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1»62 THE LEAJ3ER. ¦ [Saturday,
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THE SLAVE-TRADE IN TURKEY. Che removal o...
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MANCHESTER ON MAURICE. The Manchester Ex...
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SOCIETY FOR IMPROVING THE CONDITION OF T...
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AMERICA. A x/etter from New York says:— ...
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There are three great facts in the news ...
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The new Governor, Hon. T. Manners Suttoa...
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MEXICO. Santa Anna is said to bo endeavo...
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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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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1»62 The Leaj3er. ¦ [Saturday,
1 » 62 THE LEAJ 3 ER . ¦ [ Saturday ,
The Slave-Trade In Turkey. Che Removal O...
THE SLAVE-TRADE IN TURKEY . Che removal of the Russians from the Circassian joast is said to have had One bad social effect ; »• e ., ; hat the slave-trade is likely to be more flourishing ; han before . In compliance with representations Bade "by Lord Redcliffe the Sultan has issued stringent firmans against the traffic . A letter from Constantinople says : — ' The attention of the British Ambassador has been sspecially directed to this subject , and , after many representations , he has succeeded in obtaining firmans , worded in the most stringent language , for the total abolition of the Circassian and Georgian slave-trade . Not only may the women be taken and set at liberty , so far
as a Mussulman female can be free , but the dealer will be subject to the punishment of a grave offence . "Whether the extinction of white or concubine slavery will follow this edict , it is difficult to say . Turkey is the country of high-sounding reforms never carried into practice , and Imperial orders executed only where a foreign representative is present to urge on their enforcement . But no doubt the Porte and its advisers are in earnest , and the trade will cease for the present as far as Constantinople is concerned . To discuss the question of polygamy and the results to the Turks themselves of the practice of buying od & lisks in any number they may desire , is useless . No one can doubt but that tike harem is o » e of the chief causes of the sloth and cowardice of
the Turkish governing class . Pntting aside other considerations , it is well known that the great household expenses , which keep even the most successful plunderer among the Pashas poor , arise mainly from the crowd of trotnen and servants -which are supposed to be due to his state . The more enlightened and Etiropeanised of the Turks have generally but one wife , and a stranger might be apt to think polygamy rather a thing of the past—a practice permitted indeed , but looked upon as disreputable by all but a few of the old school . But even one wife must have a host of slaves to support her dignity , and the great body of the rich Turks are not like the few eminent individuals to whom Englishmen are generally introduced . Among the minor class of officials , the
indulgence and waste of a large establishment are almost universal . There are secretaries and clerks at the Porte with incomes of about 100 ? . a year of our money . How one of these can live at all in a place so expensive as "Constantinople is surprising ; but he not only lives ; but keeps up a state fit for an English Cabinet Minister . He has probably two wives , each with one or two white and three or four black attendants ; each -wife has a carriage of her own in which she jolts over the stones of Pera , or sits eating creams at the Sweet Waters . The functionary himself has a couple of horses for his own use , a groom to walk by his side when he rides in leisurely state to or from the Porto , and a man behind to carry his long and well-cleaned pipes . The means by which this magnificence is supported are well known to the initiated . Each
man in office , from -the Pasha downwards , lias transactions with some one who has a cause to gain or a favour to demand . The secretary represents to his superior that he is in debt , that the money-lender will wait no longer , and that h « must give up his post unless the request of some individual be granted who has promised so many thousand piastres to the speaker for the successful use of his influence . The matter is arranged , and the happy official receives' for one corrupt transaction a sum equal perhaps to five years' salary . The discontinuance of a supply of white slaves may perhaps cause small in the dom
no change estic habits of the Turks ; that it will tend to discourage polygamy cannot be doubted . In former times , when the whole Miditerranean coast was swept by the Turkish fleets and the Algerino corsairs , and the wives of the Sultans wore not Georgians nor Circassians , but Spaniards , Neapolitans , and Venetians , many an inferior sntrap possessed a household as large as that of the present Sultnn . With the scarcity of the supply the Txiannora of the people have somewhat mended , and there is reason to hope that with the utter extinction of the trade polygamy itself may perhaps fall . " l l
Manchester On Maurice. The Manchester Ex...
MANCHESTER ON MAURICE . The Manchester Examiner , in an able article on the Working Man ' s College , Bays :- — " Wo wish our conviotion wore stronger than it is , that Mr . Maurico and hia colleagues are the fittest teachora on such , on important topic . Wo are afraid that tho economic views which they arc known to entertain nro more likely to produce an enfeebling sentimontaliam , thnn a spirit of noble and vigorous independence ; and to make tho working man fool something like a
patronised and potted viotim of misfortune , instead of a free and self-reliant mombor of tho social commonwealth . « . . Colleges for working men will never bo thoroughly efficient , till good primary schooln are in activo operation for tho young ; and honco tho strong nympathy with which wo view tho praiseworthy oxorttono of Mr . Maurice only inspires ua with a woro heartfelt wish that sectarian jealousies retarded no longer the establishment of buoU a Byatom of education aa alone can jnoet the imperious -wanta of tho ago . "
Society For Improving The Condition Of T...
SOCIETY FOR IMPROVING THE CONDITION OF THE LABOURING CLASSES . Off Wednesday , upon the invitation of the Earl of Shaftesbury , a number of gentlemen interested in the improvement of the dwellings of the labouring poor , assembled at Wild-court , Drury-lane , for the purpose of inspecting a row of thirteen houses which have been taken by the society upon a long lease , with the view of being purified and repaired . The whole of the district east of Drur j-lane , and bounded by Great Queen-street , Lineoln ' s-inn-fields , and Clare-street , is one of the worst possible in the metropolis . There are not such appearances of utter squalor and wretchedness as are to be met with in some neighbourhoods , still there are evidences of
great misery and destitution , aggravated by filth , a teeming population , and the absence of sanitary provisions of the commonest nature . Wild-court is situate on the northern side of Great Wild-street , Lincoln ' s-inn , and it runs in a north-easterly direction into Chapel-place , which leads easterly into Duke-street , and westerly through Middle-yard into Great Queen-street . ¦ The court is paved throughout , and is about sixteen feet wide . An open gutter traverses its centre longitudinally , and other transverse gutters occur at intervals . Though presenting externally a dilapidated appearance , the 3 iouses are in reality substantial brick structures— -the beams , joists , and other bearing timbers being principally of English oak , and in a sound state .
These 13 houses , which contain an aggregate of 108 separate rooims , have been leased by the society at an average annual rental of 15 / . lOs . They are all occupied at the present moment , and ate calculated to contain 200 families , or about 1000 people . The court swarms with children , wretehed-lookiug little objects , and the population is chiefly Irish . The men are , For the most part , labourers , but when out of woek they "follow the markets , " as the phrase
among them is , and on Sundays they crowd our streets with baskets of oranges or other seasonable fruits . Though generally honest , some portions of the houses are occupied by known thieves , and a considerable number of destitute persons of questionable reputation nightly sleep upon the stairs , for which they pay no lent ; The whole place is in a most filthy and foul state . The basements are unpaved and unoccupied , and from them the mO 8 t horrible effluvia are at times emitted . There
is scarcely a whole pane of glass to be found in all the windows , and the back yards , which are most imperfectly drained , range from not more than 5 feet to 7 feet wide . The mode in which the soil and refuse are god rid of by the families occupying the garrets of these houses would hardly be credited . It is thrown , in the first place , through a small aperture on to the roof at the back . It then passes along a 5-inch wooden trough , or gutter , fixed to the wall of
the front room , and thence to a gutter behind the parapet outside , which presents tho appearance of an elongated cesspool , disgusting in the extreme , and furnishing an intolerable stench . It is then carried off by the rainwater-pipe to the drains . Some of the ( troughs as they pass through the room are quite open , so as to expose the refuse to view , and others have flaps , which naay be opened and the soil emptied into it , in order to save tho necessity of conveying it to the back of the
house-These are the places upon which this useful society is about next to operate . It has already erected model lodging-houses in various parta of the town ; but these , although yielding from 5 to 6 per cent , interest upon the capital expended , have hardly held out a sufficiently tempting prospect to induce builders or others to undertake them aa a matter of speculation . The system more recently adopted by ihe society , of renovating and adapting existing houses , has proved m uch more successful as a matter of
profit — one house in Charles-street , DruryJano , having yielded as much as 16 percent . It is this plau therefore which is to'bo adopted here ; and it id estimated that for an expenditure of between 90 / . nnd 100 / . per house , they maybe rendered completely comfortable and healthy habitable dwellings , They will then be let . to respectable tenants nt rents not higher , but probably considerably lower than those at present x > aid for the wretched accommodation afforded .
The object of Lord Shaftesbury in inviting a few gentlemen to visit the spot on Wednesday was that in twelve months' time , when tho improvements con . templated will bo effected , they may bo enabled to contrast the Btato of things ait tho two periods , and to judge of tho good absolutely accomplished . Many of the present tenants have lived in this miserable court tor yeare , and some of them havo requested to be permitted to return when the repairs sluill bo ooinplotcd . No doubt they will bo entitled to first choice .
The nofota earl , who takes bo HvoLy an interest in tho welfare ot the poor , speaks with confidence of tho Hucceas of thia and similar umtortalunga , ai » d remarks that the Common JLotiging-house Act ha » proved one gt & a fact , awl that 1 b , lhat tho Irieh
lodging-house keeper is not incorrigible . A great improvement is already perceptible in the conduct of these places , and every day the system is becoming less objectionable . There was not a very laTge muster on Wednesday , the visit to such a neighbourhood aot being attractive to the many ; but among those present we noticed Sir B . Hall , Mr . Chadwick , Dr . Sutherland Mr . S . Hughes , Mr . Godwin , the Kev . E . Bickersteth , Dr . Gavin , Professor Taylor , Mr . Wood , and others .
America. A X/Etter From New York Says:— ...
AMERICA . A x / etter from New York says : — " A keen political statistician estimates the probable results of the election as follows : —Hards , 100 , 000 votes ; Softs , 60 , 000 votes ; Know-nothings , 60 , 000 votes ; Whigs , 250 , 000 votes ; total , 470 , 000 . The ' Hards' are democrats opposed to the Administration the Softs' are democrats in favour of the Administration ; the ' Know-nothings' advocate the appointment of none but native Americans to office , and are opposed to all foreign influence , and especially to the Roman Catholic , Catholic Irish , & c . The Whigs generally fraternise with the Know-nothings . Tor instance , John M . Clayton , the senator of Delaware , has written a
letter indirectly espousing ' Know-nothing' doctrines . But the most remarkable effect of Know-nothingism is a recent summersault by the Washington Union , in which it squints fondly at the secret Order , and takes ground in labour of a kind of Know-nothing change in the naturalisation laws . Up to last week it had been bitter in . its denunciations of the new and secret political society . But the conversion of the Government organ has evidently been brought about T > y the display of ' Knownothing' power in Pennsylvania , and its threatening influence in . New York . And then we have other parties —Slavery and Anti-slavery , Temperance and Autitemperance—all the new parties of ' isrns , ' so called , which , usually amalgamate with the Know-nothings . In Hew York , on the other hand , the Germans have held a mass
meeting , for the purpose of agreeing upon a ticket on which they can all -unite at the coining election . The Irish also are arranging a similar demonstration , on the plea that the Know-nothing movement demands that they should , do something for self-preservation . Indeed , the two great turning points of political power just now are Know-nothingisni and the Nebraska question . The excitement on both swells as the Ifeiv York election approaches , and the probability now is stronger than ever , that the ¦ pro-Nebraska ( pro-slavery ]) government of General Pierce will be severely rebuked by the New York vote , and that Know-nothingism will successfully
exert its balance of power in electing the next president of the United States . European readers , judging at so great a distance from the scene of action , may feel disposed to believe that the divisions and subdivisions of so many parties must threaten the integrity and existence of the Union itself . But the questions are merely domestic , some of the new parties ephemeral , and several of the issues got up as electioneering and other political pretexts . In loyalty to the Union they all agree , a very few zealots perhaps excepted , and no party exhibits a stricter American and federal feeling than the Knownothings , however liberal their views may bo as regards foreigners . '
There Are Three Great Facts In The News ...
There are three great facts in the news from Canada : a " Maine Liquor Law" hns been passed ; and , on the news arriving : of the victory at Alma , '' the House , " on the motion of Sir Alan McNab , adjourned " amid cheering ; " while Sir George Grey ' s letter , announcing the withdrawal of nearly all the troops from the province ( in accordance with the general intention expressed by Lord Grey in 1853 ) , lias excited no discontent whatever . Thus we bco that the concession of self-government ensures " loyalty . "
The New Governor, Hon. T. Manners Suttoa...
The new Governor , Hon . T . Manners Suttoa , has assumed tho administration of New Brunswick . Tho Legislature , summoned specially to consider tho new council treaty with the United " States , was addressed by tho Governor in a speech congratulating tho province on the assurances offered by tho treaty of the continued frood understanding between Great Britain and tho United States . Gratifying . —Tho news ia contradicted : Soulouquo has not declared war against the United States 1 Ho allows them to retain thuir St . Domingo station !
Mexico. Santa Anna Is Said To Bo Endeavo...
MEXICO . Santa Anna is said to bo endeavouring to do a good Btroko of business . Ho offers to the European governments that if they will support him against tho United States , and accede to his becoming King of Mexico , ho will settle tlie succession to the crown upon any one named by n ICuropean congress I On the other hand a } few York paper states that " the government of tho United States at Washington and tho cabinet of Santn Anna have already hutl tho basis of a now treaty , w Inch is at tho present moment in process of negotiation . Thia treaty will bo entirely of a commercial nature , "
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 11, 1854, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11111854/page/6/
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