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THE DARK COMMERCE
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¦¦ SUSPICION 01 ? A SECRET TREATY . We are totally in the dark as to the resolutions to -which the Tory party may have eome on the leading problems of administrative policy . It was until recently supposed , it is true , that the Tories had an organ ; but such is not the ease , Lord Derby , in his place in the House of Peers , has rebuked the print which had affected to represent him , and has disavowed , in terms of indignant contempt , the pretensions it has put forward . The account of the meeting at ^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^
his house turns out to have teen a gross misrepresentation , framed upon a bad report " surreptitiously obtained" from , some understrapper of the party , if not from one of Iiord Derby ' s ' gentlemen . ' " We are sorry that not one of our contemporaries is entitled to speak with authority in the name of the Tory leaders ; but ifc is better to be uninformed
than misinformed ; we shall at least be spared the pain of seeing our contemporaries copying at solemn length fictitious reports of private political meetings , and , in some instances , actually attributing them to Mr . DisbaeIiI . For ourselves , we are not on speaking terms with any member of the Derby or Disrauli establishments ; we are not known down Mr . Gladstone ' s area
steps ; no crumb of official inspiration reaches us among the perquisites of the porter ' s chair at Cambridge House . It is impossible , therefore , for us to justify by evidence the assertion made by Lord Palmerston that Lord John Httssell , Mr . Gladstone , and Mr . Dis-BAEiii have secretly conspired to expel him from office ; this was , perhaps , among the indiscretions of his great speech on Tuesday evening—the worst indiscretion of all beinghis contemptuous treatment of Mr . Cobden . The not
case against ! Lord JohnHussELi ^ oes seem very clear ; that against Mr . Gladstone and Mr . Disraeli , however , appears past doubt . Something has wrought a deplorable change in Mr . Gladstone ' s mind and manners . He continues to split hairs , but he no longer minces his language ; he is violent , abusive , personal ; he betrays a passionate eagerness to thrust the ministers from their seats of power ; and he works along a line of action exactly parallel with that of Mr . Disraeli . Mr . Disbaeli
objects to the finance of Sir . Cob . newaxl Lewis , so docs Mr . Gladstone ; Mr . Gladstone would revert to the settlement of 1853 , so would Mr . Disraeli . Mr . Disraexi and Mr . Gladstone have something to say against the estimates ; Mr . Gladstone and Mr . Disradli are pledged to modify the tea and sugar duties ; and when Mr . Cobjden moves his Canton
resolution , with the approval of Lord John Uussell , Mr . Disrakh supports him ; and on that j ) oint there happens to bo a remarkable coincidence of opinion between the personal friend and the personal libeller of Sir -Robert Peel . Mr . Gladstone , at last , has his mocking-bird on the Tory benches . "What , however , is the object of this eccentric alliance—ambition or revenge— -the ambition of place , or the revenge of jealousy ? Jealousy ,
allusion" of Lord Derby to the lEstablished Church turns out to be the slight and graceful fabrication of a liner—not more authentic than Mr . Spooler ' s " generous warmth , " or the ineffable servility attributed to Lord Maeoh , who was prepared to support Lord Derby , " whatever course he might deem it expedient to pursue . " For " important" read " impertinent , " in the oa . se of this " exclusive communication " m ^^^^^ M ^^ i ^ fc ^^^^ fc ^^^^ M ^^^^^ B ^ Mi ^ MBMM ^ W ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Consequently , no one out of a certain circle knows whether Lord Derby has really had any serious political conversations with Mr . Gladstone , or whether or not he has denied the existence of the alleged coalition ; but it is certain that Mr . Gladstone and Mr . Disraeli have acted and spoken in suspicious concert , and we are not prepared to deny the possibility of a Secret Treaty between one politician so unscrupulous and
another politician so uncertain . The High Church party , it is said , have determined to punish Lord Palmebston for his Low Church appointments . The High Church is capable of such a course , no doubt ; and such an insinuation adds to the probabilities of the suspected compact . The melancholy sincerity of Mr . Gladstone , on such a point , would find a ready ally in the indifference of Mr . Disraeli .
The debate on the Chinese question , however , afforded in itself the strongest evidence that some sinister understanding had been established between the Tory Opposition and the Peelites ; they fired successively in platoons ; a Peelite followed a Tory , and justified him , and a Tory succeeded to defend the Peelite and vilify the Ministers , Sir "Frederick Thesiger attaining the climax
of all cant when he burst into an Old Bailey peroration , and declared that he should never again enjoy a moment ' s inward peace unless he recorded his sympathy with the poisoners , kidnappers , and assassins of Canton . The attempt to drag in Sir John Davis as a witness against the Government was , however , a failure . Sir John Davis , than whom , no inore competent authority could be found , affirms that the retaliation at Canton was a
just and necessary proceeding , and shows upon what an infamous Asiatic burlesque of Jeffreys—Commissioner Yeh—LordljERBY had lavished his encomiums . We do not here reopen the discussion so far as it affects China ; because it was not upon the merits of the question that the majority of the Opposition voted . It was faction that ruled the House of Commons on Tuesday night . But it may be observed that an address to Lord Palmerston was
immediately circulated for signature in the City of London ; and that , so far as we can ascertai n , the undivided opinion of the metropolitan commercial body is in favour of Sir Jouir Bowring's measures . Sir John Bowring may be an " iron-headed old rat , " to borrow a euphuism quoted by Mr . Gladstone ; but he understands . tlic Chinese character , and knows of what valuo the diplomacy of Europe would be if applied with all its
forms , revisions , and delays , to the most obstinate authorities in Asia . A detailed history of British intercourse with China , i only commenced front 1843 , would expose the fallacies upon which the vote of Tuesday evening was partially grounded . It was grounded chiefly , however , upon the reckless immorality of the Opposition , and against that recklessness and that immorality the Government will appeal to the nation .
so far as we can understand s and the chance of something turning up in a scramble . For what can Mr . Gladstone expect personally from Ins union -with tl \ o Tories ? To be Chancellor of the Exchequer to a Derby Administration ? Supposing , however , a proposal of reform on the parb of the " Whi ^ s , similar to the proposal of 1853 , ia Mr . Gladstone prepared so far to sacrifice his opimonB aa to resist it ?
^ As we have said , wo can onl y gueaa at tho Views of tho Opposition otherwise than as they are expressed in Parliament , since tho assumption of representative authority by a contemporary print has been exposed as a falso pretence . Tho " slight and graceful
The Dark Commerce
finding that its connexions are as extensively ramified as those of the recognised commerce ] N " ot long since we noticed the case of two tailors who combined another branch of business with the making of clothes , —who brought custom to their shop by lending money , a nd who increased their tailors' bills by the charges for loans . This week we have a third tailor before us—Mr . John Baxter Foltcard , of 69 , Jermyn-street—a bankrupt . His account commenced on the 1 st of January 1855
with a surplus of 33871 , and at tie end of sixteen months they closed , with liabilities "to a friend who had assisted him to the amount of 6830 Z ., besides unsecured creditors to the amount of 837 71 . Of those sums ; , the bankrupt , since his bankruptcy , has collected 2800 Z ., and he will probably realize 2002 . more . Thus , in the back-shop part of his business , he Las incurred liabilities to the
extent of something over 15 , 0002 ., and he has recovered 3000 Z .- —one-fifth . His counsel contended that the bankrupt ' s style of doing business was not " reckless , " and we are inclined to doubt whether , in comparison with others of the same trade , he really deserves that damnatory epithet . There is so much competition , that it is necessary to employ attractions to the shop ; and what attraction so great as an easy loan ?
In this case the tailor appears not as the harpy , but as the victim . It is the young gentlemen who are the har pies , —the ' green ' young men who are under age . Some of these gentlemen , it appears , have been serving their countr y in the Crimea ; but the reason why they went is curiously indicated by Mr . Commissioner GouiiBURN . He \ ras censuring the class of tailors who combine money , lending with clothes' making . " Young men , " he said , " were tempted to their ruin , and driven abroad ; young men came from
the Crimea expecting to be welcomed by their friends , only to find themselves pursued by a sheriff ' s officer . " Luckless young men Mr . Gotjlburn seemed to imply that the sheriff ' s officer should be spared ; that the tailor should put up with his loss . He gravely adopts , as a correct expression , the sarcasm of the gentleman who , pointing to his friend's new clothes , said , " " Who suffers ?" To enjoy is the lot of young gentlemen of high connexions ; to suffer is tlie tailor ' s . The wrong part of Mr . Folkard ' s business was the employing the sheriff's officer .
A tailor must not seduce young men , —it undermines the manhood of the country . This is no figure of speech . " Was ifc not reckless for the bankrupt to go , as he had gone , to almost every regiment in tho service and accommodate the young officers with clothes ? The trade that he had pursued was one that carried much misery into families . " We well remember that when one reg iment was ordered to the Crimea , —and it was a regiment very high in the service , —doubts were openly expressed how the officers -would
be able to go ; since , in that regiment , it waa supposed , every officer was so deeply involved to his tailor and other creditors that his means would bo quite unable to cover the insurance of his debts . Mr . Goulburn seems to think that the fault lies entirely with the tailors who tempt ; that the young men—and some of them are " voting" only by courtesy—have no duties of their own , no duties towards their parents , for whom Mr . Gotjlburn fcela so much ; that if tempted , they must have clothes , borrow money , and then be spared the sheriff ' s officer .
THE DARK COMMERCE . You never detect largo dealings in that stylo of commerce which has been brought to perfection in our own day , tho commerce that is not admitted on tho Stock Exchange , without
This stylo of tailoring , Mr . GoTTLnuitfr says , " is quite common in tho West-end ;" it partly helps to explain how custom has been taken from homelier tailors , who inako clothes quite as good , nt more reasonable prices .
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¦ ¦¦ ¦¦ ^ ¦ ¦ ¦ ^ ¦¦ ¦ ¦¦¦ MMaHH MBMMMMMMHiMaHMHnMMW ^ VaMa 228 THE L E A l ) ja ^ u _____ [] STo . 363 , Saturday , M ¦ ¦ . ¦ M _ j—^^^^^^^^ ^^^ j ^^^^^^^^^ __^^^^^^^^^^ j ^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^ m ^^^^^ ^ i ^^^^^^ B ^^^^ fc ^^^ B ^^^^^ B ^^^ M ^^^^^^ B ^^ M ^^^^^^^^^^ MM ^^^^^^ w ^^^ M ^^^^ fc ^^^^^^^^^ M ^^^^^^ ^
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 7, 1857, page 228, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2183/page/12/
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