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BRITISH DEFENCES.
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themselves out of the condition of receiving wages , and started as capitalists on their own account . And thus placed , as it was thought , beyond the necessity of working , they rose in their own esteem , and fiiat of their fellow men , just in proportion as their speculations were successful , and no further . Within the last fifty years , Thinkers have arisen who have penetrated the falsehood of these supposed relations , and asserted , in terms more or less sonorous , the Dignity of Labour . 1 he Man Labouring has been seen to be , at bottom , the only honest his ertions alone
man , and to live on the legitimate fruits of ex . His rio-ht to his wages no one could dispute;—the only doubt was , whether they were high enough ; and whether the mere law of Supply and Demand did not press too severely on him , and require the interposition of some other law to ameliorate the state of the market . The Thinkers , furthermore , insisted on his right to a better education , that he might know better how to conduct , himself and dispose of his earnings prudently . Mechanics' Institutions were established , and the diligent and industrious found themselves , in the course of time , on more equal
terms with their employers . „ . So far , well . But all that is really needed is not yet done , A balance has yet to be adjusted between Master and Man . The former still thinks that he confers a favour by employing the latter , and has indeed a right to his especial gratitude . On the other hand , in some extreme cases , the latter may have inclined to the opinion that the favour is conferred by himself . In Australian and American experience , the fact has been so . Labour , even of the most unskilled kind , has been the crowned less
king ; and the more intelligent adventurer lias found himself m request than the hard-handed craftsman or agriculturist . The idle and the industrious have changed places;—and the experience of new worlds has been properly called in to right the balance of the old , As such we may accept it , without adopting the extreme conclusions of either . In a well-constituted and mature state of society , the obligations of the labourer _ and his employer are equal . " Each reciprocally benefits the other ; and a sense of mutual dependaiice should operate to make them good
friends and kindly neighbours . 1- Tins acknovvledged equality , iiowever ^ xecogiHses results Avhieh masters are evidently not yet prepared to grant ; In some sort , at least in England , they still claim some shadowy right to superiority . Without attempting to justify in the slightest degree the " strikes" which have lately taken place , or those with which the building trade has been again threatened , it is but reasonable , we think , that the claim of the men to nine hours ' work instead of ten should be graciously considered . It deserves more favourable attention than it has received . The leisure demanded is sacred to high purposes . The craftsman no longer requires that it should be devoted to vicious indiuV gence , but to the improvement of his mind and morals . He takes his stand , now , as a man—not simply as a craftsman
—and on tlus : ground asserts his equality with his employer . He demands the same privileges of instruction ,, opportunities to form his taste , and means of preserving both his mind and body in a state of health . The master , owes to the man more than his mere wages for work done and delivered ; he owes to him the courtesies of a fellow man , good wishes for his individual welfare , and as much help as he can render towards the bettering of his material and moral condition . These are new duties , imposed by the spirit of the times on masters . We confess it , and it is only too pvidently felt by them that they are new . The prayer of , the men for an extra leisure hour should not be too summarily , dismissed . Whether it would be better
to pay wages by the hour rather than by the day— - ( a solution proposed in one of the journals)—or to grant the prayer literally as it stands , without altering the general custom , are matters that require deliberation , and depend greatly on practical experience . Theoretically , one may be better than the other ; but that wh , ich " works well , " as in the case of the British constitution itself , is that which will most commend itself to men of business , llcscrving this point , we think that the masters will do wisely to regard with proper sympathy the spirit of tho appeal made to them , and above all to forbear from mis-esteeming the motive that has given birth to tho movement . Whatever has a tendency to elevate the oharaoter of the workman , must be beneficial to the master . Only the low-minded and the narrow-minded can think otherwise .
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• The leader andSaturday Analyst . [ June 2 , 1860 ,
British Defences.
BRITISH DEFENCES .
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IN despotic times Government must , of necessity , regord itself as an enemy to tho peoplo , and consider that its safety depends upon the power and strength of the fortifications which it can interpose between its own position and the organization of the public will . Such considerations naturally influenced the
British Administration in the days of Sidmoutii and ^ Castlereagh ; but we ought now to have . outgrown so mischievous an antagonism , and to have reached a point of national unity , at which the Government was simply the . machinery , for carrying out those decisions at which the intelligence of the country had arrived . For a Government to be afraid of arming the people , is for that Government to confess that it does not intend to carry out the will of the nation . And while adjacent despotisms can army hundreds of thousands by the application of force , we must sink in influence and safety , unless we can provide a counterpoise by means that are in harmony with the free principles upon which our society is professedly founded . Our ablest soldiers are continually telling vis that the amount "of national defencespurchased for ' nearly thirty millions a year—are very inadequate to ensure the safety of our numerous possessions , and of that preponderance at sea upon which our stability must ultimately depend ; and our wisest financiers witness with alarm the continuance of an expenditure which the country would not and could not sustain if any untoward circumstances caused an important depression of trade . Even now , the rise in the price of meat , consequent upon the damage , done to the grass and early green crops , will make it hard work for the bulk of the people to make both ends meet , and any further pressure would be felt an intolerable burden . Still , the cry of danger for want of defences is constantly raised ; and when facts and figures are examined , no one is satisfied , except the obstinate believer in the amiable intentions of dangerous and despotic powers . The Volunteer movement has added something to the military strength of the country , though what the real amount of available force we have obtained is very difficult to ascertain , and we may be certain tliat the success of the scheme has been immensely exaggerated . We want more power for less Cost , and until this problem is solved we shall ' constantly feel the unpleasant sensation of drifting' towards unknown dangers , and want that confidence that spmig-s from the proud consciousness that we hold the threads of our own . destiny fii * m in our owithands ^ . Our Statesmen may see combinations that bode us no good , and may know that . a-little -firm help to a just cause at the right moment ^ wo ul d serve Europe as well as ourselves , but they areparalyzed for want of means ; and by constantly showing that they are afraid of provoking a conflict they leave to others the power of deciding at what moment we shall have peace or war . It is true that Tre have no leaders who wish to make England play a noble part , and advance those beneficent changes that must take place before the condition of nations can be anything better than ; m armed , distrustful , and expensive truce ; but if we had the riprht men in the right place , the first thing they would do would be to make oiir homes impi'egrinb"lej and ~ 1 cave a lltTgTrf 61 ^ MoT ~ aTiy "~" distant enterprise that might be necessary to resist the commencement of attacks upon interests that we should be obliged to defend . Among the numerous persons who have turned their attention to this question is Colonel Kennedy , formerly military secretary to Sir Giiahles Napieu , and consulting engineer to the railway department of the Indian Government , and who has just published the Lecture on National Defensive Measures which he delivered at the-United Service Institution in the month of March . Colonel Kennedy proposes to raise a volunteer force of 500 , 000 men , that being one-tenth of the mon estimated ' as capnble of bearing arms . Ho proposes 450 infantry battalions of 1 , 000 men each , 300 squadrons of cavalry , each consisting of 100 men , and 150 field batteries of six guns each . His noiion is that all the training required could be given after the usunl hours of work or business , and he objects strongly to the expenditure incurred by the present corps . Upon this he remarks , " the subscription principle would , in fact , exclude the working classes , and thus render the whole undertaking n failure . " This is exactly what has so often been predicted by the Luad . ku ; but the Government has designedly encouraged plans that must end in the very failure Colonel Kennedy deplores , from a distrust that is most absurd . Cplonel Kennedy is wrong when he thinks the working men would buy their own uniforms provided they did not cost more than a holiday suit . Our working men arc not sufficiently . well off to he able to buy superfluous olothos , and the volunteer uniform " would nqt be for them a substitute for the holiday suit they like to have . . A grent step would , ho gained if men were drilled in any clothes in whiclv they ohbso to present themselves , nnd ' it would be n cheap bargain if the Government furriirihed a cap nn ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 2, 1860, page 516, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2350/page/8/
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