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of importation: but, by regulating the price,-by fixing the point. beyond which the price shall not rise, we shall most assuredly interfere with the just profits either of the grower or the importer and the prohibition of grain in the distilleries proceeds exactly upon the supposition that such a maximum ought to be established. Its advocates pretend to know the point beyond which the price of grain should not rise. The corn distillery, say they, is stopt; yet barley has not fallen. But had the stoppage not taken place barley would have been dearer: its price would have risen, until the grower and importer found, that, by raising it a little higher, they must lose the distillers' custom. At this point, the rise would have stopt,-unless, indeed, the scarcity had been so great as to raise it still higher, and exclude it from the distillery. Its exclusion, effected in this manner, would, however, have still kept the price lower than it could have been, had no grain been grown for the distilleries; and thus, the interest of the distiller and consumer would not have been sacrificed, although those of the grower and importer were consulted.

The effect of the prohibition has been, therefore, to take something out of the farmer's pocket,-to increase the losses which the war was at any rate throwing upon the importer of corn,―to diminish the gains of the distiller,-to make the people pay more, for a spirit which they dislike, than they would have done for one which they like,--and to make them less economical in the use of grain than the state of the supply renders prudent. But this temporary measure has been infinitely less detrimental to the country than one of a permanent nature would have been; for it has not yet checked the cultivation of grain, nor interfered with the corn trade, further than by the general uncertainty and alarm which such experiments create. The strenuous opposition which the measure experienced, and the known power and prejudices of the landed interest, have probably induced a belief that the experiment will not be repeated or extended; and the farmers have most likely made no material changes in consequence of this one attempt upon them. The effects of a permanent exclusion of grain from the distilleries, would be much more serious. Above 470,000 quarters have hitherto been consumed annually in the manufacture of spirits in Great Britain. What would be the consequence of destroying the regular demand for this quantity? We need not enter minutely into the mass of evidence which the committee has collected, with very praiseworthy industry, in order to answer this question. Neither need we inquire into the means by which the farmer would attempt to compensate himself for the loss of such a market. One thing is quite obvious, that the whole grain produced by the country would speedily be di

Cc4

minished

minished by at least the amount of 470,000 quarters, probably. by a good deal more. Now, it is exactly because we consume in ordinary years a large quantity of grain, in various ways, beyond our necessary use of that article, that we are in very little danger of ever suffering from famine, By luxurious living, by feeding animals kept for pleasure, by distilling spirituous liquors,-we have hitherto been accustomed to use so much grain-to live so much better than, upon a pinch, we could continue to do,-that the worst crops can only reduce us to short allowance, abridge our gratifications, and leave us altogether safe from the greatest of public calamities. It is in this circumstance, more than any other which can be named, that a civilized nation is superior to a barbarous tribe; and a rich country, moderately peopled, like France or England, to one overpeopled, like China. The latter being always on short allowance, is subject to famine every bad season:" the former, having always much to spare out of its fund of subsistence, depends on the seasons only for the enjoyment of certain luxuries. The project of substituting sugar for grain in our distilleries, is calculated to bring us nearer short allowance-nearer the wretched situation of the Chinese than we hitherto have been, by a quantity equal to the maintenance of 300,000 or 400,000 persons. A sudden influx of so many mouths would not convert a common year into a dear one, more certainly than the proposed measure would convert a dear year into a year of scarcity, or even of famine. Hitherto, a bad crop might prove inconvenient,henceforth, it may be fatal.

The anfwer which has been attempted to this argument, on the part of the West Indians, is, that we at prefent import a larger quantity of grain than the propofed meafure will cut off; and further, that the colonies require annually large fupplies from abroad, which the British farmer could easily furnish. But this removes the objection only a fingle ftep, and there leaves it as ftrong.as before. Our certainty of efcaping a famine arifes, in fome part, from the grain grown by foreigners for our confumption. If we regularly ufe for food the quantity hitherto made into fpirits,or if we fend to our colonies as food, what we have hitherto confumed in fpirits, the foreign grower will cease to raise as much as he formerly did, Lefs food--lefs of that which, on an emergency, may be turned into food-will exift in the world than before. We, or our colonies, are therefore fo much nearer fhort allowance than we formerly were. Inftead of having both the foreign fupply and the grain ufed in diftilling, to reckon upon as refources against a famine, we have only, at the utmoft, the grain ufed in diftilling. But as a bad feafon is very frequently confined to one country, we have poffibly facrificed a

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larger

larger for a lefs fupply,-we have given up the chance of balancing our own bad feafon by the good feafon of our neighbours. Suppofe that we ftop the corn diftillery permanently, and, by fome fimilar, meafure of violence, ftop the importation of 500,000 quarters of grain, fo as to force the fugar into diftillation, and the corn of home growth into confumption :-A bad harvest comes; and we look for the 500,000 quarters which used formerly to be imported; but they are no longer to be found :-our former correfpondents have ceafed to raise what was no longer wanted. We have, indeed, that proportion of 500,000 quarters grown at home, which the whole crop bears to an ordinary crop, perhaps only 450,cco; but had we continued diftilling and importing, we fhould have had not only this amount of grain to relieve us, but most probably the full 500,000 from abroad as ufual; because the feafon abroad may very well have been good, although it was bad with us. In both cafes, our chance is equal, of relieving our wants by the general furplus of the foreign markets, by bribing the foreign confumer, with high prices, to reduce his allowance below that of ordinary years, when our crop, as well as his own, is abundant.

The plan of fubftituting rum for corn fpirits in the home market, is liable to all the objections which we have urged against the worst form of the exclufion of grain from the diftilleries. Rum can at prefent be brought to market for 4s. 3d. per gallon, exclufive of duties; corn fpirits for 7s. 3d. The duties of cuftoms and excife upon the former, amount to 11s. 3 d. per gallon; the duty on the latter is only 7s. 2d.; fo that rum cofts altogether 15s. 6d., and corn fpirit only 14s. 5d. This difference, notwithstanding the fuperior merits which the Weft Indians afcribe to their fpirit, is found perfectly fufficient to protect the corn fpirit; but there can be no doubt, that a diminution of the rum duty, or an increase of that on corn fpirits, would put an end at once to all lawful diftillation in this country. The confequence of this would be, of course, a lofs to the farmer of his market for near 500,000 quarters of grain, and eventually a diminution to this amount of the whole fupply of the country. An immediate lofs would likewife accrue of the whole diftillery bufinefs. To indemnify the farmer for his lofs, or the public for its risk of famine, is obvioufly impoffible: but the Weft Indians propofe to indemnify the diftiller out of the revenue which may arife from the new duties. Let us fee, however, if even this is practicable. If the duties are equalized by railing the excife on corn fpirit, a tax is levied on the people. of this country, in order to indemnify the West Indian planters against the effects of their own overtrading; and they are forced to drink rum in

stead

ftead of corn fpirit, for which is univertally admitted they have a preference. This method would likewife diminish the confumption of spirits, and probably leave a confiderable deficit in the revenue, after indemnifying the distillers; for it appears in evidence, (Report, p. 335.), that fo fmall a rife as d. on the gallon would injure the confumption, and a rife of 1d. affect it moft materially, although the price would still be id. lower than that of rum. But the manner of equalizing the duties most likely to be propofed, is to reduce the duty on rum confiderably below that on corn fpirit, fo that the whole price to the confumer may be lowered. If fo much only of the duty is taken off, as will make the two fpirits fell for the fame price, upon the present prime cost of the articles, the preference for corn fpirit, and the competition of the diftillers and corn-dealers, will prevent the corn fpirit from being difplaced by rum. To effect its exclufion, a confiderably greater reduction of duty must be made; and this cannot be estimated at less than 2s. 6d. ; fo that the price of rum fhall stand at 135. The revenue will, by this change, lofe 2s. 6d. on all the rum, and gain about 1s. 6d. on an amount equal to the corn spirit at prefent confumed. The annual average confumption of British plantation rum in Great Britain, for fix years ending 1806, was about 2,778,000 gallons. The average of all forts confumed muft have been fomewhat higher. For three years ending 1807, it was about 3,041,000. We may We may ftate this 3,000,000 gallons, then, as nearly the quantity upon which a lofs, fay of 2s. 6d. per gallon, would be incurred, or 375,000l. The quantity of corn fpirit confumed in England, on an average of the years 1805 and 1806, was about 2,925,000 gallons; and, eftimating the quantity confumed in Scotland by the proportion of the Scotch to the English distillation, the whole confumption of the island was about 3,090,000 gallons,-the gain of is. 6d. on which would be about 227,cool.; fo that a deficit of 148,000l. would happen to the revenue, instead of an increase, out of which to indemnify the diftillers for the total lofs of their stock and trade. But if the reduction is only 28. per gallon-making the price of rum 13s. 6d., or about 25. a gallon lower than it now is, and only is. lower than corn fpirits,-even then, the whole gain of the revenue will be a trifle of cocl. for a fund of compenfation +

We have now been supposing, that the consumption of spirits will remain the same as before, although the price is very mate

rially

It would manifestly be unfair to take 1807 as a criterion of the consumption of corn spirits; for, by Mr Jackson's evidence, it appears that a very extraordinary, and indeed unaccountable increase had taken place in the use of spirits for that year.

rially lowered. This, however, cannot be expected to be the case. The consumption will greatly and rapidly increase; and surely, by this increase, the revenue and the planters will be the only gainers. No evil that can be stated, except perhaps the danger of famine to which the same measure will expose us, is more to be deprecated than the increased taste for spirituous liquors. It will fall entirely on the lower orders, whose health and morals must thus be widely and irreparably injured, in order to alleviate the distresses brought upon the planters by the African slave trade. The proposers of this plan, therefore, are reduced to a dilemma;either the consumption of spirits will remain at its present rate, or will increase in the one case, the plan considerably injures the revenue; in the other, a more likely case, it is infinitely detrimental to the morals and health, and ultimately to the wealth also of the community.

Of the two plans which we have considered, the last is certainly the one most conducive to the object in view-the relief of the West Indians. It would take out of the market sixty or seventy thousand hogsheads of sugar, and save on that quantity the drainage of one seventh which the article suffers before it comes into the market. The former plan is much less efficient; for, though it has raised the price of sugar, it must have also checked the consumption of spirits; and it cannot, therefore, continue to take out of the market the same proportion of sugar during the remaining period of the prohibition. It has already raised sugar from 32s. to 50s. per cwt.; but the prohibition of grain cannot force the consumption, of spirits at advanced prices; and, instead of employing sixty thousand hogsheads, the new distillery will probably not require above 40,000,* leaving, besides the increase of glut this year from other causes, a quantity undemanded of more than 40,000 hogsheads. Thus, of these two plans, the only one which produces the desired effect-the one which alone answers the end in view-is that which is liable to the greatest objections, both on general principles, and in its details. It is one, indeed, which the West India committee have not ventured directly to recommend; but have, with their usual, very laudable industry, illustrated, by evidence and accounts, leaving the mention of it in the form of a hint or suggestion upon their third report.

II.

*The Report of the West India Dock Committee, just published, shows, that the importation of West India produce, in 1808, has greatly exceeded that of any former year. The numbers of the farger vessels which landed the cargoes in the years, were 477, 503, and 598 respectively.

docks for the last three The Report mentions the

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