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to the efeeape&t HUttket , the producer to the deafest ; * n& tl © jfrfcftent positioit and prospects of Swisv indtetry , studied in the factor aocHher 4 * tails © f i $ s 4 acresae , will have some influence perhaps with these tq ^ wfeom free-tra 4 e theorie * are repulsive or hateful . "—tteport on the CothtQdgfoe and Manufactures of Switzerland ^ p . 3 . ., - « .. ' >
This unrestricted freedom has not been maintained without some struggles and some opposition . In 1820 the Diet actually adopted a " protecting" system by way ef reprisal on the prohibitory measures of the French Government , but it only existed a few months . Dr Bowring states , that on no subject whatever did he find public opinion in Switzerland fcD nearly unanimous as on that of the expediency of free trade ;
and it must be remembered that in the manufacturing Cantons , which are generally the most democratic , the legislature is chiefly composed of manufacturers , and the elective franchise is & $ nearly as possible universal . The men , therefore , who maintain the system , have a direct interest in its results . They cannot be called theorists : they are practical men in the
strictest sen&e of trade . ' It is true that particular districts of the country , arid particular branches of trade , are temporarily affected by phanges in the commercial regulations of other states . The Prussian League occasioned some alarm , but experience has proved that its effects will not be pernicious . If the exports to Qerrnaiiy
ure less extensive , in consequence of the impediments thus thrown in the way , the exports to other nations ai * e pfdpbrtionately increased . " Switzerland has , in fafct , tritntntiftfed ir ) her competition with Germany to the whole extent iti ^ hich the Prussian League has raised the price of labour , of p r 6 ftuce , or manufactures / ' That is to say , Switzerland has the advantage in proportion as her cheap labour enables her to produce
at a cheaper rate than other countries , where restrictions on fqreign commerce raise the wages of labour , aijd ; tsQiifte ^ quently , the prices of every thing it produces . And these advantages are multiplied by every new impost and restriction established by other countries . Hence , the view of the fcaae tak £ n by Dr Bowring is sound in principle , and we hare rt 0
doubt ftilly justified in practice . The temporary inconvenie ' ricesr thdt'SvHtzerlahd must suffer , are greatly diminished in nutipit ? et by the facility with which , under its free system , capital &ad labour caa be transferred from one kind of production to another . ... \ - In December 1833 , the Swiss Confederation rauqjiptecl a
OQitta > ittee to inquire into the foreign commercial relations of Switzerland . Their Report embodies the mo&t enligbtenf * views on the subject , and the following are a few of the re « olutions with which it concludes ;—
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O * m # i * Y ciai FiyuxUnn . ; WS
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1836, page 735, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2664/page/19/
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