As to the mill-power at Limerick, it was so
uncertain, so dependant on the weather, and so very much required there
by the merchants, that he would make no demand upon it. Mr. Lister,
however, the official at Westport, dissuaded him from grinding any corn
even there. Quoting from a recent Treasury Minute, the passage about not
opening the depots, while food could be obtained by the people from
private dealers, at reasonable prices, he continues: "To delay resorting
to this alternative, and in order to stimulate exertion, it is, I beg to
repeat, absolutely essential that the trade should have the full and
exclusive benefit of all the mill-power in its own locality."[168] In a
Treasury Minute of September the 8th, the head of the Commissariat is
informed that, considering the limited mill-power in the neighbourhood
of Westport, and how important it was that private merchants, who had
ordered consignments of Indian corn to that port, should have ready
means of grinding it, "My Lords" express their opinion, that the
supplies intended for the Government depot at Westport should, if
possible, consist only of meal; and they promise to give directions
that not only that depot, but all the Government depots in Ireland,
should, as far as practicable, be replenished with that article.
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