The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-01-03 00:00:00

THE CORN LAWS.

(From the Standard)
Wo have thrown out a great many propositions to the
corn-law repealers, calling upon them to take up our chal-
lenge. • The following are a few of them We have asserted that

A repeal of the corn-laws would at once silence the tnanu-
factories which carry on their work by bank credits; first,
because the country banks are all, or chiefly, based upon
landed capital, which a repeal would depreciate beyond cal-
culation. Secondly, because the necessary contracion of
the currency by the Bank of England, consequent upon an
importation of foreign grain, of which we have had a sample
already, would compel the country banks (as many as should
escape ruin from the depreciation of their capital) to with-
hold discounts altogether. Note.—About five-tixths at least
of the manufactories of the kingdom carry on their work by
bank credits. _

-----
We have asserted that a repeal of the corn-laws would ruin
all the retail dealers of Great Britain, not only by.the total
discontinuance of discounts, consequent upon a contraction
of the currency, but by the impoverishment of their custom-
ers—the landed nobility and gentry, and all persons depen-
dent upon rents for income—ln short, by leaving the retail
dealers to deal exclusively one with another. These dealers
have, like the manufacturers, had already a sharp lesson as
to the consequence of a contraction of the currency ; and
they would all—even to the man (if there is any) who nevi r
saw a blade of corn growing—feel by far more sharply the
effect of a general bankruptcy of the agricultural body. These
would be the immediate consequences of a repeal of the corn-
laws—Manchester would present, for much its greater part,
a pile of ruins ; and Regent-street something very like a
street in. a " city of the desert," within a very few months
after a repeal. .

We have also asserted, that upon the extravagant hypo-
thesis that the social state could survive causes so necessa-
rily tending to anarchy as those recited, all persons engaged
permanently in manufactures would be ultimately losers, by
a repeal, to an enormous extent. The master manufacturer
would lose his home market by the same operation which
must transfer British capital to raise rival manufactures on
the continent. The wholesale and retail dealers would lose
their customers in all gradations, and the labourer find his
wages reduced in a far greater proportion th any possible
reduction in the price of the necessaries of life. Already the
supply of labour exceeds the demand for it, to an. extent
which enables employers to name the rate of wages. A mil-
lion or so of agricultural labourers would be seat by the
proposed repeal to augment that supply. IrelandiNa,elo:eot,
indeed, would send nearly two millions ; and the half-ruined
masters would have a motive, which generally they have
now, and which, to say truth, many of them do not seen to
want, to screw down wages a few degrees below " the stars.
ing place," at whatever point " the starving place" might
be fixed by the price of provisions.
We have asserted that a repeal of the corn-laws would
render necessary a vast additional taxation of manufacturers,
wholesale and RETAIL dealers, and all others, to make good
the deficit caused by a bankruptcy of the agricultural class—
or a national bankruptcy. Gentlemen fundholders ought to
look to this alternative.
We might proceed recapitulating our propositions, but we
believe that we have repeated enough for one day.
Now these propositions may be false in the opinions of
some men, but nobody, we think, will eay that they are not
sufficiently plain and distinct ; yet, as far as we can find, no
corn-law repealer has, either in speaking or in print, ven-
tured to grapple with any one of them. This confirms us in
the notion that we are not mistaken in our views • for surely
if we have propounded fallacies, there must be some one
among the enemies of the agricultural interest acute enough
to discover where the fallacy lies, and bold enough to ex-
po3e it.

Instead of this, the parties with whom we have to deal,
well knowing where falsehood can lurk with most safety,
very carefully centine their argument, or what they call ar-
gument, to vague generalities—a mode of answer imposing
upon us, who make it, a rule to suffer nothing in the shape,
or disguise, of an argument, to pass unexamined, to engage
in the somewhat distasteful task of analysing and dissipating
balderdash—the Greeks called the service Skiontachia—and
though balderdash it is, and must be called, since the cause
of our adversaries will afford nothing better, we entreat them.
to believe that the plain English term is intended to be dis-
respectful to their cause, not to its advocates of the press.
The Morning Chronicle of Saturday [in_ the same course-!
of theological reading no doubt which lately disclosed to it
that Abaddon and Apollyon are in •the Hebrew and Greek_
languages respectively the names of a Conservative] made
the discovery that the late unpropitious seasons by which the
whole of Europe has been visited, but by which the United

Kingdom has, perhaps, suffered less than the Continent—
are aspecial interposition of Providence in faipur of a repeal
of the corn-laws. The following are our contemporary's
words :
" The very seasons are urging on the d,3om of the iniqui-
tous system. Of old, " the stars in their courses fought
against Sisera," and now the clouds of heaven have waged
warfare against a worse oppression. The very elements of
nature, that withheld, their common benignant influences
from the later portion of the harvest, bear, testimony to the
truth, in which, if in nothing else, the most discordant por-
tions of the great meeting at Glasgow perfectly agreed, that
' the corn-laws ought to be immediately repealed.' "
They must have a higher opinion of the gentlemen specu-
lators, who only could gain by a repeal of the corn-laws (see
the Factory Reports) than we can profess to entertain, that
think them so especially the favourites of Heaven as to ob-
tain from Providence in their behalf a visitation that has solely
afflicted all Europe, and a very great part of Asia ; but this
by the way.
The question to be discussed, may, we suppose, be put
thus—has the experience of two unfavourable seasons proved
the impolicy, of the corn-laws ? We say that.it has not, but
that it has established . beyond all controversy the wisdom of
those laws. Their justice we may observe, in answer to the
Morning Chronicle's concluding sentence, is acknowledged
by the Chartist resolutions at Glasgow, requiring the repeal
of all taxes which affect British agriculturists, so as to ren-
der them burdened competitors with their Continental rivals
—that is, all taxes, or nearly all, as a necessary condition
preliminary to repeal. These are the resolutions referred to
by the Morning Chronicle with such convenient brevity. We
come back to our proposition, and repeat that the experience
of the last unpropitious seasons demonstrates the wisdom of
the corn-laws, by the comparatively light pressure of these
seasons upon our people. Let the relative proportion of
prices to wages in 1799 and 1839 be compared, and the good
effect of the corn-laws will be obvious. The season of 1799
was not worse than either of the two that have just passed.
over us, in 1799, however, wages were little, it anything,
higher than at present, while the prices of provisions were.
we believe, at least double the present prices. This is the
testimony of experience, and it is easily accounted for by the
a priori consideration. The protection afforded to agriculture
has caused a vast amount of land to be brought into tillage
cuitivation throughout the United Kingdom, which wi' bout
such production would not be so employed ; in Other words,
has caused an immense increase in the production of corn.
It appears by Mr. Emerson Tennent's excellent speech, that
this has been the case in Ireland to an almost incredible
extent, the exported surplus from Ireland reaching the five or
sixfold proportion in the course of a very few years. Now
this is an addition to the general produce of Europe, as well
as to the produce of the British Islands : and we may there-
fore fairly conclude that Europe has, by so much, more corn
under the affliction of a bad harvest than it would have but
for our corn-laws, while:the,British islands have all the bene-
fit of that increase. It has been said indeed, and. we shall
hear it said again, that the increase to the general stock of
Europe would have been grghter but fur our corn-laws, inas-
much as the cultivation of the Continent would have been
extended to meet the demand of the British market. This
proposition assumes that men will embark money, and labour
to a greater extent in contemplation of an un-certain than of
a certain sale of the produce! ! How sue-certain must be
the British market to any
.foreigners will be apparent from
the consideration, that our ports once thrown open would be
open to the four quarters of the world ; and if the opening
promote agriculturalspeculation any where, it would promote
it every -where—at Odessa, as well as in the neighbourhood
of New 'York—in Africa no less than in Germany.
Can any man in his senses,_ gravely entertain such a propo-
sition, namely, that the whole world would .be put in
motion to meet the demands of a few manufacturing towns
in England, with a population of about a million, or less ?.
No, we might ruin our own agriculture, but we should nut
cause a grain of corn the more to grow abroad ; and thus an
unfavourable harvest would overtake us, without that solid
basis of a home supply, which now constitutes the security
of the country against famine, Under the system of the
existing law, grain can always be imported from whatever
country produces it, in such abundance, that it may be sent
into our market paying the amount of duty necessary to
equalise the burthens of the British and foreign farmers, and
in extreme cases, without paying so much, or paying any-
thing. Can wisdom contrive a better mode of insuring the
home supply, and at the same time of giving to this country
the advantage of the local abundance produced anywhere by
the particular bounty of Providence ? But sometimes it will
happen that the affliction of sh6rt harvests is general, and
then our corn-laws ensure that Britain: shall suffer less than

any other country by the calamity. This. is the case at pre-
sent, as any one may satisfy himself by reading the foreign
newspapers. All the nations of the Continent with whom
grain constitutes the staple of food., are suffering. Jra more
severelythan we are, • •
This brings us to upother of the Morning Chronicle's

so called argiiments.:—
" How much the Duke, of Buckingham deceives himself,
if he thinks, by a few. complimentary phrases, he can make
the agricultural labourers in Jove with the corn-law ! A
gentleman of Flo,niton, in Devonshire, has sent us a state-
ment of the condition of the agricultural labourers• in that

...-..—.
neighbourhood, to which we particularly invite the attention
of our readers. It will be observed that he states distinctly
that the high price- of the necessaries of life has made it im-
possible to carry the provisions of the Poor-law Amendment
Act into effect : _

" Take two instances,' -he says, ' which lately occurred
here :—A. 8., an able-bodied man, applied for oat-door re-
lief. He had a wife and four children ;. his earnings, 7s. per
week ; he paid his master, who was his landlord, ls. a week
rent out of the is.,. and bought his wheat of his master at
10s. a bushel ! ! C. D., an able-bodied man, applied for a
continuance of the two loaves ,allowed by the guardians a
fortnight before ; be had a rheumatic wife and three chil-
dren ; his earnings is. a, week. I asked him how much
bread he had had the week before ? Only the two loaves
granted by the board, except some cakes made by my wife
from-barley bought of my,master. -at ss. a bushel, but it was
poor stuff; no meat whatever, the rest of my wages going in
potatoes and rent ;'.nothing.formlothes„bedding, drink, firing,
soap—education, of course,.out of the. question!'
It is, as our correspondent states, quits impossible that
soul and body can be kept together with such prices of food
and such wages. • The labouring men love with the corn-
laws ! This would suppose :them •to rank lower than the
brutes that perish, for they have the instinct of self-preserva-
tion. Even a dog, attached as he is to our species,.will only
bear a certain measure of pinching. The gentry of England
may depend on it that these poor gaunt creatures reflect, and
reflect intensely, on the cause of their privations. They can-
not, while they feel hunger gnawing
,their, vitals, entertain
kindly sentiments towards those whom they see living in
luxury on the :Money wrung from them
•by the, monopoly..
No ! the agricultural labourers idler mgrOhanthe,workmen
in towns from the high price of bread, .as their scanty wages
are inadequate to procure them bread alone."
In reply to these remarks we have one or two .questions to
ask : • - . •
First, how would the parties. aggrieved be benefitted by
lower prices with,lower wages also ? Suppose the employer
to give his barley, at 2s. 6d. a liushel, and, to pay 3s. 6d. per
week in wages—and the one reduction :would be necessary to
the other—how would the labanrey stand ? he would
have a balance of one shilling instead' at a balance of two
shillings. • • •
Secondly, we ask, supposing this practice of disguised
truck to be harsh, tyrannical, and
,nnjust—as we know it is
—does nothing of the kind obtain among. manufacturers ?
have they no prescribed shops with which: their slaves must
deal as the couditionof employment?
Thirdly, supposing the dietary referred to to be insuffi-
cient—and as we are not looking. for employment under the
New Poor-law, we can freely speak our minds, and admit
that, Heaven knows, it is cruelly iusufficient—still, is it not
preferable to the dietary of the serfs of Poland and Pome-
rania, whom a repeal of the corn-laws would render the less
burdened competitors of the British, labourer, and to whose
condition, or worse, therefore, such a repeal would bring our
peasantry ?
The Morning Chronicle to-day, availing itself of the so-
phism Plurium interrogationum, mixes Up the two questions
of the Bank contraction of-discounts and the corn-laws, and
asks, how can the country go on with both ? We answer
the questions separately. The country can go an, as we have
shown, very well with the corn-laws ; but the country can-
not go on with the contraction of discounts permanently
continued.
That contraction is, however, but temporary-Lto meet a
particular contingency ; nothing lesi than a repeal of the
corn-law can perpetuate it.

GALLANT CONDUCT OF THE COAST GUARD AT
ST. ANDREWS'.
RESCUE OF A BRIG AND THIRTEEN MEN.

We have had several opportunities of remarking upon the
prompt and successful efforts of Lieutenant Cox and his.
coast guard in rescuing vessels and men froM death and de-
struction, or in assisting, as on a recent mournful occasion,
to secure property and assist sufferers when a ship Wreck has
actually taken place ; hut on no occasion has the intrepidity
and judicious conduct of this humane and highly meritorious
officer been more signally and happily evinced than on Friday
evening last. For many days s dreadful sea has been breaking
upon our rocky and unapproachable coast, and even when
the wind had, on the night of Thursday, shifted to the south-
west, the roll of the sea from the east was undiminished.
Six vessels which were labouring all day in the bay, and now.
and 'then trying to take the harbour, were deterred by the
heavy swell that rolled in the fairway from making the
attempt. It was indeed, about one o'clock, a most magnificent
scene, and witnessed by hundreds of spectators. The vessels
lying-to, or slowly tacking, presenting their brOadsides to
the unbroken swell, arid sinking alternately so deep as to
render their hulls altogether invisible, and then coming
slowly and majestically into view, and tilting lightly aloft as
if in danger of being projected into the air—very much after
the fashioo of the sea-fowl which rode the waves in miniature
fashion at no great distance.. At this period, and when the
shore was one mass of fermenting turbulence, the life-boat
was seen making its ' way most majestically through the
ground swell, `.` taking the ruffian billows by the .tops," and
boldly bearding the overtopping and all but overwhelming
surge. It was the undaunted lieutenant and his crew, with
the addition of a few strong and fearless fishermen, resolved
to save from a watery grave, or themselves to perish in the
noble attempt. A brig had been observed for a considerable
time in the neighbourhood of the fatal Broach Bank, near
the mouth of the Tay, manifestly in the greatest danger of
striking, and, consequently, with such a sea on, of going
immediately to pieces, with the loss of all on board. Capt.
Cox saw and at once estimated the danger—knowing that if
the wind should shift(as from*the ran of the waves, it was
likely to do) towards thet east, no poWer 'on earth would
prevent the most fatal consequences. About four o'clock
he and his brave crew were seen in the bay nearing the poor
vessel, which,
on account of the ebb tide, was now every
danger of striking the bottom: Their approach,
instanthowever, !nwas not perceived by the captain or crew till they
were close upen them; and the effect which the discOvery had
upon all on board may be more correctly imagined than it
can be expressed. Life was now, in all human probability,
secured, and this very feeling gave energy and effect to the
efforts whicb followed-to save property likewise. With great
till the following
care, and no little risk, the ship was at last conducted into
, . , The vessel proved to be the
the pool, or dee water and the life-boat lay alongside of her
Isabella and morning.
Ann' of Aberdeen, James Hutchinson, master,
with a cargo of
coals • m Shields to Dundee. She was
quite new, of 227 tons h.° • •
trade. The crew
re
or may
as
a
' 12, exclusive of the son of
one of the owners, who amountedw to
gister, and built for the West India
was on boar .
We knew not how the Govern 1t of our country, or any
Humane .Society, may regard ;ilea; 'rewarpdasssuecil'igecor.nduc tas
this ; but this we are sure of,
leading men out of the magistracy immediately set on
foot a subscription for a piece of yotaot not .
I I inscribed, to
Captain Cox, they will lose an opportunity
idoinv justice
1 our magistrates and our
to themselves and to their feelings, midu,iltlY do
not only. to a meritorious officer and beloved. citizen, but
even to the cause of humanity in genet 1
a •—•l' VC Herard.
an. injustice

MIL DE CAMP, THE Acroa.---The father of the
Charles Kemble was a great favourite of Mrs. "Mrs'
elicited her pal ticular approbation, not more fur his ' ""d
ti
talent than for the undeviating modesty of his deportiir cal
He was in the.habit of announcing himself by a solitaryetirt!i*
at the street-door, a practicce ,upon which she once thong
proper, good huinouredly, to lecture him. " My clear, sir," said
" 1 am told that you actually come to my door with a
single knock. Let me beg of you to alter this. You are
far too modest: there are• many, I assure you, much your
inferiors, who are so furious in signal} ing their arrival, that
one is-apt to think this is the only way they have of making
a noise.in the world. Be assured, talent is often overlooked
in this greatna c Cori
rtioewsin) 0 fuodre ;en
oti,ofjatliGttl.eLliaetitsej preceding it."--