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exist bwinch the of different 920 THE LE...
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MISCELLANIES. Art, and How to Enjoy it :...
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The Future of India. By M. IT. S. Booth....
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The Wa,terinq-Plcicea of England. With a...
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COMMERCIAL.
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- .w COMMERCIAL ASPECT OF THE STRIKE. ¦Y...
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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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Political, One Poetical, Both Long, And ...
Eclectic , in an article on Hero-worship , somewhat severe on Mr . Carlyle , and his life of " JTrederich the Great . " As in other monthlies , the views on the peace are unsatisfactory ; but on the whole the number may be pronounced good . Englishwoman ' s Journal contains another poem by Isa Craig , "A Dream of Death , " which is only pretty ; and the number is inferior to its predecessors . Recreative Science—A monthly Record and Rembrancer of Intellectual Observation . —( Groombridge . )—The number for August contains a variety of useful articles . One by Mr . Hain Fris-• well , on Humboldt , is especially commendable . Gallery of Nature . By the Rev . Thomas Milner ( W . and R . Chambers ) , progresses favourably . Part X . is attractively got up .
Exist Bwinch The Of Different 920 The Le...
exist bwinch the of different 920 THE LEA DEB . [ No . . 489- Aug . 6 , 1859 .
Miscellanies. Art, And How To Enjoy It :...
MISCELLANIES . Art , and How to Enjoy it : —A Reply to the Question , " How shall I Know a Good Picture ? " By Edward Hopley . —The author regrets , with reason , the popular ignorance concerning simple and absolute art-principles , and makes a laudable endeavour to supply the requisite instruction , and to render superficial criticism less acceptable than it has unfortunately too frequently been , even in regard to journals and periodicals of high repute . Otjb Engines of War , and How we got to Make them . By Capt . Jervis-White Jervis , M . P . ( Chapman and Hall . )—The treatise commences with the origin of gunpowder , and a denial that Roger Bacon was the discoverer , and terminates with the fortifications in . the nineteenth century . It consists of seven chapters , and is suitably illustrated . The Rifle Musket . By the same writer . —A plain practical treatise , the utility of which is apparent . Handbook to Australasia . Edited by Wm . Fairfaix . —This work presents a brief historical and descriptive account of Victoria , Tasmania , South Australia , New . South Wales , Western Australia , and New Zealand . It is accompanied -with a map of the Australasian colonies . Printed and published at Melbourne , it is put forth as an experiment . If successful , a yearly volume will be issued . . Practical Swiss Guide . By an Englishman Abroad ( Longmans ) . —This is the fourth edition of a useful work , intended to include " all that ought to be seen , in the shortest period and at the least expense . " Parlour Journal . Part I .- —This is a new periodical , designed for " a Weekly Record of Entertainment and Instruction , adapted for readers of all ages ; " illustrated ' by Julian Portch . It consists of six weekly numbers , which are principally addressed to female tastes ; and the work hitherto appears to have been judiciously conducted .
The Future Of India. By M. It. S. Booth....
The Future of India . By M . IT . S . Booth . The author has had ten years' experience in the covenanted civil service of India , and is so far qualified to deliver himself of an opinion on the subject of the troublesome possession , " as he calls it , that ¦ w e have of that country . The range of Himalaya affords us , in his opinion , a natural boundary beyond which we should not , unless compelled , attempt to penetrate . We should be careful not to alarm the natives with the notion that we are greedy to annex independent countries on the slightest pretext . A Russian invasion by Caubal the writer regards as quite a myth . He requires , however , a more efficient police than the present corrupt force . Improvements have been lately introduced- —the sitting magistrate and tho thief-catcher are no longer identified in the same person . The burdon of tho taxes still falls on tho landholders , alone , a system to which the inelasticity of our finances is duo , " Finance is the rock upon which the vessel of State will smash , unless some experiencecj man bo placed at tho helm to guide her over tho difficulties that are plainly looming in the distance . " Tho pamphlet contains many useful suggestions .
The Wa,Terinq-Plcicea Of England. With A...
The Wa , terinq-Plcicea of England . With a Summary of their Medical Topography and Remedial Resources . By Edwin Leo , M . J ) . —John Churchill . Tins is tho fourth edition of a valuable work , to which , howovor , considerable additions havo been made , for which wo are indebted to tho fact of tho author having revisited the principal localites . The importance of mineral waters as remedial agonts has raised these in public estimation ; though they Buffer , from the preforonco given by thoeo who are desirous of travelling to foreign watering-places . Dr . XjOO confesses , indeed , that England cannot fWriy compote with Prance or Germany , both of which countries contain many hot and cold strongly mineralised springs of various kinds . Nevertheless , tne English spots havo also their claims and usos , to which Dr . Lee ' s volume will direct tho valetudinarian .
Commercial.
COMMERCIAL .
- .W Commercial Aspect Of The Strike. ¦Y...
- . w COMMERCIAL ASPECT OF THE STRIKE . ¦ YY 7 "E shall say a few words here on the com-W mercial aspect of the builders' strike , which threatens to be , if both parties hold firni to their declared resolutions , the most memorable that has ever occurred . The sub-class 15 , of the 11 class of occupations , in the Census returns , is headed " Houses , Uuilders , House decorators ; " and includes " Surveyors , Builders , Carpenters and Joiners , Masons , Paviors , Slaters , Plasterers , Painters , Plumbers and Glaziers , and others engaged in Louse construction . " In the metropolis , m 1851 , the number of men engaged in these several trades , aged twenty years and upwards , was 59 , 455 , and increasing this number by 10 'per cent ., on account of the increase in the persons engaged in building since then , we niay assume that about 65 , 000 persons , upwards of twenty years of age , will all be out of work on Monday . On the one hand , it is not strictly true that all these will be out of work ; on the other , a great number of youths below twenty years of age will be thrown out , so that ; we shall not be far wrong in taking 65 , 000 as the number of working men wlio -will then at once cease their
bread-earny industry individuals and different trades can be made to assist and help one another so effectually as by free and unre - stricted competition . This is as * necessary to the well-being of society as industry itself . Generally the principle is acknowledged , and now it is emphatically dwelt on by those who are most forward in sermonising the men who stand out on strike . It is plain therefore that the contravention of this principle is always a cause of evil , and is the cause of the present calamity . At least it should be rigidly and consistently acted on by those who object to the men contravening it ; andif these are blame , liow much are those to be condemned who continually and systematically violate it .
The workmen try to obtain by combination with one another—setting at defiance free competitiona diminution of the hours of labour , with no diminution in the rate of wages . But this is exactly what the Government does . Setting at defiance free competition , it is a standing combination to obtain from tkc public by taxation the largest possible sum for the smallest possible amount of useful work . Moreover , laws are continually made for tlie very purpose of restricting . competition . Our whole public-house system , our banking system , our factory acts , Avith factory inspectors , ovir payment ofina . il packets , pur restrictions in the navy
and army , & c , are open violations- —some new and and some old—of unrestricted competition , and most of them are directed against the classes who now stand out on strike , hoping by a similar combination and the use or" force to attain their end . We say , therefore , that if the strikers be to blame for contravening the great law of free competition , they have only , followed the example continually set by the ^ Leg islature . In the case of the factories , mines , and some similar works , the public lias demanded and enforced a restriction on the hours of labour ; and the public can only be justified in blaming the building classes for now striking , if
it be wrong for individuals to do so themselves by the same means , what the Legislature is continually doing for others . It cannot , however , be concealed that this is a contest bet-ween the masters and the men as to tl-icir respective shares of the produce of llu-ir combined and equally useful labour . The men complain that they do not get -wages cnougli for their work ; that the continual introduction of machinery diminishes the amount of their employment and the rate generally of their payment . They cannot , as reasonable : beings , object which
to the use - > and extension of machinery , lightens labour ; but they do object , and justly object , that'from this diminution of labour they receive only disadvantage . This is exactly what took place jn 1811 and 1812 , when at first the people in the manufacturing districts were driven to desperation . Then our beautiful cotton machinery , which has so much enriched the nation , and contributed so much to the well-being of the working classes , was broken ami destroyed by the Luddites , and then the revengeful law in turn took the lives of the misled men . Arc we to have similar scenes revived P AVe shall have , if the
same causes arc allowed to operate . The Luddites , like the working biuMc-i . * , justly complained that they got no benefit from thy new machinery . All the profit went to the emp loyers und the wasteful Government , winch was thon , _ ns now , ox tort in »; immense sums from the working people by taxation , and disbursing them on worthloss objects , We pointed out . a fortnight ago the groat increase in the Govcrninonfc expenditure , and romanced that it had obtained ti grout deal more than a fair share of the increased wealth oi tho community arising from the improvement of industry . At present , then , as in iblO , mid subscquout years , tho Government is taking to llsolt
a much too largo a share of tho national produce . It does nut leave enough to satisfy masters mid men . It provents tho advantage ol machinery from reaching tho labouring classes . It makes them hato this noble means of improvement , and by its example it excites them to try and mend their condition by a combination to get inoro pay thnn they now receive . Members of the legislature ami members of" tho executive may denounce tho " strikes , " but those who trace effects to causes will not hesitato to say that tho bail examp le set by tho Legislature , and excessive taxation , are to blmno for this national ealamitv . Jlow it can be cured or stopped , we will not now protend to say / Wo have , however , no hope—ftfl
irig occupations . We cannot estimate the average ¦ wages ' of these artisans below 5 s . per day , which wilT give-a sum of 16 , 2501 ., or 97 , 500 / . per week , withdrawn froni wages . In four weeks the sum will be 390 , 000 / . That represents roughly , but very . incompletely-T-fbr the earning of wages carries with it the gaining of profits—the loss to tlie nation in one month by the suspension of this one species of industry . We now know , however , that one industry feeds another , and that to suspend one necessarily starves the other . A merchant , for example , last week was in treaty to sell a cargo of deals , but his
would-be customer cried off when it became probable that the strike would ensue . He could not use , and therefore would not buy them . Tins is an index to many other businesses , which are impeded or wholly stopped by the strike , and to tlie losses 'in which the ^ above figures of 390 , 000 / . give us no intimation . Or we may express the probable loss in this way . The number of males above twenty years of age enumerated in the census as engaged in occupations in Great Uritain was 5 , 458 , 815 , and of these the trades on strike may be taken as one-hundredth part . Onehundredth part , therefore , of the industry of the
whole people is suspended by the strike . The annual produce of their industry cannot be estimated — taking Mr . M'Culloch ' s basis , and adding 20 per cent , since his " Sketches of the British Empire" was published—at less than 359 , 000 , 000 / . for income , and 10 O , O 0 O , 0 O 0 Z . to replace and extend c ipital ,, or a total of 459 , 000 , 000 / ., one-hundredth part of this sum is 4 , 590 , OOOJ ., or tho probable loss by the strike , were it to continue six months , might bo 2 , 295 , 000 / . It is impossible , however , to ascertain the total loss , because .. the cessation of industry in various businesses puts a stop also to the means of
payment for consumption , and lessens the work and the profit of retail and wholesale dealers . It strikes us—but we cannot nflirin that the comparison is precise—that tho loss by the cessation of so much industry , should it continue for six months ; would not fall very far short of half tho sum the Chancellor of tho . Exchequer expects to receive from his new income tax . It will be , under such circumstances , nothing less than a national calamity , making itself perceptible in the ulimmishcd means of a largo portion of tho community . Of tho sufferings of hungry children , of patient women , connected with the workmen , gradually
selling all their httle ornaments and useful articles to keep themselves and their ollspring alive , wo shall hove say nothing . Those circumstances can * not fail to attract attention . They are tho bitterest consequences of the cessation of bo much industry , and alone make tho loss of tho wealth deeply to be deplored . Wo limit our remarks to the commercial aspect of the question , and loavo the philanthropic aspect to move export pans . However multifarious tho consequences , tho wholo evil resolves itself into a cessation of useful industry , and we must look therefore to tho laws which regulate industry for its causes and it » cure , It k now thoroughly well established that no other means
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 6, 1859, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_06081859/page/20/
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