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Leader (1850-1860), 6th March 1858, Edition 1 of 2, Page 231, Untitled Article

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      enoe , but having once got it before the public , the directors were not the men to leave a stone unturned to keep it so , with a halo of pretended success to attract and to dazzle all men owning money available for deposit . Deposits came in and supplied the wanting capital , and every sort 01 monetary efcange was rung in the way of investment . Trade was to be encouraged ; the Royal British Bank was ready to advance money on everything , from ships of unknown cargo to Welsh mines ot incalculable worthlessness . To its directors its coffers were always open ; and when advances were slow of return , its accommodating tact and patience were equal to every emergency — but the iinal

      smash . . . . The Royal British Bank ran its course for eight years , and then it came to a stand-still , with a deficit of 220 , 562 / . 17 s . lOd . The great speculation , commenced in fraud , carried on with fraud , and ruined by fraud , collapsed ; and of the gentlemen who , nine years before , had been drawn from divers parts of the kingdom by the attractive qualities of an idea , seven this week stood in the criminal dock to answer for its abuse . The number of those arraigned would have been greater had not death thinned their rank .

      The sentence passed upon these men has varied with the degree of the offence . In one sense , perhaps , none of them have meant ill , and some of them have positively meant well , but have been drawn in by the machinations of their predecessors . Hartley Kennedy , for example , was not one of those who designed the bubble and who intended to create it : he found himself at the board of a bank into which a great deal of property had been brought ; he was familiar with the custom of protecting the interests of property by ' keeping up appearances' —by affecting a prosperity that does not o-ricf . Vi-n- nnn / ipfliino 1 difficultiesthat do exist—in

      , short , by acting lies , and speaking them too . Such practices are not peculiar to the Koyal British Bank ; and where a man is conscious that hundreds of thousands of pounds may be saved by a little stretching of the conscience , it is difficult for him to fix exactly how far he will go . Some of the directors , accordingly , went farther , some not so far . One of them may be said to have stood aloof from all participation in the fraudulent proceedings , except by sufferance ; while every effort on his part was exerted to counteract the general conduct of his colleagues . It is evident that with regard to that gentleman , the Chief Justice , if he had been on the jury , would have acquitted him ; the Foreman of the Jury would have acquitted him , witli

      some others ; and the Jury at large recommended him to mercy . They did so although he belongs to the genus which the trading class are not very willing to treat , mercifully ; he was a ' gentleman / who had come out of the aristocracy to compete with others iu trade . The other directors were subjected to actual criminal punishment ; but they have some right to turn round , and ask why there are only seven in the criminal dock—why only six ride in the party to prison P The directors of the Royal British Bank are not the only people who have been taking in the-publio ; it is not hundreds of thousands , but millions and tens of millions that have been sacrificed by machinations of even a more sweeping kind . The iloyal British Bank is not the only sham , even in this great metropolis .

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      AN OLD ( AND YOUNG ) TORY NOSTRUM . Now th « . t the new Cabinet is fairly launched , with the Young Hopeful of the crew in a prominent commanding position , avc shall doubtless hear before long the cry associated with his amiable and ' earnest' seolion of the Conservative party—the cry of Social Reform . People hear this cry issuing from Tory lips , and they hiiil it as an augury of the happy dcatli of ancient prejudice , forgetting that social reform is always one of the most dangerous , because one of the most stupifying

      doctrines of what is culled enlightened despotism . Sooial Reform is a thing admirable in itself , and a pure and noble object in men who devote iliemselvos to it purely for the Bake of the classes most likely-to-beneflt"by-i 1 ) - ;* -but-iti' -i 8—not ~ BO ~ good ,-and far from so praiseworthy , when it merely rcprcsonts a feint of political tactics , performed for the purpose of distracting attention from subjects and principles of far more vital importance to the just and equal government of l . hc country . Political science , or the science of political justice with its ovon distribution of rights and duties , is not the science of praiding the aewftge of a country in tlio way it should go 5 it is not the soienco of ramming a

      distasteful alphabet and the promise of a better world down the starving throats of agricultural scarecrows ; it is not the science of improving the architectural aspect of a city until it takes a foremost rank in the note-book of the dilettante tourist ; it is not the science of whitewashing the dwellings of the poorer orders ; for all these things can be done , and are done , much better under Governments where political science is despised , and the last spark of liberty is trampled out by iron heels . Political science in a free country , possessing the machinery of a representative Government , means more—far more—than is contained in these surface allurements thrown out , in most cases , to satisfy the con-^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^ _ *^^_— 4 ^

      science of the benevolent , to dazzle the ignorant and unthinking , and beget a state of paralytic contentment in the mass . In a country where the mere cost of the Government oscillates between the round sums of fifty and eighty millions sterling , drawn under a mixed system of direct and indirect taxation , from the highest capitalist down to the humblest peasant in the land , it is difficult to know upon what logical principle any contributor to this ministerial mine of wealth is denied his voice through his representative , first in the amount and manner of its collection , secondly , in the amount and manner of its distribution- Putting the claim

      to equal political rights upon no higher ground than this finance section—no unimportant section—of our administrative machine , upon what principle or pretext can any man who is called upon to contribute directly or indirectly to the funds of Government ( and who is not ?) be excluded from the power of exercising the elective franchise ? He pays his just share towards the expenses of protection to person and property , and yet he has no voice in determining the mode , extent , and cost of that protection . It is no answer to such a man to say , " Entrust us with your money without a murmur , for see how beneficially ift to him

      we expend a portion of it . " It is no g that you return him , in the shape of social reforms , perhaps one tenth of what you take from him in the shape of taxes . As the case stands at present , you rob him of all that you take from him , merely palliating the injustice by expending a portion in what you may consider a manner conducive to his welfare , although his opinion may differ very widely from yours upon the beneficial character of your expenditure . It is no justice to such a man , if he is the meanest taxpayer in the land , "to bring in a so-called Reform BUI , when the patience of the most patient people in the world is tired out , which shall just pass him over by a hair ' s breadth , because ,

      perhaps , it may go no farther in the path of electoral extension than a good , substantial lodger suffrage . Such a man may be clean , may be healthy , may be well housed , well fed , and well clothed , but so probably was the born thrall of Cedric the Saxon , and while the political condition of the labouring man remains as it is , he cannot pride himself upon liaving attained much advance upon his ancient prototype . c ' . Abundance of capital , causing the dissemination of comparative wealth with its attendant comforts

      amongst the general body of the people , has always done more than any despotic ordinances to stifle a cry for fair and equal political rights . ^ Social Reform , as it tends to increase the material happiness of the people in a given direction , may , if dishonestly advocated , bo easily converted into a political sop to appease the hunger , for a time , of those who are craving for more serious and substantial aliment . The just and rational cry for political justice is not to bo silenced by the schoolmaster's pou , the builder ' s trowel , the painter ' s brush , or tlio scavenger's shovel .

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      OUR SPECIAL LETTERS PROM INDIA . We aro publishing a scries of special letters from the heart of India , written by a British officer ocoupying a peculiarly responsible position , who is profoundly acquainted with the organization of the native armies , the character ana feelings of the native populations , and the history jand polioy-of ^ tho » natiy . o-statc 8 ,-JLJpon-soino ^ points- \ vo do not concur with our esteemed correspondent ; hut liis opinion claims to be considered with do , - ferenco as the result of a minute and philosophical investigation , aided by long experience , into the realities and exigencies of the British Indian Empire . It may be useful , therefore , while the discussion is in progress , to point to some of the conclusions which havo been arrived at by so 0 Vrfap&Gnb an authority as the author of these letters .

      Parliament has decided that the subject of Jadian government is ripe for legislation , and , although . JLord Debbx B&ay not perwiade a majority in the House of Commons to accept his bul in preference to that of Lord PAJiMEksTON , it is tolerably evident that great changes will shortly be effected . Nothing is more necessary , therefore , than that due consideration should be given to the opinions of men specially qualified to pronounce them . We are not yet persuaded that the Queen ' s name will be a tower of strength in India . The natives are perfectly familiar with , the relations existing between them and the British Crown . The Nana Sahib himself names Queen Victoria in — A ^ B ^ ^ -A ___ __ - ^ K ^^ H ^ «

      his proclamations , and never once mentions the Company . Anonymous placards posted on barrack walls attributed to the Queen the origination of the greased cartridges . The Queen was loudly accused of a design against the Hindoo and Mohammedan religions . It is reasonable to infer , therefore , that the importance of a nominally royal government has been exaggerated . But we willingly accept our able correspondent ' s testimony on other points , and are quite ready to believe that the blame imputed at Calcutta to the Governor-General was not shared by all . classes of the European community in any one of the three Presidencies . There have been incidents in Lord Canning ' s administration

      which nothing can explain away ; but , admitting that he selected the wisest course of action , he has undoubtedly persevered in it , vigorously and consistently . It was necessary , in all likelihood , to check the rough and impatient justice of courtsmartial , and still more emphatically of subalterns in command of detachments , whose expeditions , in some instances , bore too close a resemblance to battues to be approved of on grounds of policy or justice . "We cannot but think that our Nagpore letters have been of service to Lord Canning ' s reputation , by rendering intelligible at home various points of his conduct which we are free to confess had been generally

      misunderstood . Nor is it easy to pass over the statements affecting Lord Daxhousie ' s personal relations with the native princes . Great and wise as some of that statesman ' s acts undoubtedly were , he occasionally adopted an unnecessary tone of menace , and relied too explicitly upon exhibitions of force when arguing a question of equity . Thus he was accustomed to warn the Nizam of Hydebabad that Great Britain , as represented by her viceregal marquis , could at any moment crush him ; but , as our Special Letters show , " one distinguished officer , the lamented Brigadier Mayne , whose opinions on military affairs were not despised by Lord DAiihousie , used to say that an open war between the Company and the Nizam would be quite as difficult and bloody a business as the Punjab campaign of 1849 was . But could Lord Dalhousie have

      crushed the Nizam at his will in 1857 P Or , if he had crushed , him at his will in 1854 , 1855 , or 1856 , what would have been the state of the Deccan during the rebellion of 1857 P" This is significant as an illustration of policy , but the matter becomes immeasurably more important when it is added that our relative position with the native states of India has been materially altered by the occurrence and course of the rebellion , and that the native princes have morally and politically gained a hjgher and more independent standing than they enjoyed before the outbreak . Hero we have the germ and suggestion of a new and enlarged policy . But , beyond this , we have before us the work of reorganizing the military establishments of India , and upon this subject our correspondent has furnislicd ub with valuable elucidations ;—

      " Oar sole strength and really reliable reserve lie in the European troops , yet we have kept up an enormous regular array , with its costly machinery of staff and commissariat and European officers , whoso pay ( mark this ) amounts to nearly half of the entire military expenditure of the empire , and employ that army in duties of domestic security and police , mounting guard over treasuries , escorting treasure , guarding gaols , escorting convicts , and the like , which could be equally -well dono by armed police at one quarter of the expense . At the same time , while this pampered and pipe-clayed t

      infantry was augmented boyond all necessity , excep that of patronage , the peculiar martial growth of tho couTftry 7 'irT * iHay ~^^^ ready-made warriors of India , who will spring forward in any numbers at the word of command , mounted and armed , and who will do tolerably good service without any drill or regimental system whatever , who aak for no pensions , or tents , or commissariat , or dry-nursing whatovor , these Invaluable troops , tho Irregular Cavalry of India , hare been neglected and starved ¦—their pay cut down to starvation point , and their old customs and privileges ao destroyed or modified ae to discourage » a

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      ^^^^ 8 . 1858 . 1 THE LEAPSB . 281 »^——^^^ " ^^»^—^^ " ^^^^ I ^ M ^^ fc ^—^ J ^ J ^^^^^ M ^ Ml ^^^^^ M ^^^^ J ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), March 6, 1858, page 231, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2233/page/15/