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Leader (1850-1860), 10th November 1855, Edition 2 of 2, Page 2, THE WAR. The degree o# uncerteinty which...

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      As The World At Present Seems Content To...

      the Admiralty . But Sir Chabubs , they say , is a manageable man . He could talk over Southwark ; jjut others can talk over him / , ** By the time Parliament * meeis ,- we shall also want a Sir Chabijss in the land' service , in order * to extract from ministers their rfefel intention in 1 the war , the actual position in the East , and the accurate condition of the army . We are told that that condition is the best in the world . Sir John M'Ntei . says so ; although he tells us that the English soldier is the most helpless of animals ,

      except at fighting . We are told by Colonel M'Mubdo , chief of the Land Transport corps , that nothing but science could enable the army to exist where it does , but that , with a "Wool-¦ wich at its back in tho shape of a floating factory , it possesses a power such as no army ever possessed . Unfortunately , the British soldier , besides being a helpless animal , is now exhibited , in the last reports , to be an incorrigibly

      drunken animal . Now , what is the case ? Has our boasted system of recruiting given us the scum and dregs of the people , or have we an army of heroes ? Is that army perfectly appointed with mechanical appliances , or is it as incapable of advancing as it seems ? Is it kept there for show , or are we to have a campaign next year ? If Parliament were sitting , a military Napier might ascertain these facts- ^ -if he were not talked over .

      We are threatened with a campaign at home ; the factory-owners and the workpeople are once more at isstte . The self-acting winders and spinners have convened meetings of the working-classes , to resist the reduction of wagesa reduction , it is said , justified upon the plea , that the price of cotton is rising , while the price of goods is falling . The price of cotton is not rising ; and we are promised the largest crop that was ever produced . There was an immense crop last year ; and , in fact , the raw

      material , at present , exceeds the demands of the consumer . The price of goods is falling because goods are made too fast . That wages can be brought down , we scarcely believe ; certainly they will not , if the working classes stand together . Good workmen are no longer so plentiful as they once were , and they ought to command their price , for the factory-owners rate everything at its price—and it is time for them to be paid in their own coin . If they claim a liberal

      construction , they must themselves set the example . If they want wages to fall because prices are falling , ^ rhy shoul d they not raise wages because the price of provisions is rising ? The workmen ask for short time instead of lower wages , which would quite attain the objects of the mill-owners , without the insecurities for the workmen which attend the reduction of wages . "With tho revival of trade , manufacturers will always renew long time ; they will not always raise wages as soon as they are able . If they incur the responsibility of throwing large classes out of woi'k during the tvinter , be the consequences on their own heads .

      An industrial dispute has arisen in the metropolis among the omnibus owners . There recently appeared a systematic statement , implying that a company -was already on foot , in alliunce with the ffooi & e * de Credit MobiUer in Paris , fur giving Juondon a combined system of omnibuses , by which tho passenger could traverse the metropolis in any direction at one faro . t ) ivers omnibus proprietors have met , and have succeeded in exposing the fact that the company hus as yet no Afc & tence , though it seems likely enough to exist ; f k _ tdf they demand something like an abandonment of tbe scheme , in order that they may retain their 6 * ffttgfttf « ial of fire * tirade in omnibuses . 0 n this onuuibu * question we have two remarks .

      If the omnibtte proprietors could act together amongst thei-tselves , and could act as if they were in concert with their passengers * they would not only establish their interests on the foundation of public confidence , bufe they would immensely ihcreasef the number of riders . 2 fo stage-coach indicated the kind of want that was called into existence by the establishment of the railway . As to the connexion -with any French association of capitalists , we do not advise too hasty an acceptance of such a scheme . There is the utmost fear

      that a desperate crisis must ensue in France after the bursting of the credit bubble . One striking fact was mentioned last week—the suicide of M . Biney , -who cut his throat . We have been expecting some explanation of that event , but we have not seen it . There is no statement of the cause , but it is said that he was a large shareholder in the Societe de Credit Mobilie r . In the Crimea and the various seats of war there is something approaching to a stagnation , and affairs seem stiffening towards the inaction of

      winter . The Allie 3 continue to menace Gobt-8 Chakoff from Enpatoria ; but the Russian Corn - mander has not as yet availed himself of that liberty which his Imperial Master gave him , to retreat from the Peninsula , and yield the hard - fought ground to the enemy . Action pauses ; and the " Bears" are endeavouring to get up rumours of peace . In the early part of the week there appeared to be some reason to believe that we were " drifting " in that direction : and it was even said th at Louis

      Napoleon desired to sheath the sword . That Russia , by means of her footmen in Austria and Prussia , may have been sounding the French and English cabinets , is possible ; but there is no immediate prospect of another Peace Congress . Mr . Cobdbn , however , has been raising his rough , strong voice in favour of that consummation ; and , pointing to the difficulty of recruiting our army , he deduces that the war is not popular among the masses / Winter , moreover , is coming ; prices of necessaries are high , mobs are rebellious in Hyde Park ; and the next few months may see some obvious turning of the wheel .

      There has been a little war in the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers . Mr . F . O . Wabd brings certain charges of culpable and wilful mismanagement against Mr . Bazalgette , the chief engineer of the Commission . That gentleman makes an elaborate defence , and the court refuses to entertain the charges against him , thus sanctioning the principle of wide-drainage which he advocates , and shelving Mr . Wabd ' s system of tubular drainage .

      The war of society goes on as usual , in the shape of wife-beating , murdering , cheating , thieving , assaulting , and action-at-law-bringing . Dr . Fbancks , a German press-writer , commits suicide at Brighton , and lies under suspicion of having first murdered his son ; Amcb Haggard , the modest impostor , is committed for trial ; and society continues to sing its own praises on the score of " civilization . "

      1070 #He Lkder. ^S°- 294, Saturday,

      1070 # HE lKDER . ^ S ° - 294 , Saturday ,

      '•Ykhousic Of £.U»."—An Adjudication Of ...

      ' YkHousic of £ . u » . "—An adjudication of bankruptcy has been made against Richard Goodhind , described as of Ludgate-hill (" Ye House of Lad" ) ; of Crown-court , Cheapside ; of Tichborne-atreet , Haymarket ; also of Rook-street and Buck Mosley-street , Manchester , linen-draper , hosier , and hawker . The debtB and liabilities are estimated at » , 0 OOJ . ; the assets at about 30 QJ . MeBsrs . Sole and Turner are the soliottorB under the bankruptcy . Nbwoastxk Bank Robbery . —Henry Martinson , th . e runaway cashier of the Newcastle-on-Tyne Bank , has been arrested juat previous to Mfl departure for America . H It ; iB thought that he hus In his possession most of the money stolen—viz ., 4 , 260 ^ ,

      The War. The Degree O# Uncerteinty Which...

      THE WAR . The degree o # uncerteinty which has prevailed for some weeks-as ttf the relative positions of the hostile forceB lft the Crimea , and as to the probable termination of ttie chess-playing , still continues . The season fo * ^ id-operations , moreover , is drawing t 6 " » close j and , with th ^ probable slackening 6 f hostilities , come rdmours o'f peace and the busy pattering of diplomatic gossip . Eupatoria is still the base of the field operations ; but nothing decisive has resulted from , the various manoeuvres planned and executed from that station . On the 2 nd inst ., Prince Gortschakoff announced that on the previous day the Allies made a strong

      demonstration from the side of Eupatoria , -with thirty squadrons of cavalry and six battalions of infantry . Having advanced from Saki upon Tchebator , they were stopped , according to Gortschakoff , by the Russian advanced guard , with which they exchanged some cannon shots . They then fell back on Saki , where they remained during the night , renewing their attempt on thejfollo-wing morning , on which occasion a portion of their force advanced upon Temesch , but retired again on Saki , upon finding their left flank threatened

      by the Russian Lancers and Dragoons . A despatch from Marshal Pelissier , also dated the 2 nd , refers these events to the 27 th and 28 th ult . There is evidently some confusion in the dates . Gortschakoff writes on the 22 nd ult . that on the 20 th , at half-past three p . m ., the Allies , with sixteen battalions , descended from the heights above the valley of Baider to the villages of Karlore and Adym-Tchokrak , but , after passing the nightthere , returned to the ridge of the mountains . The number of the allied troops at Kertch has been increased .

      ITicholaiefF continues m a state of alarm as to the future . The Augsburg Gazette states that the first brigade of the 14 th division of reserve , a corps which took part in the defence of Sebastopol , has marched thither , and that artillery has also been detached from Prince GortchakofFs army , with the same destination . The Russians themselves are evidently in a state of great anxiety ; but their good friends , the German papers , make out the best case they can for them . Le Nord denies that the Russians in the Crimea are

      suffering from want of provisions ; and the Fremden Bldtt—that noted organ of the " men-in-buckram " school of writing—asserts that the Russian army now in the Crimea numbers 200 , 000 men . Tie Grenadier corps , -which lately arrived at Simpheropol , was accompanied , says this authority , by " 8 , 000 waggons drawn by oxen , so that the Russian army is provisioned for six months . " Prince Gortschakoff will not expect convoys after November , as by that time the steppes will be covered with snow . Tho northern fort 3 continue

      to fire on the southern half of Sebastopol , occasionally picking off an odd wanderer ; and on one occasion they set fire to a French line-of-battlc ship . The flumes , however , were soon extinguished . From Vienna , conies a statement , based on the authority of the Austrian Gazette , that a French camp of 50 , 000 men "will be formed in Silistria , and that large quantities of provisions and building materials are already collected on the spot . Winter quarters are also being prepared in Constantinople for a numerous body of cavalry .

      Russian despatches from the Dnieper make their appearance from day to day . On the 26 th ult ., the enemy announces : — " The enemy has burnt the hamlets on the Spit of Kinlmrn , which , however , were already deserted , tho inhabitants having abandoned them , taking with them all their cattle and carrying off all their property . The enemy haa made no movement nor attempted any other operation on land . " Lieutenant-General Zadousky yesterday made a reconnaissance beyond tho villuge of Vassilievka , and advanced as far as the enemy ' s outposts . " A later despatch is as follows : — " Oct . 27 . 9 . 30 p . m .

      " In the night from the 26 th to the 27 th , the vessels | of tlie enemy which were in the embouchure of tho Dnieper quitted it , and joined , the squadron moored in tho Bay of Otchakoff . Excepting this movement , there has been no change in the enemy ' s position , nor have they attempted any operation , The patrols sent from tho advanced guard of General Zadousky to a distance of twenty versts beyond the village of Bouzovala , tho Spit of Kinbuin , did not meet the enemy anywhere . From Otchakoff , it is observed that the disem-

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 10, 1855, page 2, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10111855/page/2/