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372 ^HE LEADE R, fNo. 317, Satu *»*v
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STEAM COMMUNICATION WITH AUSTRALIA. Colo...
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Transcript
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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 Gity Fueros* The Bill For The Recons...
i j ^ bj ^ ctions stronger attach , to the abolition of tshe City companies . They are much more than a machine ibr pageantry ; and at the present day they might be put to uses \ ynich they have imperfectly performed in times past , and which they might in modern times have performed with increased utility . They embody the trades of the Metropolis , each trade incorporated by itself . If it has happened that an abuse of the privilege of introducing honorary members , or a neglect of fidelity to particular trades , has occasioned a species of cross
practice , — confounding , for example , Loud Brougham with the Fishmongers , —it would be better to correct the abuse than entirely to abolish the organisation . We have already pointed out how the whole Common Hall , that is , all the trades together , constitute a representation of the Metropolis . In some companies the Livery can be obtained for £ 5 . This confers a vote , not only Municipal but
Parliamentary ; and it Is evidently a franchise much more accessible' than the occupation of a £ 10 or even a £ 5 house . It is open to the industrious workman , and is a very near approach to a general suffrage . If this kind of constitution were developed rather than abolished , it might be made to represent the community in their industrial capacity ; and it is a constituency foi electing the representatives of the country ¦ which possesses a peculiar value .
There is another office that the several companies could perform , and have performed in times past . It is the exercise of a control over the trade , calling , or mystery ; By the laws of the companies , or some of them , if any trader conducts his trade in an unworkmanlike manner , the officers of the company can enter his J > lace of business and destroy those commodities that would bring discredit upon the trade , and injury upon the comniunity . This is an existing machinery by which a check could be placed upon a modern abuse . There is no business in which adulteration is more common
than in grocery ; and here particularly the power is most distinctly defined by an Act of Parliament , passed some centuries back , and not ^ always unexereised . Men are beating their brains to find modes by which the central Government could exercise such control - but how could it be enforced with so much knowledge , with so much independence for the trade , and so much benefit " for all parties , as by the elected representatives of the trade ? It , in fact , constitutes self-government for trade as well as for the community ; and no government could be so conducive to moral feeling .
Most companies have attached -to them certain charities , which in the case of the wealthy companies confer very considerable benefits . A freeman of the Goldsmiths' Company , for example , is entitled , after a certain period , should he need it , to an income of some 14 s . or 16 s . a-week . A Liveryman , under the same circumstances , is entitled , probably , to £ 100 ayear . These are large sums which could not be granted by every company ; but the principle applies to all ; and the grant could , of course , be apportioned to the sums paid for admission . In this view the admission to the
company is a species of insurance , which , in the first place , pledges the payer to observe the rules of his trade in an honest , workmanlike , ana regular fashion ; and , in the second place , contributes towards a fund that protects the payer against destitution in his old age . It is an example of concert amoaigsfc the members of a trade wh » 6 h might be extensively carried out in other quarters . If it were proposed to extend those
principles to all torn * of the country , we might find fittong arguments f 6 r that reform . Wo might atthosame tune aee many reasons for much debating such an extension before wo finally
adopted it . There is , however , no question of extension , but only one of abolition . We have the organisation in the City ; we are not in a position to exercise a judgment so final that we can say we have completely done with it ; on the contrary , we discern in it the elements of a machinery which ^ would be available for many purposes that are now more desirable than ever ; so that , instead of abolishing it at present , we had better keep it for a time longer , and see whether we cannot rather improve it and extend its utility . This should be the spirit of any measure for reforming London Corporation .
372 ^He Leade R, Fno. 317, Satu *»*V
372 ^ HE LEADE R , fNo . 317 , Satu *»* v
Steam Communication With Australia. Colo...
STEAM COMMUNICATION WITH AUSTRALIA . Colonies , like children , are oftentimes a vexatious blessing , especially when they begin to think and act for themselves . Their movements are too bold and rapid for the sedate and measured deportment of the old ' mother country , ever slow to perceive that her progeny have passed the period of tutelage . Hence arises domestic wrangling , which , gradually becoming more frequent and embittered , finally terminates in a settled feeling of distrust
and alienation , perhaps in positive estrangement . A dispute of this unfortunate character has for some time past been growing up between the British Government and Australia , on the subject of a regular steam postal communication . The necessity of such a service was first officially recognised in 1846 , but six years were allowed to escape before a definite arrangement could be effected—and even then it savoured of a tentative nature . Two monthly alternate routes were adopted- —the
one by the Cape of Good Hope , the other by way of Suez and Singapore . Owing to various causes , the former line excited much disappointment ; , although the voyage was completed , on an average , in about 68 days . The ofcher route occupied less time , but this advantage was compensated by the inconvenience of frequent stoppages and transhipments . But even these unsatisfactory arrangements were apparently deemed too good for the colonies . They were , at least , suddenly and unexpectedly suspended in November , 1854 , on the plea that the exigencies of the
late war rendered their continuance impossible . The exigencies of the war , however 3 were not permitted to interfere with the opium trade to China . Bi-monthly mails were still conveyed from Singapore to Hong Kong , though they could not be conveyed once a month to Melbourne- ^ -the two distances being nearly equal ; but the value of exports at that time to China being less than two millions , and to Australia upwards of fourteen millions sterling . For eighteen months , therefore , the communication with a colony producing annually ten to twelve milLions of gold , —at a time when the salvation of the mother
country in a great measure depended upon the rapid and regular despatch of that gold—was confined entirely to sailing vessels , sometimes I 0 o days on the homeward voyage , never less than 83 , and averaging above 93 . The outward voyage , indeed , was not quite so tedious , but even more irregular , for it varied from 68 to 108 days . Their patience at length exhausted by this apparently systematic neglect of their interests ,
the colonists made a last appeal to the justice of the Imperial Government , and backed their remonstrance with the offer of a munificent annual contribution towards the expenses of a steam postal service . For this aot of liberality and patriotism , Ministers propose to inflict upon them a further delay of at least twelve months from the present dato . In November , 1855 , a Treasury Miimto was addressed to the six colonies of Australia , requiring of thorn to
state the exact amount of subsidy each is willing to contribute , and also to agree among themselves as to the most eligible route to be adopted . No such requirement has ever been made to any other colony or dependency of the British Crown , with the exception of the East Indies , and the two cases are in no way analogous . But , according to the Duke of Argyll it is not intended to
awaifc the result of this reference . It is , then , an insult added to injury , a mere mockery , a pretence to gain time . Tenders have been invited for three routes * ¦ via the Cape , the Isthmus of Panama , and the lied Sea ; and in the meantime , not to prejudge the question , the Duke of Argyll adheres to the longest route , and the slowest means of communication .
Disgusted with such confirmed obstinacy or ignorance , the General Association for the Australian Colonies convened a public meeting at the London Tavern , on Monday last , under the auspices of the Lord Mayor . It has seldom happened that so large an assemblage has been obtained of influential and practical men . The merchants of the first commercial city in the world manifested by their presence on this occasion the importance they attached to a close and intimate communication with
the most valuable colony of the British empire . The principal speakers were Mr . WentwoRTn , the Earl of Hardwicke , Lord Stakley , and several gentlemen of colonial reputation . The object of tlae meeting having been clearly and fully stated by the late member for Sydney , and some sonorous platitudes having been duly delivered by the ex-Lord of the Admiralty , with the tone and unction of an openr air preacher , Lord Stanley , whose radicalism
is almost too good to be true , proceeded to lay in a stock of political capital , by a cogent and well-considered speech on colonial matters generally . His Lordship ventured to look forward to the time when the mother-country , over-weigh ted by " hereditary pauperism and hereditary d & bt" - —his Lordship omitted to add " hereditary legislation "—would be outstripped in the' race of nations by her vigorous and unburdened colonies . The real business of the
day Vvas then speedily transacted in a few desultory but practical speeches from gentlemen possessing the plebeian advantage of being acquainted with the subject they had met to discuss . It was unanimously resolved that her Majesty ' s Government be urgently pressed immediately to re-establish a steam , postal service with Australia by the most eligible route . And it was clear from the tone and manner of the speakers who represented the colonies , that any further toying with that momentous question would be attended with decisive
consequences . Having ears to hear , will " My Lords" of the Treasury fail to understand ? The Colonists act wisely in not insisting upon any particular line in the first instance . Actual experience and the gradual development of steam navigation will best pronounce upon the final elegibility of the different routes . It is possible that the selection may ultimately alight upon that by the Isthmus of Panama , as even now that voyage could be accomplished in 57 days , allowing four days for loss of time in the transhipment of goods , < fcc . At
present the most favoured line appears to Tbe round the Cape of Good Hope , although occupying ton days more than the preceding route , but avoiding the inconveniences and damage incidental to landing cargo , and again putting it on board another ship lying in another sen . There are likewise many advocates for tho Red Sea , but thoir unanimity extends no further than Aden . According- to tho original schomo of the Australian Association , a new course would be adopted , vifl Diego Garcia , tho chief of the Ohagos group .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 19, 1856, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_19041856/page/12/
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