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Northern Star (1837-1852), 3rd December 1842, Edition 1 of 7, Page 4, Untitled Article

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    • THE NORTHERN" STAE SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1842.
    • Extraoiidinart Increase in Potatoes.—Mr. R. Kvud, of Briery Close, near Ambkside, planted
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      Untitled Article

      ? O THE CHARTISTS OP ^ - ^ BBITAIX . j MT D £ A * FBIEABS .-I . ^ ^^ should exitt 7 n the Ctart- ^ a ^ haTiD ? a ^^ : dciie that it m y soo- ^ ^ destrcycdi j beg to lay l . ifore : you . the lollownig « n gc : * ions , ' hcpccz . tbai if acted ; tipoa , they -will T- , 1 ^ , ^^ to that unity of action bo essea-VT-JJy Decasr . - , accomplish | or an enslaved j ; ople ! t ^^ V ! 1 w *'_ 4 in from stating ny own opinions respiting , Vbe c " ms 3 of the disunion , lest some might say that I > Tfanrrd to prejudice the minds of the psople agaimt i or in favour of e : tber the Executive or there mem ! jn < Of our Assoc i ation -who feel dissatisfied -with their i rjndnir ¦ . _ _ j

      In order that the disunion may ts healeei , I ; Bngrest for yonr adoption , that a Committee of five or ifcven psrtons 13 elected to exiniine the plan of Organizition , and tsie into consideration the conduct i of tie Ex" ¦ mtive , acd if a majority of the Committee , asree that they have acted aeiordini ? to the Plan of ; Organizition , let them still hold offica , and if not , j let me Committee call upon the Executive inline- [ diatsly to resign effira . Let the Cummitt : 3 have a . r ^ po r ^ r present to report their proceeding , so that ; ijEir constituents may see how they have acted and ' Toted .

      Trusting that the Excrar . re will see the propriety j of adopting tome measure themselves to bring tbis 1 "nnpk ?« a-it pSalr to a c lose , I I remain , jours , Amidst all weathers and political storms ] the same , : Nov . 2 Sth , 1 S 42 . TV . Beeslet .

      Untitled Article

      ? - TO THE CHARTISTS OF THE TJXITED KINGDOM . Fello'SF-labouTera in the csuse- ^ Among the many snbjscts which merit your attention , and ihat of the worir-* — -dpsscs eeneraUy , there is one to which we briefly ' " ongh sia' -rrciy invite your immediate consideration It is now generally known that for five months we have ir a powerful and consistent daily advocate in the " Evzniaj SUn " newspaper , the proprietor of which ht 3 made , and is still zn&king , inunea : ^ ' sacrificss for the good of the cause . ; but it is unreasonable in us to hops or exz > ect these pcenniiiy sacrifices to he much longer continued . In order , therefore , to sustain the at jve Jitriotic indiTidnxl , "we urgently r : ll npon the central council of the different localitid , and through them upon all . "who "wish their wrongs exposed and their few remaining rights protsctedj to troir . e their test energiei rad devise means to increase the circnlntion of such a

      "va ' . oable auxiliary to the Chartist cause . If esch iecality throughout the kingdom took upon an average five papers daily , "we are given to understand ta-it the proprietor would then be able ! -o compete xucce- 'sf nliy with any daily journal . If only three copies were nsen by etch I ( -ility , the circulation rtns iacze' fzd would frc 3 the proprietor from any and every embarrassment Under these circumstances we trust that no- lonlity , however poor it may \ ^ will fail in coming immediately to the re ; ne Who would wish ihat the Evaring Star should shine no more ? Who "would not regret the Ios 3 of sa bixlliact a lnminary of the politjr-l'hurizon ? Tet it is unless to conceal the fear fh 3 t its light will be exungaished unless you eome forward , and "that too withont delay , to give on impetus toi 1 ^ circulation , and thereby advance your own interest ana that of oue of your firmest

      s-ui most fievottd friends . Yours , on behalf of the Metropolitan Dslegate mcetin ? , TbomjS M . Wheeleh , Secretary

      Untitled Article

      THE- EXEOCTIVE . TO THE EDIXOE OF THE KOETHEB > " STAE . Deas Sie—The recent disclosures must have conf inoi the conutry of the nselesscess of a permanrnt Executive in the existing affairs of Chartism . A geneld-1 Secretary iBall that seems » saKd . The salaries of fie rest might be saved and the money applied to more nc : . ij 1 purposes . The business of the Secretary should } : '• ¦> conduct the correspondence of the AEsociation , nd for this purpose he shonld have a fixed residence in Eome rintrr place , to draw up addresses and to give a Quarterly , half yearly , or annual report of the progress of the cause . A yearly conference might be held in London , attended by delegates from all the localities . If these hints meet the approval of our brother Ciortists , I trasfc they will act upsn them , and I remain . , Tours , in the cood cause , A Hexbes of . the National charter Association . ¦ London , Xot . 28 , 1842 . " ;

      Untitled Article

      THE EXECUTIVE BALANCE SHEET . j TO THE EDITOR OF THE SOETHERS STAP . j Sib , —^ Tour Editorial commtn ^ ^ , " in last Saturday ' s j S ' lr , abound "with unsupported allegations against the I Executive , and contain such evident misconceptions , j iur * 5 ura ; ies , anl perversions , that I should deem my- , r . 2 lf criminal were I not to attempt a reply . : May 1 ast , why wtt my explanatory letter thrown into an ol scure corner of " your paper , while the Hull CMmcillors * correspondence 'with ilr . Campbell wn | pompously paraded on , the front . pa ^ e , knowing , as 1 do . that you reraived mine , by the same post that con- i

      • veyed their commnni' "" fion ? "Was ttiere no design ? ti this ?* . Possibly , too , Mr . Editor , you-may find it inconve-j nient Vo c-juch your strictures on our conduct in no less j " courtisy of expression aial kindiy . in tone" than sneh I Tery polite terms as " robtery , " ¦ ' enibizz ' ement , " ! " fraud , " i » . ic Whatever our sensitiveness may ii ~ - dicat 2 of being ¦• thin-Bkinned , " such a tone pud ptrr « - ology certainly " speak volumes '' for the school in ' : which the writer received his education J j But to your remarks on my own csse . Ton are " sorry" my explanation is unsatisfactory ; and j f-gt yon quarrel "with my rtceipt of wages irhile in the TVest " of EngLaiJ . Ton are ! srrprised I should find " Bath , Bristol , Chel- j tenham , and Wiltskire" classed among the new I

      districts . Tou seem willing to forget the reason of j my going thither . It is trne they are not new dis- j tricH—I never stated they were . The plan of organ- j itition does not limit cur receiving wages to breaking np new districts , but extends the right to us while em- i ployed as the Association may think best—the Associa- j Con haviEg lodged in us the power of executing its wilL An application being made for my services in : that district , snd the Executive cojcp ' . ying witk that j reqnest , and finding the West uf England in a disor- j ganizsd state , and division rampant in many lpcalitis , j they justly deemed that compliance in strict conformity j ¦ with the powers given them by the . phm of crgaEizition . And , so far from my thinking ^ it a shame in my irother Chartists of the "West to accept my labours on I those terms , I deem them highly laudable for evincing i bo stern a determination' to npfcoid the agitation in the j fe-fcth of defection , opposition , division , and persecution .

      But I ask for what pnrpose does the Associa tioa exist , if it j is not to strengthen the weak , revive the drooping , ; inspire the languid , inflame the torpid , ard eEcc-ursge j the few brave and noble spirits struggling amid vicissi- j tude to perscverancs and Cwcqaeat ? This "vr . is our ] eonxse , and one ¦ which , however some may cavil , will i recommend itself to the intelligent and the wiss . And j I cannot leave this En " -ject without returning my he&rt- i felt gratitade to the " men of the treat" for the coarace , ' energy , prudence , and firmness with "winch , they ever Eupported and cheered me on . j Tour next oWection urged against receiving the sum

      in travelling by Loughboro" . to Bristol to attend my j afiicted partner is so absurdly preposterous , that I could j Bcarcsly credit my eyes in rta'ding it . " Ten caTinot for the life of you d ' ssover how I have any right more than other nun to charge npon the country the erpence of such a journey . " Had this journey been solely fer that purpose , and net on my way back to Bristol , your ob- jecticn wculi have hsd some force , as it is , and as I ' vras on my way back thither , and the erpence was in-, curred on that accsunt , your objection is u'terly void of ; point—the extra ram over my former journey from i Bristol to Msnchester was the p 6 int o . -ffhich explanation " 3-is solicited . I'gave it ,. and yon have not even ' atteinpttd to than its nonconformity "Kith the plan of , oreaniaition . , ' ,

      Toar rext paragraph is a Soundenug one—it is ; palpably and grossly contrary to fact . My first jonrney ' from Bristol to Manchester wr- tiot to the Manchester ! Conference tws jou " believe , " ent to the first sitting of j the newly-elected Executive in Jaiy , the Conference ; being held in August . My second journey tras to that Conlcrence , at which I appeared bs a m » mt ; r of the , Executive , and us a representative of BristtI , Glouces- ! tex , and Cheltenham , being elected at those places , its : bsing known that I was going- there in mv capacity as a member of the Executive . 1 did 50 T state there that I represented SOO . ooO Chartiil ^ , but that I represented towns cent-lining nearly that population . "With regard to the plea of my being a fugitive , and that being " no i plea at all , " probably you will allow the countiy to : judge whether harsssed , hnnted , and pursued , as I v&s , I had a right U > claim expeneis wh : 2 a I wis engaged in eroding the Ijni-eyed eaissaries of despotism , and in a feeble state of health , t

      Again , let me ask , in what part of the plan of organi- ' sation de we find it stated the Executive should be " a jff-rf Joiy in a ji * ed placei" -1 presume this is but one -. of your own assumptions for . the purpose of fastening j a stigma upon Mr . Campbell -for his remoTai : o London , j If it was so , why not have shown it , prior to the last j election , so as to bave secured the return of five Man- j C&ester mrn , or prepared the people for our removal to tint town by disclosing your present extraordinary discovery ? I know that the question was mooted j jit the plan of organisation meeting , but it was left ost of the plan to be settled by the discretion of the ; future Executive "who might hold office . j

      I have now taken probably my last notice of your I remarks , however gross and false you msy make them , j I leave the issne to -the Chartist , bedy throughout the , country . I abide by . what I have done , and by what j the Execntive , as a body , have done in these matters , i Honourable and just as I believe my coadjutors to ba , i irith tie Charter in my hand , and by their side I will stand or fall . Xeeds , Xcr . SO , l $ i ± . J . B . B . Baiesiow . ;

      Untitled Article

      ? Citainly not . We knew no m ^ re than Mr . Bair- ' « tow "where eithtr of them wouii be till we saw the paper in print ; ¦ f- We only hope that justice vill ha dene by allowing ; like , clairiis to every msa uxtjcr lie drcumitancsi— ' SB . ' SA . ¦ j

      Untitled Article

      RECEIPTS OF THE EXECUTIVE FOB . THE WEEK ENDING NOV . 29 th , 1 & 42 . London—Clockiouse ... ... 0 5 0 „ Richmond 0 5 0 Lewes ... 0 3 0 Star office ~ . 2 12 Oi £ 3 5 0 |

      Untitled Article

      THE EXECUTIVE AND THEIR DEFENCE . Elsewhees we give the document named in our last , and which would have been then given had we received it m time . We commend it not merely to the reading bnt to the careful consideration of the people . Nothing could be further from our principles , or from onr purpose , than to deprive any m » n or men accused of any thing of the full oppor' . unit y of makiDg defence . We have accused the Execntive of various mal-practices ; of misappropriating the hard-earned funds committed to their care

      - j of disregarding , in their official practice , their own avowed principles ; of determinedly- and wilfully YioiaUDg the rules of that organization which it istheir one duty to enforce and carry oat ; and of attempting te set themselves above law , and , in the name of democracy , become pure despots . We proved all these grave and serious matters ont of their own mouths . We offered no hearsay evidence ; no hired testimony ; "we submitted no interested

      witnesses to the credence of the public : we rested the whole case against them on the comparison of their own published accounts with the plain printed words of those rules which they are appointed for the sole purpose of enforcing . It is the duty of the people now to read this defence of the Executive ; to read along with it the " grave charges" to which i ; makes reference ; to compare both with the rules of the organization , and to say whether or not the " charges" be answered .

      As an individual portion of the people , we have a right to an opinion ; we shall give that opinion , and the reasons upon which we hold it ; and the people will attach to them as much or as little valne as they like . We have seldom knonn a document more difficult to comment on than this defence of the Executive by Messrs . Leach and Campbell ; for the simple reason , that there is nothing at all in it . The greater portien of the " long yarn" is made up of personal abuse of Mr . Hili about the " denunciation" of Mr . Philp and the insertion of the " Executive Sop" resolution . Now supposing every thing which Messrs . Leach and Campbell may bs disposed to say upon these subjects to be true as gospel ; suppose that Mr . Philp had really

      been ill-treated by Mr . Hill ; suppose that Mr . Hill had never received the " Executive Sop " resolution from Merthyr Tydvil at all ; suppose he had manufactured that resolution for the pnrpose ; what then ! How does it affect the question 1 If we should make Messrs . Leach and Campjell a present of all that their utmost noisiness can ask in reference to the Philp and " Sop" matters , does that meet any one of the present " charges " against them ? Does it prove that they have not for a long time back been pajing to one of their body ten shillings weekly out of public money without the authority of any public vote : that they have not continued to do this in spite of both private and pnblic remonstrances , and of their own pledges to the contrary ! Does all that can be said about

      . ! | Philt and the " Sop" afford any reason why this transaction should be " hailed by the whole country with delight , " as Mr . Campbell Bay 3 he expected it would have been ? Does all that can I be said about Philp and the " Sop" exonerate j the Executive from the " charge" of disregarding , ' in the mattera appertaining to thoir own office , all the principles of Chartism ! Does all that can be said about Philp and the " Sop" prove that the Executive have not wilfnlly set aside in their own transactions the organisation which they ire appointed to enforce 1 These are the

      matters and things to which the Excsutive should have addressed themselves in their defence ; and if ail the abuse they can possibly heap upon Mr . Hill about Phil * and the Sop" cannot answer any one of these questions , the fair inference is that it is resorted to for tha mere purpose of diverting the attention of the reader from the matters really at issue . All that part of the defence which is occupied in praising Mr . Leach ' s eloquence and Dr . M'Douall ' s patriotism is alike beside the mark . The question at issue is not whether Leach be an able debater on the Corn Law question ; the question is not whether M'Docall have been an active and energetic Chartist , or whether he may or may not . at some time .

      have given his last shilling between two poor weavers . The question is . whether the Executive did or did not , without any due authokitt , dip their hands into the bag containiug the hard-earaed pence of poor weavers , and take out thanes ten shillings weekly for many months . And this question is not at all affected by anything which may be said about Dr . M'Doujlll's patriotism , or about his generosity , or about the improbability of either his or Leach ' s acceptance of a " sop . " Though whole pages should bs occupied with declamation about these and like matters , it renders the fact of appropriating the funds of the Association without a vote of the Association , not a jot the less unprincipled and unwarrantable .

      In like manner all their personal abuse of Mr . Hil -, all their laudations of each ether and themselves , and all their talk about Philp and the " , " affords no explanation of the many matters so much and seriously requiring it . It does not all show why the enormous sums charged for " travelling" and " agitating" expencas should be charged to the country at all , or what rule of the organization justifies them . We thought our observations on ttese items could not be misunderstood ; but where people wish to misrepresent , it is easy to affect a misunderstanding . We are spoken of as though we had

      positively stated these it-ems to be fraudulently charged . We have done no such thing : we merely asked for information respecting them . All we say , or have said , is that , on the face of the balance sheet , they onght to have appeared so plainly a 5 to show for themselves that they were not fraudulently charged . This was not the case . There was no information given to the country as to the business by which they were incurred , so as to enable the people to see that they vrere charged according to rule . We said that this information ought to have been given : that the absence of it left them floating in a

      mist of uncertainty and vagueness , wkich , until it was removed , might warrant ! the suspicion that there was something unfair about them . If the Execntive knew them to be all right , and if their accounts had not been so kept as to prove their Secretary to be utterly unfit for his place , it was in their power to have so explained every one of them as to remove all the liability to doubt which ought never to have existed . Instead of thus explaining , they " spin a long yarn '' about Mr . Hill ' s mischief-loving propensities , their own eloquence and patriotism , and various other matters to : aJiy irrelevant .

      Another portion of fne Dcience is a laboricu ? reply to an objection that has never beeD staned , about the Secretary ' s salary . Wo never for an instant denied that the Secretary is a permanent oScer , and should have constant wages , We think hiia well

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      entitled to his wages , and are quite sure that there is enor . gh of work for him at all times if he were ' dble and disposed to do it . But we do think that , his own published accounts , and the state of th ' 3 society generally , of which he is the chief officer , ? JFord sufficient evidence that he is utterly unfit for that office , because utterly incompetent to discharge its duties . This is out opinion ; we are sorry to be compelled to entertain it ; we hare given our reasons for it ; and the people will , of wurse , give it as much or as little weight as they Ske . The only part of this long rambliDg document which bears at ail upon the question , and offers for : themselves way defence is the following : — " And now let us tell yon a a few facts as to the treatment we have received as an Execntive .

      " The 22 ad rule says , When members of the Executive shall 1 ; employed as missionaries , their salaries shall be the same m when employed in the Council : coach-hire and one-half of any other incidental exponccs shall be paid to them in addition by the par tic i -who may repairs their eerrices . ' Now we can prove that the above clause bxi not L - : cn adher 1 to in the 1 < '"litics where we have acted r- ' lecturers . We give the following samples ef its violation : —We went to

      Birmingham , af t many strong invitations , and "with the unders -uiding that our t _ -Telling expencea would tp paid . On this point , however , we were completely deceived : instead of our expsncea being paid , the Local Council came to a vote that they would net allow us one halfpenny , but that we should be paid from the general fund , and after being at considerable expose of coach hire and living at Birmingham , we were indebted to the kindness of a friend for the means te get home again .

      " We * "embled again in London , and met exrztiy with the same treatment . ' in Birmingham , with the exception of the vote : in fiv-t , we were obliged to borrow money from Mr . Cleave to bring us home . We could lay before yon scores of such <•• : ts if it were n : zossary , but we think the- above quite sufficient . " . This , like all the rest , is sufficiently blunderingly stated . There is no twenty-second rule in tho organilation . The eighteenth rule doeB say , nearly , but not exactly what is here quoted . It perhaps might not be too much to expect the President and the Secretary to quote correctly from the rules of the association : but vre will take the quotation as it stands .

      The observations following and founded upon this quotation seem to us to contain a tacit admission that the sums charged as " travelling " and " agitating " expenses , are , some of them at least , improperly charged to the country , instead of to the respective localities , on account of which they were incurred and the effort is to shift the blame of this irrejgularity from the Executive to the localities . This is , at best , bnt a lame effort . It is the duty of the Executive to see that the localities do comply with the rules of the organization ; that is the single one duty for which they were appointed—the single one duty of which , as it seems to us , they have never attempted the

      performance . Had they carefully regulated their own acts by the rules of the association ; and had they rigorously insisted upon a- compliance with thoLe rules by all its officers and members , we cannot think that they would have found much difficulty in obtaining that compliance from particular parties , under such circumstances as they state in reference to Birmingham and London . Giving , then , all credit to their statements of the treatment they received from all these places , they do not , on their own showing , justify themselves . There can be no doubt that if they had appealed against ill-treatment to the body by whom they were appointed ,

      that body , if it could not even have redressed , would , at all events have prevented the recurrence of such things . If the Executive went to Birmingham as missionaries , at the invitation of the Birmingham people , their travelling charges , their salaries , and one half of their incidental expences ought , by the plain rule of the Organization , to have been paid by the Birmingham members , so long as they were so employed . And if the Birmingham councillors refused to comply with the organization , it was their duty to have then and there appealed to the Birmingham members ; to have shown them the plain bearing of the , rale , the necessity of its being complied with , and the

      injustice that would be inflicted on their nmch poorer brethren in many other parts , if those expenses , which of right appertained to that locality , should be charged to the general fund . This is what the Executive ought to have done , if their statement be correct . If they had done so there can be no doubt that the whole matter would have been set right . The whole question , however , of the liability of Birmingham hiuges on the point of whether they went there as missionaries , and at th ] request of the Birmingham people . If they did there can be no doubt that Birmingham ought to have paid , and ought yet to pay , those expences . If they did not ; if they merely

      went to Birmingham because it suited their own pleasure and convenience to - remove their sittings there , they ought then to pay their travelling and other extra charges out of their own pockets . The country has decided by the resolution of a National Delegate Meeting that the Executive shall sit in Manchester ; no power but that of another National Dalegate Meeting , or a general vote of all the members of the Association , can alter that decision . It is quite clear , therefore , that if the Executive chose to move from Manchester to Birmingham , not as Missionaries , but as an Executive to hold a session , they had no right to charge

      the country with the expence . If , however , they went there at the request of Birmingham , if they had been solicited to go and agitate in and around Birmingham , because there was a prospect of doing good to the causp , and if , in consequence of such solicitation , they went there to hold a portion of their , session , sitting as a committee during the day , and labouring as agitators in the evening , which we rather think to have been the case , it then appears plain that their salaries might be charged to the general fund , but that their travelling and all extra expences ought to have been defrayed by Birmingham . And any

      refusal on the part of Birmingham to do thisv was a gross violation , not only of the terms of the organisation , but of the principles of equity and 'justice . The same remarks will , of course , apply to London , and every other place in which the Executive have been treated as they say they have in these two . We are informed by Mr . Bair 3 tow that the localities in and around Manchester never defray any expences incurred by members of the Executive in lecturing , and that , consequently , all these expenses are of necessity charged to the country under the head agitating expenses . All we can say is , that , if this

      be so , it is shameful ; it is a gross fraud upon every other part of the association . Our observations last week , in reference to Mr . Bairstow's lecturing in the West of England , are equally applicable here ; we think it a shame that North Lancashire , Leicestershire , Nottinghamshire and other poor districts which pay their own local lecturers , should also pay lecturers for such places as Manchester , Birmingham , London , Bristol , Ac . It is clearly unreasonable to suppose that the Executive can defray out of their salaries travelling or other expenses incurred in lecturing .

      If , therefore , these be not paid by the localities , and if their services be still required as lecturers , we see not what else they can do but charge to the general fund , though clearly unwarranted by the organization . If this be the true statement of , the case , it is clearlj in the power , and it is as clearly the duty , of the Association to remedy the grievance for themselves . All the members , and all the general councillors , either know the rules or ought to know them . Let them see that they adhere to thtm themselves , that the Executive may have no excuse for deviation . If no attention is to be paid by any leiy to the organiiation , it may as well be given up at once ; there is no use in merwlytautalizing ourselves and the country with it .

      While , however , we enforce upon the members and General Councillors especially , their shave of attention to the requirements of the organization , we v-o not forget that the one single duty ' of the Eaiuiive , the sole thing for which they are appointed , is to attend to this very bminets . Their great fiult seems to us to be , that they have been always labouring after usefulness as lecturers and agitators , instead of aUtadiag to the simple duties ' of

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      their office ; the consequence of which 13 , that while by them and others , our principles have been widely extended * throughout tlie whole country , our Associr ation is , in . fact , no association at all , but a huge mass of crude , shapeless elements , without" form or comeliness . The * a is no regular correspondence , and due understanding kept np amongst us , there is no sameness of system and adherence to rule , and consequently no power , which there certainly ought to be , of bending and directing the whole energies of the whole people towards any given point at any given time . This is to be effected by organization , and only by organization . All the agitation in the

      world will never do it . The organization of the National Charter Association , worked by an efficient Executive—aye , even by a Secretary alone , of clever and business-like habits , and who would mind his own work , and keep to it , might in a few weeks , with the co-operation of the people , be made so perfect , as that that Secretary might at any time , in two or three posts , have the opinion , upon any given question , of every member of the Association . But he must be a Secretary of a very different caste from the one we now have ; he must be a man who knows the organisation , and is able to instruct others in its management .

      We hope the people will take the whole matter into consideration . It is high time . Nothing is so vital to the movement aa a due attention to organisation . It is clear that the persons now composing the Executive lack either the disposition or the peculiar kind of talent for attending to it . Their forte is agitation . As agitators they are energetic and useful . There may be enough of occupatio 11 found , for them in the sphere which is most suited to them . It is more reasonable and more right for each distinctive locality to pay its own lecturer than for us to have a body of men under the name

      of an Executive , who are , in fact , merely lecturers occupying the best and most cultivated grounds of Chartism at the expence of the . poorest and least cultivated . We suggest , therefore , that in future the Executive consist of a Secretary and four unpaid members resident in London , Birmingham , Nottingham , Leeds , or any other place on which the people may determine . We are decidedly of opinion that an efficient Secretary ia the only paid officer needed in our movement , and that with such a functionary—an efficient man—having the advice and assistance in the concoction of documents , Jto . of a Committee chosen from the

      General Councillors in his own locality , the orgazjaation may be well worked without any recurrence of the evils which have originated the present very painfuj , but we hope very useful and profitable discussion . This is the course adopted by our Scottish friends , who beat us hollow at sober , clearheaded arrangement . Our readers will perceive that it is recommended to them by a communication in this day ' s paper . That communication is from a tried and valuable friend to the cause . One who has seen much and suffered much in it ; and whose opinion desesves the best attention of the people .

      Our readers will see also a communication from Mr . Beeslet recommending the appointment of a Committee to inquire whether the present Executive have violated the organisation or not . That , of course , is a proposal for the people to consider . To us it seems a farce ; the more especially as the Executive have already admitted that the organization has been violated , by refusing to defend their own acts and meeting the charges against them with mere bluster and blash .

      To our mind it is of much more consequence to prevent these things in future than to trouble ourselves about the past . That which is past cannot be recalled ; but the people may make past errors a beacon for the future . We recommend therefore that the whole matter be taken up by all the localities , at once ; that the members and councillors meet togther and deliberate upon the subject ; that they endeavour to keep in mind the whole question and to keep out of mind everything but the question—the duties of the Executive and the manner in which they have been performed ; that they lay the balance sheet—not the last merely , but the last three

      balance sheets and the organization both before them , and examine them together ; that they read in connection therewith , the letters of the Hull Councillors to the Executive—the _ articles in the ^ Northern Star of this and the last two weeks , and especially all that the Executive have said for themselves in explanation and defence ; that they weigh all these carefully and dispassionately , using their own clear sense ef right and wrong , and their own appreciation of principle ; not suffering themselves to be led or biassed , either by us or by the Executive , but judging fairly from the evidence which lies before them , and recording their opinions in firm , clear , and temperato language .

      The matter is one fraught with as much importance as any that has occupied the public mind for along time . We ask not , therefore , that the people should tako us for a guide ; but that they should divest themselves of prejudice , and view the whole subject in the clear light of common sense and Chartist principle . We warn them that the consequences of mistake may not be easily rectified or averted . Since writing the above , we observe in the Evening Star of Wednesday evening , which we have just received , a portion of a letter , in reference to the subject , from M'Douall- It seems to have been written , for the Northern Star ; bus , for what reason , we know not , it has not been sent to

      us . A part only of the letter is given in the Evening Star , with a promise for its continuance this ( Thursday ) evening . Of course we can neither give it nor reply to it , until we have seen the whole ; and before the arrival of the Svening Star with the latter portion of it , our paper will have been at press some sixteen hours . We may just observe , in reference to the portion which has appeared , that its tone is of an altogether different character from that of the blundering bluster of Messrs . Leach and Campbell . For the present , we content ourselves with giving , from the portion which has been published , the following acknowledgment of the accuracy and justice of all that we have said about the ten shillings a-week business

      ;" You say that was contrary to rule . So it was . " This is all that we have said about the matter . For the para ' ilel case , by us given week before last , and out of which so much bluster about " robbery , " and' " fraud , " and " transportation" has arisen , the Doctor and his colleagues may thank , not us , but their Secretary , Mr . Campbell , who forced us to show him that his expectation of the whole country going into fits of " delight" about it , was a little absurd . We suppose this admission of the Doctor ' s , and the admission of Mr . Leach before the South Lancashire Delegate Meeting , that he could not defend that act of the Executive , together with the assertion of Mr . Baihstow , made in our hearing , that he knew nothing of it , and was astounded when

      he saw it in the Balance Sheet , will settle all the bluster about our having been actuated by some private malice or some petty revenge in the " denunciation" of it ; and will show pretty satisfactorily that wo have only done that which it was our duty to do ; and which if we had not done , we should have deserved to be denounced . We dismiss this matter with the observation that we think it ' . a little odd that the " tense of justice" about which the Dr . writes very well , did did not prompt him to send this letter at once to us Meantime we may observe that wo see nothing in it to shake , but much to strengthen , every position we have taken ; and many strong arguments for therecommendation wehave above given to the people , iii reference to the future settlement of the Executive .

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      THE APPROACHING CONFERENCE . COOKSE OF THE ELECTIONS . ALARM OF THE STURGE PARTY . SOLUTION OP THE MYSTERY WHY " CHARTISTS" WISH TO " GET RID " OF FEARGUS . " The 27 th of December will soon be here ! Ori that day the Conference of Delegates , appointed by the people in open public meetings , in their respective localities , conformably to a request issued

      by Mr . Joseph Sturge , of Birmingham , on behalf of the General Council of the Complete Suffrage Association , will meet to prepare a Bill to be proposed to Parliament , to secure the real representation of the whole people . Several of the localities have elected their delegates ; others are preparing to do so ; and circumstances so combine , as to make this meeting one of tho most important ever convened , or holden , in connection with that Movement , which has had , and has , for its first object the assertion of the principle of universal right .

      The struggles connected with that Movement hate been long and arduous ! The conflicts have been many and severe ! The persecuting hand of power has bee"fi laid on with heavy effect upon theadvo .- ' cates of , and firm adherents to , the cause of Universal Suffrage .. From the first hourof the proposal of that measure by Henry Hunt , as the only likely means to secure a , Radical Roforni of the Commons House of Parliament , up to the present moment , there has been a continued effort on the part of Government to put the agitation down ; and a continued resistance on the part of the working

      people against the persecuting acts of the Government . In this resistancfcthe working people have been " alone in their glory . " They have not had theco-operation , or even the countenance , of any of the classes above them in point of station . Nay , those classes , one and all , have been arrayed against , them . Each one , and all , have accused them of the most villainous " designs upon the property of the country . " Each one , and all , -. have harked on the Government to " silence the grumbling rascals , " whose " only aim was to uproot the foundations of society , and produce anarchy and confusion , so that they might have the chance of possessing themselves of the wealth of their neighbours through a general

      scramble . " Each one , and all , have joined in Vo 1 up * > - teer Associations to aid the Government in putting down the " ragged rascals , " who wished ie "destroy our glorious Constiutiotij by inciting the people to revolt , and by spreading disaffection and sedition amongst the labouring poor . " Yeomanry corps have been embodied and used , with terrific effect , to accomplish this purpose . The dungeon , the halter , and the block , have also been used . Imprisonments , and hangings , and beheadings , have been resorted to , to put down tho demand for such a Radical Reform as would restore to each male adult in the kingdom that share in the representation of th © country which Blackstone says the Constitution awards him !

      And yet all these means have failed ! The demand for Universal Suvfbage , and the conviction that 11 alone can give us a Parliament that will or can , honestly apply itself to ascertain the causes of our numerous social and political evils , with a view to the application of a simple , yet efficient , remedy , ia stronger and more generally entertained than ever ! The Conference to be holden in Birmingham

      on the 27 th instant , is ostensibly called to give effect to that increased demand and growing conviction . It is ostensibly called to prepare a Bill to be proposed to Parliament , to enact that Universal Suffrage in the choice of members to the Commons ' House shall become law . This is the ostensible objeot of the promoters of that convocation of Delegates . And the people in answering the call made upon them to elect Delegates , are taking the necea sary steps to realize that ostensible objeot . ....

      They are electing in all parts , men who have been long known to them by their stedfast and firm adherence to the principle of Universal Suffrage ; men who have borne the heat and the burden of the day in the advancement of that principle ; men who have proved . their devotion to it , by braving imprisonments , and , enduring persecution in its infinity of shapes . The people are ttfting the only meaas that exist ; to secure the end the originators of this conference say they have in view , by sending to it men whose whole life and character is a guarantee that there

      will be no flinching from principle ; no deviation from the one right straight-forward course ; , no temporizing ; no coquetting ; no compromises ; no bargaining ; no sellinci . The people are taking this , the only course that men honestly fixed upon the attainment of their object could possibly take and yet , the evincement of their determination to secure the ostensible ends of the promoters of that CeNFERENCE , ha 3 caused ALARM and dissatisfaction amongst those same promoters !! They openly confess their surprise and disappointment at this answer to their appeal ! * . '

      Now , why is this ? What cause is there for ALARM ! What reason for either dissatisfaction , or surprise $ Why should the concoctora of that conference be disappointed ? They profess to be admirers and advocates of the principle of Universal Suffrage . ^ To promote the legislative adoption of that principle , they call upon the people to elect a number of delegates to embody that principle into a document ,

      called a Bill , to be laid before Parliament . The people respond to that call , by electing men to sit in the Conference Chamber whose past conduct proves them to be worthy of the people ' s confidence , inasmuch as it is a guarantee that they will honestly apply themselves to the business for which they are called together ; and yet surprise , and dissatisfaction , and ALARM is manifested by those who have issued the invitation to the people to confer together ! Again , we ask , why is this !

      It is the result of the Birmingham election that has principally caused this ALARM ! The Birmingham people , having been called together in public meeting , choose Mr . O'Connor , Mr . George White , and two other well-known Chartists , aloii ^ with two members of the Christian Chartist Church , to represent them in the coming Conference . .. it is this result with which the callers of that Conference are dissatisfied . . "¦ •¦ . '

      Oar readers know the history of the Sturge move ment . They know that that movement was not determined on till every other effort to cajole the people from the advocacy of Universal Suffrage had failed ! They know that scheme after scheme-was planned and developed for accomplishing this purpose . They know that they were denounced as "impracticable , " because they did not join in-, with the Anti-Corn-Law party , ia endeavouring to procure a " practicable" measure , the repeal of the Corn-Laws . , They know that the dodge of " Extension of the Suffrage" was also tried ; and they cannot have

      forgotten the Fox and Goose Club scheme at Leeds , which was to amuse the people with Household Suffrage , ¦ while the foxes " got rid , " as Dan said " Feargus . " They know that the Sturge movement for Complete Suffrage was never heard of 'till it was plainly apparent that the Anti-Corn-Law party could not possibly obtain the public ear ; could not get the public to listen even to their nostrum for relieving the conntry from the dire distress and suffering it endured . The people know that it was not ' till matters has assumed this shape :

      it was not ' till the advocates of " cheap food" and " low wages" were literally driven from off ,- the public stage ; it was not 'till the working people had evinced an unconquerable determination not to relax in their efforts to obtain Universal Suffrage :, as ameans of securing the end of good and honest government : the people know that it was not ' till the agitation for the Charter , had superceded ail other agitations , and frustrated the designs . of the Free-trade-Poor-Law-eufcrcing party to make their question the question of the day ; the people know j

      Untitled Article

      that it was not till political agitation bore this aspect , that the Sturge movement wu even heard of ! They know also , that the main movers in that movement , were , and are , Corn-Law Repealers , and supporters of the horrible New Poor Law in all its atrocity ! The Sturge movement , however , at the juncture just described , was made . It professed to have for its object the enfranchisement of the people . Its promoters advocated what they were pleased to call Complete Suffrage ; defining their " completeness' * to be just that which , every body understood by the term Universal . They formed themselves into a new political Association , ' and asked the people to

      join them in it . They adopted the Nonconformist newspaper as their organ of communication with the public ; and it is with the lament of ^ hat organ as t » ihe result of the Birmigham election , that we now purpose to deal . We have already detailed the result of the election just named . We have already stated that the people of Birmingham chose Mr . O'CoimdR and Mr White , and two other backbone Chartists to sit as their representatives in the coming Conference , along with two of Mr . Sturge ' s friends . It may be well to remark too , that the public meeting which made this choice , was called by Mr . Sturge ' s own party : and that that gentleman presided on the

      . . Respecting the election thus made the Noncon formist ot November 23 rd , has the following TemaTks : — " . The result of the election of delegates for Bfv mingham to the ensuing conference , recorded in orr columns last week , took , us , we honestly confess , somewhat by surprise . We cannot but admit that , ever / deduction having bam made en the . score of the coinparative smaUness of the meeting , occasioned by the arbitrary conduct of the Town Hall authorities , and of local irritation , excited by a fancied slight , put upon an active Chartist agitator by Mr . Sturge ami the Council—the rejection of four out of six names

      nominated by the Council of the Union , and the substitution in their room of avowed toes to tlie Complete Suffrage Movement , wears an ugly [ appearance . We cannot conceal from ourselves , nor shall we attempt to conceal from , our readers , that the same game may 13 played in many other places . We know the advantages possessed by an unscrupulous and organised minority over undisciplined numbers , however superior in point of real force . We ara quite alive to the danger , which , probably , none have foreseeu more clearly than Mr . Feargus O'Connor and hia staff of agitators , of scaring , by means of successful insolence , back into inaction , if not into opposition , all those of the middle class who have but recently given in a timid adherence to the great principle advocated by the Union . We

      foresee that , here and there , men who would have done battle for the unenfranchised , ¦ will not do battle uritfr them ; and that many a heart which would have been content to strive on behalf of just principles , will decline to take any part in a conflict , the issue of which turns only upon persons . Should , therefore , the main object of the Birmingham Conference be defeated , although we cannot say "we expect such a result , we shall not , after what has already occurred , be overwhelmed with astonishment Such a calamity need not be , ought not be , will not be , if the avowed frien <"" of Complete Suffrage are active , prudent , and firm ; but , looking to all the bearings of the case , it would be childish to blink the conclusion that such a calamity may be . " , .

      The surprise of the Stuhge party , at the result 0 . the Birmingham election is here openly avowed " . Now , for the life of us we cannot see , what there is to be " surprised" at , if the callers of the coining Conference : expected or required its sittings to ba attended by mea whose firm adherence to the principle of Universal Suffrage conferred upon them peculiar fitness for the task of embodying that principle in a Bill , and surrounding it with proper details to ensure its due and honest working . The men who were so chosen ; at least the four who we assume have caused the " surprise" here trumpeted

      forth , are known as long-tried and earnest advocates of the main principle the Stcrce party profess to have at heart ; and yet they are " surprised " that the people of Birmingham , who know what their services havo been ; who know the devotion they hav , e evinced ; who have been witnesses of the efforts they have made : they are " surprised' * that the people of Birmingham , who know all this , should . prefer such men to men whose profession even of the principle of Universal Suffrage is but of yesterday ' s date ! Really this expression of a surprhe ' under such circumstances , is very " surprising" !!

      ; . The writer adduces several reasons to account , ny part , for the " ugly " result he deplores . One of them is "local irritation , excited by a fancied slight put upon an active Chartist agitator by Mr . Storgb and the Complete Suffrage Council . " This refers , wa opine , to the famous " NO" of Mr . Sidhge and his compeers to the application for assistance towards / the defence of the persecuted and imprisoned George White . We know not to what extent " local irritation " may have been excited by that " slight "; but we do know , that if the remembrance of that V NO "influenced the people of Birmingham in their answer of " NO"' . to four of Mr . Sturge ' s nominee ? , and in the return of White himself , under

      bTURGES nose , the action reflects upon them tho highest honour and credit ! It is honourable alike to the head and the heart . White is a matt who has served them faithfully and earnestly . According to theNonconformist himself , he is " an active Chartist leader . " His services have been deemed worthy of governmental attention . Twics : has he been laid by the heels ; and his zeal and deyotion have only become the more plainly apparent . When he was under bonds ; when he wag immured in one of the cells of Warwick Gaol ; when he enduring the full weight of Tory persecution ; when he was awaiting his " trial , " where ho would be enabled , the pecuniary means being forthcoming , to expose in . all its hideous deformity , the system of espionage and spyi&m resorted to by the

      authorities to entrap poor simple-minded men ; when hia poor but faithful friends were trying to raisa those necessary pecuniary means , application wa 3 made to Mr . Joseph Stuuge . To whom could application have been more proper ? Mr . Sturgk bears the character of a philanthropist . Philak * throphv would aid any man , under such circumstances . But the applicants had a right to calculate on political sympathy . Mr . White waB a Chartist ; in other words an " active" advocate of the principles of Universal Siffbage . Mr . Stukce professed to be the same . To him , therefore , and to his friends , was the application most properly made . A plain , simple , unqualified " NO , " was the answer !/ If this " slight" did canse " local irritation , " and dictated the" NO" of the BirmiDgham people , it does them infinite honour !

      We know the advantages possessed by an unscrupulous and organised minority Over undisciplined numbers , however SUPERIOR in point of real pome / ' Thus writes the Nonconformist ! What does it mean ? Does it mean that an ' unscrupulous minority" elected the Birmingham Delegates in the face of an ¦ ' undisciplined majority V If it does not mean this , pray what does it mean ? If it does mean-this , the advantages possessed by such " minority * over such " majority : ' were great indeed ! Bat what was Mr . Sti / um about , to let the " minority" enjoy such an advantage as to have the election to themselves ! Did he really decide in favour of the " minority } " If be did , his character for uprightness is not wortQ much '

      It is amuzing to notice what nonsense an angry defeated man will sometimes talk ta take the edge off his defeat , and soften his fall . The sentence just quoted is a sample in point . Th « pets of the nonconformist were put on one side ; and other , " and , in the opinion of the Birmingham people , better men elected in their stead . Forthwithttfl Nonconformist talks about " unscrupulous and organized minorities" triumphing over " undisciplined majorities ! " Nay , in his anger and blindness , he avers that Buch minority will alwajs have an advantage "over undisciplined numbers , HOWEVER SUPERIOR in point of real force . " What arrant nonsense t ' :

      The " surprise" occasioned by this election leids our friend into some ether " surprising" sfatemems and admissions . He avows that the result of thU election , if followed up in a . similar manner throughout the country , may end in a defeat of the limin ' object for which the Conference is called ! • This is a curious admi-sion . The Conference i 3 avowedly called to prepare a bill , embodying the ' principles of 'Universal Suffrage ' . ; The election of delegates pledged to maintain -Universal SrfFiucE to the last gasp , may end in tho defeat of that

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      TO THE EDITOB OP THE KOBTHBB . * STAR . 5 $ 5 . j In onr oreanizition you " will find it is stated tbat the General Treasurer shall ba elected by the Ganeral Councillors . This has not been done yet , but at the uext nomination for Executive Committee , I am de ; nnined , should health permit , and I am tree from faction ' s dnngeona , that I "will place & person in nomination for that efflee . I mention this , so that it 1 ; not lost sight of in youi strictures on the organ ization . E . ' 3 .

      The Northern" Stae Saturday, December 3, 1842.

      THE NORTHERN" STAE SATURDAY , DECEMBER 3 , 1842 .

      Extraoiidinart Increase In Potatoes.—Mr. R. Kvud, Of Briery Close, Near Ambkside, Planted

      Extraoiidinart Increase in Potatoes . —Mr . R . Kvud , of Briery Close , near Ambkside , planted

      three potatoes last spring ln his garden , the enormous iiicreasa of Whicn , when taken out of the ground , may be judged irom the fact that the produce weighed eleven stone and a half .

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      4 , ______ T . . HSE . NORTHERN STAR , ,

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Dec. 3, 1842, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1189/page/4/