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Leader (1850-1860), 22nd March 1851, Edition Town of 1, Page 278, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      visional Government . At last , 40 , 000 f . were offered and accepted by them ; but this was afterwards reduced to 25 , 000 f ., which , however , could not be obtained for several months afterwards , nor even then till the case had been twice tried in a court of lawdelays well calculated to destroy the association . At last it was paid , but with a deduction of nearly half , to be paid over to former members of the society , who had since quitted it , many of whom had been only partially employed on the work in question , but were unfortunately the willing tools of the reactionary party . The result was that , instead of 120 , O 0 Of ., they did not receive much more than 10 , 000 f .

      Few associations have had more troubles to endure than this one ; commencing without any capital , they had to make it by the work of their own hands ; they received nothing from the Government grant ; it was only by deducting a portion of their salary and submitting to every sacrifice that they were enabled to create a capital . For eighteen months on one occasion , none received more than , two francs a-day ; yet there was no complaint ; all were ready to submit to any privation rather than the principle of association should suffer from their failure ; they became poor that the association might become rich . By this means , thev obtained in three months a capital of

      70 , 000 f ., having commenced in March , 1848 . with 1500 members , at the prison of Clichy , -which was formed into avast atelier for that purpose , and where they continued to progress under the protection and with the counsel of Louis Blanc , so long as he was in a position to give it them . There are now 350 associated members , though only sixty are employed in the ateliers . The stock , cash in hand , and good debts , amount to about 50 , OOOf . ; against which they have liabilities to the amount of 15 , 000 f ., leaving a balance of 35 , 000 f . ( £ 1400 ) in their favour . They are doing a good trade , but during the three months from July to September or October business is very dull and the want of ready money is felt ; they have consequently inuch to endure from want of this commodity , as they would otherwise be able to employ

      their hands during the slack season in manufacturing a stock of goods for the winter , and hire a shop in some advantageous situation for their exposition : this would place the association to command future prosperity . The government is entrusted to a gerant aided by a jury of five members , elected annually with other officers at the general assembly . Originally it was governed by a committee of fifteen directors , but this machinery was found too cumbersome and was altered in 1849 , when new laws and regulations were drawn up and agreed to , at which time also the system of paying by the piece was introduced , as it had been found that an equality of wages was not only unjust but injurious to the establishment and produced much dissatisfaction , as might be expected with the present formed characters of most men .

      1 'he following is from Giland ' s little book on the

      associations : — "' Who is that youth , ' said I to the ge " rant , ' with whom I was conversing just now ? he appears animated with the noblest sentiments . ' " * He is our adopted child , citizen . He camp from more than a hundred leagues to Paris to seek his brother and learn his trade witli him . He found his brother in the hospital at the point of death , so that he was left in the streets of Paris destitute of everything . One of our party met with him and brought him here , we gave him food and shelter , and made him our apprentice , and we all subscribe a little for his support ; nor have we hud

      reason to regret our kindness , for we are well repaid by his industry and pood conduct . He is now a member of the association ; contented with his lot , correct in his behaviour , mild and affectionate towards his companions , and ever ready to do for others what , we have done for him . We have become quite fond of him , and look upon him as our own child , and we hope one day to find him a wife , for he will never leave us , he knows too well how important it is for an association to have members who Bet an example of industry and good behaviour . ' And these are the men who are treated as the enemies of family , religion , and property | * * *

      " ' Do you always agree amongst yourselves ? ' Biiid I to one of these men . " ' Always , would be saying too much . All men are not saints , and sometimes altercations arise which lead to temporary disagreements ; hut when the interests of the association are concerned we know our duty too well to allow of anything like disorder in that case , and all illfeelings and discord are forgotten . ' " In speaking of the several ollicorw , ( jiland nays truly : — " They are modeat and becoming in their manners , express themselves with ease and facility , and occasionally with much elegance of expression . They are the elect of their comrades ^ and do honour to the choice . "

      On my return to Paris a few wccIch afterwards I revisited this happy family , and found them hh uhuuI engaged in their various depurtmentH , though from its not being the busy hcuhoii their weekly salary wns considerably diminished , yet they were still cheerful . J . E . 8 .

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      TO THE BRITISH DEMOCRACY . March 19 , 1851 . Sir , —It is with pleasure that I again behold an effort being made to gather together the scattered elements of the British Democracy , under the guidance of men whom , I trust , have both the wisdom and political experience to conduct the proposed organization to a successful issue . The programme of the new Chartist Executive seems to me a declaration of rights which all shades of Democracy might respond to . The Executive place a definite statement before the country as to what the people are called upon to unite for . This is an excellent commencement , and will carry with it influence . The declaration in the programme , " that the land is the property of the whole nation , " is , to my mind , the most important part of that document , and there never was a more favourable time than the present period to impress that idea upon the public . In advocating the Charter in all its integrity , the question of the nationalization of the land , and other points set forth in the programme , will form excellent subjects in teaching the people their social as well as their political rights . The future propaganda , from being more systematic , is sure to be more effectual than former

      agitations . By extending the movement to the slumbering districts of agriculture , the agitation will call to life the rural population , who may as yet be said to have no political existence . The neglect , or , at most , but partial attention to this was a great mistake upon the part of the former leaders of the people . In former agitations , the chief exertions of the Chartist body have been chiefly confined to the large towns ; and even there without any other systematic mode of action than the mere issuing of bills announcing public meetings , at which seldom any other than Chartists themselves attended .

      Now , I tako it for granted that the great work to be accomplished is to teach those who are not yet converts to the creed of the Democracy the necessity of becoming so ; but it i » impossible to do this while the agitation is chiefly confined to the ranks of the Democracy itself . I am glad , however , to observe that the Executive neem to have an . eye to this , with n view to make the agitation more general and systematic .

      Let the Democracy set itself energetically to work to make converts of the majority of the people , and then the question as to how they can best attain their rights may bo considered as settled . For this purpose the democratic and social schoolmaster must everywhere be sent abroad , and the young mind of this country besieged with instruction until convinced of the necessity of giving practical effect to the doctrines contained in the programme of the Executive .

      Croat care must be taken that the agricultural diBtricts are not neglected . I have had occasion to travel through several of our most important agricultural counties during the past year , and I know well there exists u strong feeling against the present system of landlordism , which only requires to b « directed into the proper channel . Aia'itKP A . Walton .

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      lCXl'KUlKNCH OF AN KMKJKANT . [ Extract of a letter from an Emigrant ( previously a working jeweller ) in the United Stales . ] Dec . 2 , lfl !> 0 . Our furm iu live miles from Fort Atkinson ( Jcilerbon

      County , Wisconsin ) . It is only an eighty acre lot ; but we can find quite enough work to do . There is just over fifty acres under plough . We have fourteen acres of marsh , or what you call meadow land , to grow our hay on . We bought the whole of this , and a log-house , and all the crops standing on it last July , for rather less than £ 200 . We have harvested the crops and got it all thrashed . We have 280 bushels of wheat , 400 of oats , and plenty of Indian corn , potatoes , and garden vegetables , and a yoke of cattle , two cows , four yearling steers , and a good pig . What furniture we wanted made up altogether £ 300 . So far as I can see we are thoroughly settled for life . We are high busy now ploughing before the winter sets in . We have some nine acres of winter wheat ; it has all

      come up nicely ; but it will take all we can raise for the first two or three years to improve our farm . We intend , if all goes right , to build a granary next year . You have to do all the building on your own lot in this country ; but , from what I can see of the way in which they do it , there is not much difficulty about it . The country and climate suit us remarkably well . We were never better in all our lives . Father ( between sixty and seventy ) is not so stout as he was in England ; he is a great deal heartier and stronger , and eats more at one . meal here than he used to do in a whole day . He thinks nothing of walking to the Fort and back , a good ten miles ; and what do you think of aunt ( turned seventy ) having walked ^ two Sundays following , to Whitewater and back to chapel . It is full eleven miles . She says she would rather do it than go with our own oxen and wagon .

      There is a schoolhouse within a quarter of a mile of our house . They have preaching twice a-day on Sundays , and they meet in the evening to practise singing . I have been two or three Sunday evenings . From what I had heard in the old country , I was quite surprised to see so many good-looking Yankee girls . Some of them are tremendously smart . I saw plenty of black satin . If you were to see the congregation turn out at Whitewater or the Fort , you would not believe you were in the backwoods of America , but might fancy yourself in some large town in England . I have counted twenty pair of horses to as many ox-teams tied up to the trees round the chapels at Whitewater . It is a first-rate country for hired " helps , " as they call the servant-girls here . They get a dollar ( about 4 s . Id . ) a-week and their board . I think a dollar in this country goes as far , and is to all

      intents and purposes quite as good , as ten or twelve shillings in England . The " helps" are more like mistresses than servants ; they do just as they like . Money is very scarce here . Most of the business is done here by trading . They take wheat or oats , or anything a farmer grows , at the stores in exchange for groceries or anything you want . We have not traded any of our produce yet , for it will fetch more in the spring , as the price is ruled by what they give at Millewankie , which is our markettown , only sixty miles from here . I have not been there yet , but shall have to take a load of wheat next spring . The only thing that can possibly hinder a man from doing well is drinking , which so many men indulge in . You might as well drink poison as drink their whisky . Some men expect to find their bread buttered on both sides and nothing to do but to eat it . Now this is all nonsense . If a man has from

      £ 200 to £ 300 , he can buy a farm of one hundred acres and stock it with cattle and what furniture he will want . When you buy a farm here , the house and all that stands on the farm is included in the price . Of course a man can start with less , but then most of the farms round here are from 80 to 200 acres . The land is worth from 30 s . to 50 s . per acre , according to what improvements are done on it . If a man cannot pay the whole of the money down , they will let part stand on interest ; but the lowest rate here for money is 7 per cent ., and , in some cases , 50 per cent . When a man has bought a farm , it will be very strange—if he works hard , which ho must do—if he does not . make enough to keep him comfortably ; as the only thing you have to pay in the way of rates and taxes is , on

      our farm , not more than from 40 s . to 60 s . ; it varies at times according to what they vote for road making , bridges , &c . One great comfort is , that all the money is voted by yourselves . You are a national yankec after you have been here a twelvemonth . Mind , a man need not be frightened at the work , although there is always something to do . Except at harvest time eight or nine hours a-day in all they ever work . Then we all find time to have a little shooting now and then . There is plenty of all sorts of game in this country , and we manage to get some pretty often . A man was met the other day who had been out shooting , and he had got three deer , but he had been out all the week . They think nothing here of going out in the winter time for two or three days .

      There is not the worry and anxiety here there is in the old country ; for , us I said before , if a man pays for his lot at starting , and works moderately hard , he must do well . Most of the men round here came ten years ago , when they got land for hnlf the price of it now . Most of them tell me they had not much left when the land was paid for . Many had not enough to pay it nil down at first ; and although they have not made much money they have plenty of cattle . Many of them have built good farmhouses , barns , and granaries . I Jut it all depends on u . man ' s own exertions . Our two nearest neighbours both came into this country ten years ago ,

      and were pretty much the name off in money . One of them still lives in the Maine log-lioune he did when he first came ; the other hat * built a fine farmhouse , and has a good barn , and three times an many cattle . Living is cheap enough here . W « have bought a quarter of an ox at 1 Jd . a pound . Lust week wo bought a fine sheep for 7 « -, and yesterday I bought a bow and five pigs for 12 h . Tork at this tune of year in worth about 12 s . per 100 lb . We get very good moist xugur for 4 d . a pound ; tea from 2 a . to 4 s . a pound . CIoUm-h are a great deal dearer hen- than in England , and nothing like ho good , but we huvc plenty of them . They are all very hind and friendly to ub about here .

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      278 Wbt QtatttV . [ Saturday ,

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      Contributions on the subject of Miss Martineau ' s latest book continue to pour in ; but we are obliged to suspend all commentary on that subject for a few days . We have to thank our correspondents , in general , for their considerateness in the matter of length ; but we must remind them that in proportion as the political world is moving , our space becomes preoccupied .

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      There is no learned man but will confess he hath much profited by reading controversies , his senses awakened , and his judgment sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for him to read , why should it not , at least , be tolerable for his adversary to write . — Milton .

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      [ In this department , as all opinions , howbvbb . extreme , ahe allowed an expees 8 ion , the editor nbce 8 sakilt holds himself responsible foe nonb . ]

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  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), March 22, 1851, page 278, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1875/page/18/