The Sun.
London, England, 1814-09-08 00:00:00

CORN.

REFORT, FRAM TPtE SELECT CONNITTEF 'OF 'VIE

lIGUSF '6F commoNs ON FEIITIONS RELATING
TO THE CORN LAWS OF THIS Kft:GrioNi.

The Select Committee to whom the several Petitions
which lia.v,e been pri,e::ted to this House, in the pre-
stilt SVssiou Ilf; Parliament, upon .the subject of the
' Corn 1. Mire referred, to consider so much of the
-said P.Jitions- s relates to the trade in-Foreign Corn,
b.on. to +Aft -unties no•A• ,ii yable thereupon; anq to re-
-
port, the sat3ie, Aejthttuir observations therenp,;n, to
*the Clouse 1 ainl.,ll4ho, Were tilso empowered to report
tin: Minutes of 'Evidence talien before thine, have conL
• sidereil the matters reft;rred to.tfrein;aud have agreed
• •to the folicnqai.:llooit
In taking into their consideration the important
slibject rekrred thetu:bytire House, they.have
oceeded, in the first.pliteec to examine into :he
state of the growth of Corn at-bottle, and the eir-
enmstances which affect the sauté. The laws
which regulate- the importatiiin. uf- foreign
..Corn,
and the duties payable tlieretipon been af-
lered from time to time, with a refereno to thext
circumstances, and to the expeneeof raising Corn
in this country, it appeared to, your Connuittee,
•that such an inquiry must necessarily precede, and
form part of any consideration of the trade in fo-
reign Corn.
'Under this first head, therefore, your Committee
'have turned their attention to the following
pwitts :-
Ist. The recent extension and improvement of the agricol-
• ture of the United Kingdom.
2d. The present expence of cultivation, including' the rent.
:id. The price necessary to remunerate the growep.
On the first point, it appears to. your Commit-
tee to be established by all the evidence, that,
ivithin the last twenty years, a very rapid and ex-
tensive Progress has been made in .the agriculture
of the United, Kingdom ; that great additional
capitals have been skilfully and successfully ap-
plied, not only to the improved- managenient of
hinds already in tillage, but also to the, convert-
ing of large tracts of inferior pasture into pro-
ductive arable, and the reclaiming and inclosing
of fens, cominrms, and wastes, which have been
brought into as. state of regular cultivation ;—that
many extensive enterprises, directed to the same
innnortant objects, are stithe of them stilLintheir
infancy;--that others, though in a more forward
state, do not yet make any return for the' large
• adtlntees which have been laid out upon them ;
sled that these ail tinees, iii many instances, will
be i total loss to the parties (involving, also the
it.As to the nation of the pi oduce,,which in a few
years might be expected front such expensive un-
dertakings) if, ff am the want of a sufficient en-
courtgeu:eut to continue them, they should be
abandoned in their present unfinished. state.
It is to the stimulus of this encouragement during
the last 20 years, snore than to any other Cause,
that all the witnesses ascribe the great increase
which ha's taken place in the annual produce of
our soil, and-the late rapid •(')Etetision of the int-
-pt.oved system of our husbandry—a system \illicit,
it is stated by them, has originated in, and can
rinly be maintained by, large additio'ns to the
farming capital of the kiln dues. The greii source
of this encouragement, in the judgment of your
.Committee, is to -be traced to the increasing po-
pdatism ancl growing opulence of the United
Kingdom; but it is al:o not to be concealed, that
'these causes, which they trust Will be of a perma-
nent and progressive 'nature, have been incident-
ally but considerably aiiled by those events, which,
-during the continuance of the War, operated to
check the importaticn of foreign Corn. The, sud-
den removal of these impediments appears to have
created, among the' occupiers of land, a cry toin
degree of alarm, which, if not allayed, would
tend, in the opinion of the witnesses examined
by your Contatittee, rot- only to prevent the in-
,elosure and cultivation of great tracts of land still
lying waste and unprodnctive, 'but also to cowl-
tvract the spirit of improvement in other quarters,
and to check its progress upon lands already under
tillage. ,
(2)—With respect to the second point, " the
expense of cultivation, including time rent," it is
stated by all the evidence, that, within the' same
period of twenty years, the money7rent of land,
taken upon an average, has been doubled ; ,but if
time valise of the rent be measured by the propor-
tion which it bears to the gross produce of the
humid, it appears to have very considerably dimi-
nished within the period in question : the land-
lord's share of the whole produce of estates occu-
pied by tenants, haying heed years ago about one-
hird, awl being now calculated at no_ more than

frini.onc-foouth to one-tittle. With respect to
the amount of capital requisite for the'stockingof
a farm, and the general expellees of management
:Ind cultivation, there appears to ,Le very little dif-
ference in tlioevidence. They are stated to,be at
least double whit they were twciit" years ago.
Without pretending to otter to the house any
statement by which they might be enabled to form
an opinion, how much of this increase of charge
has been produced by increased taxation, yonr
Committee have thought it not nuconnectod
this part of their inquiry, to call tor. an account Of
the tot:11 amount. of ta.ses received into the 'Ex_
'chequer, in the several years' ending the sth of
April, 1791, 1804, and ISI4, which will be found
iii the Appendix.
(3!)—On the third point, " the rice aPeessary
'!n remunerate the grower of Cvco,'" it is 'ohvious
that it must beulmost impossible to arrit'e at any
very precise .conelittion ; and that this price will
liar; according'to the variations or soil; markets,
yl ill, and itithistry in the "oc.ctipier, and many
other clfeumltance ttliectingcliiierentiv not only
dillerent.districts, but different flatus in the saute
district. At the same time; there can be no doubt
!kit these cirennisumces are taken into &ishit!.
bot b. by thole who let,
ration, and thOse Who
tike farms ; andthat their calculations of charges
and outgoings on the one hand,' and of return "on
the other, tire wade with a reference, to some
gil-en price, as .that which, upon a fair average
-Crop, would be ~ lICCESFar ; to remunerate .the
grower. It is this price which your Coraraittee
love endenvotoilti to .vicer :n.tn.
One of the uitncsses txatnined b yOnr Com-
mittee states, that, according to the calculations
which Ile. luis Made Of the expellees and produce
upon a farm which, lze occupies, lie is of ()Pinion
that, wheat being 725. per Tmrter, the growers
'1)1 Corn would be able to live but this calcula-
tion, be adds, is made cif the supposition that the