Regulations under which the Corn Trade of the U. Kingdom was conducted previously to 1846.-These regulations were embodied in the act 5 Vict. 2 sess. c. 14., some clauses of which still continue in force (see post). This act imposed the following scale of duties on wheat and other descriptions of corn when imported from a foreign country.

From the extreme difficulty of forming any thing like correct conclusions as to the state of the crops at any given period in any extensive country, and still more of estimating the supply and probable price of corn at any future period, though but a little remote, the risk attending the corn trade is proverbially great. Under such circumstances, if government interfere at all, it should certainly be to lessen such hazards; and, at all events, it should take especial care to do nothing to increase them. Hence, if a duty be imposed on importation, it should be constant, so that its influence may always be estimated beforehand; for if the amount of duty depend on accidental circumstances, or on any thing so fluctuating and incapable of previous estimation as the prices in the home market, it must necessarily, by increasing the hazard of all speculations in corn, tend to auginent those inequalities in its supply and price, that should, in as far as possible, be diminished. To show the direct influence of such duties, it may suffice to mention that if, under the above law, a merchant had commissioned a quantity of wheat when the home price was between 64s. and 658. a quarter, he would, in the event of the price falling to 60s. before the importation took place, have lost 9s. a quarter by the transaetion, viz. 48. a quarter by the fall of price, and 5s. a quarter by the increase of duty.

It may, perhaps, be said that if, on the one hand, the late scale of duties was injurious to the merchant when prices were falling, and when importation was consequently either unnecessary or of less advantage, it was, on the other hand, equally advantageous to him when prices were rising, and when the public interests required that importation should be encouraged: but the prices in the view of the merchant when he gives an order are always such as he supposes will yield a fair profit; and if they rise, this rise will, supposing the trade free or the duty constant, yield such an extra profit as will make him increase his imports to the utmost. If it were possible to devise a system that should diminish the losses incurred in unfavourable speculations, by making a proportional deduction from the profits of such as were unusually successful, something, perhaps, might be found to say in its favour. But the system we acted upon of late years proceeded on quite opposite principles: its effect was not to diminish risks, but to increase them; it added to the loss resulting from an unsuccessful, and to the profit resulting from a successful speculation!

There are other considerations that serve to set the pernicious operation of a fluctuating duty in a still more striking point of view. Should a tract of unfavourable weather occur before harvest, and a deficient crop be anticipated, prices rise, and the duty falls to next to nothing; but now suppose that the weather becomes fine, and that the anticipations of a short crop are dispelled, and observe what, under such circumstances, is the operation of the sliding-scale. In such a case, prices immediately give way, and, to avoid the consequent increase of duty, every bushel of foreign corn warehoused in the country, and, indeed, in every contiguous foreign port, is forthwith entered for consumption, and thrown upon a falling market! With no duty, or

with a fixed duty, merchants distribute the supply of corn according to the best estimate they can form of the real wants and necessities of the people. But the operation of a sliding-scale goes far to exclude such considerations. Besides doubling the hazards of the trade, it tempts merchants, when prices are rising, to hold back, in the expectation of being able to enter their corn at a reduced duty; and when, on the other hand, a fall of prices is anticipated, the market, as already seen, is overloaded, and prices ruinously depressed by the supplies forced upon it to escape the increase of duty! It is thus alternately injurious to the manufacturing and the agricultural classes; entailing the severest privations on the former, by making the importers withhold their corn from market till the price attains to a ruinously high level; and, on the latter, by making the same parties throw it on a market which is already depressed. The extreme low prices of 1821 and 1822, and of 1833, 1834, and 1835, were, no doubt, in part occasioned by the excess of the foreign entries for consumption arising out of the circumstances now mentioned.

When our ports are opened under the system to take effect in 1849, supplies, whether of native or of foreign growth, will only be furnished when necessary, and will be limited by the necessity; and when prices are low, or falling, a large proportion of the imports will no doubt be warehoused in anticipation of a future rise. But hitherto there has been no room for consideration or combination; every thing has been done on the moment, and by fits and starts. We may not have brought a bushel of wheat from the Baltic for a year or two; but our prices having risen, and, the duty having fallen still more rapidly, we have had an instantaneous demand for all the corn that could be had! Not being expected, no provision could be made for meeting such sudden and capricious demands; and prices rose to such a degree as to make our presence in the foreign markets hateful to every one, except the few who might happen to have on hand stocks of corn. It is plain, too, that a commerce, if so we may call it, conducted in this way could not be carried on by an interchange of goods for corn, as it would have been had the ports been constantly open. We might have had a demand one year for ten times the quantity of Polish corn that we required another year, but the Poles could not reciprocate by taking off corresponding quantities of our cottons, woollens, and hardware. Under ordinary circumstances, an increase of imports is always accompanied by a corresponding increase of exports; but, to bring this about, the increase must neither be sudden nor excessive; for, if so, the chances are a thousand to one that the foreign demand for our products will not increase to an equal extent. Corn is the principal means which the Poles have of paying for English goods; and, as we have frequently shut it wholly out, their imports from England have been unavoidably below even the average amount of their exports; so that when we have had an extraordinary demand for corn, the greater part of the excess has been paid for in bullion; and, instead of being benefited by its occurrence, our commercial and manufacturing interests were deeply injured.

But it is unnecessary to dwell on what is so well known. Most fortunately, we did not require to import any foreign corn in 1835 and 1836; for no one, either in the Bank of England or out of it, acquainted with the circumstances, can have the smallest doubt that, had it been then necessary to make the same payments for foreign corn we had to make in 1830 and 1831, and in 1838 and 1839, the Bank must have stopped payment; and a shock would have been given to the credit and financial interests of the country, from which they would not easily have recovered. The severe pressure on the money market in 1839 mainly originated in the same circumstances; and who can doubt that that pressure was productive of incomparably greater loss and inconvenience to the agriculturists than any advantage they gained by the rise of prices in that year?

It must not, however, be supposed, from any thing now said, that we mean to state or insinuate that it is possible, by any contrivance, or by the utmost possible degree of freedom, to avert all fluctuations in the supply and price of corn. Any such idea would be alike chimerical and absurd. Variations of the harvests, in so rich and populous a country as Great Britain, must always, and under any circumstances, have a powerful influence over prices, not only here, but also in those foreign markets whence we are in the habit of drawing a portion of our supplies. But it admits of demonstration, that importation without any, or with constant duties, is the best means by which to mitigate the influence of variations of harvests, and to secure the greatest steadiness of price. Under the new system, the merchants of this and other countries will be able to form their plans without the fear of their being overturned by accidental or contingent circumstances; and the fact that we every now and then require a large supply of foreign corn will make capitalists, here and elsewhere, warehouse, in abundant years, large supplies, in anticipation of the demand when a deficiency occurs. The merchant will then have to deal only with real wants and necessities; and these it is comparatively easy to provide against.

Besides its mischievous operation in other respects, the late corn law was highly inimical to the public interests from the convenient handle which it afforded for all sorts of agitation, misrepresentation, and abuse. Its deleterious influence was greatly exaggerated; and it seemed to be supposed that its repeal would be a sovereign panacea for all sorts of grievances. But though it may, for the reasons previously stated, be concluded that the new system will give us greater steadiness of prices, and that it will, in consequence, be of much public advantage, its influence in the reduction of prices will not probably be so great as has been expected, both by the agriculturists and by the other classes. The extraordinarily favourable seasons and productive harvests that prevailed, both in Europe and America, in 1848 and 1849, led to an unusually large importation, and consequently, also, to a considerable fall of prices. But this fall not having been by any means so great as might have been anticipated from the magnitude of the imports, shows that the greater portion, at least, of the latter had been required to meet the increased demand of the country. 1850, the price of wheat amounted to 40s. 3d. a quarter; and we incline to think that this will prove to be about the lowest point in the descending scale, and that the probability is that prices will rise. There must, no doubt, be in all cases much uncertainty in prospective estimates of prices. We are still, however, disposed to abide by our former conclusion, that the probable future average price of wheat in this country, under the new system, may be estimated at about 458. a quarter; and if so, agriculture will not be injured by the change.

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If, however, it should turn out differently, and there should be at any time so very abundant a season in this country and in the north of Europe, as to threaten such a fall of prices as might give a serious shock to the industry of the husbandman, the crisis may be averted or mitigated by some temporary expedient. But it is not very probable that it will be necessary to interpose in the way now alluded to. Instead of being unfavourable to the agriculturists, the chances are that they will gain by the new system: they have greater capital, skill, and industry than those of any other country; and being aware that they must in time to come rely wholly on them to preserve their place in society, and not on custom-house regulations and parliamentary majorities, the continued improvement of agriculture may be confidently expected: and, apart from this powerful stimulus, the new measure has the further advantage that it gives the agriculturists increased security, and identifies their interests in opinion, as well as in fact, with those of the public.

At the same time we are ready to admit, that, had it been practicable, we should have preferred seeing this great question settled by the adoption of a measure for opening the ports, under a fixed duty of 5s, or 78. a quarter on wheat, accompanied with a corresponding drawback. We make this statement on general grounds, and without any reference to the peculiar burdens that affect the agriculturists, though these should neither be forgotten nor overlooked. It would be easy to show that in scarce years a duty of this amount would fall wholly on the foreigner, without affecting prices, or narrowing importation; while, in years of unusual plenty, the drawback would facilitate exportation, and would, consequently, tend to hinder prices from falling so low as to injure the farmer and obstruct improvement. And in a matter of such immense im portance it is the part of a wise government to be cautious how they take any step, of the consequences of which they are not fully assured, or which may expose any great interest to serious vicissitudes. But, even if our limits permitted, it would be to little purpose to insist on these or any similar considerations. The pertina city with which the agriculturists opposed every approach to a more liberal system roused a spirit which would not be satisfied with any thing short of a complete abandonment of restrictions. The time for compromise and arrangement was, unhappily, allowed to go by, and government had to deal with an unreasoning necessity: Cum ventre humano tibi negotium est, nec rationem patitur, nec æquitate mitigatur, nec ulla prece flectitur populus. (Seneca, de Brev. Vitæ, c. 18.) What was practicable became of more consequence than what was either just or proper. And even had it been possible to effect an arrangement of the question in the way now stated, the pernicious trade of agitation would most likely have continued to flourish; the object and influence of the duty would have been misrepresented; and neither landlords nor farmers would have felt any confidence in the permanence of the new arrangements. Under these circumstances, their unconditional repeal was, if not really, at all events practically, the best, or rather the only safe course that could be adopted in dealing with the corn laws. Regulations under which the Corn Trade of the U. Kingdom is now conducted. - These are embodied in the act 9 & 10 Vict. c. 22., of which we subjoin an abstract : —

Duties payable under this Act. From and after the passing of this act, there shall be levied and paid on all corn, grain, meal, and flour already or hereafter to be imported into the U. Kingdom or the Isle of Man from parts beyond the seas, and entered for home consumption, the duties set forth in the schedule to this act annexed: ; viz.

But the above duties ceased on the 1st of February, 1849; and on, from, and after the said 1st of February. 1849, the following duties have been charged on corn entered for consumption, viz.

Upon all wheat, barley, bear or bigg, oats, rye, peas, and beans

And so in proportion for a less quantity.
Upon all wheat meal and flour, barley meal,

a. d.

.. d.

10 per qr.

oatmeal, rye meal and flour, pea meal, and
bean meal
- 0 41 per cwt.
And so in proportion for a less quantity.

Clause 2 enacts that the duties shall be levied pursuant to 8 & 9 Vict. c. 90.

Clause 3. enacts that the duties payable in the Isle of Man shall be levied pursuant to 8 & 9 Vict. c. 94. Clause 4. enacts that average prices are to continue to be made up according to 5 & 6 Vict. 2 sess. c. 14. (see below) and the duties under this act to be regulated thereby.

Clause 5. repeals that part of the 5 & 6 Vict. c. 14. which prohibits the importation into the U. Kingdom for consumption there of any corn ground.

We subjoin an abstract of those parts of the 5 & 6 Vict. 2 sess. c. 14. which are referred to in the above act, and which are yet in force.

Regulations to be observed on shipping Corn from any British Possession out of Europe. - No corn grain, meal, or flour shall be shipped from any British possession out of Europe as the produce of any such possession until the owner or proprietor or shipper thereof have made and subscribed, before the collector or other chief officer of customs at the port of shipment, a declaration in writing, specifying the quantity of each sort of such corn, grain, meal, or flour, and that the same was the produce of some British possession out of Europe to be named in such declaration, nor until such owner or proprietor or shipper shall have obtained from the collector or other chief officer of the customs of the said port a certificate, under his signature, of the quantity of corn, grain, meal, or flour so declared to be shipped; and before any corn, grain, meal, or flour shall be entered at any port or place in the U. Kingdom as being the produce of any British possession out of Europe, the master of the ship importing the same shall produce and deliver to the collector or other chief officer of customs of the port or place of importation a copy of such declaration, certified to be a true and accurate copy thereof, under the hand of the collector and other chief officer of customs at the port of shipment before whom the same was made, together with the certificate, signed by the said collector or other chief officer of customs, of the quantity of corn so declared to be shipped; and such master shall also make and subscribe, before the collector or other chief officer of customs at the place of importation, a declaration in writing that the several quantities of corn, grain, meal, or flour on board such ship, and proposed to be entered under the authority of such declaration, are the same that are mentioned and referred to in the declaration and certificate produced by him, without any admixture or addition; and if any person shall in any such declaration wilfully and corruptly make any false statement respecting the place of which any such corn, grain, meal, or flour was the produce, or respecting the identity of any such corn, grain, meal, or flour, such person shall forfeit and become liable to pay to her Majesty the sum of 100%., and the corn, grain, meal, or flour to such person belonging on board any such ship shall also be forfeited; and such forfeiture may be sued for, recovered, and applied in the same manner in all respects as any forfeiture incurred under and by virtue of the said act 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 58.-§ 5.

Accounts of Corn imported, &c. to be published monthly. The commissioners of customs shall once in each month publish in the London Gazette an account of the total quantity of each sort of corn, grain, meal, and flour respectively imported into the U. Kingdom, and also an account of the total quantity of each sort of corn, grain, meal, and flour upon which duties of importation have been paid in the U. Kingdom during the month next preceding, and of the several rates of duty which shall from time to time during such month have been payable upon each sort of corn, grain, meal, and flour respectively, with an account of the total quantity of each sort of corn, grain, meal, and flour remaining in warehouse at the end of such next preceding month. - §7.

Section 8. enacts that if any foreign state subject British vessels, goods, &c. to any higher duties or charges than are levied on the vessels of other countries, &c. her Majesty may prohibit the importation

of corn from such state.

Section 9. enacts, that weekly returns of purchases and sales of corn shall be made in the places named in the schedule annexed to the act.

Section 10. gives her Majesty power of appointing a comptroller of corn returns.

Section 11. enacts that the comptroller shall execute his office in person, but that a deputy may be appointed to act in certain cases.

Sections 12. and 13. authorise the Lord Mayor and aldermen to appoint an inspector of corn returns for the city of London, under the same conditions as the general comptroller.

Section 14. authorises the chancellors of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge to appoint and remove inspectors of corn returns for the said city and town.

Section 15. enacts that no person dealing in corn, flour, or malt be appointed inspector or deputyinspector of corn returns for the cities of London or Oxford, or town of Cambridge.

Section 16. enacts that the appointments of inspectors for London, Oxford, and Cambridge be enrolled.