150 On the Corn Laws, 



II. Principle of the Commercial System. - 



" That at all times, and from all countries, corn shall he admis- 

 " sible into Great Britain and Ireland : That there shall be no re- 

 " straint whatever, either in regard to the country whence the corn 

 " shall be brought, or to the shipping in which it may be conveyed : 

 In short, that the trade shall be free, in regard to the mode of con- 

 " veyance, and shall not be liable to any duty on importation." 



III. Arguments in favour of Agriculture, and a Refutation of the 

 reasons urged in favour of the Commercial System. 



1. That the territory of a country, is the only sure and permanent 

 basis of national prosperity, and the fund, which it is both our duty, 

 and our interest, as much as possible, to cultivate and to improve. 



2. That if adequate protection and encouragement be given to the 

 cultivation of the soil, its produce, in Great Britain and Ireland, (un- 

 less in seasons peculiarly unfavourable), will be fully adequate to sup- 

 ply their inhabitants with food. 



3. That if the principles of free trade are admissible in regard to 

 other articles, they ought not to be acted upon in regard to corn ; 

 because a dependence on other countries for food, is in the highest de- 

 gree dangerous, and may be productive of the most fatal calamities. 



4. That if we depended upon foreign governments for food, they 

 would naturally be induced to impose taxes on the exportation of 

 grain, to enrich their own exchequers, which Prussia actually did 

 in the year 1801 * ; and that those foreign countries whence we de- 

 rive our supplies, may have deficient harvests, in which case, the go- 

 vernments of those countries, may be compelled to prohibit exporta- 

 tion, to prevent their own subjects from being reduced to distress, in 

 which case Great Britain would suffer all the calamities of famine. 



6. That any great dependence on foreign countries for food, would 

 be highly dangerous if a war broke out, by which any regular supply 

 of corn might be prevented ; and even if we preserved our naval su- 

 periority, we might be unable to protect our trading ships in all quar- 

 ters of the globe, more especially since the discovery of steam naviga- 

 tion, for it would necessarily become a most important object to our 

 enemies, to prevent our being supplied with grain, as a sure means of 

 reducing us to submission -j-. 



7. That although an insular situation is favourable to a supply by 

 navigation, yet it is exposed to many hazards, in particular to tempests, 

 and " the caprice of the winds and the waves ," so that a regular sup- 

 ply, for many weeks and even for months, might be retarded. 



8. That the home market is by far the most favourable for the sale 

 of our manufactured goods, and that no instance is on record, or can 

 be produced, when agricultural produce was at a fair, liberal, and 



* See the Report of the Agricultural Committee, p. 479. 



f It was a famine in France, that compelled the government of that country, 

 to agree to an unfavourable peace at Aix-la-Chapelle, on terms, to which other- 

 wise it would never have acceded, 



