The Sun.
London, England, 1866-09-14 00:00:00

THE GAS QUESTION.

A long report from the Special Gas Committee detailing
their operations in Parliament during the late session, and
recommending that they bo empowered to continue their
exertions with the vie w of obtaining good and cheap gas
for the city, was read, and it was ordered to be taken into
consideration ate special meeting of the corporation, which
is to be convened for the purpose next week.
The Court then adjourned.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer in Bucks.

The farmers of the parish of Hughenden, in the
county of Buckingham, held a harvest festival, on
Wednesday, which was honoured with the presence
of the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Mrs.
Disraeli.

A thanksgiving service took place in the parish
church, after which about 200 persons sat down to
dinner in a tent erected near Hughenden manor.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER (who pre-
sided at the dinner), in acknowledging a toast com-
plimentary to himself, said that although the pro-
poser had referred in most flattering terms to his
position in other respects, what he most valued in
the world was the regard of his neighbours, and
there was no place that interested him more than
his home—the parish of Hughenden. (Cheers.)
They were met to celebrate the most important
event of the year, an event more important than
the existence or formation of a Ministry—(hear,
hear, and a laugh)—and that was the ingather-
ing of the harvest, and he congratulated
the farmer upon the fact that the harvest
in that district had been on the whole a
proportionate one. Let them hope that their friends
in the north of England might be favoured with a
still and sunny fortnight that would allow them also
to bring to a happy termination the anxious labours
of the year ; and let them particularly hope that
that might be the lot of their fellow-subjects in
Ireland, who had been favoured this year with crops
as plenteous as those of England. If the state of
the weather permitted a satisfactory ingathering,
he hope they would soon see in that country the
commencement of a prosperity and contentment
which had for a long time been unknown there.
The right hon. gentleman proceeded to say :—" It
is at moments like this that our minds are particu-
larly drawn to the feelings and position of those
classes to whom we are mainly indebted for the great
results of the year ; and among those classes there
is none which more deserves our notice than the
farmers of England themselves. When we remem-
ber-the hopes, the fears, the long anxiety, the vigi-
lance, the care, the skill which are necessary to
bring about and consummate the in gathering of the
crops, and which must- attend their various and
varying fate throughout the year, we must feel that
there is no class of our fellow-subjects who have a
greater claim on our sympathy and good feeling
than the farmers of this country. (Hear, hear.)
And although great changes have taken place in
the social condition of England during the last
quarter of a century, the farmers still remain the
most important class in the community, and for:this
single and simple reason, that no other class even
now are so great employers of labour. (Hear, hear.)
In consequence of that position there devolves upon
them a responsibility equal to their influence. Upon
them depends in 'a great measure the prosperous
condition of the labourers of the soil, and it is by
their patience and vigilance and skill to a great
extent that the general prosperity of the county is
secured. (Hear, hear.) Therefore at a moment
like the present—the only day in the year in
which it may be said that anxiety and labour
cease in the agricultural districts, when there
is no toil, when the object of the exertions of
the preceding twelve months is accomplished and
consummated, when we pause for a moment in a
spirit of exultation and gratitude before we recom-
mence the unceasing labours of the year that awaits
us, let us remember the farmers of England, and
let us congratulate them upon the present, and wish
them well for the future." (Hear.)

Subsequently, in proposing " The Labourers of
the Parish of Hughenden," the Chancellor of the
Exchequer said—" One of the characteristics of the
age in which we live is a just appreciation of the
position of the labouring classes ; and I believe that
we all here present feel a peculiar interest in the
welfare of those who labour on the soil of old Eng-
land. (Hear, hear.) To elevate their condition, to
render their lives more easy and more comfortable,
is now the object of every intelligent man who finds
himself placed in a responsible position; and I am
always glad to know that in that part of England
which we inhabit, and more especially in this
district, labour has become so valuable that it is
scarce, and that the consequence is that the condition
of those who work in our fields—our associates in
that-great system of husbandry on which the pros-
perity of the country mainly depends—is upon the

whole satisfactory. In consequence of the gra°
demand for labour wages are, in general, good ; and
with respect to another point of great importance,
namely, the residences of our labourers, I can truly
say that, as far as I could exercise any influence in
this parish, I have done all that I could without
ostentation—(hear, hear)—without interfering with
their habits, without taking a course which they
wild find troublesome—l have done all that 'could
to improve their residences and to make their homes
comfortable."