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General View Of The Agriculture Of The County Of Huntingdon : And Observations On The Means Of Its Improvement : With An Appendix Containing An Account Of The Advantages To Be Derived From An Improved Outfal At The Port Of Lynn : And Answers To The Objections Which It Is Supposed Will Be Urged Against That Measure / Drawn Up For The Consideration Of The Board Of Agriculture And Internal Improvement ; By George Maxwell, Of Fletton, Near Stilton
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been well aſcertained; and from the knowledge I have of thie matter, I can ventufe to aſſert, that tche whole expence, including the outfal, has not been ſo much, as muſt neceſſarily have been expended on the internal works and other ſubordinate works alone, unleſs the country had been wholly abandoned, and confequently, that all expences being ſet oſt by ſavings to an equal amount, the proprietors kave been gainers of the whole difference between what tbe make of their eflates now, and what was before made cf them; Wwhich laſt, I have before ſtated, was, in many inſtances, very little io proportion to the inherent value ef the land, in ſome nothing, and others worſe than nothing. The caſes are exactly ſimilar; and the plan of draining the lands muſt be the ſame in all its component parts. And how any man can venture to aſſert, that an equal and very moderate tax, meant to be laid for the works of the outfal, which the owners of every diffrict may avail themfelves of, if they think proper, is glaringly unequal, opprefſfve, and unjuſt, and at the ſame time hold out this, as conciliatory language, is to me extraordinary indeed; but, ſtrange as it may ſeem, this is the very language of a publication, in a provincial newſpaper, coming this very day, the 10th of Auguſt, 1793, expreſsly from the Lynn merchants, through the medium of the ſolicitor employed by them to oppoſe the ſcheme, and has been the very language uſed by them from the beginning.

T'hey have indeed amuſed themſelves, and the promoters of the ſcheme, with what they are leaſed to call conciliatory overtures; but, independent of abſolute impracticability, the latter ave too good reafon to be guarded againſt what comes from people, who, in the firſt inſtance, pprove and recommend the ſcheme, then deny the principle of a plain propoſition, which the teſt of experience, to ſay nothing of the opinion of almoit all the engineers in the kingdom, has proved to be the foundation of every thing that is wanted for the recovery of a loſt coun- try; and laſtly, who have done, and are now doing, all in their power to prevent the fairneſs of it from being tried on its own meriits, before the tribunal of a candid and enlightened legiflature. Common ſenſe will tell any man that no drainage can be had without a good outfal to ſea; but nat a fyllable of this, or any alluſion to it, can be found in what they have brought forward; and, till that is a previous point ſettled and acceded to on all hands, it cannot be expeded that a fet of people, appointed at a very large publick meeting for the expreſs purpoſe of carrying a well digeſted plan into effect, will reſign their powers into the hands of thoſe, who have thwarted the purpoſe of their appointment on all occaſions; and more eſpe- cially, as they have peen publicly invited, without effeCt, to come ſorward and debate the principle of what they object to; for hitherto no preciſe argument has appeared on their parts; though it muſt be confeſſed, it is a deficiency, which has been well ſupplied by invective and general aſſertions, without any ſort of proof to fupport them.

Advantage to the community from an improved droinage. To aſcertain the advantage to the eommunity at large, it appears to me, that the ſhort queſtion to be aſked is, What additional produce of conſumable articles of every kind will refult from a new acquiſition of territory, the increaſed rent of which, cannot be leſs than(. 147, 500. and the total addit onal value of the produce probably four times as much?

To attempt to anfwer this appears unneceſſary; for whether the annual value of the im- provement be, or be not, over-rated, or whether the conſumable articles amount to this or that particular ſum, we know that an immenſe improvement muſt ariſe, and of courſe that it muſt be ſufficiently conſequential to render it a matter of great national importance.

Navigation. There is another head on which I muſt beg leave to be a little explanatory, and that is, the navigation through the intended cut; concerning which the ſame changes

have been rung upon the words partial, oppreſſive, and unjuſt. This was meant to be taxed 3 iikewiſe

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