The Statesman.
London, England, 1820-05-31 00:00:00

. • ,
STATESMAN

me he referred to a SelPrit COMlllittve. erlrette.;
laspach that a tusk of this important natitre did not de.
trice to a much more competent inditideal, for he
wetted the inidestat Ito and the capability of trivial.;
aka to his opinimes, which many in that House had
is is est it power hr or; !o the consult' ration of this
lie r.;,re:teti 111114.11 that the Poo. Member
fac Easel was preveeted by the state of his health from
„mpg urn him .t tie y which he was every way so
3.,1e to discharge- Hr believed, it was now admitted ,
P tty gra •rally that the met ieultural i,orrest of the
(Awns was rapidly advancing to decay, and that un-!
loss ame measure of remedy were found out, and ap-
ruie of an irretrievable character must follow— I
and in that ruin would every class in the country be
involved. Wheest•v•r the question of aericultural tlis-
tres. liai beet bentelictl in tie• House. it was said by
; ~.e lictubers who supported parti..ulaely the manu-
t...tutioe classes, that the gauntlet had he-u thrown
).tun fur a co.it 'Mien i t which they were sleterm.itell
to take an active opposition. He beg:,•,l 1., assure the
it.,e-e that he did not collie before thew to &mom' say 11
diminution of encouragement or protection in the essa-
subietasiw.! portion of the community. No ma u, he
• 14. to I.V
.1 was spore sensible than he was of
' • •
ii.e intimate etestrtrxion which rnbsi..ted between I
elc two classes in the country. lle believel that
t t House would ever art upon the einviction that
the ruin of the one portion wt.uld necessarily carry
al sae with it the destruction of the other. The
•ri eil•urists did nut then come solicit the
Legislature to withdraw any part of its protection
ti on the manufacturing bodies. But the object
a the agricultural petitioners wie. to represent to the
House, that the Legislature hayin x, in 1 15, taken into
cousideration the eircutustances which were then put
eth in evidence re!artling the state of agriculture, had
come to the resolution, that a protection should he
is;ren to agriculture; anti that unless a remunerating
price was given to agriculturists—unless eighty shil-
lines was provided as the price of lt:• produce, it would
he impossible for hint to struggle against the dith:ul-
- in which he was involved. The sole ohjeet of the
petitioners, then, was to obtain, not an excess of price
fir their produce, but merely such a retnrn as would
enable them to go on. They wished to state that the
mode of protection which had been ulreatly put in
prantice, was inadequate t ► aceirupiish its object.—
They wished that the petitions shuttld be referred to
a t'ommittee, for the purpose of showing how inade-
quate were the legislative measures to protect them ;
tad should they succeed in showing the justice of their
representations, they hoped that the House would follow
ap the inquiry by some measure of redress. The House
lad seen various petitions, attributing the distresp of
the country to the waste of public money, to pensions
and places, and boroughmongering ; but the petitions
of the agriculturists were of a very different charac-
ter to these. They were all men remarltable for their
loyalty to the King and Constitution, and conscious
that all the burdens now placed upon :Item arose out
of that straggle, which in the end gave the n liberty
and seearit:..—they were determined to bear their share
of the general pressure, to the utmost limits of their
capacity. If he suspected that the agricultural classes
had been actuated in their demands by any other than
motives of justice, and a due attention to their own
•curity, he would have left them to choose another ad-
locate. When this question had been at any time
rit toted in the House, the Uentleusen who supported the
manufacturing interest exclaimed—" What! are not
the manufacturers sufferingenough already, and du you
wish to add to their sufferings!" This language he
deemed most impolitic; he believed that the cry of
cheap bread and low prices had been a great cause of
injury to the country. It would be wasting the time
a the House, were he to expatiate on the distresses of
the agrieu:tural bodies. There was not a landed pro-
prietor in that House who did not feel it. From the
year 1 etni to Idl 4, whoever went through the coun-
try might hate seen every where an improved cultiva-
tion, a thriving farm, and an increasing stock. But
since that thue the failure, the degradation, and abso-
lute ruin of agriculture bad hems advancing progres-
sively, and was snore rapid than ever in the last year.
Hut thr causes of the distresses of the two classes were
exactly the saute. After a war, when l 3 millions of
taxes were taken off, and the amounts of the interest of
leans were discontinued, the cessation of the expen-
diture which tended so much to raise the value of pro-
duce, of coarse lessened the demand.—(Hear, hear '.)—
An Hon. Member con • t with political economy
(Mr. Ricardo) bad some time ago stated, that he for
else would teee for some measure of relief, if it were
posted that the agriculturists were made to bear bur-
liests in which the rest of the community slid not take
a port. He (Mr. H. Sumner) wondered how the lion.
Member could have put the case hypothetically, know-
ing, as he must, the fact to be so. Every body knew.
that the land had to endure the whole weight of the
eharch Eetablishment. Eight tenths of the poor
rates were laid upon the land, as were also the county
rates, the expenses of the preservation of the public
peace, and the whole expense of high roads, except
turnpike roads. '1 he latter burden, be must confess,
he did not think could be removed from them. Not-
withstanding all this, they would still be able to hold
.p, had it not bleu for the operation of those very
• hoes which were professedly made for their support.
It was entirely against the competition of the fo-
reigner that they asked for protection. It was impos-
sible that they could be expected to compete with the
foreigner, pressed as they were with an enormous
debt.—(Hear, hear! from the Opposition.)--tlentle-
men might cry, " Hear, bear !" at the mention of the
debt, if they pleased, and suggest a mode of getting
rid of it; but he was conscious that that debt could
never be removed from them. He was sensible, that
whatever might be the pressure of the burden, we
erred all our liberties and security to the system by
which that debt was originated and continued. But
he would repeat, that the agriculturists were insde-
elute to compete with the foreigner. Every body at
all acquainted with the state of agriculture here must
.1010 W that wheat could not be grown in this country
fen eighty shillings ; and it was equally well known
. that wheat could be sent into this country, not
only from most parts of the Continent, but also from '
(ter shores of the Black Sea, at the rate of thirty-six
It was then asked, why grow corn here,
if it could be had from abroad so much cheaper?
But he would answer, if the ports wire thrown °pegs

THE

and that foreign corn was permitted to come into this
country without restrietiOa, what won'd become of the
nation? If the consumer went into the market, it was'
natural, of course, that he shoal,l prefer bityina the
foreign corn bee:ruse it was the eh..apest. Tile con-
sequence o mild he, that the no rieultnrist wools!
withdraw Isis capital somewhere eine. In truth, if
WV went on according to the present system, the re-
sult would be, that we should convert this beautiful
garden into a perfect desert. Was this an anticipation
which any man, of whatever side, would wish to
see accomplished. The provisions of the late Corn
Bill were said to have produced an steerage of seventy-
eight shillings to the agriculturist. He denied this. In
fart, this report was one of the seandalosis reports that
hail been circulated about the cootory for obvious pur-
poses. The fact was, that the average never exceeded
72 shillings. Agriculture was the only creative source
of wealth. It was always to be limited by the poi.u-
lation. When manufactures arose in a country, there
was, of course, a greater deinatel createtl fur the pro-
duce of agrieultural Lamar, and consequently it ac-
quired a considerable sti ttttt Hence the intitnate
connexion h..t ween the saricultural and the manufac-
turing hushes. If then, under the present tare -
stances of the etetntry, the matinfarturer purchased his
bread abroad, the would br ruin to the
farmer at home. The prayer of the prtitiueers masa
that they might have ae opportunity of proving their
Cle.r. They called fur 0.) 3prelfie rellimelly, but they
pledged themselves to 3:11w the inadequacy of the pre-
sent law to produce the arofesseti ohjert ; in fact, that
time situat• of the agriculturists was as bad as if that
law bad never passed. They dia not attempt to devise
the means of redress; that they left to the wistl of '
Parliament, While asidressi.ig the House upon the
case of the aaricuatu isos, it was intim...sable that he'
could muit noticing the late petition of the :merchants!
of the city of Londe.). He particularly ola•et, d to the
mode in which it was iutroduced, besatist• he belit•vt d
that it 'nos brought forward with a view to create a
prejudice is the House upon the subject of the agricul-
tural petitions. In fact, he u as persuaded that it was(
intended to be turned into all antiaute against the'
etrect of the agricultural petition. If the Honourable
Member who brought it in (air. itstrino) wished to
disguise his objt‘, t, the means he employed were
very inadequate for that purpose ; because, although
the lion tientleman addressed the House with the
utmost moderation and temper, yet it was remarkable
that he lost bath as soot) as he Lunches' upon the sub-
ject of the agricultural petitions, sometimes even
not deigning to speak of them eith nonillion civility.
The Hon. M 'tuber, had he been converiant with agri-
culture, woul,l not have called the document, to which
he had alluded, a farrago of nonsense. lie (Mr. 11.
Sumner) felt his inadequacy to discharge the duty
which he had undertalsen—he felt that he might not
have observed ablress to the House, that con-
nection which had misted previously in his mind; but
he was sore at the saute time, that however inadequate
he might prove to produce any strong impressions on
the House, the isseportassee of the subject would not j
fail to be acknowledged by all—(Hear, hear!)—He,,
eon:holed by istoiiir, that the different petitions pri-1
sented to the House, complaining of agricultural die-
tress. be refered to a Select ttttt mince to inquire into
the matter therein contained, and report accordingly.
Mr. Bunco, iu seemstlisie the tion, deprecated
the idea of separating the agriettlttiral from tale manu-
facturing interest, site due preservation of both being
equally essential so the welfare of the nation. He
shottiti he the la t lean to put •y into the pso•kets
of the farmer. at the expense of the tradesman, the
manufacturer, sir the Illerlll3lll. He was disposed to
support the motion now before the House, because the!
Act passed in la I a, on the subject to which it re-1
furred, was not found to answer the purport That
Act fixed the protectilia price on ml:e importation of
foreign corn at tot 51111161,S a tot:trier ; but its effect
produced no advantage- whatever to the farmer. Ile
believed it had been rendered inoperative chiefly in
consequence of the averages, which were calculated on
a bad system ; and it was a fart, that the agriculturist,
instead of getting Mts. a quarter, as the law provided,
received now only 72. The returns of the averages
were 111.111 e out, not by the loaner, as they ought to
be, but by the merchant. All he desired was, that
the A. t of I a. 15 :should be made complete. Without
support. it would be impossible for the English farmer
to compete with the foreign agriculturist, who tumid
grow corn t I su um .h more advantage, as he was tiot
subject to taxes. Ile ghouls' nut take upon himself to
give an opinion as to whether taxes were or were not
necessary, but his opinion was that they were neces-
sary—(A last h)—and unless the agriculture of the
country was protected, it would be impossible either
to support the revenue or the numerous poor, who
la re left as a t karate upon Ilse public inaustry.
The question being 1101,1' put from the Chair,
Mr. twins:sue addressed the House against the mo-
tion. He was sorry that a sense of public duty obliged
him to rise upon the present occasion, nut being able,
from al indisisusition under which he laboured, to
treat the rubject.uuder consideration as he could wish.
He hoped, however, for the indulgence of the House, if
the observations which he hail to submit should not be
delivered in that explicit manner which the question de-
manded. Many reasons concurred why such sub;ects
as the present should be treated with the greatest eau-
tion, and introdu.ed tests frequently than any other.
Upon all subject. of vast national importance, it was
natural tar toe people of every country to entertain
strung prejudices, and as there were some which in-
volved matte's of peculi tr delicacy, nothing was more
I nowise than to biing them too often forward. He,
therefore, regretted that the present question had been
again introiuced, after the explicit declaration he bad
made last yea:, that it was nut expedient to make any
alteration in the existing laws relative to corn, when
a revision was proposed. He had matte that statement,
not only because he thought h • was right in so doing,
but became he expected that after such an explicit
dec'aration, officially delivered on the part of the tio-
vernotent, the question would not afterwards have been
pressed. It was true It nos nut afterwards presort I in
that House, but coosiderahte agitation had bet is ex-
cited throughout the country with regard to it; and
the law was dent ied AI inoperative. Petitions had been
inJustriously got up in every quarter, and au arrange-
ment was made for concentrating the whole mind of
the agriculturist, ut the country, is order to give a

1:
more united and &Otani:led character to the nature ofl
their representations. He regretted that an individual
who um& himself the most conspicuous among them,
an.l held the most preposterous opinions (Mr. O. Webb
Hall we believe), went so far as to issue manifestos,
calling upon th.• agriculturists to demand that which
it would be the height of marines!: to grant. But it
was a fact, that distress was not so general among the
agriculturists as some persona represented. Accord-
ing to the statement upon a recent occasion by the Hon.
Member for Oxford, it was nut sensibly felt in that
county ; nor had he (Mr. Robinson) witnessed any very
alarming effects of it in those pasts of the country
which he had visited. He had not seen &mints leaving
their farms—he had not Peru rents in arrear, nor had he
wen the poor-rates unpaid, it consequence of the dis-
tressed state of agriculture. Vet it was nut fur him to say
that no distress existed, merely because he had not him-
self seen it ; that would be as absurd as the assertion
made by persons that distress was general, because they
happened to witness it in certain places which they had
visited. No; hr was ready to admit that distress did ex-
ist : and it would he now proper to ascertain the cause,
in order to discover what ►eight be the best remedy
for it, if a remedy could be provided. The cause of the
present agricultural distress was certainly a reduction
in the price of corn, in consequence ale diminuti )))) in the
demand. But such reduction of price was not created
by any defect in the Corn Laws; it proceeded from.
events which it was impossible to control. No man
could contemplate the occurrences s►f the last twenty-
live years, without being impressed with the canvic-
tism that a protracted war had been the cause, by its
giving to this country a large available capital, while
in others it destroyed property altogether. Infinitely
Go large a proportion of that capital was applied to
the cultivation of land, which otherwise would no;
have been tilled; and this had the effect of raising the
price of ageettltural produce. It was certain that the
worst land might, at a proportismate expense, be brought
into rultivatiuu; hut no Legislative measure could
keep it in continual cultivation, as that depended alto-
gether on other causes. It was said by his Honour-
able Friend who introduced the tion, that the law
of 1815 was ineffectual, because the fixed price of $O..
did not give a sufficient protection to the farmer ; but
he differed with hint entirely in this view of the ques-
tion. The agriculturists would have stis. as the me-
A/blouse, whereas he (Mr. Robinson) intended it as the
monotone The Corn Act had nit other object than to
quiet the minda of the farmers, by enabling them to
sell corn at a fair price, but it was never intended by
it to allow them to do noire. Ile hail by him some
calculations which would elsow how groundless were!
the complaints of the agriculturists, with regard
to the impartation of foreign corn. In the last five
years the quantity of corn imported amounted to
3,483,675 quarters, from which there was a deduction I
of 321,546 quarters for con-umption, and a reduction
of 777,137 quarters for re-exportation, which, added ;
to the consumption, left $,:1193,693 quarters, or
477,(11111 quarters for each year. The average price
now under the operation of the Art wax 78s. 1114., anal
iu the years 1617 and MS, the two years which foil-1
lowed one of the worst, perhaps, ever known, the int
port:aloft of foreign corn was 2,6011,900 quarters. the
average price being then as high as 89s. Front 1792
to 1812, a period of seventeen years, the quantity of
corn imported was 5011,01111 quarters annually, and
the average prire was 7205. lid. There were now the
saute imports awl average price ; and if the farmers
were at that period enabled to cultivate their lands
with spirit, he did not see wity they could not do so at
present, from the existing protection which gave them
equal advantages. Ile could not conceive how the dist;
tress could be imputed to the defective character of the
Corn Act, when it was known that no foreign corn had
been imported since the :ith February, I ;at least,
if then- had, it was hut a mere trifle. He had never
supported the Corn Bill as a positive good ; he had
voted fur it only as a choice of evils ; and it being
of that description, men ought to be cautious in stating
that it did toot produce the full effect intended. His
Honourable Friend said, that the petitioners called fur
no specific remedy—yet he (Mr. Robinson) al ght,
that some of the petitions did certainly call for such a
remedy. Yet he was much pleased that none of them
sugge-t••d the remedy contained in the manifestos
which had been issued ; and whirls contained the ex-
travagant proposition of a permanent ditty on corn of
40s. a quarter. Were this most absurd proposition
sanctioned, it would be impossible for any tioveruntent
to co:tilt:et the affairs of the State, partieularly in times
of scarcity. But even if a duty of 21/s. were admitted
(which he did not approve of), still it would not have
the effect of raising the price of curia above 3/. and in
bad seasons, not even so much. In fact, the state of
agriculture would he infinitely worse than at present.;
(treat stress had been laid on the system adopted with
regard to the averages ; but to attribute the distress
Ito that cause, was the greatest possible delusion. It
was supposed the agriculturists would get St's. a
quarter, if the averages were taken in a different
way from the present, namely, that by taking all the
averages of the different corn districts together with
' the price, and then dividing one by the other, the result
would he inure than is now produced from a contrary
method. He, however, had amide a calculation which
would show the fact to be directly the revers-. He
took the price of corn in the twelve maritime districts
for the six weeks preceding the 15th May, 1820, and
in the week ending the Ittli of April he found the are-
' rage upon wheat 70s. 3d., and with the other mode it
would have been 70s. Id.; upon rye, 425. 7d., by the
other mode, 403.4 d. ; barley 355. 7d., by ete other
mode, 355. Id.; oats 245. I Id., by the other mode,
245. The calculations for the other weeks corre-
sponded exactly with this, and it was not, therefore,
necessary for him to go through them in detail. It
was proposed to omit the Welsh counties front the new
system, as they were said to produce little or nothing.
These counties were included in the Bth and 9th uteri-
time divisions, except the county of Moron sued, which i
was in the I flth. He had made a calculation to show .
what the effect would be if they were omitted. It was
expected that the averages would be enlarged, but
directly the contrary would be the case. It was, as he
had stated, the greatest imaginable delusion to say
that any portion of the agricultural distress was the
consequence of the averages. Ile did not wean, how-
ever,
to assert that these averages were perfect. All
he contended fer•was, that nu Ilteratiou ought to take!