CONTENTS xvii 
requent temptation to over-trading; while Pitt used hia power of borrowing 
30 persistently, and political affairs were so threatening, that the Bank had 
o suspend cash payments. . . . . . ¥ 689 
258. The National Debt and the Sinking Fund. Much of the fiscal 
burden was deferred, and while Pitt's Sinking Fund, which avoided the 
errors in Walpole’s scheme, inspired mistaken confidence, it served to 
encourage reckless borrowing. . . . . . « . 695 
259. The Suspension of Cash Payments. After the suspension of cash 
payments, there was no check on the unconscious depreciation of the 
currency by the over-issue of paper, which tended to raise general prices 
and to reduce the purchasing power of wages. The authorities of the Bank 
contested the fact of depreciation, but recent experience in Ireland rendered 
the true state of the case clear to the Bullion Committee of 1810, and their 
principles were adopted in 1819, when cash payments were resumed. 699 
260. The Demand for Food and Higher Farming. The working 
slasses suffered from the high price of corn, which was partly due to the 
increased demand of the manufacturing population. There were large 
supplies of meat, and great pains were taken to manage the available corn to 
advantage, to encourage the importation of food from abroad, and to dis. 
courage waste. » . v » . . . . * 703 
261. Enclosure and the Labourers. With the view of increasing the 
home production of corn, enclosure was pushed on, in the belief that the 
whole rural population would be benefited; but this hope proved mistaken. 
in a large number of cases the labourer lost the opportunities of supple. 
menting his income, and was deprived of the hope of rising in the 
world. . 2 . ” . . . . - . . 711 
262. Rural Wages and Allowances. It appeared impracticable to 
reintroduce the assessment of wages; and in a period of severe distress, the 
justices began to grant allowances to the families of able-bodied men 
systematically, with disastrous results in pauperising the population, 
while by-occupations and village industries decayed, and the tendency to 
migrate to towns increased. . . . * « eo 1715 
263. The Agricultural Interest and the Corn Laws. The Corn Law of 
1689 had been successful in both its objects, for many years; that of 1773 
was intended to secure a food supply, either from home or abroad, at a steady 
price; but Parliament reverted to the principle of promoting native pro- 
duction, in 1791, and gave an unhealthy stimulus to tillage for a time, with 
the result that landlords were threatened with ruin at the Peace, The Act of 
1815 was passed on plausible grounds, but in the interest of the landlords as 
a class, to the detriment of the consumers, and without controlling prices so 
a8 to encourage steady agricultural improvement. . . . 723 
264. The Combination Laws. The working classes not only failed to 
obtain redress under the existing laws, but suffered from the passing of 
a new Combination Act in a time of political panic, and despite protests 
sgainst its injustice. Friendly Societies continued to exist ; but associations 
for trade purposes were liable to prosecution ; though this was not systematie- 
ally enforced, an intense sense of injustice was roused. . v 732 
265. Economic Experts. The reluctance of Parliament to attempt 
remedial legislation was due to the influence of economic experts, who