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Leader (1850-1860), 22nd May 1852, Edition Country of 2, Page 14, " ' : M ; . , . ;, : ,,..\ :. •¦ /;W^;1^

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      The Canker 01 Trade. Weiie Competition I...

      fanner ; ¦¦ lpia ^ -- ^' - : ^!! oi * ieBr . ; . if- the , customer knew ; his fapner ,, mcrease in the cpnsjuBmptipn of bread must follow ; nay , greatlyincreased growth off bread corn ,, andi great , demand , foe hancUt to manage , that enlarged traffic ; and thieny demand for men . learnedi in breads-corn * Th £ whole diflfer ^ enoe between tmGoncerted Competition and extended ; concert is this ,- —that , in the case of eompetition ^ . many ; ace trying to . get a share of a certain thing * an < i filching ; it from eachpther , thus .

      diminishing the sohstmtial proportion of produce to people ; iiL Concert ,, theyare uniting ; to increase tl ^ e produce for a given number of people . Competition multiplies the hands engaged in , carrying the loaft . eaqh . hand ; snatching a piece for itself ; Concert plans to multiply the lpayes for all concerned * until all , be satisfied . We see the result practically exemplified ia the cases which , we have 6 ited-r-and th . ey are no imaginary cases ,, from London aad-Leeds .

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      A Society Abdicating Its Duties. Gold Co...

      A SOCIETY ABDICATING ITS DUTIES . Gold continues ^ to break up . society ; in . Australia . Given , "'the medium of exchange" in abundance , and tirade tumbles to pieces by the convulsive force of its own motives ; , Never did a great social dogma like that of self-interest obtain such ample refutation from itself . It ia the season , of exMbitions . If you _ go tp the ZfPologicaL Gardens , indieedj * you will ' certain , articles not mad © by man— the living creainiKes ^ and . 1 thBirepiresentatives of the vegetable creation ;; all * presenting * m beautiful variety and

      adaptability , of mechanism of the amplest kind ; bat yoiiE wiU notice two broad tenths rather opposeai to the dogmas of . the day . In the first placei , parsimony is not the true oaePnomy of nature , but production , constant production , ample , more thaa sufficient , la the second place , mechanical : sufficiency does not . suffice : there is sel ^ regard , no doubt , but that m not all : there are also sympathies . The very _ human beings have a sympathy with the vegetables , and exult in the beauty of the flowers . ] Sjatuire does not work with stinted means , nor with self-interest

      alone . Pass to the exhibitions of mas , and . see how tljue selfish philosophy of the day fulfils its purpose . It gives us pictures without passion or motive . It gives us " ornamental manufactures " without freedom or beauty : the workmen of civilized England rebuked by the taste and skill of the half-civilized rivals—of barbarous Persia , oir of mediaeval Benvenuto Cellini . But of all the exhibitions , commend ua to Australia .

      Gold is discovered , —wealth ; and it threatens to be the ruin of the community . It is true that the discovery ought to give many advantages to Australia . It should secure , at the antipodes , the means , of paying for the cost of communication , for tiie cost of sending over labour . It should afford a fin © market for industry , sper . cially devotedi to minister to the wants of the population engaged in the process of gold-digging . It should double the internal trade of Australia , create new channels , and guarantee Australia , create new channels , and guarantee

      payment for new enterprises . South Australia , for instance , migjat become the granary and vineyard , for the golden land . Sydney might become the port for an immense trade with China and ttie extreme East . Closer communications with England should expedite the constant exchange of immigrant Labour for exported produce . But the industry which , wght be available for those processes ot certain return , can with difficulty be organized . " Each for himself , and the devil take the hindmost , " is the accredited wisdom ; and every man wants , to be the goldpfinder . Even supposing © very man were to succeed , he would be no nearer the real wealth . Where all

      find gold , and none make corn or other necessaiies ,, there is sure to be increased abundance of the representative of wealth , but actual scarcity of substantial available wealth ; and that is already beginning . Men can roll in gold , but they cannot eat it , nor even sleep upon it in comfort . A paroxysm o £ affluence is ill compensated by general ruin "in the long run . " But there is no motive to keep the labourer from the gold bed . Society in Australia , is one vast Midas . Where , you may say , is religion : are not these emigrants Christiana P No , they are not ,. They ubivim

      mostly proiess , ana wjw ( puimu wur » ju * y » but aefc tjieir creed against the gold , and Christianity kicks the beam . The religious instinct indeed is strong * but the practice of our religious teachera . who truckle to the vice of the day , hoe

      been tp make the pupil postpone we spixitual to the , wonldlp good ,. By example , by innuendo , by every available nieaiis ,, the religious teacher habituates the Englishman to take , though . * $ w ot & er men ' s observances ,, but to relax his > own * when " business ?' calls ^ -toconform ifrprofessions to the areecL of ^^ Christianity , but in practice to the cr-eed of Mammon . Hence , if w , e weqe . to talk off Christianity as an effective- check tp the extuaya > gancies . of the Aus ^ aliaa disorganizatipn * , the idea would be received , by all experienced mjea in , this Christian country , with a shout of derisive laughter .

      "Willhotpatriptism induce men to do tfte-duty of citizens ,, andsee that the wants of society be secured ? Patriotism ! "Why , that does : not " pay , " and has come to be a greater joke , in , practical life * than , the literal observance ; of Chpfistian . laws . Will not " enlightened interest "—the perception of theiiuinwhich must befall ; others ^ the community itself and all belonging to it P No : immediateprofit is the strong ; mptiyeoft pushing trade ; and gold is the most obyious tangible form of immediate profit ; hence the O 3 (*> n © mists

      of A * us | iralia snatch at that , gold rather than anything else ., Capital has been accustpnifidi tp command labour solely by bribery and coercion , ; but coercion fails in : the wildplains of Australia , and briberyr is < of no avail against the native gpljd ; . , In the how of its extpemite trader itself finds that it might haverealized that sglendjd ! opportunity better , if it had not cast , away the motives pi afjEection , patriotism ,, and ! reHgioni—the motives which inch' ne men to do tha-t which is good for the sake of their neighbouirSi o £ their country ;* and of God .

      Choice Of Mem Burs, A Dead Set Is Made A...

      CHOICE OF MEM BURS , A dead set is made at Mr . Gladstone by certain sectaries of the Low Church party , who declare that he does . npt " represent" the constituency for which he sits , and who therefore seek a candidate more suitable . The favourite of the day is Mr . John Campbell Colquhoun , formerly member for the Kihnarnpcfc burghs , and eminent for his quasi-Presbyterian vagaries , - — ¦ with a grace almost Catholic , but still smacking of the icy and hard-headed North . The movement would be of no importance , if it did not fall in with a cant of the day , which treats " representatives " aa mere voting machines . If it were possible to select a man who , in his one person , could represent the University of Oxford , it would assuredly be—not Mr . Colquhoiuai , nor yet Sir Robert Inglis—but precisel y this very Gladstone whose fitness is impugned . "What are the characteristics o £ Oxford , above the Jevel of its fast men ? Are they not learning , extended back to the very days , when learning was born , and afterwards rose from its long sleep ; refined intellect ,, competent to all the exercises o $ reasoning and casuistry j sincerely noble conduct , the result of intellectual refinement and of knowledge of the world in , its higher

      levels ; and all those characteristics of the accoinplisfejfed gentleman embodied in a . sincerely English ; disposition—an indomitable love of fairness , a conservative love of liberty , a hearty love of right , and a courageous contest with palpable wrong P Such we take to be the charaefcenstics which the most frequented seat of ancient , learning might be proud to . claim as her own ., whatever discordant opinions the majority of her members may entertain , on the special questions of the day . The true type of an Oxford man ia as learned as a professor , as pious aa a . priest , as

      courageous , as a soldier , as shrewd as a lawyer , as kind aa a brother-r-a true gentleman all round , Now , where do you find the man who can be that type half so manifestly as Gladstone P Certain active canvassers may te of an opinion not his on the subject of Maynootb , ; but what docs Oxford need , or deserve , a meinber for , if * not to typify / terf to bring her faculties to bqar on the hundred questions daily arising in Parliament- —to makehor not omitted in the national council , tout standing

      forth and throwing the light of her historic wisdom on those passing questions , for their enlighten ' ment and her honour P And who , we ropoafc , can perform that function aa Gladstone doe »? Does he not apeak to . England and to Europe in the well-known voice of Oxford ? It will be a disgrace , a . disrating of Oxford , if hop favoured son , in whose ocwwtonance the family-likeneas i » strong , bo displaced for the casual oflVpriug pf . a , Scotch liaison .

      But this electioneerin ^ fQi ^ ttBage Id o i sno- * men of the idea in fasMou , ; . Parties } aa ^ fbrmLi " they setup . a , ' ^ a ^ e , ^ appmB * JU ^ eltea ^^ ^^^ irame tl ) £ ir / thir ^ y-ni ^ B aKi ^ clejH a » dt sesjMiheif eltecttQn ^ agents to hire ^ meinbers ^ whq ^ will aiifo scpifee to the conditions ^ They thinfe to ^* faithful members , whereas ' , they get nothing fut conforming ; knastes , or , common-pkee ^^ nobodies who . cajQ , and will , swallow an : y . ^ aver age" opinion , because tfyey Ijave no ppinjon in them , all ready . A pledged member is ^ i » aa engaged tn

      do tne national' Work by the job . ; CPntestinff their opinions through , the instrumentalit y of the poll and the lobbtpvoting ^ parties ; may carry ' measures' * worth nptioing ,, andma | ^ realizetee debates ^ filling , dreary broaidBheeta mtijt stoaff not fit for readmg ; but the country is paral yzed . The standards are not those : or patiaotism or morals ,, but tb ^ promises ! tp , J | ones , Brp 5 rn and Ilobinaon , wh ^ b » , hp ^ -ht apl # dj * e xviik " vbt 0 qjii ii ^ er-est . " ] Lqo ^ oven ? a djLvijSibn . ¦¦ list ,. , and gak yourself ' pf wh ^ , t eaiftbjy / use ; it is to ^ ave . taere

      the names , that encumber it : a page torn , at randpm ou , t of any directory woald giv , e as good a debating ; or voting cbx > ru & as the lis . ij of the Itouse . The men who , do giye character to the council , who do adyaiace the n ^ twi ^ aci ^ n , who dp re ^ present the living * national f ^ culties ^ ai ^ the Gladstones ,, tlje Graha ^ Sj the Palixiyerstons , the Macatdays ^ the . Disrae ^ s ,, the Grotes ,, who , whether in , or 0 x 1 $ of Parliament ,, are the active powers , of the day . Any measure , to be got out of this , par % oient or the next ,, wiU , be worth

      nothing to tlp ^ e country , so much as a multiplicatiojj of siich . men . These considerations suggest a practical hint for the electipji . All over tjbte country , at Paisley , at Blacltburn , and a hundred places tliat we could , n . am € ,. there- are . coalitionSj , more or less explicit or tacit * to ; return average members who represent blank opinions , whoare destined to carry on t ] b , e public stagnation ol" the country , and to th ^ t end will give pledges to " vote for" anything , especially / if it can't be earned . Of what use are they P Even if they carry a bill with a soundiag title and no force , what good do they is

      do . P It ijaay be very desirable ,, ai ^ d so , to , ask men their ppiaions on subjects pf th , e franchise , of labour relations , of religious freedom ; but many a man pledged % o vote for the Jew Bill would be lesa certain to resist an intolerant absurdity than BWaeli , whose intellect pledge * him not to follow Spboner . A party P ^ d gepwumes that the party clique can forecalculate ^ l \ e contingencies , the misclnances ^ the ppppTtunities , of the future ; wh ^ ch , i » impossible , ljut ifc is easy to see , that to send up a man who . is . a hearty man and a gefttlenva ^ - ^ w ^ o is generous , courageous , warm in sympathy with his fellow

      creatures—clear in , understainding , and strong w feeling—is to send up th . 0 best " representative of any English conimunity , » nd to add one gooa element to the council A pledged parharoent , especially when the public has . no strong difltmc ^ tive convictions , is an empirical humbug . & n " gland would be disgraced if $ so befell , that alter uxe next election , there were iu the H ° ° * Commons , no Gladstone ,, no Eisraeli , no Grrabam , no Palmerston , vote h , ow the House miglit , or pass as it mighty cart-load * of statutes to puzzio the lawyers and accommodate tb . 0 butt ^ erwen .

      T«K Nb^T Experiment X^ Cabinet Makietg. ...

      T « K NB ^ T EXPERIMENT X ^ CABINET MAKIETG . Dbsby and Pisraeli cannot rub on much JongM with their cabinet of Quarter Sessions Chairmen —that is the general impression ; and the quota tion of shares ia the Russell company »« "fjg * Having performed ite function of burying ^ ro teotion , as in the magnanimous usages oi » valry a beaten army is allowed to come jn »«« hury its dead , the Tories , it is felt , ought *> go , especially as they don't seem to know no

      sfcav . What next P beeomes ttoe queau ^ ^ - public opinion , which ^ 8 just nowrathor ™™»\ naits ideas , is not ready with a . reply : « ^ cliaed to suppose , however , that LorU Jonn » como back , only reinforced , of course , witu ^> dw , and , perhaps Gr « ha « i . A ltuasell mfora tion , thorpfore , is to be the final « P ^ , to Derby dalliance . with power ; and w * w \ ft bo set up again , like the ^ /^^ n 8 I" his revolution , with Graliam and Oobde " . then Lion and Unicorn . The further W ° B * ° "l m i » , what might we expect from suoh a new \> of theRiws « Udi « po «» tttionP , fl ' tho Graham would bo a tower of fltrong tli , «»

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 22, 1852, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_22051852/page/14/