228 



CORN 



Corn-laws. Years. Wheat, per quarter. 



Years. 



Wheat, per qu 



w Y— ' 1777 . . . 34s. 4rf. 



1797 



. . . 44*. 3d, 



1778 ... 33 10 



1798 



. . . 41 9 



1779 ... 27 



1799 



. . . 57 1 



1780 ... 29 8 



1800 



... 89 4 



1781 ... 36 6 



1801 



. . 100 9 



1782 ... 35 2 



1802 



. . . 63 7 



1783 ... 42 2 



1803 



... 49 9 



1784. ... 40 



1804 



. . . 53 5 



1785 to 1791 no return 



1805 



... 76 4 



1792 ... 38 2 



1806 



. . . 66 5 



1793 ... 42 9 



1807 



. . . 66 7 



1794 ... 46 4 



1808 



. . . 71 8 



1795 . . . 66 3 



1809 



. . . 85 6 



1796 ... 70 8 







An Account of the quantity of Wheal and Wheat-Flour 

 imported into England from the United States of Ame- 

 rica and other Foreign Countries, from the 5th Janu- 

 ary 1804 to the 5th January 1810. 



n 



Wheat. 



Wheat-Flour. 



From the 









a 



United 



From other 



From the United 



From other fo- 



>" 



States of 



foreign 



States of Ame- 



reign coun- 





America. 



countries. 



rica. 



tries. 





qrs. b. 



qrs. b. 



cwt. qr. lb. 



cwt. qr. lb. 



1804 





324,639 5 



14,478 1 16 



41 3 



1805 





780,778 1 



^6,966 1 19 



5,581 27 



1806 



8,987 



95,055 5 



240,227 2 18 



15 4 



1807 



102,328 3 



65,100 1 



466,715 2 2 



2,175 2 18 



1808 



8,924 5 



7,295 5 



13,685 2 13 



315 20 



1809 34,569 7 



187,900 3 



439,830 2 



411,024 2 19 



In peace, it is likely that our imports from America 

 will much exceed the limited quantity received in the 

 above mentioned years. 



We are next to exhibit a computation of the propor- 

 tion of land cultivated for different purposes in Eng- 

 land and Wales. 



Acres. 



Wheat 3,160,000 



Barley and rye 861,000 



Oats and beans 2,872,000 



Clover, ryegrass, &c 1,149,000 



Roots and cabbage, cultivated by the plough 1,150,000 



Fallow . . . 2,297,000 



Hop grounds . . 36,000 



Nursery grounds 9,000 



Fruit and kitchen gardens, cultivated by the 



spade r 41,000 



Pleasure grounds 16,000 



Land depastured by cattle 17,479,000 



Hedge rows, copses, ami woods 1,641,000 



Ways, water, &c 1,316,000 



32,027,000 

 Commons and waste lands 6,473,000 



Total acres in England and Wales . . 38,500,000 



In a late publication of Mr Arthur Young, (Inquiry 

 into the Progressive Value of Money, p. 99~) we find 

 the following computation of the change in the rate at 

 which land has been sold at different periods ; 



-LAWS. 



Years purchase. 



Sixteenth century 10 



Seventeenth century . . < 16^- 



1712 to 1737 22 



1768 to 1773 32 



1778 to 1789 . . . 23J- 



1792 to 1799 27 



1805 to 1811 28 



In the same work we find a calculation, in some re- 

 spects necessarily a matter of guess, of the progressive 

 rise in the price of corn. Classing together three sorts 

 of grain, and taking the No. 20. as the representative 

 of the average price in the seven years preceding 1810, 

 Mr Young computes the preceding proportions as fol- 

 lows: 



Wheat, barley, and oats 

 classed together. 



Fifteenth century 3 



Sixteenth ditto 5 



Seventeenth ditto 8f 



Eighteenth ditto 10^ 



66 years, from 1701 to 1766 7| 



(During this period the bounty had 



been in operation.) 



34 years, from 1767 to 1800 llf 



14 (repeating ten years) from 1790 to 



1803 14-i- 



7 years, from 1804 to 1810 20~ 



II. Principles of our corn laws. — We shall noAV pro- 

 ceed to consider the principal arguments urged in fa- 

 vour of a bounty, and of an interference on the part of 

 government in regard to the corn trade. A bounty, 

 say the writers on the side of the landholders, leads to 

 export, which, while it assures us of plenty at home, 

 has the effect of bringing in money from other coun- 

 tries. Now, the extent of advantage resulting from 

 exports, at least from forced exports, has been disco- 

 vered of late to be much less than our ancestors ima- 

 gined. No article will bring money, without having 

 cost an equivalent in one way or other. The money 

 obtained for exported corn, so far from being clear 

 gain, is merely an indemnity for the land, the labour, 

 and the capital applied to it. Had the same land, la- 

 bour, and capital, been directed to a different purpose, 

 such, for example, as raising hemp or timber, or 

 feeding cattle, the chance is, that the product might 

 have been equally beneficial ; and, for aught the advo- 

 cates of the bounty system can shew, it might have 

 been more beneficial both to the individual and the 

 public. In this, as in other branches of trade, the 

 plain rule is, to let things take their course, and to al- 

 low the landholder or farmer to grow whatever article 

 the state of the market points out as most advantageous 

 to him. Viewed in a comprehensive light, it is just as 

 impolitic in government to give 5 s. a quarter bounty on 

 the export of corn, as to discourage its export by a 5 s. 

 duty. The plea, that corn, being an article of indispen- 

 sible necessity, cannot be too much encouraged by go- 

 vernment, has no foundation in that state of society 

 where the wants of one country can bo supplied from 

 another. Recent experience has shewn, how unavail- 

 ing are the attempts of the most despotic government 

 to interdict the course of commerce. The experiment 

 has been pushed to the' utmost, and is not likely to re- 

 ceive a second trial. Europe appears to be again co- 

 ming round to the state in which each country may 

 account herself at liberty to employ her labour and her 



Ccrn-Iawi, 



