Sheldon Richman on Jane Cobden

Among libertarians and classical liberals, the
name Richard Cobden (1804–1865) evokes
admiration and applause. His activities — and successes — on behalf
of freedom, free markets, and government retrenchment are
legendary. Most famously, he cofounded — with John Bright— the
Anti–Corn Law League, which successfully campaigned for repeal of
the import tariffs on grain. Those trade restrictions had made food
expensive for England’s working class while enriching the landed
aristocracy. Cobden’s legacy is much appreciated by libertarians,
but one aspect of it is largely unknown, writes Sheldon
Richman. Cobden’s third daughter and fourth child, Emma Jane
Catherine Cobden (later Unwin after she married publisher Thomas
Fisher Unwin), carried on his work. Born in 1851, she was a liberal
activist worthy of her distinguished father.

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