der any future alteration of the import prices.

The 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th clauses of the act, which regulates the importation of corn, make provision for admitting corn, meal, or flour, being the growth, produce, or manufacture of any British colony or plantation in North America, for home consumption, when British wheat is at a lower price than 80s.; with regard to which colonies, it will be consistent with good faith and sound policy to preserve the same relative preference above foreign corn, in the event of any future alteration being applied to the scale of prices or of duties.

In compliance with an applica tion made to them by several of the owners of the foreign grain now stored in warehouses, your committee have already recommended, that permission may be granted, under sufficient and adequate regulations, to convert it into flour, and export it in that shape, by which means some portion of this large stock will be carried out of the kingdom, and remove all apprehension that the quantities so ground down can ever enter into competition with our home produce but in the event of a large portion not being thus disposed of, and still remaining in store, it appears practicable to adopt a method which may render this remainder also advantageous, rather than detrimental, in its effect upon the value of British corn, whenever the average price of our wheat shall have risen to 70s. and fluctuate between 70s. and 80s.; for if it be then allowed to be taken out for home consumption, subject to a duty of 17s. per quarter, for the first three months, and after

wards to a duty of 12s., the interest of the proprietors of this grain will be brought strictly into unison with that of the British agriculturist, and into direct hostility to that of all other importers of foreign grain; so that every endeavour will be resorted to, on their part, to advance the price to 70s. that they may liberate their own stock; but to keep it below 80s. that they may exclude all foreign competitors. The equitable claim which the holders of the grain, already deposited under the act of the 55th of the late king, appear to possess, will thus be beneficially preserved to them, and the danger of an immense influx of foreign produce will be mitigated and deferred, if not wholly prevented.

It must of course be left optional to the proprietors in question, to avail themselves of this permission, or to abide by the conditions of the existing law, under which they imported; but in the first case, the payment of a moderate duty will enable them, at an earlier period, to enter a market over which they may exercise some control conjointly with all the dealers in British corn; while in the other, they can hardly expect to stem the torrent of foreign produce poured in upon our existing supply, and the immediate depression of value which must unavoidably accompany it.

If the circumstances of this country should hereafter allow the trade in corn to be permanently settled, upon a footing constantly open to all the world, but subject to such a fixed and uniform duty as might compensate to the British grower the difference of expense at which his corn can be

raised and brought to market, together with the fair rate of profit upon the capital employed, compared with the expense of production, and other charges attending corn grown and imported from abroad, such a system would in many respects be preferable to any modification of regulations depending upon average prices, with an ascending and descending scale of duties; because it would prevent the effects of combination and speculation, in endeavouring to raise or depress those averages, and render immaterial those inaccuracies which, from management or negligence, have occasionally produced, and may again produce, such mischievous effects upon our market: but your committee rather look forward to such a system as fit to be kept in view for the ultimate tendency of our law, than as practicable within any short or definitive period. A protecting duty, which might at this day be hardly sufficient to guard our home market from the most overwhelming competition, might, when the excessive abundance on the continent shall have been absorbed, operate against the real wants of this kingdom, and subject the growers, as well as the consumers, to the greatest inconveniences. Years of dearth may again make it indispensable to have recourse to foreign produce for a part of our supply, although in seasons of ordinary plenty it may be hoped that our own agriculture has been so improved and extended, and to secure this kingdom from a state of dependence upon other, and eventually hostile, territories for the subsistence of its population.

Your committee have felt it their duty, for obvious reasons, to lay

without farther delay before the house, the result of their deliberations; but they would consider that they had omitted a most material part of the task imposed upon them, if they neglected to inquire into the present system upon which foreign corn is warehoused. Your committee are now engaged in carefully investigating this important subject, and they will not fail to report the result to the house as early as the nature of their inquiry will permit. April 1, 1822.

SECOND REPORT.

The Select Committee to whom the report of the 18th day of June, 1821, together with the several petitions which have been presented to the house in the last and present sessions of parliament, complaining of the distressed state of Agriculture of the United Kingdom, were referred, to inquire into the allegations thereof, and to report their observations thereupon from time to time to the house, Proceed to lay before the house, the evidence which they have taken, upon the subject of storing foreign grain in warehouses, under the king's lock; with regard to which, great apprehensions are expressed by several of the petitioners, who conceive that some quanties of that grain have been, and that much larger quantities may be, surreptitiously taken out, and brought into the supply of the home market, contrary to law.

Some particular cases having been stated, in which frauds of this description were alleged to

have been practised, your committee applied their immediate attention to the consideration of them; and the result of this investigation leads them to believe, that, generally speaking, the precautions and checks which are observed and applied, under the act 1st and 2nd of his present majesty, c. 87, to the warehousing of foreign grain, are so effectual, and so regularly enforced, as to remove all suspicion as to the market having been at all affected by a fraudulent supply obtained by any such undue practices; but the instance which happened at Bridlington, detailed in the Appendix, No. 1, shows that a constant and vigilant superintendence on the part of the custom-house officers is essentially necessary for the purpose of securing the public against the clandestine substraction of small quantities of such grain, by the proprietors, from warehouses not well adapted to the purpose, or not duly and frequer.tly surveyed.

If it should be judged expedient to restrict the warehousing of foreign grain to some few of the most considerable ports, instead of allowing it, as the law now stands, to be deposited in any part of the United Kingdom, such irregularities as these would probably be prevented in future.

The case of the wheat supposed to have been withdrawn from the warehouses at Glasgow (App. No. 2.), appeared to rest upon such authentic testimony, that it is fit to lay the whole subject before the house, as a proof how necessary it is to examine accurately into any transactions of this nature, and to be cautious in giving credit to them until they have been fully

investigated. So far, therefore, as concerns the present system of warehousing foreign corn, your committee have nothing further to suggest by way of precaution: but by the evidence of Mr. Charles Welstead (collector for the coast business inwards and outwards) and Mr. Thomas Morris (one of the surveyors-general of customs), it appears that there is a possibility of introducing foreign corn into vessels carrying on the trade coastwise, particularly from Ireland, as it is not the practice to measure British or Irish grain either into or out of the vessel, but to rely upon the declaration of the captain of the vessel, and the ordinary cockets, which are not examined with attention. The mode in which any such fraud can be committed, must be by the British or Irish vessel, either touching clandestinely at some foreign port, and taking in a quantity of corn to mix with the declared cargo, (such declaration specifying a less quantity than is actually taken on board), or by meeting some foreign vessel at sea and taking in a supply there, without touching at any port. Such a process in either case would unquestionably be attended with many difficulties; and from the number of persons on board, who must necessarily be acquainted with the fraud, must be extremely liable to detection; but as it is represented to be not absolutely impracticable, your committee deem it a subject which deserves the attention of those most conversant in the department of the customs, to devise more satisfactory security against it.

The only other object which has engaged the attention of your committee, relates to a proposed

alteration

alteration in the distillery laws, as calculated to afford a probable extension of the consumption of barley, in case the suggestions contained in the evidence of Messrs. Dunlop and M'Quin upon that head should be carried into effect: but your committee are well aware that the trade of the English distillers, as well as that of the brewers, and the interest of very extensive branches of the revenue, are so directly implicated in this question, that it cannot be considered with reference to the benefit of agriculture alone. May 20.

anxious, at as early a period as possible, to take up the consideration of them, from a conviction that they not only were matters of importance in themselves, but that their importance was greatly augmented by their relation to other measures, by which it was hoped to extend the foreign commerce of the country, to the success of which the diminution of the charges, both on our own shipping, and those of foreign states visiting our coasts, was an indispensable preliminary.

To these subjects, therefore, your committee, upon its appointment in the present session, applied its attention; and selected, as the first objects of their investi

COUNTRY.

EXTRACT FROM THE REPORT.

The Select Committee appointed to consider of the means of maintaining and improving the Foreign Trade of the country, and to report their opinion and observations thereupon to the house, have, pursuant to the order of the house, examined the matters to them referred; and have agreed to the following report:

In the first report presented by this committee, allusion was made to various burdens that appeared to press upon the navigation and commerce of the country, under the denomination of lights, harbour dues, pilotage, &c.; and although the intention of your committee to examine these under their several heads was postponed, by the interposition of matters that seemed to require more immediate attention, your committee felt

Dues, Ballastage, Surplus, Pilotage, and the Ramsgate and Dover Harbour Dues, which formed in their aggregate the principal part of the burdens alluded to, and which furnished grounds of complaint, in their bearing both on British and foreign shipping, as well on account of the amount to which they were levied, as the manner in which the levy of them was made.

The points to which the attention of your committee has been directed, in their consideration of these dues, were, the authority under which payments were exacted from British and foreign shipping; the amount to which they were exacted; the purposes to which the receipts were subsequently applied; and the means afforded of effecting a reduction of them, without injury to the public objects for which they were imposed.

These dues, your committee have found, are collected in part

under

under the authority of acts of parliament, in part by ancient custom, but to the greatest amount under particular patents issuing from the

crown.

By the former authority have been established the Dover and Ramsgate harbour dues, the charges for pilotage, for ballastage, and the dues in the port of London, and the lights under the management of the Northern Commissioners, constituted expressly for this purpose. By the same authority, also, have been established a part of the lights under the jurisdiction of the Trinity Corporation. The remainder, as well as the establishments of lights generally on various parts of the coast, granted to individuals, are established and maintained under the authority of patents from the crown. In the acts respecting lights, as also in the respective patents, are set forth the reasons for erecting each particular light, and the sums to be collected on shipping, for the purpose of defraying the expenses of erecting and maintaining it.

As the greatest proportion of the light dues, in common with other dues of inferior amount levied upon shipping, is collected and administered by the Corporation of the Trinity House, your committee have been led to inquire into the constitution and objects of this ancient and respectable corporation, the trusts assigned to it, and the manner in which those trusts have been fulfilled.

It appears, that as early as the reign of Henry VII., an association existed, consisting, as it is termed, of shipmen and mariners, for the purpose of piloting ships and vessels belonging to the crown,

as well as all descriptions of merchant ships; but what remuneration was received for this service, and what, if any, proportion of it was assigned to charitable purposes, does not appear.

In the reign of Henry VIII. the society was first incorporated by a royal charter, bearing date the 20th of May, 1514, granted to the shipmen and mariners of the realm, giving them authority to erect and establish a guild or fraternity, as well of men as of women, in the parish church of Deptford Strond, in the county of Kent: the charter provided for the due government of the guild, and custody of its possessions, by giving power to the brethren to appoint a master, warden, and assistants; it gave powers to make laws and statutes amongst themselves, for the relief, increase, and augmentation of the shipping of England ; to levy pains, subsidies, &c. on offenders; to the master, warden. and assistants, and their successors, to acquire lands and tenements to a certain amount, to maintain a chaplain, and to do and perform other acts of piety; and to the community generally to enjoy all the franchises and privileges, shipmen and mariners of the realm have used and enjoyed.

This charter received successive confirmations by Edward VI., queen Mary, and queen Elizabeth. In the act of the 8th of queen Elizabeth, after a preamble, reciting the object of the incorporation of the society, and its duties of general supervision of the buoys, beacons, and ballastage, it is enacted, that the corporation of the Trinity House' may, at their own cost, make, erect, and set up any beacons and signs for the sea, on such

places