The Sun.
London, England, 1852-10-15 00:00:00

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LONDON, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1852.

Farmers must make hay while their political sun
shines. We da not suppose indeed that Lord DEBBY
will walk out just when it pleases Lord JOHN to
walk in. Still, in the actual state of parties, no politi-
cal prophet can foretell bow soon some other Govern-
ment may supersede the present one. A Bilinistry of
professed farmers' friends is now in office. A Minis-
try of individuals, each of whom in the long seven
years' war with the League, and after their defeat by
it, in a three or four years' war with their con-
querors, fought steadily in the regiment of farmers,
friends. They have fought till they have at least en-
tered, by a sudden panic among their opponents, into
the very stronghold of their enemies. To such firm
and fast friends, friends now victorious and in com-
mand of the very citadel of legislation, the far-
mers are bound to look for something. How is it
they are not moving ? Do they not know what they
want ? Have the burdens on land quite vanished ?
Manufacturers could tell Government and Parliament
boldly enough what they wanted. Public meetings,
petitions, deputations (not always convenient to he re-
ceived by a Prime Minister) could leave no mistake
as to their wishes. Why are the farmers so silent ?
Is it confidence ? Well, but every one of them who
only sees a county paper at the Swan or the Maid's
Head, knows that leaders in Parliament crave above
all things the help cf "support without." Our far-
mers then should forthwith hold public meetings,
settle what are the burdens peculiar to land, and de-
mand their removal with irresistible numbers and
energy. Now or never!
Well, then, what are their peculiar burdens ? It is
not their raw material. The land-tax, nominal as it
is, falls not on them ; of the tithes the same is true,
they are a deduction only from the original purchase-
money, or inheritance. Agricultural horse-tax they
pay none—nothing for tolls in carting manure.
They are even allowed one horse to ride. Poor-rates
they pay more lightly than most towns, while the
towns relieve them of many of their surplus labourers.
Farmers have, however, peculiar burdens, and now
is the time to press them on the attention of Parlia-
ment. Foremost amongst these we regard the land.
lord's right to distrain for rent, and thus to obtain an
unjust preference over other creditors. At present,
low as prices are, there is a severe competition for
farms : obviously there are too many farmers. Till
lately the promise of protection in some shape, has
been the pretext for keeping up rants. Now that is ,

gone, there is the much more formidable fact left, that
.' if one won't give the rent another will ; and why
should the landlord take less than the market value ?"
All right, unless the laws favour the landlord in the
market ; this they plainly do by the law of distraint.
The landlord need not be so careful as other men in
respect to the class of persons he accepts as tenants,
because the law secures him his rent whether other
creditors get a Fanny or not. It may be said, that
after all the landlord prefers a tenant of good property,
and will give him the preference. True; still the
biddings of the class who ought not to bid at all, raise
the price, and enable the landlord to knock his article
down to the man of adequate property at a higher
price thanlit could otherwise have reached. If the
tenantry of the kingdom will unite to press this griev-
ance on the attention of the present landlord Ministry,
they can hardly refuse to remove it. The history of 1
this unjust landlord privilege is somewhat interesting.
The remedy for recovering rent by distress seems to
have been derived from the civil law; the feudal law
forfeited the estate, in respect of which the service or
rent was not rendered. But this forfeiture was in the
nature of a pledge, the object being to secure the
thing due, which being accomplished, the estate was
suffered to return to its former holder. The civil law
favoured the " pignorial" method ; this was the foun-
dation of the system of distraint. Till the second year
of WILLIAM and MARY, however, the things dis-
trained could not be sold, the idea of a pledge being
until then preserved; but by 2 WILLIAM and
MARY, C. 5, the distress could be sold. The land-
lord's priority is, however, limited by statutes,
as against execution creditors, but in th a
absence of an execution he must be paid
in full for as many years as are due. If an execu-
tion goes in, he can only claim a year, as against that
(or less under the County Court Act) ; but still, so far
as the law recognises bis right to a preference,
although it shows a disposition to restrict it, it is
clearly a remnant of the now abrogated feudal system.
In all reason, therefore, the law of distress should be
abrogated also ; landlords should be regarded as simple
contract creditors, and come in pari passu with other
creditors in cases of insolvency. This would make
them wide awake in the choice of tenants, and of
course somewhat lessen the present severe competi-
tion for farms. Should the present Ministers refuse
to abolish a landlord privilege, which is at once so
unjust to other creditors and so injurious to the
farmers, they must renounce for ever the character of
farmers' friends ; and must stand forth in the undis-
guised quality of landlords caring only for their own
class.

Another grievance is almost too obvious to need
mention. The G erne-laws . This is a burden which
though apparently in the power of the farmer to
escape by agreement, is not really so. By de-
claring, what to the agriculturist are only
noxious vermin, game, the law gives the
landlord a power of preserving it to the farmers' in-
jury, which he would never obtain otherwise. The
very name is something. To preserve game, and to
preserve vermin, sound like different things. Yet
rabbits and hares (we say nothing of winged game)
are as much vermin to the farmer as rats and mice.
His green crops, especially Lord CARLISLE'S
" glorious turnip," on which the fertility of his land
depends, are as much injured by the former as his
corn ricks by the latter. And so indefinite, so diffi-
cult to assess, is the extent of injury, that while it is
very serious, it cannot easily be made a subject of
bargain. The Game•laws are in fact another rem-
nant of feudalism, and ought to ♦anish with it.
Moreover the actual cost to the farmer for increased
county rates, for the rural police, who are but auxi•
liaries to the gamekeepers, for supporting the families
of poachers while the fathers lie in prison, and in the
mischief done by criminals manufactured by the
Game-laws, is by no means small. An intelligent
gentleman, in a small parish where the game was but
moderately preserved, showed us once conclusively
that the Game-laws cost that parish, not less than
1001. per annum. The " farmers' friends" would
struggle hard to preserve these " brute enemies" of
the farmers, but if the latter would bestir themselves
the rest of the community would soon compel the
Lords of the Soil to yield.

There is another burden which has been much
complained of, though we are not quite so clear that
it is a burden of very serious amount to th© farmers
we mean the Illalt-tax. The extent of soil which
grows the better malting barley is rather limited ; no
doubt, however, were the duty, and the consequently
increased expense of manufacture removed, there
would be a large quantity of grain malted which now
will not afford the duty ; and the middling qualities
of barley would be much more in demand. There
would, no doubt, be a better market for barley gene-
rally, and as foreign barley, es is well known, is by
no means equal to the English for manufacture, the
benefit would be chiefly to the English grower. Still
we are inclined to think that while excisemen are
maintained at all, and at an enormous cost to the
nation, the gain to the farmer would in no respect be
equal to the loss of five millions a year to the revenue.
It is the whole community which pays the tax. The
farmer only suffers as the sellers of all taxed articles
suffer, by the diminished sale of his article. Should
the present income-tax be extended to four times the
number of persons who now pay it, it will render
possible the removal of several taxes, and the farmers
will only have to show that it is more desirable to
remove the taxes on strong beer, than those on know-
ledge and cleanliness; or on some of the most extra-
vagantly taxed articles, such as tea and tobacco. Can-
not the farmers persuade the landlords to pay
legacy duty like other people ?—this would go a
a long way towards meeting the deficiency occasioned
by the repeal of the malt-tax. We cordially wish
that this and every tax on British manufactures
could be abolished at once. Excise regulations are
most pernicious to the process of manufacture itself.
They spoil a vast deal of malt annually ; in the soap
and paper manufactories they do ten times more mis-
chief. They are indeed a blight on inventive in-
genuity and economy in every manufacture they
touch, but they can only be removed entirely by
adopting universally direct taxation. To this things
will come at last ; and if we have to bear the an-
noyance of a scrutiny of our property and income by
the taxgatherer, we may as well bear it for ten as for
one per cent. We should have no more unpleasant-
ness to submit to, and we might save in Custom-
house, preventive service, and Excise charges of
collection, two or three millions a year at least, not
ono penny of which finds its way into the national
Exchequer. Let the farmers be awake—November is
at hand. The Mystery, or a finance scheme by Mr.
B. DISRAELI, is not yet published. It is quite pos-
sible for them to supply their own Chancellor of the
Exchequer with a page for his much-expected book.

History is under great obligations to M. VICTOR
HUGO. His recent contribution to the annals of the
French Republic must secure to him the gratitude of
all those who are capable of appreciating to the
fullest extent this elevated species of composition.
The sedateness of his style is really something remark-
able. There is perceptible throughout such serene
impartiality of tone, such refined delicacy of ex-
pression, such impassability of judgment, such im-
perturbability of temper, such exalted dignity of
manner, such persuasive lucidity of arrangement.
SHELLEY used to say of the Elgin marbles that they
were the despair of modern sculpture. It may b©
said with equal significance that the last literary pro-
duction* of M. VICTOR HUGO must prove the despair
of all future annalists. Already we have taken oc-
casion to instance some few among the characteristic
beauties of this historical masterpiece. We must now
venture to particularize a variety of other examples j
of a similar description, satisfied that they cannot fail
to command in like manner the most respectful and
unaffected admiration. M. VICTOR II LTG°, we have be-
fore remarked, sedulously avoids anything that might
have the appearance of mere abuse or empty vitupe-
ration. TACITUS with all his terse pungency of satire
never allows a sarcasm to degenerate into scurrility.
Neither of course does M. VICTOR HUGO—scurrility j
and his pen are altogether unacquainted. LIVY
sometimes indulged
in
adjective, but he nevercosnoresecetnerdreidblteo
,e,nd oalal'anmamn ding
with the voice of a ticket-porter and the volubility of
a fish-fag. Neither of course
does M. VICTOR
HuGo—a writer whose exceeding
atmosphfaesrteidniofuzifneyssfaoirf
diction breathes rather the

* " Napoleon le Petit," par Victor Hugo, The autho-
ri-ed translation is published in England by VizstAly
and Company, of 135, Fleet street,

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