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    J&n; 21^860^- :M£x£>e^ 59

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    ..Effects of this description may be spe...

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    Metropolitan Board Of Works. I7rom The R...

    entered into some months ago , there has recently been discovered a blunder of upwards of £ 30 , 000 ; and in the first material alteration made in the permanent staff , a job of unparalleled effrontery in its way has lately been perpetrated by giving a salary of £ 800 a year—under the ludicrous misnomer of a retaining fee—to a gentleman who had previously acted as clerk to the Board , and who , in addition to this snug annuity , is to have counsel ' s fees on all his briefs in court . Minor illustrations of the style of metropolitan administration now in vogue at Guildhall are superfluous . But it may not be amiss to note two rer solutions to which the Board has come within the last month , and which are likely still further to endear it to the millions subject to its rule . The reformers of gas supply in the metroto Parlia

    polis proposed in the bill they are about submitting - ment to refer certain questions that must arise from time to time between gas makers and gas consumers to the arbitration of the Board of Works ; but that patriotic body seeing no certain advantage , and a probable increase of trouble were the suggestion adopted , flatly refused to entertain it . An attempt was made by some of the members who do not appear wholly indifferent to popular judgment and feeling , to put an end to the mystery in which the financial operations have been hitherto wrapt ; and as a first step it was proposed that the finance committee , like the other committees , should be open to all the members of the Board . The proposal , however , was peremptorily rejected by a decisive majority . Irresponsibility is the order of the day . ;

    Such being the spirit and character of the system as now organized , the Legislature is about to be asked to transfer from the Imperial treasury to that of our metropolitan unaccountables the coal tax and carriage duties , with sundry minor sources of income . As the people of London exclusively pay these imposts , they have , no doubt , a paramount claim to the benefit of their expenditure . But , fpr that : yei-y reason , they ought not to be handed over from those whom Parliament compels to give an account of what they do with the money ; , to those in . whom the people place little confidence , and whose , proceedings-they watch with daily-increasing dismay . Before an additional , shilling is placed at their disposal , it will be the imperative duty of Parliament to inquire what they have done with the . large sums with which they have already ' had to deal . It will further be

    necessary gravely to reconsider the constitution of ¦ the Board itself , both ' as regards the qualification of perso ns eligible thereto , and with respect to the manner in which they are to be chosen . It is too late to re-argue the theory of indirect representation , — that exotic device imported from Prussia , which has never grown healthily here . Whatever its merits in the eyes of fine people or foreigners mny be , we find its fruits bitter and worthless ; and We believe that the best thing to be done with it is to root it out altogether . If English ratepayers arc fit to elect members of the Senate , which more than any other assembly sways the destinies of the Avorld , they are surely fit to choose the men who are to make main drains and to concentrate cesspools in one particular city . But be the logic of the , matter what it may , the blunders and abuses into which- the Board has fallen render it impossible

    that , as now constituted , it should be suffered to play the fool any longer at our expense , Being practically irresponsible to the public , it is believed to have become a jobbing clique , and whatever else happens the public have mado up their minds that the clique nuisfc be broken up . There is , we are confident , no desire to hand back the powers of local government to the Imperial cxeoutive . The feeling against centralization is gaining not losing strength , in the heart of the community ; but if the benefits and privileges of local self-rule arc to be preserved , we must take care that their reproach of in capacity , Avastc , and favouritism be not permitted to lie at its door .

    J&N; 21^860^- :M£X£>E^ 59

    J & n ; 21 ^ 860 ^ - : M £ x £ > e ^ 59

    ..Effects Of This Description May Be Spe...

    .. Effects of this description may be speedily anticipated , because the customers for improved , more comfortable , and more elegant clothing are already in existence . If the power were given to the Emperor to double the supply of food , he could not at once double the number of the people , nor promote a great increase of consximptidn . But the great multitude is every where imperfectly clothed ; everywhere women and men desire to be more conveniently and fashionably attired . The demand for woollens and cottons , followed by a like demand for silks and linens , may be said to be indefinite . But the measures of the Emperor , while they will assuredly increase the competition of the manufacturers , and will cheapen and extend the use 6 f clothing , cannot suddenly increase the supply of tlie raw

    materials . They must be . grown , and for this time is required-In the first instance , the demand for them will increase the price ; . the price will stimulate production , and if production be free , it will soon come up to the demand , and the multitude will get as much clothing as it desires and can pay for . By that , manners will be softened , and morals improved . The assimilation of the multitude in outward appearance , and in all the conveniences of dress to the upper classes , approximates them in enjoyment , feeling , sympathy , and tastes ; makes all more kindly arid social , and improves all . From so small a matter , apparently , as removing a tax on the raw materials of clothing in one country , the production , trade , and prosperity of society will be extended , and the whole morally improved . .

    The reduction of the duties on coffee and sugar will operate in the same direction . For both , already extensively in use , a large market is prepared in Prance . A great multitude is ready , if they have the means , to increase their consumption of sugar and coffee ; and the measures , which permit the increase of manufactures , cheapen clothing , and reduce the duties on sugar and coffee , will tend to augment consumption . These measures are placed first in the Emperor ' s renowned programme of freetrade policy , published ' - "in . the Moniteur of Sunday . It is dated Jan . 5 , and , when fully carried outj will be the noblest New Year ' s gift ever handed ' by a despotic Government to a suffering and still confiding people .

    . The remission of the duties on raw materials may be expected as soon as laws can be drawn for the purpose of giving legal form and effect to the Emperor ' s declaration . The duties on sugar and coffee are to "be gradually reduced , having regard , probably , to " the manufacture of ; beet-root sut ^ ar in France . Other parts of the programme ,, referring to treaties of commerce and to articles of which certain classes in France have a monopoly , and in which we are deeply interested , such as coals , iron , & c ., cannot be at once carried into effect . The treaties have to be negotiated ; faith has to be kept with monopolists , to whom the and will

    State is bound till 1861 ; and , whatever diligence good there may be in the legislative bodies , and however little- opposition the measures may encounter from the public , it will require time to give the form of law to the whole programme . AVhatever amount of funds may be directed to improving drainage , constructing more railways , adding to canals and roads , and extending public works , these can only be executed after a considerable period . It is the . duty , therefore , of those who are most devotedly attached to free trade , to warn the public against expectations which even despotisin , with the best will ,, cannot realize immediately .

    The programme iuvolyes an application of public money winch some necessity may divert to other objects . To meet the expense , the operation of the Sinking fund is to be suspended till the revenue is increased . Tins , together with the increase of speculative and other busincss ~—whieh is sure to ensue—occasioning . a demand for capital , and enhancing the value of money , will prevent the French and other public securities from rising as rapidly as some persons may oxpoot . To them' this will be a source of disappointment , and it may also disappoint a Government which assumes ariso in the funds to be a proof of increasing

    THE EMPEROR'S NEW YEAR'S GIFT . npHE measures announced by the Emperor of the French in his - * - letter to M ... FqulI ) will , undoubtedly , if they be carried through , promote the prosperity of Franco and other countries . To suppress the duties on wool and cotton—the first object proposed—will increase and accelerate the production of clothing : it will bo cheapened , and the production of wool and cotton stimulated . Our own colonies , tho plains of Hungary , and of the Rio Plata , will all experience an increased demand for wool . Our

    possessions in India , tho Southern States of America , Egypt , the Brazils , & o . will find a larger market for their cotton . More trade will ariso , more ships will be wanted , and very soon ship yards will be again alive with' exertion , and the shipowners , acquiring " a brighter prospect and a better temper , will think only how they onn most cheaply supply the increased demand for . carriage . More goods , too , will bo sent by mil , better dividends will bo paid , and n » extension of railways will bo promoted .

    public confidence . Again , the certain rise in tho first instance in tho price of raw materials which cannot be . immediately augmented , will postpone cheapness , which all will oxpect . Ujs possible , too , that officials , ' in carrying out tho programme , will look more to what they are to do towards improving public works , than be in hasto to tnjst tho private interest and good sense of individuals ; They will want to do , instead of allowing things to bo done ; and they may postpone indefinitely tho froc trade which the Emporor has announced . Even if they should carry it out in tho moat efficient manner , they cannot toy nny moans impart to tho French the skill , tho knowledge , tho divisaon of , labour , the system of credit , which have slowly grown up here , and aro tho oausea , » f our success . Admitting then the probability of much disappointment , and oven mmimg Uv » public , hero and in Franco , against it , wo must still say that

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 21, 1860, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21011860/page/7/