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Leader (1850-1860), 25th January 1851, Edition Town of 2, Page 92, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      ¦ without deeming it necessary to adduce any' proof . Mr . Mill observes that " the power of multiplication in all organic life is infinite , " and that " any vegetable or animal would , unrestricted , in a . fehott time cover the globe . " If the facts be admitted , And I see noli how they can be denied , that ^ the land and the fertility of the land are limited , and that population is continually encreasing ( as is evident from comparing the present population of England ) for instance , with what it was a hundred years ago ) , the inference is irresistible that population , unchecked , must eventually exceed the subsistence that the earth ' s surface can furnish . A statement involving facts " ptoves " itself . If water be poured into a vessel faster than it escapes , it surely requires no " proof" or argument to show that the water must at length fill the vessel ahd run over .

      Even supposing the means of subsistence to be greatly en creased and more generally diffused , as the population would increase with an accelerated ratio , I believe we should soon be in the same position as to poverty and suffering as we were before . On this point , Dr . Chalmers observes , "In the midst of all the minuter criticism to which the doctrine has been exposed , the great historical fact remains unshakenthat , let the means of subsistence be encreased , however largely and suddenly , this is sure to be followed by a corresponding encrease of population . Every to this

      state and country in the world bears evidence truth— whether in the steady augmentation of Europe , or in the gigantic strides that are now making in the population of America . The invariable connection as of antecedent and consequent between a great extent of fertile and unoccupied land , and a great multiplication of families when once it is entered upon , is too palpable to be obscured by any sophistry , or by the allegation of any mystic principle whatever . " Certainly , the earth is adapted to support a " large portion " of mankind , but not an indefinitely encreasing number .

      I cannot but suspect that Mr . Search , like many other opponents of Malthua , has not read his wotk , or he would not treat the geometrical ratio with so much ridicule , leaving entirely out of the question the ' * checks "' from war , famine , disease , and misery , which Malthus considers have hitherto prevented that excess of population which would otherwise have taken place . The question really is not in what ratio population encreases beyond production , but whether it eneieases in any degree at all . The result must ultimately be the same ; it is only a question of time .

      I do not care to reconcile the benevolence or justice of the Creator with the facts or laws of Nature . Theologians have striven hard upon this point , but not at all to my satisfaction . A fact is not to yield to a speculation or an idea . It may seem unjust that ' a creature should be punished for coming into the world , " but we see it every day when children are born to poverty or to vicious circumstances ; and hence , are doomed to misery or civil punishment , or inherit a diseased constitution ; and hence suffer protracted pain , or premature death . Doubtless , had there been the will and the power , the world might have presented a very different scene from that which it has exhibited in all ages and countries . F . B . Barton .

      Untitled Article

      AN EQUITABLE EXCHANGE MEDIUM . January 17 , 1851 . SIU )—I beg permission to address to you a few remarks on the currency in reference to the labour question . The employment , or want of employment , of the working classes has alwayn depended on the state of trade . Now , inherent in the competitive system of buying and Belling , is the rising and falling of prices . When prices are low many workmen ire out of

      employment , and a greater number work at reduced wages . Ah prices advance , wage * , perhaps , iiIbo Bomowhat improve , at all events employment bccomeB more general . But prices cannot always continue to advance , and their encrcnuu , beyond a certain point , of itself checka demand , and things again recede to their former position . This in , and always hnH been , the courao of trade . No mere alteration of the currency can cure this evil of the fluctuation of prices . It may aggravate or ulleviate , but cannot

      cure it . A currency continually nnoroasing in amount ih , with reference to the working cIuhhch , undoubtedly preferable to one continually on the ( Jecreane : for , when prices are advancing , employment becomon more general and remunerative . But mich advance could not under any currency long continue ; unchecked , as hpcculution i » well known ulways to di « - coutit the future market by immediate ; enhancement .

      I think if your correspondent , M , whose letter appeared in lust week ' H number , refers carefully to the period between the yearn 1 S 01 and 1815 he will find that , although an encreuHo was continually taking place in the amount of the circulating medium , priceB did not advance unchecked dining that period . And also , uh you observe , M muwt not Het aside us nought tho effect on prices of the growth of our marvellous manufacturing HVHtem during tho « o

      years , and which likewise considerably assisted in maintaining a prolonged period of comparative ease for the working classes . The return to cash payments and subsequent continual enhancement of the value of money in gradually cheapening everything appears to me undoubtedly to have brought gr « at distress on ttie many , and to have benefited few save those having fixed incomesThe appreciation of money has not ******** " *""*'"""*'"' _ _ * - _ j 2- «

      . only cheapened labour , but has dispensed with . it . When prices decline debts due are more difficult to discharge , and trade having constantly a tendency to be unremunerative , some labourers receive less wages , and others are deprived of employment altogether . Therefore , it appears to me that what , in effect , is required by some , viz ., a continual slight depreciation of the currency is preferable to that constant appreciation of it which has been taking place during tfie

      last thirty years . , „ But , looking at the currency in another and tar more interesting point of view—as to what it can do to aid the emancipation of labour , we must go at once to the enquiry—What is and has been the object oi money , and what should it be ? Historically viewed it has been but a mere medium of exchange . Futurity will require something more—that it shall not only be medium of exchange , but equitable medium also . Money has hitherto represented wealth ; it should in the future represent labour , the source of all wealth .

      Production has engrossed the past attention of men ; equitable distribution will engage their future ; and how to effect this equitable distribution is even now fast becoming the problem of the day . It is an impossibility , without the direct and equal or nearly equal payment for labour of all kinds ; and it is the departure from , or rather I should say the absence of this principle which permits the unhappy spectacle of ill-fed , ill-clothed , ill-lodged , buthard worked industry in juxtaposition with luxurious idleness .

      No " Californian Accident , " as the auriferous discovery has been termed , no mere paper-extension act , will ever give the labourer the fruits of his industry . Rent , interest , and , above all , profit , cannot exist and labour receive its due reward . But it will be said these are exactions which the workman cannot escape . As regards the first two named , this is , perhaps , immediately true ( though not so remotely ) , but to avoid the exaction of profit is perfectly practicable even without adcepting association based on absolute

      Communism . Suppose , for instance , an association managed as a joint stock company , commencing with agricultural operations , and adding afterwards trades and manufactures ; suppose the members of such association paid for their work in labour-notes of their own making , and the produce of their labour priced according to its labour cost , and retailed to them at a general store , would not some such society as this afford an approach to an equitable distribution , and at the same time preserve intact the individual independence of its members ? In conclusion , I would remark , that I have little faith in the success of any Communal attempt that does not guarantee to the individual at least an equal amount of independence to that he enjoys under the present competitive

      system . Hoping that I have written intelligibly though hastily , and that these ideas , if false , may speedily be proved so by some of your clever correspondents , I am , Sir , yours in sincerity , A Communist .

      Untitled Article

      COMPLETE PROTESTANTISM . 8 , Heinsworth-street , Hoxton , Jan . 2 , 1851 . Sir , —Though the Roman Catholic agitation has not ceased , ' we may , at any rate , conclude that men are growing calmer , therefore more capable of seriously reflecting on some of its probable results . Protestantism , by its divisions , has made the Bible an open question ( though Protestants do not in general acknowledge it ) . Numerous sects base their belief and practica on the Bible , and ( though Christ promised , " when two or three were gathered together in his name , there would he be in the midst ' ) their belief and practice differ materially from each other . This is plain , there can be but one correct interpretation of the Bible . Aa each sect interprets for itself , and interprets differently from other necta , would it not be better , more manful , more consistent , to openly proclaim tho Bible to be an open question , than for each sect to arrogantly assume itH open interpretation to be the only correct one ? One of tho probable rcHults of the agitation may be tlie propelling ' of Protestantism to the fulfilment of it » mission , by the Protestant religious world anHertin < j and enforcing the fmeredm . 'HH of private judgment . This would be a death-blow to dogmatism and persecution . The incongruities and inconsistencies of Profit in \ t ism arc ; the vitality of Catholicism . Make

      Protestantism consistent , then Catholicism will in time ha left a lun . bwing carcase , without the power to act or the hope of resuscitation . Another probable result appears to me to he that , when oarneHt , thoughtful men perceive Christian ( 'lunches denouncing each other ; showing , in language neither meek nor mild , tho follies , the errors , and Buportttitionw of each other , they may a « k , What

      is Christianity ? What is religion ? We know that the population of the world is about 900 , 000 , 000 ; that Christians , whose religion is said to have been promulgated by the Son of God , number , after 1800 years' existence , no more than 261 , 000 , 000- —these figures including Freethinkers , Atheists , and Unitarians . We know that Mahomedism sprang up after it _ a great success ; that it has its inspired book , the Koran , as devoutly believed in as the Bible . Brahminism has also its sacred writings ( the Vedas and Shastras ) , of undoubted antiquity . Boodism , whose devotees number half the inhabitants of the world , have their "bedagat , " the morality of which will bear

      comparison with the Bible . While a so much larger portion of our fellow creatures disbelieve Christianity , believing some other religion , is it not a preposterous assumption to assume that ours is the only true religion ? that we are the only peoples to whom God , the Creator , has chosen to manifest himself . Better that religion should be an open question than that we should be so presumptive . Is it not better thus , than in fear of everlasting damnation , to waste our strength in efforts to save ourselves from the shoals and quicksands of doubt , overcoming one difficulty to encounter a greater , till we stand still or surrender our reason ?

      " Fearing- to slide from bad to worse . " " And that in seeking to undo One riddle , and to find the true , "We knit a hundred others new . " I conclude these remarks by asking freethinkers and Protestants if they give the Catholics credit for more devotion , more enthusiasm , and a higher notion of duty to his convictions than they have ? If this is not the case , would they not , instead of attempting to crush by outcry and persecution , welcome an open

      encounter with the great and persistent foe of private judgment . They seem to forget the opportunities that would offer of exposing the " mummeries " and 41 tomfooleries . " To those who are in earnest and expectant of the future , this agitation is hopeful . Let every advocate of private judgment exert himself as he ought , or hide his head whenever a Catholic ( whose mummeries he despises ) crosses his path . The year 1851 is portentous . There is a harvest , it " the reapers are prepared . We all may help to

      " Ring out a slowly dying cause , And ancient forms of party strife : Ring in the nobler mode * of life , "With sweeter manners , purer Iaw 3 . " C . F . NlCHOLLS .

      Untitled Article

      TAXES ON KNOWLEDGE . Jan . 20 , 1851 . Dear Sik , — As " The Father of the unstamped Press , " as Tait has been pleased to designate me , I rejoice to see the renewed efforts , in which you are taking so prominent and able a part , to get rid of all the " taxes on knowledge . " If you can turn to the report of my trial in May , 1831 , you will see that I at great length pointed out and urged upon the consideration of the court and jury , the unfair licence given by the ( then ) Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes to the proprietors of sundry publications , while prosecuting me for breach of the law . You complain of the same thing now . and with justice . We should all be placed on a level . But what 1 want to call your attention to is this . The Board ot Inland Revenue , I see , denies that such publications

      as Punch , the Atlu-naum , and the Household Narrative are newspapers ; upon what authority this dictum rests I know not ; but this I do know , that on niy trial , and in the course of my defence , Lord Lyndhurfit stopped me and said , that a single paragrap h of news , however old , introduced into a paper , mftd ^ such paper a " newspaper" ; which the law dennea to be " uny paper containing new ? , intelligence , ot occurrences , " and thut the fact of the commissioners permitting some such papers to be published without stamps was an immaterial one , as they were " not tne authorized oxnoundars of the law . " Now , I had

      tjoinc months of imprisonment for violating ft itt which others were permitted to violate with impunity , and were , in fact , encouraged to do so by supply of stumps for that portion of their impression tlu-y wiBhed to transmit by post . The lame thing obtains now ; and you would be served as I was we you to attempt to do what Punch and other * are permitted to do . This is really too bnd ; end 1 « ° P you will bring the matter before the House of Commons , and nee whether the thing is to be juetine" - Truly your * , William Cahfkntk *

      Untitled Article

      CHAItTIST LEADERS . 4 , Nnvarliio-grovts Daliton , Jan . 10 . 1 WV * [ Notr . —The writer of this letter haa for ^ \^ severe rule of not allowing personalities . w ^ " j therefore abridged the latter part of his letter , givi hs tho suhHtiuice without the illustrations . —KP . j , Siu , —I entertain a very high re » j > eot ft » r ^ T ° ^ vulued corruHpondont , Mr . Holyoake . * *» w » y gard bin icttorH u » worthy of the uWlpvt ? tt *? j from your rcadurit , and it i » on this jkeodUWt i ^ cannot allow a ttentenco in bin luat epistle ^** V unaa I conceive it to be , very unadvisedly ) * ° V * " * noticed . Ho nayn :- —

      Untitled Article

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  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 25, 1851, page 92, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1867/page/20/