The best, and indeed the only
good granary, is the rick-yard of the farmer, where the corn is
preserved in its own straw, sweet, clean, wholesome, free from vermin
and from insects, and comparatively at a trifle of expense. This, and
the barn, enjoying many of the same advantages, have been the sole
granaries of England from the foundation of its agriculture to this day.
All this is done at the expense of the undertaker, and at his sole risk.
He contributes to government, he receives nothing from it but
protection, and to this he has a _claim_.
The moment that government appears at market, all the principles of
market will be subverted. I don't know whether the farmer will suffer by
it, as long as there is a tolerable market of competition; but I am
sure, that, in the first place, the trading government will speedily
become a bankrupt, and the consumer in the end will suffer. If
government makes all its purchases at once, it will instantly raise the
market upon itself. If it makes them by degrees, it must follow the
course of the market. If it follows the course of the market, it will
produce no effect, and the consumer may as well buy as he wants;
therefore all the expense is incurred gratis.
But if the object of this scheme should be, what I suspect it is, to
destroy the dealer, commonly called the middle-man, and by incurring a
voluntary loss to carry the baker to deal with government, I am to tell
them that they must set up another trade, that of a miller or a
meal-man, attended with a new train of expenses and risks.
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