232 Agriculture during Two Great Wars. [june. 



prohibited, and foreign corn was admitted at reduced rates, or 

 even at the ordinary poundage of ^d. per qr. It was believed 

 that the system not only steadied prices, but reduced the risk 

 of scarcity by encouraging farmers to maintain a larger corn 

 acreage than in normal years was necessary to feed the 

 population. Whether consumers gained or lost by the arrange- 

 ment it would be difficult to decide. They were not cut off 

 by Import Duties from any cheaper supply than their own, 

 because from 1689 to 1765 English wheat averaged 4d. per qr. 

 less than the price in Continental markets. Foreign corn, 

 bearing the additional cost of freight and insurance, could 

 rarely have reduced the price of EngUsh grain. On the other 

 hand, in times of scarcity home consumers benefited by the 

 large acreage under corn which was maintained by the bounty 

 on exportation. 



From 1765 onwards, under the pressure of a growing popula- 

 tion, England gradually ceased to be an exporting country ; 

 in the last 35 years of the century her imports of corn exceeded 

 her exports by over 22,000,000 qr. Throughout the 

 French war the Corn Laws were practically inoperative. 

 Liberty to export was continuously suspended. At the same 

 time exceptional efforts were made to secure imports from abroad. 

 For fear that private buyers might be deterred from bu^dng by 

 high prices, freights and insurances, agents on behalf of the 

 Government shipped corn to this country from the Baltic 

 ports ; grain in neutral ships destined for foreign countries, 

 was seized and put on the home market ; heavy bounties 

 were offered to importers of wheat. 



Yet, in spite of these efforts, and in spite also of the high 

 prices which prevailed in this country during the war, we only 

 succeeded, from 1801 to 1816, in obtaining a yearly average 

 of less than 600,000 qr. of wheat from abroad. For this 

 comparative failure there were many reasons — such as the 

 generally unfavourable seasons and consequently the universal 

 shortage, the ravages of war, competitive buying by belligerent 

 nations, the obstruction of the ports by political, naval or 

 military complications. But the smallness of the figure is a 

 significant proof of the success of farmers at home in meeting 

 the national needs of a growing population. It was estimiated 

 in those days that the annual consumption of bread averaged 

 from 8 to 6 bushels of wheat per head of the people. On 

 this reckoning some 600,000 persons were each year throughout 

 the period fed by imported wheat. In 1801, therefore, over 

 14,000,000 of the people, in 1811 over 17,000,000, and in i8i6. 



