Dare you, my Friend, after examination of the statistics given in the foregoing chapter, say, that the general increase of wealth is due to Free Trade; when protectionist nations have shared it in common with us? Aye! and taken the lion’s share too! You claim the temporary prosperity of the years 1871-73 as a victory for Free Trade, when in reality this prosperity is the most damning evidence against it. Are you so utterly blinded, as not to perceive that this prosperity was caused by the Franco-Prussian war, which, by preventing the unlimited importation of French and German commodities into England, caused, in fact, partial _suspension of Free Trade_? Don’t you know that, in those years of prosperity, the price of wheat rose to 58_s._ 8_d._ per quarter, and that, in the present depressed condition of England, it is down to 41_s._ 5_d._ per quarter? Don’t you know that, during that time of prosperity, the excess of imports beyond our exports was £60,000,000 less than in the present depressed time? In other words, we were depressing our industries by 60,000,000 sterling per annum less than at present. Now, my Friend, give your verdict; is your Right Hon’ble Free Trader guilty or not guilty, either of hopeless incompetence or gross dishonesty in attributing the general increase of wealth in the world to the agency of Free Trade?--Your friend, Bright,[43] naively admits that “to return to protection under the name of reciprocity, is to _confess to the protectionists abroad, that we have been wrong, and they have been right_.” Verily! Friend Bright, whether you confess it or not, the truth will out. Friend Bright! you are like the ostrich, burying its head in the sand and thinking no one can see you. The protectionist nations of Europe can see you distinctly, and they are all laughing at your folly. FOOTNOTES: [40] Applied to the Conservative Party by Mr. Gladstone, in 1879. [41] Mill’s Political Economy, Bk. I. Chap. XII. [42] Wealth of Nations, Bk. I. Chap. XI. [43] Mr. Bright, when brought to bay by unanswerable arguments, is in the habit of pleading that he has “neither time nor inclination” to enter into discussion, and takes refuge in discourtesy. A choice specimen is given in Appendix No. I.--correspondence with Mr. Lord. CHAPTER XII. THE WAGES OF JUGERNATH. I have not yet done with your Right Hon’ble advocate for Free Trade. I have another charge, of that which Mr. Gladstone terms the “simple and effective plan of pure falsification,” in which he himself appears to be not an unskilful adept. Your Right Hon’ble Ruler ascribes the rise of wages and consequent prosperity to the beneficial action of Free Trade. If this were the case, wages ought to be depressed, or at all events stationary, in protectionist countries. Let us see if this is the case:-- _Relative rise of Wages._