Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 11th December 1852, Edition Country of 2, Page 14, HOW TO MAN THE NAVY. We English are a co...

Page 14
Page 14
14 of 24

On this page

  • Text (4)
  • 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.

      Robert Lowe (Xnt Limited Partnership. Th...

      many wrecks of their old ; as we have seen in the case of gigantic railway speculators . Indeed , tlio necessities of commerce have dictated a repeated suspension of the law of unlimited liability . But that suspension has been exercised wholly in favour of the moneyed classes—the projectors of railways and shipping companies . The working classes and the humbler portion of the middle classes are still asking for the same privilege , as an act of justice , in order

      to carry out more humble and 'homely speculations , beneficial to themselves , arid not useless to the public . We agree with Sir William Clay , that if this limited liability be granted in particular charters , it ought also to be extended , under proper securities , to the industrial public . But it is a great step to have this principle really discussed in Parliament ; still greater to have it discussed with so able a lawyer and so enlightened a politician as Mr . Lowe to assist .

      1186 The Leades, [Saturday,

      1186 THE LEADES , [ Saturday ,

      How To Man The Navy. We English Are A Co...

      HOW TO MAN THE NAVY . We English are a conservative people ; mutability is not a characteristic of the nation . The fellows who stood against the men-at-arms and the chivalry of France at Agincourt , were the prototypes of those who stood firm amid the carnage of Waterloo . Forms are sacred with . us . Old modes , old systems , old manners , are scrupulously retained even against the attacks of an enraged wwommon sense . Houtine is one of the gods of our political theology . Radicals may

      rave against him , reformers may bustle round him ; he keeps his state , and gets his daily worship silently . With us , the last strong fact that got itself established stands the shock of ages . An institution , crumbling with the rust of time , and craving burial , is religiously preserved . In short , the English people are conservative in religion as well as in war ; in politics as well as in science . How we clung to the Stuarts , even after they had abused , and betrayed , and plundered us ! How we stick to the form of convocation , which for one hundred and thirty years

      has been in substance a nullity ! How we abide by the method of parliamentary representation by special boroughs and by counties ! Are there not caps of maintenance , and swords of state , and orbs and sceptres ? What efforts were required to abolish Charlies ; though , to be sure , steam made short work with mail-coaches . When gas was discovered , what a noble stand was made for links and oil . As a people , we abhor novelty , and carry nothing at the point of impulse . Ours is the " stable mind . "

      Look at the Navy . Practically it was , until lately , in the same condition as it was when , in spite of blundering Lords of the Admiralty , Nelson carried his fleet to victory at Aboukir and Trafalgar ; probably much the same as Pepys left it and l'itt found it . As long as wo have Ivad a naval system , we have habitually paid oft' our trained sailors , for instance , after a ship had been three years in commission . Strangely as it may sound , we , a maritime people ? , depending for Hccurity against the invader , on our

      gallant seamen , have ye I ; kept up no sea army . Soldiers go abroad and come homes but we do not disband our regiments . Doubtless there were reasons for paying off crowH in past times ; and flu ; Admiralty gave not a thought us to how they could l > o replaced when wanted , because the Admiralty relied on the pressgang . That time him paused ; pressgangs would not bo tolerated ; yet we still continue to pay off our neamo . ii , and Hcattor them to the winds .

      Ministers have taken votes ( or increasing the number of Soamen and Marines ; a wise precaution , eoiiBulering the existing aspects of ( , lio polil . ienl world . But the question has naturally arisen , Jlow shall we get the men V—how shall we man our navy , not only in time of war , bit ! , in these piping times of peaceP The question in imminent for solution ; and the Holution tnusl , ho found in a change ! in our naval systeiin . The first ntop should \) o l-o stop the uhsurel practice of eliscoineH hoTne after

      iniHBing ereiws . When a ship a Jong sl ; ay on a foreign station , le >( . ( he men have it run anlWe , but retain theim in the service . Lol , them l > e > Imrnu-Uod in elivisienm like sol-< lie'i-H , nnel numbered like Holeliers , kept in training ami under < lineiplino . At present the merchant serview eunnpote's with the national se ? rvie-ei ; the ? American navy compoUm with ( he national navy . Ami the reason is obviotifl : in the formor , Hoamen gel , Iwttor pay ; nnel in the latter they got , what they value more , better

      treatment . And this suggests another reformation of old routine . Give the man-of-war ' sman all comfort compatible with his station , and treat him UJce a man . Depend upon it he will then prefer the discipline of the national navy to the laxity of the merchant navy , and he will prefer to serve his own country rather than a foreign country . A sailor knows the value of discipline , but he does not know the value of the cat . He knows the worth of a just and hearty

      commander , but he rebels in spirit against the capricious and despotic . AncI when it is asked how in the face of gold diggings , and life made easy in strange lands , and general prosperity , we can Man the Fleet , the answer is , enlist the men for a set term , pay them well , and treat them as men like yourselves , probably also give them a chance of becoming something more than warrant officers , and even in these days of prosperity there will be little difficulty in manning the fleet .

      But not a moment must be lost . It may be said that , what with bungling and competition , —what with unpopular captains , and a positive neglect of the vast resources of our coast population , not a ship in the service has her full complement of hands . Should a war break out—not an impossible eventuality—we shall be almost without naval defence , unless the navy be made attractive . At length , however , the House of Commons have called for an increase , but will it

      come when invoked , while the present arrangements are maintained P Surely not . But with manlier treatment , regular service , and reasonable pay in prospect , there are still left among us enough who love a seaman ' s life to man the noblest fleet that * ever defended our national independence or liberated an enslaved world .

      Singular Outeage In The House Of Lords. ...

      SINGULAR OUTEAGE IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS . The House of Lords was startled the other night by a most peculiar species of message , direct from the usurper of the French throne . The purport of the message was to announce the establishment of the Empire . The Peers were kindly informed of the reasons why the French nation had not previously established that empire , ¦—because the people had never before been consulted . Charles the Tenth , Louis Philippe , the . Republic of 1848 , were all determined by the people of Paris ; but having conquered those people on the 2 nd of December , 1848 , Louis JN " apolcon has appealed to " the whole body , the mass of the French people ; " and thrice , by 6 , 000 , 000 votes , by 7 , 000 , 000 , and by 8 , 000 , 000 , have the people of France'decided to have Louis ] S " apoleon . We all have had an idea , indeed , that the suffrages were collected in a mannor which precluded a free vote on the part of the French ; Avho were permitted to vote " Yes , " but prevented from voting " No . " The message , however , vouches for the accuracy of the vote . It also assures us that the title of Napoleon the Third is " according to French law . " In . " England

      we liavo always supposed that it was according rather to French leave ; but here ! wo have the assurance of the legality . The message from Louis Napoleon to the English Peers vouchsafes two e > their reasons , for his extraordinary success . One is " a name "— " a name so great in France , that it is invested with a magic which has nn effect that experience only has been able to make . Europe unelerstanel . " The other reason is e ; veri more mystical . In 1815 , tho disbanded armies

      of Napoleon " returned te > their Imarths , — 4 , or 500 , 000 , " with tho fixeel idea in their minels , with one fixed worship in their heiartn "—e > no man , " the great idol of frhesir imagination . " " ¦ The seeMls of these : men , senvn throughout tho provinces of Knme : o , are now to bo fleten in tlio fruit which has ripenenl em thin oewiiHion into un empire . " What a eemtrihutiori to tho new scieneio e > f embrye > logy ! How felieiitous that phrase" on thin oe-eiiHion . "

      The language * bears internal evidences e > l iU authorHhip -, but , bow cuirie this jargon to the * INhm'h P Who ventnreul to intrude with it inio that , UHsewiblage ^ r Heurio said thai , the be > arer was our own Foreign M inmter ; hut il < in ( dear that no IVer could be ) found to utter a , IVeineh farrago , which might , bo well enough miiteiel to the pages of Mm ( lotisfilitfionnel , or the Journal da I ' . / Cmpirc , if it , were * nol , for it . H clumsy Htylei of e ! omponition . Homo conje > eture ) d that Lore ! MalmoHbury ' H eiedebrateel < -c > olc borrowed InH master ' s inspect , te > imd his way into the Houho

      of Lords . There is less difficulty in this supposition ; and the internal evidence is strongly in favour of the servant ' s hall . There ia an obvious ignorance of history ; an unquestioning accept ^ ance of the history contributed by his master ' s friend , Louis Napoleon , who is evidentl y the cook ' s oracle ; an affectation of being hand in . glove with great people , howsoever their titles may have been acquired ; all of which we can only ascribe to the " high life below stairs . " It j 8 assuredly the cook , with a rejected article of the Journal de VEmpire , which was thought good enough as a message to the Peers of tasteless Eogland . And they did not much wince under the infliction .

      Another proof . Lord Canning asked how the communication had been made from the French Government to ours ; and the jpseudo Foreign Minister would not answer . It became necessary for Lord Canning to explain that communications on such subjects are always made in the form of despatches or of diplomatic notes , an d Lord Canning wanted to know which form had been used in the present instance . The unlucky impostor was not prepared for this question . At first he thought he had said something wrong .

      Then he said that he could not produce any note ; there had been a conversation ; " the Emperor " had repeated the assurances of that conversation in his speech to the French Chambers , and it was all " satisfactory . Yes , yes ; all right . Evidently the poor man thinks that matters of this sort are disposed of in a talkee-talkee ! But how should he know any better ? If Lord Canning had asked him for the receipt of a pate de

      foie gras , it would have been forthcoming . Yet a horrible suspicion occurs to us : surely the foreign affairs of our country are not really left to this person ? There must be something wrong in the official arrangements , otherwise by what monstrous irregularity did he enter the House of Lords while it was sitting , and actually deliver this trashy French message as a speech ? If such things are permitted publicly in the House of Lords , what may not happen in the irresponsible privacy of Downing-street P

      Great was the complaint about Lord Palmerston's independence of- his colleagues and chief , and about his "judicious bottle-holding . " "We now have a reform ; instead of the judicious bottle-holding to support patriotic efforts , wo now have injudicious bottle-holding .

      The Budget. I. Oun Examination Of Mr. Di...

      THE BUDGET . I . Oun examination of Mr . Disraeli ' s Budget is not a party criticism : its objects are to inquire how far that Budget conforms to or violates scientific principles , and to learn such practical lessons as we can fr om tho speech of its proposer , and from tho progress of tho questions eliscuHHed . Tho Chancellor of the Exchequer professes in his Hpeeeih to hear and redress the classes whoso complaints ho has uttered more louelly , and endorsed more conspicuously , than almost any other man . "If , " snys he , " we can arrive at some conclusions on theso points , those classes whie > h now assert that they have been injured by recent legislation , if their claims are hearel , and if established fairly mot , will merge in the mass ot the ; ewinmunity , and we . shall hereafter have to consuler no other claims but thoso which represent the unanimous voices and feeling of the entire country . " But the alterations in the taxes with which he propose * an fairly meeting tho . nn claims , are no other than those which have long been required by other considerations , and Imvei been long urged for other reasons . lliey must sooner or later have Ix-en made , independently ot all idea of coinpensutiem or of extinguishing the ) special claims of any section of the community . I nelisi > ensul > lo ami long-sought , reforms have thus been adroitly hiio-» tit , uted for a promised class relief ; iunl if < hcso ti . scal e-hanges sire a nuiHcicnt nettleimmt of tl »<>«> « 1 M !< ' "" claims , then tliotta special claims biul no real value whatever . Tho whole proceeding is n covert surreiu er of Protection in the ) small and shadowy form it . hnally assumed . Wo have ) no c | uam > l with it , »«» iU ) vv ° wonder thai tho Chancellor of the Nx « hw | u « r , w . Ui tlm actual responsibilities ofolllce on him , found I roL-cuon a principle utterly impossible , to stand by . Oar only remark is , that , ho will , ill policies which viola , <> gr « . a natural principle * de , scrl ; in tho end tbose who have stood by them . NovertluucHs tin , budget is an irrevocable ; estimate of the vulno of Mm . edaiins ot Uw < •* - proltieieid classes , oven as iw . hchh . mI by thuir own a . lvo-< : ' Mr . Disraeli , in « he outset of his flu *** , » ml"rUl 1 " * to inquire ) whether « it in puwible to niuke tmch ch > iiifet »»

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 11, 1852, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11121852/page/14/