The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-06-12 00:00:00

THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 1856

Course

THOSE who reflect seriously on the actual con-
dition of what may be called " the despotic, worn-

THE

" out, and non-product portions of the Continent
"of Europe," must have' observed that all the
tumults we have witnessed, within the last forty

years, as well as the diffieultif

we have now to

apprehend, originated in industrial prostration,
and deep rooted social disorders of every known
character. To the man who is ignorant of the
depth, width, and breadth of the ocean, the
mighty heavings of its waters appear supernatural ;
and the quasi Statesmen, who have only watched
the course of the political straws which have
appeared on the surface of European life, entertain
very similar notions. A brief reference to the
history of modern revolutions will, however,
satisfy the most sceptical, that every occurrence of
disorder and bloodshed, which have taken place,
were immediately preceded by some social
anamoly, or accumulation of industrial distress.
Great Britain herself was falling rapidly into
disorder, threatening a convulsion, when she
adopted Free Trade ; and the political repose,
contentment, and prosperity we are now

enjoying, are the fruits of that wise and

timely change,

which has given so great an

petus to our trade, commerce, and productive

industry. Some few men amongst us discovered
the real source of Continental misfortunes ; and,

despite the fears of the aristocracy, the bewailing
of the hierarchy, or the sort of heptarchy in which
timid and hesitant factions and alarmists had
formedthemselves, they swept away the incubus
which retarded the nation's progress, and threat-
ened the dissolution of the British Empire.

The wide-spread distress of 1847—taking Great
Britain for its centre—led to the 1848 of France,
Italy, Hungary, Prussia, and Germany. Travel
back a few years into the history of Spain, Por-
tugal, Belgium, and Poland, and some social canker
will be found to have produced all the strife and
changes which have taken place. Politically, those
countries may be better circumstanced, but have
they been morally relieved and socially elevated ?
Does their material condition exhibit any appear-
ance or earnest of improvement, beyond that which
naturally attends an increase in the numbers of
the human race ? Has that spirit of enlightened
legislation, and universal appreciation of the
sound economic principles of government—
which have saved and raised this country,
against all its physical drawbacks, to the
highest pinacle of worldly greatness—been tried,
or even thought of, by the rulers of the Continent ?
We may spare the reader the pain of a candid

response. Crimination will not relieve us from
the consequences which follow the blindness or
neglect of those entrusted with the destinies of
nations. It is enough for us to know that the
great Continental family of states are miserably
poor, swamped in debt, and relying wholly on bor-
rowing more money on their shattered, rotten, and

prostrate social remains, to sustain an agonising
political, and material existence. Humanity sug_,
gests that we should minister to the wants of the
impoverished. But the aggregate of Great Britain's
moveable wealth would be unavailing where the
recipients refuse to follow the example of their
trusty friends and willing deliverers. It is useless
for us to prosper by Free Trade in the modified
form in which we enjoy it, and give the proceeds of
our unshackled industry to others, so long as they
show no sign of awakening reason, and repudiate
the soundness of those principles of political
economy of which they wish us to give them a
practical illustration in the shape of loans of many
millions.

We have doubled the weight of our own national
debt by yielding to similar overtures, and lending
our money to others on empty diplomatic
aphorisms. Hundreds of millions of money have
been lent to foreign countries and lost, and
thousands of British subjects reduced to penury
by the mystic allurements held out to them.
But shall we always continue in such a reckless
Experience, with its woes, forbid it.

What, then, is to save Europe from another con- I
vulsion, dating from its deplorable social condition,
and neglect of industrial prosperity ? Are the
rulers of the Continent ready to let go the sluice-
gates of production, by laying aside their pro-
hibitive and life-destroying tariffs ? England
presents to-day a fair and encouraging sample of
what relaxations, affecting the material organisa-
tion of a State, may lead to. And, as it would be
invidious to suppose that Pontifical and despotic
governments could not raise sufficient revenues
from other sources than those which lead to scenes
which morality and religion must always condemn,
we would simply ask why Italy and the Conti-
nental countries, which are on the verge of
internal troubles, do not give Free Trade a
trial? There can be nothing extravagantly
dangerous in trying to ameliorate the condition
of the great masses of any people.
Nibbling at socialism, playing at charity, in-
dulging in the antics of mistaken benevolence,
and devoting the lives of a few to works of com-
miseration, which are always inviting to generous
and conscientious mortals, will not relieve and raise
a whole nation to the rank and happiness of a

civilised people. It takes the labour of five men
to sustain one in a state of civilisation. Hence
the demand for artificial means of production.
Shut out one of the five, and the subjects of a
State are left in want of some necessary—shut out
two, and they will begin to feel their nakedness—
forbid the third to supply their wants, and they
become reckless—cut off the fourth, and they
famish, and without the fifth they die in wretched-
ness, with the earth's abundance in its crude state
within their grasp. Reduce the estimated num-

ber whose labour is required to render life what it
is in this or any other civilised community, and
you only widen the circle of misery produced by
prohibiting the free commercial intercourse of

nations. As the numbers of our race increase,
an enlarged and more active interchange
of products become all the more necessary,
and opposing politics to physical law, and human

ethics to Divine wisdom, must ever prove abortive.
All that virtuous devotion, self-denial, purity, and
generosity of spirit, which do so much to alleviate
irldividual suffering from misfortunes, barely
resemble so many drops from the clouds, when a
nation is filled with tribulation, and know not where
to find food and raiment, nor where to lay their
heads in peace. The prolonged prostration of
Europe's industry, will assuredly produce such a
crisis, and when it comes, there will be many ready
to attribute its origin to clap-traps, which are
beneath notice, in the consideration of the disturb-
ing causes, which are agitating the Continent at
But to those who have money to
lend we would say ;—" Keep it at home," and to
those who would interfere politically, and have no
armed assistance to give :—" Do not intermeddle
" where you cannot legislate for the good of all."

this moment

OUR readers will be glad to find that the course
we suggested some days since, with regard to
raising subscriptions for the relief of the sufferers
by the inundations in France, has been adopted
by the LORD MAYOR and Corporation of London.
This will probably be followed by a similar move-
ment in Liverpool, That this Borough did not