The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1882-09-12 00:00:00

LABOURING CLABBEB IMPROVEMENT

ABBOOIATION.

The annual exhibition of the Dorchester, Weymouth,
and Cern* district emaciation for the improvement of
the labouring class was held on Tuesday lest, at the
Town Hall, where the vegetables, nosegays, and
breed, were arranged on tables under the walls, and
down the unties of the building, while there was
• capital show of needlework, inspected by the belies,
In the Council Chamber. There were no less than 23
dishes of potatoes; but the show .111 scarcely so good
as we have often seen, and it wanted a little infusion
of Portland, where certainly the potatoes made • far
better exhibition, in size at least. In quality some of
the cottagers' potatoes were good, rad having been
through the test of holing came out well. Twelve
vegetable marrows were shown and the first prize ones
were very good.looking. Jerialcia were a remarkably
fine chow, and they • to have benefitted
greatly by thelate rains. he size thr eighost was good,
but a few proved on being cut open, to be woolly;
this fault was not observable in the first prise articles,
which were of clues even texture. Broad beans w re
mostly confined to loortgehr, the good old Broad
Windeers not appearing to fume. Of nereegays there
were eight, and others beside, the fi. at-prize one were
certainly deserving of notice ; they were a pretty 1 t,
and the gardens where they were grown must have
looked all the better that they were not devoted to
vegetables alone. The bread appeared wholesome and
good. Parsnips were • decided success, well grown, an.l
very respectable size. We have known larger than those
at the Tows Hall, but not of better shape. In
carro s there did not seem anything extra special,
but they Wire fair; °Mous to did uot s rike us as
specially good, the autumn-sows not being very
handsome, nor the springeiwn very large, considering
It 4 already September. Of cabbages, pickling reds
I were a good show, and savoys were large, though
hardly solid enough, while smooth.leaved cabbages
gave the prize to decidedly the best—solii and white
at heart. French beans very fair. Taken altogether
the show was very interesting, as exhibiting distinctly
the effects of the late uncertain season. In the
Council Chamber • goodly number gathered around
the mysteries of needlework, but 'tw mid take • lady
to dilate thereon. The judges were n—Lady hiichel,
Hoe. Kra Z. Wllltsms, Mrs. A. Manuel, Mrs. H.
Middleton, Mrs. J. Stnlth-liarrioth and Mrs. Sutton.
Judges of vegetables were I--Captain Hodges.
Captain B. Wilinatt Williams, and Rev. W. J. Pope;
and inspectors of districts were as follows Rev.
H. Burett ,• 2nd, Revs. E. J. Pope and A. A.
Leonard; 3rd, Rev. W. M. Runes ; 4th, Rev. G. L.
Nub and Mr. J. Crane; sth, Rev. W. J. Pope and
Mr. E. R. Dale; 6th, Captain A. E. Hansel; 7th,
Captain J. F. Hodges and Rev. H. P. &tikes.
The annual public meeting was held in the Town
Hall. where, before the statue of Her Majesty and the
heraldic bearings that adorn the Hall, the well-dresse I
members of the ithouritig claws might be again
impressed with the sympathy and duke for their
weß.being shown by the upper classes of the present
deg. Among those who attendet were—The Von.
Archdeacon Sanctuary, Powentock ; Colonel R. O. F.
I Steward, Captain J. F. Hodges, Rev. Reginald Smith,
Rev. Canon Nash, acting secretary, C load Bingham,
Rev. T. W. Knipe, Rev. E. Ludlow. tec.
Canon NASH announced that the Venerable Arch-
deacon of Dorset had kindly cons mted to preside at
this meeting, and also to be presidut of the society.
(Applause.)
The CHAMI Of said when he came there, obedient
to the cell of the hon. secretary, who asked him some-
time ago if he would on this Lucas' n preside and dis-
tribute the prizes, he did not exactly realise what it
Involved; but he had since had a letter raying that the
first part of the agenda at this meetit g was that the pre-
sident should deliver an addrese. He was not much in
the habit of delivering form ,1 addresses; but bad
much plume in presiding an I saying a few words.
He did not live in this favoured district, and Carer, re
It was the more honour and grest kindnees they had
shown him in inviting him there. Mr. Kindereley
wrote that he should have c me himself, but Mrs.
Kindersley was so unwell that he could not leave
her; that was • matter of great regret to them
all, but especially to the spaker, because Mr.
Kindersley c retained within hinis-df mr much
rif the history of this us eistion that he would have
instructed him (the epeaker) what t do, The a.socia-
thin was for the improvement of the (rendition of the
.labouring CUM% and very properly they were defined
to be not merely lab niters in agricultural work, but
all who are labourers and not 113 .sterd, sat he sop-
posed it would he impossible to have a nobler title
and a nobler object. It was • grand object and a
grand title, and one in which a great number of per-
sons ought to he combined, lie wished labouring
friends to understand that the association wishes to do
nothing, and will do nothing to interfere with the
honourable place they fill, or with their liberty—
nothing of that kind, it simply endeavoured to help
therm who may not have the full measure of opp ir.
lenity that others have of helping thernselees, and
letting them see things that can be done by honest
labour aud diligence, of hem oMng. in • certain way,
rich, to make them feel the resp nnihility of having
an honourable p aition in society, of having some little
property, of taking a respectable position in society
instead of falling back upon the poor rates, or upon
the alms of other people. This association would help
men to help themselves in various way. It must he
distlectly understood there are lame ass ciations in
these dayc which are not very sati•faetory, because
they have • tendency to divide clue from class, and to
separate men basted of gathering them t but this
association knows that all gathering 1,1 fr ,tia God, and
all scattering Is from bdow ; whatever tends to
scatter must be wrong. and whatever tends to leather
is from above. It tends to gather those who are blessed
with wealth an I property, and to put them within the
reecho( others, and it teaches men to feel their responsi-
bility, to try and endeavour to take c ere of themselves, to
have —not independence in the wrong seem, but to
have • right and sound and rolar independence, and
to do all that is poodhle to keep it—that • man
should have a wife who is not only nice in other way.,
but who will keep his things m n led, rend him out
ti ly, 1 ele at him before he goes our, and do all she can
to present him as • man who is d .ne well by in his
own home. (Applause.) The semoiati in sri.hes to teach
him t do all he can, not only to make the house good,
but his allotment garden, his flower garden, and
everything around him good also, to show that he has
got this piece of possession, that he is fond of it, and
that he has • poeition as well as env one else in the
country. The object of the s edety is distinctly the
most excellent of objects, for it is p-rfectly impossible
for any to say they are not boun I to do everything
they possibly can to improve the condition an
position of the labouring people around them. A good
number of laeourers are either h re or are represented,
and they owe a debt of gratitude to those ladies
and gentlemen in this district, and who head the
county in various ways. Some have passed away—
Mr. Porcher and others whom he might name; but
the emaciation remains, and it ought to be the means
of creating good fellowship between those who are
more or leu helped, and those who endeavour to help
them. Then, first of all, he believed the object to be
ezcellent, most excellent; nothing could be better,
and because it endeavours not only to help men in
things material, but in the highest things pveible ; it
encourages, for instance, • man to send his children
where they can be properly educated. He was going
on to say that the promoters of this association for
many years have been the principal persons of the
county, or they have been connected with It; the
Lord-Lientenent of the county is president, and there
are other principal inhabitants among the promoters.
so the association has • claim to honour on the part of
thou who promoted the work. Then it has a claim to •
rnerleh:r„unrybt.'".7iottii.b.T.l.erhs; trnhaeltrtsareoenhterlai.
For these reasons everything that can should be done
to help it forms, d, to dolt honour for its past and all
we can for it in the future. There are one or two good
things that the county has done ;for instance, by the
county magistrate' we saw the institution of •
National School Society, and he was not sure that the
magistrates of another county Lad such "society. That
was an answer to the statement that the rich have not
cared for the education of the pone. Religious people
were those who set it going; among those who moved
in this most healthy way were the magistrates of the
county of Dorset, and it developed into that which is
doing • good work—the National School Society of
the county cf Dorset. It would be interesting to
know that • simple definite return, a public return,
has been made for the work ; the Educational Dspart-
went makes this retire—that this county stands first
among the counties of England in reading and writ.
ing. (Hear, hear. and applause) Never let it be said
that this county stands behind I Sometimes we have
the "agricultural labourer" reproach cant against it—
seared which he solemnly protested—but here is this
reward for 13 out, a reward of the greatest p egible
value. They might go to Weymouth schools, or to
Portland (a most remarkable school), and find they
were excellent, and that is a great thing for us, and the
People who have worked for It in many ways will be
very grateful. The association was started 36 years
ago, it was found fruited to the time., it has done •
good work in the past, it is doing some now, its object
remains, and it is excellent. The prizes are given for
good cultivation of the ground, for well keeping the
bowers, for csrefulness in general; they are given
to the cottager.' wives for good work, and
all these are exoelleet things. He lived in
• country pariah, not in this great centre and
they in the country parishes find it very difficult to get
their country people to compete. He found here that
the parishes in the diets-lot number 60', but only 21 of
them compete, taking all the five dare% therefore
considerably more than half were left out. Thst, of
course, was not setisfactory in itself, but be thought it
would be possible to nuke recommendations t the
committee, whereby that might be amended. Then,
they came to the prizes for vegetables, howl,. and
bread. It was very nice to go round that room sod see
the beautiful vegetables, but they came from a very
small number of parishes; from parishes where there
are kind Individuals to teke • great deal of tumid., they
were sent, and some Pe
deb,. are nowhere. There was
their friend from Tolpuddle' and other very good
friends, front whose parishes there are competitors;
but his own experience was that it is imieresilde to
succeed widely in class B while they restrkte I them
to exhibitinn. in 13 irthester ; they must localise the
society, and have some local exhibitions. Thin' was •
very pretty exhibition; but it was limited to •
very small number of parishes, for they mull not come
up from the country to compete at Dorchester with-
out spending much more than the value of the prizes.
With record to Clam C, "Industry, ureic*, and
economy," there was • certain small number of liberal
contributors, all belonging to one clan, the bona fide
lIPPIr clam, and those prises are only given to those
who have been not less than two years or an in the
service of the members themselves. It seemed to him
that was • narrowness not worthy of this great object,
and that aria 0 might be developed greatly with
much good effect. Then they came to the question of
school., and they saw what a change lord been made
here. It was most necessary to do all they could to
promote attendance at schools, and now we have •
very severe word, the word "compulsion." which is
carried out, or very soon will have to be if people do
not do so now, and it Ibecowes a question whether
swooveagoosat way aiibg glum In pow dim way.