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Leader (1850-1860), 8th February 1851, Edition Town of 1, Page 127, Untitled Article

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      crowing of £ he people ^ the diversity of physiognomies , costumes , and languages ; the dinnergiving and speechifying that there will be ill found the Park fora radhts of five or ki ± miles—atll these extraneous circumstances , combined With what of the really interesting and picturesqtte the Exhibition itself may furnish , and witKpossible arrangements for abridging and sim p lifying the ingress and egress , and the troubM of inspection ^ may produce In a-moutit of festal emotion on the occasion

      s ' Tifficieht to burn rip dtfd make a jest of aflrtne pompotfs rationality of the affair With fts attendant disagreeabilities . We hope it may be so ; but , in order that it may be so , Jet all concerned distinctly lay it down as a maxim beforehand , that the chief popular value of the Exhibition will lie , not in its being a gigantic Ethnographical-room or Poly tecfcrfic Institution , but itt the possibility of its being made a noble and generous festival , after the type , als the scholars * would tell us , of the Panathenaeic games . . ¦ _

      After aH , the chief solid advantages of the Exhibition will probably be those that are collateral and unexpected . Already we have one such advantage in the introduction of a totally rfe \ v mtide of architecture . Another likely result of the Exhibition will be that it will give birth to 4 . host of new extensions and applications of the club-principle , in the matters of board and lodging , travelling , &c . A decided disadvantage—should the feats of certain croakers take effect—will be the

      generation of ^ Jiew forms of disease , by the overcrowding , and the yn wonted interchange , as Reichenbach would say , of the animal electricities . To set against this , however , we have the prospect of a vast number of Polyglot marriages—French men , Germans , and TuTks , with the .. daughters of our City-men ; and the sons of birr City-men with fair foreigneresses . And , lastly , there will be the training that John Bull will receive in the conception that the world is really a globe , and that there are lots of different kinds of fellows upon' it , some of whom are not swindlers , though they do wear moustachios and beards , and say " Pain" or " Pane" instead of " Bread . "

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      T IT K NEWSPAPER DUTY . A Q . iDEB .-tf froih Mr . Scholeneld , on Thursday , brought out the information from Sir Charles Wood that the Board' of Inland Revenue has not abandoned its suit aarairist Mr . Charles Didkens for daring to publish The Household Narrative of Current Evknts . But will it venture to prosecute him for openly braVing the law ? A few weeks will show . In reply to Mr . Bright , who , very provokingly , wished to know whether unstamped publications may now be issued without danger of prosecution , Sir Charles Wood could give no satisfactory reply . The board is evidently bewildered as to what course it ought to take . The wistst step would be to give up the stamp duty at once , before allowing itself to be openly beaten .

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      PETO TO SEEK . Making up his picture of a happy country , Air . Peto quotes the statistics of the City Chamberlain of Glasgow , as given in the t . eader a fortnight rfg ' o , but for a different effect . From the figures , it appears that the number of cattle slaughtered in Glasgow during the last three years was as follows : — 1818 . 1811 ) . 1850 . i ; ij , ir > o 101 , 527 i 8 r > , 2 r > . ) As we then stated , this is perfectly conclusive as regards the advantages of free trade . ' But compare tin : number of cattle slaughtered , in 1850 , the most prosperous of those three years , with the returns for 1822 , as given in the Leadtir , and we find , after making allowance for increase of population , that the average consumption of butcher meat in Glasgow in 1850—the prosperous yearwas only about , one-half of what it was in 1822 . Can Mr . Peto explain this ?

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      • mi ; rnoumcHH ok tkmI'Kiianok . j FiIo ' m a Parliamentary return published last hcshmui , giving an account of tho quantities of Foreign aild British spirits , beer , wine , and mult retained for home consumption in the- United Kingdom in each of tho fifteen years ending in 1849 , it appears that , after making due . allowance for the increase of population , u very decided falling ofF has taken place in all those articles , with the exception of brandy , on which there is an increase , but nothing at all compared with the decrease \ i \ all the other items . In ruin and British spirits the falling oft j H nearly ( y >( fo , 600 ' gallons , allowing for the increase of population , between Itylfi and 1849 . In ty'er ' i \\ v . decreuse is , : i , 706 , 000 i barrels ; and in wine 1 ^ 00 , 000 gallons . This is encouraging to the advocate *! of temperance , ft shown that they have made consider-

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      able progress ii | i that direction . ' Nor must it be supposed that the falling off in the consumption of whisky , ' gin , and beer is owing fo tfie want of means to purchase ori tn ' epartof , th ew 6 r £ iri ^ bTas ^ s ' . p liri& ^ hoWenfte ' en ^ arsa , very rapid increase has taken place in the consumption of coffee , tea , and cocoa , as will be seen by comparing the quantities taken for home consumption in the three years ^ ending in 1838 , with" what was taken in the three years eudikg January 8 i \ i , l # 50 ' . —¦

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      SOCIAL REFORM . ep istox-s ; ob scull ok uii viftORosf . No . XXVIII . —Podtf-iiw tltiiffrioiti . To T& 6 HiiiTo& fittJNT . January 1 , 1851 . Mv DfiAR Mr . Htm ^ , —Pra ' ctfcally carryirig but as it is does the pririciple of the Right to Labour , — the guaranteeing by society to every man subsistence , in the M . full and adequate sense ., . of the word , in return for Labour done , —your plan in the main cannot but meet witfi my cordial assent . To separate the Vagrant . Lavir from the Poor Law , a thing so necessary that it is surprising rri thes& days that it should still haVe tb be dbrie—to secure real and bona fide aid to the sick and aged , a duty so plain that it would have seemed difficult to find arguments to oppose it—to secure to each man the means of gaining a livelihood by his Labourthese all appear to me to be the plainest deductions from the most simple principles of justice . But , though thus agreeing entirely with the main points of your plan , f Would wish to ask one or two questions as to the manner in which you propbse to carry it out . First , do you mean the rate to fall on both Land and Money-Capital , or on the former alone ? For it would seem to me th . it such a rate ought to fall equally on all kinds of capital—inasmuch as the worker is as much kept from his share of the profits of his own labour by the manufacturer , as he is from his share of the land by the landowner . You may say that the landowner holds a monopoly of the very land itself , from which all production originally springs , and on which it depends ; while the manufacturer only monopolizes the profits of the secondary processes of production—and tlys is perfectly true , arid leads no doubt to many and uriportaYit considerations ; but in the matter in ' hand I cannot but thirik that the rriariufactiuVer' is bound to contribute his share to the Poor Fund equally with the owner of the land . Secondly , as to trie mode of levying the rate : should it be a National Rate , locally distributed , oi a rate locally collected as well as distributed ? I am much inclined to prefer the former in this case , as in that of a National l 5 ducatibri Rate ; because the poorest districts are those from winch the heaviest r " ate would in the othbr case be demanded ' , while they aVe of course those least able to pay ; besides that ' a National rate removes all temptation to drive oil " the poor from any particular district in order to escape having to pay . I unouM have nad no doubt that your view on this point agreed with mine , were it not for one se'ritttn ' ce in Vonr lakt letter , when , speaking of tfhb Ot ' ntVal lHoard , } ' <> u nay Unit it " would 1 apportion tne quota to be paid by each district according to tho amount of pauperism' originating in each district . " And , lastly , I would ask you whether you propose to admit nil apjjJicanVH to share fhi ' s fund , of to give to the Local Boards , or aiiy other authoritjy , any power of discrimination on that point , in ' order to rmVerit more Mrfl ' ori ' s becoming' tnu ' a' dtoMloyed by Society tMh aoch'ty' ediXl& \'» " d projirftftftVy & > hdition , find real erfiployriierit for " , ft is" most' rtcedful thut thb labour done should be real ; atiiS' till great changes which , however certain' are some way off , have taken place , society could not find

      such employment ,, at all events in agriculture , for an unlimited number of persons . _ Believe" me , ever yours sincerely , I * . It .

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      PBb . 8 , 1851 . ] € 0 t iUj * Set . 127

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      The only unsatisfactory item in this table is the decrease in the consumption of coffee since 1848 . Instead of the genuine article paying its fair quota of tax to the reveAW , and" furnishing a wholesome W ' v ' ef age to tlief do'hsunier , ah atticle is e ^ old eifensively under the name of coffee , consisting of burnt Tye , parsnips , and chicory . These counterfeits pay no" duty , and are not very wholesome when used , as substitute ' s for coffee .

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      Coffee . ' Tea . " Cocoa . Ib . , Ib . tb . 1836 23 , 295 , 0 ^ 36 , 574 , 004 1 , 084 , 170 1837 a 4 , 947 , 6 ] 90 3 S . 142 , ' 236 1 , 130 , 168 1838 26 , 346 , 961 30 , 625 , 206 1 , 416 , 613 1848 37 , 441 , 373 : 46 , 3 * 47821 3 , 079 , 198 1849 . 37 , 077 . 5 , 46 48 , 734 , 7 ^ 9 2 , 919 , 5 ai 1850 34 , 431 , 074 50 , 024 , 688 " 3 f , 233 , 37 ^

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      Fet > . 3 , I 8 f 5 I . My D ' feXA G . R . —Your question ^ came more promptly ttfati' my rep ^ Ms met . them : they found me undergoing a relapse , ahel since I have 0 ^ 66 rriore regained my wofkitig faculties the two Witeis that I have written vvere more pressed as to time , tfo ' t more im ' pprtfint : for I regard the P 6 or L ' a ^ as being , in our transition state , the very basis of ati indusMiil system . If it were rendered complete , it ntfgh ' ti be the lever for lifting Society out Of the d ^ raded state into which industry has sunk ; arid t can hardly tell you how glad I am to seernen 8 tytiitr statrrp grasp tfte subject witn' 6 ucn' thorough urfdersia ' tidii ^ . Yoil have , I think , anticipated my answers '; but ! am glad to render ih \ e points clearer . is ^ essniisHi . —^ the rate should fall on all kinds of

      real or accuinfctrtated : property , for the reason , which you halve irientilbried , for those which have been so well expi&iried b y \^ . E . Forster , and for two further cognaie reasons which 6 ccuf to me at the moment . Fir " st , ~ &ll accumulated property is produce , arid partakes of the restriction imposed upon the land ^ gairi ' st the free access of the labourer . Secondly , the laws of property , Wade , and labour have all conspired to fortify the accumulator at the expense of the labourtr . On both accounts a larg ^ debt is due to the liDOurer , over arid above the obligation

      to' compensate labour f 6 r the loss of free access to tlie land , arid to secure it that freedom which has been given drily to trade . l , evy . —Numbers would favour a reform of the Poor Law , if they were assured that a due proportibn of the biirden were thrown upon those landowners or employers who neglect their duty of giving employment . A great objection is felt to placitig the good landlord oh the same level with the bad landlord . This difficulty was much discussed in the debates ori the Irish Poor Law arid Labour Kate durmg the years 6 f scarcity : it was objected

      that you must not make the good landlord pay wages arid poor-rates too . On the other hand , it is quite conceivable that a good administration of industry might enable the agriculturists or the employers of a particular district almost to extinguish pauperism . If it were possible , it would be desirable to rnake the burden fall locally in a direct ratio with the origination of pauperism . But the objections already urged against the law of settlement might rriilitate against such an arrangement ; and it is not to be denied that a rate levied equally over the whole country would tend in the same direction . It would at least check the

      disposition to drive labourers oft" the land , in order to avoid poor rates . Yoii may remember , however , that the law which I contemplate would be partly or entirely self-supporting : the labour of the paupers replacing the rates , or benefiting the district . Now , I think it would be quite possible that any excessive balance of expenditure might be charged by a Central Boai ' d upon the district in which it

      occurred ; leaving the district to assess the property ruteably , and to elect the officers locally a \ durinistering thp laws . You would thus obtain the local motives for timftf and efficient administration , without the motives which now oppress or exile the labourer . Right of Applicants . —1 would admit the claim of all applicants as a matter of rijjht ; discretion being left with the local administrators to test the

      correctness of the claim . I believe it would " pay" society in every sentse of the word , to give the freest and aSnplest medical relief to all who need it : the cost would be compensated by checking the spread ol disease , and by diminishing one cause of pauperism —physical helplessness . The agod are supported by Socifety , in 1 one way or other ; and without increased , ' cost to Society , the comforts of aged poor might be iricalculaby increased by combining aggregate resources with personal freedom . The onus would lie with the applicant to prove , in the one case that he- ^ -as mi \ U , arid in the other <; a «<; that he Wilei ' superannuated ; on failure-of proof , the application would be refused ; on completion of proof , it . would be admitted .

      I would p * opOHto that the claim of tlib able-bodied should be adrnitte'd as a claim to liibour . The check agjiilnKt undue , application wpuld ho of two kinds . ' jThe , first elieek would be the nature of the labour to bp given : speaking generally , it should consist of the simpler kiridn prevalent in the district ; but it ( should be ' alVu »» Jjf « d ' ort tlie _ pru »< i |> le of rendering it tjlie ' iriost advantageous in' the first place to the district ; and in the second place to the public at large . Still speaking generally , in respect both of

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 8, 1851, page 127, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1869/page/11/