On this page

• Text (3)

  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.

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

• Transcript

  • 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.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Untitled Article

    prevailing in . Europe which compels each Government to arm against the concealed iatentions of all the rest . Now there are two replies to be made to these two propositions ; but ; since they are to be made in the aafceresfca of the public , they were not distinctly enunciated in the House of Commons . We take the case of the Income-tax iirsfc . The financial position of the public is even more remarkable than that of tke Government . "We believe that it is entirely without precedent . Since the

    « crisis there has been a great change in . the circumstances of all moneyed persons . The amount of ruin was not so devastating as most of us expected it to be ; but it was quite sufficient , in the examples which it made , to enforce great caution upon the public . By degrees money has accumulated , but the courage of capitalists lias not been restored . All share property is at an extreme discount , even more in fact than in the " quotations . " The holders will not part with it ; numbers "will now only invest in Consols or land . But of these commodities

    the amount is not boundless , the daily accumulations of money , therefore , are perpetually increasing tbe gross amount . If the spirit of investment is not renewed , trade languishes , and every straw of impost is felt severely . Sooner or later this state of things must cease . The greatest doubt of prompt revival arises from the state of affairs in France , where we see the Credit Mobilier , "which once paid 40 per cent ., and afterwards 27 per cent ., now reduced to 0 per cent . And

    events like those which compel Messrs . Caxtebt and Co . to explain themselves to their creditors , expose at once the state of proximate embarrassment , in which the most respectable houses find themselves amid the universal mistrust . It is a period , therefore , in which any Chancellor of the Exchequer with tact will spare the income of the public

    as much as possible . The accumulatiou of capital cannot be in vain . At a day of no distant future , the simple dead weight of money must burst all restraint , and then the Government , as well as the public , must profit by the renewal of activity . In this ¦ way Mr . Disraeli is quite right when he defers some portion of his obligations , and abstains from renewing his imposts .

    Mr . Bright s objection goes to the foundation of the present standard of taxation , but it should be addressed , not to the Chancellor of the Exchequer or to the [ Foreign Secretary , but directly to the public . It is undoubtedly the policy of tho despotic Governments of Europe that imposes iipon the tax-payer of this country the load under which he is now labouring ; and it is equally certain that , could Mr . Bhight's policy of an active nonintervention iu the affairs of foreign countries —that is , not only abstinence from interference- with the concerns of our neighbours ,

    but a forbidding of one state to encroach upon another—be carried out , it would soon establish in Europe a condition vastly better than any balance of " Powers . " Such as they are , the international relations of the present time are maintained , not for tho interests of the coxmtries , but for thoso of a few reigning families . By acting together against each country in detail , the combined Governments can force each people to furnish the funds necessary for tho support of enormous armies —to be combined , on occasion , in restraining the spontaneous action of the people of any one country . But those armies became

    necessary to secure the independence of ench ol the great Powers . Yot , ngain , the maintenance of large standing armies by Eussia , Austria , Prussia , and Franco , necessitates tho maintenance of enormous military and naval forces by this country ; and tho system ia supported

    by our professional diplomatists without exception . The effects of the system are coming to be obvious ; they are ever-increasing demands upon the already over-burdened taxpayer , and danger to the constitutional freedom of the people . Could Mr . Bbight induce the Government to . reverse this policy , and to announce that it would stand by each state to defend ifc from invasion by other states , each people of Europe would get back its independence , the vast standing armies would be rendered useless , and we—besides our Income-tax—might part with no small portion of our other imposts .

    Untitled Article

    THE DANUBIAN BARRIER . The modem state policy of Great Britain in the East of Europe has been basedUpon a supposed necessity of maintaining the integrity of the Ottoman Empire as a barrier against Russian conquest . Other maxims ruled at Navarino ; but the annihilation of the Turkish marine was condemned as an untoward event , and it is now a habit among diplomatists to deplore the partial constitution of Greece as a separate kingdom . The limit of this enthusiasm in favour of the Turks was reached when it "was proposed to abandon the Ionian protectorate . An opposite course was taken at the Paris Conferences of 1856 , when it was agreed to consult the populations of Moldavia and Wallachia on . the question of their future and permanent political organization . From the first the Ottoman Porte resisted any declaration tending towards the recognized independence of the Principalities . Lord Clarendon was not then in entire accord with the Turkish plenipotentiaries ; but Lord Palmerston adheres strictly to the principle of Ottoman integrity , and the existing government appears to have adopted his opinion . Even , however , if the old policy were worth defending , Lord Palmerston ' s argument would not be unanswerable , for lie begs the greater part of the question , assumes the dangers he predicts to be absolutely inevitable , and narrows the alternative within limits altogether

    arbitrary . But , in . the first place , we must be prepared , sooner or later , to reconsider the decisions of successive Cabinets with respect to the perpetuation of the Ottoman Empire . Docs that empire contain within itself the elements of stability ? Has it improved , or is it improving ? What conceivable advantage is derived by civilization , by the nations of Eastern Europe , or by Great Britain herself , from the duration of a throne leaning now on one embassy , now on another , never advancing , financially exhausted , politically corrupt , and mouldering to the very heart year after year ? And is it possible ,

    whatever scheme of diplomacy may be persisted in , to erect Turkey into a barrier against Russia ? One of the oldest and best arguments in support of this idea has been destroyed by time and by change of circumstances . [ Formerly , it was held—not without reason—that the Porte was more just , and offered greater encouragement to its subjects than Russia , and that consequently her moral influence would check that of Russia , not only in Scrvia , Wallachia , and Moldavia , but among the Slavonic populations . This is no longer true . In the race of civilization Russia has far outstripped Turkey ; even- the serfs in her remotest governments may he grateful that they are not Rayahs under the jurisdiction of Pashas . Turkish-born or renesradc . It is

    from . a _ higher level , therefore , and with material forces incomparably superior , that Russia presses on the Ottoman Empire , and we say it will become a question of the future how far diplomacy is to he applied as a check upon the natural development of events . At present we arc in the position of entailing infinite lubour upon ourselves without accomplishing tho purposes in view . We protect Turkey , and the cliiei result of our protection is to drive the populations of Eastern Europe morally into the arms of llussia . It is Russian influence , mid that alone , which has triumphed upon the Danube since tho war concluded in 1 S 5 C . "It seems to me , " said Lord John Russell , on Tuesday cvcmnGp , " that you have miulc a way for Russia . ' Mr Gladstone explained this still more impressively .- Recounting- the opinions laid down by tho several plenipotentiaries , he said : — 4

    Tho liusHiim Plenipotentiary , with vury considerable tact , reserved tho expression of his opinion until everybody else had spoken . It is impossible too highly to compliment tho sagacity with which ho acted . It w » n dangerous for Russia to support tho union , if tho union was going to bo curried ; but if there wiis going to be a

    set opposition to it it was desirable for her to support it , for she would thereby gain the credit with the people of the Principalities of being their friend , and of pursuin g the policy they had at heart ; and , should tlie opposition be successful , she would at the same time enjoy the advantage of seeing the Principalities disunited and remain in a state of AYeakness and degradation , tile advantage of seeing in them an arena for the prosecution of her own intrigues , and the advantage of knowing that they would be incapable of forming any safe or effectual barrier between her and Turkey . "

    And what would be a safe and effectual barrier against llussia ? " Surely / 3 Mr . Gladstone tieclaied , " the strength and freedom of those countries which will have to resist her . You want to place a living barrier round her . There is no barrier , then , lUce the breast of freedom . " Mr . Serjeant Deasy also insisted on this point : " The valley of the Danube would be best defended by a nation of freemen . " And Lord John Russell carried the argument to its heig ht : " The love of a people for their national institutions

    forms a more ' invincible barrier against foreign foes than the articles of a treaty . " To ibis view , Lord Palmerston opposed one of a technical character : ¦ " It is perfectly absurd to think that a state so situated could bear up against the colossal power of llussia . Possessing no tortresses , no frontier defences , llussia would in a moment overspread her territories . " That is exactly what llussia lias hitherto done , and what Turkey lias not been able to prevent . Great Britain and France have been called in to rescue Wallachia and lloldavia , and does Lord Palmcrston affect to believe that the

    Principalities united under European guarantees would be less secure than when divided , and in dependence on a Sultanate which lias never defended them from a single attack ? Besides , il is historically fallacious to regard the Danubian Principalities as integral parts of the Ottoman Empire . They are not , and never have bcea such , as we have shown repeatedly , and as was demonstrated to the House of Commons by Mr . Gladstone and tlie speakers wlio supported him . Lord Palmerston raised the bugbear of a prince under Russian influence . But his policy , if adopted , will drive-the whole nation of the Danube under

    that influence which he pretends to dread . The question , however , between a foreign or a native ruler has not yet been formally determined by the Divans , and it is forgotten that the argument admits of a third term—the federation of the States under a presidential government . Whatever m : \ y be the judgment of Paris , we shall only discredit and cnteeble the policy of the West , and invigorate and justify that of llussia , by attempting to coerce five millions of an intelligent and deserving race by a fiction of diplomacy upon the plea of not disintegrating an empire to which they never wcuj subject , and of preserving a balance in which the Czar will triumphantly weigh his accruing popularity against diplomatic traditions at Constantinople .

    Untitled Article

    NEW STATE OF OUR . RELATIONS WITH AMERICA . The diplomatic correspondence between Lord Napier and General Cass brings into strong li g ht the extremely unsatisfactory nature of our relations with America on the subject of the slave-trade . At the very time we were making demands upon 1 lie United States to increase her squadron on the coast of Africa to assist us in putting down the trade in slaves , our own proceedings in regard to the Coolies arc suck as to give General Cass a fair right to charge us with inconsistency . The truth is , that the forcible prevention , of slave-trading is practically a failure . That it is so is demonstrated by the carrying out of the " free emigration" scheme

    of M . lle " gis . The imperial agent lias convoyed a couple of shiploads ot Negroes to meet Ilu ; wauls of Martinique and Guadaloupc , and wluit is to hinder him from shipping any additional number that may he required ? " IVce emigration , " whether ( if Coolies or of " apprentices" for the French colonies , cannot be prevented ; and the uneasiness of I he English Government is a strong symptom ol'it-s recognizing the fact . The determination of the American Senate to abrogate the Cluyt . on-Bulwcr i ivaly has helped this ununsincas ; and ' we may infer tliat Lord ! Nu |) icr ' s demand for an increase of tho Unileil States African squadron whs nmde . as much willi : » desire to test the validity of treaties an with the wish to obtain an augmentation of force for preventive services . The conduct of our Government and of our

    Untitled Article

    444 ________ THE LEADE R . pSTo , 424 , May 8 , 1858 .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), May 8, 1858, page 444, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2241/page/12/