Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 6th August 1859, Edition 2 of 2, Page 9

Page 9
Page 9
9 of 24

On this page

  • Text (8)
  • 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.

      Unitjbd States Nmva.-—Tho Southern Michi...

      whose duty it was to examine the condition of the culvert was guilty of culpable negligence ; and censured the officers of the company for having constructed an improper culvert . . The Washington S tar denies the report that 60 or 70 cargoes of African negroes have been landed in the United States since the successful voyage ol the Wanderer . It adds , however that the parties in the South interested in the revival of ^ the trade are doing their best to embarrass the action or tne Government officers charged with the duty of guarding the coasts . During the proving of a 68-poundergunat the Washington navy yard , it burst , and two persons were killed and several severely wounded .

      No. 489. Aug.B - , 1859.] The Leader. 90...

      No . 489 . AuG . b - , 1859 . ] THE LEADER . 909

      British Enterprise—South America. It Is ...

      BRITISH ENTERPRISE—SOUTH AMERICA . It is quite a relief to find evidence of progress amidst the stories of useless butcheries and destruction which are the staple communications from the republics of South America . Even there , however , English enterprise can revive the life and prosperity which the natives are continually destroying . From Monte Video , we are informed by the Overland Mail that three English and one Spanish gentlemen have purchased a considerable tract of land , called Fray Bentos , situated about eighty miles frOm the point where the Paraguay falls into the great estuary of La Plata , and with the sanction and support of the Monte Videan Government , have begun building a town there , to be called Independencia . There is already a considerable trade in the neighbourhood , but the town on the opposite bank of the river is destitute of a good harbour , while there is an excellent harbour in Fray Bentos , and great means of improving the trade with the town opposite and the surrounding country . Lime , clay , and sand are found in the immediate ¦ vicinity- ; timber and water are abundant ; the country is picturesque , as well as healthy ; the river abounds i n fish ; and the enterprising projectors . have begun to build roads , wharfs , bridges , and other conveniences . The town is regularly laid out , like all Spanish towns , with the streets at right angles , and a square in the centre . It has a large river frontage , and will soon have all the conveniences necessary for ' carrying on a considerable trade , and to be a comfortable home . The situation and prospects are promising , and people are rapidly attracted to the s . pot . It will in time , " we hope , be an additional emporium ' for the trade of England , and will help to make the fine and fertile region in whifch it is situated the abode of a great and flourishing people . ; The country has all the material elements of wealth and greatness , and needs only that the spirit of industry and enterprise now imparted to it should strengthen , to become extremely flourishing .

      English, French, And Americans In China....

      ENGLISH , FRENCH , AND AMERICANS IN CHINA . The Overland Friend of China , under date June 4 , says that our Ministor Plenipotentiary to the Court o Pekin , the Hon . F . W . A . Bruce , C . B ., departed for Shanghai , en route to the northern court , in lier Majesty ' s steamer Magicienne , on the 2 nd , followed the , same day by M . Bourboulon , his French colleague , in his Imperial Majesty ' s steamer Dn Chayla . The Russian Commodore and Plenipotentiary Popoff paid Hong Kong a short visit on the 24 th , leaving for the north on the 28 th . Admiral Hope left us in the Inflexible on the 27 th , bound to tlie consular ports and Pekin , Mr . Bruce left matters in the south very much aa he found them . Nothing was decided about chums for compensation at Canton . From Shanghai wo learn that the United States steamer Powhattan had got on shore near WoosiiDg , but it was expected she Would be got . off uninjured , and that Mr . Ward ' s progress would not bo delayed on this account . The Treatv and Tina Guixicsio Autiiohitiks . — A Shanghai lotRfc says : — " At Pekin Mr . Brine will very likely remain sonic time , Ai soon as the ratifications are exchanged trade will commonco ; in fact , sub rosa , it has commenced nt several now places , particularly northward , in Shantung , where there are already said to bo two or throe ships , sent by some of our leviathan commercial firms , and whioh mysteriously disappeared from this with miscellaneous . cargoes on board . There have boon one or two admirable proclamations issued by the native authorities } one especially , on tho occasion of some merohnnts who , with Captain Shadwoll , our senior naval officer , Avero on a trip up the river , being insulted and attacked at a village . , O \\ thoir return it was roportod la the district magistrate : tho ringleader was taken , bain booed , and then exposed in a cage in front of our ouatoin-houso every day for , some hours , till bogged off by Captain ShauSveU . A proclamation was then issued whioh would have done credit to an English magistrate , explaining to the people that because foreigners ditfbr from themselves jn language , dross , & c , they must not be

      mobbed and insulted ; and that necessarily different climates and different nations require a difference of costume ; and particularly forbidding the use of the old words for a foreigner—viz . * ' foreign devil * and * 'barbarian . "' . Japanese News . —Mr . Alcock , the Consul-G-eneral fo r Japan , arrived in her Majesty ' s ship Sampson , at Shanghai , and has left for Japan . The trade with that country began with a great spurt ; but it is evident now it will not be on a very large scale . We got all they had to give us in every shape comparatively cheap to us , though doubtless at higher prices than they had been in the habit of receiving , and some few people made enormous profits , though to a small extent * Every thing has now risen to 200 per cent .

      Three Russian gunboats have left Hong Kong for Shanghai , thence bound for Japan . Their names are the Opritehnick , Griden , and Renda . The " Allies" in Cochin China . —Intelligence from Cochin China received vta * Manilla , tells of loss sustained by the French and Spanish forces , and great sickness prevailing . The natives fight bravely , and it is said that the French admiral has applied for strong reinforcements , and meanwhile is content to hold his position . We have no later news , though all reports confirm those before received of horrid cruelties by the allies whenever they have the opportunity . They appear to give no quarter .

      South Australian Pkospects.—Letters From...

      South Australian Pkospects . —Letters from South Australia reach to JuDe the 1 st . The Legislative Session was opened by a speech from the Governor on the 18 th May , in which , in reference to the mining industry of the colony , he expressed his hope that " the recent discovery of extensive and valuable mineral deposits to the north of Port Augusta will , at no distant date , add new sources of wealth . " The financial and commercial state of the colony he declared to be satisfactory . An interruption in the telegraphic communication between Adelaide and Melbourne had occurred , through damage from a severe storm . The South Australian Register of May 18 says : — "The mines in work . are going on favourably . " The Burra Burra Company had declared their 38 th dividend of 100 percent . The price of the shares was 145 ? . Copper was at 100 Z , per ton .

      The Earthquake at Ebzerouji . —The town is entirely destroyed . The shocks have continued day after day till only a few houses are left standing . The Porte has sent a Pacha to distribute relief among the survivors , and he brings with Mm 10 , 000 purses ( 40 , 00 () £ . ) . He is also to control the conduct of the governor , but everybody knows what will come of that—nothing whatever . Erzeroum will never recover from this dreadful catastrophe . In two months the weather will get chilly , and the inhabitants will all ' leave . The result will be a loss of 30 , 000 persons to Turkey for the benefit of Russia , who receives them with open arms . Russian propagandism makes great progress here , and all along the shores of the Black Sea , by means of a continual traffic in passports .

      Foreign Incidents.

      FOREIGN INCIDENTS .

      Usrandojtanle Railway Carelessness.—A Se...

      UsrAnDOJTAnLE Railway Carelessness . —A serious accident occurred this week on the Paris and Lyons Railway . Two trains were coming from Lyons to Paris , in which troops from Italy were being conveyed . By some fatality one train ran into the other . The consequence was that a lieutenant was killed and several soldiers wounded . The Emperor expressed great indignation when made acquainted with the fact , and immediately despatched tM'o officers to hold an inquiry on the subject . Tub Napot . eox Fjete . '—A Paris letter says : — The grand coming fOto oocupies too much time for the Emperor to go even to tho sea side . Thoso who know the oxcossivo labour demanded for the production of spontaneous enthusiasm are perfectly

      aware tlint no manager ol a melodramatic theatre is , more harassed in producing a new j > ieoo than is Louis Nnpoloon in arranging his grand demonstration ; the time occupied in greasing the slides and tipping the scene shifters ; in keeping the actors . in good humour ; in making tho orchestra go together ; in drawing the audience , and feasting and coaching the reporters , is quite enough for the attention Of one great man . Ho must put . off all visiting till after the eventful day at any rate . It is now doterminal , it seems ,, that the entry of the army into Paris shall take place on the Hth , instead of the 15 th instant , as originally arranged—so the army and the imperial fetus will bo distinct after all .

      GovusitmrioNT CiaAns . —Tho JbVonch Government lias succeeded 'in iabrionting cigars by machinory ; they aro lioautlful to look at , mul , of course , ohoupor to make , and tho tolmoco is said to be good . Nothing can appoar inoro promising , but , unfortunately , tlioy won ' t smoko . It is rather a drawback , certainly , but then nothing is perfect .

      India,. And Indian Progress.

      INDIA , . AND INDIAN PROGRESS .

      <• : . ' Financial Statement. Sir Charle...

      <• : . ' FINANCIAL STATEMENT . Sir Charles Wood made on Monday his long expected statement about the finances of India . The expenditure of the year ended , April , 1859 , was 48 , 507 , 000 ? ., and the revenue 33 , 800 , 0002 ., leaving a deficit of 14 , 707 , 0002 ., the debt having been increased in two years , 1857 and 1858 , by the sum of 22 , 118 , 000 * . For the current year the revenue is estimated at 35 , 850 , 0002 ., and the certain expenditure at 41 , 131 , 5002 ., leaving , in round numbers , a deficit of 10 , 500 , 000 * . To push on railways , however ,

      and other works , he wants an additional 2 , 000 , 0004 ., making really 12 , 500 , 0002 . to be borrowed . But for 7 , 000 , 0002 ., power has already been taken to issue debentures . What amount of cash these may actually yield , Sir Charles Wood does not know ; but to ba prepared with a large margin for all contingencies , he proposes to borrow 7 , 000 , 0002 . Thus a deficient revenue and a great addition to the debt was the sum of Sir Charles "Wood ' s budget ; nor did he hold out any bright prospects for the future . He has a '

      mere hope , without any ¦ w ell-defined project for realising it , that if things go well the expenditure may , at some time or other , be reduced , and the revenue be then found sufficient . lie does not , however , suggest reform , nor any means of future improvement . He may excuse himself by the short time he has held his present high office , but the public will recollect that he was President of the Board of Control , and should not now require much study t j make himself master of his position .

      Apparently , he has some modest misgivings his ability , and since he spoke it has been announced that a new finance minister is to be appointed for India . The Right Hon . James Wilson , now Vicepresident of the Board of Trade , is to go thither as Chancellor of the Indian Exchequer , and for the express purposes of putting the finance in order . His appointment may give a totally new aspect to this important subject . The right lion , gentleman is known , by his writings in the Economist , to l > e a determined opponent of mingling the revenue of

      India with that of England . He would therefore , we take it , be opposed to the project which we have advocated of lending the guarantee of our Government to the loans for India , and which lias suddenly found an advocate in the Times . He would , wo presume , too , be opposed to tho project , to which Sir C . Wood alluded , of'tho home Government guaranteeing the payment of the interest on all tho debt of India , and thereby reducing , by tho goodness of our credit , the rate of interest to be paid on it to 3 + or 4 per cent . What financial projects lie

      may have in petto we cannot , of course , know , but his appointment will turn all eyes on him , and his opinions , as far as they are known , to read tho financial future of India . Ho has had no actual experience in . India , though he has been Secrotnry to tho Board of Control , but is a great statistician , to bo intimately acquainted with tho royenuo of England , to bo a free trader and , as tho rule , opposed to taxes on imports and exports , to al / intorforenco with industry . Ho is favourable l <» direct taxation . How ho will apply tho knowlod tf »

      ho possossos of financial subjects ffcnorally to the finances of India , wo . eannot foresee , but that country oftbrs a vast field for a man of financial talents . If tho right hon . gontloman had not already shown himself in offlco vory sonsiblo of Its customary duties , and not inclined to holt from its constraints in thu pursuit of a theory , wo should fear that his avowed partiality for froo trado might rather stand in his way of bringing tho finances of India into good order . Ills task will require all hia known canu city for work . How this is to bo accomplished is

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 6, 1859, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_06081859/page/9/