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^ September ^ 1846. ^^^ THE NORTHERN STA...
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And if our cotemporary doubts the pwmcio...
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THE PEEL POLICY. The Morning Post has di...
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"CHEAP BREAD, HIGH WAGES, AND PLENTY TO ...
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RETROSPECT OF THE SESSION. There is a se...
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RECEIPTS OP THE CHARTIST CO-OPERATIVE LAND SOCIETY.
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PER MR. O'CONNOR. SECTION No. 1. suabes....
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Mr. Dknuams Musical Lkci\jrus on Scottis...
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Crate' flftobtm-rnts
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Unitkd Trades Association, Scutla.^b.—Mr...
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Siiocicino and Extraordinary Suuide.—On ...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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^ September ^ 1846. ^^^ The Northern Sta...
^ September ^ 1846 . ^^^ THE NORTHERN STAR , 5
And If Our Cotemporary Doubts The Pwmcio...
And if our cotemporary doubts the pwmcious effects of the Liberator ' s treachery upon the whole body of Repealers , we beg to fo ^ h Mm with the feUowingtit bit from , the pen of one MftGeorge Smyth , ^ Liverpool - , and from which hi wiU learn that Whig justice is , after all , the splutter synonimous with repeal : — Mr . Rayread thefoUwKng letter from Mr . George Smyth , of Lrrerpool : — " Paradise-Street , Liverpool , 22 nd August , 1 S 46 .
Mr dear Sir—1 have much pleasure in transmitting to yon an order for £ 9 2 s . 6 i . from the Repeal-« rsof this place to aid the Association in itsstrug . gle to obtain j ustice to Ireland , which I hold to be synoniiuous with a repeal of the union . ' Io this sum P . Magee , Esq ., ot New Quay , has contributed £ 1 , his subscription for the present year . .... I am , my dear sir , your obedient servant , Gkokqe Smith . T . M . Ray , Esq . Nothing now remains for us but the tender of our ibanks to our cotemporary , for the admission that the Northern Star is the Organ of ihe Chartist body , and that the Chartist body means the INDUSTRIAL
CLASSES OF ENGLAND , SCOTLAND AND "WALES .
The Peel Policy. The Morning Post Has Di...
THE PEEL POLICY . The Morning Post has discovered a prize in the German newspapers which must have proved of incalculable value to the native press , in the dull times and utter dearth of news which immediately fol lows the prorogation of Parliament . This prize is t » less than a description of the Peel polioy by TEEh himself , and the people he has taken into his confidence are the good folks of Elbing . in Prussia . Why Sir Robert should have gone so far a-field to tell his story and disclose the objects he had iu view in the ttafc-fold measures of the Income-tax , the
Banking Bill , and the new Tariffs , is not ocvious at -first sight . He had plenty of addresses presented to him by his admirers at home , but to them he vouchsafed only those vague official replies , which conventional etiquette prescribes for an English minister , in his intercourse with the English people Just as -these addresses and replies were sinking out of sight , ^ and o ut of mind , there comes this epistle to the Eibingians , so different in style , and so ample in its -revelations of motives , that it has quite taken every , body by surprise , as much at its contents , as its late and somewhat mal-apropos appearance .
The Germans are "slow coaches . " They sent to -ConTatulate Peel in the month of July , when his -o-lory was at the highest , and when all men s minds were full of his doings . More than a month has elapsed since they got his reply , and it has only mow found its way back to Esgland , when everybody has gone to the continent , the moors , the fame -covers , or the seaside , and have neither time nor inclination for politics .
The German correspondents of Sir Robert , have noitreatedhim fairly . We imagine that , feeling hira--selffettered by the formalities which regulated his -conduct at home , he meant to make them the medium for a further and more explicit declaration than he -could make here . Bat though somewhat late , let us "take the good the Gods provide , " and make no complaints . The first announcement of the late Premier regards the Jlncome Tax . We have it now on his own authority , that that tax is to be , not a temporary , but . a permanent one . He meant , even when talking about
' tliree gears , " that it should "not only make good a deScit but also lay the foundation of a more just system of taxation . " That justice consisting , as he afterwards explains himself , in exempting from taxation ' many kinds of produce necessary to the comforts of the working classes ; " and , of course , placing the burden on the shoulders of those most able to bear it , tbe possessors of property . It is long since Unglishministeratook this view of taxation , or regarded justice in their financial calculations . If they aot the monev , they were not over nice about the
means ; and if there was a leaning on any side , it was In favour of their own class ; the weakest backs Fere fitted with the heaviest burdens . Notts avons < hame tout cda—we have changed all that ; the foundation of a more just system of taxation is laid . Henceforward property , and not labour , shall be taxed for the support of national institutions . The idea is yet but crudely worked out , —the machinery bv no means free from defects , but a beginning has ¦ been made , and it will be the fault of the masses if it ia not consummated , by pursuing the principle to Its most remote legitimate results .
For the protection of property , legislators enact laws and judges administer them . For the protection of property , standing armies , immense arsenals , ^ and mighty fleets / are maintained . As long as labour Is in iis active shape it has no protection . It is subject to the law of supply and demand , to be bought iatlie cheapest market , beaten down to the lowest -price under the inHuence of competition , which ¦ cares not whether the life blood be pressed from out the hearts of its victims , by the severity of its demands , so long as there are other victims ready to
iake their places . But the moment labour passes into property , and assumes the shape of houses , lands , mills , machinery and money , all the powers of the law , all the vast machinery ol our national institutions comes into play for its safety and protection . Let the owners pay for these institutions then ; they : alone benefit directly from them . The only just system of taxation is that which leaves labour freelabour of all kind , whether of hand or brain , and raises the supplies necessary for the support of the -slate from rea & td properly .
A system of direct taxation would not only be mere ju-t , but more economical . Millions are annually raised which never find their way to the Exchequer , because they are stopped in the passage thither by those who collect the taxes , and who must live while dolus so . Direct Taxation would reduce the horde of officials who now prey on the public , but who are necessary under the indirect system . It would also prevent reckless or extravagant expenditure by the
Government ; when a naked sum of so many pounds , shillings and pence was demanded for the support of ihe state , a stricter scrutiny into its expenses would ; be instituted . Many things now deemed essential ¦ would , no doubt , be then dispensed with . In short , on all grounds , that just system of taxation , for which Peel ha s laid the foundation , is to be preferred , and we trust his successors in office will not be allowed by the clamour of the monied interest to undo what "has now been done . Onward , not backward , must
be their motto . It is impossible to refrain from admiring the . adroit manner in which Peel caught these sly birds , the peopla of property , and got them to consent to the income tax . " Only for three years , " said he -with a coaxing smile , and though somewhat reluctant they submitted to put their money bags into his hands that he might therefrom take the desiderated seven per cent . They did not think that having become acquainted with their contents , and having ihe string in his hands , how hard it would be to make him relinguish his hold ! Sweet innocents ' . taey have been " taken in and done for 1 "
Of course , the press of the money mongers is loud in its denunciations of this fraudulent attack on the "" sacred rights of property . " Let their masters first take their hands out of the pocket of Labour , and leave it a fair share of the joint product of labour and capital before they complain of a paltry seven per cent being abstracted from the vast mass of wealth they annually wring from the toil of the working classes . Sir Robert is equally explicit in his explanations of his Currency system . His object , he states , in his last Currency and Banking Act , was to give "" to paper money a settled value by making it always exchangeable with specie . "
This question is , however , too wide and deep to be discussed incidentally , and we must leave it to a "" more convenient season" with the simple statemeat , that from itsnroper settlement more than any
The Peel Policy. The Morning Post Has Di...
other single measure , can industry hope to be emanci pated from thraldom and participate equitably in the national wealth . The third topic to which the ex-Premier alludes are the FrecTrade measures of the session , and he somewhat eloquentl y explains thegroundson which these measures rest in the following passage : _ " Thesoeial condition of that country which maintains with the greatest rigour the protective sjstem , T ^^ JK ^ * *? the state of another which has adopted liberal principles ; and the conviction of the
vaiue ot such principles will not obtain , unless by tne encouragement of the freedom of exchange amongst all the nations of the world ; the well-being of each individual will be increased , and the will of Irovidence will be fulfilled—that Providence which has given to every country a sun , a climate , and a soil , each differing one from the other , not for the purpose of rendering them severally independent of each other , jbut , on the contrary , in order that they may feel their reciprocal dependence by the exchange of their respective produce , thus causing them to enjoy in common the blessings of Providence . "
We have , however , in another article , so fully treated of the subject , that itis unnecessary to notice it here . The inference to be drawn from this remarkable manifesto of the ex-Premier is , that he is guided by definite and constructive views in the passing of his measures . lie does not set to work at haphazard , but sees ; how each different part of his work is to dove-tail into another . Above all , the conviction that industry must be freed from all shackles ; that in the welfare and prosperity of the working class is alone to be found the sure and permanent
foundation of national well-being , seems to have stamped itself on his mind . His emancipation from party fetters is an auspicious omen of future statesmanship . We trust that , great as his skill and courage * have been , be will , in the same progressive but fearless spirit , achieve yet higher triumphs , and by devoting his practised and powerful faculties to the investigation of the more abstruse causes of social and pelitical evil , be enabled to confer upon his fellow-countrymen benefits of a hind to which those he has yet bestowed are merely the dawn which heralds the coming day .
"Cheap Bread, High Wages, And Plenty To ...
"CHEAP BREAD , HIGH WAGES , AND PLENTY TO DO . " In 1 S 39 , when the Leaguers were " getting the steam up" and making promises , which , as they approached closer to the realization oi their wishes . were discreetly cast into oblivion , we predicted what the effects of mere Corn Law Repeal would be to the labourers and small capitalists of England . Our prophecy ran thus : — " The repeal of the Corn Laws , unaccompanied by other political , social , and financial changes , would merely tend to the short-lived benefit of the manufacturing capitalists , or those with fixed incomes , at the expense of the territorial or agricultural
capitalists . Such repeal , in connexion with the existing home and foreign competition , would both immediately and remotely injure all classes of operatives , as well as the small farmer . There is no sound reason for supposing tftot , upon an average of years , corn would be much , if any , cheaper in this country , under a free corn trade . than under a restrictive one j but if it was cheaper , the increased competition between the home and foreign manufactures , would speedily screw the difference out of the labourer ; in other words , it would bring wages down to the lowest point . And this effect would be materially accelerated by the rapid increase of mechanical
productive power , called into being by the activity of the competitive principle , which , by superseding manual labour , would tend permanently to depress wages tothejlevel of mere subsistence , while the market , through this cause being kept continually overstocked with manual labour , pauperism and crime would increase . The mere repeal of the Corn Laws , therefore , * " * !! connection with the maintainance of the present system of home and foreign competition , and of employment of labour , is synonymous with lower ivages and increased destitution to the working class . It is no matter to the operative how low the price of provisions may be , it the price of labour or wages is lower . "
We reprint these sentences now at the commencement of the Free Trade system , in order that their accuracy may be fully tested . True , the fact of Sir R . Peel being minister in the interval , has caused the repeal of the Corn Laws to be " accompanied by ' other social and financial changes , " never dreamt o ' by the mere partizans of Repeal . But these changes go so short a way in the right direction , that we have no hesitation in again hazarding the occupancy of the position of a political prophet .
Truth to say , there is not much hazard in the matter . ' The "HighWages and Plenty to do , " which were so bountifully promised in the earlier stages ef the Corn Law agitation , have turned out like the Dead-Sea fruit already . Fair and tempting at a distance , they have crumbled into ashes at the touch . The men who resisted John Fielden ' a Ten Hours Bill , are now proposing to run their Mills only 4 dais a week , or the alternative of an equivalent re duction in wages , for a full week ' s work . Singular enough ,
those who do so were the loudest supporters of repeal—the foremost amongst tbe prophets of the benefits it would confer . They may conveniently forget these facts—we cannot . By their own professions we try them ; and while we by no means assume that , in the short time which has elapsed since the passing of the Corn Bill , it ha * had that fair trial which its supporters have a right to demand , we are at the same time determined , that the ground of controversy between us and the Leaguers shall not be shifted .
They have chosen to sneer at the " ignorance" of the working classes—to calumniate their leaders , as impostors , or worse ; who , either from design or incapability , led the masses a dance after mere political " will o" the wisps . " For a time they have secured the ear of the nation , and tributes of a princely character attest the extent of their influence over popular opinion . But , in the teeth of the £ 100 , 000 jCobden Testimonial , we proclaim Corn Law Repeal adelusion , so far as its practical , permanent effects on the comfort and condition of the labouring millions is concerned .
The squalid poverty , deep degradation , and almost inconceivable sufferings of the Helot class , alike in manufacturing and in agricultural districts , was painfully developed by mill-lords and landlords , in the heat of the struggle between these two factions . The existence of a mass of misery , utterly disgraceful to a great , wealthy , and civilized nation ; and that , too , existing among the very class whose labours create that wealth and sustain that greatness—was proved beyond a doubt . To this fact we pin them both . Will Corn Law Repeal , in connection with the present mode of employing machinery and distributing wealth , remove it ? Thatistherealpointatissue , an d to that we shall keep . A short time will show who are the quacks and impostors—who are the ignorant and deluded , in this matter .
If a reduction to four days a week , or a reduction of five per cent , on the wages of the operatives , is the only alternative left to the manufacturers of Lancashire in their very flush of victory , what are the consequences likely to be when the system comes into full play , aid when , stimulated by the madness of gain , the capitalists of all countries pit machine against machine , each struggling to pooduce most largely and at the lowest cost ? In this there is no salvation for the working classes . Their redemption from toil and poverty must come through other channels . Moral , and not political , economy must become the text book of their rulers , before a just , humane and really beneficial course of legislation can be entered upon .
The existing state of things in the manufacturing districti , has caused our Proteetionist cotemporaries to anticipate the accession of the working classes to their ranks . They expect , that those of the labour class who ever did join the Leaguers will now be convinced of the absurdity of Free Trade , and the value of protection to native industry . " Thank you for nothing" is our reply .
"Cheap Bread, High Wages, And Plenty To ...
The working classes always rated at its true worth the League version of Free Trade . They need no undeceiving on that point . But , Messieurs Protectionists , " native industry" did not flourish so well under your auspices as to induce them again to put the management entirely into your bands . If you like to work with us for a real protection to " native industry , " welcome ; if . not , we will do without you . Once emancipated from the yoke of a landed aristocracy , we are not fools enough to permit them to put it on again . Another
strnggle remains—the effort for freeing labour from ita , subjection to capital . It is the parent of capital , and must not be parricidally treated by its offspring . In the words of Thomas Cavlyle , " Labour must become a seeing rational giant , with a mouI in the body of him , and take his p lace on the throne of things . " To advance him to that supremacy , to enable him to establish a genuine system of protection for industry , we work . But our motto is " onward , " and it the protectionists oannot follow us they must be left behind .
Retrospect Of The Session. There Is A Se...
RETROSPECT OF THE SESSION . There is a seed time and a harvest in the political as well as in the physical world . But the labourer who casts into the bosom of society the s eds of future political harvests , requires to be sustained by a loftier and more unfaltering faith than the tillers of our fields . A short time suffices to bring up , ripen , and gather the fruits of their labours , whereas the political husbandman rarely , if ever , sees the fruition of r-is toils , which , " after many days , " ripen only for posterity .
When Adam Smith and David Hume were corresponding from opposite sides of the Frith of Forth about the book then composing by tbe first-named philosopher , and since so well " known under the title of "The Wealth of Nations , " it could scarcely have entered into the imagination of either , that in the year 1846 the leading dogmas of that work should have so penetrated the minds of the ruling classes of Great Britain as to have effected an entire change in our commercial and financial system .
Yet so it is . We have just finished the legislative harvest of the seed then sown . Peel , Cobden , and Russell have been but working instruments in the hands of the Scotch professor , " who , being dead , yet fiveth" in them . Huskisson and others , many years ago , reaped here and there a scattered patch of ground , bearing the same kind of crop , but it was reserved for this session to complete the work so far as Great Britain is concerned . If the indications abroad may be trusted , there will be in due season tbe same harvest gathered in all European nations . A change so great in the policy of a nation , which , by its immense resources , gigantic machinery ,
ceaseless industry , and restless traders , has formed connections with , and more or less powerfully influences the condition of , mankind under every variety of soil , climate , and government , would , of itself , be sufficient to stamp 1846 as a memorable year in Ihe annals of Parliament ; but when it is remembered under what auspices that Parliament was elected , the principle which the majority of its members were pledged to uphold , and the avowed protective and conservative policy of the leader of a majority of one hundred members , the event becomes all the more striking and pregnant with inferences as to the future .
Making every allowance for the fact that the answer made by the electors to the appeal of the Whigs in 1841 was dictated as much by disgust at their imbecile , extavagant , and tyrannical official career , as by any other cause ; it is undeniable that at that period a very large proportion of all classes believed more or less firmly in the doctrine of protection to native industry . Even
the cheap Corn , Timber , and Sugar " cry of the expiring Ministry rested upon that basis . Russell was in principle quite as much a Protectionist as Peel , the only difference between them was as to the amount of protection required , and the manner of levying it . The one advocated a fixed duty , the other a sliding scale : in principle they agreed , in detail only thev differed .
Had the Whigs proved victorious , Free Trade would not yet have been triumphant . With the facility for making large professions and incapability of devising comprehensive measures , which has ever distinguished them as a party , they would have proved a stubborn obstacle in the way of the League . That association owed many a powerful
recruit to the fact , that Russell and his party sat on the shady side of the Speaker ' s chair , and the comprehension of Russell himself was no doubt thereby rendered much more acute . But for that , the letter to the citizens of London last November , which precipitated the events of the late session , would have been yet unwritten , and the old regime might have been maintained a little longer .
As it was , the Government of the country was thrown into the hands of a Minister , who , if not possessed of those intellectual qualities which constitute genius , possesses the perhaps equally important faculty of adapting to practice the theories and abstract conceptions of more original minds . He felt that he was entrusted with the destiny oi a wide extended empire , at a most critical and transitional period , that the old landmarks of party and of sectional interests were no longer sufficient for the guidance of the statesman . Their foundations were loosened ; the dry-rot infected them
throughout;—their day and usefulness had passed . The old and time-honoured maxims of political wisdom , which had served for the management of an empire , with two-thirds our present population , and scarcely a thousandth part of our present productive power , had become antiquated and obsolete . A living creed and philosophy was imperatively needed to take the place of these " dry bones . " What should it be ? What , under the constitution of England and the prevailing tendencies of those classes , who , by the possession of the franchise ultimately govern it , was the practical—the most utilitarian course to adopt .
Such was the problem winch Sir R . Peel had to solve on his last accession to power . His first Tariff was his answer to the question . e found Free Trade the ripest of all public agitations . He found it espoused by those classes-who , from their wealth , aciivity , and intelligence , naturally exercise great influence on public opinion , and with that caution which distinguishes the whole of his policy , he began ( to use an expression of his own , many years ago , when introducing the Metropolitan Police Bill ) " to grope his way . "
Tliree years' practical experience of the working of his own measures , and extended observation , comparison , and reflection , convinced him that lie ought to adopt completely the commercial and social principle on which he had been cautiously experimenting , and lie did so with a heartiness and determination no less unusual in him , than indicative of the earnest and deep sincerity of his convictions on the subject . The result has been , that the session just closed has been one of the most eventful in itself , and the most pregnant with future consequences of any
to be found in the whole history of the British Parliament . It has been , like one of Shakspeare ' s inimitable plays , a drama of action and of lofty thoughts combined . From the 21 st of January , when Peel made that disclosure of his intended policy , at the commencement of the debate on the address , which took away the breath of his hearers and struck the world with surprise ; down to the 21 st of August , when the new leader of the country party disclosed a piece of secret political history , which made the Whig occupants of the Treasury bench start round towards him as if they
Retrospect Of The Session. There Is A Se...
had been galvanised , and at the close of Ins narra . live draw a breath such as men mig ht do when told that they have been unconsciously sitting on a mine of gunpowder , with the train laid—during the whole of that seven months the stage was occupied by actors and events of the most interesting nature . Either for what was done , or what was indicated , the debates , however long , or , it might be thought by some irrelevant , were worthy of the Legislature of a great nation , and ( with few exceptions ) in keeping with the importance of the topics discussed .
In saying this , however , it must not be understood that we attach that importance to the Corn Bill or the Sugar Bill which the literal devotees and £ . s . d . disciplca of Free Trade are accustomed to do . We are prepared to admit , that the existence of a variety of soil , climate , and consequently of productions , leads to the inference that nations should be mutually dependent upon each other for what they can each produce most easily and of the best description . But there should be appended to this now common-place axiom an important addition ,
which the so-called Free Trade party seem to have lost sight of , or perhaps never knew namely , that mutually beneficial exchanges can only take place between nations when they exchange the surplus of their respective peculiar productions , after their own population have been fully supplied with them . The exportation of the staple articles of human subsistence , or of clothing , while hunger and raggedness exist among a people who thus send away the very things they need , is an irrational and monstrous course of proceedure . If each country has more of
its peculiar products than it needs , exchange the surplus by all means , and thus enable each to participate in the advantages which the diversity of soil and climate are calculated to confer . But such exchanges ought not to be made on the wretched huxtering princi p le of " buying in the cheapest and selling in the dearest market ; " that much vaunted and now current doctrine , which , in tbe eyes of many , seems the ne plus ultra of commercial wisdom , is the principle of a pedlar , not of national commerce . Till the miserable chicanery and low morality it involves is discarded by nations in their dealings with each ' other , justice and truthfulness will be strangers to them , and the peace and
harmony prophesied by some parties as the result of Free Trade measures , will prove but a chimera of the imagination . An honest exchange of equivalents , that is of articles on which an equal amount of capital and labour has been expended , is the Ollly rational or equitable mode of conducting the exchanges of the world , and the contrary principle , no matter how often it may be advocated or how hi gh the reputation of those who do so , is , after all , mere millowner and shopkeeping morality . Its practice is gambling with other men ' s labour , and its consequences must always be such as result from acting in contravention to the great moral laws which regulate the universe . With nations as with individuals —Honesty is the best policy .
To give full effect to the Free Trade measures passed during the Session , it is requisite that statesmen and merchants should learn these obvious truths and act upon them , before even the limited benefits which will directly accrue from these measures can be realized . The true value of tbe Corn Bill and the Sugar Bill lies not so much in what they will effect directl y as the manner in which their settlement bears on other more important and- radical questions . We regard them more in the light of indexes of great changes accomplished , or to be effected , than as great measures in themselves .
They herald the near extinction of that territorial feudalism among us , of which Corn Laws were , and Promogeniture is , among the last relics . From one species of serfdom we are now all but free . Tiie prestige of invincibility has departed from the landlord class , and they will never again regain it . The settlement of the great controversy which has for many years been waged between the Mill-owner and the Landowner , will also have the effect of dissipating a gross delusion shared in bv manv
otherwise well-informed persons . Low wages , squalid abodes , rags and poverty , were all paraded as the effects of a mouoply in Food , the vicious effects of the vicious principle of Protection . Low wages , wretched dwellings , dirt , squalor , famine , and disease , exist among us still ; but they can no longer be attributed to the wrong cause . That is something gained . In the coming enquiry , as to what is the real cause , tbe Landlords are out of the quarrel , so far as their monopoly is concerned . How will it fare with the Mill-lords—tne Money-lords .
Time will show . But , if we augur rightly from the event s of the session , the dominance of anyclassinterest which stands in the way of general happiness is doomed to destruction . The men who so lustily warred against the long-established interests of the Landlord , on the ground that they were an injury to the community at large , cannot possibly defend anv privileges in their possession , when it is
demonstrated that they are equally , if not more , subversive of tbe public welfare . In tbe struggle that must come between Capital and Labour , the point at issue will be clearly denned . We do not doubt as to the result . The change we have made this session , as to our mode o { conducting trade with other countries , heralds a much greater change in our mode of treating Max .
Though other measures of importance were passed or discussed during tbe session , yet it is by the Corn and Sugar Acts that it will in future be best known ; and as laying the foundation of a new commercial system , by which it will exercise an important influence on coining generations . It is , therefore , unnecessary for us , in this general survey of its leading characteristics , to allude to minor subjects .
Never did a session close more hopefully for the people . The old parties are broken up , without tbe slig htest chance of reuniting . The greatest statesman ol the day is absolved from tbe fetters which formerly prevented him from pursuing that onward and upward path , which secures prosperity to nations , and undying fame to him who treads it . Despite ¦ of the malevolence of those from whom he has severed himself , and of the ill-concealed spite and detraction of his political rivals , be stands hi gher in the estimation of the country than any other Minister in this country ever did before . In the
unexampled sacrifice of power , place , and friends , for the purpose of acting upon a conscientious conviction—in the calm , determined , but cautious bearing which he displayed throughout the long and trying debates upon his policy—in the progressive , and even expanding views enunciated by him , and especially in the memorable speech in which he bade farewell to the House in his capacity of Ministerin all these the people see that they have now got what they never had before—a statesman untrammelled by parties , ready to do the will of enlightened public opinion , and able practically to execute its behests .
Great and difficult are the tasks before us . The political enfranchisement of the millions must be achieved . Knowledge must take the place of Ignorance Morality be substituted for Crime ; Health for Disease , and Plenty for Poverty . Political , Educational , and Sanatory measures , all press for settlement . That they can be effectively grappled with by the party now in power , we do not believe . And we cannot think that the nation will long submit to see Sir It . Peel exiled from office , and the power of devoting his vast administrative capabilities to the advancement of its best interests . . lie must , ere long , return to office , as the People ' s Minister .
To replace him in that position from which be was driven by a shameful coalition of opposing political parties , will add another to the triumphs of that Sovereign which henceforth virtually rules England .
Retrospect Of The Session. There Is A Se...
Public op inion changed the Protectionist Parliament of 1840 , into a Free Trade one in 1846 . It will ere long change the Reformed House of Commons , into a real representation of the people . That is the next step lo be taken ; and that achieved , a solid and broad foundation will be laid , upon which all other reforms may be securely based . We cannot better close these observations , than
by the following quotation from Thomas Carlyle , written in 1843 ; it possesses that truth and applicability to the present moment , which characterizes the production of genius and p rofound research into the causes and remedies of social and political evil — " Trade never so well freed , and alt Tariffs settled or abolished , and supply and demand in full operation , let us all know that we have yet done nothing , that wc have merely cleared the ground for doing .
Yes—were the Corn Laws ended to-morrow , there is nothing yet ended , there is only room made for all manner of things beginning . The Corn Laws gone , and trade made free , it is as good as certain this paralysis of industry will pass away . We shall have another period of commercial enterprise , of victory and prosperity , during which it is likely much money will be made , and all the people may , by the extant methods , still for a space of years be kept alive and physically fed . The strangling hand of famine will be loosened from our necks : we shall have
room again to breathe , time to bethink ourselves , repent and consider ! A precious , and thrice precious space of years , wherein to strnggle as for life in reforming our foulways , in alleviating , instructing , regulating , our people . Seeking as for life , that something like spiritual food be imparted them , some real governance and guidance be provided them ! It will be a priceless time . For our new period or paroxysm of commercial prosperity will , and can , on the old
method of competition and devil-take the hindmost , prove but a paroxysm—a new paroxysm , likely enough , if we do not use it better , to be our last . In this of itself is no salvation ; if our Trade in twenty years flourishing , as never trade flourished , could double itself—yet then also , hy the " old Laissezfaire" method , our population is doubled ; we shall then be as we are , only twice as many of us , twice , and ten times as unmanageable . "
Receipts Op The Chartist Co-Operative Land Society.
RECEIPTS OP THE CHARTIST CO-OPERATIVE LAND SOCIETY .
Per Mr. O'Connor. Section No. 1. Suabes....
PER MR . O'CONNOR . SECTION No . 1 . suabes . £ g . d . Halifax , per C . IV . Smith 4 10 C Ely , per H . Aunijier .. .. .. .. 1 1-t S Alva , per J . Robertson .. .. .. . 2 14 2 Hacup , per J . Man son .. .. 4 0 0 Dotlhtu-st lirow , per J . Bowden .. .. O 13 O flripph'uate , per J . E . Cartwright .. .. 2 ' A id Duvir . us , per W . Bond .. ... ,. 1 5 IJ Cheltenham , per T . Ulett 0 la 0 Norwich , per J . Hurry .. .. .. 200 Rochdale , per E . Mitchell 2 0 0 Nottingham , per J . Sweet .. .. .. 0 9 0 Uewsbury , per J , Rouse „ „ „ 5 10 1
Plymouth , perB . Robertson ,. ,. ,. 1 It 6 Newcastle-on . Tyne , per M . Judc .. ,. 2 18 6 Darlington , per W . Carlton .. .. .. 0 18 5 Bolton , per E . Hogkiiisi . ui .. .. .. 160 Manchester , per J . Murray .. .. .. 2 0 0 Northampton , per W . Munday .. .. 0 1 ! " ( i Stockport , per T . Wootluousu •• 5 0 0 Preston , per J . llrown .. .. ,. 460 Leicester , per 7 ,. Astill .. .. .. 10 0 Aslitou-imdei' -Lyue , per E . Hobson .. .. 4 1 G Leeds , per IV . Brook .. .. .. .. 500 Sheffield , per O . Cavill S 13 I Todmordeii , per J . Mitchell .. .. .. SCO Newport , per J . Williams .. .. .. 334 LVewark-ou-Trent , pur IV . Walton .. .. 0 15 0
_ £ ( i 7 2 4 SECTION No . 2 . SHABKSS . Lynn , per W . liuuton .. « .. « 1 5 G Lancaster , per J . Harrison .. .. .. 200 Halifax , per C . W . Smith 1 18 6 ' Ely , per A . Aungier .. .. .. .. 0 5 4 Alva , per J , Uoliertsoii .. .. .. 0 IS 0 . lames Smith , Accrington .. .. .. 2 12 4 Denny , per J . Cameron .. .. .. 1 to 8 Lvnn per J . Scott 1 W 8 Malstead .. 1 18 0 ] ! : iuup , per J . Maw-son .. .. .. 10 0 Dodhurst Brow , per J . Uowden .. .. 1 1 0 Wolverhampton , per , I . Steward .. .. 13 4 Teig niiioiitli , per . 1 . Kilwartls .. .. .. 3 19 0 Norwich , per A . lhigsh'Aw .. .. .. 113 ( J Oldham , per IV . Hamer 2 0 0
Cheltenham , per T . Ulett 2 0 0 Hoi-hdale , per K . Mitchell 8 0 0 Nottingham , per J . Sweet .. .. .. 5 18 0 Dews-bury , per . 1 . Rouse .. .. .. COS l'lyniuuth , per B . Robertson .. .. .. 044 Xowcusile-oii-Tyno , perM . Jude .. .. 1 0 ' 2 liolton , per E . Hodgkinson .. .. .. 2 IS G Northampton , per W . Munday .. .. 3 8 0 Stockport , per T . Woodhousc .. .. 2 0 0 Ilollinwood , per J . Rayner .. .. ,. 0 8 n Preston , per . I . Urown .. .. .. S lli - J Clayton West , per E . Evans .. .. .. 2 5 ( i Ashroii-tiiidcr-Lyne , per E . Hobson .. ., 3 3 8 Sheffield , per G Cavill S 2 6 Todmordeii , per J . Mitchell .. .. .. 5 4 U Swindon , per D . . Morrison .. .. .. 5 0 0 llradford , per . 1 . Alderson .. .. ,. 500 Torquay , per 11 . II . Putt .. .. .. 5 4 I ! Newark on Trent , per \ V . Walton .. ,. ISO £ SS 2 I
SECTION No . 1 . SHAKES . £ s , d . £ a . d . Lambeth - - 3 18 6 Staleybridge -500 Sudbury - - 1 2 0 Ashford . G . l'edfern 0 4 5 Whittington and Limehouse - - 0 17 0 Cat - - - G 19 4 Wellingborough - 1 9 4 Hutterley - - 0 14 G Ovenden - . 050 Leicester ( perl Colne - - - 0 17 S Adams ) - -ISC Heading - - O S ( J South Shields -200 Liverpool - - ft 12 u _ £ -2 r , io 4 SECTION No . 2 . Thomas Heads - 0 2 2 Butterley - -344 Win . Chilils - - 0 I 4 Market Laviugtou S 4 0
Mr . Topp . - . 0 10 0 G . Brooks ¦ 0 10 0 Lynn - - - 11 » 2 t . Skelton and J . Wolverhampton - 1 4 8 Partridge - - 0 2 G Timothy Roach - 0 2 0 Silsden , 11 . Mitchell 0 1 G Mold , per Hughes 0 4 0 Limehouse - - 5 G 4 V . York - - 0 1 0 Sidney Row - - 1 7 li John Morris - O 1 o J . Miller , Grantham 0 1 4 J . V . lloilburn - 0 1 2 i . Stephenson , Norwood , J . Swaf- Cullen - - Q I 0 field - - - 0 G 0 William Lester - 0 2 G G . Worthy , Helper 0 10 0 Headimr - - 8 11 1-. Mr . l ' attison - 0 2 G Hull - - - G a 10 Whittington and Mr . Harney - -040 Cat - - - 7 13 S II . Chancellor , Yarmouth - - 2 10 0
£ » 1 5 4 TOTAL LAND FU . VD . Mr . O'Connor , Section No . I ... 07 2 4 Mr . Wheeler „ „ ... 25 10 4 £ fl 2 . IS S Mr . O'Connor , Section No . 2 ... " s "'""'"" Mr . Wheeler , „ ,, ... 41 5 4 £ I 2 i ) 7 " s _ The £ 2 17 s . 2 d . announced in the Stor of Aug . 22 nd , from Croydon , should have been from Mr , William Strood , Rochester . The sum of 17 s . lOd . from Croydon was omitted . Thomas Martin Wheeler , Secretary .
ron MR . FROST . PER Mil . o ' COSNOIl . Cheltenham , per T . Ulett 10 0 Rochdale , per . S . \ V . O . Melbourne .. .. O S !) A tew friends at Kippcudatc . pur do . .. .. 0 1 (! 11 RECEIPTS OF NATIONAL CHARTER ASSOCIATION rEB OENERAL 3 EORETAR 1 , Sudbury - - 0 1 G Cat - - - 0 3 o James " Swallield , Lamberhead-green 0 2 „ Norwood - - 0 0 0 Swansea - - 0 1 6 Wliittii . gton and FOR CONVENTION . Glasgow - - 0 11 1 FOR MR . FROST . Swansea , per Cudlip - - - - - -01 G
VKTKUAN , ORPHAN , AND VICTIM VUSD . Heading ( to purchase shares in the Laud Society ) Oil it Thomas . MartinWueklsr , Secretary .
Mr. Dknuams Musical Lkci\Jrus On Scottis...
Mr . Dknuams Musical Lkci \ jrus on Scottish and Ikish Songs . — On Wednesday ovenbs ; Mr . Dunham repeated his entertainment consisting of Scottish and Irish song ? , with descriptive illustrations and pianoforte accompaniment , in Crossby Hall , Bishopsgatc . The selection was a pleasing one . Wc had old-established favourites pleasantly blended with some more recent compositions from the gifted Win . Thorn , of lnverurr . " The Mthorless Bairn " and the Hameless Ik ' , " two well known productions of the weaver bard , were sang in admirable style . Mr . Denham gave us a favourable specimen ot his own mental powers in the double capacity ot poet and musician in a sweet ballad "The Blue Braes" and inn light pleasing ditty entitled "Bonnie Jeanic Gnome . " Tho lecture portion of the entertainment was very interesting and creditable to this new and very dcaorviiig candidate for popular favour . The audience vcrv warmly testified their high appreciation of the merits of the artiste .
Crate' Flftobtm-Rnts
Crate' flftobtm-rnts
Unitkd Trades Association, Scutla.^B.—Mr...
Unitkd Trades Association , Scutla . ^ b . —Mr . Jacob s , the Missionary ef this Association , has been very successfully engaged in explaining the object * ot the Association to the Trades of Edinburgh , lie has addressed meetings of the Joiuers , Masons , oaomet-jnakers , and a meeting of Trades' Delegates . I he princi ples and plan of the Association are very kvovably received , nud the labours of Mr . Jacobs are likely to effect » reat good . DELEGATE MKETING OF FRAME YYO'Uv KNITTERS , As .
A meeting of Delegates from the Fancy Bobbin Net , Silk Blond , Lace , and Frame-work knitters , ¦ if the Counties of Nottingham , Leicester , and Derby , was held on Monday , the 24 th tilt ., in the Assembly room of the " Dove and Rainbow" Inn , ttirliameritstrect , Nottingham . The meeting was most numerously attended by delegates from Mansfield , Leicester , Nottingham , Duffield , Sheepshead , Snt-btiw , Arnold , rtuddimjton , Hyson Green , Thurmaston , Bulwell , llucknal Tork-rd , Radford , and other districts in > which the above mentioned branches oi ' oiir '" . Native Industry" ave carried on . The routine business customary at a Conference- ' such as that now noticed—of the veritable represen tatives of the "order of Wealth Producers , " having been tiansacted ,
Mr . Robson , ( of London ) from the Central Committee ot the * National Association of United Tradt ? s > detailed the mode of action by which that import-ant liody had been enabled to brim ; a recent strike at Denbigh to a speedy and triumphant t . rmi nation , Mr . li . thea urged the vaftls superiority of a Notional combination ot trades over mere sectional unions . Acting in accordance with the principle of " all for all , " their combined resources , energies , and ' misjin . ' would beenlisled in upholding the interests , and ? ecuring the just requirements , of even the weakest among them ;—the oppressor * of any pat-titular trade
lieing regarued , and battled wish , , i » thc " common enemy" of all I Among the imracnsi' advantages r < - suiting from such a concentration of their powers , it might be mentioned that the impoverished trades would thus command the resources of their better remunerated brethren of the order of industry . Having a more comprehensive bioe—and embracing a fur greater number of nieuibuis—than any [( isolated union , the Natbnaf Associutio-i weak ! , cim . vequontly , possess a wider field for exertion . Hence they might notonly adopt the most effectual msans for preventing a reduction of wages , in any instance , but they would secure to tho industrious workman—whatever
his denomination—a just and adequate remuneration tor his labour . Nay , further , they would no lunger he necessitated to behold the miserable spectacle of working men , " oustrike , " reduced—aslutheito had been the case—to the deplorable position of compulsory idlers , and a heavy Ixirtliern upon their feiiows . The immense funds tube neeumulateii by a National Association of trade * , would enablo them to give immediate employment to those unfortunate men . They might thus utterly "laugh tossorn" the effort * of their oppressors , and coin bine the hitherto
antagonistic characters of employers and employed , —of ' Wealth Producers , ' and ' Wealth Distributors . * Bitter experience had indeed " made them wise ;"— . they were resolved henceforward , to be their own employers—and to enjoy the full productuf theirowii ingenuity and industry—withmit the intervention of mere p ' rofic-moiigers " '—Mr . Kobson then submitted a pikn for the active agitation of each locality , in the three counties , by the several District Committees , which would insure to each an augmentation of members , and centralize the efforts of all .
The enthusiastic plaudits with which Mr . Robson was greeted , on the conclusion of his eluqui-nt and welUreai-oned address , testified that the delegates present most heartily responded to the statements enunciated by him . The " past and present" positions , and "futuro prospects" of the various branches of the trade , were then dispassionately reviewed ; and the subjoined resolutions ( severally propped and seconded by Messrs . Felkiu , Buckhy , £ > ean , Buxton . Saxton , Warner , Ward and Sarson , ) were unanimously adopted : —
1 . — "That Mr . Robson ' s statement relative to the "Denbigh Strike , "is , in erery re .-peet , satisfactory . " 2 . — " That , inasmuch , as we condder . that the old system of "Strikes" has been productive of the most disastrous consequences , wc , therefore , fully a | prove of the principles and plans adopted by the recent Conference of United Trades , for employing men " on strike" in their own trades , in preference io supporting them in parading the streets , which Ins hitherto bern the case . "
0 . —That thii Pelegate meeting recommend tho Central Committee , previous to tneir commencing the manufacturing of stockings , to receive from the localities all information as to the nature of She manufacture ; and that samples be sent to the Central Committee for their inspection , with the prices received for the making of that material . i . —That an active agitation of the three counties b y the district committees in oac !' . locality be immediately commenced , in accordance with the plan laid down bv Mr . Kobson .
. 5 . —Ii at a vote of thanks be given to the central committee in Lo don , for deputing Mr . Robson to the present delegate meeting , " to explain the course the central ci . mmirtee intend to take in reference to the employment of men when on strike . C—That on the return of delegates to their respective localities , they use their utmost endeavours in calling Public Meetings , and laying before them the position of the Leicester men , in respect to the debt contracted through the Frame Rent Trial , and that committees be formed in each locality to superintend the collecting of funds until stifhVent be raised to liquidate the debt . All monies collected to be forwarded to Mr . Winters , 15 , Eaton Street , Leicester ; and a statement of the amounts received to be published weekly , in the Northern Star .
Alter the Delegates had concluded their sitting ' , apublic meeting was held iu the Market-place , when . Mr . Robsi-n , from London , and several other delenates addressed the meeting . A Jai-ge coni .-our .-e ot * the working classes were present and luteuel with the greatest attention , so that they luittht hear explicitly every word which was uttered by the delegate from the Central Committee , London , the followi . ig resolution was unanimously agreed to : — "That it is the opinion of this meeting that nrthing short of a national organization of the Trades ' Unions oi'Great Britain and Ireland can effectually ameliorate the condition of the workins' classes . "
Some of the delegates having business whichcallei them together , subsequent to the dny on which tha three Counties' Delegate Meeting was held , nnd having found that the drlejsatrs h . ' id omitted to state when , where , and by whom the next three Counties * Meeting should be called , submit the following , for your consideration . It is thought that if a Conference of the Trades of th ? . throe Counties were held once in six months , it would lie quite sufficient for the transaction of public busme .-s ; but should anything occur iu the ir . tei im to any locality which mayrequire the advice and assistance of tiie Trades , ife will be competent for them to call a meeting , ai ' tci ? having consulted the principal localities , and having guiiu-d their concurrence , and publicly stated ihe object of the meeting , and giving ibuitJen day ' s notica thereof .
Siiocicino And Extraordinary Suuide.—On ...
Siiocicino and Extraordinary Suuide . —On Taesday forenoon . Mrs . Charlotte Gl-u . bv , a widow , nbour fifty years of ajrc , who carried on the l > Ui jnesa of a dress maker , at No . li , Queen street . Fmsbury market , destroyed herself under very shockii-y eir-< umatances . From the statement of a vo ing Ionian named Sarah Bennet , who was in her serake- and resided with her , it appears that during the morning there had been . Motliing unusual in her manner , but . shortly before eleven she went up stairs , sayiiiu ' , that she was going up to her mother , a very agsd woman , who lay bed ridden in an upper apartment nnd shehad no sooner entered the room than she » pened the window and threw herself out . and the anise of the
fall being heard , her man . led remains , were foi'nd lying in the yard . An alarm being tires , IViiieemar * Smith , 171 G , was called in , and Mr 'lavis , a sue * aeon living nearly opposite , was in imaiediate attendance , but it was apparent that death must have been nearly instantaneous . The drcvased had fiuteii direct upon her head , which was literally dasWl to pieces , the brains being scattered iv f ' . tti' a " wall more than a yard distant from the . spot where she foil , and amongst them Mr . ll . ivis , the silicon , found one of the eyes . Immediate iiift > rimitiu » was forw .. W , ded to Mr . Baker , the coroner , for an uupieat lo . V » hrbl to ascertain the civeunstaticea wJvfcii led to We- dreadhis act .
Fatal Coilision at Ska . —We regret to report an occurrence on the Atlantic : ft ! " a mo « melancholy nature . Ihe eirotuustimoc is thus given in tho Liverpool dlk ' on , of Mondav— " livbrmation of a most melancholy nature has reached- us . The steai » ship Ilibernia , which arrived t > u Frid ay tVwu America , while hi her passage uyj tbe channel , in a dense tog , ran down a small vessel . We regret to state that throe or four of her- crow , together- with tho captain , were drowned , though the sSeamer ' s boats were instantly lowered , : iud every r-flbrfc was made to save the unfortunate , men . No authentic particuhus have come into ouxyosscssion . " In some
respects wo believe , according to the information furnished by our Liverpool correspondent , this is inaccurate . Tho disaster icturred on tl' . e coast of America , during tho night time , while the Ilibernia was on her vovage from Boston to Ualilax . lho _ steamer struck the American fishing schooner , w ithT her starboard bow , and the schooner swung / round , > under the starbaard paddle wheel , and immediately ' afterwards sank . According to our information ; -the -I captain , with five men composing the erlewi wore drowned . The Ilibernia received some trilling damage in the bow and , paddle bos , which arp » aow being repaired , "; L !
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 5, 1846, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_05091846/page/5/
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