: them, for which reasons they are always desirous of hiring the house and land occupied by a labourer, under pretence, that by that means the landlord will be secure of his rent, and that they will keep the house in repair. This the agents of estates are too apt to give into, as they find it much less trouble to meet six, than sixty tenants at a rent-day, and by this means avoid the being sometimes obliged to hear the wants and complaints of the poor: all partics, therefore, join in persuading the landlord, who, it is natural to suppose (unless he has time and inclination to investigate the matter very closely), will agree to this their plan, from the manner in which it comes recommended to him and it is in this manner that the labourers have been dispossessed of their cow-pastures in various parts of the Midland counties. The moment the farmer obtains his wish, he takes every particle of the land to himself, and re-lets the house to the labourer, who by this means is rendered miserable, the poor's-rate increased, the value of the estate to the land-owner, diminished, and the house suffered to go to decay; which, when once fallen, the tenant will never rebuild, but the landlord must, at a considerable expense. Whoever travels through the Midland counties, and will take the trouble of inquiring, will generally receive for answer, that formerly there were a great many cottagers who kept cows, but that the land is now thrown to the farmers; and if he inquires still further, he will find, that in those parishes the poor'srates have increased in an amazing degree, more than according to the average rise throughout England."-Earl of Winchelsea, Communications, vol. i. p. 77. Mr. Crutchley, steward to the Earl of Winchelsea, writes thus : 66 Wages are certainly not raised by labourers having land. I am persuaded they are, in fact, much lowered, if the wages were the same; as a more industrious set of men are employed in labour, and having more of the comforts of life, they are enabled to work harder than common labourers; by this more work is done for the same wages. "The difference between a cottager and a common labourer is so much, that I am at a loss for a comparison, except it be that of an opulent farmer to a cottager; and where there are a number of them in any parish, the rates will be low, The public must be benefited by them, there being not a yard of waste land upon any of their premises to be found.”Crutchley, Communications, vol. i. p. 93. In a Memoir presented to the Board, Lord Brownlow thus ex presses himself : "In many parishes the cottages are very generally let to under-tenants, by the farmers; but this is a practice universally rejected on my estates. "To the cottager the contrary system affords the comforts of life; to the parish, it lowers the poor's-rates: a man who keeps a cow has seldom been known to be troublesome to a parish; and to the public it gives an increase of hands, from infancy taught to work by their parents for their advantage."--Lord Brownlow, Communications, vol. i. p. 85. In the following extract, it is Robert Barclay, Esq. who speaks: "It certainly is of great moment, to find some method to enable country labourers to live more comfortably than they do at present, by placing them in a situation where they may acquire some property and subsistence, when they become old, and unable to perform hard work, and that they may not be so subjected to the difficulties which they now undergo, in times of scarcity, nor become a burthen upon the parishes where they reside; likewise, that they may be enabled to keep cows for the nourishment of their children.-Barclay, Communications, vol. 1, p. 91. The person employed by the Board, and who examined above forty parishes minutely, gives the following general result. "Seven hundred and fifty-three cottagers have amongst them 1194 cows, or, on an average, 1 and 1-13th cow each. Not ONE OF THEM RECEIVES ANY THING FROM THE PARISH! even in the present scarcity. The system is as much approved of by the farmers as it is by the poor people themselves. They are declared to be the most hard-working, diligent, sober, and industrious labourers who have land and cows, and a numerous meeting of farmers signed their entire approbation of the system. In the above-mentioned parishes, rates are, on an average, 174d. in the pound; and, but for exceptions of some families who have not land, and of certain cases and expenses foreign to the inquiry, they would not be one penny in the pound. "In nine parishes, where the VOL. LVIII. proportion of the poor having cows amounts to rather more than half the whole, poor-rates are 3žd. in the pound. "In twelve parishes, where the proportion is less than half, but not one-third, poor-rates are 94d. in the pound. "In ten parishes, where the proportion is something under a fourth, poor-rates are 1s. 6d. in the pound. "In seven parishes, where the proportion is but nearly one-sixth, poor-rates are 4s. 1d. in the pound. "And in thirteen parishes, where few or none have cows, poor-rates are 5s. 11d. in the pound. "The poor in this considerable district being able to maintain themselves without parish assistance, by means of land, and live-stock, and to do it at the same time so much by their industry and sobriety, and consistently with an honest conduct, clearly marked by the entire approbation of this system by the farmers, &c. their neighbours, is a circumstance which, well considered, does away a multitude of those objections and prejudices which we so often hear in conversation." In the replies to the Circular Letter of 1816, some notes occur upon this practice, of cottagers keeping land, which it is necessary here to recite. At Shewart in Kent, it is remarked by Mr. Curling, that a late legal decision, determining that keeping a cow gained a settlement, has deprived many cottagers of that comfort, as it is properly called; an observation which, however, does not attach 2 H to to cottagers having already a settlement. The same mischievous result of that decision is noticed by a Lincolnshire correspondent, Mr. Parkinson, who laments the effects which have flowed from it. Mr. Gregory, of Harlaxton, in the same county, says, "I have several cottages, with land sufficient to keep two cows annexed to them; the cottagers who occupy them live comfortably, and are industrious, useful labourers, and appear to be contented with their situation." In the same county, Mr. Barker, steward to Sir Robert Sheffield, has the remarkable declaration, that there can scarcely be said to be any poor in that country, because they all have cows, by means of which they are in a comfortable state, and are very generally equally sober, honest, and industrious. Mr. Goulton, of the same county, also commends this system, as productive of much comfort amongst the poor in this period of distress. The Rev. John Gwillim, of the same county: All that have cows do well, so that we have scarcely a pauper." The Rev. John Shinglar, also of the same county: The poor, though their employment is lessened by the distress of the farmers, have not been burthensome; and the reason is, their keeping cows." The Rev. Henry Basset, of the same county, reports the state of the poor in his parish to be very comfortable, as they generally keep one or more cows. The following is the extract of a letter received from Earl Brownlow: "The subject of cottagers', cows, is one in which I have ever taken a deep interest, and I have invariably continued on my estates, the system which my father had established, of attaching land to cottages, to enable the poor to keep cows: I have no hesitation in saying, that very essential benefit has been derived from this practice during the present period of general distress, inasmuch as scarcely any poor family so circumstanced, (not more, I should think, than one in twenty at the most), has become at all burthensome to the parish; while, on the other hand, I have reason to believe, that the labouring poor have suffered great dis tress, and have universally become objects of parochial relief in those places where no system of this sort has been established. "I cannot help adding, that in a moral point of view, the system of attaching a moderate portion of land to cottages, appears to me highly worthy of encouragement; as the poor obtain thus, if I may use the expression, a capital in their labour; they have an incitement to good conduct, and acquire for the most part habits of decency and industry, which parochial relief has of late years so much tended to eradicate from the minds of the lower orders of the community." It deserves notice, that although the cottage cow system is very incomplete in Northumberland and Scotland, still the mere circumstances of a cow forming a part of the wages of the labouring poor, they are stated to have suf fered 253 But this table gives by no means a sufficient idea of the distress at present arising from this heavy tax; as in a variety of instances, the farmers who lately paid to these rates, have been obliged to give up their farms, and are actually become paupers themselves, receiving parochial allowances like other paupers; and this increased burthen in many other parishes occurs, while farms are unoccupied or run waste; and, in the cases the most favourable, the burthen falls with increasing weight on the landlords. The letters contain many complaints, that while the manufacturers, who have occasioned the chief burthen, pay scarcely any thing to the rates, the accumulated weight falls on the occupiers of land. The complaints almost universally made of the increase, heavy burthen, and most mischievous consequences to the industry of the people, which result from poor-rates, form a conspicuous feature among the complaints of the correspondents; insomuch, that many apprehensions are expressed of this system being permitted to continue, and increase till it will absorb, in union with tithes, the whole rental of the kingdom, leaving nothing more to the landlords of it, than that of acting as trustees and managers for the benefit of others. But the surprising circumstance of this result, is the increase being so general at the very period in which, from the reduced price of provisions, a directly contrary effect might have been expected. To find that rates have risen, while the principal object in the support and nourishment of the poor has fallen in price above 100 per cent. seems to be extraordinary; nor could such a result have been found, but in an administration liable to so many ob.. jections. We cannot be surprised at a great number of these correspondents calling with anxiety for regulations in a system which tends directly to the annihilation of all industry. The extreme burthen arising from poor-rates, is a subject which can never have too much attention paid to it; and its nature can be well understood only by reference to particular cases: thus, it deserves attention, that this tax has been collected in cer2 H 2 tain tain districts of Wales, in kind, if the expression be permitted, that is, the substances necessary for the support of the poor, taken instead of the value in money ;—it may be presumed, through a want of circulating medium. The amount to which this tax can rise, may be understood by referring to the case of Halstead in Essex, where it rises to 5s. 6d. in the pound for one quarter of a year, taken at one-fifth under the rack-rent; and at Coggeshall, in the same county, much higher: and in a parish near Sandwich in Kent, it amounts to 22s. per acre. Such facts require no comment. The abuses to which this administration is liable, may be felt from the Somersetshire case, of parish paupers becoming claimants as creditors on the effects of a bankrupt. Letters, to increase paper circulation. Letters, to regulate poorrates, and especially by subjecting all property to bear its fair share. Letters, to raise the price of corn, &c..... Letters, to establish corn rents.. Letters, to repeal the Act for warehousing foreign corn. Letters, to lend Exchequer bills on good security.... Letters, to continue the Bank Restriction. Letter, to encourage emigration... Letters, to give the same fa vour to agriculture as to manufacture, as the principal remedy; but many allude less decisively to the same system Letters, to reduce the interest of money ... .. Letters, to establish public granaries, the corn to be purchased by Government. Letters, to encourage distilleries .. Letters, Government to take into their own hands the management of the poor.. Letters, proposing to regulate the cottages with the addition of lands..... Letter, to repeal the Game Laws. Letters, to lessen the quantity of land intended to be sown Letter, to give a bounty on the cultivation of hemp.. Letter, to take off the tax on draining-brick .... Letter, the Bank of England to establish branch banks. |