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&16 . THE LEADER. [Saturday,
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flX THIS .DEPARTMENT, AS AM. OPINION'S, ...
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There is no learned man but -will confes...
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PENNSYLVANIA. NEVER KEPOTJIATED HER DEBT...
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THE CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS IN PARIS A...
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LITERARY CLUB. (7b the JUditor of the Le...
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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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A "Stranger" In Parliament. Mb. Ca.Ri>We...
. Monday— -the representative intellect ( the Commons —not the Lords ) and the representative beauty ( the ladies—not the Lords ) of England present—all Europe awaiting his "words—could Lord Aberdeenone foot in the grave , as he said a year ago , and feebler every day , sick , very sick that day—Have "teen equal to the conception of a cheat ? At such a moment , with such a moment , a Lord Palmerston would cease to be a charlatan , and a Lord John Bussell would cease to talk of himself . Judge of
the effect produced by his earnest address—rendered more earnest by that absence of fluency so necessary to delude the English people , and winch Lord Aberdeen , with no opinion of mere talk , has never cared "to practise—by the circumstance that Lord Derby , vindictively ready for mischief , declined a comment , and that the debate was confined to those two Whig " supporteis , " Clanricarde and Beaumont - —supporters in the heraldic animal Bense . Perhaps Lord Aberdeen ' s vindication would have been less successful had it been delivered
to the promiscuous House of Commons ; and he ¦ would certainly have been hooted down by the long-• shore men in Guildhall , or by the bargees collected together by "William John Hall , wlio , it was rumoured , ¦ was thus about to take the opinion of the people of England on the character of tlie Premier —the ¦ liberal journals being apparently disgusted that "William John Halt lias refrained from that severe judicial proceeding . But in the Lords the defence was complete . The Lords , who know more of the Tealities of English statecraft than other classes , tsan comprehend Lord Aberdeen ; and are enabled .
unaffectedly , to sympathise vrith him when he condescends to use such a set of phrases as may remove from him dangerous unpopularity . Xord Aberdeen is not carried away by the excite * ments of a *' popular war . " He does not detest Nicholas as a despot ; for , being logical , that would compel him to detest a French and Austrian alliance , which would be inconvenient . He does not suppose that Great Britain , which is in a chronic fear lest a Reform Bill should be carried , and in a permanent funk because all the electors are corrupt , is in a condition to teach , the nations how to live , and , so , to
lead in a revolutionary war to put down Hussianism and put up freedoms . Lord Aberdeen , cold and cynical , merely understands tiiat his business , as a Minister , in this matter is to protect the inctependence and integrity of Turkey ; and he says he will do that , and take proper guarantees for that , and he will say no more . All this the House of Lords perfectly understand ; even the House of Ladies on the occasion comprehended that ; and when Clanricarde , after a
conspicuous folly of an hour ' s duration , resumed his seat , and Lord Beaumont rose to talk his Whig old-womanistns in a neuter voice , the Lords and ladies bustled off to their carriages , smiling and sneering , —quite content that Aberdeen had stopped an inconvenient Ministerial crisis . Mrs . Mashain , ¦ who was in tine gallery , prominently grand , was evidently satisfied that Argyle was safe . And , of course , the fute of the Ministry being decided , the object of the war is determined .
Unless , indeed , as said bo often in this column in the course of this session , the Radical party should think it worth while to be truo to a deluded people , there cannot , certainly , be much hope for Radicals , who , like Lord l > eadly , think that Palmorston should bo Premier . But an absurd idiosyncrasy of this species is only allowed to run wild because there is no party organisation to keep him quiet and teach him common sense . Mr . Cobdcn ' s speech in the Partnership debate was very hopeful . It lifted . him out of , and away from , the wretched Manchester
School , and indicated a heart aa well as a head for the people . That debate , altogether , developed tnoasive intellectuality in the Radical party—Mr . Collier ' s statement waa aa perfect , in ita way , as Mr . Cobdcn ' s logic , —Mr . Lucas ' s syllogistic declamation was aa admirable , in House of Commons completeness , us Lord Goderlctta philosophic dissertation . With such powers among such a sot of men , there must be something grossly wrong , seeing that those powers are at present all but thrown away , and that in real political eflictiveneaa those men are impotent . Saturday Morning . A Stbanchm , "
&16 . The Leader. [Saturday,
& 16 . THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
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Flx This .Department, As Am. Opinion's, ...
flX THIS . DEPARTMENT , AS AM . OPINION'S , HOWEVJHl KXTBEMB , ABB ALLOWED AN KXPKESSION , THE KDITOK KKCK 33 . VttILT HOLDS Blii-SELF RESPONSIBLE FC & NONB . 1
There Is No Learned Man But -Will Confes...
There is no learned man but -will confess he , much profited by reading controversies , his senses awakened , and his judgment . sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for him to read , "why should it not , at least , be tolerable for his adversary to write . —MiLXOsr .
Pennsylvania. Never Kepotjiated Her Debt...
PENNSYLVANIA . NEVER KEPOTJIATED HER DEBTS . ( To tht Editor of the Leader . ) London , 19 th June , 1854 . Sir , —I have read with much interest your excellent remarks on the character and writings of the Eev . Sydney Smith , but beg that you will permit me to correct one error , as it is an important one , into which he seems -to have fallen , and into which he ha 3 led you . Pennsylvania , although selected by him as the representative of repudiating states , really never repudiated her debts . I have heard it stated that Sydney Smith did not hold any Pennsylvanian Bonds at the time when he wrote his pungent satires against her ; but used her as a target at which to shoot his -arrows intended to pierce repudiators wherever they existed , and I am disposed to believe this statement to be correct . I was not only in America and . in Philadelphia , at the time when that state suspended payment of the interest of her debts , but I actually held Pennsy Iranian Bonds , and I hold them still . I read the proceedings of her governor ' and legislature with the interest which a creditor naturaligr feels in the exposition of his debtors' affairs , and I am bound in duty to say that these authorities never hinted at repudiation . On the contrary , the governor , in Ms annual messages , explained the circumstances -winch had rendered it physically impossible for the state to pay the interest of her debts ; he distinctly acknowledged the incumbency of the debts on the state's resources , and asked only for time ; and , moreover , the legislature never separated without solemnly aeknowleding the debt , and expressing their anxiety io discharge it .
As I was personally cognisant of the state of financial affum in Pennsylvania in 1838 , 1839 , and 1840 , I know that the causes assigned by the governor for the suspension of the interest were real . The state had chartered banks , and . encouraged the issue of paper-money to such an extent that the people engaged 5 n the wildest speculative enterprises —worse than our railway mania of 1846 . This was carried to so great an extent that the balance of trade with Europe turned strongly against the United States , and forced them to export almost all their gold and silver coin and bullion ; but still the drain went . on . The United States Bank first suspended cash payments , and soon became bankrupts .
Innumerable country banks then collapsed ; and all paper-money was discredited . The gold and silver were gone to Europe , or lioarded ; and , literally , there was not an accredited circulating medium existing , even in Philadelphia , sufficient to serve for carrying on the ordinary transactions of life . Debts were paid by cheques on the few banks remaining solvent , and they were marked as " good" by the bank on which they were drawn , and carried to the bank of the creditor , which received them as money , and placed the amount to his credit . In tine rural districts trade was reduced to barter ; and harvest labourers were paid in wheat , pork , and potatoes , which they exchanged for other necessaries in the shops of the villages . When the tax-gatherer came to the farmers , they offered him pork , wheat , rye , barley , and other produce , at his option ; but the
duties of a provision merchant were not included in his commission , and the state coulcl not pay its creditors in kind by sending such commodities to them . Suspension , therefore , was a physical necessity in the circumstances ; but as soon as her financial circumstances Tvere reduced to order , the state paid all arrears of interest , and her stock is now in excellent credit in the markets of Europe as well as in those of the United States . ' I have not lost a penny by my Penusylvanian Bonds . On the contrary , they stand higher in market value now than they did when I piiychnscd them , sixteen years ago . Sydney Smith ' s satire > vaa richly merited by a number of the western and southern states , which did repudiate , and it did excellent service in slimming them into honesty ; but it waa a positive misfortune in him to have inflicted a vicarious enstigation on Pennsylvania , which never deserved it .
In settling ; tho interest on the arrears of interest which had accumulated during the period of suspension , that abate allowed only 4 i per cent ., which was thought shabby , aa her debt itsolf bore 0 or C percent . ; but this is tho only complaint which the most rigid creditor can make against her . It has given mo pain to soe Sydney Smith ' s charge repeated again and again , even by tlio moat respectable members of tho proas in England , such aa tho Times and your own pnper , knowing , as I 0 o How keenly this injustice is folt as a moral wrong in Pennsylvania . Besides , it toads to acreon tho really delinquent et » tcs by constantly battering the innocent
with the blows which should have been bestowed on the guilty alone . —I am , & c , George Combe , of Edinburgh . [ Mr . Combe is perfectly right , and we are very much obliged to him for the correction . The reader will , no doubt , have observed that the inadvertence passed in a department of our paper where vigilance upon political details , and still more upon financial details , must be expected to be . less keen than on the political side . ]
The Co-Operative Associations In Paris A...
THE CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS IN PARIS AND LIMOGES . ( To the Editor of the Leader . } Kcmptown , June 28 th . Sir , —The foreign correspondents of the English press have repeatedly announced the total failure and the final dissolution of the co-operative workshops , established in France , since 1848 , and in which the principles of self government , Self-employment , and the pro rata division of profits among the working members of the associations had been successfully elaborated . These reports I have now the satisfaction to inform you are unfounded .
. The principal co-operative associations in Parissuch , for instance , as that of the block tinmen , the arm-chair manufacturers , the carriage-lamp makers , the coach-builders , the file-cutters , the last , the chair , and the piano-forte manufacturers , are not only still in existence , but they are eminently successful and highly prosperous ; and in their moral and social , as well as their material and commercial aspects , are in a perfectly satisfactory condition .
At Limoges the large and important Association of the Potters has , like its vigorous and laborious prototype , thrown off three separate swarms , each of which appears to be as prosperous and successful as the thrifty and energetic parent society , whose statutes were framed in accordance -with the principles of the most enlightened economists , and the individual interests of each of its members as studiously cared for and secured as the collective interests of all . .
The success of these-self-employing and governing industrial institutions , in which the rights as roettas the duties of labour have received practical illustration and acknowledgment , is truly surprising , especially when we reflect upon the unparalleled difficulties and obstructions of every kind , as well as the ordinary trade competition , with which they have had to contend . The foundation of such institutions as these is among the permanent and indestructible products of that glorious revolution of 1848 , in which the rights of labour , not of stock-jobbing , were proclaimed by national decree , and by whieh was inaugurated a new era in the history of the rise , progress , and social emancipation of the operative classes in the Old World . I am , sir , your obedient servant , WIIJ . IAM CONIMGIIAM .
Literary Club. (7b The Juditor Of The Le...
LITERARY CLUB . ( 7 b the JUditor of the Leader . ) Euston-placo , Jane 28 , 1854 . Sir , — I entirely agree with your correspondent , E . B . A ., that the proposed Athenaeum Institute is defective in principle , and not calculated to meet tho wants of the general body of intellectual or literate men , whether engaged in journalism or any other description-of literature In the first plaeo there is a confused jumbling together of two subjects essentially distinct and separate . What , I ask , has Life Assurance to do with tho establishment of a central Exchange or resort for all who are connected with literature ? There is no sort of connexion between
the two propositions , and I confess tho thus thrusting in , as an essential qualification for membership , tho rather intricate subject of Life Assurance , is not only hampering and unnecessarily complicating a most desirable institution , but is positively endangering its existence . Tho top curious inquirer is apt to think that it smells of tho sliop . Again , -why talk about " Incorporation ? " A . charter of incorporation can only be granted by A « t of Parliament , at an ex .-penso of some two or three hundred pounds . An enrolment under tho Friendly Society's Act would answer all the purpose , and would cost ! J / . To meet the views of E . B . A ., and in order to secure a rendezvous for literary men and journalists at once , 1 would propose as a first atop that 600 gentlemen .
whether reporters , authors , journalists , or literate men , should each subscribe 10 a . Now 500 annual subscribers at 10 a . would produco tho sum of 250 t . Expend f > 0 / . of this amount in fitting up an eligible apartment from 70 to 100 feet in length and 20 to 30 in width . I should rely fully for a permanent income for this aociioty on tho sound principle of tiih association oir numunits , nnd it should bo the object and chief design of this literary association to afford all its members a comfortable and well-ventilated room for meeting and conversation : nnd also u reading or nowsroom containing tho be st works of our beat authors , us Moll us tho most tulenteU reviews and journals of the day . I an ) , sir , your obodieqt awvant , M . U , If ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 1, 1854, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_01071854/page/16/
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