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Leader (1850-1860), 5th April 1856, Edition 2 of 2, Page 13

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      Count Montalembert On English Politics. ...

      in <* to consecrate its principle . But they have praised it , flattered it , and , in effect , justified ft . Our consolation is , that they recognised the criminality of the coup-oVetat when it took place , and deplored the disaster of France . The exigency that changed their tone having passed away , Lord John Russell may once more speak , at a Mansion-house dinner , of laws and constitutions without being considered indecorous and indiscreet .

      April 5, 1856.1

      April 5 , 1856 . 1

      THE LEAD E R . 325

      In The Joint-Stock Market. They Went To ...

      in the Joint-Stock market . They went to the Stock Exchange as "Bears , " that is , for the purpose of bringing down the price of the Transit Stock . It was a fancy stock , and easily moved . Started at 20 , it had been down to 13 , and up to 50 , and might stand at any figure . What was the object of this manoeuvre 1 It was to enable the Panama Company to buy up the shares of the Transit , to re-consolidate the two rival speculations into the Ponomfi c ™ vMi 1 fl . hion . and so to extinguish the

      WALKER . General Walker ' s confiscation of the Charter of the Accessory Transit Company is a fact which ha 3 political bearings , but it is also an amazing example of the coup d ' etat- in Joint-Stock operations . We know nothing to equal it , not even the proceedings in the Eastern Coun ties Railway Company , or the illustrious Diddlesex Insurance Company . Never was tliere more magnificent scheme than that which the Transit Company put before the world . The Transit was a graft upon the Canal Company—the ^ .. Canal being the grander project , and , of course , Wae more distinguished—prospectively . The proprietors of the Canal did not purchase anything so humble as common " shares "— - they

      Transit , or afterwards to renew it under circumstances favourable to the Vandeubilt interest , with new charters and new guarantees . ^ The shareholders thus saw their property sliding from under them by manoeuvres of their own colleagues , possessing great influence in the United States . Now comes the greatest coup d'etat White had been diddled by the Vaxderbilt interest , but there was a deus ex machind to diddle Vandekbilt . The managers of the Company had not reallv consolidated their capital ; they had not paid a stipulated Royalty of 10 , 000 dollars to the State of Nicaragua ; they had not paid the transit toll of 10 , 000 a year ; they had , in far * forfeited their charter . This weak part

      purchased 192 " grand shares , " or " rights . " To each " grand" share of the Canal was annexed 20 O accessory Transit shares . The Company \ yent into business ; the " rights " were first sold at 800 dollars a-piece , the shares for 20 dollars a-piece ; but Mr . Vanderbilt , tlie great ; ship owner , was understood to be the father or the father-inlaw of the scheme ; the Commissioners were supposed to have secured certain guarantees under the Clayton-Bulwer treaty : the local

      ,, in the technical tenure of the organised company was pointed out to Walker by the shareholders , who were conservative in the exercise of a subversive democracy . Walker . owed no great allegiance to the Government of the United States , which has stopped his recruitment in the Mississippi , and disclaimed him in Europe , and has not assisted him even , covertly . He felt for the shareholders , and obliged them to confiscate their charter . Ifc was a weat act of sovereignty in the de facto

      Government of Central America granted protection and charter upon stipulation of a Royalty payable to them ; the scheme looked promising , the prices rose to 50 dollars for the shares , and 5 , 000 dollars a-piece , for the rights —a grand total , at these values , of 2 , 8 SO , 000 dollars . The Transit Company had considerable success . They had to muster some cash for the purchase of mules , the hire of servants , < fec , on the land route ; they bought up ships , which rvvnviw p rl o-nnds or r > ersons to and from the

      possessor of Nicaragua ; it was a great act of conservancy in the democratic shareholders , who have thus superseded their own Government by importing into their quarrel the de facto Government of Nicaragua . Walker , it is understood , will renew the charter to those who have been bond Jide working out the Transit Company ; and " the bond fide workers are usually a separate body from the dealers in shares . What would not the Bruce party in the Eastern Counties' Railway give if a Walker were in " nower at Westminster , and

      ports of landing ; their profits were really considerable ; and , upon the whole , they were decidedly successful . But all this was done with one remarkable circumstance , which says much for the ability of the managers—it was done without capital . The , so-called " stock " of the Company represented nothing . The ships they purchased were purchased with their earnings , or with another very precarious mode of payment . Mr . Joseph White , the great manager of the concern , offered to buy up Vanderbilt ' s boats , and to pay for them in A ftflH flftrt nP nfr > r > lr nt . « 7 nn ( Jrcflnt rlisnnnnh " VA j t ^« . / vtauvv

      could confiscate the charter and statutes of their Company , renewing it to Bruce , Love ; , and the working shareholders % This is exactly the position of the scheme . The Yankee Cromwell of Central America has confiscated the Eastern Counties' charter and statutes , in order to renew them all in favour of Bruce and Co , The Company has high patronage in Nicaragua ; its conflicts have attained the ranks of the haute politique ; it has gained a point at which stock-jobbing rises to statesmanship .

      A \ J W V J ^ ' W ^ UUX / VJkJ * AI * r 9 V - » x * >*• va w * * . * v y with 100 , 000 dollars in " short bonds . " It is impossible to trace all the ins and outs of the intrigues that have happened within the Company , or about it amongst other persons . About a year ago , Mr . Vandbbbii . t ? or his representative , appeared to have repented of their bargain . Thoy proceeded against the Company in the Supremo Court of the United States , and obtained an injunction , which was expected to " burst up" tho projeotj but it had a more stubborn lifo in it , and other occurrences wore presenting a new field for the White party . Walkeu . was mustering his army , and was about to to-ko up his position in Nioaragua ; and he has arrived in time to bo ready for tho grand theatrical tableau . There was a rival project for a route by Panama , with a Company . Tho Vandisudilt interest in the Transit Company had conceived a new and pootio idea of effecting thoir purpose by a vast dodge

      Torture In India. Now That The Kingdom O...

      TORTURE IN INDIA . Now that the kingdom of Oude is formally annexed to the British dominions , and admitted to all the advantages enjoyed under the British rule , it is not unseasonable to inquire into tho nature of some of theso peculiar blessings . Among the moat striking , it appears that tho British subject is liable to torture . Some European magistrates , indeed , alfeot to consider this as an exaggerated" expression , because thero is no instance on record of the employment of tlio rack . One gentleman records his opinion that it is a " time-honoured institution ; " another , that although " force " may be exhibited , "it seldom amounts to to > rturo , not being of sumeiont severity to cause death , or any bodily harm . " A third has no hesitation in saying that " instruments of torturo" are not used by tho revonuo ollicors , and adds , " tho stooping posturo enforced by tho log and nook being held in proximity no

      ^ — ¦ doubt must be highly inconvenient , and to a plethoric Englishman might almost amount to torture , but to the supple cold-blooded native of this part of the world , I should hesitate in describing the enforced attitude as one of torture . " A fourth likewise " demurs" to call such punishment " torture ; " it is simply a coercive measure practised towards defaulters of the revenue . The " coercion" in question is after this fashion . The delinquent is kept for hours under a burning sun in a stooping other

      attitude , standing on one leg , the being suspended by a string attached to the great toe , and fastened round his neck . "To increase the discomfort of this enforced stooping posture , " a stone weighing from 12 to 14 lbs . is placed upon his shoulders . The defalcation ' that calls forth this punishment seldom exceeds a few shillings—more frequently a claim is trumped up to extort a , bribe . When this statement was first made in the House of C ommons , the partisans of the East India . House indignantly denied the fact , and declared that no such horrors were ever perpetrated beneath the British sway . Nevertheless , a Commission was appointed to make local investigations throughout the Presidency of oi wiic n

      Madras , where the application ^ , ,. was alleged , was more frequent than in other parts of India . Three gentlemen of character and experience having been nominated for this purpose , a period of-three months was . allowed , for the presentation of complaints . Before that period had expired 519 complainants stated their grievances in person to the Commissioners , some of them having travelled on foot for ttat purpose upwards of 300 miles . And there is one case mentioned of a man having oi uiiie

      returned home , a distance zuv » , ^ _«•" important paper he had omitted to bring with him . This the Commissioners call " a curious proof of pertinacity . " In addition to these oral complaints , no fewer than . 1 , 440 were forwarded in writing , and many more would have been sent had the natives felt certain of redress , or been able to leave their daily vocations . Ifc soon became apparent that " coercion was used to a frightful extent . A Missionary deposed that he had seen- in the hands of the headman of a village a scourge composed of leatner iu

      four or five thongs ol . , a ya .. «* ^^ in length , which was used to compel the labourers to pay their taxes . Another reverend gentleman had lived in the immediate neighbourhood of a police station , and daily witnessed oases of ill-treatment . He also knew that , to extort confessions from ^ ornen , red pepper was sometimes applied in a most painful and disgusting manner . A merchant had seen at least a dozen defaulters ranged m a row in the court-yard of a police station , under a meridian sun in tlie hottest period of the year , each of them having a heavy atone placed tne

      on tho head , or on tho back between shoulders , their bodies being bent nearly double , and themselves standing on one log . An officer in command of a detached corps heard , night after night , a great uproar and the sound of blows in tho direction of the police station , and at last took tho trouble to see what was the matter . Thero he found tho superintendent of police sitting in his verandah , surrounded by his subordinate officers , and summarily administexing flagellation to such as were unwilling to part with their money . Occasionally a thumbscrew was used with equal effect . ' Tho nocturnal flogging wont on for many weeks . " A Government tenant , who paid annually £ 24 : for his land , having fallen into arrears to the amount of thirty shillings , the tax colloo tore insisted on his paying up in full or presenting them with a bribe . As tho crops had partially failed , ho refused to comply ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), April 5, 1856, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_05041856/page/13/