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avowedIf they it is for those who know b...
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WEST INDIES AKD PACIFIC. S^^^SSSX^W^u.^ ...
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SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 1859.
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THE BUILDERS' STRIKE
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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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Avowedif They It Is For Those Who Know B...
If they it is for those who know better ¦¦ ¦ » . ' *»* . A . o- 6 , 18590 * HE DEADER . 913
West Indies Akd Pacific. S^^^Sssx^W^U.^ ...
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SUBSCRIPTION TO " THE LEADER . " ONE GUINEA PER YEAR , UNSTAMPED , PREPAID . ( Delivered Gratis . )
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Saturday, August 6, 1859.
SATURDAY , AUGUST 6 , 1859 .
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— ¦ * * " — ¦ IThereis nothing'so revolutionary ; because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed when all the world is by the very law of its creation . in eternal progress . —Dk . Arnold . >? -
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true that the Duke of Modena is the " avowed lieutenant of Austria . " As no doubt has ever been expressed that the pamphlet in question , whether actually written by him or not , represented the actual views of the Emperor of the French , it is important to observe how completely it indicates the dangers to which Italy will be exposed if some additional territory is not added to Sardinia , by way of federation or actual incorporation . I he writer says—" Italy alone couldnot defendher independence unless she were capable of bringing into
line 200 , 000 well-diseiplined troops—w wtom 20 , 000 should be cavalry—500 pieces of field artillery and 200 siege guns , which would require 50 , 000 draught horses . " It is plain that Sardinia and Lombardy alone could not afford to maintain this lar" -e and expensive force . A subsequent passage points out the weak position of the Italians , even Tf victorious up to the Adige , provided Austria still held the fortresses , could pour in troops by Bassano , Vicenza , Verona , and Lakes Idra , Iseo , and Como . Under these circumstances suddenl the
it is declared " she could fall y on flanks and rear of her enemy , cut off his communications , and , in the twinkling of an eye , throw him back beyond the Po . " This then is the dangerous position in which , by his own confession , Louis Napoleon has left Northern Italy , and it need not be made worse by re-establishing Austrian lieutenants in the immediate vicinity of the Sardinian kingdom . The despatches and declarations of Loi " d John Russell are thoroughly satisfactory , and contrast most favourably with those ¦ . his Torv onnonents , whose sympathies with
Austria have not been concealed , and who will pretend agreement with the Peace party , or with any other party , if they c succeed in hampering the action of a liberal statesman , or throwing n doubt iipon the course that England will pursue . This game will be repeated on Monday , when Lord Elcho promises his non-intervention motion ; and we hope that those members who are known to represent enlightened popular opinion -will abandon the reserve usually exercised in debate on foreign affairs , and leave no doubt on the minds of Miypeople . in Europe that the British Housp of Commons desires the moral power of the Cabinet to be freely and energetically used on behalf of Italian liberty , and in support of Sardinian policy , so long as it is identified with the national cause . ¦
ENGLAND AND'ITALY . Whether or not the short but sanguinary war , of wliich North Italy has been the scene , will / be productive of any substantial good will chiefly depend upon the extent to which the inhabitants of the duchies and of Tuscany are permitted to decide their own concerns , and it should be the effort of English diplomacy to strengthen France for all purposes of good , and to isolate Austria in her evil doings from the sympathy and support of European powers . If the King of Sardinia should cease to support the rights of the Italian people and sink into the
selfish monarch of a sunall , weak state , his dominions , instead of contributing to constitutional progress , would become the ibcus of a revolutionary propaganda , while no outrage of modern times could surpass a forcible restoration of the deposed princes , in opposition to the declared will of their late subjects . England regrets that Napoleon ' s programme was not fulfilled ; and if it be not possible now to make Italy free from the Alps to the Adriatic , let our statesmen endeavour to obtain for her the largest amount of immcdin . tc irecdom , and protest against anything that would diminish her chances of future success . Austria hns hcrscll broken the treaties of 1815 , not only by her absorption of Crnc ' ow , but by committing hpr Italian
dominions to the chances of Avar . It is for England to recognise nml approve the annexation of Lombai'dy to Piedmont , but it is no port of her duty to sanction the peace of Villa Frnneii as the basis of n new and permanent settlement . There is no good purpose , of balance of power , or anything else , thnt is served by Austria ' s hold over the quadrangle of fortresses and tliu Venetian territory , and wo ought s to bo perfectly free to accept and sympathise with any beneficial changes that mny hereafter occur ; above all , wo ought to relievo Franco from the slightest / bar of oxir boing inveigled to net ngninst her through Gormnn intrigues , if tho conduct of Austria should provoke a renewal of war .
Tho abdication of tho Grand Duko of Tuscany , and hia attempt to procure tho succession for his son , who fought in the Austrian army against tho rights of the Italians , does not change tho conditions depicted in tho famous pamphlet , " Napoleon III . nnd l'ltaly . ' Of the eon , as of the father , it may bo said , " botwoon him and his people stand the bnyoneis of Austria . " It is as ti'uq now as when that pamphlofc was written , that tho Duchess of Parma is " allied to Austria by policy ; thnt she belongs to Austria nnd could not bony tho yoke of a revived Italy , " nnd no loss
The Builders' Strike
are wrong to enlighten them , but nothing can be more absurd than to abuse them , as if it were a crime to hold mistaken views upon political economy , and have : a dim perception of a possible condition of their order more co-operative and more fortunate than that which now exists . We can easily understand the anger of those who have a prodigious amount of real or fictitious capital engaged in building adventures at the disturbance winch has been created , but philanthropists and statesmen will carefully avoid raising mists of passion when clear distinct vision is the thing most needed . _
The first thing that strikes an outside observer is the absence of apparent reason on the part of the men for believing that an increase of wages—or , what—so far as the masters are concerned—^ -ia the same thing , less work for the same wageswill be acceded to by the employers at a time when the supply of labour considerably exceeds the demand . If indeed a general combination took place throughout the country it is just possible that the masters might find the cost of resisting
the demand greater than that of temporarily granting it ; but unless entirely new circumstances arose , the increased cost of building would lessen the quantity required , and the higher rate of wages couldnot be maintained . There may be circum .-stances in the building trade that we have not been able to discover , and which may make the cause of the men less hopeless than it appears , but we suspect . that a very exaggerated belief in the power of combination lies at the bottom of the
attempt . In a thriving country wages are never so low as they might be if capitalists chose ^ to make a general combination for their reduction . The tendency is for working men to form , improved habits , to require more comforts , and to raise their earnings-by the gradual establishment of a custom that tlfey sliall participate in a larger portion of profits and the ' employers . are able to accede to this change from the increasing stability of their occupations . These circumstances do not , however , change the law of supply and demand ; they only determine some of the conditions under which an available supply and an effective demand grow up . A speaker , who was much applauded nt the great meeting in ht
Hyde Park , said , they were told what they soug was contrary to political economy , and then showed his' perfect ignorance of the matter by adding , " they had seen what political - economy was in our French and Austrian neighbours , who had led their people to slaughter by thousands . " This is lamentable enough , but- it is not manyyears since the landed aristocracy and a . large portion of the manufacturing and mercantile class wished to improve their position by protectionist schemes , quite as much in defiance of this much abused science as any which the striking builders have put forth . A great deal of the dislike of the working classes to politicnl economy is traceable to the conduct of such men as Mr . Bright and the Manchester school , who resisted every piece of factory legislation , by which the mill owners were
THE BUILDERS' STRIKE . After an agitation that scarcely attracted the attention it deserved , the men engaged in the building trade have come into ruinous collision with their employers . The former have had a " strike , " tho latter threaten a " lock out , " and unless some judicious neutral parties can step in and effect a reconciliation , a most alarming amount of suffering and irritation will be tho result . The number of " skilled labourers employed in the London building trade , is stated to be about 60 , 000 ; and some idea may be formed of the vast interests connected with this branch of industry , when we find the census of 1851 , representing nearly half n
million of men and youths as employed in the construction and reparation of houses and other buildings . The wages paid in the different branches of the trade are high as compared with the remuneration of factory hands , or agricultural labourers ; but tho occupation i . s precarious , and during tlio winter there is usually no small quantity ot distress . For some time past the London operatives liavo not , as a class , been in a satisfactory condition , inasmuch as largo numbers have bbon unable to obtain employment . To remedy this state of things tho men combined to mako certain demands , the refusal of wliich has led to tho present collision . Tho men boliovo that tho masters
could afford to pay them higher wages ; bub instead of asking lor an advance in money payment tlioy solicit a diminution of tho hours of work , winch , if grunted , they expect would lead to the engagement of additional hands , anil diffuse tho benefits of employment over a larger area . They also desireinoro leisure for oducationul purposes . It hart long been a favourite , theory among tho working classes , that nono are entitled to superfluities while others want , and that persons of unusual , skill or working power are not justified in earning extra pny at tho oxpenco of hooping others without any nivy nt . nil . Working men arc clearly ontitlod to hold thoso opinions if they please , and to combnio within legal limits to givo thorn practical olfbet .
prevented from taking advantage of the poverty of the operatives , and forcing them to work under conditions thnt would not only have wrought injury to multitudes of individuals , but would have thrown upon society the cost of keeping a diseased and demoralised population . This antagonism to a branch of knowledge it peculiarly concerns , thmn tn milt . ivntp . is increased bv violent tirades fc v * r ¦ - - _
% r * A W m m m V ^^ * mmm * pwm **™ rj — - — - - ^ - - . ^ ^ - from that portion of tho press which mako ^ itsen the special guardian of tho employers interests . For their own snkes nnd # for tlic general welfare of society , it J * most Scsirablo 'that tho working classes should know how to value their labour , nnd wlmt are tho possible and honourable menus by which its remuneration can bo improved , but those ^ ho approach them with rurtonoss and insult cannot expect their assertions to bo behoved , or their arguments to bo admitted . Tho master builders « rS not warranted in their endeavour to destroy tho
men ' s liberty of combining as the aw allows , ana to lock men out if thoy will not undertake to forego this liberty isapieoo oftyrnnny that neither can nor outfht to succeed . Tho remedy is not force but information , nnd if the omployors wish to Stop cooperation for mistaken purposes' , let them teach tno imMi to unitu for wiser ends . We havo a spocitnen before us of tho absurd confusion of thought which pvovails upon these
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 6, 1859, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_06081859/page/13/
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