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Leader (1850-1860), 2nd August 1851, Edition Town of 2, Page 730, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      8 UTe , they think , that it must better their plight . This divergence results , not from any essential diversity of principles as to why and how labour should be rendered cooperative , or should be organized , b " ut more from the fact , that our Socialists are Christians by education ; theirs , Revolutionists by profession . " . There is more than one error in this passage . To be accused of being an exclusive Christian sect * yill amuse a vast number of English Socialists , who have been accustomed to hear the name of Socialism used as almost synonymous with Infidelity . This originated with Mr . Robert Owen's

      mistake in making the abnegation of Religion a part of his system . In fact , however , neither Infidelity nor peculiar views of Christian revival are essential elements of Socialism , which is an oeconomical question ; and we can vouch for the fact that Socialists are now to be found in every religious sect , as they are to be found in every avocation , and in every class of society . Sectarianism has as little to do with Socialism as it has with the Stock Exchange , or with Political ( Economy . Indeed , the new doctrine is nothing more than a chapter added to Political ( Economy .

      It is a mistake , too , to suppose that there is that distinction between the French and English Socialists , or that the French are peculiarly revolutionary in their tendency . The new fact is , that the Socialists are gradually transferring their attention from the ulterior consequences and more speculative parts of their doctrine , to the essential principle and its practical application ; and in this process , so highly judicious and business-like , much more than in theological investigations , the English Socialists are engaged ; their French brethren having set them the example .

      Our contemporary is mistaken in supposing that the numbers of the Socialists in Paris have decreased ; an inference which he draws , without grounds , from Mr . Coningham's lecture . If he will reperuse that lecture in its more complete form , as we publish it this week , he will see that the particular examples cited by Mr . Coningham , are not selected for their numerousness , which was not in question . The enrolled organizations of Paris are now computed to be about one hundred in number , and they have been estimated to comprise about a third of the working population of Paris , the recruitments steadily proceeding .

      The Daily News accounts Mr . Coningham ' s examples to illustrate " the beneficial results of Free-trade and the division of labour "" The ma-t favourable specimen seems to be an a-so'jiution . of picked men , who have subjugated all disorderly iivjliuati ms ; who subject themselves to mutual coir . rol , discipline , and cooperation ; who starved themselves and trjeir families until they f ^ ot together

      a l'tt . L- capital ; ami who , having acquired it , draw the most , char and distinct line between the value of their individual labour and the profits of their capital . For the worth of their separate and individual work each member is paid its actual value as estimated , not by internal , hut by external standards of its value ; and tin- workmen , bein ^ thus paid , the capitalists , in this case the same individuals , then tllVHie t . llf * TiroTlts t : tlr mir nnrn ?* a ^ 11 r * t 1-w »*« rtfn / I . * .-. # ¦ divide the profitstakincareas all other prudent

      , g , capitalists do , to keep a reserve fund applicable to their bu-iness . Now , if this be Socialism , we are all So ( inlists . We had , however , thought that the first principle of Socialism was the abrogation of competition . " The fundamental principle of Socialism is concert in the division of employments , without which that division cannot attain its most productive power . As to competition , the mistake of tin ; old u ;

      conoiniHts was , that they took it for the onl y incentive to industry . Our contemporary will observe that the option of performing a greater or smaller share of work , where all have an equal opportunity , and whore the success of one does not beat down another , is a totally ( liilVrent thing from the sort of competition that goes on in the , English labourmarket , where : no many get excluded from work altogether , and when ; each purchases the opportunity by helping to beat down the return for all .

      We nerd not , pursue- our contemporary ' s speculative apprehensions further . If In : will continue his observation , he will perceive that the Socialists , whether of France or England , are not the men to abrogate " self-exertion , " or individual fret : agency ; although they are well aware that sound oeconoiny , practical morals , and human happiness , cannot exist without the fulfilment of the Christian precept , to " love one another , " practically carried out , by helping one another . Meanwhile , wo hail the support o / fered in the following passage : —

      44 Tho eluvittion of working-men is mr too acrious a matter to be trifled with . Education and cupital are tb bcHt friends ; und to the latter tho nearest route ia

      by the former . Every obstruction to the workingman becoming a capitalist is an injury to society ; as such it ought to be removed , and all encouragement be given to him to become a capitalist . If cooperation will so assist him , by all means let it be promoted ; if association , he has as much right to associate as the shareholders of a railway company , or the partners of a cotton-mill . Much , we agree with Mr . Coningham , maybe done in a modification of the law of partnership by the removal of restrictions . " This is a good beginning : ' * Perge , puer !"

      Untitled Article

      THE PENNY STAMP COMMITTEE . Tma day 139 years ago saw the commencement of the most successful scheme ever concocted for the enslavement of the press . It was a truly English idea to put an excise stamp on the newspaper , so that the man who should refuse to wear the legal chain should be considered as a fraudulent debtor . By putting the press under the excise it was made at once to smell of the shop , and from this taint it has never yet freed itself . Under the pressure of taxation , Ithuriel himself could not conduct anewspaper without asking every week "How does- it

      sell ? " No wonder that the fourth estate is so often in league with the other three to oppress the people . The wonder is that it should ever do otherwise ; and the fact that it has so often contended for truth and justice is a testimony to the truth and justice that lives in the hearts even of those who profit by things as they are , and meddle not with those who are given to change . Next week we shall publish the report of the committee appointed by the House of Commons to examine into the effects of the stamp . Unlike the ordinary legislative proceedings of the year , that report is clear , straightforward , and practical . After detailing abuses and anomalies ( well known to our readers ) , both at

      the stamp-office and the post-office , it shows clearly that the law , however stringent on paper , is ill-defined in practice and utterly incapable of impartial enforcement . Turning to the postal question , it shows that the system of stamping papers not posted and that of reposting stamped papers are alike unfair ; and recommends that the postage of newspapers should , for the future , be entrusted to the post-office , with the understanding that four ounces should be conveyed at a penny rate . It then goes on to deplore the effect of the stamp , which , it truly says " prohibits the existence of such newspapers as from their price and character would be suitable to the means and wants of the

      labouring classes . " With a due regard to the rights of those who spend vast sums in obtaining news , it suggests a short copyright for their benefit ; and it ends with a declaration that , " apart from fiscal considerations , your Committee do not consider that news is of itself a desirable subject of taxation . "

      This report has received the unqualified approbation of the leading journal in a long article published on Saturday last , in which it says : —¦ " A tax on news is nothing more or less than a tax on the une of the eyes and the ears , a tax on the employment of the mind , a tax on the improvement of the understanding , a tax on . knowledge , a tax on events , a tax on our social existence , on our common interests , and our mutual sympathies . The lloyal

      assent has just been given to the abolition of a tax on those \ iseful apertures through which we admit the light of the sky , the vital air , and the sight of the world around us . What , indeed , could be said for a tax which operated as an inducement to sit in the dailc , to stop ventilation , and to shut out the face of nature und of man ? But only next to that is a tax which operates in precisely the same manner on the apertures of the mind . "

      After this , it is not too much to hope that the 1 st of August , JH 52 , may give us a press free , at least , from the stamp . The freedom of the press will hallow still further a day already holy in the annals of England , as that of negro emancipation .

      Untitled Article

      THIS POLLSH-11 UNUARIAN KXILES . I ' l . KAsiniAiiLii feelings are excited within us when we reflect upon the noble and hospitable sentimentH displayed by our countrymen , especiall y by the working-people , in favour of those victims of Continental despotism and the laisxez fains system of our own diplomacy , the PolishHungarian refugees , who lunded at Liverpool on tho IhI of March last , from Turkey . It was not necessary to have recourse to the in-K lorious stimulation of fancy fairs , or quadrille and polka parties , to arouse the sympath y of the British workmen . It was sufficient that they were appealed to ; men whose life ia mudo up of privations can alone comprehend need in others . An appeal wuh

      made to their generosity , and it was nobly responded to by them . The men who craved assistance were men who had combatted in a good cause , and who were suffering from want of food , No obstacles , no slander , however cunningly spread by the dancing philanthropists against the refugees , were capable of shaking the noble sympathy of o ^ r working-men , for in the sufferers they recognized their brothers . They hastened from all parts of the country to send in their painfully earned pence , to provide for the first pressing

      wants of the exiles ; and not content with that they set about doing what philanthropy in white gloves never did : they exerted themselves to the best of their means to provide what is more valuable than pecuniary assistance—employment ; and thus to furnish them with the means of acquiring an independent position by their own labour . Their noble exertions have been rewarded by perfect success ; for a great majority of the 230 exiles , who resolved upon remaining in England , have got employment , and are thus earning their own living . If the ultimate result of the Exhibition in the

      Crystal Palace be calculated to . produce sympathy amongst nations divided by their crowned rulers , the Exhibition of noble feelings , dwelling in the hearts of our working-people , has anticipated that result , by tangibly showing that they understand what is meant by the fraternity of Peoples . Honour be to them ! It is to them we are indebted for having shown that they too understood and cherished that sacred principle upon which the future salvation of Humanity depends .

      In thus doing justice to our countrymen for having nobly sanctioned that grand principle , we are prompted by our love of Truth to say something about the private character of the exiles . They are all young men , sober , industrious , amiable , and of a rigorous morality . Many amongst them are highly gifted , and they , one and all , give the greatest satisfaction to their employers , and to those with whom they come in contact ; and Liverpool , Manchester , Halifax , Bradford , Leeds , Birmingham , Bath , Sheffield , Newcastle-upon-Tyne—where committees ad hoc are formed , have testified to their good character . From Newcastle-upon-Tyne , for instance , Mr . Joseph Cowen , jun ., thus writes to the central committee of the Polish Democratic

      Society : — .... " You will be as happy to learn , as I am to inform you , that the behaviour of your countrymen while with us , has been highly commendable . They have won the esteem and confidence of all with whom they have come in contact . A better , braver , nobler body of men , it waa never my good fortune to know . The high and chivalrous spirit that animates them , has communicated itself to those with whom they have mingled ; and I count on much good resulting to our cause in this locality , in consequence of their 1 ving amongst us . "

      We are thus happy to learn that all those who so nobly ottered their protection to the victims of a generous sacrifice , have not only the sweet satisfaction of having accomplished a sacred duty towards their fellow-men , but moreover the consciousness of having imparted their sincere sympathy to worthy men . But in doing justice to the working-men wo must not forget that they are not alone . Literary men

      of the first rank , like Dr . Vaughan and Professor Newman , men whose high character and great abilities have won for them a lofty position in society , and who have nothing in common with whitegloved and dancing philanthropy , came forward nobly in the hour of need . Dr . Vaughan has repeatedly uttered words of the most hearty sympathy , as he did the other day at Manchester , for the cause of trampled Hungary and her noble sons . Honour to these men also !

      Untitled Article

      WHAT IT MKANH . Tin ; fatal Hkirmitih at HuKholmo , near Manchester , 1 >< - tween the biiekmakerH and the watchers of Mr . Farr , throws out into bold relief tho strange relations of employer and employed . It will bo called an " extreme caHe" ! Granted . . Kxtremc or extraordinary chhcb tun needful , apparently to rouse attention to the nubjeot . Kxtromo nnnca—tragic cation -are forcible indications of frightful dinorganizution . W « do not defend the destructives ; wo do not attack the offending employer . Wo simply point to the fact and uuk what it incuna ? It meant *—not that the inembem of the Uriekmakera ' Trudert' Union are a Hot of hloodthiruty , defitructive , iu-Hiibordinato men , or Unit Mr . JKarr i » a harnh , cruel , exacting enAployrr but it means that there is something wrontf generally , ia t \ lo relation of employer and employed , of wliidi this affray is at onco * n afflicting illustration and a tragic proof .

      Untitled Article

      730 IRfyt % t&btt ' + [ Satctrdav ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 2, 1851, page 730, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1894/page/14/