AMOUNT OF PAYMENTS FOR FOREIGN GRAIN.
[The following statement, which we publish on most respectable authority, shows that the late apprehensions for the state of the exchanges and the export of specie, through the importation of corn from abroad, have been, like most alarms, extremely idle.]
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR.
SIII,—The importation of Foreign Grain having given rise to much dis- cussion of late, the following statement of facts as regards the importation into the port of London, to which port the great bulk has been sent, will show how much exaggeration prevaik on the subject. The statement, as to quan- tity, is derived from Ruston's Weekly Reports. The prices are the estimated average cost at the shipping ports.
539,744 qrs. Wheat at 40s. . 1,079,488 62,260 „ Barley „ 15s. . . 46,695 119,696 ,, Oats „ 10s. . . 59,848 10,101 „ Rye „ 15s. . . • 7,573
15,362 „ Beans „
20,396 „ Peas „ 20s. . . 26,395 7,075 brls. Flour „ 20s. . . 7075
Total cost of Foreign Grain imported into the port
1,242,439 of London from 24th June 1828, to 10th Jan. 1829.
If this statement be correct, (and it is open to contradiction if otherwise). the total cost of grain imported into the port of London from the 24th June 1828, to last Saturday night the 10th January, does not amount to one million and a quarter sterling. From the nearer ports, payment is made by bills at two months from the date of purchase, and from the more distant ones at three ; and as this statement embraces a period of upwards of six months, there can scarcely be half a million sterling remaining unpaid. The season
has now put a stop to any further shipments front the Northern ports, and
there are very few still on the way: supposing, however, that one half only has been paid for, there will remain about 620,000/. to pay ; and taking the other ports in the kingdom at 250,000/., it will make the total 870,000/. sterling ; but no one can for a moment imagine that the whole even of that amount is to be paid for in specie.
There is now no question but that the deficiency of last year's wheat crop, as compared with the preceding one, exceeds three millions of quarters, besides the deficiency in oats and barley. It is also a matter of notoriety, that not only have the stocks of old wheat on the Continent been exhausted, but the new crops also have been exported in an unprecedented manner. Nearly the whole of the late importations from Flanders and Holland have been of new wheat, besides several cargoes from other parts; and still a large proportion of the deficiency of last year's crop remains to be provided for before the ensuing harvest can come into the market, under the most favour- able season.
How far it is desirable, in a national point of view, to check the further import of grain, the writer pretends not to decide ; but it cannot be done more effectually than by raising exaggerated reports of its effect upon the exchanges, and coinpeliing the present holders to pour a supply into the mar- kets for want of means to apportion it more gradually to the regular demand. The numerous attendance of country buyers in Mark-lane, is a decisive proof of the deficiency in our own growth ; and if the present demand continues unabated, will soon absorb all the wheat which is of good quality.
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