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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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SUBSCRIPTION TO " THE LEADER . " ONE GUINEA PER YEAR , UNSTAMPED , PREPAID . ( Delivered Gratis . )
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SIR JOHitf FRANKLIN AND HIS COMPANIONS . The return of Captain M ^ CUntock has certainly put an end to all doubt as to the safety of Sir John Franklin . That gallant veteran died on June 11 th , 1847 , " surrounded by comrades and friends , " while his ships were unharmed , and he might yet hope that the expedition would return successful to England . The narrative , however , will be read in every hamlet of England before we can go to press , and we shall not , therefore , repeat it . On April 22 nd , more than ten months after Sir John ' s death , the ships were abandoned , and " 105 persons , under the command of Captain Crozier , started for the ( 3-reat Fish River . " Where Sir John Franklin died , though it must have been
near the spot where the record was found , and what happened to the expedition till the ships were deserted * " five leagues to the N . N . W . of Point Victory , " are unknown . What became , too , of the 105 persons is equally unknown , except that they probably perished . The mystery which hung over the fate of Sir John Franklin is imdoubtedly cleared up , but only to leave a still niore painful mystery over the fate of his companions and followers . Around the spot where this sad record of the past , and ominous insight into the future , was [ discovered ^ there " lay strewed about a vast quantity of clothing and stores of all sorts . "
" Everything had been thrown away which could possibly have been dispensed with . " A few miles to the south of this spot another record was found deposited by Lieutenant Gore and M . Des Vceux very nearly a year before , and fourteen days before Sir John Franklin ' s death , in which he is described as commanding tho expedition . In another spot not very far distant—how far is not stated—a boat was found , " intended for the ascent of the Fish River , but abandoned apparently on a return journey to tho ships . " She measured 28 feet long by 7 £ wide , was most carefully fitted , and made as light as possible . A large
quantity of clothing was found within her , also two human skeletons . Ono of those lay in the after part of the boat , under a pile of clothing ; the other , which was much more disturbed , probably by animals , was found in the bow . Five pocket watches , a quantity of silver spoons and forks , and a few religious b . ooka were also found , but no journals , pocket-books , or even names upon any articles of clothing . Two doublc-barrellod ffuns stood upright against the boat ' s si do preoiaofy as they w / oro placed eleven years before Ono bai'rel in each was loaded and cocked j there , was ammunition in abundanoe , also 801 b . or 40 lb . of ohocolate , some tea aud tobacoo . Fuel was
not wanting ; a drift tree lay within 100 yards of the boat . When the start for the Fish River took place , summer was beginning , and in that period of the year the Esquimaux in the neighbourhood obtain the means of living . They , indeed , " found " _ in one of the deserted ships , an " inexhaustible mine of wealth . " There is not , in the circumstances stated , the slightest reason for throwing a suspicion on the Esquimaux . They appear to have behaved with perfect good faith , though excessively desirous of obtaining objects possessed by our countrymen . By what agency , then , were these latter—possessed of fuel , clothing ,
means of transport , and some means . protection against the severities of the climate which the Esquimaux withstand—destroyed ? We do not see our way to an answer , but the mystery which now hangs over the fate of Sir John Franklin ' s companions and followers is for us so painful that Captain M'GHntock ' s information is infinitely more distressing than our previous ignorance . We cannot infer from their fate , though the general principle is overwhelmingly true , that there are " Powers in nature . too strong for man to overcome . " The Exquimaux overcome the powers fatal to life in those regions , and civilisation gives us means to overcome them almost infinitely
greater than theirs . Our countrymen seem have possessed these means , but an inexplicable fatality seems to have prevented them making a judicious use of them .
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THE WEYMOUTH INQUEST . The Coroner ' s jury engaged in investigating the Great Eastern accident have managed , by a protracted inquiry f to find out nothing that was unknown before , although the evidence laid . before them afforded glimpses that ought to have been followed out with greater perseverance . From the beginning Weyniouth seems to have voted the inquest rather a bore—no one took the trouble to be present at it , and the jury , according to the evidence of a contemporary , managed to pass their time by reading newspapers and getting up a friendly chat . When efforts were made to fix the responsibility upon the contractor , by showing that ll
his work was not finished , the foreman , at the request of his colleagues , protested againsj the course the inquiry was taking , " and all through the case there seems to have been an absence of that determination to get at the truth by which a public tribunal ought to be animated .. The jury could not doubt that the deceased subjects of their inquiry were killed by the bursting of the jacket , nor that the exp losion took place in consequence of the closing of the siphon tap . They therefore affirmed those facts which all the world knew beforehand , declared their inability to state by whom t ; he tap was closed , expressed their opinion that taps in such positions were dangerous , and that
sufficient caution was not used by the engineers . We shall not attempt to apportion the blame which belongs to the different individuals concerned in producing the horrible catastrophe , but content ourselves with remarking upon facts that admit of no dispute , and which illustrate some of the causes by which joint-stock companies come to disgrace . Tho completion of the big ship appears to have been a matter of scramble and confusion . The directors may be right , or wrong in their assertions that Mr . Scott Russell ' s contract was not oomploted , and that he « was in possession and in command of the engines manufactured by him at the tune the accident occurred ; but tho inquest shows that they wore not in a position to offer a simple and busincBSrliko proof of the
correctness of their views . It is painful to find gentlemen flatly contradicting one another on what ought to be plain matters of fact ; but what shall wo say of a party of directors , contractors , and engineers all at sea together without any accurate understanding of their relative positions ? A <> cording to one assertion the directors with their engineers were visitors , or at most voluntcors , taken by the contractors on a trial trip , tho result of which was to determine whether they accepted the engines and took them under their own chnrge . Mr . Scott Russell has a perfectly opposite theory . According to his view tho ongines had boon acoepted by the oompany , and his presence on board waB merely an indication of hid interest in the undertaking , and hie savvicos thoso of an irresponsible volunteer .
While the subject was how the glory and honour of building the big ship should be divided there was no difficulty in inducing claimants to come forward , but when the task was the assumption of . responsibility it all of a sudden became nobody ' s business to know or do anything . The directors made so loose an agreement with the contractors as to render it impossible to prove , by any direct evidence , whether the engines had been accepted by them or not ; the contractors had , at any rate , cause for doubting their own position , and the engineers of different" sorts were lef t to guess whom it was their * ^ *
duty to obey . The unfortunate tap was left m its position—after having served a temporary purpose by nobody ' s authority , although we are asked to believe this was an advantage , as , if the siphon pipe had been broken , the tap might have prevented the water from running out into the shipprevented it , of course , at the risk or the expense of such an explosion as occurred . Who turned the tap , nobody knows ; and Mr . Arnott , who had been in Mr . Scott Russell ' s employ and was to be chief engineer under Mr . McLennan , frankly admitted that " he did not know it was the duty of any per ^ son in particular to go round and examine the cocks . " Captain Harrison was left in the dark by the directors as to who was in charge of the enginesbut as Mr . Brunei had told him he should
, not certify their delivery until he could get a better rate of speed out of them , he instructed Mr . McLennan not to interfere in any way with their working , but to hand over his staff to the represent tatives of the contractors . Mr . McLennan ' s evidence shows that he followed these instructions , but not with sufficient precision to prevent the witnesses on the other side from affirming that they considered him in command . The fact is , the whole affair was in confusion , and the ship was not ready to start when the impatience of the directors hurried her off . The donkey engines were insufficient for their work , and no adequate preliminary trials and examinations were made before all parties concerned most improperly ventured to commence their first voyage .
It will be remembered that at the meeting of the shareholders a few weeks back , Mr . Magnus made statements that ought to have led to an immediate and rigid inquiry , but the parties present would not listen to his propositions , and Mr . Jackson and other directors fairly talked him down . We know nothing of Mr . Magnus , but felt at the time that hushing up or coughing down proper subjects for inquiry boded no good to the company , and it now appears that some portion at least of in
his allegations was correct . When power was their hands the shareholders practically voted , as they are usually found to do , for the irresponsibility of their directors , whom they absolved from " ¦ rave charges made by a member of the board without talcing the trouble to know whether they were true or lalso ; and it now remains to be seen whether they will continue the same foolish course . There is abundant ground for investigation , and the shareholders , if wise , will rcputtialo the evil to
policy of mystification and concealment , and , use a popular phrase , " have it all out . " I hoy ought now to investigate Mr . Menus' statements , to sec whether there wore any defects in tlie contracts with Mr . Scott Russell , or whether they were unfairly given to him , and if so , who was to blame . " Tney should fix upon somebody the responsibility of going to sea with incomplete donkey engines , and without a distinct and formal undol-stanW of who was _ to . dirooj tho for tho character
mad ncry It is alsS necessary of the company that the clmrgoof attuinptiiifc to mislead tho pi-oss should be strictly instigated . Woconto wo do npt expect , to see the shareholders of any company so rational as to protect their interests in this manner ; but ho Jon « as they won ' t know what they might know , thu > -nrnj oxpoet tho joint-stock system will bo wo 1 < ud by obbors for their own benefit , and tlm J shall not want a succession of explosions or collapses of physical materials ondoftjio orodit and character or public men .
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OURSELVES AND ; OUR NEIGHBOURS . If Mr . Bright wore shot-proof as well -mi truthproof , he would bo a serviceable material in tue construction of gun-boats or floatinu' ^ "ones . There are faults enough m tho Liberal purty , but when the hon . member fbr Birmingham declares that " it has given itself up to tho frensty of wnr ,
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NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS . No notice can be taken of anonymous correspondence Whatever is iutendedfor insertion must be authenticated by the name and address of the writer , ; not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of his good faith . It is impossible to acknowTedg-e the mass of letters we receive . Their insertion is often delayed , owing to a press of matter ; and when omitted , it is frequently from reasons quite independent of the merits of the communication . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications ;
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OFFICE , NO . , CATHERINE-STREET , STRAND , "W . C .
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SATURDAY , SEPTEMBER 24 , 1859 .
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There is nothing so revolutionary , because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed when all the world is by the very law of its creation in eternal progress . —Dk . Akxqed ..
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for discussion No . 496 . Sept . 24 , 1859 . 1 THE LEADER . __ J ^ V _ ¦ ^^^ MBB ^^^^^^^^^ B ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^—^^^^ m ^^^^^^^^^^ jb ^^^^^^^™^^^^^^^^^^ " ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ - . ¦ _ *^ # m ' % _ '
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 24, 1859, page 1081, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2313/page/13/
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