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Northern Star (1837-1852), 24th February 1844, Edition 1 of 1, Page 4

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    • THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1844.
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      W . P . BORER ' S , E 5 Q , Tie subject of / this Memoir , WILliam ProWtjsg Roberts , Ejq , is one , of whom it Ib rather difficult to sketch the life . There is no mode of getting at the facts except by correspondence with thoBe who have intimately known him i and tho accounts with which we have been farored are many of them , contradictory to each other , and not a few inconsistent with , themselves . One gentleman for instance , who has known him for the last 14 yeai-s writes ns , ** that he is a Tory la disguise , and in » . ne pay of the Tories : " and yet the same correspondent , in another part of his letter , tells us " that Ws ( Mr . RV ) conduct iB open and in { Tenuous , almost to a fault , and that . he has

      sacrificed a large fortune , and most brilliant prospects , to his obstinate determination to follow that course -which he considered to be honest . " Nor does enr own acquaintance with Mr . Roberts , —for we know the man and like him , —assist ns in this particular so mncn ^ s we could wish . "We haye on several occasions asked lim for an explanation of the injustice which at one time and another he has experienced from friends , relatives , and foes i and he has met our enquiry with the hearty laugh of reek-Jess benevolence—denying that he ever experienced injustice , or ever had & foe , or that any thing untrue or contradictory was said abont him j and thus we have been left in a greater mystery than before .

      "We baTe dined with him however— -when by hard labour lie has concentrated two days work into one —and when , after mutton and potatoes , and pudding , came tie red-backed easy chair , and th « whiskey punch ; and there with the crackling fire in front of him , and his feet scorching on the fender , we hare wormed out a bit or two . And as to Black Jack , — Black Jack , the racer , whose biography no one can wr ite , for no one can guess at his age ; we coold fill a volume about him , going like himself at a full gsllop all the way and never tiring ; so with our own pickings up , and the hints of oar various correspondents , we entertain good hepes of telling our story so as at all events to be intelligible .

      Mr . Roberts has been about ten years before the pubho ; and by those who haTe narrowly watched political movements sines the Reform Bill , has throughout that period been known as a restless B rebel" against tyranny in every shape . His temper is rather warm ; and his efforts were , from this and ether causes , principally of an individual character . There was at first—ihe six years that succeeded 1832—no party in existence with * which he cared to connect himself ; and in those who professed prineiples-apparently most neaT hiB own , he discovered so much , selfish hollo v * ne 53 that he preferred

      acting by himself . His first public appearance was in- opposing the elecdpn of Mr . Roebuck for Bath . This was in 1832 . Mr . Roebuck was at that time an entire stranger in the political world , Mr . Roberts belieTed him to be a disciple of tie school oTMalthus , now known as the school « f Marces ; and , ^ therefore , and in consequence of some other opinions as to which Mr . Roberts has sinca modified iis own , did all thai-he could do to thwart him in his attempt . The How that Mr . Roberts dealt was a heavy one , though unsuccessful . At the next election Mr . Roberts supported him ; and thi 3 is one of the

      Inconsistencies with which he ( Mr . Robert . ' ) is charged . Mr . Roberts , in explanation says this .: — "When Mr . Roebuck first became a candidate I doubted Mm , as I iadra right to do . He was an entire stranger , and no one knew anything of him . Since he has been in Parliament * he has proved himself a thorough and nnmistakeable Radical . I therefore support him ^ he has now what he had not then , a public character to appeal to , which I have neither the wish nor the right to doubt . " It-seems hardly necessary to remark that all this was prior ; to Mr . Roebuck ' s attack on tie Chartists , a year or two ago , in the House of Commons .

      . Soon after the Reform Bill , the Municipal Bill was passed , and then commenced an energetic straggle against the Old Bath Corporation . The struggle , however , terminated in merely placing a set of Whigs where Tories had been belore , with no diminution whatever of EXpenee , jobbing , or patToaage . Work was undertaken for the benefit of tie Aldermen , whose business was unfortunately slack . A " valuation of the Borough property" was commenced " , in order to put some £ 300 into , tie pocket of a Councilor's cousin ; strange things were built to benefit' an Alderman , whose son was a plumber ; and paintings , white-washiDgs , and strengthening pillars were had Teeourse to ; and they did tie work -weE , to prevent incipient insolvency . Tab

      sort of thing , indeed , was common enough in all tie Boroughs , and was supposed by many persons to be the principal reason why the Municipal Bill was passed . It seemed as if that Bill was merely regarded as »¦ means of transferring power and plunder from those who were * in" to those who had been previously " out / ' and great was the sorrow on the one side , and most iearly were the congratulations on the other . ALr- Roberts , however , attacked she Whiggery quite as heartily as ie would hare attacked the Toryism j nay , we have heard , ( and there is some reason to believe the report to be true , though Mr . Roberts denies it ) that he threw " more zeal into tie "Whig struggle than a mere Tory eoniest would have elicited . The result was

      thai the surveyor ' s salary wa 3 reduced from £ 500 per a-ntnim to Jess lias half that sum : the deliberations of Council were thrown open to the people ; the police . foice was reduced ; and various small comforts , purchased with tie public money , sDd with which lie " Councillors" iad been in the habit of solacing themselves , were for ever done away with . _ Eor this work—and the whole of it- was accomplished at the sole expence of Mr . Roberto , and cost him some hundreds—the Bath Whigs will Beyer - forgive him . It , however , had its effect , though not Immediately , in winning the confidence of fhe people . Tl ™ 1 f » DaVmUi * £ a «« a « 3 Wm . Pkcvfifi ^ ttm ^ tttinn ThenMrRoberts joined the Charnsi agnation

      . . . He wai . ona ~ of the first in its Tanks : Hardly a town , or hamlet in Somersetshire and tie surrounding counties bkt has heard him . . For more than three years there was seldom , a day -bat he was at some meeting or other . In . these journies , Black Jack , " of whjjm we have previ » uslyanade peculiar mention , was the . moving power ; frequently travel-Ting forty , £ fJy v and . £ lxty miles in a day- All these journies were " at his own cost ;_ and he wa 3 frequently accompanied by oiieor two brotberagitators . Tie consternation occasioned by the breadth and novelty of the doctrines ofpolitical freedom drove the ^ Wiltshire farmers wild . Seme beat their wives , and others raved like madmen .

      The Chartist prosecutions about this time—those of 1838-39 , occupied much of Mr . Roberts ' g time and attention . In these he was eminentl y successful . More thao forty nere released from their -dungeons by iis exertions ; but iis success then , as now , was tie result as much of . tie fear he created as of the good fortune which attended him in tho Court .- In several instances , where tie prosecutors had their witnessesin attendance , and all things in order for a conviction , the prosecutions all at once were dropped , with jao __ reason assigned , except rhat the Defender-General had been seen galloping along the load at tie rate of twenty miles an ioar . By all Ibis , however—and iis efforts in the cau 3 e of freedom were extended in . many other directions , which we have not time to tell of , —Mr . Roberts became much redneed ia iis circumstances . It must be recollected tbat ie received no pecuniary assistance from those , for "whose benefit ha was

      Striving with . such-constant , and -untiring energy . Then came his own trial for " sedition and conspiracy" ; and so well had he fought for the good old cause , " that a Wiltshire Jury found Mm " GuDty" with no . more hesitation than was acconnted for by the time occupied in eating a large sandwich : sad tie Judge ( Coltmkn ) sentenced him to tv «) yearsimprisonment 1 It was a staggerer J ~ The Wiltshire farmers were bitter ; as much , or nearly so , asjtheir landlords , the magistrates ; and it was so managed between them , that . tie sentence , in its execution , should be extended far beyond what its Jend 3 would justify . Mr . Roberts was placed in

      solitary confinement—on thesilent system—his hair cut off—obliged to wear tie felon dress , and eat ice gaol food . Some attempts at mitigation were made ; but tie Wiltshire Justices were resolnte and determined . Kb . relaxation was allowed except by tie express orders of the surgeon . All this was done , as a Trowbridge clothier boasted at a public hoass ia hi 3 drink , ** to settle him and nnt iim ont of iis misery , f and it hadvery nearly accomplished Us humane object . He became so ill tiat Ms life wadespaired of ; and when it was expected that he iad but a few . days to live be was discharged by an order from tie Government .

      His release was hailed with a burst " of real and sineerejoy from one end of theiiagdom to tie otbir The Wiigs indeed , and naturallj enougi , groaned at it—thought "he'd better have remained where ie was . - - Thfi Tories , grumbled too , but npi so bitterlj , The county magistrates felt much , hurt— "ti » t they didf and ^ aboot twenty of them went to Lord Li ? si > sBwrs , who took them to Lord Melbocbse , to emit their complaints ; and afterwards they came home again , each paying his pwnexpencea . Bya G « ntIeBiai » jntheneighbonrhood of Bristol , we are informed , that jast befere . going to j ^ ol , Mr . Roberts had defended Jdr .. Henry Vincent , at Monmouii ; aad that he also , defended Mr . Frost against » criminal information for sedition or something of thstBort . .

      OahiareleaB ^ Mx . Roberto Tetnrned hprnethrongfi Trow bridge—the scene of many-an enthusiastic meeting . Those who were there on that eveningjtae inoosands tiiat came from their homes and their beds tOrTreloome him . will not soon forget it . How j oft en we iava heard tie story told ! the reminiseoce iWgajoyonslyfrom the lips of th ^ gaol bir d 5 but we hare sot space for it now . ¦ - ,. ' . v < For some mpnihs after this we heard Ter / littie of Jd > . Roberts . That hpliyed , somewhere there is no doubly otherwise , as sagely remarked by -a Bath lriead , " Jie would not have been alive now .- " But we are sot able to jgiv& particulars . His health was ' lanca . Mattered . The " silent sfateoi , " with its st&ttoj herrors , had added a score of years to Ms S " " ~ I ^ - ^© , looked : haggard , and weary , and MuS ; W ) ce-ccuM hardly be heard across the ^ iayfriieard tiat he travelled from one

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      watenr pIfeft - ^ anot ^ eIj an ^ spent a good deal of nidfiey in getting the " solitary ** taste oat of his mouth . . In this he must have been tolerably successful ; for , in the year 1841 , we find from the columns of Vno Northern Slar , he was again behind ** Black Jack" at tia work of agitation . Sometime in this year an attempt wa 3 made to effect a sort of amalgamation between the League and Chartist party at Bath . The object was to obtain an appearance of unanimity in order " to frighten the Tories . " It was arranged , or understood , that the speakers should keep their ultra

      notions in the b&ok ground ; talk iira conciliatory and soft style ; and bo varnish np an appearance of smoothness . CTwr / unj was not to be mentioned by name . Evenihen the name was dreaded by ^^ those who bated its principles , though they dare not disavow them . It was understood that the Chartist speakers , as a sort of gratuity for being allowed to speak at all , should restrain their observations to a \ genfceel and lukewarm lecture on the " right of every san « stan , of twenty-one years of age , untainted with crime , ? and so forth . Harmonious as tho cooing of doves , the League and the Charter cooed to each other ; and the thing , though pleasant enough , was becoming rather dull .

      But when it came to Mr . Roberta ' s turn to move a resoulution , the speaker at once plainly avowed his unalterable determination to abide by the faith , and to fight under the banner which , from the first , had supported and cheered him . Amid a storm of disapprobation , encountered , indeed , by seme honest and vigorous cheers , he . threw expediency and conventionality to the winds , and asserted that no man was fit to be a political leader who was not prepared at once , and at all times , to give a clear and nnmistakeable meaning to his words 1 that the deception which sought to veil their meaning r / as hollow and treacherous ; and that its apparent unanimity would be destroyed at the first honest discussion .

      Some one on the platform reminded him of the arrangement . Mr . Roberts went on . He had been no party to any arrangement ; he never would be » partv either to a lie or to the wilful suppression of truth . He was there to deliverhis political faith , a point upon which he was determined there should be no mistake or doubt . He chose it to be understood , in defiance of tho odium and ill-will that might follow the avowal , that whit he : meant by M political freedom / ' and " sane men of twenty-one years of age , " was the Charter—tha whole

      Charterthe Charter to which porsecution had given sanctity —the Charter by ita honoured namet and in its unmotilaied dignity and glory . The intended amalgamation was spoilt—" split harl togither . " Mr . Roberts is a dangerous man for a work of deceptioD ,-or one looking like deception . They who contemplate oae should never employ him . Even as a lawyer , he wonld fail in the lying parts . He is apt to become enraged when he finds out the deception ; and more than twice in his life has been heard to swear most lustily . Some say , indeed , that he is tamer now than he used to be .

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      £ The biographer who has undertaken to furnish ns with the Memoir of Mr . Roberts , writes to say tiat in consequence of tiat gentleman's constant empl oyment in his professional capacity as advocate of the . Miners during the last week , ha has applied in vain for dates , facts , and circumstances which Mr . Roberts promised to furnish . We are therefore compelled to reserve the concluding portion tUl our next . 3

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      THE NEW FACTORY BILL . In another part of this sheet will be found an abstract of the provisions of the New Factory Bill , introduced to the Honse of Commons by the Hove Siorbtabt of State , on behalf of the Government To that abstract we beg to call the attention of the Factory workers , as it most intimately concerns them . In it they will find , shortly set forth , the purpose and intent of each clause of the new Bill ; and some of them are of vast importance , calculated , as they are , to affect most seriously ( for good , we believe ) a great proportion of Factory "hands . "

      The proposed Bill is it a decided improvement upon the existing Act . Of this , we opine , there cannot be two opinions amongst those subjected to Factory labour . Their exertions have been too great , and too long-continued , to admit of a doubt as to ihelr strong desire to regulate the working of machinery , and to have the labourer" that attends it in some wise protected from the many evils that its unrestrained operation has inflicted , of which

      tie most prominent one is long hours . The two principles of regidai&n . and protection are embodied in this Bill , as they were in tie last ; but the new Bill ib calculated to remedy glaring defects in the existing Act , which defects make it almost inoperative , and thus ineffective ; it is , therefore , for these reasons and considerations alone , worthy ef the hearty support of the manufacturing operatives .

      Tie New Bill , moreover , takes three steps in advance ; and most important pteps they are : important to the working people . The first step is contained in clause 10 , which prohibits the working of vfOHEi * of any age * in a Factory more than twelve hours a day . This is a great step . It directly recognizes tie right of Parliament to interfere to pkotect ADULT labourers ; a right denied by the M<husian . Free-Trado Economists of the day : and the proposal for such interference by a Government wiose predelictions are well known to be in favour of tie / r ^ -syEtem , is eridence overwhelming of . the xzcEssin and justice of the step . It is notorious

      that the operation of the Factory System , whilo / re « aud unrestrained , has been to displace the man ; the husband and the father ; and to employ , in his stead , the vnfe and the daughter ^ because the labour of these conld be had al a cheaper rate . It is as notoriousrthat tie hours of labour to these " cheap" labourers , have been monstrously" longf far beyond what nature could endure , without evil of both a physical and moral kind ; and , under these cirenmstances , the Government very properly propose to step in with the law , to rsoTECr the hapless slaves to an overwhelming system ; and to say that evenjiDULT vfOMEK shall not be absolutely worked to deati .

      Of the necessity for the proposed provision , judge from the following extracts from the Factory Inspectors Reports , just presented to Parliament The Inspectors are men charged with the execution of the present Act . Their duties necessarily bring them into contact with both the employers and the employed . They have full opportunities of seeing the system in full operation j and of judging of the effect of unrestrained labour upon the physical and moral well-being of the . Factory-dependant population . From thdr class-associations , it is impossible to predicate of them nndne leanhig to the workers . Their portion , too , enables them to speak of the defects and omissions in the present law and all these reasons combined , make their testi of weightand entitled to consideration i \< £ wi

      mony , . M * v « j v . * a » , uuu guktucu ( rv b ^ uoiucIttUUili Here , then , is that testimony . May it have its due effect upon the legislature , who are called upon to legislate for the evils so Btrikingly pointed ont i In the October Report of Lbonabd Hojujbb , Esq . addressed to the Home Secretary of State , he ests : — : " I have reason to fear that „ there is a great deal of illegal over-working ; that isthat many under

      , eighteen years of sge are worked more than twelve hours a day . In _ many mills they avowedly rrork more than twelve hours , turning out all under o ^ nteen , a sufficient number above that a ^ e remaining to worka part of the . machinery ; but in many nails the precaution of not allowing any under eighteen to remain is too imperfectly attended to , or entueJy omitted , unless when the inspecting officer ib known to be near at hand .

      ^ should only repeat what I . have said in former reports were I to state tie difficulties which stand in the way of effectually pntting a stop to theBe evil practices . I wal only now advert to the two which are most frequently met wjfch . The one arises from the evasions so easily practised by alleged stoppages from accidents to the machinery , | ime lost by this cause being allowed to be made npj the other from the danger whici the ^ workpeople run of losing their atnations if ?

      hey give evidence against their em ploy ers . Until an alteration of the . law takes away * he power of making up time lost hy acoidents , sod enables the visiting officer io obtain evidence without bringing forward the workpeople , it will not be possible $ 0 check fraudulent over-working ; which , besides being injurious , to tie workers , is felt as a great grievance by the honest mill-owners who obey the law . " I recently investigated a case inj Manchester , in a large mill , where they are now employing workers above eighteen years of age , many of them

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      young women just arrived at that time of life , from half-past fire in tho morning until eight o ' clock at night , with no cessationfrom work except a quarter of an hoar for breakfast and three-quarters of an hour for dinner ; so that these persons having to be out of bed at five in the morning , and not getting home till half-past eight at night , may fairly be said to labour fifteen hours and a half out of the twentyfour . A theorist may say that these people are old enough to take care of themselves ; but practically THERE CAN BB NO SUCH THING AS FREEDOM OF LABOUR , WHEN , FJROM THB BEDtrNDANCT OF POPULATION , THEBB IS SUCH A COMPETITION FOR BMPLOWtENT .

      w Twelve hours' daily work is more than enough for any one ; but however desirable it might bethafc excessive working shoHld be prevented , there aro great difficulties in the way of legislative interference with the labour of adult men . The case , however , is very different as respects women ; for not only are they muoh less free agents , but they are physically incapable of bearing a continuance of work for the same length of time as men , aad a deterioration of their health is attended with far more injurious consequences to society . The substitution of female for male labour , which has increased to so great an extent of late years , is attended with the worst consequences to the social condition of the working classes , by the women being withdrawn from domestic duties ; and diminished comforts at borne have the most corrupting influence upon the men . All

      these evils are much aggravated , when the women are worked so excessively that their life mast be passed between the workshop and bed . The subject has been repeatedly mentioned to me by some considerate and humane mill-owners , whe know the evils of such a system , and wish to see it put down ; and they have urged me to represent to the Government the propriety and necessity of preventing , by law , that women of any age should work more than twelve hours a day . It would render illegal over-working far moro difficult ; and in those mills where the eccnpier desired to work more than twelve hours , adult men would be employed , who are now either idle or doing the work of full-grown children . There is at present a ve > y anomalous stale of things in regard to wages in some departments of cotton mills in Lancashire ; FOB

      THEBE AB 3 HTJNDBED 3 OF YOUNG MEN , BETWEEN TWEUTY AND THIBTT YBABS OF AGE , IN THE FULL VIGOUR OF LIFE , EMPLOYED AS HECEBS AND OTHERWISE , WHO ARE RECEIVING NOT MORE THAN JEIOUT ob nine SHiLLiMGS a week ; while vnder the same roof , children of thirteen years of age are getting five shillings , and young women between sixteen and twenty , are getting from ten to twelve shillings a week . . " One way in which Borne unscrupulous millowners COSTR 1 VE TOjDiET HORB THAN TWELVR HOURS ¦» r /\ T »¦* orr * f * At ? * r « m > rtj npnt » ru re Au mtttiiirt *\ tr& *\ nm *

      of the mealtimes required to be given by law , and employing the yo » ng hands to clean the machinery at those times , iu . place of stopping the machinery for that purpose during the twelve hours , as is done in well-regiilated mills . Mr . Bea . 1 recently laid an information for this offence against Messrs . Livsey and Co ., of Rochdale ; they were convicted , but the magistrate fined them only ten shillings . Mr . Da vies laid an information against Mr . Georgo Ormerod , of Oldiam , for illegally working young persons more than twelve hours a day ; he admitted the offonca and was fined three guineas . "

      In tie January Report thepamegentleman retuinB to the question of over-working , and states : — " During the dull state of trade that prevailed from 1838 to ths latter part of 1842 , there was comparatively little temptation to evade the restrictions which the law imposes on the hours of work ; but the change that has taken place in the last twelve months has shown , that the number is not small ef those who have no scruple in transgressing those limits , and in resorting to & 11 eorts of expedients for that purpose . The law prescribes that none under 18 years of age shall work more than twelve hours a

      day , and that all euoh persons shall have an hour and a half daily for their meals . The honest mill occupiers strictly obey the law in both respecta ; and it is very bard upon them that others in the same trade , and selling in the same markets , should be able by subterfuges to evade both these enactments with impunity ; for even a moderate encroachment , if it amounts to but an hour a week , is an important eon ' sideration . I have again aud again represented the difficulty of checking these malpractices , from the want of adequate provisions in tho Act , and must refer to my former Reports .

      M Connected with the subject of over-working , I am desirous of again drawing your attention to the suggestion of some mill owners , stated in my last Report , that no female of any age should be allowed to work more than twelve hoars a day . I visited one night in November , a mill in Manchester , i where I suspected the law to be violated ; I saw somo young persona under 'eighteen years of age , under suspicious cirenmstances , bnt no more ; in that mill , however , ! young women of eighteen , nineteen , aud twenty years of age work from six in the morning to nine at night , without even leaving the mill , even for

      their meals , the engine going on all day without stopping . The frames are stopped , I was told , wben they take their food , but how long did not appear . Sach a prohibition would , from all I have been able to learn , be approved of by a great majority of mill owners , —by all , of course , ¦ who think twdvo hours a day quite work enough for a strongman ; and it would operate as a premium upon male labour , — an effect which every one would rejoice in , who has had an opportunity of knowing the evil consequences that attend the withdrawal of women to so great an extent from domestio occupations . "

      The evils so forcibly depicted by Mr . Hobneb have not alone engaged his attention . Mr . Robert J . Saunsers , in his October Report , says : — K Some of the manufacturers engaged in the trade assure me but for the operation of tie Factory Act it would be fearful to contemplate what would be the effect of the present state of things on young persons , and children , and the cruelty that would nave been practised toward those who could not protect themselves . ' The justice of such observations is fully borne out by tho conduct of several mill occupiers towards those who are just beyond the ages protected by the present law . ''

      " While , the manufacturer required only a portion of the hands / who were seeking employment , ha could choose from among them the young persons and children who wero evidently of the required age Again , while he could produce from his machinery in a fewer number of hours , than those prescribed for the employment of young persons , all the goods for which he could find a market , he was not tempted to put forth every kind of plea , supposed to be authorised by the Act , for recOveriag- ' iiine said to be lost , or to employ all those persons who call themselves eighteen years old , for more than twelve hours .-

      " The , extraordinary activity of the worsted trade , has , however , put an end to this state of things ; and I am constrained , after the most careful investigation in many cases , to declare , that while tie legal evidence , is much too weak to justify a prosecution , I entertain a strong moral conviction that fraud to a great extent is practised in many cases . I feel convinced persons of all ages are employed more than the restricted hours , under the plea of recovering lost time , beyond what was contemplated by the Factories' Act , to the injury of the upright and conscientious mill occupiers ; and that there is no remedy for this , but a further restriction on the pleas under which a mill is to be permitted to . work

      over-time ; not allowing any recovery of time for accidents ; and also bv making the provisions on the subject more clear and distinct . ' I am equally well satisfied that persons are employed as adults , for very long hours , physically unfit for the work they are called upon to do , and often unwillingly on their part . In this remark I refer principally to females , who have Just completed the age of eighteen . . " 1 hare seen many such employed for thirteen , foarteen , or fifteen hours a day . In one mill I found several who bad been employed for some weeks with

      an interval of only a . few days ( when , as one witness said , * they found the weather too hot' ) , from Six o ' clock in the morning until twelve at night , less two hours for meals ; thus giving them , for five nights in the week , only six Sours out . of the twenty-fotir to go to and from their homes and to obtain rest in bed . Some of these were employed in a room at a high temperature . What constitution can stand against such labour ! Its effeots ¦ may not-immediately bo seen on all , but the evidence of every medical man I have consulted pro--nounces it must result in the most serious consequences to them in . after-life . ¥

      . These and other circumstances all concur in inducing me to urge for protection to females to at least the : age or twenty-one . The propriety of excluding femalea of any ago from nigbt-work , " and from working over-houre , has been pressed upon mo in many quarters . J have hitherto been unwilling to . interfere with adult labour ; but I should < be gnilty of a neglect of duty if I did not submit ibis proposal to theserious consideration of Government and the Legislature . It is not the least among the advantages of such a regulation , that it would encourage the employment of a greater number of male adults where night-work is profitable "

      . Mr , Howell , in his December Report , states : —1 " In some departments of the woollen manufacture great activity prevails , and the labour of the adult has been prolonged to fourteen or fifteen hours daily ; I have seen women who are employed without any respite for rest or refreshment from six a . m . to nine r-. M . " . Now surely there is a case strong ^ enough to carry the verdict of condemnation even in the Legislature , tie membera of wbich lare so tremblingly alive to tie dangers and inconveniences of interfering with adult labour ; but who take good care to get dE 6 O , O 00 , C 0 O a-year taxation out of the labourers circumstanced as above detailed . If eo , then the condition of the women employed in mills will be in

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      eomo degree bettered ; and the priuoiple of interference will have- been adopted , which , if it works well as far as it goes , can easily be extended . Another decided improvement in the New Bill , is the prohibition of all over-working , under the specious pretence of making up lost time . Should the provisions of the Bill pass , no Mill or

      Factoryowner or occupier will be permitted to make up lost time , unless , the mill be moved by water-power alone ; and then only under certain restrictions . This is a great step . The evils of the present system are so forcibly depicted in the extracts given from the Inspector's reports , thai it is unnecessary to say more than that the remedy for those evils seems to be provided .

      Then it will be found that some great difficulties in tho way of giving aad obtaining " evidence , " are , by the new Bill , removed . 'The Inspectors can now be witnesses themselves ; and other provisions are made , whioh will , in a great measure , prevent the defeating of justice , by the employe ; operating on the fears , or on the cupidity , of those he employs . Moreover , there are the requiremenlst . s , to fencingoff machinery , and the giv g of the Inspectors power to bring actions for compensation , should

      accidents arise from carelessness or inattention to the requirements of the Act . Hero too , is involved a most important principle ; the principle of regulation and protection . Should injury arise from nonproleoiion , comtensation is to be awarded . Is not that an improvement ? Is the recognition of that principle of no value 1 Most assuredly it is . How many lives have been lost ; how many limbs torn off ; how innumerable the injuries inflicted , from

      gross inattention to the requirements that common prudence suggested for comparative safety to life and limb : and the injured left without remedy , a burden to their relatives or friends , or thrown into the Poor-Law-Baa tile to eke out a miserable and Joyless existence . A power to oompal the guarding of dangerous portions of machinery to prevent bucq calamities ; and to enforoe compensation to the sufferer when they do occur from sheer neglect , will surely be of advantage .

      : But though we have thus far spoken of the New Bill in terms of praise , and deemed it to be worthy of support , far be it from us to be understood as passing unqualified commondation on it . Though it is good as far as it goes , it is far from going far enough in some respects ; and goes sadly too far in others . The admission of children of eight years of age , to work at : Factory labour is decidedly wrong . It is true that children front nine to thirteen , can now be worked eight hours a-day ; and that the proposal is that children from eight to thirteen shall only work six-and-a-half houre a-day . Still that does not remove the objection . A child of

      eight years certainly ought not to work at all ; much less in a Factory , amid the din , and the unholy associations there abounding . Such a child ought to beat homb , or at school ; where the limbs are at liberty to duly form , and tho powera and faculties of the future man or woman , duly , develope themselves . How can this be , in a Factory , breathing a vitiated atmosphere ; and exercising and straining particular members of the body , while the others keep at rest , in an unnatural or constrained position : and this , too , wben the bones are scarcely formed ; when the limbs are supple , and the whole frame greatly liable to derangement 1

      Are children so treated likely to keep up the physical stamina of the race 1 And are we to call upon them to labour for us , to the manifest injury and detriment of posterity , as well as ef the helpless infanta themselves ? We have no suohj right . Children ought not to be allowed to labour until that age and growth is attained when

      laboub will bo of advantage to the bodily frame itself . For these reasons , then * we enter our protest against the proposal to doom infants , at eight years of age , to the labours and horrors of Factory life , even though it be for " only" six hours a-day An increase to the powers of produoing wealth is a rare blessing , when our infant population has to be saeriSced to make its productions " cheap" !

      The proposal , too , to permit women to be worked twelve hoars a-day , exclusive of meals , is highly objectionable . The time is far too long . In effsct it will be a Fifteen hours Bill ; if we only allow three hours for meals , and for going to and from the Factory . What a boon ! O I tis a merciful dispensation , To ba the booniof a bankrupt nation ! May it never compel our beloved noblesse To drink a cap of champagne the less (

      Still , even this is something . It is a beginning and if " more" cannot now be afforded , we must wait a little longer , until power ia obtained by the people to make the principles here involved really operative for good ; really pbotectivh . At the same time , we must iuform the reader that efforts will be made in Committee on this Nsw Bill to render it much more effective than the Government proposal . Lord Ashley has given notice to propose a ten-hours' clause ; and Mr . Stuart Wortley has signified his intention to move that the twelve

      hours in the clause as it now stands shall include the time for meals . Should either ot these motions be successful ths measure in that particular will be vastly improved . We hardly dare speculate on the chances for such success . True , Mr . Wortley occupies a most icfluential position . He is son to a Cabinet Minister ; he represents the most important constituency in the kingdom ; his proposal is a fair one , —not at all objectionable : should Government not oppose him , but rather acquiesce in it , it may be successful : and if so , a great point is gained .

      For these reasons , then , we without hesitation pronounoo the New Factory Bill to be a decided improvement upon the present act ; though far from what it ought to be—what the claims of bare humanity and justice require . Should the proposals meet with opposition from the Malthusans ; from those who wish to have iabovr free to be plundered ; those who resolutely set the face againgst all protection- ; should those interfere , and try to prevent the passing of the measure with the small additional protection it contains and would bestow ; should this be the case , we call upon the workers

      to . rally their force , and prevent the success of the enemies of xabour . This is a labour question . Every labourer , of every kind or description , is deeply interested in it . The principle o ! protection to labour is involved ; is at stake . If it be right to protect the Labour of the Factory woman * it is also right to protect the labour of the Farming-MAN . Establish the principle in the one ease ; and you make a precedent for the other . All are interested ; not one more than the other ; and the defeat of the present measure , should opposition be given , would be a blow to labour altogether .

      This blow the labourers must prevent . And while they do this , steps should also be taken to make the measure more effective , and more valuable than it now is . This would be done by the adoption of Lord Ashley ' s on Mr . Stuart Wortlev ' s amendment ; and we trust that we shall see either one or the other incorporated .

      The consideration of the Bill comes on in " the House" on Friday night next , when it goes into Committee ; the first and second readings having passed almost without ; observation . In Committee the fight will be made , if there is one : and we shall soon learn whether the Anti-Protectionists will dare to oppose a measure recommended by such high con * eiderafcions and reasons as this New Factory Bill is .

      The Reports of th <* Factory Inspectors contain some other matters of serious import , which we shall on another , occasion advert to . Toe present State of Trade is there pictured forth ;¦ and some facts ate given , of immense importance , bearing , as they , do , on the question of "Extension of . Commerce , " and demonstrating , as they do , the workman ' s portion of the greatest Extension we have had ! We purpose next week to put the reader in possession of those fa ) ts .

      Untitled Article

      thousand threee hundre d , and fifty pounda . No ; not three thousand three hundred and fifty , —which the reader would call small , for the amount of service performed ; bat the whole expense falls shon of three hundred and forty pounds . Need we nay more ! Yes , a word . The Thornley case alone where six men , the solicitor , and gaoler had to be taken 300 miles and back by train , cost nearly one * half of the whole amount . Here , then , is one entire body—a large aad most important body of labourers wbich can boast that the whole of its legal expenses

      for four months , amounts to something lees than , a sixth part of one week ' s receipts of the Irish Repeal Rent ! With this we dose oar commentary for the present , assuring the . Collier drones , that as long as we have power to interfere they never shall sting the Collier bees with im . punity . We tell the Colliers , and without fear of contradiction , that the masters would subscribe the sum of jg 20 jOO 0 in one hour ; , to set bid of Roberts ; and in the exact proportion to their hate , should be the men's affection . There ia a Judas in the camp somewhere \ and if good watching , unremitting

      attention , and strict justice can accomplish it , he will be crucified , as sure as he is a living man . Let the idlers TAKE A COLLIERY OF THEIR OWN . ' OR ESTABLISH A CO-OPERATIVB STORE , if that be their taste : but let them not seek the rain of thousands and hundreds of thousands , as the f jundatioa of their fstore temple . To the working Colliers we say , be firm , be wise , be watchfol , ba prudent , and be just : but , above allthings , be united , and fear not . The law of the land will protect yon against the injustice of your tyrants ' : and to deprive you of that law ' s protection is now the aim and object of your open foes , and false friends .

      Untitled Article

      THE CARRION . We would have gladly waited until the whole pack had barked over the carrion which , daring th » two past weeks , has been the sole object of their attention . Finding , however , that the growl is still kept up , and likely to be continued for God knows how long , we feel ourselves constrained to comment upon the struggle for the mess as far it has gone The question as propounded , by Lord JohnRosseu was narrowed into a comparatively small compass ; but in reality , even the range taken by the widest of all the orators who have since followed tho

      Noble Lord in the debate falls short of the real limits which the tyranny of both factions has established for the government of Ireland . We pass over the interludes introduced for tke display of juvenile orators , and come at once to the astounding , the electrifying , speech of Serjeant Wilds , with which the debate was elosed on Wednesday morning , We attach but trifling importance to the lamentations of the Whigs for the loss of power occasioned by their own servility to those parties to whose patronage , during their unhappy sway , Ireland was consigned : neither do we notice the undefined

      terms of altered policy by whieh their ' Tory successors propose to govern . In the mist of debate , the grand question of patronage must not be lost sight of . It is the Hamlet of the piece . Every , grievance , —with the single excep tion of the possession of patronage by a few Catholics , who were satisfied to selTtkeir country for a mess of pottage , —now complained of , was in as full and stinging force during the whole period of Whig misrule as at the present moment . To their lewd and unscrupulous use of patronage , as we have before asserted and now repeat ; , the Whig party exclusively owes its downfal .

      Wholly regardless of past and oft-made professions ; regardless of the principles upon which they weia raised to power ; reckless as to the mode of using that power ; and acting in entire and insolent defiance of petitions , remonstrances , and _ appeals against their unconstitutional conduct , they lost by perfidy and deceit what they had accomplished by promise and resolution ; and they would now regain that lost position , not upon contrive repentance for the past and promised improvement of Ireland for the future , but upon the mere extortion , of that system of corruption by which we hare shown they before accomplished the ruin of their party . .

      Wild in theory ; loud In professions of , ' justice ; and strong in the hope of Irish support , they have selected the most irritating ~ topics for discussion and complaint ; while they have left untouched the master grievance , \ est its removal should weaken their Irish patronage . The Whigg , anymore than the Tories , have neither the : intention « the inclination , or the desire to remove one single Irish grievance—the continuance of which augments patronage ; while they have the base effrontery to parade those grievances as the means of acquiring power .

      We have characterised the . speech of Serjeant Wilde no otherwise than-- it deserves . It was searching , cutting j and unanswerable ; a torrent of indignant eloquence , levelled against the recen . prosecutions ^ in Ireland . But then it was the speech of the .. Whig Solioitor- {? eneral ; and every , even the harshest , word 0 ^ criticism , censure or reproaoh was equally applicable , nay , more so , to tha prosecutions of the English Chartists by that Government of which the Learned Gentleman was the Solicitor-General ! iThe ; compliments paid to Sir Frederick Pollock for" hfe- comparatively wild treatment of Chartist prisoners , has been seized bj

      the oppo 3 Ue ; . side as proof r of the usual practice of Government in such cases j . while the fact appears to be losfc-sight of , that Sir Frederick Pollock has had thp . oilP ^ tunity of but one display , while the latter years . of Whiggery , were characterised bj the most cruel , bloody , sanguinary , and unremitting persecution of the very poorest 6 F the poor I Ye «) their vengeance was even recked upon youthS ) upon cripples , and upon idiots ! AU was Chartist fish that caitie to the net- ; ' and who so Iustilj assisted in the fiaurf as the IrisH patriots , who nofl cry " shame , " when caught in the snares that thej themselves have set 1 - .

      Where is the Irjsk name of all that ready-force at the-command of Whiggery , and now bristling np against-Tory persecution , to be found in tie short list 6 if those who raised their voices when thrpeopls of England suffered under Whig oppression , aud whose silence was purohased byihat balm for every Irish wound—" Patronage . " "We 1 have taken our ttand against the Irish trialg rnbt because they wera marked by any peculiar features of atroeity ; ^ because we are averse to leading ourselves- to thd destruction of liberty , or to the establishment of dangerous and unconstitutional precedent ' s , ' , Appeals fervid appeals ; have been made to the English people on behalf of the Irish Victims j and those appeals ,

      when the -time of interference , conies , will l > a cheerfully responded to , by rendering " good for evilA Those who would rouse English indignity have . told the people to , beware how they ' allow a dangerous , precedent to be established in Ireland whftsh may be brought to bear ; against Eng lish liberty . TJiey appear M ^ ORG ^ r ? Hovbemer , that ih * . precedent upon , which ihe Irish , haveners have been found *? guMy" was established in England ; and not onlyiwitji tfie concurrence ; but with the assistance , of thepresent opmplaina . nts . ' ' [ . > . .. . . _ >; That such is the fact there can be no doubt ; and most ; tremendously waa the fact , used . -by tha Ifk& Attorney-General , in hi 3 Jreply . to , the speech of Si ' Thomas-Wilde . Speaking of the charges made by the late Whig SoLiciTdR > GMNBBAt , he said : —

      ' ¦ Evan he however , does nok assert thai ; ; the mdement , though . atrajned , is not * valid in J > 01 Bt ° ; law , although I may observe that his statement ° i the indtctine , n ^/ wa 8 , iiot accurate . He would have had tUe-House believe that some of the counts were con ! pne , d ; to meetings to excite discontent ; an d oisat * feojaon , lineris is ,,, in truth , no , such count ; tns shortest Count ^ reidtina ia a branch of the consp iracy .

      is-formed in its very words upon a PREGjj l ^ iN 1 prepared by " the , law officers of the Igte . adminis ' tration-r- ( loud cheers , } , It ,: . m * y be . seen w » case reported by , Carrington and Payne ; bat iej » it should not there , have been quite accuratelypr " ^ I : wrote to Mr . Maide ., thesoiioitqc to the Treasury ! and asked him to furnish , me with a maau 3 orjp * copy of it from the record . ; Ife did so , and if for * « any straining of tke law in it , be it never forgotten that it was verbatim et literatim the very count «?/>»«»

      The Northern Star Saturday, February 24, 1844.

      THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY , FEBRUARY 24 , 1844 .

      Untitled Article

      TREMENDOUS EXPLOSION OF A COAL .-| PIT CONSPIRACY . We had proceeded at some length with a commentary upon the important proceedings of the Birmingham ] Carpenters , with reference to the direct position now assumed against them ! by man ' s greatest enemy- 'Machinery . ( as at present applied ) , a brief sketch of which appeared in our last number ]; when , if not a more important , at least a more urgent , case for notice jumped upon us : we allude to tho now-proved , openly-exposed , tyranny , cruelty , injustice , and illegality of the "Coal Kings , " and those magistrates who have been found ready instruments in their hands .

      From time to time we have faithfully reported and ' commented upon the gigantic undertakings of the Miners' Association , and the important legal triumphs achieved by their advocate , Mr . Roberts . Not wishing to believe too rashly of man , we fell into the common error , in the outset , of ascribing Mr . Roberts's legal victories to the mere omission of technical forma in the necessary documents . As cases multiplied , however , and as the legal objections varied considerably in their character , we were led to a closer scrutiny of the whole question ; and the result Of oar more mature deliberations is this : — not that the several warrants and committals have been deficient in legal form , but . that the magistrates had no jurisdiction in any single case

      bt ought by the masters against their men . In fact , both magistrates and masters have not only acted illegally , but have acted without any , the slightest , colourable power . It may serve the purpose of both to assert that their proceedings have been set aside by three Justices of the Queen ' s Bench , apon mere technical grounds ; but we tell them that it is only because the Judges of the land confined themselves strictly to matters brought before them , that they owe the little consolation that they may for a little longer derive from the false hope , that , because convicted of ignorance only , they are therefore guiltless of the more serious charges ; and to which , when preferred against them , ignorance , their present shield , will furnish but an imperfect and unsatisfactory defence .

      It is not our province te forewarn tyrants who have not only violated existing law , but who have endeavoured to establish law , suited to every emergency ; but it is our province and our duty to forewarn those who may be victims to the conspiracy , and who mayibe sufferers from its snecess . Whoever heard of Labour assuming a position for its own defence that it has not been assailed directly or indirectly by the enemies of its order ? We have never dreaded the assaults of Capital against Labour , if IJiaboor was true to itself : but we have dreaded , because we have felt , the effects of

      idle labour against industrious labour I We have never heard of a movement of the working classes that has failed , whose failure cculd not be traced , not to the power of Capita ] , but to the treachery of Labour . We ! write in this strain , ia consequence of recent articles that have appeared in the Manchester and Liverpool papers , relative to the combination and consequent prospects of the Miners ; and also in consequence of well-founded suspicions , that the masters have been for some time endeavouring to effect by fraud , that purpose which they have failed to accomplish by the terror of the law . A

      handbill ; a most atrocious , villanous , and rascally handbill ; an anonymous handbill , has been recently transmitted to us , wbiob , had it not been for the wisdom , the prudence , and the discretion of tho Miners' Delegates assembled at Durham on Friday , Saturday , and Monday last , and whose business being over in the cabinet , had again to return to their daily toil i we say , that had it not been for the timely interference of those real workers , the document to whioh we refer , and which we affirm was the joint concoction of masters and colliers who are too idle to work and too poor to live

      without labour , was pre-eminently calculated to effect that purpose for which it was intended ,-r-the total destruction of the Minerb Association , and tho inevitable prostration of the colliers . Early in the conflict we directed attention to the importance attached by the masters to that period of time between the Christmas holidays , and the signing of the bond for [ the forthcoming year . We affirmed that in proportion to the importance attached to the new contract , would be the devices for ensuring a tame submission upon the part of the men , to any terms that the tyrants might choose to dictate .

      What opportunity so favorable could have presented iteelf then , whereon to establish this onesided contraotffor another year , as that whioh the failure , the total failure , of the machinery for perfecting the union would have presented 1 In every revolution , the moment of confusion , disaster , SUSPICION , doubt and dismay , is seized upon by the enemies of Labour as the fitting time for binding their slaves to ( their will , when weakened by distrust in their fellow , slaves . We shall take no further part in this new wejl-exposed piece of villiany , further than to use it as a wholesome warning , not only to the

      colliers , but to all classes of labour . When bad men conspire , good men must combine ; and therefore it becomes our pleasing duty in corroboration of the united opinion of more than one hundred delegates unequivocally expressed at Durham , to set forth what has been effected by the Colliers ' Union , and the trifling expence at which their many victories have ! boon achieved . Two colliers have been ably defended at Cocker mouth , in Cumberland , and though convicted and sentenced to heavy punishment , a writ of error has been obtained , and the justice of law will liberate those whom injustice had doomed to incarceration . Five hundred men were ably defended at Durham , and the six convicted and imprisoned were liberated , wholly through the

      sagaoity and perseverance of their advooafce ; Three Miners were incarcerated in Stafford Gaol , and were liberated through tho same instrumentality . Four were incarcerated at Preston and were liberated uponjtbe whistle of the fiteam-engine announcing the ] approach of the train bearing the locomotive Miners' Advocate . Seven men were incarcerated in Manchester , and were also liberated . Nine men frojii St . Helens had been a fortnight in the Prescot lock-up , and upon Mr . Roberis ' s arrival were instantly liberatfid . Two more are at hard labour in the Knutsford tomb ; and before the pregent number of the Star reaches itB destination , they too , it is oxpeoted , will be on their way to their homes . Indeed upon this subject we have jast received the followin g ; letter from Mr . Roberts : —

      Dear Sir—If my biographer should disappoint you ia the remainder of my memoir , you , muat ascribe the delay to me , and I feel assured that your readers will pardon it when they fearn that "f have been engaged every hour of the past week in blowing up a conspiracy , whioh had it not bsen for tlie prudence and virtue oL the vrotking . Colliers , would have annihilated every fragment of their glorious union . I leave Durham at nooti to-day , to be at Prescot , in Lancaahiio , to-morrow morning , to

      liberate nine men illegally incarcerated there . 1 leave Presoot on Tuesday night , and on Wednesday morning shall apply to ; i * Judge for a writ of Habeas Corpus for two of my client 3 now kept at hard labour in Knutsford Gaol . On Saturday I shall have them in . Court , and by that night ' s train I trust tbey will be on their road home . This is the only excuse that Icanoffar for not furnishiBg the biographer with the dates and facts which he says are necessary for the completion of the notice . ¦ I am , dear sir , yours truly , W . P . Roberts .

      In addition to what wo bave before recounted , Mr . Robbrts last week gained a most important and decisive victory at South Shields , over the Jarrow * masters . iWe do not speak of the many other battlesthat he hasfought and won , and of the incalculable advantages that the mea have derived from bis advocacy . We do not mention'the altered tone of submission of the tyrantW and thi ; altered attitude 01 independence of the " Colliers . , No i'Jjjiey are too numerous and striking to admit ofdetaUad narration . But we may state one fact , because % e have learned it from the damnable document . 3 | fj 8 this . The whole expense—the legal expensesVand travelling expenses , from Mr . Roberts ' s appointment , up to the close of the past year , including a period of nearly four months , amounts to only three

      Untitled Article

      4 THE NORTHERN STAR . February 24 , 1843 .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Feb. 24, 1844, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1253/page/4/