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224 The Leader and Saturday Analyst (Mar...
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THE SAVOY BUGBEAR. nPHEBJS is a school o...
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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.
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The New Borough Fllanchise. Miieue Is No...
who happen not to fall within the terms of such exclusion . In probably evary parish of the metropolis , for example ,, as in the majority of oiir principal towns , there are numbers of houses valued at £ 8 and £ 10 ( in many places ' at JB 15 , and even £ 20 ) for which the owners are rated instead of the occupiers ; and this arises not through accident or caprice , but . because the proprietors of house property are enabled to compound . with the parish : for the whole of their tenements ^ and because the parish authorities consider that , in the increased security they tlms obtain for regularity of payment , they make a good bargain . A clause might be introduced , we think , with advantage in committee enabling the £ .. tenant to prove by the production of the rate collector ' s book before the revising barrister , that the rates
on his house had been paid ; and in such . case there ought to be no necessity for him to prove his personal rating . It is a great mistake for him to suppose that such an amendment would necessarily add to the electoral list an overwhelming ntimber of persons . Statistical tables may possibly show very large figures under the head of " tenements compounded for by their owners , " but it will be found , we apprehend , upon -inquiry , that upon an average fifty per cent , of these are inhabited by women , or by weekly lodgers , who occupy part of a house only . There seems , however , no justice or reason in making a law whereby one man who pays £ 6 . ' a year rent and his own taxes should have a vote for members of Parliainent , while his next-door neighbour , who pays £ S a year , but whose taxes are paid by his landlord , should be denied the franchise .
Then there is the . question regarding lodgers , which nearly affects the skilled artisan class , especially in London .. Thousands of respectable , thrifty , and intelligent operatives occupy portions of houses , for which they pay from eight to ten shillings a week , i . e ., from £ 20 to £ 26 a year . What is the sense of denying such men-air share in the representation ? ' , ' The measure prepared "b y Lord Djshb ^' s Cabinet had the merit of containing a proposal for rectifying this anomaly . It was objected at . the time that the standard it named for a qualifying lodger ' s rent ( £ 20 a year ) was too high ; but , at all events , it asserted a principle , in which a
great and . valuable class of society is deeply and directly interested .. We dp not argue the . matter . on the narrow ground'that there are ' rich or whimsical people , who like to live in luxurious lodgings instead of having distinct roof-trees of their 'Own ' . We do not think it of very much consequence whether a few scores of oddities , or men about town , are or are not included in the register for Marylebone or Belgravia . But we do think it a matter of the xitmost importance that another opportunity should not be lost of enlisting the best of the working classes in the maintenance of the Constitution . ' ¦
Another omission , alsOj we would gladly see repaired : w mean that with respect to the payment of Income-tax . Tons it seems wholly incomprehensible why a man should not he allowed to vote upon proof that he possesses a comfortable income , as well as upon proof of a small part of his expenditure . It . may be disputable , and we know it is disputed by eminent politicians ; what proportion a £ 6 householder should be deemed to contribute to the burthens of tlie State ; but there could be no dispute about the reality of a man ' s contribution who claimed to
vote Out of his income-tax receipt . As no man is liable who does riot possess or , earn at least two pounds a week , and as we already allow multitudes to vbte not one of whom possess or earn anything like that sum , it docs seem passing strange that for the roei-e sake of what is called uniformity and simplicity , we should refuse to recognise so manifestly just a claim . We ponies !? , likewise , we should haves been glad to have seen the professional franchises retained , leas for the sake pf , the number ot highly educated raou they would add to the constituency , ' than for the sake of the Srinoip le assorted thereby , that intelligence atid learning ought to e more respected by the State than mere . bricks and mortar .
224 The Leader And Saturday Analyst (Mar...
224 The Leader and Saturday Analyst ( March 10 , I 860 ,:
The Savoy Bugbear. Nphebjs Is A School O...
THE SAVOY BUGBEAR . nPHEBJS is a school of writers and politicians who are never JL happy unless they arc inuking a sensation . They arc determined to be distinguished , and find it easier to accomplish their desire by violent antics than by acts of utility . They care nothing for consequonces , provided somebody else pays for them . One day they malign a private reputation , and the next they stir the fire of international animosity , content to be mischievous and
irrational provided , that they ave notorious mid smart . This fraternity would , compromise tho cause of Italy , and destroy the moral influence of England in France , by keeping up a continued clamour about the projected annexation of Savoy——a course of conduct whiqU , by exaggerating one of the little questions of the day into primary importance , would eUfoetunlly withdraw attention from others of moro momentous character . Jioforo the war with Austria broke out it was confidently stated by some Italian
politicians that Louis NA-POLJeo } : had / bargained , with Victok EMSTAXiJEii for the eession of Savoy as the price of services which were to expel the Austrians from Italy and-raise Sardinia to the position of a considerable European power . Such an- arrangement might have beeii safely left to the parties' concerned iri making it , had not Switzerland been naturally anxious to prevent the extension of the French Empire to the very doors of Geneva . If Chambery and Nice were ceded to . France she would gain some 670 , 000 fresh subjects , which iriight be a gratification to
Napoleonic pride ; and the new territory might place her in a position of greater political power , and thus destroy the so-called " balance " established by the Treaty of Vienna , which old-fogey j > oliticians worship with * all the superstitious devotion which an African-pays to his Muinbo Jumbo . Rational . England , however , will not be angry because that inomniient . of statecraft receives another kick , but will readily acquiesce in any new arrangements which secure greater liberty " on the Continent , and advance the interests of nationalities which brutal despotisms have so long oppressed .
The French Government might have decided upon annexing Savoy in a manner which would have' deserved the strongest animadversion ; but the proposals it actually makes , although not quite consistent with imperial professions" of ' perfect disinterestedness , and the balderdash . ' about France being the only country that fights for an idea , are not iu the least alarming . 'to any one who will look at them with a little coolness and common sense . The French Emperor declares that he will not attempt to take Savoy by force , and that he is willing to agree that Switzerland shall have Chablais and Faucigny—we . presume he means the whole province of Annecy ,. which contains about 268 / 000 ¦ people—which she " considers necessary for her safety ; and is , moreover , willing to
leaye the question of whether a certain territory shall be joined to France , to the decision , by universal suffrage , of the inhabitants themselves ; Now if / VicTon Ejimaxuel is willing to give up ; , for what he may think an adequate consideration , in hard knocks to be administered to the Austrians , certain mountain slopes chiefly famous for supplying Europe Avith organ grinders ; and if the interests of '' Switzerland are cared for , and the changes take-place , by the wish of the people-immediately concerned , what on earth is England to get in a passion about ? Or what ought we to care whether the " Germans will be more anxious about thrir beloved Hhine ? We should certainly sympathize with the Germans if
Napoleon III . attempted to steal their pet river , with its thriving towns ; but the German people are more numerous than the English , and quite as able to fight their own battles- ; and-whenever they are really iu danger from France , we may rely upon it , the fault will lie with their own Governments and themselves . There have been times when a large portion of Rhenish Prussia and lihenish Bavaria would have gladly annexed itself to France ; and if the nuisance of a swarm of petty potentates , and the unwillingness of Prussia to . tread boldly the path of constitutional liberty , should weaken the adhesion of any part of Germany to its rulers , it is not for xis to resist the natural progress of events .
The Italian question is not difficult to understand ; and as England was not > willing to render active assistance at any price whatever , it is certainly competent . for'Sardinia , in acting on behalf of Italy , to make'the best , arrangements she-can-for French support . Lord ,. John Russell , whose feelings towards Italy are much more liberal than those of Lords Aujsrcnv . T ' . x nnd MAJLMEsn-unY , gave advice which , if followed , would have left Italy Under Austrian thraldom till the crack of doom . Victor EMjiANila
wisely rejected the solemn platitudes about the force of example , and tried the force of French gunpowder against thp oppressors' of his race . The result lms not been all we wished , but Italy has gained . immensely by Magenta and Solferino , and is in a fuir way of gaining more if she acts with prudence and courage . We may exclaim that it would bo more noble if tho French Government would complete its work , and turn Austria out of Venice and the Quadrangle , without asking for any otlk ' i reward than the consciousness of having done woll ; and no may with justice complain of the opposition which Louis I ^ Tapojuson makes to the union of Tuscany with Sardinia ; but n
Frenchman is entitled to ask in return , what England has done , or is prepared to do , if Austria and her allies rekindle tin * war . Lord Joun RussiOLji would writo despatches in businoss-liku English , conveying moral sentiments that would do honour to any copy-book ; but he would not recommend' creating a diversion in favour of the Italians by landing a-., liberating expedition in Hungary j and if the French " Government proposed to do so , it is believed that , in common with other Whigs , he would bti seized with an attaok of tho Treaty of Vienna , which was mainly founctad upon the idea of making Austria a counterbalance to France .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 10, 1860, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10031860/page/4/
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