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rulers yield to fair demands , and are ready to confer rights in proportion to the advance of intelligence , what ina ; y now be an act of grace " ^ 1 be an act of compulsion . The "demand for education and increased opportunities of intellectual advancement , i 3 too palpable and acknowledged a fact to require illustration or proof . The grand condition of compliance with this request is the limitation of the hours of labour , and the settlement of the mutual relations of labour and capital . If our labourers are compelled by the force
of competition to work ior twelve , thirteen , or even ftnirteen hours a day , what chance have they for mental culture or innocent recreation P ^ It implies no ordinary amount of self-denial and energy to employ the mental powers when mental employment is the very business of life . The case is still more difficult when the body is overwrought , " the will is weakened by labour prolonged from early morning to a late hour at night . But it will be said , that the Legislature has no right to interfere . Is not every man the master of his own life ? Has he not a
right , in free England , to work for as many hours as he chooses , to spend his money as he will , and , if his fancy takes him so , to shut himself from all enjoyments . Now , in the first place , we are very much inclined to doubt whether a majority of our workmen are influenced by any such , motives as these . No doubt , money is an object to the workman as it is to any o ne else , inasmuch as it furnishes him with the means of luxury and indulgence . But we have abundant testimony to prove , not only that high wages are compatible with short hours , but that a large majority of Our workmen are influenced by the very purest motives . They seek
to limit the hours of labour , in order that they may learn , to exercise "the rights , by becoming acquainted with the duties , of citizenship . If the love of competition , or the will of a minority interfere with the healthy wishes of a majority , it is the paramount duty of the Government to interfere . The case of women and young persons is too obvious to require comment . Painful as it is to infringe , in the slightest degree , upon the liberty of the subject , it must be manifest , that when tlie authority of the parent or the husband is abused so as to violate higher laws , it beeom . es the duty of society , through its Government , to interfere for the protection of the helpless .
The result of such a limitation of labour hours is no less beneficial to the masters than to the men . To the men it would afford an opportunity of bettering their condition , of widening their sympathies , of gaining increased skill and greater productive power . The master , on the other hand , would gain by every advance oh the part of the workmen . Ilapidity and perfection arc the result of skill and mastery over work ; and theso are all but impossible except on the condition wo have laid down .
But there is still another , and a very obvious result— "Omne ignottim pro tcrribili ; " and when men arc unacquainted with the actual working of machinery , and its probable effect upon the labour nuvrt , they are inclined to regard its introduction with something more than suspicion . It can scarcely be disputed that increase of scientific knowledge , and a genius familiar with the powers of Nature , will not only disarm the prejudices which have hitherto checked oncroachments upon manual labour , but will rathor induce tho
workman to advocate tho further uso of machinery . Nay , even our seamstresses and shirtmakers willl find their advantage in a machine , invented at Glasgow , and since exhibited in this metropolis , for superseding hand labour in that department . It will destroy employments which are delusions —which disguise starvation under tho somblanco of provision . With machinery and intelligence , labour , being more productive , will bo moro powerful ; but shortening of labour hours is oho Btcp towards intelligence .
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TREATMENT OF WOMEN . Nations , it is said , may bo measured in thoir civilization by tho consideration which they show for their women , and if ho , while individual Englishmen must bo subjected to a groat variety of acaloH , Borno of those who most habitually cross one s path cannot claim a very high rank . Taking tho ayuraj » o or menu standard of tho people , the boau-idoal ior nn Englishwoman appears to bo that Bhe uliouUl Bottle down m her husband ' s hottMkceuev , hw chilaten ' n nursemaid , and her
own monthly nurse after " the month ; " and the Englishman who preserves to his wife the immunities and restrictions of that condition , fulfils the expected duty towards her ; . beyond that he needs not go to be a virtuous man . He may in another sense go to excesses far beyond any such law , and yet be tolerated . Take it in trifles , or take it in vulgar slights , or tragic calamities , and you find the same growing tendency of treating the woman lightly . There may be reasons for that on both sides ; but we will not here enter into speculation ; we are only
dealing with present facts , and the most familiar incidents will substantiate our averment . Perhaps the place in which your average Englishman most meets with his own clans , out ^ of his own private circle , is the omnibus ; and it cannot fail to have struck every observer of that public convenience , that the disposi tion to crowd and hustle the female passengers in the competition for seats , is a growing habit . At any corner
where the omnibus usually stops , men may be found to rush into the door of the carriage , even to push back women , and to take their seats , sometimes without even a murmur of remonstrance from the other passengers . Instances have been known of the conductor ' s vindicating the traditional respect for the sex , by keeping back the " gentlemen" until the women were seated ; but such chivalry is rare . The woman goes to the ¦ wal l now-a-days .
Violent assaults upon women are not only becoming common , but are treated with a levity which appears new to our time . A fellow was brought up the other day for assaulting his wife , and being a smart man , he tried an appeal to an ordinary cant . He challenged the magistrate to inquire whether his . wife believed in Christ . "Do you believe in God ? " asked the magistrate . " No , no , " cried the sanctimonious husband ; " don't ask her that ; but ask her , if she believes in Christ , " He was in hopes that
the woman ' s shortcomings on the point of dogma would disqualify her from claiming justice ; and he did not argue without warrant , since justice has been refused in court , as by Mr . Commissioner Phillips , on closely similar grounds . In this instance , however , the magistrate had rather a higher idea of religion , and the woman was sworn . Yet the fellow would find many respectable persons who would stand by him in his fidelity to dogma , whatever anight be his conduct to his wife .
Tho body of a woman was picked out of the water , the other day , with an infant tied to her breast . She had been seduced by a man to whom she appealed when she was starving , and who refused , to her and to his child , the slightest aid . It is not stated , in this case , any moro than in tho other , that tho man was hooted from tho neighbourhood ; nor are we to suppose , from what wo observed generally , that any material inconvenience would result to him .
Another case , though less fatal , and not singular oven within the week , is yet more revolting . Matilda Deighton brings before the Worshipstreet magistrate her husband . She is twentysix years of age , ho is thirty-three . She hns supported him in his drunken idleness , and he has habitually repaid her with violence . " He has struck me , " sho says , " repeated blows with his clenchod fiat upon my face , neck , shoulders ,
and under my ears , till both my eyes wore closed up by his blows , and I could not seo till the next day . ' Ho foils her to tho ground ; ho follows hor as sho runs away from him ; and , after long enduring such treatment , she asks for protection . When ho was arrested , ho exclaimed , — " What a damned fool I was , to bo sure , not to sell of ! all the things boforo this ( tamo offj and tho now Act about women passed , too I "
Yes ! these outrages arc becoming so common that Mr . Henry ' Fitzrqy , Under-Secretary of State for the Homo Department , has found it necessary to bring in an Act of Parliament , for tho protection of British wives . But , in domestic relations , society will never bo kept fairly in order by acts of Parliament . They can only apply to gross and exceptional offences ; and , if society is passive , tho intervals betwoen those will bo . filled up by cruelty , amounting often to torture , without chock or redress . It is not only tho commonnoHH of these outrages , not only tho levity of tho oflbndcrB , but' tho thing which strikes us most i « the passive jiuftorauco of sooioty . There wns u timo when a man who be * hayed in thin way would be treated , to " rough
music , " or ducked in a horse-pond ; but sanitary reformers have removed many horse-ponds , police would stop the rough music ; and , if signal crimes are prevented , if behaviour is reduced more to an average , we believe that tame cruelty enjoys a sufferance , which it could not claim of old .
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HOW THE NEWSPAPER TAX WORKS . The Times has set the public laughing at Mr . Cobden , and , the sport is glorious . The Times wanted to give the public a double paper daily for the same price , and ell pro bonopublico , provided the Government charged only one penny duty . Mr . Cobden somehow doubted the philanthropy of the Times , and wished that the double paper should pay the double duty—just as a tradesman opening a second shop would have been subjected to double taxation . This reasoning of Cobden was excessively ridiculous : — -
" Where , " asked the Times , " is the shop ot which the size and accommodation are defined bylaw ? Is any draper or grocer forbidden to have a counter above a , certain length , or shelves above a certain height , or drawers above a certain capacity ?" It was of no use that the Morning Advertiser suggested that were the owners of a shop in Seven-dials to remove to Piccadilly , they would be subjected to heavier taxation . What has a paper to do with a shop P asked the Times ; if we desire to present the public with a double paper it is a gross outrage on free-trade to prevent us .
The arguments of the Times , which have been repealed day by day , are plausible but fallacious , aa » we will prove by reference to America , where there is perfect free-trade in newspapers . The Great Monopolist is employing his purchased intellect in making the worse appear the better
cause . About four years ago there were in New York three daily papers , with the following circulation : — The Sun , about 50 , 000 , at one halfpenny . The Merald , about 25 , 000 , at one penny . The Tribune , about 20 , 000 , at one penny . For years had the Sun increased , till now it
had attained a size beyond which it could not go , as any further enlargement would have entailed a loss upon each copy sold ; still the advertisements increased , and the Sun curtailed the news to make room for them . The Sun was doing a glorious business at the expense of the public ; it was paid for inserting the extra advertisements , and the public continued to pay for reading them . This was too good to last .
Another paper , the New YorJc Times , was started at one halfpenny , which , as it contained as much news as the two cent papers , at once commenced to deplete the plethoric Sun , and in a few months tho Editor of the Times was enabled to write over his leaders— " Circulation 25 , 000 . " The Sun could not open another shop under equal laws ; and neither could the Times were it subjected to fair competition . Had the Sun had
influeneo enough with the Government to obtain tho passing of a law charging one penny stamp and 1 . 9 . Gd . advertisement duty , it would have been enabled to set the opposition paper and tho public at defianco , and to enact successfully tho part of Jupiter Tonans , of Printing Houso Square . Tho granting of a free half supplemont at the present time is at onco putting 20 , 00 () £ . a year into tho coffers of tho Times at the oxpense of the public .
Iho stamp duty is a fair tax only so long as all papers pay in proportion . If the business exigencies of a paper require that it should use one-lmlf more , or cloublo the quantity , then justico to its contemporaries requires that it shall bo proportionally taxed , and the , proprietary has tho quid pro quo in tho sura received for advertisements . The papor duty is n fair tax nn ntprosont levied —that is , three halfpence on each pound of papor but Government
; were to say to ench paper , " You shall pay a fixed sum for paper duty ; ' this would bo an injustice ho gross auto bo altogether unbearable . And yet this is tho vory thing which the Government does in demanding a fixed sum as advertisement duty—though in » modified degree—modified only so far that in tho supposed case the Times would at onco swallow up nil other daily papers , while in tho nctiiul state of affairs it is quietly absorbing them , nnd * end © finff ftenh competition impossible ,
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662 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 9, 1853, page 662, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1994/page/14/
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