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ffiE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER Jl, 1841.
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OTo leaner0 mar Corregjionnettte
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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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. EXTRAORDINARY MEETING AND DISCUSSION . DEFEAT OF HETHERINGTON , LOYETT , AND THE "NEW MOVE" HUMBUGS ! * Thekng-expeoted discussion between Mr . Watiaa ^ awa-urent , of No . 9 , Bell Yard , Temple Bar , » d Mi . Watson , bookseller , City Road , came off on Tuesday eTenin « last , at the Hall of Science , City fio » d ; and , seen was the desire of the ChartiBts of London , to testif y their , disapprobation of the " new ttOTe and its abettors , that the place was crowded long before the oonunenceHient of the proceedings . Just as the business was about to commence
_ y » r ^ aB O'C onnor , Esq ., drove ap to the place of meeting , to fulfil his promise made at the Crown and Anchor on the prev 5 on 3 evening , namely , that he would address the meeting . He was immediately Borrou&dwd by several stonemasons and coppersmiths , who requested him not to interfere in the matter . They alao stated that it was absolutely necessary that the discussion should take place , as there was a number of people in London and the country who thought the " new move" party 10 bo numerous , whereas they were a mere fraction , ohiffly composed of shopkeepers , and that it was the determination of the Marylebone Chartists to show them np to the country in their tree eelours .
Mr . O'Connor stated his unwillingness to enter into die controversy , and took his leave , at the same time , expressing his regret that ffiere should have bees any dissension . k The business was then commenced . Mr . Cameron was appointed Chairman on ths part of Mr . Watkios ; Mr . Dyson on the part of Mr . Watson . The regulations as to the length of time for each of the gentlemen and their friends to speak , having been read , Mr . Gardner was called on to preside as
Mode-Mr . Watsok commenced by stating that he found himself placed in a very extraordinary position . He was labouring under peculiar disadvantages as recarded the charge . He had to perform a pleasing cnty—that of vindicating , as far as he was able , ome individuals with whom he had been connected for a length of time , and "who were , he believed , greatly misriliMe&ted ; i&fea he kid acted with for yearsv tndtf whoae sincerity he could not < ioubi—whose truth , for a single moraent , he could mot qoastien ; indeed , apon those men he had the rreatest reliance . ( Hear , hear . ) He was there to defend men charged with certain crimes , and this was bis extraordinary position—the accuser would not make the charge . This was curious . A person waspat
apon his trial , and no charge was made against him . ( Hear . ) He was to produce the evidence against the parties charged . He considered that the charges ought to be dearly brought home to the parties ; for they had been long before the public . ( Hear , hear . } They had , for a number of years , taken part in public discussions on the oeaieerarie aide , the charges osght not to be made from personal aaotivee but from thorough conviction , sot from vindictive feeling . ( Hisses . ) He believed thai the men who had been attacked , were advoeateeof the People ' s Charter and honest advocates * ( Cries of pocket . ) He would at onee enter , into the question . He attended with a friend at a lecture room , in the Old Bafler , where a see ' . ional meeting
of the Chartists was held , he there heard certain charges made , and he challenged Mr . W&tkins who was the person who preached the sermon , if it could * o be called—( hisses )—before that he had not a personal knowledge of Mr . Watkins , but he had read a settee of communications that he ( Mr . Watkins ) had addressed to a popular journal ; he ( Mr . Watson ) therefore went to satisfy himself as to the correctness of the reports he had heard , and likewise ' tosee what the charges were , which were zna . de against his < Mr . Watson ' s ) friends . He was surprised to find thai charges were made without proof or foundation ; fee ( Mr . Watson ) reonired proof , nothing less woald satisfy bin . Mr . Watson then referred to the Star of May 1 st , 1841 , in which a letter from Mr .
Watkins appeared . He likewise read aa extract from the Star of May 84 . ( Cries of B Time . ") He ( Mr . Watson ) wm surprised to fiad a man making use © f rack DtatesMtPto Mr . Watson then proceeded fo read extracts from Mr . Watkin ' s pamphlet , taking thftfelbwiog aa bearing stoet upon the ease : — " Sech nan are respectable in private life , but that -would sot excuse their public delinquency . Nay they bare great moral influence , that only makes Qua ^ political influence mere dangerous—the mere fataLr Ia answer to another extract from page 7 , Mr . WaSaon read a paragraph from Messrs . Loveu sod Colons' pamphlet , to prov » they considered that education , or non-education , ought not to be the test of the franchise . He considered that the
resjozks atade in that pamphlet were likely to lead to an injury being oasautted on the persons whom it deaocaeed . < £ aaghier , met with cries of " Heir . ") Be would merely mention that he had heard of raw person ia Fiosbury , who was ready to carry oat the docmneadvocated in the pamphlet . Mr . Watuhs commenced by saying that Mr . Watson had eomplaised that be bad been dragged into this diaouffiion . — -bat more truly might he , Mr . Wagons , make this complaint . Mr . Watson had given the challenge , and though he ( Mr . Watkins ) was rarer forward to give a challenge , yet he would Hot be backward in accepting one . Mr . Watson ' s Base bad not been mentioned in the sermon of which he complained . Mr . Watson had not been alluded
to—his same was not upon the sew move list . The neeting might ask what had made Mr . Watsen the first to step forward—to step before parties whose Buses had been mentioned t Why had he come forward to defend their characters t Because they could-not defend their own ; and the maaner in which Mr . Watson was defending them might make them exelaim , Save as from our Mend 1 " He ( Mr . "Watkins ) thought there was little occasion for him to rip * after Mr . Watson ; he almost took shame to himself for doing so , because Mr . Watson was conquered before the battle begun , and there is not znaeh honour to be gained in triumphing over a prostrate foe . Mr . Watson hid not been personally aimed at ; but he was one who formed a link in that
trade union , that chain of trade combination which had long bound down the cause of Cnartism in Lendon , and prevented its free growth . 1 ; is an old adage "touch my parse , and you tonch my person . " This flrighi explain the reason why Mr . Watson had interested himself so prominently in th ' 13 afiuir . Jlr . Watson might be a fair-dealing man—he might be more honourable yhan the rest , and thus feel more sensitively on the score of character ; bux why take * p the" cudgeh for other ponies—why be made a cat ' s paw by them ! They were not content with profit , ' they wanted honour too ; they wanted bo ; h the money and the stuff , —but u why should honour outave honesty V Mr . Watson wanted him ( Mr . Waikins ) to give a list of charges . The charges
were in the sermon which had given occasion to the ¦ challenge . Did Mr . Watson want a fresh list of charges because he could find nothing to take hold of , nothingto make a handle of against him , Mr . Watkiiis ' He ( Mr . Watkins ) was not bo simple as to give him that . He had called the Lovettiies traitors , assassins , and spies ; and he now / reiteraied the charge , and would prove it . They were traitors , inasmuch as they had betrayed the confidence reposed in them by the people ; they were assassinsj jiot perhaps of individuals , but what was infinitely worse ^ -of the cause , the cause of all individuals , — they sought to stab the cause ; and they were spies . they hadlheir emissaries , who came into every Chartist meeting to report for them , and to cause
dissension , if posasble . When he ( Mr . Watkins ) firs * , ¦ eame up to London , he thought the reason why ! London was so far behind , why it was a disgrace to the eause—a dishonour to Chartism , lay ! in the apathy of the chu of London ; but he i j oon found that the fauli w& 3 sot in the men , ; but in the leaders . He had been invited to I assist in the re-organizition of the Chartist I associations in the several localities of London , and j Us first question naturally was , what disorganised < you * What caused you to break ap * and the invariable answer he received was the Lovettites ; then j be alwayB advised them that for the future they should avoid Lovettiam . Lovett had obtained the confidence of the people and abused it ; he and Co ' . lias
had been supported by the people when in prison , bat were they to be sent there now would the people support them ! ( No , no . ) They had lost the confidence of the people . LoTett and Collins had had their courage cooled in prison by ihe cold baihs ; they , had been converted and baptized in prison ; they had gone in Chartists , but had come oat Whigs . Tie Lovtitites call our associations illegal ,, they might as well call on Government to proseente us . Dan O'Conseil s * y& Chnrti ? m is ule ^ al / isa transportable offence , that is—to frighten others from joining us . These men are always boasting of their sufferings j tseir sufferings were lucky , and they may well boast of them . They
published blasphemy for profit , and were deservedly mprisened for it . They never suffered for Chartismfor coosienee sake , no ; but for profit '! sake . They went -Becretly to work , and they brag that we did sot &soover them sooner ; they work in darkness because their deeds are evil ; they exiilt in their secrecy , and defy us to prove them traitors , but it is not necessary for us to prove them traitors ; they themselves proved themselves so—out of their own mouths they are condemned , they have done nothing but act treason ever since their " new move" came out . Mr . Watkine next entered into a narrative of his sufferings and sacrifices in the cause , and time being « p ,
3 Ir . Watsojt replied ta Mr . Watkins , amid much confusion ; one party of the meeting seeming determined to hear no more , but to come to a vote . At last he was heard to declare , that he did nat profess himself a Christian ; but he would exhibit more of th # true spirit inculcated by that doctrine than . did the pamphlet before them . As Mr . WaikinB , being a bookseller , that he could not deny ; but he bad a right to gaia his living : he had commenced With ike iW JrWi & * ardia » . and if this was &
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charge , Air . Witkins was as much to blame as he was , for , said Mr . Waiso * , holding np an advertise ment , here be publishes to the world bis calling and in the Old Bailey there is a placard stating Mr . Watkina to be the agent for the Northern Star , ( Hear , Kid Unghter . ) He then alluded ts the notice of Mr . Frost , in tfee pamphlet . ( At this moment the most discordant sounds wen raised , sod Mr . Hetherington , who was on the bastings , was pointed at , whilst calls of all descriptions were mide U 3 e of . ) Mr . Watkins briefly replied to Mr . Watson . The noise vras renewed , and cries of ( " Who said be would put down the Northern Star V " Hetheringioii" asd other cries were raised . ) The scene baffled description , but was only a
prelude to more noise in the subsequent part of the evening . , Mr . White , from Birmingham , rose amidst . cheers . He said he had much pleasure in addressing the meeting , especially ss it was a meeting of working men , for he was one of that class himself . ( Cheers . ) Ever since he had known right from wrong he had been an advocate of the principles of the People ! Charter . ( Hear , hear . ) He felt pleasure in speakifig to the mm of London . ( Cries of You are paid for it . " ) He could appeal to Mr . Hetherington , whether , seven years ago , he had not at Leicester been a supporter of the the Poor Man ' t Guardian , and he had ever continued to advocate the principles he then advocated . ( Hear , hear . ) He had suffered much through his advocacy of the rights of working men through the Trades' Union . Mr . Watson had come forward to support his friend , acknowledging at the same time that his plan was too wide , and that
it was impracticable to work it . ( Hear , hear . ) Mr . White then took a survey of the conduct of Collins and O'Neil with regard to their eharge of illegality . He said the Chartiits . according to Universal Suffrage , had propagated a plan of organization , and the connfry ought to follow it out . ( Hear , and cheers . ) But , to suit Messrs . Collins and O * Neil , the country had been pu * . to £ 70 expence . Talk of legality ! Were they to go to the Attorney-General and ask bis opinion before they formed a union t ( Cheere . ) Look to his own case of illegally being imprisoned on account of excessive bail , through a letter from the Solicitor-General . The Judge , a Tory Jadge , said it was stameful ; but could he get redress ! No . WLy 1 Unless a man had money there was no redress for him . ( Hear , and cheers . ) With regard to the gentlemen charged , he would just whisper " Farewell , a loBg farewell to all your I ' jrmer greatness I" ( Cheers , prolonged for some time . ) He would conclude by moving the
resolution : — u That in the opinion of this m&etiBg , the charges contained ia Mr . Watkins ' s pamphlet are fully established . " ( Loud cheers . ) Mr . Scott seconded the resolution . Mr . Foskett moved as an amendment : — " That the charges in the pamphlet were false and calumnious . " Mr . Moose seconded the amendment . He defended Mr . Lovett , detailed how long he had known him , under what circumstances , and , after passing a high eulosium en him , sat down .
Mr . HsTHKaTweTox presented himself to the meeting , when a general uproar took place . He was assailed on all sides by cries of ** traitor ! who would sell the Star ? trading politician 1 " A ooufiict took place in ihs body of the meeting . Cheers were given for the Charter , Feargus O'Connor for ever , cheers for the National Charter Association , groans for the " new move . " Mr . Hethericgton , after a length of time fruitlessly ] spent in essaying to speak , sat down . Mr . Dtsox left the chair . Mr . Camerox , the othtr chairman , put the amendment , which was lost .
The original resolution was then put , and carried by an overwhelming majority . ¦ Three cheers were then unanimously given for the Charter , three groans for the a new move , * " and a number of other cheers , and the meeting separated .
Ffie Northern Star. Saturday, September Jl, 1841.
ffiE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , SEPTEMBER Jl , 1841 .
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" JUSTICE'S JUSTICE . " Eves ready to render honour to whom it is due , we seize gladlj on an opportunity when such an one is afforded to us of chronicling the good deeds of either Whig or Tory , or the good words of their supporters in " the Establishment . " We find the following just and pertinent remarks in the Examiner of the present week , and have great pleasure in transferring it to our columns , as evidence of the right sense of justice entertained by oar
contemporary . " Some gentlemen having amused themselves at the risk of the public by driving furiously through Brentford , so a ^ to endanger the lives of persons on the road , the police proceeded to apprehend them , upon which the effieers were resisted aad assaulted , as stated in the following evidence before the Brentford Justices : — Joseph Smiih , T 68 , deposed te taking the defendaats into custody . On getting into the pboeton to do so , he was immediately collared by Mr . R . Newton and the groom , who struck him several times , and they both tried their utmost to throw him out of the carriage . He then drew bis staff , and in the eenffle struck
Mi . R . Xfwton twice over the arm , after which he sent eff ta the Station fur fcssistance , and , on the arrival of another constable , the Inhabitants unhitched tte hones and drew the pbseion to the station . The defendant Boyle , -while tint -was doing , struck Beveral persens who were pushiEg behind ihe carriage with his hat At the Station House , Mr . R . Newton and Mr . Boyle were very disorderly , so that before the charge could be taken they were obliged to be placed in a c * lL They palled the pens oat of the Eergeant ' s hands while taking down the chargs : called the police rogues and vagabonds , saying they wanted to rob them ; and the defendant , Goldsiniih , swore if the police attempted to lay hold of him he woald knock them down . They were all inLcmcited .
' Creed , a police sergeant , T 15 , deposed that when brought to the station the defendants , R . Newton and the groom , refused to get out of the pbaiion , but at last more constables were procured , and they were dragged out- In the station-house they all impeded the charge being taken by every means in their power , and called him and the other constables all the foul names they could lay their tongues to . When locked up in the cells , a little vriciet-door was left open for air , when seeisg a female cross the yard , they called her a , and used other iusulting words to her , after ¦ which they imitated catcall and the crie » of dying persmls , besides hallooing out " murdfcr" with all their might ; asd at lost , seeing the wife of the inspector passing a 'wicdo'vr of the station-house , they made use of the most beastly aad diegastiBg language , so that the female inmates of the station were compelled to be removed to another part of the premises , but an immense crowd regained collected round . the station until ptst ten o ' clock .
1 ilr . R Newton inquired why some of the females ¦ who were so abashed had not been produced . The fact ¦? ras , that the principal damage done "was to his own pbse : cn , and bo disturbance would have happened had not the pijliceman , Smith , jumped into the carriage and struck him twice over the arm , and abased him . 1 Surah , instantly denied that statement , and several respectable inhabitants on their oaths declared that there yns not a "word of troth ia what Mr . R . Newton had stated , and passed a warm eulogium on the police for the tamper and forbearance they displayed under the insults and blows they received .
The bench said the line of defence adopted by the defendants had more than anything convinced them of the truth of the whole of the evidence against them , and the bench then withdrew to another room to deliberate whether they should not at once commit the defendant * to hard labour in the House of Correction for a month , and , after an absence of as boar , on their . return into court , Mr . Baillie said the beach had convicted the whole ef tie defendants of the charges made against them . They had done so after a most lengthened and patient investigation , and , being desirous of aamiiustering the law without reference to ttie parties b * ing rich or poor , he had hesitated for some time , and bad very unwillingly given way , bis intention having been to commit each of them to the House of Correction for one month- Under the supposition , however , that they were gentlemen , and moving in that station of society in which such a punishment would be a bTbi
upon them during their future lives , be had consented to the infliction of penalties , and the decision of the bench was , that Mr . Raymond Newton pay a fine of forty sfrHl'ngs for furious driving , ot one month ' s imprisonment ; also j £ 5 for assaulting the policeman Smith , or one month ; £ b for the assault on policeman Travis , oi one month ; and forty sailliags foi disoTderiy co rruEct at the station , or one month . John Goldsmith , for assaulting Mr . Ayres , £ 5 , or one month ; £ 5 for assaulting policeman Keywood , or one month ; and forty shillings for improper conduct at the Station , or one month , Rickard Boyle , forty shillings for assaulting policeman Keywood , or one month , and twenty ahilHings for kis conduct at the Station-house , or one month ; acd Sir . Henry Newton forty shillings , or one month , for disorderly conduct at the Stationhouse . They had made a difference in ihe case of ilr . Henry Newton , bat they considered Mr . Raymond
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Newton's conduct well deterring of a committal to the Boose of CorrectlaB . Mr . B . Newton immediately palled out a roll of Bank of England no tot , and paid the whole of the fines , amounting to £ aL ' u The Magistrate first proclaims his desire to administer the law without reference to the conditions of the parties , but in the very next breath he says , that as they are gentlemen , he has been induced re . laoUntly to oonsent to tbe infliction of a penalty . He thus plainly avows that he distinguishes between rich and poor , against his sense of duty . But he ib induced to deviate from bis first intention to do even
justice , by the consideration that imprisonment in ihe House of Correction would be a elur on them for tbe rest of their lives . And if they had been poor men , or humble men depending on their characters for their bread , woald not imprisonment have been a slur , and wonld tbe Magistrate have hesitated tp inflict the merited punished , because it would carry with it the equally merited Blur ! "To » poor man imprisonment is a far greater punishment than to a rich man . Imprisonment deprives a poor man of the ezeraise of his industry , and when he comes oat of a gaol he finds that his place has been filled up , and tbe fact that he is come out of a prison is a bar to his employment . The labouring nan ' s imprisonment , moreover , is
tantamount to a fine of the amount of what his earaings would hare been had he remained at liberty . But what Magistrate hesitates to commit the poor man to gaol because of the slur on bis character , or the pecuniary damage attendant on his confinement 1 The poor are told that if they commit offences , they mast take the consequences , however ruinous they may be . To the rich another measure is dealt oat . The Magistrate tells them what they have deserved , and he tells them that they shall not suffer what they have deserved , because the doe punishment carries a slir with it . Why , the slur is as much what they deserve as the gaol . The slur is the due consequence of their conduct .
" For the fall beauty of ihe Magisterial disorimiaation in the case before U 3 , the groom should have been sent to take the slur of the House of Correction , while the master was indulgently let off with the fine . M As if with the desire to bbion the partiality of the judgment , the Magistrate eonoluded most emphatically that one of the prisoners well deserved committal to the House of Correction , ail * so saying , be awarded the pecuniary penalties , so far short of the declared due punishment . The gentleman hereupon pulled out a roll of bank-notes , and paid for hit ,
amusement in riot as he woald hare paid ungrudgingly for any indulgence for which be had a whimthirty pounds' worth of outrage . Had he been a labourer the Sues would have taken the coat from bis back , the bread from bis mouth , and sent his bed to the broker ' s ; or the imprisonment would have deprived him of the twelfth of his yearly earnings , and thrown his family on the parish . The fine to the gentleman , so indulgently spared the slur of the due puuishment , is but a trine taken from his mean ? , and is pai 4 with the z-jst of triumphing by force of wealth over justice .
" Let us turn to another example of law for the rich . a A person of great wealth is apprehended for a horrible offence . Mr . Jardine , of Bow-street , after hearing the evidence , said—4 He had no observations to make about the charge , ot tbe evidence in support of it , but to require bail , which would be in proportion to the prisoner's station in life , and that was , himself in £ 201 , and bis sureties £ 10 * each , to answer tbe charge at the next sessions of the Cental Criminal Court . '
u A poor miscreant in such a case would have been unable to fiud bail , and would have remained fast in the hands of justice ; the rich one will joyfully give the £ 200 for his escape to the Continent . Dire cheap to him is Bach a price for his impunity . And in requiring sureties so preposterously small and inadequate , the ^ iagi 8 trite had the effrontery to talk of proporiioniE * the bail to the prisoner ' s station in life . The accusW , who has before been under the same charge , had , indeed ,, pretended that he was a servant , but he afterwards confessed that he was a gentleman of large fortune , and the magistrate was informed of bis real name and condition . But at Bow-street , as in Brentford , there is djubtless a desire to spare the slur—that i ? , in the case of the rich . "
We fully joiu in every eenjence of tbe well-expressed ^ indignation of tht'&rtumaer , at the infamous preference of the rich over the poor , evidently given by the administration of the Jaw . Bat the different use w * ffi * ke of such inataOWJ of gross injiistie « Listhis >^ -. ^ . ¦¦ - - - —^— - ' ,-The Examiner rates the magistrates and reprobates the practice ; we would go farther : we ase such facts as these aa arguments for the necessity of that organic change , which by placing in the hands of the people a power over the law , will at the « une thne give them a wholesome and necessary contrail over the appointment , and continuance in office , of its administrators .
So m&ch for administration . Bat we maintain that the evil is not merely administrativeV * ha * -the law itself is vicious and defective . We think this 18 proved sufficiently by our contemporary ' s reasoning , in which he shews clearly , that the alternative offered to the rich man , of vadin ' g punishment for money , is at once an indemnity for crime , and , in fact , a premium upon its commission . Whatever alternative might be offered to poor men , ( to whom fines are really heavy punishments , and in tbe case of whom , incarceration often inflicts more punishment on a helpless and innocent family , than on the individual offender , ) it is clear that in the case of
the rich offender , no alternative for personal punishment can be defended upon any just grounds of reason or argument . It is only in a sense of degradation or in actual privation that punishment consists ; neither of which are inflicted upon the man who can pull out a roll of Bank of England notes to pay fines amounting to £ 31 . Money is to him a mere nothing , and is paid , as our cotemporary well observes , ungrudgingly for the amusement , as ho would pay for any other indulgence for which he had a whim . It is but a trifle taken from his means , and is paid with the zest and the air of triumph . There is no privation in the matter . And for the sense of degradation we find
that in the shameless assertion of the ecoanlre ) before the Magistrate , that the prinoipal damago done was to his own pfcseton ; indeed to talk of any moral sense of degradation affecting such doubly-depraved brutes as these and like specimens of * rack and breeding , " is just as ridiculous as to talk of £ 5 . befog an adequate punishment for their offence against society . The end of all punishment is the reclamation of the criminal , and the restoring of him to his forfeited place in society by the correction , of his evil habits . This can never be effected in such cases as the present one , so long as the law provides the odious alternative which enables the rich blackguard to purchase its violation for money .
Not a week passes in which we may not notice numerons instances of like infamous partiality in the dealing out of justice , and it will never be otherwise until those who , as a class , are made to suffer this odious distinction , through tke power of the other class to make , as well asto . administer , the laws shall determine to blot out tho effect , so disgraceful to humanity , by overpowering tho cause .
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A NEW MOVE AND A GOOD ONE . The following appears in the Morning Chronicle of Friday : — " We learn that a number of large and influential spinners and manufacturers bad a meeting at Manchester on Tuesday last , to consider the propriety of withdrawing thtir business from all merchants and brokers in Liverpool who give their support to pro corn law members of Parliament ; and that they came to the conclusion that such a course wonld be quite justifiable , and that they saw no reason for giving business to those who were doing their best to deprive them of their means of living—no reason for increasing the wealth of those who were reducing them to poverty . Another meeting of the spinners and manufacturers of the town and neighbourhood of Manchester was fixed for Tuesday next , for the farther considering the matter , and carrying it into effect "
Such are the means resorted to by "the plague " for the carrying of their measure and the punishing of their opponents . We congratulate the Chronicle upon the new light which has dawned upon it along with the Baronetcy , and the electoral intimation that the Whigs must "budge . " The Bloodies" are now made to practise one of their own favourite maxims : the late guardians' * of tho Royal Workhouse are thrown upon their own resources . And pretty pranks some of them seem disposed to play ! One hoists the red flag of defiance , with the motto— " BREAD OR BLOOD J " Another gently intimates that the stature of Dr . Hcok ' s wife and daughters might be reduced by
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lopping off their heads , and that their trunks would be fitly disposed of by beiax trailed thnwgh the dirt . " Hints like these are doubtless valorous ; bat M they have the merit of toming from those who snoot " privileged , " though poisoned rrows , from behind a screen , so they have the advantage of being ineffective , from the characteristic covraxdioe of faction . Tbe "plague" men have no stomach for such pastime ; but like true Whigs exhibit all the rancour of their nature in a form less haMtdoas . They determine not to kill the Tories , bat to prevent them from being able to lire . "Exclusive dealing" is
the order of the day . No Tory Bball touch oar money say the " plague" men . Of ourse , the coin has a reverse ; and the " move" will be met by the u friends of agriculture" with a " counter move . " Thus , the beaten factions , finding that neither of them can longer gall the people , resolve , like Kilkenny oats , to worry one another . M 6 « it , gentle * men I" we say ; and see that you do your work well . Carry oat your system of exclusive dealing ; make failures and bankruptcies to occur wherever and to what extent yon please ; remembering always that this plum will suit a Chartist padding just as well
% i a Whigone ; and that if you should find ( as we sincerely hope you will ) the people resolved to treat you as you treat each other , you will have no reason to complain . If to withdraw your business from all merchants and brokers who support iVo-Corn Law Members be justifiable , and if there be no reason for inoreasieg the wealth ot those who are reducing you to poverty , the same reasoning will sorely justify those whom you not only are reducing but have reduced to poverty in following your , example . We
have long reasoned in like manner with the people , but have never yet been able to induce the " levelling , " M property-hating" Chartists to apply the reasoning practically . We do sincerely hope that now , when our advice has bean taken , and acted upon by the manufacturers and eottoa spinners of Maaiabester , and when not only the expediency of such a course of procedure , but its justice , has been declared by such high authority , the whole of the w workies" will go and do likewise .
Let our readers weigh well this movement on the part of " the Plague ; " for it is fraught with instruction of the moat important kind . These gentlemen , " all honourable men , " of coarse , deem it just and right to withdraw their custom from all those merchants and tradesmen who voted at the late election for pto-Corn Law candidates at Liverpool ; and , of coarse , the same priuoiple will be carried out all through the kingdom ; and why ! Because these said candidates were supporting measures detrimental to the general interests of the country ! No ! but because the Corn Laws are
opposed to the individual interests of the said manufacturers and cotton spinners . Now we don ' t find fault with this ; but we say that , the Chartists have a better plea for commencing and carrying out the system of exclusive dealing than these gentry even pretend to have ; for the interests of the Chartists are not those of a party , or a faction , but of the whole people ; and we advise them at once to set about the work , and resolve that thoy will support no man by their countenance or custom who voted for candidates of either Whig or Tory at the late memorable contest . They have aright to take thi 3 step
and it will not only be perfectly just in them to do so , but it will be manifestly unjust both to themselves , their families , and their country , if they neglect to do so . We have told them so repeatedly , and we tell them so again . It is only through their pockets that the brains and feeling ' s of the ahopocraoy can be approached , and this mode of attack should be commenced without delay , and persisted ia till our just and inalienable rights be " restored * iad secured by the eaaftUMSrtof ? artforfw * Charter . ^ J ^ j s ^ however , ia rain that _ w » thttf . j »? g < i ihe workuTg WSssw 'to" 53 opt \ lie means of securing their
political and social redemption , unless the people will become united and organised . By onion and organisation everything not only may bat must be gained ; without them nothing . Man mast stand by nan , family by family , and town by town ; and then the tyrants will quail before as . Let well-organised Joimt Stock Societies be instantly established in every locality , and let no . man be dealt with bat such as jrire goad ^ ft &ns for their beiug tried aad consistent friends of the people . Capital is all in all in this country , and whence does that capital
come , bat from the labour of the working men 1 You work hard , and your earnings are carried to support those who would rivet upon you and yoar children the ohains of an everlasting slavery . This must not continue . Reason , Christianity , patriotism , and common sense alikeforbid it . Unite , organise , and put the profits now realised by the retail dealerthe wretch who sells the interests of hi 3 best customers at the bidding of the tyrant—into your own pockets . Thus will you create capital for yourselves , as you are now doing it for your oppressors .
Immense advantages would accrue from a real national organisation , such as that we recommend . Such an organisation , firmly bound together by common laws and commou interests , and carefully worked so asto secure public and general confidence , would enable the vrnoh power of the whole people to be brought at almost a moment ' s notice to bear upon any ^ iven subject to which it might be desirable to apply it ; and such a power so constituted , and so operating , would bo irresistible . U would be tho death note of faction , and the subjugation of despotism . The paltry wretches who now dare to
i n ~ lilt the people , and to endeavour to btffla the voice of public opinon , would be made to feel their insignificance , and to hide themselves in the dua * . of their own meanness . Let the operatives in every town and village meet and form an Association , tho members of which shall pledge themselves to deal with no tradesman who will not pledge himself to support , by his vote and influence ^ Chartist candidates at the next general election . ' Let this be done throughout the kingdom , and the next House of Commons will give us the Charter .
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THE " TORCH AND DAGGER" CRY . In another page we give the letter of " a Repealer " to the Tuam Herald , in which we find this passage : — " The grind let and obstacln to the amalgamation of the O'Connellites and the O'Connorites is the oftenrepeated , bus ss often denied , charge of the torch and dagger . Let this one article be erased from the political creed of the Chartists , and both parties can then join hands , and proceed unitedly in the great work of political regeneration . "
Now , while we would shrink from any alliance with Mr . O'Connell with a strong feeling of abhorrence , we believe that many , very many , of his deluded followers are honest patriots , with whom it would gite us heartfelt pleasure to join hands . And we have no doubt that the writer of this letter may be one of them . What , then , is the obstacle The writer says , it is the " torch and dagger"
doctrine of the Chartists . But then he admits that the Chartists repudiate this doctrine—that they deny it and disown it . Then why persist in attributing it to them , if he be sincerely desirous to bring about a union ! Why , above all things , persist in doing so , without offering proof ! He says , " Let this one article be erased from the political creed of the Chartists , and both parties can then join hands . " But how is it to be erased if no credence is to be
given to the Chartist disclaimers , and if the senseless cry is to be received as gospel , without proof or evidence , every time that the "Liberator" chooses to assert it . No man knows better than Mr . O'Connell that this never was an article of the Chartists' creed ; that the Chartists have uniformly and always deprecated it ; and that it has never been holden by any appertaining to the Chartist ranks who have not been subsequently disowned . Mr . O'Connbia is the oldest living advocate of the "Torch » nd Dagger " doctrine , and he still deals in it more largely than any other man . From him it was borrowed by the
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Birmingham traitors , who made the toar of Scot-Und to sell muskets of the right s # rt" for I 2 s . «< t , aad whose adherents talked of ** Moscowing " England . With them the physical foroe mania of their very few followers originated , ' and with their expulsion from the ranks bj the just r # iee of popular indignation it died away , and has never since been heard of , save as a bugbear cry in the month of O'Conkbia and his clique to frighten the Irish people from examining the principles of Chartism , which they know would be the death of Humbug , and the destruction of the " Hint Roll . " The assertion that the Chartists bold " physical foroe" doctrines , is as false as is tbo assertion of 0 'Cokwo . i . at his Loyal Royal" meeting the
other day , that " No man could read five or six of Feargus O'Connor's papers without perceiving a direct incitement of the people to assassinate him . " Large numbers of the Northern Star go weekly into Ireland ; and they tell their own story of the " assassination , " and the "torch and dagger" doctrines . The truth is , Daw knows , though his dopes do not , that Feargus O'Connor and the Chartists would give the people of Ireland Repeal , which would spoil his trade of talking about it .
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r ^ : MR . ROEBUCK , THE TIMES , AND THE NEW POOR LAW . On Monday , Mr . Roebuck gave notice that whenever the House should go into Committee on the Poor Law Amendment Continuation Bill , he should move that tho Board of Commissioners be abolished , and that all the powers exercised by them which might be considered requisite to the working of the measure , should be transferred to the Secretary of State for tbe Home Department .
If we could have been surprised ai anything ia ihe form of inconsistency coming from Mr . Roebuck , we should surely have been surprised at this . If we had any doubt of the justice of oar suspicious that this Hon . Gentleman ia waiting the chances of the market , the homage to the worst principles of Toryism contained in this motion would have gone far to the removal of that doubt , aad to the satisfying of as th * t the " fair trial'' which tbe Hon . and learned gentleman declared himself determined to give to the new Tory Government was , in reality , a fair trial whether his serviced might be thought
worthy of a consideration . " Essentially despotic , arbitrary , and unconstitutional , as the New Poor Law is , we know but one improvement necessary to make it perfect in iniquity ; and that is just tbe improvement suggested by the Honourable Member for Bath . In its present form there is a sort of show—a kind of an appearance—of responsibility about the Cerberus in chief to whom its administration is deputed . That there is more of appearance than reality in the responsibility of which the Commiaionera boast in their report , wo are perfectly aware .
We adopt fully the sentiment and language of the Times , that" with a strong corps of dependent Assist * ants , whose manifest interest in framing exculpatory statements is not greater than the eagerness of a collusive Home-office to receive them , the alleged responsibility of the chief officials is really an insulting faree . Remonstrant boards of guardians have ever found it so . A more unmitigated and unchallengable despotism than the Commissioners have uniformly exercised , clothed ia the forms of legalized power , has never benn practised in any free country . "
Tbat , however , which has never existed Mr . Roebuck , in hia anxious derotednesss to public liberty , would fain bring into existence . He wowhithrow off the mask and expose the Gorgon l ^ dl md th M which now , in its exercise , an unchallengable despotism , through-ihfr- collMw »~« tb » H » feo-o 2 lce , he would make a pure , naked , and legally established despotism in the person of the Home Secretary . .
It commonly happens , however , that anxious Waiters upon Providence are too eager in their assiduities , and Mr . Roebuck fonn 3 no exception to the rule . He has pushed the bar too far , and the Tories wont follow . The Times in commenting upon the Honourable Member ' s motion describes it aa " in every respect an exceptionable one ; " and takes occasion to treat Mr . Roebuck and his proffered " fair trial" with a superciliousness that haa rou 36 d tbat gentleman ' s sensitiveness to a pitch little short of boiling . The Times article appeared on Wednesday ; and , in a fuss , on the same evening , comes Mr . Roebuck to
the House of Commons , with the Times paper in his hand , exclaiming , See . Mr . Speaker , what a shame , the Times calls me a Chartist and a one shilling gentleman I" and insisting on his right to bring the printer of the Times upon his knees before the House , and to horsewhip Mr . Walter . No doubt , it was very vexing to find proffered servioe thus rejected ; and it must have been very pleasing to Mr . Roebuck , after the kicking of the Times , to find himself laughed at by the House , of which not one Member agreed with him in opinion that its privileges had been at all violated by the " thunderer ' s" civilities .
We certainly think the attack on Mr . Roebuck in the Times was Bomewhat personal and scurrilous , and we think Mr . Roebuck well deserved it ; not for his occasional interruptions of Tory Members in their diatribes , bnt for the intimation , roundly given both in this notice of motion , and in hia previous conduct on Mr . Crawford ' s motion , of a readiness to aw&llow all his professions of liberal sentiments , to give popular freedom the go-by , and to uphold despotism in its worst form . For this reason , we think Mr . Roebuck deserves \ a , 1 l the abuse of the Times ; and for a like reason
we think the Times deserves all the abuse of Mr Roebuck ; of which , in his breach of privilege speech , it came in for no small share . Arcades ambo ! Mr . Roebuck , on the accession of a Tory Ministry , would sacrifice his hitherto unvarying support of the New Poor Law to an " improvement " in its constitution , couched iu tho pure spirit of despotism . The Times , on the other band , seems not unwilling to abate considerably the strength of its hitherto unwavering opposition to tbe Poor Law , because of the same circumstances . We hear no more from the Times of a tearing of it from the
Statute Book , of its utterly uuconstitusional character , of its anti-christian princi p le , of the impossibility of patching or amending it , and the necessity of its entire repeal and a return to the 43 d . of Elizabeth . Instead of all this , the Times now hopes tho New Home Secretary " on taking an intelligent retrospect of the larger experience which the country has now had of that law ' s objcstionable character , may ' not be wholly indisposed , ' io ^ 'emodel Us structure , and to mitiyate its frightful rigours . "
Very geutlo language this for the Times in reference to the New Poor Law ! We beg , however , to assure both Mr . Roebuck and the Times that no trimming policy , on either side , or by . either party , shall avail them . The time ha 3 gone by for it . The people ars awake . They know that their "privileges" have been invaded , and they will make both Whigs , Tories , and sham-Radicals to answer it with tear and trembling , aud that speedily f
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THE FORCED ALLY . If any thing could enhance the value of O'Connor to the people , it must be the terror he excites in both the factions , and the anxiety of each to fasten him on the other . On his first release , our neighbourMercury , with his accustomed accuracy and suavity , consigned him to the Tories , whom , he supposed him to hare just come in time to help to triumph over the common enemy , the dastard Whigs . In this day ' s ( Thursday ' s ) Morning Herald , we find the following elegant morceau , which we cannot withhold from our readers : —
Feargus O'Connor and the Whigs . —( From a Correspondent . )—The assigned cause for liberating Feargus O'Connor , before his period of incarceration in York Castle had expired was , tbat bis health was so seriously affected that a longer confinement would have , perhaps , proved fatal to him ; yet , notwithstanding the alleged plea of ill-health , we fiad" him . within a day or two after his liberation , with his stentorian lunga unimpaired , spouting , for three hours at a stretch , to hia disciples , at the Crown and Anchor in the Strafid . 'Tis true , that the Whigs might have been deceived
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—that the Marquis of Normsnby might have sap . posed the agitator was in ? dangerous health ;* bvt there is a story current that Feargus was * let oaf just in the very nick , of time ) by the defunct Cabinet apon the express understanding that he should d » hia best , throughout the ooontry , in ' agitating * against ihe Administration of Sir Robert Pee ] , aad in stirring up the Chartists for the purpose of annoy ing , if not crippling , the Conservative Govern ment . This rumoor may or may not be true ; we know that the fallen faction are capable of almost anything : . bat we can hardly cm
them credit for an * arrangement , ' the details of which can only be known < o ihe liberated Chartist and hia newly-acquired patrons . Of course O'Connor , to keep ap 'decent appearance ? , ' will not fail , occasionally , to bespatter the Whigs . The last two or three items of disbursemevt of the secret-service money would be worth a Jew ' s eye to have a peep at . The Whigs once had O'Connor ia their clutches . Let them take rare he does not entrap them into At * . The old ' Newgate dodge * of 1 Honour amongst thieves , ' may not pass current upon this occasion . "
We esteem these the most honourable testimonials that could be borne to the character of the people ' s champion . And we are quite sure the people will think so too .
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We regret much that we cannot persaade our friends practically to observe the very clear and plain directions which we have to often given and repeated about tbe sending ot matter tot the Star . The extent of our circulation obliges us to go to press mi Thursday afternoon ; and , therefore , our friends seem to think that if their communkatiens teach us by Thursday morning it is quite soon enough , this is a great mistake . They should remember that every word of the paper has to be put together by single letters , and tbe whole space filled before we can go to press , and it is impossible to do this ia one forenoon . Oat men are bully employed in filling up the paper with matter which , from one source or othtr , we most supply during tbe whole
week , aud itf seldom happens tbat more tttan one at two columns , besides the neaessaty' space i « editorial comment , remain to be filial on jtiundsy morning . This shews the importance and necessity r all matters of news , occurrences of the move * Bient , reports of meetings , ace ., being sent to us at once , immediately they ocetaz . Instead of which , it often nappeiu , tbat oa Monday and Tuesday we have scarcely any letters ,. s * l on Wednesday conparatlvely few till ti *«^ tt pjp « iL arrives , ihe consequence is , that 1 l ^ ufcjpMfl * wftfcfl < o arrive U the early part of tbe wofl * 1 i | tf <* wfally attended to and given generally at length f wti 8 e we areojbtigeg to hare recourse to . the I ^ ndoa p «|^ , and ^ fefooi Bourees , for matter to fill tbe Itfiaibnjf portion of 8 » many columns of the mperiitimt be s « t up
before Wednesday night Wednesday nigbt * a £ Thursday morning ' s posts bring as a shoal of lettew from all parts of the country ; these corn * upon us just in the hurry of writing and attending to what are called the leading articles ; while in the early part of the week we have more time to attend to correspondence . The consequence Is tbat on * half of these letters are passed over entirely ; and the other half compressed into the smallest possi ble amount of spmoe—and th « next consequence is , tb » t in the following week we hare letters ot complaint from various parties about their com * manicatioua being treated with neglect . Son * whose letters or reports way have been omitted for want of space , refer occasionally to the police reports : —tbe column of " varieticJS , " or some other portion of the content * of the 2 nd , 3 rd , « th , or 7 th pages of the paper , which are always set up
first—and ask indignantly if theii communication was less important than such or soch a thing which appeared ia the tame paper from ( whicb it was excluded " for want of space "—othea accuse us of partiality and unfairness in catting down their reports to a mere annoueement , while those ot other towns a * ie-givdn at fritter length We have had many most angry-letters of this description , the cause for which Dis rested entirely with tbe parties themselves . Now if oar fHeads will bat bear in mind that we -ate BUlng-np the paper every day ; that the same column cannot bo filled twice over ; that we must give oft such matter as tee haw JUST when the kbs want it , or there would be no Star on 8 atu *> day , and tnat therefore we cant wait for the next poet—we must go on ; if they womld remember all this , and send tnslr ftomnranicattont pmmptif —in the eeaftr oart of *»>» w « t > . iif wmm > taad
remember that we have only one weekly paper for all England , Scotland , Ireland , and Wales , and that , therefore , no one place can be allowed to monopolize aa unreasonable portion of the paper , we should have no complaints of inattention to any party—because we know there would be no ground for them . Our anxious desire is to make the Star a truly national organ , equally representing all ^ but « re cannot de this unless the country will aid us rightly in the sending of their matters of communication . The above remarks apply , of ceune , to news , beta , ^ meetings of the people , Chartist intelligence , 4 c . Original papers , letters to the Editor , personal correspondence , poetry , fcc , must be here at tbe beginning of the week , or we shall not hold ou > ¦ elves bound even to notice them .
T . C . Spenceb wishes to call the attention of Mr Bairstow to the village of Ticknall , in Derbyshire one mile from Melbourne ; a thickly popula ted village in which ihe banner of Chartism has not yet been erected . Wesley an Methodism . —Can any f riend lend us s copy ef the Minutes of the last Wesleyan Coif ference , and furnish us with a list of the sub scribers , and the sums subscribed respectively , to the Wesleyan Centenary Fund ? Victim . Fund . — -Thomas Ciosiley wishes us to say that the Chartists of Sower by have sent to Mr . Shorrocks £ \ Is ., being 12 j . from themselves , and 9 s . from a Jew friends at Soy land Mills . A Chartist , but no Revolptiokist . — We have m
room . L . D . — We cannot give a certain opinion upon it ' , much depend ? upon the usages of the country . But we think that if he can prove ihe hiring he would command the wages . J . Buckley , Ashton . — We have no room for his poetry . Boston . —The Boston Radicals terile us that they are anxious to join the National Charter Association , and much desire a lecturer to visit them , for tht purpose of organising them . We commend them to the attention of the Executive . T . Peatfield . — His lines are delined . A Co : < stani Reader , Siokesley . —We do not , in the absence of Mr . O'Connor , undertake to answer le arquestion . i , or to give advice thereon . As far as we can judge from Ms statement , we should think his chance of success in any action very small ; and if even he didiucceed , tee fear the expeuces would more than swallow up all his
gams . O'Connor ' s Liberation . —The reports from Burnley , Sutlon-in-Abhfietd , and several other places , of the proceedings on the 30 th of Auyust , are a Mile stale : they should have been sent last week . Joun Williams writes to congratulate Mr . O'Connor on his release , and in doing so remarks that the Charter can never become a panacea for the ills of the country without an issue of . royal or national inconvertible paper money , which shall be a legal tender for the amount for which it is drawn .
Gracchus . — We admire his patriotism more than Ms Poetry . W . a .. —His verses next week . Joseph George , Wabjiinher . —We do not think he need fear the prosecution for libel . If his state ~ mentwas true , the wretches will not venture on it ' : if otherwise , they will not think it worth their whVe . However , if the prosecution does come , he can , of course , subpoena as witnesses , i » support of his allegation , all the parlies named in his letter , and any others who know anything - ¦ ' - about it , though it will depend upon theHmdy prosecution ( whether civil or criminal ) trhethtf their evidence may be received by the Court . Thomas M : tton . —None can regret more than tee < fo the " bickerings" and contentions which
occasionally rise among individuals of the Chartist body And what we regret most is , that persons professing Chartist principles , and avowing an anxiety to see those principles practically recognised in the State , should act inconsistently with their own principles by taking any steps to weaken the force of those united energies which are all necessary to our cause . Such must neces sarily be the effect of all sectional movements and separate societies having the same avowed object as the National Charter Association , but not oooperating with it . It is a loosening of the onl $ bond wherein our strength lies , and must , therefore , produce the most painful excitement in thf minds of all such honest Chartist , especially if resident in the locality , as take this view oj the subject . However much , therefore , we may regret the "intemperate language" < snd "
personalityr' complained oj by Thomas Muton , we cannot less regret the injudiciousness—to say the best of it—which dictated the formation of the society against which he describes it to have been fulminated . Smith , Plymouth . —The duties of a Town ' s Crier are determined greatly by local usage . He has certainly no right to refuse publishing an ) lawful mutter ; but we know not that there are any means of punishing him for neglect of duty , save through the medium $ f aftofition which would in all probability be a rtptedg miich worse than the disease . We hate stated probably twenty times that Members of Parliament-getno pay for sitting on Committees . They liave no especial exemptions only that of freedom from arrest for debt , during the time that Parliament is sitting .
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4 . THE NORTHERN STAB , ¦ ___^_^___
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" The Chartists have proved themsslves morb accurate calculators than the middle classes . Whether their kotTrcm would havb mended hatters ib not sow the question , ' bjti thb result has shewn that they werb correct » their opinion—that in the present 8 tatb of the representation , it was va 1 k to think of a &epkal of the corn m 0 n 0 p 0 lt . •? «••?* - Political power nr raw covktkt , though jjs RESIDES IN A COM ? i 1 UTIVXLY SXALL CLASS , CAN ONLY BK EXERCISED BT TffS ffDJ-FEBAltCTl OP * HB MASSES . ** — Morning Chronicle ( organ of the Whig Ministers ) Friday , July IQth , 1841 .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 11, 1841, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct720/page/4/
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