Star.
London, England, 1815-02-23 00:00:00

a nntnber of Iters. this be tclusiderecl ditanStverall
Gentletnen, who. was perfectly .csinversant witl
tl• h subject; -tavola admitted, that, at no distant pe '
ri•scl, 'the rate of expenses sawn fall. In speaking oft
tn.l evidence given before the Committee; he wished"
;,, observ,-. that he scarcely recollected one•person,l
of whom similar qtsestions were'asked, who did-not
lett= the same answer as was given by Mr. Webb ;
and yet, wben asktd.about the propriety of having a
l.igh projecting duty. Simony of them qualified .their
statements by referring to the prices which at present
existed ; though they bad peeaioUsly admitted that
this increased rate of charge could not long exist.--1
Now, he hoped no person wouldutlpport this propo-I
shim for a protecting price 'of IN. who was not pre-1
rated to sliew that the rate of agricultural expensesd,
was likely to remain ai high' as it had been for some
*ears past. This avasehe only part of the handsomel
upeoing of the Right Honourable Gentleman (Mr.
Robinson) which lab thought defective. He ba.i
proposed a protecting price of 80s.; but be had not,
accoluraliitd that proposidee with say reasons,
founded 00 a view of the probable future eipenses of
the farmer, to justify it. They had been gravely
told that the rent had nothing to do with the price',
of corn. How did this assertion stand, upon exami-
nation ? They would perceive, by the evidence, that.,
Mr. Brodie, a Scotch farmer. stated, that he paid;
0000 per annum for his land. He told them, be-
sides, that some years ago be only. paid £2OOO for it.i
His land had risen from 26 shillings to five pounds;
per acre ; and tracks in hiszeighbourhood had been!
let as 1ii.411 as £6. 7s. and even AS. an aere. Alms!
would it be •coatended, if Mr. Brodiv's rent wevei
reduced to e/000, the sum -at which hilt far 'was!
let a few years age, chit such a reduction erould!
have no cake' on the price of his produee? Sup.'
posing 80 shillings the price, let the House look to',
what came to the landholder. He. nu in average.,
I.:ceived one fourth of the gross produce (perhaps cm
I...nds easily tilled one-clad, but on heavy soils, milt
tge.tifth) the farina eeceived one-fourdi, and charges
amounted to onehalL. If die landholder put him-
sch back to the situation in which he was aome few

years ago, he would; istteld of hiving 20s. on one
quarter, be entitled to 10s. ; for no gentleman would
attempt to argue that any thing more WAS intended
than to give the farmer-van oppottunity of growing
corer at a fAir and jnst profit. Surely no Member
of Parliament would say, because adventitious cir.

cunistances had occasioned a rise in the rent of
L that a Legislative rneastwe .shcold be intro-
i:J.:cd to bolster up and continue a* increase
rroduced in this meaner. All that the Paella-
Meta were called upon to do was, to enact such
r.e.,sures as would permit the agriculturalist to
gt ow corn with a just and•wellulated profit..-
Irons we tenant's profit one.foorth might be de.
dacted, amounting' to Ss.:-and taking also from
the item of- expense, one.fourth, or 10s. the ogee.
gate reduction would amount to 25i. which takee
kw SO& would leave corn at 555. per quarter.—
tut it the land•owner could not go so far back,
then let the farm which formerly brought only
11,000, and was now let at 62,00 A), be reduced to
£1,500, which would bring the price of corn from
.toGt a. per quarter. He conceived that he had
wry clearly *awn the propriety of deducting con-
sideriuly fredethe charges, ati well us flom the pro-
fits of agricoltund bustneiWo-and he was awe :kat
part of his -argument which related to the Imam
cfivibion of the subject, would be Won& seppsetedr;
if Gentlemen • would • compare the fainter" of
other days with the farmer of the present.—lf
yeas went into a fat m-house some years ago, the
owner was happy if be could place before you a tan.
,rd of Ale - but now, you beheld not merely a bottle
of P•rs, but a bottle of Madeira to accompany it.--
(1/ear.)—He would be the last man to animadvert
on the circumstances of any inditidual ; but he never
could sanction an application which went to perpe-
tuate that which had arisen out of adventitious tir-
ctunstancei. The WO. Gentletban here adverted to
the evidence, to chew that the importation price oil
80s. which the Report of the CoMmittee recommefi.
ded, was opt-justified by, the statements of the wit-
ces:cs examined before them. Two Gentlemen had
declared 755. and one had stated 725. to- be a %WS-
tie,a pace. After several other observationa, tend.
ing to prove, that, if the importing price were placed
at 80s. the rate of the quarter of corn, though it
might be a little under that sum, would always be
hoveri,i ahout it, he proceeded to state, that he
would firs: nolve, that there should be inserted, in
the Resolution this before the House, which went to
prevent importation, weitiithe home produce arrived
at bUs. " for a time to be limited," leaving the stun
to be substituted for 80s. as a subject of after-cone.
&rate n. Those who thought that no alteration
should take place, would, of codrse, vote against the
moue& Those, on• the contrary, who differed at to
the amount of price, but who conceived that a tem-
porary measure was preferable to a permanertutiea
Tight vote with him, without binding themselves
wale*. He then moved, as an einendment to the
fourth Resolution, that the. woe& a for a time to be!
limited," be iiiierted.
Lir. PRESTON ofsierare‘-drae, in supeorting the
original inotioe, his great object was to unite •the
country as productive as possible, and to provide con=
cant empLynient for the labouring poor. Misch ob-
tLquy had been levelled against the Landholders;
'set he would contend, that no class ref Society were
more moderate in their demand 3 or cherished mot*
''atriotic views than they did. The best thing which;
t:ould be done, was for the country to depend Vole
uwn produce. To make the soil productive, Was
the right and only mode of making bread cheotts the
arniet rich, and the nation prosperout. Those who
laid otherwise, either did not understand the subject,
g were indocasi, for sinister purposcs, to mislead the
The cares of the farmer exceeded those of
'Ay other wan, and be saw not why he was to be
-acrificed for the sake of making others tich. If thiejl
manufacturers wanted advice, let them consult him I
-'s theit friend, and he would tell them where their in.
7est lay; without fee or reward. He would tell
icm that their interests depended upon the apical.
kitiffits, anti that if the one was destroyed, the
`•thcr mu.' necessarily follow. None but insidions
teen coultilsted a different doctrine.—(Cries of C4air).
*--1-1e did not care one farthing what might be said
Ott opposition to this observation; he spoke conscien. ,
• it.uslt, meant nut to allude lo spy particular
ineb4oal, but adverted generally to the principle
he orposed.—(Hears howl some it