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Leader (1850-1860), 5th November 1859, Edition 1 of 2, Page 1225, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      SUBSCRIPTION TO " THE LEADER / ONE GUINEA PER YEAR , UNSTAMPED . PREPAID . ( DELIVERED GRATIS . ) ' ^

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      Untitled Article

      EUROPEAN POLITICS . AMID all the conflicts of opi n ion on Continental polities , one belief prevails " on all sides concerning Italy—narfiely , that her destiny is now in Her own hands . Before the glorious battles of Magenta a » d Solferino no such affirmation could be made , except in a very remote and contingent sense ; and to Napoleon III . belongs the credit of having rendered greater services to Italian liberty than the most enthusiastic admirer of his policy could have expected him to perform . We do not know any instance of foreign intervention more free from dangerous or objectionable circumstances , or one which left so much liberty of action

      to the subjects of its aid . Our own meddling with Spain was full of dynastic considerations , and our operations in Portugal exhibited a flagrant disregard of the right of the people to manage their Own affairs . Compared with these transactions , France may be proud of her Italian policy ; and if for a moment it seems to fall short of what the occasion demands , it should be criticised in no hostile spirit ; but while a generous and appreciating judgment is passed upon its merits , we ought to consider , how the public opinion of this country can be directed so as to assist in correcting its defects . It is a very serious thing for a

      Continental power to stand alone , and Louis JNnpoleon has been made to feel that redeeming the error and the crime of the invasion of Rome brought down upon hiin the enmity of Gorman Courts , made doubtful his relations with Russia , and let loose in England a flood of Tory venom and falsehood , without winning that , popular support wliidlh ho had a right to summon to his aid . It ynay have been his misfortune and mistake that he started with a plan founded upon lower expectations of what . the Italians would achieve for themselves than their conduct has shown them to have deserved : but before they can ask him to embark witli them in a wider struggle they must prove their own capacity to work out a bettor scheme of

      national regeneration than his programme allords . The publication of his letter to Victor Emmanuel gives timely opportunity for this practical criticism ; and if on tho one hand it seems to lay too much stress upon the supposed claims of certain potentates , it has on the other tho advantage of demanding from Austria a virtual cession of Mantua and Posohiora , which would conse ^ to Oolong to the House of Hapsburg when partially garrisoned b y Sardinian troops . There is no threat of violence against tho Italians if the ^ ask for a more satisfaotox'y solution of tins question ; but ifc remains with them to devise pxftpticablQ schemes , and raise a military force proportipned to tho population already blessed with freedom of action ,. and capable , if it deserves

      emancipation , of doing the greater part of the needful work . Close observers of Austria believe that she would rather risk another war than make the great concessions in Veneti a and in the fortresses which Louis Napoleon demands . For that war the French Emperor can , no doubt , be ready in the spring , if the conduct of the Italians , " and the state of public opinion justifies sueh . a step . To the German Courts the bare idea of such a thing is a matter for grave alarm , not because one single interest of the German people need be endangered by it but on account of the close conof

      nexion between , the misgovernment Germany under its swarm of petty princes and the maintenance of Austrian power . ' The '• French Emperor is thus certain of German animosity , and it is well known that Russia strongly deprecates a movement for the liberation of Hungary , which would be the natural result of a fresh collision between Austria and France . Unless the friendship of England is certain , further efforts on behalf of Italy might lead to a general coalition against France . To rely upon Lords Palmerston and Russell would not be wise , because their official existence is by no means secure , and any mistake in dealing with tlie promised Reform

      Bill might precipitate them from power at the most important crisis of foreign affairs . It is for the people to counteract in time the misehief of another lease of Derby and Malmesbury misrule . Let it he proclaimed throughout the country , that British sympathies are firmly and unalterably with the Italian people , and that British friendship is assured to France so long as she is the champion of' Italian rights . While the Tories were pretending to desire the preservation of our neutrality , they were taking a course which would have disgusted France , arid which tended to induce the German Courts to support the Austrian cause . Let us remember that if

      Lord Palmerston , whose hostility to reform is no secret , ' -makes one mistake in dealing with this question , a temporary return of the Tories to office would be a probable event in the spi-ing of 1860 . Let it , therefore , . be known that whoever holds the reins of office has one course , and one only , predetermined for linn by the nation— -to aid the emancipation of Italy , and preserve inviolate the alliance between England and France .

      Untitled Article

      SHIPWRECKS . —THE ROYAL CHARTER . Ships are sometimes scuttled and houses burned , to cheat the insurance offices . If this be done wholesale , will it not be done in retail ? If insurance tempts sometimes to destroy , will it not more of ten tempt to neglect ? When the owner of a property fully insured places no life in peril by neglecting precautions against fire , will he be at the trouble , and perhaps cost , of taking them ? When a shipowner is quite sure that his shipmasters , mates , and seamen will take duo care of themselves , is it to be expected , that he should provide his ship better with tackle and boats , or put her into a condition superior to that which satisfies the Government inspector or Lloyd ' s surveyor , and enables him to get her assured ? The

      answer to such questions , so far as ships arc concerned , is to be found in the fact , that of 8 Q 9 wrecks nil ^ l casualties , other than collisions , on the English coasts in 1858 , no fever than ninctyeight , or 11 per cent ., arose from defects in ships or equipments . Of these ninety-eight misfortunes , no fewer than seventy-five wore the oonsequenco of the vessels being sent out in an unseaworthy condition . From such a fact , we may suspect that the practice of insurance lias , occasionally , something to do with the loss of life at sea . \ V " o should not , therefore , be particularly sorry if tho losses all through this year of the underwriters wore to make them increase the premium of insurance , and so limit tho practice .

      Wo must remember that a gradual but very important change has taken plauo in the position of shipowners . At a period not vary remote the shipowner and tho shipmaster were one ; or , at least , every skipper , was part , if not solo , owner . In tliis great branch of business , as in every other , tho division of labour has led to a farther separation of employment , and the shipowner Is now , in most oases , another person , not the ship captain . The ship in a spoeios of property , the profit made by which is enjoyed , like tho rent of land or tho oapital invested in a faotory , having a very

      imperfect responsibility attached to the enjoyment . The ship captain and . the ship ' s crew are now nothing like a family party , as they were in the olden times , having shares in the ship and working her for the common benefit . They are engaged for . the voyage ; picked up anyhow ; the men , perhaps , knowing nothing whatever of the ship or her captain till she clears out and goes to sea . The captain may be recommended by nothing but his certificates . Leading a roving life , much exposed to danger , separated . from many of the restraints and humanising influences of societyall sea-goers are naturally inclined to

      , be thoughtless and improvident . Other men have taken advantage of these elements of their character ; even Governments have hot been superior to this meanness , and have preyed on the seamen even while they pretended to take care of them , Thoughtlessness and improvidence have thus been generally increased beyond what is merely natural to the occupation , a , nd far beyond what is found in tlie northern seamen of England and the seamen of Holland engaged in the home trade . One source , too , of seamen ' s peculiarities—long

      absence from land —is much diminished by modern improvements in navigation ; still the bulk of the seamen watched over by registration officers and others remain thoughtless and improvident , and rarely or never make themselves perfectly acquainted , as reasonable men would , and plight , with the condition of the vessels in which they embark . Hence the life risked by the parsimony , the negligence , or the fraud of the shipowner is that of men who from circumstances are deprived of the means of taking proper precautions for their own safety . ' . . '

      Then , it may be said , the Government should interfere . Alas ! it has already interfered too much . It lias assumed the power of a complete master over the seamen—it has dealt with j them as if they were slaves , and it has tainted their character with the vices which distinguish < man in this degraded condition . To see that every ship which goes to sea is fully seaworthy—adequately provided and equipped with every necessary—is beyond its power . It has contributed to make

      seamen thoughtless and helpless ^ but has been unable to secure their safety . It can by no means prevent the fraud or the negligence which insurance encourages ; and the men whose lives are risked by either are unable to provide for their own preservation . Between the present condition of seamen and the limited power of the Government there is no remedy but in the improved conscience of the shipowner for the lamentable loss his conduct may cause but which , as far as he is

      concerned , his insurance covers . We should be unjust if we applied these principles to the lamentable case of the Royal Charter . She Was a noble ship , and had made several successful voyages . The late Dr . Scorcsby , an expei'ienced sailor , has borne most decided and graphic testimony to her excellent qualities , and to the skill of her oflicerf ) . Suddenly cauglit in a great storm and embayed , her captain se « ms , as far as we can judge , from her anchors havimr been down , though

      unable" to hold the ship against tho wind and sea , to have done all that an experienced find core *" navigator could to avert the catastronlio . Whether the ship were well built and amply provided , we have no means of knowing . We presume , however , that she was . She was a successful vessel , engaged in a lucrative and important trade . She was comparatively a now ship , having been Jaunched in 1835 . She was a passenger ship , subject to all-tho regulations and inspection to which suqh vessels are liable , both here and in the colonies . The profit of her owners depended on her reputation , " and because this was great she was crowded with passengers , and entrusted with a large quantity of treasure . Her owners , therefore , had every possible motive to see that she was m puWeot repair and provide her amply . Her captain , offloora , and ere / too , had in their own personal safety , m their ffood name , and in their pecuniary rewards ,

      as strong motives as it is possible tor men niwwiuiy to have , or laws to supply to do their duty stoutly and bravely . They mot with a sad mischance , such as will happen to all , and those surviving connected with tho vessel , few though they be , whether owners or seamen , will bo happy whoso conscience is void of reproach . Some reflections force themselves on us as to tho ship herself . She was of a modern class ,, oom-

      Untitled Article

      SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 5 , 1859 .

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      Untitled Article

      ^ There is nothing so revolutionary , because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep thing's fixed when all the world is by tlie very law of its creation in eteriial progress . —Dr . Arnold .

      Untitled Article

      NOTICES TO'CORRESPONDENTS . No notice can be taken of anonymqu * conjasnom ence Whatever is intended for insertion must be « tl » enti « at ^ by the name . and address of the writer ; not ntttssaril > for publication , but as a ffuarantee of J" % P ° * ™ £ ' "SflsMfssIss wffcannot undertak e to return rejected communication ^

      Untitled Article

      OFFICE , NO . , CATHERINE-STREET , STRAIfP , W . C . '

      Untitled Article

      N 6 .-5 MV : Nov . 5 , 1 P 5 CU THE LEAPEB . 1225

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 5, 1859, page 1225, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2319/page/13/