The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-09-16 00:00:00

THE SPEAKER ON OUTDOOR RELIEF.

The annual harvest home on the Sussex estates of the
Right Hon. the Speaker was celebrated on Saturday at
Glynde, near Lewes, the Speaker himself presiding. Dinner
was served in a spacious marquee in front of the mansion;
and, in response to the toast of "The Chairman," pro-
posed by one of the old employes, the right hon. gentleman
said :
I was unable last year, being abroad, to meet you at
this table, but I am more fortunate to be at home this
year and to be present with you at our harvest home.
The past year, regarded from a farmer's point of view,
has been ie. many respects remarkable. We have had a
severe and prolonged winter, followed by a cold, late
spring, with frequent and violent storms, as we living
on the South coast shall long remember. Happily, the
season for maturing and harvesting our hay and corn
crops was unusually favourable, and we have, with
your assistance, gathered in both hay and corn in the
beat order. There is reason to expect that wheat and
barley will prove up to the average in quantity, and
above the average in quality, so we have much to be
thankful for. This occasion reminds me that some
years ago I made to you, the labourers on the farm,
a proposal for sharing with me in the profits of my
farming, while I guaranteed you against serious loss
upon such investments as you might think fit to
make. lam sorry that my proposal has not been more
largely accepted. It was made both in your interests
and my own, and the offer is still open. I can under-
stand that there may be many reasons why my offer
has not been more largely taken up. There may be
those who, having no confidence in my fanning, have
no faith in my making any profit. Certainly the past
two seasons have been especially adverse for farmers,
but I look for and expect better times. Again,
there may be those who hold that they have not
the means to take a share in my business; but the
old saying probably holds good here—that "where
there's a will there's a way." But I apprehend that
the main obstacle to the full suocess of my proposal lies
much deeper, and will be found in our present pernicious
system of out-door relief. For generations the
agricultural labourer in these Southern counties
has been taught by the operation of our Poor Law to
rely upon out-door relief as his pension in old age—a
most evil habit, injurious alike to master and man.
The effect of this system of out-door relief, as now ad-
ministered, is to deter men from saving; for by so
doing they sacrifice their claim to relief, destitution
being a condition of relief. Hence it is that the old
men especially who have spent their best years are not
willing to forego their claim to relief by making known
their savings, and they naturally hesitate to close with
my offer. Ido not blame them, but I appeal to the
younger men among you to depend upon yourselves
and not upon the relieving officer for support in old
age. I invite you to invest your savings in the under-
taking in which we have a common interest, and there-
by to make yourselves independent, and to place your-
selves in a position to rise higher on the ladder of
life. I stated in this place not long ago when speak-
ing of the condition of the agricultural labourer, that
it would be well not only that the labourer should
have a decent cottage, but that he should also have a
garden attached of about 20 rods. It is no easy matter
to carry out this plan in all cases, but I am glad to be
able to announce that I have made a step in that
direction at Glynde and Beddingham, Mr. Ellis,
my tenant at Beddingham, has, at my request been
good enough to surrender to me a held of about two
acres which would enable me to offer gardens of the
size stated for 16 adjacent cottages in I3eddingham,
and by this arrangement I shall be enabled to offer
to those who live in Glynde further accommodation
in the Glynde allotments. I do not know that I
have any more to say than this—that anything I
can do in the furtherance of the well-being of the
agricultural labourer will be a thought always upper-
most in my heart, and I believe I could not give
them better advice than this, which is to depend
upon themselves, for their advancement must depend
upon themselves. And I advise you not to listen to
those who tender advice without weighing very care-
fully the value of the advice so given. I drink now to
your good health in return for your kindness in drink-
ing to mine, and I hope we may long meet in this tent
to return our thanks to an over-ruling Providence for
the mercies vouchsafed to us in the ingathering of our
crops.
The health of Mrs. Brand and family was proposed,
and heartily received, and then the villagers dispersed
and indulged in the usual round of out-door games.