New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-09-10
THE RURALLIFE OF ENGLAND
BY CAPTAIN MAYNE REID.
XXIV.
FARM AUCTION SALES.

mo,e sadly suggestive than an auction-sale OF
farm-stock held upon the farm For 1t nearly
nlwnys butokens trouble. and too often disaster
md distress At times such sale may arise from
tho farm having failed to pay, and the tenant
changing to another or 1t may he a farmer giving
up agricultural pursuits altogether; IN elthel OIL
which cases there nothing so greatly to he re-
GREETED about II. But a rule the thing Is other-
WISE. and the auctioneer's appearance upon farm
stead denotes bankruptcy with the breaking "p Vi
the household And the head of it may be man
not only himself born upon the farm but WHOSE
father and grandfather before him aye an
ancestry dating back hundreds of years ana 10
nnknuwn generations were natives of the same
srot To him. his wife and their family oil hali-
grown children, every nook and precinct OF the
old homestead are familiar as their own faces; ;
the antiquated dwelling of many gables WIN moss
,overed roof of tiles and projecting dOrmer win
dows: the walled-in fodder" with big barn, capa
cious stables and cartshcds; the dove-cote where
the bows have kept their pigeons; the duck pond
IN which they sailed their paper boats the orchard
with it's apple, pear and plum trees OF ance"'
growth: md tho ricK-yard where they have
rompcd with youthful sisters or cousins playing
hide-and-seek around hugo stacks of hay ana
straw-all are as pant of themselves. Anu aiaS
the time has come when these family JOYS mrst oe
abandoned and the scenes made dear by them for-
s.ken perhaps never more to be revisited. For
the future outlook may extend TO some far distant
place likely TO q land over ocean, and new nome
vet IN be sought for and established among
strangers.
Throughout the last four five years these
breakings-up of English farmhouse homes nave
been painfully frequent; their frequency, need
not say, being due to agricultural depression III
scarce any neighborhood has there been week
without one more of them, as shown by lhe
nrovincial newspapers whole columns of these
being often occupied by the advertisements OF such
sales. To the newspapers themselves it has been
the reverse of a bad time; instead. thriving
profitable one, since 1t needs not saying that the
advertisements OF an auction sale. as the funeral
Trainings supplied by an undertaken, are charged
for AT highest rates. Especially is this the case
when il is a bankruptcy sale, or under the 700 sp
propriatey named Law of Distress, that iniqu-
tons statute which enables the landlord to pounce
down upon his tenant with the suddenness oil hawK
upon helpless quarry, scarce any warning gwen
Many the poor farmers who have walked up IN the
morning with a belief in their beng safe, II not
prosperous, to the huns walk boldly even
impudenty. Gp TO their doors, and present theih
with pleces of stamped paper then 20 perambuat-
ing around their yard, and over their fields aklng
seizure of everything. live stock or dead. And all
for a term or two of unpaid rent. may be only a
matter of six months 1t is like surrendering TO
n robber; but the surrender must be made, such
benr the law of England-a merciless. One-sided
statnte enacted by her land-Owning legislators,
solely in their own interest. When enforced, rum
IA the sure consequence for the sale Is hurried foI
ward regardless of results, any check on haste
being less due TO the landlords leniency than hls
fear OF public rerrobation; which last, however,
too rarely restraints HIN. Knowing there VIII al
least he suiiciency of returns to satisfy his lien
the announcement of sale Is not only informal but
at shortest notice soon to be followed by the sale
itself. With everything Knocked down at pitiful
prices. For one reason the mar thus harried might
rather rejoice at the haste and be glad to have the
crisis over For from the day of seizure TO that OF
settling up bum bailifl) or "bailltfs man -
and possibly pair OF them-will have to be led yed
in his house and boarded at his expense. not
soliciting but saucily demanding everything of the
best One may fancy the sinister relationship be-
tween such guests-heart hardened brutes by their
very calng-and tie invOluI tary host, with bis
family, themselves at such time likely to be all
but heartbroken, Alas, it is 40 fancy, but a
reality of too common occurrence in the farmhouse
homes of England.
Nor are the low prices realized at Distress Sale
all of sacrifice resultant. In addition lawyers
fees and auctioDcers charges, both on the highest
scale have to come out OF the proceeds with a
further reduction for baihs expenses newspaper
advertising. catalogue of effects, and Il host OF
lesser etceteras Not long since took upon myself
TO examine the statistics of farm sale under
distress ," not from any curiosity, but from belief
that the farmer beggaTed by ii, had been scurvlly
treated-in fact. UNANIMOUSLY, as found IN consult
I'M the figures of the account rendered him. The
stock upon his farm. with the household furniture,
was good value for $500 yet all sold of course
had Init frfn flo
A wagon, with the new paint little dimned, for
which only few months before he had paid G2S,
went at Sc aud everything else in proportion.
Tie poor mans total Of liabilities to his landlord,
with all other creditors. was not quite $3.50; yet
this forced squaring of accounts carried of his $500
worth at orc fell.sw0Op. Among the items he was
debited with found the fee of an obscure country
solicitor who could not have given more than an
hours time to the case, 10 be E35: aud the
TONER'S charges alike eAtortionate In taco.
landlord. lawyer and auctoneer, with the tribe of
baifs and theiI assistants. had between them,
vulture like stripped the bankrupt to his bones.
Nor was it all done within the lines Of the law.
On scrutiny of the account which there WAS some
difficulty in getting rendered. discovered an error
of nearly e20 in his favor which would never have
been made good but WAS evidently intended to
defraud him of even this trifing residue Of his
wrecked fortunes. solicitors letter directed
TO be written to the auctioneer who had charge of
the sale. That, by return post, brought check
for the balance due. with prOfuse apologies for the
"oyeIsight" This farmer IS now broken man,
and bis working Tor other farmers as ordinary
laborers 1t IS pleasant to add that they are all
brave fellows, capable accomplishing, and a
reward for their gallant resignation to an humber
sphere OF life il is not Likely 10 he of long continu
ance. Still il is sad 10 reflect how common these
occurrences in Engand-ruin due TO the Law
OF Distress and the helpless unfortunatcs harried
by petufogging lawyers and usurlous money