“The Co-operatives* ought to be very much obliged to you; and would be so, if it were not the most difficult thing in the world to make men understand their own true interest.
“I suspect that in many things our forefathers were wiser than we are. Their guilds prevented trades from being overstocked, and would have by that means prevented over-production, if there had
* Mr. Rickman had written a paper on the subject for insertion in the Brighton Co-operator, and which he had sent to my father for his suggestions and remarks. |
| Ætat. 56. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 87 |
“There is no distress among those handicrafts who produce what there is a constant home demand for. But if we will work up more wool and cotton than foreigners will or can purchase from us, the evils of the country must go on at a rate like compound interest. Other nations will manufacture for themselves (a certain quantity of manufacturing industry being necessary for the prosperity of a nation), and this, with the aid of tariffs, may bring us to our senses in time.
“One tells me that there is likely to be a slight
degree of consolidating pressure brought to bear upon the Ministry; another
that they may very likely find themselves in a minority. I do not wish for a
change of men, because I do not see what better
| 88 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE | Ætat. 56. |
“God bless you! Our best remembrances to your fireside.
