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e&tfnpt tie effected by any set regulations , and can otify be ^ ilfilled by ihe persevering attention and mg , i ^^ M i < l * taitet of the principal administrators . WhBe * bth 5 aig is iaore itn ^ poHati % iiliau to preserve t&e ^^ tij ^ o ^ iikrty which had distinguished our navy m JprT ^^ ^ ase « , it is quite certain that we cannot tlRifci by ^ jsfcflll indulgences ; , or by what a military |^ pr ^ feild ^ « rfl "pineday . * ' "We possess admntibW * speciniena of maval architecture ; we ^ Wpj ^ 'gtins that can match specimens from any fifrife&ia ; ' we nave han&s practised in levelling
tkoseaapms with Hie highest decree of skill ; we fcwv ^ eoffifefeis * thor oughly trained in th « command w' ^ foifftloQS V but in action these great resources % ^ be imperfectly used , if we have not in English tSflfefte ^ jtoff'ifien that spirit of zeal wtech no nay C ^| i ^| yar < : hft 9 e , noindulgemiee in tobacco or bedding bl ^ % rdye ^ Attd no regulations can compel . The Bt ^ iiH bailor * does not long for action , does not ifflpetientiy await the day when England shall * i * p ^ eoi'eV ery man to dp Ks duty , on tie incentive 6 $ ^ f # i 6 fence&day additional , or on reflecting that l ^ TM ^ ft fei ¦ ftei * r *> a the cafc-o ' -ntne tails . In vain
wrsoM Jtfr . Hnme reckon for him the total at the W ^^ f tire year from iaa augmented emolument ; in Tain w ^ adlVfr . G ^ wge'Thompsoa save him from the c » t , if he had no other motives for action . W $ e&ag 0 r&& nifrerilicPany terrow ^ w thexeaHy good sailor , who knows that ie has no business at all with-that institution , and who has as little interec * ia thematter as any ordinary and respectable mien hta p « rsc toally | p : th& improved « l * et or lodging of * gaol ; The more Ttttional discipline and V&Si ! && 8 m 4 x ^ proofs kuol owucbiucu uiiu
xtjgEBtaturs . w no representine cc « uifery r r £ akerthonght for the sailor , and are in aqme-iiegxMe inspired by the " sweet little cherub * fi « t ) fflt « l ^ ftloft . " . . : ¦ ¦ ¦ " :. ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ &Bui& ] te &pritde corpsiiB & different thing , and is not affected by these ccnsideratioiis . The griev ance to U « gennine Jack Tar is not tie cat , which W ^ mfi ^ o ^^^^^^^ « Mi < fer irksome and vexatioos reataadnts , the wanton interference with his hjirmleas indulgences , -s ? 1 ilch make him feel as sifcRan ^ niso n ^ hen o& board , as he would be in ftJBiAtefdiwvring ^ rooni o » r in the boudoir of a fine " ¦ ¦ ¦
mf . ? -r-- !* . ¦ - ¦ - ^ rJwjdidwriB ^ 'w ? a"fc « m of vexations interference jrifteh'ma ikiei the officer only too strongly sympatiiiae with the sailor . The' true evil genius of the aerviceiri ^ martinet . - We have instances in our view , but as Ve are asking for an improved regime , Kit ^ k ^ m ^^ m ^ g ^^^^ arori * of discord , •* & ¦ ¦ ¦ abfttun Aom ^ mentioning Wukb instances . When , however , we eay that priggish-officers have beonkiwwm jo countermand-ihe ^ ordOTS of officers but one degree infericne to themselves in rank , « nd'sot « t all inferior in capacity or fidelity , we are arot nuking imagmary statements , but are referring to tactual ocenr ^ aces . When a crew
witnear sucln - * rscene as that in which a seaman hlis been ordered to Ma duty by a commander , permitted to go ashore by the captain , and sub-MC £ ( ien $ ly- $ 0 t upon some duty by th « commander , which neiitralised the y ^ rmission , not only was a laj jjjj ^ jipM&Efc esfcabiisned between the superior and us ittttaectiate subordinate , but the crew noted the jggffieti and must luwre lost its- respect for both 0 Kni 9 n ttftd for the sys * enrwhich they represented . - "SHiere are regulations which -will be highly approved iii Exeter Hall , but which irritate oncers , exasperate men even to a degree of insitbcfirduntion . Such « we the rales to prevent men and officers from , smoking anywhere but in the galley , except at particular hours and places : affectations of improved discipline which really < 3 ertK > y $ he very foundation of true and cheerful couourjwnce of officers and men in a general obedience for the manifest good of the service . Priggish pedantries like these become instruments of oppression in the hands of quarter-deck tyrants and martinets .
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TEE LANCASHIRE STRIKES AND LOOK-OUTS . in . THE LABOUR MARKET . Havinc * arrived at some ideas respecting the progress of the cotton manufacture , the increase of production caused by the introduction of machinery , and the benefits which have accrued to the working classes from this industrial revolution ( especially manifested in the sums of money distributed amongst them as wages ) , the question naturally suggests itself :- — Whence , lave these operative swarms come whuh noio people the length and breadth of the cotton district ?
When the gross annual value of the cotton fabrics could only be rated at 200 , 000 / ., the number of persons employed by ^ the trade must necessarily nave "been very limited . If 40 per cent , of the gross value was expended in wages , it follows that about 80 , QP < ML per annum was so distributed among the working classes ; and if
that sum be divided m the proportion of twenty shillings per vreek , it will be found that the cotton manufacture ¦ would then give employment to about 1500 operatives . At the present day about 13 , 000 , O 0 OZ . of wages is annually divided among the operatives of the cotton district , and this sum , at an average of ten shillings , goes to the support of half a million of souls .
But when -we take into consideration the proportionate increase in all the other trades affected by the cotton trade , the employment afforded to the miners of metal and the miners of coal , the sailors who bring the cat ton , the warehousemen "who store it , the draymen and stevedores , and railway companies who transport it , the merchants who import it , and the brokers who sell it ; the bleachers and ^ the packers , who prepare the fabric for the foreign market ; and all the persons employed in disposing of it both at home and abroad ; lastly , wlen we consider the architects and builders , and
parently desolate that the traveller might imagine himself to be in Poland or the Danubian provinces , isolated factories are constantly oe < nirrlng- —Hnks in the chain of industry that binds Lancashire together—sometimes on the banks of a stream that supplies the primitive water-power ;* sometimes on the level moor , blackened by Ifte eoal that feeds the steam-engine . Such is Lancashire
such its industrious energy , and such the wealth * creating system which , ignorance , injudicious management , and want of cordiality , fostered said inflamed by the specious tactics of designing agitators , is openly labouring to destroy ! I have before noticed thafc the population , of Lancashire has increased during the last half century at the rate of two hundred and one per cent .: and this so far exceeds the common late hi
increase from the natural causes of population , that we are evidently driven to consider iminigrfttion as the only mode of accounting for the filet . Mr . Edward Cheshire , in Iris summary of the Census of 1851 , observes that " a large proportion of the population in the market-towns , the country-towns , the manufacturing towns , and the metropolis , was born m the country ; ** and this is especially true of the manufacturing towns .
That the system of towns , the economising of space , over-crowding , and imperfect sanitary arrangements , give rise to a disproportionate amount of mortality , the statistics of recent epidemics too sadly prove ; and , although it may be fairly contended that the working accommodation in the factories is much be ^ thier than : lifie old system of home-work , it cannot be dottlSBecl ihat a manufacturing town would sp ^ edUy b © 'Sl ep ^ pu ! lated if it had no other resource but Its Own to
supply its generations . An Irish immigration , and the constant progress oi the Tiorthern agriculturist southward , have hitherto been ihe great feed-pipes of Lancashire . OF late tears . Olxe em > ployment of Irish in the factories bas been very much discountenanced by the masters , Imt the extent of this source of supply may be inferred from the fact that in some orf the factory towns one-half of the operatives arciloman CathoEcs . If we take a nrsij ) of Lancashire , and examine the situation which Preston occupies upon it , we shall ^ find that it is upon the border OTifectoryland . ^ Behind it , to rfie northward « ad westward ,
is an ~ extensive and populous agricultural country called the Fylde . To the south , the factories stretch in an almost unbroken line , down to Manchester and Stockport . The consequences of this position are—nrst , that food is much cheaper m Preston than it is in any other manufacturing town ; and , secondly , that the surplus population of the agricultural district , pouring southward to find employment in the factories , ' makes Preston the first halting place . The farmers of < 3 ie Fylde supply the Preston market with
meat and vegetables ; but the market-gardeners of Walton ( one mrle south of PrestonVtake their vegetables to the Blackburn market , alttiou ^ h that town is nine miles distant from Preston , because they can get a better price there . In the best of times , whatever her earnings may be , a Preston factory-lass will live very well for six shSfings per weelc , and this includes one shilling per week for her lodging , which is the sum generally paid . Of course this does not include the item of dress , which varies very considerably with the individual ' , but it is an admitted fact , —admitted by the
leaders of the operatives , —that from six to sevett shillings per week is all that is needed to tiVejft comparative comfort and with wholesome sufi > ciency . Those who are accustomed to a more extravagant rate of support , and who niay deem it impossible for human beings to live comfortably for six shillings per week , may reserve their commiseration when they remember that , inasmuch as the average of earnings always exceeds that rate , there is no absolute necessity to keep within it ; but fhat many do so in order that they
may save money , and perhaps lay the foundation of a fund which may one day elevate them , & » many of them have been elevated , to the rank of masters . It is to be feared that this saving disposition is not very widely spread ; but that it ; doe * exist , and that it is practised very efficaciously * the statistics of the Savings Banks and Building Societies ( to wliich I shall have occasion to refer when I come to speak of the social condition of th « operative ) afford ample proof . To propagate and foster this disposition should bo one of the
bnckmakersi and carpenters , and mechanics , and nH the other planners , and workers , and sellers kept ia activity by the creation and support of the cotton factories , we begin to perceive that the manner in which the inventions of Hargreaves , Arkwrightj and Crompton have fertilised our national wealth , is intelligible indeed , but that the extent is incalculable . That this great county , of
Iiancashire owes all its wealth and all its celebrity to the cotton trade , Is a fact with which every one is familiar , but it is curious to perceive how marv « Hously every requirement has been provided by nature to fit it for its present destiny . Little did tlie ploughman of Wo centuries back , as he painfully endeavoured to extract his dally bread from tie not very fertile soil cf Lancashire , dream that his shard was passing over a rich , store of mineral wealth that would one day prove more enriching to his posterity than all the gold of the Indies 1 Little did the humble fisherman
oa the banks oi the Mersey imagine that the poor little town near which he dwelt would , despite the natural defects of its harbour , rise to the dignity of a port second to none in the world ! ITp to that time one of the most despised of counties , this poor barren . Lancashire was found to have latent within it all the power and all the elements necessary for its "brilliant destiny . The valleys had their seams of coal ; the hills their streams of water . The peasant population , the liardy , resolute , intelligent , and patient population
( and take all England round , there is no better Weed than this strong-bodied and strong-minded Lancashire race ) , w ^ re ready for its work ; the motive impulse only was wanting ; and when it came , when Arkwright invented his Jenny and Watt his Steam-Engine , there arose , as if by magic , in every corner of the county , palaces of industry , mines of inexhaustible wealth , such as never entered into the wildest visions of the poet or the alchemist . Liverpool arose out of the raw material , Manchester out of the manufactured article . The railroad was another
great stride , for it rendered easy that enormous carrying trade which iraa the necessary consequence of tie new system , and which was beginning to make its inconveniences felt . Not only in the ^ populous towns and the large groups of Factories w « s the hum of industry heard , but on the desolate moors , and in the quiet valleys , and upon the bleak bills of North Lancashire the influence was no less manifest . Those who would
see Lancashire in its activity , so as to form any just conception of its untiring industry , should not content themselves with visiting Manchester , and Bolton , and Prestoa £ the great industrial capitals of the cotton di&trict ) , but they should see the remote districts intersected by the Kibble and ita tributary streams—Clitheroe and Whalley , Pendleton , Sabden , Faxtiham , and Great Harwood . Eastward and southward of Preston lies
a district which has hitherto been a hive of industry—Walton , Bamberbridge , Cuerdon , Leyland , and the prosperous little town of Chorley ; stretching to the cast we find Blackburn , Church , Darwen , Haslingden , Accrington , Burnley , and Colne ; far to the south , in the district watoxed by the Irwell , are Bolton , Bury , Rochdale , Oldham , Ashton , Hyde , Staleybridge , and Stockport . Between all these towns , sometimes in places so wild and up-
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3 S » THE LEADER / [ Sattopatt ,
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• The water-power ia still usod to a much proator oxtont than is ^ ouorally ^ supposed . A very oxtenme factory V * tho vicinity of BolUm ib mainly worked by this ju © an » -
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 11, 1854, page 134, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2025/page/14/
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