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Northern Star (1837-1852), 5th February 1842, Edition 1 of 5, Page 4, Untitled Article

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    • ME iVOETHERN STAE SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5. 1842.
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      Untitled Article

      THE MASON'S STRIKE . " j As extremely large public meeting ns heM on Hoc- \ day , in the large room of the White Coadolt Hoese . Tavern , for the purpose of taking into considsration ; 14 » present poiifc- n of tbe nuucns , and also for the ! purpose of considering the best means to be adopted ia j supporting them in their present straggle . ~ j Mr . Wakley was one of the fiE-t -who ascended ? &e ; jlatform . j Mi . Dckiuss , a bookbinder , ires called t * the . Chair . He said that in taking tbe chair that sight be felt tbe greatest pleasure . The strike had-then ontinned twenty weeks . In the strike there had .-been 375 persons , of whom only five had proved false to the wise . The eirenmstanoes peculiar to the trade winch then solicited their suppsrt , rendered that snppert at feat mossrat the mere essential , as the masons , -at that ^

      tune of the year , -were generally cut of empteyment from ene end of the kingdom to ths ether . Therefore , it became those of the other trades to come forward and assist them ( the masons ) , -which would enable them to get over the present pa : iod ; and when that period was got T > ver , there was no fear as to file result of the struggle , because the New Royal Exchange , the "Mnssum , and variouB other public buildings , would to commenced , and when that took place , they might depend upon the victory . ( Cheers . ) He need not go into the case of the masons since their strike . They bad taken a high moral stand—a Btand the result of « dncation . He hoped they would still adhere to -th ^ cause , and Eoon bring it to a successful termination . He would conclide by calling on Mr . Golton to move the first resolstion .

      Mr . Golton , painter , said he rose with much pleasure to propose th * following resolution— "That it ii the opinion of this meeting thati . the steady , upright , and mmiy conduct of the masons during such a long and arduoas struggle pre-eminently deserves the rrtmost praise , and our additional support" { Cheer ? . ) He would endeavour to lay before them-such facts as ¦ would , he was sure , cause them to carry ont this resolution , and which would not only prove to them thatihe mason 3 destrved their applause , but all -the support they could possibly bring to them . It bad twen stated to them that 37 * men were on the strike , and of that number not one had broken the laws of his country . They had never seen any police reports inserted in any at the papers respecting them . Their straggle was foBsded on Christian and humane principles , to resist tie oppression of a being who was not worthy the name

      of an Englishman , who had been raised t « ha office for the sola purpose of pursuing a system of slave-driving . He ( Mr . Golton ) would endeavour to show that the * iasons' interest was the interest of the masters . - He then went into the various details relative to the strike , and which finally led to the men- leaving their mployment , all of which details have appeared in our reports of the various speeches delivered 3 t the earlier meetings of the m&sans . He eoncladed a v « 7 long speech by calling on them to use their utmost exertions in supporting the masons , and then they would not have to return to their work comfortably with Alien , as > It . Grissell had last Wednesday said they ¦ would . He had said that " in the course of three ¦ weeks they will all be comfortibly back again . " "But , " be also added , " I must confess these- men of principle were the best men I ever had in my life . "

      Mr . Wakley briefly seeondad the resolution , which was put and carried unanimously . Mr . Clarke . a painter , said he felt greet pleasure in ytPi"g their attention to a subject of the highest importance t ? them as raaa—a subject they had mtt that evening tt advsne *—that of obtaining for the woiking man tint moral , that social , and poh'tical itanding , which Thesons of labour , the creators of all wealth , were so fully , fairly , and justly etttled to . They had been opposed by the combination of capitalists , but owing to the

      nnited efforts of the trades , they had been able to ttxaa against them—ihear , hear }—and if they still held together , they mnst , and would be successful . > Iany perhaps tt this moment would a&k , " what hare we ta do with that strike , we are not masons—we have nothing to do with stone ; " but he would endeavour to Mhotf that they had to do with it , that they were attacking the strong hold of corruption , and what was the masons' situation then might be theirs to-morrow . I / et them come forward and break the chain of tyranny asunder .

      I * -t us unite with hearts sincere in truth , Our mental might to tMs ^ ennobling work , The mind ' s regeneration , and become Messiahs in the canse of liberty , Tf or cease nrtU from out the book of life W « blot the name of tyrant and of stive . —( Cieers . ) The resolution be bad to ^ ropose was—M That it is tbe opinion of this meeting , that tbe bold and decisive conduct adopted by the quarry-men , in nobly refusing to prepare stone for the supply of Messrs . Grissell and Peto , until justice has been conceded to the Injured massns , tiiereby sacrificing their employment , deserves our cordial »»»?»*•¦ , arid creates in us a greater stimulant to action . " Mr . Thomas brieSy seconded the resolution , which , on being put to the meeting , was carried amidst loud applause .

      Mr . Feargus O'Connor then entered the room , ana was received with a tremendous burst of cheering , which lasted a considerable time . Mr . Bctler said he could assure them that he bad always anticipated success with respect to the question at issue , and he was now still further confident of the result from that meeting . The resolution be had to propose bore something of a political « haracter : — " That it Is the opinion of this meeting , that the partial conduct of the Commissioners of Woods and Forests , and tbe Board of Admiralty , in assisting Messrs . GrisseU sod Peto azainstthe masons now on strike , clearly proves

      that the Government is determined to oppress the working classes ; and therefore it is absolutely necessary that extensively organised tminna should exist for the purpose of protecting oarselves against the combined efforts of those who live upon the fruits of our industry . " ( Loud cheers . ) He did not think be need be under any apprehension In that resolution being recsiv&d by them . They know perfecUy well that Lord Lincoln , and other great men in the Government , had done all in their power- to starve the men into submission , but he trurtsd the good men of the trades of the metropolis would never allow them to become tbe easy tools of such a base faction . ( Cheers . )

      Mr . Baker seconded the resolution without comment . " ¦ Mr . A . Walton rose to speak to the resolution . The resolution just submitted to them , condemnatory of the Commissioners © ff-TVoods and Forests and the Board of Admiralty ,. be trusted , would meet with their ¦ entire concurrence . He rejoiced at their again assembling on that occasion . It was a proof that they felt the deepest interest in that struggle— that they were fully sensible of the fact that the Commissioners of Woods and Forests and the Board of Admiralty had rendered their streets to Grissell and Peto , for the purpose of oppressing the masons . They ( the masons ) wrote to the Cwn-. uissloners of Woods and Forests ,, and tbey sent an : rasw { i to the

      letter , f feting that they could not interfere , wb ile they were actually holding a secret correspondence with Grissell and Peto ; and when a deputation of the masons waited on ths Earl of Lincoln , for the purpose : of explaining the strike , he Baid they wpyb dtcMedlj opptw ? d to trades * unions or combinations . Grsseii and Ptio were lefi to do what tbey thcusht proper , and they were protected . The quarrymen heard of the conduct of Allen , and immediately refused to produce any more stone until he was dismissed . The Cumtnissioners of Woods and Forests wrote a letter by their agents . Messrs . Bcrgsss and Walter , stating to Messrs . Grisstll and Peto , that they might get Btone from any part of tse country they chose . He ( Mr . Walton i cdied their attention to the systematic union am * cgor .

      those parties , whilst the Eirl of Lincoln was -condemning union amongst the working classes . The Tines had said that if they could not get stone from any pan cf England they could get fruin South America . He ( Mr . W . ) thongkt h would itrathi-r an urpro 3 t 3 W * speculation . ( Laughter . )—The Times had recommended tbe Government to reenact the combumt-cn laws , but if ever they attemj ^ tr-d to crush trades" unions , that would raha such a tempt&t round their heads as would with some difficulty be quelled . ; Cheers , t The Government ongbt not to nave interfered ; and , if they did so , they should have made inquiries ioio the merits of the case . The masons ha < i at ail times been rtady , and were so still , to submit the case to arbitration ; and if the reporter of tLe Times

      was in that room , ha trusted ha would tike thit declaration , and let them know the fact Ba » they would sevei get justica from the present Government , nor "would they ever get justice from their representatives , until th * y were made iesponsible to the people for their actions . tLoud cheers . ) They might as well expect to find tfce sun in darkness—they might as well expect "to find the great universe acting in opposition to the estab lished laws of nature , as expect the Government to have aay thing like sympathy for the people while that Government was based upon a system of class legislation . He would endeavour to » how them th » exteat of union which existed amongst thea , as they eoold appreciate the value of union as well as the CtoYerament . Es wc-uid endeavour to show them the absolute necessity of uniting for their own protection . All classes cf society , exo » pt tbe

      working men , were protected by law . He would take for instance the solicitor , the physician , tbe surgeon , all tb « M were under tbe protection sf the law , and no one co * li 3 practica in either unless he badtakenhis degree * . But where was the protection for the honest Bad Industrious working man ? He would tell them ¦ what their protection roust be . It must bennion uaion which would tend to their own welfare and be th « means of bettering their condition , and whieh would be the instrument of their own regeneration . For this union it wa » indispensably necessary thit delegate eommitttes should exktin London and through the provinces . In every town } n England they should be formed , and the -whole of thJ&e aniens , directed by intelligence , would egow to th 6 world that tbey were not that bloody and sanguine mob" they were represented to be , but £ a nprizbt and generous people determined to be free . ( Loud ch&irs . )

      The resolution -r ^ s pnt and carried with loud cheers . . . Uro ^ jiBAB proposed the resolution •—

      Untitled Article

      " That this meeting do , individually and collectively , declare their determination to assist the masons while 4 ke . strike lasts .-This resolution was received with loud cheer ? . Mr . Tribe seconded the resolution . Mr . Anderson having spoken to the resolution , it was carried unanimously ) and with vehement cheering . The Chairman then stated that a meeting would be held every Monday evening at the Craven Head , Drorylane ; and every Tuesday evening aw the Prince ' s Head , Prince ' s-street , Westminster .

      Mr . Wai-ton said it was the intention of tbe Committee to have bad a ball on Wednesday week , but , as that was Ash Wednesday , the landlord had been threatened with the loss of his license , and therefore tbe ball was postponed till the Monday following . Perhaps it would be thought ^ tmge tha * they came so far from the centre of tbe town , bot the proprietor of the room had given it gTatu-. tously . — ( Loud cheers . ) " ..-.. Mr . Waklbt then presented himself , and was received wita cheering , which continued for some minutes . As soon as silence was restored , he said he could assure them that he had attended there that night for tbe purpose of witnessing iSeir proceedings , with great satlsfact ' on . "Nothing could be more grateful to his

      feelings than tb « t of discovering that a large portion of his countrymen were rtruggling for their rights W'tb a determination of being victorious . In the speeches they had heard , which had been delivered for their information , were the details of grievances which the men employed on the Houses of Parliament bad endured ; and he would ask them , and he was bold to make the appeal not only to them but to the whole of England , whether it was possible for one maa to possess an honest English heart who did not sympathise with the hardships these men had endured ? It was an easy thing for those who had capital , which bad been accumulated by the labour bf the people , to say that unions were mischievous , and that the working men were acting tyrannically . Th ? y had heard ef physic being

      protected by the law ; they might go further , and say the Church also ; in fact , the aristocracy of England were nnited as one man against the interests of the working man ; If they wanted a clergyman for their parish , could they have him I No ; h «> was set down a 3 a black . ( Laughter . ) The church said they would not have your black , but would have a black of tbeir own . ( Cheers and laughter . ) Take the law , of which Mr . F . O'Connor was a member , and they knew how he had taken up the cause of the people , and so tbe law sert him toCoventry . ( Cheers . ) Suppose they wanted him ( Mr . Wakleyj to plead tbeir cause in any court of law , could they have him ? No . It would be a very bad thing for him if they did . But that was not to the point Could they exercise their own will and judgment ? No : because the benchers would denounce

      him ( Mr . W . ) as a black in law ; they wonld not have his coif and gown , as it would not be according to their liking . ( Loud laughter and cheers . ) Take the practice of physic , and look to the Apothecaries Company . Tbey \ tere a voluntary company at first , but they had a charter granted to them by James , and then cime the 53 rd of George III ., by which Act any man who dared to prescribe a dose of rhubarb or jalap , unless he was a member of the said society , must forfeit £ 20 for that very grave ofFence . Yet the parties who created these unions denounced the working men of L « ndon as tyrannical because they bad the sagacity to stand up for their own protection . Who did not feel the spirited conduct of tbe men at the two Honses of Parliament ? they bad taught even hospitality t-i GrUsell and Peto , for tb * -y fead bad a dimner paity , and one thousand seven hundred of their workmen bad dined at

      toe Horns Tavern , at Kennington ; and th » se men oltained a good dinner by means of tbe masona' it . ike . ( L > ud cheers ) He never could believe that nearly 300 men wonld throw themselves out of employment , tt a season of privation , and disteesB , without feeling that they were rigbt in doing so . The Hon Gentleman then wer . t on at considerable length , urging upon them each to subscribe a weekly sum , so that tbe masons might have a permanent income that would last as long as the strike lasted . Hu was willing , a * long as he bad a shilling in bis pocket , to

      contribute his share . The political unions in the House of Commons were such , that be bad seen , in close divisions , the leaden of adverse factions bring in idiots and lunatics to give tbeir votes . He pledged his word and honour that he had seen idiots and lunatics voting in making laws for this empire . These were the men who tad denounced their unions , and were prepared to denounce them still , and who -would , if they allowed them , pass lawsior the abolition of all Trades' Societies . The Hon . Gentleman then went into very lengthy details respecting the Dorchester labourers , and his exertions in their behalf . The Hon . Gentleman

      concluded an extremely long speeck by calling upon them to assist heart an 4 band in the masons' cause , and then to form associations for the purpose of obtaining Universal Suffrage , and never to rest till they had obtained it Mr . FeaRgus OCoHNor then rose and said , if the concluding advice of Mr . Wakley had been taken and acted upon some few yean ago , tbe masons would not have been in tbe painful position of being obliged to look -to that meeting for support . He rejoiced in making one of them there that night . He rejoiced the more in consequence of tbe kit sentence be had heard from Mr . Butler , when he ( O'Connor ) ett * red the room . He told them that the motion bore something of a pol . tlcal complexion , ani this it was that gave him ( O'Connorj bo much satisfaction . As Mr . Wakley had said , it was sot bo much Ibe aristocracy who pressed upon the working classes as the middle classes

      of society , who trampled on the people . No truw could be plainer than the rights of these four hundred men who bad given up the sources of their own maintenance rather than injure Vieir trade , or allow ifaeee tyrarts to have the vktiry over them . He had t jld Lord Grey , Lord Brougham ; Lord Stanley , and the rest , at the time the poor Dorchester labourers case was brought before the Hense of Commons , that they ought to be in the convict ' s dress , and going on board the hulks . They were new in a position to assert their rights , and to go at once to tbe root of class legislation . Mr . Wakley would be going down to the House of Commons , and he Hoped he would stand there the leader of these who were the master-arm of the nation- T 7 ni « n was necessary in order to effect triumph . The Kin $ of Prussia was going dow « to the opening of Parliament , and would sit by the side of the Queen in that House of Incu-ablea . What wonld he think if he

      was told ty Mr . Wakley , tkat in the other House idiots and lunatics voted in making the laws 7 He would think that one was an Hospital of Incurables , and tbe other an Hospital for Lunatics . He ( Jlr . O'C ) bad been in the Queen ' s Bench , and he never found a man there that was in debt : be had been in York Castle amongst thievts &nd vagabonds and be never found a thief or a vagabond there yet ; and so in tbe House of Commons and the House of Lords , tbey would never find an enemy to the poor . The present time put him in mind of that when Charles James Fi x accepted rffice . Tbty then contended for all tha six poii . tJ which he ( Mr . OC ) did , btt when

      tney got an the ttber side of Downing-tteett , all tbey did was t : > remove a few contractors from Parliament , and deprive revenue officers of their vct-s . It was like itne old la ^ ly when she got her fe * t on the fender , she did not think t ' ne poor people couM be cold . So when C J . Fox and his party were in cmae tbey thonght the state of tbe nation was nc t half bo bad as when they were out . -Be concluded an extremely long speech , of which we are only able to give the heads , by expressing a hope that those men who had taken tbe place of those in strike , would gtt the new Houses of Parliament Luilt by the time the Beformtd Parliament was ready to take possession of them . ( Loud cheers . ) A V'lt * of thanks was then passed to the Chairman , and tbe meeting separated .

      Me Ivoethern Stae Saturday, February 5. 1842.

      ME iVOETHERN STAE SATURDAY , FEBRUARY 5 . 1842 .

      Untitled Article

      USE , AND ABUSE , OF MACHINERY . Hundreds of times basil been asserted in the columns of the Norlhern Star , tbat machinery , when rightfully applied , is one of the greatest of blesBings to man , both individually and socially . Hun dreds of times have we Bhewn how it might be made into " Man ' s Holiday" instead of being , as it is at piesent , man ' s greatest enemy and curse . Handrede of times have we explained the difference in result upon the happiness and vrell-beisg of the operative

      community , arising from the use or abuse of machinery . Often and a-g&in hare we declared oarselves to be in favour of as much and as perfect machinery as can by possibility be introduced , provided it be rightfully used : and often and again have we shewn that the wrongs and miseries entailed upon the working people by the present extensive nse of it arista from the fact that it it not rightfully applied ; that it \ s most foolishly tuoEt insanely abased .

      By a proper use or rightful application of machinery , we mean such an nse or application of its powers as will ekbuab to the working petple their fair share of all and every benefit arising froa ifci introduction and employment . By the abuse of machinery , we mean such an application of its powers as enabled John Marshall of Leeds , in less than forty years , to accumulate to himself upvraxdi of iwo millions of money ! while

      it consigned those who icorked the machinery , which ¦ was called his , to pennry and want ; to long hours , short wages , and , by consequence , dear food ! Ii is so plainiy apparent that whatever can be introduced that has tn © tfi \ ct of lessening man ' s toil and increasing kis means of producing wealth most , of itself , bo a . good , that we imagine it would not be possible to find ibe face of the earth a finale human beisjg who vio Id attf » 5 pt an objection

      Untitled Article

      to machinery in the abstract ; and it is also as plainly apparent , that if machinery were rightfully applied , —applied so as to be of i mmediate and csbxaih benefit to all , workman and employer , producer and consumer , that it would be as difficult to find an honest objector to its use . , It is equally apparent that , if the new powers , or aids to human labour , supplied by machinery , be so used and applied as to confer the whole benefit upon a very few , and to infliot misery destitution and death upon the producing many , no justification for that application can be offered .

      It is also equally as apparent , that our machinery has always hitherto been bo applied ; to the raising and gathering together of large heaps of wealth for the " great" owners of it , and to the driving from the workshop the man who had to " earn his bread bytheBweat of hiB brow , " and dragging into his place ( where a sentient being was still needed ) the woman and the child , inflicting npon them longer hour * of toil than the man had to endure before his sapercession ; and involving all in a race of commercial strife , which continually takes from the wages of the work-woman and work-child , and inflicts suffering and poverty upon all who have to live by daily toil .

      Tell us not that these things mast continue ! Tell us not that it is impossible otherwise to apply machinery ! Tell us not that it is impossible to secure the working man his fair share of the benefit accruing from every improvement ! Tell us not that this cannot be done ! We tell you , not only that it can , but that it must ' . And if those in power cannot find out the way to do this effectually and un-injuriously to all , they must give way to those

      who can . A better and more just distribution of the " fruits" of toil must be made ; and if our legislators and governors be unequal or indisposed to this task , out they must come ! That which is of itself one of the greatest of blessing . " , must not continue to be made into the greatest of scourges and curses . It m ¥ st be regulated ! It must be used within due limits ; and its benefits must be diffused amongst and secured to all concerned .

      Tkese are our views , then , upon the general question of machinery ; views reiterated again and again . We allude to them here , and set them forth in this plain and connected form , because it is necessary that we meet and destroy a dastardly attempt of the enemy to inculcate a notion amongst the factory masters that we are weekly endeavouring to decry the use of machinery altogether . The Whig "Establishment , " utterly unable to rebut the faots we have adduced , showing , conclusively , that our present application of machinery is a wrong one utterly unable to refute the reasoning we have

      employed , and tho data we have given ; utterly unable to upset the positions we have thus made good : the Whig press , unable to defend the system which at present obtains , and conscious that the assaults that have been made upon it , if not counteracted by some means or other , wi ll end in its downfall and the establishment of another and a better ; the Whig organs , seeing and dreading this , because ef the sensitiveness of class interest , meets ns only by wilful and infamous misrepresentation ! We denounce those workings of our present system which have reduced the labouring people to that state o !

      poverty and want , that their Masters find them " wishing the Almighty weuld put an end to their sufferings before morning ; " and we show that this poverty and want have been brought on by the dreadful and Buicidal misapplication of the immense powers of production we have at our command ; and forsooth we are represented as denouncing the existence of the powers themselves ! We plainly and clearly expose the enormous abuses connected with the present working of machinery ; we strongly and forcibly " shew up" the insanity of tho arrangements which engender and continue these abuses ; and we are immediately represented as objecting to the use of machinery itself !

      Nothing on earth was ever more palpably false or more palpably gross . It is to the abuse ^ alone that we object : none but fools would objeot to its

      use . We hold that it is as impossible to return to the rude and unskilful processes of former times , as it will be to prevent the invention and discovery of other machinery and processes to supersede those now in use ; and we hold that none but a besotted ninny would attempt to do either . At the same time we hold that every addition to our means of producing wealth ought to be beneficial to the whole , and ought not to injliei'injury upon any . If this be not the | case , the blessing is averted and withheld .

      These are the principles that have actuated us in our labours for the poor upon this question . We have asserted tbeir right to a fair share of all the benefits resulting from new and improved means of national wealth , and we have strongly denounced all who denied them this right , or interfered to prevent the establishment and enjoyment of it . I t was not likely that patties acting as we have acted would be allowed to pursue such a course unmolested !} -. Every man whose means of living without labour depended upon the existence of the abuses we exposed was sure to be up in arms ; every toad-eater and bribed advocate in the land was sure to espouse the cause of their patrons and employers ; and every means that malice and fear could invent or prompt were sure to be put in

      requisition . They have been so ! From one end of the kingdom to the other the press has had its jibe , its sneer , or its stab at poor Pil-garlick . And yet " Pil " survives ! aye , and even yet bids defiance to them all !! Envy , too ; rancorous , dirty-souled , mole-spirited ekvt , has been at work I Where it has not been prudent to openly denounce , whisper has been employed . If a division in the consolidated ranks of the poor , whose cause we have espoused , and whose efforts we are guiding to the establishment of the above defined rights could be made , the enemy might st continue to triumph , and wallow in his wrongly-gotten gains . Pretended friends have ,

      therefore , been employed . These have been instructed to join the associated bodies ; to worm themselves into favour and good grace ; to get into offices of power and trust ; and to judiciousl y use the influence they by these means acquire to the destruction of the character of each and every leader of the people who is too honest to be bought , and ° too independent to be unworthily used . All these means have failed , though ! and will fail ! spite of all that can be done to prevent their failure ! The people have at last gotten the truth so well grounded in them , that it is no longer possible to deceive . The traitors and Bpies are , one and ail , bundled out of the camp the moment they show the cloven foot .

      And thus will it continue to be , until the cause of the people overcomes all opposition ; The principles whioh are now openly espoused and convincingly advocated by the . entire working people , are tbos « alone which can save this country from utter and irretrievable ruin . And the establishment of those principles is certain , —guaranteed by the fact , that they are so espoused and advocated b / the working people ! Once get the vorki * right , and all is done ! They alone move ociety" !

      To this and have we laboured ; and in this have we been successful . When did England ever before Bee the working people Btanding aloof from the other clauses ; resisting and despising all efforts at seduction from the cause they have set their hearts npon ; and resolutely bent upon the prosecution of their own -work , for themselves , and of themselves ? When was ever 6 uch a sight { exhibited to the Politician ' s eye in this land before !! Never !! and it is because of this ; it is because the working people have banded themselves together , and undertaken their own "work ; it is because of their resolute determination , evidenced i a thousand instances , to

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      resist all attempts to swerve them from the path of duty ; it is because of these things , that we , in their name , bid defiance to all their enemies , open , or coverfc ^ buU-dog like , or wormingly insidious ! . ¦ ¦; ¦; ¦ : ¦;• ¦ / . >¦' : •'¦ ¦ •/ . ; ¦ ¦ ¦ ' ' . ' ¦ ¦;' : ¦ : ' '' '¦¦ , ¦ - ' , . . . '' , . ' ' -: V , "' Spite of every obstacle , of every difficulty , of every opposition , the principles we have laid down respeotiBg machinery and its use , will be triumphantly established . Its benefits will be secured to all ; its pr estnt erroneous evils will be rectified , and not allowed to press upon any .

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      THE OPPRESSED FACTORY SLAVES AND THEIR CI-DEVAtiT ADVOCATE . Elsewhere , we give a somewhat lengthy and well written address from the Leeds Short Time Committee to the working men of the factory districts , in reference to the brutal exhibitions of falsehood and violence lately made by an unprincipled public writer , the conductor of a paper which : in former times has done good service t 6 the cause of justice , but which has lately lent all its little power to the millocrats and Corn Law repealers .

      Our readers will find in that document a sufficient reply to the calumnious attack of the Whig spluttereron the Short Time Deputies , about not pressing on the attention of Ministers the People ' s Charter or the repeal of the Coin Laws . As the furmer of these objections has been also urged by some very honest but short-sighted and unreflecting persons among the working classes , we recommend the answer of the Committee to their reading . To us at least that answer is sufficient and satisfactory . They were not sent to do it ; it formed no part of

      their duty . It would have been malapropo $ t and would have defeated their ; own purpose , without effecting any other purpose for good . They had neither power , nor right , to force upon the attention of Ministers any other subjects than those which formed the immediate subject of their mission . They were deputies from known and established public bodies j bodies composed of men holding various opinions about the People ' s Charter ; but one and the same opinion upon the necessity of a more efficient legislative protection for the factory slaves .

      No one knows better the constitution and character of the Short Time Committees of the factory districts than does Sib Robert Peel , and if those gentlemen , waiting upon him in the character of delegates from those committees , to solicit the attention of his Government to the evils of the factory system , had begun to press upon his notice and attention the " People ' s Charter , " he would no doubt , and we will add properly , have considered and treated the deputation as that which this impudent scribe has thonght fit to denominate it for not doing so , —a

      "fraud and a hoax . " He would have said " Gentlemen , I expected a deputation of factory workers , or their advocates ; I find a deputation of Chartists . If the , Chartists have not sufficient confidence in themselves or their principles to trust their cause to its own merits , but must have recourse to the disgraceful trick of bringing it here under the borrowed cloak of the Short Time Committees , that cause is certainly not good nor important enough to merit the serious attention of a great and strong Government . " The deputation would have been bowed out ; the Chartists would

      have been laughed at by the Tories , for their abortive effort to hoax the Minister ; while they would have been vilified and abused by the Whigs and Corn Law repealers for having thus destroyed all trust and confidence in the character of public deputations , and all chance of another deputation being decently received or attended to ; nor would any hound of the pack have been more loud in its yelpings against the disgraceful trickery and fatuitous blundering of the Chartists than the thing' ' against whose present ravings this remonstrance of the committee ia addressed .

      Let but honest and right-thinking Chartists reflect a little , and they will perceive this to be a right statement of the case . Many memorials from various quarters have been adopted by the Chartists of the three kingdoms , having for their objeot the liberation and return of Frost , Williams , and Jones . They have been committed to Mr . O'Connor for presentation to the Queen , And yet who expects Mr . O'Connor upon that occasion to expatiate to her Majesty upon the merits of the People ' s Charter ? which would be a course just as reasonable , and just as right to be adopted , as that which the dishonest Anti-Corn-Law scribblers

      seek now to persuade the unthinking of the Chartists ought to have been adopted and pursued by this deputation . We are quite sure , however , that this reasoning is as clear to the Chartist body , as a whole , as to ourselves . They have no difficulty in estimating the character of this new card in the hands of an old gambler . The : moat dextrous playing of it cannot blind tho lookers-on ; the " pass"ia too palpable ; and the baffled cheat , no doubt , enjoys mightily the indignant rejoinder of the Committee in their reply : — • . ¦ ... ¦ . - ¦¦ ¦ •¦¦¦¦ - . ...

      ' Well , but then , we are told , that the deputation did not press upon the Ministers the adoption of the People ' s Charter . And who oomplains of this 1 The Leeds Times man , who has done his little best to Bwanip ihe Charter agitation | The man who has omitted no opportunity of doing his uttermost to sow division in the Chartist camp ! who has maligued the motives , aspersed the characters , and lyingly misrepresented the conduct of the Chartist leaders . ' the man who put words into the mouth oJ Mr . G . J . H arney , at the last eleetionyfor the purpose of hounding on the W-hiig- ' - physicals to trounce his

      boues—put words into his mouth which were never uttered , and represented him as uttering them in Leeds , when ho never saw Leeds on the day named ! a man who has systematically traduced the character of J * B . OBcien , and of Mr . F . O'Connor I a man who has oulled from every source all that ho possibly could lay hia hands on , which would at all serve his purpose of exciting jealousy aud disunion amongst the Chartfist ranks ! a man who is secretary to the Fox and Goose Club—a society formed for the oxprpsa and avowed purpose of swamping the Charter agitation . T / ms is the man to complain

      that the deputation did not do that which they n'ere not sent to do ! This is the man to send his toolstwo geese ; two members of the Fox and Goose Society , to move at the Leeds Music Hall meeting , that the deputation be censured for not pressing upon Ministers tho People ' s Charter ! This is the man to ; act thUB , when ha and his tools have schemed in every possible way to overreach and put down the Charter agitation ! Tho men who moved the amendment at the Music ; HaJfij are both members of the Fox and Goose club : and

      the " amendment" bo artlessly dictated by the modest mover on the platform , was concocted and arranged , by the Foxes , before the mover of it came near the meeting at all . And these , forsooth , are the men to complain that the deputation omitted tnat which formed no portion of their duty 1 . '¦' . ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ . ' . " . 'I , . ¦¦ '¦ . . '•' ¦; . : ... ' " ; . ¦' . ; : ' . ¦/¦ '¦ - "Ah ! working men , you will need no spectacles to enable you to see through all this ! Tfou will need no aid to enable you to divine the cause of this newborn zeal for the Charter , and love of the Chartist agitation !"

      Truly , and so we think . Whatever may or may not have been the faults or merits of the deputation , the splutter of this base hireling , about their having omitted to mention the People ' s Charter , is too rich to be read by any man without laughter , spite even of the melancholy evidence which it affords of the depravity of human nature when aoted upon by the full influences of the Bystem , to the support of which this creature has sold his miserable intellect and wretched goul . The Committee have certainly made this apparent , and have exhibited it very strongly both in the paragraph whioh we have quoted , and in the following one : —

      "Not long ago , the party of which the Leeds Times is now the paid todlj themselves sent a deputation to the Tory MinisterB . Of course $ ) r . Smiles and his co-workers took care to ^ instruct their deputation to name the People ' s Charter to the Ministers , as a measure of relief ; o / course they took care that the Ministers had that subject brought under their notice . Not they , indeed ! They sent their deputation to press for Corn Law Repeal alone i and the deputation never mentioned the Charter ! Of course Dr . Smiles censured them for this omission ; Not a we rd of it ! It would not have served hi Purpose . "

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      As no man eould at first avoid seeing that to ; press the People's Charter ; under colour of a factory deputation , would have been dishonest and impolitic , so no man who has read the reply of the Committee can fail to see the " passed" card which tbey have dragged from under the " cheat ' s" deeve , and thus ; exhibited * -. . ' ¦ [;\ X ¦ ¦ ' ¦ ' [ : '¦ : ¦¦' - ¦' ¦ ¦¦ - ¦ ¦ ' ¦ ;• : '¦ . 'i f-: ' : ' .: ¦ . " One word npon the notion which an insidious attempt has been made to engender ia the minds of Bimple , earnest , but unreflecting Chartists ; and in a large mass of people there are always more or fewer of this character . It has been stated that the

      recommendation of the Peop l e ' s Charter was the more confidently to be looked for from this deputation , because several of its members wire avowed Chartists , and especially because one of them was Mr . Joshua Hobson , the puWisher of the Ntirthern Star . From him , of course , nothing but the Chartercould emanate , His meat , drink , and evacuatioBs ; must be * * the Charter , the whole Charterj and nothing but the Charter / ' This is , of necesBity , either a very knavish or a very silly mode of talking ; and it is because knaves sometimes act upon simple minds and make fools of them , that we

      bestow a paBsing glance upon it . The objection goes on the assumption that a Chartist should be nothing but a Chartist ; that he should have no concern in any other matter than the Charter ; that he should lend himself to the accomplishment of ho other purpose j however good or desirable . Carry out this principle , and it would put an instant stop to all the operations of society ; churcheffj benefit societies , literary institutions , transactions of trade and commerce , all the ordinary and necessary occupations of life , must bo abandoned by every man who is a Chartist : forhe who is a Chartist must

      be a Chartist always , entirely ^ and exclusively . He must » ind nothing , seek nothing , and accept nothing but the Charter . We don't stop to say that in this argument the witling of the " Repeal '' press has a little over-stepped himself ; that it would necessarily preclude all hope of that which he ^^ affects to be very anxious to obtain—co-operation of the Chartists in the Corn Law Repeal movement ; we don't stop to show this sha ) low-pated mole that it offers the best possible justification for the policy of upsetting "Repeal" meetings , about which he has so often and so coarsely abused the Chartists :

      we give to his impudent but transparent "fraud" of a . " ' * ' aew-born zeal for the Charter , " this flimsy covering very willingly ; but we remind our Chartist friends upon whom the "hoax" is attempted to be played , that it would also have the effect of neutralizing , or putting a stop to , all their exertions in behalf of Fbost , Williams , and Jones , all their virtuous detestation and righteous resistance of the " amended " Poor Law , and all their efforts for the abrogation of the ills of poor Ireland consequent upon the Act of Union , as well as every effort at redress for individual grievances however great and galling . '

      No Chartist was ever thus Charter-mad . No man ever thought that the promotion of all such religious or social , or special and individual , benefits as might be attained without interposing any let or hindrance to the Chartist agitation was not a thing to be desired . No Chartist ever thought that it wa s not necessary and advisable to keep actively in play all such means as might combine with and strengthenand uphold the Chartist agitation . And amongst all these , where is the single one that has engaged the ; amount of public sympathy and public interest which appertains to this question of the protection

      of factory workers against the ravages of CArrtxhi and the assertion of the rights of Labour in its struggle with the giant power of machinery 1 This is a great and wide question ; ' tis one in which the interests of tho poor both manufacturing and agricultural , are essentially bound up ; 'tis one in which the feelings , affections , and sympathies of human nature are all merged and from which they are inseparable ; / tis one which , Charter or no Charter , sooner or later , and at no distant period , must be made the subject of deep asd searching investigation , in order

      that the hand of legislation , to what arm soever it may be attaohed , may be enabled so to adjust and regulate the framework of society as to prevent its violent disruption . Things cannot go on as they are now doing . Wealth cannot continue to be brought into existence exclusivel y for those who are already wealthy . The few cannot be permitted to continue this clutching of all the good things of an all-bounteous Prpvidehce , while the many look mournfully , but vainly , for the bare means of eking out a miserable life . The great question of the adjustment , and control , and

      guidance of our productive powers , is the question of the Short Time Committees- ^ -not simply the Ten Hours' Bill , which , as the deputation rightly informed the ministry , has lost by delay much , if not all , its efficiency as a specific measure . This question Will , or ought to bo , the very first to occupy the attention of Parliament so soon as Parliament shall be made to represent the people . Nothing can therefore be more necessary or important than that it should be well canvassed and well understood ; that those who are now in power should be made to feel and comprehend the

      importance Of it ; and that , at all events , whether they can be induced to anticipate to some degree , ( however small , ) the rule of right or not , the discussion of it should be kept before the public ; that the people may understand it ; that ; they may see all its bearings ; all the principles by which they operate ; alt the effects flowing from those principles , both sanatory and pernicious , for the public weal : that so , being well-studied in the matters most vitally affecting their own interests , they may , when the Charter shall have been established , find no difficulty in

      testing , knowing , and instructing those whom they shall send to legislate upon the subject . And hence , as O'Connok in his Bpe « cheB and writings keeps constantly in view the question of the Land—the small-farm and rural population—the connection and blending together of manufactures and agriculture , as a result desirable to be effected by the Charter , and therefore to be understood now ; as Mr . O'BKiEN , from precisely the same motive and principle , we

      doubt not , keeps canstantly before the people his notions upon Land and Currenct , and othsr matters ; so the Short Time Committees , most of them excellent Chartists , all of them we have reason to believe benevolently-minded men , think it not leBS necessary that the publio mind should be inBlructed upon this the greatest of all questions , and which , in reality , includes all the others—the relative rights and powers of Capital , MACHiNEay , and Manual Labour .

      We wonder not that the Leeds organ of the Millonaries should be frantic at the revival of this question of a legislative interference with the hours of labour ; because they know that it is necessarily inductive to the opening-up of the whole merits of the whole question . They know too the power that this Short Time question has upon the minds of the *' workies . " They know that a faithful adherence to its prosecution has enshrined Oastleh , though calling himself " a Tory / ' in their very heart of hearts ; while its desertibii ^ y O'CoMNELL f like the touch of magic , blasted , in a moment , all hia power and popularity , and made him the deserved object of their deepest hate . We wonder not , then , that

      the mad-dogs should foam and howl at its resuscitation . They thought they had succeeded tiearly nine years since in getting rid of ifc They thought they had choked the complaining throats of the factory-workers with Althorp ' s" impracticable" Act , and that the working people would be happy to have done with factory legislation . A leap instigated by infernal principle brought them foremost in the " race of humanity . " Their eight-hour-twelve-hour monster was produced and supported avowedly because they '' knew it to be impracticable . '' The Short Time Committees were not , however ^ to be "dore . " They laid down their oars , but quitted not their post . They protested against the moosttous

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      substitution , and sat down to watch its workiaga untilitB authors should be tic kened by it . This has been dont . The Masterrf remedy' * for the evils of the factory system hag been ; tried , nntil theythemselvea acknowledge that it has failed , and thai they are sick of its bperaif ion ; and nowlthereford i the Short Time Committees again promptly and properly ; take up the 4 ue 8 tidh : which , as the lepresentative * of those who feel most keenijr-all tfee operations- of the system , they best know and understand . To have taken this step with a Whig Ministry in office , t \ i& creatures of the inillocrata and

      MillionairesthingB who had before testified their sabsememco to : M capital and tommerce , " would hivVbeeh futile ; and these watchful guardiana : of the iaterests of the working many evinced not less their wisdom than their faithfulness , in Beiiing upoithe earliest opportunity ^ after the accession of a new Ministry , to assert the claims of iaboub ereitbe bias might bo given to its purposes by the insidious applicatipns of the eneiny . They were right to have the first run . And they but just hai it . ; The Masters have had their deputation , since then , waiting upon Ministers to urge Cora Law Repeal

      and " Extension of Commerce , " whioh mean tht furcher arid more complete prostration of laboub before capital and machinery . The event will prove whether Sir Robert Peel and bis ministry have been more-accessible to the voice of labour andthe demand for justice , or to that of wealth and the cry for the uphoiding and " extension" of its fell domination . The Millionaire deputies said nothing to the Minister about the Charter ; even the " amended Charter , " though its author was one of the daputatidn , formed no part . of their recoiamendations . Yet they are hot censured for this

      omission by the cur whose snarlings are directed by tbeir bidding . Nor do we censure them . They acted rightly and consistently in adhering to the purpose of their visit ; but they should not then hound on their curs upon the people ' s deputies , because they , too , acted rightly and consistently . Anytbiag , however , to secure the quarry . Tke whole produce . of the workman'slabour , the removal of every bar to the "free" ravages of eAriTAL i is the game hunted ; and the whole pack , big dogs and small , will bark to any tune , so that it may be had . The diversity and contrariety of note amid their yelp «

      ings bring to- mind the wretched soldier writhing beneath the lash . "Strike high or low ; there ' s no pleasing them" any way .. The Chartists adhere at all proper times , and in all ^ public meetings , where they have the right to 'do so , to the practice of bringing forward , urging , and insisting on the Charter ; the "Extension" and Repeal gentry denounce them as insolent brawlers ; Col THOMfsoN declares them "to be impracticabre , " and says that he cannot work with them , beoaase they will talk about nothing but the Charter ; . ' Mr . Knowles , the Chartist of Keighley , goes to Skiptoa to a meeting of Dr . Smiles , and other foxes , for •' Extension" and Repeal of the Corn Laws ; he there

      talks about the Charter , and is blackguarded , hrui 6 ed , beaten , kicked off the platform , and pitched headlong down stairs ; and , anon , this same Dr . Smiles is shocked . and scandalised at the shameful omission of duty on the part of a deputation , some of whose members were Chartists ' , but who neglected to pitch the Charter into Sib Robebi Peel , instead of the business they were sent about ; How very shocking 1 and what naughty boys this deputation were , not to afford the Tory minister at all events the chance , with a much better grace and reason , of calling in . ] his ¦' -. servants to serve them as the " Extension '' and Corn Law Repeal foxes served poor Knowles at Dr . Skiles ' s meeting J

      We have deemed it necessaryV ' to say something upon this subject , because in some portions of tho country there may be honest Chartists , who know little either by experience or observation , of tha horrors of the factory system ; who have had few opportunitrieg of studying or making themselves acquainted with the principles . involved iu the great question of the struggle of Manual Labour against MACHiNERr ; and who might , therefbre , lacking better information , be induced by the villanous artfuhaes 8 with which the Charter has been " played' on this occasion by the ci-devant advocate ( now bitter

      enemy ) of the factory workers , to suppose that there may have been some forgetfulness of the unswerving allegiance which is due to their ow cause , either by the Chartists of Leeds , Huddersfield , and Bradford generally , or by the many active and excellent Chartists belonging to tha Short Time Committees of those places individually , in this matter . We have devotedniahy years to tho study of this question ; expended much time , much labour , and some pecuniary means , in the prosecution of such actual observance as should afford us a sufficiency of facts and data for conclusions on tha

      whole matter . We have lived amongst it our whole time . We have watched the rising , we have seea the development , we have noted the operation , of that system of production by inanimate machinery , which under the management and regulations that have hitherto guided it , has become the blight of the poor man ' s hopes—the devastator of his homestead —the demoraliser of his family—the assassin of hia connubial and parental happiness—the destroyer of everything dear to him , save physical existence ; and which threatens , if not guided in its movements otherwise than it , has yet

      been , to rob him erelong of that too ! Entertaiaing deep and conscientious feelings on the subject , we have ever held it to be our Bterh duty to the people to give the factory labourer our mo&t hearty and uncompromising support . It may not have been all that we could havawibhed it . It may have lacked power , or energy , or talent , or irifluehce ; but has . ¦ ¦ ' . ' . iiot ' . lacked Bincerity , contiistency nor disinterestedness . It has been a support voluntarily accorded . No '' scores of pounds '' of the hard earnings of the factory workers have been paid to pvVcha . se U 3 . Without pay ; without having been conttituied their advertising medium ; we have asserted and supported the rights of the enslaved factory workers , on all occasions which

      might bring them under notice , throughout our entire career .: We have done so from principle , because we believe their cause to be identical with that of the whole people ; to be ia fact ths cause—the cause of labour against wealth—of Oppressed against Oppressor , for the adjtuicuent of which the enaction of the Chctrter ib required . ' Often and again hava we declared that we would not give a straw for the Charter otherwise than as a means to an end , and that end the upholding of the Rights of labour . It is a pretty itiiagy then , that we , who haVe always upheld the factory workers , should be accused of " t ' raudj" of •^ hoaxing , " ; of : ' dishonesty ^ because we npheld tha factory workers still , by the thing who blustered for the Ten Hours' Bill

      when its advocates were his best paying customers and patrons , and who foams and froths about ; it as an "impudent hoax , " " ah excessively absurd attempt , ' ^ " a gross and palpable fraud , " now that he is stated to have been bound , for some twenty months back , to do the bidding of us eueaiiesia return for the" chink * ' wita whioh hia smicw were purchaBed ! ; A stupid effort is made to identify us with th « Short Time Committee , because , forsooth , tbe * & ' dress upon which we have written these ob 9 erv * tion » i was printed by Mr . Hobson , who also prints th « Northern Star . ^^ Having read the document , webaTO

      no hesitation in averring that to the principles contained in it we subscribe in full ; and that wei hold the reasoning to be conclusive and unanswerable . Itis for these reasons , aud because we ibiflk # » along with many other laudable exertions of the body whence it emanates , calculated to serve the real interests 6 i thei worlring men , that we have giyen insertion to it . We have omitted from the address some expressions personal to Dr . Smiles . We have neither wish nor need to rest bur cause uppa personalities . It may have been deemed neees 8 ary , and perhap 3 it waa neces ^ ary ^ for the Committee , ia rebutting his Blanderoua attacks upon

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      ^ 4 ; " THE NOR ; ^ . . : / . ; ' ¦ ¦ ¦ ' \ . . ,. \ V : . ¦ .,.-. ' : - ' . _ ^__^'_ .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Feb. 5, 1842, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1147/page/4/