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36 THE LEADER. [No. 303, Saturday
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SATURDAY, JANUARY 12, 1856.
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There is nothing 30 revolutionary, becau...
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MR. COBDEN'S PAMPHLET. What Mr. Cobden p...
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.
36 The Leader. [No. 303, Saturday
36 THE LEADER . [ No . 303 , Saturday
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''^ ' ^^' ' ^ Ti i ^ ^ fo ^^^^^&^ lsiia . ' A . B . T . —The letter has t > een handed to the biographer . NO notice , can be taken of anonyinoiu communications . Whatever is iutended for insertion most be authenticated by the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of his good faith . •¦ OpsK'CouN-n , " is again unavoidably omitted . It is impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters we receive . Their insertion ia often delayed , owing to a press of matter ; and when omitted , it is frequently from reasons quite independent of the merits or the communication . Communications should always be legibly-written , and on one side of the paper only . If long , it increases the difficalty or finding space for them . "We cannot undertake to return rejected communications .
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Saturday, January 12, 1856.
SATURDAY , JANUARY 12 , 1856 .
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There Is Nothing 30 Revolutionary, Becau...
There is nothing 30 revolutionary , because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed when all the world is by the verj law of its creation in eternal progress . —Da . Arnold .
Mr. Cobden's Pamphlet. What Mr. Cobden P...
MR . COBDEN'S PAMPHLET . What Mr . Cobden proves , in his pamphlet , is , < that the Allies have a difficult work before them . He assumes that Russia has rejected the Austrian proposal : he allows us to assume -that the war is not , in principle , an unjust ¦ war . His retrospect does not , indeed , include the original grounds of the quarrel . Omitting that discussion , and looking at the fu ture from the present , he argues that , it being impossible effectually to coerce Russia , to persist in attempting such coercion Is an unwise and desperate policy . Consequently , he would withdraw from the conflict , without plea or explanation . ' Certainly , he will a , gree with us , -that this course would be surprising , if not unparalleled . Since statesmanship existed , has any nation ever so far committed itself to a trial of strength as England has committed herself now , and retired unconditionally ? For , in strict reason , this is the dilemma .
Will Mr . Cobden say , " not unconditionally F Then it is a question of terms , and we all accept that basis . Will he say , " Not the conditions proposed by Austria ? " But , unless Great Britain is to recall her armaments , without a single concession on the part of Russia , Mr . Cobden ' s pamphlet has been written , not only in vain , but idl y : it is not only inconclusive , —it is unintelligible .
Mr . Cobden , however , never writes that which has not a clear meaning . We might say , he never writes that which is not , in man y points , conclusive . His pamphlet should have some effect in rationalising popular opinions of Russia . It describes the power of that empire ; its self-sustaining internal commerce ; its intercourse with Northern Asia and the
Continent ; and the «« impassive fortitude" of its people . The estimate is too high , we think , especially in as far as it repeats Tegoborski ' s calculations , supposititious as these often are ; but the public has been deluded by estimates winch err , much more grossly , on the opposite side . Thus , the Times has ridiculously disparaged the growth of the Russian population . To argue that because Siberia contains not
more inhabitants than London , it cannot supply more soldiers , is to suggest a deduction radically unsound , because the parallel is false . Siberia contains myriads more T ™ T r 3 P ° sable for . military objects than London . Phe province of Bengal is one of the ^ ° HniT , 1 U Ma ' 7 * not one Bengalee nonE T > ? 7 ftmy' While tho low-thickly the rank ^ ***** ""** thousands into
It is not , however , a question of material facts that we argue with Mr . Cobden , but a question of policy . And we hope to interpret his opinions fairly , though it is not easy to distil a pamphlet into a paragraph . He argues , then , that , owing to the restrictive commercial system adopted by Russia , she is not , to any important extent , dependent on foreign trade , and therefore cannot , in this respect , be
vitally injured by the allied navies . Again , her productions circulate within her own frontier , one province exchanging with another . The continents of Europe and Asia are open to her . Her people are intensely patriotic , and are incited b y national and religious feelings to defend the imperial flag . Her finances , indeed , are bad , but , without an adequate revenue , the Czar commands all the vast
resources of his empire . Russia maintains the defensive with these advantages . The Allies pursue the offensive with positive and serious disadvantages . They have invaded a distant territory ; they must carry all their supplies with them . In England there is a paucity of soldiers , and though the Allies enjoy the benefits of an elastic revenue an d immense credit , three years of warfare ( inevitable" if the present policy be continued ) must exhaust their exchequers , impair their industry , and render Great Britain secondary to America .
Something of this is true . Mr . CoBDkN is a vigorous and suggestive critic . But the moment he supposes himself , for the argument's sake , a responsible minister , he presents a scheme of political operations which is literally astounding . Withdraw the fleets and armies , accept no guarantees from the enemy ,
league with the German powers against the aggressions of Russia , sign the tripartite treaty now offered by Austria , " binding herself to resist , in future , any attack made b y Russia upon Turkey , or any attempt to maintain an exaggerated naval force in the Black Sea !"
That is to say , engage to go to war with Russia , should she adopt again the course which Mr . Cobden thinks she should now be permitted to develope with impunity . Mr . Cobden urges the honour of Russia , -which forbids her consent to any naval limitation , yet would bind Austria to go to war with her , should she establish an exaggerated naval force in the Black Sea . What is this but
treating the Czar as a ticket of leave man ? He has been expelled from the Principalities ; Sebastopol has been reduced ; but it is useless to take his parole cVhonneur ; his promises are worthless ; his diplomatic engagements would be nugatory . However , place the Gerjnan Powers on guard , that he may "be seized upon the first repetition of his offence . Surely , Mr . Cobdef , who relies on arbitration , should have more faith in treaties . Moreover , what circumstance induces him to value an Austrian above a Russian pledge ?
Others have exaggerated the exhaustion of Russia . Mr . Cobden , we believe , exaggerates its vitality . Had not the war been ill-conducted from the beginning , a vital wound would have been inflicted , no doubt , by the allied fleets and armies . A new campaign seems inevitable . English reason has boon
willing to accept moderate conditions of peace . } ' they arc refused , the issue must again be left to armaments . But wo join with Mr . Cobden in a deep conviction that unless England put forth her energies in earnest , fearlessly and wisely , she will be disgraced by the events of tho third campaign—for Russia will not feel her blows . The pamphlet deserves to bo read , if only that it suggests that reflection is better than bluster
MORE EASTERN COUNTIES EXPOSURE . Vi bave been too fast in our judgment of the Eastern Counties Railway case . On re-consideration , we find that there is reall y nothing in it to excite the slightest indignation . It perfectly conforms to the rule that has been declared to govern our commerce , —caveat emptor—let the buyer beware . It is his business to see that he purchases what he wants not the seller ' s , nor the bystander ' s , nor tho State ' s , but the buyer ' s only . When the
railways were projected , the object was to brinrr " shares" into the market . So far as that first process goes , the whole object would be attained if anybody could be procured to purchase abstract scrip ; and a broker would perhaps be as willing to sell the Barataria and New Atlantis Grand Junction , as the London and Norwich . But we have not yet arrived at that perfection in the division of employments , and shares are at present vulgarly supposed to represent something . It was therefore
necessary to have a railway , in order to justify the proposals for shares of the Eastern Counties , East Anglian , Eastern Union , or Norfolk . The shares were sold in the City , and they were bought ; and it was the buyer ' s business to look out . If there had been no railway at all , he could not complain , unless he had examined into the fact . There was a railway , such as it was ; and if it was property not likely to last ,
it was his own fault for buying a share in it . The railway passenger buys a ticket , which represents a journey , and it is his business to see , according to this rule , that he really purchases a journey from London to Norwich and not a journey from London into a broken viaduct , half way between the two cities . If there should be a railway " accident , " it is his fault for going on the line . Caveat emptor—buyers beware !
The rule decidedly applies to the Eastern Counties . As with stores—if the Eastern Counties Railway Company proposes to buy so much sacks and sheeting , evidently it is not the duty of the sacks and sheeting contractors to furnish articles good or in sufficient quantity , imless the railway company itself sees that the quality and quantity be right . It purchases the services of a superintendent of locomotives , who is also to be a cheapener of traffic working . Well , we see no reason to suppose that Mr . Goocuhas not cheapened the traffic working ; in fact , he claims a
considerable sum of money as per-ccntage on hjLs having effected that bargain . The Eastern Counties perhaps did not contemplate purchasing also a gentleman who would enter into rival speculations ; but , Caveat empter —the shareholders ought to have examined their Goocii before they bought him ; and it he is not exactly the article they supposed , it is their own fault . So , again , when they purchased , at an enhanced price , the services of a David Waddinqtqn as a chairman , it was their business to see what they wanted . Caveat emptor—buyers beware !
The rule has been effectually carried out on the Eastern Counties . We have had several series of disclosures . Tho Committee of Investigation described the directors as engaging in extraneous speculations , while the servants were engaging in internal peculations , and the property of tho original shareholders was only made the stalking-horse for tho profit , of individuals connected with the line . The
very trunk of that railway system , as it were , baa been made to support projects that compete with the original design and overlaid it . In brief , it was as if the original capitalists of a project were bound to . support the expenses of all the off-shoot projects , while the ofT-shoot projects consented to aharowith them the profits . Mr . Waddinoton then appeared
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 12, 1856, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12011856/page/12/
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