Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 3rd April 1852, Edition Town of 2, Page 317, Untitled Article

Page 317
Page 9
9 of 24

On this page

  • Text (4)
  • Transcript

    • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

      Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

      Untitled Article

      ( Cheers . ) He was accustomed to figures , and he ventured to say that it would not' only be self supporting , but would leave a very large surplus . Sir 'Joseph Paxton , in returning thanks , said that he had been advised not to come forw ; ard in the present movement , and he did not know that Jie would have done so , bu % he had been so vexed by the report of the recent Commissibn ,. which was so contrary ? toall the evidence , that he had made tip his mind to act * ( Cheers . ) The Commission had tortured some answers of his , given in a conversational style , into an admission that a better building could be constructed at Battersea at a cost of 150 , 0002 . They had completely misunderstood him , and yet they Trad brought this part of his evidence forward as the principal and most important

      information derived from it . He had explained to the Commission how the building might be appropriated to useful purposes , and " even , how it might be illuminated and made a fairy spectacle , filled with the most beautiful objects in nature and art . " ( Cheers . ) " Yet after all this they made him kill his own child . " ( Loud cheers . ) The public must rescue the Palace from those Goths and Vandals who threatened its destruction . Though it looked fragile , it was composed of lasting materials , and as damaged portions might be replaced , like the cloth on the table before him , he calculated that the whole fabric was more enduring in its character than any other edifice In London . If they allowed-this building to go , posterity would damn them for doing so . ( Cheers . ) The proceedings then terminated .

      Untitled Article

      THE BURMESE WAR . Feom : the despatches in anticipation of the overland mail , which left Bombay on the 4 th of March , we learn that war with Burmah is inevitable . The Government of Ava manifests the same peculiar and irrational obstinacy with which they continued after two years of signal and incessant defeats in the last war to refuse the terms offered them , until the British force was within forty miles of -Jhe capital . Despatches from the Marquis of Dalhousie reached Commodore Lambert off the Rangoon river on the . 30 th . "The Commodore intimated to the Burmese authorities that ho should ascend the river in the frigate next morning with a fresh communication from the Governor-General . Notwithstanding this , the first stockade he passed on the following day opened a heavy fire on the Fox , and one of her crew was killed . The frigate , without stopping her course , silenced the enemy's guns , and set the stockade on fire . Two other stockades fired on * the Tenasserain steamer ; she replied with shot and shell , and a few rockets , which set the wooden fortifications in a blaze . On arriving off the newly-erected defensive works which now occupy the site of the old town of Rangoon , the Commodore sent an officer and

      an interpreter to the Viceroy with Lord Dalhousie's letter . The terms offered in this communication were of extraordinary moderation . Their substance was a demand of an apology for the insult to our flag , and the payment of the 900 Z . previously demanded as compensation for losses inflicted on two of the many British subjects who have been pillaged at Rangoon . On theso demands being acceded to , the blockade should bo raised , and the Burmese ship restored . The reply was returned by the hand of * dirty labourer in

      Jjii equally dirty canoe—of course , a studied insult . 1 ho Viceroy took no notice of the two first demands ; io refused to negotiatj / with the Commodore at all , » nt said ho would talkovor . the matter with any other ftgent tho Indian Government chow to sond ; and ho concluded by remarking that tho blockudo did not inconvenience him at all . Intelligence of all these occurrences waa sent at once to Calcutta , and on receiving I , J ™ K ° on Vicoroy's answer to thoir lust overtures , bupromo Government decided that all further

      negotiation was out of tho question . The Governoruonerni immediatel y ordered a force consisting of tho .,, , l ( oval frwh . tho 38 th and 40 th Nativo Infantry W a company of European Artillery , to prepare for want embark ation . Tho Madras Government was ¦ orcd to soiul her Majesty ' s Glut Light Infantry , nil i ' . 35 fch Nlltivo InfoMtiy . ' »«! «»«» « " « l 4-Htrn ¦ ll 0 iy " Tho whol ° forco ' tl » ou « "Kl rim 1 ^ l > l » w * tl under tho command of Majorit ? T . dwi " ' * of th « QU « ° »' «™ tf » who was l ™ l ™ ttl * ¦

      anS ™« « . *»* *™ V * ™ r ; lliid li : i' ' «« tj »« wnu unu u \ au jmuiwusu win ; BoL l TH WlUTCn and miotb wiU connnantl tho t fonS v ! , i Mudnw 1 > r teiwl <>» respectively . Colonel Art 1 mf i JI" ?™ imn y > iH t 0 l ) 0 iu cl » ' B ° " (> f th 0 AU I ery and M «\ jor Hugh Fnusor , of tho Bengal army , w to bo tho chief engineer . Ordom woro » t tho mino witlmiT i i th ° IJom W CloVorittnont to despatch inwZl t J thowiul Btt !»» 1 < 3 rH they could iparo , mnnoa with their full war complement , and ready foi ' St a £ aCtlOn < Tho "V **™ ™ to touch at Fort worge , and convoy tho Madras forco to Burmah .

      The Bombay Government immediately decided on sending six steam frigates ^—the Feroze , the Moozvffer , the Sesostris , the Berenice , the Medusa , and the Zenobia , the Semira / mis , now in China , to join , if required * , in the river . The first four ( three of them as large as the Atlantic steam ^ ships ) stairted from Bombay in four daysj the Z&nctiiq ! , which was hourly expected with , the English mail of the-20 th of January , not having yet arrived , the Queen has been sent off instead , and the Zenobia is only waiting for the arrival of a

      detachment of artillery to follow the other five . The squadron is to embark the Madras force about the 12 th of March , and Rangoon will probably be in our hands about ten or fifteen days after . The new fortifications at Rangoon , however , are said to present a most formidable appearance , mounting at least a hundred guns ; and an officer of the Fox , writing to one of the Calcutta papers , says that " Rangoon will cost a few the number of their mess before it is taken / ' When General Godwin ' s force is all assembled on the Burmese

      coast , it will amount to nearly ten thousand men , as the 26 th and 49 th Madras Native Infantry are already stationed between Moulmein and Mergui . The Burmese have on their side been actively engaged in collecting troops , and making every preparation for a stout resistance .

      Untitled Article

      THE POOR LAW ASSOCIATION . IMPOBTAMT MEETING IN MANCHESTEE . A NUMEEOtrs and influential meeting to promote the objects of the Poor Law Association , viz ., the substitution of reproductive employment of the indigent poor for the present almost universal system of compulsory idleness and useless task-work , was held in the Lever Street Chapel School , Manchester , oh Monday evening . The meeting was convened to ascertain the opinions of an important and populous district , embracing the collegiate arid St . Clement ' s wards and neighbourhood . Thomas Wortley , Esq ., an extensive manufacturer and rate-payer , occupied the chair ; and on the platform were Mr . Town-councillor . Hey wood > - Town-ceuncillor Stracey , Town-councillor Scholefield , Town-councillor Thackfay , Town-councillor Craston , and other gentle men , including Mr . Archibald G . Stark , the secretary to the Poor Law Association .

      The chairman opened the business by expressing his cordial approval of the soundness and practicability of the plan propounded by the Poor Law Association to reduce the burden of poor-rates . He referred to the beneficial results attending industrial training schools in Hereford and other places , and then called upon Mr . Archibald G . Stark , who addressed the meeting at considerable length . Great as was this immense charge iipon the property and industry of the country in the support of pauperism , he contended that

      indigence was not efficiently relieved under the Poor Law . Tho returns showing the number of wretches who sought shelter in the night asylums of Manchester proved this ; and if this were the case there , it must be worse elsewhere . The fact commented upon by tho Times , the other day , that in wealthy luxurious London one out of every twenty persons was in a state of destitution , and unablo to exist except upon charity , was another proof ; and the movement to establish soup kitchens for tho starving poor , was an emphatic admission that tho Poor Law was a failure . Ho dwelt

      upon the evils of the present system of workhouso rolief—its degrading effects upon the recipients themselves , and its unnecessary cost to tho rate-payers . Ho vindicated at length tho justice , economy , morality , and humanity of the principles of tho Poor Law Association , ami cited tho examples of Cork , Thurles , Watorford , Now Ross , and other Irish unions , whero tho claimants for relief had boon put to productive employment instead of tho old vicious system of idlonosH and task-work , and where tho results had boon exhibited in the permanent benefit of tho poor , and tho

      reduction of tho rates . Ho had no doubt that similar beneficial effects could bo produced in England , under tho superintendence of prudent nnd energetic boards of guardians . Ho proceeded , amid considerable approbation , to rebut various objections that had boon urged to reproductive ' " pauper" labour , and concluded by calling upon tho mooting to enter its protest against tho present nystom , which was a satire upon tho common soiiho nnd humanity of , the ago and country wo livo in . Mr " . Councillor Hoy wood , in rising to movo ' tho following resolution , won wunnly applauded .

      " That in the opinion of this mooting the substitution of reproductive oinployinont of tho dostituto poor , instead of compulsory idleness or useless and degrading taskwork , is not only calculated , under judicious iniuingomont , to ameliorate thoir condition by preparing them for a life of industry and soU-rolmnco , but tljut it in fraught with gi * eat advantage to tho community , by reducing tho burden of poor rates , and

      diminishing the number of persons exposed to the * temptation of crime . " He had been told that thirty or forty years ago an attempt had been made in Manchester to render pauper labour reproductive , and that it had failed . But that was no reason why it should not succeed now under a different management ( heat ) . - " Nothing was complete at first in human actions ; for every success in arts arid ? sciences had been promoted by failures ( cheers ) . The thing was to try again , and so better it . He considered it quite possible to obtain persons of sufficient intelligence , and ability , and faith in the principle , to conduct workhouses so as to render them self-supporting . He wished , therefore , God speed to the Association .

      Mr . Willis seconded the motion . He had been opposed to the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act , in 1834 , and his experience of its working had assured him that his anticipations had been too well founded . Mr . Town-councillor Stracey , and other persons , supported the motion , which was carried unanimously . Mr . Town-councillor Scholefteld moved the adoption of a petition to Parliament in favour of the substitution of reproductive employment for the present system .

      Mr . Samuel Ogden , Honorary Secretary to the Manchester Athenaeum , seconded the resolution . The sum of 103 , 800 / . was spent last year for the relief of the poor in Manchester . This was a serious charge upon an industrious community , for he calculated that the investment of 100 , 000 ? . would give employment to a thousand hands , the capital still remaining intact at the end of the year . The 80 , 000 , 000 ^ . that had been expended for the relief of the poor in England during the sixteen years that followed the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act , would have given regular employment to 400 , 000 persons . There was no necessity , therefore , that , if we had a good system of reproductive employment , we should be so heavily taxed for pauperism ( hear , hear ) .

      The motion was carried unanimously , as was also the appointment of a committee to pronlote the objects of the Association , after which the meeting separated . The usual fortnightly meeting of the committee of tho Poor-law Association , established to procure the general adoption of reproductive employment of persons dependent upon the rates , in lieu of idleness and useless tests , was held pn Thursday , at 11 , Dickinson-street ; Mr . Councillor Greig in the chair . A vote of thanks was passed to the following journals for having promoted , or given publicity to , tho objects of tho association [—London Morning Post , Morning Chronicle , Morning Herald , Standard , Sun , Daily News , Examiner , John Bull , Spectator , Leader ,

      Manchester Examiner and Times , Manchester Courier , 3 £ ancJiester \ Guardian , Dublin Commercial Journal , Nation , Daily Express , Limerick Chronicle , North British Daily Mail , Leeds Intelligencer , Bolton Chronicle , Aris ' s Birmingham Gazette , &c . —The secretary , Mr . A . G . Stark , rend a number of letters from various parts of tlio country , in favour of tho objects of tho association . Mr . G . Poulctt Scropo , M . P ., writes : — " I cannot refrain from suggesting how desirable it would bo to get some authentic reports of the Dutch and Flemish systems of pauper colonization . I know of some imperfect statements by Lord Blantyro , —I think published by tho Highland Patriotic Society , —but nothing recent , or to bo relied subscribe witowards

      upon . I would readily , eny ., cuo expenses of a ' commissioner' travelling for this purposo to the poor colonies of both countries . "—Sir Joshua Walmsley , Bart ., M . P ., in acknowledging tho receipt of tho petition adopted at tho Bolton meeting , says : —" I shall havo pleasure in presenting your petition , and giving to tho house all tbo particulars that tho forms permit . It is a subjoct in which I have long folfc a deep interest , and ono in which I shall bo glad to be useful . ' Sir John Stuart Forbes , Bart ., Fettoreairn , Scotland , writes : — " I cannot but regard tho present as a favourable opportunity , under a new administration , and on thoovoof a gonoral oloetion , to push this object . I bog to incloso , as a small donation , and to that shall bo

      a posfc-of fico order for 8 ^ say I happy to do all in my power in this part of tho country . " Now subscriptions acknowledged : —Sir . T . S . Forbes , Bart ., 31 . ; T . Bazfoy , Esq ., President Chamber of Commorco , Manchostor , 21 . ; J . Knowlos , Esq ^ Tottington , if . ; T . Grundy , Esq ., Bury , 11 . ; W . Slater , Esq ., 11 . Is .: S . Ogdon , Esq ., lion , sccrotary to tho Athonooum , 11 . 1 « . j John Crook , Esq ., 11 . Is . ; S . 11 . ( por Mr . Stark ) XI . Is . ; T . Cullen , Esq ., J . P . Bolton , 11 . Is . ; J . ArrowBinith , Esq ., J . P . Bolton , 11 . Is . ; Mr . Watorhouso , Bolton , 10 » . ; with numerous smaller sums . Tho secretary announced that tho

      following gontlomon had conBontod to havo thoir names mldod to tho gonoral committoo : —Sir Robert Gore Booth , Bart ., M . P . ; Mr . William Sharnmn Crawford , M . V . \ Kara'A , W . Arohor , A .. Barrett , T . B . Bently , William Kuntington , ) t . W . M ' Grath , T . G . Loo , Win . Kolk JCphraim Harper , Wm , Trail , Samuol Wnrron . ^ LL . 3 ) . ana A . E . Poaroo ; and Mosara . Matthew Hall , ( IliulnuO , Ml . A . Iioalco , J . II . Law , Thomas Qrundy ( Bury ) , W illiams ( town councillor ) , Pilling 1 ( aldorman ) , Bowkor ( town councillor ) , T . It . Bridson ( Bolton ) , and John Crooko . — Manchester Examiner and Times .

      Untitled Article

      DEPARTMENT OF PRACTICAL ART . MABiiUOKOUGit HousH has boon fixed on for tho « Annual Exhibition of tho Works of tho Students" of tho ( Schools of Ornamontal Art , late Schools of Design , throughout tho country ; and ft circular has boon issued

      Untitled Article

      Apbii . 3 , 1852 . ] THE LEAD E& 317

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), April 3, 1852, page 317, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1929/page/9/