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Northern Star (1837-1852), 9th March 1850, Edition 2 of 3, Page 4

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    • €O.«TOVIK0tfOltiKltt0
    • THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY, MAUOII 9, IS5«,.
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      Ad00407

      " NATIONAL BENEFIT SOpiETY , Enrolled , pursuant lo statuU 9 th and loth Victoria , c . 27 . THE ABOVE SOCIETY , as amended and legalised / was formerly known a » the KATIONAl CO-OPERATIVE BENEFIT SOCIETT ; the managers of which , have long seen the neceisity of lesal protection for the security of Its members . In framing the new rules , care has been taken to equalise the expenr fjfurewUu the receipts , so that the permanent success of the Society should be beyond all doubts . , Th- Society is diridea Into three section * , to meet the necessities and requirements of all classes of mechanics anO labourers , from eig hteen years of age to forty . THE ICtWWISO IS THE SC 1 K OF IEES TO BE PAID AT WEEKLY . ALLOWANCE IN SICKNESS . " - ENTRANCE : — - s . a . jlge . Istsection . 2 ndsection . Sadsection . ¦ First Section . " . ' .... 15 0 s . < L s . d . e . d . Second Section .. .. .. 10- 0 ' , . Froml 8 to 24 .... 3 0 2 0 .... 1 0 Third Section 5 0 _ 2 i—27 .... G 0 .... 4 0 .... 2 0 ' ' ,. „ _ 27—30 .... 9 0 .... G 0 .... 3 0 membebs death . wifes death . _ 30—33 12 O 8 O 4 0 £ a . a . * «• a - — 33—36 .,,, 15 0 .... 10 0 .... 5 0 First Section .... 15 0 o Inn — 36—33 .... IS 0 .... 12 0 .... 6 0 Second Section .. 10 0 0 f » X — 38—40 .... 21 0 .... 14 0 .... 7 0 Third Section .... 5 0 0 3 ° » 1 I 0 STHLT CONTRIBUTIONS . . First Section , 3 s . Gd . Secoad Section , 2 s . id . Third Section , Is . 10 . The Society meets every Monday evening , at the Two Chairmen , Wardour-street , Soho , T ^ f ^^^^^ l matiou can oe had , amd meufters enroUei Country friends , app lyingfor rules , can have them forwarded , by enclosing E MeSbtTS htte Co-operative Benefit Society , who have paid all dues and demands up to the . 25 th December , 1849 . can atouce be transferred to either section rfthe National Benefit Society , without any extra charge . Agents and sub-secretaries of the late National Cooperative Benefit Society , arc requcsted to .-mediately rtbrmtfae General Secretarr of the number of members likely to transfer to the National Beneht Society ' , ulll parties Wishing to S ^ SJ ^ totoTSS- rfS ^ ew wA- euibe supplied with every information , on applicatumto the Secretary , byenclosiuga V J ^^ m fov ^^ er . Regent . street ) Laml ) eth .

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      Ad00408

      O'COXXOBTILLE . A EASE OPPORTUNITY FOR THOSE who havo the inclination and the means of having a first-rate FOUR-ACRE ALLOTMENT . This is no Tarn toast , the present holder having spared no money , perseverance , or industry , both in making convenience to the house , beautifying andimproving the ground . Indeed , it only wants to be seen to be appreciated , as it is admired iy every body who see it , and it fiu- outvies any other allotment on the Company ' s estate . The present propne . or , -who has been on it three years , is compelled , through unforeseen circumstances , very reluctantly to resign it . ine ground is cropped , as far as the season will permit , and there is 500 trees of every description of fruit , and the price , £ C 0 , clear . Inquire of J . W . Gambell , O'Conno r ville , nearluckmans-• worth , Herts . All letters must contain a stamp inclosed for a reply .

      Ad00409

      STEALTH AYHERE 'TIS SOUGHT 1 HOLLOIAT ' S PILLS . Cure of a' Disordered Liver and Stomach , wlien in a most Jiopeless state . Extract of a letter from Mr . Matthew Harvey , of Chapel Hal l , Airdrie , Scotland , dated the l-5 th of January , IS 50 . Sib , — You r va l uable pills have been the means , with God ' s blessing of restoring me to a state of perfect health , and at a thne when I thought I was on the brink of the grave . Ihadconsulted several eminent doctors , who , after doingwhat they could for me stated that they considered my case as h o p eless . I ou ght to say that I had heen suffering from a liver and stomach complaint of longstanding , which during the last two years got so much worse , that everyone consideredmy condition as hopeless . I as a lastresource gota nos of your pills , which soon gave relief , and ny persevering in their use for some weeks , together with rubbing ni ght and morning vour Ointment over my chest and stomach , and right side , I have by their means alone got completely cured , and to the astonishment of myself and every body who knows me . —( Signed ) Matthew Habvet . —To Professo r Hoixowat . Cure of a Case of Weakness and Debility , of Four

      Ad00410

      Read this , and judge for yourselvvs . GOOD HEALTH , GOOD SPIRITS , AM > LOIfG LIFE , SECURED BY THAT HIGHLY ES TEEMED POPULAR REMEDY , PARR'S LIFE PILLS . THOMAS PARR .

      Ad00411

      THE CHEAPEST EDITION EV £ ft PUBLISHED . Price Is . Gd ., A new and elegant edition , with Steel Plate of the Author , of PAIHE'S POLITICAL WORKS . Now Read y , a New Edition ot Mr . O'CONNOR'S WORK ON SMALL FARMS Sold by J . Watson , Queen ' s Head Passage , Paternoster row , London ; A . lleywood , Oldham-street , Manchester , a nd L o ve and Co . , 5 , Nelson-street , Glasgow . And bv all Booksellers in Town and Country .

      Ad00412

      HISTORIC PAGES FBOM THE Revolution OF 1848 , By M . 10 UIS BLANC . And published under the special sanction of tho author . The puhlicafton of the English translation of this important work is unavoidably delayed until next week . No . I , price one ppnny , will be ready . on Tuesday next , the 12 th inst ., and will be regularly continued every week until completed ; in about 24 'humbers . This work corrects the falsehoods and misrepresentations of Lam a rtine ' s History , just published in English by Bohn , and should be in the bands of every Democratic and Social Ref or mer . Other standard works of the same class will speedily follow . TVliere may also be had , THE CATECHISM OF SOCIALISM . Price One Penny . By Louis Blanc This is the best and cheapest exposition of the Organisation of Labour Question ever published .

      Ad00413

      LAND AND COTTAGES . ( The property of a private gentleman . ) TO BE LET , with immediate possession , two miles from O'Connorville , ten acres of capital la n d , a t £ 2 per ac r e per annum , for t hree years ce rt a i n , and £ i p er ac r e p er annum , for ever afterwards . Also , two four-roomed cottages adjoining , with ten thousand square feet of garden ground each , at 3 s . per week each , which may be so divided as to accommodate four families at Is . Cd . per week each , allowing for that sum two little rooms on five thousand square feet of ground—that is to say fifty feet frontage by one hundred feet long . For further information , apply-to Mr . Broivne , Metropo-Htan-buildinss , Albert-street , Spicer-strcet , Sp i t alfi e lds , enclosing stamps for postage .

      Ad00414

      THE LAND AT O'CONNORVILLE . TO BE LET , A FOUR ACRE FARM , situate in the best portion of the Estate , with barn , pigsties , enc l osed yard , copper se t , and other conveniences . One and a quarter acres are cropped with wheat , and the allotment is decidedly the best on the Estate . Fo r par t icula r s a p ply to Thomas Mabtin Wheeler , O'Connorville , near Rickmansworth , Herts . AU letters must contain a postage stamp for reply . Also to let , with crop and stock , the TWO ACRE ALLOTMENT now occupied by T . M . Wheeler . For particulars inquire as above .

      Ad00415

      PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT . A PUBLIC MEETING , aA Convened by the Pbovisiosal Committee of the NATIONAL CHARTER ASSOCIATION , will be held at the LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC DfSTITUTJS , JOHNSTREET , TOTTENHAM-COURT-ROAD , on TUE S DAY EVEXIXG NEXT . Makcu 12 rn , 1850 ; for the purpose of Reviewing the Peoceedixgs in Pabmamkst during the past week . Feargus O'Connor , Esq M . P ., G . W . M . Reynolds , Esq ., G . Julian Harney , W . J . Vernon , Ambrose Tomlinson ( re . cently liberated from his dungeon at Wakefield , ) and others are expected to address the meeting . Chair to be taken at eight o ' clock . ADMISSION FREE .

      Ad00416

      THE FUND FOR THE WIDOWS AND ORPHANS OP WILLIAMS AND SHARP . A TEA MEETING IN AID OF THE - £ a above fund ( and to celebrate the second anniversary ofthe memorable 10 th of April , 1848 ) , will take place in the NATIONAL HALL , 2 « , HIGH H 0 LB 0 RN , On WEDNESDAY , APRIL ltai . After the Tea A PUBLIC MEETING Will he held , at which the advocates of democratic and social progress are hereby invited to attend . Tea on the table at Six , and the Public Meeting to commence at Ei ght o ' clock . William Davis in t he Chair . Tickets for the Tea , One Shilling each , may be had at Reynolds ' s Political Istsxecctok Office , 7 , Wellingtonstreet North , Strand ; Land Ofiice , 141 , High Holborn ; the several Metropolitan Localities ; of Mr . Mills , at the National Hall ; ofthe Members ofthe Committee ; and of the Secretary , John J . Ferdinando , 18 , New Tyssen-street , Bethnal-green . Admission to Public Meeting : —HaU , 2 d . Gallery , 3 d .

      Ad00417

      EMIGRATION TO NORTII AMERICA . m TAPSCOTT AND CO ., SHIPPING i » and Emigration Agents , Liverpool , continue to despatch First Class Ships—To NEW YORK-every Five Days . To NEW ORLEANS-every Ten Days . To BOSTON and PHILADELPHIA-every Fifteen Days . A nd oc c asionally to ana 1 st J 0 HNS' CHAIlLEST 0 N > SAVANNAH , QUEBEC , Drafts for any amount , at si ght , on New York , payable many part of the United States . Tapscotfs "Emigrant ' s Guide" sent free , on receipt of Four Postage Stamps . . -T l ^ L ^ PJ uttn ' eBty-ei E llttbonsand persons sailed for the A ew Wo r ld , in Tapscott ' shne of American Packets , in 1819 .

      Ad00418

      PAINS IN THE BACK , GRAVEL , LUMBAGO , RHEUMATISM , STRICTURES , DEBILITY < fcc . DR . DE ROOS' COMPOUND RENAL PILLS are the o . w certain cube for the above distressing complaints , as also all diseases of the kidneys and urinary organs generally , whether resulting from imprudence or otherwise , which , if neglected , so frequently end in s t onejn th e bladder , arid a lingering , agonising death ! It is an established fact that most cases of gout and Rheu . matism occurring after middle age , aro combined with diseased urine , bow necessary is it then , thatpersbns so afflicted should at once attend to these important matters . By the salutary action of these pills , on acidity ofthe stomacli , they correct bile and indigestion , purify and promote tile renal secretions , thereby preventing the formation of calculi , and establishing for life a healthy performance ofthe functions of all these organs . They have never been known to fail , and may : be obtained through most Medicine Vendors .-Price Is . i § d „ 2 s . 3 d ., and 4 s . Cd . per box ., or will be sent free ; -with ftuTinstructions for use , oh receipt of the price in postage stamps , by Dr . DE ROOS . A considerable saving efiected by purchasing the larger boxes .

      Ad00419

      BEAUTIFUL HAIR . WHISKERS , & c „ versus BALD-0 NESS , WEAK , and GREY HAIR . NE TRIAL ONLY is solicited of Tm « . £ S SAL 1 E COIJPELLE'S celebrated PARISIAN lOMADE , for the certain production of Whiskers , Eyebrows , & c , in six or eight weeks , reproducing lost Hair , strengthening and curling weak hair , and checking grey ness at any time of life , from whatever cause arisinc It has never been known to fail , and will be forwarded ( free ) with full uistructioiw , & c , on receipt of 24 postage TESTIMONIALS , & C . Mr . Bull , Brill , ( ays : — " I am happy to say , after everything else failed , yours has had the desired effect the crevness is quite checked . " b J Dr . Erasmus Wilson : — "It is vastly superior to all the clumsy greasy compounds now sold under various titles and pretences , which I have at different times analysed , and found uniformly injurious , being either scented or coloubed with some highly deleterious ingredient . There are , however , se many impositions afoot , that persons reluctantly place confidence when it may justly be be-

      Ad00420

      KBVIBW" CONXAINS . AN IMPOttTANX ARTICLE . r ON THE ' FACTORY ^ UESTIOK . J Now ready , wi & the Magarines for March , No . ' * , on " . '¦¦" . ,,-T HE DEMO , CBATiC REVIEW Of BRITISH and FOREIGN POLITICS , HISTORY - - and LITERATURE . Edited by G . JULIAN HARNEY . ' ' KKNTS ' : ' " : ' 1 . The Stamp Tax « n Newspapers . •"•• ' . ,: 8 . Legal Plunder . / , - .. - ¦ .-.. 3 . The Ten Hours Question . 4 . A Glance at History . Part II . 5 . Fourier ' s Theory . G . Anniversary of the French Revolution . 7 . The Bloodshedding Ordermongers . 8 . Poetry : " The Past and the Present , " 9 . Letter from France . 10 . Letter from Germany . 11 . Political Postscript , Ac , fie . ggr The Letters from France and Germany contain verj important information of the diabolical designs of the " Holy Alliance , " aud tlwir infamous instrument President Buonaparte . -

      Ad00421

      PORTRAIT OP MR . WALTER COOPER . This day is published , price One Penny , No , XIX . of REYNOLDS'S POLITICAL INSTRUCTOR . : Edited bv C . W . M . REYNOLDS , Author ofthe First and Second Series of ' The Mysteries of London , ' ' The Mysteries of the Court of London , ' ' The Davs or Hogarth , ' 'Robert Macaire , ' < fcc , < fcc ., & c . This number of the Instructor contains a portrait of

      Ad00422

      THE PEOPLE'S REVIEW . Edited by Friends of Order and ; Progress . rpHE PEOPLE'S REVIEW JL is upon the plan of the six shilling Quarterly , but at a price within the compass of the many ; and it is intended that the " People's Review" shall contain articles cxpositoiyofthe popular interests , which are . daily attracting more and more notice of the statesman and the thinkerarticles which shall be recognised as well-advised and dispassionate expressions of that portion of the people , who believe in reason as the true agent , and in kindness as a power for progress . . ¦¦¦ " ' . contents of no . h ., for march . 1 . The Thirty Years ' I ' eace . 2 . Strafford , the Despot in Practice . 3 . The Science of Diet . 4 . Polities and Prospects ofthe German People . 5 ; Art before Exhibition , 6 . Recent Novels . 7 . Emigration and Colonisation , etc ., etc , etc . C . Mitchell , Red Lion-court , London .

      €O.«Tovik0tfoltikltt0

      € O . « TOVIK 0 tfOltiKltt 0

      Nottingham.—J. Sweet Acknowledges The, R...

      Nottingham . —J . Sweet acknowledges the , recei p t of the following sums , sent herewith , vis .: —For the O'Connor Indemnity Fond . —Mrs . Ann Burbage , fid ; A Devoted Frieud , 5 s ; A Middle-class Friend , IDs ; Mr . J . Brown , Gd ; Mr . Gee , Gd ; A Frieud , 2 s Gd ; From Bulwell , 2 s t ) d ; A Friend , 6 d ; A Friend , Is ; Mr . White , 3 d ; M r . Chipindale , "Js 6 d ; From Hyson-green district , 8 s lOd ; A Friend 3 d . Fob Mrs .. M'Doiull . —From Carrington , 5 s . J . Richards . —Thanks for youlctter . Please to send your full address . E . F ., Uxbrid gei—The lines are passable , and shall be inser ted on a future occasion .-Mr . II . Johnson , Syston . —The work contains the whole of Paine ' s political writings . . Mr . Barrie , Strathavcn . —We do not send the papers . Mr . Love must have forwarded it from Glasgow . Having received a great number of letters from various parts requesting a supply of subscription books for the collection of the Honesty Fund , I beg to state that all such applications must be made to Mr . Thomas Clark , 144 , Hi gh Holborn . Several letters have also been

      ad-. ' dressed to me for cards of membership of the National Charter Association . Those I have handed over to the Secretary , Mr . John Arnotfc , 14 , Southampton-street , Strand . —See Notice in this day ' s paper . —W . Rider . . Fob the Family of Dr . M'Dooall , —Received by Andrew M'Fee , Liverpool , a post-office order for lGs . from Joseph Cooper , Lundport ; also from Mr . W . Norman , Isle of Wi ght , - ei g h t ecn p os t age stam p s . Public Libraries . —Any properly organised publie library will oblige the Chartists of Longton , by- forwarding a copy of their rules to Henry Clay , Paradise-street , Longton , Staffordshire . A Constant Reader , Berwick . —Physicians are entitled to charge for their ' prescriptions . They do not generally supply medicine . You should see the gentleman and plead your inability . ? . . ¦ ¦ - Several Communications are unavoidably postponed this week through press of matter . Among others we may enumerate , J . N . Leicester ; D . Sherrington , Glasgow ; J . Smart , Aberdeen ; Tho Friends at Radcliff ; a letter on Pottersville ( America ) , and several others , which will receive our earliest attention .

      G . J . Harney cannot at present visit Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Northampton .. The latter place he will visit within a few weeks j his visit to the former must be deferred until some time in the ensuing summer . G . J . II . will arrange to pay an early visit to Stockport and Rochdale . J . M'Crae . —Received . Shall hear from us by post . The " Weekly'Dispatch , " and Mr . Thomas Clark . — We have much pleasure in announcing that Mr . Clark ' s lying pamphlet was favourably . reviewed in the " Weekly Dispatch" of Sunday last . According to the reviewer , Mr . Clark " bravely confesses the old errors ofthe Chartist course , especially with regard to the Com Laws . " The reviewer adds an expression of his " sorrow and amaze , ment that any number of men can be found so besotted as t o l i s t en t o or read th e ravings " a tt ribu t ed by Mis t er Clark to Julian Harney . This must be hig hly gratif y ing to Mr . Clark . It is most certainly gratifying to Julian Harney . Mr . J . White ,-Leicester . —Write to the Irishman Office , D'Olier-street , Dublin . We only supply the Northern Star .

      Leicester . —Julian Harney has received , and paid over to Sir . Kider , for the Honesty Fund 18 s . ; for Macnauiara's Action , Is , 9 d , ; and towards Nixon ' s Sill , is , M , NATIONAL CHARTER ASSOCIATION . All letters and communications for the Provisional Committee , must be addressed , till further notice , as follows : —John Arnott , Office of the National Charter Association , 14 , Southampton-street , Strand , London . N . B . —The Secretary will he in attendance at the Office daily ( Sundays excepted ) from nine to two o ' clock , .-.- •

      The Northern Star Saturday, Mauoii 9, Is5«,.

      THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY , MAUOII 9 , IS 5 « ,.

      The National Land Plan. The Working Peop...

      THE NATIONAL LAND PLAN . The working people are more just than Chief Baron Pollock—inore clear-sighted and impartial than a Special Jury of the Court of Exchequer . From all parts of the country expressions of undiminished confidence in Mr . O ' Connor pourin upon us .. The rancorous and factious persecution to which he has been

      subjected , has had the " effecj ; of attaching them more warmly to a niari who ! has ' given his life and fortune to" the advocacy ' of their interests . To the extent of their'limited means , they have voluntarily come for ward to aid in defraying the expenses . heaped upon his head by the perversion of the law ; and the intrigues and misrepresentations of his enemies * instead of severing , have only more closely united , the Leader and the Party .

      Apart from this gratifying feature of the correspondence with which our columns have been filled for the last two weeks , much valuable light has been thrown upon the character and conduct of the persons who were brought by BitADSHAWto throwdiscredit upon the Land Plan itself . On thevery face ofthe enterprise , it was evident , that , from want of personal health and strength , or previous training and experience , some allottees mi ght fail in realising the results anticipated . But it was equally evident , to all impartial men , that such individual failures would not , in the slightest degree , impugn the general soundness of the Plan , or be detrimental to its capability of producing a substantial and aggregate imurnvAm < wiT . in t . ha

      condition of the persons so located . A careful examination of the evidence of the hostile witnesses will show , that , in every case , the condemnation they pronounced upon the Plan , was the result of their own personal incapacity , or the palpable want ofthe necessary means to cultivate their allotments profitably . Not that the Company was to blame for this latter defect . The Aid Money—which was mainly , if not entirely , intended to be expended in seeds , implements , and labour , of a reproductive character—was paid , but it was laid out m a way that was certain to yield no

      The National Land Plan. The Working Peop...

      refurn 7 ^ Take the case of Alexander' Clbland as an instance . He endeavoured to make himself a much-injured man , - by his removal from Scotland to Snig ' s End- According-to his . own ' account , he , was ; eariiing . ' : excellent wages , and was exceedingly comfortable , botore he was entrapped into this delusive scheme . Mr . Duncan Sherrington has given us theother side ofthe picture . By the account of . the expenditure of the £ 15 Aid Money , paid to Cleland , two things are evident—first , that CLELAND- < if he received the wages he stated in the Court of _ .

      Exchequer—must have a very indifferent knowledge of Domestic Economy and second ; that he expected to reap , without p lanting or sowing . Now the Land Company n ever pretended to impart , instantaneously , the knowledge and practice of Household Thrift , and of the domestic virtues to all its members ; nor did it promise that corn , potatoes , cabbages and bacon , were to spring spontaneously from the small farms upon which it placed its allottees . If did not profess to work miracles of

      that kind . The old fashion of being industrious , frugal , and sober—the old custom of sowing seed , and expending labour , before the harvest was gathered in , constituted the foun * dation and the guarantee of the success of that Plan , quite as much as they do in any of the other occupations of life . The only difference was that the Land Company proposed to leave the producer a much larger share of the results of his own labour than has ever before been suffered to remain with them . It

      gave them land in small quantities at the wholesale price , or upon a small rental calculated upon that amount ; it gave them houses at the cost price of erection—or at an equally small rental upon that cost price . It subdivided the large estates purchased by' it into suitable farms—fenced and drained where necessary—planted fruit trees—made i & ads , so that there mi g ht be convenient access , and facilities for transporting produce and goods ; and lastly , supplied—either in money , or work and manure , or by all three—the means , of raising the first crop .

      What more could be asked of the Company ? Are those who annually emigrate to the " far west" of America , or the cattle runs of Australia , provided in anything like an equal degree with the facilities for maintaining themselves and families in substantial and permanent comfort ? Not at all ! Yet the : very journals whic h villify the Land Plan as a swindle , are loudest in their advocacy of foreign Emigration as the panacea for all our grievances—the cure for the destitution and misery which exist so abundantly around us .

      But in the case of Cleland , as in the case of many others , who have made similar complaints , it is clear that the failure was in himself , and not in the plans or arrangements of the Company . He does not aver that he was not placed in possession ofthe farm and house allotted to him . He does not deny having received the £ 15 awarded by the laws of the Company to a two acre farm . But instead of applying that money to its legitimate objects—the cultivation and stocking of his farm —it is expended in passage money , and the carriage of baggage—and in the purchase of shoes and pinafores tor the children ! Surely , a man who earned £ 1 a week in Glasgow , might have been provided with these very

      necessary articles , . without trenching upon the fund supplied by the Company" for the purpose of producing a crop on his farm . Under the head of " Potatoes , turnip , cabbage , carrot and onion seeds , and cabbage plants , " however , we find that two pounds seven shillings and sixpence was the whole amount expended out of the £ 15—and if to that we add thirteen shillings and sixpence for agricultural implements , it makes exactly four pounds , or less than one third of the whole , employed as capital in the cultivation of two acres of land . No wonder such a man failed ! Ex nihilo nihil jit —out of nothing , nothing comes . We submit , however , that the Land Company , who gave the money , is not to be condemned for the failure , but the man who misappropriated it .

      Yet it is upon such instances as these , which carry their own refutation along with them , that the Times and other journals found a sweeping and wholesale condemnation of small farms and spade labour . The absurdity of such conclusions , when based npon such data , is so obvious as not to need comment or reply . The superiority of spade culture , as far as the quantity of produce is concerned , over the plough , is now admitted by every practical man . The difficulty under our present system of farming is for the farmer to find the requisite amount of manual labour at the

      time he wants it , and to get rid of it again when he does not need it . If these two things could be assured them , we have no hesitation in' saying , that spado labour would become general among the enterprising farmers of this country . But as they cannot , they are obliged to content themselves with the inferior productive machinery , which rests upon the plough as its basis . When , therefore , we hear such palpable nonsense as , that a man cannot support himself and family , by their united labour , on average land , by the spade , the inference is , not that spade labour is defective , but that the man who complains is himself in fault .

      Much controversy takes place at times between Free Traders and Protectionists , as to the relative number of persons engaged in manufacture and in agriculture . On whichever side the truth may be , everybody must admit , that the millions of quarters of corn , and the vast amount of other provisions , raised annually in this country , are produced by a very small fraction of the whole . community . Many years ago William Cobbett , with that

      searching analysis which distinguished his writings , instituted an investigation into the productive and distributive statistics of a single parish . The result of that inquiry demonstrated , that out of every fifteen days the agricultural labourer was at work , he received for himself the produce of only one : the other fourteen days were appropriated for the support ofthe " institutions of the country , " and absorbed by the classes who live upon profits in various proportions .

      If the productive classes mean to amend a system which thus steadily and insidiously ) transfers the fruits-of their labour to those " who toil not , neither do they spin , " they must adopt measures far different to those which are proposed , by mere surface and popularity-hunting agitators . The Land Plan may not be perfect in all its arrangements .. It was not to be expected that , in a scheme involving so much , that was novel and . untried in practice , everything that might happen could have , been foreseen and provided for . A large margin is always allowed for contingencies in

      all new experiments , and we do not see why this should be refused the same advantage . The main question is , whether it is founded upon principles sound'in themselves , and capable—if prudently and practically carried out __ to permanently and substantially improve the condition of the labouring classes . If this can be answered in the affirmative , then , we say , that the difficulties and obstructions which defective knowledge , and defective means , may interpose in its progress , so far from being * the ground of either condemnation or despondency , ought merely to be

      considered as the necessary steps towards the completion of the Plan , and the realisation of its objects . In the meantime , we conclude by observing , that those who spent on themselves money which should have gone into the Land in the shape of manure and seeds—those who have withheld the subscriptions by which alone the Plan could be carried out as intended , and on the faith of which Mr . O'Connor and the Directors purchased Estates and built Cottages , are the very last persons who ought to complain of the effect of their misappropriations and bad faith .

      The National Land Plan. The Working Peop...

      :. - . XUJU 4 lj . yjju txiu i"iw * *» --- ~—; ! ' Nothing appears to frighten our public men so much' as' any proposal to deal definitely ^ and directly with ; the ' sdcial and political condition of . ' . the massesl- ' . Ifit-is proposed to extend the Suffrage , it is at . orico objected : that they » ve not yet fit for its exercise , _ but that some time or other they may be so , ' whensuch an extension may ,, be safely conceded . If the other tack is taken , r ahd improved , educational and social arrangements are asked for , in order to give the people at large the intelligence and the superior moral habits of which it is alleged

      they are now deficient , the answer is then ,, that nothing can be done by Act of Parliament for such purposes—that " let alone" is the Alpha and Omega of Government and legislation , and that the people must work out their own redemption , by their own unassisted efforts . " ( Either way . the people are condemned to endure the pi-essure of the numerous burdens ; and the gross injustice inflicted upon them by the present order of things .

      Two recent occurrences have strongly exemp lified the hopelessness of any efficient or Honest Reform being carried in the present constitution ofthe Legislature . Mr . Hume ' s annual motion for his " Little Charter , " was debated ' in an almost empty house , for the greater part of the night . As the time for the division approached , members rushed in ready to vote , who had not heard . It was mere brute force—unreasoning and unreasonable obstructiveness , based on the determination to maintain class rule and class legislation for the benefit of the few at the expense of the

      many . The arguments—if they may be dignified by that name—which the Premier , and others opposed to the proposition , were of the flimsiest texture , But one declaration will hot bo forgotten' as long as Lord John Russell lives , namely , that the people of this country were - not fit to be trusted with the franchise . We look upon that declaration as an insult to the nation , and one which , if the people at large felt any regard for ' their own reputation in the eyes of the world , they would speedily seek satisfaction for , by turning the puny lordling who made it out of office .

      An increase of twelve in the number of those who voted'for the motion , as compared with the minority of last year , may be accepted as an indication that the out-door agitation is beginning to tell upon constituencies , and that the waverers , and those who are uncertain as to the tenure of their seats , begin to think it is time to choose their side . We have still , however , to observe a lamentable want of energy and of union on the part ofthe middle class reformers both in and out of Parliament . With a minority of ninety-six—if there was a sturd y determination to push the ministry home—could soon alter the supercilious and insulting tone with which their motions are met .

      The other occurrence—which proves that the working classes have nothing to hope from Government and Parliament as now constituted— was the reception given to the motion of Mr . Slaney , for the appointment of an unpaid Commission to consider . and report upon practical plans , ( not connected with political changes ) for the social improvement of the working and poorer classes . Nothing could

      be more unpretending , cautious , and modest , than such a proposal ; yet it was made to a thin and : inattentive House , and ultimatel y withdrawn , from a clear- perception that even such a small recognition of the claims of " the working and poorer classes " would have been ignored by the " honourable House , '' , that pretends to represent the " Commons of Great Britain and Ireland . '

      In truth , the industrious classes are theoretically and practically excluded from all participation in legislation , and in legislative care and protection . They are the sheep to be shorn , or devoured wholesale , as tho case may be . Tlio House of Commons represents the wolves who prey upon them . We live under ari Oligarchy composed of landed aristocrats , and middle class profit-mongers—they may quarrel with each other as to the division of the spoil , but they always cordiall y unite their forces against any attempt of the despoiled to acquire strength to . resist aggression , orredress for the wrongs they endure , or a chance of emancipating themselves from oppression .

      Mr . Slangy ' s statement of the amount of these wrongs , and the deadly and demoralising nature of that oppression , was , in fact , a heavy indictment against those before whom he preferred it . In no country of the world , is the labouring man placed in a worse physical and social position , than he is in this boasted land of freedom . At the end of a long life spent in hard work , the aged peasant has no prospect before him but the workhouse ; when he is able . to toil no longer , society gratefully awards him a pauper ' s fare and treatment , and when that kills him , a pauper ' s coffin and

      a pauper's grave . His family have the same prospect before them . From earl y morn till late night , they may labour on for long years , in producing all that ministers to the physical well-being of the community , at wages barely sufficient to keep soul and body together , and when no longer able to labour , their father ' s fate is theirs . To talk of the tiller of the soil ever rising above this abject and most hopeless of conditions , is a mockery . All the arrangements by which he is surrounded seem as if they were expressly contrived for the purpose of making him physically , mentally , and

      morally , a slave to the landlord and the farmer , who share the products of his toil between them . It is not good for them that he should eat of the tree of knowledge , and have his eyes opened to discriminate good and evil , Hence , generally the opposition to all educational or social measures , which might raise the peasantry in the scale of society . Schools and small allotments , aro all so many encroachments on the means by which the labourers are held in mental and physical thraldom ; and they ask themselves , if these things are conceded , " What is to become of us V

      When we turn to our large towns and cities , and to our manufacturing districts , we . find , that : the demons of class-interest and classtyranny ,. 'produce eftects ' morepernicious , and even more deplorable . Of one thing even land-: lords and farmers cannot deprive their slaves , ^ -the benefit of the fresh air in which tlioy pursue their avocations . But the worker in the mine and the factory has no such compensation . During his hours of labour he is surrounded with an atmosphere which slowly impairs vitality , and lays the seeds of disease and early death in the frame . When away from work ; the close , unventilated , and undrained lanes and alleys , and the overcrowded tenements in which he is

      compelled , to live , exercise an equally deadly ; , influence upon health and morality . Sickness , mortality , and vice hold their revels amongst the huddled-up masses , who keep the wheels of our manufacturing and commercial machinery in ; motion . The children born of such parents , brought up amidst such baleful influences , and employed as early as their limbs will enable them to bear the toil , are stunted , pale , sickly , equally deficient of moral and physical stamina . According to high authority , they are fast sinking from the human to the brute type . All that has been taken to

      distinguish man from the lower animals is being rapidl y obliterated in them , and they are approximating to the form , the intellect , and the passions of baboons . Large masses in particular occupations have not the slightest hope of escape from tho perennial misery by which they are environed . Death is the only door that stands open—a door frequently opened for them by the hand of fever , or of those numerous diseases which ravage the poor man's dwelling .. Pauperism and crime increase , and the whole condition of the masses is of the most lamentable and appalling cha-

      The National Land Plan. The Working Peop...

      racter , jnjhe midst ol [[ loud boastings 0 f rt magnitude of our commerce—ttie" v astness r our wealth—the wide extent of our domini — and the augmenting quantity of exports an J imports . •¦ " /¦ -- - " ^ : Surely such a state of things demands som attention and some remedy , For the sake f those even , who imagine it serves their i „ te est , it is desirable that something should \ done to lessen the discontent and sense of 0 pression which ferments in the bosom \ society . Miv Sidney ' s motion for an unoail commission , and his suggestions as to rem dial measures , were so very small and inad ^ quate that they need have fri ghtened no on * If granted ,, they would have little if J , , - < , « + ne tn tlio mi / 1 of inf'lniiil t . A .. „ i > . . ^

      direct enect upon tne condition of those wh wretchedness he so truly depicted ; but th ^ might , at least , have laid the found ation p more practical and more efficacious meas ure * But the House of Common s thinks all powerful interests ought to be protected all weak ones to be neglected . Railways «¦ " ¦' their Board—not of unpaid , but paid comiti ? sioners—Trade and Navigation are duly su plied with a paid Board , to watch over thei /" all interests , but Labour , have their represen " tatives in Parliament

      , and their Governm ent I department , by whom their interests are cared for and protected . Property , when realised Property , when in the process of realisatio n by means of trade , manufactures , or com ' merce—Property in lands , houses , or money " are the sole words of the British Constitution For the industrious classes—by whose labours all these kinds of property are supplied ^ , there is no protection , no care . They ^ exposed to be plundered , oppressed , and degraded , by all who choose to take advauta < m

      ot their weakness , their ignorance , or their disunion ; and when they complain , the profes sor ^ " the " dismal science" of Political Economy tell them their murmurings are impious , because these things are ordained of God , and in accordance with the laws of Nature' " l-In J long , 0 Lord ? " '

      Parliamentary Review. The Illness Of The...

      PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW . The illness of the Chancellor of the Exchequer has served as an excuse for postponing many promised measures until after Easter , and has served as a convenient answer to many "inconvenient" motions made by independent members . It js probable that , by these means , the end ofthe Session will arrive , and leave the same meagre result as the product of such made " talk" and trouble as have distinguished former Sessions under the present incapable Ministry . " Much Ado about No thing' * seems to be the only play they can perform in .

      Most of the Government ' sittings have been occupied since our last by the discussion , in Committee , of the Bill granting facilities for tho manufacture of "Whig constituencies in Ireland . The Tory opponents did not venture upon repeating so flagrant a system of factious obstruction , as we noticed last week ; but they have fought every clause with numerous amendments , which prove how strong is then-determination to leave no stone unturned in order to maintain Tory , domination in that country .

      Despite their opposition , however the two principal clauses in the Bill have been carried —the one fixing the' borough franchise at £ 8 rating , and the other , the county franchise at £ 5 to tenants in fee , or in tail , " or for life , or of the rated value of £ o . The ma jorities by which these clauses were carried—after prolonged debates and repeated divisions—were large enough to induce the Peers to suffer their passing , without damaging opposition in the Upper House .

      To the proposal of Mr . Reynolds , that the borough franchise should also be reduced to ¦ £ 5 , the Government gave the unusually ungenerous answer , that if they did so , the same thing would he asked for England and Scotland , and as they did not mean to give it to the one they would not to the other .- Iufact , throughout the debate , the real object of the measure , that of giving the party in power a preponderance at the next general election was transparent , and all but avowed iu words . The measure is a sham reform—one of those

      things that are " neither fish , flesh , nor good red herring , " The people of Ireland , we believe , are not such fools as to believe that it will confer those electoral rights and privileges upon them , which are essential to their poli « tical freedom , and their social improvement . We have noticed , in another place , the result of the devision . upon Mr . Hume ' s motion . The Ministerial organ treats it as a mere " show question , " which means nothing more than the harmless gossip of a night about an unattainable and Utopian crocthet . We confess that we have a suspicion , if the matter

      was left in the hands of some of the " respectable" advocates it had last week , such was likely to be its fate for many years to come . The manner in which Mr HuAik , Mr , Page Wood , and others who voted for the motion , revenged themselves for being obliged to do so , by abusing Mr . O'Connok , was very amusing . Why should the Chartist leader , and the Chartists as a body , he thus maligned and vituperated ? They have surely as much right to propound and maintain their six points of political reform , as Mr . Hume has his "four . " Mi * . Page Wood , who is a

      lawyer , has a great horror of " abstract propositions , " and took the lion . Member lor Nottingham severely to task for indulging lU them . One of these " abstractions" was , " the labourer shall first bo partaker ofthe fruits . " That was , in his opinion , a very dangerous doctrine . Now , we believe that Mr . Wood prides himself upon being a very religious man ; we presume , therefore , he has read the Bible , aud we ask him if , in the course of such reading , ho never stumbled upon this dangerous " abstract doctrine" in that book ? Oh ! but the learned gentleman

      may reply , the doctrine must be taken as itis expounded by the parsons and the lawyers . It must not be rashly meddled with by the unlearned , or even "the hon . and learned Member for Nottingham . " In the language w his Own profession we ask , " If not why » ot } In truth , these airs of superiority arc ridiculous and laughable assumptions . Mr . WOOD and his Colleagues may assure tlieinscl ^/ that we shall neither trust , in their dogmas , nor in their interpretations of "; abstract doctrines , ' * so long as we can read and think for

      ourselves . Protestant England has asserted and maintained the right of private judgment , with respect to the doctrines pertaining to things spiritual . It is is not likel y to set up a Pope in the person of Mr . Wood , and accept his dicta as infallible upon things tempo ral . We beg to suggest to Mr . Hume , and his supporters in Parliament , that they will de their work more graciously , and more effe ctually , if they will in future keep all their arguments , satire , and energy for the Opponents oi all reform , and leave those alone Avho see a little farther than themselves , but who refrain

      from opposingthem . They may — who kno * otherwise— -provoke " an out-door . collision , which would leave them in as great a minority out of doors as they are in . . Mr . FiTznoYhas introduced a Bill of great importance , namely , an extension of juvisdiC ' tion of the County Courts from £ 20 to £ ^ The advantages conferred by these Courts , in bringing cheap and- summary justice within the

      the reach of all classes , in cases where amount does not exceed the former sum , have been abundantly demonstrated . During the short time they have been in existence , up ' wards of a million cases have heen decided ui them—being in the proportion of more than four to one , as compared with the trials m Westminster . Hall . This sufficiently ten " public opinion . The Lawyers have lost , h " '" ever as the public have gained , They arc » °

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), March 9, 1850, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_09031850/page/4/