The Farmers' Alliance held a meeting in Westminster on Monday,
which was largely attended, and as the Alliance has shown its strength in county elections, has been noticed every. where. The meeting passed, almost without opposition, resolu- tions affirming that more security must be given to tenants by the Legislature for capital invested in the soil ; that the class privileges involved in the law of distress, which gives a prefer- ence to the landlord over every other creditor, must be abo- lished ; that the ratepayers must be secured their fair share in county government; and that rates must be more fairly dis- tributed between landlord and tenant. It is a little doubtful if the law of distress does not keep down rents, by rendering their payment so certain ; but tenant-right of the just kind, and the right of electing the County Councils, are becoming necessities to the farmer. They can then settle the rating question for themselves. To secure these results, they have only to continue their support of the Liberals, and make the counties what they used to be, the pivot of the Liberal power. With 150 Liberal county Members at the next election, the last relics of feudalism might be swept away.
