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Tomahawk (1867-1870), 15th May 1869, Edition 1 of 1, Page unpag, No. 106.] . LONDON, MAY 15, 186 9. [Pric...

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    • TO THE RIGHT HON. JOHN BRIGHT.
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      The Tomahawk: A Saturday Journal Of Sati...

      THE TOMAHAWK : A SATURDAY JOURNAL OF SATIRE . ( Biitti & g % ti \ ux tfgnkttfc "INVITAT CULPAM QUI PECCATUM PRiETERIT . "

      No. 106.] . London, May 15, 186 9. [Pric...

      No . 106 . ] . LONDON , MAY 15 , 186 9 . [ Price Twopence .

      To The Right Hon. John Bright.

      TO THE RIGHT HON . JOHN BRIGHT .

      Friend J Ohn, — Thou Must Often Have Ref...

      Friend J ohn , — Thou must often have reflected in thy office at the Board of Trade on the falseness of the old proverb that " second thoughts are best ; " for certainly hadst thou stuck to thy first resolution that John Bright in the Cabinet might become a mere Jack in office , thou wouldst have stood higher in thy own and in thy country ' s opinion than thou dost now . I have always spoken to thee , friend , as is my habit , in a very free-spoken way . Thou hast very great and good qualities as we all know , but thou art the most obstinate and perverse man , where thy hobby is concerned , that ever was born . Hadst thou been a Tory thou . wouldst have been a terrible fellow . Thou wouldst have thundered away against Protection and Reform in the most eloquent and energetic language , thou wouldst never have voted for any Reform Bill , but wouldst have been true to thy principles at whatever cost . Thou wouldst have been a fine sight , friend that thou wouldst , stoutly denying that Free Trade had cheapened anything ; and a mighty speech thou wouldst have made to prove it . But thou art a Radical , John , and a bold and true one ; thy great fault is that thou believest nothing to be true which is not said by thee , and that thou deniest all facts and will not see them , if they be against thy convictions . Thou hast thy own notions of what is right ; and thou allowest nothing to be right but what suits thy fancy ; and what is wrong thou wilt have set right in no other way but what pleases thee . Thou hatest large landowners merely

      because they are large landowners , and thou never considerest that they may do as much good , or more , than large manufacturers . Thou seemest to think that all money got by trade is got honestly , but that all wealth got by heritage is got dishonestly . If thou seest a brick in a wall that is not quite straight , thou will pull down the whole wall rather than try and mend the brick . Thou hast such a strong belief in thyself , because thou hast been proved right in some things , that thou believest in no one else , and forgettest that thou hast been proved wrong in many things . Thou art too rash to leadand too stubborn to obey , and thy friends that bade thee take , office were bigger fools than thou when thou didst their bidding . Thou art a man of peace , friend , by profession j but verily in practice , thou art too often a firebrand of war . Thou hast counselled people to take that by force which they have got by patience ; and thou speakest words now which are pretty sure to cause strife , where there should be concord . Thou hast said on the Irish land question that which thou knowest thou shouldst not have said j for the Right Honble . John Bright , President

      of the Board of Trade , is not John Bright , the private member . Thy scheme for giving the land in Ireland to the peasantry is a scheme to which thy colleagues never have agreed , nor could ever agree ; and thou knowest that well . Neither thy chief nor any of thy fellow-ministers could support a measure which involves the doing away with the rights of primogeniture altogether . For thy precious scheme means nothing less . Thou wouldst buy estates in Ireland with public money , and sell these estates in small holdings to peasant proprietors . Thou wouldst thus make the State the landlord , and either the State would have to exercise the rights of a landlord , or would have to lose the purchase money . How couldst thou help some of these proprietors being ruined by their improvidence or idleness , and those who were provident and industrious burying their holdings , and so in time becoming large landowners , unless there were a law against large holdings , and enforcing equal division among the children or heirs-at-law 1 It is an old truth this , friend , but none the less true , that small holdings can only be perpetuated by such a law , and at the risk of impoverishing the land , and checking all improvement and enterprise . The plan that thou proposest would give every advantage to the careless and idle , and every disadvantage to the prudent and industrious . Landlords are too glad of good tenants in their own interests , and to such would willingly give long leases ; but it is very unjust to expect them to keep bad tenants on for ever , who not only pay no rent , but lower the value of the land as long as they hold it . To secure proper compensation to tenants for improvements , to do away with arbitrary evictions , to give

      time to those embarrassed by misfortune or enterprise in which to pay arrears of rent , all this is fair , and no good landlord would complain of a law compelling him to do so ; but to instal bad tenants on the land on interminable leases , is nothing less than confiscating the land for the worst of purposes . But putting aside the economical view of the question , thou knowest , friend J ohn , that there is a party in Ireland which claims the land for the peasants as theirs by right-inalienable , and that to this party we owe those assassinations whicli have made many parts of Ireland more dreaded than a tiger-haunted jungle . Thou canst not be so blind to the meaning of which thy words are capable , as to think that this party will not gather from them , that the Government favours their claims , and intends to support them . Whatever the Cabinet had determined on , prudence should have taught thee to hold thy peace at such a time ; but knowing as thou well knewest , that thou wast speaking without their sanction , and without a chance of ever getting it , thou hast been guilty of very grave treachery to thy colleagues , of a very great insult to Parliament , and of a serious injury to thy country .

  • Citation
    • Tomahawk (1867-1870), May 15, 1869, page unpag, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/t/issues/ttw_15051869/page/3/