WITH THE MANCHESTER GUARDIAN. 



235 



important as it alFords me the opportunity of clearly explain- 

 ing the real nature and extent of my undertaking. 



^^Flax a Puzzler!" 

 The duty oa foreign flax is one penny per cwt. A cwt. of 

 good flax is worth about 435., which is the average price of the 

 quarter of wheat in Lincolnshire for the last week. Wheat 

 enjoys the protection of 2O5. a quarter at this moment, which 

 is *240 times more than the ad valorem duty on flax ; and the 

 question may be fairly asked of the farmer, ' Do you find this 

 protection reach you in the shape of extra profit upon your 

 wheat as compared to your flax?' This inquiry is answered 

 by our old acquaintance, Mr. Warnes, of Norfolk, who, we 

 see, has been paying an agitating visit into Sussex, to stimu- 

 . late the farmers to grow flax instead of wheat ; and Sir Charles 

 Burrell, under whose auspices he appeared at the Arundel 

 and Bramtree Agricultural Meeting, is urgent in recommend- 

 ing his tenants to enter upon the cultivation of this unpro- 

 tected article. The wheat-growing farmers in Sussex, as Mr. 

 Ellman informs us, are in a distressed plight : let us sec if we 

 can draw an argument or two for their instruction from the 

 remedy prescribed for the cure of the ills by Mr. Warnes and 

 Sir Charles Burrell. The protectionists (as they facetiously 

 call themselves) tell the farmers that the unprofitable price of 

 wheat is caused by the importations from abroad. Now, the 

 whole of the foreign wheat and wheaten flour entered for home 

 consumption this year amounts to about 750,000 quarters, or 

 less than a tenth part of the whole consumption. During the 

 same time 800,000 cwts. of foreign flax have been imported, or 

 more than a third part of the whole consumption. Again, we 

 are told that the English farmer cannot compete with the serf- 

 labour in Russia. Yet it is a notorious fact, that a great por- 

 tion of the flax is imported from lliissia. Then Sir Robert 

 Peel tells us, that the English farmer has heavy burdens, 

 such as poor-rates and highway rates, to bear ; to w^hich Lord 

 John Russell has added county rates; but are not all these 

 borne by the flax-grower, as well as by the cultivator of wheat? 

 The National Debt of the country, we are told, prevents the 

 English farmer from competing with foreigners ; but does the 



