The New York herald., 1879-09-08
ENGLAND'S DEPRESSION.


ENGLAND'S DEPRESSION.
ARRIVAL OF TWO MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL
COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE ITS CAUSES
THINK CONCERNING RECIPROCITY TARIFF
SOME VALUABLE STATISTICS.
Mr.. Albert Pell and Mr.. Clare Sewell Read men,
bers Of the Royal Commission to inquire into the
of agricultural depression in England and into
possible remedies therefor arrived in this city yes
terday morning on board the steamer City Of Mon
treal. of the Inman line. Though the passage was
trfe long both gentlemen emphatic in announce
ment Of its enjoyable character, ana one OF them
even expressed some regrets at leaving for shore.
Both the voyagers were in high spirits yesterday
morning as the steamer. which had been swinging
at anchor of Quarantine all night. came slowly
through the upper bay. The commissioners fully
appreciate the great field Of labor to which they
have been assigned by Parliament and Mr..
Pell. when some one announced to him at
breakfast that the ship had been secured to land,
smiled and remarked, ''To much land, too"
Both Mr.. Pell and his colleague quite alive to
the fact that this s land Of magnificent distances
and have made liberal allowance Of time in which
to all that is to be that will in any way
contribute to their information on the subjects
which they have been instructed to investigate Az
America Is terra incoonita to both the royal COM
mssoners, they have not yet formed any definite
plan of procedure. though they have general idea
to the route they will take Such information az
diligent reading would impart they are in
full possession Of. but are quite unin-
formed on such details as travel alone can
familiarixe one with. With the subject Of farming
<hapo both 90 To-, <ack Nf~
ture Of hale. hearty. Yorkshire farmer. 1t may be
well. before giving the views of these gentlemen to
glance ut the conditions out Of which grew the ne
cessity of appointing tho commission Of which they
members. When the facts and figures here
given considered 1t will be plainly that brisk
American competition IL the most powerful agent
in causing the existing depression in England Bad
weather and poor yields have contributed to aggrs-
vate the depression but these considerations aside
the competition alone would be sufficient to raise
the questions with which the commission Is
charged. From July AZ. 1878. to June "a. 1879, the
shipments Of wheat and Indian corn from
tho four leading American ports on tho
Atlantic coast amounted to 151, ,336O5s bushels.
or this amount Great Britain took $685., ,s45
bushels Of wheat and 52,777.578 bushels
Of corn, or forty-two per cont OF all the wheat
and eighty-six per cent of all the corn. Thus
cereal exports to Europe were taken in England.
The recently published report of the English Com
mssoners of Customs for 1873 shows falling Off OF
mports but IL is chiefly from Continental countries.
They have taken less wine. silk. sugar and -four
from France; less wine corn and iron pyrites from
Spain; less fax and seed from Russia; less timber
from Sweden; and decrease is also noted in tho
staple imports from Germany. Side by side with
these significant facts 1t 10 to be that the i'm
ports from the United states for 1873 increased
ELL 265. 1885, O0O those OF the preceding
imports to 600 'sa4s or more
than twice what they Ia 1869. The
particular relationship of these figures to the
agricultural questions claiming attention will
be when 1t stated that of the fs9. 900 900
worth OF imports. f52 100000 were for cereals,
for raw materials. While this increase has boon
going on In favor of America general decline is to
be noticed in imports from the English colonies,
suffering from competition. Thus the imports over
the colonies have fallen. during the year embraced
in the report from Ell. .363 900 to f62 63l 0O0 and
more than fvo-eighths Of this diminuton is in the
trade with India tor whcat, coffee. rice and seeds.
AN ENGLISH OPINION or THE SITUATION
The London Daily NeUs. commenting these
facts ays:The depression Is severe. but IL is de-
preston and not stagnation. Its worst feature Is
that it is OF prolonged character, and that no
turning point yet seems visible before us. Tho
prospect of another bad harvest, which s certainly
among the probabilities. II not among the ascer-
gloom OF the general outlook and may yet further
postpone the recovery for the first signs OF which
all classes anxiously looking. II s satisfac-
tory feature OF the commercial situation that tho
prices of tho necessities OF life continue TO be low
Remarking on this satisfactory feature OF the com.
"a bad harvest which leaves the loaf ut nv pence
when IL ought to be eighteen pence, has lost It's old
terrors More light, moro information, better fore
cast about the future the chief results to bo
looked for from the Commission. II wheat can no
longer be grown to proht In tho face OF rainy sea-
az on m N mar bQr srnJr Jrco
must take its place."
A QUESTION or PROTECTION
Concerning the question whether the greater part
of the onus Of present depression is with the
weather the Americans there exists considerable
cannot be induced to give decided answer to II.
They by no means decided that competition with
America is impossible. and avoid the question until
come TO ascertain. They havo few impressions on
tho subject aud they declare they have to this
country gather data on which TO base 90
without this data opinions from them would be
immature and perhaps faulty. On subject.
however, the community are unanimous and free
ton, is out Of the question When approached on
the subject Mr.. Pel answered i'm that such
thing was not to be thought Of. Protection would
mean with poor home crops high prices for bread
stufs aud the of the people would bo debarred
from the benefits Of cheap bread. which they
now enjoying.
SAMPLE ENGLISH FARM.
The Commissioners have. for purposes of con-
trast In their Ina this country, the de-
tails of earnings and expenditure OF q sample farm
In England 0OO acres In area One-nfth of the farm
IL considered useful grass land and the tenant keeps
d breeding stock of about hundred and forty
ewes and raises from fifteen to twenty calves In the
year. The occupier of this farm is considered TO be
one of the most careful and scientific farmers in the
Eastern countess careful manager and man of
marked ability In the treatment and handling OF live
stock. His accounts show that the gross returns
from the farm for the last three years have been as
tolowss-1S7G. f3, 3,162; 1877. f3.2SO; 1878, f3,lSs
For the period his yearly expenses have aver
aged f3.b40, divided as follows;-For rents. tithe
local water and imperial taxes, f1 600; tor labor.
25O for artificial foods manure and seeds, f+7O.
In. An, itssas ara nj runn