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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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No . 498 . Oct . 8 , 1859 . ] THE tEADEB . 1131
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sible law-maker . He might carry such a notion , though it was rudely interrupted when he was displaced from office , into private life , and really believe that he was entitled both to make the law and cany it into execution . If such be the origin of his proceeding it is the more indispensable that he should be taught by the public and the press that he does not possess in his capacity of landlord the power of the First Lord of the Treasury . Either legislation is wholly unnecessary , or the
law , as a rule of conduct , deserves every man s veneration , and should be rigidly obeyed by all , a particularly by those on whom the law confers power and wealth . If it is to be set aside or deviated from at the pleasure of individuals in high station , other persons will soon come to regard it as the mere embodiment of their desires , as merely cloaking their , selfishness under a garb of sanctity , and as no more worthy of obedience than the sic volo of any individual .
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A SOCIAL PROBLEM . Some years ago , two problems of our social existence were to us matters of deep and constant reflection . In vain we sought to learn what became of clowns during the summer , and where the Hainpstead donkeys went to during the winter . As the donkeys went out of sight , the clowns came in , and vice versa . Like the constellations of Castor and Pollux , they never appeared together above the social . horizon . At last we are furnished with a sufficient , if not a satisfactory solution . We are told , and believe because we are told , that at the end of the
pantomimic season clowns are finally transformed into barmen , and may be seen behind London bars clothed and in their right linibs . The original Hampstead donkeys , we learn on the same authority , undertake an involuntary migration to the shores of Holland , and there during winter-time drag out their miserable existence , carrying sand for the Dutch dykes . We admit that both of these hypotheses are liable to grave objections . As time goes on , however , we learn not to expect too much , and are content with little . We are ready , therefore , . to admit with alacrity , the clown and donkey problems are both solved , and have now to turn our minds to the elucidation of a
similar but more serious difficulty . What—this is our present dilemma—becomes of Members of Parliament during the recess ? It is not that we feel auy difficult y as to the physical and material part of their existence ; if we chose we could doubtless discover their exact address and residence . Our anxieties refer to the higher part of the senatorial nature—to the development , or rather to the non-development of their mental faculties . As for the members of the
Government , we know what they profess to do . it is true they do not profess to do much , and probably do less than they profess , but still one may take up a great deal of time in doing very little . The rank and file of Parliament , the county members , and representatives of snug boroughs , who never speak , and vote as seldom as they can , probably carry on the same kind of vegetable existence in the vqgqsb as they do out of it . Dulness is their normal state ; nothing can disturb the sobriety of their equilibrium . They are dull upon the hustings , dull in Parliament , and dull at county meetings . Dulnoss was prosent in their cradle , and dulness remains with them on their death bed . What , however , . in this dead season of quiet becomes of our energetic members , our spirited
politicians , our high-minded patriots , our Ayrtons , Williamsos , and Iloobucks P Who can fancy those unquiet spirits in a" state of rest P Wo were once present , on a visit of inspection , in the shop of a thriving pawnbroker . There , hung upon nooks against the wall , were a number of stopped watches . We were struck at once with a feeling o £ compassion for these chronometers condemned to an involuntary silence . There -was nobody to wind thom up , nobody to report their progress , nobody to make their repeaters strike . They had not oven the pleasure of hearing themselves tick . A like feoling of pity steals over us whon wo think of our public characters . They also have boon pawned for the recess , and the nation is in no hurry to redeem their pledges . There ia Mr . Ayrton , for instance . Life must bo a blank to him when he does not behold his
name in the Parliamentai * y reports . Night after night he must go weary and listless to bed , saying , in the words of the Roman Emperor , "
cHemperdidi" Does he "feel bound to offer a few remarks on this most important subject " ^ when his servant calls him for breakfast in the morning , or does he " move the adjournment of the debate , " when he wishes the cloth to be removed after dinner ? Does he read passages from his own speeches out of Hansard to the assembled household—or does he sit daily for his own portrait , in the act of moving for a return ? There is one thing we do not suspect him of , and that is of reading the blue-books which ^ his motions have brought into being . There is a
limit even to an Ayrton ' s energy . Mr .. Williams , too , must be like a fish out of water . His great financial talents can have no scope in private life . One cannot be always reducing the wages of one ' s servants , or cutting down one ' s family expenses . Anxious virtue is a pleasant thing ; but still the gratifying reflection that one is not called " My Lord , " and has preserved intact one ' political chastity , can hardly be sufficient to occupy the whole of one ' s attention . Is it possible that in his enforced idleness Mr . Williams condescends to local politics , and rivals Mr . Doulton oil his own Lambeth
stage ? Mr . Roebuck ' s , however , must be the hardest case of all . Fancy a dog without a bone to gnaw , or a gnat without any one to sting , and you will nave a conception of the state of mind of the member for Sheffield . Things are so dull that there is not even a prospect of a skirmish , where an independent and impartial bystander might manage to stir lip a quarrel . We should think that at this time a little family
dispute , a vague unpleasantness between near relatives , would be a perfect godsend to Mr . Roebuck . Nobody could contrive to give his candid advice in a way that would be more generally offensive , or make more mischief out of a smaller matter . However idle Mr . Roebuck ' s hands may be , the devil will have hard work to find mischief enough for them . It is the custom at Naples for mothers who want to leave home to wrap up their children in a roll of cloth , which hinders them from moving their a rms or legs , and they hang them on a peg out of harm ' s way . Surely it would be a good plan if our patriotic poh ' ticians could be treated in a like manner .
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POST OFFICE SAVINGS BANKSS . A benevolent man , whose spare time seems devoted to plans for enabling the poor to better their own condition—Mr . Sikes , of Huddcrsfieldhaving ascertained that money-order offices are much more numerous than savings banks , has conceived the idea of making the former fulfil the functions of the latter . He will thus establish a savings bank within an hour ' s walk of the fireside of every man in the kingdom . Every labouring man in the country may then easily become a capitalist ; and , the two classes merged into one , their present hostility will die a natural death . He has observed that there are fifteen counties in
the United Kingdom where there are no savings banks ; that in twelve years , while the wealth of the country , judging by its exports , has increased 100 per cent ., the deposits in savings banks have increased only 7 £ per cent ., and he concludes that now , when wages are good , deposits would increase more rapidly were savings banks more numerous . He suggests that the Commissioners for the Man-r agement of Savings Banks , whom it is ^ proposed to appoint , shall issue " savings banks interest notes , value from £ 1 to ,, £ 30 , bearing interest at the rate of 2 & per cent , per annum . " These notos are to be procured through money-order offices .
A man would pay in his money , as lor remittance ; it would be sent to London to the chief savings banks , and in a few days he would receive one pf these notes equal to the amount of the deposit . The plan would increase the business of the money-oi'doi : office , but falls so well in with it as to occasion little extra expense . The author estimates the cost ; of so depositing money at not much more than one-third of the prosent p lan of savings banks , "while the security would be perfect . He does not intend , however , in the slightest degree to oompotp with the pro-Bent savings banks , to which he gives just praise , but to supplement thom , and supply a sure and well guaranteed savings bank to every distwet wherever ft money-order office is established . Without entering Into the details we must express '
our opinion that such a plan could be effectually carried out , should the cordial support of the Post-office authorities be obtained . Already Mr . Rowland Hill has signified his approbation ; and other chiefs by the mouth of Mr . Frederic Hill have suggested means for giving effect to the plan . Xfnquestiohably it deserves the public consideration , and as the price of the neat and well drawn up pamphlet which describes the plan is 3 s . per dozen copies , post free from the author , we hope it will be widely read , and the plan be widely discussed . be made to it to
That objections may , as every novel scheme , there can be no doubt ; but if not well founded they will be soon dismissed , and if well founded the benevolent author will cordially welcome remarks which detect his errors We have none such to offer . We confess , however , to a repugnance to increase the work done under the direction of Government , because all such work is removed from competition—the onlysecurity , we think , for any work being well done . It is also perfectly clear that the interest to be paid on all savings is created by industry , and the less of them is invested in of them will
the national debt the more , as capital , aliment the active industry of the nation . Money invested in the funds is safer than when entrusted to individuals ; but in the former case it receives as interest a portion of taxes : — in the latter it may contribute to create the wealth it shares . Consistently with this it is well known that when money is much in demand for commerce it is withdrawn from savings banks and invested in trade . This partly explains the fact mentioned by Mr . Sike ' s , that in Lancashire and Yorkshire , savings banks , in proportion to population , are only about one-fourth as numerous as in Dorsetdue to the
shire and Berkshire . It is also partly greater density of population in the former than in the latter ; but there are facilities in the manufacturing districts for employing small sums profitably which ai-e not found in the agricultural districts . We , too , must always regard private bankers—the responsible money dealers h ^ every neighbourhood—as the best savings banks for the people . That they have sometimes failed is not so bad as Governments which always fail ; and in spite of a bank , breaking now and then , we believe that with perfect free banking , private banks , receiving and utilising the smallest sums , would be the best , as they are the natural , savings
banks of the multitude . We make these remarks more to vindicate our own consistency—being staunch and steady advocates for free banking , as for freedom in every business—than to depreciate Mr . Sikes benevolent plan , which seems an appropriate oxtension of our present financial system , calculated to enable the multitude more than at present to escape from its evils .
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LOMBARDY AND THE HOUSE OF SAVOY . Italian affairs may now be said to boapproachin " a crisis . It is confidently stated that next week will see the ratification of at least a portion of thestipulations of Villafrancu , the Emperor 2 s npolcon having made known his desire , that the treaty of Zurich should be completed within a few days . Little doubt , however , ^ bo entertained Unit a congress will follow * br tho resolution of many ol the great points still at issue in the 'Italian question . The instruments of peace , to bo SJgncu next week by tho Plenipotentiaries of the 1-rench , Austrian , and Sardinian Powers , are only three in number , and relate H . iinply to thy conclusion ol peace , the settlement of the frontier line between tho potwcBsiuus of Piedmont and Aiwtna , and tho cession of Loinbardy .
, The present annexation of Lombardy to the dominion * of the ancient house of Savoy i » not a new foot or a recently felt want . From Ludovico IA down to Victor Emmanuel JUL . history shows that the relations between tho two provinces have always , with some brief interruptions , iwsuiiiou Uio same aspect as at proHont . this union has ever been tho ambitious deairo of the princes , the moving snrinK of their policy , and the abiding desire of their people . It is no strange ocourrunce in the history of Italy to boo the houses and shops decorated with tho -wuitq cross of Savoy . In the middle of the fifteenth century Milan adopted this emblem , and . witu ardent desires and prayers summoned tho son of
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 8, 1859, page 1131, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2315/page/15/
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