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No;- 40k n™ IS- 1853.1 1 Tj^E LEADER. U4...
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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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Mala " But We Hare Opened A Field For Mu...
constitution has been likened to a pyramid , of which the broad base supporting the whole is formed of the people ; the middle portion is the aristocracy oTrank , property , talents , and acquirements ; and on the narrow summit rests the Qrpwn . The Judicial power , pure and unsullied , qalmlyexercised by men independent of all the other orders , and removed from all faction , partaking neither of its fury nor its delusions , forms a mighty zone wh > cn girds the pyramid round about , connecting the loftier and narrower with the humbler and broader layers , binding the whole compactly together , and repressing the encroachments and smoothing the ruggedness of any of its parts . But the essential part of the aristocratic element must neVer be forgotten or from
overlooked . Nothing ^ else can protect liberty an arbitrary sovereign , or from the more insupportable tyranny of the multitude ; more . insupportable , because pervading the whole community , while the single despot affects Only certain classes . So deeply impressed with this truth are some sound friends of liberty advocates of popular government , that they deem a landed aristocracy the indispensable condition of free constitutions . But whether one kind of aristocracy alone can prevent the usurpation both of an individual and of the multitude , our mixed monarchy is safe on either supposition , ( Hear . ) To admit that this great political structure has imperfections , or that into its administration abuses have found their way , is only to confess that it is the work of man and by men administered .
Let it be grahtel that the representation is defective , and that classes are excluded whose admission is required both by considerations of justice and by the public interest . Still see what a prodigious benefit the existing state of things confers upon the people in their rights and their interests of every description . The business of the State is conducted m public ; in public every matter is discussed by the two Hguses ; and there is hardly any restraint by law , certainly none whatever in practice , upon the complete discussion both at popular meetings and through the press . Then , besides the security of life , liberty , property , and reputation under the law , there is this further
protection from oppression or abuse of any kind to even the humblest person in the cornm unity , —that without his having recourse to the law he can make his grievance known to Parliament and to the publica protection which almost always prevents , any cause of coaipla ' mt . Contrast tho security from injury thus enjoyed by our fellow citizens with the exposure to oppression and injury of various kinds of which the inhabitants of other countries complain , — countries where there is no Parliament , no public meetings , no press , or , what is worse than none , —a fettered , partial , corrupt press ; and you will readily believe that the people of those countries would be glad to exchange their fine climate , ht taxation if
fertile territory , and slig they might , with our darker sky , reluctant soil , and heavy burthens , have a Parliament and a public which should make the sacrifice o £ their iives and fortunes to the caprice of a ruler and the malversation and oppression of his Servants an absolute impossibility . This , then , ' is that mighty system of government which bestows such unspeakable blessing upon our country , and has truly been callecl t . hc envy of the world . His lordship then spoke of the manner in which the blessings pf the constitution were nullified by the crimes of bribery and perjury and other forms of electoral corruption . These are greater crimes than the propagation of immorality , rtnd perjury throughout the
community ; but the relation of the principal and the , agent is the same ; and the former is equally guJUjy , though of a somewhat lesser offence . £ say a somewhat lesser offence ; for I never shall forget the exclamation of an honest and experienced judge , the late Mr . Justice Williams , in conversation with Lprft Doornail and myself , that he felt a horror at seeing perjury committed before his eyes , only to be surpassed by the sight of murder . On our expressing a doubt whether he did not rate too high a degree of guilt , unhappily too often incurred , "No , " Baid lie * " and that only increases my horror of it , Tiu , fc , were it confined to a single instance , what shall wo say of his crime who deliberately calls
upon tjio Almighty Judge of all the world to witness and to punish his falsehood ? " What would this honest and learned judge liave ielt , on seeing scpres pf mon who had already voted , driven up by the zeal of an unscrupulous election agent , and again tendering their votes with the solemn oath that they had not polled before ? and all for . the purpose of gaining time that expected voters might arrive before the close , the books of tho poll-clerks making it certain tha <; their second votes could not be received ; or what wdnJid have been his feelings had he eeon the inhabitants of a , tqwn filled with Jus old oljente , generally and habitually selling their votes for a price , and with their minds made up , after having received it , to swear upon tho Gospels of God that they had got no it her reward nor pro * mlso of reward from any Demon whatever .
The various tricts resorted to on these occasions clearly indicate the extreme anxiety to obtain that which is equivalent to political power . There seems no bound to this desire , no labour which men will not undergo * no suffering they will not endure , to grasp it . The loss of the seat is all the penalty that we denounce to deter the great malefactors . While the African slave trade was only punished by the forfeiture of the ship , it mocked the law , because the profits of a successful voyage covered the loss of many failures . But when I made slavetrading felony , the pirate who had cheerfully run all pecuniary hazards would not expose himself to be transported as a felon , and the execrable traffic ceased . So it is clear that candidates ^ and their
agents , whom no dread of . defeat or expense can restrain , will shrink from the hazard of an infamous punishment , when they see the trcadwheel as well as the House of Commons at the end of the path which leads from the hustings . Unlftppily , the offence of bribery is treated too lightly , both by parties , and by the public . It seems to be taken for granted that all men would bribe if they could ; the only shame is being found out , and that sits very lightly . In a late newspaper discussion of the subject the comparison between drunkenness and bribery in this respect was very ingeniously and very soundly instituted . There is something ludicrous
in both ; and as . crowds flock to see an actor play the drunken man , so do they flock to an election committee to hear of a kitten sold for 50 / ., and a 20 / . bank-note found in the teapot of a voter ' s wife . But serious—truly serious—nay tragical are the consequences of the one fault and of the other . They who laugh at the mimic exposure of intemperance would be shocked to witness the real midnight orgies of the gin palace , and would perhaps shed tears over the wretched home , forlorn wives , and starving children of its frequenters ; anl they who have made themselves merry at the committee with the gibes of counsel or tire tales of witnesses may shudder to
reflect on the consequences of electoral corruption , itself a great offence , and leading to dishonest courses that end in still greater delinquency . It seems , indeed , but too probable that the prevalence of corruption will be used as a reason against granting elective rights , with the duty attached , to those who are not at present allowed to possess it . The adversaries of this extension dwell much upon the ignorance of the great body of the people , and not merely their imperfect ertueaHon , but their having no habits of reflection and deliberation . It is true they would
be unfit to be entrusted with a upon measures upon policy , foreign or domestic ; but upou the question who shall be deputed to represent them in Parliament they might be trusted . There are , however , other things beside their ignorance to be taken into the account ; and a grave doubt arises whether men deserve the franchise who value it so little that they will not deprive themselves of any indulgence in order to acquire it . While some reasoners contend that the people are disqualified for the exercise of the franchise , in other words , for the possession of political power , by want of information , and some woull withhold it because of their evil habits , there has been at all times , but never so much as of late years ,
a disposition in a large and important body to assume power by acts , sometimes of doubtful legality , and always leading by their almost unavoidable consequences to a breach , of the law . I allude to combinations for raising wages , accompanied with a resolution not to work either for more than a certain time or for less than a certain remuneration . If the proceeding is connected with any plan of preventing others from wprking , either by actual violence or by threat , it is manifestly au offence , and severely punishable ; but , without any violence or menaces , the raising a fund to keep one class idle by supporting them when they refuse to work , except on the terms prescribed by the body , terms to which their employers .
cannot or will hot yield , and the waylaying another class coming from the country , offering to pay the journey back if thoy join in the refusal , approaches very near qii unlawful conspiracy ; or , if it be not absolutely illegal , is in tho highest degree oppressive tp the employers , becauso it deprives them of the ordinagto advantages of competition , placing the whole relations of labour in u false and unnatural position . The . fallacy is enormous by which the abpurers , complaining of machinery as throwing hands out of work , hold that they ought to share directly with the employer in the gains which the
machinery enables him to make . Tney do Miare in those gains , but not directly . The capital saved must always bo employed in paying for labour ; and the machinery time saves labour In one lino to the capitalist enables him to employ more labour in other lines ; tho great' probability being that ho will employ it in two lino to which ho and his workmen are accustomed . The combination of masters je the inevitable consequence . of the combination of men > and ,. as thoy have capital to draw upon , which is a far more certain and secure resource of supply than the contributions of the men , such a conflict
must always end in a great loss to both parties , but dreadful to the poor men whose families suffer severely in the meantime , and who , after they have been defeated , are sure to find a great diminution of employment from the injury inflicted upon the masters - . On Tuesday morning Sir W . Pace Wood delivered the opening address on the section devoted to jurisprudence and the amendment of the law . After a high compliment to Lord Brougham , Lord John Russell , and Mr . Napier , his predecessors in that department , he proceeded to direct attention to some parts of our law which required remedy , and which the members of the Association could assist the
department to carrying into effect . He denied that the members of the legal jfrofession were unwilling to lend themselves to the reform of the law , as , he contended , that it would be found from the earliest times that the judges of the land had been before the community itself in their efforts to remedy the defects of our jurisprudence . Sir W . P . Wood referred to improvements that had taken place , and to those which were required in our courts of law , congratulating the Association on the progress which had taken place , and especially in the Court of Chancery , of bite years . He also noticed some of the improvements which had been effected ^ in pur common law courts , the immense facilities given for
the production of papers and documents , and still more important , the reformation in the examination of witnesses , all of which had been productive of great advantage to the public . There was another topio 0 ; i which they were all interested—the law affecting bankruptcy and insolvency . That question has already occupied the attention of the Association , and-a committee which had been , formed had framed a bill which met the assent of the leading commercial bodies in all the large towns in the country , arid he urged them to press it on the attention Of the
legislature as soon as it was called together . He then spake of the importance of establishing a department of justice , recommending the appointment of a board similar to those of trade and education , of which tlie Lord Chancellor should be the head , and a vice-president or minister of justice in ' the House of Commons . The hon . gentleman , in conclusion , enforced the necessity of having a higher standard of legal education * insisting on the importance ot examinations being instituted preparatory to a " call " to the bar . ¦
A papur was afterwards re . itl by Mr . Daniel , Q . C . "Ou the effect of recent Reforms in the Court of Chancery . " _ . In the department of Education , Mr . Horace Mann , Sir Stafford Northcote , and Mr . Edwin Chadwick assisted . . ' In that of Punishment and Reformation , papers were read by : — Mr . J . T . Dawson , on " The Criminal Statistics of Liverpool . " Mr . John Taylor , " On Drunkenness , as an Indirect Cause of Crime , " which comprised a variety of important statistics with reference to the number of public houses in England , their proportion to the population , the amount of money
annually spent in intoxicating liquors , & c . The paper was illustrated by a map of the metropolis . Mr . James Cropper , " The Licensing System . " A paper on Intemperance * regarded in its Chief Causes , its Relation to Crime , and its Romedy , " was read by Mr . Thomas Baker , in the absence of Dr , Lees , the author . In the evening a conversazione was held in St ^ George ' s Hall , which was numerously attended , a large proportion of the associates present being ladies . In the course of the evening a meeting was held in tlie Council-room , at which Miss Carpenter explained the difficulty of carrying out the provisions of the act of parliament in reference to reformatory schools . A conversation fplr
lowed , In tho course of which Mr . Adshea-1 , of Manchester , confirmed the statementof Miss Carpenter . Mr . J . H . Jeffreys read a ldng and elaborate report on tax « tion , direct and indirect , adopted by the Liverpool Financial Association . The arguments in favour of direct taxation were laiddown at grejit length , and the objections usually urged 1 against ia > severally answered . At the conclusion of the paper , Mr Jeffreys intimated his intention , when the other papers -were read , of moving a resolution to the effect tliut the principles enunciated m the paper he had ' read were sound , and should be adopted by the the
Chancellor of tho Exchequer as speedily as legislature might find it possible . On Wednesday morning Mr . Addorley , M . lr ., president of tho second department , delivered an essay on education in Si , Georgo ' s-liniL . The hon . gentleman said ; - — " My subject is tho basis otullsocial service . Mr . Cobdon said rightly the other day , the basis of oil free citizenship ought to bo education . No men , be thoy householders or not , are flC to exorcise oven a voice in citizenship , without adequate education . There is a still more comprehensive , view of education , prior to all other , common to all . The whole of this life is education for future permanent : life . Under cover of this overriding scheme vre lmro
No;- 40k N™ Is- 1853.1 1 Tj^E Leader. U4...
No ; - 40 k n ™ IS- 1853 . 1 1 Tj ^ E LEADER . U 45
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 15, 1859, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_15101859/page/5/
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