The Express.
London, England, 1846-09-12 00:00:00

EETING IN DORSETSHIRE

b&PROVING THE CONDITION OF THE
LABOURING CLASSES.
SEAMINSTER, THURSDAY, SEPT. 10.
meeting was originally advertised to be holden
)wa Hall, but that was found to be too small to
date half the persons who sought admission, and
refore adjourned to the Parochial School. Lord
le was called to the chair. He was supported by
s. and Rev. Mr. Ward. The Rev. Mr. Manua,
Mr. Cookson, Captain Aitchison, the Rev. Mr.
'asset, the Rev. Mr. Lane, theßev. Mr. Whitehead,
of Bragfte, the Rev. Mr. Helyar, Captain Steel,
:r. Whaty, J. Oundry, Esq., Messrs. J. Pope,
J. Gilbert, B. Fox, Dr. Kiddie, and several hundred
neighbouring gentry, including a large number of
srmers, and others.
CHAIRMAN explained the object of the meeting,
was to form a society for promoting the field-
allotment system, under proper rules and
ins, as one means by which the condition
labouring classes might be improved. The
rd was not one of those who believed the field
ystem would produce all that could be desired for
Irv., but he did believe that it would materially
he alleviation of his condition. It had been said
prospect was so pleasant to a man as looking from
ow on his own land. Although it was not likely
old be able to say that of the labourer to any great
still by means of the proposed society, he would he
to experience some degree of that gratification,
it in possession of a piece of land which would be
it upon himself for its proper cultivation. Ile now
the more practical question, as to what chance they
establishing the society. Supposing that in those
where allotments existed it should be desired that
:ty should take the trouble off the hands of the
owners, it would at once be done. He was not un-
at in some parishes there might be some delicacies
culties to encounter, but he thought that, by the
of a little forbearance, those who doubted might be
to join the society, and support their scheme.
n Steele, the Hon. Secretary, then read the follow-
s:

THoM LORD ASHLEY.
Hyde. Aug. 2S, IM6.
will Ore great pleasure to assist the projected association for
aof the labouring classes in Dorset, by all means in my
*hall be happy, if I can thus render my service, to become
patrons.
I am, your very obedient humble servant,
). Steele, P.sq. AmaLay.
FRO3I THE BISHOP OP SALISBURY.

Senumete, Aug. 29, ISM.
r Sir,—l am very perry it will not be in my power to be
the meeting to he held at Beaminster, on the lath Septem-
f an association be formed for the purpose of promoting the
rent to in your letter, I shall be happy to become a member
di capacity as the committee may desire. I have been able
thing in the furtherance of the system of Sad gardens in
of Chadelock, where I have pet apart twelve acres of land
management of the clergyman of the parish, to be occupied
nner. It appears to be the surest mode in which a certain
'good can be done to the poor of our agricultural parishes.
I remain, my dear Sir,
Your very faithful servant,
axle, Esq. E. Stars.
FROM C. PORCRER, ESQ., RIOR-SRF.RIEF.
Clyffe, Sep. 7, 1848.
riced,—l have had a circular seed to me requesting my
e at a meeting at Bearanater, In favour of the allotment
lam sorry lam unable to comp) with the request on
next, but I cordially join in the that, under due
the plan is productive of essential neat to the labouring
ad if your meeting ow Thursday should lead to the forma-
" labourers' Friend Society," I think it will be of impori
Se county.
r long had allotments on my estate, and venture to enclose
dated rules upon which we hare acted in my own case, and
see found to answer their purpose welL Our limitation has
me-quarter acres, except when the family has been very
nt half an acre has not been found too much. I much doubt
m of a further extension.
I am, my dear lord, very faithfully yours,
I Starenlak. CITARLES POACHER.
m Akmnder Brink Cochrane, late M.P. foe Bvldport.)
• Sir, You will greatly oblige me by being the medium of corn-
ig to the committee of the Labourers' Friend Society my desire
enrolled among its members. I have edema thought that
,n allotment eyetem has never been sufficiently carried out
en parishes in Scotland. I have advocated it, and always
attended with the happiest results; it stimulates all the
lines, and induces Store of honest independence. lam very
et your meeting is to be on the 1001, as I should like to be
it it, but I fear it is quite impossible. Next week I might
taped it, and I should have been delighted to have done so.
rived in town last night, which will account for your Latta
mained so long unanswered.
Beliere me most faithfully yours.
ALEXANDER BAILLIE COCIIRANE,
Steele, R.N. 32, Grosvenor-place, Sept. 7.
- --•

FROM SIR DUDLRY HILL. -
High Cliff-Home, Lyme, September 7th.
r,-1 ant favoured with your letter of the Sth Mat., Steward-
of a circular for convening a meeting at Beaminater on the
improving the condition of the labouring classes by field
lotment. Being unable to attend the meeting. in cause-
s previous engagement, I beg to convey to you the expression
tire approbation of the praiseworthy intention to form a
ie nature of which roust be so beneficial to the labourer.
h much pleasure, give you any assistance in my power to
an laudable an object, and request you will have my name
the list an an annual subscriber to the society, in the welfare
every man should take an interest.
leliere me, dear sir, yours very faithfully,
teele, Eaq. DUDLEY }n: L.
I were also read from Captain Soobell, R.N., Mr.
he Rev. John Mules, of Flemston, the Rev. C. F.
, and other clergymen and gentlemen, expressive of
royal of the objects of the society and promising their
seistanee. Many of the gentlemen stated that they
pted the system of field-garden allotments, and had
em productive of immense benefit to the labourers u
utisfactory to the landowners themselves.
el Bnacios proposed the first resolution :
Practical experience, both in the neighbourirg counties and
>, has shown that the field garden allotment system has
o increase the menial., of the labourer, and has been the
rvvlairnißg bim from idle and dissolute habits."
Rev. J. F. Wix MIT, in seconding the resolution, ex-
his conviction that the subject they had assembled to
deserved the closest attention. When he looked at
elution which bad been proposed to them, and found
in of such importance included in It 'slim increase of
forts of the laboirrer, and reclaim/401bn from idle and
nis habits, he could not wooed lb' evolation without
to it a few remarks. Tbril4 Sellieulintgelloold be done
comforter the labourer so Obeereeddetessopt to deny.
Cell known to the clergy *ho visited the cottages elf
ricultural labourers, and saw their temporal and
necessities, that some immediate measures were
five. In their large parishes destitution of the most
al character existed. It would make many of those
ere at present surrounded by the comforts of life,
t• see the privation of many of their own industzi-
4'est-hatrW labourers. That much was to be done
yond question. The resolution spoke of the efficiency
field-garden system in promoting the benefit of

the hammers In that and the "eametiss. Of
the esftly et Dank be lessee lON having
bet resendy baleen connesta It of another
einner le could treat sateetehat . In Stab&
he kr *that a large numbstraf=st= to .11eheA tick'
Wei %rain and ease Me kw
seemed to ft* them. will& Mined larkes iM
, treamelemeepttlisea the that had
melably ersengkt weaken. lastriellithe genttemee) milked
ant die noble bra in the awl', err sense ether ps We-
rand he ads ine=se.a beset puma at ens et the fkaf
!hewhoa Ile Myna Ennis= deli-
weeettelamitalte the semandal eeedidedes ler** halteerses'
award& If the spading eyes sad helgh senate-
-armee et three Milks w hew L=andtened
pit bleated the senentit of the bbywk r tire;
wen ridded, seal Is seen by mak& no dean
mead fte a atone* exist es to the • adoption of
the Ilailarden spasm, now reeenewiled to its
camse. Assess& the pima= who want up ea thin
rd le setelve pima -wen erns vase led
bees poetises, Mims • eche bad been howsekes, de.
barred from every ectmilert, end yet, when surrounding
the table of Sir Edwina mitribis. the writer saw them in
decent apparel, and shrerieg, by
Se willingly
circumstancesthe value of the hem they bail Se willingly learned. Ti'f
added to this a ads meld be me& to their cottages, while
they showed the cordialities for pod •conduct which they
had so hanserably attained, it visa be a matter of re-
joicing that seek a system had been adapted ; for while on
the part et same there might be a end a the lip or a
serer* male, seek preens always left those happy homes
with IMMO sad confusion of face. That, he thought, was
evidence eadkient to substantiate that part of the resolu-
tion which aimed that the fieldipirden allotment system
had tended S. mess., the esseibrte of the agricultural
labourer. There was another part of the resolution which
was particularly gratify*, to him as a clergyman, and that
was, that the system alluded to had reclaimed them for
whom it was designed best idle and dissolute habits.
It was lamentable is find that, in those et unparalleled
enterprise, so many of the labouring popdeYoa gave them-
selves up to habits of idiom's ; but it was, ea the other head,
gratifying that so large a number bad been reclaimed.
Having had the pastoral supervision of a large Forkh in
Suffolk, and haring been chaplain of se =dee weekheines in
London, containing upwards of 6,000 penmen, he Ind became
practically acquainted with the wants and inteselene of a
pauperised population. He could my that, if May were
allowed the independence to which every Raillisman was
entitled—if they were kept independent of the mien and of
parish relief, they would be very shortly raked from their
present degraded position, and become the ornaments instead
of the pests of society. Surely, then, if these objects could
be secured, the society now about to be fumed had every
encouragement held out to them to perseverance in the holy
and mighty work of improvement. (Hear, hear.) He felt
great pleasure in seconding the resolution which Colonel
Blagge had proposed.
The resolution was put by the noble chairman to the
meeting, and was adopted rims. dia.
JAMES BANDINSLL, Esq., moved the second resolution:—
" That society be now formed, to be called the West Dorset
Labourers' Mead fieclety, and that the 0 :fue tat society be so
increase domestic eteneort and encourage habits amoopt
aserienitord endmishenhal labourers."
He said he Mt some reluctance at first in coming forward to
take part publicly in the proceedings of that meeting, but
when he discovered how great were the advantages sought
to be accomplished, he readily and at once overcame these
scruples—(hear, hear)—for he felt that it was not only their
duty but their interere to improve the condition of those
whom God had in some ,r”ests placed under them.
The Hon. and Rev. Mr. WAILD (a county magistrate)
said he had little difficulty in a vondthg the resolution, be-
cause he could speak with the utmost confidence of the
system it was now proposed to adopt. Two years ago he
gave part of his glebe lands as allotments. but since that time
they had all been returned epos his hands. That arose from
the fact that in his district the labourers had a landlord who
wu a father to them, and a tenant who was a kind friend.
(Hear, hear.) If that were the case with all landlords—and
unfortunately the fact was far otherwise—there would be no
occasion for societies such as that which it was the object of
the present meeting to found. He had been away from his
benefice a year for the purpose of recruiting his failing health,
and on returning recently visited a spot where many of his
parishioners resided. Its entire aspect was altered. The old
landmarks had been removed, dirty cottages made clean,
incommodious booms rendered capacious. Struck with the
marvellous change which had been effected, he naturally
inquired how such great improvements had been effected,
and found that the landlord hod created a vast number of
field garden allotments, all of which were assiduously and
efficiently cultivated by the persons to whom they had been
let. As a clergyman, he was glad to bear testimony to their
great worth. Thia brought him to make one or two remarks
on the subject of spade husbandry. During his absence
from England, he visited a plain, near Naples, four miles
long and two miles wide, on which there were 35,000 per-
sons. There were no poor-laws, no beggars, but every
person received a good day's wages for a good day's
work. Not a single horse or cart wu employed, but all was
done by spades, mules, and men's backs. He found that
as all was done by these means, the produce was
large, and every one was employed. He had beard it urged
as an argument against allotments, that they were likely to
consume too much of the ti tie of the labourer, thus depriving
his master of a portion of his services. He (the rev. gentle-
man) entertained no such opinion. On the contrary, be be-
lieved that the system increased a man's self-respect—it gave
him a stake in the country—it gave him a character to lose.
He believed, moreover, that it would keep women and boys
out of the field, certainly a great desideratum, for a woman
was evidently more in her sphere while providing for the
domestic comforts of the man, while the children's would be
better secured by imparting to them instruction, instead of
sending them to work at so esrly an age, with their minds
entirely untrained. At present it was the shame of England
—the richest country in the world—that her peasantry ware
the least educated, the worse paid, and the most miserable
in Europe. (Hear.) That was not a loose assertion, made
at random, and incapable of support. It could be borne out
by statistics, but, unfortunately, the fact was so painfully
evident to all who knew anything about the matter, that it
required no confirmation at his hands. Those remarks he
(the rev. gentleman) did not direct specially to the county
in which they were assembled ; nevertheless, it could not be
concealed that even in the western part of the county of
Dorset deep and dreadful distress existed. Quite enough
distrem, at all events, was there to warrant the immediate
formation of the West Dorset Agricultural Society, to encou-
rage industrious habits amongst the agricultural labourers.
Upon some estates, it would be readily admitted, the opera-
tions of the society would not be needed ; for there were some
paternal landlords who did all that could be desired for all
who were in connexion with them. The exertions ,of the
society would be especially needed in localities where there
were only persons of small capital, unable to carry out great
improvements. In such cases, the society would step in to
improve the character of the labourer. But after all, it was
to the landlords of England that the country must look in
that great and trying emergency. In that county he might
state fearlessly, and without any chance of giving personal
offence, that if the landlords of England would do their duty,
every other person in the country would also do his. (Hear,
hear.) A fearful responsibility rested upon them, and in-
stead of looking to the manufacturing and other districts for
the commencement of improvements, they should at first
look at home. They lived in an agricultural district, and he
(the rev. gentleman) would my boldly that the landlords
had no right to ask those under them to take their place in
attending to the wants and comforts of those who ought to
be the objects of their special care—he of course alluded to
the poor. (Hear, hear.) But when he spoke of the land-
lords and their privileges—when he said that he believed it
was their duty to take the poor under their special canes
he would not debar the tenant from the exercise
of the privileges which devolved upon him, or from
the great duties he was called upon to perform towards those
who were more immediately connected with him. How gra-
tifying must it be to the tenant on seeing his labourers in
the field meet him in confidence and affection, instead of
exclaiming, " See, here comes numbs.," and running away
to hide themselves; that should be the sort of connexion
misting between masters and servants, and in that case the
interests of all would be promoted. When he (the rev.
gentleman) thought of the duties and responsibilities devolv-
ing upon the body to which he belonged—when he reflected
on the debt due by the clergy to the poor—he confessed he
was utterly at a loss to find words sufficiently strong for the
expression of his feeling. The clergy had been told that they
could, if they pleased, do much in inducing the landlords to
perform the duties which were required of them. That was
perfectly true. In the hands of the clergy was, for the most
part, placed the education of the landlords of this country—of
England's best hope, of her broad and fair lands, and
to them the clergy always found a ready access.
How easily therefore might a word spoken at a fitting time
and in a proper place be productive of good effect. He
believed that the clergy would speedily reap the benefit of
such a course in the visible improvement of their parishion-
ers; and as " England expects every man to do his duty "
was in the time of danger the declaration of her great naval
hero, he trusted that would be the motto which his brother
clergymen would adopt that day, and by it regulate their
future course. If the landlords and the clergy would com-
bine in that great work, they would soon find that the
domestic comforts of the peasantry would be increased, that
industrious habits would thrive by encouragement, that the
love of God and the Queen would, to use the words of good
old king George 111. " reign in the hearts of a loyal and
religious people." The rev. gentleman resumed his seat
amidst general applause. The resolution was then carried.
W. T. Cox, East by
, moved:
"That the Im te means of = out sash object be let-
ting to the labouring classes of land, the quantity to be
limited to so much only es the labourer camealtirste with the aid of
his family, and at a modetste rent, end under cetera rules and
reatastione."
S. LANE, Esq., seconded the resolution, and remarked'
that he had enjoyed opportunities of seeing the system
which it was the object of the present g to adopt,
carried out in his own parish and the adjoining ones, and he
therefore could not help bearing his humble ions
the beneficial effects produced. It was' by
ing—not by the propounding of snot by
parading before the people instances, individual &tress,
that the gentlemen present would beet show their sympathy
for the poor, but by devising such ateainres as the present,
to show the labouring population that they were not h
in the light of senseless eerie—that they souk by shill sad
labour improve their condition, and rains themselves in the
social webs inch he believed to be the eff=rdwred by
the field-garden allotment system, when oat lender
the necessary re:&ations and restrictions, suggested in the
resolution. He-knew that there bad been in the minds of
some—and, indeed, that there existed still
t--erfemirebension
that the field-garden allotment system in with the
sinews and strength justly due from the labourer to the
employer. He did not believe that would be the case ; but
that the system would produce in the mind of the labourer
that feeling of honest independence, which the labourer
ought always to entertain towards his employer. The