334 



Asriculture and the Corn-Laws. 



Vol. VIII. 



singularly diminished ?* If they had no^, labour by fresh land being brought under 

 what becomes of the assertion that the high the plough; — and consequently, in the se- 

 price of wheat is no injury to the farm \a.-\\cond place, that it is not to any advance in 

 bourer? I agriculture that our increasing population 



II. But the wages of the labourer are not must look for employment and support. 

 only nol raised in proportion to the price of i But the population of Great Britain mul- 

 corn ; — it admits of certain demonstration, tiplies at the rate of 200,0(JO annually, of 

 that in the long lun they are actually low-jl whom three-fourths, or 150,0U0, must be 

 ered by the operation of the corn-laws., estimated to belong to the working classes, 

 Tliat these laws have the effect of curtailing! who must either starve, or live upon charity, 

 both the foreign and the home demand, fori or sub-sist by the labour of their hands. Em- 



the products of manufacturing industry, we 

 shall take for granted, because it has been 

 so repeatedly proved, and is now so gene- 

 rally acknowledged, that all reasoning upon 

 the subject here would be superfluous. In 

 proportion as they have this effect, they 

 limit the extension of manufactures, and 

 the employment of the people therein. They 

 limit tfie demand for labour, and consequent- 

 ly lessen its remuneration. 



The number of individuals occupied in 

 the cultivation of the soil has not increased, 

 and will not increase, with the extension ofj 

 that cultivation. On the contrary, it has 

 diminished, and we have no doubt will con-: 

 tiriue to diminish, unless some such change 

 should take place in our system of agricul- 

 ture as shall approach to garden cultivation. 

 In the ten years ending with 1830, we know 

 that tillage had been much extended, and 

 that large additional quantities of land had 

 been brought under the plough. The num- 

 ber of enclosure bills passed during that pe- 

 riod was 205; yet, during that period, the 

 number of families engaged in agriculture 

 had decreased from 967,500 to 961,000; 

 while 470,000 families had been added toj 

 our total population. The returns of the, 

 la^^t ten years, from 1831 to 1841, have not 

 yet been published ; but we will venture to 

 predict, that, when published, they will 

 show a similar result. From this we draw 

 two conclusions, which admit of no denial: 

 — -first, that the economy of labour by tjje 

 introduction of improved modes of culture, 

 more than counterbalances the demand for 



ployment must be found for 150,000 addi- 

 tional pair of hanjds every year. As long as 

 trade and commerce prosper, they will find 

 this employment in manufacturing pursuits, 

 and the subsidiary crafts; — when trade and* 

 commerce are depressed and blighted, they 

 will be thrown back upon the land, either 

 to live in idleness upon its fruits, or by com- 

 petitio7i to depress the wages of the farm- 

 ing labourer. Hitherto the course of events 

 has happily followed the former alternative; 

 but the time for the latter is fast approach- 

 ing, nay, has actually commenced; and, un- 

 less the corn-laws are speedily removed, it 

 can no longer be arrested. Now, we have 

 seen that no additional hands are required 

 for the cultivation of the soil; — in fact, their 

 numbers are already redundant. What, 

 then, must be the effect of the annual influx 

 of 150,000 additional labourers into a market 

 already overstocked] What but ruinously 

 to depress the wages of labour, — the price 

 of the only commodity the poor man has to 

 sell! The conclusion is as certain as any 

 in arithmetic, that such a check to the ad- 

 vance of manufactvres as the corn-laws 

 are fast bringing about, will infallibly re- 

 duce the earnings of the agricultural la- 

 bourer to the very lowest point at which 

 even the most uncomfortable life can be 

 sustained, — far below even their present 

 pitiful amount. 



As to what the corn-law has effected, 

 some controversy may arise. As to what it 

 has not effected, there can be no controversy 

 whatever; since it must be evident to the 



