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THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1842.
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TO THE READERS OF THE "NORTHERN STAR."
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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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HR . COOPER OF LEICESTER , fO THE EDITOR , OF THE "NORTHERN STAR . " ilT deak Htll , —I -would have written yon yester"day , had I not found myself unable to write more , after ¦ cribbling & brief letter to tue sew Star . Ypn will oblige me by copying thai letter into your own Starfor 1 am still so languid and enfeebled aa to feel writing to ba a task in lieu of a pleasure . Cheerful conversation and the free air , will , in the course of a few days , I trust , render me strong as ever , and atlo to open a "rigorous campaign upon the grand enemy—to endure until the . month of March peaces me , for a longer period , within bolti and bars . I think that the chief c-. use of my bodily feebleness has been the irksome night duties of the gaoL At this time of the ye&r , we
-were marched to our sleeping cells by a little after foar , and were kept locked np till near seven in the momng . After the first eight or ten days of my confinement I ceased te take off my clones at sight—for my ~ &e& and bones were so sore with lying on ths hard-stuffed straw pallet , that i found it unecdsrable . I "have , therefore , for the last ten weeks , or nearly , slept in my clothes—* id only taken them off for about three minutes , at the « onad of the morning bell , when Ixised to ^ bro . w rayeelf on the bed , atrip myself to the * kin , and rub myself fcriskly , from neck to ancles , so as to lenetr the circulation of the Wood . I find , however , that this practice rf sleeping in my clothes has injured my nervous system , » nd I think I would not practice it agate even if I irere constrained to lie upen the cast iron bed-stead . itself .
My br » ve brigade have evioced * owi * ds mo a degree of attachment duri « g my separation Adhi them , which leally overpowers me ; and not the least important * hare of their kindness wts shewn in the truly sympathising manner in which each and all have striven to cheer my dear little wife . And . yet , what think yon , my dear Hill ? my brigade actually tell me that my little 'wife has all aleng shewn herself possessed of a stouter "keart than any man of them all' ! This is a fact of some ¦ value to one who looks for the renewal of his captivity , in four more months , with n much certainty as any event of lifs . Thank G ^ d , for such a -fact ! If separation , under Buffering , can be borne so bravely by t ^ osa who are dearest to us , "who can repine at the prospect uf having , perhaps , twenty or thirty more months imprisonment in the cause of buinin right , and for the contest for universal human happiness ?
And then , my dear Hill , when the moral effect of our slight and temporary suffering ib regarded , which of as can fail to stand at the bar a second time , without « D increase of fortitude—aye , even , of joy ? Why , ¦ we ate honoured—we are ennobled by this very process of being victimised , for truth is , by our unjust and tyrannical Beizure , made more prevalent a thousandfold , than it could possibly be by our mere advocacy of speech or writing . At oar meeting in the Amphitheatre , on Monday sight , resolutions were passed , with enthusiastic
unanimity , expressive of gratitude towards all who have to generously helped me in my late peril : —to my-witnesses , myjbiii , my committee for defence , 4 c , Jcc . Suffice it to say that my heart joins in this expression Of gratitude more fervently than words can tell . I must leave tk&t to be told by the fidelity of my future life to the great cause of the poor's rights and the poor ' s t ^ ppineas . One thing I cannot forbear saying , —that I regard the fact of being bailed by the venerable Mr . Barnes , of Oundle , —a beloved patriot and philanthropist of eighty years of age , whom I have never jet t : xi , as one of the greatest honours of mj life .
The gallant West , I learn , was equally honoured m fhat the beloved and venerated " good priest , " Humphrey Price became his surely . I enclose you a letterf om the werthy clergyman , in answer to a vote of thanks from my Shakspereans . Mr . Price gives permit'don for any public use to be made of this letter . I shall take care to pay my personal respects to Mr . "Hames , as soon as possible ; but I mutt spend some little time with my brigade before I visit other quarters Next Sunday I hope to deliver two addresses in the Sbaksperean Booms .
I have the happiness to forward you , herewith , a money order for one sovereign , collected by my Shaks-I ^ resns for poor exiled Ellis . Ah . ' I have toucUed a airing there which vibrates too keenly for me to touch it again now . Till neit week , my dear Hill , adieu . Yours , most affectionately , Thomas Cooper . 11 , Ghurchgate , Leicester , Wednesday , Kot . 16 , IS 42 .
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TO THE READERS OF THE " ENGLISH CHARTIST CIRCULAR , " AND THE FRIENDS j GENERALLY OF DEMOCRACY IN GREAT , BRITAIN . ! In our " Opening Address , " after defining the object i sought to be attained by , and the eircomstanees that , .-- •^ aenced us to venture upon , the establishment of j the Circular , we thus expressed ourselves : — ' " Brethren , shall we hold our hands to you in vain ? ¦ Do we rely too much upon the intelligence and . spirit j that animates you ? Our experiment , from , the very ' w price we have decided upon , is to us individually , j a most hazardous one . Nothing short of a circulation ! far exceeding that of any periodical in this country , j will indemnify as against a loss . But sure are we that '< holding fast to that which is true , ' success will be \ canunensurate with our most sanguine anticipation * . " i
Now , we dare affirm that we have , so " held fast to , that which is bus , " we have devoted the Circular " solely and only' to the advocacy of Chabjism , and I not to— j " Doctrines fashioned te the varying hour . " I Bat oui once " sanguine anticipations" have not \ \ zea realized . The Circular has hitherto been a j failure . Under these , to us , depressing drcumstances ,. we have j bat to Klect one of two alternatives—i . e ., to increase : the retail price of the Circular from ont halfpenny to one ! pemyor at once to let it be " numbered yriih the i
, things that teere . " Mr . Cleave ' s own anxiety to preserve the Circular , E 3 ^ rell as bis belief that such an election wonid be most j r ^ septable to the Chartist public , has induced him this ¦ wesk to adopt the former . It must , however , be explicitly understood , that this is but an experiment . A j fow wesks will suffice to give the plan " a fair trial ; " t &t the termination of which we shall either be necessi- i t-vted to bid ooi friend * a nd farewell . " or h&ve the j gratification to announce that at length the Circular is j established . ;
Utterly apart from all pecuniary considerations , the ' proprietor , and all connected with this periodical , have j a strong interest 5 n its continuance . Nor these alone , i The wlioU Chariisi public , we feel we can say , share ' ¦ with thsm in the advantages derivable from an organ entirely devoted to their political principles- ; and with i fr ' ieiB must regret that one supporter in the press should fail , particularly at a juncture ever becoming more imminent and apparent . At a time when tne porter , if not the justice , of the dominant faction has been exerted to an extent unparalleled in the world ' s annals , in order to cast odium even upon tne very ¦ waisper of Chartism—to link it -with crime and ahaae—to brand it with infamy—and to visit it with punishments worthy to have been invented by fiends of hell—a poor puny Secretary of State is said to
have affirmed , that be would " put doim Chartism altogether ; " and shall the Chartists themselves —strong in the consciousness of rectitude , and proud as the nserters of the God-like majesty of mah—bendtamely to the behest of such a thing ? We have no mode to certain of ascertaining and feeling our moral strength no such means of testing the unity which must accompany our efforts in obtaining political and social redemption—as through the medium of the press . The , extinction even of our own feeble fires would be hailed with delight by those who—like the foulest reptiles , gorging in darkness—fatten upon corruption . ¦ A beacon of Liberty destroyed -would give a proud and savage satisfaction io ita ermined and richly-clad enemies . Something so inimical to "their « rder" would be watched by them only with pleasure during ita expirviQ struggles .
If we look to the condition of the public press at the present moment , we are struck by the melancholy fict that but very few are devoted to the people ' s cause . All shades of political partisans , from tfee moBt rampant Tory to the most sneaking Whig , find apt representatives among the broad-sheets ; yet , with slight exceptions , there are no defenders of those who disdain mere party subterfuge , and seek to place the rights of mankind in general on the firmest , the only just basis . With his " very life lied away" the Chartist is deemed worthy of only a passing effusion of milignity and obloquy . Chartism , the emanation of reason and morality—proceeding in its ve : y first
assumptions on the admitted truths of natural justice and revealed relinon—has as yet been permitted te receive , by the press of Graat Britain , scarcely one iota of the attention it merits—of the respect it . demands . We find the Whig and T « ry newspapers drawn up in " battle array , " afraid of venting the bitterness and vileness of political rancour upon each other , turning aside with one consent to discharge theu malice oe those whom they are aware must one day assume the ¦ way over the hearts and minds of men—the new despised Chartists ! And now let us ask—Bhould th < Circular be permitted to descend , withont another effort to oblivion !
Our readers will perceive the necessity that ha . flsven as to the alternative of raising the price of thi Circular . We feel they will , too , perceive thejosti © . of yielding us support towards future endeavours Jftr&igth must beeomB oart—graving strength ,, in th-£ teate * struggle that ever fell to the lot of humanityif oar brethren in the good cause extend a hand to vvdf . «¦ at this p . iint of oar career . Earnestly die sre '* gird np ourselvew" on our first venturing " forth ii ihe CifiCDtAB to assert Chartism in the face of tin world . N ( nt , when we . tnow that our services ma ; beeome far sure valuable , are they to be rejected One word agaio ^—Cbabtisu'S , do ws advascb to « THS * 1
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BATH . —The following resolution was passed at meeting of the General Council : — " Til * t the thanks c this meeting are eminently due to W . P . Roberts , Esq for his assiduous and patriotic conduct da . ~ i £ g the lat special commission , in conducting the defence of the pt Utical prisoners gratuitously . A tea meeting Will b aite bere , on Monday . November astfc .
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COLLIERS' STRIKE—AYRSHIRE . —TRIAL OF THE RIOTERS . ( From the Ayr Advertiser , of Thursday . ) This morning considerable excitement was observed amongst the large body of turn-out colliers , assembled in front of the county buildings , awaiting the trial of the parties implicated in the late disturbances at Whitlette , which the yeomanry wr % called np last week to suppress . The hour appointed by Mr . Sheriff Substitute Eaton we * ten o ' clock , previous to which time the gallery and area of the Court House were very much crowded , chiefly by the fellow-workmen of the panels , who , as the indictment ? were being read , and the evidence adduced , showed by assent or Blight murmur the deep interest they took in the proceedings . They were , however , in no respect disorderly .
Ihe first case called was that implicating Alexander Tinsey , William Jackson , and El zibeth M'Clung or Frew , who had been iu jail twelve days , charged under the Act 6 George IT ., o . 129 , sees . 3 d , 7 th , and 11 th , with having , on the night of the 28 th of October last , enter . 1 the bouse of James Caddis , Garden-street Content , banksman in Mr . Gordon's employment , and threatened him at the peril of his life to continue to work dnring the strike , or to allow his sons to do so , otherwise that their lives would not be safe . Tinsey and M'Clung or Frew pleaded not guilty , and Jackson maintained that he was not even en the spot . On the examination of the first witness , his alibi was elearly proven , he having I en mistaken for a man named Nelson or Melsom , and he was dismissed . Tinsey is a lad of about eighteen- years of age , and M'Clung is a married woman , with a child in her arms . Mr . A . M'Cabbin , writer , appeared for the other paneL
After a lengthened trial , Tinsey was sentsneed to three months' imprisonment M'Clung was liberated . There were other three trials of the same kind . Edward Neill and Robert Frew were sentenced to thirty daya' imprisonment ; and of the remaining panels four were acquitted from want of evidence , and six from an error in the indictment .
The Northern Star. Saturday, November 19, 1842.
THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 19 , 1842 .
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THE LAST SHIFT . There can scarcely be a greater mistake than the very common one of supposing that innocence forms any barrier to conviction , when Government have a mind to manufacture criminals . It is of small moment whether the alleged acts be such as the law clearly recognises to be right , or whether the accused party may have ever been a partj to any of the acts of which he is accused . A prosecution being fixed on as a pretext for punishment , it goes on of course , and succeeds of course . With the means holden by the prosecutors , it
would be strange if it did not : the power to bny evidence at any price ; to create treachery , and subora perjury to what extent they please ; to hire hacks and prostitutes , who before trial may be occupied for months iu prejudgment , and in driving out of all those from whom the jurors are to be selected every disposition to regard the evidence at all , if it should be defective , by drilling and training them to a foregone conclusion . This is a favourite device . Whenever a victim is to be sacrificed , the blood-hounds are always let from the leash , and open in full cry
upon the quarry . Mr . O'Coujjor and his co- " conspirators" form no exception to the general rule and practice . We last week drew attention to the efforts of the press to take for granted in general terms the conclusion of the jury , and to place the thing upon a settled footing before ever the trials come on . The game speeds at a rail-road pace . The rogues actually improve ! They show , at all events , that there are no lengths to which they will not go to attaia their purpose . All thd world knows that the head and front of the indictment has regard to the publication of the mad , mischievous document .
which has been ascribed to the Executive . 01 that document our opinion has been expressed befjre . We never did and never shall defend it . Whoever was its author , we regard him as a most mischievous individual , and one whom the people , if they have heretofore trusted him , should trust no longer , but cast from them the moment he is discovered . There is yet no evidence of authorship , and it would be consequently premature and cruel to charge it upon any one . For any evidence that yet appears to the contrary , it may have been published by the anti-Corn Law League , or it may have been published by
the Government ; either of whom , we believe , to be capable of any baseness—even of that—for the attainment of their ends . We say not that either of these bodies did publish it ; we charge no one with so foolish , or so criminal an act . In the absence of ; evidence to support it , nothing could be more base ; than to charge it upoa any one . Yet the whole preBS I of both factions has concurred , until recently , in : charging it upon the Executive . The fact that it was j put forth iu the name of the Executive has been basely assumed as proof that it was put
i forth by the Execntive ; and the thing has j been familiarly spoken of as " the Executive's j Address" from that day to this ; every one { being careful not to seem to doubt . We hare I before called attention to the infamy of this as-, sumption by the press of the very thing to be I proved . We hoped , if there was any spark of ! honourable feeling in the " press-gang , " to ; shame them out of such a course ; but this would ' have been unaccordant with the purpose of their masters . The Executive were to be convicted and
sentenced upon that address , no matter who wrote it ; and therefore the jury class must be plied continually with the assumed certainty that it was their address . That point seems now to be considered settled . It is thought that the idea of the Exeecutive ' s authorship has become so rivetted to that of the addres 3 itself , that no evidence can induce any jury to separate them- As far as the : Executive are concerned , therefore , their faie is considered certain . The next move is to connect with . it all the accused parties ; and to do this effectually , it is now gravely aad impudently affirmed , that j O'Conwob with bis own hand wiote that address I and then persuaded the Executive to father it ! that
it was adopted by the delegate meeting at Manchester ! and that the minority there who opposed its adoption bound themselves , after ita adoption , to abide by , and go with the majority III All this is as roundly and plainly stated as if it had been gospel-truth ! It ob spoken of in the most flippant and familiar manner ; as a thing not to be disputed ; a settled point about which there can be no question ! True ; there is no attempt to give any proof of these statements : not
even an effort to invent a proof : that would be an inconvenient and needless formality . True , the wretches who propagate these falsehoods know them to be falsehoods , solely manufactured and invented by themselves ; trne , that the propagators of these statements know that there is already evidence oh oaih— the evidence of the prosecution so far as it has gone—that they are utterly false ; that even Gaipfin h& 3 sworn positively that tha ; address was not adopted at the delegate meeting at ail , and that Mr . O'CowfOB opposed it from the moment of ita
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introduction . True , that this evidence of Griffin ' s was perfectly well known to the parties who say th » t O'Connor wrote that address , and that it was adopted by the meeting 1 all this is nothing : a point is to be carried ; the men ara to be convicted ; and , therefore , the belief most be induced , whatever be the facts or the evidence . We have before time seen many samples of rich viB&ny , but never one to match this . We believe , however , that the bolt has been
shot too far , and that it will fail to be t&eotive from the very care taken to make it so . The people may , however , learn from it to what desperate shifts , the devil factions will have recourse when " hard up" for the carrying of a point , And what hope they to accomplish when the point is catried ! Do they imagine that O'Connor , the Starf and the Chartist movement , are to be thus put down ! God help them ! poor fools I
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* ^ THE TACTICS OF OPPRESSION . A certain member of the late Government is reported to have had the honour of being first to recommend in so many formal words the destruction of political opponents , by " ruining them with expences . " Faction is an apt scholar , and apprehends readily the arts of villany . The Tories are DOi slow to profit by the example and the teachings of their Whig predecessors ; of which the late Speoial Commission and all the atrocities at and immediately before it , furnish abundant evidence . Faction is usually consistent : however the people may chooEe to forget their principles
and interests , faction seldom does so . It looks out with a lynx-eye for all advantages , and makes the most of all its powers . Having the almost boundless resources of the richest nation under heaven at command—with power to draw ad libitum upon the publio purse—the coward vultures place themselves in a position for a deadly struggle with poor men ; made and kept poor by the rascality of class-legislation . These poor men they place at every disadvantage , whioh the fearful odda of wealth , and power , and patronage afford them ; and then prate of justioe , and of the law ' s Majesty !
During the early portion of this week , the Rev . Dr . Scholefield , and Messrs . Leach , Dotle , Railton , and divers others of the Chartist " conspirators" were served with Bomesort of nondescript writs , of which nobody could make head or tail ; but which commanded them to appear before her Majesty on the fifteenth hist . Where the appearance was to be , and what was the purport of the summons , nobody knew anything about . Magistrates , lawyers .
police , et hoc genus omne , were alike " taken aback " by this new " craft" ; of which none of them could " spell the rigging . " We have not been , at this present writing , ( Thursday a . m . ) as yet honoured with one of these special invitations to a royal tete-a-tete , and therefore know nothing of the matter but from hearsay . It seems , however , that Mr . O'Connor has been thus dignified ; he has seen the thing , and as he is mare conversant with lawyer craft than we are , we give the following from the Evening Star : —
" Those whe have informed themselves upon the proceedings at the late Special Commissions and the persecution generally of the Chartist body , will , doubtless , be prepared for any disclosure , infernal though it be . But let even the most sceptical peruse the following narrative , and say , whether or no wonder has not been out-wondered . It Is In the recollection of the public that Feargua O'Connor , and sixty-one other persons , against whom a true bill was found at the recent Special Commission , holden at Liverpool , traversed till next assizss , and were obliged to enter into heavy bail , there to appsor , and till then to keep the
peacewhich , by the bye , was illegal . This preliminary step cost a large sum of money , but was met and paid . Witoin these few days tbe several traversers have been terved with venires from the Court of Queen ' s Bench ; and upon eaoh venire of the sixty-two , tbe small snm of £ 5 8 % is charged , and payable before the defendants can appear . We cannot say what the immediate object of the Crown is ; but one effect will be , to treat tbe defendants to a special jury . Now these fees amount to about £ 330 , which , with other expeaaea upon this stage alone , will amount to somewhat about £ 400 ; and add to this
rea-ly £ 1 , 000 in fe £ 3 , which must be paid before the prisoners can have the honour of trial ; and then add tbe expense of counsel and solicitors , witnesses and travelling expenses ; and then say who can that the Uw is partial , expensive , or unjust ! But this is not the worst Tyranny does not stop here . While those under recognizances are thus mulcted in heavy pecuniary penalties , tbe necessary legal preliminaries for outlawing Dr . M'Douall and those against whom true bills have been found , and who have absconded , are now nearly completed ; and their banishment will be
effected as securely as if the Judge had sentenced them ; while , if the worst came to the worst , and if found guilty of tbe charge , imprisonment is all the punishment they could be sentenced to . Now , it this is not punishing first , and trying after , we know not what is . We state , however , that Mr . O'Connor has had all the required terms complied with , and has entered an appearance for the several traversers , which is all that was now required , save and except the PAYMENT OF THE FEE 3 . Who wouldn't be an Englishman ? Will the heart of the Chronicle burst at this recital ?"
Since writing the above we have received the Manchester Guardian , which has , in reference to the Bame subject , the following : — ' Removal of the Indictment against the Chartists to the Court of Queen s Bench . —We understand that , on Monday last , all the sixty defendants indicted at the late special commission at Liverpool , and who then traversed to the next assizes , were served with summonses « f a merely formal nature , the terms of which , we understand , not a little pu 7 ~ Aed some of them ; as they were therein required to come
before her Mr . jeBty , on the 15 th November . instant , wheresoever her Majesty should be in England . ' As her Majesty ia now at Waliner Castle , near Dover , the appearance of some of the defendants there would no doubt cause considerable surprise . We know that some of them seriously contemplated the necessity of surrendering in person , in London ; while others , we believe , have instructed a London attorney to put in an appearance for them . The following is a copy of the document which has put the defendants here and elsewhere on the gui vive : —
' To [ naming canons sheriffs' offieera]—Lancfshire , to wit Thomas Robert WiUon France , Esq ., sherifi of the county of Lancaster ; By virtue of her Majesty ' s writ , to ma directed , I command you that you do not forbear by reason of any liberty to my bailiwick , but that you cause to come before her Majesty ,, on the fifteenth of November instant , wheresoever her Majesty shall be in England , William Leach , of Manchester , in the county of Lancaster , labourer , &c . && , to answer to her Majesty for certain conspiracies and misdemeanours whereof they with others are indicted . " Given under the seal ef my office , this twelfth day of November , 1842 . " By order of the Court ,
11 Dealtby . " Writ dated second day of November , 1842 . " Gregory and SunB , solicitors . " A similar form of summons has been issued by the High Sheriff of Cheshire , and served on such of the defendants as reside in that county . We believe tbe legal effect of this is , merely to give the parties formal notice that the indictments against them have I zoo removed by the Attorney-General from Lancashire and Cheshire into the Court ot Queen ' s Bench . "
The Guardian appears , however , to have no grounds for his "belief " , and we imagine that he knows as little of the object of Government in this matter as ourselves . Thus muck we have no doubt of , that their object is to perpetrate some petty , villanous , sneaking robbery , which they will call Tindicating the law , and doing justioe . It is clear that in some way or other the trials are intended to be rendered more expensive and more unfair , than they
wouid have been without this mummery . It all shows the animus of government , and proves the correctness of our conclusion from preceding circumstances , that they attach more importance to the trial and conviction of these parties , than to any other business in which the Government have been concerned for a long time ; and it all shows the imperative duty and absolute necessity which lies upon the people to put forth their strength for the encoun ter , and to do it without loss of time .
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~ ^ —~~> THE STURGE CONFERENCE . Elsewhere we record , with unfeigned pleasure , the proceedings of a meeting at Birmingham tor the election of delegates to the forthcoming Conference . The Birmingham " lads" have done their work nobly ! In the very head-quarters of Complete Suffragism , with Mr . Storqb in the chair , they have elected , out of six delegates , Feargus
O'Connor , George White , and two other good Chartists . This is as it Bhould be . Let every other place go and do likewise , and this Conference may come to good : it may be made the means of greatly aiding and consolidating the Chartist movement ; of forming into one phalanx all the true friends of democratic principle ; and of forcing the hypocritic go-betweens ( if there be any such ) to find their own place .
We regard this Conference as a great card for tbe people if well played . Let them be careful then ; let Birmingham be followed up . Let every town send its own men—men of full-length principle , and of clear and cool heads . Let them , we again observe , in this election of the delegates , look more to principle than talent ; ' tis not so much speech-makers as men of sound sense and discriminating powers that are wanted . Let care be taken not to stultifv and
neutralize our own strength , by electing the same man for different localities . O'Connor has been elected for Birmingham ; let him not be elected for any other place . He can only give one vote , and consequently every other place which he might represent would be virtually unrepresented . We have not a vote to spare ; and every locality may find plain honest men to speak its own mind .
There is another thing to which attention shoald be drawn ; the rumoured winter commission of assizo makeB it doubtful whether we may not be all in durance when the Conference is holden . The people should be ready for this circumstance if it occur ; they Bhould have reserved candidates in readiness to be elected in the place of every man win may be thus prevented from fulfilling the duties of his trust . There must be no time lost in calling
publio meetings for the election of such delegates , ii necessary , immediately after the conclusion of the trials . Let there be no doubt or hesitation about this matter ; let all be ready ; all that is wanted in the candidates is clear-headed honesty , that will neither be hoodwinked nor yet brow-beaten from its point . There is enough of this quality in every town to supply every member of this Conference . Let then the people be alive , and do their duty , and then we have no fear that this Conforence will be a good thing .
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THE EXECUTIVE BALANCE SHEET . The explanation afforded by the Secretary of the matters objected to by the metropolitan delegates and others , will be read with some anxiety , and will , we fear , excite much disatisfaction . We . con ? fess that we have seldom read a document with more regret , or one which we are compelled to consider as more decidedly lame . Nothing is more important than that the Executive should have the entire confidence of the whole country . This they never can have , unless they confine themselvea rigourously to the operation and guidance of that organization , whioh the one duty of their ofilce is to extend and carry out . No mistake could be more fatal to the interests of the cause , than that the
Executive should suppose themselves invested with a power above that of the organisation . That they have done so , and that they have acted upon that Supposition , is clear from this statement of Mr . Campbell ' s . The seventeenth article of the organization fixes the salary of the Executive at £ 2 per week for the Secretary , and jf 1 10 i weekly for each other member when sitting . Here then is a clear guide , whioh , one would have thought , no responsible body could overlook , or would dare to violate ; and yet we find the Executive setting aside the authority of the organization , and "en their own responsibility , " appropriating publio money to the payment of one of their own body , fully one-third more than he was entitled to !
The excuse of Mr . Campbell for this flagrant violation of trust , that they , the Executive , thought the money earned , and all the talk of the talent , the honesty , (!) and the judgment , (!) of the party , by whom this money is appropriated , is entirely beyond the mark . The transaction is , to all intents and purposes , not only politically , but morally , dishonest and disgraceful to all the parties concerned in it . When Dr . M'Douall became a candidate for the office of Executive Committee man , he knew the amount of salary to which he would be entitled ; he knew that the Executive had no power to give
him more , without robbing the Association ; and no honest man would have been a party to that robbery . We have no wish to depreciate the worth , or to underrate the services of Dr . M'Douall ; but we do say that he ought to have considered before he took the office , whether the stipend would content him ; and we say that , if upon trial , he found it too little , he had but two honest courses for it ; either to resign at once , or to ask , not the Executive but the people , to advance his salary . But instead of this , the Doctor , and his coadjutors , dip their bands , without authority or
leave , into the purse which contains the poor weavers' pence , and take out thence , at their own pleasure , as much as they think he ought to have . Let us put an exactly parallel case ; let us suppose that tho money with which these men were entrusted had belonged to some rich merchant , in stead of to the poor half-famished people ; let us suppose them to have been the servants of this rich merchant , instead of the servants of the people ; thai they had with him a deBuite and clearly understood
written agreement , specifying their exact duties , and their exact wages ; that thsy had the run of bis funds to pay themselves , with the condition of making up accounts quarterly , and that they had acted precisely as they have now done . We can tell Mr . Campbell that , in such a case , this same piece of "honesty , " for which he expected the whole country to compliment htm , would have rendered the whole batch of them liable to transportation for embezzlement and fraud .
So much for the moral honesty of this transaction ; now for its political '" honesty " ! The Executive are par excellence , a democratic body ; they are the appointed head of the Charter Association ; their sole business 13 to extend and ramify the association , for the purpose of bringing into operation Chartist principles . How do they do this 1 Why by themselves acting as pure despoSs 1 Assuming the right utterly to disregard the laws of the organization , which they are appointed purposely to enforce ; and
without any reference to tho Buffrages and opinions of the people to govern the association , as their own caprice , ( we beg Mr , Campbell's pardon , "judgment !") might dictate ; exhibiting thus , in the very heart and citadel of Chartism , one of the worst forms of Tory corruption and peculation . And yet , in reference to this transaction , Mr . Campbell tells us , that the Executive expected , that instead of objecting to it , the whole country would have hailed it with delight !
Like objections , of a mal-appropriation of funds and an utter disregard to the organization , lie very fairly against several other matters whioh Mr . Campbell professes to explain . The several and very heavy sums charged for travelling expenses , and for the " agitating expenses" of various members of the Executive are , in the absence of more explanation than Mr . Campbell has yet given , ( and he says he can give no more ) , all liable to be classed under the eame head of mal-appropriation of the funds of the Association in defiance of its rules .
The organization distinctly provides that the wages of the Executive shall be paid only " during the period of their sittings" ; or in the event of their being jemployed "to open new districts" ; yet we find their wages regularly charged whether sitting or not ; and Mr . Campbell complaining bitterly that he has no funds now , whea they are not sitting , to pay wages to himself and them . We regret the lack of funds for the use of the Association , as much as Mr . Campbell ; and we regret more that that lack should be enhanced by the unauthorized application of them when they were there . But why does Mr . Campbell complain of not getting wages now , when the Executive is not sitting ? He knows that tbe organization gives them no right to wages , only
whea they are sitting . Now , when they are minding their own businesses ; Mr . Campbell attending to his shop in London , Mr , Leach attending to his ftop in Manchester , and Mr . Baikstow receiving wages as a lecturer in the North and East Riding , why should the country be called upon to pay £ 2 weekly to the one and 30 i . to each of the others I Is it not enough that , in accordance with the organization , they be paid by the Association when they are doing the work of the Association ; must they be also paid for doing their own work ? We do not believe that either Leach or Bairstow expect any Buoh thing ; and we are only sorry that Mr . Campbell , in this apologetical letter of his , has thought proper so to introduoe their names as if they did .
Nothing can be more clear nor more explicit than the words of the organization about the wages of the Executive . They are to have their wage * during the period of their sittings out of the General Fund . Whenever they are not sitting , they may be employed as missionaries and lecturers , and must then have the same wages , as if they were sitting ; not jrom the general funds , but from the local funds of the localities in which they labour . Over and above these wages , when so employed , they are to have , from the localities in
whioh thoy labour , their coach hire and one half of their incidental expences ; the other half of their incidental expences being paid by themselves out of their wages . These provisions are as clear in the 17 th and 18 ; h articles of the organization as words can make them . And yet the country is charged by Mr . Campbell , according to hia own explanation , for tbe lecturing expencea of the members of tbe Executive in such localities as Manchester and London , and for their travelling to and from these localities .
We happen to know that the Executive have been written to privately upon these subjects again and again ; we find it difficult , therefore , to think that they do not know the conditions of the organization . In any case it seems dear that they either do not know the organization oi are determined entirely to disregard it . We have Been many lamentable publio exhibitions ; but never any which , to our mind , displayed a more perfect lack of business-like habits , or of any attention to any sort of system or rule , than the balance sheets of Mr . Campbell , ¦
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They are literally disgraceful . And though we have long known them to be so , we have forborne from publio comment , because we hoped to sec some good result from private remonstrance ; being willing to give him and the other members of the Executive credit for integrity of purpose . This pnblio appeal of Mr . Campbell renders it impossible for us to be longer silent . We have by po means commented upon all , or nearly all , of the objectionable matters in this balance sheet , or of the unsatisfactory matters in Mr . Campbell ' s explanatory letter ; but we trust we have said enough
to show the people that it is time they took up the matter in right earnest . These are the things that destroy us more than all the power of the enemy . And we always find that ft is those who thus trample under their feet all regard for principle that are the first to cry out against " denunciation' * if disagreement with , or disapprobation of , their proceedings be expressed . We have hitherto paid too much deference to this scare-crow ; and ahall hereafter treat it very cavalierly . We shall speak
oat our mind upon all publi * matters with a freedom from which our best friends must look for no exemption . We esteeem highly private friendships and regards , but cannot allow them to divert us from our duty ; nor shall we permit any personal services of Chartist leaders to exempt them from being tightly holden by the rein of principle . None can esteem more highly than we do the personal exertions of the respective members of the Executive as lecturers and missionaries for the cause of Chartism .
They have done much ; but that does not set them above the practice of their own principlesJn the transactions of their own office .
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ELECTION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL . Our readers are of course aware that th « Election of General Councillors tbrongb all the localities takes place on the 1 st of December . They should begia to look out for good , clear headed , prudent men . The office is ft most important one . We shall next week give some directions for what we think the best mode of conducting these elections .
To The Readers Of The "Northern Star."
TO THE READERS OF THE "NORTHERN STAR . "
Star Office , Nn . 17 , 1842 . Mr dear Friends , —On the 17 th of Nov ., 1837 , five years ago , this very day , the first number of this paper issued from the press . Sines that time , we have braved together many a breeze . Chartism was then a name unknown , and Radicalism was a sickly infant in its nurse ' s arms . The professors of the pure principles of truth were for the most part jumbled up and identified with Whiggery , under the general
titles of " Reformers" and Liberals . " There was no real line of demarcation between honesty and stealthy faction in a mask . Tha people were then , as now , honest * but waiting just direction for their movements ; while the prominent politicians of the day were a motley crew of personal adventurers , floating with tho tide of circumstances , and continually using tha popular breath to blow up the bubbles of their own or parties' purposes . I saw the necessity of severing principle from faction , and individually laboured for it , as many of you
know , long before the Star existed . I saw the disadvantage under which the people laboured ; I felt , often and severely felt , that the sphers of democratic influence was limited—unnaturally contracted—because the people were no more represented by the press than by the legislature . They were defrauded even of themselves ; their sentiments were distorted , their opinions misrepresented , their mind ? purposely misled , and their active proceedings twisted to the support of first one and then another factious party , while their own interests were lost sight of in the mist .
because there was no mirror which would faith' fully reflect them . I set myself , therefore , to see the people in possession of an organ which , trumpet-tongued , might speak their will , and utter their complaints . I laboured hard for it and expended much more time and money than I could afford ; but -there was wanting either power or energy amongst the people . The work progressed slowly , and I was about retiring in despair from the attempt , when Providence brought me in contact with your indomitable champion , and true friend , O'Connor .
who had seen and felt the same lack of means to make principle stand firmly on its own basis , and throw overboard adventuring experimentalism . His dauntless spirit , in the face of a most uninviting prospect , resolved to remedy the grievance at all hazards ; and the Northern Star was hung up in the political hemisphere , and has continued since , by your suffrages , to shine with increased brilliancy ; exhibiting , in the clear light of public opinion , the rocks and quicksands ol political agitation , and the" rigging" of each pirate craft that might intrude
itself upon the waters of democraoy . I speak thu 3 of the Star , because I have ever sought to make it rather a reflex of yeur minds than a medium through which to exhibit any supposed talent or intelligence of my own . This is precisely my conception of what a people ' s organ should be ; this was what I saw to be wanting before the Star came into existence ; and what , since it has existed , I have ever sought to make it . How far I have succeeded in doing so , may be best evidenced by the position which it has holden since the fifth week of
its publication , of the most extensively circulated provincial journal in the empire , and by the fact that it still holds and maintains that position notwithstanding the unparalleled distress which binds to the earth the whole body of its supporters ; notwithstanding the incessant fire of prosecution upon prosecution from the Government , to which it is the most galling of annoyances , and notwithstanding the unceasing efforts of the private malice , the choaking envy , and personal ambition of disguised friends , open foes , traitors , and enemies of all sorts .
There is not , at this present time , another thing which the factions so hate , and the Government bo much fears as this newspaper . It is the very sum of their antipathies ; and they would hold cheap any sacrifice by which it might be destroyed . While I have your help and confidence I defy them . The wrong-doer shall wince beneath just castigation ; the light of just principle shall shine upon the haggard face and ugly form of class dominance , so long as it is your pleasure to uphold the Nortliern Star . I thank you , not more for the gratification it affords
me personally , than on your own account , for the power you have hitherto given me in battling with your enemies . I receive your continued confidence and the constant indication of your approbation with the proud consciousness that I deserve it . I accord you now my thanks for having nobly done your duty in tha years gone by . You have rallied round the standard of pure , constitutional Radicalism which has been erected in the Star ; and yon have made the arms of liberty , though bound , yet terrible to the oppressor . I have done
one man ' s part in the good work ; and my arm is now stronger and my aim steadier than it was five years ago , thanks to the supporting presence of your power . The recurrence of this anniversary brings us once more to a sort of understanding with each other ; to * kind of terms of covenant on which to base oar future operations against tyranny . There- shallbe , on my part , a continuance of that sains unceasing watchfulness with which I have here *
tofore endeavoured to point out the trioks » nd moves of faction to your observance . With tiw broad flag of Chartism unfurled , and nailed to our mast-head , I shall endeavour to take car * that no spurious colour , no matter-bow ' , new resembling the original , be stuck or stitched "P" ? it by the enemy ; while I shall « lso be more ctf 6 ^ than I have heretofore been to preserve » from defilement by our . own crew . Hitherto ttfl extension of our principles has been the one thing to be looked at ; we [ must now loot l 0
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TO THE CHARTISTS OF T ' ^ e EAST AND NORTH RIDJ . NG . Brother Chartists , —Th ' East and North Rrding Delegate Meeting will be he ' , 4 Rt Selfey , on Sunday , Dec 4 th , -when it is highly necessary there ahowld be a good attendance of delegat M t n business of f * eat importance will be brought forward . The time ia approac ' jing for the National Confer ence to meet in Bi / mingham , I would therefore respectfully suggest the propriety of each loality disenssing -well the necessity of sending a delegtfte to
represent the Char tists of this district , and V ) give instructions to tjieir delegates upon the subject . — Those towns w j 0 do not send delegates to Selby , must forward t ' neir opinions by letter ; also stating the nsmber of enrolled and payable members . It is highly necewary that those localities in the East and North Riding trho cannot support a Lecturer , should say 80 by better , a > it creates great confusion when tb < 9 withdraw their support after a lecturer is appointed . The district is nearly one pound in debt occasioned by the temporary cessation of Howden , Aeverley . and Holme .
All communications for delegate Keeling to be for warded to me before the 2 nd of December . Yours , faithfully , Edw . Bcrlet , Sec Di * 19 , Bilton-street , Layerthorpe , York . Nov . 15 th , 18 i 2 .
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HOW TO GET RID OF A "SURPLUS POPULATION . " ABiSTOCKAcr and steamocracy have long found their elbow-room inoommoded by the labourer . And with the soddened selfishness of class or aft , each has unhesitatingly exerted the powers it possessed to " clear out its corner , " and remove the vermin . Improvements in mechanical , and " extension" of legal , machinery have effected the business for them both ; but lika Richard ' s spiders , —
" The things still crawl , and do effend the sight " When driven out of the manufactories and off the estates ; when robbed of all their means of livelihood , they still " crawl ; " and crawling , they still geek-the ' moans'to live . But the monster Class is a many-headed monster , and has in all its heads " jaw teeth like knives ; " and hence the lawocracy soon finishes the business . Destitution , of necessity , induoes what the law calls crime , and thus furnishes a pretext for that thinning of the population , which through the medium of the halter , the sabre , the blue bludgeon , or the transport ship , is always going on , that rampant riches may have
room to ¦ " pull down its barns , and build greater . " Transportation , it is said , is now humanely substituted for capital punishments in a great many cases . What are the means adopted for carrying out this very humane process 1 Old , crazy , worn out vessels , found to be totally unfit for regular service , are repaired and fitted up , just made capable of skimming over the surface of an unruffled sea ; and then , if not with criminal intent to murder , with the most cold-blooded indifference , hnudreds of our fellow beings , all of whom have left agonized ; heart-broken relatives behind them , are crammed into these " safes , " and sent on a voyago of thousands of miles . May-be they may reach
the " destined port , " or may-be , as it often happens , they may go down together to the bottom of the " mighty deep . " Read the following in illustration , taken from the South African Commercial Advertiser , - a long artiole from which we give elsewhere , and commend to the attention of our readers : — . " The Waterloo , a ship of 414 tons , bound to Van Diemen ' s Land , bad on board , besides her crew , 219
male convicts , Dr . Helsell , in charge , Lieutenant Hext , Ensign Leigh , thirty men of her Majesty ' s 99 th Regi-BieDt , five women , and thirteen children . She took the ground between eleven and twelve o ' clock in the forenoon , and in fifteen er twenty minutes became a mass of rubbish . And now ensued a most piteous massacre . In about two hours and a half , amidst the crumbling heaps of their perfidious prison—of men , women , and children , 194 were crushed , disabled , and drowned .
"There was no preparation for saving life made on board or on shore . No life-buoys , no coils of ropes lashed to casks , nor any apparatus for establishing a communication with the shore from the ship . On the shore there was no lifeboat , no apparatus for throwing ropes over stranded vessels , nor any thing , in short , ta show that the Government or people here had ever heard of such a thing as a shipwreck . We stood amongst thousands on the beach within 150 yards of the dissolving fabric , looking on the agonised faces of our fellow-creatures , as they sank in dozens , battered , and bruised , and suffocated—useless as children , or idiots , or wild Caffres .
" This ship , it appears , was built twenty-seven years ago at Bristol . No longer fit to carry logs , she is patched up like other whited sepulchres , stuff-. d with a living cargo by a contractor , and despatched to the ends of the earth—a voyage of more than 20 , 000 miles !" One hundred and ninety-four persons , preoious in the sight of their Creator as the proud- ' Aristocrat , or the wealthy capitalist ; , executed in this cruel manner either from neglect or design I!!—and which ever be the fact " , hanging the millstone of deep guilt about the necks of the wrong-doers , and calling loudly alike for the out-ponring of the phials of the wrath of Wm , without whose notice not even a sparrow falls , and for the indignation of an insulted and outraged people .
Englishmen , picture to youraelve 9 the fact , that some of your highly esteemed friends and leadersmen held high in estimation for their virtues and patriotism , and whose hands in all probability were never stained by crime—are about to be shipped off in like manner . Ellis and his companions , torn from their homes and victimised , are to be sent away either to find a watery grave , or as it must be evident , when such extreme carelessness is Bhewn in the transit of convicts , to endure for lengthened terms , a worse than "living death . " So these things are , and so they will remain , until right prevail over might ; and the making and administration of the law , be made dependant upon the will of the whole people .
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THE ENGLISH CHARTIST CIRCULAR . We gife elsewhere an address from the conductors of this genuine gem of the Chartist press , to which we call particular attention . We do trust that at this time above all others the enemy will not be permitted to have the opportunity of taunting us about the going-down of this spirited little organ . We have before said , and we now repeat , that the Circular ought to be considered a SEOK 6 SARY upon every Chartist ' s table , or rather in his pocket for more ready use . We trust that the present appeal of its conductors will be the last of the like kind that they will ever need to make . We perceive that the first fifty-two numbers of the Circular are now published in a volume ; and a very handsome , and a very valuable volume it is—a volume whioh no Chartist ought to be without .
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4 THE NORTHERN STAR ,
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Nov. 19, 1842, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1187/page/4/
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