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THE NORTHERN STAR " . SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1B43.
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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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ZwEKDS Pabker , Shore , akd Company ' s Bakkkctict . —The proof of debts ucder the bank xnpwy of Messrs . Parker , Shore , and Co ., of Sheffield , tock place at ihe Districi Court of Bankruptcy here , on Wednesday and yesterday ( Fwday ) . The iotal amount proved amounted to £ 18 o , 55 i— -not store cne-ibira of ihe liaoiities . Yesterday afternoon the choice of assignees took place , when , after some opoosrion , ihree gentlemen who had been Dominated by a committee of gentlemen of Sheffield , ¦ were appointed by ihe Commissioner ; Mr . Broomhead , solicitor , applying for the appointment to be postponed . The gentlemen appointed were : Thos . ± > uim , -Eeq * Sheffield ; John T . Leather , Esq ., Sheffield - and Wm . Smith , Esq . of . Portobello , near Sheffield . Mr Broomhead proposed no other liBt , bui spplied to hare the name of Mr . John Newbould sirifetitnted for ihat of Mi . Dnnn .
1 XPOBMA 33 O 5 VKDSB THK llIPROVXHEKT ACT . —On Saturday last , Parktr Brook atd . Robert Knapton Were charged before the magistrates at the Court Bouse with noisy and abneivc condu " ct in die street ^ ana at ihe police office . Policeman Speed met the prisoners at the top of George-street , . on the same morning abont one o ' clock ; they were making a great disturbance and he told them they had better jo quietly home , upon which they attacked him Trim very abnave epithets and said be was drunk . Isot being able to quell their violence , he ioik them both inio custody to the police p ffite . Mr . Superintendent James said he was in the office when , tiis prisoners were brongbt in ; £ ri > oi behaved in the most violent manner , and
Xa&ae use of very disgusting and blackguard language , so much so thai ihe officer wh « h&d brought them in could not state the charge against them . He aiso dared him ( Mr . James ) w lock Jaem up , and threatened that if he did he would coaaitiice an action against him . On being called on "b y he magistrates , Brook sa : d it was ail spite and Bia . iee on the part of Mi . James , who locked him up bc&iase he knew he was assisting a person named Ckn « h to commence an action against him . He contended thai James had no power to lock him up , bau having been tendered for nis appearance . The Beuchj-aLer reading the clause in the Improvement Act { the 230 th ) , under which the information had been laid , and the clause in the Municipal Act , which rests a discretionary power in the superintendent of police , as 10 whether he will accept bail or not , told Broeke that he had clearly acted wrong , and had rendered himself liable to a fine of forty
shillings , which they , having tho power , should mitigate to twenty , which , with the costs , he must pay , or be committed for fourteen days . "Knapion was fined 10 s . and costs . The following is the clause in the Improvement Act , nnder which the conviction took place : — " Toat every person who shall within any street in the borough ., be guilty of any riotous or indeoens behaviour , and also every person who snail be guilty of any indecent behaviour in any Policeoffice or Police-station house , in the borough , shall be liable to a penalty of not more than forty shillings for eTtry such offence ; and if he shall not immeai-» te ' y upon conviction pay suchpenalty , together with the costs of conviction , it shail be lawful ior either of the justices before whom he is convicted or for aiiy other justice to commit suon offender to the jail or house of correction of the borough , for any time not exceeding fourteen d : ys , unless the said penalty and all costs be sooner paia . "
Hackxet Coach Faxes . —On Saturay last , Mr . George Bolton , hackney coach proprietor , appeared at ihe Court House , to support a charge against Oliver IKaicy , Usq ., an officer in the 73 d regiment , on the reoruiung staff in this town . The complain ant stated , that on the Monday previous , he was fcrciied eff the stand in Briggate by the defendant ' s servant : he went to Ms residence in Springfield Place , waited ten miontes , and afterwards drove the defendant and Ms l&dy t 9 Elmwood Place , the fare for which was 2 s . winch he had demanded , and which had been refused , Mi . D ' Arey offering first 1 b . and then Is . Sd . being what he states he had paid before . The magistrates decided that the charge m = a proper one , &nd ordered it to be . paid with COoiB .
Cohxecai . op a SoucrroB ' s Clkrx—On Monday last , George Jenkins , late clerk to Messrs . Payne , Eddison , and Ford , solicitors , who , we stated last week , had absconded , was folly committed to York Castle for trial at the asnzes , on a charge of having embezzled a sum of £ 4 9 j . 4 d ^ which he had received from Joseph Jowitt , Esq ., oJ Potiernewton , and also of having abstracted a £ f > note from a desk in his employer ' s office , which had been entrusted to another clerk ( James Strickland ) to pay some rates with . This note was taken by Jenkins on the morning he absconded . He was apprehended at Blackwattr in Surrey .
formox to Attsssticss . —On Tuesday List , a youth named George May , an apprentice with Mr . Lord , machine-maker , was brought up at the Coorthoose , on a charge preferred against him by his master of neglect of work , and destroying tools and machinery . Mr . Lord , and his overlooker , deposed to several charges against the lad , which , being unable to Tebut , and his father declining to accede to any terms for cancelling the indenture , he was sent to Wakeficld for a month . THB MABSH XiAJfS SfcWBE . —This undertaking is
jva ^ &e , anil tmxing rae progresss of their work , the excavators have come in contact with two old roads , one at the depth of about four feet , and the other at about seven feet below the present level of Ihe load . The lower one appears to have been laid with large gravel , and the upper one to have been pav&d with sets . They are both so firm thai ihe men have great difficulty in breaking them up . Their discovery has lea to the hypothsas that they have been ancient roads to the Temple Newsome estate , and that the bridge now called Timble Bridge , has been originally denominated ** Temple Bridge . "
ISFORMATIOH CUDEB THE IhFBOVKHEMT Ad . — On Tuesday last , Mr . Joseph Can , farmer , of Horsforth , was summoned to the Court House , on an information laid againBt him by one of the officers cf police , under the 227 th section -of the Improvement Act , for having emptied a privy and removed sight soil at an improper hour . The offeisce was proved to have been committed on Friday last , at neon , in Park Lane . The defendant was fined in the mitigated penalty of 5 s ., together with 8 s . 6 d . costs .
&OBBEKT- —Between Saturday night and Monday morning Ia 3 t , the office of Messrs . Bloome and Gatliffe , solicitors , Commercial-street , was entered by thieves through the back , of the premises , by breaking a window . The thieves obtained for a booty , four £ 5 notes of the bank of Messrs Beckett and Co ., 15 sovereigns , % nd some silver , with which they sot dear off , and of coarse have not been since heard of . A Mjlh Fbozes to Dbath . —On Wednesday morning last , at an tally hour , an aged man named John fisher , gardener , of Cvlion , ntar Rothwell , was found dead at Rotiwell Haigh . He had been at Leeds on the previons day , and having indulged too much in ale , it is supposeo . that when he was returning home at a late hour of the night , he had fallen down , and being intoxicated , he had not been able to reeovfcr his feet again , and he had been starved or frozen to death , the frost being very severe that night *
Child Bubkt . —On inquest was held yesterday , on Joseph Barnes , who had resided with his parents , » t Woodhouse , who was so severely burnt by his clothes taking fire on the € Ui inst ., as to cause his death on Thursday . Verdict—Accidental . He was four years of s . &e . Fatal Coal-Pit Accidzsi . —A young man named Joseph Speight , a harrier , at Robinson ' s pit , Beeston , was , yesterday morning , killed by a piece of coal falling f-cm the top of the pit on to him . The pit is about forty yards deep , and the piece of coal Tfas not much larger than an egg ; it struck him , however , on the neck , over the jugular vein , and killed Mm instantly , the blood gushing from Ms ear . It is supposed he was looking upwards with his head on one side , when the accident happened .
IUXKEFXRKKCB BT A POLICE SeBOEAST . —It has been the practice , from time immemorial , we believe , for poor men out of employ , and wanting a jtb as porters or in any other capacity , to take their stand on the fiigs at the top of Kirkgate . They have done so without interference nutil very lately , when a newly " amalgamated" sergeant thought proper to order them off , on pain of being locked up . The poor fellowB remonstrated , and stated fairly the case to him , telling him their situation . He was , however , deaf to their complaint , and insultingly told them to go home , or go to hell , or go anywhere , but there they should not be . We should like to know under whose orders this " amalgamated" puppy , 1 with the parish letters on his collar acted . We are sure the respectable portion of the police know nothing of such orders .
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Bxtraoeduubt EscAPK . —A miraculons preservation of life occurred the other day at one of the Brunswick Coal Company ' s "Works , in Bean Forest . . A . man employed in sinking a pit was being lowered xq a bucket , when , by some accident , the handle was let go , and the poor fellow was precipitated to the bottom , abont ninety feet in depth , and six feet in water , the bucket covering him like » bee-hive . Now comes the singular part of the story ; the bucket had been re-wound about haltway , "when the cries of their comrade for those at the
top to- torn quickly or he muBt let 30 his hold , came unexpec tedly upon their ears . His wish was comi > lied with , and a few minutes saw him standing on £ l n ^ pf-frflTmrt , and having marveHouBly held with a hand *> a either side the bucket the whole distance , iUfcou gh it Tfas bottom upwards . —Bristol Gazette . ^ OBS . Cois MiSKET i FKB 11 . —We aro shortly snwHediwia Grain w-dnj . Our farmers areask-¦§? muchiigher prices for wheat , but we eannot ^ te i ^ idTance of more than Is per qr . on the S ? i £ 5 S ^ &riey the turn dearer ; Oats aad BetnaasWore .
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DTL M'DOUALL , THE HLLL COUNCILLORS , FEARGUS O'CONNOR , AND THE NORTHERN STAR . We have received from Mr . O'Connor for publication the following letter ; a copy of which had been previously received here , addressed " To the ditor oti ^ Northern Star . "
TO rEABGUS O ' CONNOR , ESO > Sib ., —I am directed , to inform you that at a council meeting held this evening , a member of the council , and who was a member of the late council , introduced the letter of the late councillors to you in reference to M'DouaU and the Executive , wben the following resolution was adopted : — "That we highly approve the letter of onr brethren the late councillors to F . O'Connor , Esq ., now readthat we think the said letter ought to appear in the Northern Star , and that a copy of it be transmitted theref ere to the Editor and Proprietor , with a request for its insertion ; aud that if it cannot appear on other terms , we pay for it as an advertisement . " I am , Sir , Tery respectfully yours , J . Asban , Secretary .
TO FEABGUS O'CONNOR , ESQ . Deab Sik , —In your letter " To the Working Classes" published in the Northern Star of Saturday last , we have seen with great surprise a statement , purporting to be sn extract from a letter to yourself , aa E < litor of the Evening Sktr , t > y McT > aaaH ; the tendency of -which is to piaoe us before the people in the most unfair and dishonest light , of denouncing , public and through the press , that in which we had privately expressed our acquiescence . The statement to which we refer is contained in the following words : —
" Hs says , in speaking of the 10 a a week , ' what was my duty , if the 10 s . "was objected to ? To resign it . Well ; an objection came from HulL A correspondence between Campbell and the Hull Councillors ; the « nd of -which was , as far as I was concerned , the transmission by Grasby , the Secretary , of a written resolution , purporting to be the de iberate vote of the Hull Councillors , in which they declare their perfect satisfaction -with the 10 s . additional any week to me . Now , Sir , you must , at once , see that , when taken in connection with the position we have all along held is reference to the acts of the Executive ( and particularly this act of theirs ) , and the resolutions we have recently published upon the subject , this statement places
our character for consistency and honesty , in & light of contemplation that must make it odious to every good mind , and which , therefore , not merely gives us the right , but absolutely compels us to demand , to be heard in contradiction . We beg to inform you , Sir , that we -were in office as councillors at the time when this resolution , " purporting to be the deliberate vote of the Hull councillors , " is alleged to have been transmitted by Mr . Grasby , the Secretary . No such resolution w&a ever adopted by ihe Hull councillors . No such resolution -was ever discussed by the Hull Councillors . No such resolution -was ever proposed to the Hell councillors ; nor , bo far a we know , hinted at , Dor even contemplated by any ef them . Mr .
Graiby could not , therefore , have had their authority . for any such resolution , purporting to be their deliberate vote . The Hull Councillors , Sir , have held always one opinion upon the subject to which tw * resolution is affirmed to have had reference . They hold that opinion still which they held then , and which they expressed in their letters , both to the Executive generally , through their secretary , and to M'Douall personally , in strong terms . That opinion was unanimously concurred in ; there was net among them a dissenting voice ; and bo man sustained the
opinion of his fellow Councillors more strongly and warmly than Mr . Grasby . For this reason , as well as from our long knowledge of him , we do not believe that Mr . Grasby -would , or that he ever did , transmit to M'Douall any such resolution . Mr . Grasby is not now in Hull , and , therefore , -we have not the opportunity of asking him directly whether be did , or did not , transmit to M'Douall this impudent fabrication ; but -we do not believe him capable of doing so , aor will we believe that he has done so , until we have seen it proved .
Your good sense will shew yon , sir , that by publishing in the Northern Star this statement , thus infamously aspersing us , while , at the same time , you dose iti columns against ai > y word of reply or explanation , you have done us , whether wittingly or sot , a great injustice . We have 00 quarrel with your affection for M * Douall , nor -with your anxiety to relieve him from the odium under which he labours— we think deservedlybut -we do think that yon ought ne > t thus to do it at the expense of wanton injury to men who certainly have not deserved it from you , and whose character for consistency and honesty has never been impeached .
We request , therefore , that as an act of bare justice , you -will , in your next letter to the people , through the columns of the Northern Star , place oar unqualified contradiction to this statement as prominently and as forcibly before the public as the statement which made it necessary . We are , Dear sir , Lovera of falrplay , And your unflinching brother democrats , Gbougb Bakkbb . qeoboe baeseit . ROGEB PlNDER . Wjt . Chseshan . Matthew Mvdd . Robt . Jackson . Samuel Pulfosd . J . JACK 80 N . Wm . Hill . Bull , Feb . 8 th , 1843 . The signature " Wm . Hill" has been appended here : Mr . Hill not having been present when the letter was adopted , but cordially concurring in every word of ita contents .
The Northern Star " . Saturday, February 18, 1b43.
THE NORTHERN STAR " . SATURDAY , FEBRUARY 18 , 1 B 43 .
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THE " LEAGUE" ; THE OUTBREAKS ; AND THE INCITEMENTS TO ASSASSINATION . Sisce the opening of Parliament statements have been made within its walls , that tend to show the true nature of this confederated band of Freebooters ; and some little light thrown on the means employed by them to accomplish the complete subjugation of the labourers .
By a reference to our Report of the Parliamentary Proceedings , it "mil be Been that Lord Howicr ' s motion , That this House do resolve into a Committee of the whole House , to consider so much of her Majesty's speech as refers to that depression of the manufacturing interest of the country which has so long prevailed , aud which her Majesty has so deeply lamented , " was met , by Mr . Ferjund , with an amendment , which , while ifc includes Lord Howicx ' s motion , CHALLENGES INQUIRY
INTO THE ORIGIN OF THE OUTBREAKS in Angnst last ; the Hon . Member averring that " he teas prepared with evidence to prove that they originated with the Anti-Corn Law League" In stating this part of his case Mr . Feukand plainly told the League , that if they were not fearful of inquiry they would themBel res court it : and it is a little curious that during the entire debate on the second evening , not a single allusion was made to this demand for inquiry into the origin of the outbreak by any of the speakers , although no less than three free traders took part in it ; G . H . Wabd , of the Weekly Chronicle ( the man who played the SWING dodge , which we exposed in August last J among the number ! This demand they each and all shirked ! not one of them dare face it ! Mr . Feekand avers , in open Parliament , that he is prepared with evidence to prove that the late outbreaks ORIGINATED WITH THE LEAGUE . Dare Parliament , in the teeth of snob avowal by one of its own body , refuse ihe demanded inquiry 1 Dare Parliament , in the face of the British people .
refuse to obtain ihe evidence" thus offered it , which 1 b to prove who were the authors of an a Insurrectionary Movement" ! Dare the Leaguers in the House of Commons vote against the " inquiry " when they are openly accused before all the people of being the authoes of that" insurrection , " which cost many lives , and sent some scores into banishment , some dozens to the Penal Settlements and the Hulks , and some hundreds to prison 1
These are grave questions , which will shortly be answered bt thb votb or thb House on Mr . FsBBiND ' s amendment . At the time we write ( Wednesday ) that vote has not been come to : but we mark the ominous silence in w the House" on both sides , respecting the demanded inquiry , as very indicative of the manner in which the question is * to be got rid of . " Mr . Febbamd says be is prepared with evidence to preve that the League originated the Outbreaks .
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If ha is not , | be soon may be . It is now known where the whole thing was concocted I It is now known where the first meeting took place with the League Manufacturer , who proposed the Sthike " as a means of compelling the Government to do something / " It is now known at whose house that meeting took place j and also who who were present at it . It is now known who drew up the Address to ihe Working People , which preceded and paved
the way for the STBiKK ; and it is also known where that address was printed , and who paid for its printing . It is now known , that the League , in the latter end of June or the beginning of July arranged that « reduction of wages of some 25 per cent , should take place between July and Christmas j and that each master was to take his own time and manner of doing it , to avoid a charge of conspiracy and disarm suspicion ; pet the reductions were to be made within the period above named . It is also now
known that attempted reductions of wages were made the pretext to " bring the hands out "; and it is also known who the parties were that were employed to organize " the strike" ; and also who paid them for their services ! It ib now known that & portion of the instructions given to these hired tools wa « , that they should give the " Insurrectionary Movement" a Chartist tinge ; and thus bait a trap for the Chartists to fall into . All these things are now known , and can be proved , and will be proved , if the House of Commons institute the demanded
inquiry ! If Mr . Feriund is not aware of all the facts , he soon can be ; and he will be . if he is not already , in a position to bring the charge home to the League , of having originated the " insurrection" ! Dare the Parliament stifle the requisite inquiry ! Dare it vote that no inquiry is needed 1 The League press have a very convenient method of attempting to blunt the force of Mr . Febrand ' s blows by affecting to consider him "a madman" ; as " reckless of statement " , and " shameless of detection in falsehood" . This plan , however desperate and self-condemnatory as it is , will not
avail them in the case of Lord Brougham , who has " opened-out" apon them in the" Upper House" every whit as terrifically as Mr . Fkrrand has done in the " Lower" one . Nay , even more so : for while Mr . Ferkand offers to prove that the League originated " the strike , " Lord Brougham accuses them of inciting to assassination / Now , Broughah ia no " madman" ! The League have cried him up as a paragon of perfection . He is a free-trader . He is oue of themselves ; and yet , so horrible have been the
means adopted by the Repealers to force their selfish project from the hands of the Government , that the " learned Lord" has felt it to be his duty to wash his handBofthe League , and hold the League up to the scorn and reprobation of all the country ! During the debate on Lord Stanhope ' s motion , on Thursday night last , he took occasion to denounce the Leaguers in round set terms ! He denounced them for exciting to breaches of the peace ; for counselling " breakings-out "; for inciting to assassination 1 His words were : —
" I cannot suffer the mention of the anti-Corn Law League and its proceedings for the first time since the last summer that 1 have hod the opportunity or eaying a word upon it , to be made in this House without expressing my entire and hearty concurrence -with the disapprobation expressed at many of the proceedings of that body by my Noble Friend not now in his place , who was lately at the head of her Majesty's Government , and who from his temporary illness is not here to state it I am on that account more anxious to state my entire concurrence in his reprobation of some of tho means used by that boAy . I differ from my Noble
Friend in his opinion ef its object , for I go much further in desiring to see tho Tepeal of the Com Lavs than my Noble Friend ; but I desire to express my most pointed disapprobation of the means taken by many of the persons connected with that association ; and , my Lords , I am the more anxious to state this because I consider that those means are most prejudicial to a good cause . If anything could retard the progress of their doctrines—if anything conld raise obstacles to the course of improvement in the lawa respecting provisions and the general laws which they most justly oppose , it would be the tmaggerated statements and
violence of some of those connected'with their bodythe means adopted by them at some of their meetings to ercite—happily they have not much succeeded—to CMcile discontent and breakings out into violent mea « sures in different parts of the country ; and , above all , I cannot discharge my duty to your Lordships , and to iny own conscience , if I do not express my utter abhorrence and disgust vrith -which I have noted some men—men clothed with sacred functions—( hear , hear , ) ) — -who have actually , in this very metropolis of a British
and a Christian community , and in the middle of the 19 th century ef the Gospel of grace and peace , net scrupled to utter words to which I -will net at present , tot obvioEU reason * , more particularly allude—( hear , hear );—but -which 1 abhor , detest , and scorn , as being calculated to produce effects—I will not say they have produced them—but calculated to produce the taking away of innocent life—( bear , bear ) . My Lords , yonr Lordships are aware that I refer to a trial which is pending , and they who have used these expressions WILL , I HOPS AND TRUST , BE CALLED
ON FOB AN EXPLANATION IN THE COURSE OF ITS PROCEEDINGS—( hear , hear );—and it is only because it is a pending trial that I abstain from more specially referring to those Reverend Gentlemen ' s observations . " Now , how will the League meet this ! Will they say that Lord Brougham is " mad "? Will they say that he disregards the truth t Will they say that he seeks to cover the injustice of the Corn Law 6
in a qurarel about the personal transactions of Repeal advocates ! How will they attempt to wriggleont from under the heavy load of censure here heaped upoD them ! They cannot treat Lord Broucham a 3 they have affected to treat Mr . Ferrand . Lord Brougham is one of their own squad ! He is their main man ! He knows them well ; and has told wiat he knows \ and that telling , will have a telling effect !
There is more about this denunciation of Lord Brougham ' s than meets the eye . It is but the prelude to other and different denunciations ' ¦ The concluding wordB of the abo > e extract from the Noble Lord ' s speech have meaning in them . He hopes that those who " uttered words" which ho " abhors , detests , and scorns , " because "theV were calculated to produce Hie taking-away of innonent life" will ** be CALLKD-ON FOR AN EXPLANATION . " Lord BROUGHAM is not iu the habit of uttering such " wishes" as these for nothing . Ha has many a time paved the tcey for " alterior proceedings" ; and if we do not much mistake the character of the cards he plays on this occasion , he is paving the way again !
The " words" whioh the Noble Lord has thus holden up to soorn , abhorence , and detestation , were uttered by a Reverend ruffian , before the assembled Conference of Anti-Cora L % w deputies , in London , during last session of Parliament , about the time that Taunton of Coventry , talked in the same assembly of "risings and riots . " They were in the form of a story about a man who was ready to draw lots amongst his fellows , as to who should shoot Sir Robert Peel ; and it was told and hearkened to without one single word or sign of reprobation eUh er from the speaker or assembly I
Verily the League will have work enough on its hands in a short time . The charges of Mr . Fkrrand MUST BE MET . The inquiry must be had ; or the people must speak out 1 The originators of the late outbreak ought to be punished , if they can be discovered ; or the hundreds who have been torn from their homes ought to be instantly restored ; and all the compensation that can possibly be made afforded to the widowed and fatherless survivors of the stain / Before all the peoplo are the Leaguers denounced as the Originators of the move , ment , which led to these deplorable results , by a man who avers that he is in possession of evidence to briDg the charge home . The people must see to it , that a proper opportunity for a thorough and searching investigation is afforded . ;
The charges of Lord Brougham will , most likely , have to be met before a differently constituted tribunal than a Committee of the House of Commons ; and the League will mayhap find it rather difficult to answer them . At all events they are of a serious character . Incitements to assassination are no common crime 1 The £ 50 , 000 will be needed before the League have done with these things . It will behove them to husband it we }] : for n is the last they will be able to get !
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$ 9 > On Thursday evening , just before going to press , we received the London morning papers , containing the continuation of the lt Debate" on Lord Ho wick ' s Motion . Still no notice of Mr . Ferrand ' s charge of being able to prove that the League originated the last outbreak ! Dr . Bowring opened the adjourned debate ; and though be alluded to the attack of Mr . Ferrand on himself , he shirked the serious charge againBt the League . Mr . Wallace , and Mr . C . Wood also spoke ; but no allusion to the outbreak , or tbe League's connection with it ! Sir James Graham spoke for
three olose columns of the Times ; but not a word about Mr . Ferrand ' s amendment ! It might never have been made , for all the information that is afforded to the world in the speeohes of the several Members who have spoken since Mr . Ferrand . THEY DARE NOT TACKLE THE QUESTION he has raised ! The League dare not deny his charge , for they know it to be true ; and the Government are evidently disinolined to trust Parliament with the facts thoy are in possession of ! We wait anxiously to see Mr . Duncohbe ' s speech on the occasion .
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THE HORRIBLE REVELATIONS RESPECTING THE NEW POOR LAW . DEATHS FROM STARVATION ! In another part of this sheet will be found the particulars of two cases of death , arising from sheer starvation . We have taken them from the York Herald , a Whig paper : therefore , not likely to colour the statement for the purpose of throwing odium upon the Whig Poor Law , or its administrators . To tbat statement we invite the serious
attention of every reader . A woman and her child have been starved to death ! She applied for relief to the fund whioh the lav authorises to be raised to prevent such occurrences ; and tbat relief was doled out so scantily , and the poor suffering woman so unfeelingly kicked about from pillar to post , that at last , from sheer exhaustion , she became incapable of attending to her own proper wants , and died a sacrifice to the inhumanity with whioh she had been treated !
Let our readers note the fact , that when she was admitted to tbe Workhouse , she was put to bed WITHOUT MEAT OR DRINK , O » ANY MEDICAL ATTENDANCE , although accompanied to tbat pest-house by Hodgson , the relieving officer , who had seen her in the cell at the Station-house , in the condition described by Mr . Briggs ; totally incapable of personal attention : sitting on the floor without cap or shawl ; and in the dirt and wet , just as nature had relieved herself ! In relation to this horrible case the York Herald has the following remarks : —
"Inour fourth page will be seen the particulars relative to the deaths of a poor woman and 1 her infant child , iu this city , through starvation , or in other words , through the want of proper attention , and the common necessaries of life . " The very idea of such a circumstance , in a Christian country , is horrible in the extreme ; aud the natural inquiry will be , how it could possibly happen , and who were the parties to blame . " That the woman and the child did die of want and shameful neglect , there cannot be any doubt ; but as to tbe fact of who are the guilty parties , it is not out province to make assertion , nor our duty to
investigate . We however would refer our readers to the inquiry before the Poor Law Guardians , on Thursday ; and we do so with the most painful feelings , as tbe statement of Mr . Briggs , ( a respectable oitisen , ) brings the fact at once home to the cruel and criminal party . We most also allude further lo the subject , because It is one closely connected with an odious law , and deeply involving the most interesting associations of the cause of Humanity and of Christian benevolence . In tbe solemn silence of tbe
tomb , the poor waraan and her innocent child now rest ; and , therefore , to them our remarks can be of no avail ; but , though they are gone , the same la * exists , and the wide-spread poverty which prevails , and » still extending , may bring many others into the same melancholy situation of distress and wretchedness . We would , therefore , embrace this opportunity to urge upon the Guardians of the Poor , and upon all the minor officials under the existing Law , the duty of exercising tho legal power in the tender spirit of Christian kindness and forbearance .
"That oases of imposition may arise , wo readily grant ; but , it is hard , indeed , when the hapless unfortunate ate punished with cruel neglect , for the orimea of the wicked and the worthless . A wise discrimination is always requisite ; but , we envy not that man ' a feelings who , under any consideration whatever , can treat the wretched with contumely or studied neglect and insult , or who can add to the misery of a broken spirit by withholding relief when due , or contributing the paltry pittance of public charity In the ungracious demeanour of a proud and haughty agent of a law , which sanctions the tearing of the dearest ties asunder , aud which may be exercised by unfeeling police officers , and other cruel parties , as an instrument of torture to the most miserable victims of wretched poverty , and unmerited misfortune . "
We cannot pass by the blasphemous Verdiot of the Coroner ' s Jury in the ease of the starved-to-death woman , without heaping upon it all possible reprobation 1 " Died by the visitation of God . " How horrible to contemplate 2 God visiting the creature of his hands with starvation 2 God visiting the earth , to starve a poor woman and her child to death ! God hardening the heart of the " Guardians " of the poor , and the relieving-officers , and the
policemen and workhouse-keepers , to induce them to deny the pining woman and her infant son the relief her condition required , in order to visit them with death by moans of starvation ! How awfully blasphemous ! " Visitation of God , " forsooth ! Has God withheld the fructifying shower , or the genial warmth of the sun ! Has God refused to bless the earth with plenty , wherever man has taken the trouble to till ? Have we been " visited "
with famine t Were there not the means of relief to these poor victims to man's injustice immediately at hand I Was there not food and raiment in the landt Did it not abound on evtry side ! Was it not in the midst of plenty that they were suffered to starve to DiATH ! And who has blessed us with the plenty so abundantly abounding f Who has " visited" us with it T And shall we dare to asoribe to that beneficent power the murdering of these two
martyrs to class-made laws f Shall we blasphemously and impiously ascribe to him that which we have ourselves caused ? Shall we dare to assign to hie " visitation" the result of our own inhumatuty ! Of all ths stupid cant and impious nonsense pompously put forth , these same Verdicts of " died by tbe visitation of God , " are , in nine oases out of ten , the most stupid aud most impious ! And of all the cases of that nature that ever fell beneath our attention , this York one is the most horribly atrocious !
Leaving , for the present , this case of murder committed by the oppressors of the poor under the New Poor Law , we will just glance at the horrible revealment made by Mr . Walter , the Member , for Nottingham , in the House of Commons , of the intentions and purposes of the concooters and framers of that law . Those revealtnents show but too conclusively , that the York officials , in permitting the starving to death of Mart Clegg and her infant son , have only been faithfully executing their " mission" !
On tbe cringing up of the Address voted by the Commons in answer to ths Queen ' s Speech , at the commencement of the Session , Mr . Walter took occasion to speak on several topics of immediate interest . He avowed himself an advocate of a fixed duty on the importation of Corn , in preference either to total Repeal , or a variable duty . This led him to speak of the " League ; ' and while ho denounced their professions of sympathy
for the labouring people as hollow and insincere , he administered a no less measure of oastigatuin to their twin-brothers of evi ) , tha agricultural advo * oatea of the infernal New Poor Law system : and speaking of " League , " led him on to the uncovering of a Governmental " League" of a most cold-blooded and atrocious character ; haviug for its end aad aim , the starvation of the labourers of England . Here are Mr . Walter ' s words ;—
" With respect to all that bad been incessantly beaten into their ears on the . one side , of the hardship of throwing "' he poor agricultural labourer out 0 ! employment bj throwing poor U > pd ? out of cultivation ; and on the other ,
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of the sufferings of tbe starving artisans by the continuance of the present system ef class legislation , he thought there was » great deal of hollowneaa in the professions of both parties , and that each would be greatly perplexed by depriving it of this argument , or pretence , of sympathy for the unhappy sufferers on either aide . He should therefore leave tbe rural advocates of the present workhouse system and prison dietaries , and the Dissenting ministers with bleeding hearts forming the Manchester Conference , who alike agreed in the detestable principles ef their New Poor Law , to . settle their Corn law differences between themselves —( hear , hear ) - But reference had been made to a certain association , called the Anti-Corn Law League . Now , he had a great
abhorrence of all associations ; they always professed some beneficial object ; but the intention of the chief actors in them he believed to be as universally selfish , anti-aoclaland mischievous ! But he did not decry the present Anti-Cora Law League on aocount of its principle in the abstract but rea'ly on accoun of the parties who were the bustlers ia it , and who he believed were quite as much disposed to grind the poor , whose sufferings they professed to make tbe ) objects of their stir , as any other class in Her Majesty ' s dominions . But while we decried this League , let us not forget that we had had agricultural leagues also . ! He believed such associations deserved the epithets he had just bestowed on them ; but he alluded particularly to one grand agricultural association which
afforded a mischievous precedenr to others , and assembled some years ago within 100 yards of that House . The present i noble President of tbe Board of Trade denounced it as a Parliament sitting in the face of the regular Parliament , and dispersing its proclamations all o / er the kingdom . These , however , had all been open societies . But might there not be Leaguers of a much more dai gerous character , of whose intentions and acts the public might have but sligbti information ? The atrocious Poor Law itsel f really emanated from the , proceedings o f such a League . He alluded to the original commission , ! now almost forgotten , and not to the body commonly called the Triumvirate . Gentlemen who
knew a great many of the secrets of that commission had told us of the extreme suffdrings ef the poor , and of the discontent that would bs felt by ttie masses if nothing were done for them . They had been told also of the wonders that were to be effected by education even in workhouses ; but was it an essential preparative to such education that the objects of it should be subjected to j something little short of starvation before tbey commenced their studies ? He would read to the house two of the secret recommendations of this mind-improving , body-starving commission from which our New Poor Law haB emanated . The first of these recommendations was , that the Commissioners shall have power to reduce allowances , but not to enlarge them . After some further suggestions , they proceeded
thus , —and 1 to this passage he called especial attention : —• After this has been accomplished , orders may be sent forth , directing that after such a date all out-doer relief should be given partly in kind ; after another period , it should be wholly in kind ; after such another period it should be gradually diminished in quantity , ! until tbat mode of relief was exhausted . From the first the relief should be altered in quality , coarse brown bread being substituted for fine white ; and currently with these measures as to the outdoor poor , a gradual reduction should be made in the diet of the indoor poor , and strict regulations enforced . He should not comment en language like this new . ' Indeed , it was already practically commented upon - by the severe sufferings and deep-rooted discontent of the labouring population . "
What a revealment ! What a measure of wickedness is here ; uncovered ! And the fact respecting these SECRET RECOMMENDATIONS cannot be denied ! Mr . Walter has brought the matter hornet He has forced Sir Jaues Graham to admit before the people of England , that his allegations respecting this starvation enforcing League are correot ! On Tuesday night ,
Feb . 7 th :-r " Mr . Walter begged to ask tbe Bight Hon . Baronet the Secretary for the Home Department whether he had any objection to lay before the House a document , printed about the end of 1833 or beginning of 1834 , entitled * Measures submitted by the Poor Law Commissioners to His Majesty ' s Ministers ? ' It was further entitled , ¦ Notes of heads of a bill altered and amended , ' and contained the recommendation of a course of treatment and of a dietary , gradually diminishing in quantity and deteriorating in quality .
" Sir J , Graham said be hardly knew the particular document to which the Hon . Member referred . The Hon . Member had given him notice of his intention to put this question , and in answer be would say , that no such document was to be found in the department over which he presided . He bad a faint recollection that a document such as that referred to by tbe Hon . Mem * ber had been sent as a confidential communication to Earl Grey's ( Government , and as such be was -not prepared to consent to its production . But if the Hon . Member was desirous to have it produced , he had bettor give notice to that effect .
" Mr . Walter said he would not trouble the house by any motion on tbe subject . He did not require the document for his ; own use , as he was in possession of a copy—( hear , hear , and a laugh ); but for the general use of tho house . He was perfectly satisfied with the Bight Hon . Baronet ' s answer . " The fact ; , then , is established ! The SECRET RECOMMENDATIONS to starve the poor were given . They were given in " a confidential communication I to Earl Grey ' s Government ; " and the fact has been dragged out . The document is in existence . Sir Jaues Graham dare not deny the fact i for there Mr . Walter stood with the book in his hand ! i
O ! how much ink has been wasted , and how much paper spoiled , in attempts to show that the . authors of the NewJ Poor Law were the benefactors of the poor ! That their only object , in taking the steps they did , was to raise the physical and moral condition of the labourer ! That they wished to encourage his \ independence I The revealments thus made by Mr . Walter show what were jthe nature of the SECRET RECOMMENDATIONS of the Poor Law Commission , upon whose Report the New Poor Law was founded and passed . Those SECRET RECOMMENDATIONS were given , confidentially , to theGovernment of the ; day . They amounted to just this ; that the New Poor Law should be so constructed as to ensure the starving of the poor . We are now going to show that THE
GOVERNMENT ACTED ON THOSE SECRET RECOMMENDATIONS ! When the Report of the Poor Law Commission was laid before ihe public , and the plot entered into fully ripe , the Government oaused a Bill to be drawn up , to be-submitted to Parliament , to compass the ends sought to be accomplished . The Barrister who drew up the Bill had , as is usual , a list of instructions given him for his guidance . In those instructions were one tbat stated distinctly , that one of the ends sought to be accomplished by
the Bill was " ths bringing of the People op England to live upon a coarser sort 0 * food I " This fact , too , was proved in the House of Commons ! Mr . CoBBtTx broadly stated it in the House , during the passing of tbe Bill ; and his statement of it was not denied . In his inestimable work , the Legacy to Labourers , he put the fact on record , that he had seen the horrible " instructions' * respecting the starving of the veople , vrith his own eyes ! And , mind , this instruction was from the Cabinet of England ! Mr . Cobbett ' s stating of the facts of the case is as follows : —
" To the Searcher of hearts only can men ' s motives be known , jexcept by oonfessien , or by collateral or circumstantial evidence * I will , therefore , not attempt to assert what were tUe motives of tha projectors and pushers-on of this bill ; or the motives from which it was supported by the Bake of Wellington , by Lord Radnor , by you , [ Peel } aud other great landlords . I should not think it just ; to impute motives which I cannot substantiate ' by proof . I will say , therefore , nothing about the motives to the projecting and pushing on of this measure 1 but I will say plenty a bout the natural and inevitable tendency of the measure ; first , however , stating a circumstance to the truth of -which there is a whole Hou . se of Commons full of witnesses , and which is as follows : — " 1 . That , [ during my opposition to the bill , I
positively asserted , that printed instructions were given to ihe barrister who drew the bill ; tbat these instructions told him that it was intended to erect about two , hundred workhouses for the whole of England ] and Wales ; that they also told him , that one thing desirable to ba accomplished was , to bring the people of England to live upon a coarser sq > i of diet . " 2 . That 1 moved for the laying of these instructions upon the ; table of the House ; and tbat the minister and bis majority rejected the motion . " 3 . That neither Lord Althorp , nor any other man in the House , aaid one single word in contradiction [ to my stateirient . ' * A change ] of circumstances now enables me { to say , that I had SEEN the instructions . "
The Government , then , acted on the SECRET RECOMMENDATIONS of the League to Btarve the Poor ! j They embodied those Rocoinmendations in a Bill . They passed that Bill . They , have , ever since , done their uttermost to enforce Us infamous and infernal provisions ; and the death of Mary Clegg and her infant son at York , from 4 sheer starvation , ia one of its consequences
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Mr . Wameb seams determineTto i ^^ matter . He is not dispose d to rest himsaJfl ? th ij with the exposure he has so happily ^ . ? ^ pily for the cause of the poor : p Or ims m ** OF HIS SEALS THB DOOM OP THB NEW POo ™ * Should the Government a gain dare to inh !^ ** for re-enaotment , the House of Common !* * X ** * proof of its nature , object , and tendencV ^ S NOT PASS IT l If they do , the p < 2 ^ jastified in turning them into ihe Thames ?
The exposure is most opportune t At tt » beginning of the Session , before Government TaP time to announce their intentions with ree * a New Poor Law Act . Mr . Walter has seiEdr ' ? * the forelock . He is not allowing the aaranS * has gained to be frittered away . He i 8 nran !? *" follow it up well . Look at the followin g S * motion which he has placed on the books : ^ On Friday last Mr . Walter gave notice that ho on Thursday , the 23 d of February , proptaiH ,. ^ ing resolutions : — "Wallow . " 1 . That iu a document entitled , Measure * ^ . i ^ , by the Poor Law Commissioners to ffj ?** Ministers , appear the following passages : — ^ '«
» « That at any time after the passing of thw « . Board of Control shall have p&wer , by an ( Sr *• suah exception aa shall be thought nece&sty * * **^ allow the continance of relief to the indigent th d * and the impotent , in any other mode than i ' nT Sed house , regulated in such manner as the afomnM b *" of Control shall be determined . 3 m ^ ' 'The power of the commissioners woul d bain duce allowances , but not to enlarge them . " « ' After this had been accomplished , order . m be sent forth directing that after such a day an ? door relief should be given partly in kind afte ? ther period it should be wholly in kind ' that ? ° * such another period it should be gradually diminS
in quantity , untu tnat mode or relief was extfaTO 7 Z 7 From tbe first the relief should be altered in 5 m coarse brown bread being substituted for fine wfiftl and , concurrently with these measures aa to the » door poor , a gradual reduction should be made i the diet of the indoor poor , and start reguhaoM enforced . ' s ^ muobj 2 . That these recommendations , applicable . hv . ,. every class of the poor , and enjoining an indisoMn . 2 reduction of their physical comforts to the lewert enT able point , are shown , by the subsequent okIbm » a practices of Poor Law Commissioners , to fohn tWai though unavowed basis , of the present syrtem 0 / ft *» Law relief . wr
" 3 . That the suffering already caused by their tar tbl enforcement , and the amount of ouMooi "*«««»• spite of them still administered , show their m ££ to have been at once cruel and impracticable " 4 . That the attempted substitution of punishment for charity has more and more tended to Irritate tad dishearten the poor , to check industry , to increase crime , and to encourage various kinds of tyranny with out even the proposed compensation of reducing thi expenses of the ratepayers . " 5 . That this house , thinks it , therefore , expedient to demand such a reconstruction of tie eaiUingnstema ) shall make it conformable to Christianity , % avnt j ^ jand the ancient constitution of this' realm . " '
A very judicious and well-arranged step ! How will " the House" treat his resolutions ? We confess we are a little anxiouB to see ; and shall ^ the debate with some impatience .
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THE HIRED SCBIBE . It is not ofteH that we condescend to notice the yelpings of the little Bnarling curs that dandle at our heels , in our steady march towards the point we aim at , the goal of freedom to the white slave of Britain : did we do so , we should hxn little timo to devote to the weightier objeots of " oar mission " . Forbearance , however , may be abased . Impunity adds to impudence , until endurance is no longer possible ; and the mastiff is sometimes obliged to turn upon the snarling whelp and lay him sprawling in the mud .
So with U 3 . We can allow the taking of many liberties ; we can afford a good long tether ; we cm endure much , without complaint or even notice ; and yet there are times and oooasions when re feel compelled to lay hold of the would-be-tormentor and " turn him up" ! The way to silence a hissing gaping goose is to twist its neck ; and the way to rid yourself of the incessant annoyiDgs of a wide * mouthed fool is to bonnet his eyes , tarn him to the right about , and soundly kick his . In this good town of Leeds , we have & thing that answers to this description , whom hide we hare often spared when deserving of a good whacking . His attempts to sting and wound hare been many ; and the return he has met with at our hands has
only caused him to presume more upon good nature ; until at last patience rebels . In the Leeds Snarl of Saturday last , appeared the following ' . — "' Whole Hog' Policy . —The Evening Star , after having the benefit of Mr . Feargns O'Connor ' s puffing for three months , at length appears in its true colours , advocating , as Mr . O'Connor , in the Northern Star of last week informs us , * High Tory principles . ' Any ene who has lately read the pa \ ier , might have seen at a glance that its real object , from the commencement , was , not the spread of Ch&rtism , but the maintenance of the Bread Tax . It seemi that Dr . Sleigh , the Duke of Buckingham ' s tool , has been the editor , while Feargus (^ Connor has done the puffing department . How this joint-stock
concern has flourished , may be inferred from the fact , as announced by Mr . O'Connor last week , that the paper has lost since the conunencement , £ 3 , 50 O . Mr . O'Connor does not state tbat for has lost this sum ; and if he had , no doubt he would have hastened to communicate it the 'unshorn chins , 'as an evidence of the 'tremendous sacrifices' he isreadyto make in the cause of' tbe Imperials . ' No , no . The real losers are the real proprietors of the papernamely , those who are now advocating in its columns ' High Tory' principles . We shall begin *» believe that the Chartists are certainly the * Whole Horn that Feargus styles them , if they continue to M duped by each barefaced coalition and compromise with Toryism as is here indicated . "
This snarl is a tissue of falsehoods from beginning to end ! The only facts contained in it are the two notorious ones that the paper has passed out of tha hands of its former proprietors , and out of the hand * of Mr . O'Connor as unpaid Editor , into the hands of its present proprietors ; and that the forma pro * prietary lost upon it the sum of £ 3 , 500 . All the rest are as far from the truth as statements can be : and right well the writer knows it .
We notice this matter , because the statement hera put forth is one destined to " go the round '' anless the foot is put upon it . The only means the enemy has of doing damage to the cause with which O'Coxian and we are bound up , are misre presentations and brazened-out falsehoods . Here ia a cong lomer ation of both , concooted to serve the purpose of the Freebooters . We will disappoint them , and spoil tho sport . " First , then , for a full statement of facts ernea * ing the Evening Star , and its connection with tM
cause of Chartism . The Evening Star was established by » J om American gentleman named Pbay , who had been connected with the Democratic press of America , d » vibi had the conducting of one of the mo 3 t "tf ™" Democratic papers of the States . When » - ' « i b J ? some thirteen numbers in existence , a copy « fltft U
into the hands of Mr . O'Cohnob , who at onee sa * that , though it exhibited talent , it betraye d * wa « ot knowledge of English politics , and the tone W feeling pervading English society . He s »^ . , " that in the then peonliar state of " home » fl *«« ( the " League insurrection" having « n * bIe " » e Tories to stifle public opiniony , tbe possession 01 such an organ by the Chartists would be sa invaluable aid . After waiting upon , and consults
with , Mr . Ci-bavb , respecting the step he fei * J clined to take , he called at the office of the EtP&i Star , and there saw the proprietor , Mr ' * ' ^ lengthened conversation ensued , aa to the st * . **! prospects of the new and hazardous MdMtf ~ r" for the establishment of a daily paper wan haa « f ^ undertaking ; and it ended in Mr . O'Connqb off ^ l ing his services , as Editor , without pay or * jJj any shape or form , on condition that tbe control of its oolumns should be placed in hia han < " The answer to his offer , on the part of the WM prietor , was , that he would see his ftiends » advise with them ; and if Mr . O'Consob W * I call upon , him the next day , he should learn tae I
termination come to . Mr . O'Connor did call ; and Mr . Pbat toldi * that he was happy to accept his offer . laimediat * and on the spot , did Mr . ( yQamoK dictate
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4 ^_ THE NORT VU& RN STAR . ;
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Feb. 18, 1843, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct469/page/4/
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