The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-14 00:00:00

AGRICULTURAL PROTECTION
SOCIETY.

A meeting of the Agricultural Protection Society
took place yesterday, at Old Bond-street.
There were about forty persons present. Besides
the .2\ oble Chairman, the Duke of Richmond, and the
Duke of Cleveland, we noticed, amongst others, Mr.
W. Miles, M.P., Mr. P. Pusey, M.P., Mr. Stafford
O'Brien, M.P., Mr. Newdegate, M.P., Mr. Allix,
M.P., Mr. Blackstone, M.P., Mr. Colvile, M.P., Mr.
W. H. Beresford, M.P., Mr. Hodgson Barrow, Mr.
Emery, &c.
his Grace the Duke of RICHMOND, on taking the
chair, said, that as this was the general meeting of the
Central Society for the Protection of Agriculture, the
Committee of the Society, being anxious to see as
many members of the local societies as could conve-
niently attend, present, in order that they might circu-
late amongst the local societies what they had been
doing, the main business of the day would be the
report of the Committee to whom the Society had
confided the management of its affairs, and he would
therefore call on Mr. Miles to read the report.
Mr. MILES, M.P., then read the report, which
stated what the Society had been doing since the
close of the last session of Parliament. They had
circulated 30,000 copies of the address which had
been put forth at the close of the last session of Par-
liament, which was considered to be satisfactory.
The friends of protection to British agriculture in
Parliament had watched over those measures which
came under the consideration of the Legislature
during the last session, and more particularly to
the subject of the repeal of the wool duties,
and to the Bank Charter Bill. The former
Bill they considered to be favourable to the
British agriculturist, and all the modifications made
respecting the country banks in the latter Bill had
been favourable to the agriculturists. The report
went on to say that British agriculture had every-
thing to hope, and nothing to fear from, the most
minute inquiry—that the Anti-Corn-law League had
ceased to send about their itinerant lecturers, and
were now become a registration club, a ground where
the regulations of the Protection Society would pre-
vent them from opposing them. The report went on
to say that it was believed large importations of flour
had taken place under the Canada Corn Bill, and that
an inquiry should take place upon that subject, which
would be brought under consideration at the next
general meeting, which would be held on the 14th
January.
Mr. EMERY proposed the adoption of the report,
which, being seconded, was carried unanimously.
Mr. ALNATT said that he did not wish to interrupt
the harmony of the meeting, but before it broke up
he wished to say a few words on the present state of
the British farmer. He thought that this Society,
and the other societies, ought to be more energetic, and
meet the Anti-Corn-law League, wherever they went,
to counteract the impression which their fallacies
and sophistries were producing. He thought
they ought to procure clever men to re-
but their arguments at every point.—(Hear.)
He would give a challenge to the League to meet
and discuss the matter in the town of Manchester,
where they had more friends than they expected. He
was an agriculturist himself, and he stood there re-
presenting the opinions of a great number of farmers.
He would say, as such, that the poorer farmers were
in a most wretched condition, and they could not be
in such a condition without bringing down ruin on
the agricultural labourer. He would propose, in
order to remedy such a state of things, that their case
should be brought before Parliament, with a view to
alter the laws which brought about such a state of
things. If the tenant-farmers had that spirit which
he knew them to possess, those laws would and should
be altered.—(Cheers.) Sir H. Peel had declared in
the House of Commons that they were come to that
point at which they must depend on themselves ; but
the result of his measure showed that total ruin would
fall on the agriculturists of England if Parliament perse-
vered in such a course.—(Cheers.) He thought that
the landlords should make themselves better ac-
quainted with the condition of the tenant-farmers,
and, if they, knew their distress, he was sure they
would not allow such ruinous measures to be adopted.

Mr. BENNETT said there was one part of the report
to which he could not give his assent—he meant that
portion of it in which it was said that agriculture
had everything to hope and nothing to fear. He was
of opinion that protection to British agriculture was
necessary for the British farmer. He feared that
further protection was not to be expected under the
present circumstances of the country ; but he thought
that the working of the Canadian Bill should be in-
quired into.—(Hear, hear.) He begged of Noble
Dukes and Noble Lords to consider how the burdens
on the land were to be paid if the farmers did not
obtain a remunerating price for their produce.
Either better prices must be maintained to enable the
farmer to pay the burden on land, or taxation must
be more equitably distributed. He was sure that
where he paid 15s. the manufacturer did not pay ss.
—(Hear, hear.) He did not wish that they should
appear disunited, but he wished that the words of the
report to which he alluded should be struck out.
The Noble CHAIRMAN said that he was sure the
landlords of England generally felt most deeply the
condition of the agriculturists, not only on account
of the good feeling which they had for the tenantry
of the country, but because their interests were one
and the same.—(Hear, hear.) if the small farmer of
100 acres broke down, the farmer of 500 acres would
soon follow; and when that took' place, he should like
to know how long the landlords would subsist? He
was glad that Mr. Bennett and Mr. Alnatt had
spoken out their sentiments as they did, for he was an
advocate for every man speaking out his opi-
nions.—(Hear, hear.) But if Mr. Bennett had
read the paragraph in the report to which
he referred, he would find that what was said was
that British agriculture had everything to hope and
nothing to fear from inquiry.—(Hear, hear.) With
regard to the Canada Corn Bill, if he found upon in-
quiry that it would be conducive to the interests of
British agriculture to have it repealed, he would
make a motion to that effect. But he would not
make any pledge till after a full and deliberate in-
quiry into the subject. He and his Noble Friend
near him had opposed that Bill at every stage, for he
was afraid, that when they could not prevent frauds
taking place in their own Custom-house, they would