MEGAdigital. Online-Angebot der historisch-kritischen Gesamtausgabe von Karl Marx und Friedrich Engels

November 17. 1866. N. 1212.

The First Interior of a Finance Company.

Nämlich Public account der „General Credit Co“. Gestehn loss by loans to Foreign railways, etc aber their capital intact, und reserve funds. »We scarcely consider the dividend of 15% which the Co. has divided, justified by the result. Such investments as they dealt in yield occasionally large gains; many private persons have made immense fortunes by dealing in them. But a company has very material difficulties in such a trade. First, it cannot be idle; it must employ its money, pay a dividend and it will not be entirely easy to carry on 2 kinds of business, one in times of enterprise, another in times of caution. An individual can stand still. A Co. is always restless, and always existing. It is, so to say, immortal. It has to take the average not of a year or 2 like a chance speculator, but of all years to come … The only permanent high dividends are those of Cos which in some shape or other are dealing with much money of other people, and have to divide only upon a small capital of their own.[«]|

108

English Agriculture. Zusatz von Marx.
Schließen (Tenant-Right or Leases?) (Improvements)

A more striking illustration of the stagnant condition of all, or nearly all, that concerns the management of land in England could scarcely be found than the fact that the Report on agricultural customs contained in a recently (1866) issued blue book is merely a reissue of the report of Mr. Pusey’s committee of 1848. „That part of the report which recommended the assimilation of the law as to agricultural fixtures to that of trade fixtures has been accomplished.“ Except that infinitesimal progression, for in all else this report might as well have been made now as 18 years ago.

Farmers may be certain – and there are few districts in England which have not afforded sad examples – that any reliance on customary allowances – (statt rational leases) – whether of the old or new pattern, are as unsafe in fact as unsound in principle. We know that many who seek to delude farmers, by a sort of mock liberality, represent such allowances as equivalent to a lease, but let any farmer holding his farm under such terms try it. Let him quarrel with the game keeper –, let him interfere with the game bred on his farm and fed on his crops for his landlord’s profit, – let him vote against his landlord’s candidate at the county elections, and he will then test the real value, the no value, of the „tenant-right“ panacea. The following extract from a letter to the Times by Mr. James Anderson Sanderson , a very able land agent, sagt u.a: „For my own part, whenever I fix farm rentals I put from 5 to 7s. 6d. per acre more upon land of medium quality farmed under the security of a lease than if occupied on the system of annual tenancy. But this additional rental is a mere tithe of the value that landlords obtain by granting leases. Farming under the lease system is progressive, and from the large tenant outlay which the security of a lease induces, it is no unfrequent occurrence for farms during a 19 years’ lease to be doubled in value without any outlay on the part of landlords. Indeed, what are usually termed landlord’s improvements on a farm let on annual tenure become tenant’s improvements on farms let on lease. Tenant’s outlay under the former system is too often limited to what one year will exhaust, while under the latter it embraces improvements which are recovered by periodical returns after a lapse of time. Taking into account the increased and increasing outlay in the shape of labour, manure and implements which land requires to make it remunerative, I consider the question of security of tenure no longer doubtful, and that farm leases are essential to the further development of British Agriculture.“

Failures:

Suspension of Philip Levi et Co, Adelaide, South Australia, liab. 300,000l. Ditto:
W. Dryman et Co, warehousemen, Sydney und ebendaselbst Love et Son; wholesale grocers, mit liab. respectively of 42,000 und 40,000l.

January 26, 1867. N. 1222.

The State of the Money Market.

The natural position of this country is that of an exporter of bullion. We are the entrepôt between the mining countries and the monetary countries. The gold of Australia and California, in the main, comes first here, and hence is diffused over Europe and the world. Mere export of bullion daher not to be confounded with a foreign drain of the necessary bullion we require. A certain sum of the precious metals – more or less – is needful for the business of England, and when that sum is trenched upon, we must raise the rate of interest at once and quickly.|

118

Trade is very slack – slacker, perhaps, than ever, for people must go on for a long interval after a crisis to clear off existing obligations, ; it is not until the ante-crisis liabilities are effaced, that we can truly estimate the effects of such a year as the last. Now we have reached that stage. The demand for capital is falling still more short of the supply than before.

Striking etc.

The men should consent to receive payment part in wages and part in profits – part as an advance in anticipation of profits, and part when the profits were actually realised; and that the wages or anticipated portion should be calculated at such a rate as to leave a balance in the hands of the employers to meet the workmen’s share of losses in case losses were incurred. In other words that the men, instead of receiving the whole of their share of the profits in advance, should receive only a large instalment of that share. The only difficulty – the workmen could scarcely ever be persuaded to submit to that preliminary reduction in their fixed wages. If they desire to have larger profits at the year’s end, they must be content with smaller advances on the faith of those profits during the course of the year.

The Farming of Leicestershire. Grass Land.

Leicestershire is the land of the Grazier; its grass land is the great source of its profit. Some of this grass land is, as says Mr. Moscrop, the author of the Prize Essay of the Royal Agricultural Society, of surpassing fertility, and a large part of its 2nd and 3d class pasture land is very valuable for the dairy and the rearing of store stock. Land produced produces but little compared with its capacity for production. About 1/2 the area of the country, containing 522,240 acres, is under permanent grass. Was von den grass lands of Leicestershire, and their management, gilt von den great grass districts of the Midland counties, already the source of so much of our meat supply.

The climate being mild and equable, the rainfall moderate though usually sufficient, and there being no bogs or mountains, the Leicestershire farmer occupies a position more favourable than the average of the English counties. The Eastern division contains the greater portion of the rich grazing land – consisting mainly of clay loams – varying from stiff to friable. Many of the farms in this division have no arable land, others having from 1/6 to 1/3 in arable. Dairying is pursued chiefly on the small farms in the northern portion, while the great bulk of this division is used for fattening cattle and sheep. It is to the natural richness of the pastures „rather than to any extraordinary pains bestowed on their improvement that Leicestershire is indebted for her surpassing fertility“. The rents received by the landowners are the highest of any county in the kingdom. Though within the last 20 years – since Repeal of the Cornlaws – much draining has been done, much land yet requires that first and preliminary improvement.

Farms range from 50 to 80 acres, the more general sizes being from 100 to 300. There are, however, many small holdings ranging from 20 to 70 acres. The smaller farms are usually occupied by dairy farmers, as their chief product is the wellknown Stilton Cheese. Trees und hedge rows bilden a serious incumbrance of the land. The grazing farms are nearly devoid of farm-buildings. Yet these farms let at 3l. and upwards per acre. Such land will „fatten a bullock, weighing when fat from 50 to 60 imperial stones, and one sheep over 20 lbs per quarter, during the summer months, and in winter will keep from 1 to 11/2 sheep per acre. Freedom from the care and complexity of arable cultivation, cultivation renders these purely grazing farms attractive. Yet they require much attention to render them profitable. Care must be taken to prevent the grass getting too long, and yet the pasture must never be bare, or rapid fattening becomes impossible. Consequently cattle in certain seasons must be bought at whatever cost; and, again, when grass falls short, some of them must be sold even at a disadvantage, or the grass must be supplemented by a liberal use of cake. Once a year the pasture must be grazed bare, or the rough places mown with the scythe. The more general practice to „crop them off during the winter months with Scotch or Welsh runts, termed ‚gnawers‘ [“]. All this requires watchful attention to keep the pastures sweet and level, and yet have the cattle, including the gnawers, in an improving state. The droppings of the cattle are also collected before they have time to rot the grass and ultimately to produce rough herbage which nothing will eat. Meadows, from which hay is taken, are grazed and mown alternately. Here there is great room for improvement, as very little dressing beyond ditch scourings and the clots collected, collected are afforded. The manure made is most wastefully consumed for want of farm-buildings.[“]

Mr. Moscrop says: „The scarcity and consequent high price of store stock, together with the many risks of importing disease where all are bought, are tending to a revolution, from mere grazing, so that farms with a certain proportion of friable arable soil are regarded much more favourably than formerly, especially |119 if the buildings are suitable, which, however, is rarely the case. [“]

In the Northern part of the Eastern division of the country: „About Burrow, and from thence north, some of the pastures are in a much neglected and unimproved state, some fields being covered with ant-hills, to the entire exclusion of all good and nutritious herbage. Drainage is much wanted. Thistles and other noxious weeds abound, and the care and attention bestowed on the grass land in the south of the division is on many farms here totally wanting.“

In the Western Division of the County there is a good deal of friable and some heavy arable land. „Seit den letzten 20 Jahren hier progress in the management of the arable land. Dennoch antiquated und obsolete practices yet linger on, but chiefly on the small farms; as a rule, the best management is seen on farms of fair size.“ In summing up the account of the grass land, Mr. Moscrop says: „There yet remains much land that loudly calls for drainage. There are 1000 of acres of secondrate quality which liberal and judicious manuring would convert into pastures of fair fattening quality. There are 100ds of acres so covered with ant-hills as to be almost worthless. On some farms, hassocks, thistles etc are allowed to run riot. Much is taken from all the meadow land mown, only a little being returned by few, and nothing by many, the inevitable result of which must be deterioration. [“]

Manufacturing districts.

Manchester Jan. 24. Again Gloomy market for all kinds of yarns and goods. Prices are still against producers. Though short time has been resorted to of late in some districts, stocks must be accumulating rapidly, as the buying has been on the most limited scale. Notwithstanding the limited buying for some time past for the India and China markets, the exports hence continue on a large scale, which shows that many producers are tempted to consign rather than accept the unremunerative prices offering in this market.

Birmingham. In the foreign department the symptoms of reaction are slight, the merchants are keeping back orders, and will continue to do so to a certain extent until much of the indebtness indebtedness of long-standing by various foreign markets is renewed.

Wolverhampton: So far the reduction of prices has given but slight stimulus to the demand for iron.