Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 6th April 1850, Edition 1 of 1, Page 34, : . 4 xAITnltr WtlflT1*J8i j0UUUi j!lll \Xll&+ • *

Page 34
Page 10
10 of 24

On this page

  • Departments (1)
    • : . 4 xAITnltr WtlflT1*J8i j0UUUi j!lll \Xll&+ • *
  • Text (10)
  • 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.

      Untitled Article

      The advices from the "West Indies received by the mail—which left St . Thomas ' s on the 17 th of Marchspeak of the "want of rain in several of the islands . The weather at Demerara and Jamaica was , however , regarded as favourable , and the plantations were looking well . The Dean of Hereford , Dr 7 J . Merewether , expired at the vicarage , in Madley , about six miles from that city , on Thursday morning last , after a lingering illness . He was between fifty and sixty years of age , and had held the deanery for eighteen years . The dean ' s opposition to the elevation of Dr . Hampden to the Bishopric is fresh in the public recollection . The Morning Post refers to him in the following terms : — " The rise of Dr . Merewether may be referred to the period of his curacy of Hampton , when his late Majesty William IV . was residing at his house at Bushey . The xeal with which the young priest performed his ministerial duties , and the respect and affection with which he was regarded by the parishioners , soon reached the ear of the royal duchess , who became subsequently a constant attendant at the church . The first step towards that rank he afterwards attained was gained by his appointment to a chaplaincy to the Duke of Clarence , whose affection for him continued until death . " A numerous meeting of the landholders and farmers of West Kent was held at Bromley yesterday , to adopt measures for procuring a dissolution of Parliament , with a view to the restoration of Protection . Earl Stanhope was chairman and chief spokesmanin the usual strain . He turned aside to denounce the projected exhibition of the industry of all nations as injurious to the domestic interests of the country ; and he recommended all those who concurred in his view of the subject not only to refrain from giving it any encouragement or support , but to use their best endeavours to enlighten the public mind , and prevent those who might otherwise be deluded from giving any subscriptions towards carrying it into effect . The resolutions proposed were carried unanimously ; and , to judge from the spirit shown at the meeting , you might almost be deluded into thinking that the Protectionists are making some way .

      Untitled Article

      The amount of life lost in the wreck of the Royal Adelaide is now known . The official list of the passengers who embarked at Cork was received in town yesterday morning . It appears that 144 adults and 23 children left Cork in the ship bound for London . The crew , with the master , consisted of 24 men and one boy ; and 14 passengers having embarked at Plymouth , it follows that 206 human beings have met an untimely end by the disaster . An attempt was made upon the life of Mr . Butcher , edge-tool manufacturer , Sheffield , last Sunday , which

      fortunately was unsuccessful . An " infernal machine , " described as a tin flask full of combustible materials , with an orifice at the top for insertion of a fusee , was flung at his bedroom window , which it broke , but did no other damage . Four men were seen running away from the house , by a watchman who heard the explosion , and who succeeded in apprehending one of them , named William Bailey , a file-grinder , and two of the others have since been apprehended . The Messrs . Butcher and their workpeople have had serious differences lately , and it is suspected that the outrage is in some degree connected with the ill-feeling thereby produced .

      Untitled Article

      TO CORRESPONDENTS .

      Untitled Article

      STRUGGLES OF RELIGION TOWARDS EMANCIPATION . Freedom of opinion has never been so bravely and so openly vindicated as it was at the great meeting at the Manchester Town Hall on Eastei Monday . It was convened by the mayor on a requisition from the friends of the Lancashire Public School Association . The principal speakers were ministers of religion , and they took opposite sides ; but all of them without exception spoke with the utmost frankness . It is satisfactory in every respect , because , from the tenour of the discussion , the advocates of every opinion will find that the sturdiest and most manful assertion of a man ' s

      opinions may be combined with the most generous recognition of freedom in others . By no means the least tribute to this perfect freedom of discussion was the appearance of the Reverend Hugh Stowell , a distinguished Canon of the Church , to oppose the system of the Lancashire Public School Association , or any system of tuition which is not united with religious instruction . He ,

      a clergyman of the Evangelical party , recognized the right of public discussion in the broadest terms —without the usual limitations set even by the advocates of " private judgment . " He now found it not only generous but expedient and politic to demand in the face of that immense meeting a fearless uttering of arguments and a fearless listening to them .

      His appearance is also useful to the cause , because he took up the strongest positions , and defended them with great vigour : he thus stimulated a corresponding vigour on the opposite side . He protested against the disassociation of Christian and secular instruction ; admirably answered by the Reverend William M'Kerrow , a United Presbyterian minister , who protested against " forcing religion

      upon the community " : Mr . M'Kerrow showed that if you limit your tuition to Christians you cut off large classes of British subjects , — the Jews , the Hindus ; and not only so , but the great multitude of those abandoned classes in England who are at present incompetent to receive religious ideas , because they are so utterly unprepared by developement of the intellectual faculties . It would also exclude the

      large and increasing number of our fellow-subjects whom it is a foolish hypocrisy to count statistically within the circle of " Christians . " Nor is this class of small importance . It was declared on the trial of Shelley , years ago , that " the literary men in Europe were infidels . " Shelley was persecuted socially , and of course had followers—now to be found in no mean proportion among the more intelligent and inquiring of the working classes : many boast of total infidelity , and some are avowed " Atheists . " There has

      since been a reaction : in place of the " Infidels that formed a proscribed sect , of unknown extension , in Shelley ' s time , there now exists a much larger and more varying class of " Spiritualists , " still wanting a common name , but embracing a large proportion of the educated community , and extending far into those classes that pass by religious denominations ; individual freedom has been

      Untitled Article

      AN ABSTRACT OF TUB NET PRODUCE OF TUB HBVENUE OP OUBAT UKIT 1 AN IN TUB YEARS AND QUARTERS BNDBO Al'UIL 5 , 1819 , AND APRIL 5 , 1850 , SHOWING TUB INCREASE OR DECREASE THEREOF .

      Untitled Article

      YEARS ENDED APltIL 5 . 1849 . lfcSO . Increase . Decrease . £ £ . £ . £ . Customs 19 , 129 , 829 18 , 535 , 263 .. 594 56 G Excise 12 , 650 , 114 12 , 792 , 713 143 , 599 -1 Stamps 6 , 041 , 351 6 , 351 , 429 313 , 078 — Taxea 4 , 318 , 903 4 , 332 , 779 14 , 076 — Property-tax 5 , 317 , 211 5 , 466 , 248 149 , 004 _ l ' ont-oflice 789 , 000 803 , 000 14 000 _ Crown Lands 100 , 000 160 , 000 60 , 000 _ Miscellaneous .... 143 , 651 198 , 410 54 , 759 — Total Ord . Rev .. 48 , 490 , 092 48 , 643 , 012 747 , 516 594 5 ( i 6 China Money ,. .. 84 . * 281 Imprest and other 84 , 281 Moneys 665 , 293 656 , 855 .. 8 , 438 Repayment * of Advances 427 , 761 553 , 319 125 , 588 Total Income ... 49 , 667 , 430 49 , 853 , 246 873 , 104 687 288 Deduct Decrease 687 , 288 * Increase on the Year .... . 185 , 816 QUARTERS ENDED APRIL 5 . 1819 . 1850 . Increase . Decrease . £ £ £ £ Custom 4 , 593 , 119 4 , 432 , 584 .. 160 535 «««•• 1 , 820 , 575 1859 473 38 . 898 _ Stamp 1 , 549 , 171 l , f >; M , 125 .. U oi 6 Taxes 148 , 101 ' 1771231 29 , 130 - Pioperty-tax 3 , 011 , 519 2 , 069 , 608 58 089 — PoBt-oMice 231 , 000 231 , 000 -i nnn Crown Lands .... 40 . 000 40 , 000 " _ Miscellaneous .... 98 , 792 47 , 900 " , ' . 50 832 cS ^ lVW ' ^'' 10 '' >' J 77 lO . a 95 , 9 !< r 126 , 117 225 , 413 ImprvatMoncjrsi&c ' . S 04 . 361 301 , 759 97 * 398 Z Repayments of Advances 87 , 648 91 , 400 3 , 752 __ Total Income ... 10 , 787 , 286 10 , 789 , 110 | 227 , 267 ~ 225 413 Deduct Increase j ..,, 225 , 413 Increase on the Quarter ,,.,., J , 851

      : . 4 Xaitnltr Wtlflt1*J8i J0uuui J!Lll \Xll&+ • *

      HftnUk Manx

      Untitled Article

      iLORD JOHN RUSSELL'S VISIT TO MANCHESTER . "We learn from the Court Circular , and other authentic sources of information , that Lord John Russell left home on Tuesday , with the intention of spending a few days at Manchester . As the first requisite for a premier in these degenerate days , according to Mr . Ferrand , is " that he shall have a cotton soul , " Ave may reasonably conclude that Lord John ' s visit to the manufacturing metropolis is for the double purpose of making himself more thoroughly acquainted with the merits of the Short Time question , and of ascertaining why it happens that the staple trade of Lancashire continues to languish , while every other branch of manufacturing industry appears to be in the most flourishing condition . But , unless Lord John has previously devoted a larger amount of time and attention to the subject than Cabinet Ministers generally bestow on such matters , he will find it difficult to reconcile the contradictory statements he will hear regarding the operation of the Ten Hours Bill , and the causes of the present depression in the cotton trade . The millowners will tell him that the reduction of the hours of labour prevents them from competing successfully with foreigners , who work twelve or thirteen hours a day in their factories ; and as a strict adherence to the law would lessen the total production of cotton goods and yarn throughout the kingdom , to the extent of one-eighth at least , they will aver that the nation would in that case be so much the poorer at the end of the year . On the other hand , the operatives will argue that so long as we are able to find foreign customers for £ 25 , 000 , 000 worth of our cotton goods and yarn , every year , we have little reason to be alarmed about foreign competition . And as for the argument that by working ten hours instead of twelve , the quantity of goods will be so much less , and will consequently leave us so much poorer at the year ' s end , they will contend that it is not founded on fact , because , although the goods may be less in bulk , through the reduction in the hours of labour , their exchangeable value may not be diminished , and , as two-thirds at least of those goods are sent abroad , it is to the market value , and not to the quantity , that we ought to look . On this point , however , it seems to us that the operatives are rather at sea . They ought to perceive that if the effect of the Ten Hours Bill be to raise the cost of cotton goods manufactured in England , as such reasoning would show , the necessary result of that measure must be to give a premium to foreign competitors . If the fact is so , let it stand as a fact . Alone it will not condemn the Ten Hours Act ; many other points would need to be made clear before it can be proved that in the long run the measure will entail an ultimate net loss ; aud the fact that it works well in districts now prosperous , as in Yorkshire , throws doubt upon its being the cause of the peculiar depression in Lancashire . Even if it were , the relief of the people from intolerable duration of toil is worth a great cost . But there are special causes for the recent depression in Lancashire quite sufficient for Lord John Russell to attain a distinct conclusion . Employers and operatives will both agree in telling him that it is mainly owing to the short supply of cotton , and the facilities which the present abundance of money give to speculators ; the natural rise in price produced by deficiency of supply is easily increased to a point which disturbs trade . And in connection with this part of the subject , it might be useful for Lord John to inquire whether the operations of the Ten Hours Bill , by greatly lessening the consumption of cotton during last

      year , may not have acted usefully in moderating the disproportion between demand and supply . Another important question on which he will find great unanimity , is that relating to the actual condition of the factory operatives . Nearly all parties admit that the great bulk of the population in Lancashire is in a more comfortable conditio n at present , notwithstanding the dulness of the cotton trade , than it has been in for many years . At one of the P rotection meetings held a few months ago ,

      Lord Stanhope spoke of 1842 as a year of remarkable prosperity . Of course he must have referred merely to the condition of the landowners , who were up to that time in a most blissful state of bucolic ignorance as to what was to befal them . So far as the working classes in the manufacturing districts are concerned , it may be safely said that the purchasing power of their wages is at least 50 per cent , above what it was in 1842 . Small chance , therefore , of obtaining their support for a " return "

      to Protection . " Possibly Lord John ' s visit to Manchester may teach him to feel strengthened confidence in free trade , to doubt the " finality " even of that " comprehensive measure , " and to understand that counsel may be acquired by travel , not useless on his return to Parliament . That is if he is content to learn—to take in something more instructive than complimentary addresses .

      Untitled Article

      There is nothing so revolutionary , because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep ^ thmgs fixed when all the world is by the very law of its creation , in eternal progress . —Dr . Arnold .

      Untitled Article

      We have received so large a number of letters on various subjects this week that toe are unable to acknotO ' ledge them individually , although many of them might claim attention from their ability . We cannot undertake to return MSS . In no case do we insert reviews of books written or forwarded to us by the author himself .

      Untitled Article

      U < &fa &tdfott . [ Saturday ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), April 6, 1850, page 34, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1839/page/10/