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Northern Star (1837-1852), 6th January 1849, Edition 1 of 3, Page unpag, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      TO THE LABOURING CLASSES . [ Friends , —Although leading articles are considered to have more weight than letters having the name of the ¦ writer , in consequence of the whimsical importance attached to the pronoun tee , as if the editor was a corporation , yet , as one of my great works has been to expose the prostitution , the trickery , and whimsicality of the PreBS , I prefer submitting my thoughts to you is the first person singular , in order that in after time my dissertations uponlthe Labour Question—the : question of questions—may not be attributed ,

      whether wise or foolish , to others . You know what pleasure it gives me to he able to refer to my old predictions , and to tell you the volume , the page , and the column in which you will find them . I have laboured studiously , zealously , and continuously , to take this Labour Question out of the nutshell in which staticians , calling themselves . political economists , have endeavoured to confine it . I have not limited my strictures upon the subject to Land ,, alone , and . its capabilities , or to the application of the mere labour of the agriculturist to the cultivation of the Land , but

      I have shown you how every grievance , injustice , and hardship you bear , is consequent upon the misuse made of the Land ; and . I have shown you that every paltry remedy suggested for the correction and mitigation of those several abuses , is consequent upon the misapplication of the Land . No matter whether bastiles at home , or convict ships to transport you abroad j no matter whether punishment for rice , which is a consequence of oppression and misrule ; or royal bounty distributed in the shape of prizes , for the best essays upon morality and religion ; no matter whether the political remedy be , the Charter or Repeal , Free Trade or Financial Reform j no matter ¦ whether the Constitution is to he severely or

      mildly | construed ; no matter whether the laws are to he mercifully or tyrannically administered ; no matter whether the National Debt , tithes , and taxes are a greater burden in one year than another ; no matter what casualties , calamities , and sudden changes come upon you when you are not prepared to meet or resist their approach—I tell you that it matters not the reason , nay , the thousand and one reasons , which metaphysicians and economists , would assign for those several vicissitudes ,. they , one and all , spring from the non-application , and the just and profitable application , of the industry of the country ' to the resources of the country , and the inequitable distribution of the profits , \ >

      Now , pray bear this in mind , and from the picture which I am about to draw , you > ili at once understand the value of the Charter , and the cause of the deadly hostility manifested towards it by those who understand that labour is applied , the national resources cultivated , and the profits distributed by the rule of selfinterest under class legislation ; and , as I have a thousand times reminded . ' you , those who possess this monopoly will , of all things , take care that labour , cultivation , and profit shall be measured by the standard of self-interestthat is , if the present expensive system will

      allow the monopolists of legislation to appropriate a larger proportion of five hundred millions a year , "with a heavy debt , for the preserration of peace , the correction of vice , and the suppression of public opinion , than they could appropriate out of a thousand millions a year , with a reign of peace , with no such thing as lice , and with a free expression of opinion , which would but lead to virtue and the correo tion ^ of evU ; t in such case the monopolists would much prefer the smaller annual return , with the power of appropriating the larger proportion to their own kindly use .

      Now , do not lose sight of this fact , because from it you must come to the conclusion as to the real reason why the rights of Labour are denied by those who make profit of its dependents and destitution . In 2845 , when I had made a tour through a large portion of the most important European countries , I toid yoa , on my return in October of that year , that Prussia would he one of the first , countries to declare a free Constitution , and Prussia was , at that time , an absolute despotism

      Some few weeks ago , I gave you a brief outline of the Prussian Constitution , as it is to be ; and I novr sabmit for your perusal , the Address of the Chairman of the Conservative Central Committee of Berlin , the capital of Prussia . Here follows this address . It is printed in large type , as it deserves , and should be printed in letters of gold . 1 hope every working man will read it to his familythat ' he wul preserve it , and get it by heartand that it will be read aloud at the several

      meetings where ^ the " Star' is read , and that it will be read distinctly . Mr Harkort , in his address to the electors of Berlin , says : — " Whatever falsehoods the evil-disposed may hare circulated , the King has effected great changes for jour benefit . I will enumerate some of them . A law has been published abolishing a number ef dues and taxes ; all processes and suits respecting the regulation of landed properties and peasant holders are suspended ; hunting is no longer an exclusive privilege ; a loan fund for making adrances to the amount of 1 , 000 , 000 thalers has been formed ; 370 , 000 thalers were distributed among the destitute inhabitants of Silesia ; another million of thalers was appropriated to the employment of labourers out of work , and still more would have been done

      had not the disturbances in Berlin absorbed the fluids reserved for the purpose . As soon as the leases of the farms on the Royal domains expire it is intended , according to circumstances , to divide them into smaller peasant holdings , so that , at a moderate rent , industrious cultivators will be enabled to earn a subsistence . The idle quarrels and disputes of the National Assembly cost the country 300 , 000 thalers , and these men , so ready to mark the mote in others' eyes with the beam of refusing the payment of taxes in their own , would have brought both the country and the people to ruin . But at last the King intervened , and , like a man who considers his word inviolable , gave us the freest Constitution in Europe . This is not the place to dwell on all the Constitution contains , but lome of the chief points I will bring under your

      notice . "All Prussians are equal before the laws ; the right of patronage in the Church is abolished , and you will elect your own pastors . Children will in future receive gratuitous instruction , and the communes will select the teachers . The privileged private jurisdictions and the domain police are abolished without recompense ; all the rights of . property in land are to be freely exercised . The communes will regulate the local affairs by their own representatives , and even have the control of the local police . Your deputies will have a seat and voice in the provincial and district councils , and in the First

      and Second Chambers . If your affairs do not improve now it is your own fault . Above all things choose honest and respectable electors and deputies . Have nothing to do wtth criers aloud in the market-place , or with breakers of the law , but with steady men who manage their own affairs well and quietly , who possess sound common sense , and who do not demand all things with injustice , and therefore obtain nothing . Take heart and courage , and put the following questions d rect to the candidate : —Are you true to the King ? Are you satisfied with tfee constitution , O £ would you renew the old unhappy contest ? Can " you conscientiously distinguish between ' mine' and 'thine , ' and do you know the commandment , * Thou shalt not covet or desire other men ' s goods ? ' Are you a tax refuser ,

      or do yon render unto Caesar the things that are Cesar ' s ? Look at the tumults at Berlin . The turning the artnlery foundry cost tbe country 2 000 , 000 thalers ; the King paid to redeem pledges of small value 400 , 000 thalers ; the savings-banks received an advance of 200 , 000 thalers ; the establishment of the constabulary cost 200 , 000 thalers ; 1 , 700 , 000 thalers were distributed among *> nem ~ ployed workmen ; the calling out the Landwenr , and putting the army on a war footing , to protect life and property and uphold the authority of the laws , cost 2 , 000 , 000 tbalers-in all a man aim millions andhalf , to bepaid by tnehonest andp Sustrious classes , while -worthless vagabonds trod the laws under foot . For this amount 6 , 500 peasant holdings might have been purchased and apportioned

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      to hardworking occupier ? . The Democrats make no such calculations as this , but they point out to you the destruction of all ' order , human and divine , and the establishment of an equality like that which exists among a band of thieves . My friends , make use of your reason for a moment ; in the last National Assembly there were returned 121 advocates and judges , 53 clergymen , 25 teachers , 61 councillors , ( rathe ) and officials , in all 260 , while there were only 57 landed proprietors in the whole Assembly ; for every cultivator of the laud there were five who lived at his expense , and yon wonder still that

      you are poorer than you were before the revolution . Just reverse this state of things ; elect five landowners or farmers to one lawyer , and even then there will be more tban enough of these bair-splitters to blow the alarm of fire at every act of the Government ; but you will never find them stand in to work the engines . They are fit for nothing but candidates forj livings , for presidentships , and other posts that may gain them a living ; he who myirt take care of himself has no time to take care of you . A good choice at the election is the main thing ; therefore chalk all praters and speechifiers out of the list . "

      Let the reader understand that Prussia boasts of being the purest Protestant State in Europe—that the feudal system , up to the present time , has existed therein its fullest vigour —and let him glean the fact , from the above address , that these feudal barbarisms are not only to be totally destroyed , but that the royal domains are to be divided into PEASANT HOLDINGS . Let him further observe , how local power is to be locally distributed and exercised , and that the local mind is to flow into the great reservoir of representation ; but , above all , and before all , let the . revilers of the

      Land Plan see Prussia ' s future condition in the outline contained in the most spiced morsel with which the electioneering ' trap is baited . The candidate tells us , that 6 , 500 , 000 thalers , uselessly expended upon excitement and unproductive labour ,- would have located 6 , 500 hard-working occupiers upon their PEASANT HOLDINGS . What will the reader say when he finds Prussia—despotic Prussia—not Oflly adopting our Chartist creed , but also expounding its value by the proposed realisation of our social object—the location of the peor upon the land of their birth : Will not my dupes suppose that this Mr Harkort has been taking a leaf from our hook ; and is about to base his

      social and political claim to support upon our Charter and our Land Plan ? A thaler is a fraction less than three shillings , and 6 , 500 , 000 tbalers is nine hnndred and seventy- five thousand pounds ; and if you divide 6 , 500—the number to be located—into that , you will find that it leaves one hundred and fifty pounds assigned to the location of each—while , with bonus , I estimate the average cost of two , thrfe and four-acre men at 200 J . ; so that , if you take tbe cheapness of Prussian labour and materials into consideration , you will find that Mr Harkort , the Conservative Candidate , assumes as large a standard of expenditure as I do .

      Now , then , is this infant ' of ours longer to be confined withia the narrow limits"of Hertfordshire , Gloucestershire , Worcestershire , and Oxfordshire , or is it not rather likely to extend its influence , and spread its growth over the whole face of earth—ay , even to the plains of Poland and the ^ fields of Russia ? for , depend upon it , that , before the year 1850 comes upon us all the revolutions of the year 1848 will be but as child ' s play compared with the scenes that . will take place in Russia , where the confiding Autocrat is now pompously marshalling his . universal King-preserving army .

      Thank God , I have been the first to exhibit this little bantling , and , thank God that , ere long , all will be obliged to follow in its track , as it is the precursor , not to European , but to universal peace , prosperity , contentment , and virtue . Then again , think of the Prussian Constitution allowing the flock to elect its own shepherd , and administering education gratuitously to every child iri the State J Give me that

      Constitution with a king—ay , any king—at its head , a thousand times—ay , a million times before the bag of French moonshine , with a special constable at its head . But after the account given by Mr Harkort of the elements of which the recent Assembly was composed , can you wonder at the disasters that followed ? In describing the position of these candidates for livings , for presidentships , and other pests , the writer graphically describes their patriotism in the following words : — " HE WHO MUST TAKE

      CARE OF HIMSELF HAS NO TIME TO TAKE CARE OF YOU . " Now , was ever a more true , a more graphic , or a more powerful description given of their position , and of your position . What did these parsons and this nest of LEGAL LOCUSTS care for the condition of the poor man ? Does it not remind you of the exuberant enthusiasm of ^ the Free Trade Methodist parsons , when they showed you the big loaf at the top of the pole ? and will it not convince you of the ruth of what I have often asserted—that the

      greatest pests , the greatest tools , andfcthe greatest mercenaries in the House of Commons , were those of the ? legal profession ? So much at present forthe Prussian view , er rather adoption , of the Charter and Land Plan ; and as I have often told you , that the folly of to-day is the wisdom of to-morrow , I shall now call your attention to the condition of Ireland , and the simple remedy that I proposed in Parliament in theyear 1833 , and have since impressed upon the public mind for the correction of every Irish abuse .

      My friends , you must understand , and you must thinki too , and reflect—that no newspaper , whatever : politics it professes to advocate , has ever pmblished one single comment of mine upon the Labour Question , while one and all will greedily grasp ' at the ridiculous romance and Utopian schemes of X . Y ., GTB ., A ^ S . S ., and all the initials that the alphabet can furnish to the scribbling corps of fools . Travellers ride or drive through a country , and they draw their notionstof its capabilities from the landscape or marine view , and they imbibe their national notions from the cham pagne , tjie claret , and whiskey punch of their lost : while their religious crotchets are

      supplied by the spiritual staff oflicer of the conquering army . They do not converse with the farmer—sit in the hovel of the peasant—or gather their knowledge from the labourer in the field ; whereas , I have gleaned my knowledge of Labour and of society . from a ] l classes —from the tinselled peer to the ragged beggar . You may rest assured that the " Times'' Commissioner , who slept with the calf at Cahirsiveen , did not demean himself by scraping an acquaintance , with the peasant class . His object was either to justify Ministerial neglect , or ^ to establish Ministerial , or , indeed , human incapacity to deal with ; the great Irish difficulty ; and his reward was to be what it has been—a lucrative situation . With so much of

      a preface , I now invite your closest attention to the following disclosures made by Mr Chas . ColthaTst , not as te the possibilities or probabilities , but as to the facility of regenerating Ireland ; and then , I shall proudly call your attention , not to a single volume , a single page , or a single column of the old book of prophecies—the rnuch-r evUed '' Star ' —but I shall call your attention to nearl y every number of that paper in which the state of . Ireland has been discussed—to the « Labourer" —to my work on " Small Farms "—to my "Letters to

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      the Irish Landlords , and to my motions and speeches in the House of Commons . My dear friends , read every word « f the following admirable letter , not predicting what may be , but faithfully narrating what has been ; and mind , it treats of Ireland ; and that Irish poverty and destitution is , aot only the English minister ' s great difficulty , but is likewise the English toilers' great enemy .. Here follows the correspondence t—Iu the year 1816 , tbe late 8 ir Niobs . CoUbunt , of Ardram , got poiiMiion « f his Kerry estate , ( tbe lease to Mr Yielding having expired . ) I , as agent , got directions from Sir Nicholas not to make any permanent letting till the matter nu well considered . In consequence I proceeded to Kerry , and found the entire stats in a moat

      wretched condition . I let the estate for a year , to com fortable faraerf , who were anxious to beeome tenants permanently , and they promljed to pay about £ 100 a year . At the end of the first year I found I could not receive more thin about £ GQQ , bat ( till , Sir Kicaolftl desired me to give tbose tenants another ; ear's trial , tc March , 1818 , but they were still in arrear , and in faot ii cost me more trouble and expense than I can tell y 6 u . Perceiving clearly this system would not do , either as to landlord « r tenant , I told Sir Nicholas I mast resign his agenoy in May , naleis be- m » ie op bis mind to give as encouragingJease , for I bad-good reason to believe that Who could ba induced to give a leu » in perpetuity a well . ieoured £ 1 , 000 a year would be bad for tbe eitate t least . His answer to xo was , ' If yoa get mo a wellsecured rental' of £ 1 , 009 a year , you art at perfect liberty to use your own diioretlon . '

      I proceeded at once to Kerry with Mr Porter , a tar . veyor , divided tbe estate into convenient lots , making roads , &o ., &c , upon a map , pat np aa advertisement that Sir Nicholas would let those lots in perpetuity , and the comeqaenoa was , that to . a fortnight I let tbe entire state for £ 1 , 850 Irish currency , binding each tenant to lay out a certain sum in permanent improvement ! , and tbe otns 6 qaen . ee Las , been , that from the year 1818 to tbis year , 1818 , this rental has been paid by lettars of oredlt , a bailiff baa never distrained a tenant , ansgent has never had occasion to vliit the property , exofpt to admire the vast improvement that has taken place , and that without one shilling lots to the proprietor , Sir Jf ichilai , by his merely having given a lease In perpetuity , and the great result as regards tha community at large U , that a sum of at least £ 40 , 000 has boen laid out , affording va » t employment , and of oourio lessening the poor-rates . Jfotr I ceme to the great advantage to th « pioprietor : — *

      Upcm an ordinary leaae , eay of thirty-one yem , he would not have got otitatal / more than £ 800 Irish oar . rinoy a year ; upon a perpetuity he receives at lesst £ 509 year more , and if any man will take the trouble to calculate this additional mm of £ 500 for thirty-one years , he will find the case stands thus t—Suppose you calculate the £ 560 a year Sir Nioholat and Sir George Colthtfrst have got from March , 1818 , to March , 1848 ( thirty years ) , the groBs aam would be £ 15 , 000 , bat if you add interest and compound interest . at

      i ^ inves-ed 5 per coat , the gross sum made by this perpetuity lease over and above a thirty-one years ' lease would ba over £ 10 , 000—In faet , a sum that would nearly purchase the fee simple of the estate ; and the most glaring faot of all is , that a law agent is unnecesairy , a land agent unnecessary , and n bailiff unnecessary , for in troth an old woman would muuige that estate by merely writing for the rent ; and if Sir George Colthurst could be Induced to sell this estate , I venture to say it would sell like a debenture , for there is security in the land for £ 100 , 000 at least ia buildings and im .

      provemeDts , I now give another Instance of the results arising from a perpetuity lease in the Middle of a wild mountain district , oh Sir George Coltbant'a estate at Ballyvourney ; I got a lease in perpetuity of a large tract of wast ' land ; I was indused to lay out £ 4 , 000 ; and I made a comfortable provision for my family , and have eetsb-H « Ved a plafa of improvement , without a shilling loss to the proprietor , tbatis likely to be of considerable advantage to the locality ; but as this has appeared before the public I shall say no more upon it , I shall now give you anothor instance of the benefit of perpetuity leases in the pirith I reside in , ( Magoorney , nearCjacafoTd ) : —

      This parish U principally let in perpetuity to proprietors , aot in fee , bat who constantly reside , and I mutt Bi » y there cannot be a more palpable illustration of the baatfltof leases of this ktn ' d thaa'ln this locality . I may say you can pitch a I ( one from one demesne to another—witb most comfortable , respeotable resideaces , with nice plantations , pleasure grouadg , < fco ,, and you have at aU times a respectable dais of gentlemen , ready to meet any pressing emergency , whether it be to relieve distress or to support the laws of the land , and tho result is , by co-oporatlsn and energy there is not an able-bodied labourer unemployed in tbe parish , and the poor-rate oily 214 . in the pound .

      Having gives you three oaw «—one in Kerry , ona In Ballyvoarney , and another ia the pirhh of Magoarnsy , of the beneficial reivlts arising . from leases of tbU de . tcrlptlen , I am delighted that a man of your experience and Intelligence has given k ( i opinion upon this important matter , for it is a vital question at this present tno meat , and I cannot tell you what pleasure It affords me to concur fully ia your opinion on the eubjeot—th&t k number of small proprietors in perpetuity , resident , are much better tban one great proprietor absent ; and If the lord ia fee will calmly oonsider the oases I hare stated absve , and tbe passing events of the day , I am sura that he will come to the conclusion that what I fcava pat forward deserve * consideration atletst , for I am oliarly of opinion that If a landlord gets more than th « rsal value for bis estate , letting in perpetuity , he ought to accept it ( for Instance , the Kerry Estate ) , or male * np his mind to reside upon his property , and give such just compensation for lasting and valuable Improvements to

      mpeoiablo tenant * ai they deserve ; for I greatly fear that no act of Parliament , however oautlously worded , o * s settle the question of landlord and tenant satiifac . torily , ai It is beset with difficulties , but if landlords and tenants agree in doing what Ujcut and fair toward * eaoh other , It would be a Much wiser course than to have to deal with an aot ol Parliament that may cause endless litigation . Tbis is my humble opinion ; but if tha case is not met in aa amicable way the law ought to provide a remedy ; and I am persuaded that if gone fair arrangement be made between landlord and ttnant , wt hall s « s the tido of emigration ia some degree stopped ( for it is lamentable to observe so much lapltal leavlsg the oountry ) , and the money that is bow lying in savings , banks and old stooktagi would then be laid out in tht land ( the most certain of all investments ) provided the tenant is allowed fair compensation for permanent im provements , wbioh would be an advantage ultimately to the landlord .

      wishing you sucoess In your manly struggle ai re . ( ard « the Poor-law , and many happy returns of th » ssiion , I r&maln , my dear sir , your friend and fell . w labourer , Cs * kb # Oolthubbt . Now , labourers , that letter is the production , not of a mere casual observer—not of an itinerating bagman , but of one who tells you that for thirty ^ years he has been engaged , not merely in the colleetion of rents , but ia the reclamation , cultivation , and improvement of land . I have the pleasure to know Mr Charles Colthurst , and I venture to assert that he j has never felt terror in the worst days of agrarian disturbance . He is a man of extensive knowledge , of powerful genius , and active habits .

      He does not base his notions upon mere theory . He draws his conclusions from what has been accomplished in three of the heretofore most impoverished districts of Ireland , and just picture to yourselves the facr of an estate being bad security for £ ( 500 a year thirty years ago , and now being good security for £ 1 , 350 a year , and , as Mr Charles Colthurst says , would sell like a debenture in the market , £ 100 , 000 being expended in buildings and improvements . Then , think of the presence of an agent only being necessary to gratify his own taste and curiosity in the examina . tion of those improvements ; then , think of rents being paid in letters of credit sent to the landlord—no law-shark , —no bailiff—no TRUST Ybut , as he tells you , an old woman would

      collec ^ the rents ; then , think of twopence-halfpenny in the pound being the charge forthe poor rates in another parish > while the half-witted old landlords are pestering us with the " area of taxation , '' and | complaining that , in many instances , this charge swallows up the whole rent j then , think of the money being taken out of the savings-banks , and the old stockings , and expended upon profitable reproductive labour ; think of the landlord in those thirty years having received £ . 30 , 000 , over and above the highest rent that could be obtained for the land thirty years ago , while , if let now , I venture toassert that it would fetch over £ 3 , 000 a year , besides paying for improvements . Mr Colthurst might have added , that there has been no importation of muskets to , or transportation of bodies from , that estate ; he might

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      have added , that if priest or demagogue went there to disturb the peasant ' s allegiance to his protection , or fealty to his landlord , that they would be treated as maniacs . Then , observe . that Mr Coulthurst ' s letter is written in answer to one from a Mr Hamilton , who is anxious to acquire information upon the subject , and in speaking of the allotment system and leases in perpetuity , Mr Hamilton concludes his letter , thus : —

      Many which are now barely able to pay £ 15 , or less , if let in perpetuity , ( would probably fetch £ 20 , and ia ten years be worth £ 58 ; of course , care being taken to prevent excessive subdivisions . It would bring to light much 1 a tent cash , energy , and fertility , Tours faithfully , Johk Hamilton . Let me ^ ask you if language can express , or thought could invent , words more strongly illustrative of the lessons I ^ have taught you . Mr Colthurat further says , " That landlords themselves and not the lavrmust correct those

      several Irish abuses , but if the landlords fail that then the law must step in . " In the year 1833 , 1 placed a motion upon the Journals of the House of Commons , to the effect that all landlords should be compelled to give leases iir perpetuity , and that where lands were held upon lease for years that the value should be assessed by an impartial jury , in the same manner as property to be purchased by the Crown or corporations is now valued ; and I proposed Agricultural and Labour Premiums as a substitute for Poor Laws .

      My friends , I am only too happy when I find my views supported by such men as Mr Colthurst , and as his success has been based upon p ractice , and , therefore , constitutes him good-authority , Rcquiescence in my views—with which he was wholly unacquainted—does not strip him of a particle of the credit he deserves ; nor will you consider me vain or egotistical if I remind you of my several strictures upon this subject .

      In the House of Commons I proposed the system of leasing land in perpetuity , as a means of enriching , tranquilisingand satisfying Ireland . I have shown you , that the same difference exists between land held upon capricious lease and badly cultivated , and land held in perpetuity and well cultivated , that exists between slave labour and task work , or free labour ; and I have shown you , that the hired slave represents the hired horse , while the task labourer , paid by the job , represents the

      petted horse of the owner . ; that if you ride a hired horse , and if he drops a shoe nearly the end of his journey , you will hold him tight and keep the spurs in him till you return him to his master , having finished with him when the journey is ended ; whereas , if your own horse dropB a shoe you will dismount , lead him on the soft side of the road , and , however dark or disagreeable it may be , you will knock up the first blacksmith whose shop you pass , to get on a shoe , as the horse is your own .

      Last session of Parliament I outraged the Irish landlords prodigiously , by telling them that they themselves , and not the Government , must reclaim their country ; and I told them that a short Act of Parliament , in ten lines , would make Ireland a paradise , and that they would require no Poor Laws—and that that was perpetuity of tenure . In 1834 , in the discussion upon the Repeal of the Union , when Mr Spring Rice—now Lord Monteagle—attempted to measure the increasing prosperity of Ireland by the increasing deposits in the Savings Bank ? , I replied , " That may be a source of gratification to the Government , but it was the strongest proof of poverty and want of confidence in the

      landlords ; because if farmers had leases ] in perpetuity the dead weight in the SavingB Banks would be applied to the more profitable employment of reproductive labour ; " and I have told you a thousand times over , that Irish tenants with gold buried in crocks cultivate their holdings according to the existing standard , and not according to their will or their ability—that is , if a tenant rents twenty acres at 11 an acre , he will so manage it as to keep the roof over his head if he can , and a _ potato in his mouth , because , if by the expenditure of his labour and his capital he makes it worth 85 s . an acre , that moment his industry and capital become a tax upon him , as he has the option of raising his rent to 25 s . an acre , or seeing it let over his head to a stranger .

      Again , tracing the benefits of the perpetuity system , in all its bearings , I told you that under that system the landlord would require no griping attorney—no bailiff , nor TRUSTY , who is the landlord ' s spy and reports every bag of corn , every pig , every sack of potatoes , and every firkin of butter eold , and no matter what the necessities of the tenant or his family may be , the serf is obliged to render all to the shark . I have told you , that land in its present state is to land in its highest ; state , what raw flax is to the most splendid lace or cambric ; and I have told you , that to bring land to that state the labourer must be the first partaker of the fruits of his own industry .

      Then see what Mr Hamilton says : he tells you that an allotment ) which will now barely pay 15 ? . a year , or less , would , if let in perpetuity , fetch 201 , and in ten years would be worth 50 ? . a year . Now , what do you think of that ? There is a rise at . once of twentyfive per cent , to the landlord , and at five per cent , there is 600 ? . realised by the labourer , above the maintenance of his family , in ten years—that is—if he pays 20 / . a year and makes it worth 501 . in ten years he has an interest of 30 ? . a year , which , at five per cent .,

      is worth 600 / ., and thus , besides living , and better than a labourer , he has been enabled to save < 50 J . a year . Will this he any consolation to my dupes ? Will this stagger tbe brandydrinking , cigar-smoking nincompoops , who have so continuously and bitterly nibbled at the capabilities of the Land r And will they now attack Mr Colthurst and Mr Hamilton ? No , certainly not ; because their operations are confined within a , narrow sphere , and mine promise to spread themselves over the national surface .

      "Will this development he an answer to overpopulation , 4 ind will you forget that I nave told you many a time and oft , that if the Irish people had perpetuity of tenure , that all the ship s in the carrying trade would be too few to bring back the expatriated Irish to the land of their birth ? But every day is giving me my revenge , and the greatest that I seek is the conversion of my malignant opponents * Even the " ! Rmes , "thatha « been so loud and enthusiastic upon ! the question of emigration now begins to wince . This pilot , as long a 9 the ship sails in smooth water , is contented and happy , but the moment a breaker or a ripple appears ' a-head , when too late , he tries to 'BOUT SHIP . Do not you remember how

      this leading journal used te classify emigrants for us , telling us that men of genius would go , that men of . 5 , 000 ? . capital , of 3 , 000 ? ., of 2 , 000 ? ., 1 , 000 ? ., 500 ? ., and then came to tens , and then to units , who were to live in comfort upon the profitable speculations of the tens , the hundreds , and the thousands ; Jand how every comfort was to be providedj for them ; and that industry , energy , genius , and laudable speculation would be sure to find a resting place in the land of milk and honey ? And , perhaps , you will remember how I described the suffering and anguish of those system-transported convicts , who . braved the dangers of the deep in the hope of preserving a miserable existence for another hour of

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      misery ; and how I exposed the bad accommodation , the reckless disregard of life and comfort , and the troubles , the calamities , and disappointments that were sure to meet them upon their landing . Hew I answered the charge of idleness , preferred against my countrymen , by stating just what Mr Colthurst and Mr Hamilton now state , that in Ireland there is a premium for idleness and a tax upon industry ; that those who are condemned to unwilling idleness there seek the lion's share of toil all over the world , where the hardest and most ignominious drudgery will furnish the most miserable pittance ?

      Well , the Lord hath delivered the " Time *" into our hands . As it is with young ladies so it is with the Old Lady" Out of tbe fashion , out of the world— * and the Old Lady , who seems to be furnished with the political fashion-book for winter , spring , autumn , and summer , has taken off her pilot jacket and donned the smock-frock . The " Times" is now most lachrymose at the very thought of losing her sons of Labour . She now discovers that it will be hard to

      supply their place , and she inveighs bitterly , not against the system which compels them to emigrate , but against the facilities that are afforded for exportation . " Oh , " says the Old Lady , with her handkerchief in one hand , and her goose-quill in the other , " who shall we get to perform our HEAVY WORK if the LAZY IRISH leave us ? " But the " Times , " ever bursting with loyalty , would now select the convicts' home upon that feeling . She sayg , " In selecting between the United States and Canada 'LOYALTY WILL PREFER

      CANADA AND THE OTHER BRITISH COLONIES . '" There is a test of a convict ' s loyalty . The expatriated serf , who was compelled " to handle the special ' s staff in return for that protection which left him the option of America or the British Colonies . But let me give you the " Times ''* own words . Here it is , from ? the fashion-boek of Wednesday laet : — All that tbe British Government can do with emigration to that quarter is to gee that the emigrant is no ' forced from his native soil , is not trepanned by fraudulent agentB , oris not exposed to disease , starvation , or ship .

      wreck by dishonest shipowners , and is not landed absolutely helpless at tho Canadian port . Once landed , he will take care of himself , and will even cross the frentier , and swell the anti-British party in the States , if such is his humour . We wish , indeed , that something could be done with the . selection of emigrants . Necessity and chance now decide . The impulse which drives out a quarter of a million will not discriminate , We bare passed the opportunity of a really national emigration , and now find the movement beyond our control . New , you find , that our friend talks of selecting emigrants . Mayhap , he has taken a leaf from the Whig book ; and would cull them

      from the Chartist ranks—but I incline to think , that the growth of the Land Question and the resuscitation of Chartism , will be strong inducements to remain at home . Mr friends , now I pray of yoa to have Mr Harkort ' s address , and Mr Charles Colthurst's letter , read at every Chartist meeting , and ; above all things , bear in mind , that whatever description of agitation may be raised for the purpose of strengthening the hands and increasing the power of the capitalists , that

      they must and will come to the Land and the Charter , and for the reasons that I have im * pressed upon you . a thousand times , because the cultivation of the land will give better pront'from the source of labour than all the artificial appliances at the command of the world . Mind , my motto has been , and is , " T « make the rich richer and the poor rich , " by the better cultivation of our national resources ; and , I am sorry to say , that even you are not sufficiently instructed in the Labour Question .

      Let me trace Labour for you from the dungfork to the monarch ' s crown . The labourer who is rewarded by the profit of his own industry is a better customer with the shoemaker , the tailor , the hatter , the butcher , the baker , and the blacksmith . Those several trades are better customers with the printer , the haberdasher , the publican , ([ am sorry to say ) , the wine merchant , the watchmaker , the bookseller , the carpenter , the painter and glazier ; and those trades are better customers , as all are , with the wine merchant , the grocer , the silk mercer , the more aristocratic watchmakers , publishers , and manufacturers ; and they are better customers with brokers , merchants , bankers , horse

      dealers , coachmakers , and in the servant mart ; find all are better payers of taxes , and more loyal subjects te the monarch ' s crown , because the Crown is everything , as you can only commit treason against ^ the Crown . And strip yourself of the folly thai a mechanic or an operative cannot be converted into an agricultural labourer ; ' but even if you are of that opinion , let more machinery be applied to the cultivation of large farms , and allow even the surplus agricultural population to be located upon the Land , instead of in the bastile ; and then you would very speedily discover that every artificial trade , from the shipper to the weaver , would be benefitted by the increased ability of the agricultural labourer to produce and consume .

      Let me call your attention to this fact , that if a tenant pays 5 s aa acre for a thousand acres of land more than it is worth , he loses 250 / . a year , which at four per cent , is the interest upon 6 , 250 ? . of his capital -, whereas it is a matter of comparative insignificance to the small holder if he pays 5 * . an acre more for four acres of land than it is worth in the wholesale market ; and what I contend for is , that a landlord who now lets a farm at the rent of 11 .

      an acre , would , if he subdivided that into farms of i five acres , and built houses upon them , turn his 5 / . a year into 8 / . 10 s ., or increase his rental by seventy per cent , per annum . Let me mapj this out for you ; in its wholesale state he gets 5 ? . a year or ljf . an acre ; and with a house that would cost 100 / . I estimate the rent of that house and five acres lowly at 121 , 10 * . a year . He could raise the 1002 . for the house at four per cent . ; so that saddling him with that , and the loss of the 5 / ., the wholesale rent , he would be exchanging 9 ? . a year for 122 . 10 s .. and he need have neither

      lawyer , steward , nor bailiff , ahd not a man during life would be a defaulter on rent day ; and , believe me , that this must and will be the solution of Free Trade ; for observe , that a tax upon an article may amount to a complete prohibition of that article , and the tax that under Free Trade now remains upon the land of England , will very shortly amount to a prohibition ' of the former use of a large portion of that Land while , its neglect , its non . use , or imperfect cultivation , consequent upon the indisposition to expend capital and employ labour , will enormously increase the burdens

      upon Land reduced in value , and will inevitably * depress the manufacturing market , and the shopkeeping market , the trade market , the labour market ; and then Mr Barwise will learn that watches are purchased by labour , Mr Colburn will learn that the newest novels are purchased by labour' ; S . van and Edgar will learn that the newest fashions are purchased by labour ; and Bellamy will learn that wine is purchased by labour ; and the Queen will learn that loyalty can . only be purchased by protection to labour .

      You must bear . in mind , that the struggles all over the world—whether wise or insanearise out of the . difficulties of the Labour Question ; and that Ireland—England ' s greatest difficulty—could he turned , as if by " magic , into

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      a paradise , by its proper solution ; while iliafc A incomparable ass , Master , John O'ComiHl , ia < -iendeavouring to rally the old paying ,-,, , ] n the teeth of the glaring fact , that after wore than thirty years of agitation , not out' : <> v < t \ q attempt has been made to solve the I ^• Mis-Question in Ireland ; and yet this poor iutle huxter has the ignorance , the folly , an J the audacit y to revile the men who were roreed into danger , in the hope of retrieving the Irish mind from the old show-box moonshine . , ind still further to base laudation of the Irish Priesthood upon contempt and scorn for the

      victims of his Father . Your faithful Friend , Fkahgus O'Connor .

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      THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF THE SATIONAL CHARTER ASSOCIATION . The Executive Committee met at the Rooms , 144 , High Holbern , on Friday evening , December 28 th—Present , Messrs Kydd , Stallwood , M'Grath , Clark , and Diiea —» letter of apology was read from Julisn Harney , on th « ground of severe indisposition—Mr M'Grath was called to the chair . Correspondence was read from Neweastle < upon > T < ne , Carlisle , and South London—the agents named at each of the foregoing places were confirmed . On the motion of Messrs Clirk and Kydd , it was usanimously resolved : — ' That the subjects fov ditmwm at the first public meeting to be held at the Institution , John Street , shall be' The Organisation of . Chartism and the recent trials of Chartists . " Mr Kydd gare a spirit-stirring account r-f his rectnt mi 66 ion in Yorkshire , and the progress of Chartiim in that district .

      South London Hall—Application was made by Mr Michael Pattiion for some members of the Executive to attend that Hall on the evenings of Wednesday , the 10 th , 17 th , and 24 th ot January . On tke motion of Messrs Stallwood andKyiid . it vat resolved : — ' That the application be acceded to . ' ' That Messrs M'Grath and Dixon , atter . d on the 10 th , that the subject be' The Political and Social Condition of the People of England . That Messrs Kydd and Clark attend on the I 7 tb ; that the subject be'The Condition and Governnn-nt o ( Ireland . "

      The Parliamentary Demonstration . —The following deputies attended to aid the Executive ia getting up the demonstration , — Mr John Milne , Westminster ; Mr James Leslie , Ernest Jones Locality ; Mr Mark Lee , Finsbury ; Mr James Bailey , and Mr John Ferdinando , Brunswick Hall ; Locality ; Mr J . H . Knowles , Commercial Hall , Philpot Street ; Mr John Miller , Cripplegate . Mr Clark delivered in « report , relatire to

      inquiries made for a suitable place in which to hold the demonstration . Mr Mark Lee suggested that the 'Druids Hall , ' Farringclon Street , was a fit and most appropriate build , ing . On the motion of Messrs Stallwood and Dixon , Mr Lee was deputed to take the same , and in the event of his failing so to do , the Executive was instructed to take the Institution , John Street , for the occasion . The council then adjourned until Friday evening , January the 5 th .

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      Mb Ktdd ' s Lscturb . —Mr S . Kydd , who at tha resent nomination of candidates for tha representation of the West Riding appearad on the hustings at Wftkefield as the exponent of Chartiit dcctriEGB , aU tended at Sheffield , on Tuesday evening Ceo . 26 th , » nd delivered a lecture or 'Labour—its PoeitioB ltd Prospeots . ' A numerous and erderly assembly Df the working classes appeared in the Town Hall to listen to him . The early part of the lecture conlisted of a sketch of the relation which the labouring Blaisei have always borne to the other classes of so . cuty . He argued that th « greatness of our own sountry was attributable entirely or tearly bo to labour si the ortatinf agent , and that its futuru advancement or doolension depended mainly upon tha

      influenoe of this agent . Hence the question of . labour was the great question for the present day , and that on which depended the stability and ths h&ppinets of society . Tke sufferings of the working claueB wore ewing to the centralisation of capital , and consequently th » remedy was % more equiUbla distribution of wealth—soma arrangement that would give every man a stake in the country . All men were naturally conservative ; the only difference wag that the working olaiies had nothing to coniotTtt The favourite remedy proposed and encouraged by the property owning olasses was emigration , oh the supposition that the country is over-populated . In tnifl )» Q » oea he had no faith . He believed that the sou rf England was oapable to maintain her people , for

      the riBonrces of the hod knew no limn : wev or jy needed to be developed . The . cost of conTfyinj Eon ^ labourer from this oountry to Australia wa » £ 20 . Ihe . ama amount would pay for the reclamation of two acres of moas land , of ffhioh m tbisoountry there u sucU an abundance . It was said by tbe adyooatea for <• migration that every emigrant to our colonies would > ecome a liberal consumer of manufactured jvoodg , P . rh&cs so ; but would it not be better to spend the £ 20 in locating tho unproductive labourer ur > nn VnO B . 0 J 89 of MttMto w » Bte land it home , vshert he would be sure to he a consumer of our manufacture * , and a producer cf food likewise ? Mr Kjdd retried w ' . th muoh satisfaction to tha judicious and praise * worthy application of unproduotirs pauper labonr to

      the cultivation of waste lands as Hol'ow MeudowB , near this town , under thfitwpicea of the Sheffield Bowd of Guardians , and argued that the yojioy of Government ought to be to carry out tee princisla wherever applicable . They had ail the rtqu ^ si'a machinery in the poor-law Bystem . The goTernment was quite powerful enough for such an undertaking ; and it would contribute in a very great degree to < render the country solvent nnd secure , and to m 3 ka the people oonlsnted and happy . ( Cheers . ) Ha n * xt adverted to the aeypre evila resulting from tbe competitive principle , and recomnunded the adoption in this country of tbe plan adopted a few years

      ago by M . Leolerc , a celebrated bouse painter ia Paris , who admits all his workmen to a participation of profits proportionate to their value as workmen . Mr Kydd conoluded bis leoture by advieing tha working oImsm In the different trades to organise themselves on the co-operative principle , like tha Bhocmakera of London and the hatfera of Dent , foe toe employment of their unemployed btetbten , ana tha creation of capital by froduoins mahufactured goods on their own account . Hie hopes forthe futute succeis of tho country ^ he said , rested on the labouring classes . He believed they would be tvea to themselves , and would stand by thg People ' s Charter until it became the law of the land . ( Loul

      o teers . )—&hefitld Timet . Cost or this Chaiitibt Mekiiko 3 ik April uti . —An extract from the County Treasurer ' s account shows tbafc tho buhib repaid by him to tbe churchwardena of tbe various parishes in Middlesex , for expenses incurred by them in providing stares and other necessary articles for tho use of the special constables , in April 1848 . amounted to £ 1 , 043 14 e . 8 d . Paddington , £ 188 0 j , ; Ilaokncy , £ 157 0 s . 7 d . — Nontonformut , —LThia paragraph should bare been headed- « Cost of Bourgeois , broomsticJa , and Royalist rolling-pins . ' So much {•>' -, »»' © awardice and shop-keeping ignorance U-bD . iU

      Democracy.

      DEMOCRACY .

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      TO THE BRADFORD MEMBERS OP THE LAND COMPANY . Mt FiWENDS , V I fully agree with a great portion of your resolution published in last week's ' S ' tur" y but I can in no wise agree with the following sentence ^ : — " Mr O'Connor has no right to draw his money from the Company for that purpose , any more than we have . " JN '«»' , if pu . ^ uoc , anj mure uinu no uuvv . . n »» jj «

      you mean my share of money paid as a member , I quite agree with you , and that is tha only money in which your position am : mine is identical ; but if you mean the ' money that I have advanced out of my own pocket , fet ma put a case to you . You fail in the performance of your duty , I have contracted debts for you , from confidence declared by you , and from assurances over and over again repeated by you ; your paymentB fall off , your debts are sent into me ; I receive l , 500 J . or 2 , 000 / . of my own money just at the time that those tradesmen ' * bills

      come in—I pay them out of my -own luuuey * In a few weefca my piper makerV'bill crtmeat in , and thus , according to your argument , ' I should have no ri ^ ht to repay myself what I had advanced , and should allow my own bill to be dishonoured . Is that what you c ; ijl justice ? And so far from repaying myself any portion of the 3 , 400 / . that the accountants declared was due to me , I have considerably added to that sum eince ; however , I don't think the matter requires further comment , ai I feel aseured it must have been hurriedly and thoughtlessly penned . And , notwithstnnd * ing all opposition , from friend or foe , from members or Press , I am determinod that tho LAND PLAN SHALL GO OX . Faithfully yours , Feargus O'Connor .

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      ' / fr y & £ , &Zrr * 4 *~^ & < < AND NATIONAL TRADES' JOURNAL .

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      VOL- XII . Kg 585 . LONDON , SATURDAY . JANOAKY ^ , 1849 , * nJ ^ JSZ £ S % r ^

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Jan. 6, 1849, page unpag, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1504/page/1/