The Sun.
London, England, 1835-10-19 00:00:00

FRENCH CORN AVERAGES.

The following are the average prices of Wheat in France
at the end of September, in each year during the under-
mentioned 17 years, from 1819 to 1835 inclusive, accord-
ing to official returns ; the whole reduced into English
measure and money :
Per hectolitre. Per quartar. Per hectolitre. Per quarter.
f. c. s. d. f. c. s. d.
1819... 16 1 equal to 36 8 1828... 21 9 ...... 48 3
1820... 19 40
1821... 16 9
1822... 16 62 .........35 9 1831- 21 71
1823... 15 41
1824... 14 53
1825... 15 22
1826... 15 21
1827... 18 31

The average of the whole period is 17f. 31c. per hectolitre,
which is equal to 395. Bd. per quarter ; and it will be re-
marked that the average of the
,present year is the lowest
of the whole period.

In order to make a fair comparison between the average
prices of corn in England and France, the mode of taking
the average of each country respectively, must be had in
consideration. The ancient practice of England and Wales
was to make up the average from the sales made in the
maritime districts only, and all Irish and Scotch corn was
excluded from the account ; but in the corn law of 1828
it was enacted, that not only the sales of corn in the inland
markets of England and Wales, but that the Irish and
Scotch corn should also enter into the average, and these
alterations have the effect of depressing the average price of
wheat, as compared with the period anterior to 1828, at
least ss. the quarter, and in proportion for other grain ; and
therefore when the average price of wheat is now, for ex-
ample, stated to be 40s. per quarter, this, under the former
mode of taking the averages, would be 455. the quarter,
all which must be borne in mind when we compare the
average prices of corn subsequent to 1828 with those be-
fore that period.

The French averages, on the contrary, for the whole of
that large and populous country, are drawn up from the
sales made in the very small number of only 26 places, and
these, for the chief part, capital towns and cities ; and this
has important results, for, first, it is certain that the corn
consumed in large towns and cities will be much superior t 9
the average quality of the whole country, and next, it is
equally certain that the price, whatever the quality, will be
higher than in the places of growth in the interior, because
the corn comes loaded from thence with charges of trans-
port.
Wherefore the mode of taking the averages in France
tending to show a high price of corn, and the mode of tak-
ing the averages in England tending, on the contrary, to
show a low price of corn, this establishes a great difference
in the respective results ; under a sober and impartial view
of things, it is plainly impossible to estimate this difference
at less than 10 per cent. _ _

There still remains to take into the account the quality
of the corn of each country respectively. Now, the best
bread at Paris, and in the large towns in France, is better
than the best bread in London and the large towns in
England ; and the best flour at Paris and in the large towns
in France is better thaq the best flour in London and the
large towns in England ; and, therefore, the best French
wheat is better than the best English wheat ; and, there-
fore, the average quality of the wheat in France is better
than the average quality of the wheat in England ; and if
it be then considered that the Scotch, and particularly the
Irish wheat, is greatly interior to the English, there will be
no difficulty in corning to the conclusion that the average
quality of the wheat in France surpasses that of the United
Kingdom at least 10, and probably 15 per cent.
There being then 10 per cent. difference in the quality,
and a further difference of 10 per cent. in the mode of
taking the averages, it is clear that, supposing the official
average price in each country to be the same, yet the price
in France would really be 20 per cent. lower than in Eng-
land. And this is confirmed by the fact ; for the propor-
tional difference between the price of bread at Paris and
in London is generally greater than between the price of
wheat. Thus, for example, the highest quotation of wheat
of the first quality at Paris is 22f. 50c. the l hectolitre,
which answers to 345. 4d. the quarter, and the highest
quotation of wheat of the first quality in London is 455.
the quarter. On the other hand, the highest price of white
wheaten bread of the best quality at Paris is 55c. the
2 kilogrammes, which is something less than 4id. the loaf
of 41b. English weight, while the best quality of white
wheaten bread in London sells for 7d. the loaf of 41b. And
therefore the difference between the price of wheat at Paris
and in London is 31i per cent., while the difference in the
price of bread is 47i per cent., and yet it may very safely be
stated that the Paris baker makes to the full as great, if not
perhaps greater profits, than the baker in London ; and this
disproportion between the price of wheat and the price of bread
arises entirely from the superior quality of the French wheat,
for good wheat will not only produce flour of a better qua-
lity than wheat of an inferior description, but it will also
yield a greater quantity, and therefore, supposing the
French and the English miller to pay precisely the same
price for wheat in the respective markets of London and
Paris, the Frenchman can afford to sell his flour cheaper
than the Englishman, and yet make the same profit, because
from the same quantity of wheat he obtains a greater quan-
tity of flour.

Again, the French wheat yielding not eilly a greater
quantity of flour than the English, but this flour being also
of a better quality, and as from good flour not only better
bread may be made, but also more bread than from an equal
quantity of flour of an equal Description, so is it of plain
direct consequence that the French and the English baker
both paying precisely the same price for flour, the first
could afford to sell his bread cheaper than the last, and yet
make the same profit, and this by reason that from the
same quantity of flour he obtains a greater quantity of bread.
The final result, therefore, is, that from the superior qua-
lity of the French wheat, as compared with the English, the
bread at Paris is not only of a better quality than in Lon-
don, but as compared with the price of wheat it is also at a
proportionably lower price.

AN ARABIAN._A Turkish Aga whom M. de
Lamartine met returning from Mecca, had a young
thorough-bred Arab horse, upon whose back, he said, one
might take coffee at a gallop, without spilling a single drop
out of the cup.

(From the Gaceta de Madrid of Oct. 10.)
In the midst of the fatigues and solicitudes by which I
have been surrounded during the late occurrences, my heart
has discovered most powerful motives for consolation, gra-
titude, and hope, in the never-failing nobleness of the Spa-
nish character. If circumstances have allowed every opi-
nion to be pronounced without the slightest disguise ; if a
a field has been thrown open to the most extreme notions
by that irritation of the passions which is natural in every
political crisis, not a single voice has been heard in any di-
rection which was not full of the purest loyalty, and of the
most respectful veneration towards the throne of my be-
loved daughter, who is the happy symbol of the liberty of
the country. If the acts of the Government have been
censured with acrimony, and if the march of the Adminis-
tration has been combated, due justice has, universally,
been rendered to the purity of my sentiments, and to my
ardent wishes for the happiness of the Spaniards. This ge-
rierous confidence which has been reposed in me by the
whole nation shall never be abused, and no vigilance, no la-
bour, no sacrifice, will be considered by me as too great,
which can in any way contribute to draw closer and closer
the holy union of the legitimate throne with the people
whose guidance has been confided to me ; and to prepare
for those days of prosperity and of glory, by the safe road
which is traced out by our fundamental laws, and by the
progress of civilization and the enlightened state of the pre-
sent period. The only obstacle by which such a happy
,state of things can still be retarded is this disastrous civil
war, by which we-Live been afflicted for two years, and
which causes so much blood and so many tears to flow.
Our common efforts ought now to be directed towards its
termination at once, and the Government would not fulfil
the high mission it has undertaken, if it should fail to direct
against the partisans of usurpation and of fanaticism the
patriotic flame which burns in the breasts of all true Spa-
niards. Let us—all together—make a grand and generous
sacrifice upon the altar of the country. It is my duty to
set the first example, which will not be fruitless in the midst
of the most magnanimous nation upon earth. lam anxious
to give this example on the happy birth-day of my beloved
daughter, in a manner worthy of a tender mother and of a
Queen who desires eternally to retain the affections of
the Spaniards. I have therefore resolved to decree as
follows :

Article 1. Three new battalions of Light Infantry shall
be immediately raised, to be called " Cacadores de la Reyna
Gobernadora" (the Queen Regent's own Light Infantry).
Article 2. The amount of the arming, clothing, and
equipment of these battalions, and of the pay of the troops,
chiefs, and officers, shall be disbursed during the present
war out of the sum which is set apart for me ir, the es-
timate of the expenses of the State as Queen, widow, and
Gobernadora.

Article 3. The appointment of chiefs, officers, and ser-
jeants of these battalions shall be filled up in the way of
promotion from the present rank, from among those indi-.
viduals in the army who are the most worthy on account of
their valour and discipline ; those among even them to be
preferred who have been wounded in defence of the legiti-
mate Throne, or who have, at least, obtained the cross of
St. Fernando, or of Isabella 11., as a reward for some dis.
tinguished action.
Article 4. All the appointments of Sub-Lieutenants
(Ensigns) shall be given to the class of sergeants.
Article 5. One of the three battalions shall be formed
and recruited in Aragon, another in Gallicia, and the third
in Estremadura. Understand this, and have it communi-
cated to the proper authorities, in order that it may be most
punctually and promptly carried into execution.
Signed by the Royal hand, at the Palace of the Prado,
the 10th of October, 1835.

Addressed to Don Juan Alvarez y Mendizabal.

" EXPOSITION OR REPORT TO HER MAJESTY
THE QUEEN-REGENT.

" SENORA,--4t will be difficult, if not impossible, to bring
to a happy result the ardent desires of your Majesty to
secure the well-being of the nation, so long as the different
departments of the Government are not founded upon the
same bases. It will be in vain for your Majesty to issue
wise decrees, regulating, upon the most exact maxims of
morality, the action of the tribunals of justice in civil con-
tentions, and in the verification of ordinary offences ; and
equally useless will it be for your Majesty to endeavour to
reform the defects of the criminal code, if equally extensive
proceedings be not effected with regard to the Treasury
(Hacienda).
The criminal jurisprudence of this department is, in my
opinion, fraught with evils (or defects) which are in contra-
diction with the beneficent sentiments of your Majesty.
The fountains of the public riches have been obstructed by
an ignorance of the intimate connection between the trea-
sury department and administrative and legislative science.
Imposts have been established, which being at variance with
individual interests, are provocations to fraud : and an un-
fortunate obstinacy in supporting errors of this description
by force, has led to the formation of a penal code, arbitrary
as to the point insisted upon, and atrocious with regard to
the punishments awarded to transgressions which ought
rather to be attributed to misconception, than to the per-
versity of those who are called culprits.
" Morality becomes deteriorated by the sentences which
are pronounced by the judges of the Hacienda (or Trea-
sury), whereby the prisons are crowded by unfortunates
without adding to the receipts of the Treasury, and the
ruin of the State is powerfully accelerated.
" Being fully convinced of this unhappy truth, and hor-
rified at the frightful picture of the number of men who are
annually sacrificed by the Treasury to its chimerical in-
crease, and being desirous to assist your Majesty in the dif-
fusion of the reforms which you are introducing into every
branch of the Administration, I devoted myself to the
serious examination of the fiscal jurisdiction, in order to
propose what my sincere zeal might dictate to me for the
good of your Majesty's service ; and I had the satisfaction
to find that your Majesty had entrusted this important in-
vestigation to a Commission composed of most adequate
persons, both on account of their knowledge and positions,
who are occupied in drawing up a project of law, which
will embrace the regulation of the jurisdiction of the Trea-
sury and the' reform .of its penal code.'
But, Madam, until those personages shall have con-
cluded the duties 'they have undertaken, with all the perfec-
tion which corresponds to their principles and to the hopes
of the public, I consider it ,to be absolutely necessary to
propose to your Majesty some provisional measures, which
being worthy of your compassionate heart, will bring conso-
lation to a considerable number of families, who are at this
moment plunged in affliction by the inconsiderate harshness
of the fiscal regulations. ..I therefore beg of youi Majesty
to approve the decree I have the honour to present to you.
" (Signed) JUAN ALVAREZ Y MENDIZABAL.
" Madrid, October 9, 1835."