ers, both from without and within, is con- poses to shift all taxes levied from the land, stantly urging it to the destruction of land- such as tithe, poor-rate, county-rate, churchowners, farmers and agricultural labourers; rate, &c. to the nation, by levying these as proved by the present ruinous condition charges upon the general taxation of the of farmers, and total neglect by it of all kingdom. 4th. By an abolition of the freetheir petitions :-to the destruction of ma- trade system; and the establishment of a nufacturing labourers; as proved by the general system of protection for native inpresent ruinous condition of hand-loom wea- dustry of all descriptions, against an unequal vers, and total neglect by it of their peti- competition with both foreigners and mations to the destruction of mercantile chinery. He proposes even to suspend for the labourers, as proved by the ruinous condi- present the free trade between England and tion of the ship-owners (which includes the Ireland, until such time as the labouring ruin of all British sailors,) and total neg- classes of Ireland can be raised to a level lect by it of their petitions: and in con- with those of England, instead of reducing clusion, to the destruction of every colony the latter to a level with the former, as is belonging to the nation: as proved by their the present plan. He proposes also to stop dissatisfied and ruinous condition, and total the power-loom, if means short of that canneglect by it of their petitions also. And not be discovered for rendering assistance for a state of things like this, Mr. Bernard to the hand-loom weavers. He proposes at says there is no remedy, but to make the the same time to restore the Navigation House of Commons the representative of the producing classes of society, instead of the non-producing and distributing, and to deprive it of a part of its powers, by sending it back to its original place in the constitution, as the third estate, instead of suffering it to remain, as it is now, the first. After urging these sentiments at great length to the Suffolk Farmers, Mr. Bernard then declared his views of the line of policy which he thought necessary to be adopted in order to give employment to the population of these kingdoms, and prevent a convulsion; the chief of which are as follow: 1st. By the establishment of a silver standard, its value being lowered at the same time 50 per cent., by ordering 10s. to pass current for 20s. in the payment of debts. 2dly. By a total prohibition of foreign corn, and a system established of public granaries, to buy up English corn in abundant seasons when it falls about 7 per cent. below a certain agreed price, and to sell it out again in deficient seasons, when it rises by a similar per centage above this agreed price, so as to keep its price always fixed, both in winter and summer, in bad seasons and in good. 3dly. By a shifting of taxes, from producers to consumers: he pro Laws, in order to give full employment once more to British shipping and sailors. And in conclusion, he proposes to establish the same protective system for the colonies as for the mother country; and no longer to allow any produce to be imported into this country from Russia and the United States of America, that can be raised with anything like equal facility in our own colonies. Mr. Bernard urged all these points in his speech, as essentially necessary for the purpose of averting a convulsion; and shewed the impossibility of effecting them without a close and systematic combination of the agricultural body. After eulogising the conduct of Mr. Thurnall, Mr. Twiss, and the Farmers of Cambridgeshire, who he said deserved the thanks of their country for what they had done, he went on to say, that if Suffolk were now to unite itself with Cambridgeshire, in all probability Norfolk, Essex, Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire and Kent, would follow, and in six months a league might be established that would be sure to prove triumphant; and he concluded his speech in the following words :-" For five years have I been endeavouring, without effect, to rouse the British Lion. I thought he was dead, he slept so soundly: but, thank God! he has at last moved a are living on fixed incomes;-illustrating paw in Cambridgeshire; I hope he is now his arguments by statistical facts which about to move another paw in Suffolk; carried conviction to the minds of the farif he does, we shall soon get him on his mers present; a few of thefe facts may be legs. Let me but once see him there; let thus summarily shewn : me but once see him begin to look around him, and to lash his sides with his tail; and then the Lord deliver the enemies of the nation, for there is no human power Mr. Spring Rice alluded to the great relief that the country had received from taxation during the last 20 years-this was shewn to be untrue in two ways, thus :— that will.” Mr. Bernard was heard through- 1. Net revenue for the year) £43,840,000 out with marked attention, as well as the most cordial greetings; and when he sate down the clapping continued for some time. We think we can safely say that many of the Suffolk yeomen were inclined to go all these lengths at once, and to fraternise cordially with their brethren of Cambridgeshire; but as some gentlemen present were not prepared to abandon all hope in the House of Commons, it was deemed most prudent by the meeting to allow a little time for deliberation, that the proposed union may be made matter for consideration throughout the county at large. ending 10th Oct. 1817 Do. do. 10th Oct. 1834 43,340,000 £500,000 2. In the year 1810, it required to pay the taxes 12,000,000 qrs. of wheat; in 1834, do. 25,000,000 do. This latter proves that when the public burthens have been thus doubled, rents, mortgages, incumbrances, tithes, poor and other rates, must have proportionally increased. According to the price of corn (which is the real money of the country) the pressure of taxation was→ Per Cent. For 10 years, ending with 1799, about 18 1819, 27 41 The foregoing dreadful pressure on the industry of the country had been occasioned by the lowness of prices, caused by the diminution of the circulating medium, the effect of which may be judged of from the penny per day from the income or wages of 10,000,000 of the labouring classes prevents their laying out £15,000,000 per annum, and of 3d. per day £45,000,000 per annum ! The Secretary to the Committee for conducting the "Agricultural and Industrial Magazine," laid before the meeting the objects of the London Central Association; namely, that the Committee was formed of the representatives of the Plough, the Ship and the Loom; that England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland have each members of the committee, whose sole object is the circumstance that the abstraction of one protection of domestic industry, and the relief of the country from its long continued distress; that a raising of prices by means of an expansion of the currency, was the means best adapted for the attainment of the object in view; and that if the various Agricultural Societies, now so powerless for want of union, would combine and make their wants and wishes understood, the Central Society would then have a lever to work with at the commencement of the next Session. The Secretary then entered into an exposition of the effects of a contracted currency on every class of the community, except that very small portion whọ The reduction of wages and of prices has been owing to the contraction of the currency, as shewn by comparing 1818 with 1832. BANK OF ENGLAND PAPER CIRCULATION. In 1818.-In Notes above £5. and British Post Bills, £20,370,290; Ditto, under ditto, £7,400,680; total, £27,770,970. In 1832.-In Notes above £5. and British Post Bills, £17,752,610; Ditto, under ditto, £299,100; total, £18,051,710. Bank of England decrease in 1832 Country Banks' deficiency in 1832, as compared with 1818 Bills of Exchange, ditto, ditto. Allowing for Gold and Silver There is a deficit, therefore, of money in circulation in 1832, as compared with the year 1818, of pressure of burthens which they cannot £9,719,260 escape from except by a bloody revolution, which would sweep away every land-mark19,000,000 every vestige of property-all social rights 87,000,000 and moral obligations, when man would rely either on the strength of his own arm, or £115,719,260 the cunning ferocity of his nature. The assertion, that the foreign commerce £15,719,260 of England depends on the importation of grain from the Continent of Europe, was refuted at length; and an illustration presented, namely, that during the last two and three years, when our importations of corn £100,000,000 have been decreasing, our exportations of goods have been rapidly increasing. The Secretary then strongly advised the farmers to combine and confederate one county with another; and all the local agricultural societies-(a strong feeling having been expressed on the part of the meeting that a Board of Agriculture should be revived)—with a GREAT CENTRAL SOCIETY now in progress of being founded in London :* to cast aside When really the circulation ought to have been doubled or trebled, owing to the increased wants, commerce and intelligence of the people. Ireland and several countries of the Continent are melancholy illustrations of the effects of low prices, owing to a deficiency of the vital fluid or life blood of society. The Secretary then demonstrated the fallacious absurdity of calling our present currency a metallic one-namely, £5,000,000 of gold in circulation to pay £50,000,000 of taxes annually, and not more than £10,000,000 of the precious metals to meet a debt of £800,000,000! He cited the example of the Americans, who, before they attempted to return to any thing like a metallic currency, first paid off the debt contracted in paper; and remarked, that of our £800,000,000 debt upwards of £600,000,000 is only fairly due in negotiable paper, the value of which, even at the time of contracting the debt, was not £400,000,000. In reply to the allegation that we wish to destroy public credit, he emphatically denounced the falsehood of such a slanderous charge our object is to maintain the national faith-to prevent a sponge' being applied by dishonest and unprincipled men, who, taking advantage of the dreadful distress caused by the Bill of 1819, stimulate the country to declare a national bankruptcy; while our aim is to raise up the people so as to enable them to bear the Society for the encouragement and protection of "The Royal Agricultural and Industrial LABOUR throughout the British Empire," prospectuses of which, were put into the hands of various gentlemen present. The following are the objects proposed by the society; viz. 1st. To be a centre of communication for all the Local Societies throughout Great Britain and Ire. land-whether Agricultural, or Industrial — that have for their object social advancement; but which want of unity and direction now render powerless. 2nd. To procure a Public Building, to be called "The Royal Institution of Agriculture and Trade," to contain a Library, Museum, Lecture Hall, and other Apartments, where periodical meetings of the Society may be held, to hear read the Reports from the various Committees of the Soci ety, and from the local Corresponding Societies; also Lectures, Essays, and Papers, upon subjects connected with the theory and practice of Agricul. ture and Rural Economy in general; also of Trade (whether Mercantile, Manufacturing, Mining, &c.) as connected with Agriculture. 3rd. To patronize, arrange, and superintend a grand Annual Meeting of the Society, alternately in England and in Ireland, for purposes similar to those which take place yearly in Scotland under the direction of the Highland Society, and which have been the means of giving such an impulse to Agri culture and Trade in that country. - 4th. To examine the progress of Mechanical Locomotion in its various bearings upon Agriculture, Trade, and Commerce. their political dissensions and rejecting to look deeper into its origin—namely, the petty causes assigned for their distress, the intimate connection which exists between the price of corn and the quantity of money in circulation; when the Secretary also alluded to the extraordinary circumstance of Ipswich, the centre of a purely agricultural district, returning as representatives men holding the doctrines of Messrs. Morrison and Wason, the whole company rose with enthusiastic cheering; and the Cambridgeshire farmers significantly took the hint. 5th. To form a centre of communication for the Scientific Societies established throughout the United Kingdom, and to correspond with Foreign Scientific Societies. Further, the Institution would serve as a focus of resort and intercourse for all members of local Agricultural, or other Societies, visiting the Metropolis, or resident in it. 6th. To give Premiums and Medals for improved Implements or Machines for Agriculture and Trade; also for inventions generally of national utility; for Essays, Papers, &c., upon subjects of national importance. 7th. To encourage the establishment of Schools throughout the Country, for the instruction of Farmer's sons in the Sciences applicable to Agriculture, &c. 8th. To take in all the Periodical and scientific So anxious were the farmers to hear a further exposition of sentiments of which the above contains a very brief outline, that the Secretary was again called up on a motion of thanks, proposed by the scientific agricultural implement founder, Mr. Ransom [one of the society of Friends]; se Publications upon subjects that fall within the conded by Mr. Lewin; and the currency scope of the society's object. 9th. To assist in commencing a Periodical, to be called "The Quarterly Review of Agriculture and Trade,” for the collection, condensation, and diffusion of practical and scientific information upon all subjects connected with social improve. ment. It will contain, 1st. The Transactions, Prize-Essays, Lectures, Reports, &c. of The Royal Agricultural and Industrial Society; and generally all information relative to Rural Economy and Internal Improvement. views of this society were warmly and repeatedly received with the most enthusiastic demonstrations. Charles Lillingstone, Esq. the intelligent Corresponding Member for Ipswich, made a powerful appeal to the meeting; as did also G. I. Twiss, Esq. the 5th. Reports of all new Inventions, Patents, &c. of public importance. It is proposed that the Funds necessary to accom. 2nd. Original Papers, by Writers of acknow. plish the above objects,-exclusive of providing ledged authority in the various departments, on accommodation for the Meetings of the Society, it the application of the Sciences to cultivation; being intended to memorialize His Majesty for one viz. upon Agricultural Chemistry, Vegetable Phy. siology, Mechanics, Entomology, Geology, Hy- of the Public Buildings for this purpose,-shall be drostatics, &c. Also upon Tenantcy, Rents, Taxes, raised in the following manner: 1st. by Donations; Wazes, Profits, Crops, Routine, Stock, Breeding, Feeding, Mining, General Farm Management, Domestic Economy, Trade, Shipping, Arboricul. ture, Gardening, Brewing, Distilling, &c. 3rd. Reviews of such Reports of Select Committees of the House of Commons, as fall within the scope of the Society's object; viz. upon Agriculture, Locomotion, Rates, Tithe, Currency, Roads, Canals, Railways, Manufactures, Commerce, Statistics, weights and Measures, &c. Also Reviews of all new or standard Works upon these, or similar subjects. 4th. Digests of the proceedings of the Local Agricultural and other Societies throughout the United Kingdom, and of such enactments of the Legislature as may be calculated to affect the objects of the Nociety. Likewise condensed Reports of such literary and scientific bodies in London, as may tend to advance the internal improvement of the Country; viz. of the Society of Arts, the Institution of Civil Engineers, of the Statistical Society, the Horticultural Society, the Geological Society, the Smithfield Cattle Club, &c.; also of the Highland Society, the Dublin Agricultural Society, &c. Carrying companies, &c. 2nd. by the revival of the annual grant of £500 given by Government to the former Board of Agriculture; 3rd. by Annual Subscriptions of £5 each from the Local Agricultural and other Societies throughout the United Kingdom, and also from the various Public Boards, Chambers of Commerce, Carrying Companies, Corporations, and other bo. dies; 4th. by Annual Subscriptions of £1 from each Member of the Society. It is further proposed that the Society shall be constituted upon comprehensive principles similar to those of the "Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland;" that the business shall be conducted by a President, Vice-Presidents, and Directors, to be chosen annually from the Members, and who again shall be sub-divided into Committees for the various Sciences applicable to Husbandry and Rural Economy; also for Trade, Commerce, &c. Secretary to the Cambridgeshire Associą ON THE ANNIHILATION OF RENT, AND ON tions. Mr. Thurnal and Mr. Giblin, also returned thanks to their Suffolk neighbours; and after an evening spent in great conviviality and with the acknowledgment of all the farmers, that they had derived the most important information, and heard the most convincing truths, which it would be their duty to spread far and near throughout their respective neighbourhoods,-it was proposed by Charles Lillingstone, Esq. and seconded by Mr. Ransom, and carried unanimously: "That it is the opinion of the meeting, that it is advisable for the East Suffolk Society to unite with the Cambridgeshire; and that the chairman be requested to adopt means to bring about the same with the utmost speed." Our readers will, therefore, see that the counties of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire are in a fair way to come speedily together. The marriage articles are signed and sealed; the nuptial ceremony only is not yet celebrated; but the little delay that is likely to take place, is calculated to unite the parties more warmly in the end. When people are once agreed in a determination to come together, the devil himself would find it difficult to keep them apart long. An abundant harvest in the north, and well got in, as in the south, will probably reduce the price of wheat to 3s. 6d a Bushel, when the nuptials will be sure to be celebrated in all due form. We need hardly add that these proceedings are to us most cheering; Suffolk has now joined Cambridgeshire: let this declaration of want of confidence in the Government, whether it be Whig or Tory, which will not at the very least inquire into the causes of our distress, respond throughout the country. Never was the motto, that "England expects that every man will do his duty," more generally required to be fulfilled; and in furtherance of the objects in view, the Secretary to this Committee, Mr. Montgomery Martin, will be happy to attend, on due notice being given, meetings in any part of the kingdom. THE STATE OF THE CURRENCY. [From the Birmingham Journal, of Saturday, October 19th, 1833.] (Continued from page 13, Vol. II.) I observe in the public prints that Mr. Peel and Mr. Ricardo still persist in saying, that a great part of the present depression of prices took place in 1818, and that Mr. Peel's Bill was only brought forward in May, 1819; and therefore, they say, this latter could not have been the cause of the for mer. Now, in my "Exposition," I have published a table, wherein I have shown that the Bank of England did, in the autumn of 1818, and prior to April 3rd, 1819, reduce the whole of the legal tenders in circulation about one fifth, expressly intending this reduction as a necessary preparatory measure for Mr. Peel's Bill. It is, therefore, very uncandid on the part of Mr. Peel and Mr. Ricardo, to make use of a subterfuge of this kind. But the fact of this positive reduction of the Bank-note circulation, is further proved even in the Bank Reports themselves; for it is expressly stated in the Lords' Bank Report, Appendix A 7, that "the engagement therefore was, that eight millions at least should be repaid by Government to the Bank before the 5th April, 1819; and although some delay occurred, yet the whole sum of eight millions, with the exception of only £300,000, was repaid to the Bank previous to the 5th April,, 1819, according to the engagement." This payment to the Bank is expressly stated as being made for the purpose of reducing the Bank-note circulation, and "preparing for cash payments." It is also expressly stated, that the previous increase of the Bank-note circulation, which had taken place in the autumn of 1816 and 1817, was effected by increasing the Bank advances to the Government, Here is direct evidence (if it is possible that any can be wanted) that the distress of 1816 was relieved in 1817 and 1818 by a forced increase of the circulation of legal tenders, and that the distress of 1819 was |