American Lesson

Excerpt from The American Lesson: The Free Trade Struggle in England Dear Sir: I ought to have thanked you sooner for sending mo your useful and very interesting "History of the Free Trade Struggle in England." I hope it may be widely read, and be of much use. But I do not expect your people will copy from us - they will learn from what is passing around them how much they suffer from your present barbarous tariff. There are persons amongst us who are not anxious for a reform of your tariff. They say you cannot have an export trade, and cannot compete with us in foreign markets; that we have complete control of markets where there is no high tariff; and where duties are considerable, that we can surmount them where you cannot, and that we have a great advantage over you in every market but your own. Again, in your mercantile marine your condition is miserable and humiliating owing to your protective system, which has driven your ships off the ocean. Surely, there is intelligence enough in your country to perceive this, and it can only require discussion to bring about a change, which would bless every honest industry amongst you. The shackles have been struck from the limbs of the slave, and they cannot remain to fetter the freedom of your industries. I hope your movement will advance - the world expects it from you. England and America, with free institutions and Free Trade, will lead the world to something better than the past. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.