18l6.] Errojicous Statement. — 



be termed out-door pensioners. I have 

 been led to propose tliis, troni the trus- 

 tees of one of these alms-liouses having 

 iucreased the allowance tVo,!i cigiit to 

 sixteen sliillings ])er week ; at a time 

 wiien the wages of the laboMver and me- 

 clianic is so considerably reduced. Might 

 not the half of sixteen shillings be con- 

 sidered a surplus, where there is neither 

 kouse-rent, coals, nor candles, to pay for .' 

 W. I. 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIR, 



WE are not yet reduced to the ne- 

 cessity of soliciting tlie barracks 

 to lodge our poor, nor do the parochial 

 rales amount to three times the rent of 

 •ur houses. 1 have strong reason to 

 ■uspect your correspondent is one of 

 those who now chuckles at the state- 

 ment which you have imioconlly circu- 

 lated. We are very badly olf ; both tlie 

 ribband and watch uianufacturers are 

 <laily turning off their hands ; and, 

 though there are luany here that would 

 be glad to deceive you, yet, were we ever 

 so distressed, they would be the first to 

 say we were well off; and, indeed, they 

 do not hesitate in saying now, that the 

 poor every where are as well olf as they 

 ieserve to be. 



Coventry; Aug. 8. 



»,* The paragraph in question was co- 

 pied into our Provincial Inielligence trom 

 the Rockingham of Hull. Our geneial, and, 

 an we conceive, a legitimate, soince of pro- 

 vincial information, in ref;aid to points of 

 jfact, arc the various provincial paper*. 



*jn» the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIR, 



IN times of individual and public 

 dillioulty, wlien the prostration of 

 hope and a suspension of energy aggra- 

 vate distress, and retard the seil'-derivcd 

 resourscs that seldom fail to reward the 

 •persevering cflorls of aetixe and pati- 

 'eully investigating minds, every cheer- 

 ing engagement, or |)rospect calculated 

 •for giving a new im()etus to exertion, 



• must be fraught with relief to despon- 



• dcncy ; and, perhaj).s, with permanently 

 ■ beneficial consc(pjences. I Hatter niy- 



iself that a rational theory, and easy ex- 

 periments to ascertain the practicability 

 of preserving grain from year to year, or 

 during a term of years, may occupy 

 the thoughts of some valuable members 

 of th«! comnnniiiy, who arc now pain- 

 iully brooding over distresses that can 

 •nly be remeUied by rcuorated trau^uil- 



Amicus. 



Preservation of Grain. 137 



lity: and some cheap, safe, and inter- 

 esting pursuit, is the surciit balm for 

 grief or anxious care. 



Every sentiment connected with pa- 

 triotism, or private advantage, will dis- 

 pose us earnestly to wish the growers 

 of corti to have the power of bringing 

 their produce to a fiiir market ; but thw 

 ri'^k of its spoiling on their hands leaves 

 tiiem stibservient to wealthy specuhv- 

 tois, who buy at their own price; aiid, 

 having possession of the general stock, 

 combine to make the consumer pay at 

 an exorbitant rate for lood, very fre- 

 quently approaching to putrcfactiotL 

 Tlie numenjus classes whose poverty 

 confines them to the cheapest proA isions, 

 often suH'er in their health by living on 

 meal that has lain in heaps till damp air 

 has produced a degree of fernienfation, 

 and vermin have insinuated themselves 

 throughout the mass. Humanity loudly 

 calls for attention to this subject ; and 

 British ingenuity, solidity of judgment, 

 and unwearied application, have deviled 

 and matured undertakings more ardu- 

 ous, than expedients to presene graia 

 unvitiated. Were the surplus of abun- 

 dant crops amassed with habitual pro- 

 caution, those stores might compeusala 

 for de(ieienci;;s in uiifavoinable seasons; 

 and, in place o!' furnisliing a revenue to 

 other kingdoms, we should circulate at 

 home the sums remitted to the continent 

 of Europe, and to transatlantic pro- 

 vinces; Great Britain would bo ren- 

 dered independent of foreign supplies 

 to subsist her population ; the cousump-r 

 tion of bread, that prime necessary of 

 life, wouhl enrich her own sons of in- 

 dustry, and enhance the value of hfr 

 territory ; the fruits of the eartli would 

 be tised at all times with economy, and 

 never become the prey of rats, mice, 

 and weevils, in the granaries of mono- 

 polizers, while their countrymen were 

 iialf famisliing, and giving an extr-riva- 

 gant price for corrupted grain. The 

 subjoined hi;its will ex|)laiii mj 

 views. I am fur from ofl'ering thcni as 

 a perfect sehcine. I solicit inser- 

 tion in the iMonliily Magazine, ex- 

 pressly to re<iuest the readers to point 

 out faults, and to confer improvements. 

 Were the preservation of grain a ge- 

 neral system, work and wages C(Hi!d. 

 never be wanting to the poor, as tha 

 farmer would be induced to make any 

 waste )jroilnctive, and artizars. could 

 liave demand for tlieir laliouis. All 

 farmers who raise gram lor market, 

 must have buildings for its reception ; 

 and, accurdiji^' to our system, the only 

 c;Lpcj:o« 



