... to the Corn Laws Debate
Malthus contributed to the public debate about the Corn Laws with three pamphlets. After publishing in 1814 Observations on the Effects of the Corn Laws, and of a Rise or Fall in the Price of Corn on the Agriculture and General Wealth of the Country in which he sets out the arguments for and against the Corn Laws, he released An Inquiry into the Nature and Progress of Rent on 3 February 1815 and The Grounds of an Opinion on the Policy of Restricting the Importation of Foreign Corn a week later.
In his Essay on Profits which appeared exactly two weeks later, Ricardo writes that he is indebted to Malthus for developing so ably the principles which regulate rent, and, in a letter of 13 February: “You have yourself said, and I very much admire that passage, that the last portion of capital employed on the land yields only the common profits of stock, and does not afford any rent” (Ricardo 1951-73, VI: 177). Nevertheless, Ricardo disagrees with his friend’s support of the existing Corn Laws. The difference between them rests on two sets of arguments. The first set refers to the principles of political economy. Particularly, Malthus claims that the price of corn does not depend only on the difficulty of its production and that demand has to be taken into account; that restrictions, by increasing the price of corn, can increase the profits and improve the conditions of the labourers. This was because of such a rise of money wages, which enabled them to purchase more of other commodities. In short, Malthus did not think that a low price of corn was always an advantage. The second set of arguments consists of the political dangers of being dependent for any considerable quantity of food on foreign supply (in case of war or of bad harvest occurring abroad). Concerning the latter set of arguments, Ricardo, although not sharing Malthus’s fears, considers that the political dangers are not easy to estimate and writes to him that “those who are for an open trade in corn may underrate them, and it is possible that you may overrate them” (Ricardo 1951-73, VI: 177). Malthus’s Whig friends felt dismayed by his support to the Corn Laws, and in spite of his claiming in the Grounds: “If I were convinced that to open our ports would be permanently to improve the conditions of the labouring classes of society, I should consider the question as at once determined in favour of such a measure” (Malthus 1815b [1970]: 154), he was accused of defending the interest of landlords to the detriment of others. Later on, after Ricardo’s death, Malthus’s position on the Corn Laws will change, calling into question the necessity of agricultural protection, “of any forced encouragement given to agriculture, which would probably defeat the very end in view” (1823a [1963]: 180-81).