B O U 



B O U 



ragemcnt wliitli nny afiigncd bounty will gis'c to Iiufljandi-y, 

 mall expire after a Ihoit interval, or as foon as the money 

 price of corn, in the home market, lia? rifen, which it will ine- 

 vitably do, fo high as to cover the whole advantaivc, which the 

 bounty had orininally given to the exporter in his falcs 

 abroad ; — and tho whole encouragement which, in the mean 

 time, the bounty can give to agriculture, will be foiuul to 

 be very flitjht, when it is conlidered ifi what way it is formed, 

 and that it confills, not in the addition of the whole bounty 

 to the fanner's price, bnt in that fmall addition to his price 

 which is occafioned from time to time by the gradual cxtcn- 

 iion of foreign demat:ds. In reference to the prtftnt 

 ci-cumllances of this country, it ought alfo to be recolieited, 

 that, when the average price of cora at home is greater 

 than that of the foreign market, the interval of encourage- 

 ment to tillage, undi.r the fap.ic bounty, will be fliorterthan 

 in the other two cales, and the wliole difadvantnge of high 

 money pric;^ will be fooncr brought to its greatell iieight. 

 Adverting to the prefent Hate of the agricultural produce of 

 our ow.i country, and what has cauftd an alarm to fomc nf 

 our legiflators as well as political writers, we arc happy in 

 adopting the opinion of tliefe who think it unneceflary. If, 

 behdes being depi^ndent in years of fcarcity on very large im- 

 portations from abroad, we are even in ordinary years de- 

 pendent upon importation for a certain portion of oiirneceffary 

 fupply, it Items, admitting the faft, to be only a temporary 

 and llig'it inconvenience. It is doubted, whether, in this 

 cafe, a bounty upon exportation, and the prolubition of 

 importation, furnilh the moll fuitable and efftftual remedy : 

 and it is not unreafonably fiiggelled, that an entire freedom 

 of importation, continued with a bounty upon produtlion, 

 augmented from time to time, might have appeared at lead 

 a more plaiifible propofal. Nothing can be more un- 

 founded than the fear, which fome advocates for t)ie bounty 

 have exprefTed, that England may ceafe to be an agricultu- 

 ral nation ; except the lamentations, v.hich others have 

 indulged over the aftual decline of its hufhandry, lince that 

 which has been called the fatal llatute of the year 1775. It 

 fliould be recollefted that, from year to year of this period, 

 the hnfhandmen of Britain have extended their capital, 

 their (Icill, and their produce, though the commerce and 

 mannfaiflures of the illand have in fome mcafure concealed 

 its agricultural grandeur. The bounty feems to have re- 

 commended itfelf to fome of ito admirers, as a fimple expe- 

 dient for fecuring, by paying a few fhillings at the cullom 

 houfe, fuch a furphis of annuHl produce as will equalize 

 the variation of value, and ellabliiTi even a remedy againll the 

 natural inconllancy of the feafons. In this view of it, the 

 bounty is to accumulate, by a ];iiid of mechanical operation, 

 a furplns of produce, for fupplying an occafional deliciency ; 

 and it is to aft as a regulator of the price, againll the 

 circumftances that tend to enhance or to deprtfs it. If it is 

 capable of doing fo much, it may alfo do more ; and ferve to 

 reprefs, as Mr. Malthus has inferred, the principle of popu- 

 lation a little in years of plenty, and to encourage it com- 

 paratively in years of fcarcity ; regulating, in this manner, 

 the population more equally, according to that quantity of 

 fubdllence which can permanently be fupplied. It is well 

 obferved, that a meafure can rarely be wildom for one great 

 llatc, which may not be permanently followed by all. 

 All cannot, by adopting the bounty, fccure to each an 

 export of grain ; and the Tingle nation that Hoops from the 

 plain high maxims of policy to fuch an artifice, will 

 ultimately be convinced that the advantage gained by it, it 

 any, mull be very inconfiderable. The balance of this trade 

 cannot long be very great to any nation ; and it will be 

 naturally pofleffed by that one, whofe capital and (liill arc in 

 Vou. V. 



a condition to f.irnlni the additional fupjilics molt adiran. 

 tageoully to all. In this condition, if the exportation is freev 

 it will hold thi- b.dance, without requiring the aid of a 

 bounty ; nor can a bounty give it the balanoe, if it be not 

 in that condition. 



Having llated, as briefly as pofiible, the priocips! arc;!!- 

 ments on both lulcs, for and againll a bounty, we (hnll clojir 

 this article with a (hort abilract of the hillory of thii, com- 

 mercial inltitution. The piices of corn had been fo variable 

 during the 17th ci ntury, and in general fo high, the average 

 price of wheat for fifty years bef.re l6j;o having been 

 61. 8s. led. and from 16/^0 to l7co.jl.o«. I id. per quarter, 

 that the attention of the Icgiflature had frequently been 

 direfttd to this objcft ; and various attempts had been tnaiie 

 to revive agriculture, with a view of redrcirmg this evil, by 

 encouiMging the exportation, and checking the importation 

 of corn ; but none ot them ha<l proved cfftftual. Towards 

 the end of the century, howevir, the prices had been fo 

 uniformly high, and on feme ocealions fo oppreflive, as to 

 induce the truly patriotic and judicious adminillration uruler 

 William and Mary, immediately after the revolution u\ 

 168S, to invcltigate fome method of remedying tiliij! cvi), 

 and of preventing its future recunence. With this view, a 

 refolution was adopted of granting a certain bounty upon 

 the exportation of corn, when tlie crops were fo abundant 

 as to reduce the price below the rate wliich they conceivcj 

 to be uectdary for indemnifying the farmer for his expence 

 and trouble, fo as jull to enable him to find for it a foreign 

 market ; and with a view alfo of preventing a competition of 

 foreigners in our home market, when the crop happened ta 

 be uncomm.only abundant, and of guarding againll the ma- 

 chinations of corn-dealers, who mijjht, for their own lucra- 

 tive purpofes, occalionally introduce much foreign corn inta 

 the home market, fo as to lower the price of a moderate 

 crop in Britain below its intrinfic value, they impofed certain 

 duties on corn imported, which rofe or fell in proportion t(» 

 the felling price at the time in our own market, as proteft- 

 ing duties. The aim of the legiflature, in tliefe regulations, 

 was to preferve, as much as pofTible, an equality and mode- 

 ration of price at all times in the home market. Such were 

 the principles of the corn law, firft cnafted in the year j6S8 

 by I W. and M. and finally completed in 1700 by II and 

 12 W. and M. c. 20, By the law of 16S8, a bounty of 

 ^s. was granted for every quarter of wheat exported, when 

 the price was at or under 4SS. per quarter ; and by the 

 fame law, there was payable on importation a duly of il. 4s. 

 per quarter, when the price did not exceed 3I. 19s. 3d. ; 

 when the price was above that, and not exceeding 61., the 

 duty payable was 12s. per quarter; and when the price 

 was above 61., the duty was only Ss. This commercial re- 

 gulation was much celebrated by the I)tfl writers and llatcf- 

 men of England, throughout the lirlt part of the lail cen- 

 tury ; thty always mentioned it with admiration, as an in- 

 flitution that had been wifely planned, and that had com- 

 pletely fucceeded ; and it was ranked with the art of navi- 

 gation, the laws for the woollen llaple, or queen Eliza- 

 beth's provifion for the poor, as an inftparable part of that 

 peculiar fyllcm, to wliich England was indebted for her 

 fuperiority over all other nations. The diminution of the 

 average price, and the progrcffive increafe of tx;>oi ts, within 

 the period at the beginning of which the bounty had been 

 inftituted, prefenteu a flattering coincidence ; and at a time 

 when the analyfis of national wealth was unknown, it was 

 natural enough to believe, that the caufe of thcfe curious 

 fafts could be no other but that remarkable law which julk 

 preceded their appearance. As a perfpcftive regulation. 

 Dr. Anderfon couliders k as one of the hightll exeU'ons of 

 S humaa 



