Lord Hartington, in the same speech, expressed a strong opinion
that the present Parliament could deal, and ought to deal, with the questions between landlords and tenants. He gave no hint of the method to be pursued, but significantly said that public opinion was now ripe, and that an agreement could be effected and condensed into a law,—a remark which will be pondered by the tenantry all through the country. They will not forget that Lord Hartington is not Mr. Chamberlain, but one of the very greatest landlords. On the following day, speaking at Darwen, he announced that it was now quite pos- sible to deal with the licensing laws. The people were diminish- ing their consumption of drink, the revenue from alcohol which, allowing for the increase of population, should have been £34,000,000, having sunk to £28,000,000; and they should be aided by the Legislature. The method of aid, he hinted, would be to enable the Magistrates to refuse either to grant or to renew licences, whenever the County Boards, soon to be created, inti- mated their opinion that the number was excessive. In cases of refusal to renew, he thought there should be compensation. That seems a reasonable and moderate plan, but there remains the question, still unsettled by statistics, whether drinking does vary in proportion to the number of drinking-shops. The old drink- ing in farm-houses, which was all done at home, was quite as heavy as the drinking now.
