The Express.
London, England, 1863-09-25 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, FRIDAY EVEM'Are, SEPTEMBO 25, 1883.

turned barren moors and wet meadows into rid'
arable lands and prime pastures, in resdiams for
the fresh demand of food which moat follow upon

Iny considerable revival of the local manufacture.

Again, the claims of the distressed operatives
who'are living in hundreds of villages and hamlets,
and dales, and nooks of the hills, are quite as
strong and fair as those of the most crowded town
populations. Is there to be a line drawn by the
character of the works which shall entitle the men
of the towns to independent employment, while the
men of the rural districts are to remain in their de-
pressed condition, dependent on relief because they
are not set to work with the Loan money Z'
Extensive works of reclamation and improvement
are going on all over tho country faster and faster
from year to year ; and of these the greater part
are carried on with borrowed capital. Cannot •
due share of this particular mass of capital be de-
voted to rural works in Lancashire, so as to make
independent labourers of country as well as town
operatives 4 The men who have been set to work
by private employers have given, by all accounts,
greet satisfaction. Employed in larger numbers
they would afford the further advantage over their
fellows in the towns, that they would need leas
skilled labour for guidance, and that the materials
of their labour are much less costly than those
required for paving, sewerage, and other town
improvements.

There could hardly be any difficulty in condi.
toting an authority under which the money could
be obtained, in any district where there is any
considerable amount of distressed populatior.
And this brings up the subject of the very im-
portant discussion which took place before the
Central Executive Committee at Manchester on
the 14th instant, on a resolution proposed by Mr.
Hornet:teem. It can scarcely be said that any
more important decision has been arrived at by
the managers of Lancashire affairs since the
beginning of the distress.
The question was whether, for the sake of On,
tain undeniable advantages, relief committees
should be permitted and encouraged to assist in
procuring contracts for public works under the
Act. Such an arrangement was advocated on the
grounds that the Act would thus be brought into
more speedy operation ; that the committees
would be enabled to provide employment for
family men in preference to or at least on
an equality with unmarried men, who would
otherwise have the first offers ; and that thee
many who may otherwise be idling about
in the streets would be set to work without fail.
The

resolution was negatived, because none of the
advantages held out can compensate for the mis•
chief of mixing np relief with the payment for
labour. There were other objections—each as the
incapacity of relief committees to afford in that
character the requisite security for the repayment
of the loan, and the necessity for offering such
terms for work to be done in competition with in-
dependent bodies as must render their enterprises
losing concerns; but the all-sufficient and supreme
objection was the lowering the character of the
benefits offered by combining them in any form and
degree with charitable relief. The men to be
employed on these public works will be independent
labourers, holding a social position superior to that
of men who are living on charity while work is in
the market. The decision is made, and avowed,
that the administration of affairs under the
Act has, and will have, no connexion at
all with relief. Certain corporate bodies, or au-
thorities serving in the place of such, are entering
into contracts for work to be approved by the
Poor Law Board, and carried on by loans under
the Act. The labourers employed on these works
will be as independent as any other men who
work for wages, and their employers will know
them only*. labourers. This inestimable bene-
fit would be lost from the hour when the relief
committees should interfere, more or less, in the
business arrangements which afford the men a re-
fuge from the humiliations of their adversity.
Charit►ble relief can never be elevated into the
conditions of independent industry ; but the spe-
cial industry to be created by the Act could be
only too easily degraded to the level of charity,
if the administration of the two means of sub-
sistence were not kept separate with religions
care.

What the sympathising people of England
would best late to see would be—the Lancashire
operatives looking like themselves again, whether
in the old or a new kind of industry ; and the
wilds and wastes of their county growing fertile,
sheltered, and beautiful, while the towns were be-
coming neat, convenient, and healthfuL

The tune appears to be at hand when it will he
proper to consider those British, French, and
Spanish claims against Mexico which were the
origin of the allied intervention and of the sub-
sequent French war. It- is now reported that
a new Mexican loan will be brought out upon
the establishment of the Archduke Maximilian
at the capital. Although, therefore, the period
of its contraction is as yet uncertain some
details have been circulated as to its general
objects. It is said that one-third of this amount
will be absorbed by the French government in
partial liquidation of its expenses ; one-third held
by the Mexican government to discharge its current
liabilities, inasmuch as revenue by taxation cannot
be reckoned on for a long period ; and
one-third reserved to pay, ea far as it will
go, the claims against the Republic. From a
loan of 9M,000,0001. some 18,000,000 i. net may,
perhaps, be derived; assuming that such a loan can
is any way be made to Ross. There would then be
souse six authors sterling available for each of these
three objects. In accepting, bowev.r, such details,
we seemly deal with popular rumour ; for it is ob-
vious that, whether they may eventually prove
asearate or not, they are at present quite pre-
mature.

Assuming, however, that a sum of some six millioes
may be at length availab'e for the satisfaction of
a/ 'aims, it is important to obtain some information
as to their character and amount. The original
object of the allied Intervention was to procure
indemnification for British, French, and Spanish
residents sad traders in Mexico, who had
sustained injuries in person or property, at
the hands of Mexican authorities. The eon-
mils of the three governments in Mexico
accordingly prepared lists of such claims and of
mach claimants. It will be seen that the total of
British claims alone is about 18,500,000 dole., or
in excess of 4,000,000/ starling. Assuming that
the French and Spanish claims are not inferior,
we shall have a total of 12,000,00 UL starling in
claims. Probably some of these, such as the Bag-
Bah " Mackintosh claims," and the French
"Jean. claims," are evasive, and may be re-
duced. But it is easy to anticipate that every,
available dollar of the third of the proposed loan
will be required to meet even the taxed elide* of
English, French, and Spanish residents and traders
is Mexico.

It is understood that the French governsWpt,
when they turned the original intervention into a
war, undertook to resume the qualities et