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    Untitled Article

    journalism extends further and deeper than that of any one man , and although we do not speak at second-hand ^ we can speak of more than one pair of eyes ean witness . There haye been , in . newspaper correspondence , in Club talk , in general , conversation , many protests against the publication of these demoralising incidents . Some who have protested , notoriously cwild be convicted , not , perhaps , of the worst outrage fcgainst Alice

    Xieroy , but of a certain familiarity with such houses as that of Madame-Denis , and with such society as that frequenting the house . Others who take part in these proposals to keep the acts of society under a veil , shrouded frdin the moral police of pubHc opinion , are either by -tnemselves or their relatives constantly mixed up witii a traffic , not , perhaps , quite so degraded ? is that in question , but forming the . great body of the market itt

    which thai ; estabKshraent w . as a leading firm . The very magistrate on the . "tench has connived in this farce lefore the public . IjW example , he will fine th ^ prpfligate in the dock before him , an ( J will give ihe amount of tne fpae to some attendant to carry roun , d to the idock . Sometimes , this has ., been , done through benevolence , sometioaea from % different motive . But what will the reader think when he hears , jthat ; men have objected

    to open investigation : into sueh . cases as that of Alice Jjeroy , because it would induce the public to obtrude into the recreations of " : gentleman ? " It ia said that such inquisition is inconsistent with personal freedom I ! Nbw , our own readers will not regard , us as upholding a regime , vrhich some call" conventionality , ' ' or some " starched morals ; " but w ® do say , that a society wLich can , in the strongest Language , condemn a . certain kind of

    action ^ which can , nevertheless , freely and copiously indulge that actr&n , — can then conceal its own acts , pretending that it is different , — -an € can then resent publication of its own conduct asv too indecent for its own eyes , —is animptjdent , hypocritical , depraved , and corrupt society , whicii ought mi to be leffc in peace . We rejoice sometimes when the veil ia torn open , even for a little corner ,

    because that chance is at least a slight guarantee that the corruption which is constantly eating into the heart of society does have sotna check . That the healthy wind of nature can carry its ventilation where it would not otherwise have penetrated affords a chance that the hot-bed of corruption may be disturbed , and that , if it be not purified , its pestilent fertility is prevented from increasing .

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    DO THIS WITH YOUR BLUE-BOOKS . Loud S ^ -Oixe y , wlio is always exercising a useful activity , is taking a leading part in assisting to do something for the improvement of our Blue-Book System , by publishing a pamphlet entitled < c What shall we do with our Blue-Books p or Parliament the National Schoolmaster . " Most people are aware that Parliament is in tli © habit of ordering " returns" from public departments , of collecting information by its committees , of

    aivnointinethe method of stitching the volume prevents its folding back conveniently like a newspaper . Sometimes , however , the volume is in itself of huge size . The report on the corrupt practices at Hull is an example . It was contained in two volumes , and the Timea correctly described it as constituting * " a load vrjmh a man of average strength would hesitate to carry from St . Paul ' s to Charing-cross . " The two volumes consist of 2318 pages ; tliey contain 82 , 800 " cross

    questions and crooked answers ;** ' in eoud contents they compromise a very small fraction sfcdri ; of 700 cubic inches ; they weigh 14 pounds ljl ounces—more than the half of a quarter of a hundredweight . The total weight o £ lhe whole impression of this wort amounted to 11 tons 6 hundredweight . Jflbw it is very doubtful whether any considerable number of volumes were read . Certainly- tne number that served aay practical use in this case

    cannot altogether have weighed the odd ft hundredweight ,- —which would allow forty-j eight readera of ; fhe whole . Independently ; of the labour of collecting and arranging ; the information , 11 tone of the book were published lor no practical advantage whatever . After all , the House would proceed to deal with the ease upon some digest by a committee o * by partictiilar ^ Bpeakers . Porthe mere size of the book is an evil in itself * It

    is not only a waste © f paper and printings but is actually an obstacle "to arriving at that information , or to rendering it useful . Such volumes could be useful , only in ease Mem bers should transfer to the lifcrar ^ the con * tests of party , and copying the church- militant of Boiteau's iMtrin , were to use the books as missiles . A- blue-blook like tMs

    than gold ; yet the most avaricious would not be more shocked than fche mm obliged ttf wade through the blue- ^ ooks t > f a session if he received unsmelted goH ore in Tjlace - © f sovereigjs , a . Xord Stanley Suggests , ttiat ihe EngUsh press should be the filter through , wmch Blue-books should be atimuiedW--rad smelting furnace in which "the dros * - should be - taken ! from the ore ,, and tjie mefc'rtiguHr transmitted to the public . But he * e ; let tifl dbservei Ik > r& Stanley fcvidentihr BMflks with

    an , imperfect knowledge of tfie mghrnxtf ^ nif whose ? $ M&& assls ^ aa ^ ei ne intones . ^ r ready , journalists that think it worth , theu ^ wMe Qfaaia ¦ < $ ossessiom p ^ ' . && blike-bookfl f the -cost- in , money < fheingi & cottC ^ aratLTe ^ smallconsiderations ' - ¦ > 33 ie tome cost ^ fmskxng the proposed- abridgment \ w ^ iA Hhe lifb&ur f and we'fJS ^ tpriS ' $ d ' ^ £ fHl ^^ W W ^ iit m condensing t&e blufe-boo ^ " iabn ^ that wdulff b ^ &u ^ oTiSfcafeie ; , ; : ;;; £ * T ^ V ^^ I

    There a ) ee n ^ 4 qu ^>| ge ^ 6 ^ m ## r |^ mentaty , abstxacts ., A&J ^ W ^ mnW 7 mm petKapa onesided j imd wav agree tloat . iHj many cases tliese absii ^ ts ii ^ d ! l ^ S 9 lte ^ i tpry 5 fo # ths $ > have ^ beea ^ ' ^ edi- ^ Bttfe ^ flfe truth is that the informatidn shbtdd ^ iefefi gefcmto ^ fopri cfo ^^ is only one boa > iliat' ccMd spsfacib ^ make ^ . t | ie .. a ^ ab ^^ . ^^^^^ 'C ^ lS e ^^^' acquainted walk the ? earn © infoirmaticoi atfirsb hand— -in other words , the committee . "W&

    are only repeating the opinion of many persons who haYe ' well considered this subjfebfi , Jba BmfMip ifH&'iM 9 i 6 . cointnittee Ifi ^ itffVttuf ^ l ^ otno ^ pt ^^^ mP % ^ B lie' careM in sift ^ tke ^ coll ^ ejtiiqigfilfc , jjo ^ . a ^ flpficeepI ^^^ ee ^ m i 6 t 4 ) fo ; evidence to tl \ e matter in ^ handj ^ econdl $$ Jm rendering the order of thA ; collftctionv-Tftii important pt » mt ; - ^» s lucid and ii ^ fceiugibkl

    ^ 6 # ^^ a ^« # of « WivifeeP ^ lrftft a ^ rlct ^ iiir io % n ^ p 1 rM » 1 fcfia » a mere report of conclusions , men , asni uij ^ case of the report on Divorce Jaw , ifc woiild be possible to-put the conclumons at the end of the j reepj ^ t in ^ a ^ erj ^ ly ^ ^ i ^ UG ^ ct and pp rtabl ^ ipjnpa . 3 ^ ne cominitteerjpiselt $ && fulnllmg the- original trust repoaed ln ^

    ,, would collect the materials , and reduce the produce to a shape fit foe practicaDle use "< would feoth ¦ ^^; ^' ^^ ltijfe ^ ^ It wofuia be . Q [ uite prbpe ^ ^ d ^^ | nef % ri ^^ notes copied out in munusmot , Wft to rentfer tMs access ^ Mfe , of &rfflB ^ li ? 'iriett !) er& . " QPIiii plan would 1 iend mbte Wsaai Wrjrtniiig ^ Ise » to diffuse ih& infbrmatibn nottr btiriedV 1 &i

    blue books . If it were simply unburied , and then , if a fair price were put upon the netfe reports , we are convinced that their ^ uf » ciilation would be very extensivey « nd 'their value would be so considerable'tliat there Would Who necessity to raise any question about gratuitous distribution , atill lesa to

    rely upon , the voluntary efforts of editors to do the wock which , the comipittees leava undone . We should then not only save an immense amount of waste in printing mA paper , but instead of spending the publia money in a blue book which actually prevents the diffusion of information , we should ba relieved of the burden and have our in > formation .

    would have suggested to the Trench satirist a parallel to Acis , vrironi Polyphemus'stew with a . crushing rock . In point bf feet , very few people meddle Viin the blue-books , and those only when : they" hare some particular interest . ¦¦ t ' . Iiord Stanley sums up tne evidence taken before last year ' s committee on Parliamentary Papers , " whiclya ^ ports the existence of " & general desire tcobtain these documents ; 15 , 284 persons , have petitioned for an extensive and liberal distribution : " and the

    committee observe tliat the expense would be inconsiderable iii proportion to , the advantages that might l ) e expected . The committee , which is not unacquainted with bluebooks , ouglifc to have known better . The advantages , we venture to say , would be inconsiderabl © in proportion to the expense , and certainly in proportion to the bulk . In America th e £ have been familiar with this distribution . TLe reports of the

    American Congress are printed , mostly in . the octavo form ; which ls a great improvement upon ours , and has been copied in some particular departments . The annual expense is about 100 , 000 ? ., the distribution being grar tuitous . IE is stated , however , by Mr Stansbury of Washington , in a letter to the Society of Arts , and by Tffr . Steveas , the literary agent to th-o Smithsonian Institute

    at New York , that the reports are much prized . But the numbers which reach the shops , and are consumed as waste paper , are a substantial proof that the distribution is not universally valued . Those who are acquainted both with lEnglish institutions and with blue-books , —such as Mr . Baincs , the president of the Yorkshire Union of Mechanics' Institutes , —are aware how

    inconvenient it would be for societies to preserve thein all . Sir Archibald Alison thinks that a small selection would be more acceptable , and no doubt he is right . Lord Stanley perceives tho fatal oilect of the dead weight upon the knowledge which is enclosed in it . Men are greedy for gold , aa tliese are for knowledge wKftrti in dearer

    special commissioners who are bound to furnish reports occasionally or annually , and also of receiving similar communications presented by royal command . The whole mass is printed , most usually in a . folio size , in . very wide type , so as to constitute a very large volume . This size is partly excused by the convenience that large print affords to elderl

    y Members ; a circumstance which implies that Memhe-ra arc weaker in their eyes than in their arms ; for even tho ordinary blue-book is of a weight sufficient to be fatiguing . The slenderer are inconvenient to Jiold from the particular mode of binding : the blue paper which covers tho outside , not so stiff as thin parchment , is insufficient fur a support ; while

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    THE TTNE HARBOUR OF REFUGE . There is a part of tho ooast of England which M remarkable for its cruel character . It is principally composed of iron-bound cliflS rnhiglea inth treacherous sands . It is exposed to fierce wincl $ and is one of the most dangerous of lee shores . Uti this part a quarter of all the wrecks of theUpitetl Kingdom happe \ i : in the year 1852 , « S 7 wreck * happened ; a single gale has in the present yea * driven on shore 110 ships . Notwithstanding tli « remark of Lucretius , nothing cttn be tftt > re pftinfm than to witness the deplorable » nd certain lorfs ( if life on occasions like these , "vHtliout ^ tho ¦ f > ower" 6 f

    Untitled Article

    March IS , 1854 . ] THEj LEADER ; 26 fi

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 18, 1854, page 255, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2030/page/15/