Cobden, Richard

Cobden, Richard (kŏb`dən), 1804–65, British politician, a leading spokesman for the Manchester school. He made a fortune as a calico printer in Manchester. A firm believer in free trade, after 1838 he devoted himself to the formation and work of the Anti-Corn-Law League. Campaigning both inside and outside Parliament (to which he was elected in 1841), he finally won over Sir Robert Peel, and the corn laws were repealed in 1846. After 1849, Cobden concerned himself chiefly with foreign policy, advocating nonintervention in Europe and an end to imperial expansion. He became unpopular for his opposition to the Crimean War (1854–56) and lost his parliamentary seat in 1857. Reelected in 1859, he negotiated (1859–60) the "Cobden Treaty" for reciprocal tariffs with France. Like his close associate John Bright, he favored the North in the Civil War in the United States (which he had twice visited). His many speeches, letters, and pamphlets have been published.

Bibliography

See biography by W. Hinde (1987); study by D. Read (1967).

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Cobden, Richard

Cobden, pencil sketch by V. Manzano; in the West Sussex Record Office (Cobden Papers 762)

(credit: Courtesy of the Governors of Dunford and the County Archivist of West Sussex)

(born June 3, 1804, Dunford Farm, near Midhurst, Sussex, Eng.—died April 2, 1865, London) British politician. He gained an independent fortune in the calico wholesale business. After travel to study trade policies in Europe and the U.S., he wrote pamphlets on international free trade. He was elected to Parliament (1841–57, 1859–65) and, with his close associate, John Bright, successfully fought to repeal the Corn Laws. In the 1850s he argued for friendly relations with Russia, even after the Crimean War had begun. He helped negotiate a commercial treaty with France (1860) that included a most-favoured-nation clause later duplicated in other treaties.

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Cobden, Richard 

Born June 3, 1804, in Dunford Farm, near Midhurst, Sussex; died Apr. 2, 1865, in London. British political leader, ideologist of the industrial bourgeoisie, and leader of the free traders; a factory owner.

Cobden was one of the leaders of the Anti-Corn Law League (founded in 1838). From 1841 to 1857 and from 1859 to 1865 he was a member of the House of Commons. He struggled to abolish privileges of the landed aristocracy; he defended the system of unlimited competition, thus ensuring the dominance of the industrial bourgeoisie within the country and the winning of foreign markets. He was an opponent of factory legislation and trade unions. In the context of Great Britain’s worldwide industrial and trade monopoly, Cobden advocated, in a pacifist vein, arms reductions and international arbitration; he sharply criticized Palmerston’s foreign policy. He helped organize a series of world peace congresses (1848–51).

WORKS

In Russian translation:
Liga i bor’ba protiv khlebnykh zakonov: Rechi v parlamente i na mitingakh. Moscow, 1899.

REFERENCE

Marx, K., and F. Engels. Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 15. (See index of names.)