The Sun.
London, England, 1829-02-19 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE STN.

SIR,-The Earl of Winchelsea, on presenting the peti-
tion from Kent, is stated to have said, that he opposed the
Catholic Claims, because the voice of the peoples was
against them; but he subsequently added, that were a
slew Parliament culled, and should the people, by their
Representatives, sanction the measure, he would with-
draw his opposition. Is not his Lordship aware that
these Representatives are not elected by the body of the
people, but by a small minority of them only, viz., by the
freeholders and burgesses, whose opinions on this subject
may be (and, from their superior information, probably
are). different from those of the non-electors; and, conse-
quently, if his Lordship considers the assent of the people
at large (as he appears to do) essential to a • justification of
the proposed measure, such assent cannot be collected from
the representatives of the freeholders' and burgesses.—
In declaring, then, that he would eventually be satis-
fied with the opinion of the latter, he gives up the
ground of hit present opposition, and virtually ad-
mits dial the assent of the people collectively is not
riZeessary. That the measures of the Government should
have the sanction of the people at large, is certainly very de-
sirable; but that such sanction is necessary, every day's expe-
rience disproves. Were such a principle acted upon, would
the Corn Bill, for instance, have passed ? Would the Test
and Corporation Acts have been repealed ?—or would the
various motions for a Reform in Parliament and the repeal
of Taxes have been negatived ? The principle is perfectly,
ttbzipian. The Legislature must pass such Acts as they con-
sider are for the benefit of the country, whether the opinion
of the community at large be with them or not, since (as in
the present instance), how few arc the casts in which the
uninformed part of the community (of necessity the majority)
are competent to decide what is or is not right to be done.
The right of the people to petition is unquestionable ; but as
this right is seldom exercised but for party purposes, or under
the influence of prejudice, it would be the height of mad-
ness to attend to the prayer of such petitions, in opposition
to the opinion of the regular representatives of the nation,
Whole judgment, on questions of legislation, must neces-
sarily be superior to that of the petitioners, the majority of
whom will always be found to be composed of a class of
people very incompetent to decide upon such subjects.
February 17. CIVIS.

COAL MONOPOLY.

Di, quibus impetium est,
Sit mihi fas manta loqui ; sit numine vestro,
Pander° res, alts terra et caligine mcrsas.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

- -
Sla,—ln the communication relative to the monopoly
of-Coals in the North, which appeared in The Sun of
the 3d of January, it was altogether foreign to my purpose
to enter upon a detail of the particular circumstances which
have effected the establishment of the " Vend," or to make
any inquiry into the technical rules and bye-laws laid
down for its guidance and regulation. Such points may
be considered as entirely of minor importance, my sole
object being to show, from general principles, in what
manner such a combination was injurious to the public
- interest, and by so doing, to ensure the assistance of y our
excellent Journal, and that of the more liberal and en-
lightened portion of the Press, in effecting its overthrow.
• Notwithstanding your correspondent, who calls himself
" An Enemy to Monopoly," evinces so complete an ac-
quaintance with all the practical details of this nefarious
combination, he must allow me to doubt the accuracy of
his knowledge, when he asserts, " that it has never been
an object with these jobbers (as he terms them), to prevent
o supply of Coals, for the more they sell the better for ,
themselves ;" their aim, l.e goes one to observe, being to secure an enormous price ; meaning, as we may suppose. a price inconsiderably above the natural one. How this
object is to be attained, without somehow or somewhere
limiting the supply, lam utterly at a loss to conceive. The
metropolis is the great market for Coal carried coastways,
the law preventing the introduction of every other kind of
Coal into London. Newcastle, Sunderland, and the ad-
jacent small ports being favourably situated for the trans-
mission of Coal, the supply of London has been until lately
chiefly drawn from the districts in the neighbourhood
of those towns, which possess great natural advantages in
its production. The owners of pits in these districts,
having thus had for a great number of years the absolute
command of the market, and entertaining no fear of general
competition, against the effects of which they were fully
protected by Act of Parliament, succeeded in establishing,
by combining together, a monopoly almost as strict and
exclusive as that of the East India'Company, when in the
height of its power. Whatever may be the professions of
interested parties, it will at the present day be almost uni-
versally allowed, that the great object of a monopoly is to
bring about a state of things, differing, to the advantage
Of the monopolists, from that which would obtain under a
sYstem of free and open competition : its aim is to raise the
rate of profit, in some particular branch of trade, above
that rate which prevails throughout the country generally.
This is the grand principle, and the master-spring in all
;:°°°Polie3; the manner in which the practical effect is
rought about may be slightly different in respect to the
article monopolized, being the produce of Mines or Agri-
• culture, or one which is obtained by the exercise of manu-
facturing industry, or of commerce. The result, however,
• is invariably the same ; the public is compelled to purchase
at a dearer rate every article subject to restriction, which
there is a desire to consume. In commerce and manufac-
tures this can only be effected by a general agreement
amongst the producers to limit the quantity of the article
. to be brought to market absolutely; but in mines and
agriculture, a partial limitation in particular quarters will
insure the monopolists the same success. I would now,
Sir, as well as 1 am able, endeavour to explain the causes
of this discrepancy.
The sources from which we obtain a supply of any
commodity, through the media of manufactures or com-
merce, are perfectly homogeneous. The cotton worked
. up at Glasgow is equally good, and equally cheap, as that
on which the skill and industry of Manchester are eir-
. Pl°Yed ; the machinery and its moving power, whether
wind, water, or steam, in each place, are alike good, and
Possess the same energy and force. It is obvious, from
these circumstances, however desirous the manufacturers
of Manchester might be to raise the prices of their goods,
by limiting the supply, these efforts would be altogether
fruitless, so long as the manufacturers of Glasgow refused
t° join in the combination ; and even should the latter be
persuaded to do so, as manufactories are not restricted by
Act of Parliament to any particular place, and as those al-
ready in existence possess no exclusive privileges in the
ri.rchasing of cotton, or the usage of machinery, new esta-
u4shinerits would rise up, and, by their competition, soon
reduce the price of goods to its old standard. In agricul-
ture the case is considerably different. The slightest ob-
servation will suffice to convince us that the soil of tbis, -
wevery other country, is of various degrees of fertility.
bile some districts of England repay with an exuberant
Crop the labour of the husbandman, there are others, the
Produce of which, after the same degree of toil, is scarcely
7orth the reaping. According to the evidence given be-
. bushelstn u' tvoa;
re the Agricultural Committee in 1821, there were lands
iwohn the produce of
which varied from 40 to 8
Wheat per acre. Now, it is not to be disputed
that no land will continue long to be cultivated, unless the
!ale of the produce it yields repay the expence of tillage.
If we assume tot. per bushel to be the price of wheat,
Which just pays the expence of cultivating the very worst
land, it in evident that wheat grown on the best might be
afforded for 2s. per bushel for 8 }e 10=2 X4O or 80, and
2s. per bushel would be the price, under the circumstances
supposed, if the necessary supply could be obtained from
the soils of the highest degree of fertility. But we know,
to our cost, this condition to be impossible ; the superior
4'04 of England are too limited in extent to supply the
demand of our numerous and encreasing population, and
it has become necessary, in succession, and at a greater cost,
to take into cultivation all the inferior soils, yielding
reAPectively from 40 to 8 bushels of wheat per acre, in
Ner to obtain the supply of food which is requisite. It
Is true the Corn Laivs of England have the effect of ex-
tending the limits of this scale ; without their operation
ive never should have been under the necessity of taking
such ungrateful soils ; we should probably have stopped at
soils which yielded 20 or 25 bushels per acts', and have
obtained the additional supplies wanted from the Continent,
In exchange for our manufactured produce. Let us, how-
ever) Mr. Editor, be thankful to the lords of the soil for
• !hat they have not done ; they might, for they are power-
trui, have given us a stricter Corn Law, or have excluded
4°r6gn grain altogether ; and if our population could pos-
• tOblY have increased under such a restriction, we might
have been driven to cultivate our mountain tops and bar-
ren moors, to obtain, by the expenditure of infinite labour
:WexPense, the fraction of a bushel of wheat per acre.
hile the price then of manufactured produce is not affect-
ed by any difference of situation, the intrinsic value of grain
Inust vary with the fertility of the soil on which it is
rdahed. On a rich soil less labour and less seed will pro-
, uee a given quantity of grain, than they will do on,a soil
e4l productive; so that, strictly speaking, the intrinsic
value of corn may he different in every field. Whatever
then has a tendency to force the cultivation of poor soils,
aWhether natural demand or artificial regulation, will have
tflobeoeficial effect on the interest of the landed proprietor,
a rise of rent will be the necessary consequence. Such
forced extension of tillage can never however be effected
Y any private artificial regulation; the land-owners of this
to
--141tli are go numerous a botlyt that any combination