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TH1 If OETHEEN STAR. SATURDAY, MARCH 11, 1843.
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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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M ) TICE . 3 iai > 3 ? articles of news anil several . communicstions are TmaToidaWy shut -ont this - week . A glance at the matter weliave g iven wO ] show the reason vrhy .
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THE TRIAL . Ws © an but call attentioa to the continuation of our report of this most important proceeding . We iare given all respecting it we could procure up to the latest moment of going io press . The befehcb , it will be seen , was entered upon ; and the trial was expected to dose about noon on Thursday . In succeeding Editions we shall giro the proceedings up to the end . It is impossible to particularize remarkable incidentB 5 n connecuon with this trial at present . The state of our columns alone forbids it . There is muck . however , to be said upon the whole
matter , both generally and particularly . To Bay this , occasions must be embraced a 3 they present themselves . A ibssok , xsyes . to bk-fobgottbh , UTJ 3 T BS iakes p&OH IT . It is the last proceeding of the sort thai we must have in connection tcith the Chartist cense ] "Whatever may be the result of the Jury ' s finding , we must endeavour in fntnre bo to eondnel our exertions for tie attainment of right , as to preclude the possibility of * be leadera of the people having again to stand at the bar , to answer tsuch cnargea as circumstances have this time enabled the Atidbxet-Gekeiui to frame againBt them .
This can be done . This must be done . It « truljlamentablstoseethe exertions , and time , and money , of the poor workies employed in aid of such purposes , S 3 we sometimes hare seen them put to . We must have no more of it ! Tha knowledge we have gained by the past will enable us so to direct our efforts in the fnture , as to produce to us manifest proof of their utility 2 \ o more outbreaks 1 No more secret plot-Jinrs ] Ho more stbikbs ! No more putting
ourselves between the fangs lot the Attorney-General ! No more indictments 1 But plenty more of peaceful and firm agitation ! Plenty more of operating on public opinion I Plenty more of uniting the working people in a strong and firm union to resist the onward progress of oppression , sad introduce the reign of right . Plenty more of efforts to obtain some portion of ths ixxd , to show JaB world what we can do with political power when we procure ii 1 Plenty more of these things ;
but all viihm the late ! In the accomplishment of these objects , we can iav&the direct tbctiox or law , if we choose to avail ourselves of it . The time has come when this tan be , and must be done . We live in a world of progression ' , ana the mxnthat has been evolved by ihe previous applications of our energies will guide our steps to a far advanced position . We have just seen a gentleman who has returned from Lancaster . -He brings news of a confident
lope generally entertained of a verdict of acquittal . * Thp effect of the speeches in defence upon the spectators in court has been most striking . During the address of Phxtss , when telling of his sufferings , almost every eye was suffused with tears . The Jury and the Bar were sensibly affected . He boldly and fervently told them , if another reduction in Ms wa ? es was attempted he would , resist iff He would seoner take his life with his ; own hand than submit to another reduction I
Potatoes and salt were all that he could at present procare , even though he himself , and his wife , and his - cbfldren , were all in full "nork 1 Less toaa potatoes ' and sali he would not put up with . Just before going to press we received a private ; note from one of the defendants , who had addressed j the Jury , enclosing some slips of his address , for : publication . In it he says as follows . We give it , j lieeaase it is the latest newa we have : — .
* 0 * CossoB made a splendid defence—spoke two hours and a quarter . Defence concluded shortly j after mid-day . We hav&had the reply of the Attorney-General To-morrow the Judge Bams np ; and . then for ihe Verdict !"
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FACTORY LABOUR . In the Northern Star of last week was given an « pitomeofa debate in " the House , " consequent on 4 be introduction of a motion by Lord Ashlbt for ¦» * n hnmble address to ier Majesty prajing that IlBT Mjtfesiy TOUi © graciously pleased to iake into instant and serious consideration the best means of diffusing the benefits and blessings of a moial and religious education amongst the working classes of her people ; " which motion was passed unanimously , ii being acquiesced in by Sir Jaxes Gbahui and Sir Hobbb * Peel on the part of the Government , and supported by Lord Jobs Rtjsskh and other member ' s of "her Ma j sett ' s Opposctiok . "
This motion was mainly founded on the Sectnd Report of the ** Childbes ' s Ekplotmext Coxjdssiojt" just presented to Parliament ; which is a valuable andimperishable record of thein justice done to the working classes , and the fearful state of physical and moral destitution prevailing amongst the children of the poor . The revelations made in this Report , as io their condition in both these respects , are horribly appalling , and almost ineredible . There , however , ihe record stands ; and ii zeals ihe fale of the present system J It is impossible that it can much longer be sustained .
Prom time io time we shall give copious extracts from this Report , accompanied by such observations as we may deem needful to make the matter of it fftTT > fli « T to the minds of the class for whom we care . It is a powerful lever placed within their reach ; and it can and must ba used to the overthrowing the toppling over , of that course of selfish oppression and wicked misrule which has produced the awful state of Bin and suffering so truly and so fully described .
During the course of the debate on Lord Asrlbt ^ s motion , Sir James Ghahaji detaQsd , at some length , a scheme which the Government have matured , for educating 4 hs children of the poor ; and , imongst other things , lie announced thai A New Bill for ihe Regulation of ihe Employment of Children and Young Persons In factories , " would shortly be introduced . -On Tuesday night last , the Home Secretary moved for leave to bring in such Bill ; and as he then detailed the main of the alterations Government intend to make in the present Act , we give , in this place , what occurred on the occasion , feeling that ihe subject 13 one which intimately concerns the
¦ working people in the manufacturing districts . It will be Been that several of the projected alteration are vastly important to the workers in factories ; and that they will tend to the preservation of life and limb . The contemplated power , to cause the dangerous portions of the machinery to he boxed off , and to prohibit ihe cleaning of machinery while it 3 s . running , will be a valuable protection to the sentient beings required to watch foe operations of f&B ^* master ' s" machinery , should it be obtained ; YrhSe the regulations respecting meal-times and xdaklaf op of lost time , win , if only made efficient , prevent ihe practising of much imposition aad much oppression .
It Ja also contemplated , as will be seen , to furiber-redsoe flw houraof labour for the children inin 21 fi , - £ wm eigbJ hours to six-and-a-half . This if i-gKak " step j - especially when coupled with file proviso that such children must attend a frt ^^ cond ucted tehool -ivins the other portion " - - * " i *
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of ; the day , to qualify them to enter the factory at-aii . Tae children will thus have some chance flf obtaining , the rudiments of common knowledge = ai least , ; asd sot be subjected , as they have bitherto been , to the eternal din , and noise , and -stench of the factory , without intermission or respite . : lt is true that the present Factory Act protects * ' children" from being worked more than eight hours a-day ; and that it directs that they shall attend school : but its provisions have not been efficient for the purpose . They have been continually broken or evaded . The school" has , in many instances , been the fire-hole , " and the " schoolmaster" the firerup" ! This has been found io be the ease , and reported to be so by the Factory Inspectors themselves . In the very last Report made by Mr . Satoders
bearing dute Janeary 25 * 11 , 1843 , we find the following descr iption of the sort of" education" provided by the " Fobot TmBTssof . PtM&sejr 15 for the children employed in creating wealth . And thia is a sample of what has occurred in by far too many places . Let the fact be made known for the benefit of the Pudsty "partners" in guilt , who could not "thoil" ten shillings for school books for the use of those who were making them hundreds of pounds ! Here is the account as reported by Dr . Baker , the Superintendent of Factories , to his Inspector , Mr . Saijndebs ; and by Mr . Satjsdkbs reported to Sir James Gbahah , the Home Secreiaby ; and by us reported to the working people , for the benefit of the poor in general , and for the benefit of the " Fobtt Thieves of Pudsey" in particular . Here it is : —
" In Padsey , which is a woollen district , great numbers of 7 ery young children are employed ; the inhabitants are poor , and education 5 b at a very low ebb . 1 may give you an instance of this . At the Priestley mill , where there are about forty partners , forty-five children are employed who come under the education clauses . On one of my recent visits , I found the book-keeper was the schoolmaster , rod the book ? , pieces of an old newspaper torn ad libitum into sections of about three inches in diameter . On remonstrating with this man on this improper and faisely called education , he said , ' that he had no power to amend what his masters ordered ; ' and my offer to procure for this company a F « t of elementary books for the small sum of 10 s . has been as completely disregarded . "
The shortening of the hours of labour by the present act , added to the wages of ihe children employed . The shortening of the hours of labour by the contemplated act will have another similar effect . Another alteration announced we cannot commend . We mean the proposal to lower the age at which children may enter the factory from nine to eight . This is to be regretted . It would have been much better to have entirely prohibited the employment of children and females altogether ; not allowing even a male to enter a factory until he was fourteen . This would have necessarily called into play a great amount of unemployed idle male labour , which
has been superseded by the cheaper labour of children and females . If society was , what it ought to be , it would take care that none of its members should be put to vaork , until their physical capabilities were fully developed ; for society is deeply interested in preventing the deterioration of the species , which must be the consequence if unformed beings are set to perform operations for which they are not physically fitted . All tho work that a child or youth should perform before the age of fourteen , should be only gnoh as is needful for educational purposes ; tho males taught thwarts of agriculture and horticulture , by easy exercises during school hours : and the females the use of the
needle and the scissors , with proper instruction , under the mother ' s eye , in all the domestic cares and duties of a household . This is what every child bom amongst us has a right to expect at the hands of society possessing such means ot producing wealth as we possess ; and when we have learned bow to devise common sense arrangements to equitably di */ ribxtie the wealth we can so profusely create , this , and much more , will be the portion of every child . Is it not monstrous , that one of the effects of an increase in our means to produce the good things of life , should have been the infliction of addition \ 1 toil and labour upon mere children , while the father is forced to walk the streets idle , for want of employment t i
What follows is the Report of the proceedings in " the House , " when Sir James Gbahak moved for leave to bring in his New Factory Bill . It will be seen that several other important alterations , beside those we have enumerated , are in contemplation ; particularly the extending of the provisions of the new measure to the children and yonng persons employed in , the manufacture of lace , and in print works , as well as in silk factories . This of itself is highly important . Here is the report : —
" Sir J . Graham said , that after what had taken place the other evening , he thought it would be best that he should introduce the Bill of which he had given notice , for regulating the employment of children and young persons in factories , and for the better education of children in factory districts . The measure he proposed Tested mainly on the report of the oommitee which sat in 1840 , for the investigation of tliis tnbject . The report stated the defect 8 and omissions of the existing lavr 5 and his object was to supply the defects and omissions in the law which the report detailed . The age of children employed in factories was , at present , limited from nine to
thirteen , rod the hours of labour were limited to eight per day . He proposed to reduce the number of hours from eight to six and a half ; and he also proposed that the six and a half hours' labour must take place either in the forenoon or in the afternoon , and not partly in the one and partly iu the other . He was disposed to believe that the lowest age of children might be safely reduced from nine to eight , so that a child from eight to thirteen might work from six and a half to eight hours either in the forenoon or in the afternoon wholly , and not in both . The coir mittee had recommended that the maximum age for females , should be altered
from eighteen to twenty-one . Young persons were not now permitted to work more than twelve hours a day . He proposed to alter the age of females ; iis the case of males coming under the denomination of " young persons" he did not propose to make any alteration . There were several mir . nte provisions with respect to mealtimes . The regulations for dinner contemplated at the least a space of one hour . With respect to Satnrday , he proposed that the hours of work should be limited to nine , eo that young persons would be worked twelve hours on other days and nine hours on Satnrdays . From the report of the committee it appeared that objections were made
to the mode in which lost time was made up . He proposed to limit those modes of making nploBttime to those factories where water labour is used . He proposed to give the inspectors power to select qualified surgeons to attend the several mills in each' district , and to report upon their condition at stated times . Then as to accidents arising from machinery , he intended to provide against them by making i ; compulsory on tbajjsrners to guard every dangerous portion of the masgptfryin their possession from the possibility of doing injury to any of the persons in their employment ; and he also intended to prohibit the cleaning
of machinery while it was in-motion ; for these t » - rious purposes clauseB would be contained in the Bill making it cumpulsory upon mLUowners to act in conformity with its regulations . Suoh a Bill must , of course , contain several penalties ; besides , it was intended to introduce as many as possible of the alterations recommended by the Committee . He should not now enter at large into the education clauses , for it would be unnecessary for him to iestate what he had said upon former occasions , but he hoped that on the whole the measure would give general satisfaction Thus , much , however , he should say with respect to the education clauses , that he trusted the effect of the
measurewouldgreatly increase thenumber of children receiving the benefits of education . The Bill would iaclude within ihe scope of its operation all children employed in silk factories , and he hoped still further by a separate bill brought in with the sanction of her Majesty ' s Government to include the lace factories and the children engaged in printing , thus comprehending all the children employed in all the great branches of our manufactures . There was one omission in hiB statement which he begged to supply ; it was that in all the manufacturing districta the children of any parents , whether those children were employed in factories or not should have the benefits of education at an expence sot exceeding 3 d . per week .
The education being to some extent compulsory it would go far to establish a national scheme of instruction upon a large scale . It was oot necessary for him to detain the House with any further observations . He hoped they would allow him to bring in the bill , and he assured Hon . Members that he should not prematurely press for the second reading . " Lord Ashley concurred ia the proposed arrangements regardin g education . He regretted that further limitations had not been introduced with regard to the hours of labour , and , as that : did not seem to enter into the plan of Mb Right Hon . Friend , he ( Lord Ashley ) should himself propose it in committee .
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" Mr . Hindley wished that the hours of labour should be left an open question . "Leave was then given to bring in the bill /'
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THE LAW OF STARVATION . Assaults upon the * ' Starvation Act" continue to be made with increased vigour . Not much resl is given to ihe Starvers . Blow after blow is being struck ; and hitherto they have been right well planted , and have produced a telling effect . ' It is now announced that a Bill to AMEND the 1 Poor Law Amendment Act , ' will shortly be introduced to the notice of Parliament by the present Government . So I the opposition to the 8 tarving *
todeath law has not been without its use ! Tho nature and extent of the Government" Amendments" have not yet transpired : bnt the fact that the Starver &r&drwento tho acknowledgement that "Amend * ments" are needed ia a proof that the storm of indignation raised by the recent exposure of the deliberate plan laid to starve the poor , as evidenced in the SECRET RECOMMENDATIONS of the Poor Law Commission , is too strong to be successfully withstood .
The death-blow to the whole system has been struck ! The revealments made before the people , as te the object of the concoctera and upholders of the " Malthusian code , " has sealed its fate . Government will find themselves compelled not only io admit the necessity of " amendments , " but the abrogation of the starvation law altogether , and a return to that simple embodiment of justice and charity , the Poor Law of Elizabeth , which directed the employment of the unemployed poor in their own occupations , at their own homes , and at right and proper wages .
We revert to this question again , in order to place before the" reader a report of a slashing onslaught by Mr . WaLteb , on Sir James Graham , the Ministerial defender of the Starvirg-law . The recent exposure by Mr . WALTEB of the SECRET RECOMMENDATIONS by the Poor Law Commission , will be fresh in the recollection of all : and the manner in which Mr . Walter ' s successive efforts were met by Sir James Gbaham will not be soon forgotten . First , Mr . Walter asked the question : " Did the Home Secretary know ef the existence of a certain Report , containing certain words ; on which document the New Poor Law had been founded .
The answer was : " He did not know whether such a document existed . " Then he acknowledged that " he had a faint recollection that some suoh * Report'had been confidentially made to Earl Grey's Government by- the Poor Law Commission . " x \ nd when this evasion and equivocation was promptly answered by Mr . Walter declaring that be had a copy of the " Secret Document" in his possession , the wily turn-coat tried to fix upon him a charge of ** breach of confidence" in making the public acquainted with its infamous contents . This charge Mr . Walteb repelled at the time ; and on Monday night last he returned to the question , dealing out blows to the whole crew of starvers in general , and to the Whig-Tory Home Secbetaby in particular . The following is a report of his speech on the occasion .
" Mr . Walter said , he rose to msve for the production of a return of which be had given notice . He observed , that having on a recont occasion come down to the Boose in order to discharge a duty and engagement , when , from the state of indisposition under which be laboured , and was , indeed , still labouring , he idmost Bank under the task , he felt , nevertheless , bound to take : one more opportunity of pressing upon the attention of the House some remarks in corroboratlon of what was the undoubted fact , —that the dark document -which be first laid before it was the foundation of the subsequent Poor Law , and of all the miseries with which the population of England had been since nflicted . ( Hear . ) He said , there were various degrees
of certainty ia the human mind—one kind being called moral certainty—another , mathematical certainty (| —and so on . He did not know , however , that be ever read of a variable certainty ; yet , it was possible , and an instance might be adduced , in which he , for example , might be told by an Hon . Member , that he did not know whether a certain document , for which he asked , now existed . Then , that Hon . Member might have a falut recollection of it . Then , this falut recollection mi ght expand into certainty . At lost , ae might know all about it—that it bad been given in a confidential way to a gentleman with whom he ( Mr . Walter ) once vra » connected , bnt who was now dead ; and that , therefore , he' was guilty of a breach of confidence In
bringing it before the House . He would , however , Uke this statement , only giving a can Hen against the introduction of other people's names , lest he should be forced to follow the example . Once more , he declared , that he did not know whence be had it , and that it must have lain by him several years ; nor was he , indeed , aware that he had it till just before the session commenced . So fur from any blame being impotable to him for exposing it he should but have participated in the guilt of those who planned and penned it if he had concealed it—( hear ) . Why , Sit , ( said Mr . Walter , ) what do men mean by confidence in an affair ef this kind ? Confidence is an honourable feeling both in him who entertains it , and in him
towards whom it is entertained ; but if the object of the confidence be , like this report , infamous , mischievous , cruel , who but dishonourable men can be bound by it ? Detection and exposure ore ever ; man ' s duty . I say this , on the supposition that the detestable production in question was ever confided to me , but to that Insinuation 1 have before replied . 1 neither know , nor remember , nor believe any such confidence . The report lay by me for yean , and was only discovered , taken np , and perused , all accidentally '—( cheers ) . Then it had been said that the law was not founded upon this secret report of the commission of eight . The respective contents proved this to be false . They were as like as the instructions for a malignant will , by -which the richtfnl heirs of an estate are to be
dispossessed , are to the will itself . To prove this fact a few examples would suffice : — After this has been accomplished ( says the secret report , ) orders may be sent forth directing that after such a date all out-door relief should be given partly in kind ; after another period it should be wholly in kind ; after another such period it should bo gradually diminished in tuaniily , until that mode of relief was extinguished . From the flrsk the relief should be altered in quality , coarse brown bread being substituted for fine white ; and concurrently with these measures as to the oat-door poor , a gradual reduction should be made In the diet of the in-door poor . ' And again— ' The power vt tns Commissioners should be to reduce allowances , and not to enlarge them . ' And now he wauld show the cautions manner in which these base
suggestions were carried out in the avowed report : — * The Commissioners should be empowered to fix a maximum of the consumption per head within the workhouses , leaving to the local officers the liberty ot reducing it below the mamimum if they can safely do so . ' Whence , again he asked , sprang the cruel injunction that no relief should be given to the unemployed , ablebodied labourers oat of the workhouse ? ' All new applicants for relief ( says the secret report ) * should be at once taken into the vorkhouae . ' And again— ' The Board of Contronl shall have power , by era order , with such exceptions u shall be thought necessary , to disallow the continuance of relief to the indigent , the aged , and the impotent , in any other mode than in a
worthouse . The avowed report was full of passages to the same effect . This was the very essence of the existing law . Could this be the work of two independent powers of evil t Ho . Here was its origin in that dark code of instruction on which , in defiance of fact and common sense , it was asserted that the present law was not founded . It occurred again and a ^ ain in tbe dark report , that ne relief was to be given out of tbe workhouses , and with equal frequency was the same atrocious practice enjoined in tbe derivative law . Bat , further , coald anything equal the harsh and unfeeling manner in which the English poor were Bpokeu of in the avowed report ? They were described as inferior to savages , and to be ainsnded only
by fines , distress warrants , and imprisonment . Was he not justified , then , in stating , that all these Commissioners came with their mindB as fully bent against the poer asSU Paul was in bis unconverted days " , when he was described as breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the slandered and humble concerts to Christianity ? Bat still they were told that Lord Grey's Government did not adopt this document , though its spirit , as he had shown , was infused into every succeeding one . Why ; people who could believe this denial must be Nature ' s fools , and not the dupes of the Poor Law—( cheers . ) He had three proofs exhibiting the character of similar fraud and deception ; each succeeding document indicating its parentage and descent from tbe first , and yet endeavouring to
mitigate or cloak its knavery . First , he had a garbled general order with respect to pauper funerals . JVext , be bad a diet table , which , though it waa signed by all the Commissioners , was now disavowed , when they found the cruelty it disclosed bad awakened public attention ; but their preparation of it , and their intent to carry it into execution , were as notorious as any fact could -be . Then he had tbe evidence taken before the Committee on which be himself sat , which evidence was suppressed for no other reason than that , if duly investigated , it would be found to make against tbe Committee itself , to falsify its report , and to disprove tbe assertions of the Poor Lvw functionaries . And , after all these proofs , both from fact and analogy , they were told to believe that
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the secret report was rejected by IiordGrey ' a Govern- ' ment r Really the amateurs of the New Poor Law arrogated to themselves the privilege of publishing or suppressing—of leaving untouched or changing—whatever they presented to the Parliament of tbe country . And these were the people who were now taking on them the fabricating a plan of education which was to inBtil into the rising iiice the principles of integrity , honesty , fair dealing , wad truth (—( hear , beat ) . With respact to the charge brought against him of traducing the immortal Duke , every one knew how respectfully he ( Mr . Waiter ) had spoken of that illustrious man . Bat , with alibis admiration of him , it would b « the excess of sycophancy in him er any one to assert that his Grace came too near to omniscience to be liable to imposition . If , Indeed , be bad used expressions like the following , as applied not only to the Duke of Wellington , but also to the Bight Hon . Baronet who was now at the head of the Government—that ' he bad no confidence ,, — . . .
in them ; that it v » impossible to compose a Ministry cf worse materials ; ' that their whole lives had been devoted to oppose good government and to uphold bad ;'—if . be said , he had used these expressions , and had atteiw&idB taken office under those persons whom he fiad so severely stigmatized , than he should indeed have rendered himself justly liable to the reproach and derlaion , not only of that House , but of all the country , and every honest man in it Bat that any one who had really nsed those expressions should venture to reproach another with traducing the Duke , did appear to him to transcend tho usual bounds of human confidence , er at least to indicate such a want of memory and consistency as must disqualify the man himself from the discharge of any public functions—( bear , hear ) . He concluded with moving for an account of the sums expended in ont-door relief to the poor during the years 1841 and 1842 , and of the work performed for such expenditure . "
Sir James did not venture to reply to , or repel the heavy home thrusts here made ! He barely contented himself with acceding to the motion , as far as materials existed to enable the returns required to be made out . On Tuesday night the Lords were engaged iu a debate respecting the iniquity of the Starvation Law . It wa 9 began by Lord Teynham , who moved" 1 st . That it is tho opinfon of this House , that the separation of man and wife , of parents and children , which takes place io tbe Union Workhouses , iB an exceeding evil and the Cause of evils . " 2 nd . That its abolition ougbt therefore to be forthwith sought . " 8 rd . That by a judicious administration of outdoor relief , tbe use of the Workhouse for married paupers , except for casual poor and cases of exigency , might and ought to be abolished . "
These resolutions were enfored upon the attention of the House by a speech full of correct feeling , and characterised by considerable ability . From it we give the following . It will best speak for itself : — " The first resolution declared that the separation of man and wife was an exceeding evil , and tbe cause of evils . A large and helpless portion of the community found themselves treated contrary to those principles which they saw guided every day life . On that bead he would lay before their Lordships several thoughts upon the matter . In the first place , every one acknowledged that the principles which regulated the law and practice of divorce were wise and just ; the result waa , that the number of divorces was Very few .
Perhaps they ought to be more numerous , as was shown by their proceedings last night in the case of the son of a Noble Marquis . In that case the question of divorce did not turn , as it ought to have done , upon the conduct of the husband to the wife or the wife to the husband , but simply and improperly upon the state of feeling between a son and bis father . Tbe law of Ejgland recognize ! only two kinds of divorces , the divorce a mensa el thoro , and the divorce a vinculo matrimonii . To the former of these the poor were subjected . On entering the workhouse they were ipso facto divorced . There was no shame attaching to that divorce , but , there was more pain attendant on it than if the divorce had been consequent upon the conduct , of either party . The pain which they endured
was a thousandfold augmented by tbe fact , that there existed na cause for their being divorced . If their Lordships only looked at tbe number who entered the workhouse never to return , —if they looked to the number who actually died in the workhouse in a state of actual divorce , they could bat fuel that the law was most cruel and unjust in its operation . The law said , that there should be only two kinds of divorces , bat the authority of those who had the care of the poor decreed that there should be many different kinds of divorces . If the one portion of oar law were just and equitable , tbe modern legislation , which gave authority to the Commissioners at Somerset House , must clearly be moat cruel , unjust , and oppressive , la granting divorces it was most wise that their LorshJps should ,
in every possible case , see that there was no connivance between the parties , no pretence , but dear manifest adultery , before they would say ' content' to any divorce bill . If a&y man came into the workhouse aud said , ' 1 am poor ; 1 nave do means of subsistence ; 1 wish to be admitted ; ' then the answer to the man must be , ' Yoo cannot be admitted unless you submit to be practically divorced ttom your wife . " The system of practical divorce went on day by day , and every day ; and when a poor man was thus debarred ^ rom the society of bis wife , how coald it be expected that be should regard that as a paternal Government which so treated him ? Again , tbe House well knew that there should be no divorce granted to a man who bad himself been guilty # f cruelty or adultery . In such
cases the Courts would not interfere ; but tbe workhouse authorities attended to no such nice distinctions ; men and their wives might live together upon tbe best possible terms ; there might be endearment , there might be purity ; but instead of thetr being kept toge - ther by a kind law , they were torn from each other ' s bosoms ; what was tbe charaoter of that law which separated man and wife for other crime than poverty 1 Caaea from time to time came before tbe courts of law ia which persona were found acting nst according to nature ; children suffered from cruelty or from neglect , and courts always treated the unnatural act as a crime ; but here the Legislature interfered to produce the commission of unnatucal acts—they not only divorced husband and wife , but they separated parents f . om ch'ldren .
It was no uncommon thing for Iwouen to be imprisoned for neglecting their children ; bat here people were imprisoned , because they wished to take care of lhefr offspring—how could those two laws stand together ? A bill was a few days ago laid on tbe table of their Lordships' House , which was objected to on the ground that it went to introduce a new crime ; bat the Poor Law never seemed to have been objected to on that ground , although unquestionably it treated as crimes acts which in all previous time bad been regarded as praiseworthy . There were acta which imposed as penalties three months' imprisonment , or three years , or transportation for life ; and the wisdom of the Judge was often shown by the manner ia which be apportioned the punishment , and the result of that wisdom
was , that there often appeared a wide interval between th » actual sentence and the mcutimum ot punishment ; but in tbe workhouse there was nothing of that sort —no limit to the punishment inflicted on the poor . A man and bis wife presented themselves at the door * f tho workhouse and requested relief ; bo was immediately taken in and subjected to a punishment—there Waa no descending scale—nothing left to the wisdom and clemency of a judge . How contrary was all that to the received maxims of English law I Ia the ordinary courts of justice a man 01 woman was brought up and sentenced according to tbe nature of the offence , aud according to the character which they might have previously borne . If that charaoter were good , the witnesses recommended them to mercy , the jury
recommended them to mercy , and the judge listened to that recommendation , and tbe amount of punishment was awarded accordingly ; bat in the workhouse the honest man and the thief met upon terms of equality . The poor man , for uo crime ef bis own but poverty , was imprisoned like a ruffian , and kept in confinement all hia life . In an ordinary prison , if an offender were sentenced to any given duration of confinement , Or a COnViot Wars fient to tha hulks , some attention was paid to his conduct . If he compiled with the tules of the house and evinced submission to authority , a report in bis favour Was made , aud some portion of his punishment remitted : but not so with the inmates of the workhouse . The convict sentenced to ten years mieht Ret five off , but men who had committed no
crime must go into a workhouse and expect no mercy . In a well-regulated community tke state of tbe law ought to be such as to meet every emergency that could come within the scope of legislative enactments ; but there existed no power whereby the evils of which he had been complaining coald be remedied . Suppose a man , bis wife , a : > d their children presented themselves at the door of the workhouse . They said they had no food , no money , no employment , and they asked tbe master of the house to give them food and employmeat . His reply would be , ' You shall have it if you will come into the house . ' What would they rejoin ? They would naturally say , ' We aw lawfully married ; our children have been born in wedlock ; we love each other , and we love our children ; will yon give us employment and bread without separating us ? " He answers ' No . " Then they reply , ' We cannot accept
relief on your tarms . ' They rutire ; but bard necessity soon compels them to return , and again they are repulsed . Then one dies of want —( hear , bear ) . Surely fhe officer—the leqal officer—the man acting under the law , wfoo has refused them relief , —bos not that man committed a crime , and ought be not to be punished f Time wouM soon show that tbe Poor Law was not a piece of legislation which could be acted up to . He questioned very much whether it was wise that any law should eo assume the form of a tempter as this Poor Law did . Was it right that any portion of tbe law of the land should be so framed as that it should offer a temptation for the destruction of all domestic ties , and that the bribe which it gave should be a loaf of bread ? A single man might bear the brunt of bad times ; be H )\< tht accept tbe remedy offered to him ox be might rpjert it ; but the case was { different
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with a man and bis wife . What a painful case of conscience it ( would be for them to © onaider , after they had gone into tbe workhouse , what amount of torture they ougbt to have endured bsfore they accepted relief ! Then , iu the isaaa of man and wife , a question would arise as to who ought to be the first to propese going into the workhouse . He had wooed her , he bad asked her to become his wife ; ought he to be the first to propose divorce to a virtuous woman ? She took him , and vowed to be his wife till death did tb « m part ; and bow was she to snggest a dissolution of the matrimonial union ? Then , where was it to begin ? The new laWt howevercame in as a tempter , and offered them bread * " -
, if they would separate . Then , let tbe House for a moment examine the grounds on which parents and children were separated . The only just ground besides neglect and cruelty would be immorality anil irreligion ; but when there was neither immorality nor ungodliness , surely nothing could be more ntijoator unnatural than the separation of parents from children . There yet remained to bejcon 8 ideted the featful evils which a rigorous separation of the sexes produced ; the wife never experienced [ the auppoitt or the protection of the husband , he ] was never gladdened by her smiles , nor comforted by her ministration . Were their Lordships willingthen , that tears should flaw , and hearts should
, break , aud mind and body give way 1 It was dreadful to think of incurring such responsibilty . . 10 addition to all this , the want of classification in the workhouse was a fearful evil ; the weak , the aged , and the emaciated were mixed with and jostled , by the robust , the strong , and the rude ; and those who shrank from contact wlttttaraOTaU'ty and profaneness were thrown into the very ] midst of it Again , the children of the poor in the [ manufacturing towns were weakly things , and wanted bach of a mother ' s care ; yet those thai most wanted' that care were the most liable to lose it ,
and those who bad the greatest need of sympathy enjoyed the least . There was a great difficulty experienced by poor persona in large towns in keeping their children uncontaminated by the vice around them—in preserving children who knew no crime from other children in J the streets ; but , however a . poor man , residing in a cottage , or in a room in the city , might succeed in keeping bis children from evil communications , as 80 in as he was driven into the precincts of the workhouse , bis children were planged at once Into the mass of the -wickedness -which it was
the great object of tbe parent to keep . them from . Their Lordships knew bow largely the good of society depended upon a mixture of the sexes in families , of brothers and sisters ; they bad bean at school , and they remembered the happy ideas which home inspired , and of a father ' s , and mother ' s , and sister's smiles ; bnt hero were children who bad committed no offence , shut out from tbe common sympathies of our nature . One word as to this separation being the cause of evil . He looked at tbe amount of heartfelt agony endured by parents at tbe bare prospect of this separation as one of its moBt painful incidents .
He remembered going to a cottage and pirceiving a poor woman weeping . What was it for ? Site feared that her husband , j who loved his children , would go out of his mind from tbe agony be suffered at theidea of going into the workhouse —( -bear , bear , ' from Lord Stanhope ) . IJow many were there , who having wrought up their strength of heart and csurage to tha pitch of going into the workhouse , found they could not bear the separation , and returned into the world to struggle with all the distractions of poverty , rather than endure the misery of separation ? If the amount of domestic affection hadfbeea diminished—thanks to this law . If vice bad been disseminated—thanks to this law . "
The Iron Duke opposed the resolution . He di < so on the ground that the Government were about to introduce a Bill to amend the " Amendment Act , " and that if their Lordships were not satisfied with the new measure , they could suggest and move other ] amendments . He also attempted to get md of ] the effect produced by the forcible reasoning of the Mover of the resolutions on the subject of Separation in the Uastiles . Here is the Duke ' s answer ; and right worthy of him it is !
" For instance , that what has been called a divorce , " and argued npon as in fact a divorce , is , in truth , np separation at ail , except so far aa regards sexes ; the parties reside' under the same roof ; they see each other at all hours ( of the day ; it is only as semes they are separated . The Nuble Lord bad appealed to their Lordships , and asked what would be their Lordships' course cf conduct , supposing such a proposition were made to one of their liordahlpp . Why , my Lords , 1 apprehend that yoar Lordships are—1 know some ore—liable to have that proposition made to you —( hear , hear ); such of you as are members of the naval and military professions—thear , hear )—are liable to suffer that very privation . " ;
A separation' ia no separation at all ! Putting the husband iu one place , sometimes in one workhouse , and the wife in another , aad the children in a third , and studiously preventing all communication , even the ordinary ! one of seeing each other , all this is in truth , mo separation at all" I What wonder is there that we should have such laws as the Starvation Law , and suoh practices as every day's experience makes us acquainted with , when our leading legislators phut their eyes to the common and well-known facts of a notorious case , and lib with such a bold and unblushing grace" ? The Earl of Stanhope replied to the fanciful analogy set up by the Iron Duke to justify the " no separation at all . " He said : —
" The forcible separation of man and wife was a direct violation of tbe holy Scriptures , and could not be justified , as his Noble Friend ( the Duke of Wellington ) supposed , by any supposed analogy with tbe military and nival services . Officers in those services were not obliged to enter them . " The Duke ! of Wellington—What do yon say to Impressed seame ^ i ? Come , there 1 have you ! " The Earl ! of Stanhope—Impressment was an evil justified by state necessity ; bat no person was legally liable to Impressment unless he was a seafaring man , and , being so , be was as much separated from bis family on board a merchant vessel as in the Royal Navy . " ' Lord SrANHOPE also spoke of the SECRET DOCUMENT . He avered that : —
" Tbe object of the present Poor Law was to prepare the country for having no Poor Law at alL This was the ulterior object of the law , as described to a document which had happeued now to see . the light , though studiously and carefully concealed from publio observation , for the non-produetion of which shuffling excuses were made , and which , when dragged from its obscurity , did appear the most flagitious and execrable paper that had ever been exhibited before a public assembly he would not even except the Natioal Convention of the jFrench Republic It waa proved by this paper ; and avowed by the authors and supporters of the taw , that their object was to do away with Poor Laws altogether . "
This allusion to the " Execrable Paper" brought " The Dukb' 1 upon his Iegs a £ ain J an < i he made * &e following extraordinary statement : — 1 " The Noble Earl has referred to a document which has been represented as having formed the basis of the Poor Liw Bill . ; Knowing , as 1 do , my Lords , that no such paper exxT \ emisted 1 will venture , in this House , to deny the assertion altogether . 1 again repeat that no SUCH DOCUMENT EVER EXISTED . " Verily , the * ' sayings and doings" of our senators are most contradictory ! Sir James Graham had
some faint recollection of suoh a document having been made confidentially to the members of Earl Grey ' s Government , " when Mr . Walteb stood before him in "the House , " with a copy of the " execrable *> aper" in his hand ; and when hard pushed , he could tell how many copies had been printed , and where they had been distributed . * ' The Duke , " a colleague of this Banjo Sir JaMBS Graham , avers , in spite of the "faint recollection " of the Home Secretary , and in tbe teeth of his circumstantial ! account of the existence and disposal of the number of copies printed ; " the Duke" hi the teeth of all this , boldly asserts that the document
never was m existence at all !!! Which of them are we to believe ? We cannot imagine that both have told the [ truth . This is impossible . One , or other , must have fibbed ! Which is it the most likely to be ! Sir James Graham , who , with every inducement to deny tbte existence of the " Execrable Paper , ' reluctantly admits that he has " a faint recollectioh'j of it ; or " thai Duke , " who boldly denies its existence altogether t Which of those members of the same Government are we to believe 1 The one gives the us to the other most fully and flatly . Which is most worthy of credence ! And which of their reBpeotive statements is in accordance with fact t
We fancy that it will be the business of Mr . Walteb to spur up Sir James Graham to set these queries at rest ,. Mr . Walteb has a copy of the " Execrable Document" in his own keeping ; how came he to be in possession of it , if" it newer existed at all ? " Sir James Graham says it was sent to the Times Editor by Earl Grey ' s Government " the Duke" jsays it never was in existence . A bold assertion will sometimes get folks out of a difficulty : it sometimes , nay oftimes , happens that a bold assertion will involve them more completely . Perhaps his Iron-ship will learn that a still-tODgae ^ this lime , would have been a friend . .
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LANCASTER ASSIZES . ~ ===== ^ ( Continued from our first page . ) of the yeomanry-no swearing in of special con stables—no reading of the not act , in short SuT preserved peace throughout -Aha whole period 0 ? tv disturbances elsawhera ; and yet I am charged win ! having conspired to effect , by force and tatnnlt i change in the constitution . And upon whose eviderpa gentlemen ! First , Griffin , who has been for man years a professing Chartist ; he has filled respoSl and popular-situationsia the Chartist movement" hi has long been known as a reporter for Chatti ^ t newspapers ; he was the first person who BueeeauS thecallins of the Conference , yet he has aiSfa in the witness-bex against those who he waa thA principal instrument of bringing together « he ha * appeared before you in the character of a betr&vm . associates ^~ ff
ot his iormer , xne evidence of suoh » man should be received with caution ; he has disr « garded all the obligations of friendship , and treacher ously violated the trust and confidence leased \ n him—may not such a man deceive you ! In the ad dress which I have quoted t this Griffin talks of £ h » virtue and glory of a public man consisting in remain ing faithful to his principles till death ; and now see him doing his utmost to destroy the men who ro . main faithful to the principles he his betrayed fn the conclusion of his address , he hypocritically an poals to the Ruler of the Creation , to stamp with tha Beal of his divine approbation the exertions of »>» self and brother defendants for the obtainment of the Charter . What a base hypocrite most this man be . He calls upon us to do our duty as he nUd ^ himself to do his . B . hold the fulfilment of hS pledge ! He has appeared in the witness-box seainrf him upon whose funds he bo long subsisted « ,, !
against men wno relieved mm m ins need , and saved himJFrom the pangs and horrors of starvation —thna snire-like stinging the hand that fed , and fixing h {« envenomed fangs into thosa who nourished him Upon the evidence of this man I was arrested ! dragged from home , and insulted by tbe grossly illftl gal annoyance to which 1 was subjected ; when not content with arresting my person , the officer wlm arrested me searched my home , and took away let . ters , books , &c ; and all this in violation of the law The . other witness , Cartledge , was a delegate , k ™
his support to the resolution passed by the Confer " ence , ( I believe seconded the address adopted by tha delegates ) , and was a violent supporter of the m&l Surely , Gentlemen , yon will not convict me upon the evidence of men so base as these . But if tho verdict should be " Guilty , " though the cold prison cell--though my consignment to the living tomb of crime and misery should be the consequence yet believe me , Gentlem-n , 1 speak not the language of idle rant or bombastic folly , when 1 declare to yoa that 1 would not change my present situation for that of my accusers to escape all that torture could inflict upon me . Though my march from this court was to the scaffold , there to exchange the embraces of love for the cold grasp of the executioner ' s red .
reeking hand , there to yield up life with its heart * correcting sorrows , its hopes and joys das , too few for that unfathomable futurity beyond the grave —1 would not—1 speak the language of ca ! mrefi ? ctio ' aexchange my lot for that of my accusers . Let them shrink from the light of day , let them fly from the haantsoftheirspeoies , and » lone—catonTfromthesym " pathies of their fellow-creatures and the love of their kind , feast on the reward of their treachery and not on the gains of their fiendish falsehood ; hi them not forget their broken pledges and violated vows , vows of adherence to a cause they have so infamously betrayed—the remembrance of these will add a relish to their enjoyments and a zost to their pleasures . But , gentlemen , there will cornea 6 av when will have their reward
they , when reflsotioaf sting shall poison all , when the worm of memory shall gnaw at their hearts , and like the Promethean vulture feast upon their vitals , until the conscience-stricken wretches shall wither beneath the tortures of coasoious guilt , and , dying , shall go ^ down to the grave without ( he love of wife or child , countryman or friend , to shed a tear to their memories—remembered ouly to be execrated , and thought of only with-feelings of the utmost loathing and disgnst . G 9 ntlemen , I fal that it is as a Chartist , not as a Conspirator , that I am arraigned here . I aa a Chartist , and I glory in the name . I not only believe Chartism to be founded in truth , but that the legal establishment of
Chartist principles is absolutely indispensible to raise the working classes from their present wretched and degraded state . Witnesses hare appeared before you who have gravely assured this Court tbat they were not cognizant of any distress in their localities . I know , gentlemen , that , at any rate , there is deep distress in Sheffield . [ Mr . Harney here drew a Btriking pictura ofthe distressed state of that town , which we are com * pelled to omit . ] And in Sheffield things have not been so bad as in many other towns . The distress is not confined to one part of the country , ii extends throughout England , Scotland , aad Ireland . I will not dwell upon the distress endured at the present moment by tbe proud-hearted and independent
people of Scotland , and as to Ireland , the name is sufficient to remind you of its two millions aad a half of mendicants and its lumper-fed peasants nor will 1 take up your time in commenting upon the general state of England—enough that 1 remind you of things in this very county ( of . Lancaster ) calculated to make us blush for tamely allowing such a state of things to be ; —it is eucngh that I remind youj gentlemen , of tales , alas , too true , told of the softerings of the people in this very county . That Englishmen , aye , free-born Britons , gentlemen , their wives and little ones—soliciting , yes , actually begging the carrion flesh ofidisease , destroyed animals , that they might stile the gnaw / ogs of hunger with food which tho wolf might refuse to tear and the vulture disdain
to gorge . And why is this state of things ! Because , as a Chsrtist , I believe that the people are not represented , and their interests are not cared for in the Legislature . Because , to quote the language of Sir George Sinokir , one of the best men who ever safe in the House of Commons , because , as ho told the House iu hia speech , delivered in May , 1840 , because the members of that House are " admirable teptesentatives of the opulent and the prosperous , bnt very sorry legislators for the industrious and the distressed , eager to make ample provision for tha luxury and extravagance of the Court—unwilling to take the slightest notice of the interests or necessities of the po ? r . " There , gentlemen , such is the doscriotiou of the House of Commons , sot by a
Chartist demagogue , but by a Conservative Legislator . Chartism has been denounced on all sides , but could even the Chartists have brought the country iato a worse state than it is ! Does not the present state of things proclaim , trumpet-tongued , that the privileged classes of society have abused the powers they have exercised ; that they are neither fit to govern the nation at large , nor themselves as a class ; for in working the misery of the millions , they are most certainly conspiring their own ruin . The downward progress of England must be arrested , or all that has been predicted by Lord Howick aud others as the natural consequences of the present state of things , wiil certain . y come to pass . I have laboured conclu
throughout my public life to prevent such a - sion , and for so labouring during the late strike 1 am dragged before this tribunal . The remedy tor tha present evils 1 believe will be found in investing the people with their rights . I presume to be a Chartist is not to be a criminal . The Attorney-General has said , on the trial of Frost , that the Chartists had aa clear a right to agitate for the Charter as the WfligS of 1832 had to agitate for the Reform Bill , adding that if ever the day shall come , that on the side 01 the Charter shall be arrayed tbe strength and sinews , the numbers and intelligence of the country , that undoubtedly it will become law , and mere wealtfl will struggle against it in vain . This is all wa ask ; leave us to enlist public opinion on aoi
our side , . if we can , and we will ae the issue . But loose not the bloodhounds of perse- j cution npon as , nor seek by gaols and soaffoids to j stem the onward progress of mind , for I warn tnos « f who would have recourse to such means to pn * » down Chartism that they will miserably fail . Tne dominant sees and privileged classes of all countries in all ages have tried by persecution W preserve their power , and they have ever failed . So sure a 8 the despised , trampled upon , persecuted Christians triumphed over their enemies and oppressors ! beat " ing down by the force of opinion the power of tne pagan hierarchy uatil rhe imperial purple was worn by a convert , and the followers of the cross became the acknowledged masters of the Roman . world ? - havin
so sure will the now persecuted Chartists , g truth for their guide , and justioa for their ena , triumph over present and future opposition , and \ pj the force of reason and the march of mind oblige monarohs to acknowledge the justice of their prm * oiples , and compel the privileged classes to y ield to the rights of man—rights based upon the principle ^ " Do unto thy brother as thou wouldst tby brother should do nnto thee . " Gentlemen , that principle . ^ altogether violated under the present system of legislation . A state of slavery exists in this country , &s real as that which exists in Carolina or Constantinople ; the difference between the slavery in Turkey and America and that which exists here , is that in those countries the slave ' s body is sold in the market place , and in this country you sell his labour in the
honse of legislature . Against such a state of thinga I protest , against it 1 will contend . If to hold the principles I conscientiously entertain * .. * J be a seditioniat , I am content to be punisflea as such ; and , assured as I am that in these principles alone will be found the political salyation of nations , and the rescning of the millions from their present state of physical suffering an * social degradation , 1 am content to be regarded through life as a seditionist , and go down to the grave with the title of seditionist insoribed upon pj tomb . Gentlemen , if the plain and honest exposition of facts 1 have laid before you has been sufficient to convince you of my innocence , you will acquit me } but 1 will not seek to purohase such a verdict by any abandonment of my principles . You ntaj incarcerate my body and torture me in joax prisons , but you cannot . enchain thought , uor prevent with your laws and jails ^
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. . ¦< <^ OsMosiuy sax , the 13 th instant , Mr . Robert * , Solicitors the Chartists , will addm ® ^ the people of Manchester , in the Carpenter ' s HaU , at eight o'doek , when he will give * n aeeount of the proceedings at Lancaster connected with Jfee Chartist trials . Admission -One Penny , to . go to the Defence Fund .
Th1 If Oetheen Star. Saturday, March 11, 1843.
TH 1 If OETHEEN STAR . SATURDAY , MARCH 11 , 1843 .
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A THE NORTHERN STAR . L ... , I _^^—J ^^ -- ^—^—^— — ¦ ^^ ^^—^»—^ . _ B ^ ^^ _ b . _ - - , , __^ M , ¦ I 11 m ~> II in-11 11 1 if- 1 ¦ - ¦ -. l ^— ¦ ' ¦¦ ' * . ¦ " '
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), March 11, 1843, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct472/page/4/
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