Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 26th November 1853, Edition Town of 2, Page 1135, Untitled Article

Page 1135
Page 7
7 of 24

On this page

  • Text (4)
  • 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

      " 24 . That the Central Criminal Court bo under the management ef the aldermen of the central council ( who shall be magistrates ) , and the expenses borne by a rate on -the whole metropolis . " 25 . That , after the general Act of Incorporation , all commissioners exercising the functions of commissioners of improvements , sewers , &c ., be abolished , and the works placed in the hands of the central council .-" 26 . That the Mansion-house , Guildhall , and such premises as might be required by the central council , be valued and paid for by the united municipalities . " 27 . That all funds left in trust to the City of London be held sacred to the purposes for which they were so left ;

      that all charities be consolidated and administered by one committee ; that all property left by individuals , or arising from property granted by charters , for services rendered or money paid in times gone by , so soon as the obligations are cancelled for which they have been mortgaged , he appropriated to improvements within the City . In like manner , the Bridge-house estates , when relieved from their present burdens , be devoted to the purposes of maintaining the old , and building new , bridges over the Thames—thus fulfilling the original intention / and observing the corporate right of property as jealously as the property granted to private individuals for similar services rendered in times of national peril . Under such a system —a system calculated to benefit the entire community of the metropolis , from the squares of Belgravia to the docks of Limehouse , embracing the whole valley of the Thames , and the Thames itself—we may fairly conclude that the

      nobleman taking any interest in his neighbourhood , and the merchant desirous of extending the commerce and trade of London , would willingly and cordially associate to carry out an enlightened system of independent municipal government , which could only be secured by the highest intelligences heartily co-operating . With such a corporation , far removed from paltry bickerings and petty jealousies , we might , in a few years , see the Thames embanked from Putney tp Blackwall—its waters purified , new streets opened , bridges constructed , sewers perfected , and the whole metropolis exhibiting a striking contrast to its present aspect under conflicting jurisdictions . ' While the establishment of a central authority is advocated in the foregoing scheme , it is centralization springing out of , and controlled by , the principle of representation , and not that dreaded system of centralization—the tool of individual will or arbitrary power .

      " Officers of new municipalities need only be—Town clerk ( a solicitor ) , 1000 ? . ; treasurer , 5007 . ; mayor , 500 ? . ; committee , clerks , &c , BOOl . ; total , 25001 . " The officers of the central council must bo determined hereafter in accordance with the duties that have to . performed when they are definitively known ; but the judicial functions of Eecordor , Common Sergeant , and Judge of Sheriffs' Court , as at present understood , should be transferred to judges appointed by the Crown . The lord Mayor , aldermen , and councillors of the central council , ehould continue to possess all the rights and privileges

      now enjoyed by the Corporation of London—viz ., the Lord Mayor to be tx officio a Privy Councillor ; the right to approach the Throne with addresses ; the right to petition both houses of Parliament through their sheriff ; the right to be represented in Parliament by an official , and such other privileges as may have been granted by charter for services rendered to the Crown in bygone days ; that two stipendiary magistrates bo appointed by the Crown , and paid by the municipality of the City of London . "

      Complaints were made before the Commissio n on Thursday , by oyster traders against the xnetago porterage and City dues they heve to pay for sea-borne oysters , while their competitors who get oysters by rail are subject to no such charges ; and by the parish of Marylebone against the injurious operation of the coal-tax ( 20 , 000 ? . annually ) on that district . Mr . H . Bateman presented a scheme for a series of municipalities with a central council selected from them , as a , munici pal corporation for London . It is not as complete and sound as Mr . Bennoch ' s plan , but proceeds on the samo principle .

      Untitled Article

      WHO IS TO HAVE THE SANDWICH ISLANDS ? Tjikrio inlands , ab important as a naval station in the J acific , are at present under the government of King JVamo hameka III ., whoso Ministers or Minister is an A merican . A movement in favour of annexation has ( ° " l > egun thero by some American merchants and others , with a view of inducing the King- to alienate iitH sovereignty , and negotiate a treaty of annexation . H » o British and French Consuls have remonstrated against this . They Jay down these doctrines : —

      | , . '^ y ° "wider it our duty to remind you that Gvoat '"• itnin und France have entered into solemn treaties with » io hand wich Inland * , by which treaties your MujetUy , ynxr heirs « nd sueerssorH , are bound loex ( rnd , at all ( inics , "French mul lirilish subjects tho name advantages und l > nvilep > H iih may bo granted to mibjoclN or citizens of the »«> hI favoured nation , « nd that , the , joint resolution of ¦• '" tflHWl and Kronen , of the 28 th of November , IHUi , was Wn , " 1 > On iho d <> nr "" fldiHtaruling that your Majettty m <> preserve your kingdom n » nn independent Mf . ute . pi .. ¦ ¦¦ " j "" " nijijriioiii nu mi iiiucpciHicm , niute .

      ' ilin » ° " « : lrtr "> i « t'ho name of our Governments , lor ,. - '"' . y , ' " " !^ t « unnnx the Bundwich IhIiukIh to any isii , ! ° W " wllll < ' « ver would be in contravention of oxoni , i Ml - ll 0 H ' IUl ( l coul < 1 llot bo l ™*«« l « l «> n with indiuor-W « l > y r " , tho 1 } ri ( iH | i or «>« tfroiifih Government . Hft ¦? f"r «> or to obsorvo , that , in accordance with tho VunZu - \ ' < ™ Mntion , your Majesty could only alienate wh H , " " lffnfc P an < l iwl ' <*« ' »«!««¦ ewtaiii cimunHtam-. eH , » uonni 1 < nr

      or to enter into a negotiation with that view , without the concurrence of his people . We , therefore , consider that the time has arrived for us to remonstrate ; and we do hereby remonstrate against your Majesty becoming a party to the scheme recently . got up , or to any other project which existing- treaties and the Hawaiian Constitution do not sanction . This remonstrance was submitted to the King in Council , on the 1 st September ; and hjs Minister , Mr . Wyllie , returned a reply , promising the royal consideration . The Consuls published their document in the Polynesian ; and the American Commissioner , Mr . Luther Severance , has replied to it , giving the same publicity to his answer . We subjoin the essential parts of his reply to the Consuls : —

      " You are aware that the Government of the United States has never made any propositions to His Majesty ' s Government to annex the islands , though the matter has undoubtedly engaged < the attention both of citizens of the United States , and of subjects of the King . To me it is not surprising that the ' merchants and landed proprietors , ' whether Americans or others , should perceive great commercial advantages in such a connexion , considering that the principal part of the commerce of the islands is with the United States , and that the islands must look almost

      exclusively to the Pacific coast of the United States for a market for their products , and the means of paying for their heavy imports . I perceive , therefore , nothing very extraordinary in the project remonstrated against . And if now , or at any . future time , it shall be found to be decidedly for the interest of both countries to unite their sovereignties , I am unable to perceive any treaty or moral obligations on the part of either to forbid the desired union , or any good reason for foreign interference to prevant it .

      " French and English subjects might still be entitled to the privileges of the ' most favoured nation ; ' and on the score of commercial advantages , cannot well complain of being subjected in these islands to the revenue laws of a country which consumes and pays for French manufactures , and other products , to the amount of forty millions of dollars annually , and of British goods ' to the amount of one hundred millions annually—the revenue Jaws of a country rapidly growing , and whose trade is now of more value to Great Britain and France than that of any of their colonies , if not , indeed , of all of them added together , vast as English colonies are . *** * * * # * *

      " The right to cede or acquire territory , or to unite two independent nations by compact , is regarded as inherent in all independent sovereignties . It has certainly been practised from , time immemorial . The Power which can cede a part can cede all the parts . Modern history abounds in examples , and none more than English and French history . Annexation is neither a new thing nor rare in our day , as the Turks and Arabs of Algeria , the Caffres of South Africa , and more than 130 , 000 , 000 of people in India , can testify—people , it is hoped , who ma y be benefited by the change ; but whether so or not I cannot admit that annexation by voluntary consent is any more illegal or reprehensible than annexation by conquest ; but whether it be done by one process or the other , the Government of the United States can have no colonies . Whatever territory is added is but an integral part of tho whole , and subject to tho same national constitution and laws . * * *

      " The agreement or joint declaration of the 28 th of November , 1852 , that neither Gre . tt Britain nor France would take possession of these islands as a protectorate or otherwise , was creditable to those Powers . The Government of the United States was not a party to tho engngement , neither was Kamehama III ., bo far as appears . The parties to it , by their naval forces , hud both made hostile demonstrations upon tho king ' s sovereignty . " The United States has not , but both hefore arid since ,

      though their interests were far greater here than those ot any or all foreign Powers , they have constantly respected the Government of the King . They have never nought to limit the right of his Government to frame its own system of finance , enact ita own revenue laws , regulate its own system of public education , establish i ( u own judicial policy , or demanded nriy special favours , and they were ( he first to recognise tho complete and unqualified national independence of the kingdom , by the treaty of the UOth of December , 1841 ) .

      " The treaty having boon faithfully observed , there in nothing in the policy of the United StateH towards them 1 islands which requires concealment , or demands ex planation —nothing to disturb the harmony which happily exists between the United States and tho great , commercial 1 ' owern of Europe . " Some Protestant misHionaricH are accused by thn CoiikuIb of being mixed up in the American agitation , but they have publicly denied the chaim \

      Untitled Article

      Oil It SANITARY STATIC . Tlrjfl mortality for last week ( according to the report of the . ' Registrar-General ) shows hut a small reduction on the previous return , which was rather high . In tha week that ended on Saturday tho' number of deaths registered in London was 1 . 1 ( 52 . In the ten correHponding weeks of the yearn 184 . ' { - /> 2 tho average uuinhnr wuh 102 , ' ) , which , if raised in proportion toincrwiHo of population , becomes 112 / 5 . Therefore th « actual mortality somewhat oxeeeded the estimated amount . It is satisfactory to porceive that , the mortality from cholera was not so great as in the four previous weeks , the number of deaths having fallen to 72 , while thai , from diarrhea was only JUS . I 1 t the throe weokfl of November cholera carried off 1 . 02 , S ) H , and 72 persons . The moan weekly temperature , which rose ho high as 65-0 dog . i" the last week of October , declined in the

      two subsequent weeks to 4 S' 9 deg . and 457 deg ., and last week fell so low as 38 5 deg . Of last week ' s deaths from cholera , 5 occurred in the west districts , 11 in the north , 3 in the central , 20 in the east , and 33 in the district ^ on the south side of the river . To this report he has added an important supplement , showing that impure water supply and cholera are to be found together ; tha t there was a certain proportion between the deaths from cholera and the water supply m 1849 ; and that that supply is still from the same sources .

      In 1849 the mortality from cholera Was lowest in districts whieh have their water chiefly from the Thames / so high as Hammersmith and Kew . Tho mortality was greatest m districts which derive their wafer from the Thames so low as Battersca and Hun ^ erford-bridge . The districts of the JN ew Hivcr occupy an intermediate station . In six districts supplied from Kew and Hammersmith 15 in 10 , 000 inhabitants died , and the mortality ranged from 8 to 33 . In 20 districts supplied from the Amwcll , the Lea , the Ravensbourne , 48 in 10 , 000 inhabitants died of cholera ,

      and the mortality ranged from 19 to 96 . In the 12 districts supplied from the most impure part of the river between Battersea and Waterloo-bridge 123 in 10 , 000 died , and the mortality ranged from 28 to 205 . Elevation or depression of site co-operated -with the quality of water to produce these relative results ; the mortality of the third group of districts was three times as great as in the second , though the density of population in the third ( 73 persons to an acre ) was little more than half of what it was in the second .

      The cholera , although it has not ceased , is sensibly abated in the country . In London , the number of deaths last week fell to 72 . In Scotland , we still hear of its ravages in Dundee , but they are not greater than we should expect from the filthiness of the town . Elsewhere the . deaths occur few and far between .

      Untitled Article

      THE STEIKES . The operatives of the north seem to be fast reverting to their original position . Preston , it is true , is still firm , and the contribution last- week amounted to 22001 ., a larger amount than any they have yet received . Meanwhile , however , great hardships are endured by the people earning nothing . Indeed , the distress is so great at Burnley that i £ has attracted the attention of the Board of Guardians , and they have written out a statement of the Gase to the Poor Law Board . The Guardians ¦ ' feel they have entered on a period when those who either on account of misfortune or

      improvidence have failed to make any provision for their families , will graduall y exhaust such resources as can be raised by selling and pledging clothing and furniture . The number of such cases of destitution must , from week to week , increase and become complicated with sickness , aggravated by insufficient food , clothing , and fuel . Your authority extends not only to the definition of the law , but to the regulations of the proceedings of Boards of Guardians , even in their most ordinary duties . In circumstances so extraordinary as those in which this Union is now placed , we therefore feel that you . \ nd not this Board of Guardians have to define to what extent rateable property within the

      Union is liable to the support of the working-classes who are now destitute of employment . When a felon is sent to gaol , or when a drunkard wastes his resources , the law does not suffer his family to perish of hunger , though it does not intervene until a degree of indigence has occurred which no right-minded man will voluntarily suffer his dependants to encounter . In clearly marked eases of indigence , in which not oidy weekly wages have ceased , but all other resources arising from the sale of furniture .-uid clothing have l ; een exhausted , are we right in conceiving that the Board of Guardians , without reference to the origin of the indigence , are

      hound to extend relief administered in strict conformity with your General Order ? Such crises are obviouslymore urgent when complicated with sickness . In this class of cases we conceive that we recognise the operation of the principle which provides security for life , without which there can be no security for property . On the other hand , if there be any cases short of tliis degree of indigence cursed Uy the suspension of employment in the cotton mills of this district , for the support of which tho rateable property of the Union is legallyliable , you are requested clearly to define them for our guidance . "

      J . jord Courfcenay h : i « forwarded a brief hut full answer from the Poor Law Hoard , in which the doctrine of relief in the eases alluded to is laid down : "In reply to ll »< " qucHfion stiliniillod tothoinin fhut . comuiuriimtion , us fo ( ho principles by which the (< UiU' < liaiin ought lie guided in treating applirnd ' oriN for relief from ( . he I ' oor-Knteo ; 1 nm directed by the Hourd ( o ; j ( n ( e , I lull , ( hey consider thoso principles to lie few and simple . It will 1 >« for the Ouanlians to apply them , after a careful inquiry into llui I'ircuinNtnnceH of each porticuhir cnse . hi ejieli

      the question -will be , whether the ease in one of actual destitution . ' Where the applicant lias tho pecuniary moans * ot subsistence for himself and his family , from whatsoever fimdfl those meant * may lie derived , or where ho lrmy if he pleases , immediately obtain work , nnd so earn the menim of subsistence , the Hoard are of opinion that he ought , Hot ( o be considered as actually destitute . If on fl 1 ( , o | rher hand , he lian neither monov nor work , mul is really without , the prerent liK-aris of obtaining either , ^ < Ua ( : aid ' Cvoni tho Toor-Kates is absolutely nccesnary for the subsistence of himself and hits fmuily , Hie Uunrditms ought to relieve him

      Untitled Article

      November 26 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER . 1135 " '"¦ " ¦ ' - ' ¦ -i— ... . ¦ ¦ - ¦

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 26, 1853, page 1135, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2014/page/7/