Report of the Select Committee on the Slate of Agriculture. [Aug. J ? 
56 
would otherwise be employed hi spe¬ 
culating in coni of British growth ; 
aud, secondly, That it enables them to 
hold, in the warehouses of this'country, 
a large stock of foreign wheat, the no¬ 
toriety of which depresses the markets, 
from the dread of its being poured in 
so soon as it is set free by the prices 
rising above eighty shillings*. 
The first objection proceeds upon 
two assumptions, both of which appear 
to your Committee doubtful: 1st, that 
the capitals of the dealers are absorbed 
in this foreign speculation; and se¬ 
condly, that,'if not so employed, they 
would speculate with them in British 
corn. Your Committee conceive, that 
there is no fixed amount of capital as¬ 
signed to this trade, and that it is go¬ 
verned by the same principles which 
stimulate the application of capital in 
all other branches of foreign or domestic 
commerce. The value of all the fo¬ 
reign corn now in this country, which 
cannot be sold for home consumption 
till the price shall, for some weeks, 
have exceeded 80s. a quarter, is proba¬ 
bly less than one million sterling. 
British corn, by the last return, was 
about 53s. per quarter. Can there be 
a doubt, if an impression prevailed ge¬ 
nerally, that it would rise to 79s. before 
next harvest, that abundant capital 
would be found for speculation ? and 
is not the want of it, at this moment, 
rather to be received as evidence of an 
apprehension that, in the event of ano¬ 
ther productive harvest, the present 
low prices would not be improved ? 
Upon the second objection, your 
Committee have only to remark, that 
it is unquestionably true, that the pre¬ 
sent accumulation of a great quantity 
of foreign coni, the surplus of the two 
or three last harvests ou the Continent, 
would have a considerable influence 
upon the prices here, in the event of 
the ports being opened in conse¬ 
quence of a deficient harvest. But the 
question is, whether that influence 
would not be nearly, if not altogether 
the same, under that contingency, if 
that accumulation were altogether at 
the shipping ports of Holland, or other 
parts of the Continent, instead of being 
divided between them and the ware¬ 
houses of this country? the ports of 
Flanders and Holland being as conve¬ 
nient for the Thames, as most of our 
own ports from which corn is shipped 
for London. 
Having stated the grounds upon 
which your Committee are of opinion 
that the expectations which have been 
entertained of advantage from the re¬ 
peal of this clause, are not likely to 
be realized, they conceive that the 
views in which it was introduced, of 
making this country a deposit of fo¬ 
reign grain, from which either our own 
occasional wants* or those of other na¬ 
tions, might be supplied, are, indepen¬ 
dent of other considerations, too much 
in unison with our general warehousing 
system, from which this country de¬ 
rives such important commercial ad¬ 
vantages, to he abandoned, without 
further proof of their prejudicial effects 
to our agriculture, than any which 
your Committee have been able to col¬ 
lect from the evidence. 
It is material to observe, also, that 
the warehousing of foreign corn in this 
country has this great advantage, that 
it places the supply of our w T auts, to 
the extent of the quantity warehoused, 
out of the reach of foreign States, put¬ 
ting it out of their power, in a season 
of scarcity, to aggravate the pressure 
of those wants, either by prohibiting 
the export of corn, or by imposing a 
heavy duty upon that export. The 
fact of upwards of 100,000 quarters of 
wheat having been recently sent fiom 
the warehouses of this country to the 
Mediterranean, further shews that this 
facility of deposit is not a matter of 
indifference to the commerce and navi¬ 
gation of this country. 
An impression prevails in many 
quarters, that large quantities of corn, 
imported since February, 1819, have 
recently been introduced into home 
consumption. This could only have 
occurred by a fraudulent evasion of 
the law. Of the existence of this 
practice to a great extent, vour Com¬ 
mittee have received many intimations. 
They appeal", however, to rest upon 
vague rumours, which the parties, 
when called upon, have not come for¬ 
ward, or not been able to substantiate, 
except in one instance, the particulars 
of which your Committee forbear to 
state, as it is understood that the per¬ 
sons concerned in the attempt are now 
under prosecution. They will only 
observe, that the quantity stated to 
have been withdrawn was inconsidera¬ 
ble, and that it appears to them, if 
further security be requisite against 
the recurrence of this fraud, that re¬ 
gulations for that purpose may easily 
fee devised and introduced into the 
Bill, now before the House, for better 
ascertaining the averages. 
NEW 
