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Leader (1850-1860), 7th January 1854, Edition 1 of 1, Page 2, Untitled Article

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      chief means of bringing to the Cabinet , were met ~ by the assertion that the marquis was only kept at Iiome by Christmas festivities and personal infirmities . If he had Wnyiililettiracra of sevfttsJo ^ Jiimself from the Govermneat , atihat appears to lhave leen abandoned . At the last meeting « ff the Cabinet all the Ministers were present . Amongst oth # r doubts « fcich besfti tlM ^ public interests , there % an be noate respecting tlMGnancial and commercial condition of the country ; nothing

      could be better—trade , revenue , all are everything that they could be wished . We do . not remember a period in * he history ef the country at -which there could havel > een so many technical reasons for doubt , and at which the quotations tfbr public securities , notwithstanding the operations of speculators for the fall , have remained -so steady , at a comparatively high rate . The revenue tables for the quarter and year explain some of the reasons for this strong confidence . At the same time ,

      for our apm Tmamtrac % ures . Thus , notwithstanding the appearance of depression which had come over tfite country as the year declined , trade lias eafldfinrued -with its . steady onward momentum . Hub cooottry must liave been tanplojnng an eparmoiil ^ capital , wl "most have been aaaking nH ^ ey- ^ TCircumstwice wlich fully expKins the 8 q | iau »^^ iara ^ tep ^ . thQ ^ venue , Nani ^^ cou-£ deft # ft In the p » SEc A # knows neHfeer check * nor chill from the doubts about Ministers and foreign matters .

      hjgh | wragj % « tnO > congealed in masses where the 4 BB& 6 ks mawfciso great . The public carriages of Lon&oa , ardfaiced in number , go about , many of them witfh Additional horses , seeking additional farea . " jthe pfrishiag" of people by the cold here uncLQiflaB iis reported ; and from Nottingham a ' metekux 3 ^ cal * e <)«^ spondent reports the appear-^¦ BTTjT'ihe ^ rora bojealis , which had been seen further to $ he * South qaexlier in the season . A

      winter ^ attend # d by tbis ' uBuaLconcuiTence of phenomena is a fit one to celebrate the completion of a model to represent , at the Crystal Palace , the great pre-Adamite animals , and that triumph of aoience which has made known the primeval -world to men whose existence began . so long after that world had passed away . Professor Owen entertained at dinner , in the grounds of tlie H 2 > rystal Palace , and in the head of the ilguanedon , is a typical representative of the age .

      Among the holdings forth which scarcely belong to political Tnovementis , we may reckon Mr . John Mitchell ' s aeinonstrafion in "New York , and Mr . Oharles Bickens ' -s lecture onius own-waitings at Birmingham . Mr . "MStflft ^ fo * proceeding is a kind of acted romance . f There never * ras a more striking instance of the great Irish want , distinct discrimination . Mr * , Mitchell desires to make it appear that America is with him in the desire to rescue the Irish people from tihe oppression of the

      English Government ; but "he indiscriminately attacks theEnglish people as well as Government ; and by vehement denunciations of the American Government and people , he shows that be is surrounded rather by Irishmen than by Americans ! In early times , the ^ Hooters and Hesiods recited flxeir fpoents in royal halls , . and , afterwards , at festivals , where all Greece was gathered to witness

      their triumph . In our own days we Lave readings of Shakspeare . But rarely , except in private ¦ circles , has a living author come ibrward as his own- interpreter . Charles Sickens has begun a practice which will find perhaps too many imitators- Mot a worthy cause—to increase the ¦ funds jof the new 'RimrnngT ^ ny Xnatitute—this most popular-writer of fiction has xead his Christ ' mas Carol ^ nd his Cticket on the Hearth to

      audiences who showed by their numbers and their hearty applause the gratification which they derived . The nail of the Institute ^ ae crowded , attention never flagged , and the success of Mr . Dickens was complete . In his opening speech , he stated a principle which ought never to be lost sight of in the practical working of Mechanics '

      Institutes . It was thfe : that working men should have an active share in the management of institutions which , like that of Birmingham , spring from them , are called by their name , and are designed for their benefit . In many places we 'know that this principle is carried out , but it is capable of much wider application , and its justice is now acknowledged .

      The list of disasters is uncommonly full this week . We have , of course ^ railway accidents ; some due to the state of the weather , hut one due to the standing cause—management . A slaw train is run . into near Rugby by an express which leQi the station Jive mimites after it . Sometimes the law inferred the motive from the act ; * rule which would convict the railway managers of intending to use an express train as an instrument for the destruction of the other . There have

      been great fires , one which appears to have burst out in the premises of Mr . Townend , the hatmanufacturer in London city ; another at Bradford , and another at Rochdale . Frost is usually a time of cqnflagrations j the season encouraging a lavish use of fire , and congealing the element with which flam . es are extinguished . The sudden and spontaneous falling of the great shears at Southampton was probably caused by that neglect to procure absolute sufficiency , which the contract system of construction makes a boast of superseding .

      But the great comprehensive accident of the day is tlio weather . Since 1809 it has not been so severe ; within the memory of man it has not been so capricious . Clear , sun , frost , black fog , falling sriow , rain , sleet , wind , and thaw , have alternated with each other ; while the duration of the frost is marked by an accumulation of snow , reduced to powder by the traffic of the London

      through these tables , and by its organic action , this commercial country renews the ratification that it lias so often given of the enlightened ^ policy brought into office by fhe power and patriotism of the beist ^ Sfinxster ^ wbDm this country has seen wiflfinthe century at least—the best , we should be iicUfiee to say , since the time of "those Minis ters iwioTnade WilHam HL rectify the political lib ^> $ ty ~ of-the people . The revenue tables fer the year show" an increase of 7 < K ) jOOOZ . on the ordinary

      revenue , x > r of 1 , 300 , 000 ^ ., including Tepayments , ^ jsrj ^ monej ; , &c . But it is the cjuartar which djuaUenge ^ attenidon , Here there is a , decrease vcff $ 95 jQQQl . j a&d ; a decrease under every item * e ^ aggkt > at jthe Ppst-offi . ce . NjWifth regard to ithe 3 B 0 Gpa ^ su ^ -it , is to be observed that , nnder the mpd ^ fted ^ oOTO ) part ^ of it did not became available ttbtil « tib ; e latter half > oftne financial year , and the decrease cannot really be of any significance . IJnder th . e mother heads , against the ^ appearance of

      decrease isto be set Ahe improvements and remissipns of assessed Jbaxes , the still greater improvements tand ^ erdistaabutiQn . o ^ the Stamp taxes , < the remissions in the JSxcise , with striking remission g £ £ he soap duty , and the reductions ;; iiv the Guatc « ns » jncluding . tea and sugar . Mr . jGladatone reckoned , the rprobable loss ibr the year : at jnore than l , 600 , O 00 Z ., wlikh would b& moj « tfcban

      4 QQiOOOLon the quarter . The decrease , -therefbre » , swalj . as it is , is equal to a virtual ibejrease < jf 400 , 000 / ., these remissions notwithstanding . Thus the State is obtaining from , the people vir tually < as much ta ^ es as before ,, although virtually the people pay far leas tax . es : making the payment in a much , more easy manner , and imposing it upon a greatly extended commence .

      This steadiness in the . revenue , again , is explained by the Board df Trade for the month of JTovember , or , as it is technically called , the month ending on the 5 th of December . These returns are very strikijag , and for the uniformity which th . ey present in the commercial progress oV the year , notwithstanding the change of circumstances , in the price of bread , the handness of the season , the strike in the North , - and the war clouds that gather on the horizon . They are remarkable , also , in another respect—in the diffusion of prosperity which they indicate . Thus

      every month of the year 1858 shows an increase in the exports as compared with each month in the year 1852—an increase ranging from 1 , 137 , 0002 . to 1 , 595 , 000 / ., with the single exception of March , in which the increase stood a little below 920 , 0002 . The highest of all the months was November . The aggregate exports of the eleven months exceeded 80 , 700 , 000 / ., the amount was 65 , O 0 O , O 0 Oi . in 1852 , the actual increase being 15 , 500 , 00 Oi . The imports show the same increase , but particularly an increase in the consuming powers of the people ; food and the commoner luxuries being more largely consumed , in 1853 than 1852 . There is an increase in every article , except in certain raw materials required in an additional degree

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      SEVERE CRITICISM BY A CITY HWVIEiWEB A PEH 8 ON named Small was brought up at the Central Criminal Court this week fbr sentence , having been found guilty of -stealing a cost from " Ids Lordship-s Xarder , , and suiting aipoem on the Duke of Wellington . . The Recorder , after reading the effusion , remarked that , although cleverly written , it was deficient in taste , and the poet was sentenced to ( six mcmlts'imprisonment .

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      TEE BMTI 6 & JtAyX . C ^ nnn the Times . ' ) In the present state of affairs abroad , it becomes a matter of general interest to the { people of this country to ascertain , as far as possible , the condition ot ; thte effective naval forces at our disposal ; and , from the increased activity whidh lias " been visible for some time -past in the dockyards , we have n c doubt that the Admiralty toII be prepared to meet with the utmost promptitude all tile demands which

      imay be made upon the service . We understand that lit is idie intention of the Government to raise the inumher x > f seamen and marines for the current year to 53 , 500 men , which is an increase of about 8 , 000 oxv the number voted for last year , and a further ( addition to the 5 , 000 men raised under the orders of Lord Derby ' s Administration . The total increase in ithe navy since 1852 may therefore Tbe stated at about 13 , 000 men . Of the force now to be raised for the service of the fleet 38 , 000 will be seamen

      and boys , and 15 , 300 marines . The unabated demand for ships and seamen in the merchant service ,. ( which is attributable to the extraordinary increase of our exports and imports , may render it a work of some difficulty summarily to raiae so large an additional force , but , on the other hand , the improved condition of the seamen under the last regulations of the navy , tbe chance of prize-money , and the call of tbe country , are additional inducements to volunteer for the service . A large proportion' of our

      seafaring men are always abroad , and probably not more than 20 , 000 seamen , except those serving in the navy , are at any one moment in England . Some time must therefore elapse before the demands of the service are known to the class of men whom rthey most concern ; but the manner in which 5 , 000 additional seamen have been raised in the past year , ¦ without any extraordinary stimulus , warrants the "belief that the sailors of Euglajid will not be wantting to tbe flag of their country .

      Tbe present moment is remarkable for other Jeasons in the annals of the naval service , since it is destined to witness the transformation of the fleet into a steam navy . No one of the tens of thousands who were present at t }\ e naral review at Spithead in August last could doubt the expediency and necessity of the application of steam power to the largest ships Already on that occasion a considerable squadron of line-of-battle ships moved by screw propellers was collected ; but this force ha * since been largely increased , and our readers will peruse with interest a list of the line-of-battle ships and frigates now afloat and moved by this powerful mechanism : —

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      2 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 7, 1854, page 2, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2020/page/2/