The Sun.
London, England, 1838-10-23 00:00:00

THE CORN-LAWS

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SIR—As you have given my letter of the 31 inst., on the
Corn-laas, a place in the columns of The Sun, I am induced
to address you again on the same momentous subject, involv-
ing, as it does, the vital interests, happiness, prosperity, and
quiet of the country. I have been led into my present train of
reflection by reading the published account of the last yearly
and quarterly returns of the Revenue; a subject of deep inter-
est to all, for all have a concern in it. Thinking on this sub-
ject has brought to my recollection the remarkable statement
of a fact, once made by Lord Bexley (then Mr. Vansittart
Chancellor of the Exchequer, in his place in Parliament)
which intimately and happily connects the liberal supply of
cheap bread to the people with a flourishing state of the revenue,
desiderata of mighty importance at the present moment. Con-
sidering the quarter from whence the oracular declaration
emanated, it will be received with profound reverence, as of
high authority, by many of the advocates of the Corn-laws;
by others, perhaps, as not proceeding from absolute wisdom,
countenanced though it was, by those sages, many of whom
are still in Parliament, who then voted, no doubt conscien-
tiously, that a pound note and a shilling were equal to a
guinea, when at the very moment of the statement it was no-
torious that at every shop trafficking in the precious metals,
six, seven, and eight and twenty shillings were readily given
for a guinea, short of legal weight. But let that rest as al
together unconnected with the fact wi h which we have to do,
which has in itself sufficient intrinsic value to arrest our atten-
tion, and is worth a thousand arguments in this controversy. The
statement was, "that a good crop was equal to ten per cent.
in the revenue." When the Chancellor made this paramount
admission of the value of cheap corn, he did not, and could
not, forsee its peculiar and pointed applicability to our present
circumstances, when there is a scanty supply, and, masc.-
quently, a high price of the first article of subsistence to the
working classes, accompanied with a d, ficient revenue, and
with an unavoidable increase of expenditure in our colonies,
which all are sadly deploring. Wha►, then, is the fair inference
from these premises, following naturally in the series of cause
and effect ? Simply, that when the mass of the people are
abundantly supplied with cheap bread, by a good harvest or
free importation, which are, in fact, convertible terms, their
comforts are multiplied, their happiness and contentment with
their lot insured ; and, what is not at,first sight so apparent, the
revenue of the country greatly augmented, to the extent of ten
per cent., according to the Chancellor, a sum equal to the ex-
pense of collection. Here, then, is no abstruse enigma, no
perplexing sophism, but a fact so simple, a result 30 self-evi-
dent, that "he who runs may read." Abolish, then, the Corn-
laws, and all these blessed consequences necessarily follow.
The poorest labourer, even the hand loom weaver, the most
wretched and humbled man in the community, whose hard lot
rni:,,ht move to compassion the most obdurate heaat, and for
whose relief no committee or commission have been able to
suggest a remedy, might rise above the starvation point, and
be better enabled to undergo his sixteen hours a day of hard
labours, perhaps even obtain a little of those taxed luxuries
which, in ordinary times, never reach him, and by which
chiefly the revenue of the country is produced. Open ports
For the importation of grain operating precisely as a good har-
vest, in some respects even more advantageously, by raising the
price abroad to our rival manufacturers, is what alone can
enable our workmen to continue much longer the unequal
competition with foreigners. That such would be the tendency
of the measure, if carried into practice to whatever extent it
might go, there cannot be the shadow of a doubt. The more
this subject is fairly and dispassionately canvassed and dis-
cussed, the more signally will its impolicy and cruelty become
apparent.

Must we, then, only indulge in unavailing regret, that our
manufactures are excluded more and more every day from fo-
reign markets, by a successful rivalship, and attribute it to un-
just de6rees against us, which are mere acts of retaliation,
while, in point of fact, our own vicious Corn-law and timber
policy, and other inconsiderate restrictions on our trade, are
the real root of the evil. By such short-sighted and unwise
policy we have forced the Continental States to try their hand
at manufactures, in which, as might easily have been foreseen,
they continue to make rapid progress, and will surpass us, un-
less our decay be arrested or checked by retracing our steps.
The furious Berlin and Milan decrees, fulminated against us
as a nation of shop-keepers, by Bonaparte, availed nothing,
because Continental State; had not then learned our art. The'
tables are now turned against us, and by our bounty to en-
courage them they have become apt scholars. It is fully time
we should bestir ourselves to regain our lost ground before it
be too late. In conclusion, lam anxious to address a word of
exhortation to the middle crass, that important, intelligent,
and influential section of the community, who, in troublous
times, are all powerful to control the airagant selfishness of
the landowners, and the furious inconsideration, of that active,
turbulent sect, small in number thOugh they be, who, in
speeches at meetings and preachings are proclaiming sedition
through the length and breadth of the land, while it is yet
tine, More worse should bcfal us.
I am, Sir, yours, &c.,
Edinburgh, Oct. 18, 1838. G. M.
Y. Sl.—ln my letter of the 3d inst., inserted in The Sun of
the Bth, there is an error in the press which destroys the sense
and scope of the passage. In the printed letter, it is said
the Dutch find it advantageous to occupy a portion of
their soil in every produce. In the MS. the word was dairy
produce. It was intended to show that that prudent, calculat-
ing,, economical people, although they did not produce home
grain sufficient to supply their own wants, yet emplo3ed a
considerable portion of their rich soil in producing butter
and cheese, which they sold to those who wanted it, and with
the price bought corn wherever they could get it cheapest.
Morever, it had this other mighty advantage to them as a ma
ritime state, of which they never lost sight, but well knew the
full value, that of being the carriers to other nations. This is
the true spirit of commercial policy, and ought never to be
forgotten. It is well enough understood in this country ; bu
we have so many interests within interests that the cardina
principle is lost sight of, and the good of the community, sacr
ficed to the advantage of the few. G. M.