From "the French and Dutch are more sober, frugal and industrious" to the "nobler" position: Attitudes of the Prince of Wales toward a General Naturalization and a Popular Monarchy, 1757–1760

From “the French and DutchzyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFED are more sober, frugal and industrious” to the “nobler”position: Attitudes of the Prince of Wales toward a General Naturalization and a Popular Monarchy, 1757-1760 JO H N L. B U LLIO N During the years 1757—1760, as the earl of Bute contemplated how to prepare the future George III for his destiny as king, he decided that his royal pupil must understand the causes of, and the best solution for, a situation that many contemporaries believed to be the principal danger to the future expansion of British commerce: the high cost of labor in Britain. Accordingly, he assigned the relevant literature, indicated his own preferences among the competing theories, and required the prince to write essays on this and related subjects.1 In all but one of these essays, George argued that the expense of labor was directly related to the weight of tax­ ation on the “necessaries” of the poor, such as candles, soap, malt liquor for brewing beer, and the leather and skins necessary for making shoes and clothes. Such taxes raised the price of these necessities of life, and were “in their own nature severe and offensive, because they fall heavy on the poorest of the people who cannot indemnify themselves but by rais­ ing the price of their labor.” They were also “contrary to sound politics, as the price of manufactures rise[s] with the price of labor.” The end result of this process was obvious. “The sale of our manufactures... must dimin­ ish by every such aggravation of the price of them, as the cheapest [goods] at foreign markets are generally preferred to the best.” Any decline in trade was harmful to Britain, for “our national profits sympathize with our for­ eign sales.” And “what is of more importance than all the rest,” the prince 159 160 / BULLION concluded, “these [taxes] give a rigid and oppressive air to government, which becomes odious from the minute it appears to be so.”2 Thus they “ought to be removed entirely, or reduced to very moderate [duties].”3 In one essay, however, which he wrote in 1757, and titled “On Industry in Great Britain,” George questioned the significance of these opinions. Without denying that taxes on necessities raised wages, he claimed that they were a minor cause of the high price British manufacturers paid for work. And without discarding his conviction that the burden of taxation on the poor should be lightened, he proposed other, more radical cures for the heavy expense of labor. Thus, a description of “On Industry in Great Britain” permits scholars to know the full range of ideas and policy alternatives that Bute and the prince seriously considered.4 Moreover, an understanding of the reasons why they finally rejected the policies espoused in that essay gives an insight into the political strategy Bute and George developed during the 1750s for governing Britain. I The prince began “On Industry in Great Britain” by referring to gener­ al principles. “The number of inhabitants, and particularly of laboring people, provided they are employed,” he asserted, “is the real wealth and strength of a state.” On the other hand, “an idle and debauched populace [is] one of the greatest grievances a commercial state can labor under.” Such an unproductive populace diminished a state’s commerce, and “without commerce, no country can grow rich.” “What is worse,” a country without commerce “can never be secure against the encroachments of am­ bitious neighbors.” And, as George recognized, the fact that Britain was an island would not preserve her security should she lose her trade. “An island without foreign commerce,” he pointed out, “can have but an indifferent navy, [and] consequently cannot protect itself.” Having established to his satisfaction the premier importance of produc­ tive laborers to commerce, and of commerce to the state, the prince briefly sketched the development of manufacturing in Europe and in England. In his account, he emphasized two factors. One was the decisions govern­ ments made about trade and manufacturing, for the prince was certain that intelligent political leadership could overcome many obstacles. The other was the national characters of the various peoples of Europe. “Queen Elizabeth,” for...