THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 552. 
 
 B875 
 V.2T
 
 HINTS 
 
 1 
 
 ON 
 
 PRACTICAL POLITICAL ECONOMY, 
 
 IN 
 
 WW^ ILIE^lTJEm^a 
 
 TO 
 
 THE COUNTRY BANKERS, 
 
 AND THE 
 
 LANDED INTEREST. 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN ff'RIttUT, ESQR. 
 
 :5CottmsT;am : 
 
 T'UINTED AT THE JOLRNAl OFFICE, BV G. STRETTON. 
 
 !828.
 
 \ 
 
 I
 
 TO 
 
 COUNTRY BANKERS. 
 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 I presume to offer to you the following hints, because I am sure 
 you will agree with me, that they are on subjects pregnant with the most 
 important national consequences, and in tliese days of the wildest theory, 
 are deserving of ihe consideration of all, and especially of those who are 
 so deeply interested in them as you are. 
 
 In January, 1 826, I sent the following to the Earl of Liverpool : — 
 *' The late panic placed the Banking and Mercantile world in so tremen- 
 *' dous a situation, that it is a paramount duty in every one to point out 
 " any measure that would effectually prevent its recurrence. I shall, 
 " therefore, take the liberty of repeating, what I had the honour of trans- 
 " mitting to your Lordship in 1820, and I will venture to affirm, that 
 " had the plan I therein advocated (or even only the third proposition) 
 •' been carried into effect, the late crisis could not have happened. 
 
 PLAN FOR THE CIRCULATING MEDIUM. 
 
 *' I St. That the Bank should be obliged only to pay in bullion at 
 ** £3. 17s. lOjd. per oz. Mr. Ricardo has established, that bullion is 
 " all that is requisite, as the standard measure of value of the eountrij^ 
 *' as well as for our foreign commerce. 
 
 " 2d. That sovereigns should be issued at £4. per oz. ; they would 
 not then be sent out of the country," or melted, as I am told, they now 
 are by the manufacturers of Birmingham. 
 
 " That bank notes should be made a legal payment, except in the city 
 of London — and there is no sound reason in law or practice against it." 
 
 A few days after this, his Lordship sent his most unfounded and vitu- 
 perative letter to the Bank, on which I again addressed the following to 
 his Lordship : — .
 
 I 
 
 " My Lord, 
 " I take the liberty of offering to your Lordsliip a few remarks in behalf 
 of Country Banks. Thougli the distress and panic of the late crisis were 
 principally caused by the failure of the London Banks, and thence ex- 
 tended to the Country Banks, yet the latter are most undeservedly made 
 the scape goat for the former. If your Lordship were desirous to throw 
 the blame somewhere, there was a party who more prominently deserved 
 every reprehension — I mean those panders to the mischief, the Contract- 
 ors for Foreign Loans, and the Directors of the foolish and prepos- 
 terous schemes that were set on foot ; and when we find amongst them, 
 those whose names carried conviction of success and respectability, what 
 do such men deserve, who, in acting only as decoy ducks^ enticed the 
 unwary into their net, and then left them in the lurch ? And are Country 
 ^Bankers, to bear the odium, when I do not believe that one-twentieth of 
 the subscriptions were obtained in the whole kingdom, distant 40 miles 
 from London, where they all originated? Mr. Baring* is represented as 
 saying, that " Country Bankers did not regulate their issues by any prin- 
 " ciple — their object was to saf urate the country willi paper; and this they 
 " did with great success on market days, and without reference to the rate 
 " of Foreign Exchange, a circumstance productive of the greatest evil.'' 
 — I can only rcp^y to this, that .sutitrailoa would much more justly apply 
 to the Bank of England, and though there may be weak and imprudent 
 Country Bankers, yet those he represents must have been as foolish as 
 the pigs of Cork, who, I heard a recruiting serjcant declare, ran about 
 the market with knives in their mouths, crying, " eat nic, eat me.'' To 
 the charge of not attending to the Exchanges, I must assure your Lord- 
 ship, I believe it to be true to the fullest extent, and for the very best 
 reason, viz. that they have nothing to do with the subject ; and thougli 
 your Lordship is impressed by the Cambists and Capitalists, that it is of 
 consequence that they should do so, yet it appears to me that the amount 
 of bank notes has nothing tp do with the matter, for whether Exchange 
 is high or low, depends, as the price of all other articles docs, on supply 
 and demand ; when Foreign Bills arc scarce, they are dear ; when plen- 
 tiful, cheap; and would your LordUiip lay aside tli ; influence these 
 
 * I presume the same ?'r Ijaiing, wlio, ciglit yc;irs ngo, detlnrcd in tlie Mouse 
 of Commons, "The Landed Interest must be reduced, and I will pull the 
 toesin of alarm if any ihiiig is done to protect it," two most pernicious dcclara- 
 rions ; but ho is a great Capitalist.
 
 gentlemen have had upon you, wliose doctrine has frequently caused 
 Irouble to the Bank and the Mercantile world, I think you would see 
 the matter in another light. That there has unfortunately been excess 
 in Trade and Commerce, I allow (and uho can wonder, stimulated as it 
 was by the Government), which time will relieve ; but Country Bankers 
 have had little share in promoting it; for London, Liverpool, and Man- 
 chester (where Country Bank paper is not issued), have been the focus 
 of it : but in every point I deny that excess in paper, as a Circulating 
 Medium, has ever existed, for the amount of it is exactly, neither more 
 nor less, than the trade and labour of the country requires. This is 
 proved at this moment, for at least one third of what it was eight months 
 ago, has retired into the coffers of the Banks, because the trade and the 
 wages of the country do not require it. Yet so ignorant was Mr. Can- 
 ning on the subject, that he accused Country Banks of a design to dis- 
 tress the country by the reduction. 
 
 " As Mr. Tooke's book has been frequently quoted, I remark that the 
 inference he draws, that the amount of the Currency governs the price of 
 Corn, is putting cause for effect. When Corn is cheap, less Circulating 
 Medium is wanted to buy it, and there is of course less afloat, and the 
 reverse of what Mr. Tooke states, is the fact, viz. that the price of Corn 
 governs the quantity of Circulating Medium. 
 
 ♦' The remarks I would offer on your Lordship's present intentions, 
 are — 
 
 *' 1st. In doing away with the small notes, how desirable soever it may 
 be, you will take away the amount of at least six millions of capital, 
 which has been afloat for years, almost entirely for the use and accommoda- 
 tion of the trade of the country ; for your Lordship must be aware, that 
 sovereigns will not afford any assistance to it ; the Manufacturers and 
 others will also be burthened with the extra expense of providing sove- 
 reigns from London, for the payment of wages, and the much greater 
 difficulty of procuring discounts. Can the trade of the country bear this 
 deprivation of capital, and increased expense ? 
 
 " 2d. How is it that the issue of small notes is had for England, but 
 good for Ireland and Scotland ; and if good for the latter, why not for 
 the former ? Is Ireland and Scotland then to be fostered in preference to 
 our English Traders ? 
 
 " 3d. The Bank of England will have a much greater responsibility 
 thrown upon them, in providing and keeping up so increased a necessity
 
 I 
 
 for sovereigns. And in the case of future alarms and panics, arising from 
 war or tumults, or any other cause, would be called upon to a much greater 
 extent than tJiey have lately been ; and nothing can insure the safety of 
 the country in such times, but the making the notes of the Bank of 
 England a legal tender for the payment of £5. and upwards, out of the 
 district in which they preserve their privilege. This measure would lessen 
 the necessity for the increase of sovereigns, and would tend not only to 
 the complete security, but to the very great profit of the Batik. 
 
 ** 4th. It will be a bold measure in the Bank of England to institute 
 Branches — if, as they ought, and in a crisis they must at their peril, find 
 gold for all the notes offered them, though issued in London ; besides, I 
 should doubt it answering to them, clashing, as it must do, with the pre- 
 sent establishments." 
 
 How little effect these letters produced, is evident from the increased 
 hostility and enmity which were shewn, not only by his Lordship, but by 
 the acts of the Government to Country Banks; with what knowledge or 
 Statesmanlike prudence or justice may be questioned, when it was to de- 
 press and bring into disgrace a body so useful and necessary to the country, 
 who possessed property to the extent of fifty millions, a large portion of 
 which was advanced to the support of Trade and Manufactures, and 
 whose returns were upwards of 300 millions per annum. 
 
 That his Lordship's letter to the Bank, and the consequent acts of 
 Government, proceeded from alarm, and ignorance of the real cause of 
 the crisis, there can be no doubt, and viewing, as they were led to believe, 
 that a suspension would have been a calamity, it was not to be wondered 
 at, when they found the Bank reduced to pay in half sovereigns, to issue 
 £1. notes they had determined to give up, and to be hunting through 
 all the London Banks for all their small notes they could get, and within 
 twelve hours of a stop ; but the query is, whether, if the suspension had 
 then taken place, it would not, as in 1 797, have led to the advantage of 
 the country, rather than to that state of barter so ignorantly predicted by 
 Mr. Huskisson, and saved three millions per annum, which the present 
 and former measures on the Circulating Medium are taking from us. 
 I am, Gentlemen, with much esteem, very sincerely yours, 
 
 JOHN WRIGHT. 
 
 Lenton Hall, near Nottingham, March 6, 1828.
 
 ON CIRCULATING MEDIUM. 
 
 A Circulating Medium is only a sign of wealth ; and whether these 
 signs are made of paper, convertible into gold, or of gold, they are of the 
 same value. The arguments that have been promulgated by the 
 Bullionists, on this subject, are — 
 
 1st. That our Circulating Medium of paper, during the war, was in 
 excess. 
 
 2d. That the excess caused it to be depreciated in value — raised the 
 price of articles of consumption, and unhinged the state of debtor and 
 creditor. 
 
 3d. That the Bank ought to curtail its issues, when Exchange is 
 below par. And, 
 
 4th. That Country Bank Notes ought to vibrate with the variations of 
 the amount of Bank of England Notes. 
 
 All of which I contend are founded in error, and lead to false con- 
 clusions, highly detrimental to the interests and security of the country. 
 
 First — I say, that though the trade and manufactures of the country 
 may be in excess, producing more than is wanted, a Circulating Medium 
 of paper never can be, for its amount is regulated by the price of the 
 articles of consumption, and by the demand for the trade and wages of 
 the country, which price is governed by the relative proportions of supply 
 and demand ; for when the latter exceeds the former, prices must be high, 
 and vice versa. 
 
 An excess of Circulating Medium in paper can only exist for a few days 
 at a time, for were the Bank of England or any other Bank to issue notes 
 for a particular purpose, if the trade of the place where they were issued 
 did not require them, they would either force out of circulation the same 
 amount in other paper, or would immediately return to the issuers, for 
 who will keep paper, or go to a bank for it, if it is not wanted ? — The 
 failures in Ireland, in 1820, prove the accuracy of my opinion, that the 
 amount of paper in circulation was not excessive ; for had it been so, the 
 failures would only have taken away that which xvas not wanted. The 
 necessity of the case demanded that Government should assist the trade of 
 that country with 500,000/. in bank notes, to supply the place of the 
 local notes. Had the Banks in Ireland been obliged to pay in gold, 
 the alarm would have produced the most tremendous effects ; notes of
 
 6 
 
 every description would have been refused, and large additional supplies 
 of gold would have been also necessary, to provide against the hoardin'f 
 .the alarm would have occasioned. 
 
 Now a Circulating Medium of gold may be in excess, for gold being 
 of no value but in its use, and its supply being uncontroulcd, the holders 
 of it are anxious only to get quit of it, and it must come to market at a 
 lower price when it is in excess; while if any excess happens in paper, it 
 immediately and quietly returns to, and remains in the coffers of the 
 banks, and the public are not aware of its subtraction from the amount in 
 circulation. If gold is hoarded cither by individuals or Country Banks, 
 it is totally unproductive ; but paper must be productive, for the issuer 
 reaps the interest, and Government the tax on it. Is not the latter, 
 therefore, most desirable as a Circulating Medium, which is cheap, con. 
 vcnient, and productive, while gold is not so convenient, most expensive, 
 and unprofitable? While paper, besides its superiority even in use, will 
 produce to the nation a saving over gold of at least three millions per ann. 
 
 On the 2d, I contend, that our war expenditure and war trade, by the 
 employment of the people at high wages — by the increase of the value of 
 property, and by the great profits which they afforded, had induced such a 
 luxurious mode of living in every class, that the demand for all articles of 
 consumption was so great, extended as it was by our increased population, 
 that it was only by the greatest exertions they could be supplied, and 
 that high prices were cotmrqurnl ; and that the depreciation, as it is 
 called, of our Circulating Medium, by its being in excess, had no effect 
 on price. And I also contend, that all the corollaries down from it are 
 equally void of foundation ; for, on all pointo, ihcy put the e^ect for 
 the cause. 
 
 When from the great exertions of every State in Europe, the value of 
 gold rose, it certainly had the effect on all ont foreign relations; but 
 where is the proof that it had the least effect on our internal commerce ? 
 How was the relative situation of debtor and creditor unhinged? — 
 A. borrowed £10,000. in 1813, and received the amount in bank 
 notes, representing gold at 3/. 17*. 10|</. per ounce, and in 1823 he re- 
 pays the money with bank notes of the same value : where is the hard- 
 ship ? Not to A. certainly ; while the lender may truly say, you took my 
 money while it was worth 5 per cent. ; now it is only worth 4 per cent. ; 
 therefore I am a loser equal to 20 per cent, on my capital. The bank 
 note at the highest price that gold ever arrived at, represented exactly
 
 what it represents now (viz.) gold at 3/. 17*'. lO^rf. per ounce ; and the 
 only good these gentlemen have done, in return for the depreciation, 
 alarm, and delusion, they have inflicted on the country, is, that they have 
 attempted to fix that sum as the measure of value of our coin and bank 
 notes : this certainly would be desirable, but they must be aware that the 
 same circumstances as heretofore may recur, by wliich the price of gold 
 may be raised to 51. per ounce ; in which case it is absurd to suppose that 
 the Bank could continue to pay in gold at the standaid price. I there- 
 fore assert, that the return to Cash Payments occasioned no part of the 
 depression then complained of, but which may come if the present plans 
 are carried into effect, when forty millions of the capital of the country is 
 made unproductive by the purchase of gold. When the incalculable loss 
 that maybe sustained by the want of capital for the employment of labour 
 takes effect — when the large supply by the tax on notes is cut off — and 
 when those in the Manufacturing districts must pay an additional charge 
 for the risk, the trouble and the expense of providing gold for the pay- 
 ment of wages — the Saving Banks have probably taken also ten millions 
 from the current capital of the countrj-. 
 
 On the 3d — It is with diffidence I enter on the subject of Exchange, for 
 I cannot comprehend why it is so imperatively contended, that when it is 
 below par the Bank and Country Banks also, ought and must lower their 
 issue of paper, though by so doing they would paralyse every operation 
 of the trade and commerce of the country, for a low Exchange must cause 
 a greater demand for articles of export. Let us try the truth of this 
 position by the test of common sense. Though it is not stated at what 
 point the Bank ought to begin to lower their issues (I will suppose it may 
 be at 3 per cent, and the Bank proceed on this plan), now, as a Country 
 Banker, one of my customers, a manufacturer of iron, who has usually 
 had 500/. a week to pay his workmen, comes to me, and says, 
 *' Exchange with Paris is 5 per cent, below par, we have great demand 
 •* for iron, and I shall want 705/. per vteek" — now am I to say, my 
 friend, you quite mistake the matter ; the low rate of Exchange has caused 
 the Bank to lower their issues, and the Great Dons tell me prudence 
 obliges me to do the same — I, therefore, can let you have only 250/. per 
 week, thus adding to the distress and alarm occasioned by the Bank 
 lowering its issues. Or shall I follow my own idea, not only of what is 
 due to him, but to the country, and let him have the 750/. and also tell 
 him I shall be glad when he will want 1,000/. ? Neither can I ccm.
 
 8 
 
 prchend how Exchange is affected by the amount of bank notes in circula. 
 tion : for whctlier Exchange is high or low, depends, as tlie price of all 
 other articles docs, on supply and demand. When Foreign Bills are scarce, 
 they arc dear; when plentiful, clicap. If our merchants have one million 
 to pay to foreigners, they must pay it whether bank notes are plentiful or 
 scarce ; and the Bank lowering their issues, is only throwing difficulties 
 in their way, as they did at the crisis. 
 
 On No. 4-, I contend, that though they must vibrate from the 
 same cause (the demand), no Country Bank need govern its issues by 
 those of the Bank ; for suppose the Circulating Medium of the country 
 to be twenty millions, divided equally between the Bank and the Country 
 Banks, and that the former swayed by the reasoning of the BuUionists, 
 and on exchange becoming below par, lowers its issues to eight millions ; 
 the Country Banks, not governed by such reasoning, but by the increased 
 demand of the trade of the country, will increase their issues to twelve or 
 fourteen millions ; and distressing, indeed, would it be to trade, if they 
 do otherwise. And it appears to me, that the issues of the Bank of 
 England ought to be governed by the same principle ; and all that they, 
 or at least Country Banks have to look to, is the responsibility and pru- 
 dence of their customers, and that Exchange would be easily regulated 
 by the bullion kept by the Bank. 
 
 In 1797, in order to check the increasing pressure, the Bank most in- 
 judiciously diminished their notes from eleven to under nine millions, 
 which, so far from effecting any relief, only accelerated the evil ; the run 
 was not in the slightest degree slackened. — Not having gained wisdom 
 from experience, they repeated this ruinous plan before the late crisis, re- 
 ducing their notes, in a few months, to the enormous extent of six mil- 
 lions, which was one great cause of its virulence. If, instead of reducing 
 their notes before the crisis, they had increased them, as they did after it, 
 to the extent of eight millions, they would have prevented it. 
 
 Is it possible that there migbt be u siiu'ster plan to attack Country 
 Banks, and to bring on the crisis ? — If so, the time chosen was most 
 auspicious, when Consols and other Stocks were shut, and when money 
 was drained for the payment of dividends. Was the previous reduction 
 of bank notes to the extent of six millions a part of this sinister measure ? 
 Why was so very larjjc a quantity of sovereigns sent abroad previous to 
 the crisis, which were retinned on the crisis being obtained ? Why was 
 it £0 repeatedly said in that year, " Money is so plentiful, nothing can be
 
 made of it. Would it not relieve us if the small notes of Country Banks 
 were put a stop to ?" And why were Country Banks assailed in sucli 
 unmeasured terms of obloquy, and the whole blame of the crisis thrown 
 on them, if it was not in the hope of annihilating them ? wliile even 
 during the crisis there probably was a very large balance due to the 
 Country Banks from their London Bankers. 
 
 ON THE USURY LAW. 
 CSent to the Earl 0/ Liverpool, in February y 1826.J 
 
 I hope your Lordship will pardon the intrusion on your valuable time, 
 if I proceed in re-stating my opinion on another subject of vital import- 
 ance, as regards the morals, as well as the policy of the country. The 
 following is the statement I made five years ago : — ** Mr. Sergeant Otislow 
 
 * has given notice of his intention to move for an alteration in the Usury 
 
 * Law, and in so far as he wishes to soften the excessive penalties, I 
 
 * agree with him ; but I must enter my strong protest against his inten- 
 
 * tion of laying the interest of money entirely open, and without restraint. 
 
 * The lenders have, at present, a sufficient advantage over the borrowers ; 
 
 * and in ancient Rome we have abundant proof of the injustice and 
 ' tyranny which were inflicted by Patrons over their Clients, by the 
 'abuse of this power. And should difficulties arise, it miglit lead to 
 ' the same results, as well as add to the expense of raising money for the 
 
 * country, which it is the duty of the Government to prevent." 
 
 As notice is again given for it, I cannot refrain from saying, that in re- 
 ference to the late panic, which is laid hold of as being in favour of the 
 measure, that it is exactly the reverse ; that no reasoning on sales of any 
 commodity can apply to Interest; and that had the Usury Law been re- 
 pealed, such scenes of oppression would now be in existence, as are past 
 all conception. 
 
 When we see even the Bank of England taking advantage of the 
 pressure, and raising their charge 10 the utmost limit the law allowed them, 
 what would have been the extent of the demands of private Banks and 
 Capitalists ? Had not the law kept them within bounds, they might im- 
 mediately have charged 20 per cent. ; following the advice in the Play, 
 
 B
 
 10 
 
 " If jour debtor is very mucli distressed, why then you must charge liim 
 " double," tlius destroying that kindness which now so often is shewn to 
 a debtor, and converting Capitah'sts into tyger cats, watching every oppor- 
 tunity to pounce on their prey. 
 
 My Lord, when this matter was first broached, led away by the delusive 
 doctrine of abstract rights, I became a convert to it; but the considera- 
 tion of twenty years has converted me into the greatest enemy, not only 
 to it, but to all the laws which have originated, or are in train to flow from 
 that principle. 
 
 Why is not money to be as free as any other commodity ? Why are 
 artizans to be punished for combinations? Why are they also to be 
 kept at home, when gentlemen can go abroad at pleasure ? And why is 
 machinery not to be exported ? — Why ? Because the public good requires 
 it ; and legislating on these abstract rights is, I fear, plunging the nation 
 into distress and ruin ; for the suffering inflicted by the repeal of the 
 Combination Laws will be trifling in comparison of that which the repeal 
 of the Usury Law will occasion. And when it is said, why are wc not 
 to go to the cheapest foreign market for articles we ourselves produce ? I 
 answer, because it would be transferring our riches to the poor country, 
 and disable us from meeting the Debt of 800 millions, which high wages 
 and high profits will enable us to bear with ease. 
 
 ON BRANCH BANKS. 
 
 I have before touched on this subject. The following are the unani- 
 mous resolutions passed at the meeting of Country Bankers — 
 (Sir John Wrottesley, Bart. M.P. in the Chair.) 
 
 " That this meeting disclaim every sentiment of hostility to the Bank of 
 England, upon its original principles, being firmly persuaded that the 
 Bank of England, and the various other banking establishments of the 
 kingdom have, together, long been found to promote the interests of the 
 public, and to afford a salutary check upon each other. 
 
 ** That the late measures of the Bank of England, in the establishment 
 of Branch Banks, have the evident tendency to subvert the general 
 banking system that has long existed throughout the country, and which 
 has grown up with, and been adapted to, the wants and convcniencies of 
 the public.
 
 11 
 
 " That it can be diytinctly proveil, that the prosperity of trade, the sup- 
 port of agriculture, the increase of general improvement, and the pro- 
 ductiveness of the National Revenue, are intimately connected with the 
 existing system of banking. 
 
 " That the Coinitry Bankers would not complain of rival establishments, 
 founded upon equal terms ; but they do complain of being required to 
 compete with a great Company, possessing a monopoly and exclusive 
 privileges. 
 
 " That should this great Corporation, conducted by Directors who are 
 not personally responsible, succeed by means of these exclusive advantages, 
 in their apparent object of supplanting the existing banking establish- 
 ments, they will thereby be rendered masters of the circulation of the 
 country, which they will be enabled to contract or to expand, according 
 to their own will ; and thus be armed with a tremendous power and 
 influence, dangerous to the stability of property, and the independence of 
 the country." 
 
 I fear the country is not aware of the truth and force of these resolutions, 
 which must carry conviction to every thinking mind. When the Bank 
 declare, that it is their object to have the power of governing the circulation 
 of the whole country, on principles too, which I trust, I have proved, must 
 be dangerous to it, as well as to themselves. I cannot but say to the 
 Country Bankers, that as they have the power, it is their duty not only 
 to themselves, but to the public, to stem so dangerous an intrusion. — A 
 note of the Bank of England has ever been held in the highest estimation 
 by Country Banks as their ally, and sorry shall I be to see the day 
 when this feeling is to be changed into one of rivalry ; but if the Bank 
 Directors, goaded on to this injudicious measure by unfounded alarm 
 and invective, are determined to persist in it, and throw down the 
 gauntlet of defiance — they must take the consequence, and be made to 
 rue the day they invaded the province of their best customers, who 
 always have millions in their notes in possession, and are the circu- 
 lators of tens of milhons of them. And I have no hesitation in saying, 
 in this case, that a rival establishment would not only be highly beneficial 
 to the Country Banks, but also to the whole country. Let the Bank 
 Proprietors consider this, and they will find, that if the plan I recom- 
 mended to Lord Liverpool, in 1820, is adopted, that it will be much 
 more beneficial to them than the Branch Banks ever can be (which at 
 j)resent are a very great expense to them), will protect them against
 
 12 
 
 any severe or sudden run upon tliem for sovereigns, and place tliem on 
 a rock of safety, in comparison of the feverish state tlieir present plans 
 must brinn; on them. 
 
 REDUCTION OF THE FIVE PER CENTS. 
 Published 1823. 
 
 This much boasted of, and highly extolled measure, I can only com- 
 pare to the act of one who cares not how much he burdens his estate in 
 future, so that his present wants are supplied. 
 
 No one can doubt that if, instead of the terms given, the holders had 
 been offered £4. 6s. 8d. per cent, per annum, for seven years certain, 
 they would have consented to it : by which the country would have 
 saved eight millions given to them in additional capital. The country 
 is thereby burdened for ever with eight millions of increased debt, for an 
 annuity of £213,000. per annum, for seven years. While, had the 
 bonus of a higher interest, instead of an increased capital, been resorted 
 to, there is little doubt that the £4. 6s. 8d. might have been reduced to 
 4 per cent, at the expiration of seven years. 
 
 I mention this as one of the effects of the new system of depreciation, 
 to which the Ministers are obliged to consent, in order to gain the power 
 of reducing the taxes the paltry sum of £213,000. per annum, for seven 
 years. 
 
 The same views also induced the alteration of the dead we'ifi/it, as ft 
 is called. How much more noijle would it been to have have borne our 
 own burdens, than thus to have thrown them on our children ! 
 
 Let it not be supposed that I plead against the reduction of taxation, 
 or economy ; all I wish to shew is, that such a reduction is of little use i 
 to the country, for what has it done ? It takes 1 6s. per cent, per annum 
 from A. the holder of 5 per cents, and gives it to B. both subjects of the 
 same country — and the benefit B. receives is countervailed by the reduced 
 power of A. to encourage the trade and the agriculture of the country. 
 And how desirable soever it may seem to lower the interest on the 
 National Debt, this must always be the effect. You reduced A. who is 
 your best customer, and give it to B. who may only spend it in necessaries, 
 and thus the taxes are rendered unjiroductive, and trade decreases.
 
 . 13 
 
 SMALL NOTE ACT. 
 Published 1823. 
 
 This Act of a few lines, I will venture to say has done more for 
 the country, than any Act that ever before was passed on tliis question. 
 It is a subject for exultation, for it is the triumph of sound sense and 
 true political economy, over the vagaries of the Bullionists, by allowing, 
 that a circulating medium of paper is equal in value to one of gold ; and 
 by it, it has ensured to the country a saving of three millions per annum ; 
 not by taking that amount from A. and giving it to B. but an actual 
 saving, or plufit to that amount, distributed over the whole country, and 
 not out of the pocket or at the expense of any one. 
 
 The triumph would indeed have been complete, had this Act passed, 
 as it was Hrst introduced into the House, for it contained the clause I 
 have for years advocated the necessity of, viz. that Country Banks should 
 only be obl'tged to pay their notes in those of the Bank of England. The 
 Bullionists, still true to their theory, oppose and erase it, but why the 
 INIinisters should give up, what they must have been convinced was right, 
 or they would not have introduced it, it is past all conjecture to account 
 for. Can it be supposed that I proposed the measure only for the 
 benefit of the Country Banks ? By no means ; but to ensure the Nation 
 from ever sufferinor from the alarms that ignorant demagogues might raise 
 in the country ; for what advantage is it to a Country Banker to keep 
 f!5,000. in his chest in banknotes, rather than in sovereigns? for the one 
 are just as easily procured as the other ; the only benefit to him is, that 
 the trouble and risk in bringing notes from London is less, besides the 
 rebutting of alarms, and reducing the demand for sovereigns to be 
 hoarded. 
 
 ON TAXATION. 
 
 The following is an extract from a letter I wrote to the Earl of Liver- 
 pool, in February 1822, enclosing my remarks on the Agricultural 
 Report : — 
 
 " The great point would be, to establish a Property Tax of \Q per 
 " cent, to which the Landed Interest could uever be expected to agree
 
 14 
 
 ** unless they received a bonus ; and I feel assured, that the following 
 •' mode of proposing it would be efficient and etjiiUable, and ought to 
 " be conciliatory to the Landed and Trading Interests, as well as to the 
 " Fund-holder, who could not reasonably complain of it; for, while the 
 *' two former classes have suffered, since the peace, a depreciation of their 
 " property of full 20 per cent, the latter have received an advantage to 
 ** that amount in their principal, and also of 10 per cent, on their ex. 
 ** penditure. — I should therefore say to the Fund-holder, to prove such 
 ** a tax equitable and desirable to him — * A tax of 1 per cent, on your 
 " ' dividend, is much less than half per cent, on your capital, which by 
 " ' the tax will be very considerably increased.' To the Landed Interest 
 ** I should say, ' Besides the depreciation which so heavily oppresses 
 " ' you, you have borne for a century, with exemplary patience and 
 " 'loyalty, the partial pressure of the Land Tax, and also of the Poor 
 ** * Rates, for you were burthened with them, when land was every thing, 
 *' * and money nothing ; consent then to a Property Tax of 10 per cent. 
 ** ' and you shall be relieved from the Land Ta.v^ and where it has been 
 •* ' redeemed, the amount shall be returned to you in .3 per cents.' And 
 ** as a bonus to the Mercantile classes, I should propose to take off the 
 " Stamp Duties on receipts, bills, and notes, while the Country Banks 
 ** may be made to pay as much larger a tax for their licences as would be 
 " equal to the present one, on their circulated notes. The tax should be 
 " levied on these classes, by charging it on the amount of their cap'itnl, 
 " at 5 per cent, so that every £1,000. (the interest on which being i"50.) 
 " would be charged with 1'5. This mode would probably ensure to 
 " Government even more than it ought to expect, as men in trade would 
 " be induced to rate their capital at the highest point, and it would be of 
 *' the greatest advantage, in such a commercial country as this, in making 
 " the transit of money as free as air." Assessed Taxes to be given up 
 only when the Property Tax exceeds them. 
 
 The plan would also meet the deserters of their country, the absentees, 
 who, in spite of the arguments of Mr. M'Cullock, are draining and re- 
 ducing their country. It also would permit the doing away or reduction 
 of many other taxes, and leave an addition of three millions to our 
 Sinking Fund. 
 
 Such a principle of taxation, continued only for ten years, would set 
 the country on a rock as to her finances : as no one can doubt (peace 
 being continued) that in that period, the whole debt might be reduced to
 
 15 
 
 3 per cent, or under. The Property Tax might then be reduced to 5 
 per cent, many other taxes might be taken off, and the Sinking Fund 
 entirely cease — a consummation devoutly to be wished! and which it 
 only wants a proper fortitude and determination to ensure. Had our 
 affairs been conducted and continued in the same state, and on the same 
 principles as they were in at the end of the war, with our exclusive 
 trade, both at home and abroad, and our Circulating Medium of paper, 
 all these points would ere this have taken place; but the furor of legisla- 
 tion has been our bane, while the laisser nous fair, would have reversed 
 the picture that now appals us from the daring and wilful depreciation of 
 every class.
 
 16 
 
 TO THE 
 
 LANDED INTEREST, AND THE AGRICULTURISTS. 
 
 My Lords and Gentlemen, 
 
 I take the liberty of congratulating you and the country on the defeat 
 of the last Corn Bill, which, if considered in all its bearings, must flash 
 conviction upon all, that the abandonment of the measure was an event 
 so singularly brought about, as to be placed beyond the limits of mere 
 accidental occurrence, and bears the certain stamp of that superintending 
 intelligence and power, which has so often upheld our country. It was 
 a measure that must have passed, with all its imperfections, weak, de- 
 moralising, and ruinous as it was, had the Earl of Liveq)ool been con. 
 tinued in health, and would have inflicted such a death-blow to the best 
 hopes of the empire as it never before has experienced. Let us then rejoice, 
 that the Duke of Wellington was (even contrary to his own intention) 
 again made the instrument of protecting his country, perhaps to as great 
 an extent as at the battle of Waterloo- 
 
 If my address to you, last year, tended in any degree to effect the 
 glorious deed, it would give me a pleasure I cannot express ; and in the 
 hope that it might do so, -I am induced to repeat it, for we are informed, 
 that the enemy is again to take the field, and that the ruinous and de- 
 sponding state of the Agriculturists, produced by that cruel and most unjust 
 measure of admitting Bonded Corn, has not induced him to abandon 
 his attack. 
 
 Seven years ago, I endeavoured to call your attention to the system of 
 depreciation pursued by the Capitalists, for their own interest, and to 
 their attack on the Circulating Medium, and the Usury Laws, and to 
 what Mr. Baring, their leader and the head, declared in the House of 
 Commons, viz. : — " The Landed Interest must be reduced, and I will 
 *' sound the tocsin of alarm, if any thing is done to protect it." Under 
 this text, the Capitalists have ever since proceeded. 
 
 Mr. Ricardo, another great Capitalist; writes on Agriculture, and 
 thinks, with many others, the sweeping away ten thousand proprietors of 
 poor land, and one hundred thousand of its cultivators, a small conside- 
 ration. If poor land is to be thrown out of cultivation, where are we to
 
 It 
 
 stop ? For poor is a relative term, and every year the evil must increase ; 
 and taxed as this country is, it is the height of delusion to talk of the 
 advantage of going to the cheapest foreign market for articles we ourselves 
 produce — for then how could the fifty millions of taxes be raised, when 
 the nation is involved in ruin for the benefit of foreigners ? 
 
 JVIr. Ricardo also says, 
 
 1. — " There is no other way of keeping profits up, but by keeping 
 '* wages down ; high wages cannot exist with high profits." — This is 
 contrary to fact, and and every practical opinion, for high wages do, 
 ought, and always will accompany high profits. 
 
 2. — " That the duty on imported Corn, should decrease with the 
 " advance in price." — This, I contend, is contrary to sound reasoning, 
 and is for the benefit of foreign farmers, and the dealers hi imported 
 Corn only ; for if they can afford to pay S^s. when the price is 60s. 
 they can more easily pay it at 70s. and such principle must tend to the 
 ruin of our own Agriculturists, when they are distressed by unproductive 
 seasons, as was last year exemplified by the admission of Oats, Barley, 
 &c. at so low a duly, upon so ruinous and deficient a crop; and that at 
 70s. with a duty of 2is. the foreign farmer would receive an advantage, 
 more than sufficient to induce him to send in a larger quantity of Corn 
 when this country might want it, and a profit three times as great as our 
 own farmers would get by the advance. 
 
 3. — *' That every tax imposed on raw produce, falls ultimately on the 
 " consumer." — If a tax be levied on the whole consumed, this is true ; 
 but as applicable to imported Corn, it is not true. The price of corn 
 in our market, when open for importation, always governs the price at 
 the exporting towns on the Continent ; therefore, a tax on iippcrted 
 Corn, which in quantity has seldom or never exceeded one-fifteenth of 
 our consumption, would only fall on the foreign sellers of it, and cannot 
 affect the general price, which is fixed and regulated by the fourteen- 
 fifteenths raised in this country, tvhlch is not taxed, I beg your parti- 
 cular attention to these most important points, as I have never seen them 
 advocated, but by myself; and if they are not considered, ruin to our 
 farmers must ensue, for the present plan, though a protection against a 
 low price, provides no security in seasons of scarcity, when it is most 
 wanted. To talk of preventing variations in the price of an article when 
 the supply is dictated by the decrees of Providence is vain. As the 
 whole nation partake of the blessing of an abundant crop, so ought they to 
 
 C
 
 18 
 
 fed the infliction of o short one, and not cast it on one class, the farmers, 
 wliich the ])resent intentions must do. Had the Ministers, instead of 
 following these erroneous opinions of Mr. Ricardo, agreed with liiin in 
 his declarations, that " nothing contributes so inuch to the happiness 
 " and prosperity of a country, as high profits," as well as that the Hank 
 should be restricted to the obligation of " the payment only in bullion,'' 
 we should have avoided the discussions on the depreciating system they 
 are now following. 
 
 Then comes the greatest of all the Doctors, 
 
 Mr. M'CuUock. But having discussed the opinions of his principal, 
 Mr. Ricardo, I have only space to say of him, look at his elaborate 
 treatise on absenteeism, and, perhaps, you may think I am not far from 
 the mark, when I presume it was dictated by some arch Jesuit sitting at 
 his elbow, who flattering himself on the restoration of the Catholics to 
 power, and thence to pre-eminence, \vas preparing the public mind to 
 believe, that sending a million or two a year in Peter's Pence, to be spent 
 at Rome, by the Pope, was of as much benefit to the country, as if it had 
 been spent here in the useful employment of our poor. 
 
 Mr. M'CuUock is also quoted by Mr. Horton, as approving of his 
 scheme of Emigration. It is surprising such great Doctors cannot hit 
 upon some plan to rid us of our ineffective paupers, instead of the strong, 
 the healthy, the active, and the productive : I fear Emigration, like cheap 
 bread, is only a tub thrown out to the whale, and shews to conviction, the 
 folly of that system that sends money out of this country to employ 
 foreign labourers, while our own are starving. The profitable employ- 
 ment of the people constitutes the wealth and prosperity of a nation. 
 No equivalent can be found for the deprivation or diminution of such em- 
 ployment ; and it is only the profitable employment of the people that 
 can increase consumption. And yet it is wished to send out one million 
 of people — a million is a word so often in our mouths, we think nothing 
 of it ; but when it is considered, that it will take 5,000 ships to transport 
 them, and at an expense of twenty millions of money, and that the dose 
 must be repeated every ten years — we may surely exclaim, here is 
 economy and retrenchment with a witness I 
 
 I pass over the ignorant, mischievous, and insulting declarations ex- 
 hibited at Common Halls, and Town Meetings, and displayed by the 
 whole of the radical press, who are in arms against you ; but the abettors 
 and instigators of Ministers, «nd I will only mention one amongst your
 
 19 
 
 injudicious friexhy who have allowed, that 64s. now, is equal to a remu- 
 nerating price of 80s. when the law was enacted, which I do not believe, 
 and which it would be difficult for them to prove ; and I am certain, that 
 70s. is nearer the truth. 
 
 Mr. Whitmore has published, that "he objects to the circulating medium 
 •* of paper, as having poduced an increase of population, an augmentation 
 ** of manufactures, and an increase of wealtli ; that our country is 
 ** naturally an importing one ; that our own over-production of Corn 
 '* is the cause of distress, and as a cure for it, proposes the importation 
 ** of foreign Corn :" and also proposed, that notes should not pass for a 
 less sum than 10/. instead of 51. not havings as I believe, the least con- 
 ception, that such an alteration would Add 500,000/. to the three millions 
 per annum which the piesent law will cost the cotmtry, if it is extended 
 to Scotland and Ireland, besides the incalculable loss that will be sustained 
 by the want of capital for the employment of kbour. Yet on this subject, 
 the Editor of the Courier can most sapiently ask, " <vhy cannot Country 
 " Bankers discount bills with sovereigns, as well as with tJieir own notes?" 
 That is, why cannot they lend as many sovereigns as sixpences. 
 
 These, and others of the same stamp, are the sources whence our 
 Governors have drawn their information. I will now sivevv you the result ; 
 but in doing this, permit me to declare, that I yield to aio one in believing 
 their intentions to be most upright ; but an Iwnest intention is no excuse 
 lor measures pernicious to out country. 
 
 Mr. Peel, as an il>ducement to permit the sale of Wheat in Bond, said, 
 *' as all other classes were suffering from depression, ft was only just 
 " that the Agriculturists should bear their share," let us all be unhappy 
 together. But in the alarm which dictated it, he overlooked how unjustly 
 he oppressed you, by the admission of Bonded Corn, and infiicUd 
 ten times the amount that could have been l&vied upon you, as your share 
 for the benefit to the starving manufacturers. And the result is, that you 
 are equally or more distressed than they. 
 
 Mr. Robinson, on Free Trade, sfaid, " he never asked the opinion of 
 " any one on the subject, who did not say, your plan is excellent as 
 " regards others ; but you must not, on any account, touch my branch, 
 " it cannot possibly bear it. He, therefore, concluded, Free Trade must 
 " be good for all;" surety a most impotent conclusion, groiuided on the 
 ignorance and folly, rather than the knowledge and expeiience of those 
 bo ejiquired of. So for the cure of our ovci'stockcd markets, in com.
 
 20 
 
 wool, iron, silks, and gloves, %ve are to admit those of foreigners. A 
 nation cannot want from others what it already possesses, or can produce, 
 nor can there be a reciprocity of benefits, when the people of either 
 party are deprived of profitable employment, as such employment is the 
 wealth of all States. 
 
 Mr. Canning, some time since declared, " that Political Economy had 
 '* never been studied by him — by education and habit he was averse from 
 " it." Oh ! that the country could have had his talents in this case, as 
 they have been exerted in exposing the folly of Reformists, how then 
 would the advocates of Tree Trade have sunk before him ! But, he, 
 alas ! consented to learn wisdom from these Reformists, not bein* aware 
 to what a pitch of imprudence they would lead him, when they had 
 liim in their toils. In defence of the propositions, he adverts to the 
 Edinburgh Review, which in a late number stated, that a saving of 1 9 
 millions per annum would be effected, by corn being lowered Ss. per 
 quarter. It cannot surely be any thing but a determination per fas et 
 ncjnii, to deceive and madden the poor, that could have given utterance 
 to so barefaced and revolutionary a falsehood. What, take 19 millions 
 from our farmers, and give it to the public, and the whole is saved to the 
 country ! Such preposterous ravings ought only to find their reward in 
 contempt and the tread mill. * And ihe writer has this alternative to 
 confess, he stated, what he knew to be false, or that he is a driveller. 
 And a late number of the Monthly, its twin brother on these subjects, 
 says, " If it be true, as is contended, " that the fields and granaries of 
 " the North would be able to bear' down all competition in the English 
 '' market, in the name of justice let it be so." Could revolutionary 
 iii&anity go farther than this, converting this fair country into a sterile 
 promontory? But, 
 
 Mr. Huskisson, the grand magician of the whole, argues, your old laws 
 ar.d systems have enabled you to spend one thousand millions in war, and 
 another thousand millions in all the arts of peace, raising your country in 
 arms, in arts, and in riches, to be the envy, the wonder, and admiration 
 of the world. But you are quite mistaken : by a wave of my wand, I will 
 shew you, you are proceeding in error. Deprecintioyi must be the order 
 of the day — by free trade, with the help of cheap bread and low wages, 
 wc will bring in what we do not want — we will eniich our enemies with 
 
 ** See page 12 as an answer to such reasoning.
 
 21 
 
 our wealth — an equitable adjustment ■will reduce, or a sponge will then 
 easily blot out the Fund-holders, and when I have effected my object, 
 and thus reduced the whole couHtry to a state of poverty and wretched- 
 ness, how happy and prosperous we shall be, and there it no honour or 
 riches that the Prussians and Poles will have to bestow, which I shall not 
 deserve from them! What is your Navigation Act, or your Shipping 
 Interest to me ? — away with them. 
 
 And shall Britons be so senseless and infatuated as to abrogate those 
 vei7 laws to the eflBcacy and salutary operation of which they owe all their 
 prosperity and pre-eminence ? 
 
 And will you, my Lords and Gentlemen, sit tamely by, and suffer 
 yourselves to be thus depreciated for the benefit of foreigners ? 
 
 I shall now discuss the new propositions. Averages which have been 
 so often and justly complained of, are to be altered from quarterly to 
 weekly ones, converting our Corn Market into a furious Arena, 
 wliere we shall have gambling in perfection, for the benefit of the large 
 Dealers in foreign Corn, who have instigated this measure ; as an altera- 
 tion, which they can easily effect of Is. in price, is 3s. on imported Corn 
 (is 8 per Cent, profit on their capital), an inducement sufficient for tricks 
 of all sorts. 
 
 " The duty is made to decrease, with the advance in price.'' 
 
 I hope what I have said in the remarks on Mr. Ricardo, has convinced 
 you of the truth of the principles I wish to establish, that the duty on 
 foreign Corn, ought to increase with the price, that it must fiill on the 
 Sellers of it, who obtain the best price they can for it, without reference to 
 the cost ; that the Importers can more easily pay the duty on high than 
 low prices ; that it is absolutely necessary to pFotect our Farmers, as by 
 the infliction of bad harvests, or unproductive seasons, they may be 
 unable to sell their Wheat for 70s. Yet to their utter ruin, at that price 
 foreigners are to come in at a duty of only Is. 
 
 When the Manufacturers are distressed, arising it may be from impru- 
 dence, Mr. Peel calls upon you to assist them ; but when the Agrfail- 
 turists are distressed by the infliction of Providence, Mr. Canning's 
 propositions doubles tlie infliction, even to ruin, by admitting foreign 
 Wheat at a duty of only Is. There are no terms strong enough to ex- 
 press my surprise at such an outrage on justice and common sense ; and 
 when Mr. Canning says, the country would not bear a high duty on a 
 h gh price— I reply, such an aosertion has its origin in fear and alarm
 
 22 
 
 caused by the Lancashire riots, and libels the people of England, who 
 have good sense enough to discriminate the cause of affliction, and they 
 know they must, and will, with resignation, bear those of Providence, 
 which tliey did last year under the heavy infliction in the dearth of Hay 
 and Straw (Hay at £lO. and Straw at £5. per ton), especially if they arc 
 made to understand what is the truth, that the duty is paid by, and must 
 fall on foreigners, and cannot affect the price to them ; and that the duty, 
 however large, or whatever it may produce, will be a])plied for their benefit. 
 The other poiuts I wish to establish are — 
 
 " That Manufacturers must sufTer by the depression of their best cus- 
 tomer, the Landed Interest." 
 
 They begin now to find, by asking for cheap bread, they are cutting 
 their own throats ; and they feel that the home trade is in the deptli of 
 despair, for want of their Agricultural customers. 
 
 " That cheap bread must induce a reduction of wages." 
 
 Though the Manufacturers allow this is their aim, still the Opera- 
 tives and Artisans are such dupes as to join in the cry, while their interest 
 should lead them to say, giv€ us high profits and high wages, and a fig 
 for the price of bread. The only beneficial way of lowering prices, is 
 not by reducing profits, but by giving the facilities of capital, machiner)', 
 canals, rail roads, &c. and by reducing taxation ; and 1 Os. per quarter on 
 Wheat makes only a difference of 4d. per piece of Calico of thirty yards, 
 or the same per cwt. on Bar Iron. 
 
 " That the taxes necessary for the well-being of the country cannot be 
 raised, but under a system of high wages and high profits." 
 
 This is exemplified by the present state of our finances. 
 
 " That the price in our market is fixed by our own production.'* 
 
 '* That the produce of the country, in average years, is fully equal to 
 the consumption." 
 
 *' That a supply greater than the demand must produce ruin to foreign 
 and all other traders." And 
 
 " That the allowing of importation is ruinous, if not restricted to sea- 
 sons of scarcity, and to quantity," and tends silently though certainly, to 
 the great deterioration of the coinitry by the depression of its Agriculture. 
 
 1 recommend, therefore, petitions to Parliament, praying that the 
 propositions may not be enacted ; and if the present law is altered, it niay
 
 23 
 
 be by fixing 70.s. as the price at which foreign Corn may be admitted, 
 on a duty of 2is. and restricting the quantity to that wliich shall then 
 be in the warehouses in this country, by which every disadvantage of a 
 glut would be prevented. And this I beheve to be the very best 
 system that can be followed. Or by a fixed duty of 30s. to do away 
 with the averages and the great gambling and trickery which the variations 
 in the duty must occasion. 
 
 My Lords and Gentlemen, 
 If I have thus dared to call in question the judgment of so many emi- 
 nent persons, it is under the full impression of the importance of my 
 opinions ; and though I give them every honour, where honour is due, 
 I cannot sit quiet under the strong feeling of duty, to expose those errors 
 by which I think they have, and are depreciating their country. 
 
 I have the honour to be, 
 
 My Lords and Gfentlemen, 
 With great respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN WRIGHT. 
 
 Lcnton Hall, near Nottingham, March 6, 1828,
 
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