§ A Petition of several of the owners and occupiers of land on or near the South Downs, in the county of Sussex, was also presented to the house, and read; setting forth, "That the petitioners have understood, with the greatest concern, that it has been recommended, by a Report from a Select Committee of the house, that the use of grain in the Distilleries of G. Britain, should be suspended for one year from the 1st day of July 1808; and the petitioners beg leave to represent, that, in their opinion, the adoption of such a measure must be highly injurious to the general agricultural interests of G. Britain and particularly so to the growers of barley in that and the neighbouring districts; and that the petitioners most cheerfully concur in the propriety of affording relief, whenever it may be deemed expedient by the house, to their fellow subjects resident or interested in the colonies; but they feel it to be their duty to represent, with great deference, the impropriety of granting such relief to any one body of their fellow subjects at the expence of the landed interest solely, and more especially as the growth of barley has been much diminished by the high duties on malt; and that the agriculture of the country, and the course of crops, have been formed and arranged with the confidence that they would not be disturbed by any measures which may have a tendency to check the general spirit of improved cultivation; and the petition cannot therefore but observe with the most serious alarm the sanction of parliament applied for to a measure which may found a precedent of the most dangerous nature, by rendering the agriculture of the country, in any of its branches, subservient to temporary or local expedients; and that the petitioners in particular apprehend, that the prospect held out to the growers of barley of a demand for the 413 purpose of the distilleries, in addition to the other usual markets for this species of grain, has operated greatly towards securing to the country a sufficient supply of that article even under the circumstances of unfavourable seasons; and that the discouragement to cultivation, which would arise from the adoption of measures like the present, would tend, in case of the recurrence of such circumstances, to distress greatly the other consumers, and especially those interested in the breweries, which would also occasion a material defalcation in the public revenue; and that the growth of barley in that and the neighbouring districts is carried on to a great extent, and principally upon land which is not capable of being cultivated to so great advantage in any other manner, and that therefore any depreciation in the price of that article will be peculiarly and permanently injurious to the petitioners and others in the same situation; and therefore praying the house, to take their case into consideration, and not permit a measure, involving a principle so dangerous in its nature, and so injurious to the interests of the petitioners, and of the country in general, to pass into a law."—Ordered to lie upon the table.
§ A Petition of the justices of the peace, commissioners of supply, magistrates of towns, merchants, and manufacturers, in the county of Renfrew, was presented to the house, and read; setting forth, That the petitioners, with every wish and attention to afford encouragement to agriculture, consider it their duty to promote, by every means in their power, such measures as may tend to supply the labouring and manufacturing classes in that populous county with an adequate quantity of food; and that the grain produced in G. Britain, during years of ordinary crops, is wholly inadequate to supply the population of this kingdom with food, and the quantity required to make up the deficiency has been imported from foreign countries; and that the grain produced in the county of Renfrew can only afford a supply to its inhabitants for a few months in the year; and that the best mode of counteracting the bad consequences likely to arise from the difficulty of obtaining any importation of grain from the continent of Europe, and the United States of America, would be to prohibit the use of corn in distillation for a limited time, which would bring into the market a considerable quantity of food in aid of the de- 414 ficiency occasioned by the peculiar situation in which this country is placed with regard to foreign powers; and that the price of oatmeal, which constitutes the principal food of the lower orders of the people, in Scotland, is at present much higher than in former years, and is still increasing, while a considerable quantity of oats is consumed by the distillers in that part of the country, the use of which, in distillation, the petitioners are of opinion, should be prohibited, upon the same principles as the use of wheat is prohibited by act of parliament; and that no importation of grain can be expected from Ireland, which usually supplies the West of Scotland to a great amount, from the scarcity and enormous price of corn in that part of the united empire; and that the petitioners highly approve of the discretionary power proposed to be vested in the king in council, to do away the suspension upon a sufficient notice, and allow the Distillers to carry on their trade in the accustomed manner; and therefore praying, that the house would pass an act to suspend the use of grain in the distilleries, for a limited time, subject to a discretionary power to be vested in the king in council to do away the suspension, and allow the distillers to carry on their trade in the accustomed manner,—Ordered to lie upon the table.