The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1832-12-21 00:00:00

We take it for granted, that it is an axiom, admitted
even by political economists, that the strength and pros-
perity of the country depends Upon the profitable employ-
ment of the whole body of the labouring population,- and
that whatever tends .most to accomplish so desirable an
object, ought to. be most sedulously encouraged and pro-
moted by the patriotic statesman. Nor will it be dis-
puted, that, as far as our internal traffic is . concerned,
high or low prices are, with one mighty exception, a
mere nominal difference, provided the rise or -fall be uni-
versal ; or, in other Words, that everything, whether la-
bour or commodities', be equally affected. -It is• a fact,
sufficiently established, that in all countries possessing a
dense population, the price of labour is regulated by the
cost of subsistence, the common labourer, under ordinary
circumstances, never earning more than enough to sup-
'ply his daily wants. If, therefore, by resorting to foreign
markets for our supply of corn, the "price 'Should be no-
minally reduced, can it be supposed, for -a moment, that
the price of labour and of other commodities- would riot
experience a corresponding reduction ? Where, then,
would be the gain to the consumer ?

Laying aside, for the present, the important consider-
ation of the policy, or, indeed, the safety of trusting to
foreigners for that roost indispeiisible of all.articles, food,
for a deficiency of which no substitute can be foUnd, let
us examine more clearly into the consequences of draw-
ing any considerable portion of our .annual 'consumption
of corn from other countries. The first and Most obViOus
effect would be, to throw a large portion of the soil out
of cultivation, particularly of the inferior land which re-
quires the most labour, and gives employment to more
labourers in proportion to its extent than the richer soils,
for it cannot be imagined that the landowner would con-
tinue to grow corn upon land, which, with low prices for
the produce, would not repay the expense of cultivation
at the end of one, or, at most, of two years. We should
thus have the produce-of our own soil diminished to an

extent which no supply that we could draw from foreign

countries could replace ; and we should discover when,
perhaps, too late, that the abolition of the corn monopoly
had made bread dear instead of cheap. The largest im-
port of grain into Great Britain, in any one year, has
never materially exceeded two millions of quarters. Has

it ever entered into the heads of those who cry out for
free trade in corn, to calculate what would be the conse-
_quence. of having to draw only double that quantity from
foreign countries,—how Many tons of shipping Would be
'required to convey it, and how. long it would take to
bring it ? Have they ever looked at the state of British
exports to those countries from whence we draw our
largest supplies, and asked themselves, seriously, how we
could pay for such a quantity ? But, supposing, thif
these trifling difficulties were got rid of, and that the trade
in corn were free as air, how would it affect the manu-
facturing interests ? In the first place, the agricultural
labourers, who would thereby be deprived of employ-
ment, must be thrown upon the parish for support, and
would cease to be customers for manufactures. The
landowner's, farmers, &c. would also cease to be consum7-
ers of manufactured goods, not merely to the extent off'
their reduced production of grain, but to the amount by
which their actual produce should be. reduced in value by
the competition of the foreigner. In this way it, is not.
an exaggerated statement to say, that for every pound in
value added, by this means, to the amount of our export,
the manufactures would experience a falling off of t 4
in the home market. This state of things must, in its
turn, produce a glut of goods, and a redundancy of ma-
nufacturing labour in the market, thereby lowering both •
the rate of wages and the price of goods ; and the manu-
facturer would then discover, to his sorrow, that after
suffering great losses, and submitting to no light priva-
tions, he was, in fact, just where he set out from ;—he
would have his loaf at a lower I..onti.nal price, but he
would find his means of purchasing. it reducek at the
least, in a corresponding degree.

There is still one part of .the subject untouched, and
. . .

in our opinion it is one requiring the most serious consi-
deration. We have before remarked, that "with one
mighty exception" high and low prices differed more in
name than in reality—that exception is, those eases
where any stipulated or precise amount in money has to.
be paid—such is the case in all mortgages and similar
obligations, and the taxes to government: It will be ob-.
vious, upon the least reflection, that the situation of the
farmer and manufacturer, in regard to -each other, is the
same with wheat at 80s. per quarter and labour at 245. per
week, as if wheat were at 40s. and labour at 125., every
thing else being presumed to bear the same relative pro-
portion; hut when a third party steps in, in the shape of
the government, and demands the same amount in mo-
ney, whether wages be 12s. or 245. per week, the ,case is
entirOy changed. To. illustrate this, with reference to
the nation at large, let us assume the national incomeat

: high prices to be 400 millions per annum, and at low
prices 200 millions. The revenue taken at 50 millions
is in the one case an eighth, in the other one-fourth of
every man's income. Let us then • enquire how this af-
fects the labOurer. At high prices, or wageS at 245. per
week, he pays one-eighth or 3s. for taxes, and pays is.
fore his loaf—at • low• wages, or • 12s. per -week, he pays
one-f6urth or 3s; fla...take's, and ha.s his for 6d. The
result: is that his:means:of pro'caring.the necessaries of
life are •as seven to six in favour of high prices. Is it
not self-evident,. therefore, that the -higher we can main-
tain the price of labour: and of all other Commodities,
their:due relativu proportion :to each other being always
preserved,•the better it •is for all classes of the coinnau-
nitv.:: And can the manufaetnrers.of Great Britain be so
infattiated as to SiippoSe, :that.they. can keep up the prices
of their goods, or the rate of wag.,es to their operatives,
after „depriving • themselves of •a• hothe demand to the
amoun(of,probahlv, 15. to 20 millions per.annum.
It is one of tlse. many. extraordinary derUsionS of the
present time, which are palmed upon the public by de-
signing men, ff)r th to represent .the
purposes;.
interests of themanufacturing and trading portion of the
cOnimunity,-aS at variance With, and opposed to, those of
the landed aristociaCy. They" are in fact intimately and
indi.ssofubly connected, and he who would attempt to pro-
mote the One at the expense of the other, only exposes