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274 THE LEAPEf CSA^gg^Yi
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SB^C
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. . . ¦ ¦ < ——?—— , SATURDAY, MARCH 20,1...
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pnhlit Iff airs.
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There is nothing so revolutionary, becau...
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THE DERBY INTERREGNUM. Without a right t...
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SOCIAL REFORM IN THE ARMY. It is commonl...
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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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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
274 The Leapef Csa^Gg^Yi
274 THE LEAPEf CSA ^ gg ^ Yi
Sb^C
SB ^ C
. . . ¦ ¦ < ——?—— , Saturday, March 20,1...
. . . ¦ ¦ < ——?—— , SATURDAY , MARCH 20 , 185 i
Pnhlit Iff Airs.
pnhlit Iff airs .
There Is Nothing So Revolutionary, Becau...
There is nothing so revolutionary , because there i 3 . nothing" so "unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed when all the world fs by the very law of its creation in eternal progress . —Db . Abitold .
The Derby Interregnum. Without A Right T...
THE DERBY INTERREGNUM . Without a right to be in . ofBce , Stanley ; of Derby is obliged to ask leave of the Opposition to remain there on . sufferance : he and Jiis chief colleague , the leader of the Souse of Commons , hare concerted the petition , and both beg on a set story . " I ask for justice , " says Lord Derby , " ¦ not to me or to my colleagues , but to the great
interests of our common country . " What we ask , " says Mr . Disraeli , " is not fair play for the Government , but fair play for the country . " On that plea Lord Derby petitions not to be " inters rupted" in ¦ " the usual financial arrangements , " in preparing for national defence , in " useful reforms j" he " entreats" the Lords " to look back to the circumstances under which her Majesty ' s present Government have assumed office ; " . for " the late Government fell by no adverse motion
of ours . ' This importunity is as false in common reason as it . is in constitutional theory or conventional dignity . Lord Derby asks forbearance in the name of " the country . " He has no right to speak in the name of the country . He deprecates questioning , a 3 if the country had not a right to know on what principles its government occupies office . He palliates his conduct by the example of Lord John in 1846 , as if one mean precedent could justify another . Let us look at borrows from
this precedent which a Stanley a Hussell , as the constitutional warrant for remaining in office without a parliamentary majority . In 1846 , Lord John Russell got up a coalition of Whigs , Radicals , and Irish members , against Sir Robert Peel , on the plea that coercion was not needed for Ireland . Once entered into office , Lord John and his colleagues continued , with no difference but diminished vigour and mastery , the main policy of Sir Robert Peel , and they resorted to the coercion which they had affected to
resist . They had previously , in 1835 , turned out Sir Robert by adopting Mr . Ward ' s " appropriation clause . " They were now , in 1846 , asked what they meant to do with-the Irish church , and Lord John , remembering one false pretext , and then using a second , declined to answer . That is the precedent advanced by the chivalrous Stanley of Derby ! The debate of Monday night full y corroborates our view as to the absence of any right to justify Lord Derby ' s tenure of office : ho sits , upon
sufferance , by favour of an apology , a plea for the country , the precedent we have just cited , and a false pretext of his own : ho wishes to push " the usual financial measures , " which any Minister for the time being would be permitted to do ; lie would urge Chancery reform , which any future Ministry for the time being will feel compelled to doj ho desires to disfranchise St . Albans , which is virtually done ; and to give the four members for St . Albans and Harwich to other constituencies , which must be done , and ought to be dono by a Ministry possessing the national confidence . Lord Derby Bits by only half his
warrant—the warrant of the Crown without the warrant of the country . Ho declares that ho has nothing , special to propose— 'quite the reverse . Ho cannot justl y protond that ho has oven the warrant of a minority in the country ; for the Protective principles , which alienate the national majority , ho holds so Blackly that ho must irretrievably have alienated hia own minority . Tho bad precedent of Lord John , who had an ostensible majority , is no warrant for Lord Derby , who has no majority . Tlie plea that ho entered office by no act of his own only adds a fresh negative to his right : he had not even tho right of seizure . His apology amounts to a claim , that ho should be permitted to hold a Provisional
Government , arid to keep it provisional for an indefinite time . ¦¦ - : ¦ _ a :- ¦ . ¦ - .. If the Government abuses its want of right , the Opposition does not display much power in the use of its rights . The right of the opposition is , to test the government , to see that no government of a minority continue in office , and to compel the new Government either to mal ? e for itself a majority . or to resign . The present Opposition shows no disinclination to that compulsion , but it fails in resources and in the power of conceiviner a true popular policy . To . harass , a
feeble Ministry is not a popular kind of policy To aim at the restoration of a Hussell regime is not a fine specimen of invention . If Lord Derby , abandoning Protection , is a Peel without a new policy ; if the new Chancellor of the Exchequer shows a disposition to consider the position of his party top much as a " situation , " to be worked out dramatically ; Lord John Russell ' s taunting behaviour is feeble in conception and utterance : and the more advanced Liberals do not seem to have made up their minds whether they shall
follow Lord John or strike out new courses for themselves , or do both . Hence we see a wavering course , with many leaders , besides the superannuated leader of 1831-2 . Lord John , Mr . Henry Berkeley , Mr . Locke King , all are , leaders , and there are more to come . The Opposition lays itself open to the taunts of the Ministry and its friends , that among many minorities no one has a" right to be in office any more than the Protectionist party . The rejoinder of the Liberals is an intimation that possibly the adhesion of Sir James Graham and Mr . Cobden may give
to the Whig Ministry that " wider basis" at which Lord John hinted , and convert two minorities and a half into a majority . As to Mr . Cobden , Lord John seems to be thinking of it ; perhaps hewill if he must . And as to Sir James , he seems to be thinking of it j perhaps he won't if be sees his own interest . Two minorities _ and a half , we say , because we observe that the majority of the Peel party sits below the gangway . We note that it is below the gangway that a truly statesmanlike view of the situation is to be found—declining to hurry or harass Ministers in measures needful for the
routine of public business , but refusing to sanction the initiation of any great measures , until Ministers shall have obtained the sanction of the nation , without which the tenure of their seats is only provisional- Mr . Gladstone puts forth that view ; Lord Palmerston , who sits near him , concurs . And Lord Palmerston , who so eloquently denounced the " distrust of the people" displayed in Lord John's Militia Bill , now deprecates a tax even of five shillings on the food of the people , because it would set the poor against the rich in a , manner fatal to the harmony of the state . ( 4 f J . J . AU Ul JtV / Jk . AU V * -VM . » . V »** - » W , »»»™ — . «— ~ r — -J — — "
Lord Harrowb y foresees that the question is no longer whether the country shall do Protectionist or not , but whether it shall bo Democratic or not . lie forgets another question , whether tho country shall bo national or not , The material interests of the people , justice to labour , tho defence of tho country , fair play to our colonies , alliances with free states abroad-r-theso are elements of a national policy which would for a time supersede party pettinesses and interested intrigues , if there were but the leader strong enough to initiate such a policy .
In the meantime P Why , in the meantime the Derby-Disraeli Ministry is as good a stopgap as any other ; and if it chooses to stay in office without a technical right , so incurring divers pains and penalties , let us remember that the penalties fall upon the leaders of the party ; and that in these days of indifferentism , Ministerial responsibility is as tenderly enforcod as it is lightly assumed . Call it what you will , tho present state of uffairs is an interregnum under a Provisional Government , and tho longer it lasts tho better will the next Government bo able to study its opportunities and its duties .
Social Reform In The Army. It Is Commonl...
SOCIAL REFORM IN THE ARMY . It is commonly suppospd , that notwithstanding tho changes made within the last few yoar » , our military punishments are still very severe , whon compared with those employed in the continental armies , particularly in that of France . This is a very mistaken notion . Although flogging may not figure in thoir published regulations , it is well known that the stick is freely and unsparingly administered in . Austria by officers of every rank , from the colonel to % he lanoo-corporal ; that carolesBnesB at drill , and other minor delinquencies ,
are cruelly punished in Prussia with the flat of the sabre ; and that " running the gauntlet " is not an unfrequent ceremony , in a Russian , battalion . The punishment of death for military offences , virtually unknown in the English ariny is by ho means unusual in the other countries of Europe . In France , more than thirty men are shot every year for heinous breaches of discipline ; and for an act of insubordination , which would subject an English offender to six months ' confinement , the ^ French soldier is condemned to five years of the " bmrietj" hard labour in prison
with an eight-pound shot chained to his ancle . ' The authorities at the Horse-guards , and the older officers of the army , have at all times shown themselves averse to any relaxation in the system of terror and coercion vfhich was formerly considered indispensable , —in fact , the onl y possible plan for the maintenance and preservation of discipline : but they have been unable to check inquiry , or to withstand the force of public opinion , and they appear invariably ^ to have carried out the progressive alterations in our military code
with perfect good faith . That barbarous and degrading infliction , so long the opprobrium of our array and nation , which cruell y ruined many a generous promising young soldier , which hardened more than it restrained , and never reclaimed an old offender ^ has gradually been limited in extent , and its application restricted to some crimes of a disgraceful nature , and to a few of the offences most dangerous to the efficiency of
an army . The discipline , good conduct , and contentment of a regiment depend , of course , greatly on the skill , judgment , and governing talents of the commanding officer . In many corps , flogging has become Very rare ; in some , both at home and abroad , such an exhibition has not taken place within the last two » years ; and in a few , not even for a longer period . The possibility of governing English soldiers without military flogging may therefore be said to have been"demonstrated . -
A . Report on the Disci p line and Management of Military Prisons , by Lieut .-ColonelJebb , the Inspector-General , has lately been issued , jwhich presents a mass of evidence quite conclusive as to the efficiency of a system of punishments , void of the exasperating and degrading effects of the lash , aAd yet eminently repulsive to rude , sensual , uncultivated natures , and well calculated to deter
and reform , without injury to body or mind , the young and inexperienced culprits . The regimental commandants , whose separate reports are quoted by Colonel Jebb , are all but unanimous as to the good working of the system ; but their general opinion is , that the prospect of prisonfare , and even of hard labour , does not exercise much restraining influence over the more
depraved and lArdened offenders . 'Ihese men , forming the bulk of regimental " defaulters , and mostly habitual drunkards , are perhaps incorrigible by any system of mere punishment . The lash did not cure them , although it often enlarged the class . They are most unprofitable servants to tho state , passing some months ot every year in prison , and no inconsiderable time in hospital , and when present for duty , forming tne
a centre of contamination , and damaging character of tho whole corps . The obvious suggestion is , that these bad soldiers should be ancharged tho service ; and onb of tho regimental commandants , whose opinions are included in Colonel Jcbb's Report , states that ho would rely , for tho future diminution of crime , rather on " improved barrack accommodation , and the dismissal of confirmed bad characters , " than up « n to
" any system of punishment . " This goes ju « very heart of the matter : these two remedial measures arc inseparably connected ; they co tain at once tho grand difficulty and its solution . We cannot dismiss the bad characters until , i >} improving tho condition and brightening w » prospects of tho army , dismissal becomes a ' *» and a penalty . At present , the numerousi co aertion * attest , the repentance of recruits , ana " free " discharge" is hold out in ccrtam cases as * ro \ v «* d " to the well-conducted soldier I m '• - Tho Infyritiy of tho Lino form fro 4 ixM » < n tho artnV . and ' in their ranks thovo is much mor
bad conduct , more , discontent , and more uom tion , than in tho Cavalry and Artillery . £ Sappors and Minors in every respect are sup " to every other corps in tho serviee . In the avnn as in all human society , physical ow »»^ lltt bodily and mental exorcise prpduee the rw . j in orderly and moral conduct ; and as the . so position is raised , self-respect increases , ana " *
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 20, 1852, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20031852/page/14/
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