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Jhnra nf tlir 'But
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Untitled Article
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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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Jhnra Nf Tlir 'But
Jhnra nf tlir 'But
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The great news of the week is that the year 1851 has succeeded to 1850 , at least that is the announcement most prominentl y iflft de , fey the daj ) y journals . Also , the events of 4 ke hut half cento ^ y are duly reported in their natural ojfUr ; not that they have happened over again , j » ut that the standing in the middle of a century is taken to confer the privilege of reviewing men and eventa ip a new light . We are alsQ toLd , on the highest city authority in journalism , that the commercial year
1850 has proved peculiarly prosperous and satisfactory , which shows that at least the wealthiest classes of the wealthiest centres of trade have enjoyed a good time—though we have heard complaints from humbler dealers . The researches of the Morning Chronicle have disclosed a vast amount of want and wretchedness , unreached by this prosperity ; landlords and farmers have grumbled pertinaciously ; and although the field labourers have desisted within the last few months from
incendiarism , they do not confess any great lmprove--ment in their condition . —With-these—drawbacksand , indeed , they do not obtain much attention east of Temple-bar—the commercial year has been very satisfactory . Even the dread of a glut of Californian gold , which a few weeks back was cultivated into a grievance , has died away , —a little drain of gold to the Continent acting as a set-off in the shape of a contrary fear .
The two most striking bequests which 1850 makes to 1851 are—the Exposition of Industry , which is to draw a ll the world and its wealth , by its representatives , into London ; and the work of following up the anti-Catholic agitation . The Exposition is the far fairer bequest of the two , and the visible growth of its crystal abode is watched with ^ he most obvious pleasure . Independently of Lord John Russell ' s awkward task of contriving pleasures to follow up his letter , many embarrassing branch questions are showing themselves . Mr . Bennett ' s friends are pressing
upon the Bishop of London an argument that Mr . Bennett , of St . Paul ' s and St . Barnabas , resigned conditionally ; and although there is some inconsistency between the precise arguments of Sir John Haringfcon , and the off-hand style of Mr . Bennett ' s apparent resignation , the Bishop himself had behaved throughout in so uncertain , wavering , and Ir resolute a manner , that he cannot say much in answer , and contents himself with a dogged demand for resignation . Mr . Bennett ' s case is felt to be peculiarly hard ; because in the fulness of his zeal he not only advised the endowment of
churches and schools , but himself set the example by a princely sacrifice of his own worldly means , trusting to his clerical income ; and , abandoning the church , he abandons his property . Perhaps the churches cannot be disendowed , nor would such a process of making good the loss be just to the generous donor . But there does oocur to us one way in which the Bishop might get out of his awkward scrape . His position is a remarkable contrast to that of Mr . Bennett . Mr .
Bennett ' s connection with the Church has been signalized by his Bacrifice of property ; the Bishop ' s connection with the Church has been signalized by his receiving about a million of money : how easy it would be for him a little to redress the untoward balance of wealth , and to place In the hands of Sir J ohn Harington the meana of smoothing Mr . Ben- ^ nett ' w secession from the Church . Ho would thus relieve the Establishment of the reproach , that it expelled Bennett , but kept his money .
London ib not the only Bishop m dinictilties : Qxford has also been accused of winking at l * u > peyite practices among his clergy , and he baa m ; ule 9 difficulty for himself . He first tried to overawe the accuser , daring him to iiuiiio the impugned clergymen ; and , when his correspondent did name 0 ertam clergymen , the Bishop replies with u Hoothing manner , which confesses much , mid reculs Dr . Wilberforce ' s University nickname of " Silky Sam . " Meanwhile , Church meetings are hold in aeveral
Ii Iuccn to put down Puseyite practices * on the spot , t might be supposed that the Anti-Catholic agitation in likely to turn into Anti Pust ; yito agitation , which would be at once leas gratuitous and less interfering , more practical , and far more embarrassing for the superior authorities * * Meanwhile , common unti-Ca ( , holicimn in not abandoned : stories of miracles , like the new one of St . Saturnin , which are circulated on the Continent to promote tho faith , are not 1 « hh diligently circulated in tUiu country tu juuinoto sectarian
enmities—circulated by # » e very people who will take part in Gorfyunite discussions on a prsevenient grace , or circulate fabricated stories about priestly attempts to seduce Protestant young ladies . One of these storjef . going the rourid of the press , is § elf-conviet § d or forgery , by so gross a neglect aa the use of Protestant and not Catholic phraseology in pretend ^ lett $ n , If thq ipiraqles are a piou « ftwid , what port of fraud is thin Protestant trick r Among the events of the week haa &een the P ' ub * Ijpatfon of various ! document?—the " Suggestion * " of the Common Law Commissioners , the report of
Mr . Simon , City Surveyor , on sanitary measures in the City , of Captain Maconochie on Birmingham gaol , &c . How much ability is displayed by the writers of documents like these—how little does their ability avail the public ? What matters it that Captain Maconochie should for years have expounded the most simple , practical , and practicable plan of correctional discipline ; that Mr . Simon should unanswerably make out the necessity and practicability of making the City wholesome ; that the Common Law Commissioners should propose the mildest of improvements , and ask to abolish nothing
more defensible than special demurrersor " colour ? These things it would be most good for the country to have , but between their authors and the public there is a " false medium " : the statesmanlike measures of a Simon or a Maconochie have to be filtered though a Common Council or a Parliament , with a Whig Cabinet acting as damper over all . To be well connected and without positive purpose is the way to succeed in office nowadays . Anything like practical purpose has to pass through the mould of no-purpose before it can become an act of Parliament " : leaving all its virtue behind .
The intelligence that Gal way Union is added to the list of those now trying with striking earnest of success the plan of industrial employment for paupers , reminds us of another department , iq which the responsible Ministers of the country are waiting for " pressure from without , " while they are leaving J , he real debates of legislation to provincial town councils and poor-law boards . The agitation for the abolition of the duty on paper begins to look formidable . Sir Charles Wood had better ask himself whether it would not
be well for him to include this unpopular impost among those which he intends to surrender next session—under cover of the surplus which the forth coming revenue tables are said to indicate so high as three millions . The meeting at the London Tavern went even further than the tax on paper—very properly adding the newspaper stamp and advertisement duty , as still more mischievous and odious .
In Foreign Aflairs there is little progress to . be reported . The Elector of Hesse Cassel has been reseated on his throne by Russian and Austrian troops , His people received him with sulky indifference , but as the military procession passed , the native troops were loudly cheered : in feeling , they are known to be with the people . The Conference at Dresden has not yet advanced much beyond preliminary bustje and formalities ,. In France the grand incident is the exposure of the informer Allais , who accused certain persons of an intent to assassinate Monsieur Uupin and
General Changarnier . AH 31 S proves to be one of the blackest scoundrels and liars that have ever shown themselves on such occasions ; he is consigned to historic immortality , aa the very pink of spy fabricators . It was a question whether hi 8 rascality had not been shared by his patrqn , Monsieur Yon , Commissary of Police to the National Aqspmbly ; but the Commissary appears to have been a dupe , the " plus « ot" who took AUais ' s ^ h for revelations . Rogue or goose , Monsieur Yon ' s unfitness for his situation was palpable ; he has been dittiniuscd , and is consigned to history as the yoke-fellow of Allaia .
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THE TUltKATKNKI ) RAILWAY STRIKE . The projected strike of the ( Miginc-drivcrri on the London and North-Western Huilwny has been auddeitly < iuaHh ( ( 1 by the unexpectud courwe vvliithth " diicetorn have taken . With a view to force the men to an iiiHtimt < l < H'inioi » n printed document , of which the following is u copy , » us plucori in the hand * of the men when they received their wuyea un Friduy evening : — " London and North-Wknthun Railway . " NOTICK TO Till ; KN it INIMHU V KIIN AND I'MIKMK . V OK XJ 1 K HWTHUHH lUVIttlON . " The present Htuto of HUHpenso aa to a strike ought not longer to continue . "If tho riicit op the aoutheru division , ^ avln no grievance of tljeir own , elect to leave the co . muu . 11 y ' * ^ rt vice , the directora must « l once curry out their plans of
temporarily reduojng the number of trains , and puttin g on the pew han <|§ whofe services are now available . " The directors must of course continue to reserve to themselves % \\ e right to make , from time to time , any regulations nqcenary for the sale and certain working of the line , though ihey have no intention whatever , unless the n \ en forge th « W to do to by these threatened strikes , to alter thf r ? gii )» tjoujt bow in force as respects the southern division , ¦ * * « . , ¦ " Eaah ma . n i < therefore , called upon to state whether he wishes to remain in the service nf the company , under ( he existing regulations ; if he does , the directors hop © tq be » ble to retam him ; jf not , notice must be given to him that hjs services wjU not be required after fourteen days . _
. .... " The directors , did not wish to act harshly , but the requirements of the public and the government service will not allow them longer to be subjected to the present state of uncertainly . " The directors recognize the manly and straightforward course taken by a large number of the men ; and they hope to show them that they have consulted their true interests by the conduct they have exhibited . Thomas Smith , Chairman of the Locomotive Committee , S . Division .
( By order ) " Mark Huish , General Manager " General Mapager ' s-office , Eusion Station , Dec . 27 , I 860 , "
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Aa each-engine-driver or fireman arrived he had to present himself to Mr . M'Connell and Mr . Watkin , the under-secretary of the company , at the Camden Station . A printed copy of the notice was then handed to him , and some men were called upon to give an immediate decision upon the question , others had a quarter of an . hour's consideration allowed them , others half an hour , and some were allowed until Mwnday to consider the matter . Anything like concert among the men under such circumstances was out of the question , and , therefore ,
each felt himself involved in great difficulty . Notwithstanding this unexpected proceeding ,. it is stated that there was but one man who signed a document " to remain in the service of the company under the existing regulations , " and that the man referred to subsequently requested that his name might he erased . This at once showed a determination on the part of the men which the authorities of the company could scarcely have been prepared for , and in way , it is presumed , of reprisal , on Saturday notices were given on the part of the directors to seven men , for which they were equally unprepared , of dismissal .
On Sunday evening a number of enginemen and firemen assembled at the Railway Tavern , Hampstead-road , but as the doors were closed against reporters nothing is known of the proceedings , but from what has taken place subsequently it wquld appear that the general opinion must have been opposed to a strike . By Monday evening it was ascertained that out of 210 of the drivers who were asked to state whether they would remain in the company's
service , all answered in the a . # irinative but 20 . At the Camden stuiion , out of 53 drivers and stoker employed there . , the question of " content" " noncontent" having been put tQ them , they all , without exception , expressed themselves satisfied with their present position . Upon the northern division pi" the line also the majority of the men have consented to the proposal for a three months' notice . The following statement relative to the men we take from the Daily News : —
•* Had a strike suddenly taken place , the consequences to the company would no doubt have been of a , asripua character , but the men themselves must have been injured , to a rauc . h greater extent , for there ia now no longer that lack of good and efficient drivers which existed when railways first superseded the ancient highways of the kjng ^ ora . ' Upon the northern division of the line , app lications fur the situation of driver have been received from no fewer than 230 mqn , and 26 new hands have actually been engaged , and are now employed in the workshops qC the company , Upun tho southern division , applications have been received from 128 tnen , and 42 have becu already engaged . It ia a ' ated thut nearly the whole o ^ these men have accompanied their applications with tcs tiwoiiiaU of u B » Unfuctory character j hut , of oourue , iwould be idle to pretend that even the majority of thc » lt nr « lit pemoiiM to be entrusted with the responsible situation which tfiey seek .
• ' Up to this period notices to quit have been given to 13 or 11 u \ vn only upon the southern division , and it iu Ix " liev ^ d- ^ rhTrfit w } IJ not , be negestmry to extend th »»« *" beyond one or two more . These men , who are Btate'l to beAqonie of \\\ % > . m . owt iiiufnount upon tho line , havo uIho received notice tl | ut they must give up their cottars I " a week ; but they have , been informed that , should not that prove tim , e « iiou . KU l <> « f" * b . le lh « m to . remove their furniture , a longer interval will , upun iei » reseittutioi > , ^"
purmiltcd ( horn . " Should tUe present diivcrq and fir ^ incn consent to remain in the coinpaity ' u employment , there will bo »" deitirc to dimuiuH them j nuii , although no many '" ' ^ handu huvp t » UeuUy becu engaged , mpple emp loynicn 1 will be found for all in the h 1 h >|> h and elsewhere , as it >" calculated thiM , about 80 additional driver * will be required in May next , in c ^ iipfoucucc of the Groat Jum " trial Exhibition .
" The men upon the southern division would , iinl ( jp ( l ' appear to have no ground uf U \ nt complwipt ; uot o »*' luuungiil thorn but admits the consideration with whi < ' >' i \ mt \\ indivUluuUy and c ^ l ^ cvivfUjf , \ hey « r « Uhb » w 1- A
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2 Cfl * % t& * tt . Saturday ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 4, 1851, page 2, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1864/page/2/
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