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Leader (1850-1860), 3rd January 1852, Edition Town of 1, Page 20

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      Untitled Article

      HOW THE " TIMES " ASSAILS WORKING MEN . A VINDICATION OF THE AMALGAMATED SOCIETY . OF ENGINEERS . The French Revolution of 1789 was a fortune to your iron-handed Conservative . Whatever harm it has done others , it has done no harm to him . Whoever else complains , he has no right to complain . The Tory , whose rapacious grasp is upon " landed possessions "—whose language is always supercilious to the poor—whose vote is ever for coercion—he has made a reputation out ofthe French Revolution . He has prated of the violence , and excesses of that period till people have forgotten his own , always in course of perpetration . He has cried down the Liberalism of the Whigs , and denounced the Radicalism of the people . When the Whigs would- have fulfilled their pledges , he prevented them—when Radicalism moved , he gagged it . In bur days Conservatism has pursued its natural policy of repression ; and what it has failed to accomplish by argument , it has brought about by slander . Magnifying Republicanism into an ogre , and Socialism into an enemy of Property , it has taken captive public credulity , and even beguiled the tongue of Liberalism into consenting to the ever creeping , ever relentless encroachments of arbitrary domination . Old Toryism—call it Conservatism , or by whatever name you will , is still unchanged—its instinct is despotism . It is the worm which dieth not—^ the fire which is never quenched

      under a monarchy . The Whig will avow a liberal principle , which at least teaches other men liberality , which at least becomes an authority to those who walk by great names—and if the Whig does attempt coercion , it is done with an inconsistent , and con - sequently with a qualified , hand . The Radical may in his turn menace the working class ; but he tempers his oppression by limitations by which its criminality is diluted . The Democrat will be unjust ; but he is generous at the same time , as he founds his conduct on a principle which gives to all men an equal chance of combatting him upon an open , free , and fair field of encounter . But your genuine friend

      of " order puts his foot upon your neck , and his gag into your mouth . He pauses but to strike , and death is in his blow . Let any one recall to remembrance the kind of leaders which have , during the last fifty years ,, appeared , in our newspapers , whenever the triumph of the people was the question—and he will mark that the organ of the country gentleman—of the Tory—of the monarchist—was always one of ferocity . As for the Times , its leaders have been written in gore . The " Party of Order" is tho' parti / of blood . As Lord Dudley Stuart once said nt the City of London Tavern , Red Republicanism is mildness compared with Rod Monarchy . When working men choose a party , let them remember the instincts of the Party

      of Order , of Family , of Property , and of Religion . All parties be / aides this , more or less , stand on the side of progress , of freedom , and of the people . The monarchical party are of the old party of conquest . Asserting their dominion by force , they do not always scruple as to their mode of strengthening it ; and they always maintain it at the point of the s ^ vord . Recent doings in Paris develope ' its genius : it is the same with the Imperialists all the world over . Let the publio remember these facts , and they will see with what appropriateness the Times , ever the organ of these instincts , charges upon tho working class " Violent" tendencies of whioh its perpetual polioy has furnished them with so many lessons . In the discussion instituted so peremptorily by the Times upon the proceedings of the Amalgamated

      Society of Engineers , a tone is adopted and imputations indulged in , which would be discreditable to any working class paper . Indeed , we could name many papers circulating among the working class , in which such language would be excluded rigorously . One " Amicus "—whose name is certainly a misnomer — speaks of the « victims of the designing few . " In this , style " Amicus' * opens his imputations . In his second letter of December 24 , he stigmatizes the Council who direct the affairs of the Engineers' Society , as a " knot of plotting demagogues , " and warns the men against " the insidious teachings of agitators , whose language is as false as their Marts are untrue . "

      This vulgarity and grossness of imputation , through which the editor of the Time * ought to have drawn his pen , is , however , taken as an example by the editor himself , who pens a leading article on the subject , and makes what variations the vocabulary Qf vituperation enables him . , He talks of " dupes , " and tells us that " the Workmen have been misled by a gang of professional agitators . '' How any person , ever so slightly acquainted with the rules of intelligent advocacy , can forget himself so as to fall into this

      disreputable language it is hard to divine . In the editor of an important public journal it is simply disr graceful . The Tme * assures us of its honest attentions to the interests of the working men , and expects us to believe the profession and respect the feeling which animates it ; but the Times disqualifies itself with respect to ready credence on this point . When the Times employs these imputations , we are forced to ask the ground thereof . Can the Times believe that 12 , 000 men , said to constitute the Society of Engineers , are duped by seven Councilmen ? Can the Times believe that the Council do more than

      carry out the requirements founded on the experiences of the large body whose affairs they administer ? If the Twrae * does not know better than this , it is not qualified to write upon this subject . Why should it be assumed that the Council of these working men are a " gang of agitators" ? Cannot the Times respect the sincerity of the advisers of working men ? We have heard something of the advertisement of the Lancashire Masters—of a federation among them . What would the Times say if the Operative should denounce these as " gang of plotting tyrants " ? The Times would have no mercy on its humble working class contemporary . The Times tells us it

      writes for the information , service , and guidance of the engineers . Yet it sets them the dangerous example of imputation . If these men should imitate this example , their advocacy will be ruined , and the T imes is too astute not to foresee this . The question of right will at once be obscured . The violence of such language will be taken by the public as an indication of the violent counsel given to the men , and they will be condemned unheard . The admirable replies of Mr . Newton to " Amicus " have betrayed a judgment , though not quite free from the reciprocation of accusation , yet of rare and honourable moderation . ( To be concluded in our next . )

      Untitled Article

      Tun Past . —History is , so to speak , tho Geology of Humanity . Its records are the annals of the growth and development of Humanity through tho ages . Tho various forms of civilization which it tells us 6 f , immature efforts to attain the true social state , developing up to a certain point , and then falling , because incapable of further progress ,. may be considered as the analogues of tho various types of fho animal creation whioh preluded to the culminant creature Man . —British Quarterly Review , No . 28 .

      Language . —Language is the amber in which ^ a thousand precious and subtle thoughts have been safely embedded and preserved . It has arrested - ten thousand lightning flashes of genius , which , unless fixed and arrested , might have been as bright , but would have also been as quickly passing and perishing as the lightning . —» T / wwA , on tho Study of Word * ,

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      TO THE LONDON EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE AMALGAMATED IRON TRADES . London , December 31 , 1851 . Gentlemen ,- —Since you refused to give me-a hearing at your meeting last night in the Hall of Commerce ; since , as the Chairman stated from the chair , you were fearful of letting me speak , lest you should be supposed by the press , the public , or your masters , to be in any way , connected with Chartism , and thus

      create hostility against you in the rich ; and since I cannot stand by and see a numerous body of men , with large resources , rush blindfold into destruction , dissipate their means , and leave themselves weakened and powerless in the hands ^ of the capitalists , without raising my voice against so ruinous a proceeding ; I beg to express my readiness to meet you at any time in public meeting , for the purposes of friendly and mutual explanation .

      _ Permit me to observe , that you invited your opponents to attend , and promised to give them a hearing ; I don ' t know what chance they would have had , since you would not hear even a friend ! It is not very creditable to put down the free expression of opinion in so vital a matter , at the drilled signals of a platform committee . Wise and thoughtful men , men who wish well to the pause they profess to embrace , are generally glad to investigate it in all its bearings ; you seem to shirk hearing any one speak , whose voice might tend to warn your members from the fatal error to which you are trying to commit them , That is not performing your duty wisely or well . If you seek to carry your object by mere clamour and onesided platform spouting , you will fail .

      I had pledged myself not to commit or compromise the meeting to any political movement ; but merely to analyse the propriety of the course you were pursuing , and the results to which it must lead . But notwithstanding that , you must drown my voice with violence merely out of fear lest you should irritate your employers and the Press , by letting a Chartist speak . Would you have refused a man a hearing , simply because he was known as a Tory , or a Whig ? Permit me to tell you , if you feel yourselves as weak as that , if your success depends , not on yourselves , but on the goodwill of the Press and the rich , your resistance has not much prospect of victory . What a lamentable confession of cowardice and impotence !

      Rest assured your repudiation of an attempt to seek political power , your repudiation of Chartism , —( yours , not that of the meeting )—will weaken , instead of strengthening you . Your masters well know they can beat you down with their own weapons : Time , Gold , and Law . You fear to create hostility in the rich and the rich man ' s Press ? Don ' t waste your labour , it is there already ! You should try to face it , —not shrink before it , as you did last night .

      I am , however , gratified to think , that the majority of tho meeting did not support you in your noisy platform polioy . It was but a minority , and a small minority too , of the meeting , that obeyed your signals . Ihe iron trades are neither bo unwise nor so cowardly as you strive to make them appear . On the contrary , . they ore an enlightened , manly body , who will soon see the errors of your guidance . In conclusion , I hereby challenge you , gentlemen of the committee , to meet me in presence of the Amalgamated Iron Trades' in London , at any place or time you may appoint , when I undertake to prove against you the errors with whioh I charge you . Eunest Jones .

      Untitled Article

      AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATIONS . To the Editor of the Lynn Adtbhtibbh . Roqtory , I'lordon , near Norwich , December 3 , 1 B& 1 . Sib , —Having read , with considerable interest , a letter signed Edward T . Yat « f , of Aylaham , X trust

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      Untitled Article

      ———w . , NATIONAL CHARTER ASSOCIATION ELBCTIONOP . THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE . On Wednesday evening , last the " scrutineers appointed by the metropolitan localities attended at the office , 14 , Southampton-street , Strand ; and , having inspected the votes received , gave the following as the result of the gross poll : — Ernest Jones . . . 900 Thornton Hunt . . 282 JohnArnott . . . 720 P . M . M'Douall . . 198 Feargus O'Connor . 600 J . B . Leno . . . . 180 T . M . Wheeler . . . 566 C . F . Nicholls . . . 134 James Grassby . . . 565 H . T . Holyoake . . 122 John Shaw .... 502 A . E . Delaforce . . 117 W . J . Linton . . . 470 A . J . Wood . . . . 90 J . J . Bezer .... 456 J . M . Bryson ... 53 G . Ji Holyoake . . 336 George Haggis . . 13 Robert Le Blond . . 326 Robert Oliver ... 9 Messrs . J . B . O'Brien , Gerald Massey , and Arthur Trevelyan , having declined to serve , the votes received on their behalf have not been recognized . We , the undersigned , hereby certify the above to be a correct return , and declare the nine persons first named to be duly elected to form the Executive Committee for the ensuing year . John Washington , City Locality . Edwabd John Loomes , FinsburyLocality , 14 , Southampton-street , Strand , December 31 , 1851 -.

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      POLITICAL AND SOCIAL .

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      We understand that a series of lectures will be delivered in the course of the present month , at the Westminster and Pimlico People ' s Institute , on sucoessive Wednesday evenings , by Mr . Cathie , on Chemistry ; Mr . J . Ingram Lockart , on Astronomy ; Dr . M'Oubrey , on the History of the Earth ; Mr . Bronterre O'Brien , on the French Revolutions . Leeds Redemption Society . —The moneys received this week are :-r-Leeds , 18 s . 3 d . ; Plymouth , 8 s . 5 d . Propagandist fund : —5 $ d . The store goes steadily on ; its goods giving satisfaction , and is attracting members to the Society . —Pro J . Henderson , Sec .

      Hall of Science , Sheffield . —At a general meeting of the members of the Sheffield branch of the Bational Society , recently held , memorials were unanimusly adopted to Lord John Ituaaell , praying that his reform bill may be based on | he charter , .. and that the annual estimates be sent to the members a month before each session , and submitted by them to the public ; to Sir George Grey , for the liberation of Smith O'Brien , Frost , Williams , and Jones , and all political offenders ; to the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the repeal of the taxes on knowledge ; to Lord Palmerston against the occupation of Home by the Frencii troops . The Secretary , Councillor Lawton , sent the memorials , and has received acknowledgments from the parties . —Sheffield Free Press ,

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      There is no learned man . but will confess he hath much , profited by reading controversies , his senses awakened , and iua 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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      . . v .. [ IN THIS DEPARTMENT , AS ALL OPINIONS , HOWBVER BXTREHB , ABE ALLOWED AN EXPRESSION , THE EDITOB NECESSARILY HOLDS HIMSELF RESPONSIBLE FOR NONE . ]

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  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 3, 1852, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1916/page/20/