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PARLIAMENT AS SUPREME JUDGE OF PUBLIC INTEREST 405 
King’s Government was carried on during the eighteenth A.D. 1689 
century. The existence of such a system testifies alike to —e 
the real power which Parliament possessed, and to the asd ils 
unfitness of the House of Commons to exercise a wise [¢ied on 
control over economic interests, It is, of course, true that means. 
the taint, which attaches to legislative action during this 
period, does not suffice to prove that the measures adopted 
were wholly mistaken. Weighty considerations of public 
good were urged on behalf of the line of economic policy 
that was adopted during the period of Whig ascendancy. 
The scheme, which was carried out, contributed to the 
maintenance of some essential elements of national power. 
Still, it was pursued at the cost and to the detriment of 
a considerable body of English citizens, and some of the 
best contemporary writers were of opinion that the gain, 
which accrued to the public, was dearly bought 
Two different views may be taken as to the nature of the 
advantage which accrues to a country from its foreign trade. 
From one point of view we may say that the consumer of 
foreign products obtains articles he desires to use on easier 
terms, or of better quality, than would otherwise be the case? 
On the other hand, we may take a different standard and The policy 
gauge the benefit of trade by its reaction on native industry ig 
and the benefit which accrues to producers. This latter 724s 
standpoint was adopted by Colbert; the principles which might 
he worked out in France seemed to contemporaries to be industry 
brilliantly successful. Similar opinions as to the benefit of 
trade, and of the measures which should be taken to promote 
the prosperity of the country, were dominant in England 
during the period of Whig ascendancy. “For a hundred 
years past,” as a Dutch writer observed in 1751, “the English 
have considered exportation, and sale of goods and mer- 
chandises abroad, as the only profitable and advantageous 
trade of that kingdom, and on the coutrary left it very 
doubtful whether the importation of goods be beneficial 
! This was the view taken by North, Davenant, Barbon and other Tory 
writers. Compare Ashley, The Tory Origin of Free Trade Policy in Surveys, p. 268. 
At the same time it must be remembered that Davenant and the rest were not 
Free Traders in the modern sense; they did believe that it was the business of the 
statesman to foster and encourage trade, not to let it alone. See below, p. 867. 
1 See below. p. 602.