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Leader (1850-1860), 1st May 1852, Edition Town of 2, Page 417, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      ; - £ j ^^^ , o ' Offiiws ^^^*^^ ' ^ ^^^ : ^^ . nne lookk fagge ^ aiid'Wox ^ l to ? de » th ; Elites an totaltftfeiiti ^ ntfe Go ^ ernorr * ' ^ et lioe ' £ enutf omne ^ have become Jmorhvnq class ;/ -. ¦ Not metaphoricagv , but actually / Ima ^ nej ^ work ^ Govieraioi ? ^ roomitt ^* i ? ownrnpise is . odd enough , ljut iipt-altogetheifl put of ^ ^ na ture , > since he niiglit ¦ lo ^ q , J > eeni '' a ^ Utary ^ maTii iand'liej is a-poor soldier ; whatever : ti ^ e » dhaBgeion his escotcheon may be who daiinpibii ^ a ^ casidn ^ grooni his own horse ; but a < fBishpp '' faffge'd ^ anft > worn to death with genuine ^ hard ^ rTdMn- ' Mar . ^¦ K ' 'v *> v- ' -- ; .

      WhetfeV' ^ en ^ 'te ' ' th&j straige plaee in which GovernoH attd ^ shtfpfe * ^ e | hp % ^ itiis omne , ' are mere wo rkers ? a « » i ^ mel 1 b ^ uirie , capital of Victoria 'Heart ** f tb& ]? pI& ' itS 0 on . M Australia . And the gbl&iMB ! d-bne it iUJ rde * j ^ but in Australia rit to n become "; possible' for * the working man * d ? bi ^^^^ aW ^ dustrr oflfers to the inete day ^ lab < &tt £ rr ¦ Ijjjr ' steady industry ,--letting The

      alone winqiallsv ana extraprdinary prizes — -nis thoitsaiii p ^ 'W ^ e ihtiLildr ^ d a ^ eiir . windfalls / pf 3 course , ' 11 ^^ i nbre splendid—say a thousand and a f ^^ ' 6 dd huttd ^ eds in a week . Of coursei worldBig' ifi * n ptef ^ r that kind of life to being shephetds ^ bt sfippmen , or lackeys , and off they go- And ^ Hus ^ is absorbed into .- 'the ^ workiiig' class ; that the Governor is left ti )^ bbnl'hi 8 P ^ ri / horse ; his wife to bei cook and herii ^ 0 niaid in her own house . The Mwdk ^ g ' icl as ^ Jiaa ofisen m T 4 hie . Its want hashevei * b ^ e ^ 2 ^ middleclas& pT' MPelbburne is calling out lustily

      for more working class from England . Middle class does not at alllike to be working class ; and it sorely wants ^ o j ^ es Relieved . They are highly " democratic" in Aixstiralia ; they do not approve of titles—which ^ th ^^ y seWpm get ; they talk stoutly against kr ^ 'toqraticmstitutions , and they hint at separation from England . Yet they have their PyHi idfeaa / haye th / dse' middle classes without an uftper '' -blfess fyboireithelri , about the dispensations of J ? it > vid ^ nce' 'drift 'the allotment of men to diflferent ktitlb ^ s iii ; life ^ ;; aud they ; are almost , nay , quite angry . ^ itb . the forking class for

      slipping from tinkler-theni . They describe the groomin /»¦ GbverM' an $ » f ^ i n |' Bishpp as affecting incidents which mujsrtj ei ojfftcio , excite compassion in eveiry ' respedt ' able brcas ^ at homo . Whbn tne fables are 'Jturhed upoa them , they are pjqued . ' j Theyjresent t ^ e ' upstart airs of the nbuvkaiix riches ? who have * served no apprenticeshi p . ^ mi ^ e ' -cl ^ 'lrelatipns . "A friend of mine" dines at a ' public ?' table in a steamer , and his li

      quojad ^ ' i £ v o 6 & . ' tiiit % . a familiar air , " asks him tb takeiwiuuk' ' Wow , why should not the groom be aniiW ' p : fiadHe not lived in the gentleraan ' a familyP Wqtild not ' the gentleman have been faiiiijtfa ^ obAiRp' If formerly they had only been equal in jtbjp sieht of Ood , now they were equal in ' tWsigM ^ F ^ pia , which is a practical equality in'the joefitapci ^ y : ' Theffroom , indeed , shovreda ; dec ' id ^ 'taste for good breeding : " A

      lew weeks ago , sir / ' he said , " I had the honour to . be your groom . " ^ t isa question whether his * V ^ 4 would have addressed him with equal affability , bV ' said , " 'A' few' weeks ago I had the honpur ^^^^ ' - j ^*^ ''V- Among instances of upstoit in ' gratit ' ude ^ Isthe siiry of men who naturallj preferred- gold . picking , and declined the otter of a gifealt swdkholder tP go Woolgathering } or his sake ! ' It'i ' s astJonishin ' g , the hardness of heart W ^ m ' 8 e ' comtAon' people ; as if he had not hitherto kept liislb ' cks ^ Mcpllected the wool tor the sake of the ' niy ^ pooTfellow 1 They added msult to ihjU ^ y V lie , 'fburid them " lvinir indoiont [ r .

      ^ rbitnd'tneil , flW' > -y ^ dt right have commoh ^ prtjin nieri ' tp' bo 'indolent P ^ Attd after declining nis ^ Man ' thfopibjyfiir ; ihoy reciprocated it with an ' pffer tP &Ep Hiti as their cpok at nfteen shmWgs a'day P : He "would once have oxpeiitod them to be Wteft ^ l for such an offer , though ho Would scarbely haVp offered such wages ) %£ td ' thihlcth ' arc'dmirioiimon should havcl t ( i 6 i fabe' ^^ i-: r ' " . ' ' , ' ' nftS ^ t' ^ ^^® ^ vm on * ien are not quite sp cona . do ^ atoin tfce ift of , fti eijr cpur ^ ies ¦ one , lor example , to w ^ pjn a porson M son *; hia plate tfto fQ , ^^ i ^ p bseivm ^^ 't am ^ ot going to

      let this f * o agaiii . An agreeable couhtry this to reside m ! " True enough , your Irish potatbr eater will think ; but'it ^^ would probably become a more afflreeable ^^ ^ country if ^ ^ nten were not so grasping ^^ and tMttpolife .. ' / .. We have , indeed , seen men in this country , sitting at table , enjoying heaps pf good things , with their fellow-creatures standing

      behind them , and , yet not a word of offering so inuch as a potato ; but then the men sitting were gentlemen , arid the human beings standing were only servants , — -only equal in the sight of Grod , as the say ing is . However , it remains a fact that in England , gentlemen keep the potato to themselves ; in Australia , working men do so—that is all the real difference .

      . Yet they no sooner see a Governor grooming , or a Bishop decanting his own wine from necessity and not from gout , than they cry " Society is dissPlved ! " Strange fact , that gold , the great cement of society , introduced in great abundance , should be theuireat solvent ! Is there not something wrbng ii |\ the structure , where more mortar demolishes theXfoundations P Hitherto wages have been the great nexus between man and man ; and practical philosophy , —excepting always Thomas Carlyle , who is a philosophical philosopher , —has taught that the tie is all-sufficient . ' tove your neighbour as yotirself" is for church , but Out of doors expect only your price in the

      labour market ; your price to be paid by those who not only " buy in the cheapest market , " but make organized arrangements to keep the market cheap , or to make it cheaper . " Love your neighbour , " &c ., — -that is only ma " non-natupal" sense , or translated by an " enlightened selfishness ; " in practical working life , wages is the only tie . Such has been the moral taught to the working class ; why should they not retort it ? "Wajjes bind them to their employer , and if the stony earth pays hicfiier wages , why not be bound to that ?

      Meanwhile , it is a pleasant country to live in , tliat Australia . No society of Employers , no combinatipn of Gold Hills , compels the" workman to sign a declaration that he belongs to no union . No , ne may belong to all the unions in the world , hob-nob with his master , engage some Bishop out of work as his cook , use a silver fork like a Christian , and feel that he really is worth something in the state ; fprthero his labour is his own , and God ' s own free earth is his capitalist .

      Untitled Article

      THE DISRAELI FKANGHISE . Thb Tories are better than the Whigs—in performance , in spirit , and especially in promises . They have recognized the discords of classes , with a desire , not to " leave alone , " but to reconcile ; at the Crystal Palace meeting on Tuesday , Lord Shaftesbury recognized the influence of art as an auxiliary to Sabbath observance , and the necessity for leisure ; and more than one Minister , Bpeaking in his place , has recognized the necessity for a working class franchise . Mr . Secretary Walpole has favoured a franchise to be earned by serving-in the militia ; and Mr . Disraeli , Chancellor of the Exchequer , has deplored that ope - ration of the JReform Bill which , in abolishing freemen , disfranchised the working classes . " Humbug , " cries the sceptic Liberal . Wo do not sharo the doubt , howovor , but incline to believe that both Walpole and Disraeli have sincerity in what they say—the sincerity of intellect , if not of heart . Would that they had corresponding force of will . It was a flaw of the Keform Bill that it abolished an ancient working-man's franchise ; and disfranchisement has been too much the tendency of more recent reforms . Mr . Disraeli sees as much ; but he contents himself with criticizing ami regretting , and promising to " consider . ' Why not do ? It would not bo impossible to devise a working class franchise , without at onco resorting to univorsal suffrage . Still it should bo a genuine direct representation of tho working

      classes , by themselves , as such . " I * rofcectiou" promises to take some now shape , consonant with tho wants of tho day : and among thoBe wants is a " protection of industry , " not m tho shapo of restriction or consumption , nut in the shape of a solf-acting power to maintain tho rights of labour as against the powers of capital . The " unions" spontaneously formed by tho working classes aro the diroct , natural , and fitting embodiment of that want in a tertativo realization . They have worked indifferently , heretofore , chiefly beoaufle the law tries to prevent them

      rather than to regulate them . ECence incorporated labour cannot negociate with incorporated capital , but can only contend with its great enemyally . Meanwhile incorporated labour maintains itself by evasions Pf a partial and oppressive law , which drives the unionists into twisted and inefficient courses . The best that unions now do is to prevent , worse oppression to the men , by threat of still worse retaliation and yet worse confusion than they have hitherto occasioned .

      The employers think that they have gained a final and a crushing triumph over the men ; but no mistake can be greater . The ingenuity of thousands is not so easily exhausted . What the Amalgamated Masters have done is , to make the men understand that no quarter is to . be given , and so to fill the hearts of the workmen with a sense of hel p less present injury , which cannot but solace itself with- vague fore-reckonings of

      revenge . Why are the men always to have the law against them ? How much better it would be , not to impede , but to regulate the unions which are formed at the dictate of practical experience . Even-handed law might then introduce order where there is now only evasion alternating with turbulence . But if unions , guilds , or corporations of the working classes ( not in the sense of close monopolies borrowed from past centuries ) , were sanctioned , by whatsoever name , it would be easy to make them the means of a direct representation of the working classes , bv" giving the franchise to the guild , with a specific allowance

      of members to represent the guild in Parliament ; just as the universities are now represented . The idea is worthy of consideration by men who desire representation of the working classes , without universal suffrage . That public discussion . thatpractical government , would benefit by making the voice of the industrious class heard in the national council , we are convinced ; the advantages thence accruing would be wholly apart from any alteration of political balance ; and at all events the Legislature , sometimes , in the hour of legislation , would know -what it was doing in affairs concerning the industrious classes .

      Untitled Article

      A CHECK FOR CHICORY . Derby agrees not with ¦ ' ¦ ' Chicory Wood" in blind reliance on the maxim " Caveat emptor "let the buyer look after his own interest—though he thinks that mixture of chicory with coffee cannot be wholly prevented . JSTor is there any need that it should . The law needs not prohibit anything in the matter , except fraud ; but why should that which is forbidden in other things be permitted in chicory alone P Let chicory be sold , if you will , but as chicory . Let it be mixed with coffee , if the consumer wishes , but avowedlv . The thing wanted is not prohibition ,

      but an easy mode of redress ; and we do not see why that should be given up as impossible . As usual , the facts of the mischief suggest the proper remedy . Chicory is passed off upon the consumer as coffee , which , is a fraud ; and the law ought to give redress for that fraud . But the fraud is most often and most grossly committed upon tho poorer class of consumers , who can never attain redress so long as it is to be sought only through complicated , tedious , or expensive processes at Jaw . Now it would be quite easy to provide a specific check for tho fraudulent sale of chicory , by imposing a fine . To enable tho

      poor man to obtain redress it should be administered summarily , by a police magistrate . To prevent malicious prosecutions , none of the fine should go to tho informer , but only compensation for the actual loss in coffee and tho expenses . Tho fine would bo a proper punishment for an offonco instigated by avarice . It would be easy for the honest tradesman to avoid all embarrassing liabilities by never selling chicory mixed , or , better still , by not selling it at all . Let it bo bought at tho seedsman ' s , or herbalist ' s , and the grocer would bo relieved of that facility to adultorate , which tho really honest and intelligent tradesman has now learned to know for the canker

      of genuine trade—a curse trebly cursing , since it defrauds tho consumer , tho producer , and , at last , tho dealer himself , through rotten prices and blastod confidence . Tho dishonest tradesman is a knave , a false steward to the producer , n swindler to tho consumer , a traitor to his own craft , a fit subject to bo controlled by the correctional police .

      Untitled Article

      / M 5 aM )^ fi ^; : ^ , .:: V ^ V / J . ^^ fHl LEAjD EH . ¦ . ' . ' .. ..- . ; - ,. -,. : ' : 4 Jt : . ' . ¦

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 1, 1852, page 417, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1933/page/13/