CURRENT TOPICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXII, Issue 13550, 23 September 1904, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

LON-DOJf'S MILK SUPI'LT.

We know what it is in these parts to liavo theprioe of milk raised by agreement among the dairymen, but we

have yet to experience tha full benefits and disadvantages of being at the mercy of a milk trust. Londoners, it seems;, are even now learning what ;* "' controlled" supply may mean. Tho dairy fanners of the Western Counties have amalgamated their businesses into ?. syndicate, called tho Western Counties' Dairy Farmers' Association. Its primary objects are said to be purely protective, but theso protective combinations have a habit of becoming •aggressive. There is little doubt that tha Association aims at the " regulation" of the supply of milk to London, and ultimately it hopes to include all tho

dairymen. The .promoters set out to command' the milk of 10,000 cows, and within a few weeks the members of the syndicate owned 9300 cows among them. The directors were careful in their methods, and they are laying the foundations of a great business on thoroughly sound lines. They looked around for the very be&t milking strains in the country, and were prepared to pay high prices for reliable herds. At the outset the 'Association has to compete against dairymen in the agricultural districts nearer London, so that for a year or so, at any rate, Londoners will have no reason to complain of the operations of the. combine. Special "milk expresses" are run by the railway companies jto various distributing centres in London, whence the milk is promptly sent to customers. The milk is guaranteed to exceed the standard of quality laid down by the Board of Agriculture, and to be absolutely free of boracic acid and other chemical -preservatives. The operations of 'the syndicate will extend to butter and cheese, and arrangements aro even now being mads with grocers and provision merchants for the disposal of all kinds of dairy produce. How far the business will be developed remains to be seen, but as the Association controls plenty of capital, it will be able to give competitors both at Home and abroad, a good deal to think about, It is in tlw matter of milk that its operations will be watched most closely, and if it yhould succeed in securing a really dominating influence among suppliers, the position will not be without danger for the consumers.

THE TAI,S OF KLEOTIONS.

It is sometimes urged that an altogether undue importance is attached to by-elec-

tions in the Old Country, and that no true idea of the state of public feeling can bo gathered from a few accidental local contests. It may be true that in the past theories built on by-election facts liave proved more interesting than true, but the tale of British by-elections during the past two years is so remarkable, and the tendency has been so consistently in one direction, that its meaning.i3 simply not to be mistaken. The war in South Africa closed in May, 1902,' and since the khaki fever subsided there had been, up to the middle of last month, thirty-eight contested elections in England and Scotland. The " Daily News " publishes a remarkable list of-the result of tlhese contests, giving, for the sake of comparison, the Liberal and Conservative votes cast at the by-elections and also at the previous contests in the constituencies. In Chertsey and Devc-nport there have been twoi byelections. The figures are as follow: Previous ByElection. Election.

The aggregate Liberal vote in the constituencies has thus made an increase of 55,231, while the Conservative vote has actuallydecreased by 5182. The constituencies were represented by twenty-six Conservatives and ten Liberals ; the representation is now twenty-four Liberals and twelve Conservatives.

IN DEFENCE OP LANJJLOBDS.

Dr Robert Farquharson, a member of the British Houso of Commons, and a largo landowner, contributes toi " Blackwood's Magazine " an

article championing the cause of the muchabused landlord. The landlord, he contends, is not the lazy, oppressive, landgrabbing harpy, taking all lie can get and giving nothing in return, that he is often represented to be. "On carefully reviewing the question from all points c* view," he writes, " I have come to the d-.iiberato conclusion, that the best thing for the community and the individual alike is a carefully graded series of farms, big and small, !• with well-to-do resident landlords, 'benevolently superintending their tenants, and spending their money freely amongst them. We want, of course, to get all that we can out of the land without scourging or exhausting it; but an object o$ hardly less importance is to keep the people there, and thus raise up and maintain at healthy and happy farming and labouring class, who will fight our battles, if need bo, and cultivate the arts of peace as well as of war." Dr Farquharson proceeds to explain that the lot of the country worker has many compensations./ The farm labourer is well", paid, and well fed, and, " thanks to the, exertions of county councillors and sanitary inspectors, his housing is becoming decent, and his standard of comfort raised all round. If only there were enough small holdings to enable him. to aspira to becoming «■ farmer on a moderate seals whsn he had saved enough money to make a start, that would be the true remedy for the drifting of our rural population away from their country homes." The doctor's ideal,-"state seems to bo that in which the large majority would humbly and gratefully accept the opportunity to work for a living offered by a generous, and leisured, minority. lie has found that tenants are somewhat sensitive and inclined to regard the landlord with suspicion, but a little condescension will put this right. "A friendly call from the landlord is much appreciated, not to talk business, for tjhafc should be carefully avoided on these occasions," he states. "What they like is a good, square crack, de omnibus rebus, to hear what is going on generally, and particularly what members of the family are doing, and to exchange bits o:' mutual gossip." In conclusion, he remarks triumphantly, that "when denn'nding land purchaes powers, peopls do not realise' how hilpless the small owner would be without the capital and resources of the great landlord for improving and maintaining both land and buildings." He does not explain why the intervention, of the private landlord should be necessary in order that tho tenants may reap the bep*st of the value they have created.

L. C. L. U. Bury . 3,283 4,132 4,213 3,799 North Leads . 4,995 7,512 7,539 6,781 Sevenoaks /' . 1,792 6,604 4,442 5,333 Devonport . 3,538 3,458 3,757 3,785 Cleveland . . 1,7CG 4,080 3,628 6,834 3,238 3,795 3,610 Orkney . 2,017 2,057 4,413 740 Newmarket . 3,218 4,£95 4,414 3,900 West Derby . 1,686 4,622 3,251 5,455 Woolwich. ; . 3,857 6,662 8,687 5,458 Rye . 2,887 5,876 4,910 4,870 Chertsey . 3,080 5,367 4,529 5,700 Camborne . 3,101 2,993 3568 2,869 Preston . 4,834 8.944 C.4S0 8,639 Barnard Castli 3 5,036 3,545 6,179 3,325 Argyllshire . 3,234 3,834 4,326 2,740 St Andrews . 1,094 1,148 1,324 1,288 Rochester . 1,673 2,152 1,983 2,504 Leamington . 1,954 2,785 2,499 2,689 Chorley . 2,808 5,867 4,798 6.225 Dulwich . 2,176 5,258 4,382 5,819 LewiBham . 2,895 5,303 5,697 7,709 Ludlow . 2,146 5,965 8,423 4,893 Mid Eevon . 4,487 3,716 5,034 3,558 Norwich . 7,S29 8,166 11,020 6,756 Gateshead . 6,657 5,711 8.220 7,015 Ayr Burghs . 2,511 3,101 3,221 3,177 Mid Herts . 2,573 4,997 4*757 4,625 S. Birmingham 1 1,257 4.S30 2,223 5,299 Normanton . 5,025 3,606 6,855 2,909 East Dorset . 4,680 4.776 5,929 5,109 Harborough . 7,269 5,946 7,843 6.110 Devonport . 3,757 3,785 0,219 5,179 Sowerby . 5,528 4,067 0,049 3,877 Chertsey . 4,529 5,700 4,876 5,425 Oswest-y . 3,430 4,518 4,542 4,157 Reading . 4,592 4,353 4,770 4,540 N.E. Lanark . 7,669 5,673 9.603 4,677 139,811 : 1.78,536 195,042 : 173,354