On this page
- Departments (3)
-
Text (10)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
SUtaJ »& Gsmtiti sntmiKente
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1841.
-
Untitled Article
-
¦jMj^^^SSSSSbiiiSSSSSmhmmh ^ ortrg*
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
" * TO THE CHABTISTB . Oa , ooroteymen , on to the fight , The stroggto for freedom most deer , gnri down on the tyrants the bHgfct , Of fhe bearbi feefr oppression Aotb . sear . I >« geiaofc the faoaesiaqd brave , WtwiD tjnai Whig * dao&eaas u « cut , jLnd iadignanttj spurn the fata * slave , Wbo with slamdertbeirflkir tame would blast B e not toed by the traachersui smile Of base traitors , who seek bat your fall ; Tbefll employ every base , Wblg-like gun * , To divert 7 * " * roa lit * rtr » call . Sobs of Albion staid lr » toydur potts—Respond to fairlitxrtys tifh—Hat despite of the tyrant's red host * , Your Charter you'll have , or you'll die . C . WXSTRJlT
Untitled Article
THE RADICAL'S LITANY . Prom nobles that at ec * rt do alt , To rule our land ai thej ^ aee fit , Whom many * beggar conld outwit , . Good Lord deliver ub . From independent gentry , who Consume oar grain as locusts do , And rob the labourer of Ids due , Good Lord deliver us . From flonoar * being conferred , all Upon the rich , both great and email . Though with skulls thick as China's vail , Good Lord deliver ax From Church established by the law . And tithes enforced to glut the maw Of every Idle strutting d * w , Grood Lerd deliTer as
From bishops and all proeorasoas , Synodal * sod- eonfimation * , And every smah like botheration , Good Lord deliver aa From fool hypocrisy and cant , And re ^ h minds of virtue scant , And joggling Mftthortirtic rant . Good Lord deliTer us . From thai cmsed thingthe Tfew Poor Act Which Tories sanction , Wings exact , Of hellish deeds the most compact , Good Lord deliver us . From bailie * , beadle * , -with their crew Of hellish miscreants , Whig and Blae , Whose greatest joy 's the poor to screw , Good Lord deliver us .
From lawyers , policemen , and spies , That deal in ftaud , deceit , and lies , Whose devilry , the world outvies , Good Lord deliver os > From sttffr&ges-of britk and mortar , Likewise elective bribe and Water , With all thai * hostile to the Charter , Good Lord deliver us . ALKXAXDEK HriSH UUy , Feb . 14 th , 1 S « .
Untitled Article
ENIGMA . In ffothlc towers and palaces I dwell , In the deep recesses of the hollow'd cell , In gloomy caves where man ne ' er d&r'd His form to trust , my plaintive voice is heard , ¦ Mongst hollow rocks , I take » y airy flight , My form seeloded still from mortal ' s sight , Bred by the offspring of the human mind , 1 to the worM an instant passage find , Yet short the space of time my life can boast , Born in one moment , in another lost , I , ooee a symph , cputed ob the plains , The pride and glory of the neighbouring swains , Tul eross'd in love I left my native glade , Mr form eonsom'd , and dwindled to a shade . W . G
Sutaj »& Gsmtiti Sntmikente
SUtaJ » & Gsmtiti sntmiKente
Untitled Article
GABLXSLE . —Scddet Djbath of a Pactee BttTBM Scspioocs Cibcchstakces . —An inquest w » held before Mr . William Carrick , coroner , on Wednesday , the 10 th instant , in Water -lace , on new of the body of John Caplrn , aged twenty-one years , lying dead at the Bog . The result of thie enqcjrjirs 8 l » evaen Xo Mr . Nicholson , surgeon to the Union , ud Mr . Eauuedge , keeper of the poorhoast , from * sy blame in the distressing transaction , though we bare fitUe confidence ia the evidence prodaoed ^ . 'jrimi consisted of thai of relieving-officers , and others , interested is patching up the affair , backed Mi by a number of paupers themselves , who were under die painful necessity of statin ? what
tMV were instructed to do . The following is the eerree ; smemeni of Junes Caplin , brother to the deceased : —John Caplin , my lite brother lay sick wish me for eight weeks , when , owing to my disfcesssd cireaffist&ncas , I applied to the parish for relief for him . 1 received half a crown per week is the space of three weeks ; but , on the rejievingeffieer caking to see him , he iound him standing by the fire ; ia consequence of this , the allowance was itemed , acd ay brother was ordered away to tbt warkkmse , where he remained ex days ; bat during Has tame he was set to break stones in an open yard , sis own clothes were stripped off him , and he was tfcahed in the workhooae dres 3 . From the severity
tl the weather , he was very much starred , and apyfied for some of his own clothes to put under the sifac ; but thi 3 request was refused , and he was compelled to couaaoe to break stones , though in a vsy poor and unhealthy state , and the weather KJsg very severe . He then came back t « me , and I seat for Mr . Eeeves , surgeon , who examined hin , Jia I asked aim for a line to the relieving officer , to he mi it would pot be Attended to , * he then aid "if ihaj man ( pointing to my Brother ) dies , I ¦* 3 U » old Dr . Nicholson responsible for his death . I woader whai sort of a man Nicholsoa can be , to trier ihat man to work . " My brother died in a few « yg afterwards . The doctor then came to me , and
*•* « os wiiat I intended to da , as the disorder my ¦ ewer had previous to his going to the workhouse , * M & 0 i -jrhu he died of , and that there ought to be » coroner ' s iaqaest . In xoaseqaence of this , I "tiered &n inquest 10 be held . James Caplin . —This ¦ Msnou was coDtraoicted in evidence ; more espe-BRj that portion which is attributed to Mr . « ere » , Burgeon ; and also the statement as to the «•« John Caplia harbg been sent to break atones ; » w k > reconcile this conflicting testimony we know * ° t- Were we called on to give an opinion , it * pald be to place as mach reliance on the statement ¦ poor Caplain , as those of the relieving officers and ¦ aeable paupers , who dared ar t say » word , howf tfts iJ mkht be , derogatoryHo the character of
« o « they ire under . One thing is clear , that V * P ! awasinavery unfii etate vo be put to work a lie opea air , and whkh , if correct , would jjoukUess be the means of greatly accelerating his ¦**« . We would caution those enirusted with the «* es _ of the infirm and poor , to be careful how they ** &eni 5 lest ihey may be -chargeable in the eyes « fepailic , with practising a harshness towards j « a , which the law itself will not jastify , mach = s humanisy tolerate . There ia one circumstance , 'fcca we had aiaost forgot to mention , and that is , * 5-P ° J 5 that Mr . Xiehoison , or some of the party , rea £ e « the paupers , who gave evidence , with spirits ; ^^ astance , if tru « , of a very euspiciou 3 charae-^» r i ; is eertaiuly not a common practice with *~* pers of workhouses , so to act towards a sarceJ fpmpers .
J *** Hah . —We happened to call in here tl * ZrP "J , to see what the magistrates were engaged is * ' v ^ Mm F ! " was toade against a rejj ^ kbie innkeeper , in conseqnence of the imperfect ^ m of his stable , for the accommodation of the ^ w of two horse soldiers , who had beeu billeted ^ £ * him . A Captain Somebody said the nails taM * ° ** . i and . that pigs were kept near the Ir , * % The innkeeper urged , that the imperfect r * « the stable had been caused by a wicked ? £ « belosging to the same tro » p . Here a Jong ^ wory conversation took place between the laagrate ^ and- the Captain , as to the right of repairg ^ ejnjary which had been done by the wicked r ^ 6—the magistrates contendinir . thai the innhi 3 but
S ? a ^^ id nare s table rep aired ; the ^^ a tpid them there was no law for any sach Z ^ f / iaslly , the innkeeper agreed to make the SeW lep ^ ; bBt eTen t i n * not do , as £ * £° * ses had been sent to fresh billets ; so that the Wfir must pa ? lhe am « f nrenty-eight shil-J ^» r one month , and his own stable standing uu-WT ~ , Jiati og the last twelve months there ^ aot been less than from thirty to forty eom-W m «* Kssed bj the aagistrate * , to the serious fcttf ^ fo ^ e aience of the pubUcanB . Govern Saa" *^ » ppoi nt inspectors to Bee in what &BalS ^ J !> ? - h * * looxn " ¦ eaTere aad their Sru ^ 5 e ( tonuc 2 « d » nd fed . with a vi «* r to see
^ ftad ^ r ^ . ^ hOTJBed > weU M > M » d weU ^ Z ll ?* *? Pi « dg 6 ourselves they are far ketter ted ^ ri . ^* 18 of h er Majesty , than a ^ Tas ^ h ^ f ' wh 0 se horses *^« & » ° ;^ J « IHSHAa i—BsiTEB L ate tbas Neteb . ducVof r £ ^ seems to ° e verified in the ^ attiH . ! - *^ Seatry this ^^ ^ w ^» 9 afiST ^ A ^ l 0 W ? HaU ' thh week ' « the pJojed nowK ^ * food Md faeI for the ™ *' ¦ w * " » Sm v * ? l " « se ^ a . This is weU ; ^•^ s Ebfia VhtV ***** iteJ done bo two T J * PlacS Zr ^[ V ilmdy ^^ rai ^ a . ^ 11 sta > d S » t disposal of Church clergymen . % & * ^ dsDmJ ^ "ous we > e willing to sub-^^ ewa dSSS' pro T ided *^ ey had the tickets at uu » i bat it , „« , fcUowed ,
Untitled Article
XJBEDS . —EiTBJfsiv * Robbibt . —OnTuesday but , a female named Susannah Scott , was placed before Messrs . Stansfeld and Hebden , sittipg magistrate ! , at the Court-House , charged with laving stolen £ 50 in Bilvei , from the house of Mr . John Ayrey , the Old George Iuq , Bnggaie , Mr . Ajrejr stated , . that on Saturday last , about noon , Mr . Matthew Smith , manufacturer , of Morley , gave him a brown paper parcel , containing the sum named , to take care of , while he was ready to < o home ; he was in the habit of dome io weekly , and Mrs . Ayrey made a practice of locking the change up in a private drawer in the nursery—a room to which the family only had access ; On Saturday , however , Mrs . A . at" the time the money was brought , was giving the breast
to an infant in the kitchen , and Mr . Ayrey laid it in an open drawer at the Bide of her , telling her to beenrt to lock it up before she did anything else ; there were at that time only the servants and Mrs . Worth , of Roth wt 11 , in the kitchen , besides Mrs . Ayrey ; . The latur , on some account wm suddenly called into the bar , where she " stayed only > abort ' time , when the recollected the money , and proceeded to the . kitchen for it , when to her surprise she found it was gone . Enquiry was instantly instituted , and a rigideiamination made ; but without , at that tune , producing any effect . On Monday morning , handbills were issued , offering a reward ' of five pounds for any information llkelr to lead to a discovery of the property , and the conviction of the thief .
During the afternoon of Monday , a servant girl from a beerhouse in Swinegate , kept by Mrs . Booth , went to the George Inn , to inquire for Sootfc , eaying that Mrs . Booth wished to see her particularly .. Mr . Ayrey , having his Buspicions excited , went over to Mrs , Booth ' s , and there leaxav that his servant liad , on Saturday , taken a brown paper parcel , containing money , to Mrs . Booth ' s , and which she said was the amount of a legacy left to her by her aunt , which she had jvist received ; this parcel the girl fetched away on Saturday night , and Mr . Ayrey then discovered that she had taken it to Mrs . Trolly ' s , in Ebenezer-street , to which place , accompanied by Scott , he went , having previously
sent for an officer , who followed them into kbenezerstreet , where the girl was taken into custody . Mrs . Trolly then produced a rosewood work-box , which she said had been left with her by Scott , and which contained silver to the amount of £ 47 , and Mrs . Trolly said the girl had given her £ 2 8 s . in loose change to lay out for her . Thus was all the property , with the exception of a few shillings , recovered ; and the parcels ( containing £ 5 each , in which the money was wrapped ) being spoken to by Mr- Smith , as those which he left with Mr . Ayrey on Saturday , and the other parts of the evidence being detailed to the magistrates , the prisoner was committed to Uke her trial for the offence at the next
borough sessions . FrKB axd Loss op Life , —On Saturday morning last , about six o ' clock , a fire which might have been attended with the most serious results , broke out in the drying-room , at the fiax-spinning mill , occupied by Mr . Wm . Hill , at the corner of Lady-lane and Mill Garth-street , in the rear of the extensive premises of Messrs . Jackson , tobacco-manufacturers , to whom the property belongs . It appears that an old aud respected servant , named John Sharp , had the care of the drying-room , the floor of which is composed of iron grating to admit the heat , and it is entered from the boiler-house bj means of a trap door , fastened down by a padlock , and the supposioa is that Sharp , on going to unlock it , had his
limp in his h » n < i , the name from which came m contact , by 6 om « means , with the MTB by which the grated floor was covered , and by watch the entire room was soon in a blaze . Sharp gave an instant alarm , and proceeded with the engine-man into the room , to endeavour to extinguish the names ; in this , however , thsy were unsuccessful , and the engineer , seeing the danger they were in , got through the trap door and called upon Sharp to follow him . Thisthe p ^ or fellow was unable to do , in consequence of the fire gaining upon him , and having already communicated to his clothes ; but a bucket of water being thrown through the grating , so far cleared the
fire as to enable him to see his way out , and he fell down the trap door , dreadfully burnt . He was removed to the Infirmary , where he died the same night . Some engines we ' re soon after upon the spot , and the fire was got entirely under before seven o ' clock , having done damage to the amount of £ 100 , the whole of which- is covered by insurance . On Monday morning , an inquest was held upon tbo remains of Sharp , before Mr . Blackburn , the coronor , when , after hearing the circumstances detailed , the Jury returned a verdict of Accidental death . " Sharp was Bixty years of age , a widower , and has leftseren children , most of whom are grown up ; he was highly- respected .
' GliASGOW ^ -TheprosecntJon of th eshopocrats of Glasgow , and its suburban districts , is still going on with unabated vigour before the Justice of Peace Court . Since my last communication , those persons appointed to examine the beams , Bciles , and weights have visited Tollcross , Parkbead , Camlauchie , Drygate , Toll Green , and Blue Vale , and have had a goodly number of the honeit tea-farthing , rigidlyrighteous , and teu-pound-wise shopkeepers of these villages fined for cheating and robbing the ignorant svinish multitude out of their hard-won earnings , with light weights . In these districts the crime is , If possible , of a still deeper dye , as the population is composed principally of hand-loom weavers , whose average wages do not amount to more than four or five shillings per week . I bare made a calculation of the fines of about 150 , taken at random , and I find the amount to be £ 197 is . ; beside ? , a number
of these have been amerced in expences . Who now will have the audacity to doubt that Johnny Finality , the champion general of the Charch by law established , the throne , and the aristocracy , has not shewn his great wisdom in thus selecting the shopkeepers as his electoral standard of intelligence and honesty , in his hatnbug Reform Bill ? There is only on « law for the rich and the poor , it is said . What arrant nonsense , when we see the contrary every day J A poor girl , working in a steam-loom factory , was sent to Bridewell for sixty days , and her name made public , for purloining about a yard of calico cloth out of the factory ; while these middle-class nun , who have plundered the public of thousands of pounds , get off with a paltry fine , which they can easily afford to pay oat of the plunder , and sacrifice nose of their luxuries all the while . —Correspondent .
WAKEFEELD . —At the Wakefield Debating Society , on the Itth instant , at the Temperance Hotel , W ' estgate , an excellent paper was read by Mr . D . SiraUow , on Co-operation ; after which a debate took place , which was conducted in the best of Epirit for and against . A ; the conclusion , it was anauonced that there was a Co-operative Society just formed-in Wakefield , which held its meetings every week , at the house of Mr . Wo . Swallow , Kirkgate , for the pnrpose of transacting the business of the society , and enrolling new membere . It was also annonnced that there will be a tea meeting on Shrove Tuesday : after which several of the members will address the meeting .
ItONSOK . —SroiuT Meetings of the Working Classes . —A large meeting of the above class was held last Sunday evening , at the Working Man ' s Chape ) , Do ^ k Head , Bermohdsey ; when , after a comfortable tea , two hard-working men addressed the meeting on the difference between true Christianity and the Christianity of the present day ; and also an inquiry into what was truth , and shewed , in a rery forcible manner , thst the people , instead of paying the priest Eome two or three hundred pounds a year for thinking and praying for them , must , in order to arrive at truth , do the work themselves , by employing the faculties God has giventbem . The meeting was highly delighted ; and we hope , that , although the priests and the religions bigots are up in arms at this attempt to enlighten the people , it fs only the commencement of a great movement in this wicked , priestrid del Babel . —Correspondent ,
Untitled Article
Ladies Repelli . vg Bceglars , —The Misses Cox , of Newton , two maiden ladies , who live on their property , and farm in a small way , displayed great courage in repelling some burglars . They were awoke by the villains presenting themselves at their room door , one of whom levelled a pistol at the gister who was in bed next the door ; the object of his attack fainted away . The other sister , alarmed at the noise , mshed out of bed , and struck the man who had the pistol , which Ehe knocked out of his hand . A struggle ensued , and the lady actually
succeeded in thrusting the fellow out of the room . She , however , ultimately became exhausted , aud was forced back into the room , being ^ o dreadfully beaten with the pistol on the arms j shoulder , and face , as to be incapable of further resistance . The noise of ths struggle awoke the servants , one of whom escaped down stairs , and succeeded in reaching a cottage immediately adjacent . Miss Cox was on the point of gmnj ? U P ber purse , containing a considerable amoumt in g » ld , as the condition on which their lires should be spared , when voices irere heard outside . The burglars then made off .
Distress ahoss ths Riband Weavebs op C * vejitet . —Tnere are , it is supposed , in Coventry alone , between 40 , 0 * 0 and 50 , 0 t 0 inhabitants at this time , of whom upwards of vW , 000 are journeymen riband weavers . Since the protecting duty has been taken off the imported manufactures , French ribands have inundated the market , which by some means or other not only compete with , but entirely take the lead from , the English factor * in the home market . When in full work , it is computed that the poor wearers do not earn more tban 7 & . or 8 s . per week at the very extreme , and many of them have wives and large families . Go which way you will , distress staras you hard , in the fece , and the poor wretches all areuad are literally it&r * i *§ to death ! A man a day or two since Jied of starvation in Ombermereclose , leaving a vn fe who was enaeinU , ana a large family too . Last w , « . « k the out-relief for the poor of the parish of Cwentr ^ alone wash $ si # wed nponaboat LOW poor familial , *
Untitled Article
HANwaXL Lcjjatic AsTXtnr . —Mr . Bwart ha » entered a notice on tha Commons' books , that on Thursday , the S 5 th instant , lie will more the appointment of a Select Committee "to inquire into the general management and medical treatment pursued m the Pauper Lunatfe Asylum at Hanwell . Middlesex ; and to report thereon . "—A most useful inquiry , and one that , if well pursued , cannot fail to elicit much valuable information . Aw Uin > EfUBLK Fact . —A felkw was brought op to Marlborooxh-street Police-office on Saterday , charged with stealing handkerchiefs from a shop m Burlington Arcade . On being charged with the theft , the prisoner had run out of the shop , tat was oaotared . He denied that he had taken the Missing
handkerchief . Mr . Dyer asked why he ran * p t of the shop . The prisoner replied that he was very Suddenly taken queer , " and he bad been obliged to ma for it to save his reputation . This part of the prisoner ' s story was corroborated by a ** fact little thought of , which everybody who had a nose in Court was folly competent to bear witness to . The prisoner was remanded till Wednesday . Catholic Assistance to a Pbotkstant C ^ ergtxan . —A letter from the county of Sllfco'gives an account of a fire at the residence ofc Dean Hoare , which , but for the untiring exertions of the Eoman C * thoKe uarisMoners . during an entire night , would
hare totally destroyed tie house , oat offioesYand the corn and hay in the haggard . Nothing pould ^ xceed the zeal of the peasantry on this occasion . If it be said that the Dean of Achonry owes his popularity to his Liberal political principles , then we say that inasmuch as it cannot be denied by his most nrulent opponents than Dean Hoare is as good a Protestant , religiously speaking , and as active and diligent in the performance of nis duties , as any of Wb clerical brethren , this affords an evidence that if the Protestant clergy be not universally beloved by their Catholic parishioners , it ia owing not to their religious real , but to tbeir violent political animosity towards the Roman Catholics .
The Northern Star. Saturday, February 21, 1841.
THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , FEBRUARY 21 , 1841 .
Untitled Article
THE CHARTER SUFFRAGE versus THE PARLIAMENTARY H-O-U-S-E .
" Will you be kind enough to point ont the difference between my definition of Household Suffrage and the Suffrage of the Charter ?"— Johx Colliks . " We will . - —Ed . N . S . As the advocacy of our principles is an undertaking from which we have never yet shrunk ; and as we have fearlessly thrown down the gauntlet in defence of the prinoiple of Universal Suffrage , as laid down in the People ' s Charter , against every other description of franchise , we now proceed to . Mont out the striking difference between Universal Surage and any definition which can be given of Household Suffrage . . However imperceptible the distinction may appear to some , the difference is as great as between a chesnut horse and a horse chesnut .
There is no mention of , or hint at . Household Suffrage , with any qualification of residence , from the beginning to the end of the Charter . The word " Household' is only once mentioned ; and , io that one instance , it clearly , specifically , and unambiguously points out the distinction intended to be made between an elector asd a householder . Nay , it assigns to them separate functions as reg&rds the question of franchise ; but we will hunt up to it from the very preamble . The document is entitled : —
" The People ' s Charter , being the outliki of an Act to provide for the jusc representation of the people of Great Britain and Ireland , in the Commons House of Parliament : embracing the principles of UniTenal Suffrage , " and so forth . After setting forth the objects of the Charter , it proceeds thus with its enacting provisions : — "Be it therefore enacted , that from and after the passiDg of this Act , erery male inhabitant of these realms be entitled to vote for the election of Members of Parliament , subject , however , to the following conditions : —
" 1 . That he be a native of these realms , or a foreigner who has lived in this country upwards of two years , and be # n naturalised . " 2 . That he be twenty-one years of age . " 3- That he be not proved insane when the lists of voters are revised . " 4 . That be be not convicted of felony within » lx months from and after the passing of this Act " 5 . That his electoral rights b « not suspended tot bribery at elections , or for personation , or for forgery of election certificates , according to the penalties of this Act "
Now , such are the provisions of the Charter , aa far as the principle of the Suffrage is involved , and we incline to think that nothing can be more plain or more simple . The first mention which we find of a "house" is in the 2 nd clause , defining the duties of the registration clerk , and having no earthly reference to the vote . After other matter , it states , that the clerk shall take , or cause to be taken , round to every dwelling-house in his parish , a printed notice of the following form : —
" Mr- John Jones , —You are hereby required , within six days of the date hereof , to fill up this list with the names of all male inhabitants of your house of twenty-one years of age and upwards ; stating their respective ages and the time they have resided with you , or , in neglect thereof to forfeit the sum of £ 5 . " Here is a duty imposed upon householders , or persons in charge of dwelling-houses , with which the voters have nothing whatever to do . The next mention which we find of the word " house , " and the sole mention of the word " householder , " with the exception of its use in connection with the laying of a tax for defraying the expence of elections , is in the first clause for the arrangement for registration , and runs thus : —
" Be it enacted that every householder , as well as every person occupying or having charge of a dwellinghouae , who shall receive a notice from the registration clerk , as aforesaid , shall cause the said notice to be tilled up with the names , ages , and time of residence , of every male inhabitant in his or her house , of twentyone years of age and upwards "—^ and so forth . Now , from this clause , which appears to have been wisely , jealously , and unambiguously drawn up , after mature consideration , for the distinct aud sole purpose of drawing the line of demarcation between the principle of Universal Suffrage , and aDy definition which could be given to the franchise in connection with a "house" in any shape , we learn the the object of its framers .
Theframers , to contradistinguish man ' s inalienable right from a fictitious and limited substitute , clearly , forcibly , and beautifully point out the difference between animate and inanimate franchise , making the inanimate the mere " locus in quo , " and assigning distinct duties to occupants in furtherance of the rights of man . Hence , to provide against evasion , monopoly , or equivocation , we find the several modes of tenure simplified , by setting forth the different sorts of possession of a house . We find the terms "householder , " " occupying , or having charge of a dwelling-house , " used as regards the
person who iB to make the return ; while the age , sex , and time of residence of the voter is the thing to be specified . Nay , more , io prove still further , we find that the owner may be disfranchised or not entitled to the franchise ; while every room may be occupied by a number of qualified electors : henco does the house become the mere post-office , or place of delivery of the several notice papers , without any reference whatever to its being held , oceupi « d , or kept in charge , as regards the qualification of the person holding , occupying , or having the charge .
We prove our position thus : the Charter does not qualify women ; while it directs that a notice paper shall be left at his or her bo « se . The next striking difference between any property in , or possession of , a house , as contradistinguished from the Charter-franchise , will be found in the following clause of penalties : — " That any person who thai be eonvteted , as aforesaid , of wilfully neglecting to fill mp his or hmr notice paper within tbe proper time , or of leaving oat the name of any irtmaU in his or her notice paper , shall , for the first offence , incur the penalty of five pounds , and for the second three months' imprisonment . "
Now , here again we find a duty imposed upon those always on the spot , and connected with the property ; in fact , a kind of trast , for the protection of the-voter . All through is this niee distin « tioa kept fall in view .
Untitled Article
We hare now , with one single exception , to which we shall presently refer , set forth not only th « implied , bnt the well-defined distinction pointed oat in the Charter , between property of any description and the right of the voter . We proceed , then , to argue the principle of the Charter more at large . We have always declared for the principle , the whole principle , and nothing short of the prinoiple ; in fact , for . the spirit and essence of the Charter ; setting forth Universal Suffrage as the axis , > the pivot , upon which' the several other questions turned . Onr . friends will award us the justice to
say that we have most scrupulously avoided entering into any minute detail as to the benefits wbioh the measure would confer upon tha community at large . We have , it is true , shown how it would uproot vice , and plant virtue in its stead ; we have pointed out the anomalies and injustice of several departments , and shown what its effect upon these departments would be ; but , we have not attempted to define any set code of laws which the new state of society would require : upon the contrary , we have ever held and argued that such an undertaking would be presumptuous ; in fact , an individual
dictation to universal opinion . We have , over and over again , told our readers , that nothing mon tended to arm our opponents with arguments and plausible opposition , than the wild chimeras which undigested opinion may parade as the anticipated fruits of the Charter . While the wisest predictions , with respect to its probable working , are wholly passed over and left unnotioed by the press and its opponents , the most incoherent anticipations of the most rambling brain are anxiously seized upon as ground of opposition . Our motto has ever been , " arm the people with their rights , and w « are ready to obey the laws which shall result . "
We take the Charter , in its present state , as the mere declaration of a principle ; and in such form we have no right to expect to find it more perfect than the Acts of oar wise and paid rulers in a similar stage . If a Minister—a paid Ministermoves for leave to bring in a Bill , upon a subject affecting the interests of the empire at large , no more is expected from him upon the first , or even the second reading , than a mere outline of its principle . The principle being agreed upon , it goes , after two readings , into a Committee of the whole
House , with a view to its legal arrangement ; and even in the hands of those of whose fitness the people are " reasonably deemed" incompetent to judge , we find , in nine casea out of ten , that the whole principle , the one thing agreed upon , has been omitted , and a new principle introduced and legislated upon . Of this we cannot give a more perfect or happy illustration than tbe omission in the Reform Bill of the grand principle , —the only principle for which the majority contended , and which the country carried , —namely , " that taxation and representation should be co-extensive . "
We , take then , the Charter , in its present state , as declaratory of a principle , and sufficiently explicit for a first reading . Are we asked if the details , as they at present stand , are perfect , or anything like it ? We at once and unhesitatingly admit , that they are not ; that we conld point out , and s * could tht , men who framed it , numerous , serious , and palpable errors , which , under revision , would be corrected . No human legislation can bo perfect ; but we look to time , and the good working of the great principle which it advocates , as the means of making institutions under its provisions as wise , as wholesome , as just , and as applicable to existing society * as any measure can be expected to produce . Nay ,
we even admit , in the outset , that the Charter , in its details , has committed the very blunder of which we complain in the Reform Bill ; namely , that it not only does not make representation and taxation co-extensive , but it actually leaves the constituent body wholly untaxed , —untaxed for a boon of which they are the especial gainers , —and throws the whole weight of the only tax it mentions , either upon a very small minority of the electors , or upon those who are deprived of the franchise altogether . Here , then , to prove our assertion , we refer to the other instance in whioh "householders " is mentioned in the Charter , as if the very mention of the thing , in any shape , was designed to damn it . The 17 th clause , under the head " arrangom ents for elections , ' runs thus : —
" That all the expence ot registration , nomination , and election , as aforesaid , together with the salaries of the returning officer , deputy returning officer , registration clerk , assistants , constables , and such otter persons as may be necessary ; as well as the exp « nco of all balloting , ballot-boxes , hustings and other necessaries for the purpose ef this Act , be paid out of an equable district rate , which a district board , composed of one parochial officer , chosen by each of the parishes in the district , or for any two or more parishes if united for the purposes of this Act , are hereby empowered and commanded to levy on all householders within the district "
How , suppose a rural parish to contain twenty thousand acres of land , with two hundred houses , ffnd the land principally ia parks and grazing grounds , there we have the householders liable to distress for the whole expences of the election . But let U 3 Buppose a case where the householder may be disfranchised , and yet have to pay . This would occur in all cases where houses were held by , in occupation of , or in charge of , women . This sufficiently illustrates the injustice . A nice
disputant may handle it thus : " Why , you give a landlord a vote out of his owa house ; while you exempt him from payment of any portion of the tax and lay tbe tax upon one who has no vote . " This instance would occur in casea which very often happen , namely , where elderly men decline business and iet the establishment to a thrifty woman , with whom the landlord becomes a lodger , and , consequently , a voter ; here the landlord would be a voter and yet exempt from tax incurred by the election , while the tenant would be disfranchised and liable
to the tax . Well , but observe the blunders Of our superiors . The collective wisdom actually passed a Bill for the establishment of a police force in Dublin , whioh received the Royal assent ; and in its local arrange * meat for operation , what obstacle does the reader suppose presented itself to its good working 1 Why only the small omission of not making any provision for the payment of the force , which ia not a usual , error with our rulers ; but , in consequence of this omission , unhappy Dublin was , for a year , deprived of the blessings of the " boon . "
Now , the Charter Committee have , at all events , thought of the aeedful , however inconsiderately they have resolved upon levying it . But does any Bane man ( and the Charter only provides for the enfranchisement of such ) suppose that such an error would be even left for a committee of the whole House to correct ? No , it would strike nine out of every ten working men upon its being re-read . Now , let us see how the Reform Bill played the taxation " thimble rig . " It acknowledged as its principle , that" taxation and representation should be co-exteusive "—in fact , Siamese twins . Well ,
how do they play the juggle out ! Why , thus : — They say " bo they are co-extenBive ; property is represented , aud property only is taxed . " True , true , very true ; but who pays the tax ! the owner of the property , or the man whose labour brings it from darkness to light —from unproductive lumber to manufactured use ! The labourer not only pays the direct tes inditectly , but he also pays the enormous profit of two , three , four , and live hundred per cent .
which the direct tax-payer indirectly screws from the labourer and consumer . Who pays the increase of ten per cent , laid upon the taxes ' by Mr . Baring ! The labourer pays that amount to Government , and four times as much to the masters , or shopkeepers , as their tax and profit upon their liability . We must make this very plain ; we will therefore analyse it in its deuble bearing . Firstly , —If an increase tax of £ 200 per annum is put directly upon a master who employs . 500 mon , he will not stop to inquire what is the
Untitled Article
exact amount which , in such case , deducted from the wages of each man , would balance the loss , but he makes a sweeping reduction to cover losses ; and , ia order to expose to the labouring classes the abominations of the system , the 500 men would consider themselves honourably dealt with if the master said , " I must take a penny a day , or sixpence week ,, off each man's wages to meet this new imposition . " Well , what would be the result ? That he , by such reduction , would fob £ 650 a year , to pay jfi 20 ft pound tax ; and , as it is mnch more likely that he would reduce a shilling a week than' sixpence , ; , he would make a profit of . £ 1 , 200 , in a reduction on labour , upon the £ 200 tax ; and if he employed , a thousand labourers he would make a profit of £ 2 , 500 .
We state this thus minutely for two reasons : firstly—l * o prove that masters are gainere by taxes so long as they represent themselves , and can screw them out of labour ; and secondly—To show the working men the items of which their grievances are nade up . In like manner , if a shopkeeper has to pay ten per cent increase upon his taxes , he makes his . profit , no matter what he deals in , by a rise in his prices . If the Government were to lay a duty of fourpence per pound upon soap , tomorrow , the man who uses it would pay sevenpence ; and this is the thing to abolish whioh some of our friends are foolish enough to believe those very parties would join tne Chartists . Fudge I
Now we come to closer quarters with our subject . The people joined the House of Commons' leaders for the Reform Bill , upon tbe prinoiple which we have defined . The long denunciation of abuse very naturally inspired the non-elective portion of the community with confidence in their old leaders—the implacable enemies of Tory abuse . The new system was to simplify all that was complex . Well , the leaders and people joined were irresistible : they carried that same principle ; but when agitation ceased , and active legislative power was placed in the hands of those who were practicallv to work out the principle agreed upon , what was the result ? Just this : that confidence lulled suspicion , and popular ignorance and indifference allowed the leaders to frame a measure
as different from that forwhich tbe people struggled as light from darkness , and then the leaders turned round and said , "O ! that's the thing we always meant ; and the thing we thought you meant . It is property that is now taxed and not you ; and therefore we have worked out the grand prinoiple . " We mention this forcibly to shew the absolute necessity of way measure which shall be hereafter framed to regulate the suffrage being so thoroughly agreed upon between those who carry it outside and those who mould it into law inside , as to admit of no mistake . Let any man take a review of a measure which was to simplify the law as regards
representation , and he will very soon find that a great portion ot the Government ' s strength . consists in tangling the skein and mystifying mystification . Look at Fifty Pound Tenants at-Will ; Twenty Pound Non-resident Leaseholders ; Ten Pound Beneficial Interest ; Fifty Pound Freehold ; Freemen with their several qualifications ; Forty Shilling Freeholders ; Parsons , and their respective Tithes ; Trustees of Property ; Ten Pound Householders , with the notices of application , payment of rates and taxes , description of premises , and so forth ; and sow fifteen new Judges for fife to make mystery more mysterious ; and , we ask , is that the Reform Bill , the simple Bill for which the people contended 1
Let our readers always bear this striking fact in view—that whatever House of Commons may be called upon to pass the Charter into law , will do it against their will , and upon popular coercion ; but , nevertheless , they will be the body who will have to do it : and the Charter being the next change which we hope to see effected , let us ask what favour its principles is likely to receive from the National Petition groaoers I ! For this reason , then , it is our duty to sharpen public zeal for the furtherance of
the measure ; to instruct our readers how to insure the application of proper details for moulding the measure into the very thing they have asked for , and no other , into law ; to create a becoming suspicion asd a laudable jealousy , lest a second miscarriage take place through any misunderstanding between the people and those who shall apply details to the principle ; and , above all , to close every back door , or passage , by which an escape may be made from the principle of the measure .
No man , in his senses , supposes that the passing of the Charter , as we advocate it , would be pleasing work for any one sfagle member of the present House of Commons . If this be admitted , then upon what rests the people ' s strength of hope for the full accomplishment of the Charter \ Why , doubtless , upon a conviction in the mind of members that the people fully understand what they ask for , and are fully resolved upon having nothing else .
If we were desired to pick from the operative olass , six hundred and fifty-eight men , of twentyone years age , as ignorant as our six hundred and fifty-eight representatives , we should find tho thing impossible . The members of the House of Commons know no more about tho cause of the present general distress , or of popular organization , than the "child unborn . Indeed , how should they ? They read in one book , and the people in another . They fen 6 e themselves behind the Church , the army , the navy , the throne , prerogative , law of nations , constitutional power of parliament , and bo forth , according
to their notions of the several influences of those branches ; while the people look upon all those as so many excrescences produced byclasslegislation . They never dream that the present distress and discontent arise out of the failure of the Reform Bill . They neyer give theihBelves time to think that that measure , in its progression , has gone on multiplying the plunderers , while . it has diminished tho means of the plundered : in fact , that it has , by a transfer of power to new hands , and under new circumstances , increased the number of gamblers , while it has diminished the stakes to be played for .
Formerly , our Parliaments , as trustees of the publis funds and purveyors for public service , had the first pull at the purse ; and the masters had the second pull out of the residue , the labourers having a pull out of the land , in the first instance , if made idlers by speculation . But , by the Reform Bill , the power was thrown into the hands of the owners of property m&de by labour ; and the masters , in their covetousness , are pulling , and pulling , and pulling so hard , and the House of Commons is so completely at their mercy , that , in a short time , our rulors will find that they must be content with a second pull , and that very little wili be left them after the gamblers are satisfied .
Fourteen days now creates a greater revolution in the money market than fourteen years formerly . The raw material is no \ r purchased at Liverpool on fourteen days' credit ; and as speculation increases credit will multiply , but confidence will become diminished , which must also be paid for by i ncreased discount , commission , and inconvenience . On all this the masters , as long as the things hplds , will have a profit , which labour will have to pay ; and , then , labour will also have to pay for Rural Police , and all the means ot coercion for upholding this unnatural and artificial state of things .
Haviig said bo moh upon the necessity of a perfect understanding between those who are to ask and those who are to give , and upon the abuses which are to be corrected , we again ask if the gamblers are going to allow the stakes to be whipt up all at onee by Universal Suffrage ! If the reverse of this is conceded to us , we then ask if they are likely to join in the enforcement of any description of franchise , call it by what name it may , which will produce such a result .
The demand for Household Suffrage is made by two classes , each having a totally distinct object in view . The wealthy advocates use it aa a means io
Untitled Article
smother Universal Suffrage , when it shall have attained such a height as to arrest public attention . The moredependant classes use it selfishly , for th « purpose of enfranchising themselves , and thereby enabling them to obtain , as we before stated , a license to play chicken hazard , while the great gamblers play for high stakes at the great Hell ; and . tbe result would be , a further augmentation of players and a further diminution of the stakes played , for . The players at chicken hazard would take care thai their means should no Jonger famish fands for those above them ; and they would lustily claim the privilege of plundering those below tfl ^ m , or the unenfraaehised classes . .
And now for the direct answer to Collins ' s short question . ¦ -. ¦¦>' He says— " Will you be kind enough to point out the difference between my definition of Household Suffrage , and the Suffrage of the Charter i"VWe will . . ; There is just this difference : —That there is no mention ot Household Suffrage , or House Suffrage of any kind , in the Charter . The difference between Household Suffrage and Universal Suffrage , qualified by residence in a house , is as great as the
difference between landlord and tenant ; as great as the difference between fund-holder aud fundpayer ; as great as the difference between a Protestant parson and his Catholic fleeced flock ; in fact , as great as great can be , and for this one simple reason , if we had no other—that , by any definition , which art could put on the term " Household" Suffrage , not more than one person could vote out of a house , be it never so large ; while fifty ' naay vote out of one house , according to the terms of residence contained in the Charter .
Landholder means one person who has some title to , or possession of , land ; fundholder means one person who has property in the funds ; and householder means rome one person who holds a house in his or her actual possession . Possession is not necessary to constitute a landholder ; possession ia necessary to constitute a householder , and therefore , is it even more limited , ia legal signification , than the term landholder ! So much for the legal definition : and now as to the consequences of agitating under a defined term , intended to be more comprehensive than its * legal or received acceptation would admit of .
If the word " Householder" is most innocently used 88 a means of catching the timid or courting the doubtful , it will be most viciously applied by those who are to frame the law , after public opinion has decided upon the principle . We have already shown how misplaced confidence and want of jealous watching , destroyed the identity between the People ' s Bill and their Leaders' Bill . We have shown how mystery was more mystified , when all thought they were- agreed upon the principle And if to-morrow , there was a measure about to be legislated upon , based upon popular demand
for any definition of Household Suffrage ; or , if the very name was mentioned , the people would have no just cause of complaint if they received a Bill , based upon the legal , the common , the only acceptation of the term , namely , a right to a vote vested in every householder , which means one person who holds a house from another , or occupies one of his own . The term would ' not even extend the right to occupants , or persons in charge of dwelling-houses ; much less would it
extend it to persons residing or lodging for any term ; and , so far from a set of bears tied to stakes and legislating with sick-hearts , extending the acceptation of the term " householder , " we should , in about the nine hundred and fiftieth clause , and , when . excitement had wholly' passed away , find a sice question ; first , for the solution of registering bar * risters , and open for the judges upon appeal , and then for the people , when they had been fairly humbugged out of their measure , and wearied Into apathy .
We are engaged m preparing a clear and intel ligble case to submit to a dogged and a hostile jury ; the Household Suffrage party are engaged in supplying quirks , quibbles , and points , to mystify the jury , and evade our just claim . We may be asked if residence is not a description of tenure which would operate unfavourably towards the claimants ? We answer , no ; tenure is a title derived from the superior lord , while residence is derived from the mere occupant , and residence
is a thing with which no landlord , or combination of landlords , could interfere to any injurious effect , and for this simple , reason : where there is a demand there will be a supply ; and if all the landlords-inchief of a voting district were to set their faces against allowing Chartist voters to obtain a qualification by residence in premises over which they had controul , yet would there always be found a sufficient number of householders , independent of landlords , or living in their own houses , to furnish residence to Whig , Tory , or Chartist who would pay .
Mr . Collins may . say , " Why , that ' s what I meant . " We kaow it , Mr . Collins ; and therefore have we treated your question seriously , elaborately , and respectfully ; but itisnot so much what you mean that adds importance to our coincidence of opinion , as tho construction which others may put upon your meaning ' . And now , to put you in the best position which you could desire , we not only admit the sincerity of your meaning , but we also admit , for argument's Bake , the truth of it—namely that your definition of Household Suffrage and the Chartist Suffrage are identical . Then , Mr . Collins , call the spade a spade . The false bait won ' t catch
a single mackerel , while it would lose many a sprat . If you are still to preserve the principle Of the Charter Suffrage , hope not to soften middle-class animosity by the specioasness of terms , while others ' perversion of your meaning may place a rock in your course . The people are now honest ; they are informed ; they are intelligent ; they are ono and all laid upon the right scent : we require no foil to cross it . The very name would take hundreds from our ranks in disgust , while it would not add a sipgle coarert to our force . Household Suffrage would represent monopoly ; Universal Suffrage would represent poverty . .
We trust , that our -willingness to answer a question not too courteously asked , will convince those for whom we write , that we shrink not from the performance of any duty which the advocacy of their cause imposes upon us ; while we have , an equal confidence that Mr . Collins will now see that we had reasons , cogent , full , and ample , without recourse to any factious feeling , for making that comment which has extracted from him so erroneous an opinion . We do not belong to that class who would prostitute themselves to the sapport of a mere distinction without a difference for the purpose of maintaining party ascendancy , by actions warfare .
In conclusion , we beg to thank our friend for being the cause of thus drawing ue into a new field ? we feel assured that it will satisfy all parties , that the people's cause requires but a fair stage and argument to prove its justice ; while the happy result will be to unite us all once more in a bond of bjcotherly love : and union , marshalled under the old banners under which we have been so long accus tomed to fight and conquer . I We now , after our two weeks of bickering , tender the olive branch : but our union and our love must depend upon a thorough understanding that Universal Suffrage Beans no other Suffrage ; and that every man who seeks , henceforth , t * prove othes wiBe , calls the Star his enemy .
We trust that the length of this article need * ao apology ; it is but a condensation of that knowledge which we have derived from the "ignorant '' people , and which we thus give back in a more digested form . > ' . "Universal Suvpbaob * ' is our Phincifjus , "No Sukkendkb" our Motto . We trust that we have answered Mr . Cqiuvs in a manly , a Candid a and a f roper spirit .
¦Jmj^^^Sssssbiiisssssmhmmh ^ Ortrg*
¦ jMj ^^^ SSSSSbiiiSSSSSmhmmh ^ ortrg *
Untitled Article
, ... , THfe NCitT&EItN &TAR . 3
-
-
Citation
-
Northern Star (1837-1852), Feb. 20, 1841, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct537/page/3/
-