ge or govern the lower
class of labourers. A similar class of men is to be found on the banks
of rivers, who are known as gangers. Then there are discharged sergeants
and corporals, and even privates, who can produce their discharge with a
favourable report upon character endorsed upon it. We know the severity
of the army, in this particular. A discharge, with that portion of it
cut off on which the endorsement favourable to the soldier's character
should have been, ought not to lead necessarily to the inference that
his character has been bad in a civil point of view. But, if the
endorsement exists, we may rest assured that he has been staid in his
deportment, clean in his person, careful in the performance of his duty,
and regular as regards time. The classes of sergeants and corporals have
the additional advantage of being accustomed to order, as well as to
obey. Discharged soldiers generally require an active employment, or
they sink morally and socially. Men from this class might be selected
with advantage.

But some may exclaim, what an expense! Possibly! It remains, however, to
be seen whether the weight is not felt because the pressure is unequal.
A guardian of an ancient parish and borough, in an agricultural
district, observed the other day, "This new removal act is a serious
matter to us,--as the cottars in the out-parishes die off, the cottages
are pulled down, and this impoverished borough will have to support the
children, because they reside here." Of course, while the inducement to
such proceedings exists, and the poor are compelled to support the poor,
every attempt at permanent improvement will meet with either active
opposition or passive resistance. Then, again, it is said, that as the
manufacturing system has created a weak and dangerous population, and
one likely to be suddenly impoverished by the vicissitudes of the
system, they should be compelled to relieve it when those adverse
periods arrive. Does the rating of the manufacturer bear any proportion
to his capital, the extent of his business, or his profits? His
poor-rate receipt records an inappreciable item of expenditure. The
pressure of the rate is not upon him, but upon the householders of the
suburbs where the poor reside. It is not just that the manufacturer who
owns a mill, or he who merely owns a warehouse, and employs out-door
work-people--that the dealer in money, the discounter, the various large
agencies, the merchant who transacts