The New York herald., 1879-09-11
Agricultural Distress In England.

country.
Agricultural Distress tn England.
The immediate pressure on the agrieul-
tural classes of the British Islands is no
doubt consequence of the extremely bad
harvest of the present year, which follows
succession of bad harvests extending
through the four OF five last years.
There is, indeed, a great deal to
be considered besides the depress-
ing effect OF this long series of
bad harvests, but this is nevertheless the
central point of view in estimating the
present situation. The shortness Of the
crops for several successive years makes it
difficult for tenants to keep their engage
ments with their landlords and have any
thing left for the subsistence of their fami-
lies.
The rule of long leases is certainly
founded in good policy. Profitable agri-
culture requires large outlays for improv-
such large outlays cannot be reaped in the
first or second year, but only in consider
able period. Hence the mutual advantage
of long leases to both landlord and
tenant. 1t is not the interest Of
the landlord to have his farms run
down and the soil exhausted by o system
of agriculture which looks only to the i'm
mediate harvest Of the year. 1t is not the
interest of the tenant to incur the expenses
of cultivating poor and exhausted land.
Leases are accordingly made long enough
to encourage improvement of the land by
the tenant by enabling him to receive the
full advantage of the fertilizing improve
ments which he makes.
The stipulated rent on these long leases
is adjusted with reference to the average
crops Of series of years coextensive with
the length of the lease. But the stipulated
rents in the existing leases have been esti-
mated on miscalculation. There was no
foresight of the extraordinary succession of
bad harvests with which the agriculture of
England has of late years been afflicted.
The consequence is that the tenant
farmers, having been for the last three or
| four years on the brink, are now, by the un-
exampled bad harvest OF the present year,
in the very jaws Of ruin. Their crops do
not enable them to pay their rents without
encroaching on their capital.
The condition of English agriculture is
such that the cultivators are deprived of
the partial compensation which attends a
short crop in other countries. The ordi-
nary rule is that q short crop enhances
the prices of agricultural products. If
fewer bushels are raised the price per
bushel goes up in proportion. But in Eng
| land this rule does not hold. The free inn
portation of food keeps down prices even in
| years of severest dearth. The consequence
| is that bad harvests fall with tremendous
severity on the cultivators who find no re-
lief in higher prices, although the COM
munity at large is benefited by uniform
| cheap food.
| The agricultural distress in England is
intensified by the operation of new causes
| One of these is the wclderful cheapening
of transportation between the grain-grow-
| ing region of the United States and the
British market, which depresses the prices
OF agricultural products Another of these
causes is the new refrigerating processes
by which fresh meats and dairy products
are conveyed across the Atlantic to compete
with the like products OF British agricul-
ture. Until recently butter, eggs and
fresh meats were a monopoly of British
agriculture for the supply of British mar
kets. But this profitable branch of rural
industry is now intrenched upon,
diminishing the value of English
land for supplying the English mar
kets with articles which could not
formerly be supplied by distant
countries The consequence is substan-
tial and permanent diminution of the value
of English land for agricultural uses This
will necessitate a complete revolution in
English arrangements relating to the tenure
of land. A revision of the laws for the
sale of real estate, making the trans
fer simpler and less expensive, will be
one consequence. although, perhaps, q
distant one but moro imme-
diate consequence will be revision
and reimbursement of all existing leases.
The English landlords cannot afford to
lock on and witness the ruin of the great
body of their tenants. The law may not
force them to modify the existing leases and
abate their claims, but a sense of their
own interest must impel them to release
their tenants from hard bargains which the
tenants have no ability to fulfil in the
greatly altered circumstances of British
agriculture.
Marine Monsters.
There is delightful consistency in the