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tions prover-a tweU-knaim , tftruth— -that ; the chief * obstacles toixeforan in Turkey ; 'arise from the'diflference of races and the incom-i pafcibilitji . oft their ddeasi The . difference of reHgion > < traditioJas ^ -an di institutions am ong them d »» impooc * ant , > since at indicates vital and organic differences ; of character and constitutions i So-. « long ,: therefore , as > these differences > exis % so'long will they offer nermanent difficulty . to < a complete civilisation of the Ottoman Empire .
The idea of Sultan Mahmoitd— " I wish for the future that : among my subjects the ¦ Mahometan should only be distinguished at the Mosque , the Christian at the Church , and the Hebrew at'the Synagogue "—would be a noble wish if religion could be confined to the fornv-of . worship alone , but it exerta an influence so powerful - and extensive on-all
that relates to thd > social and' political life' of a peoplej that it raises a barrier , if not of hatred at ¦ ¦ ¦ least of dissimilarity of education and of feeling , among the various members of the human family ;^ This is the misfortune of the population of Turkey / aitd to this must European , statesmen direct attention . How can theses obstacles be removed ? A
fusion of faees , always difficult to accomplish between the conquerors and conquered ^ is , for the reason we have mentioned , impossible in Turkey . Ittfs hopeless to expect a voluntary renunciation of a system of corruption which infects all'Government offices , ; since Abdtji , 3 Hedjid and aE his ^ predecessors for the last 150 years- have-constantly failed in their attemptsr to reform : these abuses ;¦ and we look in vain ' fofi a patriotic self-abnegation , a departure fedm ignorance , from idle and effeminate habits ^ and a '< determination to adopt moral principles- befitting ^ useful and intelligent citizens .
Whaty then , ' can ¦ '• force civilisation on the Turks ;? Continual European intervention ? "NV > . < . ¦¦ The general opinion of England considers''that the best plan would be to render the political condition of the Christians equal to that » of the Turks . This , also , is the opinion of the Allied Governments ,
who have designated it as one of the four points which will tend to the establishment ^ .. __ . ___ . „ ^__^ . _ jg ___ . _ . ^^^^ -. ^^ -. —^ . -g- — , How can the Allied Powers expect that , by taking away every political inequality from the Christians , they will guarantee the independence 1 and safety of Turkey , and advance the interests of Turkish civilisation ? The
moral , intellectual , and industrial condition of the' Turks can , in noway , be compared ¦ with that of the Christians subjected to them . The Christians' are already infinitely superior , and if to this superiority you add political existence , you immediately annihilate the Turks ^ and with them the Ottoman Empire falls . If the question be asked— "Which of the two races is the better prepared to enter into the European system?—we cannot re * sisfc the reply : The Christian population . Hence it is clear , that if the European system' of civilisation be imposed on Turkeys tire Christian race will beconie dominant ,
and , as the fall of the Turkish Empire is what the Czar most desires , and what the Allied Powers are most anxious to prevent , it'follows that , even if the allied armies should raze every Russian fortress , still , under ¦ these circumstances , Russia would virtually triumph . ' "We maybe permitted to ask , then , what is / fche independence of Turkey , if not a mere nominal question ? Independence , strictly Breaking , would be nothing lees than perfect liberty given < to the Turks to exorcise- their corrupt ,- arbitrary , and despotic rule , according to- theirown good pleasure j now , su « li a Byotenvv ia'fearbatdam , ' which 'is henqpforth im * POSBlblOi '
i Independence ^ interpreted more m accordance with justice and the rights of nations , would , allow the conquered people to resume I the power which had been wrested from them ' by force , and to which their greater aptitude for civilisation entitles them ; but this would be a Byzantine Empire , in other words , diplomatists believe though the Czar denies , an absolute triumph for Russia . Independence , finally , as understood by the Allied Governments , is , that five foreign Powers shall protect three-fourths of the nomilation of Turkey from being ruled , over
by the-remaining fourth , who are 'lurks . Such' independence can only be ironical . Can five foreign Protectory assuming the right to interfere with the affairs of their own co-religionists , thus multiplying five times the dissensions , the divers interests , and the rivalry for power in Turkey , definitively settle the question ? On the contrary : each of them , to strengthen itself , would try to form a party in order to predominate over the others . They would finally clash among themselves , and leave the Ottoman Empire a prey to the strongest . The poli tical wisdom , therefore , concealed in the fourth point of the conditions of peace ; far from deciding the question , merely adjourns it .
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FACTORY LABOUR . The failure of Mr . Cobbett to obtain the leave of the Commons for restricting , by bill , the working power of factories , ought to tell the working classes that they must seek some other reliance than that upon Parliament . They will be very indignant at the summary treatment of a measure which many of them favour . Several will be very indignant With us for saying , that Mr . Cobbett did not make out such a case as the present ,
or any probable , House of Commons could accept . But when they have indulged that natural feeling sufficiently , they will perceive that there is something more to do than to be indignant . The fact is , that there are periods for all things ; and there was a period when OastijEb and Fielden had a rising influence—when ten hours expressed thewantof multitudes who courdstandout , show themselves , and speak with one voice . But Joseph Ratiteb Stephens has grown
grey ; Oastleb has been writing unread little sheets ; and Fiei . deit has retired to a better existence . A ten-hours' agitation survives only in a comparatively small circle —the very name of Cobbett , like that of O'Cornell , belongs to the past . It will need much to be done before the working classes can get up an agitation like that which Oastler , Stephens , and Fielden used ; and we must pass through many years before the opportunity for that agitation can arise .
Should it come , there will need a greater strength of arguments and of voting power before the main proposition of Mr . Cobbett ' s Bill can be accepted . We must remember , that not only was it the rejected part of the measure proposed by the triumvirate , but that while a controversy on the principle of the . existing statutes was admitted , the proposal to stop the motive power was uniformly rejected by the majority in Parliament , and by all the influential classes in this country ;
as absolutely incapable even of argument . Not , without good reason , existing legislation abstains from imposing any restriction upon adult moil supposed to be in possession of their faculties , or upon the working of machinery , the property of such men . It went upon the assumption , that women , who are-the servants of their husbands , and young persons who aro in bondage to their parents , are incapable of defending themselves from improper employment . Manufacturers" were
prohibited to-temploy such people for a protracted time daily , because < it was presumed that the ' twi * ¦ classes could' • not -refuse for themselves .- The manufacturer ' "was pro * hibited , exactly on the same principle as the subjects of the King of Spain were prohibited from ¦ receiving presents from the Virgin , Mary ; after the soldier had pleaded a miraculous courtesy on the part of the image in church , whose ring he wore on his finger . So far there- was no interference with the subject . The persons placed under restriction were , by the presumption , not free , and the statutes of 1847 and 1850 * therefore , constituted no
infringement on the rights of the subject , or oil the British constitution . The proposal to stop the motive power is a direct infringement on the rights both of person and of property . Volenti non Jit injuria . There is nothing abstractedly immoral in continuing the working of factory engines for any length of time . An iron furnace is never blovra out : a barrister will labour for longer hours than the greediest millowner would exact ; and if the adult male population regard the employment in factories for the usual hours , as injurious to their health and moral condition—their intellectual culture , or their
political power—they have only to refuse . " We know beforehand the answer . They will say that they cannot refuse ; that the number of persons amongst them prevents concentration of purpose or collected council ; that if the majority agree , the " knobsticks " can always defeat the judgment of the many ; and they will follow up-this representation with many indignant epithets levelled at the " knobsticks , " , iu times of violence , frequently receive something more substantial
than the coarsest epithets . This is a representation of facts , but no argument . The existence of an . evil does not provethe necessity of abolishing the cause from which that evil springs , unless the evil is the sole product . The unconsidered pressure which the millowners put upon their machinery indeed produces other evils besides the exhaustion of the workmen : it inflicts other ininTMOH nnnn "him besides those which he injuries him besides those which he
upon seeks to remedy in a Ten Hours Bill . It helps to reduce his wages-by the same-process which inflicts bankruptcy on the millowners . But these evils are not the only product of the system . We also have from it that enormous producing power -which enables England to supply the world with a particular kind of goods , and which really places au immense amount of wealth at the command of our merchants and
manufacturers , and our working-classes . For'the condition of a factory hand , so far as it can be measured in money and in many of the means of life , is superior to that of his equal in social standing in most towns of the world . If we begin to interfere with the steam-power of this system , we may stop other things than the evils , and , indeed , cannot tell very well what we should do .
There is , however , a remedy , and it is one which lies comparatively within the reach of the working classes ; a reason , perhaps , why they do not value it sufficiently . They have it in their power to enter into competition , with the manufacturers , and to beat them by their own weapons . The cotton-trade is onein which the power of making increases iaster than the markets . One palpable consequence that the
of this condition was , recently , markets of America , India , and Australia had nearly a year ' s stock on honck ; m otlior words , Lancashire and North Cheshire had got , in tho producing power , a , year ahead oi the consuming power of these threo great markets * ' Hcnco bankruptcies "in klvc , l'P o 0 f and Manchester ; hence , a " short time that the working classes do not ask for j tho-ro-
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278 " ¦ TJEKEP ii ^ EAICTERr [ SkTropaar ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 24, 1855, page 278, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2083/page/14/
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