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MR . COIVDUN'S FORTHCOMING IMAN OF I'KACU . Tiik approach of a European war offers the grand opportunity for tho apostles of peace . " Now ox never ! " an Panurgo says , when ho reminds St . Nicholas that thero is an opportunity of saving a faithful devotee from . shipwreck . If scientific peace cannot bo accomplished in war time , of wluif .
use is it ? We did not need Mr . Cobden to keep peace , when nobody was- inclined to break it . But if , when Europe is about to go to loggerheads , he can show the quarrellers how to put their heads together in a more peaceable fashion , without entailing any loss , either commercially or morally , he will confer a benefit on his country . He is about to convene his friends next week , and no doubt they will " resolve" how everything ought to be settled ; but being a practical man , of course he will give us something better than abstract suggestions ?
It is generally understood that Mr- Cobden received a distinct invitation from Lord Aberdeen to advance a proposition on peace principles in Parliament , and that Mr . Cobden declined , on the ground that if he failed he should have all the discredit , whereas if lie succeeded Lord Aberdeen would reap all the advantage . We are inclined , however , on reflection , to doubt this story ; because we do not suspect Mr . Cobden of placing great public questions upon grounds of personal advantage or egotistical credit . If he declined , it
must have been because he did not expect a British House of Commons to adopt peace principles in the face of Russian insult . Still , if it is true that Mr . Cobden did decline , the fact marks an overcaution , which has been before imputed to ; that gentleman , but . is very unworthy of an apostle . We do not learn that St . Peter or St . Paul desisted from his high mission because lie had some doubt whether he could come off with flying colours , or even because he doubted an immediate success . They cast themselves upon the waters , and trusted for the results to Providence .
Political economists it is true do not place much reliance upon Providence , and hesitate to cast their bread , much more themselves , upon the waters . But earnest convictions , even in politicoeconomical breasts , usually enlarge the view beyond mere personal success ; and as Mr . Cobden is in earnest about peace , —at least we suppose so , —it was to be expected that he should advocate the cause most especially when it was most threatened .
It was expected also that he should choose the ground where he could meet the enemy most directly ; and for that purpose no ground could have been so fit as the capital of the United Kingdom . Why does he go to Edinburgh ? Is it because in Modern Athens he hopes to encounter noMiltiados , noThemistocles , not even a Pericles' ? Is it that in that professional city be expects to find no strong representative of tho British public —no public that will take the trouble to attend a public meeting- ; but that be hopes to have the discussion confined entirely to a small political sect ? It is possible that such a calculation may be mistaken . The people of Edinburgh are likely
enough to study the works of their accomplished representative , the historian of England ; to remember that Scotland as well as England has not only won its share of glory in the field , but has secured its most valuable political and spiritual rights by strength of will and of right hand . The Stuarts tried continental doctrines and court intrigue , Absolutist projects and papistical oppressions , in Scotland as well as in England ; and if in England we owe trial by jury , right of representation , and individual liberty , to the national vigour with which the Barons and the Cromwolls were supported , in Scotland the Reformation itself has recorded a deep debt to the sturdy men who could take the field with the Bible in one hand
and the sword in tho other . It is all very well to preach . peace doctrines in the rear of a conquering army ; but neither England nor Scotland can yet be persuaded to forget the champions to whom they owe so much , If Mr . Cobden lias gone down to Scotland to be out of the way of a troublesome public it may perhaps turn out that the railway expenses have been incurred without nn adequate return . But wherever he speaks , somothing- very distinct will be expected from tho apostle of peace . Mr . Cobden is essentially a business man , and tho public will expect a business treatment of bin mission , and it will most especially oxpect to be informed of certain points .
Imprimis , —what i . s bin p lan for " crumpling up Russia ? " Ho has promised to hIiow tho way to do ho , and now is his time . " Now or nover . " Ho has also maintained tho doctrine—quito incompatiblo with the crumpling theory—that tho extension of . Russia in conducive to civilization : that i . s a proposition which greatly needs explanatory notes ; for commercial men find a peculiar
difficulty in understanding it . Turkey takes something like 3 , 000 , 000 £ of our trade annually Russia , prohibits ; and if she has of late reduced her tariff in some respects , in other respects she has raised her duties . At all events the grand fact is unabated , that our export trade to that enormous empire does not exceed a fifth of our trade Turkey . Mr . Cobden ' s immediate followers apt to regard the extension of commerce lization as convertible terms . It appears fact that the extension of Russia b compani by the contraction of commerce . How then ca the Manchester Manufacturer " tolerate it ? The paradox needs explanation .
Setting aside the crumpling theory , as well as the development theory , the public wishes to be informed as to Mr . Cobden ' s plan of establishing peace in lieu of war . Peace in peace time , we repeat , is a superfluity , without which we may be well contented . It is peace in war time that we want . It might be that Mr . Cobden would suggest the purchase of peace at the expense of national honour ; a commodity which may perhaps not be quoted at its general value in his price current ; and if s $ we have , in O'ConnelFs phrase , only to cry " Thank you for
nothing . " Nobody , we believe , out of Mr . Cobden ' s immediate circle , would be inclined to effect the purchase on those terms . Peace with honour is what England wants , and Mr . Cobden has advertised himself as the manufacturer . Will his plan be forthcoming ? He has talked . of an arbitration court , as gentlemen in broad brims also talk ; and we in England may be well disposed to refer national questions to such a court ; but what progress has Mr . Cobden made in persuading his protege the Czar to consent ? What success has been attained in Vienna ? What respect
has the Czar shown for the highest court of arbitration ? What security have we that the Emperor will not quibble , evade fulfilment , and continue his aggressions while " negotiating-. " We have indeed no sort of security that the Emperor of Russia would not cut to pieces deputations sent to him for the purpose of demanding arbitration , as we saw in the case of the deputation sent by the Government of Monrovia , which tried Mr . Cobden ' s nostrum in the endeavour to persuade
two hostile tribes of that neighbourhood to live at peace . The arbitration plan is not very promising-. We want something more applicable to the immediate emergency . And after all the preaching- that we have heard upon the subject , evidently Mr . Cobden is the man answerable for furnishing us with a plan , cut and dried . The public expects that he will make a statement of that plan at Edinburgh next week , and we at least shall watch with considerable interest for the light that he is to throw upon the subject .
Two other questions we have to ask . Mr . Bright astounded the liberal party by declaring implicit confidence in Lord Aberdeen : Does Mr . Bright continue his confidence now , and on what grounds ? Mr . Cobden , whilomo , denounced " secret diplomacy " : Will ho help us now to tear off the veil 2
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THE COMMON HEALTH . Tirrc Sanatory contest still progresses . In every parish guardians and doctors are contendingwith filth and attacking- lazar bouses with great courage . It is a guerilla war in which personal bravery plays the best part . The credit of individual exertions is not diminished by any general organization , for the brunt of the fight has fallen on single men . And nobly have they done their task . Recording- their names we should tell but the every-day common-place names of Englishmen : yet it in a story that might be
told with pride in any country or in any age . In the interest of public < luty , or for the pake of the poor , men faco breathing poisons with chances of death often greater than those on the battle-field ; In an age active in criticism but slow in action , we should not forgef , to praise these parochial officers and voluntary missionaries , who aro manfully repairing- the terrible neglect of centuries ; for this necessity of guarding the public health lias existed for yours . Years ago it was madness not to clear awny fix'tid heaps of mutter from near the homes of living people . Yeans ago the existence of noisome factories m town was tho privilege of chartered lilmifinos—licensed to kill their apportioned number of victims . Thesethings are almost as old us our municipal institutions ~ ns old as tho greatness of our cities . Lately the enemy has beon reinforced . Agar Town , which we hear now spoken of aa ift ;
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October 8 , 1853 . ] THE LEADED 971
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It is evident , however , that with all their aimse of the men , the masters prefer a hostile and blind combination , to an intelligent and friendly consultation . At Bun ^ Jey they have bound themselves under a penalty of 2000 / . to be true to each other , and at Bacup they have entered into a similar bond , with a penalty of 5000 / . This is combination of the most stringent kind . But if it is log-nl for masters to combine , confessedly it is also so for men . If it is illegal for men to intimidate cacli other , it is not more legal for the masters to do so . To enforce the penalty of this bond would he more than that persuasion which the Chief-Baron declares to be illegal ; it would be the compulsion which Mr . Justice Erie pronounces to be unlawful . And wo should like to know which man that
signs tho round-robin of tho Burnley or Bacup combination would venture to enforce tho po nalty , for , if he did , be ought , unquestionably , to bo consi gned to prison , for at least as Jong a term as that allotted to the Wolvorhainpton tin-plate workers .
is true of the individuals is true of both sides ; if the master and men combined and consulted in a friendly , instead of a hostile spirit , they would no doubt arrive at more reasonable terms , than while they continue separate and antagonistic , unless they desire some unfair advantage . The terms which they can attain depend upon the facts on both sides . If trade is good , ivnges should l ) e high ; if trade is bad , the men should be content with lower wages . But in either case , a mutual knowledge of the facts is the true guide .
necessity for its doing so . If men , indeed , resort to measures of which they disapprove , we cannot expect much from their conscientious action ; but there is nothing in the principle of combination which should be condemned . It is impossible for wages to be regulated by individual action . Tn the business of cotton making no individual labourer can bargain for his own payment ; lie must accept the rate current amongst a large class , and if the individuals in that class know collectively what they can , ought , and desire to do , they are likely to attain a more reasonable position than if they blunder on without concert . What
The fault of the masters is , that they do not make their case understood by the men . In a recent address to the masters at Preston , the men have made the fairest offers of mutual conference , and arbitration by an umpire . We believe that no resistance has been made to that offer ; masters in other towns , however , are joining in the Association , forced to it , they say , by the combination of the men . In the same statement the Burnley masters say that they entirely disapprove of the principle of combination , which , on both sides , sifbstitutes harsh and often injurious measures in the place of friendly arrangement , but there is no
his patient , and a manufacturer who is his own agent unquestionably has a fool for his principal , since it is impossible for the same man to be looking after the work of his factory and the ups and downs of foreign markets . For these reasons , amongst others , it is doubtful whether the state of the cotton trade would enable masters generally to pay higher wages without expunging their profits . But men carrying on trade without profit never will manage it well . The cotton trade would become damaged under such agency , and then the very substance of the fund out of which wages are paid would be proportionately damaged . A demand pressed in a wrong time may thus diminish the very source from which the men have to expect their future wages .
increased but fifty per cent . ;—in other words , the average value of cotton goods is but three quarters of what it used to be ten years ago . This is partly owing to improvements in cheapening the cost of production , but partly also to the masters contenting themselves with lower profits . There is great probability that some of the markets abroad have been over-stocked . The speculations we note amongst the unsound speculators in the Australianmarket have been those of cotton manufacturers who have burnt their fingers by turning merchants instead of manufacturers . They say that a man who is his own doctor has a fool for
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 8, 1853, page 971, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2007/page/11/
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