464 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1816. 



them, for which reasons tliey are 

 always desirous of liiring the house 

 and land occupied by a labourer, 

 under pretence, that by that 

 means the landlord will be sccuie 

 of his rent, and that they will 

 keep the house in lepair. 'I'his 

 the agents of estates are too apt 

 to give into, as they find it much 

 less trouble to meet six, tiian sixty 

 tenants at a rent-day, and by tiiis 

 means avoid tlie being sometimes 

 obliged to hear the wants and 

 complaints of the jioor : all par- 

 ties, therefore, join in persuading 

 tlie landlord, who, it is natural to 

 suppose (unless he has time and 

 inclination to investigate the mat- 

 ter very closely), will agree to 

 this their plan, from the manner 

 in whicii it conies recommerided 

 to him : and it is in tiiis manner 

 that the labourers ha\e been dis- 

 possessed of their cow-pastures in 

 various parts of tiie Midland coun- 

 ties. 'I'he moment tlie firmer 

 obtains his wish, he takes every 

 particle of the land to hlmselF, 

 and re-lets the house to the la- 

 bourer, wiio by this means is ren- 

 dered miserable, tlie poor's-rate 

 increased, the value of the estate 

 to the land-owner diminished, 

 and the house sutTercd to go to 

 decay ; wiilch, wiien once fallen, 

 the tenant will never rebuild, but 

 the landlord must, at a consider- 

 able expense. U'hocver travels 

 through the Midland counties, 

 and will take the trouble of in- 

 quning, will generally receive for 

 answer, tiiat formerly there were 

 a great many cottagers who kept 

 cows, but that the land is now 

 thrown to tlie farmers : and if he 

 inquires still further, he will find, 

 that in those parishes the ])0()r's- 

 rate-. have increased in an amazing 

 degree, more thau according to 



the average rise throughout Eng- 

 land." — Earl of IVinchelsea, Coin- 

 viiniicatioiis, vol. i. p. 77- 



Mr. Crutchley, steward to the 

 Earl of VVinchelsea, writes thus : 

 " Wages are certainly not 

 raised by labourei's having land. 

 1 am peisuaded they are, in fact, 

 much k)\vered, if tiie wages were 

 the same ; as a more industrious 

 set of men are employed in la- 

 bour, and liaving more of the 

 comforts of life, they are enabled 

 to work harder than common la- 

 bourers ; by this more work is 

 done for the same wages. 



" The difference between a cot- 

 tager and a common labourer is 

 so much, tliat 1 am at a loss for a 

 comparison, excejjt it be that of 

 an opulent farmer to a cottager ; 

 and where there are a number of 

 tliein in any parish, the rates will 

 be low. Tlie public must be be- 

 nefited by tiiem, there being not a 

 yard of waste land upon any of 

 theii" jnemises to be found." — 

 Cnilchleij, Communications, vol. i. 

 p. 93. 



In a Memoir presented to the 

 Board, Lord Brownlow thus ex- 

 pi'esses himself : 



" In many parishes the cot- 

 tages are very generally let to 

 under-tenants by the farmers ; 

 but this is a practice universally 

 reji-'cted on my estates. 



" lo the cottager the contrary 

 system affords the comfoits of 

 life; to tiie parish, it lowers the 

 poor's-rates : a man wlio keeps a 

 cow has seldom been known to 

 be troublesome to a parish ; and 

 to liie public it gives an inciease 

 of hands, from infancy taught to 

 work by their parents for tlieir 



advantage." Lord Brownlow, 



Comnunicatlons, vol. i. p. 85. 



