more than ever was known before, as the landowner: the Government and those who pinching poor law, and the reduction of are in favour of the poor law, may say it wages, and a great want of employment have cannot be that Bill that has reduced the price placed the English labourer in almost the of corn, as the workhouses are not built yet same situation as the Irish poor, and that neither is the Bill carried into general effect. is, to live principally upon potatoes, this must No, but all interference being taken away on tend very materially to diminish the con- the part of the local magistrates, the rate sumption of wheat and consequently its payers in general who are most of them very price; the Irish farmer can find a market greatly in distress themselves, have taken for his corn in England, but where is the advantage of that circumstance, and have English farmer to find a market, if he can- reduced the aged and infirm poor, the agrinot find it at home, and which he cannot do cultural labourers, and the working classes now, only at a ruinous price; these are seri- in general, to the lowest state of destitution ous things to think of, and must very soon and distress; the Government, nor but very be amended, or the consequences will be few persons are aware of the extent of paudreadful, as it is the general opinion of mil- perism, as in all populous parishes, (and from lers, and bakers, that since the passing of the increase of population there are very few the Poor Law Bill, and the reduction of but what are populous,) taking the average, wages took place, that the consumption of three fourths of the inhabitants are depenbread and flour has fallen one third at the dent upon the parish for support, either from least, and consequently, the price of wheat labour, or the poor rates; and in all such in proportion: I have lately seen an account parishes, numbers have been out of all proof the rules and regulations in respect to the fitable employ all the summer, as in parishes diet in several of the workhouses in London, where the surplus labourers have been em and also, in a workhouse belonging to a union ployed, it is in the gravel pits, or on the in Sussex, and I see that men and women roads, (work that brings no profit to the farare not allowed more than about six pounds mer,) and at very low wages, even lower of bread for a week, and children in propor- than 88. a week, in proportion to the numtion, (the rest of their diet being made up ber in their families; and I beg leave to aschiefly by soup, gruel, &c.) whereas taking sure you Sir, that from distress and privathe average of men, women and children, tion, and a great want of employment, a they ought to have nearly double that quan- most alarming degree of excitement exists tity, and if the poor, who stand in need of at this time amongst the agricultural larelief, (numerous as they are) are to be shut bourers in general, how should it be otherup in workhouses, and the poor law com- wise? when we take into consideration the missioners carry the same rules and regula- distressed state they are in; that the farmer tions into effect in respect to the allowance is ruined is certain, as he has been selling of bread, as no doubt but they will; wheat wheat for some time at about 40s. a quarter, will be sold for 288. a quarter in a very short which to meet his outgoings, he ought to sell time, and I am convinced, that instead of for 64s. a quarter at the least, and comparathat bill tending to relieve the farmer, it has tively speaking, barley in proportion, for had been the means of adding greatly to the dis- barley been an average crop last harvest, it tress of the aged and infirm poor, the agri- would not have been more than 228. a quarcultural labourers, and the working classes ter, if so much; and in all probability if we in general; and by diminishing the consump- get a fine harvest, corn, from a diminished tion of corn, and the necessaries of life, have consumption, and a good stock of wheat in tended very greatly, to hasten the ruin of hand, will be cheaper than it is now; and both the farmer, and the tradesman, and in that case from the increase of their numwhich ruin must very soon fall upon the bers, and the inability of the farmers to em ploy them, (and including great boys, who ought to be employed) one half of the labourers will be out of employ, and living in a state of half starvation, desperation, and crime, for as all protection is taken from the poor by doing away with all interference on the part of the local magistrates, there is no longer any protection for property whatever, so that open violence, secret mischief, and crimes of all sorts, must and will ensue; for the Poor Law Bill has tended to carry distress and despair into every cottage, and has served to fill our towns and villages with poachers, robbers, beggars, and wretched and destitute prostitutes, and I am convinced that if parliament separated without repealing that bill, and also doing something very great to relieve both the farmers and the labourers, and the country in general, the consequences must and will be dreadful, for as it is truly said by an enlightened member of parliament in a letter to the editor of the Agricultural and Industrial Magazine, where is now the landowner with provisions and mortgages on his estate; perhaps an entailed one? Where is the tenant with a fixed rent, and a landlord unreasonable, or as distressed as himself? Where are now the industrious and careful labourers, the peasantry of England, justly their country's pride? In England they have passed away, they live but in the record of history; poverty, pauperism, moral degradation and crime, stalk abroad over the land; what can this end in but violence and ruin.? You will see Sir, if you will please to read what I have written, that I have pointed out two remedies; the first, a great reduction of taxation off the necessaries of life, to be made up by economy and retrenchment, and a gra likely to procure any employment. I don't suppose the Government will be inclined to go so far in a reduction of taxation as I have purposed, take the duty off the malt, and also off some of the other necessaries of life to the amount of eight or ten millions, and all will be right, as it is the finding employment for the poor that is the most important thing, and so as to better their condi tion, and make them independent of a parish, you will see sir, what benefit would arise from the allotment system being carried into general effect; you will see, that by advancing the income of the working classes generally upon an average 4s. a week from the small pittance which they have to live upon, would throw nearly thirty millions of money into circulation yearly, and as I have said in the work, that the price of corn always depends upon the money which there is in circulation, this would give a stimulus to agriculture, trade, and manufactures, and would also reduce the poor rates to one fourth of their present amount. Now Sir, as a leading member of the present administration, after seeing the alarming and dreadful state the country is in, it is to be hoped that you will lose no time in appointing a committee, to enquire into the distressed state of the agricultural part of the community, the labouring poor, and the country in general, in order that some plan may be devised for the relief of the suffering part of the community in general. I am, Sir, Your most obedient, humble Servant, Burdwell, near Bury St. Edmunds, duated property tax; the other remedy is To which Letter the writer received the fol to carry the allotment system into general practice in every agricultural parish in the kingdom, by which means employment would be found for the surplus, (as in the pamphlet I have clearly shewn there is a great surplus) of labourers as well as the great boys, most of whom are out of employ, and under present circumstances are never SIR, lowing reply. Downing street, July 31st. 1835. I am desired by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 22nd inst. and to acquaint you, that he fears he will be prevented from reading the work alluded to in your communi cation, by the extreme press of business at present in his department, but I am at the same time to express to you his thanks for the suggestions and observations which your letter contains, I am, &c. T. S. RICE. REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON HAND-LOOM WEAVERS. (Continued from page 16, Vol. II.) That as to the third class, some of them have potatoe-ground in the country, which aids them in procuring food; but that the whole body are unable to procure by their earnings a sufficiency of necessary food; that they are extremely ill clad; that, on that account, many refrain from attending Divine Worship, and that the witness has observed, for some time, a marked falling off in the looms, from the inability of the weavers to repair or renew them. The evidence of this witness was confirmed before your Committee by that of Mr. Moncrief, a manufacturer coming from the same place. As confirming the statement from Belfast, your Committee will further state, that two witnesses were sent to give evidence, from Drogheda, being chosen at a meeting called by the Mayor. Mr. J. Chadwick, a dealer in linen, was first examined, and bore testimony to the wretched condition of the hand-loom weavers of the neighbourhood from which he came, stating that their earnings were not sufficient to find them in the necessaries of life; that in 1812 the wages for weaving a piece of 78 yards was 15s.; that in 1816 it was 168.; that in 1820 five yards were added to the length of the piece, and the price for weaving reduced to 10s.; that in 1828 the length of the piece was again increased to 88 yards, and the price for weaving reduced to 7s. 6d.; that in 1834 the length of the piece was increased to 93 yards, and the price for weaving reduced to 7s. And your Committee think it right to observe here, that this principle has been adopted often, namely, increasing the length or breadth of the cloth concurrently with reduc tions in the price for weaving, a fact material to consider when it is recollected that the piece is so constantly referred to as a definite measure. Mr. Patrick M' Gray, a hand-loom weaver of Drogheda, confirmed the statement given to your Committee by Mr. Chadwick. He stated that the earnings of a weaver are not more than 3s. to 3s. 6d. per week; that they generally live upon potatoes and salt, and that only; that they are compelled to send their wives and families out to beg every day in the week; and that the majority of the Weavers at Drogheda think it is impossible they can be worse off unless their lives be taken. From Spitalfields, Your Committee took the evidence of Mr. Ballance, a respectable manufacturer, who stated that the weaver could earn at the time he spoke from 78. 6d. to 88. per week, clear of deductions; but that, to do this, he was compelled to work 14 hours a day; that this labour is excessive, and is incompatible with the weaver's health; that up to 1826, he could earn 14s. or 16s. a week, and was not then overpaid; that 20s. per week would be sufficient pay; that it is impossible for them to support themselves at their present earnings; that their distresses are truly appalling, there being now many men who used to support their families with credit, who are mere paupers. Mr. John Duce, a weaver of Spitalfields, confirmed the above fully, and stated that the hours of labour were now frequently 16 hours a day; his answer to the question "Do many of the spitalfields weavers work 16 hours a day?" being the following: "Yes, often; and on the Sunday, if you will walk there, you will hear the looms going." (To be continued.) It is requested that Subscriptions be not paid to unknown individuals; if not into the Bank of M. Attwood, Esq. M. P. then to some Member of the Society. Communications to be sent to the Secretary post paid. PRINTED BY W. NICOL, 51, PALL MALL. "A LONG PULL, AND A STRONG PULL, AND A PULL ALL-TOGETHER," FOR BETTER PRICES, BETTER PROFITS, AND BETTER WAGES. Agriculture. Speed the Plough." So conflicting are the opinions broached on every side respecting the cause of the grievous depression in the price of wheat (although to those who are not wilfully blind, the matter is clear enough) that he renders almost as great a benefit who affords materials by which error may be disproved and exploded, as he who has the merit of pointing out the actual truth. Mr. Dillwyn, one of the Committee of this Society, and Member for Glamorganshire, has therefore done good service to the cause of agriculture in moving for the following returns :— "Wheat and flour,-Returns ordered, 1. "Of the quantities of wheat and flour sold in Mark-lane in each year since 1824" 2. "Of the quantities of wheat sold in each of the other 149 markets from which returns are made since 1828, and in the other towns which made returns prior to 1828, for each year since 1824:" each year of the same period; specifying the places to which they were sent :" 8. "Of the quantities of wheat and flour imported into this country from Canada, and entered for home consumption, in each year of the same period :" 9. "Of the quantity of Foreign wheat in bond on 1st October, 1824:" 10. "Of the quantity of foreign wheat bonded since that date:" 11. "Of the quantity of foreign wheat remaining in bond, at the time of making up the last return :" 12. "Of the quantity of foreign wheat taken out of bond in each year since 1st October, 1824." The first of these returns will not speak so much to the purpose in hand as the second: but it will shew what the consumption of London is, compared with the population, latterly and in 1824. And if it be true, as some assert, that the low prices are owing to an abundant supply, this will be shewn by the sales in Mark-lane having increased in a greater ratio than the population; or if the population of London, as the philosophers maintain, is better off now than in 1824, there will be the same result. This return will also shew, in conjunction with 3. "Of the quantities of wheat and flour imported into this country from Ireland, as the produce of that kingdom, in each year since 1824:" 4. "Similar return, with regard to Scot- the next, the proportion of wheat consumed land:" 5. "Of the quantities of foreign wheat and flour entered for home consumption, and upon which duty has been paid, for each year of the same period :" 6. "Of the quantities of wheat, flour, and biscuit imported into this country from Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man, in each year since 1824; distinguishing the ports at which they were entered;" 7. "Of the quantities of wheat, flour, and biscuit exported from the same islands in VOL. II. No. 3. in the metropolis compared with that consumed in the country districts; and thus give a clue to the solution of another question which has been mooted, viz: the increased consumption of potatoes among the working classes in the provinces in consequence of their reduced circumstances; an opinion to which we attach considerable credit and importance. We certainly have heard innumerable instances of the growth of potatoe consumption, which must tend to diminish the price of wheat: but what a cause is this for reducing the price!! Reduce wages another half, and wheat again in proportion, and then what a jubilee for the stock-jobbers! All these reductions having their ultimate source, as we contend, and are proceeding to prove, in the diminished currency arising out of the bill of 1819. The second return will in a great measure shew the productiveness of each season since 1824; and we only wish that it had extended to barley and oats as well as wheat; because we should then have had a confirmation of what is actually the fact, viz: that barley and oats have been, the last year or two, high in price compared with wheat, owing to deficient harvests, a fact that would be exhibited in the comparative quantities sold in the growing districts. With respect to wheat, however, this return will shew the scarce harvests of 1828 and the years immediately succeeding, except where the town making the returns derives its supply mainly from an upland district, which would profit by a wet season. And this will afford data as to the proportion of upland soil bearing wheat in the kingdom, and the proportion of low land; because the latter it was which suffered so lamentably in consequence of the wet harvests of the above years; and where the growing districts shew a very marked deficiency at those periods, they will probably be composed of clay land. Then we shall be able to compare the supply in the growing districts for the last two years (which are said to have been so overabundant as to cause the immense reduction in price) with seasons of ordinary yield at other periods, when the breadth of tillage for wheat has been as large. We must premise, however, that about 1824, the bone husbandry was only beginning to come into general operation, and that this has increased of late years the quantity of land usually dedicated to wheat; but in some measure to counterbalance this increase, the cold clays, from the poverty of the farmers, have been much over-cropped and run out, and, of course, are less productive. sive increase of Irish importations, by which means we shall be able to judge whether they have been sufficient to account for the great fall in price, as Sir Robert Peel would lead us to suppose. It is true that we have this return to a great extent before us in the papers delivered in to the Agricultural Committee of 1833, but not in so convenient a form. Our view of the Irish importations is, that they have not been by many degrees sufficient to account for the fall; especially since Mr. Jacob, of the Board of Trade, himself, assured the Agricultural Committee of 1833, that this country, which about the year 1824, was competent to supply itself with wheat, was now (in consequence of increased population) unable to do so, notwithstanding the large increase of Irish importations, and was on an average dependent on foreign supply for about 500,000 qrs. If this be true, or near it, the Irish importations ought not to have caused one penny of the fall in price. This however, we are well convinced of, viz. that although Irish importations have not been the cause of the great decline in price in England,—the decline of price in England, has been the cause of the increased Irish importations. Rents have been much more fixed and much more strictly exacted, through middlemen, in Ireland than in England to amass a fixed rent, the tenant must have a certain price for his commodity: if pigs are low, he must send more pigs to market, and leave himself nothing but potatoes: if wheat is low, and the rent cannot be otherwise scraped together, the landlord, if he be encumbered, which nine out of ten of Irish landlords are, is compelled to allow the tenant the privilege of ploughing up old pasture land, which will grow luxuriant crops without manure. An immense quantity of pasture land has been broken up from this cause since the fall in prices, and with a view merely of meeting that fall; in this view, which we have long held, we are corroborated by that intelligent and most impartial traveller Mr. Inglis, in his inva The third return will shew the progres- luable book "Ireland in 1834." This is |