Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 6th December 1851, Edition Country of 2, Page 14, SOCIAL REFORM. Owxno to an extraordinary...

Page 14
Page 14
14 of 24

On this page

  • Text (3)
  • 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.

      Progress Of Assurance. Uedkml'tion Of La...

      "This scheme , " saysMr . Scratchley , "is peculiarly fitted for the amelioration of the present condition of Ireland , as in that country extensive tracts of land might be purchased at so low a rate that if they were adapted to the proposed purpose with proper skill and oeconomy , the rent charge , estimated as above , need not greatly exceed the sum which , under the present system of landlord and tenant , is frequently paid as rent alone for even temporary occupation ; while it would at the same time be sufficient to realize a large interest for the capital originally expended . "

      The plan offers a means of bringing about a complete change in the social condition of Ireland . It would create a body of independent yeomen possessed of the strongest inducements to industry : namely , that the fruits of their exertion would be all their own ; while , from the concentration of the care and diligence of each farmer on a limited acreage , the land would be brought into a high and profitable state of cultivation .

      part of which would consist of the capital expended , and would be a rent such as is usually paid for the hire of land ; while the remainder would consist of the premiums paid by the allottees on the ordinary principles of life assurance to secure for each the payment at his death of a sum equal to the estimated value of his particular allotment . On the death of one ot these original allottees the sum assured would not be paid to his representatives , but in lieu thereof they would become possessors of an unencumbered Freehold Estate . The payment of the annual rent charge to the company during the life of the first occupier would be secured by a mortgage on the property .

      waters , and other useful and remunerative purposes . The companies or other borrowers to divide the lands so prepared , and to assign them in freehold to farmers of good character in consideration of payment by instalments . It is at this point that Mr . Bridges avails himself of the beautiful principle of life assurance by a system which he terms " Freehold Assurance , " and which , according to Arthur Scratchley * , may be applied to colonization generally . On this principle the allotments would be disposed of by conveying the fee simple to chosen persons—who would at once enter upon and profitably cultivate the same—subject to a terminable rent charge , a

      interest until redeemed . This sum , it is proposed , should be advanced by instalments to capitalists , landlords , and public companies , an equal amount of capital being in each case subscribed by the recipients . These sums to be invested , subject to the inspection of such commissioners , in the adaptation ot waste lands to productive settlement—in the completion of absolutely necessary railway and road communications—the improvement of lands already under imperfect tillage—the construction of cheap cottages—the encouragement and improvement of the fisheries—the formation of harbours and break-

      1162 Fffte G,Ia&Gg» ^ [Saturday ,

      1162 fffte g , ia & gg » ^ [ Saturday ,

      Political Letters. I. England Not Downin...

      POLITICAL LETTERS . I . England not Downino-strket . To A a . December 4 , 1801 .

      Most Excellent Fiiiknd , —I break through the impersonal once more , to ( leal the more directly witli aifairs that suffer on all hands from tlie want of dealing with them directly . Let us see how the Peoples are fooled . The revolution of the Prince-President has not been without , its effect in this country . It is generally understood , with something more than probability , that there was to have been a Ministerial crisis in London on Wednesday- —that , tolerated no longer by the drey section of the Cabinet , Lord Pahnerston was to have " gone out , " by resignation or otherwise ; but that in the face of events it had been decided not to expose the country to the con-Lw . / ninni'i'u of n . Miiii . sl . f'rial crisis ; : and ho Lord of a Ministerial crisis ; and ho Lord

      sequences Palinerston was suffered to remain . Think of the Whig Cabinet without Pahnerston ! 1 only wonder that Ik ; consented to remain . It in also said , conjecturally , that if he had departed , the fact might have led to the break up of the whole Cabinet , and a general resignation . Ponsibly ; but what then ? According to these rumours " Ministerial crisis" in Down ing-street has been superseded by revolution in Paris . But the public has not yet learned tbo whole of the machinations of which accidents give us glhnpscH . Tin ? designs of the Prince-President were evidently known in London , though not to the French refugees . Jt is * hidtiHtriul Investment and Emigration . Hy Arthur Suratohley , M . A ., Aotuury to the Weutora Life Assurance Society . London : . 1 . W- i ' urkcr .

      well known that the Prince-President counts on the support of Austria and Russia ? and has not Russia any means of communicating with London ? The French people has been taken by surprise , in a manner the most insulting to its sagacity and will of action ; and we see it before our eyes undergoing the mixed process of cajolery and dragooning . But is the English people a jot clearer as to the way in which , its interests are disposed of , its resources used against itself , its money and arms placed at the disposal of the diplomatic craft and Russia ; the Prince-President being the protege" of Russia ?

      It is wonderful to see how peoples consent to be gulled , because they will not insist on the only certain means to be secured against it—open government . The Prussians are peering into the speech of their King , like the wise men of Gotham looking through a millstone , to see what is meant by the extraordinary and total omission of all allusion to foreign affairs : poor Frederick William , who does not always know his own mind , has held his tongue , and the people feel that there is a wonderful and formidable force in that dreadful silence . It only means , indeed , that he will arrange all those things according to his own will , —and the millions of Prussians can't help it . But are we in England any better off ? Assuredly not . If we do

      not all of us see the way in which our Government uses our means to maintain Despotism abroad , exclusive legislation , standing armies and huge taxation at home , it is because some of us suffer ourselves to be gulled and befooled by the great many-beaded Humbug in Downing-street . The thing is plain enough , if you only look for it . We consent to be put off with promises and assurances , and permit a set of men , who give us little else , to arrange our affairs in secret . Thus we are cheated of everything we covet at home , abroad , and in the colonies—of everything , from sanitary reform , to a real alliance with friendly nations , and justice for Cape Colonists , Australians , Canadians , and West Indians .

      Take the case of alliance . There are several nations now manifesting the most earnest desire for practical alliance with England . Agricultural Hungary desires a peaceful intercourse with manufacturing England , but is barred by that Austria with whom her Majesty is " at peace . " Italians are transmitting repeated tokens of gratitude for English sympathy ; but we are " at peace" with their destroyer ? Cuba is not off the cards yet . We know that it would be impossible to contravene what we have said as to the fact that " England " has not been committed to the hostile position falsely

      asserted by Louis Napoleon ; but " England" has been exchanging courtesies with Spain , and lias obtained a rather exclusive pardon of certain English accomplices in the Cuban invasion ; and Spain says that she intends to maintain Cuba . She cannot . Cuba belongs geographically to the possessors of the Mississippi . That vast river is the artery of a valley still vaster , which will develope the highest political life of the great Republic ; and the Americans will not long tolerate the possession of Cuba by an alien power . " England , " however , is " at peace " with Spain ; and Louis Napoleon , though he recounted falsely , may have prophesied truly .

      England , the true England , has no interest in the retention of Cuba by Spain , so long as it does not fall into the hands of a hostile power , which would embroil us with our countrymen , the colonists of the West Indies . But why should the American possession of Cuba embroil us ? Are not the Americans equally our countrymen , by blood , language , and political ideas ? Are they not more so than any other race ? Certainly : and there could be no difficulty in the matter if the Americans and English really understood each other . But we leave these things to our oflicials to manage in secret ; and they always embroil the English nation most with its beat friends .

      The Americans have a difficulty in understanding why we do ho . They are only now beginning to understand that tlje " ( jlreat Britain" of official despatches does not mean the'inhabitants of the island ko called , but only certain gentlemen in Downing-street . Still they oan't understand why the great English nation suffers itself to be misrepresented . 1 can tell thorn why , and 1 shall do my best to make them understand it .

      The reasons are these—the English People ih a disfranchised People ; oppressed by unequal laws , it is oppressed by trade difficulties and ceaseless toil ; and it is a disarmed People . Being unrepresented , it bus accustomed itself to see the power of " Great Britain " disposed of by certain official

      gentlemen without interference . The exr ^ T " , seventh of the English People , which is ^ ^ sented , is partly cajoled partly tricked out onl suffrages , partly bribed . Powerless , xnuleS bribed out of its self-respect , the Engli 8 h Penni ° the English nation , does not assert its political ? istence Bankruptcy is the fiend that dogs til heels of the trader , and makes him hone X ! Heaven's sake , that there will be no disturbing because it would be " bad for trade . " He has national pride : as an old Jerry Sneak has outlived " all the romance of youth , " the Englishman of th * counter has lived down all national pride . Ameri cans , ' cute as they are in business , can scarcely conceive this . Beaten down by unequal combination laws , bad Poor Law , and every contrivance for destroying independence , the working classes toil from dawn till night , and have no time for national

      action . Besides , they are disarmed . Arms have been taken away from the People , and given to a special class paid by Government : the soldiery i 8 taught to despise , and therefore to dislike , the People ; the People unjustly to dislike the soldier . If the People shows any exercise of will , the police orders it to " move on "; if it stands its ground , then " the military are called out" to " put down "

      the People . Popular will is a joke to your veterans of Whitehall , civil as well as military . It is naturally so : a disarmed People is an object , if not of grief , of contempt . The commanders of its garrison can always dictate to it and use its name . These are the reasons why the English People , although profoundly embued with sympathy for the American People , its institutions and gallant

      nationality , suffers false voices to speak for it in words of alienation and hostility . The English People desires to be allied with America : yet the " Great Britain " of official despatches may go to war with America in support of Donna Isabella and the Madrid Downing-street . For every capital of Europe has its Downingstreet , and all Downing-streets are confederated together . The first effort of the English People to extricate itself from this degraded , ruinous position must be , to insist upon tearing the veil from secret diplomacy

      and secret officialism . Lord Palmerston going , we believe , against the natural frankness and boldness of his disposition , justifies secret diplomacy as the means of making good " bargains " nations don ' t want to make " bargains . " A sham bargain may be a gain to the few at the expense of the many ; but somebody must always lose by it . Nations want no waste of that kind . They want justice , peace , and liberty—thorough understanding with each other , good understanding between classes , fellow

      and individual liberty to labour , to help labourers , and to enjoy existence . Such blessed results are not to be attained by " bargains : to attain them , each People must hold its own power in its own hands , and oblige its Government to render an open account of all its action . 1 eopies can help one another in attaining those great results , by an alliance of Peoples against the confederacy of Downing-streets . Every nation set tree should be a help to the rest : America is tree . But the first step is for the friends of the 1 eouto themselves to speak out , directly and openly . ieu truth and shame the—Diplomat . Thornton Hunt .

      Social Reform. Owxno To An Extraordinary...

      SOCIAL REFORM . Owxno to an extraordinary P ™^? < ™ % ^ 7 ciai we are compelled to omit the " Notes ot a o ( Economist . " - -z -= ~ --= Hi « TOKV .-MnnB twofold . nature is ^^ History . " He is of earth , " bu * > J" >? Ug and hi » with the stars . Meaa and potty h » ™ 3 und desiroe ; yet they serve a soul exalted vritu 8 [ , ltfl glorio ™ £ im ., with immortal 1 ™*» ^ $£ Troug h which sweep the heavens and gander eternity . " A pigmy -tending ° » . ^^ retche * of this Riniill planet , his fnr-rcnching ; sp " tit ^^ outwards and upward ? to the . Infa . . . •«*<» th finds nut . History . » » reflex of tin * c d Every epoch hwi two «* U ^ - ^ 'X other , a «» - Holeimx-looking towards JUern J ; ^_ lookinK totaled pettv , vehement , and contused A w"l & J : Th , ou Hh '" " ;;;;« Xufo * . « *» f ' _^ . _ . i- 1 :. „!•? « f Tirinciwlca ; tlirOURH "I" ,, M « f h

      gl ^ of * o vexed drum * - »« pj-Jone reveals to u . the ^ "Xho groat evolution- of solemn , and majestic * ^ j ^ kon but a « day * , creation , in whono h fo co ntu ic . ^ ; uad oapritho other bIiowb uh the hurrying agj m > tivlty ciou . impul-cB of Human bo ^ ^! ut movwn e » t .-in unconsciously producing tno B iiritiBh Quarterly Review , No . Z » .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 6, 1851, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_06121851/page/14/