Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1879-10-04
THE LAND QUESTION.
from the Londonderry Journal.]

from the Londonderry J~ournal.l
Mr.John Ferguson(who is n gentle
man well-kuown in this city, writes
from his residence, BenburO House,
Lenzie, near G!aagow, as follows :
Cobden's big question is to the front
at last, and with II vengeance. A cry
of distress from the impoverished
cultivators of the soil of Great Bril-
tain and Ireland is everywhere heard.
Mass meetings nav been held at
submissive aud conservative, has
formulated radical demands of most
startling character, and the cry is be-
ginning to be re-echoed in the towns.
Only the other day the mayor of one
of England's half-million centres bold
ly declared that if the landlords did
not speedily attend to the voice of
the inhabitants of the country, the
citizens of the towns, in self-defence.
would settle the land question for
them in q manner the landlords never
dreamed of, for it was a town qucs-
ton rs much rs II country one. Fcud-
alism and that successful but ignorant
commercialism that hangs admiringly
upon it's skirts III alarm are pouring
the walls of their wrath upon the suf-
fering but no longer submissive Gull
tivators Of the soil. For ten years |
have beeu pointing out the coming
ruin of British and Irish trade. The
barbarous relations of the people to
the soil in these Islands made this a
certainty. l made my platform in
the larger cities, and endeavored to
prove that merchant and artisan were
quite as much interested as farmers
doctrine. My authorities are the
highest in economic clence. Indeed
there is scarcely anything that could
be called authority in opposition.
The views | contend for are those of
Mill, Golden, Leslie and Kaye, the
distinguished Belgian economist,
Mons. Laveleye, and the celebrated
F%renchman, the Marquis Lavergne.
Until lately the times were too pros
porous for men to consider the un-
familiar, and apparently unnecessary
doctrines, but u change has come
over u.s., and men who a year OF two
since turned away in scCrn from the
prophet of evil r now willing to
ask-"Can these things be 2" Up to
1875 the export trade of Great Bri-
tain and Ireland kept steadily ill.,
creasing until it reached the un2ar-
allied amount OF $50 millions sterling.
The manufacturing, packing, carry
ing, shipping and financing of all
this caused such All extraordinary
business activity to obtain in every
department Ut mercantile life, that
the growing tendency to ignore agri-
cultural industry found its climax,
and though the history of nations
contains striking illustrations of the
danger which arises from ceasing to
be producers of that wealth which
comes from the soil, yet, everywhere
in this country, the idea wal supreme
that the chief end Of man was to
build factories, and warehouses, aud
long streets, OF mere e%xchangers OF
goods, and to utterly ignore the de.
velopment of agricultural industry
But since 1875 the exports have fallen
t. about $50 millions sterling, a thing
unprecedented in the history of Brit.
ish commerce, and suffering and
misery In every city is the conse.
quence. Now, if France or Belgium
were to lose one-third of its exporI
trade, no serious or general suffering
would occur. The reason is, France
Germany. Belgium, &C.. have suct
all Overwhelmingly large trade tina
the loss of the whole export trad
would not be material. Continenta
countries have prosperous farmer
who own the soil ; they cultivate aut
bestow upon it an amount of skill
labor and capital which, says Mill
"men always bestow upon their owl
land, but not upon that of others.
Tie result is a thickly-populate.
country of well-to-do %peasantry, VIII,
are the best customers for the good
produced in their own cities. Blu
England has treated her agriculture
population as a thing which stood il
the way of her prosperity rather thai
as the true our OF a nation
strength. For the last twenty-fv
years the English country population
has been swept into the large towns
and the Irish to America. The Brit
ish idea is that the proper use OF tn,
country is Tor parks. preserves, shoot
ing and hunting grounds and countr,
residences for mobiles aud successful
merchants. Men of this class hav,
propagated the idea that we are in
dependent of our harvest, and cal
buy food cheaper in foreign countries
Well, last year we bought food t,
the value of E135. 600, 900 from abroad
twenty-five years ago we bought one
sixth Of this quantity. What Of that
says the British Sadducee :? VIII,
only this, that 30 long as you are tn
workshop of the world, and keep ex
porting three four millions WORT
more each year than tho preceding
you will no doubt be able to pay TO
your food but, Sir Sadducee, you
prophets, to whom you have turne,
a deaf ear. have told you-first, tina
if You go on sweeping the people fl on
Highland mountain, Irish valley, All,
fertile English plain, the very suppl,
OF labor bY which YOUR tuWne ara ans