The National Register. — London, England, 1816-10-07 00:00:00

• , br 0' No. 45t.—VoL. IX. AGRICULTURE. I.—Actual Stale Agricufture. ESSEX. MONTACI E BUROOYNF.—I 11.1 Ye heard that some of the iiistreFacrt fiiritierit Lave declared, that if not relieved, they shall pay their Lany•day rime, andhetween harvest and Mi chaelmas sell off everything, and quit their farms. I sun told, that, in one or two instances, this trick was practised last year in the county of Herts. Unpaid rentand taxes, undischarged tradesmen's hills, and capital rapidly melting assay. The state of the labouring poor is truly miserable. Such is the want of employment, that stoat active, young men are em ployed by the Overseers, at Ss. or 41. a week, merely to pre vent them from starting. ISAAC ROGERS.—Many have come to my knowledge, where industry and application could not save them. So great and so numerous the distresses are, that a volume must be large to contain them. Where an abatement of rent has been made, only procrastinates (and not prevents) ruin. The capital of the country seems to have sunk, and no one knows how to a count for so great and so sudden a downfall. I have been i t business only 2S years t but, from some of our old standards I learn, that although the distress at the close of the Amori- C n war was great, yet it bore no proportion to the present. REV. J. Tment.ow.—'llle produce does not cover the ex pellees, independent of rent. I should think that three fourths of the paperlately in circulation is withdrawn. Trades men complain of their not being able to get their bills paid. In the villages of this neighbourhood, the rates for the poor are decreased about onesfifth in the last year, compared with those of Itlll and iBl2. Hut, in the large towns of Halsted, Boetiag, Braintree, and Coggeshall, the last quarter's rate is considerably greater than usual; at Halsted, the quarter's rate, to Lady-day is ss. lid. in the p ound , at a fifth below the reek-rent. am told, at Coggeshall it is much higher. Joni( VAIZEY.—.The circumstances that from private know ledge and observation, denote the general distress of farmers, are too varied and numerous to relate here. Any provincial newspaper is a record of public evidences to au extent pro bably, unexampled. I have no hesitation iu expressing my sincere belief, that one-third of the occupiers of land in num ber (having no other source of property) so far as my know ledge of the country extends, are insolvent at this day. The labouring poor, in husbandry (including disbanded men from the army and navy) are not tour-fifths employed. HZRI7OIIDSHIRE. Rev. J. Harr.—A very general complaint amongst the former of their inability to pay their rents, taxes, kc. on ac count of the great depression in the price of agricultural pro duce. J. CassssaJoe.—Their inability to pay their rents, and the difficulty of collecting the taxes. W. ..theataus.—A general complaint with tradesmen, that the farmers have nut paid their last year's bills as well as issue]. KENT. R. WALTER Fonsits.—About 12 months ago, a farmer ot ettpying a farm of between 500 and floe acres in this parish, Rolvenden, under an unexpired term of about nine years (from circumstance's having no connection with his tenantry of that farm), became a bankrupt. The beneficial interest in the lease was sold at public auction in December last ; there were several bidders (men of undoubted judgment), and unprepared for it, brought the new tenant's actual rent within one-eighth of what I conceive to be the average rate of letting the like description of land taken by tenants four or five years ago; and, in nay opinion, if our farms then let, were now to be re-let, they might be so on a reduction of one-eighth of the existing rents; of course, some a little more and scone a little less. The present times of calamity do not affect us equally with other places, and this from various causes. Ist, (and I think principally) from the circumstance of our most considerable landowners being Gentlemen who have inherit' ed, and continually reside on the estates of their ancestors : they and their tenantry have grown up together, and the Landlord's rentik been Animal on a moderate estimate of what both parties deemed to be the fair value of the land, instead of being fixed by land-agents, sometimes deficient in all know ledge; still more frequently in local information; and al most aloays without feeling for the tenants, or having any other object than creating an enormous rent-toll, however ruinous to the tenant, or in the long run pre• judicial to the real interest of the landlord. Secondly, We have many substantial yeomen farming their own lands, capable of bearing a very considerable degree of pressure. !Idly, We almost universally arc mole or lass hop-planters, far which culture the three last years have been extremely favourable, in point of prices; and they have served us In two ways—in not only haring put a good deal of money into the pockets of One farmers, but afforded the poor (men, women, and children) much beneficial employ. Many of us graze as well as farm, and if' sheep have sold badly, wool as sold well; our wood-lands also have turned to good account. 4th, Modoses exempt its from match of the vexation of tithes; and, to the extent in which tithe is payable, the composition has in general been on terms not to be complained of. All these are co-operating circ ttttt stances in our favour; but I repeat it, to the first we are principally indebted; as, accord ing to the best information I am able to procure, parishes within a few milts distance, and on a par with us in all other respects, ate its a situation very different from what we experience. We are pressed, bait keep our feet, while they are daily falling; and this opinion I give without any interest or bias; i rent no land ; our with reference to what land 1 possess, whether occupied by me, or let sad), have not the least pretence to rank myself with the considerable land-holders to whom I allude. Our farmers, instead of having mom y to expend in improvements, or lay by, are short of cash; still, however, they are able to pay the land lord, and live; bet if times don't mend, and One hop-planting should ge wroug, our future prospects are far from pleasant. UT+ Our tnQ, Qt on 460 3Laszoti. MONDAY, OCTOBI 7, 1816. I don't despair, but cannot, wall any satialaction that i am tight, say what may he the ultimate reaelt. One conse quence moviing out of the system of : ear land-owners has been, that no person could get a farm except of known cha racter, and of stiftieient ability to do it justice—points at all times extremely material, bin in the present crisis, of the last importance. Our tenantry are phut., intelligent, indus trious men ; the good times have not turned their heads ; their farms (as might be expected) are in good heart ; and. hi my opinion, the tenants, now times are bad, will meet every difficulty with firmness and judgment. Where a man and his wife have moro than three children. we allow one gallon of flour per week fur each additional child, by this means the labourer knows exactly what he has to depend upon; he is spatted the trouble of wasting Ws time in attend ance on the overseers, and of coiainglties, when he finds them. I consider our pour as well..off; lb. y are well homed, well fed, well cloathed, and in general well satisfied, orderly, and honest. J. Bovs.—l have given notice to quit several farms at Lady-day and Michaelmas next, although 1 have two sons out of business (and in waist of it), foe whom these farms were intended, if I could have madeithem answer a good purpose. From the scarcity of looney, and bad markets, I had not received from the sale °Nee lagt crop, up to the first of this month (February,) Mildest to pay parish taxes, or labourers weekly wages, by which,. iogether with the non payment of several sums that had been due to me, I had it not in my power' the last half-ve.. — Property-tax : 2001. I had of interest of at 17 per cent is not to be pros though I could obliged to part • minder; and, above 45 years, here, and in intelligence • agricultural O. labouring poor of Ash, in wt pariah officer at their Ce- were obliged scarcity of n lowest order , spectable men the ease, the p sions, I concen rower to pay in proper time the last half-year's ix ; so that I wee obliged to transfer a bond of of the Commissioners of Margate Pier, bearing per cent, per amnion, free from property-tax, ent discount, makau • Asa of , about SW. Money procured on the Fest. lef mortgages, hence, al- :ould have a great akOwnent of rent, 1 am sort with some of qty, ems to carry on the re- nd, as I have been an 03frapier of farms now :ars, and my present comma lying in 13 parishes is Romney Illersh and its Witiuity I conceive this spel7, must be a tolerable of the state of the [ interest of the county at rge. The state of the oor is the worst I ever, r , umber. In the parish which I am both an wailer and occupier, the !i• lately informed me, grit 46 labourers applied imittee-meeting fur work, or looney, when they d to relieve the greater part ; this arises from the money ; and from the MOW cause many of the tr of tradesmen are Nog of work, and some re- set] conic to the piZi Pt relief; were this not le poor-rates, from nil In the price of provl- ceire would be condderbly reduced. Il.—Causer. KENT. -,w - ' R. WALTER FORBES.---I consider the large issues of paper heretofore made by the country banks, as an evil of the first I magnitude; on the change of times, several of these establish ments have failed, (some without enin g able to pay a penny in the ponnd); those who have stood their ground have been naturally extremely cautious; and no doubt, men wanting relief, and deserving to have it, have, in some instances (not many I believe been inconvenienced; but any thing, I hp prebend is to be preferred to enormous issues of ill-secured paper. "It may be sweet in the mouth, but it Is better to the belly." I conceive the roots of the evil to lie in as excessive taxation. It is not for me to presume to hazard an opinion, whether the interests of posterity require the preservation of a sinking fund of lig millions per annum; or the protection of the present generation, a standing army .uf 150,000 men • but, taking the fact to be so, I will venture to predict, the landed property of this kingdom is on the eve of changing hands to an extent beyond all former example. HERTFORDSHIRE. W. Serinwicii.--The labour not being lowered adequate to the price of corn, also tradesmen's bilk; such as black. smiths, wheelers, and collar.makeis, and the great and heavy burden of tithes, which are not at all diminished. lll.—Remedies. ESSEX. IsAAc Rooes.—l believe my neighbours would hr well pleased to have the duties lowered upon malt, salt and lea ther,and property-tax taken off thetenant. Hot, in my °pin ion, these would not effect a cure ; the farmer should be enabled I to pay the taxes as they now are, and when Government can ease them, corn can be produced in proportion. Joust VAIZEY.—The poor-rates in this parish, with the present price of bread, are higher than at any period, I be lieve, in the last 40 years. The assessment to the poor, for the parish of Halsted, ha 1811, was 16s. 9d.; in the year 1812; Od. ; for the last four quarters, Ilia. The relative price of bread in these periods is known. My individual experience would prove the expences on tillage husbandry, from 1102 to ISI I, inclusive, to be about 81 to 121 ; an in crease of expenditure, perhaps, the community cannot afford to pay a fair profit upon. I so, the first object is all possible reduction of such expenditure. As to legislative remedies— I submit as the most important, a comprehensive con sideration of the whole system of the poor laws--their bear ing upon the land, in reterenee to other property—and a list is the, cause, and probable consequences, oldie great increase of the poor-rates. Under such investigation, legislative wis dom promises a good chance of edicieut remedy : Soma consideratinos to the vexatious and hurtful manner of collect ing the property of tithes. The repeal of the war malt-tax promises relict to this roomy, as a barley district. The cart-horse tax, being directly on tillage husbandry, eanut be afforded; and, as partial, is unfair, and ought to be repealed. The effect, though not ruinous to the larger employers, is equally hard as to the smaller--aud, while paid, is a deduc tion unfairly taken limn the just and legitiointe inolit of his increased capital. Tune' ean be no nataral and etiattable dis tinction in this view of it between a farm of 701. aud of 2001. 1 . , - . ' I• ,~ PRICE 9d. per annum. As to thz. private temedv, rent appears to ere, a general average observation, to be got beyond the fait piaci , it should take, comparing the whole of agriculture to gether, now and '4O yearshgo. 6 E;: T. Mr. R. W. FORBES.—Commuting tithes, sat ing.banks, end all such projects ( well miongli in their way in the season), are, in the present state of things, not only useless, but (inasmuch as a false reliance would probably ho placed on their sup posed importance) very likely to be mischievous. I would not be uuderstand, as supposing Government to do every thing ; it is an indispensible addition, that should take a judicious and liberal view of the actual eiri umstances in which each of their tenants is placed; doubtless cases may be found, in which the invited efforts of landlord and naut may not be able to relivre, but a mutual good under standing, growing out of confidence in the landlord's libe rality, and the tenant's skill, industry, and frugality, (sad no man deliCient in any of, these qualities ought to be suffered to remain as a tenant), will accomplish great things. J. Bovs.—As the country seems to suffer fur the want of a . circulating medium, and it has been known to do tolerably well without gold, for many years past,we niay fairly conclude there is not a sufficiency of paper credit. The principal remedy that occurs to my mind, would be for the legislature to endeavour to increase the circulating medium, which I conceive would give a greater facility to the sale ot• our pro. duce. And also, to take particular care that our markets are not injured by the superfluity of foreign produce, of any article which our country can supply. lam apprehensive that nothing further can alleviate the present distresses, and that we must patiently await the effect of time to bring all things to a level. t have obtaimt•d information that the small occupiers, all along the coast, who have been in the habit of getting their living by supplying the markets with poultry, fruit, vegetables, butter, eggs, &c. are exceedingly distressed by the importation of all those articles from France and. Flanders : these difficulties might be alleviated no doubt by an additional tax on importation. And the difficulties of the, Lauded Interest In general, which I find are dilly increasing, might, and I think ought, to be relieved by a bounty on the exportation of corn while it remains so very low. COTTAGERS, LAND, AND COWS. The Board of Agriculture, on occasion of the scarcity la the years 1796 and 1796, made various enquiries into the state of the labouring pm; which produced some interesting me moirs on the best means of suppordrl them. Amon; these, one from the Earl of Wineheisea, on a practice which had been comae* In Rotlandslairei foe thaw liansessmatioly that of attaching land to cottages, to enable the poor to keep cows, was particularly distinguished; and mu ries on the 911111 e sub ject were also satisfactos ily answered by the late Lord Brown low, and some other correspondents. In the year 1800, t h e Secretary of the Board was directed to employ the summer in examining the diet* of a great number of parliamentary enelosures, as web hi respect to the interest of cottager., as to those general beneficial results well kno.%a to ,t from the measure of enclosure: and as it appeared upon ti at en gairy, that many cottagera 'were deprived of the loci etit of cows, without any necessity for such deprivation, the i oat d, in order the better to. understand the question, ilispat bed a person, in 1801, for the express purpose of bi lly aseer silting st in the two counties of Rutland and Lincoln. 'f he re, ort of that journey was one of the most interesting memoir.. ever laid before the public; anti proved, litiquesti nobly, the im mense advantages malting from the system to the landlord, the farmer, the cottager, and the public. A few slim t ex tracts will fully support the assertion. Lord V l / 4 inchelsea ob. serves, " I am more and snore confirmed in the opinion! have long had, that nothing is so beneficial, both to the cottager.; and the land-owners, as their having land to be occupied either for the keeping of cows, or as gardens, according to circum stances. By means of these advantages, the Inlourers and their families live better, and ate cimsequently more fit to endure labonr ; it makes them snore contented, and more at tached to their situation; and it gives them a sort of inde pendence, which makes them set a higher value upon their character. In the neighbourhood iu which I live, men so circumstanced are almost always considered as the must to he depended upon als.l trusted: the possessing a little pro perty certainly gives a spiny to industry ; as a proof of this, it has almost always happened to me, that when a lairotiter has obtained a cow, and land sufficient to maintain her, tie in t thing lie has thought of has !poen, how he could sic c enough to buy another ; and I have almost inn ay , had ;ip plieations tbr more land from those people su circumstanced. There are several labourers in my neighbourhood ah.i have sot on in that manlier, till they stow keep three, and some tour cots : and yet art• amongst the hardest-working arm in • the county, and the best labourers. i believe there are frem 70 to 80 labourers upon my estate in Rutland, who keep front one to four cows each : and I have always heard that %Inv are hard-working industrious men; they manage [Mir Jana well, and always pay their rent." - In a Memoir presented to the Hoard, Lord Brownlow thus expresses himself:— • In many parishes the cottage.; arc very generally let to under-tenants by the firmer, ; but Ibis is a practice waiver. sally rejected on my estates. To the cottager the contrary system affords the comforts of life ; to the parish, it lowers the poor's rates : a notn who keeps a cow has seldom beton known to be trouble,oine to the parish; soul to the public it gives an increase of hands, from infancy taught to work by their pa reuts for their advantage." The person employed by the Hoard, and who examined above forty parishes minutely, gives the following general result : _ . " Seven hnndred and fifty-three cottager,: have amongst thew 1194 covi b, or, on nu at eragc, one and a huff and I-I..th alio mit