ESSAY S. Thoughts on the Caufes and Confequences of the prefent high Price of Provifions. Privatus illis cenfus erat brevis ΤΗ HE high price of provifions, and all the neceffaries of life, is an evil fo inconvenient to all conditions of men, and fo intolerable to fome, that it is not furprising that all should fuffer it with much difcontent, and many be drove by it into defpair, or into riots, rapine, and all kinds of diforders. The latter, indeed, we cannot but expect, if we confider, that the enemies of all government and fubordination, fo numerous in this country, will not fail to avail themfelves of this favourable opportunity, to fpread univerfal diffatisfaction, and inflame the minds of the people to feek redress by fuch infamous and dangerous methods. This they endeavour, too fuccefsfully, to effect, by daily reprefenting in the public papers, that this calamity arifes from the artifices of monopolizers, regraters, foreftallers, and engroffers, encouraged, or at leaft connived at, by minifters defirous of oppreffing the people, and parliaments unattentive to their complaints. It is hard to fay, whether the ignorance of these writers, or their malevolence, is fuperior; or, whether the abfurdity of their principles, or the mifchief of them, is the greatest : but one may venture to affirm, that our people, notwithstanding the prefent fcarcity, are ftill better fed than taught. This undoubtedly makes it neceffary, at this time, that the true caufes of this evil fhould be explained to them; which, if it leffens not their wants, may in fome measure abate their ill-founded indignation. To this end I fhall endeavour to fhew, as concifely as poffible that the prefent high price of provifions arifes principally from two fources; the increafe of our national debts, and the increase of our riches; that is, from the poverty of the public, and the wealth of private individuals. From what caufes thefe have been increased, and what have been the effects of that increafe, fhall be the fubject of the few following pages. It will furely be unneceffary to inquire into the caufes of the late immenfe increase of our national debt; whoever remembers the many millions annually borrowed, funded, and expended, during the laft war, can be under no difficulty to account for its increase. To pay intereft for thefe new funds, new taxes were every year im M 3 pofed pofed, and additional burthens laid on every comfort, and almoft every neceffary, of life, by former taxes, occafioned by former wars, before fufficiently loaded. Thefe muft unavoidably increase the prices of them, and that in a much greater proportion than is ufually understood: for a duty laid on any commodity does not only add the value of that duty to the price of that commodity, but the dealer in it muft advance the price double or treble times that fum; for he muft not only repay himfelf the original tax, but mult have compenfation for his loffes in trade by bad debts, and lofs of intereft by his increased capital. Befides this, every new tax does not only affect the price of the commodity on which it is laid, but that of all others, whether taxed or not, and with which, at firft fight, it seems to have no manner of connection. Thus, for inftance, a tax on candles muft raife the price of a coat, or a pair of breeches; because, out of thefe, all the taxes on the candles of the wool-comber, weaver, and the tailor, must be paid: a duty upon ale muft raife the price of fhoes; because from them all the taxes upon ale drank by the tanner, leather-dreffer, and fhoemaker, which is not a little, muft be refunded. No tax is immediately Jaid upon corn, but the price of it muft neceffarily be advanced; becaufe, out of that, all the innumerable taxes paid by the farmer on windows, foap, candles, malt, hops, leather, falt, and a thoufand others, must be repaid: fo that corn is as effectually taxed, as if a duty by the bushel had been primarily laid upon it: for taxes, like the various ftreams which form a general inundation, by what. ever channels they feparately find admiffion, unite at laft, and over'whelm the whole. The man, therefore, who fold fand upon an afs, and raised the price of it during the late war, though abused for an impofition, moft certainly acted upon right reafons; for, though there were no new taxes then impofed either on fand or affes, yet he found by experience, that, from the taxes laid on almost all other things he could neither maintain himself, his wife, or his afs, as cheap as formerly; he was therefore under a neceffity of advancing the price of his fand, out of which alone all the taxes which he paid muft be refunded. Thus, I think, it is evident beyond all doubt, that the increase of taxes muft increase the price of every thing; whether taxed or not; and that this is one principal caufe of the prefent extraordinary advance of provifions, and all the necessaries of life. The other great fource, from whence this calamity arifes, is certainly our vaft increase of riches; the caufes and confequences of which I will now briefly confider. That our riches are in fact amazingly increased within a few years, no one, who is in the least acquainted with this country, can entertain a doubt: whoever will caft his eyes on our public works, our roads, our bridges, our pavements, and our hofpitals, the prodigious extenfion of our capital, and in fome proportion that of every confiderable town in Great Britain; whoever will look into the poffeffions and expences of individuals, their houfes, furniture, tables, tables equipages, parks, gardens, cloaths, plate, and jewels, will find every where round him fufficient marks to teftify to the truth of this propofition. The great increase of private opulence is undoubtedly owing to the very fame caufe which increafed our national debt; that is, to the enormous expences and unparalleled fuccefs of the late war; and indeed very much arifes from that very debt itself. Every million funded is in fact a new creation of fo much wealth to individuals, both of principle and intereft; for the principal, being easily transferable, operates exactly as fo much cafh; and the intereft, by enabling fo many to confume the commodities on which taxes are laid for the payment of it, in a great meafure produces annually an income to difcharge itfelf. Of all the enormous fums then expended, little, befides the fubfidies granted to German princes, was loft to the individuals of this country, though the whole was irrecoverably alienated from the public: all the reft annually returning into the pockets of the merchants, contractors, brokers, and stock-jobbers, enabled them to lend it again to the public on a new mortgage the following year. Every emiffion of paper-credit by bank-notes, exchequer and navy bills, fo long as they circulate, anfwers all the purposes of fo much additional gold and filver, as their value amounts to. If we add to thefe the immenfe riches daily flowing in, fince that period, from our commerce, extended over every quarter of the globe, from the new channels of trade opened with America, and the amazing fums imported from the Eaft-Indies, it will not fure be difficult to account for the opulence of the present times, which has enabled men to increase their expences, and carry luxury to a pitch unknown to all former ages. The effects of this vaft and fudden increase of riches are no lefs evident than their caufe: the first and most obvious effect of the increafe of money is the decrease of its value, like that of all other commodities; for money being but a commodity, its value muit be relative, that is, dependent on the quantity of itfelf, and the quantity of the things to be purchafed with it. In every country where there is great plenty of provifions, and but little money, there provifions must be cheap, that is, a great deal of them will be exchanged for a little money on the contrary, where there are but little provifion in proportion to the number of confumers, and a great plenty of money, or what paffes for money, there they will inevitably be dear; that is, a great deal of money must be given to purchase them. Thefe effects muft eternally follow their caufes in all ages and in all countries; and that they have done fo, the hiftory of all countries in all ages fufficiently inform us. The value of money at the time of the Norman conqueft was near twenty times greater than at prefent; and it has been gradually decreafing from that period, in proportion as our riches have increafed: it has decreased not less than one third during the prefent century; and I believe one half at least of that third fince the commencement of the last war, which, I doubt not, could it be M4 exactly exactly computed, would be found to be in due proportion to the increafe of its quantity, either in real or fictitious cafh; and that the price of provifions is advanced in the fame proportion during the fame period. The increafe of money does not only operate on the price of provifions by the diminution of its - own value, but by enabling more people to purchase, and confequently to confume them; which must unfavoidably likewife increafe their fcarcity, and that muft ftill add more to their price. Twenty rich families will confume ten times as much meat, bread, butter, foap, and candles, as twenty poor families confifting of the fame number; and the prices of all thefe muft certainly rife in proportion to the demand. This effect of the increase of wealth, in many countries of Europe, is very vifible at this day, and in none more than in the northern parts of this ifland, who, having of late acquired riches by the introduction of trade, manufactures, and tillage, can now well afford to eat roast beef, and therefore confume much of thofe cattle, with which they were formerly glad to fupply us; and will . not part with the reft but at prices greatly advanced. The confumption of every thing is alfo amazingly increafed from the increase of wealth in our metropolis, and indeed in every corner of this kingdom; and the manner of living, throughout all ranks and con. ditions of men, is no lefs amazingly altered: the merchant, who formerly thought himfelf fortunate, if, in a courfe of thirty or forty years, by a large trade and ftrick œconomy, he amaffed toge. ther as many thousand pounds, now acquires in a quarter of that time double that fum, or breaks for a greater, and vies all the while with the first of our nobility, in his houfe, table, furniture, and equipage: the fhopkeeper, who ufed to be well contented with one difh of meat, one fire, and one maid, has now two or three times as many of each; his wife has her tea, her card-parties, and her dreffing-room; and his prentice has climed from the kitchen-fire to the front-boxes at the play. houfe. The loweft manufacturer and meaneft mechanic will touch nothing but the very beft pieces of meat, and the finest white bread; and, if he cannot obtain double the wages for being idle, to what he formerly received for working hard, he thinks he has a right to feek for a redrefs of his grievances, by riot and rebellion. Since then the value of our money is decreased by its quantity, our confumption increased by univerfal luxury, and the fupplies, which we ufed to receive from poorer countries, now alfo grown rich, greatly diminished, the prefent exorbitant price of all the neceffaries of life can be no wonder. From what has been here offered, I think this may be readily accounted for, without having recourfe to foreftallers, regraters, engroffers, monopolizers, higglers, badgers, bounties, poft-chaifes, turnpike-roads, enlarging of farms, and the extenfion of the metropolis, with all the ridiculous catalogue of caufes, which have been affigned by effay-writers to this evil, and frequently adopted by the abfurdity of their readers. How far all or any of these have accidentally, collaterally, or locally contributed to augment the price of provifions, I cannot determine, nor do I think it of much importance to inquire; because I am fatisfied, whatever may have been their effects, they could have had none at all, had they not been affifted by the firft and great caufe, the increase of riches; for no artifices of traders can make their commodities dear in a poor country; that is, fell things for a great deal of money, where there is lit. tle to be found. It feems therefore to no purpose to fearch out for caufes of the prefent high price of provifions, from facts, whofe operations are uncertain, and reasons at beft but fpeculative, when it is fufficiently accounted for from these two great principles, the increase of taxes, and the increase of riches, principles as abfolutely indifputable, and as demonftrable as any mathematical problem. I fhall now make fome curfory obfervations and fhort conclufions on the principles here advanced, which, allowing thefe to be true, can admit of no doubt. First then, although the price of provifions is at prefent very high, they cannot with propriety be faid to be dear. Nothing is properly dear, except fome commodity, which either from real or fictitious fcarcity, bears a higher price than other things in the fame country at the fame time. In the reign of Henry II. the value of money was about fifteen times greater than in the prefent age: a fowl then was fold for a penny, which cannot now be bought under fifteen pence; but fowls are not for that reafon dearer now, than they were at that time; be. 2 caufe one penny was then earned with as much labour, and when earned would fetch as much of every thing at market, as fifteen will in thefe days was the value of money now as great, and the price of other things as fmall, as in thofe times, and provifions bore the fame price as at prefent, they would then be dear indeed, and the pamphleteers would have good reafon to impute their dearnefs to the frauds of engroffers and monopolizers; but as the price of every thing befides, of houfes, furniture,cloaths, horfes, coaches, fees, perquifites, and votes, are all equally advanced; nay, as every pamphlet, which used to be fold for one fhilling, has now infcribed on its title-tage, price eighteen pence, their own works are a confutation of their argu ments; for nonfenfe is a commodity in which there are too many dealers ever to fuffer it to be monopolized or engroffed. It is certainly therefore improper to fay, that provifions are dear, but we fhould rather affirm, what is the real fact, that money is cheap; and if the complainants would use this expreffion inftead of the other, and at the fame time confider, that this arifes from the fuccefs of our arms, and the extenfion of our trade, I am perfuaded, that if they were not lefs diftreffed, they would certainly be lefs diffatisfied, and would, perhaps, by degrees, comprehend, that, in a country engaged in expenfive wars and fuccefsful commerce, there must be heavy taxes and great riches; and that where there are taxes and riches, there the prices of provifions, and all other things, muft be high, in fpite of all the efforts of minifters or parliaments, who ought |