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Be Before the conflict commences there i...
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TOUT. P. 743. LOHDOB, SATURDAY, JANDABY ...
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A CALL TO MINERS. TO TUB BDHOR OF THE NO...
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CO-OPERATION. TO THB EDITOR OP THK NORTH...
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ATTACKS ON THE "STAR." TO TUB EDITOR 0T ...
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„ TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN STAR. Sl...
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LATEST INTELLIGENCE. NORTHERN STAR OFFIC...
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THE ENGINEERS' STRIKE. The proprietors o...
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FOREIGN. Paris, Friday.—FRANCE.-Four pol...
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METROPOLITAN I.VSTITUTIOiN COMPANY, A sp...
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The "Preserved" Meat.— i'he Hecla, arriv...
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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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Be Before The Conflict Commences There I...
Be Before the conflict commences there is generally mt but little in the workof preparation worth recording . Ve sVe see and know bat little of the doll details upon be she arrangement of which the future depends . Poiticiitics are very much like a drama—those who are tefooefore the curtain gaze at a blank till it is lifted , but hoihose behind it know that before that happens the -ealreal work has been almost concluded . Unable , then , u va we are , to penetrate into the recesses of state Beireferets , where plots are hatched and intrigues planned ; jhnshnt out , too , to a great extent , from the conferences ) f pof parties where Parliamentary campaignsare marked ragout—we ^ are fain to lay hold of the little incidents
nrhrwhich appear upon the surface , in order to form a jud judgment of the course events are likel y to take . 1 First of all , we mark—and this is a notable fact , woiwortby of special remark—that the Free Traders are be { beginning to be afraid . This is no vagne idea of our owown—no chimera floating in our own imaginationsbut but a veritable fact stated in plain words by one of the mc most able , philosophic , and uncompromising of the polit Meal Economists . No less a personage than Colonel Ti Thompson , in fact , is our authority . At a dii dinner , given at Leeds on Monday last in in his honour , the gallant gentleman with a hesitation al almost pitiable—with an evident inclination to let
* ] ' I dare not , wait upon I would' let out the secret . B He said that he wished to hold his peace , and that be «] also wished to speak the truth , and the unpalatable ti truth was , that they must pray to be saved from a d dissolution of Parliament . That they must support 11 the "Whig Ministry , which was inclined to stand by t the people , and endeavour , as they best might , to stave X ) -off tbe immediate future , for , if a dissolution came j . speedily , it was his conviction that they would be i beaten . That is the position to which the Great I Free Trade party has come . After triumphing over i the aristocracy , and carrying all before them—after i intrenching themselves behind the bulwarks of the 1 law , they fear that they will not . be able to hold 1 their own . We think that opinion of Colonel Thompi son s is not far from a correct one . Whatever may
1 fie the merits of Free Trade , however philosophical j may be its theory , and beneficial its practice , it has ] been enunciated so coldly and unsympathisingly , that i its supporters have failed to take hold of the affections h . of the masses . There is , socially speaking , almost as wide a gulf between the Labourers and their Employers as between those whose only property is their toil , and those who possess the soil of the country . There is no fellow-feeling—no real agreementao true amalgamation of interests—between those who buy and sell , and those who produce . They have used their splendid opportunities so badly , that , probably , the advent of the Manchester party to power would be the herald of as much popular discontent as -the return to office of the ultra-Tories under the Premiership of the Eakl of Derby . It is the sense ¦ of that which makes Colonel Thompson so anxious
to preserve the statu quo—to keep things as they are as long as possible , and , till some turn takes place in the current of opinion , or , perhaps , we should say of feeling , to prevent a dissolution from converting a Tory Minority into a legislative majority . All that , startling as it is to those who thought the re-possession of power by , the aristocratic classes tbe wildest of visions , we can fully understand ; but what ^ Colonel Thompson means by his exhortation to the people tostand by a Government which is not ready to stand by them , we cannot comprehend . We are otterly at a loss to know when the Whigs . have ever stood by the people with
any'thing like sincerity and effect : —when they have been anything but an aristocratic clique : —when they have ever forwarded anything wider than class interests : —when they have ever joncheartily to work in the cause of real liberty ? We recollect when Colonel Thompson thought very ¦ differentl y of these same Whigs . When he would have given them a very different character than that of being prepared to stand by the people ; but now , as Colonel Thompson says : — 'These are times , ' such times as , perhaps , men will never see again ; and , with the ship of Free Trade adrift on the sea « f political economy—he is glad of even the
dragging-. anchor of Whiggism , to keep the vessel from driving apon the shoals of Protection . What Mr . Cobden thinks of the matter we have not had the opportunity of knowing ; it is impossible that he does not seethe danger ; but he has been ominously silent , and possibly his absence from the Reform platform of late may mean that he is furbishing up his ' unadorned olo-• quence' in defence of his past efforts and their results . It is not absolutely beyond the bounds of possibility that Colonel Thompson knows more of the intentions of the Whigs than we do . Lord John Busseu . may have let him into tbe secret of the
coming new Reform Bill , and that may be sufficiently liberal to enlist his support and prompt bis exhortation . With regard to that we are completely in the -dark ; but there plainly enough stands the fact that the Whigs are tottering—the Manchester men afraid —the people alienated—Free Trade in danger , and the Tories bearing down upon place and power . Thus gloomily opens the political year—gloomily , indeed , when the Whigs are pointed to as the props of Liberty . These Whigs , whose newly made Foreign Secretary not many days since introduced an ambassador to her Majesty as the representative of the Prince President of France—a title which was
duly recorded in the official gazette . If Pbince Pbesidext , why not KingPbesident or Emperor President ? There is no more inconsistency in the one than the other ; but which ever be the chosen title , it is a bad presage of the willingness of the Whigs to stand by the people and their liberties . Still it is evident that the Whigs must do something , must propound a reform of some kind or other ; and the nature of the measure they propose will be a tolerably
correct index of their strength . If they feel capable of holding their ground , we shall have the old story over again of the mountain in labour producing a mouse . We shall hear great princip les enunciated , to be followed up by the smallest and the pettiest of deeds . But if they see that their fall is inevitable , and that they mast appeal to the country , they will be likely to rouse great expectations , and promise great ameliorations , if it be only to render office untenable by their successors .
Added to the difficulties which lower over England , we must not omit to notice that the Irish difficulty is assuming the gravest aspects . It is not that there is more distress there , for it would be difficult when misery reaches its worst to aggravate it . It is not that pauperism is increasing , for famine , pestilence , and emigration have so thinned the ranks oi the peasantry , that the workhouses are more thinly tenanted , and labour is growing in demand . Neither is it that the Priests are more rampant than usual , or more absolutely sway the minds of their devotees , for intolerance and superstition seem long ago to have reached their climax , But it is that a moral leprosy
seems spreading over the national character . The wild justice of revenge has entered into the Irish heart . No longer indigenous to the South and West , it is overrunning and tainting the hitherto comparatively peaceful and prosperous North , and everywhere the same hideous circumstances present themselves . It is not merel y that murderers , by design , lurk in ditches by the roadside to shoot dowa their unsuspecting victims . Bad as that is , that reveals only half the enormity of the crime—discloses only a portion of the degradation of Irishmen . But these
offences , against the law of Man and God , are planned by organised societies , who draw lots for the office of executioner , and endeavour to sanctify the deed by desecrating the forms of religion . Murder is growing into a faith with those European Thugs who preach « the holy text of pike and gun ; ' and so deeply have their savage doctrines sunk into the minds of the people , that those who hear the shot , and sea their fellow man fall , passively abet the murderers by aiding their escape , refusing assistance , and withholding information from the anthorities . What can be done with a population of murderers we
know not . We cannot indicate the laws which will meet the exigency of the . case . The law of the peopie is the blunderbuss , and their court of justice the way side dyke . We may go on sending among them Rented and venerable chief justices to try and con-Jlemn—we may garrison the country with soldierswe may keep the hands of the hangman busy , and the ready noose ever dangling from the scaffold , but heyond the stretch of the policeman ' s arm there is no security for life or property . The social evils and the
^ oral and mental degradation upon which the appetite for blood rests , are to deep to be touched by mere Jaffa of repression . Political economy is powerless * hea its arguments are answered by a charge of
Be Before The Conflict Commences There I...
sings . Ccapital runs away from the fated land where safety is unknown . And till some statesman , such as has not yet appeared , rises among us , and , with wisdom and firmness , lays bare the social corruption which is devouring the national heart , and app lies the cautery , Ireland will continue but a conquered pro * vince , whose only law is force—red murder will spread over the land , and one of the fairest Isles of the earth will remain what it is—the abode of poverty , misery , suffering , crime , and barbarism . For the rest—we may say shortly , that the Engineers' strike still continues , and will be found treated of in detail in another colnmn . That the
world is waiting m expectation for tbe outburst of the volcano which is smouldering in France , and which , it is possible , will set Europe on fire . And that the panic on the subject of National Defences is gaining ground . More forts are to be erected—more batteries mounted—more soldiers enlisted—more ships put into commission—more screw steamers built , and , perhaps , the population , or a portion of them , will be armed . We say perhaps , for the authorities evidently shrink from putting weapons into the hands of those who are barred from political rights . And , unless some scheme can be devised , by which rifle clubs can be kept well in hand , and a guarantee furnished that the volunteers shall threaten no one but a foreign enemy , the arming and training of the people will be the very last resource .
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TOUT . P . 743 . LOHDOB , SATURDAY , JANDABY 31 , 1852 . » ,. mS ^ JSSS ^^ .
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[ As the columns under this head are open tot the free expression of all opinions , the Editor is not responsible for , or committed to , any . ] MASTER ENGINEERS' STRIKE . TO TBE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN STAR . Bear Sir , —As your articles and remarks on this unfortunate strike appear to me generally impartial , I am induced to address these lines to you . The object of the Engineers is , undoubtedly , to adopt what tbey conceive the most efficacious means to keep up their rate of wages , and the aim of the Masters is to maintain the power to reduce their earnings whenever they have an opportunity . And why desire to reduce the price of labour * One of the greatest curses that can come upon any country is a low rate of wages for labour ; inasmuch as it reduces the great mass of the population to poverty , pauperism , misery , and crime ; and , therefore , these individuals and classes ,
if there bs such among us , who are systematically endeavouring to reduce the wages of labour , are the greatest enemies to their country , and Trill , in the end , bring ruin upon themselves . Low wages hate ruined Ireland , and driven one-third of its population to seek a better home in America . There the poor labourers , who were starving on id . and 6 d . a day in their native land , are now earning 3 s . or 4 s . per day , living in the midst of plenty , and saving , and sending here , hundreds of thousands of pounds to carry over their poor relations . Two hundred thousand of this population were shipped from Liverpool alone last year . Are we improving the condition of Ireland by thus diminishing its population ? If we were sending away tbe sick , the infirm , tbe halt , the blind , the paupers , beggars , loafers , placemen , pensioners , and other non-productive classes , you might hope for
improvement . But those who go are principally the young , the strong , the energetic , the enterprising , farmers , mechanics , labourers , shopkeepers , and for the most part those who have more or less of capital . Each emigrant ship , therefore , leaves Itdandpoortr and more helpless than it was before . And what an immense amount of misery has been produced by low wages , as developed by the " Morning Chronicle" and " Times" Commissioners , in every part of England and Scotland . And why have these unfortunate individuals been brought into this sad condition ? It was because they had not the wisdom , or had not the means of
combining together to protect their wages . And n the Engineers , and some few other trades , by combination , have hitherto been able to maintain a tolerably fair rate of remuneration for their labour , will it be for the benefit of their masters , or the public , to reduce their wages to the level of the starving unskilled labourer ? Are the -wages now obtained by Engineers and Smiths , from 20 s . to 36 s . per week , more than is necessary to enable them to support their families and educate their children properly ? Would any one of their masters who have closed their manufactories against them , like to be compelled to bring up their own families on a less sum than the highest wages they have been paying .
What is the necessary consequence of low wages for labour ? By depriving the great mass of the people of tbe power to consume , and use the articles they make , it ruins the home trade , which is much larger , and of far more importance than all our commerce with other countries . If a man can earn no more than from Is . to 2 s . per day , it is all spent for coarse food , fire , and rent in a garret or cellar . He has nothing to spend with the tailor , shoemaker , mercer , ironmonger , or cabinet-maker ; and the poor Irishman earning 6 a * . per day can never be better than he always has been—a pauper or a beggar . And of what use will be our railroads , if we deprive the labouring classes of the power and means of travelling ? The second and third class and government trains now pay the greater portion of railway dividends , and much of this comes from tbe best
circumstanced workmen . Give workmen generally better wages , and tbey will travel still more , for they generally spend their wages as freely as they earn them , —almost every workman travels ( by railway or steam-boat ) in ' America in summer , because they get good wages , and can afford it . Wonderful pains are taken to teach the working classes Political Economy . They are told that trades' unions , and strikes , and combinations of every kind , are perfectly inefficacious and useless , inasmuch as labour , like every oilier article , will mUurally rise and fall in proportion to the abundance or scarcity of it in the market . The engineers know that fact ; they have known it for many years ; and tticir object is to guard themselves against its evils . They wish to maintain a fair price for their labour , and , as the price depends upon tho abundance or scarcity of their
labour in the market as compared with the demand , they either try to diminish tbe quantity of labour on sale in the market , or to increase the demand for their labour . Many masters are working overtime—working fourteen , sixteen , or eighteen hours per day , which is more labour than any man ought to do , or can do -without injury to his constitution ; and this is done whilst there are thousands of men without work ; and the consequence is , that these are compelled to undersell their fellow workmen , in order to dispose of their labour at all . The Engineers say , "We will not act this suicidal part any longer , merely for the sake of a present trifling advantage to ourselves , as we know that it must end , from the law of supply and demand , in a permanent reduction in the wages of all . In future , we will none of us work longer than from six till six , taking off two hours for meals ; and if our masters cannot execute their orders with their present bands , they must employ a
larger number , and thus relieve the glut of labour , and keep up its price . " " But , " say the masters , " ive wish to reduce wages , that we might bo able to reduce the price of our articles ; and thus we shall increase our sales and the demand for your labour ; for it is another principle in political economy , tftat , in proportion to their cheapness , you increase the demand for your useful product ions . " The Engineers , and others of the working classes , say , " We know this , also , as well as you do ; and therefore we are desirous that you sliould introduce every improvement in machinery , in chemistry , in science , and in the modes of working , to enable you to reduce the price of our articles ; but we cannot live in comfort on less wages than we are now receiving j and we will therefore use every means we possess to prevent any reduction whatever . These are some of the reasons why we will not systematically work overtime . " And in this , I say , they are perfectly right .
Then , as to piecework , Engineers , I apprehend , would have no objection to it , if the prices given would enable the workmen to earn a fair day ' s wage for a fair day ' s work , and they had perfect freedom in making the bargain ; but they have great and just objections to masters , without consulting them , making a bargain with a foreman or fellow workman to do a piece of work at such prices as will not enable this middle-man to give fair wages , and then giving him power to compel them to work for him for reduced wages , or be expelled from their situations ; and filling their places with unskilled hands—and this middleman sometimes keeping a public-house , where he pays their wages , or such portions of it as is not expended in his filthy articles . These are a few of the abuses of piecework , there are others which we need not here enumerate . The necessary consequences of such a system must be deterioration of morals , reduction of wages , increase of working
hours , and the enslavement and degradation of all . But these and others that might be mentioned are abuses in the piecework system which might be remedied ; and we must not condemn the use of a thing merely from the abuse of it . I believe that piecework , under proper regulations , will greatly promote the interest and comfort of both the masters and the men ; it will encourage the sober , steady , intelligent and expert workman , and be a means of reforming the drunken , idle , and worthless fellows ( who I am sorry to say are found in considerable numbers in every large workshop , —a disgrace to the Association when members , and a pest to their employers . These men , working by the day , will not do a fair day ' s work for their money , nor will they do that which they nerform in a workman-like manner , unless they are watched continually . ) Now , the Amalgamated Trades must be aware that almost every thing that is done in Engineering ,
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must be done by contract , » t fixed prices , according to specification , both as to materials and workmanshi p . The master knows the quantity and prices of his materials , but he cannot safely give in his estimate unless hit workmen will aho limit the charge they will . make for their labour ; and that is the principle of piecework . I know an engineering firm that were in the habit of acting in the following way with their men : —An advertisement appears in the papers that a Railroad Company wants , say 500 sets of wheels and axles or 500 luggage waggons , a bridge , a railway shed , or other articles , and drawings and specifications Jwere received they sent for some of their principal workmen , and laid ' the case before them— " Men , you are aware we are getting short of work ; you see this advertisement , and these plans and specifications ; this job , if we get it , will find you employment for some mouths , we are , therefore , very desiof it if but there
rous getting we can ; , as will be great competition , we shall be obliged to cut as fine as we can as to materials and our own profits ; but we have no wish that you should work at such prices as will not enable you to get a fair day ' s wage for a fair day ' s work ; but we must know what your labovr vill cost us , or we cannot with any safety make such an offer as is likely to It accepted ; go and consult with your fellow workmen , and then let us know what you are willing to do the work for , in strict accordance with the specification . " And that firm frequently found that by treating their men in this way they got the work contracted for by their men very much lower than they had been paying for day work , and the men still earned larger wages in the samejune , than they did before , whilst at the same time the }' woriM ? eht on more regularly and steadily and cheerfully , almost without superintendence , than they would get it done by constant watching before . The reason was because there were no Blinkers and
idlers . The men watched one another ; and , therefore , there was no need for their employers to watch them . By this mode the interest of employers and workmen were felt to be tbe same , and the men were as anxious that their employers should obtain a contract when it was offered as they were themselves , and felt as much , or more , regret if they lost it . If the Amalgamated Trades begin business for themselves , it appears to me that they must act upon similar principles if tbey expect to succeed . Men wanting to lay out large sums will contract for the work to be done . Firstly , for the purpose of getting it done as cheap as they can ; and secondly , ( and more important still for Engineers as well as themselves ) to know whether they have money enough to pay for what they are going to order . And if twisters must work to contract , men must tvork piecework . I therefore think ( with the best feelings towards the Amalgamated Society ) that they must compromise in someway their resolutions to do away wi th piecework .
In the preceding observations I have given you my opinion on the two points , the only ones really at issue between the Amalgamated Trades and their employers—viz ., Overtime and Piecework . But Lord Cranworth has drawn in a t hird question , and which he affirms is the principal one—tho employment in engineering shops Of persons not regularly brought up to the trade , or , as they are termed by the men , illegal bands ; and thus , whilst Lord Cranworth professes to decline giving a judgment in the case , arguing on false assumptions , he proceeds to give a most unfair and one-sided opinion against the workmen . But suppose the question had been as Judge Cranworth states it , and the engineers had determined not to work with men who had not been regularly apprenticed to their business . What is there so intriguously unjust in this ? Does not Lord Cranworth belong to the Trades' Union of
lawyers ? And will the members of that union allow any wan to practice as a lawyer or councillor , or to sit on the bench , unless he has been regularly trained to it ? Then there is the Trades' Union of medical men , when none are allowed to practice till they have gone through a regular training . There is the Trades' Union oi clergymen also , when none are allowed to practice unless regularly trained and duly appointed ; and even Dissenting ministers require to be trained or registered before they can legally address the people ; and no man is allowed to act as a soldier unless he be legally enlisted , that he might be drilled ? nd exercised , in order to qualify for the profession . And will any one say that it does not require as good a school education to begin with , and afterwards many years of practical experience in the various kinds of work that have to bo done in his shop , before he can become a properly qualified
working engineer , millwright , or machine maker ? Surely , when , we consider that-the constant employment and daily bread , and the safety and the lives of so many thousands of men , women and children , depend upon the proper construction , and correct fitting up of these machines and engines , it must be allowed to bo of as much importance to society that they should be skilful workmen who construct and make them , as that men should be good lawyers , doctors , priests , or soldiers . But it is said "It is not necessary to have skilled workmen to attend various machines in an engineering establishment— an unskilled labourer can do it just as well . ' In reply to this we ask , " Would not your apprentices do the same , and in order to learn their business properly , should they not at first be put to simple and easy work of this kind , and be successively removed , during their apprenticeship , as they
improved in strength and experience , from one machine and employment to another , so that by tbe time they were free they might thoroughly understand their business ? " This is the sensible plan adopted in the United States , and English workmen that emigrate there , and can only strike , or forge , or file , or attend a lathe , or plaining machine , aro laughed at and despised by the native Americans , who are mostly neat engineers , and not the ninth part only of engineers , like most English workmen . The division and subdivision of labour is all very well in its way , but it is carried out to an absurdity where men are found who know how to do nothing but put a head upon , or a point to a pin . The Amalgamated 'trades have declared , that it is not their wish or intention to require the discharge of the unskilled labourers , who have hitherto been employed in tending machines in their workshops , but I apprehend that common
prudence will lead them to prevent , as far as they can , the further increase of such hands , whilst their own experienced fellow-workmen are vainly seeking employment . But why are the masters so determined to employ an unlimited number of unskilled labourers . Undoubtedly it is for tbe purpose of reducing the wages of this part of the labour immediately ; and thus , by overstocking the trade with hands they know that as soon as a slack time comes they shall be enabled to reduce the wages of the skilled labourer as they think proper ; and we all know that in proportion as the labourer ' s or mechanic ' s wages are reduced , the less power has he to resist further reductions , till at last his condition becomes the same as that which the last number of the ' Manchester Examiner , " ( a great advocate of the roasters ) says , in tho present state of a largo number of the ( free , not combined ) labourers of that city , the effect of low wages . The writer in that paper says : — We mentioned that , in tins locality , ' fustian cutters' are a somewhat numerous class of persons ,- and m > gave a short account
of the general appearance of tljeiy rooms and garvrts , of their works and remuneration , of their poverty and wretchedness ; but we likewise find in the district , operatives and labourers following almost every Wnd of employment , with not a few others whose means of livelihood are gained by the various occupations of vagrancy . The general condition of the people , however , is remarkable only for the indigence , degradation , and immorality which it displajs . The houses , generally , are old and decaying tenements , which are divided into a number of rooms , each of which is inhabited by a separate family . It is net unusual to see at least three beds in one small apartment , and to learn that thay are occupied by adult persons of different sexes , having no relationship to ench other , and no means of separation or privacy . It is irapossib ' e that any feelings of modesty or delicacy can exist in such circumstances . A half-raw and indigestible mess of inferior articles of food is commonly the result of their attempts at cookery . If the natural relish of appetite be not gratified in one form , it is likely to demand indulgence in another . Besides , the heaviness and flatulence proceeding from unsuitable diet , have a tendency to excite a craving for intoxicating liquor .
These are the effects of free labour , which has brought these poor creatures into an infinitely worse physical condition than any black slave I ever saw in the Southern States of America , ( and I have been in most of those States ;) in fact all the slaves there are well-fed , and , for the most part , well-clothed , and look more fleshy and healthy than their masters . There a healthy working man with a wife and five children , will soli for 3 , 000 dollars , or £ 600 ; but here we see they are not worth their meat and lodging . There must be something rotten , therefore , in the State , for the labour of those slaves enable their owners—in growing corn , cotton , rice and sugar—to wellfeed and clothe them , and repay them the money they have given for them . And is this a time , I would ask , to set rich against poor , masters against servants , and servants against masters ? With England and Ireland full of
wretched objects like those above described , the country in a comparatively defenceless state , and surrounded with vast armies of well-disciplined soldiers who envy our wealth and hate our free institutions ? In case of invasion , what have the poor creatures above described ( and there are millions of such in England and Ireland ) , got worth fighting for ? They cannot be worse off under any form of government . It is time this senseless dispute was put an end to . I believe the workmen would listen to any reasonable overture , and as it is tbe masters who have turned out against the men , and not the men against the masters , it appears to be their duty to meet , at least half way , to effect a settlement , that we might all be united , and proceed at once to place our country in that state of defence that we could safely defy tbe world in arms against ub . I am , respectfully , Dear Sir , yours , Liverpool , Jan . 15 . ions Finch .
A Call To Miners. To Tub Bdhor Of The No...
A CALL TO MINERS . TO TUB BDHOR OF THE NORTHERN STAR . Sir , —^ o doubt many of your readers , like myself , have beheld with concern the mighty struggle between Capital and Labour . The master-class , through " competition' ' with each other in the market , are obliged to have a certain portion of work done as cheap as possible , in order to sell as cheap as their neighbours , or , in other words , to use all the economy ( masters' economy ) , as they call it , both in re-
A Call To Miners. To Tub Bdhor Of The No...
ference to the raw materials and the working up of the same . In order to do this , and get "fat" ( rich ) they are obliged to make use of such laws or stratagems as will enable them always to keep the latter party ( Labour ) very " lean , " or poor and slavish . And , in order to have their slaves "fast bound , " they have always been cunning enough to have a sufficient quantity of Labour hands on play from each respective trade , for the purpose ( at any time they may think fit ) of shooting into " starvation fold *' those who shall attempt- to offer any resistance to their god ( oppression ) . If it should so happen that those masters should have a larger amount of work , or orders to fulfil in a given time , than they have labour hands to perform it rather than call in a few surplus labourers , they will have recourse to overtime , or double working of one
portion of a given trade , and force their parishes to maintain the minor or surplus portion of the same trade ; whilst , if they had an equal portion of Labour doled out to each individual , there would be six days work each of employed and unemployed . Whilst I behold , with pleasure , so many trades struggling for their lawful rights , I have also noticed a most useful branch of English industry—tbe Coal Miners —remain inactive , whose dangerous occupation calls for some strenuous efforts being made on their part | as much as any oppressed trade in this country . Their number is large—their wants many—their oppression great—and yet their produce is the most useful , and they are the last to make any effort to redeem themselves or assert their rights . Now , if the coal miners of England were combined with the Engineers ' society , what power could withstand such a combined force ? .
Trusting those brave men will take the hint , and become a wing of the noble army of Labour ' s sons who are now so nobly contending for their rights , I am , & c , yours , Wakefield . G . Brown .
Co-Operation. To Thb Editor Op Thk North...
CO-OPERATION . TO THB EDITOR OP THK NORTHERN STAR . Sir , —Several letters which have recently been addressed to me on the question of Co-operation , induce me to solicit a corner the " Star , " for a few remarks thereon . One of my correspondents asks , " Do you think it desirable that the Chartists should oppose the formation of Cooperative Stores ? " I do not think it desirable that any man , whether be is or is not a Chartist , should oppose working men in any endeavours which their knowledge and ability may warrant them in making , with a view to the acquisition of property to be owned by themselves . I know
towns in which Co-operatives Stores have been established for more than twenty years—conducted by working men , and conducted successfully . I have also known instances of their failure : showing that they , like all other trading speculations , are subject to risks , losses , and mismanagement . The weight of my experience is on the side of success . I do not say to any Chartist , " Accept of my dictum as your rule of action . " But I speak by the book when I aver , that many of the oldest , staunchest , and , as I think , the wisest of the old Radicals and Chartists , have been decided friends of co-operative movements . The west of Scotland , and the north of England , contain many standing proofs of the truth of my statement .
Another of my correspondents asks , " Do you not think that partial movements , benefitting only a few , are injurious , by preventing that few from joining the great body of the people . in their demands for political power ? " I have no confidence in the logic of misery , Men who demand political power because they fed tho gnawings of hunger , ask for what they -do not want . Suca mew want bread ; and their remedy is to be found through an industrial poor law , based upon the principle of the 43 rd Elizabeth—namely , that the right of the labourer to food , clothing , and lodging , is as sacred as the right of the landowner to rent , or to the land from which he derives it .
In periods of extreme commercial distress—such as are sadly too common-itfrequontly follows that themostactive and most generall y known of such working men as to take a part in politics , in the simplicity of their intentions , and the eagerness of their desire for political change , address vast nssemWages oi starving men , who , in their anger and maddened enthusiasm , hasten their accepted leaders into danger . And I say , with sorrow , as frequently leave tnem to pay tbe penalty of their ill-guided but generous endeavours to improve the condition of their fellow men , by allowing them to starve in gaols , and their wives and little ones to suffer much misery , and sometimes to seek for Shelter in a union workhouse . When the clamour , noise ,
and anger of starvation are expressed in a demand for political power , tho phrase political power is always convertible into another—bread and work . Hitherto mercantile panics have been injurious to the Chartist party ; they have strengthened a weak government , and weakened its opponents . Ireland baa been long steeped to the lips in wretchedness ; and while I write , the living are fleeing from the dead , the dying , and tho land of their fathers . Misery has not given " Ireland to the Irish . '' I repeat , I have no faith in the logic of misery , and would rather see any section of the great army of labourers lifted up than cast down ; and therefore answer my correspondent , that I do not think that " partial movements , benefitting only a few , are injurious , < tc . "
My friends further ask : " Do you think that Co-operative movements alone can lift tho working men out of the mire ? " The working men havo been so long and so deeply in the mire , that to " lift" them out of it is no easy matter . I am very far from thinking that " Co-operative movements" alone can , to any very great extent , prove practically and continuously efficacious . Tho regulation of industry has long been with mo a favourite theory , which I much wish to see reduced to practice . Still I am in no way opposed to Co-operative movements so far as they are practical ; and I have seen , with a satisfaction that 1 can ill express in words , thegenerous efforts of many gentlemen of intelligence , and some of fortune , in favour of an extensive Co-operative and Associative Organisation in England . I observe also , with pleasure , a erowine
tendency among literary men , and thinkers of all parties , to investigate some of tho root questions of political economy , such as labour , capital , and property , —a knowledge *»* ' * true nature and uses of the last named alone would introduce a new era in industrial organisation . It was said of old ; •« The gods must yield to necessity . " The modern one eyed political economists , who only see as far as their own ledgers and the pitiable maxim of " Buy cheap and sell dear " will allow them , will soon be as cognizant of that saying as were the ancients . It will be as certainly written in the Gazette as it is in the pages of tho Heathen mythology . I do not think that an improved system of poor
laws , the regulation of industry , a more extensive and better diffused knowledge of men and things , looked at separately , would materially and suddenly elevate the conditions of the working classes . But I am of opinion that their united influence would be decidedly beneficial ; and I do not see how the partial success of any one of them can be prejudicial to the success of tho others . Industrial , social , moral , educational , and political advancements , as I apprehend and understand them , are not opposing influences , but on the contrary , aro parts of the same whole , —a wisely developed humanity reflected in a truthful , and , therefore , a harmonious civilisation . 1 am , your obedient servant , Norwood , Surrey , Jan . 28 , 1852 . Samuel M . Kron .
Attacks On The "Star." To Tub Editor 0t ...
ATTACKS ON THE " STAR . " TO TUB EDITOR 0 T TUB NOOTHERN STAR . Sir , —Perceiving that Mr . Ernest Jones is endeavouring to induce the Chartist body to subscribe money to get up a newspaper , the proprietorship of which is to be vested in him , I wish to enlighten those whom he thus addresses in respect to a few points of law . In the first place , Mr . Jones , by applying to the Insolvent Court , has invested all he possesses , or miy possess , until his debts are paid , in the hands of the Official Assignee of that court , and all his future property , of whatsoever kind , is ev « r liable to be seized upon by that Official Assignee until the full liquidation of his debts shall enable him to take his schedule off the file . Therefore , suppose this newspaper started with him as the proprietor , he will have
no power to dispose of the profits , but can be duty cited to pay them all into the hands of the Official Assignee of the Insolvent Court . But further still , the newspaper itself could be seized and sold by the Official Assignee towards payment of the debts recorded in Mr . Jones ' s schedule . For the law is clear enough upon the point , — that a discharge under the Insolvent Act is very different in its effect from a certificate in Bankruptcy , the former leaving the insolvent still liable for his debts , the latter quashing those debts altogether . But Mr . Jones is not oven yet discharged , and it is a most unheard-of thing for a man in an utter state of insolvency , to attempt * * * * to establish a property for himself with other people ' s money . Indeed , until the judgment of the court is pronounced , everything he possesses above the value of necessaries for £ 20 ho is bound to give up at once to the court . He can possess no property while in this position . As a B : \ rrister-at- Law he ought certainly to be acquainted
with these facts . But there is another point , not a legal one , that I wish to bring under your notice . About a year ago , he and another gentleman ( much more worthy than hiraseif ) issued a prospectus for getting up a newspaper . Money was subscribed to the amount of about £ 10 . This money , the expenses for printing being deducted , has lately been divided , or else is proposed to be divided , between Mr . Jones and tbe gentleman referred to . Of Jhis I do not complain ; the transaction is fair and honourable enough in respect to all parties concerned . But can it any longer be considered fair and honourable on Mr . Jones ' s part to issue another prospectus for more money for a similar object ? Does it not look very much like an attempt to raise the wind for his own personal benefit and advantage ? Does he not look forward to another failure in obtaining the required amount , so that whatever may be subscribed shall be good-naturedly handed over by the subscribers to iriue
Attacks On The "Star." To Tub Editor 0t ...
I should not trouble yoii , Mr , Editor , with these re > marks , particularly a ? , until very lately , I have been a warm supporter and admirer of Mr . Jone * , but I really cannot allow his present proceeding to pass unnollced and without explaining the legal difficulties of his position . Trusting , therefore , to your kindness for tho insertion of this letter , I remain , Sir , Your Obedient Servant , A Law Clerk and Staunch Chartist , St . Pancras , January 27 th ,
„ To The Editor Of The Northern Star. Sl...
„ TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN STAR . SlB >—The reckless manner in which you are assailed on account of your able , improved , and highly intelligent ad * j ° 5 acy of the People ' s Cause , makes it the ' imperative rnnfnn i who can distinguish between bombast and rib *? , m , 8 nif 7 their determination to support your Sii . ™ most effectual method of doing so is that ^ i ? S ? 5 g . » * - « Ml '' becon " ' * * * laJ 8 . L ?/ a " « ' to the lecture of E . Jones , delivered " ^ Wn \»! t ti ° Peo ^' s Institute , against the that K , S „ '• l aeed not Scribe * character of SSLtSSfis ? exact * ^ * «* fcr ™ Manchester , Jan . 28 th , 1852 Ciiariisx .
Latest Intelligence. Northern Star Offic...
LATEST INTELLIGENCE . NORTHERN STAR OFFICE . E « L 0 STOK M aOohobto wSft ^ SlS -Last evening , about five o clock , an explosion , by which tw » men nearly Jost their lives occurred at the congreve match manufactory of Mr . Lachford , Old Montague-str ^ r Whitechapel . Tho sufferers , Robert Long and Daniel Baker , were engaged in making a preparation for dipp ine the matches , wuen , from some cause , it exploded with a tremohdous shock , doing considerable damage to the factory , and frightfully scorched both the men . They were immediately convoyed to the London Hospital , where it was found that , in addition to other injuries , Long ' s leg was shattered . They remain in a very precarious state
Child Murdeii , —Yesterday , Mr . Bedford held an inquest in the board-room of the workhouse of St . Martin-in-tbe-Pields , touching the death of a male infant , unknown . A policeman named Chatty stated , that as he was on duty on the Parade , in St . James ' s-park , opposite the Horse Guards , on Tuesday morning , he was called by a man who was standing by tho railings of the enclosure , and who had a bundle in his hand , which he told witness , he had found inside the palisades ) and he said ho thought the bundle contained the body of a child . ' Witness opened the shawl which was tied tightly , and found that it did contain the
dead body of a fine male infant , which was quite cold . Had not seen anybody near the place during tho time that he was on duty there . He conveyed the child and the wrapper to the union , where he left it in charge of the officer at that place . Mr . Johi Nathan Cambridge , surgeon , of 86 , St . Martin ' s-lane , who had examined the body of the child , said that it had died from suffocation , as wa » clearly shown by the fact of the tongue protruding from the mouth , and the heart being gorged with blood . The jury found , '• That the child had died from suffocation , but how caused there was no evidence to show . "
DvBLiN . —TnEMuRDEB of Mb . Batesok . —The trial of Francis Kelly was rrsumed on Thursday . Rose Grimes , who saw the three men who committed the murder running away after the deed , swore positively that the prisoner was not one of them . After hearing the evidence , the jury remained for three hours and a half in consultation , but not being able to agree to a verdict , they were locked up for the night . A WOMAN BOIMD TO DEATH . —On Thursday morning , at an early hour , great excitement prevailed among the inmates of Wiippjng Workhouse , Bigh-street , St . John ' s , Wapping , in consequence of a female named Sarah Torson , aged sixty-nine , being discovered in a copper of boiling water by one of the washerwomen employed in tho establishment . Deceased had been in the workhouse
several years , and was always considered of sound intellect . About seven o'clock on Thursday morning , one of the girls proceeded into tho washing-room to light the copper fire , after which several of tho other females began to prepare for the usual day ' s work ; and when they considered the water was sufficiently heated , one of them went to put some clothes into the boiling liquid when she screamed at the sijfht of a female ' s head and shoulders which were projecting from the copper . An instant alarm was raised , when several men came to the spot and found the deceased in a sitting position dead and completely boiled , for when she was dragged out of the water in the copper she skin and flesh peeled off . She was placed on the floor of the kitchen , and Mr . Nash , the surgeon , of High-street , was sent for . It was afterwards ascertained that the deceased must have got on to the top of tho copper by climbing up with tbe assistance of a stool . The deceased had evidently got into the copper while the liquid was cold . Mr . Marshall , the coroner ' s officer , subsequently took charge
of tbe body , which was removed to the doad-house to await an inquest . —An inquest was held on the body on Friday . It appeared from the evidence , that after she had delivered the keys to the porter on Wednesday night , she must have returned to the laundry , lighted the fire , and got into the copper while the water was lukewarm , and there have remained until it became scalding hot , so that tho fire must have gone out during the night , which was lighted again by the first witness , whereby the deceased must have been boiled a second time . —Mr . Thomas Nash , the surgeon , said he was called shortly after the deceased was discovered . She had beon dead several hours . The cause of death was the effects of very extensive scalding , and shock to the nervous system and brain . Deceased must have died in great agony . The jury returned a verdict " That the deceased was found dead in a copper of boiling water , with certain injuries , but how or by what means sho became so immersed they had no satisfactory proof . "
The Engineers' Strike. The Proprietors O...
THE ENGINEERS' STRIKE . The proprietors of the Haigh Foundry , near Wigan , havo closed their works , though not members of the Masters ' mnion . They have drawn up the following form of agreement to be signed by their workmen before resuming work , and in transmitting a copy to tho Masters' Society at Manchester they state that it had been submitted to a committee of men belonging to the benefit club and received their sanction . This statement , however , most be received with caution : — " Ilaigh Foundry and Brock Mill Forge , near Wigan , , 185— . —I hereby agree with the Haigh Foun ' diy Company that I will not , whilst in their employ , contribute either directly or indirectly , any money or other value to the funds of tho Society of Amalgamated Mechanics and Engineers , or to any other society whose object is , either
wholly or m part , to dictate terms to the employers of mechanics and engineers , either as to what hours tho men shall work or how they shall work , or what wages they shall receive for their work , or what kind of men shall be employed at the mechanics' and other shops . And I ugree to forfeit the wages that may bo duo to me if it can bo proved that I have , after signing this agreement , contributed to tho i funds of such society , or in any way given them money or ' other value , cither by myself or through tho medium of any ' other person . " On Thursday night the members of tho Amalgamated I Society held meetings at Nottingham , Stockport , Bolton ,, St . Helen ' s , and Warrington . Kext week they are to have » meetings in the Free Trade Hall , Manchester , and in the e Sobriety Hall , Todmorden . The society reports that theyy are in treaty for the manufacture of a large quantity of > f cotton spinning machinery .
Wfl are informed that on Friday afternoon a depuUtion . ro from the Employers had an interview with Sir George Grey . y . The subject of the interview has not , as yet , transpired :
Foreign. Paris, Friday.—France.-Four Pol...
FOREIGN . Paris , Friday . —FRANCE .-Four political refugees , * , from Geneva , who entered France on the 5 th of December , * , and assassinated a gendarme who attempted to arrest them ^ n , hsve been sentenced by court-martial , at Lyons , one to hardrd labour for life , one for twenty years , and one to death . Onene was acquitted . Release or Prisoners . —The Minister of the Interionor has addressed a circular to the Prefects of the Bppartments ,: s , authorising them to release from prison and restore to theireir families such of the insurgents arrested since the 2 nd of of December as shall appear to have been merely led astray , » y , and wh » se liberation offers no danger to society .
Metropolitan I.Vstitutioin Company, A Sp...
METROPOLITAN I . VSTITUTIOiN COMPANY , A special general meeting of tbe shareholders of thetht ! Metropolitan Institution Company , instituted for the purtur poaft of providing a Public Institution to be called the HaIIaI of Boie » ce and Literature , was held on Thursday eveninging ; January 20 th , in tho Coffee Room of the Literary Instituitui tion , John-street , Fitzroy-square-Mr . John Ileid , the Pre ? rei aiient of tho John-street Institution , in the chair—for tb tb election of five additional directors , three covenantintin , shareholders considering an abstract of the deed of settUttU ; mont , for complete registration and for general business , s . The Secretary ( Mr . Thomas Whitaker ) read the abstradrau of the deed , and drew the attention of tho shareholders trs t : the most important points , which having been discusseaseu the deed was unanimously approved and adopted . Messrs . Birohmore , Barralet , Cramp , Clark , and Palmtlmti were elected directors , and Mr . George Jacob Holyoakoaki Mr . John Peters , and Mr . John Carter as covenanting tin i parties to act for the shareholders , between them and tld til trustees , and to seo that the covenants of the Companpan
were being carried out . . H ., Some other general business having been transacted , tu , « i meeting separated , seemingly animated with a fixed aetciete : mination to carry out the object of tbe Company , which icu to raise a fund by donations and £ 1 shares , for erecting cng a purchasing a large and commodious Iiall or Institution ion i ; the neighbourhood of Oxford-street , or some other cei . trji . tr ,-part of London , wherein the industrious classes may asseiisseiic ble to acquire and communicate useful knowledge , ai . an where the ? may have innocent recreation and amuscmeeme . at a trifling expense-such Hall or Institution to crataintain . iscture room capable of accommodating at least 3 000 p 0 pe < tons , with committee room , library , and depot for boolbooll ! eadimr room , class rooms , school rooms for childrenIrem [ oth sexes , shop for the sale of publications , and other cer cct Y enienoes . ——¦—
The "Preserved" Meat.— I'He Hecla, Arriv...
The " Preserved" Meat . — i'he Hecla , arrived on ton tt 23 rd at Portsmouth from the coast of Africa , has brouproug home 2 , 3771 b . of Goldner ' s " preserved meats" to returnturm 529 lbs . from Ascension , and 1 , 848 lbs . from Sierra Le ' oiLe ' oii The character given this stuff by those who have been " cc " ctt demned" in a strait to partake of it fc worse thau any jmy jj ascribed to it .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Jan. 31, 1852, page 1, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_31011852/page/1/
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