On this page

• Text (3)

  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.

  • 

    0OTQBEB 8,-1833.] TgE XEADEB. ' _j*L_

  • 

    MR. COBDEN'S FORTHCOMING PLAN OF PEACH. ...

  • 

    THE COMMON HEALTH. Thk Sanatory contest ...

• 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.

    The Burnley Masters' Combination. Tirrc ...

    increased but fifty per cent . ;—in other words , the average value of cotton goods is but three quarters of what it used to be ten years ago . This is partly owing to improvements in cheapening the cos t of production , but partly also to the masters contenting themselves with lower profits . There is great probability that some of the markets abroad have been over-stocked . The speculations we note amongst the unsound speculators in the Australianmarket have been those of cotton manufacturers who have burnt their fingers by turning merchants instead of manufacturers . They say

    that a man who is his Own doctor has a fool for his patient , and a manufacturer who is his own agent unquestionably has a fool for his principal , since it is impossible for the same man to be looking after the work of his factory and the ups and downs of foreign markets . For these reasons , amongst others , it is doubtful whether the sjate of the cotton trade would enable masters generally to pay higher wages without expunging their profits . - But men carrying on trade without

    profit never will manage it well . The cotton trade would become damaged under such agency , and then the very substance of the fund out of which wages are paid would be proportionately damaged . A demand pressed in a wrong time may thus diminish the very source from which the men have to expect their future wages . The fault of the masters is , that they do not make their case understood by the men . In a recent address to the masters at Preston , the men have made the fairest offers of mutual conference .

    and arbitration by an umpire . We believe that no resistance has been made to that offer ; masters in other towns , however , are joining in the Association , forced to it , they say , by the combination of the men .- In the same statement the Burnley masters say that ithey entirely disapprove of the principleof combination , which , on both sideSj substitutes harsh and often injurious measures in the place of friendly arrangement , but there is no

    necessity for its doing- jso . . If men , indeed , resort to measures of which'they disapprove , we cannot expect much from their conscientious action ; but there is nothing in the principle of combination which should be condemned . It is impossible for wages to , be reg-nlated by individual action . Tn the business of cotton making no individual labourer can bargain for his own payment ; he must acclpt the rate current amongst a large class , and if the individuals in that class know

    collectively what they can , ought , and desire to do , they are likely to attain a more reasonable position than if they Blunder on without concert . What is true of the individuals is true of both sides ; if the master and men combined and consulted in a friendly , instead of a hostile spirit , they would no doubt arrive at more reasonable terms , than while they continue * separate and antagonistic , unless they desire some unfair advantage . The terms which they can attain depend upon the facts on both sides . If trade is good , wages should be high ; if trade is bad , the men should be content with lower wages . But in either Crt ^ c , a mutual knowledge of the facts is the true guide ,

    It is evident , however , that with all their abuse of the men , the masters prefer a hostile and blind combination , to an intelligent and friendly consultation . At Burnley they have bound themselves under a penalty of 2000 / . to be true to each other , and at Bacup they have entered into a similar bond , with a penalty of 5000 / , This is combination of the most stiing-cnt kind . But if it is legal for masters to combine , confessedly it ia also so for men . If it is illegal for men to intimidate each other , it is not more legal for the masters to do so . To enforce the penalty of this bond would be more than that poiHuasion which the Chief-Baron declares to bo illegal ; it would be the compulsion which Mr . Justico Erie pronounces to bo unlawful . And wo should lileo to know which man that .

    signs the round-robin of the Burnley or Bucup combination would v ' onturo to enforce the penalty , tor , if ho did , he ought , unquestionably , to bo consigned to prison , for at least as long- n term « h that allotted to the Wolverlmiupton tin-plate workers .

    0otqbeb 8,-1833.] Tge Xeadeb. ' _J*L_

    0 OTQBEB 8 ,-1833 . ] TgE XEADEB . ' _ j * L _

    Mr. Cobden's Forthcoming Plan Of Peach. ...

    MR . COBDEN'S FORTHCOMING PLAN OF PEACH . Ahk approach of a Em-opean war offers tho grand opportunity for the apostles of peace . " Now or nover I" an l » anur # o says , when ho reminds St . Nicholas that there ih an opportunity of saving- a faithful devotee front shipwreck . If scientific penco cannot bo accomplished in war time , of what

    use is it ? We did not need Mr . Cobden to keep peace , when nobody was inclined to break iti But if , when Europe is about to go to loggerheads , he can show the quarrellers how to put their heads together in a more peaceable fashion , without entailing any loss , either comnaercially or morally , he will confer a benefit on his country . He is about to convene his friends next week , and no doubt they will " resolve" how every thingought to be settled ; but being a practical man , of course he will give us something better than abstract suggestions ?

    It is generally understood that Mr . Cobden received a distinct invitation from Lord Aberdeen to advance a proposition on peace principles in Parliament , and that Mr . Cobden declined , on the ground that if he failed he should have all the discredit , whereas if he . succeeded Lord Aberdeen would reap all the advantage . We are ^ inclined , however , on reflection , to doubt this story ; because we do not suspect Mr . Cobden of placing

    great public questions upon grounds of personal advantage or egotistical credit . If he declined , it must have been because he did not expect a British House of Commons to adopt peace principles in the face of Russian insult . Still , if it is true that Mr . Cobden did decline , the fact marks an overcaution , which has been before imputed to [ that gentleman , but is very unworthy of am apostle . We do not learn that St . Peter or St . Paul desisted

    from his high mission because he had some doubt ¦ whether he could come off with flying colours , or even because he doubted an immediate success . They cast themselves upon the waters , and trusted for the results to Providence . Political economists it is true do not place much reliance upon Providence , and hesitate to cast their bread , much more themselves , upon the waters . But ' earriest convictions , even in politicoeconomical breasts , usually enlarge the view beyond mere personal success ; and as Mr . Cobden is in earnest about peace , —at least we suppose so , —it was to be expected that he should advocate the cause most especially when it was most threatened .

    It was expected also that he should choose the ground where he could meet the enemy most directly ; and for that purpose no . ground could have been so fit as the capital of the United Kingdom . Why does he go to Edinburgh ? Is it because in Modern Athens he hopes to encounter no Miltiades , no Themistocles , not even a Pericles ? Is it that in that professional city he expects to find no strong- representative of the British public —no public that will take the trouble to attend a public meeting- ; but that he hopes to have the discussion confined entirely to a small political

    sect ? It is possible that such a calculation may be mistaken . ; The people of Edinburgh are likely enough to study the works of their accomplished representative , the historian of England ; to remember that Scotland as well as England has not only won its share of glory in * the field , but has secured its most valuable political and spiritual rights by strength of will and of right hand . The Stuarts tried continental doctrines and court intrigue , Absolutist projects and papistical oppressions , in Scotland as well as in England ; and . if in England we owfl trial by jury , right of representation / and individual liberty , to the national

    vigour with which the Barons ' and the Cromwells were supported , in Scotland tho Reformation itself has recorded a deep debt to the sturdy men avIio could take the field with the Bible in on « hand and the sword in the other . It is all very well to preach peace doctrines iii the roar of a conquering army ; but neither England nor Scotland can yet bo persuaded to forget the champions -to whom they owe so much , If Mr . Cobden has gone down to Scotland to be out of the way of a troublesome public it may perhaps turn out that tho railway expenses have been incurred without an adequate rot u rii .

    But wherever he speaks , something- very distinct wil 1 be expected from t t lie apostle of peace . Mr . Cobden is essentially i * business man , and the public will expect a business treatment of his misHiou , and it will most especially expect to be informed of certain points . Imprimis , —what is hia plau for " crumplingup Russia ? " Ho has promised to show the way to do so , and now is his time . " Now or nover . "

    He has also maintained tho doctrine- —quite incompatible with the crumpling theory—that the extension of Russia is conducive to civilisation that is a pr ^ jAPttUioii wl ^ lpgreatly needs oxplanntory notes ; for commercial men find u puculiut

    difficulty in understanding it . Turkey takes something like 3 , 000 , 0002 , of our trade annually Russia ^ prohibits ; and if she has of late reduced her tariff in some respects , in other respects she has raised her duties . At all events the grand fact is unabated , that our export trade to that enormous empire does not exceed a fifth of our trade Turkey . Mr . Cobden ' s immediate followers apt to regard the extension of commerce lization as convertible terms . It appears fact that the extension of Russia u . comparu by the contraction of commerce . How then ca the Manchester Manufacturer" tolerate it ? The paradox needs explanation .

    Setting aside the crumpling theory , as well as the development theory , the public wishes to be informed as to Mr . Cobden ' s plan of establishing peace in lieu of war . Peace in peace time , we repeat , is a superfluity , without which we may be well contented . It is peace in war time that we want . It might be that Mr . Cobden would suggest the purchase of peace at the expense of

    national honour ; a commodity which may perhaps not be quoted at its general value in his price current ; and if so we have , in O'Connell's phrase , only to cry " Thank you for nothing . " Nobody , we believe , out of Mr . Cobden s immediate circle , would be inclined to effect the purchase on those terms . Peace with honour is what England wants , and Mr . Cobden has advertised himself as the manufacturer . Will his

    plan be forthcoming ? He has talked of an arbitration court , as gentlemen in broad brims also talk ; . and we in . England may be well disposed to refer national questions to such a court ; but what progress has Mr . Cobden made in persuading his protege the Czar to consent ? What success has been attained in Vienna ? What respect has the Czar shown for the highest court of arbitration ? What security have we that the Emperor will not quibble , evade fulfilment , and continue his aggressions while " negotiating . " We have indeed no sort of security that the Emperor of Russia would not cut to pieces deputations sent to him for the purpose of demanding

    arbitration , as we saw in the case of the deputation sent by the Government of Monrovia , which tried Mr . Cobden ' s nostrum in the endeavour to persuade two hostile tribes of that neighbourhood to live at peace . The arbitration plan is not very promising-. We want something more applicable to the immediate emergency . And after all the preaching that we have heard upon the subject , evidently Mr . Cobden is the man answerable for furnishing us with a plan , cut and dried . The public expects that he will make a statement of that plan at Edinburgh next week , and we at least shall watch with considerable interest for the light that he ia to throw upon the subject .

    Two other questions we have to ask . Mr . Bright astounded the liberal party by declaring implicit confidence in Lord Aberdeen : Does Mr . Bright continue his confidence now , and on what grounds ? Mr . Cobden , whilome , denounced " secret diplomacy " : Will he help us now . to tear off the veil ?

    The Common Health. Thk Sanatory Contest ...

    THE COMMON HEALTH . Thk Sanatory contest still progresses . In every parish guardians and doctors are contending with filth and attacking- lazar houses with great courage . It is a guerilla war in which personal bravery plays the best part . The credit of individual exertions ia not diminished by any general organization , for the brunt of the fight has fallen on single men . And nobly have they done their task . Recording their names we should tell but the every-day common-place names of Englishmen : yet it is a atory that might bo told with pride in any country or in any ago . In the in turns t of public duty , or tor tho nako of the poor , men lace breathing poisons with chances

    of death often greater than thorn oif tho battle-field ; In an age active in criticism but slow in action , wo should not forget to praise these parochial officers and voluntary missionaries , who arc manfully repairing the terrible neglect of centuries ; for this necessity of guarding tho public health hns existed lor yearn . Years ago it was madness not to clear away foetid heaps of matter Irom near tho homes of living people . Yeara ago tho oxistonce of noisome factories m town was tho privilege of chartered libertines—licensed to kill their apportioned number of victims . Those thingH aro almost as old as our municipal institutions—as old as tho greatness of our cities . Lately tho enemy has been roinforced . Agur Town , which wo hear now spoken of as ifti

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 8, 1853, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08101853/page/11/