THE 



COUNTRY GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE 



DECEMBER 1872 



LORD DERBY ON LAND, LABOUR, AND GAME. 



AS President of the Lancashire Farmers' 

 Club, Lord Derby last week delivered 

 the inaugural address before a large meeting 

 at Preston. 



He said :— In bringing together this 

 farmers' club, we are following an example 

 which has been set — and, as I believe, use- 

 fully set — by various other counties. The 

 formation of these bodies has been too recent 

 to enable us to judge of their working, but I 

 may say generally that they have two objects 

 in view — one to give a fair hearing to all such 

 persons as may have practical suggestions to 

 offer on agricultural matters, or on the 

 mutual relations of the various classes en- 

 gaged in the cultivation of the soil. The 

 other, which I hold to be at least equally 

 important — to bring together for the discus- 

 sion of all such new ideas as may be pro- 

 posed an audience which shall be experi- 

 enced and critical, so that if, as will happen 

 in the best regulated public meetings, notions 

 should be put forward which are plausible on 

 the face of them, but impracticable in their 

 working, they may go forth to the general 

 public accompanied with the comments of 

 those who have heard them, and who are 

 better able to estimate their real value than 

 the mass of outsiders can be. The landed 

 interest, whatever else it may complain of, 

 cannot possibly complain of neglect. Every- 

 body wants to do something to it, or with it ; 

 but, unluckily, many of the loudest talkers on 

 matters connected with land are people 

 V OL. IX. 



whose agricultural knowledge is about on a 

 par with that of the cockney on his travels, 

 who said he thought he should know malt 

 from barley if he saw them growing together. 

 Farming on paper is one thing, farming in 

 practice is another ; and when all the world 

 has got a theory of some sort about the soil, 

 it is just as well that some of the talking at 

 least should be done by parties who have not 

 merely got up their knowledge for the occa- 

 sion, as a lawyer gets up cases from a brief. 

 The subjects which will come before this 

 club are many— some of them I will name 

 by-and-bye; but there are three or four 

 which suggest themselves as the most likely 

 to be discussed, and the most important; 

 and on these, with your permission, I will 

 say a few words first. One of these is the 

 labour question. 



LABOUR AND WAGES. 



A great deal has been spoken and written 

 lately about the scarcity of labour, and the 

 consequent raising of wages. Now, on that 

 matter it is hardly possible to make any re- 

 mark, unless of so vague a character that it 

 can serve no useful purpose that will be ap- 

 plicable to other localities than one's own, 

 or which elsewhere may not be misunder- 

 stood. Are we not a little hasty in speaking 

 as if a great permanent rise in the cost of 

 English labour had taken or was taking 

 place ? It may be so, but we know this — 

 that an exceptional development of trad: 



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