It was impossible to continue any longer a system which, for three succes sive years, 1825-6-7, had been compelled to bend to the force of temporary circum stances; and like previous measures it was abandoned by its supporters either as inefficient or injurious. Such a state of things brings us to another period in the history of corn-law legislation.
VIII.—From July 1828 to April 29, 1842.
In 1828 Mr. Charles Grant (afterwards Lord Glenelg) introduced a series of re solutions slightly differing from those which had been moved by Mr. Canning, and they were eventually embodied in a bill which was carried through both Houses, and received the Royal assent on the 15th of July. The act was entitled, An Act to amend the Laws relating to the Importation of Corn,' and it re pealed 55 Geo. III. C. 26 (1815); 3 Geo. IV. c. 60 (1822); and 7 and 8 Geo. IV c. 58 (1827).
The provisions for settling the averages under this act were as follow :—In one hundred and fifty towns in England and Wales, mentioned in the act, corn-dealers were required to make a declaration, that they would return an accurate account of their purchases. [In London, the sellers made the return.] Inspectors were ap pointed in each of these one hundred and fifty towns, who transmitted returns to the Receiver in the Corn Department of the Board of Trade, whose duty it was to com pute the average weekly price of each description of grain, and the aggregate average price for the previous six weeks, and to transmit a certified copy to the collectors of customs at the different out ports. The return on which the average prices were based was published every Fri day in The London Gazette.' The aggre gate average for six weeks regulated the duty on importation.
Wheat at 50s. paid a duty of 36s. 8d. ; barley at 328. a duty of 13s. 10d. ; oats at 24s. a duty of 10s. 9d. ; rye, peas, and beans, at 35s., a duty of 16s. 9d. Colo nial wheat was admitted at a duty of 6d. when the average of the six weeks was at or above 67s.; and when below 67s. the duty was 5s. the quarter, and for other grain in proportion. Importation was free on payment of Is. on the quarter when wheat in the home market was 73s.; barley 41s.; oats 31s.; and rye, peas, and beans 46s. the quarter.
In the following Table the scale of duties proposed by Mr. Canning, and that adopted by the legislature in 1828, are rlaced in klataposition After the experience of a few seasons the corn-law of 1828 gave no more satis tion than those which had preceded it. In December, 1835, the average price of wheat was down to 35s. 4d. per quarter, and in January, 1839, it was as high as 81s., being a difference of 129 per cent. In 1833 and 1836 the distressed condition of the agricultural interest was noticed in the speech from the throne on the open ing of parliament, and select committees were appointed in both years to inquire into it. The law had neither prevented great fluctuation in prices nor agricul tural distress. This unsteadiness of price was complained of by persons engaged in manu'actures and trade ; for, assuming the consumption of Great Britain to-be 16,000,000 quarters of wheat, the sum paid for a year's consumption would be about 31,000,0001. in 1835, while the same quantity would cost 56,000,0001. in 1839.
The difference, amounting to 25,000,0001., was withdrawn from the usual channels of circulation, and created stagnation in the different branches of non-agricultural in dustry. The new principle of a sliding scale of duty required time and variety of circumstances fully to develop its effect ; but it was at length placed beyond a doubt that the manner in which the scale was arranged tended to give a gambling character to the corn trade, which, in stead of being a steady branch of com merce, was subjected to sudden move ments and speculative operations. In one year ( 1838 ) the duty underwent thirty different changes from January to the end of November, and in the short period of two weeks went up from Is. to 10s. 8d. the quarter. It was generally believed that, about the period of harvest, fraudulent returns were made of corn sold, with a view of raising the average price, and consequently lowering the duty ; and it was quite certain that the scale oper ated in such a manner as to check the supplies of foreign grain until prices reached their maximum and the duty fell to the lowest point. " The gain of specu lators is calculated not only on the ad vance in the price of corn, but also in the jail in the scale of duty ; and as the duty falls in a greater ratio than the price of the corn rises, the duty operates as a bounty to withhold sales.' (Salomons, On the Operation of the Sliding Scale.) When, for example, the average price in the home market was 66s., the duty was 20s. 8d., and on prices reaching 73s. the duty was only Is. ; the difference of pro fit to the importer was thus 7s. by the advance of prices, and 19s. 8d. by the fall of duty, making a total of 26s. 8d. When the quantity of wheat in bond had been liberated at the lowest duty the ob ject of the speculators was attained, and to some of them, doubtless, the trade became an object of indifference until another opportunity occurred for availing them selves of the gambling capabilities of the sliding scale. The transactions in the corn trade of the year 1838 exhibited several of the inherent evils of this scale : first, as causing scarcity ; secondly, as glutting the market just at the period when home produce was coming in ; and, thirdly, by violently disturbing prices and overthrowing all the calculations on which a steady trade must be founded. In the second week of January the duty was 34s. 8d., and it declined gradually until September 13th, when it reached Is., the lowest point. During this period prices were rising in the home market ; but instead of the foreign corn in bond being gradually admitted for consump tion, there were only about 33.000 quar ters entered from the beginning of the year up to the end of August, though the average price for that month was 74s. 8d. The speculators waited until the second week of September, when, by having withheld the supply, the duty became nominal, and in a single week 1,514.047 quarters of foreign wheat were thrown upon the markets. This sudden addition to the supply occasioned a decline of prices, and the duty again rose. The progress of the duty in the short space of six weeks was as follows : s. d.