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110 HMET-B IiiBA.DBB, . ¦ [No. 353, Baxv...
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THE TICKET-OF-LEA.VE PARLIAMENT. Eithee ...
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COLONIAL APPOINTMENTS. It is vulgarly su...
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THE "UNEMPLOYED AT THE UNIONS. Considera...
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.x ((Titntrrf I ViyjH4l VlbUUUllU ?
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—*—[IK THIS DRPATtTMENT. .AS AXX OPINION...
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There 13 n.o learned man but •will confe...
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SECRETS OP THE PURCHASE SYSTEM. (To the ...
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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.
Our Operations In Asia. The British Oper...
protects them ? They may , by an act of neglect , forfeit their individual claims , "but tie JJntish Government does not thereby forfeit its maritime rights . As to naturalization , it is a process unknown in the East ; the Chinese JEmpire claims as its subjects all the Chinese in the world , whether in Hong-Kong , Californiabut that is
Borneo , Singapore , or ; no reason why the Americans should not protect a Chinese shipowner settled in California , or why the English should abandon a Hong-Xong crew , even without inquiry , to the mercies of the Canton police . Bemember , it is not a question whether we should shelter Chinese criminals . Had the men
committed offences on the imperial territory , or against imperial subjects , it was the duty of the local governor to apply to the consul , who would have been bound to older an investigation . No person is competent to interfere in a discussion of this kind who is not minutely acquainted with the political habits of
Orientals , and no person possessed of this knowledge will deny that the course adopted in Persia and China has been humane , rational , and necessary . The result , probably , will be that , by acting mth promptitude and decision , we shall spare both countries the calamities of along war—the inevitable climax of a -weak and timid policy .
110 Hmet-B Iiiba.Dbb, . ¦ [No. 353, Baxv...
110 HMET-B IiiBA . DBB , . ¦ [ No . 353 , Baxv & d ^
The Ticket-Of-Lea.Ve Parliament. Eithee ...
THE TICKET-OF-LEA . VE PARLIAMENT . Eithee the ticket-of-leave men , and all who belong to the allied classes of the condemned or condemnable criminals—either the men have faculties , feelings , and minds such as other men have , or they have not . If they have , they must be amenable more or less to the same influences with other men ; if they have not , they belong rather to -the category
of disease and lunacy than of crime . They are either pitiable or hopeful . " We believe that the heterogeneous classes vrho are described as criminals , thieves , convicts , or ticket-of-leave men , may in fact be more correctly divided into two divisions—men like others who have gone astray , but may he redeemed ; men unlike others , wlio have not the ordinary share of faculties or feelingswho are idiots or lunatics . The
ticket-ofleave men who met at Farringdon Hall on the summons of the Earl of Carnarvon , evidently belong to the better class of the redeemable . They have erred , and they have "been punished for their error ; the account between them and society is balanced , and they have at least the claim of misfortune . Beginning afresh , they begin at a disadvantage . We take the case of ono ticket-of-leave man described by another : —
" I saw a man the other clay pick out of tho mud a crust of bread , who said he would work two hours for a bit of bread . Ho said ho Lad no home , could get no Work , an 4 had nothing to do but to starve . Ho was iwonty-siJc years of age , strong , hearty , willing to work , and yet famishing for food . There ia not suflicient employment for tho honest , and how can wo expect employmentr Th e same speaker told hia own case . The police know him aa a housebreaker , and if a house is robbed in his neighbourhood , it is ascribed to him . What is he to do ? what nre all such men to do ? " Trn « Or >«^ 4 . 1 » . all such men to do ? « Transport thorn ' » is
the easy answer ; but the colonies will as httle have them aB tho honest employer Ihore as one resource opon to them , and that is the " old racketing . " They may bo imprisoned and punished , but there is no punishment bo severe aB starvation . The speaker whom we havo quoted makes another suggestion , The ticket-of-leave man ho Bays , « is flesh and blood like others ; ho has sense and reason , and lcnowa when ho ia trodden on . " Ho can toll on which eido his bread is buttered—when he has learned to
discriminate . Evidently we do not cure crime by the present plan ; we did not cure it by transportation , even when we were free to use that expedient ; but in some cases it has been cured , or the incurables have been safely disposed of . There is an example in Ireland , in the Irish prisons under the Chief Superintendent , Captain Waiter , Crofton . The prisoners are allowed a conditional freedom , as the reward , not of ' pretty' behaviour , but of genuine good behaviour ; undergoing an
industrial discipline before they attain that stage . Captain . Crofton is already able to give many examples of successful treatment in this way . But there are some incurables —the incurable lunatics of crime ; and the same tests which warrant the conditional release of the curable criminals , detects the incurable nature of other men ' s congenital disease . An intelligent system of prison discipline meets the difficulty presented by the ticket-of-leave men at Lord Carnarvon ' s
meeting . The man wbom we have chiefly quoted said , " If there were an institution for men when they come out of prison , it would do good ; " exactly the opinion of Captain Choi-ton , Mr . M . D . Hill , Mr . Adderley , and other earnest reformers of our criminal code . Some institution , which , in the name of Christianity and humanity , will help back the sinner to an honest life . Mr . Henry Mathew Las added to out
information by bringing ticket-of-leave men face to face with those who equally desire to restrain and to reform .
Colonial Appointments. It Is Vulgarly Su...
COLONIAL APPOINTMENTS . It is vulgarly supposed to be the function of journals , especially of radical journals , to carp at all official appointments whatsoever , without the slightest reference to their fitness , or the reverse . W " e have never , our readers will bear us witness , acquiesced in this unworthy conception of independence . We may not be able to praise so often as we could wish , but the rarer the opportunity , the more gladly do we seize it . Two
admirable Colonial appointments signalize the administration of his department by Mr . Labottcheee in a very hopeful manner this week , and embody , so to speak , one of the leading principles of Administrative Reformers . It has been too much tlie practice throughout every department of the public service to ignore the principle of promotion for seniority of service and ability among tlie subordinate civil officers of the Crown , and in the Colonial Department , for example , to supply vacancies with a perpetual succession of new and untried men . The motives for such a
system of appointments are as obvious as its effects , and both are equally objectionable . So long as the appointments of the Crown were regarded by tho Minister of the time being as so many feeders of Parliamentary corruption , tho Ministerial whipper-in was in effect the distributor of imperial patronage . In such a calculation tho fitness of the functionary was almost as little considered as the wishes and the interests of the colony ho was commissioned to misgovern . Time has worked some wonders in theao respects .
Colonies have been presented , for better or for worse , with responsible governments , and if they consent to accept a governor from England , he must know his business . On tho other hand , tho cry of the civil service begins to bo heard ; seniority and capacity aro permitted to assert their claims . In our West India islands the office of government is no bed of repose . Party feeling runs h igh , tho Lory whites and tho coffee-coloured Badieals wage fierce battles in the Houses of Assembly , with Homeric episodes of < liquors ' to inflame tho combatants . Parliamentary
licence of expression is pushed beyond European limits , and the language of the honourable members is often tropically warm . The local press , too , is prying , bitter , and con . , tentious , incessantly provoking and sharpennig _ public and personal animosities , and scrutinizing the slightest acts and movements of official dignitaries with a reckless and insatiable jealousy . All these heterogeneous elements of West Indian polity demand the prese nce of a strong ; will , a calm temper , and a clear
decisive judgment in the Governor , who must ever be on the watch to maintain the prerogatives of imperial authority without encroaching upon the rights of the dependencies . 3 ? irrnness and conciliation are equally in . dispensable to such a position , but , above all some little knowledge of the natives . 'We believe that in the two appointments , which have suggested these remarks , all these requisites are fully satisfied ; Mr . Thomas Price , late Treasurer of Antigua , is
understood to have displayed in an eminent degree those qualities which peculiarly fit him for the Presidency of the Virgin Islands , to which ' lie is now appointed , and Mr . C . J . Bayley , whom we find promoted to the Government of the Bahamas , is recommended by his able services as Colonial Secretary in the Mauritius . Such appointments as these deserve to be pointed out for special commendation , as an example and an encouragement to public servants , and an indication , of a true sense of responsibility in Downing-street itself .
The "Unemployed At The Unions. Considera...
THE "UNEMPLOYED AT THE UNIONS . Considerable advantages have already accrued to the unemployed population in London from their strain upon the Unions . "We can only advise them to persevere . They have a right to relief , without being made paupers , nor will their claims be resisted if urged by large bodies , and in a resolute manner . Some
of the magistrates have thought fit to warn them against violent or threatening demonstrations . Such counsel , we think , is superfluous . The men out of employment have exhibited no tendencies of this kind . They have simply proved that they are beginning to understand the reality of their rights secured to them by the Poor-law .
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( Dpen Ciutttril
—*—[Ik This Drpatttment. .As Axx Opinion...
—*—[ IK THIS DRPATtTMENT . . AS AXX OPINIONS , IIOWEVKIt EXTRKHK , AM ALLOWED A . N HXIMSESSION , T 1 II 5 EDITOH NECESSARILY HOLDS HIMSELF RESPONSlULIt FOlt JS 0 NK . 1
There 13 N.O Learned Man But •Will Confe...
There 13 n . o learned man but will confess ho linth much profited by reading controversies , his senBes awakened , and his judgment sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for him to read , why should it not , at leaat , be t olerable for his adversary to write 7— MitTON
Secrets Op The Purchase System. (To The ...
SECRETS OP THE PURCHASE SYSTEM . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) Sir , —Many people complaia that they find it impossible to understand the working of tho purchase system in our army . Colonel Buclc , who ought to know something abont it , in his recent correspondence with Lord Cardigan states that lie cannot , after the most diligent inquiry , diacover the process by which his Lordship obtained command of a regiment at such nn unusually early ago . Perhaps I can enlighten Colonel Buck and your readers on the subject . The regulation price of a lieutenant-colonelcy of cavalry is 6200 / . I * ord Cardigan ia currently reported to have paid for his 35 , 000 / ., in other words , he expended nearly 30 , 000 / . in bribing his . seniors out of liia way .
Similar cases are by no means uncommon , though Lord Cardigan ' s 1 ms a deserved pre-eminence , from the magnitude of tho sum paid , and tho unusually short period in which tho command Avas obtained . It is not often that a young nobleman is to bo found in a regiment , passionately desirous of command , with unlimited pecuniary meane , first-rate interest at the Horso Guards , and senior officers ready to make way for him . But , on a smaller scale , tho same thing is going on every day ; not one commission in twenty is s old for the regulation price . True , there arc strict orders
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 31, 1857, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_31011857/page/14/
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