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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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i s&i ^ sys ^ j ?^ r ° r packet ° as /* & f ^ wSsK ^ ssa * if 4 P §§§ S -From a few Land Members , 28 . ; Mr . Green 3 d *\ t Jffi ^ ig % ^* *^ : * fi miSs . ^ 5113111- * ^ fte •*«*» - ^ KfLn ^ fiFV - « ' Rochdale ; and aS ^ S " -sa »« fej fi-teiSssssj" ™" " " " T ^ wT K ^ J OAOL .-The Female Chartists of Todmorden , per J . Robinson , 20 s . ; Richard Valmer and a | ewinends , 2 s . _ T . OrasiiEn . secretary . i to i ^ such Ust luls apiieared in this paper . V . W ., 1 lymOUth . _ Yes , you are liable to be taken at BT 1 J G . A ,, Manchester . —Arrested , but not tried till 1843 . and fortv-five Print .:. - » r— -m- „ T ~ ~~ f
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RECEIPTS QF THE NATIONAL LAND COMPANY . For the "Week Emhxg Thursday , January 18 , 1849 . SHARED . Westminster .. ( T 1 0 Coventry .. < fl 5 % Cardiff .. 0 ' . « 0 Bristol .. i 5 6 Blackburn .. 3 13 9 Manchester .. 17 0 Berniondsej .. 0 6 0 Abergavenny .. 5 o fl lalfark .. oi& o Mr lleffernian .. 0 2 « Lambeth .. 0 10 C Mr . Stewart .. 0 10 0 Campsie .. o 16 lo Mr . Moore ., Old Chepstow .. 2 2 6 E . Hancock .. 0 . 5 0 Hvde .. 311 0 Mr . Arthur .. 0 10 J . otttinKharo , Mr . Lewis . 0 10 Sweet .. 6 15 J B . Moss .. 0 14 ( I EishoiHvea-niGu lh 0 14 0 I \ Trunible . 0 10 Preston , Urown 2 8 1 Uorningliold .. 0 4 0 Hull .. 1 14 6 Ilochdale .. 1 17 2 £ - . ' 9 15 0 MM ^^^ MBM
EXPENSE FUND . Cxkerinouth ' .. 020 rreston , Brown 048 ¦ West minster .. 0 3 6 Bristol .. 0 12 10 Cainpsie .. 0 4 0 M . Swales .. 0 2 6 Chejistow .. 0 5 0 Sottiiijrliaiu , £ 1 16 1 Sweet .. 0 2 0 TOTALS . Land Fund 29 15 0 Expense ditto ... ... ... 1 16 1 Bonus ditto 21 13 10 Loan ditto ... ... ... 1 10 5 Transfers ... ... ... ... 0 18 0 £ 55 14 : 4 Xotice . —The person who last ¦ week sent & Post Office Order for £ 1 ., from Stalybridge , without any address or ndvice , will oblige by immediately corresponding with the Directors es to it £ application . W . Deeox , C . Dotle , T . Clark , Cor . Sec . P . M'Gratii , Fin . Sec .
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EXECUTIVE FUND . Per S . Etdd . —Norwich , Conrad Sprin ^ all , 5 s . ; Uudderafield ( forlcards ) , 5 s . ; Sheffield , G . Cavill , Is . ; Sortharopton , per Mr . Kymell , 7 s . NEW YEAR'S GIFT . Per S . KTDD . —Huddcrsfield , E . Sykes , 8 s . fid . ; Hi h Bur ton , ditto , 65 . 2 W . ; Honley , ditto , 5 s . 7 < L ; Greenwich , J . Morgan , 2 s . ; Sofmch , C . Springall , 5 s . ; Ilyson Green , J . Sm-et , Is . ; Mr . Ljgo , ditto , Is . : Mr . Hunt , ditto , 3 d . ; Aliwick . J . Young , 5 s . ; Hampstead , Mr . Lund , 5 s . 84 . ; Greenwich . Mr . Paris , Is . ; Burnley , TV . Butterworth , 4 s . ; Brighton , W . Flower , 6 s . ; Clitheroe , J . Robertson , Is . ; Robert Knowles , Is . ; Commercial Hall , Gs . ; Winchester , "is .: Star and Garter , 2 & i > A .
DEFENCE FUNDPer W . Rides . —T . Smifh , Kidderminster , Is . ; S . lyall , ditto , 3 d . ; < i . Derbyshire , Leeds , Is . 4 d . ; W . Cultinan , Piauo Forte Tuner , Leicester , 8 s . Cd . ; Eastfield Side , Sutton , per T . Jfavlor , Ss . ; Nottingham , per J . Sweet 5 s . ; V . Ashwonh and * T . Howarth , Is . 6 d . ; Council of Leicester National Charter Association , per 11 . Green , 10 s . ; Stokesli-T . per W . Coates , 4 s . ; Midgley , l > er J . Xajlor , 12 s . 6 ( L ; Worsbro' Common , per K . Ellison , ISs . Jld . ; Alnwlck , j > er J , Young , 16 a . Cd . ; "Holmfirth , per IT . Marsden , 2 s . ( id . ; Mr . Birtwistle , Asliton , j * r Sir . Taylor , 2 s . ; Lincoln , j > er 3 ! r Budd , 2 s . Cd . ; Swindon Xew Town ( proceeds of a lidl ) , per P . Thompson . £ 1 « s . I'd . ; Carlisle , per Mr . Gilbtrtson . 10 s . —Total , £ < 5 3 s . 2 d .
VICTIM FUND . IVr S . Ktdd . —Sheffield , G . Cavill , 2 s . ; Huddersfield , Mr . Jessop . Cd . ; Norwich . W . Tuffs . 2 s . lid . ; Aslacton . Uriah ¦ \ Voodcroft , Is . tid . ; John-street Institution , Three Friends , Ss . 9 < L ; Mrs . Blake , 3 d . Per Land Oract-Birkenhead , Is . ; G . Cook , Lambeth , is . ; Mr . Panis , Greenwich , 3 s . ; Robert Jervis , Is . ; George Dempster , os . ; An Old Chartist , Is . ; Win . Butterworth , Burnley , 4 s . ; Daniel Broad , Is .: James Hewart , Ik . Cd . ; Thomas BitmeaJ , Is . ; 1 . Danes , Vfliittington and Cat , ' Js . FOR WIVES AND FAMILIES OF VICTIMS Per W . Kideb . —Eastfield Side , Sutton , perT . Baylor , 5 s . ; Holnifirth , Jier IL Marsden . i ' s . Cd . ; London , Sir . "Wood , 2 s . -id- ; IBrighton , per Yf . Slower , £ 1 12 s . 63 , FOR MRS- JONES . I Vr W . Uidee . —London , Mesdamcs Sewley , Magee , Aelan , and Simmons , 2 s . Hi .
FOR MRS- M'DOUALL . Per W . IliDEH . —London , Jlesdaines Xewley , Magee , Aelan . aud Simmon ? . 2 s . 0 d .
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- The sum of 4 s . id ., acknowledged last week from Holmfirth . f » r Executive , was for Defence Fund ; and the £ 110 s . from Hamilton , was intended for Families of Virftms . ¦}¦ This fuiu ( witli Cs . sent for Executive ) vras the produce tif a concort held , in commemoration of the aged patriot's natal day , at the Artichoke Inn . Mr . Flower is 7 S years of age , and can yet battle the enemy like a " good ' un . "
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LETTERS TO THE WORKING CLASSES . XXXf . " Words are things , and a small drop of ink Falling— 'ike devr—upon a thought produces That which makes thousand ? , perhaps millions , think . " bsko . v .
"LAWS GRIND THE POOR , AND RICH MEN RULE THE LAWS !" Brother Proistaeuss , Tbc desi ruction of human life at the Infant Pauper Establishment at Tooting , is another frightful example of the working of that blessed system , ¦ which , has oflate- been so often eulogised as " the admiration of fcbe world and tbe envy of surrounding nations . " By the " Ejstem" I meaa tot merely the Government of Queen , Lords , Commons , feather-bed Field Afatslia ' s , Maids of Honour , Judges , Bishops , Soldiers , Policemen , and Spies . I mean the srstcm in its social , as well as its
political , character . A system I pronounce villanous and murderous . ' Walk , " said the Times , addressing Louib Blaxc , a few m-nths ago : "Walk along Regent-street , and Tiew the shop 3 fil ' ed to repletion -with the produce of this country and the wealth of the worM . Gaze thereon , and contrast therewith the half-rained capital you have come from , and you will then be compelled to acknowledge ourjjrcatnesasanation , and the wisdom of those who founded , and those who have preserved those glorious [ institutio- s , which ensure the stability of 'Order' with Its consequent blessings—national alches , and general contentment !"
Such was the meaning ( if not the precise words ) of the insolent address of the 27 » i « to Louis Blanc . All the ¦ while the limes well knew that tue person it addressed bad but to diverge a few streets from the line of promenade recommended , to find misery fully equal to-perhaps excelling—anything of the sort to befound in Paris . The Times knew that almost within Sight of the Pimlico Palace , and under the very walls of the Hall of the Legislature , tne most deplorable poverty abounded , and brutal ignorance flourished , to an extent ¦ unknown in the French capital . Where "Want and Ignorance have their habitations vice naturally reigns . Westminster Cathedral is too pure to admit the statue of Byron , tut not too delicate to receive the wages of infamy , in the shape of rental for brothels , jhe grim gaol of TothtJJ fields is a fitting accompaniment to palace and abbev .
And ea ' st , north , and south , as well as west , Louis Blanc might have found overwhelming evidences of the rottenness of the much-vaunted English system . That superannuated buffoon , Punch , contains in its impression published this week an imaginary picture of John Bull and his family , luxuriating in all the comforts ofa model English home . Johnisas plethoric as a prize ox , and as happy as a well-fed idiot . Of course the rest of the family are to match . Surrounding this picture there are caricatures of the French , Spanish , Italian , and German nations ; the whole breathing of civil war , murder , and misery of every kind . "Communism" is made to wield the torch and dseerer , and all is havoc , ruin , and
despair . You see the contrast intended to be made manifest to the naked eye . But to prevent all mistakes , like the artist (?) -who had drawn ( what at least he intended for ) a horse , and then wrote under It "This is a horse ! " Punch writes under his central picture , " There is no place like home !" Now tarn your eyes from the fudgenes of this Uurmk-bvSoon to the horrible realities of the Tnnrimr n « t-hniKe' In Punch ' s fancy picture of an wbsab ^ k SS ^ dismal den . In that pest-house he unhappy ctai dren have been sacrificed at the alter of Profit 1 ne nrnnr , of « . wd ht- " fanning" pauper boys ana giri » .
snft i 7 atu ,, the evidence on the mqucBi Slid how he farmed them , me evjuei ^ rpntyation , wiU inform you . Over-crowding , ^ SSfood ttt&sga>k i » mralresuIIs-4 rstdiairh < Ki , tbenclu > iera . rj **» . riapsed banco *» ? rKS- itTof to m&SX £ & » % g £ Z
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unabated—there was no improvement in clothing looa , or ventilation—no amendment in the medical department of the establishment . The Destrover came , and within a fortnight eighty children-so says Mr . Wakley-were carted away to the grave Happy were the unfortunate children when death terminated their sufferings . Imagine the poor creatures , tivo , thm , and even fow , in a bed , some just seized with the disease , some far advanced in suffering , some in the ext-eme state of agony , and others dying ! Imagine these wretched little beings , vomiting and purging with that violence and torture which are distinguishing marks of cholera , with . no adequate convenience or attendance— "I found , ' says Mr . Grainger"far of the female
, wards under the care of one nurse . " Messrs . Grainger and Popham relate that the floor and bedclothes were soaked with the evacuations of the suffering children , owing to the total insufficiency of nurses and attendants . Amidst these horrors upwards of a hundred of the victims perished . The records of voyages on the fatal coast of Africa could alone furnish any parallel to this whole » ale destruction of human life . But the victims of the Niger expedition encountered death with their eyes open . Ihey were not compelled to brave such ' a doom . The Exeter Hall Philanthropists " projected aHd the Government patronised that insane enterprise , but the men who engaged in it , knew the character of the climate they dared to encounter . Moved by
the love of adventure or the hope of reward , they went on their romantic expedition with their lives in their hands , and too many of the brare fellows paid the fatal penalty of their temerity . But , in the case of the " pauper-children , " the poor victims were not free agents . They did not volun tarily take up _ their abode at Tooting , In enconnterinz the privations and abominations which led them to death , they were animated neither by the love of adventure . nor the hope of fame or reward . The helpless victims of a pitiless system , they were " farmed out" to live if they could live , and if not to die . And such a death ! " Marcus" was a phianthrfpist , compared with those who . at present , provide for the ''Extinction of Pauperism" by extinthe
guisain ? paupers' lives . It is true that that •' philosopher" proposed a legalised system of plain , downright MURDER , but then he showed himself not utterly mercile-s when he proposed to murder by " painless extinction . " What father but would ratherthat his children , if they must perish , should die by an over-application of ether or chloroform , than by the hrrrible disease engendered in the Tooting pest-house ? Marcus must be regarded as a minister of humanity ,-when compared with the inhuman traffickers in the lives of " pauper-children . " Behold the frnitsofthe blessed system glorified by the truculent Tina and the rest of the rile Presssnnp . Happy England ! " There is no place like home . ' "
The Times has recentlystartedonacmsade against mendicants and begging-impostors . No one can doubt that the street ahauw are a numerous c ' ass , but to condemn all who appeal to the passer-by for alnu , would be gross injustice . Many impostors are not to be mistaken , particularly the preachin " and paalm-singing vagabonds , who of late years have eo much infested the streets . But undeniable facts attest that too many honest men * re driven to mendicity as their last resourca . A few days p go , it was stated , at a meeting of tbe rate-payers of St Andrew ' s , Holborn , that fifty thousand artisans in London alone were out of employment . Will the Times assert that these fifty thousand men , or any portion oftliem , drirento » he streets , are impostors ? A
correspondent of the Builder having suggested that the arches of the South-Western Railway at Lambeth might be floored and boarded at the sides to serve as night refuges for the houseless poor , the Athcnaam remarks thereon that"Few of the sons and daughters of luxury in this " metropolis know how many of their fellow-citizenB " arehomeless amid all its homes —have no other " place in which to shelter their heads from the " north wind than door-ways , benches in the parks , " railway arches , cold stone steps , and gutters . " These homeless ones mav be counted in thousand . "*
" They embrace women and children — infants of " tender age — who absolutely never knew the meaning " of the word 'home . '' " Are these homeless thousands impostors ? And how does it happen that if mendicity is the thriving calling as it is asserted to be by the Times , that these unhappy denizens of the streets , cannot obtain sufficient from public charity to enable them to procure a night ' s lodging ? -j Believe me , brother proletarians , there are more imposters , than those who hail from St . Giles ' s . There are impostors in " purple and find linen , " in siik and broad-cloth , in wigs and shovel-hats ; and I fancy you will agree with me , that
" A' / w / u-e in rags is twice a rogue in lawn . " Street-beggars , too , are not the only persons who live by lying , otherwise certain gentlemen in Prin ting House-square might go hungry . OF all impostors , assuredly those are the worst who cry up the present system as the perfection of wisdom , and who insult the wretched by reminding them that " there is no place like home !" L'AmI DU PeUPIE , Londo , Jan . I 8 th , 1819 .
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PUBLIC MEETINGS . THE LATE CHARTIST TRIALS . ^ CHARTIST ORGANISATION . A crowded public meeting eonvened by the Eseeutive Committee , was held at the Literary and Scientific Institution , John-street , Fitzroy-square , on Monday evening , January 15 th . Mr . Henry Ross was unanimously called to the chair , and said " : lie thought it right that every man should have the opportunity of scanning the conduct of those in power , and pronouncing an opinion thereon ; if we had not such a power , or such liberty , then were we slaves . It was little use railing at the measures of the government , as the government was invariably the reflex of the middle classes , "We meet to-night not to impugn the right of any—but , on the contrary , to maintain , defend , and demand
rights for all . ( Loud cheers . ) We belong to no party—are of no faction , but are of the people , and for the people . lie would introduce Mr . Dixon to move the first resolution : — " That , in the opinion of this meeting , government prosecutions instituted against individuals for the expression of their political opinions , have been in all ages odious and unjust ; and have , in most cases , ori ginated with the governing faction from a desire onlheir part to check and lessen the liberty of the subject . That the evidence adduced during tbe late state trials at the Old Bailey in London , and in the courts of York and Liverpool , clearly prove a disgraceful system of espionage to have been practised by the Russell Cabinet , and their emj loyers , for " the basest of purposes , and calls loudly for the opposition and censure of every enlightened and liberal-minded citizen of the realm . "
Mr . Dixox , on rising to move the first resolution , was received with loud applause . He said , that it was now a dangerous thing to stand upon a platform to enunciate political opinions since the passing of the Whig Gagging Bill , which measure had been passed for the express purpose of circumscribing the liberty of the subject . He , however , thought that the people had yet some privileges left , "Which they could mid should exercise , one of which was to meet in public , and mark with their severest censure such despotic measures . For such a constitutional pnrpose they were met on this occasion . The resolution which he liad read called in question the conduct of the Russell Cabinet , as manifested in the late state trials , and he , Mr . Dixon . hoped in
discussing this matter that they -would do it calmly , but at the same time firmly . For his part , he considered the conduct of the government highly reprehensible ; and when lie called to mind the way in which the Vhig 3 in days gone by used to point out to the peop le the conduct of the Castlereagh and Sidmouth administrations in the use of spies and informers , he was almost surprised ( if anything the Whigs did ought to surprise him ) to find Russell and Grey in the late prosecutions , acting a part more derogatory and despicable than even Castlereagh and Sidmouth . He charged them and theiv creatures with getting up those conspiracies , and he thought every man who attended the trials at the Old Baitot would be of the same opinion , It is I 10 W a
matter of history , brought out in the evidence of Powell ( or lying Tom ) , who stated that he was in constant communication with the authorities long before any steps were taken to prevent the conspiracy , but every thing done to entrap a few enthusiastic men ; then wo had Barrett or ' Hell fire Dick , ' who said he joined the Chartists on purpose to entrap them—he joined them in the last week in May , and he was in communication with the authorities the first week in June . If this conduct is to be tolerated no man is safe ; he saw no hope of a change from this unjust and disgraceful state of things , until the people in the majesty of their intelligence say that misrule and oppression must cease . Mr . Dixon then read the resolution , and resumed his seat amid the plaudits of the meetiug .
^ Mr . M'Ghath seconded the resolution . After the Whig reign of terror through which they had just past , it was a matter of complacency to the friends of the movement , to witness so numerous an assembly , determined once more to rear aloft the bright banner of the Charter , with the motto of " Jfo Surrender . " ( Cheers . ) The infamous conduct of the Whig Ministry had imposed a solemn duty upon all honest citizens , ( llcar . ) And that was a distinct and manly repudiation of that perfidious state policy which concocts conspiracies , and makes limps , spies , perjurers , and 'informers part and Hived of the machinery of government . ( Cheers . ) The resolution which had been so lucidlv submitted to the meeting by ill" . Dixon , pronounced , in unmistn ?'» blc language , sentence of condemnation upon this slv insidious , anti-English policy . Tyrants J ^ ye " iJi all ages , availed themselves of the odious
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services of spies and informers . " If is said , by a Soman historian , that the decline of the glory of tho Eternal city was characterised by the employment of spies ; vrhat delight the millions of Great Britain would experience , could they assure themselves that the utter and eternal downfall of Whiggcry was portended by the same sign . ( Cheers . ) We have heard from time to time much eloquent denunciations of the unjust rule of Sidmouth and Castlereagh . More ' worthy in my opinion , of condemnation , is the sway of Russell ana Grey . ( Hear , hear . ) In the days of the first two worthies , espionage and subordination were unblushingly practised . Madden , the Irish historian , informs us that from 17 H 6 to 1800 , a band of profligate wretches were supported in Dublin at the public expense , whose horrible business was to swear away the liberty or lives of those whom infuriated authority marked as victims . These monsters occupied" a
house opposite Kuniamliain jail , and a part of the prison , which are to this day known respectively as the stag-house and stag-yard . But the greater portion of them were lodged within the precincts ol the cattle , and undci the eye of the Lord-Lieutenant , drilled by Majors Sirr , Swann , and Sandys , to expertness in their hellish calling . ( Hear . ) Many a noble Irish spirit languished a long life in chainsmany a patriotic heart bled upon the scaftold through the perjury of these detested fiends , Kut which are the most infamous , those dregs of humanity who take the blood money and murder by perjury , or the master monsters by whom they are fostered , paid and instructed ? Our Whig government have been recently indulging themselves in
gonie oituese pranks ol despotism . They have sent their spies among society , who have concocted and fostered conspiracies , to the end that they might receive the reward of their betrayal . It will ever be the case , that as long as the spy is encouraged , even when not specially instructed to do so , he himself will get up plots and explode them , to show his masters his worth and utility to the public service . Such has been the conduct of the villain Powell , alias lying Tom , one of the blackest monsters that ever ' disgraced the witness box , or polluted the Evangelists . 1 ' oov , honest , and enthusiastic Cuffey —( loud cheers ) inwho so often stood upon this 2 > l » tform advocating — his rough , but fervid and truthful manner , the
principles of Democracy , with several others , is the victim of this Whig-instructed fiend . Another of the allies of her Majesty ' s advisers in then- crusade against Chartism , is Mr . Barrett ; a convicted thief . Next come sa particular protegee of Sir Jolm Jervis , whom he introduces to the notice of the court as a respectable man . His respectability was , hovrever , considerably diminished before he left the witness-box . Sine * hia debut at the Old Bailey lus stock-in-trade was sold up by his landlord for twelve shillings , and his household furniture for less than a pound . ( Laughter . ) Before this filthy wretch became a Whig crusader against liberty he supported himself upon the guilty profits ofa brothel . Such were the instruments wielded by Whiggery to entrap , degrade , and crush enthusiastic but incautious Chartists . But , thank God ! instead of degrading and crushing our cause , they recklessly loaded themselves with an amount of
obloquy under which they may stagger for a time , but which must ultimately crush them as a political party . ( Cheers . ) The conduct of the judge in passing sentence upon Guffey and the other victims of espionage , was most unbecoming . Every man is interested in driving from power a faction " which endangers the lives and liberties of the community . Mr M'Gratii proceeded still further to comment upon the atrocity of the spy system , during which Mr O Connor , accompanied by Mr Clark , entered the hall . No sooner did the audience get a sight of tiiC champion of democracy , than he was greeted by the most deafening cheering and waving of hats and handkerchiefs , which lasted during his progress to the platform , and was renewed with the greatest enthusiasm on his taking his seat . On the subsidence of the cheering , Mr M'Grath concluded his addrcBs , amid loud cheering , by seconding the re-S ilution .
Mb . S . Ktdd , who was received with loud applause , then came forward to support the resolution . On coming forward he read a letter of apology from Julian Harney , expressive of his sympathy with the political prisoners , and his regret " that his pressing duties , in connexion with the Northern Star , prevented him attending the meeting . Mr . Kydd then proceeded to say , that the mover and seconder of the resolution had said , "with a great show of justice , that government were the promoters of the conspiracies that had been complained of . In Bradford the middle classes had sutfered themselves to be frightened almost out of existence—spies had been employed—riots and tumults had prevailed ; yet , in Leeds , a manufacturing town only ten miles distant , in which the same species of trading existed , and with a much larger population , no riots or tumults prevailed . Why ? Because Mr . Ciwbwt , a hkflily intelligent man , prcsidinir as mavor .
respecting public opinion , and calling public meetings for its expression on all occasions—refused to be a tooland , consequently , no spies -were employed , and the peace of the town was preserved . At Binglcy , in the same county , an ignorant magistracy suppressed public opinion—spies were employed—victims were made—and gaols were filled . At Kcighley , a few miles off , the people refused to liavc anything to do with police and constabulary , but were their own protectors , and no disorder—no scenes of riot prevailed . Did not these things bring the conspiracy home to the government ? ( Loud cheers . ) It was a proverb , " That curses , like chickens , came home to roost , " and he thought that the curse of spy-ism would fall upon the Whigs . Those who wanted the Charter must do something more than ask—they must show their faith in their good works . Then up , and by your wise words and virtuous actions show your faith in the words of the poet ,
that" Freedom's battle once begun , Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son , Though baffled oft is ever won . " The resolution was then put and carried unanimously . Mr . Stamwood rose to move tho second resolution as follows : — " That government , to be of practical benefit to society , securing protection to the life , property , and interest of all its members , ought in justice to reflect the intelligence , probity and will of the majority of the people ; and we , in public meeting assembled are decidedly of opinion that such result would be eventually secured , by the enactment of the People's Charter as the basis of the representative portion of tho British constitution . "
This resolution asserted the great principle enunciated some fifty years ago by that astute Englishman , who by his severe simplicity and moral grandeur , aided by his " Common Sense , " had called up a great people and erected a great nation : he said "that every man had a right to one vote in tho choice of a representative , it belongs to him in right of his existence ; his person is his title deed . " ( Applause . ) Where was the danger of Universal Suffrage ? The danger was the withholding of the right —not in granting it ? Was there danger in the late Parisian election , at which Raspail , then and now a prisoner at Vincennos , polled upwards of seventyfive thousand votes and was returned a member of the National Assembly ? Was danger shown in the
recent Presidential election , in which upwards of seven millions of persons recorded their votes without so much as ruffling a hair on a lady ' s poodle ? ( Laughter and applause . ) Ay , but say they the people of France did notshow much wisdom in electing under Universal Suffrage , a prince for a pvesident . This he granted , the French were novices : they had recently undergone the transition from serfdom to freedom , hut their approximation to Chartism would permit thorn at the end of four years to take advantage of their increased knowledge , and , profiting by their experience , make a choice probably more favourable to the interest of democracy . ( Cheers . ) The Charter destroy the Property Qualification . and gives vou a free choice in the selection of your
representatives , it enables you to select from " the order of industry" and in Labour ' s ranks . Let no vestry , parish or public meeting pass over , without raising your voice in favour of the principles of democracy . Persevere , and depend on it your legitimate exertions must result in establishing universal liberty and social happiness . ( Great cheering . ) Mr Clark , in seconding the motion , said , this resolution asserts that government was designed to protect the lives and properties of all the members of the stato , without distinction , and it is upon this presumption that the demand for the Charter is based . ( Hear . ) The theory of the Charter is , that where there is no protection given there is no allegiance due . ( Hear , and cheers . ) I hold the doctrine
of government to he by tho majority of tho people , ana will strongly protest against the exercise of tho governmental functions of this country by any powerless democratic . ( Cheers . ) Like the preeedin <* speaker , however , I am not disposed to offer any factious opposition to those Reformers who arc now contending fora less measure of suffrage than -hatcontained mthe Charter . ( Hear . ) Uponthecont trarv I am delighted to find that at last the middle classes are moving in the matter , and hail with pleasure their accession , as far as they go . ( Hear , hear . ) They are yet in the infancy of politics , and are only now beginning to feel the effects of that enormous taxation of which we haw « o long . comiins
plained . Mr Cobden , n recently puuiiwi ™ ««« l et has proposed to reduce the taxes £ 10 , 000 , 000 annually , and his efforts will be sustained by the middle classes . The hon . member for the West Riding seemed well to understand the men with whom he 1 ms to deal ; and in seeking to procure the uo-onoKition of the middle classes , he lias with great tact iddresscd himself to their pockets , knowing tint onartcr to be their most sensitivepoinMHear , ni lSSbory-and with all my heart I wish him success ( Cheers . ) Hut whilst I am not inclined in anv way to interfere with those who advocate a more " limited suffrage than that which I advocate , mv earnest recommendation to you is to stand fast bv the People ' s Charter , whole and entire ( Loud checrg ) lani determined to . uphoUi the Charter ,
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m preference to any other measure . Even if th lour points proposed by Mr Hume were made Jaw there would still be a large number of the people unenfranchised . The resolution which I am now supporting affirms the principle that tho protection of property ls one of the first duties of a government , inis principle I fully assent to , and in reducing it to practice , would take care that as the institutions of the country arc mainly designed for he protection of property , that the taxes necessary lor the maintenance of such institutions should be principall y levied upon property . ( Cheers . ) Industry is not a fair object of taxationand therefore
, ought to be left free and untrammelled . Fortunately the country is at length arousing itself upon this question of taxation . ( Hear . ) There ave the several Financial Reform Associations of Liverpool , Manchester , Edinburgh , and other places , all in active operation ; and although they arc not exactly with us , yet each one of them is dealing a blow at our common foe—the dastardly Whig faction , with whom we will wage deadly war until their final extinction . ( Loud ehoevs . ) When tho settlement of the suffrage question takes place—as it must be
ere long , for we cannot live in close connexion with the French Republic and the other continental democracies , and tolerate the existence of the present aristocratic and plundering institutions of this country—the case will not be left entirely in the hands of Richard Cobden . Joseph Hume , and Lord Jolm Russell ; but if we are true to ourselves and our great principles , the genius and intelligence of the working classes will make themselves felt in the bargain , and , at last , our fondest hopes will be realised , by the enactment of the People ' s Charter . ( Loud cheers . )
Mr . O'Conxor said : Mr . Chairman ana my friends , I am a modest man , and Mr . Clark should not , in my presence , have reminded me of my triumph , because , so fur from looking upon my incarceration in tho felon ' s cell in York Castle as a degradation , or even an insult , I look upon it as a victory , —( chcei'S )—as you may rely upon it , that the persecution of the tyrant waa measured by my valuo to the people . ( Cheers . ) This is a cause in which I have been engaged , in England and Ireland , for new twenty-aix years , and it was fifteen years on the 21 st of last
September , since I established and organised the Chartist movement in England—and , however fearful tho recollections that those side galleries bring to my mind , when occupied by Government spies and detectives , dressed as navvies ; yet , -however apathetic and terror-stricken a portion of the working classes may be , and however dangerous the advocacy of their principles may be , neither their apathy nor tho threatened danger shall induce me to abandon the advocacy of thoso principles and the cause of the labouring classes . ( Cheers . ) I do not agree with Mr ,
Kydd in attributing your weakness to your ignorance . It was the charge brought against you when Fox and Richmond advocated the principlesoftho Charterin 1780 , auditwillcomH nuc to he the charge until you possess political power , and manifest ability , capacity , and discrimination in its exercise . ( Cheers . ) It is not to ignorance or to the power of your opponents that your degradation is to bo ascribed—it is to your own jealousies . ( Hear , hear . ) It ia to the fact that the well-paid trades have established the standard of wages by the comparative , instead of the positive , scale of value ;
the man earning £ i a-weok looking with contempt upon kim who can earn but 15 s . ; while , in turn , the man with 15 s . looks with scorn upon the unwilling idler , who is dragged from his family and consigned to the Poor Law Bastile . ( Loud cheers . ) That is the competition , and you are the competitorswhereas , if you were as united as your opponents are , the man who now congratulates himself upon receiving £ 2 a-weok by the comparative scale , would then receive £ 4 by tho positive scale—while there need not be a willing idler in tho laud ; and if there was one
when the free labour market was opened , instead of making him the child of the State , and entitling him to an idle subsistence—if nobody else would undertake the task—I would volunteer to whi p him through the marketplace myself . ( "Hear , hear , " and cheers . ) Well , you cheer that , but see how many bloated idlers , with ruddy checks , fat jowls , and . bursting corporations , live , luxuriate , grow rich and fat upon the blood and sweat extracted from the lean bodies of those who furnish the means of luxury and wealth ? ( Cheers . ) Well , but whoso iault is it ? You , if in the same
situation , would do the same . It is their union and your disunion , through their ability to make laws to distribute the lion ' s share of profit amongst the chosen few , while , if you were united , that power -would very speedily cease . ( Hear , hoar . ) But you cheer those who would raise the labourer to the seventh heaven by proclaiming the labourer ' s right to life and happiness ; while in France , Prussia , Austria , Rome , and Italy , where the dissensions of Labour have created the most bloody revolutions , you have not heard a word spoken , or read a sentence printed , upon the solution of the
Labour Question . ( Hear , hear . ) Yes , there is one exception , the Address of M . Harkort , the Chairman of the Berlin Conservative Electioneering Committee—an address that should be printed in letters of gold . He says , " Sco what the enthusiasts have done for you—and see what the King proposes to do for you . They have squandered your money in excitement , while the Constitution given by the king destroys for ever all feudal and barbarous rightsallows the flock to elect their own shepherdmakes every child of the State entitled to education at the expense of the State , and divides the royal domains into peasant allotments , to
employ thehard-working men . " ( Loudcheers , ) Ah ! you smell the Land , do you ? But he goes further , and shows that the amount of money spent by parsons , place-hunters , and lawyers , if expended upon the location of the hard-working men upon their own peasant allotments , would provide habitations and labour fields for 0 , 500 labourers . ( Loud cheers . ) Now , there ' s the acceptance of the reviled Land Plan ; Free Church , Free Education , Distribution of the Royal Domains , Universal Suffrage , and the Charter , accepted in the most Protestant country in Europe—the very principles and the very objects for the advocacy aud achievement of which I have suffered so
much obloquy , persecution , and slander , and for tho want of which you have suffered such privation , destitution and misery . ( Cheers . ) But to come nearer home—to come to Ireland : what do you find there ? Why , a million of human beings dying of starvation in one year!—piled in heaps like carrion , for dogs and pigs to fatten upon—with a fertile soil , ready to yield its abundance , if there was not a premium for idleness ; and then think of five and thirt y mortal years being spent in trafficking agitation ; while , if the amount expended upon jugglery and moonshine , or one-tenth of it , had
been applied to the location of the poor upon the land of their birth , they would not be compelled to fight for the Repeal of the Union , or any other measure : it would then be— "Ask , and you shall have . " ( Hear , hear . ) Well , then , notwithstanding this suffering of the millions , all the sympath y of the Press and the factions is devoted to the landlords and the oppressors , while not a word of sorrow for the lingering , starving , murdered people . ( Cheers . ) This , in the main , is the fault of the landlords ; but think of a base , bloody , tyrannical , and savage Government , urging the enthusiastic , the feeling , and the brave , to attain by force what is denied to justice , and
then treating them to the vengeance of classmade law . ( Loud cheers . ) Ah ! my friends ; you had no right to invite mo here to-ni ght , You had no right to provoke me to express the feelings of my heart in the teeth of the Gagging Bill ; for , when I think of the disasters to ^ which my country has been subjected , my Irish blood boils in my veins , and it requires moro than human cowardice to apply the altered law ' s letter to the description of my country ' s misery , and her oppressors' tyranny . ( Tremendous cheering . ) But do you suppose that this league of tyrants is to be for ever perpetuated ? No ! The Saxon manacles will be struck off . After March the Saxon gaoler can
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no longer incarcerate the Irishman for frowning or looking crooked at his Vice-regal dignity ; and as Hannibal to his father 3 wore , I have pledged myself to seek justice tor the sufferings of my country from every earthly tribunal ; aud although her dungeons were filled with Whig victims , and although her Press should be marshalled against me , individually , I will once more land upon her shore and raise the standard of liberty and nationality . ( Tremendous cheering aud * waving of hats . ) But I tell you , labourers , that notwithstanding any importance that you attach to any
other question or measure , that Labour never will bo free until Labour represents itself ; aud it is for that reason that 1 aslc the labourers of all classes , not only not to oppose , but by every means in their power to assist , the present movement of Richard Cobden tuid the Financial League . ( Loud cheers . ) Now , let me call your attention to Labour's greatest enemy . It arises from the fact that every popular demagogue , like myself , hopes to preserve aud uphold his own popularity by opposing the schemes of all other parties ; but , as 1 pant for retirement , and only struggle for equality ,
which would render my longer services unne ^ cessary , I yield a cordial and ready support , even to my bitterest enemies , when in their policy I recognise Labour's justice and Oppression ' s fall . ( Cheers . ) I seldom base my own views upon complicated comprehensive questions upon my own opinions or knowledge ; my duty , as well as my character , prompts me to consult the ablest—the most zealous—the most sincere , and persevering leader and advocate that the working classes
of any country could over- boast of , —of course , you are aware that I mean Thomas Slingsby Duncombe . ( Here the whole meeting rose , and the cheering and waving of hats were indescribable . ) Mr O'Connor continued ; Now , don * t you think it is cheering to me to hear the name of that distinguished man , now suffering from illness contracted in your cause , received with sudi warm affection and enthusiasm ? and I will now read you an extract from a letter received from him this morning . He says : —
"I am much pleased with the Manchester move , and especially the resolution Milner Gibson proposed . I think it of great valuo . Let us only see that principle established , and then we shall see it carried out far enough to insure a benefit to the people . Encourage this new Cobden move . I would , were I in the House . It must destroy the Whigs ( God be praised ) for ever and ever . "
( Tremendous cheering . ) i \ Tow , working men , the Cobden move came upon us with a hop , step , and jump . I was compelled to comment upon it without having time to consult our leader , —a circumstance , which , I assure you , grieved me ; and you may judgo how consolatory it must be to you and me , to find that ho entirely accords with the policy I suggested . ( Cheers . ) In order to cany out the battle against the agricultural constituencies , they also propose to create a number of forty-shilling freeholders—well , oven that is the miniature of our lovely cottages and larger labour-fields ,
and they are the full length portrait of England ' s future greatness , —the difference is , that , in the one case , serfs arc selected for voters ; and in the other case , they are left free and independent . But , is not the selection of voters from the most indigent class , a proof that [ in the opinion of the selectors all are competent to exercise the right . ( Cheers . ) Ay , and if to-morrow every man in this vast assemblage was enfranchised , and if they were to constitute the constituency for an electoral district , those who would now make your
ignorance the justification for your disqualification , would praise your shrewdness , applaud your knowledge auc \ discrimination—wlmo the candidate of your choice would boast of representing the most enlightened constituency in Britain . ( Cheers , and laughter . ) Nay , more , if knowledge became an excisoablo commodity , as I have often told you , the officials from the Excise office would perambulate the country with a BRAIN GAUGE ; and THEN , if a mere idiot pleaded ignorance as his exemption , tho official would toll him that he was the
seventh wonder of the world . ( Great cheers , and laughter . ) I tell you that the ignorance of a people ia the tyrant ' s best title to power ; and if your ignorance could be made the basis of their power , they would enfranchise you tomorrow , but it is your knowledge and not your ignorance they dread . ( Cheers . ) But if you were ignorant , to whom does the blame Rttach ? whether to those whose ignorance proceeds from the want of the means of procuring education , or to those pious revilers , who appropriate to their own kindly use the stock fund which was originally applied to tho education of the poor ? ( Cheers . ) Oh , but our piouB , charitable , Christian , and philanthropic
Kings , not only have the power of accepting or rejecting laws , but they have the power of altering the Church Service . Upon one occasion , the celebrated Sidmouth , and his pious coadjutors , had the duty imposed upon them of adding a new prayer to the Church Service , . —of course the prayer , like the Gagging Bill , should receive the Royal Assent before it became Divine law . Well , the officials manufactured the prayer , they took it to George the Fourth , the first gentleman of England , and the head of the Church , but the biggest blackguard in Europe . ( Hear , hear . ) Well , the Monarch , as was his custom , was drunk , and when tho divine law was submitted for his
signature , when he heard it read , and his opinion was asked , he burst out laughing and said , " Oh , by G— it ' s ad—( 1 good prayer . " ( Tremendous laughter . ) Now that was the head of the Church ; while our present pious Monarch bountifully bestows a few pounds of your money for the best Essays upon Religion and Morality ; the saints of Exetcr-hall being the judges and distributors of the prizes , while Joseph Surface would have been the proper person . ( Cheors and laughter . ) JVow , ( said Mi ' . O'Connor ) , the Labour Question is this , —the League enunciate and defends the theory that , when one industrial channel is closed another is
opened ; so , when improvement in . machinery disinherited thousands , railw ay and building operations opened a now channel to industry , but now these are closed ; aud what I contend is , that Nature ' s channel—the only channel Uirge enough to " embrace the disinherited of all classes—is the Land . ( Loud clieevs . ) You have not capital to become manufacturers , bankers , merchants , watchmakers , silkmercers , vrine merchants , grocers , or shopkeepers ; and as long as the employment of Labour is confined -within the narrow limits of chance
requirements and capr ice , so long will the wages of the employed he measured by the destitution of the starving unemployed . ( Cheers and " That ' s it . " ) Well , then , every man with two legs and two arms has capital in his labour to appl y to the cultivation of the soil ; and every competing slave who enters that channel , when all others arc closed against him , is a competitor removed from tho Labour market , and ceases to be a burden upon industry . ( Hear , hear . ) And observe , and bear well in mind , that I do not ask all to abandon their profitable trade ; but what 1 do ask is , that
those belonging to overstocked trades should bear the fact in mind , that every unwilling idler removed from that trade has its effect in destroying competition , while it releases tho CHEST from tho support of the located man . ( Hoar , hoar . ) Then lot thorn boar in mind , that the men thus located boeome better and cheaper producers of their food than the Ameican or the Pole—and better customers for their labour than the Indian , the Chinese , or the Australian—and the more aristocratic shopkeepers have yet to learn tho " great fact , " that the burden of class legislation falls heavily upon them ; as , no matter whether
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Wings or Tories , those who constitute the staff of each party will take care that the national resources arc cultivated to that exact point which will enable tho supporters of the existing Government to distribute the lion ' s share amongst their own partisans . ( Cheers . ) And you , labourers , never leak sight of the ' irrefutable fact , that those locusts of patronage , and those traders who live by profits , measured by cheap wages , established by the destitution
of a competitive reserve , will ever prefer the smaller amount of national wealth with the lion ' s share for their portion , to that national wealth being trebled , the poor and the industrious having their fair share of the increase . ( Cheers . ) Then , again , bear in mind , that every man freely employed upon the Land is a better customer with every class of society , from the baker to the watchmaker , while he relieves the overstocked Labour market of a
competitor , and the rate-payers from the burthen of supporting him in idleness . ( Cheers . ) 1 A y , you may cheer , but I do not value your cheers a pinch of snuff ; if a man got up upon this platform and . told you that he had his heart in his hand—that you were the gods of creation , and that he was ready to put his head upon the block to establish ' your principles , you would cheer him to the echo ; but I tell you that I am not prepared to sacrifice that mudi of my little finger tor men who are not ; prepared to make the sacrifice of a very trifling exertion . ( Cheers . ) Now , when men get up
to talk such rubbish , put your tongue in the sidu of your cheek and shut your eyes , and sing out , " Tell us sonic-thing about Labour . " And if they continue in tho old strain , cry " Bah , we don't want any more of your rubbish . " ( Hear , hear . ) This country is said to be overpopulatcd , while I contend that it is not populated to the one-fifth of its requirements ; but population , like labour , is measured by the capitalists' necessity . Prince Albert is a great patron of emigration , and so was the " Times , " until its readers began to feel the loss of their Irish slaves , and then the " Times' *
began to weep over the departed Irish , and Prince Albert should bear in mind that if we were oveipopulated , he had no business to come here . ( Great cheers and laughter . ) But , as I observed before , the philanthropic Prince no doubt imagines that every emigrant will become a Field-Marshal , Colonel of Dragoons , and King Consort , with handsome pocket money to amuse himself . ( Great r imers and laughter . ) I love to talk of this despised Land Plan of mine , and I love to re * mind my London hearers of what I have stated in the country , aud that is—if Prince Albert
had built 300 cottages , and four school houses for the poor , there would be an office in every street in London , with agents to issue tickets of inspection ; all tho nobility would apply for permission to visit the lovely cottages of tho philanthro pic Prince ; but now , if Lady Susan , with her mother Lady Dorothy , happen to drive past those cottages , and if Lady Susan , struck with their beauty , and the magnificenco of the school house , should say to Lady Doroth y— " Oh , mamma , look at those lovely cottages , " Lady Dorothy , in horror , would exclaim , "Pull ' down the blind
, love , they arc the beastl y hovels of that beastly devil , Feargus O'Connor . " ( Great laughter and cheers . ) My friends , some of the speakers have reminded you of the ( Hanger of secret meetings , but I did not wait for the inevitable result to convince me of that fact , because when tho Bill was under discussion in the House , I asserted that the effect would be , the establishment of secret societies , and assassination clubs ; while , if meetings were open , tho good sense of the majority would curb and subdue the insanity and wild enthusiasm of hired spies and informers ; for , as Burke stated ,
" Open speaking is like the Hue and Cry , that puts you on your guard , and announces the thief s approach . " ( Hear , hear . ) However , you may rest assured , that the Whigs have not heard the last of their nine months' barbarities and atrocities . ( Cheers . ) I may stand alone in the House of Commons , and it is my pride that I do stand alone , and that I am the reviled of all revilers ; and the value that I attach to my seat is not the patronage that it confers , but the power it gives mo of advocating your principles as boldly in the Senate House as on the platform . ( Cheers . ) And
although Lord Jolm Russell twitted me with my oath of allegiance in the House of Commons , yet I toll that noble lord here , as I told him there , that there is more allegiance in the desire to preserve peace and harmony , through contentment and industry , than in preserving tyranny by brute force and oppression . ( Cheers . ) You , working men of England , must bear in mind that it has been through foreign agency that the greatest changes have boon forced from the British MiniBtW . UpOH the breaking out of the French Revolution , in 1703 , the Minister of that dav , looking with a
jealous eye upon Ireland , promised the Irish Catholics a great relaxation of the penal code ; but when Dumourior sold the cause , the English Minister withheld the promised boon , created a Rebellion , and bought the country . So in 1830 , the three glorious days in Paris laid the foundation of the Beform Billj which had been fruitlessly agitated for forty-one years ; and you may rely upon it that England , surrounded by a population of nearly one hundred millions , contending against the league of kings , with a dissatisfied
population at home , will not be able to measure her policy by tho satisfaction of the INS , and the promises of the OUTS ; but if her foreign relations are to continue with those foreign nations , her policy must be moulded in accordance with their adopted systems . ( Cheers . ) During the last session of Parliament , Kennington Common—( loud cheers)—and tho dread of Chartism , was the stock-in trade of the Whigs . They said to tho affrighted country gentlemen— "Sec what a condition tho country would be brought to , if , in the midst of continental revolutions and domestic
inquietude , the country should be left without a government ; and tho landlords , very foolishly and very iguorantly believing the representations of tho Homo Secretary , as regards the disturbances lie created through spies and informers —( loud cheers )—for tho very purpose of affrighting landlords , and maintaining office —remainedcalm and quiescent—but that dodge can't be repeated . They now look to quarterday . Peel ' s young staff of expectants will not wait upon his policy if it is slow , while the Protectionists' mouths are watering for the good things of this life ; for you may depend upon it
that tho terms Whig and Tory are all moonshine—the proper namo will bo catch-penny ; those in having patronage , and those oui looking for patronage . ( Cheers . ) Working men , in conclusion I have only to say that I am not crest-fallen or cowed ; that you arc , of all people in any country , the best instructed in the Labour Question ; and although the Whig fangs may clutch Smith O'Brien , Meagher , M'Manus , O'Donoghue , Cuffey , and others , yet if thoy perished in their struggle for liberty , mark the future in their fete . Byron has said : —
They never fail who die In a great cause . ' Tije block may soak theil ? gore ; Their heads may sodden in the sun ; their limbs Be strung to city gates and castle walls—But still their spirits walk abroad . Though yews Elapse , and others share as dark a doom Thoy but augment the deep and sweeping thouehtu Which overpowers all others , and conduct The world at last to freedom . [ Mr O'Connor resumed Us seat amidst tremendous cheers , waiving of hats , and clapping of hands . ] The resolution was put and carried , amidst gone * ral acclamation . A vote of thanks , on the motion of Mr Kydd , was given to the chairman , and the meeting separated , many on leaving the hall taking ' . out their card of membership .
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January 20 , 1849 . THE NORTHERN STAR . 5 ——— . . —— 5 * " »^»«« -- « -- < --MMiM « M ^ M" ^" " ' * —————— ..
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Jan. 20, 1849, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1506/page/5/
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