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ing to consecrate its principle . But they have praised it , flattered it , and , in effect , justified it . Our consolation is , that they recognised the criminality of the coup-cPetat when it took place , and deplored the disaster of France . The exigency that changed their tone having passed away , Lord John Russell may once more speak , at a Mansion-house dinner , of laws and constitutions without being considered indecorous and indiscreet .
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in the Joint-Stock market . They went to the S tock Exchange as " Bears , " that is , for the purpose of bringing down the price of the Transit Stock . It was a fancy stock , and easily moved . Started at 20 , it had been down to 13 , and up to 50 , and might stand at any figure . What was the object of this manceuvre 1 It was to enable the Panama Company to buy up the shares of the Transit , to
re-consolidate the two rival speculations into the Panama speculation , and so to extinguish the Transit , or afterwards to renew it under circumstances favourable to the Vandekbilt interest , with new charters and new guarantees . The shareholders thus saw their property sliding from under them by manoeuvres of their own colleagues , possessing great influence in the United States . Now comes the greatest coup d ' etat . White had been diddled by the Vanderbilt interest , but there was a deus ex machind to diddle Vandekbilt . The managers of the Company had not really consolidated their capital ; they had not paid a stipulated Royalty of 10 , 000 dollars to the State of Nicaragua ; they had not paid the transit toll of 10 , 000 a year ; they had , in fact , forfeited their charter . This weak part in the technical tenure of the organised company was pointed out to Walker by the shareholders , who were conservative in the exercise of a subversive democracy . Walker , owed no great allegiance to the Government of the United States , which has stopped his recruitment in the Mississippi , and disclaimed him in Europe , and has not assisted him even , covertly . He felt for the shareholders , and obliged them to confiscate their charter . Ifc %
WALKER . General Walker ' s confiscation of the Charter of the Accessory Transit Company is a fact which ha 3 political bearings , tut it is also an amazing example of the coup d ' etat in Joint-Stock operations . We know nothing to equal it , not even the proceedings in the Eastern Coun ties Railway Company , or the illustrious Diddlesex Insurance Company . Never was tliere more magnificent scheme than that which the Transit Company put before the world . The Transit was a graft upon the Canal Company—the
. XJanal being the grander project , and , of course , ^ fhe more distinguished—prospectively . The proprietors of the Canal did not purchase anything so humble as common " shares "—r-they purchased 102 " grand shares , " or " rights . " To each " grand" share of the Canal was annexed 20 O accessory Transit shares . The Company went into business ; the " rights " were first sold at 800 dollars a-piece , the shares for 20 dollars a-piece ; but Mr . Vanderbilt , the grea $ ship owner , was understood to be the father or the
father-inlaw of the scheme ; the Commissioners were supposed to have secured certain guarantees under the Clayton-Bulwer treaty ; the local Government of Central America granted protection and charter upon stipulation of a Royalty pay able to them ; the scheme looked promising , the prices rose to 50 dollars for the shares , and 3 , 000 dollars a-piece , for the rights —a grand total , at these values , of 2 , 8 S 0 , 000 dollars .
The Transit Company had considerable success . They had to muster some cash for the purchase of mules , the hire of servants , < fec , on the land route ; they bought up ships , which conveyed goods or persons to and from the ports of landing ; their profits were really considerable ; and , upon the whole , they were decidedly successful . But all this was done with one remarkable circumstance , which says
much for the ability of the managers—it was done without capital . The , so-called " stock " of the Company represented nothing . The ships they purchased were purchased with their earnings , or with another very precarious mode of payment . Mr . Joseph White , the great manager of the concern , offered to buy up Vanderjbilt ' s boats , and to pay for them in 4 , 000 , 000 of stock , at " 70 percent , discount , " with ] 50 , 000 dollars in " short bonds . "
It is impossible to trace all the ins and outs of the intrigues that have happened within the Company , or about it amongst other persons . About a year ago , Mr . Vandmrbilt , or his representative , appeared to have repented of their bargain . They proceeded against the Company in the Supremo Court of the Umitod States , and obtained an injunction , which was expected to "burst up" tho projeotj but it had a more stubborn lifo in it , and other occurrences wore presenting a , new field for the White party .
WALRBii was mustering bis army , and was about to tako up his position in Nioamgua ; and he has arrived in time to bo ready for tho grand theatrical tableau . There was a rival project for a route by Panama , with a Company . Tho Vandhubilt interest in the Transit Company had conceived a new and poetic idea of effecting thoir purpose by a vast dodge
* -r ¦ W * . *¦** . V * - * nil 1 . J J I-K , UV / VVUUUVMIVV Vl ^ KVAi * - - »>» - »»»«^ — w »» - — - w was a great act of sovereignty in the de facto possessor of Nicaragua ; it was a great act of conservancy in the democratic shareholders , wW have thus superseded their own Government by importing into their quarrel the de facto Government of Nicaragua . Walkeb > it is understood , will renew the charter to those who have been bond jide working out the Transit Company ; and the bond fide workers are usually a separate body from the dealers in shares . What would not the Bruce party in the Eastern Counties' Railway give if a Walker were in power at Westminster , and could confiscate the charter and statutes of their Company , renewing it to Bruce , Love , and the working shareholders % This is exactly the position of the scheme . The
Yankee Cromwell of Central America has confiscated the Eastern Counties' charter and statutes , in order to renew them all in favour of Bruce and Co , The Company has high patronage in Nicaragua ; its conflicts have attained the ranks of the haute politique ; it has gained a point at which stock-jobbing rises to statesmanship .
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April 5 , 1856 . ] THE LEADER . 325 - - ^^^~— * *—^~ ' ' ^^^^ . ^^^^^^^—^^— - M ^^ M ^ a ^* - ^^^^^ T ^ - ^^»^ a ^ g —^^^^ fc ^^^^^^^^ wrf ^^^^^ MBB ^^^^^ ff ^ WffB ^^ FM ^^^ B ^ W ^ WM ^^ MM ^ B ^ B ^^^ BM ^^^^ B ^^^^ BM ^^^^^^^ MMMM ^ M ^^ HH ^^ B ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^¦^^^^^¦^^¦^^^ H
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TORTURE IN INDIA . Now that the kingdom of Oude is formally annexed to the British dominions , and admitted to all the advantages enjoyed under the British rule , it is not unseasonable to inquire into tho nature of some of theso peculiar blessings . Among the most striking , it appears that tho British subject is liable to torture . Some European magistrates , indeed , affect to consider this as an exaggerated" expression , because thero is no instance on record of the employment of the rack . One gentleman records hie opinion that it is a " time-honoured institution ; " another , that although " force " may be exhibited , "it seldom amounts to to > rturo , not being of sufficient severity to cause death , or any bodily harm . " A third has no hesitation in saying that " instruments of torturo" are not used by tho revonuo ollicors , and adds , ' tho stooping posturo enforced by tho log and nook being held in proximity no
doubt must be highly inconvenient , and to a plethoric Englishman might almost amount to torture , but to the supple cold-blooded native of this part of the world , I should hesitate in describing the enforced attitude as one of torture . " A fourth likewise " demurs" to call such punishment " torture ; " it is simply a coercive measure practised towards defaulters of the revenue . The " coercion" in question is after this fashion . The delinquent is kept for hours under a burning sun in a stooping attitude , standing on one leg , the other being suspended by a string attached to the great toe , and fastened round his neck . "To increase
the discomfort of this enforced stooping posture /* a stone weighing from 12 to 14 lbs . is placed upon his shoulders . The defalcation that calls forth this punishment seldom exceeds a few shillings—more frequently a claim is trumped up to extort a bribe . When this statement was first made in the House of Commons , tho partisans of the East India . House indignantly denied the fact , and declared that no such horrors were ever perpetrated beneath the British sway . Nevertheless ,
a Commission was appointed to make local investigations throughout the Presidency of Madras , where the application of torture , it was alleged , was more frequent than in other parts of India . Three gentlemen of character and experience having been nominated for this pxirpose , a period of three months was allowed for the presentation of complaints . Before that period had expired 519 complainants stated their grievances in person to the
Commissioners , some of them having travelled on foot for that purpose upwards of 300 miles . And there is one case mentioned of a man having returned home , a distance of 250 miles , for an important paper he had Omitted to "bring with him . This the Commissioners call * ' a curious proof of pertinacity . " In addition to these oral complaints , no fewer than 1 , 440 were forwarded in writing , and many more would have been sent had the natives felt certain of
redress , or been able to leave their daily vocations . Ifc soon became apparent that " coercion " was used to a frightful extent . A Missionary deposed that he had seen- in the hands of the headman of a village a scourge composed of four or five thongs of leather , a yard or more in length , which was used to compel the labourers to pay their taxes . Another reverend gentleman had lived in the immediate neighbourhood of a police station , and daily witnessed cases of ill-treatment . He also knew
that , to extort confessions from women , red pepper was sometimes applied in a most painful and disgusting manner . A merchant had seen at least a dozen defaulters ranged in a row in the court-yard of a police station , under a meridian sun in the hottest period of the year , each of them having a heavy atone placed on tho head , or on tho back between the shoulders , their bodies being bent nearly double , and themselves standing on one log . An officer in command of a detached corps
heard , night after night , a great uproar and the sound of blows in tho direction of the police station , and at last took tho trouble to see what was the matter . Thero he found the superintendent of police sitting in his verandah , surrounded by his subordinate officers , and summarily administering flagellation to such as woro unwilling to part with their money . Occasionally a thumbsorew was used witli equal effect . l ( Tho nocturnal flogging won ! on for many weeks . "
A Government tenant , who paid annually £ 24 : for his land , having fa-llon into arrears t < the amount of thirty shillings , tho tax col loctora insisted on his paying up in full o presenting them with a bribe . Aa tho crop had partially failed , ho refused to oomply
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 5, 1856, page 325, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2135/page/13/
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