The Sun.
London, England, 1870-02-15 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY, FEB. 15, 1870.

IN -the interest of our country farmers, it is to be
hoped that success may attend the measure intro-
duced by Mr. P. W. MARTIN, M.P. for Rochester,
and that a just settlement of the rabbit question may
be arrived at. At a late meeting of the Warwick-
shire Chamber of Agriculture, Mr. MARTIN, amid
the applause of the farmers present, declared he was
about to bring in a bill giving the tenant farmers free
right to destroy all rabbits on the lands they occupy.
Already this "Bill to amend the Laws Relating to
Game" has been brought forward. Of all the pri-
vate measures that may be consigned to the limbo of
unsaccessful endeavours during the present session,
this one, if reasonably put before the House, will
certainly have the least excuse for defeat. And yet
we have our fears concerning its safety. In
reading the clauses of the measure as
it now appears before the public, it is at
once evident that there is a rock on which it
has every chance to fall to pieces. "From and after
the twenty-sixth day of September, 1870, it shall be
lawful for any tenant, or any person employed by
him, or having his authority or permisssion, to kill
rabbits on the lands occupied by him,"—so far
admirable, but mark the remainder of the clause—
"any agreement or covenant to the contrary, not-
withstanding ; and any agreement reserving the
sole or exclusive right to kill rabbits shall be nulland
void." Now, apart from the feeling that such legis-
lation to prevent a man acting according to the dic-
tates of his good nature or his interest, would be a
hurtful interference, it seems a pity to endanger the
safety of the measure. by contesting this point. It
would certainly meet with much opposition in the
House of Commons, more in the House of Lords,
and in the arguments arising from its discus-
sion. the real wishes and just demands of
the tenants might ho lost sight of. At the
eleventh hour, it is said that Mr. MARTIN is
going to yield to the cry which arose from the
Warwickshire farmers at the speech alluded to, of
"hares too." In committee he is going to introduce
hares into his Game Law Bill. This addition will
also meet with strenuous opposition ; and it it, not im-
probable that, if such a privilege be accorded, it will
be appreciated by a very few. Is it likely that a tenant
farming a couple of hundred acres will take
out an annual licence to kill perhaps half a dozen
hares? The damage they do to the crops is nothing
when compared to the injury . wrought by the
rabbits, which latter should be distinctly and
unmistakeably set down as vermin in the same
category with rats and other noxious animals.
If such a measure does pass through Parliament
in its entirety, and hares as well as rabbits become
the property of the occupier, it will indeed be a
matter of congratulation ; but rather than the
whole fabric should fall to the ground
through the instrumentality of such a clause, it
might be better to make a slight sacrifice
ere it is too late. -Whatever matter may be found
for debate on this subject, let us hope that a measure
may be enacted by law comprising the simple prin-
ciple that a tenant may kill, or allow to be killed in
any way whatever, all rabbits on his farm, up to
and including the banks and hedgerows of any ad-
joining covers. The majority of those enemies to
the young wheat have their abode in the banks of
the copses and spinneys, and the right to shoot in the
hedgerows merely would be of very little use.
Further, the stipulation should not be forgotten that
a rabbit when driven from a burrow by the ferret,
and running towards the wood, may be shot and
picked up wherever it falls. Surely such a simple
demand as a measure like this would involve, could
not reasonably be refused by Parliament. The opinion
of those who understand the question is so unanimous
as to the amount of damage sustained by
the preservation of this species of vermin, that it
becomes merely a matter of according an easy and
pleasant concession to ac class of society who much
need it. The, farmer's pockets are not so full of
gold as they are represented to be on the stage. His
means of making his living are far from being un-
limited, and he finds plenty of rational animals ready
to snatch his property from him without allowing
dumb brutes to do it.

THE British nation have some reason to complain
of Mr. FISH'S dealing with the latest addition to the
Alabama correspondence. The old controversy
between the two countries was re. opened
by a semi-official exchange of despatches
between the new American Secretary of State
hnd the Earl of CLARENDON. Mr. Fon put the
American view of the case in a very vigorous paper,
which, ho explained, was not written in the nature
of a claim, nor, indeed, had any formal character,
for it was addressed to Mr. MOTLEY, to be
read to Lord CLARENDON. The British
FOREIGN SECRETARY replied in a similar
s,)irit. Fie drew up what he called some
" observations " on Mr. Fisu's theory, these
observations being really a masterly exposition of the
English view. Neither Mr. Etsll's argument, nor
Lord CLARENDON'S reply, were properly speaking State
papers. Yet Mr. FISH thought proper to lay his
own communication to Mr. MOTLEY before the
Senate, and to suppress the reply of the British
Minister. Surely this is scarcely ingenuous. As
Lord CLARENDON somewhat tartly explains, Mr. FISH
was at liberty to choose his course as to the impli-
cation of the correspondence; but if he gave the Senate
his own document, he ought also to have submitted
the English one, _ It appears that he did lay before