The Bee-Hive. — 1873-02-01 (London, England)

FEB. 1, 1813.   . . Eotnhgelrawindtuvresassesint jhuereedont-blyitiotnheoflaingsraicutislftanor t the ryn , Alta of the cottages. How could a man afford a batter dwelling if his wages were so low as they were in many parts of England, althouglt, n see so few men living out of th happily, a change was taking place P He It like tole laud; in other countries of Europe there' wort) double and treble the number of people who lived out of the land. He was not an advocate for suddenly creatinf, peasant proprietorships, but he did not like creating hear strong language used about the evil results of peasant proPmrioreat? and rshipssn'ic When it could f be largeeproveld)ntmhabterthoe :y proprietors in the land were good and useful. , It was most unjust and unfair that if a died in this country possessed of land, and did not make a will, all his land should go to his 1, eldest son, to the exclusion of all other chil- H, dren. The effect of the law of primogeniture ; was to create a number of impoverished owners to a far greater extent than was generally supposed. The poverty of the owner and the poverty of the tenant were often leading 'causes of bad cultivation. According to present state of the law, it was a man's interest to take money out of the land, instead ~.. of improving it by expenditure. The Dukes of Bedford and St. Albans were in favour of a channe in this respebt, and it was very '.. gratifying to see that the dukes were setting a good example to the lowet orders of the peerage. (Ltughter.) 'With the law as it , was, how could we wonder at there being de- :4 feetive farm buildings and cottages? The !, poverty of the tenants arose from want of security for the money laid out on improvements, and from the undue competition of farms—a competition caused by the landlords being permitted a priority as regarded rents, whereas they should have no more priority than other people had with respect to ordinary ! debts, To get more out of the land more oapi- : tal must be laid out upon it, turd to effeot . this it must be insisted that the law should Ise '• . longer discourage the application of capital, .: His remedy might not be called heroin, but it was this—he would absolutely forbid the system of tying up lands in the hands of life tenants, and the entail of remainders. He ,‘ ' would have fee simple ownerships all over the . kingdom, and nothing else, except in the CRB6 of minors and widows. This would not split -. up the land into small parcels. Let men be ..! free to will land as they chose, just as they willed their personal estate. One result of this no doubt, would be that some families would die out of public notice, but the general q result would be that the landowners of the 1,1 country would be stronger, because they would be living under a natural state of law. If there were lies trade in land, there might I be a great deal of land thrown upon the mar- ket for a time, but the demand would be so fast, that even the present high prices would. be ourpassed in a short time, and the land, would get into the hands of people who °said ', ':.., I do it justice. (Cheers.) The great object at *.: present seemed to be to keep certain families up, and not to improve the country. It was I asked, "But if you alter the land laws, what I will the peerage do ?" , Let the peers take care ~1 of themselves. (Cheers.) No man held a 1 prouder position than a large landed proprietor )in this happy country, but if he was such a :1 fool as to gamble and squander away his pro- 1 perty, let him as a landholder perish. (Cheers.) ;If the law were altereti these squanderers ) would be more prudent, for it was the feeling that they were protected by the law in their • 1 squandering of ancestrel.estates on the turf :74 that now made these men greater idiots than I they were bp nature, The hon, member coneluded by inculcating thrift among the poor, )1 at the same time remarking it was wrong to ....I find too much fault until the laws were just j and equal. The hon, member was loudly . cheered when he resumed his seat. ....,. Mr. A. Johnston, M.1)4 the chairman of the ghLtoerdd , !,,,.... meetiug, said the misconception which existed regardtng the propositiont to secure free trade „.,'• amazing. ele Even ar-si in Jana was positivelyamaz tBhaloit:gbluitrthawt Itth°elavia m 3 generally was to obtain a compulRory division of the land into small estates, suoh as was generally thought to have been 1 the the lankdindfr;omalltthheatewwaadsdwlianngtebdawndass carried much too far in France. It was .1 nothing t ifirieneg o which had descended to us from feudal times. (Cheers.) " What,' it was demand, " would you root up all, the fine old- families ?" 4(Laugnter.) Certainly not, if they were flue ,1 minutes. but there were instance where the A sooner a family was wiped out the better. . (Cheers.) We wanted no complicated legisla-tion to procure a retuedy, but a measure that would remover the clumsy shackles with which the present law bound the laud. Votes of thanks to the lecturer and chairman concluthd the proceedings.  Tho suicide mania has broken out afresh in Paris. Ateoug the last oases are those of two elderly lathe., sisters, named Mesdames Celestine and Julie Itatel, who were found dead together in their bath. Both had swallowed a strong done of hudanum. It is said thel were in love with the same young man.  L