The Express.
London, England, 1851-10-20 00:00:00

HEREFORDSHIRE AGRICULTURAL

SOCIETY.

(EltO)t 013 t CORRESPONDENT.)
HEREFORD, OCT. 19.
One of the most stirring meetings of the Hereford.
shirt Agricultural Society ever held here took place Teeter-
day afternoon, when the great question of the day formed
the topic for the after-dinner speeches. Tho cattle show
was held in the morning, and was one of the bast ever
brought together for quality of beasts. The usual prises
were awarded, and, in the evening, a party of about I:2d
landlords, tenant farmers. and agriculturists, dined together
at the Green Dragon Hotel. Lord BATEMAN took the chair,
and among the company present were, Sir Robert Price,
Bart., Cotnewall Lewis, M.P., Mr. Booker, M.P.,
Mr. Wegg-Proset,r, M.P., the Hon. C. Banbury, Sir E.
Stanhope, Batt, Rev. A. Mire, &C. The vice-chair was
taken by John Williams, Esq., of Kingeland.
The usual loyal toastshaving been given end responded to,
the health of the county members ass given from the chair.
Mr. C. LEWIS was received with mingled cheers and
blest'. After thanking them for the honour dine him he
observed that he was afraid he could not congratulate them
on any very prosperous condition of agriculture (a laugh),
but ho might at any rate congratulate them on the succe-s
of the instithtion of which they had met that day to cele-
brate the anniversary. That society tied produced a
splendid show of stock that morning, and so far he might
congregate them on the sueee” which had attended that
object. But as to the condition of those connected with
the agricultural interest scarcely nine. months 11d
Knee her Majesty had expressed her
pared
vsig distress under which the agricultural interest wee
suffering in contradistinction to the other interests of the
state—(a voice, " Whet nonsense!')—and they might natu-
rally ask what bad the legislature done fur them. (Inter-
ruption.) Washers of parliament sent to the House of
Commons did not find themselves sitting in an assembly
like the present. composed exclusively of owners and occu-
piers of land. The hon. member then proceeded to corn.
pare the House of Commons to the banking "clearing
house" in London. In the House of Commons there were
different interests represented : some represented the agri-
cultural districts others represented the interests of Ireland
and Scotland, others the commercial houses, the support
towns, and the districts connected with the raining in-
terests and the various other complicated interests of this
vast community. The representatives of these in-
tenets met together in London, and by a system
of adjustment of mutual claims and interests—giving
and taking the port of each—they arrived at lest
at a specks of compromise to the benefit of what
might he regarded as the general interests of the country.
(Hear, hear.) They must allow him to my that he was
not expressing his own individual opinions, but those of per-
sons who had greater parliamentary experience than he
could boast of, and better means of judging of tho prin-
ciples on which this great country should be governed; and,
moreover, persons who were looked up to with more confi-
dence by the agricultural body itsilf, when he said that the
question of imports, which affected the agricultural interest,
must he mainly decided not by any mere local interests--
not by the interest of any one class, hut by the
interests of the whole community. (" Hear, hear,"
and cheers) That was the opinion which it bete
keyed every prudent IMAM who was interested or engaged
is the ownership or the cultivation of the land, for all prac-
tied purposes, and with reference to h.s own private inte-
rest—that was the opinion which it behoved him carefully
to consider. In luokieg at this question in reference to the
general interests of the country, there wen merlin accepted
tests by which the welfaia, and general prosperity of the
country were to be tried. Of these there were the state of
the revenue. It must be imagined that in a mixed assembly
like the House of Commune, one test which it would be
natural to apply to the condition of the country would be,
the state of the revenue ; and everybody well know that the
revenue of the country was at this time, and bad been,
in a flourishing condition. The last qua;ter's return had
shown a surplus in the hands of the Exchequer, and
then the trade returns were also satisfactory. Again, the
state of the Bank of England was satisfactory.; they found
that there hail been a great deposit of hulliun in the hook—
a point which had at one time created great alarm and fear.
Then let them look to the state of crime is the coaetry,
which •1.17, accepted as an important test in the condition or
a people ; there was nothing then to support a desponding
view ; but on the contrary there was a marked diminution
of crime. Another very important test was the relief of the
poor, and on this he would give them a few facts. They
proved that if they took the expenuiture for the relief of
the poor into consideration—a feature which was considered
as a fair index of the state of the working classes—that it
was on the whole diminished. lie (Mr. Lewis) had
ascertained the comparative amounts expended for the
relief of the poor of the county of Hereford tOr the last
three years. Now, Herefordshire was almost entirely an
agrimilturalcounty, in w hich it might be supposed that as the
winos of labour had fallen, the returns would not be favour-
able. He would not trouble them with any long or tedious
returns, but would read two ur three figures which would
illiotrate the state of things in this county. In the first
place he would give them the number of paupers that had
been relieved in this county in the three past years ending
July 1, which were as follows :—Paupers relies eif in
the year ending July 1, 1849, 8,061 ; ditto July 1,
1850, 8,02 S ; ditto July 1, 18.51, 7,833. Therefore
they would see that there hail bean a very con-
siderable diminution of paupers in the last this years,
under free trade. And now he would read to them returns
which, after all, would come home to their feelings more
than anything rise, viz. the actual expenditure for the
relief of the poor in 1815, and that of the years ending
Lady-day, ISIS, and Latly.ilay, 1851. In the year
'lending Lady day, 1815, before the change in the core
laws, the expenditure fur the relief of the poor
Ifur the county of Hereford was 45,1491. 'llw ee-
-1 peuditure for the year ending Latlyably, 1818, while they
would remember wu a year of very high prices, alter
the famine of 1817, was raised to 51,4201., while in the
!year ending Lady-day last (1851), the amount only
reached 42,9031.—uear1y three thousand pounds less than
in 1845. (liow many quarters of wheat less did it take ?)
There was no doubt that one of the causes of the diminu-
tion of the expenditure for the relief of the poor was,
that the cost of food VMS less, and therefore that it was ne-
cessary to make a smaller allowance to persons receiving
relief in money ; but that was one of the arguments which
had been used in favour of a moderate price fur food. It
had been said that the agricultural classes, on whom a good
deal of the cost of relieving the poor fell, would receive
certain amount of comptneatiou bur a reduction in the
price of wheat by the diminished cost of the relief of the
weir. Well, Ord was one of the elements which must
be taken into consideration when they looked to the ques-
tion in a general point of view, and with regard, not to
class interests, but to the entire interests of the country. Ile
(Mr. Lewis) only ventured to repeat the opinion which he
had already expressed, that this is a rpiestiou which Linda
not be decided with reference merely to local interests, butt
to the entire interests of the country. After a few other
observations Mr. Lewis sat down.
Mr. HoOKER also addressed the meeting, anti some other
"es followed, after which the party broke up.

CHARGE OF PcRJURT.-00 Friday the mingle-
testes of Wolverhampton were occupied inheariug a charge •
of perjury, preferred by William Peel, secretary of the
National trade Association, against Mr. Edward Perry,
tin-plate manufacturer, of Wulverhainpton. It will be re-
collected that at the last asdzes for this county, Peel, with
others, was coneicted of conspiracy, Mr. Perry ou that oc-
casion
being one of the prosecuters. The present proceed-
inp arose out of the evidence given by Mr. Perry on that
trail. The case was heard by J. Leigh, Esq., J. Hartley,
Esq., and J. Shaw, Esq. Underhill, Esq., and S. Cart-
wright, Esq., were also upon the bench, but took no part
in the proceedings. Mr. Roberts, commonly known as the
" Miners' Attoruey-General," appeared for the prosecu-
tion ; and the perjury was alleged to have been committed
at the Stafford life/20, held in July last, upon an indict-
ment preferred by George Henry and Edward Perry, in
which it became material on the part of the prosecution to
prove that William Peel was in July, 1850, in
the neighbourhood of the Star beer-house, in
Wolverhampton, in order to raise the inference that
he was cognisant of a certain hand-bill placed during that
month in the window of the Star. It was also alleged that
at the trial Edward Perry falsely swore that Peel war
during the month of July going in and out of the Star beer-
house, with the corrupt intention of causing Peel to be
convicted upon the indictment so preferred. A number of
witnesses having been examined, Mr. Leigh said that oa
I looking at the evidence, the magistrates were not justified
wcommitting the defendant on the charge brought against
' him. The evidence was of a very contradictory character,
and recollecting the character the defendant had hitherto
borne as a man of high probity, they could not, without
; etrong evidence, believe that he would commit wilful per-
! jury. The magistrates were, in fact, left in doubt whether
' Peel was in the town or not in the month of July, 1850.
' • Under these circumstances, the magistrates did not feel jue-
titled in sending the cast for trial, but of course the party
prosecuting would be at liberty to take the case before a
. I higher tribunal. On the decision of the bench being given,
I Mr. Perry was shaken hands with by his counsel and a num-
; ber of the respectable inhabitants of Wolverhampton, who
, congratulated himupon the issue of the hearing—Stafford-
sAire Advertiser.
I WESTMINSTER ABBET.—An act was passed on the
' 7th of August to " empower the Dean and Chapter of
Westminster Abbey to build on ground contiguous to
Westminster Abbey and for other purposes." By virtue
of this act the Chapter can expend 25,000/. in improvements
connected with the Abbey in the purchase of property in
Dean's-yard. Other acts have been passed by which the
• Chapter was empowered to make improvements and they
eta be now carried into execution. According to the recital,
the Chapter was "desirous of facilitating the formation of a
spacienu and convenient eommunicztion between the neigh-
bourhood of the Houses of Parliament and that of Buck-
, iugh.im Palace, and of otherwise improving the adj....cent
• neighbourhood."