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    had the experience , know that the wages-serf is a cheaper and consequently more profitable article than the chattel-slave . So in the report under notice , the Committee advise the Coalkings that in the long run—they will find humanity the cheapest ; the cheapness to be brought about by a reduction of wages to a level with the rate paid to labourers in ordinary occupations . There is ground for affirming that already the remuneration given to miners too closely approximates to the wages of the peasant and the unskilled labourer . What will

    it avail the miner , that by the steam-jet and other contrivances , his existence is rendered more secure against untimely death , if his life is rendered a miserable burden by his inability , in spite of hard and unremitting toil , to secure a sufficiency of necessaries , not to speak of comforts , for himself and family ? The coal-owners are only too ready to reduce wages without parliamentary promptings , and we must deplore the shortsighted policy of the Committee as expressed in the paragraph under notice . We say " short-sighted policy " apart from all

    considerations of justice and right , as regards the working miners—for skilled , careful , herioc labour , and low wages are incompatible . Moreover , it is not merely the worker himself , but his family also , that must be taken into account in considering the question of wages . "The minerisproverbially short lived , say the Committee . Supposing him to die of natural causes , it is not desirable cither for their sake or the sake of society , to see his wife and children reduced to the workhouse ,

    in consequence of his death ; not to speak of the probability of crime being superadded to pauperism . Yet what possibility will there be of the miner making any provision for old age or fatherless children , if his wages are to be reduced to a Cumberland weaver ' s ? The coal-kings may add to their wealth by depriving their workers of a fair remuneration for theirtoil , but society must lose money , safety , and character—by an addition to its paupers and criminals .

    The Committee express their unwillingness to recommend " a compulsory enforcement of any particular system of ventilation ; they would rather point to the conditions under which alone they consider the mine to be safe , and leave it to some improved system of inspections or control , to secure these conditions being universally adopted . " This indication of tone , this fxuekling to the sovereignty of wealth , is deeply to be lamented . However excellent most of the Committee ' s suggestions , they will be fruitless and valueless , nnless enforced by the strong arm of the law . Experience has shown that it

    is absurd for the working miners to place trust in the humanity of their employers . Wanting the law ' s enforcement , the remedial measures suggested in the Committee ' s Report will have been proposed in vain . The Committee acknowledge the awful character and extent of the evil : —the yearly sacrifice of a thousand lives . Surely this is an evil too terrible to be trifled with . If the means exist to prevent or even abate this wholesale slaughter , these means must be employed by the coal-pit proprietors , and enforced by the law of the land .

    " It has been suggested that the families of those who perish , should be supported for a certain number of years by the proprietor of the mine . " To this the Committee object that " injustice might be done under such a law * , for the owner might give orders for the proper precautions , and an overlooker or miner might neglect them ! " Certainly , these surmises might be realised . But if the coal-pit proprietor knew that the penalty of carelessness would fall upon him , he

    would take care that the needful precautions against accidents should be so thoroughly carried out and unceasingly attended to , that carelessness on the part of workers and overlookers , would be morally impossible . As regards his own neglect , or refusal to take precautions to ensure the safety of the workers , it accords with Reason and Justice that he should , in the event or a fatal accident , be compelled to support the families of the victims sacrificed to his avarice and heartlessncss .

    Any scheme of legislative protection , must fail to adequately benefit the working miners unless it includes the provision rejected by the Committee , that of binding the proprietors to support the families of those who may be destroyed by explosions and other accidents . Were the mines -worked for the nation , every one would see the justice of the State supporting the families of those immolated in its service . As it is , the mines are worked for the benefit of individuals , and udoii

    those individuals should rest the responsibility of providing for the widows and children , of the husbands and fathers slain in their service . If the " owners" object , they have an easy remedy . Let them transfer their ( usurped ) ownership to the State , on condition that the nation at large , reaping the benefit of the miner ' s toil , shall ensure him adequate protection , and compensation to his family in the event of being disabled or slain while pursuing his dangerous- —but to Societyinvaluable occupation .

    The objectionable points of the Committee ' s Report , may fairly be ascribed to the non-representation of the miners in the Legislature . Judging them by the general tenor of their Report , we may fairly assume the Committee to have been composed of good-hearted , well-disposed men . Their errors we place to the account of their social position . Were the

    legislature the reflex of the mind of Labour as well as Capital , and were working miners commanding the votes of their ellow-countrymeii—free to take their seats by the side of coal-pit proprietors , the country might see a Report emanating from a Committee appointed by such a House of Common ^ which would contain all the merits , without the defects , of the document we have reviewed .

    In a previous number of this paper Mr . Mahtin Jude gave announcement to an intended Delegate Meeting of Miners , convened to be holden at Newcastle in the course of the present month . Of course the Parliamentary Committee ' s Report will come under the notice of the Delegates . Adopting the Committee ' s suggestions , or their own amendments thereto ; enforcing their claims by calm and convincing arguments ; and , lastly , organizing their fellow-labourers lor the work of wisely-conducted agitation , —they can hardly fail , supported by Public Opinion , to obtain for their ordoi \ valuable and lasting amelioration , But let them not deceive themselves , nor disregard the words of a faithful adviser : •—For the Miners , as for every other description of workers and wealth producers ; there is no social salvation—thorough and

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    entire—but through the ' political enfranchisement of Labour , the establishment of Manhood Suffrage . To inaugurate Social Justice , class privilege and legislation , must give place to the reign of Political Equality . .

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    THE PARLIAMENTARY REFORMERS . The Parliamentary Reform Association is a large body-It has , too , that recommendation which is of such great importance in England—it is respectable . Its leaders are men of wealth and station who have the opportunity of speaking their opinions before assembled legislators . The funds which arc applied to promote its objects , lot them come from what source they may , are considerable . Some hundreds of

    meetings have been held throughout the country , at which the crack orators of the party have spoken . Addresses have been issued , and newspaper advocates have not been wanting With a good cause , straightforwardly and consistently propounded , such materials could hardly fail to command success . Yet the Parliamentary Association has done as little , perhaps less in proportion to its means and opportunities , as any other political body . Much noise and little work lias been the order of the day . They have sounded the trumpet , but have not fought the battle .

    To say that Sir Joshua V / ahnesley and his party have not touched the feelings—excited the sympathies- —roused the enthusiasm—convinced the intellect—or won the confidence of the people , is but saying what every one knows . It is equally evident that they have not called into action any amount of very virulent animosity . They are simply trcatedwith indifference . Their best efforts seem to have a wet blanket sort of effect . There is a cold supercilious formalism about

    their doings as chilly as a raw damp autumn evening after a scorching day . There is somewhat more than a shade of exclusiveness about their arrangements ; and in what aims to be a popular party , exclusivcness is one of the greatest of errors . It may seem hyper-critical to some to notice such things as these , which lie merely upon the surface ; but those " who know how constantly great events turn upon small circumstances will not think so .

    It is not only that the association has not gained the masses over , but it is remarkable that the most sagacious and powerful of the middle-class leaders have stood aloof . It is seldom or ever that the names of the wily astute Cobden and the thoughtful determined Bright are recorded in their gatherings , or that their voices sound from the platform . The association embodies neither the weight of the obscure many , nor the infmencolof the well-known few . It may , and probably will , linger

    on for a while , supported and dragged into notice from time to time by those who have an interest in its existence , and whose political life depends upon it ; but for effective action , it must remain as it is , powerless . The old and trite adage that " those who arc between two stools come to the ground" is quite as applicable to parties as to men . The association is like Mahomet ' s coffin , vibrating between earth and heaven . It constantly oscillates between the middle class and the people , but belongs to neither .

    This produces precisely that amount of truckling and inconsistency , which is entirely destructive of efficiency . Its advocates , to some extent , obey the command to be " all things to all men ; " but , however applicable that may be to some cases , in politics it marks the consciousness of imbecility . They obsequiously strive to suit themselves to the company they find themselves in , and to elicit cheers , catch a majority , and swell up the number of members , one orator

    says one thing hero , and another something different there . Nay , as if to mark the extreme of shiftiness , the same man is Protean in his creeds , having one political faith at one place , and another at another . Just as men dress lightly in summer , more substantially in autumn , and muffle themselves in thick great coats in winter , so Messrs . the Financial , don different costumes for Halifax , Manchester , and London .

    Their speeches , whcn compared , turn out to be a collection of cross readings , at cross purposes . Sometimes they arc the airiest of democrats , ready to ventilate every rag of legislation ; their talk is a revolution in words . Then they arc the sleekest of respectables setting up property as the standard of all political good , and expounding careful " progressive reform ; " and again they are almost Conservative , thinking the British Lion a very respectable animal , and the triangular constitution which it is traditionally sivnrjosed to

    guard as the model of perfection in government , with a few small abuses certainly , just to show that it is a human and not a divine institution . It is a grand political masquerade a carnival of opinions in which , each pr actically asserts that " Motley s the only wear . " Such a party excites neither ; apprehension nor hope , hatred nor affection . It is neither loved nor feared .

    Such a body , however , as the Parliamentary Reform Association may do much mischief . We think that it actually docs more harm than good . Whatever of the latter it may effect is done simply by calling attention to political subjects , but on the other hand it divides Reformers , is fertile in petty bickerings about minor questions , and furnishes an opportunity for those who are against us rather than for us to hide their real position . It does something too

    — _ l 1 _ * . _ *_ l j . ,. _ 1 ... _ l _ 1 * i t « , _ w 7 worse this ; it tends to bring discredit on a good cause by diluting its principles , making their meaning uncertain , and rendering them ridiculous by surrounding them with absurd conditions . These is scarcely any more " effectual way of degrading a right in the estimation of the many , than fettering its assertion by some absurd restriction expressed in a

    ridiculous form . This is exactly what the Parliamentary Association docs ; take for instance the suffrage proposition put forward by its Council . We are told that it amounts almost to a claim of Universal Suffrage ; that it would exclude only tramps , paupers , and generally those who havo no hoir * Only the people who have no local habitation and scarcely ^ namo are boyond its apparent hounds . If that really Fib meaning , why not simply and straightforwardly say so at once ? { hen we should understand it . But take the proposi-

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    tion itself and examine it . Wo have not the nr before us , and therefore only quote it from momon ??'^ not the precise words , but its effect . i ! S ^ It claims a vote for every man occupying a houso of a house , and being rated or claiming t

    uvuiy . Many landlords compound for the rates upon their ho and will continue to do so , because it is pecuniarily & \^ tageoustothem . Almost all , if not all householders who un ^!!" let to lodgers pay the rates for their houses , receivin g ft " their tenants fixed sums representing both rent and \^ Compound householders and lodgers have practicall y noti / t to do with the rates . By a private contract they have c ? empted themselves from all trouble respecting them . As vat " > ~ payers they know nothing of the parish nor the parish of them . Yet , forsooth , these men are to claim to be rated , oftci when they know the rates arc paid , always when they knowthey are not liable for them . Such a demand k not onhvexatious but silly , and men do not like to be called on hut

    what they know is foolish . They may not mind thro \ vm » few half-pence to a guy , but they do not like to be made ^ of themselves . Much as Englishmen like money , they are la the full as sensitive of ridicule , and we belie vc " would sooner pay a trifle , or submit to some inconvenience than rmblidy assume the cap and bells . Political tomfoolery is almost as little to our taste as political exclusion . A sorious duty oui not to be associated with downright absurdity , any more tin Richard the Third ought to bo played in the spangled jacket of a harlequin . In the one case an audience would he provoked to laugh at tragedy , in the other the citizen would he tempted to forego his rights . But beyond this which some practical minded individualsmatter of fact men as they arc called—may look on as a metaphysical objection , there is no telling what dodgery may be concealed beneath this claiming to be rated clause . ' Wlieii we are dealing with men who are not over consistent in their

    opinions or m their expressions , suspicion becomes not oniv a duty "but a virtue . Where we find obscurity we look tor artifice , just as instinctively as a child looks for ghosts in the dark , but with far better reason . We have had some experience before this of what law-makers say they mean proving very different from what law-interpreters say the laws mea The factory Act is a pretty recent instance of that kind ; this teaches us to be warv . If it was a claim to bo rciristered

    that was required , that would be plain sailing—once registered always registered . The act , and that a reasonable oiu \ once done there would bo no further trouble ; but when we come to rating it is entirely another matter . How often is the claim to be made , and when ? At a certain time or on uncertain contingencies ? Once a year for example , or for every

    fresh rate , or when the overseer not agreeing with a mans opinions , or not liking trouble , leaves him oil' the rate-book ? Here is a field open at once for artifice and chicanery , which , added to the ridiculousness of the whole affair , would keep a large number of those strictly entitled off the register . _ If this be a blunder of the leaders of the parliamentrv association , we say that wo do not want to be led by blunderers , if it be an artifice it is a better reason still why we should not trust thorn . Either way they are not the men . We would not be content with Household Suffrage or Homo Suffrage—nothing short of Manhood Suffrage would satisfy us ; but we havo a right to expect that those who , differing with us , assume to lead the people , should say plainly what they mean and abide by it , not put forward propositions so equivocal as that with regard to the suffrage . There are , uo doubt , many good and honest men among the members of the parliamentary association—many true refonnerswe ask them to consider calmly their position , to look at its inefficiency , inconsistency , and uncertainty , and then to think whether or not it is time " to " come out from among them " and try to do something bettor .

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    — ——— - _ _ . . ^ ^^__—fc * VP _ fc __ 4 , V LEGAL INVESTMENT FOE THE PEOPLE . Mr . Slancy ' s bill for the purpose of forwarding ami legalising the operations of Co-operative Societies , does not enable the working classes to carry out the process of Banking or Investment for themselves . Legislators no doubt thongW that the mysteries of finance were too abstruse to be comprehended by intelligent mechanics and clever labourers , and

    therefore kindly resolved to save them from the danger ot attempting to enter into the monetary world . As it is , however , absolutely necessary that the working classes sliouM use the funds they accumulate for their own emancipation , some other means must be resorted to for enabling them to do so legally and securclv .

    There is only one way in which this can bo effected , m that is by taking advantage of the provisions of the Joi » l Stock Companies' Act , which has boon for some time m operation . We believe that this has never hitherto been done by any association of working men , and the reason ^ pretty obvious . The machinery of that act has , as though intentional ^ , been made cumbrous , umvicldly , and comp lied '

    The deeds of settlement which are registered under it a * tediously long , and require to be drawn with considers ^ technical skill . The preliminary proceeding to bo $ ^ through entail trouble and loss of time , and the fees to . ^ paid to tho registrar are unnecessarily large . C ofif ^ with large capital constantly take advantage of the act , w ^ • most of tho modern Insuranco Companies have dono so , ^ some of the most successful of the enterprises of # ¦ W «• ¦

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    90 THE STAR OF FREEDOM . September U , i 852 ~^~ " — ' —————— _ _____ _ . . — _ __ ¦ " ¦ — ~ ~ - —^^ -zrr—— — —_

• Citation
  • Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 18, 1852, page 10, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1696/page/10/