Lords Sitting of 11 December 1826

INDEMNITY BILL—OATS IMPORTATION.
Earl Bathurst,in rising to move the third reading of the bill for granting an indemnity for the admission of Foreign Grain, stated, that in the absence of his noble friend, whose continued indisposition prevented him from attending to his duties in that House, it became his business to state to their lordships the reasons which induced ministers to advise his majesty to issue an Order in Council, permitting the

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importation of oats, peas, rye, and barley, into this country, under certain restrictions, at a time when by law they could not have been admitted. Their lordships were aware that the importation of all grain depended upon the averages struck on the six weeks from the four periods of the year; namely, from the 15th of August, the 15th of November, the 15th of February, and the 15th of May. According to the averages struck on the 15th of August last, oats and the other species of grain could not by law be imported. The average price at which the grain in question could be imported was 27 s., and being so, their lordships would perceive, that, according to the construction of the law to which he alluded, grain could not be admitted into this country for home consumption until it reached that price. The consequence was, that up to the 15th of November no oats could be imported. The state of the harvest, with respect to corn, was known early, on account of, the very early season. It was reported to be partially deficient in some places, but the deficiency of oats was reported to be universal. With respect to Ireland, the crop of oats was very bad; which formed, in the northern parts of that country, the chief subsistence of the poor. At the same time there was every reason to apprehend that the scanty crop of that food, on which the lower orders in Ireland subsisted, would be still further diminished by importation into England, to supply the deficiency of the harvest in this country. In the northern parts of Scotland the crop was also deficient. A similar deficiency was experienced in Lancashire and Lincolnshire. With respect to the hay-harvest, that was, unfortunately, also very scanty; and the farmer looked with anxiety for the means of procuring fodder for his cattle. Thus the admission of foreign produce into this country furnished an additional supply to the English farmer of food for his cattle. Under all these circumstances, his majesty was advised to issue an Order in Council, to allow the importation of oats for home consumption under certain regulations. Importation of foreign grain was permitted, on the condition that the importer should give his bond for the payment of a certain duty, in the event of parliament approving of that duty; but unless parliament should approve of it, the obligation of paying any thing would cease, as that obligation depended on the consent of parliament,
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therefore not one shilling would be paid without the approval of parliament. The question now was, what was the duly to be imposed by this act? That duty was one of 2s. He should now state to their lordships two objections which might be raised against that duty. One objection was, that it was too low, and the other, that it was too high a duty; and, in order to meet both these objections, he would state what were the duties under the existing act. Under that act the importation of oats was prohibited until the average price was above 27 s. If the average price should be above 27 s. and below 28 s., a duty of 4s. per quarter was imposed; besides which, there was an additional duty of 2s., which the importer was obliged to pay for three months from the 15th of November, making upon the whole, a duty of 6s. per quarter. This was the operation of the act of 1822, which was the act on which the Corn-laws now depended. If, on the other hand, the average price was above 28 s. and under 30 s., the importer was to pay 2s. per quarter, and also 2s. additional duty, from the 15th of November to the 15th of February, thus making a total duty of 4s. Therefore, it was wrong to contend, that a higher duty was imposed on the importer than he ought to have paid. It was asserted, that there had been so large an importation, in consequence of the low duty, that the supply exceeded the demand; in other words, that the supply was so great as to be injurious to the market. However, instead of the importation being prejudicial to the market, he would assert, that the only question was, whether the present market price was not higher than it would have been, had the Corn-laws been left to their regular course of operation. He therefore considered that a duty of 2s. was not too low a one. That it was too high a one was asserted. Now, the average prices on the 15th of November being below 30 s., the foreign importers would have been obliged to pay 4s. per quarter; and it could, therefore, be no hardship to them to come under an obligation to pay 2s. In conclusion, he would observe, that the power of admitting grain when prohibited by law was one which ought not to be exercised but on occasions of necessity; and such necessity, he conceived, had occurred, and justified the issuing of the Order in Council.
The Earl of Lauderdalewas desirous

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that he might not be understood as joining in the panegyrics which had been lavished on this Order in Council. In arguing the present question with the noble lord, he was sure they should not differ about the grounds on which the Order in Council had been issued, nor the law of the land as regarded importation. The noble lord had stated, that the only ground his majesty's ministers took for issuing the Order in Council was necessity. This was very proper; but their lordships would recollect what had passed in the last session, when it was proposed to sanction the importation of 500,000 quarters of wheat. On that occasion he had said, why grant any such extraordinary power? He had contended, that it was in the power of ministers to admit any quantity they thought fit, provided the necessity of the case justified the opening of the ports; and he had further argued, that limiting the importation to 500,000 quarters might appear to be limiting the power of the government to that quantity; whereas ministers might, on their own responsibility, have admitted grain to any extent. But it was stated, that ministers knew that there would be a late harvest, and a deficient one of wheat; and that, therefore, they considered it their indispensable duty to apply for a discretionary power. Now, as to those reasons, it did so happen that the only grain of which there was an abundant crop was wheat, and that the harvest, so far from being late, was the earliest ever known. So much for prophetic legislation. His majesty had been advised to open the ports, and the noble lord said very truly, that the ports were shut on the 15th of August; but did he mean to say that there was any thing to prevent the ports being open by the 15th of November? He believed there was no person who had attended to the subject who would not say, that if it had not been for the Order in Council, the ports would have been open at that time for oats; that is, that the price of oats would have been above 27 s. Ministers, therefore, knew, or might have known, as every man in the country did, that if they had allowed the law to take its course, the ports would have been open for oats on the 15th of November. The merchants foresaw this, and had made arrangements for sending abroad and making purchases. He himself well knew that before the Order in Council was issued, many commissions had been sent abroad;
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but the consequence of issuing that Order was, that many merchants who had sent abroad for oats, found that they had to pay 2s. more for them than they expected. All that ministers did by this measure was to inform those who held grain in foreign countries of the deficiency. He certainly did not intend to object to this bill of indemnity, because he was sensible that ministers meant well in issuing the Order in Council; but he could not help saying, that the only effect of their measure had been, to make the merchants pay a higher price for the grain they purchased, and consequently to check their importations. The Order in Council could operate in no other way than that of giving to foreign merchants that information in a prompt and an authentic form, which would otherwise have come to them in a slow and uncertain manner. He would contend, that the rate of duty fixed by the Order in Council was entirely too high. In fact, at 27 s. no duty at all should have been imposed upon oats, and were he an importer of that article he would resist the payment, and see what a court of justice would do afterwards, if the case were brought before it. His lordship proceeded to review the act of the 3rd of Geo. 4, and to contend, that by that act, neither by an Order in Council, nor by any other document, should a duty have been imposed when oats were as high as 27 s. He did not mean to assert, that in the course they had pursued, ministers were influenced by any improper motive, but he denied that the effect of the Order had been an increase of the amount of oats brought into British ports.
The bill was read a third time and passed.