Star. — London, England, 1821-06-23 00:00:00

tion to the profit of other active capitals; and what- • siper may be the temporary effect of a casual derange ment, it is obvious that this proportion must perma nently be maintained, because the application of ca pital would otherwise be changed from one mode of employment to another, until the proper level was re stored. So fat :•erefrnr as taxes fall upon the profits of the active capitals of the country, whatever may be the objects upon which they immediately attach, or the parties by whom they are, : in the first instance, paid, they operate, in their ultimate effect, as an abate ment of those-profits, equally affecting the trading, the manufacturing, and the farming interests, by di minishing their means either of enjoyment, or of ac cumulating further capital by savings from their an- nual incomes. The manner and extent in 'which other classes of the community, and other sources of income may be affected by taxatiOn, do not come directly within the scope of the present inquiry; but your Commit :e think it necessary to notice •a doctrine which has prevailesl in sonic quarters—that the price of corn in this country, in order to remunerate the grower, must increase in the same ratio as the amount of our pubiic revenue, so that if the latter be doubled, the price of corn must be doubled also. If this assump• Lion were well founded, it would follow, that, ex clusively of any change in the value of money, the remunerating price in 1821, would be nearly one third lower than it was in 1811, taxes not much short of that proportion to the•whole of our revenue hav ing been taken off in Great Britain since that year. But without denying that the price of corn may be in some degree affected by adding to our general taxation, and that any charges particularly ,paid* by the farmer, such as tithes and poor rates, must tend more directly to taioe that price, it is obvious, from what has been already stated, that the cost of grow ing corn in any country is regulated by the amount of capital necessary to produce it upon lands paying no rent, and that it is' the price of the portion of corn which is so raised that determines the price of all other corn ; and that an increase of general taxes, I affecting alike the profits of capital in all the dif ferent branches of industry, would not necessarily raie the ' , rice of the particular produce of any one. The price of corn, therefore, might fall in a coun try, notwithstanding additional taxation, if the quail- tity required for the consumption of that country could be raised, either by the cultivation of mote fertile and pi'oductive soils, or by the application of a diminished capital to the same soil, in consequence of increased skill or improvements in husbandry.— In fact, no rise in the price of corn appears to have taken place during three of the wars in which this country was engaged during the last century, com pared with the prices of the years preceding and suc ceeding those wars; and during the last of them, the American- war, prices were lower than during the peace. This circumstance is the more to be remarked, as there never was, perhaps, a period at which the burden of taxation appeared to press more heavily upon the resources of the country, and in which an annual increase of taxes, accompanied with an an nual diminution of revenue, and a general stagna tion of improvements, indicated more strongly that , a part of those taxes must have been paid out of the capital, and not out of the income of the nation. On the other hand, however immense the expen diture of the la'" war, it is impossible to review the vast private undertakings, begun and completed during that war, in every branch of industry, with out feeling that those funds by which alone the pro ductive powers of the country can be put in motion, must have been greatly increased, and that the accu mulation of national capital, however impaired by loans, or retarded by taxes, has, upon the whole, been large and progressive during that period. " If in the same space of time the national capital of some other country has not increased, or has in creased only in a much smaller proportion, the mere comparison of the nominal amount of the public re venue of that country with'the public revenue of this country, as they stood at the commencement of the period, and as they now stand, might lead to an un fair inference in respect to the degree in which each country has been affected by increased taxation. if the weight of the public burdens of a country be consi dered in reference to its population only, then (with the exception of Holland, perhaps) England is the most taxed portion of Europe ; bet if it be measured by the aggregate of national capital, or income arising from capital, divided by the total number of people among whom that capital or income is distributed, it may then be doubted whether, upon such an average, the proportion of tax to the income or capital of each individual, be not less in England than in several States of the Continent, or even in II eland ; and whe ther it be materially greater now than at former pe riods, when both the capital, the population, and the public revenue of England, were far below what they now are. But whatever might be the consolatory re sult of such a comparison, if the means of making it could be accurately ascertained, and however san guine a hope your Committee may entertain, that peace will afford increased facility and encourage ment to further accumulation, it is not less the duty of Government directly to aid that accumulation, by diminishing our expenditure, and thus both to im prove the comforts and to stimulate the skill and enterprise of those classes, by whose industry and savings the capital of the whole kingdom is aug mented. This duty, important at all times, appears to your Committee to be still more so, under the pre sent circumstances of the country ; for, whilst they are desirous of correcting the mistaken opinion, that the depression under which our Agriculture now labours, is either exclusively or principally to be attributed to taxation, they cannot disguise from themselves, that the .weight of the public burdens of the country, their nominal amount remaining the same, must be more severely felt, in proportion as the money-incomes de rived from trading, farming, and manufacturing ca pital and industry, are diminished. No exertion, therefore, should be omitted to endeavour to reduce those burdens, as nearly as circumstances will per mit, in the degree in which such incomes may have b:en reduced ;'for, in considering this subject, it is, important to bear in mind, that the general amount and the real pi essute of taxation have been positively increased, i'n-the proportion of the improved value of our currency. • • Your Committee cannot conclude the observa tions which they have found it their duty to submit tc. the licese, 'without observing that most of the . • Petitions referred to them complain of the inadequate and injurious operation of the prevent Corn Law, and pray generally for protection, not for gram only, but for all the productions of our Agriculture, equal to the protection given to the manufactures of this coun try. Within this principle the Petitioners appear to be friendly to an open trade; but, in the application of it, as expounded in some of the Petitions, and il lustrated in the examination of some of the witnesses, your Committee cannot but apprehend that the duties which they contemplate, would be altogether prohibitory. It cannot be necessary to enter into any statements to shew that, practically, this would be the result in all but seasons of scarcity, of a fixed duty of 40s. a quarter upon wheat. Your Committee will merely repeat what they have already stated, that when the trade in corn with the Continent was open, subject to the scale of duties imposed by the Acts of 1773, 1791, and 1804, and in force till 1813, there never was an importation of foreign corn to any amount during the short intervals when the high duties were demandable ; and yet those duties at no part o( the time exceeded 245. 3d. per quarter. To this fact they will only add, that what is proposed, in addition to the amount of the duty, namely, that it should be permanent, whatever may be the price,' is a proposition which your Committee are confident the Legislature could never entertain, nor any consi derable portion of the community ever countenance. " The suggestions with respect to duties equally prohibitory on every other article, the production of the srltl of this country,. all come under the same principle, and are open to the same objei.tion. The principle would, in fact, go far to annihilate com mercial intercourse altogether ; and is moreover fbunded, as it appears to your Committee, upon a mistaken statement, as well as an erroneous view of what is deemed protection to our manufactures. "In the first place, they feel the more warranted in affirming that the argument of the Petitioners rests in part upon a misconception of facts ; as they observe, that one of the witnesses, in order to illus trate his ideas and the wishes of the Petitioners, has furnished a table of the duties payable . on foreign manufactured articles, of which several are subject to direct heavy duties of Excise in this country; and upon which the importation duty, as, for instance, upon the article of glass, is imposed in a great mea sure to countervail the duty upon that article manu factured in this kingdom. " But the main grounds upon which your Com mittee are disposed to think that the House will look with some mistrust to the soundness of this principle, is—first, that it may be well doubted whether (with i the exception of silk) any of our considerable manu factures derive benefit from this assumed protection in the rpatkets of this country; for how could the foreign manufactures of cotton, of woollens, of hard ware, compete with our own in this country, when it is notorious that we can afford to undersell them in the products of those great branches of our manu factoring industry, even in their own markets, not withstanding that cotton and wool are subject to a direct 'duty on importation, not drawn back upon their export in a manufactured state, as well as to all the indirect taxation, which affects capital in these branches, in common with that capital which is em ployed in raising the productions of the soil? Se condly, that there exists this most essential difference between the effect of protection given to the manu facturer (even if he did not enjoy from natural causes a preference in the home market), and the at tempt at a similar protection and monopoly to the produce of the soil—that in all employment of capi tal, either in trade or manufactures, profits are li mited by competition. If; for any length of time, or from any circumstances, profits are increased, in any particular branch, above the accustomed average, additional capital seeks employment in that branch, and profits are again speedily reduced to their for mer level. This would equally be the case if the de mand for that particular article were doubled ; and it may further frequently happen, as we have wit nessed of late years (in all goods, for instance, wrought of iron and cotton), that, owing to discoveries in me chanical and chemical science, and improvements in the manufacture, an immense increase of consump tion may be concomitant with, and probably, in a great degree, the result of, a great fall in price. " The same principle, it is true, applies to the capi tal and business of the farmer; but with this impor tant distinction, that the price of corn, taken for any series of years, is necessarily regulated by the expense of production upon the lands which, at that price, make no return beyond the charge of raising it, to gether with the ordinary profit of the capital em ployed upon those lands. The cultivator of such lands, for the time, is upon a footing with the mer chant and the manufacturer ; but if the demand for corn were doubled it would force into cultivation poorer lands, requiring a larger capital to raise the same quantity of produce ; the price of that produce would determine the price of the whole, or those poorer lands could not Le maintained in cultivation ; for there cannot permanently be two rates of profit in the same occupation. It is sufficient for your Com ' mittee to point this ground of difference, and to leave it to the judgment of the [louse, in connection with the observations which they have already submitted in a former part of this Report. " Another wish expressed by some of the Peti tioners, and some of the witnesses, is for the repeal cl that clause in the last Act, which allows the ware housing in the United Kingdom of foreign corn, when it cannot be taken out for home consumption. "The grounds upon which this alteration of the law is suggested, for the relief of the British grower, are two-fold. Ist. That the foreign corn absorbs the capitals of the dealers, which would otherwise be em ployed in speculating in corn of British growth ; and, secondly, that it enables them to hold, in the ware houses of this country, a large stock of foreign wheat, the notoriety of which depresses the markets, from the dread of its being poured in so soon as it is set free by the prices rising above 80s. " The lust objection proceeds upon two assumptions, both of which appear to your Committee doubtful ; first, that the capitals of the dealers are absorbed in this foreign speculation; and, secondly, that if not so employed, they would speculate with them in British coin. Your Committee conceive that there is no fixed amount of capital assigned to this trade, and that it is governed by the same principles which stimulate the application of capital in all other branches of foreign or domestic commerce.— The value of all the foreign corn now in. this coOn try, which cannot be sold for home consunttion till 1 the price shall, for some weeks, have exceeded 80s. ' a quarter, is probably less than one million sterling.' British corn, by the last return, was about 535. per quarter. Can there he a doubt, if an impression pre vailed generally, that it would rise to 795. before the next harvest, that abundant capital would be found fur speculation ; and is not the want of it, at this mo ment, rather to be received as evidence of an appre hension that, in the event of another productive har vest, the present low prices would not he improved? Upon the • second. objection. your C o mmittee have only to remark, that it is unquestionably true, that the present accumulation of a great quantity of-fo reign corn, the surplus of the two or three last har vests on the Continent, would have a considerable influence upon the prices here, in the event of the ports being opened in consequence - of a deficient harvest. But the question is, whether that influence would not be nearly, if not altogether, the same, un der that contingency, if that accumulation were alto gether at the shipping ports of Holland, or other parts of the Continent, instead of being divided be tween them and the warehouses of this country ? Should the prices here be fluctuating between 70s. and 80s. some small difference might perhaps be pro duced by the knowledge of the accumulation in our own warehouses, stimulating the British grower to bring his own corn to market, to keep down the price when it was approaching to the import rate, in order to shut out the foreign supply. But in this respect, accurate information must be to him an advantage. The time might also be a little varied at which a part of the foreign corn, upon the ports being opened, might find its way hither. But this difference would not be considerable, the ports of Flanders and Holland being as convenient for the Thames as most of our own ports from which corn is shipped for London. ~ Having stated the grounds upon which your Co mmittee are of opinion that the expectations which have been entertained of advantage from the repeal of this clause, are not likely to be realized, they conceive that the views in which it was introduced, of making .this country a deposit of foreign grain, from which either our own occasional wants, al those of other na- tions, might he supplied, are, independent of other considerations, too much in unison with our general warehousing system, from which this country derives such important commercial advantages, to be aban doned, without further proof of their prejudicial ef fects to our agriculture, than any which your Com- . mittee have been able to collect from the evidence.. " It is material to observe, also, that the ware housing of foreign corn in this country Las this great advantage, that it places the supply of our wants, to the extent of the quantity warehoused, out of the reach of foreign States, putting it out of their power, in a season of scarcity, to aggravate.the pressure of those wants, either by prohibiting the expert of corn, or by imposing a heavy duty upon that export. The fact of upwards of 100,000 quarters of wheat having been recently sent from the warehouses of this country to the Mediterranean, further shews that this facility of deposit is not a matter of ,indifference to the com merce and navigation of this country. " An impression prevails in marry quarters that large quantities of corn, imported since February, 819, have recently been introduced into home con sumption. This could only have occurred by a frau dulent evasion of the law. Of the existence of this practice to a great extent, your Committee have re ceived many intimations. They appear, however, to rest upon vague rumours, which the parties, when, called upon, have not come forward, or not been able to substantiate, except in one instance, the par ticulars of which your Committee forbear to state, as it is understood that the persons concerned in the attempt are now under prosecution. They will only observe, that the quantity stated to have been with drawn was inconsiderable, and that it appears to them, if further security be requisite against the re currence of this fraud, that regulations for that pur pose may easily be devised and introduced into the Bill, now before the House, for better ascertain ing the averages. " Instead of expressing doubts with respect to the remedies which have been suggested by others, it would have been far more satisfactory to your Com mittee to have been enabled to conclude their labours by pointing out some immediate measure of alle viation, which would have been efficacious at once to mitigate the distress and to allay the alarm which prevail among the Agricultural classes of the community. " If such an expedient could have been found, even in a temporary departure from any sound and Recog nised principle of general policy on this subject, or in any modification of the existing law which could now be attempted, they might have been disposed to submit it to the favourable consideration of the House; but when, after a long and anxious inquiry, they have not been able to discover any means which, in their estimation, • are calculated immediately to remove the present pressure, they know too well their own duty to the House, and feel too much respect for the manly character of that class of the community whose difficulties have been the object of their inves tigation, either to attempt to disguise the view which they have taken of the origin and nature of those difficulties, or to recommend that specific plan of relief pointed out be the suffering pa:ties, which, however sanctioned by the arguments and prayer of their petitions, a/Spears to be founded in delusion, and likely therefore to lead only to disappointment. "So far as the present depression in the markets of Agricultural produce is the effect of abundance from our own growth, the inconvenience arises from a cause which no legislative provision can alleviate ; so far as it is the result of the increased value of . our money, it is one not peculiar to the farmer,, but which has been and still is experienced by many other classes of society. That result, however, is the more severely felt by the tenant, in consequence of its • coincidence with an overstocked market, especially if he be farming with a borrowed capital, and under the engagements of a ;ease ; and it has hitherto been further aggravated by the comparative slowness with which prices generally, and particularly the price of labour, accommodate themselves to a changein the Value of money. "From this circumstance, combined with other causes, the departure from our ancient standard, in proportion as it was prejudicial to all creditors of money and persons dependent on fixed incomes, was a benefit to the active capitals of the country ; aad it can:lot be denied that the s.; that st.sed- and has, in its turn, been proportionally tageous to many individuals belonging to the n t , ductive classes of the community, and especially to those who had engaged in speculative adventure; either of farming or trade. g , That restoration must also be accompanied, n iA embarrat•srnent to the land owner, in proportio n as his estate is encumbered with mortgages or oil fixed payments, assigned upon it during the p et i ol when land and rents were raised to an artificial val ue , in reference to the impaired value of the money it which those incumbrances were contracted. " From the cessation of public loans, the p ro b a s. lity of large accumulations of capital, and the con. scant operation of such a Sinking Fund as, i n t h e present state of our. finances, may henceforwa r d. during the continuance of peace, be regularly app priated to the reduction of the Public Debt, you r c m: mittee trust that the rate of interest of money Inv in a short time be so far reduced below th e k gi a, maximum, as to make those incumbrances a light burden upon the Landed Interest of the kingdom,...; It is an alleviation which •forrner intervals of pe nce have produced, at periods in many respects less vourable to its attainment ; and it, in the peseta io. stance, the want of that alleviation is become mo re urgent, your Committee venture to hope that, fro * the greater accumulation of capital in the country, co-operating with the effects of a positive and steady reduction of the Public Debt, this salutary result s t ut also be more speedily brought abcipt. They lo o k f or „ ward to this mode of easing the incumbrance of t h e landlord with the more anxiety, as, amidst all the injury and injustice which an unsettled currency — se evil, they trust, never again to be incurred—basin succession cast upon the different ranks of society, the share of that evil which has now fallen upon the Landed Interest, is the only one which, without in. flitting greater injury and greater injustice, admits (now that we are so far advanced in the system of a restored currency) of no other relief. The difficulties, great as they unfortunately arc, in which it has i 5. volved the Farming, the Manufacturing, and Trading Interests of the country, must diminish ix proportion as contracts, price!, and labour, adjust themselves to the present'ValUe . of money. That this change is nosy in progress, And ..has. heady taken place to a cod. derable degree, is in evidence before your Commit. tee.. They - axe gittisged that it will continue until that balante refitored, a hich will afford to labour its cruergintinerttion, and to capital its fair return. And, althotio.oeY:deepiy lament the derangement which the fluctuations.of- the last . ten. years in the value currencythe iaVe - Occasioned in all the transactionici life, together with the individual loss and suffer unavoidab'y prosduced - Vi the'return to a fixed stani• ard, they are satisfied that this was the only cotta whielrit was in the power of Parliament to adopt, as well to prevent the continuance of a derangement, leading,,as it must have led, to the aggravation cf those losses and sufferings, as to manifest to the weili the inflexible' determination of this country rigidly') - adhere to that good faith, of which the moral char* ter of the people is the sure guardian, and which, wia • that character, has placed ou r greatness and purpose upon the foundation, hitherto unshaken amidst all out vicissitudes, of public credit and national honour. " June 18, 1821... PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS. HOUSE OF LORDS, JUNE 22. The Earl of WILTON, second son of the Earl of Gaosrrio, took the oaths and his seat. His Lordship was introduced bi his noble father and the Earl of Bunt/MA.7IER. An Account of the Rates and Tolls of the Royal Mary Canal for the year 1820 was presented at the bar of the House The Vagrant Laws Amendment Bill was committed, sal the other Bills beihg read in their several stages, the Rout adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS. This day the &MAKE.' took the Chair at the usual hour. Accounts were presehted of the Imports and Exports of Its , land.—Laid on the table. Mr. CkIETW YND, with the consent of the llouse, widv drew the Summary Proceedings Bill, in order that he might introduce a more efficient Bill next Session. Mr. H1.131E gave notice, that he would to-morrow move ft Returns respecting the East India Civil and Military Colleges and Pepsions granted by the East India Company. Mr. M A BERLEY moved for certain Returns respecting& Excise and the Court of Exchequer.—Ordered. The Cinque Ports Salvage Bill was committed, and the ll► port was ordered to be received to-morrow. The Salvage Act Amendment Bill went through a Commit* tee; and the Report was ordered to be received to-morrow. The House resolved itself into a Committee on the Slaw Trade Acts, and the Report was ordered to be received to morrow. On the motion of Mr. Coasexx, the Report on the llusbstraf Horse.; Repeal Duty Bill was brought up, and, after a kit words, was ordered to be taken into further consideration • Tuesday next. On the motion of Mr. Reties, the house resolved Weiss a Committee, for the purpose of introducing a Bill to nukes limited provision for certain persons employed in the Costa:; who had suffered by the Bill for the Abolition of Fees—Lem was given to bring in the Bill. Mr. BLACKBURN E presented a Petition from the Irdtali ants of 'Manchester against the Extra Post Bill. Laid on theta* Mr. LESTER presented a Petition from Poole, in 1)ot shire, praying for a revision cf the Criminal Code. The Cust.ims Duties Bill was committed, and the &posts' tiered to be received to-tr.orrow. The Home went into a Committee on the East India Wig' housing Act. Report ordered to be received to-morrovt. The CHANCELLOR of the EN CIIEQUER brought° the Greenwich Out-Pensioners' Provision Ihll, which wad a first time, and ordered to be reed a second time on Toessbf• The Arrack Importation Bill was committed, and the Wri t ordered to be received to-morrow. The House went into a Committee co the Hops Elrr rl6l I Drawback Bill, and the Report was ordered to be remind w morrow. The Silk Manufacture Act was committed, and the &P i was ordered to be received to-morrow. The Report of the Scotch Malt Bill was troeght upi several Amendments being agreed to, the read a third time to-morrow. The Report of the Scotch Distillery Drawhcclt brought up, and, after a few words from Mr. V.. Sunni t t Bill was ordered to be read a third time to-niorniw. Mr. CIIEEVEY presented a Petition from Charles 31104 a prisoner ht Warwick Jail, complair.ing cf severictu l opt' a 1e conduct on the part of the Judges cf the Court of Ki"l 4 lk in refusing to alloW him to chew cauQe why judgmen t '"'"" not be arrested in his case..—The Petition was laid im and 9t dered to•be printed. diets* , Mr: V. SMITII presented a Petition from ! , :orsvirb ag o the Tobacco Ditties Bill.—Ordered to lie on the table. TheWhitehaven Fiqbery was read a third time pia' The Report of the Corn Average Pill was brought tlih the Amendments beim , - -reed to. the 11 th was ordered 40' read a third time on lloiluay rest.- The Report of the Isle o :blan Act was brought tir , " a l Beseiutions being agreed tu, 'leave was g i ve n to bring in A founded upon them. Mr..I.USH I NG'rON brought in the Golds Warebel Bill, which was read a first time, and ordered to bg reo* second tie to-ntorrew • Coldut: m DA VIES !I:.is finding the sense of the