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THE NOETHEEN STAR SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2«, 1841.
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THE CHARTER SUFFRAGE versus THE PARLIAMENTARY H-O-U-S-E.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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""" TO THE CHARTISTS . On , countrymen , on to the fight . The rtrBggle foe freedom most dear , Bud down on tbs tjraaU the Wight , Of ihe baits tbeir oppremau doth Bear . Forget not the honest sod brave , VTho is tynat Whig " ! donfceoni we cast , £ z& indignantly epum the hue slave , yHio with slander their Mr fame would blart . jje not tared fay the treaehervas oaOe Of hue tmton , who Kek but your &H ; jbey ^ employ every bwa , Whig-liie guilt , To dTrert J » a from liberty * ! nil Sons of Albion stand firm to your posts—Respond to fair liberty * » ghjh&t despite of the tyrant ! red hcwti , your Charter jou'll hare , or you'll die . C . Wxstiut
- ^ TEE RADICAL'S LITAXT . jjom nobles that at oourt do sit , jo role our land as they see fit , ffhom many a beggar could outwit , Good Lord deliver as . jrom independent gentry , -who Cassume cur jr&in a * locusta de , And rob ihe labourer ol his due , ( rood Lord deliver u . Prom honours being conferred , all rpon the rich , both great and nnall , Tbocgh Tilh siulls thick aa China ' s -rail , Good Lord deliTer us . Prom Church established by the law , And tilhes enforced to glut the maw Of troy idle strutting daw , ( od Lard deliTer i /»
• ro n * vrwu ru ueurer as . Frcra bishops and all procurations , cycodals and confirmations , And eTery such like botheration , Good Lord deliver us Prom foul hypoeriiy and cant , And selfish minds of Tirtoe scant , And jagglinf Msthodistie rant . Good Lord deliTer ns . Frcm th&t cursed thing the New Poor Act Tftkh Tories sanction , Whigi exact , 0 ! Ifr rchfo deeds the most compact . Good Lord deliTer us . from buHie # , beadles , with their crew Of fcellifcb miscreants , Whig and Blue , TTcose greatest pj ' a tie poor to Bcre ^ r , Good Lord deliTer us .
Trcia ls ^ jers , policemen , and spies , list desl in fraud , deceit , and lies , Wiscae devilry the world outries , Good Lord deliTer us . Prom mfirares of brick and mortar , likstrise elective bribe and teiTter , With ail that ' s hostile to the Charter , Good Lord deliTer ui . ALEXJLSDEfi HriSH ney . Pfeb . liih , Uil- *
ZX 1 GMA . Ia ectiic toners iad palaces I dwell , In ths deep recesses of the hollow'd cell , la gloomy csTts ¦ Khere man ne ' er dar'd Eis tea " to trust , my plaintive voice is heard , 'iloc £ st tollow rocks , I like » y airy fli ? ht , iij- f-jrm seduced still from mortal ' s sight , Bred fey the offspring of the hnmsn mind , I to the world an . instant pissage find , Tet short the space of time my lire can boa * t , Born in 02 a moment , in another lest , 1 , ones a njEph , * p * rted en the plains , The pride and glory of the neighbeurms ; swains , 1511 eross'd in lore I left my native glaue , Hy f ona wnsain'd , and dwindled to a- shade . w . a
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CAEUiSLE . —Scdds 5 Death of a Pauper htdkrtlst Stsriaors CiiccusixscES . —An inquest was held before Mr . William Carrick » coroner , on Wednesday , the 10 ; h instant , in Water-line , on "liev of the body of John C&plin , aged twenty-one years , lying dead at the Bog . The result of the enquiry was , \ o exonerate Mr . Nicholson , surgeon to the tJnioa , and Mr . Roa'dedge , keeper of the poorbouse , from any blame in the distressing transaction , though we-haTe little confidence in the evidence produced , which consisted of teas of rsiieving-efficers , acd others , iuteresfed in patching up the affair , backed on : faj a number of paspers themselves , who were unieribe painful secessuy of stating what
ihzj were instmcted to do . The following is the correct suiement of Junes Caplin , brother to the deceased : —John Caplin , my late brother l % y sick wiihjnefor ei ^ ht weeks , when , owing to my distressed rircnnHanees , I applied to the parish for reUef for him . I received half a crown per week &r the space of three "weeks ; bat , on the relieTingoficer eslnng to see him , he found him standing by the fcej in eoa >« qnence of this , the allowance was stopped , and my broiker was ordered away to the workhouse , where he remained six days ; but during tins toe he was ret to break s ; -ones in an open yard , kis own eiojbes were stripped off his , and he was doibed in the workhouse dres .- From the seTerity
of the weather , he was Texy much starred , ard apptisd for some of his own clothes to put ¦ under the osier ; but this request was refused , and he was ooapelisd w > continnc to break swees , though in a Tsrj poor and nnheaiiby state , and the weather being rery seTere . Hz then came back t * me , and I sent for itr . Reeres , eorgeon , who examined him , Then I asked him for a line to tha relieving officer , te he said it would tot be attended to ; he then aid " if that man ( . pointing to my brother ) die 3 , 1 wia hold Dr . XichoUoa respondble for his death . I WDDder yrh ^ i sort of a man Nicholson can be , to order that man to work . " Mj brother died in a few ays afterwards . The doctor then came to me , and jaad as what I intended to do , as the disorder my brother had prsrious to his gci ^ g to the workhouse
fa not what he died of , and : ha : there ought to be * osroEer ' s iLqnt- ^ . In cozseqvence of this , I « Sered an inquest : o be " icld . James Caplin . —This satemsit was coatracicicd in evidence ; more espe-K » 2 j that pon : oa which 13 attributed to Air . fiesres , surgeon ; and als-o the stawment as to the «*« John Capiin having l-een sen * , to break stones ; cow to reconcile this coiiSiciinjf testimony we know fiffi . Were we called oa ; o ^ ire an opinion , it *» W be to place a 3 much reliance on the statement « poor Caplain , as those of the relieving oScers and Baerable paupers , who dared not say a word , how-* rer tree it might be , derogatory to tne character of wose they are under . Une thing is cl « ar , that
Upiin was in » Tery unfit state to be pa : to work ^ lie open air , and whi-h , if correct , would wattless be the means of greatly accelerating his H *** & . Ve would caution those entrusted with the ^ s of the infirm and po r , to be earefoJ how they ** them , lest they may be chargeable in the eyes wtae public , with practising a harshness towards »* m , which the law itself will not justify , much « s hsffianity wlerate . There is one circumstance , * T 2 cn we had alniosi forgoi to mentioa , and that is , * * eport that ilr . Mchobon , or some of tne party , « ated ths paupers , who gaTe evidence , with spirits ; * ercaastai > ce , it true , of a very suspicious charae-^ i for it is certainly not a common practice with j ^ epers of workhouses , so to act towards a parcel « Papers .
Tow * Hall . —We happened to call in here the Kser day , to see what the magistrates were engaged * « » whea a compteint was made agaiass s rev * tabie innkeeper , in consequence of tne imperfect r ** of his stable , for the accommodation of the ^ rs * of two horse soldiers , who had been billeted v *» tan . a Captain Somebody said the gulls •^ e too narrow , and that pigs were kept near the **«* . The innkeeper urged , that the imperfect rf * of * he stable had been caused by a wicked r ** belonging to the same trosp . Here a locg ^ "tory coaversation took place between the ma-P ^ raies and the Captain , as to the right of repair-Pjnhe injury which had been done by the -wicked fII **~ th 9 magistrates contending , tiat the inn-^* r should flaTe his stable repaire 4 ; bat the 2 * P » ain told them there- was no law for any such
^ g . Finally , the innkeeper agreed to make the rf ^ jy rep airs ; but eren thi 3 woul d not do , as ge worses had been sent to fresh billets ; so that the i p 'Mfcjwr must p 3 y the sum of twentj-eyjht Ehil-Mp for one montn ' i ^ stable standing unr ^ Pied . During the last twelTe months there - ? *? not beeo less than from thirty to forty eomj ^ ate of thij > kind , which have always been listened jv » ad redress ^ hy the magistrates , to the serious ~* tod inconT . ^ nience of the publicans . Govern-^* should ap point inspecto rs to see in what ^^ the poor hand-loom weavers and their rBWies are domid . ^ and fed , with a Tiew to see ttaiJj * *™ Wu ^ housed , well fed , and well IT ™* ; for we pledjTe ourselveB they are fax better r ^ ttore useful sub ^ ects of her Majesty , thaa » ^ rT'w i tty soldiers , " . Those horses are &s &t and " ^ eat as themselTes . - -Correspondent . I ^^^ nirGHABI . — Betteb Late thas Neteb . ^ s is an old adaceand ^ eems to be verified in the
. . ^ T ° ^ the chaAtaUe t " entiry of this town , who wZJ ' f esting in the Town Hall , this week , for the jr *** of pro-riding food a * d fael for the nnemrW poor at this inclement season . ThiBiawell ; S , l Woaid **** beeii better L'ad they done eo two Sc once . £ 600 ime&kWy been raised , which ItV , !! T , ** ** ^ disposal oi " Ciwirch clergymen . J * « isuted that several persons * ere willing to sub-S ? , ™^? 0111 ^! PWTided they bad the tickets ftt * w own dtepotfcL bat it was not 1 Uowed .
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XiBBDS ^ -ElTKRSlTl RoBBRar . —On Tuesday last , ft female nwned Susannah Scott , was placed before Messrs . Stansfeld and Hebdea , sitting magistrates , &t the Court-House , charged with having stolen £ 50 in silver , from the house of Mr . John Ayrey , the Old George Inn , Bri ^ gate . Mr . Ayrey stated , that on Saturday last , about noon , Mr . Matthew Smith , manufacturer , of Morley , gave him » brown paper parcel , containing the sum named , to take care of , while he was ready to go home ; he wag in . the habit of doing so weekly , and Mrs . Ayrey made a practice of locking the change up in a private drawer in the nursery—a room to which the family only had access . Un Saturday , however , Mrs . A . at the time the money was bronght , was giving the breast
to an mfaatin thekitcheu , and Mr . Ayrey laid it in an open drawer at the side of her , telling her to be sure to lock it up before ihe did anything eke ; there were at that time only the servants and Mra . Worth , of Kothwall , ia the kitchen , besides Mrs . Ayrey . The latter , on ' some account was suddenly called into the b » r , where she stayed only a short time , when she recollected the money , and proceeded to the kitchen for it , when to her surprise she found it was gone . Enquiry was instantly instituted , and & rigid examination made ; but without , at that time , producing any effect . Oh Monday morning , handbills were issued , offericg a reward of five pounds for any information lately to lead to a discovery of the property , and the conviction of the thief .
During the afternoon of Monday , & servant jtirl from a beerhouse in Swinegate , kept by Mra . Booth , went to the George Inn , to inquire for Scott , Baying that Mrs . Booth wished to see her particularly . Mr . Ayrey , having his suspicions excited , went over to Mrs . Booth ' s , and there learui that his servant had , on Saturday , taken a brown paper parcel , containing money , to Mrs . Booth's , and which she said was the amount of a legacy left to her hv her ' aunt , which she had just received ; this parcel the girl fetched away on Saturday night , and Mr . Ayrey then discovered that she had taken it to Mrs . Troiiy's , in Ebenezer-street , to which place , accompanied by Scott , he went , having previously
Bent for an officer , who followed them into Ebenezerstreet , where the girl was taken into custody . Mrs . TrolJy then ^ produced a rosewood work-box , which she said had been left with her by Scott , and which contained iijver to the amount of £ 47 , and Mrs . Trolly said thegirl had given her £ 2 8 s . in loose change to lay out for her . Thus was all the property , with the exception of a few shillings , recovered ; and the parcels ( containing £ 5 each , in which the money wa 3 wrapped ) being apokeu to by Mr . Smith , as tho ? e which he left with Mr . Ayrey on Saturday , and the other parts of the evidsnee being detailed to the magistrates , the prisoner was committed to take her trial for the offence at the next borough sessions .
Fire and Loss of Life , —On Saturday morning l&et , about six o'clock , & fire winch mij ; ht have been attended with the most serious results , broke out in the drying-room , at ths flax-spinning mill , occupied by Mr . Wm ^ Hill , at the corner of Lady-lane and Mill Garth-sireet , in ; hs rear of the extensive premises of Messrs . Jackson , tobacco-manufacturers , ro whom the property belongs . It appears that an old and respo .-ied servant , named John Sharp , had the care of the drying-room , the flwr of which is composed of iron grating to admit the heat , and it is entered from the boiler-house by means of & trap door , iastened" Qown by a padlock , and the supp o « on iB thai . Sharp , on t'Oin ^ to UDlodr it , bad b : s lamp in his hand , the ilaine from which came in
contact , by soms means , wiih the yarn by which the grated floor was cov ^ rjd , and by which the entire room was soon in a b ! az ; . Sharp gave an instan ; alarm , and proceeded with the engine-man into the room , to endeavuur to *• xiin # uuh the flames ; in this , however , tlwy were unsuccessful , and ihe engineer , s » eii ; g ihe danger they tnrein , got through the trap door and called upon Sharp to follow him . This the poor fellow was unable to do , in eonEequc-ncs of the tire gaining upon him , and having already communicated to his clothes ; but a bucket of water being thrown through the grating , bo far cleared the fire as 10 enable him to see his way out , and he fell
dovra the xrap door , dreadfully burnt . He was renyjrtd to the Infirmary , wcere he died the same r ; i , iai . Some engines iv ^ re socu after upon the spot , and ine nx-e vras got entirely under before 5-ven o ' clock , having done damage to the amoun ; of £ li ) 0 , tne whole of which ia cov <_ red by insurance . On Monday morning , an inquest was held upon the remains of Sharp , before : > lr . Blackburn , the coronor , when , after hearing the circumstances detailed , the Jury returned a verdict of " Accidental death . " Sharp was sixty years of age , a widower , and has leftseTen children , most of wnom are grown up ; he was highly respecied .
GLASGOW . —Tbeprosectit'OJi of theshopocrats of Gl ^ sgo-m , and its suburban districts , is still £ oh ; g on wita uaa . bate _ d -vigour before the Justice of Peace Court . Since mylast communication , those persons appointed to examine th ^ beam ? , scales , and weights have Tisited Tollcross , Parkhead , Camlauchie , Drygate , Toll Green , and Blue Vale , and have had » goodly number of the honest tea-farihiag , rigidlyrighteous , and ten-pound-wise shopkeepers of these villages fined for cheating and robbing the ignorant strinhAmv-tHude ont of their hard-won earnings , with light weights . In these districts the crime is , if possible , of s still deeper dye , a 3 the population is composed principally of hand-loom weavers , whose average'wages do not amount to more than four or five shillings * per week . I have made a calculation of the fines of abcut 150 , taken at random , and I find the amount to be £ VJ" 8 s . ; besides , a number
of these have been ani = rced in expencea . Who now wiil have the audacity to donbt that Johnny Finality , the champion general of the Church by law established , the throne , and the aristocracy , has not shewn hi 3 great wisdom in thu 3 selecting the shopkeepers &s his electoral standard of intelligence and honesty , in his humbug Reform Bill 1 There "is only one law for tb&rich and the poor , it is said . What arrant nonsense , when we Eee the contrary every day 1 A poor girl , working in 3 steam-locm factory , was sent to Bridewell for sixty days , and her nape made public , for purloining about a yard of calico cloth oat of the factory ; while these middle-class mra , who have plundered ihe public of thousand * of pounds , get off with a pa " : ; ry fine , which they can easily afford to pay out of the plunder , and sacrifice noae of their luxuries all the while . —Correspondent .
WAKEFISLD . —At the Wakefield Debating Society , on the ltth instant , at the Temperance Hotel . Westgate , an excellent paper was read by Mr . D . Srr&Uow , on Co-operation ; after which a debate took place , which was conducted in the best of spirit for and against . At the conclusion , it was annuonced that there was a Co-operative Society just formed in Waken 3 ld , which held its meetings every week , at tho house of Mr . Whl Swallow , Kirkgsie , for the purpose of transacting the business of the society , and enrolling new members . It was also announced that there will be a tea meeting on Shrove Tnesday : after which several of the members will address the meeting .
itOTTDOl * . —Snnur Meetings of the Working Classes . —A large meeting of the above class was held Jan Sunday evening , at the Working Man ' s Chapel , Dock Head , Bermondaey ; when , after a comfortable tea , two hard-working men addressed the -meeting on the difference between true Christianity and the Christianity of the present day ; and al ? o an inqtrry into what was truth , and shewed , in a very forcible manner , that the people , instead -vf paying the priest some two or three hundred pounds a year for thinking and praying for them , must , in order to arrive at truth , do the work themselves , by employing the faculties God has given them . The meeting was highly deiighted ; and we hope , that , although the priests and the religions bigots are up in arms at this attempt to enlighten the people , it is only the commencement of-a great . movem ent in this wicked , priestridden Bibei . —Correspondent .
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Ladies Rkpeluxg Bcrglabs . —The MisseB Cox , of Newton , two maiden ladies , who live on their property , and farm in a small way , displayed great courage in repelling some burglars . They were awoke by the villains presenting themselves at their room door , one of whom levelled & pistol at the twister who was in bed next the door ; the object of his attack fainted away . The other sister , alarmed at the noise , m = hed out of bed , and struck the man ivho had the pistol , which she knocked out of his hand . A struggle ensued , and the lady actually
sacceeded in thrusting the fellow out of the room . She , however , ultimately became exhausted , and was forced back into the room , being so dreadfully beaten with the pistol on the arms , shoulder , and face , as w be incapable of further resistance . The noise of tha struggle awoke the servants , one of whom escaped down stairs , and succeeded in reaching a cottage immediately adjacent . Miss Cox was on tho point of giving up her purse , containing a considerable amount m g » ld , as the condition on which their lives should ce spared , when voices were heard outside . The burglars then made off .
DlSTBBSS AMOKS THB RlSAKD WEAVERS OJ C « VEStrt . —Taere are , it is supposed , in Coventry aioue , bewreea 40 , 0 * 0 and 50 , 000 inhabitants at this time , of whom upwards of 20 , 000 axe journeymen riband waavers . Since the protecting duty has been taken off the imported manufactures , French riband * have inundated the market , which by some means or other not only compete with , but entirely take the lead from , the English factors in the home market . When in fall -work , it is computed that the poor weavers do not earn more than 7 s . or 83 . per week at the very extreme , and many of them have wives and large families . Go which way you will , distress st&rss you hard , in the face , and the poor wretches all arouid are literally starving to death ! A man a day or two since diea of starvation in Combermereclose , leaving a wife who was enceinte , and a large family too . Last week the out-relief for the poor of the parish of Coventry alone w& 3 bestowed uponabout 1 , 0 * 0 poor fanilies .
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Harwell ' Lumatic Astlttm . —Mr . Ewart has entered a notice on the Commons' books , that on Thursday , the 25 th instant , he will move the appointment of & Select Committee "to inquire into the general management and medical treatment pur-Bued in the Pauper Lunatic Asylum at Hanwell , Middlesex ; and to report thereon . "—A most useful inquiry , and one that , if well pursued , cannot rail to elicit much valuable information . An TJndkxtablk Fact . —A fellow w * s brought np t « Marlborough-street Police-office on Saturday
, charged with stealing handkerchiefs from a shop in Burlington Arcade . On being charged with the theft , the prisoner had ran oat of the shop , but was captured . He denied that he had taken the missing handkerchief . Mr . Dyer asked why be ran out of the shop . The prisoner replied that he waa very suddenly taken queer , " and he hsd been obliged to run for it -to save his reputation . This part of the prisoner ' s story was corroborated b y a ** fact " little thought of , which everybody who had a nose in Court was fully competent to bear witness to . The prisoner was remanded till Wednesday .
CATHOLrc ASSISTAKCE TO A PROTESTANT CXEKGYkan . —A letter from th « county of Sligo gives an account of a fire at the residence of Dean Hoare , which , but for the untiring exertions of the Roman Catholio parishioners , daring an entire night , would have totally destroyed the house , out offices , and the corn and hay in the haggard . Nothing oould exceed the zeal of the peasantry on this occasion . If it be paid that the Dean of Achonry owes his popularity to his Liberal political principles , then we say that inasmuch a >» it cannot be denied by his most virulent opponents than Dean Hoare is as good a Protestant , religiously speaking , and as active and diligent in the performance of his duties , as any of his clerical brethren , this affords an evidence that if the Protestant clergy be not universally beloved by their Catholic parishioners , it is owing not to their religious sea ] , but to their violent political animosity towards the Roman Catholics .
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" Will yon be kind enough to point out the difference between my definition of Household Suffrage and the Sufirage of the Charter ?"—Johm Colliks . "WewilL "—Ed . N . S . As the advocacy of our principles is an undertaking from which we have never yet shrunk ; and as we have fearlessly thrown down the gauntlet in defence of the principle of Universal Suffrage , as laid down in the People ' s Charter , against every other description of franchise , we now proceed to point out the striking difference between Universal Suffrage and cmy definition which can be given of Household Suffrage . However imperceptible the distinction may appear to some , the difference is a 6 peat as between a chesnut horse and a horse chesnut .
There is no mention of , or hint at , Household Suffrage , vrith any qualification of residence , from th- ^ beginning to the end of the Charter . The word " Household' * is only once mentioned ; and , in that one insi&nce , it clearly , specifically , and unambiguously pomt 3 ont the distinction intended to be made be : w ^ ea an elector and a householder . Nay , it assigns to them separate functions as regards the question of franchise ; but sve will hunt up to it from ihe very preamble . The d- cu ncnt is entitled : —
" The People's Ciiauteu , being the oittlike of an Act to pruvii ' . e for the ju 3 t representation of the people ot ( ireat liritaia and Ireland , in tl . e Commons House of Parliaratr . i ; embracing the P 3 n . \ ciPL £ S of Universal Buffrastf . " and &o foith . After setting forth the objects of the Charter , it proceeds thus with its enacting provisions : — " Be it therefore enacted , that from and after the passing of tkis Act , evory male inhabitant of these realms be entitled U > v « jte for the election of Membtra of Parliament , subject , however , to the following conditions : —
" 1 . That he be a native of these realms , or 0 foreigner who has lived in this country upwards of two years , and been ruturn ! Led . " 2 . That he be twenty- <; ne years of age . " 3 . That he be not proved insane when the lists of voters are retised . " 4 . That he be not convicts d of felony within % xs months from and after the passing of this Act . " 5 . That his electoral rights b « not suspended for bribery at elections , or for personation , or fur forgery of election certificates , according to the penalties of this Act "
Now , such are the provisions of the Charter , as far as the principle of tho Suffrage is involved , and we incline to think that nothing cau be more plain or more simple . The fin * , mention which we find of a ' house- " ia in the 2 nd clause , defining the duties of the registration clerk , and having 110 earthly reference- to the vote . After other matter , it states , that the clerk shall take , or cause to bo taki-n , rouiid to every dwelling-house in his parish , a printed notice of the following form : —
" Mr . John Jones , —Teuare hereby required , within six days of tne date hereof , to fill up this list with the names of all male inhabitants of your house of twenty-one years of age and upwards ; stating their respective agts and the time they have resiiied with you , or , in neglect thereof to forfeit the sum of £ 5 . " Here is a duty imposed upon householders , or persons in charge of dwelling-houses , with which the voters have nothing whatever to do . The next mention which we find of the word " house , " and the Bole mention of the word "householder , " with the exception of its use in connection with the laying of a tax for defraying the expence of elections , is in the first clause for the arrangement for registration , and runs thus : —
" Bs it enacted that every Householder , as well as every person occupying or having charge of a dwellinghouse , who shall receive a notice from the registration clerk , as aforesaid , shall cause the said notice to be tilled up with the names , ages , and time of residence , of every male inhabitant in his or her bouse , of twentyone years of age and upward *"—and so forth . Now , from this clause , which appears to have been wisely , jealously , and unambiguously drawn up , after mature consideration , for the distinct and suk purpose of drawing the line of demarcation between the principle of Universal Suffrage , and any definition -which could be given to the franchise in connection with a " house" in any shape , we learn the the objeci of its framers .
Theframers , to contradistinguish man ' s inalienable right from a fictitious and limited substitute , clearly , forcibly , and beautifully point out the difference between animate and inanimate franchise , making the inanimate tho mere bcus in quo" and assigning distinct duties to occupants in furtherance of the rights of man . Hence , to provide against evasion , monopoly , or equivocation , vre find the several modes of tenure simplified , by setting forth the different sorts of possession of a house . We find the terms " householder , " " occupying , or having charge of a dwelling-bouse , " used aa regards the
person who is to mako the return ; while the age , sex , and time of residence of tha voter is the thing to be specified . Nay , more , to prove still further , we , find that the owner may be disfranchised or not entitled to the franchise ; while every room may bo occupied by a number of qualified electors : hence does the house become tho mero post-office , or place of delivery of the several notice papers , without any reference whatever to its being held , occupied , or kept in charge , aa regards the qualification of the person holding , occupying , or having the charge .
We prove our position thus : the Charter does not qualify women ; while it directs that a notice paper Bhall be left at bis or her house . The next striking difference between any property in , or possession of , a house , as contradistinguished from the Charter-franchise , will be found in the following clause of penalties : — " That any person who shall be convicted , as aforegaid , of iriifully neglecting to fill up hi « or her notice paper within the proper time , or of leaving out the name of any inmate in his or her notice paper , shall , for the first offence , incur the penalty of five poundi , and for the second three months' imprisonment . "
Now , here again we find a duty imposed upon those always on the spot , and connected with the property ; in fact , a kind of trust , for tbe protection of the voter . All through is this nice distinction kept full in view .
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We h » Te now , with one single exception , to which we shall presently refer , set forth not only the implied , bat the well-defined distinction pointed out in tbe Charter , between property of any description and the right of the voter . We proceed , then , to argue the principle of the Charter more at large . We have always declared for the principle , the whole principle , and nothing short of the principle ; in fact , for the spirit and essence of the Charter ; setting forth Universal Suffrage as the axis , the pivot , upon which the several other questions turned . Our friends will award us the justice to
say that we hare most scrupulously avoided entering into any minute detail as to the benefits which the measure would confer upon the community at large . We have , it is true , shown how it would uproot vice * and plant Virtue in its stead ; we have pointed out the anomalies and injustice of several departments , and shown what its effect upon these departments would be ; but we have not attempted to define any set code of laws which the new state of society would require : upon the contrary , we have ev « r held and argued that such an undertaking would be presumptuous ; in fact , an individual
dictation to universal opinion . We have , over and over again , told our readers that nothing more tended to arm our opponents with arguments and plausible opposition , than the wild chimeras which undigested opinion may parade as tho anticipated fruits of the Charter . While the wisest predictions , with respect to its probable working , are wholly passed over and left unnoticed by the press and its opponents , the most incoherent anticipations of the most rambling brain are anxiously seized upou as ground of opposition . Our motto has ever been , " arm the people with their rights , and we are ready to obey the laws which shall result . "
We take the Charter , in its present stato , as the mere declaration of a principle ; and in such form we have no right to expect to find it more perfect than the Acts of our wise and paid rulers in a similar stage . If a Minister—a paid Ministermoves for leave to bring in a Biilj upon a subject affecting the interests of the empire at large , no more is expected from him upon the first , or even the second reading , than a mere outline of its principle . The principle being agreed upon , it goes , after two readings , into a Committee of the whole
House , with a view to its legal arrangement ; and even in the hands of those of whose fitness the people are " reasonably deemed" incompetent to judge , we find , in nine cases out of ten , that the whole principle , the one thing agreed upon , has been omitted , and a new principle introduced and legislated upon . Of this we cannot give a more perfect or happy illustration than the omission in the Reform Bill of the # rand principle , —the only principle for which the majority contended , and which the country carried , —namely , " that taxation and representation should be co-exteiisiva . "
We , take then , the Charter , in its present state , as declaratory of a principle , and suffiVieudly explicic for a first reading . Are we asked if ihe detail . " , as they at present stand , are perfect , or anything like it ? Wo at once and unhesitatingly admit , that they are not ; that we could point cut , and e » could the men who framed it , numeroup , serious , and palpable errors , which , under revision , wo ; ild be corrected . No human legislation can be perfect ; but we look to time , and the good wcrkiu ^ of the great principle which it advocates , as the means of making institutions uudor its provisions as wise , as wholesome , as just , and as applicable to existing society * as any measure can * be expected to produce . Nay ,
we even admit , in the outset , that the Charter , in its details , has committed tho very blunder of which wo complain in the Reform Bill ; namely , that it noi only does not make representation and taxation co-extensive , but it actually leaves the constituent body wholly untaxed , —un taxed for a boon of which they are the especial gainers , —and throws the whole weight of the only tax it mentions , either upon a very small minority of the electors , or upon tbose who are deprived of tho franchise altogether . Here , then , to prove our assertion , we refer to the otherinstanco in which " householders" is mentioned in the Charter , as if the very mention of the thing , in any shape , waa designed to damn it . The 17 th clause , under the head " arrangem ents for elections , ' runs thus : — ¦ 1 ¦
" That ail tho expenco of registration , nomination , and election , as aforesaid , together with the salaries of the returning officer , deputy returning officer , registration clerk , assistants , constables , and such other persons as may be necessary ¦ , as well us the expeuee of all balloting , ballot-boxes , hustings and other necessaries for the purpose ef this Act , bo paid but of an eqnr . ble district' rate , which a district board , composed of one parochial officer , chosen by each of the parU'ues in the district , or for any two or more parishes if united for the purposes of this Act , are hereby empowered and commanded to levy on alt householders within the district "
Now , suppose a rural parish to contain twenty thousand acres of land , with two hundred houses * and the land principally in parks and grazing grounds , there we have the householders liable to distress for tho whole expences of the election . Bu t let u 3 suppose a case where the householder miy be disfranchised , and yet have to pay . This wovild occur in all cases where houses were held by , in occupation of , or in charge of , women . This sufficiently illustrates the injustice . A nice
disputant may handle it thus : " Why , you give a landlord a vote out of his owe house ; while you exempt him from payment of any portion of the tax and lay the tax upon one who has no voto . " This instance would occur in cases which very often happen , namely , where elderly men decline business and let the establishment to a ^ thrifty woman , with whom the landlord becomes a lodger , and , consequently , a voter ; here the landlord would be a voter and yet exempt from tax incurred by the election , while the tenant would be disfranchised and liable
to tho tax .. Well , but observe the blunders of our superiors . The collective wisdom actually passed a Bill for the establishment of a police force in Dublin , which received the Royal assent ; and in its local arrangement for operation , what obstacle does tho reader suppose presented itself to its good working ? Why only the small omission of not making any provision for the payment of tho force , whioh is not a usual , error with our rulers ; but , in consequence of this omission , unhappy Dublin was , for a year , deprived of the blessings of the " boon . "
Now , the Charter Committee have , at all events , thought of the needful , however inconsiderately they have resolved upon levying it . But doeB any Bane man ( and the Charter only provides for the enfranchisement of such ) suppose that such an error would be even left for a committee of the whole House to correct I No , it would strike nine out of every ten working men upon its being re-read . Now , let us see how the Reform Bill played the taxation w thimble rig . " It acknowledged as its principle , that " taxation and representation should be co-extensive "—in fact , Siamese twins . Well , how do they play the juggle out ! Why , thun : — They say " so they are co-extensive ; property is represented , and property only is taxed . " Tru « ,
true , very true ; but who pays the tax ! the owner of the property , or the man "whose labour brings it from darkness to light — from unproductive lumber to manufactured use I The labourer not only pays the direct tax indirectly , but he also pays the enormous profit of two , three , four , and five hundred per cent , which the direct tax-payer indirectly screws from the labourer and consumer . Who pays the increase of ten per cent , laid upon the taxes by Mr . Baring ? The labourer pays that amount to Government , and four times as much to the masters , or shopkeepers , as their tax and profit upon their liability . We must make this very plain ; we will therefore analyse it in its double bearing .
Firstly , —If an increase tax of £ 200 per annum is put directly upon a master who employs 500 men , he will not stop to inquire what is ( he
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exact amount which , in such case , deducted from the wages of each man , would balance the loss , but he makes a sweeping reduction to cover losses ; and , in order to expose to the labouring classes the abominations of the system , the 500 men would con-Bidet themselves honourably dealt with if the master said , I must take a penny a day , or sixpence a week , off each man's wages to meet this new imposition . " Well , what would be the result ! That he , by snob reduction , would fob £ 650 a year , to pay a £ 200 pound tax ; and , as it is much more likely that he would reduce a shilling a week than sixpence , he would make a profit of £ 1 , 200 , in a reduction on labour , upon the £ 200 tax ; and if he employed a thousand labourers he would make a profit of £ 2 , 500 .
We state this thus minutely for two reasons : firstly—To proTe that masters are gainers by taxes so long as they represent themselves , and can ecrow them out of labour ; and secondly—To show the working men the items of which their grievances are made up . In like manner , if a shopkeeper has to pay ten per cent increase upon his taxes , he makes his profit , no matter what he deals in , by a rise in his prices . If the Government were to lay a duty of fourpence per pouad upon soap , tomorrow , the man who uses it would pay sevenpence ; and this is the thing to abolish which eome of our friends are foolish enough to believe those very parties would join the Chartists . Fudge !
Now we come to closer quarters with our subject . The people joined the House of Commons' leaders for the Reform Bill , upon tho principle which we have defined . The long denunciation of abuse very naturally inspired the non-elective portion of the community with confidence in their old leaders—the implacable enemies of Tory abuse . The new system was to simplify all that was complex . Well , the leaders and people joined were irresistible : they carried that same principle ; but when agitation ceased , and active legislative
power was placed in the hands of those who were PRACric / itty to work out the principle agreed upon , what was the result ! Just this : that confidence lulled Ruspioion , and popular ignorance and indifference allowed the leaders to frame a measure as different from that forwhich the people struggled as light from darkness , and then the leaders turned round and said , "O ! that ' s the thing u-e always meant ; and the thing wo thought you meant . It is property that is now taxed aud not you ; and therefore we have worked out the grand principle . "
We mention this forcibly to shew the absolute necessity of any measure which shall be hereafter framed to regulate the suffrage bek'g so thoroughly agreed upon between those who carry it outside and those who mould it into law inside , as to admit of no mistake . Let auy man take a review of a measure which was to simplify the law as regards representation , and he will very soon find that a great portion of tho Govornmeat ' . s strength consists in taugling the fikoin and mystifying mystification . Look at Fifty Pound Tenants-at-Will :
Twenty Pound . N 011-resident Leaseholders ; Ten Pound Beneficial Interest ; Fifty Pound Freehold ; Freemen with their tcvoral qualifications ; Forty Shilling Freeholders ; Parsons , and their re ; -pec : m : Tithes ; Trustees of Property ; Ten Pound Householders , with the notices of application , payment of rates and taxes , description of premises , and so forth ; and now fifteen now Judges for Hfe to make mystery more mysterious ; and , we 3 . sk , is that the Reform Bill , the simple Bill for which the people contended !
Let our readers always bear this striking fact in view—that whatever House of Commons may be called upon to pass the Charter into law , will do it against their will , and upon popular coercion ; but , nevertheless , they will be the body who will have to do it : and the Charter boiD £ the next change which we hope to see effected , let us ask what favour its principles is likely to recoive from' the National Petition groaners !! For this reason , then , it is our duty to sharpen public aeal for the furtherance of
the measure ; to instruct our readers how to insure tho application of proper details for moulding the measure into tho very thing they have asked for , and no other , into law ; to create a becoming suspicion and a laudable jealousy , lesfc a second miscarriage take place through any misunderstanding 1 between the people and those who shall apply details to the principle ; and , above all , to close every back door , or passage , by which an escape may be made from the principle of the measure .
No man , in his senses , supposes that the passing of the Charter , as we advocate it , would be pleasing work for any one single member of the present House of Commons . If this be admitted , then upon what rests the people ' s strength of hope for the full accomplishment of the Charter ! Why , doubtless , upon a conviction in the mind of members that the people fully understand what tliey ask for , and are fully resolved upon having nothing else .
If we were desired to pick from tho operative class , six hundred and fifty-eight men , of twentyone years age , as ignorant as our six hundred and fifty-eight representatives , we should fiud tho thing impossible . The members of the House of Commons know no more about the cause of the present general distress , or of popular organization , than the child unborn . Indeed , how should they ! They read in one book , and the people in another . They fence themselves behind the Church , the army , the navy , the throne , prerogative , law of nations , constitutional power of parliament , and 60 forth , according
to their notions of the several influences of those branches ; while the people look upon all those as so many excrescences produced byclasslegislafcion . They never dream that the present distress and discontent arise out of the failure of the Reform Bill . They never give themselves time to think that that measure , in its progression , has gone on multiplying the plunderers , whilo it has diminished the means ot the plundered : in fact , that it has , by a transfer of power to new bands , and under new circumstances , increased the number of gamblers , while it has diminished tho Btakea to be played for .
Formerly , oar Parliaments , as trustees of the publie funds and purveyors for public service , had the first pnll at the purae ; and the masters had the second pull out of the residue , the labourers having a pull out of the land , in the first instance , if made idlers by speculation . But , by tho Reform Bill , the power was thrown into the hands of the owners of property made by labour ; and the masters , in their covetousness , are pulling , and pulling , and pulling 80 hard , and tbe House of Commons is so completely at their mercy , that , in a short time , our rulers will find that they must bo content with a second pull , and that very little will be lefs them after tho gamblers are satisfied .
Fourteen days now creates a greater revolution in the money market than fourteen years formerly . The raw material is now purchased at Liverpool on fourteen days' credit ; and as speculation increases credit will multiply , but confidence will become diminished , which must also be paid for by increased discount , commission , and inconvenience . On all this the masters , as long as the things holds , will have a profit , which labour will have to pay ; and , then , labour will also have to pay for Rural Police , and all the means of coercion for upholding this unnatural and artificial state of things .
Having said so much upon the necessity of a perfect understanding between those who are to ask and those who are to give , and upon the abuses which are to be corrected , we again ask if the gamblers are going to allow the stakes to be whipfc up all at once by Universal Suffrage 1 If the reverse of this is conceded to us , we then ask if they are likely to join in the enforcement of any description of franchise , call it by what name it may , which will produce such a result .
The demand for Household Suffrage is made by two classes , each having a totally distinct object in view . The wealthy advocates use it aa a means to
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O smother Universal Suffrage , when it shall have attained such a height as to arrest public attention . The more dependant classes use it selfishly , for th » purpose of enfranchising themselves , and thereby enabling them to obtain , as we before stated , a license to play chicken hazard , while the great gamblers play for high stakes at the great Hell ; and the result would be , a further augmentation of players and » farther diminution of the stakes played for . The players at chicken hazard would take care that their means should no longer furnish funds for those above them ; and they Would lustily claim the privilege of plundering those below them , or the unenfranchised classes . Aud now for the direct answer to Collins ' s short
question . He says— " Will you be kind enough to point out the difference between my definition of Household Suffrage , and the Suffrage of the Charter V We will . There is just this difference : —That there is no mention of Household Suffrage , or House Suffrage of any kind , in tho Charter . The difference between Household Suffrage and Universal Suffrage , qualified by residence in a house , is as great as the
difference between landlord and tenant ; as great as the difference between fund-holder and fundpayer ; as great as the difference between a Protestant parson and his Catholic fleeced flock ; in fact , as great as great caa be , and for this one simple reason , if we had no other—that , by any definition , which art could put en the term " House hold" Suffrage , not more than one person could vote out of a house , be it never so largo ; while fifty may vote o " ut of one house , according to the ttrmB oi residence contained in the Charter .
Landholder means one person -who has some title to , or possession of ,-land ; fundl : older means one person -who has property in the funds ; and householder means some one person who holds a house in his or her actual possession . Possession is noi necessary to constitute a landholder ; possession is necessary to constitute a householder , and therefore , is it even more limited , in legal signification , than the term landholder ! So much for the legal definition : and now aa to the consequences of agitating under a defined term , intended to be more comprehensive than its legal of reseived acceptation would admit of .
If the word " Householder" is most innocently used as a means of catching the timid or courting the doubtful , it will be most viciously applied by those wlio are to frame the law , after public opinion has decid « d upon the principle . We have already shown how misplaced confidence and want of jealous watching , destroyed the identity betwosn tba People's Bill and their Leaders' Bill . We haYe showu how mystery was " more mystified , when all thought they were agreed upon the principle . And if to-morrow , there was a measure about to be legislated upon , based upon popular demand
fur any definition of Household Suffrage ; or , if the very name was mentioned , the' people would have no just cause of complaint if they received a Bill , based upon the legal , the common , tho only acceptation of the term , namely , a right to a vote vested in " every householder , which means one person wbo holds a house from another , or occupies one of his own . The term would not even extend the right to occupants ; or persons in charge of dwelling-houses ; much less would it
extend it to porsona residing or lodging for any term ; and , bo far from a set df bears tied to stakes and legislating with sick hearts , extending the acceptation of the term " householder , " we should , in about the niue hundred and fiftieth clause , and , when excitement had wholly passed away , find a nica question ; first , for tho solution of registering barristers , and open for the judges upon appeal , and then for the people , when jhey had been fairly humbugged out of their measure , and wearied into apathy .
Wo ate engaged in preparing a clear and intelligble case to submit to a dogged and a hostile jury ; tho Household Suffrage -party are engaged in supplyiug quirks , quibbles , and points , to mystify tho jury , and evade our just claim . We may be asked if residence is not a description of tenure which would operate unfavourably towards the claimants \ We answer , no ; tenure is a titlo derived from the superior lord , while residence is derived from the mere occupant , and residenee
is a thing with which no landlord , or " combination of landlords , could interfere to any injurious effect , and for this simple reason : where there is a demand there will be a supply ; - aad if all the landlords-inchief of a voting district were to set their faces against allowing Chartist voters to obtain a qualification by residence in premises over which they had controul , yet would there always be found a sufficient number of householders , independent of landlords , or living in their own houses , to furnish residenoe to Whig , Tory , or Chartist who would pay .
Mr . Collins may say , " Why ,-that's . what I meant . " Wo know it , Mr . Collins ; and therefore have we treated jour question seriously , elaborately , and respectfully ; but it is not eo much what yott mean that adds importance to our coincidence of opinion , as the construction which others may pot upon your meaning . Andnow , to put you in the best position which you could desire , wo not only admit the sincerity of your meaning , but we also admit , for argument ' s sake , the truth of it—namely » that your definition of Household Suffrage and the Chartist Suffrage areidentical . Then , Mr . Collins , call the spado a spade . The false bait won't catch .
a single mackerel , whi ' . e it would lose many a sprat . If you are still to preserve the principle of the Charter Suffrage , hope not to soften middle-class animosity by the epeeiousness of terms , while others perversion of your meaning may place a rock in your course . The people are now honest ; they are informed ; they are intelligent ; they are one and all laid upon the right scent : we require no foil to cross it . Tho very name would take hundreds from our ranks in disgust , while it would not add a single convert to our force . Household Suffrage would represant monopoly ; Universal Suffrage would represent poverty .
We trust , that our willingness to answer a question not too courteouvly asked , will convince those for whom we write , that we shrink not from the performance of any duty which the advocacy of their cause imposes upon us ; while we have an equal confidence that Mr . Colliss will now see that we had reasons , cogent , full , and ample , without recourse to any factious feeling , for making that comment which has extracted from him so erroneous an opinion . We do not belong to that class who would prostitute themselves to the support of a mere distinction without a difference for the purpose of maintaining party ascendancy bj serious warfare .
In conclusion , wo beg to thank Our friond tot being the cause of thus drawing us into a new field * we feel assured that it will satisfy all parties , that the people ' s cause requires but a fair stage and argument to prove its justice ; while the happy reauJ will be to unite us all once more in a bond of brotherly love and union , marshalled under the oM banners under which we have been so long accus tomed to fight and conquer . We now , after our two weeks of bickering , tender the olive branch : but our union and our lore must depend upon a thorough understanding that Universal Suffrage means no other Suffrage ; and thai every man who seeks , henceforth , to prove othe > wise , calls the Star his enemy .
We trust that the length of this article needs no ' apology ; it is but a condensation of that knowledge which we have derived from the ¦ ignorant ' * people * and whioh we thus give back in a more digested form . ATe » t ' - "Unitbrsav Sdpfbage" is our YwMGt& iL __ j * P \ l > p "No SoBKENDsa" our Motto . We tBftt . ffi PP" 7 7 "~ r - ' - . - ^ we have answered Mr , Coluksin a m&slyiVBlifeftl * rr ' v yand a proper spirit . Rp % ? ivv \ ^ C n ^ - ^ Dv v ^ . ^ -W
Swttrg.
swttrg .
The Noetheen Star Saturday, February 2«, 1841.
THE NOETHEEN STAR SATURDAY , FEBRUARY 2 « , 1841 .
The Charter Suffrage Versus The Parliamentary H-O-U-S-E.
THE CHARTER SUFFRAGE versus THE PARLIAMENTARY H-O-U-S-E .
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¦ THE NORTHERN STAR . !>
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Feb. 20, 1841, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1097/page/3/
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