The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1851-09-23 00:00:00

MR. DISRAELI AT AYLESBURY.

At the annual meeting and dinner of the Royal Bucks
Agricultural Society, held at Aylesbury on Wednesday
last, Mr. Disraeli, M. P., delivered a long and able speech,
in the course of which he eloquently vindicated the supe-
riority of the British farmer as an artist in cultivation :

" It is no longer a doubt that the British farmer, who
was held up as a man so deficient in energy and enter-
prise, in skill and capital, is a man who has raised from an
acre of land more produce than any farmer either in Eu-
rope or America. ( Hear, hear.) That is a point now
universally admitted, and it is unnecessary now in any so-
ciety to discuss the truth of it. ( Hear, hear.) Even
yesterday I read a statement respecting the cultivation of
France, and there read that the average of the produce of
France was only 16 bushels to the acre, and in the United
States only 18 bushels, That circumstance would not
seem to show that the British farmer was so deficient in
energy and enterprise. It is also a fact, according to the
official papers laid before the House of Commons, that at
the end of the war with the American State the average
produce of an acre was 20 bushels of wheat in England ;
and when the corn law was abrogated in 1842 the average
was 32 bushels. I can only draw a very opposite conclu-
sion from that fact to those which have been drawn by
others."

The hon. member guarded himself against any argu-
ment to prove the policy or impolicy of the repeal of the
Corn-laws, but showed that repeal was carried on false
pretexts. As there could be no doubt that the agricul-
tural interest was now severely depressed, he said—

" I think we ought now to inquire what is the cause of
that great depression; and if we can arrive at any satis-
factory conclusion as to what is the cause, I think we
ought to try to ascertain what might be the best remedy
under the circumstances, and whether it is possible by
union and energy' to effect that remedial consequence
which we all desire."

The hon. member thus urged, upon the old doctrine of
" what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander," the
right of the agricultural interest to be placed upon an
equality with that of the commercial:—
" I say grant to the land, whether it is the claim of the
owner, or of the occupier, or of the individual who may
fill both positions at the same time—grant to the land the
advantage of the same principles which ought to be ex-
tended to all other industries. For instance, take one of
the great principles on which the commerce of this country
is governed. It is laid down as a principle that no raw
material of a manufacturer should be taxed ; well, but if
you look to the land, what is the first thing you do by the
present law ? They tax the land. which Is the raw material
of the farmer, in every way, under all circumstances, and
at the very earliest moment. (Cheers.) The farmer does
not step upon the acres he has hired, but he is immediately
called upon for a rate which is, in fact, a tax upon his raw
material. Well, I say, how can you reconcile it to your-
selves that you should lay down as a principle that the raw
material of a manufacturer—of cotton, for instance, should
not be taked, when the raw material of a manufacturer of
flour is taxed in every possible shape? (Cheers.)"
The hon. member next dwelt at:considerable length
upon the land-tax, the rates for the relief of the poor,
and other local burdens upon land, which local burdens
or taxation he estimated at £6,000,000, or one-tenth of
the annual rental of the country. He called upon all
classes of the agricultural interest to be united and to be
firm in their demands for the reduction of the excess of
taxation to which that interest was subjected above the
other interests in the state. He thought it was unwise to
ask for either a fixed duty or a sliding scale. There was
no doubt of the depression of the landed interest ; both
landlords and tenants were suffering; and that suffering
rose from their having to bear burdens which other inter-
ests were free from. Much better to make a demand for
the remission of those burdens, than to fall into bad
odour by calling for a tax upon breath The hon. mem-
ber promised to bring forward, in his place in parliament,
a measure in consonance with his views. In conclusion
he adverted to the new reform bill which it is said Lord
John Russell intends to bring forward, avowing his inten-
tion to give it his careful consideration, if framed for the
benefit of the people, and to oppose it if it struck a blo&
at the representative powers of the landowners and occu-
piers. The hon. gentleman was much applauded in the
course of his speech.

AN UNNATURAL MOTHER.—ElizaWhitson was charged
on Friday with deserting tro of her children, and attempting
to destroy a third by throwing it into a midden-stead. It
appeared that the prisoner's husband had left a small por-
tion of money in the hands of a man named Wilson, for
the maintenance of the children, and this was given to the
prisoner weekly, but she dissipated it in drinking. The
prisoner was ordered to find bail to keep the peace for
two months, or in default to be imprisoned.