The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-12-12 00:00:00

COLONEL BARTTELOT ON AGRICUL-
TURAL QUESTIONS.

Colonel Barttelot, Ml'.. in responding to the toast
of "The Members for West Sussex," at Arundel Fat
Stock Show dinner, referred to the strikes which re-
cently prevailed in the coal, iron, and building trades.
In all these strikes, he said, there was room for educa-
tion to step in, which would bring the men to think
not merely of the immediate results in such matters,
but of the disadvantages which must accrue to the
country in consequence. They must, he said, result in
driving the work into other markets. It needed only
a glance at America, Germany, and France to see
what had already been done in that direction, and
if the men did not mind what they were about,
they would drive away entirely that trade which
had always been the mainstay of the country.
As to the strikes in the agricultural districts he was
not one to say that men should not combine to obtain
desirable results. If their labour was worth more than
they were obtaining then they were justified in using
all legitimate means to obtain its value. Ile asked
them to look at the disastrous results of the agricultural
labourers' strike in the Eastern Counties, where the
men had lost the harvest, their homes, and their win-
ter's work. Let them consider how these strikes were

i;Co.;;;;;nt—ed:;;;Ci—wiWt-;;;; really required. A Las
ought to be well versed in the question beta° he at.
tempted to clircurs it. Farmers should pay their mon
according to what they deserved—not one uniform rate
for good and bad. In this way they would reap the
blessing of 'education, so that the men would learn
to reason for themselves. In his own employ he had
men who would calculate within a shilling or two
what the removal of large quantities ot manure
would cost; and they might depend on it that task
work was the greatest incentive the masters coold
offer. With respect to Professor Fawcett's resent
speech, he was bound to say be thought he could Out
have gone fully into the subject. Yet he made some
very strong remarirs on the agricultural labourer and
on the farmers anti employers. He thought he could
show on two points that Mr. Fawcett was wrong.
First, with regard to wages, if the labourers had been
in such a miseraltle conditiort, would not they long
ago have had their agitators holding meetings in thetas
parts? The fact of this not being so proved that
these statements had not been borne out. He had
taken an average of the earnings of forr ef his own
men, and he found they were from Michaelmas to
Michaelmas 16s. 2d. per week. Colonel Itarttelot
then drew attention to the advantages which labourers
in the country enjoyed which workmen in town did not.
Again, was it true or untrue that their cottagers' houses
had been improving during the last thirty years'
'they all knew the arguments which had been used to
stir the labourers up--that as to "free land" being, he
said, the greatest humbug that could be put before
them. They knew how happy and contented the
labourers wore in these parts, and they also knew it
was to the master's interest to raise the condition of
the labourer in every point of view. Then, as to the
other question—that of exhausted improvement—it
was one of the most difficult subjects to deal with. He
hail taken a deal of trouble to get at the opinions of his
agricultural friends on the subject, and he found thein
very diversified. One great thing was that the land
should be got up to a high state of cultivation, and not
allowed to go back. (Hear, hear.) One of the mem-
bers for Cumberland had said the other day that he
did not know how legislation could be brought to
bear on the subject. The question was, what
legislation did they want? There were two classes of
improvements. As to the permanent improvemente,
such as cottage building, draining, and road-making,
it was usual for the landlord to make then,. As
to leases. it was supposed that a lease should he suffi-
ciently long to enable the tenant who inverted his
money to thoroughly recoup himself by the time his
lease expired. In this county there was such a variety
of soil that there would be great difficulty in adapting
an act of parliament either in the case of a lease or an
agreement. It was different in Surrey. The only
thing to be done was to be fair and just both to
landlord and the outgoing and incoming tenant. lie
would go so far as to say that a man should be paid
for anexhausted improvements, but they must be such
as were of use to the incoming tenant semething
which 'mold be taken out of the ground, and which
would go into his pocket ; and that when there was Ito
agreement an act of parliament might step in to
decide the matter. (Applause).