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    THE PROGRESS OF OPINION . It is quite clear tliat there cannot be . any such thing as nality . We cannot make any dispositions -which shall eomnand the future any more than we can make laws to bind he wind . Little men , who find themselves by some accident if birth , or wealth , or position , or family influence , puffed up nto great statesmen , adopt the estimate of the little world vhich surrounds them , and exaggerate their own powers . [ hey fancy that after them is nothing—that they can impress aws upon all time—that between this and eternity , at least s their domain , and accordingly they set to work to " settle ^

    things into their proper order . The wish to settle futurity is at least as silly as it is futile , and it is scarcely more silly or futile than selfish . Happily , however , both for us and the finality men , it is impossible for us to act it out . Each year will bring its necessities—its dependencies—its change ' s of opinion , as surely as each season brings its climate and flowers and fruit . Things in which seemed the wildest visions half a century ago , have been accomplished , and what appear now to some minds to be the most dreamy projects will become realities : and the way in which these things happen not only illustrates the nature of political progress , but the character of the aggregate mind .

    However good , or true , or just a proposition may be men startle at it while it is new as a frightened horse swerves from some uncertain and ill-defined shape by the road-side Th 2 world is only fond of novelty in matters of anmsemciit or dress , or in what pertains to whim or fancy . There is a sufficient portion of conservatism in a natural mind to make it cling with some tenacity in matters of government to what is known , in preference to what is unknown . As a mass men are anything but logical . Mere theory but seldom convinces . It is fact that is asked for . In the governmental department of life , more than any other , men seem willing to " endure the

    ills they have , " rather than " fly to others that they know not of . " They are pushed on to change by necessity , rather than he led on by their own volition ; and even necessity not immediately in practice fails , until the aspect of the change lias become familiar to their minds . Revolutions may be effected suddenly by force , or by irresistable or overwhelming calamity , but they are seldom stable . When they are the growth of opinion , they are effected but very slowly , and generally with this advantage—that they are pretty sure to last . The * opposition to any measure is nearly certain to be in direct proportion to its thoroughness , and the good it is intended to effect ; and the period of its probation is some index to its ultimate

    duration . The mind of the great world , varying in its relations to thought , may be compared to different materials in their susceptibility to outward influences . The harder it is tu make an impression upon a substance , the more permanent is that impression after it is made—the longer a body takes to hot the slower it cools ; and in like manner revolutions are lasting or transitory , according as they are effected with greater or less difficulty . In these thoughts , which any one who will take the trouble

    to apply to actual occurrences , will see to be true ; those who advocate the People ' s Charter may find some comfort . The dangers which still beset them as well as the labours through "which they have , passed , may both give them hope and stimulate them to future exertions . They may see an earnest of their future success in the impression which has already been made , and in the familiarity of many with the objects they have so long struggled to attain . It is but a few years ago that in recognized political circles every part of the Charter

    was utterly scouted . There was scarcely a man , having influence with the powers that be , who gave in his adhesion to one of them . From first to last , great and small , they were utterly beyond , or rather below , the consideration of statesmen . It was uot necessary even to argue against , they were so utterly unsupported . Politicians would have treated the man who took the trouble to oppose the chimeras of " mob leaders and demagogues , with as much ridicule as though emulating Don Quixote , he had donned the armour of some old ancestor , and attacked windmills . They were not only

    not to be talked about , but not to be thought of even . The possible had a boundary , and such radicalism was utterly beyond it . Alterations like these were not within the scope of the constitution . We have had lately a grand sweep out of our old lumber in the shape of a Reform Bill , and there was an end of the matter . The house was set in order for some century at least , if not for ever , as some hoped and predicted , and the " great unwashed" might shout till their throats were hoarse , without obtaining the liquidation of that debt of freedom , which is paid in such very small instalments .

    Well , something more than twenty years have passed away since our " final" adjustment was carried , and where are we now ? Successive legislatures have tried their hands at commercial and financial reform , and we have found the way hack to the necessity of political movement at last . It has been forced upon the very parties who once thought the idea absurd , by their own internal condition and powcrlessiiess . They find that they must do something , despite themselves , of course as little as possible , and so they have actually

    turned to the despised and condemned Charter , the mark lor small wit and ridicule in bygone timss , in order to eke 01 \ their own scanty measures of reform . There are two points of the Charter , at least , upon which the Whigs appear to have niade up their minds—the Ballott , and the No Property Qualification ; and there are other points upon which it is evident their opinions are unsettled . The Ballot may be considered as settled , because not the Whigs only , but the large portion if the Conservatives also , have recognized its expediency .

    a he parties which have hitherto been the most notorious for using undue influenee began to find , in their turn , that it may he cited against them . What the landlord can do here the priest can do in Ireland ; and some of the Tory journals have gone so far as to express the opinion that the only remedy is to give the voter an . opportunity of doing what they have hitherto denounced as un-English voting in secret . With regard to the Property Qualification , Lord John Enssell and his adherents seem to have discovered that Scotland gets on as

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    well without it as England with it-a fact which they have been very slow to recognize . Perhaps , however , their opposition has been weakened by a knowledge of the fact that the provision is often and easily violated , and that it is as well to give up the theory which they cannot carry out in practice . On the other points of the Charter there is not , it is true , any concession ; but there are symptoms which indicate a consciousness of weakness with regard to the doctrines to which they relate . Thus , though Universal Suffrage is still denounced , an extension of the Suffrage is admitted to be inevitable , though Annual Parliaments cannot be thought of . Iriemrial Parliaments are growing into favourand thoudi

    , Equal Elcctorial Districts do not enter into the calculation of Statesmen , Lord John ' s smothered Few Reform Bill admitted the truth that we need other districts than those we have . Thus we see that there is only one point which has been left entirely out of consideration—that of paid membership , at which we can scarcely wonder , because it is so well known that gentlemen who go to parliament to do dirty work for ministers , or to bully them out of places , or to look out sharp for nests of relations , or to support a class interest , are far too honourable and independent to suffer themselves to be paid out of the hard earnings of the people . No ; that is a degradation reserved for factious demagogues , but to which place-hunters , self-seekers , and traders , have not vet fallen .

    We may now see how the Charter stands . Two of its points almost as good as carried ; three more unsettled ( and bear in mind unsetilemeiit is the next best thing to settlement ); one only kept out of sight altogether . Surely , this should spur us on to act still more energetically . But there are other motives , if other motives were wanting , which are to be found in a consideration of what follows from regarding two points as connected . First , as to the Ballot . If that be made law , away goes the whole theory of the Constitution

    mongers , who pm tneir faith or their professions ; at all events , to be a limited suffrage . Their theory has hitherto been that the Suffrage is a privilege , and not a right ; and that the enfranchised held it not for their benefit only , but as the trustees for those who have it not—for the nation at large . To this construction secret voting is utterly opposed . The two cannot be reconciled . If a man have in himself a right to vote , it may be properly urged that he lias a right to give that vote as he pleases , either openly or secretly . With a trustee the case is very different . The very nature of a trust precludes the idea of acting secretly . A trustee is a steward

    and must give in an account . He is not disposing of that which is his own solely , but that in which others have a direct interest . It is absolutely essential to the perforancc of a trust that it should be discharged publicly , and in a manner which admits of investigation . Else , there would be no security . If voting be a right , the Ballot is its proper accompaniment—if a trust , then the ballot is unjustifiable . We contend that unless we are to go on to Manhood Suffrage , the Ballot would set up an irresponsible tyranny over those whose only force rests in public opinion . Remember then that the Ballot readily admits the right to the Suffrage .

    With regard to the No Property Qualification , that includes considerations equally important . If that be considered , it renders all systems of limited Suffrage , no matter how wide the limits may be , to sheer absurdities . In the case of the Jews , wo have it argued that it is a mere folly to allow them to choose ministers but to exclude them from being chosen . P * v 4 . A *• - . £ ¦ ft . 1 . i ^ II » * T I

    ^ ' That is no doubt so , but it is not equal to the utter stupidity of making men eligible to be chosen , who are not suffered to choose . If the Property Qualification for membership were abolished , and a Property Qualicriation for voting retained , the man who could not give a . vote for the election of a senator , might be elected to vote as a senator—lie who could have no voice in selecting a law-maker might have a voice in the making of laws . Surel y , men who could commit

    themselves to such a gross undertaking as this—who would hedge in the lesser duties of citizenship strictly , and throw open the greater , show themselves not only so regardless of all notions of right as to deserve the contempt of a people , but also so destitute of wisdom as to ensure the destruction of their own power . The truth is , the great mass of our politicians are mere expediency-mongers , who know nothing of principle . Acting only to serve the moment , they catch at every device ,

    and avail themselves of every juggle , lhoy sticK to wrong as long as they can , and when driven from that by mere inability to hold on any longer , they turn perforce to right , but not because it is right ; and without recognizing its true nature , or perceiving where it is leading them ; and thus , while they denounce the great fundamental principle on which the Charter stands , they strive to strengthen their hands , by adopting two minor points which logically cannot be severed from it .

    Courage , then , Chartists ; rouse yourselves for another effort , and shew these men who are compelled to take a part of your work into their hands , that they must do it all , or give place to those who will .

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    CAPITAL FOR THE PEOPLE . The Weekly Dispatch of last week gives a short analysis of Mr . Slancy ' s Bill , particularly noticing that the legislature restricts Co-operative bodies from investing their funds with the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt , denies them exemption from stamp duty , which is accorded to Friendly Societies in general , and in fact , to use the words of our contemporary , holds out no special favour to " Socialist Companies . " Tho Dispatch no doubt thought that by introducing the term ki Socialist , " it would prejudice

    cooperators in the eyes of the world , by making its readers believe that their members wore not simply working men , striving by honourable industry to elevate themselves into independence , but deists , atheists , revolutionists , and every other " ists" who are ill thought of by the " respectable classes of society . " The whole tone of the Dispatch in this article is sneering and malicious , pretty much resembling , indeed , that which marked the speech of Mr . Gobden , in the House of Commons . It is glad that the Bill has passed , be-

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    cause the working classes ma } - now try the experiment for themselves , without let or hindrance , hut it has always warned its readers against expecting success from any such efforts—always told them how futile it was for working men to try to employ themselves , and become independent of masters , and always contended that even if they could , it would not be wise for them to do so .

    lhis is the gist , of the article iu which the Dispatch discusses Mr Slaney ' s measure . It means partly that the writer would like to see working associations fail " for he is the advocate of the unlimited power of the monied classes over their wages slaves , and partly that he thinks they will tail . Now , it is worth while for us to know the . reasons which induce the Dispatch to prophecy that Co-operative Associations will break down , vand as it relates to the matter in hand , we shall devote a little space to its consideration It is not because Mr . Slancy ' s bill is a bad one , or because it

    places working men m a worse position than they were before . I rue , the measure does not do all we could wish—it does not , for example , confer limited liability , under which association has thrived in France , and it submits rules and regulations to what may be a vexatious interference upon the part of a government officer , but still it does release working men from the cumbrous and expensive machinery of the Joint Stock Act . and it shortens the period during which they arc liable after they have left any enterprise . Probably the bill affects all that could be effected through a body composed of such materials as our legislature .

    » n the next place , it cannot be that the endeavour , upon the part of operatives , to advance their sorial and industrial condition , is not a proper one calculated at once to call forth tho sympathies of every rightly constitute ;! mind , and to spur on those engaged in the enterprise to arduous exertion . Hie Dispatch Itself will not venture to tell its readers that men ought not to strive for independence , better payment , and certainty of employment , and it cannot , without formm" - a very low estimate of the industrial classes , suppose that will work better lor

    they a . master for so much a week , than iu their own factories for the good of themselves and their families . Neither can it be that there is any doubt of the working men being possessed of sufficient skill to make industry profitable , for theirs is the skill which does make it profitable to others instead of themselves . In most cases tho employer is but the man who overlooks , and finds capital with which to employ the labour of others—those others for the most part doing , beside the labourthe desk ™ and

    in-, y entmg , although inventions , it is true , thanks to the Patent Laws , are seldom patented in the names of artizans . It is not likely either that those who live on wages cannot find among themselves enough of ability to carry on commercial and manufacturing operations , for in their societies they generally act as prudently and with as much skill and intelligence as though they were peers or millionaires ; but even if that were not so , they could hire commercial tact as the manufacturer does at the present moment .

    It is not to be credited for a moment that , the Dispatch means to assert that trade and manufacture are not profitable . If that wore its meaning , without speaking of the knowledge we all of us possess , its own columns week by week would contradict it . Independent of the triumphant chronicling of the Anti-com-law Leaguers , subscribing at tho rate of about a thousand pounds a minute to uphold Free-trade—a tolerably good proof that they do not carry on business for nothingdoes it not tell us , ever and anon , not only of the power of the commercial classes , resting upon their trade-made resources , but of the wealth , the prosperity , nay , tho very existence of England , depending upon the well being of her gigantic commerce ?

    No it is not hero that the reason is to be found which leads the Dispatch to assert that Co-operative Associations will fail . Such efforts are good and honourable . The wish for independence is a strong stimulus to exertion ; working men are skilful and industrious , and have some business capacity , and trade is in the main profitable . Why , then , should they not succeed ? Why should fortune refuse to smile upon them only ? The reason we think in this , that the Dispatch supposes they have not capital enough to furnish themselves with the machinery and the raw materials of labour , and to exist till their industry can be turned to profitable account . Let us examine this point , for it is worthy of all attention . If the supposition be a correct one , it would be their folly to venture upon such undertakings without the elements essential to make them moderately prosperous .

    ine amount of capital requisite for commencing operations may be , and probably is , over estimated by those who are opposed to us . The most sanguine among " us do not suppose that the change is to be effected suddenly , nor , indeed , till alter a long course of years . We do not imagine that we shall be able to-morrow , or in a few months , to gather together so large an amount of funds as is now embarked in manufacturing processes . We do not

    -regard it as at all likely that all the artizans will at once or soon quit their employment or that wo shall suddenly aggrandize ourselves with all the profits of trade . On the contrary , we anticipate at the utmost to see a few working associations ris ing up beside the present system , proving that operatives are able to do as well for themselves as they do for others , and little by little stimulating their fellows to follow their example , and out of their profits helping them to do m We can only look tor an end being brought about through the employment of means-such means as ' we have at command and , however great our desires , we must not let our anticipations run beyond the fair probability of their accomplishment . l

    But where is even the limited amount of capital necessary tor carrying out that restricted experiment to come from ? How are we to make a beginning ? We shall be told that we cannot go into the money market to ' borrow the capital , for that will be closed against us . Wo are not quite so sure of that . The present plethora of wealth for which the owners cannot find profitable investment—wealth which they so wish to make profitable that they send consols up to above par , and reiiderthe reduction of " interest upon the National Debt possible , will make money more easy to come at than it has hitherto been . Where shall we find security ? Many , perhaps the larger portion of the present manufacturers carry on

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    J ^™ ' 1852 ' __ _ _ J ^ * * O * FuELDOM . 57

• Citation
  • Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 4, 1852, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1694/page/9/