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. MEDALS . OF JAMES MORISON, '¦' :; THEH...
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Dnri oN BnicKS.—The amount of duty colle...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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... A Romanch Op Real Life — Same Twenty...
i ^ Sftii * - » d the people of , this country , be fc umisan egregrious error , and the economists 8 I' Kin « S to obtain the repeal of the Ten y'K and every o ther act that interferes with S ^ nd ^ Srained exercise of avarice . The tneB f ^ n then lastly be sacrificed to the interests 'S 52 L great boasted of ' many ' ° / kdSnand . itself becomes a little - few . * f & bSta ° indnstiy ^ » ° , , hrown ? f Shsion , until one trade will be treading npon ^ Sf of anotber-each individual wilt be en-Tin striving to secure his own advantage and ^ -nlhis nehhbonrs down ; causing such
con-£ -nnand wretchedness as all will deplore , ion , f " „ been eneaged in attempting to regulate ** J * I nch ofBritish industry . 1 allude to the - « men bakers of London ; and as they have a 3 iTST present , he will , I doubt not , favour ns d iment of their condition . ( Mr . Henone of the delegates of the Operative ^ ° ' here slated , that the bakers of London B on an average , eig hteen hours per day . ) Sr ( Bter continued ,- ! have heardai master baker ^ ' "f , nuhlic meeting , that when hewasajouray' was . because of long hours , so weary , nejma ^ ne wf , ^ rf . ^ f 'f £ wotf " thro w himself upon L board , d 0 - r „ r a Pillo * the edge of the iron trough Tarawa * M » sleeping soundly , ( thus neiffi aKSo by the pain which it caused So described o ther modes of cheating himself 5 £ * hen be was too weary to stand erect SL fcrt is that at this moment the thousands of ? "JS 5 * K who provide the daily bread of Ereat metrspolis , shame to say it , are unable to
Zfd either church or chapel ; they can have no fnmpstic or social enjoyment-their whole life , from fKg tanins totheendof the year , is a ceaseless dmS rf work aud excitement , interrupted only £ 5 te * hours of feverish sleep . We hays cheap-! Li labour , until we have made it excruciating and almost valueless . Mr . Chairman , there is one truth Of which I have long been convinced ; it is Ihis-« that which is not relig iously and morally right must always be commercially and politically wrong , If von are , with me , prepared to acknowledge that troth , our investigation will proceed toasuccessfal issue if not , our deliberations will be m vain . My friends , the great mistake of the age is , that our lenrion has become a mere stalking horse for parties and for sects , instead of tne governing principle of the legislature and the people . We hear of progress , until the vary word seems to degenerate into can t ; for every step in this boasted progress leads nack aeain to the barbarism whence we
sprungbarbarism rendered still more unbearable- tlian that borne by our sncsstors , by the cunning with which we have mixed it . What , let me ask , is this novel doctrine of 'let everything alone , and no man care for his neighbour , ' but gilded cruelty and refined barbarity ? This that they dignify with the name -of philosophy , is a lesson from the book = of Satan , and deserves no higher an appellation , than wickedness reduced to system in books . Progress , did they say ? I am for progress , when that progress is founded upon trefh ; then , every class will receive its benefits , and each individual will taste its sweets . But , when the men of progress only shew me changes
which makes the ¦ cunning man rich and the simple man poor , I tell rhem it is the progres « f pickpockets , and cannot be admitted among honest men . Always remember , that when under the specious same of improvement , any scheme is proposed by -which a few persons are to be sacrificed for the benefit of the many , that that scheme is founded in error , and that-the result will be , by unerring law of Nature , over -which neither government nor individuals have any control , that those few sacrificed persons will become the rod of correction to tbe many , depriving them of their CEpected benefit , Society is composed of many fewss of many individuals ; and it is those neglected , cast-off many
fews , which now form that enormous mass of crime and destitution , that gives your philanthropists emp loyment and makes yourstatesmen stand aghastforming the subterraneous stratum -which will some day , when least looked for , discharge itself like the bumsng lava from a volcano , in a devastating torrent , over the whole surface of society . Men talk very straugely-cow-a-days , when ( hey tell you that a reduction of taxation will remove all the social evils , and set England right again . They are , however , wise in their generation , for . many wonld follow tbem ; but they will not cure the ^ sores , they will not heal the pains , they will net relieve the : heart diseases of the people . Truth to say , I do not love taxation for taxation sake . I . am not a re- '
-anient of taxation in any shape , either direct or indirect . My portion in that game is , just to pay a tax or two , now and then , and nonore of it . But this I know—were all tbe taxes- repealed to-morrow , if capital ware still allowed its rampant power to crush down labour , the working man wonld be ne better off than cow . I know it is common to tell the working men , that it is taxation that has caused their poverty . How happens it-sir , that under the same pressure of taxation , the millowner has risen , from abject-poverty , to enoraoc-s wealth ? Let - those who are now striving to beguile you under tbe same of Financial Reform answer that question ,
And I am satisfied . It must be plain ^ o every man of common understanding , that if , in your reduction ¦ of taxation , you do not find profitable employment for those who are cast out thereby , you must increase the competitkn , already too excessive , in the market of labour , impoverishing yoursetees still more to enrich the millionaire . Do not misunderstand me . I wonld that there were no taxation ( could such a thing be possible ; ) but I do wish-that in all reductions of taxes the labourer should feel the benefit , and not the saiilionaire . There -are those who -seek relief from -commotion and revolution ; ihose & re not the working men , they are the'
Manchester men . ' I met one of . them the other day in that town . He said to * ne , 'Oastler , I understand you now .: you want to keep things as they are , all steady—that will never do . I want to see all-things in disorder and confusion j we shall never be-right nntil we . pull all things to . pieces , and make them over again . I told that man , « I wished to see every person comfortable in his proper sphere , and that I was sure that no good would come to any class , especially the working class , by revolution and that I fcsew the working men of England -did not wish for eiril strife and commotion . They only sought for civil justice , and thai I would strive to
find for them ; ' end in saying that , my friends , £ know 1 said the troth . Well ,. then , here we are met for counsel and deliberation . Something must be done . What ss that some tbfcg ? All things that are true are simple . How easy just to arrange your native industry so as to make its produce valuable , by so extending or curtailing it , as just to ffieet the demand , simply making such arrangements as shall enable our agriculturists to feed our manufacturers , our minufacturers to clothe our agriculturists , our handicrafts to be the . employed and customers of both . Think that over . There you have it . Do that , and there will he
profitable work for every roan ; women and babes then " will take the proper places assigned for them by Nature . Then ^ every man , instead of being a competitor vith his neighbour , will he his neighbour ' s customer . For , my friends , in those few words you have the secret . There will thee be no such thiaj as * waste and competition . ' I remember when it was the proud boast of the Leeds merchant , that lie could give a hi gher price than his neighbour : not a lower , as it now is on the cut-throat system . And when , on that plan , yea have produced more of your domestic manufactures or produce than you want ( always reckoning the colonies as an integral
part of the mother country , ) it will be time enough to talk about foreign trade with tbe surplus . That foreign trade will not have to be sought for . by gambling , adventurers , as at present ; it will take its most profitable , because most natural coarse , to those countries whose surplus produce we most require , and cannot obtain in any other way . Ah , but , say the objectors , yonr plan would interfere with capital . Of coarse it would . We grant the Section true ; it would interfere with capita 1 ° y restraining it within the limits prescribed I ?) justice . Ah , say the objectors , it would Interfere with labour , and prevent an industrious roan from working in his youth to the extent he wished . I grant at once it would interfere with
labour , by preventing one man from robbing another of his right to labour , and by forcing a young man to husband his strength , so that he may not in ratine days become a charge on society became Of a diseased frame . The truth is , that those who are in employment universally work too much ; hence have so many able-bodied paupers , so « a » y worn-out men . Yes , it would prevent a man worn committing suicide by overworking , and thoreby starving bis neighbour to death . I contend , teat M is the first duty of government to protect tbe health and strength of the people , and to sea to it thatthat healthandthatstrengthshallalwaysevery * here be rationally used for the increase of the National we . ' ^ th . Jfot , as now , we see the nation ' s
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energies employed inraisih gamlllionairehe ' re and there by the excruciating toils of women and children , and sustaining in a miserable state of pauper ^ ised existence millions of able-bodied men . - W what you will , my friends , this is ' the present condition of England . It must be ' changed , or as a nation we are doomed . How proud and happy shall I be if that change shall originate by the suggestions of the working classes themselves . Ab , but say the objectors to this' system , you would interfere with every man ' s affairs "; you would require
a complicated system of machinery which the wisdom of man could never properly arrange , and which , if arranged , could never work . Look" at your present complicated system , and conceive , if you can , anything more outrageous , more expensive , more irksome , more interfering . Cast your eye upon England as she at present stands , with her hew poor law commissions , her factory commissions , her municipal establishments , her military and police , herdetectiveforce , her educational commissions , her ecclesiastical commissions ,
her tax gatherers , her excise officers , her railway inspectors , her ; commissioners of lunacy , her emigration agents , her local , provincial , metropolitan , and national courts of law , her bankrupt -and insolvent courts , her highway and parochial arrangements , her hulks , her prisons , her penitentiaries , her madhouses , her union bastiles , her : houses Of refuge , her vagrant offices , and her last new discovery of interference with labour , property , and capital , her universal sanitary code ; add to those the innumerable host of commissioners , inspectors , and other government officials , who , like locusts , spread everywhere aud devour the fruits of the land . Look , I say , at all those complicated and expensive arrangenientSjConseque ' nt upon-your " letalone system , " and then if you can , without blusk
ing , object to the establishment of local boards of agriculture , manufacture , and trade , composed of emplovers and employed , whose simp le duty it wouldbe to regulate the productions of each branch of native industry by the demand—preventing , as it would , by giving to each person employed therein the proper value for his labour , that complicated mass of intricacies which at this moment , we feel ourselves obliged to maintain . Always remember that , those local boards / would be constituted of men well acquainted with the business they had to regulate—not of novices , as in most cases oiir inspectors , commissioners , < fcc , are . Another objector says—Ah , you would stop the ingenuity of man . That I deny . All that you would do , would be ' to require that man ' s ingenuity-should be made
the helpmate , and not the tyrant of man ; that no rich capitalist , should have the power to buy up new improvements , thereby sacrificing thousands and tens of thousands of his fellow creatures for his own aggrandisement . You want the learning of a trade to be what it formerly was , a source of income and an acknowledged property , rising in value proportionate te the general increase of the wealth of the country—rising in value , and not falling , as it now does , to ihe scale of pauperism and prison labour . "We mast not suffer ourselves to . be startled and frig htened by the objections of . vain and ignorant men , who know not that we have still certairi ' : constitutional princip les left Let those principles he our landmarks—one of them ., is , the right to maintenance in our native England ; another ,
compensation to individu als for losses incurred ( either in laboer or property ) for the public good . Fools may despise these constitutional rights ; wise men will hold them fast and revere them . Well , then , let us see if we cannot strike a chord to night ,, that shall vibrate cheeringly to the cast-off needlewomen and the worn-out slaves of our mills ; thst shall restore the tone of hope to the inmates of union-houses and prisons ; that shall teach our noble philanthropists , that there is no need for the exercise of their benevolence in the transportation of their / isters from their native soil ; that shall teach our legislators , that theirs is a hi g her duty than factional quarrels and p arty strifes ; that -shall teach the ministers of the Crown , that fraud and delusion can no-longer secure to them the '
confidence of tho people , letting them know that the -sons of labour are now shaking off their lethargy , and have resolved to secure the interests of all , by establishing the rights of British industry , secure alike from the crushing power of the British capilist , and of the foreign competitor . ' Let it be known from this night forward , that this mighty question shall be discussed , not only in the metropolis , but in the -provinces , upon its own merits , without any inten-aption from any party to suit their own purposes . . It was so , during twenty years , the factory-question was publicly discussed , oy men of all parties and all creeds ; and never on any sinde occasion was any other question allowed to interfere . with it . It was thus that victory was secured . That plan was suggested by the working
men of Huddersfield to myself ; and , having agreed to it , all parties conformed thereto . Pursue the same plan on the rights of British industry , and fair not of success . Let us devise a plan , I have said ; and as Mr . Cobden lately told all of us to look to America , I have looked to America , and what have I seent Let me tell you , for I know you are anxious to hear . I have seen the evils of an ill-regulated state of society growing rapidly in their influence—tbe low-priced labour of England has been brought into competition with tbe better paid labourers of America ; the result has heen what you all would naturally expect . " Buy cheap and sell dear " has been between nations , as it has been in our own cosntry between men—a few rich have grown richer and many poor poorer . But
• there are signs of hope for America . Her Secretary ¦ of State and her President have declared themselves , an favour of native industry and , home trade , in preference to foreign industry and foreign trade . And let me beg of you to read carefully and digest fully the report of the Secretary of the Treasury , and the message of the President of America . Many of you are , I < loubt not , Chartists ; lama Tory . But this I know , whatever may be the form of-government , if the . law-makers do not understand how to regulate native industry , so as to give the market of England to the people of England , it is impossible that we can be a happy andjprosperous people . So that you see my friends , let whichever section or party may rule , it is still necessary that this question of labour should be
understood . We have heard a good deal about commercial prosperity of late , and about the thriving condition of the manufacturing districts . I too have looked there . I have just come from Manchester , the great emporium of the cotton trade , and I will tell you of the things I have seen , and theinformation given to me , without reserve , by men who are manufacturers , and who are , I apprehend , the men whose experience and knowledge is most deserving of consideration . You will rememner the dark cloud of adversity which , before tbe meeting of parliament , overspread the country ; all was mourning , lamentation , and woe ; and how that gloom was gradually dispelled by letters and trade reports in the press , until at the opening of parliament , to our great surprise , by a
long train of £ gures and a warmly congratulatory speech from the Chancellor of the Exchequer , our sadness was turned into joy , our gloomy adversity was forgotten , and again as a nation we were basking in the sunshine of prosperity . It is true there was one speck of darkness visible , and only one . A few discontented farmers were grumbling , and that was all ; their labourers were said to be hetter fed than heretofore , pauperism was rapidly decreasing , our revenue was more than satisfactory —was abundant ; we had millions upon millions in the Bank , lying useless , our exports were enormously increased , and as for our manufacturing districts , in the memory of man they had never been so universally prosperous ! It is thus that the legislature is deceived : it is thus that the
Queen and her peopie are betrayed ; for notwithstanding the bold and boastful tone of the Chancellor of the Exchequer , the condition of England is not changed , her social evils are not eradicated . Millions of poor people are £ till either paupers or laboriously toiling in her fields and hives of industry for a scanty portion of bread too small to satisfy the cravings of their hunger , doomed when they return to their disconsolate home to bear the melancholy tones of their little ones vainly leggingfor bread . Ah , sir , it is high time that our Secretaries of State bethought themselves , they should no longer thus make playthings of a nation ' s woe , and by false statistics , erroneous data , and cooked accounts , cry , peace , peace , when they know there is no peace . Manufacturing prosperity , did the Chancellor Ofthe
Exchequer sayl It is not two days ago since , from the lips of one of the most opulent and extensive cotton manufacturers of Lancashire , I heard the following tale : — " You know our works , tire number of our mills , and the great quantity of machinery there is in them ; you may guess the annual , value we should have to pay if we rented them ; you know also pretty nearly the number of hands we employ . \ JTow , what I am about to tell you is not guess work . We have been looking very minutel y into our affairs within the last week or two " , and we have ascertained , that if wo were to allow our mills to stand , and pay all our hands three days' wages per week for
aowg notnmg , we snould be losing less money than we are now losing ; in fact , we have ascertained that every farthing we pay in wages is a loss to ns , the cotton being worth as much when it comes to the mill in its raw state as when it goes out manufactured . In fact , at this moment we are consulting among ourselves whether we snail go to three days' wages per week , with work or without work ; and yet they call this prosperity ! We know that there is no house can buy , manufacture , or sell , to more advantage than we can ; and we know when it is so with us , it . must be so with all those who are in the same branch , and you know it must be worse with those , who are short of capital . Ours is the coarse tirade , or
domestics—form-- ing , about two-thirds of the whole cotton manufac tore , for which there . is no demand . The home trade is gone , and , as far as we can learn , the foreign markets are glutted . I wonder , " said my f riend , "that none of you public wen ever ask
... A Romanch Op Real Life — Same Twenty...
Friend Bngbt ^ -for he ! is hv the same branch ii ourselves—what he has gained by free trade ? If . he would answer truly , he would say he was lighter by many thousands of pounds than hewasthreo years ago ! " I saw some factory delegates from Itochdale the other day ; they told me there were in that district more than a'dozen mills working short time , and some mills entirely laid by . Nay , that Friend Bright had himself , at this ' moment , two separate and distinct strikes among his workpeople , to resist hia free trade boon in a reduction of wages !! Call you that manufacturing prosperity , Sir Charles Wood ? Are" there no complaints from Lancashire , Mr . Cobden ? Such men as you two should be ashamed of lying . What madness is exhibited in the conduct of these cotton-lords—these
would-be rulers of England ! By their own act , they deprive themselves ' of a demand for productions , and , having done so , in open defiance of the intention of the legislature , they work their mills thirteen or fourteen hours a day , instead of ten ; and now , some of them are forced entirely to close their mills ; and many more are driven to . work only six or eight hours a day ! When will these men become rational ? But to Manchester again . ; - I saw another cotton manufacturer there—a great free trader , too ; but unluckily for him , the big loaf was a bitter pill ; he , too , was'in the domestic line , the home trade line a » d free trade , had runaway with his market : and himself , in running after another , had to
transoort his goods to forei gn markets , and sad and gloomy was the return . He had lost heavily , but still he believed in Cobden and hoped for better days ; he wished ; however , that he had not entered into the concern . Ah ; sir , how erroneously we build bur hopes when we flatter ourselves that prosperity has increased in proportion to our exports . The very reverse is the fact , that increase being the consequence of an inabilityto consume at . home ; Such a foreign trade -as that should make a Chancellor of the Exchequer blush •• ¦'•¦ It- is not trade , sir —it is gambling ; it is gambling , and gambling too ofthe most nesperatekind . " Every pound sterling of that boasted increase in our export of cotton goods , shows a loss to the manufacturer . We have
robbed him of his market—we have forced him to turn gambler , and then we -boast of our shame . My ; friends , among other things , the working men of England must teach the Queen ' s ministers to form better data whereby to judge of the prosperity of England than they have hitherto done . It-is possible that there may be a great export traded smiling revenue , and millions upon millions of gold in the . Bank ; but at the same time an universal drain upon the industry of the country . "Oh , " said my Manchester friend ; " we are doing things nicely now ; we are paying the Americans double the price for their cotton ; and they with tho spare money are building mills to manufacture their own calicoes . " ' Mark here the effect of a superabundant
capital upon " ' our manufacturing interest . Your Millionaire , now by his '" ( enormous' loose cash , enriches himself , but paralyses the manufacture , That cotton is not doubled in price because " it is worth' double the money . No such thing ; it is raised in price by the speculation of the money interest , until , to use the words of a most respectable Lancashire cotton manufacturer ; "itis " worth ' as much when it comes in raw as it is when it goes out manufactured . " But still this is called pros ; perity in' parliament . Mr . 'Cobden endorsing it , and the Cotton lords themselves pretending to believe it , when they are legislators . Well , well ; the truth will come out some time , the Gazette being regularly published . A Lancashire cotton-spinner
told me this very day , "My letters from home this morning are awful " ; trade was never so bad . "Why . if it goes onat this rate , a few months longer , the cotton-spinners will tumble into the Gazette hy house rows ! " This ' mode of bolstering up prosperity is ho new thing with ministers of the , Crown . I remember when IlivedatFixbyin King William ' s time , aprosperity speech , after the Sir Charles Wood model , was' put into the King ' s mouth . At that time the manufacturing interest was then allowed to be in great adversity , a state of things which no statesman -who knows his business would ever dream of , it being an impossibility . The two great interests must either flourish or decay together . And this fact , my friends , I am
most anxious to impress on - your minds ' ; for be assured , that when adversity is felt in the agricultural districts , it never can be very far from your own homes . ^ None but an enemy would teach the handicrafts that they can gain by the loss of the agricub turist , or the manufacturer—all must sink or swim together . What do I recommend you to do ? Form a committee , say a dozen of your most thoughtful , faithful , and talented men—men in whom your order is accustomed to confide . Tell them to have regard to those Divine precepts which I have pointed out to you' on this occasion ; to read with attention the State Papers to which I have alluded to ; to study the science of political economy , as laid down by William Atkinson , ( Whitaker and
Co . ) , the only author , as far as I know , who has treated that subject as it deserves ; and then imbued with an earnest desire to build up and not to pull down , to establish and not to destroy , to increase and not to dimmish , let them propound their thoughts to you in an address , and a few resolutions incorporating their hearts' thoughts , which , when adopted yourselves and others , shall teach all those who in common parlance are said to be above you , that if they have ceased to think , the working men of England have some thought left—if ihey have yielded to despair , you have still strong grounds for hope—if they seek for safety in chance or anarchy , that you have resolved to insure security and
prosperity for all , by submitting yourselves to the guidance of Unerring Truth . Do this , my friends , and all may yet be well ; and how I shall rejoice if England ' s safety should be indicated by the fingers of working men . I have done . I thank you for the attention you have . paid to me , and I pray God that , by the light of His Holy Spirit , He may guide you to the knowledge of His truth . . On Mr . Oastler ' s resuming hie seat , the Chairman asked if any other gentleman desired to speak . Mr . Young ( carpenter ) asked Mr . Oastler several questions , arising out of that gentleman ' s address which were fully and satisfactoril y answered after which Mr . Oastler retired , leaving the delegates to consider his remarks .
A long and interesting discussion followed as to the best course to be pursued ..-. Mr . Youxo was clearly of opinion that the present system of political economy had but one side—it said produce , but forgot totally to say distribute and the sooner the delusions of the day were dispelled , the sooner would peace be restored only as a system of war every man lifting his hand against his fellow man . , ° After ' a few words from Mr . Essery ( tailor ) Mr . Ferdinando said , I am a Chartist , and when meetings are called to discuss the suffrage I will there express my thoughts on that question but no man who has the confidence of tho Chartist
party ever could oppose the discussion of industrial questions . Mr . Oastler had exactly expressed his views on the regulations of trade , and the weavers of Spitalfields were quite prepared for the discussion of this question apart from all others . Mr . Wilson ( shoemaker ) said , as trades' delegates they had drawn up a constitution for their guidance ; the suffrage was there set forth as one of their objects , but it was neither to be supposed nor understood that all their objects were to be discussed at the same time . Tho rights of industry he always thought of sufficient importance to warrant a discussion resting on . the merits of that question distinct and separate from all others .
A resolution was , then unanimousl y adopted , to the effect , that the question I of industry should be discussed by itself , apart from all other topics / and that men of all ; parties be invited to takepart in such discussions at public meetings with a view to arriving at some rational : conclusion as to the best means of relieving the distress and improving the condition of a'l . Mr . Ferdinando moved , and Mr . Young seconded ; the appointment of a committee of three persons for the purpose of carrying out the plan of operations suggested by Mr . Oastler . Carried unanimously . Mr . Wilson , Mr . Campbell , and Mr . Delaforce : were named as the committee , with the request-that Mr . Kydd would ac $ with them . A vote of thanks was unanimously passed to the chairman for his conduct in the chair , and the meeting separated at an advanced hour .
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. Medals . Of James Morison, '¦' :; Theh...
. MEDALS . OF JAMES MORISON , '¦ ' : ; THEHYGEIST . AND GREAT MEDICAE . REFORMER , ' ' " May be had of all the Agents for the sale of Jiorison's fills . PRICE ONE SHILLING BACH , i ' In Bronze , 10 s . 6 d . ; in Silver , 2 J . ; 'in Gold , 18 Z . " JAMES MORISON , the Hygeist proclaimed— \ THE IMMORTAL lstly .-That the vital principle is in the blood . HARVEY 2 ndly . —That all diseases arise from impurity , of the PROCLAIMED THE blood . . 3 rdly . —That such im-CIRCULATION OF THE purity can only be eradicated by a purgative such as BLOOD . Morison ' s Vegetable Universal Medicine of the British College of Health , New-. road , London . . . . . ¦
'' ";" , . 4 thly . — That the deadly - poisons nsed as medicines . '' by the doctors are totally I unnecessary in the cure of I diseases .
Dnri On Bnicks.—The Amount Of Duty Colle...
Dnri oN BnicKS . —The amount of duty collected upon bricks during the , years-1849 , is shown , by a return recently laid before Parliament , to haye been £ 448 , 8261 & . 3 Jd ., of which £ 422 , 81218 s . Sid ,, is for the county , and £ 26 , 014 Qs , 74 , for London . The largest items in the . account have < been . furnished By Surrey ( £ 37 , 283 ) , Rochester ( £ 32 , 284 ) , Manchester ( £ 32 , 034 ) , Stourbridge ( £ 25 , 388 ) , and Uertfort ( £ 20 , 853 ) .
Dnri On Bnicks.—The Amount Of Duty Colle...
' "' " ' ' O'CONNOR V . ^ BRADSHAW . ; i ; . r SPEECH OPiMRrSERGEANT . WILKINS . > Serjeant Wilkin ' s addressed the'jury ! He said-May it . please : y 6 ur / 16 rdshi pahd gentlemen of , the jury—flo person listens toimy fearned ' opponentwith pater pleasure . thanl ' myseif generally do . When ho has a sub jeclnpoh whieiihe ^ is at , home-when he has a good cause to defend-when his ardour is not cramped by . the consciousness . of ' ' absurdities , ana . hui eloquence is not impeded'by apparent con-; . traaictidng , - no - gentleman at the bar can speak with W * WWi ' earnestness ,, and' effect . than ; mj learned friend - and it must have beenevidenttc all accustomed ' to lend willing / ears to his eloquence Zll ' # TV * ! ac < iuainted with ; his ' indomitable love oitrutn , that from his hesitancy ; pauses , and laoourings , he ha ' s . ' been most oainfiillv conscious
ot the badness ofthe cause entrusted to him . My learned friend ' s address irresistibly recalled to , my memory the remark of the Rev . " "ff . H . Beynton ,. who , after listening , for some time to an oration , was asked b y an unreflecting person ( who was -led away with ad captandum arguments , and : who had given himself up to his prejudices ) whether he ' did not think it ; a beautiful spoeiih . " The rev . jger . thY- ' , man replied V , that tojhim , it , looked like a ; row of birds eggs threaded ' on , a' straw —( a laugh ) - ^ one could not help looking ' wtth pleasure upon their beautifull y mottled diversity , of colour , or without admiring the regularity and order , with which they were threaded ; but like birds ' , eggs , when children clutched at that with which they have been ; sp . long captivated , they , are found to be only , broken , shells
and empty nothingness . " And I will show you before I have done that that is the character of my learned friend ' s speech . ; I shall . not address you in language so ornate ; 1 shallnot speak now with bated breath —now with affected earnestness ? I shall hot deliver commonplaces with an energy almost ludicrousneither shall I seek to bewflder your minds with sophisms and false reasoning ;; butl shall lay before you a few plain facts' in , that straightforward way in which .- a : plain Englishman would ; address twelve of his fellow countrymen . If Mr . 0 ' Connor , has been propounding schemes which will not bear investigation , he has erred in good company , for I think I shall be able to show you , before I sit down , iat my . learned friend ' s speech is . one mass of error —that he has mistaken the law—that he has talked
of almost everything but that , which is the issueand , in ; point , of fact , led you far , away from . the question that you have , to determine ; and did I not knowthat my learned friend would not stoop to such a meanness ,. I could almost believe that ho had mixed up personal enmity , to the plaintiff with his defence of the fourpenny-halfpenny editor of the town of Nottingham ., He began by telling you that my evidence bad settled all doubts against myself ; but I must beg you to bear in mind that you are not here to-day ; . to . try ,, whether , or no Feargus 0 ' Connor is a political quack—whether , his conduct has been most marked , byfolly , p i-, , error- ^ whether his style , of writing , is suchvas . to boar the . test of : true criticism . There was aremarkable absence of
sincerity when my , learned friend began by appealing to you to investigate this case with the calm light of reason , for every artifice and trick ; , has ; been ; exhausted which the ingenuity of the ! editoiv of the Nottingham , Journal could suggest , . for he , is an ( attorney as well as ah editor ; and subjects have been urged upon your attention which , have nothing whatever to do with the case . . I do , impugn . the sincerity of my , learned friend ' s appeal to the < , calm lightof reason , because he has tried to excite your prejudices . What has it do with the casej whether Mr . O'Connor was-called Esquire , . or ., plain . Mr ,. ? What has it to do with the case , whether , he has been accustomed to drawing-room ; society , or other society ? . Are drawing-room Members ofrParha *
ment the best ? , . Why it ' is notorious that . " . the white-waistcoatcd gentlemen" are the least esteemed in the house ns men of business . ; , , What , is it , to the case where Mr . O'Connor chose to pass his , time ? My learned friend says that wo shrink from inquiry , because we . did not . open our casc _ at the first , but have Inofc sat hero and heard abuse after abuse heaped upon my client , with ah < unsparing hand ; have 1 not heard circumstance after circumstance paraded before you , which have had nothing . to do with the case ,, but which , were highly calculated to prejudice your minds , and load you from the object you ought to have in view ; have fnot heard Mr . 0 ' Connor actacked on all ffands for doctrines and opinions upon , which , whether correct or incorrect ,
it is not for you to . decide ; and yet 1 have been constrained to be silent , lest it should be said we sought to stifle investigation .. No [ man has been hunted , and assailed . like ' Mr . O'Connor . If any man was set upon a hill , it has been Mr .. Feargus O'Connor ; every eye was upon him , every man ' s hand has been against him . My learned friend has not himself escaped without some assailants , and surely ho mi ght have thought of extending alittle forbearance to another in the same category . At any rate he can understand why Mr . Feargus O'Connor , finding himself thus assailed and his motives misconstrued— finding the press— -the Times , tho
Chronicle , the Weekly Dispatch , the Daily News—all join in his condemnation , should feel some soreness , and it may now and then account for his want of decorum ,, But I defyi any one to prove , after he has thus beeri exposed to tho scrutiny ofthe press , and submitted to the investigation of the House of Commons , that he has misappropriated one farthing , or that he has put one single shilling into his own pocket . I will say further , that being charged , with tho management of a vast undertaking , he has framed machinery so perfect , as to liid defiance to malversation . All that has beeii urged against him on this occasion have been the declarations of
my learned friend , consisting ot an immense amount of assertion , but of no truth . ¦ Dr . Johnson used to say that a wicked man might make more assertions in five minutes than would take a wise man five years to answer . Human nature has a propensity to impugn and accuse public men , and many of the gallant , the good , and the virtuous of the sons of men have fallen before prejudice . My learned friend ' s junior , for instance , could never come hear the name of Cuftiiy , but he had a sneer at ifcj repeating it three or four times over as a thing . to , be laughed at .
Unless , however , I am much mistaken in the jury , these attempts ' will fail . The twelve men Lsee before nie will scorn these nisiprius tricks , which havo become disgusting , not only because they are stale , but because they are insulting to your > understandirigs . " My learned friend thought proper to mention tho name of God . " With God ' s help , " he said , " we will protect the rights of the poor . Who does he mean by " we "—the gentlemen ofthe broad sheet ? If he . did , he had only to tack to the end of each sentence of his fine apostrophe— " . 4 § d . each" —and we should then have seen how much
all this patriotism amounted to . What a detestable thing is prejudice!—what an enemy tomankind ! What is prejudice calculated . to do ? What has it done ? It will make , and has made man , to love that which is debasing and odious ; and causes and has caused him to detest that which , in the eye of Heaven , is lovely . How many high hearts have boon crushed and broken by that detestable thing called ' prejudice ! How many a man ,, who would have stopped out of tho beaten track for the benefit of his fellow-creatures , has not so stepped , for , like conscience , " it makes cowards of us all , " . A rid enterprises of great pith and moment , With this regard their ' turrents turn away , And lose the name of action . '
Iprayyou , 'if I cannot , for these considerations , persuade you to discard prejudice , let me invoke a meaner feeling—ybiir own welfare and a regard for your own self-interest ; for we know not what , a day or ah hour may bring forth , and you may have to appeal to a jury yourselves : And here comes in tho heavenly maxim , " Do unto others as ye . would they should dtf ' uhto you ; " and if you do so , sure I am that you will ' not only decide that" Mr . 0 ' . Connor is a much injured man ' , butydii will , give ; him ample compensation for the injury inflicted upon him by the defendant . M y learned friend has said a great deal about tho plaintiff ' s abusive language , arid if it had " been addressed to Mri Bradshaw it might , perhaps ; have ' been fairly urged in ..
mitigation , but throughout the whole there has been but oner attack upon Mr . '' Bradshaw ; in jwhich . Mr . 0 Connor merely says that his discomfiture would bo a great source of gratification to the , defendant , who certainl y has furnished' ample proof that it would . ' I agree with Miv Roebuck in : all ho has said about ' the . press ; but we must not i forget that the press is armed with a giant ' s strength , and may wield it for' evil . ; All of us beforeVthe public come at times under the c ' astigation ofthe press ., I have myself been a . sufferer but dri reviewing | the matter , , when . x have , somewhat surmounted tno : smarting pf the lash , I have generally 'found cause to acknowledge its justice ; . 'I'implore ' you not ' toiprejudge this case . You may come into this court prejudiced
against tho plaintiff , but I ask you to look- into , the chambers of the heart , and put the question honestl y , why are you thus prejudiced ? You have , perhaps , been led away with ' the multitude , but here is a man who' has been attacking the prejudices of hundreds and thousands for years , but who up to this moment , believes his course to benight . You may dislike his principles and his politics , but asK yourselves ; if you have any good reason to dislike him ? Do not fall into the vulgar , degraded , unmanly , un-ehristian error of hating him because he thinks differently froihyou . Who are all the . men that- have brought forward those great changes , the
iruits . pf which we are now enjoying ? " They aro not your men who walk in the beaten track—who bow down to theacceptednotions of , the age . . They are not your drawing-room meii—your cognoscenti , who sit in their easy chairs , and idly criticise the doings of the ago in which thoy livol ., They ; have been men bold enoughto expose . their breast ' s to the shafts of prejudice , and jf'they have fallen , they have died hke martyrs in a ' glorious jiause ! ' Others , have been j ^ i . as much aO'Connor , but posterity , has done . jjustice to , their ' memory . , Who ; was ; it that ' was as much oppVsed as O'Coifinor ; who entertained the same political opinions , and carried out the same views , whose name was as much a by-word ,
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but whoso memory 1 ? now r 0 yered by , posterity ) bv men of all parties ? , I speak of Major Cartwright . If his views Jrere : wrong , so are Mr . O'Connor ' s and I entreat you , as you value your own trivileees ' for your own sakes , once more I entreat you , do not let prejudice influence your , minds . What is so painful , so humiliating to . a man of mind , as to address prejudice ? How impregnable—how darl < thow unassailable—how determined to commit injustice . Cast it aside then—you are to decide between the ri g hts of , man and man , . ' and he who allows prejudice to-ihterpose ' andgratifieshis own feelings at the expense of truth , and who dares to brohouncehis verdict from other reasons than those
which truth and justice require , is a traitor to God and his country , and regardless , alike ofhis duty to his fellow man , and of his own interests . If juries do not justice , then away , say I , with trial by jury —let us seek some other tribunal . But while party may rage but of doors , and duty require immense sacrifices , if we tako our solitary walk through the rules of empires and of cities , we shall find written in indelible characters on every decaying capital , on every ' broken shaft , and on every shattered pillar , "Behold the work of passion , prejudice , and faction ' !" ' ( Applause . ) Now what does my learned friend say ? why ,, that O'Connor obtained from the poorer classes large sums . I shall show you that never for his own use did lie obtambne farthing . He
thought proper to say that if he had been in my place , he , would have produced at , once the whole ofthe plaintff ' s case . My experience in courts of law taught me to do no such thing . I knew that my learned friend could either make out his case or he could hot . If he did not attempt it , then would he be . not only a slanderer , but a cowardly slanderer , and my client would leave the court * unstained ; If he did attempt to make it out , I knew my learned friend ' , skill in rhetoric too well tb give him the last word . He has shown us how he can heap fallacy upon fallacy .,. My determination was , that tho charge should be asfull and as perfect as possible ,, in order that . our refutation might silence the tongiie . of the slanderer for ever .
But I will tell my learned friend whaiil would have done , if I had been in : his place , . / After L had denounced , © 'Connor as the veriest quack , impostor , - and deceiver in the worUi ; I would , sooner than object to any part of his defence on the mere ground of technicality—I would have had my arm . ; cut from my body . He took advantage of what is called the law of evidence . He knew . what the Report of the House of Commons , was ^ -he . read .. " from- it—he examined from it .. I was most anxious to ' get it in —let that anxiety speak for itself .. Had Idoneanything of tho sort ? Did I object a word to all that stunTabout Fonblanqueand the . Morning , Chronicle , or any of the irrelevant matter they thought proper to put in ? They have charged us . with dishonesty
—shameless . dishonesty;—and' they have attempted to prove it by partial and garbled statements .. They did hot dare to ' read the wnole of the circular they quoted ., - Is that honest .. ; That circular is an answer to tho whole case ... They did hot dure to i read tho wholeipfitj ; arid they put in all these extracts , leaving the context , which would explain them , unread , and all . to create a degrading ; . dirty , and disgusting prejudice against Mr . ; 0 ! . Connor . My learned friend says it was , altogether a fraudulent concern . Where is the evidence of fraud ? ' Under the state of things which has been laid before you , . was it not impossible that a fraud could , be . committed ? ; There is an error into . whichmy learned friend has fallen unintentionally . , He has called your attention to
various reports , but he has forgotten , or did not know that every one of those reports were drawn out preparatory to the final deed of settlement ; and therefore , ; whien he talked of " no bank , " jand " . no trustees , '; he gave a , wrong impression . And so with the three trustees to whom he would have had the estates conveyed . I may retort upon him his own argument , they could not have been so conveyed for the benefit . of the company , when no company existed . . And , therefore the whole of Mr . Roebuck ' s remarks on that point are explained by the simple fact , that every oho of those documents was drawn out with the intention of getting the deed of registration ; and had it been obtained , every one ot the persons named would have been appointed .
and the rules carried out . . . . But a moment ' s reflection would show to a man of sense that Mr . O' Connor would never be likely to attempt to deceive , because the danger of detection was imminent ; The country was divided . into 200 sections . Everysection had a chairman , a secretary , a treasurer , a committee , and auditors . Every section mot once a week . The money was brought to them from the different parties who were members . At the close of the evening the chairman totted up the receipts , and tbey were entered in a book . A separate book was kept ih each committee , arid the money was sent by each secretary . to M'Grath . , What did my learned friend mean by saying . therewas bo book ? There are the books , and we invite investigation
and , inspection . I will take upon myself to assert , that every item in that balance-sheet , and what has appeared in the . Northern Stari will be found in those books ., ' The two accountants appointed by the House of Commons had every thing they wished . There are the books now ; and there is not a single receipt given ,. or . payment made , that will not be found in those books . Well , the money havingbeen received in London , it appeared in the next Northern Star , which was . the receipt , riot only to the district secretary who forwarded it , but to the people who paid it , , If that statement did not immediately nppear , -a speedy , inquiry was inevitable ; and if the account was not satisfactory , tlie London secretary
had the whole nest in the country on his backchairman , secretary , committee , and all . Then there was the quarterly balance-sheet , to examine which , auditors were appointed hy the delegates ; My learned , friend knows very little about the working classes , wlion be talks of their ignorance , and underates their understanding . I do not hesitate to say , that there is many and many a despised Chartist who could enli ghten my learned friend ( Mr . Roebuck ) on many a point of legislation . ( Loud laughter , and slight cheering . ) . ' / .. . The Lonn-CiiiEP Babon . —If there be another indication or expressiou of applause or censure I shall direct the court to be cleared of all who do
not know how to conduct themselves . Sergeant Wilkins . —There , ia another , point of view in which I wish you to look at the case . My learned friend told . you that . O'Connor did just as he pleased , and could just as easily dismiss a director as put forth a circular . Again , I say , that he does not know the lower classes . Neither Mr . O'Connor , nor any other Mister could rule those people , without the most watchful jealousy being kept over all his deeds . To proceed . The quarterly meeting of delegates elected their own auditors and different men every year ; and in addition to this quarterly auditing , there was a Finance Committee to sit upon them , at the annual Conferences held at BirminghamjLowbands , and Manchester , and other
places . Those Conferences were attended by parties from all parts ofthe country , for aught I know from Africa . My learned friend surely did not think tho man who subscribed his threepence frorh his hardearned wages , would not be anxious to know what was done with his threepences ? Is it probable , that with allthese guards it would he possible for any man to conceal what was the true state of the accounts . M y learned friend says the bank had no existence—I say it had . If it followed that it was not a bank because it did not keep its money in the building , then there is not a savings bank in the kingdom . Up to a certain period the money was deposited in the hank ; it was then placed out at other banks , and . wo have produced every cheque !
and they have been inspected by my learned friend ' s attorney ; Wc , haye given every thing that has been asked for . What more would you have ? We must have some'new-light on the law to attempt rd stultify us with the idea that if Mr . O'Connor dropped down dead , any ofhis natural representatives could claim ashilling , or an acre ; and ; we can show a declaration of trust in another part of a letter read by my learned friend . My learned friend stated that the system of which : Mr . O'Connor was the originator and propounded / was nothing better than a forcp-pump , to squeeze money , out of the pockets of tradespeople and mechanics ; and ; to pour it into one grand reservoir—into thepockets of Mr . O'Connor . : That was exceedingly facetious , but it was not
the tact . It was wonderfully funny , but it was not true . If any of it did go into that " reservoir , " it soon came out again . According to the evidence laid before you the estates cost £ 60 , 000 ; the heuses . buildings cost £ 28 , 400 ; the ; aid money , including crops and . tillage , had been £ 4 , 260 ; making a total of £ 92 , 860 ... If there were added tothis the cost of clearing the soil , making the roads , printing ,: the expenses of ihe company , including the rent , the paymonts . to the delegates , the , law expenses and stamps , how much do you think would find its way into Mr . O'Connor ' s pocket ? So far is it from being true that the money was transferred from the pockets of the artisans to those of Mr . O'Connor , that that gentleman is a loser to the extent of between £ 3 , 000 and £ 4 , 000 by his project . What then becomes of all this jesting ( about , that which , to Mr . 0 Connor , is a matter of life and deathl . of
nunining money out of the poor into one grand reservoir ? And then my learned friend . wenton to saj that he obtained the money , by means of delusion , and then purchased estates : with it for . his own use and benefit . = Is not this a gratuitous misrepresentation ? His schememay bedelusive-r-it mayhavo deceived himself—perhaps it , had misled others : but is it because he : has iproposed a scheme which , however well intended , has turned out to be inoperative of good , that he shall be branded as a thief , and an impostor ,, who had wheedled the starving mechanics out , of £ 100 , 0001 , How often does philanthropy deceive itself , and devise projects which ; are , found to be , impracticable ! Is it ; wonderful that the scheme would not ' succeed , when it was met by such opposition as that of Mr . Bradshaw ? And by : calling Mr , O'Coriijor a thief , lit ' was , soughttomcrease the , ' sale' the Notting ham Journal . If to gratify " a Iow' dirty " party 'faction—if it has been attacked on any side—if every man who has advanced his threepence has been ' aught to look ,
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upon his benefactor asa thief , can we wonder that it did not succeed ? How could anyman , or body of men make andnstitution succeed under such circumstances ? But'it is not true . that . Mr . < 0 'Connor ' s project has not been productive of some good ; on tlie contrary > it has been of most cssentiabservice to those who' have adopted it . Mr , O . Connor , slandered and calumniated as he has been , has done more for the poor of this country than any . - one of the theorists and political economists that are fond of attacking hint . ; : ' . I cautpointto 284 cottages , with I two acres of landattache'd to each of them . The
landis cultivated , manured , and kept in the ; highest possible condition ; , thehead of each family- has had £ 15 to begin the . world with ; and yet in noone instance have the inmates of those 284 cottages been askedior one sixpence of rent . What has political economy—what has the philanthropy of the schools ever done to equal that ? Except from the estate in Gloucestershire—a portion of England which has often been called the garden of this cburitrv , and which is celebrated for . its salubrity and the richness of its soil—not one single witness has been brought to show , that the treatment which Mr . O '
Connor s clients received was bad and injurious . But certainly the . personal ; appearance of all ithese witnesses . was not calculated . to / establish their testimony , for I ; have seldom seen a set of men with ruddier cheeks , or who bore about them more satisfactory attestations of health . Nor one of the witnesses , however strongly the screw had . been put ¦ on him , would undertake to swear that he has been made the ; victim of any misrepresentation , or that anything has been withheld from him which he had aright to expect , or . which he had beengiven to un « derstand he would he permitted- to enjoy .. On cha contrary ,- many of them were , compelled . to admit that while on Mr . O'Connor ' s estate they were p laced in the enjoyment of blessings to which they
had always before been strangers ; and there was scarcely one of them who did not draw a picture of comfort and happiness such as itis to be wished could be found to exist in other parts of England as well .. If it is true , as we havo often been , told , that there , arc . in this country - thousands . and tens of thousands of personswho never breathe , the pure air of heaven , and who are strangers to the blessing of a cup . ofuntainted water ; and'if it is . also true that tho persons i who . resided on the estate were men and- women of that description—men and women who ; until they joined Mr . . O'Connor , lived in the pestilential purlieus of . graat cities where every blessing of external nature ; was denied them —if all that is true , what words can describe the
infamy ofthe men who can stigmatise as a thief and an impostor . the individual who has been the means of thus placing health , competency , and comfort within tho reach ofthe poor ? Mr . O'Connor has never been guilty of fraud , misrepresentation , dishonesty , or . concealment . His acts , words , and movements had been , examined-with microscopic accuracy , andyet no actof dishonour or , dishonesty had ever been established against him ; , Everything he ever did ' withi respect to his Land Scheme was open and above : board , and palpable to view as the sun at noonday . Committee , after committee have ) examined into ' and reported on his conduct , and Mr , O'Connor remains to this hour an unimpeached member of the House of Commons , who may take
hia seat side by side with the proudest member of them , for not one of them daroto point the finger of accusation : at him . Is the House , of' Commona the express image ofthe mind of England—or is it , as has been represented by one of , its enemies , an . assemblage of six hundred scoundrels \ I believe it to be an assemblage ; of six . hundred ; gentlnmen and men of honour , and yet , though , that assemblage had examined , with the most jealous minuteness , into the conduct of Mr . O'Connor , they have been unable to detect one solitary flaw in it . I do not know what impressions these observations may make . I know what impression they ought to make , and if ; I am addressing honest minds what impression they will make ... The . country expects
a fair and impartial verdict at your hands , and , I say it not as a threat , that you . will discard every lurking prejudice and do that which reason , truth , and honour dictates . I ask not this . for your own sake , but because I am here to discharge a duty to my client , and having done that , Heave , you to discharge yours . Somuch , then , with regard to the concealment . Every one of the alleged misrepresentations of the society , in point of fact , are not misrepresentations at-aUV I pray you not to forget it , but those rules were obliged to bo . drawn up in a preliminary stato , and the names ofthe parties were put in as it was intended they should be . In proof of this I need but remind you that the registrar had approved of the draft , it was then engrossed word for word as it had been approved , and
having been engrossed and signed , on being again presented to the registrar he refused to give his assent to it . ¦ Could Mr . O'Connor know after the draft had been approved the deed would be refused , ? In anticipation of its-approval ,, had he . not paid between £ 600 and £ 700- for stamps—had he not been at a great expense for engrossing and getting the signatures , and I believe at this moment the question is being argued in the Court of Queen ' s Bench , as to whether : the registrar was legally right in refusing complete registration , there being minds high in the profession—minds before'whom we are in the habit of bowing with difference , who think differently from the registrar , and ,: as one ofthe witnesses had stated , the opinion of three eminent counsel has been found to be favourable on this
very point . The Lord Chief Baron . —We have no such evidence . ; ' : ; ; Sergeant Wilkins . —We have it in evidence that counsels' - opinion was taken ; and that after that opinion was taken they went on with it . And we have this important fact in evidence , that the registrar approved tho deed , and put us to the expense of £ 600 or £ 700 for stamps alone , to say nothing of the expense of sending the deed round the country for signatures . Is it not too bad that a public officer should turn round and say that what 1 approve yesterday I will not approve to-day ? Could Mr . O'Connor dream of that ? Had it not been for that the Company would at this moment have been
carrying on its affairs legally under the Joint Stock Companies'Act . The Lord Chief Bahon . —If the register had so registered it , and the Com p any , is illegal , the registration would go for nothing . If you p ' ut that to the jury as the law which is not , I am bound to interpose immediately , and point out that which appears to me to be an error . I quite agree , however ; that that makes no difference to Mr . O'Con * nor ' s position , as brother Wilkins is now putting it ; but it is very important that it should not be understood that a mistake on the part of a public officer could make that legal which is not . Sergeant Wilkins . —But it was quite clear that Mr . O'Connor acted in the matter bona Me in the
year 1845 , when the rules were propounded . Another meeting was called in December , when they left the word " Chartist" out of their title , I think wisely . At the next conference they left out another word , which had become objectionable to the community . The rules aro , in fact , the same ; the officers are . the same , the details nearly the same . After describing the original appointment of officers , the learned counsel said—Mr . O'Connor , although his name was not inserted in the rules as treasurer , published the fact to the world . Every time an estate was bought , he published the iact who had bought it , what was given for it , and to whom it was conveyed . He always told his followers what he was doing , and what he
intended to do . In a speech delivered at the nomination at Nottingham , which he published on the 7 th of August , in the Northern Star , a newspaper . which . was . read by . almost half a million ot people , he expressly admitted , in as many words , that ho was himself the treasurer , and that he was treasurer of £ 70 , 000 .: "What could be more candid ? What more manly or straightforward than that admission ? I implore of the jury again to view the case with the oahri clear light of reason , and not to permit any lurking prejudice to drive them to any other verdict than that which might be warranted by reason , truth , and honour . ., The learned counsel on the other side has had the hardihood to assert , that there is no knowing what ; has become of the money that has been contributed by the poof tradespeople ; but how audacious is . the
assumption ! Because the money , was collected from the poor , is that ^ er se a sign of fraiid ? If so , what a fraudulent body are . that excellent people the Methodists . ( Alaugh . ) And so were ; the Anti-Cora League ( turning to Mr . Roebuck ) . ~ Mr . RoEBuck . —Well , I was not a member . ( A laugh . ) .- . . - .. ¦ , . ; ;; Sergeant , WlLKiss , —No , my learned friend travels in his own orbit ; he belongs to nothing . ( A laugh . ) . If it bo true : that ; nobody could tell what has become , of the money , what becomes of tha investigation which has been instituted into this whole affair by order of the House of Commons ? Is it true that Mr . O'Connor ' s account-books have been subjected to a rigorous examination by two accountants of : the House . of Commons , who devoted to theni fifteen hours a day , for eighteen days ? And is it also true that the Committee have reported that no stain whatever rested on .. the „ charaoter of
Mr . O'Connor , and that . it could not be substantiated against . him that he had misappropriated one shilling of the . funds entrusted to ' his charge ? Is all this true , or is it all a fable—a mere vision of the imagination ? If there is one particle of truth in . the . aUcgatiou , that it -was impossible to ascertain what has become ofthe money of the allottees my learned , friend has failed most lamentably in his duty to his constituents and his country in not standing up in his p ace iri the House of Commons , and moving that Mr ; O'Connor be ignominiously expelled . , The , fact is , ' that the , nmriey which has fallen into the hands ' of Mr . O'Connor can be accounted for but ; of ; his books Ttb the ; last farthing . The receipts were . published i'ejgulariy every week in' the ' Northei % Siar ' , and' of all the / witnesses that have been examined oh" the other side , not one has had tho audacity to charge Mr . O'Connor with having misappropriated one shilling of the money
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), March 16, 1850, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_16031850/page/7/
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