The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-25 00:00:00

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LONDON, MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 1847.

More hubbub has been excited as to the scarcity
of provisions in this country than the reality justifies.
From one extremity of the kingdom to the other the
clamour has been raised that the deficiency of food
in Great Britain is perilous, if it be not altogether
unprecedented. First there was a cry about the
scantiness of the harvest, then about the deteriorated
quality of the grain, then about both failures in the
wheat crop together. To the excitement caused by
these assertions there w•as added the really lamentable
murrain of the potato plant; beyond that, the alarmists
were terror-stricken at the exportation of En-
glish corn from the eastern coasts to the
markets of France, and the agitation in the
public mind reached its acme in consequence of
the steady rise in the price of wheat
from 475. a quarter to the extraordinary
amount of 70s. 3d. a quarter. The actuality of this
advance in the cost of grain soon explains itself
to the comprehension of every housekeeper
in the empire, as the quartern loaf was
enhanced in cost price from 61d. to 7-id.
and so on at intervals until it reached to no less than
11 id. the four-pound loaf. There was a logic in this
that defied a merely superficial denial as to the ex-
istence of the scarcity. The arithmetic of the advance in
the cost price of the necessaries of life placed the reality
of the dearth apparently beyond dispute. And so the
clamour has gone on increasing and increasing until
the poorer classes are almost beside themselves from
apprehension. There is a perpetual storm of sup-
plication to the Legislature to prevent famine, to aid
those who are already stricken with starvation,
and so forth. As far as farinaceous food is concerned
the British islands are regarded as little better than
insolvent.

Now, is this disturbance about the utter deficiency
of provisions in England, Ireland, and Scotland, cor-
rect ? Are our granaries thus emptied ? Was our
harvest so unconscionably meagre both in quantity
and in quality ? Must we consider ourselves, as we
are told to consider ourselves, dependent upon
the produce of foreign sickles, and the enterprise of
distant agriculturists ? To all this we answer, delibe-
rately, distinctly, and emphatically that we believe
the deficiency to have been grievously exaggerated,
and the position of the country to be alto-
gether much better (as far as our reserve
of food is concerned) than is supposed. We
impugn the judgment of those who can only trace
the origin of the present panic to the dearth of pro-
visions in our markets. It is preposterous, absolutely
preposterous, to imagine that, within so few months
from the gathering in of the harvest for 1846, we
have actually reached the minimum of our home sup-
ply of grain. And this, moreover, simultaneously w ith
an unprecedented importation of corn and meal from
the United States. The Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer distinctly affirmed, only the other night,
that we bad not yet obtained a single grain
of the American crop of the last harvest, and
yet we are to be assured that the English
crop for the corresponding season is alto-
gether, or very nearly, consumed ! The assertion has
its falsity visible upon the very face of it. Notwith-
standing, therefore, the marvellous clamour about the
deficiency of provisions, we are satisfied that there is
an ample supply of grain already locked up in England,
and that a very short period will verify our belief, by
the large quantity that will be brought to market in
consequence of the recent Ministerial measures.

As rapidly as the customs of Parliamentary routine
will allow the Ministerial propositions for the allevia-
tion (both direct and indirect) of the sufferings in
Ireland are being accepted by the popular representa-
tives. This commendation must in simple justice
be passed upon the leaders of the Protectionist Oppo-
sition, that they are evincing every readiness to
forego anything relating to the exclusive interests of
their own party which might impede the movements
of the present Administration in coping with tha
difficulties arising from the apparent scarcity of
provisions. In acting thus, they are virtually acknow-

ledging that the calamities existing in various
[ portions of the United Kingdoms are so alarming in
their character as to render any protracted display of
hostility a heinous offence on the part of the dissen-
tients, and at the same moment they are showing
that a suspicion has at length crept upon their minds
that their capacity for opposition is too much embar-
rassed to be effectual. Their present quiescence is a
bitter pill, which they are endeavouring to swallow
with the best grace possible. Our opinion, however,
as to the honesty of these agrarian gentlemen is ex-
pressed elsewhere : we shall restrict ourselves in this
place to a consideration of the progress of the Minis-
terial measures introduced by Lord J. RUSSELL and his
colleagues for the purpose
,of assuaging the sorrows of
the starving population.
Immediately the motion for a temporary suspension
of the corn and navigation laws was laid before the
Committee by the Prime Minister, it was unani-
mously accepted by the Legislators, although pecu-
liarly unpalatable in many instances. This accept-
ance by the Monopolists, however, was scarcely so
much a graceful concession as it was a stubborn
times
by
the
elNTlliegatisiatdre been
sinee grantedlsseoufildv
necessity,re
dp l ayr a
bt
ee
ehas
refused upon the sixth application. Ilonourable
Members could scarcely be afflicted with such pre-
posterous foolhardiness,
execrable to a multitudes stritoc render their names
obstructing a temporary enactment ken by famine, by
it clashed with their theories of political
because
political economy.
The consequence- was obvious. The Bills for th
suspension of the laws relating to corn and e
navi-
gation were forwarded one stage on the very evening
of their introduction. Another step has been taken ,