ABSTRACT
After an almost unbroken ascent lasting nearly fifty years the price of wheat in England and at the export ports of Germany reached its highest point in 1801. Then with the peace English wheat prices suddenly began to fall. 1 Protests at their abrupt descent arose from every county. A flood of petitions poured into parliament. The House of Commons immediately ordered an inquiry, which produced a report containing the following passage: ‘The recent high corn prices led to an increase of farming activity; extensive areas of waste were brought into cultivation, and their production during the last two harvest years has caused so great a decline in the price of corn that agriculture is certain to fall into deep distress if not assisted by the state.’ Parliament decided to increase the duty on imported wheat. The resolution remained on paper, however, because the increase was only to come into force if the market price sank to a certain minimum level. That minimum was never reached. Some poor harvests during the next few years, followed soon afterwards by the cutting-off of England’s sources of supply (with the renewal of war), led to a recovery in the price of grain (see figure 54).
