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Leader (1850-1860), 14th September 1850, Edition Town of 1, Page 586, Untitled Article

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    • POSTSCRIPT. 9 SATURDAY, Sept. 14.
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      Untitled Article

      wanting ; that a change of dynasty or of men in office is not a change of principle nor of practice ; that pqwder and ball , the sword and the bayonet , are fit instruments to extirpate , but not to elevate , man ; that , as long as the causes that made man an inconsistent , irrational , dissatisfied being are allowed to remain , so long must all the effects remain also ; as long as the mind of man is enveloped in impenetrable mystery and darkness , called religion , which perpetuates his ignorance and prevents him from acquiring the knowledge of the laws of his being and of humanity ; as long as he is placed m an isolated position , with the adamant wall of selfishness hPtwepn him and his brother man , so long will charity

      remain an unmeaning term , love an empty sound , and men irrational animals , and so long will blood deluge the land , ignorance , poverty , and misery , like so many frightful ghosts , stalk the earth , and frighten man out of his peace and happiness . "

      Untitled Article

      ASSOCIATIVE CONFERENCE IN MANCHESTER . On Wednesday , at the Bakers' Institute , Iiloydstreet , a conference assembled , at which Messrs . Lloyd Jones , Walter Cooper , the Reverend C . Kingsley , and various district trade delegates were present . A programme of business presented by the committee included these points : — " 1 st . Wages : The relation they bear to the actual deserts of the recipient of wages . Should wages be found to bear no adequate proportion to the real deserts of labour , and the condition of the labourer be found precarious and unjust , your committee beg to recommend the consideration—2 nd , How far the cooperative associations maybe made the means of maintaining andadvancing those interests which the existing relations between the

      employer and the employed shall have been found ^ to abuse . Consequent upon your efforts towards promoting the principle of cooperation , your committee would suggest an enquiry into the possibility of extending those efforts , and consolidating the strength of all trades by a system of mutual exchanges . Lastly , your committee would call your attention to the land as the greatest bulwark of unity and stability—an unfailing source of advancement and happiness for the working classes . ' Mr . Wilkinson Burslam , delegate from the operative masons , said the greatest evil his trade suffered from was surplus labour . On an average they were without work three months during the winter . account of the

      Mr . Walter Cooper gave an interesting cooperative experiment of the London tailors . ^ They had two leading ideas in commencing the Association . First they said to one another , " All trade that is now carried on is a lie—a deception . It is rotten to its heart ' s core , and those engaged in it are telling lies day after day But we are determined that the first cooperative association shall be based on truth . " They accordingly threw open their books on their counters for the inspection of the public , to show that there was no deception practised , frankly stating how much they paid for materials , and how much in the shape of wages . Iheir second idea , seeing the evil effects of drunkenness , was a determination that neither gin nor beer should ever teetotal

      pollute their premises . They despisea oigoiry as much as any other bigotry , but , seeing the great cost of drunkenness to the sons of labour , they resolved to have nothing to do with it . The average wages they had paid was between 26 s . and 27 s . In some weeks they had paid £ 1 18 s . wages , and they had never paid less than 20 s . a-week . During some of the busy weeks the men had worked twelve hours a-day , but the greater part of the time only ten hours a-day . Mr . Lloyd Jones , another delegate from London , said the gentleman who had set on foot the experiment described by Mr . Cooper , thought it highly desirable that they should get an act of Parliament to legalize these

      associations . . The Reverend Charles Kingsloy , of Eversleigh ( another delegate from London ) , said , in all societies , of any sort whatever , small local subscriptions for propagandist purposes had been found to work exceedingly well . The power which the Jesuits had been enabled to exert , whether for good or evil , was a striking instance of what might be done by this means . It was necessary to the success of the present movement that they should have public meetings all over England on the subject . And they must not only have public meetings , but some means of keeping up a steady and permanent agitation at one Riven town for six or twelve months , and ,

      when they had joined a good number of thinking men to their side , they might take another town , and so on until they had conquered the whole country . Every man who wished to promote the movement should have spirit enough to give himself a little trouble xn preaching to those around him , and by distributing tracts to the workmen . They knew well enough how to speak to one another ; then , why did not some of them write short , pithy , powerful tracts , setting forth what thoy had done and what they thought could be done ; and then get them printed by penny subscriptions , and distribute them . He intended to do something in this way himself , and then , if they could only establish an organized propagandism , they might extend the movement all over

      England . Mr . Stalk ( delegate from the Salford Cooperative Provision Store ) said , the society he represented was called the Universal Family , the rules of which appeared to comprehend the fundamental principles of morality . He said they had a savings bank in the society , but it was merely a place of deposit for money : they gave no interest on the money and no security . The meeting was also addressed by delegates from the letter-press printers , tailors , glass-cutters , the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers' Society , and the Bury Redemption Society . The business concluded with two resolutions , one ( moved by the Reverend Charles Kingsley , and seconded by

      Mr . Walter Cooper ) to the effect that the reports now received from the delegates fully corroborated the evidence previously existing , as to the rottenness of the present competitive system in trade , and proved that the association for cooperative labour and the establishment of mutual exchanges , would be the best means of improving the condition of the working classes ; the other ( moved by Mr . Lloyd Jones , and seconded by Mr . James Hoyle ) to the effect that the existing committee had the full confidence of the present congress , and were empowered to call another delegate conference within a few months .

      In the evening there was a public meeting at the Old Manor court-room , rather numerously attended , at which Mr . Abel Hey wood , town councillor , presided , and which was addressed hy the Reverend Charles Kingsley , Dr . John Watts , Mr . Lloyd Jones , Mr . G . Mantle , and Mr . J . H . Nodal moved the first resolution : — " That in the opinion of this meeting the present systems of wages and competition are unnatural , tend to immorality , and produce incalculable evil in society . " - Mr . G . D . Mantle seconded the resolution . Mr . L . Jones moved the second resolution : " That the principle of the Association , in the production and distribution of wealth , has been sufficiently successful to justify its substitution for the selfish iniquity of wages , slavery , and individual competition . "

      Dr . John Watts , in seconding the resolution , said it was utterly impossible to fix the rate of wages , but all would grant that the labourer ought to have in return for his labour good food , good clothing , and a comfortable habitation for himself and family . They could tell him whether such was the case , in fact . Ten shillings per week could only procure for them coarse food , coarse clothing , and , by the influence of circumstances , coarse souls . As wages were not sufficient , he wished to know why they were not so ? He thought the question answered by the fact that too many were employed in the distribution of wealth , and that able-bodied paupers and criminals consumed wealth without

      producing weaun . The Reverend C . Kingsley moved the third resolution : " That this meeting pledges itself to advance by all moral means the great principle of cooperative association . " Among other remarks he said , the Whigs were daily proving , by their every act , their utter incapability of meeting the crisis . There was plenty of land in England , were it cultivated only as their best farms were , to support all the people in England . He was not going to say that every rood of land would support its man , because every rood would not ; but there was enough to support all , if well cultivated . There was plenty of capital in England to employ all the people in it ; but there was no organization . Land wanted labour , and labour wanted capital ; labour desired the land , and

      capital looked for labour . All the elements of society were in want of each other , without possessing the power of a proper combination . They wanted organization . The farmer could not till the land without organization . The army was another example of successful organization . All nature was governed by regular and organized laws ; but the whole scheme of production and consumption was a chaotic scramble . All systems based on the belief that man was not faithful , loving , and just , began in a lie and ended in a lie . Such a system was the present . If they could not get self-sacrifice , faithfulness , love , brotherhood , unity , and justice amongst men , the present was the very best system , as it would convey them direct to hell—a very hell upon earth . in the resolution

      Mr . Walter Cooper , seconding , which was carried , said they must be prepared , not only to work , but also to suffer , yea , and to be pelted , if necessary , in order to advance the great cause of righteousness and justice . Some said that the present condition of society was natural , a »< i , therefore , necessary . Competition , they said , was the law of English society , and that to put it down would be an impossibility . No argument he thought necessary to reply to this : it carried cruelty , heartlessness , and villany on the face of it . A writer in Fraser's Magazine had said , « ' If I am told that to support the present system of society it is necessary that 10 , 000 needlewomen should earn on an average i ^ d . per day , and be compelled to

      eke out their wages with the wages of prostitution ; 10 , 000 slopworkers in London , living on starvation wages , working seven days in the week , not merely slaves in body , but foul and diseased mentally ; thousands of starving Spitalfields weavers demanding bread' ; and thousands of dock labourers clamouring at the gates of our East and West India Docks for bread ; fear and trembling on the part of the higher classes ; lying and cheating in our trading transactions ; rottenness and hypocrisy among all classes ; and all this necessary to support English society—then , I say , English society is the work of the devil , and to hell with it as soon as possible . " But he would add , that this was not the devil ' s world but God ' s —God had abundantly supplied us with all the means for producing happiness .

      Untitled Article

      Mr . WatjTek Cooper ' s Lectures . — Mr . Walter Cooper , manager of the Working Tailors' Association , is delivering lectures in the Manchester district nearly every night . The audiences pass unanimously resolutions in favour of cooperation . We are obliged this week to abridge very interesting reports which we have received of his proceedings . ^ Since writing the preceding wo have received enthusiastic accounts from Mr . Renny of Mr . Cooper ' s lectures in Newcastle-upon-Tyne . The manner in which he spoke , and the message of association he had to deliver , afforded both interest and gratification . From Blackburn we have received Bimilar reports . At the conclusion of a lecture in that town , at which Dr . Skelton presided , the Rev . Mr . Wrigley , of the Baptist connection , arose , and with many complimentary expressions moved a vote of thanks to Mr . Cooper , which was passed unanimously .

      Untitled Article

      TO CORRESPONDENTS . In reply to the Correspondent who writes from Haverstock-hill he is informed that a few of the unaltered copies of the Moore Raphael have been retained , and may be had of Messri , Colnaghi and Co ., or our publisher . In reply to W . S ., he is informed that our arrangements , for the present , are completed .

      Untitled Article

      The latest accounts from Hesse-Cassel represent the crisis as advancing in intensity . By a ministerial decree dated the 9 th , the whole of the electorate is placed in a state of siege , and , as a matter of course , the liberty of the press and the right of association and meeting are suspended . In the first instance the town of Cassel only was subject to this measure , but , in consequence of the threatening aspect of affairs , and of the standing committee of the Chamber having drawn up an act of impeachment against the Ministry , the latter extended the exceptional act to the whole state . The Frankfort Zeitxtng , under date of Cassel , 8 th instant , says : —

      " Five persons have been arrested for having torn down the decree which declares the country in a state of siege . M . Heise , the editor of the Frelons , has escaped imprisonment by flight . The printing-office of the New Gazette of Hesse is still occupied militarily , and the proprietor of the journal , M . Oetker , and M . Sheel , the printer , were threatened with imprisonment if they made the slightest resistance . This morning all the numbers of this journal were seized . A complaint has been addressed to the Ministry on the subject , and it is expected that a civil action will be commenced . Last evening the permanent commission of the States addressed to the public prosecutor the following indictment against the

      Minister of State , M . de Hassenpfiug , Major de Haynau , and Councillor de Baumbach , in consequence of the decree of the Elector , which places the country in a state of war : — ' The permanent commission sees in this decree a serious abuse of power , and considers it even as a crime of high treason , according to the terms of the decree of the 14 th of February , 1795 , considering that it has for its object to do away with the organization and the constitution of the country . It has , in consequence , resolved to impeach the Ministers for a violation of Art . 61 of the commission , and requests the public prosecutor to proceed conformably to paragraph 75 of the law of judicial organization , and to immediately arrest the accused . ' The public

      prosecutor then replied as follows : — ' The public prosecutor recognizes in the acts of the Ministers , of which the permanent commission of the states complains , a violation of the constitution ; but Ministers who violate the constitution cannot be impeached but by the states , and not by the permanent commission , and only before the high court . Consequently , the demand of the commission for the arrest and impeachment of the Ministers cannot be followed up . ' A letter of the 9 th says that , although the public prosecutor has rejected the charge brought against , the Ministers , the Procurator-General has ordered the Ministers to be arrested . At Hanau the municipal council refused to publish the last decree of the Government . "

      The officer entrusted -with dictatorial powers is Lieutenant-General Bauer , who has under his orders , as military commissaries , Major-General Schirmer at Fulda , Colonel Hildebrand at Marburg , and Major Einer at Rintelen . The principal paper at Cassel , the New Hessian , has been suppressed , and its presses sealed up . It will be difficult , therefore , to obtain correct intelligence of what is passing . The Berlin papers announce that a banquet was given , two days past , at Cassel , by the officers of the staff , and that they gave a pereat for the Minister Hassenpfiug . The High Court of Justice of Wurtemburg has given its decision on the impeachment of the ex-Minister of foreign affairs , Baron Wachter Spittler , on a charge of having violated the constitution . The court declares that there was no foundation for the impeachment .

      Untitled Article

      We have elsewhere given a brief notice of the fatal termination of Mr . Gale ' s aeronautic exploits . The following more circumstantial account of the sad event we take from Galignani ' s Messenger : — * ' On Sunday last Lieutenant Gale made an ascent with the Royal Cremorne balloon , on the back of a pony , from the Hippodrome of Vincennes at Bordeaux . It was the first time that Mr . Gale had ever made such an ascension , and his pony had only a few days before been broken in .

      At first the little animal displayed great repugnance « ueine lifted from his feet , but he gradually got accustomed to it . and on Sunday allowed himself to be carried off by the balloon with the greatest composure . As there was some delay in filling the balloon with gas , the pony , oaily saddled and bridled , was paraded round the Hippodrome , and was regarded with extraordinary curiosity by the spectators . An immense multitude assembled to witness the ascent . The local journals say that the town was completely deserted , and that the adjacent villages sent their contingents . When Mr . Gale was seen to aan * r \ A ranidlv into the air , seated on his pony , with tne

      bridle in one hand and saluting the public with the other , there was a sort of shudder of fear in the vast gathering . The pony was perfectly calm , with his legs hanging and the neck bent ; but he made no movement . The descent of Mr . Gale , which took place at a short distance from Bordeaux , was near being fatal to him . When the horse hod been released from its slings , the peasants who held the ropes of the balloon , misunderstanding

      Postscript. 9 Saturday, Sept. 14.

      POSTSCRIPT . 9 SATURDAY , Sept . 14 .

      Untitled Article

      586 ftt ) t ZL 'ta ' OtX . [ Saturda y

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 14, 1850, page 586, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1853/page/10/