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1000 THE LEADEK . f-No . 493 . Sei > t . 3 , 1859 .
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POLITICAL FORESIIADOWINGS . The two Conservative members for the southern division of Devon attended a large gathering of their party held recently at Ashburton . Mr . L . Palk , M . P ., thus alluded to the course likely to be adopted by the Conservatives early in the next session :-r— "I am told that the Ministry of the present day , far from having a majority in the House of Commons , is a Ministry on sufferance , and is supported only by a minority of the people . How long do you think that this wretched Government is going to stand ? Do you think that they are the men to bring in a Reform Bill that would be satisfactory to you and to the people of this country ? Do you think that the man who sacrificed your interests and your honour
at the behests of France is the man to maintain your interests and your honour ? Well , then , what is the duty of the great Conservative party ? It is—and let there be no mistake about it—as soon as Parliament meets , to bring this question to an issue , and , by a vote of want of confidence , which I hope and trust I shall see moved , to drive from power that Government which for years and years have maintained themselves in office by the greatest bribery and corruption , which has only just been found out , but to which the country is becoming alive . For vherever a fresh election takes place , although the Conservative candidate may not in every place tie successful , you will find that the Conservative candidate has had the greatest number of hands held
up in his favour ; and , therefore , if the Conservative cause rested on universal suffrage the Conservative and not the . Whig- would have been elected . "—Mr . S . T . Kekewich , M . P ., said : — - " It appears to me that we ought to view the present Government with very great suspicion ; and the reason I view them with suspicion is , because they consist of gentlemen holding so many opinions , that I think it is impossible for them to agree without some compromise of principle , and nothing is worse in the rulers of this country than any compromise of political' principle . I regard the Government just as we see beautiful figures through a kaleidoscope ; they are made up of shreds and patches , but when viewed altogether they present to the e } r e a very pleasing and imposing
effect . What is this Ministry composed of ? I do not wish to do them any wrong . I know the difficulties which public men have often to labour under ; that sometimes there must be a little compromise of principle , but not too great a compromise . My honourable friend has told us that we should go to the House of Commons next session and propose a want of confidence in the Government . Let us , if we -have a majority , have a fair Btand-up fighf ; let us fight with confidence and -courage , and try which is the strongest man . But do not resort to factious votes in trying to turn out the present Administration . If we determine to turn them out , let us do it in an honest and straightforward way . "
On Wednesday , about a thousand electors of West Kent , belonging to the Liberal party , dined together in celebration of the return of Messrs . Lee and Buxton , the Liberal members for Maidstone . On this occasion Mr . W . Lex :, M . P ., observed that the Tories were not satisfied with being soundly beaten at tho last election , but must try the forlorn hope of Bending a petition without evidence to the House of Commons . Some of the witnesses had received as much as £ 40 to attend' and give evidence to unseat tho Liberal members . ' Kut lie must say that he had been treated in a very honourable manner by some of the highminded and influential Tories of Maidstone ; it was only a certain clique , who had for years looked out for the money % of candidates , by whom this petition was concocted . Referring to the present state of political parties , Mr . Lee expressed his intention to give a general support to Lord Palmer at on ' a Government so long ns it deserved the
esteem of true liberals . Tho question of reform had been s taved off yenr after year , but the present Government came into office on that question , and was bound to bring forward a Reform Bill sufficiently comprehensive . —Mr . C . Buxton ,. M . P ., denied that any bribery had taken place on the part of himself or Mr . Leo , and tho Tories had now spent about 1 , 0002 . upon tho petition , the result of which only rendered their seats more secure . Ho considered that , tho present ilaw respecting bribery was inoperative , A severe ^ penalty should attach to the man who actually perform a the act of bribery , and the law should be so altered that any man who bribed an elector should bo committed to gaol for a fortnight or a month . Ho should , as their representative , support all liberal rocasuros , and could appeal with confidence to his past votes . Tho prosont Government comprised , in ita ranks many real reformers , and they * night reasonably expect that such a measure of reform wouU bo Introduced as would satisfy tho
country . Referring to Continental affairs * Mr . Button strongly advocated the policy of allowing the Italians to choose their own form of government , and hoped that this country would never interfere on behalf of despotism . It is announced that on the 15 th inst , a Conservative banquet , on a grand scale , will take place in West Kent , Earl Stanhope will preside , and a large number of the noblemen and leading Conservative gentlemen of the division have signified their intention to be present on the occasion .
The Liberals of Kidderminster are organising a grand demonstration , . which is to take place on the 23 rd of next month . A banquet to the sitting member , Mr . A . R * Bristow , M . P ., is to be given in the Music Hall , to which several M . P . ' s and the notabilities of the county are invited . Besides this , as the room will only contain some 700 or 800 persons , the non-electors will likewise give a fete . Nearly 200 Z . has already been subscribed . On Wednesday the anniversary of an old-established charity called the Bear Club was held in Devizes , when , as usual , the members for the county were present . Mr . Long , M . P ., presided , and in his speech dwelt at some length on the necessity of getting rid of periodical invasion panics , and said
that in his opinion every man ought to serve in the militia or find a substitute . There need then be no fear of invasion . Captain Gladstone ,. M . P ., expressed a hope that whatever government was in power they would maintain a powerful fleet . He thought the majority of the people should be trained to the use of arms * and remarked on the fact that the army was at this moment 10 , 000 men below the numbers voted by Parliament ; but he congratulated his hearers on the Government having taken measures to secure a reserve of 25 i 000 seamen . Mr . Sothebon EsT ^ auRT addres sed the meeting , in a similar strain , and called attention to the fact that the Wiltshire regiment . of militia was short of its required complement of men , and he appealed to the company to join the yeomanry .
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THE BUILDERS' STRIKE . The contributions from the country in aid of the men on strike and lock-out amounted ~ up to Thursday night , to . £ 350 . Further contributions are expected shortly , amongst others , £ 1 , 000 from tlys Amalagamated Engineers and £ 500 from the trades of Glasgow . A Non-Society ' s Men ' s Relief Fund has been instituted , of which Mr . Alderman Cubitt , M . P ., is the treasurer ; and to which he has subscribed £ 100 . This fund is to be distributed only amongst the nort-society men , who are willing to give their verbal assent to the declaration when the shops are . reopened . Late on Thursday night information reached us that negotiations were pending between the masters and the operatives , the result of which , it is anticipated , will be an amicable settlement of . the existing dispute .
There " was a demonstration of building operatives at the Surrey Gardens on Monday , at which some 2 . 000 or 3 , 000 were present . Mr . Grey , the operative who presided , announced an unyielding determination on the part of the leaders of the movement , a statement that was loudly cheered by the assembly . The temper of the meeting may be expressed in one sentence—no surrender until the " document" of the masters is withdrawn . A strongly-worded resolution , condemnatory of the document , was unanimously adopted . From the speech delivered by Mr . G . Potter , we learn that 14 , 000 or 15 , 000 workmen have made application to eh are the supplies at the disposal of the executive committee . The total income for the workmen on strike up to Monday in last week was nearly . £ 1 , 500 , and the whole of this sum had been distributed save some £ G 0 , Glasgow had promised to send up
£ 5 Q 0 . A preliminary meeting of tho anti-strike committee and non-society men engaged In the building trades was hold on Thursday , in the Adelaide Gallory , Lowthor-arcacle , Strand . Sovcral society men assembled round the doors , but no interruption took place . Mr . Ashby was called to tho chair , and the meeting was addressed at some length by Mr . Plummer , an operative , who argued that the trades' union was pursuing a suicidal policy , and contended that tho history of trades' unions was one of " strikes ,
quarrels , disputes , confusion , ruin and misery . " Ho thought the " document" might be accepted as amended by the anti-strike committee and regarded as a shop rule . Mr . Dlproso raovocl " That the thanks of this preliminary mooting of tho antistrike committee of non-souicty men be given to Mr . Flummor for his oxceUont addross ; and . it further desires to express Its concurrence in tho views ho has set forth . " Mr . Jones seconded tho motion , which was carried unanimously . Mr . Barrott announced that Alderman Cubitt had expressod hia willingness to become treasurer to an
Anti-Strike Relief Fund , if a requisition signed by twenty members should be presented to him , and he ( Mr . Barrett ) believed that if they agreed to do so , that hundreds of pounds would shortly be forthcominofor their relief , as the masters deeply sympathised with their sufferings . A requisition was immediately signed , and , after thanks had been voted to the chairman , the proceedings terminated .
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NAVAL AND MILITARY . Two delinquents belonging to the Royal Engineers , at Chatham , have been tried and sentenced by courtmartial . Supper Owen Lawby , tried on a charge of having deserted two years ago , was ordered to be branded with the latter " D , " to receive fifty lashes , and to be . imprisoned for eighty-four days . Mnjor-General Eyre commuted the fifty lashes to fortvtwo days' imprisonment , making , beside the branding , 126 days ' imprisonment . Alexander Cameron , a sapper , was found drunk and guilty of riotous conduct in the streets of Chatham , knocking down one of the picquet sent to conduct him to the guardhouse . The prisoner has only been nine months in the service , during which time he has been tried three times by court-martial . The court sentenced liim to receive eighty-four days' imprisonment , ami to have one penny per day of his pay stopped for twelve months .
. On Saturday the Grand " Duke Constantino paid a long visit to the Great Eastern . For upwards of three hours he remained on board inspecting every part of the ship , from the lowest deck to the iron masts and colossal wooden yards , lie expressed himself perfectly astonished at . the magnitude of the whole undertaking for a commercial speculation , though , merely judging of it from a nautical point of view , he had little doubt of its success . He claimed for the Russian Government the credit of having the second largest vessel in the world—the General-Admiral —• though , as regarded fineness of lines and beauty of form ,, he considered the Great Eastern to as much surpass that man-of-war as she did in size and power . His Highness expressed a wish to see the new steering apparatus ; this simple though most ingenious invention was accordingly inspected at Mr . Langley ' s yard .
The Paris correspondent of the Independance writes : — " Letters from Marseilles state that a very general feeling of discontent prevails amongst 'the merchants of Sweden , Denmark , Holland , and especially of the United States , at the extraordinary efforts which are being made by the" British Government to enlist the sailors of those nations . English agents are offering no less than 81 . bounty and 41 . 8 a . per month for men . The consequence is that there is an almost general desertion of men , and the merchants of these nations find it almost impossible to man their ships . These men arc taken to Malta in the first . instance , and are from thence conveyed to the different maritime stations where they are required . "
The Toulonnaiti announces that experiments are being made at the islands of Hyi-res with a cannon on a new model , which oarrics 12 , 000 yards . The Times thus recapitulates the measures taken for the national defence : — " Perhaps our army is still but a small one , perhaps our navy still calls for a better organization of our maritime resources , perhaps our fortifications may be the better for nn authoritative inspection and a decisive report . It ¦ was maintained the other day that wo could not at this moment bring above 30 , 000 infantry into the field against „ an invader . This , upon a rigorous principle of reckoning , n » &y possibly bo true , but wo may add that it is full three
timos as much as we , could have done twentyflvo years ago . The troops at homo , besides being trebled in number , are infinitely better equipped , armed , and . trained . Instead of being scattered by companies over- the kingdom , they are massed , in largo bodies , nud inured 1 J > - the practice of camps to tho usages of actuul war . In particular , tho artillery has boon strongly reinforced , and , instead of eighteen , wo could now prmhieo I 8 i > guns , nil excellently served . Our homo army may fairly bo estimated ns worth five timoa tho forco available in 1832 ; nnd to this wo ore proposing to add a rosorvo of votcran soldiers i » "j bnttlu
prime of strength . Our arrears in llno-ofships have been rnpidly miido up , nnd in tlio other departments of a national marine wo have little to complain of . Wo have a formidable fluct of gunboats ; wo have our Orlandos and Morsoys , worthy rivals , as wo boliovo , of Niagaras and Genornl-Aumiralsj and if steam nuns and iron-cased frigates are to take tho lead in such matters , wo lmve belli upon tho stocks . At soa wo have a Channel oqiuiuron and u Mediterranean squadron , wjiilo na to sailors wo havo alroady somo rosorvo force / , « havo adopted measures for supporting it » y others . Wo are not overlooking any of the discoveries oi motlorn science . Wo ivru vllllng our oannoni we
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 3, 1859, page 1000, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2310/page/4/
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