RURAL NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1994, 18 April 1885, Page 4

RURAL NOTES.

Nov-Paiment of Rent in DrsiFitiFs shikl. — All incident of a somewhat sin pusmg natiuf occuned on a Dumfuessluie estate the othei day We uudei stand the estate, which yields betvuen £7000 and iSOOO, recently changed owners, and that, when the factor of the founer proprietor attended to lecfive the rents of the half-year ending Martinmas, ISS4, only a few of the tenants made payment This being the fiist hitch oi the kind that has happened on the p«tate, it has aroused no little speculation in the neighbourhood as to the reason for withholding, which is asyetmeiely con jectural.

A GENKRons LiW>i,oßD — A deputation of the tenants on the Drynie estate, lloss-fehirc, waitetl upon their landlord, "Mr Maclean, and having listened to his tenants' difficulties he piomptly and generously intimated a reduction of 3',i\ per cent on the present rents, and allowed thiec months for the payment of existing anearb. Tub many friends of Mr Wm. Drysdale, of Kill ie, Kinghorn, who has for a number of years been one of the most successful iigiicultuusts in Fife, as well as one of the best feeders of stock in Scotland, will be concerned to knovr that he and his family are to sail this week for Melbourne. Mr Drysdale has leceived a res {•onjible and luciativc appointment as practical adviser to one of the best Australian Investment Companies— a post for which he is eminently qualified.

CllhsTl-R FvRMhUS AND F\RM RFNT.s. — On a lecent Saturday the Chester Fdimeis' Club met and discussed several resolutions on the subject of rent. Mr John Roberts, of Well House Faim, the largest tenant on the Premier's estate, moved : — ' That on account of the altered condition in which agricultural uidustiy is placed, and of the but dens bearing upon the occupiers of land, it is expedient, in the opinion of this club, that a lepieMMitation should he made to the laudloids of the district, with a view to uiging, with respect, but fiimness, a pioper leadjustini nt of tents.' Mr Robeits said coin was cheaper now than it had been for 104 yeais, and produced some interesting figuies in regard to the pi ices of beef aud other pioduce during the past four years, to show that it was imperative there should be a substantial i eduction ot rents Tins vcar mutton was down lower than it had been for pitr'nt years, live or dead. One of the best faimeis be knew could prove by statistics that then' was a difference between 1884 and 18S3 in his pigs and potatoes. Much had been saitl of the absence of capital among farnms ; but wi ie there not landlords who could do with less than they had, and devote more of their income to helping the

faunas ? A Lamjloild's Genfrosity Rkm pro-cvti-d. — Recently we noticed that Mr Hall of Culrossu'e, Ro*s shire, had generously given 20 per cent abatement of lent to outgoing tenants, which is nn evidence of good will and libeiality, wo believe, without parallel in the ielationship of landloid and tenant. In se»eral of the recent bad jeais Mr Hall remitted to Ins tenants v m ions sums from 'JO to f)0 per cent., the abatement one year actually reached 7-3 per cent. These abatements, if not in their frequency certainly in their magnitude, have had few if any equals. Indeed, we cannot lecall a ease of similar libeiality to Mr Hall's. That the tenants are duly giateful, and thatfanneis are not the greedy, grasping class that some speakers and writers designate them, is evidenced by the fact that, in recognition of Mr Hall's geneiobity, Mr Jonathan Middltton, as acting trustee on the estate of his hi otherin law, the late Mr Douglas, Culrossie, is not to claim compensation under the Agncultuial Holdings Act. Mr Douglas' icpieseutativeB leave the farm at Wliitsiinday next, and considering the high condition in which the farm has throughout been maintained, it was evpected iv the distuct that a heavy claim for unc\hausted m muiri, &.c , would not only have bi en made, but substantial allow ance giantetl. In lecogintion of the i emissions, so frtt-ly conceded in lecent >eaia by the piopuetoi, it has, m the ca^e of Cuhos&ie faun, been decitlt tl to toicgo any claims the outgoing tenant had under the Agiicultui.il Holdings Act. This indicates that when tenantfarmeis are fairly and kindly dealt with by their landlords, they aie not disposed to avail themselves of their full legal privileges. As a- liile, they can be trusted, and they want no moie than is theii just due — N B. AgncultuiUt.

Bismarck And Larch Estvtk-. — Piince Bismaick declaies his aversion to large estates aud expresses himself greatly in favour of the partition and dismembei ment of great landed properties. He says:— "The landowners who live on their estates are not the worst, but rather those who live in the city, be it Paris, Rome, or Beilui, and only demand money fiom their stewards without lepresenting their tenants in Pailiament, oi clsewheie concerning themselves about their welfare. Theiein lies the tinseiy of gieat estates; but piopiietors w ho live in the country aio undei the ciicumstances a gieat blessing, and veiy useful. If England, by ictaining her present corn legislation, allows her landloids to be gradually ruined, Ido not believe that will be advantageous to the future of England or the piospenty of the ruial population. Those landowners will then live in town on their rents, bummer and winter, without knowing an\ thing of country life, or at most will leave the city only for a fashionable hunting party. I regaid it as one of the most essential advantages of German life that a great part of our wealthy classes liv o in the country the entire year round, and carry on agriculture directly and for themselves." Tiih Marquis of Lome, in a letter to a leading paper, says :—" Australia offers also to send infautry and aitillery. The presence and co-operation of these representatives of ' our auxiliary kingdoms' would go far to lead public opinion at home and in the colonies to feel that the Empne will work together in the day of trial. When such a lequrst is made, it is not a stranger who asks to help us, it is a demand fiom our sons to stand beside us — a demand to exercise w hat is their right. Among our • kin beyond the se»,' as with us, it is oftcnest from the people that the initiative comes and the Government follows their lead. The spontaneous desire of native-born Canadians and Australians to co operate with us shows the right feeling in the right way. It is woith as much as an offer from the several Governments. Let them come. We stand shoulder to shoulder in the time of trouble wherever the Union Jack flies, and it does not even need a great war to prove that the Empire is united in the defence of itsiuteicsta and honour."

Tin: Wkstmi^ster Explosions. — Rewards M>R Cole am> Cox. —A sum of £30 each is to be paid to the two policemen Cole and Cox out of the Royal Bounty Fund, in recognition of their gallant conduct in connection with the rece'iit dynamite explosions at the House of Commons. Sir William Hat court, the Home Secietary, has also directed that Cole (who has by command of the Queen received the decoration of the Albeit Medal), shall leceivc i further revvaid of £120 and Cox £70, and Sir J. Ingham.the Chief Magistrate of the Metropolis, has ordeicd tho sum of £30 bo paid to each of the men out of the Bow Street Rewaid Fund to policemen who distinguish themselves in the execution of their duty. Both men have, as already announced, been promoted to the rank of sergeants without undergoing the ordinary examination, and arc processing rapidly towards recovery. The decision of the authorities to confer the above-men-tiened lewards has been communicated to the injured men and tho force generally, and on all hands the announcoment has been received with tho highest satisfaction.