The Press. — London, England, 1856-10-11 00:00:00

other, " A Song of the Times of Cromwell," preten tious, and unintelligible. Mr. Jones' lecture was devoted to the consideration of the relations between labour and capital, between employer and employed ; the condition of the workman, the causes of that condition, and the remedy for its evils. After stating that England was on the brink of mighty social changes, and that the character of those changes depended on what was done before the crisis in the way of harmonising the interests of all classes, on the basis of justice to all and wrong to none, in which case he doubted not that things would go on in safe constitutional progression , and deprecating all desire of setting class against class, he proceeded to point out what, in his view, was the condition of the Eng lish labourer in relation to capital. He urged that capital was nothing but the surplus production of working men, either immediately or remotely, and in very vigorous language denounced capital, as at pre sent distributed, as the curse cf the labourer ; inas• much as he, the producer, bad no share in that which be produced. He argued that in this country poverty was treated as a crime, and adduced a case at Halifax, in which the majority of the board of guardians laid down the principle, and acted on it, that a destitute able-bodied man who applied for parochial relief was guilty of the crime of vagrancy, and punishable and punished by imprisonment with hard labour. In the second part of his address Mr. Jones dealt with the question of the causes of poverty among the working classes, with all its difficulties for the present and its dangers for the future. Ile said that pauperism was owing to the simple fact that there was not work enough in England for the people, and that was entirely owing to the undeveloped resources of the land and the absence of cultivation, stating that there were in this country more than twenty-eight millions of acres uncultivated, besides a vast quantity of arable land, which bad been turned into grass land. He denounced the monopoly of great landowners, whose policy it was to depopulate the greater part of their estates ; and he entered into detailed statistics to make out his case. By bringing the idle land and the idle labour of the country together, we should solve the great social problem in dispute. Wages would rise, food and taxes would fall, vagrancy would end, and employment would be constant. This measure, ho maintained, was the only remedy for the great social disease, for it was a moral, political, physical, and national regenerator. Mr. Jones concluded by an exhortation to the people to try a Chartist Govern ment. They had tried every other, and all had failed. The chartista alone remained to them. The chart ists had been wilfully misrepresented : The truth has been kept from you ; you do not know us. But lam determined you shall know us better now —you know us better tonight. The party of progress is generally the party of the pour, and we cannot usually afford to publish our views. The lecture-hall and the press are too expensive to be used by the working man, and the press of the rich will not allow him room. Thus we are misrepresented, and cannot answer; or we speak, and cannot make our voices heard. But this shall be so no longer. I, at least, have got the means to speak the truth, and make it known, and I will thunder it through England. Let the rich know there is a man among them, ou the people's side—ay ! on the chartist side—who has got the power to make the world hear, and the courage to tell it what be thinks. They have stifled us in—crowded us down—pent us up within the folds of poverty and per petual silence. But I'll make elbowroom among them. Boom fur the people ! The aristocrat has choked up the avenues of legislation with land monoply, game laws, pri vilege, and pelf—he has closed the edits to the land against your labour, anti driven you into the towns till you have barely space to move. Boom for the people ! The cotton lord has rolled his shoddy-bags before the path of progress— hedged you in with the steel fence of his machinery till you swelter in your poverty and gasp for life. Boom for the people ! The lawyer has made laws for them which he himself can't understand, but expects you to know, and crowds you with quibbles for the courts of justice. Room for the people ! The bishop shows you how he would open heaven by closing every little paradise on earth—spreads his lawn sleeves before green fields and music, and stifles you back into the fetid town. Room for the people ! We'll make a breach in the ramparts of prejudice and the barriers of monopoly. Close in after us, the pioneers, as we enter, lest they fill up their ranks again and overwhelm us. To night I have struck the first blow with my chartist pickaxe. I'll strike another soon. MR. W. T. M'CULLAGEL and Mn. E. W. WATKIN addressed a meeting at Yarmouth on Monday even ing, as future candidates for the borough, in the Liberal interest. Mr. M'Cullagh expressed his opinion that the faults in the administration of public affairs rusted not so much with the accident of who might be the Minister of the day as with the House of Commons, the centre of all power in the country. They had successive Administrations, but no change m respect to efficient government. The grievances sought to be redressed in 1852 still existed, taxation continued to be enormously increased although the war had ceased, and were the Execu tive even disposed to propose measures of progress it would not be able to carry them as the house was now constituted. The oligarchic power had never THE PRESS. been greater in the country than at the present time, and no disposition was shown by the House of Com• mons to effect a change. The heads of each depart ment were members of a compact body who had no sympathy with the middle and industrial classes, and he claimed for the latter a fair share in the govern ment of the country. Mr. M'Cullagh then glanced at the political state of Europe While the British Ambassador was doing honour to the new Czar, and while the solemnities were actually in course of performance, Russia could not control the exuberance of her contempt for the manner in which she had been let off, and she had issued a manifesto which showed that, though her power might for a moment be weakened and her prudence be the better part of her valour, she was determined to hold the same tone of defiance to the free Governments of Europe. She laughed at the alliance between this county and France, for, with the sagacity of the serpent, though not the harmlessness of the dove, she knew full well that between a despotic power and a free people, when the latter awoke to a sense of their true external policy, there could be no cordial friendship. She waited the hour therefore when it suited her purpose to break up the alliance and to wreak her resentment. What were we doing in the meantime ? Where were our representative institutions, which should shield us and strike terror into aggressive powers? No where, because the present House of Commons had never lifted up its voice for the war, when war was imminent ; had never sought for inquiry but once, when the war was mismanaged, and had soon repented of doing so, and had been ready to accept peace at any price, rather than continue the burdens which they hated, and the dangers to the despotisms which they loathed in their hearts. The only security was a popularly elected and popularly responsible House of Com mons, and the Czar would never be convinced that the house was a representative of the industrial free heart of England until there was a fair and equal representation of the hard heads and the strong hands which had made the country what it was. Mr. Watkin delivered an address of a similar cha racter, and the meeting unanimously passed resolu tions pledging those present to do their utmost to secure the return of both the candidates at the next election. Mn. SERGEANT SHEE, at a public dinner at Buckle, a fishing village on the north-east coast, expressed the following opinion of the House of Commons : When I came into the House of Commons, I confess that my impression was very different from that which has been lately promulgated in Scotland. I found it com posed of orators who would have held. if not the first rank, at least a place amongst the first in the earliest annals of our parliamentary history—of statesmen not only familiar with the interests of their own country, but with the power and the resources of all the empires and countries of the world—of lawyers of the first eminence—of eminent mer chants, manufacturers, and bankers, whose mere signature would be the key to treasures of wealth in every city in the known world—of a landed aristocracy, who would bear comparison in intelligence, patriotism, and independence with the aristocracy of any country on the face of the earth. My opinion of that house, I confess, was very different indeed from that which younger men have lately expressed of it. I found that every man who had any thing to the purpose to say—every man who had taken the trouble to prepare himself, and exhibited that reasonable diffidence which all well-bred men will exhibit when they address an assembly composed of persons of education— is sure of an attentive audience—that a fairer assembly does not exist in the known world than the House of Commons. For the presumptuous and self-sufficient, the loquacious without information—with nothing to attract attention about them but their presumption and their ignorance—there is no toleration, nor ought there to be ; hut to every man who has anything to say to the purpose, who knows what lie is talking about, every encouragement is given by the House of Commons. I have observed that the oldest members, and the most distinguished members of that house, are those who would be least likely to find fault with the well•meant industrious efforts of younger members to serve their constituents and do good service to their country. They are not the meu to sneer at per sons—"members who have hobbies to ride upon ;" they are not the men to talk of persons in terms of disrespect who do their best for the service of their country. Mn. HUTCHINS, M.P. for Lymington, was lately called upon by 124 electors of the borough to resign his seat, since lie had definitely renounced the Pro testant faith and joined the Church of Rome. Mr. Hutchins, on the Ist and 3rd of October, replied that he always thought a member represented the political, not religious, opinions of his constituents, and that, as he had tendered his resignation six months ago, when he joined the Romish Church, which offer was then refused by the majority, and as out of the 124 names appended to the present requi sition only 32 had voted for him at the last election, lie thought lie should fulfil his duty better by retain ing his seat. MR. CRAUFURD, M.P., met his constituents at Oban, Aigyleshire, and at Inverary, last week, and addressed them at great length upon the past session. Mr. Craufurd approved of everything that had been done, applauded Lord Palmerston, admired Lord Cl arendon, and sang a man over the Peace. The last session he was astonished to hear characterised as one barren of result. Many small measures A of ',great importancoto Scotland had been;passed. SATURDAY, THE QUESTION OF THE UNION OF THE PRDICIPALI. TIES OF MOLDAVIA AND WALLACHIA Was considered at a public meeting held at Brighton on Monday evening. The arguments adduced in favour of the measure were-1. That the Rouman people de sired union ; 2, that union would give strength ; and 3, that, united and free, the nation would offer the best barrier to a Russian absorption, and go far to secure Turkey and the peace of Europe. The meeting was addressed at great length by several. gentlemen, including Mr. Montagu Scott, Dr. Rouge, Mr. J. Dodson, Mr. Scholefield, M.P., and Mr. St. John, who urged these views, and proposed and car ried various resolutions and a petition to the Queen. Mr. Roebuck was unavoidably absent, but wrote to express his approval of the union of the prin cipalities. ME. Ancatnun RASTIE, M.P., addressed his con stituents in Paisley on Friday last, and referred briefly to the various measures introduced during the past session. THE PROPERTY AND INCOME TAX ASSOCIATION held a meeting on Wednesday at the London Coffee house, and various resolutions in favour of the immediate reduction of the tax to sevenpence in the pound, and for its more equitable adjustment, were proposed and passed. GOVERNOR DARLING, of Newfoundland, will be the successor at Jamaica of Sir Henry Barkly, appointed Governor of Victotia. Mx. T. B. BURCHAM, of the Norfolk Circuit, and Recorder of Bedford, is appointed a police magic. trate in the metropolitan district in the room of Mr. G. A. A Beckett, deceased. _ltttrognlttan. THE METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS apparently find it difficult to settle the question of the drainage of London. Motions and amendments are negatived one after the other, month after month passes away, every proposal doubted or denied, and nothing decided or done. A "special" meeting was held on Monday " for the purpose of con sidering the report of the engineer of the board on the whole question of the northern and southern drainage, with comparative estimates of different points of outfall, and modes of disposing of the sewage." One member, Mr. Carpmael, moved that the report, so far as it related to providing an outfall at Plumstead Marshes, be adopted ; whereupon Mr. Doulton moved an adverse amendment, that the board was unprepared to approve any such plan, which he ultimately withdrew ; when Mr. Wilkinson moved another of the same nature, which nobody seconded ; upon which Mr. Harrison supported the original motion of Mr. Carpmael, which Mr. Leslie opposed, on the plea of enormous expense, and Mr. Savage and Mr. Bristow further opposed by moving an amendment similar to that moved in the first instance by Mr. Doulton. A division at last took place, after four hours and shelf discussion, when both original motion and amendment were rejected, and the board found themselves on leaving their office much in the same position as when they arrived, so far as coming to any decision upon the question of the drainage of London. Another meeting will be held on Wednesday next. THE MARYLEBONE VESTRY was numerously at tended on Saturday, as it was known that the law proceedings at the workhouse would be criticised, and a vote of want of confidence urged against the guardians and directors for their conduct in the late alleged woman-flogging. A motion of censure, prc posed by Mr. Gliddon, was followed by an amendment of approval, proposed by Mr. Russell. The discus sion wss ultimately adjourned. THE ROYAL MAIL STEAM COMPANY have issued a circular to their shareholders, proposing to establish the long desired connection between Sydney and Panama. They recommend a fleet of auxiliary screw steamers, and calculate that the entire voyage could be performed in fifty-flve days. The departures would be monthly, and would be fixed between the times of the Suez line, so as to secure a fortnightly communication. THE FAMOUS GRAVESEND " STAR " PACKET COM PANY held their final meeting at the close of last week, and came to a decision to wind up the affairs at once. The Tilbury railroad had completely ab sorbed the traffic to Gravesend, and against such a competition the " Star " company has set. THE LONDON CLERGY held a meeting on Monday at. Sion College, to prepare an address to Dr. Blom field upon his resignation of the see. The meeting was addressed by several of the leading beneficed clergymen in the archdeaconry, and resolutions were adopted expressive of regret that the bishop's health had compelled him to resign his see, and declaratory of their conviction that during the many years over which his episcopate had extended he had been in strumental in an extraordinary degree in advancing the real interests of the Church. An address to the late bishop founded upon the resolutions was adopted.