merely surrenders the interests of one class for the
apparent aggrandizement of another. We use the word "apparent"
advisedly; for, looking to the nature and the extent of home
consumption, we believe that the effects of the measure would ultimately
be felt most severely by the manufacturers themselves. The agriculturist
of Great Britain is placed in a peculiarly bad position. In the first
place, he has to rear his produce in a more variable climate, and a soil
less naturally productive, than many which exist abroad. In the second
place, he has to bear his proportion of the enormous taxation of the
country, for the interest of the national debt, and the expense of the
executive government--now amounting to nearly fifty millions per annum.
It is on these grounds, especially the last, that he requires some
protection against the cheap-grown grain of the Continent, with which he
cannot otherwise compete; and this was most equitably afforded by the
sliding scale, which, in our view, ought to have been adhered to as a
satisfactory settlement of the matter. In a late paper upon this
subject, we rested our vindication of protection upon the highest
possible ground--namely, that it was indispensable for the stability and
independence of the country, that it should depend upon its own
resources for the daily food of its inhabitants. There is a vast degree
of misconception on this point, and the statistics are but little
understood. Some men argue as if this country were incapable, at the
present time, of producing food for its inhabitants, whilst others
assert that it cannot long continue to do so. To the first class we
reply with the pregnant fact, that at this moment there is not more
foreign grain consumed in Great Britain, than the quantity which is
required for production of the malt liquors which we export. To the
second we say--if your hypothesis is correct, the present law is
calculated to operate both as an index and a remedy; but we broadly
dispute your assertions. Agriculture has hitherto kept steady pace with
the increase of the population; new land has been taken into tillage,
and vast quantities remain which are still improveable. The railways, by
making distance a thing of no moment, and by lowering land-carriage,
will, if fair play be given to the enterprise of the agriculturist,
render any apprehension of scarcity at home ridiculous. As to famine,
there is no chance whatever of that occurring, provided the
agricu