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Northern Star (1837-1852), 4th September 1852, Edition 1 of 2, Page 8, Se&is to Comspnknls.

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    • Se&is to Comspnknls.
    • IJjt iltar at gxnhwi SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1852.
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      Untitled Article

      " JUSTICE—IMMT 3 TABLE , UXIVERSAL , ETERNAL !"

      EXPLOSIONS IN COAL MINES . " Peace hath her victories as renowned as war ! " And more nearly like unto War ' s triumphs are the victories of Peace , than many who round a sentence with the above quotation

      may imagine . Peace knows her vanquished as well as War —to wit , the victims of competition . Even on the side of victory there , are two classes : the common soldiers and their chiefs ; and it is with the soldiers of industry as with those of war , the chiefs carry away the honours and prizes , while toil and sacrifice , death and obscurity , constitute the portion of the rank-and-file .

      Admire those fields of waving grain , those rich pastures , those luxuriant parks and gardens , that stately mansion the habitation of the lord of all—and more than all within the compass of thy visual ken . Behold the peaceful triumph of Agriculture ! Now turn to that mammoth building in extent if not in beauty rivalling royal palace and ducal hall . See it filled with a vast and complex power of machinery working with superhuman might and skill . Observe the rich textiles which shall command in turn , and in exchange , the native wealth of countries , even at " the uttermost ends of the

      earth . " Behold the peaceful triumph of Mechanical Genius and Industry wedded to Trade ! Observe how gallantly that mighty steam-ship " walks the waters like a thing of life , " bound to the hoary East , the Western world , or the Antipodes . Turn to the Railway and mark the wondrous rush of the train led by the moving monster whose course is sure as the cannonball , swift as the lightning ' s flash . Beautiful is the shipbuilder ' s art , wonderful the steam-engine ' s construction , worthy of Roman magnificence is the road of mingled earth and iron ; but these would be of non-effect but for the toil and

      heroism of the miner . Honour to all ! Honour to Science and Enterprise , to Labour and Bravery ! But this picture has its reverse . The wealth of the soil is raised and its beauty cultured by a multitude condemned to the drudgery , the ignorance , and the servility of vilest poverty . The triumphs of mechanical power and manufacturing progress are accompanied by mortal ravages—moral and physical , productive of individual degradation and national degeneracy . It is true that the coal of England is more truly valuable than

      the gold of the Ural Mountains , and that for general utility , family comfort , and national greatness , the " black diamond " is the real Koh-i-noor . But what of the miners—the grimy toilers , who with courage worthy of heroes , and industry unsurpassable , penetrate to the bowels of the earth , and from below the depths of the Grave and in the very jaws of Death , patiently devote themselves to the gathering of wealth a thousand-fold more precious than * the yellow dross of California and Australia ! What of them ?

      Doubtless it is well to be a coal-mine proprietor ; but not so well to be a coal-mine worker . It must be mighty pleasant to be " Marquis" of Londonderry and lord of Durham ' s mines ; but hardly so agreeable to be one of u his lordship ' s " black slaves . The life of the miner is altogether an unenviable one . ^ Little or no education , early labour , dungeoned in the interior of the earth , and during the one-half of existence pent up from the glorious sun of day and the starry face of nidit ;

      miserably paid , robbed by " truck" traffickers , bound by li agreements , " the penalties connected with which are exclusively apportioned to the worker ; and , lastly , pursuing a calling in which is too often seen associated the horrors of the slaughter house with the gloom of the prison—these , our countrymen and brothers , command the earnest , working , fruitful sympathy of every man worthy of the name , of every political and social reformer .

      The miners are a very numerous as well as valuable section of the population . Information as to their precise number I have not at hand , but some idea of their numerical strength may be gathered from the fact that there are about 2 , 400 coal mines at present in working . The number of miners is not of much moment , for if they were as few as , on the contrary , they are numerous , that should be no bar to a nation ' s sympathy . One appalling item , however , in the statistics of coal mines , recently authenticated by a parliamentary committee , claims most earnest attention , because in some measure

      indicating tlie frightful magnitude of the terrible evil that item proclaims . In the report of the Parliamentary Committee , appointed in the last session of the late Parliament , to inquire into the causes of the frequency of explosions in coalmines , it is stated that on the average , at least one thousand persons fall victims annually , in consequence of the explosive and suffocating gases engendered in the mines . That this is

      no exaggeration may be conceived , remembering that three months ago—not to speak of subsequent disasters—explosions occurred within a week or ten days , at Aberdare , Pembray , Hepburn , and Coppul , and that the victims numbered in all one hundred and forty seven , not to speak of the wounded and disabled . One thousand victims in one year : that is to say one thousand families deprived of father , husband , or son , usually the main stay of the family—in consequence of his death reduced to misery and pauperism . How often have

      We all read that ammw fhr- iiTYhmmv "KniTio-G rrafl-invarl olimif o we ail read that among the unhappy beings gathered about a pit ' s mouth , and frantic with grief at the destruction which has just occurred , was " a woman whose husband in the prime of manhood , and two sons in the bloom of youth were among the slain . " Imagine , if possible , the astounding desolation , utter ruin , and unspeakable misery of that woman , and the other surviving members of her family . This terrible evil has been allowed to continue , year after

      year , to trie consequent destruction of thousands of lives , without any earnest attempt on the part of our rulers to find , or rather enforce , a remedy , for remedies were not wanting . It is true the Davy lamp had proved a failure—a lure to destruction , rather than a protection against danger ; nevertheless , men of science had devised other means calculated to greasy mitigate , if not absolutely annihilate the destructive vapo rs of the mine . But their suggestions were unheeded ugreat body of coal-pit proprietors , and met with only

      Untitled Article

      nominal attention on the part of the Legislature . There were parliamentary committees investigating this all-important question in 1835- and 1849 ; but beyond the printing of evidence and reporting thereon , nothing came of these senatorial inquiries . The callousness of the coal-kings , and the indifference of parliament are easily explained . Thanks to " surplus labour , " artificially produced , the life of a miner is of less importance to pit-proprietors than the saving of a pound . I speak of the generality , not forgetting noble exceptions . Hence the

      suggestions and plans of scientific men have been barren of the desired results . Through the fires of Moloch , humanity had been made to pass , to pile gold on the altar of Mammon . As to the Legislature , it was and is a Parliament in which coal-kings sat and sit , but pit-men were and are unrepresented . Duncombe , and a few more good men and true , lifted up their voices for the poor miner , but were unable to command justice . The sufferers were of the " rabble" order , voteless , and poor ; moreover they were " reckless , " and if they were blown to atoms they had only themselves to blame !

      It is because the coal-mines , together with the land to which they belong , have been taken fraudulently , and with crime and violence from the nation , and appropriated as private property ; and because the Legislature as at present constituted , is the bulwark of all social iniquity ; that therefore the claims of the miners have been disregarded , or , at best treated to that barren sympathy which , in fact , only amounts to a mockery of the sufferings of the wronged .

      Full and complete justice to the miners Avill be obtained only through radical reforms—political and social—the establishment of popular sovereignty , through the Suffrage exercised universally and wisely ; and the restitution of the land with its mines , fisheries , &c , to the only rightful proprietorthe nation . But for the present , full and complete justice is not to be looked for , because the miners , and the rest of the proletarian classes , are not sufficiently enlightened , united , and

      determined to seek and win their political and social rights . Nevertheless some amelioration may be at once obtained if the miners , aided by the public generally , will take advantage of present circumstances to push forward their claims to legislative protection . That term '' protection" has been much abused by the selfish defenders of high rents and feudal privilege ; it has also been libelled by their rivals the aristocracy of capital ; nevertheless it is a proper , a necessary term . We have fleets and troops to protect our coasts and colonies from

      foreign spoliators ; we have police and tribunals to protect life and property from the assaults of the reckless and the dishonest ; we have an incalculable number of laws , to protect established institutions and privileged classes from every probable enemy . Surely it is not too much to demand that a class of men to whom the nation is so largely and deeply indebted shall be protected by all available and likely means from the horrors of fire and choke-damp , and the terrors of sudden and violent death !

      Want of space forbids present examination of the Committee ' s report published in another column . Next week the subject shall be resumed . In the meantime I must urge upon the miners and their friends to renewed and vigorous action in order that popular sympath y may be turned to good account ; and that the new parliament may thereby be induced—or forced by public opinion—to the taking of such steps , and the enacting of such measures , as will tend to the better guardianship of the lives of the coal-working population of the empire . L'AMI DU PEUPLE .

      Se&Is To Comspnknls.

      Se&is to Comspnknls .

      Untitled Article

      Letters to the Editor . All communications intended for publication , or notice , in the Star of Freedom , must be addressed to G . Julian Harney 4 Brunswick Row , Queen ' s Square , Bloomsbury , London . *; ,. * Correspondents will oblige by writing on one side only of their letter- paper ; and by forwarding their communications as early as possible in the week . Orders for the Star of Freedom .

      In consequence of new publishing arrangements , each of our Agents will oblige by henceforth giving his orders for the Star of Freedom through his ordinary London publisher , by whom he is supplied with other London Newspapers . Those agents in the habit of sending cash ( or stamps ) with their orders , may have * their paper from Mr . John Phillip Crantz , Publisher , 2 , Shoe Lane , Fleet Street , London . Jtfo Credit can be given . The Star of Freedom will henceforth he published at No . 2 Shoe Lane , Pleet Street , London .

      J . P . T ., is informed that the imprint is unavoidabl y continued as hitherto in consequence of the delay at the Stamp Office in going through the usual formalities consequent on a change of publisher " Ole Joe " —Your excellent letter on " The Law of Masters and Servants " we must withhold till next week . J . W . S . —We do not know where you can obtain copies of John Mitchell's United Irishman . The " Social Union" and " Free Europe " have not yet ajipeared .

      Thomas Paine . —A correspondent desires to know what has lieeomu of the hones of Thomas Paine brought to this country bv the htp William Cobbett . Can any reader throw light on on this question ? Mr . T . Hargitt , York—From our knowledge of the projector of the National Gift Emigration Society we have every confidence therein . John Dickenson . —As soon as the now model rules for Cooperative Societies are ready for publication , we shall be happy to afford them circulation through our columns . *

      K . Swain , Newtown . —Address a line to Mr . W . Peel No 1 Tottenham Court Road , London . ' * ' W . W . Bnown . —We cannot answer your query this week but we will do so next week . J ' Walter Sabdekson desires to know what has become of the Executive Committee of the National Charter Association . Perhaps Mr . Holyoake , Grassby , or Arnott will enlighten our correspondent Dalston , and " A SniDBNT . » -Under consideration . No room this week . Moms Received v 6 a the Refugees . -G . Payne , Abingdori ,

      Untitled Article

      SUB-PUBLISHERS OF THE « STAR OF FREEDOM » NOTICE TO READERS AND THE TRADE . The following Booksellers and News-agents undertake t supply the London Trade with copies of the Star of Freedom - ° Mr . Vickers , Holywell-street , Strand . Mr . Purkiss , Compton-street , Soho . Mr . Clements , Little Pulteney-street , Soho . Mr . Nye , Theobald ' s-road . Mr . Truelove , John-street , Fitzroy-square . Mr . Cox , Drury-lane . Mr . Parkinson , Worcester-street , Somers' Town . Mr Caffyn , Oxford-street , Mile End , Old Town . Mr . Matthias , 80 , Broad-street , Ratcliff . Mr . Fellowes , George ' s Circus , Blackfriars-road . Mr . Harris , Blackfriars-road . Mr . Coulson , Playhouse-yard , Whitecross-street , St . Luke's

      Untitled Article

      THE TOILERS AND THEIR DASTARD FOES . A parcel of cowardly hypocrites and selfish knaves have taken advantage of the ignorance and the powerlessness of the masses to creep into the places that should be the tribunes of the people , and , under the guise of friends and teachers , have basely set themselves the task of keeping the sons of toil for ever slaves to their task-masters , by refusing to

      enlighten them , or to proclaim their wrongs , and by the basestsophistry , doing all in their power to prevent them strugglin g onwards to a better and a happier future . Such arc the men of the inercenery press , who are content , for the sake of gold , to prostitute their pens , by supporting the supremacy of oppression and injustice . Yet they arc cowardly too , for

      very seldom do we find them boldly avow the aim for which they labour ; they dub themselves the friends of the workingclass , " " defenders of the rights of labour , " &c , while the great aim for which they work is to strengthen and consolidate the power of the greatest enemies of those very workiiF classes , and to retard as much as lies in their power , the triumph of Labour ' s rights .

      We blush to think that tlie Press of this country is almost wholly such , mercenary and unprincipled , the veriest slave of all-powerful gold . There are representatives and defenders in the press for every « interest" but the labour interest—for every cause but the cause of down-trodden , suffering Labour . We have an eminent instance of this before us . Our readers know that the Wool-combers of Bradford , a large and important body of Operatives , have lately been endeavouring

      to obtain justice at the hands of the grasping capitalists , their employers—seeking to be treated somewhat as men , rather than as mere machines of flesh and blood . This , it seems , has been enough to gain for them the opposition and the slander of a servile scribe , whose periodical sheet of base toadying to the men of wealth , is dignified by the title of the

      Bradford Osberver . And he has the insolence , too , to put forward his vile calumnies under the transparent mask of liberalism , representing himself as the friend of the operative , and professing solicitude for the men , whom he is making every endeavour to injure , with the object of ingratiating himself with the wealthy few .

      The sneaking slanderer even dares to employ the foolish and heartless argument , that they are now altogether unworthy of sympathy , since , " when they were in full employ , getting plenty of work , earning moderate wages , instead of endeavouring to put themselves in an independent position , they fought desperately and madly against the inevitable destiny of their trade , contemned the counsel of friends , spent all their earnings in eating and drinking , as if there were no ' rainy day' to come and even laboured to swell their ranks

      with new adherents to a calling whose death warrant , legibly written , was visible to all , save those who shut their eyes that they might not see , or foolishly permitted interested agitators to blind them by throwing dust in their mental vision . " Yet the writer of this cant knows very well , that even when " getting plenty of work , " thanks to the knavery of himself and his patrons , they did receive scarcely sufficient to procure for themselves and their families the most imperative necessaries of life .

      But this vile lackey of the social tyrants of Bradford has received a Rowland for his Oliver . The Wool-combers' Committee have issued a placard in reply to the infamous article in the Bradford Observer . This placard has been transmitted to us for publication , and we would have had much pleasure in giving it insertion in the Star of Freedom , ^ for one trilling drawback , which no doubt escaped the notice

      of our Bradford friends , namely , that from its great length , to publish it , it would be necessary to bring out u supplement of at least half the size of the Star . However , the Woolcombers of Bradford have done well thus to resent with indignation the mean and rascally attacks of this literary flunkey of the lords of gold . His slanders will help to teach them to trust upon each other for protection , and in brotherly unitv , themselves to work out the redemption of labour .

      It will teach them , too , the necessity for having a truly honest press , a press that will proclaim the wrongs and the rights of labour , and aid in accomplishing that revolution which shall raise trampled labour from the dust , and p lace it on a throne of honour in the world .

      Ijjt Iltar At Gxnhwi Saturday, September 4, 1852.

      IJjt iltar at gxnhwi SATURDAY , SEPTEMBER 4 , 1852 .

      Untitled Article

      56 THE STAE OF FREEDOM . September 4 1852 .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 4, 1852, page 8, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1694/page/8/