On Friday, July 28th, the House of Commons, by a
majority of 24 (161 to 137), negatived Mr. Lopes's motion regretting that, in spite of the depression in agricul- ture, the Government " have not thought it their duty " to take action in the matter. According to Mr. Lopee, prices have fallen so much even in the last eight years that the wheat, barley, and oats sold in England and Wales last year fetched 28,000,000 less than in 1885. Since 1890, the value of the live-stock had depreciated by some £70,000,000. Mr. Everett, a Gladstonian, who seconded the motion, was quite as gloomy. He declared, on the authority of Mr. Little's "Farmers' Almanack," that "the gross value of the agricul- tural produce of Great Britain was now £35,000,000 a year less than the mean value in the. years 1865 to 1875." The cause of this was the appreciation of gold. The remedy, he inferred, was bimetallism. In reply, Mr. Gardner, the Minister of Agriculture, made a sort of " bread-poultice " speech,—i.e., he applied as much comfort as he could, but it was a poultice which had got rather cold. Sir William Harcourt, on the other hand, tried to be very satirical, but the result was some- what ghastly.
Previous page
