The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

1972 IS FREE ENTERPRISE COMING BACK? 609quent than, his friend, he was stilla formidable foe of protectionism.In March, 1845, Robert Peel, thenPrime Minister, was listening toone of Cobden's long factualspeeches when he crumpled up hisnotes and remarked to a. colleaguesitting next to him, "You mustanswer this for I cannot."Although Peel had greatly liberalizedtrade three years earlier,this was not enough to placate theLeague, particularly since theCorn Laws were still on the books.Cobden was now certain that thePrime .Minister was quite readyto go the whole way, if he couldjust find a suitable opportunity.His chance came swiftly in theform of a natural calamity, thetragic Potato Famine in Ireland.That country was seriously overpopulated,desperately poor andexcessively dependent ·on potatoesso when the crop blighted androtted in the ground in August of1845, famine was upon them. Estimateshave placed the loss oflife 22 as high as two and a halfmillion people over the next fewyears. Clearly, limitations on foodimports were indefensible in sucha situation. Parliament met in specialsession in January, 1846, andRobert Peel recommended the repealof the Corn Laws. Aftermonths of bitter debate, the billbecame a law in June of the sameyear. As John Bright said, "Famineitself, against whom wefought, took up arms in our behalf."At long last the duty ongrain - the tax on bread as theLeague was wont to call it - wasabolished.While the repeal of the CornLaws did not result in .completefreedom of trade, Britain continuedto move in that direction sothat by 1860 she had arrived. TheNavigation Laws and Usury Lawshad also been repealed. "Laissezfairehad reached in Great Britainthe culminating point," wroteG.D.H. Cole,23 the Fabian Socialist,and he then proceeds to describethe rapid growth of Britishtrade. Freedom was the fashionand it proved profitable too.Even Lord Keynes 24 speaks of thelate Victorian era as an "economicEldorado," an "economic Utopia."Another writer says,25 "In ourown unpleasant century we aremostly displaced persons, andmany feel tempted to take flight