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CHINA AND INDIA.

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CHARTISM and the League occupy, we think, far too much of the time and attention of the House of Com- mons. A plague," we say, o' both your facti" "We should be glad to see them in the condition or the fighting Cats of Kilkenny, each absorbed in the bowels of the other. We are glad to find that Parliament has a subject before it far more worthy of its solicitude-a sub- ject in which the interests of the poor are largely con- cerned. We allude of course to Mr. Ferrand's Bill for the Allotment of Waste Lands. We can, however, perceive by the hesitating consent of Sir James Graham to the introduction of the Bill, that it will not pass into an enactment-but we trust Mr. Ferrand will not be discouraged, and having drawn the attention of the House to the subject, he will wrestle for this blessing on behalf of the industrious poor, nor let go his hold until success has crowned his efforts. Well and wisely did that promising young nobleman, a worthy scion of the Conservative Tree of Rutland, Lord J. Manners, express his gratification that the Country was giving its attention to these subjects, and abandoning the unprofitable pur- suit of mere party politics and we shall be sorely dis- appointed, if a Conservative Government, having rescued us from the very mire and clay of Democratic tyranny, and planted our feet on the firm rock of the old Consti- tution, shall fail to carry on and consummate the great work of social regeneration. It has already commenced the labour of securing the moral improvement of the Manufacturing districts, and it will not forget that men are composed of mind and matter, and that as they have souls to be saved, they have also stomachs that must be fed. We utterly disagree with Sir James Graham that all the Land which could be properly cultivated had been brought into cultivation long ago. It may be that the waste and unenclosed Lands might not be a profitable investment for the capital of a Farmer—but even of this we are somewhat doubtful-but of the triumphs of the spade we have no doubt-and as a source of employment and profit to what, in the jargon of political economists, is called a redundant population," we believe it is not merely the best but the only resource which is open to us. Various are the modes by which this great national object could be accomplished-and great, beyond calcu- lation great, are the national blessings that would result from its adoption. The following methods have been recently suggested, and all are worthy of serious atten- tion.- i 8t. The general enclosure of all the Waste Lands of the United Kingdom by one Act of Parliament, with due consideration for vested rights and interests. Let proper persons be authorised either to let such Lands to the unemployed poor, at such low rents as will enable the cultivator to earn a comfortable living,—or, 2ndly, let them be taken by what has been called County Colonizing Societies," and they would employ labourers in the tillage. If leases were taken, the rents would form a fund which might be partly employed in compensation to those whose interests were affected by the Enclosure Act; and in assisting generally the work of Home Colonization.-3rdly. Another scheme suggested is the sale of such Waste Lands under the authority of Parliament—they would be purchased probably only with a view to cultivation, and furnish by this means a fund for the purposes we have mentioned above, and be a source of occupation to the at present unemployed poor. The general enclosure of our Waste Lands, and the Draining of our Marshes and Bogs, observes a rational theorist, would lead to the employment of such a mass of individuals, now wholly without occupation, that the value of labour would rise, and the condition of the Agricultural poor would be greatly improved. Then would follow the necessary erection of Farm Houses and Buildings, Cottages, Schools, Churches, and Chapels, to meet the wants of new localities-and then might be realized, what Goldsmith with a poet's mind recognised as a most beautiful image, when Thomson represents the genius of Agriculture, embrowned with labour and glow- ing with health, sti etched at his ease on the brow of a gently swelling hill, contemplating with pleasure the happy effects of his own industry :— 0 vale of bliss, 0 softly swelling hills, On which the power of cultivation lies, And joys to see the wonders of his toil." But we descend, per saltum, to a picture of less poetical, but not of less important interest, as drawn by the author of a work on Home Colonization." It is a lively and encouraging representation of the probable consequences of the plan we have suggested. If the 46,000,000 acres now in cultivation are not suffi- cient to maintain the population, there are millions yet uncultivated that may be increased in value five thousand- fold. It appears that there arc 40,500,000 acres of land in cultivation, and nearly 31,000,000 uncultivated. 16,000,000 were reported by the Emigration Committee to be profitable lands. Nearly the whole of the waste lands in Ireland are reclaimable, 3,000,000 of which, that are equal to 5,000,000 of English acres, can be brought to produce a rental of £ 1. per aere. Thus, in the cultivation of the land, Sheffield and Birmingham must send their spades, their pickaxes, and their draining tools the wheelwright must find ploughs, harrows, and carts; the iron-founder must supply the plough-coulters and the axletrees the saddler must put 011 the harness Wolverhampton must supply its chains, alsall its hits and ornaments the carpenter must put up the gates with tools from Sheffield, and hang them with the hinges and padlocks of Staffordshire; the hedger and ditcher who encloses the ground, and the ploughman who brings it into cultivation, are clothed by Stroud, Manchester, and Leeds their hats come from Newcastle-under Lyne their half-boots from either Northampton or Stafford they take their breakfast out of a basin furnished by the Staffordshire Potteries Sheffield finds the knife, Birmingham the spoon the mer- chant traverses the ocean to bring their coffee and sugar the engineer finds a coffee-mill, in which the turner furnishes a handle," &e. Try" says also an eloquent Contemporary, try the new system, though its principles areas old as the world, give to man's labour the waste land which Providence has intended for his labour. Give him that sense of possession which is the stimulant to all industry, and England might sustain fifty millions of a bold, free, and happy people." We echo the demand try," and we agree as to the consequences. Oh what are the strifes and toils, the sweat and struggles of Parties compared with such questions as these. There is no time to lose— an unemployed must by necessity be a discontented population, and in hunger and discontent Chartism finds its strength, and Anti-Corn-Law Leagues their natural aliment. The only remedy for England's disease is, occupation and wages for her starving thousands; and where shall this be found but in reducing and reclaiming her waste lands. And we may, we think without pre- sumption, believe that it is not without a purpose that the discoveries of Chemical Science, and their application to Agriculture, are influencing the minds of men, at the same moment when the thoughts of the Philanthropist are engaged on the subject of redeeming uncultivated soils. We shall have frequent occasion of recurring to the subject-and we entreat every lover of his Country to come over and help us." ,#, THE only topic of conversation in the gossiping circles of London, as we hear, is Mr. Benson and his Aerial Steam Carriage. This is no longer to be treated as a pleasant jest. The discovery is one which is all but com- pleted, and upon the most scientific principles. We rather avoided the discussion of the subject on Saturday last, lest we should be suspected of joking on the First of April, but we desire at the present momeht to express our conviction that the day of aerial transit, with as much safety as expedition, is rapidly approaching. It is not within the compass of a Leading Article that we can explain the principles on which this most scientific machine is coustructed-ard without a Diagram any explanation would be rather vague and unsatisfactory. We may just observe that the weight of the whole machine and its load is estimated at 3,000 lbs., the area of the sustaining surface will be about 4,500 square feet, the load will therefore be about two-thirds of a pound .to each square foot, which is less by one-third than that of many birds. In our first page will be found such a description of the carriage, its locomotive power, and the principles of its construction, as may enable some of our more scientific readers to make a shrewd guess at the probability of Mr. Henson's success. We believe that the best authorities are in favour of the plan, and that, if a Kite can fly, Mr. Henson will be enabled to accomplish an aerial voyage. There is some- thing very striking, we think, in the reflection which closes a somewhat elaborate account of the Aerial Steam Carriage in Colbourn's New Monthly Magazine. In noticing the important fact that these extraordinary f powers of Locomotion are first committed by Providence to that portion of the human family best fitted to use them for the general benefit, the writer thus concludes- We hope to discover in the circumstances attending this new and unparalleled enterprise, traces of the same great design—and may we not easily suppose, that so long as the new act, should it come into practical use, shall require the appliance of capital, of cultivated skill and tried integrity, and of the most exact and elaborate science, so long will it be mainly in the hands of that section of the wide Earth's inhabitants, who are most likely to use its astounding capabilities in the spirit of justice and good will to all.

GLAMORGANSHIRE AND MONMOUTHSHIRE…

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MERTHYR. \

OPPOSITION TO THE EDUCATION…

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