and

That paper-money, and, in- measure; but, it is in some states deed, that money of no sort, can of it, more false than in other create any thing valuable, is evi-states of it. When not convertident; nd that it cannot cause it ble into gold at the will of the to be created, on a general scale, is holder, it is false altogether; and, also evident; for, all valuable as I have shown, in my Letter to things arise from labour, and, if JOHN HAYES, is a robber and dean addition to the quantity of spoiler of the Labouring Classes.' money sets labour in motion in By its amassing quality it has one place, it draws it from another drawn many farms into one. It place; that is all that it does. If has taken from useful industry, its nature and operation be such particularly in husbandry, its fair as to cause new and fine houses chance. It has given to dashing and carriages and "grand din-adventure that which naturally, "ners" to make their appearance, and of right, belonged to patient it takes away the means of fur- labour. This is the manner in nishing the houses of the most nu- which it has worked; as it bemerous class, robs them of their came, from its quantity, deprebedding, their food, their drink and ciated, it gave unusual gains to their raiment. Nothing is created the occupiers of land at the exby it. It is not value in itself; but pence of the labourer, as I have merely the measure of value, and demonstrated in the Letter to the means of removing valuable HAYES, on Scarlett's Check-pothings from one possessor to ano-pulation Bill, These gains were ther.

a temptation to covet the occupation of land. Those amongst the then farmers who were the

sure of value. It is always a false too, because the small as well as

Y

That this was the fact you know well; but, another word or

the large had families to support, almost grain-less under ears of the and while the former required a crop; and, if the infernal system considerable portion of their pro- had lasted a little longer, these duce to be consumed by themselves, must have been destroyed too. the latter required but a small portion of theirs for that purpose; for, as to house-servants, the large two as to the process. The headfarmers soon ridded themselves of farmers not only availed themthem, while the small farmer's selves of the powers of their own family were his principal ser-necessarily accumulating gains, vants. In short, the small farmer they further availed themselves of was half a labourer, and suffered, the powers of anticipated gains. in the one character, from the foul The paper-money system enabled and fraudulent workings of the them to borrow, at any moment, paper, very nearly as much as he to retard their sales; so that the gained on the other. little farmer always sold cheaper than the large one. This must always be the case to a certain extent; because it is a very true saying, that money makes money; but, formerly, neither little nor big

The necessary consequence of this would be, and was, the small farms, as their leases expired, falling into the hands of the large

farmers, who grew over the small farmers by degrees, till, at last, had a paper-money-mill to go to, they totally destroyed them; and now the big had and the little just in the same way, as naturally had not; for, besides the natural and as regularly, as the strong wheat plants overtop, shade, and

timidity of the little farmer, his

means and his connexions were

finally kill, the weak ones. Some of a kind not to enable him to

of the small farmers stood it longer

than others; and some few still

borrow.

The paper-money-mill was al

remain; but, they are the little and ways ready at hand to enable the

>

The

large farmer to take the farm this its pernicious work.
over the little one's head. Stock, cattle-shows, the sheep-shearings,
Capital; none were wanted. All had good motive; but were un-
was ready at the paper-money wise. Those lords and gentlemen
mill in the neighbouring town. did not recollect, that the sheep-
No hesitation was required. The shearing, at which they assisted,
thing was done in a moment; was instead of a thousand sheep-
and, as all taxes and all additional shearings that formerly took
rents came out of the deduction place! Their sheep-shearing
which the depreciation continued was a brilliant thing. It dazzled.
to make in the wages of labour, It was magnificent, and, in itself,
the new tenant made the old one
his labourer, added another hun-
dred a year to his profits, and re-
duced the former farmer and his
family to be "Labouring Poor;"

munificent; but, if the hospitable host, in retiring from the festive board, had been met, in his bed chamber, by the ghosts of only a hundred thousandth part of those who formerly held sheep-shearings, and who had been brought to the death of paupers by the system which created the grand

But, besides this, a new race of farmers sprang up. Attorneys, Bankers, Merchants, Big-manu- sheep-shearing, he would, unless facturers became farmers, and his heart were as hard as a stone, not a few of the Lords and Gen-never have tasted joy again. I tlemen, owners of lands, who had, assure you, Sir, that I say this certainly, a legal right to do what without any desire to aim a blow they pleased with their estates; at you. You have been deceived

but, who will find, in the end, by the false glare. You saw asthat they did not pursue the wise sembled around what you thought Even fashion helped the the effect of improvement in accursed paper-money system in agriculture, when it really was

course.

the effect of a false, fraudulent, purpose, to reduce three hundred amassing paper - money; that thousand families to water and brought before your eyes the potatoes, would the proposer have prosperous tens, and that kept escaped instant indignation and the starving hundreds carefully abhorrence? It is supposed (and, hidden from your sight. think, falsely) that large farms

So much, then, Sir, for the

I

produce more, in proportion, than

small ones. But, if we were to

suppression of small farms and for the cause of that suppression. admit this to be true, what comAnd, pray, Sir, what compensa-pensation is here for the desolattion can be found in any of the ing, for the mighty mischief which effects of the change for the moral that addition to the produce occaevils; to say nothing of the sions? If the additional produce starvation and misery, which the take away a great part of the change has produced, and of former produce along with it, and both go into the mouths of the idle and leave the labourer to starve, is not this additional pro

which, perhaps, I shall speak more fully by and by? Suppose the present farmers to be in number 100,000; what compensation can duce a dreadful evil? But, even their skill and improvements give this additional produce is imathe nation for the breaking up of ginary, as I shall now endeavour 300,000 small farms, and reduc- to show.

ing the holders to the state of If you take ten farms of a hunpaupers? If it had, forty years dred acres each, and allot to ago, been proposed, in Parlia- them a given number, say 50, ment (or, at least, in any other labourers, and a given number assembly in the world) to adopt of horses, say 50 of them also, measures for raising up one hun- the land will (with equal skill, care and industry in the farmers) certainly produce less market

dred thousand families to wine

and made dishes, and, for that

able food than if it were all in to work for hire, can do some one farm, having employed upon little thing about a farm-house

it the 50 men and 50 horses; for, leaving capital out of the question, great strength can, in the latter case, be brought to bear upon any particular point at any time. As in the case of an army,

ten fives embodied into fifty have

more than ten times the force of

"any one of the separate fives.

1.

or garden, with their mother at their elbow; if we consider, that poultry, eggs, bees, seeds of various sorts, fruit, herbs, and many other things, are the produce of care, and almost of care alone; if we consider these things; and if we could take all the stock, all the poultry, all the

And this is the view, which eggs, all the stalls of bees, which the Scotch Economists have were formerly to be found on the taken of the matter. They have ten farms, aud carry them to never cared a straw about any the yard of the one farm, we

thing but the head-manufac"turer of corn" (as they call him) and his gains, his quantities brought to market.

Bat, if we consider, that here, on the ten small farms, there are

should quickly discover, that, even as to the quantity of human food produced, the ten very far exceeded the one, even leaving out of the amount the good living and the morals of the ten-farm system.

ten wives and about forty children, all living upon the farms, and So long ago as 1804, I went all bestowing, in this case, la-round a little common, in Hampbour which they would, otherwise shire, called Horton Heath. not bestow; if we consider, that The better day the better a woman, though she cannot." deed," and, on a Sunday I leave home, can do something found the husbands at home. It at home; if we consider, that was when the madness for eneven small children, not fit to go closures raged most furiously.