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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.
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Heal agents . ' . To open a path for their further paromotfon , a riile might be established the absence of which has long been a aground of complaint , that all chief interpreters should be British-born subjects , who had acquired such a knowledge of Eastern languages as to be able to write and speak them with facility . In the ^ French service , the offices of chancellor and interpreter are combined , and this regulation might judiciously be introduced into the
reorganization of the English staff . Thus the gradation would be from the rank of consul to that of consul-general , thence to that of consulgeneral and political agent , and ultimately to that of interpreter to the British Embassy afc Constantinople . A still larger scope might be obtained by founding a college for the study of Oriental languages , with a professorship as the prize of the most distinguished among the interpreters . The French have adopted this principle with success .
¥ e should thus obtain a special and serviceable corps of consular agents who , stationed near every pasha and governor of a province in the Ottoman dominions , might materially assist by his counsel in the practical regeneration of the empire—if , indeed , that consummation is ever to be obtained . A feeble or rapacious governor he might check ; one who was wise and liberal he might support ; among the Christian subjects of the Sultan his presence would inspire confidence ; and , acting in concert with the
British ambassador at the capital , his energies might be of material benefit to the government and people , while promoting the political and commercial interests of his own countrymen . If fees are still to be levied , he should never participate in them . This restriction would elevate his character and influence ; notarial fees , indeed , might be appropriated by the chancellor for the liquidation of his office expenses . We trust that the practice of appointing natives as vice-consuls or consular agents will be discontinued . Either it is worth while to
maintain a consular establishment at a particular locality or it is not , and , under any circumstances , the services of an ill-paid X < evautine or Greek islander are not deairable , and they are even more worthless when gratuitous . The official , of course , does not ; perform the duties of vice-consul , as the Irishman wore a hat without a crown * for the honour of the thing : ' he seeks
his own interests , and the British merchant would prefer to dispense with his protection . In general terms , we would suggest the jnecessity of placing the consular staff in the Levant upon a higher footing , and not the least important reform would be the grant of pensions to the widows of consuls whose services in a barbarous country had been long and meritorious . To neglect this subject is to neglect the positive claims of British commerce throughout Turkey .
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THE BIRTHDAY OF AUSTRALIA . Off the 26 th January , 1788 , a few Englishmen planted the British flag in Sidney Ooye : on the 26 th January , 1858 , a few Englishmen assembled at the Albion Hotel in Alderagate-etreet to celebrate the foundation ~ - —^| md T ^ ragress-of-the'A-ustralian-colonie 8 ..-The meeting comprized three Secretaries of State for the Colonies , the Speaker of the House of Commons , and the Speaker of the Legislative Council in New South Wales ; an eminent historian of the colonies , now in office , Mr . Herman Meiuvaj / e ; a late colonial governor , Mr . La . Trobe ; Sir J&oixeriok Murohison , the scientific preidicator of gold in the Australian lands ; and Qolonel S * U ! aa » , the Australian traveller . The
aristocracy , the Parliament , the science , and the society of England , were well represented at this birthday dinner . 'These assembled gentlemen , representatives of the highest authority in the country , had more ihan one truth to commemorate as well as more , than one colony . Mr . Labotjohebe congratulated himself , and statesmen in his post , that the days are gone by when the Home Government attempted to coerce English colonists jealous of their liberties—days that are ' obsolete , ' as Mr . Gladstone said . Mr . Labottohere avowed the impossibility at this day of making any colony receive the convicts of England , unless it be
perfectly willing to receive them . These are truths which are now registered in Downingstreet , and were once hardly fought in the Australian colonies ; men being almost called rebels for sustaining them ; while the American colonies were driven into actual rebellion by the official refusal to admit plain facts . And Mr . Gladstone remarked that the fallacy of commercial riionopoly was at the root of our coercion of America . It dictated the imposition of the unpopular tea duty . The acceptance of free trade for our own purposes in this country has thus helped to clear up true policy with our colonies . So much does one political truth assist another .
The Australian colonies have grown in number , in territory , and wealth : they contributed to the million and a half of the Crimean patriotic fund 150 , 000 Z . ; about a thirty-fifth of the Anglo-Saxon population of the Empire contributed a tenth of the fund . Where wealth makes open-handed men , there is generosity of race ; where freedom introduces order , there is popular sagacity .
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THE COTTON OP DAMASCUS . The inquiry for new supplies of cotton having long engaged our attention , we are glad of an opportunity to present some details on the cotton cultivation in the neighbourhood of Damascus . At present the produce is small , but there are lands uncultivated which once produced immense quantities , and which , by the aid of some capital and intelligence , would do so again , if only the Turkish Government would give them in farm to Europeans . Under the present Pacha this is
scarcely to be expected , but we believe he will be recalled , and the next in . rank , the Accountant-General of the Province , is known to have expressed an opinion that these deserted lands should bo given in farm henceforward for a tdrm of fifteen years at a very moderate rate—indeed , a mere nominal rent . Under the English they would be free from the Arab plunderers ,- and a very large profit would attend the speculation . They would be in the Haurnn , the best district , where the Druses are powerful , and
where their authority is more or less under English protection . If , therefore , the permission be granted , there is a fortune to be made out of it ; but capital is required to enable the peasantry to rebuild , or rather repair their nouses , to buy animals and tools , for cultivating seed , and to enable them to live until the first crop be gathered . After the second year the capital might be entirely repaid , and then the advances might
as well as perennial cotton . "Will they advance capital to set the thing going . ? There are persons on the spot who would find responsible people to see to the cultivation , and who would undertake that the return of capital with the increase was faithfully made .
be ~ emaU . ^ XboM : fam . er _ wmI ^^ pay the Government the rent , and ho woulcl recover from the peasant tho legitimate taxes ; he would probably get 20 and 80 per cent , for his advances , or , in lion , toko a share of the crop : the latter would be to him the most profitable . Wo have no doubt that , whether by cultivating grain or cotton , there is a largo profit to be made . The Manchester Association has been requested to send out seed of . annual
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COCHIN CHINA AND COREA . It is understood that the French . Government , after settling accounts with China , -will establish a demand against Cochin China . With that country the relations of France have at all times been more important tlian those of any othcrpower in Europe . In 1787 , a treaty was signed at " Versailles between the representatives of the Annamite Emperor ( Cochin China being a French appellation , unknown in the country ) and those of TjOUIS XVI ., the former ceding to the latter in perpetuity the bay of Touranne . It was then that , after a desolating war between Cochin China and Tonquin , a French bishop had saved the life of the monarch Gia-Long's son , whom he conducted to a safe shelter in Prance ; indeed , a powerful French influence had been established , which , during the Revolution , decayed . To relig ious toleration and commercial freedom succeeded persecuting which drove nearly every Christian out of the empire , and although Trench vessels of war occasionally visited the coast , and interfered to protect the Catholic missionaries , the intercourse between the two Governments had almost ceased , when in 1856 the Catiuat anchored in the bay of Tourannc , and announced the -arrival of a French plenipotentiary . The Mandarins opposed his reception , but Captain Lelietjr . de La . ville sub Arce captured the forts commanding the town , and negotiations were opened . That they led to no satisfactory conclusion is evident from the mission now entrusted to Admiral Gekoxtilly . It is to be hoped that upon the ¦ next occasion the Annamite Empire may be opened once for all to the commerce of Europe .
It presents every facility for commerce . Though a thousand miles in-length , it Las a shallow interior , penetrated by many large and navigable streams ; its harbours are numerous and convenient ; its canal system approaches in perfection , that of China ; its natural productions are of great variety and value ; and among its population of five or six millions a market for our piece goods and other manufactures might be profitably opened , were the jealous prejudices of the Government set aside . We cannot but wish success to the French expedition , should it be determined to restore the ancient European relations with Cochin China , and we should hear with satisfaction that one of Admiral Seymouh ' s frigates had been despatched to negotiate , if possible , a treaty of friendship and trade with the Emperor of Axxam . Even more important is the Russian plan of settlemont and conquest in the extensive peninsula of
Corca . The field , up to this moment , is clear ; but unless the Governments of the West pursue their interests vigorously , the first European establishment among the races of the further East will be Russian . Corca occupies , geographically , the centre of a triangle , formed "by Pukin , Yedo , and the Russian establishments in Manchouria ; its coasts arc indented by a succession of excellent harbours , affording magnificent anchorage ; its population is active and intelligent ; umong its productions arc gold , silver , and copper ; but tho commercial jealousies of the Govcnunont arc such tliai not even a Chinese trader is permitted to settle within tho borders . When Admiral Stikuno , in 1855 , anchored at Chosan , llio great enin-p . M oi Corean trade with Japan , ho requested permission to liinrl fnr frnsli Wfitfir and provisions , and WHS HIPS
by a haughty and absoluto refusal ; battalions oi soldiers mustered on tho beach ; banuors woro planted close to the water , and before ' » 'g a single hogshead at a Coroim well it would nave boon necessary to disporso a goggle eyed iiriny . course , tho admiral abstained ; but now that a squadron has been brought into those sous , wo i oiiu ^^^^ ± ^^^ rf ^ moroial resources still remain to bo dovolo |>< u . » Eastern as woll m in Western , and m Ocnuu Asia .
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JOINT-STOCK BANK MEETINGS . Tina loading London joint-stock banks lio . vo li » Mioir half-yearly meetings . Much intoroat was u tuoliod to thorn , as it is pretty notorious tlui . V" ^ passed through a period of sovcro trial .
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410 flE L 1 ADJE . 'pBTeu 41 « , S&srBAmsx -SO , 1858 .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 30, 1858, page 110, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2228/page/14/
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