per cent. The excess of exports from 1742 to 1751 had been 4,700,509 quarters of wheat, and, including all kinds of grain, had amounted to 8,869,190 quarters, but from 1766 to 1775 there was an excess of imports to the extent of 1,363,149 quarters of wheat and 3,782,734 of corn and grain of all kinds. The old corn-law of 1689, under which a bounty on exportation had been granted, was now become a dead letter in consequence of the high range of prices in the home market. The right to export had been frequently suspended, though only for short periods, in the hope that more plentiful harvests or the greater extension of tillage would again bring back the old state of things. These suspensions of the bounty excited the dissatisfaction of the agriculturists. "From the year 1766 to the present time (1773) we have had a perpetual shifting policy, in which nothing has been permanent. . . Every year has produced a temporary act suspending the operation of those laws which had proved of such excellent utility."*

...

The increase of population after the peace of 1763 was rapidly advancing with the growth of trade and manufactures. In the reign of George I. there had only been sixteen enclosure acts passed; in the succeeding reign there were 226; but, stimulated by the high prices resulting from de ficient harvests, the number of such acts from 1760 to 1772 inclusive amounted to 585. The population of England and Wales had increased upwards of two millions during the century, being, according to the best estimates, 5,134,000 at its commencement, and in 1770 about 7,227,000. In the first fifty years of the century the increase of population amounted only to 17 per cent., but in the twenty years ending 1770 the rate of acceleration was more than doubled, being 19 per cent.

Before passing to the next epoch in the history of the corn-trade we shall notice the alterations which took place in the mode of ascertaining the average prices of corn and grain. Several acts for this purpose were made; in one of which, passed in 1729, the preamble states that the justices of the peace had "neglected to settle the price of corn at their quarter-sessions after Michaelmas last, and to return certificates thereof to the chief officer and collector of the customs residing in the respective ports where the said corn or grain has been or may be imported; by means whereof the said officers were at a loss how to charge the customs and duty due for such corn; which has been, and may be, a great loss to the revenue, and a detriment to the farmers and fair traders." To remedy the negligence of the gentry, the collectors of customs were empowered to settle the averages.

In 1732 an attempt was again made "for the better ascertaining the common prices of middling English corn and grain, and for preventing the fraudulent importation of corn and grain." After 1st June, 1732, the justices of the peace, in counties which contained ports of importation, were to charge the grand jury at quarter-sessions to make inquiry and presentment upon oath of the common market prices, which were to be certified to the officers at the ports specified. The averages were, however, only to be taken four times a-year.

In 1766 the authorities of the city of London were empowered to settle the price of middling English corn and grain in January and July, in addition to the former periods of April and October.

It was not until 1770 that returns of prices were directed to be made weekly. In that year an act was passed, on the ground that a "register of the prices at which corn is sold in the several counties of Great Britain will be of public and general advantage." The justices of the peace were to order returns to be made weekly of the prices of British corn and grain from such towns in each county as they thought proper ; the number of towns selected in each county not being more than six nor less than two. The Treasury was to appoint a receiver of corn returns, who was to publish an abstract of the

Arthur Young's Political Arithmetic,' 1774.

weekly returns in the London Gazette,' and four times ayear certify to the clerks of the peace the prices which were respectively prevalent in each county. The publication of the averages weekly was a most beneficial innovation.

In 1772 an important act* was passed relating to the internal corn-trade, and several ancient restrictions in old statutes were removed on the ground that, "by preventing a free trade in the said commodities, [corn, flour, cattle, &c.] they have a tendency to discourage the growth and enhance the price of the same, which statutes, put into execution, would bring great distress on the inhabitants of many parts of the kingdom."

Third Period.-From 1773 to 1791.

In the preamble of the Corn Act of 1773+ it is acknowledged that previous laws had greatly tended to the advancement of tillage and navigation. It added that, on account of the small supplies on hand and scanty crops, it had been frequently necessary to suspend the operation of the laws; and that a permanent law on the corn-trade "would afford encouragement to the farmer, be the means of increasing the growth of that necessary commodity, and of affording a cheaper and more constant supply to the poor." And the act then fixes the following scale of duties, to come into operation on the 1st of January, 1774-Whenever the price of middling British wheat, at ports of importation, was at or above 48s. per quarter, a duty of only 6d. per quarter was to be taken on all foreign wheat imported during the continuance of that price. When the price was at or above 44s., exportation and the bounty together were to cease; and the carrying of British grain coastwise ceased also. Under this act, corn and grain might be shipped to Ireland when exportation was prohibited from that country. Foreign corn warehoused under bond in twenty-five ports of Great Britain mentioned in the act might be reexported duty free. Adam Smith's opinion of this act was, that, "though not the best in itself, it is the best which the interests, prejudices, and temper of the times would admit of: it may perhaps (he adds) in due time prepare the way for a better." This expectation has not as yet been fulfilled.

The home market was now opened to foreign supplies of corn under much more advantageous terms than before. Importation was constant and considerable, and prices were steadier on the whole, during the eighteen years from 1775 to 1792-notwithstanding the occurrence of five seasons in which the harvests were more or less deficient-than they had been in the ten years preceding 1773. The balance of imports of wheat was now decidedly against this country. In the ten years ending 1769 the excess of exports had amounted to 1,384,561 quarters; but in the next ten years, ending 1779, the excess was on the side of the imports to the extent of 431,566 quarters; and in the ten years ending 1789 there was an excess on the same side amounting to 233,502 quarters. The extension of tillage which took place was certainly more likely to be permanent than when it had been caused by the artificial stimulus that had previously been maintained. From 1760 to 1780 the number of acres enclosed under local acts was 1,912,350; in the ten years ending 1789 the proportion had fallen off, the number of acres enclosed being 450,180. The average price of wheat was 45s. the quarter in the ten years ending 1779, and 45s. 9d. in the ten years ending 1789. The extension of cultivation in the twenty years from 1760 to 1780, together with the improvement of agriculture, sufficed for the increased demands of the country, without breaking up so much fresh land.

The landed interest, however, alleged that the act of 1773 had rendered England dependent upon other countries for the supply of corn. The bounty by which the corn-growers had formerly profited, and which they were led to anticipate would

still be secured to them, had never come into operation under this act; and hence a general dissatisfaction prevailed amongst them against the existing corn-law, which they had sufficient interest in the legislature to get altered in 1791.

At the commencement of the present period the average prices of corn were struck four times a-year, at the quarter. sessions, and they could not be altered between the interval of one quarter-session and another. In 1774, however, an act was passed, and came into operation on the 1st of June, by which exportation was regulated by the price on the market-day preceding the shipment; thus adopting the real average price at the time, instead of acting upon the average which existed three months before.

Six years afterwards, in the session 1780-1,† it was enacted that the prices of English corn for the port of London and the ports of Kent and Essex should be determined by the averages taken at the London Corn Exchange. The weekly average was to regulate the exportation; but the importation of foreign corn and grain was regulated by averages struck only once a quarter.

In the session of 1788-9 new regulations were framed,‡ applying to all parts of the kingdom, which was divided into twelve districts, and in each a number of the principal markettowns was selected, in which, and at the seaports, the price of corn was to be ascertained for each district. Weekly returns were to be made to the receiver in London, who, on the 1st of February, May, August, and November, was to compute from the returns of the six preceding weeks the average price of each description of British corn and grain (with the exception of oats, the averages of which were to be computed on the returns of the twelve preceding weeks). The aggregate average of the six weeks (and for oats of the twelve weeks) to be transmitted to the principal officer of the customs in each district, and to regulate the importation at each port of the said district. The export-trade was still regulated by the weekly averages. Under this act each of the twelve maritime districts was treated as distinct in itself, and counties on one side of the kingdom might be exporting their surplus produce to a foreign market, while those on the other side were under the necessity of importing.

Fourth Period.-From 1791 to 1804.

The new corn-law of 1791 was founded upon stricter principles than that of 1773. It enacted that after November 15, 1791, the bounty of 5s. per quarter should be paid when wheat was under 448., and that, when wheat was at or above 468., exportation was to cease. The new scale of import duties was as follows:-For wheat under 50s. per quarter, the "high duty" of 24s. 3d. was payable; at 50s., but under 54s., the "first low duty" of 2s. 6d.; at or above 54s., the "second low duty" of 6d. was payable. The protecting price was thus raised from 48s. to 54s. the quarter; and this main feature of the act was intended to shut out supplies from abroad, and of course to raise prices at home. The duty of 248. 3d., so long as the price of wheat was under 50s. the quarter, was equivalent to a prohibition.

The thirteen years from 1791 to 1804 form a very eventful period in the history of the Corn Laws. Under the comparatively free system established by the Corn Act of 1773, the excess of imports had been comparatively trifling; but under an act expressly constructed to prevent importation as far as possible, the excess of imports in the thirteen years from 1791 to 1803 amounted to 6,458,901 quarters of wheat and wheatflour, and enormous sacrifices were made to obtain this quantity. The seasons in their courses fought against the enactments of the legislature; and the dependence on foreign supplies was never so complete as at the very period when hopes had been entertained that the produce of the home grower would prove sufficiently ample for the wants of the country.

14 Geo. III. c. 64. +21 Geo. III. e. 50. 29 Geo. III. c. 58.

The effects of the different years of scarcity just at the close of the last and the commencement of the present century cannot be passed over without a cursory notice. The harvest of 1793 had been below an average, and those of the two following years were decidedly deficient. The average price of wheat rose from 55s. 7d., in January, 1795, to 108s. 4d. in August. Parliament met in October, when the King's speech alluded to the "very high price of grain" as a subject of "the greatest anxiety." In the following month the Chancellor of the Exchequer moved for the appointment of a select committee to inquire into the circumstances of the scarcity, and the means of removing it. Monopoly, forestalling, and regrating were alleged to be among the causes of the dearth; and Lord Kenyon, at the Salop assizes, threatened to inflict the "full vengeance of the law" upon those parties who should be found guilty of these practices. The deficiency in the crops was variously estimated at from one-fifth to one-seventh; and to provide an adequate supply, an act was passed, granting a bounty of from 16s. to 20s. the quarter, according to the quality, on wheat from the south of Europe, till the quantity should amount to 400,000 quarters; and from America till it should amount to 500,000 quarters; and 12s. to 15s. from any other part of Europe till it should amount to the same quantity; the bounty to be 8s. and 10s. after that quantity was exceeded. Neutral vessels laden with grain were 'forcibly seized on the high seas, and the masters compelled to sell their cargoes to the government agents. The members of both Houses of Parliament bound themselves by a written pledge to observe the utmost frugality in the use of bread in their respective households; and engaged to reduce the consumption of wheat by at least one-third of the usual quantity consumed in ordinary times, unless the average price of wheat should be reduced to 8s. the bushel. The hair-powder tax was imposed at this period, as a means of diminishing the consumption of wheat.

The high price of wheat produced severe distress. The agricultural districts were disturbed by riots, and that fatal measure the allowance system-was introduced. For the next two or three years the harvests were more favourable, until the disastrous season of 1799. The average price of wheat at the commencement of that year was 49s. 6d. the quarter, but in December it had risen to 94s. 2d.; and soon after the commencement of the following year the prospects of scarcity had become so formidable that a select committee of the House of Commons was appointed to investigate the deficiency in the last crop. In pursuance of the recommendation of this committee, recourse was again had to a bounty; and an act was passed, offering to the importer the difference between the average price of English wheat in the second week after importation and 90s. on wheat from the south of Europe, Africa, and America; 85s. from the Baltic and Germany; and 90s. from Archangel, if imported before the 1st of October, 1800. Lord Hawkesbury also brought in a bill, which was passed through its various stages on the following day, prohibiting the sale of bread until twenty-four hours after it had been baked. Notwithstanding these prospective remedies, the average price of wheat continued to advance, and in June, 1800, was 134s. 5d. the quarter, Considerable importations brought down the price to 96s. 2d. in August; but in December it had again advanced to 1338., in consequence of the deficiency of the harvest of 1800.

Parliament was assembled in November, 1800, at an earlier period than had been intended, for the purpose of devising measures to remedy the severe distress of the times, arising from the high prices of provisions. The speech from the throne alluded to the supposition of combination and fraudulent practices for the purpose of raising the price of grain, which a committee of the House of Lords denied. A select committee of the Commons was again appointed to take into consideration the existing high prices, and by the end of December this committee had presented six reports to the House, in the first of which the deficiency of the crops was stated to be onefourth, and that the old supplies were exhausted before harvest.

The committee suggested a variety of remedies to meet the emergency. Among other things they recommended the encouragement of the fisheries, the stoppage of the distilleries, a bounty on importation; also a recommendation from persons in authority, pointing out the necessity of the general practice of economy and frugality in all articles of food; and it was proposed to call upon the other House of Parliament to join in an address to the throne, requesting his Majesty to issue a proclamation in recommendation of this suggestion. A royal proclamation was issued accordingly, and was widely circulated by the clergy and magistrates throughout the kingdom. An act was also passed, guaranteeing the difference between the average price of foreign wheat in the third week after importation and 100s. to the importer of all wheat weighing 531bs. per bushel, if imported within the time limited by the act. The advance of prices continued unchecked in spite of the various plans adopted to lower them; and in March, 1801, wheat averaged 156s. 2d. the quarter, or, taking the imperial measure now in use, 20s. the bushel; barley averaged 90s. 7d. the quarter, and oats 478. 2d. The importations of the year were, wheat, 1,424,766 quarters; barley, 113,966; oats, 583,043. For four weeks the quartern loaf in London was as high as 1s. 10d.

The agricultural districts were again disturbed by riots, and the allowance system, introduced as a mode of relieving the distress of the poorest class, was becoming firmly established. They must otherwise have actually perished; and even the classes above them would have shared the same fate, but for the rise of wages and the contributions of parishes, and the aids afforded by friends and by private charity. All these artificial modes of adjustment were miserable expedients, and necessarily fell far short of placing those whom it was designed to benefit in the condition of comfort which they enjoyed when the price of food was low from the effects of abundance. The money wages of the agricultural labourer, in order to have been equal to those which he received in the reign of George II., should have risen to about 30s. per week. Arthur Young gives a list of articles which, when the labourer was paid 5s. per week, he could have purchased with that 5s., namely, a bushel of malt, a bushel of wheat, a pound of butter, a pound of cheese, and a pennyworth of tobacco; and he states that in 1801 these articles would have cost him 26s. 5d. ; while wages having risen only to 98., and the allowance from the parish being estimated at 6s., his real wages were still 11s. 5d. less than under the former period. Thus even the parish allowance, which equalled two-thirds of his wages, left him in a state of distress. There is a table in the Appendix to one of the Parliamentary Reports on the subject of the high price of provisions, which shows that the most indispensable necessaries of life had risen 200 per cent. in 1800 as compared with 1773. Both in 1795 and 1800 Mr. Whitbread had proposed a bill for regulating the wages of labour by the price of provisions, and fixing a minimum of wages, but such an expedient was wisely rejected. The rise of wages, without which actual starvation would have ensued, inadequate as it proved, was better than such a plan. Several trades succeeded in obtaining an advance; and from the statements of the tailors and printers of London, in support of their claims, we take the following particulars :-The wages of the former class of workmen, from 1777 to 1795, had averaged 21s. 9d. per week, and the price of the quartern loaf being 7 d., they could purchase thirty-six loaves with a week's wages. During the scarcity of 1795 their wages had been advanced to 258., and in 1801 to 27s., in which latter year a week's wages would purchase only 18 quartern loaves. The wages of compositors had been advanced from 24s. to 27s. in 1795, and to 30s. in 1801. The advance in the wages of carpenters, bricklayers, masons, and artisans of a similar stamp was inconsiderable. The salaries of persons holding official situations under the government were also increased. The misery of the bulk of the people during the years of scarcity is shown by the diminished number of marriages, which, from 79,477 in 1798, were reduced to 67,288 in 1801.

The fallacy that wages advance with the price of food was

never more glaringly displayed than at this period; and it is still a prevalent notion that there is a connexion between high prices of provisions and high wages, though, seventy years ago, Adam Smith had shown (and his doctrine on this subject has never been controverted)—1. That the real wages of labour rise in a year of plenty and diminish in a season of scarcity. In the former, the funds in the hands of the employers of industry are sufficient to maintain a greater number of industrious people, and, as masters wanting workmen bid against each other, money wages may also rise. 2. That a year of scarcity and high prices diminishes the funds for the employment of labour; persons are thrown out of employment who bid against one another in order to get it; and wages fall. 3. That in the ordinary variations of the price of provisions these two opposite causes are counterbalanced, which is one reason why the wages of labour are more steady and permanent than the price of provisions. In the evidence before the Lords' Committee on the Corn Laws in 1814 there is a remarkable illustration of the effect of the scarcity of 1812 on wages. Mr. Milne, a landowner, stated that a certain description of farm-labour which twenty-five years before had cost him 3s., and which a neighbour of his had paid 5s. for two or three years before, was executed during a period of scarcity and high prices for 28. 6d., the cause of this difference being, as he alleged, "that a great many labourers were idle from having little work, in consequence of those employed doing double work."

*

There was one class to whom the period of this memorable dearth was a season of great prosperity, that is, as Mr. Tooke states, "to the landlords, who were raising, or had the prospect of soon raising, their rents; and to the farmers, who were realizing enormous gains pending the currency of their leases." Arthur Young estimated the additional sum received by the corn-growers in 1795-6, as compared with the average of the twelve years ending 1794, at 19,553,849., allowing one-fifth for the deficiency of the wheat-crop. This large sum in the first instance found its way into the pockets of the farmers, and the landlords next advanced their claims to a portion of the advantage, and raised their rents.

A tolerably abundant harvest in 1801 happily put an end to the great dearth. In March the average price of wheat was 155s. the quarter; in June, with the prospect of a favourable harvest, it was 1298. 8d., and at the end of the year the price had fallen to 75s. 6d. In the two following years the harvests, though not very abundant, were favourable, and a further depression of prices took place. At the close of 1802 the average price of wheat was 57s. 1d. the quarter; early in 1803, 52s. 3d.; and at a corresponding period in 1804 the average price was as low as 49s. 6d. Meetings were now held in the agricultural counties for the purpose of petitioning Parliament for additional protection to agriculture, the act of 1790-1, which had raised the free import pricet from 488. to 548., having been unsuccessful. This brings us to the termination of the fourth period.

The act of 1790-1 consolidated, amended, and repealed a number of old statutes relating to the corn-trade; amongst the latter, the 15 Charles II. c. 7, which prohibited buying corn to sell again, and laying up corn in warehouses. It also permitted foreign corn and grain to be bonded in the King's warehouses, the duty to be payable only when taken out for home consumption. The object of this beneficial clause is stated as follows:-"To promote and extend the commerce of the merchants of this kingdom in foreign corn, and to provide stores which may always be ready for the relief of his Majesty's subjects in times of dearth."

Many of the provisions of the act, however, interfered with trade to a vexatious and injurious extent. When foreign exportation was not allowed at any particular port, not even home produce could be carried thence coastwise, even to a

* Wealth of Nations, book i. chap. viii.
There was a nominal duty of 6d.

port at which exportation was at the time taking place. Foreign vessels might however change their destination to any port where importation was permitted, if, on their arrival at that for which their cargo had been shipped, importation had ceased to be allowed. The country was still divided into so many independent sections, and this regulation was introduced into Scotland, which was divided into four districts. For the purposes of exportation, the weekly averages of each district were cited, and, for importation, the average of the six weeks preceding the 15th of February, May, August, and November. Thus the one varied from week to week, and the latter was only changed four times a-year.

Fifth Period.-From 1804 to 1815.

On the 13th of April, 1804, the Chancellor of the Exchequer moved for the appointment of a select committee to inquire into the principle and operation of the Corn Regulation Act of 1791, and to determine whether the scale which it fixed for the regulation of imports and exports was now applicable. On the 14th of the ensuing month the committee presented their report, in which they stated that the act alluded to required "very material alteration." On the 14th of June the committee presented a second report, in which their convictious as to the necessity of some new legislative measure on the trade in corn are thus stated :-"It appears to your committee that the price of corn from 1791 to the harvest of 1803 has been very irregular; but, upon an average, increased in a great degree by the years of scarcity, has in general yielded a fair profit to the grower. The casual high prices, however, have had the effect of stimulating industry, and bringing into culture large tracts of waste land, which, combined with the two last productive seasons, has occasioned such a depression in the value of grain as it is feared will greatly tend to the discouragement of agriculture, unless maintained by the support of Parliament." The committee founded their recommendations for protection on "a comparative view of the price of labour, and of the unavoidable expenses incident to the farmer in the year 1791, and to the farmer at the present time." Their views prevailed also in the legislature, where a bill to give effect to them was introduced on the 20th of June.

The scale for the admission of foreign corn established by the act of 1804 was as follows:-Wheat under 63s. per quarter, the "high duty" of 24s. 3d. payable; at 63s. and under 66s., the "first low duty;" and at or above 668., the "second low duty," which amounted only to 6d. The free import or nominal duty price was thus raised from 54s., at which it stood in the act of 1790-1, to 66s.-an increase of 128. The bounty of 5s. on exportation was to be paid when the average price of wheat was at or under 48s. ; and when the average rose to 51s. exportation to be prohibited. The two latter enactments proved totally inoperative.

Immediately after the passing of this act the price of wheat and other grain rose, a circumstance which was at first attributed by many to that measure. Between March and December the average price had increased from 49s. 6d. the quarter to 86s. 2d.; and in the spring of the following year petitions were presented to Parliament expressing dissatisfaction with the new act on account of its alleged operation on prices. The crops in 1804, however, proved very deficient, and it is therefore more correct to attribute the rise to this cause. In the three following seasons the harvests were not abundant, and in the five years from 1808 to 1812 they were very deficient. In the month of August, in the latter year, the average prices were-for wheat 155s., barley 79s. 10d., and oats 568. 2d.; and Mr. Tooke says that in Mark-lane the finest Dantzic wheat fetched 180s., and oats in one or two instances were sold at the enormous price of 84s. the quarter.

Coincident with the unfavourable seasons during this period there was the effect of the great war in which we were then engaged, which in various ways increased the cost of * Hist. of Prices, i, 323.

production, and by impeding commercial intercourse rendered it difficult and expensive to obtain supplies from abroad at a time when our own harvests were inadequate. These obstacles were at one time so serious from the effect of the Berlin and Milan Decrees and the American Non-intercourse Act as to threaten us with total exclusion from the continental ports. But, notwithstanding the anti-commercial spirit which the war had assumed, and at a period when this influence was relied upon as a most powerful means of distressing this country, licences were granted by the French government, in consequence of which about 400,000 quarters of wheat, besides other grain, were imported to supply the deficiency of the harvest of 1809 in this country. The harvest, both in France and the Netherlands, had been very abundant, and the export of a part of their surplus produce was a great relief to the corn-growers of those countries. In 1810 we imported 1,500,000 quarters of wheat and flour, and 600,000 quarters of other grain and meal. The expenses of freight, insurance, and licences amounted to from 30s. to 50s. per quarter on wheat. From 1809 to 1812 the freight and insurance on wheat from the Baltic was 50s. the quarter. Prices necessarily rose to a great height in the home market before the obstacles to commercial intercourse arising from the war could be overcome, and an average price of 80s. the quarter for wheat was at times insufficient to lead to any considerable importation. The enormous charges on importation were of course added to the natural price of British corn; and thus we have easily explained the cause of the "war prices" of this memorable period and of the extraordinary profits of farmers and landowners.

The high prices stimulated cultivation, and from 1804 to 1814 inclusively the number of enclosure bills which received the royal assent was 1084, being considerably more than for any other corresponding period. The state of the agricultural interest at this time has been impartially described by Mr. Tooke :-A great amount of gain had been distributed among the agricultural classes; and as the range of high prices (with an interval of depression between the harvests of 1810 and 1811, so short as not to have been felt at all by the landlord, and very little by the farmer) had been of an unusually long continuance, it was concluded that the causes of that high range were permanent. From 1809 to 1813 was accordingly the period in which rents experienced their greatest rise,—that is, upon the expiration of leases, they were advanced in full proportion to the high range of the prices of produce; and in several instances they were raised threefold or upwards of what they had been in 1792.* In an ensuing period we shall see the disasters which the farmers experienced under other circumstances in consequence of the dangerous state of artificial prosperity in which they were placed during the war.

The effect of another cycle of bad seasons, to which is to be added increasing taxation, was not favourable to the interests of the working classes. In 1812 and 1813 the poor-rates amounted to about 3,300,0007. more than they had been in 1803, a year of low prices and agricultural distress. Still further attempts had been made to adjust wages to the high price of provisions, and the demand of men for the navy and army offered a resource which frequently rendered the strikes of workmen for advanced wages successful. The wages

of artisans and labourers were nearly doubled, that is, the money value of their wages; but their real value-the command of a week's earnings over the necessaries of life-was diminished. The rise of money wages had reached its maximum in 1812. The workmen employed in manufactures experienced severe distress during this period; the advance of wages was less in their case than that of any other class; in some branches of manufacture there had been no change; in others it was accompanied by longer hours of work; and the stagnation of the export-trade occasioned nearly a total cessation of employment in several branches of manufacturing Hist. of Prices, i. 323-6.

industry. Many parts of the country were disturbed by riots in consequence of the inability of the poorer classes to purchase an adequate share of food during these seasons of agricultural prosperity and high prices arising from defective harvests and the other causes to which allusion has been made. A year or two of low prices of agricultural produce again brought to a close another period in the history of the Corn Laws. Wheat, which had been sold as high as 180s, the quarter (for select parcels) in 1812, fell to 73s. 6d. after the abundant harvest of 1813; and after that of 1814, which was rather favourable than otherwise, the average price was reduced to 53s. 7d. the quarter. This fall in prices and the cessation of hostilities led to the reconsideration of the whole question of the Corn Law.

During the present period an important change was made in the mode of striking the average prices of corn and grain. The twelve maritime districts of England, and the four similar districts of Scotland, ceased to be regarded as sixteen separate sections, each of which was regulated by the prices prevalent within its separate limits; but for England, the averages, taken as before, were computed for the whole of the twelve districts at once, and the average price obtained from the computation regulated importation and exportation at seaports situate in any part of the country; and for Scotland the same plan was pursued. The six weeks' averages, struck quarterly, regulated the import-duty, and the weekly average the exports.

In

In 1806 was passed "An Act to permit the free Interchange of every Species of Grain between Great Britain and Ireland."* Ireland had been previously treated as a colony, but this act placed her on an equality with other parts of the kingdom, and, for oats, has rendered Ireland the granary of England. 1838 nearly two million quarters (1,948,380) of oats and oatmeal were imported into Great Britain from Ireland, and the supply is yearly increasing the imports of wheat from the sister kingdom have been gradually diminishing since 1832, when the quantity was 552,741 quarters.

Sixth Period.-From 1815 to 1822.

The corn-law of 1815 originated in the desire to preserve, during a state of peace, the high rents and prices which had existed during the war. The war had been a period of scarcity, arising from various causes, and the real effect of this measure was to perpetuate the high prices and high rents by an artificial scarcity. On the 10th of June, 1814, a Committee of the House of Lords on the corn-trade was appointed, which made a brief report on the 27th, when the Committee was instructed to examine witnesses in support of allegations contained in petitions presented to the House on the subject. The principal feature of the second report was the recommendation of the Committee that so long as the average price of wheat was under 80s. the ports should be completely closed against supplies from other countries. The prohibitive price suggested by the agricultural witnesses examined by the Committee varied from 72s. to 96s. Out of sixteen witnesses belonging to this class, only four were in favour of the free importation price being below 80s. per quarter. This second report was presented on the 25th of July; but the attempt to give so complete a monopoly as would have been established by carrying out the recommendations of the Lords' Committee was so resolutely opposed by the country that the bill which had been brought in for the purpose was abandoned. An act was however passed, repealing the bounty on exportation,† which had been allowed under various circumstances since 1688, though, from 1792, the high prices which prevailed in the home market rendered it inoperative. By the new act exportation might take place at any time without reference to prevailing prices.

The average price of wheat for the year 1814 was about 34s. per quarter lower than the average of the preceding year, though the harvest had not been an abundant one. In the month of

46 Geo. III. c. 97. † 54 Geo. III. c. 69.

February, 1815, the average price was under 60s., and before harvest it might rise to 668., when the ports would be open and prices again be depressed, and it was throught to a very low point, in consequence of the obstacles to free intercourse with the Continent being removed. Early in the session of 1815, therefore, a bill was brought in, giving effect to the recommendation of the Committee of the previous year, and fixing 808. as the lowest point at which importation could take place. The measure produced great excitement throughout the country, particularly in the manufacturing districts and in all the large towns. In the House of Commons, at an early period, a division took place in favour of 728. being substituted for 80s., with the following result -For the motion 35; against it 154,-majority 119. On the 3rd of March an attempt was made to throw out the bill-For the motion 56; against it 218; majority 162. On the 6th of March the vicinity of the House of Commons was thronged by an excited multitude, and several members were stopped, some of them roughly handled, and they were questioned by the mob as to the vote which they intended to give. Ultimately the military were called out, and, with the civil force, kept the streets clear. This evening the gallery of the House of Commons was closed. An attempt was made to render the bill more favourable by substituting 74s. instead of 80s. as the pivot price; and the motion was supported by 77 against 208, being a majority of 131. On the 8th of May, on bringing up the report, an amendment was moved, that the bill be read that day six months, when there voted 50 in its favour, and 168 against it; majority 118. A final attempt was made to substitute a lower rate than 80s., leaving it to the House to determine the exact price at which prohibition ceased; but only 78 voted for the motion, and 184 in favour of the measure as originally proposed. On the 10th of March, on the third reading, an amendment was moved, that the bill be thrown out, but it was only supported by 77 against 245; majority 168. On the 20th of March the bill passed the Lords by a majority of 107:-128 contents, and 21 non-contents. The measure was opposed with great force and acuteness by several of the most eminent statesmen of the day; and Lord Grenville drew up a protest embodying the views of the leaders of the minority. We give a copy of this historical document:-

"PROTEST.

"1. Because we are adverse in principle to all new restraints on commerce. We think it certain that public prosperity is best promoted by leaving uncontrolled the free current of national industry; and we wish, rather, by well-considered steps, to bring back our commercial legislation to the straight and simple line of wisdom, than to increase the deviation, by subjecting additional and extensive branches of the public interest to fresh systems of artificial and injurious restriction.

"2. Because we think that the great practical rule of leaving our commerce unfettered applies more peculiarly, and on still stronger grounds of justice, as well as of policy, to the corntrade, than to any other. Irresistible, indeed, must be the necessity which could, in our judgment, authorise the legisla ture to tamper with the sustenance of the people, and to impede the free purchase and sale of that article on which depends the existence of so large a portion of the community.

"3. Because we think that the expectations of ultimate benefit from this measure are founded on a delusive theory. We cannot persuade ourselves that this law will ever contribute to produce plenty, cheapness, or steadiness of price. So long as it operates at all, its effects must be the opposite of these. Monopoly is the parent of scarcity, of dearness, and of uncertainty. To cut off any of the sources of supply can only tend to lessen its abundance; to close against ourselves the cheapest market for any commodity must enhance the price at which we purchase it; and to confine the consumer of corn to the produce of his own country is to refuse to ourselves the benefit of that provision which Providence itself has made for equalising to man the variations of season and of climate.

"4. But, whatever may be the future consequences of this