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THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1841.
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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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LONDON . EXTRAORDINARY MEETING A"ND « . -DISCUSSION . DEFEAT OF HETHERIKGTOJ ?/ . LOYETT , AXD THE "NEW MOVE" HUMBUGS ! f" The lonr-erpected discussion between Mr . Waikins , new-sWat , of No . 9 , Bell Yard , Temple Bar , sad Mr . Watson , bookseller , City Road , came off da Tuesday evening Izsi , at the Hall of Sciene *» City Road ; and , such was the desire of the Chartists of London , to : es : ifj ibeir disapprobation of tie " new move" asd its aoettors , that the place was crowded long before the commencement of the proceedings , dust as the busisesa vras &bont to commence ,
Feargus O'Connor , Esq ., drove up to the place of meeting , to fulfil his promise made at the Crown » nd Anchor on the previous evening , namely , that he would address the meeting . He was immediately surrounded by several stonemasons and coppersmiths , who requested him not to interfere in the matter . They also state 1 that it was absolutely ceeess&ry taat the discussion should take place , as there was & namber of people in London and the country who thought ihe " new move" party to be numerous , whereas they were a mere fraction , chiefly composed of shopkeepers , and that it was the determination of the Marylebone Chartists to show them up to the country in their true Cdlours .
Mr . O'Coxxob Etaied his unwillingness to enter into the controversy , and took ids leave , at the same time , expressing Ms regret that there should have bees , any dissension . The business was then commenced . Mr . Cameron wa 3 appointed Chairman on th& part of Mr . Watkins ; Mr . Dyson on the part of Mr . Watson . The regulations as to the length of time for each of the gentlemen and their friends to speak , having been read , Mr . Gardner was called on to preside as Moderator .
Mr . Watson commenced by stating that he fonr . d himself placed in a very extraordinary position . He was labouring under peculiar disadvantages as regarded the charge . He had to perform a pleasing duty—that of vindicating , as far as he was able , some individuals "with whom he had been connected for a length of tine , and who were , he believed , cre&tly misrepresented ; mea he bad acted with xor years , and of whose sincerity he conld not doubt—whose truth , for a single moment , he could not qnestion ; indeed , upon those men he bad the greatest reliance , ( Hear , hear . ) He was there to defend men charged with certain crimes , and this was his extraordinary position—the accuser would not stake the charge . This was curious . A person was put upon his trial , and no charge was made against him .
( Hear . ) He was to produce the evidence against the parties charged . He considered that the charges ought to be clearly brought horns to the parties ; for they had been long before the public . ( Hear , hear . ) They had , for a number ' of years , taken part in public discussions on the democratic side , the charges ought not to be made from personal motives but from thorough conviction , not from vindictive feeling . i . HiEses . ) He believed that the men who had been attacked , were advocates of the People ' s Charter and honest advocates ( Cries of pocket . ) He would at once enter into the question . He attended with a friend at a lecture room , ia the Old B&iley , where a sectional meeting of the Chartists was field s he there beard certain
charges made , and he challenged Mr . Walking who wis the person who preached the sermon , if it could to be called—( hisses)—before that he had not a pertonal knowledge of Mr . Watklns , but he had read a series of communications that he cMr . Watkms ) had addressed to a popular journal ; he ( Mr . Watson ) therefore went to satisfy himself as to the . correctnesa of the reports he had heard , and likewise to see what the charges were , which were made against his ( Mr . Watson ^) friends . He was surprised- to find th&t charges were made withont proof or foundation ; he ( llr . Watson ) required proof , nothing iesa would satisfy him . Mr . Watson then referred to the Star of May 1 st , 1841 , in which a letter from Mr .
Watkins appeared . He likewise read an extract from tha Star of May 8 ; h- ( Cries of " Time . " ) He ( Mr . * Wateon > was surprised to find a man tanking use of such statements . Mr . Watson then proceeded to read extracts from Mr . Watkin ' s pamphlet , taking the following as bearing most upon the case : — " Sach men are respectable in private life , but that would not excuse their public delinquency . Nay they have great moral inftuenc * , that only makes their political influence more dangerous—the more fatal" In answer to another extract from page 7 , Mr . Watson read a paragraph from Mes-rs . Lovett and Collins' pamphlet , to prove they considered that education , or non-education , ought no : to be the test of the franchise . He considered that the
remarks made in that pamphlet were likely to lead to an injury being committed on the persons whom it denounced . ( Laughter , met with cries of " Hear . ") He would merely mention that he had heard of one person in Finsbury , who was ready to carry out the doctrine advocated in the pamphlet . Mr . Watkins commenced by saying that iLr . Watson had complained that he had been dragged into this discussion—but more truly might he , Air . Watkins , make this complaint . Mr . Watson had given the challenge , and though he ( Mr . Watkins ) was never forward to give a challenge , yet be would not be backward in accepting one . Mr . Wat-sou's name had not been mentioned in the sermon of which he complained . Mr . Watson had not been alluded
to—his name was not upon the new move list . The meeting might ask what had made Mr . Watson the first to step forward—to step before parties whose names had been mentioned ! Why had he come forward to defend their characters ? Because they could not defend their own ; and the manner in which Mr . Watson was defending them might make th « m exclaim , " Save us from our friend 1 " H e ( Mr . Watkins ) thought there was little occasion for him to rise after Mr . Watson ; he almost took shame to himself for doing so , because Mr . Watson was confnered before the battle began , and there is net much honour to be gained in triumphing over a prostrate foe . Mr . Watson hvd not been personally * haed at : but he was one who formed a link in that
trade union , that chain of trade combination which had long bound down the cause of Chartism in London , and prevented its free gron-th . h i ? an did * dsge " touch my purse , and yon touch my person . " This might explain the reason why Mr . W arson had interested himself so prominently in this affair . Mr . Watson might be a fair-dealing man—he migh : be more honourable than the rest , and thus feel more sensitively on the score of character ; but why inke np the cudgels for other parties—why be made a cat ' paw by them ? They were no : content with pront , they " want-ed hoDonr too ; they wanted both the money and the stuii . —but M yrhy shonid honour outlive honesty ! " Mr . Watson wanted him ( Mr . Watkins ) to give a list of charges . The charges
were in the sermon which had given occasion to ; he challenge . Did Mr . Watson want a fresh list o . charges because he eould rind nothing to take hold of , nothing to make a handle of against him , Mr . Wa > - kins ? He ( Mr . Watkins ) was ^ not so simple as io give him t&at . He had called the Lovemies traitors , assassins , and spies ; and he now reiterated the charge , and would prove it . They were traitors , inasmuch as they had betrayed the confidence : reposed in them by the people ; they were a « as ? ins , not perhaps of individuals , but what was infinitely worse—of the cause , the cause of all individuals , — they sought to stab the cause ; and they were spies , they had their emissaries , who came into every Chartist meeting to report for them , and to cause
dissension , if possible . When he ( Mr . Watkins ) firs : eame up vo London , he thought the reason why London was so far be-hind , why it was a disgrace to the cause—a dishonour to Chartism , lay in the apathy of the men of London ; but ha Boon found that the fault was not in : he men , bnt in the leaders . He had been invited to assist in the re-organisinon of the Chartist associations in the several localities of London and his "first question uattsraUy was , what disorganijed you ? what caused you to break up ! and the invariable answer he received was the * Lovettites ; then he always advised them that for the future they should avoid Lovettism . Lovett had obtained the confidence of the people and abused it ; be and Collins had been supported by the people when in prison
but were they to be sent there now would the people support them * ( No , no . ) They had lost the confidence of the people . Lovett a ad Collins had had their courage cooled in prison by the cold baths ; they had been , convened and baptized in prison ; they had gone in Chartists , but had come ¦© nt Whigs . The Lovetntes call our associations illegal , they might as well call on Government to prosecute us . Dan O'Connell says Chartism k illegal , is a transportable offence , that is—to frige ten others from joining us . These men are always boasting of their sufferings ; tieir sufferings were lncky , and they may well boast of them . They
published blasphemy for profit , and were Jeservedjy imprisoned for it . They never suSered for Chartismfor consience sake , no j bnt for profit ' s 3 ake . Xaey went secretly to work , and they brag that we did not discover them sooner ; they work in darkness because their deeds are evil ; they exult in their secrecy , and defy us to prove them traitors , but it is not necessary for us to prove them traitors ; they themselves proved themselves so—out of their own months they are condemned , they have done nothing bat act treason ever Eince their " new move" came out . Mr . Watkins next entered into a narrative of his Bufferings and sacrifices in the cause , and time being np ,
Mr . Watson replied to Mr . Watkins , amid much confusion ; one party of the meeting Eeemicg deternised to hear no more , but to come to a vote . At last he was heard to declare , that he did not profess himself a Christian ; bnt he would exhibit more ef the true spirit inculcated by that doctrine than did the pamphlet before them . As Mr . Watkins , being a Bookseller ,, that he could not deny ; but he had a right to gain his living : he had commenced With the Poor Han't Guardian , and if this was &
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charge , Mr . Watkins was as much to blame as he was , for , said Mr . Watson , holding upas advertisement , here bepnbJisbea to the world fcis e&lling and in the Old Bailey there is a placard stating Mr . Watkins to be the agent tor the Scrihtrn Star , ( Hear , and laughter . ) He then alluded to the notice of Mr . Frost , in the pamphlet . " ( At this moment the most discordant sounds were raised , and Mr . Hetherington , who was on th % bastings , was pointed at , whilst calls of all descriptions were made n 3 e of . ) Air . Watkins briefly replied to Mr . Watson . The noise was renewed , and cries of ( " Who Baid he would put down the Northern Star ? " " Hetherington" and other cries were raised . ) The scene baffled description , but was only a prelude to more noise in the subsequent part of the
evening , Mr . White , from Birmingham , rose amidst cheers . He said he had much pleasure in addressing the meeting , especially as it was a meeting of working nren , for he was one of that class himself . ( Cheers . ) Ever since be had known right from wrong he had been an advocate of the principles of the People ' s Charter . ( Hear , hear . ) He felt pleasorditl speakisg to the men of London . ( Cries of" Von are paid for it . " ) He could appeal to Mr . Hetherington , whether , seven years ago , he had not at Leicester been a ? up porter of the the Poor A fan ' s Guardian , and he had 1 ever continued to advocate the principles he then advocated . ( Hear , hear . ) He had Buffered much through his advocacy of the rights of working men through the Trades' Union . Mr . Watson had come forward to support his friend , acknowledging at the same time that his plan was too wide , and that it was impracticable to work it . ( Hear , hear . ) Mr . TTiuie iaeu tw oi cuuuuui \
s . a surrey me < Jwmms and O'Neil with regard to their charge of illegality . He said the Chartists , according to Universal Suffrage , had propagated a plan of organization , and the © ouotry ought to follow it out . ( Hear , and cheers . ) But , to suit Messrs . Collina and CrNeil , the country had been put to £ 70 expence . Talk of legality ! Were they to go to the Attorney-General and ask his opinion before they formed a union 1 ( Cheer ? . ) Look to his own case of illegally being imprisoned on account of excessive bail , through a letter from the Solicitor-General . The Judge , a Tory Judge , said it was shameful ; but could he get redress \ No . Why ! Unless a man had money there was no redress for him . ( Hear , and cheers . ) With regard to the gentlemen charged , he would jat ; r whisper " Farewell , a loag farewell to all your fjrmer LTeatness I" ( Cheers , prolonged for some time . ) He would conclude by moving the resolution : —
" That in the opiniop of this meeting , Che charges contained ia Mr . Watkins ' s pamphlet are fully established . " ( Loud cheers . ) Mr . Scott seconded the resolution . Mr . Fosk . ett moved as an amendment : — " Th&t the charges in the pamphlet were false and calumnious . " Mr . Moore seconded the amendment . He defended Mr . Lovett , detailed how long he had known him , under what circumstances , and , after passing a high eulogium on him , sat down .
Mr . Hkthrbtngtok presented himself to the meeting , when a general uproar took place . He was assailed on all sides by cries of " traitor ! who would sell the Star f trading politician ! " A conflict took place in the body of the meeting . Cheers were given for the Charter , Feargus O'Connor for ever , cheers for the National Charter Association , groans for the " new move . " Mr . Hetherington , after a ltngth of time fruitlessly } spent in essaying to Bpeak , sat down . Mr . Dtso ? j left the chair .
Mr . Cameron , the oth « r chairman , put the amendment , which was lost . The original resolution was then put , and carried by an overwhelming majority . Three cheers were then unanimously given for the Charter , three groans for the " new move , " and a number of other cheers , and the meeting separated .
The Northern Star. Saturday, September 11, 1841.
THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , SEPTEMBER 11 , 1841 .
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"JUSTICE'S JUSTICE . " Ever ready to render honour to whom it ia due , we seize gladly on an opportunity when such an one is afforded to us of chronicling the good deeds of either Whig or Tory , or the good words of their supporters in " the Establishment . " We find the following just and pertinent remarks in the Examiner of the present week , and have great pleasure in transferring it to our columns , as evidence of the right sense of justice entertained by our
contemporary . " Some gentlemen having amused themselves at the risk of the public by driving" furiously through Brentford , so as- to endanger the lives of persons on the'road , the police proceeded to apprehend them , upon which the eificers were resisted and assaulted , as stated im- the following evidence before the Brentford Justices : — ' Joseph Smith , T 60 , deposed to taking the defendrvrits into custody . On getting into the pbnton to do so , be was immediately cellared by Mr . R . Newton and the groom , "who struck him several times , and they both tried their utmost to throw him out of tne carriage- He then drew his staff , and in the scuffle struck
Mr R . Xevrton twice over the arm . after ¦ whichhe seat eff te the Station for assi .-tance , and , on the arrival of another constable , the inhabitants unhitched tbe horses and drew the phseton to the station . The defendant B ^ vle , Trhile that "was doing , struct several persons who were pushing behind the carriage with his hat At tbe Station House , Mr . R . NfeWton and Mr . Boyle -Were v sn- ( "lisorderiy , eo that before the charge could be taktn thej vrere obliged to be placsd in a cell . They pullcu the peiis cut of the sergeant's hands ^ kile taking down the charge : called the police rogues r . cd vagabonds saying they wanted to rob them ; and tee defendiiir , Goldsmith , swore if the police attempted to lay bo ! d of him he would knock them down . They were all intoxicated .
' Cie : i , a yolice sergeant , T 15 deposed that "wben brought to the station the defenuants , R- N ' ewtun an-j : he groom , refused to eet out &f the pfceton , but a ' lasx more constables were proenred , and iLey were dragged ont . In the station-house they all impeded thu cLaige beir . j taien by every means in tbeir power , and cille 4 him anti ! Le other constables all i > e foul nanie-s they ccuid lay their tongues to . "YVh&n locked up in the cells , a little wicket-door was left oren for air . when seeing 3 female cross the yard , they called her
a , and used other insulting words to her , after which thej iraitstod catcall an « i the cries of i . yi : i ? persons , besides hallooing out " murder" with all their might ; and at last , Heeing the wife of tha inspector pissing % window of the station-house , they ru : uie use of the most beastly and disgusting laa ; uage . so that the female inmates of the station were cemptHecl to be removed to sno ' . hc-r part of the premises , but an immense crowd remiined collected round the stition until past ten o ' clock .
' Mr . R . Xcwton icquired why some of the females wbo were so acoshed had not been produced . The i Act was , that the prbicijal danc&ge done was to his own phs . on ., and no disturbance would have happened had iaot the p . 'liceman , Smith , jumped into the c&riiage ami struck L'm twice over ; he srm , and abused him . ' Smith instantly renied that statement , and several respectable inhabitants oa their oaths declared thrt there was not a word of trnth in what Mr . R . Xewton had stated , and passed a warm enlogium on tbe j-olice for the temper and forbearance they displayed under the insults and blows they received . ' The bench said the line of defence adopted by the defendants had more than anything convinced thsm of the truth cf the whole of the evidence against them , and the bench then withdrew U > another room to deliberate whether they shou'd not at once commit the defendants to hard labcur in the House of Correction
for a month , and , after an absence of an Lour , on their return in : o court , Mr . Bsillie said the bench had conrieted the whole ef the defen . lants of the charges made against them . They had dune so after a most lengthened and patient investigation , and , being desirous of administering the law without reference to the parties b « ng rich or poor , he hadfcesitatsd for sometime , audhad very unwillingly given way , his intention ba-risg been to commit each of them to the House of Correction for oae month . Under the supposition , however , that they were gentlemen , and moving in that station of society in which such a punishment would be a slur upon them during their future lives , be had consented to the infliction of penalties , and tbe decision of the "bench -was , that Mr . " Raymond Newton pay a fine of
forty shillings for furious driving , oi one month ' s imprisonment ; abso £ 5 for assaulting the policeman Smith , or cne month j £ 5 for the assault on poLceman Travis , or one month ; and forty shillings for disorderly conduct at the station , or one month . John Goldsmith , for assaulting Mr . Ayres , £ 5 , or one month ; £ 5 for assaulting policeman Keywood , or one month ; and forty shillings for improper conduct at the Station , or one month . Richard Boyle , for ty shillings for assaulting policeman Keyword , or one mouth , and twenty shilliings for kis conduct at the Station-house , or one month ; aad Mr . Henry Newton forty ahiilingo , or one month , for disorderly conduct it the Stationbouse . They had made a difference in the case of Mi . Henry Newton , but they considered Mr . Raymond
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Newton ' s conduct well deserting of a committal to the House of Correction . Mr . R . Newtos immediately pulled out a roll of Bank of England notes , and paid the whole of the fines , amounting to , j 631 / "The'Magistrate first proclaims Ma desire to administer the law without reference to the conditions of the parties , bufcin the Tery next breath hqeays , that as they are gentlemen , he has been induced reluctantly to consent to the infliction of a penalty He thus plainly avows that he distinguishes between rich and poor , against his sense of duty . Bat he is induced to tieriate from his first intention to do even
justice , by the consideration that imprisonment in the House of Correction would be a elur on them for the rest of their lives . And if they had been poor men , or humble men depending on their characters for their bread , would not imprisonment have been a slur , and would the Magistrate have hesitated to inflict the merited punished , because it would carry with it the equally merited Blur 1 "To a poor man imprisonment is a far greater punishment than to a rich man . Imprisonment deprives a poor man of the exercise of hia industry , and when he comes out of a gaol he finds that his place hae been filled np , and the fact that he is come oat of a prison is a bar to his employment The labouring man ' s imprisonment , moreoveris
, tantamount to a fine of the amount of what his earnings would have been had he remained at liberty . But what Magistrate hesitates to commit the poor man to gaol because of the slur on his character , or the pecuniary damage attendant on his confinement ! The poor axe told that if they commit offences , they must take the consequences , however ruinous they may be . To the rich another measure is dealt out . The Magistrate tells them what they have deserved , and he tella them that they shall not suffer what they have deserved , because the due punishment carries a- slur with it . Why , the slur is as much what they deserve as the g&ol . The slur is the due consequence o ( their conduct .
" For tbe full beauty of the Magisterial discrimination in the case before us , the groom should have been sent to take the slur of the House of Correction , while the master was indulgently let off with the fine . " As if with the desire to blazon the partiality of the judgment , the / Magistrate concluded most emphatically that one of the prisoners well deserved committal to the House of Correction , aud so Baying , he awarded the pecuniary penalties , so far short of the declared due punishment . The gentleman hereupon pulled out a roll of bank-notes , and paid for his amusement in riot as he would have paid
ungrudgingly for any indulgence for which he had a whimthirty pounds' worth of outrage . Had he been a labourer the fines would have taken the coat from his back , the bread from his mouth , and sent his bed to the broker ' s ; or the imprisonment would have deprived him of the twelfth of his yearl y earnings , and thrown his family on the parish . The fine to the gentleman , so indulgently spared the Blur of the due punishment , is but a trifle taken from his means , and is paid with the zest of triumphing by force of
wealth over justice . " Let us turn to another example of law for the rich . 14 A person of great wealth is apprehended for a horrible offence . Mr . Jardine , of Bow-street , after hearing the evidence , said' He had no observations to make about the charge , or the evidence in support of it , but to require bail , which "would be in proportion to the prisoner ' s station in life , and that was , himself in £ 20 t , aad bis sureties £ 10 * each , to answer the charge at the next sessions of the Central Criminal Court '
" A poor misoreant in such a case would have been unable to find bail , and would have remained fast in the hands of justice ; the rich one will joyfully give the £ 200 for hia escape to the Continent . Dirt cheap to him is such a price for his impunity . And in requiring sureties so preposterously small and inadequate , the magistrate had the effrontery to talk of proportioning the bail to the prisoner ' s station in life . The accused , who has before beeu under the same charge , had , indeed , pretended that he was a servant , but he afterwards confessed that he was a gentleman of large fortune , and the magistrate was informed of his real name and condition . But at Bow-street , as in Brentford , there is doubtless a desire to spare the slur—that ip , in the case of the rioh . "
We fully join in every sentence of the well-expressed indignation of the Examiner ^ at tbe infamous preference of the rich over the poor , evidently given by the administration of the law . But the different use we make of such instances of gross injustice ia this : — The Examiner rates the magistrates and reprobates the practice ; we would go further : we use such facts as these as arguments for the necessity of that organic change , which by placing in the hands of the people a power over tbe law , will at the same time give them a wholesome and necessary controul o \ et the appointment , and continuance in office of its administrators .
So much for administration . But we maintain that the evil is not merely administrative : that the law itself is vicious and defective . We think this is proved sufficiently by our contemporary ' s reasoning , in which he shews clearly , that the alternative offered to the rich man of evading punishment for money , is at once an indemnity for crime ; and , in fact , a premium upon its commission . Whatever alternative might be offered to poor men , ( to whom fines are really heavy punishments , and in the case of whom , incarceration often inflicts more punishment on a helpless and innocent family , than on the individual offender . ) it is clear that in the case of
the rich offender , no alternative for personal punishment can be defended upon any just grounds of reason or argument . It is only in a sense of degradation or in actual privation that punishment consists ; neither of which are inflicted upon the man who can pull out a roll of Bank of England notes to pay Sues amounting to £ 31 . Money is to him a mere nothing , and is paid , a 3 our cotemporary well observes , ungrudgingly for the amusement , as he would pay for any other indulgence for which he had a whim . It is but a trifle taken from his meaus , and is paid with the zest and tho air of triumph . There is no privation iu the matter . And for the sense of degradation we find
that in the shameless assertion of the scoundrel before the Magistrate , that the principal damage done was to ui 3 own phsuton ; indeed to talk of any moral sense of degradation affecting such doubly-depraved brutes as these and like specimens of " rank and breeding , " is just as ridiculous as to talk of £ 5 . being an adequate punishment for their effence agaiust society . The end of ail punishment is the reclamation of the criminal , and the restoring of him to hi 3 forfeited place in society by the correction of his evil habits . This can never be < . fleeted in such case 3 as the present one , so long as the law provides the odious alternative which enables the rich blackguard to purchase its violation for money .
>* ot » week passes in which we may not notice numerous iastauces of like infamous partiality in the dealing out of justice , and it will never be otherwise nntil those who , as a class , are made to suffer thu olious distinction , through the power of the other c .-i-i to mak " , as well as to administer ; he laws , s-lull i ! jtcrmino to blot out the effect , so disgraceful to humanity , by overpowering tho cause .
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lopping o ^ i ^ eir he >< y ; uftfrft . ^ f ^ . f ^*? ^ pu 1 ^ be ^ tlyji sposed of by b * in « - tr ^ ed ? t&qiigb ; the dirt / ' Hints like these are " doubtless valorous { , bnt as they have the merit of coming from ifibse jt ^ ho shoot " privileged , " though poisoned arrows , ! . ' ftpm behind a screen , so they have the advantage of being inefiedtire , from tbe characteristic cowardice of factfotf . - The plague" men have no stomach for such pastime ; t > utpkt i true tyhiga eihibit all the rancour of th ^ r ' oature in AfornUeaa hazardous . They
determine not to kill the Tories , but to prevent them from being able to live , "^ xcla fll ^ dealing" is the order ef the day * . No T ^ ory slwli touQh our money say the " plague" men . Of course , the coin has ^ reveree ; and the " move " Will be met by the " friend * of agriculture" ' with a " counter move . " Thus , the beaten fach ' ons , finding that neither of them can longer gull the people , resolve , like Kilkenny cats , to worry one another . "Go it , gentlemen ! " we say ; and see that you do your work well .
Carry ont your system of exclusive dealing ; make failures and bankruptcies to occur wherever and to what extent you please ; remembering always that this plum will suit a Chartist pudding just as well as a Whig one ; and that if you should find ( as we sincerely hope you will ) the people resolved to treat you as yon treat each other , you will have no reason to complain . If to withdraw your business from all merchants and brokers who support Pro-Corn Law Members be justifiable , and if there be no reason for increasing the wealth of those who are reducing you to poverty , the same reasoning will surely justify
those whom you not only are reducing , but have reduced to poverty , in following your example . We have long reasoned in like manner with the people , but have never yet been able to induce the " levelling , " " property-hating" Chartists to apply the reasoning practically . We do sincerely hope that now when our advice has been taken , and acted upon by the manufacturers and cotton spinners of Manchester , and when not only the expediency of such a course of procedure , but its justice , has been declared by such high authority , the whole of the " workies" will go and do likewise .
Let our readers weigh well this movement on the part of " the Plague ; " for it is fraught with instruction of the most important kind . These gentlemen , " all honourable men , " of course , deem it just and right to withdraw their custom from all those merchants and tradesmen who voted at the late election for pje-Corn Law candidates at Liverpool ; and , of course , the same principle will be carried out all through the kingdom ; and why ! Because th « se said candidates were supporting measures detrimental to the general interests of the country ! No ! but because the Cora Laws are
opposed to the individual interests of the said manufacturers and cotton spinners . Now we don't find fault with this ; but we say thatjthe Chartists have a better plea for commencing and carrying out the system of exclusive dealing than these gentry even pretend to have ; for the interests of the Chartists are not those of a party , or a faction , but of the whole people ; and we advise them at once to set aboHt the work , and resolve that they will support no man by their countenance or custom who voted for candidates of either Whig or Tory at the late
memorable contest . They have aright to take this step and it will not only be perfectly just in them to do so but it will be manifestly unjust both to themselves , their families , and their country , if they neglect to do so . We have told them so . repeatedly , and we tell them so again . It is only through their pockets that the brains and feelings of the shopooracy can be approached , and this mode of attack should be commenced without delay , and persisted in till our just and inalienable rights be restored and seoured by the enactment of our glorious Charter .
It is , however , in vain that we thus urge the working classes to adopt the means of securing their political and social redemption , unless the people will become united and organised . By union and organisation everything not only may but must be gained ; without them nothing . Man must stand by man , family by family , and town by town ; and then the tyrants will quail before us . Let well-organised Joint Stock Societies be instantly established in every locality , and let no man be dealt with but such as give good reasons for their being tried and consistent friends of the people . Capital is all in
all in thiB country , and whence does that capital come , but from the labour of the working mea You work hard , and your earnings are carried to support those who would visit upon you and your children the chains of an everlasting slavery . This must not continue . Reason , Christianity , patriotism and common sense alikeforbid it . Unite , organise , and put the profits now realised by the retail dealerthe wretch who sells the interests of hia best customers at the bidding of the tyrant—into your own pockets . Thus will you create capital for yourselves , as you are now doing it for your oppressors .
Immense advantages woald accrue from a real national organisation , such as that we recommend . Such an organisation , firmly bound together by common laws and common interests , and carefully worked so as to secure public and general confidence , would euable the whole power of tho whole people to be brought at almost a moment ' s notice to bear upon any given subject towhich it might bo desirable to apply it ; audsucu a pow ^ r so constituted , and so operating , would be irresistible . It would be the death note of faction , and tho subjugation of desp otism . The paltry wretches who now dare to
insult the people , and to endeavour to stifle the voice- of public opinon , would ' bo made to feel their insignificance , and to hide themselves in the dust of their own meanness . Let the operatives in every town and village meet and form an Association , tho members of which shall pledge themselves to deal with no tradesman , who will not pledge himself to support , by his vote and influence , Chartist candidates at the next general election . Let this be done throughout the kingdom , and the next House of Commons will give us tho Charter .
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THE " TORCH AND DAGGER" CRY . In another page wo give the letter of" a Repealer " to the Tuam Herald , in which we find this passage : — " The grand let and obstacle to the amalgamation of the O'Connellites and the O'Connorites is the oftenrepeated , but aa often denied , charge of the torch and dagger . Let this one article be erased from the political creed of the Chartists , and both parties can then join hands , and proceed unitedly ia the great work of political regeneration . "
Now , while we would shrink from any alliance with Mr . O'Connell with a strong feeling of abhorrence , we believe that many , very many , of his deluded followers are honest patriots , with whom it would give us heartfelt pleasure to join hands . And we have no doubt that the writer of this letter may be one of them . What , then , is the obstacle The writer says , it is the " torch and dagger" doctrinoof the Chartists . But then he admita that the Chartists repudiate this doctrine—that they deny it
and disown it . Then why persist in attributing it to them , if lie be sincerely desirous to bring about a uaiou ? Why , above all things , persist in doing so , without offering proof ? He says , " Let thiB one article be erased from the political creed of the Chartists , and both parties can then join hands . " But how is it to be erased if no credence is- to be given to the Chartist disclaimers , and if the senseless cry is to be received as gospel , without proof or evidence , every time that the "Liberator" chooses to
assert it . No man knows better than Mr . O'Connell that this never was au article of the Chartists' creed ; that the Chartists have uniformly and always deprecated it ; and that it has never been holden by any appertaining to the Chartist ranks who have not been subsequently disowned . Mr . O'Connbw , is the oldest living advocate of the " Torch « nd Dagger " doctrine , and he still deals in it more largely than any other man . From him it was borrowed by the
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Birmingjiam ^ railoVs , who made the foor of Sootland tOr ^ Umuaketa " ofthe right sort" for I ?» y 6 d . mnd whose adherents talked of " Mteoowing " England . With them the physical force mania of their very few followers originated , and with their expulsion from the ranks by the just voice ot popular indignation it died away , and haB . never since , been heard of , save as a bugbear cry in the month of O'Connell and bis clique to frighten the Irish people from examining the principles of Chartism , which they know would be the death of Humbug , and the destruction of the" Rint Roll /* The assertion that the Chartists hold " physical force" doctrines , is as false as is the assertion of O'Connbll at his Loyal Royal" meeting the
other day , that « No man could read five or six of Feargoa O'Connor ' s papers without perceiving * direct incitement of the people to assassinate him . " Large numbers of the Northern Star o weekly into Ireland ; and they tell their own story of the " assassination , ' * and the " torch and dagger" dootrines . The truth ifl , Dan knows , though his dupes do not , that Fhakgps O'Connor and the Chartists would give tbe people of Ireland Repeal , which would spoil his trade of talking about it .
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MR . ROEBUCK , THE TIMES , AND THE NEW POOR LAW . On Monday , Mr . Roebuck gave notice that whenever the House shonid go into Committee on the Poor Law Amendment Continuation Bill , he should move that the Board of Commissioners be abolished , and that all the powers exercised by them which might be considered requisite to the working of the measure , should be transferred to the Secretary of State for tbe Home Department .
If we could have been surprised at anything m the form of inconsistency coming from Mr . Roebuck , we should surely have been surprised at this . If we had any doubt of the justice of our BUspicionB that this Hon . Gentleman ib waiting the chances of the market , the homage to the worst principles of Toryism contained in this motion would have gone far to the removal of that doubt , and to the satisfying of us that the "fair trial" which the Hon . and learned gentleman , deolared himself determined to give to ihe new Tory Government was , in reality , a fair trial whether his serviced might be thought
worthy of " a consideration . " Essentially despotic , arbitrary , and unconstitutional , as the New Poor Law is , we know but one improvement necessary to make it perfect in iniquity , and that is just the improvement suggested by the Honourable Member for Bath . In its present form there is a sort of Bhow—a kind of an appearance—of responsibility about the Cerberus in chief to whom its administration is deputed . That there is more of appearance than reality in the responsibility of which the Commisioners boast in their report , we are perfectly aware .
We adopt fully the sentiment and language of the Times , that with a strong carps of dependent Assistants , whose manifest interest in framing exculpatory statements is not greater than the eagerness of a oollusive Home-office to receive them , the alleged responsibility of the chief officials is really an insulting farce . Remonstrant boards of guardians have ever found it so . A more unmitigated and unchallengable despotism than the Commissioners have uniformly exeroised , clothed in the forms of legalized power , has never benn practised in any free country . "
That , however , which has never existed Mr . Roebuck , in his anxious devotednesss to public liberty , would fain bring into existence . He would throw off the mask and expose tbe Gorgon head ; and that which is now in its exercise an unohailengable despotism , through the collusion of the Home-office , he would make a pure , naked , and legally established despotism in the person of the Home Secretary .
It commonly happens , however , that anxious waiters upon Providence are too eager in their assuidities , and Mr . Roebuck forms no exception to the rule . He has pushed the bar too far , and the Tories wont follow . The Times in commenting upon the Honourable Member ' s motion describes it as " in every respect an exceptionable one ; " and takes occasion to treat Mr . Roebuck and his proffered "fair trial" with a superciliousness that has roused that gentleman ' s sensitiveness to a pitch little short of boiling . The Times article appeared on Wednosday ; and , in a fuss , on the same evening , comes Mr . Roebuck to
the House of Commons , with the Times paper in his hand , exclaiming , " See , Mr . Speaker , what a shame , the Times calls me a Chartist and a one shiUiag geutleman t" and insisting on his right to bring the printer of the Ttmes upon his knees before the House , and to horsewhip Mr . Walter . No doubt , it was very vexing to find proffered service thus rejected ; aud it must have been very pleasing to Mr . Roebuck , after the kicking of the rimes , to find himself laughed at by the House , of which not one Member agreed with him iu opinion that its privileges had been at all violated by the " thunderer's" civilities .
We certainly think the attack on Mr . Roebuck in the Times was somewhat personal and scurrilous , and we thiuk Mr . Roebuck well deserved it ; not for his occasional interruptions of Tory Members in their diatribes , but for the intimation , roundly given both in this notice of motion , and in his previous conduct on Mr . Ceawford ' s motion , of areadi ; jL = s to swallow his professions of all liberal sentiments , to give popular freedom the go-by , and to uphold despotism iu its worst form . For this reason , we think Mr . Roebuck deserves all the abuse of the Times , and for a-like reason we think the Times deserves all tho abuse of Mr
Roebuck ; of which , in his breach of privilege speech , it came in for no small share . Arcades amboJ Mr . Roebuck , on the accession of a Tory Ministry , would sacrifice his hitherto unvarying support of the New Poor Law to an " improvement " in its constitution , couched in the pure spirit of despotism . The Times , on the other band , seems not unwilling to abate considerably the strength of its hitherto unwavering opposition to the Poor Law , because of the same circumstances . We hear no more from the Times of a tearing of it from the Statute Book , of its utterly unconstitusional character , of its anti-christian princi ple , of the impossibility of patching or amending it , and the necessity of its entire repeal and a return to the 43 d .
of Elisabeth . Instead of all this , the Times now tells the New Home Secretary " on taking an intelligent retrospect of the larger experience which the country has now had of that law ' s objectionable character , may not be wholly indisposed , to remodel its structure , and to mitiyate its frightful rigours . " Very gentle language this for the Times in reference to the New Poor Law ! We beg , however , to assure both Mr . Roebuck and the Times that no trimming policy , on either side , or by either party , shall avail them . The time has gone by for it . The people are awake ; they know that their " privileges" have been invaded , and they will make b-: rth Whigs , Tories , and sham-Radicals to answer it with fear and trembling , and that speedily !
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THE FORCED ALLY . If anything could enhance the value of O'Connor to the people , it must be the terror he excites in both the factions , and the anxiety of each to fasten him on the other . On his first release , our neighbour Mercury , with his accustomed accuracy and suavity , consigned "him to the Tories , whom , he supposed him to have just come in time to help to triumph over the common enemy , the dastard Whigs . In this day ' s ( Thursday ' s ) Morning Herald , we'find the following elegant morceau , which we cannot withhold from our readers : —
Feargus O'Connob and the Whigs . —( From a Correspondent . )—The assigned cause for liberating Feargus O'Connor before his period # f incarceration in York Castle bad expired was , that his health was so seriously affected that a longer confinement would have , perhaps , proved fatal to him ; yet , notwithstanding the alleged plea of ill-health , we find him , withiu a day or two after his liberation , with his stentoriaa lungs unimpaired , Bpouting , for three hours at a stretch , to his disoiplea , at the Crown aud Anchor in the Strand . 'Tis true , that the Whigs might have been deceived
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-rlhat the Mirqaffl o f- Rdm&nby might'haxo gnn . posed the agitator t wa in ;* dangerous health f but there is a story current thatPearguswas'Jet out ' just in the very mo&'ef time ) by the defunct Cabinet upon the express understanding that he should do his best , throughout the country , in ' agitating against the Administration of Sir Robert Peel , and ia stirring up the Chartists for thepurpoge'of annoy ing , if not crippling , the Conservative Govern , ment . This ruifieur may or may not be true we know that tbe . fallen faction are capable of almost anything ; but we can haidjy < rfv »
them credit for an ' arrangement ,. the details of which can only be known to the liberated Chartist and his newly-acquired patrons . Of coursa O'Connor , to keep , up ' decent appearances' m » not fail , occasionally * to bespatter the Whig 3 , Ths last two or three , items ' of disbursement of the secret-service money would be ' worth a Jew ' s eye to have a peep at . The Whigs once had O'Connor in their clutches . Let them take care he doea not entrap them into his . The old ' Newgate dodge' of 'Honour amongst thieves , ' . may not pass current upon this occasion . " ; . c < . > . . . ¦>
We esteem these the most honourable testimonials that could be borne to the character of the people ' s champion . And we are quite Btire the people will think so too .
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We regret much that we cannot persuade our friends practically to obserre the very clear and plain dl . rections which we have so often given and repeated about the sending of matter for tho Star . The ex . tent of our circulation obliges us to go to press « a Thursday afternoon ; and , therefore , our friendi seem to think that if their communicationa reach qj by Thursday morning it Is quite . soon enough . This is a great mistake . They should remember that every word of the paper has to be put together bj single letters , and the whole space filled before -we can go to press , and it is impossible to do this ia one forenoon . Our mea are busily employed ia filling up the paper with matter which , from one source or other , we aiust supply during the vrhoh
week , and it Beldom happens that more than one or two columns , besides the necessary space fa ; editorial comment , remain to be filled on Thursday morning . Thia shews the importance and necessity f all matters" of newa , occurrences of the moTs ment , reports of meetings , < fca , being sent to us at qnce , immediately they occur . Instead of which , it often happens , that oa Monday and Tuesday we have scarcely may letters , and on Wedmesday coau paratively few till the Bight post arrives . Tin craseqdence is , that those letters which do arrive in the early part of the week are carefully attended to and given generally at length ; while we are obliged to have recourse to the London papers , and Y&riooj aourees , for matter to . fill the remaining portion
of se many columns of the paper as must be aet op before Wednesday night Wednesday night and Thuwday jnoming ' s pelts' bring us a shoal of letten from fill parts of the country ; these corns upon aa just in the hurry of writing and attending to whafc an called the leading articles ; while in the early part of the week we have more time to attend to correspondence . The consequence is that one half of these letters are passed over entirely ; and the other halfcotnpregaed into the smallest possible amount of space—and the next consequent Ib , that in the following Week we baTO letters of complaint from various parties about their com . munications being treated with neglect Some whose letters or reports may have been omitted for
want of space , refer occasionally to the police reports—the column of " varieties , " or some othei portion of the contents of the 2 nd , 3 rd , 6 th , or 7 th pages of the paper , which are always set up first—and ask indignantly if their communication ¦ was less important than sueh or such a this ; which appeared in the same paper from which it was excluded " for want of space "—othen accuse ns of partiality and unfairness in cutting down their reports to a mere annoueement , while those of other towns are given at greater length . We have had many most angry letters of tills description , the cause for which has rested entirely with the parties themselves . Now if our friends will but bear la mind that we are filling np
the paper every day ; that the same column cannot be filled twice over ; that we must give oat such matter as tee have just when the hei want it , or there would be no Star on Saturday , and that therefore we cant wait for the next post—we most go on ; if they troild remember all this , and send their communications promptly —in the early part of the week—all would stand a fair and a good chance ; and if they would also remember that we have only one weekly paper for all England , Scotland , Ireland , and Wales , and that , therefore , no one place can be allowed to
monopolize an unreasonable portion of tbe paper , we should have no complaints of inattention to any party—because we know there would be no ground for them . Our anxious desire is to make the Star a truly national organ , equally represent ing all ; but we cannot d « this unless the country will aid us rightly in the sending of their matters of communication . The above remarks apply , of course , to news , facts , meetings of the people , Chartist intelligence , ke . Original papeis , letters to tbe Editor , personal correspondence , poetry , fee ., must be here at the beginning of the week , or we shall not held onr * selves bound even to notice thein .
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" The Chartists hate psoved thexseltks mohb accurate calculators tbas the kiddle classes . Whether theib nostbi-m wocld hate mended matters is sot now the question ; bvt thb result has shefvx that they werb correct in their opinion—that ix the present stats op the representation , it was tain to think of a aejeal of trk corn monopolt . ???*•?» Political poweb in this coTNrar , though it RESIDES IN A COMPARATIVELY SMALL CLASS , CAN ONLY BE EXERCISED BY THE SUFFERANCE OT THE MASSES . "Morning Chronicle f organ of iht Whi § Ministers J , Friday , Juiy loth , 184 L .
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A SEW MOVE AND A GOOD OKE . Tho follow ing appears in the Morning Chronicle of Friday : — " Wo learn thuit a niyr . ber of large and influential spinners and manufacturers had a meeting at MancLcsifer on Tuesday last , to consider the propriety of withdrawing their business from all merchants and broi .-. rs ia Liverpool who give their support to pro corn law members of Parliament ; and that they came to the conclusion that such a course would be quite justifiable , and tLat they saw no reason for giving business to those who were doing their best to deprive , them of their means of living—no leasonfor increasing the wealth of tb . v-. se -who wtre reducing them to poverty . An- 'Ltr meeting cf tue spinners and manufacturers of tbe tuwn and neightwiuLood of Manchester was fixtti tut Tuesday next , . " or the further considering the matter , and carrying it into Lffect . "
Snch are tne meaus resorted to by " the plague " for the carrying of their measure aud the punching of their opponents . We coii £ rauila , . e tbe Chronicle upon the new light which his dvmied upon it aiong with tho Baronetcy , and the electoral inumation that the Whi gs must " budge . " The " Bloodies" are now made to practice one of their own favourite maxims : the late " guardians " of the Royal Workhouse are thrown upon their own resources . And pretty pranks some of them seem disposed to pla , y ! One hoists the xed flag of defiance , with the motto- " BREAD OR BLOOD !" Another gently intimates that the stature of Dr . Hook's wife and daughters might be redueed by
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Daniel O'Connell has denounced the RechaUk Order . He says no one can be a Rechatit without being guilty of a transportable offence . Lord Fitzhabdinge Berkeley has written to Urn Morning Herald denying that he is the nobleman alluded to by Juki us , whose letter we gave lad . week . T . C . Spencer wishes to call the attention of Mr Bairstow to the village of Tieknall , in Derbyshire ¦ one mile from Melbourne ; a thickly populated
village m which the tanner of Charttsm has not yet been erected . Wesley an Methodism . —Can any friend lend us a copy ef the Minutes of the last Wesleyan Con ference , and furnish us with a list of the subscribers , and the snms subscribed respectively , k > the Wesleyan Centenary Fund ? Victim Fund . —Thomas Crossfey wishes us to say that the Chartists of Sowerby have sent to Mr . Shorrocks £ 1 Is ., being 12 s . from themselvei , ani 9 s . from a few friends at Soy land Mills . A Chartist , but no Revolutionise—We have no
room . L . D . — We cannot give a certain opinion vpen it t , much depends upon the usages of the country . But we think that if he can prove the hiring hi would command the wages . J . Buckley , Ashtqx . —We have Ha room for hb poetry . '¦ ¦ Boston . —The . Boston Radicals write us that they art anxious In join the National Charter Association , and much desire a lecturer to visit them for the purpose of organising them . We commend then to ( he attention of ihe Executive . J . J ., Grenock . —His Temperance Story will not suU
Ui . T , Peaifield . —His lines are delined . A Consta . m Reader , Stokesley . —We do not , in im absence of Mr . O'Connor , undertake to ansicer legal ucstions , or to give advice thereon . As far as we can judge from his statement , we should think his chance of success in any action uerj , small ; and if even he did succeed , we fear tht expeuces would more than swallow up all M gahis . O'Connor ' s Liberation . —The reports from Burnlefft Sutton-in-Abhjield , and several other places , of the proceedings on the 30 / A of August , are a lilt !
stale : they should have Hen sent last tceek . ^ John Williams writes to congratulate Mr . O'Connor on his release , and in doing so remarks that Vie Charter Can never become a panacea for the ills of the country without an issue of royal or national inconvertible paper money , which shall be a legal tender for the amount for which it is drawn . Belfast , Ireland . —Papers for Robert M'Glathnn arc to be directed to No . 38 , Bank-lane . Belfast . —The rules and regulations next week . Gracchus . —We admire his patriotism more than ha poetry . W . X . —flis verses next week . Joseph George , Warminster . —IFe do not think he need fear the prosecution for libel . If his
state-. ment was true , the wretches will not venture on it .- if otherwise , they will not think it worth their- while . However , if the prosecution doei come , he can , of course , subpasna as witnesses , tn support of his allegation , all the parlies named in his letter , and any others who know anything about it , though it will depend upon the kind of ¦ prosecution ( whether civil or criminal ) whetw thevr evidence may be received by the Court . Thomas Mitton . —None can regret more than we & ihe " bickerings , " and contentions which occasionally rise among individuals of the Chartist body . And what we regret most is , that persons pro fessing Chartist principles , and avowing an anxiety to see those principles practically recognised in the State , should act inconsistently unit their own principles by taking any steps to
weaken the force of tlwse united energies'whicn are alt necessary to our cause . Such mutt necessarily be the effect of all sectional movements ana separate societies having- the" same avowed object as the National Charter Association , but not cooperating with it . It is a loosening of the oiiy bond wherein our strength lies , and must , therefore , produce the moat painful excitement in tnf minds of ail such honest Chartist , especially resident in the locality , as take this view oftM subject . However much , therefore , we may re ~ grel the "intemperate language" and " personality" complained of by Thomas Mitton , we cannot less regret the injndioiousneas- ^ o say tM best of it—which dictated the formation of tht society against which he describes it to have been fulminated .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 11, 1841, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1126/page/4/
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