Star. — London, England, 1814-09-10 00:00:00

REPORT ON TIIE CORN Lilliet trnuic TS from the Minutes of Evidence taken before the Refer C,nn miner tho House of Commons, on Petitions relating to the Corn I awe. Veueris,loo die Janis, 1814. Wri.i.tAm DRIVER, E)q. examined. What are you ? A land-surveyor. Ht many years' experience have you had as a land-surveyor ? Abnut five or six and tHrty •ears. In what part of England has your experience as a surveyor chiefly lain ? In all the home counties. Are you aware of what the increase in the rent ni land has been, between the years 1792 and 1804 ? Iu the last five and twenty years, the rent of land has ,;,),Ibled itself ;. and perhaps, about four years ago, rent of land was higher than it is now. Di' you think there is an increase of the tillage of the country, independently of the enclosures ? There is n , t much variation. COI you form an opinion at what rate corn should sell at present, to enable the tenants to pay the rents they pay in general ? At the rents that were settled . . four or five years ago, wheat ought to be from five and twenty to thirty pounds a load, or twelve shillings and sixpence a bushel : we have not set the rents so high lately as abut that period. In setting the rent of land, do you take the present price ot the day ? No; we consider both the liability of rising and of falling. You think, with the wheat at the price of £2O a load, if e tenants could pay the rents now fixed ? Yes, what has beet) lately fixed. This is the value you would put upon a farm, con sisting of arable and pasture together ? Yes, about bal. ot each• D.- not you take - into your consideration, in valuing an estate, the exnenses of that estate as well as the price of corn ? Always ; the taxes of all sorts, except pro. serty tax. If the property tax should be dropped, what diffe rence would you make ? We do not consider that to make an alterati a in the value of land, only that the lamer puts so muci, 1.-ss into his pocket. If labour should become cheaper, do you think that Would m. ice a .ritfereace ? Yes, certainly. Do you think that if the price of corn was 60s. a quarter, he price of tabour would go down to the same that :t was previously to the war ? Certainly not. %tat do you think would be the relative prdpr tion ? The present price is upon the average about 15s. a week ; I think it may be reduced to 12s. What was it before the war ? From seven to nine shillings a week. Can you state what are the increased expenses up on a farm of 400 acres, in comparison to those before the war ? I should thiilk double. Do you think that a farm t at was let at £4OO a year before the wa,. and ii now let at 8800 a year, the expenses being in the mean time doubled, would, at the present price of corn, allow a greater profit to the farmer than it did in the year 1795 ? Certainly not. When you are called upon to fie a rent upon a farm, how do you get at the value ? We first go over the land, and ascertain what quantity of corn or grain, or other produce, per acre, each field will pro duce ; we then consider the distance of the market towns, the. conveyance by canals or otherwise; next, the outgoings, particularly the tithes, and in what way they are taken: we make those deductions from the actual produce of the land, and give the farmer his fair proportion of the profits. You also consider the distance of manure ? Cer• tainly; but in many parts of England there is no manure but what they make from their own farm ; if it is near a great town, of course that would be con sidered. What do you consider a fair profit to the farmer? Th.it depends upon the quantity of land, the magni tude of the farm, and the capital employed : a sm ,11 farmer must have a larger profit than a larg • firmer. What proportion do you generally 'fix One-third for the farmer, one-third for the landlord, and one -third for the expenses; but there is no certain rule; there are no two farms alike. Upon poor lands, would the rull of one-third apply ? Flo; it would vary according to the quality of the nod. Upon a tillage farm of 400 acres of heavy city land, how many rents must the tenant make to have a fair profit ? From four to five. There is a great quantity of that land in cultiva tion ? 'There is. It is generally wheat land? Wheat, and oats, and beans ; no barley at all. Do you think the proportion of rent was greater or less upon such lands 25 years ago ? I cannot say : those Lands were excessively low at that time; many of them I put at five or six shillings an acre, that now pet at 12 or 14. The tillage rf those lands is greatly improved ? Very much indeed. To what do you attribute the improved cultiva tion ? To the increased price of corn ; if corn was extremely low, that land would not be worth culti vating. This anster applies to poor lands in ge neral, as well sandy as clay land. Do yon co.'ceive that the cultivation of those lends will be negleted, and their produce consequently greatly impaired, if the !_rice of wheat should be under a.:20 a load ? Certainly, if much under £2O. What proportion of the wheat corn now raised in England do y;nl conceive is the produce of lands entning Iv: thin that des::: iption ? It is very considerable but I cannot say what proportion. What would be the course of husbandry to which those hods would be directed, in case wheat should he below £il2o a load ? They would return to their fldi oral state, grass, heath, or furze. Grass of a good kind ? — No a I speak of grass with respect to the clay lands, and heath or furze as to the light lands. At what value should you rate corn now in setting the rent of an estate ? From 16 to 18 pounds. Upon a lease of what length ? I never recommend longer than seven years. What do you think would be the effect of your pre. sent valuation of £l6 a load ? That it would be a se rious injury to the greatest part of the farmers, throughout the kingdom, under existing leases, ant. ruin to many of them. What would be the effect upon the quantity of coil grown in the country ? There would be a consideraba seduction ; very few c. - arld afford to grow it at all. What persons would be able to grow it at all? None, but upon the very good laud, where they produce at, . • imkzing clop ; perhaps from four to Rye quarters an tcre, and which requires but a small cultivation, Do you conceive that the effect of the cultivation a wheat being confined to very good lands, would be o raise the rent of those lands ? Certainly, of those Lind: only, not of others.—Lowering the rents of all ethers ? Yes. Why would the rents of those land. only ;,t- raised ? Because the labour upon those lands is less than upon other lands, and that they will produce -fore corn with the same cultivation. That would be the consequence of the bad lauds being thrlwn out of cultivation ? Yes. You have said, that few could grow corn at all if the price fell so low ; if the rents were reduced, would they go on cultivating? Of course, where there is no lease existing, if the rent was reduced to the price of the corn; it would be the sante thing ; but that will not reduce labour to its original price, for if men get a certain price, if they have too much, they will work only three or four days a week instead of six, or they will spend it in spirits. If the rents were the same as they were 20 years ago, they could then cultivate at the 4115 a load ? No, because labour wi•uld not be reduced, and other expenses : if all other expenses were reduced to what they were 20 years ago, then they could cultivate as before. You are understood to have stated, that if wheat were reduce/ below ,f;18 a load, a great proportion of the heavy clay land would be forced opt o f cultivation ? Yes, if much under £lB a lead. Do you not conceive that the present low price of grain is wholly occasioned by the abundant crop of last harvest, and not in expectation of any foreign im port ? Ceitainly not ; it is the alarm of importation .broad. Are you aware of any large importation of foreign corn ? There is an expectation of it. Are you aware whet .er any foreign corn has hen imported ? N.), I do not allude to any particu:ar quantity lately imported ; brut the farmers ate mush alarmed, and of course hying every busitel to market. Is there very great alarm among the occupiers at I +MI In this country ? Very great, indeed ; so much that we can hardly let land at all. it Jo you conceive will be the effect of that alarm upon the pi °piaci of the wheat season of next year ? Ido 'int think it will immediately operate, for persons who have their land in a course, must pursue that course. You have stated, that inferior lands would be forced out of cultivation to a very great extent ; how will the deficiency of corn be supplied ? Oily by importation. It the toreign import is only equal to the diminish ed growth at home, will not toe prices remain the same ? Of course. Then if the foreign imports should occasionally fail, and deticiency be created at home, will not the ptict s become in those years excessive ? Csatainly, as it will produce a real scarcity. Has immovable property doubled in trice &nee 1792? I think it doubled to within about four or five veers; and that since that time it has considerably de. creased in value. Do you mean houses in London ? Houses and ground •reuts in general. Li country towns, such as Northampton and Wm.- cester ? Yes ; they rose very much indeed, but have latterly decreased. • Latterly, land has decreased Yes, but nothing like I houses ; houses are the heaviest articles we have to get rid or. • According to the present price of 14broir, do you conceive the poor can earn sufficient to twintain their families without resorting to the pit i sit ? I think they can, except where they have very huge Do you believe the situation of the poor, generally speaking, at this rn. meat is wore nr be.'er than it was 2'.) years ago ? I think considerably better. You think the poor in a better situ:l6:li, paying 13d. the quartern that, 6J. ? ilshey are e,ei er thy allowed to grow potatoes, and these are halt the sup, port of the family. SAbbati, 110 die lunii, 1814. Mr. JOHN CLA JUDGE, exanria.d. What is your business? I am a land agent and surveyor. For how many years have you been so ? Since 1772. At what price of corn do you estimate the rent ►►f land now? I should take my avertige upon this broad data of Rn. a bushel, wi►ich I coosider the farmer entitled to; it he sold his corn for less, he could not exist. Upon what principle do you assume, that 10s. a bushel is the lowest price ? Upon this—that a man shall pay a fair and moderate rent for his ltud ; that the taxation shall be nearly what it is in Ow tural parishes ; and that his produce shall be some where about 20 bushitls to the acre. What would be the effect of corn being upon an average of years at Bs. a bushel, upon the cold stiff class of poorer lands, which now produce corn ? The incitements that there are now, and the spirit a the country to cultivate the wa.te and poor lands, would cease, and they would turn them into sheep-walks— they would not pay the expense of cultivation, if wheat was at 3or is. or to come back to the old price of ss. a bushel. Is there not a very. considerable proportion t,f the wheat of this kingdom raised now upon strong cold clays and pox land ? A great deal. 1)o you conceive that the abundant harvest of last year is the cause of the present price of grain ? I think it is a very material one. The great increase of land under tillage is another, is it not ? It is. Upon an average crop, do you conceive the prices would be likely to be more moderate and ►toady, consequence of the increased growth of this kingdom ? Yes.-1)o not the agricultural improvement"; recently adopted enable the tarmers, with reference to expen diture and produce, to cultivate grain at a lower price than could have been the case had that improved sys tem of husbandry never been adopted ? The recent improvements upon land have tended to increase the produce very materially. Is the Committee to understand, that in your opi nion the interior lands in Yorkshire, and other coun ties, would be thrown nut of the cultivation of wheat if the price were to be As. a bushel ; the prices of sheep, wool, and Other produce, excepting wheat, remaining near ly at their present rate ? I think, under those circumstances, the cultivation of Wheat would be discontinued. Vs'oull those lands remunerate the farmer, if the price d.f bailey and oats were reduced in proportion .o that of wheat ? I think they might. . Do you conceive that the large lauded props ietors .1 b. of this kingelam have generally let their lands upon fair and moderate rents? Cheaper, in general, than any other, persons : great owners; and the nobility, are the cheapest landlords of any persons in the kingdom. Is there not a ionsideraisle alarM airing the Occit, Pints or lands at this moment ? No doubt of it. Whit is the ground of that alarm ? A fear of the price of et• ry thing tailing—all produce. A fear of all agricultural produce falling below a remuneratinc price ? Yes. Will not the effect of that alarni be, to discourage improvements in agriculture ? No doubt. Do you conceive that if the alarm continues, there will not be a difficulty in finding good tenants, with sufficient capitals for farms ? Not at fair and just prices ; not at 10s. a bushel. If the expectation shoul..l be entertained by the farmers of wheat being at ltis. a 'atl, would the farmers continue under any alarm ? I think the alarm would subside. If the rent of land were calculated at a rate pro portioned to the price of 9s. a bushel, du you think there would be any difficulty in procuting good tenants at that price ? lam decidedly of opinion, that it should not be less than 10s. Marti% 14° die rutin, 1814. Mr. Ranitar HARVEY, examined. You are a lanti.agent and surveyor ? I am a land• agent ; I am not much conversant with the measure ment of hod; Ho v long have you been employed in that way ? Thirty years. In what counties have you been employed?— Mostly in Staffordshire. • Have there been many inclosures in Staffordshire ? A great many. Would those inclosed lands continue in tillage for corn at Bs. a bushel ? I think not : out of the four years there are two that you get grain crops, one turnips, and one of seeds ; when. the turf is worn oat, they have unfortunately been in the habit of marling a great deal, which, while the turf remains, produces amazing crops at first, but they fail afterwards. Supposint: them to be turned into pasture, would the crops bo as gond as before ? If they were well managed ti,cy would; it depends upon theq nighty of tht: land, and the reeds that are sown; I am not cer tain whether a great deal of the land that has been, enclosed and ploughed, and produced great crops, if it had been limed upon, the surface would not pro duce a better turn eta') that which would succeed it, after having been in tillage. You have never waned any land at more than 10s. 6d. the inchester bushel ? Never. Do you apprehend that there are lauds let at a higher value upon leases ? With us we have no .eases ; the tenants seldom !•eqiiire any. Is the quantity of the tillage land more than it waa 20 years ago, independent 0: common and waste land? A great deal mete in the last seven years than in the two preceding seven years. Do sou think that if wheat was under ten shillings a bushel. they would continue to cultivate the tillage land ? 1 think they would nut. Do you rot save something in your expences by thrashing machines ? No ; I have one which Ike,. shut up fur time two years, it does not answer the purpme. • . Is there any alarm among the occupiers of land, in elms: qirence of an apprehension of the land being Ewer ? Yes, lOW cola by a gentleman from Hen.. fordshire, that 10: tenants have refused to settle with him, in consevence of the Corn Bill having been thrown out ; they want to have their rents reduced, and he has promised them they shall. Would the effect of such an alarm, if continued, discourage improveMents i Certainly. Do you conceive it:would also have the effect of creating a difficulty in finding good tenants with suf cient capitals l Yca. (ro be continued.) During the visit of the Emperor ALIMANDER in this country lie was presented with some documents on the subject of religious liberty, by a Catholic Gentleman, from Lancashire, for the purpose of interesting him in the estaldislimcnt of uNi versa' freedom of conscience both for Jew and Christian. Previous to the depar tub e of that amia!).e Monarch, he also received papers rel itive to the awe Trade, which he read attentively nu his passage, and which :eft Stich An impression on his beni2volent nriad as to induce his declaration, that Africa should have his attention. The dispositions and influence of this model for Kings, leave a hope, that in the adjustment . of the 'affairs of Europe, the triends of humanity and teleration may have little to lama% Wednesday se'nnig'lt, as Mr. Wilkinson, junior, farmer, of Lenton, Notts, was endeavouring to ap pease the anger of one of his own bulls, by giving him some sugar; an article which had had a goon effect before, the animal, though chained, (bagged him to the ground, and by kneelinr, upon him, bvilte an arm and a leg, the latter receiving one of the most dangerous compound fractures which can possibly be conceived. Mr..W. however, refused to submit to amputation, and every possible effort is making to save his limb. At the Spread Eagle public house, Mill Bank, where a drag is kept by the Humane Society, and the other apparatus for restoring life in the car: of drowned persons, a very singular but melancholy combination of circumstances has taken place duridg the week : —Two corpses were yesterday lying at the house, both taken out of the River in the course ()Idle week. A Mrs. Tilling, who had kept the said pub-' lic house nearly forty years, and who, a few years ago, had given it up to her niece and her husband, still continued to reside in the house in a private apart ' merit, and was frequently in the habit of taking a so. litary walk on the Bank. This Lady was about 69 years of age, and had a small independence of her own. She had never shewn any dissatisfaction waL her situation, but, on the contrary, seemed to live ccmtortably with her friends. Early on Monday, however, a watertnan discovered something floating in the River, nearly opposite the !louse, and on his going out in his boat, he found it to be t:.e b• dy of woman floating, with her lacy downwards. was brotight to the very house of wriicii bIIC was an inmate, and was immediately recognised by her who, till then, had not niis-rd her. Tile Co roner's Introt sat an Turgid'', and brought iu a vei t—Acctieutal lhatts. BARNETT GAYEST, CHEMIST, LONDO/t - INEORIVI3 the PUIsI.IC and ki AVENUE . In 131kUINGH1M atil hi ENlrtitaNs in tbAtt rictitAft, That upwards of rhree Teousand Vatienti, Ath et.d. with Gout, !theft matistu. .&c. which have h:en admitted into One at more of the bhndoe H.tsdit.ds du int; the last twenty one years, Ind after centinu:n . 4 there a reasnnahle tine, ini that returned from Oen . ' without being 'relieved, on applp: ing to him have he.'n cereal, an , i, in let's elms tbaO one hour, did receive such sell •f As ad Other media cities can 0 - e, he trill') of which ea" b p rw ed, not only by the idents,. but by this-books ul Hinpitals. Humanity afore would have induced & G. lost* since to have made these discoveries more gercrallir us.ftil, but as these C . ,esskal PrepiST4•l.4l% .ere posed in part from Exotic Vegetables, which Jiifiag the war could only he obtained in small tiu and at uncertain intervals, it consequonly ren-ierea it impossible. This difficulty being now removedi be is enabled to execute ord rs to any amount, and will, in future, grant an exclu right to A•respectable Chemist or Druggist in all the principal Towns in this Kingdom to prictice will them; but na one Ad be appointed unless he attends the Guestonian Hos pital for fourteen days, where he will not only see their salutary efficacy, but will likewise be enabled to direct their use with precision ; and as these pre. paratio AS, like all other secret medicines, partici'. larly topical ones, are frequently improperly applied, every such Chemist or Druggist, so appointed, must never sell them without first applying diem once on each and every Patient, on pain of subjecting himself to a severe penalty, these preparations having been established in London on this plan only, never having been retailed by any one here except myself. But having been sold wholesale by the London Medicine Venders during the last eighteen months, I am new more than ever convinced of the truth of the above observations, and in con-equence thereof am obliged to decline executing the orders of as respectable a set of Gentlemen as can be found in London, and for whose favours 1 feel myself infinitely obliged. Mr. CHARLES WADS, Chemist and Drugeist, iQ Birmingham, having used the above Chemical Pre• parations under the personal directions of B. G. finds himself perfectly capable of administering them with success ; And hiving purchased an exclusive right to practice with th.:l. he requests me to inform the public thereof. I have only further to observe, that those who are afflicted with disorders of extreme pain, and wishing to know if they can be cured,' may receive this id...m -m.l6°n in one hour ; for if they are not relieved its that time, a cure is not to be expected from them s but if they are relieved, there can be no doubt of a perfect restoration, by continuing the use ef these restoratives a reasonable time. And all those poor patients being so afflicted, that come recommended to him as such by the following Gentlemen, may receive this info' oration by once using, w shout being subject to any expense, except One Shilling, which must paid for a Pamphlet, rhit contiiins Sixty three Cases f extraordinary Cures pet formed on all descriptions of Patienti. For further information see Mr. WADE, Dale-end, Birrnioghani. Joss DOLPUIN, Hail-Green. Joule Guest, Esq. King's Norton. Mi. ilteMraltr GUEST, Merchant, Tilrnilnelan. Messrs. AECHER and Sot+, G n 'oaken', Rutm vigilant. Mr. JOHN 1 uaaea, Gun-maker and Factor, Bi.mliislises, Mr JOHN Guasr, jun. King's Macon. Mr. JUDD DOLPHINJUN Hall• Green. Those that wish to see GUE•T'S Guide from Pain to Certain Ease and i'elfeci Health, may receive this information in La Belle Assent/Fe, or in the Repo. sitory of Arts, I iterature, Fir. in which will be published One Hundred Cases of most extraordinary Cures ; Eighty-nine of them may now be seen in the STAR Newspapers, which are filed in one or more Libraries in all the principal Towns in this Kingdom. INcrussr.—Yesterday an Inquest was held at the Distiller's Arms, Great Saffron-hill, before George Hodgson, Esq. Coroner for Middlesex, on the body of T. Quilton, a labourer, whose death was reported to be occasioned by cruel and severe beating from a watchman in Field-lane, on Tuesday morning. Mr. R. Davis, jun. a*surgeon, of Holborn-hill, stated, that he opened the body, and found the left lung very much diseased, but not from any recent cause ; that on opeoing the abdomen be found a qu.intity . of Raid of a chocolate colour, some coagulated blood, with other matter, and that this was principally on the right site ; that these symptoms might have been produced by a fallr blow, but no marks of violence appeared on the body. J. Smyrk, a constable, said, that about half past three o'clock, on Tuesday morn ing, W. Chaplin, a watchman, reported that there was a number of disorderly pers'ns at the One Tun pub lic house, at the corner of Field-lase, which the land lord could not turn out, and called for assistance ;,—. that witness and the watch-house-keeper went, but on hearing a noise of quarrelling up higher in the lane, be went forward, where there was a Mrs. Brown, a very turbulent wom.tn, making a disturbance ; the deceased was cauding near her window. He was very abusive, and asked what we had to do with the matter ? he appeared to be a little iii bquor. Witness told him they were officers, and desired him not to interfere, but to no purpose, for he still kept making such a nois:, that witness gave him in charge to the v:atchman, on which he became more violent. Wit ness then tools him by the arm, and deceased struck at him ; he warded off the blow, and be in.! the de. ceased grappled each other, and had a wrestle, they both fell. and the deceased called out to the S Afton hill boys t they had two or three fAlls together, but witness dM not pi rceive the deceased receive any in• jury from them ; he was taken to the wA.ch-h•aise, And afterwards to the Poultry Compter, without making any complaint, until he was ordered to be taken to Guildhall, htture the Tilagistritte ; when he complained of being so unwell, that a coach wa. pro• cured for him. Witness told the M.gisti ate. that in consid.ration of his illness, he would wish to w th draw tim charge, which the Mao striate appri ved of, and it.:vised w:tness to see hink home in a c. oh, which he did, and he had not seen him mace. %%Tibet—. Died by the Visitation of Goo Another Inqu.st was he'd at the s;gn of the Red Lion, the coiner of itd4 Liorostreet, ifiltioro, on the oody of Signor Padaon, whet fell &lowa in the street e vitred. V.et%tiat—Sbitigsa JJtAtu a by the Vaiw thda tt Geis sq, • ~ ,•ii% V' '-!- - Nu