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076 THE L1A1>EB, [No. 443, September 18,...
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^ o^cfl^p^UM^^ ,, IBLflgtiSS. with regre...
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^ ^ ^ . • I fcWWe Ul CBtliaimWL. V
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FREE TRADE IN FftANCE. Oub. title expres...
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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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Notes On Indian Progress. The Contest Is...
Cochin in the Madras Presidency , to the great benefit of AtNowshera , in the Daman division of the Punjab , on the right bank of the Indus , about fifty-eight miles Xf . 'W . of Mpolfcan , a new- station . has been built . It is unfortunately built in a hollow , and dust-storms are very frequent , so that during the hot months Nowshera is as hot and uncomfortable as any station in the plains of Bengal . The barracks are pucka built , and there are many good bungalows in the station , particularly those on tie bank of the Abool river .
At Nynee Tal the temporary barracks for English troops are enlarged , and it is expected a considerable force will be placed . there . At the last advices there were one hundred and ten convalescents among the invalids . Of these sixty had come up as bad cases , but the number of bad . cases had been reduced by the beneficial effects of the climate to twenty-four . : At Mussoorie , in the beginning of August , the rain was setting in very heavily . The Jumna canals are the only works of irrigation in the North-West Provinces which have suffered any large falling off in revenue during the troubles , and hone of the works have suffered .
The bone and bone-dust trade in India has been very much neglected on account of the prejudices of caste , and thus much valuable manure remains unemployed in Indian agriculture , and a considerable article of export trade has been lost . Were the bones of Madras , Bombay , or other presidencies employed , they would be very valuable for many articles of culture . The prejudice about bones has been so strongly felt that a sugar factory in Madras was hampered in its operations because it worked at one time with animal charcoal or burnt bones , and all the workmen were afraid of losing caste . Thus what has been found a most useful process in Europe was abolished .
In Scinde some enterprising merchant has succeeded in creating a bone trade , and it is amusing to find not only that it is successful ,, bai , iliat a regular bone gathering mania has . started into existence at Kurrachee . One shilUpg and sixpence per maurid is- the price paid for . the feSnelby the dealers in Jiurrachee . So attractive has this proved to the pious : natives ^ that high-caste Mahommedans and Hindoos go out daily for miles into the country to collect the bones of dead horses , bullocks * , camels , & c . This is a new resource given to India . It is well known how considerable is the trade in bones from the River Plate .
At Kurrachee they have received . the plan of a sheep farm , for supplying the shipping of the port with good meat , and this will be found very acceptable to the large body of mechanics taken out by the Oriental Inland Steam Navigation Company . The undertaking was brought forward before , but fell down for want of support ; now the European community and the slapping in harbour have greatly increased . It is proposed likewise to supply salted provisions for shipping . From Oude we learn that the rebels are taking full
advantage of the large jungle forests and patches , of which Mr . L . E . Kees has given a rather long list . These jungles are kept up either as private hunting grounds , or as shelter for the predatory chiefs , for there is hardly one of them but has one fort or more ensconced in it . In fact , the jungles constitute one of the difficulties of the war in Oude . The mutineers from Bareilly took shelter in the Bhansi jungle . Ram Buksh in May ensconced himself at Dounda Keira , where General Hope Grant found him in a strong mud fort in the midst of jungle C 81 .
Another Bengali , named Baboo Rajendrochunder Chunder , has been received as an assistant surgeon in the Bengal service . Colonel Baird Smith is talked of as Master of the Mint at Calcutta .
076 The L1a1>Eb, [No. 443, September 18,...
076 THE L 1 A 1 > EB , [ No . 443 , September 18 , 1858 .
^ O^Cfl^P^Um^^ ,, Iblflgtiss. With Regre...
^ o ^ cfl ^ p ^ UM ^^ ,, IBLflgtiSS . with regret tho secession from theiie board of Mr 7 Christopher Rawson , the cause of which—the failure of the howBe with which he , was connected—they greatly regretted . The financial position of the company , he thought , was satisfactory . Oat of the small amount of 11 , 000 J . which had been raisedthey had still more than 7000 / . In hand , after paying for the survey and defraying the expenses connected with obtaining tho net of parliament , He trusted that the council would see tho pjpljtoy of thla work being proceeded with at tho earliest possible period . The report was adopted .
jfoJmfr Odds Badlwat , —A general meeting was held on Thursday . The chairman , Sir W . Stephenson , said he had little doubt the railway would be constructed for 6000 / .-a mile , and with the rolling stock completed fpr 80007 . a mile . The original intention was to have a line , connecting Lucknow with Cawripore . He need scarcely point oat to them what the effect would have been if this line had been made two years ago . Negotiations bad been going on with the Government till recently . They had not been brought to a close , as Government wished that they should be delayed till the country was more tranquil , implying that the company might look with confidence to obtaining the guarantee . Another point which he referred to was the amalgamation with the Central Oude Company . An amalgamation had been entered into ; bat he need not enter into the details now , inasmuch as another meeting would be
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Free Trade In Fftance. Oub. Title Expres...
FREE TRADE IN FftANCE . Oub . title expresses what ought to be , not what is or what we may reasonably hope will , in a short time , be . Though public writers in France preceded public writers in England in demonstrating the true principles of trade , in carrying them into effect France has remained very much behind England . We adopted her theories and reduced them to practice , while she forgot them in a wild chase after republicanism and military conquest . No person acquainted with the subject can doubt that Dupont de Nemours and Mercier de la Riviere understood
and explained before the time of Adam Smith , and better than Smith , the true principles of free trade . Nor can any student of political economy doubt that the greatest modern teacher of the science in France * M . JBastiat , preaches free trade in a much superior manner to Malthus , Ricardo , M'Culloch , or even Mr . J . S . Mill . But the mere teaching of the French authors , illustrating the inefficiency of writing to promote improvement , which glares on us in every walk of life , particularly in morality and religion , had little or no effect , and now has little or no effect , on the opinions of the people . These are in a great
measure inherited and transmitted from generation to generation ; they are continually modified by facts , But are very little' influenced by abstract theories . What effect can a few soft speeches have over the stormy passions or the harsh nature of millions ? The French fouud the destruction of chateaux , the overthrow of an oppressive aristocracy , the improved division of the soil , and the glory of foreign spoliation , more attractive than the calm teaching of a few philosophers . Accordingly , the Economistes were entirely lost sight of by the French through the long period of the Revolution and tlie first Empire , and their voice in the midst
of all the subsequent changes has been little noticed . Taught by these facts , we cannot reasonably hope that France will in a short " timej even by the helpof our example , practically adopt the freortrade which we have slowly and gradually , step by step , worked only partially out in half a century . Free trade is another name for allowing every individual to engage in any honest enterprise he likes , and in any manner he likes , uuinterfered with , and those who expect that it should speedily become law in France must have formed a very inadequate conception of the people and Government of that
country . The two theories of imperial centralisation and individual freedom are so opposed to each other in principle , that we cannot conceive them to coexist . The Government of France meddles with all things , from blacking shoes to marrying wives , or building bridges . No man _ can engage in any enterprise without its permission , no new trade can be started till the Prefect has been consulted , and the good opinion of the minister taken ; and it may be years before the project is sanctioned . For trade to be free and to prosper in France , the opinion of the people and the nawhich
ture of the Government must be changed , can only be done by time . We have no doubt that the thoughts and habits of the French will be changed , but they cannot be changed by any human power , nor is it possible that they should change suddenly , in the wished-for direction . Amongst their many revolutions ; no one has ever been based on a regard to individual freedom . The Republic was merely a different organisation of force , ana led to more new regulations and restrictions than the Monarchy ; the first and the last revolutions alike strengthened the conviction that society could bo and must be coercively organised , and increased the number of persons who took part
in the organisation . They gave full scope to the meddling spirit which multiplied regulations . The present tariff—the high duties on iron , coals , cotton , ' & o . & c . ~ is nothing exceptional ; it is only a , pact—hut-a-pari-wJuohpeculiarl y affects foreigners —of a system commonto tlio 61 a monarcny ; tlle ^ nrsr republic , the empire , the restored monarchy , and the late republic . However much it is opposed to facts and reason , such an old system cannot be speediLy abolished . The interests of the vtoegrowers may make them favourable to free trade , the interest of the consumers requires it j the interest ; of the manufacturers themselves would be promoted by it , as the interest of our agriculturists has boon promoted by the abolition of the corn-laws ,
but one and all these people are favourable to regulations for trade . None of them can conceive the possibility of trade being carriedon ; anymore than agriculture , without the care of the State , and all wilF be opposed to the principles of free trade generally though asking freedom for themselves . We may help in a small degree to shame them out of their foolishness by remarking that their apprehension of foreign competition is opposed to the vain confidence m themselves which is proper to them . Our machinery , our coals , our wool , are all at the service of France . They are freely
exported , and can be procured by the French at the same cost as we procure them . There are parts of manufacturing France not more remote from the sources of supply than parts of manufacturing England or Ireland . The cotton of America , the silk of China , the wool of Australia , and the timber of the North of Europe are equally accessible to both nations . French artisans are naturally equal to our own ; they are renowned , in fact , for their ingenuity and their skill ; many of them come hither and find employment . Than the skilled artisans of Paris there are no cleverer workmen in the world . For them the Government does all that a Government can
do except leave them at liberty . It provides them with models , schools , instruction , and museums . For the French to fear competition is to acknowledge inferiority utterly at variance with their lofty pretensions . They may be shamed out of their errors or convinced of them by facts , they will never be scolded into improvement . In treating this subject the Daily News is , in our estimation , wiser than the Times . Our prosperity may enlighten them , and they may , from our example , become favourable to free trade ; but this Carries with it a Complete alteration in their habits of thought and the principles of their Government . To this French statesmen will be so much opposed ^ that till the nation generally be enlightened we shall not see free trade in France . -
We are sure it is for the interest both of the people and of the Emperor . It is necessary for their prosperity , and unless they be prosperous his throne and dynasty are not safe . At present arguments are not required to show that without trade , internal and exie . rtuil , one b £ iog- only an extension or continuance of the other , no nation can be prosperous . Trade , then , is a matter of necessity , and in France , where people arc leaving the country fop the towns , of urgent necessity . One man cannot uo tlie business of another , each must do his own . Government cannot carry on trade . It must then
leave this to individuals , and must , in the end , whatever presumptuous ignorance may fancy of regulations being superior to private interest , leave them to carry it on entirely by their own judgment and in their own manner . All that Government can really do in its favour is to remove the obstacles it lays in the path of trade ; and to force the Government of China to remove some of its obstacles the Empero r of the French has joined us in an expedition against that country . Much as Ins people may be against free trade with us and with one another , they as well as we are extremely desirous to force the Chinese into freer
communication with Europe . , .. The French / too , are desirous to get more cotton , more silk , more wool , and to make and sell more textile fabrics . With other countries they contract treaties to promote trade . AH the tendencies of the Government have latterly been in this direction , llio duties on iron , on coal , on cottons , have all been reduced , or protective , duties substituted for total prohibitions , and further reductions in duties arc only postponed till 1861 . The iron-masters indeed point to the fact that iron from Scotland and Wives Is sold at a lower price in Paris and Lyons , notwi nstanding the duties , than iron from Franchc-Comte , and demand that the duties should bo increased . But the French are great consumers of iron ; tnoy manufacture many machines and many articles w this motal , and have , on the whole , as strong »> interest in procuring iron cheap as evor we naa » procuring cheap food . In fact , ono is » f 'ndispci - sablo as tlie other ; and we must suppose the A < leiion
iro % e-bereft-oFoommon , Bonso . ftndai >« ,,, RR ^ , . V ^' sorvation to believe that they will for ever maiiPJ their present high protective duties on iron . J ^ eiJ now foreign market opened to them and to «« j compels them , to compote with us there on equw tormsT In third markets they oan have no wywitngj and can only hope to compete successfully with . ouw nations for their due share of the general trade w the world by produoing every artiolo at thei ww «> practicable cost . This is only to be accomp lish
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 18, 1858, page 24, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_18091858/page/24/
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