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Leader (1850-1860), 13th March 1852, Edition Town of 2, Page 250, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      seek in America the natural refuge of their family ; or if they did return , they would more probably redeem their good fame in peaceful avocations for which their abilities fit them ; but in any case * England ought neither to fear tliem , nor bestow a grudging boon . It should be given fully and freely , out of the magnanimity of strength , for kindliness to Ireland , and in friendly deference to the wishes of the ally peace-maker —America .

      Untitled Article

      ANARCHY PROM AN " UNKNOWN" TONGUE . " On the eve of parliamentary inquiries and debates on the East India Company ' s government of India , and on the question of the renewal of their Charter , a frightful exposure of a longcontinued system of corruption , bribery , plunder of the public funds , and oppression of the peasantry , has been made in the Madras Presidency , whicn we trust will not escape the notice of those of our legislators who espouse the cause of the native population . A mere outline of the facts which nave as yet come to light during the inquiry now in progress will be sufficient to indicate the nature of the evil and its causes . Mr . Richard Tindal Porter had been fifteen years in the Madras civil service , when he was appointed , in 1842 , collector of revenue and magistrate of the zillah , or district , of Masulipatam , an office of great importance , the collector being , in fact , the supreme executive and administrative officer of his zillah , responsible only to the Government at the Presidency . Mr . Porter ' s previous experience had been gathered entirety in districts where the Tamil language is spoken ; nearly the whole of his service , indeed , having been passed

      at Madras , as Secretary to the Board of . Revenue . In the Masulipatam zifiah , no language is spoken but TelopgoOj which is as distinct from Tamil as Norwegian is from Spanish . But in distributing appointments to the English civilians , the governors of India pay no regard to " such , trifles , and naturally the officials themselves are not more scrupulous than their superiors . And so Mr . Porter went to take charge of his district , without being at all acquainted with the language of its inhabitants . He was there for nine years , and at this moment he can neither speak nor write

      Teloogpo . But what did it matter P The Sheristadar , or chief native officer of revenue and police , was a delightful man , quite a master of English , and took the entire work in every department so entirely into his own hands , that Mr . Porter , the representative of British justice and purity , enjoyed life without care or anxiety , and remained in a state of blissful ignorance , while the police , for the purpose of extorting " black mail , " got up hundreds of cases against men innocent of crime ; and while the revenue officers extorted from the farmers and shopkeepers , on

      various illegal pretences , money which never found its way into the public treasury . The people , poor dumb wretches , never audibly complained . They petitioned now and then , particularly at first ; but the force of their prayers always evaporated in the translation . At length , a wholesale deficiency in one item of the revenue , and the accidental interception of a large bribe , sont to induce a native official to " make things pleasant" a little while longer , broke the spoil , and inquiries wore instituted . Two civilians of rank , Mr . Lushington . and Mr . Bird , were sent

      as commissioners to the district , and every day fresh enormities were disclosed . One fact will give some faint idea of what the administration of this district must have been : it has been proved before the commission of inquiry , that within tho last few years the people have emigrated by thousands into the Nizam ' s dominions ; unable to endure the extortion and tyranny of the British rulo , they flod for shelter to the territories of that prince who will some day , perhaps very shortly , be aoposed by tho Honourable Company for ignorance of tho science of

      government . Mr . Porter ih now under suspension , at Madras : thoro is not the least ground for a charge of corruption against him . But if wo admit his freedom from dishonesty , how absolute appears to have boon his supine inactivity ! Could lie not learn a language in . nine years P Had he been able to read a Teloogoo petition , or to listen to a statement of grievances — had ho cared to go abroad amongst the inhabitants of his district---the miseries of the people , tho crimes of his subordinates , his own disgrace , perhaps ruin , might all have been avoided ; Pay by day the

      elements of prosperity were escaping under his very eye . The revenue declined , wealth vanished , industry decayed , and at last the population disappeared . They fled from the rule of a man who is described as honourable , amiable , and gifted with good natural abilities . Placed in situations for which his acquirements rendered him fit , Mr . Porter had formerly , and * doubtless , would have still , performed his duties with credit to himself and advantage to the public j but by the deplorable mismanagement of the Madras made hell

      Government , the clever man was a pess tool , and the benevolent man was made to play the part of a tyrant and an extortioner . We need make no remark on the stupid _ carelessness of sending a man to govern a district with the language of which he is unacquainted . There is something wrong , too , in the absence of all stimulus to exertion and improvement , caused by the monopoly of the most lucrative offices enjoyed by the " covenanted" civil service , appointments to which are made by seniority , without regard to qualifications or merit . The first of these defects admits of immediate

      abolition ; the second need not wait long for a remedy , and any improvement is a great gain . But the root of the evil does not lie in either of them , although they have in this case proved the exciting cause . There are other public ^ officers as unsuitably placed as Mr . Porter was , " and we cannot avoid fearing that some other districts may be as misgoverned ; but it is well known that the Indian civil service contains a large proportion of accomplished arid energetic men , and that they perform their arduous duties in a highly

      efficient manner . But they all acknowledge that a system of corruption and perjury pervades every branch of the public service , which they find it impossible to destroy , and very difficult to check . The people , degraded by a thousand years of changing slavery and permanent superstition , have no ~ regard to private truth or personal-honour ) while anything that can be called public opinion does not exist . The natives make but little use of the free press—that strange

      anomaly under a despotic and alien rule—and the few newspapers in the Indian languages only circulate among the richer classes at the three Presidencies , arid seldom contain original matter . Although some honourable and well-paid offices , in both the . judicial and revenue departments , are filled by natives , yet none of the higher appointments are open to them , and they are in no manner admitted to take part in the real government of the country . Can nothing be one to render them fit for a share in the work

      which is now done entirely by Englishmen P Why should there not be a municipal council in every zillah , were it only for consultation and for the information of the collector , elected by the inhabitants , and , as far as possible , independent of Government influence P Would it not prove to the people that at least the proceedings of tho Government were fair , and aboveboard , and open to inquiry and inspection P Would it not prevent the possibility of such horrors as wo have described being carried on for a series of years without any complaint being heard P Would it not open a career to the best mon of tho country , and tend to raise the selfrespect of all P

      Untitled Article

      CONFEDERATION OF POPULAR INSTITUTES . TniiEE schemes , tonding concurrently towards the same end , the recognition and adoption of the principle of Concert , are before tho public . First , wo observe that there is a call for tho development of tho Government Schools of Design , by tho gentlemen who have superintended the practical working of those institutions , and who complain of the insufficiency of the moans and appliances at thoir disposal to moot tho demands mado upon them by tho public , for instruction . Tho appointment of Mr . Henry Colo to tho department of what is called Practical Art , points to a more comprohensivo organization than has hitherto been attoriipted , and is , of itself , suggestive of vast improvements in . that direction .

      Tho next is tho proposition lately made to consolidate tho Mechanics' Institutions throughout tho country , and placo thorn under tho direction of tho Society of . Arts . If the adoption of this proposition would impart unity ana vigour to those unsatisfactory media for amusing and instructing the working class , it would bo Very beneficial $ as it has already proved in the

      consolidation of the Mechanics' Institutions in Yorkshire . There is a certain faking air about the proposal which will be seductive to manv but , regardless of that , and without expressing any opinion whatever on the utility of t ^ scheme , we may cite it as an involuntary testimony tovthe unconsqious tendency of ; the time towards concert in endeavour after public , advantages ., The third scheme is far vaster and more novel among us than either of the others , but it ilhig . trates the same fact . It is sketched out in J pamphlet , printed for private circulation , and entitled Notes on the Organization of an

      Industrial College for Artisans . The writer has studied the subject for many years , both in England and on the Continerft , He proposes to establish a college wherein artisans may graduate in their respective trades , and take degrees for proficiency both in theoretical knowledge and manual skill . He would have it governed autocratically by a rector , and officered by working professors , the students to be under strict discipline . We

      butposely refrain from entering on details which , in the present stage , are far from mature , though sufficiently advanced for discussion . Thel * e is much to be said on botlt sides . Meanwhile , the value of this , as of Ijhe other schemes , for us , is the evidence it affords of the truth of our views On the great question of social reform : being an involuntary admission of the superiority of organized and trained labour , and of the advantages of Concert .

      Untitled Article

      SOCIAL REFORM . A 1 * EW SOLUTION OF THE SOCIAL PROBLEM . Amebican writers are commonly such lovers of hyperbole , that you would suppose there was some democratic law against soberness of speech , or that ; it was regarded on the- other side the Atlantic as a want of patriotism to observe moderation . To aspire after Perfection is not enough : your genuine American theorist reaches that points—nay , he does more—he turns the corner —he is considerably " ahead" of Perfection itself , It is , therefore , presumptive evidence that something of practiealvalue has been discovered when an author in New York announces , in temperate

      language , that he has found out the means of solving the social problem that so perplexes the wisest heads . Mr . Stephen Pearl Andrews makes a revelation of this kind to the public . Some months ago , I acknowledged the receipt from Mr . Andrews of two volumes , in which he states his case to the

      American public . The first publication is upon the Constitution of Government . The second is entitled , Cost , the Limit of Price ; and these words , indeed , constitute the formula in which the dis * covery is expressed . Cost , the Limit of Price , is the " great" principle on which , in Mr . Andrews opinion , a new world might , with advantage ,

      turn . ' _ .. . .. Mr . Josiah Warren , formerly of Cincinnati , recently a resident of Indiana , is the person said to be entitled to the honour of discovering this principle , of which Mr . Andrews is tho ardent expounder . Twenty-four years of continuous experiments have been made by Mr . Warren m its

      working out this principle and consequences . The " practical details" for the realization ot the Cost principle aro not yet before the public , ana what tho scheme is , as applied to tho education oi a family , to social intercourse , and the complex affairs of a village and town , ( a town , we are tola , has grown up under its influence , ) we are not yet aware . Tho work , we believe , is not yet published . The experiences of " ^ ™' JKJ modest name under which Mr . Andrews epoaw tuu

      of this now experimental Community , awaited with interest by Social Reformers . Boyond tho short notice of this sooioterwn ciw covory , which appeared in this journal atthotim previously referred to , no account , I ^^^ toon published in England . A casual mention w » made of tho appearance of Mr . Andre ? i wJJ in tho American article of tho last /^ TC 8 Review . It is not possible to condense in U fc place so much of the exposition as' W ^^ nrco , " idca-of this now scheme of "Equitable 0 o ^ 2 ° , as undoratood by its originator and oxppu For that wo must refer tho reader to uwj ^ themselves , which Mr . Chapman has , or i » »

      to import . Mr . Andrews says : — r . tll 0 limit " Tho counter principle to that of Cost , l | Ifl ( lf of price / upon which nil ownorship u » now raw ^ and all commerce transacted in tlio w < w > « Value iB tho limit of price / or , as tho prmciplo b

      Untitled Article

      250 vfHE LEADEK . [ S ^ xjrbay ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), March 13, 1852, page 250, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1926/page/14/