On this page
- Departments (1)
-
Text (15)
-
IIBERALxxy OP THE PRESS
-
TO TIffi TO-LOCATED MEMBERS OP THE LAND....
-
The O'Conxor Colost, Misster Lovn,.—A ca...
-
< A L " " man will'dowhat an honourable,...
-
r ! /¦ ; ¦ ' >¦ f * :- : '-\ 'V n V) H ;...
-
THE CHARTIST METROPOLITAN CONFERENCE. Th...
-
«,an.w,88. umtuma.-ltouniM - ¦—srjssy.—
-
The O'Connor Iasp Scheme. —The Gateshead...
-
TO THE EDITOR OP THE DAILY NEWS. Sin,—As...
-
*' Onward and we conquer, Backward and w...
-
TO THE IRISH PEOPLE. (From the Irishman ...
-
MACNAMARA t. O'CONNOR. ' TO FEARGUS O'CO...
-
THE TEN HOURS ACT. TO THE FACTORY OPERAT...
-
A Eat Sronr.—One ofthe gardiens of Pans ...
-
i I . : I* **•
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Iiberalxxy Op The Press
IIBERALxxy OP THE PRESS
To Tiffi To-Located Members Op The Land....
TO TIffi TO-LOCATED MEMBERS OP THE LAND . COMPANY . M y Friends , « On Friday , the 30 th ' of November , a letter appeared in the . Z ) a % AW , signed by one of the aHotteesatLowbanc [ 8 , and en Mondavi seat a reply ; another article , upon the Land Company , appeared in the Daily iveios ofthe following Thursday , all of which , will be found at foot .
It is not my intention to occupy your time in defending my own conduct , as it needs no defence ; it may , perhaps , deserve no slight censure for having made so bad an estimate of toe character and the gratitude of those , to elevate vriiomlhave spentthousands of pounds , and nearly every hour of my time , for three years . Again , I ask you to reflect , calmly and dispassionatel y , upon the intolerable rascality of many who have received 50 / . in hard cash , four acres of land cultivated , highly manured , and for the most part cropped , a splendid cottage , -with a pomp in every back kitchena
, walled-in yard , firing for over six months Placed in the yard , seed wheat , allotment enclosed with French furzse hedge , a double TOW apple trees planted at each side of the road , three years crops all purchased for item , and paid for by the widow ' s saving and thepMrman ' shardeannng--andthinkofthose rascals not having paid one single fraction , and denounced me for asking them to repay % 10 s . while observe , that the very interest of the 50 /! at five per cent , for two years , and it is more would have amounted to 51 But » my friends , always bear in mindthat THE MAN WHO
, TRULY SERVES THE PEOPLE WILL BE REVILED BY THOSE WHO LIVE UPON THE PEOPLE ; and can yon withhold your laughter when you read the delicious morsel extracted fromtheJDatfy iVeic ^ f Thursday last ? ' Only just u ^ kcithe holders of tneseaEotmentshaving paid a portion of the purchase in the first instance , then sained possession , in . preference to a very lage number of disappointed subscribers , by a toss-up ; then entered noon the land without any idea of any rent to be pad , never entered into any agreement , Iratconadered the property THEIR OWN , it is notto be wondered at that the pities should now resist a demand for which they are from circumstances totally unprovided for .
Now , reader , if Baron Munchausen was paid for it , could he supply a more gorgeous string of lies ? Just think of the holders , all of whom received aid money , "having paid a portion of the purchase : " just think of the located members—poor things—presuming that they were to pay no rent ; but to get four acres of land , a cottage , aid money , roads made and fences levelled , out and out . for
5 / . 6 s .: and think of the horror of the land being mortgaged ; while one of the great difficulties urged against the Company by the Hayteb . —the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee—was , that it "would bemeetcklt to mortgage IT : and just think of every locality sending resolutions to every Conference , approving of mortgage rather than sale : and further , think that the conditions upon which those UNFORTUNATE DUPES became
members of the Land Company -were , that they should pay six and a quarter per cent rent upon the first 100 / . expended , and five per cent upon the remainder of the capital , which would have raised the rent of four acres at Lowbands to nearly 20 ? . a year . Now , what do you think of those starving , famishing , joggled dupes ? and how many of them have died of the ' awful pestilence , while thousands of their order have been swept off the face of the earth ?
My friends , you can very well judge of the difficulties against which one who attempts to serve your order must struggle . I might have catered for a little popularity by the injustice of sacrificing thousands to the more fortunate hundreds , but I preferred an honest name and a clear conscience ; and , therefore , after deep deliberation , and consultation with the ablest professional men , I have come to the knowledge that , under the County Courts
Act , every defaulter can be sued and summarily ejected for any sum under 201 ., and Mr . Roberts is now preparing the machinery to place the several defaulters in the tender keeping of some local attorney in each district ; and you may rely upon it , that neither the villany of the occupants , the denunciation of the Press , nor the law ' s terror , shall intimidate me from discharging my duty to those who placed confidence in me .
I am determined and resolved to carry on this Land Plan , " come-weal , come-woe , " and if I was ever before inspired with confidence in its success , the exuberant hope held out by Cobdex and Scholeheid , in the following passage , extracted from the programme of
"FREEDOM FOR THE MILLIONS , " would urge me on . Those practical ag riculturists assure us , that it is
" SOW ASCERTAINED FROM PRACTICAL " EXPERIENCE , THAT A MAX CAS SUP-* PORT HIMSELF , WIPE , ASD FAHH . T UPON TWO ACRES OF LAND . " Now then , working men , what do you think of the newspapers that receive pay for publishing the above—one and all , without an exception , denouncing the man who attempts to make the people live , and comfortably , upon two , three , or four acres of land , with a good cottage built , Aid Money given , and no rent demanded from some for five half years —and from all for three half years—and having spent nearly seven thousand pounds of his own money , and three years of his time , in carrying out the project ?
However , I am g lad to find that those whose money has gone to locate Mr . Beattie and others , are determined not to be jnggledproof of which I give the following resolution , passed in the Westminster Locality on Tuesday evening , and scores of other such have been forwarded to the Land Office : — W £ srMncsr £ E . - _ At a meeting of toner ™ gmtojn ™ Tnesdav evenin- * December 4 fli , at the Two Chairmen , ? SS ? TSohoTjohn Arnott *** <* % = *& JBlne moved , and William Shote seconded , the ^?^ ~ . «> intffm whirl , msnnanimoudT adopted . — inat wis
meetinir folly approves of the intentions of Mr .. < VUmnor , S ^ SL tWk-s Star , relative to theaHotteeswho rdhw to paT their rent , and we recommend that such m-Sns heefectaally carried out . Jus tangfte only worse 3 Ir . O'Connor would be justified in pursuing . Now , my friends , I have to request that you wffl read the letter of Mr . How at foot , Lken from the Daily fc of November 30 th , my reply , the article taken from the December and
Dadv News of the Cth of - rest assured , that neither threat nor intimidation shall prevent me from doing prompt and even-handed justice to all p arties concerned in the Land Plan . And now I repeat ^ hat I have before stated , that I would rather P * fc- ^ g ^ ftTw £ K S ^ 1 ?^ V ^ £ . irriva » hundred a T «»; and the Press nay
rest assured , fiat this dennnciaoon or - ™ ^ ponw ^ Ig ^ e peop ^ ^ oS ^ ' ana ^ ifL aSes ^ net PROP fciKl I , ana um , ^ d 0 they inusthave ^ J ^ Xthem ;" dies with them--ae | good £ ^ ^ and the nearly th ^ fiha ve bnilt , will yet be pomted a ^ S ^ Tf 0 X 5 theD « great «* T ™ SJ ^ . many who now jy iJ ^*®^ fallowing exfract : — ^
f & ttSPE ^ *******
To Tiffi To-Located Members Op The Land....
0 Connor going to Ireland , as he dare not do so after the Insh people hare read my letter . ' The Committee were engaged the best part of the night in copying the report to send to the various localities . You can well conceive from What I tare brieflj-stated of last night ' s proceedings , the bitterness and malignity of the fellows with O'Brien at their head . He is a most infamous fellow , and must be settled at once . To the above , I have only to reply , that it was against my consent that O'Brien was appointed schoolmaster ; that I hold his promissory note for 30 / , and he shall not go scot free and I also beg to inform those whose notes I hold to the amount of ^ OOJ ., varying from
10 / . to 20 / . each , that if the rent due—or rattier the small rent asked for , namely , a halfyear ' s rent—isnot paid forthwith , payment for those notes will he sued for ; and to such a demand , I think , even the Oxfordshire magistrates , if they had power , could offer no objection ; whereas , to prove to demonstration that I do not wish to press the occupants , I will give those who pay their rent further time to pay an amount which might oppress them . Those notes are now in Mr . Roberts' hands , and , therefore , the responsible parties can expect no lenity beyond what I have kindly offered . R fJ'C .
The O'Conxor Colost, Misster Lovn,.—A Ca...
The O'Conxor Colost , Misster Lovn ,. —A case of assault was heard before the bench of magistrates at their last sitting at 'Witney , ar ising out of the distraints for rent alleged to be due from the residents of these "little paradises . ' The parties distrained on resisted , and one ofthe bailiffs employed produced a pistol , which caused a sensation amongst a large body of the colonists , who expelled the intruding parties off the estate by beat of drum into the adjoining turnpike road . The bench dismissed the case , because the complaining parries , the colonists , had used more violence than was necessary under the " circumstances ; the magistrates expressing an opinion , from what had come out in evidence as to the illegality of distraining at all for rents _ at this place . This is , probably , only the commencement of a train of events likely to take place regarding the affairs of the National Land Company .
The grand schemer , or as he calls liimself , the ' people's bailiff , ' has peremptorily called upon all the occupiers for payment of the rent , or in default ejectment wiUt » ke place . It cannot be surprising that the holders of these aljotments , having paid a portion of the purchase in the first instance , then gained possession in preference to a very large number of disappointed subscribers by a toss up , then entered upon the land without any idea of any rent to be paid , never entered into any agreement , hut considered the property theirown . it is not to Be wondered at that-the partie * should now resist a demand for which they are , from circumstances , totally unprovided for . This property , it appears , was never wholly paid for , at ihctime of purchase , a large amount being left secured by a mortgage to the venders . Itis a question if the allottees know of this . —Oxford Chronide .
< A L " " Man Will'dowhat An Honourable,...
~^ £ < z ///>^ h ~ j Uk ** 6 ^ . u ^ A ^^ L ^ ^ -, j / 6 ; 4 " * £ ~^ c £ **»»*/ 4 > " / fctrr d y ^ ^^* **^ - / = s < ss & w / . , ;
R ! /¦ ; ¦ ' >¦ F * :- : '-\ 'V N V) H ;...
r /¦ ; ¦ ' >¦ f * :- : ' - \ 'V n V ) H ; . ? n v AND NATIONAL TRADES' JOURNAL
The Chartist Metropolitan Conference. Th...
THE CHARTIST METROPOLITAN CONFERENCE . The Provisional Committee give notice , that the Members of the Conference mil assemble at the Large Room , "Wheatsheaf Taveily , Hand Court , Holborn , on Monday evening , Dec . 10 th , at eight o ' clock , for tho dispatch of business . Each Delegate will be privileged to issue three admission tickets daily . The printed cards for this purpose can be obtained at 144 , High Holborn , on application to the Secretary by messenger , or pre-paid letter ;' Feargus O'Connoe , G-. W . M . Reynolds , S . B ' ooniiam , P . M'Ghatii , W . Dixon , T . Clark , Sec .
«,An.W,88. Umtuma.-Ltounim - ¦—Srjssy.—
« , an . w , 88 . umtuma .-ltouniM - ¦—srjssy . —
The O'Connor Iasp Scheme. —The Gateshead...
The O'Connor Iasp Scheme . —The Gateshead Obterver publishes the following letter , dated 'Lowbands , Redmarley , near Ledbury , Worcestershire , November 21 st , 18 * 9 , ' written ' on behalf of the occupantsof the Lowbands estate , ' by « Mr . W . A , How , formerly a resident in Sunderland : ' 'We took possession of our holdings on the IGthof August , 1847 , considering before we came there that the tend was good , that each allotment was well drained and cropped . Soon did we discover that only a few were . good land , while none were well-drained , msnured or cropped . These , and the high rate of provisionsat that period , debarred us from applyidgour aid money as we would , had we had before us on the land what was so often promised , and which we had anticipated ; consequently , when cropping time came , each who had not means exclusive of what was doled out by the Company had not wherewith to pursue operations . A loan of £ 5 per acre was granted , but few got it in proper time to enable them to crop their land . This , and
our inexperience , combined to leave us in 18 * 8 scanty crops . Then came the potato blight , which drove many good men from us . Those who remained had to drag out a miserable existence , often wanting the common necessaries of life . So pen can ponrtray the sufferings we endured up totheharvestofl 849 ; sincewhich , itis true , our condldons are much improved , and every appearance of success crowning our endeavours ; when F . O'Connor , Esq ., M . P ., comes forward , through his agents and servants , and demands one half-year ' srent , attheexorbitantrateof ^ lp for fouracres , £ IZ for three acres , and £ 11 for two acres . As we were not able to pay , he actually laid distresses on some of OUT premises for two and a half year ' s rent ; that is £ 3710 s . for four acres ; and one has been laid for that sum on two acres ; though last Christmas he publicly pledged himself , through the columns of the Kortlitm Star , to pay for the occupants on this estate one year ' s rent each , which was a good Christmas-bor , One of those on whom a distress is now laid , Thomas Lee , has expended on his own
allotment £ 138 of bis own hard earnings , exclusive of the money allowed by the Company withal . He fears not of succeeding , c * nld he but obtain time . Indeed we hare no desire to defraud the members of the Land Company of one penny , provided due time beallowed and a fair rental established ; but we do earnestly hope that the" public voice will be raised in our behalf , thereby preventing the crying injustice of enticing a body of men from their usual avocations , and after two and a half years' of suffering , send send them adrifton . the world , many TriOi large and helpless families . Some of us hare paid orer 4 &) for right of location alone . Repeatedly have we entreated Mr . O'Connor to come amongst us and arrange matters . Even a most respectful letter was addressed to him by the females on the estate , soliciting his presence—without avail Often have we been vilified—represented as idle , lazy , dissipated , grumbling fellows . If so , it is rather curious for all being so , inasmuch as that no one here has yet succeeded . Some of us are are teetotallers of twelve and sixteen years' standing . —W . A . How , Chairman . '
To The Editor Op The Daily News. Sin,—As...
TO THE EDITOR OP THE DAILY NEWS . Sin , —As "A plain tale is best being plainly told , " may I request insertion of an - answer to the letter of Mr . " \ V . A . How , of SuEderland , now located on the Lowbands Estate , and which appeared in the Daily News of Friday last . The allottees took possession of their allotments on the 16 th of August , 1847 . Every allotment was highly cultivated , and for the most part cropped . A portion that required draining was drained , and tiles given gratis to those who wished to drain more , while the land required but little draining .
There was more manure put out upon the farm in that year than had been put out within the previous twenty years , and of the very best description . As to the value of the land , the quantity is 160 acres . I paid £ 8 , 100 for it , which is something more than £ 50 an acre , and a competitor , who knew the value of the land ,-bid £ 8 , 080 . The rent paid by the previous occupant was , I think , £ 360 a year . The terms upon which occupants hold are four per cent , upon the outlay ; and see what that would amount to according to expenditure .
Four acres of land , at £ 50 an acre ... £ 200 Cottage , with outbuildings , inclosed yard , with every necessary accommodation for a family , and path from high road to each cottage , about 130 Expense of cultivation , £ 210 s . aa acre ... 10 Aid money 30 Total , ( not including grubbing and level , ing old fences , making several miles of road , leveling banks , fining up immense pits , making miles of oak fencing , building strong piers and putting up strong gates , a several leading en- ——trances from the high road . ) £ 370
Xow , sir , if yon take the interest upon the amount actually expended upon each allotment , at four per cent ., you will find , without including legal expenses of conveyance , that the rent would amount to nearly £ 15 a year , while I named that sum , not for the good and bad land , but as the average rent upon the estate , stating , at the same time , that the amount fixed in each lease would be according to the estimated value of each allotment . Air . How says , that £ 5 per acre , or £ 20 to four acres loan money , was granted when it could have been of no use . Now , sir , mark my reply . In August they took possession ; in November I granted them a further loan of £ 20 , and I sent them the best seed wheat from Oxfordshire , having prepared the ground for wheat . Add to these advantages , each man had as much firing placed at his door as would last for more than six months .
In the followingsprmg , I sowed over sixteen miles of French furze , dividing each allotment , and I also planted about eight miles of the best apple trees , two rows at each side of the roads I had made , and the occupants not entitled to , and not expecting , such a boon . I should have stated , that in addition to the quantities of stable manure put out , I divided eleven tons ( £ 100 worth ) of guano amongst the occupants . 3 fr . How says , that I pat in a distress for two-and a-half years' rent ; I did no such thing ; I put in a distress ior one half year ' s rent , while five half years were due ; and unless he presumes that my " Christmas box" should be annual he must be perfectly aware that my " Christmas box" was for 1848 , when I did pay the rent and more , out of my own pocket .
.. . v As to the £ 80 bonus given by purchasers who were not located by ballot , in such cases the vendors , who were bound to return the aid money and the rent , in a majority of cases robbed the Company and returned nothing . ,, . . From Mr . How ' s letter the reader would infer that the four acre occupants had received no more than £ 20 or £ 5 per acre capital to commence with , whereas they received £ 30 aid money and £ 20 loan money , making £ 50 . And now , mark their position . They were located on the 16 th of August , 1847 ; within three months they received £ 50 in cash , seed , wheat , as much guano as they could use , an abundance of firing , in the three succeeding months allotment was fenced with a French furze
every hedge , eight miles of apple trees were planted ; they have had three years crops , and they have paid not a farthing of rent , and have only been asked for a half year ' s rent . In July 1848 the Parliamentary Committee reported that the Company owed me £ 3 , 400 . In July 1 S 49 a Financial Committee of seven , appointed by the Conference from the different districts in England and Wales , and after an investigation of six hours , reported that the Company owed me an additional £ 1 , 200 , making £ 4 , 600 , and not a single item for monies for my own expenses , which were
enormous . This account was also submitted to Mr . Grey , the accountant appointed by the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee . } fow , sir , who has the desire to defraud ? and if anv other person was the sufferer , on whose behalf would the public voice be raised ? A majority o the mo « t fortunate members have not only plundered me , but , by making a poor mouth , they are endeavouring to p lunder those by whose savings they have been located . I should state that the additional £ 20 loan money was lent upon promissory notes , passed by the allottee and two sureties . That they have been due more than a year , and that not
To The Editor Op The Daily News. Sin,—As...
one has been paid—yes , I believe , one has—and that I have not sued any of the parties . Now , sir , trusting that you will give insertion to my brief and irrefutable explanation , I am , your obedient servant , Feakous O'Cokxor . \
*' Onward And We Conquer, Backward And W...
* ' Onward and we conquer , Backward and we fall ' .
THE PEOPLE'S C HART E R , AND NO SURRENDER . "
TO THE CHARTISTS . M y Friends , "We have had a long calm , but Chartism must not remain brewing while all other "isms" are belching forth their puffs . On Monday next a Conference of Metropolitan Delegates will assemble in London , to lay down the course to be adopted b y your order .
And I have no doubt—from the men selected —that it will be a wise and prudent course ; and mark , that at no period of England ' s history were so many delusions attempted to be practised to gain the co-operation of your order , as at the present moment . You haye Whigs in office , hoping to preserve their power by nibbles at Woods and Forests , Ecclesiastical Reforms , which will serve you nothing .
Protectionists , basing their hope upon a General Election . Freehold Land Societies , hoping to base their power over labour upon clap-trap . Shopkeepers , headed by Parliamentary Reformer ^ , acting upon honest principles , and who cannot now be juggled by mere moneylords ; and you may rely upon it , that out of such a conglomeration of dissenting parties good must come to your order , if you are only united amongst yourselves ; but if you are
disunited , the Protectionists will gain the upper hand , and your lords and masters will urge you on to physical revolution , as the onl y means of securing their own ascendancy . It has taken me a whole week to analyse the present House of Commons , and now I ask you to read but a mere outline , and say what you think of it . Next week I will give it you in ; detail , in a table , that every man must preserve ; and you will learn what amount of justice you are to expect from a House so
constituted . . ' ., „ Population . —Members Middlesex 1 , 576 , 616 ... 2 WestEiding ( Yorkshire ) 1 , 154 , 924 ... 2 South Lancashire .....,,,, 855 , 648 ... 2 North Lancashire 811 , 416 ... 2 Cork County 773 , 394 ... 2 East Surrey , 467742 ... 2
, Tipperary 435 , 653 ... 2 Lanark , 426 , 972 ... 1 Galway 422 , 923 ... 2 Tower Hamlets 419 , 736 ... 2 Mayo County 388 , 887 ... 2 South Devon 342 , 968 ... 2 Population , 8 , 076 , 779 ; represented by twenty three members .
Look on that picture , and on this . : — Bridgnorth 1 , 931 ... 2 Dungarvan 1 , 858 ... 1 Harwich . ^ 3 , 730 ... 2 Honiton 3 , 773 ... 2 Andover 4 , 997 ... 2 Evesham 4 , 245 ... 2 Marlborough 4 , 139 ... 2 Thetford 3 , 844 ... 2 Totness 4 , 240 ... 2 Oxford University 3 , 800 ... 2 Dublin ditto 1 , 721 ... 2 Cambridge University 3 , 300 ... 2 Leominster 4 , 846 ... 2 Population 46 , 424 , represented by twenty-five Members .
Now then , Englishmen , let me ask you in sober seriousness , what you think of the voices of
EIGHT MILLION , SEVENTY - SIX THOUSAND , SEVEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-NINE persons , gainingknowledge every day , beingswamped bythe voicesof FORTY-SIXTHOUSAND , JOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FOUR persons . It would be impossible to bribe , or use bribery , with success in the counties that I have mentioned , while the constituencies of those who outnumber their votes by two , are every one bribed , and the representatives , for the most part , arehigh Conservatives , patrons of livings , lord lieutenants , or lickspittle Whigs .
Now , what say you , enlightened Englishmen , to such an anomaly as four thousand of a population less than Stockport , the tenth part of the population of the Tower Hamlets , and little more than the fortieth part of the population of Middlesex , out-voting in the House of Commons more than half the popu lationof all England and Wales , and more than the whole population of Ireland ? Can the mind of man suggest a greater anomaly , or can any nation in the world believe , that the well instructed English people will much longer submit to it ? Just think for a moment of the votes of the
members of the three Universities , the members for Bridgnorth and the members for Honiton , representing about fourteen thousand of a population , neutralising the votes of Middlesex , West Riding of Yorkshire , North and South Lancashire , and the county of Cork , with a population of five million , one hundred and seventy-one thousand , nine hundred and ninety-eight 5 And see the political character of the representatives of those places as taken from the Parliamentary Guide . T . C . Wiiitmoke , M . P . for Bridgnorth , is patron of six livings and a Conservative , and has sat for the borough since the Reform Bill . Sir R . PlGOT , Bart ., is the other M . P . for Bridgnorth , is Deputy-Lieutenant of Staffordshire , and a high Conservative , and has sat for the borough since the Reform Bill .
J . Locee is member for Honiton , is Lord of the Manor of Honiton , and is set down as a Liberal—but the Lord deliver me from such Liberals . Sir J . W . Hogg is the other member for Honiton , is an East India Director , and a high Conservative . Sir R . H . Lxglis , Bart ., indescribable bigot , is one member for Oxford University . W . Gladstone , Puseyite and Tory , is the other . The Hon . C . E . Law is member for Cambridge University , a high Conservative , and Recorder of Loudon . Right Hon . H . Goul-BUBN is the other member , high Tory , once Chancellor of the Exchequer , and a member of the Peel Cabinet .
*' Onward And We Conquer, Backward And W...
G . A . Hamilton , member for the University of Dublin , a rabid Tory : Joseph Napier , ditto , ditto . Now , then , what do you say to the votes of those ten gentlemen neutralising the votes of those representing five million , one hundred and seventy-one thousand , nine hundred and ninety-ei ght of » population ? I really feel ashamed of myself at being thus compelled to remind you of yourapathy and ' your indiffference . But mark the result that it leads to . Mr . Miles , M . P ., at a meeting of the Clevedon Agricultural Association , held on Wednesday last , speaks as follows : — It was only the . other day I was down in a part of
tms county which adjoins Devonshire and Derbyshire , in conversation' with a very intelligent farmer , of that neighbourhood and he told me there had been a meeting of farmers of . that neighbourdood embracing J ? 1 f . c ? Bnti « s , and they determined ( this was in October ) to reduce the wages to 6 s . a week . Now , I will askapy man in this room how it ispossiblc a man , his wife , ana tour children can Jive ^ i such a pittance ? How he COULD PAT HIS WAY , PArUlSTtENT , ANP NOTOFF £ ND TBI LAWS of his cotSKTsrf . ¦¦ • •¦¦'• FfOm the above you ^ will learn that even the Protectionists are beginning to adopt my 1
viewsij . as 1 have . stated , over arid over again , that Free Trade / if not accompanied by prudent / ajid . timel y ' ¦ coHcessions , would lead to crowded bastiles , crowded gaols , national dissatisfaction , and legitimate crime committed by the father ,, to preserve the lives of his wife and children ; ' and I would add to the appeal of Mr . Miles , ' how can manufacturers , shopkeepers , and tradespeople suppose that such paupers will be good customers for their wares ? and I would further ask the landlords
and farmers , if they arc not likely to be better customers for poor rates ? I hope and trust that the delegates elected to represent you in the Conference to be held next week , will take present circumstances and coming events into their serious consideration , and that you will learn from a report of their proceedings next week , that they have gained knowledge f rom the past , and are armed for the future . The Irish people will now co-operate most heartily with their English brethren ; and you may rest assured that , however you and they may be misrepresented in , or sought to be juggled by , the various tickles of the present House of Commons—that both the people and the jugglers will very shortly discover , ' that WHAT IS TO BE DONE
FOR THE PEOPLE MUST BE DONE BY THE PEOPLE . After Christmas I will commence my tour , and be ready to meet both FRIEND and FOE ; and I will make use of the intervening time to instruct myself upon all matters connected with your order , so that I may simply , graphically , and understandably define the LABOUR QUESTION , adopting the CHARTER THROUGH UNION AS THE MEANS , AND THE LAND THROUGH CO-OPERATION AS THE END . Your Faithful Friend and Representative , Feabgus O'Connor .
To The Irish People. (From The Irishman ...
TO THE IRISH PEOPLE . ( From the Irishman of Dec , 1 st . ) " United we stand-Divided , we fall I " " It is as much the duty of n people to rebel against a corrupt House of Commons as against a tyrannical prince . " Lord Bomngbkoke , —( High Tory . )
Feiends and Countrymen , — Having obtained permission to address you through the Irishman , a sincere and truly democraticripaper , it is-my intention to write you a series of letters upon the state of your country and the means for ensuring its regeneration : and as tho sufferings of the Irish people have ever been based upon the folly , the contention , or self-interest of those who undertook to guide the Irish mind , and as the first and chief object to be attained must be a thorough union ofthe Irish people , I shall bury the past in oblivion , as I should hold myself to be unworthy the name of Irishman , if that national union , from which alone you can expect redress , was injured or impeded b y my vanity , or indiscretion .
Irishmen , the mind of a country seeking to elevate itself must go through three stages . It must be created , it must be organised , and it must be judiciously directed ; and I mourn to think the mind of Ireland has not passed through any one of these stages . A continuous war has been kept up between the English and the Irish people while it is an indisputable fact that the English people are equally , oppressed by class legislation with ourselvess ; and although the English mind has been directed to the destruction of that system of class legislation which equally oppresses the people of both countries , and though I have been mainly instrumental in creating , organising , and directing that mind , yet have you been kept in utter ignorance of its intention and power .
Celt and Saxon have been , placed ill dire antagonism , while their interests are one and indivisible , and their rights can only be achieved by their union and co-operation . English Chartism has been denounced , vilified , and reviled by the English and the Irish press ; it has been stigmatised as a physical force doctrine . Its leaders have been prosecuted and persecuted with the utmost vengeance of the law ; five hundred incarcerated at one and the same
time—incarceration secured by legal quibbles , partisan juries , hired spies and informers For these sufferers you had no sympathy ; but , on the contrary , you were taught to look upon them as " destructives" and "devils ; " while , upon the other hand , the portraits of the Irish patriots—Mitohel , O'Brien , and Meagheradorn Chartist houses , and their names are cherished by the English people , not as rebels , but as patriots . Countrymen , far be it from me to repudiate any doctrine that I may have propounded ; and , had 1 ever advocated physical force , no dread of the dungeon , the transport , or the gibbet , should induce
me to retract its advocacy . Although I have been denounced as a physical force Chartist , let me assure you , my countrymen , before whom , for fifteen years , I hare had no opportunity of defending myself —• let me assure yon , that not only hare J never , in the course of my life , uttered one sentence recommendatory of physical force , but , on tho contrary , opposition to it , when advocated and recommended by zealous , honest , enthusiastic , starving men , has boon the greatest difficulty against which I have had to contend . However , Irishmen , as it is not my wish to be misunderstood , let me tell you the reason why I have not advocated p hysical force . It is in consequence of the impossibility of an
undisciplined and unarmed people meeting their disciplined and armed aggressors . Are you aware that the system by which you are held in bondage , the English people are held in bondage , and the people of all nations are held in bondage , is physical force , sustained by your toil , your sweat , and your very blood ? My reason for not advocating physical force is , because its failure has ever led to the greater prostration of your class , and the greater tyranny of your oppressors . But , would to God that I could command a sufficient amount of force to destroy
tyranny , and establish freedom in its stead . Hear my stereotyped maxim , as regards moral and physical force — " Moral power is the deliberative quality in each man ' s mind , which teaches him how to reason , how to endure , and when forbearance becomes a crime ; and should that fail to secure for man all those rights to which he is justly entitled , and should physical force be required ( which God forbid ) , it will come to his aid like an electric shock , while the man who marshals it destroys it , and will be first to desert it . "
To The Irish People. (From The Irishman ...
My countrymen , you require no physical force ; tue tnartists advocated no physical force ; what they desire , what they demand , and what they assuredly will achieve , is a fdll , vber , akd faib repp eskniation op the whole people ( irish as well as English ) , in the Commons House op Parliament , and by the Pboplb ' s Charter alone can such a representation be accomplished . The Charter means Annual Parliaments , Universal Suffrage , Vote by Ballot , Equal Electoral Districts , Sfo Property Qualification , and Payment of Members . And as my first task will be to create a mind in Ireland , I will separately analyse those several points , in a series of letters , addressed to you through the Irishman , and m which I will abandon all rhetorical and high-1 flown phrases . 1 will neither use trone . fimirp n *
metaphor , but will deal with the subject in plain and simple language , and will defy thegeatest opponent of Chartism to prove the injustice of one of my propositions . My countrymen , you ought to be , but you are not , aware of the crisis that is now approaching lhereis no knowing how long the present parliament , may last . A continental convulsion , or a strong Protectionist exhibition , may drive tho present ministers from office , and lead to a dissolution of parliament—and , behold the result ! Tho town of Beading , the western division of the COUntvof Surrey , and the city of Cork , three places that returned ultra \ Radicals , have / Vithin a few months , returned three violent -Protectionists ; - and , rest assured , that if you bad a general election
to-morrow , you would find-the House of Commons filled with an overwhelming majority , notonlv of Protectionists , but of high Tory butchers and church-oreservers , who would prefer the chance of revolution to the abandonment of church and patronage . Nonr , it is to prepare you for this coming , and no distaint event , that 1 devote my time , which is valuable , to your service ; and mark the course that I recommend . I am aware of the difficulty of instructing a whole nation—but , nevertheless , if a few of the nation will adopt the proper course , the nation may yet be saved . I am aware that plague , pestilence , and famine have thinned your constituency— and I am also aware that your apathy will give increased vigour , energy , and success to your opponents . Now , it is because I prefer a change based upon moral power , to that based upon physical power—and because 1 am aware that the restoration of the Protectionists to power , would enable and induce the
labour-employers ot Jingland to urge the unemploved into a physical outbreak , to attain their own object , that I forewarn you that you may be forearmed . Your first move , then , should bo to establish a sincere , an intellectual , and honest , metropolitan election coMMiiTEK . and to establish local election committees in every county , city , and borough in Ireland , so that all the available force that they may be mustered by good and well-directed machinery may be mustered to fight the coming battle . You see the boast of tho press that Dublin , the metropolis of Ireland , could now return two Protectionists by a majority of a thousand ; and as place is as dear as peace to Ministers , you may rely upon it that the energy upon your part , and energy upon the part of the English people , of which there will be no lack , will compel lord John Russell to make such an extension of the suffrage as will enable him and his brethren to remain in office .
My countrymen , the English Protestant people are as zealous for a Repeal of the Union as you are . Their feelings are as repugnant to that system which allows the bloated shepherd to live luxuriously upon the lean flock as yours arc , and it is only by the united will of the people of both countries that such an abomination can be destroyed . Believe me that you will neither have peace , quite , or industry in . Ireland so lon g as the tall church spire constitutes the tyrant conqueror ' s trophy ; while , if it was bassed upon the voluntary contributions of those who profess the faith that it represents , and not upon your toil , and cemented with your blood , it might be cloud-capped and lofty as the Tower of Babel .
My countrymen , it made my heart jump with joy while I witnessed your fervour and enthusiasm , at the great > aggregate meeting , while I discovered from it that the movement , it Ireland is to be served , must be national and not party . "Was it not a curiosity—nay , a romance—that an attempt should have been made to prevent not only . one of a perse , cwted family / bulroiiewho has been persecutedhimself , from addressing you . And is it not still more anomalous , that although all acknowledge that my services were rather serviceable than injuriousthat the falsehood should be repeated , that I had pledged myself to take no part in tho aggregate meeting—whereas , my words in my letter to Mr . Martin were : —
" You may rest assured , that although it is my intention to attend the Conference , it is not my intention to take any part whatever is us PROCEEDINGS ?" Now , who could construe those words to have any reference whatever to the aggregate meeting ? And who that knows me would suppose me so silly , so pusillanimous , and cowardly , as to be prevented by threats , intimidation , fraud , or jealousy , from addressing my countrymen . On the contrary , my friends , it is my intention to assist personally in the creation , the organisation , and direction of such a mind in Ireland as will make the altar the footstool of God , instead of tho couch of Mammon—as will base tho throne upon tho loyalty and affection of a well-governed people , instead of upon the caprice of an aristocracy—and make the cottage the castle of the freeman , instead of the den of the slave . Your Faithful Friend and Countryman , Fearous O'Connor .
Macnamara T. O'Connor. ' To Feargus O'Co...
MACNAMARA t . O'CONNOR . ' TO FEARGUS O'CONNOR , ESQ ., M . P . Mr Dear Sik—From this day ' s Star I observe that Mr . Macnamara has made the most of it . During the time of the arrests , preceding the trials of last year , a deputation from the Defence Committee waited on me at the John-street Committee-rooms : the conversation was lengthy ; and from the embarrassed state of their affairs I advised them to wait on you , hand the cash Ihcy had over to you , requesting you to act on their behalf . We met
at Osborne ' s Hotel , Strand . Mr . Macnamara was present . Mr . Lacy gave you the money ; I think it was about forty or sixty pounds , but I am not sure of tho amount . On receiving it you said , " Now mind , Lacy and all of you , I will only pay the money I receive through your hands ; I can't afford to spend a fortune every two years , even to defend our own fellows . " Before leaving , you repeated the statement . You conversed freely with Mr . Macnamara - —spoke of the superior abilities of Mr .
Roberts . Mr . Macnamara said that Mr , Roberts had consulted his brother on important trials . You replied , '' I would trust my life in the hands of Roberts . " "We all shared in tho conversation , Mr . Macnamara was originally engaged by the committee , about which engagement there was a slight misunderstanding , which was explained ; and Mr . Macnamara ' s services were continued , not by you , nor on your behalf , but by the Defence Committee , you having the management of the money . I have spoken only of facts : now for one or two remarks . It was evident to me
that you were not quite satisfied with Mr . Macnamara—you thought him tooyoUng—but he had been engaged by the Ctmmittee , and it would have been a delicate thing to discharge him and employ another solicitor . It is but just to say , that Mr . Macnamara expressed his willingness to give up the case , if you or the Committee desired him to do so . You replied , " I have not engaged you ; but if the Committee are dissatisfied , they would better speak now . " Mr . Lacy , on behalf of tho Committee , expressed a wish that Mr . Macnamara ' s services should be retained .
On my way home I said to two of the Committee , " How little brains are needed to enable a solicitor to make his way in the world ; a literary man , belonging to no incorporated profession , may starve , when a mere boy , dubbed Solicitor or Doctor , if once introduced to practice , may make a fortune . ' ' I was partially wrong ; cunning has moro to do with money-getting than intellect : a cunning
Macnamara T. O'Connor. ' To Feargus O'Co...
man will'do . what an honourable , man would not" stoop ( lo do . I am , comparatively , a stranger to Mr . Macnamara . I hope lie may make his way in life ; and if he rise in . his profession by the means he has practised in your case , Ins heirs may write on his tombstone : — " He was a rat . " I am , dear Sir , yours truly , Samuel M . K yjdd . Saturday , December 1 . nmn will'ilo wlmt mi liououi al ) le .. niaii would
The Ten Hours Act. To The Factory Operat...
THE TEN HOURS ACT . TO THE FACTORY OPERATIVES . OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND . Fellow-Wobkpeople , —Tho position of our affairs is daily brightening , and the prospect of a speedy settlement of the points in dispute , by a decision of the Judges of the land , is fast advancing . In accordance with the resolution of the last delegate meeting , a deputation was sent oft * to London to present to Sir George Grey the following memorial , which was drawn up at the request of tho delegates :
To The Bx . Hok . Snt Geokce Gbkt , Bart ., M . P ., Secretary of State for the Home . Department , ic , & c . Tho Memorial of the'Factory Workers of Lancashire , Yorkshire , and Cheshire , in Delegate Meeting assembled , IIumbls Suewetii , —That yout" ifiemoriniists have assembled ill Manchester , to the number of sixty-two , from the various manufacturing districts , and that they represent at least 30 , 000 of their fellow-workpeople , and have met together for the purpose of devising tho best means of bringing to a speedy issue the difference of opinion which now exists relative to the spirit and meaning ofthe Factories Act of 1847 .
that they cannot hut deplore that there is great difference of opinion amongst the county magistrates , upon material points of that law , which being now administered in different ways in duTercut localities , produce the effect of their being one law for Lancashire , another for Yorkshire , and a third for Scotland , all affecting similar classes of Iter Majesty ' s subjects . That by this confUoting state of things much discontent is engendered in the minds of both factory masters aud factory workers , whose time of working the law was intended to wgulate , and creates in the minds of tho operatives a feeling of contempt for all laws ; inasmuch as this system of law-giving appears to confirm tliem in an opinion that there is one law for the rich and another for the poor
, —an opinion in which your memorialists do not participate , hut which they are bound to declare they believe to be fast extending amongst the factory workers , —an opinion which , if it once becomes universal amongst the people , would create a spirit of insubordination which your memorialists dare not contemplate . That , during the present year , your memorialists met together , and s » nt from amongst their fellow-workpeople several deputations to wait upon yourself , as the responsible adviser ofthe Crown , with instructions to urge upon you the absolute necessity of the points in dispute being brought before the Judges in a superior court , with a view of their being finally settled for the guidance of local justices , from whose decision there is no appeal .
That , after repeated interviews and conversations upon the points in dispute , and the dcsircnblcncss of a settlement of the question , you gave them a promise that a case should be prepared , and submitted to the Court of Queen ' s Bench ; upon the result of that case so submitted your memorialists were content to rely , but from some cause or other it was never proceeded with . That your memorialists still look up to you with confidence for the fulfilment of that promise , and therefore humbly hut most fervently pray that you will take immediate steps to submit the lepality of the system of working by shifts , as now practised , to the Judges , for their decision , by which this vexed question may he set at rest for ever , and thereby a good feeling be rc-estabJislicd between masters and men , and the breach lessened which these disputes are fast widening . And your memorialists will ever pray . Signed on behalf of the Delegates , Paul Hargueaves , Chairman .
Tho deputation reached London on Tuesday , November 20 th , and on the following day received a letter from tho Home Secretary , through the influence of Lord Ashley , appointing an interview for Thursday , the 22 nd , at twelve o ' clock . At the time appointed the deputation attended at tho Home Office , and was respectfully received by Sir George Grey . After the presentation of the memorial the question v ? as briefly discussed , but nothing -was elicited as to the intentions of the government beyond the mere fact that they were anxious to have the question set at rest . " Tho deputation immediately proceeded to make inquiries in other quarters , the result of which is highly satisfactory , as will be seen from the following facts which were elicited . It will be
recollected that a case was some time ago tried at Heywood , in which Mr . David Mills was the defendant , and that he vras , by his own consent , convicted in a penalty of £ 5 , with a vioff of enabling him to appeal to the Quarter Sessions , and from that tribunal to tho Court of Queen ' s Bench . By an act of parliament , which came into operation on the 1 st of the present month , it has been found , that when the appellant and respondent agree , they can at once remove the case to the Court of Exchequer , without the usual delay of bringing it before the court of Quarter Sessions . This course has been adopted , and the argument , in all human probability , will come on for hearing in the superior court in January next , when it is confidently hoped the illegality of working by " shifts , " or relays , will be for ever set at rest . Your committee will narrowly watch the whole of the proceedings , and will report from time to time as circumstances will admit . When this decision is obtained the work may no
have ended , as it is said , that any decision of the court at Westminster will not apply to Scotland . Should that be so , your committee will then bring the whole of their energies to bear upon our Scottish fellow-workpeople , ana will , without delay , institute proceedings in the Scottish courts of law , with a view of settling the question there . With a decision ofthe English Judges against the working by shifts in England , there is little to fear that a speedy verdict will be obtained in Scotland . In the mean time we must call upon the workers of both countries to stand firmly to their post , — never to talk of surrendering a single moment of the fifty-eight hours a-week , and to collect their funds and forward them immediately , to enable the committee to meet any new difficulty or emergency that may by any possibility arise . I am , Fellow-Workpeople , yours respectfully , on behalf ofthe Central Committee for the Protection ofthe Ton Hours Act .
Thomas Mawdslet , Secretary Central Committee Room , Cotton Tree Tavern , Groat Ancoats-strect , Manchester , November 28 th , 1840 .
A Eat Sronr.—One Ofthe Gardiens Of Pans ...
A Eat Sronr . —One ofthe gardiens of Pans appointed after the revolution of February , having saved out of his pay a sum of 100 francs , obtained a note , which he secreted in the lining of his Tyrolean hat . Some time after , in attempting to disperse an assemblage on the quays , the poor gardicn had his smart Tyrolean hat plucked from his head and thrown into the river by one of the mob . He sub-. sequently becamo a seroent de ville , and succeeded in forgetting the loss of his little treasure . Lately , however , to his great astonishment , a workman , who stated his name to be Kocman , waited on him , and presented the bank-note . He had , he said , bought the hat for a few sous some days before , and on cutting it up found the . note within the lining ,
enclosed in an envelope , bearing the address 01 the owner , aud he accordingly restored it . The hat , it appeared , had been fished out of the water byt ravagcur , and it had passed through several hands before reaching those ofthe workman . AmiVERSAUY OF THE PoUSJI EeVOLUIION . —On Thursday , tho 29 th of November , being the anniversary ofthe Polish Revolution of 1830 , the Democratic Polish Society assembled together at 17 , New-street , for the purpose of celebrating that memorable event . M . Podoluki presided ; Lieut .-Col . Sztolzman and Capt . Domagalski wore the speakers . Tho meeting terminated with the reading of poetry sent from France by General Mieroslawski , and the singing of patriotic songs . Mai . tiius at a Discount is Russia . —A numerous family is quite a treasure to a Russian peasant . The number of his sons increases tho number of acres of land which he farms , and his daughters are
married oil hand . lie is not asked to provide them with a marriage portion ; nay , he is sometimes even paid for them , The lower classes , in almost every part of Europe , think it a curse to have many children ; in Russia they are a royal road to wealth . Hence the population increases very fast , ' and would do so much faster if tho children were not killed by over-feeding . Ton or twelve children are what ono might call the usual allowance of a married couple in Russia , but ono-third of them die in their infancy . Tho extraordinary abundance of the ncessaries of life is a powerful encouragement to marriage , and old bachelorship and old maidship are things ono scarcely ever hears of . —Fram ' s Magazine . Mr . Shaiwan Crawford has just published a pamphlet of forty-five pages , » titled , " Depopulation not Necessary . —An appeal to the British members of the Imperial Parliament against the extermination of the Irish People . 'J
I I . : I* **•
i : I * **•
-
-
Citation
-
Northern Star (1837-1852), Dec. 8, 1849, page 1, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_08121849/page/1/
-