[ 413 j 
USEFUL PROJECTS. 
First Report from the Sele& Committee 
appointed to take into considera= 
. tion the present high price of Corn. 
_ THE seleé& committee appointed 
to take into consideration the pre- 
sent high price of corn, and to 
colleét evidence relative thereto, 
and te report the same, from time 
totime, as it shall appear to them, 
to the house, wirh their observa. 
tions thereupon, proceeded, in the 
first instance, to consider such in- 
formation as had been already col- 
leCted concerning the same. 
They examined, for this purpose, 
the minutes of the evidence taken 
before the lords of his majesty’s 
privy council, upon this subject. 
They received from sir John Sin- 
tlair, one of the members of the 
committee, the substance of such 
‘accounts of the state of the late 
crop of grain, as the correspondence 
of the Board of Agriculture had en- 
abled them, at the present period, 
focolleé&. ‘They had further the 
Opportunity of receiving from ma- 
ny of their members a statement 
of facts within their own knowledge, 
or communicated by respectable 
“authorities. from their different 
counties. 
They have received also from his 
majesty’s principal secretary ofstate 
for the home department, such 
returns as had been hitherto made 
to the circular letter written by him 
by his majesty’s command,. to the 
custodes rotulorum and sheriffs de. 
pute in England and Scotland, de- 
siring them to obtain meetings of 
the magistrates for the purpose of 
procuring an account of the state 
of the late crop: but these returns 
are not as yet sufficiently numerous 
or complete to lead to any precise 
conclusion, — 
On the whole, however, the ge. 
neral information derived from the 
sources above-mentioned satisfied 
your committee, that the crop of 
other sorts of grain than wheat has 
been upon the whole abundant, 
but that the produce of wheat has 
proved so far deficient as to require 
the adoption of the speediest and 
most effectual measures for the re. 
medy or alleviation of so great aa 
evil, They were therefore of opi- 
nion, that they should best perform 
their daty by dire&ing their imme- 
diate attention to the consideration 
of such measures; and have, on 
that account, deferred for the pre- 
sent pursuing a detailed inquiry 
into the exaét amount of such 
deficiency ; but they propose ta 
report the same more particular- 
ly to the house, when they shall 
have received such further iofor- 
mation as’ may enable them to col. 
lect more fully the general opinion, 
upon a point which shey are sensi- 
ble it is impossible at any time to 
ascertain with any great degree of 
accuracy. 
The first and most obvious mode 
of 
