The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-10-16 00:00:00

CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE CORN LAWS

( From the Morning Post.)
It is observable from the tone of the whig journals, both in
town and country, as well as from their selection of news,
that a scheme is on foot—nothing short of villauous—the ob-
ject of which is to raise the price of bread corn far beyond
what existing circumstances justify. In the London papers,
to which we allude, there may be seen, not only exaggerated
accounts of a gloomy character, as respects the narvest, from
various parts of the kingdom, but also stetemeuts from the
continent, leading to the supposition that the supply is very
short there, and unequal to the satisfying of any extraordi-
nary demand from this country. In the provincial papers
we see leading articles devoted to the express purpose of cre-
ating an alarm of scarcity, and yet, clumsily enough, di-
rectly recommending a course which must aggravate the
evil represented, if any such did exist, namely, that all
farmers who can afford to hold over their stocks of grain for
some months should do so, for the sake of the better prices
which their kind advisers tell them they will be sure then to
obtain.
This villainy has, no doubt, a double purpose. There is a
political object and a mercantile object. The landed interest
is to be injured by creating a state of circumstances which it
is conceived will bring the corn laws into popular odium ;
and a knot of jobbing capitalists are to be served, who hope
to make enormous gains by forcing the people to pay a high
price for the immense stocks of corn which have been pur-
chased up on speculation. And here it is worthy of remark,
that these same speculators—most of them quakers—who are
now straining their immense money power to the utmost, for
the purpose of making corn dear, and filling their own
pockets at the expense of every family in the kingdom that
consumes bread—these speculators are almost all liberals in
politics, and exceedingly vociferous upon all public occasions
that popular privileges bbou hi be enlarged. Does not the
villainous misrepresentation which they have set on foot
throughout the country, for the purpose of plaguing and plun-
dering the people with an artificial scarcity, show very clearly
the real nature of the liberality of these men? Dues it not
show how little they care for the substantial good of the
people, even when they are clamouring in the people's name
for political changes ? Their sole object is to serve them-
selves. They wish for political changes which will add to
their personal consequence ; and as they can only hope to
obtain such changes by means of the people's voice, they re-
present that these changes will benefit the multitude, and
they pretend that for the sake of the multitude they ought to
be made. Again, they wish to make for themselves an enor-
mous profit upon their stocks of corn; and though this can
only be obtaiaed out of the pockets of the people, who are
the consumers, they do not hesitate to resort to misrepresen-
tation and wicked counsel, to the end that the ordinary sup
ply of the corn markets may be withheld, and that the bread
consumers may be made to pay dear fur the stores which
these designing liberals have accumulated
W e affirm again, as we have affirmed before, that there is
now as large a quantity of wheat in this country open :o the
consumer, as there has been open on an average of years at
this time: The real difference is in the quantity under bond.
For some years past the stock of foreign wheat was not taken
out of bond, and, as far as market price was concerned,
might as well have been in Africa as in England. Granting
that there has been a slight deficiency in the supply from our
own fields, as compared with the average, it has been already
more than made up by the supply which has passed the Cus-
tom House. Allowing the sufficiency to be so much as seven
per cent., or say one-fourteenth of the whole, this ought to be
balanced by an advance of rather less than three farthings
upon the average price of the four-pound loaf for the last
three years. If the people have to pay any inure, it will be
either because they eat more, or because advantage is taken
of circumstances and exaggeration to make them pay into
the pockets of the holders of wheat a larger remuneration
than hitherto they have paid. Let it be borne in mind that
the principal part of the foreign supply has come in duty
free, or the next thing to it, namely, one shilling per quar-
ter. This arises from the carefulness of the law to prevent
an excessive price. If the people do not obtain the benefit
of this excellent law, they may thank their "liberal" friends,
the corn speculators.

Da. WARREN.—it is understood that the Bishop of Ches.
ter has promised ordination to the above gentleman, who was
for a time considered as the head of a party who, some two
years since, seceded from the Wesleyan Methodists. From
his party, however. he seceded about twelve months ago, on
the alleged ground that the constitution or body of laws, by
which it was governed, were too democratic. The rev. gen-
tleman is now taking those preliminary steps essential to h►s
formal recognition as a minister of the established church.
Sir Oswald Mosley, the lord of the manor of Manchester has
generously given a site in Every-street, Ancoats, in which it
is intended to erect a church, of which Dr. Warren is to be
the minister, £l5OO has been promised by the Lancashire
Church Building Society, and when this sum is made up to
£2OOO by donations, of which no doubt exists. (two gentle-
men having given 1:100 ,each, and another £5O) application
is lobe made to her Majesty's Church Commissioners for a
similar sum out of the million grant of 1824, and which is
expected to be granted.