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Leader (1850-1860), 21st May 1853, Edition 1 of 1, Page 486, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      always turned off in the workroom by eleven o ' clock . Why sir the west end system , with its few weeks of seventy followed as it is by months of comparative leisure , is mercy itself when viewed alongside of this unmitigated " neverending still-beg inning" slavery to which I am referring . The only day of leisure which the girls have is Sunday . Tlien they may go where and do what they please ; but from Monday morning to Saturday night they are as complete prisoners as any in Newgate . They know not whether the sun shines or the rain falls all that time . They are not allowed to cross the threshold even to purchase a pair of shoes or a new gown for themselves , and

      muBt employ their friends outside to do this for them . Nor is the accommodation indoors such as in any way to reconcile them to this close confinement . The workroom in which ten or twelve of them are employed is only about twelve feet square , and is entirely devoid of arrangements for ventilation , which is the more to be deplored that during the evening they have to encounter the heat and foul air of three flaring gas burners right over their heads , every door and window being shut by which a breath of pure air could possibly enter . The bedrooms are equally uncomfortable , no fewer than six : persons being huddled into one , and four into another . "

      The writer in the Times who states the above facts , adds : — " And yet , sir , would you believe it , these white slaves arc at this moment busily employed in making a dress for MrB . Beecher Stowe , the champion of the black slaves of America ! I wish you would ask that lady to take a peep into the cabin where her dress is now being made , and to put a few questions to those who are employed in making it , and tell you what she thinks of the system she is patronizing . "

      Untitled Article

      WAGES MOVEMENT . New interest attaches to the wages claims of the working men , and the movement is assuming additional characteristics . The incidents of the week are many . In Birmingham the most important proceeding has taken place . The carpenters and joiners demand 2 s . per week advance , and the employers , led by Messrs . Branson and Gwyther , having- refused , offering instead Is . 6 d . a day to " deserving" workmen , the operatives have struck . ( The offer of the masters seems fair ; but when the selection of " deserving" workmen would he in the employers' hands , the promised increase might be made all but nominal . ) That the masters must yield in this case seems probable . The men behave themselves well . The state of the labour market in the town , as evinced by the constant local advertisements for good workmen , and the realized or anticipated advance in the wages of all classes of labourersthe boot and shoe makers being the latest body operating for a rise—shows the good position of the men , and the fact ttiat the employers are under large contracts , makes it still more likely that they will have to grant the required concession . In Nottingham , the lace houses want hands , and a shrewd local writer earnestly advises the erection of lodging-houses for

      workmen , that new hands may be tempted m from the country . At Lancaster , the joiners are out on strike , demanding 2 s . per week increase , the masters having offered in vain a riso of l . v . They also demand two hours less work during the week—one hour's leisure on Monday morning , and the other on Saturday afternoon . The South Shields shipwrights have ceased work , demanding 30 * . instead of 27 . v . per week ; and local reports say they are likely to . succeed . Wo notice that between them and the ship-carpenters of Sunderland there is an entente cordiale quite diplomatic . Both bodies composed n picturesque demonstration in Smidcrkuid on

      Monday . The journeyman joiners of South Shields have al . so ceased work , demanding a rise from 24 s . to 27 * ., hut a « the employers have finished their contracts , they can adopt a " masterly inactivity , " and thus defeat tho men . The tailors of the town have followed the general example , by demanding 11 . 4 = s . a week instead of 11 . Is . Some of the wasters have consented , nnd sonio havo refused . The impetus of advancement has reached the Government works at Woolwich ; tho wheelers of the Royal carrisigo-works have asked HOs . per week . They liuvo been refused , and Bomo of them — " tho best tradesmen "—have given notice of quitting work . In Shcpton Mallet Workhouse , n significant state of things exists . Tliero in not an able-bodied

      man in tho house ; the inmates are almost entirely old persons , invalids , or young children , and the master haw applied to the guardians for leave fo biro people- to do the work of tho house . Jn some parts of Ireland , agricultui ill labourers are receiving l . v . 3 d . per day wages—unusual in that country—and tho employes on the Great Southern and Western Knilwuy arc so well contented with their government and pay , that not ono hag emigrated during the past or present year . ( Tho lowest wages on the line are 12 * . per wcokuud clothes . ) From the North of Ireland wo hoar of tho general thriving of industry ; tho weavers ( who in spring alwuys work in tho fieldu ) hnvo returned to their looms , and tho introduction of inoro KnglUb . capital i » opening fresh department ! of labour .

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      AMERICAN ENERGY" IN SCIENCE . Thk old fallacy , that in moimrchicK alone nvo art and science fostered , is being refuted , by the Republican Government of the United States . They havo organized a fleet of wove ml vessels , for the purposed of u Hurveying expedition into the northern homh , between America nnd Asia . The Vincennes sloop is the principal vessel of the licet : in its wako it is most suitable , » nd itH arrangements and furniture are botli fitting and appropriate . EngliHh Hhip builders , who , in interior ornament , give us loud colours , wide-spread gilding , and glaring mirrors , might well take this Yankee sloop as u , model ; « » ho has nothing in her but plain white

      and mahogany , but her beauty consists in having a place for everything , and everything in its place , and in the occupation of every possible nook and space for some valuable purpose / ' Pictures of great statesmen , many hundred volumes of instructive works , and scientific instruments , and apparatus , of various kinds , complete tbe fitting up of this scientific Argo . The other vessels are a steamer , a brig , a schooner , and a survey and supply ship . The persons entrusted with the objects of the expedition are many , and of various professions . There are officers , of extensive nautical experiencemen who have served in former expeditions ,

      , and have gone down to the sea , in ships , several times . Astronomers , who have outwatched the stars , with more than Medora ' s patience , occupy posts of observations , expecting that , in the sky which bends over those strange seas , some new star may " sail into their ken . " Draughtsmen , ready , with pliant pencil and fiicile finger , to sketch nature " on the spot ; " photographists , to " hold the mirror up to nature , " and afterwards put the reflection "in a fix ; " taxidermists , to perpetuate , for the curious , the strange forms and ht down to

      splendid plumage of the birds , broug ourselves and to posterity , by means of Sharp ' s rifles , or Maynard ' s primers ; and craftsmen , to fabricate new , or repair injured instruments , are on board this exploring and inspecting armada . The investigation of all points of nautical science , connected with naval affairs , will , of course , form a prominent part of the work to be done . The expedition , it is thought , will stay out for four or five years , but , from time to time , copies of the surveys , charts ? , plans , and sketches , will be remitted to Washington , for publication .

      The progress of events in the world , and the advance of the American Republic , justify and demand this great national undertaking . Independently of the exploring energy of Tankee trade , there are several causes converging towards the effect of bringing the Americans more and more into those wide seas , stretching between the northern parts of the two continents . Of the widespread Archipelago , in the North Pacific , little is known , and the most inquisitive Yankee may find an inexhaustible fiold of facts to answer his curiosity . The great whaling trade of those seas , a trade in which America . excels the world , gives a crowning necessity and value to this expedition . Should Japan be won over , or persuaded to a fair commercial exchange , and to civil treatment of customers , a new field is opened

      for the Americans , and the path lies through the waters now to be examined . There are thus many reasons for this great proceeding . Its importance can scarcely be exaggerated . A fleet entering on a field so foreign , is wisely furnished with the means of defence against possible aggression . The Vincennes is fitted up with four thirtytwo-pounders , four shell guns ; the crew are abundantly supplied with small arms , of the " smartest" kind ; and the other vessels aro proportionately well armed , with thirty-two pounders , and small brass pivot guns . This 1

      expedition is entirely distinct from the diplomatic expedition to Japan . The present has a wide and general field of research : the Japan expedition goes directly to obtain explanation and redress for grave wrong done- to American seamen . The latter is , also , professedly pacific , but , of course , it may possibly initiate- a " resolved and honourable war , " while it is expressly arranged that the surveying expedition is tol ) e , as much as possible , devoted exclusively to tho collection of all kinds of information . It has been arranged , for obvious purposes of convenience , that the two squadrons shall meet , but other connexion between them there is * none .

      Untitled Article

      REVOLUTION IN CHINA . China is now nearly revolutionised . The hist account ' s are ominous . The insurgents were before Nanking . Tho Emperor had appealed to the foreign consuls : they consuls were not likely to interpose ; nnd the progress , hitherto , of the rebels seems to herald a crowning success at the capital ; for the fall of Peking in almost sure to succeed the capture of Nanking . The story of the rebellion is singular . It commenced at KwangHco , in the far south . Tlio rebels remained there , and successively defeated tho imperial detachments sent against them . Having , by this means , thutt weakened tho imperial power , they advanced in a line , several hundred miles long , and havo now established themselves on a great river , running from cost ; to west ,, through the centre of China . Thus half the empire i * nh-ondy theirs . From this river , their present o ]) orations have been extended : they have taken Hanyang ,. tliu Liverpool of China , and Woo-chung , an important town , 400 miles from Nanking . Tho position of tho rebel army is as follows : advancing from tho south ,, their right wing is » t Nanking , and their left at Woochung . Tho lino between those two towns forms the * b » we of an iBoccles triangle , « t tho ucute angle of which

      Untitled Article

      ji , ftfi THE LEADER . [ Saturd ay ,

      Untitled Article

      AMERICAN NOTES . The printers throughout the United States have , in many places , struck for higher wages , and with a very general success . In Boston , the discontented operatives have been replaced by hundreds of women , who are likely to be largely employed in the craft . The New York Crystal Palace is far from being complete ; it is not likely to be ready before the end of July . The King of the Sandwich Islands has appealed to the United States to protect him against the designs of France , whose Government intends to " absorb" the islands .

      The following additional diplomatic appointments have been made : —Governor Seymour , of Connecticut , as Minister to Bussia ; General Gadsden , of South Carolina , as Minister to Mexico . The Californian settlers and adventurers treat the Indians with savage and wanton cruelty . The report of Lieutenant Beale , Superintendent of Indian Affairs in California , gives a painful account of numerous outrages committed by Americans on the men , women , and children of the native tribes . The equipments of the Japan squadron have been altered so as to give the expedition less of a hostile or threatening appearance . The policy of the Church of Rome respecting education has been lately illustrated in Cincinnati . The Times correspondent writes : —

      A signal triumph has been recently achieved in the city of Cincinnati by ri ^ ht-minded men against a very injudicious attempt on the part of the Catholic hierarchy to establish a principle in that State which , if once conceded , would become a dangerous , and perhaps , in the end , might prove a fatal innovation upon the conditions by which this Government exists . It was announced by one of the bishops of the Catholic church in the west , a year or two ago , that the canon law and the creed of the Pope required , under the sanction of an oath , that the principles of the church of Home must be taught by every teacher of youth , wherever it is in the physical or moral power of that church to enforce it . It was , moreover , said that the Archbishop

      was , by his official oath , bound to teach or cause to be taught to all tho youth in his church the peculiar doctrines of the Papacy , including the persecution of Protestants by the Inquisition and other means , the compulsion of heretics to receive and adopt the Papal creed , the absolution of citizens from their oath of allegiance , &c . In pursuance of this rtyime , the Catholic Bishop of Cincinnati and his whole corps of priests , when at last they felt themselves strong enough to carry a local election by throwing their force at the ballot-box in favour of any party that would sustain their views , entered the field , and , making a distinct

      issue with the people whether or not Catholic schools should be established by public law and maintained by taxation , were most ignominiously defeated . It was then understood that the entire Catholic force was to be turned directly against the whole system of common schools , and again they were defeated . It is pleasing to remark , that when this same trick was tried in the city and State of New York , some years ago . it met the same fate , and it is still more satisfactory to think and to believe that any subsequent effort will have no better success . Tho letter and the spirit of American statutes on tho subject of common schools drift in mm direefion . It is left with the elected oflipnrs

      of every school district to elect their own teachers , and those teachers nre at liberty to introduce such religious education as their own creed or biases may persuade them to . Ono of the cardinal principles of American government—national , state , county , town , and district—is , that no connexion whatever shall exist between tho church and tho stato—between any church and any political authority whatever . There in full toleration for all creeds , and no man is disfranchised , whether ho helievo in Confucius , Mahomet , or Christ . Tho Americans havo never believed that tho cause of pure religion could bo promoted by enforcing acts of legislation ; nor , abovo all , that an act of disfranehittement on the port of a Protestant wua likely to soften the asperity of a Catholic or a Jew .

      On the railway between New York and Boston a melancholy accident has occurred . There is a drawbridge on the line : it was left open by mistake when the train was due : the train dashed on , and tho carriages plunged into tho river . Over forty-five persons were drowned . Tho actual sccnifis said to have been frightful j the hopeless struggles of the passengers hurled into the water and choked up in the carriages were very painful . Many men of professional eminence wore among tho drowned : also a newly married gentleman of New York nnd hi . s young bride .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 21, 1853, page 486, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1987/page/6/