The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1822-05-09 00:00:00

AGRICULTURAL DISTRESS.

Mr. WYVILL rose to opposer the itiotiou.--•
He protested against soy further attempts to delude
the country inio a belief that there was any hope of
relief front propositions like those with which it
was attemped to amuse them. The conditiou of
the country could no longer be tidied with. lie
would be no party in it, if the House chose to con-
tinue under the delusions pructised upon them.—
He wrs determined to take the sense of the House
on a resolution which he would propose as an
amendment on the motion. It was plain that there
were only two methods which could effectually to.
beer the distress : one, by repealing what was com-
monly called Mr. Peel's Bill, against which me-
thod he protested, after the country travelled
so far through the difficulty of adopting it ; the
second mode of relief lay tit that reductlon of tuxes
which war calted for from one end of the country
to the other. It war next to mildness to expect the
country to go nil under the present hiirtleno paid
in the increased value of currency. What was the
effect of it on aviculture ? The produce was va-
lued at about fifty milhons of iptarterr; out of this.
writ five 11lilhoffis fur tithes, and eight millions for
seed. The agricultural interest required twenty-
two inillions to support it, leaving just littera mil-
lions to take to market for commodities. He
was quite certain that twenty millions of taxes
must be repealed before any tents could be
paid. There were but three two mules of re-
bel, snit the Retielotions to be laid before the
Committee would hat of Ito avail. Without our or
other of those thelhoJs the system could not last

mix esuntha. If the repeal of Mr. reel's Bill »ere
to lye preferred, let the Mum be called on to take
the subject woo immesh .te eciniodenitiost; but the
only nue whiclecould effectually gatee the ogrwul-
tura interest was the reduction of tunes. He
moved this Enolution—
"Thst it is iFe opiates of sAii RAW* that the bet suet
most effreteal tees( to she agricultural tl,s rend of sits
musty to by• very large thatireetivo ar lasieiur."
Mr. LOCKHART was lIIIXIOOIB to Ley the reiel
wishes of the agticulturel sourest before the I loose.
Very inelsocholy, yet true picteres had beets gt‘eu
of the distress, stud the costes:queues-6 of it—the
tappet keystone of those who hod contracted debt:,
auti the general struggle in which curry one was to
be foetid lifting up his hand against his oeighbour,
not in violence, but to coutentioo at law, each
struggling so save himself harmless. To this must
addrel thr,l4** of the property of that west and
vewerable body, the clergy. If the derisien oe the
Norfolk case were true in law, that lay ds of no
nattered value were nut to be assessed, and that the
rases were to fall in proporticto try the ability afforded
by the profits, the tithes would soots be a:I that
could be rated to the relief of the poor.—
If this case were true in law, and he believed it
would be found so, theta away weut the properly of
that great and venerable body, whose property,
had it been regulated some little time ago, as was
proposed, would have been entirely exempted from
tlwt dar.iger. The great cause of the distress was
said so be the sudden tel to cash payments.—
There »tie Iwo seineies proposed : First, A great
reductiou of taxa:noir, with a proportionate cur-
tailment of the nelsons! debt; Secondly, A reduc-
tion of taxes without naming the debt, but upun a
wale which would enforce u greet reduction of the
debt. As far es he could collect the views of the
agriculturist., they had no with to be considered
as a party to either of those propositions; they
never took or put the cue in that point of view,
Of 500 or more pensions, they all eked for a re-
duction of taxes.—but it was for • reasonable re-
duction, not such • reduction as to involve or ea-
danger the payment of the Interest of the militant!
debt. The petitioners atiribu'ed their evils mainly
to the danger of foreign competition. Some mem-
bers of the. Howe had ascribed them to super-
abuodaat production. It was true that there was
• pricer quantity of wheat told at Mark-lase thou
ever ; but if lie went into a pawbroker's shop and
saw a great quantity of clothing pledged, he would
not conclude from that, that there was a superabub-
dance of clothes in the country ; he would tattle
conclude that there was a great deal of distress, and
that Ilse clothes were pawned for waist of money.--
He would advert to the remedy proposed by the
Member for Portarlingion for this superabundance
of produce. That Hon. Member had sufficieut
credit for the strength of hits understanding—the
goodness dins heart was not impeschel ; but had
he not been aware of the character of that Hon.
Genslenian, hr must have drawn a very contrary
inference Worn his doctrine of throwing the poor
buds out of cultiestiote lie should like to litho*
what this meant. He did lint like to speak of a
thing of au inanturote substance or particle—he
would rather consider it as • subject erecting
sensitive and suffering being.. Had the Ito.
nourable Member even ventured to dtfine
what was the operation of throwing up pour
lands, or what lands were twor. Their ancesto ain
the last century hull all the best lands in cultiva-
tion. What would be the effect if all the lands
which had not • deep surface of mould, and upou
which no calcareous or silicions sulatauces were
mingled, were to be thrown up ? Why, ell the per-
sous living upon or mimed in the occupation if
such lands, amounting to vatt multitudes, must be
driven out of exte•ence. Then they were to tie
more profitably employed, it was said. How ?
Whist would they be fit for ? Could their hard
hand. be very useful to them in the manufacturing
of fine commodities ? Or if they went to the tomtit-
factories, would they be very successful when the
butioess was already so grew ly overstocked
To throw the poor lands out of cultivation, as they
were called, would be to lay waste the greater part
of NOttillgilini. Cambridge, Huntingdon, Oxford,
Gloucester, Domes, and even Norfolk. Had it
beets even considered what would be the effect of
soddenly reducing the sources of fool for the com-
muuity in dist proportion ? It would be no an-
*veer to say to the labourers turned OW in open dip-
eutitent, that they had proceeded on sound commer-
cial views regerding their future pyireperity—the
retort would be, that ihry ought to have taken a
more profound view, rod a more eircurorpect
course. The Noble Marquis opposite sod ihe Pe-
titiouers were agreed us In the dangers of cum-
petition with foreign market'', they only
ihf-
lered upon the amount of the prutecting do-
ty, the Petitioners eohcrish.g ii ot. there SI•04 rue
protection at all ii. Ike douse ph.pn•ell by the Ni-
ble Lord. It bebuved the ll..use to 'attract in
points; first, what was the price of corn at Deri..
sic and other ports of the north. By the evitleuce
of Mr. Sony, the average of Dantzic was (runs
435. to 48s. lie ought to express h.s annottid,roent
at this being given fur the average, when the price
for the last twenty-four years gate an average
of .24.. the quarter. If they would be *tong so
20s. a quarter as to the tale, they mint be aelltuge-
thee wrung. The Noble Marquis thought the dtl-
ference of, three or four shilling* • thing of no coo-
mew. There was 1101111114 so important as Is. ditty.
One shilling per quarter was no lea* than the •thoul,t
of the rental of the chute kingdom; the duty brit%
that much leas, the advantage was so much given
tat die &trig° grower ; a cur:staid loss so that
amount, as it would be Mole datigeiouf sloth
larger and more alarming one, to it would be as
ruinous iu the result. The next point was the du•v
to be imposed : the foreign grower will always Ire
content to sell at a profit. If his growing price
were 3011., with 5.. freight and ss. profit, he wool I
be sable to sell at 40s. The Noble Lord propote I
a duty of 155.: take it at 17..; the English grower
could nut produce ruder 705., es they had- it 1.4