The Sun.
London, England, 1844-02-03 00:00:00

THE NNTI-LEAGUE AGITATION
AND THE CORN-LAWS.
(From the Times.)
We have been favoured with a copy of the following important
etter from Mr. Jones Loyd, in answer to a request that he should
become a member of an Association formed for the purpose of
counteraetine the designs of the Anti.Corn.law League.
It will be found well worthy of an attentive perusal.
TO J. W. SUTHERLAND, ESQ.
Dear Sir, —I beg to acknowledge your circular letter, inviting
Me to attend a preliminary meeting of the landed proprietors,
farmers, :red others of the Eastern division of the county of
Surrey, with the view to the formation of a general " Society for
the Protection of British Agriculture in opposition to the mis.
ebievous designs of the Anti-Corn-law League ;^ and further, re-
questing "that in the event of my being unable to attend I would
oblige the C onmittee with my views on the subject."
Haring been pi evented, by my absence from home, and by the
late period et which your letter reached my hands, from attending
the meeting in question, I proceed to comply with the latter part
of your request.
The prosperity of British agriculture is a cause in which I
should gladly enlist myself; it is, I am convieced, indissolably
connected with the well-being of the community at large; for no
great interest .f this empire can suffer alone. The prostration of
agriculture must inevitably involve a corresponding depression of
every other :mportant interest of the country. This consideration,
well as motives of a more immediately personal and selfish
character, would lead me cordially to co-operate with you in the forma-
tion of the r r oposed Society, could I bring myself to believe that the
agricultural :Merest is at this moment menaced with any real injus-
tice, or that the measures by which it is supposed to be protected
are really effieient for that purpose, and not inconsistent with the
equal justice which is due to other classes of the community.
The maintenance of the present corn.laws is usually meant by
the expressh n " protection to British agriculture," and if this is
the purpose to which the efforts of the proposed Society are to be
directed, I trust at once declare that my views on this subject are
directly opposed to those of the meeting which you represent. I
cannot acquiesce either in the policy or in the justice of any at.
tetlipt.to protect my own individual interest as a landed proprietor,
or to uphold the welfare of that class in general, by laws which
restrict the hee supply of the food of the people, and which are
Intended to vernpel them to purchase in a dearer market the neces-
saries of lite, which it is apprehended they might otherwise obtain
from a cheaper source. To whatever extent the present corn-laws,
by producing that effeet, protect British agriculture, it is clear that
they Must do so at the expense of the British consumer, that is—of
the people at large. 'I hey are made to pay more for their food than
Would others ise be necessary; and the sum thus taken from them
is supposed fit, go to the benefit of the agriculturist, or, more cor-
rectly speak...et, of the landed proprietor. The difference between
the natural Nice of ar article of general consumption, the supply
of which is subjected 'o no legislative restraint, and the higher
Price of a similar article, the supply of which is restricted by pro.
tective laws, is a tax ireposed upon the whole community ; and the
amount of that differehte either goes into the pockets of the pro-
ducers of the protect& article, or is altogether lost, being produc.
tive of benefit to no cies s. As a landed proprietor, lam naturally
anxious to protect my own interest by all just means; nevertheless,
I shrink from the respoFibility of seeking protection through this
process. There seems to me to be injustice involved in it, against
Which protection Is indeed needed, not, however, to the British
landowner, hut to he Britsh people.
Protective 'aws.i proportion as they are effectual for their in-
tended purpose, mast necessarily give the character of monopoly
to the protected tri le; and monopoly, it has been most justly ob-
served, is the parent of scarcity, of dearness, and of uncertainty.
The injury thus Mil., ted by these laws upon the British people as
consumers seems to el fto admit of no question. But I would sub-
mit to you, whether, as a preliminary step to any further proceed.
ings, it woulo not be v. ell for us as landed proprietors to examine
carefully whether these I ewe, thus at once offensive and injurious
to Other deems .lee really productive of the benefit to
our particular roe which has usually been ascribed to
them. The' s: erist is a dealer in the produce of the
Nil; and them'. e• - sity .t his, as of every other trade, must
he dependent - • the prosperous condition of his cus-
torners. The .• .e mass t f the population constitute the cus-
tomers of the • ericulturist ; and, therefore, whatever improves the
general condi' on of the pcof !e, whatever increases the demand for
their labour, nd thereby causes a rise of their wages, must pro.
mote in the meet effectual manner the prosperity of the agricultu.
fist." Our popoletion is annually increasing at a fearful rate; if a
corresponding inc..fase of employment be not found, that popula.
tion must ellitrat ev become a charge upon our land, and thus
Prove ruitioue So oar interests as landowners; but if, by the re.
Move' of the oh:erections which protective laws create, the exten-
sion of ou. trade, w i tho consequent demand for labour, be made
to keep pace with :he eicrease of our population, then the number
and resources 9: tesse who constitute the customers of the agri-
culturist will pne essivcly increase.
It is in Uis ea cession of the market for our products, and in
the improved t ono eve. of those who are our customers, we shall
find the best -melte for the present well-being, and the only
sate ground of !opt to. the further progress, of agricultural pro-
sperity. In this le feeler it is, by a system of free competition,
and equal exemptioo lit all interests from pernicious interference,
that the welfare t class is indissolubly bound up with the
general prosperity ri all. Protective laws necessarily array the
different classes os the community in jealous hostility with each
other; they dimint h the general wealth of the country, by inter.
rtipeing the naturte distribution of its labour and capital; they
tend to diminish . uth profits and wages, thus impoverishing the
Markets in whit tie products of agriculture must be sold ; and
the benefit whict ti.ey confer on the protected trade is in all cases
apparent rather -lan real, securing to it a fitful and transient, not
a steady and pee inanent prosperity.
Prices forcit ly raised above their natural level by fiscal protec-
tions are naturAy fluctuating and precarious; they constitute a
tetY inadequate compensation for the real arid permanent wealth
'which we might otherwise find in the improved cultivation of our
laud, augmenting the supply, whilst the simultaneous increase of
the population and wealth of the empire extends the demand for,
and by legitimate means raises the price of, all agricultural produce.
To relieve British agriculture from the odium which must ever
attach to the appearance even of Injustice; to substitute for the
debilitating influence 0131-Uncial protection that steady and healthy
"goer which can arise telly from free competition and self-depend-
ence f and to save the landowner from the danger to which he ex.
poses himself, by seeking a delusive protection in measures which,
..
ir6Poverishing his customers, are really undermining the founds.
lion of his own prosperity—these are the avowed, and I know no
',soli for supposing that they are not the real and the only designs
°.! the Anti-Corn-law League. I cannot concur with you in de-
et:rating them as mischievous designs. They seem to me to be
stogy4ded in reason ; they would, I am confident, be found to be
roProtective and beneficial to our interests ; and they are sup-
._tted by a weight of argument and authority which, in my judg.
meta, will render all attempts to resist them utterly hopeless.
Under these dreutostancee I would submit to your calm consi.
deration. whether we shall not better prove our discretion, as well
as our regard for what is justly due to others, by adopting their
views rather than by resisting them. They are calculated to esta-
blish the interests of agriculture upon the sound and durable basis
of reason, of justice, and of freedom ; and in them alone I believe
that true and effectual protection of our interests is to be found. In
the laws, upon which too many of us at present rely, I can place
no confidence ; what is unjust and baneful to the rest of the com-
munity cannot be permanently beneficial to us. Our present in.
terests Are placed by these laws in a precarious, because in an arti-
ficial state ; our native energies are weakened by unnatural
protection; and the laws, which we so blindly and sa fatally em.
brace, by undermining the general prosperity, are endangering
that which has raised British agriculture to its present condition
and the permanence of which can alone preserve it from the most
'ruinous relapse.
I have the honour tc be, dear Sir, yours faithfully;
S. JONES LOYD.

knother

de; till it,4 4/WG

SUN OFFICE, Seven o'Cloch.

THE STATE TRIALS.

Our Irish Express, owing to a stress of weather,
had not arrived up to the hour of post.