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THE KOSTHEfiN STAR. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1842.
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TO THE READERS OF THE " NORTHERN STAR."
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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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MB . COOPER OF LEICESTER , fO THE EDITOR OF THE "NORTHERN STAB . " Mt deab . Hill , —I ¦ would have -written yon yesterday , had I not found myBelf unable to write more , after Bsribsling a brief letter to the NEW Star . Yon will oblige me by copying thai letter into your own Starfor I am still bo languid and enfeebled es to feel writing to b 3 a task in lieu of a pleasure . CbeerfuV conversation and the free air , trill , in the course of a few day a , I trust , render me strong as ever , and able to open a Tigorcns campaign upon the grand enemy—to endure until the month of March places me , for a longer period , within bolts and bars . I think that the chief c ^ nsa of my bodily feebleness has been the irksome night duties of the gaoL At this time of the year , we
were marched to our sleeping cellB by a little after four , bt- J irere fccpt locked np till near aeTen in the HJorning . Aft - = r the first eight or ten days of my confinement I Ci £ * cd t-a take off my clothes at night—for my fl ^ sh and bones were so sore witk lying on th . 9 hard-stuffed straw pallet , thiLt I found it unendurable . I have , therefore , for the List ten weeks , or nearly , slept in my clothes end only uken them off for about three minntes , at the Bound of the morning bell , when I used to throw my-Belf on the bed , strip myself to the skin , and rub myself briskly , from neck to ancles , so as to renew the circulation of the blood . 1 find , however , that this practice of BleepiBg in my clothes has injured my nervous sjstzm , \ and I think I would not practice it again even if I were constrained to lie upon the cast iron bed-sfead itself . i
Jly brave brigade have evinced towards me a degree of aiEichment during my separation from them , which > really overpowers me ; and not the least important j share of their kindness was shewn in the truly sympa-j tbising mtmner in which each and all have striven to > cheer my dear little wife . And yet , what think you , ' my dear Hill ? my brigade actually tell me that my little ife has fill zlszig shewu herself possessed - of a stouter . kesrt than any man © f them all . ' This is a fact of Borne j TAlue to one who looks for the renewal of his captivity , ! in icur more months , with r * much certainty as any j event of Ufa . Thank God , for such a fact ! If Bepa- ! ration , under suffering , can be borne so bravely by I
tfio ^ f who are dearest to us , who can repine at the ' prospect of having , perhaps , twenty or thirty more ' . months imprisonment in the cause of hum&n right , and i for the contest for universal hnman happiness ? I And then , my dear Hill , when the moral effect cf ] oor slight and temporary suffering is regarded , which t of us can fail to stand at the bar a second time , without j an increase of fortitude—aye , even , of joy ? Why , j We arc honoured—we are ennobled by this very process j of being victimised , for troth is , by our UDJust and j tyrannical seizure , made more prevalent a thousand- j fold than it could possibly be by our mere advocacy ' « f speech or writing . !
At our meeting In the Amphitheatre ,- on Monday rrcht , resolutions -were passed , with enthusiastic unaninii ' . y , txpressrre of gratitude towards all who have eo generously helped me in my late peril .- —to my witnesses , my bail , my committee for defence , &c 4 c Si'fnce it to say that my heart joins in this expression of gratitude more fervently than words can tell . I must leave thst to be told by the fidelity of my futura life to the great cause of the poor ' s rights and the poor ' s happiness . One thing I cannot forbear saying , —that I retard the fact of being bailed by the venerable Mr . Hames , of Oundls , —a beloved patriot and
pailanftn . pist of eighty years of age , whom I have never yet Been , a ? one of the greatest honours of my life . J The gallant West , I learn , was equally honoured in * hz \ the beloved aud venerated " good priest , " Humphrey Price became his surety . I enclose you a letter- ' £ rom the werthy clergyman , in answer to a vote of , thinks from my Shakspereans . Mr . Price givts per- i mii-iion for any public use to be made of this letter . I BhaH take care to pay my personal respects to Mr . ' : Hames . as soon as possible ; but I must spend some , l ? tt ! s time with my brigade before I visit other quarters ; Next Sunday I hope to deliver two addresses in the ' . Eh krperean Booms . " :
I hsvb the happiness to forward you , herewith , a xnoD ? y order for one sovereign , coDccted by aij Soakspsreans for poor exiled Ellis . Ah ! I have touched a Btring there which vibrates too keenly for me to touch ££ aiH now . Till next week , my dear Hill , adieu . " Youn , most affectionately . Thomas Cooper 13 . Cfcur-hgate , Leicester . Wednesiiay , Nov . 16 1842 .
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10 THE READERS OF THE " ENGLISH CHARTIST CIRCULAR , " AXD THE FRIEXDS GENERALLY OF DEMOCRACY IX GREAT BRITAIN . In our " Opening Address , " after defining the object ought to be attained by , and the circumstances lust Saenred us to venture upon , ibe esiablishincst of t'he Ci . vuar , we thus expressed ourselves : — *• Brethren , shall we hold our hands to you in vain ? Do we rely too much upon the intelligence and spirit that an i mates you ? Our experiment , from the very 1 x price » e have decided upon , is tons indivi-. ' . ui ' ily , & mo : t hazardous one . Nothing short of a circa ' t&tiun far exceeding that of any periodical in this country , ¦ will indemnify us against a loss . But ture sr » \? c that holding fast to * tfaat which is true , ' success will be commeniurate with our most sanguine anticipation * . " Now , we dare affirm that we have so " held fast to tint ¦ - 'bich is true , " we have devoted the Circular " solely attd otujt' to tie advocacy of Chaktism , and not
to" Da 2 trine 3 fashioned te the varying hour . " But our once " sanguine anticipations"' have not I -ja reaTz = d- The Circular has hitherto Dttn a failure . Under these , to us , depressing circumstances , we have but to Belect one uf two alternatives—i . e ., to increase the retail price of the Circular from one tuilfpenJiyJo one penny , or at once to let it be " numbered \ rith tha things that icere . " ilr . Cieavc ' s own anxiety to preserve the Circu 7 ar , as -well a » his belief that such an election TFonJd tw most acceptable to the Chartist public , has induced him this ¦ week to aiopt the former . It must , however , be bxplsciily understood , that this is but an experiment . A few weeks will suffice to give the plan " a fair trial ;" at the termination of which we shall eithtr be necessitated to bid our friends " a sad farewell , " or h . 3 Vd the gratification to announce that at length the Circular u established .
Utterly apart from all pecuniary considerations , the proprietor , aud all connected with this r-erJodical , have a Btrong interest in its continuance . Nor these alone . The ichole Chartist public , we feel we cm eiy , share with them in the advantages derivable fr ^ tn an or ^ an erdirel . y devoted to their political principles : and with r ' lein must reeret that one supporter in the press sheuld fail , paiticuiaily at a juncture ever bee--mint ; more immirtEt acd apparent . At a time when the poj . t . r , if not the justice . of the dominant faction bas bttu exerted to an tstent unparalleled in the world ' s nanals , * - •> . order to cast odium evtn upon the very wtop ^ r of Cratism—to link it wnh crime and shume—to brauri it with irifa-. Tiy— :. nd to -visit it with pacis ^ zntntj vrorthy to h ave been invented by Svn ' . ia of hell—a poor pany Srcr-tary of S : a * . e is said to
have tffiinied . that he would " put dorm C : ^ art : siu altogether ; " and shall the Chartisli ihtmse ' v-es —strong in the consciousness of rectitude , a-ad prjud as the r-serters of the God-like majesty of man—bead tmr . dy to the behest of snch a thing ? We baTe no m- > . r ! e to certain r-f a ^ cartaining and feeling our jiijrai strengthno such mtaag of testing tae u-aity -which must accompany < .-ur efforts in obtaining politico : aad sociui redemption—aa through the niHiium cf ihcpress . The exancVon tven of our own feeble fires would be hailed with delight by those who ^ -iike the fouleit reptiles , goring in ( inrkneMi—fatten upon corruption . A beacon of Liberty destroyed would give a proud and savage BatLfactit d io its ermine ! and richly-clad enemifia . Something » o inimical to " their » rder" would be watched by them only with pleasnrs during its expiring strnggles .
If we look to the condition of the public press at the present moment , we are struck by the melancholy fact that but very few are devoted to the people ' s cause . All Bka-les of political partisans , from tke most rampant Tory to the most sneaking Wcig , find apt repre 5 eata-Xkrea among the broad-sbeets ; yet , "wita flight exceptions , there are no defenders of those who disdain mere party subterfuge , and seek to placo the rights of mankind in general on the firmest , the only ju 3 t baBis . "With his " very life lied away" the Chartist is deemed worthy of only a passing effusion of malignity and obloquy . Chartism , the emanation of reason and morality—proceeding in iU ve . y fir 3 t
assumptions on the admitted truths of natural justice and ravealed religion—has as yet been permuted to receive , by the press of Great Britain , scarcely one iota of the attention it merits—of the respc-ct it demands . We find the Whig and Tory newspaptrs drawn up in " battle array , " afraid of venting the bitterness and vileness of political rancour upon each other , turning aside with one consent to discharge thei ? malice on those whom they are aware must one day assnrae the sway over the hearts and minds of men—the now despised Chartists . ' And now let us ask—shonld the Circular be permitted to descend , without another effort , to oblivion ?
Onr readers will perceive the necessity that has ' . driven na to the alternative of raising the price of this : Cibculab . We feel they will , too , perceive the justice ; of yielding us support towards future endeavours . Strength must become ours—growing strength , in the j greatest struggle that ever fell to the lot o " f humanity— ; if our brethren in the good cause extend a hand t > j ¦ wards ua at this point of our career . Earnestly did j ¦ we "' gird up ourselves" ^ n our first venturing forth in the Cihculab to assert Chartism in the face of the j world . Note , when we know that our services may become far more valuable , are they to be rejected ?; One wur . 1 again , —Cuautists , do v >' e adt . ikc £ TO- j getheb ? I
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COLLIERS' STRIKE—AYRSHIRE . —TRIAL OF THE RIOTERS .
( From the Ayr Advertiser , of Thursday . ) This morning considerable excitement was observed amongst the large body of turnout colliers , assembled in front of tbe county buildings , awaiting the trial of the parties implicated in the late disturbances at Whitlette , which the yeomanry wrs called up last week to suppress . The hour appointed by Mr . Sheriff Substitute Eaton w ? i ten o'clock , previous to which time the gallery and area of tbe Court House were very much crowded , chiefly by tho fellow-workmen of tbe panels , who , si tbe indictments were being read , and the evidence adduced , showed by assent or slight murmur the deep interest they took in the proceedings . They were , however , in no respect disorderly .
The first case called was that implicating Alexander Tinsey , William Jackson , and ELzibeth M'Clung er Frew , who had been i . j jail twelve days , charged under the Act C George IV ., c 129 , sees . 3 d , 7 th , and 11 th , with having , cm the nisht of the 28 th of October last , entered the house of James Caddis , Garden-street Content , banksman in Mr . Gordon ' s employment , and threatened him at the peril of his life to continue to work during the strike , or to allow his sons to do so , otherwise that their lives would not be safe . Tinsey and M'Cluag or Frew pleaded not guilty , and Jackson maintained that he was not even en the spot . On the examination uf the first witness , his alibi was dearly proven , he having been mistaken far a man named Nelson or Melsom , and he was dismissed . Tinsey is a lad of abent eighteen years of age , and M' Clung is a merried woman , with a child in her arms . Sir . A . il'Cnbbin , writer , appeared tor the other panel .
After a lengthened trial , Tinsey was sentenced to three months' imprisonment M'Clung was liberated . There were other three trials of the same kind . Edward Nsill and Robert Frew were sentencsd to thirty daya' imprisonment ; and of the remaining panels four were acquitted from want of evidence , and six from an error in the indictment .
The Kosthefin Star. Saturday, November 19, 1842.
THE KOSTHEfiN STAR . SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 19 , 1842 .
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THE LAST SHIFT . There can scarcely be a greater mistake than the very common one of Euppos ' ng that innooence forms any barrier to conviction , when Government have ft mind to manufacture criminals . It is of small moment whether the alleged acts be such as the law clearly recognises to be right , or whether the accused party may have ever been a party to any of the acts of which he is accused . A prosecution being fixed on as a pretext for punishment , it goes on of course , and succeeds of course With the means holden by the prosecutors , it
would be strange if it did not : the power to buy evidence at any price ; to create treachery , snd subora perjury to what extent they plea ^; to hire hacks and prostitates , who before trial may be occupied for months in prejudgment , and in driving cut of all those from whom toe jurors are to be selected every disposition to regard the evidence at all , if it should be defective , by drilling and training them to a foregone conclusion . This is a favourite device . Whenever a victim is to be sacrificed , the blood-hounda arc always let from the lea ? h , and open in full cry
upon the quarry . Mr . O'Connor and his co- " conspirators" form no exception to the general rule and pracuce . We last week drew attention to the efforts of the press to take for granted in general terms the conclusion of the jury , and to place the thing upon a settled footing before ever the trials come on . The game speeds at a rail-road pace . The rogue ? actually improve ! They show , at all events , that there are no lengths to which they will not go to attais their purposs . All the world knows that tie iead and front of the indictment has regard to the publication of the mad , mischievous document ,
which has been ascribed to the Executive . Of that document our opinion has been expressed before . We never did and never shall defend it . Whoever was its author , we regard him as a most mischievous individual , and one whom the people , if they have heretofore trusted him , should trust no longer , but cast from * hem the moment he i 3 discovered . There is yet no evidence of authorship , and it would be consequently premature and cruel to charge it upon any one . For any evidence that yet appears to the contrary , it may have been published by the anti-Corn Law League , or it may have been published by
t ' no Government ; either of whom , we believe , to be capable of any baseness—even of that—for the attainment of their ends . We say not that either of these bodies did publish it ; we charge no one with so foolish , or so criminal an act . In the absence of eviueuce to support it , nothing conld be more base than to charge it upoa any one . Yet the whole press of both factions has concurred , until recently , in charging it u ; on the Executive . The fact that it was put forth in tbe name of tho Executive has been basely assumed as proof that it was put for : h by the Executive ; and the thing has
been familiarly spoksn of as " the Executive ' s Address" from that day to this ; every one being careful not to seem to doubt . We have bsfore called attention to the infamy of this ass uir . ption by the press of the very thing to be proved . We hoped , if there was any spark of honourable feeling in the " press-gang , " to shame them out of such a course ; but this would have been unaccordant with the purpose of their masters . The Executive were to be convicted and sentenced upon that address , no matter who wrote it ; a . id therefore the jury class must be plied
continually with the assumed certainty that it was their address . That point seems now to be considered settled . Ic is thought that the idea of the Executive ' s authorship has become so rivetted to that oi the address itself , that no evidence can induce any jury to separate them . As far as the Executive are concerned , therefore , their faie is considered certain . The next move is to connect with it all the accused parlies ; and to do this effectually it is now gravely and impudently affirmed , that O'Cox-nob with his owa hand wrote that addre-s and then persuaded the Executive to father it ! that
it was adopted by the delegate meeting at Manchester 1 and that the minority there who opposed its adoption bound themselves , after its adoption , to abide by , and go with the majority I !! All this is as roundly and plainly stated as if it had been gospel-truth ! It is spoken of in the most flippant and familiar manner ; as a thing not to be disputed ; a settled point about which there can be no question ! True ; there is no attempt to give any proof of these statements ; not
even an effort to invent a proof : that would be an inconvenient and needless formality . True , the wretches who propagate these falsehoods know them to be falsehoods , solely manufactured and invented by themselves ; true , that the propagators of these statements know thai there is already evidence on oath—the evidence of the prosecution so far as i : has gone—that they are utterly false ; that even Gnivfin has sworn positively than that address was not adopted a : the delegate meeting at all , and that Mr . O'Cunnob opposed it from the moment of ita
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introduction . True , that this evidence of Geifbin ' s was perfectly well known to the parties who say that O'Connor wrote that address , and that it was adopted by the meeting ! all this is nothing : a point is to be carried ; the men are to be convicted ; and , therefore , the belief must be induced , whatever be the facts or the evidence . We hare before time seen many samples of rich villany , but never one to match this . We believe , however , that the bolt has been shot too far , and that it will fail to be effective from the very care taken to make it so . The people may , however , learn from it to what desperate shifts , the devil factions will have recourse
when hard up" for the carrying of a point , And what hope they to accomplisk when the point is earned ! Do they imagine that O'Connor , the Star , and the Chartist movement , are to be thus put down ! God help them . ' poor fooh 1
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THE TACTICS OP OPPRESSION . A certain member of the late Government is reported to have had tbe honour of being first to recommend in so many formal words the destruction of political opponents , by " ruining them with expences . " Faction is an apt scholar , and apprehends readily the arts of villany . The Tories are Dot slow to profit by the ' example and the teachings of their Whig predecessors ; of which the * late Special Coaiznisaion and all the atrocities at and immediately before it , furnish abundant evidenoe . Faction is usually consistent : however the people may choose t ) for& « t their prhoiples
and interests , faction seldom dees so . It looks out with a lynx-eye for all advantages , and makes the most of all its powers . Hav ' og the almost boundless resources of the richest nation under heaven at command—with power to draw ad libitum upon tbe public purse—the cows d vultuies place themselves in a position for a deadly struggle with poor men ; made and kept p > or by the' rascality of class-legislation . These poor men they place at every disadvantage , which the fearful odds of wealth , and power , and patronage afford them ; and then prate of justioe , and of the law ' s Majesty !
During the early portion of this week , the Rev . Dr . Scholkfield , and Messrs . Leach , Doyle , Railton , and divers others of the Chartist " conspirators " were served with tome sort of nondescript writs , of which nobody could make head or tail ; but which commanded them to appear before her Majesty on the fifteenth inst . Where the appearance was to be , and what was the purport of the summons , nobody knew anything about . Magistrates , lawyers ,
police , ei hoc genus omne , were alike " taken aback " by this new " craft" ; of which none of them could " spell the rigging . " We have not been , at this present writing , ( Thursday a . m . ) as yet honoured with one of there special invitations to a royal tele-atete , aud therefore know nothing of the matter but from hearsay . It seems , however , that Mr . O'Connor has been thus dignified ; he has seen the tbiog , and as he is more conversant with lawyer craft than we are , we give the following from the Evening Star : —
" Those whe have informed themselves upon the pro . ceedings at the late Special Commissions and the persecution i -nerally of the Chartist body , will , doubtless , be prepared for any disclosure , infernal though it be . But let even the most sceptical peruee the following narrative , and say , whether or no wonder has not been out-wondered . It is in the recollection of the public that Feargus O'Connor , and sixty-one other persons , against whom a true bill was found at the recent Special Commission , holden at Liverpool , traversed till next assizes , and were obliged to enter into heavy bail , there to appear , and till then to keep the
peacewhich , by the bye , was illegal . This preliminary step cost a h ge sum of money , bnt was met and paid . W it-iin these few days the several traversers have been served with venires from the Court of Queen ' s Bench ; and upon eaoh venire of the sixty-two , the small sum of £ 5 8 ' . is charged , and payable before the defendants evi appear . We cannot Bay what the immediate object of the Crown is ; but one effect will be , to treat the defendants to a special jury . Now these fees amount to about £ 330 , which , with other expenses upon th ' j stage alone , will amount to somewhat about £ 400 ; and add to this
nearly £ 1 , 000 fn fees , which must be paid before the prisoners can have the honour of trial ; and then add the expense of counsel and solicitors , witnesses and travelling expenses ; and then say who can that the law is partial , expensive , or unjust ! But this Is not the worst Tsr jiny does not stop here . While those under recognizances are thus mulcted in heavy pecuniary penalties , the necessary let . ^ 1 preliminaries for outlawing Dr . M'Douall and those against whom true bills have been found , and -who have absconded , are now nearly completed ; and their banishment will be
tfficted as securely as if the Judge had sentenced them ; while , if the worst came to the worst , and if found gu'lty of the charge , imprisonment is all the punishment they could be sentenced to . Now , if this is not punishing first , and trying after , we know not what is . We state , however , that Mr . O'Connor has had all the required terms complied with , and has entered an appearance for tho several traversers , which is all that was now required , save and except the PAYMENT OF THE FEES . Wao wouldn't be an Englishman ? Will the hoart of the Chronicle burst at th-9 recital ?"
Since writing the above we have received the i \ fanchester Guardian , which has , in reference to the game subject , the following .- — " Removal of the Indictment against the Chautists to the Court oi" Queen s Bench . — -We understand that , on Monday l : » st . & 11 the sixty defendants indicted at the late special commission at Liverpool , and who then traversed to the next assiz 'A , ¦ were served with summonses uf a merely formal nature , the terms of which , we understand , nut a litt . e pu *"' eit some of them ; aa they -wire therein required to come
before her Majesty , on the 15 : h November insUnt , wheresoever her Mnj-. sty shouM be in England . ' As her Majesty is now at Walnwr Castle , near D > ver , the appearance of ssine' of the defendants there would no doubt cause cor . siuerable surprise . We know that some of them seriously contemplated the necessity of surrendering in person , in London : while others , we believe , have instructed a London attorney to put in an appearance for them . The following is a copy of the document which has put the defendan t s here aud elsewhere on the qui vive : —
'To [ naming Marions sheriffs' officer . ' . ]—Lancr-hire , to wit . Thomas Robert Wilson France , E * q , sherifi of the county of Lancaster : By viitue of her Majesty's writ , to me directed , I command you that you uo not forbear by reason of any liberty to my bailiwick , but that you cause to come before her Majesty , on the fifteenth of November instant , whtrescevur Iut Majesty Bb *» U be in England , William Le : ich , of Manchester , iu the county of Lancaster , labourer , &c . Sc-y , to answer to her Majesty for certain conspiracies , and misdemeanours whereof they with others are indicted . " Given under the seal of my uffi : e , this twelfth day of November , 1842 . " By order of the Court ,
" Dealtry , " Writ dated second day of November , 1842 . " Gregory aud Sons , solicitors . " A similar form of snmmoDs has been issned by the High Sheriff of Cheshire , and served on such of the defendants as reside in that county . We believe the legal effect of this is , merely to give tho parties formal notice that the indictments against them have been removed by the Attorney-General from Lancashire and Cheshire into the Court of Queen's Bench . "
The Guirdian appears , however , to have no grounds for his " belief " , and we imagine that ho knows as little of the object of Government in this matter as ourselves . Thus much we have no doubt of , that their object is to perpetrate some petty , villanous , sneaking robbery , which they will call vindicating the law , and doing justice . It is clear that in some way or other the trials are intended to be rendered more expensive and more unfair , than they
would have been without this mummery . It all shows tho animus of government , and proves the correctness of our conclusion from preceding circumstances , that they attach more importance to tho trial and conviction of these parties , than to any other business in which the Government have been concerned for a long time ; and it all shows the imperative duty and absolute necessity which lies upon tho people to put forth their btren ^ th for tb . 0 euoou \ .-ter , and to do it without loss of time .
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THE ENGLISH CHARTIST CIRCULAR . Wb give elsewhere aa address from the conductors of this genuine gem of the Chartist press , to which we call particular attention . We do trust that at this time above all others the enemy will not be permitted to have the opportunity of taunting us about the going-down of this spirited little organ . We have before said , and we now repeat , that the Circular ought to be considered a necessary upon every Chartist ' s table , or rather in his pocket for more ready use . We trust that the present appeal of its conductors will be the last of the like kind that they will ever need to make .
We perceive that the first fifty-two numbers of the Circular are now published in a volume ; and a very handsome , and a very valuable volume it is—a volume which no Chartist ought to be without . - : _
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THE STURGE CONFERENCE . Elsewhere we record , with unfeigned pleasure , the proceedings of a meeting at Birmingham for the election of delegates to the forthcoming Conference . The Birmingham " lads" have done their work nobly ! In the very head-quarters of Complete Suffragism , with Mr . Sturge in the chair , they have elected , out of six delegates , Feargus
O'Connor , George White , and two other good Chartists . This is as it should be . Let every Other place go and do likewise , and this Conference may come to good : it may be made the means of greatly aiding and consolidating the Chartist movement ; of forming into one phalanx all the true friends of democratic principle ; and of forcing the hypocritic go-betweens ( if there be any such ) to find their own place .
We regard this Conference as a great card for tbe people if well played . Let them be careful then ; let Birmingham be followed up . Let every town send its own men—men of full-length principle , and of clear and cool heads . Let them , we again observe , in this election of the delegates , loek more to principle than talent ; ' tis not so much speech-makers as men of sound sense and discriminating powers that are wanted . Let care be taken not to stultifv and
neutralize our own strength , by electing the same man for different localities . O'Connor has been elected for Birmingham ; let him not be eleoted for any other place . He can only give one vote , and consequently every other place whicb he might represent would be virtually unrepresented . We have not a vote to spare ; and every locality may find plain honest men to speak its own mind .
There is another thing to which attention should be drawn ; the rumoured winter commission of assize makes it doubtful whether we may not be all in durance when the Conference is holden . The people should be ready for this circumstance if it occur ; they should have reserved candidates in readiness to be elected in the place of every man who may be thus prevented from fulfilling the duties of bis trust . There must be no time lost in calling
public meetings for the election of such delegates , if necessary , immediately after the conclusion of the trials . Let there be no doubt or hesitation about this matter ; let all be ready ; all that is wanted in the candidates is clear-beaded honesty , that will neither be hoodwinked nor yet brow-beaten from its point . There is enough of this quality in every town to supply every member of this Conference . Let then the people be alive , and do their duty , and then we have no fear that this Conference will be a good thing .
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THE EXECUTIVE BALANCE SHEET . The explanation afforded by the Secretary of the matters objecied to by the metropolitan delegates and others , wih' be read with some anxiety , and will , we fear , exen e much disatisfaction . We confess that we hare sek to" read a document with more regret , or one which V » e are compelled to consider as more decidedly lame . Nothing is more important than that the Executive should have the entire confidence of the whole country . This they never can have , unless they confine themselves rigourously to
the operation and guidanoe ot that organizitior , which the one duty of their offc * .. "is to extend and carry out . No mistake eu . -old be more fatal to the interests of the cause , t ^ an that the Executive should suppose themselves in nested with a power above that of the organisation . . That they have done so , and that they have acted up on that supposition , is clear from this statement i * f Mr . Campbell ' s . The seventeenth article of the
organization fixes the salary of the Executive at £ 2 i » 'er week for the Secretary , and £ 1 l ( h weekly for eacu ' other member when sitting . Here then is a clear guide , which , one would have thought , no responsible body could overlook , or would dare to violate ; and yet we find the Executive setting aside the authority of the organization , and " on their own responsibility , " appropriating public money to the payment of one of their own body , fully one-third more than he was entitled to ! -
The excuse of Mr . Campbell for this flagrant violation of trust , that they , the Executive , thought the money e arned , and all the talk of the talent , the honesty , (!) and the judgment , (?) of the party , by whom this money is appropriated , is entirely beyond the mark . The transaction is , to all intents and purposes , not only politically , but morally , dishonest and disgraceful to all the parties concerned in it . When Dr . M'Douall became a candidate for the office of Executive Committee man , he knew the amount of salary to which he would be entitled ;
he knew that the Executive had no power to give him more , without robbing the Association ; and no honest man would have been a party to that robbery . We have no wish to depreciate the worth , or to underrate the services of Dr . M'Douall ; but we do say that he ought to have considered before he took the office , whether the stipend would content him ; and we say that , if upon trial , he found it too little , he had but two honest courses for it ; either to resign at once , or to ask , not the Execntive but the people , to advance
bis salary . But instead of this , the Doctor , and his coadjutors , dip their hands , without authority or leave , into the purse which contains the poor weavers' pence , and take out thence , at their own pleasure , as much as they think he ought to have . Let us put an exactly parallel case ; let us suppose that tho money with which these men were entrusted had belonged to some rich merchant , in stead of to the poor half-famished people ; let us suppose them to have been the servants of this rich merchant , instead of the servants of the people ; that
they had with him a definite and clearly understood written agreement , specifying their exact duties , and their exact wages ; that thay had the tun of his funds to pay themselves , with the condition of making up accounts quarterly , and that they had acted precisely as they have now done . We can tell Mr . Campbell that , in such a case , this same piece of "honesty , " for which he expected the whole country to compliment him , would have rendered the whole batch of them liable to transportation for embezzlement and fraud .
So much for the moral honesty of this transaction ; now for its political' honesty " ! The Executive are par excellence , a democratic body ; they are the appointed head of the Charter Association ; their sole business is to extend and ramify the-a ^ osiation , for the purpose of bringing into operation Chartist principles . How do they do this ! Why by themselves acting as pure despots 1 Assuming the right
utterly to disregard the laws of the organization , which they are appointed purposely to enforce ; and without any reference to the suffrages and opinions of the people to govern the association , as their own caprioe , ( we beg Mr . Campbell ' s pardon , "judgment I "•)¦ might dictate ; exhibiting thus , in the very heart and citadel of Chartism , one of the worst forms of Tory corruption and peculation . And yet , in reference to this transaction , Mr . Campbell tells us
that the Executive expected , that instead of objecting to it , the whole country would have hailed it with delight ! Like objections , of a mal-appropriation of funds and an utter disregard to the organization , lie very fairly against several other matters which Mr . Campbell professes to explain . The several arid very heavy sums charged for travelling expenses , and for the " agitating expenses" of various member ? cf the Executive are , in the absence of more explanation than Mr . Campbell has yet given , ( and he says he can give no moire ) , all liable to be classed under the same head of mal-appropriation of the fundsof the Association in defiance of its rules .
The organization distinctly provides that the wages of the Executive shall be paid only " during the period of their sittings" ; or in the event of their being employed " to open new distriots "; yet we fipd their wages regularly charged whether sitting or not ; and Mr . Campbell complaining bitterly that he has no . funds now , whea they are not sitting , to pay wages to himself and them . We regret the lack of-funds for tho use of the Association , as much as Mr . Campbell ; and we regret more that that lack should bo enhanced by the unauthorized
application of them when they were there . But why does Mr .. Campbell complain of not getting wages now , when the Executive is not sitting ! He knows that the organization gives them no right to wages , only when they are sitting . Now , when they are minding their own businesses ; Mr . Campbell attending to his shop in London , Mr . Leach attending to his shop in Manchester , and Mr . Bairstow receiving wages as a lecturer in the North and East Riding .
why should the country be called upon to pay . £ 2 weekly to the one and 30 s . to each of the others 1 Is it not enough that , in accordance with the organization , they bo paid by the Association when they are doing the work of the As . jciation ; must they be also paid for doing their own work 1 We do not believe that either Leach or Bairstow expect any such thing ; and wo are only sorry that Mr . Campbell , in this apologetical letter of his , has thought proper so to introduce their names as if they did .
Nothing can be moro clear nor more explicit than the words of the organization about the wages of the Executive . They are to have their wages during the period of their sittings out of the General Fund . Whenever they are not sitting , they may be employed as missionaries and lecturers , and must then have the same wages , as if they were sitting . Noljrom the general funds , but from the local funds of the localities in which they labour . Over and above these wages , when so employed , they are to have , from the localities iu
which thay labour , their coach hire and ouo half of their incidental expencea ; the other half of their incidental expences being paid by themselves out of their wages . These provisions are as . clear in tbe 17 th and 18 h articles of the organization as words can make them . And yet the country is charged by Mr . Campbell , according to bis own explanation , for the lecturing expences of the members of the Executive in such localities as Manchester and London , and for their travelling to and from these localities .
We happen to know that the Executive have been written to privately upon these subjects again and again ; we find it difficult , therefore , to think that they do not know the conditions of the organizition . In any case it seems clear that they either do not know tho orgar-zation or are determined entirely to disregard it . We have Seen many lamentable public exhibitions ; but never any which , to our mind , displayed a more perfect Jack of business-like habits , or of any attention to any sort of system or rule , than the balauca sheets of Mr . Campbell ,
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They are literally disgraceful . And though we have long known them to be so , we have forborne from public comment , because w « hoped to see some good result from private remonstrance ; being willing to give him and the other members of the Executive credit for integrity of purpose . Tthia public appeal of Mr . Campbell renders it impossible for us to be longer silent . We have by no means commented upon all , or nearly all , of the objectionable matters in this balance sheet , or of the unsatisfactory matters in Mr . Campbell ' s
explanatory letter ; but we trust we have said enough to show the people that it is time they took up the matter in right earnest . These are the things that destroy us more than all the power of the enemy . And we always find that it is those who thus trample under their feet all regard for principle that are the first to cry out against denunciation " if disagreement with , or disapprobation of , their proceedings are expressed . We have hitherto paid too muoh deference to this scare-crow ; and shall hereafter treat it very cavalierly . We shall speak out our mind upon all public matters with a freedom
t ' rom which our best friends must look for no exemptica . We esteeem highly private friendships and regards , but cannot allow them to divert us from onr duty V nor shall we permit any personal services of Charti&t leaders to exempt them from being tightly holden bv the rein of principle . None can esteem more higiMy than we do the personal exertions of the respective members of the Executive as lecturers and fiissionuies for the cause of Chartism . They have dene much but that does not set them above the practice of their own principles in tho transactions of ' their own office .
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ELECTION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL * Our readers are of coarse aware that the Election of General Councillors through all th « localities takes place on tbe 1 st of December , They should begia to look out for good , clear headed , prudent men . The office is a most important one . We shall next week give some directions for what we think the best mode of conducting these elections .
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*» Star Office , N ** . VI , 18 i 2 . MY dear Fribmds , —On the 17 th of Nov ., 1837 , five years ago , this very day , the first number of this paper issued from the press . Since that time , we have braved together many a breeze . Chartism was then a name unknown , and Radicalism was a sickly infant in its nurse ' s arms . The professors of the pure principles of truth were for the most part jumbled up and identified with Whiggery , under the general
titles of" Reformers" and " Liberals . " There was no real line of demarcation between honesty : and stealthy faction in a mask . The people were then , as now , honest , but waiting just direction for their movements , while the prominent politicians of the day were a motley crew of personal adventurer 3 , floating with the tide of circumstances , and continually using the popular breath to blow up the bubbles of their own er parties' purposes . I saw the nee : sity of severing principle from faction , and individually laboured for it , as many of you
know , long before the Star existed . I saw the disadvantage under which the people laboured ; I felt , often and severely felt , that the sphere of democratic influence was limited—unnaturally contracted—because the people were no more represented by the press than by the legislature They were defrauded even of themselves ; their sentiments were distorted , their opinions misrepresented , their minds purposely misled , and their active proceedings twisted to the support of first one aud then another factious party , while their own interests were lost sight of in the mist .
because there was no mirror which would faithfully reflect them . I set myself , therefore , to sea the people in possession of an organ which , trutnpet-tongued , might speak their will , and utter their complaints . I laboured hard for it , and expended much more time and money than I could afford ; but there was wanting either power or energy amongst the people . The work progressed slowly , and I was about retiring in despair from the attempt , when Providence brought me m contact with your indomitable champion , and true | friend , O'Connor
who had seen and felt the same lack of means to make principle stand firmly on its own basis , and throw overboard adventuring experimentalism . His dauntless spirit , in the face of a most uninviting prospect , resolved to remedy the grievance at all hazards ; and the Northern Star was hung up in the political hemisphere , and has continued since , by your suffrages , to shine with increased brilliancy ; exhibiting , in the clear light of public opinion , the rocks and quicksands of political agitation , and the" rigging" of each pirate craft that might intrude
itself upon the waters of democracy . Ispeakthus of the Star , because I have ever sought to make it rather a reflex of your minds than a medium through which to exhibit any supposed talent or inteliigenoe of my own . This is precisely my conception of what a people's organ should be ; this was what I saw to be wanting before the Star came into existence ; and what , since it ha 3 existed , I have ever sought to make it . How far I have succeeded in doing so , may be beat evidenced by the position which it has holden since the fifth week of
its publication , of the most extensively circulated provincial journal in the empire , and by the fact that it still holds and maintains that position notwithstanding the unparalleled distress which binds to the earth the whole body of its supporters ; notwithstanding the incessant fire of prosecution upon prosecution from the Government , to which it is the most galling of annoyances , and notwithstanding the unceasing efforts of the private malice , the choaking envy , and personal ambition of disguised friends , open foes , traitors , and enemies of all sorts There is not , at this present time , another thing which . the factions so hate , and the Government
bo much fears as this newspaper . It is the very sum of their antipathies ; and they would hold cheap any sacrifice by which it might be destroyed . While I have your help and confidence I defy them . The wrong-doer shall wince beneath just castigation ; the light of just principle shall shine upon the haggard face and ugly form of class dominance , so long as it is your pleasure to uphold the Northern Star . I thank you , not more for the gratification it affords me personally , than on your own account , for the power you have hitherto given me in battling with your enemies . I receive your continued confidence and the constant indication
of your approbation with the proud consciousness that I deserve it . I accord you now my thanks for having nobly done your duty in the years gone by . You have rallied round the Btandard of pure , constitutional Radicalism which has been erected in the Star ; and you have made the arms of liberty , though bound , yet terrible to the oppressor . I have done one man ' a part in the good work , and my arm is now stronger and my aim steadier than it was five years ago , thanks to the supporting presence of your power . The recurrence of this anniversary brings us once more to a sort of understanding with each other ; to a kind of terms of covenant on which to base our future operations against tyranny . There shall be , on my part , a continuance of that same unceasing watchfulness with which I have here . tofore endeavoured to point out the tricks and moves of . faction to your observation . With tha broad flag of Chartism unfurled , and nailed to our mast-head , I shall endeavour to take cart that no spurious colour , no matter how nearly resembling the original , be stuck or stitched upon it by the enemy ; while I shall also be more careful than I have heretofore been to preserve it from defilement by our own crew . Hitherto the extension of our principles baa been the one thing to be looked at ; we [ must now look t »
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TO THE CHARTISTS OF THE EAST AND NORTH RIDING . Bkotheb Chartists , —The East and North Riding Delegate Meeting will be held at Selby , on Sunday , Dvc 4 th , when it is highly necessary there should be a good attendance of delegates , r « business of great importance will be brought forward . The time is approaching for the National Conference to meet is Birmingham , I would therefore respectfully suggest the propriety of each locality discussing well the necessity of sending a delegate to
represent the Chartists of this district , and to give instructions to their delegates upon the subject—Those towns -who do not send delegates to Selby , most forward their opinions by letter ; also stating the number of enrolled and payable members . It is highly necessary that those localities in the East and North Riding who cannot support a Lecturer , should say so by letter , at it creates great confusion when th * y -withdraw their support after a lecturer is appointed . The district is nearly one pound in debt occasioned by tbe temporary cessation of Howden , Bcverley , and Holme .
All communications for delegate meeting to be for warded to me btfore the 2 nd of December . Yours , faithfully . Edw . Bublet , Sec Dis . 19 , Bilton-street , Layertkorpe , York . Nov . loth , 1842 .
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BATH . —The following resolution -was passed at a ; meeting of the General Council : — " That the thanks of tills m&Bting are eminently dee to W . P . Roberta , Esq ., ' for his assiduous and pitriotic conduct during the late j special commission , in corjuctingthe dfcftnce of the po- > litical prisoners gratuitously . A tta meeting will be j held here . on JJoauay , November 2 Sth . '
To The Readers Of The " Northern Star."
TO THE READERS OF THE " NORTHERN STAR . "
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HOW TO GET RID OF A "SURPLUS POPULATION . " Aristocracy and steamooraoy have long found their elbow-room incommoded by the labourer . And wiih the soddened selfishness of class craft , each has unhesitatingly exerted tho powers it possessed to " clear out its corner , " and remove the vermin . Improvements in meohanical , and " extension" of legal , machinery have effected the businrsi for them both ; but like Richabd ' s spiders , — ' The things still crawl , and do offend the sight "
When driven out of the manufactories and off the estates ; when robbed of all their means of livelihood , they still " crawl ; " and crawling , they still seek the moans to live . But the monster Class is a many-headed monster , and has in all its heads M jaw teeth like knives ; " and hence the lawocraoy soon finishes the busiuess . Destitution , of necessity , induces what the law calls crime , and thus furnishes a pretext for that thinning of the population , which through the medium of the halter , the sabre , the blue bludgeon , or the transport ship , is always going on , that rampant riohes may have room to " pull down its barns , and build greater . "
Transportation , it is said , is now humanely substituted for capital punishments in a great many cases . What are the meanB adopted for carrying out this very humane process ? Old , crazy , worn out vessels , found to be totally unfit for regular service , are repaired and fitted up , just made capable of skimming over the surface of an unruffled sea ; and then , if not with criminal intent to murder , with the most cold-blooded indifference ,
hnndrod 3 of our fellow beings , all of whom have left agonized , heart-broken relatives behind them , are crammed into theso" safes , " and sent on a voyage of thousands of miles . May-be they may reach the "destined port , " or may-be , as ifc often happens , they may go down-together to the bottom of the " mighty deep . " Road the following in illustration , taken from the South African Commercial Advertiser , a . long article t ' rovn which we give elaewhero , and commend to the attention of our
readers : — " The Waterloo , a ship of 414 tons , bound to Van Dieinen's tind , had on board , besides her crew , 219 male-convicts , Dr . Helsell , in charge , Lieutenant Hext , Ensign Leigh , thirty men of her Majesty ' s 99 th Regiment , live women , and thirteen children . She took the ground between eleven and twelve o ' clock in the forenoon , and in fifteen et twenty minutes became a mass of rubbish . And now ensued a most piteous massacre . In about two hours and a half , amidst the crumbling heaps of their perfidious prison—of men , women , and children , 194 were crushed , disabled , and drowned .
" There was no preparation for saving life made on board or on shore . No life-buoys , no coils of ropes lashed to casks , nor any apparatus for establishing a communicatien with the shore from the ship . On the shore there was no lifeboat , no apparatus for throwing ropes over stranded vessels , nor any thing , in short , to show tbat the Government or peopld here had ever tiuard of Buch a thing us a shipwreck . We Btootl amongst thousands on the beach witbin 150 yards of the dissolving fabric , looking on the agonised faces of our fellow-creatures , as they sank in d ( zms , battered , and bruised , and suffocated—useless as children , or idiots , or wild Caffres .
" This ship , it appears , was built twenty-seven years ago at Bristol . No longer fit to carry logs , she is patched up like other whited sepulchres , stuffed with a living cargo by a contractor , and despatched to the ends of the earth—a voyage of more than 20 , 000 miles !" One hundred and ninety-four persons , precious in the Bight of their Creator as tho proud Aristocrat , or the wealthy capitalist , executed in this cruel manner either from neglect or design I!!—and which ever be the fact , hanging the millstone of deep guilt about the necks of the wronfi-doers , and calling loudly alike for the out-pouring of the phials of the wrath of Vm , without whose notice not even a sparrow falls , and for the indignation of aa insulted and outraged people .
Englishmen , picture to yourselves the fact , that some of your highly esteemed friends and leadersmen held high in estimation for their virtues and patriotism , and whose hands in all probability were never stained by crime—are about to be shipped off in like manner . Ellis and his companions , torn from their homes and victimised , are to be sent away either to find a watery grave , or as it must be evident , when such extreme carelesanasa ia shewn in the transit of convicts , to endure for lengthened term- ? , a worse than " living death" So these things are , and so they will remain ., until right prevail over might ; and the making and administration of tha law be made dependant upoa the will of the whole people .
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_ 4 THE NORTHERN STAR , , . ' . : . ¦ " ' ; . : ' ' / ' : . . " .. ' . . ' ¦
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Nov. 19, 1842, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct457/page/4/
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