The Statesman.
London, England, 1810-10-18 00:00:00

D 1317 L.l 110 N I'ROJI CORN.

To TIM 1:1)ITOrt or THE STATESM kN.
`:,t,.—After the gloomy forebodings which had
b.t.,, respecting the Ilaraevt, and the pre.
dtclion~llf searci!y which were so industriously dis.
lerninced, it is a peculiar satisfaction, if it may
not be decawil a public duty, to notice the contrast
is presented (coin the contemplation of the
resent situariwi the coultry. Thu
icirvest has
unusually aleitsdant ; wit; it has been princi.
pa. y roped derine the most seasonably fine wea.
.
'nee in greater 'dotty, and in higher perfection,
volt was ever perhaps remembered. The informa.
ho') deriveil through various channels, and from dif.
cam counties, unites in the must cheering ac.
c,,,0 of the crops ; and the constant fall of the
,rat.,; of grain demonstrates most utteqiiivocally
est the blessing of plenty is amongst us. Not
oAy are all apprehensions respecting she harvest
lerelv removed, bet the (I..e(potadency which has
beea eatertained respecting the discontinuance of
iheiutpurtaiun of foreign grain, is now proved to
alto ether groundless. It has been confidently
asserted by (navy, that the restrictions upon cont-
r.:re:, IlleZigreS of our enemies have im.
oc which ir would probably be found exile.
dieit to adopt, would, in (beir operatidn, deprive
eis coentry of those coesidecable importations of
f,,r,ip taiil which have been usually received, and
apna wt‘iJi we have beea accustomed to place
Intel( dependance. It is, however, very satisfac.
tory to observe, that so far from any diminution of
tle custom:l.y supplies of foreign grail haring been
erecrienced, the importations from abroad, during
rue palest year, into the port of London only, have
already aalouuted to the extraordinary quantity of
Out filmarbe of Quarters; a quantity far et-
ceedinterie ordinary anatual inspertatious into the
eiiire. To. these foreign importations no
leverruptiun has been found ; tier is there the
slightest ground of rational apprehension that they
will be discontinua. The reneital of oar inter.
mile with the United States of America has af-
forded a lather source of supply ; and the quan.
tity arrived fr'orra thence. to Liverpool, where the
principal part df the trade with that country is
08100, amounts, since January, to 80,61
bareh of wheat flour, and 13,9u0 qnarters of
*hut. Under the consideration of these facts,
sad with the almost tinprecedentedly large stocks of
grain accumulated in every direction, I should con-
ceive that every person must be convinced, that the
alarm of scarcity, which was raised for interested
purposes, his, at present, no teal foundation. It
mast unquestionably bo acknowledged, that it be-
hoves us to exaniine, with the most careful attegtioa,
Into oar moans of national - subsistence, before we
repose with confidence and security in the adequacy
of the supply to our future wants; fur where there
Is even the distant prospect of a deficiency of grain,
'retrenchment and economy in its consumption
Cannot be too early recommended ; but when that
ul has been made into the state of the
harvest and our general stock, and when it is satis-
factorily and incontrovertibly proved, that thin
happy country is teeming with an alsundance of the,
Ed of life, we surely ought to dismiss these idle
fore and enjoy with gratitude the blessing of
1.431fy. The abundance which we at present
flees, removes, I colieelve, every ground of
ciajactiun to the repeal of a measure, which,
Lin account of its fatal etlecti on the agrieul..
tea interests of the country, can be justified
!!), by the certain prospect of approaching scar.
City—l allude to the PROHIBITION OF DISTILLA-
ZiOR FROM GRAIN. This restrictive and fluctuate
in policy operates as a serious check on the Wes.
try of farmers, who are not generally capable of
filly comprehending the motives for legislative inter.
f:rence,end who are led to apprehend a frequent re.
entente of it; nor can they judge fur bow long a
time it may be persevered its. If, however,- this
interdiction should be continued in a season of the
greatest abundance, w hen, moreover the opening of
Ike distilleries to corn is not prevented by the na.
late of the Act ; then, indeed, it is to be feared, that
dear eminence in the security of the Corn Mar. I
lea must be abated, if not entirely destroyed, and
consequently that tillage must give way to any
athet system of husbandry that promises an exemp-
tion hen such ruinous restrictions. The lamentable
owe
ocuces of the prohibition of corn distillation
hare _
been unequivocally established by the con.
current testimony of the most respectable persons,
liho int examined upon oath before a Select Com.
'sake of the Mouse of lords. Impressed with a
!cm
cooliction of the injury which it occasions to
sti,'-o/farec, as tending to the discouragement of
4Ne; to the revenue, as increasing illicit distills.
a' .
a, sod to commerce, as producing great tiuctu.
I't"1 and insecurity in general trade. Same of
most illustrious Senators have reprobated, in
inest:ussi,titfecreible language, the continuance of this
la d Policy;, and nearly thirty petitions
"abece sent from different counties for the repeal
st•Cle Act, all exhibitiug a melancholy picture of
imaLtal efkcts on agricultural industry and pro-
gllttftYs Which have been actually experienced in
catisegee___
ure of the pro!.ibitiun.
It has been suggested by soma
ir, • who profess an
Ilut‘ concern fur the landed interest, but husti.
to the r
cPeal of this measure that it would be

.~

more ailtiseable to interdict the importation of to.
re.gn grain, and at the tame time to prohibit corn
distillation. Now, without adverting to the unan.
swerable reasoning of nearly every writer on NM.
cal economy, had particularly of D. ADAM
SMITH, by which the great national advantages of I
unrestricted freedom in the corn trade have been
established, the inexpediency of the plan proposed
will be apparent from the consideration of the fol.
lowing circumstances. It is well ascertained, that
the quantity of wheat grown in this Empire bears
very moderate proportion to the general tillage of
the country. It is also found, in some years, and
particularly in the last year, that English w heat,
from its soft nature, is rendered most applicable to
consumption by an iutermitture of foreign wheat
or flour, which is of a more firm nature; being
blended together, both are rendered more palat.
able and nutritive. Let it here be considered, that
our foreign supplies consist almost entirely of this
description of corn. From America.our imports.
!lents arc in wheat and wheat flour only ; from the
Baltic in wheat only; from France in-wheat only ;
and from other parts of the tontinent (with the
exception of Hollanc4 from whence oats arc oc.
casionafty broorght),in wheal. The foreign im.
portations, therefoVe,* '
appear to be almost en.
tirely in wheat, which can bear little or no re.
ference to the subject of corn distillation—the
consumption of wheat in the distilleries being
by law prohibited. It his been objected, with
great plausibility, against the removal of • the
present restriction on distillation, that it might
eventually produce scarcity ; but nothing can
be more fallacious than this objection. The
1 strongest argument for the repeal of the prohibition
' of corn distillation is its tendency to prevent scar.
city. Whatever removes from the •mind of the
farmer perplexity and alarm, and inspires him with
confidence in the stability of the corn-market ;
1 whatever tends to increase the domestic production
of corn, must be instrumental in averting the danger
of scarcity; and the permission of corn distillation
is attended with these beneficial effects. If, more-
over, grain is excluded from the distillery, the quan-
tity usually consumed in it will not be raised in the
country, and thus we shall be deprived of the very
considerable annual supply of at least 800,000
quarters, which, in any emergency, might be applied
to 'purposes of human sustenance: besides the price
of meat is materially affected by the prohibition of
eurn distillation, on account of the feeding of cattle
being then entirely discontinued in the distillery.
The present Act remains in force only till the 31st
of December, but a power is vested in the Privy
Council to suspend lt at this time by Proclamation,
and it is most earnestly to be hoped that this power
will be immediately exercised. If ever there was
a period in which distillation from corn should be
pertaitted, that period is the present. The harvest
has been abundant in an ettraordinary degree ; our
foreign supplies have been most plentiful ; and the
price of barleyand.uats.is depressed below all rea.
suitable bounds.:-The barley counties are in great
distress from thd-WINMof-a market in the distilleries ;
to the aecumulatedatockrof. former4ears, which
hate been perishing in the.granaries, they have
pow to add those of the present
_sermint ; and
in the want of their natural fent for their immense
stocks of grain, can it be eipected that•the agricul.
tural prosperity of the country will not be materi.
ally injured. The season for distillation begins- in
October. It is about this time that. the distillers
usually make their purchases, andarrange their plan
of operations for the year ; and consequently the
opening of the distilleries to corn at the present pc.
riod will be pecidiarly advantageous both to the
'distillers and to the farmers, whilst any delay will
be seriously .detrimental to their interests.
.Upon
w hat principle, then, can the continuance at this
moment of the prohibition of distillation from grain
be defended ? Ce, tainly not upon the principles of
justice or wise policy.
1 A. Z.

A few days since Mr. ilatehman, of Stock, in
Essex, who was upwards of 80 years of age, set
out, as was his custom once a week, to visit his
son in a village three miles distant, but not return.
ing as usual in the evening, a search was set on
foot for him, when he WAS discovered lying dead it:
a field, about midway between his son's house and
his own. The Coroner's Jury returned • verdict
Died in a Fir.

Last Thursday morning a Gentleman, after or.
deriug his breakfast, at the hotel, at Worthing,
promenaded before the door some little time, and
until the waiter informed him that his breakfast was
ready, when he walked in, complained of being ra.
tber indisposed, •and returned to his bed-room,
where he was soon afterwards found a corpse. We•
understand he has been au East India Captain in the
Company's service. •
A potatoe.stalk was dug up in a Gentleman's
garden, in Londonderry, list week, producing no
Tess than 133 potatoes, weighing 28 pounds.
At a sale last week, at Ketton, near Darlington,
of Mr. Charles Collingi's stock, a bull, named Co.
'met, six years old, sold for the uncommon price
of 1000 guineas ; and two cows in calf, one fur
410, and another for 400 guineas.
A melancholy accident happened at A ughnacloy,
Ireland, on' Tuesday, the 9th inst. During the
stoppi gof the mail coach in that town, the guard
n
bad placed himself incautiously on the roof, where
be was amu,ing the passengers and byestanders with
a tune on the clarionet, when, by a .sadden motion
of the coach, the unfortunate man was precipitated
.to the ground, and killed on Me spot.

_ • . 14-7,YVVI
o•i .
• , ,
THE STATESMAN,