That part of our commerce," says Mr
Porter, himself a decided free trader, "which, being carried on with the
rich and civilized inhabitants of European nations, should present the
greatest field for extension, will be seen to have fallen off in a
remarkable degree. The annual average exports to the whole of Europe were
_less in value by nearly twenty per cent_, on an average of five years,
from 1832 to 1836, _than they were during the five years that followed the
close of the war;_ and it affords strong evidence of the unsatisfactory
footing on which our trading regulations with Europe are established, that
our exports to the United States of America, which, with their population
of 12,000,000, (in 1837,) are situated 3000 miles from us across the
Atlantic, have amounted to more than half the sum of our shipments to the
whole of Europe, with a population fifteen times as great as that of the
United States of America, and with an abundance of productions suited to
our wants, which they are naturally desirous of exchanging for the produce
of our mines and looms."[17]

[16] _Foreign and Colonial Review_, Vol. i. p. 233.

[17] Porter's _Progress of the Nation_, Vol. i. p. 101.

This was written by Mr Porter in 1837; but while subsequent times have
evinced an increased anxiety on the part of this country to extend the
principles of free trade, they have been met by such increased
determination on the part of the European governments to _resist the
system,_ and adhere more rigorously to their protecting policy, that the
disproportion is now universal, and is every day becoming more remarkable.
The following table will show that our exports to Europe, notwithstanding
our twelve reciprocity treaties with its maritime powers, and unceasing
efforts to give a practical exemplification of the principles of free
trade, are stationary or declining.[18]

[18] Table showing the date and value of Exports of British Iron
Manufacturers to Europe in the afore-mentioned years.

Northern Europe. Southern Europe. Total.
1814 L14,113,773 L12,753,816 L26,867,589
1815 11,791,692 8,764,552 20,556,544
1816 11,369,086 7,284,467 18,653,555
1817 11,408,083 9,685,491 19,093,574
1818 11,809,243 7,639,139 19,448,382
1819 9,805,397 6,896,287 16,601,684
1820 11,289,891