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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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SUBSCRIPTION TO " THE LEADER . " ONE GUINEA PER YEAR ' , UNSTAMPSD , PREPAID . ( DeJ ' . vered Gratis ) .
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- * - ——THE DISSOLUTION . Lord Derby lias made his option ; and insteacl of wasting public time and patience in further fencings with the Opposition in Parliament , he has resolved to appeal to the country . All the laborious argumentation devoted by many of ' our cotemporaries to the great constitutional question , whether he could or should hold office after being defeated in a great party battle , by a majority of thirty-nine , is gone to the winds . For the three days which intervened between the termination of the struggle in the House of Commons , and the Premier ' s an- nounceinent in the House of Lords on the 4 th
instant , the secret of'Ministei'inl intentions Avas well kept ; so well ,-indeed , that their most devoted friends were taken by surprise , at last , when they heard of the Cabinet ' s decision to dissolve . Many stories were afloat as to divisions amongst them on the point ; these , however , have been absolutely disposed of by Lord Derby ' s announcement of their navinjr been unanimous in the advice they gave to the Q ' ueen . Then there were stories to no end about the withdrawal of individual Ministers— -Lord Stanley ' s , General Peel ' s , and Lord Salisbury ' s names being those most freely used . But each and all of these retain their places , and wo do not hear now of uny resignations whatever . Nor was the Sovereign herself oinitted by rumour , in its catalogue of mysterious disclosures . Her Majesty
was said to be nervously apprehensive of the consequences of a dissolution , but still inoro so of wbnt might arise of a change of Ministry . Domestic agitation , encouraged by the election of an ultra-popular Parliament , mid peace abroad endangered by the return of the " Wings to officesuch were the conflicting fears supposed to occupy tho royul mind . But those who observed the features of her Majesty , when she appoared in public could'discern , no traces of peculiar ., anxiety there ; and the , promptitude with _ which her assent was given to tho act of dissolution loaves no room for further ingenious inventions upon tlmt sqore . It is quite clear that tho Crown reposes ns much confidence in its present advisers as in any others . Some observations of Lord I ' ahnerston s
as to tho power and the right of' the Commons to prevent the exorcise of tho prerogative in tho way of dissolution , are supposed to have been not particularly palatable in high quarters : hence the noble lord's anxiety to oxplaj . 11 them away in the House on Wednesday last . And , now that we are fairly embarked in the business of tho national trial , and the pleaders on either aide have begun their . appeals to the iuilguxontof the country , we begin to look more closely
into the precise nature of the issue we have got to try . To the mass of the community it looks as if it were neither very great ; or very important . The surface of things is what strikes most people in politics , and the outer rind of the present controversy does not give much promise of what is either very pleasant or very useful . Although tilings were , brought to a dead lock by the vote on the seqond reading of the Ministerial Reform Bill ,
it is not upon any definite or precise phrase of the question of Reform itself that the dissolution is declared to be taken . Lord Derby explicitly stated that he would'hold himself free of all pledge as to principles involved in the measure which had been defeated ; and that his main reason for appealing to the constituencies was to try and put an end , to some extent at least , of the anarchic condition of the House of Commons . He
described that assembly as no longer consisting of two great parties , but of a number of separate and jealous sections , no one of which was strong enough to dominate over the rest sufficiently to secure the possession ^ of power for any considerable time . This condition he pronounced incompatible with the maintenance of national influence abroad , or the well working of our institutions at home .- In the address of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the electors of Buckinghamshire , the same ideas are pointedly
and pungently expressed ; Not a word is said about Reform ; biit the Opposition is held up as impotent for tlie work of government , yet irresistible in its factious strength ; and the people are called upon to return a patriotic Parliament * which shall enable the Queen ' s Government to carry on the . business of the country with dignity and effect . In other words , the hope of Ministers is , that , sinking all minor questions , the nation will take care to give Lord Derby a working majority in the new House of Commons .
Meanwhile , the various sections of the Liberals prefer-to . represent the issue at stake as one of measures rather than men . They do _ not" assert their individual or collective superiority to thenopponents ; but they say that the foreign policy of Lord Mahnesbury is spiritless , and that the Reform . Bill introduced by Mr . Disraeli was inadequate to meet the case it professed to deal with . Lord John Russell has come out with a new bidding , namely , 61 . annual value , instead of 10 / ., for the suffrage in towns , without the limitation of two years and a half ' s residence prescribed in the bill of 1 S 54 ; he would also retain the
professional and other franchises enumerated . in that bill , and the 101 . occupation in counties . He no longer pronounces the ballot pernicious or . un-English , but intimates that when public opinion , is a little more matured on the subject it must be carried . Lord Palmerston and Mr . Bright , though for opposite reasons , object . The veteran viscount not having been consulted beforehand , demurs to the whole scheme , and refuses to hold himself pledged to any part of it . Mr . Bright , through his only organ in the daily press , denounces the plan as fallin <« - far short of what he would recommend .
Perhups the majority of the Opposition , were they leit to do exactly as they at heart desired , would rather incline to the inertia of resistance Lord Palmerston suggests ; but the majority of them , having regard to their electoral makers , would , doubtless , think it prudent to vote with Lord John . A parliamentary party , prepared to . tako Mr . Bright as its head , . an article yet to be . manufactured . Whether tho honourable member for Birmingham will bo able to produce it in form , when the now Parliament meets , we must wait for a few weeks to see .
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FOREIGN POLITICS . The conference respecting the Danubian Principalities has assembled in Paris . The precise result of their deliberations regarding the election of Prince Alexander I ., is not yet known . Very little doubt is ontertained , however , of a general agreement being come to in favour of recognising tho legality oThis joint Hospodarate . Tho great Powers have become too much absorbed in themoi ' e serious question—What is to bo done in Italy to provont war P—to permit of their indulging in diplomatic quarrels on . other points just now . , Some time will probably yet clapso ore the proposed Congress meets regarding Italian affairs . It is certain ; however , that tho impression ^ daily gains ground that neither Franco cr Austria are about to enter it with any genuine disposition to
yield sufficiently to prevent hostilities . Other Powers may try to persuade themselves that they are about to engage in a peaceful review of relative forces for the purpose of harmlessly measuring one another ' s strength , and then drawing off their respective contingents without a shot fired in anger . But France and Austria look upon the proceeding as one which enables them to reconnoitre each other ' s position , and to manoeuvre previously to a collision which they both believe to be inevitable . When two such . States are bent on going to war , it is hard to find a sufficient excuse for preventing them . Who the British plenipotentiaries to the Congress are to be , does not seem to be finally determined on . Lord Stratford de Redcliffe and Sir Hamilton .
Seymour are , beyond all question , the most distinguished ornaments of our diplomatic service : how far they could be induced to concur in the pursuit of Lord Malmesbury ' s policy , is more than , we can venture to say . M . Lh-uyii de Lhuys is believed to have been asked to act on behalf of France ; but , if so , he will have certainly declined .
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FALSIFICATIONS IN BUSINESS . Not long ago the adulterations by shopkeepers of the common articles of subsistence and of daily use as luxuries , engaged public attention , and justly roused public indignation . The case of the Messrs . Taylor , and their opponents , heretofore their customers and coadjutors ,, which brought the false measures commonly used in . the thread trade before the public , has now directed attention to different , but equally injurious , and probably more extensive , and less . suspected species of frauds . From the following letter , and from several specimens of similar abuses which have been brought under
notice by our contemporaries , the falsification by manufacturers would appear to surpass in number the adulterations by shopkeepers . It is high time the public looked after its own interests , for it is quite impossible for any law to reach an evil so completely a part of the national , life . Opulent and indolent people will not take the trouble to attend to such minute matters , and consequently encourage the frauds of those who supply them . The industrious classes , especially the busy poor , cannot attend to them ; they must , in a great measure , trust those with whom they deal , and so there would seem to . bo no other remedy for the malady than to strengthen the conviction of its general injuriousness . Manufacturers and dealers must be shamed out of it , as even
more foolish than vicious . We want amongst us , now , something like Chinese minuteness in dealing with one another , and Chinese acuteness in detectin " small frauds ; and as we are not likely suddenly to acquire these habits—whatever the persistence in such rascality may ultimately bring us to—our only hope of amendment rests in improving public knowledge and public sentiment . W « have great faith in the principle that nil men seek o-ood ; it is their nature to strive after it . Lyu is it sin from
pain , and men naturally avoid : they ignorance more than from design , anil increased knowledge is the parent of purer motives and greater virtues . The public may learn that a rogue is only a fool with a circumbendibus—that fraud is folly ; but such errors and vices cannot be corrected by the coercion of other * neither more honest nor more enlightened than the rogues , and the tools . With these few words us an introduction , wo lay tho letter of our correspondent , rough as he says he sends it , before our readers : —
Manchester , March 29 , 1859 . . Sir , — -From tho surprised man nor in which , you snoak in last Saturday ' s Lbadbii of the expose m tho matter of Taylor ' s Persian Thread , it is quito evident that you are in a stato of blessed innocence as regards the thread trade , that is as ^ tomahmsM it is refreshing , to people engaged in tho buying ana 80 W ^ shf wft h out any joking , Mo- ™ . Taylors are looked upon as one of tho most upright . firms in £ ? . * i ;~ « r . f :. / inn ... mallv common of « marking up , "
tfint is to say , omrklQir cotton that actually aro SQVi . oJVuM as go's or euV and so on , m mogr or leas degree , according to tho-what shall I call It S --tho elasticity of tho buyer and manufacturer j this mSico is - chiefly confined to "ball" sewings ,
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NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS . No notice can be taken of anonymous , correspondence . Whatever is intended for insertion must be authenticated by the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of his good faith . It is impossible to acknowledge the . mass of letters- ^ mwceive Their insertion is often delayed , owing- to a pi ess of matter-and when omitted , it is frequently from reason ^ quite independent of the ' merits of the commumcatiori . ' ¦ : ' . . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications .
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OFFICE , NO . IS , OATHERJNE-STREET , STllAND , W . C .,
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TSTo . 472 . April 9 , 1859 . ] THE LEADER . 465
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There is nothing- so revolutionary * because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things lixed when all the world is by the very law of its creation in eternal progress . —Dr . Arnold .
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Leader (1850-1860), April 9, 1859, page 465, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2289/page/17/
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