"Gentlemen,—You are in the right way: you reject abstract theories; abundance, cheapness, concerns you little. You are entirely3 occupied with the interest of the producer, whom you are anxious to free from foreign competition. In a word, you wish to secure the national market to national labor4.
"We come now to offer you an admirable opportunity for the application of your——what shall we say? your theory? no, nothing is more deceiving than theory;—your doctrine5? your system? your principle? But you do not like doctrines6; you hold systems in horror; and, as for principles, you declare that there are no such things in political economy. We will say then, your practice; your practice without theory, and without principle.
"We are subjected to the intolerable competition of a foreign rival, who enjoys, it would seem, such superior facilities for the production of light, that he is enabled to inundate7 our national market at so exceedingly reduced a price, that, the moment he makes his appearance, he draws off all custom from us; and thus an important branch of French industry, with all its innumerable ramifications8, is suddenly reduced to a state of complete stagnation9. This rival, who is no other than the sun, carries on so bitter a war against us, that we have every reason to believe that he has been excited to this course by our perfidious10 neighbor England. (Good diplomacy11 this, for the present time!) In this belief we are confirmed by the fact that in all his transactions with this proud island, he is much more moderate and careful than with us.
"Our petition is, that it would please your honorable body to pass a law whereby shall be directed the shutting up of all windows, dormers, sky-lights, shutters12, curtains, vasistas, ?il-de-b?ufs, in a word, all openings, holes, chinks and fissures13 through which the light of the sun is used to penetrate14 into our dwellings15, to the prejudice of the profitable manufactures which we flatter ourselves we have been enabled to bestow17 upon the country; which country cannot, therefore, without ingratitude18, leave us now to struggle unprotected through so unequal a contest.
"We pray your honorable body not to mistake our petition for a satire19, nor to repulse20 us without at least hearing the reasons which we have to advance in its favor.
"And first, if, by shutting out as much as possible all access to natural light, you thus create the necessity for artificial light, is there in France an industrial pursuit which will not, through some connection with this important object, be benefited by it?
"If more tallow be consumed, there will arise a necessity for an increase of cattle and sheep. Thus artificial meadows must be in greater demand; and meat, wool, leather, and above all, manure21, this basis of agricultural riches, must become more abundant.
"If more oil be consumed, it will cause an increase in the cultivation22 of the olive-tree. This plant, luxuriant and exhausting to the soil, will come in good time to profit by the increased fertility which the raising of cattle will have communicated to our fields.
"Our heaths will become covered with resinous23 trees. Numerous swarms24 of bees will gather upon our mountains the perfumed treasures, which are now cast upon the winds, useless as the blossoms from which they emanate25. There is, in short, no branch of agriculture which would not be greatly developed by the granting of our petition.
"Navigation would equally profit. Thousands of vessels26 would soon be employed in the whale fisheries, and thence would arise a navy capable of sustaining the honor of France, and of responding to the patriotic27 sentiments of the undersigned petitioners28, candle merchants, etc.
"But what words can express the magnificence which Paris will then exhibit! Cast an eye upon the future and behold29 the gildings, the bronzes, the magnificent crystal chandeliers, lamps, reflectors and candelabras, which will glitter in the spacious30 stores, compared with which the splendor31 of the present day will appear trifling32 and insignificant33.
"There is none, not even the poor manufacturer of resin in the midst of his pine forests, nor the miserable34 miner in his dark dwelling16, but who would enjoy an increase of salary and of comforts.
"Gentlemen, if you will be pleased to reflect, you cannot fail to be convinced that there is perhaps not one Frenchman, from the opulent stockholder of Anzin down to the poorest vendor35 of matches, who is not interested in the success of our petition.
"We foresee your objections, gentlemen; but there is not one that you can oppose to us which you will not be obliged to gather from the works of the partisans36 of free trade. We dare challenge you to pronounce one word against our petition, which is not equally opposed to your own practice and the principle which guides your policy.
"Do you tell us, that if we gain by this protection, France will not gain, because the consumer must pay the price of it?
"We answer you:
"You have no longer any right to cite the interest of the consumer. For whenever this has been found to compete with that of the producer, you have invariably sacrificed the first. You have done this to encourage labor, to increase the demand for labor. The same reason should now induce you to act in the same manner.
"You have yourselves already answered the objection. When you were told: The consumer is interested in the free introduction of iron, coal, corn, wheat, cloths, etc., your answer was: Yes, but the producer is interested in their exclusion37. Thus, also, if the consumer is interested in the admission of light, we, the producers, pray for its interdiction38.
"You have also said, the producer and the consumer are one. If the manufacturer gains by protection, he will cause the agriculturist to gain also; if agriculture prospers39, it opens a market for manufactured goods. Thus we, if you confer upon us the monopoly of furnishing light during the day, will as a first consequence buy large quantities of tallow, coals, oil, resin, wax, alcohol, silver, iron, bronze, crystal, for the supply of our business; and then we and our numerous contractors40 having become rich, our consumption will be great, and will become a means of contributing to the comfort and competency of the workers in every branch of national labor.
"Will you say that the light of the sun is a gratuitous41 gift, and that to repulse gratuitous gifts, is to repulse riches under pretence42 of encouraging the means of obtaining them?
"Take care,—you carry the death-blow to your own policy. Remember that hitherto you have always repulsed43 foreign produce, because it was an approach to a gratuitous gift, and the more in proportion as this approach was more close. You have, in obeying the wishes of other monopolists, acted only from a half-motive; to grant our petition there is a much fuller inducement. To repulse us, precisely44 for the reason that our case is a more complete one than any which have preceded it, would be to lay down the following equation: + × + =-; in other words, it would be to accumulate absurdity45 upon absurdity.
"Labor and Nature concur46 in different proportions, according to country and climate, in every article of production. The portion of Nature is always gratuitous; that of labor alone regulates the price.
"If a Lisbon orange can be sold at half the price of a Parisian one, it is because a natural and gratuitous heat does for the one, what the other only obtains from an artificial and consequently expensive one.
"When, therefore, we purchase a Portuguese47 orange, we may say that we obtain it half gratuitously48 and half by the right of labor; in other words, at half price compared to those of Paris.
"Now it is precisely on account of this demi-gratuity49 (excuse the word) that you argue in favor of exclusion. How, you say, could national labor sustain the competition of foreign labor, when the first has every thing to do, and the last is rid of half the trouble, the sun taking the rest of the business upon himself? If then the demi-gratuity can determine you to check competition, on what principle can the entire gratuity be alleged50 as a reason for admitting it? You are no logicians if, refusing the demi-gratuity as hurtful to human labor, you do not à fortiori, and with double zeal51, reject the full gratuity.
"Again, when any article, as coal, iron, cheese, or cloth, comes to us from foreign countries with less labor than if we produced it ourselves, the difference in price is a gratuitous gift conferred upon us; and the gift is more or less considerable, according as the difference is greater or less. It is the quarter, the half, or the three-quarters of the value of the produce, in proportion as the foreign merchant requires the three-quarters, the half, or the quarter of the price. It is as complete as possible when the producer offers, as the sun does with light, the whole in free gift. The question is, and we put it formally, whether you wish for France the benefit of gratuitous consumption, or the supposed advantages of laborious52 production. Choose, but be consistent. And does it not argue the greatest inconsistency to check as you do the importation of coal, iron, cheese, and goods of foreign manufacture, merely because and even in proportion as their price approaches zero, while at the same time you freely admit, and without limitation, the light of the sun, whose price is during the whole day at zero?"
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1
resin
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| n.树脂，松香，树脂制品；vt.涂树脂 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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5
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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7
inundate
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| vt.淹没，泛滥，压倒 | |
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ramifications
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| n.结果，后果( ramification的名词复数 ) | |
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stagnation
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| n. 停滞 | |
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perfidious
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| adj.不忠的，背信弃义的 | |
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diplomacy
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| n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕 | |
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shutters
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| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
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13
fissures
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| n.狭长裂缝或裂隙( fissure的名词复数 )；裂伤；分歧；分裂v.裂开( fissure的第三人称单数 ) | |
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14
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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15
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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ingratitude
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| n.忘恩负义 | |
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satire
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| n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品 | |
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repulse
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| n.击退，拒绝；vt.逐退，击退，拒绝 | |
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manure
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| n.粪，肥，肥粒；vt.施肥 | |
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cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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resinous
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| adj.树脂的，树脂质的，树脂制的 | |
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swarms
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| 蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 ) | |
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emanate
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| v.发自，来自，出自 | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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petitioners
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| n.请求人，请愿人( petitioner的名词复数 )；离婚案原告 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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31
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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vendor
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| n.卖主；小贩 | |
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partisans
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| 游击队员( partisan的名词复数 )； 党人； 党羽； 帮伙 | |
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exclusion
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| n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行 | |
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interdiction
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| n.禁止；封锁 | |
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prospers
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| v.成功，兴旺( prosper的第三人称单数 ) | |
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contractors
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| n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 ) | |
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41
gratuitous
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| adj.无偿的，免费的；无缘无故的，不必要的 | |
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42
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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43
repulsed
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| v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 )；驳斥；拒绝 | |
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44
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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45
absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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46
concur
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| v.同意，意见一致，互助，同时发生 | |
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47
Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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48
gratuitously
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| 平白 | |
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49
gratuity
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| n.赏钱，小费 | |
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50
alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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51
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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52
laborious
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| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
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