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No. 498. Or.T. S. 1859.1 THE LEADER 1131
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A SOCIAL. PROBLEM. Some years ago, two p...
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POST OFFICE SAVINGS BANKSS. A benevolent...
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LOMBARDY AND THE HOUSE OF SAVOY. Italian...
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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.
Judge Lynch At Do.On. Lord Derby's Condu...
sible law-maker . He might carry such a notion , though it was rudely interrupted when he was displaced from office , into private life , and really befieve that he was entitled both to make the law and carry it into execution . If such be the origin of his proceeding it is the more indispensable that he should be taught by the public and the press that he does not possess in his capacity pi landlord the power of the First Lord of the Treasury . Either legislation is wholly unnecessary , or the law , as a ° rule of conduct , deserves every man s vPiiftration . and should be rigidly obeyed by all , confers
and particularly by those on whom the law power and wealth . If it is to be set . aside or deviated from at the pleasure of individuals in high station , other persons will soon come to regard it as the mere embodiment of their desires , as merely cloaking their selfishness under a garb of sanctity , and as no more worthy of obedience than the sic volo of any individual .
No. 498. Or.T. S. 1859.1 The Leader 1131
No . 498 . Or . T . S . 1859 . 1 THE LEADER 1131
A Social. Problem. Some Years Ago, Two P...
A SOCIAL . PROBLEM . Some years ago , two problems of our social existence were to us matters of deep and constant reflection . In vain we sought to learn what became of clowns during the summer , and where the Hampstead donkeys went to during the winter . As the donkeys went out of sight , the clowns came in , arid vice versa . Like the constellations of Castor and Pollux , they never appeared together above the social horizon . At last we are " furnished with a sufficient , if not a satisfactory solution . We are told , and believe beeause we are told , that at the end of t he transformed
pantomimic season clowns are . finally into barmen , and may be seen behind London bars clothed and in their right limbs . The original Hanrpstead donkeys , we learn on the same authority , undertake an involuntary migration to the shores of Holland , and there during winter-time drag out their miserable existence , carrying sand for the Dutch dy kes . We admit that both of these hypotheses are liable to grave objections . As time goes on , however , we learn not to expect too much , and are content with little . We are ready , therefore ,, to admit with alacrity , the clown and donkey problems are both solved , and have now to turn our minds to the elucidation of a
didi" Does he "feel bound to ofier a few remarks on this most important subject" when his servant calls him for breakfast in the morning , or does he " move the adjournment of the debate , " when he wishes' the cloth to be removed after dinner ? Does he read passages from his own speeches out of Hansard to the assembled household—or does he sit daily for his own portrait , in the act of moving for a return ? There is one thing we do not suspect him of , and that is of . reading the blue-books which _ his motions have brought into being . There is a limit even to an Ayrton ' s energy .
Mr . Williams , too , must be like a fish out of water . His great financial talents can have no scope in . private life . One cannot be always reducing the wages of one ' s servants , or cutting doAvn one ^ family expenses . Anxious virtue is a pleasant thing ; but still the gratifying reflection that one is hot called " My Lord , " and has preserved intact one ' s political chastity , can hardly be sufficient to occupy the whole of one ' s attention . Is it possible that in his enforced idleness Mr . Williams condescends to local politics , and rivals Mr . Doulton on his own Lambeth
stage ? Mr . Roebuck's , however , must be the hardest case of all . Fancy a dog without a bone to gnaw , or a gnat without any one to sting , and you will have a conception of the state of mind of the njember for Sheffield . Things are so dull that there is not even a prospect of a skirmish , where an independent and impartial bystander might manage to stir up a .-quarrel . We should think that at this time a little family dispute , a -vague vm . pleasantness between two near , relatives , would be a perfect godsend to Mr . Roebuck . iSToibody could contrive to give his candid advice in a way that would be more generally offensive , or make more mischief out of a smaller matter . However idle Mr . Roebuck ' s hands may be , the devil will have hard work to find mischief enough for them .
It is the custom at Naples for mothers who want to leave home to wrap up 'their children in a roll of cloth , which hinders them from moving their arms or legs , and they hang them on a peg out of harm ' s way . Surely it would be a good plan if our patriotic politicians could be treated in a like manner .
similar but more serious difficulty . What—this is our present dilemma—becomes of Members of Parliament during the recess ? It is not that we feel any difficulty as to the physical and material part of their existence ; if we chose we could doubtless discover their exact address and residence . Our anxieties refer to the higher part of the senatorial nature—to the development , or rather to the non-development of their mental faculties . As for the members of the Government , we know what they profess to do . It is true they do not profess to do much , and probably do less than they profess , but still one may take up a great deal of time in doing very little . The
rank and file of Parliament , the county members , and representatives of snug boroughs , wh o never speak , and vote as seldom as they can , probably carry-on the same kind of vegetable exiatenco in the recess as they do out of it . Dulness is their normal state ; nothing can disturb the sobriety of their equilibrium . They are dull upon the hustings , dull in Parliament , and dull at county meetings . Dulnoss was present in their cradle , and dulness remains with them on thci , r death bed . What , however , in this dead season of quiej becomes of our energetic members , our spirited politicians , our high-minded patriots , our Ayrtons ,
Williamses , nnd Roebucks ? Who can fancy these unquiet spirits in a state of rest ? We w ere once present , on a visit of inspection , in the shop of a thriving pawnbroker . There , hung upon hooks against the wall , were a number of slopped watches . We were struok at once with a fechn » of oompassion for these chronometers condemned to an involuntary silonco . There was nobody to wind them up , nobody to report their progress , nobody to make their repeaters strike . They had not even the pleasure of hearing themselves tick . A like feeling of pity steals over us when we think of our public characters . They also have boon
pawned for the recess , and the nation is in no hurry to redeem their pledges . There is Mr . Ayrton , for Instanoo . Life must bo a blank to him when he doos n , ot behold his name in the Parliamentary reports . Night after night he inust go weary ana listless to bed , saying , in the words of the Roman Emperor , " diem per-
Post Office Savings Bankss. A Benevolent...
POST OFFICE SAVINGS BANKSS . A benevolent man , whose spare time seems devoted to plans for enabling the poor to better their own condition—Mi * . Sikes , of Huddersfieldhaving ascertained that money-order offices are much more numerous than savings banks , has conceived the idea of making the former fulfil the functions of the latter . He will thus establish a savings bank within an hour ' s walk of the fireside of every man in the kingdom . Every labouring man in the country may then easily become a capitalist \ and , the two classes merged into one , their present hostility will die a natural death . He
our opinion that such a plan could be effectually carried oat , should the cordial support of the Post-office authorities be obtained . Already Mr . Rowland Hill has signified his approbation ; and other chiefs by the mouth of Mr , Frederic Hill have suggested means , for giving effect to the plan , unquestionably it deserves the public consideration * and as the price of the neat and well drawn Up pamphlet which describes the plan h 3 s . per dozen copies , post free from the author . we hope it will be widely read , and the plan be widely discussed . That objections may be inade to it , as to ev . erj but if noi
novel scheme , there can be no doubt ; well founded they will be soon dismissed , ant if well founded the-benevolent author -will cordially welcome remarks which detect his errors We have none such to offer . We confess , however , to a repugnance to increase the work done under the direction of Government , because al such work is removed ., from competition—the onl \ security , we think , for any work being wei done . It is also perfectly clear that tlie interest to be paid on all savings is created by industry , and the less of them is invested iv the national debt the more of them , will ,
as capital , aliment the active industry of the nation Money invested in the funds is safer than when entrusted-to individuals ; but in theform wr case it receives as interest a portion of taxes — in the latter it may contribute to create the wealth it shares . Consistently with this it is well known that when money is much in demand for commerce it is withdrawn from sayings banks and invested in trade . This partl y explains the fact mentioned by Mr . Sike ' s , that in Lancashire and Yorkshire , savings banks , in proportion to population , are only about one-fourth ' as numerous as in Dorsetshire and Berkshire . It is also partly , due to the
greater density of population in the former than iii the latter ; but there are'facilities in the manufacturing districts for employing small sinus profitably which are not found in the agricultural districts . We , too , must always regard private bankers—the responsible money dealers iii every neighbourhood- ^ as the best savings banks for the people . That they have sometimes failed is not so bad as Governments which always fiiil ; and in spite of a bank breaking now and then , we believe that with perfect free banking , private banks , receiving and utilising the smallest sums , would be the best , as they are the natural , savings banks of the multitude .
We make these remarks more to vindicate our own consistency—being staunch and steady advocates for free banking , as for freedom in every business—than to depreciate Mr . Sikes benevolent plan , which seems an appropriate extension of our present financial system , calculated to enable the multitude more than at present to escape from its evils .
has observed that there are fifteen counties in the United Kingdom where there are no savings banks j that in twelve years , while the wealth of the country , judging by its exports , has increased 100 per oont ., the deposits in savings banks have increased only 7 J per cent ., and he concludes that now , when wages arc good , deposits would increase more rapidly Avere savings bankB more numerous . He suggests that the Commissioners for the Management of Savings Banks , whom it is proposed to appoint , shall issue " savings banks interest b
notes , value from £ 1 to £ 30 , earing , mterest at the rate of 2 £ per cent , per annum . " The se notes arc to bo procurod , through money-order offices ! A man would pay in his money , aw for remittance ; it would bo sent to London to the chief savings banks , and in a few days he would receive one of these notes equal to the amount of the deposit . The plan would increase the business of the money-order office , but falls so well in with it as to occasion little extra expense . . The author estimates the cost of 09 depositing money at not much more than one-third of the
present p lan of savings banks , while the security would bo perfect . He doos not intend , however , in the Slightest degree to compete with tho prosent savings banks , to which he gives just praise , but to supplement them , and supply a sure and well guaranteed savings bank to every distriot wherever a monoy-ox'der office is established . Without entering into the details we muet express
Lombardy And The House Of Savoy. Italian...
LOMBARDY AND THE HOUSE OF SAVOY . Italian affairs may now be said to be . approaching a crisis . It is confidently stated that next week will see the ratification of at least a portion of thu stipulations of Villafrnnca , the Kinporor Nupoloon having made known his desire , that the treaty of Zurich should be completed within a few days . Little doubthowevercan be entertained that a
, , congress will ibllow ibr the resolution of many of the great points still at issue in * the Italian question . The instruments of peace , to . be signed next week by the Plenipotentiaries of the 1 ' i-oueli * Austrian , and Sardinian Powers , are only-throe m number , and relate simply to tho conclusion of peace , the settlement of the frontier line between the possessions of Piedmont and Austnn , and the cession of Lumbardy . of Lombardto tho
The present annexation y dominions ol ' tlio undent house of Savoy in not anew fact or a recently felt want . From Ludovico XX * down to Victor Emmanuel 11 . history shows that the relations between the two provinces have always , with some brief interruptions , assumed tho same aspect as at prenont . this union has over been tho ambitious desire of tho princes , tl » e moving spring of their polipy , and tho abiding desire of their people . It is no strange occurrence in the history of Italy to boo tho houses and shops decorated with the white cross of Savoy . In tho middle of tho fifteenth oentury Milan adopted this oinblom , and with ardent desires and prayers summoned tho son 01
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 8, 1859, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08101859/page/15/
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