Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1826-10-04

,o,,ble the number of acts OF parliament were
rassed in 1902 for the enclosure and drainage
Of land. that had been passed in any previous
wear. A great extent OF old grass fields was a. !,
.he same time subjected to the plough. Ana
in consequence of this extension OF caltlyauoh'
and of the other improvements that were 'hen
entered upon and completed, the supply OF corn
was so much increased in lso4, that prices sunk
considerably below the common level; ana al
act was then passed, in consequence oitne rep
RESERVATIONS made by the agriculturailsts o.
their distressed condition, granting them addi-
,ional protection against foreign competinon.-
The HIGH prices of 1910, 1911, 1912, ana O. .
had precisely similar result. They attracted. SO
mich additional capital TO the land, and occa-
stoned such an extension Of tillage; that we
DREW in 1912 and 1918 an adequate supply oil
corn for our own consumption. Ana II Is Ger
tain that. under such circumstances, the price
of corn must inevitably have fallen, In conse-
ouence Of the unusually abundant harvest OF
1914. though the ports had been entirely smut
AGAINST importation from abroad.
The history of the West India trade may al
GO be referred 10 as affording the most convlnc-
;ne proofs of the truth of this principle. The
devastation of St Domingo by the Negro IN
surrection, which broke out in 1892, by tirst dl-
minishing, and very few years entirely anni-
hilating, the supply OF about $4,000 hhds. OF
sugar. which France and the Continent had pre-
vionsly drawn from that island. oCcasloned an
extraordinary rise of prices; and gave proper
tionaf encouragement to cultivation In the 9th
er islands. SO powerful was lis influence IN
this respect, that Jamaica, which, on an aver
age of the SIX years preceding 1899, had ex-
ported only IS, 900 hhds., exported IN lSol and
1902 upwards of $4,000, or $4,000 year.
But the duration of this prosperity was as briei
as it was signal The same rise olprlce wnlch
had produced such effects in the British islands,
occasioned similar, though less rapid, extern
sion of cultivation in the colonies OF the Cont
mental powers. The increased supplies OF su-
par and coffee that were in consequence obtain
ed from Cuba, Porto Rico, Martinique, Guada-
loupe, Brazil, &c. became, in no very long time,
not only suficieDt.to fill up the vacuum caused
by the cessation of the supplies from ST Do
mingo, but actually to overload the market
The great foreign demand for British Planta-
ton Sugar, which had been experienced alter
the destruction Of the ST Domingo trade, gra-
dually diminished until 1905 and 1906, when it
almost entirely ceased; and the whole extra
Quantity raised, in consequence OF this demand,
>
which had been COS. per cwt in 1898, exclusive
of duty, fell in sos 10 34s.-a price which the
Committee, that was then appointed by the
House of Commons to inquire into the distress
es of the planters, state, was not only insutli-
cent to yield them any profit but even to IN
demnify them for their actual outlay! And, we
may add, that, owing to the ill-advised mea-
sures that were soon after adopted for creating
forced and unnatural demand Tor sugar, its
supply was prevented from being diminished
in proportion to the diminution OF the effective
demand so that, some short intervals only ex-
cepted, the planters have ever since been IN
yolved in distress and difficulties.
The history Of the silk trade, of distillation,
and indeed Of every branch of industry, furnish
es but too many proofs of the constant operation
of this principle Of compensation. The great
err and more signal the peculiar prosperity OF
any one department, the greater inialhbly is the
subsequent recoil. Such an increased demand
for any commodity, as would raise It's price 10
per cent. above its common level, would certain
" cause it to produced in excess, and would
i'm consequence occasion a Revision. But were
the price 10 rise SO or 40 per cent above the
common level, the temptation 10 invest add
tona capital in it would be so very great, that
the revulsion would both take place sooner,
and be incomparably more severe.
The revulsions to which we have now allud-
cd will necessarily continue to occur, to great
err or less extent, under any system OF public
economy. But there is nothing that would tend
SO much to lessen their frequency and violence
as the establishment of perfectly free inter-
course with other countries, and the withhold
ing of all relief, on the part of Government,
from those who enter upon any improvident
speculation. Were "a perfectly free intercourse
with other countries established, we should en-
gage only in those branches of industry, for the
prosecution of which we had some natural or
acquired advantage; and which would, for that
very reason, be in great measure secured "a
gainst those uniavorable contingencies that are
always affecting such branches as are fenced
round with restrictions. Suppose, TO illustrate
this principle, that really free trade were es-
blished in silks: We should, under such cir
cumstances, export part OF all those mlxed
fabrics of wool and silk, and of gloves and ho-
siery, in the production of VIII CHI we have an
advantage, to foreign countries, at the same
time that considerable part Of our demand for
other descriptions of silk goods would be sup
piled from them: IT, on the one hand, therefore,
the demand for silks should, in consequence of
change of fashion, or Of any other cause, sud-