The Sun.
London, England, 1801-12-12 00:00:00

LONDON, DECEMBER .rz, tgoi.

,THE Question now before Parliament for re-
opzning the Distilleries, which . has giNen occasion
for some admirable observations from the CHAN-
CELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, both as particularly
applied to the subject, and of a general nature, is so
nearly connected with the Prices of 'different sorts
of Grain in'the Country, and has so close a reference
to that interesting subjea, on which a great diver-
sity of opinions has prevailed, that we cannot resist
this opportunity of,laying before our Readers some
Observations which. we some time since promised,
and which particular reasons have hitherto prevented
us from offering to the Public. We are aware, as
we were in delivering similar opinions more' than
twelve months ago, that we shall have prejudices to
encounter ; but as there is no subject to which we
ever gave more mature consideration, we may ven-
ture to state these opivoons without hesitation or
reserve. Of the opinions on the Bill now before
Parliament, on which- -the.- twQ leading Opposition
•

Papers, are at comphp variance, .we shall content
ourselves with remarking the effrontery of that
which grounds its hostility to this measure on one
bold Proposition, namely, " That if it is right to
open the Distilleries now,- it was wrong to have
stopped them in the year i Soo, and vice (versa."
The first answer is, That the price of Grain in
the latter period was nearly 4uble what it is
now) which the Write; seems to have thought

riot worth considering. The next is (as was ob_
served in the House of Commons), that our pro-
spetts for the ensuing year were then highly dis-
couraging, whereas they are now most cheering
and hopeful; that we had then a scanty stock of
old Corn, with the aggravation of a deficient har-
vest, whereas now, a most abundant Crop of every
species of Grain has replenished our stores, and af
fords a well-grounded hope that, at a proper season,
Grain will be near?), reduced in price to its accus-
tomed level:
This brings- us at, once,:to an examination of a
QuestiQn, so frequently-putiby those who have not
bestowed proper ConSide"ilaiion on the sub jeft, and
so incessantly echoed by inconsiderate Prints :
" How happens it that, after a Harvest, universal-
ly admitted to have been as abundant as any in the
memory of man, the Price of Wheat is not as low
as it was in 1787, viz. at about seven shillings per.
bushel ?" We request permission to take a short
historical retrospea ; and if we make untrue state-
ments, or draw false inferences, we shall think our-
selves obliged to any one Who will correa us.

Fifteen years ago, or more, it was announced to
the. Public, in consequence of an investigation that
had been made by the Privy Council, that even in a
good average year, the quantity of Corn grown in
this Island was by no means adequate to the con.
sumption of its Inhabitants. This might be easily
accounted for from various causes ; by the astonish-
ing increase of Population, of Commerce and Ma-
nufaaures, in which the high Wages of those ern.
ployed in them necessarily increased consumption,
and by the demands made on Grain for various pur-
poses of luxury in consequence of increased Wealth.
However, from having been formerly an exporting,
Great Britain became an importing Country, and
was obliged to mike good the difference between
her own produce and consumption, by foreign sup-
. _
plies. • -,-

When any cited can be'plaltily accounted for by
tracing it to natural, simple, and obvious causes,
we see no reason for having recourse to artificial
ones. This general observation is meant to apply
to the two periods which have occurred in the course
of the last six years, when the price of Grain has
risen to so distressing and alarming an height. So
many bad seasons as we have experienced during the
last ten years, are not, perhaps, to be equalled in
the same given time in the Annals of this Country.
We begin with the Sumtiler and Autumn of I 792,
that dreadful season which actually stopped the pro-
gress of the Prussian army ,Ou the Continent, when
we had nothing but deluges and hurricanes for three
mulabs, during which a large proportion of the
Grain in the Country rotted un the ground.—That
season may certainly be considered as bearing a
strong resemblance to that of 1799, and perhaps
as having laid the foundation of the Scarcity in
1795, when the Country had hardly recovered from
its etFeds. Then came two deficient seasons sue..
cession—and these, with , only two intermediate
years of abundance, were pretty closely followed
by the destrudive Autumn of 1799, and the un-
prod u dive Crop (now universally admitted to have
been so) of 1800.

This is a Statement of Fans, to which we entreat
the attentive consideration' of ~the Public. These,
we conceive, abundantly explain the Causes of the
Scarcity, and of 'the High Price of Grain attendant
on it. They are, however, wholly lost sight of•by
two descriptions of Persons, one of which chuses to
consider the High Price as entirely occasioned by
the War, and the other as produced by Combina-
tion and Monopoly.—We shall content ourselves
with a short answer to both.

That the High Price has not originated in the
War (though that may undoubtedly have somewhat
contributed towards it) is absolutely demonstrable.
There seems, in the first place, no reason whatever
why War should produce so powerful an effdt.—The
American _War lasted Seven Years, during no part of
which an extravagant price of Grain was experienced.
—Yet in that War a very considerable quantity was
annually exported from this Country to America, to
supply the demands of a large Army -there, which
could procure but inconsiderable supplies on the
spot ;, and in transporting which to so great a
distance, there must necessarily have been very
great waste. In the present War, our Armies when
on the Continent, were principally supplied from
the produce of the Continent, so as to 'havt occa-
sioned a saving in 'the general consumptiOn of the
Country. Those ernploycdvin the West Indies,
drew a great part.of -their supplies from America ;
t:
and those. in the'Mediterraneanq 3 from different
Ports in that quarter.. 13,qt haw is it possible to get
over this single fa,6l ? A severe scarcity was expe-
rienced in 1795 and 1796, which was then attri-
buted to the War. The War continued, and the
Scarcity ceased. From the end of 1796, to the Sum-
mer of 1799, the Price of Wheat did not, on an aver-
age, exceed 7s. per Bushel. How happened this ? Be-
cause we had three fine Seasons in succession, From

the Causes which have been stated, the price again
rose in 1799, and continued (with some variations)
till the abundance of the Harvest of the present
year was-absolutely ascertained. The Price then
gradually diminished and continued to decline till
the Preliminaries of Peace gave the ran an accelerat"
ed velocity. That this was too rapid, is proved fronl
the circumstance of its having again experienced
a considerable rise. This cannot be attributed
by any to the War ; but by some it is looked upon
as a conclusive argument in &vont- of their theOryof
Combination and Monopoly.
Before we quit this part of the Subjen, we most
request that it may be distinetiy understood as out
opinion, that though decidetly adverse to those
who- strangely maintain that the War was the
origin of the present High Price, and. Peace of
occasion of its declension ; that the one did jai'
redly and in a small degree contribute to the fonts
as the other has to the latter. It did in the first in'
stance a great deal more than it ought, but some el"
fedi t ought to produce. That it will, by degrees, pro'
duce a still greaterove cannot doubt, partly by afford'
ing more means of extending and encouraging Agri'
culture than a state of War can possibly do, and part'
ly by orning the Ports of the whole World rr.
Britain, and rendering her accessible to supplies
from every quarter, should unfavourable Seasons
and bad Crops make supply necessary.. On then
.two considerations we think we may rely, as
precluding the possibility of a recurrence of the
evil to the same extent, and perhaps, of its recur-
rence at all during a state of tranquillity.
To those. who maintain the other propositions
we are ready to admit that a real Scarcity will
always cause an artificial one, more or less; ill
times of plenty we arc perivacled that the fatter Is
absolutely impracticable, That
.the deficiency Of
the stock in hand has affOrded room fOr- more specula'
• -
non and even soggested it ; that by this some. iv'
dividuals have been enriched ; that it has afforded
in some places the means of an occasional manage'
ment of the markets, we are not disposed to dent'
This however is an ellen impossible to be pro"
duced when there is real abundance in the Counerts
and difficult (to say the lasti to be prevented
where there is not. It is nonsense to say, at The
Farmers have so long tasted the sweets of a hie;
Price, that they cannot now be brought to 'awe
it." The same was said in the beginning of 1796
yet the Price did sink to its old level, 'Equal non'
sense is ,it to say, " Monopolists now understan4,
their trade so well, that nothing but legislature ID'
terference can put a stop to their naischseven.,can,
trivances." The same was said of them in i 79,61
but their.contrivances to keep up the Price, if chef
ever did exit in any degree, ceased to operate.
reduetion of Price can only be the effe4t. of PlentY;
when blessed with that, the Country may bid de'
fiance to Combination and Monopoly, even if tbef
existed in a tenfold degree,

But to come to the Question with which we sera°
—How happens it, that after this abundant harvest
the Price of Grain is not lower ? We ansever--Bel
cause the stock in hand was so completely exhaust'
ed, that it must require more than one produa/'.6
season to make good the deficiency i.---because the
seed,time having been so remarkably fin; farmer;
have not yet employed their labourers indoors'
when they could employ them out ;-==because, fob
the same reason, the demand for seed-wheat 1135
been very unusually great, whiCh was necessarily
supplied by this year's crop, and indeed by choice'
as the sample was so fine ;--and because the Miller;
and Dealers in Cgrn have hardly yet completed'
their stores for the winter.—We think it probable'
that when these causes have. ceased to operate, the
demand will be less, and the supply greater ; either
of which must produce the desired Eire& of lower'
ing the Markets.

This Subjeftis a copious, one, and we may, per'
hapS,- resume it.--Having thoroughly considered if°
we think it will not be easy to satisfy us that Off
opinions are. ill-founded : but we. are open to COl;
vglionl and if we have fallen into errors, we sha
never be averse or ashamed to retraft them.

Two Hamburgh Mails still remain due.
His MAJESTY yesterday rode out on horsebaei;
in Windsor Park.
The Ktsc will, it is expeaed, hold a Levee °I;
Wednesday next,. at St. James's Palace ; and I
MAJESTY a Drawing-Room the following day• 4
It is stated in some of the Papers, that The'
Royal Highnesses the DUKES of SUSSEX and CAD3oi
BRIDGE mean to take their Seats in the House,
Peers previous to the Recess. The hitter maY j d°.
so, but the former ho,, been for several, months, a''
is still at Lisbon.

The DuKr of CAMBRIDGE has built a .very elegy
gant Coach and Chariot to take with him to N°c‘i
Scotia. They are finished in a very surerbo
elegant; but at the same time substantial manner'
The Earl of Ro.st.trt is amongst the late arrivl
at „Bath.
,;101
This morning arrived a Mail from the Lee, j,,,
Islands, brought to Falmouth by the Duke of 1.1,
rcucr Packet, in thirty:eight days.