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Report of the Committee of the Cobden Club,

As adopted at the General Meeting held in the room of the Century Club, 6, Pall Mall Place, S. W., on June 4th, 1874.

In accordance with an intimation made last year to the Club, that a general meeting of the members would be held to take into consideration its future action, the Committee now submit a statement of their proceedings from the commencement, and an account of receipts and expenditure up to the present time.

The idea of forming a Club, to be called the "Cobden Club," the object of which should be to encourage the growth and diffusion of those economical and political principles with which Mr. Cobden's name is so inseparably connected, occurred to two or three gentlemen in the month of March, 1866.

At the first Meeting, which was held at the Reform Club on the 15th of May, 1866, it was resolved that the Annual Subscription should be Three page 48 Guineas, and that a Dinner should take place in the following June or July, at which the future arrangements should be considered.

In accordance with this Resolution the first Dinner took place at the Star and Garter Hotel, Richmond, on the 21st July, 1866, the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P., in the Chair, and, at a General Meeting held before the Dinner, it was proposed and carried unanimously that the management of the Club, together with the election of Members, should be entrusted to a Committee then nominated, three of whom should form a quorum.

In the course of the year 1867 there were two Dinners, one on the 2nd March at Willis's Rooms, presided over by the Right Hon. Lord Houghton; and the other on the 3rd July at the Star and Garter Hotel, Richmond, under the presidency of the Right Hon. Earl Russell, K.G.

In 1868 a Dinner was held at the Ship Hotel, Greenwich, on the 24th June, at which the Right Hon. C. P. Villiers, M.P., took the Chair; on the 10th July, 1869, His Grace the Duke of Argyll, K.T., and on the 23rd July, 1870, the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P., presided at the same place.

The Annual Dinner for the year 1871 was also page 49 held at the Ship Hotel, Greenwich, on the 24th June, under the presidency of the Right Hon. Earl Granville, K.G.

In the year 1869 the Committee distributed the Political Writings of Cobden, in 2 vols. 8vo, and published an Essay on that work by Sir Louis Mallet, C.B., besides a Prize Essay by Dr. Leavitt, of New York, on "The Best way of Developing Improved Political Relations between Great Britain and the United States of America." During 1870 they published and distributed the following works:—A volume of Essays on "Systems of Land Tenure in various Countries," contributed by the Right Hon. M. Longfield, Chandos Wren Hoskyns, Esq., M.P., George Campbell, Esq., M. Emile de Laveleye, R. B. D. Morier, Esq., C.B., T. E. Cliffe Leslie, Esq., Dr. Julius Faucher, and C. M. Fisher, Esq.; the Speeches of Cobden, in 2 vols. 8vo; a reprint of the Official Report by the Hon. David A. Wells, on the "Revenue of the United States of America for 1869;" a reprint of four letters upon "Commercial Treaties, Free Trade, and Internationalism," by a "Disciple of Richard Cobden," which had appeared in the Manchester Examiner and Times; and the report of the proceedings at the page 50 Annual Dinner presided over by the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P.

In 1871 the Committee published and distributed a translation, by Colonel Ouvry, C.B., of Professor Nasse's well-known "Treatise on the Village Community of England in the Sixteenth Century;" a reprint of the "Report of the Commissioners (the Hon. David A. Wells, the Hon. Edwin Dodge, and the Hon. George W. Cuyler), to revise the Laws for the Assessment and Collection of Taxes in the State of New York;" the "Report of the Proceedings at the Annual Dinner presided over by the Right Hon. Earl Granville, K.G.;" a pamphlet upon "The Commercial Policy of France and the Treaty with England of 1860," which, having been translated by Mr. Murray, was, at the instance of M. Michel Chevalier, published in Paris, and extensively circulated throughout France; a Spanish translation of the same pamphlet was independently published at Madrid, by Senor Gabriel Rodriguez.

At the close of the year the Committee published a second volume of Essays, of which a second edition was issued, upon various subjects of great international, social, and economic importance, viz.:— page 51 "The Causes of War, and the Means of Reducing their Number," by M. Emile de Laveleye; "The Law and Custom of Primogeniture," by the Hon. George C. Brodrick; "The Present Aspect of the Land Question," by William Fowler, Esq., M.P.; "Financial Reform," by T. E. Cliffe Leslie, Esq.; "A New Commercial Treaty between Great Britain and Germany," by Dr. Julius Faucher; "The English Coinage Question," by Herr John Prince Smith; "Trade Unions, and the Relations of Capital and Labour," by Joseph Gostick, Esq.; "The Colonial Question," by Professor James E. Thorold Rogers; "The Recent Financial, Industrial, and Commercial Experiences of the United States, a Curious Chapter in Politico-Economic History," by the Hon. David A. Wells, LL.D.; and in the same volume the pamphlet upon the "Commercial Policy of France and the Treaty with England of 1860," is incorporated.

During 1872, a reprint of Mr. Grant Duff's speech at Elgin, upon "The Teachings of Richard Cobden," and the "Second Report of the Commissioners (the Hon. David A. Wells, the Hon. Edwin Dodge, and the Hon. George W. Cuyler), to revise the Laws for the Assessment and Collection of Taxes page 52 in the State of New York" were distributed, together with an essay by Lord Hobart on "The Mission of Richard Cobden."

In 1873 the dinner, which was postponed from the previous year, was held at the Ship Hotel, Greenwich, when the chair was occupied by the Right Hon. T. Milner Gibson.

A report of the proceedings on this occasion, including the speech on the Results of Protection in the United States, delivered by the Hon. David A. Wells, with a preface by Sir Louis Mallet, also a separate report of Mr. Wells' speech for the United States and the Colonies, and an abstract of the same speech in French and German, for the Continent, have been very widely circulated. The Committee have reason to believe that this publication has been of material service to the cause of Free Trade, both in the United States and in the Colonies, especially in Australia, where a signal success has recently been achieved, under the guidance of the Hon. Henry Parkes, in the almost entire abolition of protective duties by the Legislature of New South Wales, which, it is believed, will necessitate a similar policy being adopted in the other Australian colonies.

During the present year the Committee have dis- page 53 tributed among the members of the Club, the public libraries, and in other channels, Professor Thorold Rogers' work on "Cobden and Political Opinion," and they have assisted in the circulation of the "Financial Reform Almanack for 1874." They have also presented an English translation of a selection of Bastiat's Essays on Political Economy to libraries and other institutions where it will be of special service to working men.

The number of copies of each publication distributed by the Committee from the commencement, together with the entire amount expended under this head, will be found recorded, with other items, in the Appendix.

The Committee have at all times sought for the most useful channels, both public and private, through which to impart information to all parts of the world, especially where the English language is spoken.

The number of libraries throughout the world, and the various associations and public institutions with which they are in communication will be found in the Appendix.

Mr. Cobden's letters are in course of collection by Mr. Richard, M.P., with a view to publication. They page 54 will be published independently of the Club, but the Committee will consider it a duty to afford every assistance in their circulation.

In 1868, to meet the wish of several members, the Committee procured the use of rooms in Pall Mall for weekly social gatherings, but gave them up in the following year, as the attendance disappointed their hope.

The Committee have endeavoured from time to time to encourage the advocacy of Mr. Cobden's principles by the award of medals.

A gold medal was presented in 1869 to Dr. Leavitt, the author of the Prize Essay already mentioned; and medals in bronze were presented for various services to persons both in England and abroad. In 1870, silver medals were awarded to the writers of the Essays on Systems of Land Tenure, to Sir Louis Mallet, and to Mr. Lieber of New York. In the present year, a gold medal has been presented to the Hon. Henry Parkes, for his distinguished services in promoting Free Trade in New South Wales.

In 1870, the first decided steps were taken towards procuring new club-house accommodation for the Liberal party in London, the want of which page 55 has been long felt. It had been an object of the Cobden Club from the commencement to meet this want, and the Committee undertook to render their best services in the promotion of the undertaking. A memorial was received by them last year, numerously signed by members of the Cobden Club, strongly urging the same subject upon their consideration.

While the Committee will cordially assist in this object, they are far from recommending that the Cobden Club should be merged in an ordinary Club, or converted into that form, as its functions are, and should continue to be, literary and political, according to the objects of its founders. They hope, however, by co-operating in the organisation of a new Liberal Club, to secure for their members facilities for entering the Club when formed, ^* and an official habitation for themselves. They hope also to obtain privileges for occasional entertainments, and for the hospitable reception of their foreign honorary members visiting page 56 London, which would greatly increase the usefulness of a national Liberal Club having international as well as party political objects. In the meantime the Committee recommend that rooms or an office should be obtained for their own use.

The Committee have been desirous from the commencement to perpetuate and extend the international influence which Cobden commanded during his lifetime, and therefore made it an essential part of their programme to enrol amongst their honorary members eminent men of all countries, and to associate them in the work of promoting amity and improving the commercial and political relations between nations.

The number of foreign honorary members is now very considerable, and if, in connection with a new Club-house, the Committee are able to offer substantial hospitality in addition to the interchange of ideas through letters and publications, their hands will be greatly strengthened in their foreign work.

Early in 1870 the Committee considered the expediency of an international Conference of English and foreign free-traders, to be held in London, under the auspices of the Cobden Club, and a programme for such a Congress was drafted, but the scheme was page 57 interrupted by the outbreak of the European war in that year. The project has since been under the consideration of the Committee, but has not yet been matured.

The Committee came to the decision some years ago that it was not desirable that an annual dinner of the Club should be held as a matter of course, but that, when possible, an entertainment or gathering of some kind should be given on the occasion of the visit of some distinguished foreigner, or in honour of some eminent statesman of this country.

In accordance with this view they hope that an opportunity for such a gathering may be offered the Club during the present year.

With regard to the future action of the Club, the Committee, in accordance with recent resolutions, submit the following proposals:—

To publish in a cheap form a selection from Mr. Cobden's speeches and works, and books and pamphlets calculated to further the cause of Free Trade, for circulation in Great Britain, the United States, and the British Colonies.

To assist in promoting lectures and publications on Political Economy, and instituting rewards for essays in accordance with Mr. Cobden's views.

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To communicate with friends in other countries with a view of circulating Free Trade publications and helping on measures likely to promote international amity.

The Committee have immediately in view the preparation of a new volume of Essays on Local Government and Taxation in the United Kingdom and other countries. They have entrusted the choice of Writers to the Literary Committee, whose services, so often rendered since 1869, they most cordially acknowledge. They trust that, as the subject is one of great and immediate importance both in our country and abroad, the forthcoming publication will be opportune and useful, and as highly appreciated as were the two previous series of essays.

While thus submitting proposals for future action to the collective opinion of the Club, the Committee hope that full discretion will be accorded to them, as heretofore, in their endeavours to direct the policy of the Club in accordance with its original objects.

The Committee will take such measures as they may find desirable for an Annual Meeting of the Members of the Club, for the election of the Committee, and for the transaction of such business as may be brought before it on notice.

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The Cobden Club now consists of 509 Ordinary Members, and 185 Honorary Members.