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liberations of Lord Cla . b , en : don with the French and Austrian Ministers , seems to imply that some understanding has been established in which he would not have concurred : It is remarkable that , in the Piedmontese debate on the Peace , the Tripartite Treaty was passed over without an allusion , the i nterval being filled by references to the dangerous policy of Austria . be said that Sardiaia had claim
It cannot no to be included in the treaty . If her alliance was worth purchasing * ^ war with Kussia , her guarantee was worth at least as much . But we know that the Austrian plenipotentiary came to Paris with the design of degrading the Sardinian representative , if possible , to a subordinate place in the conferences . Failing in this , it was consistent with Austrian subtlety to disengage Sardinia , as much as possible , from her intimacy with the ^ Vestern Powers , and by the Tripartite Treaty , Austria succeeded .
The plot that works at Paris confirms the suspicions that hang to the Triple Treaty . The essential point to remember , while examining this part of the subject , is , that whatever changes the French Government may propose to support in Italy , those changes will have no reference to the rights of the Italian race , and no tendency to extend the liberty of thought or action . As far as we can detect any movement at all , a pressure is being exerted upon the Piedinoutese Government unfavourable to the constitutional
policy of recent years . We have observed , and we cannot but deplore , that the Minister of Foreign Affairs at Turin has been seduced , in compliance with momentary exigencies , into the most unworthy and suspicious flattery of the French Emperor . "We know that a Bonaparte propagand has been organized in Piedmont , and we say the liberties of that state are in danger . Are not the Italians sensible of this ? Has their
confidence increased since the negotiations of Paris ? Have they any hope in English policy ? Have they not a profound apprehension of French policy ? And , when they look across the German frontier , and sec the Austrian wedge driven gradually through the peninsula , they have no reliance—no , not even in Piedmont—except in a general revolution .
To such a result the treaty of April tends . It is asked , why is the liberal press of Sardinia without a protest against the schemes in course of construction ? AVe must remind the reader that , admirable as the progress of Sardinia has been , the difference , between English and Sardinian liberty are still very essential . We have more freedom than we care to use ; theirs is as 3 et unconsolidatcd , and , with a high-spirited prudence , they shrink from giving their enemies an opportunity . They have heard , with dismay and disgust , the Napoleonic accent of the King ' s chief advisor : they understand that , while
Austrian armies are manoeuvring on one side , and French intrigues arc active on another , it is wise policy not to disturb the present political condition of Italy . One act of precipitation or violence , and Piedmont might swarm with foreign soldiers . Then Bonapartiam would develop itself in Italy ; then the imperfect institutions of Sardinia would bo destroyed , before they had laken root ; then tho Italians would witness the- newest phase of English sympathy , aiul learn , perhaps , nil that if * meant by tho Tripartite Treaty . Austria baa made preparations for concentrating , at tho ( shortest notice , fjtty thousand nn ; ii on tho banks of tho Ticino
That , in addition to tho introduction ot n mox-o rigorous police system into Parma , and tho circulation of a contumelious document : in reply to tho Sardinian memorial ,
constitutes the activity of Austria in Italy . It may be imagined what are the prospects of reform under this dispensation . France , meanwhile , works in one direction above the surface , and in another direction underground . England , half afraid , of the Csesarism that drags her along , approves of palliative reforms , but stands aloof from plans of new viceroyalties and new frontiers . If the Austrian gloss upon the Treaty of April were the real explanation of that ambiguous Act , how is Lord Palmerston ' s reserve to be accounted for ? It would have
been easy to say as much , in the House of Commons . But no : there is a mystery . The manner in which he and the Austrian journalist deny the existence of a secret article or a secret treaty , only conduces to the suspicion that something exists , which is neither article nor treaty , but which amounts to an understanding ; and we want to know what that understanding is . Even if there be
none , we have a right to doubt our Ministers , first , because their Italian policy in 1849 was treacherous aud disgraceful ; and , secondly , because they have the power of negotiating secret treaties , of forming undeclared engagements , of pledging the nation to any course whatever . In fact , as far as our diplomacy is concerned , the only right we have is the right of jealousy .
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COURTS OF INDUSTRIAL ARBITRATION . JNTearly forty thousand of the coal and iron miners of West Scotland are at war with their employers , and have ceased to work for five weeks in some districts , for ten weeks in others . Their sufferings are intense . } T et their resolution seems invincible ; and , by their general conduct while on strike , as well as by the moderation of their claims , they appear to have won the sympathy of most classes , except the coal and iron masters . These kinc : s of the Scottish mines , in fact ,
have determined upon reducing the wages of their workmen twenty per cent ., and by a process which would be called conspiracy were it adopted by the men themselves , have combined to enforce their decision . The miners , who know what a preliminary reduction means , insist that their virtual wages of 19 s . Od . per man per week is not in excess of the profits accruing from their labour . Their employment is irregular , dangerous , and unhealthy ; the mines are yielding immense revenues ; there is no diminution of trade ; prices have not fallen ; and , in this state of things , they refuse to accept n , reduction that would leave tho miner less
than fifteen shillings a week for the support of himself and Ins family . This , however , is not the only point on which the miners are in antagonism with the masters . They complain that the truck system , in its meanest form , drains off a serious proportion of their wages , that men arc compelled to buy at the employers' stores , that girls and boys arc betrayed iut : o habits of extravagance and drunkenness for the profit of tho privileged huckster . Then , in the absence of regular weights and measure ^ the workmen are subject to a capricious and frauheadmen
dulent tyranny on the part of tho of the pits . . Next , tho miitfter appoints a teacher , who receives twopence weekly from every miner , young and old , on tho works , and frequently performH in return no duties whatever . At least , ainco the strike commenced , the schools have been . closed . Ideally , tho West Scotland coal and iron workers , Avho inhabit often turf huts mich i \ n an A . byn-Hinian would despise , and live upon wretched food , and in enforced abstinence from every human com fort , can scarcely afford to havu their incomes taxed twenty per eent . for the benefit of their masters .
The Scottish trades—those of Glasgow especially—are of course suffering to a greai extent from this disastrous quarrel . Mr PbOttdfoot , one of the Scottish delegate ! appointed to give evidence before Mr . Mac kinnon ' s Committee on" Industrial Tri bunals , stated the other day that the loss t < the community from the miners' strike ii Lancashire was not less than 300 , 000 / . pei month . Coals had risen 12 s . a ton . Mr
Hugh Lee , secretary to the Union of Glasgow Cotton Spinners , added , that since 1845 each of the united trades of Glasgow had lost , upon an average , ll , 000 £ . by strikes . These statements made an evident impression on the committee ; but the united trades have evinced their practical confidence in the proposed system of arbitration , by their memorial addressed recently to Lord Palmehston . In this memorial they solicit that an Order in Council should be issued , appointing and empowering a Court of Arbitration , to be composed of three representatives of the coal and iron masters and three
representatives of the miners , to discuss and settle the question at issue . As umpire , they suggest Lord Gtodekich or Lord Stanley . Had they been acquainted with the present state of the law they would not havo made the proposition . Lord Palheeston very properly replied that the Crown had no power to issue such an Order in Council , that the masters and workmen were free to establish a Court of Conciliation for themselves ,
but that it was impossible to enforce such a proceeding on either side . Here he touched the salient difficulty of the case . The miners have publicly and repeatedly offered to discuss the subject with their masters , and to submit to fair arbitration ; but the masters , in pride of pocket , decline to negotiate with the miners . That is the dark side of Mr .
MacKinnon ' s idea ; but the objection goes only so far as this : that whereas it would bo impracticable to arbitrate for insolent masters or for sullen workmen , it would be as improper to assume that all masters are insolent , or to assume that all workmen are sullen . Let us have a machinery by which tho reasonable and the well-disposed of both classes can adjust their differences .
Mr . MacKinnon ' s committee has been particularly successful in eliciting the views and feelings of tho industrious classes . A general support has been given to his endeavours . Without anticipating tho report , wo may say at once that Mr . MacKinnon will be justified , upon tho evidence already collected , in proposing at least a declaratory enactment in favour of Courts of Industrial
Arbitration . Meanwhile , the English public should not bo entirely indifferent to the interests of the Scottish miners , whose sufferings , we repeat , are intense , and who complain of positive oppression , sanctioned , in some instances , by tho common law . Tho mild patrons of the working classes arc saying , " Look to your social grievances ; leave politics alone . " Ah if social grievances were not the inevitable reaulta of political disabilities .
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THE PROVINCE" OF OUDK The annexation of the late Kingdom of Oudc being now " nn accomplished fact , " it ia worth while to consider what sort of government ia likely to bo moat auitablo to the character and exigencies of tho nowlyconHtituted province . Fortunately , tins ia no longer a matter of mere speculation . In tho admirable Heries of inatructiona forwarded by the Indian Government to General Outram , tho'outline of tho future iidimmatration of that ; line country ia sketched with a mantor ' hand , iind filled in from a largo and enlightened experience of tlotuih . Su-
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May . 81 , 1856 . ] THE LE 1 DBB . 519
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 31, 1856, page 519, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2143/page/15/
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