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^ TrioTTto whatever ministry mig ht he in office . Slave long counselled this course of action and wo E . that the commencement of a new Parhament SSrbeBi gnalised by its adoption . In that alone JSV see any hopo of the speedy passing of such a « Lure of repreEentative reform as the intelligent , order ' T . « nd iudastrious millions of this country have arig btto demand and expect .
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PROG RAMME FOR A PEOPLE'S PARTY . In another portion of our columns will be found an im portant , and at the present juucture peculiarly interes ting , correspondence between the Chartist of Bristol and Mr . T . Dcncosibe , which we earnestly commend to the consideration of thfi working classes of this country . The pu blic career of the honourable member for Fiusbury has been such as to entitle him pre-eminentl y to their confidence and gratitude ; and his opinions upon the present state of affairs—his advice as to the best coarse to be pursued with reference to the formation of a People ' s Partv , di-mand their earnest and
reepectful consideration . Perhaps , without exception , no other public man has pursued a course so free from the imputation of private or interested motives , or one bo directly and substantially useful to the nation , as Mr . Dun-COMBE . The instinctive feelings , aud the acquired hah'ts of an English gentleman , have ever prevented him from descending to the acts by which popularityhuuting and self-seeking agitators court popular support and applause . His advocacy of Democratic principlt s has been free from the slightest taint of
demagoguism ; and in his own person and conduct he has slioun they were quite compatible with the most perfect self devotion to the public interest , and the observance of all the conventional courtesies , which soften the rigours of political warfare , and impart such a charm to all social intercourse . He made extreme political opinions respected in the highest envies , by the manner in which he combined the chaxacti-r of the patriot and the gentleman ; while we are sure that the unenfranchised classes , whose cause he so often pleaded , will admit they have never had a more uncompromising , determined , or persevering
advocate . The combination of these powers not only peculiarly distinguished him as the leader of the People ' s Cause in the HouBe of Commons , previous to his long and severe illness , but also enabled him , as an independent member of that House , to attain a greater number of successes than can be shown b y any othi-r individual , unsupported by a powerful Parliamentary party . The habit of strict investigation into the truth of any al ! eged abnse , before he committed himself to its public exposure , and his undaunted courage and perseverance after he had fairly
done that in prosecuting the inquiry to its final conclusion , enabled Itim to triumph over all the obstacles wfrch Ministers and subordinate officialscould throw in his path . The manner in which he exposed the Postoffice espionage and treachery , which led to the betrayal and murder of the brothers BakdieRA ; the fiean-liMtgsndtffi'Ctive investigation into the abuses of Millb . ink Penitentiary ; and the still more important inquTy into the shocking state of the hulks ; -which was immediately afterwards followed by such a sweeping change both in the officers and the system , are only a few of the numerous illustrations of the success with which Mr . DuNCOMBE discharged
ins duties . The last mentioned case was , in fact , the proximate cause of the protracted illness which has deprived for so long a period the Legislature of one of its greatest ornaments and most useful members . Day after day did Mr . Duncombe sit in the dark , damp , ill-ventilated '' tween decks ' of these hulks , and only leave them to be exposed to the heated atmosphere and labour of the House of Commons at night , despite the warning of his medical advisers that they would not be answerable for the conseqnences . He literally brought on the almost
fatal illness , from which he has now recovered , by his devotion to the public service . And though during hi 3 labours he had to encounter all the opposition -which those in office could offer , at the close of these investigations so amply had be sustained all his allegations , so conclusive were the exposures of existing abuses , that the late Home Secretary considered it to be his duty , as Minister of the Crown , publicly to state that the Government , the Legislature , and the public at large , owed a deep debt of gratitude to the hon . gentleman for his great public services .
This invaluable and high-minded public man is , Once again , in his place . During his comparative retirement he tells us that he has not been an inattentive or unconcerned spectator of what has been passing in the political world ; and at the commencement of what we trust is a long career of renewed strength and usefulness , he deliberately states the grounds upon which it appears to him the formation of a real People's Party is alone practicable .
We think that address appears just at the moment it was required , and meets one of the most urgent -wants of the popular party at an extremely critical p 3 riod . The iate Leader of the Chartist body has , from causes which thousands sincerely lament , become unable any longer to take an active or a useful part in pub'is life . Charity leads us to he silent in respect to his would-be successors , and the few over whom they have influence , farther than to say that to call them a ' People ' s' or a 'Popular' party , wonid be a gross perversion of words . On the other hand , the Parliamentary Reform Association haveas
, we have frequently said , shown no hearty sympathy With the unenfranchised industrial classes ; and , as a consequence , they have not attracted either their support or their confidence . Looking at , the antecedents and the connexions of the leaders of that party , it was not probable that any greater fusion or identity of opinion between the middle and the vorking classes was likely to take place in the future than there had been in the past . The masses who are , in heart and sentimentfavourable to political reform ¦ - ww w vvi W&
, « — - - — y - - —« —— — - ^ * »*>«« ^ w < 4 &a and progress were , therefore , without any standard or leader , at a peculiarly important juncture . They could not act cordiall y with the so-called middle class movement , because they had not sufficient faith in those who led it ; they had been repelled from the Lhartist ranks by the foolish conduct , mischievous Reclamation , and palpable selfishness of trafficking adventurers , whose only recommendations for the position they wished to assume was , -want of principle and superabundance of assurance . Mr . Ddxcombe ' s
re-appearance on the political arena , therefore , could aot be better timed . His devotionto the cauEe of tlio people is beyond question . So my ch so that he has , in past tirres , sacrificed the place and power which his position and connexions would most certainl y have secured for him . He has preferred the nobler , * if less profitable , part of a faithful , disinterested , independent public servant ; and we say that such services demand in return public confidence and support . The policy recommended in his address to the Bristol Chartists may not please those who mistake words for things , and who are wedded to the mere formularies of party . Bat for all practical pnrpose 8 such persons may be left out of calculation , when
estimating the possible chance of forming a genuine and effective People ' s Party . It is not to fanatics or ob structives of either extreme , that the practical politician appeals , but to the great mass , who , with a genuine appreciation of , and adherence to , principle , can yet recognise the great and indestructible law or nature and society ; that all sure and enduring Progress n gradqa ] ; aild that , by taking a firm ff \ step today , we are most certainlyprepar-10 ^) 0 ° anotaer equally sure and progressive one
lv Xi ? f SUre 8 eml ) oa 5 e d in the petition suggested noin . ' Ddscombe . appear to us to include all the Ct * -Van be re ( lu'red by any practical and « Mtt Inend of popular enfranchisement , at the pre-S H f * " fir 8 t P lace ' the Franchise is S 3 Dt Up ° n Tfl ' in * residence ; aud as a otW V galDSfc fniud ' wedo not see that a less n 2 ST ?? ° Uld Le pr ° P (> Sed at tlie oatser . In Sat I ? T bdltVe tbe Snffra * ™*» amount to aSS ^ u Called t TJniversa 1 . ' without the odium the h ! J ° tha' *™ on certain quarters . TJnon 10
Bracmn . ? l arlla « ient and the Ballot , Mr . two a *}**> we thin * > TeI 7 felictiond y struck out reaBons ' h Mtis 6 cl 0 ril y meet the only aiMjear ™ £ ainst these two measures which have any ^ ble shn !^ ' U has lem ar 8 aed > * M > a consi-* « PreZi T" " ' tbat AnnuaI Parliaments their an el ° ^ em 1 ) l ' fr <> m tho ™ gWy mastering ^ fcnal feinf £ whole C 0 Un tl 7 a 8 t * te of " naent . By Mr . Dukcoube ' s plan there
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would always remain in the House a sufficient num . her of members , possessing the requisite knowledge and experience for the efficient transaction of public business ; while the country , at the same time , would have regular opportunities , at short intervals , of expressing their opinion as to the manner in which their representatives discharged their duties , and that , too , without the bustle , tumult , and almost maddened excitement which characterises a general election . Again , with respect to the Ballot , many persons object to it because they prefer to act openly , and do not fear doing so . Why should these parties be summarily coerced into secret voting if they believe
• they can do without it ? "Wh y should those who feel that they cannot act conscientiously and independentl y , be coerced into voting against their convictions , because others do not need the protection they ask for ? Mr . Dukcombe ' s proposal solves the difficulty by making the Ballot optional . If it was found to work satisfactorily , its general adoption would follow , as a matter of course ; and we Bee no reason why even good things should be forced upon a people before they are prepared to appreciate and make a proper use of them . On the other points included in Mr . Duxcombe ' s programme it is unnecessary to offer any comment . They commend themselves to the support of all sincere Reformers , and , taken asa whole , we think the hon . member has taken up so sound , so strong , and so practical a
position , that he ought forthwith to receive the adhesion of all who wish the enfranchisement of the people to be a reality instead of a political myth— - merely to be talked about , but never seen . His past career is a sufficient guarantee to the industrial classes now without the pale of the Constitution , that he will honourably and firmly defend their rights , and promote their interests ; while , at the same time , the course he recommends , and the conciliator spirit in which he speaks of the other sections of the popular party , are such as should secure him the adhesion and confidence of middle class Reformers . If a junction so desirable could be effected between the middle and working classes through the instrumentality of Mr . Duncombe , it would he the crowning act of a long public life , which has already been honourable to himself , and most valuable to the country .
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Whatever nmy bo the advantages of office in other respects it does not appear to heighten the reputation of its occupants . Lord Derby , for instance , might not be all that could be desired , either as a theoretical politician , or a practical statesman ; but everybody agreed in one point , at least , —namely , that he was a man of the highest honour and integrity , and would shrink from anything that implied meanneBS or duplicity . The short experience we have had of his administration , while it will not improve his character as a statesman , has extremel y damaged it as a man who 3 e word can be relied upon , and whose public statements are the truthful indexes of his private intentions .
MINISTERIAL MORALITY .
"With respect to the duration of Parhament , the Premier said , on Monday , the 15 th ult ., ' This is a question which ought not to be allowed to remain in abeyance any longer than possible . * * * The appeal to the country ought to be made as early as the greatintereBts of the country will permit . ' On the Friday following , in answer or the Duke of Newcastle , he was stillmore explicit . While he declined naturally and properly to answer to name any specific day for the Dissolution , he distinctly stated that the New Parliament , ' before the close of the autumn , ' should upon the great question of Protection , pronounce its definite and final decision , ' and , further ,
held out tbe expectation that the present Parliament would be dissolved late in May or early in June , in order to allow its successor to assemble in August for the special purpose of discussing the question at issue between the Free Traders and his Cabinet . These declarations were so distinct that they were accepted at the moment as satisfactoiy both by the nobleman who elicited them , and by one more difficult to please—Earl Grey , on behalf of the late Government . On the following evening , Lord J . Russell , in the other House , representing the combined Oppo-Bi ' tion , also accepted the statement as a final and satisfactory reply , and withdrew all further obstruction
to the granting of the supplies for "the whole year . In the short interval that has elapsed , the Estimates have been voted with most edifying unanimity , and most unexampled rapidity , on this understanding . Everybody was looking forward to an early dissolution , in consequence of the speed with which this most important bnsiness was disposed of , when lo ! a change comes o ' er the spirit of Lord Derby ' s dream . The money being voted , he doe 3 not see why the existence of either the Session or the Parliament should be prematurely shortened . He is quite content to go on , and does not understand why everybody else should not be so . On Tuesday night he astounded his hearers by declaring that nothing whatever had ever fallen from him that could lead any one to suppose
the SeBsion would not be of the usual duration ; and that he would continue to bring forward all such measures as he considered essential to the public services . The Duke of Newcastle quoted his exact words to the contrary , but Lord Derby denied them , and , in reply , was contradicted in as strong terms as the courtesy of ' good society' permits to be applied to direct falsehood . So the matter stands . The chivalrous , impetuous , highminded Stanley , has 'jockied' the Opposition into granting supplies for the year by statements which he never intended should be fulfilled ; and now he turns round upon them , and means to retain place by aid of the monies thus fraudulently obtained , in spite of his own acknowledgment that he is in a decided minority .
Such exhibitions as these are not at all calculated to produce any very great respect for the political morality of our public men . The greatest reproach against the late Ministry was thatits conduct in offics , was a living lie to tho professions of its members while not in power . It is lamentable to see its successor break down precisely on that point on which it was imagined it waB strongest . Henceforward shuffling , equivocation , deceit , and falsehood , will be
thought cardinal qualities in the character of British statesmen . The commercial spirit has spread through all classes—even to the highest . The perfection of modern action is to ' do , and take care you are not done . ' The soul of honour is eaten out of society and men , the most prominent in position nse words , not as the sincere expression of their honest determination , but as counters to play a political game , in which their rivals are to be beaten , no matter how fraudulent or deceptive tho
means . Of course the opposition , thus rudely awakened to a sense of their real position and the intentions of the Government , will take care to harass and obstruct it in such a manner as to render it impossible to carry on Parliament for any lengthened period . But whether the close of the Session and of Parliament conies in May or August , the great mischief is done . Nothing can restore confidence in the unimpeachable veracity of public men . That sheet-anchor has been
swept away , and the vessel of state now drifts among the shoals and quicksands of factions , whose sole aim is to out-juggle and out-manoeuvre each other . Yet the very men who are guilty of these acts presume to depreciate the unenfranchised classes , ami talk of elevating the tone of publip morality before any extension of the franchise can be granted , or the voter can be protected by the ballot Faugh ! We are sick of such a race of political Pecksniffs .
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THE NEW MILITI A BILL . Unawed by the fate of their predecessors , the Derby Ministry have brought in a new Militia Bill . Ifc is in its leading features more undisguisedl y warlike tuail the Whip measure , while pains have obviously been taken to divest it , as far as possible , of anything that might render it unnecessaril y offensive . The one point in which it is more open to ol < J 4 ctiou than the bill it rucceeds . is the increased range of its operation .
Lord John confini'd his conscription to young men between twenty and twenty-three years of age ; a period of life « hen , as he very justl y remarked , the parties would be generall y unmarried , aud not hampemd either with the cares of a family , or the responsibilities of large and important establishments . Besides this , to young persons of that age a little st'Mierly drilling , so far from being either objectionable or injurious , would be pleasant in moat cases , an
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beneficial in all ; and a rigorous enforcement of the result of the ballot upon all classes liable to the force would have made it a national one , by including in its ranks , representatives of these various ckaaes . The bill brought in by Mr . Walfole , proposes to iuclude all males between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five ; a proposition extremly objectionable in itself , and only rendered tolerable by the offer of a bounty of £ 5 to substitutes for those who may be unwilling to serve after being drawn .
We are by no means among tlw number of those who , in the present circumstances of Europe , deprecate the training of a portion of our population in warlike exercises . On the contrary , we think that the traditional policy of successive Governments has had a fatal tendency to emasculate the people , and deprive them of the personal hardihood , energy , and presence of mind in danger , which are such admirable qualities in man . A measure to encourage the development of these qualities would have been a national boon of no ordinary character ; but we cannot perceive any such recommendation for that actually proposed . The short
period during which the Militia are to be called out each year , the manner in winch the wealthier classes will escape actual service b y the payment of a substitute , and the inferior class , who will be attracted by the bounty offered , and the chance of a fortnight ' s soldiering , are all defects in the new measure , even if such a measuve were needed , A well-devised and properly organised system of volunteers , under the instructions we recentl y quoted from Sir Charles Napier ' s letter to the Gentlemen of England , would have been very fav superior in respect of real efficiency , while it would have been freo from all the vitiating and demoralising agencies
that are certain to operate upon Mr . Walpole ' s new Militia men . In fact , the proposed force would only be a cheap and nasty substitute for a real army , which we could hardl y have expected to be proposed by Tories and Protectionists ; and the onl y solution of the difficulty why they did so , is to suppose that it might form a seed plot and nursery , whence they might draw soldiers in case of another European struggle , and our embarking in that struggle , after the old fashion of Pitt , in favour of legitimacy and absolutism . The Militia , as explained on Monday night , is much more suitable for that purpose than home defence .
But we must look farther than these considerations , arising out of the construction of the force itself , and ask the major question : Is a force of that kind roquired at all ? A few weeks since the reply to that question would have been promptl y and unauimously m the . affirmative . The panicmongers had put the country in a fright , under the influence of which we were ready to agree to almost any proposition that seemed to have a chance of preventing our being eaten up by the French Ogre and his Algerian hordes . I ho circumstances that have since transpired have shown the groundless nature of the alarm . M .
Bona-PARte is too much engaged at home to have leisure for foreign quarrels or foreign conquests ; and our own public men had so little dread of any invasion , that they could pgrpetrate a change of Ministry with all its ) delays , and all its temptatoons to an invader , just as if no such person was in existence . It required , therefore no small amount of assurance to re-introduce the question after its essentially unreal and exaggerated nature had been thus exposed ; and we can only account for it by the supposition that , after so much noiao had been made on the
subject , it would not be seemly to let it drop without at least seeming to do something . We can scarcel y believe , however , that it will ever be allowed to pass into a law . If its opponents are firm , it must be ' sent to the country , ' with many other nuostions , for decision , and if so , we prophecy it will not come back to Parliament for Legislation . A numerous and powerful fleet in the Channel , well-trained bands of volunteer rifle corps , and a fair proportion of regulars
, armed and equipped with the best weapons and ammunition that the existing science and the experience of the art of war have provided for the soldiers of other countries — these are all the requisites for effective national defence , and these may be had . without either adding to t * ie cost of armaments , or inflicting upon the people a new grievance in the shape ofa conscription , which would practically fall almost solely on the poor .
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ARISTOCRATIC VANDALISM . Paris abounds with palaces and public buildings , freely accessible to the people , to which we have nothing in the British metropolis equal , either in beauty or extent ; yet not content with the existing provision for the recreation and tho comfort of the inhabitants , a decree has just appeared , by which a Crystal Palace , on the model of Sir J . Paxton ' s building , is to be erected in the Grand Square of the Champ Elysee . London has but few buildings , and these of exceedingly limited capabilities and faulty architecture . Yet the decree has gone forth to pull down the Crystal Palace we have . The aristocracy from
the first were opposed to its erection—so near their favourite ride , during what is called the London season . They did not relish the idea of the commonality coming between the wind and their nobility , and the commission appointed last December to report upon the propriety of maintaining the popular Palace entered upon their duties with a foregone conclusion . They have proved , as the ' Times' very truly says , The executioners , not the judges of the building . ' Their report is opposed to the evidence on which they profess to base it , and the architect has indignantly contradicted the falsified version of his evidence , by which they sought to make him accessory to the destruction of the beautiful creation of his own
genius . We visited it last Saturday for the first time since the goods were removed , and the first feeling excited by a glance at its light , graceful , and stupendous proportions , was that of wonder and indignation , at tho worse than Vandalism that could doom so noble , so admirable a structure to destruction , at a moment when the people of this country are becoming fully aware of the humanising and instructive uses to which it might be put . There is scarcely a capital in Europe that is so deplorably deficient in these respects as London . There never was a building so thoroughly adapted for almost every
popular purpose that can be imagined ; and yet , now that we have got it , it is to be thrown away for no reason whatever , save that a few exclusives hate to see the people enjoying themselves on ground hitherto a ppropriated to their peculiar use and delectation . There is scarcely a public building in existence that is not at this moment overcrowded with the objects for the reception of which it was erected . The collection of pictures presented to the nation by Mr . Vkrnon , has been * removed from the cellars in which they were formerly stowed away temporarily , to Marlborough House , already voted to the heir apparent . The British Museum is cnimmerl to
overflowing-. The sculptures annuall y exhibited at tha R <» yal Academy are huddled into a small dark hole , where there is neither space nor light . We have no Architectural Museum- —no place for the collection of botanical productions , with the exception of the small museum at Kew ; no storehouse for models ; no covered winter garden where tin ; people might find some compensation for the uncertainty and the rigours of our climate . In the ample courts and spacious avenues of the Crystal Palace all these purposes" and many more , could be provided for ; and yet it is to be pulled down on a paltry pretence of economy , which will in reality throw away all the money that has been spent upon it , and deprive the country of a building which is the admiration of all who have ever
beheld it . Such specimens of oligarchical rule , with its littleness , selfishness , and jobbing , almost brighten despotism by the contrast . We pay in many things besides taxation for the freedom of grumbling ; and when the numerous public uses to which SHch a building might be applied is considered , it will be admitted by all , that a more gross , brutal , and wanton outrage than that which it is proposed to commit , never was contemplated in any civilised country . Petitions are being signed for its preservation , but we fear with little effect . The power rests in the hands of those who have resolved that the fairy-like and stupendous structure shall be swept away ; and at Iea 4 another generation * vill elapse before the people of tills country are provided with anything in its place .
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The Muhdeii at Siow-oNTiiE-ttOLu . —John Humbage , who siood charged with the murder of liis futher by shooting him with a gun , was tried at Gloucester on Thursday , ami found Guilty o " Manslaughter . " He was sentenced to a fortnight ' s imprisonment .
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NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OP UNlTwu TRADES . u « UJSiU "« AT JUSTITU . " "If it were possible for the working classes , by cembin ' n among themselves , to raise , or keep up the Metalmh ' » wagu , it need hardly be said that this would be a thw nS £ , ?' punished , but to b » welcomed and rejoiced at . "—Stuart ¦ iliLi , We have shown in our late articles tho circum . stances which , in 1845 , gave rise to the National Association ; we have shown that the aggressive and oiiiiroaohinij spirit of Capital is as rifo , as determined and unscrupulous now as then . That the spirit which animates its possessors is the same ; its mode of manifestation , and its strategic tactics are aloue different .
In 1815 an attempt was made to subjugate Labour by a smuggled legislative enactment ; the attempt was mean and infamous , and was deservedl y defeated . In the present day . the existing laws are distorted ' and by the aid of class influence , and the power of a subscribed Capital , wrested into engines of onpregsion , against all who dare aspire To that freedom and independence which they are sometimes cheated to believe are rights which thoy actually enjoy ! To protect Labour from these , or any other form of assault , tbe one and the only remed y is Union—as wide in its basis , as powerful by its numbers , and as unassailable b y the soundness of its principles , the justness of its objects , and the m oderation and legality of its practices , as the formidable nature of the gigantic evils it is required to grapple with require .
The arguments for a National Association of Labour are immensel y strengthened by recent occurrences . We doubt whether in all England an enlightened working man Canute found to impugn the policy , or to demur to the imperative necessity of at otice setting about in real earnest ' organising' British Labnur . We repeat our solemn conviction , that this question is alone deserving tfce earnest and immediate attention of the Trades . It is for Labour a question of life or death , and can be no longer trifled with . Other questions of a most important , butmore chronic form , of a social and political character , may admit of a more measured treatment . 0 f political rihts we
g ha ^ e been long utterly deprived . A change in our s icial position requires time and an improved public opinion , and both of them a greater unanimity of opinion as to their nature and extent ; but upon tho question of the rights to ' a fair day ' s wage for a fair day ' s work , ' we are unanimous . There is not the man living that would say , in the presence of his fellow workers , that he would prefer twenty to thirty shillings per week . If this is the case , why do we hesitate ? Why have not the numbers of the National Trades multiplied a hundredfold since its founlation ? There are many obvious reasons ;—time and circumstances were wanting to impress the
mass of the working men of the dangerous helplessness of their position . They have been too much in the habit of thinking and acting unreflectingl y , by oroxy . Their leaders have , in too many instances , lulled them into a false sense of security and confidence in their own isolated power . And our love of individua ism is the besetting sin and bane of our existing social system . We are born in it , nurtured , in it , and it has become , as it were , an exclusive part of oar nature , and will remain so until a continuous repetition of the Wolverhampton and Bucklersbury proce dings bring home to our awakened faculties a thorough conviction of its onesided unnaturalness .
The possession and enjoyment of an enlightened individual happiness can only bo attained by the agency of judicious and extensive associative arrangements . Individual exemption from oppression and wrong can onlybe effected by associative combination , and this applies to the union of aggregates in an equal degree as of units . The individual love of class distinction which leads one trade to assume an aristocratic pre-eminence over another , has been hitherto an irremovable stumbling-block in our road . The dustmau
assumes a superiority over the sweep . Why , it would puzzle either of them to tell . To us they have always appeared very much upon a parequally ill-educated and neglected j and , of course , equally brutal and repulsive ; but still something exists to give to the one a specious elevation over the other and this something cons ists in a comparatively pleasanter aud better paid occupation Search upwards through the whole ramifications of labour , and you will find this plague spot in pestilential activity . This has been another powerful obstruction to progress , but the snake is scotched , if not killed ; and we hope , and firmly believe , that this narrowminded , exclusive spirit is fast dying awayand will
, no longer bo permitted to disfigure and travesty tho public conduct of otherwise useful and estimable bodies of men . Surrounded by these and similiar difficulties , the positioH of the Executive of the National Association has been an arduous and a thankless one . They were placed by the confidential vote of large numbers of their fellow workmen , as tho pioneers of a principle which no one disputed , but few would honestly and openly recognise . Thev saw the idea of 1845 , with the principles and constitution adopted for its realisition , stingily recognised , and by piecemeal adopted by every new claimant for the ' sweet voices' of tho industrial mass . Even its very name has been in more than one
instance ( we had almost said feloniously ) appropriated with such slight and immaterial variations , as were just sufficient to enable those up to the dod « o to show there was a variation , but not for tho working-class public to perceive it . This and such unworthy tricks have caused our policy and actions to be misunderstood . We have been charged with an attempt to convert the National Association into a political engine—with having offered to hand it over to the Protectionists of theG . A Young school ; in tact , we have been charged with all possible and impossible aberrations from duty ; while few have given us the credit we think our due , in having , at all times , given our best assistance to enable others to promulgate and advance the principles , although in some instances , we knew tho parties
were influenced by no friendly intentions to the National Association or its Executive . We conceived thiB to be our duty , and performed it ; and we now rejoice to find that the airing our principles have obtained , through so many ohanneU , ha 3 secured for them quite an agreeable popularity . It may bo that our fate may prove similar to that usually attending inventors of theories , and . mecnamcal and scientific improvements , After years of exertion , at a sacriBco of comfort , health , and even of liberty , we may be doomed to witness the honours of a triumph , won chiefly by our own Association , appropriated without any qualms of conscience , by those who have systematically , but covertly , opposed our progress . Be it so , n importe , so long as tho end is obtained . Let labour be organised ; lot the surplus labour bo no longer suffered to remain a dead weight upon tho produo . tive industry of the employed , to prevent it becoming an instrumont for tho depreciation of wages . Let the great machinfiry be ; constructed by which theso things can be accomplished , and wo shall rojoice in tho successful experiment , whether we or others are the immediate agents in the affair . Tho Committee of tho National Association will still pursue the even tonor of its way , promoting , as far aB i 3 in Us power , tho advancement of the principles , by whom ever adopted , offering no obstruction to any moving in the same direction , whilu naturall y ambitious of securing for the National Absociation the original promulgates of the movement , the fairly earned honours of ultimate triumph . Queen's Bench Prison , \ y TW April 1 st , 1852 .
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THE AMALGAMATED SOCIETY OP ENGINEERS
THE STRIKE . rnnrr n RKSCP f ° T 7 JR ^~ <> " Wednesday evening a Conference of Trados' delegates-adjourned from fast rfteTJ Wl- "" IS " - ' ° WB » lev " or t e Jn-poso of devising means for ass sting the Amaliaoated Society eLlA . « ? ' m Ci 'J ? , th . olr P" » ont contest with their employers , < fcc . Mr . Bruck in the chair . Several new dele-SrW ° f thei ! ' / , " tials ' ani ! took their seats . Mr . 1 ettie , secretary , stated that l , o had received information irl J ! radM | W ^ hlUl h 0 ld " ° mGcti"g " '""» ^ o Con - ivGHn , frt 8 at ( W 0 Uld . ^ 1 appointrepresenta . cK h » " * t sating / U' ) On being called on to Mr w i w rse" m » T ^ ° UlC A «>» lSamatod Society , Mr . W . Kewton naid that the soc ety had still as many men to support a , at the first closing of the sho s ' ? XZ
reo « ve "us week the same allowance as last week and he hoped the society , with the assistance of he S would nL rt e'tt ° - COntinUOtlll ' aa PP ° rf . bat here was groa necessity for increase I exeriion . The statomorit mililtslipil by the jnoeUng of tho number of , , ft IS 5 ^ 2 S 3 Ha ^^ PteffiarJs Ed ofaK U 0 We 0 I i th 6 ir armour » and Jabour in th * new ol agitation more strenuously than they had hitherto
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< ione . Mr . Allen stated , in reply to nnna »; n ., n l the trades had- only subscribe , ! 'UiSJJf In rep ' y to a question , Mr . Kewton said that the st ' itPmnnf ' be had read last week of the number of men who had en tered was true , and that about twenty had gone in sine " —Mr . Allan said that the non-society men hud not given the suppnrt which had been anticipated . They hnd deputations travelli ng through England , Ireland , and Scotland , and deputations waited on the Trades of London every ni « ht . He n ° ped to aee something definite done by the
Conferencpsomething to bring in money for the relief of the engineers . « was said that there were 200 trades in London , and if each tLv M Ould onlv send £ 10 per week for a fetv weeks , notVr have 8 uSicie » t t 0 support the men . They did desire \ t t he acrifice of tbeir own funds , mithadagrcafc ab outSiV " - inthe stru SS le They had still to support behalf £ £ » i men « out 6 f 7 ' 000 society raen ' in n The Quest " T" tlle Oon f erenco t 0 take effectual steps , until tha TW ? c" -operiUive Workships was adjourned mainderoftK ( i Were raore ful ' y represented .-The redeputations to 5 S JS T ^ J "'• » PPointraent . propri ety of estai , 1 , ; ™ des Associations upon the renL Y estalJ l « sbing a joint action with the Ooofe-
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CENTRAL C 0 . OPERATIVE AGENCY 76 , ChBriotte-rtreet , Fitzroy Semare Weekly Report , March 23 rd to M re Nflth £ ^ K ^ a b ^ S ; Jjgh , Tilliooultry , Booking Burnley , Hmvich , No / riili * ^ fys tho Agcnoy wiH have ready printed Storr ^ 'f ^ . 11011 for thG fo ™»«« " of Co-opo , tve Sedt w * SpeCimen 9 of the ™™* ^ oks
rot 2 t v e lk Is not found foooiivonlont , model S ores shod ? " * ? pUn give " ' and ft « » " **« is hkhlvTo . ? ui ttem a Prefercnce . inasmuch as it foSL « ' . n e tlut there 8 liOuld b ° as much « ni-Co op rSK > aS re 2 ards account ke ° P ' "» g . *•» tho A ^ elyfs ; , ?™ !^ The P' »» Emitted by the plfcS , It * T * $ m con 8 c 1 » ence of repeated ap . ind ? v dual , Z- ? lOrOS 5 n the P rovince 8 ' " » d fi ™ i
LEEDS REDEMPTION SOCIETY andiiSfi t 0 - rCp 0 rt that 0 Ul" Stwe has reached Sia ^^ s . -ii ' s Sere C ° Clety *? " aSsist C 00 P ^ ve efforts ^ Here they can . and especially such as annlvi -Leeds ST ^ THe m ° niCS f 0 l < th 5 a ™* " 5 Fund 1 S S 4 U d bs . 7 " ' ** ^ W- ; Propagandist So , Is T l > R 1 Gy ' 1 S- W- ! Edinburgh , £ 13 ' lid T La k-Lee . ls Subscription Secret ^ ° udoiJ ' « . lOs .-Ii . jLs , '
Catrine Ayrshire .- ! ^ Cairine Economical Snciclv ™ funded m December , 1840 . The causes I , f 2 lion were many , _ we may here note a few of th m Catnne « a manufacturing village containing about 3 000 inh alants , and the workers receive their pay eve y S so of course the working-man never can better ' hi " , condit on by getting credit ; but notwithstanding , the credit sy tern was rampant ; the merchant gave it Lnsure hi oSioT , the workers took it because they could R et it , o beavv osses often occurred will , the merchant , B 5 d of courS { '25 T . ? - S Chargedand ohen > "ir a " le sold at the price of good articles , and by this way of % *** £ *»?*** P « " ** Paid fo the ^
. " < m that only paid in part . It was often thought on o £ ? " ? \ v ' ° ? Uve alore ' ll w « general believed that as the credit system was so popular , whins but credit would do ; -but at length courage ' overcame fear , so we launched into the field of co-operation . About forty pounds were collected in the name of Bhares , a l p was taken , and a salesman appointed ; but before we were many weeks m bunnen , vre found that our capital was by far too small , but we soon found that that could be met bv our own members but owing to having interest to pav , and the unkindly feelmg that prevailed in the village ! towards us or a few years at first , our trade was nol extensive , and of course our profits were not large ; but thes ., three or four
years pas we have had a very extensive bnsineu and a large surplus at the end of each quarter . When our stock TA * m v Januarv , Iast ' ° ur cpital amounted to upward , of £ 500 .-Yours truly , James Murray ,
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NATIONAL CHAETE . ' t ASSOCIATION . At the usual weekly meeting of tho Executive Committee ? . l « ? ' 2 i » VenmBlilllt J ' ^ en '» Hfad-passnue , ho following letter w as read from Mr . Robert Lo IJlond -1 Gkntlemenv-I rejoiee to observe that onch week since the election to ofbee of the Executive of tho National Charter Association they hare stea . lil y carried out the policy ohwriShiffSr tai ' - - ° liqllidat ; ng tlie debts of 2 Chartist body before incurring nny fresh liabilities This policy , sojust , and so necessary , at the present juncture L n " n ^ Lr L 0 U 3 t 0 d 0 a 11 in m V Power to fur ! ther . I therefore beg your acceptance of the £ 5 Rfaimiin .
aeainn you in my favour , as a donation from mo towards the accomplishment of tho object you have in view I wish to take tins opportunity to add . that in mv 0-jinion hepoicy about to be reinstated or eSblJh ™ 1 . £ S ffl h nf M f i i "iT 3 t 0 tlm conimOH ««»«¦ O » the 18 th of March , 1 , with Messrs . Nioholls and T . Hunt ( bv invitation ) attended the meeting at the Druid ' s U :, ll On Hie placards were the won / s "free Discussion , " '' Fair f iay , & < j . ; batw practice there was no fair play- because nothing opposed to the views of the conveners was allowed to be stated ; therefore we could not advance or justify our policy ; while tho speakers on the other side , instead of showing and proving the errors of the Parliamentary Reformers and their plans , were quite content to use the ordinary abHse and lnveo ' . ives , and mavla no pretence whatever , by argument , to s » ow in what way the policy of theR 9-form Association was detrimental or antagonistic to the interests of the working classes . Under such circumst ™™ ..
tnere could be no discussion . Except in the House of Com ' mons , I never heard such a combination of noises as at this discussion . "I hope and trust , for all onrsakes , if these meetings are under the Executive ' s control , that if they mean discussion , they will take means that that object may be realised ; and if discussion be not tho object , that they will not use such words n ? 'fair pl . iy , * 'free discussion , ' ic , merely to attract those to the meetings who nro anxious only for truth and principle , without reference to interest m any shape . « Uobkrt Le Blond . " [ We beg to sUtotho meeting above > lluded to was conyem-d by the Metropolitan Delegate Council , and not by the Executive Committoe . ] '
MONIKS RECEIVED . Bl "S' £ y > J ° hn Wild , 53 . ; Mr . Ambrose , Is . ; Ifoxton , per O . F . Nioholls 10 s . ; Glossop , per Henry Collier , Is . Cheltenham , per W . Sharland , 4 « . ; John Cook , Ipswich Is ; George Gibhs , ditto , Is . ; W . Harrold , ditto li . ; Mr Sibborn , ditto , 6-1 . —Total , £ 1 4 S . CJ . The above , with tho £ 5 remitted by Mr . Lo Blond , reduceatho debt to about £ 10 . We therefore trust that a vigorous and determined effort will be at once made to wine oft the whole amount . v James Guassby , Sub-Secretary , 96 , Recent Street , Lambeth .
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Metropoiitan Delegate Council -On Sunday afternoon , the nm day of the quarter , ut theFinsbury Literary M « i n " ' LelC ^ , r pl w . > ? over 2 l new ^ legates , including Messrs . Downs ,, Kelly , Wheeler , Stratton , Wel . by , Harris chair Mr VV l W 8 CSt 8 i M ^* Snell ' m " Ci ' lletl t 0 ll 5 i" /? ! 15 / 1 ^ trCftsu " > r for the ensuing Jones Beset , Wood , Harris , Bligh , and Stratum were elected as an observation committee , to meet once a week , and report to the Council . Mr . Wheeler was appointed secretary to the committee . —Mr . Jones reported from the U tonnor Committee , and stated that considerable funds nntl been promised as soon as the Committee was in working order . —The time for electing officers was extended for one week . —Several committees gave in their reports which were approved of . —After considerable discussion and a
modification of the motion made by Mv . Jone . < lust week , it was ¦ lecided that 300 cards of membership of the . National Charter Association should be issued by tho Counp . il . Bills were ordered to be printed calling an a-jgrcgate meeting at theliall on Sunday afternoon , April the 3 rd , and the meeting adjourned , Snir lo , WiiiTEcmi'Et . —A meeting was held on Sunday evening . Mr . Evan 3 in the chair . —Afesrs . Wheeler and Stratton reported from the Council . Messrs . Shaw and Smith reported from the Committee f r ProaiOtine Mr Nun ton ' s Election for in ollamlets . nnd other business of a * similar nature was transacted . FissBuitY .-Atthe meouug held on Sunday last Mpswr Batter and Down reported from the Metropolitan Delete Council . . It . was then resolved that 500 trait , be pnroSsed tor distribution among the working olasaea ^ 7 ?!?!?!? a tea party be held in the Literary ffl ' rinn v * ' ifendaV . & commemoration of the b n £ ? a ° f mS m ^ £ j ^™ & £ K £
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April 3 , 1852 . THE STAR ,
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), April 3, 1852, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1672/page/5/
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