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Imperial and Boyal Privileged Company of the State Bail ways . " It combines in its administration eighteen persons of the highest financial order in France and Germany . Its capital is about eight millions sterling . Branches of it comprise in their operation the working of certain mi nes auxiliary to its own proceedings . This Company is to the finance of Austria what the railway is to its commerce , it places Austria in direct connexion with the capitalists of Europe , on terms that secure confidence for the Grovernment at Vienna , and profit for the Company : —
" Let us , " says M . Cochut in the Revue des Deux Mondes , " recal the position of feudal Hungary , and measure the economical bearing of these last reforms —the land freed and transmissible , the cultivator become proprietor , imposts equally spread , a guarantee of equality before the civil law , a transit easy and rapid , the means of credit , the probable planting of industrial colonies in a country where the French have always been so cordially received . Let us re fl ect on the inevitable necessity under which Turkey will find herself to effect a complete transformation of her own state , and" to become a true European power if she wishes longer to exist in Europe . Let us observe in the perspective somewhat
further oflfj Germany and India—the heart of Europe and the heart of Asia—seeking to traverse the isthmus of Suez which is about to be pierced , ^ et us dwell upon" the spectacle of these great things which our own generation will see , and we shall be persuaded that a great movement is about to be accomplished in the Danube , and that a new political f orce is to arise which will find its principal source in Hungary . Will this force constitute itself under the form of a Danubian confederation , as thd democracy descries , or will it take the form of an extension of the Austrian monarchy towards the East ?—an ample compensation which will suifice to the Emperor of Austria , and might perhaps determine him to dispossess himself of Italy- "
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PRUSSIA PERELEXED . At the first Vienna Conference Prussia was not represented . For the time , therefore , her policy has only an indirect influence on the deliberations of Europe . In this circumstance we perceive no diminution , but rather an increase , of her perplexities . A majority of the Federal German States must accept the lead of Austria , and act upon her decision , or adhere to the Cabinet of Berlin , and be . left to
throw the dead weight of their neutrality into the balance of peace or war . At all events a diplomatic- crisis _ is .. at hand . _ Mystification must cease , even at . Vienna ; and it must be knoivn what are the positive demands of the Western Powers , what concessions , if any , the Russian Government is willing to make , and how far the Austrian Cabinet is prepared to maintain the points already defined by Great Britain and France .
A general pacification , certainly , would disperse the cloud . But , in the event of continued war , the situation of Russia becomes more involved than ever . Already is the confederate action of Germany at an end . There would then be a conclusion also to the Holy Alliance , which , with all its guarantees , must vanish at the first sound of Austrian cannon on the Danube . Thus isolated in the midst of
belligerent powers , and still prolonging its efforts at mediatory negociation , the policy of Berlin may nevertheless exercise an important baaring on the issue of this European conflict . It is useless to speculate on the chance of King Frederick William taking up arms in behalf of Turkey . Events may force him to set his armies in motion , in co-operation with those of the Czar ; but it is a settled fact that ho will never unite himself in a military alliance with France and England . The links between his house and that of the Romanoffs
are not only ancient , but necessary , not only manifold , but natural . They are ties of blood , of principle , of interest . They were illustrated when Nicholas , on his death-bed , blessed his kinsman " Fritz , " and adjured him to remain faithful to Russia ;
when Frederick-William the Third bequeathed to his son a Russian policy , and exhorted him to preserve it as the chief security of his crown ; when the late Czar showered on the officers of the Prussian army decorations which they cherish more dearly than their German rank . The treaty of Adrianople was negotiated by Baron Muffling , a Prussian envoy , who received his instructions indirectly from the Emperor Nicholas , and reported the success of his mission to him personally . The plan for invading Turkey , which was
followed by Marshal Diebitch in 1830 , and by three Russian generals in 1854 , was drawn out by a Prussian Chief of the Staff , who traced the lines of attack as far as Constantinople . At that very period the Emperor Nicholas and King Frederick-William met , not at Olmutz , but at Berlin . Who then can conceive that a prince , entangled by so many relations , real and permanent , with the reigning family of Russia , could ever be seduced into a league against his most powerful supporters ?
Such a contingency may be left entirely out of view . What follows ? The French and British Governments , unquestionably , are pressing hard upon Frederick William , to extort from him a final explanation of his policy . The position he proposes for himself is that of neutrality , which can be little else than a covert alliance with Russia . For some singular characteristics of Russian diplomacy have
manifested themselves in the course of recent negotiations . It is the peculiar art of Frederick William ' s policy to accredit envoys without instructions , and without discretionary power . These fantoccini exhibit all their skill , offer apologies , ^ pledges , refer to Berlin , and withdraw them . Prussia wins . The game is -renewed ; and , by this jugglery alone the least courageous of German princes has resisted the united pressure of England and France during
years . — — . Since the death of Nicholas it- has been proved , for example , that the Prussian Minister at Paris was commissioned to ask for nothing but delay . His declarations were contradicted by his master , his promises were disavowed , and the result was , simply that Prussia desired to be represented at the Vienna conference , without accepting any share in the responsibilityof its"decision" Frederick Wiixiam ' s envoy was like the Russian agent in Persia ,
who received two sets of despatches — one to obey , another to show . At Vienna his compeer eluded the difficulty , and instead of explaining what his sovereign had resolved concerning Russia , inquired what Austria thought concerning the armaments in France . The answer amounted to a sneer , and the language of the entire correspondence is reported to be rife with mutual inuendo and hostility . Here are poor materials for a quintuple alliance for the pacification of Europe . \ ¦ ' i ,
" Fritz" knows that when the question of peace or war is settled , neutrality will not shelter him from every danger . It is therefore that he offers to sign a protocol . What is a protocol ? A penful of ink , which pledges him to nothing , yet confers the privilege of unlimited delay . What obligations such an instrument would impose on the French and British Governments it is less easy to foretel , since , with Austria in arms and Prussia neutral , a portentous shadow might be thrown across the Rhine . Attempts
have already been made , indeed , to shift the difficulty from their own to the French frontier . Correspondents , who have a faculty of listening- to dialogue not intended for their ears , assure the public in England that his Majesty Louis Napoleon desires to enjoy extravagant military privileges within the German frontier . Doubtless , the policy of the French Emperor has a direct bearing on Germany . An Austrian alliance gives him a friendly absolutism
to play off against the friendly liberalism of England . It is a preservative against political Infection , and there is much connected with this topic , of which the discussion must be reserved for a future time . But the action of the court of Berlin is sufficiently intelligible without reference to the secret councils of Paris . At the best , consequently , Prussia can only be neutral . At the worst ,. she may become the ally of Russia , not willingly , but unavoidably . It may then be shown that Frederick William is , intrinsically , the weakest prince in Christendom—weak in character , politically weak , strong only since Paris was stifled . The prophecy went forth long ago , among the German race , that he was born to ruin the House of Hohenlinden . His frailties , his jealousies , his fears , were so turned to account by the Emperor Nicholas , that the bayonets of Prussia , which are 500 , 000 , could scarcely be called his own . Even with them , however , Prussia , acting without the zealous support of its people , is not a great power . One blow , at Jena , laid her prostrate ; one surrender , at Tilsit , degraded her from her rank in Europe ; one outburst , in 1848 , reduced the . monarchy to despair . In 1847 Frederick William took his splenetic oath , that " no power on earth should compel him " to grant that which he was glad to offer , within twelve months , to appease the inhabitants of a single town . It will be well for the Allies , therefore , if amid the commotions of the war , they abstain from injuring the pride or the self-love of the German , people . At present , the language of the Czar ' s manifestoes is that of defiance . It contains not a syllable to suggest pacific designs . Obviously , the- Courts of St . Petersburg and Berlin have a thorough mutual understanding ; and- the" mission of Frederick William appears to be , to frighten the Allies , by representations of the perils to which Christendom would be exposed by a protracted war . When such a monitor warns us , Pozzo r > i Borgo ' s words may be remembered : " Russia will seem more terrible than she is , and the other powers will redouble their efforts to procure a favourable peace !"
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PAUPER LABOUR . We see by the papers that another Union is added to those who try to improve the discipline as well as the accounts of their district by the direct employment of paupers upon the land . The Union is that of Newton Abbot in Devonshire , and we find the following accounts of the results in . the daily papers : — " The balance-sheet for the last year has just been published , and from the following statement it will be seen that the guardians have derived a considerable profit . The quantity of land under cultivation was six acres , on which were grown 230 bags of potatoes , 13 ditto of wheat , 13 ditto of barley , 28 cwt . of
cabbages , 10 ditto of swedes , 26 ditto of parsnips , G tons of mangold-wurzell , 8401 b . of onions , 10001 b . of leeks , and 8 cwt . of brocoli . The total number of hours oi field labour done by the boys was 14 , 218 ; and by the adults , 12 , 983 i . The number of boya at work five days in each week , and on an average 44 hours amiy , was 13 . Of the vegetables grown , 44 / . Is . Id . worm were consumed by the inmates up to Christmas last , lor those which
while 22 / . 13 s . lOd . was realised wore sold . The vegetables , &c , in store at Christmas were valued at 37 / . 5 * . 8 d . ; making a total of 104 / Os . 7 d . The rent of land , rates , cost of seeds , tool , &c amounted to 70 / 10 ,. 5 jd ; so that deducting that amount from the recoipts thero was a anXfreTliS in profit from the labour of tho mmates during the year was 58 / . Is . 7 * d . Wo have a result that is not quito usual--a profit . upon the undertaking . With good management , however , a clear profit has been shown in other Unions ; and we believe that inno distance is this kind oi labour resorted to without a very subatantial profit , although
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Mabch 17 , 1855 ] THE LEADER , 253
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 17, 1855, page 253, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2082/page/13/
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