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    i660

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    .- ..' H . WHY IS J&AN SO CHEAP P WhACc*...

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    A TAIiE OF FORCED MAB»IAj&E. Thbre is no...

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    The Opposition In France. Since The Midn...

    of his reasons for resisting the grant is a proof that some men in Prance still dare to speak the truth , in the face of a praetorian government . Three times has he denounced the spoliation of the OBtiSASrs family . Gnce . he has told-the Legislative Body that it hacl suffered JLoxna Napomson to demolish iteifcribime , and substitute an orchestra de hal . -But nowthat men in France are no longer enveloped by the terrors of that December night , when thearmyifcat was sworn to protect the laws stood in readiness to massacre the citizens * CfcunfrdeMoOTAiJMBEBTi ^^^ utters

    fhati'Ma Compunctions for the past , a more fearless arid a more decisive protest , and tells the ^ OjTeneh- nation , - to the Emperors face—desiring it to be recorded in the Minutesof thelegislative Corps— -that it is -governed by success , and not by justiee- ^ by : spoliators , by salaried sycophants , by a man upon whose head lies whatever bloodshed may be inevitable in France . If the « x--ample of the ^ Gount de Mohtalembbbt were -followed * the authority of IiOTris Napoikon might be essentially weakened . "Unfortunately , however , an opposition cannot be tompceed" exclusively of eminent men : it must have its rank andfile . Pew Frenchmen

    dare be in that situation . Louis ETapoieok 8 h ^ rinks from transporting Couut de Monta .-usmbebt to Cayenne ; but a very short time passes without the disappearance of some one , from Paws , to a destination unknown to his friends . Any Opposition that can be created must he purely parliamentary , or must work fcy secret means upon the country . The

    country ; 4 t-is true , is to a great extent preparedV Were a free press in existence , - it would asjsqS ; - ' from every town and province , the immWal and insolent system by which France is governed . The Empire is essentially tmp ^ pular ^ B ^ the army ; the-policSe , the bureaucracy keep guard over the avenues of opinion . V

    - ' £ 6 , however ; the Parisian ' journals have learned , how to ^ p lyattwiaioutexp ^ esyiiig anything , ' * ' and as "Count , die ; Montaiembeii ; feas prifaeft jfchaf & statesirian tniW raise aTreeiaiid ^ lear'vb ^ etigainfilt'the'hyiiocrtsieS and immoralities of thS Empire , it appears to us that a liberal' ^ oppositionWg ht be constituted , and j to rememberbefore

    f & tfittfs tirite for France , Jrfie « dragged : into new' enterprises , that she * ttia ^ cfe ^ governed ^ ytlste law , atttt ' tftia ' t Pre ^ tek meri < vpi * i * f Afdt ^ alwfeysfishanifed of theilr political ptwitri & i . . "' -it is a new thing for France , in -fchis ctentury , to be behind Prussia , Piedmont , i SnttHzetlam }' ' 'Belgium , and the Northern ¦ States . ' '"' >< •!• ¦ . • . ¦ ' ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ "¦ ¦! : i \ f' ¦ ' ¦ . . . ¦ ' * ¦ ¦ ¦ » ' ¦ . . . ¦ ¦

    I660

    i 660

    THi \ Hi E A D GB $ L . [ No . $ 29 j ^ ArnvmAY ,

    .- ..' H . Why Is J&An So Cheap P Whacc*...

    .- .. ' H . WHY IS J & AN SO CHEAP P WhACc * bre ^ ad and meat-are < risingiut price , man" if * growing cheaper . The reason , ' we fthall * l > e ''tbld , Why man is so cheap , and woman . > tooj in , that " the supply exce & iWri' ZTtauui *; * fcut this * taten Tl ** .. * - < ' irr « 2 , « on » 6 . ^ -Supply and \ : ' ^ 1 S ^ ^ ' ^ and Bern * ™ demand are the supply ^' iOih / men , not the supply and nemand trf--men . The true reason why men arO ' -Bo ^ cheap is that , the whole system of our lttwfa ^ dti Government 1 rest 3 upon the principle , that ' we * should have a reverent care of the material productions , and leave the men to take ; . care' ( o £ theiMBelvds . It is jso ririit

    thrdiagh . . If ' men oorafeine to advance , their ovnnjtfnAereHt , as they : have done at loriieioua ^ 'our ^ law interferes , brings them before the pblic ' eVa » d * puniahes them for combination ; or . for 'breach of'conferact , or for some othfflnloffence jflgainst laws which are passed by tfce ^ employing el'ass , It is eaid 1 > baii ; the leaders o £ r thjaimc *^ in . flucUjcrtatters oob in fan & rb . jferart and tyi » n « ical » pirib : perhaps » th © y ft # bwtr ff-the beat of * be < joke is , '' * bat alth ^ Mg | r . ) lh < 3 rp ajre - mistaken on bpth aide * ,, jth ^ rt # iltffi » Jmll : on « B ; Wiw >»* b ^ re ia , a'stri « t

    .- ..' H . Why Is J&An So Cheap P Whacc*...

    struction * br the mistakes of the men , and a liberal construction for the mistakes of the master . The men must not combine to raise wages > but employers may combine , and do combine , to lower wages ; The railway men at ¦ Iiiverpool are dismissed or punished for their combination to prevent wages being lowered . ^ <¦ Several miners at Barnsley declare

    that they will not work because the mine m which they labour-is not in a safe condition . If an employer were to suppose that the mine was not safe , ample meana would be taken to satisfy him on its condition before he would venture in ; yet three hundred or four hundred men are surely three hundred or four hundred times as valuable as one man .

    The story of the youngdressmaker told by Mr . John IiELWAiiX ., and recounted in our last number , exemplifies another species of physical pressure to which men , as well as women , are subjected in this country . The girl was employed in a house for the -making of dresses . ? It is considered necessary for the health of any young , girl that she should have enough Bleep , enough leisure , enough food , enough variety , and'enough comfort of mind , to give her rest , and promote the happy

    course of that nutritive process which is necessary to her growth and development . It is also considered necessary that the dress to be worn at drawing-rooms should consist of a certain stuff ,-should be worn in a particular manner , adorned very elaborately , yet not exceed a certain price . . Now , under present arrangements , the dress cannot be produced in that elaborate state of finish at that price , without employing to make it young girls who must- be -kept " ' awake -at midnight , and paid sYteb Wages that they can have neither sleep , noivTest ,- nor food ^ nor' leisure fertv-digestiofc ,

    much less leisure for exercise , for the cultivatloaa of 1 their mifidsy and for the natural development-of their feelings . Here are two necessities then- ^ one necessity for the birth arid development of a dress , another necessity for ' fche birth 'and development of a young person . The two necessities are incompatible , and which gives way ? The gown is cbnsiderea the absolute necessity—the girl must take her chance . This is wh y man is so cheap : the absolute necessity is determined" oy the supply and demand of the gbods- * - « He human 'cre 4 tufe is far B ^ doSada ^ y Consideration :. (

    It is ' BO-all throtigh ! It is not the dresstnaker we consider ^ but the dress ; it is not the butcher whose well-being we care for , but tbe meatt ^ it is not the grocer'Whose moral and physical cdndition is the object , but the grocery ; -it is ^ not the baker , or even the bread eater , whose sol © satisfaction wo « tC «" , but the bread . Nor is ^ ij ^~ eDl these goods for the eake ^ th ^ Tutility to man—it is the S- oods ^^ salSible ^ commodities nlone . Tha

    brtead way ibe ' adulterated , so that it passes and'gets the prioeiof a loaf ; it is the - » aine With' ttie butcher's ^ neat—it may rot ; the gown—it' maV 1 )© of counterfeit ! stuff . But it is the ttaie in the gown , the meftt , i the grocery , the bread * & c . ~ , that' is < the' object of existence ; and it is the trade to which our makers look , » not ; to the tradesman , * the working man ,-ortho consumer . this

    We need not point out the madness of preference ; we only take the occasion to make a little ' note of tfee circumstance , by way of memorandum . It is not at toll essential to . trade ! or the , existence of goods that thifr preference ehould be maintained : quite the ravearae . , - Both 'trades and goods would , be better , off if we . were to put thd artizan , the tradoetmtvui , aiixl the consumer in a ¦

    better portion . mK ! -: <; -:: >» - sf . ; ; »/ . ; ,. .,, - <• . ! If- wo' wer © H fc ^ cdmri der tbofc - there i are bo many humap .. beinga in the country , ; how < can > vo , < teE > 8 jb p » amoto ftkeip . condition * and well .

    being?—that would be the true startinjg point . The one little condition necessary to a better regime , would be the introduction of a little more acting together between the circles amongst whom the different employments of eociety areJ divided . Itia the business of the law to administer justice between man and man : it might at least give the workman equal liberty , permit free trade

    in labour -without compulsory laws . If tlie tradesman would a little more consider the real wants of thei consumer , and supply Kim with no adulteration ; if the consumer would consider the needs *> f the tradesman ; the tradesman of the artizan , and not stint him in wages , — -we should have the same commodities , even the same ' court dresses , but -without the same sacrifice of flesh and blood .

    It is only the jealousy of a destructive competition that prevents' clever arfcizans frdm developing machinery bo that gowns far more BpJendid , far more rich in material , ' could be produced with even less money . It *> nly requires that one simple test ^ ttae placing of the human being above the commodity . Alter all , nature compels us to do so in fact . To somebody , that poor working girl was of more value than the gown could be even to the most enthusiastic of court dressers . It is

    not the dress that the girl is making but the girl herself who is the subject of anxiety to those who know her / It is not the gowns in the Bhop that cause the most solicitude in the parlour of the employer . So neither is it the gown that makes the parent ' s heartbeat with hope and fear : it is not the gowxt which is taken to the arms of the bridegroom , but the flesh and blood within . It is not tfee

    • riband * but . " what this riband , bound , ' * which is'wWrth ^ 'fcllijlie'fcesfc * be w ^ rldgoes round ;" yet men and women are killed to make the riband , as if that were worth ¦ ¦ 'the sacrifice of flesh and blood . And all because our lay industrial is baaed upon the | irii 9 toiple that it is the goods * wiiose ^ welfare we > must consider ; the men and women being only lumber , ^ to be taken for what they will fetch . ' * ;

    A Taiie Of Forced Mab»Iaj&E. Thbre Is No...

    A TAIiE OF FORCED MAB » IAj & E . Thbre is no expectation that the Divorce and Matrimonial Clauses Bill will pass throtigK both Houses of Parliament this session . jQnnr & aderA'ikiioyn dts object j \ - >< It- "wonld . not compel the petitioner-for divorce to . jjo ( before the Houses of Parliament ,- but *~ would open a law court where the judgment ¦ would be

    guided accordiug to the facts and to the principles- of common law , ikidicated by statute . Itelief ^ would bejgiven to the wife for divorce on thjeu ^ rOunS of certain , reasons' also » ecoguized by the'Statute ? if the husband had * been guilty of adultery ; and were . ' fuifthei 7 iguilty > of desertion , cruelty , or bigamy ,-the wife would be able to obtain release . ' : - --

    There is one argument against the bill , which might be used \ but : it is an > argument more strongly in favour of ; i another bill . Half of ^ hat ( which ia an offence i againBt the law under the present system is occasioned by the law itself . It irequentily happens tuat men and ^ iwodnen are . brought together who are suited to eadh , other , at : one period " of life , but ; whose ' chivractera become so totally divergent at a later period as , toibe totally utieuited t , the tempers , become what is called

    << mcompatiblo ; ' i : tbes attempt at living together in- ono houaehold is : the cause of incessant discord and inceflBan ^ miserfy . - Now , if the proposed 1 ) ill wbro' passed / anA passed it will be soniQ dayy it would hol 4 .: otit to the husband and vrife this promwe ^—that whereas the , Bimple applipatidn-to be released from the marriage . would not for ; an instant bei entortained \ but wtwid be scouted , ' it would bo entertained if either tone , of the » couple liaa oojtnmictsed an offence » gaiui » t the l * w . If the

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), July 12, 1856, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12071856/page/12/