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Leader (1850-1860), 19th March 1859, Edition 2 of 2, Page 18, 370 THE LEAPEB. [ftfo. 469, March lfy 18...

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      The Battle Of The Bill., The Impending S...

      that by some means or other the bill should elude the fate with , which it is threatened next week , and eventually become law , no rational man can pretend to believe that it would tend to quench agitation . Passed under Whig and Kadical protest , and with the confession of more than one of its most distinguished abettors , that it did not go far enough in the direction where most discontent prevails , it would inevitably become a tele cle pont for future advances , to resist which there -will be no pretence' of unanimity or moral strength .. _ _ ¦ ' ' .

      . . .. . Tlus , theny is the real total ; and this accordin g ly is that which the old reform leader of . opposition has palpably hit . The contest about the town freeholds is a sort of bye-battle , in which much dexterity and knowledge of parliamentary fence may be displayed , but in which the party assailed has already shown its capacity for manoeuvring , and on the issue of which , therefore , it is not expected that anything very material will turn . Mr . Disraeli has intimated iiis willingness to endeavour to reconcile the theorem of uniformity as between county and town with the preservation of

      the position for which his talents So conspicuously qualify him , he could without inconsistency introduce such modifications in the ministerial plan , as would plaee the opposition at fault , by bringing the measure in its mean features to what he himself , as a member of Lord Aberdeen ' s Government , agi-eed to propose to Parliament five years ago . ¦ ¦ * ¦ ¦¦¦¦ ¦ Should personal changes , however , at a juncture so ci'itieal be deemed inexpedient , and should the ' 101 . occupation franchise be still adhered to as a matter of party honour and party consistency , there yet remains two methods by which , it wer-e quite possible to extend materially the city and borough withoutaban terms the

      constituencies , - - doning in . tenour of the ' pending bill . If weekly tenants , paying four shillings rent during a period of twelve months continuously , were entitled , to vote , a vast addition would be made to the number of electors , while the same total of pecuniary qualification would still ' be no less than 101 . in the year . Still more important , more liberal , and more just , would be the extended application of the principle of avocation franchises to those skilled artizahs and operatives , who could show that they had served a rexnlar . apprenticeship to their respective' trades . This " w ' puld indeed . be to return to the ancient ways of the constitution ; and to renovate that honourable and useful }? ride in industrial .. citizen-ship which has been too much suffered to decay .

      all existing privileges . In Sir Charles "VYotherelVs tune , these would have boon talked of as " vested rights ; " but " vested ' rights * " -like-our once " exclusively Protestant legislature ,. ' and a good many other ' tilings beside , have for a long time been slowly , but steadily , -thawing away , _ and of late ivo seem to have almost forgotten their fine old Tory names . If Sir Ilugli Cairns shall , consequently , be able to -frame a set of clatises , which Mr . Disraeli , before the debate begins on Monday next , can offer to move in committee , securing to every freeholder in a town the option of registering as he thinks fit for cither county or . borough , . the

      pinch of tlfis pai ' fc of the case . will" be at an end . The real tug of war will then come where , from the first , we have always prognosticated it wouldnamely ,- on the attempt to maintain the town franchise ' at 10 / . To give ' why ostensibly .-on-this point , and adopt Messrs . "Walpole arid Henley ' s advice while in office , would , no doubt , checkmate JLord-Jolin . Russell , and win the garile of the bill . What the effect of .. such a legislative summersault would be on the 'Conservative-party it would be premature to discuss , and very little , we must own , to bur present taste or purpose . Mr . l ^ isracli , perhaps ,- is not a man to be restrained by such considerations' from accomplishing an object on which he has set his heart . He is a man of

      historical imagination and ambition ; and having been often foiled in his attempts to inscribe his name in the roll of pur legislative authors , he would , in all probability , not stick at a trifle to succeed in what may possibly be his last effort as party leader . We say his last effort because it has for , some time been growing more , and more evident that his party are thoroughly tired of their rider , and . that he is equally wearied of them . Ten years of whipping and . spurring , curvetting aiid cantering , on the same hard . bleak

      road , is enough to exhaust any stock of temper or energy . Other fields of ambition are still open to a man of genius , perseverance ,, and versatility ; and , oa the other hand , there are few instances' in which any political party hus thriven or prospered under the leadership of any one man for a longer period than that wo have named . In any event , we tlriuk it . far from unlikely that Mr . Disraeli may cease ere long-to perform the onerous and thankless duties of unprejudiced brains gatherer tx > a prejudiced party . .

      ^ Should lie bo unable to persuade his colleagues to yield on the borough franchise , we shall not be . durnrl & cd to see him throw up tho veins in disgust , ana leave his place to bo filled by that still more adroit and pliant loader to spare , who has hitherto been bold on by the Conservative party with a tight loading-rein . Whether they hope to carry a Reform Bill in the present Parliament , or mean to try their future , at tho hustings , Lord Derby , it is dear , wist strengthen liiniso ) ^ somehow , in tlie House of Commons ; and it is needless to waste words to prove what everybody admits , that the man who is faoile princops in debate , and profoundly experienced in every branch of public administration ; would bo an invaluable ndclition to his Government . It ' oannot be expeoted that Mr . Gladstone should ,, tako a subpvdipato . ofiiQe , so that he would commit himself to the fortunes of an already splintered and damaged cabinet , unless he were offered tho load , of tho Lower House . Woro ho , howovor , placed in

      370 The Leapeb. [Ftfo. 469, March Lfy 18...

      370 THE LEAPEB . [ ftfo . 469 , March lfy 185 Q .

      Boat Is No Sooner Attempted To Be. Lower...

      boat is no sooner attempted to be . lowered or « -ot out in a gale of wind , than it is stove , or , from t he fouling of the tackle , and running gear , capsized . The number of ships' boats which escape this disaster is very small , compared to the . number attempted to be got out in cases of emergency . " This cause for the loss of life would be , in a very slight' degree , if . at all , obviated by expending 2 , 36 o , 000 Z . in constructing harbours of refuge ,, and it is in the course of being very materially lessened by improved methods of carrying and lowering , or launching , boats , which will not give rise to one nefarious job , nor take one farthing from the taxpayers .

      It is found , too , when the -subject is examined , that a lai-ge proportion of-the casualities recorded . are in no degree occasioned bytho wani of Inn-hours of refuge ; thathnrbtmrs-of refuse would not lessen , if they would not increase-, the casualties which do not happen from tlie want of them ; and that improvements in shipping and in seamen would be more likely to save life , and property ihan this proposed application-of the public money . Thus-, of the number of wrecks and casualties—iiichidin < r

      damage of all kinds , but excluding collisions—in 1858 , only 467 are ascribed to strrs . s of weather , or could in any degree have Iiivn avoided by having , harbours of refuge ; and' : ; l . i-io « l as ' many , 402 , arc ascribed to inattention , c : u , vie :-.-ness , and neglect ; , to defects in the ships . ivi : d equipments , and to various otlicr causes . It is to in ; nppre-. heniled' that shipowners will be . enc nu-agod by harbours , of refuge to send ' .. ships' to > ea ill provided or ill conditioned , and that ship captains will be made by tl tern . increasingly , careless a 1 V 11 i ) i a rt eh-t i ve to their duties . Should such be the result , liarbours of refuge will cause tlie loss ui more lives and property than they will save .

      HAHBOUHS OF REFUGE . Lord Clarekcb Facet has the great . merit' of rousing the public to a true sense of the scandalous manner in which its money is wasted . He lias not Only roused it , he has made it angry , and in an unfavourable mood for listening to fresh demands on its funds , even for purposes , of apparent humanity . The commissioners , 'therefore , appointed to con ^ lete 'the inquiry commenced by the House of Commons into the propriety of

      constructing harbours of refuge , have made their report , requiring 2 , 365 , 000 / . to be devoted to tins ¦ purpose at an Unfortunate time , though the expenditure is to be spread , over ten years . The public is well awn re that works of this kind , begun by the Government , are never completed for the sum estimated , and they may see , in the various recommendations of the commissioners , many germs—in letting laud , & c—of that jobbery which clinos like a skin to all its undertakings .

      However strongly , therefore , the recommendation to construct harbours of refuge appeals to our selfishness by money to be saved , and to our sympathies by lives to be preserved , it will not be received without a close scrutiny , nor be accepted if tainted by a susp icion that the public feelings are to be played on to secure additional emoluments and additional patronage for official men . At length the public begins to be sensible that they seize every _ 'Opportunity to enhance a panic or excite a

      belligerent zeal whenever that is likely to increase the public expenditure ; and we regret to say that the commissioners , most of whom are official men , follow this general custom , and endeavour to enlist the public feelings . in favour of their recommendations , by exaggerated pictures of the losses incurred * by the want of harbours of refuge . They commence their report by adopting the statement of the Committee of the House of

      Commons , that the annual loss of property by casualties on our coast is estimated at 1 , 300 , 000 / ., and the loss of life qn our coasts in 780-porsons annually . They are careful to notice that in 1854 no fewer than 1 , 549 persons thus perished . Thoy could , however , have obtained the returns of tho present year , and have consoled the public by noticing that these losses are decreasing , had they not had a purpose to serve by parading the more alarming statement . From the " Abstract of the Returns made" to the Boai'd of Trade " of the wrecks and casualties which oocurred on aiul near the coasts nf

      of tho United Kinminm f ' vnm ihn 1 st : . Timimvv Of the United Kingdom from tho 1 st of January to the 31 st of December , 1858 , " recently published , we can state that the total number of liven lost . on our coasts by enaualfciofl to shi pping , in 1858 , was 340 , and tho average loss of the three years 1856-8 was not 780 , but 464 , or not two-thirds of the number put down by tlio commissioners aa annually poriflhmg . Many of those losses , too . were the consequence of the unskilful manner , still in general use , of lowering and clearing boats . " In the majority of cases , " says the report of tho Surveyor-Gonoral of , the Board of Trado , " a

      The losses just stated are exclusive of losses by collisions ,, by fire , and other causes n ;; - connected with stress of weather ; and the i-asualtu's by collisions alone , in 1858 , ¦ were lib I . All of " them might possibly have been prevented by givatei . skill and care in navigating th . e vi ssels : and not one of . them , probably ,-would or c . ui ! . l have been avoided had 10 , 000 , 000 / . been expended in making harbours of refuge . Again , when we look at . the dc : ' .-i iptioi-u ' . f vessels

      lost in 185-8 , the tables . show us that mi ! of . 1 , 170 , 1 , 01 , 8 were vessels of less than . " - ( K ) Ions . The Great Eastern is not the only great ship-which has been built in modern times , but it illustrates the general tendency of our shipbuilders to construct year after year bigger and bigger ships . There irf good reason to ' suppose , therefore , that the loss ol ships will diminish year by year , as large > hips displace small ones . Although steam colliers may not have been successful at" first , then' is no doubt that even in the coal trade laruvr vessels impelled

      by the more easily commanded power oi steam , will be employed . In truth , tl » e coiupetiiion now existing between railways i \ m \ shipping lor the carriage of goods , is a guarantee tlml the coasting trade must be conducted in an unproved and . indeed , in the cheapest and best nmnner . Clreat niid continual losses at Sou will make ( be owni'i * oi ' gond ^ prefer to send them by rail . ¦ Inc'iii-i-i' ! coasters must therefore be laid asidv , and ; !>¦< ilu ' chaugc takes place , lossos on our coasi .-i will bo . lesseneu . Ship-building materials , too , are . now cheaper than they were ; n reduction-ui' tlie tiinbcr dune ,, which the proposed application of the juihlit ! money

      might render impossible , would make I hem cheaper still , and so the temptation to construct weak ships , and the temptation to fit thorn out imperfectly , will be lessened , and we shall have fewer wrecks , though wo do not spend 2 , 340 , 000 / . iu constructing the proposod harbours . The recommendations appeal warmly to all our best ieclings , and on tins account it is tho more necessary that ( he public should be on its guard against delusion mid exfljf " geratibn . More national beiielil will aycrud Worn the . improvements in constructing shins , and in tno character of tho olHoora and limn of the ineminino marine- —now making a rapid progress—thnn n'oi carrying out tho recommendations of Hoar-Admiral Hope , Sir Frederick Smith , and Ilio otlici commissioners .

      Tun Lxdkaat. Xmadhkb.— Lord John Husaoh ...

      Tun LxdkaAt . Xmadhkb . — Lord John HusaoH and Lord I ' almoraton abstained from voting on i uobiw } on the mbtion for the abolition of uhuroh-nuus . MiNiswwuAL . —The Murl of Woaslyn 1 ms "f ^ , * tho post of Umler-fcjocrotary of btuto ol War , >» anted , by Viscount Ilnrdingo .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), March 19, 1859, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_19031859/page/18/