The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1810-09-07
Fore1a!l.
From Belts Weekty Messenger VI J.uy /,
1910
SCARCELY.


scarcity had any foundation in the appear.
ance OF the growing crops. or in the proper.
ton ot the stock on hand aud our necessa-
ry conclusions are, that Secretly is really TO
lie unprecedented, that the stock on hand is
very Insufficient. and The growing crops will
according 10 all present appearances, be de.
hcient one third. How is this deficiency to
be made ups Corn is so great proportion
OF the food of the country, that a question
upon deficiency OF corn is a question for
providing against famine
Where tic usual portion Of food is want
ing, there are but two possible remedies
the first. is, by a diminished oonsumption-
the second is, by finding substitutes In ano
ther Kind OF food for that part of our ordina
~ food which is deficient
Win respect to the first in an opulent
tcommunity, and in times of abundance, there
Is always great portion of waste as much
almost is wasSd as is eaten, and more eat
| en- than is necessary. There is another spe-
cies OF waste, moreover, which amounts 70
nearly one third of the whole substance
this is, hat of using finer kind, aud there
by wasting or at least not employing in hu
man food what is sifted from it. Nov. IN
these two heads of waste, that of The ouan..
tity, and that of the kind. there is certainly
room tor great saving; a saving perhaps,
which, II properly and universally exacted
and attended to, would not fall much short
of the deficiency
There Is third head of general saving.
the benefit of which was much experienced
during the last scarcity This is, thai OF
prohibiting the bakers, under a severe pen
atty, from selling bread till after it had been
| drawn "a hours. The difference under this
head is astonishing. If a family, for exam
Pile, are IN the habit of using twenty loaves
in the week, taken in as they usually are by
servants--half of them new, half baked the
preceding day if this family were to take
the whole quantity in the beginning of the
week, they would find full saving of one
third-Fourteen loaves would perform the
same service as twenty.
Pastry of every kind is pure waste
1t is made of the finest -four ; So, that more
rs consumed than is used, and ii is absolute.
~ OF no service to satisfy hunger. A hun
| cry man does not dine ON pastry. There
are wo kinds OF economy, public and private.
Very little is to be expected of tn. pu9lc,
or by any public regulation. Tie law, c an
not enter into every private house TO regn-
late tn quantity or distribution Of private
: diet IL Is the first liberty of an Engiish
man hat every one is master in his own lam
lily. Ii Priva,e folly or extravaganza are
resolved TO waste in the teeth Of famine il.
is impossible for any laws to prevent them.
Economy necessarily belongs to individuals
and TO the privacy OF The dwelling house
The public, as body, Can do itrle or no.
thing.
As to committees. aud public societies for
prosecuting monopolists, ihey Will do more
harm than good he bes friends # the
community would be about hall q zen
score OF these monopollss WHO sh ud buy
! up the corn at present, aud hoard il agains,
higher price, that is, a greater scarcity.
Was 1t not for this kind OF monop y eveiy
year almost would be year OF ta,nic't. -
! he plenty of the first par would aXsaus
the whole store l, is these monopoiIsts who
carry the surplus OF one year to account oi
the next; and therefore balance the wan Of
one, year by the pleoty of another. The
laws against n,onopolists originated in times
when commerce and agriculture were i'll un-
/ derstood. Barring the mills, aud hanging
the moHopolsts, will Lave no other effacI
but to withhold what corn there is froa, The
MILL and what -four there is from the mar
ket.
Is nothing then, it may be asked. to be
expected of minislers' Very liJ,le. Peace
they will not make or, perhaps they Cannot
make though peace, at present, and for
these several years past. would have been
! another name Tor plerty The harvests of
France and Poland have been so abundant.
1
their surplus. The ministers certainly may
have corr, if they take wines but it Isl part
OF the plan OF the war that we are TO attack
the enemy through his Commerce. We
have repeatedly expressed our opinion that
! this was very senSeess the plan has been
adopted, and will not now be laid aside.
! With respect to America 1t is said that
the American harvest was likewise defici
ent. This, however. we do not altogether
| believe; x although the harvest of last wear
might be deficient, the harves, Of the Current
/ year may be acknowledgement, there tore,
nigh, certainly be supplied from America,
but here again the plan of the war stands III
the way-Nery little, therefore, as we have
said, is to be expected from ministers it is a
part of their plan of warfare to cut off all
neutral commerce. and it is a necessary con
sequence OF this system, that i'm any scarci
~ OF their own they must not look for sup
| ply from others.
Every thing therefore depend upon econ
! omy, AID this economy, as we before said
must be private economy Every master
of family must endeavor 90 save in the pro
portion Of one third Of his usual cousumpti
on. In the greater families, domeslios nlust
be put upon their quota, and waste and con
tumacy pupished by dismissal.
From all that we see and hear. our deci
ded opinion is, that without this economy
the year will end in misery and famine. -
There is general failure ct wheat, barley.
oats, peas and beans POTATOES alone seem
| plentiful. and hat rs certainly something -
But economy is the best stock it costs least,
and IS most in our oEn power. The har
! vest will not BE dehc.eNt iE tic t,ul,iic will