The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-11-29 00:00:00

ABSENTEE LANDLORDS IN ENGLAND.

Rural England is suffering from a cause which
threatens at no distant date to entirely destroy the
growth of centuries, viz., the bond of sympathy and
mutual interest engendered by the contact of squire,
farmer, and labourer, and which has in the part held
them united in the bonds of mutual esteem. A
journey throughout the agricultural districts would
open the eyes of the dweller in cities to the fact that
numerous country seats are practically deserted, save
for a few weeks' bunting or shooting. The exigencies
of modern political life, with its double session and
autumnal rush to the Continent and seaside, have
completely changed the whole conditions- of English
country life. Instead of, as formerly, a six or eight
months residence among his own people, the modern
landlord sees but little of them, and it is well within
the mark to say that this applies to at least three-
fourths of the manorial residences of England, a state-
ment justified by a recent prolonged privilege of eight
months in various parts of the country. There is a
growing disinclination among the wealthier classes for
the simplicity of rural life, which cannot but prove
injurious, not only to the whole community, but to
themselves. Their residence at "the Hall" is not
only the means of providing employment, and circu-
lating money in the village, but the prolonged absence,
of which so much mention has been made of late,
breeds discontent, and furnishes a weapon for the
ready agitator to use in setting class against class.
The duties of visiting and sympathising with the
people are neglected, the management of the estate is
left entirely to the agent, and the hurried visit is all
too short to enable landlords to "keep touch" with
their dependents. This is a matter apart from party,
and we sound no false note of alarm when we depre-
cate the perpetual London Beason which robs the
country of the presence of many whose duties lie
there. It is this disinterested performance of these
very real duties which has in the past formed the
strength of moral life, and the most fruitful source of
their neglect is the ennui engendered by the feverish
unrest of London life, which makes country life to so
many almost unendurable. With the many cliNnges
in agriculture that are taking place daily, such as the
employment of machinery, the abandonment of the
growth of cereals, and the development of grazing
lands, it is not at all improbable that owners will
have to become farmers; in fact, many are com-
pelled to do so. Should these changed circumstances
cause them to reside more at home, it will un-
doubtedly prove a distinct benefit to the nation.
Agriculture has ever been both the defender and
supplier of commerce, and is still the true officina
militum, although in the matter of supply the foreign
markets of corn and meat have entered into a com-
petition which, while benefitting the consumer, has
pressed hardly upon the producers. It is at this
crisis that it is more than ever necessary for land-
lords to reside among their people. The spirit of
discontent is being fostered by the party of spolia-
tion, and this spirit will most certainly spread unless
those who enjoy the privileges of ownership re-
member its duties. The attractions of London life
have multiplied tenfold during the past twenty yerze,
and this centralisation of pleasure and politics is
leaving its mark upon the land and the rural people;
and, now that the latter will have a more direct in-
terest in politics, it becomes the duty of their natural
leaders to take their place among them, to study
their wants and interests, and live in sympathy with
them. A. noble income nobly spent is no common
sight in these times of display and mitigated enter-
tainments; but the need for expending where the
wealth is gained was never greater than now.—St.
Stephen's Review.