The National Register.
London, England, 1816-04-14 00:00:00

ST ITE OF AGRICULTURE.

Mr. Weslimn, adverting to the this ness of the House' pro-
posed, oti so important a subject as the distresses of the At ri-
cultural Interest, that the Committee should be put otr. He
should throw himself upon the House to say, w hellier he should
now proceed, or postpone the enquiry to another day, or sourer
the Commit tee now to expire entirely.
Lord C V•TI.PR I: AI;H suggested the propriety of adjourning
the Committee till after the holidays.
Mr. J. P. ( RANT, Sir J.l EW l'OliTontl Mr. Bums o approved
of this suggestion.
Mr. Cron DON wished that the House should immediately go
into the subject ; he wished toast( the Chancellor of the Excite-
spier, whether it was intended to extend the time allowed for
paying the hall-year's Income-tax due 1011 the Jet, of this inortli
beyond June next ; and w114.11111* :illy allowance in the landlord's
and tenant's tax was to be made, where reductions had taken
lilac!, in rents for the last six months ?
. . .

Mr. VA NAITTAItT, in reply, hopt d, at an early day, to bring
in a Bill, containing regulations on this sohject ; at present, he
could not accurately state what these regulations would he,
nit the allot auc,.. of time would n'tni a pal t ; MI respect to the
other hrauel,...!s of the Gentleman's questi,,o, the Hon. Gentle-
-111:10 was aware that au order had liven is,tted for hotting aI-
IOWIWCC to landlords and tenants, :a cases When! ;he et ilt had
been reduced for the period of twelve months . whether that
meaqtre would he extended to (Alit'. Of redtreticm of six months
standing, he con:d not say.
,Atter some ether rctuar!,s the Howe went into a Cotantittee.

APRIL 1 t

Mr. Butt I.IIA M cute,'.l at et .:• li•ngib into a review
ot; tote Mibioot of the Cillll4ll or the rise of prier n non agriruh oral
produce, and the recent depression of salt. and consequent dis.
tress of the agriculturist a and observed, the.t tilt lint great alai
material cause of the Ilse in price was tile r....trictioll of eisli
payments by the Hanes id' England, the Memo .e ofeountry
and the unrestricted ;....tte of pai.er. lie /lid not mean to say
that this tt as is Ilitoriew 11111.111: 0111110; uuutraty, top.
Sitleving the stoppat.e of the national bset,, Ism' the o,tle Ot.
Colllllry paper 1110'11 11111 C gradual, 11114 toad its (I/111111.1"I• in been
also more gra.lual, it is mild iu fa.l have hem' an ads ;midge, as
it encouraged unit gas.. aitpurtonitc tisr ibe COlthittilla of ware
land ; but the rapid railing in of tin,: pion r had certainty been
one creat ea es.- ef the existing di.oresses of the agriculturist.
Anotlesr sous of the lactase of price %sus the war, wbielt,
though it did not bring in more mouths, brought is ituavoidably
a system of great.•r emoremption; and the purchase,. made by.
Gas erimo it the mark rt, had a direct tendency to raise Ili..
valite of the commodity 1.1 whine they were Ore amrehasers ; and
the stimulus flue. giV1•11 to the growers of cows bad I.IICO/11a2T41
inclosurer, sthielt had taken plure within the last ten years te.
the amount of it... of acres: and had also eatmaraged
the fainter to etel:ai k inure capital, and to raise a still greatf.r
tinatitity of corn thou at any former period, on the lands pi e.
vimisly in a cultivated state, Tht se eiremnstances, according
to the (mit:Mations of versous who 14;41 tuna d their attention tit
this subjeet, had given an increase of six nidlioes of quarters of
Wheat am... illy, while the population, in the same pt rind, had
increased only two millions. '1 hits alk.o iog a quarter ef coin
for the consumption of each person, dull. ..Vould be a surplus of
four millions ef quarters. bitch was the situation of things up
to i sin ; %slum billriwell Oho chain of circuits...tatters which had
tended peculiarly to depress the prices. The two next years,
II and 12. were years ,if extraordinary produce ; these seats
were followed in Ihi 3 ;sod I.:14 by a change I+..m war to pease.
which had a most :evident t feet upon the pi ice of grain. Ti
these fatus lie %mild add another, viz. tit it ..• Gov et 'intent .;:o-
ing into rho market as purchasers had tended to t nhatice the
prices, so it aught to he rect.:leered, that Government with-
drawing itsclt from the market hail the eoetrary of let. Ad.!
to there the distresses of the matinfitetureis, .1101 the opening of
the ports of this country to tile Continent, and the principal
reasons of the .eduetion of prices would b' apparent. One
great cause //f these evils was the i .111411111:4- /11119111 It of the C%-
peneliture of the country front what it was 23 seats ago, lima
15 to 7.1 midite.s. Indeed, one sear, including loans, the ex-
penditure was not less than I‘4o isillions, No t Actual trine.
dies could he applied to these et as, unless there wits a redur-
tion in the public taxation. 'the toes on leather, salt, soap,
and candles, proMicieg only about millions a-year. hot
very leasy on the 1: olver ; for they a vre taxes, %stitch being
;11;1(.411 on the nece:sinies of lil., word e.;lectly to raise the peke
of labonr. Even should the Alan Tax be taken off, still, while
the others were start red to settutin, it would he impossible to
return to the former prices of torn with any prospect Of advan-
tage to the farmer. He instanced the extreme 11111.41/(11CISS of
ratio); manufacturers only as th 2 occupiers of large houses to
the poor rotes, mobile the farmer was rated as to the absolute
amount of his property ; the fortacr hying themselves the great
Cause of the notease of the number of poor. He trnsteal, how.
ever, that the 1.01111 C: was gradually undergoing a change from
high to moderato prices—or at least he hoped the Legislature
would endeavour to make it so.

Lord CssreruEssin could not agree in opinion with tke last
speaker, that the evils complained of resulted principally from
the restriction ideas', payments by the Bank. That measure
hail given the century a command of specie, and mainly tended
to bring lis out of the war wills glory and advantage. That it
might have encouraged improvident speculation, he was not
prepares' to deny ; but it was one of the greatest 111111 l utuents
that could have been erected to the public credit of the country,
which had not only borne this measure long, but had increased
under it. He was glad to hear ihe Hoe. Gentleman (Mr.
Brougham) say that, in his opinion, the agricultural distress
would be but temporary. But it cupid not he concealed that
they had been increasing ever since Isl 4, when the ports of
the Continent were opened to the British Merchant. for the im-
portation of foreign Corn into this country, trea rats• so low as
menaced the very existence of the British Farmer. Now that
we had a protecting price to defend our own Corn from being
obliged to compete with that of other countries, lie trusted the
prices would rise, so as to give the farmer sufficient remunera-
tion for his laboar and expences. He did not state these things
to induce the Committee to reject the adoptioisal any measures
which might still farther fetid to the relief of the farmer.-131st
he wished the Committee to look at these ei rcumstances with
attention, and consider also, that as Wheat had already risen ist
price in Scotland. whether it was likely to be long 565. in Eng-
land. He hoped Parliament would not think proper to call en
the Bank for cash payments until commerce should has c brought
into the country a quantity of tic• precious metals sufficient to
aid the savings in the Bank ratferd. He also trusted the House
would not attempt to trench on the Snaking Fund, at a time
when, the House having rejected the Income-Tax, (Myer 1111 l vitt
must be reduced to the necessity of resorting to new loans to a
small extent. There was already a very• large trade between
country and South America.
Mr. WESTEItN contended, that there was nothing so danger-
ous, as providing for a fluctuating price of Corn. The ware-
homing system would have that operation, by permitliug the
warehousing duty free. The object which he had in view was,
employing capital in the purchase of British Curti for ilistribit-
tinn throughout the empire. But if the system of w aretemsing
Foreign Coro was adopted, it would Las 0 the elect uf discou-
raging the Agriculture greatly in ON country.
The Cisa; •.ilall then reported progress; and it. was ordered
thai: the I lizese du resolve itself into a Committee ell the state
of Agrieultut c, on Monday I,lth inst.—Adjourned at past O' E.