On this page
-
Text (5)
-
Jm^Sr Ms,^- THE LEADEH. 533
-
THE BETAIL QUESTION. ¦ (To the mitor Qf ...
-
FBEE-TEADE VeTSUS COMMERCIAL ANAECHY. (T...
-
SIR CHAHLES NAPIKK AND THK SCINPE PJIIZK...
-
MILITARY INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS. Eist...
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.
The Bookseltebs Comfclltatigny {To The E...
\ , in \ now worts so well , should be thrown open , as in ? - ¦ Aim to a rush ofV competition , involving the needless ^ ofili catiori of establishments , and thus entaiHng on the r yjg ah increase of prices , and on the traders a reduction ° ^ THiese ( ionsiderations a ^ e the more important , as they T > lv not only to the bread and book trades , but to retail S ^ He in every kind } sothat in London alone several milu ^ a ner annum are probably wasted On duplicate retail fla tftblishmenta . . ¦ Notwithstanding the importance here attributed to the cwmeral question of * retail trade , you will observe that I Sresslr defer the . preposAl of any "plan" for its re-organation until public opinion shall have been matured by tether preliminary discussion of | he subject , ^ feanwhile I would remark , in repl y to Mr > Seeley , that Paris is not rendered ( relatively ) less populous than
London nor is its development impeded , by its avoidance of 600 superfluous bakers . Paris has not , on this account , 600 houses standing emptyj but only 600 houses more usefully tenanted than by unnecessary bakers . The population of / Paris is to this extent more healthy ( using the term in a social sense ) thaa it would otherwise be ; the cost of living in Paris is diminished pro tanio by the elimination of 600 needless establishments ; and this diminution of subsistenceccosts , like every other such reduction of chargeSi renders Paris more attractive as a residence , and so tends to its development . An equally advantageous o rganisation of all Other retail trades in Paris would still further reduce superfluous establishment charges , so as to accelerate the influx of residents , and the growth of the town ; whichcircumstances , on the other hand , -yvould create " * legitimate , demand for more retailers , to perform the increased distributive service .
This , it seems to me , would be a fair healthier kind of development than our random multiplication of superfluous shops and traders , limited only by the bankruptcy check ( which is to trade : what the misery check is to population ) . Instead of dwarfing Xondon to the size of Bristol , such a system would gradually expand Bristol to a healthier kind of London , aha set free for useful and pleasurable expendir ture the vast sums now annually absorbed in all our towns , ly what may ' becalled reciprocal iaxationr—OT the charges ¦ we unconsciously impose on each other by over-crdwded trades .. ¦ ¦ . ; . ¦ . ¦ ¦¦' ¦ . ; . ¦ .. ¦ . ¦ .,. ¦ .
How these desirable changes inay be brought about without injury to existing interests , is a question of transition , the immediate discussion of which would be useless , because premature . But the solution of the enigma will ultimately be found ( unless I am much mistaken ) in that pregnant formula of the Sanitary Beformers— " Competition / or , not in , the field of supply . " F . O . Wakd .
Jm^Sr Ms,^- The Leadeh. 533
Jm ^ Sr Ms , ^ - THE LEADEH . 533
The Betail Question. ¦ (To The Mitor Qf ...
THE BETAIL QUESTION . ¦ ( To the mitor Qf the QloheJ . Sie , — -I have read with much , attention your able lender against my view of the Retail question—a view in which lam g lad to find myself fortified by the concurrence of lord Campbell , Dr . Mihnan , and Mr . Grote . Your objections , forcibly put as they are , are hardly , I think , quite conclusive j and , with your permission , I will offer a brief repl y . , Eurst , however , let mo shortly recapitulate the leading facts on which I rely :-r-1 . London covers about 100 square miles . 2 . One hundred retail book shops , planted ono in the contro of each squaro mile , would bring a supply of books within five minutes' average distance of every man ' s door .
3 . Instead of 100 , there are 1000 book shops in London . 4 . These , 1000 book shops , even supposing thorn planted at equal distances , 10 to eacli mile throughout London , would only reduce tho fivo minutes' average distance above-mentioned to about two minutos' averago distanco ; so that three minutes approximation of tho householder to the book shop is tho maximum distribution-bonent , attainablo under tho best topographical arrangomonta , by a tenfold multiplication of retail establishments . [ 6 . It is worthy , perhaps , of passing remark , that this approximation of tho establishments to each othor would incroaso in a much loss rapid rato than their number . Gnvon 100 shops over 100 metropolitan , squaro miles , their number must bo multiplied ninefold , that thoir distance "ipart may bo diminished to ono-third . ] " Assuming ( for comparison ' s sako ) tho 1000 existing establishmen ts to cost 500 J . a vear caoh on tho average ,
uncl tho 100 hypothetical estabfishmonts ( being largor ) to cost oaoh 1000 £ a yoar , wo havo the difference between owfiOOl , and 100 , 0002 . —i . o ., 400 , 000 ? ., as tho annual sum Paul b y tho London book buyers for tho bonofit of having ijooks within two instead of Jive minutes' walk . Pare M W iV 1080 figures oa much as you will , mako any rcoson-¦ loio allowances for special dopots ( as of medical , legal , and Ulor ° 1 ash books ) , and there will still remain an orionrious v ! W ? ay for wgumonb ' a eako a quarter of a million , wiuoh , is equal to a fivpponny rato on tho houso rental of « w metropolis ) as tho annual payment of tho London »» oic buyers , in supnort of extra establishments , kept up
/ r -n ° above-mentioned trivial bonofit . ' iiufc ovon tld » alight advantage , this reduction of too minutes in our moan avorago distanco from book j T | ' « -not in reality gainod . Instead of boinft roffu-( i ? J orspaood , bo m to afford tho utmost ; aooommoda * iBp « ¦ i . ° hpusohoklorfl , tho book whopw are owwdod i « uT i y in the maia thoroughfarosj nay , somo stand m , P ' » n 6 tt door to ono anotlior . lam not accurately b ,, T ? ? rt w > fch fcl » o retail topography of tlio London { ctrado ; Imfc j havo obsorved * enough to justilymo in ( iulT U 1 fi : L . that tho London book buyora )> ay tlwir annual r , " ?* «• million for tho support of the surplus bookon ! T ut Booupinat in return ovon tho trivial bonolifc ' »« slightl y leeaonodf averago distance . <« iZ « l . my P ^ aitio « w . that " so long as tho number ofreclijr ? «» Mim untUminiehed , " theso extra establishment ™» " » U 8 t oontimw to bo paid ; that they can coino
from no other source than the book buyers' pockets ; and that they must form an element in the retail charge for books . I contend in like manber that , if the 601 bakers' shops now existing at Paris were doubled in number , the total Bum paid annually for bread by the Parisians must inevitably bo raised by the exact amount spent on the 601 added bakers' establishments . *• " t It is quite jferue , as you remark , that the price of bread is fixed by law in Paris ; but , in computing the profit to be allowed to the bakers , the authorities take into account the number of their establishments and their average sales ; nor could they , if they would , enforce so low a tariff on 1202 , as on 601 bakers . The . question of esiablisJiment
charges , which depends on number , is inextricably mixed up with the question of price ; and this by a plain arithmetical law which no human enactment can reverse . My reliance on competition alone to proportion the numbers of each trade ; to the requirements of the public , and to its own true interests , is , I confess , less absolute than yours . You admit that there is an excess of hatters in London ; yet the retail hatters compete desperately—so desperately that many become bankrupt every year . There is a sharp competition , also . , among the publicansyet we have the preposterous number of 5 , 000 publicans in
London—or 50 to every square mile—a number exceeding even that of the bakers . Are beer and liquors cheap and good in consequence ? On the contrary , they are adulterated and dear . Is the trade thinned by competition ? On the contrary ^ the magistrates are overwhelmed with applications for fresh licenses , though the fact of the existing surplus is proved by incessant bankruptcies . A certain number of the superfluous booksellers will doubtless be eliminated by the same painful process ; but fresh adventurers will constantly be found ready to re-open the closed establishments , to stake their fortunes in the same lottery , and to take then- chance of the same blanks .
The London public , taken collectively , may be likened ^ I thinkj to a private gentleman , burdened with a host of superfluous retainers , and living in consequence at an extravagant rate in a larger house than he needs . The more I study this question the more clearly I perceive its importance , and the vast magnitude of the sums annually squandered on superfluous retail establishments . It is a waste tp : be reckoned , I am convinced , not by thousands of pounds , but by millions per annum . I believe it to be a strictly preventible waste . ; and so soon as public opinion shall appear in some degree awakened to its importance , I will endeavour to show how we may , little by little , check this exhaustive drain on each others resources—which I have ventured to call Reciprocal Taxation ; and which I believe to exceed in its aggregate all other forms of taxation put together . ¦ ~ '
I have the honour to be , Sir , with much deference , your obedient servant , P . O . ¥ aed .
Fbee-Teade Vetsus Commercial Anaechy. (T...
FBEE-TEADE VeTSUS COMMERCIAL ANAECHY . ( To the Editor of the Globe . ) " In commercial as in political affairs , the true object of Government is to increase the common enjoyment of liberty , by repressing the reciprocal tyranny of licence ; or , in other words , to afford to each individual governed a wider and steadier sphere of Freedom , by restraining , in his neighbours as well as himself , the discordant encroachments of fluctuating Caprice . " Sin , —Tho letter , of which a copy is herewith inclosed , appears in this morning ' s Herald ; and as my reply to tho arguments of that journal meets also incidentally several of your own forcibly urged objections to my views , I venture to ask tho favour of its insertion in your columns .
I am , indeed , anxious to lay b efore aa wide an audionce as tho favour of tho Press may grant mo , tho pernicious effect of spurious as contradistinguished from genuine Competition ; ' and tho wide difference which separates well-ordorod Freedom of trade from moro commercial Anarchy . . Whether measured by its vast and incessant drain on tho publio rosourcos , or by tho loss and misery it inflicts on tho struggling traders themselves , our present retail distributive syBtom involves evils whereof tho enormous mairnitudo has hitherto escaped attontion .
Should tho liberal and enfightono I Metropolitan Pross bo far adopt my view as to recognise thoso evils , and to lay thorn fairly boforo tho public , tho question how fur they may bo suscoptiblo of remedy will come next in order for discussion : and , at tho fitting time , I shall bo proparod to submit for consideration remedial measures of a transitional kind , neither incompatible with existing interests , nor involving any suddon or Utopian changos . Meanwhile , I have the honour to bo , Sir , with much deference , your obedient sorvant , F . O . Waiu > .
Sir Chahles Napikk And Thk Scinpe Pjiizk...
SIR CHAHLES NAPIKK AND THK SCINPE PJIIZK MONEY . Mb . SjonajoANT Byuss , oh Monday , moved tho Court of Quoon ' fl Bench for a mandamus against tho East India Company , commanding thorn to pny to General Hip ClmrloH Nnpior tho " tram of 20 , 198 rupees ( 2 , 010 ? . 17 * . Cnl ) In thayoar 1843 Sir Clmrlos Nnpior . wan appointed Commandor-in-Chicf of tho Quooh ' h and tho Vmt India Company ' s forces in Scindo . During tho cunning campaign a largo booty was ttikon , amounting In tlio wholo to botweon 4 , 000 , 000 and 6 , 000 , 000 rupous . By a royal warrant tho Crown granted that sum to tho East India Company , in trust , to lm distributed among tho ofllcoi'H and soldiow who worvod in that campaign . " Tho pny to which Sir Charloa wiw entitled an Oommandorm-Chiof wad 14 , 300 Company ' s rupooH ft month . It has boon provided by Act of Parliament that hpr Majority's troops h \ India should genorally bo paid by tho
Company . The prize money was distributed m two dividends , the first of which was paid in 1848 , and the second in 1849 . But in the following year , the Indian government ,, finding that certain charges debitable to the Scinde prize money had not been deducted therefrom , the pay of all the officers was stopped to make up the amount . ,. It was on account of the amount so deducted from Sir Charles Napier's salary that the mandamus was applied for .
In May , 3850 , Sir Charles ! Napicr presented a protest to the Indian government , objecting to the deduction , on the following grounds among others : —That the government could not legally make such deduction without giving a detailed and specific account of it . That the prize money had been distributed in confidence in the correctness of the calculations made by the government . That as a considerable number of the officers who had shared the prize money had since returned to England , and some had died , and as the government did not venture to apply the same treatment to the Sepoys , the burden fell unjustly on a portion only of the officers . That such conduct deprived the officers of all security for prize money or pay .
This protest ,-as well as another application to the Company , was ineffectual . Sir Charles Napier was induced to make this application ,-less on his own account , than for the sake of other officers who were not in a position to maintain their rights . The questions to be considered were—1 , Whether tho Company had any right to recover back any portion of this prize money after it had been distributed . 2 , If the Company had the right , whether they could stop it out of the officers ' pay ? 3 , If they could not , was there any other remedy for recovery than by mandamus , and would that writ lie ?
Lord Campbell intimated that the main question being whether the writ would lie , they might assume , for the purpose of the present argument , that the Company had wrongfully withheld the pay . Mr . Sergeant Byles cited the 3 rd and 4 th Victoria , cc 36 , 37 , and the * 33 rd George III ., c . 52 , s . 120 ; and after some argument , the Court took time to consider their decision .
Military Interference In Elections. Eist...
MILITARY INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS . Eist week , Mr . Sharman Crawford brought a charge against General Thomas , of having attempted to" intimidate an elector at Enniskillen . In the Northern Whig , we find the following documents : the first from Major Beaufoy , commanding the pensioners at Enniskillen ; the second from the sergeant alleged to have been intimidated . " Major-General Thomas did nofc inspect tho enrolled pensioners on tho day on which ho inspocted the quarters at Enniskillen . The general did not put his fist into M'Kinloy ' s face , but spoke to all tho men who served with
him in tho 27 th in feelings of regard and kindness . There wero thirteen pensioners of tho 27 th present , and tho general gave thorn two sovereigns to drink his health , and which sum amounted to about 3 s . each man . M'Kinloy declared in tho presence of tho general , Major Beaufoy , and others , that lie was coorced and ill-treated by his own family , and ho had no choice of his own . The Enniskillen enrolled pensioners will not be called out for drill exercise before tho middle- of Juno ; consequently , they could not lmvo beon inspected by tho gonoral on the day named . Mr . M ' jEinloy never saw a shot iircd , having always beon employed on tho recruiting service . Ho is a good and respoctublo man , however , and I am suro wan always soldierly and bravo . "B . BeauJJOY .
" May 25 , 1852 . " " Statement of Serjeant M'Kinley , lato of tho 27 th Foot , at present on a pension of 2 s . O ^ d . por day . " That on tho 10 th of May , 1852 , having recoivod directions from Major Beaufoy , staff-officer of pensioners at Enniskillon , to collect tho pensioners of tho 27 th Itogimont of 1 ' oot in tho barrack-square of Enniskillen , as General Thomas was to bo in Enniskillcn on his round of inspection , and would bo glad to boo them , Serjeant M'Kinley accordingly collected twolvo ponsionorfl ot that regiment , and accompanied thorn to tho barrack-square ; when ho received directions in tho squaro to bring them into Major Boaufoy ' s oflieo , which i » tutuato in tho barrackH . Ho did so : ho
saw tho general in tho oflico , who was accompanied b y Colonel Colo , Captain Corry , adjutant of tho Fermanagh Militia , several oHicors of tho Olfifc llogimont , and Major Ueaulby , stuff-oflicor . Gonoral Thomas said ho was glad to boo thorn , and inquired whore they had sorvod . Aflor they had informed him , ho ( tho gonoral ) thon handed two sovereigns to Serjeant ; M'Kinloy , and desired tho pensioners to drink his health , and then Baid that if any of them hud votos , ho would like thorn , to givo thorn to his friend , Mr . Whifjcsido , nt tho ensuing election , in proforonco to a common attorney ,. — -Major Boaufoy thon replied , thatTnono
of tho pensioners thon present had a voto except Serjeant M'Kinloy . Gonoral Thomas thon aBkod Serjeant M'Kmloy to givo his voto to Mr . "Whitosido , whon M'Kihloy stated ho had voted for Mr . Collurn at ; tho hint oloetioh , and from , tho treatinont ho had received for doing ho , having had his family ill-troatod by a party that broko into his houso , ha did not intend to change Inn ntind . Tho gonoral thon said , would ho -not givo it to Mr . Whitonido at tho ensuing election , and lot by-gonofi ho by-gonos . To this M'Jiinloy made no reply , ' whon Major Beaufoy diroctod him to givo tho general an answer ; M'Khiloy then flald , ho was sorry ho could not give a eajisfttotory one . Imuxodiatoly after
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), June 5, 1852, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_05061852/page/9/
-