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Bt JOHN NAISMITH, Esa. \:ny''A->'JiV' is;0/:: ii :■: ffo lUTHOR OF ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE, &C. &C. ^ Certi est imserrimus, cui semper patriae salus et dignitas, posterior ' flu& domiaatione ct domeiticis commodis fuit Cig£B*. original: r^ a % I ^1 if! iiii ■ Pi I I If i 1814. rV ADVERTISEMENT. A ■l!I li 5 ip-'-hJ II* ''r Controversial writers generally introduce tlieir works to the public by claiming exemption from prejudice. The claim indeed is seldom well founded ; for in the discussion of questions which come home to men's business and bosoms, it is almost impossible for the most vigorous mind to divest itself completely of prejudice. I am far from supposing that I am possessed of this vigor ; but I am confident that my prejudices, if I have any, with respect to the following subject, are not hostile to the cultivation of land, having spent a considerable part of a long life in the study and practice of Agriculture, and now, on the verge of life, feel no temptation to misrepresent the truth which experience has taught me. It is only from thit experience that I think myself entitled to attention ; for I am fully aware that my language wants those graces which have attracted readers to other tracts on this most interesting con- troversy. Such, however, as this inquiry is, I bequeath it to the pjublic as the legacy of a man who is not likely to intrude himself more upon its attention. If it be found to throw any light on the great quesdon now at issue, my sole end in publishing will be gained. J* N. M Stirling, 29th October, 16U, I -u- A- I .ic^&,£ 1 lit •11 li AN INQUIRY, &c. A Bill has lately been brought into Parliament, and warmly supported by a number of landholders, to lay an additional re- striction on the importation of foreign corn, in order to give do- mestic corn a more decided preference in the market. It is al- leged, that, by the prosecution of this measure, the cultivators of land will be prompted to greater enterprise, and make more ef- ficacious exertions to bring forward a sufficient quantity of com, and thus the market would be more regularly supplied, the prices kept moderate and less fluctuating, and the nation no longer be, dependent on other countries for the first necessary of life. The body of the people have, however, expressed great hos- tility to this measure. Corporations and public bodies of all kinds, have formed resolutions, and presented petitions to both houses of garliament against it: and perhaps no public measure has ever een more universally reprobated. An unhappy ferment is thus excited, heart-burnings and jealousies are awakened, the landed and manufacturing classes regard each other as adversaries, and the concord and harmony of society is greatly disturbed. The bill has been now laid aside, but with the understanding that the consideration of it shall be resumed next session. In this interval it may be proper to take a dispassionate view of the measure, in its different bearings, to try if we can discover the real interest of the partiesj which perhaps may coincide more intimately, than the t'; ! \ m 49S m. hvU ])resent passions and prejudices of people will allow them to admit. It will be happy if any thing can thus be contributed to put an end to baleful controversy, allay animosity, and restore unanimity. In the execution of this import nt task it will be proper to inquire, I. What is the real cause why corn which generally abounded in Britain, in the first part of the last century, has been insufficient for the subsistence of the inhabitants ever since. II. In what manner the successful industry of a growing po- pulation afFects land property. III. If any new restrictions which may be laid on the im- portation of foreign com would make corn more abundant at home. IV. If the state of society and the agriculture of the country would be improved by the exclusion of foreign com. V. We shall add a few miscellaneous observations. But before commencing the discussion of these points, the following axioms, to which there may be sometimes occasion to refer, shall be submitted to the judgment of the reader. Axiom 1st. The food or subsistence, the most urgent want of man and other animals, being ultimately obtained from the earth, the physical strength of a nation, so far as it depends on numbers, is chiefly derived from the natural and acquired fertility of the soil of which that nation is oossessed.^ 2nd. But the produce of the soil will not go far in the sub- sistence of man and his dependent animals unless skill and labor be employed to increase and bring it forward : and those who cul- tivate the eartli will only apply as much skill and labor as they think will serve to support themselves, and those who can give them in exchange something for which they have a value. 3rd. Before, therefore, agriculture can become a profession, and the skill, capital and industry bu employed in it, which are requi- site to excite the fertility of the soil, and bring forward its most valuable produce, a class of industrious consumers must exist, who haye the fruits of their labors ready to exchange for the fmit of the earth. And it will not be difficult to determine whether it be most advantageous to agriculture that these be part of the in* habitants of the country, or those of a foreign nation, especially in a country surrounded by others possessing a more favotable soil md climate.* '. ., /■" ,*• ' ■•■'■■ ■ ':*^^-:r-i?-1^4tltffr! J?f*^ 4th. That enlightened and liberal-minded plulosopher, Dr. Adam Smith, has ably explained how labor stamps a value on every subject on which it is employed. It is by laborj guided by ' Wealth of Nations, b. I. chap. 11. . * Principle of Population, b. I. chap. 9. i: ■ ,t ♦T" 493 the intelligence of man, that all those subjects whi :h nature ofFeri to his acceptance, are fitted for his use and enjoyment. Hence labor is the source of all exchangeable value, and the universal agent in the creation of wealth.' 5th. Thus land produce, and the labor of the ether industrious classes of the society, mutually become the prices of each other. The balance of exchange, inde A, sometimes nanjrs on the one side, and sometimes on the other. W^hen com abounds, he who is possessed of it must give a greater quantity for the other commo- dities which he wants ; when it is scarce, he purchases the same commodities for a less quantity. But the operatives in the other various productive labors can give no more for the com requisite for their subsistence, than the value of their labor, after the neces- sary items of clothing, lodging and fuel are deducted. When the price of corn exceeds this, their desire for food becomes un- availing, and the effectual demand for com must be proportionally diminished. The average value of the labor of the bulk of the laboring people is thercK>re the natural maximum price of com ; so that whatever be the fluctuations, labor and corn are mutually measured by each other, and the value of the one is limited by the extent of the other. ^ 6th. All nations indeed have introduced a medium for facilitat- ing this and other branrlies of commerce; but this medium^ whether it be coin or bank money, is not the measure, but an nrbitrary symbol by which the measure is applied. Money there- fore cannot be a certain standard for adjusting such regulations as may be deemed necessary respecting the commerce of com. 7th. Labor is a very simple commodity, consisting solely in the value which the laborer adds to the subject on which he is em- ployed, by the application of his strength and dexterity, without any mixture, except the tear and wear of the tools or implemes';:® which he usually handles. This is never considerable, but \ij. greatest in countries whkh have made the greatest proficiency in mechanic knowledge, and greater in some employments than in others. The value of com is more complex, being compounded of the labor of cultivation, the necessary manure, the seed, a proper remuneration to the cultivator for the capital, skill and at- tention which He employs in the culture of the soil, and carrying the product to market ; for the tear and wear of numerous im- plements, indemnification for the loss suffered by unfruitful sea* sons and other calamitous incidents ivhich unavoidably occur, all_ mixed with the gratuitous bounty of heaven. The sum total ot * Wealth of Nations, b. III. chap. 4. * See Sir James '^teuart's Works, vol. 5. i mitted when the price of wheat did not exceed 4U8. per quarter ; in the 1 5th this liberty was extended till the price of wheat exceeded 48s. } at the same time, some improper obstructions on the inland trade of corn were partially corrected ; by an act of the 22nd ex- portation was allowed at all higher prices ^ in the 1st of William and Mary, a bounty was given of 5s. a quarter on the exportation of wheat, till the price arose to iSs. per quarter, with a propor- tioned bounty on other grain. By the 22nd of Charles II. a duty of 16s. per quarter was imposed on the importation of wheat, when the price at home did not exceed 53s. 4d. and a duty of 8s. a quarter from that to 80s. : the importation of other sorts of grain was restrained by duties proportioned to the value. Some subse- quent duties were added, and till the year 1773, the 13th of the present king, the duties on importation stood as follows : s. Beans to 98 per quarter Barley to 28 Oats to 10 Pease to 40 Rye to 36 Wheat to 44 duty 8. d. 19 10 after whicli till 40 19 10 till 33 3 10 after s. d. dutys. d. 16 19 31 10 9 after till 40 till 53 4 16 8 then 12 16 then 12 9 9 16 8 then 13 17 then 8 After the union, these regulations extended to Scotland. Se- veral temporary acts, expressing times of dearth, passed between 1741 and 1773, prohibiting exportation and allowing importation for a limited time duty free. In the year 1773 a considerable al- teration was made in the corn laws. The duty on importation of 16s. per quarter was continued till the priee of wheat was 48s. and the bounty on exportation withdrawn when the price was 44s. In the year 1791 the duty on importation was made 24s. 3d. per quarter of wheat, and was exacted till the price exceeded 50$., to 54s.— 2s. 6d., above 54s.,— 6d. The law, which is still in force, passed in 1804, by which imported wheat pays the duty of 24s. 3d. per quarter, till the price at home be 63s., to 66s. — 2s. 6d. The bounty on exportation of 5s. is allowed till the price be 488. Above 54s. exportation forbidden. Such are the much famed corn laws, both in their extolled and reprobated state. Much ingenuity has been employed to persuade the public that the abundance of corn in the first period above- mentioned, was produced by their beneficial operation, in their perfect state, and the succeeding scarcity to this operation being suspended by injudicious alterations.' Many people will find di^ > Those who admire the wisdom of the first com laws, say that a duty of 16s. a quarter on wheat imported, when the market price did not exceed ! •i % 496 m ■I, + ficultf in believing that this Operation conld be considerable) either in the one way or the other. They will admit probably) that as Britain is circumstancedi her com grown at home requires a pre- 53s. 4d. was, at that period, equal to a prohibition, and left the market to the domestic husbanumun, tree of all competition; that the liouiity of 5s. a <}uartrr on exportation enaMcd him to sell the surplus corn to advantage in turciji^ii parts ; and thus being free frum the dread of ever growing too nuicli, liis interest prompted him to crow as much as possible, and hence thtre was constantly abundance: anuit seems to be presumed, that the increi\$e ot the quantity of com to answer the demand would have been unlimited, had the corn laws been kept up to their original t'orce. The .^uccocditij; scarcity, is, therefore, imputed solely to the alterations made on tlichc law^, and their force being weakened by change of circunisiantes. The com- mittee of the House of Commons on the corn laws, last session, appear to be strongly impressed with this notion. In their report to the house, they state " that so long as the system of restraining importation and encourag- ing exportation was persevered in, Ureat Britain [not only supplied herself, but exported much ; and the prices were steady and moderate : And since that system was abandoned, and during the whole period of the continuance of the system that was substituted in its place, of encouraging importation and restraining exportation, tliat is from 1765 to the present time, Great Britain has not onljr not supplied herself but has imported vast quantities from foreign countries; and also that the price has been progressively ad- vancing from an average of 33s. Sd. for 68 years under the old system, tu an average of 88s. lid. for the last nine years under the new one." But notwithstanding all which has been said, it is evident that the corn laws have not had the effect ascribed to them. When these laws were new, and in full vigor, a dreadful famine occurred, between the years 1693 and 1698, which they do not appear to have had any effect in palliating, and it is proV)able rather inffamed. Nor did they prevent the scarcity of 1741 and 1757, when the legislature was obliged to suspend their operation. The committee represents that corn was abundant so long as government per- severed in giving these laws effect: but the temporary suspensions just mentioned, prove that experience had satisfied the wisdom of the nation, that the operation of the corn laws was unsuitable to the circumstances then existinjg. What kind of government would it have been, which persevered in institutions found so unsuitable to the times, and saw its subjects starv* ing? It is unfair therefore to attribute the alteration of the corn laws, which circumstances had made indispensable, to any wanton fondness of innovation. Mr. Rose, in his speech to the house, lias shown the assertions that the system of the corn laws was altered in 1765, that Great Britain has since been importing vast quantities of foreign corn, — and that the price has been progressively advancing, are equally incorrect, indeed it is not a specimen of great candour to compare the nigh prices of nine years of un- exampled hardship with the prices in quieter times. There was only a temporary suspension of the corn laws in 1765, like those in the years 1741 and 1757 ; and as neither of these gave any sensible discouragement to agriculture, so neither could that in 1765. The system of corn laws was not altered till the year 1773; and of the years which followed that till 1790, there were eight in which the exports exceeded the imports, so that there was no progressive dearth or scarcity in conseauence of this alteration of system. And as tar as can be judged from the few facts above stated, the abundance and scarcity of corn seems to hav« depended little or nothing on the operation of the corn laws. ^ « 497 Cerencem the home market: but as tliii has never been withheUf except for short periods and urgent reasonsi they will not be ablo to discern the influence of the corn laws in the alteration which has occurred. To examine the solidity of this abstruse proposition, which has been chiefly supported by fine-spun speculative argu- ments, recourse should be had to the standard of facts. The state of the nation, its relations with other powers, the goodness or bad- ness of the seasons, and many other circumstances, must be com- pared with the prices of grain, and with the exports and imports^ at a number of periods at short distances from each other, before a just conclusion can be formed whether the operation of the com laws has had any of the efl^ects attributed to it, or not. But this laborious task is not necessary : for by taking a view of the history of the two kingdoms, now happily united, we shall find that the alteration from abundance to scarcity ha" proceeded from causes altogether independent on the corn laws. The furious religious and political contention by which both na- tions were convulsed in the 17th centuryi and the bloody civil war proceeding from them, which continued long to devastate the country, and which ended only with the overthrow of the throne and the assassination of the monarch, are still remembered with horror. The sagacious usurper, Cromwell, in the course of his vigorous administiation, having checked the rage of contending parties, and somewhat allayed the existing ferment, internal peace was restored. By his effort to introduce the Flemish agriculture into England, the people were taught to attend to this most essen* tial branch of national industry, and in a short time the English, next to their teachers, became the best cultivators of land in Europe. The calm was not of long duration. Mutual jealousies between the crown and the subject soon arose, theological and po- litical contentions were rekindled, accompanied with many of the horrors proceeding from such a state of society. These were most severely felt in Scotland, where the religious tenets of the people stood in most direct opposition to those of the prince. Internal quiet was not restored till the throne was again overturned, and a new nnonarch placed upon it. Thus from the destructive rage of civil and religious quarrels, and its disastrous consequencesj the national spirit was benumbedi industry languished, and little or np improvement in the state of society was made in the 17th cen- tury. Nor did the incidents which occurred in the first part of the 18th centnry tend much to revive the spirit, or promote the prosperity of the nation. A bloody and expensive foreign war, which though it had been concluded with gloryj had exhausted the resources, an4 embarrassed the finances of the nation, was but lately ended and I': \ .1 ■ ! ' i I / !'► .1.—. J !,': < )' ' i I'- 498 the union of the two ancient kingdoms, which had met with much op- position and created great strife and perturbation, had been just con- cluded, when the monarch died. The prospect of a disputed succes- sion had, for a considerable time, occupied the minds of the people, and the whole nation was arranged in two adverse parties. As re- ligious considerations were mingled with those of a political nature, the animosity was little less fierce, and the minds of men little less agitated than in the preceding contentions. A new dynasty of kings was now seated on the throne, and two rebellions followed, at no great distance of time, which spread alarm, terror and dismay, by which the police of the country was unhinged, peace and secu- rity banished, and the minds of the people diverted from a steady application to peaceful industry. While society existed in this p:>ralized state, the laboring poor, having few prospects of constant bread, and steady establishments, were deterred from entering into the cares of conjugal life, early marriages were not frequent, and the children born not numerous } a great proportion of these was also carried off by thermal! pox, inoculation not being practised among people of that rank, and vaccination was not then known. Young men of spirit, about the same time, emigrated in crowds to the rising colonies of North America and the sugar islands, not finding room to exercise their activity at heme. * During all those times, little attention could be paid to the in- dustrious arts, savi ^ the obvious and necessary operations of hus- bandry, without which society could not subsist. The enterprising spirit of industry had been stunned by the din of contention ; commerce was less active ; manufactures had not yet arrived at much refinement, and were of limited extent. But at length, as the times became tranquil, the ferocity of contention subsided — as the minds of men were more enlightened, humanity, mutual for- bearance, and social intercourse were more prevalent, and as the blessings of peace, liberty and security were felt, people became more attentive to their secular interest, and more active and enter- prising in the pursuit of it. Between the years 1750 and 1760, the basis of that mighty fabric of national prosperity seems to have been laid, which has since been reared to such an astonishing mag- nitude. The peace of 1763, by which a war was terminated, which ended so gloriously for Britain, set those springs in motion which had been silently collecting force. Commerce was rapidly extended, various new manufactures were established, and the old extended, not only for home consumption, but for supplying the West Indian colonies, and those of North America, to which the success of the late war had added vigor and stability, and nume- rous operatives were required for every department, by which an 499 increasing population was promoted. This progress was some- what interrupted by Britain quarrelling with her North American colonies, and by her haughty deportment bringing the nations of Europe to join in opposing her. But no sooner was this unhappy struggle over, than the same progress of prosperity went on with still greater rapidity. After ^he peace of 1783 the capital, which had been vested in trade with the, Americans, was turned into more lucrative channels. Manufactures were improved and en- larged, the cotton manufacture, in particular, had received won- derful improvements, and Britain not only accommodated her own people, but clothed the nations around her with cheap fabrics. » ■ During this period of prosperity, the industrious poor, being able to earn abundant subsistence, were .induced to marry early, and numerous families were the consequence of plentiful subsistence. The progress of increasing population in Scotland is clearly pointed out by comparing Dr. Webster's list taken in the year 1755 with that of Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account in 1793 and after, and those taken by Mr. Abbot's act in this century. The progress in England and Wales is not so accurately ascertained, but it is ad- mitted that there are four millions and a half added to the popula-f tion of Great Britain since the middle of the last century, or something more than the half of the whole population at that period. When we take, along with this great increase, the more profuse use of bread, induced by greater ability to purchase, the increased numbers of horses of all kinds, and the greater quantity of food given to them, to enable them to perform the more severe labors to which they are put, the victualling a great number of ships, especially fleets of war for foreign service, the supporting of armies in foreign parts, many both sailors and soldiers being mercenaries, the natives of other countries, and add to all the great waste, unavoidable in warlikj operations, the whole will "fully ac- count for the alteration from abundance to scarcity which has hap- pened in the course of the last ^0 years, and of the increased scarcity since the commencement of the destructive war now hap- pily ended, without requiring any assistance from the ideal opera- tion of defective corn laws. Defective as the corn laws, in their latter state, are said to be, the improvements in agriculture have been greater during this most defective period, than in the preceding one, when they are held to have been well adapted to promote the culture of corn. This may be illustrated by taking a view of the former and present state of Scotland. Previous to the year 1760, the land in Scotland, with the exception of a very few favored spots, was nearly in the same state iu which it had been for centuries. Lord Thames, in his Gentleman Farmer, published in 1776, feelingly describes the hum- > t i ■ i ; 500 I i hie state of Scotch agriculturei in his time. Previous to that, seve*' ral landed gentlemen, who had begun to turn their minds to the im- provement of their country, had been making sundry experiments, and by communicating their observations to one another, had ex- cited a general spirit of improving their respective properties. These improvements, thus set on foot, have been carried on, as well by farmers as landholders, with increasing spirit and ac» tivity ever since. Wilds have been reclaimed, marshes drained, the fields inclosed by fences and adorned and Weltered by planta* tions, summer fallowing has been generally practised ; courses of expensive manure applied, the crops often doubled } and lessor greater additions to the productive powers of the soil everywhere made. Though these exertions have not been every where equally vigorous, nor equally successful, amelioration is every where con* spicuous ; and in some districts, most favorable for the production of corn, ihe soil is brought, perhaps, nearly to its highest state of productiveness. Hence rents have risen, probably from five to ten times what they were at the period above mentioned. And all thi^ has been effected in spite of the mischievous tendency im- puted to the altered corn laws. A great part of England is natu- rally more fertile } and the improvement of the soil commenced earlier in that country. Such improvements are still going on ( if they have not made such quick progress as in Scotland, this can- not be imputed to the defect of the com laws, they being the same in both countries. From this historical view, it seems evident that the alteration from abundance to scarcity of corn has proceeded solely from the greatly increased consumption, not from the fault of the corn laws : and that the improvement of the country has uniformly followed tlie prosperity of commerce and manufacture independent of these laws. II. The second head proposed was to inquire how a growing population employed in manufacture affects landed property. It is stated in axiom 2d and 3d that the demand for subsistence of industrious people, who have the various productions of their la- bor and ingenuity ready to give in exchange for land produce, is the most sure and powerful incitement to an active and skilful cultivation of the ground. Nothing seems to be more obvious. A ready and convenient market, offering a valuable consideration, is the best encouragement for the production of any commodity— for applying the utmost skill and industry to increase its quantity and improve its quality ; and land produce can be no exception to this general rule. Impressed with this truth the legislature of Eng- land enacted a bounty to be paid on the exportation of corny sen- 501 tible that the surplus com of the country^ after supplying the In- habitantSy as often as thevr should be any, could not come in competition with that of >- aore fertile countries around, in the foreign market, without s . ca assistance ; and hence that such surplus must go to waste in the hands of the cultivator, and dis- <;ourage future exertions. This was no doubt giving encourage- , ment to agriculture, as the nation then stood, as it gave the raiser of corn the prospect, by means of this awkward machine, of getting rid of the surplus, without fear of losing it, or selling it to great disadvantage. But a ready demand at home for all kinds of land produce (generally too bulky for distant carriage) to the extent of what can be raised, is a much more powerful motive to exertion in exciting the productive powers of the soil. This h amply proved by the effects which we see the prosperity of com- merce and manufacture has produced on the improvement of the country. Mr. Malthus, however, is of a different opinion, « Ihe high price of com," says he, « and of rude produce of every kind, so far as it is occasioned by the freest competition among the nations of Europe, is a very great advantage, and is the very best encouragement to agriculture} but when occasioned merely by the competition of monied wealth at home, its effect is diffierent. In the one case a great encouragement is given to production in general. In the other case, 'the produce is necessa- rily confined to the home consumption. The cultivators are justly afraid of growing too much corn, as a considerable loss will be sustained on that part which is sold abroad ; and a glut in the home market will universally make the price fail below the fair and proper recompence to the grower."' But the same inge- nious and acute author, in other parts of his valuable work» accedes to the doctrine here advanced, that agriculture cannot succeed, unless accompanied by a class of consumers who have something valuable to exchange for its productions.* But here he forms a theory which is not supported by experience, and perhaps can never be brought to that test. The jealousies subsisting among rival nations have never admitted, and probably never will admit, the freest competition among them. Nor can the power of monied wealth at home be brought into competition to raise the price of com. The great body of consumers of corn can give no more for their subsistence than the value of their labor can afford. The price must therefore be limited by the effectual dc- * Principle of Population, vol. ii. p. 225. * Ibid. vol. i. p. a03. " Though this necessary capital might he vcrv small, yet this small sum perhiips the farmer cannot acquire; tor wlien hi grows a greater quantity of corn than i:sual, he fiode no purchaser fur it, »ad cannot convert it into any permanent article.'* S iii!:.; 1" \ :ii 502 mand ; and no competition of wealth will be so unprofitably em- ployed as to attempt to raise it higher.* Neither have cultivators any cause to be afraid of raising too much com. The demand has exceeded the production for these twenty years past, notwith- standing the late improvements in agriculture, and offers a fair field for every exertion to accommodate the ii^abitants with pro- visions : and unless disturbed by impolitic regulations, or unpros- perous circumstances, may probably long continue to do so. The prosperity of commerce and manufacture has therefore been the great cause of the improvement of land in every respect. A numerous population of industrious consumers, dispersed in towns, villages, and hamlets over the country, offers a most en- couraging market, now exceeding the actual production for all kinds of land produce. The expense of distant transportation is transferred from the cultivator to the manufacturer. " A piece of fine cloth," says Dr. Smith, « of eighty pounds weight, con- tains in it not only the price of eighty pounds of wool, but some- times that of several thousand pounds of corn. The com which could with difficulty be carried abroad in its own shape, is in this manner virtually exported in the complete manufacture." A ready market is offered at all times and for all quantities of every kind of land produce, and a quick return to suit the convenience of the seller. The successful industry of the manufacturer before his eyes stimulates the cultivator to equal diligence, and both go hand in hand in promoting the improvement of the country. It is even a considerable advantage to agriculture, that the effects are retain- ed in the country, and can be brought to recruit part of the soil from which they were derived. By which means the commercial value of land, its yearly rent, and the rank, dignity, and enjoy- ment of landholders are advanced to a height, ot which the most sanguine, forty years ago, could have had no expectation. The late improvements in agriculture are therefore the offspring of the prosperity of the otlier classes ■, and so far as this has been pro- moted by the economy of government, a more powerful support to agriculture has been administered, than could have been done by bounties, restrictive laws, or any direct encouragement or mo- nopoly in its favor. People, who have taken a narrow view of this subject, give it an opposite construction, and endeavour to excite in landholders a jealousy of the other classes, and to make them regard with envy that prosperity by *»rhich their own has been so greatly ad- vanced. TLey make loud complaints of the partiality shewn by tlie British Government to commerce and manufacture. Every r-xiy • See Axiom 5th. » Wealth of Nations, book iii. chap. 3. 503 new object of commerce, say they, has found protection and support. Every infant manufacture has been nursed by bounties, or guarded by restrictive laws in its favor; to support .which landed property has been loaded with taxes, and oppressed by un- reasonable restrictions and prohibitions. It is needless at present to enter upon that great question in po- litical economy, of the justice of an unlimited intercourse, and the benefit mankind would have obtained from it, as the subject has long ago been amply discussed.^ Whatever has been said in its favor, it is not to be expected that all nations will at once be disposed to embrace it. The departure from that just and equit- able measure has been common to them all, and Britain is not more guilty than others. An error so general cannot soon be generally corrected, and any partial attempt: might be productive of more harm than good. When the world cannot be mended, it must be taken as it is. It will be sufficient to observe, that however erroneous the system may be, Britain has prospered under it. And though the steps which have been taken to encou- rage this or that branch of industry may not always have been the most wise and politic, and sometimes proved abortive, yet upon the whole, they have contributed to increase the numbers of in- dustrious consumers of land produce, and of course promoted agriculture. Nor are such of the taxes laid on landed people, or of the privations which they have suffered, as are merely the * effects of British policy to promote manufacture, more than a drop in the bucket, compared with the enormous load which the peculiar destiny of the nation has brought on. By the bold en- terprising genius of the people, under the admired constitution which they enjoy, Britain has been advanced to a rank and glory among the nations, which has excited the jealousy of surround- ing states, and demanded an almost constant struggle to support it. Hence wars have been frequent, tedious, and chargeable, — the national debt has accumulated to an almost incomputable height — and the government become extremely expensive. From these causes, taxes have become grievous ; but landholders ought not to lay the blame on the other classes, since they themselves have often been the first to call for an appeal to arms ; and those classes have, by their success, been enabled to take a large share of the burden. As the various branches of commerce and manufacture have • |t has been reported of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, that after havhig perused the works of some of the economists, he obsrrvfd that phi- losophers might form what theories they plcassd in their closets; but that statesmen would pay little regard to them, and always take what they thought the shortest road to obtain their ends. ; 4 . I i ti • W I \i •I « i 504 been extended, capital has been acquired in the hands of many individuals where there was none before } and they have been en-» abled to contribute a large proportion, along with land proprietors in bearing the national burdens ; and have thus made ample re- compence for all that the landed interest is supposed to have suf< fered on their account. In the awful struggle of the last twenty years, which is now brought to a happy conclusion, what would have become of the nation, without the powerful aid of commer- cial and manufacturing capital and industry ? A gigantic despo- tism had arisen, which had poured an overwhelming deluge over the surrounding states, and ingulphed the whole in its destructive vortex. Britain alone resisted, and bravely stood in defence of her own independence and that of other nations *, and her ruin only was wanting to satiate the ambition of the victorious tyrant. Had there been no funds of defence but such as could have been levied from landed property, Britain might have been over- whelmed by an overgrown power armed for her destruction. But fortunately commerce and manufacture having been uncom- monly successful, were enabled to contribute largely to the de- fence of the nation, and levies were obtained from all, even down to the lowest ranks. Thus the terrific throne of Napoleon was overthrown by contributions from the shopkeepers and weavers of Britain, whom he affected to hold in the highest contempt. The island of Great Britain, taken altogether, in an agricul- tural view, must stund in a low rank. The southern parts of England, indeed, are perhaps little or nothing inferior in fertility to the lands on the continent of the same latitude : but the sur- face of Scotland is nigged and mountainous. It appears, by late investigations, that not more than a fourth part of it can admit the operations of the plough ; and some part of that is possessed of so little fertility that corn cannot be cultivated on it to advantage. Some of the northern parts of England, and a great part of Wales, are not less rugged *, and it is probable that not half the surface can be regarded as a fit subject for the cultivation of corn. The climate is not less exceptionable than the soil. Surrounded on all sides by the ocean, in a high and stormy latitude, the irre- gular agitations of its atmosphere visit the land in frequent storms and rains, often unexpectedly interrupting the labors of the field ; the temperature, influenced by the vast expanse of northern waters, in which ice is melting, is late in attaining heat sufficient to cherish vegetation, and the spring proves cold and backward ; the summer is short and unsteady ; and the crop frequently suffers serious injury from the premature frosts of autumn. Even the whole heat of the vegetating season is sometimes scarcely suffici- ent to bring the corn to perfect ripeness. Towards the end of 505 ri the seventeenth century, there were a number of such barren seasons, which occasioned great scarcity and dearth over the whole island. It appears by a private record, that in the years 1692, 1693, 1694, 1696, 1698, the corn did not ripen in Scot. land } and in some of these years the snow fell and covered it while growing. It has been also observed that the crops were much injured by the inclemency of the weather in the years 1727, 1728, 1740, 1756, 1777 ; and the calamitous year 1781 is still painfully remembered by many people still living j and the years 1795 and 1799 by many more; the frost continued at intervals this present year, 1814, till June commenced, and returned to blast the blossoms of the bean in July. Other countries, no doubt, experience such adverse seasons ; but in an insular situa- tion, in a high latitude, the recurrence of such must be more fre^ quent. Under such circumstances, and in the present state of this country, compared with the other nations of Europe, British husbandmen are certainly not in a condition to send their corn abroad to meet with that of more fertile countries in the foreign market. Agriculture must therefore have languished if the en- terprising genius of the people had not carried manufactures to such an extent as to increase the number of consumers who have' ability to purchase provisions to the full extent of what the agri~ culture of the country can produce, and render such ineffectual competition unnecessary. The home market has now become, in every respect, the best market in Europe for all kinds of land produce, and furnished the most powerful spur to that spirited and improved husbandry practised in Britain. In this manner the industry of the consumer supports that of the cultivator ; and both are happily combined in promoting the general prosperity of the nation. But the celebrated French economists of the last century, ob- serving that the soil was the sole source of subsistence, and of course the origin of all wealth, taught that the labors bestowed on its cultivation were the only labors of any value, those in any kind of manufacture compensating only the subsistence of the manufacturer. Hence the followers of those philosophers con- tend that the permanent prosperity of a country depends on its having a quantity of surplus corn, the only commodity of intrin- sic value, to export. Thus Mr. Malthus states, " It is almost universally acknowledged, that there is no branch of trade more profitable to a country, even in a commercial point of view, thai) the sale of rude produce. In general, its value bears a much greater proportion to the expense incurred in procuring it than that of any other commodity whatsoever, and the national profit 31 A I a I 1 506 |}'l*(i'i [.71 s'J \ ^ h '.9' on Its sale is, in consequence, greater.'" How ever ingeniotit the speculations of those philosophers are, and how near soever they may approach the truth, it is obvious tliey are of no practical utility. Capital is acquired by otlier employments besides that of cultivating the earth; and capital is always accompanied with power, from whatever source it is derived. It is not conspicuous how distant foreigners should be better customers for the bulky commodities obtained from the soil, than the natives on the spot, or that the commerce among the different classes of inhabitants in a great nation should be less beneficial than that between distant nations. If all the neighboring nations were possessed of surplus corn, at the same period, it would be of no value ; and that na- tion which can convert the whole of its land produce, by means of manufacturing industry, into exchangeable commodities, must make more profit than one which does not. If the market formed at home, by the demand of a numerous population of industrious consumers, be the most advantageous one for the land produce of the country, it may also be trusted to as the most steady and unfailing, if not destroyed by ill-judged restrictions. The demand of foreign nations may cause a spurt at one time which will cease at another ; but the home demand is constant and unceasing, and may be expected to increase so long as the national prosperity continues. The profound philosopher, just now quoted, has fully demonstrated that the power of pro- creation far exceeds that by which food is procured ; and that the former is restrained only by the inability of the latter to keep pace with it.* By the preceding historical view of this country, it appears, that, agreeable to this general principle, the popu- lation has increased as manufactures, by means of increased capi- tal, improved machinery, and greater dexterity in every operation, have been able to produce a greater quantity of marketable com- modities, and enabled the people to purchase more food, till the annual demand for subsistence has exceeded the annual produc- tion — furnished the best market for land produce — and hence pro- moted the improvement of the fields, and enhanced the value of land to an extent unknown in any other age or country. Nor does there seem to be any doubt of the progress of demand, keep- ing pace with the progress of the productive ability of the soil. From the caprice of fashion, or alteration of relative circumstances, some species of manufacture may fail, but so long as the enter- prising spirit of the nation exists, when one channel is choked up, ;j. : « Principle of Population, book iii. chap. 9. t . * Principle of Populatiou, book i. chap. 1. 507 capital and industry will be turned into anotheri provided that spirit and the superior advantages enjoyed by British subjects be nut counterbalanced by impolitic regulations aud restraints. t III. It was next proposed to inquire if any new restriction on the importation of foreign corn would tend to produce greater abundance at home. If the great success of commerce and manufacture has had such important effects in promoting the improvement of the coun.* try, and advancing the Value of land, as are represented under the last article, it would surely be proper to be ripely advised, and every probable consequence fairly investigated before any new system be adopted. The surrounding nations have Jong beheld with envy the succefssful and extensive circulation of British ma- nufactures over the world } and have been constantly striving to vie with them in different markets. At this period, when the tu- mult of war has ceased to annoy the continent, and when corn is to be had there in abundance at a low rate, no doubt this compe- tition will become much more animated. At such a period, when all the skill and expertness of the British manufacturers are scarcely enough to compensate for the comparative dearness of their subsistence already, a little addition to the price of corn, which must be the certain consequence of any new restraint on importation, and is the avowed purpose for which such restraint is required, would turn the scale, and exclude many kinds of British goods from the foreign market. In this event, the opera- tives, who now earn their bread by those manufactures, a numer- ous body, will be no longer able to purchase com, the effectual demand will be lessened, and the motive for cultivating com weakened. Those poor people, no longer able to support them- selves, must then emigrate or perish, or become an useless load on public charity, a burden of which the landed interest must bear the largest share. And this is more especially the case in England, where the law provokes the poor early to despair of their ability to support themselves, and to throw that care on the parish. But though the state of British manufacture, in relation to that of other nations, were not quite so critical that the expert operative could not bear a little enhancement on the price of his subsistence, there are vast numbers of industrious poor, who from natural infirmity, want of dexterity, and the like, earn very small wages, and yet have the honest pride to content themselves with this humble pittance, and live upon the most scanty fare. A small addition to the price of meal would overturn the little system of guarded parsimony by which all these live ; and throw V I, 'ii ;i 508 L ■ H them upon public charity, by which landed property and public morals would equally suffer.* The price of com, and of all kind of provisions in Britain, be- ing at present nearly double to what it is in some of the neighbor- ing countries, the proposed additional restrictions on importation, by which the price of com must inevitably be heightened, and the comparative difference in the rates of subsistence in this island and on the continent widened, cannot fail to contract the manu- factures for foreign sale within narrower limits, and diminish the number of people employed in them as above stated. The effec- tual demand for corn will be diminished in the same proportion, and consequently the motive for cultivating the earth to produce it : for it will be in vain now to resort to bounties on exportation, as the means of promotmg agriculture. A bounty, so large as to enable British corn to meet with that of other countries in the foreign market, would make the exporting of corn a most absurd and ruinous traffic. The trade of^ exporting com, to any consi- derable extent, cannot again take place till the glory of Britain be departed, till she have fallen from that height of prosperity to which her enterprising industry has lately raised her, and the value of land be sunk in the common ruin. But it is said that the hidustry employed in commerce and ma- nufacture has already out-stepped due bounds, and by the increas- ed demand for subsistence, consuming, not only, the whole land produce, but requiring considerable assistance from foreign parts, has placed the nation in hazardous circumstances. Mr. Malthus lays it down as a general rule, that, « it is of the first conse- quence to the happiness and permanent prosperity of any country to be able to carry on the export trade of corn, as one considerable branch of its commercial transaction."* It shall only be observed on this topic that the commercial and manufacturing industry of Britain has always carried agricultural improvement along with it in the same successful career ; and Britain stands equally high in character as an agricultural as she does as a commercial nation* But that without the aid of the former, the latter could never have attained a state so highly advanced. Opposed by inferiority of soil and climate, had the great bent of her industry been turned ' Public iiitrrest demands that all these people be protected from want; but there are others who have an additional claim on public humanity. Ail annuitants on small incomes such as military officers who have bravely fougiu tor the safely of their country, widows, uud unmarried ladies, &c. these cannot work, and to beg are ashamed. To raise the price of provi- sions would make many of these people feel not only degradation but hardship. * Principle of Population, book iii. chap. 10. 509 upon agriculture, Britain must have stood in a low rank among the nations of Europe. But» by combining commerce and manu- facture with the cultivation of the soil, she has arrived at an un- rivalled pitch of grandeur, to preserve which some additional corn is needed besides the home produce. And surely after giving a reasonable preference in the market to her own corn, and con- suming the whole, she is entitled to import as much as to make up the deficiency. So long as there are other nations possessed of more fertile lands, and in a less advanced state of society, there will seldom be daneer of not obtaining from them that quantity« by the nation which has commodities to give in exchange for it» provided the commerce be not fettered by cumbersome and unne- cessary restraints. But if this hazardous state, which the course of events has produced, must be corrected, and the country restor- ed to the happiness of carrying on the export trade of corn to a considerable extent ; the only means by which this can be accom- plished seems to be the violent remedy of shutting the ports, and reducing the number of consumers by starvation. As this is not the interest of landholders, it surely cannot be their wish. It has been urged as a reason for laying additional restrictions on the importation of foreign corn, that while the production of other articles of consumption has been encouraged by bounties or guarded by monopolies, the production of corn is left unpro- tected, and hence capital sufficient for the success of agriculture is withheld or withdrawn, and employed in other branches which enjoy these artificial advantages. The Right Honorable the Earl of Lauderdale, in a letter on the Com Laws, strongly enforces this argument. " Unless," says his Lordship, " the opinion is illxfounded, that success in every trade and in every exertion of industry depends on the possession of capital, the mischievous consequences to the trade thus deprived of encouragements which all others enjoy, cannot require explanation." The noble author professes himself the warm friend of perfect freedom of inter- course in every branch of commerce, yet he affects to believe that the laws regulating the commerce of corn were the sole cause of the cheapness and plenty in the first half of the last century, and the alteration of the times and of these laws, t^e cause of the scarcity since. It is scarcely candid, however, to assert that agri- culture is deprived of all encouragement or protection, since by the act 1804, the legislature has given it all the encouragement, which its wisdom, at that time, thought consistent with the general safety. But this, it seems, is thought inadequate, and uierefore regarded as nothing. Notwithstanding his avowed libe- rality, his calculations of the value of money at different periods would indicate that he points at violent restrictions. But the No. VIII. Pam. Vol. IV. 2 L ^} .. f i; 510 J'l'l) ■ lU 'I %-i\ ll Tisiiig and falling of gold and silver, and of the current medium, whatever it may be, is out of the question in this case, since the great body of consumers can give no more for their subsistence tlian the wages of their labor can afford, according to the state of the medium in which they receive them j and therefore the pro- prietors and occupiers of land must either board them at that rate, or part with the advantage which agriculture derives from such an excellent market for all its products. But it would be deviating from our purpose to say more on this letter, and we proceed to inquire if any new restriction on the importation of foreign corn, supposing such a measure to be otherwise proper, would tend to increase die capital employed in agriciilture, and thus make corn more abundant. In doing which it will be proper to take a vie\r of the system usually followed in letting land to farmers. Upon the dawn of agricultural improvement in Scotland, farmers, and those who wished to be farmers, appeared to be pos- fiest of an extraordinary high notion of the productive powers of the earth, and of their own ability to call them forth. Every vacant farm was contended for by numbers, out-bidding one an- other, and offering rents so high as sometimes to astonish the proprietor. Thus instructed, landholders were not tardy to avail themselvrs of this favorable disposition: and no one wishing to be thought less alert in attending to his own interest than his neighbour, they vied with each other who should display the greatest address in getting great offers, valuing the land, not ac- cording to its present itate of productiveness, but at that to which it was supposed the activity of the farmer might bring it, leaving him the smallest possible share of the product, by which he could continue to occupy and cultivate the farm. As leases have ex- pired, the renting of land has gone on in the same ratio ever since. By preferring the highest offer, and joining a number of farms into one, much capital has been driven from agriculture never to return. Nevertheless, while some have failed, many farmers have acquired capital greater or smaller, bat generally more by a long course of activity, frugality, and good fortune, than by the liberality of landholders. Circumstances peculiar to England have prevented such a rapid rise of rents in that country } but *' is v^^t from want of a disposition in landholders to follow such a pvoht- able example For several years past, the Scotch newspapers have been filled with advertisements from different English coun- ties, inviting vScotch farmers to come with the same spirit which they have dispiaycH in their own country, and rent farms there. If therefoire ths market price of com were kept higher, by the exclusion of foreign cornj, and more money thus thrown into the hand of the f rmei^ it would not remain long there to grow into a capital to be employed iir agriculture. As soon as the lease ez- 511 pired, the latiillord would take care tn add it to the rent, and make it his own property. And while rhe lease continued, the farmer, for eing the consequence, would prefer laying it up as a fund for his family, or his own support in old age. Again, rent, say political economists, is an annual revenue des- tined to be annually spent } and fortun toly it is acldom long ac- cumulated in the hands of over grown individuals, but spread around to gratify the desires of the owner, and thus keeps in motion different kinds of industry. But it is not directly em- ployed in the amelioration of the soil. Some small part, indeed, is genenilly employed in making some kinds of rural improve- ments, cbipiU ornamental, but not in directly augmenting the quantity ci t.o. • The raising of corn is the olfice of the farmer, and his landlord is seldom in a condition to lend him money for t'lat purpi>£.. Farmers more frequently lend money to their lull 'lords. Neither would it make any alteration, though it were possible to augment the rentals of landholders by the exclusion of foreign corn. People of that class are not possessed of more spare money now, than formerly, when rents were much lower. The landed gentleman whose rental is ^20,000, does not find himself in more easy circumstances, than he whose rental does not exceed ^'10,000. The expedient of shutting the ports, to raise the price of corn with the view of amassing capital to be employed in the more perfect cultivation of land, in order that corn might be afterwards afforded at a lower and less fluctuating price, seems therefore to be altogether nugatory. The capital, which will have the best effect in cultivation, is that which has been acquired by the rigid economy of farmers, with rents, high enough to stimulate industry, without crushing it, and under landholders, whose general conduct gives the farmer the fairest prospect of enjoying the full advantage of his skill and activity. But we shall still have a clearer view of the inexpediency of this measure if we take a little time to consider, 1st, the present state of society, 2nd the progress which agriculture has already made, and 3rd the limits within which its farther progress is bounded. ist. Those engaged in commerce and manufacture, form now a ' ousiderable proportion of the population — their industry has con- tributed to the improvement of the fields and the defence of the nation, as has been already shown, and continue to give import- ant aid to agriculture, and to the public revenue — as manufac- tures have been extended , the structure of society has been much improved — more knowledge, more humanity, more correct and mild manners have pr vaded the middle and lower ranks; and hence this large pc ion of the community is entitled to great consideration, and it is particuUtVy the interest of landed people to study their accommodation. The alteration of condition isaccom- k t if i' t V iS'W V 'If I %t p. ■: 512 panied by a greater relish for the comforts, conveniencles and deli- cacies ot life. Such of these as are derived from the agriculture of the country, are chiefly milk, butcher's meat, and butter, regularly supplied to suit the command. To accommodate the market duly with these, by importation, in a fresh and wholesome state, would be perhaps impossible, at least attended with ten times more dif- ficulty than to import corn to the same extent. For this accommo- dation, an extent of pasture must be taken, principally from the arable land. House feeding has been practised for this purpose, in some of the most fertile and highly cultivated districts, and has been found to be highly economical. The same may be partially used with ad- vantage, in most situations, but probably cannot soon become so general as greatly to lessen the extent of pasture which the stLte of the country may require } but the quantity of corn annually pro- duced, under good husbandry, is not necessarily diminished in proportion to the extent of pasture, as we shall see hereafter. 2nd. The progress which agriculture has already made, during the last fifty years, is very great, as we have already seen, and is still making advances. But in going on, the progress becomes gradually slower, and attended with greater difficulty. After land has been for some time cultivated in a masterly manner, and liberally manured, fertility becomes stationary. The farther the soil to be cultivated is from a disposition to fertiUty, the greater labor will be requisite to adjust its consistence, to increase its depth, to adapt it to resist the vicissitudes of wet and dry, &c. And it is known to all that every kind of land, to yield a valuable crop, must be possessed of a suffi- cient stock of putrescent matter, that in dissolving it may contribute to the nourishment of the crop ; and this must be renewed, as of- ten as the former is expended, and must be greater in proportion to the natural sterility of the soil. But the greatest procurable quan- tity of this matter being very limited, compared with the extent of arable land, it becomes expedient frequently that some part be left, till this essential additament can, in course, be provided for it. Here pasturing becomes valuable on a double account. Upon im- proved pasture a greater number of animals can be fed on a less ex- tent, and to better purpose ; and the decayed herbage left, com- municates a portion of putrescible matter to the land : the soil also, by lying at rest, resumes a part of the natural consistence of which repeated culture had deprived it, and becomes fitter to bear the operations of returning cultivation, and thus -produces a greater quantity of com with less manure. In this manner, by alternate rest and culture, by cultivating plants of different kinds in succession, commonly called convertible husbandry, now generally adopted in Scotland, the general fertility of the country may be prevented from diminishing, and even augmented where augmentation is ad« missible. 513 Srd. Mr. Malthus, comparing the progress of the propagation of maiikind, with that by which their subsistence is provided, repre- sents the powers of propagation proceeding in periods of 25 years, as 1, *2, -i, 8, and the powers of cuhivation, as 1, 2, 3, 4. But in old countries the most successful cultivators have never experienced the last to go on much farther than the first step. When land which has been imperfectly cultivated, first undergoes a complete cultivation, it will probably yield a double crop or considerably above th?t, the first year. But no skill or industry which has yet been applied, has been able to keep up constantly for a series cf years, an annual return of greater value than the first. Plants cul- tivated for the immediate food of man must be succeeded by those which are mostly consumed by inferior animals, by culture with- out crop, by repetitions of manure, &c. and it is only at intervals that a crop of com can be obtained equal to or, it may be some- times, superior to the first. But here the progress ends, and it is only by moderate cropping and the strict observance of the rules of good husbandry, that it can be prevented frombe coming retrograde. It is said of some lands which have long been kept in constant culture, the best crops which they now yield are not so productive as those which the same land is reported to have yielded 50 years ago. There is some danger, that by forced efforts to produce the greatest quantity of corn, a general retrogradation of fertility may be induced. The fit consistence of the soil for cherishing the roots of cultivated plants may be weakened by the repeated stir- rings of incessant culture — the constitution of plants, naturally aliens to the soil and climate, may be enfeebled by frequent re- currence on the same worn-out soil — and be more liable to the at- tacks of the numerous enemies, animate and inanimate, by which they are commonly injured} these enemies being always most pre- valent where the subject of their depredations is most frequently found. Some facts give ground for these suspicions, and there is not sufiicient experience to give assurance that they may not in some measure be realised, even on the most fertile plains. But to extend the culture of wheat over the worse constructed soils and elevated lands, and raise a poor shrivelled grain in the cold damp atmo- sphere of these regions, to be sent to the foreign market, would sure- ly be a gross misapplication of capital. It would undoubtedly be wiser to adapt the cultivation of land to the state of domestic so- ciety, and preserve the fertility of the soil unimpaired and in a state of gradual improvement. When we thus take a general view of tie i icreased numbers and successful industry of the British population, compared with the limited extent of arable land, and its inferiority in soil and climate » Principle of Population, Book I. Chap. 1st, (I As (I .s ,m^ Mi . I 514 to some of the surrounding countries — and of the great advance- ment which agricultural improvement has already made, towards itt utmost limits, it will appear that Britain is now advanced far beyond the state of a new people whose best interest it is to cultivate corn for exportation, and tha^ her industrious inhabitants, furnishing an ample demand for every possible production of the fields, and giving all kinds of commodities of use and convenience in retuni, she is arrived at that state "when the mutual exchange of articles of subsistence for articles of use and convenience among fellow citizens is the most important commerce. This, in the opinion of some great authorities, is a most advantageous state of society well worth preserving. Dr. Adam Smith, treating of the employment of capital, observes, « When it sends out from the residence of the merchant a certain value of commodities, it generally brings back in return, at least an equal value of other commodities. "When both are the product of domestic industry, it necessarily re- places by every such operation, ty^o distinct capitals, which have both been employed in supporting productive labor, and thereby enables them to continue that support.' It would seem therefore to be the jreneral interest to cherish and support this state, the advan- tage of wliich has been already experienced. It is the interest o£ the proprietors and cultivators of land that the prosperity of the classes of industrious consumers should be supported, so as to in- sure and improve the excellent market for all kinds of land pro- duce which it has hitherto afforded. It is the interest of consum- ers to give a decided preference to domestic agriculture, and to comply with every regulation requisite for supporting it, which is not altogether inconsistent with the safety of their respective undertakmgs, since from thence they must always derive the greatest part of their subsistence, and that in the most regular and convenient manner, and in the most wholesome and agreeable state. By accommodating the system of agriculture to the state of society, intermixing with the application to the culture of corn, attention to the improvement of grass and pasture and all those plants by which domestic animals are most profitably fed, the fertility of the soil would be preserved unexhausted, and brought by easy grada- tions to the highest possible state of productiveness. Nor would the success of domestic agriculture be interrupted by importing under judicious regulations the quantity of foreign corn in which the growth at home might be deficient in any year for the subsis- tence of the inhabitants. Though corn may, and sometimes does, suffer injury by being amassed together in a cramp situation, not « VVealtli of Nations,B- H- f'liap. 5th. Lord Sheffield published a very senai- h]c volume on 'his subject, about U5 years ago, which the writer c-duuot at piescnL quote. ' ^ 515 properly *'entilated, it is perhaps better adapted for sea-cavriage than other articlesof subsistence, and that by which the deficiency of sub- sistence can best be supplied ; and such supply is absolutely neces- sary to preserve the numbers and industry of the inhabitants, by which domestic agriculture is supported. But if, by restrictions to raise the price at home beyond the abilities of the consumer, and by bounties on exportations, the energy of agriculture be directed to the impracticable project of raising a large quantity of surplus corn to contend with that of more fertile countries in the foreign market depopulation must ensue, and agriculture, losing its best support, and unable to struggle with the difficulty of disposing of the surplus abroad, must fall from the high rank which it has at- tained, and the value of land must sink. IV. The fourth head of enquiry was, how the state of society and the success of agriculture would be effected by the exclusion of foreign corn. • The business of this head being partly anticipated by the fore^ going, we proceed to addj though it does not appear that the corn laws have had all the extraordinary effects which are fre- quently ascribed to them, it is obvious from the tenor of the fore- going observations, that the agriculture of Britain, in the present state of Europe, could not now keep its ground without protect- ing laws, to give its products a preference in the domestic market. The heavy taxes, the highly advanced wages of labor, partly oc- casioned by these taxes, and the inferiority of soil and cliniate, are such odds against it, as not all the acknowledged superiority of energy and skill of the cultivators could overcome without such assistance. It is extremely fortunate that the powerful in- dustry of the other classes, invigorated by the liberty and security which they enjoy under an equitable government, has enabled them to bear any inconvenience which this assistance demanded, and give such prices for corn and every kind of land produce, as have brought the cultivation of the soil, and the situation of the pro- prietors, to the present highly respectable state. But this is be- cause consumers have been able to bear the monopoly laid upon them by the lenient hand of a wise government, desirous " to pre- serve them in every possible contingency from scarcity and dis- tress."' Had this power been in ruder hands, a fatal alteration, would probably have been the consequence. People of all classes will probably admit the propriety of giving domestic agriculture a certain degree of preference \ but the quan- ' Seethe report of the comuiilteeof tlic Frivy Council to the King in lh'r ^1 I PI * The prices of Windsor market kept in the records of Eton college, ar« 1812, 61. 8s.— 1813, 6l.— 1800, 6l. 7s.— 1801,6). 8s. 6cl. It is remarkable, that the cotnmitlee, in perusing the tables to which they allude in their re- port, had not discovered their error in ascribing the plenty of corn, and steady price, to the system of restraining importation and encouraging ex* donation and the scarcity succeeding to ah opposite system. Ti\ey mi<»ht idve seen that corn was scarce, little or none being exported, and the price ligh in some years, which must have been unfruitful years, and in the years when plenty had returned, that corn was exported, and the price low- er, just as would have been the case, had no corn laws existed. They might have seen tha,t after the year 1763, the greater consumption of a growing po- pulation began to decrease the exports, and to overtake the annual produc- tion; that alter the alteration of the corn laws in 1773, so much reprobated, matters went on in the same way its before, in years of plenty, the exports ex- ceeded the imports, and the averaj;e price was not much higher than in the- bejiinningof the century,tlie average price from 1705 to 17 1.5, being 2l.4s. 2jd. and from 1773 to 1785, 2l. 7s. 8jd. "per quarter. It was not till after the year 1793, when the waste of war was added to tbe increased population that the grrat deficiency of corn took place: ami that the deficiency is less at present, and the price moderate, is owingjointly to the war having ceased, and the summer of 1813 having been a favorable one. 517 A considerable part of the manufacturing population is cm- ployed on commodities for foreign sale : the nations of the con- tinent have long been aiming at the manufacturing of those goods, which they Iiave been in the habit of purchasing from Britain, and have now, it is said, made great improvement in several : — the jealous spirit, which has always induced the different powers to lay high duties and prohibitions on the entry of goods from other countries, with the view of promoting the industry of their own, seems at present to be very alert : — the comparative cheapness of proT(isions on the continent, ^^vhich is always a balance against the oritish manufacturer, is said to be very considerable at this time. At this critical period, under such circumstances, to exclude the quantity of foreign corn which may be requisite to supply the de- ficiency of the growth at home, by means 6f such high regulating prices, as to put it beyond the ability of the industrious poor to purchase, is an expedient fraught with present danger, without any prospect of public advantage to follow. Such an exclusion would occasion a continual scarcity, with all the misery to the lower class, by which it is accompanied, till their numbers were thinned, the enterprise of industry damped, public prosperity sus- pended, ntid the effectual demand for provisions diminished. Agri- culture then, deprived of the excellent market which its products have hitherto enjoyed, must sink along with the other branches of industry ; and the scheme, proposed for its advancement, will be the cause of its downfall. But if such a dangerous experiment be avoided, and the spirit of the nation not overpowered by oppression, though some branches of manufacturing industry may labor under difficulties, at the present time, and should even be cultivated by other nations, by means of the enterprismg genius of the people, the superior capital, skill and expertness, to which they have attained, it may be hoped that employment will still be found for the industrious poor, their numbers kept up, and the general prosperity preserved, which will be of more importance to ai^riculture than any monopoly which can be given. It is, however, the interest of consumers, as already said, to submit to such restraints on the importation of foreign corn as are not inconsistent with their comfortable existence, in order to give more effectual encouragement to the growth of corn. It is ac- knowledged by all, that starts of plenty, followed by scarcity and dearth, prove much more distressful to the poor than less fluctu- ating prices, somewhat higher. In the present state of the world, when an uncommon plenty happened in a neighbouring country, by unlimited importation, corn would be poured into Britain as the best market : the growers at home would be undersold, their I ' ;.■ If ,1 ' '■i I: !h'< - Mm ! 'i i I ! f 518 H': :•«■• i;, ^m; Mtm^ lV\i energy checked, and the produce of the country diminished, which is the surest source of subsistence, not subject to other fluctuations, than such as the difference of seasons occasions. It becomes neces- sary, therefore, that importation should be so far restrained as to keep the price nearly up to the ability of the lowest rank of the industrious poor. In unfruitful seasons it will even go rather beyond this, a higher price being then necessary, not only to pre- vent improvident consumption and husband the slender stock, but also to make some compensation to the grower, in the price, for the deficiency in the quantity. To all this consumers must sub- mit 'f and they have submitted, through the trying times which have been lately experienced, with a firmness and patience beyond example. But to bring forward a project, not only so offensive to their prejudices, but so dangerous to their comfortable existence, as the bill which was lately introduced into the house, without •ny clear prospect of public advantage, and that too at a time when the consumers of all ranks, on the return of peace, had che- rished the pleasant hope of enjoying some compensation for the great privations which they had so long suffered, can only serve to divide interest which should be held inseparable, and create animosity, where none should subsist. What the restriction on importation should be, it would be pre- sumption in the writer of this to say. It is evident tliey should equally embrace th'^ interest of all. The high duty on wheat im- ported is 24 per quarter, and it cannot be supposed that such witnesses, and on such an occasion, would calculate on too low a price. By this it must be meant that foreign wheat should be Prevented from coming in competition with domestic wheat in the ome market at a lower rate than j£4< : for surely it is not expected that the legislature should fix i£4f as the minimum •, and prohibit farmers from selling and consumers from buying wheat at a lower price. By the testimony of other respectable witnesses, before the same commit*;et s, it appears that the best foreign wheat cannot be told in London ; t present under j£'1<, and that fro . the difHculties, risks and, uncertainties attending the trade, it can seldom be im- ported much low ?r. Hence the market is protected from the in- trusion of foreigi corn, nearly up to the required price. It would only be necessaiy therefore to make a reasonable deduction from the extravagant rtnts of those new leases, into which the long dearth had tempted farmers to enter, and to give up all expec- tation of any greaj'er rise of rent in future, than the increasing wealth of the nation, and the higher improvement of land can warrant. And this is not requiring of land-holders a sacrifice to the con- venience of others, but what their own interest imperiously de- mands. When a farmer is oppressed by an overstretched rent, his mhid is embarrassed, his funds are diminished, his energy is pa- ralized ; and being deprived of the ability, he scarcely finds the disposition to do justice to the soil, and to draw the greatest pos- sible return from it } a listless despair accompanies all his opera- tions, his labors are imperfectly executed ; and in the end, his circumstances are ruined, and he leaves the farm in a neglected and exhausted state. The land-holder, who from avidity to aug- ment his rental, puts his land into such miserable occupancy, not only injures his own personal interest, but is an enemy to his country by depriving the public of the more abundant product which superior management would bring to market. When a reasonable abatement of the most extravagant rents is made, by a remission of the war taxes wliich have been laid on farmers, — by a diminution of the wages of labor, — and by the observance of a rigid economy in every department of agriculture, the expense of raising corn might probably be moderated so as to meet the ability of consumers, and render the violent remedy of shutting the ports unnecessary. The British government has al- ways been tender in taxing those absolute necessaries of life on which the very existence of the poor depends i and nothing pro- bably, but the dire necessity of the late times would have induced them to lay direct taxes upon farmers, whose office it is tu bring I V 521 those necessaries to public use, on the most moderate terms. Such taxes are very unsuitable to the situation of husbandmen, unavoid- able inequalities occur, and much trouble and uneasiness is given, beside? what they add to the expense of cultivation. It is to be hoped, therefore, that now, when peace has returned, these distress- ing taxes will be removed. As many are now returning from mi- litary service to peaceful occupations, and the price of subsistence become moderate, a considerable diminution of the wages of labor may be expected. But above all, the great fund of saving will arise from frugal habits of farmers, carried into all their operations and transactions. A simplicity of life, a strictly guarded frugality in all their conduct, seems no be the genuine characteristic of hus- bandmen in all ages. It was by the duro, cum parca colona, viro,* that the agriculture of ancient Rome was conducted, in the best days of the republic. It was by people of the same character that the foundation of agricultural improvement has been laid in all countries. It was particularly on this frugal system that the agri- culture of Scotland, which now makes a conspicuous figure, com- menced and has been carried forward to its present respectable state. Let then a strict frugality through every part of rural eco- nomy be ever kept in view, shuiming all vain and unnecessary expense. Let the accustomed energy of hubbandmcn accompany their frugality ; and let them be satisfied with such moderate re- strictions on the importation of corn, as may be consistent with the safety of the community. And let their energy be, as it has hitherto been, equal to the difHculties which it has to surmount. Matters will thus return to their natural order ; and by patient perseverance, diligent cultivators will receive in time the recom- pense of their labor, which no restrictive laws can give them. The national prosperity will be preserved, and harmony and una- nimity restored. V. Having in the foregoing sketches endeavoured to show that the prosperity, to which Great Britain has arrived, has been at- tained by the joint enterprise of commercial, manufacturing and agricultural industry — that the difFerent classes are united together by the strongest ties of mutual interest — and that the jealousies which have lately existed among them are ill founded, we shall now add a few miscellaneous observations on some of the erro- neous positions which have been advanced in the course of the late dispute. One of the most ludicrous of these, is that in which land-holdert are represented in a depressed and neglected state, and merchants The hardy frugal husbandman and his thrifly wife. I! Hi: jli.iH IM A \^ 5'22 and manufacturers envied for having great command of money, and gaining great profits. To hear this melancholy ditty of the distresses of landholders, compared with the joys aaid comforts enjoyed by the other classes, reminds us of the observation of the poet, Nemo, quani sibi sortrni, Seu ratio dt'derit, sen furs objecorit, ilia Contentus vivat : laudet diversa he(|iicnte9.* — IIor. The enjoyment and advantages of landholders differ from those of all others ; and their situation bears no analogy with that of those who are engaged in the busy walks of life. It consists in security, ease, and dignity, in the enjoyment of fortune, not in the pursuit of it. Their minds being less encumbered with the load of little selfish cares in which those who struggle through the business of active life are engaged, frequently obliged to justle with others in their pursuits, the former are expected to bs possessed of more large and liberal dispositions, and are thought worthy of the highest public trusts. From among them a consi- derable proportion of the great legislative assembly is formed, and these have always been deemed the most honorable of that illus- trious body, and the most watchful over the public welfare. They are honored, in their respective provinces, with regulating part of the public revenue, with the power of preserving peace and good order ; with the direction of works of public utility, and of every thing tending to the general advantage— of settling ('I.^putes among their fellow-subjects ; and thus they are regarded as the patrons and protectors of orderly society, and a great degree of respectability is attached to their character. Even the pursuit of their private interest in the improvement of their estates has some- thing generous in it, as it promotes also the permanent advantage of the community. Who would have thought that people of such a dignified character would, like peevish children, behold, with a malignant eye, that prosperity of their countrymen by which their own has been so greatly advanced and is so well supported ? The tranquillity of a country life, and the profit gained in the bustle of business, are incompatible . among the few who gain the prize in the great lottery of busy life, multitudes draw only blanks, and sink into oblivion. But however much landholders may undervalue the comfort of a country life, it has not only been the darling theme of the poets in all ages ; but there are perhaps few of mankind, even the most sober minded, who have not panted after it, in some time of their ' No man is satisfied with his own condition, whether it be of his own choice, or such as destiny has allotted him; but admires uth^r pursuits. 523 :onsists in lives i and those who have it in their power are always ready to Iny hold of it. As soon as a landed estate appears in the market, some of those who have obtained capital in trade hasten to pur- chase it, at a high rate, willing to exchange their profits, their toils, and their anxieties, for the security, dignity, and tranquillity of a landholder.' There does not appear to be any other way by which much capital can be invited from other employments to be invested in land. When a man lays out his capital in any busi- ness to gain profit, he naturally inclines that the return for his capital and attention should be his own. But this is what the cultivator of land must not expect. The landholder will take care to contract for the greatest part of it, however high the price of corn be raised by restrictions ; and in the largest and most fer- tile part cf the empire, not only the landholder, but also the church and the poor must have their respective shares, before the cultivator can touch n morsel. And this is not an inviting pros- pect for any who have not been previously inured to the laborious life of a husbandman. Nor could much good be expected from capital without skill and experience to apply it. The prudent farmer will keep clear of a barren field, and apply his industry to such as he knows will yield him the greatest return upon the most moderate expense, that is, such as have natural fertility, improved by repeated applications of manure. He may, indeed, if he has in his possession neglected grounds, naturally fertile, the fertility of which is suspended by being overcharged with water or over- run with brushwood, &c. apply himself to the improvement of such, because he knows he will obtain a quick and adequate re- turn: but he will wisely avoid attempting to raise corn on a sterile ill-constructed soil, destitute of vegetable pabulum, con- vinced that others will reap the product, not leaving him the pro- spect of recovering even his expense, in the course of his lease. But if the landholder himself becomes the cultivator of such poor land, and it is he only by whom it should be attempted, he ought not to expect that he is to be paid all at once. His return must be gradual, from the improved crops of the ameliorated soil, whether he l.t it for rent or retain it in his possession. The progress of agricultural improvement being more limited, the investment of stock cannot affect it in the same manner as it does other employments. Capital, in skilful hands, applied with judgment and frugality on land, will, in favorable circumstances, produce a plentiful crop. Make a more lavish application on the same land, and plants will spring up with unprofitable luxuriance, fall down and not ripen to perfect grain. In the same manner nature has, in all cases, drawn a certain bounding line, and pro- nounced to fertility this imperious dictate, hitherto shalt thou come I ; TC't ■ • li: li:u 524 end no farther. It is »n vain to say that the high price to which corn has been raised during the war was the cause of more com being produced. The improvements in agricuhure, which have made the land produce more corn, were in a progress of great advancement, long before the war commenced, or there were any prospects of these high prices. The high price of com certainly threw more money into the hand of the farmer, and enabled him, if he chose, to apply more on his iarm ; but whatever was applied, it does not appear to have had the effect to make the produce more nearly to meet the demand. In the years 1799 and 1800, the tciisons were unfruitful, and of course the deficiency in 1800 and 1801 was very great, and the 'irice of corn rose to an exorbitant height, being £.Q. Is. per quai tor of ./heat, in the one year, and £6. 85. Qd. in the other. But these high prices had not the effect to make corn more plenty in the years which followed : for in the year 1805 the deficiency was near to 900,000 quarters, and the average deficiency of six years after the high price of 1801 was 500,000 quarters. During these six years, the average price was not much more than half of that of 1801, being j£3. 145. S^^. and after these n^ore modercte prices, in 1808 the import exceeded the export by no more than 3^99 quarters. But again in 1810, a millior and a half were imported. These facts refute the doctrine that corn would become abundant by shutting the ports and rais- ing the price, and shew plainly that after all the improvements which have been made, or can be made, it is only by the blessing of Heaven on these improvements that plenty comes. It seems to be bad policy therefore, by great restrictions on im- portation, to raise the price of corn, and distress the laboring poor, as it can serve no purpose but to diminish their numbers, and of course the elFcctual demand for provisions. 80 long as their num- bers continue, the quantity of corn used cannot be greatly dimi- nished. The poor, in straitened times, may abstain from other things, but the necessary quantity of bread cannot be much cur- tailed. Nor will the most active exertions of agriculture insure plenty '.n adverse seasons. In the present stats of Britain it would 3eem to be proper to give no unnecessary obstruction to the importation of the quantity of corn which may be needed to make up the deficiency of any year. The agriculture of the country will not be thereby injured when home-grown corn has such a decided preference in the market as it has at present, or sny similar which may be judged consistent with the general wel- fare. For, as the laud produce of every nation is absolutely ne- cessary to the nation itself, agriculture, though intercourse in all other cases were unrestrained, would require to be guarded by the legislature, and receive such protection and encouragement as cir- ^25 ms on im- cumitancM demanded. And this not only on account of that respectable portion of the society whose revenue is derived from the sale of corni but by steadily keeping up the price of subsist- ence nearly to the ability of the lower ranks, to give the cultiva- tors of land greater ability to supply the market, and come as near to the demand as nature will admit. By giving every possible facility, consistent with the circumstances above stated, to the im- portation of whut quantity of corn may be wanted, importers of corn would be prepared to provide against expected exigencies, and those starts of scarcity which occasion such fears and alarms, and are the cause of such real distress to the lower orders, might be greatly palliated, and less frequently recur. By giving a suitable indulgence to the importation of the annual deficiency of the product of corn at home, it would appear that, in a country possessed of a great population of manufacturing inha- bitants, the price would be less fluctuating, than if it were obliged to depend solely on its own resources. The experience of all age9 has proved that the expectations of the husbaijidman may be blasted, in every country, by incidents, over which he has no control, and in consequence of which scarcity ensues ; and this is peculiarly the case in Britain, where the climate is more unsteady than on the neighbouring continent. It is also known that seasons which are very unfruitful in one country are less so in others. Now, in a country of such extensive commerce as Britain, in the regular habit of supplying its wants, a scarcity, or the appearance of a deficient crop, would be foreseen, and importers would make it their business to provide against it. The ports being guarded by the duties on importation, the domestic cultivator would have a due preference in the market, and no improper glut could take place. When the country was in the custom of purchasing corn from those '^^tions which possessed a fertile soil, and were less ad- vanced in civilization, such nations would adjust their cultivation to the demand, and the supply wanted would be readily procured. By such a system, for the improv^-'ment of which the warehousius of foreign corn has been often recommended, and it is believed very properly, the prosperity of the country might go on for agea without obstruction. The quantity of foreign corn wanted tp supply the deficiency of the crop at home would probably for ^ long time not be very great, as by the spirited cultivation which now prevails, fertility will be gradually advanced as far as soil and climate will admit, and be making additions to the annual pro- duce; and that quantity being always provided, the distressii;ig fluctuations of prices would be in a great measure prevented* Whereas, if the protecting duties be made very high, the dcju^tli^ No. VIIT. Pam. Vol. IV. 2M t ■k A' I m I ( ■ m 526 in a year of scarcity, will be great and distressing, before (ht ports can be open, and prices be not only high but fluctuating. Though the supporters of the corn bill set out with the flatter- ing proposal of making corn plenty and cheap, it is evident they were not serious ; for there is no argument they make more use of than this, that the expense of cultivation is so great that the price of com must be raised by high duties on importation to in- demnify the cultivator. It has been shown in the preceding pages thi;t making the price of corn higb, by additional restrictions on im- portation, would endanger the prosperity of the country in the pre- sent state of things. But though the price of corn could thus with safety be kept at a high rate, the cultivators of land would probably not be greatly benefited by it, as the rents, the wages of labor, the price of implements, and every necessary for cultivation would, perhaps, be raised in the same proportion j and it surely would not be the duty of government to indulge them. - The high price of corn, the depreciated state of money, and the heavy taxes, have made subsistence so much dearer here than in <:he other coun- tries of Europe, as to make commercial intercourse with them difficult. By greater restraints on importation, subsistence will become dearer, money more depreciated, and intercourse may be still more straitened. But really this argument is a two-edged weapon, and cuts deeper the opposite way than that to which it is directed. Gold, says the adage, may be bought too dearw If corn costs three times the price to raise it in Britain of that at which it may be bought in other countries, the raising of corn is surely an unprofitable business to the public. « The general prin- ciples of political economy," says Mr. Malthus, " teach us to buy our commodities, where we can have them the cheapest j and there is, perhaps, no rule in the whole compass of the science, to which fewer justifiable exceptions can befound in practice." But cultivators of land enjoy a very considerable monopoly over their fellow citizens i and it does not appear that a greater is necessary. Since 1 773, when the law past which has been declared ruinous to agriculture, that business has made greater progress than in any former period. The execution of agricultural labors has been methodized, great improvements have been made in machi- nery, and every kind of implement better adapted to its purpose, and all the labors of cultivation have been so judiciously and so successfully conducted as to keep the annual product of land nearly up to the increasing population. The circumstances of farmers are apparently in an improved and comfortable condition j nor is any complaint to be heard among them but of the exorbitant ems occasioued by the late extraordinary times. 527 Some of the facts and arguments, which have been adduced in favor of keeping the price of corn high, are futile ; but there is one which bears still a worse feature. A proof has been attempt- ed before the committee of the House of Lords, that laboring people perform more work when meal is dear than when it is cheap. There is no doubt that the powerful call of parental affec- tion will, in times of dearth, force the parents of a number of helpless children to make uncommon exertions to still the clamor of hunger in their families ; but such exertions, if long conti- nued, must produce diseases, premature old age and depressioa of mind in the parents, and a total neglect of proper education among the rising generation. Humanity shudders to think that it should be the desire of people in the higher ranks to reduce their inferiors to such a miserable situation. Take pliysic, pomp, Expose thyfcir to feel what wn^tches f'etl, That thou may'st shake the su|ierHux to them; And show the Heavens more just. — King Lear. But would it avail society, or any particular class in It, to reduce laboring people to this state ? Much is said of the heavy taxes, in proportion to the number of individuals, which the circumstances in w hich Britain has been placed has obliged her government to levy from the people, far exceeding those on the individuals of the other nations. If these nations had been able to pay similar taxes, their governments would have found occasion for such, and taken care to impose them. The scope which a happy constitution has given to the spirited industry of a free people has enabled them to pay.those heavy taxes, which have been the means of preserving the independence of the empire. But of what advantage would the boasted privileges of British subjects be, if their government were to make laws by which they were to be deprived of the prospect of a comfortable subsistence ? Their labors would become worthless, like those of the slaves, in the countries where barbarism still reigns, and the revenue could derive little support from them, Or what benefit could it be to the wealthy, that the great body of the people were reduced to beggary ? And particularly could it be any advantage to the proprietors and cultivators of land, that tlie half of the laboring people, goaded bv h.ard necessity, could Le made to perform all the labors of the nation, which now employs the whole ? Take away from mankind the hope of bettering their condition, and their industry will become languid. Necessity is, no doubt, the first motive to industry, but it is the prospect of deriving comfort from it, which makes industry animated, persevering and lucessful. Let no man therefore, who regards the prosperity of his , m I'i i" ■ I •I: :) ■' !' "t ■ ■J: rvpi? J^'^^i ^A 528 •ountry, or his own interest in it, think of $uch preposterous meaus •f promoting it as oppressing the poor. CONCLUSION. From the above desultory observations the following general conclusion may be drawn. Corn being the most absolutely necessary support of life, and the strength of a nation depending on the abundance it can com- mand, especially from its own soil, which is always the most sure and steady fund of subsistence, it becomes a subject which de- mands the wise and impartial interference of government to make such regulations regarding the culture and commerce of corn, as may best provide for the wants of the people. The purposes of these regulations can only be the two following } 1st. As far as possible to provide, at all times, a regular supply of this first necessary, for all the inhabitants, at such a rate as to meet the abilities of the great body of industrious consu- mers ; 2dly. To give all due advantage to the landed interest of the country, proportioned to its scale in the community and the value of its products. 1 St. As seasons occur, in all countries, when the crop comes short of its expected product, and insufficient for the support of the inhabitants, where there are no magazines in store, die cala- mity of scarcity can only be averted, in such seasons, by purchasing corn from foreign parts. For this reason, the laws for regulating the commerce of com would require to liave a kind of foresight, allowing dealers to provide against the scarcity, of which appear- ances gave any indication. It is no less requisite tliat internal commerce in the market and from one part of the country to ano- ther, be protected in the most unlimited freedom. This appears to be the duty of every wise government, and all that can be done to make any visitation of scarcity fall as light and be as equally dis- tributed as possible. 2d. In civilized countries, the soil, from which, the food of the community is derived, is the exclusive property of a particular class of the inhabitants ; and in them is vested the direction of cul- tivating and distributing the subsistence of the whole. This charge of itself so important, and in the exercise of which their own in- terest is so closely united with the prosperity of the public, is ex- pected to inspire them with enlarged and liberal feelings, and places them in st respectable light ) Uieir important station in so- 52.^ osterous means lowing general clety, and the share they bear in all kinds of public burdens, thus entitles them to high consideration and respect. Every privilege therefore which the success of their important functions demands, should be guarded by the legislature oi the country with the great- est care. Agriculture should be held honorable as it is useful, and protected from every degrading circumstance, — every obsta- cle removed and every facility given to promote the success of its valuable labors, regarding always the landed interest as inseparably connected with that of the whole community. And every en- couragement given in that view is a bounty to the whole society, being the most effectual means of providing subsistence. The corn laws of Great Britain do not appear to be altogether adapted to fulfil these purposes. They have, in some measure, set the interest of the raisers of corn and that of the consumers at variance with each other ; and, in some cases, favored the one in opposition to the other. As to the consumer, the manner of shutting and opening the ports has often thrown such difhculties in the way as to leave sud- den starts of dearth unprovided for } and when that came to be felt, government has been obliged to suspend the laws. From the necessity of these repeated suspensions. Dr. Smith, with seeming justice, infers the inadequateness of the corn laws for their in- tended purpose. The average price of corn was, indeed, lower in the first half of the last century than it had been in the preceding period of the same length : but there is no ground to suppose that this proceeded from the influence of the corn laws. The judicious author just named ascribes it to the price of silver having become higher, in this period. This might possibly have been partly the cause : but it was certainly much more owing to the awakened spirit of industry bestirring itself, in the more opulent and fertile part of the united kingdom, as times became quieter. The acqui- sition of more skill, more experience, better implements and ^nore diligent culture enabled cultivators to raise better crops^ and to afford corn cheaper. There was perhaps no period in which the agriculture of Enprland made such progress. The spirit of im- provement once aroused, cultivators went on as they found most for their ow:. advantage, just as they would have done had there been no corn laws, or as they have since done in Scot- land in spite of the defective corn laws. Had there been no bounty on exportation, less corn would have been raised, but the fertility of the country would have remained in reserve to produce more- corn as a growing popt lation demanded it. The corn laws have, no doubt, given support to the landed inte- rest, by preventing a wanton importation of foreign corn, which is more especially re4uisite in Britain, surrounded by other countries "Hi ■ / / /, >\ I '■':*1 I » 5 pl^f rr*fl mm ! ''■if" f l' , IH !■! 530 where soil, climate and other circumstances enable cultivators to furnish corn at a low rate. Freed of a vexatious competition, the British cultivator is encouraged to cultivate the soil to more advan- tage, and producj more subsistence, and so long as the price is not raised above the ability of the lower order of industrious consumers this regulation isbeneficial upon the whole. How far the bounty on exportation tended to the general good seems to be more problem- atical. It was prompting cultivators, with a large bribe, taken from the revenue levied from the whole community, to strain the fertility of the country, in order to feed strangers with the chil- dren's bread j it tended to keep the home market sparingly sup- plied — and all the surplus being exported in a plentiful year, if the succeeding one was deficient, there was nothing left to supply the deficiency. Hence the question is suggested, whether or not it would have been as wise to have allowed the soil, in the course of a more moderate tillage, gradually to have collected fertility, and to become fitter to feed a populicion continually inrreasing ? But though the corn laws, at a former period, had greater influence than experience shows they have had, the times are now altered. The population is so much increased that the demand for subsistence exceeds the product of the land, notwithstanding the great improvements in agriculture, which in many cases have been lately carried perhaps nearly to their utmost extent; the value of money is much more depreciated in this than in the neighbour- ing countries ; and the difference in the price of subsistence greatly increased ; and the corn laws are acknowledged to have become of no effect. It is in vain, therefore, now to attempt to raise any struc- ture on that foundation. The regulating prices for admitting importation have been repeatedly raised, without giving satis- faction, and are perhaps nearly as high as the condition of the people can bear. To raise them much higher would increase the evils whicli, are presently felt, and might as completely insulate Britain commercially as she is literally ; and then farewel to her exalted prosperity. If is time to adopt a more sober system — to get agriculture reli ved from i|.s present improper burdens — to con- form the rents of Jand to such prices of provisions as the great body of consumers is able to puy, leaving to the farmer the power of conducting his labors with spirit — to conduct the cultivation of land in a frugal style, bestowing the principal attention on such soils as are possessed of some portion t»f fertility, and promise the best return at the most moderate expense, and applying only the culture vmd maiwre on barren unpromishig soil§ which can be spared without prejudice to the otker — and the landed interest of the country having a just and reasonable preference in the home market for all its products, to allow such facility of importing fo- 6Sl reign corn, to the extent of the deficiency of domestic product, as to save the industrious poor from frequent recurrence of distress. When landholders, satisfied with the large share of the public in- come which circumstances assign to them, renounce the impracti- cable project of advancing their own interest by the distress of the lower orders, and pursue it by the more natural and effectual means of promoting the improvement of the country, the alarm which has lately prevailed will be quieted, harmony restored, and by the con- currence of all classes in the peaceful pursuit of their respective employments, it may be hoped that the public prosperity 'may be preserved and still farther advanced, commerce and manufacture be still farther extended ; and as this country, and those with which it has intercourse, increase in wealth, the rent of land and the comfort of those who cultivate it will increase in the same proportion. m ill fc :'' mi. m I y N' ,.|!f!- flH X 'I; 1