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Leader (1850-1860), 12th January 1856, Edition 2 of 2, Page 14, "GEORGE BATES, ESQ." Does fiction contai...

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      Mil. Josiah Wilkinson. We Have Recently ...

      afre the antecedents of Mr . Josiah Wilkinson . " We record them without comment , to weigh for what they ate worth with , the members of the Metropolitan Board of Works ; whose judgment should , we conceive , in a matter of this kind , be left to its own free exercise , unbiassed by any recommendations or counsels from the press . On the other hand , we feel it our duty , as faithful guardians of the public interest , to declare our conviction that the London

      ratepayers would view with dissatisfaction the reappointment of Mr . Woolrych , the secretary to the defunct Sewers Commission—or , as he has been wittily termed , " the relict of the late lamented Mr . Jebb . " In that ill-organised and most unpopular Commission party spirit was carried to such lengths , and was so radiated ( if we may use the expression ) from the chairman to his superior officers , that a clean sweep is indispensable , in order that the new Board may avoid the fatal inheritance of traditional discord and intrigue .

      j Lhis , it we are rightly informed , is the view < sf that large majority of the new assembly who advocate the collective rights of the metropolis against the interests of the City clique . The latter will probably vote for Mi ^ . Woolrych , with the object of weakening Mr . Thwattes , by placing at his side , instead of a gentleman with whom he can cordially co-operate , one who does not enjoy his confidence . Bxit forewarned is forearmed . The premat ~ are revelatidns of the City policy by Mr . Deputy Peacock , in his celebrated nomination speech , have put the " Metropolitans" on the alert . The

      Gity members ,, " giants" though they be , and sent expressly to " tackle" the Metropolitans , and ' , ' put them in & , fix , " will find in the com mon sense of their opponents a quiet power with which Gog and Magog cannot cope . That common sense will , if we judge it . aright , lead the assembly to prefer public to merely personal considerations '; to Teject , as an obvious element of discord , the City candidate , who mourns the fall of Jebb ; and to place beside the chairman , in conformity with Ms known preference , a secretary with whom he can cordially co-operate in the discharge of his onerous public duties .

      88 'Bffb Leader. [No, .303, .Saturday,

      88 'BffB LEADER . [ No , . 303 , . Saturday ,

      The Baltic Blockade. The Relations Of Ci...

      THE BALTIC BLOCKADE . The relations of civilised States are , no doubt , too complex to allow of war being carried on , witho ut embarrassment , in the presence of powerful neutrals . On the high seas , especially , it is impossible to destroy the commerce of one nation , without impeding that of another . Great Britain and France have had

      to deal , in the Baltic , with peculiar difficulties . To cut tip the Russian trade ,. it was necessary to enforce the Right of Search . To enforce the Eight of Search , it was necessary to rislc , not only the hostility of Prussia , but the consequences of an agreement between the American and German Powers . The doctrine that free ships make free goods , which was

      never brought into operation on a , large scale until now , exonerates Bussia , almost ¦ completely , from the effects of the Baltic blockade , the principal expense of which is borne by England . The Russian exports from the "North flow out little less freely in time of war than in time of peace . Prussia is benefited by the carrying trade ; the Russian merchants

      our own country and in others , pursue their transactions nearly as usual ;; and so cognisant M _ the British Government of these facts , that it advertises , officially , for tender * of Russian tallow . y rh \ p blockade ip , then , an illusion : a . coatly , and virtually , ftnineflfcetive process exhausting to . oureelves innocuous to the . eneimr . Within a week we have even Wa of ™ m 4 Russian Yfiascls-iUtting across the Baltic ; . but this was

      an exceptional case . What is most important is the astonishing truth that English money supplies Russia with means for carrying on the Avar . Meanwhile , England spends £ 10 , 000 , 000 each season , without seriously crippling the commerce of the nation with which she is at war . We have admitted the perplexities of the question . But Russia will never succumb , except under an overwhelming pressure . Is the risk we escape by relaxing the severity of

      our maritime code , equal to the injury we sustain by allowing Russia to trade by proxy with our merchants , while she fights our armies , and defies our fleets ? With the exception of her Black Sea trade , we have stopped none of her outlets , —for it cannot be said that the Pacific is blockaded , though it would be highly useful to close rigorously the mouths of the Anioor . Northwards and eastwards , Russia trades over an immense extent of territory , with China , and the populations of central Asia—even with

      our own subjects in the Indian peninsula . On the continent , her commerce is uninterrupted ; internally , supposing her entire circumference blockaded , her vast surface , and the variety of her territories give her means of industrial vitality . Thus , it is difficult , by any process , to exhaust Russia ; but what success can be expected , when two navies cannot guard the Baltic , and when from exaggerated caution , and deference to neutrals , the exchange between St . Petersburg and London remains uninfluenced by the war ?

      It is a serious question whether the Right of Search should not be enforced in the Baltic this coming season . The Minister , we are told , dare not enforce it . The American , difficulty and the Prussian difficulty arrest him . But the former does not seem to us so portentous as the governmental apologists believe . The latter is an obstacle that ought not to stand in the way . It is not an infraction of any maritime law that is required , but the application of the imdoubted Rights of Belligerents . If we are to pay millions for a blockade , which if successful , would not drain Russia to the

      extent that it drains us , we must have results . It is the first maxim of warfare , to strike the enemy with the utmost violence , in the most vulnerable place . Otherwise peace is delayed , by indulgences granted to the hostile power , and by concessions made to neutrals . If Sir Edmund Lyons commands this year in the Baltic , the nation may be disposed to treat him as they treated Byng should he return without having struck decisive blows . But even naval and military successes lose half their value , if , while we destroy fortresses and armaments , a weak policy leaves Russia facilities for retrieving every loss .

      The Disaster At Kaks. Whew Parliament Me...

      THE DISASTER AT KAKS . Whew Parliament meets , Ministers will undergo a peremptory cross-examination on the subject of . the disaster at Kars . Was General Williams sacrificed , with the Turkish army , to the apathy of the English Government , or to the ^ calousies of the Frenoh ? It is stated that he repeatedly begged for assistance from the

      Administration at home , and from the Porto . Had the English Minister no discretion ? Was the Porfcc helpless ? Or did Lord Panmure neglect his duty ? It is a serious mattor . If any influenoe is to be exerted , favourable to the Russian arms , let ua understand it , that > wo may not be disappointed should Russia obtain , for every defeat in Europe , an equivalent iin Asia .

      Ihe stowy , as far as the English Government isiconccrned , is a plain one . Two years ago , the Turkish army , garrisoning tho frontior town > ofl Kara , was re-organised , after its defeat at Qoobaltan , by Guyon , oho of the bost

      cavalry generals in Europe . It held a good position , until the fatuity of the Pachas , the neglect of the Porte , and the wretched influences that destroyed Guvon ' s authority > brought the campaign to a ridiculous result . Last year , the lost ground was partially retrieved , and though Guyon had been sacrificed , Kars was occupied and fortified by a force virtually commanded by General Williams . From the first it was seen that the Russians were

      determined to push on the campaign . We published , many months ago , details of their strength , and indicated the danger of Kars , and of the Anatolian army . What was done ? Nothing . The Turkish Contingent was not sent to Asia Minor . The transport service was never employed to carry supplies to the coast by the open highways , and every means of carriage into the interior was totally disregarded . Why ? There was an English staff at Kars , corresponding with our War Office . At our War Office , therefore , the facts were known . Apparently , too . Ministers were not indifferent to the fate ol

      the Anatolian army . When the Russians were defeated , the Ministerial organs gave expression to their cordial joy . But they were again warned that , unless relieved , Kars must sink into the enemy ' s hands . Not a movement took place . Clearly , some sinister influence was at work . The Disraelite faction , desiring to fix the stigma on Lord Panmure , describes the defence of Kars as a purely English affair . The French Government evinced no interest in the variations of the Asiatic campaign . Not a sincrle Frenchman was there . Our

      contemporaries do not understand that this is an illustration of that secret power which prohibited the British Government from inarching troops into Asia Minor . The Russians , in th < : spring , will threaten Erzeroum . How far arc they to advance , unresisted ? Or , if Omau Pacha occupies that city , is he to be abandoned until he is starved into surrender ?

      "George Bates, Esq." Does Fiction Contai...

      " GEORGE BATES , ESQ . " Does fiction contain any incident excelling the scene in which George Bates is standing , Avitli pen in hand , hesitating to sign the proposal for a policy of insurance , with Palmer waiting for his signature , and Cook—the very man who died in convulsions on his own bed—crying , " Sign away , George ! " The proposal for

      tluassurance , says the story current , this week , was filled up at Palmer's house ; Cook was there , and a horrible shadow of recollection appears to have fallen upon each one of the three men . Bates , tlie stable-keeper , hesitated : perhaps he knew that other persons'lives had been "insured " by Palmer , and that they had died . 11 is reported that ho told the detective officer who went

      down to examine him , that if he had signed the paper he should have got « £ 500 IVoni Palmkr , and he should then have gone abroad , and " not given him a chance . " We do no ! know how far these stories arc true , but there , at all events , is tho paper got up by Paumick , signed by Baths , countersigned by Cook , and intended for a purpose now sufficiently intelligible .

      In fact , it is difficult to know where suspicions can iirnt have commenced . Mr . Thomas Pratt , of Quocn-street , Mayfair , who acted al tine time as solicitor for Palmer , how publicly explains in these worda : —" With respect to the insurance of Batks's life , it is on record that I stated to the , secretary of the Solicitor *' and General Oflicc , that I knew nothing of tin ' party intending to insuro , and left it to the office to mnko their own inquiries , " Why did the solicitor uct thus cautiously and . so fur against his own client ? lie- had , of course , ;> reason , and it appears in his own explanation . " Wl »« n fcho information w «« reo uiretl by tlic

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 12, 1856, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12011856/page/14/