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that by some means or other the bill should elude the fate with which it is threatened next week * and eventually '' become law , no rational man can pretend to believe that it would tend to ¦ quench agitation . Passed under Whig and ifcadical protest , and with the confession of more than one of its most distinguished abettors , that it did not go far enough in the direction where most discontent prevaus , it would inevitably become ^ a tete de pont for future advances , to resist which there will be no pretence of unanimity or inoral strength . '" .- ¦
. This , then ,, is the real total ; and this accordi ng ly is ¦ that which the old reform leader of opposition has palpably hit . The contest about the town freeholds is a sort of bye-battle , " in which much dexterity and knowledge of parliamentary fence may be displayed , but in which the party assailed has already shown its capacity for manoeuvring , and on the issue of which , therefore , it is not expected that anything very material will turn . Mr . Disraeli has intimated iiis willingness to
endeavour to reconcile the theorem of uniformity as between countv and town with the preservation of all existing privileges . In Sir . Charles TVetherell ' s time , these' would liave beeii talked of as " vested rights ; " but " vested rights , " like our ouce " exclusively Protestant legislature , " and a good manyother things beside , have for a long time been slowly , but . steadily , thawing , away , and of late we seem to have almost forgotten their fine old Tory names . If Sir ; Hugh Cairns sliall , ¦ consequentl y * be able to frame ii iet of clauses , which Mr . Dis-¦
raeli , before the debate begins , on-Monday next , can offer to move in committee , securing to every ¦ freeholder in a town theoption of registering as he thinks fit for cither ¦ ' county , or . borough , the pinch of this part of the case will be at an end . The real tug of war will then , conic where , from the first , we have always prognosticated it would- — namely , on the attempt to maintain the town franchise at 10 / . ~* Xo give-wav ostensibly on this
point , and adopt Messrs . Walpole and Henley ' s advice while in office , would , no doubt , ' checkmate Lord John Il ' us&el ' l , and win the game of the bill . What the effect of . s ' tich a legislative summersault would be on the Conservative party it woul d be premature to discuss , ; -and very little , we must own , to our ' present taste or . purpose .. Mr . Disraeli , perhaps , is not a man to bo restrained by such considerations from accomplishing an object on which he lias set his heart . lie is a man of
historical imagination and ambition ; and having been often foiled in his attempts to inscribe his name in the roll of our legislative authors , he would , in all probability , not stick at a trifle to succeed in what uiay possibly be his last effort as party leader . We say his last cffqrt because it has for some time been growing more , and more evident that his party are thoroughly tired of their rider , and that he is equally wearied of them . Ten years of whipping and spurring , curvetting and cantering , on the same hard bleak road , is enough to exhaust any stock of temper or
energy . Ofchor fields of ambition are still open to a man of genius , perseverance , and versatility ; and , on the other hand , there are few instances in which any political party has . thriven or prospered under the leadership of any one man for a longer period than that we have named . In any event , wo think it fur from unlikely that Mr . Disraeli may cease ore long to perform the onerous ami thankless duties of unprejudiced brains gatherer to a prejudiced party .
' . Should ho be tillable- to pemiado his colleagues to yield on the borough franchise , wo shall not be surprised to see him throw up the reins iu disgust , and leave his place to be filled by that Mill more adroit and pliiuit leader to spare , who ha « hitherto been hold on by the Connoi * vative party with a tight leading-rein . Whether they hope to carry a Reform Bill" in the present . Parliament , or moan to try their future at the hustings , Lord Derby , it is clear , must strengthen himself , somehow , in the House of Commons 5 and it is neediest ) to-waste words to prove > vlmt everybody admitu ,. that the man who is facile prinoops in debute , and profoundly experienced in overy branoh of public administration } would bo nn invaluable addition to Ins Government . It ennnot be
expected that Mr . Gladstone should , take a subordinate oOipe , so that he would commit himself to the fortunes of an already splintered and damaged cabinet , unless ho wore ojierod the load of the JLower House . Were ho , however , placed in
the position for which his talents so conspicuously qualiiy him , he could without inconsistency introduce such modifications in the '¦ ministerial- plan , as would place the opposition at fault , by bringing the measure in its mean features to what he himself , as a member of Lord Aberdeen ' s Government , agreed to propose to Parliament five years ago . S hould personal changes , however , at a juncture so critical be deemed inexpedient , and should the
10 ? . occupation franchise be still adhered to as a matter of ' party honour and party consistency , there yet remains two methods by which it were quite possible to extend materially ; the city and borough constituencies , without abandoning In terms the tenour of the " pending bill . If weekly tenants , paying four shillings rent during a period of twelve month ? continuously , were entitled to vote , a vaut addition would be made-to the ¦ number of electors ,
while the same-total '' of pecuniary qualification would still be no less than 10 / . in the year . Still more important , more liberal ; and more just , would be the extended application- of tlie principle of avocation franchises to tho . se . skilled artizans and operatives , who could show that they had served a regular "' apprenticesiup to their respective trades . This ' would indeed be to return to the ancient ways of the constitution , and to renovate tliat honourable and useful pride in ' industrial citizenship which has been too much suffered to decay .
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HAEBOUKS pF . KEFUGB . : Lord Clarence Pag kt . has the great merit of rousing the public to a true sense of the scandalous manner in which' its money is wasted . He has not only roused it , he has made it angry , and in an unfavourable mood for listening to fresh demands on its funds , even for purposes of ' . apparent humanity . The commissioners ,-therefore , ' appointed to complete the inquiry commenced by tlie House of Commons into the propriety of constructing harbours of refuge , have ' .. made their report , requiring 2 , 305 , 000 / . " to be devoted to this purpose at an Unfortunate time , though the
expenditure isto be spread , . over t n' years . Ihe Dublic is Well aware that ' works of this " kind , begun by the Government , are never completed tor the sum estimated , and they may" see , in the various reuonunciulntions of tl ' ie commissioners , many gcrriis—in letting land , &e . —of that jobbery which clings I Lice a skin to all its Undertakings . However strongly , therefore , the recormnendation to construct harbours of refuge appeals to our selfislmess by money to be saved , and to our sympathies by lives to be preserved , it will not be received without a close scrutiny , nor be accepted if tainted by a suspicion that the public feelings are
to be played on to secure additional emoluments and additional patronage for official men . At length the public , begins to be sensible that they seize every opportunity to enhance a panic or excite a belligerent zeal whenever that is likely to inci'ease the . public : 'expenditure ; and we regret to say that the commissioners , most of whom are official men , ¦ follow this general custom , and endeavour to enlist the-public feelings in favour of their recommendations , by exaggerated pictures of" the losses incurred by the want of harbours of refuge . They commence their report by adopting the statement of tho Committee of the House of
Commons , that the annual loss of property . by casualties . on our coast is . estimated at 1 , 500 , 000 / ,, and the loss of life on oureonsfcs ) h 780 persons annually . They ore careful to notice that in 1854 no fewer than l , 54 f ) persons thus perished . They coidcf , however , have obtained tlie returns of the present year , and . have consoled the public by noticing that these losses ore decreasing , had they not had a purpose to sorvo by parading the more alarming statement . From the " Abstract of the Returns made" to the Board of Trade " of the wrecks and casualties which occurrod on and near the coasts
of the United Kingdom from tho 1 st of January to the 31 st of December , 1858 " recently pub ' - liahod , we enn state that the total number of lives lost on our coasts by cttaualties to whipping , in 1858 , was 340 , and the average loss of the throe years 1856-8 > yas not 780 , but 464 , or not two-thirds of the number put down by tho commissioners as annually perishing . Many of tlioso Iohsos , too , were the consequence of the unskilful manner , still in gonoral uso j of lowering and clearing boats . " In the majority of cases , " says tho report of the Surveyor-Gonoral of the J 3 oard of Trade , " a
boat is no sooner attempted to be lowered or got out in a gale of wind , than it is stove , or , from the fouling , of the tackle and running gear ,, capsized . The number of ships' boats which escape this disaster is very small , compared to the number attempted to be got out in cases of emergency . " This cause for the loss of life . would be , in a very slight degree , if at all , obviated b y expending 2 , 3 . 65 , 000 / . in constructing harbours of * refuge , and it is in the course of being very materially lessened by improved methods of-carrying'and lowering , or launching , boats , which will not give rise to one nefarious job , nor take one farthing ' from the taxpayers . , .. ¦' ¦ . ' . '¦
It is found , too , when the subject is examined , that a large proportion of the . casii . alities recorded , are in no degree occasioned by tlievranl oi ' harbours of refuge ; that harbours of refuge vv-nidd not lessen , if they " would not increase , iiie . ensiuili ' ies which do not happen from the want of . them ; and that improvements in shipping and in scuiiu-n would he more likely to save life and pn >] xviy thantins proposed application " of the public inor . e ; ,-. Thus , of the number of wrecks and easiiiiltios— -includin" - damage of all kinds , but- excluding coiri ., ions—iu 1858 , only 4 C . 7 are ascribed to . v / rcs--, - ? of weather , or could in any degree have 1 !;•• .-. 11 avoided by having harbours . of refuge .- ; , and ; i'i : ih . < i : > s many , 402 . are ascribed to inattention , < : u \ !< . •* .- ness , and
neglect ; to defects' m" the ships inn 1 equipments , ami to various other causes , it is to be . apprelic ' iided' that shipowners will be une-Muiigv . d ' - . hy hiirbours of refuge to send ships fo .-e . i iil provided or ill conditioned , and that ship <\! pt ! ii-ns will be 111 a . de by them increasingly cnrelo .-s ; :: hI innftentive to their duties . Should such . be the result , harbours of refuge will cause the lo ^ s of more -lives aiul property than they will suve . l
The losses just stated are exclusive ¦ o , ' , los . ses by colli ^ ioiis , by fire , find other causes -. hut . connected with stress of weather ; and the . <; : isua ! fio $ l >_ v collisions alone , . in 1-858 , were 301 ' . All of them might possibly have -been prevented l > v greater skill and care in navigating the ., vessels : and not one of them ; , probably , would-ov (' milil liive been avoided had 10 , 000 , 000 / . been e . vpoiu ! e < l in making
hiirbours of refuge . Again , wlici ) we . look at the < 1 e -. 1 i ; --lion of vessels lost ' iu 1858 , tlie tables show us ' thai out of 1 , 170 , 1 , 018 ' were vessels of lessthan ' 5 . 00 Ions . The Great Eastern is not the oidy grea t , ship wliicli lias been built in modern times , but . it illustrates the general tendency of ' our shipbuilders 1 <> construct year after year bijjger and bitter ships , There , is good reason to suppose , therefore , that tlu ; loss 01 ships will , diminish year by your , as large sjiip . s displace small ones . Although stt'Mm colliers may not have been successful at first , I . lieiv is no doubt tliat even in the coal trade hinjv ) 1 ws ^ -K impelled 1
by the more easily conuiuunkil powt'i 01 steam , > vill be employed / In truth , the ioiii |> eiiiion now existing between railways and shipping l ' "i" tl'G carriage of goods , is a guariuitei-tluil ( hv eoiisting tiwleinurft . be conductutl in an iniproveil nndjndoejl , in the ¦ ' cheapest , and best maunor . C ! rr ; H a-ud « 't'ijtinuul losses at sea will make the ownei-. ' i . f , y «" - » H prefer to . send them by rail . ' In ; 'iii < vnt <; i > urf ( orri must therefore be laid aside , tuu . l , a- i '" - ' < ' '' i > c tukea place , losses on our coasts ) - " \ v 11 ! In- liHsenetl . Sliip-building inateriiils , too , ; iVu nt > w eheaper flum ilwy were ; a reduction of tlie lii . » iJ »« -r diilie ., Avliiyh tho proposed application oi' the public money miht render impossiblewould innkvUn'in cliemier
g , . still , -and so the temptation to ooiiMlrurl wcrtk Hliipn , iind the temptation to lit theui out iinperlectiy , will be lessened , and wo shall luivc Kjwer wrocko , though wo do not spend 2 , 340 , 000 / . in r «> n » rruotnjg tlio proposed harbours . The ivc-ninnu'iMlntions appeal warmly to all our best Jeelings , nud on this account it in the more ncocHMiry lluil tho pumio should bo on its guard against ( lelusion nnd csufceration . More national benolit will nccmio n-om tno improvements . in constructing ships , nnd »» tut . character of the oJOeera and men ol ' tlio mewftijUlo iiuvriiio—now innking a ' rapi *! progress—tli »» ' ^ currying out the recommeii « lat . ioiin of llonr-A' 1 } 1 " " m \ Hope , Sir Frederick Smith ; nnd Hie olhei coimnissionci'ts .
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Tuio Liuural Xhajwiis , —Lord John Uufsoll \ Lord Palmoi'Bton abstained from voting on luoeunji on tho motion for the abolition of church-rates- , MiNiea-JBiiiAT ,. —Tho lflnrl of Bowlyu l »» a aocoptoa tho post of Under-Sooretary of titiUo ol War , vu civtod by Viscount llardingo .
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0 . 7 0 THE LI 1 BEE . [] STo . 469 , March I 9 > 1859 .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 19, 1859, page 370, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2286/page/18/
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