The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-01 00:00:00

AGRICULTURAL STATISTIC'''.

The question whether —Berkshire should furnish
agricultural statistics to the Government, after a
form suggested by the Secretary of State in a cir-
cular letter issued to all the chairmen of Quarter
Sessions in England, in the month of May last, was
very fully discussed at the County Sessions, held at
Beading, on Monday last. Mr. R. Palmer, of Holme
Park, and many years M.P. for the county, occu•
pied the chair, and of the magistrates present there
were the Earl of Abingdon, Lord Overstone,
Viscount Barrington, Right Hon. J. R. Mowbray,
M.P., Mr. Walter, M.P., Hon. P. P. Bouverie,
31 P., &c.
Mr. Bxos, chairman of the last Sessions, held at
Abingdon, stated that, in compliance with the reso-
lution of the Court, he and the members for the
county had had an interview with the Home Secre-
tary on the subject of furnishing agricultural sta-
tistics. After stating fully their views to the Home
Secretary they were requested to put in writing
the points upon which they desired specific infor-
mation. They accordingly did so, and a reply had
been received from the Home.office, from Mr. Wad-
dington, the Under Secretary of State. The fol-
lowing extracts were read :
" In reply to the questions on which you desire
further information, I am to state that it was not
contemplated that, if the police were to be employed
_ _

in collecting agricultural statistics, they should do
emore than distribute the forms and collect the
returns, without being responsible for their being
accurately filled up. No decision has yet been
formed as to the necessity of making the returns
compulsory. This would probably depend on ex-
perience of any plan to be adopted for their collec-
tion. If any extra expense should be incurred by
he employment of the police in this duty, Sir Geo.
Grey thinks it might be defrayed without any ad-
ditional charge on the county-rate.
" The object of obtaining the information would
be fully attained by returns for parishes or districts
instead of for each occupier's holding."
Mr. BROS, after remarking at length upon what
took place at the Home-office, proceeded to state
that he felt great reluctance to put upon the con-
stabulary of the county any duty not immediately
connected with their office. He believed that the
returns asked for would be very interesting and of
great public advantage. If he were an occupier of
land, he should have no objection to furnish the
particulars asked for ; and if he had any influence
with tenant farmers, he should recommend them to
make the returns. The statistics appeared to him
to be utterly unobjectionable in every way; but
with regard to employing-the police in the matter
lie objected to it on principle. He therefore pro-
posed that an answer should be returned to the
Home.office that, in the opinion of this Court, it
Was inexpedien to employ the police of this county
in obtaining agricultural statistics.
Mr. CRUTCHLEY seconded the proposition, and
Stigmatized the notion of obtaining agricultural
Statistics as not only inquisitorial, but impertinent.
Major COURT thought that public utility re-
quired these returns to be made, and the only ques-
tion was as to the mode in which this should be
done. He did not know that there could be any
objection to the police being employed to distribute
the papers at the several farms, but as in each parish
there was a surveyor, overseer, and collector of
taxes, it would be desirable that either of those
'Should be engaged in the collection. And the ad-
vantage would be this, that as some of the farmers
`would not probably know how to fill up the returns,
either of the officers he had mentioned could give
the assistance required, and thus help to insure
accuracy in the return. He moved, as an amend-
ment, that, in the opinion of the Court, it was ex-
pedient that the county police should be employed
in the distribution of the papers, but not in the
collection.
Mr. WALTER, M.P., said, although on several
occasions he had expressed himself adverse to the
employment of the police in this matter, he felt
some difficulty to know how to support the propo-
sition of Mr. Bros, because it seemed to him, if this
was intended as an answer to the question pro-
pounded at the last Sessions, it would be an answer
in a different sense to that intended by the Court.
No doubt that the notion of employing the police
'was founded upon the circumstance that the police
were employed in Ireland, but Sir George
Grey had entirely disposed of that objection, by
saying, as he did in his (Mr. Walter's) hearing,
that there was no analogy at all between the rural
police of England and the rural police of Ire-
land. The Irish county constabulary were a totally
distinct class of people. They were employed more
us gendarme; or as military force, and stood upon
a different footing from what the police did here.
And there was an ambiguity as to what was meant
by the term " collection," and the sense in which
that word was employed. No doubt, it solely re-
ferred to the mode of collecting the statistics, and
that the persons employed in the collection of them
,should not, as in Ireland, be employed in going
over the land and making out the returns themselves.
That war not the sense in which they were to be
employed here. The county police here were not
asked to be employed in collecting the statistics,
but merely to act as letter-carriers to deliver the
papers in which the particulars were to be stated.
It was a question whether the Felice should be em-
ployed in this duty, and, looking at the question in
that aspect, they might as well argue whether the
persons to be employed should have one leg or one
arm. He saw no objection to employing the police
to deliver certain forms, excepting that, the duties
of the police being of a criminal nature, it might be
supposed, on this particular occasion, that there
was something of a penal character connected with
the collection of those statistics, rendering the pc r-
Ben on whom the ,notice was served liable to a
penalty. To that extent there might be something
invidious in the employment of the police, but he
saw no objection to the police bring employed to
deliver certain papers at certain houses. At the
Barn() time he was not disposed to concur in the mo-
tion of Major Court, for he did not see -why a ma-
chinery of another kind should not be employed,
and one more desirable. It seemed to him that the
objection to furnishing these returns was disposed
of by the returns being eventually made not of dis-
tinct holdings. but of large districts. Now, sup-
posing these returns were forwarded to the magis-
trates' clerk for each division of the county, it was
quite clear in any case, whether Ly the
police or any other body, there must be
some intermediate agent between the police
and the Home office. His notion was that the re-
turns should be sent by the Home-office to the
Magistrates' clerk of each division, and the Bench
should be authorised to employ either the
police or any other officer, such as the overseer, to
deliver these returns or papers at the house of each
farmer. He suggested that the Post-office might
do this, but an objection might be urged that this
would be attended with a heavy expense, and, be-
sides, it would require on the part of the person
sending them a degree of local knowledge which he
could not reasonably be expected to have, and ho ,
could only obtain it from some authority in the
different districts. His opinion was that the ob-
ject sought by the Government would be best pro-
moted by leaving the magistrates in petty sessions
to employ thepolice or such other agents as they
might think qualified—that the returns when filled
lap should be sent to the magistrates' clerk for each
'division, and they should be sent from each divi-
sion to the Home office. That seemed to him the
simplest and most effective mode, and he thought if
they sent an answer to the Secretary of Slate in
the form proposed by Mr. Bros it would be an
answer given different frcm that intended gene-
rally by the Court to the question proposed by the
overn :Dent. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. G. H. VANSITTAET, late M.P. for Beaks,
said, so far as he was concerned, he did not think
it advisable to throw upon the police, who had
already onerous duties to perform, other duties
which would occupy much time, and with a
very faint prospect of being remunerated. He had
no hesitation on that ground in supporting Mr.
Bros's proposition.
Mr. A. W. YetNo, late M.P. for Yarmouth, was
of opinion that it was not expedient to put the
police of this county in the invidious position of
I:.aving to obtain these returns from the farmers.