The Press. MONDAY, MARCH 30, 1903. RURAL ENGLAND IN DECAY.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11545, 30 March 1903, Page 4

The Press. MONDAY, MARCH 30, 1903. RURAL ENGLAND IN DECAY.

Mr Ridpr Haggard's book on the fanning industry of England, to wliich we have made reference on a previous occasion, conlama much that is calculated to give all patriotic Englishmen food for serious thought. Mr Haggard traversed England from end to end, interviewing landlords, land agents, farmers and farm labourers. Ii a large number of cases he gives the names of the persons he caw, with full details of the rents paid, the current wages, and the financial results to the landowner or farmer as the case may be. In nearly every part of England the sanv: doleful story is told of landowners making nothing out of their land, of fanners gradually but steadily pcing to ruin, and of agricultural labourers leaving the country and flocking into th'i towns. The figure* regarding the flight of the labourers aircertainly vOTy impressive. In 1867 the agricultural labourers of England and Wales numbered 1,253,300. and in 1831 they had shrunk to about 780,700. In other words, while the general population had increased by about a half, its agricultural inhabitants had actually decreased by over one-third. The figures for 1901

were not available when Mr Rider Haggard wrote, but it is certain that they showed a still further decline. The reason is plain. It is the dulnees of life in the country, the lowness of wages, the absence of any hope for the future, that are driving the labourers into the town. In the southern counties of England it appears that wages as low as 13s and 14s a week, with a little extra at harvest, are still being paid. Unfortunately, although wages are nominally higher in towns the labourer does not always find hia condition greatly improved by hia migration. In the country hs gets a cottage for about Is 6d a week; in town, where he would get about JDI a week, ho" would have to pay 5s or 6a for rent, and he would, of course, be without the garden, which would be so much to the good in the country. Yet Mr Haggard does not believe that anything short of actual starvation will cause those who have become accustomed to a city life—or still more their children—to return to labour on the soil, even if they were fitted to do so.

Turning to the condition of the farmers, it appoara from Mr Rider Haggard's figures that rente have fallen from 30 to 50 per cent., but still farmers in many parts of the country axe steadily going to the -wall. Bents in Cambridgeshire range from 15s per acre for the poorer fen to 25s per acre for better close land. In Yorkshire from 27s 6d an acre for the best lands down to 10s per acre is quoted. Most; of the fanners reckon that they want about £10 an acre capital to work the land. Those •with small farms and large families, and therefore not requiring to employ any outside labour, are the beet off. This is especially the case in the cheese-making districte, -where as much as 50s an acre is paid for small holdings, and the tenants manage to make a living. The chief cause of the depression is of course foreign and colonial competition, but it is open to question -whether the farmers themselves are not partly to blame for not availing themselves of improved metliods and generally adapting themselves to altered conditions. This is particularly the case in regard to the butter industry, as was forcibly pointed out by one of Mr Haggard's informants, a •wholesale provision merchant in Leeds. This •gentleman stated that he did a fair trade in Danish, Dutch, Russian, Siberian, and other'countries' butter and eggs, but not an ounce of English butter did he sell, or could he sell, simply because eighttenths of it, three days after it; was made, was not fit to eat. While Lincolnshire butter sold at Spalding , at 7d per lb, Danish •was fetching lid wholesale. The merchant in question stated that he -was prepared to take 100 casks every week as soon as he could be supplied with quality equal to Danish or Friesland. What he suggested was that either the English farmers themselves, or the Government on their behalf, should send representatives to Denmark to study tho factory system, 6o as to introduce it into England.

That tiie decline of the agricultural industry ie of vital national importance in England, and that every effort should bo ma-da to restore its prosperity cannot be doubted. Thero is tlhe question of the national food supply, of -which a good deal has been heard lately, to be taken into consideration. More important still, is the steady deterioration in the population, when the Rtrong«wi and smartest young men are constantly drawn from the country, to be "used up ,, in the town, leaving only the halt, the feeble, and , "fecklese" to till the land, and supply the rural population of the future. Mr. Eider Haggard contends, and we believe justly, that this can mean nothing leas than the progressive deterioration of the race, and in tho absence of nsw conditions which cannot be foreseen it may, in the end, mean the ruin of the race. As to what is the best remedy to be applied there are differences of opinion. Some suggest protection, but Mr. Rider Haggard declares tihat this would never bo tolerated by tho nation. In any case,

it would only tend to confirm the farmers m their present lack of enterprise, and oonsequentJv , would work even greater doeauter in the end. Mr. Haggard favours the encouragement of smaller holdings, the ■establishment of an Agricultural Post, and the introduction of improved methods into the industry. All theeo are good in'their way, and it is also evideeit that a simplification of the system of land tenure, nnd a lightening of tibet burdens on land, are also required. It is not at all impossible that after getting rid of the Irish Land Bill, t-he next great task to fall to the lob of British etaUsmon will be the framing of a Land Bill for England