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No. 497. Oct. 1,1859-] THE LEADER. 1105
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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1859.
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There is nothing' so revolutionary, beca...
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THE WANT OF A CHINESE POLICY. It is a mi...
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THE NEW REFORM MOVEMENT. We congratulate...
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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Transcript
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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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
No. 497. Oct. 1,1859-] The Leader. 1105
No . 497 . Oct . 1 , 1859- ] THE LEADER . 1105
Ad01307
SUBSCRITION TO "THE LEADER . " ¦ ONE- ' GUINEA . -PER' YEAR , UNSTAMPED , PREPAID . ( Delivered Gratis . ) NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS . No notice can be taken of anonymous correspondence Whatever is intended for insertion must be authenticated by the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of his good faith . It is impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters -we receive . Their insertion is often delayed , owing to a press of matter ; and when omitted , it is frequently from reasons quite independent of the merits of the communication . ' ' . ... We cannot undertake to return rejected communications .
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Saturday, October 1, 1859.
SATURDAY , OCTOBER 1 , 1859 .
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There Is Nothing' So Revolutionary, Beca...
There is nothing' so revolutionary , because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed when all the world is by the very law of its creation in eternal progress . —Dn . Arnold *
The Want Of A Chinese Policy. It Is A Mi...
THE WANT OF A CHINESE POLICY . It is a misfortune of Parliamentary government when parties are nearly balanced , and the nation does not take the trouble to enforce adhesion to any principles of . action , that matters of great moment are managed from hand to mouth to the utter neglect of the consequences likely to ensue . This truism has been illustrated by our . -conduct towards China , for although we have sent out ambassadors and plenipotentiaries , appointed superintendents , fought -battles , bombarded towns ,
gained victories , and made treaties , suffered lengthy debates in the Houses of Lords and Commons , and even had a China Parliament , we have never had a Chinese policy ; and those interesting specimens of a partially extinct civilisation , who rejoice in pigtails and pancake faces , must ^ be terribly puzzled what to make of the " red-haired foreign devils , " as they politely term us , and whose conduct can only be explained by those who are intimately acquainted with the intricacies and curiosities of a constitutional system .
The private letters just arrived from China assert positively that intelligent Englishmen and intelligent Chinese both considered the Elgin treaty a piece of diplomatic humbug , and astonishment is expressed that Mr . Bruce and Admiral Hope should have been so foolish as to fancy it anything better than a scrap of waste paper , whose reputation might last long enough to procure for the canny Scot who negotiated it rewards and honours , which the bestowers and the receiver must have been aware were not due for unfinished work . We should like to know the instructions Lord Elgin had from Lord
Palmerston ' Administration , and subsequently from that of Lord Derby , as these would show whether our rulers regarded the war as a serious and important business that , having been entered upon , was to be waged for a definite purpose , and upon a well-considered plan , or whether they looked at it as a troublesome episode in British transactions , that was to be got through somehow without reference to the effects it would entail . For inanyyears we have suffered from perfoctly-intylli ^ ible grievances—the contempt felt by the Chinese for Europeans , and the want of direct communication with the Emneror and his immodiato advisers . The
contempt , although unpleasant to its objects , is not unnatural , and notwithstanding our intercourse with foreigners , wo could still produce bold Britons wlxoso conceit of race is only a trifle less offensive and ridiculous than that of the Chinese . It is only by mixing upon equal terms with other people that any nation is taught to view its neighbours with cosmopolitan respect , and we certainly have no right to expect that tho Chinese should feel that friendly sentiment towards us when we have had lots of squabbles and two wars without demanding or gaining any objects worthy of tho strife . In fact , our position baa neither been one
of dignity nor justice , and very little has , yet occurred to induce the " Brother of the Sun and Moon" to treat \ is with more consideration than one of his predecessors once showed to a Dutch envoy , who , after knocking his head nine tunes on the ground , received a present of partially-gnawed sheeps' trotters in a dirty plate . Exeter Hall has served up the opium question , with its usual condiments of rant and cant , but it must be confessed that the opium quarrel was not the prettiest that mi"ht have been devised , nor was the Lorcha business a pleasant ground for a resort to arms . The first China war must have appeared to the Court of Pekin little better than a marauding
expedition , when it was wound up for a payment of money , without placing the relationship between the two races upon an equal footing , and the second China war terminating in a still-born treaty could only wear the aspect of a sanguinary burlesque . There , is a ludicrous and perplexing want of conformity between our conduct and our principles , and no one chooses to affirm that we have a right to force Asiatic countries to conduct an intercourse with us upon European terms . _ If we think this wrong let us give up all surreptitious employment of force to bring it about , but if we think it right let . . declare it to be the basis of our policy , and not stop short until the object has boon attained .
The Chinese question . has become more than ever important on account of our connexion with France and the progress of Russian aggression in the East . If we fail to carry on whatever proceedings maybe required with the firmness and intelligence necessary to ensure success and win respect , w e shall not only sow theseeds of another quarrel with our tea-supplying friends , but shall lower our reputation in-the minds of all Oriental nations , and promote an alliance between Russia and France for purposes we may not approve . For want of any broad principle of action during the Crimean war our Government sacrificed Kara ,
and strengthened Russia ' s pressure upon the Caspian and the Black Sea . Now the Czar has captured Schamyl , and his success in that corner of the world is matched by the advantages gained from the Chinese , and may materially affect the ultimate condition of the Turkish empire . Russia succeeds against Circassians or Chinese because she lias a policy . and knows what she is about ; and if we have no policy , and do not know what we are about , we cannot complain if any French Government should prefer allying itself with a State that has . If we play second fiddle in Chinese arrangements , and let the French win a great reputation , and establish a strong position within a short steaming distance of the Russians on the Amoor , there can be no doubt mischief
will follow . Our trade with China has become so enormous , that we obtain a revenue of nearly five millions and a half by the taxation of tua , while France has scarcely any eastern trade to . protect ; and if , through our negligence , the French should be furnished with an opportunity for making a permanent naval station in the north of China , our danger from war would be materially increased . We cannot and ought not to seek to prevent the French from avenging their own wrongs , and protecting what they may conceive to bo their own interests , but joint expeditions should be avoided as far as possible , and we must not let the end of the story be , that the English blundered and failed , and the French benevolently repaired their errors , and supplied the requisite military and naval skill . _ Ifc is rumoured that the Cabinet is divided in
opinion upon those matters , and it is-. very doubtful whether the Governor-General of India lias acted with the vigour and skill which the occasion required . Thero is , however , one consolationtrade promises , for tho present , to go on much as usual , and although lords and thoir relations may Haunt their fool ' s-caps in the faco of John Chinaman , no English subject is likely to miss his favourite cup pf Bohoa .
The New Reform Movement. We Congratulate...
THE NEW REFORM MOVEMENT . We congratulate the Liverpool Financial Reform Association upon its intention of commencing a brisk agitation on tho subject of taxation and expenditure , in which it is to have the support of Messrs ) . Cobdon and Bright . It is announced that the first s will be an organised movement to advooate tho remission of Customs duties upon articles entering , like tea and sugar , into universal
consumption , and to clear the Customs list of a host of imports that are alleged to be more vexatious than remunerative . Many of the absurdities pf our tariff are clearly exposed in a paper which we reprint from the Financial Reformer , and we apprehend there will not be much difficulty in raising a laugh at fiscal facetiae ? , and obtaining thunders of applause for proposals to reduce the expenses of domestic housekeeping , and thus encourage " those young people about . to marry , " whom advertising upholsterers are so anxious to catch , to put their desires into execution , and not fear to have their quiver filled , as the Hebrew bard directs . The scheme is alluring and no
doubt practicable , but it is surrounded by difficulties that its supporters can scarcely overrate ; and if they can succeed in making the country anxious for financial reform , we may expect a general attack upon the whole system of British government , -whichjis really a government by corruption , and not by those pleasant sounding entities , Queen , lords , and commons , as people suppose . The first tiling that strikes the observer , is that although the Customs yield about £ 24 , 000 , 000 a year , ° they do not suffice- to defray the present charge for our naval and military establishments , and It is perfectly hopeless to expect that any lar < re reduction can be made in taxation unless
those departments of flagitious waste and extragavance are entirely remodelled and placed on a sound foundation ? . Mere abuse of soldiers and sailors , together with assertions that ; we should be better without national defences , will do no good ; and we recommend the Liverpool Reformers to insist upon removing army and navy expenditure from court influence and party control , for until that is done we shall onl y be able to effect a temporary reduction of their cost , and find when it is too late that the diminution has been contrived
by neglecting things essential , and preserving every abuse by which family connexions are provided for , or political venality furnished with its reward . We also want aproper balance-sheet of these departments , and an annual stock-taking , presented to Parliament before the estimates are voted . AVho knows how many dozen or score of the ships that figure in navy lists , and swell the national outlay , are fit for their work , and who can tell whtet . has- become of the thousands of big guns that Woolwich had in store , and which were long since pronounced sufficient to cannonade the world . The authorities go on spending hundreds of
millions without telling anybody what they have on hand to represent the money that has disappeared , and after this injui-ious process has gone on fora generation , a Duke of Wellington gets up and declares that the equipment of a field battery or two is beyond our means . There is no doubt of the real nature of the system , and that an immense proportion of Government expenditure is misdirected to the purchase of influence or political support . India has been well nig h ruined by the needless force kept there for the sake , not of preserving tranquillity , but providing staff appointmunts for " pillars of ministerial , antic-chambers , " or agreeable gueats at court dinners and balls . Thus financial reform will soon find itself merged in parliamentary in
reform , for without a considerable cluin ^ c om electoral system , other changed that would render economy possible , will never take place . We doubt -whether thero is a . single honestly managed department in the government , that is , one in which the chief appointments are niadu . pn account of official aptitude and not for u less worthy motive . Wo have Po . stnmaters-Goncrnl who can do nothing for their money without hampering Mr . Rowland Hill , who finds all tho brains , and ought to be tho acknowledged head of the concern ; but if that were so , ( V polite form of peculation would be taken from our poors , and tho ooinnoundor ot a cabinet would have one good thing loss to barter for support . Many of those jobs are dreadfully costly , and the Indian mutjny cannot bo dissociated from the nomination of Gonoral
Anson to be Coininander-in-Clnof , not on the ground ot his military knowledge , for ho wua never suspected of having an / , but because the Whig aristocracy wished to do something to repair tho fortunes of-the Liohfiold family . The whole game is tho " take care of Dowbiggin , " which furnished Lord Panmure with his best chance for posthumous fame , and which will contiuue , until the national oonsoienoe can bo roused and tho national intellect stimulated to promote wiser plans .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 1, 1859, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_01101859/page/13/
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