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Leader (1850-1860), 28th January 1854, Edition 1 of 1, Page 83, ^ -^ TTTir Off •) ifp*^^^ /IT > * 7 K.J 1 ^ Hl<^|^ <^ | V |^ '%•» ^ > /y£^y ' "%^ C^ -^J -*C -V ? 3& & Cy "* » ^—^

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      Untitled Article

      ST . GEORGE AND HIS EXPENSES . Mb , Cobdkn purports to be the representative of an Englishman . No doubt he is in a minority at present ; but he regards the majority as being under some abnormal and absurd hallucination . All who differ from him he dismisses with some contemptuous or disparaging remark . Public writers whose advocacy is not at present conscientiously consistent with unconditiooxal peaee—since there are higher things than peace —^ he dismisses as " the scribes , " or " silly

      peop le * who now cry out for war , " " the foolish people who spout at public meetings , " and so forth . He admits that Russia is unjust , aggressive , and insolent ; but -why should we resist the ¦ wrong ? " for , " he says , " we are not bound by treaty with Turkey . " He does not , therefore , think it necessary to resist injustice , aggression and insolence simply on the ground of hating injustice , aggression , and insolence . " JJoblesse oblige ; " but Mr . Cohden characteristically recognises no obligation .

      Until apparently it presents itself in the form of material advantage , JEIe " cannot believe in such folly ,. such wickedness , $ s going to war ; " " for , " lie asks , " have we no works at home which will he checked if we begin to talk of war- ? " A just crusade is a thing which cannot § nter his imagination , as it might interrupt business . In his arguments against that -which he calls wickedness , he cannot avoid appealing to the meaixer passions . He professes to be scandalized at those who are making war a question of pounds , shillings , an . 4 pence ; but even this allusion is a

      legitimate pretext would constitute relief ftearlj proportionate to the difference between an annual charge of 3 < M . and a total dbburaenaent of 3002 . in a lump . So that , if St . George ) w , ere i *© A to interfere , there would be a . positive Q ^ mmerojL ^] , advantage in applying to the transaction of the dragon and the virgin the principle of laissez alter . In addition to this calculation , it would be quite fair if St . George were to take into account the damage to his own armour ; and as that would presumably be of a superior kind , the changes of being scratched and bruised , with the consequent necessity for repairs , or perhaps replacement of some seriously inj uxed portion , would represent a sum too considerable to be despised .

      It is true , says Mr . Cobdeu , that Russia is unjust , aggressive , and insolent ; true that in Russia merchants , excepting the first class , are liable to corporal punishment ; true tliat the people are sold with the property ; but su « h was formerly the case in this country , and Russia is so powerful 1 His admissions remind one of the young lady who remarked that she could not tell why people spoke so against Lord Byron , since he was " only im- , moral , debauched , and an atheist . '' Russia is Mr . Cobden ' s pet , and he cannot tell why silly

      Englishmen abuse her . Turkey is decaying , aajrs Mr , Gobdea , and therefore England ought to abandon her to decay ; exactly the argument of same Red Indian tribes , who , when their old men g < t useless , leave them behind , in the march . In Christian and chivalrous countries , it has been thought pious to assist the aged-, even , if necessary , aa J&was did , to take up the helpless man upon the shoulders of the son ; but , says Mr . Cobden , in the case of Turkey , old men do not pay ; and it is far better to take the side of the unjust and powerml * If you begin to chastise Russia , he argues , on grounds of public virtue , you will have to chastise Austria , and where will you stop ? So , because Russia has hitherto been successful in insolence and aggression , Mr . Cobden counsels noninterference with her career ! The satirical dramatist describes the footman Masc&rille as refusing to pay his chairmen , until one of them takes up a pole of the chair , and threatens to cudgel him-. The dramatist satirises that submission under a mean fear ; but Mr . Cohden , putting the satire to an unwonted purpose , takes Mascarule ' a a . ct as the principle of a national policy . It is just the eonverse of those statesmen who take MaceMavelH ' s Prince as the vade mecum for legit imate government . The party of order do their best to £ eep to the satirist ' s picture of a tyrant , and Mr . Cobden recommends the country of St . George to adopt for its national standard , in lieu of the invocation " England expects every man to do his duty , " the principle of the coward Mascarille ,

      misrepresentation . He and others had said that England would suffer , commercially , by war : the argument has been exposed , since not only has war its own peculiar profits and perquisites , when it is properly conducted by statesmen who un * derstand the interests of their own country ; but in this particular instance it would be a war against a Government which cramps commerce as much as it can . Because , therefore , ' Mr . Cobden s argument of pounds , shillings , and pence ¦ was contradicted , he says that iis opponents put things to the standard of pounds , shillings , and pence . And then he himself again puts it to that

      low standard . The " silly people , " be aays , " who now cry out for war will be the very first to turn round and denounce the Minister for bringing distress and suffering upon them ; " and in order to expedite the reaction against a spirited national cocduet , he calls upon Government " to pay the year's expenses of the war by taxes raised within the year . " jtt is very good advice , in which we should join , without at all believing in the effect which Mr . Cobden anticipates . The English people hus not shown that it would give up a war the moment that it should prove expensive . It is the CoT ) denic St . George alone that puts his enterprise to that tost .

      For on the showing of £ s . d ., St . George might fairly have declined to rescue the virgin whom the dragon required . It would be a very simple matter of account . It ia difficult to estimate the price of a virgin in Western Europe , but in tlie East very passable Georgians and others caai be procured for comparatively moderate sums , But take a liberal margin , , and let us suppose that the virgin required for the dragon

      might be set down at 300 / . : that would appear to l > e tho loss of the community on the transaction . On the other hand , something would be gnined by tho saving of tho keep of a virgin . In this country it ia calculated that tlm outlay ujion the least costly specimen , of womankind , a inuid servant , is CKjuul to an annual charge of about 30 / . But it will be observed that , in a country tolerably populated , the extinction of a virgin on u

      Untitled Article

      the Government of endeavouring to raise or save money even , in paltry sums . It Is but a little while since the Emperor was taking away 800 , 000 / . from this country . Some imputed the step to " spite , " but the idea of injuring a country like England by withdrawing such a sura as 800 , 000 / . from the public funds is not a spite likely to occur to the mind of a monarch who is very flush of cash . Tho statement respecting this groat foundation of bullion is accompanied b \ an assurance that the paper circulation does not exceed 35 , 000 , 000 / ., an assurance as much questioned as that about the bullion , especially since both assurances are put forward to soften the effect of a new device for

      PROGRESS OF DESPOTIC FINANCE . The finance departments of the great despotic Governments , which must b ^ considered our chief adversaries , continue to deserve close attention . Notwithstanding her boasted wealth , Russia is again detected in a surreptitious attempt to raise the wind . Reports have for a long while been circulated that the Emperor possesses immense hoards of specie , and these reports are now renewed in larger phrases than ever . . The latest report is that in the citadel of St . Petersburg he possesses 22 , 500 , 000 / . sterling , a statement quite incompatible with the many attempts recently proved against

      of the scheme . The state notes , amounting ta about lS&OQQ jOOO ^ orina , are all tb be wHJJS ^ n from circulation , and the bank notes , afeoui 185 , 000 , 000 florins , are to be increased p& ? tionatel y ; the state-railroads and domains serving as security . Jf we pan penetrate this prace £ < 3 | in& ' it means that Austria , unable to obtain loans or fo raise the wind in any of the legitimate modes | s now pledging her railroads and lands , or mo ^ e probably mortgaging the revenue from these

      resources , But what is the value of the pledge ? We have already seen how Austria has been racking the tax-payer in Hungary , where the tax-collector is the great missionary of sedition . The incessant rise of provisions tlrroughout the Austrian dominions increases the discontent . Thus Hungary , one of the chief sources of Austria for weajrtji ., is but aa indifferent pledge . Italy , which used to supply a quarter of the Imperial revenue , has cost almost as much as it has yielded since 1848 , for ma * chinery of military tyranny to keep it down ; and

      some new manoeuvre ^ an this pro-vince also indicate the degree to which money desperation is driv--ing the Government into dishonest courses . It has been proclaimed that all personp- vhotse property had been sequestrated and wan . t $ d to reclaim it , must return . Oa ^ e gentlejnaa did so , proved that he had no participation ^ whatever in the riot of February , and at last recovered ; his property ; hut Government did not yield up , $ considerable sum of ready' money aeiged ftt the time , nor the rents received during his absence ! Undisputed claims on the property of exiles , which ,

      took effect before the sequestration , have been put off and refused satisfaction . Jn the mean while , the agents appointed to take the charge of these properties are committing wholesale W £ Ste » Cutting down and carrying off everything tb ^ t can be removed to raise ready mousy . The , proceeds of the property are to be treated aeoordW to the % professions of Government wjt 3 i peculiar honour * ablen « ss—rinvested for the interest of the ultimate claimants ; hut the manner of ordering the invest * ment stultifies it . The capital is . to be invested in mortgages at 5 per cent **; , but as . 44 per < jent ., is ,

      the highest that has been given on mortgage , t » Q curators will find themselves compelled to adopt the ether alternative allowed by (^ QVftrnm eni * namely , to deposit the momesjr with the Austrian Minister of Finance , and . while Austria is thus rack-renting , and wasting , and robbing tie pro ** perty of the Lombards , the Government , anxious to keep some heart in so tax-paying a piovince is continually putting forward promises pf . " an amnesty . " And this Austrian Government is one of the anointed Saviours of order- « -Qne < j £ tbelegi « timate authorities who preserve * ' security of pro- > pertj . "

      raising the wind , —an increase of 9 , 500 , 000 / . in the paper circulation , to meet the cost of the armaments in progress . Austria , also , is resorting to aoine new trick . It ia discovered in Vienna that there is a rise in the price of . silver ; and ills announced that the amount of silver in tho bank i . s to be greatly increased . Iuiw this is to l / c done we do not know . Perhaps tho " Wizard of the North "" might be able to throw Home light upon the move , espeeiully as n sort of fcsluiillinu of cards seems to form part

      Untitled Article

      « T ^ ^^^^ P ^ g ^ m ^^ p ^ w ^ w ^ jV ^ wn THE COTTON" TRADE AND EMIGRATION . The power-loona weavers of ^ Preston have put forward a statement in reply to mere than one advanced by the masters , giving their reasons against thq proposed reduction of 10 per cent , in Preston . 1 $ is to be observed that these arguments are partly local , and so far do not tell upon the business at large . They aie mainly tfcese : — That twelve employers have continued working their mills in Preston , of course with an advantage -to themselves ; that at Blackburn , Bolton , Olqham , Stockport , &c , an advance is paid at a higher rate than the Preston masters were paying in vctober ; that Mr . Hollins gives tables of weavers' earnings which are in themselves fallacious : that he and other

      gentlemen make fabrics which require a superior class of workpeople , and therefore that their payments are above the average ; and that the prices paid by the different manufacturers in the town vary so much , in many instances by 10 or 20 per cent ., as to prove that the working classes have hitherto been mere toys for any speculator to traffic

      in . The explanation about Mr . Hollins ' a statement amounts to this : —For the four weeks ending on the 22 ud of October , he professes to have paid to K . Mason , a femule weaver , the sums 18 s . 5 d ., }) s . 2 £ d ., 12 s . 9 £ d ., and l < 5 s . 2 d . ; whereas she actually received 18 d . 2 d ., 9 s . Id ., 12 a . 9 £ d ., and iG ' s . 2 d . This shows a difference of 4 ^ d . on the four week ?; hut it is explained that she succeeded on the 1 st of October to a ' * cut" at the price of . 5 b . o'd ., which -was only a few hours short of being complete at the close of the previous week , so that 5 a . ( id . belonged to a previous week- secondly , that the week ending October 22 nd the works closed , and Unit Mason , with some others , was

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      Untitled Article

      SATITBDAY , JANUARY 28 , 1854 .

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      ! Pbere is nothing so revolutionary , oecause there 13 aofehing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed when fill the ¦ world is by the very tew of its creation in . eternal progress . —Db . Aknoid .

      Untitled Article

      ^ ¦ ^ ¦¦ ^^^^^^ ¦ ^^ Jaktjart 28 , 1854 . ] THE LRADBfo ^ ^^^^^^^ 'ii ^^^^^^^^^ WBHHPWfl ^^^ PB ^^^ j ^ PCHff ^^^ ' ^ W'wrc ^^™ ' ^ ' ^*^^*^*^^^^^^^^^^

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 28, 1854, page 83, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2023/page/11/