The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1881-11-15 00:00:00

DORCHEBTER FARMERS CLUB.

The first meeting of the Session was held at the
Antelope on Saturday evening, under the presidency
of the Chairman, Mr. H. W. Hawkins. There were
present—Mr. Alfred Pope, Mr. it. N. lloward (Mayor
of Weymouth). Dr. kldridgs, Mr. T. Chapman
Saunders, Mr. John Grove (Weymouth), Mx. Loader,
Mr. G. Williams-Andrews (Bon. Bea), and Mr.

Pearce.
TheCflatalteN,lnzzing the proceedings expressed
hls pieeaun at them Nunn, but wished the
&Mandan°e had been larger. His feelirms of pleasure
were, be said. marred by very sad ones ; he alluded to
their late respected friend, Mr. Genge, who had
suddenly been taken away in the mi int of his good doings.
He was generally respected' and well-known by them
all. (Hear, hear.) He could only say that so far ea
he knew him, he wee a num whom he himself very
much respected, and he might say everyone with
whom he was connected respected him. (Hear, hear.) Ho
wes one of the principal members of the Club, and
was at one time Its President, filling the offics well for
many years—he was ready at ell times not only to
read papers, but to outer into discussion on every
subject brought before him, and not only would they
tram him there ea • farmer, but the whole county
would miss him. (Hear, hear.) He was a moat
energetic man in everything he undertook. (Hear,
heard The Yeomanry would miss him, farmers would
miss him, gentlemen would miss him, be would be
missed by the magistrates at Quarter Sessions, in the
position he occupied as Chairman of the Grand Jury,
and he believed the whole world—the whole world of
Dorset—would MOH him; because he did not believe
amen of that class, an honest and good man could be
taken from them without being much mimed by every-
body. (Hear, hear.) For his part he very much regretted
It, and he begged to move that the secretary be asked
to send a letter of sympathy and condolence to the
bereaved widow and family, who would feel his lose
more than anybody elm. (Hew, bear.)
The MAYOR of Weymunth seconded the proposition
with feelings of melancholy satisfaction. By the death
of Mr. (..;sn.;e they 66d sustained a loss not only to tee
, Club but to the county at large—(hear, bear)—
because be did not remember ever baying met a
geatieman mixed up with agricultural matters, who
brought nigh An Annnlnt Of mental p awes Co boar upon
what we/ the best for the agricultural interest at large.
, To him as a private friend, as well am to the Club at
' large, he was ever ready to discuss every matter in its
fullest and fairest hewing, irrespective of patty views or
party politics, and he believed his loss would, for
many there, creme one of those gape which it would
take • very long time:to fill. (Hear, beer.) Havim
I briefly referred to the shock which the Club had
• sustained, Mr. Howard went on to say the question
for that arising was what steps should be taken to
make It more beneficial to the farmers generally. At
the present moment agriculture bad suffered • very
severe shock, and especially as regarded the
r mums over which they had no control, and
If ever there was a time when agriculturists

' it wss tba—prepen-
Ile WWI sorry to think their society was not supported
by farmers Enure generally; all he ooidd my was they
were very foolish indeed, for their own individual
interesta, in not supporting that society as It deserved,
because he oonsidered their society in coming to the
front ought to be supported by men who might come
there and discuss the pros and coat. of the various
. _ . .

que-stioos aie-o-ting agriatiture generally. Agriculture
was • question which affected the nation at large, and
especially the counties. They could not fail to see
that the agricultural interest of this country we.
attacked by the easy and rapid means of transit from
Amezica and elsewhere, and it was useless to think
that the prices which had formerly been obtained
would be obtained in the fixture. They Dever could
be, and if they had to sell agricultural produce at a
oadocse price, on whom was the logs to fail? It could
not tall on the tenant farmer, although it might for
the time being, because the tenant farmr WY the
capitalise The landlord had shown his willingoses to
meet them, and the question woald arise whether the
lowering of rents, as it had taken place, would be
sufficient to meet the loss sustained by the compeon
which at the present moment existed. The next thing
was that the prices which they had heretofore
reoeived, they would never receive again, and the
tenant farmer would hays to see how his capital would
stand in the competition between owners of land in
this and other counties throughout England and
(MOWS of land in distant counea. Then cams the
question of labour. Labour here might be very ex-
pensive, but if they taxed what the labourer required
as nemesities of life, such as corn and other things,
they would require an extra and a proportionate price
for their labour. That appeared to him to be out of
the question. Then they had to consider the
question of machinery. They must remember
that machinery did its utmost for this country.
All Mode of implements were produced by which the
utilization of the laud became cheaper and less expen-
sive; but machinery having done that, it did not stop
there, unfortunately for them; but that which was so
beneficial in the cultivation of the land extended itself
to the means of transit, and the same machinery which
raised the price of the land hai also reduced the cost
of transit, and having done that they had to deal
with land in America at a vary low rental, and the
holders of the land in America were now in competi-
tion with them. This was • very important question
f them to consider. He bad formed the opinion that
in the competition at the p_resent existing, something
would have to give way. What was that something?
Was it to be the farmer's capital? It appeared to
him, and he was sorry for it, that they would have to
deal with the rental. The farmer could move his
capital elsewhere. Ii he had £5,000 or £lO,OOO in his
pocket he could invest it where he liked. He need not
Invest it in British soil. They talked about severing
I relationship with various towns, cities, or villages,
I but when they could come back to those place's in 7 days,
' there was nothing in it. While the farmer could remove
his capital elsewhere, they could not take up acres of
land and remove them, and those people who had
Invested money on land, rightly or wrongly at • very
high price, they were the very parties who would have
to reduce their rentals in order that the middle man,
the capitalist, may compete with others in the market.
Agriculture must be supported, and there must be •
permanent reduction somewhere. (Hear, hew.) In
conclusion, he once more alluded to the late Mr.
H Gangs. e had never known a manse clear upon the
various questions affecting agriculture, and CODS who
was so anxious that the Club should prosper, and he
(Mr. Howard) as • member of the Club and also
privately, expressed his extreme regret at the very
great loss which they_ bad sustained by his death at the
present moment. (ilear, hear.) He begged to move
"That the honorary secretary be requested to com-
municate with other clubs in the county, with a view
to calling &public and general meeting of egriculturiste
to discoed their present condition and the memos of
Improving their prospects."
Dr. ALDRIDOI could not allow the proposition that
they should present • letter of condolence to the widow
of their late friend to pass, without adding his word of
sympathy. He was sure their Chairman and Mr.
Howard bad not said one word too much-scarcely
enough. They had all esteemed the lets Mr. Gongs
most highly, for he was the most amiable and the most
intelligent of men. (Hear, beer.) He could not but
be respected by everyone who had the pleasure of his
acquaintance, and the loss to the club and to the county
generally was very 'mat indeed. (Hew, hear.) He
&ly eympathised with the
r family, and sinocil
dtored the death of their kind and good friend,
, hoar.) To Mr. Howard's proposal to hold a pulo
L, 'meeting, be gave his hearty support. They were
doing the something In Elomersetsh ire, for he understood
a meeting we. being held at Taunton that day, attended
by the landlords and the tenant farmers, and there the
whole mater was to be discussed. He considered
they ought to take the initiative In this county, in
memorialising the Government to bring in • Bill for
the relief of the mealy pressing burdens which agricul-
turist' at present sustained. (Hear, hear.) All the
rates were based upon the land, and, even if the local
burdens were relieved, he was afraid it would not
benefit them very much if the rents were not put
down to whet they were 30 years ago-25 to 30 pir
cent, lower than at present. At that time when
corn was selling well there was great competition for
farms. There were not half-a- oxen farms to be let,
and the farms were always let to the one who would
give most money. It was not the fault of the landlord;
it was what they would do themselves. Now, owing to
the bed seasons which they had had for several years
pug, and also from the different reasons which Mr.
Howard had so ab..y explained, the land could not
produce whet it ought with the explosee so heavy
upon it, in fact, many holders found it very
difficult to make both ends meet; and as to a
margin-there might have been a margin 30 years
ago, but now when they calculated on the present
burdens, and the present rental, it left no margin at
all. He strongly supported the suggestion of Mr.
Howard, and the sooner the better, and he did hope
that the farmers of the county would endeavour to
urge the Government to take the whole subject into
early consideration. (Hear. hear)
Mr. Atraw POPS added his humble testimony to
the worth of the gentleman who had been taken from
them. The late Mr. Genre was one of tholes men
whom they could ill afford to lose-(hear, hear)-he
was one of those who always took a sound opinion on
the various matters of importance, and was very clear
in expressing those opinions and imparting them to
others. These.qualite they seldom met with in any
profession, or in any practical man whom they had
amongst them. (Hear, hear.) Referring to what Mr.
Howard had been saying. he did not on the whole
quite agree with his views as to the permanent reduc-
don in rents. He believed they had had a dark dull time,
and he believed also there were better times in store
for them. He believed, with a few good seasons,
the position of the farmer would to some extent
recover itself, although he did not think perhaps
that rents would immediately go back to their
original value. He thought that while they had
them markets for their goods and commodities, and
while the mane of transit were being made so much
more easy, so would the price olf,=bi be kept up ; but
be could not see at all that the of stock, of dairy
produce, or the price of meat were less now than they
were three, five, or 15 years ago. He believed they
would find that all them had increased in the same
ratio to the increased taxation, and the increased
charges for labour which had fallen upon the Agri.
=Barba. He might also say with reference to the
labour question to which Mr. Howard had alluded, that
corn,the staple food of the woak iog man, was very much
reduced in value, and he thought that would have the
tendeocy to reduce his wages-(hear, hear)-and if his
wages were reduced, he thought that would, as a
matter of course, lessen one of the charges which the
agriculturist now load to bear, and would to some
extant stand in the way of • reduction of rent.
Although he did not take quite the same view as Mr.
Howard did in this matter, he held with him that it
would be most useful and most beneficial to the
farmers if they would hold together, stand together,
and meet together, and if they would discuss these
questions in a fair and liberal spirit. (Hear, beget
Hs could not help thinking what • loos they had
sustained in having that gentleman. to whom he
referred just now taken from them, f.r one more
fitted to take part In thus discussions, they could not
have found lathe whole county.
.(Hear, hear.)
Mr. JOHN GROVICS joined heartily in the expressions
of sympathy with the widow and family of their
freed, the late Mr. Gomm. They all deplored his
loss very much. He was a man he very much
admired in every way, and he symr
family very Anomaly. (Hear, hearthised with the.