On this page
- Departments (1)
-
Text (5)
-
Untitled Article
-
THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1841.
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
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
BIRMINGHAM . ; IMPORTANT DELEGATE MEETING . A meeting of delegates from various towns in Bim ' BsfcamdifcirieWwM held fa . the Chartist room , Freeman-street , on ' Jfonday . btU wh « the following places were represented by . delegates and Ictterf : — - BinniBgbaia , Freeman-street , Mr . Richard Thompson ; Steelhouse-lane , Mr . Thomas Davis ; Wednesbury , Mr . George Browning ; Wnteall , Mr . -James Scholefield ; Stourbridge , Mr . Francis Forbes , * ad Mr . John Chanee ; Bilswn , Mr . Jehn Cadley ; Coventry , by letter ; BroaJsgroTe , dir ts , Warwick , ditto . The delegates assembled about one o ' clock , ¦ wh en Mr . John Chance , of Siourhridge , ^ ras called -to the chair , and Mr , George White wu requested lA * et &s secretary .
Ike Chaibxajt immedistajy commeMeA business , Xnds&id ta&t the presett meeting was of the highest importance . He was surprised to find that some of the towns ia the district , had neglected to Bend a delegate , when matters of such deep import were to Its discussed . It was act an easy matter for a few Sam to transact the business of the whole district He nevertheless hoped that what they transacted tbat day would meet with the sanction and support < t those places who had uot sent repreeent » t . ve 3 ,
and that such things would be altered in future . Tfcey had now to oonsider the business for which they had assembled , which , according to the notice given in the Star , was to make arrangeaents for procuring signatures to the National Petition fer 1842 , to nominate a candidate to represent the the counties of Warwick and "Worcester in the forthcoming Contention , and also to manage the business connected with the lecturer for the district . He then called on the secretary to read the corttepoadettce .
Mr . GEORGE white then proceeded to read the latter * which be had received , all approving of the jneetteff , aad idpiiiyiog their willingness to abide ly the decision of tbe meeting . The letter from Warwick « u sigaed H . A . Donaldson , aad gave a ebeering account of their prospects in that town ; that from BrecBgrore was signed Samuel William Cooper ; and from Coventry , signed David Haines . He . Browkixg theoght the meeting had best commence with the business connected with the leetarac lir . Cablet would prefer goins into the other part « f the business first , and take the opinion * of the delegate * present as to the state of their localities .
Mr . J . Mason , having obtained leave from the chairnan , addressed the meeting . He thought that they bad better first see the amount of population in each pttce , and afterwards make a calculation of toe amount of petition abeets required , when a motion might be jatde on the subject The Chaibx ax wished to know how many signs .-taxes they contemplated getting in Birmingham . Mr . Davis stated they had got 21 , 000 si ^ ratores to the petition for Feargua O'Connor , but he thought Ihr . t the necessary steps were not taken with it , or it would tare been sore nuMerously signed . He thought it ¦ Would be difficult to come to a definite number . Mr . Richard Thompson said that the petition "which was presented by Mr . Attwood had received 90 , 600 signatures from Birmingham and . its ntighbourbood ; he thought they might safely calculate on 40 or se . ooo .
Mr . Foebes thought they would get 4 , 000 for Stourtsadje , and by the co-operation of the neighbouring -villages , would probably get six or seven thousand afemtares . Mr . Browsisg said that they expected to get threa ifcousand signatures at Wednesbury . Mr . Cadlet thought they conld get 10 , 000 signatares in Bilston and- its neighbourhood . They hod already made arrangements fcr that purpose , and had 2 ttle doubt of procuring that amount Mr . G . Scholkfield said that they bad not yet disflttsed that question at Wakall , he eonld therefore give bo positive opinion in the matter . The feeling of the working men was favourable to the Charter , and he thought that 6000 signatures could be procHrad .
A long consultation them took place , in which various members of the association toot part Tee population cf each place in the district was considered , aad after Jong-and calm deliberation , it was agreed that Eirminglam should be considered the central point for the procuring of petition sheets , and that each place should remit their msney &s seen as possible for whatever ¦ beets they required . Mr . Fosbes moved " That 600 sheets and 200 head fcgs be sent for to Mr . Ecb * 03 , Leeds , and that Bir--xaiBgham be the central place to vrhich they should ba tzansadtted . " Hi Browning seconded the motion .
JSx . THOHPsox theughtan amendment necessary . It would appear from the motion of Mr . Forb&s , that Bmningham was to pay for the -whole of the sheets -, be thought that each place oesht to send for their own . He Datis thought the amendment unnecessary , as they could send for as many sheets as they had rscaey nmitted them for . It should be -made known to the ^ aVw ^ t ^ iw generally , tts $ \ $° j should forvrard -no&ey far * & e fitfeeb they required aa eoon as possible , ¦ width would save tfc * erpeiice of carriage , * & they could gut ttwca « p together from Leeds , for a xmall amount . The CHAIemas then put the motion , which was turfed -unanimously . Mr . DaTIS moved ' that Mr . White as secretary to the delegate meeting , be requested to give notice tferocgb the Star , that each place re < piring petition tieeis should Immediately forward their money to Mr . White , 39 , ~ 2 romsgrove- street "
Mr , Cad let seconded the motion , which was un&nil&oasly agreed to . A conversation then took place on ths method of getting copies of the petition circulated tkrpugh the eoantoy . Mr . Datis irfonned ths meeting that at a club to which he belonged , they made it a practice to collect xstall suns on their meeting nights , which were appropriated to the purchase cf Chartist publications for distribution . { Hear . } Mr . B rows is g hoped the delegates would acree to tend for one thousand copies &f tha petition . He was instructed to vote for such a motion , Mr . SCHOLEriELD , although not authorised , -would take the respouiisiiuy of sujjportisg such a proposition , as he saw its utility . Mr . Foubes consented to ths molion , which itza put cad carried unanimously .
Ths Cha . ib . hax then vrished them to consider "whether they would nominate a person to represent the district in the- foitbcomirg Convention . He thought that oae of the * " ¦'" otjxts for whicli they had -met . Mr . Richaed Thompson then arose and sai-i that be conadered ii necessary ttr » t they sfeould 1 are a bold sad manly advocate of their cau 3 e to fill ths impcrtint jt&ea of a member of th . 3 CosventioE . He begged leave to propose that Hr . G ; orga White be nominated as a proper persoa to represent this district in tLe forthcoming Convention . Mr . Fo ^ BES entirely agreed vith the statements of Ht Thompson , but doubted vtetber ilr . Whh » conld be spared , as he confidered him tte main centre cf the 3 Bavemea . t in this district . He therefore thought that Mr . Mason should be nomis ^ ted .
• Mr . Brows is g agreed - ? ritb . the proposition of Mr . Thompson . He thought thai Mr . White or Doccor JI'Douall should be rejected . He did not mind which , - « fee thought than both capable of representing the district . Mr . MaSos declined beicg pu « in nomination for Birmingham district Be thought that no man had the same rf ^ im in that respect aa Mr . 'White , ^ who hid to * p ^ t all the odium of their opponents of the JTationol Charter Associatioa by the course h « adopted oa his amvalinBirmiBgham , ar . £ without whose exertions he questioned ¦ wbtther s celigat-3 meeting would then ba . assembled ; besides , Vfer ^ La not put in ncnanition it would be trumpeted forth tiat Ls L » d not tiie confidence * f the people .
J& Davis highly approved cf itr . Whito , and thought Mm every way qualified to represect them in ibe CosvenUoc Hebore lesumeny to his per ^ eTtrance m forwardiQg th'a cause . His only objection was , that be theught he could not be spared ts they hid still a ¦ gteat deal to centend -with . The othfii i ^ gtJuA preheat agreed in the ncmination of Mi . Whits . The ChaXRHAJT { afiar » few complimentary remarks oa Mr . White ) then put the motion , whici w * s carried ¦ scaaimously .
Mr . Bbotv . msg stated , thai as several of the delegates present represented to-sx 3 ia StafibrdshL-e , he thought it would not be out of pl" « if they came to a decision as to the most proper person to be placed in Eomication for the counties of Stafford and Salop . He then passed a Trail merited eulogium on the conduct ( . f Mr . Ma&on , aafi proposed him as a proper person to represent ths Chsrtists of Staffordshire and Salop in the forthcoming Convention . Mr- SCHOLEFIELD seconded the propnsiticn , aad coincided "with Mr . Browzung as to the htness of ilr . Mason to £ 11 the important cnice . Mr . Cadlet supported the proposition asd said it ¦ was tha intention of the people of Bilston to Eupport the election of Mr . Mason . The CHAIBKAM , in putting the motion , ecmpli-2 uaite 4 Mr . Mason on the high standing wliich he tvlc ia the esteem cf the whole distzict The moti . T . wai Tyr % * T \^ yprwQyl y apfied to .
Ths T > aieS ktea feen agreed to adjourn the meeting ionr o ' clock , in otder to allow time tax refreshment .
MEETING KESUMED . * At four o ' clock the delegates again assembled , i large nxmbet of metabea were present to witness thi proceedings . The Cbaibmah stated that they had disposed of thi hnidneH connected with the proposed Convention an < the National Petition . The only remaining bosmen ¦ was that which referred to the Lecturer . Ho shenu Kke to hear the opinions cf the Delegates on tb < jabjact Mz . CaDlkt stated that the members of the Asscci « tian at Bilston , taoaght that the Lecturer did no ft-Jend often enough , as his route was too exteutive 5 . 'hey wished to hare an additional Lecturer , and h& < ¦ agreed to increase their weekly payments . - Their mem IJen were iscreatiQg very fast , and they wished V lure a lecture oftener , if it could be s'ranter .
Untitled Article
Mr . Scholefield ha& -no doubt that if they had the lecturer oftener at Waisall they could increase their numbers very much . Mr . Cablet then gave a description of the course they had adopted at Bilston . to extend their principles . A few persevering individuals had surmounted all difficulties . He would advise those delegates from . placea where they might be struggling up-hill to adopt their plan , via- that each member should take a subscription card and endeavour to get the aarietanc * of aU who were favourable to their , cause . Mr . Forbes agreed to the plan laid down fcy the previous speaker . He had . witnessed its good « ffect The plan of subscription cards would be found highly beneficial , as each person who gave a penny , « aould see that a pin was pricked through the card , a&d the person would be expected to produoe a penny for each pi » -hoto . ...
Mr . BROWsiko said that bis eonstitaenU woald give as much as they possibly could to the lectarec '«* fand , and wished to have him ofteser . Mr . White explained the manner in which the money had been forwarded to the Lecturer ' s Fond , and explained his ideas of what should be done in future . He impressed on the delegates the necessity of being punctual in their payments to the fund , as irregularity caused embarrassments . Mr . Richard Thomson stated that Blrmingfeam had not only paid their allotted share to the fund , but had paid three weeks m advance , and would pay stiH more if necessary .
Mr . Beowmng agaia addressed the meeting on the position of his locality , when it was agreed to establish a good Lecturer's Fund . A scrutiny then took place into the amount of money forwarded by each place , and , on an inspection of the treasurer ' s book , it wss found that several places were in arrear . After a long discuasion , in whieh Mr . White , and others who were present , took part , the following resolution was propoted by Mb Cadley , and seaended by Mr . Browning ^ — " That each place in the dktriebbe requested to pay their arrears as soon as p » anble , reckoning tea weeks from the commencement of Me Mason ' s services , that is , allowing two weeks contributions for coach-fare We also determine that the present system of contribution continue in force until a Eaton delegate meeting shall decide otherwise , and that each sub-secretary be requested to be punctual in forwarding the required amount " The resolution was carried unanimously .
Mr . Forbes moved— " That the present committee , oonsiating of Messrs . Corbett , Cresswell , Wilkinson , Hopkins , and White , be requested to act on behalf of the district , and that Me White be empowered to manage the business connected with the Petition sheeU , * c , to whom all applications are to be made , directed 39 , Brottsgrove-street " The motion was unanimously agreed to . Mr . R . Thompson moved , and Mr . Forbes seconded the following resolution : — "That this meeting be adjourned for one month , and be again held on Sunday , the 28 th day of November , when every town in the district will be expected to send a delegate . " Carried unanimously .
Mr . Cadlet wished to impress on their minds before they separated the necessity of each delegate exerting himself when he got back ; and if they found any of their committee men iead they should put living men in their places , as a good committt * was everything . A vote of Want ™ was then given to the Chairman and Secretary , after which the meeting separated on the most cordial terms . Previous to leaving the room , Mr . Bbowmsg said that the article in the Northern Star , disclaiming the use of violent language , had given great satisfaction at Wednesbury .
The Northern Star Saturday, November 6, 1841.
THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 6 , 1841 .
Untitled Article
THE " DAILY BREAD * PLAGUE . In accordance with our promise , we this week give the reply" of Mr . M Daily Bread" Hill to our remarks upon his anti-bread tax army of " empty bag " bearers . Oat readers will find it elsewhere , and will probably think it a very good answer to itself . There are , however , a few points in it upon which it may be worth while to say & word . It is an old saying , " that the first blow is the best
half of the battle "; and this " Daily Bread" nan seeni 3 to be a devout believer in the saw . * He knows the characteristic love of Englishmen for •* fail play , " and their hatred of misrepresentation or falsehood ; and hence he opens his tirade with a smart volley about " censoring , " and "abnBing , " and " misrepresenting , " and ultimately he charges us in the following paragraph with 8 direct falsehood : —
" It is utterly falie that theTrordj « Pesple ' s Chart **' were inserted in larger characters than the words Food Taxes , ' aa you . have tet it forth . One of the placards in question is lying at the office of the Leeds Times , and one at Mr . Heywood ' s , Manchester , that those who choose to satisfy themselves by the evidence of their own sight that the writer of the Northern Star has been guilty of a gross falsehood , may have the opportunity of doing so . "
How , it may be all very fine for Mr . " Daily Bread'' Hill to try to raise a last ; but we do not intend that the cover of it shall avail him for escape ; or that he Ehall blind with it the eyes of our readers . Supposing our statement to have been incorrect or false , as he BajB it is , on thiB trifling matter of detail , that would by no means have affected the main body of the argument ; it would neither have made the Society more legal , nor the plan more feasible , nor the object which
the plan was to obtain more desirable , nor tha means of obtaining that object lesa objectionable . We might grant him all the bluster about " gross falsehood" in describing the kind of type in which the words " People ' s Charter , " were printed on the bills , and he would still be no nearer to the only usefal object of his letter—the disproving of our arguments against the character and tendency of his society—bnt we shall not give him even that advantage . Y » e retort upon him that tha " gross falsehood" is with him and not with ns . We did
not " Eet it forth" that the words " People ' s Charter " were inserted in larger characters than the words " food taxes . " We stated only that the words " Public mseting , " " People ' s Charter , " and " by Mr . Hili ., " are pr inted in the largest type that conld possibly be got into the breadth of the sheet ; which statement Mr . " Daily Bread" Hill knows to be trae . It will not serve men propounding grave and serious measures for the acceptance of the public , to
meet objections by this kind of shirking . The public are too wide awake . They see through every saoh artifice at first sight , and seldom fail to give the author of it his own name . Nor will the paltry badinage abont the " bulletin , " the form of which is so facetiously given , ba thonghfc more satisfactory . It is much more easy to cut jokes than to answer arguments- Mr . Hill seems to know this , but seems to forget that other poople know it too .
Like every other imp of faction , the " Daily Bread" man must have his fling at O'Cosnob . He addresses his epistle to the ** proprietor" and conductors of the Northern Star . Thia be bad no right to do . He had the means of knowing that the " proprietor" of the Northern . Star had no share in the remarks which we thought necessary for guarding the people against the "Daily Bread " trap . Why , then , thU insolent and gratuitous dragging of " the great O'CoKnoa , " aad "the proprietor of the Xorthem Star" into the business ! It was not O'Connor , but the Northern Star that
was to be replied to . The Northern Star had warned the poople against an infamous conspiracy called the " Daily Bread Society "; it had assigned its reasons for its warning ; it had proved the character of the " Daily Bread Society" from the writings of its founder and advocate . Does the " Daily Bread" man show that the warning was unnecessary 1 Does he rebut the reasoning ! Does he ward off the proofs ! Does he show thai the extracts we gave from his own writings have any other meaning than that which we Bay tbey have \ Not . a bit of all this does he do—for the b « tt reason in the world . But failing that , he does the next beet
thing for bis own purpose . He tries to make such a splash and a splutter , and to raise such ft dust aad a smoke as shall enable him to "get Mray . " Hence the mighty bluster aboat the sort of type in which the words "People ' s Charter" and "food taxes" were printed on his bills ; and hence , too this cunning whipping-in of the great CPCoskoh , " for the purpose of leading off attention from the subject in dispute by a stupid effort to be witty on the subject of O'Coxnor ' s proposal to the landlords of Ireland to improve their own estates , and the people ' s condition at the same time , by the small farm system . He bavb : —
Untitled Article
w Perhaps whilst on this subjeot , without being so uncourteous as to ask Mr . O'Connor how they are to obtain the land , adding , " Don't you wish you may set it , " I might be allowed to inquire whether , if uxe land is divided into five acre pieces , and each individual has five children , it is calculated this will sub-divide into fire acres more for each , or if they hare discovered that there would then be only one acre for each ; moreover , if each of these proprietors of one acre subdivides it again amongst his five children , ! ' the Bins of the fathers will be visited upon the children erea to the third and fourth generation , ' ia a way that will leave very little land for each . "
No doubt the " Daily Bread" man thought this an adroit method of escaping from the question . We shall not permit feim to do so . The question is not as to the merits ef Mr . O'Connor ' s five acres farm system ; were it so , we should have little difficulty in meeting and exposing the " Daily Bread" man ' s puerile and malignant fallacy ; but the question is of the merits of the " Daily Bread Society , " described by it own advocates as " an organised plan to break thel » w . " In respect to this description of his society , the " Daily Bread" man says : —
" I never gave it that description . What pays the title page of tha book , ' Daily Bread , or Taxation without Representation Resisted , beiug a Plan for the Abolition of the Bread Tax ; ' that is what I called it , neither more nor lesa , and probablj this is what the Editor of the Leeds Times might intend , that is to destroy , to break up a bad law . * ° With regard to this opinion of the Leeds Times , it so happened that I addressed a letter to the Editor of that paper , to correct his description of the society , after I saw his phraseology was taken up by the . Sheffield Iris ; but my letter was received too late for insertion the week it was Bent , therefore I said it might be withheld as rather out of date . "
Now , t 7 e care not what letter-thV * Daily ^ read ' » man may have cent to the Leeds r »«» f « and withdrawn . We infer his approval and ^ adoption of thi description of the society from these facts : he had at his command a journal which he calls the "Bread Eater ' s Advocate and National Daily Bread Society ' s Journal . " In that paper , the organ of the society , he gives this description from the Leeds Times ; but he gives with it no correction . On the contrary , he takes up the idea of "breaking the law , " and labours most sedulously to justify and enforce it . But whether he chooses to give it that description or not , the fact is not altered . The society is , to all intents and purposes , what the Leeds Times htts well described it , — " an organised plan for breaking the l aw . " The Bread Eater ' s Advocate and National
Daily Bread Sociely ' s Journal" is ( besides being in the teeth of the Stamp Act , an unstamped newspaper , ) an illegal publication , from the very fact of its being the organ of a " conspiracy to break the law ; " and Mr . " Daily Bread" Hill must meet and explain that fact , otherwiss than by lying quibbles about different sixes of type ^ and about Mr . O'Consqb ' s fire acres farm system , if he intends any sensible man to run the gratuitous hazard of either belonging to his " Daily Bread Society" or buying or selling his " Bread Eater ' s Advocate . "
We have looked carefully through his whole letter , and cannot find in it one effort at a reply to our strictures , or even at a fair argument of the question of the Corn Laws , to procure the abolition of w ' aioh heafilrms this " Daily Bread Society" to have been intended . His first effort at argument is on the general Corn Law Question , and it is this : — " Are we to be prevented from obtaining a supply of food now , because Mr . O'Connor has for some reason which he knows and which we shrewdly
suspect we know , put his followers on a false scent , by holding out the hopes of five acres of land for each individual , and because * another ' patriot * says that we ought not to a ? k fer a repeal of the Bread Tax , without embarassing the question with equitable adjustments between fundnolders and landholders Can the inhabitants of the country eat the land ? Will the produce which is to be yielded from these sterile soils , when reclaimed in the year 1850 or 1950 , feed the people in 1841 and 2 , or keep them from dying of starvation 1 "
This is the mode adopted by all the enemies of O'Connor and the people . They hatch monstrous schemes for disorganising all society and then turn round and father them on him . The impf&ni . and villanous assumption contained } n the worts rhoid * ing out the hope of five acres 6 f land for each individual" is the same as that of his brother " Daily-Bread" man of the Leeds Times last week . It is the assumption that O'CoKNon recommends the forcible taking of the land from its present proprietors , and dividing it absolutely as to proprietorship , in lumps of five acres each amongst the poor . Now the rascals know that innosingleiine or speech , writtenor spoken , either by O'Connor or by the conductor of the Northern Star , has any such doctrine been countenanced ; and it is conclusive evidence of the" Daily Bread" men being " dead beat , " that they thus
conjure up a ghost to combat with : not to say that fi it were even so , the argument is then unfairly stated , and the question begged . It is assumed , without any effort to adduce evidence , first , that the plan of O'Cohkor is a foolish one ; and next , that a repeal of the Corn Laws , under present circumstances , would benefit the people . Upon neither of these questions does the " Daily Bread" man venture to argue for an instant . He asks : — " Is it not recorded in the very paper which contains the attack upon me and the Daily Bread Society , that there are 19 , 930 individuals at this moment in the town of Leeds , whose average incomes are only 11 id . per head per week ! less than twopence per day . ' Yet are there places ia a still lower
state of destitution even than Leeds . Out of this scanty income of ll £ d . the food tax takes at least 4 ^ d . It is as clear as the sun at noon-day , that not only would the effect of the abolition of the Corn Law be to relieve these individuals from the tax of fourpence farthing , but that it would increase the wages of the employed and give employment to the unemployed by creating a market tot their labour in exchange for the food to be imported ; yet are several of the leaders of what they have chosen to call the Chartist movement ( though it has much more the characteristic of a Tory movement ) denouncing the repeal of the Corn Laws ; and here is Mr . O'Connor ' s paper censuring me for producing a plan by which they may be abolished . "
Now , this ia a very ready and convenient mode of settling things . There is a vast amount © f poverty and distress in the country ; and Mr . ' * Daily Bread " Hill says , " IT IS AS CLEAR AS NOONDAY " that the repeal of the Corn Laws would / remedy it all . True ; Mr . " Daily Bread" Hill & perfectly aware that in the Northern Star this position , which isi © him - "• B-dear as noonday , " has been disputed ; that arguments have been advanced to prove it untenable ; that it has been represented afe a fallacy which conld mislead none but very fools , anJ would be advanced by none bat very knaves . And of his conviotion that these arguments were based on
truth and could not be answered , we hare the evidence in this paragraph , in which , instead of arguing the question , he assumes it all , and says " it is as clsxb . as koonday" 1 > No better proof could hav » been desired of Mr . Hiu ' s perfect consciousness that his whole scheme is ju&what we havedescribed it to be , than this empty vapouring aboW as dear as noonday . " To as it is " as clear as noonday " that the heads whieh can receive this as a reply to all the argument npon this question that has appeared in &e Northern Sfy , &uia& Xb * whole anti-Corn Law movement , must be as « empty" as the "bags" vrhh which Mr . Hill proposes to his
arm volunteers against the preventive service . In reply to our expose of the worse than childish , if not infamous and devilish , project of a procession of ten or twenty thousand ipen , with " empty bags" upon thSr backs , to laud corn in defiance of the autbprities , he states that bia "Daily Bread '' book wwjirittea&reo years ago-that it was published in March k *~» n 4 that the contemplated mode of operation is now somewhat different , "because what would not have suited in March would in December . " It bow appears that the corn is not to be imported by the society , but to be bought in the bonding warehouses , and " % formal demand" made for its liberation . He denies that he
advised , or does advise , any arming to take it ; but he does not tell the people how they are to get it without . They are , forsooth , to make a formal demand npon the Government for the liberation of their corn ! We guess there is not in England so great an idiot as the man who could have the slightest
Untitled Article
doubt as to what answer woald be given to such a " demand /' . Mr . "DailyBread * 'Hill sayB » ibat it would be irresistible—that the moral forco of such a demand from one or two millions oftstarVing people " would be such that a Government could not refuse it . " We have seen the Government of the very party whom Mr . *• Daily Bread" Hill serves—the Anti-Corn Law party—not only refusing the " formal demand" of one or two millions of Englishmen for their rights , bat treating with absolute contempt all the wealth and influence of the Anti-Corn Law League , their bit of a Parliament to boot , aad all the formal demands [ made in the only
formal manner , that of petition and memorial , by the thousands upon thousands who have asked for a Repeal of the Corn Laws during their agitation ; and yet Mr . " Daily Bread" Hill would persuade us to believe him so egregious an ass as to think that a Tory Government , a Landowners' Government , a " Monopolist" Government , a Government consisting of and representing persons who are bound in every way , both by opinion and interest , to uphold the Corn Laws , would concede that to the formal demand of one or two millions of penny subscribers ,
which an anti-monopolist , liberal , and reforming Government denied to all the bullying threats and all the coaxing suasion , of the most wealthy and most influential League ever formed in this country , with all their penny retainers , — "Daily Bread" men and all—to back them . This may pass with Mr . Hill for argument ? but we venture to assert that few other persons will so consider it . It was so clear that the question would occur , " what must be done if the Government refuse" ! that the "Daily Bread " man could not pass it without notice . To this question he replies : t- .. .
" There is one eonrse which perhaps might be right if we were refused , namely , to dissolve the societies , and give the Corn or flour in bond to all the destitute and hungry . If they choose to break the law and smuggle it out , I suppose the members of the society would not be responsible after the 6 O 0 iety shall have been dissolved . If smuggling out was violating the law , I would certainly give my opinion that it was at least no violation of the law of morality for a starving man to break up the law of the landowner , which locked up his own food . "
Was ever so contemptible a subterfuge as this Hew are the hungry and destitute to smuggle the corn out of the bonding warehouses ! If it be not " as clear as noon day" that ia the event of their formal demand being refused , they have nothing for it but to submit quietly or take the corn by force , we Rover saw a position that was " as clear as noon day . " He denies that his purpose is to advise an armed resistance to the law . And he says : —
" Now , I have stated at a public meeting , and I repeat it , that I would deem it wrong to advise any other party to a course what I had not the courage to practice myself . I certainly would not advise the people to riot at Newport , nor any other port ; but if I had been so unwise as to stimulate them to such a course of action , I should have judged it proper to be there to assist them , and not have gone to Scotland to keep oat of danger . "
Here again is the assumption that either O'Connor or the Conductor of the Star did advise the people to riot at Newport . Now why does not Mr . Hill give proof of this ! Why does he not adduce some part of this advice ! Either he read the Northern Star at the period referred to , or he did not . If he did read it , he knows that the assumption here made is false ; and that so far from advising the people to riot , the Northern Star invariably deprecated , and used all its influence for tho suppression of the riots ; and if he did not read it , he most admit the insinuation to be indeed a truly villanous one . We defy this Daily Bread" man or any
other scoundrel in existence to point out one sentence of Editorial writing in the Northern Star calculated to induce a breach of the peace , or advising resistance to the law ; while we retaliate upon him his own charge , and convict him out of his own mouth , of the cowardly and murderous intention to bring the famishing poor into collision with the armed authorities—to stimulate them to a physical defiance : of the law . — while hqaiuwelf skulked out of danger , and left them to be slaughtered . We take our evidence from this very letter , in which he tells his dupes ( if he have any ) that the " moral force" of their " demand "
would be irresistible to Government—labours bo to persuade them that no obstacle will be offered to their progress , as to induce the natural feeling of infuriated disappointment if it should ; and then proposes , in case of their demand being refused , to break up the Society , and give the corn to the poor and destitute ; who may break the law , and smuggle it out . Who does not see what all this means ! Who does not see that Mr . "Daily Bread" Hill and his compeers mean to work up the feelings of their penny dupes to a state of frenzied excitement , and then coolly to walk away , and say , " We have
done all we can ; you must do the rest yourselves ! They won't give us the corn ; we declare the Society dissolved . We can't break the law , but you may as soon as we shall be safe ; and as the corn is safe locked in a stone bending warehouse , and you are outside and starving , wo advise you to go and smuggle it . To be sure , there are . authorities who have it in charge , and these authorities are well armed , and if you attempt to take it without paying the duty they will shoot you ; but never mind that there is no moral offence ia smuggling ; go and smuggle the corn 1 "
To us it is " as clear as noon day , " that this is the plain English of all Mr . " Daily-bread" Hill ' s talk about the " moral force" of tha "formal demand "—the breaking up of the society , and giving of the corn to the poor and destitute to smuggle ! Bat Mr . Hill affirms that he never intended his " Daily Bread" followers to be armed for resistance to the law . And we affirm that he has in this afforded tho best evidence ithat bis whole plan is what we have before described it—a deep devilish plot , to accomplish two things at once : to obtain a large thinning of the ' Burplus population , ' by the musket , the halter , and the transport ship ; and at the ssmetimo to create a popular demonstration which shall intimidate the Government and compel them to elevate the commercial upon the ruins of the landed interest .
We refer to his Daily-Bread" pamphlet in which he says : — " NOW THE WAY THE AMERICANS OBTAINED THE suffbage , and exemption from heavy taxation , furnishes us With AN EXAMPLE WORTHY OF IMITATION . The English landlords said to the Americans , ' We impose a tax on your tea . ' ' No , ' said the Americans , * we shall not be imposed upon ; we are not represented , and we deny your right to tax us . ' A cargo of tea was sent to one of their sea-ports ( Boston ) , and an exciseman was sent to collect the tax ;
THE EXCISEMAN WAS TARRED AND FEATHERED by the Americans , and the tea emptied into the ocean , rattier than tbey weuld submit to pay a tax upon it Here , then , toe see a practical way of abolishing the Corn Laws , and obtaining the suffrage . When the ship arrives at the destined port—or a few days before—let meetings of the society be held in every town and city in the kingdom , and let her Majesty be memorialised to give an oider in council for the abolition of the Bread Tax ; —perhaps she may hear and regard the cries of a famishing people , wanting food . The fruit of their own labour has been sent to purchase it , and who shall stand between a famishing people and their food ? If her Majesty shall yield the Just rights of the
peoplewell : but , if she should be ill-advised , and refuse it , a large number of members of aodety—say ten or twenty thousand—should go down to the abip— -marching orderly , each with an empty bag calculated to hold about two peels or half a bounel—to procure samples of corn which belongs to the members of the society It may perhaps , apt be necessary , or judi cious , to fellow the example of the Americans , by tarring aud feathering the Ctutom-House effleeza , stationed on board the vessel ; they will probably offer no impediment to the people obtaining samples of their own corn ; but if impediments are thrown in tbe way of this , and if those impediments are of a nature , which It is judged better not to remove , then tbe coarse is to refuse to pay the tax , and to empty tbe corn into the sea . "
We refer to his " Bread Eater ' s Advocate , " published , not in March but in September , and we give again bis answer to tho objection , 'That if the people took the ] corn out of the ship , or out of the bonding warehouse , by force , there might be loss of life *
Untitled Article
"That the Corn Law could not be imposed without bloodshed , nor'continued without bloodshed , was not admitted as a reason why it should not exist ; for be it reeolleoted there was Corn Law blood shed in Westminster in 1815 , and Corn Law blood shed at Paterloo in 1519 ; so that even if it were certain thatitcoold not be repealed without bloodshed , it by no means follows that it should be suffered to exist . England has some noble * Romans' who would willingly lay down their lives in such » holy cause .
Oh ! she has sons that never , never Will stoop to be the landlord' s slaves While heaven has light Or earth , has graves . " " When Barbarous sent a message to Marseilles that they were to send him ' six hundred men who knew how to die , ' the call was quickly responded to * nor would suoh a call to Manchester be long unresponded to , though , it is hoped , it may not be necessary \ V We refer to these and to every other part both of the " Daily Bread" pamphlet , the Bread Eater ' s Advocate , and Mr . Hill ' s letter in our columns of to-day , for proof that his object in the establishing of
this society is to bring the people into collision with the law . We believe the society , even were it legal , to be useless and mischievous in principle , calculated only to produce an amount of destitution and misery—a perfection of social slavery , and of the rampancy of capital—even greater than now exists . We have proved dver and over again , thai thia would be the effect of the Repeal of the Corn-Laws under existing circumstances . We have proved * again and again , that the Repeal could benefit Sfcly the commercial capitalists . And Mr . ' * Daily Bread" Hill has proved that he knows this ; for he has not attempted one argument in its favour . Shuffle and prevarication , falsehood and bounce , are the materiel of his letter . He asserts that the
teachings of the Northern Star have filled the prisons with law breakers . He'knows this to be a lie ; and were it trae , it would be no argument for < his illegal [ conspiracy . He asserts that the conductor of the Northern Star wishes to see tha people thinned by famine . He knows this to be a lie ; and were it true , it would be no justification of his advising them to march by ten or twenty thousand to defy the military , and to imitate the Americans , by tarring and feathering custom-house officers . [ By the bye , he forgets to say that when the Americans went to Boston to tar and feather the exciseman , and to fling the tea into ths ocean , they did not
§ o armed with " empty bags" !] He asserts S' inference , that Fjsabgps O'Cornok advised e people to riot at Newport , and then went into Scotland out of the way of danger . He knows this to be a lie ; and , were it true , it would not justify his project for persuading a half-famished people first to believe , that a repeal of the Corn Laws would remedy all their grievances , and then to enrol themselves in the "Daily Bread Society , " and club their pence to buy com in bond , in the confident hope that Government would let them have it duty free , or repeal the Corn Laws , at their "formal demand , " and then coolly breaking up tho society , while the fever of rage and
disappointment was at its full height , and walking smirking away , with his hands in his pockets , tolling the poor dupes that aa the Queen would not let them have the corn they might now smuggle it through the stone wall of the bonding warehouse . The more fully we examine all the evidences afforded to ns by the founder and advocate of thissooiety , the more fully are we satisfied that the whole thing is a deep , devilish scheme , to serve the interests , and perfect the dominancy of the " capital" men by entrapping the Chartists from an attention to their own affairs , by making more elbow-room for machinery in a large "clearing off" of the people by the musket , the halter , and the transport ship ; and by raising such a disturbance and hubbub in the country , as , whileit compels the Government
to immolate the landlords upon the cotton altar shall at the same time induce it to bind the mass of " rabble" more helplessly than they are even now bound . We see all that Mr . Hill says about his anxiety for the division of the land among the whole people—about his wish for Universal Suffrage , and his dissatisfaction with the " People ' s Charter , " because of its making no provision for the right of female voting ; but we have , in this letter , and in his other writings , such proof of his unscrupulousness in the assertion of anything that may serve his purpose , that we regard it only as the necessary gilding of the pill , which we again advise the people to spit out at ouo 6 Let the Charter , and the Charter Only , he -ettritfesent watchword ; and leave the w Plague" xSMHa fill their * empty bags witK' their sunken hopes and frustrated projects .
Untitled Article
« ROYAL , " " LOYAL" LIBERA . HTY
A LESSON FOR THE CHARTISTS . In another part of our paper will be found an admirable specimen of the consistent and manly character of Master Dan , as well as the best proof of the sore " mess" in which he finds himself involved by the spread of Chartism : we allude to a series of resolutions proposed by Daniel : — "At a meeting of the Loyal National Repeal Association , held at the Great Rooms , Corn Exchange , on Monday , the 13 th of September , 1841 , " accompanied by a letter from Mr . Secretary Rat , in which "my Dear Ray" says : — " It is deemed of importance that yon be pleased to communicate the purport of the resolutions as widely as you can among the friends of Ireland . "
We know no reason why the " Liberator" should not choose his own road out of existence ; and as he seems ttf prefer the common though somewhat vulgar mode , of strangulation , we shall not grudge him any length of rope which he may deem necessary for tho due accomplishment of so desirable a purpose . The report informs us that it was
" Resolved—That Mr . Ray be instructed to write forthwith to the Repealers in Birmingham and othex places in England , cautioning them against any species of connection with the Chartists , and begging of them to exclude all known Chartists from their meetings , and stating that otherwise they themselves must be excluded from being members of our Association , as we can have no connection whatsoever with the Chartist body . "
And then follows a string of eight reasons for excluding the Chartists from any communication with them , " the fourth of which is : — "That the base tyranny of the Chartists , in forcibly preventing the public expression of any popular opinions differing in any degree from their own , have been the means of securing Tory misrule and tyranny , by stilling the salutary voice of public opinion . "
From any man but Daniel O'Connell this would have been accounted a marvellously Irish sentiment . Dan charges the Chartists with preventing the expression of any popular opinion not consistent with their own : and this he designates as "base tyranny /' He describes this " base tyranny" as being aggravated by the snpport which he avers it to have given to the Tories ; and he forthwith exhibits his patriotic love of fair play by a mandate to his " royal " '' loyals , " on both sidea the channel , which oat-Herods Herod , and leaves this same " base tyranny " of the Chartists far in the back ground : for he
commands them not merely "to prevent all public expression of opinion" by the Chartists ; but "to exclude all known Chartists from their meetings " , on pain of being themselves excluded from the "Royal" "Loyal" legion—a pitch of "base tyranny " which we suppose was never attempted to be reached by any but "the Liberator " . Why , what an object of derision is this old flabergasted hypocrite thus practising improvement and extension upon the very principle which he decries in others as "base tyranny "; and this , supposing him not to know his charge against the Chartists to be a base
falsehood . But he does know it to be a base falsehood : he knows that the Chartists , bo far from '' preventing the public expression of opinion , " have made themselves feared and hated by Daniel and hia Whig patrons , simply by their assertion of their right to " express public opinion " , ia opposition to " anti-Corn Law " , " general suffrage " , and other humbuggers , ; who would have substituted for it the opinion of faction—* small fraction of "the public" . This the Chartists think toi be dishonest
They think the " public expression of opinion " should express the opinion of " the public" and hence the discomfiture of the various knots of mouthing Leaguers" whoa Daniel describes as "Rational Reformers " , and who he says have been "driven into eilenco" by the Chartists . Nothing like a strong farce for the meeting of a storm . We question if even neighbour Mercury is able to push the " entire animal" to a stiffer market than Dak has done in this instance . Thd
Untitled Article
CharrBts prevent the expression of public o pinion ! Why , the ¦ very thing is too ridiculous to be laughed at ! As though their great labour bad not been to prevent Dan and the Whigs from r epresenting themselves as the public t Thank God , however , their labour has not been in vain . We have in this manifesto , the acknowledgment of Daniel that the Chartists have driven the leaguers , pseudo "Rational Reformers , " into silence—into disunion—into apathy that we have " sufibcafed' * their cause and " completely" suoceeded in patting an end to " all their . Societies and Associations in England . This is , at least , an acknowledgment of our power , though it is probable that the Bame quarter of an hour might
find the "Liberator" representing these game formidable Chartists , who have driven all the Whim and "Rational Reformers '' into silence , aad broken up all their Societies and Associations in England , as too small and contemptible a party to merit notice ! This ; is not , however , his present tacktesail on . He sees in Chartism a power against which all the oily fraud of jugglery will be in vain exercised . And hence this flagitious effort to array against the Chartists by falsehood and vituperation , their Repealing brethren . The worst fears of Irishmen are roused by reminiscences of Tory times , and they are instructed that to Chartist auspices thepresent rule of Toryism is to ba ascribed , because " Chartists combined with Tories in the recent
elections . " • We need only , in reply to this foolish fallacy refer the Irish Repealers to a muoh better friend ,, to them than ever Daniel O'Cosnkll was — the consistent , firm , and gentlemanly , Patrick . O'Higqiks , who , at a meeting of the Irish Universal Suffrage Association , reported ia our Uet , rose and said that" He would answer tha questions which were pat by the gentleman , who said he was 2 Ir . O'Conneli ' a friend ,, aad a member of the Loyal Natioaal Repeal Association of Ireland , namely , ' Did the Chartists of England not show their hatred of the Irish , by returning a Tory
for Nottingham ? and by returning Tories in every place they had power to do at the late elections And was net Mr . O'Conneli ' a plan of General Suffrage superior to Universal Suffrage , and all other plans ? Conld not the people go and vote in several places , if Universal Suffrage were adopted V To the first question , he ( Mr . O'Higgins ) would reply , that the Chartist of Nottingham took Mr . O'ConneU ' s advice to the Irish electors , which was , when they conld not get * pledged Repealer to support the next beat . The Chartists , of England abhor tbe infamous , atrocious Whig Poor Law Amendment Act , an act which treats poverty at a crime of greater magnitude than murder , robbery ,
and rape , because a man guilty of the latter shocking , revolting crimes , would be deemed Innocent until found guilty by a jury of bis country , whereas , on the othex band , the moment that misfortunes drive < an honest , sober , good man , to seek evea a temporary asylum in a union workhouse , ljig head is shaved , and a felon ' s dress is put en him . If he has a wits and children , they are aU separated , never to meet attain , unless some good fortune releases them from the workhouse ; and in tbe event of death , which frequently and unaccountably happens in those dens of human misery and suffering , the bodies are given , np for dissection to some neighbouring hospital ,- foi
young surgeons to practice upon . Now , the Enguta Chartists always looked upon this Act of Parliament as one of the greatest grievances of modern invention ; au 4 the electors of Nottingham knew right well that Ml . Walter , of the Times , the Tory candidatei was tb * consistent opponent of this flagitious Act . His adversary , the Whig , was the advocate of that bill , and the Chartists ef Nottingham supported Mr . Walter , not because be was a Tory , bat because be was the con . sistent opponent of the Poos Laws Amendment Aft And even now , when the Tories are in power , he- i * opposed to them , and will continue to oppose isi ^ J expose them , unless they repeal that Act . Witlf * * ¦
regard to the second question . The ChartisU dSChofit - return Teries , as such , but they did return ttftn lasome places on the same grounds , andfor tbeream * reasons , that they returned Mr . Waiter . Bojdsattwy were bo foolish as to return their own frlea 4 r , . Wfieifkever they could do so , in opposition to both Whig and Tory . The plan they adopted was a very judicious any and one which we should follow at oar elections . TJwy v made the first offer to the Whig candidate to split ' their votes with him , provided bis friends would split with the Cbattist candidate . * Begone , ye torch-and * dagger men , you midnight assassins , * said tha Wik , Well , they made a similar offer to the Tory , who said .
' I do not like your principles , but you nave a right to be heard , and to send as many members as you can to represent your views , want * , aad feelings , In the Hotue of Commons , and I will split with you' The remit rf tbis wise and sensible policy oa the port of tho Chartists is , that they have upwards of forty friends and advocates in the present House of Commons , whereas they had bat three in the last one ; and what is still better , these forty English members are pledged to extend the same rights , privileges , and immunities to Ireland , which they hope to obtain for England ; in fact , { a treat Ireland , in every respect , as if it were an English county . Does this look like hatred of Ireland ? , ( No , no ) . "
We cannot too strongly recommend to tbe Repealers generally , and especially those of Ireland , this mild , rational , and conclusive reply to the raving of O'Connell , abont Chartist support of Tories . Nor can the Irish Repealers fail toi > erceive , if they but let their judgments have fair play , that he must be a masked enemy to their cau 6 e , who , under the guise of an anxiety for its defence , would bring its advocates into direct collision with a party so powerful and so well organised as he here represents the Chartists , when the support of that party might be had for it . Dan says the Chartists have been strong enough to beat all the Whigs in England ;
that they have completely succeeded in puttiBgan end to all their societies and associations in England , andin causing the Tories everywhere to triumph over them ; he represents them as having done tais in the teeth of the virulent persecuting Whig Government , while the gaols were crammed wkn their leaders and the transport ships were loaded with the viotims of treachery and perjury ; he acknowledges that this powerful body are willing and anxious to lend their aid to the people of Ireland in securing Repeal ; he knows that they have
chivalrously wedded themselves to the cause of their fellow sufferers in Ireland—have nailed their Repeal flag upon their own mast , and made it part and parcel of their own colours ; and yet he— "the great leader " in the Repeal movement , exhorts his followers to seek a quarrel with this formidable body—to spurn their proffered aid with insult ; and insolently threatens that as many of them as will not join him in this base effort to betray their own cause shall , for their adherence to principle and consistency , be branded as traitors , and excluded from his association 2
It is ever the forte of villany to be inconsistent and is always more or less allied to insanity . Of tbis , this same O'Connell document affords evidenci more strong than we have often met with . Intlo first seven of his eight reasons why all known Chartists should be excluded from all Repeal meetings he paints the Chartists : — " — Black as night ; Fierce as the furies ; terrible aB nett . " Every form of vituperation and abuse is lavishly expended on them . They are affirmed to be the worst enemies of Ireland— "the best friends of thfl Tory principle of absolutism "—** making a pretax of being Reformers , but in reality being the most active opponents of Reform . " And his eighth reason is that the Repealers themselves are all Chartfete-This is the capping of the oliaiax J This is hot and cold with the same breath" with a vengeance . 01 any other man it would have been thought strange ; but from Daniel nought surprises up . He actnaUl does in this manifesto say that the Repealers avow * and are ready to work out , the same princip les ° * Reform with the Chartists , whom he has previowlj described as enemies to all Reform , and a ^ worst enemies of Ireland—as persons with whontw " peaceable , temperate , moral , and loyal Repeale d of Ireland can havo no connection . " Extremes * wide meet seldom but in Dak ; here , however , thej are in full exhibition , and the Repealer wio read this document and not see from it that Repeal is just the thing of which Dan fears the accoisv plishment , must be muoh duller than we generaUj find Irishmen to be . We wish for no better or more cheerful evident that Dam ' s "day is come , " and that he knows »• than is afforded by this document . It is the ungainly floundering of a stranded whale-the first knell a the political curfew which shall put ont the fiw « Dan ' s greatness , and leave his memory « s dojoia of all grateful reeoliectioa as his lifcisofbenes tj and his character of principle .
Untitled Article
. THE NORTHERN STAR . . ' ' . ' __^ .
-
-
Citation
-
Northern Star (1837-1852), Nov. 6, 1841, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct728/page/4/
-