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CHAP. XII. 



Of Com-Laus. Restrictions upon Imjwrtation. 



The laws which prohibit the importation of fo- 

 reign grain, though by no means unobjectionable, 

 are not open to the same objections as bounties, 

 and must be allowed to be adequate to the object 

 they have in view, — the maintenance of an inde- 

 pendent supply. A country, with landed re- 

 sources, which determines never to import corn 

 but when the price indicates an approach towards 

 a scarcity, will necessarily, in average years, 

 supply its own wants. Though we may reasonably 

 therefore object to restrictions upon the importa- 

 tion of foreign corn, on the grounds of their tending 

 to prevent the most profitable employment of the 

 national capital and industry, to check population, 

 and to discourage the export of our manufactures; 

 yet we cannot deny their tendency to encourage 

 the growth of corn at home, and to procure and 

 maintain an independent supply. A bounty, it 

 has appeared, sufficient to make it answer its pur- 

 pose in forcing a surplus growth, would, in many 

 cases, require so very heavy a direct tax, and 

 would bear so large a proportion to the whole 

 price of the corn, as to make it in some countries 

 next to impracticable. Restrictions upon impor- 



