yet this transportation will generally be within the compass of a few hours, or at most of half a day's journey. And as their feveral commodities will be fold to corn and flour merchants at their mills, or on their farms, or perhaps by fample at the next market town, a common carman may be fufficient to deliver the goods, and then the husbandman will no longer be obliged to quit the fuperintendance of his farm, nor be expofed to the idlenefs, diffipation and expense to which he is now fubject, by making frequent vifits to the capital, in order to procure the inland bounty. And indeed the trouble and delays neceffary to be undergone, in order to obtain it, are fo great, that not more than one third of the corn fold in Dublin receives any bounty at all, †

* Were the plan herein recommended, of opening the principal rivers of Ireland at public expence, carried into effect, there can be no doubt, that in a few years, fo many collateral branches would be formed from those rivers, and from the main trunks of principal canals connected with them, and carried by degrees from one market town to another, where eafy levels might be obtained, that fcarce any fpot throughout the whole island would remain more than half a day's journey from the fea, or from fome navigable river or canal.-It may further be obferved, that most of the flour mills in Ireland are built on the banks of rivers eafily made navigable; and malt-houfes would foon be removed to those fituations molt cligible for water carriage, and a cheap fupply of fuel.

+ See the account of corn weighed in Thomas-ftreet in the years 1785, 1786, 1787-compared with the amount of the inland bounties paid on the carriage of corn to Dublin in thofe years,

But there is one confideration, of infinitely greater. importance, than any which I have mentioned, namely, the obtaining the export bounty from the port of Dublin, which must neceffarily follow the abandonment of the inland and coaft-carriage bounties, a circumftance which would more than compenfate to the landholder, the miller, and every perfon. concerned in the tillage or manufacture of grain, for the total abolition of all other bounties, even though this operative premium were to come unaccompanied with the extenfion of Inland Navigation, or with any other advantage whatsoever.

This affertion may be eafily evinced by the statement of a material fact.-The encrease in the number of bolting mills of late years in Ireland, is fo great, that the confumption of the Dublin market is not nearly fufficient to keep them conftantly at work, and the proprietors of the mills are even afraid to fend any confiderable quantity of flour at once to the capital, left the baker fhould take advantage of a large fupply to reduce the price.-How great a difcouragement this must be to the agricul ture of the country, it is unneceffary to ftate;-and how much the active and enterprizing spirit of commerce is thereby fhackled, is alfo fufficiently evi- · dent. Were the export bounty granted from the port of Dublin, neither the miller nor the maltster need be apprehenfive of overflocking the market, for, if the fupply fhould exceed the confumption of the metropolis, the export bounty would carry off the redundance to other markets lefs plentifully fupplied, by every veffel leaving the port of Dublin, most

of which, under the prefent confined circumstances of our export trade, are obliged to take in BALLAST inftead of a CARGO OF MERCHANDISE.

A few words may be fufficient to fhew, that we have a market at our doors, for a great portion of the corn we may raife in Ireland, if the measures herein propofed, fhould be carried into effect.

Though the agriculture of Great Britain has been confiderably improved and extended within the laft. thirty years, yet the progrefs of its extenfion has not borne an equal proportion to the growth of its manufactures, and the encrease of its population within that period;-the confequence of which is, that Britain, which formerly exported confiderable quantities of grain, has, for many years past, been under the neceffity of making very large annual importations.England has at length reciprocated the Irish corn law, and given us the pre-occupation of her market, in the fame manner as Mr. Fofter's corn law paffed in 1783, offered a preference in ours to the corn of Great Britain.-That is to say, England allows the importation of Irish wheat when the price in England is above 17. 115. 11d. per barrel, and of Irish oats and oaten meal when the price in England is above 11s. 2d. per barrel; whereas the importation of wheat and oats, the produce of every other country, is prohibited by a heavy duty, to be imported into England, until the price of the former rifes to 17. 135. 3d. per barrel, and the price of the latter to 11s. 1od. per barrel.* With this decided preference in our favour, it will be the fault of the

* Those feveral fums are calculated in Irish currency.

Irifh

Irish Legislature, if this country is not enabled, in the course of a few years, to fupply the whole of the corn imported into Britain, because nothing more than the extenfion of Inland Navigation, and granting the export bounty from the port of Dublin, is neceffary to be done, in order completely to effect this object. How important a one it is to the interefts of Ireland, will more clearly appear by a fhort statement of facts, than from any arguments that can be adduced on the subject.

AVERAGE