: 



IT AIT. AM IKST. 



CORN -TRADE, ANCIKNT. 



lit 



to grow, upon an avenge, a certain quantity of produce, the value of 

 Mich pr.'i-ortion of that produce a* mar be agreed upuii hall be 

 paid to the landlord a* rent But a* tie price* of all produce ore 

 liable to considerable variation, and a* the pro6u arii>ing from tin- land 

 mint generally be mainly dependent upon the pricee for which the 

 produce U sold, it is tuppoeed to be equitable to the fanner that the 

 money value of that portion of the ] roluc? which he pays as rentr 

 fhould be calculated *o a* to vary with price!, instead of being il.-t-t 

 mined by any arbitrary or unvarying standard. And it is undeniable 

 that with long Inaiiwi a corn-rent u a security against the growth of 

 any aeriou* duproixirtiun between the rent originally agreed upon and 

 the actual value of the produce of the land. If the fanner, under the 

 security of a long leaae, lay out capital upon the land and thus in- 

 ertaee the quantity f produce, he derive* the entire benefit arising 

 from increased production, u the quantity to be paid as rent hoi 

 already been agreed upon ; and he U secured againct Ion cauaed by a 

 fall in price*, a* the amount of hU rent in governed by prices. 



Fur the purpnee of smearing a corn-rent the average price of wheat 

 alone, or of wheat and other grain, in taken sometimes for the last 

 year, and sometime* for a certain number of yean. If the price for 

 one year only be taken, the result* to the farmer may be thug stated : 

 When prices are low from a limited demand for produce, his rent is 

 reduced ; and when they are low from increased production, his rent 

 is still reduced, although he has more produce than usual to sell. 

 When prices are high from an increased demand, he has more rent to 

 pay, but the remunerative prices enable him to pay it easily; but 

 when an advance of prices is caused by scarcity, his rent is raised, 

 while the high prices may be counterbalanced by the diminished 

 quantity of produce which he has to sell. Thus in three cases out of 

 four a corn-rent is favourable to the farmer ; and even in the fourth 

 case he is secured from loss by its favourable operation in other yearn. 

 In some leases also a further advantage is given to him by fixing a 

 maximum price : and thus if prices should happen to rise beyond that 

 point, he derives the whole profit accruing from the difference. 

 I'n I. r this system of annual averages, so advantageous to the farmer, 

 there is a certain degree of unfairness to the landlord, which is some- 

 times corrected by nning rent upon the average price .of different 

 kinds of produce for a certain number of years ; by which means a 

 just proportion is maintained between the money-rent and the average 

 annual value realised from the land. It is upon this principle that the 

 tithe rent-charges are calculated, from the average price of grain for 

 seven years [TITHES] ; and corn-rente are sometimes regulated by the 

 scale of average prices published annually for the purposes of the 

 Tithe Commutation Act In Wiltshire some farms are let in this 

 manner, but their number is inconsiderable. The rent of grazing and 

 dairy farms cannot be regulated by the ordinary system of corn- 

 averages; but in some of the dairy farms of Cheshire the rent is 

 determined by the average price of wheat and of cheese. In many 

 parts of the south of Scotland corn-rents are p.-u'd according to the 

 far prices of corn, as determined in each county by a jury summoned 

 by the sheriff for that purpose. 



The principle of a corn-rent is by no means of recent origin ; for by 

 an act 18 Elizabeth, 6, it was required that in all future leases 

 granted by the colleges in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, 

 and by the colleges of Winchester and Eton, one-third |rt at least 

 of the old rent shall be reserved and paid in good wheat at 6. 8rf. the 

 quarter or under, and good malt at 5. the quarter or under : or shall 

 be paid in ready money after the rate of the best wheat and malt sold 

 at the nearest market 



(Journal of the Royal Agricultural Soeltty, vol. v. pp. 84, 1 77 ; see also 

 Index to Report t,n A</rirnltural Dittrim, 183fi.) 



OOBN-TRADE, AXriKNT. The production of corn, one of the 

 chief necessaries of life, and its commercial exchange, have li.-i-n a 

 subject of the first importance in all ages. It is proposed here to state 

 briefly the general nature of the trade in corn among two of the Ktates 

 of antiquity to whom we are mainly indebted for our knowledge of 

 the economical condition of ancient times. There are few iui]>r>rtant 

 ]>olitical questions at the present day to which we cannot find some- 

 thing similar in former times ; and the blunders of ancient legislation 

 may (till be instructive to modern statesmen. 



Oon 'I'm,!,. The small and comparatively barren terri- 

 tory of Attica did not produce sufficient com for the c..nMimption 

 i.f the inhabitants. Corn was brought into the Pincus, the ]>ort of 

 Athens, from the countries bordering on the Black Sea, Syria, K^ypt. 

 and other parts of Africa, and from Sicily. Demosthenes asserted 

 (B.C. 355) that the Athenians imported more grain than any other 

 people (' A gamut Leptine*/ c. 9). But the trade in corn between 

 Greece and the Black Sea was of some magnitude atamu. 1 

 date. In B.C. 480, Xerxes, while at Abydos, on his v..n to tli< 

 invasion of Greece, saw the corn-ships that were sailing from the Black 

 Sea and through the Dardanelles and carrying corn to !' !<; 

 and ^Cgina. (Herodotus, vii. 147.) Some parts of the country on the 

 coast of the Black Sea now export grain, and probably have exported 

 grain ever since the time of Xerxes. 



The importation of grain into Attica was a matter that was pro- 

 tected and regulated by tbe state ; and instance* are mentioned of 

 armed ship* convoying the com-vessels from the Black Sea to the 

 Pineu*. The exportation of corn from Attica was forbidden ; and only 



one-third of tbe foreign corn that was imported into the Pinpu- 

 be re-exported to other countries : this law as to importation was en- 

 forced by tbe oveneen of the harbour. The law interfered with the 

 trade in corn in other way* alto, with the intention appareir 

 keeping price* low : but with what success it is easy to conjecture. 

 Engrossing or the buying up of com was a serious offence : a man 

 Amid not purchase more than fifty loads (called <popiu>(). The amount 

 of these loads cannot be exactly ascertained, nor is it material : tbe 

 principle is clearly shown by the limitation. The ]>enalty for violating 

 this law was death. Boeckh (' Public Economy of Athens,' Kng. trans.) 

 state* the law thus : " In order to prevent the accumulation and 

 hoarding of corn, engrossing was very much restricted ; it was not 

 permitted to I my at one time more than fifty such loads as a man 

 could carry." According to this a man might buy fifty loads as often 

 as he pleased at different times. But the meaning of the passage of 

 Lygiaa is that a man must not buy up com so as to have on hand more 

 than fifty loads at a time. This interpretation is consistent with the 

 (ircck. and the other is not; and it is not open to the same kind of 

 objection that Boeckh's interpretation is. 



The absurdity of the Athenian legislation on tin- trade in corn 

 appear* from a speech of Lysias against the convdcnlerx (Kmaruv 

 ZiTowXwr). The corn-dealer* were generally aliens, and their business 

 made them objects of popular detestation : it was alleged that they 

 bought up com, and refused to sell it when it was wanted, and thus 

 compelled the buyers to pay them their own price. Vet it is stated by 

 Lysias that the law was, that a dealer must sell his corn only one 

 obolus dearer (the luedimnus ?) than he bought it Thus the law 

 attempted to fix the maximum profit of the dealers. But they evaded 

 the law, according to the same authority, by selling it a drachma (six 

 oboli) higher on the same day : the meaning of the orator here 

 quite clear. The orator states that the hope of great gain made the 

 dealers run the risk of the extreme penalty of the law. He urges the 

 court which was then sitting for the trial of some of the corn-dealers 

 whom he was prosecuting, to enforce the penalty against them. 

 make them mend their manners; and he represent* both the con- 

 sumers and the importers of corn as suffering from the combinations of 

 the dealers. A more signal instance of absurdity and 

 ignorance is not extant than this oration. 



To carry the laws as to the sale of corn into effect, the Ath' 

 had corn wardens (O-ITO^I'ACUHS) who kept an account of the corn that 

 was imported, inspected flour and bread, and saw that they were sold 

 of the weight and at the price fixed by law. 



Various enactments were made with a view of securing a supply of 

 corn ; such as that no money should be lent on a vessel which did not, 

 bring back to Athens a return cargo of goods, among which corn was 

 mentioned; and that no person living in Attica should import corn to 

 any place except the port of Athens. The interest of indivi.lu 

 ultimately the real interests of the community, were thus n't in oppe.. 

 sition to the supposed interests of the state, ami evasion- of the laws 

 are often spoken of. Individuals attempted what they will always do, 

 to sell their grain at the dearest market. (Xcnophon, (Kconom./ 

 c. 20.) 



There were public corn-warehouses at Athens, in which com was 

 lodged that had been purchased at the expense of the state, and some- 

 times, aa it appears, by private contributions. There were officer* 

 npi>ointed to purchase the corn (corn-buyers, trir&nu), and persons to 

 give or measure it out (aroSArrot). Com so purchased was probably 

 sold to the people at a low price, and sometimes also there were gra- 

 tuitous distributions of it, as at Rome ; and occasionally, as at 

 also, presents of grain were received from foreign princes or rich 

 persons, and distributed among the people gratis. 



Thin subject has been investigated by Boeckh, ' l';il>lie Kcon<nny of 

 Athens,' translated by Mr. (now Sir) O. C. Lewis, 2nd edition, revised, 

 1842; and these remarks are mainly founded mi what is sni.l 

 The subject is curious, but unfortunately we mii.-t collect our in 

 tion mainly from detached passages of the Athenian orators, who deal 

 largely in falsehood and exaggeration, and it is not possible to ai i 

 certainty on some points. 



Roman Corn-trade. What we know of the ancient coni-ti 

 Italy mainly relates to the city of Rome. From an early ] 



I to the administration to we that the city was duly supplied 

 with grain. The immediate neighbourhood of Rome did not supply 

 nts of the city, and grain was imported into Rome from the 

 country of the Volsci and from Cumac soon after the establish: 

 the consular government (Livy, ii. 9.) An imjmrtation of corn from 

 Sicily is mentioned by I. ivy lii. lit under the year B.C. 486. A.- tlie 

 Romans extended their empire, and prorin< 

 formed, such as those of Sicily and Sardinia, lu 

 from foreign parts. After the conquest of Sicily, the propriety 

 allowed to keep their land.- on condition of paying a tenth of the pro- 

 duce to the Romans, according to the system whi u esta- 

 : by Kin/ Micro. Sardinia, after the conquest, paid the same. 

 (I. ivy, xxxvi. -'.> The mode of proceeding, as to the tenths in Sicily, 



was thin: the cultivator gave notii I what quantity of land he 



intended to sow, and an entry was made of it. The Roman state took 

 tbe tenth of the produce in kind, which the cultivator wa* bound to 

 convey to some port in Sicily, where it wa* embarked for Rome. All 

 the wheat produced by the tenth* was entered in the public books. 



