Star.
London, England, 1815-02-13 00:00:00

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di I 4. 14 -7-7'i"'-bAilen-f't _Atat yan utte elv took p ace tse • art
of Livanrom and a number of Members, of ths
House of Commons on the object' of etc/Corn-Laws.
Report says,' ,I that it was agreed on all hands that
a B;H for the protection of the Arlen'tarsi interests
of the country was rendered iidispensible, on die
principle that as capital, skal, and industry employed
in every other brands of trade mere protected
against the importation of produce noel manufac-
tures, at a rate to overwhelm and ampl,ilate the tla•

live dealer, so ought they to be when applied to ::
production of corn. At the same time, it was agreed
to, that in this most material of all articles, the rare cf
importation should be such as to keep the price of bread
corn at a moderate, and, if possible, at an equal price.
It was still thought advisable that importation sho-il I
be made to depend on the average price of the. !ram!
market, and the chief question was, at -what price t 1..:
highdutyon importation should consistence, whethcr tc
7.55. or at 801. per quarter t Nothing beyond the rqit i t y
of the principle was decided ; tliere is to be A secravt
Meeting on the subject to-morrow, siltert the last se-
turn for the quarter will be received, and by which
the duties will be regulated for the nest tl.t..e
months, without the intervention of any new law (s
the subject." •
The question is a most important one—ton impor-
tant to be hastily decided ; nor can there be ply n -
cessity for a hasty deci,lon, as there I. every rc.-•-n-
-believe that the return of r: ices for the last q.lartve
will be such as to shut the ports for three mcrn:is to
come, against all importation.
The argument maintained on the part of tile Agri-
culturalists that the-rites by which importation
'be settled should be such as always to leave :1 10 ~p-r
profit to the home grower, though specious, is (minded
on a gross ignorance oldie motives-and principles svi: iclt
actuate men ; and which by their untemred r,perations,
tend to the production of the maximum of p•••,ilic be-
nefit. Let the laws be only so framed as to se:lite if, the
grower, under all circumstances, what he would call
a fair pinfit, and you will instantly rut ah end to
every farther improvement in agriculture. it a n.an's
profits are secured to him, there is an end to all sti.
mulcts to, exertion ; for it is oaly by the effect of ()tea-
-1 sional pressure that human ingenuil is called iota
full exercise, for the purpose of averting an apile-
!tended evil, or of remedying it, if already in action.
There is another point connected with this which
deserves particular attention. It is argued
.that our
agricultural productions s'.ould receive an /Anal pro-
tection against the foreign grower as our fabrics
against the foreign manufacturer. This argument is•
specious—nay more, it may be well (Duelled; but
this must depend on the result' of a qnestion that
must previonsly be decided. Do we owe our national
prosperity (mast to our happy Constitution) to our
superiority over our rivals in our attic:es of manu-
facture, or to our superiority in agriculture ? If to
the I titer, it ought to be encouraged and prntected,
that our superiority may Ftill be maintained—if t 0
the former, our manufactures must become the o!,ject
of preference. This is seh-evider.t ; for we can tot,
as a community, have the hdance of in nor
favour in our commercial transactions with other
countries. The thing is physically impossihle ; and
those who imagine that by legislative enactments we
can secure both, may as well attempt to teguia e by
Act of Parliament the quantity of rains and situ-shine,
fot.shopropme of instrtng large crops to the fatints3.
• -rne- ffalancei of 1‘..itl()11:4 coriirnefte de end Ors
.other principles then lsws enacted by one of the par-
' ties only. The laws which govern died art
.fttiyinittl
the controul of Statesmen. They may anlii;ir.fo have
the balance in their own favour both ineorn and Ma-
nufactures, and like :the boy who could not make
a choice between pye and I:articling, and thereline
would tave both, they may attempt. Id catty their
point in spite of the prohibition ; butibeY must be
disappointed.
Questions of this kind should always• he settled on
broad, universal, and inconttovertible princip!e-.
Statesmen have only to decide, not seliat is, desirat4.t,
but, what is practicable ? If they make a mistakti the
loss to the community becomes oticluie ; for it is dit-
ferent altogether from the result of specillatiOns
tween individuals of the same community : in this case
if one of the parties has fooled away his money, the
other hasgot it, and the community is neither richer nor
poorer.—Not so in our intercourse with other nations.
If by enhancing the price of labour by a high. pi ice for
bread we give them an advantage iu the fabrication
of any one article with which we before tiipplie I
them or others, the evil will eventually be rolled hark
upon the corn grower, and the price of his produce
must suffer a farther reduction. This evil, suonet.or
later,. becomes unavoidable, for if by the opera:ion
of laws he be enabled to maintain the price, it will
he found in the end that the same-laws have had the
• .
effnt to lessen the number of eaters. The national
manufactures must languish and the populailott
diminish.

It is a curious remark that has frequently b.:en.
made, as a ploof the popularity of the justly-tarotii
.RusslA OIL, that it has had since its hest..Kin int, this country, upwards of .50 opponents and
imitations, hut its cglehtity has outlived the ali-tlr~tf
them, and the dentand, we understand, to 'Ala
continues to increase among the Fashouttabies cif this
and every other poli,,hed country.
AVEICAGe. PRICE of CORN in ENGLAND nod wAut.4"
•