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you lay the base , therefore why not laytlie basis of a great cause by endeavouring to obtain for a people Manhood Suffrage , and make man what he ought to be , not a slave , but a free Citizen . I very much approve of the plan , and all that I can to to forward it I will . Augustus Piercey . < s
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THE O'CONNOR FUND . TO THE EDITOR OP THE " STAR OF FREEDOM . " Sib , - ~ Some time ago I in comnion with many of the old friends of democracy , not only expressed a wish to raise a sum of money to assist Mr . O'Connor , but did so . The mental aberration under which that gentleman was then suffering , together with other events relating to him , have prevented anything far * ( he * being dons in reference to . that matter . If those . who . con . .
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t ributed to that fund would allow the committee to hand over that money to Miss O'Connor it would be the means of doing much good to that lady . You have my permission to use the money sent from here in that way , and I believe it will be agreeable to my other friends in Ashton . As Miss O'Connor was dependent on her brother , by assisting her they will , to some extent , be assisting him . I am much pleased with the manner and matter of the Star
, and while it tends to support the cause of civil and religious freedom , I most sincerely hope it will pay you for your great anxiety bestowed thereon . The proposition for the establishment of a national party , under the War Cry of Universal Suffrage , is one that entirely meets my approbation , as it must be evident to us all that all attempts to rouse the people to our old battle cry is utterly hopeless . The principle of universal suffrage once established , all matters of detail must soon follow
I am , your ' s faithfully , Ashton-under-Lyne , Sept . 28 , 1852 W . AITKEN . [ Mr . Aitken speaks of my handing over the money to Miss O'Connor , but the funds are in the hands of the Committee . Mr . A . should communicate with Mr . Arnott or some other member of that Committee . —Ed . ]
THE NORTHERN POLITICAL UNION . g Newcastle-on-Tyne . —The committee of the Northern Political Union held their usual meeting on Sunday morning last , when Mr . Angus Me Leod read from the Star of Freedom the letter from Mr . Newton , the sentiments of which were duly appreciated by all present , and a feeling of approval was generally expressed . The business of the meeting was
then entered into , the subject being the utility of convening a public meeting on an early day to lay before the inhabitants of the borough the necessity of attendin g to the registration , both as regards the municipal and parliamentary elections . Decision on the question , after an animated discussion , was postponed till Wednesday evening next at 8 o ' clock . Cards were issued to a number of new members .
Bradford . —Secular Lectures . —On Sunday evening Mr . Broom gave a second review of the Rev . Mr . Wallace ' s Lectures on the Bible . The lecture gave great satisfaction . Mr . Broom is effecting great good by dispelling the illusions of priestcraft , and developing the popular tendency to freely and fearlessly investigate institutions born of barbarism . Popular Progress and Secular Education . —We understand the committee of the Westminster and Pimlico People's Institute , established to promote the above objects , intend
holding their annual soiree in aid of its funds , Oil the 4 th instant ( Monday evening next ) , at the Assembly Rooms Vauxhallbriclge road , when Sir J . V . Shelley will preside , supported by Mr . W . Coningham , Mi \ W . Newton , Mr . W . Cooper , and other friends . There will be singing to make perfect the attractions of the evening . We understand that the members for the borough have each contributed £ 10 to the funds of this praiseworthy institution .
Banbury . —The proposed National Movement . —It is pleasing to see returning signs of life and vitality in the Democratic movement which has laid prostrate and dormant for so many months past . That past must have been one which all good men and true have deplored , but which none had the power to alter or amend ; and if at the blast from Mr . W . Newton ' s trump , we are to have a resurrection , all I have to say is that I hope it may be such a one as that we may be able to say , " blessed is he who took part in such a resurrection . " I , too , am one of those who have become disgusted with the past its
follies and its crimes . I have seen ardent spirits quenched , hopes destroyed , and that burning faith so necessary to the success of every just cause , uprooted and despoiled , and I have for some time past hung my harp upon the willows , and have gazed with sorrow and astonishment at the contention and strife which has been raging around us . Sir , whatever plan ' of organization we may have for the future , allow me to say that in my opinion numbers is not the mark to which we should direct our attention ; better a few , if intelligent and united , than many if ignorant and divided . With this view I would recommend that the subscriptions be not less than a penny per week , and that alone
should constitute membership . Men who would pay a penny per week are men who would take an interest in the movement . I would recommend further that lectures ( excepting localit y ) be dispensed with as much as possible . In the new movement the printing press must be used more and the railroad less . In such a movement you may rely on my zealous co-operation and support , and I shall be ready at any time to take my share of the work . I enclose you 5 s . for the Refugee Fund , in behalf of which you have taken so noble a part . I will conclude for the present by wishing a speedy birth and a happy career to the people ' s new movement . —Yours faithfull y , Sept . 26 , 1852 . ' W . Bunton . « fi » 4 .
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THE RIGHTS OF LABOUR . To the Editor of the " Star of Freedom . " Sir , —Much has been said , and much has been written on the question , what is meant by the rights of labour ? but that few comprehend the question in all its bearings is evident from the variety of opinions that prevail on the subject . By some we are told that by ' the rights of labour' is meant
' a fair day ' s wages for a fair day ' s work . ' But this explanation is so ambiguous that it requires a further explanation ; it may mean five shillings a day , or one shilling a day . By others we are told that by ' the rights of labour' is meant , ' that the labourer shall have , in return for his labour , a sufficiency of all the necessaries of life . ' By others we are told that by ' the rights of labour' is meant , that ' the labourer shall be the first partaker in the fruits of his own toil" an impossibility .
By' the rights of labour , ' as I understand the subject , is meant , that those who do work , together with those who are unable to work , shall enjoy the wealth produced by those who do work ; or , in other words , that those who are able to work and will not , shall not enjoy any part of the wealth produced by those who do work . But , by what means those who are able to work and ivitt not , shall be prevented from enjoying any part of the wealth produced by those who do work , must be left to the
people at large when they have the power to adopt what laws and institutions they may desire . True , each one has a right to state his views on the subject ; it is his duty . But let us always bear in mind that the great mass of the people have no political power , and that without that power they are unable to adopt any laws or institutions that may be requisite to give a practical solution to the question , " whatis meant by 'the rights of labour ?'"
It is true that small bodies of men , each one of whom being able to advance one or two pounds towards the formation of a common fund may , by extraordinary exertions , and sometimes great sufferings , improve their own condition a little ; but such societies can never permanently improve the condition of the great mass of the working classes ; it is impossible . The great burdens that press on industry , and the great monopolies that enable the wseJm classes to rob the useful classes of three-fourths of the wealth produced by their industry , must be swept away , ere the condition of the great mass of the people can be
permanently improved , ere the wealth producers can occupy their rightful position in society . No , the condition of the great mass of the working classes can never be permanently improved , while they axe robbed of from fifty to sixty millions a year under the name of imperial taxation ; and from forty to fifty millions a year in the shape of local taxation . Their condition can never be improved while a corporation of priests is allowed to swallow about twelve millions a year , and the land of the country is monopolised by a selfish , liberty-hating aristocracy . Their condition can never be permanently improved while they are the slaves of usurers
and capitalists ; and they will be the slaves of usurers and capitalists as long as the present banking arrangements continue , as long as credit is a monopoly for the benefit of a few , instead a being really national institution for the benefit of the whole people . And those enormous sums plundered from the people under the name of national and local taxation , will be plundered from them as long as they are without political power . These monster monopolies that enable the useless classes to plunder and degrade the useful classes , will continue to exist as long as the people are political slaves ; and they can be redeemed from their political slavery ' only by the establishment of Universal Manhood Suffrae-e . *
let this greatest and most injurious of monopolies ; the monopoly of law-making , must be first destroyed by the establishment of Universal Manhood Suffrage . Then we may hope to see those burdens that crush the labouring classes swept away ; and those monopolies that crush the working classes in social slavery , we may hope to see destroyed also , by the nationalization of the land and the organization of credit as a reall y national institution , for the benefit of the whole people . Then the people will have the power to adopt such laws and institutions as may be considered necessary in a practical solution of the question " What is meant by ' the rights of labour ?'"
Then we may hope to see the workers of old England happy and free , and their homes resound with the song of joy ; then will all England become great and glorious , and be admired by all the nations of the earth ; then will the tyrants of the earth dread her , for then she will be able to lend a helping hand to all who aspire to be free . But till then we must be content to be insulted by the tyrants and be despised by the people of other lands , and suffer allthe evils inseparable frompolitical and social slavery . Hinckley , Sept . 27 . . L . S .
Fixsbuky Charter Association . —A public meeting was held at the Finsbury Institute , Ray-street , Clerkenwell , on Sunday , September 26 . Mr . John Gough occupied the chair . 16 members were enrolled , and took out certificates of the National Charter Association . The following officers were appointed for the next three months : —Mr . P . Johnson , treasurer ; W . Hoekley , secretary ; John Fussell , andWillian Osborne , delegates to the council . On the motion of Mr . Hoekley , the following resolution , was agreed to , without one dissentient "That this meeting views with disgust the disgraceful and
unprincipled attack made by Ernest Jones , in the " Peoples ' Paper , " of the 25 th , on a number of honest and tried democrats , meeting at the Finsbury Institute ; that we give our total denial to all the base assertions contained in that attack ; and we call on all honest and independent democrats to withhold their support from any individual who , in order to maintain a system of dictatorship , has recourse to the most vile and untruthful measures . " On the motion of Mr . Fussell , it was
agreed that a committee of three persons be appointed to draw up an address to the country in defence of this locality ; Mr . Hockly , Mr . Fussell , and Mr . Lombard were chosen . The secretary was instructed to send copies of the above resolution to " Re 3 mold ' s Newspaper , " the " Star of Freedom , " and tli " Peoples' Paper , " requesting its insertion . The meeting adjourned to Sunday next at 11 o ' clock . W . Hocicley , Secretary .
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flST The Secretaries of Trades' Unions and other bodies associated to protect and advance the interests of Labour , will oblige by forwarding the reports of Trades' Meetings , Strikes , and other information affecting the social position of the Working Classes .
MINERS DELEGATE MEETING AT NEWCASTLE . To the Editor of the Star op Freedom . The miners of this district held their usual delegate meeting on Saturday last , September 25 th . Mr . John Hall , of Leaton Deleval , being called upon to preside , introduced the business by suggesting the collection of all monies due , and which beinodone the following resolutions were agreed to : — ° " That in order to extend the organisation of the miners of this district , it is proposed to lay before the collieries the Utility of engaging once more Benjamin Embleton , the tried friend of the miners cause and a veteran of 70 years standing ; and that the votes from each colliery be forwarded to the secretary on or before Saturday the 9 th of October ensuing . "
" That it also be recommended to the collieries to employ local lecturers , as the Slaswell colliers feel confident great " -ood must result from the same . " " That should the local organization be extended a proposition will be submitted to the mining body to join the National Association of Trades , which has been recently brought before the collieries by Mr . T . Winter an agent of that body !"
" That the secretary prepays petitions to the Houses of Parliament praying for an increased number of Inspectors of Miners , likewise that Sub-Inspectors be appointed . That a minister of miners be appointed , and that the system of inspection may be perfected . " " ¦ That correspondence be kept up with the Lancashire minors , and others likely to assist \ \\ procuring justioe to the body generally , " * ^ ¦ ¦ ¦• ¦ •}
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That such members contribute one half-pennv towards the general expenses . " J 1 l Woe k to , " That the next delegate meeting be held this 1 months , unless the secretary deem it necessary tn ' ^ i ? lree sooner . " J CaIJ- one The business was brought to a close by a vote of tl the chairman , who briefly responded by detailing the adv S to gained bv collieries in union fan advance of Twinn i . ' . anta Kes
obtained recently ) , whilst those miners unorganized w n fering reductions in their wages . ere suf-Sir , the thanks of miners are due to you for the art" l the Star of Freedom on the ventilation of mines , and tli * of the recent parliamentary committee . The excel ]™™ ^^
report stands out very prominently when contrasted ^!/ ports which preceded it ; and we are the more keenly V ' its merits , seeing our viewers are being aroused to actioVfc - They are now quite convinced that something really i **' to be done . The wedge of legislative interference has b ^ troduced , and if the whole body of miners will actun V * wedge they will soon drive it home and secure for them 1 a system of protection for their health and lives whiph + i es so justly entitled to . U ^ **
Irusting the working miners and others of the indnst classes will give that support to the Star of Freedom wlI T- deserves , I am yours , &c , ctl lt ; Mar Jude , Secretary .
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124 THE STAR OF FEEEDOM . October 2 , i 852
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arc useless , and that there is no escape from their bondao ? safety , no hope for British labour , but in self-expatriation It is one of the greatest anomalies of the age , a perfectly fathomable and inexplicable paradox , that England , the mist " " of nations , the boasted head of the wide world ' s civilization tf cradle , the sanctuary , the last refuge of what is called rational constitutional freedom , the manufacturing depot for the kvw moiety of the world , with fifteen millions of uncultivated S cultivable acres , possessing a population probabl y unequalled a ™ aim
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OP UNITED TRADl ?* 0 . TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD , LONDON . ' Emigration is the advised national remedy for the in' <¦• inflicted upon british industry by class legislation . J G Influential , intelligent , and popular men whose superior taraments have caused them to be petted and looked up to Vvi ~ confidence and respect b y their fellow workmen , and apn oin i to posts of honour and distinction as guardians and chamS of their industrial rights and interests , have arrived at th < founding conclusion that Trades Unions as protective T
certainly unsurpassed tor industry ana perseverance by inv nation , past or present , that this England , so favourably circum stanced by nature and art , should be driven to thrust out from her bosom , the best and most useful , to cause the most hubs trious of persons to seek the means of existence in strange lands " This may be a necessary and inevitable result of an extremely artificial state of society , where every appliance which can diminish the necessity for , or supersede human labour is hailed with extacy by the favoured few whom the laws wrongfully permit to monopolise and appropriate allthe advantages arismi from their introduction ; or it may be the logical *
consequence the scientific compliment of our newly-adopted commercial cole ' or of a more refined development of our time-honoured and glorious institutions , which we have been told are " the envy of surrounding nations and the pride and admiration of ' the world . " It may be all or any of these , but it is a state of thin « s so revolting to every sense of justice and humanity , that It ought not to content us , nor ought we to accept this proffered emigration , as a national remedy for wrongs and o-rievAMces of serious
so a character . . It is said that trades unions are useless , and that our attention should henceforth be exclusively directed to political agitation . To this we demur , and say , that unless your political agitation is an organised movement of the trades of England , it will be precisely similar to all previous mere political movements , a loose heterogeneous medley , an incohesive rope of sand , prone and liable , at no distant day , to be split up , asheretofore , into rival factions and coteries , wherein the great principle will be sacrificed to a bitter war of personalities . We
mereiore advise the strengthening our existing organisation hy amalgamation , investing this powerful labour confederacy , for it would be indeed a powerful one , with a more decidedly political character . That its general and ultimate object should be the restoration to the working classes of their social and political rights as fully and as freely as is now possessed by any other class of the Queen ' s subjects . That its particular and immediate business should be to obtain amendments of existing laws rathe spirit of those laws , to render them operative for the purposes intended ; we allude particularly to the Combination , I en Hour , and Truck Acts , &c . To demand the repeal or the amendment of the unjust Masters and Servants Actand all
, such laws as operate partially and unfairly . Here is a wide field of useful action , for wliich the materials already exist in isolated elements , and all that is required to bring these scattered fragments together to a work so much needed is the co-operation of those active spirits who now by their individual antagonisms and personal ambitions are contributing daily and hourly to widen breaches , and to make confusion worse confounded . And then , as our adjunct , but not as a succedaneum for our industrio-political league , we might , by small individual contributions , raise a gigantic emigration fund to relieve the labour market where the surplus pressed the most severely .
The opinions of the executive have undergone no change by recent events as to the utility of trades unions , but their views have become enlarged by the opinions of their friend and representative , Mr . Duncombe , who , upon this point , thus expresses himself : r l " Gentlemen , —In terminating my official connexion with your association , do not imagine , for one moment , that I have grown mdiifeTent to the great and important objects for wlncU it was established , or that I have lost faith in the principle on which it was founded . The experience of the last seven years
has only more profoundly impressed me with the conviction , that combination on the part of the working classes is necessary ™ J ne ue Protection of their interests . But the decision in the Wolverhampton case , and the result generally in all similar cases , are calculated to raise grave doubts as " to whether the present state of the law is sufficiently clear and explicit to afford that fair and open combined action on the part of the operatives wucli it apparentl y guarantees ; and it is still more doubt * whether sub
with our existin g representative system any - stantial alteration in favour of the industrious classes can be introduced . Seeing the paramount importance in such a chan ge m the constitution of the legislature as will give labour its ian * share of the representation , ^ is my intention to devot e mv restored health , and such energy as " l possess to the promotion ™ those great political reforms of which I have been the huraWQ advocate ever since I had the honour of a seat in parliament . William P ^ j ^
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Oct. 2, 1852, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1698/page/12/
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