On this page
- Departments (1)
-
Text (3)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
, TltK SAVOY IIUGBEAR.
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
who happen not to fall within the terms of such exclusion . In ' pi-obflbly every parish of the metropolis , for example , as , in the majority of ora * principal towns / there arc numbers of houses valued at £ S and £ 10 ( in many places at £ 15 , and even £ 20 ) for which the owners are rated instead of the occupiers ; and tlii . s arises iiot through accident or caprice , but because the proprieiors of house property are enabled to confound with the parish for the whole of their tenements , and because the parish authorities consider that , in the increased security-they - thus . obtain for regularity of payment , they make a good bargain . A clause might be introduced , we think , ' with advantage in committee enabling the £ 6 tenant to prove by the production of the rate collector ' s book before the reVishiir barrister , tliat . the rates
on his house had been paid ; and in such case there ought to be no necessity for him to prove his personal rating-.. It is a great mistake for him to suppose that ; such an amendment would necessarily add to the electoral list an overwhelming number of persons , ' * Statistical tables may possibly show very largo figures under the bead of " tenements compounded for by their owners , " but it will be found , we apprehend , upon inquiry , that upon an average . fifty per . cent , of these are inhabited by women , or by weekly lodgers , avIio occupy part of a house only . There seeing however , no justice or reason in making a law whereby one man who pays £ 6 a year rent and his own taxes should have a vote for members of Parliament , while his next-door neighbour , who pays £ S a year , but whose taxes are paid by his landlord , should t ) e denied the franchise . .
Then there is the question regarding lodgers , wh . ich nearly affects the skilled artisan class , especially hi London . Thousands of respectable / thrifty , and intelligent operatives occupy portions of houses , for which they pay from eight to ten . shillings a week , . « . /? ., from £ 20 to £ 2 G a year . YVhat is the sense of denying such men all share in . the representation ? ' ^ Tlie measure prepared iby Lord Derby's Cabinet had the merit . of containing a proposal for rectifying this anomaly . It was objected at the time that the standard it named for a qualifying lodger's rent ( £ 20 a year ) was too hiuh ; but , at all events , it asserted a principle , in which a
g-reat and valuablie class -of society is deeply and directly interested . "We . do ' not argue the matter on the narrow ground that there are rich or whimsical " people , who . like to live in luxurious lodgings instead of having distinct roof-trees of . their own . AYe do not think it of very much consequence whether a lew scores of oddities , or men about town , are or are not included in the ^ register for Marylebone or TSelgravia . But Ave do think it a ' matter , of the utmost importance that another opportunity should not be lost of enlisting the boat of the working classes in the maintenance of the Constitution . .
Another omission , also , we would gladly see' repaired : we mean , that with respect to the payment , of Income-tax . To us it seems wholly incomprehensible why a man should not be allowed to vote ' upon proof that he possesses a . comfortable income , as well as upon proof of a small part of his expenditure . It may be disputable , aiul we know it is disputed by eminent politicians , what proportion a £ 0 householder should be deciued to contribute ! to the burthens of the State ;; but there could be no dispute about the reality of a man's contribution who churned to
A'ote out of his income-tax receipt . As no man is liable Avho does not possess or earn at least two pounds a week , and as we already allow multitudes to vote not One of whom possess or earn anything" like tliat sum , it does seem passing' strange that for the mere sake of what is called uniformity and simplicity , we should refuse to recogniso so nianifestly just u claim . YVc coiit " ess , likewist' , we should have been glud to have se ( in the professional franchises retained , less for the sake of the number of highly educated nuin they Avould add to the constituency , than for tho sake of the imnoi plo asserted thereby ,. that intelligence and learning ought to > e more respected by the State than mere bricks aud mortar .
Untitled Article
nPHERE is a school of Avnters und politicians who uro never JL happy unless they uro milking a sensation . They are determined to be distinguished , and find it easier to accomplish their desire by violent unties than by acts of utility . They euro nothing for consequences , provided somebody else pnys for tlioin . One day they malign a private reputation , and tho next they stir tho iftre of international animosity , cantont to be mischievous and
irrational provided that they are notorious and smart . This fraternity would , compromise the cause- of Italy , and destroy tho nioral iiriluupco of England in France , by keeping up " -a continued clamour about tho projected annexation of Savoy—n course of conduct whioh , by exaggerating ; one of the little questions of tlio day into primary importance , wouldcftectually withdraw attention from others of move momentous olmractor . llefpro the war with Austria broke out it was confidently stated by some- Italian
politicians that Lor is Xa . i-OI . eox had bargained with Victor Em ^ ia ^ ubl for the cession of Savoy as price of services which were to cxpe ' l tlio Austriaus from Italy and raise Sardinia to tho position 6 f a considerable European power . Such aii arrange ^ nienf might have been safely left to the parties concerned in making it , had not Switzerland been naturally anxious to prevent the ¦ ¦ extension of the French Empire to the very doors of Geneva . If ( . 'lminbery and Xice Avere ceded to Fnmoe she would gain some () 7 0 , 000 fresh . subjects , avIucIi might be a gratificationi to >> poleoiiic pride ; and the new territory might place her in ii position of greater political poAver , and thus destroy the so-called " balance " " establishi'd hy the . Treaty o ( Vienna , which old-fogey politicians Avorship with ' all the superstitious devotion Avliich an ¦ African pays-to his Munibo Jumbo .. Hational England , however , will not be angry because that monument of . statecraft receives another kick , but Avill readily acquiesce in any new arrangements which ' secure greater liberty on the Continent , aud advance the interests of nationalities which brutal despotisms have so longoppressed . The French Government might have decided upon annexing Savoy in a manner which would have deserved the strongest , animadversion ; but the proposals it actually makes , although not quite consistent with . Imperial professions of perfect disinterestedness , and the balderdash about France being the only country that fightsfor an idea , are not in the least alarming to any one who will look ' at them with a little coolness and common sense . . The French Emperor declares that he will not attempt to take Savoy by force , and that lie is Avilling to agree that Switzerland shall lmye ' Cliablais and Fauciguy—we presume he means the whole province , of Anneey , which contains about 208 , 000 people—which she eousiders necessary for her safety ; and is , moreover , willing" to leave the question of Avhetlier a certain territory shall be -joined to France , to the decision , by . universal suffrage , of the . inhabitants themselves . Xoav if VicTOit Emmanuel is ^ wining to give . , up ,, for what lie may think an adequate consideration , in hard knocks to he administered to the Austrian * , certain- mountain slopes chieny famous for supplying Ehvope Avithorgan gfinclers ; and if the interests of Su'it / . vrlaml are cared for , and the changes take place by the Avisli of the people immediately concerned , what on earth is England to got in a pivssiou about ? . ' Or . vli ' a . t ought we to care whether the Germans Will be more anxious about their beloved Tlhine ? We should certainly sympathize with the- Germans if -N . vi'olrox III . attempted * to * steal their pet river , with its thriving- towns '; ¦ ¦ . but the German- people are more numerous than the English , and quite as able to tight their own battles ; and whenever they mr ' really in danger from France , avc may relyupon it , tlip fault will lie with : their own Governments and themselves . There have been times whe-u a large portion of Khcnish Prussia-and Iihenish IVavaria would have , gladly annexed itself to Vranee ; . and if tlio nuisance of a swarm of petty iiotentates , and the unwillingness of Prussia to tread boldly the path of constitutional libri'hy , sliould Aveakcn the adhesion . ' any part of ( j . erinany to its rulers , it is not for us to resist the natural , progress of events . Tho Italian question is not difficult to understand ; aud as England was not willing to render active assistance at any price ; whatever , it is certainly competent for Sardinia , in acting on behalf of Italy , to make the best arrangements she . can for French support . ¦ Lord John 'Russell , whose feelings towards Italy are much more liberal than those of Lords Auekdiokn' aud MAL . ufiSBUtY , gave ' advice , which , if followed , would have left' Italy under Avistriiin thraldom till the crack of doom . Victor Em . manvi : i . wisely rejected the solemn platitudes about the force of example , and tviod the' force of French gunpowder iiguinsfc the . oppressors of his race : The result has not beou all we wished , biit Italy has gained immensely by Magenta mid Solf ' erino , and is in a ftur Avivy of gaining move if she acts with prudence aftd eouvng'O . We may exclaim that it would be more noblo if the French . Government Avould complete its work , and turn Austria out . of'Venice and the Quadrangle , without asking for any other reward , than the consciousness of having done avoII ; and we may with justice complain of the opposition which Loi'ia Xa ' i'olkox makes to tho union of Tuscany with Sardinia ; but a Freaolinian is entitled to ask in return , wiwt England Jiu . s done , or is prepared to do , if Austria and her allies rekindle the war . Lord John ' . Russell would write despatches in business-like Englisli , convoying moral sentiments thai would do honour to any copy-book ; but ho would not recommend creating a inversion in favour of tho Italians by landing a liberating Expedition in Hungary ; und if the JbYonoH Government proposed to do so , it is believed that , 'in common Avith othov \ Miigs , ho would bo solzod with an attack pf the Treaty of Vie . nixii , - \ vhioli was n ' uunly fouiidiMl upon tho idea of making Austria a counterbidtmeo to Fnmoe ,
Untitled Article
224 The Leader and Saturday Anal yst , J March 10 , I 860
, Tltk Savoy Iiugbear.
, TltK SAA'OY TiUGBE . VR .
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), March 10, 1860, page 224, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2337/page/4/
-