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Ma^c^W, ! ^^ THE LEADER, 209
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THE GOVERNMENT ANJ) THE RIFLE CLUBS. A n...
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THE AMERICAN REACTION AGAINST KOSSUTIL A...
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THE KAFFIR WAR. The Bosphorus, royal mai...
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THE BURMESE WAR. Despatches from Bombay ...
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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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Louis Blanc And Mazzini. What Fbbnoli: S...
interest" ! 2 nd , That lie sliall be assured of not losing the value of the article of which ho momentarily quits possession ; and , as a general thesis , he cannot have any such assurance , other than the material security which the industry that borrows has to offer him . Hence , we draw two consequences : the first , that thanks to the interest , there are fortunes which are in a condition to accumulate without giving any trouble to their possessors , wholly and solely because their money
begets money ; the second , that those who have the best material security , to furnish— -that is ^ in other words , the richest — - are those whom capital comes forward to serve with the greatest alacrity ; so that the poor man , to whom credit would be most necessary , is just the man to whom one never lends ; so that , moreover , the richer a man is , the easier is it for him to get rich ; and the poorer a man is , the more difficult is it for him to emerge from his misery .
Now , I ask , is this reasonable ? is this agreeable to the laws of eternal justice ? Does this not wound feelings that God has implanted deep in the human conscience ? Yes , truly , is the unhesitating reply of the Socialists . And let not the objection be brought against them that these are inevitable consequences . They are inevitable under a regime of every ' manfor ' himself \ in a social order where the possession of the materials of work is monopolized ; in a world , given over to tyrannical calculations , and to the hazards of an universal
antagonism ; in a system of social conventions so complicated and intertwined , that when a man , has need of credit we are obliged , on pain of folly , or at least of imprudence , to take into consideration , not what he is worth in character , but what he is worth in purse . This necessity of lending nothing to men who possess nothing , the Socialists , indeedi recognise , but they recognise it only as the fatal result Of nil ensemble of vicious institutions ; an ensemble Which , perhaps may be progressively changed . Suppose , for instance , a vast system of ASSOCIATIONS of mutual benefit ; and mutual
responsibility ( solidaires ) , which , by dint Of labour and economy , have got together a collective capital > the profits of which every incoming workman would- be admitted to share * Suppose that ( instead of being close , as the ohi ^ eorporations , known in France by the name of jurandes and maitrises , were ) these fraternal associations should be open ; the problem would be solved . - In such a case , indeed , for a man to obtain the materials of labour he would have iio need t 6 pay interest , nor to offer any material security . To belong to , and to be able to certify to a calling , to work for the profit of the Association in the midst of his fellows , and before the eyes of all , would suffice .
Personal credit , that is to say the confidence which is addressed to the merits of persons , would thus supersede real credit , that is to say the confidence which rests only on the possession of things , and the principle of distributive justice , would / . not be exposed to the constant violations which now must needs make the heart of every good man bleed . For who would venture to deny that usury , odious as it- undoubtedly is , and eloquently as it has been condemned by St . Basile , St . Ambrose , St . Chrysost 6 me , by all the Fathers of the Church , is only a logical consequence of existing institutions .
If it bo true , aa M . Baatiat pretends , and as all the economists , our adversaries , pretend with him , that the interest of capital derives its legitimacy from the fact that the lender renders ft service , are wo not forced to admit that the servico is all the greater in proportion as the situation of the man to whom it is rendered ia more desperate ? Can a man pay too dearly for hia life ? Can a man pay too dearly for his honour ? If iny life , or the life of a friend ia at stake , let the usurer tiiko , for interest , my liberty ; I shall owe him then JJ » y gratitude ! If my honour , or the honour 6 f a Jriond , is at stake , let h ' m exact a pound of my flesh ; 1 shall owe him then my blessing whon the momont Has arrived for baring my breast to the knifo ! Shyl ock . " You have among you many a puvchos'd
Winch , like you r oases , and your dogs , and mulos , Vou use m abject and in slavish parts , lJooaus o you bought thorn . Shall I say to you , J jjot thorn bo froo , marry thorn to your hoiraP w ny sweat thoni undor burdonH P hot thoir bodn , uo mado'as aoffc aa ypura , and lofc thoir palutoa . m , sof ° n d with 8 uch viftn ( ls p You will answer , a no slaves ftr § ours : so do I answer you ; The pound of flosh which I demand of him as uoarly bought , ia mino , and I will have it . " Divino Shakspero ! why not havo made the literal execution of tho band signed by Antonio tho dtnoilmene of your immortal drama ? Did not Shylook mvoko tho sacrdd principlo of "Yrocdom of commercial tnuiHaotions ?/ Had ho not rendered to Antonio , icaiiced to beg it of him , ono of those services of which w . iftutiat Bpoaka , —ftn immonso eorvicoP Ifc was 1 u «
due—that pound of bleeding : flesh cut from the breast of a man ! There we see Capitalism judged * in its extreme consequences , in its most rigorously logical results . Well then , whatever makes consequences like these , if not so extreme , inevitable : whatever makes a logic like this , though the circumstances of its operation be less tragic , —if only- ^ -possible : that the Socialists combat and resent . .
What right have you to reproach them with aiming at the destruction of Capital , when they do nothing but denounce the abuse of its monopoly ? By what strange subversion of all the laws of reason , do you come forward to accuse them of cutting down the tree , when their sole endeavour is to make it bear savoury , instead of poisoned , fruits : and when they invite to the enjoyment of its sheltering shade all the children of one common Father——God ?
Is it to desire to suppress the harvests that nourish , the stuffs that clothe , the houses that shelter inan- ^ -if we aspire to a state of society in which the reapers should never hunger for a loaf , in which the weavers of precious silks should not be clothed in rags , and in which the builders of palaces should not be left to perish for want of where to lay their heads ? Loins BtAife . ¦ ( To he continued . )
Ma^C^W, ! ^^ The Leader, 209
Ma ^ c ^ W , ! ^^ THE LEADER , 209
The Government Anj) The Rifle Clubs. A N...
THE GOVERNMENT ANJ ) THE RIFLE CLUBS . A numebotts meeting" of the members of the Metropolitan Rifle Club was held on Thursday , at the Thatched House Tavern , St . James's-street , for the purpose of receiving the answer of her Majesty ' s Ministers to the offer of the services of the club in the event of any threatened danger to the country ; Captain L . Murray Prior in the chair . After a few preliminary observations from the chairman ; the secretary read the following answer of the Secretary of State for the Home Department , transmitted through the hands of the Marquis of Salisbury , as lord-lieutenant of the county . It was as follows : — " Her Majesty ' Government are hi g hly sensible of the value and importance of having the assistance of volunteer rifle corps , and , in case of necessity , would willingly avail themselves of that assistance ;/ but until some progress is made in the measure which they Will have to submit to the consideration of Parliament with reference to the militia , they have deemed it desirable that the formation of such corps should be suspended for the present , except in those cases where the Idte Government have actually sanctioned them , or where it may be expedient for special reasons to make an exception . In the case of the county of Middlesex , it does not appear that there is any immediate necessity for the formation of such corps . But I beg your lordship will bo so good as to thank the gentlemen who have made applications submitted in your letters for the readiness they have shown in offering to come forward . "
A resolution was then passed , expressive of regret that the Government had felt it necessary to decline their services , which , without expense to the country , would aid the regular forces in the event of a foreign power attempting to invado the country . Another resolution was passed , that the club should fit themselves by rifle practice for future organization should circumstances arise which might render their formation into rifle corps desirable to her Majesty ' s Government . A vote of thanks was passed to tho Marquis of Salisbury and to tho chairman , and the meeting was dissolved .
On tho same day a meeting was held at tho Bridge House Hotel , London-bridge , whon it was resolved to form riflo companies for Bermondscy and Southwark , as portions of the Surrey Riflo Regiment . A letter was read from tho Earl of Kllesmere , who regretted that ho was too old to join himself , but ho had two sons who would join immediately .
The American Reaction Against Kossutil A...
THE AMERICAN REACTION AGAINST KOSSUTIL A strong demonstration against Kossuth was miulo at tho Congressional dinner , hold at Washington on tho 21 st of February , in honour of tho birthday of Georgo Washington . Kossuth was criticised , in connexion with his intervention doctrino , yory severely by several speakers who were all emphatically against intervention . Wo note that a renction in arising in tho American mind , or rather a feeling , winch is a sot-off to the ohthwHiasm he excited . It has been diligently fomented by certain journals , and all unfavourable reports have bocn copied into the Gorman papery which again havo boon copied with comments by tho American editors . This has boon systematically done . Again , tho Ainoricans complain of his " thoatricul manner . " Tho long correspondence has turnod up officially . Consul Hodge off Marseilles , had a dispute with Kossuth , whom ho roprosonts as behaving very hotly . To put iui end to tho unpleasant scene , tho consul says , " I wished him a pleasant voyage , bowed , and rofcirod—* -I , in a cold and roapecfcful munnerw-he . like an oriojitivl eatron . " Tho
Boston Transcript says the letter from which the extract is given was written in haste , and " quite blind in some parts . " But even they complain of Kossuth for patronising- their great men and acting the grand seigneur . Mr . John Barners of Baltimore is of a like opinion . He had an interview with Kossuth ; was hurt , by his , tone and language in speaking of the Washington foreign policy , and left him , determined never to see him again . His description of Kossuth is curious . " I left him /* he says , " with the conviction that he was the most erudite scholar ^ accomplished , fascinating , and ele _ gant orator of the age ; at the same time a sturdy Txe ]» glftr 7 ar dangerous incendiary , and a coldhearted ingTate . " All this mnst be tajfen for what ifc is worth .
The Kaffir War. The Bosphorus, Royal Mai...
THE KAFFIR WAR . The Bosphorus , royal mail screw steamer , arrived at Plymouth ^ on Saturday last , at half-past five , a . m She left Cape Town on the 3 rd of February , and it was then confidently expected that the Caflre war would soon be brought to a happy conclusion . Major-General Somerset , with the troops who had formed the expedition over the river Kei , returned to head quarters , at King William ' s Town , on the 11 th of January , having been in the field six weeks , with only a single blanket to each man , and no tents . They had com ? pletely routed the enemy ' in every affair in which they had made resistance , and had captured thirty thousand head of cattle . On the 15 th of January , the leading Kaffir chiefs , Macoino , Stock , Sandilli , and KrehV sent a deputation to 'Sir Harry Smith , at King William's Town , to sue for terms of peace ; but the governor informed them , through Mr . Browrilee , the Gaika commissioner , that their surrender must be unconditional , " trusting to her Majesty ' s clemency , " and that if this were tendered "in a solemn manner , and in good faith , hostilities would cease , and their lives be respected . " Eight days passed over , and on the 23 rd of January the governor ordered acombhied movement , in seven columns , on the Amatola mountains , and the country east of the Ueiskamma , with the object of devastating the crops , and capturing the cattle , of the enemy . It is known that the Kaffirs are short of powder , and anxious to reap their crops ; but some private letters state that they have decidedly improved in military tactics , are perfectly unsubdued , and have merely made overtures of peace in order to gain time for the harvest , and to procure a new supply of ammunition . But should the operations of our troops on the Amatolas be attended with success , there is no doubt that the Kaffirs will be so humbled and weakened as to submit to any terms that Sir Harry Smith may choose to dictate .
The Burmese War. Despatches From Bombay ...
THE BURMESE WAR . Despatches from Bombay of the 17 th of February , in anticipation of the Indian mail , bring us further intelligence of the Burmese War . Commodore Lambert , after destroying the stockades at Rangoon , and blockading the mouths of the Ierawaddy , proceeded to Calcutta for further instructions from the Governor-General . The Marquis of Dalhousio arrived nt Calcutta on the 29 th of January , and is snid to havo approved of all that had been done by tho commodore , with tho exception of his having captured a Burmese ship of war .
It appears , however , that it was not upon this account that tho Fox frigate was fired upon by the batteries on shore . Tho Burmese viceroy told Commodore Lambert that if he attempted to remove British property from Rangoon , ho should bo assailed from the stockades ; and the commodore replied that if so much an a pistol was discharged at him , ho would level tho stockades ; and accordingly , when attacked , ho kept his word . He had before oftbrcd to restore the Burmese ship as soon as jin apology was rendered for tho insult to tho British flag which led to its seizure
Tho last accounts from our naval force near Rangoon aro , that since tho destruction of the stockades no fresh collision had takon place . Meanwhile troops and munitions of war have been despatched from Calcutta ; the Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamship Precursor , witli guna nnd ordnunco stores " up to her hatchway , " convoyed 1031 officers and men of tho 67 th Bengal Native Infantry to tho coast of Arrncan in two
days . Moro troops are about to bo sent from Madras , to strongthon tho email force in tho British provinces of Toiuwsorim and Arracan adjoining tho iWmoso territory . Plenty of troops are avuilablo at Madras , and , if necessary , could bo assisted from Bombay . Tho Bombay Government could spare an European regiment , and ft couple of steam-frigates without inconvonionce , and immediately , nnd , by tho close of tho monsoon , a division of two or throe brigades .
If tho Burmese do attack us at all , they will wait for tho netting in of the monsoon , during which ? season oux troops wiU bq uuftWo to act with cflfoct , & $ & if wo
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 20, 1852, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20031852/page/9/
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