A 1933 Rover 10 Special saloon and a 1925 Rover 9 open two-seater. The contrast between the British motor-car industry in private and public hands - British Leyland - remains a lesson to the world.
HOW can protection, think you, add to the wealth of a country? Can you by legislation add one farthing to the wealth of the country?
You may, by legislation, in one evening, destroy the fruits and accumulation of a century of labour; but I defy you to show me how, by the legislation of this House, you can add one farthing to the wealth of the country.
That springs from the industry and intelligence; you cannot do better than leave it to its own instincts.
If you attempt by legislation to give any direction to trade or industry, it is a thousand to one that you are doing wrong; and if you happen to be right, it is work of supererogation, for the parties for whom you legislate would go right without you, and better than with you.
Précis
Richard Cobden MP gave a speech in the House of Commons in 1846, during the fight to repeal the Corn Laws. He argued that governments cannot make countries richer by legislation: wealth arises from ordinary people inventing things and making them. Regulation, he said, at best brings little benefit, and at worst can wipe out years of growth. (57 / 60 words)
