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ANOTHER "PLEA EOE THE POOR."
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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 MY UNREPRESENTED BRETHREN IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND . Lancaster Castle , August 10 th , 1841 . My DE * a FaiESDS , —I am invited to meet a great ¦ many friends ia England and Scotland after my liberation ; that is to « ay , after the Slth of September—the day on -which my term of eighteen months' imprisonment expires . In some p laces I am invited to public dinners ; in others , to soirees , or tea-parties ; and in several places , it is intended ( as I am informed ) to honour me with vtbat are called "Demonstrations ; " that is , processions or pnblic entries , preceded by bands of mnsic , and -with the usual accompaniments of flags , frfrrmpm , portraits , mottos , &e . &c . Now , my friends , it is to this latter point , I wish to draw your attention—I mean the dtmonEtrations and the public dinners .
I > e-nonstrations and public dinners are very costly things , especially the former . They are also , in my opinion , ( unless on great occasions ) , very unnecessary and useless things . The late demonstrations in Manchester , Dundee , Glasgow , and many other places cost , < n an average , more than forty guineas each . Some of the Kereal-moor and Peep-green demonstrations cost one hundred guineas and upwards . If all the money that his been expended upon demonstrations since the movement began in 1838 , -were now forthcoming for useful and practical purposes , it would make a good rouad sum : The -wages that -workpeople haTe hat through attending demonstration * -would mike a still larger sum ; and the largest of all -would be the sum of what -workmen hare lost through dismissal or loss of
empleyment consequent upon their attending demonstrations . Fifteen poor fellows lost their employment altogether , for attending a demonstration once given to me by my -warm-hearted constituents in Leigh , Chowbent , &c I -was taken by surprise on that occasion , not having hid the remotest intelligence of -what was to occur , until on my approach to Leigh , I saw half a mile of a procession marching out to meet me . My friends in Leigh will remember how erieved I was , at what they intended for my gratification , and what too many others wouid be bat too proud to -witness . But the sequel proved I was right When I he-ird , on the following day , that fifteen poor fellows had been turned off by their
employers , I cursed myself for haying entered the tows , and I made a solemn tow neTer again to have a demonstration got vp for me , if I could present it , until the time should come when the people , after obtaining K > me signal victory OTer thuir oppressors , might be able to attend demonstrations without entailing upon them-¦ elvts the harrowing consequence of seeing their wives and children -without bread . To that' vow—made though it -was in the bitterness of spirit—I have ever lince religiously adhered . I have never allowed any demonstration to take place for me that I possibly could prevent , and , -srith Crsd ' s blessing , I never will , until either tyranny has ceased to live amongst us , or I have ceased to live jayself .
I do , therefore , most earnestly introat of yon , my friends , not to think of demonstrations so far as 1 am concerned . Do what you like in respect of iir . O'Connor and others : it is your right ; and if you and they are satisfied , no other party has a right to find fiult 1 am not one of those starched personages who object to demonstrations in honour of others , because I decline them for myself , or who would apply degrading nicknames to any form , of procedure , or modus operandi , by ¦ wh ich the people may choose to give public expressien to their feelings , and to vent their hoaest enthusiasm . It is your right te choose your own mode of doing honour to these to -whom you think honour is due ; and if the persons bo honoured are consenting parties to , « nd satisfied -with , what you do , it is only envy" or
impudence that -would -presume to call into question your act . I may tfrnnV demonstrations , in certain cases , to be " foolish and Tain displays , " but others may think differently . In all such cases , it is for the people , and those they honour , and for them only , to decide . 1 daim no right whateTer to make suggestions , pro or ton ., as regards demonstrations got np for others , ily ejections apply exclusively te those intended for myself : I am , by constitution and temperament , unfit to address large open-air meetings . Other people are not I consider that the expence of demonstrations , and the losses in wages and employment ¦ which they inTariably cause , are seldom compensated for , by any effects they produce . Others think d : fierentlj . I am of opinion that np to this moment , we lave not obtained & single Tictory OTer our enemies , but on the contrary , haTe suffered many and grievous reverses through the folly and treachery of leaders in our o-svn p ^ rty , —and holding this opinion , I cannot ,
and -wiU not , be a consenting party to processions and " triumphal" entries , with bands playing " See the conquering htro cornea , " 4 c . —all of -which—in the case of a beaten man like me—I should consider to be bo much Tsm-foolery , or something worse . If I coald bring myself to consent to a public . ee 2 . ti . 0 n anywhere , it -would be in bonnie New- i a stle , -where something like a victory has betn ob- ; tained in connection with my name . But even there shalL decline every thing of the kind , until I see whether the Tictory can be turned to a useful account . On these and similar points , other persona , I am aware , bold very different opinions from mine . Thty consider the cause of Chanism to hare had little eis « than % succession of triumphs from the commencement . Nay , they actually regard the result of the late general fledion is a triumph far tha people . Well , let them ¦ try tbe cherisbfcd conviction . Such persjns can havt none of my objections to triumphal demonstrations .
I prefer soirees to public dinners , because they are less expensive , interfere less -with -working hours , and above all , because working men may more conveniently take their vriveB and sisters to soirees than to > ublic dinners . I do , therefore , my friends , once more urgently request of you to get up no demonstrations or public dinners , but ai many soirees as you like for Tour ' s , sincerely , James B 0 'Bk . ies . ^^^^_ ... IJLf-. - .
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LONDON . Masojc ' s Charter Association . — This body met on Saturday last , at their Room , the Craven ' s Head inn , Drnry Lane . Mr . Wilson was called to the chair . A resolution , appointing a Committee to act as deputations to the various trades , was carried unanimously . Mr . AVhitehorn having made a present of a- silk waistcoat , to assist the O'Connor Banner Committee , received a Tote of thanks , and the waistcoat was ordered to be raffled . Two addresses to the trades were read , and on the motion of Mr . Scott , seconded by Mx . Walker , one of them was adopted for going to the trades in London , and the other for the trades in the country . The deputations to the different trades gave in their reports which were received . Mr . Waikins lecture , on account of the pressure of Society business , was deferred till Saturday nest ; Mr . Wall ' s on the following Saturday .
Middlesex Coustt Delegatb Meetisg . —This body me ? on Sencay afternoon last , at 55 , Old Bailey ; LIr . Mills was called to the chair . The following gentlemen handed in their credentials and took their seats , viz . : —Messrs . Wheeler and Ruffj Ridley , for Kensington ; Messrs . Walton , Worthington and Wilson , from the masom body ; Messrs . Mills , Drake and M'Grath , from the Tower Hamleta ; Messrs . Knisht and Smith , from Ficsbary ; Messrs . Tapill , Humphries and Goodfellcnv , from S ; . ? a-: cra 5 ; Mr . Pickersgill , from Globe Fields ; Mr . WLkins , from North-street , Whitechapel ; and from the City of London , Messrs . Watkins and L&ngswun . Mr . Drike opposed the reception oi Mr . Picker .-jjill , but the opposition Wis overruled .
Mr . "Wheeler was unanimously appointed secretary . Messrs . Walton , Watkins , and Drake , -were appointed a finar . ee committee . Messrs . Tupsiii , "Wilson , Goodfellow , Ridley and Whee ' . er , were appointed a visiiing committee . Messrs . Humphries . M'Grath , Wilkins , Milb and Fickersgiil , were appointed a committee of observation . It -was unanimously agreed " That no person ba allowed to hold two o ince ? . " The minutes of the late Middlesex County Council were read . Mr . Fassill read a letter from Feargus O'Connor , Esq , in answer to a letter directed by the Council to be written by him to Mr .
O'Connor , in wkich he states that he feels proud o the inntarieD which the men of London had giver him to attend when liberated , that his conduct wa : approved of , and that he should certainly attend u their invitation and communicate with Messrs O'Brien and Besbow on the same subject . Mr Knigh ; moved " That the Sunday meetings bedis pensed with , ilr . Drake seconded ihe motion , t ¦ which an amendment was moved and carried by ; large majority , "That they be continued / ' Th Dslrgates after some little discussion agreed usini xnously , " That they do assist the masons in waiun on the trades . " Adjoarned till ecu Sucdav .
Towee Ha 5 ilets . —> zr . Preston lectured on Sun day evening last , at the Charter CifFte-bduse , Brrck lane , and Mr . Wall , in consequence of Mr . Spurr ' Ees-amTa ] , occasioned by a death in Ms faiaiiy , a ; tended a : the Freemason ' s Arms . Shoehasess' Charter Association . —This bod ; held its first meeting on Sunday evtnicg last , a their rooms , Ropemaker-streer , City . Thb Concert , in behalf of Bronttrre O'Brien , oi Monday last , at the City Rooms , Old Bailey , wa most numerously attended . Mr . Jocelyn presided The concert was opened by the si : ring of tb ' e Mar
seiiie * byrnc . During the evening a number oi patriotic " soii ^ s w ere sang by Mr . and Mrs . Jooeiyn Mr . Hornby , Mr . Cchen , and Mr . Tipper , vrho was encored in " the song of ** Emmett , " the company ririig and joiaiDjs in chorus to the l 3 St verse . Misi Bishop gave two recitations ; Mr . Watkins save iht ** Gladiator" from Byron ; Mr . and Mrs . Joceiyn , a cene from John Frost ; and Mrs . and Miss Ford , with Mr . Ford , gave John Frost , and many other ladies and gentlemen , among whom was Mrs . Ctockford , favoured the company , which broke up at twelve o ' elork .
FrsSBUBY . —Mr . Calverhonse lectured here on Monday evening last , to a numerous audience , his ¦ abjec ; being *• The prospects of the people under a Tory Government . " He was much applauded en the conclusion of his lecture . A letter was read from the Eseeatire , giving , a 3 the ground of the rejection O Mr . Sporr , his having thrown up his card- at a pnblic meeting . Further subscriptions were made in ebalf of the O'Cvunor Banner .
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Kejssisgtox aud Chelsea . —A public meeting was held oa Monday last , at the United Coffee House , George-street , Chelsea , Mr . Small wood in the chair . The following resolution was unanimously agreed to , and ordered to be transmitted by Mr . Wheeler to the Executive Conneil : — " That we have heard read with great pleasure , the manly and straightforward address of the National Executive to the Chartists of Great Britain , and hare the greatest confidence that their future labours will be productive of great benefit to the cause , though we cannot , at the same time , avoid expressing our regret at their not having acted upon the suggestion thrown out by the Chartists of this neighbourhood , and the metropolis generally , for securing the return of Messrs . O'Brien and Binns to the Commons' House of Parliament ; for we are well aware that if the subject be taken up by the Executive , it will be responded to with alacrity by every true Chartist throughout the empire . "
MilRidlkt , late M . C ., delivered a lecture " On the Evils of Class Legislation . " During the course of his lecture , which was most ably conducted , he described the baneful effects class legislation bad on all classes of society , the deplorable condition to which it had reduced the agricultural population of Wiltshire and the surrounding counties , through which he had passed lately on his lecturing tour ; and concluded by proving that the only panacea was the Charter . Thanks were voted to the leetnrer , and to Mr . Whitehorn for his present to the Banner Fund , and which will be raffled for on the 26 th of August . The Chairman announced a lecture by Dr . Webb , on Monday next , at this place ; and one also on SHnday evening , by Mr . Stallwood , at the Charter Coffee House , Stretton Ground , Westminster .
O . h Sp 5 dav Evbmxg last , a meeting of the Beveral divisions of journeymen boot and shoemakers of the City was held at the Bull and Bell Inn , Ropemakers-street , Moor Fields , to establish a Charter Association separate from their Trade Society . A goodly number attended , and the interest and anxiety displayed dnring the evening augur well for the establishment of a numerous and powerful Association . A deputation from the stonemasons attended to address the meeting on the cause of the Charter , and give any information required . It was resolved to form a branch of the National Charter Association ,
Another "Plea Eoe The Poor."
ANOTHER " PLEA EOE THE POOR . "
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TO THE HONOURABLE AND REVEREND BABTIST NOEL , MINISTER OF ST JOHN'S CHAPEL , BEDFORD ROW . Stb , —I wish I had the honour of being personally acquainted with you . I wiBh very much indeed that I had . I wish it , because I could then be the better judge whether I should deal with your fallacies as the goodnatured whimsy of a good-natured man , or as the subtle pleading of an interested advocate . However as I have not the hononr of being personally acquainted with yon , I must deal with your assertiona and conclusions as I find them in your pamphlet , very whimsically entitled
" A PLEA FOB THB POOR . In a postscript to my last letter to the Iribh landlords , I gave an extract from your pamphlet , as I found it in the Morning Chronicle ; and having read a great many highly complimentary comments upon your work in the two Morning and Evening " anti-monopolist " papers , as they very hnmoroualy call themselves , I was anxious to discover -whether or not judicious and fair selections had been made by the commentators from your text We barristers hold , and the law of evidence holds , that if one portion ct a letter be put in evidence ,
the parties affected by it may insist upon all being read ; and , again , that tie best evidence which can be precured should be procured- Upon those rules of practice and principles of the law of evidence , I ordered your pamphlet I have read it ; and so far from finding any qualification of the extracted parts in the text , I find that the scr sbts have , as is their enstom , withheld those very portions which , if perused by a common-sense hand-loom weaver of eighteen years of age , mait have indnced him to say , if there is no better advocate to support
"A PLEA FOR THE POOH , " "Preserve us from our friends ! " for , verily we shall perish under their tender mercies ! Now , the passage of all others -which struck me as being the most monstrous , appears to have gained for you the highest amount of Editorial praise . 1 quote ii again . Here it is — " There is an opinion sometimes expressed by well meaning persons , that -we ought to keep np the agricultural population , and prevent the multiplication of great manufacturing towns , with all their disagreeable
accompaniments of dirt and smoke and noise . But this opinion is surely thoughtless . The land is already so thoroughly cultivated that while the number of families in Great Britain employed in agriculture in 1821 was 97 S . 656 , the number employed in the same manner in 1831 was reduced to 961 , 134 . The land , therefore , cannot employ the additional population ; and to endeavour to prevent multiplication of towns and the extension of manufactures , ia to endeavour to secure that the whole additional population of Great Britain and Ireland should be without employment and without ftx > d . "
Hon . and Rev . Sir , selecting this single passage , ( so condnsive in itself ) for comment , -would , in any case , be perfectly justifiable ; but when 1 find in many other parts of your pamphlet very positive reasoning in aid of the above assertion ; and when I farther find you selecting all the aerviceable bits from the works , the letters , and even from tne rambling speeches of others , in support of this monstrous assertion , I am on those grounds still further justified in dealing with it as your most important position , and one which you appear resolutely determined to maintain . If then I can successfully drive you from your strongest fastness , I shall have but little difficulty in convincing you of the hopelessness of an attempt to sustain your battle upon open ground .
Rev . Sir , -when I read the extract upon -which I am now abont to comment , it brought to mj recollection a frightful picture which you had previously draws of the poor , and in which yon described " 500 , 000 , living without God , and -without hope ; " and , in truth , 1 no longer marvel that a fl- > ck so shepherded should have so strayed ; but I did wonder how it was th * t , in all the casualties , misfortunes , liabilities , £ uc : uationH , and ravine visitations , which so constantly affect the flock ; how , in the midst of all , the shepherd stood Bcathless —uninjured by nations ! calamity—unthaken by the storm—unhurt by others' sorrows ; and moved only to compassion when poverty become valiant , threatens them with the foul folding of those committed to their care .
Sir , the shepherds have devoured every green thing ; and now yon tell us that the flock has become too numerous for the pasture . Before I have done , I shall show you that it is the shepherds who have become too numerous , too ignorant , too intolerant , too negligent , too luxurious , too proad , and too unlike the holy man -whose picture Christ drew . You s : y that the land is already so thoroughly cultivated , that while the number of families in Great Britain employed in agriculture in 1821 , was , 978 , 65 « , the number employed in the same manner in 1831 , was reduced to 961 , 134 , "THE LAND THEREFORE CAXXOI EMPLOY THE ADDITIONAL
POPUHTEO > . " The land THEREFORE cannol ? Wherefore , pray ? Wherefore , I ask ? Have you shown , beyond assertion , that the diminution of persons employed in agricultural pursuits at the respective periods , - « as owing to the fact of their labour not belcg required ? Or , if you were aware of the true reasons why not state them ? Were yon not cognisant of the fact , that causes simultaneously operating in England , Ireland , and Scotland within the very assumed period , had a powerful , nay , an irresistible influence in unfairly and artificially producing that state of things which you set down to the inability ef the land from its advanced state of cultivation ; having fairly , and natuially produced ? Were you not aware that the very ten years which you have chosen for illustration was the jubilee of manufactures
the triumph of art over nature ? Were you not aware that in England the rural villages were robbed of their innecent and healthful inhabitants , by the bloodhounds of the human race , who stole , asd seduced and kidnapped whole families , and sold them to the tyrant from whom they could never again purchase theii emancipation ? Were you not aware that the effect ot that system was naturally to raise the wages of the diminished nnmber 3 in the agricultural market ? And , were you not aware that the effect of that was to throw much land out of cultivation . into pasture ? And were yon not aware that the result ; of that was a law to throw the unemployed " upon their own resources , " when the forced and unnaturally employed ponion of the agricultural community were Sv ^ nt back to their parishe * after being experuaentaliasd
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upon , and -where they found the door of the Savings ' Bank closed against them ? Were you not aware that -within these Tery ten years , two Aeta of Pax * liament sent nearly one million of poor Irish Agriculturists from the field to the cottonmill—to the road—or to death ? Tea , Rev . Six , the Subletting Act , intended for the benefit of the small farmer , bad the effect of inducing Irish landlords to knock those farms leased into small lots into large farms , for the more easy collection of rent , and , as they thought , for the purpose of reducing responsibility , by having only one Instead of ten
tenants to deal with , when a middle man took a thousand acres of ground at £ l per acre , he subdivided it into small farms , of sizes just capable of catching all the little ready money -which a thrifty labourer had amassed through many years of industry and privation , and which ( after bargaining for £ l 18 s . per acre , with the middle man ) "his Honour" took by way of fine ; thus leaving him without capital Many leases of thirtyone years made by Irish landlords ( who abandoned their country ) to middle men in 1797 and 1758 , during Mr , Pitt's Rebellion , expired within your assumed period ; and the small farms were , according to the Scotch principle , knocked into large farms .
Mr . Goulburn ' s Tithe Composition Bill , passed within your ten yean , had also a powerful effect as well in increasing the large farm system as in making many a gentleman theretofore engaged in the art of war , become farmers upon the more extensive scale ; turning their " swords into ploughshares . " But above all , the disfranchisement of the Irish 40 ? . freeholders , in 1829 , amounting to more than 200 , 006 heads of families , swelled the numbers of manufacturing population of Great Britain to the extent which you describe , and from which you would ingeniously , but very disingenuously , lead us to infer , that the remuneration for the operative ' s labour was quite commensurate with the increase of numbers in that department ; the fact being that a kind of state-labour
lottery was established in which all the prizeB were said to be on the side of artificial labour ; and all that trick , invention , and knavery could invent , was put into requisition to induce the confiding , the innocent , and unsophisticated husbandman to sell his wife and little family , not for the chance , but for the certainty of a prize , the prize being his own ease purchased by no more than the healthful exercise of his wife and children . Waggon loads , coach loads , ship loads , boat loads , horse loads , cart loads , and foot loads of speculators were thus drawn from , and smuggled from the quiet vale of innocence into the valley of death ; they were consigned to the charnel house , and made conversant in the ways of sin , of vice , of crime , and of all sorts of depravity .
Rev . Sir , my answer to your assertions shall not stand as mere assertion to asssertion . No , no ; I will meet your every guess with an opposing fact ; and to begin , I meet your first assertion : — " The land thereeore cakkot employ any additional population . " Again , I ask " wherefore it cannot J" and the only answer is , because the Honourable and and Reverend Baptist Noel says bo , and it is the interest of influential men to nphold him in the . assertion . Now , then , Reverend Sir , have you bestowed onemoment ' s t honght upon the subject ? and if so , has it never struck you that , allowing your numbers to be quite correct , the truth is easily arrived at And how .:
are we to arrive at the truth ? Why , simply , by giving you an additional 40 , 000 families or bo in 1831 , to make you up a million for the sakeof round numbers , and which million divided into the cultivable lands of Great Britain , amounting to above 50 , 000 , 000 acres , leaves just one family to every fifty Bcres . Now , sir , it must be known to every person who understands the subject , that those fifty acres wonld be in an almosl sterile and unproductive condition for want of a sufficiency of labour ; while the same fifty acres , subdi . vided into lots of five acres each , would improve yearly , and maintain in the outset ten families instead of one , leaving also a larger , a much larger , surplus for general use after consumption .
Rev . Sir , estimating the population of Great Britain , in round numbers , at 20 , 000 , 000 , and allowing five to a family ( your own average ) , we have 4 , 0 * 0 , 000 heads of families . Now , Sir , what I ask for , as a meanB or making all rich , every one of them , is simply 16 , 000 , 000 of acres of land , at any rent—I care not what amountbut in perpetuity , and at a corn average , for 1 , 000 , 000 of those heads of families—we will call them the freelabour husbandmen , if you please . 1 , 000 , 000 of the manufacturing families added to the free-labour hnsbandmen , would constitute one-half of the whole
population . Then for trades , professions , shopkeepers , artists , money-jobbers , manufacturers , soldiers , sailors , and all that tribe who would rather not have land , sayl , 000 , 000 families ; and there will remain l , 000 , 000 heads of families , consisting of landed proprietors , and large tenants , and hired labourers , who would still speculate upon profit made out of land , after a fair standard price of labom had been established in the free labour market Now to the latter 1 . . 000 . 00 * heads of families I assign 40 , 000 , 000 o ? acres for large farms , domains , pleasure grounds , deer parks , and so forth ; that is , four-fifths of the whole , and much more than they could compass .
Now , Rsv . Sir , by that arrangement , I make each man independent of all , and all labourers dependent upon their" own resources . " I require no emigration—no foreign aid to support them—no dreadful foreboding , about a night's mildew , or a night ' s wind—no capricious reliance upon the farthing-sliding-scale rule—no man with the power to say to another , " Work for WE and for THIS , and at THAT , whether you like your master , your pay , or your job , or let it alone and starve ! " I open all the avenues of life for each to walk in , according to his taste .
Rev . Sir , you say that already the land is so thoroughly cultivated , that it cannot emploj any adtli . tional population ; and you jump to a conclusion , mistaking causes for effects , and effects for causes forgetting what you had vouched in your 25 th and 2 Gth pajes . You establish your position boldly i' faith . You say that because a dimunition in the number of husbandmen , has taken place in the ten years , between 1821 , and 1831 , that "there / ore the land is thoroujhly ciUlivaled and cannot employ any additional population . ' ' Sir , you might with equal propriety have said that because a Lancashire manufacturer thought proper to dismiss his hands who refused to submit to a
destructive reduction of wages , or from any other cause , ihekefore that mill could not be set to work again . But I will have no light reasoning or wide fencing with you . You appear to be a good man , and I will therefore reason closely with you . Upon what data then have you presumed that the land is already " thoroughly cuJtitaicd ? " Is it upon the grounds that fower hands now do more work than formerly , and that it was formerly thoroughly cultivated ? Is it upon the
presumption that 15 per cent , added to tbe population since 1 S 31 , require fewer hands to produce food than the smaller number previously required ? Is it upon the presumption that horse power and steam power have been more extensively applied to agricultural purposes within the assumed period ? Is it upon the presumption that mote corn-producing ground has been laid down in grass land ? or is it from a comparison of Lind in its present condition aa contrasted with its condition antecedent to 1832 ?
Now , Sir , allowing you the latter , as the most feasible means of judging , and allowing that you have from such data drawn your conclusion , then , I ask , when in the memory of man , was land in its highest or in one half cf its highest producing tilt ? I deny that it ever has been so ; and bo far from your assertion being capable of proof from even the narrow limits of the narrowest and best cultivated locality , I broadl y assert that there are not in all Great Britain lying together , and in the possession of , or held under any one landlord 500 acres , ( market-garden ground excepted . ) which are cultivated to one-half , nay , one-third part of their highest producing power ; and I assert generally , that taking the whole of the available laud into calculation , that it is not
cultivated to one-fifth part of its highest producing power . Rev . Sir , suppose that Earl Fitzwillum should take it into his head to covert some ten thousand acres of his Yorkshire estates into a large sheep-walk and suppose that those ten thousand acres had been previously divided into one hundred farms of one hundred acres each , and that each farm maintained the tenant and three agricultural families , or four families , at five to a family , that is twenty persons , or two thousand upon the ten thousand acres ; and suppose lhat the tending of the sheep required no more than some twenty shepherds and their families , making in all one hundred persons , -would you in this case argue that a clear case of inability to support more than the one hundred persons in labour was made out ? and
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t 6 »» it followed m a matter of course , that the-land vis thoroughl y cultivated , and not capable of employ-Ing any of the nineteen hundred outcasts ? or would yoa say that it was most beneficially employed In fattening mutton for idlers , while the poor were starving for want of means to produce food from their own resources ? Again . Would you « ay that the 400 , 000 acres of Irish land which supported 200 , 000 foity-shillings-freeholders and their families of five U a family , or 1 , » 00 , 000 persons and which were converted into farms of 100 acres each , worked by twenty to a farm , or only 80 , 000 persons , instead of 1 , « 00 , 0 » 0 ; would you say that " therefore" it fallowed that the 400 , 000 acres which did maintain a million , was by the new move rendered Incapable o ! supporting more than 80 , 00 » , or not one in twelve ?
Would yon argue that because my Lord A , or my Lord B , or Mr . C wished to knock several small farms , into others of suflictent ai 29 to produce a £ 50 tenant-at-will voter , who would be under hia immediate control , that It " THEREF » ttE" followed , as a matter of course , that the land thus stripped of its usual means of producing , lacked some of its former powers , and was , " therefore , " incapable of supporting the population ? for to nothing more does your assertion tend .
Would you argue that Sir Arthur Brooks ' s estate had been fciltivated to the highest , because failing to get Protestants hardy enoagh to displace his Irish Catholic tenants , though offered the tempting bait of a reduction of ten per cent in the rent , he had converted it into a Bheep-walk or dairy-farm ? As well might you say that the land had conspired not to grow food for Catholics I Tes , Rev . Sir , just as well ; because you attribute to the inability of the land that which the unjust powers of landlords—unjustly and capriciously used , — will not allow to be done .
Just refer for an answer to your own pamphlet , pages 25 and 26 ; and there you will find that the very expulsion of agricultural labourers from the land in the prescribed peiiod , had caused a great rise in prices in the year 1831 , and had very neatly caused a famine by making ua to require 1 , 401 , 631 quarters of wheat from the foreigner , which we could have better produced for ourselves . So that what you ascribe to the inability ef the land from its high state of cultivation in one part of your letter , you ascribe to want of speculation , and want of cultivation in another part t
Hon . and Rev . Sir , having now answered , and I think conclusively , your assertion as to the present state of the land of Great Britain , and its inability to support any greater population , I should be justified in leaving the general question , weakened as it is by the refutation of your strongest presumption . However , as it is my intention to demur generally to your " Plea for the Poor , " I shall not yet desist ; and , in fact , Sir , the great fault with those who write for public instruction consists in leaving off at that very point where they feel satisfied themselves , instead of making the whole subject intelligible to the meanest capacity . With that intention , Sir , I shall now select a few of those passages from your work which hinge most closely upon the assertion that the land is thoroughly cultivated , in aid of which assertion they have been routed out from all BourceB and quarters .
Rev . Sir , I shall select a few passages , which the press has thought proper to pass over , and from which I have drawn my conclusion that you are a kindhearted man . You say : — " The number of families employed in agriculture was , in 1811 , 895 , 998 , and in the year 1831 it had only increased to 961 , 134 ; while the number of families employed in trade and manufactures , it , had grown during that period from 1 , 129 . to 1 , 434 , 873 : and
on the whole , if Mr . Ward is conrcct , two millions of persons of agricultural origin , whose parents were employed upon the land , have since 1811 obtained a livelihood by manufactures . Should our manufacturing industry be repressed , the country labourers , already too numerous , must become on intolerable burden to the parishes ; bnt should our manufactures nourish , many will find employment as domestic servants , porters , warehousemen , artisans , and sailors . The effect of this demand for labourers must be the same as the effect of a similar demand in towns . "
Rev . Sir , here exists a very curious discrepancy between yourself and Mr . Ward , the very first author ity whom you quote—cautiously I admit , for you say " if if r . TFord is correct . " You make it appear that from 1611 to 1831 there was an emigration of some 65 , 000 agricultural families to the manufacturing towns ; while to the present time Mr . Ward estimates the number at no less than two millions . This great discrepancy between you and Mr . Ward , who generally prefers a reliance upon prophecy ( and credit for the fulfilment of prediction which he foretels after it has happened , ) to
vulgar arithmetic , militates no further against you , it ia true , than as proof of your credulity , andtheleose manner in which you have arranged your material * . However , Sir , in the concluding portion of the above passage , you have again asserted that the agricultural labourers ore already too numerous ; and you propose to obviate their becoming a burden upon their respective parishes by sending them to where they will become a burden to themselves , and a reserve for the masters ; a sure means to prevent the very object which you profess te desire—the establishment of a regular standard price for la' our by power-loom service .
You say , " in such case , " that is in case of the agricultural labourers going to work at manufactories in towns , " tbey can make their own terms . " A very curious theory that ! I sheuld have judged that the very reverse was the case ; that the increased number would enable masters to make their own terms . But your assertion , you will say , depends upon manufactures flourishing . To that I answer , firstly , that mechanical invention and improvements will flourish to an extent of far greater proportion than would be required tj supply any increased demand : secondly , that agriculture , in case of manufactures nourishing , should flourish also ; and bo far from the Sourish of manufacturers driving agricultural families
to the towns , it should insure for them a more nourishing condition on the land : and thirdly , I am happy to find that we agree- upon the necessity of establishing some just standard for the price of labour , while I deny however that it can be done in the artificial market ; so do you . But , then , if I mistake not , you further on denominate a manufacturing life as the ratural life of a Briton , and agriculture as an artificial Btate of existence ! while you very whimsically reverse the case for all other inhabitants of this great globe , by making the land their natural element and manufacturing an artificial state of employment . I shall now proceed to another passage . You say in pages 11 and
12—" Left alone , they could feed and clothe themselves , educate their children , and provide for the decrepitude of age . Why should the law step in and say , you shall neither labour nor eat ? God has provided food for them in other lands ; and if no law prevented , they could easily buy it Can it be right that the law should intercept the bounty of God , and sentence them to perpetual want ? " If it be replied that grave interests require this interposition of the law , let me ask what interests ?
It is not very likely that agriculture would suffer by a reduction of the corn dnty , since the Dukes of Bedford and Devonshire , of Sutherland and Cleveland , the Marqais of Westminster , Lord Leicester , Lord Spencer , an d Lord Fitzwillium , are all favourable to the change . Too much interested in the question on . account o £ their large possessions to adopt an opinion hastily , and too enlightened to be easily deceived , they yet believe that the change is safe ; and their opinion is surely entitled to the very highest respect "
Rev . Sir , allow me to say that the words , " God has provided food for them in other lands , " savours strongly of Infldelism . From these words I wholly and entirely dissent , and against them I enter my strongest protest , inasmuch as I feel convinced that God in His all-wise dispensation , has not left him whom he created after hia own image dependent on far-away and distant countries for the means of existence . ' I believe He has placed within the reach of all , enough for all ; in Bhort terms , I believe that God gave us land , but the devil gave us landlords and legislators .
What ! Rev . Sir , ' God has provided food for them in other landt ! " What then becomes of country ? of patriotism ? of laws ? of kingcraft ? and of priestcraft ? Whore is the father-land ? Where the homestead ? Where the rally iug point for Britons or Irishmen , or men of any country ? Where the value then of the beautiful and divine injunction contained in the fifth commandment : — " Honour thy father and thy mother ; that thy days may be long in the land which THE LORD THY GOD
HATH GIVEN THEE . " What , then , Rev . Sir , constitutes a better title to the tithe of English land than to the tithe of Polish land ,
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Russian land , or American land T Aye , aye , the English and Irish priests well know that in the event of tub IB . Ian i being put oufc of cultivation , they would soon establish a title to the " teens" of the thrashed corn of America and ot the world . Rev . Sir , would the shepherds have advocated the non-production of grain from which they re « eiTed payment for their valuable services , if they had not firstly transferred the demand to a general mortgage upon the whole land , yea , npon the rent ox value whether rented or not , cultivated or not ? Ah ! Sir , your order had the tithe of men ; now you have the tithe of beasts !
Rev . Sir , pray , pray , pray erase the passage from any further editions through which your " Plea for the Poor" may pass . Believe me it is hetreodox , anti . national , unscriptural , anti- * criptural , unwise , and antideluvlan . Rev . Sir , as to the noble authorities upon whose wisdom you would rely , I think I might balance the noble scales by a very heavy counterpoise of nobility , and thus balanced , call in aid of a fair judgment those whe are much more " interested in the question , " namely , ihe people tor whose benefit tbe artificial is tendered in lieu of the natural resource . In good truth , Sir , if you had searched tbe peerage and left out the names of Spencer and Fitzwilllara , you could not have more effectually damned yourself and your " Plea , " by authority .
Rev . Sir , I now come to a most important and sweeping calculation . Ton say : — " Meanwhile , the population of tha United Kingdom is now increasing at the rate of 400 , 000 per annum ; and since nearly the whole of these must be maintained by commerce and manufactures , the alleged increase of exports amounting to the value of £ 14 , 000 , 060 in nine years , which is at the rate of £ 1 , 555 , 000 per annum , may still leave a vast number of persons unemployed , and allow a constant increase of permanent distress . To justify the present Corn Liws , it should be shown either
that the amount of employment has grown faster than the population , or that if tbe population has been outgrowing the means of employing them , that the want of employment has not In auy degree arisen from the operation of the Corn Laws . But if each workman can on an average manufacture , annually , goods to tbe value of £ 200 , these additional exports have employed annually not more than 7775 additional workmen . And as the whole additional population was in each year 400 , 000 , it ia obvious that population may still have outgrown employment "
Here we have the fact that the population is now increasing at the rate of 100 , 006 annually , and the assertion that all of those must be maintained by commerce , as the land is not capable of supporting them ; and that also each workman employed produces annually £ 200 worth of manufactured goods . Now , Sir , suppose we assume that one-twentieth of the annual increase of population , all of whom are to be engaged in commerce , or 20 , 000 to be manufacturing operatives , —that is quartering nineteen drones upon one busy bee ; and suppose the
repeal of the Corn Laws does , in truth , produce what we ore assured of , namely , " plenty to do , high wages , and cheap bread ; " well , Sir , in that case we should require a new annual out-let for £ 4 , 000 , 000 worth of manufactured goods , being at the rate of £ 200 worth produced annually by tbe 20 , 000 new-comers . This you a € mit ; because you arrive at your £ 1 , 555 , 000 per annum of increased imports for nine years , making a total of £ 14 , 000 , 000 , by multiplying youi presumed increase of 7775 auxiliaries by £ 200 , aa the amount produced by each .
Now , Sir , I have you ! and I take you all in a lump , Mr . Ward , Mr . M'Culloch , Mr . Porter , and all ; and I take " pleiiit to bo , high wages , and cheap bread , " and even as few as 500 , 000 of producing operatives ; and mind , you speak of more , and so do all the school , —but I take 500 , 000 with " plenty to do , " and I multiply the 500 , 000 by £ 200 , the amount in value produced by each workman , and I have the frightful result of one hundred millions of English manufactured goods to be disposed of annually , with aii annual addition of £ 4 , 000 , 000 worth , the produce of tbe operative portion of the annual increase of 400 , 000 of the manufacturing population .
Now , Sir , I will take the average guess of M'Culloch , Porter , Hume , Colonel Torrens , and yourself—namely , that " rents will fall ;" 9 and "they won't fall , " and "they will not fall much ; " and " they will rise , in consequence of the increased demand for meat and Vegetables , - " and " corn will always be a remunerating crop to the English farmer ; " and" he won't be a worse consumer in the home market ; " and if " he is , what matters ? surely , we have a thousand Poles , or ten thousand Russians , and twenty thousand Chinese , instead of every John Bull !" Such , " Sir , is the balance of opinion of the greatest authorities 1 no two agreed—nay , not one agreeing with himself !
Suppose , then , the price of corn to be as yon state it would be likely to be , in page 30 of your bo « k , 50 a . per quarter , if relieved from all restrictions —( indeed , while you speak of cheap bread , you coolly tell us that the foreign grower could not let us have it at less than 58 s ., with 8 s . protection , and become our customer ) ; and suppose we required four million quarters of foreign grain in aid of home produce , what would be tbe result ? Why , that 50 , 000 operatives at full work would produce enough , according to youi own calculation , to bny aH that great quantity of corn . ' And pray what ia the foreigner to give in return for the remaining ninetyfour millions sterling worth ? "O , tea , sugar , timber , raw material , and all those good things !"
But , Kev . Sir , bear one thing in mind : you nave argued one portion of your subject very candidly . You admit that prices of labour , of produce , raw material and ail , will be reduced , while the respective scales of prices will nevertheless enable landlords , farmers ' labourers , operatives and all , to hold their respective positions , being rather served than injured , in consequence of " plenty to do . " Sir , you have not said one word about the old and heavy incuiubrances to be discharged out of the small residue of reduced wages : —what of that pray ? Will net all tbe Government expences of the poor remain the same ? Will the army , the navy , the civil list , the debt , national and personal , the church , tbe law department , and all the heavy commission departments ; will these not swallow up much more than the residue , after
provision for all the increased comforts was made by the fully-employed labourer out of his reduced wages ? " O , no , " you answer , " our increased imports and exports will do all that" Let us see ; I will just take one item , the shepherd ' s share : looking then at the amount paid in lands and money to the shepherds of the State flock , leaving out those ef the " stray sheep , " what do we find ? Why , the monstrous fact , that while we are all by the ears looking for the means of producing a sufficiency of food for the flock , the shepherds of one flock actually receive about the exact price of tbe greatest quantity of foreign corn , which would be required for feeding the flock , —four million quarters , at 50 s . per quarter !! or ten millions sterling , annually !!! Will they reduce commensurately with any reduction which a Repeal may cause in wages ?
Hon . and Reverend Sir , I ask you once again , if it is so wonderful that there should be 500 , 000 of the flock living without God and without hope , " and without bread , while the shepherds herd them without devotion and without fear , and while , having cropped the pasture and shorn the corn fields , they leave the flock to brouse up « n the bare one and to glean the few scattered ears from the other . Hon . and Rev . Sir , allow me now to submit for your consideration a passage from pages 25 and 2 C of your " Piea . " You
say" Besides the ruin which this brings upon farmers , it renders an exchange of foreign corn for English goods impossible . 1 , 491 , 631 qnarters of wheat and flour were required in 1831 , but only 04 , 653 , in 1834-28 , 483 in 1835 , and 30 , 046 in 1836 . Thus the stimulant given to the cultivation of corn by the high prices cf 1831 , led to the low prices of 1835 , 1836 , and 1837 : by these low prices the foreigner is shut out of the market , and consequently can take no English goods . " Rev . Sir , can words more plainly admit , unless indeed you would make all convenient exception in favour of " natural steam power , " that the " STIMULANT GIVEN" to manufactures fey the new
combination of chances , backed by fictitious money , say in 1842 , would lead to low prices in 1845 , 1846 , and 1847 ? But here we have a very valuable admission ! no less than the fact that the land , which -was brought to its highest producing power in 1831 , and which required a foreign supply in aid of home produce of 1 , 491 , 031 in that very year , and which could not produce more because it was then " thoroughly cultivated ; " we have the admission that the same land , when called npon in three succeeding years , appears to have heen adequate to the production of a sufficiency to create a glut and to produce low prices ! Now , Sir , ia thU not full proof that in
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your assertion , " the land thskefobb cannot emploj the additional population , " you nave mistaken cao « M for effects ? I have always said that a Repeal of the Corn L » in would give sueh an impetnj for gambling , ontll a few failureB had tafcon the first blush of novelty ; tb » t we should appear to live in a second heaven ; batfttt at tae end of one year woeful would be the disappoint ment—and for this reason . Either warehouses woqu be full of surplus produce , while bills were being ^ honoured ; or demand having shewn the utmost supnu which the whole world would require , machinery woum be increased to an amount more than cent per mm beyond tbe required means .
Hon . and Rev . Sir , you have yet to learn that althoB , fc living man and his condition ia necessarily logged b as the humane object of all those who experimentali upon bis labour and forbearance , that neverthei ^ thtt grand object is to do without him , if possible ; am if ever England shall be able to maintain a force saffl . cient to curb tbe indignation of a brave people ten . dered useless by machinery , and deprived of a proviaim from their own labour expended on their own soli-, aye , their own—that force will be raised : and then tl » cog in a main wheel of a cotton mill will be considered of more value than a man ' s limb—nay , than a thousaM men ' s lives .
Rev . Sir , yon appear to have taken a very stand- stU view of the moving powers about which you write ao fascinatingly for the press and the economists . Yoa take no note of invention . Yoa make no calculation of increased powers . You have lost sight of the fact that while It required in 1838 , ( in round numbers ) 355 , 0 ( 4 hands to work 62 , 000 horsa power ; bo great was tl » invention against man ' s industry , comfort , and happj . ness in three short years , that in 1839 it only required 423 , 000 hands to work 102 , 000 horse power ; m
that if the standard 01 relative dependency Ixb been preserved between horse power and mamm service—the number of hands required in 183 $ should have been nearly 700 , 000 ; but we find that about 60 , 000 hands in 1839 . applied to macbioen were equivalent to 355 , 000 applied to its service ia 1836 , just three years previous ! Aye , Sir , and repeal the Corn Laws , and then in the language ef poor Butter * worth , the masters would " go to bed by steam " while the same power would steal the bed from under tbe displaced workman .
The farther I proceed with your innocent admission ^ the more I am convinced that you have but ill served the cause even of the manufacturers . You may relj upon it that wisdom left them but one course , and tint was in exciting nothings . " Fir sapit gvipaucaloquitur * was never more aptly applied than to the judiciooi manner in which Mr . O'Connell set the example for Corn LiW repeal agitation . Believe me , Sir , he ia » perfect " master of arts : " and be knew full well that tl » only argument of which the question would admit watt "O , GIVE THE PEOPLE CHEAP BREAD ; ABOVE iU LET THE POOR MA . N HAVE HIS FOOD DNTAXED "
" Mammy , I ' me hungry , give me some bread . " "HOULD TOUR TONGUE , MY JEWEL , SURE TUBI taxes it . " Now , Sir , that ' s the way to argue a repeal of the Corn Laws : because no one thinks of asking Ma O'Connell if the destitute mother had a farthing to ba ; a shilling loaf with , if she was made the of&r , Exdtinf nothings , Sir , should constitute the chief reliance of anti-Corn Law pantomimic agitation ; for , believe me , that the moment the economists do as you have doneattempt to sustain their cause by argument , that moment will reason step in and demolish all their airr dreams of the existence of an artificial heaven in as English rattle box .
They might , perhaps , have added , and with effect the blood-sauce of the Globe to their " bread-padding , ' and thus serve up another course Of " BREAD AND BLOOD " to feed tbe heated imagination of a Btarring and insulted people ; but , believe me , that argument will not do ; that is all upon the side of the land , for in that alone can man recognise an inheritance , a homestead , a fire-side , a country , a castle , and a sentry box . Sir , after giving a quotation from M'Cullocb by Sir B , Peel , in which be contends that a repeal ol the Cora Laws would not throw land out of cultivation , nor yet sensibly affect rents , you then quote Porter in coitoboration of the same assertion . Sir , I admit ,
after the land had changed hands , that whether worth 10 ? . or 30 s . an acre , it would be cultivated ; but if yoa rely upon M'Culloch and Porter , that rents would not fall and that prices would not be sensibly affected , then do I say at once that the whole thing is a hoax ; ani for this reason : because , if prices do not fall to the continental level ; and if labour does not also fall to that level , then does your whole scheme fall to the ground . Just imagine , Sir , what the great bone of contention is ; enough of corn and the great tbingswhich the inhabitants of corn-producing countrieswouM take from us in exchange . Exchange , for what ? Why , for U » produce of something less than one-fifth of a country
of the same size as Wales . Yes , Sir , one million acres of the land of Poland would produce the whob quantity of corn required in aid of British snpplj : You must not stir from this point , Sir . If you go . to sugar , timber , tea , coffee , spice and luxuries , to ship ping and so forth ; I go to residue of low wages to pay heavy national and Government expences , and State-Church , and army , and navy , and "idlepauper ' sJund . " You have made corn the summum bonum . I take it ; and I show yon , firstly , that the produce of even 500 , 000 operatives , with the annual appendage of 1 twentieth of 460 , 00 © increase of population , vrooM leave - a surplusage of ninety-four million pounds worth
annually , after paying 50 s . a quarter for 4 , 800 , 000 quarters of wheat I show you that the shepherds receive the full amount of what is required to fsed tbe whole flock . I show you that old and heavy bvudeu must be paid out of the residue of low wages . I show you , that if you have not low wages you can hare no increase of foreign consumers—and that if yon nave low wages you must have low rents , and bad homed * tomers at reduced prices . I show you that foreigns * will not give you the inside lining fur more of the outside covering than they require . I show you that you must undersell the foreign slave in his own market with your slave-produce , otherwise
the foreigner will not barter with yoa . I shoff 7 <» that you will but have created a new medium of speculation for monied men in the article of food , I « how you that if you repeal the Corn Laws without putting your house in order , by first reducing expenditure to a proper level , you will have a blaze of stacks , the present proprietors themselves destroying them rather than see the Jews walk into quiet possession . Yo * will Lave an end to a Church Establishment , receiving the same amount of tithe out of reduced amount of income . So , Sir , if yon are for a revolution , in whidi funds , pensions , placemen , sinecures , private and national debt , army , church , and all , must go as s fint " fruits , in God ' s name , at it ! for the people cannot be worse
off !" . ' but mind , upon your order be all the responsi&iMJ The land mustceme to the people , whether for high " rent with restriction upon the importation of fore's grain , or for lower rent after those restrictions are take * off : and in that case will the scale and standard of ti'Cnlloch and Porter be perfectly correct ; things win in such case change appearances ; three thousand a-yetf then will be equal to five thousand a-year now , becsaf * the Budget end will be knocked off ; and after god and -wholesome , and fresh living , the residue of stnaUa wages Will be still a residue and a Savings' B anfe ft * the labourer . Sir , how can you establish a free traft in labour in an over-taxed country , without maktog every labourer a mero atone ? I defy you to do it .
Sir , I shall insert one passage In which you SSa totoccclo , with both M'Culloch and Porter , in tbe fin * place , and with yourself in the second . You say : — " The lowered price of corn would tend to diffliDi * rents , but as the prices of all other things would »" in ' the same proportion , the diminished rent would M as valuable as the higher rent had been , for the P" " chase of all the comforts and luxuries of life . So fif ' therefore , the land-owners would be no losers . But » other respects , they would be considerable gainers . "
In the outset you say that the lowered price of Ian' * would tend to diminish rents ; and then you conclave W assuring us that the very same causes " would enaiM & * farmer to pay a higher rod V I trust , Sir , that ia * & * simplicity of your kind heart you have not fallen into the error of supposing that although those difife 10 " causes had led to the farmers' abilitt to pay a k <^ rent , yet' that the landlords' love of justice wonld lafo * a demand for any increase ? A little farther on , in tbe very same paragrap h , 7 ° * assure U 3 that the facility which farmers would na « ° procuring enough of manure for the lesser amount « land in cultivation , would enable them to bear " f ; higher rent ; " those are your very words , Sir ; w | r ! n fact the conclusion to which you come te >
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4 THE NORTHERN STAB , ___—__^_ _^
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Aug. 14, 1841, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1122/page/4/
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