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THE HUDDERSFIELD MEETING . ( Continued from out sixth page . J more ralu&ble ( applause ); and they could mrie it , Tnth the small sacrifice of rendering justice to the people , 100 per cent more valuable —( loud cbj&ersy To take another view of the subject—suppose . \ he ¦ wotting population amountsonly to 6 . , 000 ; aredncUon of only Is . a-week in . their -rages make-s a loss to the eonntzy of £ 300 , 000 per -week , or £ 15 000 , 800 per year . Then , again , only think of -what an addition of 10 s . a -week would be on this population ; why , it would create a market greater by far than tbe tome and foreign market put together—{ applause ) . In this case the people "would bave £ 150 , O 0 O . 000 to spend annually on domestic produce ^—( Tenement
cheering ) , let us » o longer hear those who lament ao much the loss of a foreign market , when here is a market for them , at the small sost of justice and humanity to their fellow men—( cheers ) . He could assure them that Ministers required to know these facts . If he could prevail on some of them to come into the manufacturing districts , they would then see the poverty aad distress of the people , and they would have justice done , for they were misrepresented , and Ministers were kept in the dark—( loud cheers * . O that those who were crying about foreign trade , cheap bread , and tie w » nt of free trade , would only give their men that which would suable them to purchase cheap bread—( loud applause ) . If the people of this country were enabled to spend only one penny per
day irore than they now did , in purchasing goeds and victuals , it would amount in the course of one year to so less a sum than £ 41 , 000 , 000 ; a sum greater than was annually obtained from the foreign market , taking the average f ot the last ten years—{ Appkuse ) . Dr . Sleigh here read an extract from a paper showing that during the late turn-outs the general cry was , that all the distresses of the people arose from bad wagesthere was plenty of employment , but men had not sufficient wages—{ cheers ) . He would now consider two or three objections that might be raised to this plan . Tint , it might be considered impracticable . Many said it was desirable to have wages protected , but
that it was impossible . He would admit that at the -first blush it might appear so . It was like one seeing a high hill at a distance , to reach the summit ot 'Which appeared impracticable ; but as we approach it , the difficulty vanishes , and we wonder at it having appeared to us so difficult , if not impracticable . How many things now practised were deemed a f cw years ago impractible I Permit me to tell you that for nearly S 00 years , various acts of Parliament were enacted for the protection of labour . Tile fact is , that many of our ancestors had much greater wisdom than their descendants—{ bear , hear ) . The acts I slluds to are the 25 th of Edward IlL . the 36 th of Edward 111 ..
the 12 lh ot . Richard 1 L , a 9 , 10 , the 23 rd of Henry TIL , the 2 d of Henry TI 1 L , the 5 £ h of Elizabeth , c 4 ^ and James 1 ., is 1502 . But , as trades have bacome more numerous , an& science has branched into so . many f ^ nTM-in , ha -would not pretend to say that it would be so easy now as it was then . He would not go into details , but mention general principles which cools be acted upon . This was a matter -which required serious and mature deliberation , not only of one individual , but of many ; and if it could be rendered practical and operative , all ought to co-operate heart and hand in accomplishing it , thereby destroying all animosity between the employer snd the employed . The general principles of the plan he suggested -were , first , the hours of labour to be legally defined—jhear )—
secondly , wages should be regulated according to the quantity , quality , and nature of the work ; and , thirdly , local boards , composed of employers and employed , to regulate this ; keeping the price of corn as the principal criterion , so that each trade might be properly represented , and thus a cheek given to unfair practices . These were his fundamental principles upon which a law might be easily framed for the protection of labour . He now came to another objection . -- Some manufacturer might say it would diminish his profits—we cansot pay better wages , and if we do it will diminish obt profits . Permit me to say that your apprehensions are totally unfounded . They might say thai times being bad made them pay low wages . New , he had gone inteXancaahire and examined the people in the
presence of the leading manufacturers of that county , asking them if , when times were good , they had better ¦ wages ? Tba unanimous answer was , " Little or nothing . " Of course they could not txpect the same wages wl » n times were bad . This was provided for in bis plan . Bat that good wages would diminish profits was out of the question . Honest wages were the same as seeds put into the earth by the agriculturist An anecdote juct occurred to him relative to the county of Kent . He saw two fields of com , one thick with corn , the other , though of the same soD . extremely barren . He asked a farmer who was by the reason ? The answer was , "Because the owner of one field was not covetous , but spent money upon manual labour snd cultivation . " ( Cheers and hear ) . Th s was
the case with the manufacturers . If they paid good wages , good would be the consequence . If they paid according to the real value of labour { and the labourer is worthy of his hire ) , the labourer weuld " stand by tfa « m ^ aS trade be vastly improved ; for if they did not get proper wages , sufficient not only to keep feody and wral together , bat also to cover them with cloth ** , the grocer , draper , it suffered . These have te go for their goods to the manufacturer , and so all are ultimately benefited . Giving good wages was sowing seed yielding ten , twenty , and fifty-fold , as he had proved by facts in reference to the increased value of the home market . Therefore , the objection was not sound—that profits would be too much diminished by giving good wages . But suppose the profits ot a few were to be
curtailed ? ( Cry of "They want it" ) Was the Legislature or the Sovereign justliLed in sanctioning the principle , that in order that some might make princeiy fortunes , the mass of the population was to be kept in a state of starvation ? Was it consistent with Christianity , that the mosses should fee sacrificed for the benefit of the few ?—( cries of " Jfa " j Was it consistent with justice that a few should revel in luxury while the mass of the people was destitute of the necessaries of life ? This was not sanctioned by the words of unerring truth ; and if an anrel ¦ were to say to the contrary , be would reply , " Tbon liar , begone !"—flond applause ] . It might ke said by some—• ' We agree with all this , but it comes short of what we want : we want
more . " WenM it be a sound or wise principle for a man in a state of starvation to refuse £ 1 because he eould not have £ 10 ? It should by remembered , that the petition con Sued itself solely to th ? providing for the labouring population honest remunerating wages . Ha wished them , Whigs , Terfes , or Chartists , to confine themselves to this petition * by supporting which they would obtain that which was their principal object : " a fair day's wages for a fair day ' s work . " Therefore , he begged them to lay aside their peculiar political views in order to accomplish the otject he bad submitted to their consideration . It was of the greatest importaace to them , that while they were struggling year after j ear for ether things , let them at all events secure this ohject and hold it fast If they accomplished a victory , it
would be an event of great and lasting importance . I wonder will the Pree-tradera object to this ? If they do , their fate is for ever sealed in the eyes of the people —( cheers ) . Let them come forward and ^ prove that they had the welfare of the people at bsart , and that they did not wish for the reduction of wages . This petition "Was the finest touchstone for trying ihem . They might -talk about the Corn laws , but the fact vras , the people had good reason to doubt the good intentions of the Free-traders . Ton can now say : " Give us security by adopting tills petition , and you may repeal the Corn laws as soon as yon like . " They fiare not oppose it ; far if they did they knew that every vwee ¦ would be raised against them . He did" not "with to insinuate that they had a desire to reduce wages , nor
would he attribute any bad motives . No consci&ntiGUB individual eou'd willingly -oppress bis fellow-men , or wantonly reduce wages , but would rather keep them ap . Some of the leading free-traders—Eirl Pitzwilliam , Mr . SIun % and Mr . Tillitsrs—said it was impracticable to pay good wsges , for they conM not compete with foreigners bntby reancinjj wages . iGdes of " 2 fo , no , " and " Yes . " ) Some cried oui for proof . Ha could give it . He eould give the -words of Earl Pi : zwilliam , and M > . Muniz , who did not say it was their desire to reduce wages . He wished to & 6 away with the impression that he was censuring only the manufacturers , and declaring that only the agriculturists -were good . Xo such thing . They were all fallible .
It was only by fair , honest discussion , that truth -would be elicited ; fer they might depend upon it that any subject which could not stand the light and fair honest discussion was not a rigbt one ; neither was that a good cause which required vituperation or falsification . Truth courted investigation—coveted it , in an honest , straightforward manner . . He now returned them his wannest acknowledgments for tie kindness and patience with which they had listened to bis observations ona ^ snbject which he tho u ght best calculated to promote their interests . He was ready to answer any questions , and to give a reason for the views and doctrines he had stated . tDr . Sleigh concluded amidst most eBthnsiasiIc and lengthened applause . )
As soon as silence had been obtained , Mr . Gles-DIX 515 G rose to move the adoption of the petition submitted by Dr . Sleigh . This he did -with the greatest cordiality . The principles enunciated by Dr . Sleigh , it Was well known to his own friends , had been the principles for which he iMr . G . ) had contended for many years ; therefore he did not rise to propose the motisn because he was , as some . said , one of the tools of the Tories . He happened is sign the requisition -to Dr . Sleigh , which he did because he believed him to be a good man , snd one who was , both by his speeches and writings , well able to defend the rights of labour . -Protection for labour was a principle to which they must aTl agree and act upon before the country could be
benefitted oi tha great misses oi the people improved . They all knew that the principles already in operation hadbeen making them worse and worse ? many of those in bnsiness being quite sick of It , not knowing what to da How many different principles had been put for . ward by other political parties , saying that if this and that had been done , trade would be improved and the workmen better paid . Bnt he would say , that so lsng as the condition of the labouring classes was getting worse and worse , something must be done to protect the indastry of the poor man—{ hear , hear , and chsers ) . Tfcef all knew that s great deal cf the work now done , was performed by females and Children ; sad * £ s £ s great deal cf the work formerly
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done by men at from 22 s . to 25 s ., was now done by boys from thirteen to seventeen years of age , -who obtained no more than 9 s . or 10 s . —{ cry of "Say 6 s . " ) They were sure this would not support any family . ' When , boys were the head of a family , as many now were , they were looked upon as supporters of a family , because their parents were entirely dependant on them—( hear ) . TbiB was an unnatural state of society and ought speedily to be amended .. It was high time , the legislature should adopt some plan by which the hea-l of every family Bhould be properly provided for ,
have proper remuneration for his labour , and be provided with employment before his wife and children that he should not ba compelled by circumstances to send his wife or children to a factory or a coal mine , or other department of labour , to provide for him when he was ¦ willing , ab . ' e , and strong to do it himself—( bear and cheers ) . These were his views , and though he and many others had been opposed by some for standing in defence of the principles of the petition , yet , be hoped every one present would give bis support to the petition . He envied not the feelings of that man who opposed" it
The motion was seconded by an individual in the b » dy of the meeting , and the Chairman rose to pnt it to the vote . Before doing so , however , he asked if there was any person present who bad observations to make , objections to urge , questions to put , or amend * ment to move ; and paused for a moment or two to see if any such would present himself . None such appearing , the vote was taken , when the great body of the assembly held up their hands for the motion , and less than hslf-a-dozsn against it . This was the more extraordinary , as it was well known that a strong muster of Leaguers had been made , for the express purpose of opposing the conveners of the meeting . A . considerable band of them occupied a portion of the orchestra ; and their behaviour then * -was very indecorous . They laughed , and jeered , and taunted , and sneered , and interrupted : so mnch so at one time , that Mr . Hobson
rose to call public attention to it , remarking that such conduct came from parties whs had preferred lond complaints against interruptions of their meetings . He begged to remicd them , that they were there " on their good behaviour , as it were ; " and begged of them to give an example worthy of being followed to those whom they bad formerly denounced as disturbers of public meetings . Bnt sneering wsb all they dare Venture on . They dared not to oppose the adoption of the Memorial . The " nx" that Dr . Sleigh had put them into , of appearing , if they appeared ' at all , as the undisguised enemies of the labourer , fixed them to their seats ! They atirred not The knowing ones did not even hold up their hands against It This was only done by two poor things belonging to the ffang ; two , who have not brain 3 to see an inch before their nose ; and who mechanically oppose every resolution that does not say " Repeal the Corn Liws . "
At soon as the motion was carried , several « r the Free Tradeys in the orchestra , addressing a number of Chutists tbere assembled , asked in a sneering , taunting tone : ** Where is the Charter ? " *• What has become of the Charter ? " "Are not we to have the Charter ?" " Is the Charter to be forgotten ?¦» Mr . Hobson immediately rose from bis seat , snd advanced to the front of the platform . While he "was standing there , The Chairman read the second resolution : — " That the petition now adopted be committed to the care of Dr . Sleigh , sod that he be requested to use such means as may appear to him best calculated to have the same effectually laid before her Majesty . " This was moved by a gentleman 5 n the body of the meeting , seconded by Mr . Hawktibd , put to the meeting , and carried .
Mr . Joshua Hobsou then said , he bad to move a resolution that bad not been prepared by the conveners of the meeting ; still he apprehended it would meet with the support of a large portion of the meeting ; and he -was happy to say that it would meet with the approbation of a considerable number of gentlemen present , who did not often grace the meetings of working m * n . Tho > e gentlemen had betrayed considerable anxiety that a certain " question" should not be overlooked . He ¦ was happy lo inform them that he had not " forgotten' it ; that be had embodied it in the resolution he should move ; and he , therefore , from the anxiety they had displayed , claimed their support No doobt that some one ef them would second hid motion when they beard it ; and be hoped that they would take care not only
that the " question" was not there overlooked , bnt that it had their support "In t ' other place . " ( Loud laughter . ) Assuring the gentlemen present , who had evinced such a laudable anxiety as he had alluded to , lhat their utmost wish shouM be gratified , in the introduction of the " question '' they were so anxious about , he must con * ratula ; e the assembly on the extraordinary conversion made that night in their presence . Nothing could be more certain , than that the principles embodied in the memorial just adopted , and so forcibly advocated by Dr . Sleigh , were totally and wholly opposed to the doctrines bolden and enunciated by the gentlemen be then had in his eye . He had therefore a risht to Bourne , that tbe speech of Dr . Sleigh had either converted them , or that they bad not tbe manliness
or the courage to bring their own doctrines before tbe assembly , in opposition to the principles of protection to labour , fiom a consciousness that their so doing "Wirald doJF VG 6 cio » k o ! PB . 1 X 31 > I . 1 > X , » S Wllti which they had clothed themselves , and cause them to stand before the meeting confessed enemies of labour —( loud cheers ) . The position that Dr . Sleigh had put the free traders into was a xn » st trying one . They felt that they rfare not oppose him ; though had they been true to their own principles , they were bound to do so : bnt the : r doing it , would have torn the veil from off their " rtcreant limbs ''; and they would bave stood bfefore the Injuring men in all then hideous naked deformity—( ETCat cheering ) . With the great principle of Protection to Labour , he ( Mr . Hobson } most
cordially agreed . It was the principle for which the working classes had been long contending . Ever since the Introdocuon of tbe present ruinous system of paper money , taxation , and free-tradeism , tbe labouring population hsd contended for protection to labour . Their strcjgle for the accomplishment of that object , bad assumed many phases , many aspects ; but the one , sole leading cause of all the ' r effbits had been to secure wages wherewith to obtain tbe necessaries , the conveniences , the comforts , and some of the Inxnxies of life . Why kb « uid it not be so ? Why should those who create all property , as Dr . Sleigh bad conclusively shown ; why should tiie labovheb . alone b « deprived of the enjoyment of that wbich be himself created ? Why should the mass of the population be deprived of the
absolute necessaries of life , and left to drag on a miserable existence—Tor it was not living ; why should this be the condition of the working classes , when those who merely set them to ^ work , those who merely directed their operations , should be able in a few years , as their own town could testify , to rise from the hovel to the mansion—from the small cottage to the large house at Gledholt Bank ? He again asked -why the 1 AB 0 DBEBS alone ; those "who had given value to property ; who had created the property that otters possessed ; be ; iked ¦ why Viey clone , should ba in tbe condition they now were ? It was because labour was unprotected } —it -was because LABOUR aLO >\ E was unprotected . And he feit sure , that no man , unless he had a front of braca , ¦ would dare to come upon that platform and contend that to
this state of thini ^ ought continue ; property , the offspring of labour should be protected ; while LABorR itself , that which created property , should be nnprot « -cted . With the general principles tbert fore , of Protection to Labour , so weli advv > cated by Dr . Sleigh , he in common with the working population of England , cordially agreed . -With them , protection to labour was no new qc «* tion . As he hod before obcerved , tbe working people bad always sought to obtain test protection- All their struggles had been directed to that end . Indetd it might be truly s * id that from the day protection was lost , up to the present hour , a continual struggle to regain it had been going on . That strujjgle had presented many phases ; assumed many shapes ; but it -was directed for the
accomplishment of the ene object ; protection to labour . When machinery was first introduced ; o ? rather -when tbe tide of " iavtntion" and " improvement * ' ¦ w hich had now set in so overwhelmingly ; when this- tide first sppeared , and was but as the ripple npon tfee beach , as it were , the working people saw that their property in labour was threatened . They saw tbe beginning of a power which would deprive ihem of labour , and c-nwquently of tbe means of living . At the first blush of the thine , the ? locked upon the machines themselves as their enemy . They determined to rid ttemselvts of it . They determined to destroy that which threatened to take from them the means cf living . They did destroy . They combined together to destroy . Tbia was
tbe first phase that tbe struggle to obtain protection to labour presented itself in . Yet it was unsuccessful ! Machinery was demolished -, yet that demolition did not prevent its general introduction . It was a desire on the part of the labouring many to pre-Berve for themselves tbe was : t « cf JaJ-our that dictated the breaking of machinery . The labonrers faiied however : aud wby ? Because labour was unprotected J Because rjiPUAL » as stronger than lahonr ; for capital bad the power of the law ; labour had not . Capital used the pewer of tbe law : labour was forced to yield . Machinery was introduced ; and very soon it -was seen that the fesrs and apprehensions of the labourers were but too -well founded . Wages could not be maintained . Employment became scarce . The comforts of the labourer were diminished . To remedy this ; to prevent the deimicard course thus entered upon , the labourers presented the warfare to obtain protection to labour , in another aspect . They confederated together .
They combined together , in order to keep up wages , and formed trades * unions . For a time tbe unions -were fornriflsWeto capital ; but it eventually overcame and put them down ; and why ? Capital had with it the poTter of tie law . Labour had notl That was the great K-cret Capital seized upon four ot five labourers in the agricultural county cf Dorset ; and Capital cent thtm across the seas ; transported them . ' thus breakit . g up the unions of the working classes , and leaving ihem more at the mercy of Capital than before . The improvements ' . * in machinery went on . Much labour was dispensed with . It was found that many of the operations could be performed by the labour of infant * . Infant labour was ' ? cheap " . £ 0 J tbe sweets of that word " cheap *! Teat word determines tvery question novr-a-dayi , relating to labour . So that it be " cheap " , all ether considerations wefgh as nothing in the scale il To obtain tbst " cheap" labour , the cU 16 which oocbt % o have been st bcdooI was
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dragged from the care of its mother , and placed in the position that the father ought to have occupied . It was forced to labour ; and labour too for periods so long that many sunk beneath the heartless oppressions to which they wera subjected . There were however some few operations ; operations requiring the exercise of hind ; more miudthan the infant possessed . To perform these the labour of the female portion of tbe population was called in . It was called in because it was " cheap , "" cheaper" than male labour . The daughter of the working man , nay , even his wife , and the mother of his children , was dragged from his home , to work for Aw support , while he -was left idle to walk the streets . Did the working people quietly permit this ? Did they tamely sit down with it ? Did not they try to
remedy it ? . O , yes ! The struggle to obtain protection to labour hereupon assumed another shape . The working people directed attention to these instances of crying injustice . They asked for protection to the infant labourer . They Bhowed that the system was reversing the order of nature . They said : " We boast of our civilization : we boasfc ef this being tbe ' land of BibieB ; ' we are so fall of religion , tkat we freight ship-loads of It to China , and to the nethermost parts of the earth—( loud cheers );—we boast of these things ; we talk of savegism , where woman is made to do ' all the work , and the ' lords of the ereation stalk about in perfect idleness : but what ha -j tbe factory syBtem done for us ? Has it not intro * duoed the worst features of Savageism ? Are not oar
females and our little-ones forced to do all' the work , and tee forced to remain in unmanly idleness ? Are not pur children , too , almost worked to death 1 Pray PBOTECT theset Pray shield these !" Such was the language of the working men ; and to accomplish this measure of protection for the infant enly , England was heaved to its centre . A mighty straggle was made . In that struggle , he was happy to say , Hudderf&eld had taken its part . Nay , in HmiderafleJd the warfare commenced . It was in that town that toe banner for the protection of infant labour had been reared . But was tbe straggle successful T One would have thought that this simple request , a request , not that adult labour should be protected ; not that female labour Bhould be
prohibited ; but simply a request that infants should not be permitted to be worked to death : we would hava thought - ; that such a request as this , and so preferred , would have met with universal Bupport . Ah , no ! Capital was arrayed against labour . Capital could not : dispense with " cheap labour . " Capital was afraid of profits being diminished ! Capital could not let go its hold . ' The agitation in favour of the factory child , great as it was—( and great it was )—was set aside by Capital , because Capital had the power of tbe law ! The demands of Labour were set at nought It is true that they could not be silently passed over . The agitation was too powerful for tkat ; but it is equally true that n measure of mock protection was passed by Capital , and passed , avowedly ,
because it was known that it would be " impracticable " —( hear , hear ) . This effort of Labour , then , to obtain only a modicum of protection , was unsuccessful . But while this effort had been progressing , Capital had not been asleep . While the working people -were thus seeking for protection , that most helliBh and infernal law alluded to by Dr . Sleigh , the Poor Law Amendment Act —( cry of " Poor Law bell ")—was passed for the further subjugation of labour at the feet of Capital —passed for the getting more effectually at the wages of Labovr . " Ah " . ' ( exclaimed the speaker , turning round and confronting the anti-Corn Law men on the platform , one of them being a Guardian notoriously in favour of the law ) , let us never forget that that law was passed for tbe avoived—the AVOWED purpose
of reducing the labourers of England to Uve on a coarser sort of food ! Ah ! let us never forget to remind the friends of that Act of tint fact —( Laud applause ) . Let the fact be continually trumpeted forth , and let every working man treasure it up in his innermost heart of hearts . " Bat was the fact so ? They should judge . In the printed instructions prepared by the Whig ministers who brought forwrrd that act—( hear , bear , from Dr . Sleigh )—and given to the barrister who drew ap that act . were these words : — " Among other tbiDgs it is desirable to bring the people of England to live on a coarser sort of diet '"—( Hear , bear , from Dr . Sleigh ) . That was one . of the objects which tbe framers of that law had in view , and believe me—( Cries of " a chap here says that is not true "— " i . ever
mind him , he is a bastiler' )—believe me ( continued the speaker ) those -who passed that law knew how to frame the machinery to accomplish their object A gentleman said it was not true . It was convenient for those who bad supported the measure , thus to try to get over the fact ; but their saying it was not true did not make it bo . They should judge froai a plain statement of facts , whether it was true or not The barrister who bad these printed instructions delivered to him by the Whig Ministry , was so horrified with the hellish proposal so nakedly put into his handi , that he caused the fact to be known . —| A cry of ' He did right . " ) He mentioned it to two or three friends , and they communicated it to the late William Cobbett Mr . Cobbott could not believe it : not that he doubted that the intention
existed- He knew enough of the Whigs to believe that the intention was there : but he did doubt that any set of men on this side hell would bave so undinguisedly stated it . Ke expressed these doubts ; and . sought to have the instructions sent to his house for examination . This the barrister did not feel himself at liberty to accede to ; bnt ne intimated that if Mr . Cobbett would call upon him , ho oboulii peruse the instructions . He did so wait . He tatv the instructions . He copied tbe words . He then went into the Honse of Commons . He there stated tbe fact in the face of the House . He challenged contradiction . He moved for tbe laying of the instructions oti tbe table of the House ; and Lord Altborpe , the then Whig Ministerial leader of the House ,
did nut dare to deny Mr . Cobbett ' s statement ; but contented himself with getting his majority to silently vote that the instructions should not be produced . Wot true , indeed . ' Wh » , in the face of these facts , dare doubt its truth . There teas enough in the facts just detailed to produce conviction in the mind of every man that such was indeed and truly tho crse . For & considerable period tbu matter thus rested . But at last tie whole truth came out . Mr . Walter was returned for Nottingham . Ah , if Nottingham had done no other good than this , it had showed the Whigs in their true colours . ' A copy of a private document , the document on which tha Poor Law Act was founded , was forwarded by the Whig Government to Mr . Barnes , the then Eciitor of tbe Times , under the pledge of secrecy
At the death of Mr . Barnes , this copy came into Mr . Walter's possession , under no such pledge . He declared the fact ia tbe House of Commons , and dared Sir James G-rahara to deny it Graham had formed one of the Whig Ministry when tbe instructions were issued . Graham , however , " could not recollect anything of it—he really could not recollect . " After a few good hints , and apofce or two in tbe Tibs from Mr . Walter , Graham admitted that he " had an indistinct ri collection of something of the sort "—( laughter . ) Mr . Walter then meved that the instructions be laid on the table of the house , when Graham contented himself , as Lord Altborpe had done , by availing himself of his majority ^ and voting that they be not laid on the table . Mr . Walter thereupon said he did not want a
copy of the instructions for himself ; for he then held a eopv of themin his hand ! THEN Graham knew all about it—( much laughter )—and even twitted Mr . Walter with a breach of confidence I All therefore that . Mr . Cobbett ba d asserted , and supported by the facts already detailed , was thus proved to be true . Such was tbe nature of the Poor L » w Act I Such was its purpose : such its object . When tbe working people discovered this ; when they saw that it was intended , by such means , to get at the wages of labour , they rose in hnndredB of thousands to protest against it They denounced it asa : i infamous , execrable , and anti-Christian measure ; and they demanded its obliteration from the statute book . Capital , however , could not give it up ! It was too powerful a lever in the bands of capital to
reduce wages ! Capital would not part with it : but Capital passed a Rural Police Bill to cram it down the working people ' s throats ! J And why ? Because Capital had the power of the law . and tha working classes had sot If the working people had had this power , the principle of projection would nev *> r had been divorced from tbe laws of England ; and the New Poor Law Act would ns ver have been passed . This he was entitled to say , from the fact , that from the moment Protection had been lost to the present hnnr , the labouring people bad incessantly sought to have that protection reetored . It was right , then , that they should tell Dr . Sleigh that this was not the first time they had advocated the principle of protection to labcur The working
people had always done bo . It was true , as he bad < before stateJ , that tbe contest bad assumed numerous phases : but it was always the battle of labour against the encroachments of Capital Hitherto labour had ^ een unsuccessful . He had told them the cause ; namely , * that capital was stronger than LABOUR . CAPITAL had the power vf the Jaw , and labour had not . He ' would be the last to throw any impediment in the ' ¦ way of the exertions of Dr . Sieijb—( bear , hear ) . Such ¦ was not his purpose : and he sincerely trusted such ' would not be the efftct of his ( Mr . H . ' s ) conduct . But it was right , coming as the Doctor did for the first ' time among them j it was right that he should know : their exact position , their exact feelings , their exact ' wishes ; that neither he ( Dr . S . ) , nor they , should ba < deceived with each other . Then , what earthly chance j was there that the present mo-vement , so happily begun tfcafc night , vould be more successf ol than tbe many j former movements in which they had been engaged ?;
Forh'mseif he must confess he saw no chance . If he j might jud ? e from tbe relative position of parties In power , he must certainly come to the conclusion that protection , forLABouRwasnotafavouritedoctrine with any of them . It was true that the present Premier , at tha commencement of his rule , had it in his power , had he had the mcral courage to have undertaken the task , to have laid the foundation for the regeneration of England . Bat he had not the courage . He chose rather to throw himself into the arms of the free-traders ; those whose embraces are deadly , snd who bave secured the annihilation of Pfel . Had the Minister adopted the other ; course , he would have indeed been great : but as it { was , be had succumbed to a power he dare not set at | defiance ; and he bad passed a large sweeping measure of free-trade , the confessed effect of which had been to ! augment the evils under -which we groaned . Could it be otherwise ? Could the principles of free-trade , how- i ever applied , have any other effect ? Had not all tbeir
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experience of free-trade , from its first introduction to the preaaut hour , established 'nofact , that exactly in propor-Mon as those principles had been applied to practice , the poverty of the people and the difficulties of all classes had increassd . ? Sach had been the tffict of free-trade r- ( a cry , " We never have had it" ) . Never have had it ! why , has not the last fifty years seen the system of protection continually frittered away ; continually dropped , piecemeal by piecemeal ; and tho system of free-trade as continually and regularly introduced ? bear
—( , hear ) . Not cad it I Where is the system of protection ? Is it not all-but-superseded ? What was the condition of the labouring many sixty years ago , when the system of protection was in full vogue ; and what is their condition now ? Do not the free-traders themselves say , that the labourers are starving ; that our merchants are on the verge of bankruptcy ; and national ruin threatening us all . Not had it ! Why , it was bnt the other day that he saw fa tha Anti-Bread Tax Circular , a boast that aU the laws affecting exports had been done
away with , now that Government had ppssed the Machinery Exportation Bill ; now that Government had given up the only remaining advantage that we psssossed over the foreign manufacturer ; and it also boasted , that there was but one law affecting imports to force from the Government ; and then we should have full free trade . Not had it ! We have had a terribly close approximation to it : and the efftct of the pretty large sample has been to give no great relish for the sack . Not had it ! Why , that will be the excuse when we are fully and completely ruined by its meana The free-traders were just like the vendors of Morrison ' s Pills The ? prescribed them as a remedy for all the evila that flesh la beirtw . You took a good moderate dose . It worked
badly . It scoured you out . Still more was prescribed . You took mote : the operation was more alarming . You sunk beneath the cure ; poisoned right out ; and even th 6 n the quack who had administered to you , said that you had died because you had not taken enough ! The people had been quackdd quite enough with freetrade , to let ( farm know what it was like . For himself , be must say , that he had seen enough of the effects of the doses already administered , as to make him much disinclined to h ; we the dose repeated or enlarged —( touch laughter and cheers ) . Not had it ! Why , Huskisson , the Free Trader , bad at one fell swoop , in 1813 , sweeped . away hundreds of Acts of Parliament from the statute book , every one of them embodying the principle of Protection : and he had enacted in
their Btead a measure of Free Trade . [ Addressing the gentlemen who had cried out" we have not h&d it , " Mr . Hobson said : ] " You surely got that ! you surely had it ! What has been its effect ? Go and ask the Spitalfielri's weaver . Ask him how he likeo Huakisaon's Free Trade . " Huskisson ' s Act was a portion of that system , which , we are told , ia to produce " cheap bread , " "high wages , " and " plenty to do . " By-the-byo , it bad produced " plenty to do . " But , as for the cheap bread and g » od wugea ; ifj . free-trade bad produced these good tffiscts , bow waa it that the working classes wera in their present position ? How was it that the Free-Traders themselves found them so utterly destitute of all that should render life agreeable , as to " wish that Almighty God would put an end to their sufferings
before morning ? Oh , yes \ we have bad enough of Free-trade to be able to judge of its effects ! And by the byo , talking of Mr . Huakis&on sweeping away of measures of protection , called to his mind several Acts of Protection affecting their own trade which had thus been got rid of ; with how much advantage to the public they should judge when they beard the facts . This case would completely illustrate the two principlea—" protection , " and " freebom OF action . " He would take for that illubtration an occurrence which had recently taken place . It would bring the whole matter vividly before them . Everything , at the present day was determined by the term " cheap . " If only " cheap , " no matter how produced , or at what cast of human suffering . If it could only bo Bold , that was all that was cared for . A
number of Sheffield manufactures , great advocates for " freedom of trade , " found it out that cast iron was cheaper than steel . They acordiDgly made a number of cast iron knives , and they stamped them— ( your free trader is never very punctilious about honesty;—they stamped those cast metal knives as " shear steel "—( laughter ) . Tfcey wenfcon in this way for a considerable time . Immenso numbers of cast-metal knives , rtzors &c , were thrust on tbe foreign market , which , accord-! ing to the free-traders , of all others ought to be maintained . Knowing the importance of tbe foreign market , oue would b . u * e supposed they would have been ' . content with imposing upon the " chaw-bacons" at , homej these who did not know a "b" from a ' bull ' s foot ; and that they would keep the steel ; for the foreign trade . But " cheap" overruled
every other consideration ; they sent their cast : metal abroad , as well as sold it at home . ' The foreigners thus found as out ; they discovered us to ; be a nation of rogues and cheats . They put up ' furnaces of their own ; set their own labourers to work ; ' manufactured cutlery for themselves ; nay , have even sent ' that cutlery into our own markets , and undersold us I there . Such bad been one effect of the principle of '"freedom of trade . " Now for the value of the principle of " protection . " It fortunately happened for . thn inter . Ht of the trade ot SheffieM . and tot the i character of the nation at large , that an Act of Parlia-: ment existed on the statute book , an act which ' the free-traders had not yet been able to get rid of ,
making it highly penal to pursue such dishonest practices . The effect of these practices upon tbe trade of , Sheffield had been such ng to cause that town to experience more distress and privation than any other town in the kingdom , during tbe long distress that has txisted ; and at length the attention of the Master Cutler of Sheffield was irresistibly drawn to the necessity that existed for some strong efforts being made to retrieve tbe character of the town and trade from the odium brought upon them by tbe " free-traders . " He therefore availed himself of tbia act of protection ; caused searches to be made in tbe warehouses of the free-traders cutlers ; seized heaps of cast-iron knives , razors , scissors , and other articles of cutlery ; brought ; two of the . manufacturers before the
magistrates ; fined one of them more than thirteen hundred pounds , and the other four hundred ; took the heaps of spurious cutlery into Paradise-square , and there publicly destroyed it . There was a full illustration of the two principles : " freedom of action" leading to knavery , cheatery , roguery , loss of character , and destruction of trade : " protection" interfering to save the public from the frauds of the cheats—( hear , hear ) . There used to be on tbe Statute Book laws of a similar nature to that which had been brought to interfere for the protection of tbe trade of Sheffield , which protected the manufacture of woollen cloths . He ( Mr . H . ) was not very old ; bat he could well remember the time , when every piece of woolien cloih manufactured i » that district , used to have a piece of lead at the end
of it , a seal , setting forth the length that such piece of woollen cloth ought to measure . He could also tell when searchers ueed to visit the fulling mills to measure the goods . AlltWswas protection ; it v * as to prevent the pieces being " pulled" or" stretched" too long or too wide upon the " tenter . " Now , however , that wa 9 done away ¦ with . ( A . cry of " question . "') Some one cried " question . " If that gentleman thought he could handle the question better than him ( Mr . H . ) , he had bitter try ; but he thought what he was how advancing was very much to the question . The question that night was " protection . " He was showing that they once had protection ; he was showing , too , how that protection had operated to the public advantage ; and he thought that was very much to tbe question —( loud cries of " Qo
on ; go on" ) . Well , then , contemporaneously with the Act which prevented the nndue stretching of woollen goods upon the tenter , was another passed to prevent the manufacturers mixing flocks with tbeir wool . Mind , against mixing Jlocks with wool . They knew tho sort of stuff that waa now mixed with wool—( loud laughter and cheers , and cries of " Aye , we do" ) . Nay , he was wrong ; they mixed a bit of wool with it—( continued laughter , and loud cheers ) . They now manufactured woollen cloth out of all sorts of filth , foisted it upon the public as a good article , cheated the public moat egregiously ; for when the goods came to be worn , they were found to be of no service at all—they were . ' ¦ nought but muck "— - ( loud langhter and cheers ) . He had himself seen within a few days a pair of trousers
which bad been made from cloth purchased at the warehouse of one of tbe first merchants in Huddersfield ; and which , when put on , had split up in all directions . Thie cloth when purchased " handled" very nicely . Shoddy" makes your cloth to handle softly and nice ; but ia totally unfitted for wear . Tbe trousers in question were , he believed , in the hands of Mr . Ferrand , M . P ., that fearless exposer of " ' devil's dust " practices , who would most likely exhibit them in the House of Commons , and thus gain for Huddersfield manufactures a most unenviable notoriety . Would they bslieve it ?—( cries of " Yes , we do , we do" ); would they believe it , that at the time he spoke of , when " protection" was interwoven in hundreds of Acts of Parliamentand before " free trads '' had begun to be
, introduced , there were Acts on the Statute-book wbich rendered every manufacturer who pursued such practices , and who manufactured Buch stuff , liable to seardito have the " mucky" woollens seized , and himself fined three limea their value ? There was the principle of protection ! Who would &ay that that principle , bo embodied in legislative enactments , would not be a benefit now?—( loud cries of " Hear , hear ") Why the manufacturers of " devil ' s dust" woollens were infinitely worso than the Sheffield cast-metalcutlers . True , both were cheats : but the cheatery of the cutler waa not so great as tbat of the " devil ' s dust " manufacturer . When a man bought a cast-iron knife for a steel one , he could throw it away when he found it ueele&i , and buy another to suit his purpose . He baS
not to expend more money upon it to enable him to enjoy its use . Not so with woollen cloths . Before thty can be used , they must b « wade up into articles of clothing . For this purpose the tailor had to beemp ' oyed ; and a goed amount of money spent , even after tbe first purchase . When so made up , they were found to " be utterly ¦ worthless , though bought for bona fide woollen fabrics— ( cries of bear , hear , hear ) The cheating manufacturer thus cheated Ws customer , not only out of the price of the woollens themselves , but also out of the tailor ' s wages ! He was therefore so far worse than the Sheffield castmetal knife-manufacturer , who bad been fined more than £ 1 , 300 ! And once we bad law to protect the public against such roguery as this . Was that of no Importance ? Would not that be better , than tha
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present system bf / re « 4 rade ; free to cheat ; free to take lu ; free to impose upen ? Look at the case of the man thus cheated ! i Ha was done out of both cloth and tailor ' s wages . ] He could not w » a * tho filth . If be attempted it , it either went quick , M aggottt , on his back ; or ifc split up in all directions—( hear , hear , and much laughter ) . That was one benefit that they had obtained by free-trade . How did they like it ? —( hear ) . He ( Mr . HobBon ) was not fond of it Still they had not had it ! They had had so much of it however ! Ave » anrt tney nad bad more - They had had another measure of free trade , passed last session but one ; another sweeping measure ; a measure that had sweeped away hundreds of Acts of Parliament Indeed they bad bad more than enough of free
trade to enable them to judge of its effects . What had those effects been r They should now see . He had then laying before him on the table , documents published by the House of Commons itself ; which documents showed what had been the efecls of free trade . The table then before him showed the extent of our foreign trade for every year , for the lost fifty years ; \ the amount of wage 3 paid for the earns period ; the amount of taxation borne ; the price of food ; an 4 the extent - of crime . This then was the touchstone . What were the lessons this table taught them ? This document sho wed tbat fifty years ago , when we had only one-fifth of the foreign trade we now have ; we received nearly as much money as we do now for the whole five-fifths . That was
one ef the resnlts of free-trade . Had trade extended ? In 1798 we exported £ 19 , 000 , 000 official value . The official value isj the measure of quantity , not the mea-M » e of price . For £ 19 , 000 , 000 ( in quantity ) we got £ 33 000 000 in price . Last year we exported £ 100 000 , 000 in quantity ; being more than five times the former amount And yet the free traders were crying for extension of trade ! Was not five-fold increase enough ? Well , this £ 100 , 000 , 000 ought to have brought in £ l 65 , 0 « 0 , 000 , had we been paid 08 we were fifty years ago : and why should we not have been paid tbe same price ? If we had been , the manu f acturers would only have had the same ~ ate of profit , and the labourer a proportionate amount of wages , which would have made a material difference in tbeir relative
positions . Besidesjthe taxes at the period he spoke of wore £ 30 , 000 . 600 ; tiow they were 56 , 000 000 . There waa therefore e very ( reason why they should have had the same rate of price , to enable them to meet the double ameunt of taxation . But what did we really receive for the £ 100 , 660 , 000 ? Why £ 47 , 000 , 000 , instead of £ 165 , 000 , 000 . jXhis proved that they lost by the foreign market Was it , therefore , any wonder that with extended foreign trade we should bave wide spread ruin in the laud 1 But what were thejrevealments of other portions of this table ; and be it remembered , that It was a . document issued by the House of Commons itself that he was quoting from . By it , then , it appeared that the weaver , Ur weaving twelve yards of a certain description of
caw brie , received , in 1798 . 15 s . ; for the same amount of work , in 1831 , be got only Is . 7 i < L ! I—fshame ) . Yes , extension of trade and decrease of wages had gone band in hand , iat the present time the weaver only raceived 9 d . fcc tbe twelve yards . Never let that bo forgotten . There was an t-ffeot of free trade ! Bat there was another portion of the picture wanting , to complete the whole . They had heard a great deal- of late about crime ; and about the necessity of education , to prevent men '; from becoming criminals . What was the state of this case , as far as related to crime ? Wfey , that just in proportion as foreign tiade bad increased , wages had decreased , and crime had augmented ! Was this doubt 3 d ? Here was tho proof . In 1835 the number of committals for crime was 4 605 ; in 1841 they were
27 , 760 1 ! Here was another most curious faet in connection with the application of free trade principles to practice . Trade had increased . Of that there could be ne doubt Wages had decreased . Of that there could be no doubt . Even the free traders now admitted it . They had boine testimony to the fact , that the wages of workmen bad been j so reduced , tbat they , on visiting them , found them so destitute " as to wish" that Almighty God would put an end to their sufferings before morning . " Crime hud increased . Of this the figures he had just quoted wera ample proof . It was thus proved that in the exact proportion in wbich free-trade principles had been applied to practice , had El / IN overtaken us . Tbe facts he had adduced plainly showed
that _ we wera ruined by the foreign market ; having to give five titn ^ sl the amount of produce for little more than tbe same amount of money . Dr . Sleigh had shewn them how this operated on the home market , through Low wages ; and thus through the operation of this accursed system , they were ruined both at home and abroad . But what hope were there , that this systam of things would be changed ? What hope was there that Sir Robert P ^ el would incorporate the principle of Protection to Labour in legislative enactments ? He ( Mr . Hobson ) most declare that of this , he had no hope . Sir Robert Peel had given his adhesion to the opposite principle . It had had been the fate of England to receive from ; the hands of Ihit man , greater blows than from the hands of any other statesman . Sir Robt .
Peel had the rare merit , —such as it was , —of having passed the Currency Bill of 1819 ; the Bill which had reduced the value of oil property in the kingdom , except tbe property of the tax-eater . Peel ' s Bill , along with the free-trade measures which he had . enumerated , had operated to bring us to the verge of banfr ruptcyandRViXi ; am ! what the Bill of 1819 had left undone , the Tariff of 1841 waa passed to perfect and complete . ' The free-trade Tariff was a measure exactly similar in nature and ecope to the Currency ! Bill of 1819 . Both were intended to reduce tbe value of property ; and both these blows came fi-om tb . 9 hand of Sir Robert Peel . What hope therefore was thfcre that Sir Robert would give tht-m protection for labour ? None that he saw of .- AdU
was there ony hope from the Whigs ? It waa true that tho Whigs now trumpeted forth the grtat distress that existed ; but they hud only done so since they were turned out of office . In 1831 , ot the time tbat thousands in that very district were shown to be living upon 2 , $ 'l . a-day , the Whigs contended that the country was iu a state of most " unexampled prosperity " . To prove this , the great John' Marshall , of Leeds , wenc to London , and showeia that he paid his "hands" an average of 6 a il ^ d . a-week ! Now however the Whigs trumpet j forth distress and RUIN . There was eno fact however amongst all this tuin tbat struck him ( Mr . jHebson ) as most curious . All the ruin was amongBt the workers ! very little of the RUIN got amongst tbe masters ; or if it did they fared
well with it They knew many instances ; he ( Mr . H . ) knew many instances of men who " had nought to begin with , " who were now rich , and living in great and splendid mansions . Let them look at ttwir own town and neighbourhood . It was a perfect sample of what ; he now alluded to . Let them look at every mansion in the neighbourhood ; ask who had f ormerly inhabited them ; ask where the former inhabitants had gone to ; and ask who live in them wow ? Let him particularise . ) What were the Starkeys ? How much had they to begin with ?—( cries of •• shame , " from the Leaguers . ) What ! was it a sha ; oe for the Starkeys to have gotten rich ? Was that tl « shame ? Or waa it the way in which it had been dono ? Ought the Starkeys to be ashamed of their wealth , or their position ?
If so , why i There was a large house at Gledholt . Mr . Whitaker had another at Woodhouse , which In had been obliged to leave ; and who was now in it ? There was another large house too , in tbe neighbourhood of Bradley Mills . Who now lived in that ? What had he a few years ago ? This was a queer distribution of RU . i N . Amidst all the ruination , and distress and privation that existed ; and ; that there wore but too much of that every one was well convinced ; but amidst it all , these men had their thouannda , and their hundreds of thousands : though they had , none of them , " nought ; to begin with . " Are you—arathe labourers so ? ( " | No . " ) Certainly not ! Why not ? Because your labour has not been protected ? ( Loud cheer ' s . ) [ During this portion of Mr .
Hobson ' a address , the free-traders on tbe platform , and in the body of the ! meeting exhibited great confusion . They could not sit in their seats . Interruptions of all sorts were offered , j Cries of " shame" , " shame " , " personalities " , were continually uttered by them . At this point Mr . Hobsen turned full upon them , and with great force exclaimed . ]— " I know these facts are galling . See how they writhe ! The cap fits' ! ( Tremendous cheering ) . ! " Let the galled jade wince ; my withers are unwrung" ! ( A . cry of " blackguardly" from the Leaguers . ) Was it" blackguardly " te tell them that they had n . en amongst them possessed of plenty of money ? Perhaps it would be " blackguardly" to ask how they got it : but" blackguardly '' as it wonld bo , that would be done some day or other . Leaving this portion
of the question , however , he would again ask , what hope was there that the principle of Protection to Labour would be carried out by any of tha political parties that now possessed political power ? The Peelmen would not do so . The Whigs would not do so . The Free Traders would not do bo : for their main-man ; their comr « G-man !; their man of men ; their topsawyer had lately ) shown bow he would protect the labour of his { workmen . Aye ! this fact' was worth knowing . This fact shewed bow Cobden ftbete i the name was out at last !) took c-ire tbat hit men . enjoyed the " cheap food" that Peel ' s Tariff had given them . This man ; this free-trader ; this personification of free-trade principles , had lately been going about' the agriculturist districts , persuading the farmers there , that another dose jof Morison ' s-Pills ' -free-trade -will cure them ; although they are suffering from the effects of former doses ; and while he was doing that he was giving a practical exemplification of what he means by
«• high wages , cheap food , ai > d plenty-to-do . " That man has at present plenty of trade . Of that he has no lack . He ia doing ; as much aaever he can tarn out . He has nearly all Paisley , and several other disf ^ cts of Scotland , manufacturing for him movsdin defines ; for which be pays , on an average , about 8 s . per piece . These be has transmitted to hia printing work ' s at Chorley ; where he expends about four shillings mere in . labour and material . Tken he Bella them for 283 . or 3 » a . a piece . —( cry of " Clever fellow" ) . Aye "Clever FelloWl ! By this means he ia pocketting somewhere about £ 1 , 000 a week ! He has no want of "demand . " As fast as ever he can tura them out , they are in r < quest , j Nothing will go down with the free trade-trade drap « ra , but" Cobden ' s prints . ' Advocacy of free trade has secured for him a Rare trade ! And now comes the' way in which he , thia man , under these circumstances , ( had enabled his worbraeo to eDjoy '' cheap food , " He has reduced the wages of the pi inters
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in his employ bd . in every lid !! > . — tloud . ciies of •' shame , shaiu ? , " much confusion amongst the freetraders ; and a cry of " it ' s a lie . ) " That fact has been thrown in Mr . Cobden ' a own teeth , and ha dared not to deny it . —( Loud cheers , in the midst of which a man in th 9 bedy of tho meeting said "I deny all this ; ' * some confusion ensued . ) Mr . Hobaon said " I have 16 from the printers of Manchester themsslves . "— ( Here another man got up and sa d ho knew this to ba thai case-i They now bad ( said . Mr . H . ) one assertion against another , and so he woald pass on ; but he bad ! given them his authority . Ltt Ihtm go to Manchester , and they would not find the matter disputed there . ( A cry of " has thou any cheap books to sell ? " ) If I have , I have not come here to sell them : so there ' s
% answer . ( Another cry , "The cause of distress ? ) Mr . Hobson exclaimed : That gentleman ask 8 for the " cause . " Wherever has he been ? I have been telling him the cause , showing him the cause . One cause I have shown him to be Free Trade . Another cauw I have shown him to be the Currency ; another Taxation ; another Cupidity ; another want oi Protection to labour : but the main cause of all is , as I have conclusively sho ^ n , the -want of Power in the formation of laws by the Working Clssees-Mloud cheers , and a cry of " give us tfee remedy" from a Leaguer ) . He would try to accommodate that gentleman . He would now read bis resolution , not doubting but that 8 » m 8 one of the gentlemen who had betrayed such anxiety that the " remedy" set forth in it ahouid not be forgotten , would haste to second itl Hia resolution
theu was : — "Tbat while this meeting most feeartily agreos with the object of it , as expressed in tlib Memorial just now adapted ; and while it would gladly hail the accomplishment of such object by any party as a Bfc \ r era in modern legislation , it mu 9 t be true enough to itse > f to declare that it has no hope that sucb object ever will be accomplished until an entire chance in the character and composition of the REPRESENTATION be effected . It cannot shut ita eyes to the fact that all efforts of the working people to obtain PROTECTION for labour have been derided and set at naught , the mosfc prominent of their advocates persecuted and imprisoned ; their petitions scoffed at , despised , and scornfully rejected ; tbeir want * disregarded , and their wishea thwarted : and all by a Leci&lalurechosen by ,
and representing , party and class This meeting has reason to believe that had that Legislature been what it ought-to have beer ., —a rtfl-x oJ the national will , —Protection for Labour would never have been lost , or a course of policy adopted to tiyu Cupidity and Avarice unrestrained operation over Unprotected Labour ; for the natioaal . wlll has ever sought to uiainUin Labour in its proper position : and it would appear , either from the amount of gross ignorance that i ^ rredes the legislative classes , or from a total disinciirv . KTi to givu up fancied interest and benefit , that labour never will be righted or stcured in its true positif . until labour has its fair share of the remfseniatj ve poweh . It ia for these reasons and these ¦ cunsiiU . rif . iuns that LABOUR so coasiatenUy and bo pertinaciously contends for the legislative adoption of the prinripl- s cmlodied in the docuuieat entitled the Peopled Charter . "
For the reasons that hs bad adduced in tbe coui-se of his general argument , that the efforts of laBjUR to obtain PROTECTION had failtd , because of fcaving no legislative power , while Capital had ; nnd f r me want of hope that he had , that this protection would never be obtained until the people had ru « h p > -vt * , that he proposed thia resolution . He need net dwuil ! on § et upon it If he had not advanced reasons enough , why it ahou ' . d be adopted , he hardly thought it w ; i-. possible for him to do so . But before he 8 » t down ho must refer to one thing that had fallen from He Sleigh . Tha Doctor had put a case , that a man n quiring £ 10 to make him all right , would be foolish enough not to accept £ 1 , if he could get ife . He bszsjed to Ml the Doctor that the working people had Dpver refusal to accept even £ l out ot £ 10 . But they had never yet found any parly to ctfer them the £ l ! ( " Hear , hear , " from Dr . Sleigh . ) He intended these remarks for the gentlemen Free Traders on the platform ; fot
¦ when Dr . Sleigh was uttering thiB portien of ms remarks , those gentlemen exhibited considerable tfee ; and he ( Mr . Hobson ) thought they looked feard at him . ( One of the knot alluded to here exclaA"V-d , " You were very silent then . ") Aye , but if ha were silent , he marked the sayina- ; an < i he marked their conduct too * which « t \ owtd that he had had his eyes abfjut him . He thought he knew tha cause of their glee , when the £ l out of £ 10 was mentioned , and the folly of refusing it when offered , pointed out But he told the free traders that they had not offered even the £ 1 !! They had , however , taken POUNDS from tbe working classes . If Dr . Sleigh could procure for them Protection for Labour , he was sure that th « Doctor would find that the working classes would not rtfuse it . Oa the contrary , they would ba glad to receive it ; fot it was what they most earnestly sought . He beeged to move the resolution . ( Mr . Hobson retired amid great applause . )
Mr . B . Robinson , a leading Free Trader , and Poo * Law Guardian , came forward , and said that though ha disagreed with much that Hobson ha 4 said , yet he would second the resolution . Hobson had used great personality towards him . (•« I never mentioned you , " from Mr . Hobson- } He had not mentioned him ; but what did "the place near to Bradley Mills" mean ? It waa well known that he lived in thas direction ; and he would ask Hobson to point out wotuever he had reduced his wages ? Mr . Hobson assured Mr . Robinson that he knew of no such case against him . When he spoke cf the redaction of wages , he had given names . A ? for * ' tlia place near Bradley Mills , " he meant Grove FIousS ; and he asked who lived there ; and what was that man worth a few year ? since . Certainly he did not name Mr . Robinson : if he had dene so , he would feava called him Mr . Robinson . ( A laugh , and Mr . Robinson Bat down , uttering a grant . )
A dispute then ensued between two men named O'Neile and Murphy , as to whether Mr . Cobden had reduced the wages of bis men to the extent of 66 . in every 17 d ., as stated by Mr . Hobson . O'Neile denied , saying Mr . Cobden had agreed to pay the price the trade committee fixed . Murphy said Mr . Cobrten did not so agree with the men . The reduction made by Mr . Cobden was 5 d . in 18 c ! ., and not 17 d ., as stated by Mr . Hobson . He fenew this to be fact ; for he belonged to the Block Priuter ' 8 Union , and knew something of the trade ; much more , he believed , than O'Noiis did . This statement made a powerful impression on the meeting . The Chairman pnt Mr . Hobson ' a aiotioD , and it waa carried with great applause . Mr . Henry Lord moved the next resolution , as follows : —
" That this meeting caDnot separate without expressing their acknowledgment and thanks to Dr . Sleigh , for his having paid Huddersfield tbo first visit in hia contemplated tour ; and their satisfaction and approbation at his spirited determination , to go throughout the couatry at his own expense , on bis pxaiBeworthj undertaking , at the same time expressing tbeir hops aad confidence that tbe Doctor will receive such encouragement from the people as will ensure the success of this petition . ' Mr . Whitworth seconded the motion , whicb Wa 3 carried unanimously . Dr . Sleigh returned thanks for the expression of their confidence in him . He moved a vote of thanks to the CUairman which was seconded by th « Rev . Mr . Oidhani , supported by Mr . Hobson , and passed with acclamation . Shortly after the meeting terminated .
[ Thus ended one of the most important , and one of the most enthusiastic meetings ever holden in tha town of Huddeisfcsld The result wrb msst aunosing to the free-traders . They had gone to the meeting fully intending to upset it They caao away fai ? 7 upset . Such a scathing as they got , brf-j .-e their fallow-townsmen , waa hardly ever before administered . They literally writhed under it Their rage has since known no bounds . At their coteries in the public houses and temperance houses , they have denounced their castigator : thoir native cowardice driving them to this mode of warfaro , instead of confronting him on the platform where his statements wera made . Other parties , however , are in high gl « e . The working men present enjoyed the treat ; and now they laugh and laugh away , as the recollection of it returns upon them . Nothing fcas produced such a sensation as this meeting for jnany a long day . We wish , the fees-ttadera joy of it .
It was important in more senses than one . The driving of the free-trad ing Mr . Robinson , by Mr . Hobeon , to second his motion , was worth a Jew ' s eye . O how thb Leaguers have bitterly complained , when the Chartists have appeared at their meetings , and proposed the Charter . "The Chatter had no business there . ' * " The meeting was called for a specific object" " Call another meeting for tbe consideration of the Cfearter . " " The Charter is most irrelevant to the object of the meeting . " " / refuse to entertain the motion of the Charter . " Yet this Leaguer ; this man . who belonga to a party who have so complained , and so acted , coutd go to a meeting called for an oWeet as spec'fic as
Corn Law Repeal ; and , in obedienee to ths call oi Mother Goose , whose tongue ought to have dropped from her head , when she made that call , seeing the much that she has had to say about the same course at her own meetings ; at hur call he could po , and second an "irrelevant " resolution I What a justification of the Chartists ! O J how we enjoyed it . Dr . Sieigb'a object waa not " specific . " O , no ! " What , is the Charter to be forgotten ?" "Are not we to have the Charter ? " Yes , Mr . Robinson ; and you , Messrs . Leaguers ; you had the Charter ; and with it you choked yourselves ! Dare to cam plain again , will yon , of the Charter being " irrelevant" at a Corn Law Repeal meeting !
Another thing , too , we must notice . Bt . Sleigh ana hia friendB did not raiBe the objections to tbe Chatter , that the seconder of the resolution and his friends have formerly done , when moved under similar ciTcumstaEcs ** The Chairman did not refuse to '' entertain ' ifc . It was fairly put to the meeting , without murmur or dissent , from the promoters of tbe meeting . Here is another contrast to the conduct of the Corn Law Repealer * . J
Untitled Article
Fatal Steam Boat Accident . —On Sunday ^ eveniog , a waterman ' s skiff was ran down in the Thames by the Royal Tar , a Greenwich steamer . One youDg man named Tucker was drowned ; and his com * paaion , named Wright , had a narrow escape .
Untitled Article
THE NORTHERN STAR ?
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Oct. 7, 1843, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct822/page/7/
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