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AIANCBESTER STAT. SOC.--INAI/(;URAL ADDRESS. t85
soon bo nothing to complain of; and it will be truly u11-
fortunate if a pretnnture advanco of wages and prices-for
such is thought by many to be the recent decisiou of the trado
iu South Staffordshire-should drive their better fortune from
them. Prosperity is probably only a question of a short time,
and the close connection which exists between the demand for
iron aud the amount of fixed investtneut about to be made,
seems to rendor the price of iron the best commercial woathcrglass.
\Vhat there may be iu the trade of this district which is
not adequately explained by the recent collapse may surely Lo
due t.o t,hc liugoring effects of the cotton furnine. This society
has furnished the public, in Mr. E. Helm's Review of the
Cotton Trade, during the years 1862-68, with probably the
best arrtrnged facts concerning the position of the cotton end
some roluted branches of manufacture. His tables form quite
a small hand-book of tho subject, and no one can doubt that
the disproportion which he proves bctmeen tho manufacturing
power and t.hc supply of cotton is quite rtdequate to explain
the state of things. And we must remember that the general
depression of trade profits and employment unfortuuatoly coopemtes
with the high price of the material st present to
restrict the home and foreign demand for cotton goods.
The cotton manufacture has thus bcon beset with every possible
disadvantage, and it is absurd indeed to turn round and
throw thc whole blnmc upon that freedom of foreign commerce
by which alone wo can obtain a pound of cotton-wool.
One word upon reciprocity treaties. Those who harp upon
this idea, becauso they have no other to offer, ovorlook the
fact that every act of commerce is a treaty of reciprocity. We
caunot import without we export to an equal value, and we
cannot export without me import. When we broke down the
barriers around our own shores we could not stimulate an
inward without also stimulating an outward current. The
current would doubtless be stronger were the barriers around
other shores removed; bnt were it our habit to wait until
other nations are ready to accompany our steps of progress,
we should still be where we stood in 1819.