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Northern Star (1837-1852), 20th June 1840, Edition 1 of 1, Page 4, Untitled Article

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    • THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 1840.
    • Empmal ^arlt«mnrt
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      Untitled Article

      HUDDERSFIELD BOARD ROOM , JcxeS . When the Oak called the nameB over , thefol-Jpwing Guardians were present : —Messrs . Mirfield , Andean , Graham , Whitworth , Poppleton , Hall fttkethly , W . Batlev , J . Batley , ToJson , Brooke S ?? £ £ f ? rt 5 l > B'W Bottoniey , w ! wngley , R . Wngley , and Dyson . The minutes of list meeting hiving Wn read , the Chairman asked whether the proceedings and resolutions of last BWetang , regarding the dismissal of the auditor , had oeen sent to the Commissioner 1 Floyd was eventaally ordered to forward the whole case to the Three Denis at Somerset House . Qnery—Will he Bot pervert the facts > as it is well known a drownm £ man will catch at a straw to save himself . The Overseers of Hnddersfield waitedand de-HUDDERSFIELD ^ BOARD ROOM , _ *>*¦¦***>•

      , clared their readiness to give up possession of the workhouse , and this without asking the ratepayers who had appointed them . Mr . Bradbury seemed particularly anxious to convey into their hands the snist which they had reposed in him , without even asking their permission . H . Bror . k , of LoHffwood , Batterworth , of Austonby , and Dyson , ( Floyd ' s brother ) from Netherthong , were then appointed to take possession of the workhouse and its inmstes . ^ The Chairman next produced his promised petition to the Commons on the law of bastardv , praying to give the magistrat es power to punish t £ e fathers of bastards by imprisonment , which the law , as at present constituted , does no ; allow them to co . This petition was passed , and forwarded for presentation .

      Mr . Whjglet brought forward his motion respecting me cultivation of Honiey Moor ; and said ie had found they could have a portion of Crossland Moor for a term of year ? , -without rent , for the breaking of is up ; and that in those times , when trade was so bad , this could be done very cheap . Mr . PiTKBTHLY argued that if the proprietors did not feel it their interest to break it up under their own private management , it was preposterous to suppose that they could do so under public management , and that if the trade was to continue so exceedingly bad , of course low wages would be the consequence . Mr . Wrigley said that he considered stonebreaking as degrading for the unemployed—( the feet good symptom from a Whig . ) Mr . J . Batley was astonished at the Board , and said that unless they gave them tuch tests , they would never get rid of them .

      The farce of examination and relief then began . June 11 . Thi 3 was an extraordinary meeting to take into consideration the propriety of continuing the present system of collecting throughout the Union . The Overseers of Huddersfield were introduced . Mr . Bradbcrt said that they had come to make them the first offer of the land adjoining * the Workbouse , and they wished to know , if they , the Guardians , would accept it . Mr . Pitkethly asked by what authority they eame there to giTe up possession to the Guardians , or any one else ? He considered it an outrage of no eommon kind , that they should even attempt to take upon themselves to give np possession of the town ' s property to any man , or set of men , without the sanction of the rj . te-payers , in vestry meeting assembled , and arguea the office of overseers gave them no such power , ilr . P . was

      supported by Messrs . Whitworth , Anderson , Smith , Poppleton , and other Guardians , and after a good hurricane of squabbling , — Mr . J . Batlet moved , and Mr . Pitkethly seconded , "That tney did not take the laca ; ' which was carried , and the presumptious overseers had to aurch . Mr . Pitkethlt , after going into the subject at eome length , moved " That each township have the appointment of their own collector , and the naming of the amount of salary . "—An amendment , " That lie collectors remain as they are r' was moved by Joe Batlet , and seconded by Mr . Ball Briggs . The votes were as follow : —

      FOR MR . PITKETHLY S MOTION . Pitkethly , Smith , ^ S aisTvo nh , R . Wrigley , Poppleton , Poppleton / Cockell , Hay , Tolson , Senior , Ptgson , Stephenson . and Ciark . TOB JIR . BATLET S AME . VDHE . XT . The Chairman , Batlev , W . Batley , Brigg ' s , Brooke , Bottomley , Butterworth , Camvright , Hobson , Sykes , lredale , and Hanson .

      Mr . Pitkethly ' s motion was thus carried . Mr . J . Batley said the Huddersfield Workhouse ought to be visited as soon as possible , insinuating that the laie master and mistress had carried awav Some < jf the articles valued , and agreed to be paid for , The committee appointed met and visited the house , and found every article valued in the place , save and except some blankets , which had been removed from their proper place , and put under the bed , and if they had not been detected , iu all probability the police would have been called into action . Such baseness cannot be tolerated by the ratepavers . Jcse 12 . " The minutes of former meetings were read by the Clerk , after which the Committee , and Sectiona ] Committees were appointed , and a few Guardians named to go to see what had been stolen from the Huddersfield Workhouse .

      Mr . Pitkethly said that he wished to ask a craestion . He had baa a request fiom a poor man , firing at Honley , but belonging to Almondbury . Mr . R . Wrigley had seen him that morning ; he knew him , and had been employed by him . He had aj > pl : ed to get into the Workhouse , and had often eome to sse the Guardians , after Tisiiing the Relieving Officers , and complained that they would aot permit him to be examined . His name was William Haigh , and he wanted to be heard , and he therefore moved that he be admitted . Here all sorts of reflections were cast upon the poor man . It was said he had been examined before and decided upon , and could not be so again .

      Mr . Pitkkthly protested against any persons standing between the Guardians and the poor . He held a notice of motion in his hand , which he read to the following effect;—" That everj Guardian was bound to bring before the Board all claimants for relief whom they considered proper objects . " Here a storm arose ¦ which beggars description . Mr . Bull Briggs Eaid that was opening a way fo keeping the ri . om crowded , that no business could be done , and thai would be just what Mr . Pitkethly wanted . A resolution was read from the minutes , which had been moved by Mr . James Bales , on that day fortnight , which preclude all the Guardians from introducing auy poor person , and fixing thjft no one excepting the Relieving Officers could do so .

      Mr . Pitkethly expressed great astonishment that ! such a resolution had , in his absence in Scotland ,, been placed on the books . He insisted on having his ! notice placed on the books . ; i ' Mr . Henbt Brooke said that Mr . Pitkethly never ;; brought any but bad characters . . i A storm here arose , and tbe confnsion of tongues ' was litile better than that of BaheL Duelling pistols i were threatened to be brought into , the room . Some ' Guardians said if they were in Mr . Pitkethly ' s piace : they would shoot or be shot ; they would stand no j such charge when in the performance of their duty , ! sad Brooke was within a hair ' s breadth of being i < ira £ ged dowa stairs for his brutish insolence . I ftext came the Huddersfield Overseers , to demand i the amount of the valuation . A cheque for payment ¦ was only given on the pledge of the Overseers to j sake good any deficiency . |

      Untitled Article

      HOUSE OF LORDS , —Monday , June 15 . The Indemnity Bill , and the Customs , &c ., ~ Duties i BUI , severally "went through committee . j lord Brougham presented a-petttion -txbm Glasgow for Universal Suffrage , ic , and for the flUmiswii of ' bar M » jeJ * rs Ministers . ! The Marquia of Londonderry reminded Lord Mel- ; boome of his declaration , that he would remain in office only co long as he had the confidence of the ' Hoaae of Commons , and -wished to know what were i bow Us intentions , after the Government had been ereal times defeated in that assembly ? Lord Melbourne declined giving any answer . The Commons' amendments , and the amendments ' proposed to be made thereto , on the Prisons Act ! Amendment Bill , were considered axd adopted . j Tbeir Lordships then adjourned . : Tuesday , Jttne 6 . !

      Tbe Custom * , ic . Duties Bill , the Indemnity BUI , i te ., -wen read a third time and passed . Lord Melbourne , in annrer to Lord Ghkhester , said thai he -would make inquiry -whether a new bill -was zeqnlsite to carry into effect the amendments introduced toto the Prisons Act Amendment BilL The Earl of Aberdeen moved the second reading of Mi bill to remove doubts respecting church patronage in Scotland . j The motioH led to an extensive debate . On the ! Crision , the ayes -were 74 ; the noes 27 . ' The Commons made " no boose . "

      HOUSE OF COMMONS . —Monday , June IS . j Mr . Sergeant Talfonrd presented several petitions j jnying for the release of Feargns O'Connor , and one j ¦ with the same prayer , and praying also for Vote by ! JBiUot and Universal Suffrage . ; ; lli . A . Wiiiie presented a petition from teetotallers against carrying on the -war -with China . " ' Mr . T . Daneombe presented several -petitions relating ' to the treatment experienced by Mr . Feargus O'Connor sad other political offenders , from Edinburgh , Hanley ,

      Untitled Article

      Sheffield , and the Potterieslof Staffordshire , Norwich . Glasgow , Dundee , and 14 u -workmen in the factory of MesspB . Wilson aafl Co ., of Glasgow ; also one from the Society of Dundee " Odd Fello-wV "with the like complaint , and praying that Mr . O'Connor might be remoTed to tfce ijueen ' s Bench . ;" Mr . Hume presented two petitions in favour of the People ' s Charter and Universal Suffrage also a petition from the Chairman of a numerous meeting at Birmingham for tbe « xtension of the suffrage to every male j also one from Johnstone , signed by 544 persons , with the same prayer ; also from Chairman of another meeting at Birmingham for tbe same object , and for protection for the voter . The Hon . Member presented seven petitions for the release of Mr . F . O'Connor , one of which , from Stockport , - was signed by 1 , 414 persons . g ^ JSJ' ^^ SS SSd ilSr ^ S ^^ fA ^ S ^ ** * _ -r ^> ¦ L " iiw' ) * "Q i 4 u worKinen in tne factory of

      Sir B . Inglis described the course he should pursue on the subject of Church Extension . He should move that the House resolve into committee , on the 1 st July , to consider an address to her Majesty on such subject . Lord J . Russell , in meving the order of the day regarding the Clergy Reserves ( Canada ) Bill , complained of Lord Stanley ' s threat to move as an amendment that the House proceed with his Registration of Electors i Ireland ) BilL Finally , Lord J . Russell offered Friday for the consideration of that bill—an offer of which Lord Stanley accepted . The House then proceeded with the Canada Clenry Reserves BilL The consideration of the Ecclesiastical Duties and Revenues Bill committee ) followed , and called forth much discussion , amidst much complaint of the lateness of the hour < 1 O o ' clock ) at -which it was pressed forward .

      Some of the clauses having been adopted , the committee reported progress . In the Committee of Wajs and Means , the Chancellor of the Exchequer , it will be noticed , proposed a resolution regarding the sugar duties ; the discussion was deferred till the bringing up of the report . The Glass Duties Bill -went through committee ; and the remaining orders -were disposed of . Sir J . Hobhouse brought in a bill to amend the Indian Mutiny Act The House then adjourned .

      Wednesday , June 16 . Mr . T . Duncombe presented a petition from Mr . Thomas Potts , druggist , Bath , complaining of the prison treatment of his brother "William Potts , imprisoned for a political offence , which he stated -was calculated to produce mental derangement , and prayed the House to ameliorate it . Mr . Denistoun presented petitions for the liberation of Mr . F . O'Connor , for Annual Parliaments , Universal Suffrage , and Vote by Ballot

      Lerd Sandon presented a petition from Mr . Hutchinson , Chairman of the Steam Navigation Company , praying the House to take into consideration the duty on steam-vessels , and the law ef pilotige . Also a petition from the Chairman and others of a public meeting , held at Cheltenham , complaining of the difference in the treatment of persons in the higher and lower ranks of this country , convicted of political offences—( hear , hear ;—and praying for the dismissal of the present Ministry ; in -which the Kob ! e Lord said he need not say he heartily concurred . ( Laughter , i

      Mr . Hume presented petitions from Stroud and Wall ' s End , against Church Extension . Also a petition from the Manchester Universal Association , complaining of th « treatment of political prisoners in the gaol of Wakefleld ; a petition from the grocers of Kilkenny , praying that other than British Colonial sugar may be imported . A petition from the planters of Trinidad , praying for protection agaiDst the importation of slave-grown sugar . A petition from Airdree praying fur Universal Suffrage , Vote by Ballot , and Annual Parliaments , and three petitiens from Paisley , prayiDg for the dismissal of her Majesty ' s Ministers—( Opposition cheers )—and for the substitution of those who w « uld make Universal Suffrage a Cabinet measure . — Connter cheers . ) The Earl of Lincoln presented a petition from Nottingham , against the continuance of the office of Poor-law Commissioners .

      Sir Robert Inglis gave notice that on Tuesday , the 3 Cth of June , he would call the attention of the House to a subject , -which he hoped to have been able to have bronght forward yesterday , namely , Church Extension . Cheers and laughter . ) Mr . T . DuncomU' gave notice , that on the reading the Order of the Day for the House resolving itself into a Committee of Supply , he should call the attention of the House to the punishments for political offences , and would submit a motion to the House on the subject

      The House then went into Committee on the Vaccination Bill . All the clauses were agreed to -with some trifling amendments , and it was ordered to be reported next day . —Adjourned ,

      Untitled Article

      O'CONNOR IN HIS DUNGEON . SECRET "INQUISITION" AT YORK CASTLE . In our last paper , we pointed the attention of our readers to the announcement of the Government that they had sent down an Inspeotbr of Prisons pnrposely to enquire into the facts and allegations contained in Mr . O'Connor ' s petition , presented by Sergeant Talfourd , and to report the result of his enquiries to the House of Commons . On

      their assurance that the result of this enquiry should be laid before the House , the conversation in the li House , " upon the subject , was permitted by Mr . O'Connor ' s friends to drop . We al-50 staled in our last that the enquiry of the Inspector ( Mr . Crawford ) was prosecuted on the Tuesday previous . Prom that day to tbJB we have been looking anxiously for the report of this Mr . Inspector Crawford . Why has it not been presented ! The petition contained statements of the most grave and startling character . It contained

      allegations against the Government and their myrmidons , which made the whole nation shudder ; and which forced , from even the Attorney-General and the Home Secretary , the acknowledgment that , if those allegations were true , the treatment to which Mr . 0 * Con > or had been subjected was clearly illegal , and such as was never contemplated by his sentence . This , then , is a serious affair . These allegations are either true or false . If they be true , then , it is clear that the Government , or the Magistrates , or the Judges , or all of them , are

      i , ' i . not only liable to punishment , but ongbt to be punished for their infamous and " illegal" condnct ; and the people have a right to demand ihe confirmation of their truth , that the proper means may be taken for ascertaining who are the offending parties , and for dealing justly with them . If they be false , it is clearly due to all those parties whom they impeach , that their falsehood should be shown—that the Government , the Magistrates , the Judges , and everybody else , may be exonerated , and that the people may know how to estimate Feargcs O'Connor and his statements .

      Mr . Inspector Crawford was sent down by Government , more than a fortnight since , purposely to inquire into the truth of these allegations , and to report to the House of Commons the result of his mission . Why is that report not forthcoming 1 Lord Normaitby stated in the House of Lords , that he had received letters from the Yorkshire magistrates , denying the statements in Mr . O'Connob ' s petition . Mr . Fox Maclk said the same thing in the House of Commons , Why is not the report of Mr . Inspector Crawford produced in support of those denials—to the-justification

      of the Government , and the Magistrates , and the confusion of Mr . O ' Connor ? Why is not the evidence taken before Mr . Inspector Crawford laid before the House of Commons ? Why has it not been before now printed at the expense of Government , or by the authority (!) of Mr . Harper , Clerk to the Visiting Magistrates of York Castle , and circulated all through the country for the justific ? 'ion of those Magistrates ( especially their Chairmaa ., Mr . Bastard Hague ) and the general gaol deliverer of Ireland , Mister-my-Lord Noemanby , against the foul aspersions of Feabgcs O'Connor in his dungeon ! Again , we ask , WHY HAS NOT

      THIS BEEN DONE ? We pause for answer ; but no answer comes The Inspector came to York , and the Inspector rereturned to London . The Inspector came back again to York with a flea in his ear , and again returned to London with a bee in his bonnet ; but the Inspector has presented no report ; and we venture to prophecy that , if Mister-my-Lord Normanbt , can , by any means , succeed in diverting the attention of the " House" from the subject , he will present no report .

      The attempted murder of the Queen has dropped in most opportunely to the aid of Nohmanby and his accomplices . It has SO Occupied Ihe Honourable " House" that few things else could be thought of ; but we tell my Lord Normanbt that this shall not serve hi 3 turn . The people of England are waiting to Eee the report of this

      Untitled Article

      Inspector Crawford . They want to kuow all about the evidence of Mr . Barnard Hague , the Chairman of the Visiting Magistrates of York Castle . They want to know all about the manly , straightforward , gentlemanly bearing of Mr . Magistrate Barnard Hasue when , confronted with Mr . O'Connor , he was required to smbtantiato hia letter to Lord Normakby , denying Mr . O'Connor ' s statements . They want to hear all about the way in which Mr . Magistrate Barnard ' Hague accounted to the Inspector for the curious fact of Mr . O'Connor ' s petition containing false lMpect " Crawfo * - ^ * < .. v ,, ™ , * + r , «> n- < riH <> nnA nf \ tr "r . t »» i » tit \ « . „; ... A \_ .

      statements about his treatment in prison—when a copy of that same petition had been sent to Mr . Magistrate Barnard Hague , previous to its going out of the prison—when it could not go out of the prison at all , without being read and scrutinized by the Governor—and when it was engrossed bv the Under-Gaoler , being in his possession , for that purpose , two or three days . They went to know how it was , that neither the Under-Gaoler , who engrossed , nor the Governor , who inspected the petition , discocovered in it any of those false statements which Mr . Magistrate Barnard Hague found it

      necessary to contradict in his letters to Lord Normanby . They want to know how it is that Mr . Magistrate Barnard Hague himself did not discover these false statements before the petition went off . They want to know how it happened that Mr . Magistrate Barnard Hague did not find them out till after the London newspapers brought down the declaration of the Attorney-General that if those statemen ts were true Mr . O'C . had been treated illegally and in a manner which neither he nor the Government over contemplated . They want to know how Mr . Magistrate Barnard Hague accounted for all

      this to the Inspector . They want to know all about the evidence of the two men who were confined in the same ward with Mr . O'Connor , and how far they corroborated his allegations , or the denials of Mr . Barnard Hague . They want to . know all about the evidence of the Governor , the under Governor , and the turnkeys on these points ; especially the turnkey Abbey . They want to know all about the retracting of the evidence when confronted with Mr . O'Connor- on the 9 th of June , which had been given in the absence of Mr . O'Connor on the 4 th of June . They want to know who

      BRIBED AND HIRED THIS MAN TO COMMIT PERJURY . They want to know all about the wholo matter . They want all the "secrets of the prison house" unfolding to them . They want a report of all the doingB of the Secret Inquisition ; and they shall havo it . The report must come ; and the report suall come . Mr . Inspector Crawford shall not have two journeys to York for nothing . The country shall know all about it . We advise him , and his employers , therefore , to make as few wry faces about the awkward disclosures as possible

      and open out the budget at once . Tell the people all about it—and tell the truth , we warn them ; because if they don't , we will . Let the business be done decently , therefore , in its regular course ; or let not us be blamed if it be otherwise ; for done it must be . The horrors of a secret inquisition are not to be revived in England , if we can help it . The public voice of remonstrance against villainous injustice is not to be stifled with the promise of inquiry , and then the result of the inquiry to be withheld . No , no ; we have not got matters quite to that pass , even under Whig domination .

      Th « cold-blooded attempt to murder O'ConnoR , by dragging him , in the face of medical affidavits and remonstrances , from off his bed of sickness , and compelling him to travel nearly 200 miW in one day , and then throwing him into the damp chill of a stone dungeon , and starving him for 24 hours , having failed , they try next , by perjury and falsehood , to break his heart by heaping coward calumnies upon him which the wretches dare not permit him to reply to . We have not seen Mr-O'Connor since our last publication . We saw him on the 9 th ; but he was wonderfully changed ,

      In the presence of the Under-Governor , who waited on our -visit , he held up his limb and said , " the villains say I ' m better ; look here . " It was not like O'Connor ' s limb—it was a poor , shrunken , emaciated thing which we could not have recognised for his . We recollected a poor Irishman at Hull , whom we had once heard comment on tbe sinewy limb of O'Connor , and wept , as we replied , " that ' s not the limb that Irish Jack admired . " His eyes looked sunken , and he said , with a forced smile , "Well , Hill , how are the other poor fellows ! I have done one man ' s share for

      their Charter , and must do more ; for this prison will be my grave . " He then told a tale which might have made the stones to mutiny , and when we said the people ehould be roused about it , he seized our hand and Baid , " The people must not know it . It is imposed on me not to publish even the Btate of my health , and I am further bound to the Governor in these terms ; not to impress on the mind of a visitor any thing which may be published ; as , if I do , all visits will be stopped . Such hellish treason , " he continued , " must out some way ; and then you will do

      a friend s part ; but from me not a word must app ear . " We pledged ourselves that it should be so , and we shall keep our pledge . We felt it like a knife , to give the pledge ; but Baw no remedy . We were all last week burning with indignation at this refined cruelty ; but we trusted to Providence for some mode ef reaching the assassins , and we have not been disappointed . We hava now ample evidence , without trenching on our pledge , to prove our whole case . We have now , by a most providential incident , the whole game in our hands . We have the means of convincing Mr . Magistrate Barnard

      Hague , that cruelty ever defeats its own purpose , and recoils upon its perpetrators ; that , despite the gagging regulations , we know all about it—all about the Secret Inquisition—the efforts of Hague to patch up the perjurer ' s evidence , in which he was over-ruled by the Inspector—the horror of O'Connor at discovering the foul plot and the serious consequences to his previously shattered health—the refusal of Mr . Magistrate Barnard Hague to attend the adjourned enquiry on the 10 th , and sundry other antics of this dog in office . 0 ! yes ; we know all about it ; but we like to see things done the right

      way , and had rather wait , therefore , till all these revelations come regularly before Parliament in the authorised report of Mr . Inspector Crawford , which , though long delayed , will no doubt come and tell all about it . And , when it does come , we . guess it will Bhow pretty eyideatly why certain selected portions of the correspondence between the Home Office and Mr . Magistrate Barnard Haguk , as the Chairman of the York Caatle Visiting Magistrates , were published , by authority (!) , on the 11 th , thereryday after the close of the adjourned

      inquisition , which Mr . Magistrate Barnard Hagcb refused to attend . No doubt that report will also show why several letters referred to in " the correspondence , " published by authority , " are snppressed . And perhaps it may enable folks to guess why Mr . Magistrate Barnard Hague and bis brother Visiting Magistrates did not find it convenient to publish , "by authority , " along with that " correspondence , " the eridence which they know , and WHICH WE KNOW , prove * tbeir " justification" to be a tissue of —¦? , and proves Mr . Magistrate Barnard Hague to bt much better versed in walking round the truth " than in doing " justice . " We have no doubt thai the report will enlighten us on all these matters , and we rest , therefore , for another week , in anxious expectation of its appearance in due form . Ther we shall have much to say . ~ ? ~

      Untitled Article

      THE LANDED PROPERTY OF GREAT BRITAIN . Wherever we see a country blessed by nature with fruitfulness and plenty , and yet filled with poverty-stricken and starving inhabitants , we may at once be certain that the system pursued with regard to the land must be essentially bad and cruel .

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      Beholding the darky rieh soil—the verdant meadthe beautiful Talley—the health-bearing streamwe naturally expect also to see the happy cot , with the frugal , yet well-stored fare—with the rosycheeked children , and the contented labourer—for these , after all , are the true ornaments of a country . But , alas ! to whatever part of these United Kingdoms we may look , we perceive a totally different picture—the hovel—tor such it is—is the scene of woe and suffering—food cannot be procured—employment is denied , or , perhaps , doled out in long and difficult tasks , to be recompensed by a miserable pittancethe cheeks of the young are blanched by toil and by privation , while the labourer- is despised and spurned . Beholding dark , rieh soU-the verdant mead- ± l _ i _ i »/> . » « :. _ r «__ < _ ., „ ¦ ... _ -. ¦ . __ ..

      Yw ! this is England ' . —merry—laughing—England ! Where now is the English farmer , so celebrated for his hospitality , his charity , his warm heart , and open hand 1 Behold him in the poor bankrupt , or tho griping landlord ! Where , now , is the agricultural labourer , who , pursuing his loved employment with cheerfulness and zeal , could maintain his family in fine old English comfort 1 See him in tha care-woru , unemployed beggar , or the wretched mechanic , sinking beneath the want of proper sustenance , and the burden of unnatural toil !

      The labourer is no longer considered deserving of his hire ; the good day's work is no longer deemed worthy of the good day's wage ; and yet England is a splendid country , favoured much by nature , and capable of providing for all its millions . If this be the case , ( and who will deny it ?) then there is something radically deficient in the management of those gifts , which have been bestowed for the sustenance of the human race : and shall the epithets

      of levellers , destructives , and men desirous of robbing others of their property , which have been so liberally bestowed upon us , prevent us from doing our duty , from pointing out what these evils really are , and what remedy presents itself ? No ! let our enemies ¦ trail and slander on ; we shall still pursue our course , unmindful of the abuse , which we rather prize from those whose praise would be censure , and whose censure is the highest praise .

      The chief evils with regard to landed property , vast and numerous as they are , may all be traced to one fountain head , the mother of this cursed offspring , and that is the letting of immense tracts of yround to one person instead of subdividing the land among a number of tenants in small portions and at a moderate rent . This plan either involves the tenant , to whom so much is

      committed , in enormous speculations , too frequently followed by bankruptcy , involving hundreds in his ruin , or forces him from want of means , either to leave a large quantity of the land in a state of total waste , or use it for pasturage , whereby labourers are cast out of employ , the production of food is diminished , and the lands are not cultivated half so highly as they might be .

      This is our general proposition , and we shall now descend to particulars and proofs , first showing the history of the case , and then exposing the modern system with its pernicious effects , and describing the only panacea for its cure . We entreat all to pay the sincerest attention to this subject , as it is one of vital and pressing importance .

      The plan of extensive pasturage or of not cultivating lands to the highest degree , for the Bupport of human beings , is fraught with tho most serious and disastrous results , for , by diminishing the supply of man ' s food , corn and other grain are raised to a great price and the country is not only afflicted by want and poverty , but is frequently exposed to famine , while two or three herdsmen being sufficient to tend cattle , where some hundreds of labourers would be required for the tillage of the lands , but little employment can be had . Nevertheless we shall find that the rapacity of the

      landlords , who seem to think the world was made for them , has led them from the earliest periods to the present , to pursue thid wicked course either directly by refusing to till their lands , or indirectly by letting them in such vast portions , that the tenant has been unable to bear the expenses of the cultivation . In the historical survey we are about to take , we beg our readers to remark that insufficient cultivation and want of employment have always gene hand in hand with large accumulations of property , whether in the possession of tenant or landlord .

      About the twelfth century cities began to increase in great numbers throughout England , and the inhabitants began to form themselves into communities united for mutual advantage , and mutual protection . They obtained charters , conferring many benefits which were totally denied to those who dwelt away from these towns ; trade flourished , and was carried on , particularly with the Flemings , who swarmed hero in great numbers , and encouraged the sale of wool , for which England was then celebrated .

      These causes conspired , together with the bad husbandry known at that period , both to make landlords neglect tillage for the cultivation of the wool trade , and to make the labourers flock to the cities in great numbers . * So serious was the deficiency in husbandmen , that in the reign of Richard II . it was found necessary to pass an act ( 12 R . 2 ) , declaring that any who had served in husbandry until the age of twelve years should so continue , and that even artificers and apprentices should be compelled to work in the harvest .

      In the next reign , an act ( 7 H . 4 , c . 17 ) , after reciting the evil that no labourers could be found , prohibited any man from putting his son or daughter apprentice to a trade , unless ho has twenty shillings in land or rent , but allowed every person to send bis children to school . Lands now were devoted in a great measure to pasturage , and Fortescue , who wrote in the reign of Henry VI ., speaks of this change . The editor of that work ascribes the fact to three causes : —1 . The dealing in grain was subjected to many impolitic restrictions , from mistaken views on population , and from apprehensions of the consequences of forestalling , ( which included aay practice that made the market dearer . ) 2 . The

      settling of Flemings , and the protection extended to them by statute , tended to increase the importance of the woollen trade . 3 . But the most important Cause was " an alteration in the habits of the aristocracy , and they were induced , from a motive of increasing their revenues , to dismiss their numerous adherents , and to let their lands , in large tracts , to persona , J ' v > ho would pay considerable rents , viohich practice speedily introduced an extensive system of pasturage . " One might fanoy he was speaking of the present day , and let all remark that the large lettings were the chief cause that prevented the land from being properly cultivated .

      In the reign of Henry VII . a statute ( 4 , H . 7 ) forbids the throwing of lands into pasturage , reciting that , " Idleness , which is the grousd and beginning of all mischiefs , daily doth increase , for where in some townes , two hundred persons were occupied and lived together by their lawful labouring now ther « are occasionally two or three herdsmen and the residue falling into idleness , the husbandrie is greatly decayed . "

      The statute 25 H . YIII ., c . 18 , thus commences : — " Forasmuch as divers and sundry persons , to whom God of his goodness hath disposed great plenty and abundance of moveable substance , now of late within few years have daily studiedthe practice and invented ways and means , how they might accumulate and gatftbr together as well a great multitude offartm , as great plenty of cattle , and in especial sheep , putting

      such lands as they can get to pasture and not to tillage , whereby they have not only palled down churches and towns , but have also raised the price of corn , &c , by reason whereof a marvellous number be not able to provide meat , drink , aad clothes necessary to themselves , their wives , and children . " It goes on then to state that one farmer frequently keeps a fioek of 24 , 000 sheep , and it then limits the number to be kept by one person to 9 . 000 , Lot us

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      note in the above act , the union between large accumulations and want of culture . Notwithstanding these precautions , the practice still continued and we are told that in the very next reign , " a great demand arose for wool Iroth abroad and at , home ! pasturage was found more profitable than unskilful tillage ; whole estates were laid waste by inclosures ; the tenants regarded as a useless burden , were expelled their habitations ; even the cottagers , note in the above act , the union between large accu- . ¦ ... .... ..

      deprived of the commons on which they formerly fed their cattle , were reduced to misery ; and a decay of people , as well as a diminution of tke former plenty , was remarked in the kingdom . This grievance was now of an old date , and Sir Thomas More , alluding to it , observes , in his Utopia , that a '' sheep had become in England a more ravenous animal than a lion or wolf , and devoured whole villages , cities , and provinces . " ( Hume , v . 4 i p . 328 . )

      In the reign of Elizabeth numerous acts were passed to a similar purport , ordering a certain quantity of land to be kept in tillage , - arable land , not to be converted into pasture , and even a certain quantity to be reconverted into tillage . These are the principal enactments upon the subject ; and many of them might probably be enforced at the present day ; but this will never , it is reasonable to believe , be the case , as the poor have not the means of carrying on law suits , and those who have the power of assisting them to do so seldom have the inclination .+

      Thus have we traced this important fact , that large accumulations of property and insufficient culture , with want of employment , go together . Let us now apply this knowledge to our present condition . We all are too well acquainted with the immense wastes , the unproductive tracts , the desolate moors , the wild heaths , and the miserably cultivated lands , which abound in this country ; but , perhaps , few would expect the following detail , which is taken from the latest agricultural statistics of Great Britain : —

      " There are m Great Britain 60 , 038 , 907 statute acres of land , of which 14 , 302 , 000 are arable , 19 , 350 , 000 meadow , and 26 , 388 , 907 uncultivated . ' ! ! ' * Of these , 3 , 800 , 000 are of wheat , at an estimated value of £ 25 , 935 , 000 ; of oats and beans , 3 , 600 , at a value of £ 14 , 760 , 000 ; of barley and rye , 1 , 000 , 000 , estimated at £ 6 , 720 , 000 ; of roots , as potaoes , turnips , ic , 1 , 500 , 000 , at a value of £ 1 , 800 , 000 ; clover

      1 , 400 , 000 , at a value of £ 5 , 600 , 000 ; and hopa , 53 , 816 , at a value of £ 1 , 883 , 560 ; leaving 2 , 646 , 184 acres in fallow . The estimated annual value of meadows , pastures , and marshes , at 50 b . per acre ; is also sated at £ 48 , 375 , 000 ; and uncultivated wastes , and moorsrat 2 s ., as £ 2 , 638 , 890 ; making the gross value' of the surface produce of Great Britain , £ 123 , 912 , 450 . " We canuot vouch for the accuracy of this statement ,- but we may take it as a fair average , and sufficient for the

      present purpose . Thus there is loss than one-fourth given up for human labour and human food ; while nearly onehalf is wholly uncultivated ! The reason of those deplorable facts is easily taught by history , by experience and observation . It is chiefly the absurd system of letting , as at present practised . We have just seen from historical records the result of vast accumulations in ene person . We can learn from the above statistical details that like effects . stih exist ; and we may trace them to the like cause . Thousands of acres are let to one man : if he possess a gambling disposition , he risks and speculates , and probably becomes bankrupt before he has paid two years '

      rent ; if , however , he be of a cautious and prudent mind , ho cultivates a very small portion , and , throwing the rest into pasturage or waste , gives employment to three or four men , as herdsmen , where three or four hundred might be employed as agricultural labourers . Then , too , the mode of letting at short leases , and raising the rent on every improvement , or at will , and ejecting the tenant directly he has made your land more profitable ; these and a thousand other iniquitous and absurd follies , tend to depress all good husbandry , to discourage industry , and to render us a nation of paupers . We now present our readers with a few extracts on the mode of letting and cultivating ia some of our English counties , taken at random from Me . Culloch ' s account of the British Empire .

      Northumberland . — " Estates of all sizes , but mostly large ; farms also large , and generally let on lease for 7 , 14 , or 21 years . " Cumberland . — " Few large estates , but they are generally divided into small properties , varying in value from £ 10 to £ 150 a year . The owners are rarely aspiring , and seem content with their situation . Their little estates , which they cultivate with their own hands , produce almost every necessary article of food and clothing ; they , in part , manufac ' lure themselves . They have a high character for sincerity and honesty , and probably few people enjoy more ease and humble happiness . " Why should it not be so everywhere \

      Durham . — " A great deal of property belongs to the Church , the tenures under which are unfavourable to cultivation . Farms are mostly held at will ; a few are let for twelve or fourteen years ; where this happens to be the case , considerable improvements are geing forward ; but the farms let : for short periods remain stationary , aa no prudent man will lay out his money on improvements , for which , when completed , he will be rewarded by an advance of rent proportioned to the improvement he has made . "

      Yorkshire . — " Agriculture in a medium state of improvement . It is more of a grazing than of an agricultural county . Farms generally held from year to year , or by tenants at will , which has greatly retarded the progress of agriculture . " Cheshire . — " Arable husbandry , being deemed of inferior importance , is but indifferently understood , and ia considerably behind . Tenants are strictly , prohibited , under heavy penalties , from having more than a certain portion ( generally a third , ) under tillage , and from breaking up meadows . " Herefordshire . — " Farms generally large , let for the most part by the year , and there is % great want of good husbandry . "

      Derbyshire . —Agriculture rather behind . In Northern parta ^ occupiera are strictly prohibited from breaking ' up any pasture-land ; their tillage being confined to a small spot hard by , sufficient to supply their own consumption , and , sometimes , even that is not allowed !" Leicestershire . — The proportion of land , in grass , very much exceeds that under the plough Tillage husbandry not so much improved as breeding and grazing . " Warwickshire . — " More than half the county is in pasturage . "

      Worcestbrshisb . —Agriculture is in a Tery backward state . The system followed , iB , in itself , a bad one , and is carelessly and negligently conducted . " Gloucestershire . — " Agriculture not very advanced . The slovenly way in which a great deal of the vale land is cultivated occasion * the loss ef one , in three or four crops . " Lincolnshire . —•* In the island of Ancholme , the iahabitants live together in hamlets or villages , and almost every house , except very poor cottages on the borders of commons , is inhabited by the proprietor of a farm of from one to fifty acres , which is cultivated with the greatest care and attention . They live very happily . "

      We might continue this surrey throughout the whole country , but , surely , the preceding extractsnot selected , but Jaken entirely at random—will speak in eloquent appeals to the prudence , if not to the humanity , and oommon-Bease of land-owners . What , then , is our cure for this vile system « T letting and miscultivating ! Do we desire to tear the land from those owners , who , by a rightful title , or by a long possession , occupy » ud exercise power orer it \ Are we " Destructives anxious for Ihe

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      spoliation of property ? God forbid ! We baveU much respectfor property , and ; therefore , it isthat ti maintain the rights of the poor man ' s property , , labour . The only remedy is this : — The great * portion of the lands of Great Britain should a longer be let in immense tracts to one tenant but should be leased ( for a sufficient period to pr ^ vent the landlord from taking advantage of evert improvement by raising the rent ) to nvmeroiu tenants and sub-tenants in small portions . Tbji would be to the mutual advantage of landlord and tenant . The former would have a greater probability of receiving his rent , the latter of providing for the support of life , while the lands would be spoliation of property ? God forbid ! We have to , mn km ^ w . i « n .. _ - »^> - * . .. j iu ... * ... .... „ " *

      cultivated to their utmost , and repaying the labour ^ by a fruitful supply , would bring down the pric e of grain to its just standard . We ehould not h ^ many acres of waste and of pasturage after thj , change ; the pale and miserable mechanic would fo frequently transferred into the healthy and pros , perous farmer , and the cities would be less glutted with superfluous hands . We should then speedilj see the country assume a new face—the people a new character ; England would become , what she ought to be , an agricultural country , and once more takq her due precedence in the scale of nations . When and how , can this be done ? When the people q ( this country have proper influence within the Legialature , and when they can demand a remedy fm

      national grievances . Let us struggle then , heart , mind , and soul , for this event , this panacea of our sufferings—this healing balm to our wounds . We have much more to say upon this subject , and on the application of tho same reasoning , to out manufacturing and commercial , as to our agricultural interest , but must leave it for the present .

      • By 34 Ed . 3 . c 11 . labourers or servants flying into cities are to be delivered up to their masters . ¦{¦ To assist one in carrying on a law suit is an offence called " maintenance ; " but an exception has been made at common law when it is for a servant or poor neigh . bout .

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      ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATE THE QUEEN . Now , that the sayings of the Tories , and the doiugs of the Whigs , have gone far to convince the poorer classes of society that her Majesty is . but intended to be the mouthpiece of a faction , and the Monarch of a sect , instead of being the general dispenser of the national will ; now , that they find the cry of " Mad dog" to be the precursor of attack , each faction is anxious to saddle upon the adversary the guilt of the appalling , though

      providentially arrested , blow that has been , through them , aimed at the life of a young and innocent woman . We leave "Queen" out of the question , as far as the guilt of the offender goes . The murder of a Queen—young , virtuous , beautiful , accomplished , model of a Queen , ihough she be—is not one whit more atrocious an offence in the eye of that Queen ' s Maker than is the murder of the poorest , most contemptible , most depraved , and vicious of all his creatures .

      / The Tories have , for seasons , been declaring that ,, as head of the Established Church , the Queen has renounced her religion , and foresworn herself upon the gospels ; that the religion of the land , as by ; law established , is put in jeopardy by her unchris tian toleration of extra parochial denominations ; and the pale of Christianity removed from its true position by her infidel and popish associations : while , all the time , they

      haverigorous y defended and zealously upheld every single abuse of the Constitution , whether political , social , or ecclesiastical , which could heap up odium on the system , and to cause the ignorant and undiscriminating among the people to accumulate feelings of indignation against the Monarch as the concentration of the whole mischief . So , have the loyal Tories striven , throughout her whole reign , to create affection and esteem for their young Queen amongst her loving subjects .

      The Whigs , on the other hand , hearing the cry of human wretchedness throughout ; the land , were systematically , deaf , while , with eagerness , they listen to the neighing of the royal stud and build them lordly housed ; not hostile houses , but such as may befit the dignity of royal beasts ; forcing the cost from the unwilling hand of poverty through the medium of the Queen ' s taxgatherers , the Queen ' s soldiers , and the Queen ' s police-force , employing the Queen ' s representatives on the Judicial Bench as the means of silencing complainers by suffering and slow murder . As the agents of the

      Queen , they promised , to the people , peace , retrenchment , and good Government , in return for their elevation to the dignities and pay of office . While , in fulfilment of their promise , we are at war with every nation with whom we dare go to war ,, and the worst of all wars—civil war—is budding forth in every corner of the land . The promise of retrenchment is fulfilled by as much additional taxation as will create , in its collection and maintenance , the only support which such a Government can have , the support of its own paid mercenaries . The promised restoration of the people ' s rights , is

      fulfilled by depriving them of all rights—even the right to complain . The dungeons are crammed to suffocation with men of unblemished character ^ because they have dared to aak for the conditions of the bond . Such , and such like , are the means taken by the Whig party to increase the popular respect for royalty , while by the united efforts or both factions , exclusive dealing and unrighteous legislation is carried out , until the wealth of the whole country—the richest country under heavenis concentrated in a very few hands . Speculationsfor amount and daring undreamt of by our forefathers , or by any other nation , are indulged in

      fearlessly ; while millions are , at the same moment , speculating how their miserable lives shall be sustained another day . Machinery is made to force man out of his rightful and natural position , and traders in his wretchedness offer him , as a substitute for the happy competence to which he is entitled in his father-land , the means of seeking slavery and wretchedness abroad . Crimes are coined and manufactured by a forced construction of the laws ; trial by jury is made a mockery ; and tyrants doom the advocates of liberty to greater punishment than that of felons who offend against the law « of God .

      The law being supposed to have taken Us due course , the last appeal against injustice inflicted under its sanction , is to the Royal ear . That ear is closed by the Whig wretches who surround it . The memorial of Mrs . Frost and others has been received by Lord Normanby , but " Hi » Lordship cannot recommend her Majesty to grant its prayer . " " Lord John Russell has the honour to acknowledge the address of the Working Me& '» Association to her Majesty , and begs to say that tbt deputation of working men intending to present the same must appear before her Majesty in full Court dresses III "

      Thus is the Queen ear-wigged , and her subject * treated , in her name , and by her most immediate representatives , with insult , mockery , and injustice Justice requires neither ornament nor tinsel t » enforce its prayer . It is aa beautiful in the ragg ^ jacket of ft cotton-weaver as in a "full court dress , " while neither wigs nor swords , nor monkey dresses no , nor bristling cannon— -can for long protect iaj 0 ** tice even in the Monarch ' s palace .

      None know better than the wretches who compose both factions , that the unreflecting hold the < itt « ° » responsible for all the injustice and oppression eommittedinher name ; and thus the traitors labour by all these , ' and by a thousand other meM * not less revolting , to bring the royal person im * disrepute , and , through the maddened sense •«* beeu and undeserved suffering , to compass «• Queen's death . 1

      . "W —» — — mm »» WWMI M And while all this goes on in Eng land-whw or Ireland ! sober Ireland ! no longer tbe land of ¦ intemperance .. < and debauchery , but the land © f P * ° - mise i where loyalty springs up as from a hot-bed the Queen ' s own Ireland ! which lent her , notlo"l

      The Northern Star. Saturday, June 20, 1840.

      THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , JUNE 20 , 1840 .

      Empmal ^Arlt«Mnrt

      Empmal ^ arlt « mnrt

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      * fwr - =. . ¦ ¦ . ; ¦ - m ^ * THE NORTHERN STAR . _ 1 j d want to kuo& the 9 { ¦

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), June 20, 1840, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/king-y1kbzq92ze2689/page/4/