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Leader (1850-1860), 3rd July 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 16

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      Quarter Day. To Throw Away The Opportuni...

      that great"handmaid and engine of all progress the Public Post . , ,. n The so-called "Old Store" sales at the Government depots contributed largely to the miscellaneous receipts , which , but for . this windfall would have exhibited a notable decrease instead of an increase of 642 , 839 / .: but having regard to the iniquitous sacrifice of public property , thus perpetrated under the disguise of sales , we had rather see no moie of such additions to income . They represent , in fact , an atomic dividend upon an enormous preceding loss . With regard to the decrease of 8203 Z . upon the year ' s produce of " Crown Lands , " the most casual inquirer into public affairs will be apt to join in our rejoicing that it is only so little ; True though it be that the estates of individuals have for some

      time past been enhanced in value and yield , it by no means follows that Crown Laud should be allowed to do so unchecked by the proper department . The elephant , then , who ( unless some " heavenborn minister" of our day conceive an at present inconceivable budget , or have the hardihood to face the substitution cf direct or indirect taxation ) , is to carry us through , must , we are compelled to say after consideration of the probabilities , be trade , or , in other words , the Customs revenue . For , compared with the probable deficiency of 1860 , already- 'hinted ' " at , the total aggregate increase whereof the other heads of revenue can . be

      reasonably imagined susceptible , can only be a bagatelle . The recent Board of Trade returns encourage the belief that export trade , and therefore , "by parity of reason , the Customs revenue have not yet , as is frequently advanced , readied their maximum of de-¦ velopinent . It is true that America is approaching such an independence of Europe as with her vast resources of cotton , coal * iron , and water-power , she ought . No wonder , then , that comparing the first period of the present year with that of 1856 , we find that our export of cotton goods to the United States lias fallen off about 500 , 000 / ., and

      of iron manufactures about 900 , 0091 . But , on the other hand ., we have but scratched the surface of Oriental trade , and even during a period when native industry might be supposed to be partly paralyzed , we added 1 , 700 , 000 / . to our cotton exports to British India , besides large quantities of yarn . Of our China trade we can only predict expansion * Tiiat with the Eastern Archipelago and Siamis all to come . The probability of a new El Dorado in the Oregon territory ; the suspension of the Brazilian duty on British iron ; and our increasing relations with that rising empire ( which may , nevertheless , liave her own financial trials to

      experience )—all , in fact , that points to exchange of commodities or to new customers for ourselves ensures additional importing power , new internal trade , and increase of revenue from both Excise and Customs . But the hope that the movement of internal trade and the extension of our foreign relations can , in the face of our present home extravagances and annually increasing war expenditure , make up for a vanishing income-tax , is a mere idle dream . A return to financial ease can be purchased only by Administrative reform , determined tranquillity , and the Avoidance of dilettante interference with the sources of revenue upon which we at present depend .

      Tolerat 6m) ——--— - ^- H::E Ee.Apeb. [No...

      tolerat 6 M ) —— -- — - ^ - H :: E EE . APEB . [ No . 432 , Jtoy 3 , 1858 .

      Parliamentary Equality. The Decision On ...

      PARLIAMENTARY EQUALITY . The decision on Lord Lucan ' s bill by the House of Lords on Thursday night , is not only important to that class of our fellow-citizens to whom it more particularly applies , but it is remarkable and valuable as a proof of the genuine advance of Liberal opinions and true toleration . For twenty-live years there has been a constant effort to carry out religious emanci pation to the uttermost point . First came the Catholics , then the Quakers and Moravians , and now wo hnvo virtually admitted the Jews to Parliament . On looking back at the struggle to place all classes of British subjects on a political equality , we are at a loss to discover why their Lordships should have held out so long against this particular section of the nation . Surely a bigoted Roman Catholic is as obnoxious to a vehement Protestant ; and his attacks on the Church and State Alliance , would be as powerful , and his chances of success much greater , than that of any Hebrew . Surely certain Bishops consider tho doctrines of a Moravian or a Hornhutter as dangerous to the Established Church aa any opposition can well bo . Total difference of opinion is always safer than a mixed one ; for it is quite certain that no Christian assembly would

      e any theological or religious discussion with a member professing disbelief in the Christiau dispensation . It is better to have open than concealed opponents . But it is not our intention to fight over again a battle which now may bo said to be nobly won , by the highly satisfactory majority of fortysix iu a House of 240 Lords . It is a great triumph for the pr inciples of toleration , and it must be even satisfactory to those who imagined that the House of Peers could not move with the times nor advance with the age . They have b y this vote not only done their fellow-subjects but themselves justice ; and in awarding a right nave added strength to their own privileges .

      Lord Lucan ' s bill , indeed , is not an absolute measure of justice , because , although , the Jews or any other persons can hereafter be admitted to Parliament by a vote of the House of Commons , yet the power of admission is vested in the elected and not in the elect tu ^ . The right of representaion demands that the electors should send whom , they may choose , aud it was on this ground that Wilkes was > so often returned for Middlesex , and in later times Baron Rothschild for the City of London . We shall not , however , quarrel with this slight dereliction from a constitutional axiom , feeling assured that after so much has been gained by patient argument , the entire principle will be by the same means ultimately wrought into practice .

      Contraband Legislation. Onje Of The Grea...

      CONTRABAND LEGISLATION . Onje of the great evils under which our present system of legislation places us is a method of lawmaking which is indirect , and , as far as the people and their representatives are concerned , may be called secret . How many of the laws which encumber the statute-book have been indirectly and surreptitiously passed it would surprise any one not acquainted with the loose , but , at the same time , subtle manner in which important measures are slipped through the House of Commons , to credit . Many railway ^ bills contain penal clauses which are at variance with the common law of the land ; and it has been said that in early times the Bank of England owed an important powev to a private law , and certainly the Usury Laws were virtually annulled by the clauses in a Turnpike Act . This indirect and unexpected style of legislation calls urgently for reform ; and we scarcely know of an arrangement where greater practical results would follow , than that which would be produced by the establishment of some tribunal which should thoroughly sift and expose both the direct and indirect , operations of bills of Parliament , public or private . We have now before us a sample of this mode of smuggling laws through the Legislature , in that entitled " A Bill to amend the Joint-Stock

      Companies Acts , 185 G and 1857 , and the Joint-Stock Banking Companies Act . " The sting of this bill lies in the portion relating ; to the joint-stock banking . It would lead us too deeply into another important question to examine the mode in which this bill purports to treat the mode of winding-up insolvent companies and liquidating , embarrassed corporations . Our present object is merely to call attention to tho particular and partial mode in which legislation is allowed to proceed . There can be no doubt that the real and immediate object of this bill is to regulate the liquidation of the

      . Northumberland and Durham District Banking Company , and in some way to screen the shareholders at the cost of the creditors . Tho bill , it is said , and we believo it , has been prepared by the solicitors to the liquidation of the bunk ; and if clauses 5 , 9 , 18 , 21 , and 23 are carefully examined , it will be found they are specially detrimental to the rights of the creditors , greatly impeding if not depriving them of their legal remedies . After the stoppage of the bank , the directors registered the compnny under tho Joint-Stock Companies Banking Act , 1857 , for the purpose of

      obtaining a voluntary winding-up ; but Lord Justice Knight Bruce has since decided that tin ' s registration was , if not fraudulent , certainly of no legal avail . It is well said by the opponents of the bill that nothing can bo more inconvenient ; or unjust than partiul legislation , for it leads not only to complication and confusion of the law , but to actual contradictory legislation and gross injustice . We have not so much cited this instance of attempted legislation on account of its particular application , us to show that every session laws are rapidly smuggled through tho Parliament which have a personal and local object , but which often contain

      general clauses that materially affect all clas ses Some device inust be found to correct this surreptil tious legislation , or we shall ultimately find every great principle of law gradually repealed , or , at all events , perverted by an insidious system which few notice , and no one seeins to oppose , the ugh all must lament . We shall revert to the subject-matter of the bill itself hereafter .

      Practical Mormonism. A Racy Scene Occurr...

      PRACTICAL MORMONISM . A racy scene occurred at the Thames Police-court on Thursday . One Hrs . Hannah Brown , elderly was charged with scratching the face of a Mrs ! Elizabeth Watson , brisk * and buxom . Both ladies , * with their husbands , had been initiated into the mysteries of Mprnionism—for , incredible as it may appear in this vaunted age of " progress , " there are actual believers in the silly and sensual infamies of the American prophet , Joe Smith , inventor of Latter-Day Saintism 3 or Mormonism , and a veritable churcli with all the burlesque panoply of " elders , " " saints , " and " inspired preachers , " in the heart of the British metropolis : out one of the ladies , Mrs . Watson , and one of the gentlemen , Mr . Brown , were " cutoff" from the " Holy Mormon Church , " for reasons best explained by Mrs . Watson herself in her viva voce examination before Mr . Yardley , the magistrate : — Mrs . Watson—I was a Mormonite three years . Mrs . Brown is a Mormonite . Her husband was ordered by the elders to walk with , me , to instruct me in the principles of Mormonism , and to rob my husband and go to Utah , for the good of the church . I was cut off from the church because I would not rob ray husband and leave him , and the defendant ' s husband was cut off from the church because he was not successful in teaching me how to rob my husband , and could not induce me to leave my husband and go to Utah to marry one of the elders there . Mr . Young- ^ -Those are the principles of Mormonism ? Mrs . Watson— -Yes , sir ; I was taught that to rob my husband , leave him , and commit adultery was to glorify the church . Mr . Young—The Mormon church , you mean ? Mrs . Watson—Yes , sir . Well , sir , I found out the baseness of the Mormon doctrines , and I would not leave my husband or rob him , and the defendant has been persecuting me ever since . Mr . Yardley—Did you voluntarily leave the Mormonites ? Mrs . Watson—I did , sir ; the elders of the church wanted me to go into their apartments and be initiated into the mysteries of Mormonism , but I would not , and have been persecuted ever since by Mrs . Brown and her friends .

      This is no romance—no clever invention , of a caterer for prurient literary palates—it is a plain matter-of-fact report of what occurred in such an unromantic place as a police-court . It is nothing ' to our purpose , the deience or the denoiintent ; we simply desire to call attention to a condition of things among the working classes which seems to indicate that the schoolmaster has been indeed " abroad , " and has unaccountably forgotten to look " at home . " How does it happen that Mormonite

      doctrines and practices , which in . the police case above receive a practical and undeniable exemplification , take root in a soil where countless millions are expended on a State Church , established specially to teach the poor " the way and the truth , " where hundreds of thousands are annually gleaned from the pockets of enthusiasts to fructify in the treasuries of Bible Societies , propagation of Gospel Societies , and scores of other donationcollecting societies of whom JSxctcr Hall can alone furnish a correct account ? We make full

      allowance for poor , gullible , und fallible human nature ; but the widest scope we can give to human short-comings hardly permits us to pity rather than to denounce tho quality and condition of that intellect which can imbibe , and put faith in the monstrous , stupid , and immoral impostures which shelter themselves under the taking term of Latterday Saints . What can we do with such , a filthy brood P We must not molest them by enactments , otherwise they will riso nt once into the dignity of martyrs . We must let tho mischief die out as did Johanna Southcotism and Irvingism , and must give the Mormonitcs , mnlo und female , every facility for taking themselves and their doctrines away to the now settlement of Sonora .

      Thus Diplomatic Skuvick.—Mr. Alexander B...

      Thus Diplomatic Skuvick . —Mr . Alexander Bowor St . Clair has been appointed unpaid Attache at St . Petersburg . Mr . Robert Edward Bulwer Lytton , first paid Attache * at tho Hague , has boon transferred in the same capacity to Sr . Petersburg . Mr . De Norman , paid Attache * at Constantinople , has left London for his post .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 3, 1858, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_03071858/page/16/