( 162 ) Bk. iii. 



CHAP. XI. 



Of Corn-Laws. Bounties upon Exportation. 



It has been observed that some countries, with 

 great resources in land, and an evident power of 

 supporting a greatly increased population from 

 their own soil, have yet been in the habit of im- 

 porting large quantities of foreign corn, and have 

 become dependent upon other states for a great 

 part of their supplies. 



The causes which may lead to this state of 

 things seem to be chiefly the following : 



First ; any obstacles which the laws, constitu- 

 tion and customs of a country present to the 

 accumulation of capital on the land, which do not 

 apply with equal force to the increasing employ- 

 ment of capital in commerce and manufactures. 



In every state in which the feudal system has 

 prevailed, there are laws and customs of this kind, 

 which prevent the free division and alienation of 

 land like other property, and render the prepara- 

 tions for an extension of cultivation often both 

 very difficult and very expensive. Improvements 

 in such countries are chiefly carried on by tenants, 

 a large part of whom have not leases, or at least 

 leases of any length ; and though their wealth and 

 respectability have of late years very greatly in- 

 creased, yet it is not possible to put them on a 



