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Northern Star (1837-1852), 17th April 1852, Edition 1 of 2, Page 1, Untitled Article

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    • JFm CorrespouKrncc.
    • TBE STAE OF FREEDOM ffTI nm ¦ T\ aw fmntinAW
    • £»mt tt n»',$ tt*tf ~ , ..
    • THE ENGLISH " FAKREDEEN."
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      Untitled Article

      TO THE READERS OF THE ' STAR ; AM ) THE DEMOCRATS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND . My Fbiends , — Nearly two years have passed since circumstances induced my secession from the Editorship of this journal . It is not necessary to particularise those circumstances , excepting to remind you that holding convictions on certain

      questions—not of principle , hut of policy—at variance Trith those of the then Proprietor , I felt it to he my fluty , although at the cost of a lucrative and influential " position , to resign the Editorship of the ( 'JS ' orthem' ) * Star . ' It was to me a matter of deep regret to separate myself from readers and friends , whose confidence I had enjoyed during a term of more than seven years . But the voice of Doxy commanded the sacrifice , and I obeyed .

      Enough of the past Let me speak of the present , or , rather of the future . This week the ' Star' passes out of the hauda of the Tropr ietors who succeeded Mr . O'Coxxob . This change enables me to announce that , next week I shall hatelhe pleasure of resuming my post as Chief Editor of this journal , under arrangements that will enable me to give the fullest expression to my sentiments as the conductor of the organ of Chartism and Ultra-D emocracy .

      Most of the readers of tho ' Star * are awaTe that , for some time past , I have been publishing an unstamped periodical , entitled The Friend of ° the People . ' That my entire time , attention , and energies may be devoted to my new duties , I shall merge * The Friend of the People' into the * Star . ' But the title of the latter will be extended and improved . Henceforth this journal will appear under the following designation : —

      THE STAR OF FREEDOM , With which is incorporated

      THE FRIEND OF THE PEOPLE . ' Theamaigamation of the two journals will take place next week . The first number of tho' Star of Freedom , ' will he published on Saturday , April 24 th . Thesizo and form of the present 'Star * will be continued , hut the price will be reduced to the charge at which the ' ^ Northern Star ' was published in the time of its greatest popularity . A further reduction of price could only be effected by producing a paper inferior in size or in matter . A Chartist paper , limited to its own' class' circulation , half the size of fie ( 'Northern ') 'Star , ' might he sold for

      threepence . Or a paper the size of the ' Star' might be sold for threepence , if mainly filled with police intelligence ; although such papers require a sale of 30 , 000 to cover expenses . This kind of paper is not to be thought of ; and a journal only half the size of the' Star" would be oat a comtemptible production . Democracy must have an organ capable of challenging comparison with any and eTery description of journal . Such will be the * Star of Freedom . ' Uot merely a political pamphlet ; not a mere police gazette ; but an organ of the democracy—not only

      of this country , hat of the-world , —and , at the same time , a faithful record of the events and occurrences of the time , a news-paper in the best sense of the term . Such a journal , if it had its 30 , 000 readers , ( the ' Northern Star , ' at 4 id . had a much higher ¦ ale in 1839 . ) might be sold for threepence ; and Hhould the circulation of the ' Star of Freedom ' justify the experiment , tho price will bo reduced from 4 hd . to a lower sum . For the present a very superior paper will be published at a redaction oi one halfpenny on the price charged for the Star ' during several years past .

      THE STAR OF FREEDOM WILL BE PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY , PRICE FOUISP £ KClMIAIjFP ] 3 NiV \ . As regards the political character of the ' Star of Freedom , ' it is almost superfluous to say that it will not only be Chartist , bat thoroughl y Democratic . A 3 my political views have undergone no change , my past is a sufficient guarantee for my future . Let mp , however , add , that I believe , as I have ever believed , there is no salvation for the working classes Inthyand through themselves . I believe that tllO bsst designed and best managed projects of Social Amelioration , must be insufficient to change the

      condition of the workers—as a class , wanting political power ; and that the want of that power necessarily prevent 3 the realization of the noble aims of the Social Beformers . I believe that it is foolish , as well as mischievous , to sacrifice principle to expediency , and that the People should never degrade themselves by asking for any mockery of Right—for any nominal liberty , lacking tho adjuncts nec ? ssary to make of that liberty iu name , a verity—a fact . I believe that the principles of the past should be cherished , the energy of the past revived , and the errors of the past repudiated . I believe that Egotism , " Intolerance , and Exaggeration should give place to Self-Sacrifice , Fairplay , and "Unyielding Perseverance .

      The' Star of Freedom' will advocate Denocracy in every sense of the term—Democracy in the Work . Bhop as well ps in tho Legislature . The fullest and Lest report 3 will be given of Chartist and Democratic meetings ; the proceedings of Trades and Co-operative bodies ; and all movements connected with , or affecting , the Working Classes . Geb . ut > Masset , so well-known to the Democratic public by his admirable lyrics , his writings in the ' Spirit of Freedom , ' aud his contribntions to various popular publications , is engaged as Literary Editor . In addition to the Eeview department he will superintend that portion of the paper devoted to subjects coming under the general denomination of'Social Heform' b

      Oilier able vrtars , distinguished fur their advocacy of sterling bemociatk principles , will be engaged to contribute to tho columns of the ' SUr of Freedom . Those alread y enip « ed include : — W . J . Lktox Ihi ehivairie Editor of the ' English -Kej . ublic . ' The « S jartacus" of our Democratic Literature . . Suipel JL Kydd , the People ' s Political Economy the earnest , deep-thinking advocate of the % « ts of Labour . ° Alesaxdeii Bell , a youns but ri-ing writer , anse contributions to the 'Friend « f the People ' *» ve been justly admired by the numerous readers of lh periodical .

      Vwier the head of Free Correspondence space will » - aa-jrfed to the expression of opinion on the part au vho may aspire to instruct and enlighten their leilow men . * sf . * auder a 5 ? management that the ( 'Northern ') w first became famous for the fulness , originality , ment ? f 7 i ° fore 5 S ****• The 'Foreign departatW *? StaT of Freedom ' will have my special the v 1 . 11 arra « genieuts are in progress to obtain coj a ssistance of Continental and American a m'J- lts ; is als 0 int «! ded to make the paper the T » 'atn intercommuuicitiou and fratercitv for ^« i ! ocrac 7 of the world iii

      T . j , ¦ rr . '"••! wevroriu . ' SbrtfTV it 8 . uni ^ He P olitical fcataw * . the iot c-liiW *

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      Markets , the Fine Arts , &c . ; every description of occurrences , and every passing event . 2 & ~ All Correspondence for the Editor , to be addressed to No . 4 , Brunswick-row , Queen-square , Bloomsbury , London . 23- All orders , applications for placards , &c ., to be addressed to the Publisher , John James Bezer , 183 , Fleet-street , London . The best advertisement of the ' Star of Freedom ' will be the paper itself . The first number will proclaim its uncompromising principles , and make evident its claims to popular support . For my colleagues , as for myself , I can unhesitatingly answer XTai-v-ata ?!>« Vina Arta for . . otto-,, j s ,., ; ni ; m nf

      that our efforts will be devoted to making the new journal the guiding star of the People in their pursuit of Liberty and Justice . To old friends- aud comrades , who , in defiance of disasters and disappointments , have remained faithful to the good cause , —to young and ardent volunteers who , in spite of present apathy and discouragement , have perfect faith in the not distant rally of the People round Freedom ' s banner , —to each , to all , I appeal for their fraternal co-operation to revive the former utility of the ' Star , ' with more than its former fame and influence . In the past it was a Northern luminary

      shedding its light upon the suffering and aspirin ? among the down-trodden of this land—but a portion of the human race . In the future it will shine for all ; for our brothers in other lauds as well as ourselves , for the nations plunged into worse than Egyptian darkness by the accursed enemies of Light and Liberty . The hope shall be mine that , like ' the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night , ' the * Star of Freedom' will guide the masses out of « the house of bondage , ' and through the 'Ited Sea' of combat and the * wilderness' of suffering , to that ' promised land' in which Privilege and Oppression shall be unknown , and Liberty and Justice reign for

      evermore . I am , yours , as ever—Fraternally and Devotedly ,

      G . JULIAN HARNEY . April 15 th , 1852 . P . S . —I learn , without much surprise—having a too intimate knowledge of the character of the man —that , stealthily and secretly , Ernest Jones has sent over the country a large number of copies of a circular filled with the most malignant misrepresentation , abuse , and falsehood ; and designed to prevent the success of the ' Star of Freedom . ' He will fail . In spite of his precautions , I have obtained a copy of his dastardly circular , and its misrepresentations , I will fully expose in the next

      ( and concluding ) number of the ' Friend of the People' —No . 12 , which will bo published on Monday next . One word more : —The readers of this journal may take my solemn assurance , that neither iu next Saturday ' s ' Star of Freedom , ' nor any subsequent number , shall the above-named person , or any similar character , force me into a war of personalities . I shall be able to answer and live down calumny , without bestowing upon calumniators even one * line of that which shall be really and truly The People's Paper . '

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      [ As the columns under this head are open for the free expression of all opinions , the Editor is not responsible for , or committed to , any . ]

      CAPITALISTS AND ACCUMULATION OF CAPITAL . TO THE EDITOR OP TI 1 E STAR . Deah Sir , —In my last letter your readers had somo account of the Israeluish form of government as it was established by Moses , and aho Adam Smith ' saccountof the principles and practices of the parties who have unjustly appropriated all tbelandsin Great Britainand Ireland , from which statements it must be very evident to all that , so Ion ? as this system continues , the labourer can never receive the just and natural rewards of his labour—viz ., all that he can by his labour find in earth ' s bosom , grow upon its surface remodel , transform , or produce . All metals , minerals , stone 3 , slates , earths , articles of food , useful animals , raw materials of every description for manufactures of all kinds , and for science , and arts , musk be dug from below

      , or must be produced and collected from the surface of the land , and thence alone , by the labour and skill of man . Ami all these were , originally , freely given by God himself , for the equal use of the whole family of man . " God created man in his own image , male , and female , created he them , and God said , Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea , and over the fowl of the air , and over the cattle , and over all the earth , and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth . " The original and natural state , therefore , is , that of the individual sovereignty and perfect equality of the human race , male and female , over all the earth ; and so long as this state of things continued , the whole earth was a ParadiseTho

      . first introduction of evil into the world , was when man began to usurp and exercise dominion overhisfellowman ; and thefirst false step was in that way , asl intend toshow plainly hereafter , when man ( Mum ) claimed inalienable property in , and superior power and dominion over , woman ( Evo ) . Soon after this usurpation took place , superstition commenced its foul vrork ; men began to fancy that the Great lower that owns and governs the universe in the beautilul order in which it is governed , and in a manner which is even now incomprehensible to man , required outward tornial worship , and the offerm * of gifts , and sacrifices , to appease his anger , and to propitiate his favour . Cain and AM first quaw-elled w . th each other , as to whether these

      guts ana ottenngs should be animil or vegetable and then Urn became so angry about it , lhat he killed his brother . Thus dominion and superstition destroyed beauty , love , j . eaee , and harmony , and begat violence and revenge kiugscraft and priestcraft , force and fraud , strife war and competition over thew : ole face of theearth soon followed in the train , making it one great madhouse and pandemonium , a * it remains unto this day . And nothing but a true knowledge of human nature , and of the wav in which human character is formed , the consistent and constant aenn * upou that knowledge , and the practice of the genuine principles and morals of the Gospel of Jesus twist , car . ever change this world into a Paradise again . R < -roembering ever thr . t man is the creature of circumstances , that his character is formed for him , and not by him will

      , pure charity spring up , a well of living water , inexhaustible for all the race of man ; and patriotism , or tllO vice of loving men of one country , colour , class , or relwion only , will be destroyed , and we shall all love our enemies , and do good to them who hate us ; that we may he true children of our Father , who is in Heaven , who causes ) . » mm to shine on the evil and on the good , and sends his rain upon thejust and upon the unjust . Princes and Priests Kwnin Hi ii Wl ! l MBtinue t ° « erd * e authority and lordship in this old corrupt and sinful world ; but in the Kingdom of haven the Paradise on earth that is coaiine , SS , T- 1 be r ^ , eatsst wnmakehiiiufclf thf lw 8 tof Ml ? ! hZ , \ CVenasMoses - <* r « t , and Owen camo * ; , " f u « . to , but to minister and to devoto then-lives to the instruction , ransom and deliverance of the

      Butth . i . a ^ sress . on from the principal object of this letter , which is from Adam Smith ' s great work to point ? Ut , | f ft M r V nUlat ! of lai i ««««« o > capital , id the hands of the few , for the employment of tkemant , upon wages under tho system of unlimited competition . T&S fi ^ S&i : destroyed tllc ] nlc ^ ^ " WealibofSations . " Book lst , Chap . V .- " Ab soon as stock has aecninnlaW m the hands of jarticular persons , some 01 them will naturally employ it in sotting to work lmtoatnoiw penons , whom they will ' supplv with materials anu Mibsistcnrc ; n order to make a profit by the sale of their work . The value which the workmen , therefore , add to the nausraU , bv taen- labour , rusolvcs itself , in this CAse , into two parts , of wbiol , the 0110 pays thoir wage * , t . iootln-1-the j > rohts of thoir ompl . jvr , upon the whole stock of material and wages which he advanced .

      A : id he could have no mkreat to etaplov . 1 « re-it stock in preference to a small cup , ao ! c » hi * profits wc-re ' lo bear soiho proportion to tue oxti-nl of Inssto ^ k " The profits of stock it may be thoneht , are only a different name for tfce wages of a particular sort of labourt : ie labour of inspection or direction . They , however boar no proportion to tin- quantity , the havdshin ' ov the ingenuity , of this supposed lauour or direction . They aro regulated altogether by the value of the stock employed , and are greater or Emaller , in proportion to the extent of

      Untitled Article

      this stock . In many great works , almost the whole labour of direction is committed to some principal clevk His wages properly express the value of this labour of insneotion and direction . Though in settling his wa <» es some regard is had , commonly , not only to his labour ' and skill but also to the trust reposed in him , yet they never bear any regular proportion to the capital of which ho 0 Yer 8 eer the management j and the owner of this capital thoueh he is thus discharged of almost all labour , 8 t \ U expects that his profits should bear a regular proportion to his capital . In this state of things , the whole produce of labour does not always belong to the labourer and director of labour ; they must iu most cases share it with the owner of thestock which employs them . " j In all such-cases as those named abffte , as . it not evident to . every working man , that all such rafoters are mere useless idlers , living upon the produce of their labour ? A i tbisstock . In manv creat works . a . linn . « f Mm » i , « i .. 1-1

      capuaequal to his is all you want , working men ; you have no need of him . Now , suppose him to havo advanced £ 0 000 , to pay for machinery , materials , and vour wages , till the work is completed and paid for , what should hinder 1 , 000 working men from raising the same amount of capital , by the subscription of £ 3 each man , and employing the same clerk , at the same salary , to manage the bus-ness for themselves , reserving the same power that his present master has , to discharge him , if be fail to do his duty ? As I have already told you , this is the way they manage the large manufacturing Companies Or Corporaturns in America . This is the method adopted bv the work-n men in that country to obtain their natural wa ge . ""™ "' all that their labour produces . Dr . Adam Sft SaJ " ^ ' ^^'" lent manufacturer , that isworkmanwho has stock

      , , enough , both to purchase wSk ? fu . T " » self . till he can carry his work to market , will gam both the wages of a journeyman , who worKS under a master , and the profit which that master makes by tho sale of that journeyman ' s work . " quite true - .-what should , prevent it 1 Again , Smith says , "A ina civilised country there are but few commodities of winch the exchangeable value arises from labour only , rent and profit contributing largely , to that of the far greater part of them , so the annual produce of its labour will always be > su&cient to purchase or command a much greater quantity of labour than was employed in raising , prep . nng , and bringing that produce to market . But , there is no country in which the whole annual produce is employedm maintaining the industrious : the idle , everywhere , consume a great part of it . "

      Book I Chap . VII . _ -it i 3 the interest of all those who employ their land , labour , or stock , in bringing any commodity to market , that the quantity never should exceed the effectual demand . If , a * , any time , it exceeds the effectual demand , either land , capital , or labour , must be paid below their natural price . If , on the contrary , the quantity brought to market , fall short of the effectual demand , some of tho component parfs of its price , - viz . :-land , labour , or capital , will rise above their natural rate . Hie tendency of either of these extremes is to cause a greater , or a smaller , quantity of those goods to be made and brought into the market . The natural price , therefore , that at which rent , capital , and labour are fairly remunerated , is , as it were , M 10 central price , to which the prices of ail commodities are continually gravitating . "The occasional fluctuations in the market pricos of commodities , ; fall chiefly upon those parts which resolve themselves into wages and profit . That which resolve itself into rent , is less affected by them . " Chap . VIII . — " What aro

      the common wages of labour , depends , everywhere , upon the contract usually made between workmen and their masters , whose interests are by no means the same . The workmen desire to get as much ; the masters to give as little as possible . The former are disposed to combine to raise , the latter , tn order to lower , the wages of labour . It is not , however , difficult to foresee which of the two parties , must , upon all ordinary occasions , have the advantage in the dispute , and force the other into a compliance with their terms . The masters , being fewer in number , can combine much more easily ; and the law , besides authorises , or , at least , does not prohibit their combinations , to the same extent

      as it prohibits those of the workmen . We have no Acts of Parliament ( and 11 believe we never had any—J . P . ) against masters combining to lower the price of work , but we have had many such acts against workmen combining to raise wages . In all such disputes , the masters generally can hold out much longer . A landlord , a farmer , a master manufacturer , or merchant , could generally live a year or two upon the stockg which they have already acquired . But , many workmen could not subsist a week ; few could subsist a month , and scarce any a year , without employment . In the long run , the workman may bo as necessary to his master as the ma 3 ter is to him ; but , tho necessity is not so immediate .

      We rarely hear , it is said , of the combinations of masters , though frequently of those of workmen . But , who ever imagines upon this account , that masters rarely combine , is as ignorant of the world as of tho subject . Masters are , always and everywhere , in a sort of tacit , " but in constant and uniform combination , not to raise the wages of labour above their natural rate . To violate this combination , is , everywhere , a most unpopular action , and a sort of reproach to a master among his neighbours and equals . We seldom , indeed , hear of this combination , because it is the usual , and one may say , the natural state of things , which nobody ever hears of . Masters , too , sometimes , enter into particular combinations , to sink the wages of labour evea below the usual rate . These are always conducted with the utmost silence and secrecy till the moment of

      execution , and , when the workmen yield , as they sometimes do , without resistance , though severely felt by them , they are never heard of by other people . Such com « binations , however , arc frequently resisted by a contrary , defensive combination of the workmen , who , sometimes too , without any provocation of this kind , combine of their own accord to raise the price of their labour . Their usual pretences are , sometimes , the high prices of provisions ; sometimes , the great profit which their masters make by their work . But . whether their combinations be offensive , or defensive , they are always abundantly heard of . In order to bring the point to a speedy decision , they have always recourse to the loudest clamour , and sometimes to the mo 3 t shocking violence and outrage . ( Remember , this was written by A . Smith about the

      year 1780 ;| it was true then , but , happily , not now . ) They are desperate , and act with tho folly and extravagance of desperate , men , who must either stnrve , or frighten thoir masters into an immediate complin vice with their demands . The masters , upon these occasions , are just as clamorous upon the other side , and never cease to ' call aloud for the assistance of the civil magistrate , and the rigorous execution of those laws which tiave been enacted with so much severity , against combinations of servants , labourers , and journeymen . ( Many of those laws have , since he wrote , been repealed , but still the laws aro not in all respects equal , as between masters and workmen . ) Tbe workmen , accordingly , partly from tho interposition of the civil

      magistrate , partly from the superior steadiness of the masters , and partly from the necessity which the greater part of the workmen are under , of subinittinjr , for the sake of present subsistence , very seldom derive any advantage from these violent and tumultuous combinations ; and they generally end in nothing but the punishment or ruin of the ringleaders . " The Doctor adds : — "But though in disputes with their workmen masters mu ^ t generally have the advantage , there is , however , a certain me belovi which it seems impossible to reduce for any considerable time , tho ordinary wages even of the lowost species of labour . A man must always live by his work ; the most common labourers must everywhere earn at least double their own

      maintenance , m order that , one with another , they may be onatilcd to bring up two children , otherwise it would be impossible for them to bring up a family , and tho rate of such workmen could not last beyond thu first eentwtion . This is evidently Ithe lowest rate of wages which is consistent with common humanity . " Ah ! Doctor ! Doctor These were your humr . no feelings , and they may have been the feelings of a great majority of the Moiiopo'iafcand Protectionist , master manufacturers , farmer ? , and landlord ? , of England and Ireland , in 1730 ; but had you lived to see the vast inim'ovemcnts in

      science , machinery , steamboats , railroads , division of labour , and the partial carrying out of your favourite princip ! e 3 of Fr . c Trade ; mtl unlimited competition , accompanied with permanent wages for agricultural labourer ? unilow , weavers , and many other trades , of from 5 * . to Si . ]> cv week , and distressed needlewomen 2 s . OJ , per week in England , and Irish agricultural labourers dd . to Gil , per day , as it U in 1852 , you would indeed l-avo sail ) , that our capitalists , manufacturer ? , and favmrv ? , nvo giving such waijea as ; u-e inconsistent with common humanity , and your " Wealth of Nations " would have been a Very different book , in many respects , from whnt we now find it . I am , respectfully , dear sir , yours , JOH . N FiXCH . Liverpool , April 10 th .

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      yiciiTi . voAi . Es jn Moscow . —Iii tliis city the nightinsalcs sing in . evory respect as beautifully in cages as in their natwc woods . In the bird shops tliay are hoard warbling with all the fullness and variety of tone which charncterisrs the nightingale in its natural state . 13 v rattling beads upon their tables of tangible arithmetic , " the Russians can make these birds sing at pleasure during the day ; but in tho night they make the streets of the city resound with the melodies of the forest .

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      THE NECESSITY OF CO-OPERATION . ( From the ' Operative . ' ) That which seems evil is not at all evil . Adversity is not destitute of good results . Misfortune has both its uses and limits . We all know- that experience is the best teacher , and it has passed into a proverb that tho dearest bought wisdom is the best . When

      \ ve fail we should endeavour to learn something from our failure , to ascertain the caus ^ h which Jiave ; led to it , and to obviate the ^ . ^ - ' 'AH ^ , e 1 t (^ - c ^ e ' \^ lii | £ the range of three different catagories : " tljose ~ wh'icii arise from the badness of a cause , rendering it untenable—those which result from tl \ e strength of our opponents—those which are brought about by our own weakness , or want of preparation . Let us analyse our position , and see to which of those three

      causes our present position is ascribable . It is useless to deny or to attempt to conceal the fact that we have suffered a defeat . The contest has been manfully fought throughout—high aspirations have been awakened—great enthusiasm has been created—energetic efforts have been made—considerable privations havo been unflinchingly borne , but they have not availed to ensure victory . All that could be done by men has been done , and those who have been involved in the struggle kuow to the full » s well as we do that the leaders of the workmen

      cannot be charged either with insincerity or selfish or mercenary motives . It may suit the purpose of interested parties to say so , but the operatives arc aware that for such insinuators , there is not the shadow of truth . Those who have led and those who have followed , those who have spoken and written , and those who have read and listened , have all sacrificed something in an unsuccessful attempt to elevate their own condition , benefit the members of their trade , and assert the privileges to which the labourer is entitled .

      It cannot be that success has been wanting because of the absence of justice in the requests of the Amalgamated Society . Still less is it true that those requests were preferred in an uncourteous manner , or urged in a dictatorial spirit . As wo have often said before , there was never yet a document put forward by working men more moderate in its tone than the circular of the 24 th of December . If the timo has come when such words , may not be addressed by one set of mon , however low , to another set of men , however high , then we had better divide society at once into masters and slaves . Tho pretence of freedom

      is a mere hypocrisy where tho employed may not remonstrate with employers . It is bad enough to be denied liberty of action , but restriction " upon the expression of opinion is almost beyond the limits of patience . Much has been said about the passage in the circular which spoke of the determination of tbe members of the Amalgamated Society to abolish certain practices , but it has been left out of sight that in the same document the employers were entreated to help those they employed to bring about a satisfactory settlement of along-pending dispute . Such an anxiety to catch at a stray passage , to wrest it from its context , to divest it of tbe

      meaning it was really intended to bear , indicates an anxiety to create a quarrel either with or without legitimate cause . It is the old story of the wolf and the lamb in the fable , where any pretext , no matter how frivolous or untrue , was made to serve the purpose of the destroyer . We do not intend to attribute such motives to all the employers of engineering labour , but there were a few men anxious to serve their own purposes , who , more active than tho rest , led all into an agitation , the results of which they thought calculated to serve their own selfish ends .

      ^ With regard to the subject in dispute—the questions of piecework and overtime—it cannot be disputed by any one who looks impartially at the whole matter , that the operatives were wrong in endeavouring to put an end to a state of things opposed to their best interests , and productive of much suffering and miisery . They did not pretend to say that when there was work to be done it should not be done . They did not assert the right or the propriety of leaving machines unfinished which were necessay to carry on the manufactures of the country . They did not ask to work less than a fair day in a day . They did not refuse to work more whenever a necessity arose for their

      so doing . They merely stood upon the ground that while thero waa no need for any man to work more than an ordinary day ' s timo while tho factories were not half full—while thousands of men were kept in compulsory idleness through inability to obtain employment , those who were actually in work should not be called upon , forced against their wills to labour day after day , week after week , and month after month , an extra number of hours . We look upon the ground tatan by the Amalgamated Society as that of the truest morality , and tho highest wisdom as well as the most expedient policy . Labour for all

      instead of overwork for some , and idleness for others , is a requcut consonant not only with the real interests of the worker , but of all classes of society ; and the time will come when that demand will bo preferred by all the intelligent toilers of the world . With respect to piecework — who can blame men for striving to keep themselves from becoming the slaves of a system in which middlemen play a conspicuous part ? Willing as we are to allow that the use of capital must be paid for—that the risk of its employment must be remunerated—that the superintendence and direction of its operations is worthy of its reward—we look with dread to the

      introduction of middlemen in any department of human industry . Those go-betweens are always more grasping , more sordid , more tyrannical , than the real employers—alway s more ready to beat down prices and to re luce wages . Wherever they have gained a footing they have been the heralds of misery and discontent . From the sweated tailors of London to the rack-rented , pauperised peasantry of Ireland , the evils produced by middlemen are evident . No wonder then that the engineers sought to avoid the domination of a class of such evil omen .

      1 hose vboro&d the history of labour in the future , will exonerate tho Amal gamated Society from tho imputation of struggling in a bad cause . They will not ascribe to that the fact that they have not succeeded ; aud , putting that aside , we como to another of the causes of failure , namely , the power of their opponents . We will not attempt to dispute the power of capital . We see it all around us , and teeUt at every step . The most compact and best organised force in this country is that of capital . With a few small and compara tively unimportant exceptions , tio capitalist holds in hi 3 iuuui -11 tho

      resources m the country—oontrols . prodaction Hud distribution , and opens or closes the avenues to employment . Competing too , as they do among themselves , they well understand that they have a class interest , and are always iu tacit combination to protect . Against sucli an opponent a prcat power must bo brought to bear iu order to ouauro success . That power , however , we are confident the labouring classes-the human raw material of capital-are able to create , and therefore we are driven to tho lust cause of failure-our own want of organisation and preparation . °

      The Amal gamated Society have made great offorts . and , what is perhaps a more conclusive roof of 8 in : Sev ' h . S aS 8 lV ! ly SUffi ^ muoh - o ? $ « tio !! . ol a b ul T t

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      them have withstood the temptation of promotion , K- ? If . ^ nt * ° S Positions in their rape * tiye factories . . . Other have given up their time with ou * P > of individual reward . The trades havo been called upon , and they have responded to an extent unparalleled perhaps in any previous labour contest . a unds have been gathered which have enabled somewhere about £ 40 , 000 to be distributed to men whom m employers determined to keep idle . But all that was done , perhaps all that it was possible to do , was to provide the bare means of subsistence from Jay to day , aud from week to week . We have not naOrin our hands the means of . production . . The to make

      " ^ mnery wealth , give" foo'd , and create more wealth at the same time , was not ready . In snort , wo were not prepared , and in tho struggle preparation for the future was not possible , u ™ ™ a not to be suPposed , however , that all has E , aud borne 3 n ™ ' Tlie ¦ rti'ito has S . ? 8 har P cu the P ortion , enlarge the log oal powers aud vaise the asJh . ations no \ onl £ 111 ! i ° mber 8 Of the Irou Tradus - ^ * H the SnnL ? > r ° the countv - Evidencing , as it has ! " ? P * ° g ^ s , the fact that the whole system ot strikes has been recognised as futile , and abandonin ,, it points to a new mode bv which the labourer

      must triumph . It teaches him that he must have training , discipline , organisation ; that he must be able not only to put down so much dead capital , but must have the means of vivifying it , and making it increase and multiply . It is not £ 40 , 000 to spend Sin nrln f etVe' ? eir turn ' but the abnitv to cause the mu . uuu to make as much more . The attention of we workers is more directly called to reproductive ^ -operation than ever it was ; Out of the midst of we present movement a few factories heloneinir in

      woiking men have sprung into operation . These must be increased as fast as funds can be accumulated , in every manufacturing district one or more of these model shops should be reared , and then if another contest should arise , if it should be necessary to defend rights or avert wrongs , there will be the nucleus for Co-operative effort , around which may be grouped the intelligence and the energy of the operatives , instead of a few idle thousands to depend upon so loiut as they can be made to last .

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      ( From the Daily Neivs . ) It is now apparent to all that tliere is only one man in tie Ministry who does tho thinking part of the business for a Ithe rest . . . That the far greater part of Mir . isters do not attempt to think at . ill , and that those who try take their inspiration from Mr . Disraeli . If , therefore , any light is to be thrown on the policy of government it must he fathered from the thinking partner of the firm ftow , m seeking to discover Mr . Disraeli ' s policy wo must examine not his principles , nor even tils professions , but

      me man imnself . lie has no conception of political action beyond the making of what ho calls " combinations . " In this he resembles his own Fakredeen in •« Tancred . " The Emir of Mount Lebanon is , in truth , no mere fancy sketch . The literal exactness and graphic truth of every lineament , the intense love with which every pencil touch is given that helps to bring out the likeness , prove that it is one of those portraits which painters only achieve after repeated attempts , by fond and persevering study of their own lineaments in a glass . "Fakredeen , " says Mr . Disraeli , "had noprinoiple ; he had not a prejudice ; a little superstition , perhaps , like his postponing a , journey because a bare crossed his path . " He was convinced that all was a matter of force or fraud . Farkedcen preferred the latter , because it was more ingenious . " "Though it was his profession and his pride to dissemble , he had a native ingenuousness which was extremely awkward and verv surnrisW . for tha

      moment he was intimate with you he told you everything . Though he intended to make a person his tool , and often succeeded such vm his susceptibility , and 80 str ng were his sympathetic qualities , that he was perpetually , without being aware of it , showing his cards . The victim thought himself aafe , but the teeming ro 3 ourcos of Fakredeen were never wanting , and some fresh and brilliant combination , as he styled it , often secured t , he prey which so heedlessly ha had nearly forfeited . " Again : " What should I be without my debts ? " he would sometimes exclaim ; "dear companions of my life that nevor desert me ' . What expedient in negotiation h unknown to me ? What degree of endurance have I not calculated ? What play of the countenance have I not observed ? Yes , among my creditors , 1 have disciplined that diplomatic ability t . W . Bhnli

      Borno day confound and control cabinets ! '' Yet again : '' he was too good a statesman ever to confiscate ; he confined himself to taxation . ConBscation is a blander that destroys public credit ; taxntion , on the contrary , improves it ; and both come to the same thing . " And yt-t again-• He became habituated to tho idea that everything oould bo acquired by dexterity , and that there was no test of conduct except success . To dissemble and simulate ; to conduct confidential negotiations with contending powers at the same time ; to be ready to adopt any opinion and possess none ; to fall into the public humour of the moment and to evade the impending catastrophe ; to look upon every man as a tool , and never to do anything that had not a definite though circuitous purpose , these were his political accomplishments ; and while ho recognised them as tho best means of success , he found in their exercise excitement and delight . " One finishing touch : " With nil his audacity , which was nearly equal to his craft , he had no moral courage ; and if affairs went wron » .

      andlrom some accident , exhaustion of the nervous system , tho weather , or some of those slight causes which sometimes paralyse the creative mind , he felt without : i combination , he would begin to cry as a child , and was capable of any action , however base and humiliating , to extricate himself from the impending disaster . " Tho career attributed to the Syrian Fakredeen is simply tho career of the English Fakredeen allegoricaUy shadowed out in Syrian incidents . As the Syrian intrigued or formed " combinations " with every hostile party and principle in succession , so the Englishman . The Syrian Fakredeen , as it suited his purpose , called himself Mussulman , Jew , Christian ; the English Fiikredeen , has called himself in

      succession Hndic . il , Tory , Free Trader , Protectionist . Aa the Syrian Fakredecnn intrigued at the samo time with Guizotand Aberdeen , tho English Fakredeen make overtures to Cobden and Lord George Bentinck at the same time . As the Syrian Fakredeen cut without hesitation a friend or principle no longer of use , the English Fakredeen has thrown overboard Protection now that it has served hia purpose . Even the powerof mimicry with which Peel was persecuted and tho squirearchy enchanted is mndo . a traifc of tho Syrian Fakredeen ' s character : " Fakredeen sketched a character in a sentence , and you knew instantly tho individual whom he described without any personal knowledge . Unliko the Orientals in general , his gestures were as vivid ss his words , lie acted the interviews , he achieved the adventures before you . His voice could take every tone , and his countcnanco every form . la the mids ! ot all jus bursts of plaintive melancholy , sometimes the nnguisli of a sensibility too exquisite alternating with a devilish mockery and a fofcil absence of all self-respoct "

      . It 13 to the character of Fakredeen that the public must look if they would learn what is the policy of the Fakredean Ministry , lhat polioy is simply to gain time and " make combinaUonV which common . placo mortals call " intnguo . To gain time , any promises required will bo marie ; to gain accomplices in " combinations , " any principles or intentions will be profiled ; and , when tho time comes , dupes will ho sent adrift and promises denied with equal effrontery . AH leaders of all parties secretly believed that Fakrcdevn was their pupil and their tool . There was not ono of these men , groy though somo of them were in years and craft , who ; n the iiinoceift and ingenious Fak . redcen did not bend as a nose of wax . " At least , so Fiikredeen flatter * himself .

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      Tub WiiKKinunnow Emigrant RBTURNKD .-Many of our readers will remember tho account published in . all tho newspapers nearly two icars ago , of a CaVmmria emigrant , who crossed the plains ' " on foot and alone , " with a xvfod . harro w , conveying all his earthly goods , that is , his provisions , clothes , ' tools , &c , in that lmuiMo vehicle , and outstripping in bis march numbers who had started for tha land of gold with more showy and expensive appointments . His name win J 3 rookmiro , and he is au Irishman hy b . ith . His residency to at Warron , in Pennsylvania , where lie l » lt a wifo and f- » mi < y » n very imligonfcfc |^ ^ s ^ jmBB , \ when ho went over the llocky MoJBfciins -to- '; try S fortune . " Urookiniro bns Int-ly fCturnod jfi ^ aUfdrr iia ^ itu «! 'OUt 15 , 000 dots , of tno " dust , - ' aWwhieh he dug atid washed out with his own hands . And l&ityiB-ten apt to pour when 3 « n n n& . T ^ M Wwing hit absence to the amount 0 10 . 000 dols . falling ^ 'her uponthe death of some relations w 8 QQtt * nd , -Wwrt &wtfV- .-

      Jfm Correspoukrncc.

      JFm CorrespouKrncc .

      Tbe Stae Of Freedom Ffti Nm ¦ T\ Aw Fmntinaw

      TBE STAE OF FREEDOM ffTI nm ¦ T \ aw fmntinAW

      £»Mt Tt N»',$ Tt*Tf ~ , ..

      £ » mt tt n »' , $ tt * tf ~ , ..

      The English " Fakredeen."

      THE ENGLISH " FAKREDEEN . "

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      AND NATIONAL TRADES' JOURNAL ; !

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      TOLH . P . 153 . LONDON , SATDRDAY , APRIL 17 , 1852 ¦ »¦«¦ «» b 7 « r « , „ iim » I 1 . " ¦ ' '•¦' - ¦ -- ^— -

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), April 17, 1852, page 1, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1674/page/1/