Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/372

 368 CORN LAWS CORNU whenever the price of wheat should not ex- ceed 6*. 8d. per quarter, and of barley 3s. 4d. In 1463 the importation was prohibited unless the domestic price should exceed the rates named in the law of 1436. In 1562 exporta- tion was allowed when wheat was worth 10s. , per quarter, and barley 6s. 8d. In 1571 it was enacted that wheat might be exported by pay- ing a duty of 2s. per quarter, barley and other grain a duty of Is. 4d., when the home price of wheat was below 20s. and barley below 12s. In 1660, on the accession of Charles II., along with heavy import duties, the export duty of wheat was fixed at 20s. per quarter, with pro- portionate rates on other grains. In 1663 for these duties an ad valorem duty of 9 per cent, was substituted; as the exportation price of wheat was fixed at 48s., the duty was thus made 5s. 4<Z. per quarter. In 1670 prohibitory duties were laid upon importation until the price should reach 53s. 4d., while exportation was allowed until the home price should reach that rate. When above that price and below 80s., importation was allowed with 8s. duty. In 1689, for the promotion of agriculture, a bounty of 5s. per quarter was paid on wheat exported when the price .did not exceed 48s., and of 2s. 6d. on barley or malt if the price did not exceed 24s. ; and at the same time impor- tation was prohibited. This system continued till 1773, when, prices having become very high, a law was enacted under the auspices of Edmund Burke, by which the introduction of foreign wheat was allowed, at a duty of Gd. per quarter, whenever the price reached 48s., while the export bounty and exportation itself were to cease whenever the price rose to or above 44s. As this law prevented prices from rising with the increased demand, and as there was a general wish to become independent of foreign supplies, a law was passed in 1791 by which an import duty of Gd. was to be levied when the price was 54s. ; when it was under 54s. and above 50s., the duty was to be 2s. 6d. ; and when it was under 50s., the duty was to be 24s. Sd. per quarter, or in fact prohibitory. In 1804 a duty of 24s. 3d. was levied when the home price was 63s. or less ; when it was from 63s. to 66s., the duty was fixed at 2s. 6d. ; and when it was 66s. or more, the duty was Qd. The official price was established by the aver- age of 12 districts, into which the maritime counties of England had been divided ; and in Scotland by the average of four maritime dis- tricts. These averages were taken four times a year. In 1814 the export bounty was abol- ished, leaving exportation unrestricted ; and in 1815 an act was procured by the agricultural interest, after a fierce opposition from the manufacturing and commercial classes, fixing 80s. as the limit at which there should be no duty on importation. In 1825 a minimum duty of Is. was levied when the price should be above 85s., with a maximum duty of 17s. when the price was between 70s. and 80s. In that year the duty on wheat from the North Ameri- can colonies was fixed for one year at 5s. with- out regard to the home price. In 1827 Mr. Can- ning attempted a reform of the corn tariff, and to give greater freedom to importation, but failed. In 1828 an act was passed fixing a minimum duty of Is. when the price was 73s. or more, with a maximum duty of 23s. 8d. when the price was 64s. ; the prices to be ascertained from actual sales in the principal towns. In 1839 the anti-corn-law league was founded, and the agitation for the total repeal of the duties commenced. In 1842 Sir Robert Peel's sliding scale was enacted, fixing a mini- mum duty of Is. when the price was 73s. and over, and adding Is. to the duty with each de- crease of Is. in the price, until the maximum duty of 20s. was reached whenever the price fell below 51s. In 1843 the duty on wheat from Canada was fixed at Is. Finally, in 1846, Sir Robert Peel's famous free-trade measure was passed, seriously reducing the corn duties at once, and fixing them, after Feb. 1, 1849, at the nominal rate of Is. per quarter on wheat and other corn, and 4%d. per cwt. on all kinds of flour and meal. CORN SNAKE, the common name of the colu- ber guttatus, Linn, (genus scotophis, Bd. and Gd.). The head is narrow and elongated, and the snout obtuse; the neck is contracted, the body very long, and the tail small and taper- ing. The color above is reddish brown, with oblong spots of brick-dust color bordered with very dark brown; the sides are lighter with small spots; below, the color is silver- white, with black squares of various sizes irregularly Corn Snake (Coluber guttatus). disposed ; below the vent is a longitudinal line on each side, formed by a black spot on each scale. In a specimen 4 ft. long, the head was 1-J. inch, body 39 inches, and tail nearly 8, the great- est circumference being 4 inches ; it attains a length of 6 ft. It conceals itself by day, and is generally seen early in the morning and about dusk ; it enters houses, and is believed to devour chickens, as well as the small animals usually eaten by snakes. Its northern limit appears to be North Carolina. The abdominal plates are 126, the subcaudal scales 64. CORNU, Sebastien Melchior, a French painter, born in Lyons in 1804. He studied with In- gres at Paris, and after protracted visits to Ita- ly and the East established himself in that city. He has attained considerable eminence as a