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AGRICULTURAL MEETINGS. A great many agri...
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GREAT REFORM MEETING AT MANCHES TER Manc...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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The Platitudes Of Palmerston. Tiverton R...
with propriety do so , to persuade other Governmenta to extend to other countries as much as possible of those civil and politieal blessings of which we ourselves are so proud . { Hear , hear . ) I think , gentlemen , that the people of this country have nobly performed their part of that duty ; and I can assure you that it is the anxious desire of her Majesty ' s Government not to be backward in performing what belongs to them . { Hear , hear . ) _ The people of this country did nobly perform that duty in the
course of the last year , when they supported unanimously and enthusiastically the Government of England in exerting its influence to prevent a foreign Sovereign from being compelled to violate the laws of hospitality by sacrificing the men who had thrown themselves upon him for protection . ( Cheers . ) Those efforts were successful , and I am happy to say that the last of those exiles are now on their way either to the shores of England or to the shores of the United States , according to their own
choice and wishes . " Finally , he perorated on the African Slave-tradeand there was an end of a long speech , which may fairly be entitled—the Platitudes of Palmerston .
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Agricultural Meetings. A Great Many Agri...
AGRICULTURAL MEETINGS . A great many agricultural meetings have been held lately . These are signs that the agricultural mind is gradually giving up protection . By some they have been advised to give it up out and out . Lord Derby is silent ; Lord de Tabley throws protection to the ¦ winds ; Mr . Yernon Harcourt asserts , amid murmers , that the labouring classes have never been in so g ^ od a position ; and , finally , Disraeli has given perhaps the coup de grace" to the notion altogether .
Two meetings have been held this week deserving of notice , one of especial notice . Sir James Graham presided over the dinner of the East Cumberland Agricultural Society on Thursday week , and , as usual , said some remarkable things . They had the American reaping-machine there , which excited great attention . Sir James spoke highly of it ; said that it was an implement of great promise , that its working was not unsatisfactory , that the ground on which it had been tried was not the best which misrht have
been chosen , and that with some improvement it would be very valuable . He recommended the farmers 01 Cumberland not to plough so much , and to graze more , and pointed out sheep farming as the keystone to further improvement in the district . " Let me remind you that in Great Britain we are in a very artificial state . These little islands are densely inhabited , and no less than £ 100 , 000 , 000 is embarked in the four textile fabrics , cotton , silk , wool , and flax . Two
of these raw materials are beyond our reach . Cotton and silk we cannot produce ; but we can produce wool , and we can produce flax ; and I say it is worthy of the consideration of the agriculturists of this country to adapt their land to the growing wants of the community in which we live , and to place our country , as far as in us lies , in the situation of not being exclusively dependent for the supply of such raw materials as wool and flaxnot exclusively , I say . ( Hear , hear . )
" Ooserve well , no article has gone on so steadily advancing in price as wool ; no article has paid the farmer so well in the shape of produce as wool , and the sheep which produce the wool are , in my opinion , under proper management , the keystone of the improved cultivation of the soil . ( Hear , hear . ) But , observe further , if you have the smaller quantity of land under cultivation , producing with that smaller quantity a larger amount of produce , the saving is immense in the wages of labour and the cost of production , and in everything which bears on the profits on the outlay of capital in cultivation . 1 say , therefore , farm highly the small quantity of land you have under the plough—encourage the growth of grabs laid down on the best order of land well cleaned , add to the number of your aheep , and increase the quantity of your wool . "
Referring to flax , he explained the difficulties attending ita culture aa a raw material for manufacturing into linen , and the process of preparing the ilax lor the manufacturer , he said : — " If I have made myself intelligible , it in plain that the straw cannot be convoyed to a { jjreat dintanco to undergo this process , and that the manufacturer must be brought to the doorof the farmer . ( Hear , hear . ) Sucli is the enterprise , the skill , and I would almost say the patriotism of the manufacturing interest of thi « country —not without reference to gain , but combined with gain , which is the real incentive ? of all improvement—thut if you can show that any such procens will pay the
manufacturer , thut manufacturer of the raw material will establish a mill in the neighbourhood ; and 1 hold it to be one of the duties of laiidlordn to ascert ain whether this mode of di-aling with flux be not . feasible , and , if it be feasible , to make an effort to introduce in their neighbourhood the machinery und the manufacture requiHiU ; for the extended growth of ho important and useful a crop as flax . ( Cheers . ) This is tediouw , but uti'l the He nre matters of great importance — matters bound up with our present welfare , and with t . lu ; future prosperity und
happiness of the great community of which we form a part . ( Hear hear . ) I am among the first to admit that the basis of our national prosperity is the produce of the soil . ( Lo cheers . ) If it were not no I uhould bo poor indeed , lor all I hohschs is in land , und in land of tliiw county ' ; you , therefore , have the utmost pledget of my uincerity and my wish to promote the welfare of the agriculture of this county — ( hear , hear)—but you must have it in a manner coincident with the wellare of t | lo community ; and these are the objects and theae the Woden in which to attain that end . Societies of thin kind appear to m « to have that tendency , and I wag delighted
to hear a sentiment which fell from you , Mr . Vicechairman . ( Cheers . ) You said you did not despair of the prosperity of the agricultural interest . ( ChewsJ You said that agriculturists must meet increased difficulties with increased exertions . ( Cheers . ) You added that Heaven always favours those who help themselves and that the agricultural interest would not be the last interest to make the requisite exertion . ( Cheers . ) It is only necessary that that exertion should be well directed . It is the duty of landlords to lead the way in respect to all these improvements and experiments ; the landlords of England must not be left behind in the race of exertion , and , we be a united body , then I say —• " ' Nought shall make us rue , If England to itself do rest but true . ( Loud cheers . )"
The other meeting alluded to was that of the Vale of Evesham Agricultural Association . Over this meeting Mr . Hanford , a Roman Catholic landlord , presided . Captain Rushout , M P ., rejoiced that the agriculturists had " by no means lost their wonted energy , " and that they " had not taken the advice given them , to throw their lands out of cultivation , and discharge their labourers . On the contrary , he thought they had displayed more energy than ever ,
and farmed fully as high and well as ever . ' Mr . Foley , M . P ., thought they attached too much importance to the price of corn , and to its being kept up to a certain standard , and did not think sufficiently of the cost , quantity , and quality o ( other sorts of produce . Mr . Robert Woodward , a •« stranger , " and high Protectionist , brought down from Liverpool , said , that to see what they were doing , " in these times , " was almost enough to make a professed
Protectionist sceptical in his views : — " From what he saw , he thought they paid a little too much importance in this part of the country to the growth of wheat , and not enough to other things . They still got a good price for their mutton and the produce of their dairies . He thought they should put more dependence for their profits on these portions of their produce . They , no doubt , ha ; l to thank the prosperity of the manufacturing districts for the good prices they got for these articles . That the manufacturing population was in a high state of prosperity he was not ashamed to confess , because it was a fact ; and the agriculturalists immediately round the towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire got good prices for their produce . There there was little distress , but he sadly feared that in remote districts , the distress must continue . The absence of railway communication was a great bar to many districts . "
When Mr . Woodward sat down , Mr . Gough , a tenant farmer , disappointed in his expectations , exclaimed— ' Why , they told us he was an out-and-out Protectionist , and here he gives half the population in a state of prosperity ! " At a later period in the evening , the Chairman alluded to the relative position of landlord and tenant under the new system . He considered that there ought to be some principle upon which a rental might be settled fairly , and it would be most desirable to get at it . He regretted that the Duke of Richmond should have told the tenant farmers that under
Freetrade it was impossible that they could pay any rent at all . Such a statement was the very thing to create panic and alarm . Tenant farmers , like other men , wore alive to their own interests ; and if they were told that they could not afford to pay any rent , they would be likely enough to inquire why it was that they were paying any . Mr . Foley thought they should wait before settling the question to see what prices would settle at ! In addition to the above meetings , Hertfordshire has met at Hertford . Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton was the preaiding genius ; but he studiously avoided polities . Ho made one suggestion worth notice . Many experiments have been made , be said , but lost for want of a proper record
;" If , for instance , the Stale were to take , at a fair rental , certain farms in different districts and with different soils , and invest in them such capital only as a spirited farmer of { good means may be supposed to possesH ; if it placed on each of these farms a good practical farmer , with a first-rate scientific chemist , for the farmer to carry out what the chemist suggested ; if there were aregular account kept , giving the minulCKt uccount , the Government being responsible for the management of the account which should appear in the ledger-book of the public money ; and if these accounts were open to inspection , and published once a year , why then we should learn at least all thut the science of chemistry is capable
of accomplixhinK ; we should unite practical knowledge with chemical science , and obtain what we cannot gut from the amuleur framcr—inethoilic . il and exact accounts of the precise cost , of every single experiment And if it should be proved , as wo are told , that lai ^ c profits may be made at present prices , I say we should then , for the firfit time , have something like authentic fuctH to guide our reHt-urchcH and stimulate our exertiona . If , however , they should not fulfil the promises held out , and tho State should not be the gainer when It oomeu to the current prices at Mark-lane , then at least we should have established respect for our complaints and nyinputhy for our Htrugglew . "
Ono feature at the termination of the Bpeechoa we remark as u sign of tho feeling in tbiu agricultural district on tho subject . Mr . Hag guru wanted to tulle politics ; but the Chairman would not iHtrmit liirn ; wo ho turned llercely on the Gamelaw * : —
" He fearlessly declared that the burden thrown the county rate * by the administration of the Game-law —than which laws there could be no more fruitful source of rural depravity—required readjustment . ( Loud cheers . ) He saw several magistrates for the count ? present , and he boldly called upon them not to enforce the Game-laws with the utmost rigour , becau se these laws were laws which had been made by the landlords themselves and for themselves . ( Vehement cheering . )
Great Reform Meeting At Manches Ter Manc...
GREAT REFORM MEETING AT MANCHES TER Manchester pronounced on Thursday in favour of Parliamentary Reform , at least to the length of adopting the programme of the National Parliamentary Reform Associatiou . Avast assemblage crowded the Free-trade Hall , renowned in the triumphs of the League . Mr . George Wilson , an efficient chairman of that body , presided on the occa * sion , and made one of his admirable speeches
Letters of regret for non-attendance were rceceived from Mr . Cobden , Mr . Milner Gibson , Mr . Bright , Lord Dudley Stuart , Mr . Wakley , and Mr . Hume . Four other Members of Parliament , Sir Joshua Walmsley , Mr . W . J . Fox , Mr . George Thompson , and Mr . John Williams , were present , and addressed the meeting . The proceedings went off in admirable order , and though there was no stirring enthusiasm , there was strong , steady feeling .
Mr . George Wilson ran over the topics of the programme of the Association , illustrating them in a humourous manner . When he came to the constitution of the House of Commons , he caused great amusement by citing from . Dod ' s Parliamentary Companion tome facts respecting the influence of Peers in elections , ironically insinuating that he did not say the } ever interfered : — " He found it said of the borough of Peterborough , ' This is usually considered a borough of Lord Fiiz-William ' s , ' a Whig peer . ( Laughter , and cries of '• Hear , hear ! ' ) Surely nobody thought that these proceedings were confined to peers on one side of the House , and l
were eschewed by those on the other ? ( Hear , hear J ' a 7 id cheers . ) Lord Fitzwilliatn , a very liberal man under most circumstances , had a large intere .-t in the borough of Peterborough , and his son , the Honourable G . W . Fitzwilliam , was returned as its representative ; but he ( the Chairman ) did not believe that Lord Fitzwilliam's ii . fluence had ever been exerted to return the Honourable G . W . Fitzwilliam . ( Laughter . ) Of Woodstock it was said , ' The Duke of Martborough has influence here , ' and the Marquis of lilandford , son of the Duke , sat for the borough ; but they were bound to lu-lk-ve that the Marquis of Blandford had nev ^ r derived the smallest advantage from the influence or support < . f h Thn it
the Duke of Marlborou ^ h . ( A laug . ) was stated that ' the Duke of Bedford has considerable influence in Tsviatock '; and it was somewhat curious that the Honourable E . S . Russell ( no relative , of course , of the Duke of Bedford ) , was one of the members for ihiit borouiih . ( Cheers and laughter . ) Of Thttford it was said , ' ' The Duke of GrafUm ; uid Lord Ashburton have considerable influence in this borough '; and he found that one of the members was the Honourable i . during , the brother of Lord Ashburton , and the other was the Earl of Eustoii , eldest son of the Duke of Graf ton . ( Cheers , much laughter , and a cry of'Alter } t ) Hail found ihere commoner who did a lit le m hu >
was a IUUUU IIICIC "JO •>• vummvn" - t » way . ( Laughter . ) It was said of the borough of Eye , < Sir E . Kenuon ' i influence in this borough is considerable , ' and it so happened that Lieutenant-Genera br E . Kerrison sat for the borough . ( Great ^?^) ln the borough of Arundel the Duke of Norfolk , it w * i . UWd had considerable influence , and it secnied that some votes had been K iven by the Earl of Arundel *** ° " fl ' the late member for Arundel , at ™» . * i' }' opinions of the Duke , and , curiously enough , the Larl oj Arundel had rammed the representation o Arundel , and -n . runu . ei uau rt-HiKueu " *« ** y * - •» - i * „„ \ lip and
had obtained another seat . ( Cheers W' «^) " ° ( the chairman ) did not mean to « ay that the res ^ n-tion took place under instructions from the Duke o NorloHi though some people had said so . V' ^ ' SrS ul ' Mr Neeld , ' it was said , has considerable influ »< J » Chipuenham , ' and Mr . Joseph Neeld and h » . br * l ' £ law Hat aa members for that borough . U * f * . Of Chichestcr it was atated , The interest of ihe V uKt Richmond preponderates in this borough , and , air » K \ they had lu-aru a groat deal of the Duke very &* ^ them might be aware that Lord Henry U . « Lennox , son of the Duke , wus the Bitting "'"«»"' \ it ChicheBier . ( Laughter . ) Of the boroug hoi ujicy was said , ' The prevailing influence is Uiat of L « ' ' and Mr . J . B . nbow , steward to Lord Waid , sat
borough . ( ' Hear' and laughter . ) Sir Joshua Wnlmsley said that tho theory ot ^ Constitution wns , thut the IIouhc oi Common " presented the people ; while it was not y" ""^ forlh no Huch thing . Their watchword should hencclo be , ' ' TheCoViHtitution , the whole Constitution , ^ nothing but thu Constitution . " (* (! " - \ inllld bo commended that the table of the Houne bhouia covered with petitions . . ... fim-The appearance of Mr . W . J . Fox elicit * entl Hiastic checm . Ho made a very telling * V **** \ though Muconsarily ho went over the old K * f ' Hoon rawed merry laughter ut the expenbu MiniHter : — , j 1 ( , j . "If Mr . Hume , Mr . Gibson , Mr . B r | 8 » *"' ? lord member * needed a change of air . how much unu | iud J . lLiiHKull need it ? ( Cheers and laughter . J ii « ,, Lord J . JIuhhcU wai there to enjoy it . ( A " * y ,= 7 , cr e » t would find tho atmosnUete of that meeting very u
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 27, 1851, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_27091851/page/4/
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