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Leader (1850-1860), 17th January 1852, Edition Town of 1, Page 59

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      compense , such as another person would be willing to pay for the loan of this capital , which is called interest ; and the ; remuneration which is obtained for mere " abstinence' * is measured by the current rate of interest on the best security . But , the remuneration of superintendence is much more than -this , the rate of profit exceeding the rate of interest ; the surplus being compensation for the time , labour , and increased risk , without which the risk would not be incurred ; and , if the concern be large and complicated , it requires great assiduity and skill , which

      must be remunerated . The gross profits , therefore , must afford sufficient remuneration for " abstinence , " for risk , and for the labour and skill required for superintendence . The lowest rate of profit , therefore , must afford ah equivalent sufficient for these three purposes . How much will be required to form this equivalent must depend upon the strength of the effective desire of accumulation . " If the surplus be only sufficient to remunerate the larger capitals , none but those larger

      masses could be employed productively ; and , if the surplus do not amount to this , capital would be withdrawn or consumed until , by its diminished amount , the rate of profit be again raised . The remuneration of capital in different employments varies according to the circumstances which render one employment more attractive or repulsive than another . But the amount of gross profit depends in a great measure upon the knowledge , talents , economy , and energyof the capitalist or his agents , on his personal connections , and even on chance . Mr . Stuart Mill has thus defined the law

      which regulates the rate of profit , which tends to fell from : — " 1 . An increase of capital beyond population , producing increased competition for labour . " 2 . An increase of population occasioning a demanoLfor an increased quantity of food , which must be produced ati greater cost / The rate of profit tends to rise from : — - " 1 . An increase of population beyond capital , producing increased competition for employment . " 2 . Improvements producing increased cheapness of necessaries , and other articles habitually consumed by the labourer . "

      In the United States of America , where the labourer enjoys a larger share of the comforts and necessaries of life than in England , in consequence of the cheap price at which they may be obtained ( combined with the greater efficiency of the labour , arising in a great measure from the superior education of the workman ) , the cost of labour to the capitalist is lower , since the rate of interest is higher . Profits are said , therefore , to depend upon the cost of production of wages , or upon the ratio which the wages bear to the produce of labour .

      Mr . Thomas Wilson , in his valuable work on Partnership en Commandite , in summing up the respective data on which to form an opinion of the comparative ability of America to compete with England in producing manufactures , has arranged and contrasted them thus : — " England . « ' Ambiuoa .. " 1 .. Abundance and " 1 . Iron , whether native cheapness of iron for ma- or imported , with an extra chinery . cost of production on one side , of British profit and ... carriage on the other .

      2 . Abundance and " 2 . Immense water cheapness of coal to pro- power , which constitutes an duce a motive power , and efficient and unexpensive to warm the factories . substitute for steam ; with adequate supply of coal , but at a dearer price than in England , for warming the buildings . * ' Great ingenuity , «• 3 . Equal ingenuity and skill , and experience in the skill , with the experience work of mechanics . of mechanics who have emi-« a n ,. . . grated from England . 4 . Great division of " 4 . Approximation to labour , and consequent this , as shown in the estasaving of umo and cost . blishmentof factories on the

      largestsoalo , where division tlK T ? rtnnA , ,. of labour is practised . « r « hii «? ^ 4 and long - " S- Capabilities of ex-Z 1 „ C 0 ITe ^ ' with Ending commerce , already its consequent facilities for shown by the great trade obtaining tho best markets , with South America and 4 . 1 />¦ n -. i * 1 China . rat « nf ? n ?» J I ft l 0 W < 3 r " - Ca P ! tal de ««« - f but rate of interest . more read j ly auppiied under tt * w A , Itmited partnerships . amount' 8 at tt l 0 M " 7 * > age » higher , but amount n » oro labour obtained lor " 8 . Security of property . « 8 ? Eq . uT Xti ° ' " 0 . The natural perse- " 9 . The national nemo voranco , which forms a lend- verance of Bnrihf 2 JJ " Sl ft / Oa ? , T t | le ^ waoter added to the eSl oTthe ofEnglfohmen . American du ! S 3 &

      " 10 . England , surfeited " 10 . Working entirely with the success of wages , on her own account , and overstocking the markets » . for home consumption , with every five years , which leads the demand sp much ex ^ to a ' Panic' ( accompanied ceeding the supply ,, that an by insolvency , prostration excels -of produce is unof credit ^ ' sacrifice of twenty possible . Should there be to thirty per cent , on forced such excess , it can easily sales or barter of manufac- be disposed of : in China tures ) , and the social and for tea , iu South America political discontent arising for coffee , and in the Brazils from non-employment and and the Havannahior sugar , loss of ¦ wages , with their circulation . '

      ' - ¦*• 11 . Ah overpowering " 11 . Capital employed in money aristocracy , with different branches of probanks which foster the bill ductive industry under the and credit system , moving sanction of the law which the cotton trade , to give it limits the liability of sharea superiority over other holders to the amount acbranches of national in- tually invested by each , dustry , and leading to com- Thus , even small amounts merci&l difficulties , which ^ swell the aggregate of the constantly derange the capitalised labour , usefully whole system of business . and beneficially employed , while wild speculations are checked , and each person , knowing the extent of his ! liability , is free from present- anxiety , or a

      contingency of future unascertainable loss . " 12 . Monopoly , among « 12 . Thecapitalinvested a few , of the available in business , belonging to a capital of the country em- multitude of people , very ployed in business , which is greatly less in amount than estimated at £ 500 , 000 , 000 . the capital used for like This has been moved from purposes in England , but time to time for the interest infinitely more effective for of individuals , banks , and trade and the public , by speculators—with the result being distributed through almost invariably to the de- many channels , while , as it triment of the public at is impossible to draw it tolarge , and of fair trade . " gether in large masses , it cannot be used to the injury of the community . " 13 . Taxation less . ¦ "

      " 14 . Provisions cheaper . 11 15 . Raw materials cheaper and more abundant . " ; Although some of Mr . Wilson's " data" may be disputed , and require to be modified , yet I believe them in the main to be correct ; and they have been strikingly confirmed by the increase of exports of American iron and cotton manufactures ,

      and by the rapid augmentation of the American mercantile marine . One of the most distinguished citizens of the United States recently informed me that he attributed the rapid and progressive development of American industry , in a great measure , to the superior education of the working classes . In America there is an untaxed Press , and a comparatively untaxed People . William Coningham .

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      NOTES ON WAR . BY A SOLDIER . No . III . —The Musket and Bayonet . In Sail calculations regarding muskets and rifles of long range , one point must never be forgotten , that their proper effect can only be produced in the hands of a comparatively few very expert men . The accuracy of aim in long shots depends upon natural qualifications which few soldiers' possess , and upon a great degree of acquired skill ; the long range ( much more easily obtained than accurate fire ) depends upon the correct elevation being given ,

      which can only be done from certain knowledge of the distance . Distance and elevation can be determined on the practice-ground , but not on the battlefield . There is a vast difference between the circumstances of experimental firing , and of actual practice in war . In experimental firing , picked men are always employed , probably the picked men of a picked corps , whose skill , of course , will be far above the average of an army . And then the picked man—his attention undistracted , his composure undisturbed by anything—quietly moves from range to range , the exaot number of yards in each having

      been previously ascertained . And this picked marksman has not marched ten or twelve miles to the practice-ground , and made several manoeuvres and changes of position at a quick run ; no musket balls and round shot whistle over his' head , knock up the dust in his face , and kill comrades within a yard of him ; no hostile or friendly cavalry ( he hardly knows which until they are quite close ) gallop past with ponderous clatter ; and the target he aims at , representing six men , has not half a dozen muskets in its hands , and is not , with other similar targets , gradually approaching with deadly intent . The same strictures apply , with rather additional force , to reports of artillery practice , The guns

      and howitzers must be elevated according to the distance ; and , when common shells or spherical cases ( Shrapnells ) are used , the fuzes must be cut to an assumed range not easily ascertained in the heat of action . And from adroit sharpshooters and well-served artillery alone can there with any degree of plausibility be made out a case of '' certain cutting to pieces , " or " annihilation , " against a force , as I propose , deliberately advancing to a close combat ; for the mention of musketry fire deserves to be met with nothing but contempt and derision from any one who knows what a musketry fire really is . Let the case of one of the most decisive and bloody battles of modern times suffice as an example .

      The battle of Waterloo lasted for about nine hours , and not more than 20 , 000 French were killed and wounded . We will suppose that only 5000 of these were disposed of by the allied cavalry and artillery , and there will remain 15 , 000 as the results of infantry work . We will consider that only 45 , 000 infantry were actually engaged on the side of the English , and that they only expended on an average seventy-five cartridges per man , —a most moderate allowance ; for it is well known that the Rifles went into action with eighty rounds , and were twice supplied with ammunition during the day . The result will be that it took the exertions

      of three English soldiers for nine hours , and the expenditure of ttvo hundred and twenty-five musket shots , to place one Frenchman hors de combat ! Slow and tedious work this ! And had not the Prussian army , according to Blucher ' s promise , arrived in time to surround the French , reduced in numbers and exhausted by their protracted exertions , with an overwhelming force , this would but have added one more to the long list of indecisive modern battles . " But the slaughter was tremendous . " Well might it have been when seventy thousand French and seventy thousand English had been engaged in the exchange of every species of

      missile for nine hours 1 But mark a contrast . At the battle _ of Preston-pans 2500 undisciplined Highlanders , with broadsword and target , their advance covered by an unskilful fire of musketry , cut to pieces and dispersed in ten minutes a superior number of English infantry , armed and equipped exactly like the men who conquered at Blenheim and Malplaquet . The same result followed at Falkirk , and even at Culloden ; with disaffection and disobedience in their ranks , which prevented the first attack being supported and followed up , the Highlanders broke through every part of the Engl ish line that they reached in their charge .

      With " shield poised high , " with brandished sword or levelled pike , the brave man will give the reins to courage and rush upon his foe ; that is the way to do his work , and he feels it . But the musketeer , with an unlimited supply of ammunition , is disinclined , and , after an excessive expenditure of gunpowder , becomes still more unfit for a stern and close combat . And the musket and bayonet is the most clumsy , awkward tool that ever was placed in a man ' s hands , and every soldier knows it .

      The musket , rifle , or firearm of any sort , is a weapon which must be used , to produce any effect , with the utmost coolness and composure , and is only fit for defensive positions , and for covering an advance . The main principle of war is forward movement ; the instinct of a soldier in the ranks with a musket and pouch full of cartridges , and the instinct of the officer commanding such troops , ia to stand still and fire away as fast as possible , for

      he can be killed moving on ; but , to kill an enemy himself , he must stand still and commence firing ; he feels that he is throwing away a chance every moment that he is not employed in getting as many shots at the enemy as possible . As soon as a fire commences all must join in it ; and it is a striking proof of the intense absurdity of the whole system , that the hotter the fire is the more contemptible is its destructive effect . , The smoke becomes thicker ,

      no aim can be taken , but faster and noisier grows the fire j the very , worst troops will stand fire as long as they have a , cartridge left to make a noise and smoke of their own . Faster and noisier grows the fire—faster , noisier , and less destructive . When the men can no longer see to take aim from the smoke ; when they are wearied , bruised , and half stunned with the constant recoil and concussion of the air close to their heads , —having already advanced or retired some distance rapidly , and halted to begin afire , —they must become excited , the blood will circulate like lightning through the veins , there is an end to the pfirfeofc composure and steadiness which arc necessary for the proper uso of the

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      Jan ; 17 , 185 ? . ] 0 J ! : $ . % * $ p . $ t > V ^

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 17, 1852, page 59, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1918/page/15/