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TIE I01TIEBI STAB, SATBKDAY, FEBIHJAKY 3S. IS52.
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«io QTormiuHracmft.
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Jn« Published by BU IIAn».-*0> ^"ffg'.^S fleet-strict, JLoudon; 9. Cnpil->treet, Jjubim, and Derby. mix *IS SHIUtfGS.-SE.NT BY POST FOS SBHSO ^ I"» rpHE DUBLIN REVIEW, X Xo. 62, January, 1S-.&
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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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AT F W piTHOlIC W 0 E K S The Lives of the B . Leonard , of Port Maurice , and % « isissS 8 ssriSa 2 r * An Essay on Catholic Home Missions , by tne Rev . Fathee Fabes , Priest of the Oratory . Small 8 vo . printed wrapper , price is . ed .
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IMPORTANT SOCIALIST PUBLICA . TIOSS ! BOBEE 5 J OWENS 3 OVS . TS&Z ,. THIS JOUHXAX . ( PnUished weekly , price One Vsssx , and in monthly parts . price Focepesce ) , * Explains the means by which the population of the world may be placed within new aud very superior circumstances , and provided with constant beneficial employment , aud thereby enabled to enjoy comfort acd abundance , and great social advantages ; and ' the direct means by which this change mav he effected with benefit to all classes . * The addresses on Government , on Education , to the Delegates of All Nations to the World's Fair , and on True and False Religion which have latelj appeared in the pages of this Journal , have been reprinted in the funn of cheap pamphlets , and will be found to contam information of the deepest interest . Ihe Eleventh Monthly 1 'artof this Journalisnowready Price 4 d . A ' so the First Volume . Price 2 s . Cd .
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IH 3 CHICORY QXTESTIOK . » yHB PUBLIC is not called upon to decide O . whether Chicory is better than Coffee , nor whether a mixture with it improves Coffee , but simply whether it is to be sold as Cofce and ul { lit jirvx of Cojrct . __ What is beins s .. ! d to the puMic as ground Coffee , at prices varying from Is . to Is . S J . per pound , is , as the " Lancet" h » s proved a compound conastii ! - . in most case ? , of more than half Chicorv . Fair deaang d : « atcs that every article should be soldfor what it » atite own proper price . Uutin the case of Chicory the consmnerU SaVKl 13163 ** Ta ! ue « - Particlebecauseitissold
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l ^ SSBKSffi *?* - «»* * tending the fol' ^ ^ y ^^^^ & ^^ X atez&saat ? - » r ^ sasa » ££ at « , W ™ te f f " ^'"""^ teiy : rfter ««* ««« - md . t * tiT / 1 e ?* a glut of matter is avoided at the latter EeiKrt ^ W m ^ " ~ ^ aent cur tailment or non-inserfion . B « h .-rt » slumM consist ofa plain statement of facts o ^ mT ^ T ' 1 "" 5 inttn < i < Ml furput . lication should be written bo om-ide ol the paper only , and addressed to the Editor . J . 1 . is thanked f . jrl . : * communication . W SS ~? ! eaMrc * . ! ItedDai * . Manchester . « f-y ^ i < mrco : 3 lnluni . eatIon P : irtakestoon > ucli of the nature Of an aovtrusemcnt to be inserted in our correspondence !
Tie I01tiebi Stab, Satbkday, Febihjaky 3s. Is52.
TIE I 01 TIEBI STAB , SATBKDAY , FEBIHJAKY 3 S . IS 52 .
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THE DERBY CABINET . < Unwept , nnhonoured , ' the Rvsbell Ministry has fallen irom its own feebleness . The event had Ion * been anticipated , and generally desired . Everybod y but those who ^ pecuniarily interested in its con l turaance m office , was aick of it . Lord John wr coademnauon and defeat ahead on grave and important matters , and eagerly seized the opportunity ShE ?"' I " ** t dt tthich ™ rely ? Llvedt ife ace 5 P iul 0 u ' ! th »^ isgrace . Whether his trick true "
y policy , to the la 8 t , . iiQ ert tho cLu . he dreaded , remains to be seen ; hut we are , at all lei | thgotndof a Cabinet which , for the last four orfive years has been the greatest possible obstruction to practical reforms of every description . They had brought the artof AlinUterfcl Do-Nothingism to ESStt lnVCDted a MW SyStem of 5 a 1 ailminent sit £ ! X or seven months in the year annarenty very busy , and then rise , hJffiSSt * results so mfimtesimall y small tliat it required » q £ tcalinicroscope ofnoordinary power to dlcoWthei
The Whigs are gone , and with them their brood of sham measures which would have wasted another « x months and left us , as usual , , a as a net result . With their departure from office has also been removed many difficulties and stumbling blocks from the path of independent and liberal members . We know that they wereembarrassed as to the course they should take on the Sham Reform BUI . It was so obviously beneath the occasion , and constructed in so dishonest and
evasiveasp 5 rit , that they could not accept it without proposing many additions and alterations ; but , on the other hand , it would have given some addition wtbe constituencies of a few large towns , and that SS ? ° rdeda faIcram ^ a future and more ^ iveST 0 Vemen L The y ^ eretherefore unwiling to m a Zl 0 ^ ex cuse forthrowing it up altogether SiK ?* * ^ Beem ^ rasamentsand and no £ r ? OTCd M , Therei 8 acIear 8 ta § e natural place "' ** * SetUe down *« th ** tary EX ? ° £ ¦ Vestion of Parliamenfrom C The T « We 8 haU now *» ° " »¦* *»» bill , siafl aa 7 erel £ V ° 7 ° W ** the were lta dimensions—they will ,
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therefore , not give U 3 a larger one . But the Exminister , in announcing his leave of office , took care to intimate very distinctly that he will be much more determined on the opposition than he was on the Treasury Bench . No Protection , Extension of the Suffrage , and Peace , were the three watchwords adopted as his policy for the future ; and knowing how wonderfull y the bleak atmosphere of the shady side of the Speaker ' s chair invigorates Whig patriotism and liberality , we quite expect to witness some strange metamorphoiei in the course of the next few months . It will of course be the duty of the rank and file men to take care that in case of a victory , the substantial results are not monopolised by another ' Family Party . ' * J
As to the New Ministry , nobody fears them . With the present Home of Commons they cannot revers * any great measure that has been carried of late years . They cannot pass any that will greatly trench upon either popular or individual liberty . If they dream of inaugurating a retrogressive and Tory policy , they must try what a dissolution will do for them , and that , Jt is understood , the Queen has requested shall noi be done nutil a much later period of the year . The aspect of Europe is not very assuring just now ; and ^ fiercel y contested general eleotion would not be the pleasante 3 t addition to the already sufficiently alarming indications of a tempest , which gather about the political horizon .
As to the capability of the Djeuby Cabinet for the duties it has undertaken , most of its members are ao untried in administration , that it is impossible to predicate how they will succeed . Certainly some of the names sound queerly enough in conjunction with the offices they fill . Who , for instance , would ever have thought of the satirical rhetorical Disraeli as Chancellor of the Exchequer ; who of that respectable 'Justice of the Quorum , ' Pakington , as
Controller of the destines of Colonies in every part of the world ; who , of Malmesbury as Foreign Minister , whose only claim to the position of a diplomatist must be hereditary . As to the head of the Ministry , his merits and defects are equally well known ; and it is as well known that the latter very decidedly preponderate , when the peculiar qualifications for the position he holds are taken into consideration . For such a Cabinet no one can expect a long existence .
But itB formation brings before the public again a queBtiom to which we have frequently directed attention . Why is it that this game of see-sn \ v is permitted to bo played between certain great families ol the aristocracy , who seem to assume that they alone monopolise all the administrative ability of the country , and co nsequently tosB the ball from one to the other , as if there were no other persons in the kingdom who had the smallest claim to consideration or a participation in power ?
One very potent cause for this is to be found in the want of unity , training , and organisationamong the independent and professedlyliberal members of Parliament . They have never displayed any organised strength , or developed as a party the power of acting in eoucert , and carrying out a constructive and a consecutive policy . The 'Family Party ' which has just been driven from office , perhaps gave them small opportunity ; but the game is now changed , and if they do not take advantage of the fact that it is so , and show themselves capable * of taking office , and discharging its duties in a comprehensive and liberal spirit , on them alone will rest the blame . Meantima
a General Election in any case cannot be far oft ; and those who really want to promote genuine reforms should be preparing for that event . To what extent the insane , » nd , as far as we can discern causeless , dissensions which distract the party that assumes the exclusive use of the title « Chartist , ' will prevent them from taking any useful or honourable part in the approaching struggle , we know not . But this wo are sure of , that there is in every large town of the United Kingdom a sufficient number of clearheaded , intelligent , and practical working-men to form a committee , and an active canvassing
body for the purpose of fairly testing the opinions of their townsmen on the question of Representative Reform . There are also plenty of men whose past services to the cause of Democracy entitle them to the honour of being selected as the candidates through whose medium that test can be applied .. If this is done in a firm but temperate spirit , it cannot fail to operate favourably for the cause of electoral reform , aud neutralise to some extent the baleful Influence of those intestine equabbles which make socalled Chartism , only known for mischief and powerless for good .
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ABOLITION OF THE NEWSPAPER MONOPOLY . Mr . Disraeli has 'kissed hands' on his appointment as Chancellor of the Exchequer . He is a literary man himself , and the son of a literary man . He has voted in favour of the repeal of the taxes on knowledge ; and , therefore , we see some sanguine people are expecting they will not appear in the Budget we may expect from the Derby Ministry , We suspect that these parties are reckoning without their host , and upon the very antiquated notion , that the actions of political men should be in accordance with their professions . They forget altogether the
terrible exigencies of 'place / the changed medium through which men look at the same objects from the opposition and Treasury benches , and , above all , the instinctive tenacity with which financial Ministers stick to taxes . It is true that Mr . Disraeli takes ofiice with a surplus in hand amounting to millions , but there will not be wanting excuses when the time comes for dealing charity with that surplus . For instance , the Income Tax expires on the 5 th of April next . It raises annually nearly double the whole surplus . Is it possible to persuade the present House of Commons to renew the tax for another
year , or , failing that , to produce a new mode of levying the tax , which will allay the deep and general discontent that exists among a large portion of those who are now assessed to it ? Besides this little difficulty , the new Chancellor has Earl Grey ' s bequest in the shape of the Kaffir war , which , if it contiaues , will di p deeply into any surplus for years to come ; and there are his own pet schemes to be looked after-for relieving the squires and farmers , by throwing county rates on the consolidated fund , and lightening their burdens at the cost of the general body of tax-payers .
These are only a few of the reasons that might be adduced for suggesting more moderate expectationsand yet , if public stood on the same footing as private morality , and the actions of men accorded with their professions , we know no t any demand that has such a strong claim for immediate settlement as that for the repeal of the duties which obstruct the diffusion of intelligence . 'Taxes on Knowledge , ' said Leigh Hunt , in his characteristic letter read at the meeting on Wednesday night , ' appear to me very like taxes for the prevention of finger posts , or for the better encouragement of " erring and straying , like lost sheep . ' And Douglas Jerrold pithily asked , ' why not , to help the lame and aid the short-sighted lay a tax upon crutches , and enforce a duty upon spectacles ? J *
The extent to which the triple duti es prevent the establishment and impede the circulation of ? , eW $ T ! i 6 'o be J ed of from thefact , that the United States , with a population little more than two thirds of Great Britain and Ireland , conaume yearly four hundred and twelve million copies ; while in this country there are only eighty-four millions coples circulated annuall y among the larger population . The difference points to a radical distinction between the Governments of the two countries . In the one the people are the rulers , and the Government takes care to promote the education aud intelhgence of the masses ; in the other , two factions Si . ? v ° i l alfarnatel y h ° U the reuM of power , and they think their interests are best subserved by a contrary course .
The practical effect of these taxes is to establish a monopoly of the Newspaper Press . The lam capital required to carry on a newspaper efficientfy , from ? Si 7 ^ y limited drc " « on reaul 4 ZS hl « -Pnce J"nits the number of journals , and confines their proprietorshi p to Capitalists . We need ? w . iv * orkin g classes the inevitable effect of Z' J 7 T- ! ° their cost > wheneTOr aQy q «* turn affecting theu- rights or interests become the subjectof public discussion . The advertising and purchasing section of the community belong to the classes against whom the producers have to wage an almost " £££ H m Uggl 8 T ; fair Wa S es and reasonable . reathing time Is , t any wonder that the newsapera support those who keep them in existence ?
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But it is said that this monopoly has the effect oi producing a superior article to that which wo should have if the Press was free ; and in proof of that aisertion , we are referred to the American newspapers , which certainly cannot , generally , be compared with our own , as respects the extent , variety , and literary ability of their contents . While , however , the superiority of the British journal may be admitted , the concession requires to be accompanied by certain qualifications and drawbacks . In the firBt place , America is a younger country , and if its journals have the immaturity , they have also the vigour and the elasticity of youth . In the second , what they want
in literary polish they gain in being a truthful reflex of the popular mind and progress . The staid English journalist either does not touch at all upon topics that are not ' respectable' and ' orthodox , ' or , if he ventures out of the charmed circle , it is to cast doubt or ridicule upon the novelty . In the United States , upon the contrary , questions of all kinds are freely discussed in the columns of the newspapers ; and though some of these are ridiculous enough in the estimation of an English reader , there is after all no test so searching , no method . more efficacious for detecting shams , or winnowing truth from the chaff with which it may be mixed .
The abolition of the tax on newspapers , in connexion with an equitable plan for continuing existing Post Office facilities , would , we have no doubt , be accompanied by an immediate improvement in the tone of English papers . Greater breadth , freedom , and independence of tone would distinguish these articles , and the intelligence they contained would no longer be confined to the narrow and exclusive channels in which it at present flows . The press would become national , instead of being factious , exclusive , or sectarian .
Apart from the merely political point of view , however , there are other important reasons why these duties should be abolished . There is , at the present moment , no question of greater urgency than the means by which increased employment can be given to our increasing population . Now , the curse of all excise restrictions is , that they do not stop with the mere enhancement of price , but prevent all improvement aud extension in the article on which they are imposed . The repeal of the duty on paper would at once open out a source of profitable employment both for capital and labour of which we can at present scarcel y form any adequate conception .
It is not alone in the increased quantity that would be consumed by an enlarged demand for newspapers and books , though that would be great , but in the application of paper to numerous purposes , which the excise regulations now prevent . There is scarcely any fabric , the raw material of which is so valueless in itself , but capable of so many and such varied uses as paper , or of being made so valuable , by the combined exercise of labour aud ingenuity . In the decoration and furnishing of houses , in art and in manufactures , it is equally susceptible of new and
indefinite modifications and extended use . Out of rags and refuse , which would otherwise be thrown aside as rubbish , and in many cases become nuisances , engendering corruption and infection , industry fabricates a material which now amounts to the annual value of about three millions sterling , and employs at present about fifty thousand persons directl y in its manufacture . But this gives only an imperfect view of the entire number of persons whose industry is set in motion by the paper manufacture . There are numerous other trades and occu .
pations connected with it , either in collecting and conveying the raw material , or in working it up into various forms for use . The whole number may perhaps be taken at a quarter of a million ; and ai tbs consumption has doubled since 1832 , when the duty was reduced , it is but reasonable to calculate that its total abolition would speedily again double the number of persons employed , and the quantity produced . A measure , which would open out healthy and re » munerative sources of employment to a quarter or half a million more of our population at home , which would add several millions more to the real wealth ,
annually produced iii the country , and at the same time facilitate the diffusion of knowledge among all classes of the Community is one which , if the new Chancellor of the Exchequer be ambitious of being remembered in history , well deserves his attention . Though generally supposed to be more an fait at figures of speech , than figures of finance , the salient points of the proposed change are so easily comprehended , and the benefits to be derived so immediate and varied , that it . will show great want of tact , to say the least , if he does nofc identify his name with it . Will his lordly colleagues let him ?
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PARLIAMENTARY REFORM—THE FIRST THING NEEDFUL . A controversy has been going on for some time past between Political and Social Reformers , as to the comparative merits of their respective movements , and which should have precedence in its claims upon the support of the unenfranchised and labouring classes . On the one hand , the Suffrage Reformer contends that the Co-operative movement is confined too exclusively to material and personal objects .
and diverts the attention of those engaged in it from those political questions which affect in their scope and bearing all classes of society . The Co-bperator retorts , on the other hand , that Political Reformers , in their anxiety to promote great changes in the constitution of the country , overlook , or fail to make use of , the means actually in the possession of the producers of wealth for improving their own position , and consequently giving them greater influence in the settlement of political question ? .
Perhaps , as in many other cases , the practical truth lies between the two extremes . Each phase of the popular movement necessaril y presents peculiar attractions to differentl y constituted minds ; and if the bad habit of calling names and imputing motives could be got rid of , these two sections of the army of progress would find it very easy to unite their forces for the attainment of the one object they have in view . Angry discussions—in which the honeity of one party , and the intelligence and patriotism of the other are mutually impugned—can only tend to repel from each other parties whose purposes are identical , and to continue those fatal divisions which have so long made the masses the helpless prey of the organized and wealthy few .
It appears to us , that without trenching on the modern doctrine of the division of labour—which in the industrial world has produced such vast and astonishing results , and which is , within certain limits , applicable also to political and social action—the promoters of Co-operative and Industrial Associations ought now to take an active part in the political movement . In truth , their own movement has a two-fold aspect . The first has reference to the internal organization and management of their respective bodies , and their federal union through the medium of a central agency and Executive ; the second , to the external relations of the movement , and the way in which it is affected by the proceedings of the Legislature , or the general action of our existing social system .
Of this influence we cannot have a better or more timely illustration than the debate on Mr . Slaney's motion for the appointment of a commission to facilitate Co-operative action among the industrious classes . The want of Members who thoroughly understood the wants of working men and who were able to explain practically the principles on which they proceed , and the objects they have in vieV , was never more forcibly proved . The cats legislated for the mice- The owners of laud , capital , and machiuery , of all the raw materials , aud of all the implements requisite for setting Labour to work , could not comprehend wh y Labour should not be content with work and wages under the regime of the capitalist . Mr . Cobden talked in a condescending tone of the ignoof
rance those who wanted to alter the ' naturul' relations of Capital and Labour ; and though he had no objections to allow them to make their co-operative trials under something like equitable conditions , he plainl y intimated his conviction at the same time that they would onl y burn their fingers if they made the attempt . Now , what are the natural' relationg of Capital and Labour ? If ' primitive' and ' natural' are synonymous , the presentrelationsareany thing but ' natural . ' Society in its progress has passed through a series of stages , each successive change becoming more complicated and artificial , the result of the growth of varied classes , and the multiplication of interests . lne relations between these classes are , therefore , as purely conventional as the existence of the classes
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themselves . They are co-ordinate with , and grow out of , each other , and it is as great a piece of presumption on the part of a political economist to declare that the present are the natural and final relations of Cap ital and Labour , as it would have been for any advocate of former phases of society to assert that they were fixed and immutable . Very probably , the hunter who , like Nimrod , was' a mightyhunter before the Lord , ' the flockowner who in the pastoral age counted his flocks and herds by tens of
thousands , or the iron mailed baron in the feudal times , who looked from his castle towen upon the broad possessions tilled by his serfs , were of opinion that these were the natural relations of man to man—the just and the ultimate constitution of society . But now , when the common experience of mankind has demonstrated that society is progressive , that existing combinations are merely the parents of new , it is strange to hear from the professors of a so-called science , the assumption that the very contrary is the
fact . Yet it is upon that assumption that the whole of our legislation , or rather non-legislation , for labour proceeds . What is the cauae of this 1 It is because the Commercial idea preponderates among the more active portion of the present electoral body . The Legislature represents not the whole , but only a section of the people . The buyers and sellers of Labour—the owners of the raw materials and the machinery by and upon which Labour must be set to work—all who live by usury or profitmongering upon industry—are represented in the so-called Commons
House of Parliament . The people—the Commonshave not one bona fide representative there . Let us not be misunderstood : honest , well-intentioned members may be mentioned , but their number is small , and their knowledge theoretical ; they do not know where the shoe pinches like those who have worn it . Labour , however it may give utterance to its own conceptions of its grievances , and the remedies for them out of doors , is dumb in Parliament . 'Hon . gentlemen , ' because it is inarticulate there , choose to jump to the conclusion that it is really without speech , and that they know much better what is good for them than the toilers themselves .
Now we do not mean to say , that because an individual has actually suffered from the endurance of an evil that therefore he is qualified , per se , to suggest the best remedy for that evil . But it has been truly Baid , that an accurate knowledge of the evil itself is half way to the remedy for it ; and so long as legislators have cloudy , imperfect or perverted ideas respecting the nature of the question itself , it is impossible there can be any practical legislation . The great and paramount reform , therefore , upon which the sympathies and the energies of the labouring daises ought to be concentrated , is a reform in Parliament , which will enable those who really understand and sincerely advocate the interests of the workers , to speak the plain truth on such subjects .
That is the first step towards getting the machinery of the state to work for , instead of against , the masses . At present the House of Commons is a congeries or aggregation of interests , which pervert the legislative and administrative monopoly they enjoy to the promotion of their own class or sectional ends . Every interest has its representatives there but that on which they all feed aud fatten . It is an indispensable preliminary to the emancipation of labour socially , that it must first be freed from political bondage . That done , it will , take its stand beside other interests , and claim an equitable participation in the work , the privileges , and the responsibilities of Bociety .
, No amount of individual care , forethought , and frugality on the part of the members of the Co-operative Societies , can at present exempt them from tho immediate and prospective results of a false , unjust , and exclusive political system . As long as that exists they must , to a . great extent , build upon a sandy foundation , and be exposed to the mercy of a thousand adverse agencies , over which they have , either individually or collectively , no control . As in the case of a Commercial glut and panic , the sober
, careful , steady workman is thrown into the streets at the same time with his less prudent shopmate , so will the efforts of an essentially antagonistic Legislature , continually expose tho Co-operative Movement , not only to obstruction , but to destruction . Previous economy and organisation may mitigate but thsy can neither averirthe results , nor prevent the action of the general influences which arise from the working of our existing political and commercial machinery .
In conclusion , we call upon those engaged in the Co-operative movement , to take an active part in-the efforts whicli will no doubt be made to obtain tha early and satisfactory adjustment of the popular claims for political justice . Their intelligence , organisation , and comparatively superior circumstances , will-enable them to exercise no sli ght degree of influence in the settlement of the question . Many of them are electors in the boroughs to w hich they respectively belong . It is their duty , at the present juncture of public affairs , to throw their whole strength , into any electoral movement that may be made in their various localities , for the purpose of returning men to Parliament who are prepared to support not only the claims of Labour in the abstract , but also such a change in our representative svstem
a 3 will permit the kbouring clasp s to be directly represented by their own ' order . ' Various plans tor that purpose have been proposed , but at present it is . needless to enter into details . Let us first have the principle affirmed that all classes and all interests ought to be fairl y and directl y represented in the Legislature ; other things will follow in due season .
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A PROTECTIONIST POLICY FOR THE PEOPLE . _ It is possible that the New Ministry may be consistent enough to attempt the restoration of Protection in some shape or other , though its evening organ states that it will only do so if the country demands it . But then people may differ asto the signification of the term ' country . ' Mr . Cobden and Mr . Newdeqate , for instance , would not be likely to interpret the word in the same way . Iu anticipation , however , of such an attempt , the Free Trade jour naW pure aud simplo ' -have been chronicling tho
vast and transcendent benefits that h ave been conferred on the country by our recent commercial legislation . There is no denying that 'thetottle of the whole presents a very pretty picture upon paper , and it is equally incumbent on us to confess , that in many aspects the state of the country is satisfactory to those who look at it from a merel y commercial and material point of view . The fallacy , however , lies m confining the investi gation within purely economical and statistical limits , and assuming that even for those results we are exclusively indebted to the
enactment of the tariff which permits free imports : free ex portawe have not yet gained , inasmuch as most countries levyheavy duties on British articles . The statist who would accurately trace the causes of our present financial and commercial position ,- must not omit to include in his caculations , the immense quantities of gold which have beenpoured into thomarket from California and which are now being augmented by fresh Leaving tta que , tion , bo « vm , as « S whWi it ii rr ;» . r , for our Immediate ' o ™^ J « . mi ™
tion Suds the » -orktag okm ! . a ?^ ' ? M rT ^ the trade reports from tlm voJ h T « facturinaind ,, J ™ « 6 VanoU 8 centres of mauuand havfblnX ) fy Me an ythin 8 but satisfactory , SdeTsV / nprS ^ . atefor * considerable time slow and g S ! 7 ft lwibe * "Wiig slack , demand ^ SteS ^ f *^* * than otherwise - In ™ t ^ , lng baches of industrv . Drofits and warn *
sir f tkfor r ™! P «* nt 8 are carryingon a subrtanbTneaanTZn r ° . ' The competition of comonndivlS f Capitals a « ainsfc the smaller means v nf her ^ t ^ ' ? ™™ fecturers , *¦ & * drid fficult for W ? 7 * * makiDg U more and now S ! ^ r ak 9 md 8 in 8 et i while , on the TZrli T P ° 8 es and ho * rs <> f labour la the mammoth establishments in an oppress ^
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way , which has driven large numbers of ^ TT ^ IS operatives into revolt . ^ M m In faot , tho disorganised and discoid . I of the operative classes is the best possible / 6 tai * -I tary and illustration of the essentially an ?> 'I and subversive nature ef the principles •¦ JS ? N H been adopted by our legislators for their « 3 " hav « I those matters . They have applied the lawinf e ' » II commercialism to questions with which thPV p > M connexion Buying and selling does not conS ° I e whole life of a nation , but only a part of ! tute I science
«» c oi Government includes nianv m m " I 'hings than ' exports and imports . ' We are ft , " ? 8 undervaluing that portion of economical p hiLn i I which deals with these essential elements ofT 5 phr i "elevation and progress , but we feel also that ] m , I they have usurped too predominant a ) , U ' ? H national polity . " It is one thing to c £ a ° I amount of wealth , and another to dis tribute ? I wealth in such a manner as to make it cond civ f I 'the greatest , happiness of the greatest n ? ° I ¦ umber . ' . We - have lost si ^ ht of the latter 1 he affairs of- a nation could be carried on » uif * I the adaptation ,, f means to ends , the Subord > 1 of one part to another , and the harmonized 1 1 regular action of nicely adjusted machinerv-. -m i and inanimate—which are essential eventoW ,,, H ofa single factory . . " ^ cce [ I
The ' pure and simple' economists repudiate Ii such interference or regulation as a gross soci ' , 1 p / " ^ ( I involving the very principle of Socialism ' nhiiIf' 11 according to them , constitutes the Kreat danspr p Ll modern society . ' Let alone' is the climax of moiU 1 statesmanship and philosophy , although the practi i H exceptions to the rule are perforce so many , that J ? K H a less bigotted school of philosophers , some doubt 1 at least of the soundness of the dogma w ould b b excited . There are scores of things in which hiss ? - 1
faire has been compulsorily thrown overboard -T n totally inapplicable to the actual wants of society , and II in many cases , where the innovation has been str ' ictlv H resisted by the economists , as fraught with the divest I ! mischief to the country , the result has belied every fl one of their predictions , and triumphantly verified II the anticipation of the advocates of regulated and I concerted national action . The Ten Hours' Act ig I one of the most recent and conclusive proofs of this I fact . 1
The new Administration are not so hopelessly 1 crazed or perverted on this subject as their predeces . 1 ors but it is to be feared that they understand the I principle of regulated action only as applies to their 1 own immediate interests , or are too much wedded to 1 the autiquated and now obsolete method of a pply . I ing the principle . If they attempt the latter we 1 firml y believe they will fail , and deservedly so . "We 1 all know how completely the protective system of the 1 landlord class broke down . It did not give high | wages—it did not givo plenty of employment—i , | did not prevent crime , or abolish pauperism . It f was not co-existent with any very high amount of 1
moral or intellectual progress and elevation on the 1 part of the m asses . In short it failed because it was H a selfish and an empirical application of a true prin . § 1 ciple . Nations never retrogress under institutions i like ours , where popular changes are the re- i suit of popular will , slowly enlightened and gradually 1 but firmly made up . Instead , therefore , of a ttempt ' 1 ing to » revise the commercial policy of the last seven I or eight years , Lord Derby aud his Cabinet will act 1 wisely in accepting it as unfait accompli , and in de- I voting their attention to the means by which the other 1 institutions and arrangements of the country and tho I Government may be made to harmonise with it . I
We have not space in the present article to do 1 more than merely enumerate the leading measures 1 by which this might bo effected . In the first place , i there ought to be an immediate and an entire revision of our whole financial system . As it exists it is the creature of accident , caprice , and the necessities of the moment under successive governments . "When hard pressed for money , 'the Minister of the day imposed a new tax—not with any reference to the justice of the impost , but the ability of the persons to pay ' who were caught in the exchequer drag net .
The consequencois thatour fiscal arrangements present nothing but a monstrous aggregation of i njustice and oppressive anomalies in conjunction with wasteful methods of collecting the revenue which add to the burden and iucrease the discontent of the country at large . Ther property of the nation and the taxable capabilities of the various classes of society ought to be carefully ascertained , for the purpose of making these the basis of a new , equitable , and consistent
financial system which would press fairly upou all according to their means of defraying the just and necessary expenditure of the country . That would be one great and beneficial measure . The second would be to provide a currency substantial in the security it offeredjto the country , and which would include the threefold quality of representing the raw material he labour and the taxation whieli , in » U caaes , constitute the true price of every article sold . Such a ,
currency is absolutely necessary to establish just relations between buyers and sellers , and would , of itself , effect a greater and more beneficial change than any other single constructive measure that cau be named ; while it has the merit of leaving existing institutions untouched . A third measure should be the systematic cultivation of the waste lands by our able-bodied
poor , m conjunction with a system of industrial training for tho unowned or neglected children , who now grow up to criminal courses ; and , lastly , auch enanges in the law of partnershi p and real estate ai would open a chance for the prudent , intelligent , and active portion of the working classes to become independent and prosperous by their own well-directed and combined exertions .
This is a policy which would lay the foundation of a new and superior state of things in this eountry , ana it 1 S one which , in principle , a Protectionist Ministry might adopt and carry into effect . Noue of the measures proposed area greater innovation upon the existing system tkan the new Foreign Mister's plan for an equalisation of the poor rate , which hasten | stigmatisea by tho ' Daily News' as rank Socialism , | If , on the contrary , the Derby Ministry , instead of taking a broad and comprehensive view of tho state of society , and applying measures adequate to the exigency , try to restore an exploded protective system for the benefit of landlords and particular classes it needs no prophet to predict the end . A short shrift , and speedy downfall awaits them .
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- — . a t ^ — ¦ » ANNIVERSARY OF THE REVOLUTION OF 1848 . On Wednesday a strong musler of French refugees took place at the National Hall , High Holborn , for the purpose of commemorating the fourth anniversary of the revolution of February , 1848 . M . Kercher , conductor of the " Voix du PrcBCtit , " presided . M . ^ Gustave Macquet , ex-editor of " Le Peuple Soiitf ' rein , said that they had met to protest against the crimes of the bloodthirsty private property plunderer , universal suffrage forger , oathbreaker , law despiser , the socalled President ofa sham r . puWic-Napoleon the Little'S » nl ? e ) "i ! lilt T l had alrcad >' 8 hown lil » selfl ! root and a coward at Strasbourg and rLw ™ > nd had
« u « e proved h , mself one of the most despicable kn »«» £ ? L I ! , . d ! ? ra ^ d humanit y- The French republic ^ exiles were determined not to do anything that m » v offend di rf er ° , ? intry an ( 1 PeoPle t 0 "hom they wort * 1 : bVthlfrlM 8 ^ ; . bByondt ^ e 2 ra 6 P of theirfoes-- ( oliert but he felt justified in thus stating that although they li » been vanquished they were not tamed , bu hat sooner ir ami JS f nded i * ° re 3 Un ' ethe * contest for the poli **] ( tUcTcheer ing 0 nChl 3 ement <) - the *«* nwssofi ^ Several other of the refugees having sooken 1 J ^ teP ^^^^ SiMi' J receivea with loud cheers . He would remind all prese" ' ' I ' Vive kTn te . , swhen ' four y « rs ago , the ct i
Sr ' r ^ a ^ ana did not break up till a late hour . I
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ThoS w ' K TAPmD 3 niRB -TuB Voluntary Pb' ^ 1 on tH « W eBltn » 8 Ome time a B ° . V th « inhabitant" ^ 9 r orUhS ? ' ° ° churchrate ; he churchward" - ffi I bv the So heir a «» noonceiiient of two sermons , to be P « ftf I K « l ? * « » tlM « n , " in aid of the . "" gj I wm 2 «? warmin 8 th « church , and conducting f < j iSt ' . grac , 6 fully declare that , "having adopted be b , ^ ary principle in lieu of churchVs ( so unpopular » j nwghbourh oed ) , they rely with confidence on coWP * > snip " Pantaloon , " which arrived off Portion V ; Sunday , reports the death of this troublesome an" , 1 , 3 female potentate , after the defeat and degradation ? it l ° Z 6 r ° f h my in-a contest vith a belligoront c " * Member last . 8 3
«Io Qtormiuhracmft.
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4 . _ . .... ' ¦ THE NORTHERN STAR . ., ¦ Februar y 28 . is * . 1
Jn« Published By Bu Iian».-*0≫ ^"Ffg'.^S Fleet-Strict, Jloudon; 9. Cnpil-≫Treet, Jjubim, And Derby. Mix *Is Shiutfgs.-Se.Nt By Post Fos Sbhso ^ I"» Rphe Dublin Review, X Xo. 62, January, 1s-.&
Jn « Published by BU IIAn » .- * 0 > ^" ffg ' . ^ S fleet-strict , JLoudon ; 9 . Cnpil- > treet , Jjubim , and Derby . mix * IS SHIUtfGS .-SE . NT BY POST FOS SBHSO ^ I" rpHE DUBLIN REVIEW , X Xo . 62 , January , 1 S-. &
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Feb. 28, 1852, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1667/page/4/
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