The Sun.
London, England, 1821-06-23 00:00:00

circumstances will permit, in the degree-in which such-in-
comes may have been reduced ; for, in considering this
subject, it is important 'to bear in mind that the general
amount and real pressure of taxation have been positively
increased, in the proportion of the improved value of our
currency.

Your Committee cannot conclude the observations which
they have found it their duty to submit to the House, with.
out observing, that most of the Petitions referred to them
Complain of the inadequate and injurious operation of the
present Corn Lat.
grain on
and. pray generally for protection, nut for
equal to tlly, but for all- the'productions of our Agriculture.
country. —le protection given to the manufactures of this

to IYnithin this principle, the Petitioners appear to be friendly
a open trade; hut in the application of it, as expounded
in some of the Petitions, and' ilinstrattd in the examination
of some of the witnesses, your Committee cannot but appre-
hend that the duties which they contemplate, would be alto-
gether prohibitory.
It cannot he necessary to enter into any statements to show
that, practically, this would he the result, in all but seasons
of scarcity, of -a fixed duty of 40s. a quarter upon wheat.
Your Committee will merely repeat what they have already
xlated,that .when the trade•in corn with the Continent was
open, subject to the scale of duties imposed by the Acts of
1723,1791, and 1804, and in force till 1815, there never was
an innwilation of foreign corn to any amount during the short
intervals when the high duties were demandable; and vet
those duties at no part of the time exceeded 245. 3d. per
,quar-
ter- To this fact they will only add, that what is proposed,
addition ro the amount of the duty, namely, that it should
'e Permanent, " whatever may be the price," is a proposition
which your Committee are confident the Lexislature could
never entertain, nor any considerable portion
.of the commu-
nity ever countenance.

The suggestions with respect to duties equally prohibitory
On every other article the production of the soil of this coon-
.. try, all come under the same principle, and are open to the
same abjection. The principle would, in fact, go far to anni-
hilate commercial intercourse altogether; and is moreover
f'mnilcd, as it appears to your Committee, upon a mistaken
statement, as well as an erroneous view of what is deemed
pretiction to our manufactui es.
In the first place, they feel the more warranted in affirming,
that the argument of the Petitioners rests in part upon a mis-
conception of facts; as they observe that one of the witnesses,
in order to illustrate his ideas and the wishes of the Peti-
tioners, has furnished a table of the duties payable on foreign
Manufactured articles, of which several are subject to direct
I.)eavi dirties of excise in this country ; and upon which the
Importation duty, as for instance upon the article of glass, is
imposed in a great measure to countervail the duty upon that
article manufactured in this Kingdom. •
But the main grounds upon which your Committee are
disposed to think that the House will look with some mistrust
to the soundness of this principle, is—first, that it may be
well doubted whether (with the exception of silk) any of our
considerable manufactures derive benefit from this assumed
Protectioi, in the mai kets of this country; fur how could the
foreign manufactures of cotton, of woollens, of hardware,
compete with our own in this country, %silos it is notorious
that we can afford to undersell them in tine products of those
great branches of our manufacturiug ,indUstry, even in their
;flwn markets, notwithstanding that cotton and wool are sob-
Jteet to a direct duty on importation, nut drawn back upon
'heir export in a manufactured stale, as well as to all rite in-
direct taxation, which affects capital in these branches, in
common with that capital which is employed in raising the
Productions of the soil ? Secondly, that there exists this most
eosential difference between the effect of protection given to
the manufacturer (even it he did not enjoy from natural causes
a preference in the home market), and the attempt at a simi-
!ar protection and monopoly to the produce of the soil—that
'" all employment of capital, either in trade or manufactures,
Profits are limited by competition. If, for airy length of
times or from any circumstances, profits are increased, in
t„Y particular branch, abOve the accustomed average, addi-
nal capital seeks employment in that branch, and profits
are again speedily reduced to their former level. 'this would
equally be the case if the demand for that particular article
v'ere doubled ; and it may further frequently happen, as we
hale witnessed of lite years (in all goods, for instance,
liouglit of iron and cotton), that, owing to discoveries- its
Muchanical and chemical science, and improvements in the
Manufacture, au immense increase of consumption may be
concomitant with, and probably, in a great degree, the result
of, a great fall in price.
, the same principle, it is true, applies to the capital and
that
of the farmer; but with this important distinction,
'tat the price of caro, taken for any series of years, is nieces-
"rily regulated by the expense of production upon the lands
Which, at that price, make no return beyond the charge of
rasing it, together wills the ordinary profit of the capital
ptPloyerf upon those lands: The cultivator of such lands,
the time, is upon a footing with the merchant and the
Z'onufactnrer; but if the demand for corn were doubled it
:uld force iiito cultivation poorer inds, requiring a larger
i1',."P.1 to raise the same quantity of produce ; the price of
11,,,'" Prouce wou determine e price ote whole, or
f le poodrer lands could mit beth maintainedf in! cultivation ;
there cannot permanently he two rates of profit in the
114!`"4' occupation. It is sufficient fur your Committee to point
1
the
grOutid of difference, and to leave it to the juilament of
hit, e liousc, in connection with the observations which they
already submitted in a former part of this Report.
4nother wish expressed ,by some of the Petitioners, and
id
s" of the witnesses, is for the repeal of that dance in the
ad— Act, which allows the warehousino in the United until' foreign foreign corn, when it cannot be taken out for home
.-°,,dsocapti
Tl'hc grounds upon which this alteration of the law is nig-
ted, for the relief of the British grower, are two-fold.-
2,t• That the foreign corn absorbs the capitals of the dealers,
wouldbe employedo ulating in corn of
in tr:,„ ou otherwise
growth;sh and, secondly, that it enables them to hold,
ilthc warehouses of this country, a large stock of foreign
ith eat, the notoriety of which
soon the
sett(makets, from
dr,aa of its being poured its sasit is free by the
• Prices rising above so shillings.
rite fast objection proceeds upon two assump..ions, both
the
which appear to your Committee doubtful , that
1,11 apitals of the dealers are alisorbed in this foreign spe-
L4tion ; and ally, that. if mit so employed, they would
recdlate with them in British corn- Your Committee
Cnceire that there is no fixed moonlit of capital' assigned
11 this trade, and That it is governed by the same princi-
e' which stimulate the application of laidcapi in valuer
All",elies of foreign or domestic commerce. he of
ft, the foreign corn now in this country, which cannot he sold
)lr home consumption till the price shall, for some weeks,
ire exceeded 80s. a quartet, is probably less than one mil.
63_11. sterling. British corn, by the last returns, was about
per quitter. Can there he a doubt, if an impression
generally; that it would rise to 795. before the next
litl,:st, that abundant capital would lie found for specula-
hE • and is notabe want of it, at this Moment, rather to
se„recelved .as erieence of an apprehension that, in the
seoti'lt of another productive harvest, the present low prices
111:1 not be improved ?
re thl "n the second objection, your Committee have only to
co ark, that it is unquestionably trite, that the present ac-
aloliit• • .
of ih ion of a great quantity of foreign corn, the surplus
have" two or three last harvests on the Continent, would
hveot c,aosiderable influence upon the prices 'here, in the
gees t` the ports being opened in consequence of a deficient
not ' but the question is, whether that influence would
herlcy9Carly, if not altogether the saute, tinder that contin-
Port, )f„...that accumnlation were altogether at the shipping
veir,„°' *Holland, or other parts of Continent, instead of
gQ?" dui lded between them and the warehouses of this coon-
Should the prices here he fluctuating, between 70s. and
lieowreibe small difference might perhaps be produced by the
Renick die of the accumulation in our own warehouses, sti•
to k,‘"ng the British grower to bring his own corn to market,
p,rtvel, down the price when it was approaching to the
re ale, in order to shut out the foreign supply. But in this
•.t.ht_P t.et, accurate information must he to Ina, an advantage.
int might also be a little varied at which a part of the
cRh erign corn, upon the ports being opened, might End its way
N, • Brit this difference would nut be considerable, the
sph.s of Flanders and Holland being as convenient for the
to -riles as most of our own ports from which, corn is shipped
r London
Navin •
st. ted the grounds uponwhich your Committee are
hl'pinion that the expectations which have been entertained
ardrantage from the repeal of this clause, are rot likely to
they conceive that the views in which ii was in-
f.. laced of making this eoutitry a deposit of foreign orain,
o',.Tra.hich either our own occasional WalltC, or tli7ise of
~(11 nations, might be supplied, are, independent of other
-o,,nsulerations, too much in unison with our general ware-
?_antuscing system, from whirl) this country derive such import-
, commercial advantages, to be abandon( ci, without fur-
ther proof of their prejudicial effects tin our agriculture, than
any which your Committee have been able' to collect from
the evidence. -•
It is material to observe, also, that the warehousing of fo-
reign corn in this coontrv, thus great adr:iitrige,Uiat
it
places the supply of our Wants to the extent of the quantity
'warehoused, out of the teach, of foreign States, 'major,
in
out of their power, in a season of
.searcity, to aggravate the
pressure of those wants, either o
of con), or by imposing a heavy Y Troll i biting the export
The fact of upwards of 100,000 of qty upon that export.
been
dairertec:trziltel,y4,be
sentiuiftrir ntl:e warehouses of this country to the
quarters of wheat having
Mc
skews that, this facility of .defroait is I

. .
"t a matkr of inditic.ence to ttic commerce and nar,igation
of tl!is count' y.

An impression prevaikin many quarters- that large quan-
tities of corn, impoited
February, 1819, have tecentl)
been introduced into home consumption. This could only
have occurred by a fraudult:sl elllsloll of the law. Of the-
existence of this-practice to, a-great extent, your Committee
have received many intimation, y appear, however, to
rest upon vague rumours, wlish the parties, when called
upon, have nut come forward, or not teen able to substan-
tiate, except in one instance, the oarticulars of which your
Committee forbear t 6 state, as it isunderstood that the per-
sons concerned in the attempt are now under prosecntion•
her will only observe, that. the qUirrtity stated to have been
withdrawn was inconsiderable., and teat it appears to them,
if further security be requisite against tie recurrence of this
fraud, that regulations for that purpos, may easily be de-
vised and introduced into the Bill, now before the House,
fur better ascertaining the averages.
Instead of expressing doubts with respe,t to the remedies
which have been suggested by others, it would hare been
far more satisfactory to your Committee, to have been en-
abled to conclude their labours, by pointing nit some imme-
diate measure of alleviation, which would have been effica-
cious at once to mitigate the distresi, and to Vlay the alarM
which prevails among the agricultural classes of the con,
mutiny.

If such an expedient could have been found, even in a
temporilly departure from arty sound and rem: ilted princi-
ple of general policy otn this subject, or in any modification
of the existing law which could now be attempted, trey might
have been disposed to submit it to the favourable cotisidera.
tioo of the House; but when, atter a lung and ankious in-
quiry, they have nut been able to discover any means, which,
in. their estimatiOn, arc calculated immediately to remove
the present pressure, thry know too well their own duty
to the House, and feel too much respect for the manly cha-
racter of that class of the community, wbuse (lithe tittles
have been the object of their investigation, either to attempt
to disguise the view which they have taken of, the origin and
nature of those difficulties, or to recommend that specific
plait of relief pointed out .by the suffering parties, sk hich,
however sanctioned by the argomenfi anti prayers of their
Petitions, appears to be founded in delusion, and likely
therefore to lead only to disappointment.
So fat as the present depression io the markets of agricul-
tural produce is the ettct of abundance from our own
gro'wth, the inconvenience arises from a cause which no
leaislanve provision can alleviate ; so far as it is the result
of the iucteased value of our money, it is one not peculiar
to the farmer, but which has been and still is experienced
by many other classes of society. That result however is
the more severely felt by the tenant, in consequence of its
coincidence with nil overstocked market, especially if he he
farming with a burrowed capital and under the engagements
of a lease ; and it has hitherto been farther aggravated by the
comparative slowness-with which prices generally, and parti-
cularly the price of labour, accommodate themselves to a
change i❑ the value of money.
Iron* this circtunstance, combined with other causes, the
departure front our ancient standard, in proportion as it was
prejudicial to all creditors of money and persons dependant
on fixed incomes, was a benefit to the active capitals of the
country; and it cannot be denied that the restoration of that
standard has, in its turn, been proportionally disadvanta-
geous to many individuals belonging to the modoctive classes
of the community, and especially to those who had engaged
in speculative adventures, either of farming or trade.
That restoration must also be accompanied with embar-
rassment to the land owner, in propurtitio as his estate is en-
cumbered with mortgages or other fixed payments, assigned
upon it during the period when laud and rents were rai,ed to
as artificial value, in reference to the impan.ed value-of the
money in which those incumbrances were contracted.
From riie cessation of public loans, the ratability of large
aecumulations of capital, and the constant operation of such
a Sinking Fond as, in the present state of our finances, may
henceforward, daring the continuance of peace, be regu-
larly appropriated to the reduction of the public debt, your
Committee trust that the rate of interest of money, may,
in a short time, be so far reduced Gelow the legal maximum,
as to make those encumbrances a lighter burden upon the
landed interests of th•• kiugdoin. It is an alteration
which former intervals of peace have produced, at periods
in many respects less favourable to its attainment; and
it, in the present instance, the want of that alleviation'
is become more urgent, your Committee venture to hope
that, from the great accumulation .of capital in the coun-
tiy, co-operating with the effects of a positive and steady
reduction of the public debt, this salutary result will also
he more speedily brought about. They look forward to this
mode of easing the incinnbrances of the landholder with the
more anxiety, as, amidst all the injury and injustice which
an unsettled eurrency—an.evil, they trust, never again to be
incurred—has in succession cast upon the different ranks
of society, the share of that evil which has now fallen tiptin
the lauded interest, is the only one which, without inflicting
greater injury and greater injustice, admits (now' that we
are so far advanced in the system of a restored cOrt riles° of
no other relief. The difficulties, great as theysinfortunately
are, in which it has involved the farming, the manufacturing
and trading interests of the country, must diminish in pro-
portion as contracts, prices, and labour, adjust themselves to
the present value of money. That this change is now• in
progress, and has already taken place to a coo.idershle de-
gree, is in evidence before your Committee. They are satis-
fied that it will continue until that balance is restored, which
will afford to labour its due remuneration, and to capital it
fair return. And,ailt hough they deeply lament the deraog,-
tarot which the fluctuations of the last ten years, in the va-
lue of the.currency, have occasioned in all the transactions
of life,-together with the individual loss and suffering una-.
voidably produced by the return to a fixed standard, they are
satisfied that this was the only course which it was in the
power of Piirliament to adopt, as well to prevent the continu-
ance of a derangement, leading, as it tutt,t have led, to the
aggravation of those losses and sufferings, as to manifest to the
world the inflexible determination of this c•tuntry rigidly to
adhere to that good faith of which the moral character of the
people is the sure guardian, and which, with that character,
has placed Our greatness and our power upon the founda-
tion, hitherto tinshakeu amidst all our vicissitudes, of public
credit and•uational lionour.—.brae IS, 1541,