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No. 504. Nov. 19, 1859-] THE LEADER. 127...
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SUBSCRIPTION TO "THE LEADER." ONE GUINEA...
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"-- . v_.- * SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19,1859.
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:_.. ._ _. iOltbliC SfflUfS ' ¦ '** >. ¦=¦ /. ' •* .... -—^— . -
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There is u :>Jhiiii;- so revolutionary,b...
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THE WAKE FIELD INQUIRE. The revelations ...
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e a FriEXClI ANIMOSITY.—OUH WINE f. DUTI...
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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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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
No. 504. Nov. 19, 1859-] The Leader. 127...
No . 504 . Nov . 19 , 1859- ] THE LEADER . 1273
Subscription To "The Leader." One Guinea...
SUBSCRIPTION TO " THE LEADER . " ONE GUINEA PER YEAR , UNSTAMPED , lUiEl'AID . ' ( delivered gratis . ) ¦ NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS . No notice can be tako . i of anonymous oorrosponilencc . "Whatever is intended for insertion must be authenticated by the ; name . ami address of the writer ; not necessarily for publication , but as a lyuarnntee of his good iaith . It is impossible to acknowledge , the mass of letters vc receive . Their insertion is oflen delayed , owiiitf to a press of matter ; and when omitted , it is frequently from reasons quite independent of the merits of the eoniiruuiie . fition . TVe cannot . undertake to return rejected communications . OFITCE , NO . 18 , CATHERINE-STREET , STRAND , W . C .
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"-- . V_.- * Saturday, November 19,1859.
" -- . v _ .- * SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 19 , 1859 .
:_.. ._ _. Ioltblic Sfflufs ' ¦ '** ≫. ¦=¦ /. ' •* .... -—^— . -
fublic Sfatr . sv
There Is U :>Jhiiii;- So Revolutionary,B...
There is u : > Jhiiii ; - so revolutionary , bec-ims ; .: there is nothing 8 t > unnal ' . ihil iiml coiiviilsivi * , ti * the .. < tr : ii < i ( o kcop thin-iys tixeil win .-vi nil flio world is by th . a . wry hiw o ' f its- oroation in etcr : i : il pi-tiyivss . — i ) n . Arnold .
The Wake Field Inquire. The Revelations ...
THE WAKE FIELD INQUIRE . The revelations of tiie AVakefiel ;! ' Klection Commission confirm— -if any coiuinniition were needed . —the belief that , if the ordinary princijdes ofjnris-. prudence were applied to parliamentary bribery , it would not be diflicult to obtain convictions of the principal offenders , and they moreover a 115 ml additional proof of the necessity ibr refpiiring a bribery oath or declaration from every member of Pai-liauu'ixt . Mr . Charle . sworth , the . late c . unlidate at Wakefield , is by no means an exceptional person , and his conduct only ' differs in degivo from the prevailing custom of our so-called reprpsuMita- tives of the people . At a dinner-party , just before the election , he cautioned his friends against bribery ; and bis cousin , who . relates the incident , says , " it was about thufc time he gave me the bond . " Xo proccfa could be more simplu—lie delivered himself of his inornlity first nn . l of his mone ) ' at ' . wards . Candidate Cliarlesworth h : iv- ing thus furnished Cousin Charlesworth with the means of corruption , the latter hands it over to ^[ r . Fernandes , > 'iu a small room in the StulUml-Arms . No other person was present when it was paid , and he never received from IVlr . Fernnndes any state- meat of the manner in which it was expended . " Cousin Chnrlosworth kept no accounts ofius eloc- tionoering dishursements , but he lvmcinberedwost of them ; and confessud that he gavo Mr . Urear j £ l , 400 , and " of course ho knew what tho money was re < jU'ircJ for . " Now it is a positive disgrace to our jiyifl- prudence that - it should be safe ibr hundreds of persons , to behave at every general olec- tion just like the two Clinrlosworths , and their friend , Mr . Fcrnmules . There is not " one orwa , in a hundreil in whicji IVl'ibory takes ]) hu . 'e without the consent of the party who is to profit , by it , nnd it ia perfectly nbsurd tp suppose that any eatulMufe hands over n largo sum of inonoy to pursonn -vvlio are not to account for it without buiujjj perfbetly well' nware of the purposes to which it will by applied . WUcn aotno low wretch i , s indicted for recojving stolun goods , our law courts do not admit frivolous excuses , but uro satisfied with ovi- dence'which proves that the nceused mmt have kuQwh tho articles to bo stolen if ho had oxuroisud ordinary and roasonablo cure in the transaction , So far ft'oin follo ^ ving this courdo , Housu of Coin- mons committtioa will novor , if they can help it , convict a mouibor of bribery ; ami they not only tolerato bufc oncourago ft looseness of conduct that ia incon « isteiit > vilh nmoconce , and only intended as a elemk for guilt . In fliet , cluotion bribery is not regarded ninong tho iRI . L * . class ns fin ofibneo against their conventional codo of honour . Tliey oonsider it a gontlomanly vice , nud do not eemple
to speak of it without any symptom of disapprobation . If it were known that a man obtained other kinds of honour by means so base , his social standing would be lowered . ; but by buying himself into Parliament he forfeits no one ' s esteem , and if found out is extremely unlikely to suffer any more unpleasant result than a temporary exclusion from the position he has sought . The M . P . class are not particularly to Blame for this state of things , for the general opinion of the public is supremely indifferent to it , and it would be difficult to find a single town in which the majority of the electors would take any trouble to obtain an amelioration . It is not a matter in which the people are inclined to reform the Legislature , or in which the Legislature is inclined to reform itself Something will no duuVt be done next session , but no one is " so imaginative as to expect an . honestly devised measure . " What the jn-esent race of M . 'P . ' s want is to repress the scandal , but preserve the fact . It may be said that they would be better off if briber } ' were abolished , because :. " would stand on an equal footing , and . with les ? e .-i ^ eisse but this is precisely whaX they do not wish . Were their claims to lvst upon appropriate talent or eillciout service , a large proportion of our sena tors would never again sit in the Palace of T \ est ininsrer ; but by making M . P .-ship purehaseable by proJligate expenditure the } - keep it within their own reach to the . exclusion of other and hone . ster men . ¦ '
did not want to know . " It appears from Mr . Fernandes' statement that he paid Mr . Serle £ 100—a nice little fee . The employment of barristers for these purposes is vei-y common , but it is an objectionable practice , and one which constituencies should not tolerate . If the candidate is permitted to hire a man to speak for him at an election , the next step should he to let him hire some-body to speak for him in the Housea plan so advantageous to wealthy blockheads , that we wonder it has not been added to the numerous shams which the British Constitution contains .
s i t f ? l > s ; It maybe urged that , after all , tiie memuer ; by purchase are" on the whole not more than most other folks ; 'but even if it be so , there is this special disadvantage to the country , that their conventional code of honour approves oi jobbery as well : is bribery ¦; . and when a man has bought himself into ¦ Parliament , he thinks it all riglit that his -party should ' buy themselves into power the army promotions , or appointments which , purchase " the interest of . an aristocratic
t > ; i > > ¦ ' , " family , being" equivalent to the £ 10 that bought the vote of Tom Styles . It is not true to say that bribery is a via of English democracy ; it " is the c .-ime . of wealth , not of poverty , and is always kept in countenance by the upper classes of the community . The Church never preaches against it , the hiu-vjrs abet it , anl the aristocracy and the rich mi ' ddle cdass practise it . Were picking pockets , so petted ' and stimulated , there would - be robberies without end ; . and although .
] * { ' i i i s t i looked at from one point of view , the amount ot electoral corruption is so great as to bo ji national disgrace , the fact that with such abundant encouragement it is not greater , spoiiks volumes in praise of the character of the people . If those bishops and others who are vo scandalised at Sunday excursion !! upon the railways would devote a portion of their religious indignation against the demoralising traffic in human consciences , which election corruption carries on , they might assist in shinning the Legislature from its evil ways ; but upon these practical questions voice is dumb
c 1 t 1 i ^ I i u o u } s c of Christian morality the episcopal . Passing , by a natural transition , from the Church to its opponents , we might ask , what are Mr . Bright and his friends doing ? Why do uot they devise and introduce a good bill for purifying elections P They must , be well award that thu ballot , gopd as it mny be , is by no means all that is required to stop bribery , while against the equally mischievous odgnoe of treating it wouhl offer no security at all . There may be fifteen or ' twenty members of Parliament whom the Mnnphcdtw school could load ; and in thi ^ present state ' ' parties such a body would bo quite suflicient to force the Government to take some steps
ii t v n s o t ti a tj v " » n in the riglit direction . The country wants something practical from its would-be lenders — it wouhl like to hoc- their wisdom in serviceable measures , and not lherelv hear of it in occasional orations . The bi'iiefios of the various Inns of Court might also do nomething to make elections moru respectable , ) iy diMCOurnging the practico of barristers hiring themselves out to inuke Hpeoohcs in honor of any candidate belonging to the party they espouse , ' nnd willing to pay ibr their vonal praise . Mr , Thomas Sevle , a barrister , told the Wnkefk ' U Commission that " lio was- engaged ostensibly to advise upon IujljiiI mattersbut . roivllv . to' defend tho parly through
tl >> g ai the pross , and to make speeches on Mr . Lliark-. sworlh ' rt bohalf . " As the election went on ( his gentleman " carefully avoided asking questions , us ho suspected ho ' might learn something ho i
E A Friexcli Animosity.—Ouh Wine F. Duti...
e a FriEXClI ANIMOSITY . —OUH WINE f . DUTIES . ¦ t If the French bo so embittered against iis that - nothing will satisfy them , as . the Times has forcibly f represented , but a war of mutual extermination , e . the mere existence of such feelings is a subject of i * unspeakable importance . The best pens and the -I best heads now in existence could not be more ; worthily employed than in allaying , if . possible , e . such ra " ncorous feelings . A war between the two r nations would engulph all Europe in its terrible - vortex , and be a dire calamity to mankind . The - evidence , however , which the Times lias given of . - : - -
- .-such ' embittered feelings is very slight . It says i that it draws its alarming conclusions from many 1 independent sources , but it mentions none , except the Revue Independente , the production of French exile . s on our own shores ; and it warns its readers not to trust its only authority . At the very time , too , that it is making these sweeping and frightful assertion . ? , two of the best political writers of France . Messrs . Chevalier and Peyrat , are publishiug splendid eulogiunis on us and our institutioivs , and expressing no sentiment so forcibly as regret that France is not free like England . If the sentiments of the French Were universally as
hostile as our ' contemporary represents them , it would be impossible to exonerate the Government of France—which has a commanding influencefrom the charge of exciting-. this hostility . But the charge against the Oovernment , made by our con temporary ' , vanishes ii' the hostile feelings be not uniform and universal ; and we have quoted a striking proof that they are neither . Though we cannot accuse the Times of a p lot , because it has striven to excite alarm , we believe that its own ienys ' have led it grossly to exaggerate , on the authority ofparties ' inl politicians defeated by the Emperor , the hostile sentiments of the French towards the peopl . of England . that the of
Ii is deep ly to be regretted peace Europe is not firmly consolidated by the intimate union and friendship between thein . ^ . Whatever may be the projects of their respective Government ; :, they form portions of the same great social family and " have a common interest . In 1 » 57 ( we have " not got the de-tailed accounts for 18 . 3 ti ) the French supplied u = —including corn and Hour of the value of £ ilOS , QOO— with useful commodities worth £ 11 , 1 ) 15 J , 4 O 7 , and we in return supplied them with similar commodities of our own produui 1 , or brought from other countries , worth . •¦ £ ll , iJ-2 i ; , S-23 , Lnut year we have reason to beliuve that thu trade wiw nlill more extensive , for
the worth of the imports from Ituiu-o was £ \; 3 , 011 ,-101 . The two people who supply each other ' s wants to . tjw extent , at least , of < £ : tt , 000 , 000 per' annum , not including their coloiuul dependencies , have » common interest , and wur would make both bleed at ma . ny poiv . s . To refer also' to oflicr intercslH , c-w-ry day , almost , jniurwa ud ot u ,. i ,.. i IU ..... H . V mivliv . sonui invention , soiuo uis- »¦ some litemrv mm-llysome invmi lou , bdiuu ui » - -
, oovory , -whiJli o . juully made iwo-of by both people gives ' them a cnumon coiumaud over additional eujoymeutw . To quota only one example : 1 hoto-T . iphy U now for both u source of much inslnieiion mid unnin-uiout , and it would bo dimcult to h : iv whollu-r rYonelunon or Ejiglidljmen have mosr ' contrilmledto ils .-mcce . ^ . Tho railway nn . ' l the telegraph lniituully MurvO IhjUi , cuiU il is imim . xfiible tu inflict a blow on one but the
other will foul h . ,,., ., , Having these materinl mid higher inteivdts m common , if any interest cau bu higher than tliut ot subsist e-mx .-, having now bouu utpeooo for forty-lour yunra , ami thu Government : ) having boon ulosuly ' allied for a considerable piu-t of this period , it excite * douprogrot that thoroshould exist the riinulloBt foundation fur tho nlurmiiiu but muuh exaggerated statement of tho Times , l ' orhups it nmv not ap .-pour surprising that there should bo some
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 19, 1859, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_19111859/page/13/
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