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1058 THE LEADEK. * [ISTo. 495. Sept. 17,...
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that we were wiser than our fathers. We ...
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PAUPERISM.—THE TIMES BLUNDERING. The pre...
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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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The Great Eastern Explosion. Size Has Al...
to be replaced by a cold supply , to follow the same round as before . A " donkey engine " was commissioned to do t ] bis work , but being out of order it was left undone , and the safety of the ship and passengers were then entirely dependent upon the over-heated fluid finding escape through a safety pipe unfortunately provided with a tap which , was turned the wrong way . The "jacket , " or boiler , with its contents passed the boiling point of water , and the steam having no outlet rent it asunder with the force of gunpowder , tearing a large funnel of many tons weight from its stronglyrivetted base and hurling it up through the decks high into the air . At the same moment tons Of scalding water and steam enveloped the ill-fated
stokers , the finery of the saloon was splintered to shivers , berths were blown down like houses built with cards , solid staircases , huge ^ eams , and strong floors were shattered and uptorn , while , marvellous to relate , the enormous explosion did no substantial damage to the ship , whose engines worked and whose course was maintained in spite of a catastrophe that would have reduced an ordinary vessel to a mass of fragments , floating or sinking as their specific gravity might direct . The captain , the pilot , and the crew behaved with admirable skill and courage , and stuck manfully to their duty , although , for aught they knew , the next moment might snatch their lives away .
We have no wish to repeat the description of the scene of horror and devastation , the ghastly wounds and fearfully-mangled forms of the victims of the disaster that will be found in other columns ; nor would we anticipate the verdict of the Coroner ' s jury , or the decision to which a Government inquiry may arrive , but we would impress upon all parties one things viz ., that-the public will not be satisfied with evasion , concealment , or mystification . Hundreds of lives were perilled , and many unfortunately sacrificed , by arrangements that ought not to have existed , and by negligence that ought to be rigidly traced home . The accident itself was sufficient for a
time to shake confidence in the concern , but we regret that the behaviour of the directors should have been a worse injury to their enterprise . Let any one read the accurate and faithful accounts of the newspaper correspondents , who were eye-witnesses of the scene , and compare it with the official statement that the directors permitted to be put forth , and they will see that officials wanting in frankness are more dangerous than even jackets that blow up . It was not a fair and honest account of the matter to call it a " collapse" of afeed water-casing . Something may have collapsed , bub the main accident was nothing like a " collapse : " it was a
prodigious volcanic explosion of a huge mass of water wrongfully heated in a tight vessel beyond its boiling point . The greatest '' collapse" was that of the conscience of the engineers and directors , when they permitted such a statement to be put forth . Nor does it appear true that the injury was . confined , as stated , to the " main cabin fittings , " although we hope the first impression will be found correct , and that no substantial damage has been done to the ship . We trust the Great Eastern will soon get over , both her accident and her directors , but before imperilling any more lives a thorough and searching investigation should
be made by some neutral authorities , and all experiments necessary tp ascertain her safety should be conoluded before either visitors or passengers are permitted to go on board for another voyage . We feel that much more' ought to be said on this subject , but it is better to , leave it until the inquest is over , which did . not begin as though , the publio were intended to be much wiser than they were before . Mv * Scott Russell may throw upon . ; Mr . Brunei the burden of having ordered the arrangement that has produced such a fatal result , but it does not follow that Mr . Brunei desired to have a tap placed
where it could do no good , or that ho desired it to be closed when the safety of the . vessel required free vent , nor that ho considered it right that any port ; whose working was essential should be hidden outofisight , or that engineers should take it for granted that safety-valves or tubes do not want oa ; amjuung . We have no means of localising the blamo , and if we had , should , wait the result of thoilegal inquiry ; but enough haa . transpired to leave no doubt that the directors published , one pieoo . of truth , when they ascribed the disaster to *\ fome . neglect , " that should-be brought home Without compunction to oU the parties directly or wadircctly compromised in the guilt .
1058 The Leadek. * [Isto. 495. Sept. 17,...
1058 THE LEADEK . * [ ISTo . 495 . Sept . 17 , 1859 .
That We Were Wiser Than Our Fathers. We ...
that we were wiser than our fathers . We know better now . We have thrown aside all youthful sentimentalities , all mawkish twaddle about philanthropy and moral progress . We are converts to the old faith of flogging . Our altar is the whip-E ing-block ; our god is the cat-o' -nine-tails . ( ike all proselytes , we burn with an ardour exceeding that of the old believers . Let us , then , vent our feelings by narrating the glories of our faith .
THE PHILOSOPHY OF FLOGGING . We have learnt the folly of our ways . We see our errors , and are returning to the true path of wisdom . Years ago , when , our blood was hot and young , we fondly fancied that there was such a thing as progress . We believed , as in a new creed , that humanity was more powerful than cruelty ; that moral influences had prevailed over physical punishments ; that brute force had yielded to the power of reason . We fancied , in our folly ,
Our belief is of ancient date and high origin . "An eye for an eye , and a tooth for a tooth , " is the simplest and oldest exposition of our creed . Solomon , too , has given us the sanction of his wisdom . It is true , there is a later and a far better creed , which teaches of love and mercy . This creed we ourselves have adopted with a slight modification . We have become Christians and omitted Christianity . In the Pagan world , too , we have great authorities ^ Draco , with his laws of blood , numbers amongst our prophets . Sparta , with its wholesome discipline , realises our idea of Utopia . What need is there , however , to revert to the past , when each of us can speak
from his own experience ? Few , and base indeed , must be the persons who in their early life haye not felt the salutary influence of the rod . What tender feelings of respectful gratitude we still entertain towards the pedagogue who loved us -while he corrected us . _ How we sympathise with the pain , which , as he used to tell us , the infliction of our punishment imposed upon himself . To that chastisement we doubtless attribute whatever we possess of selfrespect , and manly dignity , and love of honour . At the very time we appreciated the moral benefit which was being conferred upon us . We loved the hand that smote us , and revelled in moral felicity , while we wriggled in corporeal
agony . - As memory recalls these pleasing recollections , these '' souvenirs , " sweet forget-me-nots of our early initiation into the mysteries of our faith , we feel our hearts glow with fervent indignation against those narrow-minded sceptics who cry out against the restoration of the lash to its proper place , as the great moral teacher of the British army . The accounts of the punishment recently inflicted at Woolwich must fill every well-regurlated mind with respect and admiration . We have no sympathy with those lukewarm admirers of the lash , who attempt to explain away the severity of the punishment . It is that very severity which constitutes its merit . What sight
can be conceived more edifying to spectators and actors alike than a Woolwich' flogging ? Here you behold vindicated the majesty of law . The culprit has offended against his duty to his country , his lovalty to his queen , and his obedience to the principles of eternal justice . Every stripe that he receives is an act of retribution . The disturbed equilibrium of morality is restored , and that innate sense of justice which is implanted in eveiy human heart is amply gratified . The fact that the-soldiers who witnessed the spectacle fainted with emotion , proves how deeply rooted this principle of justice is . Honour the native purity of the human heart I As for the sufferer himself , it is nothing to say that he recognised the justiee of the sentence .
How grateful he must have felt to the kind instructors who took such trouble for his moral benefit . The old inquisitors used to tell their victims that they tortured their bodies to save their souls . In the same way the happy soldier , fastened with cords to the ladder , scourged with the lash , and writhing in helpless torture , must have felt that his bodily sufferings were . working out' his moral improvement . With what' consolation he will reflect on this on bis bed of pain ! With what pride , in time to come , he will point to the soars upon his back ! How he will tell his children , and his children ' s children , that it was to the kindness which did not spare the lash that he owes that proud position and that honoured
name which he is certain to bequeath to them as their future heritage ! Henceforth the stri pes upon the back should rank higher than-the stripes upon the arm . Base utilitarians suggest that a foolish fear oi flogging deters the better class of labouring men from entering the army ; that as long , in fact , as flogging is maintained , no increase of pay -will ever enable us to recruit the army except from the scum of the population . They assert that it is to this fact , and this fact alone , that the
low estimation in which the English army 13 held in our country is to be attributed . Be it so . It is only the more reason why this idle prejudice against flogging should be dissipated . In fact , when it is discovered , 'as it will doubtless be by experience , that men who have once been flogged are reformed at once , all classes will hasten to enlist in the army in order to enjoy the benefits of this gteat moral teaching .
Pauperism.—The Times Blundering. The Pre...
PAUPERISM . —THE TIMES BLUNDERING . The press is the national pilot . It sits , or ought to sit , calmly aloft , above party politicians—ever sacrificing principle to place , to tell us henv to steer . That it see clearly ¦ and speak plainly is essential to good national guidance . It is more influential and better worth criticism than the Ministry . If it misdirect us we are sure to run into disasters . On . this account we warn the public against a blunder of the Times concerning a part of the national expenditure , the chief cause , so far as Government is concerned , of the nation
reaching its destined haven , or drifting on the rocks . Lately this pilot told us to learn from Ireland that "England has a large excess of expense to account for , as to the poor , which is not explained by the mere excess of English population over Irish . " The facts being , as the -Times states , that " in-door and out-door relief in England and Wales amounts to nearly £ 2 , 000 , 000 a year , " while in Ireland tlie total sum expended on the poor in 1858 was £ 457 , 635 . We , however , must inform the Times and the public that the in-door and outdoor maintenance of the poor in England and Wales was £ 4 , 185 , 077 in 1858 , and , though this sum is £ 2 , 185 , 077 more than the Times put down by guess , yet are the poor of England managed cheaper than the poor of Ireland ; and Eng land would soon be . wrecked were she placed exclusively under this kind of pilotage .
We must further inform the Times and the public that the number of paupers was , in England and Wales , in 1858 , 862 , 078 , and in Ireland , 44 , 866 . The total sum expended in the same year on the relief of the poor in the former , including the establishment charges , was £ 5 , 878 , 541 ; in the latter it was £ 457 , 635 . Each pauper in England , therefore , cost £ 6 16 s . 4 d . per annum ; in Ireland each one cost £ 10 3 s . 10 d . Of the expenditure nearly 11 per . cent , went for salaries of oilicors , & c ., in England , and nearly 21 per cent , in Ireland . H we were to follow the course pointed out by the
Times we should increase the expenses of management 10 per cent ., and our paupers would cost per head £ 3 7 s . 6 d . more than at present . At the same time the superior manner in which they are now taken care of , in comparison to the Irish poor , is , according to our contemporary , " something to boast , of . " The greater number of paupers in Eng land than in Ireland , in proportion to the population—1 in 23 in the former and only 1 in about
180 in the latter—is the difference which requires explanation . In England , as our readers arc aware , a provision for the poor dates from tne reign of Elizabeth ; and if it have been accompanied by a . large amount of pauperism , it has also been accompanied by security to property , ana internal peace , almost unexampled amongst European nations , For a considerable poriod , wnen the population was much fewer than nt presen t , the paupers were upwards of 1 , 000 , 000 , being at one time 1 in every 13 of the population . J . /» ey
are now happily reduced to 862 , 078 , and are uuw " hishing year by year . In Ireland there waa no Jogw provision for the poor till 1889 , and the population , So . the lowest state of destitution , flocked into England , and . but for'the Poor Law wOultt nave degraded the multitude here < to their own level . They were periodically exposed to famine , xn 1846 a heavier visitation than for some years teu on them ,, and multitudes were fed by J ^ nglana . The Irish Poor Law was insignifioant for this pur-
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 17, 1859, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_17091859/page/14/
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