The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-23 00:00:00

STAMPED ....sd.

PRICE

the all-important question of labourers' cottages. A
man, he says pithily, may easily eat too much and
drink too much, but no man can be too well housed.
Investment is not to be considered merely with re-
ference to the return it yields in the shape of rent ;
the return is also in the increased health and energy
of the labourer. The greatness of the country le_
pends on the race that fills it, and the race depend
very much on the cottages they inhabit. A great
scholar, who was apparently not aware that Solo-
mon did not write Latin, has told Mr Disraeli that
instead of " Vanitas vanitatunt, onznut randas" we
ought to read. "Sanit itus sanitatum, onnta.s
raei
anz:
tqs :" and to fix this in people's minds, Mr Disraeli
offers a prize of five pounds for the cottage which
is
kept in the best order, and thus gracefully intro-
duces his peroration. This is a wonderful improve-
ment upon old times, which it were invidious to
particularise ; but what we like is not merely the
selection of topics, but the heartiness with which
they are discussed, and the pains that have evi-
dently been taken to master them. The remark of
Cincinnatus when he was called to the Dictatorship
was, that for that year his little farm must remain
untitled. Had Cincinnatus been called upon to
lead a party in the English Parliament, his first
remark would probably have been how much his
knowledge of agriculture would tend to secure his
popularity and increase his influence. We have
been long taught to expect that agriculture would
take its place as a science beside chemibtry or geo-
logy; it seems not unlikely to make a considerable
inroad into the domain of politics.
DAILY NEWS.—It is gratifying to learn on Mr
Disraeli's authority that in the county of Bucking-
ham there is at least " a tendency" to an increase
of the wages of the agricultural labourer ; and as
this tendency is not new, but has existed for many
years, it may be hoped that he will shortly be able
to mention it in mere positive terms, and to speak
of its effects. An increasing sense of the value of
the labourer, which is naturally marked by an ad-
vance of wages, is one of the best guarantees for
that improvement in his household accommodation
which Mr Disraeli commended to the proprietors
who heard him as a necessity of the day and a duty
of their station. The great difficulty in the way of
such an achievement, according to Mr Disraeli, is
that cottage building does not give an adequate re
turn. The objection, he believes, is unfounded,
but it is nevertheless real, for it operates.
He argues, soundly, that, inasmuch as it is
theinterest and right of the tenant occupier to
have labourers lodged in healthy dwellings near
their work, any failure of the rent of the
cottages to give a return for the outlay upon them
will be supplied by the increased value of the farm
as a source of rent. But here we encounter a diffi-
culty, and get into confusion. If landed property
were held and administered in Buckinghamshire on
ordinary commercial principles, it would be enough
to show that the interest of the landowner and the
farmer and the labourer were identical,and the cot-
tages would be built. But from another part of Mr.
Disraeli's speech we learn that profit and gain hold
a subordinate place in the esteem of the landlords.
They are men who do not care if they only get a
return for their money equal to that obtainable from
an investment in Consols. "A man who has a large
estate does not obtain a large return, and he does
not seek to obtain it, because he is remunerated in
a different manner and by different means. He
is the possessor of property which by the consti-
tution of this country is invested with the per-
formance of public duties, and does not look for
those returns which other sources of investment
provide." Now the difficulty is this, that this
county, where the landlords place public duties
above private gain, is the very county where the
labourer is treated in a manner which can only be
termed infamous. The revelations on this subjelt
ct
made this time last year are not forgotten.
would appear, then, that the lot of the labourers
would be hopeless if it depended on the will of
landlords, who are above the inducements of private
gain, and who do not reckon the decent lodginghe-
of
the labourer among their public duties. Nevert
less, we shall hope better things. Mr. Disraeli has
delivered a good homily on a subject which probably
was overlooked in the harvest-home sermons, and
we trust that his ministry may be blessed•with