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Leader (1850-1860), 26th February 1859, Edition 1 of 2, Page 275, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      will receive a handsome dividend upon theirfirst call Wore a furthe r advance will be required . The Government has recently interfered to stop new unlertakines , but prudent observers consider the SenSlon too late to prevent a monetary crisis Smin-on . Like all subjects of tyrannical Go vernmentsr the mass of the Russians are hoarders . The noble spends more than he can afford , but the serf hides what he is fortunate enough to catch and can protect from the thieving and extortion that his superiors carry on * If these hoards could be made availinsufficient capital might be found , but othei-wise in h

      a host of schemes will find themselves a x . un the whole , however , the joint-stock company fever doubt produce a beneficial result , and whatever losses it may entail it will open up means of-communication , and stir up the minds of the people to believe in i ) rogress and create a desire to carry it

      The cheap knowledge company furnishes a strikino- instance of the barbarous condition of the capitafof " All the Russias . " Books in Russian are exceedingly scarce , and sell for ten times as much as oiu * own current publications . To remedy this state of tilings Mr . Kokoreff and others started the new company and found themselves obliged to commence operations in Berlin and Leipsig , because St .. Petersbxirg possessed no type adequate for the purpose ; and if * type had been imported there were scarcely any workmen who knew how to use it . It is not an uncommon thing for the editor of

      a periodical to announce that his publication cannot come out , or is diminished in siie , because the type is required for a more urgent purpose . Overlying-this ignorance and savagery—which may one day prove volcanic—is a hot-bed of luxury , that may tiunble in , or . find itself summarily blown up . Wines sparkle , jewels flash , and silks rustle' in gilt saloons , but here and there enough dirt is visible to indicate the distinction between civilisation and display . In such a state of society the virtues of a middle class are scarcely known ; and were Alexander , like . King Arthur , to put up a wealthy princess as the prize for a tournament—rone of gambling would suit best—it is doubtful whether his ^ coiu-t would prove as moral as that of the British monarch , m which three knights abstained from the contest ; for there

      were" Two who loved their neighbours' wives , Ami one who loved his owu . " We say these thingsin no hostility to Russia . We hail ¦ with satisfaction every symptom of improvement ; and if she rigidly abstains , from military meddling ¦ with the affairs of Europe , there is a splendid future before her ; and with sufficient time she cannot fail to become a valuable addition to the family of civilised nations . . That , however , must be by developing her own character ,. and not _ by importing luxuries and vices from foreign capitals .

      Untitled Article

      CIVIL SERVICE . — CLAIMS OF PUBLIC SERVANTS . The bill for the Superannuation of the Civil Service has been reada second time in the House of Commons . It seems to have provoked but slight discussion , considering the importance of the question to a class of men who stand deservedly well in public estimation . The G overnment service has always been a favorite one—less lucrative it is , true than the mercantile service , but always a trifle more certain . An imaginary superiority , too , in its name and the care with which the country was supposed to look aftel' its worn-out and decayed servants , have contributed mainly to its popularity . It however seems to bo the fuct that

      appointments , made since the year 1829 , have shown occasionally slight disan ' eotion , and have more or less produced grumblers ,, since the- Superannuation Act of 1884 , liy that Act the civil servants ( those appointed alter Ib 29 ) were subjected to the payment of 5 per cent , on their salaries when above 1001 . and of 2 J ' percent , whon-below that sum 5 while those appointed before 1829 escaped with perfect immunity from the tax . Hero the first germs of discontent appear t 6 have shown themselves 5 and the present Chancellor ' s bill , ' if it become law , is in no ¦ way calculated to remove it , at least from the greater portion of the existing publjo servants . It «» fty , it is true , be said those publio servants have florvod tjioir county ' s turn for well nigh thirty ycai » , ' more or less—they are getting old , and fowQr in number , and the growling will die out with them in a Tory short time . On the other hand , a nobler

      and juster course may be urged upon th * e country , namely , to look at these payments as a species of life insurance , and make some extra allowance to the pensioner . The charge would soon cease altogether to be a burden on . the public purse . It appears that since 1829 the deductions referred to have amounted , up to the passing of Lord Naas ' s Act in 1857 , to nearly a million sterling ; and yet m the bill now before the House there is no provithen

      sion made in favour of those who created , by - contributions , this large sum . It is contended , we are aware—but unfairly contended— -that these public servants accepted their appointments with the knowledge that certain specified 'abatements ' would be made . If this is true of a portion of the service , it cannot be said of those appointed between the Treasury minute of 1829 and the Act ^ of 1834 : they could have had no idea of the existence of such a minute at the time of their appointment .

      We cannot help feeling some surprise , therefore , that the claims of those from whom abatements have been made have not in sprue way or other been recognised in Mr . Disraeli ' s bill . We cannot refrain from thinking that the country ought to admit these claims ; should it be otherwise , then Lord Naas ' s Act , which has reduced Sir Gr . C . Lewis ' s more liberal bill of 1856 to the dimensions of Mr . Disraeli ' s of 1858 , is no good whatever to the public servants of 1829 , but rather an aggravation of their grievances . It would matter very little to them to pay the tax a year or two longer , if in the end their claims were recognised by an increased superannuation allowance .

      Untitled Article

      SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEISr . We have received a letter from Bradford , which we insert , although we think it hardly worth while to pursue the subject further ¦ :- r" The correspondent of the Leader is astonished at seeing the Germans , who signed , the address to the Holstein Diet , taking him to task for his misrepresentations . It is , however , difficult to understand who else could possibly have taken him to task than the persons : who were the object of the misrepresentation — the much-spoken-of ' Yorkshiremen '

      being quite imaginary . Nor would the signers of the address think it worth while to allude any further to this affair did not the correspondent seem to think that the petition was written in such a way as to leave a doubt whether it was expressive of the wishes of German residents at Bradford , or of the wishes ' of a part of the English people . ' Now , the fact is , the petition begins with these words : — ' We , the undersigned , natives of Germany , ' &c . Again , in a subsequent paragraph , the words occur , 'it has grieved us , citizens of Germany , who reside abroad , ' &c . Is this not clear enough ?

      " Moreover , all the journals , both German and English , that have come under our eyes , describe the petition correctly , as a ' petitition of German merchants , professors , and so forth , residing at Bradford . ' I could quote a dozen German journals ; be it sufficient to name the Berlin JSTutional-Zeitung which gives ample details on the . matter , The London German journal , Hermann , does the same . As to English journals , the correspondent may learn the real state of things from tlie Daily News , the Morning Advertiser , the Daily Tekgraph , and several others . Altogether , the source from which the correspondent has taken his ' impressions ' seems to be a very extraordinary one . He speaks of * loud laughter , ' whilst telegraphic despatches and letters speak

      of a great and good effect produced by the address . One despatch , dated Hamburgh , says , 'At Kiel , Scbleswig , and other towns , the manifestation of German merchants at Bradford and Liverpool has given great satisfaction . The Danish police are active In trying to check tho movement , ' A letter in one of the groat English journals says : —' Addresses have also been presented from German merchants , professors , &a , residing at Bradford ( Yorkshire ) and Liverpool . It seems that this token of sympathy on tho part of , Gornmn natives living abroad has produced a very good result . A great number of journals allude to it as to a fact of sonic importance ; and tho same impression I obtain from private letters received from friends at Kiel and CUqhoe . "'

      Wo also have received on this subject the following remarks : — "If the correspondent thinks Mint tho Buchios arc only egged on by tho Germans beyond tho Schloswig-Holstcln frontier , ho Is mistaken . The majority of tho population havo repeatedly shown tho ' r true sympathies in the , most un mis takeuble mariner ! Tho Holstoin Diet , not Tory long ago , brought a charge amounting to high treason against the Banish Minister , for having curtailed tho national righto and provincial llbertios of tho

      country . ' The Schleswig Deputies have addressed to the Danish King a memorandum , a , few weeks ago , in which they pronounce against his despotic attempts at annexation . " As to the assertion that this is ' not so much si question of liberty as of race , ' the proofs of the contrary are very easy . At this moment , the 1 people ; of Holstein are deprived of the right of the free press , of free meeting , and so forth . They ; are , besides , made to support the Danish exchequer with most

      unproportional contributions . Not even the right of collective petitioning has been left to them . Within the last few weeks , thousands of individual petitions have , been addressed to Itzehoe , all oj therri insisting on the national rights . The police of Denmark are now busy , inquiring about the promoters of the movement , with a view of prosecuting them . An ordinance has also appeared , prohibiting further petitions of this kind ! And this is not -a question of freedom against despotism ! Then what is ?"

      Surely the mistake of our correspondent has been quite enough alluded to ; and we trust he will not think it not necessary to continue the controversy , as we are quite convinced of his good faith and opportunity of furnishing us with . information . The great question of the States will receive our earnest attention . :

      Untitled Article

      EPILOGUE TO THE BIOGRAPHIES OF GERMAN PRINCES . "Go , " exclaimed a famous statesman of other days , to his son , who was setting out on his travels , " go and see with how little wisdom the world is governed ! " This biting aphorism is fully illustrated in the present state of Germany , as exhibited in the lives of her princes . It will have been a wonder , no doubt , to many of our readers , how a race of such high . mental culture as the Germans are acknowledged to be- ^ a people who have revolutionised the intellectual world b y the introduction of the printing press , and the political world by the

      discovery of guirpowder—how they , a people ever in the van of human progress , can be found submitting in silence to governments with : whom " wisdom " has nothing to do . " Is , then , " readers may have asked , " the law of liberty not commensurate in the German people with its scientific , philosophical , artistic , and industrial development ? Are they nothing better than the willing slaves of these decrepid and half-demented dynasties who have become a disgrace to humanity at large , both politically and morally ? How . are we to account for so sad a spectacle as is here presented to us , in one of the niost gifted branches of the human family having its natural aspirations for freedom so utterly trodden down ?"

      A glance at liistory will easily show that it is not in the German character , but in the adverse tide of circumstances , we must seek for an explanation of tho present deplorable state of things . Germany has not always been the prey of despotism . It has had its . brilliant epochs of civic liberty and powerful democratic associations . There was an epoch—not so far back in the dim past—when her soil gave birth to a thousand Free Cities , organised on a republican basis , enjoying the most unlimited self-government , and overflowing with prosperity in trade and commerce . At that period the civic commonwealths of Southern Germany formed , as it were , sundry oases of liberty desert the world had be

      in the terrible ? feudal - come ; and not iinfrequently-did these freedomloving fraternities bid defianoe to tho plundering ; monarebs around them , and appear on tho point of vanquishing the crowned brigands entirely . At that time , too , the great Hanse League—that proud confederation of the commercial republics of tho worth—dictated laws to kings , and hold in their gift the crowns of tho Scandinavian monarchies . J- o a German living in those epqehs , the futuro of his fatherland might well havo seemed a bright one . Ho might have fondly imagined that his nation was advancing to a grcator unity , to more extended freedom , to a perfect religious independence ; in short , to' deliverance from all , petty prmcos , robber barons , and haughty Fnpwt legates .

      Indeed , to establish such a state of national liberty was tho aim of that groat movemont known under tho name of tho "liofbrmatjon . " It it » - a common error to suppose that the Gorman Reformation had only a religious tendency . Nothing could be more unfounded than this opinion . Wo far litim such being the case , on tho contrary , tho

      Untitled Article

      No 466 , T ? BBiWAtty 26 , 1859-1 THE LEADER . 2 * g __

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 26, 1859, page 275, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2283/page/19/