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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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ADULTERATION" OF CREDIT . A defence could be put in for SritjUiAN , Pattjv , and Co ., which might have a powerful moral effect . Their counsel might plead that they have only followed tho real usage s of English trade and English society , and that an exact observance of laws ia impossible , and is pronounced to be impossible by tho general practice and tho solemn decision of tho Legislature . What did they do ? Thoy professed to have money which they had not got ; they rislcod other people ' s property , and loat , _ it ; they did not fulfil their commercial obligations ; thoy kept up an appearance of respectability and wealth , and loft othora to pay the debts which they had incurred , perhaps consigning some of those others to beggary . Well , in trade thoy cell do it . Pau : l may have gone further in dogreo ; but
Adulteration" Of Credit
there are others that stand m the same list , as having modified the strict application of commercial principles upon which all profess to act . Where eould you find 'better names than those of Ijawfobj ) , Gobdou , or ViiiiiiEBS ? And the annals of our police courts have become familiar with , various kinds of commercial establishments of the
highest class—commission agents , insurance companies , and railway companies , as well as banks . It is unjust to represent the case of Steahan , Paul , and Co . as so very exceptional . The steps by which the students on bankruptcy can arrive at their sublimelydark position can be distinctly traced , without departing from the plainest statement of
known facts . Before we proceed , let us , for the sake of clearness , lay down what we understand to be the fundamental principles of British commerce . It is supposed that two parties , possessing each a superabundance of some different commodity , the two can effect a mutual exchange with mutual benefit ; but then it is understood that the things which each says he exchanges shall be the things
Sometimes it is very convenient to make the exchange on one or both sides prospective , and the payment is given promissorily ; but then it is understood that the promise is to be kept . The passing of an article at a profit is called buying , and the privilege or obtaining it on purchase with a promise to pay hereafter is called credit . A butcher sells me a sound quarter of lamb , and I promise to pay him three months hence : his belief is my credit . So far all is sound .
_ But , under pressure of obligations that have become very comp licated , I find it difficult to pay ; which is bad , and the law steps in to compel me . Trusting to the compulsion , butcher still accepts my promise , and calls his action " credit "—though it is more like taking a pledge in pawn , with a penal security against me . Here penal compulsion is substituted for credit or belief , and the living moral principle of real credit is so far diminished . Profits get lower under
competition and bad debts , and the tradesman tries to compensate himself out of the substances of the thing sold : pickles are greened with copper ; tomatas are reddened with the same enough to case a nail soaked in their liquor ; grease is supplied to railway companies which is no better than chalk ; and the purchaser , who gave his money for green cucumbers , red tomatas ,. and lubricating grease , which he wanted , has in return for his genuine sovereigns poison or friction in lieu of food and lubrication . The money ia
wasted , and death is purchased in lieu of life . Sharp practice has so far rendered commerce vain , —a delusion , a mockery , and a
snare . The next step is to trade in adulterated credit , and that is as general as it is easy . A . promises to pay to his butcher , B ., if ho can : he puts the promise on paper , which ostensibly tho law will enforce . B . wants the cash now , though he pretends to postpone his claim , and he adds his signature to the promise , and asks 0 ., a third party , to lend him tho monoy . O . agrees , less on tho faith in B ., whose power to pay rests on A ., scounts
than in faith on the law ; and he " di ' tho bill . Established the principle that you may raise the wind on adulterated credit , which derives a factitious and fictitious guarantee from the supposed comnu ^ onotjho law . Nor is that pr inciple loft * £ « bstaact and theoretical recognition . M * - ^™ wha a lawyer ' clerk , nephew to J ^' g ^™ ^ r SKT £ ££ & . %
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bensive survey pf the state of things in the Crimea . It is admitted on all hands that the Russian army , although not reduced to extremities , is placed in a very difficult and dangerous situation . The position they occupy on the north side is , indeed , truly formidable . It consists , on its right , of an elevated tableland , where the troops have the support of the casemated fortress known as Fort Constantino , the Worth Fort occupying the centre of the plateau , and a series of earthworks which command the great military road running up the valley of the Belbek . The centre , facing Balaklava , is still stronger . It consists of the round , bastion-Jike elevation , having the ruins of Inkerman on its south-western face ; steep and cliffy on three sides , but being connected in the rear , by tolerably even ground , with the valley of the Belbek . The steep slopes to the east look down on the road leading up to the Mackenzie heights ; they are garnished with batteries , and afford an admirable position for field artillery , which wou | d pour a flank fire into any column moving up the defile to the Mackenzie plateau . Then the crown of the narrow pass could be amply defended both by troops and guns in position ; while the prolongation of the chalk cliffs , known as the Mackenzie ridge , extending as far eastward as Aitodor and Maugup-Kaleh , covers the left . In the rear there are the valleys of the Belbek and the Katcha , affording forage and water for the cavalry ; and good communications with Baktchi-Serai and Simpheropol . The Allied position is pretty well known . It stretches from Kamiesch to the recesses of the Baidar valley . The extreme right is secured from serious attack by the nature of the ground , which prevents the manoeuvring of any considerable force . The real right of the army rests on the heights of Karuara , defended by Sardinians and Turks , forming the right of the position on the Tchernaya . This line is now far stronger than it was on the 16 th August . The outposts beyond the river are more securely fortified ; the bridge has been secured ; while a mass of artillery frowns from the low hills and sweeps the river front and hollow ways ; and ten thousand cavalry are always in readiness in case of disaster . Balaklava itself is an impregnable citadel , covered by and supporting the line of the Tchernaya . The other point where an attack might be made is the head of the harbour—the old Inkerman ground . But this has been so strongly fortified , that the enemy , should he think of assailing it , would meet with a more severe defeat than that of Inkerman . We have described the advantage of the Russian position—its impregnability of front . What then are its disadvantages r In the first place it is a position at tho extremity of an empire . Between the army , there posted , and its resources , intervene long tracts of country almost destitute of dwellings , and in places wholly destitute of water . Prom that position there are only two roads leading to the main land : ono by Perekop , and one by the bridge constructed over the Putrid Sea , at a point where the Crimea app roaches the , small peninsula of Tehongar , a tonguo of land which juts out for some miles into the Putrid Sea . As the Crimea affords little sustenance for an army , nearly everything in tho way of iood , munitions of war , and clothing , must be brought > into the Crimea by tho employment of endlesa convoys of waggons , chiefly drawn , "by oxen . These two roads also constitute the only lines of retreat for tho enemy . What are the furthor disadvantages inherent juv this position ? Tho Crimea , boing nearly an island , and tho Allies boing in
possession of the sea , in order to operate against the enemy they are not compe lled to strike at their front but may take them in flank . As all our supplies arrive by sea , we are in no sort of anxiety for them . Therefore our only care , in moving against the enemy , will be to secure Balaklava , Sebaatopol , and Kamiesch ; and then , embarking a goodly number of troops , establish a strong base of operations on another part of the coast , and threaten the Russian line of retreat . Everbody admits that a strong force advancing either upon the eastern or the western side of the Simpheropol road must compel the enemy to retire upon that town , if not upon Perekop . Wow the choice of a base lies between Kaffa and Eupatoria . But if made from Eupatoria the advancing column would have Perekop in its left rear , and would be exposed to the assaults of any reinforcements that might be hurried on to the scene of action . Kaffa , on the contrary , affords a base perfectly secure , a bay of debarkation and refuge superior to all in the Crimea . We have already secured Kertch . The appearance of an army before Kaffa would be the signal not only for its evacuation , but for the evacuation of Arabat . Strongly based on the peninsula of Kerteh , the Allied expeditionary army might move along the northern slopes of the southern range of hills by Staroi-Krim and Karasu-Bazar . It would advance with its flanks and rear perfectly secured , through a country not difficult of access , and having water , if not in abundance , at least in sufficient quantity . From Karasu-Bazar a communication might be established with Alushta , thus opening another road to the sea , and securing- the whole southern coast . At Karasu-Bazar the Allies would be virtually in the rear of the enemy , and it is impossible to conceive that he would maintain his position . He would therefore have one alternative , either to retreat , or by a rapid advance attempt to outnumber and crush the flanking army . But as the Allies are strong in numbers and flushed with victory , it is not probable that this effort would succeed . In most cases , judging by history , a general in Prince Goetschakofb ' s position would retire as fast as he could , the moment he heard that a strong army would in a few days block up his sole lines of commumcation . Another advantage of moving from Kaffa would be that it would practically bar the road to the Tehongar bridge , and thus compel the enemy to fly by one road across the waterless steppe . The advantages , then , seem to b e all on the side of the Allies : free communications , endless supplies , at least equal numbers , a roll of victories , and a great triumph ; while the enemy dare not attack them on the Tchernaya , has a restricted and imperilled line of communications , is doubtful about his supplies , and has been uniformly beaten .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 22, 1855, page 911, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2107/page/11/
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