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THE
STATE OF THE NATION
AT THE
CLOSE OF 1830.
Two Shillings.
THE
STATE OF THE NATION,
AT THE
CLOSE OF 1830.
HY
T. POTTER MACQUEEN, Esq.
y
LONDON:
JAMES RIDGWAY, 169, PICCADILLY.
M.DCCC.XXXI.
the
STATE OF THE NATION,
ifC.
More thai\ six months have now elapsed, since
my former remarks upon the Condition of the
Country were laid before the Public. Although I
can have no reason to complain of the manner in
which those observations were generally received,
yet there were not wanting individuals who were
inclined to censure me as an Alarmist,—as one
who had adopted a partial'and distorted view of the
state of the labouring classes. These self-compla¬
cent persons were entirely convinced that the " Sys¬
tem worked welli" and, admitting the existence of
some little temporary distress, were prepared to
administer the matronly comfort of patience, under
the assurance that affairs would soon amend, and
permanent prosperity be created. His Majesty's
. Ministers seemed perfectly of this opinion.—They
received repeated warnings from those who could
/i
^ have no interest in deceiving them. The wretch-
edness (and consequent discontent) of the pea¬
santry was fully detailed ; still it pleased them to
b
512361
2
cause their Sovereign to declare from his Throne,
that merely partial distress existed ; and in strict
accordance with that declaration, they scouted Par¬
liamentary Petitions, ridiculed the sources from
whence those petitions emanated, and neglected
every effort made in either House to enter upon
enquiries calculated to elucidate the subject.—
Six months have gone by ; have their predictions
been verified ? has the cloud passed away ? has the
condition of the labourer (I beg pardon, I ought to
say of the pauper,) been ameliorated? has the in¬
dependence of the cottager been increased ? has his
dependence on the parish been diminished? have
his morals, his happiness, his comforts, and his
general welfare, been advanced ? The answer is
short, but decisive.—Look to the rates :—look to
the expression of public feeling wherever it has
found utterance— above all, look to the present
wretched insecure state of public and private pro¬
perty, and the manifestation, day by day, more
unequivocally expressed, of a determination to
escape by violence from impending starvation.—
That the late numerous conflagrations in so many
parts of England are deeply alarming, I will rea¬
dily admit ; still I regard them as comparatively
insignificant, when I look to the expression of pub¬
lic sentiment so openly declared on these lament¬
able occasions. In former disasters of this descrip¬
tion, we have always found the peasantry anxiously
3
disposed to defend the property of their employers,
to assist their neighbours, to brave the danger
whilst it lasted, to respect the goods of the suiFer-
ers, and to afford every aid and consolation in their
power.—Now regard the contrast ;—it is notorious,
that at recent conflagrations, the people could
scarcely be induced to work the engines, much less
to act with promptness and energy in resisting the
danger. In some places they have been engaged
in plundering the premises, and have even beheld
the work of destruction with an almost fiendish
feeling of exultation, that so many more were re¬
duced to their own level of pauperism and abject
destitution.—At meetings in various parts of the
country, when efforts have been made to enrol spe¬
cial constables, such efforts have been defeated, by
the avowed and discontented refusal of those who
ought to have formed such force. In a word, the
old honest spirit of the peasantry is completely
broken down ;—no longer " their country's
pride"—no longer possessing the comforts which
Goldsmith has described, as belonging to the in¬
habitants of his Arcadian Auburn :—
'* The whitewash'd wall, the nicely sanded floor.
The varnish'd clock, that click'd behind the door ;
The chest, contriv'd a double debt to pay,
A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day ;
The pictures, plac'd for ornament and use.
The twelve good rules, the royal game of goose."
B 2
4
All this is now gone by ; and were those, who have
sneered at the ideas of the labourers trials, to visit,
as I have done, their abodes in the agricultural coun
ties, a fearful and horrid lesson might be conveyed.
From the utter inadequacy of these hovels to the
wants and numbers of their occupiers, and from
the consequent packing together of sex and kin¬
dred, old and young, married and single, scenes
have occurred, and are daily taking place, revolt¬
ing to humanity, and too disgusting to place on
record. The unfortunate creatures, callous to good
feeling, and indifferent even to the appearance of
propriety, sink into brutal degeneracy, and become
the willing and desperate agents of the first evil
spirit who may be sent to excite them to acts of in¬
subordination and \ iolence ; and for all this what
remedies have been devised ? Not to institute, on
the part of Government, a deliberate inquiry into
the causes of this universal depression ;—not to
bear in mind, that, in the common course of human
nature, man will not starve in silence ;—but to take
off the duty on beer, has been the sole and solitary
measure of relief. Certainly, if this proceeding
were intended to conciliate the labouring classes,
never was di-satisfaction or ingratitude more
strongly exhibited, than by the conduct of those
classes to the Ministers, within a very few days of
the operation of this act of grace. The measure
Itself I consider one of the worst that could have
5
been suggested. A number of persons will be
plunged into inevitable ruin, by entering on specu¬
lations for w hich they are wholly unfitted ; spu¬
rious, perhaps deleterious, liquors will be pro¬
duced, to an incalculable extent ; but as no private
individual can eventually compete with the large
wholesale brewer, the trade will soon revert to its
original proprietors. In the country districts, how¬
ever, the publican, especially he who brews for
himself, has no chance with the retail vender ; the
latter is removed from the power and authority of
the magistrates ; he may entertain gamblers, poach¬
ers, and vagrants, at his own pleasure, and at his
own hours, and with common caution may defy
summary conviction. Had the malt duty been
taken off, a real and permanent benefit had arisen
to all classes, and to no one more than the cot¬
tager. The master would have readily granted the
use of his brewing utensils to his own labourers,
and the peasant be enabled to obtain a genuine ar¬
ticle, for the support of himself and his family, at
a reasonable price, whilst the abuse of drugs and
dangerous ingredients would be abandoned, from
the comparative cheapness of the material.
But the poorest ranks in society are not the only
sufferers ; the yeomen, the respectable farmer, the
shopkeeper, the tradesmen ; in a word, the middle
class of society, are now loud and clamorous in
their complaints ; and whilst the vengeance of the
B 3
6
labourer is directed against machinery, the outcry
of the other class is raised against taxation : under
this impression, every abuse of patronage, every
symptom of influence, every manifestation of fa¬
vouritism, finds its way before the Public ; and in
an age in which knowledge and information have
made advances in a degree wholly inconceivable in
former days, instances of this description are gree¬
dily listened to, and freely discussed. On these
subjects, however, as is generally the case in popu¬
lar ferments, much falsehood and much delusion
have been exercised. In viewing the powers of
machinery, as beneficial or adverse to the welfare
of the labourer, there are many and conflicting
facts to be regarded and considered. In the course
of 1829» I made very minute enquiries as to the
extent of the automaton power caused by machinery
in England and Scotland, and after setting aside
all powers connected vvith navigation, collieries,
and mines, (shafts,) and draining, I believe I am
warranted in concluding the following statement
to be not very remote from the fact.
First, That to the close of 1828, the steam and
mechanical engines of England and Scotland repre¬
sent the power of 1,920,000 men.
Secondly, That these engines are put into ope¬
ration by the power of 36,000 human beings, of
whom a considerable proportion are women and
children.
7
Thirdly, That they consequently give an addition
to the population equal to 1,834,000 labourers.
Now let us ask how this calculation will affect
taxation ?
The mode in which taxation has ever been com¬
puted has been in reference to population. Tak¬
ing, then, the National Debt of this Country at
£800,000,000., and the amount of Annual Revenue
at £70,000,000., with a population of 22,700,000
souls, the proportion considered as a Poll Tax
would be £3. li. 8i/. for each individual; but as
England is taxed in reference to Ireland in the pro¬
portion of five to three, the fair estimate will be
about £4. for each inhabitant of England and Scot¬
land. Apply, then, this calculation to the numbers
I have given, and allow each man to represent so
little as three in family, and the return will be
5,502,000 superseded human beings, with a defici¬
ency in revenue of £22,008,000. It is evident,
however, that this calculation, though numerically
right, is practically wrong. No man will be rash
enough to assert, were every engine to be destroyed
to-morrow, that the personal labour of 1,834,000
men would be immediately substituted. The com¬
paratively low price of the commodity has been
caused by the quantity produced—a quantity, how¬
ever, so infinitely exceeding the demand, as to
glut every market in the known world to which
English manufactures can be conveyed. In refer-
B 4
8
ence, then, to this part of the subject, it may be
fairly urged, that machinery of this description ought
to be subjected to a moderate scale of taxation, so
as to render an equitable return to the revenue for
the number of persons nho may really be dispos¬
sessed of employment.
Let it not, however, be supposed, that I enter¬
tain any apprehensions of this automaton power, as
far as it has yet extended itself ; or any desire to
destroy its present operation. My firm belief is,
that under a Government really disposed to look
to the means and resources of the country, ample
employment might be developed, and new pro¬
visions enacted for relief, which would speedily
rescue the labourers from their present dangerous
and unnatural state—would open new channels for
industry and capital, and render mechanical power
a most useful auxiliary, instead of being regarded,
as it now is, as usurping the remunerative occupa¬
tion of the poor.
Amongst the various suggestions which have been
clamourously put forward, no greater delusion has
been urged than the panacea of a great reduction of
the rent of land. In this error there is, however,
much specious argument, requiring more close en¬
quiry than what is usually bestowed. The tenant
who now pays £400. per annum for his farm, would
doubtless infinitely prefer paying £200. per annum,
but the real political question is, how far the substi-
9
tution of ££00. for £400. would benefit the com¬
munity. If it be said that the farmer by this dimi¬
nution would be enabled to employ so many addi¬
tional labourers, and at a higher rate of wages, the
answer is obvious—unless the farmer can bene¬
ficially and profitably set to work the now unre¬
quired labourer, the entire system is not merely
wrong, but is in direct and hasty progress to de¬
struction. If the population be so redundant in
1830 as to call for the sacrifice of half the land¬
lord's rental to support such redundancy, in labour
which will not pay itself, it follows, as a matter of
course, that in 1840 he will be called upon to pro
ceed farther in this agrarian experiment; and in
1850, he may himself cultivate his remaining acres.
But let us look to the facts establishing the proportion
of rent to produce, and deliberately enquire into the
consequences of a large reduction.
I will assume two principles for the following
calculation :—
First. That 25s. per acre be the average value
of wheat land ; if it be less, the balance is in my
favour.
Secondly. That such land yield an average pro¬
duce of twenty-eight bushels per acre ; if it be more,
then the advantage is on my side.
Thus then,
^5s. = 300 pence,
and £8 bushels = 11£ pecks = ££4 half-pecks;
10
therefore 57° = = the landlord's profit on
each half-peck.
But the weight of the bushel of wheat, according
to the Northampton Tables, averages 60 lbs., and
when ground into meal, equals 58 lbs.
To compensate fully for this difference, say \^d.,
or three half-pence, are the actual portion of rent
out of every half-peck loaf.
But the average price of the half-peck loaf for
the last three years is 1«. ^d.
Again, eight bushels of wheat form the average
annual consumption of an able-bodied man.
Now 8 bushels of wheat = 64 half-peck loaves,
. •. 64 -f 6 farthings = = 8i.
O 4 12
So that eight shillings is the portion of rent
paid to the land owner. But the consumer pays
64 + 16 pence = '-^ = £4. 5s. 2</., of which
eight shillings is the amount of rent.
Again,
The price of the quartern loaf = price of the
quartern of flour plus the profits, past the farmer.
Now there are 80 quarterns in a sack of flour.
. •. Price of quartern loaf = price of a sack of
flour plus contingent profits.
A sack of flour is uniformly 1 the value of 8
bushels of wheat.
. •. Quartern loaf = '-■'- = price of
8 bushels of wheat plus contingent profits.
Hence the variation in price of the quartern loaf
11
= iToth part the variation of the price of 8 bushels,
or one quarter of wheat ; or if wheat fall 100 pence,
it will only make a difference of one penny in the
quartern loaf, or one fourth in the daily consump¬
tion of an individual. With these calculations
before us, allow that the object so called for of re¬
ducing rents 50 per cent, were accomplished, then
the half-peck loaf would sell for li. S\d. instead of
li. 4c?. ; a reduction of three farthings, the half of
three half pence, being effected. The consumer,
at the end of his twelve months, would expend
£4. I.S. 2c?. instead of £4. 5s. 2c?., thus saving the
4i. in the year to be gained from the land owner.
But the average rental is estimated at £40,000,000.
By this measure £20,000,000. would be at once
struck off. Admitting, then, that one half of the
present rental is expended in the necessaries of life,
and the other half in the superfluities, which last is
now removed ; how will this affect the home mar¬
ket? the importer of foreign produce ? the manu¬
facturer ? the artist ? and the many dealers in arti¬
cles of comparative luxury, who depend wholly on
the excess of income beyond the supply of the neces¬
saries of life ? The landowner heretofore of £4,000.
a-year is reduced to £2,000. The man will live on ;
he will reduce his establishment, and send many of
his servants to the parish ; he will be less hospitable,
and limit as closely as possible his consumption in
exciseable goods. His wife and daughters must
12
wear less of the manufactures of Spitalfields and
Glasgow, of Nottingham and Worcester; and
this, even should he possess sufficient patriotism to
remain at home, instead of letting his paternal man¬
sion for any trifle it may produce, and carrying his
£2,000. of diminished income to a foreign resi¬
dence, where it will still produce him the full en¬
joyment of his former and habitual comforts. The
holder of £1,000. is now brought down to £500. ;
he too must make his sacrifices ; he must give up
the use of wine ; must, with his family, perforin
every possible duty hitherto employing others
must adopt a coarser and cheaper clothing, more
rarely renewed, &c. Say all this is done.—Is this
the mode to enrich a country, mainly dependent on
its commerce and manufactures, or to enable it to
bear up under a National Debt of £800,000,000?
If, then, we ask what becomes of the large diflfer-
ence in value between the proprietor of the soil,
and the consumer of the produce, it will be found
to be divided between two branches—taxation, and
the parties who obtain an intermediate interest and
profit. The farmer is satisfied with a return of 10
per cent, on his capital—the miller ought to be con¬
tent with a much less rate of advantage,—but un¬
fortunately of late years, other traders have arisen
whose share of actual profit, depending much on
the success and extent of their speculations, it is
impossible to define. In former days there existed
13
great jealousy in our common law towards acts
of engrossing, forestalling, and regrating; and
although it was held, that two of these acts must
mainly apply to goods purchased in open mar¬
ket, or on their way to such market, still the
market being then the only place where sales
were negociated, the principle of preventing high
prices to the community, by discouraging too
large stores in the possession of any individual,
was clearly established. There is a remarkable
case of this nature recorded in Easts Reports, I.
143, 145, the King versus Waddington, wherein
the court ruled that the following were offences
at common law, and not removed by the repeal
of the 5th and 6th of Edward VI., viz.
" Ingrossing large quantities of hops, by
buying, with intent to sell the same again at an
unreasonable profit, and thereby to enhance the
price."
Also, speaking of defendant,
" getting into his hands large quantities, by
contracting with various persons for the pur¬
chase, with intent to prevent the same being
brought to market, and to re-sell, at an unrea¬
sonable profit."
If this system be unlawful, in regard to hops,
surely it is a far greater injury in respect to
com ; and the original intention of the law is
distinctly visible. I will not now discuss the
14
propriety of enforcing such regulation at the
present day, and under what are called the
principles of free trade ; but in viewing the
causes which actually give a high price to the
consumer, it is only just to observe the real pro¬
fits which occur to the farmer, and, through
him, to the owner of the soil. But then it is
said that the necessaries of life are infinitely
cheaper, and have fallen to the favourite and
assumed standard of 1790. In examining
strictly this assertion, however, which I readily
admit, if incontrovertible, were deserving of
much weight, I find that the line of distinction
may be thus drawn ; and so far corroborates
most fully every former argument ; that where
the effects of machinery are felt, prices are low¬
ered ; thus, muslins, calicoes, cotton goods,
silks, stockings, are certainly much cheaper,
whilst those depending on manual labour are
nearly the same as twenty years since. The tailor,
the shoemaker, the sadler, the coachmaker,
make no comparative diminution of charges.
The wages of household servants, especially of
male servants, preserve the same rate as twenty
years since, or during war prices. As to the
wages of tradesmen, &c. in 1790, the period to
which landowners are to be thrown back upon,
their amount, according to Parliamentary re¬
turns, were as follows —carpenters, 2s. 6</. ;
15
bricklayers, 2ä. 4í/. masons, 2s. 10¿/. ; plum¬
bers, Is. 3fi?. Have these proportions been main¬
tained in 1830?
Perhaps this is the first instance in the his¬
tory of any civilized country, that a remedy for
its oppressive distress has been proposed, by
causing it to retrograde forty years. To admit
that all the advances of learning, all the im¬
provements of science, all the extension of
knowledge, all the efforts of skill and industry,
all the investments of enlarged capital ; in a
word, that the entire experience of forty years,
must be regarded as a dead letter, and England
be called upon to start anew from so remote a
barrier. But even to this ingenious problem
there is one small difficulty, which may pro¬
bably solve the mystery of the difference of
prices, and which may show the folly and
injustice of asking any one class of the
community to consent to the self-spoliation
by which such a transfer can only be accom¬
plished. I mean this incontrovertible fact, that
in 1790, the National Debt was £200,000,000.,
that in 1830, it is £800,000,000. If, then, it
be understood that the National Debt is to be
thrown back to the scale of 1790, I suspect the
landed interest will be perfectly content to
make a similar reduction ; but until such ar¬
rangement be completed, nothing can be more
16
atrocious, than to call for the ruin of one class,
for the immediate aggrandizement of another,
but the eventual destruction of both.
Another favourite remedy, which has amongst
its advocates many amiable and well meaning
men, is the cultivation of waste lands at home.
It has been suggested, that lands now useless
might be cultivated, and thus furnish employ¬
ment within the country for the destitute poor.
Since the reign of Queen Anne, above 4,000
enclosures have passed through Parliament,
comprising above 6,000,000 of acres : of these,
however, only 244 Acts, comprehending about
340,000 acres, were in operation previous to the
accession of George III. It is evident, then,
that the high prices of corn during the war, in¬
duced the enclosure of a quality of land which
could only repay cultivation during the exist¬
ence of high prices, and which, on a perma¬
nent depreciation in the value of corn, must
return to their former value ; and though they
could not be restored to their unenclosed state,
inasmuch as the common rights, tithes, &c. had
probably been commuted, still the population,
which a few years of prosperity and high prices
had collected, would now become, for the most
part, unoccupied, and burthensome. Any land,
by outlay of capital, may be made to produce
corn ; but it is obvious, that when the produce
17
can realize less than the outlay, the cultivator
must stop short, or be ruined. It is true, these
frequent enclosures, by abolishing cottage rights,
pasture for cattle, poultry walks, and other ad¬
vantages once possessed by the peasantry, have
largely swollen the rates. Still, it is remark¬
able that the unenclosed parishes within my
own observation, present as grievous complaints
of inadequate wages, and destitute pauperism,
as those which are, and have long been, en¬
closed. The plain fact I believe to be this, that
the system of the poor laws is so radically bad,
at least in its present application, or rather per¬
version, that all emulation is destroyed. The la¬
bourer is taught from his birth to make no reserve,
to act with neither energy nor enterprise, to aban¬
don all confidence in his own resources, and
to place his single and entire dependence on
the overseer, to whom he resorts under every
circumstance that may arise; granted that he
has a cottage right of pasture for a cow and
three sheep, he has not the capital for pur¬
chasing such stock. Time was, when every
labourer had his pig and small stock of poultry ;
this is no longer to be found, except occasion¬
ally in retired and isolated situations. If, then,
Epping Chase, or Dartmoor, or any other of
the many places pointed out, were selected
for home colonization, whence is the capital
c
18
to arise? Let it be remembered, that this part
of the subject has been carefully investigated
before the Committee on Emigration. The
expense of so settling a man, his wife, and
three children, has been proved to be €75.,
before a blow could be struck in the way of
cultivation. And as to establishing a sort of
petty republic in such places, I would ask any
rational man, what are the chances of its
success in a country constituted of all grades,
and depending on the relative workings of such
various classes for its general prosperity. Look
to Lanark, and the ingenious visions of Mr.
Owen. Nothing could look more pretty on
paper; rows of cottages, hospitals, literary in¬
stitutions, chapels, wherein free trade in re¬
ligion was some how or other to be arranged.
The theory was delightful, and amply gratified
many of the philosophers of the day. Need
I ask, where are the practical results ?
As to the proposed method of giving a rood,
or half an acre of land to each cottage, the
first question is, will the peasant commute his
right to parish relief for such grants ? If he do,
it then becomes a kind of agrarian system ; if
not, you take nothing by your motion.
Having thus far performed the comparatively
easy task of proxing the existence of individual
misery, public insecurity, general disaffection,
19
and universal dismay, carried to an extent
probably unknown since the wars of the Roses ;
we must, after such humiliating admissions,
turn to the more doubtful subject of remedies.
Under this consideration, a question of para¬
mount importance presents itself, which I ap¬
proach with diffidence ; but which, at the same
time, I feel I cannot, dare not, avoid—I mean
the subject of Currency. In this discussion,
the acts of 1819, known by the name of Peel's
Bill, forms the primary object. The substi¬
tution of bullion for property, and this too at
a period when the national debt vvas little short
of £900,000,000. ; a sum, which though recog¬
nisable so long as general property could be
rendered liable to valuation, was almost incon¬
ceivable as a matter of cash. And yet a change
of this unlooked-for, this unjust character, is
the entire feature of that fatal measure. I
think I am justified in using the term fatal,
although I cannot be misunderstood in attri¬
buting, in the slightest degree, any improper
motives to the zeal which dictated it ; but what,
I would ask, were the advantages then held
out to the country by the adoption of that
measure? We were told, it was essentially ne¬
cessary, that we return to a natural standard
of money ; and that could this object be ef¬
fected by a sacrifice of three or four per cent.,
c 2
20
the benefit to be obtained of permanent and
integral security, were cheaply acquired. Now
how have these desirable results been realized,
and how far have the anticipations of the most
strenuous advocates of the measure proved
correct ?
Only two years since, Mr. Bankes, one of
the Committee from which the Bill of 1819
emanated, in speaking in the House of Commons
of the consequences of that Act, stated, " that
since 1819, events had proved, that a tremen¬
dous mistake had taken place, and that the
depreciation in the value of money could not
be considered less than 25, probably 40 or 50
per cent. Sir R. Peel himself has admitted,
that the alteration was far greater than the
Committee had supposed, but gave no positive
opinion as to the extent. The person on whose
authority that measure mainly rested, and who
stated before the Committee his belief, that
the utmost variation would be three or four
per cent., was the late Mr. Ricardo. I have
long had reason to believe, that, previous to the
demise of that gentleman, he had seen his
error, and deeply regretted the dire mischief
which resulted from his calculation. This be¬
lief, however, has lately been placed beyond
all doubt, by the assertion of Sir Francis Burdett
in the House of Commons, that he himself had
21
heard from Mr. Ricardo's own lips, that he was
at length convinced of the fatal error which
had been committed, and the ruinous conse¬
quences entailed upon the country.
Under these facts, the only two points of
consideration are these:—first, Can we be
honestly expected to discharge a present debt
\npou7ids, formerly contracted in crow;»5? Can
we be fairly called upon to make good engage¬
ments, commenced in depreciated paper, and
now demanding in payment actual bullion ?
And, secondly, If the objection be in the fullest
degree admitted, can we, in the present day,
discharge such obligations with rentals reduced
30 per cent. ; indu.stry taxed until the next
straw will be fatal, and our working population
reduced to crime and despair? The limits of
this work preclude me from further enquiries
at this time; but it will be a point well worthy
of the serious consideration of Ministers, if,
under the mistakes and errors now no longer
a matter of doubt, some fair and just principle
of modification be not within their reach ; which,
though perhaps not satisfactory to many, may
yet avert the ruin of all.
Under the present circumstances of the
country, I can only conceive three measures
calculated to produce permanent relief.
First, To alter the Corn Laws, so as to raise
c 3
22
the prices suflBciently, to enable the farmer to
cultivate inferior soils, in a mode which would
ensure returns for encreased labour ; and if this
be not done, every effort to cultivate waste,
lands will be in vain.
Secondly, To alter the present regulations
respecting banking, and give greater facility
to dealing in money.
And, thirdly. To provide new employment,
and open fresh sources of labour, to the present
dangerously superabundant population.
The first proposition 1 will at once dismiss,
by declaring my belief that no Administration
dare adopt it. The second may be divided into
two parts; a partial repeal of the Act of 1819,
and an improved system of public banking.
The one of these is, in some measure, depen¬
dent on the other. If the grinding monopoly of
the Bank of England were at an end, there
can be no doubt of the policy of encouraging
Banks upon the Scotch principle. In that
case, the perfect security which that system
would create, might warrant a return to some
smaller paper than the £5. note. I do not
ask for a renewal of £1. notes; but were even
50s. paper, to a certain extent, permitted, even
on special security, the benefit would be most
important, as it would tend to that diffusion of
property, and facility of representing such pro-
23
perty, which now constitutes so great a feature
in the public distress.
The superior practical effects of the Scotch
banking system are now generally appreciated.
I will shortly state, that, at the period of the
Union, the delegates for that country proved
their shrewdness and good sense, by the intro¬
duction of a clause, providing, that the financial
arrangements of each kingdom should be kept
separate. Thus, the monopoly of the Bank of
England, prohibiting more than six partners
in any banking house, could not affect Scot¬
land ; consequently, her national banks consist
of a great many partners, contributing various
sums. And whilst in England, between 1798
and 1818, no less than 230 commissions of
bankruptcy were issued against English esta¬
blishments, inflicting ruin on individuals, and
the severest shock to trade ; the experience
of a century records one only failure, (the Ayr
Bank,) as resulting from the Scotch system.
Of late years, I believe, two have taken place ;
one, a very small concern, occasioned by the
defalcation of a confidential servant ; the other,
by the ignorance of the parties of the first lines
of their business; but in neither case was any
material loss occasioned to the public.
The third suggestion, as it refers to the most
alarming evil, ought to obtain the most delibe-
c 4
24
rate examination. I consider that the working
classes of the country, in return for their loyal
and peaceable conduct, have a right to expect
from their rulers such regulations as may always
ensure to the honest and industrious a return
calculated to secure something beyond the sup¬
ply actually required for the necessaries of life ;
and where this is not the case, it is evident that
something wrong must exist, which is worthy
of immediate attention and amendment. The
extraordinary difference in the numbers of rate¬
payers and rate-receivers, may be inferred from
the opposite Table, which was obtained by the
Right Honourable Wilmot Horton, and is pub¬
lished in his work upon the Causes of Pauper¬
ism ; but as it relates to the Hundred in which
I reside, and is capable of illustrating my views,
as well as Mr. Horton's proposed measures, I
do not hesitate to avail myself of its authority.
This, then, clearly proves, that in this Hun¬
dred there is a redundant population of 681 able-
bodied men ; that taking their families in so
low an average as four each, a total of 2,724
human beings will be given from a population
of 13,512; or, in other words, one-fifth of the
entire number are actually consuming unprqfit-
ably that extent of capital which ought to be
divided amongst the remainder ; and which, if
so divided, by raising their wages at once 20
A Synopsis of the Results of certain Queries proposed to the Overseers of the Poor of the Several Parishes within the
Hundred of Redbornstoke, iñ the County of Bedford.
[ To face Page 24.
QUESTIONS.
1. What is the number of acres within the parish of ?
2. What is the amount of its population 1
3. What is the number of rate-payers ?
4. What is the number of able-bodied labourers, accounting two boys for one man ?
5. What proportion of those able-bodied labourers receive assistance from the >
parochial funds ?
6. What is the number of persons composing their families, and witli them de- )
pendent, either wholly or partially, on the parochial funds for support ?.. )
7. What is the rate of relief granted to able-bodied pauper labourers ?
single men ?
man and wife without children ?
ditto, with one child ? ....
ditto, with two children ?
ditto with three children ?
— ditto, with four children ?
ditto, with five children ? ....
8. What system is adopted with respect to the employment of able-bodied la- |
bourers S
9. What sum has been expended in the maintenance of the poor during the }
last three years ? J
10. What proportion of that expenditure has been incurred for the support of
able-bodied labourers ?
11. What proportion of that expenditure has been incurred for the support of ^
their families? (N.B. This return includes all the allowances made to >
the paupers of the whole parish) }
12. Is there a poor-house in the parish ?
13. What proportion of the labourers now belonging to the parish would be su£B-
cient to perform all the labour necessary to be habitually performed, in- >
eluding repair of roads, &c. ? 3
14. What number can be spared ?
Annual increase of male population, most of whom are labourers
Number of acres to each able-bodied labourer
HHii
Ampthill.
Craii field.
t
o
âj
o
s
b
a M
o «
M u
M a
s o*
o n
X ®
Kempston.
Lidliogton.
s
V
a
a
S
Millbrook.
Í
Marston-
Moreiaiue.
Ridgmount
Slepping-
ley.
Wilsbam-
stead.
a
o
©
©
s
The Hundred at large.
1928
3500
1522
1700
3380
5160
2520
2574
1450
4500
2248
1060
3027
3468
38,037
1719
1272
644
537
769
1625
811
1268
425
1166
956
370
789
1161
13,512
198
100
40
40
42
86
50
108
42
62
92
33
39
50
982
13f
1
129
103
88
155
370
152
130
85
260
123
63
158
225
2,177
\
64
24
40
51
90
48
46
23
70
31
20
25
82
616
29D
331
151
160
170
550
263
108
140
700
300
51
130
442
3,786
s. c.
s. d.
s. d.
s. d.
s. d.
s, d.
s. d.
s. d.
s. d.
s. d.
s, d.
s. d.
s. d.
s. d.
». d. s, d.
3 6
3 6
3 6
3 6
3 6
3 6
4 0
3 6
3 6
3 6
3 6
4 0
3 6
From 3 6 to 4 6
i
5
5 0
5 0
4 0
5 6
5 0
3 6
4 0
3 6
4 0
5 0
4 0
4 6
5 0
» 3 6 „ 5 6
6
6 0
a 6
5 6
6 0
6 0
6 0
5 6
6 0
6 0
6 0
6 0
6 0
„ 5 6 ,, 6 6
8
7 0
7 6
7 6
7 6
7 0
8 0
7 0
7 0
7 6
7 6
7 6
7 0
„ 7 0 „ 8- 0
10
8 6
9 0
8 6
8 6
9 0
8 0
9 0
8 6
9 0
9 0
8 6
I, 8 6 „ 10 0
12
9 0
11 0
9 6
10 0
10 6
9 0
10 0
10 6
9 0
10 0
10 0
„ 9 0 „ 12 0
14
....
....
13 0
11 0
11 0
12 6
....
....
11 0
11 0
» 2 0 „ 14 0
In a
ost eve
ry inst
anee in
diggin
g mate
riais fo
r and r
epairin
gthep
arish r
oads.
£.
£.
£.
£.
£.
£.
£.
£.
£.
£.
£.
£.
£.
£.
f.
394
4050
2123
2357
3497
7630
3895
2350
1546
6472
3189
892
2781
6012
50,761
46
870
1248
1023
1350
1509
768
300
690
3000
381
720
1350
13,674
21
840
138
1167
312
1500
462
135
900
378
....
450
2937
9,429
Yes
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Cottage.
No.
No.
Yes.
Yes.
Inl2outofl4 Parishes
No. i
111
104
78
72
125
166
117
110
58
174
82
53
118
121
1,496
11
25
25
16
30
204
35
20
27
86
41
10
40
104
681
i:
138
n
27
1338
s. d.
6
14
625
s. di
3
20^
376
s. d.
n
22
1150
13
14
2347
s. d.
16^
1178
s. d.
15è
20
742
S. d.
H
20è
546
-LJH.
lOè
m
2064
s. d.
9
18
940
s. d.
3
17
279
s. d.
2è
19
800
s.d.
13è
15^
1948
s. d.
Mh. — -
111
18f
15,714
S. d.
25
per cent., would relieve them from their present
too powerful temptations to criminal courses.
But apply this principle, in the first place, to
the entire County of Bedford, and subsequently
to five other leading agricultural Counties :—
Counties. Population. Surplus.
Bedford 85,000 •••• one-fifth •••• 17,000
Bucks 136,800 • • • • • 28,160
Herts 132,400 .... .... 26,400
Kent 434,600 .... 86,920
Norfolk 351,300 .... 70,260
Sussex 237,700 .... .••• 47,540
266,340
£8. per head being the average expense of main- 8
tenance of paupers throughout England.
£2,130,720
Thus, then, it appears, that, in these six
Counties, the superabundant population may,
on the lowest calculation, be estimated at
266,340 human beings, with an aggregate
annual taxation of £2,130,720. upon the indus¬
try of the country. If, then, the measure which
I have so long but so fruitlessly advocated, were
effected, whereby each of these now wretched
and destitute persons would be placed in a con¬
dition where he might exchange his honest in¬
dustry for a rate of wages sufficient to enable
him to consume to the extent of £4. per annum
26
of British manufactures ; the result would be
an actual saving to the country of £12. for each
person so provided, or an annual addition to the
wealth of the mother country of £3,196,080.,
and this merely in reference to the six counties
already enumerated. Take the total supera¬
bundant population of the Empire, and allow
sufficient time for the necessary machinery to
expand itself and get into play, and a system of
gradual remunerative employment might be
created, to an extent which can scarcely be
contemplated.*
In speaking of emigration, or rather of colo¬
nization, as a measure so calculated to relieve
the superabundant population of this country,
as to deserve (especially under present circum¬
stances) the most serious attention of Govern¬
ment, 1 would, first, wish to protest against
the mistake so continually made of confounding
colonization with transportation ; whereas no
two points can be more distinctly contrary ;
the one being necessarily a wilful and voluntary
act, the other forced and compulsory. If then
the voluntary going forth to a distant land is to
be so misrepresented, our Cadets and Writers
in our Indian possessions are to be regarded as
transports. I can hardly conceive a more nar-
• Vide Appendix, A. and B.
27
row-minded prejudice, than to tell the people
of England that they may not avail themselves
oí territories which have been obtained and
possessed by means of taxation levied on them¬
selves, and constitutionally held for their benefit.
What I have ever complained of, is the practical
effect of our laws of settlement, that they hold
together our people in unmanagable masses, as
if within the limits of an enchanter's circle;
beyond which, if they presume to extend them¬
selves, they are liable to be seized, if overtaken
by distress, and dragged back almost as crimi¬
nals to their original place of confinement, their
own registered parish ; whereas, give them fair
scope for their industry, their talents, and their
perseverance ; allow them to ascertain the real
value of the change ; assure them of the enjoy¬
ment of the rights of British subjects ; convince
them of a certainty of constant and largely pro¬
ductive labour; establish a system by which
these advantages would be made known ; and
the only difficulty will be in the selection and
limitation. The measures proposed for encou¬
raging the colonization of public claimants,
would secure a supply of a superior and edu¬
cated rank. I had very lately an application
from a distinguished Officer of a large and fa¬
vourite regiment, for the purpose of ascertaining
the probability of my recommendation being
28
carried into effect ; as in that case there existed
a disposition in many of the officers on half pay
of the regiment to form themselves into a
community or district, in which they had no
doubt of being joined by many, perhaps most,
of the pensioners of lower ranks. The advan¬
tages of such a system were too evident to re¬
quire demonstration.
The system of transportation ought to be
entirely changed. It is obvious that it cannot,
at least as at present administered, form an
efficient secondary punishment. It is a most
injudicious mode of disposing of what are com¬
monly called gentlemen convicts, who are value¬
less as labourers, and are the proper inmates for
home penitentiaries. In a word, it now daily
becomes more evident that Australia should
emerge from the situation of a penal colony ;
that she possesses means infinitely too impor¬
tant to become a mere refuge for crime, or to
be marked as an asylum for the outcasts of so¬
ciety ; and that if it be held necessary to per¬
severe in the punishment of transportation,
some less distant and less populous place should
be selected. In fact, by the method now re¬
commended, transportation would be infinitely
diminished. Forced emigration I wholly dis¬
claim ; but I am convinced, that were the
means of voluntary colonization freely afforded
29
to the destitute before such destitution had dri¬
ven them to courses which produce transporta¬
tion, much of the forced necessity for banish¬
ment would be avoided. The moral advantages
are equally obvious : instead of separating a
man from his wife and children, plunging both
parties into habits of vice and depravity, and
enormously encreasing the home rates to main¬
tain those who are now deprived of their proper
head and protector ; the entire family might be
transferred from poverty and discontent to in¬
dependence and comfort ; and this without any
real additional outlay, if the various expenses
arising from the different parties now responsi¬
ble were consolidated and rendered effective.
Take for example, the cases of the unfortunate
persons who are now (or probably soon will be)
under sentence of transportation as concerned
in the late disturbances, and whose misconduct
may be wholly attributed to their want and
misery. These persons will cost the country
about £34. a head to send out, and £26. per
head of subsequent annual expense, their ave¬
rage cost to their own parishes as paupers being
heretofore £8. ; but their wives and children
being now thrown on the parish, will each ave¬
rage £8. ; and this too, whilst the annual ex¬
penses drawn for New South Wales from the
British Treasury amount to little less than
30
£500,000. sterling. From these respective
sources a fund might be created, which, added
to the bounty or voluntary encouragement of¬
fered by the Australian Settler, who only asks
for manual labour to ensure his own prosperity,
would shortly enable the starving labourer to
exchange his present state of squalid and hope¬
less misery, for one of remunerative employ¬
ment and satisfied content.
To those who may yet entertain any doubt of
the propriety, nay, I would say, of the absolute
necessity of colonization, I would recommend
an attentive perusal of the Report of the Com¬
mittee on Emigration, April, 1827. There they
may find an elaborate enquiry into the distresses
of the various working classes, and the probable
chances of amelioration or encreasing wants ;
they will find there the opinions of a body of
men, whose names and characters are sufficient
to relieve them from every suspicion of improper
motive ; and who, after giving the subject every
possible consideration, arrive at this deliberate
resolution, 1st, That there is little hope that
any revival of trade can bring back the employ¬
ment of the distressed manufaeturers ; 2dly,
that satisfied of the efficiency and permanency
of the benefits to be afforded by emigration,
they recommend a grant of public money to be
devoted to such desirable object. This Com-
31
mittee, be it recollected, made special enqui¬
ries into the condition of the suffering hand-loom
weavers ; but every proof of misery then pro¬
duced, and every argument urged in favour of
colonization, is tenfold applicable to the starving
agricultural labourer of the present day.
The result, then, of these enquiries may be
thus briefly stated. In England, with every
constitutional and legal manifestation of hu¬
manity, dire and deep distress exists; not a
week passes, but some poor wretch dies by his
own hands, or by actual want, in the streets of
London. With all our boasted charity, our hos¬
pitals and asylums, such things occur. And
why? From privation, worked up to insanity;
from the unhappy patient outstripping hope,
and finding no resource beyond him but the
grave.— Grant what I ask, and you disarm de¬
spair ; you offer to the redundant population a
resource, which otherwise they never could
have contemplated ; and you subtract from the
ranks of misery to add to the class of happy,
independent, and grateful occupiers of another
Britain.
APPENDIX.
(A.)
Here, then, is a country prepared to our very hands, for
all the purposes of civilized life. While England is groan¬
ing beneath a population for which she cannot provide bread,
here is an unmeasured extent of rich soil that has lain fallow
for ages, and to which the starving thousands of the north
are beckoned to repair. The great want of England is em¬
ployment ; the great want of New South Wales is
labour. England has more mouths than food; New
South Wales has more food than mouths. England would
be the gainer by lopping off one of her superfluous millions;
New South Wales would be the gainer by their being
planted upon her ample plains. In England the lower
orders are perishing for lack of bread ; in New South Wales
they are, like Jeshurun, " waxing fat and kicking" amid
superabundance. In England the master is distracted to
find work for his men ; in New South Wales he is distract¬
ed to find men for his work. In England the capitalist is
glad to make his three per cent. ; in New South Míales he
looks for twenty. In England capital is a mere drug—the
lender can scarcely find a borrower, the borrower can
scarcely repay the lender; in New South Wales capital is
the one thing needful—it would bring a goodly interest to
the lender, and would make the fortune of the borrower.
Then let the capitalist wend his way hither, and his one
talent will soon gain ten, and his ten twenty. Let the
33
labouring poor come hither, and if he can do nothing in the
world but dig, he shall be welcome to his three and twenty
shillings a-week, and shall feast on fat beef and mutton at a
penny or two-pence per pound. Let the workhouses and
gaols disgorge their squalid inmates upon our shores, and
the heart-broken pauper and the abandoned profligate shall
he converted into honest, industrious, and jolly-faced
yeomen.
Average Retail Prices of Articles in New South Wales,
May 22, 1830.
Meat. s. d. s. d.
Beef per pound 0 1 to 0 2
Mutton 0 Ij — 0 3
Pork 0 5 — 0 6
Veal 0 4 — 06
TT Í English 2 0 — 2 6
tiam, I Colonial 10 — 13
Fish 0 2 — 04
Bread.
Finest Wheaten, per loaf of ) 0 4 0 6
two pounds • • • • 3
Seconds (none made hut for prisoners).
Rice 0 2| — 0 3
Vegetables.
Potatoes per cwt. 6 0 — 8 0
Yams (Island) 5 0
Pumpkins per pound 0 1
Cucumbers per dozen 10 — 16
Radishes per hunch 0 2 — 0 3
Cabbages per head 0 2 — Ö 3
D
34
Turnips per bunch
Beans per peck
Peas
Fruit.
Oranges per dozen
Apples
Fears
Peaches (sometimes Is. per )
bushel) 3
Loquets per quart
Grapes per pound
Nectarines per dozen
Apricots
Raspberries per quart
Green Figs • • per dozen
Melons each
Poultry.
(Dear in consequence of droi
Fowls per cple.
Ducks
Geese
Turkies
Eggs (dear in consequence of Í
drought) )
Butter (Fresh) per pound
Cheese (Colonial, as good as
English • •
Í
Drink.
Madeira
{port
Rum (best Jamaica) per gall.
best Schedam 13 6
Colonial 10 0
s.
d.
s.
d.
0
2
—
0
3
1
0
—
2
0
2
0
—
3
0
1
0
1
6
1
G
—
3
0
0
G
-
3
0
0
OJ
—
3
0
1
0
—
1
6
1
0
—
1
6
0
6
—
2
6
0
6
—
2
6
1
'G
—
2
0
0
G
—
1
G
0
2
—
2
0
ight.)
2
6
—
3
0
4
0
—
5
0
10
0
—
12
0
11
0
—
14
0
2
0
—
3
0
0
9
—
1
0
0
6
—
0
9
25
0
36
0
40
0
--
50
0
8
4
—
10
6
Gio, I
35
f. d. t. d.
London Ale * • • per dozen 18 6 — 16 0
London Porter 14 0 — 15 0
Colonial Beer per gall. 18 — 2 6
Colonial Ale (very superior) per dozen 8 4
Tea, (by the chest Is. 6d. ) j o n e, a
per pound J per pound 2 0-24
Coffee 10 — 19
Sugar.
Mauritius • • •. per pound 0 3|
West India 0 4 — 0 5
Loaf O 9 — 0 10
Soap.
English (seldom used) 0 5 — 0 6
Colonial (equal to English) • 0 3 — 0 5
Candles.
English moulds per pound 0 6 — 10
Colonial (very good) 0 5 — 0 6
Spices—much cheaper than in England.
Salt.
Best Liverpool per basket 16 — 2 0
^ Colonial per pound 0 IJ
» "
Vinegar.
English (best) per gallon 3 0
Colonial (good) 1 6
Tobacco.
Best Brazil per pound 2 0 — 3 0
Colonial (nearly as good)" •• • - 13 — 16
Horses (not including first) .^ad. £10 -
rate bloods) y
Horned Cattle (sometimes ) „
sold at 9s. per head) • • • • )
D 2
36
Sheep
<. d.
3 6
(. d.
7 6
Clothing and Haberdashery—about £25. per cent, above
fair English prices : by purchasing a piece of cloth, a
suit of good clothes may be had at about £5. or £6.
Furniture—cheaper than in England.
Wages.
Carpenters per day 7 0 — 9 0
Bricklayers and Masons • • • 7 0 — 9 0
Day Labourers 3 6 — 4 0
*,* The above has been compiled with the utmost care,
and has received the corrections of the most respectable
merchants and retail dealers.
Sydney Gazette,
May 22, 1830.
37
(B.)
Extract from the Sydney Gazette. Aug. 12, 1830.
Wanted in Sydney the following Tradesmen and Mechanics.
Bread and Biscuit Bakers.
Butchers.
•Boat Builders.
Bellows Makers.
•Blacksmiths.
Bell Hangers.
Brass Founders.
Brewers.
Boatmen.
•Brick Makers.
•Bricklayers.
•Collar Makers.
Confectioners.
Chair Makers.
•Curriers.
•Carpenters.
•Caulkers.
•Coopers.
Cart and Coach Makers.
Compositors.
Candle Makers.
Cabinet Makers.
Cheese Makers.
Coach Spring Makers.
Cooks.
Colliers.
•Coppersmiths.
Cutlers.
Dyers.
Dairy women.
Distillers.
•Engineers.
Farriers.
Flax Dressers.
Fencers.
Fellmongers.
Gardeners.
Glaziers.
Glassblowers.
Glue Makers.
Gilders.
Gunsmiths.
Hair Dressers.
Hat Makers.
•Harness Makers.
Horse Breakers.
Hoop Benders.
•Joiners.
Japanners.
Ironmongers.
Iron Founders.
Leather Dressers.
Lime Burners.
Locksmiths.
Millers.
Mealmen.
38
'Millwrights.
Sail Makers.
Milliners.
•Slaters.
Malsters.
Shepherds.
Mustard Makers.
Sheep Shearers.
Nurserymen.
Soap Makers.
Nailers.
Sign Painters.
Painters.
Sailors.
Parchment Makers.
Sail Cloth Makers.
Ploughmen, and Makers.
Starch Makers.
Pump Makers.
Straw Plat & Hat Makers.
Paper Makers.
Tanners.
'Plaisterers.
•Tinners.
Provision Curers.
Tailors.
Plumbers.
Tin Plate Workers.
Printers.
Tobacco Growers.
Quarry men.
Tobacco Pipe Makers.
Rope Makers.
Tallow Melters.
Sadlers.
Vine Dressers.
Shoe Makers.
Upholsterers.
'Sawyers.
Wheelwrights.
Shipwrights.
Wool Sorters.
Stone Masons, and Cutters,
Weavers.
and Setters.
Wire Drawers.
Those marked * are particularly wanted, and earn 10«. a
day, and upwards, all the year ronnd. Ëng^eers and
Millwrights earn 20s. a day. All articles of provisions
particularly cheap. Beef and Mutton, 2d. per pound
by the joint, and Id, by the quarter; Tea, Ix. Od. per
pound ; Sufajr, 3d.; Indian Corn, Ix. 6d. per bushel.
330.942
M173S