The Press. — London, England, 1854-03-18 00:00:00

42 " House or out,that does not hold up his hands " in astonishment at it ;" and Lord MONTEAGLE, forgetting for a moment that he is speaking of the " civil" service, curtly denominates the whole concern a " humbug.' Upon this occa sion the critics are all lAberals : no suspicion of " old Tory favouritism " attaches to theca,. ; and, finally, they have all had very ample official experience. It came out, moreover, in the course of the debate that the Report itself has been " cooked that " where it was satisfae " tory it has been produced, and where not " withheld ;" and in the end the Ministers of the Crown were fain to repudiate their Com missioners, and entreat the House not to pre judge the future measure of the Government from the papers at present before it. But organising the civil service, creating a profes sion, enlisting in the service of the Govern ment an army of 16,000 men, essentially men of brains, and accidentally men of principle, is far too tempting a prospect in the eyes of a Doctrinaire Cabinet to be readily foregone • and we heartily wish we could s hare Lord BROUGHAM'S impression that we "are not likely " to hear much more about it." We must, however, append a few words more to the Report. It has already furnished us with the confessions of two candid friends as to the present condition of the civil service. The unam bitious, the indolent, the incapable, physical debility, and mental decrepitude, have found a home in the Government offices, and "the " almshouse of noble poverty" is removed from St. Cross to Downing-street. The only inex plicable part of the business is that the machine has not long since come to a stand still—that by some supernatural process our public service is administered, perhaps, as well as other people's, and England has some how managed to get governed after all. Per haps it is part of the national character. The civil service is not ruined, just as the other " service " is not beaten, when by all the rules it ought to be. The remedy for these imagi nary evils is characteristic enough. The civil service is to be organised into a select and effective corps. Candidates are to be care fully selected at an early age (from seventeen upwards) by peripatetic examiners under the supervision of a central board. " Men holding " an independent position and capable of corn " mending general confidence," assisted by persons experienced in the education of youth, and by others familiar with official business, and finally headed by a Privy Coun cillor, are to have the manipulating of future Sir Staffords and Sir Charleses. First, the "age, health, and moral fitness" of the candi date is to be ascertained—i.e., the apothecary is to certify that Master Thomas has been vaccinated and had the measles ; the curate of the parish that he has been baptised and doesn't smoke ; and the " Privy Councillor " is to worm Little Pickle's propensities and pec cadilloes vied voce out of " mamma;" at least this is the only rational account of the pro. posal. Then there is to be a " competing literary " examination." " Proficiency in history, ju " risprudence, political economy, modern " languages, political and physical geography, " and other matters (precis-writing, for in " stance), besides the staple of classics and " mathematics," are to be required of young men, " many of the first years of whose service (the commissioners have just informed us) " are spent in copying papers and employ- , " merits of an almost mechanical character. We don't know whether all this literature is in store for future excisemen and tidewaiters ; but the report nowhere says that it is not. Well may Lord BROUGHAM picture the " coming man," self-eonceited, insubordinate, and pert, saying to his old-world, unexamined superior, "I must not be spoken to in this way ; I have " a certificate of merit." What pleasant juniors the present clerks will have, if they live long enough; and what a pleasant life will be led by the junior himself ! Thenceforward, to the end of his days, he is to be in a chronic state of " examination" ; he is agreeably forewarned that "there is no limit to the demands which " may ultimately be made upon the abilities of " those who, entering the offices simply as " junior clerks, gradually rise to the highest " posts in them." Superior situations, as we understand the Report, may be the objects of THE PRESS. competition, equally with inferior. The clerk, it is perhaps assumed, will perform the duties of his office better while midergoing daily " cramming " for a differe:•tt purpose. Cha racter and moral considerations may enter into the award just enough to keep the office in s wholesome state of jealousy, backbiting, tale-bearing, and the social virtues in general. Length of service, fidelity, obedience, temper, tact—everything that makes a reliable officer, a steady friend, or an honest man—everthing, in short, except mere wits and general iravoiiera. are to go for nothing. Exami nation, in a word, is the great nostrum of the day; and the civil service is to be examined incontinently. It seems the bright idea is not original, after all. It has been in operation, nobody knows how long, in China! and Mr. MEADOWS, after sufficient inspection of the system, says it " doesn't work well—is a delusion, a hum " bug." We agree with Mr. MEADOWS. We have hitherto only considered the ri diculous aspect of the Report. It has a mis• chievous one ; and unfortunately this is just the element that is most likely to reappear in the announced Government measure. THE PRESTON "STRIKE." IT is easy to dwell on the evils of the " strike" at Preston. The mere money loss is very great. As this is the thirtieth week of the strike, the amount lost in wages alone by the 15,000 unemployed hands cannot be far short of 200,0001., and the stoppage of the mills during the same period must have seriously impaired the capital of the masters. Before the strike Preston produced nearly five million yards of cotton fabric weekly; the production is now next to nothing, and the workpeople maintain a wretched existence on the 4s. a week allowed to them from the funds subscribed for their relief. The distress of those who have families to provide for resembles that of the inhabi tants of a beleaguered city suffering from famine. " There is such suffering in the town " of Preston," said a speaker at one of their meetings some weeks since, " as few have any " idea about who are not familiar with the " homes of misery. I myself know a family " who have visited a slaughter-house regularly, " and fetched blood and used it, without " having anything like groats or bread to mix " with it. There is also a man who has been " without food until he has been seen picking " the bits out of the wash that has been put " for pigs." The decent people of Preston, besides suf fering from stagnation of trade, are threatened now with a more formidable calamity. The masters are recruiting for hands in every haunt of beggary and distress. Irish paupers are stripped of their rags and reclothed that they may have at least the appearance of operatives, and an "Immigrant Factory Opera tives' Home " has been established to receive labourers from agricultural districts. The success, and even the prudence, of such a pro ceeding appear very questionable ; but, what ever may be the result as regards a supply of hands for the factories, the effect on the town can scarcely fail to be disastrous. It is easier to collect than to provide for masses of popu lation. The strike cannot last for ever. Sooner or later the 3,0001. a week subscribed for the unemployed must fail ; and then, whe ther the victory be claimed by masters or workmen, there will still be the same probabi lity of the town being completely swamped by pauperism. The dispute is the most obstinate that has yet occurred between capital and labour, but we are not disposed to ascribe it to folly or fanaticism. War is a great evil, but we are now entering into war with hearty resolution. And why? Because it is felt to be the only alternative when disputes between nations become irreconcilable. And in our social system strikes are the last resort when there is a radical difference between masters and men on the rate of wages to be paid. We are afraid that it is of as little use to preach political economy in the one case as in the other. SATURDAY, Some eminent economists have supposed that the wages paid to unskilled labour must commonly be regulated by what is necessary to support a man, his wife, and two or three children. However that may be, it is certain that there is a point of depression beyond which wages cannot be reduced. There is a state of distress or semi-starvation in which men will either become desperate and refuse to work, careless of all consequences, or in which Nature will interpose the sternest of her laws to prevent the deterioration of humanity. Whether the wages of the Preston opera tives—with the high prices of all necessaries of life which prevailed when the strike began, and which still prevail—had not been reduced to a point of starvation almost or altogether intolerable, is, we think, a fair subject for in quiry. The man assert that they were, sad the statements of the masters scarcely con travene the assertion. Mr. EDWARD Houma pledges himself that the wages he offers will " enable any good weaver to earn off a pair of " looms lls. per week;" Messrs. BIRLEY assert that their hands for some weeks previous to the strike averaged 10s. 10fd. These wages are evidently thought extremely good, as they are placarded to induce the operatives to re turn to their work. It is hence to be inferred that lower wages are paid in some cases, and accordingly we find the men stating that the " card-room hands " earned but 6s. 6d. per week, and " strippers and grinders " but Bs. and 98. As these wages are for six full days a week, the rate must of course be greatly reduced when the mills run short time. The demand for 10 per cent. increase on such rates does not ap pear extortionate. That amount was struck from their wages in 1847, with an understand ing, as the men conceive, that it would be restored to them when trade became better. They say now that they hear on all aides of a vast increase in commerce and manufactures, and that they " see evidence of accumulated " wealth in every form and shape testifying to " the prosperity which exists." If this pros perity be a fact, it is not wonderful that they should desire to share in it to the extent of one shilling per week extra. There have been parliamentary inquiries into subjects of less importance than this Preston strike. It would be desirable to know what the earnings of the hands really have been, what their condition is, and—if it were not deemed too great an interference with the pet political science of our day—how it comes that a flourishing manufacture cannot afford bread to the labour employed in it. On one point there can be no dispute. The men, since the commencement of this unhappy struggle, have displayed sustained enthusiasm, with intelligence and self-denial. At all their gatherings the first words and the last have been—Keep the peace and obey the laws : be sober and orderly. Nor is it possible to over look that strong feeling of sympathy with their cause which, whether we suppose it to be mistaken or not, must animate the vast body of workpeople who subscribe the funds for their relief. The question has become of so much social importance as to be not unworthy the attention of the Government and Legisla ture. It is supposed that there are causes in action tending to a general rise in prices ; but any such rise must needs be a great calamity to the toiling classes if their request for ad vanced wages be met so harshly as it has been by the Preston manufacturers. SECURITIES FOR GOOD GOVERNMENT IN AMERICA. IT has become quite a fashion amongst certain liberal politicians to refer to the example of America on all occasions, and to cite an Ameri can precedent as if it were conclusive. Yet we question whether many of our countrymen are really:capable of estimating the value of this transatlantic model which, in arms and arts, in peace and war, is perpetually held up for our imitation chiefly by those ethereal intelligences, Messrs. COBDEN and BRIGHT. A volume lately published by Mr. MURRAY, in which a com parison is instituted between the Constitution