Page:The corn law question shortly investigated.djvu/18

16 more like an extensive piece of pleasure ground, than the barren woods and tracts which Tacitus describes as belonging to the penitus toto divisos orbe Britannos,—and yet with this pleasing state of things—and it being clearly proven that commerce and manufactures are in an equally, or still more flourishing state, as is proved by their enormous increase within the last ten years, in population and wealth, in every trading and manufacturing district of this kingdom,—yet the Government is assailed, and told "to stop the plough, in order to speed the spinning Jenny." And we are gravely told manufactures are the true source of national wealth; some even go the length of asserting that it would be better for the country if we were not to grow a boll of corn on our own soil. In short, that our whole country must be converted into a great workshop of mills, power looms, and spinning Jennies, from one end to the other. Now, how long society would exist under such a state of things, I shall not stop to inquire; the Report of the House of Commons on the Factory question, declared, that, compared with these factories as regarded morals, "the sugar plantation was as a garden of Eden."

As a practical agriculturist myself, I have no hesitation in stating, that I think a modification of the present graduated scale of duties would be infinitely preferable to a fixed duty, for this simple reason, viz. that a fixed duty on foreign corn is imaginary, when corn is cheap at home, because, it is not worth while to import it; and the self same fixed duty could not be levied when corn was dear. The proposal, therefore, is a mere absurdity, unless it be intended to fix the duty so low as to complete at a blow the ruin of the British agriculturist. Then indeed it ceases to be absurd, and is only to be classed among the destructive projects of the day. Where would be the advantage of a fixed duty with corn at its present price?