The Sun.
London, England, 1838-12-21 00:00:00

ORN-LAW FALLACIES, WITH THE

ANSWERS.

(Continued from The Sun of Monday.)
335.—" Agriculture is the great art, which every Govern-
ment ought to protect ; every proprietor of land to practise ;
and every inquirer into nature to improve."—Code of Agricul-
ture, by the Right Hon. Sir John Sinclair, Bart., ch. v.
ANSWER.—If a manufacturer were to write, " The mak-
ing of huckaback is the great art which every Government
ought to protect ; every proprietor of machinery to prac-
tise ; and every inquirer into nature to improve ;" it would
be exactly as true as the other, though not quite so senti-
mental. The fact is we can neither do without corn nor
without huckaback ; the reasonable inference from which,
is, that we should try to have as much as we can of both.
The same of all the other puffs of agriculture, ancient and
modern.

336.—The prosperity of a nation, possessing an extent
of territory sufficient for maintaining its inhabitants,—ld.
A. No nation possesses "an extent of territory suffi-
cient for maintaining its inhabitants," where corn can be
bought cheaper abroad than at home. If confined to its
own corn, it must maintain fewer inhabitants ; which is not
maintaining its inhabitants, but starving part of them and
maintaining the rest.

337.—chiefly depends ; 1. Upon the quantity of surplus
produce derived from the soil, after defraying the expenses
of cultivation. 2. Upon that surplus produce obtaining such a
price at market, as will encourage reproduction; and, 3. Upon
the cultivator hating such a command of capital, as may
enable him to carry on his business with energy.—ld.
A.—The property of a nation possessing a power of
making waistcoat-pieces for its inhabitants, depends mutatis
mulandis on the same things. There is no miracle or mystery
peculiar to corn.

338. 1. The surplus produce arises from that inestimable
quality possessed by the soil, which enables it, in proportion
as it is skilfully managed, to furnish maintenance for a greater
number of persons than are required for its cultivation.—ld.
A.—The surplus produce in making waistcoat-pieces,
wises from that inestimable quality possessed by a spin-
ning-jenny, which enables it to furnish more waistcoats
than are required for the wear of the workmen.

3:39.—Thence proceed the profits of the farmers ;—the
rents of the landlords;—the subsistence of the manufacturer,
and merchant ;—and the greater proportion of the income of
the State.

A.—From the surplus produce of the other, proceed
the profits of the owner, the salary of the director, the
subsistence of all who live by clothing, and just so much
of the income of the State as is determined by the values
of the different articles concerned.

340. —That surplus marketable produce therefore, is justly
considered to be the mainspring, not only of political power,
but also of personal enjoyment. —ld.
A.—Not a bit more of a main-spring than the other.
Turn out the manufacturer without corn, and the agricul-
turist without clothing, and see which will be most of a
main-spring. The fact is, that all this talk of main-springs
is delusion. Having what we want, is the main-spring.

341. When that surplus produce does not exist (unless in
circumstances of a very peculiar nature), there can be no flou-
rishing towns;—no military or naval force;--none of the supe-
rior arts;—none of the finer manufactures ;—no learning ; —none
of the conveniences and luxuries of foreign countries ; and
none of that cultivated and polished society at home, which
not only elevates and dignifies the individual, but also extends
its beneficial influence throughout the whole mass of the com-
munity. What exertions ought not then to be msde, and what
encouragement ought not to be given, to preserve or to in
crease so essential a resource, the foundation of oar national
prosperity I
A.—There cars be none of these without food from
somewhere ; any more than without clothes. But they
might all exist though the soil was flag-stones, if there were
the materials for manufactures and commerce underneath.
The example of " circumstances of a peculiar nature"
given in a note, is the most unfortunate in the world,-_
Holland.

342.—1 f such are the beneficial eff,cts that result from cul-
tivating the soil, (and the facts are established beyond contra-
diction), what source, either of domestic industry, or of foreign
cnmmerce, can in any respect be put in competition with
such a mine of wealth, when extended over a great empire ?

A.—Any industry that can support itself, has a right to
do it without being depressed to favour the other. There
must be no giants in these days ; or at all events none
that eat little men. The idea seems always to be, that
the question is, who is biggest and is to eat the rest.

343.--But the prosperity of a nation, as already observed,
depends not only on having a great marketable surplus, but
also on its disposable produce, fetching such a price, as to
encourage reproduction.-7/d.

A.—And therefore, if a sufficient price cannot be got
without, is to be taken twice over from other people
and this is to create national wealth. Such is the argu•
ment of the squirearchy.

344.—This was the case during the last war ; and hence
the nation was enabled, to persevere in it for so many years,
and finally to bring it to a successful conclusion. By means
of a great surplus of agricultural productions, sold at a high
price, the farmer and his landlord were placed in a condition
to pay v( ry heavy taxes to Government ;—to engage in improve-
ments of every description ; —to furnish employment to a nume-
rous body of labourers, to whom the price of bread was of little
consequence, while work was always to be had, at wages pro-
portioned to theprice of corn;—and to consume immense quan-
tities of merchandise, and articles of manufacture, by means of
which, these two branches of national industry were sup-
ported, when they were in a great measure deprived of foreign
markets.—ld.

A.—O the blessings of war ! Make but corn dear, and
the felicity of a n ition is assured ! It was not, then, be-
cause the national industry, in spite of war, created a vast
quantity of things useful for war and peace,—but it was be-
cause war brought with it the blessing of dear bread, that
the war was successfully carried on. It was the wonderful
dispensation of dear bread, which, strained through the
rent-rolls and pockets of the agriculturists, produced such
wealth and power as saved us all from the foreign con-
quest which would otherwise have been our lot. Such is
the reasoning.

345. History does not furnish an example of a nation,
which abroad, made such incredible exertions, while at home,
so many millions of people, enjoyed all the necessaries, the
comforts, and most of them the luxuries of life ; the whole
originating in prosperous agriculture, without which, our
manufacturing industry, our commercial relations, or the ne-
cessary operations of our finances, could not have been car-
ried on.—ld.

A.—Why not the whole originating in prosperous waist-
coat-pieces ? What evidence is there that the felicity of
the man progressed from belly to back, any more than from
back to belly ? The simple fact being, that the man lives
by having what he wants all over, and the dispute between
back and belly is a trick of trade.

346.—N0r is it alone sufficient, that the farmer should have
a price adequate to promote reproduction ; he should likewise
have such a command of capital, (and if it must be borrowed,
to be attainable at a moderate rate of interest), as will enable
him to carry on his business with energy. Indeed, where
capital or credit is joined to skill in agriculture, it. lays the
foundation of general prosperity. It will not be disputed,
that a hundred persons may be put to the greatest inconve-
nience, because one individual at the head of a chain of cir-
culation, cannot pay one hundred pounds. Enable him to
pay that sum, and progressively, those connected with him are
relieved. " But it is the farmer who is the first link, in the
great chain of national circulation."—ld.
A.—Why is not the manufacturer to stand at the top
of the chain sometimes ? He could prove equally well, the
great results that would arise from pouring into his funnel,
and the way in which the good would be diffused through
all the ramifications of society.

347.—M hen he is supplied with money, he is enabled to
pay his rent regularly landlord is thus enabled not only
to employ a number of Tab,losuarnedrs, but to purchase goods, from
the British manufacturer, the foreign merchant ;—the
latter finding thus a demand for
foreign
to
return, to export British manufacturesis enabled, in
foreign markets.
also
By means of an abundant circulation
the revenue is paid
without difficulty, it is regularly remitted, and furnishes the
means of paying the dividends due to thestoekholders ; the
credit of the country is thus maintained, and every class in the
community prospers. The whole, it is evident, 9i!tates with
the farmer, the first link in the great chain of circulation, whose
basis is the plough. Id.
A.—And therefore the farmer is to be supplied with
money out of other people's pockets. This is the
to which the landlords have driven the " argument of the
whirligig." But listen to more.

348. —The superior influence of the farmer, in Promoting
national circulation, is as important a discovery in politics, as
that of Sir Isaac Newton, who first ascertained the principle
on which the heavenly bodies circulated, was in astronomy. It
is founded on the system of country banking, which ought to
be encouraged, and placed on the securest possible footing.
Those nations can alone be eminently and permanently pros-
perous, whose Governments will act upon that system.—ld.
Note.

A.—Why will no Newton arise among the manufactur•
ing classes ? The country bankers have long since dis-
covered, that to make money and take the amount from
the holders of the circulating medium at large, is the pi imum
mobile for them. The manufacturing classes are lazy and
behind everybody.