The Press. — London, England, 1858-09-18 00:00:00

• '''biaffi" • , • • , • ' • " cee • ( 1 1 . (1)1 -- No. 281.—VoL. VI. LONDON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18,185 S• UN STA STAMP MPED ED -.SIXPENCE.. ..FIVEPENCE. Vrtss. state of things which they condemn is an un questioned evil and an undisputed wrong. Thus one of our able and clever contemporaries, the Evening Star, who is trying hard to get up the steam, dwells at great length on the influence of landlords over their tenants, and after having laboured to prove, what no one denies, that they do possess a considerable influence, inclines to think that his case is established, and that such a hideous thing as a landlord having influence over his tenant is a monstrous evil, which needs only to be shown to be acknowledged. We think, however, that another and far more im portant step is necessary in order to maintain the argument ; and that step is to show, not merely that this influence exists, but that it is an evil and a wrong. The inference which it is natural to draw respecting the writer who makes this off-hand assumption, is, that he and his friends have no influence as landlords, but that they flatter themselves that they have some other influence which would avail them under a different order of things. For this notion of destroying influences is evidently absurd. Let every existing influence be annihilated to-morrow, and what would be the result ? Simply this : in a month's time other influences, far more likely to be pernicious to the community at large, would be brought into operation, and then a fresh outcry would be raised that those also must be got rid of. Vain and idle aspiration ! It is a cry to change human nature. There is not a human being alive but must more or less be subject to the influence of others, and to the circumstances which surround him. Therefore we must ask our contemporary to have the goodness to tell us why the influence of a landlord is more dangerous to the State, or more unfair to the individual, than the influence of a mob of demo crats, such as prevails in the United States of America, the notorious effect of which is to banish from the councils of the State the ablest, the wisest, and the most respectable members of the community ; while it sends men to Congress who allow themselves to be betrayed into brawls, more suited to a pothouse than the legislative assembly of a great nation—brawls which even the men who take part in them would be ashamed of if there were members within its walls whose high character and social position conferred a dignity on the whole body, which the worst would be constrained to respect and would not dare to outrage. We do not, however, mean to assert that landlord influence may not be improperly and unfairly exerted ; but then we know of no kind of influence whatever which is free from this imperfection. Says a customer to a shopkeeper, "If you don't vote for my man, I will withdraw my custom from you." Says the leader of a mob to a peaceable citizen, "If you don't vote for our man, you will soon find this town too hot to hold you." Says the creditor to the debtor, "I shall press for my money if you vote against my candidate." Says the great lady of the neighbourhood, " I shall not invite you and your wife and daughter to my great archery meeting, if you vote against my son." And so on, ad infinitum. Indeed, from the sovereign on the throne to the peasant in the cottage, one and all are subject to the influence of others. We are no admirers of Mr. ROEBUCK. lie is of the Radical school. But what does he say on this subject ? Addressing his Sheffield constituents just two years ago, he says :—" You have chosen " men, who have gone to Parliament, and the " moment they have entered it they have been LONDON, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1858. REFORM OP PARLIAMENT. SoNtE of our contemporaries are labouring hard to rouse their readers on this question ; and, since there is generally no great difficulty in getting a certain number of people to make a de- monstration in favour of any political measure, - : it is possible they may succeed in so doing. And then they will designate the demonstration as rox populi ; and since, where there is real apathy upon any given subject amongst the people, so that the vox of the demonstrators is the only vox which is heard, it sounds plausible enough to assume that those who demonstrate speak the mind of the mass of their fellow-subjects. In the present instance, however, we are well convinced that this is an unjustifiable assump tion ; and though we feel bound to acknowledge that there is a general and deep-seated discon tent with the composition of the present House of Commons, still there is no confidence what ever felt by the masses that the measures urged upon them by those who set themselves tp as their leaders and guides will have the effect of procuring for them a House of Commons with which they are likely to be better pleased. They naturally and truly say amongst themselves,—lt sounds all very delightful giving us votes for members of Parliament, but, mien we every one of us have a vote, of what wonderfully small value will it be to each individual possessor ? What real political power shall I possess, what real influence in the government of the country, because I can affect the return of a representa tive, where my vote is only one amongst ten, twenty, or thirty thousand ? Such a privilege they regard as ridiculously small politically, and, under a stringent Corrupt Practices Act, as valueless commercially. Now, this is a very common feeling amongst the working men, and we are inclined to believe that your great extension-of-the-franchise men find this difficulty meet them at every turn ; for the most sensible and the most ambitious of the working classes—men who arc really worthy to have a weight and influence in the councils of the nation—men who have the ability to discern that which is wise from that which is foolish, and that which is right from that which is wrong (and many, very many, such there be within the compass of our own knowledge)—these men, so tar from wishi ng any grea t ex t ens i on o f th e fran chise, look to raising themselves in the social scale so as to obtain the privilege, which may be worth having when shared with a few, but Which is assuredly worthless when shared with all their neighbours. will thi n k, th ere f ore, t h at t h e R a di ca l l ea d ers will fail in th e i r o bj ect t o create amongs t working men any extensive expression of a wish for the indiscriminate enfranchisement of the many. The wiser, too, of the working classes are not blind to the r h e t or i ca l ar tifi ces w hich their soi-disant " friends" do not hesitate to use. One of these is the always assuming that the LATEST EDITION. " overwhelmed,—they have been utterly de " stroyed by the influences to which they have " been subjected. I have seen men blustering " on the hustings, telling the people what they " were going to do, who, the moment they en " tered the house, would do any thing to gain its " good wishes and good feelings. They were " no longer your representatives ; they repre " sented only their own feelings and wishes." Such is the conduct of " blusterers on the hustings," as described by one unceasingly labouring under, perhaps, as malignant an influence as any unfortunate man can well be ruled by—viz., the desire of obtaining a character for independence, by blurting out whatever he considers most calculated to hurt the feelings of others. To attempt, therefore, to destroy existing influences is like the attempt to destroy the hydra —if one head is crushed, two others start up in its place. We ought, accordingly, to endeavour to reconcile our minds to submit to the inevitable law of our being, and before we can consent to measures destructive of the natural influence which a landlord now possesses over his tenants, we have a right to require of those who call upon us so to do, to show that other influences more liable to abuse, and more deleterious in their effects, will not result from their destruction. We advise our friends of the working classes to con sider themselves these matters a little deeper than the superficial writers who set themselves up as their advisers. We advise each one of them to consider what advantage be is likely to derive from having a single vote for a member of Parliament in a constituency of some twelve or fourteen thousand voters. If he be capable of reflection, he will very clearly foresee his lot. lie must either be opposed to or associated with those who will return 'the men " who bluster on " the hustings, by telling the people" the won derful things " which they are going to do," but who, when they " enter the house, represent only " their own feelings and wishes." If he be op posed to this party he will be defeated, and the possession of a vote will then only prove to him a source of vexation. If he has joined the victo rious party, he may triumph for the moment, but he will ultimately find that he has " only gained a loss." All history proves that, taking them as a class, the flatterers of the multitude, those who profess the greatest zeal Ibr the welfare of the people, are the most selfish of mankind. They have one object, and only one object, in view, and that is their own aggrandizement. Look at the most celebrated "agitator" of modern times—the late Mr. O'CONNELL. No one knew better than he did that the one panacea for the woes of his destitute fellow-countrymen was the establishment of se curity and peace in Ireland. He knew that, had that once been would ha , to Ireland, by w , fed. lie knew the passing of that capital would parations were invest money itt his beloved felko ligence ? Ile foresa pass, the millions - control, and that would be gone. system of agitation, in a month, tl their money to Nevertheless the insured, capital would have gone which alone the millions could be that when an idea prevailed, after the Roman Catholic Relief Bill, uld be safe there • • a Ire- : made by t .: .1 • I Ireland. , 44 4 Zi" P i a be )w-countrym6d u .1,1 • i tell foresaw that itt I f faS )ns would beg* 1116 ,_ that his " 1 ". .So he forth A. 114 tion, and them) .7:2, ---- those who vM• • • o Ireland abandon I tlie; •ntion I the millions continued blindly to