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1859.]

Louis Philippe's Seizure of Ancona.

'the admission of lay candidates to judicial and administrative employment,' seemed to strike at his principle of hierarchical government. However, no good resulted from the proposals of the Conference. M. Guizot says that Metternich was indifferent, the Emperor of Russia (Nicholas) hostile. The Pope, left to himself, promulgated reforms' that were utterly valueless. Disappointment inflamed dissatisfaction, and the people rose. The Pope's troops slew the revolters rather than put down the revolt. In his difficulty his Holiness appealed to the Austrians, who marched troops into his territories. The Austrians were rather welcomed than otherwise by the people, as a protection against the soldiery of their Holy Father; and the insurrection subsided.

Now, here unquestionably was a French diplomatic failure. France had looked to establish an influence in the Papal States that should equal or exceed that of Austria; luck had gone against her, and she had lost the game. But ill fortune does not justify violence. Apprehended danger from another State, is, according to the laws of nations, as justifiable a ground of war as actual danger. But the danger must be tangible, not fanciful. In this case, however, there was no danger at all; or, if any, it was only danger to M. Périer's ministry, originating in the mortification of French susceptibility; French policy had been crossed purely by the event, but French vanity was hurt and must be salved, at the certainty of wrong, and the risk of war. Here

is the pith of the case, as given by the author of the Spanish Marriages; the matter is worse than anything in the Prince, because weaker; but it is more disguised by a flowery and phraseful style.

The Italian question then presented itself under a new form. The concurrent action of the powers had failed. France, whose policy, at the same time liberal and anti-revolutionary, appeared to be adopted by Europe, had not been able to render it triumphant in Italy. or to reestablish through that channel harmony between the Pope and his subjects. It was Austria, and the policy of physical repression, that prevailed. If we had paused there, if the French

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Government, had not shown itself sensible of this check, and ready to repair it, it would no longer have possessed either consideration or influence in Italy. . . . . On that specific point (the question as between the Austrians, Romans, and the Pope) France had no direct or material interest; but it involved a question of national dignity and importance, perhaps also of internal tranquillity. The peace policy was humbled and compromised. M. Casimir Périer was not the man to submit coldly and inactively to this position. The King agreed with his opinion, and the expedition to Ancona was decided on.

It was well known with what rapidity and vigour that measure was executed. Leaving Toulon on the 7th of February, 1832. the small French squad

.....

ron arrived in sight of Ancona on the 22nd. During the night at two o'clock the frigate 'Victory' entered the harbour under full sail. The troops disembarked in silence, the gates of the city were forced; and on the following morning, without shedding a single drop of blood, the town and citadel were occupied by French soldiers. . . . In France as in Italy, and throughout all Europe, the surprise was great. At Rome, Naples, and Florence, neither the French agents nor the Italian politicians believed in this sudden landing-this unlooked-for and armed invasion of a Roman city. The act seemed too much opposed to public rights, and too rash, to have been committed during perfect peace, and without the consent either of the Pope or of the allies of France.Memoirs to Illustrate my own Time, vol. ii. p. 279-282.

This, in Lord Macaulay's language, is 'naked and not ashamed' with a vengeance. Even M. Guizot's friend, M. de Barante, the envoy at Turin, who had got an inkling of the project, never anticipated it would be executed as it was. He wrote to Guizot-We imagine here that in spite of the profound displeasure which this occupation must give to Austria and the Holy See, their consent has been obtained.' The Prussian ambassador, the Baron de Werther. aptly asked Casimir Périer if there was still such a thing as public European right?' Beyond all question it was as flagitious a piece of violence and treachery as ever was perpetrated by Italian prince or armed adventurer in Machiavelli's time, or in the evil days before it, though fortunately

not attended by blood, strife, or cruelty, which was the mere accident of luck. Yet M. Guizot describes it with as much coolness and satisfaction as the Florentine politician could have shown had the matter been of a solidity to challenge his consideration.

These examples could readily be multiplied. Indeed a not incurious book might be written under the title of the Prince continued, or Policy explained by the Practice of Politicians. The English in India might contribute some instances; and their descendants, the Americans, various examples. The essential doctrine of Machiavelli is to seize an advantage without regard to the morality involved, except as it may react upon you. Whether this principle is seated in individual man we will not undertake to assert, but it is deeply seated in the public conviction, if we may judge by the public conduct. In this country, for example, the expectancy and rose' of the whole world, a large class, professing moreover religion and liberality, continually charge persons who differ from them with a design to plunge the nation into war in order to make a profit by it, or to divert attention from home reforms. And the charge is made not as if the alleged thing were a very wicked thing, but a recognised proceeding,akind of political matterof-course. In America similar charges or worse are promulgated at every presidential election. Some

needless war, or some territorial robbery, seems nowadays the regular accompaniment of a ruler's inauguration, denounced as a crime by one party, and held out as a temptation by the other. Of a truth, Machiavelli seems but a type of politicians, and has gained his evil repute in part by Italian manners and in part by his own. Still, after all, there is something in time and luck, and Machiavelli was first and has been unlucky. In Father Paul Sarpi's Maxims of Venice-a sort of practical handbook of ruling, drawn up by the desire and for the use of the Republic in the early part of the seventeenth century-the statesmanlike coldness is equally remarkable with that of the Prince, and some of the suggestions really devilish. But Machiavelli had got half a century's bad character before Paul Sarpi wrote his work, while the training of Paul as a divine gave him a professional feeling for abstract right. The brief panegyric on virtuous men which closes his first part is really eloquent, and he had enough largeness of view to advise that the public faith once pledged should be inviolable, without being amused by any profit that may accrue to the Republic by the breach of it.' In this judgment we may trace a great advance in public morality since the time of Machiavelli, or the moral tone of republics in those days was better than that of princes.

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ESSAY TOWARDS AN EXPERIMENTAL SOLUTION
OF THE GOLD QUESTION.

The

IN the discussions which have taken place respecting the probable consequences of the Californian and Australian gold discoveries, there is a branch of the general question which has not yet received from economists that degree of attention, to which from its scientific importance it seems to be entitled. I allude to the effects produced by those events in the countries which have been the scene of their occurrence. In the great world of commerce, the action of the new money for the most part escapes notice among the variety and complexity of the phenomena in which it is involved. The area over which the increasing supplies have to act is immense, the extraneous incidents affecting the course of their diffusion are numerous, and the real tendency of the movement is thus in these cosmopolitan transactions not easily discoverable. But within the more limited sphere of the auriferous countries this is not the case. gold discoveries have there been the predominant influences, and being less controlled by circumstances, the real character of the new agencies, and the results to which they are leading, come distinctly and prominently into view. California and Australia, during the period of their auriferous history, furnish us with what Lord Bacon would call 'an ostensive or predominant instance' of the action of such agencies, showing their nature (to borrow his language) naked and palpable, and even in its exaltation, or in the highest degree of its power-that is to say, emancipated or freed from impediments, or at least, by force of its native energy, dominating over these, suppressing and coercing them. By studying the effects of the gold discoveries in the immediate scene of their occurrence, we may gain a clearer and steadier view of the real nature of the causes which are at work than we are likely to obtain from the more extended and complicated

transactions of general commerce. By tracing the events which are there presented, we may be guided to conclusions which (if the illustration be allowed) may serve as a sort of economic chart of the new monetary influences-a chart which, though it may be drawn upon an exaggerated scale, will the more clearly indicate the true direction of the currents and the ultimate goal whither they are bearing us.

With this view I propose in the following paper to examine the effects of the gold discoveries in Australia on its trade, industry, and pecuniary relations. The course of events in California during its auriferous history has been extremely similar, and the description of the movement in the former country will in its main features be found applicable to the latter.

Regarded in its economic aspects, the discovery of gold in Australia may be thus briefly described: It was an occurrence by which a common labourer was enabled, by means of a simple process requiring for its performance little capital or skill, to obtain about a quarter of an ounce of gold-in value about £1 sterling -on an average in the day.† This is the fundamental fact from which the remarkable series of events which we have lately been contemplating took its rise, and to which the whole movement following upon the gold discoveries is ultimately traceable. The immediate effect was a general disorganization of industry throughout the Australian colonies. The ordinary pursuits of the place were for a time entirely suspended, and the imaginations and hopes of the community outstripping even the marvellous realities of the case, the whole industrial population rushed as by a single impulse to the gold-fields. The gold fever, however, in this its first and full intensity, was not of long duration. Actual trial soon reduced the extravagant expectations raised by the first announcements to a

* Novum Organon, Lib. ii. Aph. 24.

+ Correspondence relative to the late Discoveries of Gold in Australia. Presented to Parliament, February, 1852. Pages 32, 51.

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more sober and correct appreciation

of the true conditions of the discovery. Those who had overrated the gain, as well as those whose constitution and habits unfitted them for the toils and exposure of golddigging, and who did not fall victims to their mistake, returned after a short trial to their former occupations. The extraordinary excitement subsided; but in the mean time a change had taken place in the conditions of Australian industry, a new and vigorous branch of production had struck root, overshadowing all the old occupations of the country and entirely superseding many of them, and a new monetary régime had been inaugurated.

The immediate result of the change was a general rise of money wages throughout the country. Formerly the wages of common labour in Australia had ranged from 38. to 58. a day. The same labour was now, by washing the auriferous sand, capable of producing gold worth 20s. a day. It followed as a necessary consequence that, cæteris paribus, hired labourers would not work for less. Other things indeed were not equal. The toil of golddigging was severe, its results were precarious, and the further the removal from the coast the higher was the price of provisions. All these circumstances influenced wages in different occupations and in different localities; but, making allowance for these, the standard of pecuniary remuneration in Australia was henceforth the rate of earnings on the gold-fields.

During the two years immediately following the first discoveries, this standard continued at the high point above indicated namely, about a quarter of an ounce of gold per man each day, equal to about £1 sterling; but towards the close of 1853a great decline in the proceeds of gold digging took place. The cream of the richest auriferous deposits had by this time been skimmed

away; and it was henceforth necessary to dig deeper for materials which, when reached, proved of inferior quality. The Commissioners appointed in the following year to report on the gold-fields accordingly describe a great falling off at this time from the richness of the early returns; and although many new gold-fields have since been opened, the high average standard of the early discoveries has not again been reached.t During the two years just passed (1857 and 1858), the rate of gold earnings per man has not exceeded on an average ten shillings a day-a decline of one half from the early returns. the whole, we may say that during the first and most productive period of gold digging, the standard of money wages in Australia rose in rather more than a fourfold proportion as compared with the pre-gold times, and that during the last five years this proportion has been reduced by one half; money wages in Australia at the present time being thus rather more than double those which formerly prevailed.§

On

But this rise in the pecuniary remuneration of the labourer involved further consequences. The Australian employer could not continue to pay quadruple or double rates to his workmen while the commodities which he sold remained at their former price. In order to the maintenance of his profit, it was necessary that the price of Australian productions should rise in proportion as wages had risen; and this result accordingly followed in due course.

The advance, however, in money rates and prices which these circumstances necessitated, though rapid, was not instantaneous. For more than a year after the gold discoveries had occurred, it was held sensibly in check by the peculiar state of the local currencies. For there was at this time no mint in Australia; the increased require

* Further Papers relative to the Discovery of Gold in Australia. Presented to Parliament, February, 1856. Page 55.

Westgarth's Victoria (1857), p. 171.

The Times' Melbourne Correspondent, writing September 14th, 1858.

§ Westgarth's Victoria (1857), p. 150.

See the Table of Prices contained in Mr. Westgarth's 'Address to the Melbourne Chambers of Council,' given in the Appendix to his Victoria, or Australia Felix. 1853.

1859.]

Consequences of Gold Discoveries.

ments for coin could only be met by a transmission of bullion to London, there to be coined, and afterwards re-imported; and this process required from six to eight months at the least, for its accomplishment. Pending the arrival of the new coins, prices were not indeed prevented absolutely from rising; for numerous expedients were in their absence freely resorted to for supplying the place of the ordinary currency; but nevertheless prices were, by the straitness of the circulation, kept very considerably under their natural level, as determined by the cost of gold-a fact which was sufficiently proved by a remarkable fall in the price of gold throughout the whole of this period. The arrival, however, of sovereigns in large quantities from England, in the winter of 1852 to 1853, quickly put an end to this exceptional state of the markets. The price of gold, and with it the prices of other things, rose to their natural level; and pecuniary rates generally throughout the country were brought permanently into conformity with the new conditions of producing gold.

The

But the advance in general prices which was thus easily and rapidly effected within the limited area of the gold districts, could by no means be accomplished with the same facility amongst the great commercial populations of the world. disturbance of industrial pursuits in the larger theatre, though resulting in an extensive emigration, was yet, in comparison with the general business of the world, inconsiderable, while the supply of gold required, in order to render possible a fall in its value over so large an area of transactions, was immense. The necessary conditions, therefore, to a rise in general prices not being susceptible of speedy fulfilment, money rates throughout the world at large did not, and could not, advance with the same rapidity with which they advanced in the gold countries. A divergence of local prices and rates in Australia from the general

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level of commercial countries has been the necessary consequence -a divergence which has altered fundamentally her commercial position in relation to the rest of the world, and has been followed by a series of changes in her domestic industry and foreign trade which I shall now attempt to describe.

The great staple industry of Australia has, from an early period in the history of the colony, been her cattle-farming, the advantages which the country possesses for this pursuit in her extensive open plains, covered with rich natural grass, being unsurpassed in any part of the world. The fruit of this industry is the usual pastoral products, of which butcher's meat, wool, and tallow are the principal. Until the occurrence of the remarkable events we are considering, the two latter of these constituted the leading commodities of the foreign trade of the country. For the former— butcher's meat-as it was unfit for a distant traffic, she was compelled to trust for a market to the local population, which being extremely limited, the supply of meat was with difficulty disposed of, and the article was consequently often a drug in the colonial markets. The difficulty, however, thence arising to the pastoral interest was met by the conversion of a large portion of their meat into tallow, and by the starting of an export trade in this commodity. By this means the several branches of trade connected with pastoral farming in Australia were placed upon a sound foundation, and by the beginning of 1851 were in a highly flourishing condition. But in the summer of that year the gold discoveries occurred, and the consequences which have ensued in this leading department of her industry have been not a little remarkable.

On the first outbreak of the gold mania in 1851, the pastoral interest was subjected to the same inconvenience which was felt by all other

* Of which expedients the passing of the Bullion Act by the Government of South Australia was the most important.

† A fall from £3 178. 101d. per ounce, the London Mint price, to 60s., 508., and, it is stated, in some instances to 408. per ounce. See the Appendix to Westgarth's Victoria, or Australia Felix. 1853.

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