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THE NOKTHEEJiT STAB,. SATURDAY, JANUARY 27, 1844.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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DOINGS OF THE LEAGUE . BB 1 GHT JOHS A 3 TD GOODT ThOKPSOS IN DcMFBIES . —On "Wednesday , the 17 fh inst , we received the longtalked -of vias from a deputation of the Anti-Corniaw LeaguB ; and a more stale , flat , and nnprofitible aiMrii was never out lot to witness . A day or "two previous the clique which represents the ** Plague" in oar good tows , were observed more than BsuaTlj bustling ; and on Saturday morning out cam © bills announcing a meeting oh Wednesday lonr market day ) , bnt reserving details o £ time and place for another announcement . The Chartist Council immediately met , and early oji Monday morning issued » spirited address to the working people , and a challenge to the concocters of the
meeting . In the interval the greatest exertions were made to procure a place of meeting . The -Theatre , ¦ which is held by a knot of Tories , was shut against them ; Parson Mackenzie , who seems to haTe a peculiar penchant for disappointing political agitators , . also denied them the nse of his conventicle ; and the Relief Church having been refused to Mr . O'Con-Bor , sereral of our Chartist -friends , who are conoencerned in the management , refused their assent lo any arrangement , on the ground that if it were improper to allow political assemblies in a place of ¦ worship on that occasion , it was a 3 much so on this . In the eni however , they obtained the Secession Chapel , a Email building , although perfectly roomy enough , as the result proved , for the audience ; and
it was than announced that the deputation was to consist of Colonel Thompson and Mr . IJright , and fliat the meeting would take place at three o ' clock or as soon afterwards as the deputation should arrive j the only answer to the Chartist challenge being the raising of the price of admission to a shilling , sixpence above what had been arranged a a meeting of the Corn Law Committee in a tavern , © n the evening of the previous Snnday . Wednesday came , and so did three o ' clock , as it ' usually does ; bnt not bo the deputation nor the Nkhsdale farmers , for whose especial benefit the visit of the man of war and the man of peace was intended . Abont ire o ' clock , however , the town-crier proclaimed , by tack of dram , that the meeting would shortly be
held , and that at its conclusion a Chartist one would convene in the market-place : and soon after six o ' clock Colonel Thompson and Mr . Bright entered the chapel . At that time and throughout the even-Ing , there would not be more than one hundred and fifty , or at the utmost one hundred and eighty persons present , who njaj be classed as follows : —A pew-ful of Chartists , who amused themselves daring the whole performance , by enunciating in choru 3 Alderman Brook's beautiful apothegm—** Lord love yon / 7 & . c ^ with divers other merrie ejaculations ; two or three farmers of the Tarn o'Shanter breed , whose drunken antics at the commencement ( for , sensible men , they slept through the prose speeches ) created much merriment : the Dumfries partisans of
the League ; a handful of our local Tories ; one lady ; and a parcel of shop-boy 3 , let in gratis . Mr . David Armstrong , an ex-Provost ef the burgh , and the person who aeied so-unfairly while presiding at the Anti-Corn Law meeting held in Dumfries two or three years ago , took the ehair , and introduced the old Colonel , adding that although any person was at liberty to put a qnestion to any of the speakers , it was his dnty not to allow discussion . The Colonel then in a rambling speech attempted to prove that in the event of tho Corn Laws being repealed no evil consequence would occur to the farmer ; that thase laws were the source of all the evil exisung > n fee country , and asserted that the working claspes , who had been delsdbd , were opening their eves , and
joining the League in thousands . Alter a discussion with a coin dealer , wtich took place at the conclusion of Colonel Thompson ' s address , Mr . Wardrop rose to ask a question , amidst hideoa 3 veilings and crie 3 of " Turn him out , " " Down with him , " from the respectables . He said he had a question to put and would preface it with a few remarks . The chairman , althongh he had given that liberty to the grain-dealer , told Mr . W . that he must conSne himself to simply asking a question . Mr . Wardrop replied , that he vnshed to shew that iht agitation of Corn Law repeal alone wa 3 not worth the while of the ¦ working-classes , who had greater grievances to complain of ; but he was willirg to wait nniil the speakers had don& He was surprised to sea men
advocating free trade , and repressing free discussion and he said , that if those who were now making snch a fnss abont the Corn Laws had stood forward half a century ago , when he did , there would have been no need for the present agitation . Obadiah then delivered a dissertation occupying abont two hours in the delivery . He also asserted ihat in the part of the country where he came from , at least nine-tenths of the working-classes were partizans of the League , and that they had subscribed many thousands of pounds towards its funds , and maintained that it was out of the power of any legislature to fix the rate of wages . When Bright sat down , Mr . Wardrop rose and said : —As Mr . Bright had declined discussion , he wonld ask ths meeting for a hearing .
This the chairman wonld bj no means allow ; but Mr- Wardrop Ehould have leave to ask a specific question . He then said , that in 1816 he had-assisted ia the manufacture of a species of cloth , for weaving forty-five inches of which the workman at that time reoeired 2 s . The same quantity was now made for 4 jdj what was the eanse of the reduction ? This was a stomacher ; bnt Broadbrim shirked the qnestion by eaying that wages had fallen in trades where no machinery was employed—that profits had decreased in proportion—that the principal cause , was the restriction on trade—and that in his branch where the most machinery was employed , the highest wage ? were obtained . M r . Wardrop on rising to reply , was treated to another bnrst of yelling , with demonaic
gestures , and cries from the intelligent and respectable porrioE of the meeting , and was ultimately forced Jo at domij thankful that ie had escaped with a ¦ whole skin . When the meeting dissolved , the Chartists present , as well as those on the ontsirie , proceeded up the street , cheering as they went , and ij the time they arrived at the market-place , had increased to about 2 , 000 strong . Mr . George Lewis , president of the Charter Association , was called to lie chair , and Mr . Wardrop gave a castigation to the freebooters , such as they had never before experienced in thi 3 part of the country . It v > as
halfpast ten before this large meeting broke up , amidst cheers for the Charter , whieh made the weikin nog . Thisjwill dsubiless be added in the party organs , 10 the meetings of which Bright boasted at jibe Edinburgh soiree as having ratified the certificates of him and his corn-rogues , as representatives of the League ¦—public meetings he has had the audacity to call them , bnt if the stock is to be judged by use sample we have seen on this occasion , they are not much to boast of , while -they illustrate the unblnsLing impudence of the men who bold them forth as speaking the sentiments of the people . The working-men of , . England » should take every opportunity oi
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giving the lie to the slanderers who make them parties to this vile movement , and associate them with these devils disguised as angels of light . The Lbaotjexs in Fepeshibb , —More Flifching . —A meeting of the " freebooters" was holden at Cupar-of-Fife , on the 18 th inst . Some days previous the approaching meeting was announced with a tremendous flourish of trumpets on the part of the Fife Herald , the Editor of which boldly challenged any of the opponents of" Free Trade" to attend and discnsB the qnestion : bills too were printed , announcing the meeting as public and open . On this Mr . Mustarde and others who are free traders in
legislation as well as corn , resolved to attend the meeting and show up the fallacies of Cobden and Co . This came to the ears of the affrighted Leaguers , who , thereupon issued another bill , intimating that none wonld find admission , but those who had purchased a Bixpenny ticket . Of course the working men kept their sixpences , and staid away ; bat a letter was set to Cobden , challenging him to discussion , and demanding to know why he had shrunk from meeting Mr . O'Connor ? Of course , this was not noticed . So . much for the bragging challenge of the Fife Herald , and the cowardly bullies of the League , who shrunk from the conflict they haa invited , and crouched beneath the tetrror of apprehended defeat .
Stockpobt . —The Cowardly Leagusbs again . — Considerable excitement and dissatisfaction exists here , in consequence of the manner in which Cobden and the Leaguers are about to treat the public . It is their intention to hold a meeting on the 30 th inst ., to which no person can gain admittance without paying * at the ' least sixpence . The working elasses observe , and justly , too , that Cobden is bound to render an account of his " stewardship" to the people without money and without price . His cowardly shrinking from meeting Mr . O'Connor has been the theme of universal conversation here . Let him face the working men of Stock port , and they will give him a reception he wiU not speedily forget .
The Noktheejit Stab,. Saturday, January 27, 1844.
THE NOKTHEEJiT STAB ,. SATURDAY , JANUARY 27 , 1844 .
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THE PEOPLE'S TAXERS . Bepobs the Northern Slar makes it next hebdomadal bow toit 3 supporters , the " collective wisdom " of the nation will be gathered to a " focus , " and engaged in " sage deliberation" over the " wordsof the wise" delivered unto them by the one amongst U 3 " who can do no wrong . " It is not for us to anticipate what may be the
subjeot matter , on the results , of their cogitations . How indeed could we ? It would be the height of daring presumption in simple souls , like us , to attempt such a task . Suffice it for us to promise to let the readers of the Slat know what is there Baid and done . They shall be made acquainted with the " important debates" that there occur ; and we shall occasionally endeavour to make the resultB comprehensible to common minds .
Of one thing the reader may rest fully assured As soon as the " supplies" are " stoppbd , " we will publish an Extraordinary Edition , to communicate unto him the glad tidings . The knowledge ofsach a wise step as that—when accomplished 1—ought to be instantly known , to inspire the drooping with hope , and to animate the apathetic . As far as we are concerned , the utmost shall be done to give it Publicity . And we shall also intently watch the
prior preparatory proceedings . The matter is one of no ordinary magnitude . " Stopping the Supplies" stops the machine ! We have ever expected that it would come to a dead-lock some day or other ; but never could hope or imagine that it was possible to prevail on its own providers , those I > TEB £ STED IN ITS CONTINUED WOBKISOS , to throw up the drum-sticks , and cry " Hail ! buim all together" !
It seems that we have been of those " of little faith" : and that if we wait , " we shall see what we shall Bee . " Well 1 by all means get the " supplies stopped" I If ihat can be accomplished , all else is easy ! The power that " stop 3 the supplies" can carry the Charter ; and of course those who are for doing the one are fully disposed to do the other . Again we promise to be on the look-out , and to chronicle the sayings and doings of the wise . "
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THE LEAGUE . —A "GREAT LIE . " MR . COBDEN'S VALOUR—THE SNEAKING COWARDLY BOBADIL . The Tines , one day , speaking of the League , described it as " a Gbeat Fact . " A little attention to the sayings and doings of the knot who constitute that selfish confederacy would have suggested the happier designation , —a Gkeat Lie . The League is one biNO&motjs lib ! Its very foundation is a lie ; and it is built with lies and deceit upwards . It is essentially a wjcked humbug
The foundation lie is , that" the principle of freedom-of action applied to trade , either individually or nationally , is correct ; and ought to be universally established in practice . " A more monstrous fallacy was never ennunciated . Freedom of-action means absence of restraint ; absence of all begdlatiok ; aesehcb of -all la"w ; for law is but another name for restraint and regulation .
Freedom-ofaction in trade , therefore , means that the trader shall not be subject to that lawful restraint which alone binds society together I It means a LAWLESS unrestrained state of existence ! It is a principle that never did , never can , nor never will , apply to any state of sooiety where pk o e biy is at all recognised ; much Ies 3 can it have any application to a state of Bociety so highly artificial as ours .
Founded on & lie , is it any wonaer that the erection should be in strict keeping ? Wonder , or no wonder , the fact is so . Based upon deceit , it has been necessary for the builders to add deception to deception ; and the whole structure is nothing more , nor anything less , than a heap ofrubbishiy lies ! The League , in addressing itself to the different classes of society , is obliged to use different and
contradictory representations , to induce each elass to accord countenance and aid . It has palpably practised deception in every case : f&r it is palpable that a story contradictory in every part cannot be true , or founded on truth . x \ nd when we find parties shifting their ground , according to the leading ideas and supposed interests of those before whom their measure is laid , and from wbom support is courted , we cannot come to other conclusion than that the
parties so acting intend to deceive , and that their whole conduct is one enormous lie . When the League address the working-man , ( particularly in the manufacturing districts , ) to cajole and deceive Hrw , they represent that the establishment of their principle , as embodied in a measure relative to the importation of foreign corn , would give him " cheap food , high wages , and plenty-todo . " They represent to him that the inevitable effect of this scheme would bs , that food must lower in
price ; that " the shilling loaf could then be got for sixpence ; or , what is the same thing , the shilling loaf would then be as large again ; " and that wages would at the same time inevitably rise in price : for the effect of such a measure kxjst bk a " great extension of our Foreign trade ; " that " extensions of trade call more labour into play , and decrease the stock in the labour market ; and that when any commodity becomes scarcer in the market , the price must necessarily enhance . "
When addressing the Master Manufacturers , the League represent that , to save our trade from utter annihilation , it iB of all things necessary that the cost of production should be lessened . ' that it is impossible for them " to compete -with the Foreign Manufacturers who have to pay such low wages , in cossfquekce of the very low price of food" ] that the Foreigners are becoming , every day , more and more independent of us , —because they find it cheaper
to manufacture for themselves , having so little to pay for labour ; that it is well known that the mai& item in the cost of manufactured productions , is labocb ; and that the only way to lessen the cost of English manufactured productions , so as to enable the English manufacturer to retain the Foreign market , iB to beat down the remuneration of English labour to the Continential level , through cheap food ! all which ends , say they , will be attained by the enactment of the measure advocated by the League .
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To the Agriculturalists the League Bay , that the effect of their measure would be , not to lower the price qffood % bct to baisb it ! and even raise the price of Foreign corn to the English standard!—that it would prevent the fluctuations in price that now obtain ; and that it would give better security to the English grower of corn , against low price * , than be now possesses ! The Landlords are told that Free Trade in Corn would enhance the value of their estates : that it
would necessarily compel the tenant to adopt improved modes of culture ; to drain ; to use the anbsoil-plough ; to manure ; to make himself thoroughly acquainted with the science of agricultural chemistry , so as so be able to analyze soils , aud judge of the proper rotation of crops ; and that these things , so compelled to enable the British farmer to meet the grower of foreign corn in the English market , will add materially to the value of land , and enable the class whose interested aid is thus iuvoked , to pocket higher rent 3 !
To the whole people , the League say that it will be of advantage to enact a measure which will assuredly lower the price of all descriptions of produce ; and , by consequence , add to the already overwhelming burden of taxation borne by the producers ! It is capable of demonstration that no advantage could possibly accrue to any portion of British sooiety from a decrease in the price of produce , whilst we have fixed-money engagements , excepting the tax-eater , and the Manufacturer fortunate enough to have his machinery
employed in the satisfying of the ordera given in consequence of " extended" trade . This the League well know : and they therefore well know that it is a gross delusion ; a big , thumping lie , which they seek to paim upon the people , when they represent that increased taxation will be of benefit ! They seek to deceive and cajole the several classes in turn , by addressing to them representations , conflicting and contradictory , but cunningly devised to catch the self-interested of each ; and they then seek to deceive and impose upon the whole in a mass .
The League is indeed asd in truth ovx great lie ! This " great faci" is no less apparent , if we descend from generalities to particulars ; if we leave their principles and their reasoued-out-consequences , and examine their mode of conducting the agitation they are engaged in . In whatever light we may choose to view their conduct , we shall find it all of apiece—rank fraud and cheatery .
They pretend to deplore the vast amount of suffering and want inflicted on the toilers through the grinding system of taxation and loan-jobbing combined with the legislative application of Free Trade principles . They " deeply commiserate" the starving condition of the machine-supplanted labourer , and affect great fear for the safety of society itself , if the causes of the evils working destruction are not ascertained , and an adequate remedy applied ; and , in the spirit of seeming candour , they propound their nosteuh , —the establishment of the freedom-ofaction principle ; tracing the evils with which we are afflicted , and their consequences , to the action of the principle of restraint , regulation , and protection ; % principle which they have cantingly
named Monopoly ; " a principle which was once embodied in the whole polity of England ; and under which thorough embodiment England became famed over the whole earth for power , practical freedom , and plenteous-condition . Their measure is puffed off as an unfailing panacea , which will restore us to " national health . " But in propounding this measure , they affect to court inquiry . TLey " don ' t wiBh to dictate , or to dogmatize ; but they court investigation , and publio discussion . There is their plan ; there are their reasons in its support ; can anybody controvert the reasons , or demonstrate the inefficiency of the plan ! If so , let them come upon the publio stage , and let the publio judge between them . "
What a fraud ! What a gross deception ! What a lib ! They affect to court publio discussion ; they even affect to deplore that their opponents will not meet to adduce their " strong reasons" ; nay , they even cause it to be believed that their opponents shrink from the challenges that have been given ; and all this at the very time that the League are carefully avoiding publio discussion , even when that avoidance involves the discreditable and dishonourable shirting out of their own challenges , accepted ou their own terms ! A grosser humbug , or greater fraud , never yet existed , than this same League .
Look at the recent conduct of the Cobdkn of the League , in respect to the affeoted anxiety to meet in pnblic discussion : and judge from the sample the worth and quality of the wholo sack . It is well known that Mr . F . O'Connor has been one of the greatest and most successful opponeats of the League . It ia well known that he has contributed very much to cause the working people to stand en tirely aloof from the Free Tra de agitation ; n ay even to take an antagonistic position in relation to it . it is well known that that gentleman has had more than an ordinary share in working an entire
revolution in the minds of the working people , respecting the value of the two principles , freedom- of-action , and regulation : a revolution so complete , that almost to a man the working classes espouse the latter , and oppose the former : so much so , that the Free Traders , in their appeals to publio opinion , are forced to meet with closed doors , under the protection of paid-for ticket admissions . It is also well known that Mr . O'Connor haB always holden himself in readiBess to bring his " reasons " to the test of publio scrutiny ; that he haa sought the public ear ; that he has striven , hard and long , to investigate the whole matter
before the public , with the best men the League could produce : and it is as well known that hitherto he has been unsuccessful in such efforts , save once when he caught Mr . A « LA . voat Halifax , and so convinced Acland's ownaudience of the worthleBsness of the League's cause , that the entiro meeting , every man in it , voted his accordance with Mr . O'Connor ' s views ! Excepting that single occasion , ( which will never be forgotten by those who were present ) , not one of the Free-Trade Champions , —so anxious and desirous for discussion!—has he been able to got" to the scratch . " Whether the trouncing that AcuNDgot was enough for the entire " set , " does not appear : but the other fact is not to be gainsaid .
This very week twelvemonths did Mr . O Connor formally challenge the League . He dared the whole lot , or the best man ^ hey could pick , to meet him in public , and shew that the enactment of their " one " measure would be of advantage to the nhopkeeping and working classes ; he engaging to carry convio tion that such measure would be of positive ipjurt . That challenge and that offer , was widely circulated . Thousands of them were distributed in the publio places of our large towns ; and thousands more of them posted upon the public walls . Whereever the League went , for many months , that challenge met their eyes . And tht thei dared not to accept it ! ! It was continually flung in their
teeth ; the taunts respecting it and their shirking , were bitter aud severe : yet all would not do . The men , —so ready to discuss ; so anxious for public investigation ; so desirous to enlist public opinion : the men , —whose effortB had been marred by the exertions of the man who now offered himself as fair game , —dared not to meet , and expose his sophistries ; lay bare his flimsily-covered fallacies ; and convince those who had hearkened to him t ! . at he had neither reason nor right on his side . The League-men dared not to do this ! although they were constantly representing it as a most eat-y task ; and the consequence was that public opinion was more and more estranged from them , aud the necessity for the League Meetings to be held with closed doors moxe
striDgem . In process of time the £ 50 , 000 which the League had managed to get from the rnonied Gulls became Bcarce ; and as the pickings to tlioss who had the handling of it were too sweet to bo foregone , it was determined that a f trenuous effort should bet made
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to yet" more . " 1 his necessaril y brought the League spouters out before their own friends at their ticket meetings . Even there the moral effects of the unaccepted challenge were plainly apparent . The show of valour in the affeoted readiness to meet in discussion , contrasted unfavourably with the fact that discussion had been shirked . The ghost , too , of the challenge would moat uuopportunely present itself at the League Banquets , spite of all efforts to " lap ' it . Many a League orator has been brought to ft dead stand , when dealing out " / wftan" by the yard , by some unlucky wight " popping the question : " " Why did you not meet Mr . O'Connob !"
Many a fine round period , and many a bundle of high sounding phrases have been spoiled by such means ; and the matter was becoming bo pressing and so annoying that the Cobden determined to get rid of it , if possible , by a dash . He thought he could take such a position as would remove the odium then attaching to himself , for cowardice and shirking , to other shoulders . He therefore cunningly beat about for a form in which to present the question , so that , —as he calculated , —it never would be acceded to : and then HE could rate the " shirker" most soundly for his " bounce" aud his " cowardice . "
To accomplish this , it was neceBsary that he should appear as the challenger . As the matter stood , he was bound to say " off" or " on , " The question was as fairly and as comprehensively put as it was possible . The measure Cobden is hired to advocate is represented as one that will be of advantage ts > all classes ; but particularly to the working and shop-keeping portion . This conclusion was frankly and flatly denied : aud therefore issue ought to have joined . Cobden ' s opponent offered to prove that the measure he is so well-paid for advocating would be a positive injury to those two classes . What more could be desired , if the object had been
to give the publio an opportunity to judge of the merits of the case 1 Ah ! but no . This would not suit the League , To meet , or to offcr to meet , an opponent on such terms , would be destruction . " Remember the fate of Acland" ! "Remember that if we have one amongst us ' cunning of fence ; ' one worth calling a ' debater : ' remember that if we have a man at all deserving that character , Aclard is the man . Cool in temper ; abundant in words » full of clap-trap ; power of face unsurpassed ; tricky , artful , dexforoua ; all this is Aclakd : and yet remember his fate t No , no ; no meeting with Mr . O'Connor ! The only course left therefore is so to
frame a challenge as shall make it impossible for him to accept it ! Let us but manage that , and then we have him ; and won ' t we let the spooniei know it" ? Accordingly , when Cobden was asked at Leeds , at the Leeds tioket meeting , why he did not accept Mr . O'Connor ' s challenge , he demurred to the terms of it ; but v « ntured one of his own . " He was ready , desirous , anxious , to meet in the open air , before the people , any man , Mr . O'Connor or any body else , who would defend the Corn Laws , and undertake to show that they ought not to be repealed" ! Loud were the shouts ; uproarious were the cheera ; enthusiastic were the claps , that followed this announcement .
At Bradford , the same game was played . Poor Smith , having been unfortunate enough to get amongst the tioketted crew , put the question to the hired League orator : " Why he shrunk from public discussion" ? and though poor Smith was thrown down the stairs for his temerity , yet the question so touched that Cobdkn was obliged to notice it . He did so in the following fashion : — " The challenge was that Mr . Feargus O'Connor was prepared to meet me in public and discuss this question —Would the repeal of the Corn Law and the establishment of Free Trade be of immediate benefit to the working classes i This is a mere evasion and
subterfuge , which I will expose . I don't pretend to be a prophet—to argue and declaim in the future tense—or nay what might , could , would , or should happen . I don't pretend te soar ; into the regions of fancy and speculation , and prophecy about events and consequences to come , about which we are all equally ignorant . I have to deal with facts , which experience and observation plainly attest : —I point to the misery and distress that have been every where rife , in the West Riding as well as otker places ; I refer you to the bankruptcies which hate taken place , the famine which
has stalked through your streets—to tbe ruin of the capitalist and the degradation of tbe working manand I say the Corn Law is unjust and ought to be immediately repealed .. ( Great cheering , and cries of bear , h * ar . | Where is the man that will meet me AND oppose this PROPOSITION . Let any man meet me , I Care not whkre , in tbe West Riding or elsewhere , ONLY IT SHALL BE IN PUBLIC , IN THE OPEN air , and maintain that tbe Coru Law is a ju « t law and ought to be maintained . But no ; they won ' t do this . "
Such were the boastings of the cock on his own midden ! How valiant { How full of prowess 1 How anxious to fight . " Twenty more ; kill ' em kill ' em ! " " Twenty more ; kill ' em ! kill 'em !" But this was not all . It was not alone at Leeds and Bradford that liobadil bounced . He did the same at Derby , as the following account , which we have reserved for this occasion , will show . It will also show how the " twenty more ; kill ' em ! kill ' em I" man shrunk from the stern gaze of honesty , and sunk into his seat with a face of crimson ! ! Well might he !
Meeting of the League in Derby . —The town of Derby bad been well posted with bills , both largo and small , announcing a Tea Party to be held on Thursday , Dec . 28 , in tbe Mechanics Hall , when Messrs . Cobden , Bright , Thompson , and Moore , would attend as a deputation from the National Anti-Corn Law League . It so happened that tbe Chartist body bad a few posters in their possession of Mr . O'Connor's challenge , which was posted in juxta position with tbose of the League , and wonderfully attracted the attention of the public , to tbe great chagrin of the Free Traders , who had been trying every artful dodge to ensure a good meeting . At length tbe long-looked-for
day arrived , when the dauntless champiens of Free Trade abroad , and Starvation at home , made their appearance . Great was the cheering when they ascended tbe platform . Of course 0 ie meeting was a ticketed one , to keep out that portion of tbe community who know some little about tbe Corn Laws—tbe " rascally Chartists . " The speaking occupied a considerable portion of time , and was cheered most lustily by the Plague ; especially tbe ravings of Rory-O'Moore , who boasted greatly of the League calling public meetings in almost every town in tbe country , and challenging discussion ; and , said he , no one baa ever met us , to discuss the question / / / Tbe Free Traders seemed heartily glad , as
they bad id all to themselves , that those " meddling Chartists '' were excluded . Bat , alas ! they were doomed to disappointment ; for when the Chairman was about to put a vote of thanks to the speakers , Mr . Moss , a working man , rose and asked permission of the Chairman to say a few words . Tbis was granted . Mr . M . then said that a challenge had been . given and an offer made by Mr . O'Connor to meet any member of tbe Luague and publicly discuss the question of the Corn Lawn , which challenge bad been posted in the principal towns in tbe country , and had never been met . He wished to know whether any of tbe gentlemen who had addressed that meeting would accept it ? when
" Rory" sung out at the top of his voice , " No . " Mr . Moss then said he was somewhat surprised at Mr . Moore shouting out " No , " after having boasted so much about calling publio meetings all over the country and challenging discussion . Here Mr . Cobden roae and said , " Will Mr . O'Connor defend the Corn Law as a just law ; and contend that it ought not be abro-£ ; avfa ( 1 ; if he wilt the League will meet him . ' * This announcement called forth a tremendous burst of applause , accompanied with hisses and groans at Mr . Moss , Who continued standing on the form until they had had tbeir fling . When order was restored , Mr . VI . said Mr . O Connor undertakes to prove that a Repeal
of tbe Corn Laws , under present circumstances , would bo a positive injury to the shopkeeping and working classes . Tbis , said be , is the challenge , and I dare you to meet it . Tbis called forth Mr . Cobden again , who said , " you see the cunning of these gentlemen , my friends ; they are continually interrupting us in this way ; " * ' but , " said he , " they are paid for it ; and you ate paid , "—pointing his finger at Mr . Moss , who immediately relumed the point , and said awd vou dropped YOUK MEN'S WAGES BUI A SHORT TIME AGO , 6 D . OUT OF 17 D ., AI * D CAN COME HERE PREACHING UP good will to the working classes , aud taunting
men who differ from you in opinion , and who data express their opinions , with being paid ! Mr . Cobden then said , " This baa beea circulated throughout the country , " AND IMSlEDlTELY SAT DOWN WITH A chimson-dybd FACE . Tbo Leaguers then commenced i-. ssiDg and hooting and yelling at Mr . Moss , who was determined to hive a bearing ; and who , when the Leaiiu rs were tired , said it rtfleeted but very little credit on the gentlemen present , who set themselves up as tbe " respectable" portion of the community , to ba hissing and hootiug and yelling at a man who differed from them in opinion . The motion was then carried , and the meeting broke up .
Here then were three calls . The challenge thrice repeated . Safety had been calculated oa . The guard against Acceptance had been well conceived .
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Soil ! it failed . J . he challenge was accepted . There was no beating about the bush ; no trickery ; no evasion ; no falsification of the terms of the challenge as in Cobden ' s case , when he pretended to describe Mr . O'Connob's , and declined to meet him . Thero was none of that sort of work ; but a plain simple setting forth of Cobden ' s challenge ia his own words , and an acceptance of it ia the following
manner : — ; "I , WI 1 H 0 VX CIRCUMLOCUTION , ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE upon your own conditions , which are , that you are to prove that the Corn Law is unjust , AND OUGHT TO BE IMMEDIATELY HEPEALED . "; Here was : a fix ! The dodge had sot availed . The thrice called-upon , had answered to the call . He proclaimed his readiness to appeal to the public , and to abide by the publie decision . Great was the dismay of the League ! Lying and "bounce" had not served them . The ' trick they had attempted was sees through and spoiled . The cat was fairly pat among the pigeons .
what was to be done ! Meet the challenged according to offer ? O ! no . "Remember poor Acland . " "No meeting ! no discussion ! no appeal to publio opinion ! " " Then how are wo to get out of the mess we are in" I " By lyikg ! by falsification ; by fraud ; by viilification . " Accordingly every League Journal was set to work to announce the important fact that " Mr . O'Connor had at last appeared in his true colours , as a champion of the bread-taxing landlords , and defender of the Corn Law ; and that he had challenged Mr . Cobden to discuss the question with him ; but that Mr . Cobden had something better to do , than to engage in controversy with a Landlord's Tool . "
How characteristic ! How strictly in keeping I Based on lies , how could it be expected to find anything but lies ia ought appertaining to the League 1 Lying and deceit is their vooation : and , in this instance , well did they follow it . The silly cry of " landlord's tool" was soon set at rest . In aletter to the Leeds Mercury , Mr . O'Connor soon put the quietus oa that song . He detailed his measures regarding the landlord class , and the
relations he would establish between landlord and tenant : and these were so much in accordance with the supposed interests of the landlord class , that one of the League organs , the Hull Advertiser , quotes them , and tries to alarm the landlords by showing what there is in store for them should ever Chartism rule ! and beseeches them , in most imploring accents , to throw themselves into the hands of the League to slave-off the" Destructive" ! Curious sort of " landlard's tool" this I
Well , but how did Bobadil Act ? He surely did not shrink from the combat ! He who was so full of mettle ; so anxious to break a lance ; surely he did not shirk ! surely , surely he did not shrink ' ! he , who had cried , " Where is the man that will meet me V " let any man meet me , I care not where , only it shall be in public , in the open air ; " he , who exclaimed " twenty more ; kill ' em , kill'em !' surely he did not turn tail on his own professions belie his own offers ? I' faith he did ! True to his calling ; full of deception to the throat ; crammed to bursting with fraud , he did refuse to stand to his own offer . The " courageous" coward slunk sneakingly away ! All his " valour" evaporated . He daeed not to encage in the excopntre I
And what w& 3 his reason for so declining ; so shrinking ? " He could make better use of his time than waste ix discussing with such a man as Feargus O'Connor . * ' Make better use of his time ! How ? By fleecing the knowing ones of their cash ? By getting together the £ 100 , 000 t Does he fear that a publio examination Of bis nostrum ; a publie exposure of his fallacies ;; a publio stripping of his pretensions , would eo open the eyes of the gulls , that the breeches pockets would be closed , and tbe " cash " withheld ! is it in this sense that Bobadil ' s
better employment fc to be understood It would be difficult to understand it on any other supposition . If he be sincere in his expressed desire for public enlightenment ; if he even wish to remove that whioh he describes as the "GREATEST OBSTACLE" out of the way of himself and his confederates , imagination cannot conceive of any " better" mode of M employing hi& time" than in proving Mr . O'Connor , before the people , to be a public deceiver , and unworthy of confidence or notice . Cobden said at Aberdeen that Mr . O'Connor was his " greatest
difficult ! ; " he also said that " unless the people put down Mr . O'Connor , he would destroy the cause for which the people were contending . " Then why j does not Cobden aid " the people" to put Mr . ! O'Connor down ! Why does he not try to remove | his own " g reat difficulty" ? Why does he not adopt the only effectual means to accomplish this , — - the holding up tbe man in his true colours before the gaze of an honest and discriminating-public !
i How could " [ his time be made a better use of " [ than in the performance of this imperative public duty 1 Ah ! to talk of a thing , and to do it , are two different things . " Remember poor Acland" ! It may be very desirable to remove the " great difficulty" out of the way : but " who ' s to bell the Cat" ? Not Bobadil ! Not tho shrinking coward Not the man of bounce !
But is this matter to stay as it is ? Will tbe people permit it ? ' Will they submit to be so insulted ? They have beea appealed to . Cobden has made them a party to this question . He haa said " let any man meet me , ; I care not where ; onlt it shall bb in public , in the open air . " He has called on the people to " put down" Mr . O'Connor , or "he would destroy their cause . " He has described him as a vile hireling , in the pay of the Tory Landlords . He has declared that he has proof of this . And now , when ho has so appealed to the public ; when be has
called for public judgment ;—he declines to meet the public , to produce his evidence !! Is this to be toleratod f Is this the way that the people are to be treated ? Is this the way that publio agitations are to be carried on 1 Emphatically we say NO ! Cobden has called upon the public to interfere . He has desired them to " put down" his political opponent . The publio then have a fair and undeniablo right to demand that he keep faith with them ! They j have a clear duty to perform " : to compel him to come before them , to adduce his " evidence ; " or to " p ut HIM down "
On the publio we earnestly call , to perform this duty . Demand of Cobden , every time he presents himself before you , or affects to do so m a " hole-andcorner , " WHY he has broken failh with you ? Tel ] him that you are interested in getting to know both what he is , and what Mr . O'Connor is ; and that as he has made charges to you , and called upon you for judgment , you insist on his coming to the trial * and proving his accusations . Tell him he must do this , or consent to be considered a lying slanderer ; a bouncing falsifier ; a cowardly , sneaking , pitiful poltroon . Insist on his appearance . Tell him it does not now remain with himself
to say whethen his time can be better occupied : " the judging of that now remains with you . Receive no denial . Follow him close . Follow him to his " snuggeries . " Qo to his ' tioket meetings . " They are the only places where you can find him . Treat him gently , at first ; Question him quietly , but plainly . Receive his answer . If that answer be , as ft ought to be , in the affirmative , there leave it , till the preliminary arrangements for the " meeting" are made . If the coward declines , —thea ** put him down . " Hiss him 1 Hoot him ! Drive bim off the public stsge . Let him know that the publio " time can be hotter employed" then in listening to his cowardly slanders .
Teach Cobden that you fully appreciate him as you do the League : and that you know both to be MIOI 1 TY GREAT LIES .
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presume the policy of Statesmen , like all other things has undergone a great change to keep pace with the progress of events , we imagine that we recognize in the conduct of our rulers , a tinge of that new policy , which is hereafter to become a substitute for the olden fashion . The repetition " ad nauseam " of Mr . O'Connell ' swhoIesale stereotyped repeal speeches had , long previous to the State Prosecutions , the sedative effect of allaying that excitement which , while fresh and ftverish , they had created in the mercurial minds of Irishmen . The angry bubble had . subsided , and was followed by a gentle simmer , which
would ultimately have terminated m a mere cool and calculating deliberation as to the next safest step ; when behold the pot is once more set boiling ; the scum is taken off ; the wordy obscurity ia which the " Liberator" so ingeniously clouded his real intentions is destroyed ; the gross body is torn from the spirit . Mr . O'Connell himself was beginning to ask for an extension of time Eighteen Hundred and Forty Three was not only not to be the Repeal Year ! but in Eighteen Hundred and Forty Four it was only to be within the reach of those who chose to clutch it . The " monster
meetings , " sanctioned while Parliament was assembled , and declared by the Lord Chancellor of Ireland to be legal , were drawing to a close ; and all promised a quiet termination to the annual agitation : when , behold ! our rulers put " the sting into events" and canonized where they intended to destroy . In truth it required the critical mind , the judicious selection , and pruning hand of the A jtornet-Genebal to pre sent to the world , in a condensed and comprehensive form , the real spirit of Mr . O'Connell ' s speeches , which , as we have before observed , that gentleman had contrived to wrap in much obscurity It remained for the Attorney'General to famish tha
world with a compendium of the valuable portion of Mr . O'Connell ' s several orations : and that he haa succeeded may be gathered from the impression now so generally created in minds of all political shades that never was there a more unjustifiable attempt to destroy a political foe by the sting of the " ordinart law" ! Nevor was there placed upon record a more unfair , ungenerous , unnecessary , and uncalled for prosecution than th * at with the expense of which the country is now saddled ; while the means of conducting it , the machinery for carrying it on , and the means resorted to by the Tory press
for bringing it to a successful issue , have been mean , cowardly , fraudulent , and unconstitutional The world was led to suppose that a " conspiracy" really did exist ; not such a " conspiracy " as was published in Mr . O'Connell's several speeches ; but a " secret conspiracy , " a " real conspiracy , " a " dark and dangerous conspiracy" ; and what does it all end in ? Why , that the Government reporter was accommodated by Mr . O'Coknell with ample means for furnishing his employers
with all that transpired . The " pictorial" seditioa was not only lithographed by , and designed by but was literally invented by , Mr . HoibbooiL peis ter to the government ! Indeed the et ? denoe upon this head is so truly characteristic of the " ordinart law" of Ireland , that we cannot refrain from making it somewhat more conspicuous than a mere place in our report will ensure for it , Thomas Packer , in the employment of Holbrook , the Government printer , mind , gives the following amusing account of the pictorial sedition : —
" Mr . F / eeman to witness . Look at tbe nest likeness on the card . Witness—That la 011 am Fodlah—( a laugh ) . Where did you get his likeness 1—Witness —From my imagination—( great laughter ) . Who suggested the name to you ? Witness—Mr . HOLBROOE . Look at tbe next likeness ? Witness—That is Sasrsfleld . Where did you get it ?—From an old French encraving in tbe possession of Geraghty , the bookseller Wfeo brought you there?—Mr . HOLBROOK brought me to see it . At whose suggestion was it pnt on tbe cards 1—I believe it was Mr . HOLBROOKS wish to have it Look at the next ?—That ia Hugh O'NeiL Where did you get that likeness ?—I think I composed it —( laughter ) . Look at the next ?—That ' s King Dathan . "
No doubt KiDg Dathan also was composed by Packer and Holbrook . ' The Government in now , if their Irish Solicitor-General wonld not be , upon both horns of a dilemma . They " must have a conviction ; " but after such " evidence " , of what value will it be ? Meantime , the sluggish monster , into which our Statesmen have contrived to put a sting , " drags its slow length along . " We must now have a word with our " liberal " contemporaries upon pointa of principle . These gentlemen are , for the most part , load in their denunciation against the admissibility of evidence
taken from very extensive notes of picked Bhort-hand writers . " Like « ase like rule" ; and " what's sauce for the goose fs sauce for tbe gander " , are good homely maxims : and ia support of them we beg to refer our "liberal" friends to the fact , that throughout the whole of the Chartist prosecutions , the Crown lawyers argued , the Bench admitted , and the liberal press justified the admissibility , not of the notes of picked men , or of even those who had been employed in ( he profession ; but they admitted ms evidence of policemen , who spoke , in some instances , nine months after the transaction had occurred .
from pencil notes taken while in the midst of a bustling crowd , and amid great excitement !! Nay , THEY ADMITTED AS EVIDENCE THAT WHICH WAS HEARD B Y ONE MAN , A # V WRITTEN BF AKOTHER MAN SOME DATS AFTERWARDS ! the memOU of tho hearer being refreshed by the hints of the writer , who was not within eix miles of the spot . The description of evidence upoa which Chartist victims were convicted is too notorious to require much comment : but if our friends wish foracaseor
two strictly in point , we can furnish them . At Liverpool , then , the whole evidence against several Chartist prisoners was the short-hand notes of a Mr . Clabkson , who was no reporter at all , and who , we believe , so far from incurring the censure of any of our " Liberal" cotemporaries , secured the patronage of our friends of the Manchester Guardian by the service rendered to the Government at Liverpool How foolish , then , for those who " live in glass houses to fling stones "; while we , thank God , are at perfect liberty to smash all their false lights .
Now , we have another word , though apart fro ® . the evidence , yet very minutely connected with the case : we mean for the Charlemont " conspiracy " now on foot . It appears that the present Earl of Charlemont , son of the Earl of the eame name , who was Commander-in-Chief of the Irish Volun " teers in 1782 , would , as his father did before him , take advantage of passing events to ensure the future success of the Whig parly-It is absolutely necessary that the Irish mind should be kept directed to the single objeot placed before them . That object is—Total Repeal . " No earrender" ! In the language of Mr . O'Conhell ,
« WHO DARES SPEAK OF COMPROMISE" Such is the object . For that object the Irish mind has been roused and organized ; and to its attain * ment it must and shall be direoted . A meeting has been recently held at Lord Charlemont ' s boase , with the Duke of Leixster in the chair ; the pro * fessed object of which meeting was , to take steps to allay existing excitement and save the country ; but the real object was , to turn excite " cxtement to Whig purposes , and to damn the country with another ten years rule of the " base , bloody and brutal" Whigs . That this meeting was intended as a new nest egg for the Repeal Association to lay their eggs upon for the next year is manifest . Mr . Smith O'Brien has convinced as « f that . Ia
speaking of the assertion of national rights in tlie Conciliation Hall , on Monday last , where he occupied the Chair , he says : " I see that national feeling advanoed in the rising movement in favour of Federalism . I see it advanced in the meeting which took place last week in Cbarlemont House . " Can there now remain a colourable doubt upon the mind of a single man with a single particle of brain , that Mr . Willia * Suit O'Brien ha 9 been very ingeniously affixed to the Repeal carnage , as a brake to stop its progress ! or rather as an engineer , to drive it backwards ?! Tbe object of the Association is Repeal . Tho Irish people , the English people , and the American people have given their money to
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TO THE JOTJRNEYMEN TAILORS OF THE TJSTTED KINGDOM . BKETHHES ,-TbeCentral Committeeof the Metropolitan TaDora'Proiection Society , earnestlyinvite your attention to the fact of their having called the National Dalegate Meeting or the Trade for tbe 8 tb of April next , to be held in London , for tie purpose of deciding upon a plan oi general union , for the protection of their sick and aged members , " &s -well as to eeenre fall and complete protection for their labour . In presuming tiras to arrange the time and place of the said delegation , tbe
Committee lave -weighed -well tbe circumstances of the ease . In niming the place they hsve not been actuated by any selSsb motiTe , but by a strong desire to do the greatest amount of good in the fihortest possible time . London is an unwieldy place , and requires tbe aid of tbe provinces to tooiougnly arouse it Therefore it hat been deemed advisable that the first delegatien ihonld assemble in the Metropolis , "wcere bo large a boSy ol IbHoes are located , these being between fourteen and fifteen thousand . If thsse are once tmited , the fact ¦ will rive a mighty impetus to all provincial townfl .
Ab np-wardB ' of forty tom » bave given in tbtir adhesion to tbe protective principle , it is to be hopea that oas and all -will prepare themselves te be fairly represented in the Dslegate Meeting ; aa it is evident that if the sons of . labour do not band themselves together in one bond of union for mntnal protection , there is little nope from any other quarter . It is computed that there are ninety thousand persons in Hie tailoring trade throughout the United Kingdom . O that they were in union rader visa and stringent regulations , with tho
protection of the law , using the powers that have never yet been developed . What a splendid example has been set by liieliardy sons of the ?*'"»¦ Allhongh the tailors of Great Britain are reduce * to the utmost degradation ana misery , there is sufficient intelligence among the body to concoct a plan of union whereby they will be enabled to follow in tbe wake of the honest Miners , who have demonstrated to the working classes generally , the glorious results derivable from a steady adherence to principle , by the timon of numbers , ¦ with 3 nfepffigpnnfl .
Saving received a communication from tbe brethren of Snnlerlan 3 , in reference 4 o tbe 30 th article of our roles and regulations , as regarded its l ^ jrality , the Central Committee at once agreed te submit the question to the opinion of an eminent barrister , who decided that it must be struck ont , as it would bring the society anderthe corresponding act Therefore it 1 b requested that all towna . cities , and boroughs ,. adopting the principles of the Protection Society , will designate tbemselres according to tbeir local position . For instance , our Sonderland friends should stylo themselves the Snnderland TaDors * Protection Society .
As the National Delegate Meeting will bo advertised in the northern Star , all tailora' Bodetiea are respect-IbHj requested to copy the same , and insert it iu theirlocal papers , so that the whole trade may be apprised of what is going on : and further the Central Committee trust , that every city , town , ana borongh , will adopt suggestions , and prepare themselves for representation in the forthcoming important meeting . Any further information required will be given by the General Secretary is bis individual capadty . On behalf of tbe Central Committee , J . W . Parker , General Secretary . Suffolk Coffee House , Old Bailey , London .
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THE TRIALS , —THE PRESS . —AND THE ! DODGERS . How to "take the 3 ting out of events" should dpubtl « s b& matter of important consideration with the Statabman ; buj ; one of 8 * ill greater importance in our aiiiid its , how to put the stint ; into events ; and as we
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A THE NORTHERN STAR . ¦ January 27 , 1844 ,
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Jan. 27, 1844, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1249/page/4/
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