The Sun.
London, England, 1818-12-28 00:00:00

CORN QUESTION.

1111.17,D1r01=,-I'nor reAy insertion 'of my hasty
observations ou the Corn QUestiou, encourages me
to offer s,mie•forther hinfs upon that very • inte-
resting ,object, in hopes of their meeting the eve
of the MiniNter, and also of the Committee at the
King'szlrms, whose patriotic enquiries, I trust, will
speed!ly produce some useful suggestions for the
consideration of Government.

That new Corn Bill will be proposed is evi-
dent—that the Landed Interest, if they will, can
Larry it through both Houses, is equally so--
and that the only safeguard for the Nation will
then rest with the PRINCE REGENT'S negative, is

as true as it is that inch an alternative ought to
he sedulously guarded against
Indeed I deprecate most anxiously, Sir, the
very agitation of such a Question, being thoroughly
convinced that it may, in the very first instance,
lead to excesses difficult to repress, and even when

repressed, much to' be deplored.
The real question, Sir, is simply this—shall we
have large farms, with a surplus population, men-
dicant, riotous, and emigrating ? or shall we re-
turn to small, farms, which will, in a reasonable
time, clera our kVorkhouses, reduce our. Poors'
Rates, furl agricultural la-;)our for more than
dooble the number now employed, bring labour
iorward, not as an Assistant to Capital, but as Ca-
pital itself, permit absolute Capital to find its way
into the Commercial and Monied Markets, dimi-
nish the surplus influx of the destitute to theiMe-
tropolis, thereby check. the progress of vice,
especially of female frailty, and finally, not only
restore each species of soil to its proper modes
and changes of agricultute, hut increase the ac-
tual annual produce by a return to the raising of
small Stock, to say nothing of the absolute finan-
cial improvements that must take place from the
increased number of families paying taxes, and
consuming taxable commodities, thereby invigo-
rating the Howe Trade, and checking the ten-

dency to emigration ?
That large farms, previous to the French Re-
volution, were cotemporary with, and indeed pro-
ductive of our improvements in Agriculture, can-
not be denied.• But then these large farms were
not numerous ; nor would I prevent the exist-
ence of all large farms, were it in my power. I
Will allow also that the term large is comparative,
and that 500 acres in some counties will virtually
torn► a larger farm than 1500 in another. B►tt
under any system that may be adopted, we shall
still have a sufficient number of large farms, and,
therefore, if the parallel I have drawn is correct, it
behoves us now to encourage the return to small
ones ;ciierally, which passing events are, indeed,
forcig on us, as the only alternative against Na-
tional ruin !

A column in a Newspaper is not sufficient for
the complete development of a Plan sufficiently
extensive to meet the existing evil. I shall, there-
fore, briefly recommend that a till shall be passed
similar to former Ones, for the relief of the Com-
mercial luteresr, placing from One to Five Mil-
lions in the hands
_of Commissioners ; that in
every County a General Committee shall be form-
ed of the Lit ((tenancy, Magistracy, Clergy, and
others, who shall choose a Select Committee to re-
ceive claims from every Landholder, specifying
the particular farms, from 20 acres to 100, or
upwards, on which he wishes to raise farts build-
ings ; that general plans for such buildings shall
he adopted, subject to necessary Modifications ;
that for every 1001.. which the Landowner en-
gages to expend, an equal sum shall be lent him,
so that even the new-raised bUildings will them-
selves he security for the tmmey ; that a Clause
shall be inserted, taking all such sums so
lent out of the jurisdiction of Crown Ex-
tents, and. placing all Law ProCesses for
rccevering under the controul of the County
Committees, with such guards as Legal Convey-

ancers may point out ; that assistance may even
be given •in respect to farming utensils and stock ;
and finally, that parishes may borrow for the pur-
pose of electing cottage's on commons, with small
gardens, ami that these shall lee occupied by out-
pensioners of Chelsea and Greenwich, half of
whose pensions may be purchased by•Govern-
merit, the valuation of which will come in as
waiter of account veldt the parochial funds—an
arrangement of apparent intricacy, but one that
may be easily simplified.
Such, Sir, are the heads of a,platr,which cannot
be productive of evil, and bids fair to be con-
nuciveto the public good.

Your's,

IGNOTUS

P.S. I cannot conclude without expressing a
hope that all persons in the country, who approve
of thii proposed plan, will examine its practica-
bilify in their respective neighbourhoods, and
bow far it may be vcquired in each transmitting
tb the King's Aims Committee th►e result of. their

observAticihs: A bocly'of cvlaenct thus be
gathered, tsliiclr WOlllll convince Government of
i.ts necessity, and jo'stify the Minister himself in
bringing forward measures founded upon the ease
in point, in order to smother, at mite, all at-
tempts at a new Corn