The daily gazette. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1874-1883, 1879-09-05
THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON
AGRICULTURE.

AGRICULTURE.
The Economist. August e.
We now know, o. de authority q
Secrstary Of State, that he soupe d the
Royal Commission On Agricultural De-
preston u TO be co-exten1ive with IL
Importance Of the subject. The pur-
pose with which the commission has been
issued, Mr.. Croes said ~ Bootle ON Wed
nesday, 10 that Of "investigating In every
form and shape the cause Of that de-
preston, and to find out II possible what
remedies can be applied" The country
10 to be divided into districss, in each Of
which an assistant eomniDsi0ner' will
make inquiries Ia psrson. The condi-
ton Of agriculture not only In the UNI
ted States butin Holland, kfance, BeI.
GUM and other Continental countries
will also be examined. Mr.. Gross be-
lieves that sthe instructions theee assiyt-
ant commissioner have recsived . to
the points - to which they are 10 In
they are To gee viii satisly the mos ~
thorough and complete" This state
of any doubt thas may have beea felt
WuotA1cI VAlO WOL0 " bk1o 8D8aOUUIU
would embrace the tenure Of land n
England. Whsther there be or 30 not
any connection between this subject aud
the present. condition Of Enslish agricul-
ture, there aao many men not q I'll ''fas-
tidi0us" who think that there u, end
many more who would like 70 80 the
evidence for aud against such . connec-
ton thoroughly investigated. 1t 10 In
the hiehast degree Improbable therefore
that ar. Gross should have expressed
himss6 thus strongly - to the universal
satisfAStion with which the instructions
to the assistant commissioners will b re-
ceived, II he knew all the time that Q
question which in The opinion Of many
persons Hes a. the root Of the present
depression was - be excluded from the
inquiry. Even without this assurance
there would have been no reason TO fear
any such illjudged limitation When
once royal commissioner has been ap-
pointed Ito sulhors have little or no
power over the extent or direction Of IT,
labors, and In the present inslance there
are men enough on the commission who
will be determined to make thsir work
a reality. ,-.
An inquiry Of this nature undertaken
at this particular time b likely to lead
to very important results. Il matters
little what the Commissioner may re-
port indeed, it Il improbable that they
will ever agree upon . single report.
But the immense body Of evidence that
they will get together will throw an ex-
traordinary light upon The economical
and social condition OF agricultural
England. Whatever they themselves
may recOmend or refrain from recon-
mending, the data upon which their
conclusions viii be founded will be open
to the world, and tho possession OF
such . mass Of information will In q
| great measure put all who are interested
in the question on . level with the Com.
missioners. Whether the conclusion,
that seem to follow from these facts arr
accepted by willing Government o.
have to be pressed upon Q reluctant Gov
erument, it will be an .incalcuable gAir
to have the facts themselves before tn,
country. Hitherto, whenever the lane
question has come up for discussion
has been approached under the immens>
though unavoidable disadvantage o
most total ignorance. When the IL
bors Of the Royal Commission are end
ed this disadvantage will exist no longer
1t Is Of far greater moment, therefore
that the i.quiry should be exhanstiv,
than that it should be speedily mplet
ed. This much At least 10 certain, tina
whether or not In the end any legisla-
ton is fou aded on the report Of tn.
commission, the effect Of such legisla
ton must be exceedingly gradual. Thu
immediate sufferings Of the farmer will
not be- relieved by anything that thu
commission can suggest or Parliamen
adopt. Consequently, haste cannot d.
even momentary good, while, IN 20 IA
as 1t tends 10 make the materials for In
ductiOn less complete, It must do per
manent harm. The real matter Of tn
inquiry il the conditions under whic
agricultural produce 10 raised and tn
burdens that weigh upon the producer
and 10 such an Investigation every ell
ment that helps to determine the succes
or failure Of agriculture in Englan
will have its appropriate place.