The idea for which we have contended for eighteen years
—that Liberals should seek the farmers as their natural allies —seems to have been accepted at last, and on Wednesday a deputation of farmers from all parts of Great Britain separated, after their reception by Mr. Gladstone, with "loud and con- tinued cheering." He told them that he and his colleagues, impressed with the depression of agricultural industry and the increasing competition under which farmers labour, had surveyed the whole field of law affecting their position, and already decided on the abolition of the malt tax and the mea- sure regarding ground-game. They intended to carry both through, and as to the game, he believed that when the law gave equal rights to both claimants, occupiers and owners would have more confidence, instead of less, in each other. He did not see any principle which would prevent the extension of the Hares and Rabbits Bill to existing leases. He was not prepared to make the Agricultural Holdings Act compulsory, but the tenant must have security for the money he puts into the soil. The law of distress "could not be justified," and the law of pre- sumptions, particularly in Scotland, involved hardship and absurdity. As to local burdens and County Boards, he had only to refer to the declared opinions of the Administration, which were unchanged. "Our duties are towards the whole of our fellow-countrymen." It has taken the best part of a generation to teach Liberals that, but if they have learned it thoroughly, the Tory reign is over for many a year to come.
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