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Leader (1850-1860), 6th August 1853, Edition Town of 2, Page 749

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      the grounds that the real possessor of the property was the father of the Baron de Bode , and not the Baron de Bode himself—the cession of the property to the son at the time of the revolution heing of doubtful legality . A jury had , it is true , decided that the claim was good , but a jury sitting in 1844 on facts that occurred in 1791 were not very competent judges . . ' The claim would now amount to about a million and a half sterlings and it would require a special act of Parliament to charge it upon the Consolidated Fund . Lord Lyndhttbst pressed the case to a division , but was defeated by 16 to 6 .

      COMBINATION OF WOEKMBN ' s BILL . Lord Kinnaibd , last night , moved the second reading of this bill , in favour of which numerous petitions have been presented from the working classes . He did not deny that some persons might think that the bill would give them a greater power to combine ; but he was authorized to state , on the part of the promoters of the bill , that their object was not in any way to alter the present law , but merely to define it more clearly . Different constructions had been put upon the law by high legal authorities , and it was necessary that it should be well understood . He hoped their lordships would allow the bill to be read a second time , in order that it might be considered in committee .

      Lord Trttho denied that the bill was called for to reconcile the different opinions of high legal authorities as to the interpretation of the existing acts relating to workmen * No such differences of opinion had prevailed in the legal tribunals , and if they had , there was nothing in the present bill to explain the existing law . The present measure authorized workmen to enter into an agreement binding each other as to the rate of wages , the hours of labour , and so on . They were to be allowed to meet , combine , or associate , for that purpose ; but there was another section which provided that

      persons should not , by threat or intimidation , or coercion ; obstruction , oa molestation , force , or endeavour to force , or induce other workmen to form a club or contribute to a common fund , or pay obedience to any regulations which might be made by any club . Further on it was enacted , that " peaceable persuasion should not be deemed obstruction or molestation . " Peaceable persuasion might be carried to an extent which might amount to force and coercion . It was impossible to say what form of words would come under the term peaceable persuasion .

      The Lord Chancelior suggested the withdrawal of the bill . The Earl of Hakdwicke also opposed it as offering a premium on combination , for which there were already , it appeared , ample facilities , as they had recently seen a strike to which Parliament itself had had to make

      . Lord Kinnaird consented to withdraw the bill , and it was accordingly withdrawn .

      MISCELLANEOUS . Tn the House of Commons , at the morning sitting , the Pilotage Bill passed through committee . The Customs Acts Consolidation Bill passed through committee , and the Betting-Houses bill was considered , and ordered to be read a third time on Monday . The business of the evening sitting commenced with the committee on the South Soa and other annuities ; Provision for Payment bill , which , after a desultory conversation , in which the old topics of discussion were renewed , until the Chancellor of the Exchequer was out of all patience and lost his temper , the bill passed through that stnge .

      The House then went into committee of supply , and the rest of the evening was occupied in details and short but smart discussions . Incidentally Sir Jamhs Graham stated that ho had increased our naval force in tho Chinese Sons , and that happily , whatever the internal disturbances in tho Chineso empire there was no probability of commerce being interfered . Metropolitan Poijgk . —Lord Dudiey Stuart complained of tho coat , tho inefficiency , and tho oflbnflivo conduct of this forco . Tho cost is largor by 100 , 000 / :. than it was a fow years since ; and tho expense to tho metropolitan parishes in greater now by tlnrty-nino per cent , than it woh whon tho metropolitan parishes woro formed . Tho metropolis iH not now bolter watched than it used to bo when thoro wore fowor policomon , and tho ' oxponoo was a groat deal lighter . Tho people of Marylebono contribute ono-fifth of tho whole cout of tho metropolitan forco . Tho coBt of watehmon in tho parish" of Marylobono used to bo 1 () , ( XX ) Z . a-yoar , and Bir 34 . Pool uaod to apeak of it as a model parish in such mattora , wheroaa tho oxpenao of l > olieo in now « 5 , 00 W . a-yoar . Formerly thoro woro 251 watehmon in tho parish ; thoro are now 211 policemon , and yot tho oxponso ifl twico as groat . Pumio LiiiJtARiKB Bu / r .,. —A bill to oxtond to Irish corporations tho privilogo of founding public libraries out of a upooiul rate haa boon passed through tho House of Lords . Si'ttAuroiinta and DiyiBioiw . — Stronger * nro now

      allowed to be present at the divisions in the House ; and the time allowed for members to enter the House after the announcement of the division is " two minutes . " Election Feasts , Bands , and Colours . —^ Colonel SiBJfHORP was in high style on Wednesday . He denounced the bill to prevent music , processions , and dinners at elections , as " a mean , low , dirty bill ; a dangerous , delusive , and entrapping bill . " Ho might himself be convicted " of bribery for giving a shilling to a sick man . - As regards his attachment to the House , he would not much care to be turned out ; but be would not like to part from his constituents . In Committee several members objected to the provisions of the bill , as too stringent against music and bell-ringing ; and a

      very general feeling was shown to set the bill aside , without directly negativing the principle it involved . Sir James Graham said , drily , that the House had better proceed to the next order of the day— " the treatment of lunatics . " The attempt to defeat the bill was resolutely opposed by Mr . Craven Berkeiet , who appealed to " the common sense of the House—not , of course , including the honourable member for Lincoln . " And referring to Sir James Graham ' s defence of music , and objection to flags , asked why the Carlisle folk might not have a banner inscribed , fC Jemmy Graham and Consistency , " as well as

      play the " Black Joke . " ( Hoars of laughter . ) Colonel Sibthorp said , he treated Mr . Berkeley with contempt . Sir James Graham interposed to hope good humour would be preserved . Addressing Colonel Sibthorp (" my leader on this occasion" ) , he excused Mr . Berkeley— " He loves not music as thou dost , Antony . " In this jolly way the debate was continued , members repeating over and over again their objections to the prohibition of the billone Irish member expressing for his countrymen a partiality for music and " all kinds of innocent pastime . " Finally , this persevering opposition carried its point by breaking off the consideration of the Bill in committeethe renewal being fixed , a month from last Wednesday .

      A Deputy-Speaker . —In ease of the Speaker ' s illness , the Chairman of Committees is to take his place , according to a new rule passed on Thursday , amid the approval of the leading members at both sides of the House . Observations against late sittings , and in favour of winter sessions , were also made .

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      LETTERS FROM PARIS . [ FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDEirr . j Letter LXXXIV . Paris , Thursday Evening , August 4 , 1858 . This week has been signalized by a succession of episodes in the Eastern question ^ After the protest of Turkey against the entry of the Russians into the Danubian provinces—a protest drawn up , it is understood , by Lord Stratford de Redcliffe Himself , and considered in Paris tame , spiritless , and wanting in dignity ( peu digne ); after this protest came the project of arrangement proposed by M . de Bruck at Constantinople ,

      adopted by the four ambassadors , and accepted by the Sultan . This project , which committed the mistake of arriving after that joint ultimatum of France and England , in which they majestically declared that they should " take further measures" ( qu ' elles s ' aviseraient ) , was very ill received by Bonaparte . The Emperor read it aloud on Tuesday last , in the Council of Ministers , and after having commented upon it , expressed himself with considerable vehemence against the concessions which had been introduced into it , adding , " that we had gone fur enough in tho way of weakness , if not of pttsillanimity , and that , for his own part , he positively refused to assent to this arrangement , and never would assent to it . " Just after this stormy sitting , which

      created a great sensation in Pans , the Constitutionnel , tho journal of semi-official communications , received orders to insert the following note : — " Tho conditions of arrangement brought by the Caradoc are not assented to , cither by the Cabinet of Paris or by tho Cabinet of London ; nor even , it would appear , by tho Cabinet of Vienna . We believe wo may guarantee tho exactitude of this assertion . " Only imagine the terror of tho men at the Bourse when they rend this paragraph ! The evening before , they had operated for a rise : all was over comfortably—with shamo and dishonour , what did it matter ? The question was solved , tho result was all thoy looked at ; " Tho Porte has accepted the arrangement on which the Emperor of Russia had been unofficially sounded beforehand . "

      Tho very day after tho Bourse said all was over , out comes one of tho organs of the French Government with tho declaration , that neither Franco nor England , nor even Austria , accepted that arrangement . Why , tho Bourse was panic-struck . Everybody , not excepting tho diplomatists themselves , was in commotion . M . do KiuHclcir , tho Russian Ambassador , hastened , to tho Emporor to ask for explanations" Bonaparte ropliod , "that ho was not the editor of tho Constitutionnel

      that the Moniteur was tho official , journal of the Go . vorinnont , thai ; tho Constitutionnel was not , and therefore , it did not concern him . " M . do KiHwoloff wont away , declaring to Bonaparte , " that ho did not expect to find him ho warm a partisan of tho liberty of tho press . " In tho meantime , nowH enmc of tho conferences at Vienna . On tho 25 th ult ., tho Ambassadors of tho four Western Powers had agreed upon a form of collective ultimatum to ho addressed to Russia , in which , 1 . A part of Russia ' s domanda is conceded .

      2 . The concessions demanded exclusively in favour of the Greek Church are generalized , and applied to all the Christian communions . 3 . These concessions to be made under the collective guarantee of the four Powers of the West . 4 . Russia is called upon to engage herself towards the said Powers not to avail herself of the present concessions for the purpose of interfering in the internal affairs of Turkey , and infringing the rights and the sovereignty of the Sultan . 5 . Three days delay accorded to Russia to decide . 6 . If Russia accepts , she is to evacuate the Principalities by a given day .

      7 . If she refuses , the eventual consequences lie with her , the four Great Powers having resolved to proceed to action . Such , I have reason to believe , was in substance this collective ultimatum sent from Vienna . Drawn up on the 24 th it was despatched on the 25 th to St . Petersburg and Constantinople simultaneously . All the rumours in circulation on the Bourse on Monday contributed not a little to arrest the panic which the Constitutionnel of the day before , and of the same morning , had produced . This accord of the four Powers and their firmness of language reassured everybody . That evening all the men of business were busy calculating the forces which the four Powers

      might bring together against Russia , and at the head of these forces they were hard at work fighting away on a scale more or less colossal their Russian campaign . The next morning ( Tuesday ) matters looked still more promising . They had gone to sleep in the arms of the victory , and the humbled Czar was begging peace ; bis courier had arrived that very night bringing the acceptance of the Czar , who implored the gentlemen of the Bourse to spare his life . On this a grand rise , a rise of one franc ! In vain you tried to persuade these maniacs that the Czar could hardly have got the ultimatum by to-day ( August 2 nd ); they wouldn't hear a word . " Nicholas recedes ; he is afraid of V 8 ;" —such was the answer that fell from elated jobbers upon those who remained sceptical and hinted doubts .

      Yesterday the wind changed . News came of the arrogant conduct of Russia in Moldavia and Wallachia . The Hospodars had been forbidden to pay the ordinary tribute to the Porte ; indeed , they had been gwem-suspended from their functions ; and a council of three members had been appointed by the Czar to administer each province in their name . The Russians were about to convoke the national assemblies of the two countries for the purpose of sowing the germs of revolution in those bodies , and thereby preparing for the future frequent pretexts for re-entering the Principalities in case they should be compelled to evacuate

      them immediately now . They had promised to pay for all their provisions in cash ; but as tho presence of 120 , 000 men , concentrated on certain points of the territory , had created a rise of a third in the price of provisions , they declared that they would only pay for them at the current prices of last June . This giving rise to numerous quarrels between their troops and the inhabitants of the country , the Russians determined at last to take what they wanted without paying anything ; and this system they decorate with the description of " contributions in kind . " All who refuse to pay this heavy impost are whisked off and forcibly incorporated into tho Russian army .

      This laBt news has almost opened the eyes of tho blind to the designs of Russia . It is now clear enough to all that tho design of Russia is to render the government of tho two provinces absolutely impossible for tho future . It begins to bo generally perceived that the acts to which Russia resorts in the Principalities do not manifest any very decided disposition to retire from tlioin , and it is now feared that it may bo necessary to resort to forco to compel her to do so . Another symptom : the Moniteur announced , with n certain

      emphasis , that , on Saturday last , there was a C abinet Council at London , and that its deliberations wero long and animated . From this it was concluded that u change of policy was imminent in England , and that temporising vacillation was to make way for activity and decision . All these rumours and symptoms exercised a startling influence upon tho Funds . Tho rino of tho preceding evening had been ono franc ; tho full ofyoHtorday wnsono franc . To-day is " occupied with soinbro provisions , and tho Bourn ) has just closed with a further fall of fifty centimes .

      Indeed , tho Eastern question absorbs tho whole of public attention . All affairs arc in Bunpenno : that ono cnBin is tho solo pro-occupation of all mindu , an if no othor events wero of possible occurrence . AH in tranquil enough hero in appearance . Tho examination of tho conspiracy of tho Opora Comiquo in being prosecuted , but hitherto with no result , notwithstanding the great number of arrests which have been effected . This week thoro hap boon a fresh xiao in tho price of bread ,

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      August 6 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER . 749

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 6, 1853, page 749, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1998/page/5/