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Northern Star (1837-1852), 19th November 1842, Edition 5 of 5, Page 4, COLLIERS" STRIKE—AYRSHIRE.—TRIAL OF THE ...

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    • THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19,...
    • TO THE READERS OF THE "NORTHERN STAR."
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      Ar00417

      Hr. Cooper Of Leicester, 10 The Editor ,...

      HR . COOPER OF LEICESTER , 10 THE EDITOR , 0 F THE "NORTHERN STAR . " _ilT dear . Hill , —I would have written yon yester"day , had I not found myself unable to write more , after _acribbling a brief letter to the sew Star . _Ypu wili oblige me by copying that letter into your own Starfor I am still so Languid and enfeebled aa to feel writing to ba a task in lieu of a pleasure . Cheerful conversation and the free air , will , in the course of a few days , I trust , render me stiong as ever , and atle to open a vigorous campaign upon tbe grand enemy—to endure until the . month of March places me , for a longer period , within bolts acd bars . I thick that the chief _c . use of my bodily feebleness has been the irksome night duties of the gaol . At this time of the year , we

      * were marched to our sleeping cells by a little after four , and were kept locked up till near seven in the snorxing . After the first eight or ten days of my confinement I ceased te take off my clothes at night—for my "flesh and bones were so sore with lying « n tb . _9 _hard-stuffad straw pallet , that I found it * anend _» rable . I "hive , _therefore , for the last ten weeks , or nearly , slept in my _-clothes—** ad o _* aly taken then off for about three minutes , at the « ouBd of tbe morning bell , when I * _osed to throw myself on me bed , strip myself to the akin , and rub myself briskly , from neck to aneles _, so as to _renetr the circulation cf the blood . I find , however , that this practice tf . sleeping in my clothes has injured my nervous system , and I think I would not practice it again even if Ivwre constrained "to lie upen the cast iron bed-stead itself .

      My brave brigade have evinced towards me a degree of attachment durhcg my separation -from them , wbich really overpowers me ; aad not the least important ¦ share of their kindness was shewn ki the truly _« _jmpathising manner in which each and all have striven to cheer my dear little wife . And yet , what think you , my dear Hill 7 my brigade actually tell me that my little wife has all aleng shewn herself possessed of a stouter -heart than any man ef tbem all' ! This is a fact of some -value to one who looks for the renewal of his captivity , In four more months , with n much certainty as any event of life . Thank God , for such a . fact ! If separation , under suffering , can he borne so bravely by those who are dearest to us , who can rapine at the . prospect uf having , perhaps , twenty or thirty more months imprisonment in the cause of human right , and lor the contest for -universal human happiness ?

      And then , my dear Hill , when the moral effect of our slight and temporary suffering is regarded , which of us can fail to stand atthe bar a second time , without an increase of fortitude—aye , even , of joy ? Why , "we are honoured—we are ennobled by this very process ot being victimised , for truth Is , by our unjust and tyrannical seizure , made more prevalent a thousandfold , than it could possibly be by our mere advocacy of speech , or writing . At our meeting in tbe Amphitheatre , on Monday night , resolutions were passed , with enthusiastic

      unanimity , expressive of gratitude towards all who have _t > o generously helped me in my late peril : —to my witnesses , myjbail , my committee for defence , & c , ic . Sumci it to say that my heart joins iu thia expression of gratitude more fervently than words can tell . I must leave that to be told by the fidelity of my future life to the great cause of the poor ' s rights and the poor ' s _t-ippineas . One _Ihing I cannot forbear saying , —that I regard the fact of being bailed by the venerable Mr . Hames , ef Oundle , —a beloved patriot and _philanthropist of eighty years of age , whom I have never yet _c : _ia , as one of the greatest honours of my lite .

      The gallant West , I learn , was equally honoured in fhat the beloved and venerated " good priest , " Humphrey Price became his surety . I enclose you a letterf om the werthy clergyman , in answer to a vote of thanks from my _Shakspereans . Mr . Price gives per-• _tnii -con for any public use to be made of tbis letter . I ¦ hall take care to pay my personal respects to Mr . "Hames , as soon as possible ; but I must spend some little time with my brigade before I visit other quarters Next Sunday I hope to deliver two addresses in the Shaxsperean Rooms .

      I have the happiness to forward you , herewith , a money order for one sovereign , collected by my _Shakst _^ reans for p oor exiled Ellis . Ah I I have toucUed a airing there which vibrates too keenly for me to touch it again now . Till next week , my dear Hill , adieu . Yours , most affectionately , Thomas Cooper . 11 , Churchgate , Leicester , Wednesday , Kot . 16 . IS 42 .

      To The Readers Of The "English Chartist ...

      TO THE READERS OF THE "ENGLISH CHARTIST CIRCULAR , " AND THE FRIENDS GENERALLY OF DEMOCRACY IN GREAT BRITAIN . In our " Opening Address , " after defining the object sought to be attained by , and the circumstances that _ _-- > 4 uenced ns to venture upon , the establishment of the Circular , we thus expressed ourselves : — " Brethren , shall we hold our hands to you in vain ? Do we rely too much upon the intelligence and spirit that animates you ? Our experiment , from , the very w price we have decided upon , is to us individually , a most _hazardous one . Nothing short of a circulation far exceeding that of any periodical in this country , trill indemnify us against a loss . Hut sure are we that ' _folding fast to that which is true , 'success will be _ODxnmensur-ate with oar most sanguine anticipation" * . "

      Now , we dare affirm that we have so " held fast to that which is true , " we bave devoted the Circular * ' solely and only ' ' to the advocacy of Chartism , and not to— " Doctrines fashioned to the varying hour . " But our once " sanguine anticipations' * have not r ; en realized . The Circular has hitherto been a failure . Under these , to us , depressing circurnstances ,. we have but to select one of two alternatives—i . e ., to increase the retail price of the Circular from , on : halfpenny to one penny , or at once to let it be " numbered with the things that were . "

      Mr . Cleave * own anxiety to preserve the Circular , as well an his belief that such an election would be most t _"septable to the Chartist public , has induced him . this _wcsk to adopt the former . It must , however , be explicitly understood , that this is but an experiment . A _fow _wcaks will suffice to give the plan " a fail trial - " at the termination of whieh we shall either be _necessit-vted to bid our friends " a aid farewell , " or have the gratification to announce that ol length the Circular ia established . "Utterly apart from all pecuniary considerations , the proprietor , and all connected with this periodical , have a strong interest in its continuance . Nor these alone . The whole Chartist public , we feel we can say , share "with them in the advantages derivable from an organ

      _entirely devoted to their political principles- ; and with r _* iem must regret that one supporter in the press should fail , particularly at a juncture ever becoming more imminent and apparent At a time when the power , if not the justice , of the dominant faction has been exerted to aa extent unparalleled in the world ' s annals , In order to cast odium even upon the very " whisper of ChartiBm—to link it with crime and shame—to brand it with infamy—and to visit it with punishments worthy to have been invented by fiends of hell—a poor puny _Secretary of State is said to have affirmed , that he wonld " put down Chartism altogether ; " and shall tbe Chartists themselves—strong in the consciousness of rectitude , and proud aa the

      _risexters of the God-lite majesty of mas—bendtamely to the behest of such a thing ? We have no mode to certain of a * _ice * -taining and feeling our moral strengthno such means of testing the unity which must _accompany our efforts in obtaining political and _social redemption—as throngh the medium of the press . The _, extinction even of our own feeble fires would be hailed with delight by those who—like the foulest reptiles , gorging in darkness—fatten upon corruption . - A beacon of Liberty destroyed would give a proud and savage satisfaction io ita ennined and richly-clad enemies . Something so inimical to "their rder" would be watched by them only with pleasure during its expiring struggles .

      If we look to the condition of the pnblic press at the present moment , we are struck by the melancholy fact that but very few are devoted to the people ' s cause . All ahades of political partisans , from the most rampant Tory to the most sneaking Whig , find apt representatives among the broad-sheets ; yet , with slight exceptions , there are no defenders of those who _disdain mere party subterfuge , and seek to place the rights of mankind in general on the firmest , tne only jurt basis . With his "very life lied away" the Chartist is deemed worthy of only a passing effusion of malignity and obloquy . Chartism , the emanation of reason and morality—proceeding in its ve : y first

      assumptions on the admitted truths of natural justice and revealed relinon—has as yet been permitted te receive , by the press of Great Britain , scarcely one iota of the attention it merits—of tbe respect it . demands . We find the Whig and Tery newspapers drawn up in "battle array , ** afraid of venting the bitterness , and - "idleness of political rancour upon each other , turning aside with one consent to discharge their malice on those whom they are aware must one day assume the away over the hearts and minds of men—tbe now despised Chartists ! And now let ns ask—should the Circular be permitted to descend , without another effort , to oblivion ?

      Our readers will perceive tbe _necessity that has . Osiven us to the alternative of raising the price of this ClfcCULAS _. We feel tbey will , too , perceive _thejostice of _jrleldrng ns support towards future endeavours . _BtXf & gth most become OUTS—growing strength * , in the . _greatest straggle tbat ever fell to the lot of humanityif our _brethren in tbe good cause extend a band towards «• at this p . iint of our career . Earnestly did ire '' gird np _onrselvew _^ on our first venturing " forth in ihe C 1 B . CCL 1 B to assert Chartism in the face of the world . Nw , when we . taiow that our services may beeome far more -valuable , are tbey to be rejected ? One word again/—CfiABTis : rs > Do ws _advascb to-C £ ? _S 2 K ?

      Bath.—The Following Resolution "Was Pass...

      BATH . —The following _resolution "was passed at a meeting of tbe General Council : — " Til » t tbe thanks of tbis meeting are eminently dne to W . P . Roberts , Esq ., for bis assiduous and patriotic conduct du . _"u _* g the late special commission , in conducting the defence of the political prisoners gratuitously . A tea meeting will be M 13 _feere , on Monday . November 28 th .

      To The Chartists Of T' ^E East And North...

      TO THE CHARTISTS OF T _' _^ e EAST AND NORTH RIDJ . NG . Brother Chabtists , —Th ' East and North Riding Delegate Meeting will be he A _^ Selby , on Sunday , Dec 4 th , when it is highly necessary there _shoald be a good attendance of deleg & t t s _, business of "treat importance will be brought forward _. The time is approac _' _jing fOT the National Conference to meet in Bi / mingham , I would therefore respectfully suggest the propriety of each locality discussing well tbe necessity of sending a delegate to

      represent the Char cists of tills district , and to give instructions to t _iieir delegates upon the subject . — Those towns _w-jo do not send delegates to Selby , must forward t _' _neir opinions by letter ; also stating the number of enrolled and payable members . It is highly neces ' _. ary that those localities in the East and North Riding - who cannot support a Lecturer , should say-so by \ etter , as it creates great confusion when th _«* y -withdraw tbeir support after a lecturer is _appointed . The district is nearly one pound in debt occasioned by the temporary cessation of Howden , ieverley , and Holme .

      All communications for delegate meeting to be for warded to me before the 2 nd of December . Yours , faithfully , Edw . Bcrlet , Sec Dis . 19 , Bilton-street , Layertaorpe , York . Nov . 15 th , 1812 .

      Colliers" Strike—Ayrshire.—Trial Of The ...

      COLLIERS" STRIKE—AYRSHIRE . —TRIAL OF THE RIOTERS . ( From the Ayr Advertiser , of Thursday . ) Tbis morning considerable excitement was observed amongst the large body of turn-out colliers , assembled in front of tbe county buildings , awaiting the trial of tbe parties implicated in the late disturbances at Whitlette , wbich the yeomanry wm called up last week to suppress . The hour appointed by Mr . Sheriff Substitute Eaton wr * _i ten o ' clock , previous to which time the gallery and area of the Court House were very much crowded , chiefly by the fellow-workmen of tbe panels , who , as the indictment's were being read , and the evidence adduced , showed by assent or slight murmur the deep interest tbey took in the proceedings . They were , however , In no respect disorderly .

      The first case called was that implicating Alexander Tinsey , William Jackson , and _El-zibeth M'Clung or Frew , who bad been iu jail twelve days , charged under the Act 6 George 1 Y ., c 129 , sees . 3 d , 7 th , and 11 th , witb having , on tbe night of tbe 28 th of October last , enter . 1 the bouse of James Caddis , Garden-street Content , banksman in Mr . Gordon ' s employment , and threatened him at the peril of his life to continue to work during the strike , or to allow his sons to do so , otherwise that their lives would not be safe . Tinsey and M'Clung or Frew pleaded not guilty , and Jackson maintained that he was not even eu tbe spot . On the examination of the first witness , his alibi was elearly proven , he having I : en mistaken fer a man named Nelson or Melsom , and he was dismissed . Tinsey is a lad of about eighteen- years of age , aud M'Clung is a married woman , with a child in her arms . Mr . A . M'Cabbin , writer , appeared for the other

      panel-After a lengthened trial , Tinsey was _sentanced to three months' imprisonment . M'Clung was liberated . There were other three trials of the same kind . Edward Neill and Robert Frew were sentenced to thirty daya' imprisonment ; and ofthe remaining panels four were acquitted from want of evidence , and six from an error in the indictment .

      The Northern Star Saturday, November 19,...

      THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 19 , 1842 . IT-, 1 . . ¦ . , . 1 — _^ _v _^ _ww— - _~~~ ¦ — _. _ii-w _^* ¦ m ¦ " _*•> _" < _¦¦«»« ¦ t _—•*¦*

      The Last Shift.

      THE LAST SHIFT .

      There can scarcely be a greater mistake than the very common one of supposing that innocence forma any barrier to conviction , when Government have a mind to manufacture criminals . It is of small moment whether the alleged acts be such as the law clearly recognises to be right , or whether the accused party may have ever been a party to any of the acta of which he is accused . A prosecution being fixed on as a pretext for punishment , it goes on of course , and succeeds of course . With the means holden by the prosecutors , it

      would be strange if it did not : the power to buy evidence at any price ; to create treachery , and suborn perjury to what extent they please ; te hire hacks and prostitutes , who before trial may be occupied for months in prejudgment , and in driving out of all those from whom the jurors are to be selected every disposition to regard the evidence at all , if it should be defective , by drilling and training ihem to a foregone conclusion . This is a favourite device . Whenever a victim is to be sacrificed , the blood-hounds are always let from the leash , and open in fnll cry

      upon the quarry . Mr . _O'Coxnor and hiB co- " conspirators" form no exception to the general rule and practice . We last week drew attention to the efforts ofthe press to take for granted in general terms the conclusion of the jury , and to place the thing upon a Bottled footing before ever the trials come on . The game speeds at a rail-road pace . The rogues actually improve ! They show , at all events , that there are no lengths to which they will not go to attain their purpose . All tha world knows that the head and front of the indictment has regard to the publication of the mad , mischievous document ,

      which has been ascribed to the Executive . Of that document our opinion has been exprc-sed before . We never did and never shall defend it . Whoever was its author , we regard him as a most mischievous individual , and one whom the people , if they have heretofore trusted him , should trust no longer , but cast from them the moment he ia discovered . There is yet no evidence of authorship , and it would be consequently premature and cruel to charge it upon any one . For any evidence that yet appears to the contrary , it may have been published by the anti-Corn Law League , or it may have been published by

      the Government ; either of whom , we believe , to be capable of any baseness—even of that—for the attainment of their ends . We say not that either of these bodies did publish it ; we charge no one with so foolish , or so criminal an act . In the absence of evidence to support it , nothing could be more base I than to charge it upon any one . Yet the whole preBS I of both factions has concurred , until recently , in ¦ charging it upon the Executive , The fact that it was j put forth in the name of the Executive has been basely assumed as proof that it was put

      i forth by the Executive ; and the thing has ¦ been familiarly spoken of as " the Executive ' s I Address" from that day to this ; every one j being careful not to seem to doubt . We have j before called attention to the infamy of this _assumption by the press of the very thing to be I proved . We hoped , if there was any spark of I honourable feeling in the " press-gang , " to ; shame them out of such a course ; hut this would have been unaccordant with the purpose of their masters . The Executive were to be convicted and sentenced npon that address , no matter who wrote

      it ; and therefore the jury class must be plied continually with the assumed certainty that it was their address . That point seems now to be considered settled . It is thought that the idea of the Exeecutive ' s authorship has become so rivetted to that of the address itself , that no evidence can induce any jury to separate them- As far as the Executive are concerned , therefore , their fate is considered cer tain . The next move is to connect with it all the accused parties ; and to do this effectually it , is now gravely and impudently affirmed , that _O'Conwob with his own hand wrote tbat address

      and then persuaded the Executive to father it ! that it was adopted by the delegate meeting at Manchester 1 aud that the minority there who opposed its adoption bound themselves , after its adoption , to abide by , and go with the majority III All thia is as roundly and plainly stated as if it had been gospel-truth ! It is s poken of in the most flippant and familiar manner ; as a thing not to be dispnted ; a settled point about whioh there ean be no question ! True ; there is no attempt to give any proof of these statements : not

      even an effort to invent a proof ; that would be an inconvenient and needless formality . True , the wretches who propagate these falsehoods know them to be falsehoods , solely manufactured and invented by themselves ; true , that the propagators of these statements know that there is already evidence on oath—the evidence of the prosecution so far as it has gone—that tbey axe utterly false j that even _Grjffin has sworn positively tbat that address was not adopted at the delegate meeting at all , and that Mr . _O'Coxxoz opposed it from tbe moment of its

      The Last Shift.

      introduction . True , that this evidence of Griffins was perfectly well known to the parties who say that O'Connor wrote that address , and that it was adopted by the meeting 1 all this iB nothing : a point is to be carried : the men are to be convicted ; and , therefore , the belief most fee induced , whatever be the facts or the evidence . We have before time seen many samples of rich viBany , bnt never one to match thiB . We believe , however , that the bolt has been shot too far , and that it will fail to be effective from the very care taken to make it so . The people may , however , learn from it to what desperate shifts , the devil factions will have recourse

      when " bard up * for the carrying of a point , Aud what hope they to accomplish when the point is carried ! Do they imagine that O'Connor , the Star , and the Chartist movement , are to be thus put down f God help them ! poor fools !

      The Tactics Of Oppression A Certain Memb...

      THE TACTICS OF OPPRESSION A certain member of the late Government is reported to have had tbe honour of being first to recommend in so many formal words the destruction of political opponents , by " ruining them with expences . " Faction is an apt scholar , and apprehends readily the arts of villany . The Tories are noi slow to profit by the example and the teachings of their Whig predecessors ; of which the late Speoial Commission and all the atrocities at and immediately before it , furnish abundant evidence . Faction is usually consistent : however the people may chooEe to forget their _principles

      and interests , faotion seldom does so . It looks out with a lynx-eye for all advantages , and makes the most of all its powers . Having the almost boundless resources of the richest nation under heaven at command—with power to draw ad libitum upon the publio purse—the cowa'd vultures place themselves in a position for a deadly struggle with poor men ; made and kept poor by the rascality of class-legislation . These poor men they place at every disadvantage , whioh the fearful odds of wealth , and power , and patronage afford them ; and then prate of justioe , and of the law ' s Majesty !

      During the early portion of thiB week , the Rev . Dr . Scholefield , and Messrs . Leach , Doyle , Railton , and divers others of the Chartist " conspirators" were served with some sort of nondescript writs , of which nobody could make head or tail ; but which commanded them to appear before her Majesty on the fifteenth inst . Where the appearance was to be , and what was the purport of the summons , nobody knew anything about . Magistrates , lawyers ,

      police , el hoc genus - omne , were alike " taken aback " by this new " craft" ; of which none of them could " spell the rigging . " We have not been , at this present writing , ( Thursday a . m . ) as yet honoured with one of these special invitations to a royal tete-a-tete , aud therefore know nothing of the matter but from hearsay . It seems , however , that Mr . O'Connor has been thus dignified ; he has seen the thing , and as he is mare conversant with lawyer craft than we are , we give the following from the Evening Star ;—

      " Those whe have informed themselves upon the proceedings at the late Special Commissions and the persecution generally of the Chartist body , will , doubtless , be prepared for any disclosure , infernal though it be . But let even the most sceptical peruse the following narrative , and say , whether or no wonder haa not been out-wondered . It Is In the recollection of tbe public that Feargus O'Connor , and sixty-one other persons , against whom a true bill was found at tbe recent Special Commission , holden at Liverpool , traversed till next _asBizBs , and were obliged to enter Into heavy bail , there to appear , and till then to keep the

      peacewhich , by the bye , waa Illegal . This preliminary step cost a large sum of money , but was met and paid . _Witoln these few days tbe several traversers have been terved with venires from the Conrt of Queen ' s Bench ; and upon eaoh venire ot the sixty-two , tbe small sum of £ b 8 ** . is charged , and payable before the defendants can appear . We cannot say what the immediate object of the Crown is ; but one effect will be , to treat the defendants to a Bpceial jury . Now these fees amount to about £ 330 , which , with other expenses npon this stage alone , will amount to somewhat about £ 400 ; and add to this

      veaily £ 1 , 000 in f © € 3 , which must be paid before the prisoners can have the honour of trial ; and then add tbe expense of counsel and solicitors , witnesses and travelling expenses ; aud then say who can that the law is partial , expensive , or unjust ! But this is not the worst Tyrmny does not stop here . While those under recognizances are tbus mulcted in heavy pecuniary penalties , the necessary legal preliminaries for outlawing Dr . M'Douall and those against whom true bills have been found , and wbo have absconded , are now nearly completed ; and their banishment will be

      _effected as securely as if tbe Judge had sentenced them ; while , if the worst came to the worst , and If found guilty of tbe charge , imprisonment is all the punishment they could be sentenced to . Now , if this is not punishing first , and trying after , we know not what is . We state , however , that Mr . O'Connor has had all the required terms complied with , and hai entered an appearance for tbe several traversers , which is all that was now required , save and except the PAYMENT OF THE FEES . Who wouldn't be an Englishman ? Will the heart of the Chronicle burst at this rccit _**! ' ?" .

      Since writing the above we have received the Manchester Guardian , which has , in referenoe to the same subject , the following . *—* ' Removal of the Indictment against the Chartists to the Court of Queen s Bench . —We understand that , on Monday last , til the sixty defendants indicted at the late special commission at Liverpool , and who then traversed to the next assizes , were served with summonses ef a merely formal nature , tbe terms of which , we understand , not a little _puz-. led some of them ; as they were therein required ' to come

      before her Majesty , on the 15 th November . instant , wheresoever her Majesty should be in England . ' As her Majesty is now at Waltner Castle , near Dover , the appearance of some of tbe defendants there would no doubt cause considerable surprise . We know that some of them seriously contemplated the necessity of surrendering in person , in London ; while others , we believe , have instructed a London attorney to put in an appearance for them . The following is a copy of the document which has put the defendants here and elsewhere on the qui vive : —

      * To [ naming various sheriffs' officers . _]—Lancrshire , to wit Thomas Robert Wilson France , Esq ., sherifi of the county of Lancaster ; By virtue of ber Majesty ' s writ , to ma directed , I command you that you do not forbear by reason of any liberty to my bailiwick , but that you cause to come before her Majesty ,, on the fifteenth of November instant , wheresoever ber Majesty shall be in England , William Leach , of Manchester , in tbe county of _Lancaster , labourer , & c . && , to answer to her Majesty for certain conspiracies and misdemeanours whereof they with others are indicted . " Given under the seal ef my office , this twelfth day of _November , 1842 . " By order of the Court ,

      ' ¦ Dealtrv . " Writ dated second day of November , 1842 . " Gregory and Sons , solicitors . " A similar form of summons has been issued by tbe High Sheriff of Cheshire , and served on such of the defendants as reside in that county . We believe tbe legal effect of this is , merely to give the parties formal notice tbat the indictments against them bave Izen removed by the Attorney-General from Lancashire and Cheshire into the Court ot Queen ' s Bench . "

      The Guardian appears , however , to have no grounds for his _" belief " and we imagine that he knows as little of the object of Government in this matter as ourselves . Thus much we have no doubt of , that their object is to perpetrate some petty , villanous , sneaking robbery , which they will call vindicating the law , and doing justice . It is clear that in some way or other the trials are intended to be rendered more expensive and more unfair , than they

      would have been withont this mnmmery . It all shows tho animus of government , and proves the correctness of our conclusion from preceding circumstances , that they attach more importance to the trial and conviction of these parties , than to any other business in which the Government have been concerned for a long time ; and it all shows the imperative duty and absolute necessity which lies npon the people to put forth their strength for the enoounter , and to do it without loss of time .

      The English Chartist Circular. We Give E...

      THE _ENGLISH CHARTIST CIRCULAR . We give elsewhere an address from the conductors of this genuine gem of the Chartist press , to which we call particular attention . We do trust that at this time above all others the enemy will not be permitted to have the opportunity of taunting ua about the going-down of this spirited little organ . We have before said , and we now repeat , that the Circular ought to be considered a necessary upon every Chartist ' s table , or rather iu his pocket for more ready use . We trust that the present appeal of its conductors will be the last of the like kind that they will ever need to make .

      We perceive that the first fifty-two numbers of the Circular are now published in a volume ; and a very handsome , and a very valuable volume it is—a ( volume whioh no Chartist ought to bo without . __

      The Sturge Conference. Elsewhere We Reco...

      THE STURGE CONFERENCE . Elsewhere We record , with unfeigned pleasure , the proceedings of a meeting at Birmingham for the election of delegates to the forthcoming Conference . The Birmingham " lads" have done their work nobly ! In the very head-quarters of Complete _Suffragism , with Mr . Sturge in the chair , they have elected , out of six delegates , Feargus

      O'Connor , Geor « e White , and two other good Chartists . This is as it should be . Let every other place go and do likewise , and this Conference may come to good : it may be made the means of greatly aiding and consolidating the Chartist movement ; of forming into one phalanx all the true friends of democratic principle ; and of forcing the hypocritic go-betweens ( if there be any such ) to find their own place .

      We regard this Conference as a great card for tbe people if well played . Let them be careful then ; let Birmingham be followed up . Let every town send its own men—men of full-length principle , and of clear and cool heads . Let them , we again observe , in this eleotion of the delegates , losk more to principle than talent ; ' tis not so much speech-makers as men of sound sense and discriminating powers that are wanted . Let care be tiken not to stultifv and

      neutralize our own strength , by electing the same man for different localities . O'Connor haa been elected for Birmingham ; let him not be elected for any other place . He can only give one vote , and consequently every other place which he might represent would be virtually unrepresented . We have not a vote to spare ; and every locality may find plain honest men to speak its own mind .

      There is another thing to which attention should be drawn ; the rumoured winter commission of assizo makeB it doubtful whether we may not be all in durance when the Conference is holden . The people should be ready for this circumstance if it occur ; they should have reserved candidates in readiness to be elected in the place of every man wh _*> may be thus prevented from fulfilling the duties of his trust . There must be no time lost in calling publio _meetings for the eleotion of such delegates , if necessary , immediately after the conclusion of the trials . Let there be no doubt or hesitation about

      this matter ; let all be ready ; all that is wanted in the candidates is clear-headed honesty , that will neither be hoodwinked nor yet brow-beaten from its point . There is enough of this quality in every town to supply every member of this Conference . Let then the people be alive , and do their duty , and then we have no fear that this Conforence will be a good thing .

      How To Get Rid Of A "Surplus Population....

      HOW TO GET RID OF A "SURPLUS POPULATION . " ARiSTOCRAcr and _steamocracy have long found their elbow-room incommoded by the labourer . And with the soddened selfishness of class 01 aft , each has unhesitatingly exerted tho powers it possessed to " dear out its corner , " and remove the vermin . Improvements in mechanical , and " extension" of legal , machinery have effected the _businesi for them both ; but like Richard ' s spiders , —

      " The things still crawl , and do effend the sight " When driven out of the manufactories and off the estates ; when robbed of all their means of livelihood , they still " crawl ; " and crawling , they still seek the means to live . But the monster Class is a many-headed monster , and has in all its heads "jaw teeth like knives ; " and hence the lawocracy soon finishes the business . Destitution , of necessity , induces what the law calls crime , and thus furnishes a pretext for that thinning of the population , which through the medium of the halter , the sabre , the blue bludgeon , or the transport ship , is

      always going on , that rampant riches may have room to " pull down its barns , and build greater . " Transportation , it is said , is now humanely substituted for capital punishments in a great many cases . What are the means adopted for carrying out this very humane process 1 Old , crazy , worn out vessels , found to be totally unfit for regular service , are repaired and fitted up , just made capable of skimming over the surface of an unruffled sea ; and then , if not with criminal intent to murder , with the most cold-blooded indifference , hundreds of our fellow beings , all of whom have left

      agonized , heart-broken relatives behind them , are crammed irito these *' safes , " and sent on a _voyaga of thousands of miles . May-be thoy may reaoh the "destined port , " or may-be , as it often happens , they may go down together to the bottom of the" mighty deep . " Read the following in illustration , taken from the South African Commercial A dvertiser , a long article from which we give elsewhere , and commend to the attention of our readerB : —

      "The Waterloo , a ship of 414 tons , bound to Van Diemen ' 8 Land , had on board , besides her crew , 219 male convicts , Dr . Helsell , in charge , Lieutenant Hext , Ensign Leigh , thirty men of her Majesty ' s 99 th Regi-HieDt , Ave women , and thirteen children . She took the ground between eleven and twelve o ' clock in the forenoon , and in . fifteen er twenty minutes became a mass of rubbish . And now ensued a most piteous massacre . In about two hours and a half , amidst the crumbling heaps of their perfidious prison—of men , women , and children , 194 were crushed , disabled , and drowned .

      "There was no preparation for saving life made on board or on shore . No life-buoys , no coils of topes lashed to casks , nor any apparatus for establishing a communication with the shore from the ship . On the shore there was no lifeboat , no apparatus for throwing ropes over stranded vessels , nor any thing , in short , to show that the Government or people here had ever heard of such a thing as a shipwreck . We stood amongst thousands on tbe beach within 150 yards of the dissolving fabric , looking on the agonised faces of our fellow-creatures , as tbey sank in dozens , battered , and bruised , and suffocated—useless as children , or idiots , or wild Caffres .

      " This ship , it appears , was built twenty-seven years ago at BristoL No longer fit to cany logs , she is patched up like other whited sepulchres , stuff-d with a living cargo by a contractor , and despatched to the ends of the earth—a voyage of more than 20 , 000 miles !" One hundred and ninety-four persons , preoious in the sight of their Creator as the proud Aristocrat , or the wealthy capitalist , executed in this cruel manner either from neglect or design I !!—and which ever be the fact , hanging the millstone of deep guilt about the necks of the wrong-doers , and calling loudly alike for the out-pouring of the phials of the wrath of him , without whose notice not even a sparrow falls , and for the indignation of an insulted and outraged people .

      Englishmen , picture to yourselves the fact , that some of your highly esteemed friends and leadersmen held high in estimation for their virtues and patriotism , and whose hands in all probability were never stained by crime—are about to be shipped off in like manner . Ellis and his companions , torn from their homes and victimised , are to be sent away either to find a watery grave , or as it must be evident , when such extreme carelessness is shewn in tho transit of convicts , to endure for lengthened terms , a worse than "living death . " So these things are , and so they will remain , until right prevail over _might ; and the making and administration of the law be made dependant upon the will of the whole _peotlo .

      The Executive Balance Sheet. The Explana...

      THE EXECUTIVE BALANCE SHEET . The explanation afforded by the Secretary of the matters objected to by the metropolitan delegates and others , will be read with some anxiety , and will , w © fear , excite much _disatisfaction . We confess that we have seldom read a document with more regret , or one which we are compelled to consider as more decidedly lame . Nothing is more important than that the Executive ahould have the entire confidence of the whole country . This they never can have , unless they confine themselves rigoarously to the operation and guidance of that organization , whioh the one duty of their ofiice is to extend and carry out . No mistake could be more fatal to the interests of the cause , than that the

      Executive should suppose themselves invested with a power above that of the organisation . That they have done so , and that they have acted upon that supposition , is clear from this statement of Mr . Campbell ' s . The seventeenth article of the organization fixes the salary ofthe Executive at £ 2 per week for the Secretary , and £ 1 10 * 1 weekly for each other member when sitting . Here then is a clear guide , whioh , one would have thought , no responsible body could _overlook , or would dare to violate ; and yet we find the Executive setting aside the authority of the organization , and " en their own responsibility , " appropriating publio money to the payment of one of their own body , fully one-third more than he was entitled to '

      The excuse of Mr . _Cami-bell for this flagrant violation of trust , that they , the Executive , thought the money earned , and all the talk of the talent , the honesty , ( I ) and the judgment , (!) of the party , by whom this money is appropriated , is entirely beyond the mark . The transaction is , to all intents and purposes , not only politically , but morally , dishonest and disgraceful to all the parties concerned in it . When Dr . M'Douall became a candidate for the office of Executive Committee man , he knew the amount of salary to which he would be entitled ; he knew that the Exeoutive had no power to give

      him more , without robbing the Association ; and no honest man would have been a party to that robbery . We have no wish to depreciate the worth , or to underrate the services of Dr . M'Douall ; but we do say that he ought to have considered before he took the ofiice , whether the stipend would content him ; and we say that , if upon trial , he found it too little , he had but two honest courses for it ; either to resign at once , or to ask , not the Executive but the people , to advance his salary . But instead of this , the Doctor , and his coadjutors , dip their hands , without authority or

      leave , into the purse which contains the poor weavers' pence , and take out thence , at their own pleasure , as much as they think he ought to have . Let us put an exactly parallel case ; let us suppose that tho money with which these men were entrusted had belonged to some rich merchant , in stead of to the poor half-famished people ; let us suppose them to have been the servants o this rich merchant , instead of the servants of the people ; that they had with him a definite and clearly understood

      written agreement , specifying their exact duties , and their exact wages ; that thay had the run of his funds to pay themselves , with the condition of making up accounts quarterly , and that they had acted precisely as they have now done . We can tell Mr . Campbell that , in such a case , this same piece of "honesty , " for which he expected the whole country to compliment him , would have rendered the whole batch of them liable to transportation for embezzlement and fraud . So much fo _" rthe moral honesty of this transaction ; now for its political " honesty " ! The Executive are par excellence , a democratic body ; they are the appointed head of the Charter Association ; their sole business is to extend and ramify the association , for the purpose of bringing into operation Chartist principles . How do they do this 1 Why by themselves acting as pure despots 1 Assuming the right utterly to disregard the laws of the organization , which they are appointed purposely to enforce ; arid

      without any reference to tho suffrages and opinions of the people to govern the association , as their own caprice , ( we beg Mr . Campbell ' s pardon , "judgment ! " ) might dictate ; exhibiting thus , in the very heart and citadel of Chartism , one of the worst forms of Tory corruption and peculation . And yet , in reference to this transaction , Mr . Campbell tells us , that the Executive expected , that instead of objecting to it , the whole country would have hailed it with delight !

      Like objections , of a mal-appropriation of funds and an utter disregard to the organization , lie very fairly against several other matters whioh Mr . Campbell professes to explain . The several and very heavy sums charged for travelling expenses , and for the " agitating expenses" of various members of the Executive are , in the abs : nce of more explanation than Mr . Campbell has yet given , ( and he says he can give no more ) , all liable to be classed under the same head of mal-appropriation of the funds of the Association in defiance of its rules .

      The organization distinctly provides that the wages of the Executive shall be paid only " during the period of their sittings" ; or in the event of their being jemployed "to open new districts "; yet we find their wages regularly charged whether sitting or not ; and Mr . Campbell complaining bitterly that he has no funds now , when they are not sitting , to pay wages to himself and them . We regret the lack of funds for the use of the Association , as much as Mr . Campbell ; and we regret more that that lack should be enhanced by the unauthorized application of them when they were there . But why does Mr . Campbell complain of not getting wages now , when the Executive is not sitting ? He knows that tbe organization gives them no right to wages , only

      when they are sitting . Now , when they are minding their own businesses ; Mr . Campbell attending to his shop in London , Mr . Leach attending to his flop in Manchester , and Mr . Bairstow receiving wages as a lecturer in the North and East Riding , why should the country be called upon to pay £ 2 weekly to the one and 30 _i . to each of the others lis it not enough that , in accordance with the organization , they be paid by the Association when they are doing the work of the Association ; must they be also paid for doing their own work ? We do not believe that either Leach or Bairstow expect any such thing ; and we are only sorry that Mr . Campbell , in tbis apologetical letter of his , has thought proper so to introduoe their names as if they did .

      Nothing can be more clear nor more explicit than the words of the organization about the wages ofthe Executive . They are to have their wages during the period of their sittings out of the General Fund . Whenever they are not sitting , they may be employed as missionaries and lecturers , and must then have the same wages , as if they were sitting ; not from the general funds , bnt from the local funds ofthe localities in which they labour . Over and above these wages , when so employed , they are to have , from the localities in

      whieh they labour , their coach hire and one half of their incidental expences ; the other half of their incidental expences being paid by themselves out of their wages . These provisions are as clear in the 17 th and 18 ; h articles of the organization as words can make them . And yet the country is charged by Mr . Campbell , according to his own explanation , for the lecturing expences of the members of the Exeoutive in such localities as Manchester and London , and for their travelling to and from these localities .

      We happen to know that the Executive have been written to privately npon these subjects again and again ; we find it difficult , therefore , to think that they do not know the conditions of the organization . In any case it seems clear that they either do not know the organization or are determined entirely to disregard it . We have seen many lamentable publio exhibitions ; but never any which , to our mind , displayed a more perfect lack of business-like habits , or of any attention to any sort of system or rule , than the balance sheets of Mr . Campbell .

      The Executive Balance Sheet. The Explana...

      They are literally _disgraeaful . And though we have long known them to be so , we have forborne from publio comment , because we hoped to see some good result from private remonstrance ; being willing to give him and the other members of the Executive credit for integrity of purpose . This publio appeal of Mr . Campbell renders it impossible for us to be longer silent . We have by ro means commented upon all , or nearly all , of the objectionable matters in this balance sheet , or of the unsatisfactory matters in Mr . Campbell ' s explanatory letter ; but we trust we have said enough

      to show the people that it is time they took up the matter in right earnest . These are the things that destroy us more than all the power of the enemy . And we always find that it is those who thu 3 trample under their feet all regard for principle that are the first to cry out against " denunciation " if disagreement with , or disapprobation of , their proceedings be expressed . We have hitherto paid too much deference to this scare-crow ; and fihall hereafter treat it very cavalierly . We shall speak out our mind upon all publie matters with a freedom

      from which onr best friends must look for no exemption . We esteeem highly private friendships and regards , but cannot allow them to divert us from our duty ; nor shall we permit any personal services of Chartist leaders to exempt them from being tightly holden by the rein of principle . None can esteem more highly than we do the porsonal exertions of the respective members of the Executive as lecturers and missionaries for the cause of Chartism . They have done much ; but that does not set them above the practice of their own principles in the transactions of their own office .

      Election Of The General Council. Our Rea...

      ELECTION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL . Our readers are of course aware that the ) Election of General Councillors throngh all ths localities takes plaoe on the 1 st of December . They should begin to look out for good , clear headed , prudent men . The office is a most important one . We shall next week give some directions for what we think the best mode

      To The Readers Of The "Northern Star."

      TO THE READERS OF THE "NORTHERN STAR . "

      Star Office, Nn. 17,1m2. Mv Dear Friends...

      Star Office , Nn . 17 , 1 M 2 . Mv dear Friends , —On the 17 th of Nov ., 1837 , five years ago , this very day , the first number of this paper issued from the press . Since that time , we have braved together many a breeze . Chartism was then a name unknown , and Radicalism was a sickly infant in its nurse ' s arms . The professors of the pure principles of truth were for the most part jumbled up and identified with Whiggery , under the general

      titles of " Reformers" and " Liberals . " There was no real line of demarcation between honesty and stealthy faction in a mask . The people were then , as now , honest * but waiting just direction for their movements ; while the prominent politicians of the day wereamotlej crew of personal adventurers , floating with the tide of circumstances , and continually using the popular breath to blow up the bubbles of their own er parties' purposes . I saw the necessity of severing principle from faction , and individually laboured for it , as many of yea

      know , long before the Star existed . I saw the disadvantage under which the people laboured ; I felt , often and severely felt , that the sphere of democratic influence was limited—unnaturally contracted—because the people were no more represented by the press than by the legislature . They were defrauded even of themselves ; their sentiments were distorted , their opinions misrepresented , their _mindi purposely misled , and their active proceedings twisted to the support of first one and then another factious party , while their own interests were lost sight of in the mist , because there was no mirror which would

      faithfully reflect them . I set myself , therefore , to see the people ia possession of an organ which , trumpet-tongued , might speak their will , and utter their complaints . I laboured hard for it and expended much more time and money than I could afford ; but -there was wanting either power or energy amongst the people . The work progressed slowly , and I was about retiring in despair from the attempt , when Providence brought me in contact with your indomitable champion , and true friend , O'Connor , who had seen and felt the same lack of means

      to make principle stand firmly on its onn basis , and throw overboard adventuring experimentalists . His dauntless spirit , in the face of a most uninviting prospect , resolved to remedy the grievance at all hazards ; and the Northern Star was hung up in the political hemisphere , and has continued since , by your suffrages , to shine with increased brilliancy ; exhibiting , in the dear light of public opinion , the rocks and quicksands of political agitation , and the" rigging" of each pirate craft that might intrude itself upon thewaters of democracy . I speak thus

      of the Star , because I have ever sought to make it rather a reflex of yeur minds than a medium through which to exhibit any supposed talent or intelligence of my own . This is precisely my conception of what a people ' s organ should be ; this was what I saw to be wanting before the Star came into existence ; and what , since it has existed , I have ever sought to make it . How far I have succeeded in doing so , may be best evidenoed by the position which it has holden since the fifth week of its publication , of the most extensively circulated

      provincial journal in the empire , and by the fact that it still holds and maintains that position notwithstanding the unparalleled distress which binds to the earth the whole body of its supporters ; notwithstanding the incessant fire of prosecution upon prosecution from the Government , to which it is the most galling of annoyances , and notwithstanding the unceasing efforts of the private malice , the choaking envy , and personal ambition of disguised friends , open foes , traitors , and enemies of all sorts . There is not , at this present time , another thing

      which the factions so hate , and the Government so much fears as thiB newspaper . It is the very sum of their antipathies ; and they would hold cheap any sacrifice by which it might be destroyed . While I have your help and confidence I defy them . The wrong-doer Bhall wince beneath just castigation ; the light of just principle shall shine upon the haggard face and ugly form of class dominance , so long as it is your pleasure to uphold the Northern Star .

      I thank you , not more for the gratification it affords me personally , than on your own account , for the power you have hitherto given me in battling with your enemies . I receive your continued confidence and the constant indication of your approbation with the proud consciousness that I deserve it . I accord you now my thanks for having nobly done your duty in the years gone by . You have rallied round the standard of pure , constitutional Radicalism

      which has been erected in the Star ; and yon have made the arms of liberty , thoagh bound , yet terrible to the oppressor . I have done one man ' s part in the good work ; and my arm is now stronger and my aim steadier than it was five years ago , thanks to the supporting presence of your power . The recurrence of this anniversary brings us onee more to a sort of understanding with each other ; to s kind of terms of covenant on which to base onr future operations against tyranny . There shall be , on my part , a continuance of that sama

      unceasing watchfulness with which I bave heretofore endeavoured to point out the tricks and moves of faction to your observance . With thbroad flag of Chartism unfurled , and nailed to our mast-head , I shall endeavour to take aire that no spurious colour , no matter how near !/ resembling the original , be stuck or stitched _XJ _*^ it by the enemy ; while I shall also be more ctX _^ _f than I have heretofore been to _presort * from defilement by our . own crew . Hitherto _^ extension of our prinoiples has been the on 0 thing to be looked at ; we [ must now loot < o

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Nov. 19, 1842, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns5_19111842/page/4/