20 Dec.r 1801

Maximum

Ulteriora

Bounty &c […?]

Magazines

2

12

produce, the expected fruit of the bounty, is what I will not pretend to give the

most random guess at: any more than what it would be necessary the bounty should

be in order to pay foreigners for coming for their corn to a country labouring

under an habitual dearth and scarcity. Produce, I am aware, may be augmented in

certain circumstances, otherwise than by augmenting the quantity of land in

culture. The quantity of mineral manure and labour might be encreased at any

time; the quantity of vegetable and animal manure might be encreased in time.

But the addition from this source to the means of produce (without addition to

land) would take place in regard to such lands as were understocked /the bounty

should find understocked/ with capital at that time: besides that a part of it

would even in that case be added by the farmer to his fund /provision/ of

present stock of instruments of present enjoyment – to the unproductive part of

his expenditure: whereas the bounty will /would/ be received as well for the

produce of land unsusceptible of further improvement, as for the produce of the

most improvable and scantily stocked lands.

Insufficient against scarcity, these enhancements of the prices of corn will be

still more palpably so against dearth, against enhancements of the aggregate of

prices of all sorts of things taken together: for stopping the augmentation of

the aggregate of prices – that is the depretiation /decrease/ of the value of

money as applied to the purchase of vendible things of all sorts, there is but

one course to take, which is to stop the augmentation in the quantity of it.