APPENDIX 213
course, rent falls with it, it is because inferior soil will no longer be cultivated. Thus the reduction of rent must inevitably ruin a number of the tenant farmers.
These remarks are necessary in order to make Mr. Greg’s language comprehensible.
“The small farmers,’ he says, “who cannot support themselves by agriculture must take refuge in manu- facture. As to the large tenant farmers, they cannot fail to profit by the arrangement; either the landlord will be obliged to sell them their land very cheap, or leases will be made out for very long periods. This will enable tenant farmers to invest more capital in their farms, to use agricultural machinery on a larger scale, and to save manual labor, which will, moreover, be cheaper, on ac- count of the general fall in wages, the immediate con- sequence of the repeal of the Corn Laws.”
Dr. Bowring conferred upon all these arguments the consecration of religion, by exclaiming at a public meet- ing, “Jesus Christ is Free Trade, and Free Trade is Jesus Christ.”
It may be easily understood that all this cant was not calculated to make cheap bread tasteful to working men.
Besides, how should the working men understand the sudden philanthropy of the manufacturers, the very men who were still busy fighting against the Ten Hours Bill, which was to reduce the working day of the mill hands from twelve hours to ten?
To give you an idea of the philanthropy of these manufacturers I would remind you of the factory regula- tions in force in all their mills.
Every manufacturer has for his own special use a regular penal code by means of which fines are inflicted for every voluntary or involuntary offence. For instance, the operative pays so much when he has the misfortune
