CORNISH LANGUAGE. 429 CORN LAWS. For GUI Cornish, consult Stokes, "The Manu- missions in the Bodmin Gospels," lieiue ciltiqiie, vol. i. (Paris, 1870). The JlidiUe Cornish vo- cabulary is printed in Zeuss. (Irdintnutirn Celt icii,' edited by Ebel (Berlin, 18()S-71). For the other monuments, consult: Norris, The An- cient Coniisli Drama (Oxford, 1859) ; Stokes, "Pascou Agan Arluth," Transactions of the PhilolopicaJ Sorictij (London, 1801-62); and Bcunnns ilcrinsel; (ib., 1872). CORN LAWS. A name given in England to the long series of statutes dating as far back as the reign of Edward III., and terminating only in the year 1840, which had for their object the regulation of the trade in grain. The tenor of these laws varied with the idea which was uppermost in the minds of the legislators. At one time designed to secure a proper supply of grain, the exportation of grain was prohibited, or allowed only when a surplus of the home supply revealed itself in the low price for grain. Later the underlying principle was frankly the encouragement and support of the agricultural interests, resulting in the prohibition of the im- portation of grain, or pennitting it only when the price of grain was extremely high and im- portation seemed unavoidable to prevent famine. At times, moreover, in the long and varied his- tory of this legislation, resort was had to bounties as a means of encouraging and promot- ing home production. The shitting of legislation attracted little comment and less agitation until the beginning of the nineteenth century. At that time the manufacturing interests grew restive under the restrictions which were placed upon the trade in grain, and early in the century some- thing in the nature of a compromise was made by the adoption of a sliding scale in the duties on importation. The object of this device was to reduce the import duties in proportion as the price of grain increased, so that at famine prices grain might be imported duty free. By the act of 1828. at the price of 02s. a quarter for wheat, the import duty was f 1 4s. 8d. For every shilling less in the price, a shilling was added to the duty, but when the price rose above this point the duty decreased by a larger ratio than the rise in price. At the price of 69s., the duty was 15s. 8d., and at 73s. the duty sank to its minimum of Is. Such an arrange- ment not only promoted speculative operations, but also prevented foreign countries from fur- nishing grain habitually for the British market. This legislation was obviously in the interest of the landowners, but as the tendency of Great Britain to be an importing rather than an virtually an attempt to aggrandize the landed interest by pressure upon the I'uikI of the peoi)le. The maiuifacturing interests, which were now rapidly coming into ])uwer, devoted their ener- gies to combating this principle, which increased the cost of living, and, through wages, the cost of manufacturing. Hut tlie public at large, though conscious thatthe laws were some way improper, or at variance with the principles of political economy, did not, till the very last, earnestly unite in calling for repeal. There was a ]]ticrful party who represented with won- derful ])huisibility that these restrictive statutes were identilied with the best interests of the country. Their arginnents might thus be sunniied up: (1) Protection was necessary, in order to keep certain poor lands in cultivation. (2) It was desirable to cultivate as much land as pos- sible in order to improve the country. (3| If improvement by that means Avere cheeked, Eng- land would be dependent on foreigners for a large portion of the food of the people. (4) Such dependence would be fraught with immense danger: in the event of war, su])plies might be stopped, or the ports might be blockaded, the result being famine, disease, and civil war. (5) The advantage gained by protection enabled the landed proprietors and their tenants to encourage manufactures and trade: so much so, that if the com laws were abolished, half the country shop- keepers would be ruined; that would be followed by the stoppage of many of the mills and facto- ries, and no one would venture to say what would be the final consequences. It cannot be uninstructive to put on record that these argu- ments exercised a commanding influence over the laboring classes, the small town shopkeepers, almost all the members of the learned profes- sions, and a considerable section of both Houses of Parliament. Yielding at length to the con- tinued agitation, and recognizing that England's prosperity lay in the devclnpment of her manu- factures rather than in the further encourage- ment of agriculture. Sir Robert Peel, in 1840. at the time' of the Irish famine, effected the repeal of the Corn Laws. (See Axti- Corn-Law League: Cobdex. Richard.) The area devoted to wheat cultivation in England is less to-day than it was fifty years ago, althougii the population has greatly increased. Modern methods of communication, however, have opened up new areas of supply, and the development of juanufactures and commerce has amply com- ])ensated for the loss in agricultural production. The following table shows the immediate effect of the repeal of the Corn Laws: ImPOBTS of FOHEIGX "WHEAT, CtTRREST PRICES OF WHEAT. AND DeCLABED VaLCE OF .LL BRITISH EXPORTS FROM 1801 TO 1859 ATERAQE period of TEX YEARS Average amount ot wheat imported Averaiise price of wlieat dnrinp earli [)eriod .Terape total de- clared value of all British exports 1801 to 1810 Bvebels 600,946 4.58.578 .534.992 907.638 ■ 2.877.999 4.547,311 «. a. 81 5 84 11 58 3 5« 10 53 3 64 9 & 40.737.970 1811 ■• 1820 41.506.794 1821 " 18.30
- n> t;oo.53G
1831 ■■ 1840 .-. 45.249.()3" 18(1 " 18.W 57.412,494 1851 " 1859 103,2.53,189 exporting country had already become manifest, Coincidently with an increased importation it seemed clear that the effort to increase home of foodstufl's there was a notable expansion of production by the pressure on importation was foreign trade, as shown in the exports. In later
