The Sun.
London, England, 1845-02-28 00:00:00

rummers, as appeared by the news pape.., and to hope that
a remedy would he prepared by
u,111.11 to protect
4.110,5. e farmerens p.ral those oqat wil , I, ed by the tivation of' the soll.—(Cr: es of " Heir, hear.")
ITse3
Ire was aa'are that ~oin• ohject,:,,, would ho made to
urse, still consi.l( :-ing how rnany i‘.lembei a of the
ctu,, were landed proiTi-tor-, and iaavia;. as he fully
admitted, a strong and sincere sympathy with those who
cultivated the land, he th. tight no objection would be en-
tertained against that part of the subject, and that they
would be willing
It. to examine thoroughly into
He would give the House 80100 particular ca,,es
of the damage done to the farmers by game
Some few weeks ago he was in Hampshire, and IVHS
lconversing with a farmer, fro:u whom he received
_he following facts :—This person stated that he
that'ad seventy-eight acres of land in crops, and
according to a fair valuation, the damage
done was not less than 2041 in the year.—(Cries of
:‘ Oh, oh,")
The particulars were in the paper he held
tji his hand, and the person from whom he had it was a
enant of a Member of one of the Houses of Parliament ; and
ti stated that he was ready to come up and give evidence if
e Committee were granted. Another case from the
Same.
• neighbourhood was that of a farmer who held 600
C.es of land. He ‘%ottld be willing to give the names of
te parties privately to any Member if he had permission
°du so; but, of course, he could not do so unless he had per-
naision to that effect. This farmer had one field of 70 acres,
which ran alongside the demesne of the landowner, and he
B,,t,ted that the annual damage in that one field of 70 acres was
nu"l. ; and he said that he would as soon keep fifty sheep as the
ame which were destroying his crops. He In gar, to trap the
area, having the consent of the landlord for doing so ; but the
ntiosekeeper, who was !yin. in cover over the fence, found out
Chop it was that took th game from the trap, and he had to
PaY 50s fine,and e •7h d a licence. He then
took • lOs, costs, not havim., a
~„ out a licence, and for six months after that period he trapped
. :Itat rabbits and 28 hares per month. He bought his traps
tthe half gross at on( Laughter ) He bought
. all the traps in the town near him, and,
Ilt„,s,l°Pheught up all the traps that were there, he sent to
tra•-ulegham for others.—( Laughter. ) He had twenty-four
B,p, aft at once, but the garaekeepers came upon the laud and
fiTe. the trape,_(Laughter.) He said that he had land in
the mgr
Which were turned up by night for the sheep to eat in
the rn°llliuß ; but during the night they were half eaten by
Iv rabbit( g; u.e said the hares eat the young corn in winter
„ncsi
.11 the spring the young shoots did not ripen with. the rest.,
an:ti the thrashing machine did not fetch out the unripe grains,
detev!hat did come out was poor, mere chickens' meat, which
two reorated the general produce of the land to the amount of
1,,,t,0r three shillings per quarter. He said the hares made
of t'ta or runs of nine inches in width, through the whole length
vhizfields. The hares bit out the hearts of the young clover,
in fisa Prevented it from coming to maturity
in summer. Well,
farm Years damage to the
amount of 300/. had been done in this
tbio,,a°toithstanding the game destroyed ; and besides, those
created great ill-feeling between farmers and land -
titede%and between farmers and gamekeepers, and in a mut-
R -°' eaathe farmers felt themselves obliged to bribe the
seraehs_ es .
till, st" Per. This farmer went into many other cases,. which at
that ti:!e he would not enter into. He was anxious to show
Very ts state of things was not confined to one county. A
Rof, re'Peetable farmer, and a tenant to a Member of that,
tent a' wrote to him (Mr. Bright) from Stirling. He said,
„: I
ittt`t.about
h eighty-five Scotch acres, and in this small farm 5.../.
of Svc as destroyed by game. Last year, in a field of turnips
This acres, nearly three acres were totally destroyed.
acres Year it was worse; be had upwards of twelve
to Valueestroyed. He called three respectable . men
104 the turnips in order to charg
the
the landlord with the
woo and then he as obliged to carry remains of the field
fesnia w
sblecure place to prevent their being eaten up. He could
attohorthem with statements of a similar nature from a great
piers ea °
House f
farmers in the same neighbourhood ; and these ar-
Rive Pressed their willingness to come before the and
frettheir evidence. The next case he would quote was one
Nal the county of Chester. He would read a shortaragraph
prith„ the Stockport Advertiser, a paper which had no sym-
heeoith the objects in which he was interested. It was
',ere Hares and Rabbits." It stated that these animals
*lnch red to an extent in some parts of the county of Chester
Sad Was injurtou t the farmers wards they destroyed,
Pabl s o ?
ally le aSnapathy had been excited t those who were
k 3* sufferin from these animals. The extract went on to
, y, e „ g
lests,`",tat a few miles from this place 300 rabbits were weekly
testate'. and a large amount of hares, and the
"bile's. Were obliged to quit their farms on account
14r- °Me, without receiving any compensation for it.
tenantsB Were some of the farms at present unoccupied, and
ss s
at
"'ot be found for them, because they were over-
It„, ith „ ,
11' r.". Om game IS system was not confined to one county,
letter
horn (spread over several. The Hon. Member read a
by tc 'antler near Clare, in Suffolk, who stated that the loss
*Liter- gime was greater than the amount of the rent. The
tlt,
eitattributed the turbulent spirit which prevailed between
tetinPlaYers and the employed, in a great measure to the
/it
Itrolit-4 PaPer,he game-laws. In proof of this he referred
% in which it appeared that one half of the con-
Nell'. St the late assizes in that county, were under the 1
wil •ti ltwa•-•••( Hear hear ) In one parish the majority
oleo.: farmers . ;ere insolvent, and when they corn- 1
bree-,, they were told that if they disturbed the 1
.141 t t,;:e7 might give up their holdings ; and it !
at tel:',, that in those parishes in which the game laws were i
atttble,;,_Y enforced, there were the most incendiary fires. l
I:thy-itartet inth t county stated that upon 100 acres his I
(4tkk. ."e game a5O/ (Hear)—and he had been obliged i
1 net wa! It r. nrt La game licence to destroy the game.--( Hear. )He
era, of hadanother case, that of a farmer named
tre '°f M , - I
il 4
ssarshal s Farm, Sussex, which he (Mr. Bright) took i
had had some differ- I
tlllt, et s,°;'! ex newspaper. That farmer
'ete.-to his latallord into which he r. Bright) would not I
kV out this I dthe correspondence) which Mr. Hayward 1
itt, shod. s e to .
tt'att,„ Mr. Hayward, in his statement, divided
his land 1
-4 b„ - Parts the damaged and the least damaged. In llt Otter , most.
1
tiel'eal a portion of 1814 acres yielded 327 bushels of corn, _
aos_he it°„111 the bad side, 14 acres, 3 roods, yielded only 1
11,7 ' Vs•-•(Hear, hear)—and his damage had. been
Ilt-ttle4 ''Y competent surveyors at 129/. Ils.—( Hear. ) I
hnt,ttl.head an extract of a speech delivered at a meeting of II
ss_e'werl, Isaro Association, by Mr. Beaztey, a farmer, who had
Vilet",fen much praised by the Duke of Rutland for his 1
!doge4esag ent He said that in one field he saw 82 I
l -,,' thalt the oust of feeding them was equal to the cost of I
ietz4,-3 sheep.—(Loud cries of " Oh, oh," from the Con- I
_lteee„benchea.) Mr. Beazley further said that he would i
-91 r, 1; 411 tholes hares for any landlord in the world.— II
set.lod ssesar.) He ( Mr. Bright) was not an owner. of land .
lo,to lat was necessary to give him a county qualification. i
R' goal Neither was he a farmer; and, therefore, ,
faith ,ulSot venture to discuss abstruse questions connected i
Iretliterll.,leulture.--( Loud cries of " Hear, hear," and I
letsaey *,,; But he would give them authority for his facts. ,
sehllt-„,°ushi grant him the Committee he should be able to I
diArlin. ."..,,,' which no man could dispute, and which would i
Vase; it," Committee and the House that facts more extra- I
LtoioCart these were indisputably true. Another case he I
tOthis,-,•4eit to the House was from the county of Bucking-
I,: t. co 44t arld it was really deplorable that in many parts of I
h ' state Y there was such a waste of the produce by the game. (
Jrlttet, lUent was from a speech before the magistrates at i
lisle Ele"i"'•held at Buckingham or Aylesbury, delivered I
a fgt. arr
kt tig Y Verney. He was not a man to use exiggerated 1
kik its; and he said that those who hold lands where game
tlta be eat abundance, and the temptation to poaching couldo_ 1
flits opt, resisted, had special reason to complain f
Or
tom pd
t,tuul of the game-laws. There were some I
totaed, s„••• Which one-fourth of the crops were de. I
tott;P,eie„J,, fame. Nor was this all of which the farmer 1
liosseatee. besides the loss of his crops, he had to pay 1
sealertoer's eNtty-rates for the expense of maintaining the
Ittalatfe and family while he was in gaol. In a memorial 1
%Nth le iiielatrit Government it was stated that out of 593 pre- ,
Ni-q 1„ foe e,?„ounty gaol, RC or nearly one-third, were corn-
-4 'tie s ?"ences connected with the game-laws. These
tltaaoeoe;utY eases which he proposed to submit to the House
het:loth:4°P With this branch of the subject ; but he assured
let of -; toat he had a vast number of letters containing
tte,„°4 tl; Ltirnilar kind, which he was almost afraid to lay
e,d be- "oltse, lest he should be disbelieved. He knew it
40 op asserted that the landowners had a right to keep
stOish to heir land. He did not deny their right, nor did
th,"Perty. intelfere in the smallest degree with the rights ot
Ist,rave4 'Whatever injury was done in particular cases by
sates Watileele game, he thought it probable that greater in-
%foil to •,,,•7 done if the Legislature were directly and abso-
t!tst,.4 cirLs'frutge the rights of property, either of the land-
httlo4 stool,t`4auY other class of the community. But he thought
be admitted that there ought to be limits to the
Itis`aereerrePertY d • t oer that any man should
sseellh se th ~ an it was no pr p . . .
saes, our, an ose rights as to bring a grievous injury on his
o se,"'s told: (1 on the community. By the common law, nut-
'''er •-• Chafe nu down.Besides,the landlords ought to re-
dlyods th they t
* Ate- didnot keep their game on their own
In„
NI eetio `'aut-farmer, who had spoken at Aylesbury, at
tltelaidthg* to which he (Mr. Bright) had been invited.
tteittritotatl at be would be glad if the landowners would keep
tale loarigatue, but the fact was, the game was kept by the
ge, oe hs.,•ug occupiers The Hampshire farmer, to whose
le:i hltn'u already alluded, had told him that his landlord
Rees 4dtiPerrnission to kill rabbits, that he had no objection
reemerge)
~,ng hares, but that a gentleman in the next estate
ois!r's) elute. and that itwas that destroyed his (the
t mitt prodgame
,satle, estro„ ,uje• He had to pay 4/. for a licence before he
i'lles!1; isote 'els game, and then it took up his time and at-
oil Thin. after all he could not prevent this game from
atlhtnteet% on him serious injury. It was not
SNt deb l'i to introduce into this discussion any
ty theltetahle matte but it should be remembered
sod of .andew r' . themselves the
*.sl4 4 provi, ners had taken upon .
sse
tirsotip sat sto„ r'eg food for the people of this country. for
rjtkil',otlt it" inquire whether that system was right or
s`rtei`kaes the upheld by the House. They had constituted
Potts) ntjtiti e Purveyors-general of her Majesty's subjects of
14ateed that
and Ireland d 1 a lar e portion of the people
N Ptest 'Qat the 'r, . g •
of the failure
k ted. a the had y sre!•e iii-fed, in eon/sequence
pro-
d
`beaded fret
..._,3( a right to complain, when they were
%e' Prop su'ug to other sources for their food, that the
s. itio rletors
6-4 shouldolUsemen„ keep large quantities of game for
tkkrtaeitta destr 't wh a considerable portion of !he pro-
ed, T°Yea, and the evils of scarcity considerably
ils Its ss 4 fight be said that the farmer had made a con-
to lee ‘lle 1,11,, ...
opete'ed tha elord, and that he must stand by his bargain.
tipi tor t the farmer didmake contract, but every landed
la trop roust be
a
It ,‘ and
e aware that the competition for land was so
‘‘,41.• if ..ition a° merciless, that the farmer was not
k ted ;be to make a fair bargain.—( Hear, hear.)
katllo4oat thmers did make a contract of this sort,. and
4%6 know :, would not kill game, why, how would the.
*soh to see nether he did or not ? Fur he could easily
/NI e took 1? laP the quantity of game that was on the farm
'.ph eel, It. 0 .
(M B i ht)
If 4 teed that n this ground, then, he r. r g
If far etUbers he had strong grounds of appeal to several
taltti.,4aers, e of that Huse. He had heard complaints from
etattoo
11°T thav;: since this session had commenced,. of the
deers ok, n tatrrner.s. and he believed there was a notice of a
11„,*10 eu rue,. subject before the House, and he applauded
lordsolusre that had for its object. the amelioration of
be, ands off
14 Illk •S. 9otise w •
float 1, gnionen, .as it not possible for them to give
a
(re thast sonic ' retie{ to the farmers, by giving up a por-
k ess_ , e sole s portion of this absurd law, and make each
horn 'hiteear ) "riner or
, every living thing on his farm.—
tes tol:11 Lien 3 nal conversed with very intelligent far-
lshtz *Lriel Stith. oshire on this subject.—(" Hear, hear,"
the4t. " were rP)—and there were no farmers from that
till fart fro%
r,notointelligent—( Renewed cries of " Hear,
of , get ers had\ole ei
s Sibtherp, and laughter)—and
(sanethe „eslaes, assured him that the abolition of
Prote . would
it,re, a ono, On
e Compensate many farmers for the removal
art (iitlis to" thereto rn.
, He had heard the same from other
it,.e b._Uch of tLere ne would say that the landlords ought to
i:1 ofir.---( Heuar, e‘iljoyment of the chase, for the advantage
Shit of eal ' "at%) He would now pass to another
-41,, (semen; ec and
~
4f til-11 thi n u,b , call attention to the position of that
tit .eRo I Point he c's ueld what had been called allotments;
bad
4Ulpi:. mem ielt assured he should have the sympathy.
seen 4- Hefor Dorset and Hereford, if they were in
. yo„ reen hasst
nu -• himself • holes which
'kite ‘4:•s. rehs • Y triad b counted sixty rabbit
4,4 etitz 4 vita do. Zyoung rabbits learning to excavate,
hatiZeribUt few dinner (('rest laughter.) He had sown. peas,
of 4 bil‘h ,he had sof green ones and bacon during the
tse,; e" ilia
only had a gall n where he should have
4ear h' l' Was all
Os, ass.blit is own houSe,
done by the game. He tried bits
ettalreoteci all tent ouse, and thought to grow turnips and
he efr ro h°f Colonels_he rabbits.—( Laughter.) This land
so ,f Itlse. „ts estate Nyyndham, of Petworth, and the game
Nit h_erights ':f ,aud the estates of two other gentlemen.
' ibightilr taken great pains to ascertain the truth,
Y a fair statement before the House, In