[684] ... In the first quarter of the 19th century the abolition of wage control, the enforcement of market bargaining and the ending of the old apprenticeship system were all steps towards the achievement of a free labour market. Internally the food trades became virtually free, and exrernally, in the 1820's, many tariffs (including, of course, the highy protective Corn Laws) were scaled down. Nevertheless, there remained in existence many statutes which grievously violated the principle of laissez-faire. The Navigation Laws still required that Britain's trade be carried mainly in British ships. This created monopoly conditions for British ship owners and builders, and allowed inefficiency to flourish. The costs of sea carriage were kept up, to the bitter resentment of traders.Until the 1820's a wide range of export controls existed, on coal, skilled labour, and machinery (although they were completely ineffectual in the cases of labour and machinery). The achievement of free trade was delayed