The Statesman.
London, England, 1823-02-25 00:00:00

THE STATESMAN

paper ~y,t on, but having once erected it, we Might remo
the inundations, without the danger elf a fall ! Wien we
remonstrated at the absurdity of this, and contended that
in our humble judgment, it was more diMcult to repay
debts than to borrow there, they assured as It was quite a
mistake, that we might make ourselves perfectly easy, for
they were really doing nothing in the way of injury, but
' merely Tinning things In a "prosperous and healthy state,"
which would give us greater happiness than we could
either desire or deserve. When we doubted the charac-
ter of this •• prosperity," sad •hewed them that debts and
taxes payable in "Jute monnoic" were heavier than if
payable in " foible monnoie," they assured us that it was a
mere question of 4 per cent., that at the very worst, :they
were only increasing our bnrthens 4 per cent.! or just
• • squeezing" " the merchants a Wife." as one of them cx.-
presAol it to a friend of mine., And when we egain remon-
strated with them, and proved by unanswerable arguments,
that they were literally increasing every tax, tithe, debt. rent,
and obligation iu the kingdom full cent. per cent. instead of
4 per oott ; they affected to laugh at such a wild suppo-
sition ! as well indeed they aught, for never before in all this
world, w•as any thing at once so wild and so true! Hut when
we persisted• and proved beyond a doubt, that however wild
and monstrous it might be, yet it was positively matter of
Jart ; they then told us with seeming complacency and int-
' concern. •• well, well, if it should be matter of fact, there
Is still no danger; the wisdom of Parliament has gi een four
years for the trial of the experiment. and ir it should turn out,
as you say, there is plenty of time allowed to reconsider our
measures and retreat." The four years are •now twarly
chimes... It has turned out as we said. There is no man now
who has the confidence to deity, that under the old rurasure,
the prices of property and labour will necessarily again go
back to the old lerel ; that they will be permanently reduced
to the level of 1791, which i. SO per cent. towel than the
level which existed permanently during the war, when the
existing obligations of the country were contracted. Every
debt, tax, tithe. rent, and obligation. in the kingdom, is thus
liternlly doubled, it commands and takes away from the pub-
lic. just double the mine that the public ever received, or
ever contracted, or expected to repay. Hut instead of •• re-
considering our measures with a view to retreat," the very
men who h .ve lured and deluded us in this way, have now
the sailaeity to turn round upon us, and tell us that it is too
lute to retreat ! ! that contracts have been formed since 1819,
and that we cannot go back without violating all those
contracts.'! _ .

Patience ! Gracious Heaven ! Well may Mr. Canning
recommend patience to this plundered and insulted nation;
for never, in the history of the world had human nature so
much occasion for that virtue before !
Your Renders must not be alarmed, Sir, at this new &f-
-atuity whirl' is started by the Jews and tiwirabetts rs. It it
a mere invention. for the purpose of securing their plunder
from the national justice. and has not a jot more of truth or
reason in it, than the numerous other delusions .which i have
already expose I. As I have stated hefore, a hundred delu-
sions were conjured up .to obtain the plunder; and now a
hundred others are being conjured up tq secure it. It Is all
In vain. The plunder is too great to be secures! by any pos-
sible means. If the Jews hail been moderate in their plun-
der, if they had only attempted to gait' 3 per rent., or 5 per
cent. or even lOperct. anon their just Halms, ult:cli their Ad-
vocates
repeatedly assured as, was all that they had in view,
they might is this case, have been tolerably secure. Hut to
exact cent. per cent. plunder upon every tax, tithe, debt,
rent, and obligatiou in the kingdom, is imposing such an
enormous treasure upon the country, as is quite sure to
disappoint its own object, and to blow ep the whole system
of Society in the end, scattering alike both tlieJews, and
their plunder to the winds. The Jews may be assured that
their true interest is to be content frith their own ; to be
content with reed sing the same sums of mosey, and the
same yroportions of the national prope►ty* and labour, as
they real), advanced to their country. Tits is their. just
right; and in this just right they are securve: The nation as
a public debtor, and the great hulk of alb. private debtors,
nre amply prepared to redeem all their jest obligations in
full. witt.out the aaatement of • single farthing by way of
Jitrour. All that they require, is, to have their obligations
measured in the game money in which they were contracted;
or in any other kind of money depreciated in the same de-
gree. Out if the Jews are to persist in exacting payment in
a species of money which commands double the value that
they nre entitled to. it is quite certain in ibis case, that such
atrocious c niuct Atilt terminate in their.own ruin. The pri-
vate debtors will become insolvent to their creditors, as the
bowers are now becoming insolvent to their landlords; end
the tuition will shake off its paidic buirthent, as *strong mean
shakes off the %Woes of the night.

With regard then to this near sophistry respecting " Con-
tracts formed Shier 1519," It is evident that the great bulk
of all such contrails, have been formed upon the war
prices; or founded up" u the war habits and calculations.—
Upon an average, it may he safely assured,thnt not one exist-
ing coirract in ten is yet accommodated to the metallic level.
When the valnations and calculations Of a country have
been ideal for 20 years, and when the living generation of
active men, have been bore and bred up, or reared
to manhood acdadviinmd age under the effects of those cal-
eulations, and all their habits and associations have been
formed upon them; it is not the lapse of a few years which
will break down all these mental Barriers, and ace:memo-
date the valves and obligations of society to an ancient and
forgotten standard. The whole mass of society is interested
against it. and struggles in every sinew to arrest its pro-
gress. The advance of contract,: follows quick upon the
general advance of prices. because competition among the
debtors enforces it, and there is no Barrier to prevent it.
Rat the general reduction of contracts Is slow to follow the
general reduction of prices, because the debtors cannot
escape from their thraldom, and the lam continues to en-
: fo•ce the contracts long after the circumstances which occa •
sioned them hate ceased to exist. It is not mad the pre-
sent generation of active men are brought to ruin, or to the
very verge of ruin, that the bankruptcy and outcry of the
unhappy millions, who are thus plundered of their property
and their industry, can compel their oppressors to relax their
grasp, and submit to the very same ruin themselves from
which they hoped to escape by the ruin of others.
'fake for example the Contracts of Rent. In scarcely on►
single instance have these yet been reduced to the level
which the old metallic standard, combined with the new tax-
ation, must ultimately impose. L otd Fitzwilliam has given
up 40 per cent. it is true. But he must give up another 40
per cent. before this level will be obtained ! In the mean
while his tenantry roust die by inches. But nine-tenths of
the Landowners have not y et reduced their contracts of rent
at all ; nor can they reduce then without being ruined in so
doing. 'Flury have eontented themselves with merely giving
back, from time to time. lO or •Itl pr r cent. by way of boon
or charily; still keeping their grasp upon their tenants'
throats ; in the hope that the plundereasiretckelwill he able
to pay in future years, what they cannot pay in the present
vest. The absollite contracts, therefore, remain still the
same as they were in ISM or evervas they were during the
war, or very nearly so. In hundreds and thousands of is-
stances where the old tenantry have stink under the pressure
of their war rents and obligations. nem victims hare rushed
forwards to occupy the scarcely vacant farms at unreduced
rents! Men cannot in a short time be brought to believe,
that the.indielous cultivation of the earth, can possibly he
attended with loss! Mill less can they believe that this is
the necessary effect of Legislative enactment! It appears
leo wild and monstrous a dream to be deemed possible.
'they think that the more long end terrible have been the
sufferings of Farmers. the mere sudden and certain will be
their future prosperity. They are therefore still ready
to take farms, upon such terms as they are to be
obtained, some of them acting under the hope of what
are called "remunerating prices," which the Legislature
has continually held out, and pledged that they should re-
ceive; and othere preparing rattier to die with " harness on
their backs," than to linger out their lives in idleness, in
order to die in a ditch at last. Tile stocks of their un-
happy predecessors too, who have been forced by thou-
sands, to become sellers of labour, indeed of buyers of la-
bour, are generally to he purchased at about one half or
one third of the prices, which men's habits suid calculations,
hove long been accustomed.to consider such stocks to be
worth. Alt these circumstances together, combined with
that natoral love of industry, or rat 'Cr necessity of being
employed, which is !weenie of o:are in the English 'twee-
ter. and which is perhaps the best and most import ictiia-
tore iu any character, induce nem rietims to start forwards
in the race of rain. quite as fast as their predecessors fall.
It is in this way !het the contracts of rent, whether by way
of least., or otediftt is called rack rent,or anneal reet,ere yet
kept up nearly at the war level. Although the absolute re-

r~

".••

eeipt of rent, begins now seriously tip fall GM yet it is pro-
' !sable, that the absolute contracts of rent, have not upon
the average been yet reduced more thin 10 or 20 per reht.--.
Nor have the tenantry indeed any power to escape from the
ruin which awaits them. Even the rag rent tenants are
equally bound with those that are held by lease. They
have ill of them been turn*d on until they have gone too far
to escape. If they attempt to leave their farms, the wh ,le
of the little property which may yet remain to them. is to a
certainty swallowed up in the removal. And they have no
place of refuge to Hy to. Ruin is before them. Ruin is be-
hind them. But hope is before, and despair behind ! There-
fore they go on.
From these considerations it is evident that the con►racts
ofrent would not be injured by a retreat. They would, on
the contrary, be protected and secured on a just and equit-
able footing to all parties.
[To be continued.]

PRICE OF STOCKS THIS
Runk Stock 2381 37 64
3 per Ct. Red 74i11 I
3 per Ct. Cons
3i per Ct.
44 per Cents
New Fours 941

5 per Ct. 1797...
Long Ann l9l
Imp. S per Ct.... ......
Trish S per Cents

DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK.
India Stock .
Ditto Bonds .. 242. tOs. pm.
South Sea Stock
South Sea Old Ana
Ex.Dlll.2d. z e Ss pm.
u►uut.

a 129.8 s pm.
Small a 12s Ss pm
Con. for a ect
Lottery Tickets .... 221. 19s

Rite Abtattontan.

TUESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 25, 1923.

BOURBON WAR.

Our readers alionhi bear in mind, that they rinnoi

with safety, believe any thing that is contained in the
French papers, ard, any thing that our trading news-
papers pretend to get from Spain, is, if possible, still less
worthy of belief.—The rising and falling in the French
funds is caused by the backward and forward rumours that
the government of that country contrives to give counte-
nance to ; and these are, doubtless, for tie purpose of
enabling Frenchmen to dip pretty deep into the pockets
of our Jews and Jobbers. We have little doubt of the
fact, that the French, before their army cross the Py-
rennees, will hate drawn, by means of stock jobbing,
.from eight to ten millions from this country. There is,
perhaps, no such thing as putting a stop to tb:s without
onvgoing to war. Then the French can work us in
this way no longer. But this is like setting a house a
' fire to get the dry-rot out of it.—There will, to a cer-
tainty, be all sorts of rumours going on, until the French
than actually bare marched into Spain ; and that, from
natural causes, will, ue dare say, be delayed till towards,
the end of March. But, a more important subject, is
the intentions (with regard to this war) of

; ilk
-A • • 4 • • •0 et I .
0

.__ l e

PARLIAMENTARY COMMEAMIY.
IN rite. 14..parni. —Lunt Aulllet6 a petition
from the Coußty of Hereford. This 31r. Churl tri's

prtition.—The plers tell us that he detailed the circutn-
sinners which tussk place at thr meeting; and the Clary-

nine say, which were stated at the time in ear report."
They were not stated at the time in th.t rrl art. That

report was a false report; and we are very sure that Gerd
uiwrs did not tell a lie. His Lordship, in the coarse of

his speech, said, that he did not advocate any measure
that could affect public credit. He took, in short, the

old tone about national fai:h; bet, he expressed ait
opinion that the funds ought to pay part of the poor
rate*. Now, turn and twist matter as you pirate, this is

a reduction of the interest of the Pat. His Lordship

must mean that there ought to be I claw:time from th;

dividends; in order to talc: the money and give it to the
parishes; and what is this but a reluc ion of the interisr
of the Debt ? lie observed on the great sufferings of
land-holders : he observed lio.v nrstegagee, and settle-

nicnts, were destroying the Litidlords. This is very

:rue; bet, besides that ibis was nil fdireseec mod &Moll

by Mr. Cohbe:t long ago; what rc.friedydlos his Lo►dship

point out ? And idiot remedy is there in the world,

cept returniAg to tlte Paper again, or an atljnstaalut of
contracts?? To one of these we moat come; though
people talk of national faith till they be hoirse as