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Leader (1850-1860), 10th January 1857, Edition 2 of 2, Page 15, THE MOON'S MOTION. ( To the Editor of th...

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      Ministers In Yacation. A New Fashion Has...

      information on subjects reserved from the pttblic eye and ear ; but we sliall know better henceforward , for we see from these precedents what is the proper course . Do not move for a return in theJEtouse of Commons , but invite your Minister to dinner , get him on his legs , and out it will . all come . It is much the most complete and instructive form of returns . ' P . o not move an Address to tlio Crown , bat simply , over the dinnertable , poke fun at jour Minister , or make him angry , and he will rise to reply . '

      J&8va3zy 10,1857.] Fhe Lieajdee. 39

      J & 8 VA 3 ZY 10 , 1857 . ] fHE liEAJDEE . 39

      The C Fun' At Southampton. Abt Essay Was...

      THE FUN' AT SOUTHAMPTON . Abt essay was once written to prove that civilization is hostile to the . arts . It spoils the landscape , invents mipieturesqxie hats , takes all the Xalla Eookh drapery out of ladies' attire , trims a man's face until Holbein himself could not make it heroic , throws brick-built viaducts across the woody hollows in which we met and the valleys of paradise , abolishes Gretna-: green , renders Chancerylane more formidable to the wayfarer than

      Hounslow-heatJi , and quarters a Scotch regiment near tlie Acropolis . To these unsightly-contrasts must be , added the degradation of a Southampton feud into Cockney '• ¦ fun , ' The reporters , genii of the longresounding line , declare what 'deplorable bitterness' has been created , what friendships have been shaken , what animosities scowl across the street ; yet there is no bloodshed—nothing but unpictorial riot and ungranimatical bluster . N " ot an elector has

      been killed with a shot from a revolver ; not a bowie has been drawn ; not a mask has been seen in the streets . Instead of this , an unfortunate official is dismissed ; tueWEGTTEEtN advocates send a threatening circular to the Custom-house staff ; and , in the midst of the trashy exhibitions , Lord PAiiMEESTON" rises through the ftoor , disguised as an ironmonger , and laughs in the face of Airdsews . Andrews is not . content . He encores- the noblo lord , and will have the

      laugh _ repeated . So Pai-mehst-on repeats it , with aggravation , all tending to show that he thinks "Wegueijn a more respectable man than the honoured Coachmaker of the locality . IBut . the Coaelunaker's friends are delighted , gather round their champion , despise the insinuations of the- judicious bottle-holder , and vow that all the bullion in the Bank of England shall not make

      Wegtjelln member for Southampton . They are right , probably . Anjd & ews took the lead from the first , and lias hitherto kept it , though , as Btjtleb is , metaphorically speaking , buying up all the unsold goods in tho market , there is a chance that one or other of the Xiiberal candidates may be thrown overboard by a party of his oavii friends anxious to save the borough .

      It must be repeated , however , that the struggle is not dramatic—not half so dramatic as an ' intertribual' light among the Cherokees , or an engagement at the Tipperary ' station , ' or a Lord "G-eobcke G-ordon Riot . There are no bursts of ' tintamarre and jinglejangle , ' no hearts bleeding from their bitter wounds , though daggers and wormwood are plentifully talked of by the local orators . It is the belligerence of bill-stickers . Ten boys rush out of an office , fiendishly shouting ,

      with " Wechdexin will betray tho Ballot " glowing in red capitals upon a prodigious placard . Half an hour later , similar fiends are scaling their light ladders , and tearing those paper " banners from tho wall , and up goes " ANDifEWS hna always opposed the Ballot , " gigantically printed in blue . " But'Xmit , is the true Reformer" flaunts above , Avith '* "WjKGU . iflnsr for Southampton , " " Andrews Xov Southampton , " IJutleji for Southamprispn , " ^ Electors , will you bo deceived ?"

      " Electors , will you be represented by a stranger ? " "Bead Pa .: lmersto : n- ' s opinion of Antdeews , " " No Moneyqcracy , " "No Railway Interest , " until , the eye wanders over a patchwork surface of incoherency—BAI , LOXEIillO > BE 5 WUTLBRO (> W ] Sr WITH BtTTITEB ANIUlEWSALMEESXOKAMPTOlJrLOCAIiETBA'Y ! 'Eirany , ' but not heroic . There is a political fan' at Southampton ; the booths are not yet open ; the performers have not addressed'the vast multitude ; but money is in circulation ; trade i > romises to be brisk ; the three principal speculators will probably devote from

      12 , 000 ? . to 15 , 000 ? . , to the interests of the city of their love ; the seot-and-lot , charged from the brewhouse and the distillery , will hoarsely articulate while they can , in public parlours , on the merits of the munificent . FAirvnY will , very properly , wear the flamecoloured , devil-embroidered buckram of a martyr until his case is reconsidered /; the clamour of public meetings will precede the backdoor clink and rustle of legal tenders , and Southampton will not care one tittle what ' principles' it sends into Parliament . Like a plain-dealing landlord , it lets the premises , and asks few questions .

      Elections being under notice , let Southampton take warning from Lanark , where Mr . Baii / lie Cochbajste , who wrote a virulent book against the Italian Liberals , reeanied on -the hustings ; and let Greenwich take a hint from Southampton , and not let the- tiling-. go for less than its value . The constituency knows Codeihgtok , but

      who knows ' Colonel' Sleigh : ? Really , what with bribery , intimidation , family nominees , and personal objects , we have a pretty Parliament ; it is wonderful good fortune that brings forward , simultaneously , Skeig-h , Codeington , Cochrajte , Andeews , Wjgguelin , and Butleb , all ready to protect us from quackery and corruption . "We shall next have George Thompson once

      more , and we shall then expect to see a Mahratta dance performed on the floor of the House of Commons . J ^ othing is impossible . Is not Major Reed an honourable member ? Are there not two candidates for Greenwich ? Is not Southampton now ' on view , ' and to be ' put up' shortly ?

      Insurrection Against The Incometax. The ...

      INSURRECTION AGAINST THE INCOMETAX . The counties , as well as the towns , are rising against the Income-tax :. Tho movement is rapid and general . Scarcely a member of Parliament -will come down in . February without one or more petitions against the amount of the tax and the method of levying it . IFew persons ask for its abolition . "What they require is that it shall be lowered to a

      peace level , and fairly adjusted . If that is done , they will pay ; if not , they will insist on repeal . The deprecatory arguments of Whig journals have had no effect in moderating the enthusiasm of the agitators , who compose the great body of tax-payers throughout the three kingdoms . And it is likely that the Tory opposition , having no principles of their own , will "bo eager to represent a cry which promises popularity to thom and embarrassment to the

      Administration . By whomsoever supported , by whomsoever attacked , tho Income-tax must go , unless it bo remodifieil upon honest principles . In its actual shape it is an intolerable burden . You may point to the expenses of the Russian war ; but this impost , levied principally upon Bmall incomes , is not n fair means of paying thorn ; you may show tho advantages of clearing oil' our lioavy accounts before 18 G 0 ; but the clearing oft * should be shared by all classes in an equal ratio . "We have no guarantee that , when wo have paid sixtcenpence in the

      pound on . precarious as well as on fixed incomes for three years to come , the Ministers then in office will be more equitably disposed than Sn ? Cobnewau , Lewis . No good security is offered for this fiscal Reform Bill at three years' sight . Now , while the eountry is warm , upon the subject , is the time for action , in and out of Parliament . Remember , that even should tie Budget

      of the year be framed with no view to the modification of the Income-tax , a simultaneous and vigorous agitation may still defeat the purposes of the Chancellor of the Exchequer . Sir Chable s Wood-was once compelled 'to withdrawihis scheme , after it had . been submitted to the House of Commonsfour great metropolitan meetings sufficing to change the plans of the administration .

      A single illustration places in the clearest light the injustice of the Income-tax , as now levied . No professional income is worth more than three years' purchase . Pew incomes arising from permanent ^ property are worth less than fifteen years' purchase—the product being as one to five ; yet the per-cen . ta . ge levied ia the

      same on both . Even supposing , however , that a professional income of 1501 . a y ear , capitalized , were worth as much as ' 5002 ., while a , permanent income of T 5 OZ ., capitalized , were worth only 2000 / ., what would be the difference , supposing the tax were commuted ^ by one year ' s -payment of sixteen pence in the pound , upon the whole ?

      The professional man would pay 35 Z . The owner of property would pay 1401 . Yet , under the existing law , they pay 140 Z . each , that which is worth 50 O 7 . being taxed to the same extent as that which , is worth , 2000 ? . This constitutes the glaring injustice of the Income-tax . The public , we hope , will

      not desist from agitating against it . It is more ingeniously devised than any other tax existing for extorting the most from those who can afford to -pay the least . Under pretence of being direct and equal , it is systematically unequal in its operation , while , instead of being direct , it is evaded by concealments and subterfuges of every kind .

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      There As No Learned Man "But -Will Confe...

      There as no learned man "but -will confess he hath much , profited by reading controversies , his senses awakened , and his judgment sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for him to read , why . should it not , at least , be tolerable for his adversary to write ?—Mir / EON

      The Moon's Motion. ( To The Editor Of Th...

      THE MOON'S MOTION . ( To the Editor of the Leader . " ) December 15 , 1855 . Sir , — "Will you kindly permit be to say , as a last word , that if Mr . Steel thinlcs he can give a mathematical disproof of either of my statements—viz . 1 . That the moon does not rotate * on her own axis ; and , 2 . That the sidereal day is not tho measure of the earth's rotation *—I , or somo one of ray coadjutors who have likewise had a Mathematical Education , will be happy to maintain them against him . As a popular journal is not a 'fitting medium for sucli discussions , I have arranged for the insertion of any such communication , signed by Mr . Steel in , the Enylhh Journal of Education . What that gentleman may effect for the credit of science -when he begins to reason , it were premature to aay / but ho , will not help it by sneers . I am , sir , yours truly , J . Stmon" 8 .

      The Moon's Motion. ( To The Editor Of Th...

      * I will bo boiind by tho definition of these terms given in " Barlow ' s Mathematical Dictionary . "

      Vor-Vntaur Sa'auvation - —A Debtor I In ...

      Vor-VNTAur Sa'AUVATioN - —A debtor i in tho County Qaol , Gloucester , named William Frankiss , aged fiftysix , died on Sunday , the 28 tli ult ., reduced almost to a skeleton from having refused , for some time'to ta"ka the proper amount of nourishment . Ho had been imprisoned since September , 1858 , and being unable to procure , out of his own scanty moans , sufficient food for himself , was offered tho prison faro , -which for a long time he refused to take Ultimately lie consented to toko some ; but it was too lato . Lockjaw ensued , and ho died .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 10, 1857, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10011857/page/15/