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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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rector and incumbent wouldjdptend wto j ^ tual rage . Beadles would clasp their staves , in d ^ p ^ , cSirchwardens would look aghast ; and asjfcr the charity children who attencl three ^ fuU ser ^ ces ^ a day-not to mention the Church Catechwm between times — why , their feelings of ^ bitter aguish would be too painful for us to dwett upon Supposing , again , the whole class of chemists assistants , apothecaries' boys , and surgeons appren . ticesiweretoraisethestandard ofreyolt ? What ^ they were , one and all , to combine against the iniquitous laws of capital ; to mix no more medicines , to pound no more pills , and to doseno more patients till they were admitted to some equitable share in their employers ' profits ? Their case is a hard one enough : worked all day long , and
perhaps called up half a dozen times a night , mixing unsavoury compounds , and attending patients yet more unsavoury , receiving no thanks and little pay , they toil on ceaselessly without even the prospect of distinction . If there was to be a medical strike , possibly fewer of us might die , but those who did die would die in a manner most unsatisfactory , without respectability and without dignity , arriving at the realms of death as a sort of spiritual " parvenues , " without prescriptions or medical certificates . _ . ¦
What , if by " a consummation , most devoutly to be wished , " the whole sub-legal profession , the goodly array of lawyers' clerks and sheriffs' officers , were to strike for less work and higher pay ? Those poor attorneys' clerks especially have cause of complaint enough . They have all sort of dirty work to do ; they have to execute unrighteous documents , to press needy men , arid to run up costs against unsuspecting clients , and yet for all this they have scarcely more than a day-labourer's pay . What a blessed prospect it would be if they were all to strike . There would be no more writs , no judgments served * and no executions issued . One could walk the streets without fear , and look upon
a bailiff as a man and brother . Whitecross-street would become desolate , and Burdon ' s Hotel a memory of the past . All debts would be paid in full , and debtor and creditor would forgive and forget , and be at peace together . We appeal , too , to the patriotism of our fellow literary men . Why don't we all strike together ? Why don't we announce that on and after the first of next month we will write no more articles , invent no more news , arid pervert no more reports till justice was done us . Heaven knows , we have grievances also . To satisfy aw ungrateful public , who want theii * papers early , we have to work all
night . Our Sundays are not our own . Subscribers are always wanting more matter and lower prices , so that our contributions grow daily greater in length and less in value . We expect soon to have to pay for periodical writing , instead of receiving payment . In fact , we are not acquainted with any more ill-used class than our own . If we struck in a body we might obtain redress . No papers would appear , and if the public did not find they got on very well without them , as some sceptics suggest , we hardly kuow what might not be the consequences . Unfortunately , the reason why neither literary men , nor lawyers' clerks , nor chemists' apprentices , nor starving curates strike for higher wages is painfully obvious . We are all unpleasantly aware
of the fact , that if we do not do the work wo have to do , there are plenty of others who will do it . if anything , rather cheaper , and , in all probability , rather bettor . We should all have the satisfaction of annoying ouv employers , but we should also have the annoyance of losing our employment . Half a loaf is better than no bread , so we all make the best terms wo can—for ourselves , and got as large a slice of the loaf as wo can , as much crumb and as little crust . If our friends , thebuilders , would take this lesson to heart , and consider why it is that the working educated olasses , though often equally hard worked , and equally underpaid , will themselves never think of striking , it might , in the long run , bo bettor for themselves .
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taken to perform the distance regularly within fifty-three , days * and for a much less amount than the other tenders , on account of certain advantages and facilities possessed by those who have sent in the tender . It is also understood that they are in a position immediately to carry out the contract . In spite of all this , or , as it would seem , in consequence of this , the Government has adopted the unprecedented course of delaying an answer , almost invariably given within a week , for the period above mentioned ; and it is rumoured now that the official decision awaits the termination of the Committee on Contracts in the House of Commons , at present adjourned until next session .
Under these Circumstances there is deadly neglect of the commercial interests and necessities of the whole empire , and utter disregard of the loss and injury inflicted upon some of those who have responded by their tenders to the Government invitation . In one instance it is stated that shipping property , which cost nearly a million sterling , is l ying unemployed in the docks awaiting this decision . It may be as well that the public Should be made
fully aware of the sum required for the imperial grant , concerning which Mr . Gladstone hesitates , while commerce with . Australasia is paralysed and injured , while the mercantile growth of these colornies is arrested , our best import and export trade , amounting to about £ 57 , 000 , 000 annually , contracted and pe rilled , instead of being encouraged and developed , and opportunities flung away which may never be recovered .
The amount is about . £ 30 , 000 a-year of imperial outlay for a service to be estimated by millions upon millions . The Colonial Government has voted £ 50 , 000 a-year for the Panama mail service , and , the present return in . the shape of postage is £ 45 , 000 . The lowest and best tender is stated to be £ 119 , 000 . At the very period when the Government is thus indefinitely postponing its decision , the Suez route is signalised by an instance of the most . grievous delay . The steamer breaks down and the mails . are consequently kept back a full month , causing bankruptcy and ruin to several merchants concerned in the Australian trade , and annoyance and confusion to all . This is J > ad enough , but there is more
mischief occasioned by this rare exercise of administrative vigour and judgment . The loyalty of these colonies is endangered . Rich men are proud men , and Australia can afford to challenge a different treatment . Moreover the enterprising American will obtain freights lost to England . Trade naturally follows a frequent and punctual postal service . Yet , can it be believed that between this country and colonies bringing us in £ 10 , 000 , 000 a year in gold , besides being the largest trade customers we have , there is actually no regular steam mail postal service at all , and that the slow And condemned steamers of the Peninsular and Oriental service perform the service as if it lay between England and some crude settlement in an unimportant part of the world . The Panama route is of a degree of importance to this country in' every way which can scarcely be estimated . Tho Admiralty calculations show the distance , vi& Panama and Suez , to bo very trifling . Between London and Melbourne , by Suez and Panama , there is little more than 200 miles in favour of tho former . Between London and New Zealand tho distance is considerably shorter by Panama ; but in other respects tho superiority of the Panama route is . unquestionable . Storms find shipwrecks are avoided , regularity and punctuality can be secured . Again , in case of an European war , tho steamers would be comparatively safe from attack .
POSTAL CONTRACTS . It is now nearly six weeks since tenders were advertised for by , the Government ! for a steana-ship wall service to Australia by Panama , the distance to be accomplished , undor heavy penalties , within fl % -ftvo days . The offered contract was at once responded to by various parties , and tenders duly eont in , Quo of those is understood to have
under-Lastly , by the adoption of Milford Haven as the point of departure , not only arc extraordinary coaling facilities ensured , but also considerable inland postal advantages would be secured . Milfbrd itself invites development as a first-class sea-port and harbour of rofugo . Here aro other matters of vast importance In themselves awaiting tine slow process incubation , or rather the addling of Parliamentary committeoB , while the interests of an empire are sacrificed by neglect , ignorance , and apathy , in a manner wliich imagination cannot conceive , and with which tho mind unfortunately becomes conversant alone through fact .
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GERMANY . August 3 rd , 1859 . —Two more notes of the correspondence between the Cabinets of Berlin and Vienna upon the affairs of Italy have been published by the Prussian Gazette . These , bearing date , th& one 16 tli of June , the other 5 th of July , are addressed by Baron Schleinitz , minister of Foreign Affairs , to the Prussian Ambassador at "Vienna . From these notes it appears that it was the stated intention of Prussia to proffer as basis of her mediation , the maintenance of the Austrian possessions in Italy , but it likewise appears that the Prussian Cabinet refused up to the last moment to confirm , as was demanded by the Cabinet of "Vienna , this verbal assurance by a formal engagement
substantiated bj an interchange of notes . It is also evident that the two Cabinets could not come to an understanding as to the extent of the obligations wMclx Prussia had to fulfil in this sense , as one of the co-signers of the Treaty of Vienna . It was the opinion of the Cabinet of Berlin , that taking into consideration that Austria had , by her mismanagement , created the difficulties in which she was placed —difficulties resulting not from the treaty of 1815 , of which Prussia was one of the guarantees , but ; of acts committed subsequent to that period arid persisted in * regardless of the remonstrances or Prussia—the Prussian Cabinet could not pretend to guarantee those possessions now , without contradicting the part which Prussia had adopted as a . mediating power , to which part she intended solely to confine herself in concert with the two great
neutral powers . . The publication of this diplomatic correspondence which has filled the columns of the journals during the past two weeks and formed the chief topic of discussion , as also the declaration in the English Parliament , has set Prussia right with those of the southern and middle states who were inclined to regard her proposal of mediation and resolute refusal to draw -the sword for Austria as a betrayal of Germany to the foreigner . Even the Austrian journals , so far as they cari or dare utter their true sentiments , consider the conduct of Prussia as-¦
justified . , ¦ „ , ' , ' The agitation for a reforin of the federal constitution— -we must call the thing Constitution for want of a word that exactly defines it , and more particularly for the summoning of a United Parliament of all the States of the Confederation , is making some head way owing to a pretty powerful impulse given it by a declaration issued by about forty liberal members of the Chamber of Deputies of Hanover , headed by Mr . Von Bennigsen , an ardent and eloquent defender of the rights of the people , andan unwearied supporter of all measures of progress . Should this agitation , which will rather be encouraged tlian checked by Prussia , continue , it mav exercise a considerable influence upon
the future of Germany . I give a translation ot tins declaration which is now circulating in all parts of Germany , and meets with the hearty adhesion of tho vast majority of the people . A perusal of it will enable your readers to comprehend the aims of the liberals , or , as they are sometimes slanderously termed , the democrats of Germany : — " The war between Austria and France has terminated . The public law of Europe , however , has not been , thereby secured . The conflicts in Italy , which were the chief causes of the outbreak , are not set at rest , but rather more embroiled . The monacins- military urenonderance of France has been
further increased by tho war . The state oi Europe is so disordered , that we have before us only a prospeqt of fresh entanglements and wars , and , no less likely , an aggressive war upon Germany in tne proximate future . „ . .. *• To be able successfully to face such perils , Germany requires a powerful elevation ot tii © national spirit , and a rapid developemonfc of ftor . prtSa atrength . We alf feel , that the great obstacle to such an elevation and development is tlio present constitution of the German Bund It was shown to bo untenable oven before ™ t * : ™ *?™* the movements of that year it w ^*; 25 less . After 1848 it was sot up again as a w *™ * Prompt « nd united notion against dangers from ab ° Tho demand ( or a more united bond of concontra * tion for Germany , in which tho representatives of the people will bo included » ud have a share in the direction of its fortunes must over , therefore , become louder . Nothing less than c * firm ooncen-{ ration of its military and political power , combined with a United Gorman Parliament , will satisfy tho
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So . 489 . A ™*™* on THE WEAKER . 91 S
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 6, 1859, page 915, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2306/page/15/
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