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Northern Star (1837-1852), 5th September 1846, Edition 3 of 3, Page 5, "CHEAP BREAD, HIGH WAGES, AND PLENTY TO ...

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    • RECEIPTS OF THE CHARTIST CO-OPERATIVE LAND SOCIETY.
    • Mr Dunham's Mdsical Lecturks os Scottish asd Iniaii Sosgs. — On Wednesday evening Mr.
    • aTi-afceS' Movements
    • Shocking and Extraordinary Sucide.—On Tuesday forenoon, Mrs. Charlotte Glai.by, a widow,
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      Oastler And O'Connell. "The Would" And "...

      And if our cotemporary doubts the pernicious effects of the Liberator ' s treachery upon the whole hody of Repealers , we beg to furnish him with the foll owing tit bit from the pen of one Mr . George Smyth , of Liverpool ; and from which he will learn that Whig justice is , after all , the splutter synouimous with repeal : — Mr . Ray read _thefollowing letter from Mr . George Smyth , of Liverpool : — " * Paradise-street , LirerpooL 22 nd August , 1846 . Mr dear Sir—1 have much pleasure in transmitting to you an order for £ 9 2 s . fid . from the Repealers of this place to aid the Association in its struggle to obtain justice to Ireland ,-whicli I hold to be _srnonimons with a repeal ofthe union .

      To this sum V . Magee , Esq ., ot New Quay , has contributed £ 1 , his subscription for the present year . I am , my dear sir , your obedient servant , George Smtth . T . M , Ray , EV _Xothing now remains for us but the tender of our thanks to our cotemporary , for the admission that the Northern Star is the Organ of the Chartist body , and thatthe Chartist bodv means the INDUSTRIAL

      CLASSES OF ENGLAND , SCOTLAND AND WALES .

      September 5,1846r - ~ - - ¦•Ndrttfe R*N ...

      _September 5 , _1846 r _- ~ - - ¦• NdRTtfE R _* N ;' _-: 8 'HRr 5

      Tue Peel Policy. The Morning Post Has Di...

      TUE PEEL POLICY . The Morning Post has discovered a prize in the German newspapers which must have proved of incalculable value to the native press , in the dull times and utter dearth of news which immediately follows the prorogation of Parliament . This prize is bd less than a description of the Feel pokey by Peel himself , and the people he has taken into his confidence are tbe good folks of Elbing , in Prussia .

      Why Sir Robert should have gone so far a-field to tell his story and disclose the objects he had in view in the three-fold measures of the Income-tax , the Banking Bill , and tiie new Tariffs , » not ot _^ iow at first sight . He had plenty of addresses presented to him by his admirers at home , hat to them he -vouchsafed only those-vague official replies , which conventional etiquette prescribes for an English minister , in hia intercourse with the English people Just as these addresses and replies were sinking out of sight , and out of mind , there comes this epistle to the Elbingians , so different in style , and so ample in its revelations of motives , that it has quite taken everybody by snrprise , as much at its contents , as its late and somewhat mal-apropos appearance .

      The Germans are " slow coaches . " They sent to congratulate Peel in the month of July , when his glorjwas atthe highest , and when all men ' s minds were full of hi 3 doings . More than a month has elapsed since they got his reply , and it has only now found its way back to _ERgland , when everybody has gone to the continent , the moors , the game covers , or the seaside , and have neither time nor inclination for tolilics .

      The German correspondents of Sir Robert , have not treated him fairly . We imagine that , feeling himself fettered by the formalities which regulated hi * conduct at home , he meant to make them the medium for a further and more explicit declaration than he conld make here . But though somewhat late , let us "take the good the Gods provide , " and make no complaints . The first annonncement of the late Premier

      regards the _"jlncome Tax . We have it now on his own authority , that that tax is to be , not a temporary , but _^ permanent one . He meant , even when talking abont * ' three years" that it should "not only make good a deficit iut aho lay the foundation of a tnorcjustsystan of taxation . " That justice consisting , as he afterwards explains himself , in exempting from taxation " mvny kinds of produce necessary to the comforts of ihe working classes ; " and , of course , placing tbe "burden on the shoulders of those most able to bear it , the possessors of property . It is long since English ministers to ' ik this view of taxation , or regarded Justice in their financial calculations . If they

      got ihe money , they were not over nice about the means ; and if there was a leaning on any side , it was in favour of their own class ; the weakest backs were fitted with the heaviest burdens . Nous avons change tout cda—we have changed all that ; the foundation of a more just system of taxation is "tad . Henceforward property , and not labour , shall be taxed for the support of national institutions . The idea is yet but crudely worked ont , —the machinery by no means free from defects , hut a beginning has been made , and it will be the fault of the masses if ifc is not consummated , by pursuing the principle to its most remote legitimate results .

      For the protection of property , legislators enact & W 3 and judges administer them . Tor the protection of property , standing armies , immense arsenals , and mighty fleets / are maintained . As long as labour is in iis active shape it has no protection . It is subject to the law of supply and demand , to be bought ia the cheapest market , heaten down to tbe lowest price under the influence of competition , which cares not whether the life blood be pressed from out the hearts of its-victims , by the severity of its demands , so long as there are other victims ready to

      take their places . But the moment labour passes into property , and assumes the shape of houses , land ? , mills , machinery and money , all the powers of the law , all the vast machinery of our national institutions coines into playjfor its safety and protection . Let the owners pay for these institutions then ; they alone benefit directly from them . The only just system of taxation is that which leaves labonr freelabour of all kind , whether of hand or brain , and raises the supplies necessary for the support of the state from realised property . I

      A system of direct taxation would not only he mere _jitit , but more economical . Millions are annually raised which never find their way to the Exchequer , because they are stopped in the passage thither by those who collect the taxes , and who must live while _doing so _. Direct Taxation wonld reduce the horde of officials who now prey on the public , but whoare _necessaryunder thc indirect system . It would also pre-Teut reckless or extravagant expenditure by the Government ; when a naked sum of so many pounds ,

      shillings and pence was demanded for the support of the state , a stricter scrutiny into its expenses would be instituted . Many things now deemed essential wonld . no donbt , be then dispensed with . In short , on all grounds , that just system of taxation , for which Peel has laid the foundatien , is to be preferred , and we trust his successors in office will not be allowed by the clamour ofthe monied interest to undo what las now been done . Onward , not backward , must be their motto .

      It is impossible to refrain from admiring the adroit manner in which Peel caught these sly birds , the _peopla of properly , and got them to consent to thc income tax . "Only for three years , " said he with a coaxing smile , and though somewhat reluctant they submitted to put their money bags into his hands that he might therefrem take the desiderated wven per cent . They did not think tbat baring become acquainted with their contents , and having the string in his hands , how hard it would be to make him relinguish his hold ! Sweet innocents I they have been " fallen in suid done for 1 "

      Of course , the press of the money mongers is loud in its denunciations of this fraudulent attack on the " sacred rights of property . " Let their masters first take their hands out of the pocket of Labour , and leave it a fair share of the joint product of labour and capital , before they complain of a paltry seven per cent being abstracted from the vast mass of wealth they annually wring from the toil of the working classes . Sir Robert is equally explicit In his explanations of his Currency system . His object , he states , in his last Currency and Banking Act , was to give " to paper money a settled valueby making it always exchangeable -with specie . "

      This question is , however , too wide and deep to he discussed incidentally , and we must leave it to a " more convenient season" with the simple statement , that from itsproper settlement more than any

      Tue Peel Policy. The Morning Post Has Di...

      other Bingle measure , can industry hope to be emancipated from thraldom and participate equitably in the national wealth . The third topic to which the ex-Premier alludes are the FreeTrade measures of the session , and he somewhat eloquently explains the grounds on whieh these measures rest in the following passage : — "Thesocial condition of that country which main _, tainswith the greatest rigour the protective system , " _^ _^¦ W 1 _™? e ? state of another which has adopted liberal principl es ; and the conviction of the value of such principles will not obtain , unless by the encouragement of the freedom of exchange

      amongst all the nations of the world ; the well-being of each individual will be increased , and the will of _providence will be fulfilled-that Providence which hasgiven to every country a sun , a climate , and a soil , each differing one from the other , not for the purpose of rendering them severally independent of each other , but , on the contrary , in order that they may feel their reciprocal dependence by the exchange of their respective produce , thus cauBing them to enjoy in common the blessings of Providence . " We have , however , in another article , so fully treated of the subject , that itis unnecessary to notice it here .

      The inference to be drawn from this remarkable manifesto of the ex-Premier is , that he is guided by definite and constructive views in the passing of his measures . He does not set to work at haphazard , bnt sees' * how each different part ofhis work is to dove-tail into another . Above all , the conviction that industry must be freed from all shackles ; that in thc welfare and prosperity of the working class is alone to be found the sure and permanent foundation of national _well-beii-g _, seems to have

      stamped itself on his mind . IIis emancipation from party fetters is an auspicious omen of future statesmanship . We truBt that , great as his skill and courage _** bave been , he will , in the same progressive but fearless spirit , achieve yet higher triumphs , and by devoting his practised and powerful faculties to the investigation of the more abstruse causes of social and political evil , be enabled to confer upon his fellow-countrymen benefits of a hind to which those he has yet bestowed are merely the dawn which heralds the coming day .

      "Cheap Bread, High Wages, And Plenty To ...

      " CHEAP BREAD , HIGH WAGES , AND PLENTY TO DO . " In 1 S 39 , when the Leaguers were "getting the steam up" and making promises , which , as theyapproached closer to the realization of their wishes , were discreetly cast into oblivion , we predicted what the effects of mere Corn Law Repeal would be to the labourers and small capitalists of England . Our prophecy ran thus : —

      "The repeal ofthe Corn Laws , unaccompanied ly other political , social , and financial changes , would merely tend to the short-lived benefit of the manufacturing capitalists , or those with fixed incomes , at the expense of the territorial or agricultural capitalists . Such repeal , in connexion with the existing home and foreign competition , would both immediately and remotely injure all classes of operatives , as well as the small farmer . There is no sound reason for supposing ihat , upon an average of years , corn would be mucft , if any , cheaper in this countrv , under a free corn trade than under a restrictive

      _onej but if it was cheaper , the increased competition between the home and foreign manufactures , would speedily screw the difference out ofthe labourer ; in other words , it would bring wages down to the lowest point . And this effect would be materially accelerated by the rapid increase of mechanical productive power , called into being by the activity of the competitive principle , which , by superseding manual taooicr , would tend permanently to depress wages to _thejlevel of mere subsistence , while the

      market , through this cause being kept continually overstocked with manual labour , pauperism and crime would increase , The mere repeal of the Corn Laws , therefore , "in connection with the maintain * ance of the present system of home and foreign competition , and of employment oflabour , is synonymous with _lotver wages and increased destitution to the working class . It is no matter io the operative how low the price of provisions may be , it the price of labour or wages is lower . "

      We reprint these sentences now atthe commencement of the Free Trade system , in order that their accuracy may be fully tested . True , the fact of Sir R . Peel being minister in the interval , has caused the repeal ofthe Corn Laws to be " accompanied by «* other social and financial changes , " never dreamt o * by the mere partizans of Repeal . But these changes go so short a way in the right direction , that we hare no hesitation in again hazarding the occupancy of the position ofa political prophet .

      Truth to say , there is not much hazard in the matter . The "HighWagesandPleBtytodo , " which were so bountifully promised in the earlier stages fef the Corn Law agitation , have turned out like the Dead-Sea fruit already . Fair and tempting at a distance , they bave crumbled into ashes at the touch . The men who resisted John Fielden _' s Ten Hours ' Bill , are now proposing te run their Mills only 4 dats a week , or the alternative of an equivalent reduction in wages , for a full week ' s work . Singular enough ,

      those who do so were the loudest supporters of repeal—the foremost amongst the prophets of the benefits it would confer . They may conveniently lorget these facts—we cannot . By their own professions wc try them ; and while we by no means assume that , in the short time which has elapsed since the passing of the Corn Bill , it ha- * had that fair trial which its supporters have a right to demand , we are at the same time determined , that the ground of controversy between us and the Leaguers shall not be shifted .

      They have chosen to sneer at the " ignorance" of the working classes—to calumniate their leaders , as impostors , or worse ; wild either from design or incapability , led the masses a dance after mere political " will o" the wisps . " For a time they have secured the ear of the nation , and tributes of a princely character attest the extent of their influence over popular opinion . But , in the teeth of the £ 100 , 000 iCobden Testimonial , we proclaim Corn Law Repeal adelusion , so far as its practical , permanent effects on the comfort and condition ol" the labouring millions is concerned .

      Thesqualid poverty , deep degradation , and almost inconceivable sufferings of the Helot class , alike in manufacturing and in agricultural districts , was painfully developed by mill-lords and landlords , in the heat ofthe struggle between these two factions . The existeuce of a mass of misery , utterly disgraceful to a great , wealthy , and civilized nation ; and that , too , existing among the very class whose labours create that wealth and sustain that greatness—was proved beyond a doubt . To this fact we pin them both . Will Corn Law Repeal , in connection with the present mode of employing _machinery and distributing wealth , remove it ? Thatis the real point at issue , an d to that we shall keep . A short time will show who are the quacks and impostors—who are thc ignorant and deluded , in this matter .

      If a reduction to fourdays a week , or a reduction of five per cent , on the wages of the operatives , is the only alternative left to the manufacturers of Lancashire in their very fluBh of victory , what are the consequences likely to be when the system comes into full play , aad when , stimulated by thc madness of gain , the capitalists of all countries pit machine against machine , each struggling to pooduce most largely and at the lowest cost ? In this there is no salvation for the working classes Their redemption from toil and poverty must come through other channels . Moral , and not political , economy must become the text book of their r ulers , before a just , humane and really beneficial course of legislation can be entered upon .

      Thc existing state of things in the manufacturing districts , has caused our Froteetionist cotempora ries to anticipate the accession of the working classes to their ranks . They expect , tbat those of thc labour class who ever did join the Leaguers will now ha convinced of the absurdity of Free Trade , and the value of protection to native industry . "Thank you fer nothing" is our reply .

      "Cheap Bread, High Wages, And Plenty To ...

      The working classes always rated at its true worth the League version of Free Trade . They need no undeceiving on that point . But , Messieurs Protectionists , " native industry" did not flourish so well under your aus pices as to induce them again to put the management entirely into your hands . If you like to work with us for a real protection to " native industry , " welcome ; if not , we will do without you . Once emancipated from the yoke of a landed aristocracy , we are not fools enough

      to permit them to put it on again . Another struggle remains—the effort for freeing labour from its subjection to capital . It is the parent * cf capital , and must not be parricidally treated by its offspring . In the words of Thomas Cariyle , . " Labour mu st become a seeing rational giant , with a _fouJin the body of him , and take his place on the throne of things . " To advance him to that supremacy , to enable him to establish a genuine system of protection for industry , we work . But our motto is " onward , " and it the protectionists cannot follow us they must be left behind .

      Retrospect Of The Session. There Is A Se...

      RETROSPECT OF THE SESSION . There is a seed time and a harvest in the political as well as in the physical world . But the labourer who casts into the bosom of society the seeds of future political harvests , requires to be sustained by a loftier and more unfaltering faith than the tillers of our fields . A short time suffices to bring up , ripen , and gather the fruits of their labours , whereas the political husbandman rarel y , if ever , sees the fruition of his toils , which , " after many days , " ripen only for posterity .

      When Adam Smith and David Hume were corresponding from opposite sides of the Frith of Forth about the hook then composing by the first-named philosopher , and since so well known under the title of " The Wealth of Nations "it could scarcely have entered into the imagination of either , that in the year 1846 the leading dogmas of that work should have so penetrated the minds of the ruling classes of Great Britain as to have effected an entire change in our commercial and financial system .

      Yet so it is . We have just finished the legislative harvest ofthe seed then sown . Peel , Cobden , and Russell have been but working instruments in the hands ofthe Scotch professor , " who , being dead , yet liveth" in them . Huskisson and others , many years ago , reaped here and there a scattered patch of ground , bearing the same kind of crop , but it was reserved for this session to complete the work so far as Great Britain is concerned . If the indications abroad may be trusted , there will be in due season the same harvest gathered in all European nations .

      A change so great in the policy of a nation , which , by its immense resources , gigantic machinery , ceaseless industry , and restless traders , has formed connections with , and more or less powerfully influences the condition of , mankind nnder every variety of soil , climate , and government , would , of itself , be sufficient to stamp 1846 as a memorable year iii

      the annals of Parliament ; but when it is remembered under what auspices that Parliament was elected , the principle which the majority of its members were pledged to uphold , and the avowed protective and conservative policy of the leader of a majority of one hundred members , the event hecomes all the more striking and pregnant with inferences as to the future .

      Making every allowance for the fact that the answer made by the electors to the appeal of the Whigs in 1841 was dictated as much by disgust at their imbecile , extavagant , and tyrannical official career , as by any other cause ; itis undeniable that at that period a very large proportion of all classes believed more or less firmly in the doctrine of protection to native industry . Even

      the cheap Corn , Timber , and Sugar " cry" of the expiring Ministry rested upon that basis . Russell was in principle quite as much a Protectionist as Peel , the only difference between them was as to the amount of protection required , and the manner of levying it . The one advocated a fixed duty , the other a sliding scale .- in _principle they agreed , in detail only they differed .

      Had the Whigs proved victorious , Free Trade would not yet have been triumphant . With the facility for making large professions and incapability of devising comprehensive measures , which has ever distinguished them as a party , they would have proved a stubborn obstacle in the way of the League . That assoc iation owed many a powerful recruit to the fact , that Russell and his party sat on the shady side of the Speaker ' s chair , and the comprehension of Russell himself was no doubt thereby rendered much more acute . But for that , the letter to the citizens of London last November , which

      precipitated the events of the late srssion , would have been yet unwritten , and the old regime might have been maintained a little longer . As it was , the Government of the country was thrown into the hands of a Minister , who , if not possessed of those intellectual qualities which constitute genius , possesses the perhaps equally important faculty of adapting to practice the theories and abstract conceptions of more original minds . He felt that he was entrusted with the destiny of

      a wide extended empire , at a most critical and transitional period , that the old landmarks of party and of sectional interests were no longer sufficient for the guidance of the statesman . Their foundations were loosened ; the dry-rot infected them throughout ;—their day and usefulness had passed . The old and time-honoured maxims of political wisdom , which had served for the management of an empire , with two-thirds our present population , and scarcely

      a thousandth part of our present productive power , had become antiquated and obsolete . A living creed and philosophy was imperatively needed to take the place of these " dry bones . " What should it be ? What , under the constitution of England and the prevailing tendencies of those classes , who , hy the possession of the franchise ultimately govern it , was the practical— the most utilitarian course to adopt .

      Such was the problem which Sir R . Peel had to solve on his last accession to power . His first Tariff was his answer to the question . e foundFree Trade the ripest of all public agitations . He found it espoused by those classes who , from their wealth , activity , and intelligence , naturally exercise great influence on public opinion , and with that caution which distinguishes the whole of his policy , he began ( to use an expression of his own , many years ago , when introducing the Metropolitan Police Bill ) " to grope liis way . "

      Three years' practical experience of the working of his own measures , and extended observation , comparison , and reflection , convinced him that he ought to adopt completely the commercial and social principle on which he had been cautiously experimenting , and he did so with a heartiness and determination no less unusual in him , than indicative of the earnest and deep sincerity of his convictions on the subject . The result has been , that the session just closed has been one of the most eventful in itself , and the most pregnant with future consequences of any

      to be found in the whole history of the British Parliament . It has been , like one of Shakspeare's inimitable plays , a drama of action and of lofty thoughts combined . From the 21 st of January , when Peel made that disclosure of his intended policy , at the commencement of the debate on the address , which took away the breath of his hearers and struck the world with surprise ; down to the 21 st of _August when the new leader of the country party disclosed a piece of secret political history , which made the Whig occupants of the Treasury bench start round towards him as if they

      Retrospect Of The Session. There Is A Se...

      had been galvanised , and at the close of his narra . tive draw a breath such as man might do when told that they have been unconsciously sitting on a mine of gunpowder , with the train laid—during tbe whole of that seven months the stage was occupied by actors and events of the most interesting nature . Either for what was done , or what was indicated , the debates , however long , or , it might be thought by some , irrelevant , were worthy of the Legislature of a great nation , and ( with few exceptions ) in keeping with the importance of the topics discussed .

      In saying this , however , it must not be understood that we attach that importance to the Corn Bill or the Sugar Bill which the literal devotees and £ . s . d . disciples of Free Trade are accustomed to do . We are prepared to admit , that the existence of a variety of soil , climate , and consequently of productions , leads to the inference that nations should be mutually dependent upon each other for what they can each produce most easily and of the best description . But there should be appended to this now common-place axiom an important addition , which the so-called Free Trade party seem to have lost sight of , or perhaps never knew , namely , that

      mutually beneficial exchanges can only take place between nations when they exchange the surplus of their respective peculiar productions , after their own population have been fully supplied with them . The exportation of the staple articles of human subsistence , or of clothing , while hunger and raggedness exist among a people who thus send away the very things they need , is an irrational and monstrous course of proceedure . If each country has more of its peculiar products than it needs , exchange the surplus by all means , and thus enable each to participate in the advantages which the diversity of 6 oi ! and climate are calculated to confer . But such

      exchanges ought not to be made on the wretched huxtering principle of " buying in the cheapest and selling in the dearest market ; " that much vaunted and now current doctrine , which , in the eyes of many , seems the ne plus ultra of commercial wisdom , is the principle of a pedlar , not of national commerce . Till the miserable chicanery and low morality it involves is discarded by nations in their dealings with each [ other , justice and truthfulness will be strangers to them , and the peace and harmony prophesied by some parties as the result of FreeTrade measures , will prove but a chimera of the

      imagination . An honest exchange of equivalents , that is of articles on which an equal amount of capital and labour has been expended , is the only rational or equitable mode of conducting the exchanges of the world , and the contrary principle , no matter how often it may be advocated or how hi gh the reputation of those who do so , is , after all , mere millowner and shopkeeping morality . Its practice is gambling with other men's labour , and its consequences must always be such as result from acting in contravention to the great moral laws which regulate the universe . With nations as with individuals —Honesty is the best policy .

      To give full effect to the Free Trade measures passed during the Session , it is requisite that statesmen and merchants should learn these obvious truths and act upon them , before even the limited benefits which will directly accrue from these measures can be realized . The true value of the Corn Bill and the Sugar Bill lies not so much in what they will effect directly as the manner in which their settlement bears on other more important and radical questions . We regard them more in the li g ht of indexes of great changes accomplished , or to be effected , than as great measures in themselves .

      They herald the near extinction of that territorial feudalism among us , of which Corn Laws were , and Promogeniture is , among the last relics . From one species of serfdom we are now all but free . The prestige of invincibility has departed from the landlord class , and they will never again regain it . The settlement of the great controversy which has for many years been waged between the Mill-owner and the Landowner , will also have the effect of dissipating a gross delusion shared in by many

      otherwise well-informed persons . Low wages , squalid abodes , rags and poverty , were all paraded as the effects of a monoply in Food , the vicious effects of the vicious principle of Protection . Low wages , wretehed dwellings , dirt , squalor , famine and disease , exist among us still ; but they can no longer be attributed to the wrong cause . That is something gained . In the coming enquiry , as to what is tlie real cause , the Landlords are out of the quarrel , so far as their monopoly is concerned . How will it fare with the Mill-lords—the Money-lords .

      Time will show . But , if we augur rightly from the events ofthe session , the dominance of any classinterest which stands in the way of general happiness is doomed to destruction . Tlie men who so lustily warred against the long-established interests of the Landlord , on the ground that they were an injury to the community at large , cannot possibly defend any privileges in their possession , when it is

      demonstrated that they are equally , if not more , subversive of the public welfare . In the struggle that must come between Capital and Labour , the point at issue will be clearly defined . We do not doubt as to the result . Tlie change we have made this session , as to our mode of conducting trade with other countries , heralds a much greater change in our mode bf treating Man .

      Though other measures of importance were passed or discussed during the session , yet it is liy the Corn and Sugar Acts that it will in future lie best known ; and as laying the foundation of a new commercial system , by which it will exercise an important influence on coming generations . It is , therefore , unnecessary for us , in this general survey of its leading characteristics , to allude to minor subjects ,

      Never did a session close more hopefully for the people . The old parties are broken up , without the slightest chance of reuniting . The greatest statesman of the day is absolved from the fetters wliich formerly prevented him from pursuing tliat onward and upward path , which secures prosperity to nations , and undying fame to him who treads it . Despite of the malevolence of those from whom he has severed himself , and of the ill-concealed spite and detraction of his political rivals , he stands higher in the estimation of the country than any other Minister in this country ever did before . In the

      unexampled sacrifice of power , place , and friends , for the purpose of acting upon a conscientious conviction—in the calm , determined , but cautious bearing which he displayed throughout the long and trying debates upon his policy—in the progressive , aud even expanding views enunciated by lum , aud especially in the memorable speech in which he bade farewell to the House in his capacity of Ministerin all these the people see that they -have now got what they never had before—a statesman untrammelled by parties , ready to do the will of enlightened public opinion , and able practically to execute its behests .

      Great and difficult are the tasks before us . Thc political enfranchisement of tbe millions must be achieved . Knowledge must take the place of Ignorance ; Morality be substituted for Crime ; Health for Disease , and Plenty for Poverty . Political , Educational , and Sanatory measures , all press for settlement . That they can be effectively grappled with by the party now in power , we do not believe . And we cannot think that the nation will long submit to see Sir K . Peel exiled from office , and the power of devoting his vast administrative capabilities to the advancement of its best interests . He must , ere long , return to ofiice , as the People's Minister .

      To replace him in that position from wliich he was driven hy a shameful coalition of opposing political parties , will add another to tlie triumphs of that Sovereign which henceforth virtually rules England .

      Retrospect Of The Session. There Is A Se...

      Public opinion changed the Protectionist Parliament of 1840 , into a Free Trade one in 1846 . It will ere long change the Reformed House of Commons , into a real representation of the people . That is the next step to be taken ; and that achieved , a solid and broad foundation will be laid , upon which all other reforms may be securely based . We cannot better close these observations , than

      by the following quotation from Thomas Cariyle , written in 1843 _; it possesses that truth and app licability to the present moment , which characterizes the production of genius and profound research into tbe causes and remedies of social and political evil — «• Trade never go well freed , and all Tariffs settled or abolished , and supply and demand in full operation , let us all know that we have yet done nothing , that we have merely cleared the ground for doing .

      Yes—were the Corn Laws ended to-morrow , there is nothing yet ended , there is only room made for all manner of things beginning . The Corn Laws gone , and trade made free , it is as good as certain this paralysis of industry will pass away . We shall have another period of commercial enterprise , of victory and prosperity , during which it is likely much money will be made , and all the people may , by the extant methods , still for a space of years be kept alive and physicall y fed . The strangling hand of famine will be loosened from our necks ; we shall have room again to breathe , time to bethink ourselves , repent and consider ! A precious , and thrice precious space of years , wherein to struggle as for life

      in reforming our foul ways , in alleviating , instructing _, regulating , our people . Seeking as for life , that something like spiritual food be imparted them , some real governance and guidance be provided them ! It will be a priceless time . For our new period or paroxysm of commercial prosperity wiU , and can , on the old method of competition and devil-take the hindmost , prove but a paroxysm—a new paroxysm , likely enough , if we do not use it better , to be our last . In tbis of itself is no salvation , * if our Trade in twenty years flourishing , as never trade flourished , could double itself—yet then also _, by the " old Laissezfaire" method , our population is doubled ; we shall then be as we are , only twice as many of us , twice , and ten times as unmanageable . "

      Receipts Of The Chartist Co-Operative Land Society.

      RECEIPTS OF THE CHARTIST CO-OPERATIVE LAND SOCIETY .

      Per Mr. O'Connor. Section No. 1. Phases,...

      PER MR . O'CONNOR . SECTION No . 1 . phases , £ > . d . Halifax , per C . "W . Smith .. „ .. 4 10 6 Ely , per II . Aungier .. .. .. .. 1 14 8 Alva , per J . Robertson .. .. .. 2 H 2 Bucup , per J . Mawson .. .. ,. 400 Dodhurst Brow , per J . Bowden „ ., 0 13 0 Cripplegate _, per J . E . Cartwright .. .. 2 8 10 Devizes , per W , Bond „ ., ., 156 Cheltenham , per T . Ulett 0 16 0 Norwich , per J . Hurry ., .. .. 200 Itochd _.-ile , per E . Mitchell .. .. .. 200 Nottingham , per J . Sweet .. .. .. 090 Dewsbury , per J . Rouse .. .. .. 5 10 4

      Plymouth , per E . Robertson .. „ „ 1 14 6 Neweastle-on-Tyne , per M . Jude .. .. 2 18 6 Darlington , per W . Carlton .. .. .. 0 18 5 Boitou , per E . Hogkinson „ „ ,, 160 Manchester , per J . Murray .. .. .. 200 Northampton , per W . Munday _., .. 0 12 0 Stockport , perT . * r 7 oodhouse ., .. fi 0 0 Preston , per J . Brown .. .. .. 4 6 0 Leicester , per Z . Astill .. .. 1 0 fl Asbton-undcr-Lyne , per E . Hobson .. .. 4 4 6 Leeds , per "W . Brook .. .. .. ,. 500 Sheffield , per G . Cavill .. .. .. 3 15 1 Todmorden , per J . Mitchell 2 6 0 _Newport , per J . Williams .. .. „ 3 3 4 _Ncwark-on-Trent _, per W . "Walton .. .. 0 15 0

      Per Mr. O'Connor. Section No. 1. Phases,...

      A —1 J SECTION No . 2 , SHAKES . Lynn , per "W . Bunton .. .. ., 156 Lancaster , per J . Harrison .. ., „ 2 0 0 Halifax , per C . W . Smith 1 18 C Ely , per A . Aungier .. .. .. ,. 054 Alva , per J . Robertson .. .. .. 0 13 0 . lames Smith , _Accrini-ton .. .. .. 2 12 4 Denny , per 3 . Cameron » .. .. 1 1 ft 8 Lynn , per J . Scott .. .. .. .. 1 19 8 } in ] stead .. .. .. .. .. 1 18 0 Bacup , per J . Mawson .. .. .. 100 Dodhurst Brow , per 3 . Bowden .. .. 1 1 C Wolverhampton , per J . Steward .. .. 13 4 Toignmouttii per Ji Edwards ¦• ¦¦ <¦ 3 19 0 Sorwich , per A . Bagshaw ,. ,, „ 1 33 0 Oldham , per "W . Hamer 2 0 0 Cheltenham , per T . Ulett 2 0 6 Rochdale , per E . Mitchell .. .. .. 300 Nottingham , per J . Sweet .. .. .. 5 18 6 Dewsbury , per J . Rouse .. .. .. 608 Plymouth , per E . Robertson .. .. ,, 044 Nuwcastle-on-Tyne , per M . Jude .. .. 10 2 Bolton , per E . Hodgkinson .. .. .. 2 18 6 Northampton , per W . Munday .. .. 3 8 0 Stockport , per T . Woodhouse .. .. 2 0 0 Hollinwood , per J . Rayner .. .. „ 0 8 o Preston , per J . Brown .. .. .. S 16 ' 2 Clayton West , per E . Evans .. .. .. 256 Ashton-under . Lyne , per E . Hobson .. .. 3 3 8 Sheffield , per G . Cavill S 2 G Todmorden , per J . Mitchell .. .. .. 540 Swindon , per D . Morrison .. ., ., 500 Bradford , per . 1 . Alderson .. .. ,. 500 Torquay , per R . II . Putt 5 4 o Newark _on-Trent , per Y 7 . Walton „ ., 180 £ 88 _ 2 __ PER GENERAL SECRETARY * SECTION No . 1 . SHAKES . £ » . d . £ s . n . Lambeth - - 3 18 6 Staleybridgc -500 Sudbury - - 1 2 0 Ashford . 6 . Kedfern 0 4 5 Whittington and Limehouse - - 0 17 0 Cat - - - 6 19 4 Wellingborough . 19 4 Butterley - - 0 14 G Ovenden - -050 Leicester ( pcr _^ Colne - - - 0 17 3 Adams ; - -18 6 Bending - - 0 8 6 South Shields - 2 0 0 Liverpool . . 0120 £ 25 16 4 SECTION No . 2 . Thomas Heads - 0 2 2 Butterley - - 3 i i Wm . Childs - - 0 1 4 Market _Lavington 8 4 0 Mr . Topp - - 0 10 0 G . Brooks - - 0 10 0 Lynn - - - 1 10 2 J . Skclton and J . Wolverhampton - 1 4 8 Fartridge - - 0 2 G Timothy Roach - 0 2 0 Silsden _, II . Mitchell 0 16 Mold , per Hughes 0 4 0 Limehouse - - 5 6 4 F . York . - 0 1 0 Sidney Row - - 1 7 6 John Morris . 0 1 o J- Miller , Grantham 0 14 J . P . llodburn - 0 1 2 J . Stephenson , Norwood , J . Swaf- Cullen - -010 field - - -060 "William Lester -02 6 G . Worthy , Belper ( 1 10 0 Reading . . 8 11 In Mr , Pattison -026 Hull . - - 6 ( j io Whittington and Mr . Harney - - 0 _t 0 Cat - - - 7 15 8 11 . Chunceller , ' *" Yarmouth . - 2 10 0 £ _il 5 4 TOTAL LASD FUND . Mr . O'Connor , Section No . 1 ... G 7 2 4 Mr . Wheeler „ „ ... 25 16 4 £ 92 IS S Mr . O'Connor , Section No . 2 ... SS 2 4 Mr . Wheeler , „ 41 5 4 _£ 12 D 7 8 The £ 2 17 s . 2 d . announced in the Star of Aug . 22 nd , from Croydon , should have been from Mr . William Strood , Rochester . The sum of 17 s . lOd . from Croydon was omitted . Thomas Mabtin Wueeleb , Seerctary . FOB MR , FBOST . PER MR . O ' CONNOR , Cheltenham , per T . Ulett 10 0 Rochdale , per S . W . C . Melbourne .. .. 0 3 9 A few friends at Rippendale . per do . .. .. 0 16 11 RECEIPTS OP NATIONAL CHARTER ASSOCIATION FEB , GENERAL SECRETARY , Sudbury - - 0 I 6 Cat - - - 0 3 o James Swatfield , _Lambcrhcad-green 0 2 o Norwood - - 0 0 9 Swansea - - 0 1 6 Whittirigton and FOK CONVENTION , Glasgow . - 011 1 FOR MR . FROST . Swansea , per Cudlip - - - - - -016 VETERAN , ORPHAN , AND VICTIM FUND . Reading ( to purchase shares in the Land Society ) 0 11 3 Thomas Martin Wueeleb , _Secretary .

      Mr Dunham's Mdsical Lecturks Os Scottish Asd Iniaii Sosgs. — On Wednesday Evening Mr.

      Mr Dunham ' s Mdsical Lecturks os Scottish asd _Iniaii Sosgs . — On Wednesday evening Mr .

      Denham Repeated His Entertainment Consis...

      Denham repeated his entertainment consisting of Scottish anil Irish songs , with descriptive illustrations and pianoforte accompaniment , iu _Crossby Hall , _Bishopsgate . 'flic selection was a pleasing one . Wc had old-established favourites pleasantly blended with some more recent compositions from the gifted Wm . Thom , of _lnverurv . " The Mitherless Bairn " and the " _ilameless 11 a ' , " two well known productions ot the weaver bard , were sang in admirable style . Mr . Denham gave us a favourable specimen ol his own mental powers in thc double capacity ol poet and musician in a sweet ballad " The Blue Braes" and in a light pleasing ditty entitled " Bonnie Jeanie Gneme . " The lecture portion of thc entertainment was very interesting and creditable to this new and very deserving candidate for popular favour . The audience very warmly testified thoir high appreciation of the merits ofthe artiste .

      Ati-Afces' Movements

      _aTi-afceS' _Movements

      United Trades _Association , Scotland . —Mr . Jacob ' s , the Missionary ef this Association , has been very successfully engaged in explaining the objects of the Association to the Trades of Edinburgh _, tie has addressed meetings ol" the Joiners , Masons , Cabinet-makers , and a meeting of Trades' Delegates . The principles and plan of the Association are very favorably received , and the labours ¦ of Mr . Jacobs are likely to effect _ reat good . DELEGATE MEETING OF FRAME WORK KNITTERS , & c . A meeting of Delegates from the Fancy Bobbin , Net , Silk Blond , Lace , and Frame-work Knitters , < ii' the Counties of Nottingham , Leicester , and Derby , was held on Monday , the 24 th ult ., in the Assemblyroom ofthe " Dove and Rainbow" Inn , Parliamentstreet , Nottingham . The meeting was most numerously attended by delegates from Mansfield , Leicester , Nottingham , Du ' ffield , Sheepshead , Sheinton , Arnold , R . uddington , Hyson Green , Tinirraaston , Bulwell , llucknal Tork « rd , Radford , and other districts in which the above mentioned branches of our "Native Industry" are earried on .

      The routine business customary at a Conferencesuch as that now noticed—of the veritable representative ! -ofthe " order of Wealth Producers , " having been transacted , Mr . Robson , ( of London ) from the Central Committee ot the 'National Association of United Trades , detailed the mode of action b y which that important body had been enabled to bring a recent strike at Denbigh to a speedy and triumphant termination . Mr . R . then urged the vast superiority of a . _Actional combination of trades over mere sectional unions . Acting in accordance with the principle of " all for all , " their combined resources , energies , and ' might . * - would be enlisted in upholding the interests , and securing the juat requirements , of even the weakest

      among them ;—the oppressors of any particular trade being regarded , and battled with , as the "common enemy" of all 1 Among the immense advantages resulting from such a concentration of their powers , it might be mentioned that the impoverished trades would thus command the resources of theu- better remunerated brethren of __ the order of industry . Having a more comprehensive base—and embracing a far greater number of membeis—than any insolated union , the National _Association would , consequently , possess a wider field for exertion . Hence they might not only adopt the most effectual means for preventing a reduction of wages , in any instance , but they would secure to the industrious workman—whatever his denomination—a just and adequate remuneration for his labour . Nay , further , they would no longer be necessitated to behold the miserable spectacle of working men , " on strike , " reduced—as hitherto had

      been the case—to the deplorable position of compulsory idlers , and a heavy burthern upon their fellows . The immense funds to be accumulated by a National Association of trades , would enable them to give immediate employment to those unfortunate men . They might thus utterly "laugh to scorn" the efforts of their oppressors , and combine the hitherto antagonistic characters of employers and employed , —of 'Wealth Producers , ' and 'Wealth Distributors . ' Bitter experience had indeed " made them wise •"they were resolved henceforward , to be their own employers—and to enjoy the full product of their own ingenuity and industry—without ihe intervention of mere profit-mongers !—Mr . Robson then submitted a _gkin for the active agitation of each locality , inthe three counties , by the several District Committees , which would insure to each an augmentation of members _, and centralize the efforts of all _.

      The enthusiastic plaudits with which Mr . Robson wag greeted , on the conclusion of his eloquent and _well-reasoned address , testified that the delegates present most heartily responded to the statements enunciated by him . The " past and present" positions , and "future prospects" of the various branches of the trade , were then dispassionately reviewed ; and the subjoined resolutions ( severally proposed and seconded by Messrs . Felkin , Buckby , Dean , Buxton , Saxton , Warner , Ward and Sarson , ) were unanimously adopted : —

      1 . — " That Mr . Robson ' s statement relative to the ' Denbigh Strike , " is , in every respect satisfactory . " 2 . — " That , inasmuch , as we _consider , that the old system of " Strikes" has been productive of the most disastrous consequences , we , therefore , fully approve of the principles and plans adopted by the recent Conference of United Trades , for employing meii" on strike" in their own trades , in preference to supporting them in parading the streets , which has hitherto been the case . "

      3 . —rhatthb Delegate meeting recommend the- - Central Committee , previous to their commencing the manufacturing of stockings , to receive from the localities aU information as to the nature of the manufacture ; and that samples be sent to the Central Committee for their inspection , with the prices received for the making of that material . 4 . —That an active agitation of the three counties by the district committees in each locality be immediately commenced , in accordance with the plan laid down by Mr . Robson .

      o . —Tbat a vote of thanks be given to the central committee in Lo * don , for deputing Mr . Robson to the present delegate meeting , to explain the course the central committee intend to take in reference to the employment of men when on strike . C—That on the return of delegates to their respective localities , they use their utmost endeavours in calling Public Meetings , and laying before them the position ofthe Leicester mon , in respect to the debt contracted through the Frame Rent Trial , and that committees be formed in each locality to superintend the collecting of funds until sufficient be raised to liquidate the debt . All monies collected to be forwarded to Mr . Winters , 15 , Eaton Street , Leicester ; and a statement of the amounts received to be published weekly , in the Northern Star .

      Alter the Delegates had concluded their sittin ? , a public meeting was held in the Market-place , when Mr . Robson , from London , and several other delegates addressed the meeting . A large concourse of the working classes _^ were present nnd _lUtoned with the greatest attention , so that they might hear explicitly every word wliich was uttered by the delegate from tlie Central Committee , London , the following resolution was unanimously agreed to * . — " That it is the opinion of this meeting that nothing short ofa na'ional organization ofthe Trades ' Unions of Great Britain and Ireland can effectually ameliorate the condition of the working classes . "

      Some ofthe delegates having business which called them together , subsequent to the day on which the three Counties'Delegate Meeting was held , and having- found ( hat the _delegates had omitted to state when , where , and by whom the next three CountieB * Meeting should be called , submit the following for your consideration . It is thought that if a Conference of the Trades of the- three Counties were held once in six months , it would be quite sufficient for the transaction of public business ; but should any thing occur in the interim to any locality which may require tlie advice and assistance of the Trades , it will be competent for them to call a meeting , after having consulted ihe principal localities , and " having gained their concurrence , and publicly stated ihe object of the meeting , and giving _fouiteen day ' s notice thereof .

      Shocking And Extraordinary Sucide.—On Tuesday Forenoon, Mrs. Charlotte Glai.By, A Widow,

      Shocking and Extraordinary Sucide . —On Tuesday forenoon , Mrs . Charlotte Glai . by , a widow ,

      About Ntty Years Of Age, Who Carried On ...

      about ntty years of age , who carried on the business of a dress maker , at No . 14 , Queen street , Finsbury market , destroyed herself under very shocking circumstances . From the statement ofa young woman named Sarah Bennet , who was in her service and' resided with her , it appears that during the morning there had been nothing unusual in her manner , but shortly before eleven she went up stairs , saying , that she was going up to bev mother , a very aged woman , who lay bed ridden in an upper apartment , and she had no sooner entered the room than she opened the window and threw herself out . and the noise of the

      fall being heard , ; her _mangled remains were found lying in the yard . An alarm heing given , Policeman Smith , 171 G , was called in , and ill-. Davis , a surgeon living nearly opposite , was in immediate attendance , but it was apparent that death must have been nearly instantaneous . The deceased had fallen direct upon her head , which was literally dashed to pieces , the brains heing scattered upon a ' wall more than a yard distant from the spot where she fell , and amongst them Mr . Davis , the surgeon , found one of the eyes . Immediate information was forwarded to Mr . Baker , the coroner , for an inquest to be held to ascertain the circumstances which led to the dreadful act .

      Fatal Collision at Sea . —We regret to report an occurrence on the Atlantic of a most melancholy nature . The circumstance is thus given in the Liverpool Albion , of Monday— "Information of a most melancholy nature has reached us . The steaa ship Hibernia , which arrived on Friday from America , while in her passage up the channel , in a dense fog , van down a small vessel . We regret to state that three or four of her crew , together with the captain , were drowned , though the steamer ' s boats were instantly lowered , and every effort was made to save the unfortunate men . No authentic particulars have come into our possession . " In some respects we believe , according to the information

      furnished by our Liverpool correspondent , this is inaccurate . The disaster occurred on the coast of America , during the nighttime , while the llibenua was on her voyage from Boston to Halifax , lno steamer struck the American fishing schooner witn : her starboard bow , and the schooner swung bbmL _^ under the starboard paddle wheel , and _immeaujtgy _^ .- _^ _^ afterwards saDk . According to our intOJ _* matlOn t , tne . _"; , _> * _-v . \ _^\ captain , with five men composing _thpyprew _. yw _^ ; c _^ , _tHy . drowned . The Hibernia received some _Min _& a * a _^ , _£ . ' _"* A mage in the bow and paddle box , wh _jc _^ a _^ no _^ _yKy _- . _^ _n _^ being repaired . - " _"' " ¦ - •'¦ _•?•"• -, -: _" _¦*" _-J-h-m _" ¦ y -. ; _c _v-v hill _£ _g _? . i . - ' > H # _* . te "" " : _-S" 1 _i _$ _- ' A

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 5, 1846, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_05091846/page/5/