If, upon mature deliberation, we determine to open our ports to the
free admission of foreign grain, we must not be disturbed at the
depressed state, and diminished produce of our home cultivation; we
must not be disturbed at our becoming more and more dependent upon
other nations for the main support of our population; we must not be
disturbed at the greatly increased pressure of the national debt
upon the national industry; and we must not be disturbed at the
fluctuations of price, occasioned by the very variable supplies,
which we shall necessarily receive from France, in the actual state
of her laws, or by the difficulty and expense of procuring large,
and sudden imports from the Baltic, when our wants are pressing.
These consequences may all be distinctly foreseen. Upon all general
principles, they belong to the opening of our ports, in the actual
state and relations of this country to the other countries of
Europe; and though they may be counterbalanced or more than
counterbalanced, by other advantages, they cannot, in the nature of
things, be avoided.

On the other hand, if, on mature deliberation, we determine steadily
to pursue a system of restrictions with regard to the trade in corn,
we must not be disturbed at a progressive rise in the price of
grain; we must not be disturbed at the necessity of altering, at
certain intervals, our restrictive laws according to the state of
the currency, and the value of the precious metals; we must not be
disturbed at the progressive diminution of fixed incomes; and we
must not be disturbed at the occasional loss or diminution of a
continental market for some of our least peculiar manufactures,
owing to the high price of our labour.(17*) All these disadvantages
may be distinctly foreseen. According to all general principles they
strictly belong to the system adopted; and, though they may be