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THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1843.
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PORTRAIT OF W. P. EOBERTS, ESa.
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OTJB POSITION.
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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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OBGAKIZA . TION . TO TEE EDITOB OF JBJE WOBTHZBS STAB . SIB , —Ihavereadyonr " Planof OrgaiuxiUon ^ c » kfally through , and « a member of the Chartat toeay , l retonyo ^ y thanks for the great laboar aad pains widen yon must necessarily haw bestowed npon it ; and although I have been opposed to the incorporation of the land scheme with our movement , ytt , upon due eonaderation of the argaroents , fr * and « m-, I am perfecOy reeoncDed to it , particularly as this is no fame for fcair-spUttfng . My only-fears were , that it might lead to the establishment of a sort of aristocracy in oar Tanks , or take the attention of < xzr most active men from the great qnesSoD of the Charter ,
I remember veil , tiiat -when Socialist societies ¦ were 5 n thtir infancy , the poorest -working-men , and the fctterpaid ones , cbeerfnBy frateraizad witheach other ; Irat , in process of 'time , as they gainea greater strength * na stability , and had erected " Halls of Science ; " the 'well-paid members had their Halls tastefully decorated ; formed dancing and AT" ? Bftm > T > t classes , and became so exclusive in their manners * ad notions , that the poorer members , who thought more about dinners than dances , gradually withdrew ; and the societies thus lost their original energy . In like manner thB Chartiste commenced establishing co-operatiTe stores , in 1 S 39 . That at JfewcasUe-npoc-Tyne was established on a Tery exten-« 5 re seals , and was Tery prosperous for a time ; but the
attention of tbeir most active members being almost solely engrossed in weighing tea and sugar , and measuring potatoes , they neglected the public meetings . IChs splendid spirit « f Chartism , which previously existed , was allowed to die away ; and through this neglect , both the store and Association came to nothing . For these reasons , and with such facts before our eyes , I should therefore wish Ihat the benefits to be derived from the land Fund , might be placed tinder racb restrictions as to make it imperative on all connected with it , to be good and efficient members of the National Charter Association , properly discharging the duties of any office assigned them ; and that some connecting link should bind them to their suffering brethren , erot tt&s » leaded on Vie land .
It is quite dear that something practicable ought to fc commeaeeoV . People win not be content \ o waste their tires listening to speeches , although they are absolutely necessary in the first instance . Let us therelore set t » work in good earnest , and extrt ourselves with increased energy , to make tip for the time which has been lost in foolish and unmeaning bickerings , which , I hope , are now completely done away with , to grre place te a more brotherly and friendly feeling ; and I trust the Conference will adopt some plan to TemoTe any Tain or splenetic booby from amongst us , who wishss to create division for his own gratification , to the injury of the cause . I look forward with hope ani confidence to the forthcoming Conferenae . It will comprise our best and well-tried friends , ifree from
«« pedlars" and trafficers ) who , with their o wn knowledge and experience , will hare the benefit of all that has keen written oh the subject , and your copious and wellamnged plan for their guide . I trust that they will mate the performance of political duty a -qualification for the enjoyment of the benefits tol » derived from the land land ; and adopt such measures as will binder ths members of that Fund from giving cause of complaint to such of our poor fellows as can scarcely procure a penny loaf . I tbinfc it would be a good plan to introduce a clause enabling the members of a branch to « lect a person who had proved himself a good and useful Chartist , but could not afford to pay to the Fund .
This would induce all the members to take an interest In it , and bold out hopes and encouragement to all , besides letting the werld see what Chartism really is . It would create a brotherly feeling throughout the whole society , and enable those whose trades are not yet crushed by the abustt of capital and machinery , to bold out a helping hand to their more unfortunate brethren ; besides enabling them to protect those -who was persecuted , or driven from their employment , through the advocacy of Chartism . This , -in itself , Would be aa inducement for men to be good members of the National Charter Association ; as , in my opinion , the Charter should be kept in view , above , and before , mB other things .
I should -not trouble you , Ht . Editor , with these -remariB , had I been at liberty . I shonld then probably have had my ray amongst our other friends . But as I am in a prison where I can trrite , 1 have taken the liberty of claiming a corner in your forthcoming Star . I intend to forward my thoughts , on the political portion of the Organization , to the chairman of the Confwecce ; and sincerely hoping that the deliberations of i&e delegates may tend to the benefit of the millions , 1 am , yours truly , \ G £ OB . CS WBJTB . ; Queen ' s Prison , An ^ ust 29 th , 1843 .
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PARADISE WITHIN THE BEACH OF AIL MEN ! "WITHOUT LABOUB , BY POWERS OF '' KATUBE AND MACHINERY . '¦ Xettex TV . ' \
TO THB SDITOB . OF THE SO&TREUS STAB . Dsas . Sib—There are many prejudices in the minds of men , in regard to the benefits conferred on society by the progress of science and the introduction of machinery ; I think it therefore nccaaaary to say a few words on this subject before I proceed to a mor& special dfivelopement of th . e mean * and "ways to reaiizs the promises held out in my former letters . The lowest , moat simple , although most important iaboura , the cultivation uf the land and production of food , have bsen performed , and in a great measure axe sow performed by slaves , serfs , and agricultural labourers , who have always been regarded and treated ts machines . It is therefore not tebe wondered that madiineiy has not been employed In this branch of human affairs , as it would only have been like substituting one set
of machines for another , in the minds of our sapient politicians and economists . It is vastly different with the trades in general , which have been invented and practised , according to Mythology , by ths gods themselves , and 'Who necessarily developed the minds of the artizins . -GoldEmit&s associated with Kings , and Queens have been taught the art of spinning . The artizins were enabled to travel through different countries and to improve their capacities , sot being bound to any particular ¦ pizr - lot their labour and Tn »» TifTv » . Tifj » We find in all former trades , which are now carried on by machinery , men of the brightest minds , who continued to improve their tools , until they finally brought them ^ to such a perfection , that children or thoughtless men eould trqrk with them as well or better , than the most experienced and expert workman in the old style .
The minds who constructed nmAMnw ^ ¦ worked not for fee labourers who afterwards handled them , merely requiring their bodies . These poor men having" no inducement lor mental culture in their trades , or labours , gratfrM ' -ly sank to a mere mrimai existence . The proprietors , foremen or directors of machines formed a new class in society , rivalling in wealth and intelligence the proprietors and barons of the land , bnt reducing their labourers to the same scale as the labourers of the fields . The multiplication of machines and the conse-< jueni production of manufacturers became enormous .
j&upand with its artificial powers and machines now produces more than six hundred millions * of men " could produce with their Tn » nn « i labours and unimproved tools . As long as other nations were absorbed in war , England was the factory for the whole world , and "drew all the money from foreign countries almost as fast as that money was paid to them in the . shape cf subsidies , and advanced to them in the shape of State debts ; and tot paper securities , which now constitutes the great wealth of money aristocrats . Arkwright and Peel have tacome richer than princes ; but their labourers have hrcomsas miserable rs glares and serfs .
It is evident that there must be something funda XOBDtsllj 'wrong , or such s circumstance eould sot have happened ? a chxnmstance which shows , that in the same proportion were the producers impoverished and brutalised . I take this fundamental error to fee the otte-sided improvement or application of machinery . Machinery has merely been applied ! to manufactures ; t » the production of the secondary wants of men ; to the production of so-called articles of luxury ; whereas ihe production of the primary wants , food , houses , ¦ &t , ha ? e been carried on without the aid of science and machinery . The necessary result of this-one-rided
improvement was a surplus of less necessary things and a ¦ carcity of tfee n » st necessary ones . The surplus of * oanufactures caused areductiou of the wages of man * ^^¦ g - ^ > OnreW ' at ** t « J » when provisions SbSSSssms mimmm
4 be oonstructien of alaaSnl « L ^ T " 1 --ffiffiSsrr " which weighs and assorts with the S J 2 *^ n thousand sovereigns in _ aix hours ^ Vhereas ^ experienced teller can only weigh five thousand in th BKnetime ,-and this with the ritk to his eyes ani nerrer , Ifjnaehines can be made for such fine , com plicated , andjlelieate labour * , for the labours of centle men , ahould omnmon humanity not induce us to mak < some machmes \ for the eoaxas and aimple labours ani drndferiesotaLees , Ber ts , and agricultural labourer *
Certainly ; butmsehinesTrotni work by themselves ; an < . aHhoogh a spring not stronger than the spring of a com znon dock , can , by being weund up , assort and weig ] 20 , 000 s&fBrdgza bdare it Is unwound , it takes some thing more powerful to dig and pulverise the ground And thiB power is Bone other than the powers of nature "that have hitherto been so little thought or made na of , when they ahonld ] have stjrst drawn theattentioi of men ; being irst to assist them in their labour ; « nd in the production of their iomforts . These an -toe powers which shall aad aurt i » made use of , i
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men will ever be free and indepeodent t and well may we hail the appearance of a man of genius and penetration like Etzlek , who proves to admirably that the " powers of nature are subser / ient to man if be has faith in Frovidenca , and never dreams of' common sense , ' impossibilities . " He saya in hifl "Paradise , " page 6 : — " The basis of my proposals is , that there are powers in nature at the disposal of man , million times greater than all the men on earth could effect , with their united exertions , by their nerves and sinews . If I can show that Bock a superabundance of power is at
oar disposal , what should be the objection sgainst apDlying them to our benefit in the beBt manner we can think of ? If we have the requisite power for mechanical purposes , it ifl then , bat a matter of human contrivance to invent adapted tools or machines for application . Powers must pre-exist ; they eannot ba Invented ; they may he discovered ; no mechanism can produce power : it would be as absurd to invent tools , to work without any applied power to put them in operation . Machineries , of whatever contrivance they be , are nothing but tools more or less combined . "
I am , Sir , your obedient servant , C . F . Stollmeteb No . 3 , Northampton Terrace , City Road , London . Aug . 15 , 1843 . ( To be continued . )
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Mr . O'Coskob . has received communications from many districts in all of which a very great desire 1 b expressed to have a postraii of Mr . Roberts , the people ' s Attorney-General We cannot wonder that a strong wish should be entertained to possess a Likeness of so truly amiable , talented , and true a man ; and although we know that Mr . O'Connor had determined to give no more Portrait * , yet wo have the pleasure to announce that all Subscribers for Three Mouths , from Sataid&y , the 16 th of Sept , will receive
A PORTHAIT OF W . P . ROBERTS , THE PEOPLES ATTORNEYGENERAL . We request the several Agents to open lists for the enrolling of names , as none bnt Subscribers from the above dates will receive a plate . Th « price ef Paper and Plate when presented will be Sixpence ; and none will be sold without tho papsr .
The Northern Star. Saturday, September 2, 1843.
THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , SEPTEMBER 2 , 1843 .
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FAILURE OF OUR MANUFACTURES . * ' OUB LAST AND ONLY RESOURCE , THE LAND . *' It behoves U 3 , as a people , to look well to our present - position : not oxiij to oar position at home , as regards the physical and moral condition of our popnlatioD , bat also to our position abroad : and the probability , ot otherwise , of our being able to maintain the standing we have hitherto obtained in the markets of the world .
On several , nay , on many occasions , we have , in the Northern Star , examined our home position . We have often shewn that the physical condition of the labouring portion of ihe community is deplorable in the extreme . We have shewn this to be the case , by the evidence of the factory masters themselves , sod by the evidence of other employers of labour . We have shewn that vfhen these have instituted personal examinations into the condition of the workers , they have found them , in their miserable dwellings , without food , bedding , orfarniture : wishing " that Almighty God -would put an end to
their sufferings before morning . " We have shewn that every Extension of Commerce" from tbeyear 1738 , downward to the present time , ( the period embraced in the returns which have been iept of our yearly foreign commerce ) , has brought in its train a diminution ot prices , profits , and WAGES . We have shewn that in 1841 we had a Foreign Trade almost equal to six times the amount in 1798 ; aad that for ( he Jive times increase , w © only received the difference between £ 33 , 000 , 000 and . £ 51 , 000 , 000 , to speak in round numbers . We have shewn that the weaver who , in 1798 , received loa . for weaving
twelve jards of the 60-reed 6-4 ths cambrics , in 1832 only received Is . lli . for the same amonat of work : and in 1842 he only received 9 i . for the work which in 1798 brought him in 15 s . !! ! We have shewn that while out Foreign Trade has been thus " Extending , " and causing this depreciating effect upon prices , profits , and wages , Cbike has increased from 4 , 605 committals in 1895 , to 27 , 760 committals in 1841 . We have tJso shown that woilein 1793 , with as much money , or nearly so , for our o ^ je-sixth qvjumry of Foreign Trade ; and with 15 ? . wages for weaving twelve yards of 60 reed-6-4 thscambric , we had only £ 30 , 492 , 995 of taxes to pay ; while in 1842 , when we had depreciated our priceB so as to cause us to give five times the quantity
for the same amount of money ; when wages were bo beaten down as to cause the cambric weaver to perform fifteen shillings worth of labour for ninepence ; we have shewn that when these results had followed the enormous " Extensions of our Foreign Commerce , " our taxes in 2842 amounted to £ 50 , 397 , 738 ! J being . £ 19 , 804 , 743 more to pay with diminished means . vVe have shewn that the effect of all this b& 3 been to cause nstogive to the tax-eater eix-tijees more than was his due ; and we have shewn that these facts alone sufficiently accounted for our home-position , where we have the workers without work ; the labourers without food ; and manv " wishing Almighty God to put an end to their sufferings before morning . "
All these things we have beforetime proved , from the Returns published by the House of Commons itself ; from " the facts in figures" which those Returns bo truthfully exhibit . It therefore stands us not in need to dwell longer on them at tho present . We need not stay to prove the horrible destitution everywhere abounding . That is now admitted on every hand . Ever since the Whigs saw the bleak side of the Treasury benches , that fact ha 3 found trumpeters plenty 1 It is now undisputed . The Minister has over and over again
admitted it . He has caused the Queen to admit it from the throne , deploring the fact , while she admired and complimented the patience and fortitude with which it was borne . Oar Aom ^ -position is therefore now well understood . In that particular we stand much better than ever we did formerly . When the Whigs were in , not one word res pecting general distress would they hear . In 3833 , when a Committee of Inquiry inte the condition of " Manufactures , Shipping , and Commerce" had been appointed , the Wnigs set themselves to prove that we were then in a state of " ijnexampi / ed
prosperity . To prove this , they raked the very kennels for " evidence , " It was before ihat Committee that Mr . Johs Mabshau ., of Leeds , evidenced that the wage he paid to a weaver was ten shillings a-week , whereon to support himself , his wife , and his family . ' It was before thai Committee that Mr . John Marshall showed that the aFerage wages he paid the * 'hands" in his mill was 6 s . lUd . 1 11 And this was al 2 " evidence" of " vxexjjipled prosperity . " Now , however , the song is changed . Ho one now sings of " prosperity . '» The ousted Whigs londly proclaim National buin at home ; and the Minister admits that great destitution prevails ; and has counselled the Queen to beg throughout the whole empire for eleemosynary aid to help to keep the stf Tving thousands alive i
Si Such , then , is our position at home . What is onr I position abroad ? j We have been led to believe that England owes > all her greatness to " onr Foreign Commerce . " j We have been taught that to "Foreign Commerce " ! we owe almost onr very existence : at all eTents , to jn , we are told , we owe onr *• civilization" and onr | empire of the seas » We have also been taught . ! ™* rf ™* cannot devise means to maintain and ' ! faS ^ ** " ¦ Foreign Amerce , " ™ must bid ! S ^ lf * ° " gl 0 Iy ' " »* I "*** to ° e ail-but f ? mTetl ? r rtaDCe ' - » e ^^" our Foreign
, have hitherto had it as matter of boast , tSkt we ; conld beat the world in manufactures : that no other j natioa could egva ! ns enterprise , industry , sad
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skill : that we had the iron and the ceal ; the labour and the machinery ; the water and the climate : and that these advantages rendered our manufacturing position impregnable . True , at the time this self-glorifying song of praiae" was being sung ' we were also warned of the danger to be apprehended from "Foreign Competition . ' * True , that while the ball-frog boast of impregnability was raised , we were also told that it was of the utmost moment to us , to be careful how we interfered with our manufactures , or we should give " Foreign Competition" the advantage over us . True , too , that this danger from " Foreign Competition " was adduced only when we asked for a measure of
Regulation ^ to prevent infants , of eight years old from being worked sixteen and eighteen hours a day , with only thirty minutes' respite from labour , for rest , meals , recreation , and education" I or when our operatives shewed symptoms of resistance to a reduction in wages . True , that it was only on such occasions aa these that the danger to be apprehended from Foreign Competition" was laid before us . On all other occasions a far different " song of triumph" was sung ; and we have been taught that for all we possess we are indebted to our " Cemmeroe " and our "Manufactures "; and that therefore it was of the most vital consequence to us to maintain our acknowledged supremacy in the markets of the world .
How , then , does the question of " Foreign Commerce" stand ! How is our " supremacy" ! Do we maintain it ? Has it been secured to us , by our constant depreciation in prices ; our sacrifice of profits ; and our annihilation of wages \ Can we beat the "foreign manufacturer , " now that we give him five times as much for his shilling as we did only fifty years ago , aad reduced the cambric weaver fourteen SHILLINGS AND XHREE-PENCB OUT OF EVERY FIFTEEN shillisgs that he them sarhed \ Are we masters of the " foreign market , " now that we have reduced our
workmen to destitution , and increased the number of committals for crime in thirty-six years from 4 , 605 to 27 , 760 ? J Are we able to " compete" with the " foreign manufacturer , " now that we have made such efforts : o defeat him , and such sacrifices to maintain our supremacy ? Let these questions bo answered by the Morning Chronicle , the organ of the manufacturing party , who are eternally bawling for another and greater ' Extension" of our manufactures , as the only means of getting us out of the hobbles former " Extensions" have driven us into .
In that journal of Wednesday last there appears the following picture of our own " Commerce" and the " Commerce" of other nations , whose " markets ' * we have hitherto had almost all to ourselves . It is of the utmost importance that this picture be attentively examined , both in its leading features , and in its minute details . It is a confession on the part of our Manufacturers themselves that " ovr commebce" has failed ! I It is of mighty consequence in guiding us to a correct estimatioa of our tosition abroad . Here ib the confession : failure is proclaimed in every liae : —
1 . England ia the child of commerce . To it she owes , to a great extent , her power and her civilization . If aha possesses the empire of the seas , it was commerce that gave it to her ; if she -wishes to keep it , it Ib by commerce alone that it can be preserved . To ita active and enterprising spirit she owes alike her maritime superiority and her colonial grandeur . The plough and the harrow might have been driven for ages , seed sown , and harvests gathered , and yet England would still have been but an inferior power . But the loom and the forge are called into requisition ; our commercial marine ia freighted with their productions : articles of comfort and necessity are scattered over overy quarter of the globe , and straightway this little island of oars acquires a degree of Importance and power , seemingly inconsistent alike with her natural capabilities and her geographical position .
2 . At the present juncture , , the aspect of our commercial relations with foreign powers is worthy of the most serious attention . If we look at Europe , we J ind all the great stales of the continent erecting for thtmse- ' ces , respectively , a manufacturing interest , which threatens te render them , ere long , completely independent of our skill and industry . Across the Atlantic , the prospect , if not equally cheerless , is at least forbidding . Ovr hold cpos Amebica seems daily iielaxing . The states ef the northern continent are lessening their dependence upon us , by extending their
manufactures , and hampering our trade by increasing prohibitions ; whilst our fast waning treaty with Brazil is giving ominous warning of the precarious position in which stands our traffic with the south . On all hands liave noslile tariffs arisen ; and as they are marshalled against us abroad , first idleness and then famine as surely overtake half our population at home . The dangers "which menace us on every side are increasing in a compound ratio , and yet no effort is made to avert them . Inactivity rules the Cabinet , while dislrets and ruin threaten even our national ex
ulence . 3 . Every cycle of the protective system has witnessed England in a worse position than its predecessor . Previous to 281 * the great staple articles of her manufacture hvi to contend with but a trifling competition . England then enjoyed an almost complete monopoly in the manufacture of cotton goods . Her woollen trade wai nearly equally unchecked . That wpt the time when English industry was indispensible to continential comfort , and when political alienations were not sufficiently powerful to sever the chain of commercial dependence , which made Europe contributory to our greatness . Hostility might proclaim the ports of the Continent shut againat our traffic ; but tbo Continent was not in a condition to dispense with it . What Imperial arrogance conceived it could accomplish with a breath , was rendered impossible by the wonts and necessities of Europe .
4 . The last twenty-five years have been no less pregnant with commercial changes than they have been rife in political revolutions . Every change has placed the Continent in a position more adverse to the interests of England . In proportion as Europe has progressed , baB England receded . We are how debarked those 5 IAEKETS FBOM WHICH . FORMERLY , NO POWER was sufficient TO exclube US . From the Guadalquiver to the Neva we * re met by an unbroken line ef hosfile tariff regulations . On the Baltic , espeically , 18 opposition rendered formidable by extensive and increasing combination . What the Milan and Berlin DECREES WERE UNABLE TO EFFECT JS NoW accomplished by ibe spinning jennies of Germany .
5 . The progress of competition is alike discernible in the activity -which everywhere marks tho industry of the foreigner , and the distress which brooi b like a nightmare over England . Our cotton trade , though crippled and diminished , is not yet a complete wreck . That great branch of human industry is now nearly eqaally divided between us and our rivals . America , France , and Germany now annually convert nearly a million of bales of the raw material tnto cotton fabrics ; NOT only SUPPLYING , TO A GREAT EXTENT , THEIR OWN WANTS , BUT COMPETING WITH US IN OTHER MAii-KETS , of which ; formerly we had an undisputed monopoly of the supply . The consumption by England of raw cotton does , not now much exceed the amount converted into manufactured wares by the foreign
loom . Had tine general demand increased in proportion aa foreign manufactures have flourished , the demand upon England for her fabrics , although it might have remained stationary , "would not have diminished . But foreign manufactures have far outstripped the increase of general demandj and just in proportion as they have done so , have they encroached upon the trade and the industry of England . The cotton of America was at one time raised almost exclusively for out market ; it is now extensively distributed through Europe and New England . Such have been the fruits of our restrictive system . That system first plantedjthe germ of universal competition—our continuance in it is fast bringing competition to a maturity , which will eventually overwhelm the great interests of the country .
6 . If our cotton trade vrere the only sufferer , we might bear up against the calamity . An increase in the other great branches of our industry might compensate us for the contraction of this the most important of all . Had the demand for her hardware and her woollens increased , as that for her cotton fabrics diminished , England would not have so sensibly felt the diminution . In five years only , from 1833 to 1838 , her exportation of cottons to Germany alone exhibited an alarming decrease . But this is not all . The Custom-House confederacy of the Baltic has extended its hostility to every ixnpoitant branch of our trade . Prussia , Westphalia , and Saxony have each erected their forges , and the PROTECTIVE CARE OF THEIR EESPECT 1 VB
GOVERNMENTS IS FATEHHALLY . EXTENDED TO THESE new-born interests The languishing state of our hardware manufactures is the result . Ia woollens , auch was at one time our undisputed superiority , that in the purchase of the raw material we controlled the continental market . We are not only now overbidden there , but aa early as 1828 the United Kingdom exported raw wool to the manufacturers of the Continent to the amount of neatly half a million sterling . 7 . Had our commercial relations -with Russia been
established , from the first , upon a judicious footing , it is impossible to calculate the extent to which an interchange of commodities would have eventually been carried between that power and England . Bat Russia , fatally for us , and injuriously to herself , has imitated the restrictive system , which she regards as the source ef the prosperity of England ; whereas it is now clearly proved to have retarded her progrets . The great power of the north—coiosscl both in her physical magnitude and in the political influence which she already wields , and is yet destined
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to assume , has deeply interwoven the ERRONEOUS principles OF protection with her whole commercial code . The commerce of Russia is built upon a system of gigantic monopolies , each , as it springs up , more or less crippling our trade with the Baltic With no other country in Europe have our commercial relations been more steadily diminished . England , at one time , furnished Rddsia with her cottons ; Russia now manufactures for her own necessities . First , our manufactured cottons were prohibited , the importation of our cotton twist being still permitted and encouraged . Latterly , the demand for this , the last remnant of our cotton trade with that country ,
has diminished , and the Russian manufacturer is becoming completely independent of us . Perhaps in no branch of trade is the loss of this great market : more observable than iu that ef broadcloth . Several large Russian houses in the City , which were formerly in the habit of supplying Russia extensively with goods of this description , have , year after year , become more limited in their dealings , until , during thl present year , not a single order hn been received . Colour after colour was prohibited ; the English manufacturer , to evade the prohibition , sending over his goods to be dyed in the country . Colour after colour
has been bestowed in monopoly upon imperial favorites . Green , the most important of all , because the uniform of the army , has lately been granted exclusively to the Empress Mother . Ou » broad cloth manufacturersbave now but little inducement to try the Russian market , and a balo ef English goods of this description , with the name of a respectable English house upon it , which formerly used to pass unopened , almost as currency , from St . Petersburg to Tobolsk , is now seldom to be { Seen in that extensive region . However friendly our political relations may continue—between us and Russia there bfds fatr to be soon the next thing to a commercial non-intercourse .
There now ! There is a picture of " Foreign Competition" ! There is a . picture , after the firetimes , over increase of quantity for the same amount of money ! There is a picture , after reducing the cambric weaver from 15 s . for weaving twelve yards of cambrio , down to 9 J . !! Thero is a picture , after increasing the number of criminals from 4 , 605 to 27 , 760 11 There is a pioture , after our operatives have been reduced to such deplorable misery as to cause them to " wish that Almighty God would put an end to their sufferings before morning" ! There is a picture , to be purchased at the price of " distress AND RUIN THREATEN I KG OUT national 6 Xistence" !! Have we not paid dearly for it I 11
Let us examine this article somewhat in detail . For that purpose we have numbered the paragraphs . Paragraph 1 . tells us that "England owes her power and her civilization to her Commerce . " There it is . ' There it is . ' It runs in the blood ! It is never out of the mind of our " profound Political Economists . " England the child of Commerce , " !! What " Commerce" had wo in the days of Alfred ! Was England England then t Not the " national extinction threatened England , from distress and ruin "; but " merrie England . " Not 27 , 760-cemmittals-forcrime-England ; but England with golden bracelets erected upon poles at ihe crossings of the highways
and these untouched ! Was that the " Child of Commerce" I What " Commerce" had we in the days of John , when the Barons met him at Runnemede , and forced him to sign Magna Chartu , or the Charter of " rightsaud liberties" ? What" Commerce" had we in the third Edward ' s time , when England was " powerful" enough to * ' conquer '' all France , excepting Paris ! What " Commerce" had wo in the sixth Harry ' s time , when old Chancellor Fortesque gave the following description of England and
Englishmen ? That description we commend to the attention of the Chronicle , and ask him to contrast it with his own description of England NOW , with " distress and ruin threatening her national existence" ! The old Chancellor says . thatinthedays when"thoplough and the harrow were driven , the seed sown , and harvests gathered ; " and before " the anvil and the loom had been called into requisition / ' that " our commercial marine might be freighted with their productions" ; in those days old Fortesque described the condition of England and Englishmen thus : —
« The King cannot despoil the subject , without making ample satisfaction for the same ; be cannot by himself or his ministry , lay taxes , subsidies , or any imposition whatever , upon the subject , hk cannot alter THE LAWS . OR MAKE NEW ONES , WITHOUT THE EXPRESS CONSENT OF THE WHOLE KINGDOM IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED : every inhabitant is at his liberty fully to use and enjoy whatever his farm produceth , the fruits of the earth , the increase of his flock , and the like : all the improvements he makes , whether by bis own proper industry , or of those be retains in his service , are his own t » use and enjoy , without the lett , interruption , or denial of any . If he be in any wise injured , be shall have his amends and satisfaction against the party offending-: HENCE it is
that the inhabitants of Eaglanfl are rich in gold , silver , and all the necessaries and conveniences of life . They drink no water , unless at certain times , upon a religious score , and by way of doing penance . They are fed in great abundance with alt sorts of Jiah ami Jiih , of which they have plenty everywhere ; they are clothed throughoat in good woollens ; their bedding and other furniture in their houses are of wool , and that in great store ; they are also well provided with all sorts of household goods and necesssary implements for husbandry ; every one according to his rank , bath all things which conduce to ' make life easy and happy '" And after this he observes that these are the etf * cts of laws , which are founded upon the principle , that " a king is given for ihe sake of the kingdom , and not a kingdom for the sake of a kiny . "
Such was England , when " Commerce" was , comparatively , unknown ! Snoh was England , when the " plough and the harrow" received more attention than the " anvil and the loom . " Such was England , when Englishmen consumed ' their own " productions , " instead of " freighting" them off , for distant climes . Now , the Chronicle says ; now , that " Commerce" has " civilized" us ; now , that OUR '* articles of comfort and necessity are scattered OVER EVfiRV QUARTER OF THE GLOBE "; nOW , that " the loom and the forge" have been so " called into requisition" ; now , after all this " Commerce" of which " England is the child "; now , after all this ^ her "national existence is even threatened by distress and ruin" ! !!
Paragraphs 2 and 5 give a mournful picture of " foreign ; competition . " We are being regularly driven out of ' * foreign markets . " " All the great States of Europe are erecting for themselves a manufacturing interest , which threatens to render them , ere long , completely independent of our 6 kill and indubtry . " And this , too , after we have brought ourselves to a condition , that even our " national existence is threatened , by distress and ruin" ; brought ourselves to that condition , in the rain endeavour to maintain our " itipremacy'' in the ' 'foreign markets" of tho world !
There Is oae most curious idea parrading the whole article of the Manufacturers' Organ . It is , that the condition he describes is attributable to what he calls the " protective system . " And what" ByBtem ' does he shew those other nations to have adopted , to enable them to beat us in their own markets I The '" Free system , " to be sure ?! O ! no . " We are now met by an unbroken line of hostile Tariffs . ' " The states of the Northern Continent of America are lessening their dependence upon us , by extending their manufactures , and hampering our trade by increased prohibitions" ! " Russia has deeply interwoven ihe principles of PROTECTION with her
whole commercial code "; and " with no- other country in Europe have our commercial relations besn more speedily diminished" !!! Pray , how is this , Mr . Chronicle 1 If the " PsoiiewvE system" leads to dangor of " national extinction from distress and ruin" iu England , pray how is it that we have to fear those same " PiiOTtcnvE principles" when interwoven with the commercial codes of other countries 1 If those principles lead to ruin at home , pray how do they manage to make " other nations independent of our skill and industry " ? Pray how is this I Have you not assigned an operation to those " principles" abroad different from that which you
would have us believe them to have had at home I Have you not been trying to make our condition square with a fore-gone conclusion \ and have you not foiled \ Haa not the natural operation of the " protective system , " in " excluding" us from every "foroigu market " where it has been adopted , proved that PROTECTION renders others independent ? And if it has this effect in Russia , why should it have reduced us to a daDger of national extinction ? Has not it been rather the want of PROTECTION that has brought usto where we are \ England was protected when old Chancellor Fobtesque penned his description of this then " powerful " : ' state . She bad no
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" Free-Traders" theji . That genus have sprung up since that day : and every attempt to put in practice their principles of np-protection , has been followed by " distress and kuin , " until at last our Tery " national existonce is threatened" !! But we must examine still more deeply into our position abroad . The Chronicle tells us that " our hold upon America Seems daily relaxing . " We are loosing it entirely ! \ America is not only beating Us in her home markets , but she has actually followed us into our own , and beaten us there f Sh& has sent us manufactured cottons , and sold them in the English market " cheaper" than we can produce them ourselves ! She has beaten us at home . In a
short time we shall be compelled to adopt a " prohibitory Tariff , " to enable our manufacturers to retain the home market 2 This question is one of intense interest . The reader will therefore excuse our going into it at great length . We wish to put him in possession of the facts relating to it , that he may be prepared to meet the impending evil . The battle has begun * We are being beaten . We shall be ultimately driven completely out of every foreign market .
Such is not our opinion alone . The facts narrated in the article from the Chronicle fully sustain that opinion : and if any cloubt could possibly exist in the mind of any one , after examining the Chronicle ' s picture , that doubt will 6 urely be removed by the following letter , written in the month of June last , by one of the largest of our cotton manufacturers , Robert Hyde Greg ; . In that letter he shows why the Americans can beat us . It is important therefore , and necessary for a due understanding of this mighty question . ¦
The letter waB written to the Manchester Guardian . In that paper ; had appeared a statement , an analysis , respecting the cotton goods sent from America into the English market ; showing that they were " cheaper" than those of like quality manufactured at home . Mr . Robert Hyde Greg therefore undertook to show why that was so ; and why we could not help it . Here is his letter : — l . Sir , —We are much indebted to you and youi friend , who hei been bo kind as to analyse the samples of American Cotton "I Domestics , " and to give to the public what he believes to be the comparative market value of them and similar goods of English manufacture . !
2 . The whole subject is so interesting to the population of this district , and , indeed , almost equally so to the kingdom at large ^ that I need scarcely apologise for prolonging the discussion . 3 . I would remark , ( among other things , that calculations from small samples are liable to considerable error , as shown in No . 3 , being quoted aa lold in America at 93 d . per lb ., and other cloth , apparently the same quality , at 10 per cent , higher ; and the " drills , " which cost ipiore than cimmon plain cloth , being rated only at the same price . This difference in quoted prices may arise , it is true , from the different
kinds of cloth being in unequal demand ; but it equally ehowa that strict reliance caonot be placed on the prices of the tables , as showing the true comparative cost of the same kind of cloth ! in England and America . The very circumstance of comparing in the tables the eigjit months' credit price of ; America with the cash price in England , tends , in Itself , to deceive a casual observer . Considering the high ] rate of interest in commercial transactions in America , this eight mouths' credit must add 5 to 7 . } per cent to the market price of the American goods , and should be deducted from thei ; quotations in the tables .
4 . The tables also , so far as they are comparative , are founded on the presumption that the prices in both countries are yielding { the same profit , or are equal at prime cost ; whereas , in reality with us , there is no profit , and a most extraordinary combination of circumstances to reduce : ; prices ; but supposing , in America , at the date of the quotations , there was a profit of 5 per cent , on the goods in question , this 5 per cent , added to the 5 per cent for difference of credit , makes 10 per cent . ; and "ihe tables are turned" in a literal sense . I exclude wholly from consideration the finer goods ; for it is only where the raw material constitutes a certain per centage , that America can expect to compete with us . This , however , unfortunately , includes the great nuLK both of our goods and yarns .
5 . A 3 a companionjto your tables , I give you a few particulars of the last new mill built at Lowell , of which I possess the minutest details , including the wages of every hand employed , in every department ; and cost of buildings , { machinery , wheels , water , &o . Sec . The wages of tho grown up women , weavers , drawers , and rovers , are , or were , ( wages have « nce been reduced ) 1 dol . 90 cents , weekly , excluding of board , or 3 dols . to 3 dole . 10 cents , inclusive board ; and tbe average of the men , including three overseers , 6 dels , exclusive of board . ' 176 looms , in 24 days of Marcfa , 1811 , made ... .. ¦ ... .-. 74 , 819 lbs cloth ;
or , 7 . 339 pieces ; ; or , 214 , 770 yards ; being abont 50 . 84 yards per day . 6 . la the week ending Jane 19 th , the same looms averaged 52 6-10 th yarda per day . Speed of loom , 135 picks per minute . Ditto front roller , spinning ll ' s warp , 96 revolutions . Ditto throstle , iditto weft , 106 ditto . Time worked , 74 hours weekly , and three holidays in the year . J The cost of the " Drills , " at the same mill , from the cotton entering the mill till they reached the hands of the commission agent who sells , was , at the same time , — I cts . els . Labour 1 . G 47 per yard ; or , 4 , 716 per lb . " wSr ^ S : " ¦ : ™« - ' "> ^ Per lb .
2 , 261 .... 6 , 758 7 , The waste madeintoaaljfiicturing was , 11 43-100 ths per cent This data would give the cost of drills , the article composing the 400 bales in Messrs . Biring ' s hands , — i Cotton—rsay 4 ( T . waste £ ' 1 . Cts . 6 jJ ; manufacturing 3 id .
8 i . or , 8 d . for rniME cost of what costs here S \ d . to 9 % d . and leaves , no profit to the manufacturer at this price . ) 8 The principal advantage to the American manufacturer is , however , in the cost of the raw material ; which , in a general way , amounts to from \\ to Id . per lb . Graham , in his pamphlet , on the impolicy of the cotton duty , gives , as the result of three shipments of cotton imported by his own firm , viz — 400 bales by the Mars , \\\ per cent :
200 „ I Jane , 14 101 „ John Hale , 14 or 13 | per cent , extra cost , including 5-l < 5 d . duty , beyond What the same bales zvould have cost at Boston . The price of American cotton was then 7 d . per lb . In the cheapness of moving power , the Americana have another great advantage over us ; their water power not averaging more tban £ 3 10 s . whilst here it eannot be reckoned under £ 12 10 s . ; making a difference againBt a medium-sized English concern of £ 800 to £ 1 , 000 per annum .
9 . In the cheapness of Ifljur for dressing , ami the dry-Bess of climate , the Americans have another great advantage over ub . They can drees tbeir warps at half the expence we cm in England—a farther saving of £ 300 to £ 500 per annum . It is peedless , however , to enter iuto farther detail ; and f refer tnose curious to know more on the subject , to the pamphlet which I published on the factory question in 1836 The statements and prophesies about the American manufactures made then , have proved only too true . 10 . But , laving aside all disputes about the different iteniB of the cost of production in the two countries ,
the simplo fact of America exporting largely , and increasingly so , to neutral ) markets , proves , not only her power of successful competition , but that it is not her tariff , but cheaper production , which has excluded us from her own markets in all the coarser fabrics . After supplying her own wants , s * he sought the markets where she could meet us on c qual terms , China and South America . From the former she has totally shut out all our coarser cotton fabrics I and from the latter to a great extent . We hear , indeed , that China takes nothing coarser tban 66 * reed cambrics ; bat the fact is , that she does purchtse largely of coarser fabrics , but they are supplied solely by America .
11 . The entire export of grey and bleached cotton goods to China from Great Britain , this season , amounts to only 456 , 000 pieces ; yhilst America lias sent , during same period , 420 , 000 pieces . These are of the stouter descriptions , a class of goods which have been rotting in our warehouses for want of a market , although offered at prices less than they could be produced for . These " domestics , " or at least the drills , having first beaten ours ; out of China , now farm a regular article in the Calcutta and Bombay markets , although they pay ten per cent duty , on entry , whilst similar goods of English manufacture pay only three and a half per cent . i
12 . This export has gone on gradually increasing from 1823 , when it amounted to 1 , 763 packages , to 1833 , when it had reached 13 , 207 packages . I cannot give the exports regularly since 1833 ; but in eighteen months of 1837 and 1838 :, 20 , 000 bales of these goods ' went to Asia ; and 16 , 000 ditto to Sjuth America ; and the amount this year , I am given to understand ) far exceeds any previous one , 13 . Connected with the same eu > ject , it may be remarked ratther , that by the Colonial Biii , introduced by Mr . Labouchere in 1841 , and passed by the present Government last year , ajvery low duty , I believe cot more than four or five per cent ., has been substituted in our North American and West India coionies , for the fotmer duty on all foreign manufactures ; and thus these
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markets have been opened to American enterprise . I believe our Canada merchants already feel this new competition ; at least they have petitioned Parliament on the subject ; and I am informed that Mr . L ., of Boston , the shipper of the 400 bales of •? ¦ drills" to Messrs . Barings , have now travellers in Canada taking orders for American cotton goods . 14 . The principal part of these fabrics are manufactured at Lowell , a town which , though only of a few years date , now consumes fifty thousand to sixty thoU
sand bales of cotton in its milts ; and has , besides , many printing and bleaching establishments , and extensive woollen concerns . It is situated about the same distance from Boaton as Manchester from Liverpool ; and , like Manchester , is connected with its port by a railrsad and a navigable river . A natural water power of Jive thousand horsts exists at Lowell , belonging to a company , and i 3 let off on easy terms . The whele of this , or nearly so , is now appropriated ; and other falls , eqoal in extent to that of Lowell , a little higher up the river , are now in process of appropriation .
15 . The freight of cotton to Boston may be ' taken fl < J averaging one half the freight of the same cotton to Liverpool . The looms at Lowell unquestionably tain off more cloth than any in Great Britain . The spinning machinery is not good , and very expensive ; but with this , our only advantage , tee are now good-naturedly sup ' plying them , having removed all checks to exporting our machinery by orders in council , and being , I am told , about to openly legalize it by Act of Parliament 16 . It is blindness not to see that , with an open trade , America will supply England with the coarser fabrics of cotton ; and I always combated the assertion , that the cotton manufacturers , who renounced protection for themselves , when they demanded a fiee trade In corn , were , in so doing , renouncing what was of no value te themselves .
17 . But Lowell herself begins to tremble for the fat 3 of her coarser manufactures . " Cotton factories are also extending rapidly in various parts of the Southern States , in Virginia , North Carolina , Tenessee , and is the towns on the Ohio ; and there can be no doubt but this country ia destined , at no very remote period , to be the great emporium of the cotton manufacture of the world , ob it possesses all the nec » Bsary requisites for that purpose , viz . extensive available water power , an intelligent and enterprising population , and having within itself an abundant supply of tee raw material . If the experiment of slave labour succeed in the factories , as is confidently expected , the coat of manufacturing the cotton into cloth will be much less there than any where else ; bo that it will not be surprising if , in a few years , those Southern factories should manufacture coarse
cotton goods , and sell them in the public markets at one-half the price at which they can be manufactured in England . There are several cotton manufactories in Tenesseo , worked entirely by Blave labour , there not being a white man in the mill but the superintendent j and , according to a letter lately received from the superintendent of one of these factories , it appears that the blacks do their work in every respect as well as could be expected from the whites . Cotton factories are rapidly springing up iu North Carolina ; but , with two or three exceptions , they are chiefly employed only in spinning cotton yarn . " — The Cotton Manufacture of the United States of America , contrasted and compared with that of Great Britain ; to which calm and interesting account , ¦ written by a Siotchman long conducting an American cotton factory , I refer yonr readers for a great variety of important matter connected with the subject .
18 . We cannot , in common candoub ,, be > t that tub spinning and weaving of co . vrse goods being ko longer a mystery , the manufacture of them must finally rest with those who have the raw material , the moving power , and the flour for dressing , on the easiest TERMS ; and , looking at the activity of the Americans , and their readiness and aptitude to avail themselves of every advantage , it cannot be denied that this manufacture must finally rest with them .
19 . It may be said the coarser fabrics are of little comparative value : contrast the labour in a piecs of lace with that in a piece of common calico . Bat the coarser fabrics are worn by all , rich and poor , and the lace only by one person in a hundred . The coarser fabrics constitute probably three-fourths of our manufactures in balk , a matter of no small consequence to a naval and commercial peeple ; and What will be our canditien when three-fourths of the bulk ef our cotton manufactures have passed away to other nations ? Robert Hyde Greg .
To this plain statement of the reasons and causes why America can manufacture ° cheaper" than we can ; and why " ihe manufacture must finally rest with them , " it ia unnecessary to add another word . All the causes are there enumerated . " Cheap power ; " " raw material at home ; " " cheap transit , on their own rivers j" " our machinery exported to them ; " " the little advantage we had , now given up ; " " spinning and weaving now no longer a mystery : " it is impossible but that the manufacture must finally rest with them !
The thing is being done . The very last Packet from the United States brings word how the affair is working . Head the following , from the American papers , brought to England this very week : and then say whether Mr . Robert Hyde Greg aud the Chronicle are not right ia exclaiming— " Our hold upon America is daily relaxing" : — " Generally speaking , business of all kinds is improving , except that of the importing merchants . The tffeel of Hie new American Tariff becomes more and more obvious every day . THE imports of English , French , and other manufactures have decreased WONDERFULLY . THE EXPORT 3 OF AMERICAN PRODUCE HAVE INCREASED .
* ' Atnerican manufactures are increasing ; and the balance of trade being turned to so great an extent in fayocr of this country , specie is flowing in upon as from s " quarters . " The Amoskeag Manufacturing Company are about erectiug another mill at Manchester , N . H . It is to be 400 feet in length , and will be sufficiently large to contain from 460 to 480 looms , and 11 , 000 spindles double the size of the mills now in operation at that place . The Lanvale Factory , the Washington Factory , and the Calico and Bleaching Works on Ionea Falls , near Albany , are about being started on an extensive scale by a company of capitalists .
" A merchant of Troy engaged in the eastern tirade informs us , that he found it extremely difficult , when in Boston last week , to obtain a supply of " domestics " By the 15 th of August ; the orders already received by the manufacturers being so fall as to keep them constantly at work . There have already been exported from Boston to China , the present year , 15 , # 00 , 000 yards of cotton goods ; while from Great Britain to China , the export has only been 12 , 000 , 000 yards ; the celestials GIVING OUR CLOTHS THE PREFERENCE . "Troy Whig . There is the process , u Protection" ruins us ia England . In America it causes the " imports" of onr manufactures to decrease wonderfully ; and th « exports of their own produoe to increase .
Well , then , such is our position abroad ! We are being driven down in tho manufacturing market ! "Our hold upon America" is fast meltiDg away . " From the Guadalquiver to the Neva , we are met by an unbroken line of hostile tariffs . " " Our fast waning treaty with Brazil gives ominous warning of the precarious position in which B / . ands our traffic with the South . " " On the Baltic , opposition is rendered formidable by extensive and increasing combination . " "Persia , Westphalia , and Saxony have each erected their forges ; and the protective care of their respective Governments is paternally extended to these new-born interests . The languishing slate of our hardware manufactures is the result . "
"England at one time furnished Russia with her cottons : Russia now manufactures for her own necessities . " "The Russian manufacturer is now completely independent of us . " The fact is , the manufacturing game is oveb , ! It is done . Machinery has done ita work . It hss Btripped us of that which we formerly exclusively possessed—enterprise , skill , and untiring industry . These are not of much avail now . A . machine can run as weli in America as in England ; in Russia as in Saxony . All these parties have now * gotten ua machinery ; and , therefore , they are equal with us . Nay , some of them , as witness America , have advantages over as which we can never deprive them of , or counterbalance !
The game is at an end ! Ii is completely up I If we play at it longer , it will be at a greater loss than it ever has been : and , a 3 it is , it has threatened our National Existence ! What , then , is to be done ! What is to be our resource ? To what end are we to apply the national energies ! Are we to go on as we are , and become " Nationally Extinct" J Are we to permit wsthes 3 and ruin to do their full work ! Or are we to look the evil fall in the face , and apply a simple but efficacious remedy ?
But what is that remedy ? Next week we will shew you . Next week we will set Mr , Baines to shew you . Next week we will prove , fromhim , that there is but one , — "our last and only resource , — the land" ! Next week we will shew that he has long foreseen this day , and provided a remedy ! That remedy is in " ouk ovrs soil . " The great length of this article precludes oar doing this at the present , aa we had fully intended . It will however take no ha « n from keeping . Tie testimony of the Chronicle as to our present position
Portrait Of W. P. Eoberts, Esa.
PORTRAIT OF W . P . EOBERTS , ESa .
Otjb Position.
OTJB POSITION .
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A the northern star . ,
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 2, 1843, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct497/page/4/
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