CORN IN RUSSIA. (Hansard, 24 September 1841)

§ Mr. V. Harcourt
said he wished to put a question, or rather make some suggestion to the right hon. Baronet the First Lord of the Treasury. After hearing a statement which had been made on a former occasion in that House, on the authority of papers before Parliament respecting the large amount of grain said to be grown one year in the Russian province of Tamboff, he had taken the liberty of asking the noble Lord, the late Secretary for Foreign Affairs, whether, from the information he had had within his means, he could give any explanation of what seemed to him the very extraordinary statement but the noble Lord, while concurring with him, that the amount of corn grown appeared to be something very unusual, assured him that the papers, as laid before the House, were correct copies of the official papers. Upon inquiring further at the Foreign-Office, yesterday, he found, from a communication with the Under Secretary, not only that there was no mistake of the transcript whence the papers had been printed, but that a letter had since been received from our consul at St. Peters-burgh, the author of the former statement, re-affirming that statement, namely, that more than thirty-eight millions of quarters were grown every year in the province of Tamboff. He could not, however, but still imagine, that there must be some great error in this matter. Upon another point, the price of this corn, he had also stated to the noble Lord opposite his conviction that there must be an entire mistake in the return made to the House; and had affirmed his full belief that, whereas the consul at St. Petersburgh stated, that this corn could be brought to the market at St. Petersburg for from 13s. to 14s. a quarter, the real fact would be found to be, that the calculations given in 736 Russian money and Russian measures would, when turned into English money and English measures, show that instead of 13s. to 14s., the real price of grain in St. Petersburg would be from 27s. to 28s. Upon asking the Under-Secretary of State also as to this point, it now turned out that, although the consul re-affirmed his former statement as to the quantity grown, he admitted that he had been incorrect as to the price, and that, in point of fact, the real price was from 27s. to 28s. Now, in order to remove any delusive impression upon this subject, it was essential that no mistakes —

§ The Speaker
begged to remind the hon. Member, that the question before the House was the Order of the day for the third reading of the Royal Gardens Bill.

§ Mr. V. Harcourt
said he would no longer detain the House, but simply ask the right hon. Baronet whether, before the House was called upon to decide as to the corn question, it was not desirable that more inquiry should be made on the subject?

§ Sir R. Peel
said, he thought the best arrangement he could make on this point would be, to lay before the House the subsequent information received from the consul at St. Petersburg, and any further information which might be obtained. It was quite certain that there had been no mistake as to the matter in the Foreign-Office. The statement of the consul was distinctly this,—that 38,500,000 quarters were grown in 1835 in the province of Tamboff, and the authority he gave was that of Mr. Calley, a large corn dealer, and one of the principal British residents at St. Petersburg. The consul, however, had not, as the hon. Gentleman imagined, re-affirmed his statement as to the quantity grown, but said he would make further inquiries on the subject.