The Sun.
London, England, 1841-12-23 00:00:00

CORN-LAW REFORM.

This question which has long agitated nearly all classes
of the community has at last been taken up by the far-
mers. At a dinner given to Mr. Christopher, one of
the Members for Lincolnshire, last week, he proposed
the following plan for the repeal of the present Corn-
law, and substituting another, evidently with the consent
of a large number of his constituents. After describing
the evils of the present system he thus proceeds :--
It is a great inducement for persons with a very low rate
of duty and a sudden fall in the scale to enter into the
trade ; and it is a great inducement for the corn trade
to get out of the hands of those regular corn merchants
who used to be connected with the trade, and to fall into
the hands of gentlemen connected with the Stock Ex-
change. There is no person who makes a purchase of
wheat at from 255. to 30s. per quarter in foreign ports
who does not, by} entering into combination with per-
sons who have the control of the markets, endeavour to
arrive at the object of selling this corn at 735. Is it
not a very easy and a very tempting thing to raise the
averages to the amount of 2s. or 3s. the quarter,
when, instead of having to pay a duty of 10s. Bd., they
pay a duty of but ls.—(Hear, hear.) This is a very
great defect, and I must say, without pledging myself to
any specific alteration, that I should be happy to see a
more regular scale, should be glad if we possessed a
sliding duty, in preference to the present jumping duty.
I think it would be a very desirable thing to regulate
these duties so as to have a maximum and minimum
duty. Whatever that maximum duty might be, it
should be levied when the price reaches 50s ; the mini-
mum should be levied when the price reaches 655. By
the present scale we undergo a great deal of obloquy
from the superfluous protection which we receive.
For instance, when the price falls as low as 505., the
duty is 365. Bd. ; at 40s. is 465. Bd. ; and at 36F. is
535. Bd.; being actually more than the price of the corn.
—(Hear, hear.) Now, this fact renders us liable to a
great deal of obloquy. Here is 150 per cent. levied on
the food of the country, without the agriculturist deriv-
ing any benefit. Now, it appears to me that when prices
fall so low in this country as 505., 405., or 305., it arises
not from an immense importation of foreign corn,
which we, therefore, seek to check by an extrava-
gant duty, but from the great production that takes
place in this country, and in these periods we are com-
peting with each other instead of with the foreigner.—
(Hear, hear, and cheers.) This is the reason
why I contend fora maximum duty, whatever it may
be, to be regulated and fixed from the very best official
information we can receive, as to what is the lowest
price it can be brought into the port of Hull or any other
eastern port.--(Hear, hear.) In confirmation of what
I have said, and of my views upon this subject, I have
made it my business to ascertain the lowest average
prices in any one year which have been returned since
the passing of the present Corn-laws, and I have also
ascertained in each year the lowest price at which corn
could be sold in these ports from whence corn is imported
in periods of scarcity. I find that in 1833 the average
s. d. In 1835. s. d.
In England was 49 oln England
Dantzic 26 0 Dantzic 2O 0
Rotterdam 26 0 Rotterdam 26 0
Hamburgh
In 1834. In 1836.
England
Dantzictiotterdam 23 0 Dantzic 2l 10
. 30 0 Rotterdam 29 7
Hamburgh
Now, supposing that even the very lowest possible
maximum duty was imposed, a duty of say 205., and I
merely give this supposing it to be impossible that good
corn could be imported under 365., how should we have
stood in these years of abundance and low prices? Why,
I find that with 20s. duty, and allowing 6s. for freight, in-
surance, profit, &c., the account would have stood thus:—
Allow 20s. duty and 6s. freight.

Eng. Dan. Rot:. Ham.
a. s. d. s. d. s. d.
1833 ... 49 ... 52 0 ... 52 0 ... 51 0
1834 ... 40 ... 51 0 ... 56 0 ... 47 0
1835 ... 36 ... 46 0 ... 52 9 ... 46 9
1836 ... 36 . . 47 10 ... 55 7 ... 47 1

This table will at once show that we only secure to
our-
selves obloquy by the present extravagant duties levied
on low prices. Of course the amount of maximum duty,
whether 205., 255., or even 305., could only be fixed
after consulting official documents and obtaining the very
best information on the subject.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.")
These are the reasons which justify me in coming to the
conclusion that a certain maximum duty, at a certain
point, to be imposed in relative proportion to the price
at which good foreign corn can be bought in foreign ports,
will afford us ample protection, and at the same time
get rid of the useless high duty which is the cause of
so much misrepresentation - and calumny. I say that
you must take the price at which good corn can be
bought in the foreign market, because the cost of con-
veying corn from Hamburgh, &c., is not much, if any,
more than the cost of sending it by canal from one part
of our country to the other ; and I say good corn,
because, having lived on the Continent, I have seen good
corn, but have also seen some that would never be pur-
chased for food in this conntry. I will now trouble
you with a few observations on the descend-
ing scale of duties. The pivot duty is 11.55. Bd.
at 625. For a time the scale slides down gra -
dually ; but the great encouragement to gambling
and fraud is in the fact that the rise of only 3s. in the
returned averages from 71s. to 735. makes a difference in
the duty of no less than 10s. Bd.—(Hear, hear, hear.)
No N, as I said before, I think, for the permanent
and satisfactory settlepent of this question, it should be
your desire to make as great a concession as you can, in
order
,that we may secure a permanent Corn-law, and
rid ourselves of the reckless agitation now so rife. On
the question of these laws let us satisfy all saber-minded
men, men of rational views, whether they be connected
with agriculture, manufactures, or commerce. I know
it is impossible to satisfy the Corn-law League, or the
members and allies of the late Administration, but I do
believe that if we look into this question calmly and dis-
passionately, and reform whatever is amiss, that we shall
satisfy all the rational and sober-minded portion of the
community.—(Hear, hear.) Whatever the maximum
duty should be will depend upon the result of search-
ing inquiry, but I think that if there were a minimum
duty of ss. when the price rises to 655. it would satisfy
all.—(Hear.) This would be a great concession to the con-
sumer, because I find that the present duty at 665. is 21s. Bd. ;
but you must bear in mind that you would have a consi-
derage advantage in getting rid of the fictitious mode
of taking the averages, which now only benefits the
Jew speculators of the Continent and of this country,
for on the Continent the corn trade is entirely in the
hands of the Jews. By granting the great concession
of lowering the scale, you would identify the interest of
the consumer with the producer ; and although by this
concession you might possibly relinquish a share of your
profit, yet you must recollect that there would not be the
same temptation to fraud, and the same inducement for
people of dishonest character and habits to enter into
the trade ; the business would assume a more regular
character, there would not be immense masses of corn
locked up in bond, to be let loose all at once upon
the country upon a rise of prices. Thus, taking all mat-
ters into consideration, I believe that you would, from
the settlement of the question, and the destruction to a
great extent of fraud, derive more permanent benefit
from a fixed minimum duty of ss. at 655., than you now
do with the present scale.—(Hear, hear.) I believe
that every man who hears me would be willing to allow
the poor consumer to reap the benefit of the great
improvements which have taken place in agricul-
ture.—(Cries of " Hear, hear," and cheers.) When I
say that I might be satisfied with a minimum duty of ss. at
655., I mean that it should be the minimum; but if we
are to go on, and the scale is to descend to ls. at 705.,
then I would contend that ss. at 655. is not sufficient.—
(Hear, and cheers.) I should rather be disposed to go
for 10s. at 655., and then as the price rises to 70s. the
duty to fall 2s. for every rise of Is. With respect to the
maximum, I cannot, as I have before said, say whether
it ought to be 205., 255., or 305., until I have positive and
authentic information as to the quantities and the prices
at which such quantities could be imported from abroad;
but with respect to the minimum, I will say that I had
much rather see a duty of ss. levied at 655. than a duty
of 10s. at 655. receding to ls. at 70s.—(Hear, hear, and
cheers.) These are my views upon this most
important subject—this my answer to the unfounded
and calumnious imputations which have been thrown
upon my character.—(Loud cheers.) I have also en-
tered into these details because, having derived great
benefit and great information from my constituents in
consequence of the observations I made at the market
ordinary at Barton, I anticipate that I shall have the be-
nefit of the great practical experience of many of my
constituents now present before the meeting of Parlia-
ment. In conclusion I will only venture to make one remark.
So long as I have the honour to remain your representa-
tive I shall always use my utmost endeavours,
consistently with a true consideration for all
the leading interests of the country, to stand
by the interests and promote the welfare of those I re-
present, and I shall do so perfectly regardless of the calum-
nies which are levelled against my public reputation, desi-
rous only of meriting your good opinion and esteem. And
if on any future occasion I shall be induced to depart
from those political principles which have been the guide
of my conduct through life, or if I shall feel, in the con-
scientious discharge of my duty, called upon to abandon
all those professions and pledges which I have made to
you, I shall at once, as an honest and consistent man, re-
sign my trust into your hands.—(Cheers.) But believing
that a most enlightened and intelligent body know and
acknowledge that I have discharged my duty, because I
feel that I hold as high a place as ever I did in your con-
fidence and esteem, and have in Parliament with the
greatest impartiality discharged. my duty to you and to
am encouraged
my country to the best of my
to persevere in the course which I am running, careless
of the vituperation of my opponents, and seeking only as
my richest reward the confidence and esteem of my con-
stituents.

In the Court of Queen's Bench, Guildhall, yes-
terday, a great disappointment took place, owing to the
case of Hopkins v. Hardwicke being settled without hear-
ing the evidence. It was an action for a breach of pro-
mise of marriage, brought by a lady of abouL3o years
of age, against the defendant, who is upwards of three
score. On the case being called, and the Jury being
sworn, a consultation took place between Counsel, when
Mr. rle stated that the case was settled, the defendant
paying 500 L A verdict was then returned for the plain-
tiff for the above sum, and thus the affair terminated.
An Oxford student joined without invitation a
party dining at an inn. After dining, he boasted so
much of his abilities, that one of the party said, "you
have told us enough of what you can do, tell us some-
thing you cannot do." " Faith," said he, "I cannot pay
my share of the reckoning ! "
The town of Sydney was for the first time
lighted up with gas on the 25th of May last, it being the
first city in Australia, or in fact in the Asiatic world, to
which this important invention of modern times has been
applied,—Sydney Herald.