The Sun.
London, England, 1828-12-03 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE LONDON JOURNALS.

A letter upOn a commercial subject; which-is
far from faMiliar even to commercial readers, will
be found in another column of the Times. It
assumes the form of a complaint from an Ame-
rican Merchant resident at Canton, against the
agents of the British East India Company, for
having thrown unfliir obstacles in the way of ;an
active and advantageous commerce hitherto car-
ried an with the Canton market by citizens of
the United States.
The sketch of the matter
seems to be, that the East India Company con-
&let their trada with Canton, through the me-
dium of a certain company (or Hong) of native
merchants. who• thus enjoy, against the other
Chinese wen of business, what the India
Company enjoy against other English men
of business,-----a monopoly in the purchase
of tea and silk from the Chinese grower,
and in the sale of these articles to the
India Company, who sell again at enormous
advances to the English purchaser. The Com-
n
piny. be it understood, who pay, or at lea:it have
famerly paid, in dollars or bullion, for a very
proportion of the produce which they
bought from the Hong merchants, have also been
compelled by their charter to pay for such pro-
&ice, to a certain extent, in British goods. This
trade of the English monopolists with the mono-
polists of China, has been.in itself a losing trade,
as it appears, owing to iimumerable exactions and
'restrictions with which it has been immemorially
loaded, and likewise to the disproportionate
expence at which every such unwieldy corpora-
tion must always conduct its commerce. But the
Company has contrived to repair its losses, and
to convert a losing trade—quoad the Canton
market—into a profitable concern as relates to
the market of Great Britain, by procuring from
the English consumer such a price upon the
teas, however disadvantageously purchased from
the Hong merchants, as was to be expected from
so Mighty a monopolist where a populous tea-
drinking nation is placed, as we are, at its
mercy. Now there steps in a third party, upon
whose case we have not yet touched, The Yes-
ls of the United States are enabled, by virtue
of a commercial treaty, to export British manu-
factures direct front the ports 'of Britain to China,
as investments for the purchase of its produce.—
The United States' merchants soon discovered
that they could 'go, ,to work .cheaper when they
got to Canton, than by, dealing with the mono-
polists of the Hong, ant submitting to the bur-
dens incidental to.such a medium of agency,—
They found out private brokers, through
whom (as the American "writer says) they
sold the British manufactures better, and
bought the Chineser tea and silk Fpduce
cheaper, than the East India Company were
able to buy and sell through their own factory
and through the Hong.- :The asssertion of the
Americans is, that this (comparatively) free trade
in the manufactures in British industry was far
more beneficial to Great Brain than the export
as managed by the• Company. ArLd the griev-
ance of the Americans, in one word; is, that the
India Company have so manoeuvred as to break
up this 'free private trade, by engaging the Can-
ton Government to compel the Americans, as
well as the Company, to make their nizTket
through no other channel but that of the mer-
chants' of the Hong. We cannot go further int@
the details of this subject, Which are ,given at
'
large in the letter alluded to • but shalt merely
add, that if the American traders anticipate the
slightest redress or relief from the voluntary
liberality of the " Sovereign Corppration," they
look for better treatment than has ever been ex-
perienced England themselves.---Times. .
from that quarter by the people of

A contemporary (the. Globe), in remarking
on th,e entertainment at Norwich, obeerees very
sensibly that " Mr. Coke's merits as au kn.-
prover of the agriculture of the country are suf-
ficiently known to all who are aeenstomed to take
an interest in farming; but even to those who
concern themselves !cut with the details of e -
tivation, it may be useful to hold up to view the
immense advantages which one gentleman of
sense and spirit • may confer on a country, even
thet plain course which his own interest die>.
tates to him in the management of his private
fortune." Mr. Coke has added greatly to his
fortune, and enriched a numerous yeomanry, by
the improvement which he has been the means of
introducing. Agriculturists are a peculiarly oh-
stinate race, superstitiously wedded to old
customs ; and we believe there is leertlly an
instance in the history of Europe of eery
material improvements in farming having •
been made by farmers who have not re-
ceived the benefit of what is -called a libe-
ral education. In the parts of the country
with which we are best acquainted, the menlwho
have made improvements iu aerice!ture have ge-
nerally been gentlemen of small estates ; And we
believe this will be found to have been the eeee
throughout England. At present, Dukes and
.Marquises even interest themselves in aerieultu-
rai pursuits ; but improvement must have be-
corne pretty general in a country before it as_
tends to this class, or to wealthy Commoners
like Mr. Coke. But though, compared with
many countries, agriculture is on a liberal foot-
ing in England, there are yet, in many parts,
grievous obstacles in the way, of improvement.
Of the extent- of them some idea may be obe
tained from a work to which we alluded a day or
two ago, published under the patronage of the ,
Dukes of Somerset, Northumberland, New-
castle, and a number of other Netblenien and
Gentlemen. We speak of the work of Messrs, '
L. Kennedy and T. B. Grainger on the Present •
State of the Tenancy of Land in Great Britain.
We could hardly have imagined that the obstacles
to improvement• were so many and so formidable
as they are represented in this book. We often
wondered how it happened that the Scotch, who
are confessedly good farmers at home, generally
succeed 50 ill in England ; and on seeking infbr-
'nation on This subject from an experienced Land
Surveyor, we ;tamed from him thet the customs
of the different counties were the rocks oea which
they split. ye find ample confirmation of tfiie,
opinion .in the accounts of the various local
customs in this volume. These customs, relat-
ing to particulars of the utmost importance, are
so infinitely varied, that farmers removing only a
few miles distance, are often totally at a loss ea
account of them ; and in the pies in which
they prevail they are the law of the land, Stran-
gers are often told of the liberality of English
Landlords, with respect to Tenants at VV ili
but when the matter is inquired into, we ffncl-
ample proof of•their imbecility, but not very
much of liberality: In fact, under the present
customary law, it is no such easy matter to obtain
a tenant, and the boasted liberality reduces it-
self to something like an inability to get rid of a
Tenant without suffering from it themselves. A

Tenant at Will may be an indifferent farmer ; but
his successor can hardly fail to be a bankrupt ;
and therefore there is little wonder that the tenan-
try of certain estates should have remained on
them from father to son for generations.
" It is no part of the object of the authors," say
Messrs. Kennedy and Grainger, to " discuss agri-
culturalquestions; but there are some points aris-
ing out of the facts stated in the following pages
which so. force themselves upon the attention that it
is impossible to avoid noticing them. There is
nothing more deserving of remark than the superior
advantages enjoyed by tenants entering upon farms
in Scotland and some parts of the North of Eng-
land, over those in a similar situation in the South,
or in some of the midland districts.- In the former
he has nothing to pay for on taking possessioa, but
is enabled to lay out his capital to the best advan-
tage in stocking his farm, and afterwards conduct-
ing it upon an improved system ; v hilst in the hit-
ter, he is, in the first instance, frequently crippled
as to pecuniary resources, by being obliged to pay a
heavy valuation on entering, and does not in conse-
quence afterwards possess the means of working
those improvements frain which he might derive the
greatest advantage. This in the former a farm may
be stocked, and conducted more profitably to its occu-
pier with little more than half the money that is re-
quired in the latter. In many counties in England
a farmer entering- upon 200 itert,s of land, v.-ith
capital of la-AM, has to pay, according to the cus-
tom of the place, 1,2001. upon a valuation and for
stock, leaving him only 3001. to carry on the busi-
ness; whilst in the North, and in Scotland, a far Mer
may enter upon the same quantity of land, having
no valuation to pay, with only 8001., and after
stocking his farm to the best advantage, have the
same sum left that the other has, but with much
better opportunities of employing it profitably. It is
these advantages enjoyed by a tenant, combined with
his having an interest in the soil for a certain num-
ber of years, and the superior management of the
land, that render estates in Scotland so much more
valuable than in England—the rents in the former
being nearly double what they are in the latter. It
is true, that in Scotland the tenants pay no taxes or
rate, but after deducting for this, and considering
the measure, the rents would then be higher by five
shillings an acre than they are in England; and
under the Scotch system, a farmer would derive
a greater advantage from paying an additional
five shillings per acre than he could by entering upon
a farm subject to a valuation, even at a deduction
of five shillings per acre--thus making a difference,
per acre, of no less than five shillings. The, supe-
riority, indeed, of the free-entering system over the
practice of valuation is so evident, that little is re-
quired to prove it, except the mere statement of the
facts. It is quite clear that a farmer, on entering
upon a farm, stands in the most need of having the
full and unincumbered use of his capital in order, in
the first place, that he may be enabled to stock his
farm at the lowest rate, for ready money; and in
the next, that he may have a sufficient sum left to
meet contingent demands, until he can obtain re-
turns, and to allow of his taking advantage of the
terms of the market. Whenever he is obliged by the
custom of the country to take various articles, and to
pay for workmanship and labour at a valuation, he fre-
queoitly, indeed most commonly (not being immedi-
ately in want), pays more for them than they are worth,
or a higher price than he could obtain them for in the
markets, or in the usual course of business for ready
money, and at a greater rate for labour and work-
manship than that at which he could have them
performed; whilst in every case of this description,
the greater part of his capital is locked up at a
time when he most wants the use of it. He corn-
meaaac
,tisiness in consequence in a state of embar-
rassment; and artless some unusually fortunate cir-
cumstances occur, he ea/1;7ot recover himself. . .
. . . It may be said he has the benefit of this
practice when he quits his farm ; but this is, in
truth, on,ly perpetuating a bad system, under which
the land can ney:er he properly improved, or made
to grow what it is capal?le of producing. To this
it may, In a great measure, l)e attributed, that so
large a partiota of the soil in England lies in a
neglected state, or is not cultivated under a pro-
per rotation, or rendered efficiently produetive.
It is true, that many of these evila May be traced
to a cause we before stated,—the not giving a
tenaP‘; a
,sufficient interest in the land, by means
of a lease, to rai;:ider it of any advantage to him to
speculate on improwerots. Much, also, in some
cases, must be ascribed to the iga.oaap.a.c or prejudice
of occupiers of the land. But, perhaps, the gw,atest
of as; ,evils is that to which we have just alluded ;
namely, dui aca-opulaory system of valuation, because
that either prevents faippro of spirit, experience, or
knowledge of the subject, froM iaikino7, farms, which,
there is no doubt, they would greatly io4ptaave, and
,doing, set an example in their respective neigh-
bourhooea which might be highly and generally
beneficial; or, if tiiri 4o enter upon land under such
a custom, it incapacitates ..1-ia.Fp from making those
improvements which they wish acts ete iptilieed to
maYe, aril which s% ould be in the sanne degree adviin7 •
tageoria.P
So much fee 14,0 customs, and so much for
the apathy and stupi&ty pf the 'landlords who
,-,.4er them to be continued. The.-ze gentlemen
lanreot the difficulties in the way of improverfiffilt,
from the gross iznorance of the farmers in litany
places, who never ieaay " The march of intel-
lect (they say) has; been of late. ,t;.ften spoken
of, I;4t, it ought, perhaps, rather to be t-:kinpcl a
flight thati piarch, it being to be observed in
certain places, sot-il4t;.rpf_'s at a considerable dis-
tance from each other, whilq in many districts
ti-hw is no trace of its visit, nor any ii-4ct,.tion of
its pr0gre,;,,,,".---Morning Chronicle

When we see ft-lea pirsuing a line of conduct
di metrically opposed to the objet which they
pratiss 4-4; have in view, it is a fltir and ri;;;,:on-
able conclusion tli,qt they have other objects than
those which they profess, pr that they are merely
instruments in the hands of some s4v.rior power
which employs them for purposes of its ovt..n.,c,r.
The manner in which the Popish Agitators of
Ireland treat the question of S'ecurities may be
taken thereeore as a complete proof that the re-
moval of Catholic disabilities is not their sale
object, or that the Popish Pri6stbood of Ireland,
why sole or principal object tide =pot be,
exercises caer them a predominant authority.
' Nothing cam be so 114.4
gal as that the small num-
-07
,ber pf the Catholic Laity tohom the conces-
shul of Oie claims now made by Papists
would be a re 4 and solid advantage, should`ma-
nifest a desire to conciliate the people of Eng-
toaecvqeur eiseescie; eo far as it depends
rities for thn
luar;nodn
by
th
eomfl:e riing nwhat
protec-
tion of the protestant Church and Constituti-
. on
of the Empire the Legislature can devise. They
cannot be ignorant, that until they shall haVe
propitiated the British people, conceSsiou tp their
demands must remain an impossibility, utterly
beyond the power of any Minister whatever, and
which 7.10 Minister will ever be found to attempt
who understan4s the character of the British
people, and has sense to understand the
value of their confidence. But the A7;:,-,ttors of
!,he Association, to several of whom the cone
cessic4; of their claims would individually
be an inip444;int advantage, do not act
naturally, inasmuch as khey spurn at the condi-
tions without which they may be 44 47T morally
certain tlitt such concession will never be made.
This tionduct, upon the suppositions that they
are free and indepentiAnt agents, and that they
have really in view no other objaets than those
which they profess, it is manifestly impossible to
explain. It becomes, however, sufficiently in.tel-
liatblen when we reflect that there is a Catholic

priesthood in Ireland ; that this priesthood must
of necessity have objects beyond any that are
comprehended in the misapplied term of Eman-
cipation ; that the very word securities means,
if it mean any thing, adequate provisions
to defeat the ulterior objects of she Catholic
prieSthood; that the Lay Agitators, noisy,
turbulent, and insolent as they are, know
themselves to be utterly without power, without
the power even of agitation, except in so far as it
is conferred upon them by this Priesthood ; that
the Catholic Rent, that the influence at elections,
that the whole individual and collective authority
of the Lay Agitators, could in one moment be
extinguished by this Priesthood, which will of
course uphold them no longer than they continue
subservient to its designs. When we reflect upon
these undeniable truths, we cease to wonder that
the Catholic Lawyers of the Association, eager
as they arc, and have shewn themselves upon
some occasions, for professional advancement,
spurn at the only means by which the door to
advancement can he opened to them. It may
be asked why, if their cause is thus hopeless, the
leading agitators among the Catholic laity cleave
to it with so much pertinacity? The question
is not difficult to answer. Perhaps they cherish
the expectation that they may, one day or other, see
an Administration of this country in widely dif-
ferent hands from those in which it is at present
so happily placed—and its Members sufficiently
weak or profligate to yield unconditionally to
their demands, and to expose the Church and
Constitution of the empire unguarded. to the
fierce assaults and the: undermining artifices
of Popery. - But apart from any hope of
the final success of their cause, they have a
motive strong enough to induce them to cling to
it, in the immediate harvest of profit and celebrity
it enables them to gather. Never will the
Agitators of the Association despair of their
cause so long as it produces Rent. This—
which may be called the revenue of agitation—
. must be intercepted ere the Agitators will cease
to feel that it is better to be an Agitator than
to be nothing. We advert to the refusal of
the Agitators in the cause of Popery to enter-
tain the qiiestion of Securities, not certainly
from an opinion that any Securities that can 'be
devised would be an adequate substitution, with
a view to the permanent security of the Protes-
tant Church and Constitution, for the present ex-
clusion of Papists from all great and important
political trusts. This exclusion will be neces-
sary until Popery shall have changed its cha-
racter ; and we are persuaded that the more
the question of Securities is considered, the
greater difficulties will appear to surround it, and
the necessity of adhering to the present system
become in the same proportion more plain. But
the resolute refusal of the Popish Demagogues
to entertain the question of Securities, while at
the same time they deny that their admission to
power would endanger the Protestant Establish-
ment, or that they have any hostile feelings to-
wards it, is a proof amounting to demonstration,
that as a body they are not at this moment deal-
ing honestly with us ; and intimates to us that we
have now -to guard, not only against the perma-
nent tendencies of their faith, but against specific
and definite intentions, actually existing in their
minds, and exercising a predominant influence
over their conduct.---Morning Post.