The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-06 00:00:00

Mr. Disraeli at Salthill.

The annual dinner of the Royal South Buckinghamshire
Agricultural Association took place at Salthill yesterday,
Mr C. J. Palmer in the chair. Among those present were
the Right Hon. B. Disraeli, M.P., Mr Harvey, M.P., Major
Gen Hood, Rev W. P. Marryatt, Mr G. W. Tromper, Mr
Holds, &c,
After the customary loyal and patriotic toasts,

Mr TROMPER gave " The County Members," and in the
course of his observations remarked that Mr Disraeli, in
his speech the other day at Aylesbury, had described farmers
and farming in a too roseate hue. The returns from wheat,
the staple article of their produce, was most unsatisfactory,
and this year their turnip fields were in a very miserable
condition. He was told that one effect of the right hon
gentleman's epeeeN was that wheat fell 2s—(a laugh)—but
he was sure that was a result which Mr Disraeli did not
wish. At this moment beans, the food of beasts, were pro-
ducing a higher price than the great article of human con-
sumption. He also dissented from the proposal of the right
hon gentleman to cross Downs with Cotswolds.
The toast was drunk with great cordiality.
Mr DISRAELI, in replying, said—Mr Chairman and
Gentlemen, I thank you for the very kind manner in which
you have received the proposal of my health—not the first
time offered in this room, and always receiving from you
that cordial welcome which is my best encouragement in the
performance of my duties. (Hear, hear.) I have always
felt great regard for this part of the county, in which my
earliest years were passed, ~and I still think that the man
who rides through the Vale of Chiltern rides through the
finest part of English scenery, and one which recalls our
ideas of old English scenery more than any other part of the
island. I should have been glad on the present occasion
to confine myself marely to thanking you for your re-
cognition of me as one of your members, and I did not
except that I should be called upon for the very arduous
duty of reply until, at least, the 4th of next February. (A
laugh.) But Mr Tromper has thought fit—and no man
from his long experience was more entitled to do so—to
make some remarks upon the observations which I recently
made before a portion of my constituents in another part of
the county. I am sure you will allow mo very briefly to
notice thole observations, and I am apt to think upon reflec-
tion that you will be of opinion that my views aro not so ill
founded as Mr Tromper would lead you to suppose. With
regard to the character of the present harvest—a very grave
question, upon which no one ought to speak with levity on
thoughtlessness—l certainly formed my opinion from in-
formation which reached me from almost all parts of the
country. From that information it was my opinion that
we had a very fine harvest: and, as regards that part of
England in which I am most interested—namely, the
county which I represent, I had some individual means
and some personal opportunities of obtaining information,
I listened and observed in the Chiltern hills, in my
own immediate neighbourhood, and from what I. learnt
and observed I thought the harvest had realised the
character which it had received in the greater part of the
country. (Hear, hear.) I did not mean to say that all our
crops have succeeded. I cannot recall a harvest in which
that result has occurred, but I thought that the general re-
sults of the harvest were highly satisfactory. I visited the
northern part of our county and our celebrated central vale,
and all my opportunities of observation led me to believe
that the ordinary character which was given to the harvest
was sound, and that it was abundant and successful. I con-
fess, however, I made one mistake. I was remiss in not visit-
ing the extreme south of the county, but the reason was this
—I found that all parties agreed that the cereal crops were
most abundant, and knowing what they were in the district
in which I lived, and learning what they.were in the valley
of Aylesbury, it never occurred to me that in the extreme
south, where there is a piece a corn land inferior to few in
England, laid out most conveniently in ample and admirable
fields and cultivated by some of the most skilful farmers in
the county—l say it never occurred to me that in the land
of theTrompers, the Naehes, the Alridges, and the Pullens,
there had been such a complete and absolute failure. (Laugh-
ter and cheers.) There I confess I made a great mistake.
I have learnt again what I have often learnt before, that
you should never take anything for granted —(a laugh)— but
such was my confidence in the soil, such were my recollections
of Cippenham farmers, and such was my knowledge of the
men whom 1 had always looked to with confidence as my
constituents, that in the general abundance of cereal crops I
believed that they would produce results equal to that of
any other part of the country. And from what I have seen
to-day I cannot believe—even after the Demosthenic in-
vective of Mr Tromper—that this favoured part of the
county of Buckingham has been struck with that barren-
ness to which he has alluded. (A laugh.) Indeed, when I
listened with attention to the speech of my friend, I dis-
covered towards the end that it was not so much low pro-
duction as low prices that ho complained of. (Laughter and
cheers.) Gentlemen, I honestly admit that I cannot secure
you high prices. I once supported a system—as did also a
great majority of the gentlemen connected with the cultiva-
tion of land in this country—which might have had that
effect ; but that has been now universally given up by the
country, and I don't think that she will be called upon to
secure high prices in that way by the skilful farmers of
Buckingham. Mr Tromper stated that at this moment food
for men commands a lower price than food for beasts, and

asked—what are we to do? I will tell you what to do—pro

duce food for beasts. (Hear, hoar.) Your business as traders
is to get a good return for the employment of your capital,
and, although I regret that the admirable cereal produc-
tions of this part of the country do not command a price
which can remunerate the grower, still, if you consider that
what is only intended as food for beasts will give you a
larger price, as commercial men you have only one line to
take under the circumstances. But I must refer to state-
ments which, if I cannot contradict, it may cost me the
honour of representing you,—namely, that these unhappy
observations which I made to your fellow-constituents at
Aylesbury absolutely lowered the price of wheat 2s. My
friend Mr Tromper, who is a cautious man, said that he only
heard it ; but he had an ardent supporter behind him, who
stated that it was quite true. (Laughter.) I have rarely
seen so serious a charge made ; and I do not know upon
what authority the protentious conclusion has been arrived
at. No, I should say myself that the results of my ob-
servations at Aylesbury, if I had any intention upon the
subject, must have been of a contrary tendency. If any
person of authority, who is supposed to have the confidence
of some part of the country, announces that the harvest
has been so prolific and abundant that it has seldom been
equalled, the foreign importer would begin to pause, and
ask what was the use of sending his produce to an island
where he was told there was so good a harvest. I
should therefore say that if I had not ma de that speech
the price of wheat would have sunk 4s instead of 2s.
(Loud laughter and cheers.) The third charge against
me is that I recommended my friends at Aylesbury to cross
their Downs with Cotswolds. ,What have we heard against
that proposition? An immense deal of declamation, but no
facts, no data, are placed before you, which should make
you for a moment give any conclusive opinion. An hon.
friend of mine, who represents a sister county—who gene-
rally, when I have made some after-dinner remarks, follows
me with some very grave observations—(a laugh)—has
made some reference to the views which I offered upon that
occasion. Mr Walter, above all men that I know, has the
happy art of making the most oracular observations in the
most oracular manner. (Laughter.) He has doubts—grave
doubts—of the justness of my observation, but his only an-
swer is an a priori one. Everybody takes it for granted
that if the Downs of this county are crossed by a Cotswold
ram then immediately the meat will grow coarse and in-
ferior. But has anyone proved that? I have heard of gen-
tlemen, and 1 believe there are gentlemen in this room, who
have tried the experiment, and 1 have been told by them
that the result is very different from that which is an-