The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-08-12 00:00:00

OPERATION OF THE NEW CORN-LAW.

The readers of the LIVERPOOL STANDARD may remem-
ber that we have maintained, from the commencement of the
operation of this law, that it would work to the satisfaction,
alike, of the friends of our native agriculture and of the
moderate advocates of reduction in the cost of the chief
staple of life. We have now had thirteen weeks' experience
of its aptitude to fulfil the purposes for which it was de-
signed ; and we here present, in a tabular form, the details
of its operation in the port of Liverpool, which, we presume,
may be received as affording a fair criterion by which to
judge of its working in the other ports of the kingdom.

Quantity of Wheat and Flour, distinguishing Foreign from
Colonial, upon which Duty has been paid in the Port of
Livvrpool since the passing of the New Corn Bill.

- Vi- a .
HEAT, 10 qrs. FLOUR, in brls.
Foreign.,Colonial Foreign. Colonial
s.
Week ending 12th May; 13 7,613 1,658 3,143 19,476
19th .. .. 3,841 438 1,359 477
26th 12 11,977 .. 5,522 623
26 June .. I 7.335 I
.. I 1,399 2,765
9th 11 4,855 .. 1,325 554
16th
236 ' 10 2.970 .. • 1,738 1,567
30th .... 9 9,845 .. 5,232 10,777
7th July! 9 115,813 200 5,143 8,839
14th .... ! 8 6,996 .. 1,817 2,422
21st ; 18,383 1,400 11,538 14,868
28th
4th Aug 1 .. 16,896 .. 8,865 9,331
Total of 13 weeks 122,766 i 4,389 56,949 84,263
Total Wheat 126,955 quarters.

Total Wheat
Total Flour..

... I'2l
... 14

1,g55 quarters.
1,212 barrels.
Wheat. Flour.
Corresponding 12 weeks last year 38,613 27,313
Stock of Grain in Liverpool on the 2nd of May, 1842.
Wheat. Oats. Rye. Barley. Beans. Pease. Flour. Oatml.
In bond.. 209,032 13,554 500 11,271 21,166 7,787 165,166
Free .... 25,000 12,000 410 5,000 20,009 5,000 500 80,000
& 500 sks. Ids.
Stock of Grain in Liverpool on the 31st of July, 1842.
Wheat. Oats. Rye. Barley. Beans. Pease. Flour. Oatml.
In bond.. 349,985 11,640 407 11,371 31,687 15,660 99,358
Free .... 18,000 3,000 600 3,000 12,000 5,000 55,000 30,030
& 200 sks.

We shall not at present indulge in any lengthened remarks
upon the answer—a triumphant one, we submit—which the
tables above furnish to the attacks levelled against this lead-
ing and most difficult measure of the ministry of Sir Robert
Peel. That it has produced the principal desideratum of
such a measure, the admission of foreign wheat into con-
sumption at a moderate duty, and as required by the existing
demand, cannot now be denied. The total quantity of grain
admitted during the past thirteen weeks has been fairly
spread over the whole period. We have enjoyed, in fact,
during that period—a period, too, which is' always, to some
extent, one of speculation► and advancing prices—a regular
and steady supply, which has at once kept the price of bread
within the reach of the consumers' means, and checked such
a sudden influx of grain upon the market as would have in-
flicted injury upon the native grower. It is well known that
this result has been attained in despite of the efforts of

speculation to work the averages towards the point at which
grain could have been thrown in at a nominal duty ; and we
believe it is now an almost universally acknowledged feeling
amongst the trade that such efforts will, for the future, be
too hazardous to be lightly undertaken. .
It is probable that we shall for a few weeks to come have
some heavier payments of duty than any which we have
hitherto noticed. The improbability of the duty ranging
lower than Bs., and the possibility of its rising higher, will
induce many holders to enter largely. We do not, however,
anticipate, as has been predicted by some authorities, a rush
to pay duty and to inundate the market. The superior
quality of the new wheats which are coming forward, and
the advanced prices which they will command as compared
with the old stocks by which the duty has, up to this time,
been regulated, will, we are satisfied, maintain the present
averages, or nearly so, for some weeks to come. In fact, if
we consider that this year's crop (well harvested) is likely to
be fairly worth four or five shillings per quarter more than
the average of last year's, a decline to that extent in the
price of the best samples will not materially tell upon the
existing duty of Bs. We do not at all events anticipate a
rapid rise or one of great extent.