The Sun.
London, England, 1825-04-23 00:00:00

[THE TIMES.]

A curious though imperfect return for every
month of last year, of all the prices of foreign
corn, at the several places of shipment, has been
presented to the House of Commons. The ac-
counts are too various and voluminous to admit
of insertion ; but one general inference is ob-
vious,—that while the people of England have
been suffering, and their manufactures cramped,
from the advancing price of grain during last year,
relief was even at our doors, but was unfortu-
nately excluded by the present prohibitory Corn
Laws. With respect to the ruin apprehended, or
of which apprehensions are affected, by the land-
ed interests of England, if foreign grain be ad-
mitted freely, we may be allowed to say a few
words. Odessa, we perceive, is the place at
which corn may be taken up at the cheapest rate.
In January last, then, corn was, at Odessa, and
in the English markets, at the following prices,
per quarter of Winchester measure :

ODESSA. LONDON.
hard -16 s. 2d.
Wheat{ soft
-14 s. Od. I 575. 4d.
Rye - - Bs. 7d. 40s. hi.
Barley - 7s. Od. 30s. 3d.
Oats - - 9s. Bd. - - 245. Od.
Now, to speak only of wheat, that article seems
to have been at Odessa at the price of 2s. a
bushel, whilst the Gazette price in England was
7s. 2d. But in the first place, the price of the
foreign grain being only given at the current rate
of exchange, it is probable that it appears less
than would have been the case had the exchange
at par been quoted : and in the next place, the
price is only given at a period when importation
into France and England was prohibited, and
when, therefore, the Odessa market was flooded
with a redundancy of the produce ,of the neigh-
bouring countries, having no outlet. Had ex-
portation to the west of Europe been allowed,
the price would have risen to a degree of which
it is difficult to fix the bounds. A remarkable
proof of this is afforded in the return from Ham-
burgh. Oats at that port are at 6s. 3d. during
the first week in August last ; in the second
week they are at the same price, Gs. 3d. ; but in
the third week they are seen suddenly to mount
up to 9s. 9d., the increase being more than half
the first price of the whole. Upon this the Con-
sul, Mr. Henry Canning, remarks—" The great
" advance in oats in the middle of August, was
" owing to the opening of the ports in England,
" and consequent shipments thither, and the
" prices have fallen again with those of England."
If we estimate the price of the Odessa wheat by the
same rule, its admission into England only would
suddenly raise its prime cost from 165.2 d. to above
245. a quarter. Then follow its loading and
unfolding, intervening carriage, injury and dimi-
nution by all these processes ; destruction by
vermin ; expence of fresh screening ; insurance
on passing through the half-savage belligerents;
—all these would more than double the origi-
nal cost. The best Odessa wheat (and there
is no use in importing any other) could not
be brought into the English market, even
if England were the only
consumer, for so
little as 505., without any import duty whatever ;

and in the mean time a commerce would spring
up, enriching the shipping interest, improving the
foreign relations of the country, and adding to
the skill, courage, and intelligence of our mari-
ners, by a navigation—the only one in which their
great rivals the Americans could take no part.