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Jp*y 30> 1853] I|HE LEADERw 733
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- THE CABpESS STREETS. The high©8 * indi...
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BUSSIAN COUP D'ETAT IN DENMARK, AND ITS ...
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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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Jp*Y 30> 1853] I|He Leaderw 733
Jp * y 30 > 1853 ] I | HE LEADERw 733
- The Cabpess Streets. The High©8 * Indi...
- THE CABpESS STREETS . The high © 8 * indignation Has been expressed at the unwarrantable brutality of the cabs in withholding their aid from the Londoner , compelled f walk on foot . It was said that the cabman took advantage of his position to put a restraint upon the passenger-class . He was caUed indiscreet , and Mr * ^ Fitzroy has declared that the strike places an embarrassing difficulty in the wa of adjusting the case on its merits . It is to be confessed that strikes are things in themselves actually bad : they create ill-feeling ,
waste the resources of those who engage in them , and inflict trouble upon the innocent . Yet , we would ask , whether the absence of resistance has not generally resulted in placing working men more completely at the mercy of the employers P And in this case particularly we would ask , whether the same concentrated and assiduous attention would have been bestowed upon the question of amending the new act , on Wednesday , if , during the day , the streets had not been bare of cabs . It was that great fact which convinced the
public and the Member that " something must be done ; " for so long as it was merely an abstract question of justice , or of hardship on the cab men , the something to be done was easily postponed till a future date . Even . now' the something is insufficient . Mr . Fitzroy , under the compulsion of the circumstances , offers to make a concession on two points : one ' m , to give the cabman an extra sum for hiring if he be compelled to go a greater distance than five miles ; and another is , not to oblige him to go more than four or five miles from Charing Cross . This is not to satisfy either party . The
Post Office is scarcely to be called even one centre of the long and irregular ellipse called the Metropolis ; and the cabman is still kept down in his price , be his cost what it may . In the preface to the promised concessions , Mr . Fitzroy ventured to assert " the only complaint , the only grievance , the only tangible objection to his own bill , was that pointed out by Mr . Walpole , that the cabmen tspuld not charge return fare ;" but Sir Robert Inglis had also pointed out a breach of all principles of political oeconomy , in " arbitrarily fixing the rate of price to a given scale of goods . " , In justification of this fixity , Mr . Fitzroy defended himself thus : —
"On consideration of the different compensations made to the proprietors of cabs in the shape of lower charges for licenses , and taking into consideration the lower cost of materials generally , and of provender for several years past , it certainly did appear to me , after the closest calculation , and examining the estimate put before me by the representatives of the trade , that 6 d . a-mile would be amply remunerative within certain limits of the metropolis . " Supposing this were true , it does not meet the case . Here is a law , newly stringent , applied to an old principle . Mr . Fitzroy confesses that the rate would " only be remunerative within certain
limits , " which he afterwards described as " the crowded parts of the metropolis : " how , then , could the same rate serve for the outlying and ttnerowded parts of the metropolis P He is refuted by his own defence . Nor does he explain how he justifies an abatement of the price : he does not explain the anomaly , that , while hay was 50 s . a load , the fixed charge was 8 d . a mile , now hay is 100 s . a load the fixed charge is reduced to 6 d . ; and when Mr . Fitzroy asserts that the " only tangible grievance was the want of return fare , " we beg to doubt whether ho is not mistaken in his memory .
There are three principal grievances to the cabmen : one is , their being compelled to go to tho outlying parts of town , without security of pay for the whole distance traversed ; tho second la the having to pay a rate arbitrarily fixed , when tho price of provisions has risen , and may continually fluctuate ; and tho third , is the being liable to a call from tho stand for a single 6 d ., out of which a penny has to bo paid to tho waterman . Tho public , also , has somo complaint to
ttiako . If Tares aro fixod , distances are loft doubful , by tho want of the oflicial book of distances . The hardship of tho law has made tho cab men reluctant and uncivil , and tho cabmen's Kriovanco , respecting the disproportion botwoon ho iixod price per milo and tho price of hay , is hkely to bo tho source of a disaffection , which ^ 'U en tail further inconvenience upon tho public . A prinoiplo is daily gaining recognition , that it is bo . Vond the province of tho legislature , or of a publio department , to fix tho price of a
commodity . Fix the scale of measurement or standard , fix rules by which , in the case of a public conveyance , the passenger is secured , beforehand , a knowledge of the rate to be charged , fix means for bringing the cabmen , like the omnibus-driver , to account , but leave prices to find their own level , as is the case with omnibuses and the price of all commodities , excepting the cab ride . . It is probable that , in such case , the average price would come to be 6 d . ; but , then , it would De worked out by the cabmen themselves . At present they are in the position of men who are unjustly compelled by the legislature , in the teeth of high prices , and in the teeth of the principles of commerce to which the present Government adheres .
But it does not seem likely that they will get justice . Sir Richard Mayne is said to admit that they have been subjected to unjust magisterial judgment , and they are still refused right of appeal ! The classes of cab vary , and yet they are refused different classes of prices . The prices of the raw material vary , and yet they are bound down to one price for their produce . The
House of Commons legislates arbitrarily for them , and if they " shut up shop" for the day , the House treats them as rebels . Surely no class of British traders , except the Negroes of the West Indies , have been compelled to trade under such restrictions and such compulsion . The Negroes have been emancipated ; but , it seems , the Government cannot exist without having some class of slaves on hand .
If the cabmen hold out , there is great chance that some new class of vehicles may be introduced ; and then , although the cabs could return to their trade , and punish the interlopers for intruding , the ruin of the one would not compensate for the ruin of the other party . There is a feud between the Commons and Palace Yard , and the Commons are having their revenge . It is a bad job , and we do not know how the cabmen can startle the consciences of legislators into justice . It is evident that the faithful Commons do not understand either the wants or the rights of the common people of England ; the separation between the two classes is too great , and the working classes , totally untheir
represented in . Parliament , cannot make actual circumstances understood . It is not the cabmen alone who are in this predicament : all the working classes are so . But we can imagine a vision which might tell the slumbering member , that there is more in these things than his philosophy dreams of . The police talk of resigning , 4000 strong . The omnibuses talk of resigning . There are several of the labouring classes of London in the same state of resignation . We can imagine the member startled from his slumbers by a grand procession ; all tho resigned cabs passing by in ghastly train , each carrying inside a resigned policeman ; followed up by all the omnibuses * and the rear brought up by all tho resigned labourers .
Bussian Coup D'Etat In Denmark, And Its ...
BUSSIAN COUP D'ETAT IN DENMARK , AND ITS CONSEQUENCES . Whether the Allied Powers , who have undertaken to mediate between Eussia and Turkey , aro temporising or not ; whether they are proparing to accept a semblance of peace , by making concessions to Russia , which will surrender to her without contest the fruits of war ; it appears now to be certain that no practical gain has been made on the side of justice by consenting to a procrastination of the decision ; but to bo equally certain that Russia is gaining most materially by tho extension of time . That Turkey has not in any degree altered her position , appears by tho protest of Redschid Pacha , which renews in other terms tho declaration that he last made—averring that Turkey has satisfied the Emperor , and showing that further concession would bo inconsistent with tho independence or dignity of tho Ottoman Government . Tho moat probable accounts from St . Petersburg reprosont tho Emporor as equally unchanged—resolved to insist upon his demands to tho last , but politely entertaining propositions which have thoefFect of delay . It is well known that ovory woolc ' s delay wastes tho resources of Turkoy , while every wook ' s dolay positively adds to tho resources of Russia , whoso immense size and vis inertia : onablo her to gain by simple passive perseverance . The Four Powers aro said to bo negotiating in Vienna ; but tho reports from that quarter incline us very seriously to doubt whether tho aim is not rather
to contrive some kind of compromise , which will conceal a material and damaging concession to Russia , under the form of " mutual concessions " by Turkey . We trust that this fear may prove to be mistaken , but the last accounts show symptoms of irresolution , not only in the Austrian or Prussian Governments , but also in those of France and England . A new importance has been given to the position of Russia by what has taken place in Benmark . In 1848 , the joint duchies of Schleswig and Holstein claimed ' the fulfilment of the late
King ' s promise , which secured to them that they should not be divided ; and which , therefore , left to Schleswig the right of following the succession of Holstein , and of being considered as pertaining to Germany , rather than to Denmark . There were many feelings mixed up with this wish on the part of the Schleswig-Holsteiners ; and the Danes , under the instinct of national pride , supported their Government in overcoming the people . The Germans gave a very feeble support to the outly ing provinces of " Germany , " and England , most unaccountably , supported the claims of Denmark .
It would appear now that a retribution is likely to fall upon bur country for that misprision of treason . The effect of the arrangement agreed to by the Convention of London , is to recognise the Duke of Glucksberg as the next heir to the Danish throne , and on the failure of his descendants the question of the succession would come before the Allied Powers of Europe . The King has lately proposed to his Diet to repeal a fundamental law of the kingdom to impede the claims that the family of Russia has upon the succession . The Diet of Denmark resisted that
repeal ; and now the King , by an arbitrary act like that of Louis Napoleon , but without the soldiers , proposes to supersede his Diet , and to annul the constitutional character of his Government . It is impossible not to regard this proceeding as one in which the King of Denmark is acting under the orders of Russia ; and it appears to ex-{> ose , by an inopportune indiscretion , the aim of ong-continued intrigues carried on by Russia in Denmark . We wait to see what course our own Government will take ; but this is evident , that the acts to which our own Government has been
an accomplice , and in which our Government aided to betray the rights of the Schleswig-Holateiners , were only part of a long-pursued plan to surrender Denmark into the possession of Russia . Let us remember that Denmark is the guardian of the Sound ; that she is , geographically , the Turkey of the North ; and our readers will perceive that we were not too hasty when we described the aim of Russia as contemplating both the maritime portals of Europe , North and South .
The course pursued by our own Government is not yet explained . For tho share taken in the Schleswig-Holstein affair , now suddenly illustrated by this Danish crisis , the apprehension is revived , that our Government , whatever may bo its intention , is subserving the purposes of Russia , at least in the Baltic ; and if it is so subserving them in the North , may we not too reasonably suspect the readiness with which it assents to procrastination , in tho faco of Russian purposes in the South . A new sense is awakened in Europe of the
position taken by America . Iho wildest stories are abroad , and we find English journals which do not scruple to echo the preposterous remonstrances and calumnies of German papers . The Americans are represented as conniving at tho assassination of an Austrian officer in Smyrna , because , forsooth , an American commander , with a spirit which honours him , defended a porsocuted foreigner who boro tho passport , if he did not the citizenship , of tho United States ; and because an Austrian officer was killed in a riot provoked by Austrian outrage . Tho Austrian press
now rakos up ovory species of anecdote , to prove bad fooling on tho part of tho United States , towards tho Government at Vienna . It is said that Mr . Marsh , tho American minister at Constantinople , serenaded by Hungarian and Italian rofugcos , gave from his balcony a ohocr for tho froodom of tho United States , Italy , and Hungary ; and tho Austrian papers report with an affectation of mirth , that on tho arrival of two frigates , tho Tiellona and Novara , in tl \ o , road-Btoad of Smyrna , the United States corvette , St Zouis , stiilod away ! Those anecdotes do not prove malevolence in tho United States , but they do
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 30, 1853, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_30071853/page/13/
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