DIALOGUE
BETWEEN
JOHN AND THOMAS,
ON
The Corn Laws, The Charter,
TEETOTALISM,
AND
The Probable Remedy for the Present Disstresses.
DIALOGUE.
T. Weel John what do you think is to come out o’thae terrible times? I believe our kintra neer saw a timelike this.
J. Really they are fearfu’ looking times, and I amreally at a loss what to think about them, or how to proposea remedy to better them.
T. Deed John I’m truly at a loss mysel’ to ken whatwould be the best remedy, but it is plain we would needsome remedy soon, for our miseries are every day increasing,and the starvation and destitution that is amang usis alarming. Hae ye nae idea ava’ what can be thecause o’ a’ this bankruptcy and beggary that is comeamang us?
J. It is often my first thochts in the morning, and thelast at night, to fin’ out the origin o’ a’ this distress;whiles I think the Corn Bill has a great effect to hurt ourtrade, and I hae nae doubt but it has had a bad effect,but how far it would remedy the evil now I’m no very sure,for wi’ us no takin’ their Corn, they wouldna tak’ ourGoods, and noo baith Russia, and Prussia, and Holland,and Belgium, and France, and America, an’ a’, has gottenCotton Mills, and Thread Mills, and lots o’ our Mechanics,and they are quite independent o’ us and ourgoods. I think our landholders, if they had half an e’ein their head, micht see that.
T. I dinna think ye’re far wrang John, altho’ I haveheard some argue strictly in behalf o’ the Corn Bill, andtell us if it wasna the Corn Bill our grun’ wadna be saeweel cultivated, and its value wad sink in estimation, butI rather think the lads up by are feart the rents wad sinkin their estimation; and is this a’ the relief John—thetakin’ aff o’ the Corn Laws—that we hae to look for, forthe bettering o’ our condition? if this is a’ it is a veryforlorn hope.
J. I hae nae doubt Thomas but there is ither causesthat produce these great grievances amang us. Anithergreat cause, I believe, is our great National Debt, whichhangs about our neck like a millstane, and I’m afraidwill sink us to the bottom if the string is not cut, andwhat surprises me maist is to see sae little attention paidto economy, to help to pay off this debt. It is grievin’to read o’ the thousands, and thousands, and hunders o’thousands, that is payt awa’ every year to placemen andpensioners, for no purpose under the sun, but rankwastery: ane wad think, when they see our kintra sinkin’and sae muckle need for care, that they would be glad toadopt any plan to save us; and they ha’e a capital patterno’ cheap government laid down to them in America, wharthe head o’ the house costs them only £6000 instead o’£400,000, which some folk has to pay.
T. I must confess John you talk very reasonably onthe subject, and if your plans could be broug