The Sun.
London, England, 1821-03-08 00:00:00

• b.
had raised: rviciotir. and: attificial sys'tein• whi'ch
could,not now be altogether, laid aside. Of this
description were the laws for keeping corn above
its natural prke% was hoWeVet, Material' in
considering this subject, to bear• in :mind that the
rents of country had increased ,inAaropottieo
to the risein.the price of produce- He then refer•
red-to the, former Lords' Report, was framed
in communication with the Beard of Agriculture.
From that Report, the. cdst. bf . cultivating' 100
acres of land would, be seen at three different
•
intervals :
In 1790. .. it was ...;cBB 6 '3i per acre.
In 1603 19.1 71 per acre.
In 1813 ' Pit 12 31 pefacre.
Tithes had of courselncreased,' and rents,must.be
deemedto have increased at least in a proportionate
degree with the price of corn. The ll6n. lien
bet.' then-illustrated . his "general observation by
adducing the case of a Gentleman of landed. pro,
perty, whose income. was necessarily reduced to
such a" state,, by the distresses of the times, that
he was utterly unable to pay the direct and indi,
rect taxation which oppressed•him,. or to emploY
those. persons to whom, under more. favourablecircumstances,, he was a large contrihntor. He
also expressed his opinion -that it was no lOtiger
politic to- force the. Cultivation, of corn in bad
been the high prices;
blauntd now Tit that ll'oa‘dy doneiiad by the.
it was. no
longer expedient.to perseYere in cultivating that
sort of land.' ft was not the interest of the coun-
try to keep it in cultivation, and the 'sooner
it was put out the better. lie urged the impe-
rative" .necessity of eConotny to all the departments
of the State : until arrangements to that effect
Were imperatively adopted there was'no chance of
promotingthe hiterestsofthe public.-_(dear.)The
people of the.conntry were steadfastly loyal in
their character; the never 'generally complained
unless' when oppressed by intolerable "btirdens ;
and when they found themselves in, such a situa-
tion, they were entitled to exact the most rigid
economy on the part of their Rulers.. Entertain:
lug these sentiments upon econoniy, he would
state the reason why he - had not voted for the
motion of an Hon. Member (Mr. Maberly) last
night. His reason was simply this he feared
the fallin-o-' oil in the revenue'would be great-next
year, and that with such a prospeet, •the House
would not be justified in giving up such a.branch.
of taxation. As to the Corn Laws them Selves,
he thotight them very 'inadequate for their own
)
purpoSes. When the price was 80s., the ware-
houses must ,be thrown open ;
.the consequence'
from the quantity of foreign corn upon hand must'
then be to reduce the market to such a degree as,
at once to affect the property of a laro-°e•pOrtion of
the ei Although he:
aid not
countryeon
ciunra
imnotsiie protectingtseriousdeg perr
ce of 80s., .Vet
he thought, situated as the country was;'sdme price.
Was necessary. For that purpose' he 'thought it,
would.be,much better. to refer to the principle"
of the act of 1801, which was, when the price'
was at a certain rate, to adrnit foreign_ corn sub
ject to a duty : that duty, he thought ought to,
be'Made variable according to a graduated: scale.';
On the .subject of the resumption of cash pay.:
ments by the llank,he did -not think that when that
arrangemoit had been made, the inte-tats'ot the
cotintry had been • as' carefully attended to as
ttie
doneh to s have
btlpeapO •Something :must lin
lsupport the lauded interests
of the Country, otherwise it was iinpOssible'that
.ilejlil a°teulgyhtbe to
that important dais of the community-could main-
tain itself as it ought for the public good. See
the effect which would attend their, removal, from
the sphere of their utility, or their being compelled
to resort to cheaper countries, or hide themselves.
in pOpulous towns. The effect would indeid •be'
fatal if they were obliged to relinquish the offi-
ces which they now so diSinterestedly and gra-
tuitously filled for the benefit'of the Country....
Mr. lfosrwoon trusted that_ the public mind
would not entertain any great hopes of relief from'
the Committee, unless it were to go into 'an in-•
quiry on the' subject of general- econiimv, for
otherwise. those hopes 'would certainly be disap-
pointed. It had been-stated. by' an 11611. Gen--
genial); that the average price of wheat'frottil79o
to 1795 had been 535. and that the average price.
of wheat dating the last five years had 'been as
high; but the Hon.. Gentleman 'bad not taken
into consideratioO that the increase of -the Na-
tional Debt, froth' 1790 to 179-5; was • only
14,000,0001. whereas the increase during the' laSt-
five years-amounted to 40,000,0001., and conse-
quently the burdens• on the farmer ' mtist be
much greater. Unless, therefore,a system of eco-
nomy were resorted to, in order to reduce the taxes
'on-the public, it was vain'to think .of affording
relief by any legislative measure. If the rents
in 1795 were in , the ratio stated by the Hon.
Gentleman, let the country have at present the
same army, the same number of secretaries, the
same number of lords of the Admiralty,. and, the
same salaries as in 17 95.—(hear, hear!)----LThe
petitioners looked to that. house. for relief, and
he hoped that they would not 'look in vain. He
believed that the country could still maintain its -
faith with the public crediter, if every pdssible
measure of economy
.Were
,tesotted•to.---(llear.)
Mr. W. Buitacti said, that much of the- dis:
tress of the agriculturist arose out of the magni-
tude of the Poor Rates. lie Was' sUrptised7to
hear it proposed, that what was called the fens,
or poor lands should be, thrown out of 'CultiVa,'
Lion. Now it so happened, that-in his part-of'
the country (Sussex)- such lands' were-among:
the earliest cultivated lands in the kingdOrit. 13e-,
fote coals were used, thoselands. Were cultivated.
for the production of wood, and ever since,-
though turned to different purpOses,', they had .
given employment to a numerous 'population. If
they were to be put out of ctiltiiTation, he would
ask what was to becoMe of that populatiOn ?
.(11ear, hear!)-=-If such a proposition as this were.
carried into effect,: the population must shift
themselves intoother parishes, and•the country,
lie believed, would thus he soon in a state of
in-
surrection.—(Hear, head)—He had every :wish •
to see economy practiced as extensively as pos-'
sible, by his Majesty's Ministers, and, with that
view he would support-the motion.
Mr. TREMAYNE wished for the adoption of the
severest economy, hut was not 'disposed to
for an immediate remission. of taxation. The
main stay of the country was economy and re-
trenchment. Ile wished the landed interest to

. .
be proteCted Onsti.he lic:t;od Would:be Lorne in
hind, that the interestsof-the agricAltural classes
wer'e inseparablY:bound up 'With. those of -every_
branch of the tounnunity., _
Mr. J. Vionlyiour said-the man must bean
idiot', or worse thtn *an' idiot; who could deny
that every' class the Country ''stiffered from
taxation. 'He had Voted' last night against
the:motion he" then submitted to' 't •fioLise, Lt'-
cauSe 'thk.:pioposition 'tad not appeared to hiM
the most eligible that could be produced ; 'and
he had votecnigainst. the motion' for the repeal of
the Agridultural 'llorSe Duty, •beCatise, consider-
ing,thattO'be of little importance to have voted
for the -motion, as if he had regarded it in a clif
ferene light, would Lave been to lend him Self to a
practical delusion: In. noticing what had been
said on the subject of light soils,- he remarked
that the finest wheats prodficed .at the London
markets came from Essen and Sussex, and
were raised on lands, the cultivation, of which
-WaS. as' difficult, and: as hazardOuS.as that of any
part Of the -Conntry.- He had-a paper in his hand
Which contained the experience of an individual
fOr the last 'thirty years:: If this -contained but a
dish-of lies, -he initst. throw 'up the case ; but
he implicitly believed it. -He wished to call
attention-to:a conipar:ison on an average of the
cropslprOduced on' a particular fararat different
periods. He would take the years 1791 and
1819. would also compare the charges_sus-
tairied f6r rent, tithes, poors'-rates, taxes; labour,
tradeirrien's bill, frorn accounts made up to
Michaelthas, 1791, and,Mleitaelmas, 1819. The
average crop taken from 1.791; was 40 bushels of
Wheat per acre; which sold for Bs'i6d. per bUshel.
The crop of 1819 was 34 bn.shels, which sold for
Bs. 11:per bushel. • The crop of Barley, per acre;
iri 1791, averaged 40 hnshet;, and was Aold for Gs.
Gd. per bushel. lu 1819, the produce and price
was th.e Sdr-ne, The'expenci,s borne by the former
at the two periods wi-re'as fOIIoW
f 1791; 'W acre - £BO 15 0
Rout" - 130 0 6

Tithes .. -. 111119:,,. ttor'. -...,
.-
14 0
..
..39
1) 0
j 1791 - - 82 8
Poore Rat2s
- 1 1319 '4 . 49 8 0
Assessed Taxes - 1 lui, 1 1
. - 1 _ 1 0
Labour - . - { 11-11-!1) - - 116 1 5
193 3 1
Blacksmith's Bill •-t 11,7.11 A - -8 10 8
• - 18 13 6
Wheelwright's Bill It 13%1 1 110
- . 11 8 11
collarmlltar's Bill - { ITig - - 28 .0
- !- 7-4
0
In 1791, the total expences, exclusive of interest, were 232 6 103
In 1819 • . - - - -- :- , - .op 7 $
- -

_ .
. At the two periods there was very little diffe-
rence' in the price 'of corn. It was impossible,:
Under such cirCiunstances;that the farmer could'
go on long without relief..
Mr. G. BENNETT' began by observing, that.
every person' Who spoke on the question admitted,
'the univerSal 'distress'which prevailed, but every:
Cautionsly'avoided to mention the sources
whence • arose that distress.' If a Committee;
were-appointed; and that-Committee did not go
into -the whole of the distresSes, not only of the
agriculturists, but of:every other class of his Ma-.'
jesty's subjects—if they did not inqUire Into the
taxation, .the appointriaent of aCommittee would:
be a mere 'derusion'; it could give nO relief to
the people at large ; it would only keep up rents,
and 'raise the priCe of bread. .The hoped the report
46 14 wouldemanate from that Committee,would
• -
not be got up as other reports had been:, by the in-
fluence of Ministers, anclafterwards thrown in their
faCe as the report of the House, whereas; in fact, it
might have been the report of Ministers themselves.
The whole question of taxation, generally, as it
bore on all classes,-should be diligently investi-
gated. The currency of the country should also
be considered. -He contended that this ques-
tion should not be looked at as affecting the agri-
cultural interests only, but all Other interests, as
settlements of-all kinds, -rents, bonds;.-debts, mar-
riage Settlements, be all exam-med.—
It:was ';;•+ 'The country to pay off the
different intidetts nn ''rd
'on it With deteriorated
Means. They' shOuld not go into that Committee
without an express-determination to inquire into
all the distresses under which all classes laboured.
1f augmentation of prices of agricultural produc-
'Lions were the object for the 'appointment of-the
Committee, -it would. he attended • with the
greatest injury to the lower classes of the com-
munity.; He Yr child Sotirid the alarm to"the country
•if such 'were the object:' Hot). MeMbers -might
despise numbers and.- public opinion; the
Noble Lord - (Castlereagh) might talk insult-
ingly' of the people's right to petitiOn that
'House-; but he' would ' tell the Noble Lord
and the lion.- Members,' that if the country
were to be- toldthat a ComMittee were appointed
by that liotweto raise the price of bread,—(tfear,
hear.)—the Noble- Lord', with all blandiSh:
Merits, could •not.allaY the:ferment such informa:.
Lion" would necessarily-produce. He :should take
care, and all his friends .should take care, that
no 'motion for a Stipply should be carried in
that Mouse' without :the, strictest inquiry and
examination.--(Hear, hear, hear.)--they would
take their stand on the establishment of
1792; and to thtit they • would- endeavour
to rednee the present.- NVlien :from Mem-
-hers rimless that Agriculture is' rnined, that
trade is destroyed ; when every one is endeavour-
ing to "shift 'for himself; it
_bet:ante the duty of -
sortie one:t6-'Staticrup'for the community, at large.
There —was but one line of conduct' to,pursue..
The country -was: not able to support the
present establishments. When; therefore, it
shotild be told thein'that. the Colonies should' be
niaintained,:- that . armies: should'. be kept
support-peace and tranquillity,-that all the other
establishments were to. be kept up,—it then be-
'came the dirty of the Honse to: reply, that -the -
`Country needed, theM not, and could not- support'
them. That was• the- line of conduct. for tittrn;
pursue. Wilful. on that night the blessings of
'plenty and abundance- had been repreSetited as a
-curse, •when Ifortintrable Gentlemen stand-up
•aud,..ltimenCthe ruined state :of agriculture, on
those. Honourable Gentlemen •he - would call
to come doWn to that' Buse and watch'the
time -when next' a grant was to be votedlot the'
'keeping up:of an. enbrrnousfarmy estaWisbment:
It would be then the people might,judge, of the'
sincerity of. their motives.;---(Hear, ,heat !)-11
they did. ridt -codie•down and 'olipose:sna-e-nor-