larger for a lefs fupply,-we have given up the chance of balancing our own bad feafon by the good feafon of our neighbours. Suppose that we ftop the corn diftillery permanently, and, by fome fimilar measure 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 raife 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 450,0co; 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 500,0co 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 distilleries, Rum can at prefent be brought to market for 4s. 3d. per gallon, exclusive of duties; corn fpirits for 7s. 3d. The duties of cuftoms and excife upon the former, amount to 11s. 34d. per gallon; the duty on the latter is only 7s. 23d.; so that rum costs altogether 15s. 64d., and corn spirit 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 West Indians propose to indemnify the distiller 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 spirit, a tax is levied on the people of this country, in order to indemnify the Weft Indian planters against the effects of their own overtrading; and they are forced to drink rum in

stead

ftead of corn fpirit, for which it is univerfally admitted they have a preference. This method would likewife diminish the confumption of fpirits, and probably leave a confiderable deficit in the revenue, after indemnifying the diftillers; for it appears in evidence, (Report, p. 335.), that so small a rife as d. on the gallon would injure the confumption, and a rife of 1d. affect it moft material ly, although the price would still be rd. 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, so 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 lefs than 2s. 6d.; so that the price of rum shall stand at 139. The revenue will, by this change, lofe 2s. 6d. on all the rum, and gain about Is. 6d. on an amount equal to the corn fpirit at present 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 consumed must have been fomewhat higher. For three years ending 1807, it was about 3,041,000. We We may state this 3,000,000 gallons, then, as nearly the quantity upon which a loss, say of 2s. 6d. per gallon, would be incurred, or 375,cool. The quantity of corn fpirit confumed in England, on an average of the years 1805 and 1806, was about 2,925,000 gallons; and, estimating the quantity confumed in Scotland by the proportion of the Scotch to the Englifh diftillation, the whole confumption of the ifland was about 3,090,000 gallons,-the gain of 18. 6d. on which would be about 227,000l.; so 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 2s. per gallon-making the price of rum 13s. 6d., or about 28. a gallon lower than it now is, and only 18. lower than corn fpirits, even then, the whole gain of the revenue will be a trifle of 9cocl. 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, în 1808, has greatly exceeded that of any former year. The numbers of the larger vessels which landed the cargoes in the docks for the last three years, were 477, 503, and 598 respectively. The Report mentions the

II. The proposition for using sugar in feeding cattle, is so very gently pressed by the West Indians, and illustrated by so small a portion of evidence, that we cannot think they rely greatly upon it. We proceed, therefore, to the next class of plans, after briefly observing, that the use of sugar in feeding, if not sufficiently extended by the late low prices, ought, on no grounds, either of justice or policy, to receive legislative encouragement; and that any diminution of the duty with a view to this object, would only create an unlimited power of defrauding the revenue. + The measures which we are now to consider, have in view the reduction of the cost attending the growth, carriage, and sale of sugars. First, it is proposed to give the planter the power of refining his own sugars. A more reasonable demand was surely never urged. With almost all the utensils adapted to the refinery-with such a command of labour as must render the process scarcely any addition to his other expenses, the planter is, by the most absurd part of the monopolizing system, compelled to send his sugar to England in the bulkiest form, at a great needless expense of freight, and subject to the certain loss of one part in seven by drainage; for which part, however, he is to pay freight, as well as for that which reaches the market. This glaring absurdity is cherished by the British government; because it increases the tornage required for the West India trade, and gives the mother country a small branch of manufacture at the expense of the colonies. As well might the planters be forced to send so much rubbish in proportion to each hogshead of sugar, or to pay the passage of one empty cask for every seven full casks which they ship; for this would be increasing the shipping interest. As well might they be compelled to send over raw canes from which British workmen could manufacture sugar; for this would both wonderfully promote the shipping interest, and add a large branch to our home manufactures. That this glaring abuse should speedily be rectified, no man can for a moment doubt; nevertheless, it must be recollected, that, like all abuses in commercial policy, it

the well known stagnation of export made' in 1808, and the traordinary accumulation' of produce in the warehouses.

cannot

ex

+ It has been proposed to mix up sugar with substances which would prevent it from being used, except by cattle, and which could not easily be, separated from it; and in this state, we are told, it might be sold duty free, with safety to the revenue. We have examined the experiments of Mr Parker with some attention; and have no hesitation in asserting, that they leave the question on general, and not on chemical grounds. They prove no difficulty of separating the two substances, which would not be overcome by a bounty of 27s. per cwt.

cannot be destroyed without an additional inconvenience. It has raised up another interest which ought in justice to be considered when we are projecting its destruction. The sugar refiner has risked his capital on the faith of the law as it now stands; and a compensation for the loss of his business is fairly due to him. This the committee, in their fourth report, explicitly admit; and by a calculation, which appears to us in all respects fair, they state the utmost possible loss of capital employed in the home refinery, at somewhat less than 820,000l. ;—a much smaller sum than is lost yearly by the planter in consequence of the prohibitory duty on the import of refined sugar. To save this sum, then, could not prove a difficult matter, even were it required at once;the planters could well afford to give it. But the probability is, that the colonial refinery would not suddenly supplant the home refinery, at least in its full extent.

to

.. Upon this part of the subject, in which it gives us much pleasure agree for the most part with the West Indian body, we must state one correction of some consequence. A set of traders are not indemnified by the mere purchase of their stock at a fair price, if they are forced out of their line of business. In a country well peopled and stocked with capital, the greatest injuries often attend a change from one employment to another; because, besides the inevitable losses consequent upon such changes when they can be made, the difficulty of effecting them at all, is very considerable. A prudent statesman will always take this principle into his consideration, when he is called upon to correct even the most evident errors in the economy which his country has for a course of time adopted; and unless the magnitude of the evil, and the benefits to be derived from removing it, shall be found out of all proportion to the disadvantages of the change, he will refrain from attempting it, except by the most gradual measures; well knowing that there are but few instances indeed in which it is either just or politic, to sacrifice the good of a part of the community to that of the whole; and aware, that as no maxim is more liable to abuse than this, of preferring the whole to the part, because there is but seldom any occasion for making the comparison, so none has been more frequently and grossly perverted. In the course of this article, we have met with a case, where its application would be clearly a great abuse, even if there were reason to think that the community might gain instead of losing by the sacrifice of the individual interests, we mean the case of the distilleries. The sugar refinery is one to which it may be applied with more safety; but the persons now engaged in that employment must receive a more ample indemnity for the loss of their trade, than the mere value of their stock, unless the change happens a great

deal