On this page
- Departments (3)
- Adverts (1)
-
Text (13)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
HOBSOKPS ALMANACK. In ihe PretS t and speedily mill be Published ! Price Threepence,
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1843.
-
2To aseatrw£ anti <3ovvtfipovtotnt
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Ad
THE POOR MAN'S COMPANION , FOR 1844 . CONTAINING a mass of Statistical and other VJ matter , bearing on the Political and Social questions of the day . Compiled from authentic documents , BY JOSHDa H 0 B 30 N . 4 S" The day of Publication , with a list of contents , will be duly set forth next week .
Untitled Article
TO THE CHARTISTS OF NOTTINGHAM A 2 W SODTH DERBYSHIRE . BiOlHBB Dehocbats , —The Committee appointed to tarry oat the Local Plan of Organization and resolution * width were agreed to at your IteSegate Meeting , held at Nottingham in Jane last , 'wish to remind you lfcat the tem of their services has nearly expired , and to fry it fore yoa . a statement of yonr affairs . "We are happy to state that much good has arisen Irani the labours of oar indefatigable lecturer , Mr . I > oy ] & Owing to the hitherto imperfect state of our Organisation , the Lecturers * Fund is deficient to the amount of xearly £ 7 . Totalise earnestly direct your attention , end hope that the various localities -will immediately taansmlt to the Treasurer the various sums agreed to .
A Delegate Meeting -will be held at Ilkestone , on Sunday , the 5 th of November , when we hope thai every locality will send a delegate to consider the best means of Uquidating the debt , and transacting other important business . Tours , respectfully , Sastjel Bookhax , Secretary . Kotfcingham , October 31 st , 1843 .
Untitled Article
TO THE CHAB . TISTS OF BIBXIK 6 EAX AND THE SUBBOtTKDLNG DISTB . ICI . Brothers , —The Committee * for the support of Mr . G-orge White once more appeal to your sympathies , and t » your justice . PiTe months of the time declared by iniquitous law-administrators to be necessary to expaate , within atone wall * , the heinons crime of defending the poor and demanding for them their tights , have passed , leaving thhee yet to be endnred , and those three , alas ! amongst the most severe of the year . Mr . White , spurning the attempts which have generally been made to degrade the leaders sod teachers of fiie people , demanded to be treated as a first-class misdemeanant . His demand was acceded to , and he was
in . prisoned Jin the Queen ' s Prison . By this act he did in duiy to his fellow-working men . When the gates of the prison cleeed upon him , justice and honesty claimed that the working-men shouldjdo Yhep- duty to him . HaTe tttey done so ? Yes , in part—they haTB done it in Loncm , where be vent amongst them a stranger . Bat in BirminfhaHJ and the district where he -was well known , and much admired for his boldness and unquestioned political integrity—the town and neighbourhood which should hare seta generous example toothers at a distance , has done little or nothing . How true it is of Chartism , as of other systems , that its servants are sever honoured in their own country .
The Chartists of "London stepped between George White and destitution . Had he depended on those who w ^ to have supported him and shielded , him from the iron gripe of a sanguinary law code , penuryjand neglect would bare been the ungenerous return from those with whom he / feed / for twelTe years * service in their cause , and for more than once endangering his life and health . For the five months already passed , Birmingham and the district hare not contributed five shillings per week . This is not honest—this is not Just . Tyrants will never fear yon until you respect " youraelres ; and yon are -wasting in proper respect for yourselves when yon Dow your enemies to treat with cruelty and contempt those whom yon-pat forward to defend ; your liberties and demand f « job whose rights which justice declares to be reasonable .
Brother *—Show that it is only necessary for you to know yonr doty to perform it Contribute quickly , £ redy , and cheerfully lor the assistance and support of an honest man of your own i ^ njat , for the remainder of the time which tyranny win retain him in its grasp . By Order , W . CHTLT 05 , Secretary . ^ , BromBsroTMtree ^ oi Place of Meeting , - 37 , Peck-lane , Birmingham . P . S—The committee would mention that social tea ? partis * , concert * , et& , hare been found of great assistance by thfi London frt » r > fl « -
Untitled Article
WHO ABE THE IBISH 1 " Ireland for the Irish , " it has been said . Quite just and proper : but let it be understood who are the Irish , Though Mr . O'Connell has consented to . relinquish the nee of tile word " Saxon , ** he has sot denied that he regards that epithet as the logical antithesis to " Irishman . " Let bs see if the Celtic race is exclusively entitled to be called "the Irish . " Ireland was not possessed by an exclusively Celtic population at the time of StrongboWs invasion , and «• the Irish" who opposed Strongbow were not exclusively Celts , The predominant population , if not the founders of-Idmeriek and of the maritime cities of Ireland , were the Ostmans—a Teutonic raoe , the kinsmen of the Saxons and Normans . The most prompt and
energetic of Stzoagbow's " Irish" opponants at his first landing were the Ortmans of Waterford . The Oihnans of Dublin offered a p ^ t ^ f "^ r " TH '"" g Tesistaooe to the g *> gH « h Invaders qwtn the Celtic ° Irish" of that eity sad its Ticinity . An entry is the Botulus Piadtorum of the 4 th of Edward IL enables as to estimate tile relative proportions of Ostmans and Celts in the native population of the deanery of Limerick : —Becogni tio facta ( a-c . 1201 ) per sacramentnm 12 Anglorum , et 12 Onmannomm , et 12 Hibemensiam de terns , eceleaiis , et cmeflB pertfa »« itiim , * d XiHiericensem ecclesfam spectaBtabus . 15 The conquering race , though tewer la
number , might insist upon an equality of voices en the inquest ; but »• reason eonld have led to the equality ' of representatives of the two subjugated races , except that they in reality constituted Heady equal parts of the population . The Teutonic ingredient in the original "Irish ** people was increased by Jhe Ttng mi ftwmiwo , vho became "ipsis Hibemicis Hibamiores . " The Celtic-speaking population of Ireland ire do more a pan Celtic race than tie Englishspeaking population can be considered ( seeing the frequent intermarriages between English and Irish that have taken place in the lapse of centuries ) can be considered a pore Saxon race . In the matter of stock , of blood , all inhabitants » f Ireland are one race .
But it will be said that the Celtic-speaking people of Ireland have retained the traditional national character , whBfi the English-speaking race have with its language adopted the conventional morals an J faith of England . So be it Doubtless the people from whom a nation inherits its literature and religion , are more truly its - * ry ** 6 nim fft * n ^ t » phycettl progenitors . But who are the leaders of the " Irish" of the present day ? la this-ftew of the qnestioB . they are " Saxons" to a man . Their faith is not that of the old Iiish Church , but of theBomish Church ; which , if not originally introduced , was first finnly established by the Anglo Norman rulera . Their language , when they discuss religious , philosophical , or political topics , is
• Rnj ifrft O'Connell may sow and then treat bisauditors to a scrape of " Irish Gaelic , " as country gentlemen have bees known to quote Latin in the Boose of Commess ; but eonld O'Connell frame a Beform Bill , or a Constitution , or argne their pros and com in Irish ? -Could the acute and energetic writersin The Nation fin * words and phrases in the " Irish Gaelic " to express their ideas T A Parliament assembled in College Green must talk " Saxon , " legislate in a " Saxon" spirit , zeaaon according to * Saxon" habits ol thought . " Ireland for the Irish , " if " Ssxon" is . to beheld the fm ^ fo **^ of "Irish , " pro&onneas sen tepee of proscription and fcn ^ BhinPTit against all educated Bspealen . —Spectator .
THE QKEENWICH PBNSIOKEBS AND THE KELSON MONUMENT . : The most disgraceful , degrading spectacle , that hai era been inflicted spon - gn gn » Ttwi « n / was witnessed lag -week , wheolhe statue of the immortal Nelson traj exhibited to the gaze of the public . It is impossible to express in language the indignation which this unparalleled jpeetacle exdtea in the breasts of the citizens oi London ; and when the United Kingdom is informed ol itthere will beno doubt , raised from one extremity U
, , the other one general shout of execration , Our reader : areaware that during the last two days the statue o Lord Nelson was open to public inspection in Trafalgar square . From all parti of the Metropolis , and the sur rounding districts , crowds wended their way to tb < spot , to gaze upon the monumental effigy of the greates naval hero that ever England has produced . What wa their dismay , when , ss they approached the entrance t < Trafalgar- £ qcare , the / beheld three Begging-boxes guarded * y a body of Greenwich pensioners , who seeme to
exclaim" Why , good people all , at what do you pry * Is t the stomp of my arm or my leg ? ~ ; Or the place where 1 lost my good-looking eye ? Or is It to see me beg ? " ! Over these begging-boxes , and above the veteran ta » who guarded them , were large placards , bearing the subjoined inscription : — « England expects every man to do his duty . " "The veterans of -Copenhagen , Si . ViDoent , the NQb , and Trafalgar , Immily beg to invite the British pablk to view Bailey ' s statueof their immortal heroin Trafalgar-square , on Friday and Saturday next , aad trust tfeey will drop a copper in the locker lor the entertainment which is \ o be given to . Poor Jack , on the jjariomi anniversary of the battle of Copenhagen . No charge made , bst the smallest donation thankful ] xeeefTed . "
-Is it possible to eon « elve a more hMaBattng instance ! © f Katioaal ingratitsde ? Can Esglishmen , whose , cha- i neter farenm a reckless generosity a&d prsfnseBbss is Bstorkss , whersver the name of Britob nasbeea heard , i behold tttcwe veb « an warriors to whom Bsglsad isi fetdebted for the lofty and independent political atUt » d » she holds among surrounding nations—eome ' stnls , and all jealous of her naval power—thus xedased to Ihs eoaditioQ of the mott abject raendicitj ? Yet such is the melancholy fact . There stood at the , l » se « f ttB monament raised to Nelson's memory , those '
veteran tars who fought coder him at the battles of Copenha gen , Sk Vincent , the NBe , and Trafslgar , BbiVerfng with cola , and begging for a days meal ! » Jos histori&B ' i record of Lord Nelson ' s foneral , in wBlch he Jnakei seven royal dukes pall-bearers to the -t femt warriia , moss sorely be a fable or an old 4 roman ' a tale ; for if bit aortal ressias merited such bBaoaa . lfo ibave compaaionB to arms vould not gpsCTTOlndi ' a" " hw" * ****^ *«»*»• ^ ho after ' thucsa call w a reli « io « , » charitable , a tnrasa& , a genprons , m even »} ast people ! Althougb -K-efcaTt 21 Dukes , Martinis * , IS * , Bazls , 21 Yiswunte , and 225
Untitled Article
Barons , with incomes varying from £ 50 , 000 to £ 100 , 000 and £ 300 , D 00 a-year , yet the paltry sum of 4260 cannot be raised to give a dinner to the men whose daring courage and valonr have secured to them the safe and quiet possession of their titles , honours , and properties , unless through the medium of the begging-box , The Qneen Dowager can contribute to the erection of a church in Malta ; the Queen can lavish £ 1 , 000 upon French soldiers ; Sir Bobert Peel can enrich an overbloated Church with a donation of £ 5 , 0001 a Tory NokleDnke , whose mansion overlooks the very site of the column , can subscribe from £ 2 , 000 to £ 5 , 060 for Church extension ; yet all these r » yal and dist inguished personages can witness , without shame , the weather-beaten heroes of the ocean , supplicating for penny subscriptions' —Weekly Dispatck .
[ Detesting as we do all wars of aggression ; believing with tile poet , that" War is a game which were their subjects wise , Kings - would not play at j " and holding In unmitigated afchorrenoe the memory of that infamous conflict of a quarter of a century waged to put down democracy in France ; we certainly have n » great admiration of " England ' s greatest naval hero , " whose crimson laurels were mainly won in that ever-tobe execrated contest . But if the nation wfll yet honour the destroyers nther than the benefactors of the human race , at least let it be consistent , and not outrage coidhjod decency by such ungrateful conduct to the men whom it has dubbed defenders and heroes . At any rate let not the priests and aristocrats forgot the men who poured out their blood for the ttmint ^ < Tiartfi « of their usurpations .
Notwithstanding our contempt for such " heroes" as Nelson , we must still acknowledge that we have a hearty respect for the weather-beaten " hearts of oak , *' who hare *• Braved the battle aui the breeza , " in defence of what they thought was the cause of right and country . Our disgust is therefore inexpressible at the conduct of the Government and the aristocracy , in thus treating the gallant veterans . Well might Byron ask" Te men who shed your blood for kings like water , What have they given your children in return 1 "
Behold the answer—bayonets and bastiies for the " children , " and begging boxes for the " men"themselves ! We thank our contemporary for calling public attention to this matter . —Ed . N . S . I
Hobsokps Almanack. In Ihe Prets T And Speedily Mill Be Published ! Price Threepence,
HOBSOKPS ALMANACK . In ihe PretS t and speedily mill be Published ! Price Threepence ,
Untitled Article
MACHINERY . WHAT HAYE BEEN ITS RESULTS ! Thb profound Political Economists" of our peculiar age and generation , have contended stoutly , Against the common sense of mankind , that the operations of machinery have conferred unmixed good upon society at large ; sod that no notion ever entertained was half so foolish aod nonsensical as that which attribnted any evil to the workings of machinery . Work upon work lias been written to Bnpport and prove ibis position . We have had the pen of Miss Harriet Mabtikkau plied to that end ; and Lobd Bboughak himself has condescended to enlighten the dark understandings of the people on the Xesults of Machinery . "
- When the operatives have complained , that the introduction and nse of particular machines has displaced them in the labour market , they have been told that they knew nothing on the subject : that the nature of machinery was not to displace human hbom , bat to call more of it into requisition ; that if the employment of the steam-loom , wish only one girl to attend , two of them , stemed to displace the two wss who would have been required to work the two hand-looms , yet it wot only a displacement in appearance , am > hot in bkalitt ; for while machinery seemed to dose np , as it were , one channel of labour , It opened other aad more remunerative
channels ; and that thus the balance ma on the side of machinery . It was argued , that when we took into account the number of mechanics that the making of machinery had set to work ; the number of iron makers ; of workers in other metals ; of workers in wood ; of distributors of the productions of machinery ; of the Bailors , to carry those productions to other climes ; and of the ship-builders , &e . &c .: it was contended that when the argument was made to embrace aH these , as by right it ought to do , we should find that the Results of Machinery had been to call into play a great amount of human labour , and not to displace it .
These arguers have alBO had a standing illustration , which they were sure constantly to pitch , whenever a doubt was expressed as to the conclusion they thus so speciously arrived at . Intimate no matter how modestly , that you feared the actualities of th 6 case did not bear this conclusion out , and you were instantly M closed-op" with the u stereotyped" illustration . " w Look at the printing business , every arguer would instantly exclaim , in a triumphant tone ; see a picture of the workings of machinery there ! Look at the old printing press ; then look &t the printing machine . Has machinery
there superseded human labour 1 Has not it rather called it into requisition ? Are there not more printers now engaged , than there were before the invention of the printing machine ! Look at the amount of printing now performed , and compare it with the amount formerly performed . _ See the quantity of labour that that increassd amount employs . There are more rags required for paper ; consequently more rag gatherers ; there is more paper used , consequently more paper makers ; there are printing machines required , consequently more machine-makers employed ; there is more printing-ink consumed , consequently more inkmakers set to work : a&d then there are the
porters , and carters , and booksellers : increased employment being found for all . How then can you say that the tendency of machinery is to displace human laboar ! Then look again at the results in another point of view . The operation of the printing machine has been to lessen the cost of production of books and papers : consequently they can be sold cheap ; thus an enlarged demand is caused ; and to supply that demand , more labour must be employed . Therefore , you see that the operation of printing maoMnery is beneficial to all : beneficial to the printer ; for it creates a demand for his labonr , and enables him to enforce higher vrages ; beneficial to society at large , by giving it KNOWLEMBat a low
cost " Such iB fche : pet illustration . Every " profound political economist" has it at the tongue ' s end . It comes oS , most trippingly , should you but venture to hint that possibly the "Results of Machinery " have not been quite so beneficial to all , as some so stoatly contend . That illustration is very speciouB ; more specious than real . In the first place , machinery is only yet partially employed in the prodnction of books and papers . The operation of the printing machine has been to supersede the Pbessmek . They were a distinct branch of the printing trade i they now have no existence . There are the Compositors . The
Printing Machine has not interfered with their department at all : that is to Bay , the Printing Machine has not been made to * ut up" the tyjes ; b « t only to print the paper from the types , w&ea & ? 1 the labour that the Compositor has to employ , has been employed . This printing case , therefore , is not a true " illustration . " Take the manufacture of Calico . There machinery does all the work , with a very slight attendance of women and children , from the " blowing" and *• carding , " up to the paste-daubing and "finishing . * The a ramming stock" of the carder has been superseded by the carding engine . The " singlespinning wheel /* and the jenny" have been superseded by the mule ; and the ** mnle" in its turn by the dottble-aad-treble-decker , and by the self-actor .
Untitled Article
The " land-loom" has been superseded by the steamloom ; and machinery has revolutionized every department in the production of calioos . Not so yet with hooks and papers , In only one department of printing has machinery been brought extensively to bear : therefore the "illustration" brought from the operation of machinery in printing ia not complete . ; Besides , the printing business emnlmra »»! ., . Besides , the printing business employs onl
y a comparatively small number of our population . It has , too , been an abistoceatic teide . In the first place , a tolftrably good education is needed , to enable a man to become a compositor—a member of the great branch of the printing trade . Printing is not therefore open to all : for the major portion of the eons *> f the labouring many are utterly without that education that is indispensable to qualify a man to become a compositor . It is therefore an exclusive trade . It is confined to the sons of the better-paid operatives , and the M lower order" of the Bhop-keeping class . These cirenmstances have enabled the "trade" to maintain their position much better than the operatives engaged in any great department of our great manufactures .
It has also been customary for the employers to have premiums with their apprentices , for teaching them their "trade ";; and this , too , has tended to keep down the number of men employed in printing . A favourable combination of circumstances has enabled the "trade" to maintain an "Union , " particularly in the country ; and they have had a regulation to restriet the number of apprentices , according to the number of men employed . This also has served , and greatly too , to maintain their strong position . Master printers have been in the hands of tho men ; particularly so in the country . If the cotnpositors stopped u > orA , all was stopped ; and their place has not been vety easily to be supplied . A stoppage
to a large printing concern , particularly one engaged in Periodicals , was dxstbuction to it ; and , therefore , the Printers' " Union" have had great power It will be at once apparent that these oiroumstaness placed the trade of printers in a far different and more impregnable position than the great body of our operatives , either agricultural or manufacturing . And yet , the profound political economist , " when reasoning on the general operation of a general question , presses all these peculiar and adventitious circumstances into his service ; and from them draws an " illustration" to illustrate " the general whole ! To do so however is honest » according to " profound" notions of honesty !
Notwithstanding the glib-talk of the" profound " ones , and the pet illustration , " Machinery is reaching even the printing-trade , favourably circumstanced as we have shewn it to be I In London the ** surplus of labour" is so great , that the •* Union " is all hut powerless ! The masters there can make their own terms . The " apprentice regulation" is broken through . There are ** offices" now in London , and a many of them too , where there are a score of " boys" to one man ! Nor are the boys " apprenticed . " The good old system of indenturing ia now being discontinued ; and u boys" are taken into the "office , " and retained there for a few years , at a low rate of wages .
These have no legal claim on the master to " learn them the trade . " Should they , when they are approaching manhood , ask for a higher wage than is paid to boys of twelve or fourteen , they are speedily dismissed , and others , younger , put on" in their stead . Thus is the trade , in London , 'inundated with " hands . ; " and there is always a large " reserve" in the labour market . This' is having its effect on the country trade . The London labour market , although the great one , is closed against the country " hands . " There is little chance for a country " hand" to get employment in
London , or but little Bense in his trying , when there is so large an amount of unemployed labour con * stantly waiting to be hired . And yet London is the place that , most flock to : it being a sort of passion for all to go to the great wbn , if they can but accomplish it . This augments the evil : and this again tells upon the men employed in tbe country . The Union" funds are hardly laid on : parties out of work having to "tramp" from town to town la search of it , and live out ot tbe "relief " afforded them by the " Union" and the charitablydisposed of the trade .
Besides , a Machine has been invented to dispense with the compositor I That machine will , even now , do his work . This had been held to he an impossible feat . The labours of a compositor must be directed by the operation of kind . It was therefore deemed utterly impracticable to arrange any machinery that would even aid him . The impossibillity" iB now possible ! A machine—nay there are too—has been invented , by meanB of which females and icy *— ( cheap labour !)—can perform tbe operation of " setting" types f aster than tho most experienced and " fast" compositor ! Those
machines are not yet introduced to any great extent ; and the printers are hugging themselves with the notion that the thing " can ' t-bedone . " It will be . bone . As surely as ever tbe printing machine has superseded the hand-press in the printing of the greater portion of the work , so surely will a Composing Machine supersede the compositor in the greater portion of the M book " and " news" work ! We say A Composing Machine ; not the Composing Maohine : for it would have been as silly "to have expected that the jenny
of thirty spindles was the perfection of spinning , as it is to think that the present Composing Machines are the best , or most satisfactory adaptation of the principle that machinery can compose type . We may seasonably expect to see great and wonderful H improvements" in them . Even note they succeed . Even now they are awork ; composing , works at a cheaper rate than by "hand . " And if " the first application of the principle iB so successful , what may we not expect from future and more perfect applications 1
Will the introduction of those machines , with the supposeable " improvements , " have no effect on the printing trade ! Will the " profound" men them resort to the printing trade for an M illustration" of tbe " beneficial operations of machinery" i Will they then contend , and appeal to the printers for proof , ihat machinery calls into play more labour than it displaces ? Will they then say that there are more printers than there were before the introduction of printing machinery ?
Having Bhewn what has been the effect of machinery , upon even the favourably-situated and small exclusive trade of printers , let us next look at the condition of the Type-Fouhdzrs . There is a body of men , that must have benefited from machinery , if any body of operatives in the kingdom could by possibility be benefitted by it . They are few in number ; their business is a peculiar one ; if printing be in great request , it must have the effect of causing a demand for type ; and the "type" must be" cast , " before it is used . Therefore , if any olass of operatives in England could be benefitted by machinery , it must he a body of men so circumstanced . ThxXE HAS BEES NO MACH 1 NERT INVENTED TO
INTERFERE WITH THEIR LABOUR , IN A DIRECT MANn&r : but then we are told that printing machinery has brought more printing labour into request than it displaced : and if it brought any into request , it must have operated on tbe type-founders . Printing cannot go on without them . They are , as yet , indispensable . What then has been their share of the benefit" f Let ns have the " illustration . " We know that we are told , that" increased demand for produce , employs more labour , and tends to make the supply of labourers scarce : when labourers are scarce , in ~ creased wages can he obtained . " Let us see how this fits .
Th « Type Founders are now ocr ! and for what tause ! Because the masters have determined to reduce wages ! There is an "increased demand " for types : and the " benefit' to the operative Type Founder iB reduced wages ! The masters are trying to enforce a reduction , varying from 25 to 75
Untitled Article
per cent ! Plenty of beflefii" that ! Rare " Result » f Machinery . " This case of the Type Founders is a very instructive one * They are peculiarly situated . The business is one very destructive to health . On this point we quote from an address of the turn-outs , calling upon the public to support them against the efforts of their employers to give them a benefit . " In that address they say : —
" The trade ot a type-founder . is unhealthy in the extreme , and very destructive to life . The heat is so intense in the apartments alloted for casting , occasioned by euoh a multiplicity of furnaces being crowded together , that but few individuals can withstand itB baneful influence for any length of time , without experiencing very serious injury arising itherefrom . Moreover , the atmosphere whieh the type-founder has to breathe is so oppressive , that it would be inconvenient to a person who had been brought up in a tropical country—an atmosphere , heated to such a degree , that the thermometer will range from seventy to ninety degrees in
winter time . Not only has the type-founder to endure such an oppressive atmosphere , but he has to stand in one position for twelve or fourteen hours per day , with his head very near to a pan of metal , which for casting small type .,, must be red hot . The composition of this metal is regulus of antimony , tin and lead , with a portion of copper , the fumes of which are rank poison . Npr is this all , for the particles of metallic dust which fly off in the process of dressing and other departments of our trade , are constantly being inhaled by those wbo are employed in the manufacture of type . The above causes bring on many painfnl diseases , premature old age , and untimely deatk . "
Yet notwithstanding the dreadful nature of this description of employment : — "The London and Sheffield master type-founders have formed a coalition league to take from us 3 d . out of every shilling in several kinds of work ; in others Sd . out of the shilling ; and in some eases the moderate sum of 9 d out of the shilling . " This would be : — " A reduction of from twenty-three to seventy-flveper cent , i . e ., a reduction of the wages of the men who averaged under 18 s . a week to Twelve Shillings" i i i
Here is a "result" ! Rare " benefit , " is it not , from "printing machinery" ? . Extended employment is likely to land them in a very enviable position ! A " heat of from seventy to ninety degrees in winter time" ; " standing in one position for twelve or fourteen hours over a pan of red hot metal" ; exposed to , and forced to inhale , " the fumes of regulus of antimony , tin , lead , and copper , all of which are poison "; the recipients of " painful diseases , " that hurry on premature old age and untimely death" ! and all for an average of TWELVE SHILLINGS A WEEK ! O ! what " benefit" I
It is true : that the men are not yet reduced to this twelve ) shillings a-week : but they are out , contend ' ing against it . Unless they are supported , they must accede to the demands of the masters . They must fall-to , and offer up their health , and even their lives for the twelve shillings . Will the other " tradas" permit them to be so " benefitted" ? Will not the printers interfere ! If they do not , their TURN COKES NEXT ! !
On examination then , the fact is established , that tbe operation of Machinery has been most destructive and most oppressive , even in favoured and exclusive trades . And if we find such to be the case there , what may we expect to find in the open and exposed trades ! Just that which we do find ! The manual labourer superseded . Females and children called in , to attend to the operations of machinery , because their services can be had at a cheap rate . A dearth of employment ; discomfort ; poverty ; misery ; destitation : tdrmoil .
Snoh are the M Results of Machinery' * to the labourers . With the employer it is another matter . He does not always come to " ruin * ' although some do . There are among them men who have donb WELL ! There are those to whom the "' Results of Machinery" b&ve > been very" beneiicial" ! Richard Cobdbn , we are told , was a farmer ' s son , only midlingly situated : Richard Cobdbn is now reputed to be worth his hundreds of thousands of pounds . John Bright is another who has feathered his nest to a considerable tune- John Marshall , of Leeds , was the son of a linen-draper , and began the world with borrowed money : John Marshall is new said to be poaacsamt < ff mitlimtf . Now these 8 X 0 not fond of !
" Results of Machinery" that ^ are We have no notion of tw elvb fialttiNas a-week to the workmen ,. and hundreds of thousands , and even millions , to the employer ! We are for a more equitable distribution of the " results" ! We are not for taking all from the many ; nor for giving all to the few ! We are sot for starving the workers to death , that Mr . Cobdbn and Mr . Brioht may lay up " treasure on earth" 1 We are for giving all their fair share of tbe " benefits" " resulting" from the use of machinery , and then as much machinery as you like ! " The more the merrier . " How that fair share is to be apportioned and secured , we will tell another time .
When we set out with this article , we intended to give , and reply to , a most foolish and nonsensical article in the Calf ' s Head Observer , on OUR use of machinert . The general question has , however , drawn us out to such length , that we must defer the stewing we had intended for the Calf ' s Head . But let him not repine . He shall be served-up some day , with brain sauce . He shall be duly boiled .
Untitled Article
CANADA AND MR O'CONNELL . The New York Examiner , —Mr . Mackenzie thus speaks of his former gallant , but unfortunate , " companions in arms , " the Canadian patriots : — " Canada Affairs . — -Whatis called the Parliament of Canada , was to have met yesterday at Kingston . The new agent of the English Government is Sir T . C . Metctlfe . 'The official folks employed under him and the Colonial Office , are an odd mixture of old Tories , yonng rebels , and Reformers se called . Fear , on the one hand , i and pelf on the other , are evidently their chief bonds of onion . Some of the leading revolutionists of 1837 are pardoned ; and ! hope that a general
amnesty will be granted , bo that the gallant Prescot boys may be enabled once more to look on those they love , now 14 , 000 miles distant . As for myself , I am , by my own free choice , an American citizen , never more to return under the colonial yoke . Others may ask pardon '—I did no wrong : others may own that our gallant comrades , Lount , Matthews , && , were jtutly condemned . I know that they were cruelly murdered , put to death in cold blood , by a power which takes for itB motto , ' my might makes ray ri < fht' But this Journal is not established to discuss Canadian grievances , and frontier strifes . My highest duty is to join with those who
sincerely seek the welfare of America , and the perpetual harmony and union of the members of this great confederacy . . Let us cultivate peace and quietness ; and if we weald revolutionise Canada , the true way to do it ia to set them an example of a just , generous , and prosperous people , thriving under the institutions of their free choice—industrious ^ enlightened—a band of brothers , each one scorning a mean action . As their legislative session progresses , I will very briefly notice aught tbat may be interesting . Messrs . Rolph , Montgomery , and Duncombe , have returned to Canadaand a door is opened for MeBsrs . O'Callaghan , Papineau , and Brown , should they also prefer British role , which they probably will not . "
Query . Mr . Mackenzie is a violent anti-VANBur . ENiTE , and at the same time appears to be an admirer of O'Connell . Not the least of his reasons for being opposed to Mr . Y . B . is , we apprehend , because the Ex-President did not " sympathise" with the Canadian patriots . Very good . But has Mackenzie forgotten that of aU the traitors to the principles for which the Canadians con tended , O'Connell is the most infamous ] Did
he not aid in spiridng-on the Canadians to resist British tyranny ; and then in the day of conflict , and the hour of danger basely desert them , under the plea that they had resorted to " physical force ' * LetMr . Mackemcib be ooasistent . He may feel convinced that Mr . Van Buren it not the man the democracy of England suppose him to be . But let him " eBSuire" into the "history" of O'Conhell , and he will find that whilst the "Liberator" sold the English Factory children for a Thousand
Pounds , he also betrayed the cause ot thb Canadians for the filthy patronage of the "Base , Bloody , and Brutal WhigbV '—the remorseless despots who ravaged Canada with fire and sword . We can assure Mr . M ackenzie that these things are not forgotten in England . We have long since on this side of St . George ' s channel , lifted the veil of Mokanna !
Untitled Article
MORE OF THE COAL KINGS . The females are still in the pits ! No law proceedings are , as yet , instituted ! Nay , so darinc are the Coal Kings becoming , ] in consequence of Sir Jahss Graham ' s lenity , thatjnearly the whole of them are setting the Act at defiance . And why not ! If the Duke of Hamilton is to be permitted to work sixty females in his jcoal pits , why not others do the same ? If he is jto be a law breaker , why not the smaller fry have their share of the plunder accruing from cheap labour t If the Duke ; the Lord Lieutenant ; is to be protected in his lawbreakings , who will dare to enforce the law on his " Jfflthor" coal owners , should they follow his example ! They are determined to try it on as the following most abundantly proves : —
With regard to the Act anest the females , it may be said to be a dead letter in Scotland . I am informed that last week the females have returned te their employment at Loan Head ( belonging to Sir George Clerk ) where they carry coals on their backs . It was in this work where the Interesting child , Margaret Leveston , six years of age , worked . To the Commissioner she said she bad ] " Been down at coal-carrying six weeks j makes ten to fourteen takes a-day , carries fulltfilbs . of # o « linawoo < Ien bncke * . The work is na gtild ; it is so very aair . i I work with sistw Jeese and mother ; dinaa ken tbe time we gang ; it is gai dark . "—[ A most interesting ehlld , and perfectly beautiful . I
aicertained her age to be six years on the 24 tn of May , 1849—she was registered at Inverness . ] R . H . Franks , Esq ., evidence No . 116-360 . " A brief description of this child ' s place of work will better illustrate hex evidence . She has first to descend a nine ladder pit to the first rest , even to which a shaft is rank to draw np the baskets , or tabs of coals filled by the bearers ; she then takes her creel and ; pursues her journey to the wall face , she then lays down her basket , into which the eoal 1 b roiled , aad it is frequently more than one man can do to lift the burden on her back . In this girl ' s case she has first to trundle about fourteen fathoms ( eighty-four feet ) from wall-face to the first ladder ,
Untitled Article
which is eighteen feet high ; leaving the first ladder she proceeds along the main road , probably three feet six inches to four feet six inches high , to the second ladder , eighteen feet high ; so on to the third and fourth ladders till she reaches the pit-bottom , where she casts her load , varying from 1 cwt to 1 $ cwt into the tub . This one journey is designated a rake . The height ascended , and the distance along the roada , added together , exeeed the height of St . Paul ' s Cathedral ; and it not unfrequently happens that the ttigga break , aad the loiul falls upon these females who are foliowinj ^ -Report . page 91—02 . ^ « J :
Here , then , ia no fancied picture of slavery .: and yet it is said , the females are returned to work in this colliery ; but the cause should come oat j and it is this : '—the coal-masters ace greater than the House of Commons and Lords put together . The East Country masters , finding that the Duke of Hamilton ; the Carron Iron Company , and the Shotts Iron Company , where there are sixty females employed , and the Gartcherrie Iron Company , and the Gartclose coal-owners , and Rose Hall Iron Company , per Messrs . Miller and Aidre .
and M . M'Andrew , of Carfin colliery : the masters in the East , seeing that all those in the Horth and in the West , were setting the law at defiance , will now do the Bame . Nothing can stop this but the plan suggested in last week ' s Star . Let the Miners of Scotland only sacrifice the price of one gill of whisky , and prosecute the employers . The Scotch press is to blame ia this . Accidents have taken place of which the following is one , which was refused insertion in the Glasgow Saturday P 68 t h Glasgow Journal , and Glasgow Chronicle , July 4 th , 1843 : —
" Killed at Palace Craig Colliery , belonging to W . Baird , Esq . M . P ., and C « . a man ef the name of Vicker , and his drawer , a young female of the name of Mary M'Ewan , a girl of sixteen years of age . The pit is near the Room pace . "
Untitled Article
TRIUMPH OF THE CHABTISTS IN LEEDS . The Municipal Elections are just over : and in them the Chartists have been most triumphant I In tbe Holbeck Ward they started Mr . Joshua Hobson ; and in ^ yhe West Ward M r . John Jackson , the corn iipjer . In both wards have they been eminently successful ; but particularly so in the Holbeck Wark . Here was the deadly opposition . Here was concentrated all the fear ; all the dread * Here was every means adopted , —/ air , fodl , and DAMNABLE , to prevent success : and here it was that the Chartists have been triumphant !
Mr . Hobson was returned at the head of the Poll ! He had a majority of eighty over his colleague ; and a majority of one hundred and seventy over the defeated Whig . The joy of the Chartists is unbounded . The victory is greater than they had , in their fondest hopeff , anticipated . The feeling in favour of Mr . Hobson wa b most enthusiastic . A great portion of his votes
were plumpers . Five hundred and seventy-ont votes were recorded for him . The working people made the contest their own . They brought Mr . Hobson oat : they have carried him most gloriously . Without funds ; without aid ; by dint of their own labours and their own enthusiasm , they have set an example to all the rest of the borough of Leeds , and to all other boroughs .
The vile and scandalous attacks made on Mr , Hobson have contributed in no small degree to big success . His enemies over-did it . They showed the Electors that they feared the man ; and the Electors acted just contrary to the desires and expectations of Faction .
Untitled Article
THE TYPE FOUNDERS OF SHEFFIELD TO THB STAFFORDSHIRE POTTERS . Gentlemen , —We wish to call your earnest attention to our present position . We have been for the last ten weeks oat of employment in consequence of our employers attempting a reduction on our prices of labour of from 25 to 7 S per cent In your never-to-be-forgotten strike of 1836-7 , we , as a body , assisted you by all th » means in our power , both by counsel and pecuniary aid ; and we earnestly entreat you will take our case into your serious consi deration , and try by all the means in your power to alleviate our present distress . We remain , yours respectfully , Thb Commute of Operative Type Founders . Committee Room , Three Cranes , Queen-street , Sheffield , Oct .: 30 th , 1843 .
A&HTOtt Shoemakers' Strike . —The " two or three reports" onr friends nave seat us have sot come to band , or they wonld have been noticed . We give tbfl following from their present communication : — " An advertisement having appeared in the Northern Star of last week , stating that Mr . Lord , of this town , was in want of a number of good workmen , unconnected with tbe Shoemakers'Society , and stating that the dispute between him and the clob-men was in no way connected with wages , we'deem It our duty , in order to prevent the unwary from being misled , ( aa others have been to their sorrow , ) to lay before them the cause ef tbe strike , and leave them to judge whetb . es it is or ia not connected with wages ; and whether we are not justified in resisting to the utmost of our power such base attempts upon the rights of labour .
" Mr . Lord ' s father Is owner of some cottage property , which is in such a dilapidated condition , that they are not fit for human beings to live in ; but which Mr . Lord tells his men they must inhabit or leave his employment , and for which they have to pay an extortionate rent . This , along with other acts of petty tyranny , was the cause ; of the strike ; and this is tbe reason , he prefers married men to coop up in bis hovels Several families have been induced by Mr . Lord ' s statements to break up their homes in other towns * ami come here in the hopes of bettering their condition ; but alas ! have been miserably deceived and compelled to leave again after suffering a great loss . With respect to the statement of wages , Mr . Lord says be will pay , all we have to say is , that Mr . Lord never did pay suck wages , and we cannot but think that it is nothing bat a decoy . to entrap the unwary into his power , when we know that for tbe last two years be has strove to the utmost of his power to reduce the wages of his
workmen . ' * Signed on behalf of the trade , " William Woodroffb , Scotland-Brook . " Publications received for Review , — •« TaiPt Magazine- " Hewitt ' s History > of Priestcraft ; " "Tha New Age ; " and the " Promethian , " &c fcc . &e . Whitehaven , Miners . —Their address was too late , Vessels fob New Orleans—The Chaos starts on the 8 th of November ; and the Harkamtay on the 13 th : the Espindola starting to-day . This alteration of tbe advertisement in another page came too late to be attended to in its proper place . Veritas heads a letter " To the Citizens of London , " with the following quotation : — " It is in the last twenty years of the funding system that all the great shocks begin to operate . "Paine .
He says" The times are big with important events . Breakers area-head ! The mountain is in labour , ayet and will bring forth more than a mouse . 184 S gives us the Governor of the Bank of England , member for the City of London , pledged to the Repeal of the Corn Laws , laws passed to prop up the funding system . What an anomaly ! Ah ! ' most thinking people '(!) of the ' most enlightened city in the world (!) when will you cease to act with your eyes dosed against facts . Pattison and the Anti-Corn Law League are galling yoa ; yoa will be made to suffer ; you will be squeezed a little longer , to keep the Bank afloat Be not so deceived ,, come oat for the rights ef allthe Charter . Then you will have a more extended and fruitful field to choose your representatives from . "
Mr . Leach of Hyde , ia continually receiving letters from Ireland , praying for mote Star-light , He appeal : to his brother Chartists to send their papers to the " green isle , " and offers to undertake the task of sending them , if parties will forward their Stars to him when done with . Address , J . M . Leach , 82 , ' Charles-street , Hyde , Cheshire . Stars to Ireland . — . What are the Sheffield frfeuda about ? We know that the circulation of the Star ifl rapidly increasing In their town , why not give their Irish brethren the benefit of it ? Let them use the list sent them by the Irish Universal Suffrage Association . The little trouble of so doing will be amply repaid by the great and lasting good that will be effected .
The Coventry Chariists appeal to their townsmen to come forward and join tbe new organisation : espe cially the avowed Chartists , who will prove their sincerity by responding to the appeal . We hope they will do so . " England expects every man to do oh duty . " Mr . Charles D . Stuart writes to us , that be eontemplates visiting Darlington , oa Sunday first { tot tb » delivery of lectures on Cnartumi . and , in th « eonrst of the ensuing week , Yarm , Stockton , Middiebor *' , Sunderland , kc .
Quack Almanacks . —Medians writes as follows : — " I think you should caution your reader against the Penny Almanacks wherein pills and nostrums are recommended by the authors ot such publications to bs taken at particular times of the year . Such Almanacks are a gross imposition on the unwary , being entirely got up by tbe QuacKs , who , to sell ooe box of their pills , do not mind giving the Almanaok for nothing . I aee that there are several snob Almanac&s advertised for 1843 . "
Untitled Article
SCOTCH MAGISTERIAL TYRANNY .
VIOLATION OF THE RIGHT OF FREE DISCUSSION . Ova readers may remember that in the Star of the 23 rd of September last , appeared a notice under the bead of j Religions Intolleranco , " of certain pranks played by a set of mouthing " Liberals , " styled " Nonflntrusionists , " who , meeting to protest against " prosecutions for blasphemy " when the " blasphemer" wasonefof their own kidney ;
did at that meeting refuse to allow other parties a hearing , and assaulted and ill-used the said parties } winding up with introducing the police , and dragging the " offenders" ( 1 ) , who only insisted upon the right of " free discussion" which their persecutors were met ostensibly to promote , before the bar of M jju-tice" (?) . The •* case" was not then decided on ; but we promised to make known the deoision when * ever given . Now for thb result .
The following has bee&jforwarded to us , as copied from the Scotsman : — j " The adjourned trial of Mr . Jeffery , the Socialist Lecturer , who stood charged with having disturbed a public meeting in the Waterloo Rooms ( Edinburgh ) in September , came before Sheriff Tait , oh Thursday last . The meeting referred to , as will be remembered , was called to sympathise with Dr . Kalley . A number of witnesses having been examined , and the facts of the case brought oat , a conversation ensued between ! the Sheriff and Mr . Jeffery . The latter maintained that the meeting being a public one , he had a right to appear there and move
an amendment to any motion brought forward . He also objected that the Chairman ( the Lord Provost ) had exceeded his power in refusing to hear him without having taken the Bense of the meeting upon the matter ; which , he contended was the origin of the whole disturbance . But the Sheriff declared it as his opinion that even granting this to be true , the Chairman of a meeting has an arbitrary power of deciding who shall or shall not be heard , and that whatever arrangement may be come to , is of legal force for the time , no tribunal having the power of reviewing such arrangements . He , therefore , ordered Mr . Jeffery to find bail in £ 20 to keep the peace for twelve months . " !
We have been given to understand that "the man Patebson , " who should also have appeared , sent a letter to the Sheriff , excusing his non-attendance ; his reason for not being forthcoming being that he had his defence to prepare against a charge of "blasphemy , " on jwbioh he will be tried in the course of the present month . How Mr . Jeffeby ' s attendance resulted , we have seen by the Scotsman j That gentleman writes to us tbat after being confined in a cell for two hours , with several felons , he was liberated by Mr . Robeet Peddib , the late inmate of Beverley Gaol , becoming his security in the sum required .
A word upon this shameless and senseless deoision of tbe Edinburgh Sheriff . Shameless , because tbe parties who should hare been bound over to keep the peace , were those who M dragged Mr . Jeffery from the platform ; " ] those who " seized Mr Pater son by the neefc and dragged him through the meeting those who " tore the hair from his head , beat him with slicks , and laid his head open . " These { bloodhounds , calling themselves ChbistiansO ; , were the parties who should have been " bound over to keep the peace / ' and not Mr . Jeffeby , who peaceably heard every other man , and only insisted upon bis right to free speech in a publio , and what ought to have been , a deliberative assembly . i
But the deoision was as senseless as it was shameless . For the first time ! we have it announced that the Chairman of a public meeting , elected to his office by that meeting , can do as he pleases : i . « ., he can refuse to hear any ] speaker if he pleases—he can dissolve the meeting at the very outset , and burke the whole proceedings which he was elected to aid in carrying out ! Such is the legitimate conclusion to which this monstrous deoision may be carried . Further , this modern Minos of " Modern Athens , " whose legal decisions might shame even those of the Cretan Judge of the " infernal regions , ' ' tells as that whatever is the Chairman ' s decision
is of " legal force for the time being . " May we bo saved from Edinburgh law , say we ! But let us whisper to the Sheriff tbat the power that made > can unmake the chairman , —Edinburgh law notwithstanding . To our : readers we say , take care that when you attend a public meeting , whether of Scotch Non-Intrusionists or English freebooters ; be ture to see that a man is appointed to the chair who will hear every man , and do justice to each and to all . Had our Stookport friends so acted , they would not have been insulted and mocked at , as they were by the blood-suckers calling themselves " gentlemen , " who have about as much gentility in them as Edinburgh magistrates have of justice . !
Our readers will se e by Mr . O'Connoe ' s letter that the Nons . of Dumfries have been playing the people a dirty trick , with the view of burking the expression of public opinion in support of the glorious principles of Chartism . True they did not attain their ends ; bat no thanks to them for that . Let their conduct not be forgotten . Mr . Maitland Mackgill Chrichton , the Don Quixote of the " Free Church" (?) movement , has for some time past
been engaged with others in levying "blackmail " upon the English lieges . Wherever these partiefnold their meetings in public—wherever the advocates of truth and justice think it worth their while to attend these mountebank displays , held in support , ef priestly domination , ] let them not forget the conduct of these " Free '' Churchmen to Messrs . Jeffebt and Patebson ; and insist upon some explanation of conduct so much the reverse of their professions .
We have no objeotion to Free Churches . " We would have every man " free" to support his own priest , if he thought jwell to pay for one ; and " free" to be excused from paying for the keeping of another man ' s . But , above all things ^ we are for "Fbee Discussion , " j without which no other species of freedom is attainable . Having which , we may strip error of her cloak and falsehood of her mask ; and finally annihilate the monster trinity of political usurpation , priestly fraud , and competitive accumulation : the ' triune evil which , for thousands of generations has made this earth a hell , and rendered wretched and brutish the great family of mankind . j " Delendd est Carthago !
The Northern Star Saturday, November 4, 1843.
THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 4 , 1843 .
2to Aseatrw£ Anti ≪3ovvtfipovtotnt
2 To aseatrw £ anti < 3 ovvtfipovtotnt
Untitled Article
4 ' THE , NORTHERN STA R
-
-
Citation
-
Northern Star (1837-1852), Nov. 4, 1843, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1237/page/4/
-