25 



materially diminished. These opinions are not 

 merely speculative these calculations are not got 

 up to serve a particular purpose, but they are sup- 

 ported and established by facts and experience, 

 and by the testimony of intelligent and practical 

 men. Now, these reductions of rent and of in- 

 come, great as they are, must ultimately be sub- 

 mitted to by landlords, hard and unfair as it may 

 be, unless farmers are relieved from some other 

 portions of expenditure. The necessity of this is 

 so evident, to prevent the general embarrassment 

 of the landowners, that the immediate attention of 

 Government ought to be directed to accomplish so 

 important an object. Those imposts which bear 

 too exclusively on land, and by which property at 

 large is benefited and protected, ought to be 

 equalized. Even suppose by the reduction of the 

 poor rate, county rate, and highway rate, and the 

 removal of the malt tax, the farmer can be relieved 

 to the amount of 10 per cent, upon his rent, which, 

 estimating the average rental of farming land 

 throughout England at 25s. an acre, would be 

 2s. 6d. an acre. Then, if the reduction of 10 per 

 cent, on rent of the outgoings specified above were 

 effected, the reduction which the landlords would 

 be required to make, would be 10 per cent less, to 

 meet the fall of price from 63s. to 54s. a quarter : 

 on good lands they would have to reduce their 

 rents 12 per cent., on second rate lands 20 per 

 cent., on inferior lands 30 per cent., and on poor, 

 strong land 40 per cent. 



