The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-09-04 00:00:00

Ely *ourbviby Otturfur.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1886.

SMALL HOLDINGS AND HOME-

STEADS.

NOT many months ago the political platform
was almost entirely occupied with the dis-
cussion of the question which came to be
popalarly styled the policy of the "three
acres aud a cow." It was, in short, freely
and somewhat easily held that those in
favour of labourer's allotments in the coun-
try aimed at securing for every rural son of
toil a small holding, on which he should be
able to maintain a cow comfortably, as well
as raise corn and other crops sufficient for
the food of his family. It will not be for-
gotten that this question became such a
burning one that opposition thereto was,
nominally at any rate, the cause of the over-
throw of a Government which had scarcely
entered into office. Since that time, how-
ever, the Irish question has been so con-
stantly to the fore, that allotments and
small holdings have been hidden, so to say,
out of sight. Mr. Jesse Collings, who heads
the Labourers' and Cottagers' Allotment
agitation, is not the man, however, to let
the grass grow under his feet, and he has
already taken steps for engaging the atten-
tion of Parliament in the matter at the
earliest moment possible. Meantime a very
interesting return has been issued by the
Agricultural Department of the Privy Coun-
cil, giving the number of farm servants and
labourers, as well as cottagers, in every
county of Great Britain, together with par-
ticulars of their attached and detached al-
lotments. At the last certsus it seems that
there were 766,712 agricultural labourers
in England, 91,801 in Scotland, and 40,836
in Wales; 80,045 English labourers have
potato ground, 4135 a grass run for a cow,
and 3,279 a defined quantity of land for
their own farming. The number of field
gardens, not reckoning railway allotments,
under four acres in extent, and not attached
to cottages, is in England 32,177, in Scotland
1476, and in Wales 3069. 35499 English,
1007 Scotch, and 2919 Welsh railway ser-
vants have detached garden holdings, mostly
granted by the railway companies free of
rent charge. There are 230,316 garden al-
lotments in England, and 27,152 in Wales,
of not less than an eighth of an acre in ex-
tent, attached to labourers' cottages. In
England 2783 are rent free, generally as a
sort of addition to wages, and in Wales 63
are rent free. The average rent of those
cottages and holdings which are not rent
free, is in England £1 14s 7d a year, and in
Wales £3 lOs 3d. 39,788 of the English
small holdings last referred to are held on
weekly tenure, 13,902 by the month, 50,377
quarterly or half-yearly, and 120,210 annu-
ally. In Wales the tenures are : Weekly
2,469; monthly, 3,491; quarterly or half.
yearly, 4,103; yearly, 15,492. One valu-
able table sets forth that on holdings of one
to five acres in England, there are 211,259
horses, 85,910 cows and other cattle, 85,730
sheep and lambs, and 142,127 pigs; while in
Wales there are on similar allotments 1,837
horses, 13,956 cows and other cattle, 21,947
sheep and lambs, and 12,221 pigs. All this
is very interesting, and will furnish useful
data to those interested in land reform to
work upon. A kindred subject to that of
small holdings in some respects is that
broached by the Homestead Law Associa-
tion, which has been established by a num-
ber of political economists in England, both
ladies and gentlemen, for the purpose of en-
couraging a system of individual thrift, by
the adoption of the American Homestead
and Pre-emption Laws, by which the homes
of the poor would receive equal protection
to those of the well-to-do, which are secured
under marriage settlements and of other
legaliinstruments. Experience has demon-
strated that the only practical way to ele-
vate the poor is to instil into them the laud-
able ambition of being householders instead
of lodgers; of owning instead of hiring
-iture ; and, if possible, of purchasing
frn'-gn renting a dwelling. The most
rather tu- ”kmen are those whose domi-
comfortable vf%... -,uired by means of a
cues have been at,, who have the
Building Society, and tne._ the most
best furnished cottages are always .. • ,
free from debt,tbecause they have sonnthz7.,
to lose. The Homestead Law aimed at by
the Association is intended to be the great
social charter of the poor man, precisely as
the marriage settlement is the talisman by
which the home is preserved to a lady and
her children whose husband has become in-
solvent. It will ensure to the wife and
children of a workman the inviolable sanc-
tity of a home, and guarantees them their
clothing and furniture under any unfortun-
ate circumstances in which they may be
placed. The Homestead Law would take
the landlord's preferential claim over any
other creditor when the rent does not ex-
ceed £2O. If a tenant does not pay the rent
due, he would be subject to the statutory
ejectment ; but the landlord would no longer
be able to constitute himself a judge and
jury without law, or sell the bed on which
the tenant's wife or children rest. He need
suffer no inconvenience or injury by this al-
teration, as his remedy will be by insisting
on his rent in advance. Many other things
calculated to go a good way in the direction
of securing to small householders their
castle-right 7 in their homes, and to a man's
wife and children their joint interest in the
family homestead, which the wife may have
acquired in connection with her husband by
personal labour or effort, are included in the
plans and proposals of the Homestead Law
Asscciation, which cretainly deserves care-
ful examination.

COMMENTS ON CURRENT TOPICS.

MANY remedies, political and otherwise,
have been from time to time suggested for
alleviating in some measure the agricultural
distress; but as was pointed out the other
day at a meeting in London, the matter of
flax-cultivation has by no means received
the attention it deserves. The amount of
flax and kindred products which we import
would, if grown here, occupy a million and
a half acres of land. It is argued that the
English soil is suitable, or could, with little
expense, be made suitable for flax-growing.
Why should we not try our agricultural
hands on the raising of our own oil-cake or
flax-fibre and seed? We are at the head of
the world for making cattle-cake, but we
let foreif4n farmers grow the raw material.
No country can manufacture flab and fibre
as well as we c.orn, but the tra,de has left the
land almost, because of the ruinous cost of
obtaininc, the raw material again from
foreign rands, hence oar flax mills are in a
state of decay. Take as in example the
once groat flourishing concern of Marshall's
at the Holbeck and of Leeds, which a gen.
eratic4l baelc employed quite a 14ti9 Own,
Ind now stands ruinously iallo, It used to
objeeted that flax growing impoverished
the ground, because straw es well as feed
were taken from the land and returned no.
thing; but in these days of artificial manures
that need reckon nothing. Such great iim.
provements have of late been made in flax.
watching and steeping machinery that the
crop might well, if given fair trial, succeid
in Ureat Britain, to the manifest advantage
of not only the agricultural, but also the
manufacturing interests. It is not unreason-
ably recommended that a grant be made by

Government for the tmcouragement of flax-
growing and manufacture. In Ireland there
is already a fund of two millions for the
purpese of encouraging profitable:industries.
Some of this might be judiciously employed
in trying what flax cultivation and manipu-
lation. would do in the distressful isle.

EN-BEAD-CENTRE STEPHENS, whose name
was constantly to the fore during the Fenian
disturbances, has been interviewed at his
modest dwelling in Brussels, and seems san-
guine that Ireland will obtain self-govern-
ment in the near future. He is naturally
disappointed at the results of the recent
elections, but looks hopefully upon Mr.
Gla,dstone's efforts in the direction of estab-
lishing the principle of Irish autonomy. Mr.
Stephens believes ,in "physical force," but
hopes extremists will not proceed to over-
ride the law at present, believing that there-
by the cause :would be damaged. Naturally,
the ex-Fenian chief looks angrilly upon the
appointment of General Buller, and declaims
against the Conservative party in no
measured terms, accusing them of sacrific-
ing Ireland to the landlord oligarchy. A
spread of evictions, he holds, will carry the
whole Irish matter into a grave and complex
state before this day six months. Poor Ire-
land! The forecast of !her future is dark,
whether the prophet be Parnellite, Liberal,
or Tory.

POLICEMEN are cheap in Oldham and Lei-
cester, costing there only is 8d and Os 81d
per inhabitant respectively; while in the
City of London a constable is most expensive,'
causing an outlay of no less than .L 1 8s 8d
per inhabitant. Few peoplo, it must re-
membered, however, live in London city
proper. The Metropolitan Police, outside
the city force, costs annually £1,376,593,
or an average of 4s lid for each person pro-
tected. Policemen make a charge of 3s an
inhabitant in Liverpool, 3s 8d in Glasgow,
2s 51e1 in Birmingham, 4s 2d in Manchester,
and 2s 3d in Leeds. Surely there need not
be all this discrepancy in the provincial
towns which in point of property value com-
pare about equally.

SEEING that the Queen's Speech caref ally
abstained from raising a controversial issue,
the debate on the Address has certainly as-
sumed abnormal proportions. Little irrele-
vant amendments have been proposed by
various members, and one after another ar-
gued out and then defeated. This sort of
obstruction, promoted and supported by
private members, is as reprehensible as it is
lamentable. The time is badly wanted for
urgent legislation. No new thing has been
said about Burm.ah, or about Ireland, or in-
deed, any side issue which has arisen from
the Address, and the whole debate will be
noted as a marterly fritting away of the
precious hours of Parliament in the conten-
tions of cliques and parties. It is time
something was done seriously to limit dis-
cussion to useful utterances strictly to the
point, so that St Stephen's might be trans-
formed from a temple of unrestrained speech
into a House of Legislature.