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April 19, 1856.]- THE LEADER. 365
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THE PEACE. The Moniteur announces that t...
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THE CRIMEAN BOARD OF INQUIRY. loud iajoa...
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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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Public Meetings. Steam Communication Wit...
pointing out the great importance of the question , introduced Mr . Wentworth , a colonist in ITew South Wales , who said he had passed the greater part < if his life in Australia , and could conscientiously aver that one feeling of indignation and disgust pi'evails throughout the colonies at the want of proper steam communication with the mother country . He complained that when , after an interval of six years from fche first promise , steam communication was commenced in 1852 , the service was split up between two companies—the General Screw , and the Peninsular and Oriental ; that the service was inefficient , and the speed not equal to what was promised or what might have been performed ; that , on the breaking out of
the war , the ships were taken away , on the pretest that they were wanted for transporting the troops and material , though . to his ( Mr . Wentworth's ) own knowledge , one of them was immediately sent into the opium , trade with China , and he had heard of others being similarly employed ; that it was decided , about that time , to carry on the steam eonamunication with China twice a month , and to drop the Australian service altogether ; and that it is now proposed to make the colonies pay half the expense of the communication with the mother country—a system not carried out with any of the other dependencies , excepting the East Indies , and not fair , because the parent state benefits more than the colony .
He concluded by moving a resolution condemnatory of the present state of the postal communication with Australia .. The resolution having been seconded by Mr . Ravenshaw , it was put and carried unanimously . The next speaker was the Earl of Hardwicke , who urged upon the meeting the necessity of afc once pressing'the Government to abandon their intention of consulting the colonies before settling the question . The consumption of British , produce" by the colonies , and especially Australia , he stowed to be immensely larger than that of foreign countries .
With regard to route , he should recommend that the Mauritius be first taken , with the ultimate view of establishing some necessary facilities at Diego Garcia , and that the ships should pass King George ' s Sound to ' . Melbourne , and then deliver the mails , leaving the colonists themselves to distribute those mails . Lord Hardwicke concluded by moving that it is expedient that immediate steps be taken to establish a steam postal service suitable to the vast commerce and growing importance of Australia . Mr . Ker Seymer , M . P ., seconded the resolu tion ; which was adopted without any opposition .
Lord Stanley then addressed the meeting . He thought therahad been culpable carelessness on . the part of those in power in , a matter deeply affecting the interests of an important portion of the empire . Our exports to Cbina , with its 300 , 000 , 000 of population , are just one-sixteenth of those to Australia with its 700 , 000 people ; yet China had been favoured at the expense of our colonists in the south . He would only aBk whether , if preparations had . been commenced earlier , the whole of the routes would not have been supplied without interruption . He woxild not ask how many steamers were lying idle in tlie harbours of Balaklava and Constantinople when the suppression of this postal communication with Australia took
place . ( A laugh . ) At that time , the Duke of Newcastle—aud he wished to speak of him with all courtesy as a gentleman eminently fitted for private life { a lau-gh )—was in office ; and it was rather remarkable that at that time , when every order that emanated from that department of the public service went to th e wrong person or the wrong place , and when every act was either left undone , or , if done , was done six months after it was directed to be yut in force ( a , laugh ) , the one act that was well and effectually done was that of stopping tho Australian postal service . { Hear , hear . ) In a moment of emergency tho Government might require tho services of every steam-vessel on which they could lay
hands ; but the war , though it lasted but two years , might have lasted ten , and during its continuance no step was taken for replacing that which in a raomont of tornporary exigency they had taken away ( hear , hear );—a fact which could only be explained by a reference to that inveterate habit of politicians of tho old Bchool of giviug a disproportionate shave of attention to questions affeoting foreign courts or fjuestions of diplomacy , and overlooking the more important interests of the British colonies . { Hear , hear . ) Governments , moreover , had always been too much in tho habit of aoting towards colonists as though they won negotiating with a hostile noonlo .
instead of dealing with them as friends and fellow countrymen . Tho principle of aelf-go'vornmont is not much a fashion at tho present period of tho world but self-government had been tho wholesome characteristic of tho English race ; and th ey might depend upon it that every ISnglieh colonist who locates ininself in any of our distant dependencies , aud every aero of land that ho reclaims from the wilderness and waste , will bo a guarantee to Europo for tho recognition of that principle aud for tho ultimate triumph throughout tho whole of tho English dominions of free spoeoh , frou thought , and free aotion , { Loud ckeerg . ) —Tho noble Lord then moved ft resolution to
the effect that it appeared to that meeting that , provided the usual postal speed of ten knots , or nautical miles , an hour could be attained , the transit of letters between London and Melbourne might be easily effected in forty-four days . This resolution , with an addition , insisting on the necessity of adopting the shortest route , was passed with scarcely a dissentient voice ; and , after a few more observations from various speakers , the meeting broke up .
THE CITY ON" THE CORPORTION BEFORM BILL . A " Common Hall" was held on Tuesday for the purpose of considering the provisions of the Government measure for the reform of the Corporation . The Lord Mayor presided , and Mr . J . Lawrence—after a speech in which he denounced Sir George Grey as having exhibited in the bill the " moderation " of the border plunderer , the pickpocket , and the housebreaker , and accused him either of uttering deliberate falsehood , or of being deficient in common understanding—moved the following resolution : —" That
the bill lately introduced into the House of Commons purporting to be for the better regulation of the Corporation of the city of London , although professing to abolish such customs and privileges as injuriously affect trade , ignores the whole body of the lively , is destructive of its privileges , extinguishes its municipal existence , and is otherwise subversive of the ancient rights , properties , and liberties of the Corporation , and that . this Common Hall determines to give the most earnest opposition to the passing of such bill " ( Cheers . ' )
Mr . Finden seconded the resolution , which was opr posed by Mr . Bennoch , who , while acknowledging that " the history of the Corporation of London is the history of civilisation and of liberty all over the "world , " asserted that it had fallen into partial decay , and maintained that the Government bill only undertakes to effect that reform which the city had been vainly endeavouring to inaugurate for the last twenty years , " It does not , " said Mr . Bennett , * ' destroy a single privilege enjoyed by the livery , and actually extends privileges to others of the citizens . " He called attention to that " gigantic piece of extravagance , " the spending of , £ 120 , 000 for the administration of the
city affairs , with , a population of only 128 , 000 . His only objection to the measure was that it was too moderate ; and he therefore moved an amendment pledging the Common Hall to Bupport the bill . Mr . Bennoeh ' s remarks were received with great uproar , and the Lord Mayor was obliged to request for Mm a patient hearing . Mr . Alderman Sydney and Mr Clark spoke in favour of the original motion , contending that the bill possesses a dangerous centralising tendency . —The amendment was then negatived almost unanimously , only three hands being held up in it 3 favour . The first resolution , and others of a similar character , were afterwards adopted ; and a petition to Parliament against the bill waa agreed to .
April 19, 1856.]- The Leader. 365
April 19 , 1856 . ] - THE LEADER . 365
The Peace. The Moniteur Announces That T...
THE PEACE . The Moniteur announces that the Congress of Paris has terminated its labours . The closing sitting was held on Wednesday at the hotel of the Minister for Foreign Affairs . After the siguiug of the Treaty , the Plenipotentiaries had still to occupy themselves with different questions of a nature to consolidate and complete the work of peace . The ratifications will be exchanged at the end of the month . Immediately after the promulgation of the gene . Treaty , the protocols will be published , and will make known the labours of the Congress in their detail .
A telegraphic despatch from tho Vienna correspondent of the Timei Btatos : —" One of tho most important conditions in the Treaty of Peace is that tho forts on the Circassian coast of the Black Sea are not to bo rebuilt . In short , the status quo on tho coasts of the Black Sea is to bo maintained . Tliis is authentic . "
The Crimean Board Of Inquiry. Loud Iajoa...
THE CRIMEAN BOARD OF INQUIRY . loud iajoan ' s oasis . This Board reassembled on Saturday , and tho first witness examined wits Colonel Low , of tho 4 th Light Dragoons . Ho stated that it was perfectly possible that materials might have been got from ' Constantinople to ereot stablos within three or four weeks j aud that ho did not know what circumstances prevented this " being dono . Tho stabling for his regiment was not completed till tho end of February or the beginning of Maroh , at which time ho had only thirty-nine horses alive out of one hundred and thirty , ov one hundred aud fifty , in Novomber . In answer to a question from Colonel Tullooh , as to whether , provided that Bail-cloth could have boon obtained from Constantinople , it would have been an advantageous mod © of getting the horses undor shelter till more permanent stabling eould have been orootod , Colonel Low replied that , iu hia opinion , if euoh a thing had
taken place , it would have been a great advantage Lord Lucan , he added , frequently visited the camp of his regiment , looked afc the works which had been done , and made inquiries . The next witness , Major-General Beatson , was of opinion that it was impracticable to erect shelter for the horses in the autumn and early winter , because of the uncertainty as to their removal to a new position . He would not have placed his horses unde r canvas on the plateau , as the first gale of wind might have blown down the canvas and injured the annuals . — Colonel Griffiths , being recalled , said that , to the best of his recollection , the average number of men available by him for putting up shelter , during November
and January , was about seventy . The reason why he did mot dig a drain about his horses , as he had suggested on a previous day , -was that he was uncertain how long he was to occupy his then position . —Mr . Rawlinson , civil engineer , gave testimony at somelength with respect to the nature of the ground about Kadikoi , and remarked : — " I cannot say whether there was a want of promptitude and ingenuity iu the cavalry in providing temporary shelter for their horses , even if sail-cloth were obtainable , as I do not know what wer , e the exigencies of military men on service before the enemy ; but , speaking as a civilian , I feel certain that no railwaycontractor or person having to do with horses would , if placed on the same ground , have lost one-twentieth of the time in providing the necessary shelter . "
Having referred to the French and Sardinian armies , and being asked by Lord Lucan whether the Sardidian . army had any field duties to perf orm © n its " arrival , and at what season of the year it arrived , Mr . Rawlinson answered : — " I don ' t remember the date of arrival of the Sardinian troops . I saw them arrive , and I saw the ground they occupied two days after they had taken it up . As soon as they occupied the ground , they set men to work to mend the roads , with which we had never meddled , and also to make drains and to search for springs jyand within a week , as far as I could learn , the Sardinian army was comfortably settled—the officers in small bell tents , in the tents d'abri , or under temporary covering formed of the brittle timber of the district . The same kind of covering had been thrown over their horses . "
Mr . Bracebridge , who had been in connexion with the army in the East for ten months , said he thought that shelter formed of spars and sail-cloth might have been erected at Kadikoi and on the plateau . One hundred and five topsails are necessary to cover two thousand horses ; and he thought that double that number could have been procured at Constantinople . It would have taken a transport thirty hours to go from Balaklava to Constantinople , thirty hours to load , and thirty hours to return ; so that the canvas might have been procured in ninety hours . He thought that , if money were no object , carpenters and materials to almost any extent might also have been obtained from Constantinople in a few days . ( He
afterwards admitted , in answer to Lord Lucan , that about sixteen English carpenters were sent to Constantinople for the repair and construction of hospitals and barracks at Scutari ) . "With regard to the subject of food for horses , he had heard at Scutari that linseed given with barley prevented the scorbutic effects arising from barley being given alone to the horses , and he believed that linseed might have been obtained to any extent at Constantinople . To a question from Colonel Tulloch , who asked whether ingenuity was exercised by the cavalry in providingshelter for their horses , Mr . Bracebridge replied : — " The only ingenuity I saw was as to certain trenches made by the Sardinians for the protection of their horses . "
Major-General Sir Richard Airey was then examined . He said that , about the 8 th and 12 th of Novomber , he issued orders to Lord Lucan toprovide shelter for his horses ; and , in answer to Colonel Tulloch , he stated that " generally , " when orders aro issued from so high an authority , it ia supposed that the officer to whom they are addressed has tho means to obey them . He agreed with some of the previous witnesses in thinking that the uncertainty as to position prevented the speedy ereotion of stabling for tho horses . After some further statements , of a technical nature , the testimony of Sir Richard was interrupted by tho rising of tho Bonrd .
On tho reassembling of the Board on Monday , the examination of General Airoy was' continued , and Colonel Tulloch asked : — " Were not written querieu addressed to you by tbo Commissionera utter leaving Balftkhwa , calling for explanation as to what waa dono rogarding sholtor for the cavalry , and is not this your answer to one of them ?— ' I , however , obtained all the planking and timber necessary from Sinopo an <] Constantinople , and procured tho assistance of 20 ( Turkish troops from li . uB . tem Pacha , -who encamped within tho cavalry linos , for the purpose of construct iag huto for men and horses of the cavalry , and ai engineer officer -waa placed at tho diBpottal of tho Ear of Lucan on tho 12 th of November , 1854 , to Buporim tend the work . ' " " Yea , that is my answer to tb question put to mo ; but I uhould . like to eny that , '
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 19, 1856, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_19041856/page/5/
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