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Leader (1850-1860), 30th January 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 14, THE BIRTHDAY OF AUSTRALIA. On the 26th J...

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      The Consular Service In Turkey. Tub With...

      tical agents . To open a path for their further promotion , a rule might be established the absence of which has long been a ground of complaint , that all chief , interpreters should be British-born subjects , who Bad acquired such a knowledge of Eastern languages as to be able to write and speak them with facility . In the French service , the offices of chancellor and interpreter are combined , and this regulation might judiciously be introduced into the

      reorganization of the English staff . Thus the gradation would be from the rank of consul to that of consul-general , thence to that of consulgeneral and political agent , and ultimately to that of interpreter to the British Embassy at Constantinople . A still larger scope might be obtained by founding a college for the study of Oriental languages , with a professorship as the prize of the most distinguished among the interpreters . The French have adopted this principle with success .

      We should thus obtain a special and serviceable corps of consular agents who , stationed near every pasha and governor of a province in the Ottoman dominions , might materially assist by his counsel in the practical regeneration of the empire—if , indeed , that consummation is ever to be obtained . A feeble or rapacious governor he might check ; one who was wise and liberal he

      might support ; among the Christian subjects of the Sultan his presence would inspire confidence ; and , acting in concert with the British ambassador at the capital , his energies might be of material benefit to the government and people , while promoting the political and commercial interests of his own countrymen . If fees are still to be levied , he should never participate in them . This restriction would elevate his character

      and influence ; notarial fees , indeed , might be appropriated by- the chancellor for the liquidation of his office expenses . We trust that the practice of appointing natives as vice-consuls or consular agents will be discontinued . Either it is worth while to maintain a consular establishment at a particular locality or it is not , and , under any circumstances , the services of an ill-paid Iievautine or Greek islander are not

      desirable , and they are even more worthless ¦ wh en gratuitous . The official , of course , does not perform the duties of vice-consul , as the Irishman wore a hat without a crown ' for the honour of the thing ; ' he seeks his own interests , and the British , merchant would prefer to dispense with his protection . In general terms we would suggest the necessity of placing the consular staff in the Levant upon a higher footing , and not the least important reform would be the grant of pensions to the widows of consuls whose services in a barbarous country had been long and meritorious . To neglect this subject ia to neglect the positive claims of British commerce throughout Turkey .

      110 ¦ • The Leader. [No. 410, January 30...

      110 ¦ THE LEADER . [ No . 410 , January 30 , 1858 ^

      The Birthday Of Australia. On The 26th J...

      THE BIRTHDAY OF AUSTRALIA . On the 26 th January , 1788 , a few Englishmen planted the British flag in Sidney Cove : on the 26 th January , 1858 , a few Englishmen assembled at the Albion Hotel in Aldersgate-street to celebrate the foundation and progress of the Australian colonies . The m ~ e © tin ~ g ~ co ^^^ for the Colonies , the Speaker of the House of Commons , and the Speaker of the Legislative Council in New South Wales ; an eminent historian o £ the colonies , now iu office , Mr . Hjsbman Merivai / e ; a late colonial governor , Mr . La Tbobb ; Sir Rodbrigk : Murouison , the scientific prcdicator of gold in the Australian J ands ; and Colonel Ssubsc , the Australian traveller . The

      aristocracy , the Parliament , the science , and the society of England , were well represented at this birthday dinner . These assembled gentlemen , representatives of the hig hest authority in the country , had more than one truth to commemorate as well as more than one colony . Mr . Labouoheke congratulated himself , and statesmen in his post , that the days are gone by when the Home Government attempted to coerce English colonists jealous of their liberties—days that are ' obsolete , ' as Mr . Gladstone said . Mr . LABorrcHEBJS avowed the

      impossibility at this day of making any colony receive the convicts of England , unless it be perfectly willing to receive them . These are truths which , are now registered in Downingstreet , and were once hardly fought in the Australian colonies ; men being almost called rebels for sustaining them ; while the American colonies were driven into actual rebellion by the official refusal to admit plain facts . And Mr . GriiA . r > STONE remarked that the fallacy of commercial monopoly was at the root of our coercion of America . It dictated the

      imposition of the unpopular tea duty . The acceptance of free trade for our own purposes in this country has thus helped to clear up true policy with our colonies . Sp much does one political truth assist another . The Australian colonies have grown in number , in . territory , and wealth : they contributed to the million and a half of the Crimean patriotic fund 150 , 000 Z . ; about a thirty-fifth of the Anglo-Saxon population of the Empire contributed a tenth of the fund . Where wealth makes open-handed men , there is generosity of race ; where freedom introduces order , there is popular sagacity .

      The Cotton Of Damascus. The Inquiry For ...

      THE COTTON OF DAMASCUS . The inquiry for new supplies of cotton having long engaged our attention , we are glad ot an opportunity to present some details on the cotton cultivation in the neighbourhood of Damascus . At present the produce is small , but there are lands uncultivated which once produced immense quantities , and which , by the aid of some capital and intelligence , would do so again , if only the Turkish Government would give them in farm to

      Europeans . Under the present Pacha this is scarcely to be expected , but we believe he will be recalled , and the next in rank , the Accountant-General of the Province , is known to have expressed an opinion that these deserted lands should be given in farm henceforward for a term of fifteen years at a very moderate rate—indeed , a mere nominal rent . Under the English they would be free from the Arab plunderers , and a very large profit would attend the speculation .

      They would be in the Hauran , the best district , where the Druses are powerful , and where their authority ia more or lees under English protection . If , therefore , the permission be granted , there is a fortune to be made out of it ; but capital is required to enable the peasantry to rebuild , or rather repair their houses , to buy animals and tools , toi cultivating seed , and to enable them to live until the first crop bo gathered . After the second year the capital might be entirely repaid , and then the advances might

      be small . The farmer would only have to pay-the-Q-overnment-the-rentj-and' -he-would recover from the peasant the legitimate taxes ; he would probably get 20 and 80 per cent , for his advances , or , in lieu , take a share oi the crop : the latter would be to him the most profitable . We have uo doubt that , whether by cultivating grain or cotton , there ia a large profit to be made . The Manchester Association has been requested to send out seed of "annual

      as well as perennial cotton . Will they advance capital to set the thing going ? There are persons on the spot who would , find responsible people to see to the cultivation , and who would undertake that the return of capital with the increase was faithfully made .

      Cochin China And Core A. Ii Is Understoo...

      COCHIN CHINA AND CORE A . Ii is understood that the French Government , after settling accounts with . China , will establish a demand against Cochin China . With that country the relations of France have at all times been more important than those of any other power in Europe . In 1787 , a treaty was signed at Versailles between the representatives of the Annamite Emperor ( Cochin China being a French appellation , unknown in the country ) ana those of Liouis XVI ., the former ceding to the latter in perpetuity the bay of Touraune . It was then that , after a desolating war between Cochin China and Tonquin , a French bishop had saved the life of the monarch Gia-Lojtg's sou , whom lie conducted to a safe shelter in France ; indeed , a powerful French influence had been established , which , during the Revolution , decayed . To

      religious toleration and commercial freedom succeeded persecuting which drove nearly every Christian out of the empire , and although Frendh vessels of war occasionally visited the coast , and interfere d to protect the Catholic missionaries , the intercourse between the two Governments had almost ceased , when in 1856 the Catinat anchored in tlie hay of Touranne , and announced the arrival of a French plenipotentiary . The Mandarins opposed his reception , but Captain Lelieub , de Laville sue Abce captured the forts commanding the town , aiid negotiations were opened . That they led to no satisfactory conclusion is evident from the mission now entrusted to Admiral Genotjili-y . It is to be hoped that upon the next occasion the Annamite Empire maybe opened once for all to the commerce of Europe .

      It presents every facility for commerce . Thougli a thousand miles inlength , it has a shallow interior , penetrated by many large and navigable streams ; its harbours are numerous and convenient ; its cuiiat system approaches in perfection that of China ; its natural productions are of great variet y and value ; and among its population of five or six millions a market for our piece goods and other manufactures might be profitably opened , were the jealous prejudices of the Government set aside . We cannot but wish success to the French , expedition , should ii be determined to restore the ancient Europcau relations with Cochin China , and we should hear with

      satisfaction that one of Admiral Seymouk ' s frigates had been despatched to negotiate , if possible , a trcutyof friendship and trade with the Emperor of Ann am . Even more important is the Russian plan of settlement and oonqucst in the extensive peninsula of Corea . The field , up to this moment , ia clear-, but unless the Governments of the West pursue their interests vigorously , the first European establishment among the races of the further East will be Russian . Corea occupies , geographically , ( lie centre of a triangle , formed by Pokiu , Yedo , and the Russian establishments in Manchouria ; its coasts are indented by a succession of excellent harbours , affording magnificent anchorage ; its population is active and intelligent ; among its productions are gold , silver , and copper ; but the comsuch tuat

      morcial jealousies of the Government arc not evon a Chinese trader is permitted to settle within the borders . When Admiral Stihmno , in 1855 , anchored at Chosan , the great entrepot ; ot Corcan trade with Japan , ho requested pcrimssiontp land for fresh water and provisions , mul wis » 1 (> r ' by a haughty and absoluto refusal ; battalions oi soldiers mustered on the beach ; banners wore planted close to the water , and before lunng » single hogshead , at a Corcan well it would Jmio boon necessary to disperses a goggle -oyed army , course , the admiral abstained ; but now lluu & squadron has been brought into those sous , wo nop that the nttompt rnudo in 1855 , nnd renewctt in l ; 85-67 ^ viU--not-be--ttbandone ( li-----Iiiimcn » g ., c 0 J" - meroial resources still remain to bo dovolopou » Eastern aa well as in Western and in UouUiu Asia .

      . Joint-Stock Bank'meetin Gs. Tits Loadi...

      . JOINT-STOCK BANK ' MEETIN GS . Tits loading London joint-stock banks have lift " thoir half-yearly meetings . Much interest , was attached to them , as it is pretty notorious they iwy « passed througfi a period of severe trial , uwu

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 30, 1858, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_30011858/page/14/