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Northern Star (1837-1852), 25th November 1848, Edition 3 of 3, Page 4

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    • Hsur.Tff ASD BCOXO&T.
    • PORTRAIT OF CUFFEY.
    • THE NORTHERN STAR •s. SATDBDAY.NOYEMBEB25, 1S48.
    • IRELAND.
  • Adverts (12)
  • Text (9)
  • Transcript

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      Have When _/ ... _,.._. , _^Flr Fu: M ' ...

      __/ ... _ ,.. _ . , __^ flr fu : _M ' " " :: - " ¦ ' ' — — - - - _^ oymBER _^ _r 1848 _^ . -. ""' "" "' - ¦ - _•* — - ' - ¦ l ¦ _¦ _.... ¦ _ir-fi ¦ ' _** ¦ * _*¦""' ___________________^_ _- _^_ _"W _________ w ___\_____ W _^ - ~~ --- _^ a-m aW-- _^ - * wAaaa- _^ - — - — - a

      Hsur.Tff Asd Bcoxo&T.

      Hsur . Tff ASD _BCOXO & T .

      Ad00409

      _FPHOMAS MARTIN _WHEW . 8 _R , _ofO"Con _j I m « , near * g _»~ g _ _ _% _ _££ _, £ Wc * -- * two b . ys , _^ _•&» 5 ™ faa comfort . Terms , _atteaaoarfl b 9 _p «| to _^ _- _^ _S _^ psyaWe iu ad . _^^ _iSi'SSSta _^ _w _ooAda a Posta ge stamp , * » _Ut » . _20-CR-ACM _miSX in flu _jfetioMlLand

      Ad00410

      TO BB DISPOSED Of , a . FOUR-ACRE PAID-UP SHARE for A £ _*** ; " to ' T *> -ACBB PAID . VP SHABB _*^ i « tton « * o be r-aio to T . _A-, Ut , High Holbom ,

      Ad00411

      TO TAILORS .. By approbation of Her Maje & t ** QueeaYIctoria , and _H . B . H . Prince Albert .

      Ad00412

      T \ 0 YOU SUFFER TOOTHACHE?—If so , use XJ _BtA-D- _' a _SxA-mz . tot _fiUins the decayed spots , renderjnc _oeftctxre teeth sound and painless . Price One _Shiliing only , _similar to that sold at TWO Shillings and Siwr-nce . Sold by chemists everywhere . lestunonials . —* It has giren me the use of oae side of a y mouth , whieh luxury I had not enjoyed for abent two years . *—E . J . MicDosun , Belford . Northumberland . 'It ' is the most eff _.-ctive and painless cure for toothache I _iiave erer found . I have no hesitation in recommending it to aU sufferers . '—Captain Thomas Wsight , It , Xewington-cresceht , London . ' I hare fiUed two teeth , aad find I can use them as welia 3 _£ _TerIdidin my life . I hate not had the tooth _, ache _sisce . * — Abbahak _Coehhs , _Nortn-brooK-place _, _Bradford , TorksMre . _St-e Bnmercus other testimonials in various newspapers , every one ot which is strictly authentic . If any difficult *; in obtaining it occurs send One Shilling and a Stamp to J . Wilis , i , _BeU _' _s-bnudings , _Salisbury-square , "Loudon , and you will ensure it by return of past . —Agents wanted .

      Ad00413

      COLLTTSR'S COMMERCIAL COFFEE ASD CHOP HOUSE AND READISS ROOMS , 2661 , STRAND , XCSDOS . J _oohLWSR returns his sincere thanks to his , Friends and the Public at large , for the support lie has received at their hands during the last ten years , and hope ? , by strict attention and civility , to merit a _coiitinuniice of their patronage . J . C . also begs to state , that having lately made extensive alterations and improvements in his premises , he is now enabled to afford additional convenience without extra charge . A Commercial Cofiee-room upstairs , with every facility for Travellers and Visitors from the country . The House is situated in the very heart of the Metropolis , in the centre of the Theatres , near the National Land Office , and Public Buildings . _Omnibnsespass to and frum aU the RaUway Stations , to meet the Trains , every five minutes Beds , is . to is . Cd . per night . All other charges _ecfiai-y moderate . NO F £ E 3 TO SERVANT _*

      Ad00414

      _"JV / TETROPOLiT & N COUNTIES and GENERAL 111 LIFE ASSURANCE , Annuity , Loan , and Investment SOCIETY . ( Incorporated pursuant to the 7 th and 8 th Vic , cap . Uo . l Temporary Offices , 3 i , Regentstreet , K ' _aterloo-place , London . TRUSTEES . Bichard Spooner , Esq ., | Spencer Horatio Walpole , M . P . 1 Esq ., M . P . Edward Vansittart Neale , j Henry Peter Fuller , Esq . £ t > _-. I DIRECTORS . Robert Chalmers , Esq ., 1 Edward Lomax , Esq ; , St Thur ' ovT-square , Bromp- J John's Wood . ton . { Samuel Killer , Esq ., Lin . Samuel Driver , Esq ., White- coln'elnn . ha !! . Sir Thomas Newley Reeve , Henry Peter Fuller , Esq ., _Richmond . _PfuTfadilly . Edward Vansittart Neale ? alk Griffith , Esq ., Esq ., South Audley-street Ironmonger-lane , Cheap- Wiuiarn A . S _Westoby _& _£ _ . _I 3 a _^ ., _il-Oc Tola-place & _T 7 » ITOBS .

      Ad00415

      THK LAND AND CHARTER SILK HANDKHllCHIEPS . Clearing out for the Season , at greatly reduced prices , the following Elegant Assortment : — s . d . Rich _Oiiorta Dncapts , with Green Middle and Blue _Saiia Borders ... ... ... ... 5 O Ditto ditto ditto , Black Satin ditto ... 5 8 Half < _jf Ditto ... ... ~ . ... 2 6 Ditto ditto ditto , Large Rich Check with _Ked _Srown Satin Check , tipped with . _\" t cite , aud _HyriiV ej _^ ces ... ... ... 5 2 _HalfufDitw ... ... -. ... 2 7 Rich 5 _« _i : _iiiDaeape , Extra Rich Blue Satin Stripes and <" . _ir _3 _ers ... ... ... ... i 18 Half _. .: i " _iVitto ... ... ... — 2 a Satin Brussels , Rich Green Middle aad Tri .

      Ad00416

      EMIGK . _VTIOK TO AUSTRALIA AND THE CAVE up GOOD HOPE . —The splendid following Ship' ; will be _uespat hed as under : - _-.-.-.--,-.-, For _-M-GOA tSAY , Kc-vembtr _mh , the PERSEVERANCE . _i _' ; r , toes , F . THOMPSON , Master ; loading in , ¦ the _London Dock ? . ' Fo r the CAPE of GOOD HOPE , December l _, the _JULIASA , 5 Mtons , F . BOWLES , Master ; loading in St Kati . crine Docfes . . . „ . . Fo- _"ORT PHILIP and SYDNEY , November 2 atb , tho BEUU . _H _. _573 tons , J . _H . M . STRU 30 S , Master ; loading iuthe Londoa Docks . The _aoovaiast-sauing ships are commanded by cmcient _officers , and are fitted with special _atteution to the com . fert and convenience of every class of _passengers . They have moxt-spacious ' tween decks , we . l v . ntilited , are fitted with life boats , carry experienced surgeons * and _areprovis-otel ou the most liberal scale . It Families csn _hsve their berths so _arranged that they ean be entirely to themselves , and not mix with tha Other

      Ad00417

      NO MORE PILLS FOR INDIGESTION , Coaitipation _, Torpidity ofthe Liver , and the Abdominal I Viscera , _persisting Headaches , Nervousness , Biliousness , Despondency , Spleen , etc . _pnbiisnedb y Da Barry and Co ., 75 , New Bond . _streBt , lonOon ; ana to be obtained through all Booksellers * Price 6 a , or 8 d ( inletter stamps ) , post-free : A _TOPULAR TREATISE on INDIGESTION and CQSSTIPATIOS " -the main causes of Nervousness , _jjiliocsuess , Scrotal ? , liver Complaint , Spleen , etc , and _tfeeir Radical Removal , entitled the * Natc * ia * . _Rsqsse--UTos of _ras _DiexsrrrB Osoass ( the Stomach and Intestines ) , without pills , purgatives , or artificial means of _wkiB-V

      Ad00418

      HOW AND WHERE TO EMIGRATE ; This day New and Improved Editions , each with a Map , price Is . each , or eighteen Queen ' s Heads per post , By J . C . BYRNE , Esq ., Author of « Twelve Tears * Wandarings in the British Colonies . ' THE EMIGRANT'S GUIDE to the CAPE OF GOOD HOPS . With a Map ofthe Colony . THE EMIGRANT'S GUIDE TO NEW SOUTH WALES _TROPBR , AUSTRALIA FBLTX , and hOUTH AUSTRALIA . Eighth Edition , with a Map . THE EMIGRANT'S GUIDE TO NATAL . With a Map . London : Effiagham Wilsen , Commercial and Colonial Bookseller and Stationer , 11 , Royal Exchange .

      Ad00419

      This day is published , price Is . POPULAR THEOLOGY tested by MODERN SCIENCE , in a series of Letters to s Friend . By a WeU Wisher to Society . London : John Chapman , 14 * , Strand .

      Ad00420

      Now Ready , a New Edition of UK . O'CONNOR'S WORE ON SM ALL FARMS

      Portrait Of Cuffey.

      PORTRAIT OF CUFFEY .

      The Above Portrait, Taken By Hia Fellow ...

      The above portrait , taken by hia fellow - sufferer , Wm . Dowling , is now ready . Price 6 d . Orders re ceived by Mr Dixon , 144 , High Holborn . THE YORKSHIRE VICTIMS . As amatter of course , as the cause of Chartism is national , and as the tyranny of Government has been universal , it is intended that the National Defence Fund shall be equally applicable to the Yorkshire as to the Lancashire victims .

      The Northern Star •S. Satdbday.Noyembeb25, 1s48.

      THE NORTHERN STAR s . SATDBDAY . NOYEMBEB 25 , 1 S 48 .

      Ireland.

      IRELAND .

      The Labour Question. "Alaa I Pmroouhtry,...

      THE LABOUR QUESTION . _"Alaa I pMroouHtry , Almost afraid to know itself . " . Was ever country ia such a condition as Unhappy Ireland ? Her landlords bankrupther farmers flying—her labourers dying—her

      shopkeepers starving—while her lauds , the most fertile in the world , remain sterile and unproductive , with her Government pledged to Free Trade , and boasting of its politicoeconomical knowledge , hoping to rule by the sword , and the terror of perverted law—and the Press of this Government now rejoicing in the anticipated prospects of Poor Laws and the transfer of land from the bankrupt lord to the Jew mortgagee .

      _Wtion " ill tlie munied classes and the labuur classes of England seethe double burden and loss that Irish poverty imposes upon them ? When will the one be tired of making charity a substitute for justice ? and when will the other be tired of seeing Irish poverty constituting- the standard of wages in the _English labour market ? And , alas 1 when will the directing and controlling mind of Ireland be won to the comfort of her people and the regeneration of their nationality ? Ireland' has tried many physical revolutions for the acquirement of her ri ghts—many a time and oft

      has her moral genius been mustered in the Hall—in the Market Place—and on the sward , rendered holy by the blood of her sons spilt in the vain attempt to regain her liberties . How often has the genius in the Hall , the national fervour in the Market Place , and the numerical strength in the fields been pompously referred to as the sure means of achieving nationality ? But what has the muster-roll of Irish greatness ever effected in the Senate House , beyond the acquisition _' of power and patronage for the promoters uf discontent , and the vain boasters of Ireland ' s capability of achieving her own nationality ?

      Are we to be told that the Irish representatives inthe Saxon Parliament have never commanded sufficient strength since Catholics became eli gible to- sit in the . House , aad the Reform Sill . gave them constituents-, with the whole national strength at their back , to resist a bad measure or insure a single good one ? And yet , after nineteen year * incessant agitation ( we date from the period of ! Catholic emancipation ) , will the meet critical scrutineer point out one single clause in one single Act , calculated to confer one single benefit upon the Irish _peopled

      The mind of Ireland had been impiousl y trained to place its _wholfrueliaace upon incessant agitation , until at length the _msr-e enthusiastic of her sons , discouraged and disgusted by | traffic in her enthusiasm , have been driven into a course—a dangerous course—but the onl y one left open , to stir up the oM > cesspool of corruption . The danger to these young men , who paw the giant monster of fraudagainst which' they had to contend—the _old lessons whieh they h-4- to unteach—and thaold prejudices which they had to overcome ,, wae not unforeseen by us . In "V ol * 1 . of tke " Labour en , "' ( page a 6 S > , ) in a lettec _addresssd to L' » rd Joha Russell , under the head , THE PHASE OF POLITICAL . PARTIES , will befimnd thefollowing passage ;—

      " Yon mnst be awar » my lord , that Irsland te no * , In reality , jour great difficulty—yoa must not imagine that any party win now be able io rouse a confiding paople to madness , to « eeture a national _representation . Tsjon a national principle , with no other view , and so . better _purpose than to secure _patronage ont of confidence . You will not again see REPEAL PLEDGLIN 6 S eonverted into Whig took by tbe simple process of patronage . Yon recollect tbe very ' equivocal compliment paid to Sir O'Connell by Charles Bailer , when he _-tssnr-d the

      HOUSE that'Ireland was in a perpetual stato of Incipient revolution , which was only checked by the policy of her leader , and wbich no otber airing man coold restrain after his departure . ' Tbe danger from Ireland now is , the fervour with which contending PATRIOTS will bid for popular support ; and hatred to England , and still more to _Whlgeery , will be tho PATRIOTS ' engine ol power . My lord , until ft fetal ascendancy is again acquired by an Irish party worth ministerial purchase , yoa will find Ireland , a GREATER DIFFICULTY than she has jet been . "

      From the words , "the danger from Ireland ) now is the fervour with which contending PATRIOTS will bid for popular support , " the reader will at once learn that we did not make a miscalculation of those dangers with which the path of the enthusiastic would be beset , when bis task was the unteaching of old pre- j judices . But still the Ministerial difficulty remains , notwithstanding the temporary Ministerial triumph ; and during our long life of agitation—if all our other works vanish into airthe very fact of having united the English and Irish popular mind in tbe pursuit of substantial and national improvement , instead of allowing it to be hurried away in the pursuit of " splendid phantoms / ' more than rewards us for all our other failures . For years Irish agitation was based , not upon English misrule , but upon _Saxoa hatred : not

      The Labour Question. "Alaa I Pmroouhtry,...

      upon the injustice ofthe English Minister , but upon the Anti-Irish prejudices ofthe * Saxon peop le : and hence this Irish force of Sato ? hatred and malignity , was ever the best arrow * in the Minister ' s quiver—the best card in his hand . - . When an English difficulty arose , Irish tranquillity was secured through a promise of patronage , and Ireland was relied upon as the reserve force to suppress English ag itation .

      Well , having witnessed these scenes for years , and the real leaders of the Irish people —the _priesthood—having now discovered that poverty produces an empty Exchequer , the English Minister , as he had taken advantage of physical suffering , hoped to turn . religious despair to his own purpose ; but in this last resource he has , thank God , failed , as the Irish priests have nobly told him , that they prefer sharing destitution with their flock to selling them to their Saxon rulers . Having thus taken the right step inthe march of progression ; and every man in Europe entertaining the conviction that the Irish priesthood does possess sufficient power to

      redeem their country from beggary and starvation , without shedding a drop of human blood , or without the violation of a single law j the onerous , the honourable , the national ,. the sacred duty of regenerating their country is now imposed upon the descendants of those shepherds who maintained their' religion through scenes of blood and persecution , ahd who cahie forth from their caverns and their hiding places , in nakedness and want , to preach their adopted religion in defiance of the force of the monster , who , to justify his own lust and adultery , would have converted them tohis "TRUE FAITH . "

      When men have power to remove misery , starvation , and . discontent , by substituting happiness ,-contentment , and peace , * the , continuance of those intolerable evils are-charge / able upon those who have the power , but Jack the will to destroy , _themi It is worse than nonsense to talk of the inability or disinclination of the Irish people to support themselves in affluence npon the land of their birth , if the opportunity was afforded them . In the good old days of corruption , ' the Irish land was valued by the . political ; and hot by the agricultural , standard . The Ministerial Member for the County possessed all . the

      Government patronage , and from this great reservoir of corruption it flowed into its varied channels . " . The Excise , the Customs , the Church , the Army , and the Navy patronage , were all at the disposal ofthe Ministerial Member . _; He nominated the t Sheriff . ; the Sheriff elected , or rather invited , the Grand Jury ; and through this channel all the minor patronage of . road-making , bridge-making , prison-building , Foundling Hospital building , police appointments , harbour and river appointments , and ail minor appointments , passed to the local supporters ofthe Ministerial hack .

      Hence we could cite instances-of Countyrates in one county amounting , . to , nearly 200 , 000 / . in the * year , granted by the Grand Jury for bridges , of which a stone has never been laid ; for roads , which have never been opened—while we could cite _numerous , instances of clergymen , who were ; prime political agitators , when agitation was a good feather in the Minister ' s wing , having from 1 , 0001 , to

      2 , 000 J . a-year in , tithes , and making from 1 , 000 ? . to 2 , 0001 . a-year by road-jobbing . The practice with these pious Macadamisers was , as a matter of charity , to employ the able * bodied labourers , in the dull season of winter ; at fivepence per day , and then not expending , upon the work to be performed , five per cent _, of the amount granted . But who was to bring them to account ? THEIR PATRON . ...

      Then there was what was called Tithe Auctions , where a day was set apart for putting up for sale the crops of the farmer and the widow , when tithes were payable in kind ; and it was the practice of the parson of the parish not to allow those auctions to . commence until the Proctor announced , that the attendants WERE BRAVELY SOFTENED—which meant drunk with " porter and whiskey , furnished by his reverence . And ,

      if the farmer thought the bidding-was too high for his tithe , it whs knocked down to a Protestant yeoman , dressed in his red jacket , as a badge of supremacy and distinction ; and many a time and oft , we have witnessed the blasphemous and disgusting scene of this privileged red-coat digging every tenth rod ofthe poor widow ' s potatoes , which she had manured with grass picked from the roadside , and the droppings of cattle gathered from the fields .

      Well , then , let the British Minister hug himself as he may , with the hope of _governing Ireland by the enlightened philosophy of the age , and landlord nostrums , we tell him that these bitter insults are the very foundation of Irish hostility to British misrule , that they constitute . the Irish character , and that hence an irishman will cheerfully assist his bitterest enemy in resisting the-English law . Ka parson , in the olden time-, bad distrained a Catholic ' s crops for tithe , and if that parsoa was threatened with any process of English 1 law , the love of resistance ,, based upon persecution , would at once convert the Protestant ' s Catho _*

      He enemy into an anti-Saxon friend . And yet , in this age of progression , our rule * " * ean hit upon no means for destroying this longcherished animosity . Net so , however , when the pastors- of their , owr * State Church eompkin eve » of inconvenience . Oh ,, ho ; tile first act suggests the remedy—and hence , when under tbe old system of taking tithe in kind , too many farmers took advantage of the fine weather to- carry their harvests , his Reverence found it inconvenient to- obey the several

      _simultaneous summonses , HE , applied to Parliament _through his P & trroR * , and , as if l > y _nagic , aa _Atci was passed- making it _conspi ; racy for mere than three to- serve his _Reverence with notice to take his 6 i > the in kind upon ithe same thy . Thus , if there were a hundred . farmers in , a parish , the _earuying time should jbe spread _sver _thirty-thsee- days of _doubtful season , and hence the- farmers , trampled upon by the law ,, were compelled to pay his Reverence in c : ish whatever amount he demanded

      as an equivalent for tithes .. Was _' noo this " one" law for the rich and another Sor the poor : ' * And does not this-fast clearly _paove , that aay i * i <*« nvenience complained of by the rich may be remedied by the law ' s magic , while genius , can invent iw . _correction for the injustm-augured by the- poor . Oh . ' bat says the P _^ it _& _al Economist * , the Irish peasant is _bettea-off than his ancestor , who _& r » d on roots and nestled half _nakud in a cave * So be is ; and his Monarch is better off then when her ancestor sat upon a wooden chair * , reclined upoa rushes , and lived frugally in a palace that would now be condemned as unSt for her horses—nay , not a healUiy kennel for her dogs .

      This change is- based upon progression , and oar answer to the economical apologist is that under the old system one-ei ghth af the popu latum , never before perished of want in a _single _yearj nor did a sixteenth ef the population ever abandon their . fatherland , leave th » ir friends and relatives , and brave the dangers of tbe deep to seek an asylum in a foreign land . ¦ ° But why , says the Economist , talk about existing abuses without pr opounding a remedy ? We do propound the remedy . As yOU _Je laws t" coerce the people into the commission of wrong , make laws to coerce the landlords to the commission of right ; make laws to cnm . _* l

      , the landlords to give leases in perpetuity at al corn rent ; make laws—in the words of Sharman Crawford— "to make the owner of the land , and the cultivator of the soil part-proprietors , and Ireland will cease to be your difficulty ; your shipping will be too scant to bring the expatriated Irish back to their homes —you will hear no more of Irish . rebellion sedition , or treason ; their place will be sup ' , plied by _Insli industry , contentment , and peace "

      King Constable. That There Is."-But A St...

      KING CONSTABLE . That there is . " -but a step between tha ridiculous and sublime , " was a stereotyped o 00 _* ition of THE NAPOLEON ; and if he could omw look from the shades , and see the preparations fa r the election of his successor , he would behold the most ludicrous realisation of his cherished _proverb . He would see the Eng lish special constable of April last , who _was-then armed , not to resist anticipated violence , but to cow public opinion—an opinion that sought to establish right , not by brute force , but through the expression of united mind ; an opinion from which was to spring the anticipated , but not the realised , results

      of the French Constitution ; an opinion which was hot directed against-the stability of the throne , but against the dangers by which it is surrounded ; an opinion which sought not the destruction , but the renovation , of the veritable British Constitution ; an opinion which promised sustenance from Labour , and not luxury in idleness ; an opinion which was not the bubble of theoretically excited enthusiasts , but the adopted conviction of thoughtful and reasoning men * , he would see this RIDICULOUS phantom of excitement ready to accept-the SUBLIME position of Napoleon the Second .

      Were it possible for th elfollies of one nation to be established as the standard of the intellect of another , we should be inclined to say , — " Perish , for ever perish—that hydraheaded monster , Universal Suffrage , if the united mind of a civilised nation is capable of accepting such a governor—such a monitorand such a fop V But we fall back upon our cherished proverb , and look upon it as the nation ' s protector , that

      " THE PEOPLE ARE SELDOM WRONG , AND NEVER LONG WRONG . " Every act of cruelty- —every act of rigour , of imbecility and barbarity , that . has . been committed throughout . the , sanguinary revolutions that have so long raged , . and are still raging upon the Continent , hasbeenjexultingly paraded bv . the Press , and used as a scarecrow to affright the timid , assuring its readers that the very same results would follow were Chartism thelaw of the land .

      " From the commencement of the French Revolution—nay , from the commencement of our political career—we have shown , that a sound constitution can be only based upon free discussion—upon open and advised speaking ; and if the first important act under the French Constitution should prove a failure and a folly , the result will be chargeable , not upon the weakness of the untutored mind of YOUNGFRANCE , but upon the tyranny of its rulers , who substituted brute force for public opinion , and stopped the current of thought until long pent up rage burst the barriers of corruption ,

      and overwhelmed the reservoir of ignorance . We have told the working classes of England , that if they had established their Chartist principles in 1832 , before the mind of England was fully instructed in the value of those priuciples , and trained arid-disci plined in the proper use to be made of them , that we would have considered the Charter as a curse , rather than a blessing . We have resisted that bit-by-bit system of Reform , whicn was but intended to lure the mind from the pursuit of

      the great prize , because the acceptance of any , the most modified , measure by the people , when it fails , and when the people demand more is urged as proof of the instability of popular opinion ; and , therefore , our principal object has . ever been to direct the whole thought . of the Empire tothe whole question of Reform , and the accomplishment of which can alone realise even the progressive improvements , so pompously tendered as a substitute for the PEOPLE'S CHARTER .

      We have also contended against that principle of electing a President , which must ever tend to the derangement of society , the division of the empire into factions , and a continued struggle for individual pre-eminence instead of national ascendancy * and , therefore , whether the head of the state be _^ Monarch or President , we have contended for the election of that head for life , with a power ih the body greater than the bead which it has elected , and capable of deposing it Upon just cause ; in fact , we care not who is upon the throne , provided the power behind the throne , ahd which establishes and maintains the dignity of the throne , is greater than the throne itself .

      A President elected for life , whose tenure of office depends upon his constitutional and impartial exercise of power , consults the national will , and not party caprice ; while the President elected for a short period weighs parties , balances their respective strength , panders to the prejudices ofthe strong , and canvasses numerical strength upon the acceptance of numerical capriee , as his fitness for office . Hence we find America at the present moment divided into the most rabid factions ,

      the head ) of each not consulting public opinion -4 not _cansulting what line of policy would be best _suited to' the state , and calculated to insure its prosperity—but meanly cringing _^ tolthe prevailing fenatacism . In our own Movement , we have always contended for the election ofthe Executive body by the _Delegates of the pe _^ pDfr in Convention assemble _^ with a power vested in the people to depose the Executive , but not to re-elect their _suceessors . We have adopted this principle worn the basis of jkistiee , and of prudencej

      Firstly _„—The office entitles the ofllcer to pay , and the-several _candidates canvas in their several districts , basing their fitness upon tbe most rabid folly ; and being- paramount in tbeir Own localities , no opponent dares to dispute their qualificat & n , and heu « e- no judgment can be formed of ! fitness by comparison . ¦ Sr _^ onc _^ r-When officer s- see elected at the close of a sittings of Convention , they are selected for tthe business habits and talents they maj * have exhibited in the transaction of business . . _Tlie-representatives-who elect them are presumed to be the _repaasentatives of the

      people , and ! therefore the- power of _sheeting their officers may be safely delegated tfl _> theni . thus _projecting the Movement against _distrbt faction nghfcs ,. in which th * seeds _ofdteep-laid animosity are sown _^ andi securing mea of the most business habits , and Sir whose capability , integrity , and prudence , the delegates- are _responsible to . their constituents . Nothing so much tended to the _weakening of tbe Chartist cause ia 3842 , and tbe Lancashi _^ . _tmals of 1843 , aa- the circumstance to which we allude . The-whole country _waskept in a cwitinuous scene-, of bustle by this system

      of canvassing , and it required no small time to allay the angry feelings that _were-thus created . It . hW been said of poets , that they are always instable of mind , possessing but one idea , and insapable of performing any solid work . How trujy this _saying has been verified in the _jp * rson of Lamartine , who based his constitution upon " Ijberty , Equality , and Fraternity , sealed it with the " jQss of Life _* " and ' endorsed it with human blood . He was the

      God of the English Press * so long as his vacillating genius could be warped to English policy , but , like Charles Albert , when he failed he was a worn-out tool , and was thrown aside- This Lamartine says , " You are not omnipotent , the power of electing a president is not delegated to- you ; one man may canvass his ; relatives in thi * Assembly , another may base his pretensions upon the promise of patronage , while another may attempt to _establish his right upon the name he bears "

      ' 1 his poet had-not the solid brains to see that every one of these phantoms , which haunted him in the narrow chamber , would be magnified and multiplied into substantial monsters when the arena was extended to the limits of nationality . How many votes would the English Special Constable have had in the Assembly , where in . tellect and business habits would have constitilted the Qualification of the . tutdidate ? How

      King Constable. That There Is."-But A St...

      many will' he hot have now , | when capacity is merged in i _iame and when ' fitness constitutes no element id tb © selection I And after thia rabid display of _frvo'J _* _* * , will not that partisanship , so dreaded by _Lato . ? rt _> ne _*» its narrow sphere , be equally exhibited " its National phase . Will not the Prince _Constable endea . vour to maintain , by folly and bo . _mbaai , a position which he will only have _acquired through .-. »_'_ _ . | inL . ' _ _« . _'«_ it" . .

      ignorance , false hope , and enthusiasm for a name ? Yea , verily ; and although the - _^ hole period , from February to December , had been expended in the establishment of the most unassailable and unquestionable constitution , the very act of placing Louis Napoleon at the head of that constitution would cause the fabric to crumble and fall , strong and permanent as it might have been with a proper head upon it .

      We may be answered , that the Assembly , operated upon by its fears , would have elected Cavaignac , as the English Parliament , operated upon by its fears , not only tolerated , but supported , a Russell Cabinet ; but to this we answer , that Cavaignac might have been deprived of his supremacy by the power which elected the Assembly tbat conferred that supremacy upon him . . France may now be on the look-out for the result of its own folly ; for its people may rest assured that the election of the English

      Special Constable to the Presidency of the nation , will lead to a more bloody and sanguinary revolution than Fiance has yet witnessed , and then the foll y will be charged upon the people b # the _bit-and-bit Reformers . Then the French failure will be flashed in the face of English Chartism , all _chargeable upon popular indiscretion and madness ; while , in the other case , it would have been chargeable upon the weakness and want of judgment of the Assem bly , while popular prudence would be relied upon as a corrective _.

      The Kational Land Company, The Proceedin...

      THE _KATIONAL LAND COMPANY , The proceedings of the late Conference of this body , and its decisions , _wete eo important , and both immediatel y and remotely affected the interests of so large a portion of the industrial classes , that we have delayed any comment upon them until we had fully mastered their scope and bearing , and carefully calculated their probable results .

      Perhaps no plan in modern times has been so violently assailed and denounced , or so hotly and zealously defended and supported , as that of the National Land Company . To some extent this makes it difficult to pass a dispassionate and perfectly impartial judgment upon the subject , because in an atmosphere of heated discussion it is impossible for any one entirely to escape the pervading influence , or to be more or less biassed on one side or the other . For our own part , while we have never

      shared in the extreme anticipations of some of its more sanguine promoters , and have discemedinthe distance numerous practical difficulties , both external and internal , we have , at the same time , clearly perceived , the fallacy— -not to say falsehood—of the popular accusations against it , and of the ignorant and unthinking condemnation passed upon it by persons whose sole knowledge ofits nature , constitution , and objects . was derived from the columns of journals , unscrupulously devoted to calumniate and misrepresent it .

      By these parties the Plan has never received a fair nnd candid examination upon its own merits . It has , throughout , been associated with an extreme and an obnoxious political creed , and a political chief who bas the fortune or the misfortune to be unpopular with all those who fatten upon labour , without , in any way , repaying the benefits they receive from the community at large . If from the very commencement a storm of misrepresentation had not thus been raised , and the Plan had been _' tried by practical tests , both as to its fundamental principles and leading- objects , it . would , we are certain , have been declared to be as sound in the first respect as it must be admitted to be benevolent in the second . '

      Despite the speculative . and mischievous theories of writers of books and pamphlets on Political Economy , the common practice and experience of all ages have shown that the soundest foundation for national wealth , prosperity , and contentment , is to be found in a wide diffusion ef landed property among the whole population , and the application of a preponderating amount ofthe labour of the country to the production of food and the raw materials ef wealth . The neglect of this primary principle of sound national economy has mainly conduced . to place tbis country in its

      present miserable and perilous position . The people have been , to a great extent , divorced from the soil , and their energies directed into the precarious and fluctuating pursuits of manufactures and commerce . The land has , in the meanwhile , fallen into the possession of a very few families , and we may fairly say that the vast majority ofthe people are really and literally aliens in the land of their birth and recall the touchimr passage of Scripture , "The foxes have holes , and the birds of the air have » ests , but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head '' of his own .

      To remedy this great evil—to restore the _equilibfium to the State machine—to reconstitute society more in accordance with those great natural and equitable laws , which are the only foundation and guarantee of national well-being- —the originators of the National Land Company proposed their plan . The immediate object wao _, no doubt , to-give land to the landless , labour to the unemployed , and an independent command over the decent comforts of life to the poor , by the free exercise of honest industry _^—hut , if carried out to the full extent _which the _prhsoi ple may , and must be , it will negessarily produce the result we have stated .

      That the _machinery by which ) the object was sought to he attained , in tie first instance , was imperfect , and : the calculations incorxect , may be readily admitted , without , in the slightest degree ,, invalidating its claims to publio support . Where a plan is right in principle _,, and calculated to be beneficial in practice , these small details are cf very minor _importaiice , and such as increased experience ia _sare to give-. the means- of rectifyingand of rectifying in the best and most _elective

      manner , Such appear * to us to present briefly the abstract case ofthe Land Company . Now for its actual history . Like _asany other plans for tbe elevation of the working classes , it lingered for some time with but sKght support . All- at once , however , a mama—if we may so call it—seized upon tens of thousands of persons , who eagerly pressed forward to enrol themselves as shareholders . It was

      repeatedly stated , before- the Select Committee , that the sudden increaseof business completel y overwhelmed the . Directors , ansll rendered it almost impossible to . keep pace with it . It is evident , too , that this added heavily to the responsibilities lakl upon them , and that if any defects existed in the working machinery and minor details of the Company , it was sure to press heavily upon them , and aggravate materially any injury they were , calculated to inflict .

      The Directors , howe-ver , appear to have ) done their best to provide for this unexpected influx of shareholders , and Mr O'Connor , j warmed into enthusiasm by tha rapidity with which the shareholders increased and the funds poured into the treasury , may bo well excused for forgetting the fickleness of public opinion , and that it was possible the tide might ebb quite as rapidly as It had set in . With the natural and—under _alUhe circumstances—justifiable sanguine anticipations which his position warranted , he devoted his whole time to the Company—purchased estates wherever possible , and made prospective engagements for others , upon the faith that the [ shareholders would continue to supply him i with funds . On his part , at all events , there L _vm not , and never baa bew * any . reason for

      The Kational Land Company, The Proceedin...

      withholding them . What the Company quired from its members—what it proposed t " do—the mode in which it was to be done—and the practical operations in which Mr 0 'C . nor was engaged , from week to _weeK' -w all published , and weekly submitted to the gaze and the scrutiny of the' whole countn _* His confidence , too , had thia additional J ' inahs and justification—that , notwithstandi _ng a persevering and earnest attempt , on the part of systematic opponents ofthe Plan , to _dairLm it and him in public estimation , the weekly income of the Company augmented instead of diminishing , and votes of unbounded confidence in his integrity and in the _practicabilit-, _* « . *« _¦<¦ ¦ . * . C _*¦** - _¦» *_ t % ' — .

      „ the Plan , poured in from all quarters of the island . Under such auspices , Mr O'Connor _applied to Parliament for a Bill to legalise the Com . pany ; and immediately upon ascertaining that before such a Bill was granted a scrutiny 0 f the Plan , and of the affairs of the Company was desired by parties influential with the Go- ' vernment , he atjjonce moved for a Seleot Committee of the House of Commons to in . vestigate the whole matter . It is unnecessary for us to say more of that investigation than

      this ' that , after being conducted in a spirit most hostile and unfair to Mr O'Connor and the Company by the Chairman—a well-paid Government official—after its accounts had been subjected to a scrutiny altogether unparalleled in Parliamentary annals—the Select Committee reported to the House in the most laudatory terms of the honesty and good faith by which the whole of the transactions had been characterised—gave the lie to all the foul and dastardly charges made by the Press , and by individuals , against the personal ho-_ , f * m _~ i- \ t /* i ° - - - '

      nesty of Mr O'Connor , by showing that , besides the devotion of his time and money to the service of the-Company , he had , in his hia anxiety to forward its objects , actually advanced a large Bum out of his own pocket to carry on its operations . The Committee pointed out the defects of the constitution of the Society , as tested by the existing law of the land > ith reference to Joint-Stock Companies and Lottery Acts , and most favourabl y recommended Parliament to give the shareholders the opportunity of amending the constitution ia such a way as to obtain the sanction of the law .

      Never was a more signal triumph achieved but , strange to say , the people who , while the scheme was reviled and calumniated , sent in their subscri ptions at the rate ef thousands a week , no sooner found that the Company had passed substantially unscathed through this severe ordeal , than they began to drop offthe thousands dwindled into hundreds—the hundreds into tens—and they thus took the most direct and certain method of proving the " impracticability" of the plan , which had so long been prophesied by its enemies .

      These sudden and unaccountable alterations of popular feeling are not uncommon , and must be submitted to by all who take part in public affairs ; nor is the National Land Company the only one now experiencing their injurious effects . There has been a still greater panic in the Railway Share Market . The shares of the mo 3 t substantial and best established lines have been unsaleable at two-thirds and one . half of their former prices . The Directors of

      all the principal companies have been compelled to come forward at last , and give what Mr O'Connor always has done—an opeii statement of the pecuniary and general position of their respective concerns ; and even with these enforced financial accounts , and the postponement of every line for which Bills have been obtained , but not yet commenced , the market is still heavy , and a serious depreciation io that kind of property seems , for some time at least , to be probable .

      To return , however , to the history of the National Land Company . Upon receiving the triumphant verdict of acquittal from all the charges which had been brought against the pecuniary management of the Company , and ascertaining precisely what the legal objections were to its constitution and its financial calculations , Mr O'Connor took prompt and decisive steps , in conjunction with the Directors , to remedy the defects so pointed out . After cob * _suiting practical and experienced persons , a draft of alterations to bring the Company

      within the scope of the law , and ensure the iulfilment of its objects , was submitted to the members ; the Directors personally visited them in various localities , in order that they might be fully discjissed , and aa opportunity afforded of giving the fullest explanations . A Conference was also called , at whieh the shareholders were fully and fairly represented , to whose decision the whole question was submitted , and it is tothe proceedings of that Conference we now wish especially to direct the attention of our readers .

      it will be remembered that the principal legal objection to the constitution of the Company urged by its opponents , was the Ballot for Allotments , which , it was alleged , brought it within the scope of the Lottery Acts . The Conference has obviated this objection by deciding , ' That future locations of members shall be decided upon the principle that those who have paid thehighest amonnt into the funds off the Company shall be first located . " This , while lawful , is at the same time so obviously just in itself , that it is needless to say one word in its support , In order to facilitate the

      location of poor members , who might otherwise be by this regulation deprived of an early participation in the benefits guaranteed by tte Company , a Loan Society has been established , to be enrolled under the Joint Stock Loan Societies Act , by which the requisite funds for paying up shares mav be obtained upon _equiu able and mutually advantageous terms . In order further to accelerate as mHch as possible the location of the members ,, arrangements were also made for the establishment of a Bonus Fund , by means of which a person who pays 100 / . bonus upon taking possession of an

      allotment , will receive interest at four per cent , on that sum , in the shape of diminished rent . That is , as the rental ba 3 been decided by the Conference to be at the rate of four per cent , upon the outlay , if the allotment cost 300 / ., the allottee who pays 1001 bonus , instead of paying 12 / . a year and getting a lease off ninety-nine years , will receive a conveyance of his _property at a rent charge of SI , a year , thus _, making it a freehold . The superior position and the command of capital to meet the incidental demands , of the first year or two whieh this arrangement secures , must be apparent to alL Another great advantage , both present and

      _owerrea _. wasgiventothe shareholdersbyth _& fol _lowmgresolution-- "That theamount paid into the funds of the Company , over and above the price of two , three , and four acres respectively _, shallbe placed to the credit ofthe members , a „ d shall be employed in the li quidating of their liabilities to the Company , and that the paidup capital or unlocated members shall bear interestat therate of four per cent , per annum . " As we understand this arrangement , the shareholders are , in the first instance , guaranteed four per cent , upon their paid-up capital _, while they are unlocated ; which is much better interest than they can set in anv

      Savings Uank And in the next place , that all surplus funds , shall be applied to the linuida . tin ofthe individual _iLTbiliSes $ * rtZt whom they have been paid . The next _impartant point to which the attention of the Conference was directed , was the time of location , and the circumstances under which ' the allottees should be permitted to take possession oS their _holding . Upon this subject _s ereat difference of opinion seems to have _prevailed , land Mr O'Connor , with reference to the comp aintsfrom different estates , forcibly observed at an early stage of the proceedings . "That _uie

      occupants were located on the 1 st of May , at OC _onnorville-that was a bad season ' ihey were coated at Lowbands in August-MinZ * A ? ? 8011 ' Tl 1 _^ were located at Minster in _Mareh-that was a bad season ; *» _2 It ? l ° , ? d afc Sni _S ' 8 End _^ J « _ne andthat was a bad . _wason-and . _tberefon ? ,

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Nov. 25, 1848, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_25111848/page/4/