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636 . THE IiEAPEB. INo. 328, Saturday,
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NOTICES TO COEBESPONDENTS., We cannot un...
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> —* SATURDAY, JULY 5, 1856.
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There is nothing so revolutionary, becau...
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THE REFORM TO COME. It is scarcely to be...
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WHY IS BREAD SO DEAR? Why is broad so de...
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.
636 . The Iieapeb. Ino. 328, Saturday,
636 . THE IiEAPEB . INo . 328 , Saturday ,
Notices To Coebespondents., We Cannot Un...
NOTICES TO COEBESPONDENTS ., We cannot undertake to return rejected communications . It is impossible to acknowledge tie mass ° ^ " £ s ® ™ iseive . ^ Kieir insertion is often afclayed , owing toa press of matter ; and when omitted it is frequently from reasons quite independent of the merits of the communicatinn .
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> —* Saturday, July 5, 1856.
> —* SATURDAY , JULY 5 , 1856 .
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prMit flflrcw .
There Is Nothing So Revolutionary, Becau...
There is nothing so revolutionary , because tnere is S ^ AS ^ ts ^ An & l-SS ^ f ^ law of its creation m eternal progress . —Db . Aehom ) .
The Reform To Come. It Is Scarcely To Be...
THE REFORM TO COME . It is scarcely to be doubted that , if England be not diverted from national objects by foreign wars—like the Russian war , essentially unnational— tbe question of Reform , will shortly become prominent . The leaven is working . In the North of England , and in Scotland , a stir is perceptible in the public mind which seems to indicate that , if an effective organization were prepared , it would
carry with it the great body of the people And this suggests the remark , by way of reminder , that a formidable liberal union was in course of construction when vre were dragged into the quarrel with Bussia . That quarrel disengaged the popular attention from home politics ; political objects were abandoned ; political opinions grew faint ; parties were confused ; we had a war upon our hands , and we wanted a Wax Government .
But it is nob to be forgotten that the subject of a renovation of Parliament had been forced upon the " Whig leaders . The country , recovered from the Charttet collapse and the Corn-law crisis , was prepared to resume the debate between Finality and Ueform . So far had the manifestation gone , that Lord John Rttssei / l himself rescinded his notorious declaration , and admitted that the Act of 1832 represented no longer the political necessities of the nation . Here was the basis of a
movement , and a movement was in progress , when French diplomacy involved the Ottoman Empire in its fatal dispute with Russia . Conferences tooK place ab the London Tavern , in April , 1850 . It is not too muc h to pay that they represented an intense solicitude on the part of tho population of th e great towns throughout the country . Gr eat meetings had been held . The delegates were urged to bo firm , energetic , united . The working classes seemed to . feel that they were
not deficient in . positive strength ; they were , and for several years had been strong ; but their strength had been improperly directed . The anxiety displayed from 1850 to 1853 was , therefore , a now circumstance in the political history of tho English people . They were not clamorous , fierce , quarrelsome , as during the Chartist agitation ; but , unhappily , their solicitudo took a ' false direction , ana , mstead of being only cautious , they became irresolute and faiut-hearted . The body of tho
people was not roused ; the agitation continued Jio be Bectional , and ultimately proved a failure— -mainly , no doubt , on account , of the Russian war ,, but . partially , also , because its leaders . ooinmitjtad , the mistake which was at first committed by , the Anti-Corn-Law League . The League wanteda simple , completp , a , p 4 definite object ,, jand it was powerleas . ; the League said " total repeal , " and it wa * irresistible . Immense , cla . ppes of the nation threw themselves into it heart and aoiil .
We do not infer from this undoubted truth that moderation is not a political virtue . Moderation is at once a virtue and a power ; but not even moderate objects are attained , by moderated zeal , by moderated faith , by moderated exertion . Let us have moderate purposes , resolutely carried out . If the case of Reform seems hopeless now , it seemed more hopeless in 1828 , and yet more hopeless nine years later , before the working classes began that tremendous agitation , which resulted in a farce , through the ignorance and incapacity of its promoters . Nothing has happened to diminish the necessity or the chance of a New
Reform Act , unless the interruption causec by the Eussian war has congealed the blood of the English people . In 1850 , we heard the Tories prophesying that , if Reform were not initiated by the country party , the Liberal party would remodel the House of Commons . Indeed , a strong current had set in . Vigorous though irregular and capricious influences were at work . The Associated Trades in the provinces were operating with signal effect upon the public mind in London . The sudden and astonishing success of the Freehold Land M ovement , which , as the future may show , has not in a political
sense , been altogether abortive , demonstrated the presence of political resolution and energy . We believe that not less than half a million of persons enrolled themselves in these Societies in the course of one yearmany , no doubt , from purely speculative motives ; "but others because they had hope , and confidence , and courage .
The mistake of the popular party since 1832 has been its support of the Whigs . We have never urged the recognition of the Tories in preference to their hereditary opponents ; but the Liberals ought to have formed a separate , solid , and independent party , instead of trusting to the Whigs , l
expecting assistance from them , and ooking to them for the practical application of their principles . This has been , for years , the hopeless , unintelligible , infatuated policy of a number of Liberals , in and out of Parliament . Ever since the passing of the Reform Act they have had more to complain of Lord JoHir Russell and his adherents , than
of any other party in the House of Commons . Who have excluded them from power , stolen a part of their ideas without acknowledgment , and repudiated them without courtesy ? The Whigs . Who have used them as their proxies on the popular platforms , employed them to defend Downing-street against the Tories , benefited by their votes , and discarded their principles ? The Whigs . A , parliamentary Liberal is often a Whig in his minority , a political fag , who may gain something for himself , but gains nothing for his party .
We have ] now one suggestion to offer . Wo believe the majority of the intelligent English people are liberal in opinion , and would favour a measure of political reform . It is said that parties arc in abeyance . Neither the Whigs nor tho Tories have a policy , only the Tories pretend that they can manage things as they are better than the Whigs . Tho class that has a policy must conquer . Let the reformers show that they have opinions and resolves , and the way is clear for a new political reformation .
Why Is Bread So Dear? Why Is Broad So De...
WHY IS BREAD SO DEAR ? Why is broad so dear ? Because those who have stocks of corn on hand think that they shall bo able to make exorbitant profits out of those stocks , and hold them back from tho people . That is the reason why broad is so dear . The practice is customary at this season of the year ; but this time it is aggravated by accidental causes . - ¦ •
Last week we ascribed a similar reasonthe jobbing amongst graziers and even drovers —for the high price of meat , and we see that exception has been taken to our remarks . The Mark-lane Express points to the high , price of the fodder for cattle and sheep as the true cause of the dearness of meat ; but that is applying to the question one of the figures of poetry , synecdoche , —taking a part for the whole . It has also been stated that the
exportation of meat for the troops , and the check upon importations from France and Belgium , have contributed to the dearness ; we see it observed that the wealthy classes , who are making immense gains out of the gigantic expansion which our commerce has attained , also cause a large consumption for their own tables , and for their numerous retainers who share their prosperity . There is truth in all these statements-, all these causes help to make meat dearer than it would be if the people , like the Americans ,
lived on their own land and enjoyed a larger proportion of direct supply with a less share of the indirect commerce t hat engenders jobbing . They are all causes why meat is dear , but not the causes why meat is so dear . It is the jobbing in the meat-market which screws the last halfpenny or penny out of the pocket of the poor consumer ; while for the very poorest , it puts a prohibitory fine upon meat , and tells the hungry man that food of that kind is for his betters . Ten tons of meat were thrown away the other day , to
keep up prices . In like manner the organ of the corn trade is disclaiming for its clients their true share of the dearness of bread . Economists tell us , too , that merchants , who buy up stocks and make a profit by holding them in prospect of hetter prices , really equalize the supplies and prevent the alternations of abundance and dearth which in former times have taught the greatest nations to be as fearless of waste as insects in the sunshine , and as helpless in the
winter of starvation . This also is true , and it is no contradiction of tho fact that speculators carry their speculations too far , holding back corn when the people want it , in the hopes of getting an exorbitant profit . It is no satisfaction to us to tell us that speculators will overreach themselves and be punished by their own ruin . They do something worse than delay our supplies or raise the price for a few weeks . We are told by the same organ that one cause of the dearness of bread is
tho dearth in France . There is no dearth in France . People have talked about the inundations which have destroyed the crops in the South . The inundations have not destroyed the crops , for the com proves to be as healthy as if no waters had submerged it . But even if the floods had entirely swept away tho corn around Tours and in tho neighbouring districts , that defalcation from the general stock of the world would have been unworthy of notice . The speculators have no doubt been at work in France ,
asking larger prices in the name of inundation and dearth ; but ^ the fact is , that the crops throughout France are in a splendid state . The harvest has commenced , and the holders of stocks , foreseeing what is about to coino upon them , already begin to give way in their demands . Yet our speculators are still tulking about " dearth in France I" This is one tangible and positive proof of the species of delusion which they attempt to pass upon tho public .
Here is every prospect of immense abundance . For two years and more America has been growing corn for a market out of which Russia has been excluded by tho war . Now it happens that adverse seasons had materially cheeked the produce in America , and tli * consequence has been , that prices Uavo been kopt
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 5, 1856, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_05071856/page/12/
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