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Leader (1850-1860), 18th October 1851, Edition Town of 2, Page 984

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      Before there was any intimation at all that such a demand would be made , the tide of emigration was rapidly progressing . It commenced at an earlier period than could lead it to be supposed that it was even caused by the heavy poor-rates . The tide of emigration commenced from the oppressive conduct of the landlords . { Confusion . ) " Captain Macnamara : I , for one , deny it ; and I shall always oppose such unwarrantable insinuations as that . ( Great confusion . ) ^ call Corbett to order

      " Mr . A . Bulter : I Mr . . We came here for the purpose of remonstrating and petitioning against this additional taxation , and not to listen to any class of the community being insulted and libelled . ( ' Hear , hear , ' and uproar . ) " Captain Macnamara : Yes , Sir , but we muBt stand here to be bullied and browbeaten by these men ; for they will bully and insult you . That is their custom . ( ' Hear , hear , ' and great excitement . ) " Reverend Mr . Quade , parish priest ( vehemently ) : I deny it . ( Uproar . ) " Mr D . J . Wilson : In the name of our afflicted country— ( hear , hear)— -in the name of Almighty God , are we to be a * byword for ever—( hear , hear)—to be pointed at with scorn ?

      " Reverend Mr . Quade : Yes , you are ; and I know who are the cause . ( Increased uproar . )" Ultimately , after much confusion and calling of names , the Eeverend Mr . Quade calling Lord John Russell a liar , and otherwise exhibiting much passion , the amendment was carried . It was obvious from the speeches that the priests were no advocates for repayment ; but that they hated the Minister and the landlords alike . To show how heavily and how unequally poorlaw taxation presses on the unions , we append a few facts .

      In Antrim , union , the maximum rate is 8 d . in the pound , and some electoral divisions are only assessed for 4 d . In Grort , a western union , the maximum rate is 11 s . 3 d . ; and , out of the twenty electoral divisions , there is only one in which the rate is as low as 3 s . lOd . In some of the Kerry unions , rates , even for the current half-year , often exceed 5 s ., and in one case a rate of 8 s . 3 d . is required for ordinary expenditure alone . On Saturday last the guardians of Coleraine struck a new rate for twelve months , the maximum being 9 d . in the pound ; but several of the electoral divisions are charged with only 5 d ., and there are four from which the extremely low rate of 3 d . in the pound is required .

      In the notification of new rates for Belmullet , Mayo , in which no reference whatever is made even to a contingent provision for the instalment of the Consolidated Annuities , the assessment upon the fifteen electoral divisions ( for six months' expenditure apparently ) ranges from 5 s . to Gs . 3 d , in the pound . In Letterkenny union , county of Donegal ( one of the least favourably circumstanced districts of Ulster ) , the average rating is less than Is . in the pound ; one electoral division is charged with 2 s . 3 d ., but several are limited to 7 d ., and one division is assessed for Gd . only . Claremorris union , in Ma ) r o , where there has been a vast decrease in the population , is charged with rates ranging from 4 s . down to la ., and one electoral division , JSallindine , is as low as lOd . in the pound .

      In the union of Newcastle , county of Limerick , there are still greater discrepancies in the rating . Two electoral divisions are charged with 3 s . 9 d . ; others with 2 b . 9 d . ; there are some assessed for 5 d . ; others for 3 d . ; the division of Danganbeg has the nominal rate of Id . ; and there are three divisions of this formerly deeply embarrassed union , against which no rate whatever ia charged ! A great provincial meeting was held at Limerick , on the 1 / ith inatunt , convened by the " Committee

      of Consolidated Annuities , " to deliberate respecting the repayment of the Government advances . Deputations from twenty-five unions were present . A letter was re : td from Lord John Russell to Mr . John O'Hrien , M . I * ., intimating that Ministers would attend to statements of distress , but by no means " give nny countenance to the doctrine of repudiation . The result of this important meeting was a memorial forwarding accounts of the deplorable Htate of the country , unking for time , and a correction of erroneous calculations of the liabilities of certain unions .

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      TIU 5 EGYPTIAN RAILWAY AND TIIK TURKS . The route to India and China across the IsthmuH of Suez iH admitted on all hands to be one of tho necessities of British commerce . 'Why that , route lias not been converted into a railway is one of the mysteries of modern diplomacy . For ten yearn the rails have been lying i ' tlics Hands . Mehemet Ali did not , make it , though ho did many great things . It iM thought ho would have made it , had there not been

      soims Hecret opposition . Ibrahim Pucha s reign whh too brief for any great enterprise . His successor , Abbas Paclui , Huh a mind to make tho railway ; him contracted with Htephi-iiHon ; everything in ready to begin . The next Htep ? A note from the 1 orte , forbidding the making of any railway without its authorization . II ow thin comes about wo menot ublo to explain . Jlut ho tho matter ataudtf . Ibero aro eouu > ttimura in tUo pio , uoma occult influence at

      work , not discerned by a credulous public—all gratitude to the rulers of Egypt and to Lord Palmerston . At this stage the "Egyptian Railway question" is taken up in the City , and a public meeting was held at the London Tavern on Tuesday . The object of the meeting was "to adopt such means as might be thought most advisable , by memorializing the Government or otherwise , " in order that " the danger which now menaces the important British interests connected with our colonies and possessions in the East" may be averted . The meeting was numerously and respectably attended , and among the gentlemen on the platform were Mr . A . Anderson , M . P ., Mr . M'Gregor , M . P ., Mr . Aglionby , M . P ., General Briggs , Mr . S . Gregson , Mr . Larking , Mr . Barton , Mr . Foster , Mr . de Salis , Mr . Briggs , Mr . Ewart , Mr . R . Brooks , Mr . T . Fox , &c .

      Mr . Samuel Gregson was voted to the chair , on the motion of Mr . Barton , . seconded by Mr . M'Gregor , M . P . The Chairman ' s statement of the case was as follows : — " The line of communication to which he had just adverted had been carried on most satisfactorily for more than ten years . It was established by that great ruler of Egypt—that wonderful man , Mehemet Ali , whose penetrating mind foresaw that great prosperity was sure to accrue to his country by making it the highway for all the world . ( Hear , hear ) Under bis successor , Ibrahim Pacha , the state of things continued still to be satisfactory ; and , up to the present moment , under his Highness Abbas Pacha , it was not only in a satisfactory state ,

      but the Pacha , emulating the energy of his grandsire , now proposed to improve the communication by introducing into his country the greatest of all modern improvements—a railway across the Desert . ( Cheers . ) The Sultan , however , to the consternation of all parties in this country , had interfered to prohibit the completion of that railway . It was contended , nevertheless , that by the treaty of 1841 , guaranteed by all the great Powers of Europe , the Sultan had no longer power to interfere with the internal arrangements of Egypt— ( cheers )—and it so happened that upon former occasions greater works , if it were possible , had been undertaken without any such interference , such , for example , as the barrage of the Nile , and the fortifications of Alexandria—great

      works begun and completed without a thought of soliciting the authority of the Porte . ( Cheers . ) With regard to the construction of the railway by the Pacha , upon a question being asked of the noble Secretary for Foreign Affairs , on the 5 th of August last , he said , ' Undoubtedly , it was the opinion of the Government , which had expressed that opinion to both parties , that the Pacha of Egypt was entitled to make that railway out of his own funds , according to the terms of the firman which was granted to him in 1841 . ( Hear , hear . ) It would , therefore , be for the meeting to consider the proposal now to be made , that to take

      they should , ask the Government immediately up this great question . ( Cheers . ) He thought , when they reflected how many more difficult questions the noble lord , the present Secretary for Foreign Affairs , had overcome and settled , that the settlement of this question with our friend and ally the Sultan would be no difficult matter for him—( cheers )—and he almost longed to see the time when the Sultan , imitating the example of our most gracious Queen , should visit his own provinces , and most delightful it would be to see him and the Pacha of Egypt and Lord Palmerston present at the opening of this great railway . ( Cheers and laughter . )

      Mr . Briggs moved the following resolution : — " That a safe , speedy , commodious , and economical means of transit through Egypt has become essential to the security and good government of our Indian empire , to the extension of commercial intercourse between Europe and the East , to the industrial and social improvement of Egypt ; and is opposed neither to the interests nor to the legitimate ambition of any nation on earth . " He bad been long connected with Egypt—he might say for lifty years , and witnessed the arrangements for this railway ten years ago : — " The communication through Egypt had been brought to great perfection under the present ruler of that country . He had already macadamized a part of the road between Cairo and Suez in the Desert . He had

      increased the number of station-houses in the Desert , and had multiplied greatly the means of conveyance for passengers , both upon the Nile and the canal . ( Cheers . ) He was also willing to undertake , at hia own expense , this magnificent railway between Alexandria and Ouiro ' und to increase by every means in his power the facilities for passing through Egypt , thus cementing more closely , not only the interests of India with England and Egypt , but , in a political point of view , promoting the highest interests of this country as well as Egypt . ( Hear , hoar . ) Abbas Pacha had , however , met witli great difficulties since lie succeeded to his present position , and now the climax of opposition had appeared against thia railway . "

      Looking at the great commercial , social , and political interests involved in conveying tho mails und passengers through Egypt , be thought it wan not possible to overrate the importance of the question . The resolution was seconded by Mr . Barton , and unanimously adopted . Mr . A . Anderson , M . P ., moved the second resolution , which wuh us follows : — " That tho interfcrencn of the Ottoman Porte in the internal udminiHtration of Kgypt , hh recently manifested by itH assumption of the power to prevent the construction of the Kgyptiun railway , and to divest tho Pacha of Egypt of tho necessary authority to maintain order iu that country , is calculated to injure tho important JUritwUiuUirujiUj iavolvoa j u thy facility uu 4 « nfoty of Vhv

      transit through Egypt of the mails , passengers and goods , to and from the East . That it is , the refore expedient to press upon her Majesty ' s Govern ment the necessity of a prompt and active interposition to prevent the Porte from proceeding further in the course which she has in this respect pursuedj and that with this view the memorial to the Prime Minister now read be adopted , and put in course of signature . " Mr . Anderson also read a memorial , which was subsequently adopted , to be presented to Lord John Russell . He clearly stated the ostensible grounds of the dispute between the Porte and the Pacha .

      " The two points in dispute related to the construction of the railway , and to the introduction into Egypt of what was called the tanzimat . The Porte contended that the Pacha had no right to engage in the construction of a work of such great importance as the making of a railway through Egypt , or rather through a part of Egypt ; and , because the Pacha had not asked permissio n of the Porte , the undertaking was threatened with ruin . One could hardly judge in regard to this question without referring in some degree to the terms of the settlement made between the Porte and the Pacha of Egypt , in 1841 ; and , in order to give a better idea of what wa s the real state of the case , it would be necessary to take up the question from the beginning , to recur to the

      period when Mehemet Ali gained the battle of Nezib , when Constantinople might have fallen , and the power of the Sultan was lying at his feet . That was the position of the parties at the time . Four great European Powers interfered between the Porte and what had been the former vassal of the Sultan ; for there was nothing short of that interference which could have prevented Mehemet Ali from annihilating the power of the Sultan , and from dictating terms by which he would have been recognized as independent Sovereign of Egypt and Syria . Great Britain and the other great Powers of Europe interfered . Mehemet Ali was compelled ultimately to retire on Egypt . It was finally agreed that the hereditary Government of Egypt should

      be vested in him and in his family . There was a condition imposed which was easy to be observed ; it was required that the Pacha should not levy higher duties than the Porte . The Pacha was to have the surplus revenue of Egypt after paying a fixed sum to the Sultan , namely , 60 , 000 purses , which was equal to about £ 300 , 000 sterling . Surely , under this arrangement , it was competent and continued to be competent for the Pacha with the surplus revenue of Egypt to carry out improvements , and to apply his own revenue to such works as the railway . The Porte said , ' This is so important a work , that we require you , not only to ask our permission , but to

      send us in all your accounts , to show what is the state of Egypt , lest you should be laying out too much on this railway , and may not be able to pay the tribute to us or may have recourse to a foreign loan , ' He ( Mr . Anderson ) was of opinion that the Porte had no right to insist on the production of accounts . On that part of the subject he did not mean to dwell , for Mr . Briggs had well disposed of italready ; and Lord Palmerston , who had made the treaty , and who ought to understand the meaning of it as well as any one , admitted the right of the Pacha to make that railway out of his revenue . The treaty of 1841 was said to be very vaguely expressed . It was vague —like most Oriental documents . But if it was vague on

      the one side , it was vague on the other . Where was one to look for the best interpretation ? For what had been done by these two parties during a period of ten years ? During those ten years Mehemet Ali had laid out a large sum , which had been estimated as amounting to £ 1 , 000 , 000 sterling , on the Nile ; he had taken what was a much stronger measure , he had fortified Alexandria . There was another instance which bore on the point . In 1841 Mehemet Ali made an agreement with the Peninsubwhich

      lar and Oriental Steam Navigation Company , y he gave them the right of navigating the internal waters of the country , namely the river Nile . He gave them the right of making what communication they thoug ht proper . There was at the same time a transit duty ot three per cent , on everything that passed through Egypt . Mehemet Ali did away with that duty of three per cent ., and reduced the duty to a half per cent . ^ All these circumstance established the position of tho 1 acha very clearly , that , all thia having taken place , the Sultun could not interfere to prevent the construction of the

      railway . The tanzimat ifl a code of laws published by the Porte , concentrating in itself ull power of life a »> d death . The Pacha of Egypt says that it is not app licable to Egypt ; that the demand to administer the luws is preposterous . And Mr . Anderson stated that if the power over life and death were taken from the Pachu , "it would be impossible to keep Egypt i ' order , and that country would retrograde to the condition in which it had formerly been whon it swar med with robbers . " At the present time life and property were more secure in the passage across the desert than in England . Mr . Anderson brioliy alluded to the political part of the subject . ot

      " Lord ralmerston had effected the arrangement 1841 , and statements had appeared which Hhow <; U tii . i the policy he then uotcd on was not carried out witn u ^ vigour one would huve expected , and that the 1 aolia been left without tho Bupport ho ought to have ha « l ir >» England . Abbas Pacha had identified himself with 1 J " " ^ interests , and , reduoing his army and fleet , had turnc * ^ attention to agriculture , considering the connection Great Britain to bo far more valuable to him than arm and fleets . ( Che . erti . ) He had broken up a number ol u » less establishments . In doing so lie had been olingj " . course , to discharge a great number of French employ * - » and they no doubt had hud some influence in the preae intrigues against him at tho Porte ; and it was cvuicii thut at Constantinople it might bo thought much inor couveuieat to Iiatq Mr . fltyphcwwi * waking wW * ww

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      984 1 Rf ) t 3 Lt&btT ' + [ Saturday ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 18, 1851, page 984, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1905/page/4/