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interest ; 2 nd , That he shall be assured of not losing the value of the article of which he momentarily quits possession | and , as a general thesis , he cannot have any such assurance * other than the material security which the industry that borrows has to offer him ; Hence , we draw two consequences : the first , that thanks io the interest , there are ; for . fcunes which are in a condition to accumulate without giving any trouble to their possessors , wholly and . " solely because their money
begets money i thesecondi that those who have the best ma terialsecurity , to iurttish—that is , in other words , the richest —are those whom capital comes forward to serve with the greatest alacrity ; so that the poor man , to whom credit would be most necessary , is just the man to whom one , never lends j so that , moreover , the richer a man is , the easier is it for him to get rich ; and the poorer a man is , the more difficult is it for him to emerge from his misery . ¦
Now , 'I ask , is this reasonable ¦¦? is . this agreeable to the laws of eternal justice ? Does this not wound feelings that God has implanted deep hi the human conscience ? Tes , truly , is the unhesitating reply of the Socialists . And let not the objection hebrougjit against them that these are inevitable consequences . , They are inevitable under a regime of every man , for himself , in a social order where the possession of the materials of work is monopolized ; in a world , given over to tyrannical calculations , and to the hazards of an universal antagonism ; in a system of social conventions so complicated and intertwined , that when a man has need of credit we are obliged /' on pain of folly , or at least of imprudence , to take into consideration , not what he is worth
in character , Tbut what he is worth in purse . This necessity of lending nothing to men who possess nothing , the Socialists , indeed , recognise , but they recognise it only as the fatal result of an ensemble of vicious institutions ; an ensemble which perhaps may be progressively changed . Suppose , for instance , a vast system of ASSOCIATIONS of mutual benefit and mutual responsibility ( solidaires ) , which , by dint of labour and economy , have got together a collective capital , the profits of which every incoming workman would Joe admitted to share . Suppose that ( instead of being close , as the old corporations , known in France by the name of jwrandes ' and maitrises , were ) these fraternal associations should be open ; the problem would be solved .
In such a case , indeed , for a man to obtain the materials of laboUr he would have no need to pay interest , nor to offer any material security ; To belong to , and to be able to certify to a calling ,, to work for the profit of the Association in'the midst of his , fellows , and before the eyes of all , would suffice . Personal credit , that is to 8 ay the confidence which is addressed to the merits of persons , would thus supersede real credit , that is to say the confidence which
rests only on the possession of things , and the principle of distributive justice , would ^ not be exposed to the constant violations which now must needs make the heart of every good man bleed . For who would venture to deny that usury , odious as it undoubtedly is , and eloquently as it has been condemned by St . Basile , St . Ambrose , St . Chrysostome , by all the Fathers of the Church , is only a logical consequence of existing institutions .
It it be true , as M . Bastiat pretends , and as alliflie economists , our adversaries , pretend with him , that the interest of capital derives its legitimacy from the fact that tho lender renders a service , are we not forced to admit that the servico is all tho greater in proportion as the situation of the man to whom it is rendered is more desperate P Can a man pay too dearly for his life ? Can a man pay too dearly for his honour ? If jny life , or tho life of a friend ia at stake , lot the usurer take , for interest , my liberty ; I shall owe him then my gratitude ! If my honour , or tho honour of a mend , is at stakolet him exact a pound of flesh ;
, my J shall owe him then my blessing when tho moment i « w amved for baring my breast to the knifo ! Smylook . " Youhave among you many a purohos'd Which , like your assos , and your dogs , and muloa , * ou use in abject and in slavish parts , AJeoauflo you bought thorn . Shall I say to you , J-jot thorn bo froo , marry thorn to your hoirsP W uy ewoat thorn undor burdens ? Lot their bods £ o mado as Bof t as yourB , and lot thoir palates Jio aoaaon'd with such viands P You will anawor , " J-J 10 fllavos aro Ours : fin fin T nnawnv mil
t- i ° T $ of floflh whi ° h x demand of him 1 . . bouBbt , ia mine , and I will have it . " divine Shakspero ! why not have m ' ndo tbo literal execution of tho bond signed by Antonio tho dfooiltnent of your immortal drama P Did not Shylook invoke tho floored principle of " freedom of commercial transactions P" Had ho not rendered to Antonio , reauced to beg it of him , one at those services of which **¦> Bwtiat tfpeaH—im iramonue service P It wn » his
due- ^ that pound of bleeding flesh cutfrom the breast Of a man ! There we se « Capitalism judged in its extreme consequences , in its most rigorously logical results . Well then , whatever makes consequences like these , if not so extreme , inevitable : whatever makes a logic like this , though * the circumstances of its operation be lesif tragic , — -if only— -possible r that the Socialists combat and resent . " . . ¦ . ' . '¦ « XVJL&VA AV ^ WllVl ' - ' - '¦ ' ¦¦ Jb-
-. . What right have you to reproach them with aiming at the destruction of Capital , when they do nothing but denounce the abuse Of its monopoly ? By what strange subversion of all the laws of reason , do you come forward to accuse the . m of cutting down the tree , when their sole endeavour is to make it bear savoury , instead of poisoned , fruits : and when they invite to the enjoyment of its sheltering shade all the children of one common Father—God ?
Is it to desire to suppress the harvests that nourish , the stuffs that clothe , the houses that shelter man—if we aspire to a state of society in which the reapers should never hunger for a loaf , in which the weavers of precious silks should not be clothed in rags , and in which the builders of palaces should not be left to perish for want of where to lay their heads ? Lptris BiAjTC . ( To be continued . )
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THE GOVERNMENT AND THE RIFLE CLUBS . A NtriEEEOtrs meeting of the members of the Metropolitan Riflei Club was held on Thursday , at the Thatched House Tavern , > 3 t . JamesVstreet , for the purpose of receiving the answer of her Majesty ' s Ministers to the offer of the services of the club in the event of any threatened danger to the country j Captain L ; Murray Prior in the chair . After a fe \ v preliminary observations from the cliairman > the secretary read the following answer of the Secretary of State for the Home Department , transmitted through the hands of the Marquis of Salisbury , as lord-lieutenant of the county . It was as follows : — " Her Majesty ' s Government are hi g hly sensible of the value and importance of having the assistance of volunteer rifle corps , and , in case of necessity , would willingly avail themselves of that assistance ; but until some progress is made in the measjire which they will have to submit to the consideration , of Parliament with reference to the militia , they have deemed it desirable that the formation of such corps should be suspended for the present , except
in those cases / where the late Government , have actually sanctioned them , or where it may be expedient for special reasons to make an exception . In the case of the county of Middlesex , it does not appear that there is any immediate necessity for the formation of such corps . But I beg your lordship will be so good as to thank the gentlemen who have made applications submitted in your letters for the readiness they have shown in offering to . come forward . "
A resolution was then passed , expressive of regret that the Government had felt it necessary to decline their services , which , without expense to the country , wbuld aid the regular forces in tho event of a foreign power attempting to invade the country . Another resolution was passed , that the club should fit themselves by rifle practice for future organization should circumstances arise which might render thair formation into riile corps desirable to her Majesty ' s Government . A vote of thanks was passed to the Marquis of Salisbury and to the chairman , and tho meeting was dissolved .
' On tho same day a meeting was held at tljo Bridge House Hotel , London-bridge , when it was resolved to form rifle companies for Bermondsoy and Southwark , as portions of tho Surrey Rifle Regiment . A letter was road from the Earl of Ellesmere , who regretted that he was too old to join ^ himsolf , but he had two sons who would join immediately .
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THE AMERICAN REACTION AGAINST KOSSUTH . ' A strong demonstration against Kossuth was mado at tho Congressional dinner , held at Washington on tho 21 st of February , in honour of tho birthday of George Washington . KoBsuth was criticised , in connexion with his intervention doctrino , very severely by sovoral Speakers who woro all emphatically against intervention . Wo note that ti reaction is arising in tho American inind , or rather a fooling , which is a sot-off to tho ontlmsioam ho excited . It has been diligently fomented by certain journal * , and all unfavourable reports have been copied into tho Gorman papors , which again have boon copied ' with comments' by the American editors . This lias boon systematically done . Again , the Americans complain of his " theatrical manner . " The long correspondence haa turned up officially . Consul Hodge off Marseilles , had n disputo with Kossuth , whom ho represents as behaving very hotly . To put an end to tho unpleasant scene , tho consul says , " I wished him a pleasant voyage , bowed , and retired*—I , in a cold and respectful manner- —He , like on oriental ftatrap ? ' TJtt
Boston Transcript says the letter from which the extract is given was written in haste , and . ' ? quite blind in some parts . " But even they complain of Kossuth for patronising their great men and acting the grand seigneur . Mr . John Barners of Baltimore is of a like opinion . He had an interview with Kossuthj was hurt by his tone and language in speaking of the Washington f oreign policy , and left him , determined never to see him again . His description of Kossuth is curious . " I left him , " he says , " with the conviction that he was the most erudite scholar , accomplished , fascinating , and elegant orator of the age ; at the same time a sturdy beggar , a dangerous incendiary ^ and a coldhearted ingrate / ' All this must be taken for what it is worth .
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THE KAFFIR WAR . The liospliorus , royal mail screw steamer , arrived at Plymouth , > on Saturday last , at half-past five , A . M She lef t Cape Town on- the 3 rd of February , and It was tb . en confidently expected that the Caffre war would soon be brought to a happy conclusion . Major-General Somerset , with the troops who had formed the expedition over the river Kei , returned to head quarters , at King William ' s Town , on the 11 th of January , having- been in the field six weeks , with only a single blanket to each man , and no tents . They had completely routed the enemy'in every affair in which they
had made resistance , and had captured thirty thousand head of cattle . On the 15 th of January , the leading Kaffir chiefs , Maeomo , Stock , SandiUi , and Kreli , sent a deputation to Sir Harry Smith , at King William ' s Town , to sue for terms of peace j but the governor informed them , through Mr . Brownlee , the Gaika commissioner , that their surrender must be unconditional , " trusting to her Majesty ' s clemency , " that if this were tendered "in a solemn manner , and in good faith , hostilities would cease , and their lives be respected . " Eight days passed over , and on the 23 rd of January the governor ordered a combined movement , in seven Columns , on the Amatola mountains , and the country
east of the Keiskamma , with the object of devastating ^ the crops , and capturing the cattle , of the enemy . It is known that the Kaffirs are short of powder , and anxious to reap their crops ; -but some private letters state that they have decidedly improved in military tactics , are perfectly unsubdued , and have merely made overtures of peace in order to gain time for the harvest , and to procure a new supply of ammunition . But should the operations of our troops on the Amatolas be attended with success , there is no doubt that the Kaffirs will be so humbled and weakened as to submit to any terms that Sir Harry Smith may choose to dictate .
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THE BURMESE WAR . Despatches from Bombay of the 17 th of February , in anticipation of the Indian mail , bring us further intelligence of the Burmese War . Commodore Lambert , after destroying the stockades at Rangoon , and blockading the mouths of the Ierawaddy , proceeded to Calcutta for further instructions from the Governor-General . The Marquis of Dalhousie arrived at Calcutta on the 29 th of January , and is said to have approved of all that had been done by the commodore , with tho exception of his having captured alfcirmese ship of war .
It appears , however , that it was not upon this account that tho Fox frigate was fired upon by the batteries on shore . The Burmese viceroy told Commodore Lambert that if he attempted to remove British property from Rangoon , ho should bo assailed front the stockades ; and the commodore replied that if so much as a pistol was discharged at him , he would level the stockades ; and accordingly , when attacked , ho kept his word . He had before offered to restore the Burmese Bhip as soon as an apology was rendered for the insult to the British flag which led to its seizure .
The lost accounts from our naval force near Rangoon , are , that sineo tho destruction of tho stockades no fresh collision had taken place . Meanwhile troops and munitions of war have been despatched from Calcutta ; tho Peninsular and Oriental Company ' s steamship Precursor , with guns and ordnance stores " up to her hatchway , " convoyed 1081 officers and men of the 67 th Bengal Native Infantry to the coast of Arrocan in two
days . Moro troops are about to be sent from Madras , to strengthen tho email forco in tho British provinces of Tonasserim and Arracan adjoining the Burmoso territory . Plenty of troops aro available at Madras , and , if necessary , could bo assisted from Bombay . Tho Bombay Government could spare an European regiment , and a couple of steam-frigates without inconvenience , and immediately , and , by the close of tho monsoon , a division of two or three brigades . If the Burmese do attaok us at all , they will wait for th * tutting in of the monsoon , during which season our troor * tHU be unable to act with effect , wad if we
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^ TI ^ 269
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Leader (1850-1860), March 20, 1852, page 269, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1927/page/9/
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