the incidence of taxation 
 in such a manner as that it will fall as evenly as possible upon all 
 classes in the State in proportion to their means. A Government 
 should also, as far as possible, avoid taxing the necessities, the 
 energies, and the virtues of its people. All taxes which are levied 
 upon a people are so many draws upon the nation’s wealth, and 
 they reduce by that amount the spending power of the people, and 
 consequently their ability to help trade; and if, in addition, the 
 taxes are levied in a manner that operates as a fine upon the 
 energies, thrift, and virtue of the people, they become doubly 
 hurtful to trade, besides being at the same time detrimental to their 
 moral stamina. 
 
 5. The Government of a country should conduct the affairs of 
 the nation in as stable and peaceful a manner as is consistent with 
 the honour and interests of the country it rules. When a Govern¬ 
 ment is unstable, or when it is given to be meddling in other 
 people’s matters, it causes uncertainty and distrust, and it increases 
 risk. These lead to a falling off in trade, and probably, fi 
 continued, will end in driving it to other and more settled countries 
 or districts. 
 
 6. The Government of a country should use its best efforts to 
 secure from other nations such commercial arrangements as will 
 tend to the development of the trade of both countries. To this 
 end it will urge the reduction or abolition of tariffs, and the 
 abolition of all other restrictions that obstruct the carrying on of 
 trade. If more of the time* which Government spends in foreign 
 
100 
 
 MR. WILLIAM HOYLE 
 
 matters were devoted to the interests of trade and commerce, and 
 less of it to armaments and wars, it would greatly benefit trade, 
 and in other ways it would be an inestimable blessing to the world 
 at large. 
 
 7. A Government should also labour to promote the education 
 of its people, because an educated population will be much more 
 efficient in performing the duties of citizens, both in regard to 
 trade and other matters, than an ignorant one. To this end schools 
 should not only be established where the elementary branches of 
 general knowledge are taught, but there ought also to be schools 
 established for the promotion of technical knowledge, so as to 
 enable workmen to study those branches of knowledge bearing upon 
 their special trades. Men so trained would do more and better 
 work than if they were ignorant, and so all would tend to the 
 improvement of trade. 
 
 8. A good Government will seek to encourage all agencies 
 calculated to promote the virtue, industry, and thrift of its 
 inhabitants, for a steady and industrious people will not only 
 turn out more work but they will do it better, and so the nation’s 
 wealth will be augmented, and its trade and commerce stimulated. 
 On the other hand, agencies which demoralise the workman will 
 not only reduce the output of work but will deteriorate its quality, 
 and thereby do material injury to the industry of the country. 
 
 9. A good Government will avoid any needless drafting of its 
 population into the army or navy, or the militia, or into any other 
 post which calls them away from the pursuits of industry. Men 
 who are called to serve in the army are always in the prime of 
 life, when they are best fitted for the duties of the workshop, and 
 thus society is not only taxed to maintain them but it loses the 
 benefit of their labour at a time when it is most productive. 
 At the present time, in the armies of Europe, there are over 
 3,500,000 soldiers, and the cost of European armaments, coupled 
 with the interest of their National Debts, is over XSOOjOOOjOOO 1 
 yearly, and if to this we add the loss of money resulting from the 
 
ON THE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF GOOD TRADE. 
 
 101 
 
 men being taken off from productive labour, it will give at least 
 <£400,000,000 annually as spent on armaments and war, even in 
 time of peace. All this, if not thus abstracted from the incomes 
 of the people, would be available for trade, which would thereby 
 be immensely benefitted; and further, if people were delivered 
 from the fear of wars, they would apply themselves with more 
 confidence and energy to industrial pursuits, and in this way, also, 
 trade and commerce would be greatly promoted. 
 
 10. And lastly under this head. A Government should see to 
 making the best possible arrangement,* so that its population shall 
 have every facility given to save money and every encouragement 
 to practice habits of thrift and economy. To this end the con¬ 
 venience of the Post-Office Savings Bank should be further 
 extended, and other arrangements made to the same end. Such 
 action on the part of Government would do much to promote 
 trade, and it would also lessen the fluctuations and depressions 
 which now occur, arising from the fact that so many people being 
 improvident, whenever trade falls slack they are at once thrown 
 destitute, and are obliged to come upon the rates of the country 
 for support, whereas, had they money saved, they would not only 
 be kept off the rates, but they would have a reserve fund to fall 
 back upon, the spending of which would continue the demand for 
 goods, and thus help to keep the wheels of commerce in healthy 
 motion. 
 
 I might go on and refer to other points connected with govern¬ 
 ment, but these will be sufficient to show what a vast influence, 
 for good or for evil, the Government of a country must exercise 
 upon its trade and industry, but time will not allow. What I have 
 advanced will clearly show the need that exists for learned 
 bodies like the one which is met here to-night calling the attention 
 of the public to the influence which right government will exercise 
 upon their material well-being, as by so doing it will influence them 
 to seek to place men in office whose views are not inimical to the 
 nation’s industrial welfare. 
 
102 
 
 MR. WILLIAM HOTLE 
 
 I come now to consider— 
 
 II.—THE PRODUCING DEPARTMENT OF TRADE. 
 
 1. I would remark that an economical producer will be ready 
 to take every advantage of the saving which may be effected 
 by the use of machinery. Machinery generally increases the out¬ 
 turn of goods and diminishes the cost, whilst at the same time 
 machine-made goods are often better in quality than if produced by 
 hand. Every reduction in cost, or increase in the power of pro¬ 
 duction, adds to the wealth of the nation, the comforts of the people, 
 and so is an additional help and stimulus to trade. 
 
 2. The economical producer will endeavour to secure as effective 
 and complete a division of labour as is possible. By so doing he 
 will gain many economical advantages. Amongst others I may 
 mention the following :— 
 
 (a) By such a division of labour workmen become specially clever, 
 because their attention and energies are so largely concentrated upon 
 one department of labour. Here the adage is true—-practice makes 
 perfect. 
 
 (b) This division of labour saves time, and therefore money, by 
 avoiding the need of changes from one department of work to 
 another. 
 
 (c) Division of labour, by enabling production, or, in other 
 words, manufacturing to be carried on in departments, gives greater 
 opportunity for the use of machinery. It thereby reduces cost 
 and stimulates invention, and thus in a twofold way it benefits 
 industry. 
 
 (d) Division of labour also gives greater opportunity for the adapta¬ 
 tion of individual capacities, for in concerns where there is almost 
 every variety of work done, there is sure to be some work for which 
 each person is best adapted. Economy in production is best secured 
 by each man being in the position for which he is best fitted. Division 
 of labour enables this to be secured. In this way production is 
 increased, and the wealth of the nation augmented. 
 
ON THE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF GOOD TRADE. 103 
 
 (e) Division of labour also reduces the need for long appren¬ 
 ticeships. A person will sooner become proficient in one branch 
 of industry than he would if he had to learn three. Time is thus 
 saved, and so economy is promoted. 
 
 3. The economical producer will arrange the various processes 
 of his manufactures in such a manner as that they shall follow one 
 another in proper order, and so avoid any needless labour in the 
 shape of carriage, or travelling about. 
 
 4. The economical producer will be careful not only that he 
 pays a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work, but that he gets a fair 
 day’s work for a fair day’s wage. The notion that exists in some 
 minds that to do little work will help trade is a mischievous 
 fallacy, for it reduces the quantity of goods produced, and also 
 increases their cost, and whatever does this, as I have already 
 remarked, is hurtful to trade. 
 
 5. The economical producer will never apply his energies to 
 producing for himself what he can procure more cheaply elsewhere. 
 This is true both of individuals and nations. Some individuals 
 and localities and nations are better adapted for producing 
 certain things than others are; and if each produces that for which 
 it is best adapted, and then exchanges it with others who produce 
 that for which they are best adapted, all get the best and 
 cheapest of everything. To secure this is the great end of trade, 
 and in proportion as it is carried out so wdll trade be prosperous 
 and the wealth and comforts of the world be augmented. 
 
 6. The food man eats, the materials out of which his clothes are 
 made, and also some of the materials used in the structure of his 
 dwellings, are supplied by nature—that is, they are the products of 
 cultivation; and as the bountifulness of the crops is dependent 
 upon the weather, the climate, and the soil, this part of man’s 
 income is subject to fluctuation. But if there are bad harvests 
 there are also good ones; and if in good times we are wise, and 
 husband our resources, we shall be fully prepared to face the years 
 of deficiency. The difference in the harvest between a good and 
 
104 MR. WILLIAM HOYLE 
 
 bad season will be from 10 to 30 or even 40 per cent; and for the 
 reasons I have before adduced it will be seen that trade will be 
 affected proportionately. Good harvests increase the wealth of the 
 community, and thereby increase their trading power; whilst bad 
 harvests reduce the wealth, and in like proportion cripple that power. 
 
 I know that man cannot control nature, but he can do much to 
 lessen the resulting evils. By irrigation he can largely prevent the 
 evils resulting from drought, and by efficient drainage he can 
 diminish the mischiefs arising from excess of rain. Attention to 
 drainage in our own country will greatly increase the safeguards 
 against bad weather here ; whilst in India and some of our other 
 colonies, as well as in most tropical countries, if irrigation be 
 attended to it will avert the evils of drought, lessen the risks of 
 famine, and in ordinary seasons increase the produce from the soil. 
 Nations that are wise will attend to these points, for by so doing 
 they will mitigate, if not wholly prevent, the depression in trade 
 which invariably would from deficient harvests. 
 
 III.—DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT. 
 
 We cannot fully enjoy the benefits resulting from good govern¬ 
 ment and economical production unless at the same time attention 
 is paid to making provision for the economical distribution of the 
 goods produced. The object of trade, as has been previously 
 stated, is to secure to every one the opportunity of obtaining 
 eveiything at the lowest possible cost; and supposing goods were 
 produced ever so economically, it would be little to the purpose if 
 there was no market for them when produced, or if to get them 
 to a market added 50 per cent to the cost price. If we wish to 
 secure an economical distribution of goods attention must be paid 
 to the following among other points:— 
 
 1. Arrangements must be made to minimize as much as pos¬ 
 sible the cost of carriage from one part to another. In our own 
 country, intersected as it is in every part by good roads, canals, 
 and railways, and surrounded as we are by the ocean, the great 
 
ON THE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF GOOD TRADE. 
 
 105 
 
 highway of the nations, we are placed upon the best possible 
 footing in this respect. If we cast our minds back to the time 
 when canals and railways were unknown, and when our roads were 
 in such a condition that merchandise could only be distributed by 
 pack-horses carrying it about upon their backs, we shall form some 
 idea as to the obstacle which this must have been to the develop¬ 
 ment of trade. Macaulay tells us that in those times the cost of 
 carriage of goods between Birmingham and London was £7 per 
 ton, and between London and Exeter £14 per ton, or about five 
 times as much as at the present day. 
 
 So important to the development of trade is cheap and conve¬ 
 nient carriage of goods that recently Mr. Gladstone wrote a very 
 able article in one of our magazines, pointing out the great 
 influence of the railway system as a factor in the development of 
 our trade. The United States, too, have wonderfully developed 
 the resources of their country by constructing railways, which 
 carry on to her seaports, and thence to the world, her productions. 
 If some of the money we have spent in wars had been expended in 
 opening out the internal communications of our colonies, our 
 trade with them would have been much larger, and their popula¬ 
 tions proportionately benefitted thereby. 
 
 2. It is important in arranging the distributional department of 
 trade that it does not get too much into the hands of middlemen. 
 It is an economy of labour when central depots, or markets for the 
 free disposal of merchandise, are established. It saves time, by 
 avoiding running from one place to another. But it sometimes 
 happens that these middle traders obtain control of a business, 
 and as far as possible convert the same into a monopoly. Rings of 
 reckless speculators often attempt the same thing. When such is 
 the case, trade becomes deranged, the free distribution of mer¬ 
 chandise is prevented, goods are often unduly enhanced in price, 
 and legitimate commerce is injured. 
 
 3. To secure an economical distribution of goods there must be 
 good monetary arrangements, so as to enable payments to be made 
 
106 
 
 MR. WILLIAM HOYLE 
 
 with ease and safety. In our own country these on the wholh are 
 very complete: but still it is not impossible that there may be 
 further improvement, especially in regard to the use of coined money. 
 Money is not wealth, but simply the representative of wealth, but 
 having an intrinsic value in itself, it serves as a secure medium of 
 exchange. The production of gold and silver, however, involves 
 labour, and there is no reason of which I am cognisant why the 
 use of bank-notes as mediums of exchange may not be more 
 extensively increased. If behind these notes there are securities 
 that will always insure their payment in full, that is all that is 
 wanted. A gold sovereign needs a sovereign’s worth of labour to 
 produce it. If a medium of exchange costing less labour can be 
 securely introduced, then by the amount of labour saved will be 
 the gain to trade and commerce. 
 
 IV.— 1 THE SPENDING OR CONSUMING DEPARTMENTS. 
 
 The first remark I would make under this head is to urge the 
 great importance of this department of the subject. It is one 
 that has been much neglected ; and individual or national errors in 
 this department have a very potent influence in causing bad trade 
 and hard times. 
 
 Let me here recapitulate two or three points :— 
 
 1. That inasmuch as wealth is the result of labour, it follows that 
 the value of commodities, or, in other words, of wealth, will in the 
 aggregate be in proportion to the amount of labour expended in 
 their production. 
 
 2. That whereas trade consists in the exchange of com¬ 
 modities, it follows that the extent of trade must be proportioned 
 to the quantity of commodities which are produced. Consequently, 
 whatever increases them will increase trade, and whatever 
 diminishes them will necessarily reduce trade. 
 
 The income of the nation, which represents the wealth produced, 
 is the fund out of which are drawn the resources by which to 
 carry on trade. Whatever, therefore, diminishes that fund lessens 
 the power to trade. 
 
ON THE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF GOOD TRADE. 
 
 107 
 
 So far as economic results go, waste of wealth is equally 
 hurtful whether it takes place in the process of production or of 
 consumption. If a manufacturer lose £1,000 annually by wasteful 
 expenditure, it tells upon his resources just as much as if he had 
 lost it by wastefulness in the management of his business. 
 
 The total yearly income of the population of the United 
 Kingdom is estimated to be about £880,000,000 per annum, or 
 say £17,000,000 weekly. This amount represents the value of 
 the wealth which is produced. Now, if while the nation produces 
 only £17,000,000 in value weekly it consumes or destroys 
 £20,000,000, the wealth at command decreases, and our capacity 
 for trade is lessened to the same extent, inasmuch as the materials 
 whereby to carry on trade are diminished. On the other hand, if 
 while the nation’s weekly income is £17,000,000 we consume only 
 £14,000,000, or say £12,000,000, our wealth increases in like 
 ratio, and our trade will grow in proportion. 
 
 In a previous part of this paper I have pointed out the great 
 increase which has taken place in our producing power, as compared 
 to what it was in former times. I also pointed out that in proportion 
 as our producing power had increased so had grown our trade, and 
 also our chances of being rid of depression and want; but the fact 
 must not be overlooked, that though we produce much more than 
 formerly our consumption is also much greater, and the measure 
 of our increase of wealth is not what we produce, but the difference 
 between what we produce and what we consume. If, as I have 
 before said, whilst we produce £17,000,000 we destroy or consume 
 £20,000,000, then, despite our large production, we gradually 
 become poorer. 
 
 Economically considered there are three ways of spending money. 
 
 1. So as to yield a productive return. 
 
 2. So as to yield no return at all. 
 
 3. So as to yield a mischievous return. 
 
 I shall best explain these points by using personal illustrations. 
 I will take the case of three men, each one when at work earning 
 
108 
 
 MR. WILLIAM HOYLE 
 
 30s. per week. The first one lives on 20s. and saves 10s., which 
 he deposits in some building club, co-operative store, or other place 
 of security, and gets 5 per cent interest for it. At the end of five 
 years, what with interest and compound interest, he is worth XI50. 
 With this sum he builds a house, for which he draws a rent of 4s. 
 weekly. His income then is virtually 34s. weekly, for 4s. of which 
 he does not work. 
 
 The second individual is a man of fashion, and it takes all his 
 income to supply himself with what is needed to keep up to the 
 fashion. At the end of the five years he has nothing. 
 
 The third man is somewhat dissipated in his habits, and out of 
 his 30s. he spends at least 10s. in drink. He goes home drunk two 
 or three times weekly, and thus makes home miserable. Two or 
 three days per month, or more, he neglects his work, and some¬ 
 times he goes to work when, owing to his dissipation, he is 
 physically unfit, and does mischief. His dissipated habits injure 
 his health and cut short his life, and very likely in the time of his 
 sickness the parish is his guardian, and the workhouse his home. 
 
 In the case of the first and second of these men, so far as the 
 immediate result upon trade goes there is no difference. All their 
 wages in both cases go to support trade; but the money of the 
 first, being spent reproductively, accumulates, whereas the money 
 of the second does not—it is all consumed in keeping the spender 
 up to the fashion. In the case of the third man, the money is 
 not simply spent unproductively, but destructively, for food has 
 to be destroyed to manufacture the drink he consumes; his health, 
 time, and character, are wasted in its consumption; he neglects 
 his work, and thus time is wasted. Owing to the maddening 
 influence of the drink policemen have to be employed to preserve 
 order, and when he becomes sick and helpless society has to build 
 a workhouse in which to house him. Thus there are not only 
 many losses and evils directly incurred, but grievous indirect 
 burdens, which, by abstracting money from the pockets of the 
 people, cripple and destroy trade. 
 
ON THE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF GOOD TRADE. 
 
 109 
 
 The influence of these various kinds of expenditure upon tho 
 national wealth and trade will at once be evident. At the end 
 of the five years the first man has increased the nation’s wealth 
 £150, the second one nothing, whilst the conduct of the third man 
 has not only not increased wealth, but has decreased it, probably 
 to the extent of £100; and reckoning the difference between the 
 £150 increase of the first and the £100 decrease of the third, it 
 gives a loss to the country arising from the conduct of the third 
 man as compared to the first of £250, besides all the misery, 
 vice, and degradation which result. 
 
 At the end of the five years the first man has an increase in his 
 income of 4s. weekly. This increase of income augments his 
 spending power; for instead of having 30s. weekly to spend he has 
 34s., or 15 per cent more than he had five years before. This 
 increase of spending power increases trade proportionately; and so 
 it would go on augmenting year by year in more than arithmetical 
 proportion, and if all acted thus, real bad trade would be an utter 
 impossibility. 
 
 If we multiply these individual cases by the aggregate of such 
 cases throughout the United Kingdom, it will give us some idea as 
 to the great waste of wealth and the great mischief to trade which 
 improvident expenditure causes. At the very least one-fourth of 
 the nation’s expenditure, or £4,250,000 weekly, is of this character, 
 wholly unproductive, and much of it destructive, to remedy the 
 evils resulting from whicli the country has to sacrifice at least 
 another £2,000,000 every week, making a total loss of over 
 £6,000,000, or above one-third of the entire income of the 
 country. 
 
 What an impetus would be given to trade, and what an accumu¬ 
 lation of wealth there would be, if this expenditure, or even if half 
 of it, were expended reproductively. It would add £150,000,000 
 yearly to the nation’s wealth, and to the same extent it would 
 stimulate trade, and it would create an increased demand for 
 labour that would bring into industrial harness the unemployed, 
 
110 
 
 MR. WILLIAM HOYLE 
 
 the vagrant, and the pauper, who, instead of being a source of 
 taxation and burden to the community, would become producers 
 of wealth, and so in a further manner the trade and commerce and 
 wealth of the country would be inoreased. 
 
 If out of the <£17,000,000 which is the weekly income of the 
 United Kingdom £3,000,000 were regularly thrown into the sea, 
 every one would at once perceive what a disastrous influence it 
 would have upon our trade; but if the £3,000,000, instead of 
 being thrown into the sea, is spent in a way that leads to loss of 
 labour, waste of food, destruction of health and life, increased 
 taxation, deterioration of workmen, tfcc., &c., its influence upon 
 trade must be still worse, because there is not only the loss of the 
 £3,000,000 but the loss of the money needed to atone for the 
 mischief which it produces. But this is what results from the 
 traffic in intoxicating drinks. 
 
 I might dwell at greater length upon this department of the 
 subject, but time forbids, and the illustrations I have given will, I 
 am confident, show the influence of a right expenditure upon 
 trade. I will draw my paper to a close by making a few remarks 
 as to the probabilities of trade generally in the future. 
 
 And first I would remark that when we consider the influences 
 which have been at work during the last few years we cannot be 
 surprised that trade should have been bad. I will only refer to a 
 few of these :— 
 
 1. The wars which have occurred have destroyed much wealth; 
 and besides the destruction of wealth, the cost of the gigantic 
 armaments which have been and are still maintained have added 
 enormously to the taxation of the people; and besides this there 
 has been the diversion of the labour of the men from the pro¬ 
 ductive atmosphere of the field, the workshop, &c., to the idle 
 atmosphere of the barracks, or the still worse atmosphere of the 
 canteen. All these things have had a most pernicious influence 
 upon the trade and commerce of the world. 
 
 2. During the last few years there has been a feeling of disquiet 
 
OX THE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF GOOD TRADE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 and unrest in the political relationship of some of the principal 
 countries in the world; and as we ourselves have had some share 
 in this policy of disquiet we have also shared in the fruits. I 
 have before stated that such a condition of things is at variance 
 with the development of industrial enterprise, and its existence 
 has done much to aggravate the depression which other evils have 
 engendered. 
 
 3. The extravagant and unproductive character of much of the 
 expenditure, both public and private, wdiich has gone on for the 
 last few years has operated most mischievously upon trade. Many 
 nations have contracted loans to meet their lavish expenditure, and 
 in some cases neither principal nor interest are being repaid. 
 Private individuals have followed in the same reckless course, and 
 we have thus seen a growing personal general expenditure accom¬ 
 panied in many cases by increased dissipation. At the same time 
 there has been a disposition to decrease the production by doing less 
 work. We have thus burnt the candle of trade at both ends. 
 No wonder, then, that in its proportions it has gone small and 
 beautifully less. 
 
 4. Along with these causes of depression, which are all self- 
 created ones, we have had other influences in operation which have 
 been detrimental to trade, influences which to a considerable extent, 
 •though not wholly, are outside our own doing. I refer to the bad 
 harvests which have occurred in many countries, in some so 
 severe as to lend to famine. In our own country and through¬ 
 out the continent of Europe for the last few years we have suffered 
 somewhat from deficient harvests, whilst in China and India there 
 have been disastrous famines, and now in Asia Minor and the 
 countries adjacent the people are suffering from the same cause. 
 Bad harvests always damage trade, because they increase the 
 price of food; for food being a necessity of life, clothing and other 
 things come second. Hence, when food is dear there is so 
 much less of a surplus for other purposes. By irrigation in the 
 East, and by more efficient drainage at home, we might, however, 
 
112 
 
 MR. WILLIAM HOYLE 
 
 very much mitigate the evils of the bad weather which at times 
 exists; and if, besides this, in years of plenty we made provision for 
 times of scarcity, we should suffer but little, inasmuch as, taking 
 one year with another, we are blessed with harvests that more than 
 supply an abundance for all our wants. 
 
 And now a few words as to the future. There is a very general 
 fear that our trade and commerce has reached its utmost limits, 
 and that there is no room for further expansion. In my judgment 
 this fear results from an ignorance of the facts of the case as to the 
 commerce of the world and the position of its inhabitants. Taking 
 the world all round, I should estimate that it is not more than 
 one-tenth supplied in a moderate degree with the comforts of life; 
 and when, as civilisation advances, this void is filled up, surely we 
 may expect to get a fair share of the trade which the demand will 
 develope. Look at China, with its 400,000,000 of population, 
 taking goods annually from us to the extent of not more than 
 £5,000,000 in value. Why, here alone is a field where we may 
 increase our trade at least from fifteen to twenty fold or more. 
 The same will be the case in most countries in the world. 
 
 And if we look at the condition of the world in regard to the 
 difficulties of distribution, we shall see how greatly this must 
 cripple trade. Good roads, railways, and other means of transit 
 are needed. In many countries we are but at the beginning of 
 these improvements, and all the benefits resulting therefrom we 
 have yet to reap. In the ordinary course of things, if we have 
 a Government that will seek to promote amity and peace among 
 the nations of the earth, and develope trade and commerce, there 
 is no reason why, during the next quarter of a century, our trade 
 should not expand to a degree even surpassing the marvellous 
 developments of the past. 
 
 But shall we not be beaten in the competitive race, and will not 
 this trade be taken from us by other countries 1 As yet there are 
 not many signs of this, though in the United States of America 
 there are dangers ahead, for, like ourselves, they have boundless 
 
ON THE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF GOOD TRADE. 
 
 113 
 
 resources, and if they get their debt paid off, and keep down the 
 expenses of their armaments, and also practice habits of economy 
 personally, it is not impossible that they may beat us, though if we 
 ourselves are only mindful to play an economical and industrious 
 part in the future, this need not be, for we have facilities for the 
 production and distribution of wealth that probably neither the 
 United States nor any other country in the world possesses, and 
 therefore our chances of securing an abundant share of the world’s 
 trade are second to none. 
 
 We have coals abundant and cheap; we have also iron in 
 abundance, and relatively as cheap as coal; we have a climate 
 pre-eminently adapted for manufacturing; we have good roads, with 
 railways and canals covering every part of the country; and our 
 insular position gives us an immense coast-line, and brings every 
 place within easy distance of the sea, the great highway of the 
 nations. And then, too, in financial matters we possess facilities 
 for the prosecution of trade which no other nation in the world 
 enjoys. In every way, therefore, we possess exceptional advantages, 
 and it can only be the result of our own perverse folly if ever we 
 are beaten in the industrial race. 
 
 And yet this is very possible, for if, as a nation, we go on 
 upholding, or perhaps augmenting, the present enormous expendi¬ 
 ture of our Government, and if, at the same time, our heavy local 
 taxation for pauperism, crime, &c., goes on, and if the heavy 
 expense and difficulties attending the occupation and transfer of 
 land be continued, and if the other evils and costs connected with 
 the administration of our laws be continued, they will operate as 
 constant national burdens upon our own industries, and as pre¬ 
 miums upon the industries of other nations that are wise enough 
 to avoid the follies which we perpetrate. 
 
 But if, in addition to this, we also practice habits of individual 
 extravagance and waste, and if the leaders of the working classes 
 encourage the notion that the way to better their condition is to- 
 produce little, and if, too, our extravagance partakes of the form 
 
114 
 
 THE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF GOOD TRADE. 
 
 of dissipation that demoralises and deteriorates our industrial 
 population, we shall have such an accumulation of burdens and 
 drawbacks upon our trade as will much more than neutralise all 
 the advantages which we possess—nay more, these very advantages 
 will prove an evil, for when the wealth derived thereby is appro¬ 
 priated to habits that demoralise our population, it will accelerate 
 the day when we shall forfeit our position as the foremost of 
 commercial nations.