On this page

• Text (2)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    • 56 The Leader and Saturday Analyst. [J...

  • 

    BRITISH DEFENCES. IN despotic times Gove...

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    The Relations Of Labour. . O F All The S...

    themselves out of the condition of receiving wages , and started as - capitalists on their own account . And thus placed , as , it was thought , beyond the necessity of working , they rose m their own esteem , and that of their fellow men , just in proportion as their speculations were successful , and no further . Within the last fifty years , Thinkers have arisen who have penetrated the falsehood of these supposed relations and asserted , in terms more or less sonorous , the Dignity of Labour . 1 he Man Labouring has been seen to be , at bottom , the only honest t / . _ ¦!• " - J . 1- - i «™ :+ i ^ . o .+ o -fiMiifc nf'liis p . YP . rbons alone . and to live the legitimate fruits of his exertions alone

    man , on His ri » ht to his wages no one could dispute;—the only doubt was , whether they were high enough ; and whether the mere law of Supply and Demand did not press too severely on him , arid require the interposition of some other law to ameliorate the state of the market . The Thinkers , furthermore , insisted on his rio-ht to a better education , that he might know better how to conduct , himself and dispose of his earnings prudently . Mechanics' Institutions were established , and the diligent and industrious found themselves , in the course of time , on more equal

    terms with tlieir employers . . So far , well . But all that is really needed is not yet done . A balance has yet to be adjusted between Master and Man . The former still thinks that he confers a favour by employing the latter , and has indeed a right to his especial gratitude . On the other hand , in some extreme cases , the latter may have inclined to tlie opinion that t he favour is conferred byhimself . In Australian and American experience , the fact has been So . Labour , even of the most unskilled kind , has been the crowned kino- ; and the more intelligent adventurer has found himself in less request than the hard-handed craftsman or agriculturist . The idle and the industrious have changed places;—and the

    experience of iiew worlds has been properly called in to right the balance of the old . As-such we inay accept it , without adopting the extreme " conclusions of either . In a well-constituted and mature state of society , the obligations of the labourer and his employer are equal . Each reciprocally benefits the other ; and a sense of mutual dependance should operate to make them good friends and kindly neiglibours . . . This acknowledged equality * however , recognises results which masters are evidently not vet prepared to grant . _ In some sort , ht to

    at least in England , they still claim some shadowy rig superiority . Without attempting to justify in the slightest degree the " strikes" which have lately taken place , or those with which tlie building trade has been again threatened , it is but reasonable , we think , that the claim of the men to nine hours ' work instead of ten should be graciously considered . It deserves more favourable attention than it has received . The leisure demandedH«—sacred-to—hig-h ~~ pur , poses . —irhc—craftsuiain- ^ no- ^ longer requires that it should be devoted to vicious indulgence , l ? ut to the improvement , pf , his mind and morals . He takes his stand , now , as a man-r-not simply as a craftsman

    —and on tliis ground asserts his equality with his employer , He demands the same privileges of instruction ; opportunities to ' form his taste ; , and means of preserving both his mind and body in a state of health . The master owes to the man mor < j than his mere wages for work done and delivered ; he owes to Kiinithe cQurtesies of a fellow nian , good wishes , for his individuai welfare , and as much help as he can render tovyards the bettering . of his material and moral condition . These are new duties , imposed by the spirit of the times on masters . We

    confess it , and it is only too evidently felt by them that they are new . The prayer of the men for an extra leisure hour should not be too summarily dismissed . Whether it would be better to pay wages by the hour rather than by the day —( a solution proposed in one of the journals)—or to grant the prayer literally , as it stands , without altering the general custom , are matters that require deliberation , and depend greatly on practical experience . Theoretically , one may be better than the other ; but that which " works well , " as in the case of the British

    constitution itself , is that which will moat commend itself to men of business . Reserving this point , we think that the masters will do wisely to regard with proper sympathy the spirit of tlie appeal made to them , and above all to forbear from mis-esteeming the motive that lias given birth to tho movement , Whatever has "" ' a tendency to elevate tlie oharabter of tlie workman , must be beneficial to the master . Only the lownminded and the narrow-minded can think otherwise .

    • 56 The Leader And Saturday Analyst. [J...

    • 56 The Leader and Saturday Analyst . [ June 2 > 186 a

    British Defences. In Despotic Times Gove...

    BRITISH DEFENCES . IN despotic times Government must , of necessity , regard itself ns an enemy to tho people , and consider that its safety depends upon the power ana strength of the fortifications which it oan interpose between its own position and the organization of the public will . ' Such considerations naturally influenced the I ' i ¦ ¦ ¦ ' ' . ¦ '

    British Administration in the days of Sidmouth and Castlere agh ; but we ought now to have outgrown so mischievous an antagonism , and to have reached a point of national unity , at which the Government was simply the machinery for carrying out those decisions at which the intelligence of the country had arrived . For a Government to be afraid of arming the people , is for that Government to confess that it does not intend to carry out the will of the nation . And while adjacent despotisms can array hundreds of thousands by the application of force , we must sink ' in influence and safety , unless we can provide a counterpoise

    by means that are in harmony with the free principles upon which our society is professedly founded . Our ablest soldiers are continually telling us that the amount of national defencespurchased for ' nearly thirty millions a year—are very inadequate to ensure the safety of our numerous possessions , and of that preponderance at sea upon which our stability must ultimately depend ; and our wisest financiers witness with alarm the continuance of an expenditure which the country would not and could not sustain if any untoward circumstances caused an important depression of trade .

    Even now , the rise in the pi-ice of meat , consequent upon the damage done to the grass and early green crops , will make it hard work for the bulk of the people to make both ends meet , and any further pressure would be felt an intolerable burden . Still , the cry of danger for want of defences is constantly raised' ; and when facts and figures are examined , no one is satisfied , except the obstinate believer in the amiable intentions of dangerous and despotic powers . The Volunteer movement has added something to the : military strength of the country , though what tlie real amount of available force we have obtained is very difficult

    to ascertain , and we may be certain that the success of the scheme has been immensely exaggerated . We want more power for less cost , and until this problem is solved we shall -constantly feel tlie Tuipleasant sensation of drifting- towards unknown ' dangers , and want that " confidence that springs from the proud consciousuess _ lhat we hold the _ threads of pur own destiny firm in our . own hands . Our Statesmen may see combinations that bode us no good , and may know that a ' little firm help to a just cause at the right moment would serve Europe as well as ourselves , but they are

    paralyzed for want of means ; and by constantly showing that they are afraid of provoking a conflict they leave toothers the power of deciding at what moment we shall have peace , or war . It is true that we have no leaders who wish to make England play a noble part , and advance those beneficent changes that must take place before the condition of nations can be anything better than nu armed , distrustful , and expensive truce but if we had the right men in th > > ffl- >* pinta , thy first thing they would do would be to make our homes impregnable ; , and leave a large force for any distant enterprise that might be necessary to resist the commencement of attacks \ ipon interests that we should be obliged to defend .

    Among the numerous persons who have turned their attention to this question is Colonel Kennedy , formerly military secretary to Sir Charles Napier , and consulting engineer to the railway department of the Indian Government , and who has just published the Lecture on National Defensive Measures which he delivered at the United Service Institution in the month of March . Colonel Kennedy proposes to raise a volunteer force of 500 , 000 men , that being one-tenth of the men estimated as capable of bearing arms . lie proposes 450 infantry battalions of 1 , 000 men each , 300 squadrons of cavalry , each consisting of 100 men , and 150 field batteries of six guns each . His notion is that all th e training required could be given after the usual hours

    of work or business , and he objects strongly to the expenditure incurred by the present corps . Upon this he remarks , " subscription prinoiple would , in fact , exclude the working classes , and thus render the whole undertaking n failure . " This is exactly what has so often been predicted by the Leader ; hut the Government has designedly encouraged plans that must end in the very failure Colonel Kennedy deplores , from a distrust that is most absurd . Colonel Kennedy is wrong when \ m thinks the working men would buy their own uniforms provided they did not cost more than a holiday suit . Our working men arc riot sufficientlywell ¦^ oft ^ "td "'' -be ''" able "" tb ''' buy r superfluous clothes , and tho volunteer uniform would not be for them a substitute

    for tho holiday suit thoy like to have . A great step would be gained , if men were drilled in nny clothes in which they chose to present themselves , and it would be a cheap bargain if the Government furnished a cap and tunic to all who chose to accept it , and had earned it by undergoing n good course of drill . Colonel Kennedy estimates the general expenditure at the rate of £ 2 per annum for each man enrolled , and . he contemplates a reduction of military expenditure ns 1 . 1 u < result of a good volunteer system . His pamphlet is rendered more

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), June 2, 1860, page 8, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_02061860/page/8/