The Statesman. — London, England, 1821-12-27 00:00:00

- --_;,..• THE 4GRICULTURAL DISTRESSES. (raoM THIS NORWICH MIRCURI4 We understand it to he in contemplation of the cultural Association of this county to call a public meet ing fur the purpose of considerias what means can he • allopted to alleviate the present pr sure of stairs, and to bold out a reasonable hope of prosperity in-future.-- U sack a meeting be mile& we hope moistly it will be attended by gentlemen of landed property aid by the in telligent tenantry of this opulent county, with a slow to • the fair discantsiou and elucidation of 'the real merits'of the question. In 1812 the price of wheat wasfrom 106 to 140 shillings a guilder. During the greater . part of the present year the average has not risen meat above 53-56. Here then is a depression which no piker trade could support, a depression of nearly 200 per cent. not upon the profit. but upon the whole return of the business. These prices, it is true, exhibit the extremes of high and low—but if half the amount be the actual depreciation. it is more than enough to account for the ruin of the trade and of those engaged in it. There have been abatements in rent and tithes io Most cases. These have, lately—subsequently to the first depression—been voluntarily reduced in many in stances—the one from 15 to 20--the other from 10 to iS per cent. The pries of labour' is slightly reduced, but that has alwa ; s been too low to bear much reduc tion. The cost of seed and horse provender us /orally falls with the price of corn, as does the subsistence of the parties interested. The capital em- Oloyed Is also less in proportion. Still the farmer contends, that notwithstanding an increased produc tion from superior cultivation, be cannot live--nay. be goes further, be says his profits will afford rso rest at all. We have heard the most upright and intelli gent of our Norfolk Farmers maintain that there is not a patch of land in the county that in the present stets of affairs can afford a shilling for rent ?• On the cpntrary it is urged that farms are no sooner va cated that hired—in many instances (the corporation farms in particular) at the old rents, and that though many suffer, the great body of thefts occupied in agri culture go en at Iraq if they do not prosper. Of all things then it is most desiralife to obtain a knowledge of the farts of the case. From the above statement it appears that the only item of a farmer's expenditure which remains un changed is TAXATION ; and it is now become not only a serious object. het indeed the costa' object of en quiry, whether the present weight of taxes be or be not capable of producing all this disturbance in the equilibrinui of trade and property—in the prosperity and happiness of the people. We see no reason why. under a reduction of all tl:e component parts of ex penditure, rent, tithe, seed, provender. labour, and subsistence; we see no reason, except the unaltered ' weight of taxation, that ought to render an equivalent reduction in price, so decidedly ruinous to the grower. But It is high time that the point should be aster- seined, for if it be as the farmer represents, the ruin of the State mast shortly follow the ruin of the indivi dual, and at present there appears to be but too much ground to credit to a considerable extent the averments of the agriculturist. Let us however be understood. We have not the most remote idea that any measure which contemplates a high price—that is relatively to the contiuental price—can be advantageous to or even borne by this country. It is perfectly absurd to suppose that any plan meditating an arrangement by which subsistence shall be perotenently sustained at a rate nearly three time' as high as the cost upon the great continents of Europe and America can be possible. The effect of any sach provision as that which the spirit of the Coro Bill was taken to imply—namely. a pretty con stant price of 80 shillings can never hold. In any such event all persons of fixed income, and all whose products of industry are affected like manu factures by the rate of subsistence, would soon leave England for cheaper lands, and the agriculturists would be left to eat their high-priced corn, and pay the taxes and support the paupers themselves. But it is no less important to the country than to the individual, that the facts of the farmer's condition should he ascertained, and such remedies as are feasible immediately applied. The farmer ought not to be any further the victim of lopes and fallacies such as have been held out to dupe him thus far. We therefore earnestly advocate a gene ral attendance of those interested, and particularly of . county gentlemen of weight and capacity at such a meet ' ing as we understand will be called. This is no ques lion of party. It involves the safety of the country, and 'deserves the most calm, dispassionate, and complete in yestigStion, consideration, and discussion. We are quite aware that in what we have said we only recapi tulate principles and facts we have before stated more than once, but it is imperatively necessary on the eve . of such a meeting to endeavour to impress them gene rally and strongly. • We have this week received the actual reeks of con cerns carried on by practical men of skill and industry. •Fraut these we select one case, of which we shan t y. space permits,insert next week the details. It its •of 221 aerosol light land, and exhibits a loss (ftlear i ll*. elegies:Bl62o to Michaelmas 1821) of 432it.55. flek - ,. • AMERICAN LAW CASE. (PROM THE M'ESTIRN HERALD.] IMPORTANT DECISION. Supreme Court of the State of Ohio for Jefferson County, Octs.ber Term, 1821; present, PEACE, Chief Justice, and HITCHCOCK,Judge. THE STATE OF OHIO V. ELIZABETH GEOZOI. This was a prosecution by indictment against the defendant, a woman of colour, for the murder of her infant. The traverse Jury being impanelled sad sworn, the Counsel for the State offered Mary Cooper, a black woman, as a witness, to prove the fast of killing. The Counsel for the prisoner objected to her being sworn as a witness, on the ground that she was lucent potent to.certify in the cause by the statute of this State, amendatory to the Act entitled so Act to regu late black and mulatto persons. The section of the law upon which the objection was founded is in these words:—" Bs it further enacted, That so black or mulatto person or persons shall hereafter be permitted to be sworn or give evidence in any Court of record, or elsewhere, in this State, in any cause depending, or matter of controversy, where either , party to the same is a white person, or in any prosecution which shall be instituted, in behalf a this State, against any whits person." The witness offered in this case was pure tt.,41 , itt • 9 FMT _ . alone between - wirtm and black, but was confined half bloods..or the -offspring of, a Olt, I.ld black, oMI that such had been the decisions of the Courts of this 'state ; and that, as a consequence, this defendant, not being a black or mulatto, was to be considered as ;white, and estitied to all the privileges of a white. It was also claimed, that the isterniediste grades be tween black and mulatto were to be considered as black. It was admitted on the part of the State, that it bad ,Men decided that the term malatto extended . only to. I . balf bloods. But it was claimed. that in putting a construction upon the statute law in queatioa, two questions arose -Ist. Who were included in the terms black and sati latto, and thereby disabled from testifying ? 2d. Who were included in the term white person, and, therefore entitled to the privilege of excluding blacks' and mulattoes from testifying against them 1 1 It was admiited by the Counsel for the State, that' whet) the Legislature excluded blacks and nsulattnes from testifying, it might he a fair construction of the statute, to suppose that they intended also to exclude' the intermediate grades between blacks and mulatoes:' because there would be the same reason for exelilding those who were more than half black, as there *'veld be for excluding mulattoes. But it wai urged, that the Legislature, in descsib• ing the cases where the disability was to operate, had made use of the term white person alone; that, the term white person. in common parlance. meant one who bad no mixture of black blood. and , wet used in contradistinction to persons of colour, or . those who were wholly or in any other part black. There was no instants in any dictionaryof the English language. or in any other book, where the term . " white person" was not limited to those who were pure white :Abet the distinctions which exist in society, and which were the occasion of passing this law, did not autho rise the pl4'cing of quadroons in the same class with the whites; that if the Legislature had said. that blacks should not testify where mulattoes and whites were parties, it would have been a just construction of the law to have included the intermediate grades, but not otherwise. The Court supported the objection to the witness, and the prisoner was acquitted, there being no other testimony against her. This decision ►s important : because it settles the principle, that quadroons, and others of an interme diate grade between whites and mulattoes, are entitled to all the rights and privileges, and subject to all the liabilities of white persons; or, in other words, ire, is law, to be considered as white. They are liable to be called upon to do militia duty, and work upon the highways ; and have a right to vote at all elec tions, equally with whites; and may be appointed to, and bold any office in the state. Sr. Joux.—Holichis at the Public Offices. Irma AT 1.4111111011-011111/411 ,0-114 NiplOat. after 41 0 -41eitai 47 at. I .: got btattiSman. ism= STATIMIAS " If INCORPOILMID WIT/ " to .H by , an Express from,Paris. In that capital it appears a 'report prevailed that the' brand Seignor had been deca pitated, or otherwise assassinated, at Constantinople. The following article, however, which indicates the 'prigin of the rumour, serves at the same time as Its 6sstradiction:-- 1 ytarsral, Duc. M. —Yesterday, after the arrival of tpcourier, from the Turkish frontiers , a re p ort was read concerning a revolt of the Janissaries at Con utantiimple. It was said, according to some, that this ',volt had cost the Grand Seignor and his eldest son heir lives; *ad, according to others, had only caused he death of Hsieh Effendi, the favourite of the Sultan. this report was founded on private letters from Setn lie. from Belgrade, and from Peterwaradin, Letters from Pest speak also of a courier, the bearer of the same sews, having passed through that city. But the silence of our journals this day on an event of so much importance, requires that it should he doubted until it is fully lot:Armed. If this silence should con tinue three slats. the news can only be e onsidered as la pionswish of the Greeks. The next post from Coo itaatinople can bring nothing on this subject, as the letters will not be later than the 26th of November. --(Gazette llniserited.) . . It is certain sew, says the Courier Francais, that l ithe regular Government which the Greeks propose to establish, will soon receive a definitive organization. The Derides will immediately assemble at Tripolissa, where will be proclaimed the federative Greek rep - lie, formed of theyorea, Livadia, Meanly, Macedo nia, Epirus and (ie islands of the Archipelago. It is generally belteved that Demetrios Ypsilanti will be nominated President of the New Republic. Letters from Candia by way of Trieste, bring reports that the Greeks are making astonishing progress in the former place. They keep the Paella ,aild all the Turkish authorities closely blockaded in the capital, and are on the point of becoming masters of Canby" one of the most important points in the 'island. The Ottomans whs. till lately, received as sistance from their fleet, stationed near them, are now in a most deplorable condition, as all communi cation is cut off. Fresh re-ioforcements arrive daily to the Greeks. The districts of Canea round the city (properly so called) of Candia, have declared for the Greeks. The news from the blorea comes down to the 14th ult. The expectation that the Turks would undertake nothing more in the Peloponnesus this season is fully confirmed. TM Greek Captains flatter themselves that with assistalitfe from the join bitaate of Coron. Patras and Arta,. they will succeed 4094pelpag the Turks from the Morn before the end of December. • t• . . , Letters from the frontiers of Italy of the 12th inst. that the recent successes of the Greeks have greatly augmented the seal of speculators to furnish Am* with arms and ammunition. We are informed, says the Courier Francais, that the pretended Greek Corsairs are Algerine Pirates, who have manned their vessels with Greek slaves, com manded by English deserters. The following decisions of the Greek Council of the Mores will tend to place the vilified Greeks in a much more favourable point of view than the Ultras of this country would wish them to be considered. 1. The obligation to abstain from meat on meagre days is much less rigorous during the war for liberty tisn on ordinary occasions. 2. Such women as have, during the horrors of war, been compelled to submit to the brutality of barbarians shall not be regarded as impure. They shall rather he considered according to the ancient usage of the Greek Church, as martyrs, who have suffered for the cause in the deliverance of their country. S. Prayers shall be offored for the repose of the souls of all the Greeks, of whatever nation, who have lost their lives since the commencement of the Sacred War. 4. All the faithful shall venerate as a martyred Saint, the Patriarch, who has been murdered. He who has been appointed his successor is impious and an leretic. No Greek shall lend an ear to his exhorta tions, or conform to his orders. The Nonileer of Monday also contains advises from Madrid.of the 13th. In the sitting of the Cortes. of the 11th, the discussion upon the report of the Committee appointed to examine into the state of the ',Wry was commenced. Several Members claimed to be beard, but Count Flores Estrada was the first who spoke en the question. He was opposed to this report, and justified his opposition on the following dileams s----" Are the prerogatives of the Crown (said he) attacked or not? is the first case, the authors of so great a crime deserve the severest punishment. If they have not been attacked, why have the commission proclaimed that disobedience exists ? In sanctioning this report, we prove to the whole of Europe that we of the Throne. The cue . system will say that the Jacobins, who countenance stigmatise with the epithet compromise entire provinces, by distrust of the Government." _ t eople hatWindered from the eon- , 'dm path, the d v it i g uee e n re thet i b il ii i ibe y l b rut ad eisin s o u f f )th er se ed aidP i l ds hat can (liberty should lie allowed in palliation of their stilt o " The sitting being declared permanent until i 'ect should be attained, several members were holed. The first part oi the report was approved by 140 voices against 48. The sitting was net termi nated till a quarter put eight in the evening. A dis cussion on the second part of the report would take place llama* eggie, ~ Prince &Imolh, a great amnberoi Peers, Members of the Chamber of Deputies, th e p re. intents of the Cohn of Cesiation, Court of &cola. • the Prefect of Police, and several General s h u i.t he honour of paying their court to the King. M. Simeon and M. Angles were among the apj o ie who attended. Y 11 Fazerco FUNDS.—FIve per cents. 85 f. 60e; A Ministerial paper, not an advocate of the Gre4 nor of any other people who struggle for their e i cipatioo, took occasion, yesterday evening, to ptt t a statement of atrocities committed by the Wo o d* ' ,party at Navorin and Tripolizza, upon the p awns si their conquered adversaries. What thew*** uti , stay may be, or the channel through whishlk f on a, 4 ' we have no means to ascertain. In the'mpAt o p t former, it is alleged, after the town had, trici ag ok o capitulation, been ceded to the Greeks, tilailku m i of the inhabitants were put to death ; aid at Trips lizza, eubsequent to Its formal surrender 'a* te n' ) eight thousand are said to have perished. ilk Galls; who bad assisted at the conquest of the Wei, itia added, had in coseequenee quitted the GreekAriee with disgust. If this report should b e cos i= shall deeply deplore the blot with w hi c h t h e have stained their cause. At tb e same time we meisine;el; ilea the provocations and examples they bad previ , holy received from their merciless oppressors., 'lt fts understood that prior to the seige three hea. Fired Greek hostages bad been shut up is lTripollixsa, and among them a Greek Bishop' and that their countrymen, after getting posse:eke if the tows, discovered that all these hostages had bete 'murdered. Such cruelty was most likely to pree,4 l .retaliation. In more improved society, and Mils our native land, a state of civil warfare hes sheep been distinguished by peculiar ferocity. What Oita can we expect from a people, like the Greeks, at tide .crisis of their struggle, when we reflect on the his : Wising influent,e of the bondage under which they have been made to groan by their ferocious tyrants), Agricultural meetings have taken place ;n Smog Kent, and Bath, and, lastly, in Norfolk, fur the)* pose of petitioning Parliament for relief, under e itlee sure of distress unheard of among the AgrirultanWp;el the country. At the latter meeting. the fumes appear to have talked a little more to the 'Pei pose than they did with their unmeaning nonsense at the others. They say they have petitioned Par liament loot Session to no purpose. They pray fees revision of the Report of the Cominitteg i ii order : to arrest the progress of dissatisfaction and despair. The Consmittmof the House, they allege, toads the most confused. contradictory, and unsatisfactory re port that ever came under their notice. They rower to the old Bugaboo, the importation of foreign earn; but they have sense enough at last to acknowledge the principal cause of the national distress is oppressive and overwhelming taxation. The Nor folk gentlemen have, at last, ventured to let oat, that taxation was the real cause, and the may. lion of Cash Payments but a part of the system.... Nothing but a partial relief from taxation, and glower ing of the rents, to what they were before the war,can relieve the farmers or the country ; and taxes east ultimately come from property whether landed or funded. As to Petitions to Parliament for say amelioration. these are of no use except they be to A tain a real and radical reform in the Representative System. All other Petitions are but giving caste nano to that humbug with which the people bare been so often deluded. To try to get over this See sion in the old way. by a budget of the old tam. and by new loans, will be only making bad worse, sad the issue to be dreaded. The Mails from Dublin and Waterford arrived Ibis morning, and, we are happy to find, bring no accost of any fresh disorder. In other respects, however, the intelligence is sufficiently melancholy. All the low lands appear to be inundated, and the poor irnik bitants to suffer to the extremity of misery. We bare received no farther report of the proceedings wider the Special Commission at Limerick, except a detail of the trials which took place on Thursday, and of which We gave a brief account from the Dublin Eve Mg Post, in our paper of Today. In that limiest, the verdict on Marti* Grady and John Grady, yid fur taking a sword from EDWARD NIORGAN, bad WI omitted. By the papers received to-day, we less Ik al both the prisoners were found guilty. In ems of the cases does there appear any thing e xtraordisary. the trial of Carton and others, when the fact 'rewired that a subscription purse had been °posed at Newest' tle, for the defence of such men a s mi g ht be take" and betentibt to trial for crimes connected with tbs disturbances of that part of the country, Bilw i M.Clelland spoke in terms of th e strongest repack sion of such a proceeding. By the American papers received yesterJay, we learn, that the first meeting of the Congress was to take place on the 311 instant, so that in a day we may expect to receive the President's message, was expected that it would notice the distr Agriculturists, which have been as pest the United States this year, as those exi this country and on the continent. But hoped that any measure could be adopted ' ,effectual relief, The other important , t e • M • r .0" f • 4, 1 • fi • • "•• *. is offline '4 PARIS Dec. 23 —The' Chancellor, k ST A .. • . ..e ..sep er - 0 f black. It seasjioefendlai bk:the upset tat ma d. ` eel s, the Ministers, the Ambassadors of N e s ec . 7 41 , 1 : 7 it appears R:reigiieel,lillebufe Mi ni sters , Eckinnih. . ihat theieriliesslattoonalle am of in . y P , ul . 7elita s e * , had ?mime!" reached town yrand, the Marshalls, D u k es o f did not include - all the differeat grades People„ of . The lipai . teor stEktittley Luton Tess day or mes sage • It tress .. Of t he . ihrODgh° lll • • eri - • :pews eit it it was to give thto questi°l o LONDON: THURSDAY EV&NING, DICHMBIR 27, 1821. STOCK EXCHANGE, TWELVE O'CLOCK. Though yesterday was a holiday sod the Stock Ex change was closed, many out-door bargains were made on the Royal Exchange. Many reports prevailed that agitated the Market, and large sales were made; in consequence of which a general panic took place, and every person became sellers. This morning, however, the reports that bad prevailed having not been coo. firmed, the Funds have recovered a little. Consols which were done yesterday at 761, are this morning 77k sellers. [ovum OP LIITTIR FROM HALIFAX, DRC. 3.] It was stated some time since in a Montreal paper, that the commissioners appointed to settle the boundary line could not agree. We can now state that the above information is not correct. The commissioners came down by the last steam-boat as far as West Point ; and, from the information we have received, there is no doubt of the parties agreeing ; and the differences, it is expected, will be soon settled. It is of great importance to the inhabitants of the frontiers on both sides that the boundary line should be known At present considerable excitement exists on the nor- Om frontier. In one instance an island in the river St. Lawrence. called Carleton Island, had been :leased to Mr. Charles Smyth, and the Post Mae tar General bad established a Post Office on the Island, of which Dlr. S. was Post Master. He had erected a number of buildings on the Island and made considerable improvement in Agriculture. &c. A short time ago Mr. Hogerman, the Collector of Customs. at Kingston, went to Charletou Island with a party of Officers, and took from Ur. Smith a large quantity of merchandise, seizing it in behalf of the Crown, on the ground that the Island belonged to Great Britain. [EXTRACT OF ♦ LETTIR FROM RIO Dl Novato's& 10.) - Now the Republic of Columbia bas Independence, beyond all doubt, and wear a most favourable aspect. Under a liberal Government, the New World tages to the indastriens of all nations, duced to trade on its soil. Advantages when fully booms will cause thousands to flock to its shores, where they will be certain to find an &Wawa The country Is beautiful and well adapted for the culture of sugar and indigo, peas, coffee, and cocoa. Although the town is not yet rebuilt since the late fire, there still remains ample resources and protestion fer these persons who may wish to settle here. ems Drumm. . Wu MIMI' Of ‘ 1 0 r--- —-- lIC LA UACUE, Or bow r know bow to value the dignity e coonitutional t estsblis 11 , Aft things hog ~ , 1 r,... _ ? ___,...A.,, ,, oesposed of Ji ~..i i. . a: they only 1 r the anspi: , ' 1177 "" ' .. who eon will offer adna- iorliriel t ' with distn , who may be in- Qairogs (who spoke 41/1 1 I • "if thetieople of Cadiz 1 *tea intP l te4 601 cos' Iva Pr' Ilea Ai di sni sto ss be at tk si al Ir 0 . y i ~ .. ~ .~ ~~: ',;i . r 1 ;: 1 lIP • I 1 ~~