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M ay2^852.] THE LEADER. V ' "¦ ; . ¦/¦/¦...
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Jp^etr^^
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ttliit SATUBDAT , MAT 22,1852.
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i^tMaim
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mu»^/» i« nothing so revolutionary, beca...
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bably find that they have allied themsel...
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THE CANKER 01 TRADE. Weiie Competition i...
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.
M Ay2^852.] The Leader. V ' "¦ ; . ¦/¦/¦...
M ay 2 ^ 852 . ] THE LEADER . V ' "¦ ; . ¦/¦/¦ . 4 m
Jp^Etr^^
Jp ^ etr ^^
Ttliit Satubdat , Mat 22,1852.
ttliit SATUBDAT , MAT 22 , 1852 .
I^Tmaim
i ^ tMaim
Mu»^/» I« Nothing So Revolutionary, Beca...
mu »^/» i « nothing so revolutionary , because there is 1 -HiiTier so unnatural and convulsive , aa the strain , to . £ f PT ^ £ m £ s fi xed when all the world is by the very law ofiS ¦ creauoa in eternal progress . —Db . Abkom * .
Bably Find That They Have Allied Themsel...
bably find that they have allied themselves to a worn-out feeling now passing fas . t away . They are like the doctor's boy , hoping to filch a lift behind a coach , who finds thafc it is only goinginto the coach-house . The number of those who are beginning to understand the real pinch of the question is daily increasing , and will not recede . The most influential journals admit the necessity of being prepared to repel aggression ^ and the Times heads them j the example of Switzerland , who has so long maintained Jier freedom in the verv centre of despotic Europe , by favour of her
ENGLAND HERSELF AGAIN . "I SHOtiLDmost humbly recommend the good citizens of Xonddn , " said Lord Comberjnere , in case of war , "to rely more upon the swords and bayonets of our troops than upon the infatuations of the Peace Society ; " a sentiment received with « much cheering and laughter- by the good citizens . In truth , thie Peace delusion , though its advocates have all the strength derivable from newness of doctrine , honesty , and zeal , possesses but little hold on the public mind and the politicians who trade on the dislike to > war will
profamiliarity with the use of arms , is expounded m one of the most experienced , and discreet of our contemporaries ; the example of the Athenians , who retained their freedom and independence so long as they were in the habit of using arms , is the burden of Grote ' s forthcoming volume of his Kistory of Greece ; Borne might be added , so long as the Romans were their oiop . soldiers , and did not employ mercenaries ; and the scientific statesman of the present Ministry lias avowed the necessity of restoring the familiarity with arms to our own population :
" This is the first attempt , " said Mr . Disraeli , speaking of the Militia Bill , "to habituate the people of this country to the use of arms , to which they are not at present generally accustomed . Circumstances , irresistible circumstances , have for a long time rendered such a policy necessary ; and if this bill should be adopted , though it is not a measure which would produce a disciplined army , able to encounter the veteran legions of the world , it would be the first step in n . r ight direction , and would lay the foundation of a constitutional system of national defonce . "
This is not only a scientific , it is a just , a practical , and a generous view of the question . The tone contrasts favourably with Mr . Cobden's slighting mention of " vagabonds , " whom he would not trust with weapons ; and at least as favourably with Lord John Russell ' s still more deliberate avowal , that ho would not trust " the whole population of this country , " but only " men of
rcapoctablo character . " Such is the " liberal " vio \ v taken by the late Premier of the British nation : Lord John , Liberal-in-chief , will not trust the British nation as a whole 1 He might 1 ) 0 asked if the recruiting sergeant who collects men for the army refuses all but " men of respectable character P" He might be asked if the respectables form so small a minority that they need fear the disrespectables , however armed P I lie avowal is anti-national—it is wholly alien to
a onerous or patriotic feeling . Ihe jargon which wo hoar at meetings of the working classes , abotit " oppression , " is as idle aa it is wenki A brave people cannot be . oppressed , exceut by the union of many foreign Htatea against it . If a nation is oppressed by any jntornal tyrants , the fact proves that the nation «« b lost either its bravery or its virtue , Tlio fault of our aristocracy is that it is not aristocratic enoug h—that it docs not fool the ambition and y noi"gy to recover its influence among the people . m tho country " tho lord" no longer has retainers jwoimjl him , bound by old dopondonoy and affeoll <>» . In tho town , tho public man no longer
winsi influence by sharing in the amusements of the people , or acting in their presence . To receive rents , to pass a shooting season in remote regions ; to spend a London season between clubs , soirees , theatres , and Parliament—^ a # is the life of the young gentleman—giving to the yford " young , " indeed ^ a wide latitude of meaning . It is trtie , as Mr . Disraeli says , that an inevitable necessity calls upon our People to recover the familiarity with arms : but familiarity implies practice ; practice implies pleasure in the practice ; pleasure implies leisure—a periodical leisure . Now how much might be done by our aristocracy if its sons were to exert all their influence—and
their influence is still sufficient for the opportunity--to obtain for the working classes the national custom of a- half-holiday on the Saturday , with open places for manly sports and military exercise ! How much might that influence be strengthened if the young men of the aristocracy were to go among the people on those haifholidays , to share in their sports—not de haut en Jo * , but in real chivalrous brotherhood I There is no fear that , with the opportunities for cultivation , and the superior capacities of " blood , " the young men of family , as a class , would lose superiority in fair field ; there is no fear that they
would fail to regain an immense amount of influence , socially , politically , and nationally available . To say that such an innovation would be impossible ^ would be to libel our countrymen in a way that we will not anticipate . We do not for a moment believe that our gentry are so enervated , if they could but overcome that growing weakness of the Englishman , mauvaise konte . That some such custom is essential to the process indicated by Mr . Disraeli , we hold to be evident . We heartily agree with him that the necessity exists ; and we believe that the opinion is daily gaining adherents among all politicians*—among all who are truly Nationalist , truly Liberal , and truly Conservative . -
The Canker 01 Trade. Weiie Competition I...
THE CANKER 01 TRADE . Weiie Competition is the accredited inspires of trading activity ^ instead of Concert , the anomalies of the system will be perpetually re-appearing in the form of injury , waste , and manifoldf suffering . One result of that condition of things we J ) ointed out last week , in the needless and therebre sterile subdivision of " employment ; " and we see that Mr . F . O . Ward has pointed to the same evil , in showing how the booksellera are damaging their tradeHby the needless multiplication of retailers . This he illustrated by a parallel case : —
"If the number of retailers should remain undiminished , they will be fain to replace the abolished restrictions by a tacit combination , or understanding with respect to prices , amongst themselves . : " Such a tacit combination exists among the London bakers , notwithstanding that their trade is nominally free . For whereas in Paris , 601 bakers serve a million of people , we have in London 2800 bakers to a population of 2 , 300 , 000 ; or more than twice as many
bakers as we need . It is mainly in consequence of this fact that , while corn is only 5 per cent , dearer in London than in Paris , bread is from 35 to 40 per cent , dearer here than there . Not that the London bakers get individually more profit than their Parisian brethren , but that tho total profits of tho London retail bread trade are divided among more than twice as many traders ; or , in other words , are wasted in keeping up 8 ome twelve or fourteen hundred unnecessary establishments .
" It is a curious , fact , tending , I think , to corroborate my view , that in 1807 there were 689 bakers in Paris , and their number ( which is regulated by law ) has sinco been reduced at their own solicitation—the whole body subscribing to buy up , at a fair compensation , those of tho establishments which they considered superfluous , and consequently detrimental to the economical conduct of tho trade .
" Now , though public opinion is certainly not ripe for such an organization of tho London trade , either in bread or in books , yet the staunehest Free-trader would hesitate , I think , to recommend that the Parisian Kiread-trado , which now works so well , should bo thrown open , as in London , to a rush of competition , involving tho needloss reduplication of establishments , and thus entailing on tho public an increase of pricorf , and on tho traders a reduction of profits . '
" These considerations are tho moro important , as thoy apply not only to tho breud and book trades , but to retail trade in every kind ; so that in London alono several millions per annum are probably wasted on duplicate retail establishments . "
It has been gratuitously supposed by some hasty reasoners , that Mr . Ward would reduce the size of London , and shipoff the surplus dealers to Van Diemen's land , A far more imposing spectacle would be , that the surplus people , acknowledging their own needlessness , and confronting their fate with dignity , should sacrifice themselves like a legion of / Curtii ; and a grand holiday might be made for the purpose of wifc
nessing the funeral procession . Mr . Ward , however , said nothing of the kind , and is not to be charged . with the wild confusions of his misinterpreters . Nor inust we blind our eyes to an ceeonomical truth , because immediate extrication from embarrassment is not easy . That there are immense numbers of superfluous traders will be admitted confidentially by all who labour , in each trade , under the competition of a market where the dealers outnumber the necessities of the
customers ; and because the sudden removal of those superfluous dealers would leave a vast number of houses " to let , " and would withdraw customers from each branch of trade , the truth is not less true . Those amongst our own readers who have honoured our oeconomical theses with their attention , will be at no loss to solve the difficulty . The key is supplied by the fact , that this increase of numbers in secondary and ancillary employments does not increase production : but actually diminishes it . Let us
follow the case of the bakers a little further , and we shall see that their false combination—as different from concert as competition is from emulation—not only enhances cost , but ^ positively checks production . In the north of England , a habit which pursues people even into towns is , to make their own bre ^ d ; but let a Yorkshireman come to London , and he will find great
obstacles in his way . The flour is dearer—to say nothing of the difficulty of getting it good : he will pay 2 s . 4 d . to 2 s . 6 a . for a stone of fourteen pounds . But even at that price , he has it as a favour ; " for , " say the millers , " the bakerswill not let us sell flour under their price , or what is to become of them ? " So the bread-eater must pay the price of his flour , and also a tax upon it for the support of the bakers , whether the baker ' s labour be used or not .
Now , at this very time , the bread-eater can obtain flour in Leeds at Is . 8 c ? . a stone ; and why ? Because in Leeds there is an institution , which , regardless of trading necessities , and devised expressly to bring the consumer into direct intercourse wi th the producer , sells flour at the price of its fair cost with a remunerative margin . At that institution , the People ' s Mill , vou can now buy flour at 1 * . 7 d ., and not only
" flour" so-called , but the very finest in the kingdom , every grain of it , The People ' s Mill indeed is a Socialistic institution ; but we are not aware that the flour is any tho less sweet for that . It is a great exemplar of honest and practical Socialism . And let ' the oeconomist who is not blinded by obsolete studies , look at the facts with the discerning eyes of an Adam Smith , and understand them . By favour of concert—that is , of a thorough
understanding between the parties to the transaction , whoever they may be , —tho purchaser of flour at the Leeds Mill buys what ho wants , without stint or adulteration , at its exact cost , with liberal allowance for all engaged in getting it to him ; but with no charge for superfluous persons " employed" in tho process , or not employed at all , but only taxing him for omitting them . In tho competitive London market he is paying one-half more . But , to enhance tho cost of bread fifty per cent is to diminish the consumption .
Observe , further , therefore , that tho farmer is defrauded of his full proportion of trade in London , while , with tho single , necessary , and pledged in " tormediator of the People ' s Mill at Leeds , the farmer is brought into direct contact with tho consumer , who takes his full " whack" for his money , without being hindered by any baker combinations , or fines or impediments of any sort . Wo have only Btated facts : let tho reader ¦
analyze them . " t Now , as to the" surplus population" in baking , book-selling , or any other department , would wo march them into tho Thames , or Bay a single word thafc can lead to that ondP God forbid . Wo believe , indeed , that tho occupations for which a baker might find no small aptitude , would be increased by that great principle which is now dawning m oeconomio philosophy —concert . Let us apply it to hie case . If the
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 22, 1852, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_22051852/page/13/
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