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with whom they ought to co-operate ; they would be repaying the bad example which some of them may nave received from bad masters . They are bound , therefore , to consider the representations of the masters , not only with candour , but with a desire to know the truth . On the other hand , it is evident that unless the masters in any particular trade or place are prepared to raise wages to the equivalent of those given in other trades and places , they are bound to give their workmen a distinct explanation why it is that wages cannot be so raised . They arc bound , not only by iustice , but by policy , since it is most desirable that the men should understand the justice ot the case on the side of the masters .
It is too late in the day for us to think it necessary to prove that high -wages are no evil . If trade is in a flourishing condition , masters cannot conceal the increased demand for labour ,- and cannot refuse a higher remuneration . It follows , therefore , that high wages are a necessary attendant upon prosperous trade . There might be drawbacks , but at present we observe very few . The artificiallyenhanced price of iron lias been cured by the breakdown of the speculations of forestallers and regraters . The high price of wool , and still more the bad condition of the wool from Australia , are a more serious drawback ; but we do not observe that the Yorkshire employers are the slowest to concede advanced wages .
There is no excessive price of cotton . If the cotton manufacturers are under difficulty , it is that they have overdone the practice of producing in advance of the market , and of seeking an excessive " cheapness , " to their own ultimate damage . The new system , however , which has followed the institution of railways , and the ready transit of goods throughout the world—the practice of making more to demand ,
with short accounts , has saved the capital of manufacturers to a great extent , and has mitigated the evil of their system of underselling themselves . Upon the whole , some more definite explanation is due to the men , why wages should not be raised in the cotton districts , than they have yet received ; but , let us repeat , they are bound to receive that explanation with candour , and with a desire to do justice to the case , as soon as they understand it .
That portion of their demands which consists in the claim for short time , is reasonable , on every ground . The total absorption of life in the business of driving cotton machinery , is absolutely and irredeemably an evil , a vice ; and whatever may bo the inconvenient consequences of assenting to an abatement of the hours of labour to a reasonable amount , those consequences ought cheerfully to be undergone . If labour prove iinmfliciont for the requirements of the markets , let improvements in machinery supply the deficiency . We are convinced that there is no acquisition so valuable to the working-man as some proportion of leisure . Nothing can compensate for the loss of that . It is lcisuro that
makes the " gentleman , " that elevates the man above the mere animal , or human machine . It is leisure that gives room for thought to turn , and thus makes the artist , ' the pool , and the philosopher . We do not mean that each man needs to be a teacher in these pursuits . Ho who is fitted to be a teacher is usually born with * ' genius , " and can struggle up from the adverse circumstances of early life . "Hut the man who is to profit by tho teachings of the Jmi losopher , the poet , or the artist , must limHclf have- something of each ; and ho can only get that something Avhen his thoughts have : room to turn round . II , is leisure to take in tho
objects around him which enables him to reilect upon his plans of future life ; to provide for a coming lime ; and to become a " man of sub-» tanee . " it is leisure that enables him to look about for a , belter employ—for promotion in industry . Jt is leisure that ( limbless him to consult with his fellows , and to exercise deliberately and temperately the right of combination . If the whole working-classes of this country , with their
intelligence , their opportunities of seli-nnprovement , their general command of comfort ,, succeed in possessing the daily hour of leisure --not tho hour of excitement snatched before sleep they would establish a footing upon a ground whjch would not only make them hotter than they are in the relations of life , but would elevate tho whole condition of the class , nupply it by degrees with new Btandurda of excellence , and enable it to
commence a march of « progress" unlike the pitiful struggles which hitherto have been miscalled by that name . And meanwhile ? Why , meanwhile the very effort for this higher condition in itself ennobles the workmen who can conduct these struggles with an eye to that better condition , and in a spirit not unsuited to it .
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MOLESWORTH TO RUSSELL : A . PBOPHETIC SEKMON . The present Minister for Russell affairs ought to remember the election for South Devon , in 1835 , not only because he was then defeated , but because he there received an admirable sermon , from a friend , on a subject recently debated . There was a public dinner , at Exeter , the day before the polling ; among the guests was Lord John Russell , with Sir William Molesworth and Mr . Charles Buller , both subsequently in office with Lord John ; and , in an after-dinner speech , Sir William warned his present colleague , that if he were defeated , it would be for want of protection to the voter . We cannot add to the force of Sir William's words—worthy to have been repeated from the Treasury bench , in the recent debate : — " If , my lord , you lose this election , you will lose it simply by the means of intimidation , for the majority of the electors are undoubtedly in your favour ; but they dare not , nor can they be expected , even for conscience sake , to incur utter destruction and ruin . Their responsibility to their brother electors , their responsibility to their own consciences , is as nothing-, when compared to the responsibility which they are-under to their imperious landlords—to the tithe-extortioning priests ; the one , my lord , is a mere name , the other is something in dread and terror-striking reality . If , my lord , you gain your election , you will gain it with difficulty , by the self-sacrifice of many , and some of your truest and most undaunted supporters will rue the day of your return ; for they will suffer , as has been the case in other counties , through the anger , the
ill-will , and revenge of their infuriated landlords . Now , my lord , these considerations deserve your most earnest attention , in order to apply the fitting remedy to these enormous evils . The only remedy is secret suffrage . Novyr , my lord , remember the contest , liemember the electors of Devon , and the evil which , they will endure , when you will hereafter have to give your vote on the subject , when you will have to say ay or no for the ballot . The ballot , my lord , is the only remedy which will strike at the root of this pernicious influence ., of those enormous evils , of which we justly complain . As the only remedy , all true , all earnest , all zealous , all determined reformers , ought to sparo no trouble , no exertions , to obtain it : and they ought ever to persevere in courageously demanding tho ballot , until their wishes are gratified . "
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THE PRESENT STATE OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE . Lettish IV . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) Sir , —The present position of the Turkish Empire is a perplexed one ; but in order fully to comprehend it and more completely to develope the causes to which it may be traced , especially the internal causes , it will be necessary for me to take a rapid glance at its modern history . Consisting , therefore , more- of a condensation of facts than of original matter , the present letter will bo founded upon several diplomatic papers , histories , books of travel , Krasinski ' s Montenegro die Slawen tier Turkci , the daily journals , &c .
I have stated this m order to acknowledge tho foreign sources whence tho matter is derived , and to avoid repeated acknowledgments in tho body of my letter . This condensation is essential , sinco by no other means can we arrive at the first impulses of that growing movement which has threatened to engulf the Ottoman lOmpire , and which even now , if suffered to increase , and if not mot by gigantic efforts on tho side of the Porto , protected from foreign intervention by the western powers of . Europe , will hurl the Crescent back into tho wilds of Asia ami tho saviigo deserts of its religious history .
Tho treaty of Carlowilz left Turkey comparatively impregnable seated upon the height of military glory . Hut on war again breaking out , tho lOinperor of ( Wnian y assisted Russia with 80 , 000 men . in consequence of this first intervention , tho Porte was compelled to conclude the treaty of Jassi in 171 ) 2 , ' in wjiich wo find ( ha ( i extraordinary cluuso authorizing Kubhiuh
interference in the provinces of Wallachia and Moldavia , whose respective Hospodars were not to be removable unless with the consent ot tne autocrat of St . Petersburg , The Porte , however , deemed itself strong enough to . infringe tins treaty , and removed the Hospodars at its own pleasure . The Russian remonstrances were met by the closing of the Pardanelles . Russia already attached so much importance to her intermeddlement in those provinces , that she immediately despatched an army of 60 , 000 men to maintain her influence there . The inhabitants of Bucharest joined the Russians , and the Turkish , troops were defeated . This moment , sir , was an important one , for a great army
threatened Turkey , and foreign influences were already at work in the provinces ; yet \ t was in the midst of this crisis that the bultaft Selim entered upon that career of innovation which has been since pursued with such tatal effect . Mahmoud , the greatest of Turkish reformers , has often erroneously been considered the first of her innovators also . Selim , however , had already attempted new importations , and had advocated changes in the discipline and command of the Mussulman troops . He chose , as I have already stated , that important moment when the Russian army was on the march , and her influences at work " in western Turkey . The fiflfectsof thisimnolitic nroceedingmieht have been
imagined . The Turkish forces , on their march to meet the enemy , mutinied and massacred some of the officers who desired to introduce European . discipline amongst them ! This disorganized rabble of course effected nothing against the enemy . In the next campaign , the Turks , after a brilliant defence , found themselves , worsted , and , at its termination , Selim , who had offended all true believers , died , and yielded the
harvest of his trouble to the famous Mahmoud . Mahmoud raised the confidence of the faithful by setting up the standard of the Prophet in the plain of Duad Pasha . A large army was collected , hurled the Russians back across the Dapube , and caused General ELutusoff to evacuate Rutschutz . But , unfortunately , Ahmed Aga , when be victoriously passed over the Danube to follow the enemy , and when he took Rutschutz and fortified a large island in the river , imprudently left behind him an unintrenched camp , and a
portion of his troops . A Russian detached forco took tho camp , and defeated the troops , surprised and unguarded . The Turkish army was cut in two , and deprived of provisions and supplies ; 10 , 000 men surrendered ; but the winter terminating the campaign , the two armies retired . Tho Grand Vizier , however , presently receivod " great reinforcements . " But mutterings were already heard . The French army invaded Russia , tho Porte saw a trembling future , and tho treaty of Bucharest was signed in 1813 , b y which Russia extended her frontiers from the [ Dniester
to tho Pruth . This Mar had been carried on by tho Porte in tho midst of internal anarchy and stimulated rebellion . Already , in 1805 , the Servians had gained couragp to assert their nationality , and after various reverses and victories , and the perpetration of fearful cruelties upon the Mussulman population , had succeeded in asserting their independence . Their nobles , however , were divided into two parties , —tho Russian and tho Turkish ; only tl ^ e poor peasant desired the national independence of his country . The Russian party at length triumphed , and the Czar became
tho real sovereign of Servm . But presently thp treaty of Bucharest was signed , by which Bessarabia was given to tho Russians , and no sooner was this treaty concluded , than the Turkish forces re-entered Servia , and the inhabitants were bidden by tho Czar to unite with his ally , the Ottoman Porte . Turkey , therefore , regained Servia in exchange for Bessarabia , and all European statesmen have overlooked this ; yet tin apparent advantage only was obtained , ( or certain clauses , reserving ' peculiar rights to Russia , were framed to
constitute the spring-work of future dnthniiticy and intrigue . Kro the unfortunate treaty of Ackermaun in 182 ( 5 , by which tho Porto undertook to earry instantly ' into ollocfc the clauses of the treaty of Bucharest , and through which Russia gave | , <> the Servians the amende honorable for her conduct in 1812 , demonstrated this to ¦ Kurope , ( he Ottoman power had already destroyed itself by means of its ill calculated reioiiiiH . The . Mussulmen had even termed M ' uhr nioud a ( J-iaour , and , weakened and divided , their ababomout encouraged tho outbreak of tho
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THE LEADER . [ Saturpay ^ Off" . - ' ¦ ' ¦¦ ' ¦ ¦ -
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Leader (1850-1860), June 18, 1853, page 590, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1991/page/14/
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