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Leader (1850-1860), 20th August 1853, Edition Town of 2, Page 806, Untitled Article

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      rupted intellectual activity , and , above all , by securing a fair field for all these things—securing the fruits of intellect , science , and industry , she Jlas distinguished herself by her energetic love of freedom , and by the resolution with which , at time of trial , she could sustain that freedom with a right hand , that has never failed to conquer , in the end .: Under every . form , of government , under every dynasty ; under the Plantagenets , the Tudbrs , the Stuarts , and , not least , in that glorious interval of Oliver Cromwell , —on fields abroad and fields at home , on shore and sea , she has , with sheer hard work , strong hope , and a courageous hand , won for herself the greatness that she now possesses . The nations thought that her

      spirit had wearied , that she had contracted her ambition to one particular domain of enterprise , and that the lowest of them all—greatness in commerce . But , just as she has developed her largest prosperity in commerce , the sounds of insult and threat upon the continent , re-awaken the consciousness of her own strength ; and after a slumber of apathy , in which , with too little sympathy , she has seen nations struggling for freedom and independence , she feels the stirring of the old spirit in her , and once more stands forth , ready , if the call come , to defend the weak against the strong , to vindicate national independence , and to sustain in the world that liberty , which is the greater for each when all share it .

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      WORKEKS WORK BEST WHEN FED . It is astonishing to find how invigorating food is , when it is abundant and wholesome : any man who chooses to try , can ascertain this experiment for himself . If he will make a trial , either of pulling in a boat race , or of pursuing some intellectual inquiry , or of fighting an opponent , when he has been for some time in a state of starvation , and after he has had a sufficiency of good meals for some weeks , he will find the most striking difference : not only will his fist or his eyesight be more effective , but his moral view will be

      strikingly influenced . In the one case , he will doubt his own faculties , or will be inclined to regard life as a succession of failures . He will see a thousand and one reasons why such enterprises are fruitless , culpable perhaps , if not base ; and he will argue with you on the merits of self-denial in the matter of boat-racing , pugilistic victory , or intellectual investigation . Let him be daily invigorated by a proper allowance of breakfasts and dinners , and he will be confident

      in himself ; difficulties will disappear , and he will see a thousand and one reasons why every intellectual achievement adds so much to the resources of mankind ; why independent manliness is rightly paid with victory , and why boat-racing is one or the best of the manly sports left to the age . Ask the policeman whether ho would be as strong without his breakfasts and dinners , or with only short commons as with themP nay , whether ho would be so self-possessed , so cheerful amidst difficulties and mobs , so even and

      cool in temper , so forbearing P Ho will tell you , that a hungry man is an angry man , and that really without a proper allowance of meat and beer , or , at least , meat , bread and tea , it is not so easy even to collar a craven pickpocket . The same principle applies to all tough work . One thing necessary for the labourer who has to turn out a good amount of produce is , a fair amount of physical vigour in himself . Wear and tear , whether of mind or muscle , eats away the frame , unless it be sustained with a duo sufficiency ; and , therefore , when a man is put upon harder work , ho

      must also bo put under training ; bettor fed , properly supplied with air , and , let us add , duly stimulated with a proper allowanceof hope per diem . This truth appears to bo better understood at the present hopeful day than at any other time . yVc obscrvo a general tendency amongst ooconomical writers rather to rcjoico in the rise of wages as one of ( ihoso things that gives solidity and durability to our proaont prosperous condition . It . has been said by writers of a half

      wise ooconomical philosophy , tjiat when the working clasacn got higher wages .,, they squander it all in drink and debauchery . 2 STow , these ooconojm ' cal misanthropists wore Boklom thoroughly believed , but yet they had so great a knack of knowing facts and figures generally obscure to the reader ; they could tell you with ho much accuracy the population of an obsouro town in Hungary , or onumorato the imports into tho undent city of Uatia , that ordinary knowledge was afraid to confront their prodigious information

      and they were allowed for a time to utter oracles . But lo ! facts arise at the present moment confounding their philosophy . We have a general rise of wages all over the country—a rise ranging in some instances to ten per cent , like that of the Stockport people ; in others going as high as twenty-five , forty , or even something not less than a hundred per , cent ,, asJn cases w , hich we have observed of very rude labour . In the agricultural districts , we hear commonly now of ¦ nrarraa fvrttn Q . c . ff » 12 ? where fchev usea to be 6 s . ¦ ^ JL ** i «> v

      ... , IT CtfitrO li . \ JLLL C 7 O . I /* - * O- ^ rfO ., * r * J . V w » - * vj »» w » - » « w uv-, 7 s ., and 8 s . ; and where do all these wages go to ? If you want the answer , you must look into the import returns , and see there ^ the immense amount of homely consumable articles , with the general extension of the increase . No doubt there is a greater consumption of spirits ; but bread , tea , coffee , and sugar , the homelier articles of consumption , absorb an immense proportion of the increase .

      " If a man who earns 5 s . more a week m 1852 than he did in 1842 , ( says the writer of an . excellent paper in the British Quarterly Revieiv , on this subject , ) is seen to spend the greater part of that additional sum on tea , coffee , sugar , hutter , cheese , and other articles of food , we naturally conclude that he must have been pinched in his circumstances before , and that he and his family are now somewhat comfortable . It is precisely the same with the nation at large . In 1852 , Great Britain manufactured some 800 , 000 or 900 , 000

      bales of cotton more than it had done m 184-2 ; and , at the same time , produced more coal , more iron apd cutlery of all kinds , more glass , chiiia , and earthenware , more broadcloth , blankets , carpets , ? ind every other kind of woollen fabric ; imported more timber , built more houses , made more furniture , and , in short , produced every sort of useful or ornamental commodity , in greater abundance than it had ever done , in a single year , at any former period . Take two items , as a sample of the progress we have mado in production

      • within these ten years . In 1842 , we imported 1 , 384 , 894 bales of cotton ; in 1852 , 2 , 351 , 522 bales . In 1842 , we imported 527 , 327 loads of foreign and colonial timber ; in 1852 , 2 , 090 , 914 loads : an increase of about 300 per cent . With such an increase of work , the nation earned much higher wages , and , as a natural consequence , th » national housekeeping account , so far as we can form a rough estimate , from a comparison of the Custom-House returns , at the two periods , exhibits a corresponding increase . " The following comparison of the respective quantities taken for consumption , at the two periods , of some of the larger items of our national grocery and foreign provision account , will show that , although the gross population of the United Kingdom is not much larger than it was ten years ago , the consuming power of the people must have made astonishing progress within that period : — 1842 . 1852 . Sugar , cwts . . 3 , 868 , 466 7 , 172 , 847 Molasses , „ . . 59 . 9 , 640 ' 809 , 286 Tea , lbs . . . . 37 , 355 , 911 54 , 713 , 034 Coffee , „ . . . 28 , 519 , 646 34 , 977 , 953 Butter , cwts . . 180 , 282 286 , 385 Cheese , „ . 178 , 959 279 , 575 Eggs , number , 80 , 548 , 747 108 , 278 , 539 Rice , cwts . . . 282 , 430 552 , 024 Currants , „ . . 106 , 379 362 , 337 Raisins , „ . . 186 , 240 228 , 386 Apples , bushels . 111 , 578 | 372 , 118 " Tho most remai'kablo item in this bill is the incrensed consumption of sugar , from 3 , 868 , 466 to 7 , 172 , 847 cwts . Tho largo reduction in tho rate of duty has , no doubt , had some efleet in producing the result ; but the principal cnuso has been the improved condition of tho Inborn-ing classes , ns is proved by tho increased consumption of ten , which had rison from 37 , 355 , 911 to 54 , 713 , 034 lbs ., within tho same period , although there hud boon no reduction of duty . "

      So much for tho consumption of tho people . But , considering the- fact that tho population of tho United Kingdom has absolutely decreased , that , from tho emigration of adult labour , the working hand-power of the country has decreased in a still larger ratio , it ; would require some explanation to know how tliifl jmmonso amount of produeo exchanged against these imports , and

      filling our houses ' with new , commodities , had been brought aboutP It has been done in throo ways , us tho samo writer shows . Tho timber could not have boon worked up without tho aid of macjiinory ; it would have boon necessary to wasjo part of tho tim bor , tolot if ; Jio idle ; and thus wo hco that machinery positively incronooH the employ men I ; of the working hands . It < loon morp tjiau increano omploymont , it saves to human hands the rudest labour , and enables

      human hands to employ themselves about labour that gives a larger return . Increased machinery in every branch of industry , from the .-skilled labour trades to agricultural business , is one reason why we have increased production , with diminished number of Hands . Another reason is that the labour tias been better distributed . We have not had a surplus standing idle * merely for the purpose of keeping down wages—the reserved force of combined masters . " We-have not had able-bodied paupers suffering

      involuntary idleness in workhouses ; we have not had . nearly so many hands employed upon badl y-paid work , and therefore the work which is worth doing has received better attention . But the third cause is that , under the stimulus of prosperity , the working classes have been more full of heart and hope ; and we believe that , as that process of feeding them , physically and morally , aAirannoa f . lifiir nrnrluRe will increase . One sin win »/« j * — — *¦ - —¦»

      c *» v * . r uiuv ^ w ) v ** XT ¦ i ¦ ¦ ¦ ^ iv example will speak to certain minds more than these general truths . Let us observe the general truths , for they enable us to see that the one example speaks in the working of all the rest . What is true of William Dargan is true of thousands of employers throughout the country . Let us hear , then , what Lord St . Germans , the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , reports for his friend , the worthy man . who has founded the Crystal Palace in Dublin , and not long since refused a

      haronetcy . " My excellent friend , Mr . Dargan , whom I rejoice to see before ine , mentioned to me only a , day or two ago that he recently thought fit , unsolicited , to raise the wages of the labourers in his employment . Now ) what was the result ? My excellent friend tells me that a considerable gain to himself was the result . Tho work of the men was measured , and when it was compared with the amount of work done before the wages were raised , it was found that the difference was considerably in his favour . I am convinced that the adoption of the principle of a fair day ' s wages for a fair day ' s work would prove alike beneficial to the employer and the employed /'

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      LESSONS IN CHRISTIAN HUMILITY . There is an old saying about what may be procured out of the mouths of the unwise ; and just at present , on some such principle , large schools in Christian humility appear to be opened for those who need it sorely . As strange as the general nature of these great schools is the character of the professors . The Chinese—that nation of small ideas , which erst despised all outside barbarians , and arrogantly designated itself as " the central flowery nation , " the " celestial people" —have now turned Christian , and are setting an example of Christian sincerity with all tbo zeal of an imperial neophyte . Proud people arc seldom sincere ; indeed , they have no occasion to be so ; for a proud man stands in no relation of communion with his fellows , and it is not necessary that the inferior should know the mind ot the superior . While proud , tho Chinese were naturally exclusive ; now , however , they are frank in thejr manner ; and , quite contrary to tho old experience of China , they " now say what they mean and do what they say . " An instance is given : — " If they say they will give you tw enty licks of a bamboo , mako your mind easy—they will not stop short at nineteen . " So sincero w

      their Christian love of truth ! , They give us even more genuino proof that they are " followers of Jesus , " for they dismito any rank beneath that conferred in Heaven . -They say , that neither is tho priest superior to the lay " man , nor is Sir G eorgo Bonham qualified to insist upon precedency in the presence of the Suprpnio Being . Some of our church dignitaries nugM learn their duty from this moral . It iS } ' } ° . Christian maxim that " all are equal in tho sigl *' of God ; " yet in tho sight of the Doan who enters tho Cathedral with m-eat nonm-or ovon tn »

      Vicar , before whom beadle or Jnimblo folks imiBi bow—none are equal to himself ; which . *! that the pastor maintains for his own _ s # (_ higher standard of distinction tjhan ho thinks J 1 '" cesHary for tho sight of tho Suprome . A » 8 urocny tho British church is bohind the Chinese in son * essential Christian doctrines ! . - Nor is it only in China that wo find tins " ' verted contrast . Look at the 'Sadder courts ' tho Bombay Presidency of India : 'f ""Si bar has really been claiming equality in P Io ! ia , £ with European barristers ; but the c ° * . , i " decided that a native , who is # only ft " vLi . must give precedence to tjio JBurppean .

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      80 (? THE LEADER . [ Sm ^ M ? , I

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 20, 1853, page 806, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2000/page/14/