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TITTT7! -V!"r\T> rrtTTT7'T» TVT C<m A T> THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1841.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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CITT OF IiOZTOON . —Lart Saaday evening , Mr . * fc «« n lectured in the Political Mid Scientifio Inttitute , Old Bailey . A discussion took place by Messrs ©¦ bora , H&thewt , Peat , and Waddingtoo . Soho . —At the Chartist's "weekly meeting , at the Three Dovet , Berwick-street , it va « resolved to send & Iforfken Siar weekly to Ireland . Mr . Balls attended , and delivered an excellent lecture . Wbstsisstejl—Mr . Brown lectured at the Charier Coffee House , Stretton-groand , on Sunday evening . SHO&E » iTCB- ~ -Mr . Rowland lectured at the Albion Coffee House , CSmreh-sfcreet . on Sunday evening . 2 * me - _ w members were enrolled .
C-Hbkettsll and Walwoeth . —The Chartists Bret as _*__! at the Montpelier Tavern , Wai worth-road , on Monday-evening . Two members were enrolled . It wai resolved that a public meeting be held on Monday evesisg . Dec 20 th , at the Montpelier Tavern , Wai . ¦ worth-read , at tdsht o ' clock , to adopt the National Petftion , asd memorialize her Majesty , oa beh&K of Frost , Williams , and Jcnes ; also tiat a public meeting will ke held on Monday evening , Dec 27 th , at the same pUee tad time , to choose a delegate to the Middlesex CoKBtiL
H * CKN £ T . —On Tneeday , at Western ' s Temperance Hotel , Mr . Rowland in the chair . Six » hllungs waa Totf-d to the O'Brien Prt-ss Fund . Mr . Allen moved , and Mr . M . 'Kordsee «_ ded the adoption of the National Petiti' -n , -which -sras carried unanimously . Mr . Wheeler den lectared to the satisfaction of iits audienca , " On tite erils of a standing army . " At its conclusion , a ^ eputatjon was received from ffiobe Piejds , reqeesting their cc-operation ia a mest : . ns to be held at the Cour . House , Osborce-street , Whitechspel , to consider the distress of the country , &c This being concurred in , Messrs . Taylor and Cook were appointed a deputation to act with Uie Tower Hamlets , eiobe Fields , and . Albion Localities , and measure 8 concerted to obtain sig- natures t j the requisition . A Tete of thanks was given to the lecturer and the meeting adjourned .
Albion Coffee Hocse . Chcbch-Street , " White- CHAPEL . —Messrs . Rowland and Dale addressed _; museroTii tssetnbly here , on Sunday evening . Ssveral members were enrolled . 8 t . Pascras . —Mr . Balls lectured here to a nume-Tww audience , on Sunday evening . LlMEHOUSE . —Mt Fnsaell lectured to an excellent Bsdience at the Association Booms , Litnehouse Causeway , on Tuesday evening , on " Church property . " The lecture was deservedly applauded . LoxDox Delegate Meeting . —The foQoVmg re- aolntion was unanimouBJy carried , " That considering tbe English Chartist Circular to be a most efficient agent : in the spread of Chartism , and anxious to farther the i interest of the cause , we declare that we hiehly approve • of that publication , and call cpon our brethren to give it their utmost support . " j
HlllKEESHim . —A meeting was held at the Blaci ! Boll , H-mmenmitii Road , on Tuesday , and Messrs . I Jteed and Preece discussed the question of Socialism ' and Chartism . It was then resolved , on the motion : of Mr . Stallwood , that they should form a portion of t tbe National Charter Association , which was unani- i laously agreed to . Fourteen _ s ~ ifc . fi were given in . Mr . > Seed -was appointed . sub-Treasurer , and Mr . Dobson , ' sub-Secretary . Aft « r the tr _ £ B _ ctxon of other badness ; the meeting adjourned . - i
Tailobs—The tailors held their weekly meeting at be Three Crowns , Richmond street , Soho , on Sunday xdgit . Mr . Fussell delivered the first of a course of i lectures on church property . Lambeth . —At a meeting of Charticts in this locality < m Tuesday evening , the Secretary of tbe Committee ! appointed to raise funds for the -Petition Convention . reported that they had determined on holding a ball and concert on Monday evening , Jan . 3 d , at the Social j Institution , Westminster-read , Lambeth , and that to : zaeet tbe circcmstacces of all parties they had fixed the < price of tickets at is . single , and la , Cd . double , and ' tad also engaged a good hand . !
WASDS"woaiH . —The Chartists of this locality met as usual at tbe King ' s Bead , en Monday evening , when the following resolutions were agTeed . to : " That for the store t&cto&n ? carrying out the objects contained In ' the National Petition , this locality be divided into dis-1 tricts , to obtain tignatures for the sama . " " That a letter be sent to Mr . Msynard , requesting him to forward tbe petition sheet ) and headings , also twelve cards of membership . " " That for the future we do pay lo the Executive and General Ceuncil one-fourth ' -of tbe moneys we haw in band . " BILSTOK . —On Thursday evening , Mr . Mason j delivered a lecture in the Association room ; the place * raa densely crowded . At the conclusion of the lecture : several new members were enrolled . ' '
Ox Feidat , Mr . G . White , of Birmingham , \ addressed the females of Bilston , on the necessity of j or- __ mn § tfitmselves , and . using ttitir exertioni to obtain the redemption of thfeir ccur . try . Tbe meeting ¦ was numeronsly attended . Upwards of sixty names ¦ were enrolled ; the number has since increased te eighty-five . On SO'sat , the nieetingi were nnmeroos ; the Council were chitfly cccopied in making preparation for the reception of Mr . O Connor . Ah Association has been formed at Catehum , _ Tillage about a mile from Bilston . which is likely to prosper ; their cumbers increase every week . Another Association is been formed at Portobello , a village in tbe nine ntAehbourhocHL Hz . Stiran lectured thereon ' Monday night , to an attentive audience , many of whom joined the association .
CARLISLE . —Signal Defeat of- rng Plague , AM ) TEJCMFH of the Chahtists—We noticed last week a lecture givea by Mr . Cartis , an American , in favour of a repeal of the Corn Liws . The lecture k > ¦ which we _ V ;_ ded was attended by a very small number , in consequence of the charge being twopence each . A second lecture was announced for Monday evening , Dsc . 6 ih , admission gratis . Lang before the lecturer Biade his appearance , the place was crowded to excess , and great cumbers could not be accommodated with Bsits . About eight o ' clock , the lecturer rose lo comznepce his aid-ess , when Mr . H . Bowie an roBe , and said , Mr . Curtis , before yos commence year address , I wish to know if , after you bare finished it , you will answer questions which msy be pntto yen , and allow
diacusnoa ? Mr . Cartis replied , teat he was not there as a disputant or glr . diitor , but would williBgly answer any qu : 5 Vions which might be put to him , ^ nd wil iir . gly ¦ faeir tLs opinions of any gentleman present . Mr . ^ Bowman expressed his Eatisfact ' on , and tbe leclurtr pioceeds'I to address the netting at conjiierable leng-. h , on the great resorrrces cf America fi supply Britain with food , on conditioa that it would take American trrtin ia exchange for its manufacture . The only tu . ir-5 t " -it raailcs in the nunds of tbe AtnericaES i * . siid Mr . Curtis , that excaange id not allowed ; and if this system be continued , America would soon find me :. ii 3 to manufacture for itself . Alter Mr . Cartia bad concluded , Mr . Bowman rose and said , that hs « isLed to put a few questions to Mr . Ciirtia . I : prs . uid be
supposed tv this £ udierce , from tie statements of Mr . Curtis , iiid Mr . Bovrnun , tiut Amerisa did not manufacture i-t zil -wiiere ^ s i ; "sro ' -:: d seeni from the following qnerdon , that h 3 would put to Mr-Curtis , thxt America not only ffi . inufactured , but that to a gr ^ : 14-xtect . The question that he srouid put to 21 r . Cuni ,-vras , " Knowi-g that the Americans have a strong desire w be independent of foreign countries for a . aipplv of ciotbing , ac * at present are engaged in a ' klza cf riTilry vith Britain , and it is ctrtain tkit they are fast overturing it , both in the excellence and ch ^ ps « ss oi their pro ^ nc ' -s , and that since 1799 , ¦ when baltoo manufactures were first introduced , up to 1 S 32 , the number of Biiiis in twtive BtatiS were 795 ; of gpindks 1 , 2 * 5 503 ; po-. Ter-looms 33 , 5 C 6 ; persons tneaeed 57 , 446 ;
* sioart cf csp . til empl-y-. d , £ 3 , 375 , 000 tt-rriing ; being ose-foujt " Q tf vie wto-e cap . til isTettrd in tbe same ¦ branch in Br . f . ia Tuii biAtDSB can be had much cheaper t ' ian in England—thst househoH nianufattue of wi > ol ! en , linen , and cotton are made xo a rreit tstsrt—thst t . e silk t-adeis being irtroduced with great sicce ? s . Is it not more tban probable that America ¦ will soon supply it ^ jLf independent of tthsr conctriea ?" *? If t ~ = s Corn Laws were repealed to-morrow , wocld tbit benett fie wcrking clzszts , seeing th ^ t labour is nnpr t it :-d , and X \ t power of machinery , ssch as to beablt .- t" > mpply si most doable the preset t demand , mtV / tt making aDy addition to manual labour , raucli less increase wajes , for tbey had fallen 50 per cert ptr-? ifras ti 1816 , -when t ^ e Com BUI was pet on ?'
** Won : d b « a total repeal of tbe Corn Laws , with Uie present high rents and taxes , nan the whole farming interest o ! England , and inncdate the whole manufacturing districts with agricultural labourers , which would tend to a great reduction of wages ? " " Seeing the present constitution of the Honse of Commons , and knowing that it refused to hear tbe Anti-Corn Law league at the bar of thst House , by an immense aajsrity , whst hope can you have of that body , composed as it is , of ever entertaining the questioa of a total reoeal of the Corn Laws ? ' Mr . Curtis answered the first question in a very gatisfactory manner , by ¦ bowing that manufactures existed in America to a great extent , and was likely soon to supply itoelf with aQ necessaries ; cut he signally failed in answering the other questions whicb Mr . Bowraan had pirt to him . Mr . Joseph Broome Hanson then came forward and
addressed the meeting at great lengthen the subject of Mt Curtis ' s lecture , aad showed that he ( Mr . Curtis ) knew nothing of the aSkin of this country . He moved the following resolution , which being seconded by Mr . Bowman , was put Vj tae meeting and carried unani-Jaomly : — That with toe present system of representation , the corrupt Kate or the House of Commons , asd the unjust and oppressive system of taxation , which presses bo heaYi . y on all the industrious classes of the community , this meeting is of ¦ opinion that there ia no hope of tn end being put to monepolies , « uch as tbe Corn Laws &od others , which exclusively Jxat&l the aristocracy tad tbe capitalist , until that House is purged of its present corruption by a iqs and full « pTesentatioH of the ptople , such as tLat which txibts in tbe United States of America , and which can only be effected by tfce adoption of the People ' s darter . *
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BRISTOL . —On S ' xDday evening last , after a lengthened debate of upvrards of three hours , in which Messrs . Onion , Clifton , Copp , and Simeon took put , it was pat to the vole and carried—<< Thai tbe code of laws im this country is unjust , cruel , oppressive , and prodoctive of immorality . " A question was then given out tor next Sunday . Hosday ETENi . \ a . —A public meeting was held at the Chartist Room , 56 , Castle-street , Mr . Newman In tfee chair . The first resolution— " That a memorial be forwarded to the Secretary of State , Sir James Graham , for presentation to her Majesty , praying for the restoration of Frost , Williams , and Jones , " was proposed by Mr . Simeon , and seconded by Mr . Bloore . The
I memorial was then read and proposed by Mr . Clifton , j who , in an excellent Bpeeeh , remarked upon tbe present state of affairs—that the people had the power , with a | proper direction of that spirit which had so long shewn itself , of restoring to their families those men who had been victimised by certain parties , and unjustly been convicted of crimes they never committed ; and ablj pointed out to the meeting tbe distinction i between the characters of those persons who , it ia i reported , are to be let loose upon society , and those men whose characters were irreproachable , but merely [ because tbey differed in opinion with the rulers of this ! country , are subjected to pnnishments which they j do net deserve . The memorial was seconded by Mr .
j | j ! ! ' i ! ! I I Rsed-The National Petition was then proposed by Mr . Copp . He argued for the right of the people to | the several points in the People ' s Charter , contending ' that tbe present distress demanded a change ; that the | right of makisg , or having a voice in miking , tbe I lavs was a birthright of man , and after urging the ! people t 3 sign the petition , he withdrew . Mr . George | seconded and supported the petition . It was then J proposed by Mr . Onion , in a f « w short and effective | remarks , and seconded by Mr . Flint— " That the peti-| tion bo entrusted to the People ' s Convention for effeci toil presentation , and that letters be written to the ! Members for Bristol , requesting them to support the j prayer of the petition . " Several members were enrolled ,
\ i j ! : and a vote of thanks having been given to the chair-! man , the meeting dissolved . A letter from the Whig | Member . F . H . F . Berkeley , to Mrs . John Frost , was ! read at this meeting , in which all his election promises I [ it any ) -were dwindled into the following frothy ! declaration : — " That he hoped that after a term of i years had elapsed she would be restored to her husi band . " This letter lies in the hands of the sub-| secretary , and may be seen by any person who desires j to he convinced of the folly of believing " Whig or Tory" at election times . BIRMINGHAM . FBOST , WILLIAMS , AND ! Jones . —This Committee held its usual weekly meeting j on Tuesday evening last , Mr . Noakes in tbe chair :
when a memorial was received from Hamilton , and it was resolved ttaat all memorial * from the country be £ tnt to this Committee to secure presentation . A memorial was read , and after some discussion upon it by this Committee , adopted ; after which it was moved by Mr . Thorp , seconded by Mr . Sinks , that a It tier be immediately sent to the Home Secretary , requesting his naequivocal answer , as to whether he will present this Committee ' s respectful memorial to her Msjesty . Several matters were entered into with regard to the hoxrbc on tbe 23 th instant , and it was resolved , that J . B . O'Brien , Esq . be corresponded with , to invite tb . it gentleman ' s attendance at the said soiree .
OTOSSL'HY , —At a public meeting here on Monday Bir ; ht , a memorial to the Qaeen , in favour of Frost , Williams , and Jcnes , was unanimously agreed to . Mr . Daffy addressed the metting with great talent and at considerable length . Twenty-eight members were enrolled . DfRBY . —A publio meeting was held in the Old Assembly R »» ms , Nov . 23 , for the purpose of adopting the National Petition . Public Meeting . —Thursday , Dec . 9 th , was the day on which the long-ta ! ked-of Great Midland Counties Free Trade Meeting took place . The Chartists of Derby , determined on giving the delegates battle , dispatched a delegate to Leeds to request Mr . O'Connor to be present ; but net not being able to obtal n him , they drew np the following challenge , and sent it with a deputation to wait on the Free Trade Committee : — Jo the Gentlemen of the Free Trade Meeting , to be held on Thursday , Dee . 9 , 1841 , —
Gestleses , — "We being a body of men belonging to the National Charter Association of Great Britain and Ireland , having for our object the conferring of happiness to our fellow-countrymen , of making our nation , as it once was , " the envy of surrounding cations , " and of restoring trade and commerce ; and seeing that there are two agitations la this country , and as : t is impossible for the working classos to do jmtlce to both agitations , respectfully challenge yon or any of your advocates to a fair and open discussion , which of the two agitations is the most wot thy of support—Corn Law repeal or Chartism .
The above challenge was refused by the free trade geuU , en the pV & that there was not time foi a discussion ; and seeing that they would be opposed , the meeting was altered from a public meeting to a ticket meeting , carefully excluding all Chartists . The Chartuts were not U > be lulled asleep by that ; tbey immediately took the theatre for a public meeting at night , which was crowded , Mr . Johnson , fancy silk-weaver , ia tbe chair . Mr . Dean Taylor , from Nottingham , moved the firat resolution , — " That it is the opinion of this mett ng that the Corn Laws are unjust , and ought to be repealed as well as every other bad law ; but being satisfied that the removal tf the Corn Laws woald only be a partial measure of justice , are resolved to seek the establishment of the universal principles of the Peopled Charier as a remedy fully adequate to the removal of the evils that afliict our country ;" this was seconded by Mr . Balrstow , missionary for Leicester « hire , and was carried without a single dissentient . Mr . Tattem then moved a memorial to her Majesty in favour ef Frost , Williams , and Jones , which was steonded by 3 Ir . James Farnsworth , and carried unanimously . A vote ol thanks being cirried , Mr . Bairstow stepped forward and proposed three lusty cheers for Mt . O'Connor , and for Frost , Williams , and Jones , which was heartily responded to .
Tittt7! -V!"R\T≫ Rrtttt7'T» Tvt C≪M A T≫ The Northern Star Saturday, December 18, 1841.
TITTT 7 ! -V !" r \ T > rrtTTT 7 'T » TVT C < m A T > THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY , DECEMBER 18 , 1841 .
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WAGES OF LABOUR . We hear a great deal said of the benefits that have accrued , and that are to accrue to the manufacturing working population , frcm " extended commerce ., " The free tracers , as tbey call themselves , premfso us all manner of bl-: ssin £ S , including ** cheap f cod , high wajjes , and plenty to do , " if the labourers will but help them to '' extend" commerce , by procuring for them a Repeal of the Corn Laws . To induce the labouring people to join the leTiithan manufacturers in an union for the accomplishment of this object , every possible means have been used .
Money yr jthout end has bten spent in almost every imsRinable way that could at all tend to create or iiflience public opinion . Lecturers have been engaged ; pamphlets holding out the most delusive hopes have been extensively circulated ; " Leagues " have been formed ; the lowest Epecies of cajolery and deception have been resorted to , to entrap the working people into Operative anti-Corn Law Associations ; newspapers have been established to advocate the views of the " Leaguers , " and have been gratuitously circulated ; the existent newspaper press has been extensively subsidised for the
promulgation of these high-sounding promues , and to u . fl . uenc'i the public mind in each locality ; personal vituperation and wholesale denunciation have been resorted to and extensively used against those " Leaders" of the people who would not join in the League ; in short , every art that ingenuity could devise has been used to induce those who lire by the wages of labour to " league" with those who live on the profits arising from the employment of labour to procure an " extended" commerce . But all these means hare failed ! The money , and time , and talent employed ; the seductive arts and
the large delusive promises of advantage , have all gone for nought 1 The bait would not take . The Anti-Corn Law agitation has fallen dead , dead . The working people have stood completely aloof . Without them no agitation has any life , » ny soul . Every movement mn 3 t have them energetically with it , or it fails ! The money and the influence of the middle and trading classes , without the active ¦ eo-operation and aid of the wo&kebs , avail nothing ia political agitations . Without the personal energy
and dogged perseverance of the labourer , every movement for an extensive legislative change affecting great cocfliciing interests must fail . And rightly so . It is the only protection the working maa now enjoys—the only power he possesses , in the absence of Universal Sdffea « e , to ward off tha "heavy blows and sore diseouragemente " which would be inflicted on his interests through the rapacity and cupidity of the classes who live out of the pToiitB made of his Binews and bones .
The attempts , then , of tie Millionaire Manufacturers , to induce the labourers to demand from the Legislature an extended" commerce , have failed , signally failed . ' All their efforts to this end have proved abortive ! Their wri # ? lings and twistings
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have afforded amusement enough ; and their pompons swelling of every village gathering of half-adozen ioadtas « nder the drilling of the slavish overlooker , into an important demonstration in favour of a Repeal of the
"CORN LAWS AND COMMERCIAL REFORM , " have bat served to raise the loud laugh of ridicule , against their whole proceedings . Their agitation has fallen flat ! They have neither produced alarm nor excited fear . Their sudden discovery of national distress , and their loud clamour for immediate measures of relief , have not answered the intended purpose . The people have refused to listen to the voice of the charmer .
That this state of feeling exists in the body of the working people , is to us matter of the greatest gratulation . We have laboured hard to induce it ; we have seconded the able labours of others to this end ; we have implored of the working people to consider well what it was they set their handa to do ; we have cautioned them against being led away by every will-o ' -the-wisp that presented itself , without first inquiring whither they were going , and what would be the end ; we have advised them to demand of all who asked their aid . their reasons for such
co-operation , and to insist on a quid pro quo before they touched—a guarantee that they should enjoy some of the benefits resulting from their labours . To this end have we laboured ; and it is matter of gratulation and delight that our labours have not been in vain . That they have not been bo , the present woe-begone condition of the " League ' s" agitation fully proves . They have more than one-half of the entire newspaper press of the kingdom oa their side , and no want of money : and yet they have failed in kicking up a ferment . Their power to aot on tbe public mind has vanished—is gone !
" Extended" Commerce : " Why should we agitate for that V has been the very reasonable and very first question that the producers of wealth have put to themselves , and to their beguilers . Aye , in troth , why 1 Has not Commerce been woefully " extended" Bince the year 1800 \ and what has been the workman ' s benefit ! Has it " extended" his comfort ! his wages ! Has it added to his stock of clothing 1 his stock of household furniture 1 his stock in the pantry ! Commerce has been " extended " many times over , and oft ; but has it added to the working man ' s " meal-kiBt" ! has it hung more bacon
upon the joists 1 has it filled the milk-bowl more often ! These are questions which deserve answering . They are questions which the working people have put to themselves , and to one another ; and before the anti-Corn Law League can expect that their high-sounding promises of " cheap food , high wages , and plkmt to do , " as the result of another " extension" of Commerce , will take with those who ask these questions , they must furnish satisfactory answers to them . Tbey
mast demonstrate that every former " extension" of commerce has had the effect of putting more " porridge" upon the plates , and more "havercake" upon the " creel" of those engaged in labour , before they can with any face ask us to take all their promises for granted , as to the effects of another " extension . " When they have done this , we promise them that the working people shall "league" with them for " extension" upon "extension ? ' but not before .
We hear it often asserted , that the nation is much richer ; i . e . that we have more wealth in the country now than we had before our commerce was bo much " extended . " Now , we think this assertion admits of very grave doubt . We are not disposed to admit that we have more national wealth now than we had before the commencement of that ruinouB race of competition amongit our manufacturing masters , which has produced the " national distress" which the Leaguers have so lately discovered to exist . We freely admit that we have more fixed capital , in the shape of machinery and buildings for
manufacturing purposes ; but these are not wealth ; they are only the means of producing wealth . We freely admit that we have more of stinking cotton and tawdry " prints" than we thenhad ; but the linen * and the woollens , even though the latter were "linsey woolsey" were more valuable , more durable , and more congenial to our variable dime . We freely admit that we have a greater profusion of " fine ' * woollen cloths than we had ; i . e . we have good wool mixed with " shoddy" and dirt " devilled" out o rags brought even from Constantinople , and then " boiled" after they are woven to make them fine ''
and give them a " finish , " until they are rotten ; but the Yorkshire cloths , before these " economical" and " scientific" processes were established , were better , more durable , and more valuable . We freely admit that we have more of knives , and razors , and soifsors , made , like Ptter Pindar ' s , to sell ; but our former ones were not labour thrown away , —valueless . We fre « ly admit that we have more manufacturers now who can boast of having saved their millions , ( and yet insult the operative whose cupboard has been emptied to swell the huge store , by daring to address him as a . fellow sufferer . ) than we had before fortunes
began to be made by steam . We freely admit that we could not then boast ef our Gotts and our Mabshalls ; who left the " counting-house" and the "heckling shop" to become possessed of millions in " fixed" and " floating" capital ; nor of our Starkey ' s , who jumped from their " clogs" and the " raising nelly" to their carriage and the bench ; nor of our Hydes , nor our Greggs , nor onr Asiiworths , et hoc genus omne , who so recently boasted of having wrung from labour , in a few years , more than would buy up all the landed aristocracy of tie kingdom . We ireely admit that we have more of these gentry now than
we formerly had : but we ask where is the domestic manufacturer gone , with his stock of tools and fixed capital , amounting in the aggregate to an enormous amount \ We ask , where is the ' * Master Cropper , " the " Master Weaver , " the "Master Spimer , " the "Master Slubber , " the "Master Cutter , " the " Master Dyer , " the " Master Finisher V Where are these gone 1 Had they no wealth \ Do the few enormous amounts , gathered together in hcapa , amount to more than the sums formerly extensively distributed amongst so many hands ! Who dare say yes \ He will be a bold man ! and ready to speak without his book .
We ask , also , is there more wealth diffused amongst the labouring classesi' Hava they better houses—more substantially built , and more convenient dwellings ? Is their furniture equal in value to what it then was ? The very question is an insult . Look at the " cottage property" in our manufacturing towns ! Substantially built , forsooth !—gingerbread !—and worse . Comfortable ? I —not fit for pig-6 tyes ! No drainage , no paving ; thrust into confined places ; no ventilation ; the abedes of disease , misery , and death ! Their farnittire valuable ! Go to the broker ' s shop ! gee the
M things" he there has for sale , cheap ! Compare these with the chairs , and the tables , and the beds made fifty years ago . Ascertain their relative cost . Then go to the proper furniture tradesman—the cabinet-maker . Ask him how many of the working people purchase household goods from him . Ascertain these things ; and then say whether the workman has more wealth note in furniture than he then had ! Then an eight days' clock was an almost indispensible article of furniture ; or at the least a good twenty-four hours' clock , in » neat
mahogany or an oaken case . AW , how many working men who have commenced housekeeping within the last twenty years , can boast of such an article ? Very few ! Where they are to be found now , it is mostly where they have descended in the famil y as heir-looms , and have been saved from the wreck of most of their other " bits of things , " " because my mother and grandmother used to set such store on it J" The eight-days' dock , worth at least £ 8 , has given way to the Dutch clock , ( where there is one ) worth from 10 s . to 25 s . Then
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it was a usual thing for the working man to have at least one feather bed , on a good bedstead , either four-posted , camp , or turn-up ; with good flock beds for the children and ' prentioes ; and linen sheetF , heavy blankets , and ** quilted" coverlets for all . Now where is the feather-bed in a workman ' s house ? where are the linen sheets ! where the quilt ! The former given way to chaff , or at the best to nocks ; the sheets to nasty filthy pousement , calied ootton-blankets , made from the refuse of cotton—cotton waste . The quilt , whioh used to be the pride of the mother , and which cost her
weeks and months of labour in- " quilting , " given , way to a horse-cloth-sort-of-rug , made from "stuff" procured from the tearing up of filthy rags , collected from all quarters of the globe ! Then the working man ' s cottage was adorned with a pewter ease , and a quantity of pewter , which was generally worth more than the whole of a modern working man ' s stock of household furniture . Then the " meal-kist" was an indispensible ; and it had something in it ! Tha sight , when the young ones were set to tread down
the new meal in the " kist , so as to make it keep all winter over , was one as joyous as it is now uncommon . The flitch of bacon , with the ham , and dried cheeks , and pieoe of hung beef , and winter ' s stock of potatoes , shewed that the owner of the dwelling earned wages sufficient to enable him to have a little bofore-hand to go to market with , and " to provide against a rainy day . " Is it so now ? Where is the " meal-kist" 1 where the bacon 1 where the hung beef ! Can the workman now provide a winter ' s stock of provision , either in meal or meat ?
It is these questions we want answering , before we can eonseat to throw up our caps , aud cry "hurrah for an extension of Commerce . " We want to see what former " extensions" have done for us . We want this matter probing to the bottom t We want no theorizing upon the subject . We want no such paltry put-offs , as " look to the fact , that the factory girl can be clothed in a nice-printed muslin gown , and wear a pair of silk stockings , which is more than , at one time , Queen Elizabeth could do . " We want no such evasions as these ! We want to know all about it . We want to see the amount of
wages paid to the working man at the beginning of the present century , and the amount he receives now . We want to know what amount of the real necessaries of life could be procured by the workman in return for his labour then and now . To see this we must consider all the habitudes of tbe people ; we must consider them not ia relation to the desires respecting them resulting from oar own views and principles ; not in relation to the wilfully distorted pictures of interested orators and crotchet advocates , but in . relation to facts . We want to eee , then , how much bread the labourer could
then purchase with his earnings , and how much beef , and bacon , and beer 1 Aye , and beer ; for , notwithstanding our well-known vie ws of the mischievous character and tendency of baer drinking , and without qualifying in the least our often and strongly expressed opinions upon the subjeot , it must be borne in mind that we are now enquiring into facts ; and we cannot in this enquiry overlook the fact that then home-brewed beer was as common in a working man ' s house as it is wn-common now . He waa not then compelled to labour in an atmosphere artificially heated to 90 or 06 , for twelve or fourteen hours ; and
then have only the common brewer ' s naBty mess of poison to drink at the beer-house to recruit or excite exhausted nature ; or forced to swallow a deleterious mixture of vitriol and turpentine , called gin . He had then the" Home-brewed ; " and fie could get it His wages woald allow the wife to purchase her " strike" or b ^ hel of malt ; and fill him his barrels with a drink whioh did not contain either " grains of paradise" or any other poisonous drug . Will his wages allow him naw to purchase the " strike " of malt ! If he did , we fear the bread pot and potato © basket would have to remain
empty ; and the bit of salty , undried hog ' sflrsh , which he gets from the provision dealer as an excuse for bacon , must remain unpurchased . We also want to know what his wages now are We want to know , too , what amount of food these wages will purcha&e for him , to compare it with the amount he got formerly ? We want to know how his stock of clothing now ia ? Has he three " suita ?"—a workiBg suit ; a " second-best ;" and a " Sunday-suit "! He formerly had ; and his wife and children were equally well clothed . Have they as much now ? These are the things which we want the world to know , before we can settle the question of whether another " extension" of our commerce will do us good . Working men !
how are your backs , and how are your bellies 1 Are the former well clothed , and the latter well filled ? If they are so , and better than they were fifty years ago , " extensions" of commerce have done jou good ! If they are not , " extensions" of commerce have been an evil to you ! To you we appeal then , to answer these questions . We want factsno crude theories—no guess work—no delusive statements . Let us have the figures . There are facts in figures ; but not much reliance to be placed on the assertions of the Leaguer , " who says that you are now better-off than you formerly were . Let us have these figures , then . Furnish us with them , and we will take care to let the world know what your actual condition is , in this respect at least .
What wo want you to do is thiB : to furnish us with statements of the amount paid as wages of labour in all the great departments of manufacturing industry , from the year 1810 to the present time showing the amount paid in each year for a similar amount of work . We seleot 1810 , because our commerce may then be eaid to date her great " extensions ; " and we are anxious to exhibit at onejview , either the gradual rise or the gradual fall of your wages , since that time , whichever may turn out to be the fact . We request that the officers of tho respective Trades will endeavour to procure these
tables for us . We want to know how much the weaver of woollen cloth , either broad or narrow , has received for a string of the same number of reed , in every year from 1810 to 1841 inclusive . We wish to know what the slubber received and what he know receives , in like manner ; likewise the spinner , the carder , and the fuller . To ask what the Cropper isreceivingfor cropping , would be to insult him : for he is entirely superseded by the " Lewis" and the *• Perpetual" ; but those of his class who have been fortunate enough to get permi ssion to attend upon a " Gig" or watch a " Lewis , " or to roast himself in a
" stove" or " dryhouse" can state what they now earn in these " new walks of industry" as compared with the amount they could earn when to be a journeyman cropper was " to be next door to being a gentleman . " We wish to know too from the flax-heckler , and from the flax-spinner what their earnings have yearly been for the same period ; or rather the amounts that have been paid to them . We wish for similar information , too , from the wool-comber and stuff and worsted weaver . The working cutler , too , should shew how he has fared ; and the journeyman hatter . The working fustian weaver ef Lancashire , and the
spinner , and carder , and fustian-cutter , and calicoprinter , and bleacher , and all engaged in eur " gr sat " cotton trade , should shew how they are and have been circumstanced . The linen-weaver , and the stocking-weaver—in short , all in the great departments of industry , should furnish similar information . Let us have the facts . We will make them known . We will take care the "League" sees them ; and then the working people and ourselves can deoide whether another " extension" of Commerce , which will sacrifice the farmer and agricultural labourer , is desirable , or fit to be contended for .
To work , then , all who are interested . Get up these tables . Consult your wage books . Get returns from tho books of the respectable masters who dare open them for such an object . Be very correct Set nothing down of whioh you are not quite sure
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Let all be fact : and then we shall know both what your condition has been , and what it now is . Wb DARE XBOSB MAiroFACTCRBBS WHO BAWL FOB A BEPKAL OF THE GOBJf LAWS , AND WHO REPRESENT THAT A FDBTHEB " J ! XrWfSI < M » " OP O 0 B COMMERCE WItL GIVB THB WOBKMAW " CHEAP FOOD , HIGH WAGES * AND ' * PLENTY TO DO , '" TO . FCBMISH FROM THEIR LEDGERS CORRECT RBTUBNS OP THE SUMS THEY HAVE PAID AS WAGES FOR THB SAME DESCRIPTION OF LABOUB DVBINQ TBS PERIOD NAMED . If they dare not do this , there is neither sincerity nor honesty in their representations .
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NATIONAL EMIGRATION . The observations we deemed it our duty to submit to the publio in our last , have not , w « are happy to find , been lost upon our readers . It would , indeed , be strange if , on a subject of such vast importance , the energies of the working classes were not roused into activity . We have now a Parliament prepared to adopt any measures , however unjust or unconstitutional , which may enable the irresponsibles to gorge themselves a little . longer with the fruits of spoliation ; and we have an Executive Government fully as despotic and reckless as the Iast ] with rather more of obstinacy , and of the show of
manly bearing . The Wnigs , aided by their Tory allies , contrived to butcher and starve the people at home in the name of political economy and ¦ Malthusian expediency ; and the Tories , without the aid Of the Whigs , are prepared , it seems , to drown them in the ocean , or enslave them in the colonies in the name of State Christianity and constitutional freedom . The people , however , about whom the factions practically know nothing and care less , have a duty to perform towards themselves , their families , and their country , from which neither the canning of the Whigs nor the despotism of the Tories must be allowed to tura them aside .
We last , week demonstrated that the scheme of emigration supposed by the London journals to be contemplated by Sir R . Peel , was unjust , dishonest , inhuman , and opposed to every dictate of common sense ; and we now ask our readers to seriously consider what the condition of the colonies under the curse of aristocratio misrule now actually is , and what would be the conditioa of the unhappy emigrants , on their becoming located in those boasted dependencies of the British crown .
It is obvious that the only motive which could induce any one voluntarily to quit the land of his birth and seek a settlement in a distant land , would be the hope of bettering his condition , and of improving the prospects of his children . To render the attainment of this hopej , practioable , he must become an independent possessor of a portion of the soil ; he must be provided with the means of comfortable subsistence , and also the means of entering beneficially into the pursuits of honourable industry , in order that the means of subsistence maybe continued ; and he must also be secured in his possessions by the guarantee of general and municipal rights .
Any man who should voluntarily leave his native home without a fair prospect of obtaining these advantages , would prove himself a fool , evidently unfit to be entrusted with the management of his own affairs . Parties , however , who can by emigration secure to themselves these advantages , must possess a certain amount of property , or capital , to enable them to become proprietors ; and such have already gone forth and taken deep root in all ' our colonial possessions . It is necessary to bear this fact in mind , in order that we may cloarly understand the position in whioh thoBO will be placed who are to be transported to the colonies at the expense of the mother country .
The lands of the colonies , having been purchased from tbe Government ( whose right to sell them was very questionable ) in large allotments , by proprietors who bought them as a speculation , have become a monopoly in the hands of the colonial landowners , who will not of course sell or farm any portion of them so long as they can realise a greater amount of profit by holding them , in their own hands , aud cultivating them by hired labour . But , suppose
the influx of new-comers into any given colony to be persons who would find it more advantageous to cultivate lands as small proprietors than as" tenants , or labourers ; it is clear that there would be a scarcity of tenants or labourers ; and , ia order to prevent the sale and cultivation of unappropriated lands of an inferior quality—for the best lands can . only find purchasers in the first instance—the large proprietors would be compelled to sell their lands in small allotments , and at a moderate price .
But suppose the influx of new-comers to be labourers—that ia , working man [ of all descriptions , having no property , but depending upon their labour for support—then it would require great care that the supply should not exceed the demand ; in other words , no more labourers should be brought into the field than could find employment , affording them an ample remuneration for a reasonable day ' s work . If there be more than these , a spirit of competition will ensue , the consequence of which will \} q a combination among landed proprietors , either to lower wages actually or if that should be deemed anadvisable , to accomplish the same thing by checking the produce of corn and all other articles of Colonial
consumption , and thus of raising the price to the labouring consumers . All this our knowledge of human nature would lead us to infer , if we were reasoning from abstract principles only ; we are , however , reasoning from facts , aud refer to the whole of our Colonial history in proof of the positions we have here laid down . A letter is now before us , received from one who has himself been an eye witness of the faot 8 he relates . In which , afterreferring to Mr . MoNTGO 3 iery Martin ' s assertion , that an inhabitant of the mother csuntry , who only consumes five pounds of British manufactures yearly , requires twenty pounds in his new home } and to our remark that " we have no doubt he may require it , but the question ia , will he find the means of getting it ?" he
says" I answer No : so far from obtaining the means oi getting twenty pounds' worth of British manufactures in his new home , he will not be able to get five pounds ' worth . Wages In the Australian colonies are very low , taking into account the high prices of provisions and rents . There are in those colonies already mere labourers than are employed beneficially to themselves , for the same system of combination to ke ^ p down the price of labour that is carried on here is practised to a greater extent in that far distant land ; in fact , the working people of those climes are merely allowed to eke out a miserable existence from hand to mouth , like their
brother slaves at home . How can it be otherwise ? Tho land is sold in such large allotments that the working man cannot buy any : the landholders will not let it out ia small farms . This mode of disposing of the land , combined with the continued influx of labouring emigrants , all tends to keep the price of labour down to the lowest possible point ; bo that whatever amount of British manufactures our colonial labourers may require in their new homes , any reasonable being may readily perceive their means of getting them is rather questionable . The colonial system of farming tends not to the comfort of the working man . The agriculturist lays down his number of acres of wheat according
to the number of the population ; he allows twelve bushels per head per year . Thus , by a regular combination amongst the farmers , they $ row little more than is necessary to maintain tbe people from year to year . This ia to keep up high price * ; and when thete is a dry season , which often happens , then famine pervades the whole land . In tke winter of 1838 , soup-kitchens were erected both in New South Wales and Tan Diemen ' s Land , and soup and bread were gratuitously distributed , to save the working men from absolute starvation . That year bread rose to the enormous price of 9 d- a pound in Van Diemen'a Land , and Is . a pound at Sydney . Emigration to these colonies cannot better the condition of our distressed fellow-workmea . "
It is quite clear that even if the influx of labourers were regulated apparently by law , still the same causes whioh have led to suoh disastrous conse quences and unparalleled distress in this country , are in full operation in the colonies . There , as here , a grasping aristocracy predominates . There , as here , land and capital are accumulated in comparatively few hands . There , as here , a military force is maintained to put down and overawe publio
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opinion . There , as here , magistrates having littl * or no sympathy with the mass of the people , presidi over their tribunals ; and there , as h& * labour may be driven out of the market b y tin operation of unchecked machinery at any momtn when it shall please the blood-suckers who fattq on public misery to call it into existence . And this is the Eden of repose ! the paradise ^ delights ! the Goshen of plenty 1 into which tin ______
merciful , considerate , and enlightened statesia * who govern the destinies of this empire , propo * to pitch headlong two or three millions of the bt 4 and most productive of our working population ! To . this misery , wretchedness , and death it is said % tender-hearted head of the Cabinet intends to doo * those whoso sweat and toil and blood have be * coined into hordes of wealth , for the earichmeBttf himself and others of his order !
It is pretended that this scheme is intendei for the benefit of our surplus population . Vf have shown , in our former article , that then is in roality no surplus population . V have shown that the lands of the United Kingdom could produce food sufficient for at least four tim * the number of its present inhabitants . We hive shown that fifteen . millions of acres of waste land wait only for the application of human skill mi labour , to yield their hidden treasures for the sn > tentation of industry . These facts we have demon , strated ; and we now ask Sir Robebx Peel tutf
those of both factions who may be inclined to gap . port him in the imputed design , whether , in 4 j face of these facts , he dare submit the murderous plan to Parliament , and through Parliament fo the country ! We ask the Ministers and membq of Christian churches , whether they will ventuit with their Bibles in their hands , to brave the justi ^ of the Deity , by silently permitting the violation y his express command , " Thou shalt not kill . " ~ Wt beseech the " Lords Spiritual and Temporal , " not to add to all their injustice , the crowning one 4
supporting a measure so accursed . And we implon the Queen , should an Emigration Bill obtain the sanction of the legislature , to strengthen the indecision of royalty by the natural feelings of the womaa and the mother ; to trample under her feet the infernd Act ; and to drive from her presence and favour tha parties by whom it is presented . This appeal we make on behalf of suffering and insulted humanity to tha powers that be , —with , we confess , but small hope of its being effectual . There is , however , another clug to which we can appeal , and we know that to th « a it will not be in vain .
To the working classes , who are interested in this great question more than all other classes pnt together , we Bay , let the subject be carefully pondered over , sad well understood . One great cause of the oppression under which you groan , is that spirit of recklessaesa which has allowed many aots of mischief it become consolidated before you were aware thit they were even contemplated . This mistake must never again occur . We have beaten the Anti-Con Law faction by our union and our watchfulnes , The landowners declared that a repeal of the Con Laws would be ruinous to them ; and , bo believinr ,
they were perfectly right in opposing the repeal . We know that the landowner ' s plan of emigration would be ruinous to us ; and so knowing , we faith * fully promise them that it shall have an opposition no less effectual . No doubt the pinch-bellies will , like their brethren the Anti-Corn Law quacks , get ap meetings , employ lecturers , circulate information , and try to gull the public by details of " cheap food , " * high wages , " " ealubrious climes , " " fertile lands , " " murmuring brooks , " and a thousand ether stories of " moonshine" connected wife the delightful settlements on the other side of the globe . This let thea
do ; but let them recollect , that the people an not inclined to stand any of their " botheration !* They know too well what the profession of either Whig or Tory are worth , to put any confidence in the men who sever dees themselves safe unless they can delude and betwj an unsuapectiag people . At the meeting recently held is London , Mr . CRAWFORDstatod , truly enough , that " the state of our country unhappily presented a frightful mass of pauperism , which converted that portion of the population which ought to be our principal strength into a' source of weakness ,
and a striking evidence of decay . " And thiB ad < mission , one would think , should induce the adoption of measures to restore the health of the pstient . Cutting off the limb is a desperate experiment , which should never be resorted to while 1 hope or chance of cure remains . Mr . Crawford , however , seems to be a weak but well-meaning man ; he has evidently been deceived in reference to the Colonies . We fear he has been taking sons of Mr . Montgomery Martin ' s nostrums ; and Mr .
Montgomery Martin haa evidently proved himself a mere vender of political drugs , of which he knows nothing . He can tell us the number of square miles in the Queen ' s dominions ; the number of mouths on a square mile : he can tell us of the rich territory of Canada ; of the number of cut-throatB maintained in the colonies , —as if that would be any temptation to the people to emigrate : he can icform us of the amount of Colonial revenue , and of the extent of Colonial ship *
ping ; but not one word does he tell us of thedomesttt slavery endured by the labouring population in those distant regions—not a word of the uses to which the valour of the British soldier is applied in those lands to which he would exile his starving countrymen ! No , no ; this would not suit the purpose of the emigration gentlemen . Like the kidnappers who allured the agricultural labourers into the manufacturing hells , by promises of roast beef and p pudding , these monsters of cruelty would allure those whom their avarice haa reduced to abject poverty into distant dimes , where they might terminate a miserable existence , after creating a mass of wealth for their iron-hearted task masters . nn pitied
and unknown . If we had any doubt as to the purpose of these emigration gentlemen , it would be entirely set at rest by tho fact of it 3 receiving the cordial sapport of one Mr . Macbkre , who declared himsolf an admirer of the heartless crew who united themselves together , some time since , under the name of the Child * ren ' s Friend ' s Society , and of whose doings the Press took such cognizance aa to rouse public indi gnation , until the ugly abortion of Malthusian demonism was
consigned to its last resting place . Our contempo * rary , the London Phalanx , in noticing the London meeting , at which Mr . J . Rosers proposed the sm > of forty millions to be expended in getting rid of five million paupers , observes , nothing , however , was said respecting the nature of this nation *! scheme proposed ; and this silence augurs ill f ° the scientifio principles of thesa political economists . How are the poor creatures to be sent out , and how are they to be kept when they are out , and what are the arrangements proposed for subduing the soil and preparing it for the production of food forma and beast 1 Is each man to be furnished with '
plot of ground , and then left to do his best wiw the reluctant earth ! Is he to be dependent solely upon his own capital and labour , and left to toil * unaided , in converting the wilderness of nature uiW a garden of civilisation f If bo , the scheme *® prove a failure . " These would , indeed , be wdgW considerations , if the design was entertained for * really honest purpose ; but it is not . They w » n * get rid of the people , because they hate and fa * them . The people must meet , then , and floor tbe « at every emigration meeting . Let every man do & duty j let every woman exert her influence , » d ** fate of this transportation plague will be inevitoW sealed .
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The West-Riding Lieutenancy . —At the Court at Windsor , the 10 th day of December , 1841 , pre * n »« the Queen ' s Most Excellent Majesty in CoaaoiL »« Majesty having beea pleased to appoint the Kig » Hon . James Archibald Lord WharnoUffe , the Low President of the Council , to be Lord-Lieu tenant ana Custos Rotulorum of the West Riding of the county of York , his Lordship this day took the usual oau « appointed to be taken thereupon , instead of tneo » ww of allegiance and supremacy .
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A THE NORTHERN STAB ,
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Dec. 18, 1841, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct409/page/4/
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