The Express.
London, England, 1849-12-10 00:00:00

-CIRENCESTER AGRICULTURAL ABBO-

6iiiicii:

The annual meeting of this *Deist] of farmers and
sheep and cattle breeders of the Cotswold-hilh was held on
Friday evening, after the usual exhibition of stook, roots,
to. The pr othdings were of on unassally interesting
character, and 200 were present at the dinner. The cattle
show in the morning Iran rather above average merit; there
were more sheep than had ever been brought together at
previous anniversaries, and among the pigs was one which
excited much attention, if not admiration. It belonged •es a
Mr. Robert Newcombe, to whom was awarded the prize for
the " best fat pig." E irl Duels took a stogie prise ; and the
others were fairly diatribe ed amongst the most noted stock
brooders and farmers of the hill district.
At the dinner in the evening Earl Bathurst presided ; and
after the introductory toasts, that of " the Bishop and Clergy
of the Diatom" was gives ; an which
The Bev. H. CRIPPS addressed the meeting and tamed I
to the present aspect of agricultural affairs. He regretted he I
could not congratulate them either on the aspect of their pre-
sent or tutees affairs, but he thought that, looking at what
was occurring in the country, they had no reason to com-
plete. So long as they sent gentlemen holding certain
opium' to represent their sentiments in parliament, and so
long as there was a majority against them, it was their duty
not to oppose the laws made, but to torn them to the best
advantage. There were so many nostrums put forth for
curing the present complaints in agriculture that it was
diffienit to tell which to choose. One party proposed the
abolition of the malt tax, and another was for throwing
certain bent taxes on the government, but he could not
agree in either of these propositions. sums set up the posi-
tion that Is. and others that 2s. a bushel on wheat would
pay the grower's rent, but what was that when wheat
was 15s. per bushel ? (" On, oh," and some con-
fusion.) For himself, he did not care a farthing about pro-
tection. He had sold wheat this year at 101. per load, arid
had got as fair, •r even a better, profit than he had got last
y. ar at leg. He was not afraid of the times. There were many
present with a larger capital and more experience than him-
self, who had spent a large sum in manure and feeding. He
had n spent a farthing, but had cenfiaed himself to in-
creasing Lis labour and he had by that means merle two
crops grow wen only one grew before. He advocated an
increase of expenditure in labour on farms instead of re-
ducing the labourers' wages. Tory all lived in luxury ;
what was coast lend a luxury when he was a child was
looked upon as a necessary how ; it was only the poor man
whose comforts were measured ray the gunner* loud. 11
sobered the remedy fur agricultural distress wee in their
own hands. From his 'opener ce as chairman of the board
of guardians of the Cirencester Union, he could say that
he had seen families 01 labourers driven into the
meekhouse at a castor 501. a year who might have been kept
I est for bile. If the wages of thews men had been raise.l 2.. ,
a week, they would have been kept off the poor-rates. The '
remedy which he sug.teseed was, that they should farm no'
men land than they had capital to cultivate, and that they
should make the most they possibly cc uld out of it.
On the health of the members for the easti en division el
Gloucerershire being given, apologies were made for their
absence, the Marquis of Worcester being absent with his
regiment in Ire teed, and Sir C. W. Co 'rington being in ill-
health. 'fee "Members turCirencester" were then toasted.
Lord VILLIERS, eit P., reulied. He was aware that he
was addressing them at a period when the greatest excite-
moot prevailed on the present state of affairs. As to the mes-
sures which had caused the agitstion,they ought t o be discus-eel
in a spirit haying regard not merely to the interests of th•
minters as a class, but oleo to the general interests of the
country. (Hear.) Halted never flinched, when called upon,
'tom defending the course which he had pursued, or intended
to pursue, with regard to lelalletire measures put or pro-
-ytective, and he was fully prepared to du so when the tittiner
nth close ; but he did not think Ora the present occasion
was the right one for winning a declaration of opinion from
him as to measure. coming before parliament, or matters re.
hating to the agricultural hd.rest. (Ruch iuterruption.) But
he would venture to say one thing—that those gentlemen
who told the farmers that the ag ticultural interest was likely
to be driven into a corner, and to be utterly destroyed, talked
of that which they knew nothing about. Did they think
that an interest which represented the mass of the wealth
and intelligence of the country c told be so treated? He for
one, should be sorry to see the day when that interest did ton
see' int that doe attention which its position demanded. The
farmers' present difficulties were to be met by their own
exertions—(" Oh, oh ! ' and interruption)—aided by their
landlords. Any system which would produce the greaten goon
lily of corn tram the land would be doing the meat good tor
the couatry. ("Do, no!" and disapprobation.) He was
sorry to find that there were gentlemen present who ap
peered to think that raising a Inge quain was not
doing a great deal of good. (" No, no! ") nt of
ty of corn
&denten
to the excellence of the cattle show and the value of agricul-
tural smirks ; and slid, he thought that meetings such as
these, where all parties met on the best possible terms fairly
to discuss those question which were of s r mesh importance
to them, must have a Read tendency. It would also tend to
improve the breed of animals, and he slid tie thought they
would el feel proud of the show which .hey had had in the
yard that day.
Mr. MULLINGS, M.P., in replying to the same toc.st
said he regarded the full attendance of landlords and tenants'
at that meeting as a proof of sympathy on the part of the
former towards the latter in the present unfortunate state of
their affairs, and he hoped it augured an intention on their'
part to co-operate with the tenants in their eft:to to °bud,
tnose rheum .s of relief from their embarrassments which
ware called for. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Multlop made some
ellusions to Mr. Pusey's Tenant Right Bill, the Juventze
Offenders Bill, and the bill for throwing the expenses ec
lunatic asylums on the landlords, all of which had his cordial
support, and be hoped would be renewed in the next m-
aims.
Mr. B HOLLAND, formerly M.P. for Worcestershire,
drew a picture of a cl dh-making country in the far west,
where, to keep foreigners out et the market, they put on an
import duty of ss. per yard, their own cloth selling for
per yard. Having done this, and beaten the foreigners out
of the field, they raised the price of their own cloth to Ils.,
I upon which the landlords—the millownere, seeing what a
I profit their tenants were making—mind their rents, so thee
the manufacturers had to pry the =Moyne!, 2s. out of the
4s. of their extra profit, while the result of this state of things
was that the rich purchaser expended so much less money in
the purchase of other articles, the middleman wee
obliged to content himself with using one-half the cloth
he had formerly used, while the poor man soot.
became only half-clothed. Additional pauperism fol.
towel, and rates increased from the same cause. It
the end, the du'y had to be • withdrawn altogether, and
efforts were made to restore it ; bet puolic opinion
was so strong against it that it was given up and
cloth became cheap tram foreign ocompetition., conse-
quence, of the withdrawal of that duty was rally near the
same as the consequence of the withdrawal of the duty on
earn in this country had been. A cautious men, who had
watched the progress of event., and anticipated this state of
things, had acted judiciously ; though increasing his income
ander these changes up to the period of the withdrawal or
the duty, he had not increased his expenditure, and having
thus a good capital to fall back *ruin, he could meet the
times, and he called upon his lanalord to theist hiss in in-
creasing his produce to make up for reduced profits.
Mr. D. BOWLEY proposed the " Health of Mr. Meehi,"
a a well known by name, and to all the agriculturists
the oriontry. In the course of hie remark., in introducing
the Mast, Mr. Howley said he should henceforth discontinue
thee premiums he had been in in the habit of giving (in con-
nexion with this society) for competition by the agricultural
labourers who had kept their families the greatest number of
yews without having had recourse to parochial relief. The
object of this premium was to keep people from the work
hour., and his reason for discontinuing it was that some of
the great landlords about him were doing their best to drive
the labourers into the unions, by refusing to find them cot-
loges to live in. In two parishes alone, to his knowledge,
this system had cost the union in one year 1691., whereas an I
opocoite policy would have cost the landlords a mere
oohing.
Mr. MECHI, in reply, said they had had a good deal of
the doleful to eight, but he had no doubt there was a remedy
for their complaints. Let them send men to parliament
whose opinions were their own. A majority of such men
would moon put the matter right. (A laugh.) After some
remake on the supply of food grown in this country, Mr.
Rectal urged the importance of increasing our production by
every means, and thus avoiding dependance on the foreigner.
which wou d give employment to their labowere, and
would not reduce prices. Then, referring to his Essex
farm, Mr. Kahl proceeded to give a statement of the
results of his high farming system, by which he had doubled
the produce of his land. (A V tice.—" But what were
your profi.s? ") He must admit that as yet there had
been no profit, but he expec ed 'tome. (" Hear, bear,"
and a laugh) He thought, teo, that at such an outlay as he
had made there could be no profit on wheat at 101. a-load ;
hat there were ways of :wilting u,.• fir this loss of price.
They might depend on it that the lan t of England would
not go oat of cultivation so ling as there was an increase o:
population, and bidders for it at low rentals.
Mr. MULLINGS inquired how it was that the farm tr
the Cirencester Agricultural-College had never paid its rent,
although admittedly in the highest rate of cultivation ?
Mr. MEC HI replied that it was like his own. It would
pay In a year or two more. It had not had sufficiently fair
play yet.
011er toasts followed.

EFFECT OF THE CHANGE IN THE NAVIGATION
Lawa.—lt is stated that a new machine has been invented
tor sawing ships timbers, calculated to have an it. fluence io
cheapening construction whiet u ill be of some imp irtaoce
in canntsion with the repeal of the navigation laws. It
hes teen introduced irate the ship buildi-g establishment of
and
sisal:
(where four of this m are row being put up),
gad to have been fora u...0n trial to Ittodace tot
only a considerable sating in wages, but ales in matetiels
11 construction is simple, and it cuss t e Con, the futtecke,
and nearly every other put of the timben required in a ship,
so as to render them cap this of brig at once placed in
.heir p uition without any operati n of hated labour.—
Economist.
EXTENSIVE FlRES.—Yestertiey (Sunday) morning,
shortly before 4 o'clock, a fire hroke out in theremises I
occupied by Mr. Joseph Parting, a watchmaker and jeweller,
carrying on business at No. 114. St. George's-street (late
liatiliff-highway), which was not extinguished until nearly
the whole of the occupier's prop, rty was destroyed.-8h: ttly
before the above fire occurred, one of a very alarming cha-
racter happened at Nn. 19, Allred-place, Newierno-e%use-
way, is me tenure of Mr. Hooper, a linen-draper and silk•
mercer; and the flames were Out en inguished until they
had travelled completely through the building. Tt.e pre
Mire of Mr. *Oho.. dear in deer. (No. 20), and Mr.
Good, palmier (No. 18), are also damaged.