On this page
- Departments (2)
-
Text (7)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
tforeign ZfateUitpnte.
-
THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1844.
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
WRAHCR . Frightful Vbtzatios . —We hare given in another eolnmn , someacconnt of the disasters at Cette , but that acconnt appears to have been anything but perfect in its detail of these sad disasters . The following more accurate statement is contained in a letter from Cii-e , dated the 22 nd nit . — A frightful misfortune has this afternoon plunged on * "whole popniation into a state of consternation and d ^ rspadr . About fonr o ' clock an electric water-Bpout ffll upon the town , and committed such ra-Ta £ e =, that at the present moment it might be sapcosed that the town had been submitted to all the horrors of a siege . This terrible phenomenon , which arrived in the direction of the Fortress of St . Pierre ,
fikmed the mole in its whole length , and when it came epposite the engineers' establishment , attracted probably by the oondnctor and the zino roof of the house , it turned ronnd the edifice , and at last fell with violence upon it . At the same moment a violent siplosion was heard , and the whole population thought that its last hour was come . During two minutes space of time a terrific crash resounded in the axr . The roofs of the houses were smashed to pieces , and the fragments were carried to the mo 3 t oistsai part of the town , The buHding belonging to the engineers haa been entirely sacked , jib tine roof 'Was ca-rried tiff in the twinkling of an eye , and the vb la facade demolished asd razed to the ground , so that nothing now remains of it but the back and
side walls . Another house , four stories high / new and solidly huilt , belonging to M . Labaille , was literally crashed to the earth . In every apartment the separ&tion walls were destroyed , the windows torn out ; everywhere destructive traces have been left . Hever in the memory of man has so frightful a catastrophe been witnessed in our town . Alas ! however , we have still further misfortunes to narrate , A fearful iiinndation , joined at the same time its ravages to those of the electric waterspout . In an instant the waters of the canal rose and flooded file quays . It was a pitiable spectacle to see all the lighters loaded with wines torn into the current , driven one against the other , and then Bwallowed by ihe element . At least a doz-jn boats -were stmk in
She canal itself , and what was the most terrible is , that most of them had their crews on board . Some few Trere able to save themselves , the others have perished . It is supposed that nearly thirty have been carried down with their boats . Five or six large vessels have been completely wrecked , and remain with their keels uppermost . As to the lesser injuries done among the masts , rigging , Jtc , they are Innumerable . In the streets and on the quays are everywhere to be seen wounded wretches , some with" bloody heads , others with mutilated limbs . A body has just been < iug out of the ruins of the honse Belonging to the engineers . In front of the Cife de la Bourse , a merchant of this town , M . Francois Labatre , was crushed beneath the ruins of a hnge structure belonging to a party nf strolling
players , stationed at the extremity of the old bridge . Jper ? ons are missing in their families , and it b to be feared thatihey have perished in this awful storm . It is impossible to give any description of the feeling of terror produced in " the minds of the whole population . Persons are to be met with in every Btreet running to and fro demanding news of different members of their fam ? ies , and it is whk fear and trembling that each asks the other , " Is . there no one destroyed in your house ? " We are unable , from the lateness of the hour , to give any further detail ^ but those already given are exact , although a feeble picture of the horrors that surround us . At this moment a violent south-east wind is blowing . Grant heaven , thai we have not to give more wretched details to-morrow .
Mokb DfiEADrn . Stobms . —Violent storms continue to produce consider&bls ravages in the Sonth of France . In Marseilles the inundations were so great , that the water rose above the carriage wheels in the Etreets . In Toulouse a terrific storm visited the town on the 24 ' . h inst . At Avignon and other towns the Rhone , the Durance , and the Saone had overflowed , and committed considerable ravages .
SPAIN . The Journal des Desbats of the 24 th nit , publishes a summary of fine innovations on , or ( as they are termed ) reforms of the Spanish constitu- tion presented to the Cortes on the 18 » , hlnst . ' "We have received by extraordinary express from Madrid an analysis of the bill of reform of the Spanish constitution , presented to the Cortes in the Sitting of the 18 th of this month . We lay it before Onr readers without any further reflections : — H It is proposed in the first instance to snppress the preamble of the constitution of 1837 , aa offensive to Royalty , inasmuch as it is there expressed that it was the " nation assembled in Cortes extraordinary that decreed it , whilst , in fact , it was with the con- currence of Royalty that the Cortes were assembled and sammoned to constitute the fundamental law of the monarchy .
^ " The article respecting the institution of the Na- i lionaJ G-nards Is also suppressed and replaced by another , which declares that the Government haa i the power of organizing the national militia by ' localities , according to the necessities of the country ' and of public security , whenever it may be deemed advisable . . : ** The article that gives the Cortes the right of j assembling in the month of December every year , if not earlier convoked , 13 also suppressed , inasmuch as it insinuates that the executive power 13 capable of ¦ vi olating the constitution . . i
** The most important modifications concern the press , the Senate , and the marriage of the Queen . Political crimes and accusations against the press are no longer to be laid before the jury , which is only retained for non-political crimes and offences , ** The , Senators , instead of being elected at every reorganisation of the Chambers , are to be nominated for life and choaen bj ihe Crown . u The new article respecting the Queen ' s marriage Joes not oblige Her Majesty to demand beforehand the consent of the Cortes ; it only calls upon her to make tnovmher marriage before concluding it . A law will then regulate its conditions asd the position -of her husband . " |
" A letter from Madrid , " say 3 the Piri 3 Siecle—¦* ' which contains too many proper names to be published without inconvenience , affirms that Spain is infnll revolution . ' I do not know , ' says oar correspondent , * what day the conflict will commence but there certainly will be a battle . The Spaniards « onld not , in fact , without forfeiting the esteem ¦ which their national character has acquired , suff-r with impunity ihe insolent and ridiculous reae :-. oa Bought to be imposed upon them . A Bonaparte might effect an 18 . h Brumaire . to which a . n » tinn
might submit without abdicating their dignirv but that a Narvaez , aided by men all remarkable ior the insufficiency of their talents and the impotence of their character , shonld dare to say ;—Renounce 50 UT national sovereignty , which broke the chains forged by monkish and monarchial despotism ; give me unlimited authority to make laws by ordnance , and I answer for all—such conduct is intolerable ' odion 3 , and ab 3 urd . The Minister has , however ' pKsentftd his plan of reform , and is determined to Enpport it , if necessary , by military force . '"
Madrid , Oct . 20 . —Yesterday there were placards posted through the city in favour of Espatero and the population went so far as to shout in various quarters of the city , » Tiva la Constitution ' de 1837 J y muera 2 » abtaiz ! Much agitation was excited part of the garrison was under arms , and some arrestB were made . Psitaie betters jbom Madrid state that the Spanish . Government had received despatches from the frontier , announcing the arrest of several bpamsh officers of superior rank , who were preparing to commence a civil war in Spain It
appears likewise that Brigadier Lemerich had qait-1 ted TalLwlolad , and no trace of him had been disco- ' ¦ vered . It would seem that the plsn of a simultaneous insurrection had been formed in the provinces ' of Girona and Tarragona . Notwithstanding the capture of many of the chiefs , another dangerous personage , Qimtana de Ponte de Melina , had sue- caeded in crossing the French ftnnt ;« « m -i a ' actually en ^ ed ^ e l ^ lll ^ T ^^ surgents . The Government , in order to defeat the ! object of the insurgents , had ditched a riri ? ent of mfantry , fonn : n part of p £ ™* * » £ j
TBS&id : " osnmOj MMm **»** * «* £ to A letter from the frontiers of Catalonia of rt , iov insfc . states , that the movement mad ? 11 2 ?? Spanish refugees in the French detts wV ^ occasion to the greatest vigilance ffth . p ^ policealong the frontiers . 2 ? gL ££ L * £ »{* , Uth , were arrested Colonel Maruai , «? the chiefs of the list insurrection of Figneh-as- Miraii- « an ex-adminstrator of the finances ; and persons of the names of Parera , Endava , and Torrens ? At Limona , on the 14 th , Colonel Davont ; on the 15 bl at Karbonne , Cortadeillos , Calabra . Meriada , and Criado ; at Carcasonne , on the 16 lb , Yabregne ! All these refugees belong to the Centralist party . It was supposed that their purpose in clandestinely going over to the frontier was to effect a movement in Catalonia . Another refugee , of the name -of Jose Maria 1 T ^ * comrade of Larcmbe , and designated as a redoubtable party . chief , has ako been arrested at papejS ' n he had aiTiTed - wMwrot proper
m 0 mmm , * W )« o » - rtform " of 4 he coritiinfi 0 n !^ T h ^ 2 ^ ^ vppomtum to the measure is becoming morfaSd more marked every day . In the proving the a citement is Tery . great , and it was rmrt ^ f " Madrid , by the latest accounts , that af ^ ani Tuy , in Salhcia , an insiirrection had actHailv broken ont . Logronoisalso in a very distnrWrtate and General Oribe has been sent to take command in that district . At Yalladolid Eeveral pertons have been arrested by the Government for an alleged cmspiracy , the object of which was to proclaim the « on 6 fcitutioD of the year 1812 . It is difficult , how-
Untitled Article
erer , fojudge ^ rheth « r these arreo ts are the result of a real movenrtnt on the part of the people , or of more wanton violence on the part of the authorities . The French Government does every thing in its power to aid the cause of Absolutism . On the frontiers the strictest guard is kept , and every Spanish emigrant residing in the French frontier towns is either actually arrested , or plaeed under the butveUlance of the police . A letter from Barcelona , of the 22 nd , mentions that accounts have been received there of the arrest , by the French police , of Colonel Martel and nine other Spanish officers , on the borders of Catalonia .
The government appears to be afraid of some movement at Logrono , wheresevera ! arbitrary arrests and baniBhmeuts have lately taken place ; they want also to get hold of General Zarbano it iB B&id . Brigadier Oribe has left to-day to take the military command there , and takeB with him the Union Regiment of Infantry , of which he 13 Colonel , together with the Maria CnriBtina Regiment of Cavalry , and a battery of mounted artillery . A battalion of the In ! ante Regiment of Infantry has been sent to Cindad Real . In retnrn the regiment 3 of Gallaoia and BaUen are momentarily expected from the south .
The trial of the Expectador journal came on today at the Audiencia Court . The article which was denounced by the Crown prosecutor , was defended with great ability by Senor Qaievedo , a young advocate , and the journal waa finally acquitted by the jury , to the great satisfaction of a crowded court , the Crown fiscal being well hissed . The jury , as it was modified by a recent decree , is selected from householders possessing a very high property qualification ; but so decidedly liberal is the tendency of nearly all the citizen class , that the Government haa no other means of pntting down the press than that or doing away -with the jury sjstem altogether , as it is now trying to do . The above is from the Chronicle . The Times
Bays : — Lttters from Pampelnna represent the northern provinces of Spain as in a most threatening state . On every side it was said that Carlist refngees were constantly entering the Spanish territory in spite of the authorities . It was added that 25 , 000 muskets were ready to be introduced into Navarre , upon the breaking out of the first disorder . It was generally anticipated , that the two expected levies of eoldiers would prove the signal of events the consequences of which coald not be foretold when the present Btate of the dispositions taken by the Government was considered . A letter from Perpignan of the 19 : h states , that orders were given on that day for the formation of a cordon upon the frontiers . This measure , it was supposed , was connected with the movement and subseqaent arrest of several Spanish refugees upon the frontiers of Catalonia .
It appears that the news of the arrest which had taken place upon the frontiers of Catalonia of several influential persons attached to the Progresista party , had produced considerable sensation in Madrid , inasmuch as it gave a certain weight to the reports of an expected movement . The departure of General i Aymerich , formerly Governor of Madrid , from "V alladolid , had been also confirmed , and the Governj meat , for the purpose of preventing the existing I agitation from becoming more serious in old Cas-; tille , had sent two regiments of the garrison of Madrid in that direction . TURKEY .
I j Conbtaktixople , Oct . 9 . —In the night of the 2 nd of this month Pera , which has so often suffered by fire , was again visited by a great conflagration . The 1 fire broke out in the quarters built of wood , and i spread with great rapidity towards the north-west , j and was not got down till it had raged for ei * jht , hours . The great street of Pera owed it 3 safety ] chiefly to the long stone wall of the building belong-1 ing to the Russian Legation . The lowest estimate : makes tbo number of houses reduced to asheB 21 ) 0 , j the highest 400 . We need not wonder at the diti ference ; the streets and lanes , with few exceptions , i being without names , and all the houses without numbers . According to other letters , the fire which 1 destroyed the handsomest and richest houses in Pera ; was wilfully caused by the Turks . SWEDEN .
' ' I ' = j j ; ¦ ; : ! Letters from Stockholm state tbat the King of Sweden had demanded the authorization to concede ! to a foreign power , which is not named , and under ¦ most disadvantageous conditions , the island of St . : Bartholomew . In making this demand the King remarked that this colony was onerous Tather than ! useful to the resources of the country , and proposed j that nntil the Diet should have decided upon this t point , the island should be administered by the Department of the Finances instead of by the : Crown . St . Bartholomew is one of tho small ; Antilles Islands , situated to the north of Guada' loupe . It has a population of 5 000 inhabitants , : and its capital is Gustavia . Its port , which iB open ; to large vessels , is excellent . It has belonged to Sweden ever since 1794 , when it i ? as ceded to that i country by France .
c 1 hcass 1 a and georgia . Glorious Tictosies of the Mountaineers — Tabkiz Septesibeb 22—Letters from Tiflis of the 12 th of September , ¦ written by Armenian merchants established in Georgia , and commuDiwted to Mr . Bonham , British Consnl-General at Tabriz , announce that the campaign of the Russians against the mountaineers of DaRhestan is terminated for this year . The Commander-in-Chief , M . Neidhart , has returned to Tiflis , to tujoy some repose after the extreme fatigne of bis last exDec . itien . The following , in few words , is
! i ' j < I the result of the summer campai gn of 1844 : —The Russian Teiuforcements which arrived during the last | "winter in the Caacssns from Southern Rnssia amounted ' , to 30 . 000 men , commanded by General Luders . I Another Russian division , consisting of 20 , 000 men , -was tf « . Fpaiched from the Trans Caucasian provinces to ! attacV the left flank of the inBurj-tnts on the rivera ; Shir aa » nd Koisu . Before those troops bad arrived at ] the r ... e-aination , Schamyl quitted the district of Anden , I in ihs mountains of Daghestan , his ngnal place tf i TfefniTK - and xrit * i 50 ftnn mfln nrTnftVui -fs « fn * fM ) Bi * -. # ; refuseand -wjtb 20000 men attached- the fortress of
, , Chnriiab . The Russian garrison of this fortress being in -srunt of provisions made , sorties several and on the j third attempt to procure supplies , the mountaineers f-ntered the fortress pell-m ^ U with the Russians , and i Cri . osfc was captured . The strong fortress of Temir-C-- \ Etchusa met the Fame fate . The garrison , being i u ' ccbled by diBetse and hunger , and not being able to resist the assault of the Circassians sutr = cdtred at discretion to Scbamy ) . The latter removed the cannon and military stores ¦ which he found in those fortresses , destroyed the fortifications , ai ? d retired into the mountains . His lieutenants , ' Hudji-Murat and Hadji-Mollah , attacked -with a strong ; ho 6 y cf Lesghians the towns of Tarki and D < rchent , on
the borders of the Caspian Sea . Tarki was captured , plundered , and burnt . Dechent resisted . A few days | afttr these events occurred in Daghestan numerous | JinsBian reinforcements arrived , commanded by Generals Giuko and Fieitag . They were followed by 30 , 000 men under the orders of General Jfeidhart , Com-: mander-in-Chief . The Russians entered the mountains 1 of th-i province of Tschetsehaia , where Schamyl had : -withdrawn with all the plunder he had procured at ' , Chunsak and Temir-Chantchusa . Some sanguinary | battles were fought with serious loss to both parties . ; Several of the monntain villages were burnt , and much ; cultivated land laid -waste by the Russians , but they ; ibtained no material advantage during the campaign . ; Schamyl still remains mrster of the mountains , where , he had concentrated hie partizinB . Whilst these battles . were being fought in the TscheUchaia , a I > esghian
chief , named the Sultan Daniel , entered Kichetla and captured the town of Cheki , -which is the principal market of the country for Bilks and wines . The town ¦ was pillaged , and about 100 Russian soldiers were mas-Baered . The Lesghians advanced to within twenty-two leagues of Tiflis . The population of the capital of Georgia being destitute of troops , trembled at the approach of their terriV . e enemy . Tiflis was saved by General Schwartz , who , with 5 , 000 infantry , repulsed the Iiesgbiana ; but the loss of the Rnsmns amounted to 1 . 000 men . The Russians themselv&s confess that thtir campaign of this yt » ar b » a completely failed . Tha failure is attributed to the diBCord which prevailed between Generals Luders , Gurko , and Schwartz . It anpears beyond doubt that a change of generals will bke place in the Caucasus dnring the next winter . The plan of making a winter campaign is entirely abandoned .
FOREIGN MISCELLANY . Ethttstte of the Scaffold . —a letter from Presburg , of Sept . ? 3 , in the Gaxette des Tribunaux , says , " The murderers of M . de Keztnet , one of the Deputies of the Diet of Hungary , have just been tried and executed . One of them was Conrad Tornyi , the serrant of the deceased , and the other a shoemaker named Kowatz , who not only aided in the crime , but afterwards robbed his accomplice of all the articles of value which were in M . de Kt « - mef ' s apartment at Presburg . Tornyi avowed hia guilt , and acknowledged that ho had cut up the body in pieces . The sentence of tie Court was , that lornyi should be quartered , hia body burnt , and the ; ashes thrown to the wind ; and that Kowaez should be decapiuted . The prisoners appealed , but the ; j King confirmed the sentence of death , changin R i lornyi 8 punishment into simple beheading . This . fentence was carried into execution two days back , ; E Sfl Sm 1 " ^ * slran Se incident added to the terrible interest of the scene . The judgment ' " ^ -p ^ wztobe £ « t executed ; but this Tornyi * w £ of nX blf 3 fH \ Str 0 Dgly ' declarin « that » he ! ^ , . no ? blood te wai entitled to die first . - His clauni being wjeoted , he fell on Kowaez . and enj deavoured to pull him from tho block . Kowa < z sent ! him back with a violent blow on the chest ; and Tornyi was on -the point of giving blow for Wow when the executioner ' s man seized him , and bound I him so tightly as to prevent him makiug any exer-¦ tion . They were both executed in a Jew minutes . after . This singular ambition of Tornyi to have his claim of birth attended to in such circumstances , calls } to mind an execution at Copenhagen in 1816 , where ' when some were sentenced to death for exciting i their fellow-prisoners to revolt , three of the 1 number had been beheaded , but the fourth refused ! to place his head on the block s on the ground that ) the person before him had been a Jew , and that he , V fceiBg a Christian , could object to having his blood
Untitled Article
mingled tnth thai of a Jew . After some parley the magistrate granted Mb objection , and the md having cleaned the block of the blood as well as he could , placed his head down tranquilly , and underwent the sentence . " Skbious Riot in Quebec—We copy the followmg paragraph from the Montreal Courier of Friday — "We understand that there has been a BeriOUS TOW at Quebec among the Irish . It appears that on Wednesday last there was a procession and illumination , in honour of the liberation of O'Cennell and that in consequence of some parties having refused to illuminate , their houses were attacked , upon which the assailants were fired upon from the houses and several of them wounded . —New York Evening Post , Lathst fbom the Mormons . —The Mormon war is over—at least for the present . On the 30 th ult
. the Governor held a treaty with the individuals ' against whom writs had been issued for being engaged in the killing of the Smiths , and after some considerable negotiations the matter was finally settled to the satisfaction of all concerned . Col Williams and T . C . Sharpe agreed to surrender if they could be taken to Quincy for their examination . This was agreed to on the part of the Governor . ± urther , they were to have an escort to protect them while in the custody of the officer If sufficient evidence was adduced to warrant the Judge to commit for trial , the prisoners were to give moderate bail for their appearance at court . If an mdiotment is then found , they are to have a continuance and a change of venue . —New York Mirror , Oct . Ihih . '
Untitled Article
EFFECT OF »• PROSPERITY" ON WAGES . A most " melodious song of triumph" is just now being sung by the Free Traders , grounded on the fact that in one or two instances some trifling addition haa been made to tho amonnt of wages paid to the manufacturing operatives . In this fact they pretend to have it demonstrated , that their
theory of - * cheap food—high wages" is unerringly true : and they use the fact as an additional " argument" (?) why the workers should join in the bawl for the removal of all regulation and restraint on the transactions of commerce . It is our intention to examine into tho alleged "fact , " and to show that the " fact" is no fact at all : but that on the contrary , " with decreased prices of produce have come lower -wages "
To act honestly in this investigation , it will be necessary to do more than the Free Trade writers and speakers do : it will be necessary to extend the inquiry over a pretty considerable length of time , and not merely confine the contrast of the present period , with a " picked one" of only the other day , and that the "lowest depth" of the late terrifio depression . " The Free Traders will not establish their point by merely showing that some ten per cent , ia added , in a few departments , to the wages of 1842 : it will be necessary for them to establish the
fact that on a period of years , say ten or twenty , the theory they ' propound holds good : and that the vastly increased trade and low prices' of 1844 afford and give higher wages than the comparatively Bmall amount of trade and high prices of 1884 or 1824 . If they do this , the question will assuredly be theirs ; and they will be entitled to argue from it the benefits and advantages of further extension : but if they fail in this , it will be manifest that fact contradiots the pet tbeory , and that the people have been right in their refusal to swallow and act on a doctrine so opposed to all experience .
That there has been an immense addition to the | amount of our trade during the period just indicated , admits not of dispute : and that prices generally , for 1 every description of produce , agricultural as well as \ manufactured , have materally decreased , is also j matter of notoriety . Both faots are established by the official Roturn =. > Let us go back for twenty years . In 1824 , the ' gross amount of our foreign trade was £ 48 , 030 , 037 : this was official value—the measure ef quantity . In '
the year ending the 5 th January , 1844 , the gross amount , or official value , of British Produco and Manufactures exported , was £ 117 , 877 , 278 !! being i juat £ 21 , 817 , 204 more than douulr the quantity ] of 18241 Here , surely , is increase sufficient . Here , ! surely , is plenty of addition to trade , to test the soundness of the Free Traders' theory , that " increased trade" and " cheap food" bring higher wages . We Bhall see . First , however , let us ascertain what the relative value of prices were at the two periods of contrast : for this is a necessary portion and important branch of the question : the
theory being that " low prices induce high wages . " Well , then , how do matters stand in chis respect ! In 1824 , the £ 48 . 030 , 037 official value , or quantity , brought in £ 37 , 573 , 913 heal value . Let tho reader mark theso two amounts . Let him note the proportion that the real valuo bears to the official . Let him mark that the difference is but some £ 11 , 000 , 000 , or but one quarter of the whole . In 1844 , the £ 117 , 877 , 278 official value brought in only £ 52 , 278449 ! ! or considerably less than
half ! For the £ 69 , 847 , 241 addmional quantity in 1844 over 1824 , we only receive the paltry sum of £ 14 704 , 531 !! Here ' s depreciation enough ! Here ' s low prices ! Here are all the requisites for " high -wages " : increased quantity ; decreased prices . How stands the "fact , " as regards wages ? What has been the effect on the price paid for labour : for on the solution of that question depends the soundness or uusouudness of the Free Traders "theory . "
In 1824 a weaver , for weaving twelve yards of the 60 reed G-4 ths cambric ^ received 4 i : in 1844 , for the same amount and quality of work , he receives 8 d !!! O , sound " theory ? O , rare " fact , " on which to ground a " song of triumph . " Trade increased one-and-a-half-times in twenty years ; prices decreased more than 100 per cent : all the requisites for producing " high wages" according to the philosophers : and the envoi on wages is , a reduction of three hundred and thirty-three per eent ! ! !
Ah ! but , ' exclaims Mother Goose , who ia of tho foremost in the present delusive and dishonest cackle about" low prices—high wages' '— it is the price of food we mean : not the pnoe of manufactured produce . Food is cheaper than it was : employment is also more abundant ; and as a consequence we see that wages are raising . " How stands that fact . It is true that food is cheapor . The price of wheat in 1824 was 62 s a-quarter . The last six week ' s average was 45 s lid . Food therefore is much cheaper : and it ought to follow , from Mother Goose ' s premises , that wages in 1844 are much "higher" than in 1824 . This conclusion ia inevitable , if the theory be correct : and if the conclusion does not follow , it ought to cause us to suspect that the Free Traders have not
yet s" monopolized" all light and reason to themselves . And will Mother Goose dare to assert , that wages are higher than in 1824 ? or any thing near so high ! Will she have the face to contend that in any one large walk of manufacturing industry more than one half the amount is paid to tho labourer , that was paid in 1824 ? We mean not iu fancy trades . We take the large walks ; the weavers , the spinners , and the dressers : in auy of these employments are wages one half the amount they were \ And if not , what becomes of the " theory" ? What becomes of the sense , and discrimination , and wisdom , oF Mother Goose ? Is it not apparent that she either docs : not know of that of which she prates , or that she is attempting a gross imposition for party purposes ?
But let us come lower down . Let us come to a period that the Free Traders love to use as an illustration—the " cheap food" times of 1836 7 ; or just ten years ago . And here we shall find that the same rale holds good . Wo shall find that we have tremendously increased our trade ; decreased our prices ; and lowered wages . To the proof . In 1835 the exports were £ 85 , 229 , 837 official value ; real value £ 53 . 308 . 572 . We have before shown that in the last year we exported £ 117 , 877 , 278 official value for £ 52 , 278 , 449 real valuo ; or in other words W 6 have exported in 1844 , £ 32 . 647 , 441 in quantity more than in 1836 , and received for the whole amount , increase and all , £ 1 , 090 , 123 less in real value !!!
Untitled Article
What wages were , and are , let the following testify . It was given ub by a weaver , in an assembly of some hundreds of his craft , in the best paid district for weaving in the kingdom . It relates to the weaving of woollens , in the Holmfirth valley : a place where reduction has made the least havoc . On that spot the good old plan of making cloth from < vool , and not from " muck , " almost universally prevails . The depreciation of woollen goods is notoriously not near so great as in the other departments of our 11 gTeat" manufacture : nor have wages Buffered In this walk of industry nearly as much as in the silk , cotton , or linen branches . And yet what are the revelations made in this comparatively well-to-do trade ? Let the following statement of faots anBwer : —
" In 1837 a warp of forty-eight porties , twenty-four woves long , would weigh from forty-one to forty-two pounds , and would take nineteen pounds of weft to weave it : the weft being spun on to bobbins , would take seventeen bobbins per wove , with 220 shoots on each bobbin ; and the weaver received la . 7 d . per wove , having the weft to spin , and gears to find . In 1844 a warp of fifty-eight porties , twenty-four strings long , will weigh from thirty-two to thirty-three pounds , and will take twenty-five or twenty-six pounds of weft to weave it : the weft being spun onto bobbins , it will take twenty-five bobbins per wove , with 310 shoots on each bobbin ; and the weaver receives lOd per siring , with the weft spun and gears found . In 1837 tbe
master allowed 3 s . for the weft spinning , which would amount to lArt . per wove ; for gears the weaver was allowed 2 < 1 . per wove : tbus he had left , after these charges were defrayed , la . 3 . $ d . per wove for weaving . He now we&ves by the ' string . ' A ' string * is nine or ten inches larger than a ' wove . ' He has twenty-five bobbins to weave into a ' string ' , whereas seventeen bobbins made a ' wove . ' Three thousand seven hundred and forty picks , or shoots , would make a wove in 1837 , for which be ha < i Is . 3 . H : in 1844 he has to throw the shuttle eight thousand two hundred and fifty times , for ltd . ; i . e , he has to do considerably more than double tbe amount of work for less than two-thirds the amount of price" !
There Messrs Free Traders : what say you to that ? Thebe is proof of "high wages" produced by increased employment , and cheap food ! There is a" fact" for you : how does it square with your theory ! Let Mother Goose try to make " things fit" if she dare . She will , if she be not conscious of practising deceit and " extending" delusion in her last essay on " Wages rising . " The above we set forth as true . Its statements we have tested among the craft . We heard their explanations of it , and their vouching for its accuraoy . A ad this is in the best paid district in the kingdom ! This is in a spot where the old custom of good manufacture and high wages obtain as much as in any that could be selected . And if the above be true Of the best—what in heaven ' s
name are we to think would be true of the worst 1 To give some idea , we will relate what the author of the above statement related to us personally . He is a weaver . He has been such all his life . He is a " hard-worker , " as all weavers must be who live at all . // is novt eleven years since he could afford to get a coat for himself . The last he bought was in the year 1833 . He had it on , when we saw him . It is needless to state , that his appearance botokened the poverty of his condition . Daring the time that he has been unable to get a coat to cover his own back , —whioh is as all will suppose ,
just naked , —he has produced with his own hand as much cloth ers would clothe 2 > 753 individuals , at six and half yards each person : t . e . he has produced just upon 18 , 000 yards of good woollen fabric for clothing , without being able to devote one single yard of that immense heap to his own use I What a glorious effect of Free-Trade-produced 11 increased employment and oheap food . " God knows that his "food" is cheap enough : i . e . it costs him little enough : for he has little of it , and less to pay for it with . His average wages for Rome
time past , including even now that " wages are rising" ( according to Mother Goose and the League J have been 10 s . lOd . a-week ; and out of that pittance he has to maintain a family of five . And this horrible state of things arises , he is told by the all-wise , because he is preyonted from sending moke of his cloth abroad for the foreigner to wear ! He thinks he haa ah-bady sent far toomuch : and that if he could only have kept some of it at home for his own use , it would have been quite as sensible , and a deal more comfortable . What says the reader ?
Untitled Article
" YOUNG IRELAND" CROUCHING . " EAT YOUR PUDDING , SLAVE !" Mr . Charles Gavan Duffy , principal Editor of the Nation newspaper , not being satisfied with Mr . O'Connell ' s hasty conversion from Repeal to Orangeism —( for that is the real meaning of Federalism)—recently penned a letter to the " Great Magician : " and doubtless its contents cast a glimmer of hope over the drooping spirit of " Young Ireland . " In his familiar mode of remonstrance , preferring the " Epistolary" to the " Editorial" style , Youpo Irkland contends that Repeal is not only a thing , but THE thing that Irishmen should look for . The letter was printed in every newspaper in tho kingdom ; and thus Mr . Duffy had every chance of fair pi iy .
Most of our contemporaries commented very flatteringly on Young Ireland ' s production . True , there was nothing very striking in Ihe style ; but then there wag something refreshing in the fact , that a newspaper of the largest circulation of the whole" Brothel" press of Ireland should have ventured upon a tilt with the " Bully . " We , too , printed Mr . Duffy ' s letter ; but then we did not venture a comment . No ; in faith we wore too wise . We had before , on many occasions , witnessed
tho difference between Young Ireland ' s measured prose and unmeasured poetry , to justify us in taking one letter , or one article , however strong on a principle , a $ decisive of the opinion of Young Ireland . We therefore waited till the Nation had made Mr . Duffy ' s "leap good ; " until that print 6 hould have given the stamp of hasty approval to the epistle of its principal conductor . Very fortunato it is ihat we did wait , aa we have nothing now to unsay .
There was once upon a time , as all story-tellers say , a chattering little . girl , who was iu the habit of saying very awkward things ^ before company . She lived with her grandmother , who had Eufivred much annoyance from this childish habit . Well , grandmother , to break the child of so bad a habit , said to her one day : " Polly , my dear , always think three times before you speak . " One evening , shortly after the child had reoeived this admonition , she was sitting at the fireside with Granny , who was engaged in knitting a pair of stockings . In compliance | with the recent injunctions , Polly said " Grandmother , I think" " Grandmother , I think" Grandmother , I think "
— " Well , well , child , what do you think V 11 Why , grandmother , I think your ball of cotton is under the grate , and will be burnt if you don ' t take it out . " Now , although the grandmother sustained the loss , the value of the lesson was worth it . Mr . O'Connell speaks without " thinking , '' because he never scruples ! to deny anything when charged with it . In faet , it is the easiest and far the least troublesome mode of dealing with a charge . It prevents the necessity of explanation , and qualification , and retractation , and all that sort of thing . However , though this is Mr . O'Connell ' s practice as regards speech , there is no man who " thinks" oftener before he writes a letter .
That becomes fair game for the critics , and therefore for them , and not for tho common reader , is it prepared . On the other hand , Mr . Duffy appears to : have written first and " thought" afterwards , Mr . Duffy did not reflect , before he had written his young , fresh , and thoughtless aspirations , that the 16 ih of NoYember had been decided on aa the National Rent Day ; and that Mr . O'Connell ' s
letter was the annual feeler . Mr . Dupfy did not know enough of Irish enthusiasm and Irish confidence , to understand that " simple Repealers" will be distrained on for the National Rent , on the plea that " O'Connell has merely propounded the question as one for discussion" ; while new tenants will be entrapped on the prospects arising from a Federal oonneotiou . In fact Mr . Duffy never once saw that the whole thing meant " To be Let . "
Untitled Article
As yet Mr . Duffy may suppose that we but criticise his simplicity , and find fault with his temer ity . No sujch thing . What we condemn is not his letter , but the article which succeeds that letter in the " Nation" And however some of the jealous tribe of liberal editors might have raised a cry against Mr . { Duffy ' s contumacy , disobedience , and revolt , not one of the ' distinguished patriots " could by possibility have shaken Mr . Duffy ' s wellchosen and tenable position , had net that gentleman been guilty of a inuch more serious crime than even that with which ) he charged the Magician . It is a very remarkable fact , that whereas nearly
every newspaper in the kingdom commented on Mr . Dufpy ' s familiar letter , not one that we have seen has touched jhis subsequent editorial effusion . No : that has been left for us . Mr . Duffy objects to the plunge from " simple Repeal" to Federalism in his letter ; while in the very next number of the Nation we find the following dive into the muddy stream of Whiggery . We extract the following paragraph from one of those wordy effusions , signifying nothing , and meaning as little , that so often appear in tho columns of our . exuberant cotemporaiy . Here it isi We read it three times before we ventured to believe its reality : —
Can any dispute ; o » doubt this fact , now part of history ? The Whigs , though out of office , are a powerful party . Tho mini ofj England is unquestionably in their favour . The ministers of the orpjsing party are constrained to mould their measuns so as to harmonise with that mind , as their t « t security for a permanence of power . There is nothing to prevent a combination of English Whigs and Itish Liberals , so overwhelming in power and sweeping in its results as ti leave no hope for Conservatism in Ireland but that aspiring for Irish freedom in which tbe voice of party finds no echo , and which absorbs all the less dignified promptings of b'story and bope . i
Now , then , what say the Young Irelanders to thatt and what ^ will the Hon . H ely Hutchinson say ? and what will Daniel O'Connell say ,. who has said that "the Whigs are worse than the Tories ? " But above 11 what will Mr . Du » fy say , when he reads it three tijies over , while his fingers are burning ! ' We must really have a word of closer reasoning on this production of the democratic Nation . We will take the precious morsel sentence by sentence . " The Whigs , though out of office are a powerful party" !!! Indeed ! In what ! When , even before
they haa got their own machinery , were they ,, as a party , so utterly powerless , so miserably hopeless , so thoroughly despised , and so jnstly distrusted ! " The mind of England ) is unquestionably in their favour . " The mind of England is the very power that keeps them from office ! and that ^ same mind has gro wn in hostility and increased in hate . What does the Nation oall the mind of a country ? Is it that indir cribable nondescript " something , " of which no estimate can be made ? or is it a thing which may be
denominated a majority of sound thoughts , views and understandings \ And if so , why has so powerfel an agency been so wholly unable to command representation for that party which the Nation tella us represents it 1 \ No . The fact is , the whole mind of England is opposed to Whiggery : and if our cotemporary had taken the trouble to enquire , before he ventured to assert , he would have learned that there is not a party in England that ventures to take the name of Whig .
Now as the next Bentence is a gem , and confirmatory of the principle , " men not measures , " we beg to render undivided attention to it . It runs thus : — " The ministers of the opposing party are constrained to mend their measures , so as to harmonize with that mind as their best security for a permanence oftpower . " Now we , not the Nation , have put those seven words in striking characters : and we ask if it would be pos sible to advance a stronger argument in favour of Sir Robt . Peel ' s Government than our cotemporary has thoughtlessly stumbled on 1 So , then , we have the fact , or . rather the Nation ' s admission , that Ministers do mould their measures to harmonise with the mind ; that is , the mind that ought to be represented—* ' the mind
that is unquestionably in favour of the Whigs . " Well , what more does the Nation want than the representation of the mind of England ? of the Whig mind too ! Then , in the next sentence we are told , that there is nothing to prevent a combination of English Whigs , and Irish Liberals , and all this , that , and the other thing . No , in faith ; there is nothing whatever to prevent the fraternizing of the two scrambling place-hunting factions ; but , thank God , there is a mind in England to prevent their ascendancy ! There is a mind in England against which they contended before , and which overthrew them , and overthrew them too , because they did not represent the mind that they themselves had created ! '¦
So we leau that Peel docs represent the MtNDof England ; and | we know that Melbourne was kicked « ut of office , because , with the assistance of the Irish Liberals , he attempted to subdue the mind of England , and to govern by the sword . No doubt our friend would tell us that the Whigs possessed the mind and affections of lreland , \ when they gave her Coercion and proclaimed war to the death against the Repeal !! It would be wholly out of the power of langnage to exceed the foregoing extract in folly , ignorance , or apostacy . Mr . Duffy did notlwait to be kicked out of the way . He very speedily took himself off ; whereas he might have sustained a glorious position . So much for the letter and the spirit of young Ireland ; and now one word about " Ould Ireland . "
Wa have repeatedly asserted that the treachery of Charlemont and the Whigs , after they had achieved their own viotory , and the consequent disappointment of j the Catholic Volunteers , led to * the Irish Revolution of 1798 . We have asserted that the treachery of the Reformers led to the further demands of the ( people . We have asserted that the treachery of the Whigs , in 1839 , led to the establishment of some Secret Societies in England ; and we have the strongest evidence that the treachery of
O'Connell will lead to a precisely similar resilt . In 1843 , when all was hope and promise , Ribbonism was suspended . ! From October to April was not long to wait , either for O'Connell ' s head or Repeal . The national fire had extinguished - the heart-burnings of pauperised individuals . But , mark the change ! No sooner does the General temporise and the leader compromise , than again , as if by magic , the standard oft Ribbonism is raised with increased resolution to confide in itself , being taught that" Who would be free , themselves must strike the blow . "
There is not a gathering of fugitives at the Conciliation Hall that is not now marked by a denunciation of increasing Ribbonism , and the dismissal of refractory Repeal Wardens , who cannot all at once " swallow the leek . " In Ireland , in Scotland , and in Manchester we learn that this order of " hereditary bondsmen" is fast and fearfully increasing : and we assert that Mr . O'Connell is the father of
Ribbonism , and ; is answerable for every single crimo to which his own treachery and treason shall . give rise . Our only hope now is , that when the " beggingbag" is filled on the 16 th , Ireland , poor Ireland , will have some months repose , from the begging juggling , spouting crew of pound-shilling-and-pencepatriots . We repudiate Ribbonism as heartily as an j one can do j : but we . must , and do consider it a consequence of the treachery of Irish leaders .
To conclude with Mr . Duffy , as we commeoced with that gentleman , we would strongly recommend him in future to " think three times" before he writes onco : j and we would further recommend him to inform himself upon the state of the English mind before he ventures to calculate upon its pliancy . He never will live to see a union betweea the Whigs and ] the mind of England .
Untitled Article
THE HASWELL TRAGEDY ! ! AND THE COX LODGE FARCE . At the risk ofj again shocking the delicate nerves © f the " old woman" who mangles for the Weekly Chrcnicle , we venture to designate the recent Has * well " visitation" — " accidental" though it was held
Untitled Article
to be , as one of Mtoder , because it could have been prevented— or rather because the means of prevention that have been solemnly recommended by men of science and experience , and backed by the aathc rity of a Committee of the House of Commons , have not been applied , but the suggestions suffered to stand on the face of the Report unheeded and despised while hundreds of working men have been sacrificed , and thousands have been made to mourn the loss of the beings that gave them birth , and who should have been their support and guide in life . It is of no use for the Weekly Chronicle
to tell us that the " uniform tendency of the evidence at the Inquest was to shew that there was no indifference ; no neglect ; that the ventilation waa admirable , * " and all that sort of tank rotten stuff : all this we knew before ! Have not our ears rung with it for the last month , in the teeth of the faol that the Coroner— " just Judge" as he was—refused to allow other and contradictory evidence to be given ; that he constantly and unceasingly interfered to prevent answers being given to questions by those who were examined , which would have made the truth apparent ; that he refused to
allow men of practical experience and scienifio knowledge to " view" the place of " aecl . dent , ' and judge of the M best regulations" and the " excellent system of ventilation" so much vaunted , and only consented to their appoint , ment when he knew that Government had taken cognizance of his conduot , and when the owners themselves had been shamed into the avowal th * t " they had now no objection ; " that he closed the inquest , and flatly refused these men an opportunity of reporting the result of their examinations aud observations ; that he peremptorily refused permission to Mr . Ryan—a man whose scientific
attainments on tne subject of ventilating mines have produced him the large gold medal of the Society of Arts , and induced the late Sir Humphrey Davy to d ; elate publicly that " Mr . Ryan ' s principles of ventilation were so clear that he should consider every life lost iu future by explosion as manslaughter , "—to explain how the " accident" could have been prevented : in the teeth of all this , we have heard all the wicked prate that ( ' every precaution had been taken ; " " nothing had been left undone : " " the pit was the best ventilated in the whole district : " and it did not need the Weekly Chronicle to din it in onr ears , to cause us to understand the real merits of the Haswell Des .
TRUCTION . O , no : of all the ** sing'song" we have been fully cognizant : and it is because we know it to be untrue ; it is because we know it to be a lie , —a wicked damnable lib , that we tear the veil of assumed innocence and kindly regard from off tbe limbs of guilty neglect and consummate ignorance , and pronounce the " accident" which hurried ninetyfive human beings into eternity at one fell swoop , as one that could have been averted , had the suggestions of scienco been listened to , andthe plans of experience adopted .
The Weekly Chronicle surely forgets , that eveiy man of these same ninety-five , —sacrificed to ignorance and neglect , were out on strike far nineteen weeks beoause they deemed the " best ven - tilated pit" to be unsafe , and demanded that before they risked their lives for the upheaping of wealth for the Owners , some portion of the accumulated " thousands" should be applied in miking the " place of death" as sa fe as science posssibly could ; that this just request of the men was spurned at , rejected , despised by the " considerate *' and precaution" owners , and the " Poor Op '
pressed" were starved into the pits again , to b < come a prey to tbe devouring flame and the suffocating blast ! It may be all very weR for the staid , prim , stifly-starched , nervous old lady of the Weekly Chronicle , with her feelings enlisted in favour of those who do her the honour to j" drink tea" with her ai times , to forget all these things , and affect a " pious horror " of Jacobinism " which sees in every bich man "—( of this sort )— an oppressor" and " in every poob man" —( of that sort )— " a victim to avarice "; it may
be all very well for old Tabby , when seated in her damask chair , with feet lolling on the soft hassock , and with philosophic spectacles on her nose , to do this and act thus ; but for us none of your mawkishness will do ! We look at things as they are . We strip off the guise . We proclaim neglect when we find it . We expose ignorance when it manifests itself : and we call a spade a spade . We cannot torture ignorance into " precaution "; we cannot make neglect into " careful a t tention ; " nor can we slide murder into " Accident "
" Every precaution , " says the Weekly Chronicle \ championising the Coal-kings , " was taken to prevent accident : not a single man can point out a single thing done , or left undone , by reversing which the blow might have been averted . " And thir . too , when it is matter of record , that Foster , the viewer , betrayed a total ignorance of science , and such an overweening conceit of his own abilities that he could not believe it possible that any human being could improve on bis system : when Scott , the underviewer , the man who has the charge of tho pit in Foster ' s absence ; the man who has had it in charge for a fortnight together ; when this man confessed that he knew not of
the " proportion of carburretted hydrogen and atmospheric air required to become explosive" ! — " knew nothing whatever of the gaa , either practically or theoretically" !— " could not say whether there was any carbonic acid gas in the pit or not" ? —evidently did not know what the term carbonic acid gas meant , for he " supposed it was called choko Jamp" I—knew nothing of what should be done to a person injured by choke damp to restore him" ! in the face of all this gross and stolid ignorance and unbearable conceit , Goody of the Chronicle says that " every precaution against ' accident had
been taken" ! Rare " precaution" that , to place the lives of hundreds constantly exposed to imminent danger in the care of a man whose stolidity would have been a disgrace to the merest tyro in chemistry ! a man who knew nothing of the nature of the airs and gases from the prevalence of which the danger arose ! Rare precaution that , which denied that it was possible for a draught of air to force the flame through the meshes of the Davy lamp , or for the men to draw the flame through " to light their pipes" ; and then sent a miner to the tread-mill for doing that which they denied the possibility of ! Rare precaution that , which did not provide dam doors to supply , spontaneously , the place of the blown-out stoppings , and thus direct th
course of the " best ventilation" to the prevention of suffocation from the carbonic acid gas , or choke damp , that invariably follows the firing of the explosivemixture of hydrogen and common air ; especially when Unas been established that such a " precaution ' is effectual ; the probability being that in this case four-fifths of the " sacrificed" would have been saved * could the " best ventilation" only have been p «> served in its ordinary course . Rare " precaution that , which made stoppings" of half-inch deal boards ; fragible materials , liable to be blown down , by a strong current of the " ventilation" itself , much legs stand the force of the destructive blast of an " explosion . " Rare " precautions" all these I deserving of the encomiums of Goody over her teatackle : but rather serious matters for those who go
into the pita with their lives in their hands . We suppose that Goody Anli Jacobin will see in the " Coxlodge inquiry" a uniform tendency of the evidence in favour of the owners aud viewers , and those who could , by employing quaufikd persons , have prevented the " visitation , " and kept the murdered victim-Cet the Chronicle note the term ) -m the land of the living . The devil ' s in it , if she don t At all events , it will not be the Coroner s fault iiu is not so . There the thipg was undisguised . Iherb it was open , plainly above board . There it w » made plain , apparent , what Coroners in »• *?"_ are for . We have been luxuriating in * " ^ f that they had been instituted for the r »«
Tforeign Zfateuitpnte.
tforeign ZfateUitpnte .
The Northern Star. Saturday, November 2, 1844.
THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 2 , 1844 .
Untitled Article
g ^^^ r : ¦ :: ¦ ~ - ^ ^ . ^^ . - ~^> v - ~~~ - ¦ - ¦¦ ¦ T h B j ^ H ,, gTA > , j Novmss % l 844 >
-
-
Citation
-
Northern Star (1837-1852), Oct. 26, 1844, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1286/page/4/
-