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Leader (1850-1860), 3rd November 1855, Edition 2 of 2, Page 9, ^. -Afr >aa- -y:-. th;e ; lisad-ek. ,.m$

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      Saturday, November 3, 1855.

      SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 3 , 1855 .

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      There Ia Nothing Bo Revolutionary, Becau...

      There ia nothing bo revolutionary , because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep tilings fixed when all the world is by the very law oi its creation in eternal progress . —1 > B . Arnold .

      The Consequences Of War With America. Tt...

      THE CONSEQUENCES OF WAR WITH AMERICA . TThe evil consequences resulting from hostile relations with America would not necessarily stand deferred entirely until the actual outbreak or declaration of war . We should feel them beforehand ; and a list only of the principal evils is sufficient warning of that which the community has at stake . In the first place , there is the cotton tradetfhat is , the wealth and property of Liverpool . and America . Liverpool might sell threequarters of its shipping , or all . Manchester must shut up her factories for want of the raw material to work them , and of a great market to receive her manufactories .

      But indeed , Bristol , London , Belfast , Glasgow , all the commercial outlets of the country the whole trade of the United Kingdom , would , to a certain extent , suffer . If we do not fear Eussia on the highways of the seas , should we feel the same perfect fearlessness towards America ? It is true that her navy is not strong ; but how long has it taken her to build ships ? Is not one of the very pretexts for the present movement by our Executive the statement that privateers are building in

      New York for the Empebojr . of Russia ? If the men of the Union are building privateers for Russia , cannot they build war-ships for themselves ? Do they want their millions , the men , or the skill ? Would they then want the will ? There is not a branch of our trade that is carried afloat that would not be endangered by the war with America . We laugh at Russia , but our Transatlantic enemy would make our most sanguine traders and hardiest mariners look grave .

      The war with Russia has entailed an increased taxation upon us . It has about doubled our ordinary imposts . Supposing that the war with America did not cost us more , we should be spending about three times as much , yet that would not represent the whole of the loss to us . If we actually manage to convey any commerce by sea , the under-writers would expect a heavy insurance , and we should positively pay taxes to the Americans : , for , what is under-writing but distributing over the many the losses incurred by the few ? And the prices which America would take would have their exact equivalent in the diminished prices realized by our own traders , with interest for

      the under-writers . We have spoken only of the . Union : the loyalty of Canada is said to bo firm ; yet the Canadians are rather hurt at not having had more attention shown to them , —more consideration for their loyalty , —more commissions for their officers , —more honours to be competed for on an equality with the people of this country . The loyalty of Canada we believe to be quite sincere ; but if there were a war of principles between monarchy which has remained so exclusive as ours , and republicanism which is so inclusive ; is it not possible that the republican party in Canada might at least put us to some trouble , and that the trade with

      Canada would not have to pay on both sides a proportionate insurance 1 ... Our harvest is slightly deficient this year ; We do not anticipate much practical diminution of our bread , because we expect ample supplies from abroad—but whence ? From America . Aye it may be said America has as much to lose as ' have by hostilities . Granted . We know that we are not mistaken when we say that the Americans would be as strongly disinclined to war as we can . Nay , they are more

      so i they have not taken the initiative in provocation : we have placed them on the provoked side There is , moreover , this difference between as and America : In this country , if a man loses his employ , ten to one his bread is gone ; his only locus standi is the workhouse . In America , there are few men of activity and energy who are not jacks-of-all-trades , following , probably , two occupations , and finding readily two more occupations open for them if the one fails ; and if there is nothing else , there is the land to fall back upon .

      America , therefore , could more readily , and would more cheerfully , make the sacrifices that otherwise should deter both sides from the war . Let us for a moment suppose that the trade between the two countries is stopped . Bread riots would not then be a tragi-coraedy , partaking of the theatrical ; there would be a stern reality in them . Nor would they be confined to London ; nor would they be caused only by the failure of bread . There would be failure of wages ; thousands upon thousands out of work in Lancashire . Paint that picture of the possible future—M anchester out of work —with all its incidents !

      Nor , we have saidj should we wait for all the evils until the actual declaration . The very fear of it would stop many a cotton cargo , delay many a bale of goods , keep back many a barrel of flour , throw out of work many a sailor , many a factory-hand ; give employment to the under-writers , set an anticipative tax upon all our trades , increase our payments , stop our income , beat down our hearts , and fill the working-classes of this country with bitterness rankling against those who could have dragged us into such a condition .

      The Refugees. We Have Already Recorded O...

      THE REFUGEES . We have already recorded our protest against the ill-chosen language of the refugees in Jersey . We have now to protest against a violation of right , if not of law , committed by the Governor , and approved by certain classes of people in that island . It has also been sanctioned , we infer , by Lord Palmeuston .

      Thirty-seven exiles , who had found an asylum in Jersey , who had not broken the law , and who , if they had offended , had offended only opinion * , have been expelled by edict , under circumstances of insult and violence . It was not enough that the loyal inhabitants of the island had repudiated the sentiments of the refugees , which they had a right to do , considering that they were not themselves proscribed . A good deal of unnecessary bluster was excited , and language used by the Jersey editors , as well as by editors in England , which in virulence at least equalled , and in brutality exceeded , any expressions contained in the obnoxious number of

      VHomme . Even this , however , was not more than what wo expected from a public which never thinks , and from a press which the public licences to hypocrisy . It was natural that people also , who had admired the freedom of Lord Bjroitghau ' s anonymous letter to the Queenpopular and applauded , in its day—should bo astounded at the familiarity of M . Felix Pyat . It was inevitable that others , who understood

      neither the French , language , nor Roman Catholic figures of speech , should detecf blasphemy in a proverbial expression . Ifc was logically probable that good citizens who were delighted when Louis Napoleon" declared himself necessary to the Almighty , should have clear ideas ' piety . All this was essential to the consistence of the English character . But we must regret that the Jersey officials have obliterated the error of the refugees , by t yrannical , barbarous , and cowardly

      . Looking calmly at tlie document , which was the original cause of offence , we are bound to say that its purport has been greatly exaggerated , or rather misunderstood . Ifc was a mistake , it was ill-advised , ill-considered , illtimed . As addressed to an English lady , it contained phrases which few Englishwomen could be expected to apply in their true sense . The refugees , also , imitated the first

      Napoleon , by intigating the assassination of the French Emperou , though the French Empekor has no right to complain of them , since he has pensioned the man who attempted to assassinate the Duke of Wellington . Men wlio conceive that they may , with their own hands , consummate public justice , are bound to fulfil their project themselves , if it is to be fulfilled at all . No one condemns MtJTiUS Sc ^ ivotA ; but every one would have condemned him had he sought to do his work by deputy .

      "We are not able to say whether the last act of the Government in Jersey is a direct infringement of any public act . We are inclined to believe that it is not , and that the right of refuge in that island has not been adequately secured by law ; but whatever reasons existed for expelling M . 3 M . RiBEYKOLLES , Piastciani , and , Thomasthe only reason being that Government had the power to do it—the expulsion of the

      thirtyfour others is , upon the face of it , unjust . They were not included in the order by which the first-named three were forced to leave the island . Consequently—and it is so avowed . — tftei-r offence consisted in the publication , after that date , of a document whifch is made , by the British Government , an excuse for treating violently and pusillanimously a number of helpless men , exiled for their resistance to a

      military usurpation . Allowing that by the publication of a defamatory or impious document * the refugees could have deserved such a penalty , wliat did their second declaration contain ? Did it contain one false statement , or one treasonable word 1 It stated that Ribeyrolles , Piattciani , and Thomas had been banished from Jersey by ' an act as arbitrary as tho coup d'dtat of Lotjis Napoleon . That Louis Napoleon ,

      by the sentence of the legally-constituted High Court of Justice in France , is liable to arrest . and punishment . ( 1 he judicial sentence being quoted , with the signatures of the five judges , and of the Procureur-Gencrals . ) That ho had taken and broken his oath as an official . That he had betrayed a constitution to which ho had sworn fidelity . That ho had violated tho highest laws of France . That he had imprisoned tho representatives of tho people , by law inviolable . That he used violence upon

      tho judges . That ho had massacred men , women , and children on the Boulevards . That he had guillotined three citizens who had endeavoured to servo npon him tho writ of arrest . That ho had hribed tho soldiers , functionaries , and magistrates . That he had confiscated public and private property . 1 hat no had proscribed or executed forty thousand French citizens , transporting f ° ™ * * £ galleys of Africa , some to tho yutnd ™ " >"" It Cayenne . That when ho bod done all th 8 , tho English press execrated h , m for doing it ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 3, 1855, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_03111855/page/9/