On the same day the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Walter
Long, speaking at Brighton, declared that a large portion of next Session would be devoted to discussing measures for the relief of agricultural depression, As for Protection, that was out of the question; and as for Bimetallism, its effect would be too uncertain to venture on so speculative a remedy. But something might be done in diminishing the special burdens on land, something to distribute a little more equally the weight of taxation, something to improve the means of bringing agricultural produce into the market, and something, again, to reduce the cost of the conveyancing of agricultural land. Mr. Long, at all events, spoke not only for himself, but for his colleagues in the Cabinet, -when he promised that the Government would do all in its power to lighten the distress of the agricultural interest.
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