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Leader (1850-1860), 18th December 1852, Edition Country of 2, Page 11

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      S I' A I N. Tin: Attempt Of Tho Lioyal H...

      absolute in its tendencies . It revoked to the Crown almost the entire controul of public affairs , and established a counterfeit legislature , elected w a counterfeit constituency , consisting only of a few of the highest tax-payers in each place . It js not to be supposed that the Court made this attempt without considerable support ; and althoug h the proceedings are kept as secret as possible , it is beyond a doubt that the support must have been external . The fact is proved by the extremely comprehensive nature of the opposiextremely comprehensive nature of the

      opposition . The Cortes were so generally arrayed against the measure , that it was necessary to dissolve that body . The important nature of the contest , not less than the arbitrary conduct to which the Government has committed itself , is seen in an assembling of a numerous committee of the opposition , with Narvaez at its head as president ; and in the dispersion of that assembly by the police , on the single authority of the Crown . Narvaez has been sent into exile , and every party in the country , except a very fractional knot who cling to the court , has been sent

      into opposition . It may create some surprise that the party which invented this coup-d' 4 tat in Madrid , did not act upon the pattern of Louis Napoleoncollect a great force , and snrprise the capital in the night ; but the reason is , that the army in Spain is in great part a body independent of the Crown . There are substantial reasons for that independence . One is the personal pride which the conduct of the court has failed to conciliate for many years , and wheih , therefore , causes a number of decayed families and their cadets to go about the country with feelings very much the reverse of affection to the throne . The other

      cause is the comparatively indifferent pay of the army , which has forced it at times into strange quarters and strange straits , and has made it acquainted with shifts conducive neither to discipline nor to that unity of feeling which scientific governors now seek to infuse into standing armies . The army has too much the spirit of an irregular corps ; the men are in many cases fond of their officers , and have scraps of national feeling distinct from mere affection to \ the

      sovereign . Anything like national feeling has long been submerged among Spaniards at large in more trifling sentiments : —self-esteem , on a Castilian scale , pride in personal beauty and show , love of pleasure , of enjoyment , of idleness , not altogether voluntary , characterize the Spaniard over a great extent of territory . These characteristics are lost , to a considerable extent , when you enter the territory of Barcelona ; where the old spirit of national independence , once so turbulently shown under the Counts , has been succeeded by

      a , strong infusion' of modern commercial feeling , with the corresponding turbulence characteristic of manufacturing towns . If the expression is not fax too strong , Barcelona may bo called the Lancashire of Spain , with , the commercial spirit strong in tho employing class , and rather a riotous spirit strong in the working class ; but in both eases to tho abatement of old Spanish feeling ,, or of blind allogitpoc to a barbaric throne . ' .. The- district in which national feeling remains strong , where popular independence is moat stoutly maintained , is : that called tho Basque , Provinces . . Kopeatod aggrosaions 6 n tho old privileges of tho Basquos , which have been but partially successful , have only made them clench their tocth and fists tho stronger . But

      the Basques , bred in . a certain local liberty , peculiar in their temperament as in their touguo , connect their special liberty with tho past ; and have no theoretical sympathy with tho program of civilization or tho growth of liberty in modern Murojw qr in Spain . The solo unity ^ amongst iiny active and energetic class of Spaniards , therefore , in to bo found in tho army . It would , for these reasons , have boon almost impossible for any adventurer in Madrid to reach the nation through tho army , or to grasp at any millions of voterH . Tho whole affair must be settled in tho Chamber , and , if possible , by circumventing the army rather than using it or defying it . Tlio position of the court in proportionately weak .

      Hh feoblonqss is not diminished by the precarious thread with which Culm frlill maintains its connexion . Tho publication of the diplomatic eorronpondeneo in America , although it does not bear directly upon the present movement , will tend to diminish the confidence in tho hold of tho throne over that valuable island . Tho

      correspondence between the Government at Washington and its representatives in London , from 1822 to 1840 , establishes two or three points of considerable importance . It appears that the Spanish cession , of Cuba has been a subject of question ever since the earliest of those dates . We first find the United States defending Cubdf against the encroachments of France and the machinations of ^ England . An equivocal expression quoted by Mr . Everett from the Count de la Alcudia , who says that he had certain information from the Duke of Wellington , has been taken

      to imply that the Duke was an accomplice in those machinations . The honour of England does not require any very elaborate disclaimer of the absurd projects imputed to her . But the fact is important , that the permanent retention of Cuba appears to have been a matter of doubt with all the three powers in correspondence . At the close of the correspondence , we find the

      American Ministers offering to purchase the island for 100 , 000 , 000 dollars . We have reason to believe that this correspondence ought to . have an appendix , bringing down the negotiation to a period within the last three years . Another fact established by the correspondence is the long existence in the island of a party favourable to its cession ; a eorroboration of the more importance , since it refutes recent denials .

      The Spaniards ,, therefore , must regard their royal , Government as having a serious diaster hanging over its head , —the loss of Cuba ; and allegiance is seldom strengthened by sympathy with failure , especially when that failure is prospective and immediate . If we might hazard a calculation in times which defy the prophecies of politicians , we might say that the Spanish Government is too weak to accomplish a eoup-d' & at ;

      that it can do no more than foment disorders m its own dominions ; foment disorders which make it so much easier for the taxes to be collected in the shape of profits by contrabandistas than by the authorized servants of the Crown . The army is still the strongest power in Spain , disorganized and demoralized as it may be ; and encroachments upon its patience will only be safe while they are not quite intolerable .

      The disorders , indeed , might succeed for the benefit of the Royal system of Europe in general , at the expense of the particular family , by inducing the army to adopt the unlucky exile , Montemolin , instead of Queen Isabella . He is not the most imposing of legitimate claimants—he has no air of command in his countenance ; but if you look to personal dignities , he will do at least as well as Isabella , and may pass muster amongst the small party of sacred Sovereigns .

      December 18, 1852.] The Leader. 1?G7

      December 18 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 1 ? G 7

      The Budget And Beer. Towajids. No Part O...

      THE BUDGET AND BEER . Towajids . no part of tho community could Mr . Disraeli have selected a more unfortunate test for judgment of himself and his measures , than the Malt-tax , as he proposes to treat it . It would be quite possible to apply to the beer-trado the principle of " unrestricted competition" in a manner quite consistent with the principle to

      which wo adhere , that of Concert ; and in a manner as beneficial to tho public as to the farmer , or more so . That which prevents the application of the principle is , not the amount of the Malt-duty , but the manner in which it is levied , and also the manner in which other burdens are maintained upon the Boer-trade ; and with these obstacles Mr . Disraeli doea not deal at all .

      It is well , at starting , distinctly to recognise the fact , that the " monopoly" of the great brewers does not rest entirely upon fiscal restrictions , but upon the amount of experience , capital , and skill brought into tho trade . Still , the fiscal restrictions do help to maintain thai , monopoly by an indirect process which we ahal } oxplain . . For the making of beer like that of Bass , elements of first-rate quality , water , malt , and bops , are the prime necessaries . To secure them , a certain assuraneo in required by the

      employment of a large capital , which can command tho best materials , and can afford to reject those that fall short . Some fortunate circunmtaucoH are eKHontial accessories . Such is good water near I he wite of the brewery , the chemical qualities of" which are not always to be discriminated . Another oHHcntial accessory lies in servants with tact and skill , which , in brewing , cannot bo roducod to chemical rules . Bui there is no doubt that n good deal of experiment , in a small way , might bo carried on , if

      the trade were perfectly open , and the making of beer could be pursued in every little hamlet . The large capital is necessary in the first instance , because there is a heavy duty to be paid ; for although that is ultimately charged upon the consumer , it must , in the first instance , be met by the capitalist . The formation of capital for that purpose has led to the gradual collection of business into the hands of a few great brewers ; and from this circumstance arises a state of

      things which contributes to consolidate the monopoly . It is well known that the publicans are largely assisted by great brewers , and that , therefore , upon those brewers the publicans are dependent . The disposition of the public to purchase articles with sums in aliquot parts , also helps to regulate the price at a fixed level . Between the producer , the malt-grower , and the consumer , the effect of competition is arrested . The maltster has , of course , a market in which competition brings down prices to the lowest level for him . The great brewer can also give the lowest price , taking duty as an element in the

      account , for more or less , according to the fact . But as soon as we reach the publican , the effect of competition , to a great extent , ceases ; and the machinery which maintains prices at that stage is brought to bear still more strongly by the general usage of trade upon the public . The publican cannot use competition effectively against the brewer , and he is shielded from it on . the part of the public . There is another reason why the public is debarred from the advantages of unrestricted competition . A shop for the sale of beer cannot be opened without a licence : now this licence is

      made , not only a matter of police , but a matter of fisc ; and the cost , we believe , is ten guineas . The consequence is , that the humbler dealer meets an impediment at first starting . % Not only so , but there are other attendant restrictions . The customer who seeks beer , desires , in many cases , to have a choice of fermented drinks ; and he would often frequent . a shop for beer , where he could occasionally take spirits instead . The licence for spirits , however , is not only charged at a much higher sum , but is also a matter of favour , to be sought from the magistrates , with

      great trouble , and not without some use of social influence . That shops for the sale of fermented drinks ought to be more especially uader the eye of the police is obvious ; but it is a very bad regulation which mixes up police laws with fiscal laws ; and especially when laws of that complicated kind help other restrictions to check unrestricted competition , of which Mr . Disraeli boasts . The licensing system tends to help the peculiar relation which wo have already explained between the brewer and the publican , in diminishing the number of publicans or dealers in fermented drinks : and , therefore , the dealers in beer . It ia because the humbler trader finds

      such universal difficulty in penetrating the thickets of the system , that the manufacture of " the juice which makes tho Briton bold" is kept in so few hands . There is no reason why associations like that of tho Co-operative Brewery should not be formed amongst the workingclasses themselves , for tho manufacture of their own beer , secured , as it would be , under the principle of association , against adulteration ; but , in the existing stato of the law , that must be impossible to the immense number , and , therefore , the working-classes are forced to drink whatever miserable stuff tho publicans may sell in the name of ale and porter .

      Tho truo restriction upon tho trade lies in tho licensing and excise systems , which directl y check the multiplication of dealers , and necessitate a large capital ; and with those restrictions Mr . Disraeli does not meddle . He throws away 2 , 500 , 000 / . for no benefit either to farmer or eon-Hiuner ; with benefit only to the great brewer , who , of the whole aeries , does not want it .

      Kir Wan's Cask. Omoumhtantiar, Kvidbnck,...

      KIR WAN'S CASK . OmOUMHTANTIAr , KVIDBNCK , AND CAl'lTATi inrmHIIMKNT . Wk are given to understand that bhortly after the execution of Mr . Kirwan , a very important meeting is to be held at Exeter TJafi , in favour of the abolition of Capital Punishments . The gentlemen in and out of Parliament , who have long taken an active part in this movement , are determined not to Ioho the oratorical opportunity afforded them by the

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 18, 1852, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_18121852/page/11/