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4 ' THE NORTHERN STAR, May 8 > 184 ?.
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OS THE FIRST OF JULY , 1S47,
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THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY, MAY 8, 1847.
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THE PEOPLE AND THEIR PROSPECTS. The Parl...
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EMANCIPATION OF INDUSTRY. The signs of i...
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PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW.
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IRISH POLICY—TEN HOURS' BILL-NEW ¦ . • P...
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A curious illustration of the extent to ...
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* Our anticipations are verified. Minist...
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For one i thing only have the people rea...
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The unworkable and fallacious nature of ...
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The case of the framework knitters of th...
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€o *Ual»«f # Comgjpoii&fli te
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HISCKLLANKOOS, AVoiob pbokthe PoTiEBtEs....
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Transcript
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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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
4 ' The Northern Star, May 8 > 184 ?.
4 ' THE NORTHERN STAR , May 8 > 184 ? .
Os The First Of July , 1s47,
OS THE FIRST OF JULY , 1 S 47 ,
Ad00412
t ~« WiiberumMa , NO . L ( PRICE SIXPENCE , } 01 THE PEOPLE'S LEGAL ADVISER . The object of this monthly publication , is perhaps suffi--tflenUygindicated by its rife ; it may be well , however , to add a few words in explanation . - ; That there aremanv subjects of an exclusively legal character , and hearing peculiarly on tbe ^ tercstsoffte working classes-onthem more than on th otherclasses of socktj-is a truth that *^ J" ^ JS £ fiS £ Si and it would , of conr . ^ e , be desirable ftat « g *«^ bebronghttogeUierin afon ^ cheap , « W £ S » leto ' inteUigttle . for thebenefit of those to whom they emeu , jaw ? , ofwhich ** f ^;^& K 3 £ £ own « 0 iwoii ^ tol £ « g £ ^^ upon itinthe ton , and such *»**" JSL be called the princi-Smwnr Contts . ^ S ^ StleT pages will contain all the palfeatnreoftteworfc . oaaP » otots 0 ( naircoI 1 I 1 . rted ' %££££ * TanSS ofWorknnjmen . Each ™™ . whf ™^ hn & 8 g « s devoted to an Essay on laVKamint wiU benoticedasitbecomesa law-though tiusnoticevdflbeUttle more than an abbreviated rader , excent with regard to the Acts relating to the class for which weprincipally write . Such space as remains after the above are disposed of , trill be occupied with lighter matter ; retiming , however , the legal character of the oofc It may , perhaps , be predicted without much doubt , that such a Magazine will , to thegenera'ity oireaders , be a very dull affair , and that probably there may not be sufficient purchased to pay toe expense of publication . Still the attempt will be made . Such a work is wanted ; it is frequently askedfor—there is no other work that professes to supply that want The following Index of the probable contents of the first Knnber , vrill nerhajis , exbibitthe scope and intention more clearly : — The Joint Slock Companies Jet . Acts Passed daring the Present Session . The Law of Conspiracy . The Trialoflhe Mechanics . Cases in the Superior Courts . Lord CampoeWs Lives of the Chancellors . Each Number . as has been before stated , will contain one Act of Parliament , that Act will always be given in full , and without any curtailment whatever . This may he objected to by some as an unnecessary waste of space —but there is much to be said in favour of the course intended . The Joint Stock Companies * Act may appear to 1 » one in which only men of wealthhave any interest—but this is a mistaken notion , and there are several reasons & r the selection , which will probably be recognised as safficient . There are many Acts of Parliament which might be rendered eminently conducive to the advancement and interests of the working classes , although they were passed with totally different objects—and this Act is One of them . Bnt enough is written for the present purpose . And yet another word—in many respects theMagazinemsy be deficient , nay , there is no doubt about it . Printers will grow heavy and make blunders—a harder will be omitted —a subject ofimportar . ee will appear in a corner and in a fliminntive type , hardly visible ; while a matter of no moment , thrown in , it may he , for want of hetter , will shine out—large—spaced—and perhaps in italics . These are accidents that cannot be avoided . We dontknow that it will be so—bnt it may be so ; not only dinner and sleep—but life itself with us is hurried . Ours is no "Book ofBeaury . " . . . And yetit may he honestly promised , that he who boys the Magazine for the purpose of instruction—and fairly reads it through and over again , will receiv something more than his money ' s worth . This avowal is made with verv considerable confidence . This work will be entirely under the Editorship and control of Mr W . P . Robbbts , Communications may he directed to him , at No . 3 , Essex Chamber ? , Essex-street , Manchester . 2 , Robert Street , Adelphi , London , 10 th May , IStl .
Ad00413
TJfPOETAKT . TO PHOTOGRAPHISTS . * X application wag made on the 22 nd Scpfcaiber , to iL the "Vice-Chancellor Af Rnsrio-a . fcjr ¦«*¦ . »«« ni ' « no , acting unaer a mostcxtraordiny delusiw , considers tdnaeitthe sole patentee ot the Photographic process !) to restrain MR . ESERTON , of l , Temple-strios , and 148 , Reet-street , rom taking Photographic Porti . Uts , which te does by a process entirely different fron- and very nperior to Mr . Beard ' s , and at one-half the cl itge . His Honour refused the application in loto . Ko license required to practice this process , which is taught hy Mr . Egerton iu a few lessons at a moderate charge * AU- tho Apparatus , Chemicals , & c to be had as usual t his DevoKl , Temple-street , Whitefriars .
Ad00414
IMPORTANT TO EMIGRANTS . AGRICULTURISTS and others may purchase 15 R ACRES OP RICH TIMBERED LAND IN WESTERN "VIRGINIA , described by General Wash . mtgvm as the Garden of America , for £ 23 8 s . Sd . Sterling , ABOUT THREE SHILLINGS PER ACRE . £ 2 I 2 s . only to be paid down , the remainder in FIVE ANNUAL PAYMENTS . For further information apply to CHARLES WILLMER , American Land Office , STANLEY . BUILDINGS , BATH STREET , LIVERPOOL . Of whom may be had a Pamphlet on Emigration , in which these Lands are fully described , and the terms of ale explained , by sending three postage stamps to free the same .
Ad00415
AUXILIARY TO THE NATIONAL LAND COMPANY . THE POUNDER of the NATIONAL CO-OPERATIVE BENEFIT SOCIETY respectfully acquaints his brethren of the Land Company and his Brother Democrats in general , that his object in founding the Society was to aid and assist the National Land Company in its glorious efforts to emancipate the human race , by pouring lauds into its eichequer , through the means of the NATIONAL LAND and LABOUR BANE ; but the adoption of the PEOPLE'S BANK has proved a death-blow to the enrolment ef the Society . All enrolled societies since the passing of the New Friendly Societies' Act , being compelled to deposit their cash in the Bank of England , and thus furnish the " sinews" to uphold a Standing Army , Police , Pensioners , ic ., instead of aiding to regain the land for the People , and furnishing "Happy Homes for Honest Industry , "—the Founder believes his Brother Democrats will join with him in infinitely preferring the latter ; be has , therefore , with the full consent and approbation of the Directors , resolved to issue the Rules ' nnenrolled , and although they may lack that protection which the "Registrar ' s '' signature is presumed to gire , he flatters himself the following securities will he sufficient to inspire confidence in the bosom fit every Democrat , and gain for the project that support which will cause this little tributary stream ultimately to swell into a mighty torrent , flowing freely into The Great Land Wier : — First , —Its monies will be Banked with a duly Registered Company , through the National Land and Labour Bank . Secondly , —Its Directors and other officers are men injoying tbe full confidence wf the people , and wboseprobity and honesty have been duly tested by the members of the "National Land Cumpwy , " of which the ; are officebearers . Thirdly . —Its Secretrries and other officers will be elected annually by its members . Towrtldy , —The Founder and General Secretary ( Mr : SiAiiwoon ) has been for eighteen years past , and still -continues , the popular servant of the people , in addition to winch he has for several years past , and still is emf loyed as Reporter to tbe Northern Star , and Collector of ionies , hy Mr Feabcos O'Cossor , to whom he proudly se & rs for Testimonials of character for honesty and integrity . The Society is sow fairly launched ? nd sent forth to the world . Rules , Cards , ic . are now ready to be issued , and those Agents , ic who have not already obtained them , are requested to inform the General Secretary what quantity of Rules , t & c , they trill require , and hy what convenience they shallbe forwarded . The Secretary or . his Assistant will be in attendance at the Assembly Rooms , 83 , Deanstreet , Soho , every "Wednesday Evening , from eight until ten o ' clock , to enrol members and transact other bus ! ness . —All Persons desirous of immediate answers will much oblige by addressing their Letters ( pre-paid , with Stamp for answer ) to the Secretary , Little Vale-place , Hammersmith-road , London . Thanking my Brother Landsmen and Democrats fur the very warm , prompt , and effic ient manner in which they have espoused my humble project , I am , Brother Democrats , Respectfully yours , Edmdsd Stam . woo » . AssemMj Rooms , 83 , Dean-street , Soho , ApraTth . 1617 .
Ad00416
TO T AILORS . B . Read ' s New Patent Indicator for finding PWP 0 ^ 00 and disproportion in all ' systems of cutting . <^ eate ErantedTApril **>« 18 « ' S'S ™* ? t- f ? ? °° *? CJapmeal , Patent Office , i , Old Square , Lincoln s Inn . Bedaration of sanft , signed by Sir G . CarroU , Knt ., Lord Hayorof London . THE LONDON AND PARIS SPRING AND SUMMER FASHIONS for 18 i 7 , are now ready , by BENJAMIN READ and Co ., 12 , HarUstree ^ Bloomsbury square , London ; und by G . Berger , Holywcll-street , Strand . May be had of all booksellers wheresoever re . aiding . By approbation of her Majesty Queen Victoria and H . R . U . Prince Albert , a Splendid Print , beautifully coloured , and exquisitely executed , the whole very superior to anything of tne kind ever before published . This beautiful print will be accompanied with the most fashionable , full sixe , Frock , Dress , and Riding Coat Patterns—a complete Paletot , much worn in the Spring as an over Coat—and a youth ' s new , fashionable Hussar Jacket , with skirts—the manner of cutting them for all sizeslull explanation for variation of style and method of makiug-up—with five diagrams , clearly illustrated—and allflecessary information respecting style and fashion . Price 10 a ; : post free * o any part of England , Ireland , Scotland and "Wales , Wis . Post-office orders , or post ¦ lamps . received as cash . Read and
Ad00417
BALDNESS EFFECTUALLY REMOVED . A SUUGEONfresidmgia Cork having , in the course of his Practice , bad his attention ¥ « tKj rtirk f «^ to / and acquired great experience in the TilbAiaJSAi OF CAPILLARY DISEASES , heg 3 to inform those persons afflicted trith-BALDXESS { whether in youtiijoraidanctd" ia lifejniav , by a most simple process , BEPRODTJC that jieetssary uraainent o Parties applying will re-< jnir » to < ene ] ose a swall . quantiry of hair , and a fee of five rhfliingst by post-office trder , in favour ofSurgeon Edward Wiulanis , i 3 ,. I £ enry-strcet v Cork . ; wheu the -lie « s » aryiEstmctions will be forwarded byTeturn of post .
Ad00418
\ q ADAME D'ARUSMONT , late FRANCES WRIGHT , i . \ x will deliver , a coarse of lectures , at Fox ' s Chapel ; South'Place , Finsbury , on Tuesday and Thursday evenings , commencing on Tuesday ,, May llth , athalf-nast eight o ' clock . Subject : "The Mission of England considered with reference to , the civilizational history of Modern Europe , and the denouement of the difficulties of the hour . " Admission to each lecture , twopence , to defeat the expenses of the Chapel , Printing , and Advertising .
Ad00419
WEST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE . WAKEFIELD ADJOURNED SESSION , NOT ICE IS HEREBY GIVEN , that the Spring General Quarter Sessions of the Peace , for the West Riding of the County of York , will be held by adjournment in . thc Committee-Room , at the House of Correction , at WiKEFiEtn , on Thtosoay , the 13 th Day of May inst , at Twelve o ' clock at Noon , for the purpose of inspecting the Riding Prison , ( the said House of Correction ) and for examining the Accounts of the Keeper ef the said House of Correction , making Enquiry , into the conduct of tha Officers and Servants belonging to the same ; and also into the behaviour of the Prisoners , and their earnings . C . H . Elsi . ev , . Clerk of the Peace . Clerk of the Peace ' s Office , Wakefield , May Is ^ 18 * 7 .
Ad00420
THE LAND . NOTICE . —Any individual desirous of purchasing a two acre allotment , at O'Connorville , are requested to communicate with Mr John Hart , No . 7 , O'Connorville , near Rickmanswortb , he having such allotment to dispose of , in consequence of other engagements . AU letters to be prepaid .
Ad00421
NOTICE . The Shareholders of the NATIONAL LAND COMPANY are hereby informed that A GRAND DEMONSTRATION Will take place at O'CONNORVILLE , HERTS , On Whit Monday , May 2 « h , 18 * 7 , To commemorate the Anniversary of the Company . The Directors not having succeeded in obtaining a special train from London fur the occasion , theMetropolitan members are recommended to proceed to th « estate by ran or railway . Day ticket * to and from Watford can be had at Euston-square station for 2 s . 6 d . each . The branches will make their own arrangements immediately . The time and place of starting for vans and other vehicles will be announced in a future notice . Br Osdeb of the DiBEcrons .
Ad00422
Now Ready , a New Edition of MR . O'CONNOR'S WORK ON SMALL FARMS . To be had at the Northern Star Office , 16 , Great Wind mill Street ; and of Abel Heywood , Manchester .
Ad00423
JUST PUBLISHED , No . S , ( price fid . ) of THE LABOURER , A Monthly Magazine of Politics , Literature , Poetry , die . Eiitedby FfiAROua O ' Cossor , Esq ., asd Ernest Jones , Esq-, ( Barristers-at-Law . ) The Democratic Movement in this country being wholly deficient in a monthly organ , the above magazine is esta . blished to remedy this deficiency . coHTEsre . 1 . May Day , a Poem , hy "BraKf Jonas , o . Letter of an Agricultural Labourer . 3 . The Jolly Young loacher . 4 . The Phase of Political Parties . 5 . The Confessions of a King . € . The Insurrections of the Working Classes . 7 . The Land . 8 . The Romance of a People . 9 . The Queen ' s Bounty—A Legend of Windsor . 10 . The Monthly Review . NUMBER III . of "THE LABOURED , " Containing , amongst other matters , a Reprint of Mr F . O'Connor ' s Letter , in the "Northern Star" of January 30 th , demonstrating the certainty with which an allottee may support himself and family , and accumulate money , on a "Two Acre" allotment . The very general demand that was made for the paper containing the above letter induced the Editors to reprint it , after careful revision , in the March Number of the "Labourer . " NUMBER IV . of "THE LABOURER , " Containing an elaborate Treatise on tbe NATIONAL LAND AND LABOUR BANK , IK ITS RELATION WITH THE NATIONAL LAND COMPANY . Are now reprinted , and may be had on applications . NUMBER VI . of "THE LABOURER , " To be published on June 1 st , will be enriched with an elegantPortraiti engraved on Steel , of T . S . DUNCOMBE , ESQ ., M . P . Number VI . will complete the first Volume of the " Labourer- " copies of which , neatly bound in embossed cloth , ( Price 3 s . fid . each ) will be ready early in the month of June . Letters ( pre-paid ) to be addressed to the Editors , 16 Great Windmill Street , Haymarket , London . Orders received by all agents for the "Northern Star , " and all booksellers in town and country .
Ad00424
On the 10 th of May , will be published , price 6 d . (" printed from tbe Short- hand Writer ' s Notes , ) mHE TRIAL OF THE MECHANICS AT LITERPOOL * on the 2 nd and 3 rd of April , 1817 . Edited by W . P . Robcbts , Esq . London : JVorttern Star Office , 1 ( 5 , Great Windmill Stre-t , Hajmarket Manchester : Abel Heywood , Oldham-street ; and all Booksellers .
The Northern Star Saturday, May 8, 1847.
THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY , MAY 8 , 1847 .
The People And Their Prospects. The Parl...
THE PEOPLE AND THEIR PROSPECTS . The Parliamentary Quacks , who saw in the present crisis only an accidental event , the blasphemous Churchman who thought of it only as a Divine dispensation , the party out of otSce who beheld in it a political godsend , and the party in office who gazed bewildered on the "Great difficulty , " that , white it thinned their enemies by death , was sharpening their anger by famine , all stand alike before the tribunal of the people—with a vast circumstantial evidence against them ; while hunger , fever , and bloodshed , are writing their condemnation
on the page of history . It would be an interesting study to devolpe how , one by one , these evils crept upon society from the Pandora-box of monopoly ; how first the healthful current of national life was disturbed—here stopped and there accelerated—how gold began to assume a preponderating power , until now , when its few possessors think it equal to any emergency , and that showering it over Ireland willnot cultivate the neglected soil—but demoralise and enslave its equally-neglected children . Retrospections , however , are only in so far useful , inasmuch
as they teach us the means of extrication from a great calamity , or afford a warning of future danger . This is a good that does not always accompany an evil—in our case it happily docs—and every different phase of society points to the class-legislation which has withered the stately branches of our English oak , while all the nourishment was drawn from its roots and trunk to feed the extravagent foliage of its haughty crest . Never was effect more plainly deducible from cause—never was the consequence of monopoly more clearly developed : the perishing of all beneath the baneful influence ot one monied class .
The rot begins at the foundation—the working population feel it first but it does not stop with them ; —tbe middle classes , who erroneously cling to the " great monied interest , " are beginning to suffer from its effects . Those least-capable of stemming the storm—the small shopkeeper and retail tradesman—are beginning to drop off one by one from the golden standard of respectability . The stagnation in trade is already affecting them ; they are losing , as we illustrated last week in the case of Oldham , they are losing , we say , their best customers , as the working classes arc reduced from workers into
paupers : —the majority have not the capital to withstand the crisis—they get into debt , become embarrassed , and thus insolvencies and bankruptcies are every day of more frequent occurrence . Not so with the great capitalist . Out of the calamity he draws fresh sources of profit—and where this is interrupted he is enabled to wait , to reap a prospective advantage , while the minnows in tbe vast sea of mammon are perishing hourly before his eves . He is able to dictate his terms—he rules the market in which he sells . Thus the creator of the panic speculates on its results . The famine he caused must he knew ; be alleviated ; Government must take it
The People And Their Prospects. The Parl...
m hand—gold must be poured , > i—food must , be bought , at any cost , to calm down insurrection : he had the food , it must be bought of-Aim , and . thus , between the anger of the people and the fears of the Government , he fills his coffers out of the sufferings of humanity . This gives him added strength to meet tbe reaction that he could not fail to anticipate . This enables him , now that food is becoming even plentiful , to keep up the prices ; for , if he cannot sell , he can afford to wait , since he thinks sooner or later he will be able to dictate his own
terms . Thus everything is tending to that result which we have before predicted—the division of the community into two classes—the great monied interest , and the toiling millions . The middle classthe shopkeeping class—which has held so proud an aspect , which has set its foot upon the neck of the working-man ; at the same time that it knelt in slavish subserviency to the capitalist , is beginning to wonder that it reaps no advantages from the monopolies it carried in the interests of its masters . The " buying cheap and selling dear , " brings it no benefit , since it is the wholesale dealer who sails dearly to the
retail tradesmen ; and as the latter is obliged to raise the price of his articles , so he finds the number of his customers diminish . Again , as the class above him keeps rising in undue importance , that class to which the tradesman has erroneously looked for support , he finds that . in that quarter , too , the amount of his custom is growing less . The small beginner , who was content with English goods , now grown into the great capitalist , scorns that which may be easily had ; his wife and children are no longer clothed in the fabrics in English looms , but they rustle in foreign silks ; the wares in the neighbouring
market-town are too poor in this rauroad-age—and trade becomes centralized in one or two great centrepoints , ; where it is massed in the hands of a few monied monopolists , to the ruin of the iradesroariclass throughout the country . The latter , now hegin to find that they have made a great mistake—that millocracy is their greatest enemy , and democracy their truest friend . The bugbear of ' high wages , which alarmed them-, while it is beginning to lose its terrors before the light of reason , at the same time shows more clearly that the millocrat and the shopkeeper has no common interest . It is to the
advantage of the former that wages should be low—since he has chosen a foreign and hot a home market ; and loss of strength in a starving population , is more than atoned for by machinery . It is to the advantage of the latter that wages should be [ high , since it is to this very population that they have to look for customers—and the amount of men paid by the farmer and shopkeeper is small compared to that employed by the -manufacturer and capitalist—and it is the amount of wages received by the men so employed , that enables him to buy much , little , or not at all , the wares of the tradesman , and the ' . ' bread-stuff '' of
the farmer . Even the higher wages paid by these latter is no loss—it must be looked upon as money put out at interest , and at a high rate of interest too , since the working man does not lock the produce of his toil in a chest , or bury it in the ground—but spends it to buy himself and his family the necessaries , and , if possible , the comforts of life . Thus the money paid by a class to the working men it em . ployed , is returned again to the employing class with that interest comprised in the profit on the goods or produce they may sell , enabling them by its quick returns to extend the sphere of their trade , and thus
establishing that state of polity , without which a national life must be diseased ; mutual benefit arising from the prosperity of each , instead of one class growing rich , by absorbing the resources of another . Meanwhile the evil effects under which we are suffering , are but a type of those that will ensue , if the legislative causes of these effects are permitted to work on undisturbed . It is because they are not a divine dispensation , that their developciuent mask continue under the present system . Class legislation , the source of the misery , is flowing on uninterruptedly . Until its poisonous stream is dammed bv
Universal Suffrage , and the waters ef progression fertilise the field of labour , so long must the wealth of England float down the narrow channel of Monopoly , amid the deserts it has drained to swell its current And , indeed , the present crisis would be more severe , were it not for temporary and accidental causes . Prices would be higher , were it not for the recent money-transactions of the Bank , which , however , cannot exercise an otherwise than evanescent influence ! while the monied power that controuls the actions of our statesmen and crushes the industry of the people , expects , to mould the FUTURE iu its
golden die . Gold will maintain an army , navy and police , to do its bidding;—gold will bribe vena l constituencies to return a venal parliament;—gold will banish the refactory slave as an emigrant or a convict , —and thus , strong in an imagined security , the millocracy drive the chariot of their Juggernaut over the necks of prostrate millions . But woe to them if those millions should combine ; woe to them if their petty jealousies should cease ; woe to tbem if the conflicting sections of the working classes , who suffer , from the same evils , advocate the same reform * , but quarrel about the NAME ,
should think that liberty ' 'by any other name would be as sweet , " and rally for the cause of Man against Mammon . However strong monoply has built its fortress , 'built on a quicksand it . suffers peril from the flood of freedom ;—and , " as there is a tide in the affairs of men , which , taken at the flood , leads on to fortune , " woe to monopoly , we say , if the people take advantage of the present turn the split of factions , the coming election , the monetaiy crisis , the pressure of the famine , and the threat of the pestilence , to sweep away the ( hoary villainy of ages , and , before they . grant another
seven-years lease to iniquity , make a stand for the Charter , and extort their rights from the weak hands of " Expediency '' and ' . 'Finality . '' Woe to monopoly , we say , if the the Irishmen , instead of emigrating , should insist upon staying at home . Woe to monopoly if the people of Great Britain but once awake to a sense of their interest , their duty , and their power . Yorkshire ahd Lancashire are already sounding notes of preparation : —why not all England ? There is no time to lose . Gjoi vernment will probably hasten an election , to take
the " sense" of the country ( that is , fathom the venality of 800 , 000 electors , ) before matters pro . ceed to worse , and their incapability becomes still more apparent . We say to the people—Remember them at the hustings ! and you that are honestremember them at the polling-booth I Think , when you vote , on your wives and children , —for on your votes will mainly depend whether they . shall perish as starving slaves in factories and Bastiles , or whether you will coerce rampant tyranny into submission , and open the door for a Chartist Parliament to supersede a Venetian oligarchy .
Emancipation Of Industry. The Signs Of I...
EMANCIPATION OF INDUSTRY . The signs of immense political and social changes multiply on all hands . They are visible equally in the new and kindly interest evinced by the aristocracy in question , affecting the rights and interests of the masses , and in the more enlightened , independent and determined progress of the working classes themselves ; Those who devoted themselves some
years ago to the advocacy of the rights of labour , and the task of elevating the condition of the wealth-producers , had frequently the sorrow of witnessing the frustration of their efforts , by the want of union , and the prejudices of the very parties whom they sought to benefit ; No lesson has been so often taught by the leaders of the people , none have been more strongly insisted upon , as heme absolutely essential to success , than the neces-
Emancipation Of Industry. The Signs Of I...
sity for . a general good ' . understanding , and . combined action amongst all those who live by labour , whether high or low paid . 'Unhappily , however , up to a recent period , the aristocratic and exclusive ' spirit which is the bane of this country , was equally strong among . the trades as among the jewelled and scented members of society . The hig h-paid trades looked down upon their poorer brethren , and kept aloof from them as fastidiously as the most dainty Bond-sfreet lounger could do . The result has been that capital has always had to deal with labour in sections , never
in well-combined masses . The consequence of this fatal want of unity , we do not now need to tell . It is enough to know that the experience of the past has at length impressed all grades of labourers with the conviction that their interests are identical . That ' whether they receive three pounds or three shillings a week , they are essentially the slaves of capital and the commercial system * , that the very nature of that system is to squeeze out of labour the largest proportion of wealth it possibly can , for the use and enjoyment of the capitalists , and to leave the labourer the lowest amount on which subsistence
can be perpetuated , and that any effectual resistance to this constant and unvarying downward pressure of the system can alone be found in the legal , peaceful , and well directed combination of all classes' who depend upon labour only for their daily bread . . One of the most gratifying indications of the spread of this feeling which has recently come under our notice , is the meeting of the trades at Manchester
last Saturday , of which a full report is given in another column . The temper , ability , and . enlightened views of various speakers at that meeting are such as would do honour to any class , and far superior to the hum-drum namby-pamby word-mongering of parliamentary orators . Their case was admirably stated , their rights lucidly defined , and their demands plainly , firmly , eloquently explained .
vThe narrow sphere of local observation and ; local exertion has given place to more comprehensive reasoning and extended efforts . The working men no longer content themselves by wrestling with effectsthey strike boldly at thecausesof the deterioration and oppression of their class . A great principle , was asserted at the Manchester meeting in the first resolu * tion , in the following words : —
Justice can never be awarded to the working classes until they are fully admitted to all the privileges of citizenship , including the right of being comprised in the juries ef their country ; ihasmuch , ap , according to the present system , partial and unjust verdicts must result from juries being constituted exclusively of the classes whose interests are identical with those of capitalists generally .
This is , indeed , turning acts of oppression and injustice to their right use . The principle of trial by jury . is , that a man shall be' tried by his peers , but practically that principle is in abeyance . Juries are composed of the classes who , as truly and forcibly stated in the resolution , have interests identical wit h the capitalists ; and hence , that which is looked upon abstractedly as the palladium ofBritish liberty . becomes by its perversion an additional instrument of wrong and injustice to the poor man . The prejudices and
class interests , engendered by existing arrangements , are carried into' the jury box , and prevent the due administration of the law . In claiming that juries shall be constituted impartially , the trades of Manchester not only exhibit great sagacity , but at the same time assert an important constitutional right ; and when these rights are so demanded and asserted , they cannot belong withheld . One sentence of Mr Donovan ' s ought henceforth to become the motto of the working classes , as expressing accurately and forcibly the whole of their demands : — "We want
not equality but equity—equity in the jury box—BO . UITY IN LEGISLATION-EQUITY IN EVERYTHING . " Resistance to so reasonable a demand must be fruitless . The meeting was distinguished not only by the sound and comprehensive views enunciated by the speakers , but also by the true fraternal feeling which was manifested . The high waged mechanic and the low paid handloom-weaver occupied the same platform , and expatiated on the necessity for dropping all senseless distinctions in future , and " the formation of one grand and united body for
the purpose of protecting their common rights and interests . " To the reasons so admirably urged for taking this course we can add nothing , but it may not be improper to remind the Trades at that meeting , that a grand and united body is already formed . The National Association of United Trades , under the presidency of Mr Duncombe , was formed expressly for the purpose of protecting industry . Its machinery was carefully constructed with a view to enrol the largest possible number of the working classes in its ranks , and to concentrate and direct their aggregate energies in the most effective manner upon any given point .
The great difficulty which has hitherto been experienced in getting any association of Trades to work , has been the variety of condition among those associated , and the impossibility of applying general rules to those whose position was so dissimilar . It was also found that the maintenance of Local Unions in connexion with such consolidated bodies , was extremely difficult , and that the local bodies were not disposed to submit to the interference rendered necessary by a system of centralization . This hindrance to general
union , has , we believe , been effectually removed by the constitution of the National Association . It is based upon the equitable principle of a Mutual Assurance Society , and guarantees to all its members , benefits in proportion to their payments ; besides the support , and moral influence inseparable from the existence of an extensive and powerful association . With the internal affairs of each trade , the Association never interferes until called upon to do so by its own managers , and then firstly as raedi . ators between contending parties . Each local trades '
union possesses supreme and unquestioned controul in the management of its own affairs . Such a constitution as this , combining , as it does , all the advantages of local self-government , with the incalculable benefits of general support ; a wise central supervision , and a new mode of applying the funds of the trades ; whereby " they are no longer wasted in strikes , but become the foundation of new wealth for the producers themselves , appears to us to possess all the requisites that can be looked for in such an Association . Its practical success will , of course , depend upon the extent to which it is supported by the various trades , and we observe with
great pleasure , from the weekly reports in our colums . that its progress , under the auspices of its ablei honest , and zealous president , has , so far , been of the most encouraging description . In conjunction with the spirit manifested at the Manchester meeting , and- the thousands of pounds which flow into the People ' s Exchequer for the creation of a new race of freemen in England on the plan proposed by Mr O'Connor , we look upon this Association as one of the most cheering indications of the rapid approach of a period in which ' the producing classes vsitt he iftteUifcttit , raited , awd pwerfvxl enoug h to assume their rightful position in society .
As to the immediate object of the meeting which has elicited these remarks , it is unnecessary for us to repeat the views already expressed on the . subject , or the deep interest with which we watch the struggle . " 'Tis not in mortals to command sue cess ; " but-, if it be attainable at all , it will be under the skilful and zealous generalshi p of Mr Roberts , to whom the working classes of Great Britain owe a deep debt of gratitude for having first shown them how the tables might be turned and the law , hitherto deemed their enemy , converted into a friend , and
Emancipation Of Industry. The Signs Of I...
a defence against the- aggressions of their ^ taskmasters . A few more battles like those irr which Mr Roberts has shown such intrepid courage , great legal knowledge , and unimpeachable integrity , will strike terror into the hearts of the opponents of labour . They will pause before again attempting to pervert the machinery of the law to purposes of opr pression , with the fear of the People ' s Attorney
before their eyes ; especially if he is backed by the long purse and earnest resoluteness of a NATIONAL ASSOCIATION , comprising in its ranks all varieties of the labouring classes , animated by one high and holy impulse , namely , —the practical establishment of the first principles of Christian equity . The labourer is worthy of his hire , and shall first be partaker of the fruits .
Parliamentary Review.
PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW .
Irish Policy—Ten Hours' Bill-New ¦ . • P...
IRISH POLICY—TEN HOURS' BILL-NEW ¦ . POOR LAW .
A Curious Illustration Of The Extent To ...
A curious illustration of the extent to which the collective character and reputation of a Parliament may be influenced by the personal character and political tendencies of the Government for the time being , is afforded by the different aspects of the same body under the guidance of Sir R . Peel and Lord John Russell . This is not the time to narrate or criticise the career of the present soon-to-be-dissolved Parliament ; but it may be briefly remarked ,
that , under the government of Peel , it steadily and progressively entered upon a series of commercial and financial changes , which , whether right or wrong , were evidently all based upon one great principle , and emanated from a mind which thoroughly comprehended the scope of that principle , and its application to the existinginstitutionsandthe circumstances of the times . Had Parliament been dissolved at the end of last Session , it would have been memorable for the consistency with which the idea of commercial freedom , had been worked out by the revisal and re-construction of tariffs , and the
construction of a system of exchanges , based upon principles entirely opposed to these by which commercial intercourse between nations had heretofore been governed . Unfortunately for it , however , and the country , it was kept in existence for another Session , to show that it can as faithfully reflect the trimming vacillation , want of principle , and imbecility of the Whigs , as the statesmanlike impress of Peel . From beginning to end , its career this Session has been a painful series of inconsistencies , and its members , looking at their present plight , may well exclaim with Hamlet . —
" To what base uses may we come , Horatio ?" Take the Ministerial Irish policy as an instance ^ From the commencement our readers will remember that we denounced the scheme as being intended to manufacture fresh advantages for the privileged classes of that country , out of the very miseries which their past misgovernment had caused . We showed that the landlords alone would be the parties substantially benefitted , and that the various nostrums of which the heterogeneous mass was compounded , could not , even if carried into effect , have any direct and tangible beneficial influence on the condition of the people of Ireland . We exempted from this sweeping condemnation two measures , each of which embodied a sound and equitable principle , though—with the usual suicidal fatality which
distinguishes Whigs on all occasions—these principles were dealt with after the approved Procrustean fashion , which cuts everything down to the small dimensions of Whig intellect and Whig honesty . These two measures were the Irish Poor Law Bill , and the Bil ' for the Reclamation of Waste Lands . The defects of each of these measures , even when tried by the abstract standard of Lord John Russell ' s definition of their principles and objects , we fully exposed at the time they were first propounded ; but we added , that , small , defective , and inadequate to the exigencies of the crisis as they were , we doubted whether they were meant for anything more than merely to gild the pill of Landlordism ; and thus , if once the other portions of the scheme were carried out , the people ' s part of it would be abandoned , or so stultified as to be useless .
The event has justified the prediction . The Poor Law has reached the Lords , " the shadow of a shade . " The Premier in the Commons boldly as . serted the right of the poor to out-door relief , and of the poverty of Ireland to be supported by the property of Ireland . We did not find that right practically acknowledged in' his bill , and said so . His lordship ' s colleague , the leader of the House of Lords , we find agrees with us . In proposing its second reading , the Marquis of Lansdowne , in an exceedingly apologetic speech , devoted a great deal of time and pains to show that the bill does not confer a general , permanent , and indiscriminate right to out-door relief . Had it done so , or involved that
principle , he should have been the last person to have proposed it to their lordships !! Really , there Is no knowing where to find the present Ministry ! There is not a single great principle , or a single important measure with which they have not played fast and loose during the present Session . My Lord Lansdowne , seeing in such a yielding humour , will oppose no very vigorous resistance to the to the assaults ot Monteagle , Stanley , orDr Whately . Whatever remains of vital equity or humanity there may yet be in the mutilated bill , will be undoubtedly crushed out of it by the united forces of selfish landlordism , and heartless economists . It wil ) , in all probability leave the lords a mere caput mortuum . *
"Thua bad before , but worse remains behind . " The frequent delays in bringing forward the Waste Lands Reclamation Bill , at the times when it was set down in the business paper , excited our suspicions . The probability that it was intended to be- ' burked , " suggested itself as quite in consonance with the usual policy of this most unprincipled ministry . We were right . It is abandoned , and not only abandoned , but given up under circumstances , and for objects , which stamp a thousand-fold deeper disgrace upon the transaction , than the simple dropping of the measure . Of the £ 8 , 000 , 000 granted for the relief of Ireland , 41 , 000 , 000 was destined for the reclamation of wastes ,
and the introduction of a small proprietary tenantry into that country . It was , in connexion with the Poor Law , the only thing that really had the slightest relevancy to the subject , or attempted to solve the great question of how more labour and more food were to be given in Ireland to the People of Ireland . Another scheme which proposed to employed £ 16 . 000 , 000 during four successive years in the construction of railways , to which the companies were to add £ 8 , 000 , 000 more , making in all £ 21 , 000 , 000 , was torn to pieces by the Chancellor of the Exchequer , and the Whig orators , ftsaltogtherinadmissable . This curious piece of patch-work was the true remedy for Ireland's
grievances , and the Bentinck scheme for employing the people in the construction of works that would ultimately have returned interest ; and , in the course of time , have stimulated the industry , and developed the latent resources of Ireland , was " whistled down the wind . " The great reasons for its rejection were , that the money market would not stand it , and that it would benefit speculators in shares . Well , would it be believed , that the identical Chancellor of the Exchequer , who , at a time when there was no perceptible pressure on the money market opposed an impartial and a general measure of this description , would come forward at a moment of monetary panic with a scheme precisely similar in principle . " Yet so ic is ! The difference between them—and it is a great one—is , that , whereas the Bentinck
scheme was an impartial one , and applied to all ' companies alike—the Government scheme is a partial one , and embraces only three favoured companies , who are to have the privilege of receivin ° thegaverument money at five per cent ., wbileeverybody else is paying ( when they are lucky enough to pet any , ) from twelve to fifteen per cent ! Will this be of no advantage to the holders of shares in those lines ? But the climax of the affair is this : the money thus given to these favoured lines and shareholders , is robbed from the poor of Ireland . It is takgn out of the £ 8 , 000 , 000 already voted for Ireland , and specially from the sum appropriated to the reclamatfon of" waste lands ' . Probably the Chancellor did not intend this when he first mooted the railway loan , but such is the result of the subse-
A Curious Illustration Of The Extent To ...
| quent Cabinet deliberations . In order to oblige the > 'friends , tho shareholders ofcertain lines , the govett , ment give them the money voted by Parliament for the creation of a small proprietory tenantry m Ireland ! We let the fact stand as H is . Comjueni would only weaken its force . ' Imbobm
* Our Anticipations Are Verified. Minist...
* Our anticipations are verified . Ministers are already beaten as to tho permanency of 'the bill . The other amendments will probably be equally successful ,
For One I Thing Only Have The People Rea...
For one i thing only have the people reason to thank the Session of 1847 . The Ten Hours' Bill will ' now , in all probability , become the law of the and . 'Despite the tricks and the determined or . position by which its every stage has been attended it was finally passed by a large majority in the H « usa of Commons on Monday mebt , amidst loud cheer , ing . The Bill may , therefore , be looked upon & » virtually law , for it is not probable that in its paasaai
through the Lords it will encounter any serious ob . struction . There are a few crotchetty persons in that House who may seize the occasion for firing 0 g a politico-economical speech or two , but we can . scarcely believe that the unequivocal manner ia which it has been sent up to their Lordshi ps , stamped at eyery stage by the sanction of large and triumphant majorities , that they will venture either to delay or injure it . Its final enactment as a law will be one of the greatest events , not only of the Session , but of the century . It recognises a principle , and embodies it also as one of the laws oftbercalm , of tbo most momentous consequences to the industrious classes . The lasscz faire principle of modern political economy has by tbe writers and speakers of
that school been extended to men as well as comma * dities—human labour has been placed in the same category as its products , and Ihe same flippant and specious axioms applied to each . All know what the result has been : an immense increase of material wealth , andacorresponding deterioration of the con . dition of the industrial classes , especially subjected to the iron rule of the new philosophy . By the Tea Hours' Bill humanity is rescued from the false and degrading position in which a hollow and one-sided p hilosophy had placed it . Man is no longer classed in the same invoice with bales of cotton , bundles of yarn , bars of iron , boxes oi tea , or casks of tallow— , he is not now to be talked of in the same style as s self-acting mule , and made to run in competition
with it . Machinery is , partially at least , put in its legitimate position : the servant , not the master , of man . Instead of coercing the labourer into a merciless and deadly race , in which bones , muscles , and sinews , were certain to give way before iron , wood , and steam—the ' automaton powers of society will in future be made to assume somewhat of their proper aspect , * and in the dim vtsla oi the future we can descry yet more enlightened applications of them , by means of which they will be converted , from being the greatest curse , into one of the greatest blessings ! to mankind . All honour to those by whose exer ( ioo this grand result has been achieved J The strnggl 0 * has been a protracted and a severe one . Many : * the early labourers in the cause have gone to thejf
rest without witnessing its triumph ; but Owe , ' and Oastler the author and most efficient advoca of the Ten Hours' Bill , are yet amongst us to rejoi over their well won victory , and all who have take * part in gaining it may well be ' proud , for it is on : achieved purely by argument , reason , and peaccabr means . Not a stain rests upon the victors , or th weapons by which they carried the day . They hav introduced a very different principle into our legislation from that which hss unhappily of late guided our law-makers . Its future and further develop . m «\ t in taws and institutions which shall aim
more at the political , moral , intellectual and phy . sical well-being of the whole community , than the accumulation of wealth or the multiplication of exchanges , and the spread of that competition which is merely the civilized substitute for the old forcible modes by which , in pre-commercial times and countries , men rob each other—this must be left , to time and to those rapidly multiplying influences—soma negative , some positive—which combine to force on tbe conviction of every thinking man , that the present mode of creating and distributing wealth is one which must eyr generate poverty , misery , and antagonism in society .
The Unworkable And Fallacious Nature Of ...
The unworkable and fallacious nature of laws based upon the cold-hearled theories and abstract assumptions of the political economists , was very forcibly shown by the speech of Sir George Grey , in introducing the scheme for amending the administration of the New Poor-Law Bill , on Monday night . The framers of that law drew up an awful indictment against the old law of Elizabeth , which was given to the poor of England in lieu of the substantial share they formerly had in the tithes of the country . According to these enlightened and truthful witnesses , the old law had completely demoralized the labouring classes of England , rendered them an indolent , spiritless , abject , beggarly "race , who would at all timeg
rather eat the bread of idleness than cam an independent living . If they were suffered to continue in that state , it was predicted . that a wholesale confiscation of property would take place , " and I , " said Lord Brougham , almost with tears in his eyes , " may become a Westmoreland pauper . " If , however , we amended the old system by the rules of the theory of political economy , all was to go right with us ; The Legislature listened to the voice ef its advocateswe got a speck and span new piece of Poor-Law Ma * chinery , forged in the modern manufactory , and after the ne » ' patent stile . Great were the exultations of its friends , as Eldorado , or Arcadia realizing the fables of the golden age , was to be made out of England through its instrumentality . Everybody
by the simple expedient of being thrown on his . own resources , was to become " independent . " Bates were to disappear , pauperism to vanish , and only a few large houses here and there erected , like scarecrows in a wheat field , were to frighten by means of prison treatment and worse than prison diet , the few incorrigible idlers who might chance to resist the magic influence of the new scheme . Alas ' . for human wisdom and human expectations , sadly bud truly did Sir George Grey make the confession : — "The law under that system has worked differently from what we had been induced to expect . " It has indeed ! It has been in every respect a complete and thorough failure . It has neither diminished pauperism nor poor rates , while it has increased the alienation and bitterness of classes , and given birth to a brood of crimes and vices which but for it would have been unknown in
the annals of human wretchedness and wickedness . The Government , however , are not yet convinced of the utter inapplicability of the law for the purposes aimed at , and therefore they essay the task of patching it up . The Cerberus of Somerset Souse ia to be sent a drift . All the evils ascribed to tbe law are to be saddled on the triumvirate who have administered it , instead of the law itself and the principles on which it is based ; and a new administration is to be formed , which is to be represnted in Parlialiaroent ; by its chief and secretary . The object is , that the Poor Law monster may be at once responsible to Parliament : that the objections to the law hitherto urged will be thereby obviated . With rerespect to the first , it is undoubtedly an improvement , but that it will produce the second we do not believe . The law itself is so radically vicious , that it can only be mended as Donald Bain mended his gun , t . « . with a new stock , lock , and barrel .
The Case Of The Framework Knitters Of Th...
The case of the framework knitters of this country found an able exponent in Sir Henry Walford on Wednesday . His speech , which we have given at some length , is replete with facts of the most painful description , and presents at a glances history of the downward course of the unhappy families dependent on this branch of trade for subsistence . We have also , given the speech of the mwrepresentive of the working people of Leicester , in order that they may judge of the reception they should give him when he next makes his appearance among them * Some portions of his speech call for comment , at a length hich our space will not permit this week ; but the question is one of that importance which will justify recurrence to it upon another occasion .
€O *Ual»«F # Comgjpoii&Fli Te
€ o * Ual »« f # Comgjpoii & fli te
Hisckllankoos, Avoiob Pbokthe Potiebtes....
HISCKLLANKOOS , AVoiob pbokthe PoTiEBtEs . —Fellow-working Men ,- « - Never was a time so propitious as the present for oi action . It is not long since we bad the trade rejoicings g ! here . Bells were ringing—shops were closed—flags ig adorned steeple and chimney , with large loav « s stuck . cl on poles ( a good emblem , " Bread very % »}''); "high gl wages , plenty of work , and cheap bread , " was the cry , rj and some of the poor deluded dupes would ( had thej ie possessed the powerj have struck any one out of exist- it ' ence that attempted to question their absurdity . But Bi the scene is changed , now . Awful long faces , no o w « rk , dear food , and what makes bad worse is , that thi many of the manufacturers are entangled in Railway nt bubbles , and instead of getting kicked all at once ( as ( i they expected ) , are dissolving partnerships to throw off v ( responsibility , slipping oat of the town ; nobody knews tev whore—cannot pay wages for what little . is done ; on bankruptcy , in fact , total ruin—and serve them right ! gh
only others are suffering from their grasping avarice , rice . Arouse , then , fellow countrymen ! throw off tho tyrant ' s ant ' s i joke : one struggle and it is done . Now is the time ; ime ;; let not the present opportunity slip;—if you do , i do ,, blame yourselves , for , if yon will not help yourselves elves i when you have the chance , no one else ought . At . A . general election is at hand , the Land Scheme is pro-s progressing amazingly ; tho Trades are doing wonders—eraall is favourable for a movement ! Now is the time I—ne 1—Stepheh Amisoh , ioh , Q . Tobneb , Preston . — The authorised agent for then- thea Land Company is James Brown , 71 , Park-road .
Mr J . Pickup , llorstord , near Leeds . —We do not aup « t sup . i . ply Mr Mann , couseruentlj we cannot interefere . . Mr Stoboess , Winchester . —Must apply to the Lom Lon . i . don booksellers . We have repeatedl y stated that thsat thee amount of buaiaess devolving upon this office reaa real ders it impossible to suppl y the Labourer , & e ., tckc , tc ;( country agents and subscriber * . Any London agent ageni or publisher can have tbe works mentioned , on applii applii tion at the office , and any country bookseller * cam cam procure the books through the Loudon house by whorv whom the business is conducted . SWATCH , —Mr Editor-Sir , In your paper of the li the lili
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), May 8, 1847, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_08051847/page/4/
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