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hsolute in its tendencies . It revoked to the C ' own almo st the entire controul of public affairs , d established a counterfeit legislature , elected w a counterfeit constituency , consisting only of few of the highest tax-payers in each place . It ? to b e supposed that the Court made this 1 ffpmnt without considerable support ; and although , the proceedings are kept as secret as possiblet ^ it is beyond a doubt that the support must have ' been external . The fact is proved by the ex tremely comprehensive nature of the opposition . The Cortes were so generally arrayed icrainst the measure , that it was necessary to
dissolve that body . The important nature of the contest , not less than the arbitrary conduct to which the Government has committed itself , is seen in an assembling of a numerous committee of the opposition , with Narva&z at its head as President ; and in the dispersion of that assembly by the police , on the single authority of the Crown . Narvaez has been dent into exile , and every party in the country , except a very fractional knot who cling to the court , has been sent into opposition . ^ ( It may create some surprise that the party which invented thig coup-d * 4 tat in Madrid , did
not act upon the pattern of Louis JN apmeon—' collect a great force , and surprise the capital in the night ; but the reason is , that the army in . Spain is in great part a body independent of the Crown . There are substantial reasons for that independence . One is the personal pride which , the conduct of the court has failed to conciliate for many years , and wheih , therefore , causes a number of decayed families and their cadets to so about the- country with feelings very much other
the reverse of affection to the throne . The cause is the comparatively indifferent pay of the army , which has forced it at times into strange quarters and strange straits , and has made it acquainted with shifts conducive neither to discipline nor to that unity of feeling which scientific governors now seek to infuse into standing armies . The army has too much the spirit of an irregular corps ; the men are in many cases fond of their officers , and have scraps of national feeling distinct from mere affection to the
sovereign . Anything like national feeling has long been submerged among Spaniards at large in more trifling sentiments : —self-esteem , on a Castilian scale , pride in personal beauty and show , love of pleasure , of enjoyment , of idleness , not altogether voluntary , characterize the Spaniard over a great extent of territory . These characteristics are lost , to a considerable extent , when , you enter the territory of Barcelona ; where the old Spirit of national ' independence ; once so turbuleii ( ly
shown under the Counts , has been succeeded by a strong infusion of modern commercial feeling , with the corresponding turbulence characteristic of manufacturing towns . If the expression is not far too strong , Barcelona may be called the Lancashire of Spain , with the commercial spirit strong in the employing class , and rather a riotous spirit strong in the Working class ; but in both cases to the abatement of old Spanish fooling , or of blind allegiance to a barbaric th ' roni ' . ¦ The district in which national feofine
remains strong , where' ' popular independence is most stoutly maintained , is that called tho Basque Provinces . . Repeated aggressions on tho old privileges ' of' the Basques , which have been but partially Huc ' eessful , have only maclo them cleneh their teeth arid fists the stronger . But the UaHqttes , bred in it curtain local liberty , peculiar in their temperament jus in their tongue , connect their special liberty with tho past ; and have no theoretical sympathy with the progress
of civilization or the growth of liberty m modern Kuropo or in Hpain . Tlie solo unity amongHt any active and energetic class of Spaniards , therefore , is to be found in tho army . It would , for theso v » anbnn , have boon almost impossible for 'any-q , d venturer in Madrid <; o rearlithe nation through the arrriy , or to gt ;\*\) nt any millions of voters . Tho whohvuttliir inusfc be titled in'tho ( 'hamber , and , if poHsibltt ; by circumventing the army rather tilinn nfling it or defying it . Tlio petition of tlio ootirt iH proportionately wwik . '
I f , H feebleness is not diminished by the precarious throad with which Cuba still ' maintains its I'ormoxibh . The publication Of tho diplomatic < " <> rr < iNnondtoiko in America , although it does not hoar directly -Upon tho present movement , will t ^ nd to dimfmVh 'the eoiilidoiuo in the hold of tho throno bf erfhitt valuable island . Tho
correspondence between the Government at Washington and its representatives in London , from 1822 to 1840 , establishes two or three points of considerable importance . It appears that the Spanish cession of Cuba has been a subject of question ever since the earliest of those aates . We first find the United States defending Cuba against the encroachments of France and the machinations , of England . An equivocal expression quoted by Mr . Everett from the Count de la Alcudia , who says that he had certain
information from the Duke of Wellington , has been taken to imply that the Duke was an accomplice in those machinations . The honour of England does not require any very elaborate disclaimer of the absurd projects imputed to her . But the fact is important , that the permanent retention of Cuba appears to have been a matter of doubt with , all the three powers in correspondence . At the close of the correspondence , we find the American Ministers offering to purchase the island for 100 , 000 , 000 dollars . We have-reason
to believe that this correspondence ought to have an appendix , bringing down the negotiation to a period within the last three years . Another fact established by the correspondence is the longexistenee in the island of a party favourable to its cession ; a corroboration of the mote importance , since it reflates recent denials . The Spaniards , therefore , must regard their royal Government as having a serious diaster hanging over its head , — -the loss of Cuba ;
and allegiance is seldom strengthened by sympathy with failure , especially when that failure is prospective and immediate . If we might hazard a calculation in times which defy the prophecies of politicians , we might Say that the Spanish Government is too weak toaccomplish a coup-d'tiat ; that it can do no more than foment disorders in its own dominions ¦ foment disorders which make it so much easier for the taxes to be collected in the shape of profits by contrabandistas than by the authorized servants of the Crown . The army is still the strongest power in Spain , disorganized and demoralised as it may be ; and encroachments upon its patience will only bcrsafe while they are not quite intolerable . The disorders , indeed , might succeed for the . benefit of the Royal system of Europe in general , at the expense of the particular family , by inducing the anny to adopt the unlucky exile , Montemolin , instead of Queen Isabella . He i 3 not the most imposing of legitimate claimants—he has no air of command in his countenance ; but if you look to personal dignities , he will do at least as well as Isabella , and may pass muster amongst the small party of saored Sovereigns .
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THE BUDGET AND BEER . Towards no part of tho community could Mr . Disraeli have selected a more unfortunate test for 1 judgment of himself and his measures , than the Malt-tax , as lie proposes to treat it . It would bo quite possible to apply to the b ' eer-trade the principle of " unrestricted competition" in a manner quite consistent with tho principle to which WO adhere , that of Concert ; and in a manner as beneficial to tho public as to the farmer , or more ' . so . That which prevents the
application of the xmnciplo is , not the amount ox the Malt-duty , but the manner in which it is levied , anil also the manner in which other burdens are niaihtained upon the Beer-trade ; and with these obstacles Mr . Disraeli docs not deal at all . It is well , at starting , distinctly to recognise tho fact , that the " monopoly" of the great b ' rowors does not rest entirel y upon fiscal restrictions , but upon the amount of experience , capital , and skill brought into tho tnule . Still , the fiscal restrictions do help to maintain that monopoly by an indirect , process which we shall exof beer like that of
plain . ' ' For the making Bass , elements of first-rate quality , water , in alt , and hops , are the prime necessaries . To secure them , a , certain ass urance is required t > y the employment of a large capital , which can command the b ( J $ t rnntm- 'iijlR , and can afford to reject those thlit fall short . Homo fortunate oirouinHtanoe . s are' t'SHoiitiril accessories . . Such itv good water near tins fiito of the hrewory , tho chemical qualities ofwliieh are not always to be discriminated . Another essential accessory lies ii « servants with Uictatwl skill , which , in browing , cannot bo ro-( IuHmI to ohoniJealrules . ' Hut there is ho doubt that a good deal of experiment , in a » maU wdy , might bo carried on , ii
the trade were perfectly open , and the makingof beer could be pursued in every little hamlet . J . no large capital m necessary in the first instance , because'there is a heavy duty to be paid ; tor although that is ultimately charged upon tne consumer , it must , in the first instance , be met by the capitalist . The formation of capital tor that purpose has led to the gradual collection ot business into the hands of a few great brewers ; and front this circumstance arises a state of things which contributes to consolidate the mono-Dolv . It is well known that the publicans are
largely assisted by great brewers , and that , therefore ; upon those brewers the publicans are dependent . The disposition of the public to purchase articles with sums in aliquot parts , also helps to regulate the pr ice at a fixed level . Between the producer , the malt-grower , and the consumer , the effect of competition is arrested . The maltster has , of course , a market in which competition brings down pr ices to the lowest level for him . The great brewer can also give the lowest pr ice , taking duty as an element in the account , for more or less , according to the fact . But as soon as we reach the publican , the effect of competition , to a great extent , ceases ; and the machinery which maintains prices at that
stage is brought to bear still more strongly oy the general usage of trade upon the public . The publican cannotusecompetition effectively against the brewer , and he is shielded from it on the part of the public . . There is another reason why the public is debarred from the advantages of unrestricted competition . A shop for the sale of beer cannot be opened without a licence : now this licence is made , not onlv a matter of police , but a matter
of fisc ; and the cost , we believe , is ten gumeas . The consequence is , that the humbler dealer meets an impediment at first starting . ^ Not only so , but there are other attendant restrictions . The customer who seeks beer , desires , in many cases , to have a choice of fermented drinks ; and he would often frequent a shop for beer , where he could occasionally take spirits instead . The licence for spirits , however , is not only charged at a much higher sum , but is also a matter of favour , to be sought from the magistrates , with great trouble , and not without some use of social salof fermented
influence . That shops for the e drinks ought to be more especially under the eye of the police is obvious ; but it is a very bad regulation which mixes up police laws with fiscal laws ; and especially when laws of that complicated kind help other restrictions to check unrestricted competition , of which Mr . Disraeli boasts . The licensing system tends to help the peculiar relation which we have already explained between the brewer and the publican , in diminishing tb . 6 number of aublicans ot dealers in fermented drinks : and , therefore , the dealers in , beer . It is because the humbler trader finds
such universal difficulty in penetrating the thickets of the system , that the manufacture of " the juice which makes the Briton bold" is kept in so few hands . There is no reason why associations like that of the Co-operative Brewery should not be formed amongst tho workingclasses themselves , for the manufacture of their own beer , secured , as it would be , under tho principle of association , against adulteration ; but , in the existing state of the law , that must be impossible to the immense number , and , therefore , the working-classes are forced to drink whatever miserable stuff the publicans may sell in
the name of ale and porter , The true restriction upon tho trade lies in the licensing and exeiso systems , which directly check the multi p lication of dealers , and necessitate a large capital ; and with , those restrictions Mr . Disraeli does not meddle . He thrown away 2 , r ><) 0 , <)<)<)/ . for no benefit , cither to fanner or consumer ; with benefit only to the groat brewer , who , of tho whole series , does not want it .
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Kill WAN'S CASK . (• IUCirMHTANTIAn KVJPENCJO , AMD CAPITAL runrsiiMKNT . Wk are given to understand that shortly after the execution of Mr . Kirwan , a very important meeting in to bo held ' at Exeter Hull , in favour of tho abolition of Capital Punishments . The gentlemen in and out of Parliament , who have long taken an aotiv 6 part in . thin movement , aro determined , not to loso tho oratorical opportunity afforded them by tho
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I December 18 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . I 267
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 18, 1852, page 1207, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1965/page/11/
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