practicable as in Great Britain. They are "unwilling to express an opinion on this ་་ part of the question.Your committee press upon the consideration of the house "the severe loss that must be felt by the

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empire at large, and by no part of it more "than by the landed interest, if some effi"cient remedy should not save the West "India colonies from the disasters that await "them. When it is recollected that this "country derives from them a net revenue "on sugar of £3,000,000 annually, be"sides the duties on the other articles of "their produce; that they take off manu"factures and produce of this country to "the amount of £6,000,000 sterling, to "which considerations must be added the

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ing the suspension of the use of grain in "the distilleries of G. Britain, and their re"striction to the use of sugar for one year, "from the 1st of July, 1808, to the 1st of “July, 1809, accompanied by the aforesaid "discretionary power to be vested in his "majesty.". -Mr. Coke complains of the composition of the committee, and says, that the country gentlemen (I thought, for my part, the race had been extinct) were excluded from it, though it appears from the members present upon the 25th of March, that, out of 14 members, there were Sir Henry Mildmay, Mr. Lascelles, and Mr. Western, Whether there were any more great land-owners I do not know; for I know not the persons of most of the rest of the members present; but, I think, it is

quite clear, from this report, that the influence of what Mr. Coke calls the landed interest did sufficiently prevail. Would to God that as great care were taken of the ge neral interests of the nation, in many other cases that I could point out !

IV, The Evidence of MR. ARthur YOUNG, Secretary to the Board of Agriculture, as it appears to have been the grand war-horse of the corn men, is worthy of particular attention. He was examined by the committee on the 21st, the 24th, and 25th of March. The minutes of the examination are too long to be inserted here entire; but, by leaving out those parts, which relate to the manner of cultivating land, to the particular interests of certain persons and districts, and to other matters of mere detail, we shall find room for all that has connection with the great points under discussion.

Mr.

-But, before I proceed to quote, I must beg the reader to bear in mind, that he has been addressed by Mr. Young through the pages of some recent numbers of my Register. His letters will be found in the present volume, at pages 288, 375, 568; and a few words will suffice for their history. I had, in several previous numbers, contended, that England was capable of maintaining herself independent of all foreign commerce. Young, in his first letter, endeavoured to convince me of the contrary, and referred to his experience to prove, that, without foreign commerce, even our agriculture could not flourish. In the same letter he noticed an assertion of mine, that, in years of the greatest known scarcity, we had not imported more than enough provisions for one week; and he entered into a very minute account of our imports of grain, with the view of convincing me, that we did, in a great measure, depend upon foreign commerce for an adequate supply of food. In his second letter (page 375) he took occasion to point out the remedy; that is to say, an addition to be made to the food of the country by the enclosing of the waste lands, under the operation of a general enclosure bill. In answer to this letter, I stated (see p. 365) several objections to a measure of this sort, and asked, besides, what good it would do, seeing that "the friends of agriculture" complained corn was already too cheap? Mr. Young, at page 568, made an attempt to answer this question: how far he succeeded the reader has seen; but, at any rate, he still persisted, that our prospects of future supply were very gloomy, and that the only effec tual remedy lay in a measure of general enclosure. It must be obvious to every one, that such a measure, if adopted, would be

slow in its operation. My opinion is, that it would never have the proposed effect, and I need give no other reasons than those stated in the article above referred to, and which Mr. Young has not, in my opinion, refuted, or shaken in the smallest degree. But, be this as it may, there can be no doubt upon this point, that, to obtain an additional supply of food from lands now lying waste must be a work of time, to say nothing about the seed required for them, and the labour which must be withdrawn from the lands already enclosed and under cultivation. Nevertheless, let this be conceded too. Let the supposition" be adopted, that this seed and this labour, so withdrawn, would leave the other lands just as they were, and even suppose, that, in the ensuing year, the new enclosures would give us an addition to our food; let us suppose all this, still the fact - is, that there is no such measure of general enclosure. We are not, at the present moment, to trouble ourselves with- what might, what may, or what will be; but, we all know, that there is no general enclosure bill; that there is no such thing as that which Mr. Young insisted was our only resource against the dangers, nay the horrors, of a non-importation of food. Well, then, who would not have expected to find Mr. Young amongst the most strenuous of the advocates for an importation of corn in the form of sugar? Who would not have expected to hear him, who was so alarmed at the stoppage of the 'importation of 800,000 quarters of corn annully, congratulate me and my readers, that the ministers had found out a way of saving the consumption of 300,000 quarters annually, by causing sugar to be used in the dis tilleries Ministers," says he (p. 377),

best know where corn is to be had; to theme it seems just as probable to procure it 5 from the Moon as from Prussia or Poland. "Were a short crop, or a week's mildew,

to arrive, we should see the two houses called together; committees appointed; I examinations, proceedings, proclamations issued; harangues pronounced; substi

tutes recommended; the volunteers in "activity; government alarmed, and Buo

naparte delighted." Well, Sir, the mimisters have found corn, and that, too, without going to the Moon; and, are you not pleased at the lucky discovery? Not at ah,git seems and you now dread, not "a 1595 Chort crop or a week's mildew," but a veglurida market! And still aye, still you

ery for more corn, through the means of a a genere enclosure bill! This really is 9 enough to addle one's brain. In Sir Robert anoBextum omany of the amateufs, who assem

ble to drink success to agriculture, such palpable inconsistency might be turned off with a laugh; but it is painful to see a gentleman of great and acknowledged talents, and of experience, as to such matters, surpassing that of, perhaps, any other man living, thus hampered by the influence of a more than sectarian bigotry to one particular pursuit. Let us now proceed to the extracts from the minutes, beginning with the examination of the 21st of March.

Q. What, in your opinion, would be the "effects upon the agriculture of the coun"" try of the prohibition to use the usual

sorts of grain in the distilleries of G. "Britain and Ireland? A. I conceive, "that the effect would be injurious to the

agriculture of the kingdom, exactly in "proportion to the quantity removed from "demand in the market.- Q. Is that "quantity so considerable as to make the barley grower look to the distillery as a source of considerable influence on the "price of the article? A. Undoubtedly,

no report could spread through the king"dom, relative to any stoppage in the "distillery, which would not immediately "sink the price of burley in my appre "hension.- Q. You have stated, in your "first answer, that the exclusion of grain "from the distilleries, would be injurious "to the agriculture of the country: do

you mean that it would be so under the "limitation of one year, or do you connect " with that limitation a continued exclusion "afterwards? 4. The stoppage of the "distillery for one year, next October, I "conceive, would affect the quantity of "barley sown the following spring; relative "to any after effect, it would depend upon "the circumstances I alluded to before.

Q. You have stated, that the report of "such exclusion being spread about the

country, would be injurious to the agri"culture of the country? A. Merely by "sinking the price.Q. Has such report "circulated already? A. I really do not "know. I have been in town ever since

this committee sat, or was expected to "sit.- Q. Has the price fallen. No, not that I know of.- -Q. Is there any reason to expect it will immediately fall? "A. I stated the crop to be a short one, and consequently there is little likelihood of the price falling with a short crop, speak"ing only at the present time, and so late in the season as the month of March.

-There needs no comment upon this. The answers do, in fact, answer themselves. It is strange, though, that Mr. Young, who holds constant correspondence with every

part of the country, and who, I believe, superintends the publishing of monthly agricultural report, should have vanted information as to this important fat, merely - because he had been in town. Eat, when he was asked, if the price was expected to fall, he seems to have been fully aware of the danger of being a prophet fore the event. There was, last year, a shor crop of barley then, it seems, and yet Mr. Young, in another part of his evidence, says that the price of barley is now too lov; and - then, again, he says that he want new enclosures, in order that more corn might be raised, to prepare us against a lay of scarcity! The examination goes in:

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Q Supposing the average quantity of corn imported into this country can be justly computed at more than 800,000

quarters, what injury then, arises to the "market, by a decrease in the demaid to "the amount of 300.000 quarters used in "the distilleries at the time when we cou

ceive the importation is nearly, if not "totally stopped? A. The agriculture of "the kingdom having been greatly depressed by the regular importation of 800,000 quarters, it would seem of all other remedies the most extraordinary, to take " from the demand, such as it is, that of 300,000 quarters, or any other given *** quantity. It seems to be an addition of one

evil to another."-Here we sce Mr. Young alarmed at a new evil. A diminished demand, not a diminished supply, is now the spectre that haunts his imagination. This has been observed on before, but, it cannot be too often presented to the reader. The motto to my last sheet (in which I - omitted to put the name of Mr. Young) -was, as will be seen, extracted from one of his letters. His letters all tended to one point, namely, that of causing it to be believed, that England, as her agriculture now stands, is, upon an average of years, 11 unable to provide for her own subsistence. 1. Is it not monstrous then, to hear him now → declare, that the introduction of 300,000 -quarters of corn, in the shape of sugar, is an evil? But, we are now going to hear him say, that the country can provide for Aits wants, not only without any importation in any shape, but without any new enclosures." Q. Do you suppose, that the -evil of the decrease of the demand of

300,000 quarters, can be equal to the "evil of the import of 800,000 quarters?

A. Certainly notQ. Do you suppose that all the land in cultivation throughout · England,' would be able to supply that Vis quantity ? A. CERTAINLY, without

"the hesitation of a moment. QWith"out breaking up pasture? A. It would be a very great benefit to break up pasture. "A great deal of bad pasture remains so, " for want of encouragement to plough sit, and if that enormous import was "cut off, all such bad pastures would "immediately be under the plough.-Q. "What would be the consequence of it to "the grazing of the country. The grazing of the country does not depend upon bad pastures, but upon good, and "landlords would certainly take care that "good grass should be supplied.—Q. "Would not the diminution of the quanti

ty of pasture land, raise the price of but"cher's meat, butter, and cheese? A. It "would lessen the price; for there can be no question at all, but that the clover and turnips upon such pastures, so broken up, "would produce much more of those ar"ticles, than the whole pasture did before. -Q. Would this expedient avail much, supposing the foreign supply of G. Britain suddenly cut off? A. if such change "occurred in the month of June, it cer

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not worth while to plough it could it be "profitably brought into a course of corn "crops unless there were a considerable in

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crease in the price of corn?A. Un“doubtedly not, or the expectation of a bet"ter price."Now, he first states, that our average importation has been 800,000 quarters of corn; this quantity, together with what we grew, he says was necessary to us, and he adds that he knows not where the ministers are to find it. But, say the committee, do you suppose, that our lands already enclosed and under cultivation, would be able to supply the quantity of corn which we have been accustomed to import ? "Cer"tainly," says he, "without the hesita❝tion of a moment." It follows, then, I think, that Mr. Spence and I were right, when we asserted (what Mr. Young contradicted) that we could exist independent of commerce, and that there was no necessity for that general enclosure bill, which he represented as the only preventive of the horrors of starvation. Aye," will he say, "but not too fast. I say the lands in culti"vation are able to supply us; but, I mean

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under another mode of cultivation than "the present." Why, so I said, Mr. Young, when I objected to the project of a general enclosure bill; and you, at the close of a passage, in which you give your reasons

occupied, is no more at our disposition "than land in the Moon." (See page 574). Well, then, Sir, the land already enclosed is not, according to your statement made to me and my readers," able to supply" the 800,000 quarters, heretofore supplied from abroad; and, what you say afterwards about the breaking up of pasture will avail you nought in removing the inconsistency, unless you can show us, that you have now discovered a way of putting at our disposition "lands in the Moon."On the latter part of this extract, I only beg the reader to observe, that the breaking up of pasture is to render corn, butcher's meat, butter, and cheese, more abundant, and to lessen the price of them, and the farmer is to be induced to break up pastures, by an increase, or expected increase in prices. Respect for Mr. Young's talents and zeal restrains me; but, really, this is almost too much to hear. The Examination

of the 24th of March, which led to the question of enclosures was as follows;

-Q. Do you apprehend under the pre"sent circumstances of the face of Europe, "there is any very alarming danger of a "redundancy of grain in the market? "A. I do not conceive that at present, there is any appearance of it.-Q. Do you "not apprehend there is a possibility of a "great distress from the non-importation "of oats? A. There certainly may be a

great probability of some distress for "want of various sorts of corn for a time, "but I conceive, that supposing impor"tation was, from the state of Europe, "cut off, that the evil would speedily be "corrected, by such an encouragement "to the agriculture of the kingdom, as "would soon produce a redundancy."Q. Must not that last as long as the ports "of Europe continue shut against us, or "till there are some great improvements "in agriculture? A. Certainly.Q. Do

you conceive, that any immediate, or temporary inconvenience would follow “from a diminution of the quantity "brought to market in the ensuing year, "to the amount of about 1,000,000 of "quarters ? · A. Such an inconvenience "certainly might happen without a doubt.

-Q What is the nature of that insc convenience : A. It would greatly de"pend upon what the ensuing crop should

prove. The inconvenience would be “very serious indeed if we had a failure

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Q. Do you think that "if the consumption of grain were to "contine as at present, and the import "from every part of the world, Ireland "exceped, were to cease for the next 12 or 18 months, that the price of grain "would rise within that period to a degree that would be distressing to the "popuation of these kingdoms ? A. Un"doultedly the price might rise to sucha degree, but it still would be dependent, "in a great measure, on what the crop is, "of course.- Q. I am talking of an average crop! A. Inconvenience might "resilt even if we had an average crop ; "beause, if we look back for the last 6 years, we have had a very considerable inportation, and yet the crops have "been not far from average crops."Hers he is got completely into the subjunc tive mood. He does not conceive, that at present, there is any alarming danger from a redundancy of coru; he thinks there may be a great probability of some distress from the stoppage of the foreign corn-ports, but is confident the evil would speedily be corrected by such encouragement to the agriculture of these kingdoms as would produce a redundancy. And this, reader, was the gentleman who so frightened you, aud, almost frightened me, with his anticipation of a short crop or a week's mildew!" Nay, he said (see p. 572) "Prevent the want of "importation before we hear one word of

calamity of producing too much corn." He would not hear one word; no, not one word of this, until we had so improved our agriculture, as to prevent the want of importation. Have we so improved it, Sir? Why, then, do you talk of injury to agriculture from the want of demand? You had recommended a general enclosure bill: "what for?" said I, "" to get more corn?" "That, according to the complaints of the country gentlemen, (for the sentiment

never was mine, observe) would be an "evil, as they say that corn is now too "cheap." To this your answer, just quated, was given; to this you answered,

prevent the want of importation before

we hear one word of the calamity of pro"ducing too much corn." So say I; but, you, it seems, are, now, not only hearing, but saying, a good many words about the

calamity of producing too much corn," before any thing has been done to prevent the want of importation. To proceed: he admits, that a temporary inconvenience might happen, if the demand of next year should exceed the supply to the amount of about one million of quarters; and that, if