The Press. — London, England, 1853-10-08 00:00:00

530 hemisphere assured of our exports. Yet the wrongdoing of the one is distorted into a service to the eaUse of VOWMem!, While the achievement utthe other Is 'passed over in studied silence! ) Thia measure is the inure t o the credit of Lord Mstuxsurar, inasmuch as it was not, like we. Many of. the Melts Urea of " popular " staterila4ll; fished out of the pigeon holes of a 4rean, but was ; entirely his Own act. lie se out', MT C HAULMS HotHAY to. ~pen these three rivers, Old the negotiations were carried out in the most complete and successful manner, Hi unison with the Minis ters of Finials and the United States. Nor is this all. With the fart of the suc cessful negotiation of this treaty before us, it is diffieult to believe the narrow infatuation which could have led the present Administra tion, in July last, to order Sir CHARLIOI lioritAa home, because they euustiderol his wig stow kiwi's* and Etrtsmivit (!l. Tt) make the gallant officer's triumph the more complete, and the discomfiture of his "superiors" the more signal, SirOIIARLhIe HoTIIAM's despatches his m1144 , 4.'04 Will hare crossed the order homed for his seem,—because faint heartedness and parsimony pronounced that toteisess impossible ! • Blind though the Coalition organs were last year, we 41o• not see how they well eitu affect to he ignorant of this the perfect COIIBIIIII - Of 'ADM MALIMOIUar's maple effort on behalf of English commense, in the hitherto closed waters of these great South American rivers. We shall be curious to note whether their duty to the manufaeturing and shipping interests, which requires them to proclaim the incalculable ;prod thus isonferred on English commeree, will get the better of their aubser vienee to this present Ministry, which compels them to refuse all merit to the Administration of bent Ibtaav, and more especially to the de partment presided over by laird MALmiooinev. Such elhirtm will be vain; the tin e ' is gone by when they tumid s u cceed ; and the elear sighted commercial men of England will be quick to pereeive that not only are they indebted to the Noble Earl fisr this bon, but that also to the promptitude and ability of Sir Ciwn.K.a noTHAM it. is owing that its attainment was not frnstrated by I .11E11 ABERDEEN situ II MINI CI Alt N 04 as " hopeless." While indig nant at. the thoin.ht. of what this small smiled caution Might !Me Shia heill out. lit MI, they Will 110 well to relleet that one of the most signal aishievements oc rommercial diplomacy in modern times had well-nigh failed, from a beggarly Phut •charaeteristie calculation of its " aryieneiecoess a! • . 'RISING PRICES. tr Is an told observation that those chimps which most seriously affect the condition of a people take o*(e in so silent a manner as scarcely to excite remark. The agitation against the corn laws convulsed the country for several years, and at last resulted in mea cares which. by violently breaking up existing parties in the State, introduced an element of confusion into our political sphere which is still painfully felt. Yet an action is now proceed ing which, so far as we eon judge, is producing a far great:T amount of disturbance in our snial relations than could be effected one way or the other by legislation on the corn laws. The continuous rise which has for some time boon taking place in the price of the neees barks of life (though perhaps both indicating and promoting general prosperity) has now reached a point which must seriously ineonve nienoe those (lasses whose incomes are fixed and moderate, or who cannot. under any lir clunstancea, " strike" for an advance, let the cost of living rise as it may. Housekeepers find that for many of those articles which they consume most largely they have to pay ;$0 per emit. higher than for a number of veers past ; and this rise, it is remarkable. has * taken pleae in nearly all the great staples of manufacture as well as in sulkies of food. 'this gene;af advance cannot be explained 'l l partial causes. Corn has been the last to participate in the buoyancy of other markets. A h woes% ion of good harvests, and the i4tlig• THE PRESS. ductiun of free trade, have depressed this com modity below its natural level ; but a slight detieieney iwour harvest, do mgh accompanied with heavy crops in ditterent parts of the Con timid, hum suddenly overcoma the depression, and given a great linwtus to prices. (}rain is now relatively as high, as most other commo dities. _ _ "rhe risen our markets is the more observa ble, as„they are now, by the removal of fwd• fieiul restrictions, on a level with those of other parts of the world. The advance on the Con tinent must have been felt more severely than here, and it would be curious to compare the rates of produce generally in the chief Euro pean marts with the average suttee 1s1). Seeing how nearly the rise has corresponded with the greatly-increased production of gold since the discovery of the mines in California and Australia, we can scarcely escape the con clusion that ono is intimately connected with the other. The production of gold from the new discoveries last year was probably four times the amount of that from previously exist ing sources ; and it is a most moderate com putation to assume that Australia will now send us gold to the value of at least one mil lion sterling per month, which is about double the amount that was estimated to be raised throughout the world, previous to the first dis covery on the banks of the Sacramento. As the price of gold is fixed, or remains at a certain nominal rate—our pound sterling al ways comprising the same quantity, while other commodities may by that standard rise or fall to any extent—it appears certain that, with any large or continuous increase in the amount of gold, our prices must generally continue to rise, though they may be subject, from partial causes, to very considerable flue tuation. The diminution of the stock of gold held by the Rank of England is only a proof that the metal, as a circulating medium, is dif fused more generally through the world ; and it is a rational inference that, as that universal stuck of gold which previously formed the money, or medium for the exchange of COM- IlleditieS, is increased, the commodities which the gold represented will advance in value. In other words, if the stock of gold from new sources of supply be increased to the extent of 30 per cent., that commodities generally will advance to the extent of 30 per cent. also. We believe that most practical and thinking men concur in this reasoning, though there are not wanting authorities to dispute it. The course of events, however, superior to all de ductions of theory, is showing with sufficient distinctness that nearly all kinds of product and manufacture are rising in value as coin ! pared with their standard ; and thus the effect which was anticipated from corn-law repeal, —and which, in fact, did for a time take place, —is now being completely reversed. Perhaps, as a body, the agriculturists of 0111• kingdom were never better satisfied than with the present state of things. Making their ar rangements on the supposition of a fall in price, they are gratified by a rise far beyond their expectations, and beyond what could have been expected from the partial deficiency in their wheat crops. Their prosperity—as it will certainly give a wholesome stimulus to industry, and lead to increased prottuction— must ultimately prove to the advantage of the country at large, though net without disturb ance to the relations of society. There appears a strong probability that, so long as gold continues to be produced at its present rate, prices generally will continue to advance, though the advance may be of a fluc tuating character. The question, from its do• mestie importance, and its bearing on the com fort of families, or on industrial interests, is fast assuming a shape to deserve very serious consideration. A NEW CRY FROM IRELAND. Munn the inevitable faction fights that agitate the Tenant-League Conference in Dublin—disputes which threaten. if they have not accomplished. a permanent separation of the Tenant-- Right " men of the North from the Teuaut." League " of the South—there has Wiled up 4 new sad *liquify demikad--aaother SATURDAY, form of the old cry of "help for Ireland." A series of resolutions is to be proposed—that din of war permitting—We framers of which have discovered (though somewhat late in the day) that the Government of Belgium has, with a " wise forethought," recently taken measures to relieve the misery of the Flemish provinoes. Those measures, it is stated, have ►•o-operated with admirable local institutions to give sup port and guidance to industrial enterprise ; and the resolutions call on the British Govern ment to adopt a similar system, and organise similar local institutions, with a view to the attainment in Ireland of similar results. There is something a little malapropos in the adoption of such suggestions by a body like the Tenant-League. The measures so much admired by the priestly agitators now in conclave in Dublin were organised by a Minietry in Belgium which was met by the persevering and uncompromising hostility of the Belgian clergy, and which at last fell before their machinations. But, although those Bel gian priests were the bitter opponents of the Government on general policy, it is only justice to them to say, that, unlike their Irish prototypes, they did not, by troubling the waters at the crisis of Flemish misery, distract the action of public benevolence. The measures chiefly adopted by the Bel gian Government at the period in question were strictly subject to the condition of non interference with private enterprise. Id. Itoemt, the then Prune Minister of Belgium, was himself a political economist, and rigidly adhered to one of the primary doctrines of the science he professed. After the first pressure of famine and disease on the popula tion had been alleviated through the action of the misses de bienfaisatay—tt humane substi• tutu for the harsher poor-law of this country — the attention of the administrative legislators was concentrated on providing aid to the people to help themselves. The machinery was very simple. The impoverished rural districts no longer afforded agricultural em ployment to even the decimated population, and the object of the Government was to draw them, by a natural process, into the towns. This they chiefly did by the establishment of institutions called ateliers damreatissaye, where the younger peasantry were quickly taught all kinds of handierait—more especially in con nection with machinery—and fitted for indus trial employment. The plan was found to work well, the young pupils very speedily attaining to great proficiency, and command ing preference employment and high wages. Further, schools were established all through the provinces, where female children were taught lace-making and other appropriate employments, the proceeds of their labour being sold for the benefit of themselves and their parents. Thus, it came to pass that even infants of tender years, instead of being a burden to their impoverished families, litc rally contributed to their support. Straw• plaiting was also extensively introduced. In aid of agricultural pursuits the Belgian Govern ment established depiits of manure of various kinds, and distributed valuable practical in formation, thus aiding the helpless without interfering with the self-supporting. These. if we remember rightly, were among the chid means resorted to for the relief of the de titution brought about in Flanders by famine and pestilence. But they were adopted at a crisis, such as Ireland has already cleared. Similar in stitutions would work much good there--bat is Government interference necessary to estab lish them? In Flanders their operation was aided by a religious and benevolent resident proprietary, who effected the better half of the good. Can Ireland boast the same ? We fear not. The gentry of Ireland—even the Roman Catholic gentry—when not too apa thetic or selfish to exert themselves at all, would shrink from contact anti cu-operatitn with the clerical firebrands who are openly engaged is & minds egainst their rights of