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June 28, 1851.] ffifjf UtabeV. 607
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THE WHIG SCHOOL OF BEBELLION. Trifled wi...
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ENGLAND FOR THE RICH. What a comfortable...
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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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After The Polish Revolution, Nicholas De...
. Is Germany—divided into nearly forty separate tates—to oppose the progress of the liberticide and anti-progressive army ? But have not recent events sufficiently shown , on the one side , that German bayonets were always ready to crush every popular movement ? and , on the other , that the Germans have not yet made up their minds what they want ? We heard in Germany , it is true , during 1848 and 1849 , the cry for " German Unity ; " out the very men who gave utterance to that cry , at the same time evinced the most blameable disposition to extend " German" unity by robbing non-German nationalities . »
But France , that compact nation of thirty-six m illions , will she suffer such a plan to be carried out ? Will she not , even in its embryo , at once march forth her Republican army to anticipate the enemies of mankind , and thus furnish the Peoples of Germany and Italy the opportunity of organizing their national forces for an efficient resistance—the only means , indeed , by which the melancholy future can be prevented ? Have we not seen France , in 1792 , victoriously resisting the whole of coalesced Europe , England not excepted ? *
True : but the past few years have sadly convince d us that modern France , whose army is commanded by Generals created under Louis Philippe ' s corrupting system , is not equal to the making of such a salutary step in time—especially under the presidency of a Louis Bonaparte , whom the fiery French generation of 1792 would certainly not have elected for their chief , nor have allowed to restrict universal suffrage , still less to murder a sister republic . What is the position of England—constitutional England ? Ought not the nation to turn , with confiding eyes , to her ? Delusion ! Have we not seen the British Cabinet , continually and upon
every occasion , assisting the Continental despots , from the le « ter-espionage up to the Schleswig-Holstein affair?—on the one hand , allowing the Holy Alliance repeatedly to violate the treaty of Vienna—as in the annihilation of the constitutional regime of the kingdom of Poland in 1832 , and the destruction of the independence of the republic of Cracow in 1846 , both mutually guaranteed by all
the contracting parties of that treaty ; and , on the other hand , advising the nations , who groaned under a foreign despotism , passively to submit to the provisions of the said treaty . Thus , when the late Republican Government of Venice applied for British assistance , it received from Viscount Palmerston the shamelessencouragement to surrender to Austria , " because in virtue of that treaty "trmt so olt violated treaty— " Venice belongs to
Austria . Where , then , are the Peoples of Europe to look for succour against the coming invasion of restored Absolutism ? To themselves . When the alliance which the European Democratic Committee proclaims among the Peoples shall be in full practical activity , then , and then only , will Europe be strong against its combined foes . While the Peoples remain divided , the declaration of Nicholas Dictator is not a threat but a law : when the Peoples shall be united , such a declaration will cease to be a law , or even a threat ; and then only shall we put an end to revolutions .
June 28, 1851.] Ffifjf Utabev. 607
June 28 , 1851 . ] ffifjf UtabeV . 607
The Whig School Of Bebellion. Trifled Wi...
THE WHIG SCHOOL OF BEBELLION . Trifled with , oppressed , insulted , evaded , the people of the Cape of Good Hope are believed , by those who know them best , to be inclined to some extreme and dangerous course . We have already explained the position of the Cane , and we now recapitulate in order that the reader may have the convenience of a memorandum to aid him in understanding the further progress of the question jubt taken up by Lord Stanley . It will be remembered that an attempt was made by the Home-olnce and the Colonial-office jointly" both Greys , you will pbserve "—to introduce convicts into the colony . The Imperial Government had been under repeated pledges not to intioduce convicts ; in some of the new experiments in tinkering the convict system , a plan was broached for distributing approved convicts in the tree
colonies , " with their consent ; " but before the consent could be obtained , the Cape coloniHta received notice that a shipload was coming iroin Bermuda . The coloniatu refused their consent ; they refused to admit the convicts ; they organized an Association , and entered into a pledge to employ no new emigrant while a convict ahould be in the port ; they cut off Intercourse with the Government in Cape Town , and Buppliee . After
"instructing" Sir Henry Smith to stand out obstinately , ho was instructed to yield ; and tho convicts were taken on to Van Diemen ' s Land . Much anger had been created in all the Australian colonies , except " the Scarecrow of Emigration /* Western Australia , by the plans for renewing transportation ; and this anger was complicated with the dispute about the constitution , in which Government had promised , retracted , shuffled , and compelled , with the most exasperating alternation of instability and obstinacy . During this dispute the promise of a " free , * ' an " English" constitution for the Cape was volunteered by Ministers .
It was sent out to be " revised —by the old Council whom it was to supersede ! But when the Governor collected the Council for that purpose , in lieu of leaving the members to the revision of the draft , he called upon them to pass supplies and get over the financial arrears of two years . Four of the five " non-official' * members remonstrated , on the joint ground that the passing of supplies was not within the province of a Council
summoned to revise the constitution , and that finance questions would much more properly and effectually come before the next Legislature , the new body . Sir Henry pressed , and the four popular members resigned . A meeting of colonists was held , the draft of a constitution prepared by the four members was adopted , and two of the four , Sir Andries Stockenstrom and Mr . Fairbairn , were sent over here to advocate the cause of the
coloance ; but Lord Grey may be more obstinate than he was in that instance . Were there any genuine national feeling in the English People , such treatment of an intelligent and patriotic community like that at the Cape would not be tolerated ; but it is tolerated . Were there any national feeling , the British People would insist upon removing a Minister who haa behaved as Lord Grey has done ; but to dismiss Lord Grey
would break up the Whig Cabinet ; and the portion of the British People which possesses political power cannot make up its mind to do without the Whig Cabinet ; so the portion of the British public which possesses political power , and also the great body of the People which possesses no political power at al ) , will have to pay fines for enjoying tbe luxury of Whig rule , in the shape of expenses for the Kafir war , and probably for putting down the colonists when they next rebel .
msts . Meanwhile Sir Henry sent home for instructions , and he has been instructed to go on with his Council as it stands—shorn of its four elected members ; a course which has been pronounced , on competent authority , to be illegal . The Government , therefore , is deprived , in the eyes of the colonists , of technical as well as moral authority . That is to say , after its conduct has been oppressive , tantalizing , exasperating , and vacillating , it has now placed itself even beyond the letter of the law .
The Kafir war belongs to another series of misgovernment , which has consisted mainly in a mixed process of exasperating the Aborigines on the frontier , and indulging them . Sir Henry Smith has at times cowed them with his bullying , and cajoled them with his pantomime , his child ' s storybook style of eloquence , and his " stick of peace . " Among other vagaries , it was his notion to make the Kafirs give up a part of their territory , that he might form military settlements upon it . A pastoral racewith a territory subject to partial
, droughts that visit the hills and the valleys at different seasons , the Kafirs need a wide expanse of land for the pasturage of their herds . Thus , in their mode of life , they were virtually made acquainted with the evila attendant on an overpeopled condition ; they encroached back upon their old lands ; Sir Henry Smith bullied—in vain ; and then opened " the Kafir war . " The colonists are called upon to sacrifice their property , their time and safety in the field ; England is called upon to pay the taxes . _ . „ . .
When the two Commissioners of the Colonists come to London , they are received with an appearance of fairness ; until , in the fulfilment of their duty , they endeavour to extract an explicit assurance ; they then learn that the Constitution question shall be settled when the border war is over ; and almost in the same breath they learn that , in the endeavour to outdo the refractory Aborigines , it is in contemplation to extend the sort of occupation which provoked the present war , possibly even intole
to the Equator ! Thus is to be prolonged an - rable nuisance ; and the only assurance obtained for the colonists is , that they shall have their political rights when the nuisance is at an end . Fairy tales scarcely contain any procrastinating condition bo fantastical and perverse . Under theae circumstances the Cape Commissioners , it is reported , are disposed to abandon their suit for justice in Downing-street , and return to the Colony , where their influence may be useful in mitigating the natural bitterness of the Colonists .
We have now recapitulated , aa briefly and plainly as we can , the posture in which aflaira stand immediately before the debate notified by Lord Stanley for Monday night . In justice to the colonists , the English tax-payer should understand tho grounds on which ho is called upon to pay for the Kafir war . He should perceive , also , that he may bo called upon to pay for still heavier military and naval expenses in putting down the colonists . The result of the convict question was , to teach the colonistff the probable eocoes * of energetic veawt-
England For The Rich. What A Comfortable...
ENGLAND FOR THE RICH . What a comfortable discovery for an indolent , selfish , rich man is the doctrine of averages ! What a marvellous effect it has in disposing him to look with philosophic composure upon the most glaring anomalies of modern civilization I Radical demagogues and Socialist lecturers may seek to disturb his digestion by expatiating on the wrongs of 30 , 000 London needlewomen , the sufferings of half a million handloom weavers , doomed to maintain a wretched existence on 4 s . or 5 s . a-week , or the starvation ^ five millions of " th e finest peasantry in
the world , " but he has discovered an antidote to all these annoyances . By the careful investigation of certain political arithmeticians , it has been ascertained that the annual consumption of tea , coffee , sugar , and various other articles of general use , during the last fifty years , has increased more rapidly than the population , and , therefore , he concludes that the people must , upon the whole , be better off . Granting that there are several millions in the United Kingdom who do not taste butcher ' s meat above two or three times in the whole
year , he falls back upon the comfortable reflection that these must be only exceptional cases , as the total quantity of animal food consumed in the country is understood to be much greater now , in proportion to the population , than it was fifty years ago . Should any one suggest that this may possibly be the case , and yet that a very large class of the people may be worse off now than the same class was at the beginning of the century , because the distribution of the food is more unequal now than it was then , he will at once charge you with being a Communist , and give up the discussion .
In connection with this doctrine of averages the Economist opens up a useful subject of inquiry , by its mode of showing that this country , taken as a whole , is quite as prosperous as any of our colonies . After finding fault with those who are continually drawing comparisons between England and Auatralia , or New Zealand , to the disparagement of this country , it proceeds to prove—what nobody can deny—that Great Britain is the finest place in the world for a rich man : —
"It seems to be forgotten , " says the , " that of the thousand human beings every day added to our community , even under the abominable laws which cut off their supply of food , a very large proportion , as is Bhown by the continual increawe of the middle class , grow up in comfort , live in opulence , and bequeath opulence to a more numerous posterity . We have some doubts , were the proclasses taken iullinto
sperity of tho prosperous y consideration in our old country , whether it is not as prosperous and as nourishing aa the newest and most nourishing settlement . The population has doubled since 1801 , and at the same time much more thnn doubled its conveniences and comforts . The doubled population fire better supplied than were their fathers with only half their numbern . By the comparisons drawn between old and new countries , not a little
injustice ia done to the old country , which ja not so bud , alter all . a « people would make it to \ w . An immense multitude of opulent persons live , thrive , and increase in England , whatever may be tho eondition of the labourers . " Here in a writer whom the doctrine of averages aeems to reconcile with all that i . wrong in our social condition . " Whatever may be the condition of the labours , " comes to tho « a is factory conclusion that " the old country ih not « o bad , after all " because a lar K e number of persons grow rich in it . Tried by the same rule the corn-law
was " not so bad , after all , " Beeing that " an immense multitude of opulent persons" had tnor income * greatly inereaeed by it , whatever th « rest ot the community may have suflored .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 28, 1851, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_28061851/page/11/
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