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Leader (1850-1860), 8th June 1850, Edition Country of 1, Page 14

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      What Is Wanted To Reform The People ? Ju...

      instruct in a single week . The people are perishing for want of some such primitive efforts as these . Such is the open profanity in our streets that he would have no difficulty in meeting multitudes , hourly , whom he might reprove and instruct . " I think in this brief sketch you will see something like the primitive method of teaching Christianity . We never read of them building churches or chapels , nor of its being one of their great tribulations that they were not allowed to do so . Just let us imagine any

      town thus favoured with a number of teachers like these equal to the number they have at present , and we cannot avoid concluding that a moral revolution would soon be effected . Imagine the city of York , for instance , with its 50 , 000 population operated upon by 50 such men " going about doing good . " Might ¦ w e not expect drunkenness , profanity , whoredom , and crime and vice generally to disappear ? At present , both in our town and country villages , vice reigns unchecked , ignorance untaught , and the people left to corrupt one another .

      In conclusion , it is a poor , pitiful , remedy to propose common schools to do this work . It is most inconsistent to support an extensive system of religion and yet to call upon the country to start another agency to do the work which that ought to do ; and which , if moulded by the principles of reason and utility instead of worldly policy and clergy craft , is amply capable of accomplishing . "A Practical Believer ..

      M 2^4 . Ocfye Ylezhet. [Saturpay,

      m 2 ^ 4 . ocfye yLezhet . [ Saturpay ,

      The Duty Of Socialists. Sundcrland, May ...

      THE DUTY OF SOCIALISTS . Sundcrland , May 15 , 1850 . j ^ iij ,, —I am much pleased with the article " What is buy Socialism ? " in the Leader of last week , and also with the letters of your correspondents C" and u J . Hi , " inasmuch as education is set forth as £ he '• great and only true revolutionist . " I hope the tays of physical force are past and gone for ever . Ill future revolutions must be accomplished , if accomplished for good , by teaching men ** their rights and liberties , " their duties and their interests " ; or , hi your own words , " teach men , penetrate them with views , make your beliefs their beliefs , and you will make your scheme of government theirs . Give them positive ideas , and these wi ] l replace , without

      yiolence , the errors you wish to destroy . " You also point out very clearly , to ray mind , what should be the present duty of all Socialists , viz ., "to take up the principle of common labour , or association , and to do for it what the economists have done for conipetition—expound it , illustrate it , apply it . " libw is this to be done ? This is the question for Socialists to answer at present . I have perfect faith that the principle of common labour or association is tlie true principle upon which society must be based i ' or the future . I and others have tried it on a small scale for the last four years , and we are positive that individually we could not have done so well . We have so much , faith in association that we are about

      to emigrate on that principle , and carry it out to the furthest extent that we can . I should like Socialists to set about doing for the principle of common labour or association what the economists have done for competition ; and for this purpose , I propose that a subscription be got up , and ihut prizes be awarded for the best essay , or essays , on the relative merits of common labour , or association and competition , as the future basis of society . I have not the ability to write on this or any other

      subject , neither have I in my possession much of this world ' s goods . AVhat I do possess I owe to my own industry and common labour or association ; but , if you think the plan I have mentioned be worth trying , I will promise you one pound in aid of the subscriptions to commence with . If there is any other plan that you , Mr . Editor , or any of your correspondents , might think butter than the one I have proposed , if it moots my approbation , I shall be most happy to cooperate with you in the diffusion of knowledge on this subject . Yours , & c , Jamks Hkid .

      The Word Socialism. Sir,—I Havo Road Wit...

      THE WORD SOCIALISM . Sir , —I havo road with much interest the articles and letters on socialism which have appeared in the Leader ; but , though t ) w subject has boon well illustrated , I think neither you nor any correspondents can be paid to have been successful in the attempt to dt . 'linu the meaning of this much-u * cd word . In your number of May 11 you declare your conviction that Socialism means nothing more than " cooperation . " Mr . Newman , in the next number , declares his belief that it means , simply , "

      partnership . " The word " Socialist , " strictly interpreted , would mean , I suppose , a person who investigates social questions ; but its actual meaning , everywhere , in the . present day , I conceive to be , a pei > on who investigates social questions , and lias come to the conclusion that society must be thoroughly reorganized . To make Socialism mean merely industrial re form is certainly to pervert and narrow its meaning . A ' Socialist believes that the relation of human being to human

      being , and of human beings to the cause of all things , muet now be viewed from a totally new standingpoint . He is thus a radical reformer in religion , politics , industrial arrangements , sexual arrangements . To call a mere industrial reformer a Socialist may be right , as far as it goes , just as it might be right to call a man who devoted himself to the study of gases solely , a chemist ; but a real chemist is one who studies all departments of chemistry , and a real Socialist is one who studies all departments of Socialism .

      If the question be , not " What is Socialism ? ' but " Is it not more prudent to limit ourselves to industrial reform as a preliminary ? " the matter is quite different . I should say that the function of such a journal as the Leader is to investigate the whole subject . Study is one thing ; practical application of the result of our study is another ; and , though it will probably be found better to moderate our demands on the conservatives when we come to a demand —yet I vote for an uncompromising exposition of Socialism to the people . Arthur Walbridge Lunn .

      A Proper Finance System!. June 4,1850. S...

      A PROPER FINANCE SYSTEM ! . June 4 , 1850 . Sir , —The state of society that to my mind appears most called for at the present epoch , is one which allows an unlimited funding system to be at once the measure , and as it were the reservoir , of all private property not employed in trade , & c , and which decrees the gradual decline of such property at the uniform rate of five per cent , per annum , for the benefit of the entire community .

      The parent of such a system might be a paper circulation whose characteristic should be that in passing from hand to hand each note of whatever value should daily decline at a fixed rate per cent , per annum , —such as , by its productiveness , should enable the Government , at one stroke , to repeal every form of tax ( or rate ) now in existence . The results of the combined action of these two propositions—aided by a late proposal for retrenchment , which one day , it is to be hoped , the people will be wise enough and strong enough to insist upon —would be an annual surplus of not less than thirty millions !

      If any doubt this , let them try the effect of calculation . Figures , like facts , are stubborn things . I have spoken only the truth . Invoking- the kindly criricism of your readers on the principles which , so far as brevity would permit , are developed in the above , I am , sir , yours , VULXERATUS .

      Religious Federation. Mai Ton, May 28, 1...

      RELIGIOUS FEDERATION . Mai ton , May 28 , 1850 . Sib , —Tn your last week ' s paper your correspondent , Mr . Lai-ken , has treated us to the contemplation of a grand religious federation , which , if properly organized , would , it appears , be a panacea for all the evils that afflict our social institutions . Mr . L . urges , as a precedent , the power which federated states derive from such union ; but he forgets to show the relationship existing between a confederation of states , which can only be a support to political designs , and a federation of religionists , whose practice has ever united both the temporal and ppiritual .

      Unity I can believe to be the only successful scheme that will enable working men to free themselves from an oppressive bondago ; but what a religious league can do for men enslaved I cannot see , except to afford us the privilege of walking from our •? frying-pan into their tire . " Mr . L . cannot be forgetful of the truth that working men begin to recognize their greatest bane in that religious federation which now exists and opposes its influence in suppressing every attempt to effect their social reform . Witness the petitions against Sunday labour , a fine pretext to hide the

      fanatical clamour for a "Sunday Bill , " which would operate only on the working man , and would entirely deprive him of the only day in which he is privileged to read such literature as is suited to his growing intelligence . Look , also , at the , opposition to " Mr . Fox ' s Education Bill "—an opposition which , though conduced by certain gregarious inclividunlitcs , whose constant c ; ire is to " bite and devour one anotlur" for certain occult purposes , is , nevertheless , effective for ihe suppression of anything which fails to act their farcical dogmas * . 1 do not express a doubt of the practicability of

      Mr . L . ' s scheme , quite the reverse ; nothing , perhnps , would more easily be developed ; but , judging from the experience before me , I am Jar irom being persuaded that the advantages which he anticipates would result from the federation . That religion ns it is taught us fails to accomplish its ostensible design , human society affords daily testimony ; before we enter , then , into such a federation it were wise that we first investigate the principle under which we are to be united . I nm , sir , yours sincerely , H . B .

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      Critics Are Not •Cne Legislators, But Th...

      Critics are not cne legislators , but the judges and police of literature . They do not make laws—they interpret and try to enforce them . —Edinburgh Review .

      Hero Worship Is Undoubtedly An Element O...

      Hero worship is undoubtedly an element of national strength , and we are glad to hear that the generous minds of Sheffield have determined on erecting a monument to Elliott , the Corn Law Rhymer , the poet of whom Sheffield is so justly proud . It is quite true that Elliott ' s name is a monument ; nevertheless , as a token of r espect towards an illustrious citizen , and as a material symbol speaking with rude force to humble minds ,

      we applaud the idea of erecting a monument in his honour . If Sheffield does not contemplate reserving to herself as a city the honour of this tribute * but intends appealing to that wide English public the poet himself addressed , we should be glad to open subscription-lists in our columns , and to head it with a tribute of our own in the hope of inducing others to follow our example . "We only await some official communication .

      At all times people are more ready to honour the dead man than to assist the living . The poet has a grim antithesis before him : living there is the hospital , dead there is Westminster Abbey . But then his labour is such " unproductive labour " ! Of what use is it ? It has not even " votes . " We really cannot be expected to take notice of it , at least in a pecuniary way . Therefore , those who propose that the Laureateship , which assists a living poet , should be abolished , receive acclamations from all who would gladly abolish this office " which has become

      obsolete , " but would be horrified were you to apply the argument of obsoleteness to many other offices still more futile , and far more costly . Douglas Jerrold ' s proposal to substitute the Curatorship of Shakspeare ' s House for the Laureateship would be an excellent one but for two objections : —In the first place it suggests a compromise with the spirit of shahbiness , which " kills two birds with one stone ; " in the second , the Government is under the express promise of endowing the Curatorship , and that quite apart from

      any Laureateship . In 1 S 48 a party of well-known Men of Letters , Artists , and Amateurs undertook to perform in London and the provinces , for the purpose of raising a fund towards this endowment , and they only did so on the distinct understanding that the Government was to supply the remainder of the sum required for the endowment . The Amateurs performed their share of the contract ; that of the Government remains still unfulfilled ! To merge the Laureateship , therefore , in the Curatorship of fchakspeare ' s house will be the violation of a contract .

      Curiously enough , the two candidates for the Laureateship who may be said to unite the greatest claims with the greatest chance ( by no means equivalent things ) Leigh Hunt and Tennyson , have both issued new works this week . Leigh Hunt has given us three volumes of Autobiography , the grace and charm of which will embalm it in the minds of that wide circle—his admirers—and win from the outstanding crowd some fresh partizans , sending them in quest of his delightful works . It contains bold out-speaking , delicate criticism , mingled with personal confidences , and delightful reminiscences of men whose names have

      echoes—Byron , Shelley , Moore , Hazlitt , Godwin , Lamb , Keats , and others . Indispensable to those who know and love his writings , it is enough to make strangers know and love both his writings and himself . We shall mention it in detail hereafter j as also Tennyson ' s new volume , In Memoriam , in which the constant sorrow of sixteen years chaunting a constant strain has produced something unique in the annals of poetry . Lauha inspired a series of poems which , in continuity , bear some

      resemblance to ibis ; but Friendship has here done what only Love had done before . In Memoriam is a serifs of elegiac poems , addressed to the memory of his college friend , Arthur IIallam , who was to have one day called him brother in law , as he always called him brother in affection . A sudden death bereaved him ; the loss has saddened his life ; and here , as the sorrow from time to time broke forth into musical complaint , you have the record of the moods of his soul .

      Caklyle has published a new " Latter-Day " protest against Parliaments , which to the M . P . mind will doubtless seem very extravagant , the more so , ? as the proposed remedy — that very imaginary

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), June 8, 1850, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08061850/page/14/