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Northern Star (1837-1852), 3rd December 1842, Edition 2 of 7, Page 3, Untitled Article

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    • THE tfORTHERK STAR. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1842.
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      Untitled Article

      TO THE CHARTISTS OF GREAT BRITAIN . j MT Deau Friends . —I am sorry that any disunion j ¦ hoald eiiit in the Ct ^ irt-st raEks , and bavins a sincere desire that it may soon be drstrojed . I teg to lay before you the following suggestions , hoping , that if acted uvotl , they -Bill restore ns to that unity of action so essen- : tiVlly necessary to accomplish far an enslaved people j thfiir fae ^ donL t * i I refrain from rtafeg my own opinions W ^ ng j the csase of the disunion , lest some might asy that I ; wanted to prejudice the minds of the people again *! , ^ afaTonr of either the Executive or those members of our Association who leel diwatuaed -with thtu j wndnct- __ - , _ . . , , be healed

      In order that the disunion may , I ¦ snrcest for yonr adoption , that a . Committee of fi-re 01 t eTen Denons be decked to examine tbe plan of Organization , aiid take into consitftratlon . the conduc' . of the Executive , and if a majority of the Coraamtee aeree that they hare acted according to the Pan of Organizition , let them still hold office , and if not , let the Committee call upon the Exesntjve imme-• diatdy to resign cSce . Let the Committee have a reporter present to report their proceedings , so that their constituents may sea how ttey hare % cted and Toted . Trotting tint the Executive ¦ sill see tfee propriety of adopr . Dg some measure themselves te bring this ¦ unpleasant sSkir to a close , I remaxr , joura , Amidst all westhers and poetical storms tbe same , ' Xot . £ 9 ± , IS 42 . ' W . BEES 1 HY .

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      TO THE CHARTISTS OF TEE UNITED KINGDOM . Fcllo-w-labosrers in the cause—A-non ? the masy subjects Tfhicb merit yonr intention , aid" that of tbe working-classes generally , there is orrt to -which -we briefly thongh sincerely invite yonr imsiediate consideration It is now generally known thatfer five months we have 3 nd a powerful and consistent daily advocctc in the ' Evrnias Sta ) " newspaper , the-proprietor of which has - made , aisd is still mating , innaense sacrifices for the £ 0 od of the cause ; but it is unreasonable in "us to hope -ci expect these pecuniary -sacrifices lo be much lunger ¦ continued . In order , therefcre , to sustain the above patriotic individual , we urgently call upon the general council of the different localities , and through them upon all who wish their wrongs exposed and their few Temainini ; -rights protected , to arouse their best energies and devise means to increase the circulation of such a

      "valuable auxiliary to the Chutist cause . If each locality -throughout the kinsdom took upon an average five papers daily , we are given to understand th ? . t the proprietor would then be able to-compete successfully with any -daily journal . If only three copies were tatea by each locality , the circulation thus increased would tree the proprietor from any and every embarrassment . Under ¦ these circumstances we trust that no locality , however poor it may be , will fail in comisg immediately to the rescue . Who would wish that tbe Etxning Star should shine no more ? Who would not regret the loss of so brilliant a luminary of ihe political horizon ? Yet it is useless to coactal tbe feat that its light will be extinguished unlpss you come forward , and that too without delay , to give an impetus to its circulation , and thereby advance your own interest and that of oue of your firmest and most devoted friends . Yours , on behalf of the Metropolitan Delegate meetine , Thomas M . "Wheeler , Secretary .

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      THE EXECUTIVE . TO TH £ EDITOR OF THE XOKTHEBN S 1 AS , Dear Sib . —The recer . t disclosures must have convinced the country of the uselessness of a permanent Executive in the existing affairs of Ch&nism . A general Secretary is all that seems wanted . The salaries of the rest might be saved and the money applied to more needful purposes . The business of the Secretary should betocondnct the correspondence of the Association , and for this purpose he should have a fixed residence in some central place , to draw np addresses and to give a quarterly , half yearly , or annual report of the progress of the canse- A yearly conference might be held in iLandon , attended by delegates from all-the localities . If these hints meet the approval of our brother Chartists , I trust they will act upon them , and I remain , Tours , in the good canse , A Member of iue National Charter ASSOCIATION ; London , Nov . 25 , 1 S 42 .

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      THE EXECUTIVE BALANCE SHEET . TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERS STAR . SlB , —Your Editorial comments , in last Saturday's Star , abound with unsupported allegations against the Executive , and contain such evident misconceptions , inaccuracies , ani perversions , that I should deem myself criminal were I not to attempt a reply . May I ask , why was my explanatory letter thrown into an obscure corner of yonr paper , Trliile the Hull Councillors' correspondence with Mr . Cimpbell was pompously paraded on the front page , knowing , as 1 do , that yon received mine by the same post that con-Teyed their communicatioa ? Was there no design in this' *

      Possibly , too , Mr . Editor , _ you may find it inconvenient io coach your Btrictnres on our conduct in no leS 3 " courtesy ef expression aiidhindiy in lor . t '' than such ? ery polite terms as " robbery , " ll embfzz-ement , " " fraud , " ie . &c . Whatever onr sensitiveness may indicate of being " thin-skinned , " such a tone and phraseology certainly " speak volumes '' for the school in ¦ which the writer received his education ! But to yonr remarks on my own- case . You are ' sorry" my explanation is unsatisfactory ; and first you quarrel with my receipt of wagesj while in the West of England . You are j surprised I should find " Bath , Bristol , Chel- i tenham , and Wiltshire" classed among the new ' , districts . Yon seem willing to forget the reason of i my going thither . It is true they are not new dis- I

      tricts—I never stated they were . ' The plan of organ- j icition does not limit our receiving wages to breaking I up new districts , but extends the right to us while em- j ployed as the Association may think best—the Assoeia- tion having lodged in ns the power of executing its ' ¦ will . An application being made for my services in i that district , and the Executive comp ' ylng with that i request , and finding the West of England in a disor- ' ganizsi state , and division rampant in many loealites , j they justly deemed that compliance in strict conformity ¦ with the powers given them by the plan cf organization . ' And , bo far from my thinking it a shame in my ; brother Chartists o ! the West to accept my labours on

      those terms , I deem them highly laudable for evincing eo stem a determination to uphold tbe agitation in the j teeth of defection , opposition , division , and persecution , j But I ask for what purpose does the Association exist , if it : is not to strengthen the weak , revive the drooping , ; inspire the languid , inflame the forpiJ , ard encourage j the few brave and noble spirits strujrglin ? a . mi 4 vicisri- [ tude to perseverance and c-Dqueft ? This was our « our » e , and one which , however some msy cavil , will ; recommend itself to the intelligent and the wise . And I cannot leave this Eu ^ ject without returning my heartfelt gratitude to the •¦ men of tbe ¦ west" for the courare , ; e-eriry , prudence , and firmness vrilh which they ever supported and cheered me on .

      Your next objection urged against receiving the sum in travelling by Loughboro' to Bristol to at'end icy sffiicted partner is so absurdly preposterous , that I conld ¦ scarcely CTedit my eyes in reading it . " You cannot for the life of yen discover how I have any right more than other man to charge upon the countrythe erpence of such a ^ ouixey . " Had this journey been solely for that purpose , and net on my way back to Bristol , your objection irould have had some force , as it is , ana as I ¦ j s-as on my way back thither , and the expence was incurred on that acc&nnt , your objection is ucterly void of point—the extra sum over my former jourr . ey from Bristol to Manchester was the point o ¦ which

      t-xoianation wo * solicited . I gave it ,, and yon have not even attempts ^ to Ehow its nonconformity with the plan of -oreaniiitioa . Your next paraeraph is a floundering one—it is palpably ar . d xrossly contrary to fact . My Ski journey from Bristol to Manchester was * oi to tie Manchester Conference as yon " believe , " fent to the first sitting vt the newly-elected Executive in July , the Conference being held in August . My second journey iris to that -Conference , at which I appeared as a member of the £ xecutivf , cod -zs a representative of Bristol , Gloucester , and Cheltenham , beisg elected at those places , its bein . e . known that 1 was goir . ir there in my capacity as a member of the Executive . 1 did not Btate thf-re th&t I

      represented Svu . oCtf Chartists , but that I represented towns containing nearly that population . With regard to the plea of my being a fugitive , and that being " plea at all , " probably you win allow the ccuntry to judge whetfcer harassed , hunted , and pursued , as I was , I had & right to claim expen ' ces while I was engaged in evading the lyrx-eyed emissarits of ctspotism , and in a feeble state of ieallh . J Again , let me ask , in what part of the plan of organisation de we find it stated ihe . Executive should be " a £ ** d &&iijr in a jLted place . " I presume this is tut one of your own assumptions foe the purpose of fistening a stigma npon Mr . Campbell £ or his removal to London . If It was so , - » by not have si *> wn it , prior to the last -election , so as to hsve seemed the return of five Manchester men , or prepared the psople for onr removal to thst towE by disclosing your present extraordinary diseorery 1 I know that the ( juestion was mooted at the plan of organisation mecticg , but it was lefi oat of the plan to be settled by the discretion of the future ExecutiTe who might hold cf&te . '

      I have no"w taken probably my lai £ notice of your remarks , however gross and false you msj make them . I leave the issus to the Chartist body throughout the country . I abide by what I have tione , tod by what the Executive , aa a body , have done in these matters . Honourable and jnst as I belie * ve my coadjutors to be , with the Charter in my hand , and by their side I will stand or fall . I < eed 8 , Xov . SO , ! Si 2 . J . B ~ H . BxiRSTOvr .

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      * Certainly not . We knew no more than Mr . Bair-* tow where either of them would be till we saw the paper in print . .+ We only hope thai justice will be done by allowing like « laimj to every man nnder like circumstance . — Ed . A" .. ? .

      Untitled Article

      XO THE ZDITOB OP THE > 0 ' iTHJES STAR . Sis , in onr organization you -will find it is stated that the General Treasurer ah ? ji be elected by the General Councillors . This haf , -not been done 5 et , but at the next nomination for Execntive Committee , I am determined , should he * jtjj permit , and I am free from faction ' s dungeons , it At j -will place a person in nomination for that ef £ ce , j mention this , so that it be not lost sight of in your strictures on the organization . E . S .

      The Tfortherk Star. Saturday, December 3, 1842.

      THE tfORTHERK STAR . SATURDAY , DECEMBER 3 , 1842 .

      Untitled Article

      THE EXECUTIVE AMD THEIR DEFENCE . Elsevheee ve give the document named in oar last , and which would have been then given had we received it in time . We commend it not merely to the reading but to the careful consideration of the people . Nothing conld be further from onr principles , or from our purpose , than to deprive any man or men accused of anything of the full opportunity of making defence . We have accused the Executive of various mal-practices ; of misappropriating the hard-earned funds committed to their care ; of disregarding , in their official practiee s their own avowed principles ; of determinedly and wilfully violating the rules of that organization which it is their one duty to enforce and carry out ; and of

      attempting ta set themselves above law , and , in the name of democracy , become pure despots . We pro fed all these grave and serious matters ont of their own mouths . We offered no hearsay evidence ; no hired testimony ; we snbmitted no interested witnesses to the credence of the public : we rested rhe whole case against them on the comparison of their own published accounts with the plain printed words of those rules which they are appointed for the sole purpose of enforcing . It is the duty of the people now to read this defence of the Executive ; to read along with it the " grave charges" to which it makes reference ; to compare both with the rules of the organization , and to say whether or not the " charges" be answered .

      As an individual portion of the people , we have a right to an opinion ; we shall give that opinion , and the reasons npon which we hold it ; and the people will attach to them as much or as little value as they like . We have seldom known a document more difficult to comment on than this defence of the Executive by Messrs . Leach and Campbell ; for the simple reason , that there is nothing at all in it . The greater portien of the " long yarn" is made up of personal abuse of Mr . Hili about the "

      denunciation" of Mr . Philp and the insertion of the " Executive Sop" resolution . Now supposing every thing which Messrs . Leach and Campbell may be disposed to say upon these subjects to be true as gospel ; suppose that Mr . Philp had really been ill-treated by Mr . Hill ; suppose that Air . Hill had neyer received the u Executive Sop " resolution from Merthyr Tydvil at all ; suppose he had manufactured that resolution for the purpose ; what then I How does it affect the question ? If wa shoald mate Messrs . Leach and Campbell a

      present of all that their utmost noisiness can ask in reference to the Philp and " Sop" matters , does that meet any one of the present " charges" j against them ? Does it prove that they have not j for a long time back been pajing to one of their body ten shillings weekly out of public money without the authority of any public vote : that they have j not continued to do this in spite of both private j and public remonstrances , and of their own pledges to the contrary 1 Does all that can be said about Philp and the " Sop" afford any reason why j this transaction should be " hailed by the whole country with delight , " as Mr . Campbell says he j expected it would have been 1 Does all that can

      be said abont Philp and the " Sop" exonerate the Executive from the " charge" of disregarding , in the matters appertaining to their own office , all the principles of Chartism ? Does all that can be said about Philp and the " Sop" prove that the Executive have not wilfully set aside ' in their own transactions the organization which ihey are appointed to enforce ? These are the i matters and things to which the Executive should ' have addressed themselves in their defence ; and if all the abuse they can possibly heap upon Mr . Hill about PniLr and the " Sop" cannot answer any one of these questions , the fair inference is that it is ' resorted to for the mere purpose of diverting the ' attention of the reader from the matters really at

      . All that part of the defence which is occupied in praising Mr . Leach ' s eloquence and Dr . M"Douall's patriotism is alike beside the mark . The question at issue is not whether Leach be an able debater on j the Gorn Law question ;• the question is not whether M'DorAiL have bsen an active and energetic Char- ; tist , or whether he may or may not , at some time , ' have given his last shilling between two poor weavers . The question 5 s . whether the Executive did i or did not , without axy due authority , dip their

      hands into the bag containing the hard-earned pence ' of poor weavers , and take out thence ten shillings weekly for many manths . And this question is not at all affected by anything which may be said about Dr . M'Douall ' s patriotism , or about his : generosity , or about the improbability of either his or Leach ' s acceptance of a " sop . " Though ' whole pages should be occupied with declamation about these and like matters , it renders the fact of appropriating the funds of the As .-ociation without a ro : e of the Association , not a jjt the less unprincipled and unwarrantable .

      In like manner all their personal abuse of Mr , Hill , all their laudations of each other and themselves , and all their talk about Philp and the " sop , " affords no explanation of the many matters so much and seriously requiring it . It does uot all show why the enormous sums charged for travelling" and " agitating" expeaees should be charged to the country at all , or what rule of the organization justifiesihem . We thought our observations on these items could not be misunderstood ; but where people wish to misrepresent , it is easy to affect a misunderstanding . We are spoken of as though we had positively stated these items to be fraudulently

      charged . We have dene no such thing : we merely asked for information respecting them . All we say , or have said , is that , on the face of the balance sheet , they ought to have appeared so plainly as to show for themselves that they were not fraudulently charged . This was not the case . There was no information given to the country as to the business by wiich ibej were incurred , so as to enable the people to see that they were charged according to rule . We said that this information ought to have been given ; that the absence of it left them floating in a mist of uncertainty and vagueness , wkich , until it

      was removed , might warrant ; the suspicion that there was something unfair about them . If the Executive knew them to be all right , and if their accounts had not been so kept as to prove their Secretary to be utterly unfit for his place , it was in their power to have so explained every one of them as to remove all the liability to doubt which ought never to have existed . Instead of thus explaining , they w spin a long yarn" abont Mr . Hill ' s mischief-loving propensities , their own eloquence and patriotism , and various other matters totally irrelevant .

      Another portion of the Defence is a laborious reply to an otj . ction thai has never been started , about xhe Secretary ' s salary . We never for an instant denied that the Secretary is a permanent officer , and should have con = rant wages . We think him well

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      entitled t ^> his wage s , and are quite 6 ' jre that there is enough of work for him at & \\ times if he were able and disposed to do it . But we do think that his own published accounts , an ( i the state of the society generally , of which h e is the chief officer , afford sufficient evidence that " fle is utterly unfit for that office , because utterly incompetent to discharge its duties . This is our opinion ; we are sorry to be compelled to entertain it ; we have given onr reasons for it ; and the people w jl , of course , give it as much or as little weight as they like . The only part of this long rambling document ¦ which bears * t all upon the question , and offers for themselves * ny defence is the following : — " And caw let us tell you a a few facts as to the treatment we have received as an Executive .

      •• The 22 nd rale says ,. 'When members of the Executive shall be employed as missionaries , their salaries shall be tho same as when employed in the Council : coach-hire and one-half of any other incidental expences shall be paid to them in addition by the parties -who may require their services . " Now we can prove that the above clause has not been adhered to in the localities where we have acted as lecturers . We give the following samples ef its violation : —We went to

      Birmingham , after many strong invitations , a : d with the understanding that our travelling expences would be paid . On ihiB point , however , we were completely deceived : instead of our expences being paid , the Local Council came to a vote that they would net allow us one halfpensy , but that we should be paid from the general fund , and after being at considerable expense of coach hire and living at Birmingham , we were indebted to the kindness of a friend for tbe means to get home again .

      " We assembled again in London , and met exactly with the same treatment as in Birmingham , with the exception of the vote : in fact , we were obliged to borrow money from Mr . Cleave to bring us home . We could lay before you scores of such cases if it were necessary , but we think the above quite sufficient . " This , like all the rest , is sufficiently blunderingly stated . There is no twenty-second rule in the organization . The eighteeenth rule does say , nearly , but not exactly what is here quoted . It perhaps might not be too much to expect the President and the Secretary to quote correctly from the rules of the association ; but we will take the quotation as it stands .

      The observations following and 'founded upon this quotation seem to us to contain a tacit admission that the sums charged as " travelling " and " agitating " expenses , are , some of them at least , improperly charged to the country , instead of to the respective localities , on account of which they were incurred t and the effort is to shift the blame of this irregularity from the Executive to the localities . This is , at best , but a lame effort . It is the duty of the Executive to see that the localities do comply with the rules of the organintion ; that is the single one duty for which they were appointed—the single one duty of which , as it seems to us , they have never attempted the

      performance . Kad they carefully regulated their own acts by the rules of the association ; and had they rigorously insisted upon a compliance with those rules by all its officers and members , we cannot think that they would have found much difficulty in obtaining that compliance from particular parties , under such circumstances as they state in reference to Birmingham and London . Giving , then , all credit to their statements of the treatment , they received from all these places , they do not , on their own showing , justify themEelves . There can be no doubt that if they had appealed against ill-treatment to the body by whom they were appointed ,

      that body , if it could not even have redressed , would , at all events have prevented the recurrence of such things . If the Executive went to Birmingham as missionaries , at the invitation of the Birmingham people , their travelling charges , their salaries , and one half of their incidental expences onght , by the plain rule of the Organization , to have been paid by the Birmingham members , so long as they were so employed . And if the Birmingham councillors refused to comply with the organization , it was their duty to have then and there appealed to the Birmingham members ; to have shown them the plain bearing of the rale , the necessity of its being complied with , and the

      injustice that would be inflicted on their mseh poorer brethren in many other parts , if those expenses , which of right appertained to that locality , should be charged to the general fund . Thi 3 is what the Executive ought to have done , if their statement be correct . If they had done bo there can be no doubt that the whole matter would have been set right . The whole question , however , of the liability of Birmingham hinges on the point of whether they went there as missionaries , and at lherequcstoflhe Birmingham people . If they did there can be no doubt that Birmingham ought to have paid , and ought yet to pay , those expences . If they did not ; if they merely |

      went to Birmingham because it suited their own pleasure and convenience to remove their sittings there , they ought then to pay their travelling and other extra charges out of their own pockets . The country has decided by the resolution of a National Delegate Meeting that the Executive shall sit in Manchester ; no power but that of another National Delegate Meeting , or a general rote of all the members of the Association , can alter tlmt decision . It is quite clear , therefore , that if the Executive chose to move from Manchester to Birmingham , not as Missionaries , but as an Executive to hold a session , they had no right to charge

      the country with the expence . If , however , they went there at the request of Birmingham , if they had been solicited to go and agitate in and around Birmingham , because there was a prospect of doing good to the cause , and if , in consequence of such solicitation , they went there to hold a portion of their session , sitting aa a committee during the day , and labouring as agitators in the evening , which we rather think to have baen the case , it then appears plain that their salaries might be charged to tbe general fund , but that their travelling and all extra expences ought to have been defrayed by Birmingham . And any

      refusal on the part of Birmingham to do this , was a gross violation , not only of the terms of the organization , but of the principles of equity and justice . The same remarks will , of course , apply to London , and every other place in which the Executive have been treated as they say they have in these two . We are informed by Mr . Bairstow that the localities in and around Manchester never defray any expences incurred by members of the Executive in lecturiug , and that , consequently , all these expenses are of necessity charged to the country under the head agitating expenses . All we can say is , that , if this

      be so , it is shameful ; it is a gross fraud upon every other part of the association . Our observations last week , in reference to Mr . Bairsiow ' s lecturing in the West of England , are equally applicable here ; we think it a shame that North Lancashire , Leicestershire , Nottinghamshire and other poor districts which pay their owe local lecturers , should also pay lecturers for such places as Manchester , Birmingham , London , Bristol , &c . It is clearly unreasonable to suppose that the Executive can defray out of their salaries travelling or other expenses incurred in lecturing .

      If , therefore , these be net paid by the localities , and if their services be still required as lecturers , we see not what else they can do but charge to the general fund , though clearly unwarranted by the organization . If this be the true statement of the case , it is clearly in the power , and it is as clearly the duty , of the Association to remedy the grievance for themselves . All the members , and all the general councillors , either know the rules or ought to know them . Let them see that they adhere to them themselves , that the Executive may have no excuse for deviation . If no attention is to be paid by any lody to the organiiation , it may as well be given up at once ; there is no use in merely tantalizing ourselves and the country with it .

      While , however , we enforce upon the members and General Councillors especially , their share of attention to the requirements of the organizition , we do not forget that the one single duty of the Executive , the sole thing for which they are appointed , is to attend to this very husinas . Their great fault seems to us to be , that they have been always labouring after usefulness as lecturers and agitators , instead of attending to the simple duties of

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      their offico ; the consequence of which is , that while by them and others , our principles have been widely extended throughout the whole country , our Associ ation is , in fact , no association at all , but a huge mass of crude , shapeless elements , without form or comeliness . There is no regular correspondence , and due understanding kept np amongst us , there is no sameness of system and adherence to rule , and consequently no power , whic' ^ r there certainly ought . to be , of bending and directing the whole energies of the whole people towards any given point at any given time . This is to be effected by organization , and only by organization . All the agitation in the

      world will never do it . Tho organization of the National Charter Association , worked by an efficient Executive—aye , even by a Secretary alone , of clever and business-like habits , and who would mind his own work , and keep to it , might in a few weeks , with the co-operation of the people , be made so perfect , as that that Secretary might at any time , in two or three posts , have the opinion , upon any given question , of every member of the Association . But he must be a Secretary of a very different caste from the one we now have ; he must be a man who knows the organisation , and is able to instrucf others in its management .

      We hope the people will take the whole matter into consideration . It is high time . Nothing is so vital to the movement as a due at ' ention to organisation . It is clear that the persons now composing the Executive lack either the disposition or the peculiar kind of talent for attending to it . Their forte is agitation . As agitators they are energetic and useful . There may be enough of occupation found for them in the sphere which is most suited to them . It is more reasonable and more right for each distinctive locality to pay its own lecturer than for us to have a body of men under the name

      of an Executive , who are , in fact , merely lecturers occupying the best and most cultivated : grounds of Chartism ac the expeuce of the poorest and least , cultivated . We suggest , therefore , that in future the Executive consist of a Secretary and four unpaid members resident in London , Birmingham , Nottingham , Leeds , or any other place on which the people may determine . We are decidedly of opinion that an efficient Secretary ia the only paid officer needed in our movement , and that with such a functionary—aw efficient man— . having the advice and assistance in the concoction of documents , &c . of a Committee chosen from the

      General Councillors in his own locality , the orgazization may be well worked without any recurrence of the evils which have originated the present very painful , but we hope very useful and profitable discussion . This is the course adopted by our Scottish friends , who beat us hollow at sober , clearheaded arrangement . Our readers will perceive that it is recommended to them by a communication in this day ' s paper . That communication is from a tried and valuable friend to the cause . One who has seen much and suffered much in it ; and whose opinion desesves the best attention of the people .

      Our readers will see also , a communication from Mr . Beeslet recommending the appointment of a Committee to inquire whether the present Executive have violated the organization or not . That , of course , is a proposal for the people to consider . To us it seems a farce ; the more especially as the Executive have already admitted that the organization has been violated , by refusing to defend their own acts and meeting the charges against them with mere bluster and blash .

      To our mind it is of much mare consequence to prevent these things in future than to trouble ourselves about the past . That which is past cannot be recalled ; but the people may make past errors a beacon for the future . We recommend therefore that the whole matter be taken up by all the localities , at onco ; thct tho members and councillors meettogthcr and deliberateupon tho subject ; that they endeavour to keep in mind the whole question and to keep out of mind everything but the question—the duties of the Executive and the manner in which they have been performed ; that they lay the

      balance sheet—not the last merely , but the last three balance sheets and the organization both before them , and examine them together ; that they read in connection therewith , the letters of the Hull Councillors to the Executive—the . articles in the Northern Star of this and the last two weeks , and especially all that the Executive have said for themselves in explanation and defence ; that they weigh all these carefully and dispassionately , using their own clear sense of right and wrong , and their own appreciation of principle ; not suffering

      themselves to be led or biassed , either by us or by the Executive , but judging fairly from the evidence which lies before them , and recording their opinions in firm , clear , and temperate language . 1 The matter is one fraught with as much importance as any that has occupied the public mind for along time . We ask not , therefore , that the people should take us for a guide ; but that they should divest themselves of prejudice , and view the whole subject in the clear light of common sense and Chartist principle . We warn them that the consequences of mistake may not be easily rectified or averted .

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      THE APPROACHING CONFERENCE . COURSE OF THE ELECTIONS .

      ALARM OF THE STURGE PARTY . SOLUTION OF THE MYSTERY WHY CHARTISTS" WISH TO " GET RID OF FEA . RGUS . " The 27 th of December will soon be here i On that day the Conference of Delegates , appointed by the people in open public meetings , in their respective localities , conformably to a request issued by Mr . Joseph Stcrge , of Birmingham , on behalf

      of the General Council of the Complete Suffrage Association , will meet to prepare a Bill to be proposed to Parliament , to secure the real representation of the whole people . Several of the localities have elected their delegates ; others are preparing to do so ; and circumstances so combine , as to make this meeting one of the most important ever convened . Or holden , in connection with that Movement , which has had , and has , for its first object the assertion of the principle of universal right .

      The struggles connected with that Movement , have been long and arduous ! The conflicts have been many and severe . ' The persecuting hand of power has been laid on with heavy effect upon the advocates of , and firm adherents to , the cause : of Universal Suffrage . From the first hpurofthe proposal of that measure by Henry Hunt , as the only likely means to secure & Radical Reform of the Commons House of Parliament , up to the present moment , there has been a continued tffjrt on the part of Government to put the agitation down ; and a continued resistance on the part of the working

      people against the persecuting acts of the Government . In this resistance the working people have been " alone in their glory . " They have not had the co-operation , or even the countenance , of any of the classes above them in point of station . Nay , those classes , one and all , have been arrayed against them . Each one , and all , have accused them of the most villainous '' designs upon the property of the country . " Each one , and all , ' have'fainted-on-the Government to " silence the grumbling rascals , " whose " only aim was to uproot the foundations of society , and produce anarchy and confusion , so that they might have the chance of possessing themselves of the wealth of their neighbours through a general

      scramble . " Each one , and all , have joined in Volunteer Associations to aid the Government in putting down tho " ragged rascals , " who wished to "destroy Our glorious Constiution , by inciting the people to revolt , and by spreading disaffection and sedt ' ton amongst the labouring poor . " Yeomanry corps have been embodied and used , with terrific effect , to accomplish this purpose . The dungeon , the halter , and the block , have also been used . Imprisonments , and hangings , and beheadings , have been resorted to , to put down the demand for such a Radical Reform aa would restore to each male adult in the kingdom that share in the representation of the country which Blackstone says the Constitution awards him !

      And yet all these means have failed ! The dcmand for Universal Suffrage , and the conviction that it alone can give us a Parliament that will or can , honestly apply itself to ascertain the causes of our numerous social and political evils , with a view to the application of a simple ^ yet efficient , remedt , is stronger and more generally entertained than ever ! The Conference to be holden in Birmingham

      on the 27 th instant , 13 ostensibly called to give effect to that increased demand and growing conviction . It is ostensibly called to prepare a Bill to be proposed to Parliament , to enact that Universal Suffrage in the choice of members to the Commons ' House shall become law . This is the ostensible object of tbe promoters of that convocation of Delegates . And the people in answering the call made upon them to elect Delegates , are taking the necessary steps to realize that ostensible object .

      They are electing in all parts , men who have been long known to them by their stedfast and firm adherence to the principle of Universal Suffrage : ; men who have borne the heat and the burden of the day ia the advancement of that principle ; men who have proved : their devotion to it , by braving imprisonments , and enduring persecution in its infinity of shapes . The people are taking the only meaas that exist to secure the end tbe originators of this conference say they have in view , by sending to it men whose whole life and character is a guai antee that there

      will be no flinching from principle ; no deviation from the one right straight-forward course ; no temporizing ; no coquetting ; no compromises ; no bargaining ; no SELtrNG . The people are taking this , the only course that men honestly fixed upon ihe attainment of their object could , possibly take . ' and yet , the evincement of their determination to secure the ostensible ends of the promoters of that Conference , has caused ALARM and dissatisfaction amongst those same promoters !! They openly confess their s urprise and disappointment at this answer to their appeal !

      Now , why is this ? What cause is there for ALARM ! What reason for either dissatisfaction , or surprise ? Why should the concoctors of that conference be disappointed ? They profess to bo admirers and advocates of the principle of Universal Suffrage . To promote the legislative adoption of that principle , they call upon the people to elect a number of delegates to embody that principle into a . document ,

      called a Bill , to be laid before Parliament . Tho people respond to that call , by electing men to sit in the Conference Chamber whose past conduct proves them to be worthy of the people's confidence , inasmuch as it is a guarantee that they will honestly apply themselves to the business for which they are called together ; and yet surprise , and dissatisfaction , and ALARM is manifested by those who have issued the invitation to tho people to confer together ! Again , weask , "why is this X

      It is the result of the Birmingham election that has principally caused this ALARM ! The Birmingham people , having been called together in puhlic meeting , choose Mr . O'Connor , Mr . George White , and two other well-known Chartists , along with two members of the Christian Chartist Church , to represent them in the coming CoSveresce . It is this result with which the callers of that Conference are dissatisfied .

      Our readers know the history of the Sturge movement . They know that that movement was not determined on till every other effort to cajole the people from the advocacy of Universal Suffrage had failed ! They know that scheme after scheme was planned and developed for accomplishing this purpose . They know that they were denounced as "impracticable , " because they did not join in with the Anti-Corn-Law party , in endeavouring to procure a " practicable" measure , the repeal of the Corn-Laws . They know that the dodge of " Extension of the Suffrage" was also tried : and they cannot have

      forgotten the Fox and Goose Club scheme at Leeds , which was to amuse the people with Household Suffrage , while the foxes " got rid , " as Dan said " of Feargue . " They know that the Sturge movement for " Complete Suffrage was never heard of 'till it was plainly apparent that the Anti-Corn-Law party eculd not possibly obtain the public ear ; could not get tie public to listen even to their nostrum for relieving the country from the dire distress and " aufie ' ri . ig it endured . The people know that it was not ¦' Jill , "natters has assumed this shape

      it was not ' till the advocates of " cheap food" and " low wages" were l / 'terally driven irom off the public stage ; it was not ' till the working people had evinced an unconquerable determination not to relax in their efforts to obtain US i ^ ehsal Suffrage , as » means of securing the end of good and honest government : the people kuov that it was not ' till the agitation for tho Charter , had superceded all other agitations , and frustrated the designs of the . Free-trade-Poor-Law-enforcing p * -y to make their question the question of the day : ^ 0 peo ple know

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      that it was not till political agitation bore this aspect , that the Sturge movement w&s even heard of ! They know also , that the main movers in th » t movement , were , and are , Corn-Law Repealers , and supporters of the horrible New Poor Law in all its atrocity I The Sturge movement , however , at tho juncture just described , was made . It professed to have fer its object tho enfranchisement of the people . _ Its promoters advocated what they were pleased to call Complete Suffrage ; defining their " completeness " to be just that which every body understood by the term Universal . They formed themselves into a new political Association , ! and asked the people to join ¦ them in it . They adopted the Yoncdnfonniti newspaper as their organ of communication with the public ; and it is with the lament of that organ as to the result of the Birmigham election , that we now purppso to deal . ;

      Wo have already detailed the result of the election just named . We have already stated that the people of Birmingham chose Mr . O'Connor and Mr . White , and two other backbone Chartists to sit as their representatives in the coming Conference , along with two of . Mr . Sturge ' s friends . It may be well to remark too , that the public meeting which made this choice , was called by Mr . STunGe ' sown fiarty ; and that that gentleman presided on the

      occasion . . . Respecting the " election thus made the Nonconformist of November 23 rd , has the following remarks : — " The result of the election of delegates for Birmingham to the ensuing conference , recorded in our columns last week , took us , we honestly confess , so : ue-¦ what by surpriae . TVe cannot but admitftbat , every deduction having been made en the score of the comparative Bmallness of the meeting , occasioned by the arbitrary conduct of the Town Hall authorities , and of local irritation , excited by a fancied slight , put upon an active Chartist agitator by Mr . Sturge and the Council—the rejection of four out of six names

      nominated by the Council of the union , and the jmbstitutton in their room of avowed foes to the Complete Suffrage Movement , wears an ugly / appearance . We canbot conceal from ourselves , nor shall we attempt to conceal from our readers , that the same game may be ! played in many other places . We know the advan- , tages possessed by an unscrupulous and organised minor- . ity over undisciplined numbers , however superior in priint of real force . We are quite alive to the danger , which , probably , none have foreseen more clearly than ; Mr . Feargus O'Connor and his staff of agitators , of scaring , by means ' . of successful insolence , back into inaction , if not iuto opposition , all those of the midiilo class who have but recently given in a timid adherence to the great principle advocated by the Union . We

      foresee that , here and there , men who would h : ive done battle / or the unenfranchised , will not do battle ' - vrtOt them ; and'that many a heart which would have been content to strive * n behalf of just principles , will decline to take any part in a conflict , tbe issue of which turns only upon persons . Should , therefore , the main object of the Birmingham Conference be defeated , although we cannot say we expect such a result , we shall' not , after what has already occurred , be overwhelmed with astonishment . Such a calamity need not be , ought not be , will not be , if tho avowed friends , of Complete Suffrage are active , prudent , and firm ; but , looking to all the bearings of tho case , it would be childish to blink the conclusion that such a calamity nay be . "

      The surprise of the Sturge party , at the result of the Birmingham election is here openly avowed . Now , for the life of us we cannot see , what thero is to be " surprised" at , if the callers of the coming Conference expected or required its sittings to bo attended by men whose firm adherence to the principle of Universal Suffrage conferred upon them ¦ peculiar fitness for the task of embodying that principle in a Bill , and surrounding it with proper details to ensure its due and honest working . The . men who were so chosen ; at least the four who we assume have caused the " surprise" here trumpeted

      forth , are knoicn asi long-tried and earnest advocates of the main principle the Sturge party profess to Tiave at heart ; and yet they are "surprised " that the people of Birmingham , who know what their services have been ; who know the devotion they have evinced ; who have been witnesses of the efforts they have made : they are " surprised" that the people of Birmingham , who know ail this , should prefer such men to men whose profession even of the principle of Universal Suffrage is but of yesterday's date ! Really this expression of " stirprise" under such circumstances , is very '' surprising" !!

      The writer adduces several - reasons to account , in part , for the " ugly " result he deplores . One of them is local irritation , excited by ^ fancied slight put upon an active Chartist agitator by Mr . Sturgb and the Complete Suffrage Council . " This refers , wo opine . to thefamous" NO" of Mr . Stuuge and his compeers to the application for assistance towards the defence of the persecuted and imprisoned George White . We know not to what extent "local irritation " may have been excited by that " slight" ; but we do know , that if the remembrance of that '' NO " influenced the people of Birmingham in thoir answer of " NO " to four of Mr , Sturge ' s nominees , and in tho return of White himself , under

      Stiihge ' s nose , the action , reflects upon them tho highest honour and credit ! It is honourable alike to the head and the heart . White is amaa who has served them faithfully and earnestly . According to the Nonconformist himself , he is " aa active Chartist leader . " His services have been deemed worthy of governmental attention . Twice has he been laid by the heels ; and his zeal and devption have only become the more plainly appa- ' rent . When he was under bonds ; when he was immured in one of the cells of . Warwick Gaol ; when he enduring tho full weight of Tory persecution ; when he was awaiting his "trial , " where ho would be enabled , the pecuniary means being

      forthcoming , to expose in all its hideous deformity , tho system of espionage and spyism re&orted to by the authorities to entrap poor simple-minded men ; wfcen his poor but faithful friends were trying to raisa ¦ those necessary pecuniary m ^ ans , application was made to Mr . Joseph Stuiige . To whom could application have been more proper ? Mr . Sturge bears the character of a philanthropist , Piulanthrophy would aid uny man , under Euch circumstances . But the applicants had a right to calculate . on political sympathy . "Mr . Whitk was a Chartist ¦;¦"¦ in other words an " nc ( ive" advocate of the principlcs . of Universal Svffrage . Mr . Stuiige professed to be the eamo . To him , therefore , and to his friends , was the application most properly madet A plain , simple , unqualified"Is' 0 , " wa 3 : the answer ! If this " slight" did cause " local

      irritation , and dictated the" NO" of the Birmingham people , ic does them infinite honour ! "We know the advantages possessed by an unscrupulous and organised minority over undisciplined numbers , however iSU FER I OR . in point of real force . " Thus writes the Nonconformist ! What does it mean ? Does it mean that an ! ' * unscrupulous minority ' elected the Birmingham Delegates in the face of an " undisciplined majority ? " If it does not mean this , pray what does it mean ? If it does mean this , the advantages possessed by 6 uch " minority" over such " majority " were great indeed ! But what was Mr . Stuk « e , about , to let the " minority" enjoy such an advan- ¦ tage as to have the election to themselves ! Did he really decide in favour of the " minority ? " II he did , his character for uprightness is not worth much !

      It is amuzing to notice what nonsense an angry defeated man will sometimes talk to take the edge off his defeat , and soften his fall . The sentence just quoted is a sample in point . Th « ' pets of the Noneonformist were put on one side ; and other , . and , in the opinion of the Birmingham people , better men elected ¦ ija' their stead . Forthwith the . Nonconformist talks iabout " unscrupulous and organized minorities" triumphing over " undisciplined majorities ! " Nay , in his anger and blindness , he avers that such minority will always have an advantage " over undisciplined numbers , HO WEYER SUPERIOR in point of real force . " What arrant nonsense I

      The " surprise" occasioned by this election leads our friend into some other ¦ surprising" statements and admissions . He avows that the result of this election , if followed up in a similar manner throughout the country , may end in a defeat-of the main , object for which the Conference is called . ' This ia a curious admission .- The Conferencc is avowedly cailed to prepare a bill , embodying tho principles of- 'Universal Suffrage . The election of delegates pledged to ' .-maintain Universal Suffrage to the last gasp ,, may end in the dtfeat of that

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      RECEIPTS OF THE EXECUTIVE FOR THE WEEK TENDING NOV . 29 th , 1 E 42 . Losdon—Ciockhouse 0 5 0 „ ilichmond 0 5 0 Lcvres 0 3 0 &ar offi . ee - 2 12 Oh £ 3 5 Oi

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      Since writing the above , we observe in the Evening Star of Wednesday evening , which we have just received , a portion of a letter , in reference to the subject , from M'Douall . It seems to have been written for the Northern Star ; but , for what reason we know not , it has not been sent to us . A part only of the letter is given in the Evening Star , with a promise for its continuance this ( Thursday ) evening . Of course we can neither give it nor reply to it , until we have seen the whole ; and before

      the arrival of the Evening Star with the latter portion of it , our paper will have been at press somo sixteen hour 3 . We may just observe , in reference to the portion which has appeared , that its tone is of an altogether different character from that of the blundering bluster of Messrs . Leach and Campbell . For the present , we content ourselves with giving , from the portion which has been published , the following acknowledgment of the accuracy and justice of all that we have said about the ten shillings a-week business : —

      " You say that was contrary to rule- So it was . " This is all that we have , said about the matter . For the parallel case , by us given week before last , and out of which so much bluster about "robbery , " and " fraud , " and " transportation" has arisen , the Doctor and his colleagues may thank , not us , but their Secretary , Mr . Campbill , who forced us to show him that his expectation of the whole country going into fits of " delight" about it , was a little absurd . We suppose this admission of the Doctor ' s , and the admission of Mr . Leach before the South Lancashire Delegate Meeting , that he could not defend that act of tho Executive , together With the assertion of Mr . Ba £ 2 STOw , made in our hearing , tnat he knew nothing of it , and was astounded when

      he saw it in the Balance Sheet , will settle all the bluster about our havisg been actuated by some private malice or sosse petty revenge in the " denunciation" of it ; and will show pretty satisfactorily that we ha ^ re only done that which it was our duty to d ©; and which if we had not done , we should have deserved to be denounced . We dismiss this taatter with this observation th&t we think it a . little odd that the " sense of justice" about which the Dr . writes very well , did did not prompt him to send this letter at once to us . Meantime we may observe that we see nothing in it to shake , but much to strengthen , every position we have taken ; and many strong arguments for the recommendation we have above given to the people , in reference to the future settlement of the Executive .

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      Extraordin ary Increase in Potatoes . —Mr . R , KiHd , of Briery Close , near Ambleaide , planted three potatoes last spring in his garden , the enormous increase of wbicn , when taken out of the ground , may be judged from the fact that the produce weighed eleven stone and a half .

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      4 . TH E NORTHERN STAR . " - '

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Dec. 3, 1842, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct459/page/3/