Protection dies hard. On Wednesday the annual meeting of the
Central Chamber of Agriculture was crowded with repre- sentative men, and a motion was proposed by Mr. C. S. Read for a Parliamentary inquiry into the general depression. The object of the motion, of course, was to suggest the imposition of a tax on imported corn, and Mr. James Lowther indicated 5s. a quarter as the amount he should suggest. An amend, ment was, therefore, moved by Mr. Carrington Smith, of Staffordshire, declaring that inquiry was undesirable, as it would lead the farmers to expect impracticable measures of alleviation. He was supported by Mr. Rigdon, of Cheshire, who said that in his county farming was succeeding again through a resort to other kinds of agriculture ; and by Mr. Newton, of York, who declared that the depressed periods of agriculture under Protection were worse than under Free-trade ; but the general feeling_ of the meeting was entirely with Mr. Read. The amendment was rejected, and the resolution carried by 28 to 9—a vote of three to one—from which the Fair-traders will derive much encouragement. If such a meeting can be so silly, why, they will think, should not all England be converted to silliness? Because, among other reasons, the meeting was never hungry, and regards bread only as a supplementary article of diet.
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