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Northern Star (1837-1852), 5th August 1848, Edition 2 of 3, Page 1, {Z ' <<"W L <Jtion, before you can arriv...

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    • nvi THE MEMBERS OF THE LAND lv COMPANY.
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      Nvi The Members Of The Land Lv Company.

      nvi THE MEMBERS OF THE LAND lv COMPANY .

      3fr I>Eab Friends, ¦Fjjjjweek I Publish ...

      3 fr i > eab Friends , ¦ fjjjjweek I publish your triumph and mine , ^ jly and fairly ob tained over our avowed ^ coscealed enemies ; and surely , when the f ^ rld , and every newspaper at the command f every faction , is attacking me , you at least ^ jj n ot consider it a waste of time to read , sot ntf defence , for I needed none , but your p rotection , whieh consists not so much in reli-J ^ jce upon the law as in reliance upon my honour .

      Working men , you who have been so often R oused , juggled , deceived , and cheated , and then persecuted for complaining of your g rievances , have you heard , or is there upon record , a single instance of the affairs of a Company , established for the benefit of the Poor alone , being conducted , managed , and accounted for , as the affairs of your Company h & vefbeen conducted , managed , and accounted for ? Now , once more observe this fact—that , had I been a Whig lickspittle , and had I destrayed popular confidence , by robbing the People ' s Exchequer , every attack upon me

      vould have been met by a volley of Ministerial abuse , and I should have been told by my " Eight Honourable friends below me , " not to answer the impertinent questions '; and , if a committee was asked for , to inquire into the affair , the front rank of Whiggery would have bristled up like a porcupine , and repudiated the notion of devolving upon the House the dutv of inquiring into the PRIVATE AFFAIRS OF A GENTLEMAN . But , however , as I mean to take a week ' s reflection as to the course which I shall now pursue , and which has been left open to me by the

      resolutions of the committee , either to wind up the affairs of the Company , or to apply , under the sanction of their resolution , to Parliament for some new measure for the purpose ef carrying out the expectations and objects of the promoter * of the Company , I shall confine my present observations to portions of the evidence , after I have made a passing commentary upon the hearing and import of the resolutions of the committee ; and , in order to do so , I Baast explain the grounds upon which the resolution was passed , which leaves it optional with us to wind up the affairs or prosecute the operations of the Company .

      Mr Henley , the Member for Oxfordshire , and than whom there is not a more shrewd , more honourable , or more dignified member in the British Parliament , was the proposer of that resolution , upon the grounds , as stated in his speech , that he would not consent to 250 persons having the plum , while 69 , 750 had freen the means of securing the advantages for them ; and that , therefore , as no measure had been submitted to the committea which would

      embrace the objects of the Company , as at present formed , that he was not prepared to sacriiiee the interest of those 69 , 750 , or to say , after hearing the evidence of Mr Finlayson , that the scheme was impracticable ; but . on the contrary , he thought that every opportunity ought to be afforded to the promoters of the Company , to realise , as far as possible , the hopes of those who had not yet derived any benefit ; and as it was . dmittedthat neither the Friendly Societies' Act , or the Bill proposed by Mr O'Connor , would embrace the present objects of the promoters , it was his decided opinion that they should be allowed to apply to Parliament for some measure which would

      test the practicability of the scheme ; and , by using the term " wind up , " it , by no means , imposed the necessity of doing so upon the Company , but left it optional . withfthem to do so , or to prosecute their operations under an Act framed to embrace them . Mr George Thompson said that he fully agreed in the spirit of the resolution , and that svery opportunity should be afforded to the promoters of the Company to realise the ardent wish and very desirable feelings of the poor who chose to invest their savings in a plot of ground ; and he , too , thought that it would be a great hardship—nay , a great act of

      oppression , especially after the evidence of Mr Finlayson , to close the door against the 69 , 750 members who had not been located ; and , seeing that it was the unanimous opinion of that committee , after the most jealous and searching inquiry into every transaction connected with the management of the Company , that the whole affair had been conducted with the strictest honour , with great spirit , and with the most perfect good faith , he would not vote for any resolution which would act as a barrier to thehopes of 69 , 750 of his countrymen , who he thought had a just right to invest their monies as thev pleased .

      Mr Feargus O'Connor said , that the resolution of the honourable member for Oxfordshire , gratified and perplexed Mm ; it gratified him , because he understood its spirit and meaning as intended by the proposer , but the words— " to vlni up , " although optional , would be seized by the Press , and the enemies of the scheme , as Imperative . ( " No , no . " ) He ( Mr O'Connor ) could perfectly understand the meaning and intentiou of the honourable gentleman and the committee , but he begged to assure them that the Press would make a handle of the term .

      Sir Benjamin Hall could not at all see the question in that light , or how the Press could so view it , as he presumed that the course would be to consult the shareholders , leaving it optional with them whether they would wind up the Company , or prosecute their operations under some new powers which Parliament may be inclined to grant . Lord Ingestre certainl y vrould not vote for the resolution if it had not been for the very satisfactory explanation that had been given of its import by the previous speakers , as in the present infant state of the Company he , for one , had no notion of saying , ; that , under altered provisions , the plan was impracticable ; but , on the contrary , the evidence of Mr Finlayson went to show that under an altered state of

      things it was practicable , and , therefore , as in his opinion the resolution left it open with the promoters , either to wind the affairs of the Company up , or to prosecute the operations , he hoped the resolution would have the unanimous concurrence of the committee . Mr Walpole could well understand the difficult position in which the committee had placed itself , it having passed the third resolution , which declared the illegality of the Company in ta present shape , and he thought that he could meet the objections of Mr O'Connor to the term " wind up , " by adding the following words to the resolution of the honourable member for Oxfordshire ; and as the committee had declared tie illegality of the Company as at present constituted , and as Mr O'Connor himself very

      frankl y admitted the fact , he tboaght it but justice to frame the resolution so that the parties concerned may he enabled so to construct the Company as to justify parliament in protecting it in its altered position . Capt . Pechell said , that he would never «> nsent to the terms" wind up being inserted Hi the resolution , had it not been for the very satisfactory explanation given of those terms , « T the Eeveral s ^ kers who preceded him , but 58 ' its present shape it left the matter £ Ptional with the promoters and the members , « e could see no possible objection to it , with tee addition proposed by the honourable fc « nberfor MidhurstMr Walpole .

      , Mr Monsell thought he had framed a resoluuou which would meet the views of the "toaurable member for Oxfordshire , and the * sh of the honourable member for Notting-° * - The honourable member then read the - ^ solution , which , not meeting with the con-^ Tif " r 6 of the committee , was » ot put . l Uinirman thought that the best course ¦ ¦ uu ! d Le to wind up the affairs of the Compao >'» selline the Estates , and repay ing the ? lilit ^ ul , SCriled to those who had not yet n located , and that under such an arrange-^ be had no doubt that Parliament would if-ye in demnity to the promoters , for the veveral penalties they had incurred .

      3fr I>Eab Friends, ¦Fjjjjweek I Publish ...

      Mr O'Connor said , that the very sly and soothing speech of the chairman , reminded him of the very courteous appeal of the judge to the prisoner in the dock , when he asked him if he had anything to say why sentence of death should not be passed upon him ; but he told the committee that , as great stress had been laid upon indemnity for him , in order to secure his acquiescence in the winding up of _«_ 1 jT _ ilTI __« tifiJ ? T t

      the affair , that he did not care one straw for indemnity for himself , as compared with the indemnity for those who had confided in him , and he could assure the committee , that he would not only hand over all the property of the Company to trustees appointed by them , at a minute ' s notice , but that he would give 1 , 000 / . out of his own pocket , and forgive all that was due to him , to any professional gentleman that would frame such a Bill as would realise

      the object of the members , and that he would be sufficiently rewarded by still remaining their unpaid servant . But , in answer to the Chairman ' s very gratifying assurance , of being able to sell the Estates not yet converted , he would remind the committee of this fact , that he knew no market to which he could take the joiners' work now completed for eighty-five houses , at Bromsgrove ; he knew no market to which he could take 600 , 000 bricks , burnt upon that Estate ; he knew no market In which he could sell that Estate , the hedges being every one levelled , the Estate now intersected with roads , and the cottages in course of

      erection ; so that the kindly and impartial proposition of the chairman would go to the deterioration of that Estate , to the amount of several thousand pounds , while the completion of that Estate , under his management , would realise several thousand pounds profit for the Company , and as he ( Mr O'Connor ) was the person most likely to be sued for penalties , he begged to state , that if the committee had not recommended that indemnity should be extended to him , that he would much rather pay every one of these penalties than be a party consenting to the winding up of the affairs , and which he felt himself bound to tell the committee that he never would consent

      to . He certainly not only felt puzzled , but felt it impossible to draw up a better resolution than that proposed by the honourable member for Oxfordshire , p . fter the satisfactory explanation given by every member of the committee , of the term " wind up , '' and , therefore , he did not see how he could oppose it . Mr Henley said that his reason for proposing an act of indemnity for any legal penalties that might have been incurred , was that that committee had published to the world that which might invite informers to sue for those penalties , and he , therefore , thought that as the most open confessions had been made by Mr O'Connor himself , and as every facility was afforded to the committee to arrive at those

      conclusions upon which the evidence would be published , and as there was not a shadow of suspicion to be cast upon the promoters , but , on the contrary , that all bad been conducted upon the most perfect good faith , he thought , under those circumstances , that the parties in this case were equally entitled to that protection which had been extended to other companies similarly circumstanced ; and , again , he begged

      to assure the committee that from the outset his object had been to protect the interests of his poorer countrymen , who had invested their little savings in this speculation , and that the hon . member for Nottingham must see that the resolution proposed by him left it quite optional with the promoters , as to whether they would wind up or keep the Company , open until the present members had all paid up their subscriptions .

      The fourth and fifth resolutions were then put and carried unanimously , and were reported to the House on Tuesday evening ; the conversation on which will be found in another part of the paper , together with a short comment upon it . Here follow the whole of the resolutions as passed by the committee ' •—I . That the proposed additional prorisioru to th Friendly Societies Acts which are incorporated iath bUl entitled "A bill to alter and amend an act of the 9 th aaa 10 th of her pre & ent Majesty , for the amendment of the lawi relating to Priendly Societies , " will not include the National Land Company .

      2 . That the National Land Company i » not consistent with the seaeral princip les upon which the Friendly Societies are founded . 3 . That the National Land Company , as at present constituted , is an illegal scheme , and will not fulfil the expectation * held out by the directors to the shareholders . 4 . That it appearing to this committee , by tea evidence of several witnesses , that the books of proceedings of the Natioaal Land Company , as well as the accounts of the Co _ Vjr __ J , tia ^ e been most imperfectly kept , and that the original balancs ghee ' s signed by the auditors of the Company hare been destroyed , and only three of those ba-1

      lance sheets fsrthe quarter endingthe 29 th of September , andthe 2 'th of December , lSt 7 , and the fith of March , ISIS , respectively , harabeen produced ; but Mr O'Connor having expressed an opinion that an impression had gone abroad that themoneys subscribed by the National Land Company had been applied to his own benefit—this committee are clearly of oninion , that although the accounts have not been kept with strict reaularity , yet that irregularity hai been a ; ainst Mr F . O'Connor ' s ., intereit instead of in his favour ; and that it appears by Mr Grey ' * account , there is due to Mr F . O'Connor the sum of £ * , % )& 5 * 5 J < J , and by Mr Finlayson ' s account the sum of

      £ 3 , « 0 i > . 5 . That considering the great number of persons in . terested in the scheme , asd the bona fides with which it appears to have been carriedon . it is the opinion of this committee , that powers might be granted to the pariies co « csmed , if they shall so desire , to wind up the undertaking , and to relieve them from the penalties to nhich they may have incautiously subjected themselves . In submitting these resolutions to the bouse , it ri the opinion of jour committee that it should b » left entirely open to the parties concerned to propose toParliaj _ ent any new measure for the purpose of carrying out the expectations andobjfctsjif tha promoters of the Company .

      Now , my friends , I should state that on Friday week the chairman submitted a voluminous rep ort for the consideration of the committee , and as I intend to give the evidence at great length you shall have that report hereafter . It would occupy more than sixteen columns of the Star , but when you read it you will be able to judge ° f tne animus of the official receiving 2 , 000 / . a year of your money . It is a tissue of nonsense from the beginning to the end , and artfully commences

      by attempting to sho w that the object of the company was of a political nature ; and then he seizes hold of every unconnected sentence printed in the several " prospectuses and in the several rules ; he selects garbled extracts from his own witnesses , and the committee having had three days to consider it , on Monday last were prepared to reject it unanimously , when the chairman was compelled to withdraw it altogether ; and , had it been submitted , I was prepared to propose the following Report as an amendment : —

      SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE NATIONAL LAND COMPANY . DRAFT REPORT . The Select Committee appointed to inquire into the National Land Company , have examined and considered the matters referred to them , and have agreed upon the following Report : — That , in the month of April 1845 , Mr Feargus O'Connor proposed certain rules for the to de

      formation of a National Land Company - legates , from different parts of the country , assembled in London for that purpose ; the obiffct being to raise a sufficient amount of money in sums , varying from threepence to one shilling , and upwards , per week , to locate the members of the Company upon allotments of two , three , and four acre ? , with a cottage upon each allotment ; and the sum of £ 7 10 s . per acre to be g iven to the occupants of the respective allotments a s aid moasy to assist

      3fr I>Eab Friends, ¦Fjjjjweek I Publish ...

      them in the cultivation » f the land , and the purchase of seeds and implements The objects of this Association , " as stated by the propounder , were—Firstly . -- open a wide channel for the beneficial employment of the surplus population of the country . Secondly . —To establish a better standard of wages m the free labour market than the distress and destitution arising from the nonemployment of a large competitive idle reserve affords . And . > l > il I . i .

      Thirdly . —To open a profitable market for the small weekly savings of the ifldsstrious poor . That , in the month of December , 1845 , a Conference assembled at Manchester , consist ing ef delegates , elected by the several members in their respective districts , and at which Conference it was determined that the National Land Company should be enrolled under the Friendly Societies Act ; and that in compliance with the resolution of the Conference , application was made to Mr Tidd Pratt on the 17 th of January , 1846 , with a view to

      having the National Land Company enrolled , but that officer seeing legal difficulties in the way refused acquiescence ; and it further appear ? to your committee , that hope was then entertained of securing protection for the National Land Company by embracing it in the provi . sions of a Bill introduced to Parliament by T . S . Buncombe , Esq ., the honourable member for Finsbury ; and it further appears to your committee that , about August , 1846 ,

      when it was understood that the bill of Mr Buncombe , as amended by Parliament , would not embrace the contemplated objects of the National Land Company that provisional registration was resorted to , and that heavy ex pense was incurred in preparing the necessary machinery for securing { comp lete registration , it appearing to your committee that a sum of over two thousand pounds had been expended in the prosecution of the preliminary requirements .

      That in August , 1847 , a certificate was procured from the registrar , allowing the Company another year to perfect the necessary arrangements for complete reg--ration ; and that Mr O'Connor , the propounder , seeing the heavy expense to which complete registration would subject the Company , as well as with a view of relieving the members from heavy expenses to which they would still be liable under complete registration , introduced a Bill into Parliament on the 12 th of May , 1848 , the object of which was to legalise the Company , and thereby secure its more speedy operations ,

      as well as to secure the members against fraud . It has been stated to your committee , by the propounder of the Plan , that he never anticipated the creation of so large a fund , or the enrolment of so large a number of members as has resulted from the experiment ; and that , from the fact of so many having joined , and so much money having been subscribed , has arisen his chief difficulty . The honourable member for Nottingham has confessed to your committee , that these circumstances have led him to a violation of several Acts of Parliament

      but as it appears to your committee from the report of Mr Grey , accountant , and Mr Finlayson , actuary—that a sum of 3 , 400 / . was due to Mr O'Connor by the Company , upon the 15 th of July last , the day to which the accounts were made up , your committee is of of opinion that none of those illegalities were committed for the purpose of practising fraud upon the members of the Company , but that , on the contrary , Mr O'Connor ' s views , whether sound or visionary , have been carried out with perfect good faith and integrity .

      The question that has been referred to the consideration of your committee is so large and comprehensive that it does not feel itself called upon to do more than simply report upon the two branches submitted to it by the chairman—namely , * The application of the funds j and The practicability or impracticability of the scheme . Upon the first question your committee has already recorded its opinion ; while , as regards the second question—namely , the practicability or impracticability of realising the objects of the scheme—this question , your committee feels is involved in considerable difficulty .

      Firstly , —The difficulty of realising the hopes of the several members ; and Secondly , —The difficulty—nay , the injustice , of subjecting those who have invested their little savings in the speculation to disappointment , consequent upon the want of legal protection . As regards the question of practicability , it must mainly depend upon the facility afforded for the realisation of reproduction ; and your committee is of opinion , that that facility will be in proportion to the security that shall be afforded to the property of the Company , with a view of making it available in the money

      market ; and your committee is clearly of opinion , that this object cannot be as effectually achieved while all the property of the Company stands in the name of a single individual , as it would be if that property was protected by law , and vested in responsible trustees . And with a view ef securing this primary object—of extending security to the property of the Company , Mr O'Connor has expressed his willingness , nay his desire , to discharge himself altogether of the trust now reposed in him , if means can be devised by Parliament to secure , for the members of ^ the National Land Company , those hopes , in the expectation of the realisation of which they have invested their savings .

      Your committee are anxious that the hopes of the 69 , 750 persons , from whose subscriptions , hitherto paid to the 250 who have been located , should not be altogether paralysed ; and it has not bee _ made appear to your committee , by the evidence of any of those members not located , that they are over sanguine , but are still ready to bide their time patiently , in the event of such advantages being g iven to the Company as will secure its permanency , and their protection . evi

      Your cemmittee must observe , that the - dence of Mr Finlayson , the actuary , upon the question of practicability or impracticability , was mainly based upon the prospects of reproduction ; and , In his opinion , that that question wholly depended upon , the view that lenders , whether individuals or companies , would entertain as to the security of the property , whether mortgaged or sold ; and he further stated , that if this security was rendered satisfactory that he could see 110 difficulty whatever in realising the principle of repro duction , and would not , in such a case , consider the scheme impracticable . Your committee is of opinion , therefore , that the interests of the 09 , 750 who have as yet derived no benefit from the scheme , should , as far as practicable

      be protected , and with this view your committee would recommend , Firstly . — 'That indemnity be extended to Mr O'Connor and the promoters , to secure them from the legal penalties they have incurred ; and Secondly . "To base the National Land Company upon a sound legal footing , making such alterations in the rules and constitution ot the Societv aa to Parliament shall seem fit ;

      and at the same time appointing trustees , in whom the property of the Company should be vested .

      3fr I>Eab Friends, ¦Fjjjjweek I Publish ...

      Your committee does not feel itself called upon to refer to the several Acts of Parliament—the Lottery Acts and Banking' * Acts —the provisions of which Mr O'Connor has confessed to have violated ; and for which violation your committee would not have recommended any exemption from the stipulated punishment , had it not been for the perfect good faith with which the funds have been administered . _

      Your committee cannot conclude its Report without again drawing the attention of Parliament to the subject which constitutes its chief difficult y—namel y , the protection of the interests of these who have subscribed their monies , and have as yet derived no benefit from the scheme ; and your committee must make a wide distinction between penalties incurred with the avowed intention of

      committing fraud , and penalties incurred from violation of the law where no fraud has been committed ; and further , by calling the attention of Parliament to the fact , that two nets of indemnity were pas sed to protect the promoters of the Art-Union against penalties to which they had subjected themselves for repeated acts of illegality , while the same society is now legalised , in . its former illegal constitution , with a view to the encouragement of art .

      Your committee is of opinion that the Bill introduced into Parliament by the Honourable Member for Nottingham , would not extend such protection to the members of the Na « tional Land Company as was contemplated ; and therefore your committee , although appointed for the purpose of considering the provisions of that Bill , leave it altogether out of consideration , and would recommend the adoption of some measure that would secure the property of the Company to its members , and the realisation , as far as practicable , of those objects for which the Company was established .

      Now , in the above Report , you will see that I have disguised nothing , and you will always bear these facts in mind . Firstly , —That when I originated the Company my words were , that I would present you with " a miniature of the full-length portrait of what England might be made . " I never contemplated the growth of the Company to that extent which would require legal

      protection . It was established upon good faith and was to have been so carried on ; and when it promised to arrive at a monster growth you will find from my report , the several attempts that have been made to ensure legal protection and the manner in which I have been frustrated by the enemies of the poor , who , had it been established for your destruction , would have searched the musty archives of the world to find a precedent for its

      recognition . I will now call your attention for a moment to the evidence of Mr Finlayson , the actuary of the Savings' Banks—the actuary appointed by the Government under the Ecclesiastical Commission—the actuary of the principal Insurance Offices in the kingdom , and acknowledged to be the ablest and most finished accountant . The chairman , not content with having submitted my accounts to Mr Grev ,

      who , as I am informed , holds a situation in the Foreign-office , has a son in the Homeoffice , and a eon in the Post-office , and a son in Tidd Pratt's office , and who examined my accounts , not as if I was an insolvent , but as if I was a fraudulent insolvent ; yett after his minute investigation for more than three weeks , the chairman submitted those accounts to the further review of Mr Finlayson , and the result of which was that Mr Finlayson discovered * hat more than 100 ? . more was due to me than was

      stated by Mr Grey . But for this gentleman ' s evidence—which is most material—I shall refer you to the " Labourer'' with this single comment : —Mr Grey was examined as to the period within which all the members could be located , upon the principle of mortgaging each estate for two-thirds of its value . Mr Finlayson was examined upon the question of mortgage , and was directed by the Chairman to leave the committee-room for the purpose of making his calculation as to the time it would

      take to locate all the members , in case the property was sold instead of mortgaged , and that its value was stamped with legal protection , the Chairman telling Mr Finlayson to take two years as the standard of reproduction , allowing that only 230 cottages could be built and the property sold within that period ; but the Chairman , not liking the previous portion of Mr Finlayson ' s evidence , gave him the trouble of going into this elaborate calculation , but never recalled Ji ' im to examine him upon the point .

      Now , you will observe the bearing that this trick would lave if any calculation was based upon it . I showed the committee that , in the first instance , 1 commenced operations , measuring them by the funds I had in hand ; while the chairman would have limited my future operations by the standard of my past operations—that is , if I received 250 , 000 ? . in driblets , in two years , that my operations are to be measured by the same scale for every future two years , when I commenced my third year with my whole reproduced capital of 250 , 000 / . Now , let meexplain this to you . When cramped

      for means it took me from May , 1846 , to May , 1847 , to complete thirty-five houses and one school-house at O'Connorville—twelve months ; while , from March , 1847 , to Jane , 1848 , 1 built 215 houses , and three school-houses--that is , in fifteen months ; but you will see by Mr Finlayson's evidence , that the reproductive system mainly depends upon the legal value which shall be stamped upon the Company ' s property as security to money lenders . And now , what I undertake to say is this—and I defy contradiction from all the actuaries in the

      worldthat if the Company had been carried on in my own name , and vested in trustees approved of by the members themselves , and without any reference whatever to law that I would locate the 70 , 000 members in less than seven years ; and if that legal protection was extended to the savings of the poor , that is extended to the roguish speculations of the rich , I would locate them in a still shorter period and above all , I wish you to bear in mind that , with the means at my command , 1 would as easily build 20 , 000 as 100 cottages within the same period .

      I think , as the chairman gave the House of Commons the benefit of Mr Grey ' s calculation , in reply to a gentleman who sits on the second Whig bench , that it is necessary you should have that gentleman ' s examination upon this point critically laid before you . Mr Grey said , that if two-thirds of the property of the Company was mortgaged , that the property would vanish altogether upon the eighteenth mortgage , and both his and Mr Finlayson ' s calculation of the expense of location , % vas made upon the presumption that only 230 cottages had been built ; and it was also stated by Mr Grey , that as 6 , 0 t ) 0 Z . in Exchequer Bills was in the bands of the broker , and not in the handfi of the manager of the Bank , that , therefore , he had taken that 6 , 000 / . as a loan from

      the Bank to the Land Company . Now , this was my comment upon the dissolving view taken of houses , rent , and Exchequer Bills , by the accountant . Firstly— Twenty of my houses had vanished . Secondly . — Only two-thirds of the value of an estate being mortgaged at four per cent ,

      3fr I>Eab Friends, ¦Fjjjjweek I Publish ...

      the rent of that estate , at the amount tak en by him ; over and above paying the interest upon the mortgage , would amount to £ 6 , 300 / . per annum ; but I will give it to you in a plain sum . He presumed , in round numbers , that if all the members paid up , there would be a capital of 270 , 000 / ., and he presumed that 180 , 000 / ., or two-thirds of the value , might be raised on mortgage , the interest upon which , at four per cent , would be 7 , 200 / . a year ; while the rent payable upon 270 , 000 / . at five per cent , would be 13 , 500 / . a year , thus leaving a surplus of 0 , 300 / . a year , over and above the interest upon the morteaee .

      Now , let us see how this would stand at the end of the one hundred and fifty years , at compound interest , that is merely the first year's interest—6 , 300 / . At the end of the one bun dred and forty-four years this sum would amount to 3 , 225 , 600 / . Now , that is only the first year ' s surplus over mortgage , —the second year ' s surplus , in one hundred and forty-five years , would amount to an equal gum , —the third year ' s surplus , in the one hundred , and forty-sixth year , would amount to allikb sum ; so that if we multiply the surplus of rent over interest , for one year alone , by seven , we have the sum of twenty-two million five hundred and seventy-nine thousand two hundred pounds at the end of the one 'hundred and fifty years .

      But now I 11 take another view , and see if I am not as good at dissolving years from the chronology of the accountant , as he is at dissolving houses' rents and Exchequer Bills . Now , leave out mortgage altogether , and we'll come to 13 , 500 / . a yearreceived as rent by the Company , and we find that that alone , within the period of one hundred and forty-four ) years , would amount to six million nine hundred and twelve thousand pounds ; and if we take the first seven years' rent , sinking one hundred and forty-three years' rent altogether in the one hundred and fifty years , the amount produced from the first seven years' rent would be forty-eight million three hundred and eighty-four thousand pounds . Now , if we

      calculate the rents paid for the period of one hundred years at compound interest , the sum would amount to more than would pay off the National Debt . So that , instead of swallowing all up to . locate seventy thousand people in one hundred and fifty years , 1 could , upon the first seven years' rent paid , give away the whole rents after the seven years , locate the seventy thousand in the one hundred and fifty years , and leave a surplus of over twenty-seven millions after paying aid money—and presuming that each location cost me 300 / . upon an averrage , instead of about 240 / . New , what will the accountants and actuaries say to my dissolving view of their figures , which are by no means as substantial as houses , crops , and Exchequer Bills ?

      The accountant having presumed that the 6 , 000 / . in Exchequer Bills in the hands of the broker , belonged to the Land Company and not to the Bank , 1 beg to assure you upon the " true faith of a Christian , '' that not one single fraction of the deposit in the Bank has been touched by the Land Company . And now , although you owe me 3 , 400 / ., without a fraction being charged for my expenses for . three years and a quarter , let me tell you that I have in stock , money , land to sell at Lowbands , Snig ' s End , and Minster Lovel , not available for our purpose , without counting the Bank at all , nearly nine thousand pounds ; and perhaps the impartial chairman will cock his ears when he has seen the last two or three

      weeks * slender receipts in the " Star , " when 1 tell him that of tfiat amount there is nearly 2 , 500 / . in cash . Now what will he say to that , when he finds the weekly expenditure increasing , the weekly receipts dissolving , and the cash advancing ? And if we add this amount to the money in the Bank I have still at my disposal between £ 23 , 000 and £ 25 , 000 . My friends , next week I will propose for your consideration a plan by which , according to the resolutions of the committee , I shall get iid of the two chief objections to the plan , namely- — lottery and the Bank ; and you may be sure

      that I will spare no expenditure of my own money in having the best legal advice , as to the modes of securing every hope that was held out to you . As Mr Sbarman Crawford told me , and told others in my presence , there is not upon record a similar triumph achieved by a suspected person ; and I will tell you more , that if I had my choice , whether 1 would surrender my seat in Parliament , and work from six till six at the hardest labour , or give up my Land Plan , I swear before Heaven I would rather live upon workhouse fare , and work every day , than give it up ; and for this , if for no other reason , because in my conscience and

      in my soul , I believe that if a physical force revolution was obtained by the working classes , ignorance of the labour question would perpetuate anarchy , bloodshed , and revolution ; and I tell you now , that if the National Assembly sitting in London had succeeded in destroying my popularity , and if the lies and fabrications of the Aberdeen delegate had led enthusiastic and ardent spirits into a revolution , which had been successful , that very National Assembly , unprepared with a proper solution of the Labour Q . uestion , wouldhave been the very first to have fallen victims to the vengeance of a maddened and disappointed people .

      As I have told you a thousand times over , every human being who is born into this world has duties assigned to him , and I believe that the duty assigned to me , is to raise up those that fail ; to comfort and assist the weakhearted ; to abandon -every thought of selfaggrandisement ; and to swear , as I have often done , that , as long as 1 live , 1 will never accept of place , pension , or emolument , for any humble service I can render to the poor ; and that I hope I shall have courage enough to resist the taunts , the folly , and the nonsense of enthusiastic cowards , who would induce me ,

      for their own base purposes , to jeopardise the fate of confiding millions , by placing myselfin a position , in which I believe not an honest working man in England would wish to see me . I predicted the inevitable result of Free Trade , and my Land Plan was meant as an antidote to the poison ; and I shall now conclude this letter with the following passages in my second letter to the Irish Landlords , written from my dungeon in York Castle , on the I 7 th of July , 1841 , and you will then see whether or no the condition to whi < jh I prophecied Free Trade would reduce Ireland , has been verified or not . Here are the extracts : —

      " My Lords and Gentlemen , this is the week for trying the system-made rogues and murderers in Yorkshire , and as the paper for which I write is expected to chronicle their trials , I must now take my leave , with a caution to beware how you allow your brains to be haunted with the new science called ' Political Economy . ' It is , believe me but a phantasm which haunts the unpractised fool in his

      dreams of artificial beatitude . It is a delusion , all ; a proposed corrective for social disarrangement ; a substitute for social eeonon > y , which means the most pleasant , the most easy , the mest beneficial application of man ' s labour and ingenuity , to the conversion of raw material—and , above all , of the Land—into produce for man ' s subsistence , support , comfort , and enjoyment . fC Lords and Gentlemen , believe me , that y on ! must take the whole system into calcula-.

      3fr I>Eab Friends, ¦Fjjjjweek I Publish ...

      tion , before you can arrive at a just conclusion as to the probable result to be produced by passing events . You must look at all &« circumstances , and from the whole , and not from any flattering or fancied portion of them , you must draw your conclusions . Let ma assist you . "Take class legislation and gunpowder for your dividend , and political economy for your divisor , and the resul tin your quotient will oft a large surplus of fictitious money ; » J » rg » surplus of manufactured goods ; a large * sup . plus population , ' rendered useless by machi * ftion , before you can arrive at a jtistconcluslott as to the probabl e result to be produced br

      uery ; a large surplus of non-consuming , unregulated producing power ; a large army ; a large navy ; a large church establishment ; « Jayge law establishment ; a large police ests * olishment ; a large regal establishment ; a largd poor law establishment a large oligarchical pauper establishment ; a small , centralised , gorged , slave owners' establishment ; social ruin ; an empty exchequer ; little trade ; dis . content ; crime ; insecurity of property ; gaolfl full of

      ' political offenders '; starvation and revolution . As a superabundance of fictitious money presses hard upon and reduces the valas of real capital , so does fictitious labour press hard upon and reduce the value of real labour . And as the bankrupt fails in the midst of surplus wealth , so does the operative starve in the midst of abundance—neither having the means of acquiring the drug . Thus you see merchants failing in the midst oi affluence , and the people starving in the midst of plenty .

      " You must return from an artificial to a more natural state of society . You must giv * to the hibourer the power of regulating tha suppl y of his own produce , according to demand , and , above all , if his elevation in society be , in truth , your object , you must let him sea the sterling labour stamp upon hishandy work , instead of finding it effaced by the counterfeil enterprise and speculation-stamp of ' our mer « chants' — ' ouK . traders' — and ' our slava owners '

      "My maxim to-day is the same as that which I laid down for you in 1831— 'A fair day * s wage for a fair day ' s work . ' Give that , and use your political power for the conversion of machinery into man ' s holiday , instead of being man s curse ; and then , in the eloquent ana statesman-like words of Mr Butterivorth , one of my illegally incarcerated brethren , you may ' go to bed by steam , rise by steam , and dress yourselves by steam , provided steam does not take the bed from the poor man , and leave him withoutclotl . es to dress with . '

      " My Lords and Gentlemen , many a halfwitted fool has gained even a posthumous fama by one sentiment not containing a twentieth part of the philosophy of the above . Search all your writers upon ' Free Trade , ' ' Political Economy , ' and ' Commerce , ' and I defy you to equal it from the catalogue of their united folly , or from the heap to pick one such grain from the chaff . " My Lords and Gentlemen , ' Political Eco nomy' has no ' Finality ; " and , believe me , that khe political economists will never rest satisfied

      till they make you tenants in your own houses , stewards to your own estates , and beggars from the Pole , the Turk , the Russian , the Prussian , and the American , upon your own land . They wish to place you upon the shopboard , making breeches and coals , which the foreigner may or may not purchase according to convenience ; while they would make you dependents upon the foreigner for that which you must have three times a day or starve , or do that , which I am quite sure yon never could briny yourselves to , as you have transportedthoit ' sands vpoti thousands for the same—STEAL .

      " Now , do not think the picture overpainted . Do not reject the advice because it comes from a ' DESTRUCTIVE . ' Do not despise it because it comes through the only paper in England which dares to support the labourer against his every enemy—from the monarch on the throne , who gives assent to laws for his ruin , down to the policeman who executes those laws—do not . And ever bear the alternative in mind—REFORM or TRANSFER . That you may come to a ri ghteous , a just , and a sound conclusion , is the devout prayer of " Your obedient and very humble servant Feaugus O'Connor .

      Now , my friends , you will be able to judge for yourselves as to the realisation of my anti « cipations from Free Trade , unaccompanied by prudent and timely concessions ; and now I beg to assure the landed aristocracy of England , that they have not yet seen the commencement of Free Trade , and , as I have frequently told the manufacturers , they have " caught a Tartar ; " they hoped by their influence over Government to stop Free Trade at their own door , but they have yet to learn that the people , daily acquiring wisdom , will insist „ upon the plum—RECIPROCITY—being put into the Free Trade pudding .

      Next week 1 will write you my * views upon the Land Plan , in plain and simple language , and I will also furnish you with an unerring and irrefutable calculation , proving the utter inaccuracy of those submitted by Messrs Grey and Finlayson , the most accomplished ac « countant and actuary in the kingdom . But , my friends , I am not one to be staggered by the calculations of arithmeticians , for , as Mike Sullivan told the priest , that " Little Mike was the devil at his prayers , ' ' I ' m the devil at the figures . But , in the meantime , lest a single individual who has set his heart upon the Land , should suppose me capable of wavering , I beg to assure all that 1 am determined to continue

      my operations ; that am determined to devote every hour of my time , and every farthing of my money—even to beggary—to cany out the Land Scheme . And next week 1 shall alaO submit a plan to the trades of England , pointing out in a clear and unmistakeable manner the means by which industry—in less than live years—might secure for itself such a Government as would insure to every hibourer A fair day ' s wage for a fair day ' s work ''; a Government which would stand in no danger from the assault of the dissatisfied , the vengeance of the hungry , or the machinations of the artful . I remain , your faithful friend and representative , and unpaid bailiff , Feargus O'Coxnok .

      {Z ' <<"W L <Jtion, Before You Can Arriv...

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      AND NATIONAL TRADES' JOURNAL . ' VOL- XI . No 563 . LONDON , SATURDAY AUGUST 5 1 H 48 5 ? MCK » tombnc » ~ ^ J _ ___ ' MUfiUA 1 > -amJUUX J , 1 CHM ) . give Shilling * oBd Sixpence peg Guam * t I ^ ^ MWHwa ^ "" ™""*^ - ** * **^~' , ^ " ^—""^ " »«~*^^««« n «* w-h > M , —„^ - ^^ I - _ ___ __ ft « ---- _ n- ____*

      Thomas Driver To Fbattgus O'Connor Esq.,...

      THOMAS DRIVER TO FBAttGUS O'CONNOR ESQ ., M . P . Tuesday Morning , 6 o'Clock , August 1 st , 1848 . My Dear Sir , —It is little 1 am going 10 say , but I wish you to continue your prudential com ., in politics—it is hi g hly approved of by your mends and admirers ( at lean , amongst all that 1 am acquainted with ) . If it be possible , do not , dtar sir , commit yourself into ths hands of thosa , whoso tender mercies we know full well ; you would > . e eui - emed a prize , in appreciable value of far n . ore worth than the quashing of half a million of proletarians .

      Yesterday , t _ ft postman brought me a newspaperthe Manchkster Times , of Saturday , Jul y 2 'Jihand , from its contents , I shrewdly guess itiat , it is an aristocratical present , made at this particular crisis in these Northern Counties ( ' 0 confuse , misguide , thwart , pervert , and mystify the doings ot all rumoured things ) , whieh , 1 doubt not , will be extended to ? iundreds , perhaps ihousands , in the liberality of their distribution . But the boon ia waaird upon me , ( or I will not exliibit its pages to its favourite partisans to chuckle over , nor lo any who cannot read , the purport of its intuition by "being thus distributed gratuitously .

      Your liberty , dear sir , is of inestimable value , lo all who are interested in the general wel ' are of honest labour and its reward ; this the Gaguitiij lhll party know li ght well . Never mind the noii-jmiilicity of your Parliamentary speeches . Wc know our man ; onr confidence will not be diminished on tnat . account ; we know to what quarter io ai triun : ; iii lkt ; but I am not sure that your letters ar . not opened and inspected , so shall eoncluuetrusting that you \\\\\ see a copy ot ih « above Farewell .

      I

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      Persons Apparently Killed By 'Lightnings...

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  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Aug. 5, 1848, page 1, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_05081848/page/1/