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THE tfOKTHEUN STAR SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1843.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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= PEOGRES 5 OF THE MOVE > i £ HT . C ? XHING OP IBB SOUTH WXDOK C'HiAtlST T 3 XL 3 The above spadous Hall , capable of holding erne thous and bx hundred persona , w ^ - , opened on Monday evening , the 21 th inst ., by &e holding of s grand t ^ ttval and'hi T ^« plsetods eonTsaingtte"gather-Ing" maocneed fctt AMgrmsa Hnmpbfiry , Egg .. M-P ., vocld take-tbe . cta « r > Before the cotfiaeneemenfc , he « w * a wxlrj ^ apeiogy by Mi clerk , stating that he aionld no ; be a ¥ te to attend until half-past seven , as be "was detained « t the Old Bailey Sawfona , At seven «\ 3 ock , Mr . O'Connor entered tie . Hall , ¦» od proceeded to the platform , smid the acclamations of the assembled multitude , who rose to receive him . Immadbfely after tea , Mt Edward * , ot the London Boad , wss called to the chair , and gave , without comma * the first toast , as follows : —
" He people , the legitimate source of aa power ; " and called « o Mr . B . O'Brien to respond . He aaid the toa » tl » proposed should at all times ooBtn&nd respect In consequence of the want of ¦ ' * overe 5 gnity !< ihepeopTe-perisli in the midst of plenty ) In -other assemblies tter" 6 overeign . < Jaeen" would fcare been given first ; but be touted they would always have the good sense to zesped themselves and toast the "" eonroe ' He need aot tell them , that from the want of the popular Bovereignity , every man was in ^ dsbt before he " was from ; and aJtftoogb natives of a beautiful soO , not a aod of ifc was theirs . It was so everywhere . In Paris the want of it caused « 0 ; 880 soldiers lo be kept to keep the people quiet . If the people possessed power it would sot be so . When hostile armies
threatened to « verawe France , the people had power and bad food ; when they lost power they had no bread to cat ; they were' starring . In England a woman had threehalfpenee lor making a shirt . That did not look much like " sovereignty- " . He hoped they "would soon resolTetobe " sorereign , * - There was bat one way to aaompHab it : at the next feneral election . The sove reignty of the people meant one Toice for one man and so mere ; The majority should make no laws but such M would be binding on them u well as the minority Act justly with sH sen . Know no man when he comes before you ; hear an alike ; and thai the ifflitiirient he bad the honour to propose , the sovereignty of the people , * "would become a reality . The toast was ' then given with the usual honours . the
The CHAiskAjf then ^ are second toast , as follows : — " The People's Charter ; may it apeedily become the law of the land . " He called en Mi . O'Connor to respond . Mi O'COSlf O £ rose Amid enthusiastic plaudits . He aid it was the custom that a religious house should be consecrated by a Biahop ; and neTer did Bishop feel store pleasure in consecrating a church to Gted , than he did in consecrating that Hall to the service of the people . It was ^ uite right , on . such an occasion , that men of various political opinions should be invited ; aadit-wa * nofaolt of theirs that they were absent . "When they looked around , andfeund their principles store popular than others , they bad -a right to say—** We are the majority . ' * Wales had a -turnpike gate ,
and Ireland an agricultural . Committee of Inquiry , issued by Government In England he thought they should have a commission of lunacy on the Governjnen t . At the ymT > y"f * Tn' -Tit © f the revolution in JEraaee , the objection tna uofc against the rale ot the Sing ; it was against the Ministry and their eormpttona . So in England . The Minister had divided and subdivided the plunder , ' wrong from the sweat and blood ef industry , among his followers . , It was against OMTupUons of this sort they contended . Mr . O'Connor then took a rapid survey of the emigration and ether remedies proposed by Whigs and Tories ; *• bnt . " aaid atr . o-Connor , " giTB us the Charter J That is ihe great J ' recursorf From it temperance , morality , honesty , pe&ee , and prosperity would flow "—{ great cheering } .
He attached great importance to the coming elections From the exhibitions of power they had seen , much might be done . A friend asked him , a * he was about to enter that Hall , what was going to be'done with Inland , He could sot answer that question j but he conld gtre so opinion . Well , then , there was sow perh&pa , what there sever were before , a great majority in England in favour of the lights of Ireland ; and he thought sneh an expression of public opinion irresistable —( lend cheers ) , — and , therefore , mucbjpilgbt be expected . Chartism was I » ra < stkal Sepublicanicn—( loud cheers ) . He hoped at the next electkra to show that they -were n » t Tory-ChBfiaa j bnt that as they had thrown oottbe W&igJ , they wonld be able to cast out the Tories—( load cheers ) . How was it that the Members of Parliament , and the other promised viaitora were not there ? Because they
fbtmd this "would be a purely Chartist meeting—( hear , bear ); aod it did sot suit their purpose that the opinions spoken at such aipefings should go abroad . The press joined with aschmen sad kept silent They bad much to eon tend agxioai , and still 'would baxe . Pot himself he ninth liked opposition to himself . He treated that while the ; gave a fair hearing to every man , &ej would stick to their principles , name , and all —( enthusiastic tbeering ); and if they did so , depend on it "the Charter was theirs when they liked to fetch it" He felt very great pleasure in being present at file opening of that hall j y * if at asy time their necessities placed it in any danger , and his parse was sot long enough , his sweat , which had often been found an efficient substitute , should be at their service —{ load and long continued cheering . ) The sentiment waa given with three times three .
The Cbxtkhxx the * gave— " Civil and religious Eberty throughout the world , * which Mr . J . H . Parry responded to : be could but re-echo the se&timenta of the last speaker , as regards the absence of those invited . If present , they would have found no sentiment of revolution ; nothing grating to their ears ; nothing that any man could fairly object to ; nothing bet what waa most praiseworthy—( hear , hear }—nothing but what eren AlrtfTTTifrTi Humphrey might be proud of —( lend cheers ) . They would have i ^ ht * " ** srac b , and we should bate bad fhe honoBt of t ** " * " ^ them . Why then * was they absent ? The Cbaites , as the last speaker said , bad a tendency to republicanism ; bat there ' was ¦ wntttfag revolutionary in it . All society from time inunemorlaJ tended to the same great end . They did
not ask fox anything they were pot prepared to give to another—( cheers ) . The Whigs and XorJea had privileges ; do they not prize them ? Themoneyoeracy bad privileges ; do they not prize them ? But the moment the working dasse * sought similar privileges , what ^ ras the answer ? Why , " -go to your plough ; do not meddle with polities . " Then why , he asked , did itey middle with politics ? Simply that they might turn them to their own pecuniary advantage . He hoped the time was eome when" free opinion" should ¦ pif ^ w " free opinion ; " * for It was gross oppression to prevent any man frott . exprea&Dg his opinion . He hoped frhafc the freedom given by God would neb be attempted to be put down by any man ; but **» t they would go >» " «< " in hand , and thus be
enabled to fight their oppressors foo * to foot Beligious Ebeity had ita meaning too . Had not the Jpresent establishment been met with persecution in ita infancy ? There were also martyrs at the present time , ' whose -martyrdom waa caused by that very establishment—< hear , bear ) . There were some there , no doubt , who thoncht they bad nothing to do with religion at such mettisga . He Ihsught religious freedom had to do with all great meetings—( cheers ) . An infidel waa purely a geographical character . A believer here waa an infidel in Turkey ; tad vice vena . In Ireland political jjMou was attempted to be coerced- 'Why ? Because Englishmen had not the courage to say , " I win not commit murder for one « MiRng % day . " Aa
soon as they possessed this courage , so soon must coercion cease—( load cheers ) . Ireland demanded her rights , and we ought to say , * ' Trishrnen , you have acted uobly ; " and ahake tkem by the hand , swearing by the God that made as we would staad by them to the but —( great cheering ) . This hall would be of great use in the day of danger ; whether canaed by Whlga or Torie * Tbnsit moat serve the great cause of " Clvfl and Beli > giou » liberty "—( cheers ) . He would sot give one flg f at the Charter if the * vere to stand still afterwards—( hear , hear ) . "On then , on forever ; " and when we have won the Charter , there are other fields to be won . He trusted Englishmen would always be foremoet in the battie for Civil and Beligious Liberty . The sentiment was g lyf ^ i ^ w&iitii t >»«» ssualhonouzs .
Mr . O'Connor bare took oil leave amid thunders of applause , - ¦ ' The ChaxksLU ? then jave " A speady release to Frost , WSliams , Jenes , and Ellis , and all political and religious victims , and called on Hz . Kuffy Ridley to respond . . ' -. - -.,. Mr . Bern Ridlet said be would but occupy one saoment in requesting their « osd ' olence for those who were drawing out a miserable existence in a foreign land . When they lacked at that noble martyr Frost ;
when they heard he was *• never" to return to his native fcmd , was there one who would sot sympathise With him ! vu there one in that hall , who- woold rest aa&sSea until that " jaeverji" was retracted by the wtan of Prost and his compatriots to the land of their Krth I ( Coem . ) The smnd of those chfeers he trusted WBld be carted across the waters , and afford some pae consolation to those noble martyrs who had sacri-Mmd ^ mx oyrnlSbettj in endeavouring to gain their omtryiu liond eheeatj The sentiment was drankin solemn sDenee .
3 Se CHAIB 3 CUI then gave— "Success to tbiiahdaH otttei Democratis Halls , and thanks to those who have aided ni by tiieir donations . " ^^ MtMCATHJUTD responded . He would not detain ftbem long , bet eo ^ ld Jiet let this opportunity pass without thanking thow who had assisted them by ^ ti ^ S ofib&otiaBi and otbenrise : and though he could not &n Ae reason why some of those who had engaged to be present were absent , be hoped at some future Hrne they would explain the reasons for that absence He hoped the non-attendance of the MJ \" b would not deter them from their onward course ; but that . they would rely on tbeip own exertions ; ud then they micht set oaJy tinifh this T * pM bat bnfld twenty store .
Alderman Haaplxrey ' B clerk had hintdd that be { Alder-Bin H . ) had been deceived , and thought the Hall was cmijlot " © dnaatioBal purposes . " Thai was not correct The Aldenoari knew very weB it was for istano eratie purposes —( cheers ) .
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A vote of Q »«« V « to the Chairman waa carried , and the ball cocuseoedd nsder Mr . Snigjtiton as "mfa " el fi » eenmonifii . The concert was given * in an adjoining long room . The entertainments were &pt up with spirit cod good bmnonr to i late Iiocr .
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THE PAST AND PRESENT . CORBUPTION v . BEFORM . It we compare the prodigious improvements ( hat have token place within the last half eentury in the arts , the sdenoes , as d all the means by which the slow process « f manual labour has been compelled to yield to the present subject of an almost' magical production , with the cautious , slow and niggardly improvement , —if indeed any has taken place , —in the legislation , by which alone all those vast changes , jumps , and improvements should have been made
nationally , instead of sectionally beneficial , we shall at once arrive at the real cause , not only of the prevailing distress , but of the universally felt and the generally xni fearlessly declared contempt for exist * ing institutions . The Reform Bill promised to be , and ought to have been , the medium through which all those great changes should have been made national beaefita . The Reformers complained that the whole government of the country being confined to a few lordly and aristocratio patrons , rendered it impossible for the friends of the people to make head against their sway in the House at
Commons . They asked the people to join in a revolution against the system of patronage government , in order thai the institutions of the country , being placed under vigilant popular OQBtTOUl , might thereby b « made the means of conferring upon all a fair and equitable share of those improvements to a participation in which aD were admitted to be entitled . Patronage then was the monster evil complained of ; « nd to destroy the monster was the object to which the moral and physical energy of the working
clasBes was directed . That they did destroy one description of patronage , —that which placed a large portion of representation in the hands of the few , — we admit ; while we Bhall now canvass the value of ta © change to tne nation at large . In the olden times , if aborongh had its patron , with him rested the sole power consequent npon the monopoly : and thus we may estimate the number of individual patrons at from three to four hundred : while the
effect of the Reform Bill , by which the power of patronage was to be destroyed , has been to create legionaof oorrnptionists from the ashes of each individual patron that has been destroyed . Hence we find expenses and local taxes , local abases , local bludgeons , local justices , local town councils ; and local borough Parliamentary influences , as the result of the single destruction of the old Tory Corpo rate Monopoly .
These normal institutions were the means by which the Whig 3 hoped to work the small wheels of Government ; the power by which the greater ones were to be kept in motion . As with boroughs , so it was with comities . There , too , the patronage of an individual being destroyed , the triumphant party were compelled to have recourse to a division of corruption as a means of preserving their influence against their beaten bat still influential opponents . A simflaj system of multiplying patronage and c * r-
ruption , so that a political asceadancy might be secured , was the cause of the French Revolution . When the French showed the first symptoms of revolt , no European Prince stood higher in popular esteem than the reigning monarch ; but so artfully had the aristocracy of that day Becored to themselves % monopoly of the government of the country , that Prance presented the anomaly of a popilar , or rather inoffensive king , and a people infuriated and driven to revolution against the institutions of the
country . Soeh is precisely the situation of the Queen of England , amid the generally prevailing contempt for all existing institutions . Site travels through the country enthusiastically welcomed by all who are * Howed to see her : while even a majority of the favoured spectators openly express their contempt tot her Ministers and the institutions of fte country . Thus the anomaly that presented itself at the dose of the eighteenth century in France is now quickly manifesting itself in England ,-that or a popular monarch and unpopular institutions .
In like manner , if we turn to Ireland we find that the Reform Bill , which was nailed in that country as the means of destroying patronage , has led to SEch an extension of local corruption that the Irish people are now as much arrayed against the
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power assotaed by those new patrons , rendered necessary for the insurance of Whig ascendancy , as they were against old abuses , which althoug h poshed more prominently forward , yet by no means constituted an equal ground of complaint . We do not strain the point when we assert that this system of transfer from individaals to Clubs , his had the effect of giving us more than one hundred greedy patrons for every gorged one against whose power the
Reformers waged their war . Add to this multiplication of tyranny the fact that the old 'Squire or tho old Peer was not omnipresent ; and if he had the inclination , had not the power of working very general evil ; while , having no interest in the depression of wages as a Magistrate and a Legislator , although politically arrayed against the political rights of the people , he at least administered justice between the employer and the employed . He was satisfied with Buch honours and distinctions as the
Sovereign , through his ministers , was willing to confer npon him for the political support given to his party . A garter or a ribbon , although expensive baubles to himself , and although insigniaa of his own weakness and folly , cost the working classes nothing . He contended for a bishoprick , for a ship , for a regiment , or for a commissionership for his family : but as long as we are Messed with bishops , regiments , ships , and commissions , the
appointment was comparatively unimportant to the working classes . He shared the amount of patronage , which under the established system o corruption , was necessary to preserve ministeria harmony and party ascendancy ; and he shared no more . la truth , it was enough ; bat we are showing * that it was patronage that was to be destroyed by Reform : and that the patronage substituted for the same purposes is of a more extensive , expensive , and destructive character .
The Clubs of patrons are omnipresent . They hate a direct and a continuous interest , not only in resisting the people's demands for political rights , but in the destruction of their every social enjoyment . True , their ambition does not as yet lead them to aspire to a cross , a garter , or a ribbon ; but it does lead them to hopes and aspirations , the realization of which are ; much more expensive to those over whom they exercise their newly acquired power . As employers they establish the rate of wages ; as
magistrates they punish for resistance to their own decrees ; as corporations they have increased the taxes npon the people , in many instances three-fold , and without conferring a particle of benefit upon the unprotected portion of the tax-payers . They do not contend against any single practical abuse which the Reform Bill promised to destroy , but which has been J allowed to continue ; while they would still inflame the national mind for the purpose of conferring npon themselves increased powers , although we have shewn thai their substitution for the olden
enemy has been the means of multiplying , instead of destroying , corruption , distress and grievance . The general effect of the Reform Bill has been to create two active enemies against the working classes ; while each party now possesses a certain description of power , equally hostile to the rights of the people . The Tories have the distribution of all that remains after paying the expences of the country ; whilst the Clubs , however constituted ,
whether of Whigs or Tories , have the power to raise , in their corporate capacity , a larger amount of money than the whole revenue enforced by the Government amounts to . Not only do they thus more extravagantly tax the people , but they furthermore use the funds so acquired for the purpose of increasing their own power , and of destroying that of the people . Moreover , the most deadly result of this transfer of power , has been to brine : every
act of the unrepresented working classes more UO ' mediately under the watchful eye and powerful arm of the class immediately above them , and who have the greatest interest in oppressing them . This extension of corruption and these increased powers vested in the hands of the newly created Clubs , has had the further tendency of bo balancing the two contending factions , that henceforth their title to power must rather depend upon their means and capability of extending patronage , than their desire or ability to reform the institutions of the country .
Under these circumstanoeB it is to the vigilance , the union , and the united action of those who have suffered from the extension of corruption , as a means of carrying on political warfare , that we must look for the destruction of that power by which this double evil has been achieved . And much as the two satisfied parties may deride the attempts' of the now wholly shorn and unenfranchised people ; and however new and stronger causes may have arisen to induce a onion of Whig and Tory against the rights of labour ; we
tell them that bo general , so odious , and so extensive has their corruption become , that like a foul disease it must ultimately destroy them , although there was no visible opposition from the Chartist body . That opposition , however , from the causes we have stated , is daily and hourly gaining strength , not more from the sternness of our party , than from the dissatisfaction beginnuig to manifest itself , not only against the acts of the political Minister ^ but alao against tee cruelty , the tyranny , and oppression of our local and irresponsible rulers .
These facts clearly prove that any change produced by the middle classes will be merely with a view to extend patronage to their own ranks ; and that the people have nothing to hope from—nothing to expect benefit from—nothing to rely upon protection from , but their own Charter , which will destroy expensive and unnecessary patronage , by throwing the Government of the country into the hands that pay for its support .
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agreement between the masters and tniaWprere made , the ease was ultimately adjouraed till Friday , at ten O ' clock , in order to give time for the parties to come to some arrangements or to proceed With tbe case ; the . Chairman at the same time declaring , that in a case like this , whereJarge bodies of men were banded together in defiance of the law and of the peace of the district , and after what had come out in the case , the Magistrates would still not hold themselves bound by any compromise which the parties might come to . " M Open defiance of the law" indeed ! danger to the public peace *; and all "proved by what had transpired during the hearing of the case" ! Yes , yes ; we admit that facts strongly urging to such anticipations and convictions did transpire :
but then the masters are the law breakers , and from their tyranny only can any breach of the peace ar ise . What ! " danger to the peace" from men , who declare that they are ready to go to prison ! Tbe " illegality * of men who ask for compliance with the provisions of an Act of Parliament ! The " turbulence" of a body , the members of which , —as a man skilled in oppression says , —may fossiblt earn * livelihood ! and yet the viewer who swears it arrives unmolested , swears without dread , and retires without molestation ! Pooh ! pooh ! Tbe whole thing is nonsense . ; foolish nonsense ; ignorant nonsense ; insolent nonsense ; nonsense , however , which is pre-eminently calculated to bring about those sconces of disorder and turbulence which the men dressod in a little brief
authority thus hope to ( check by taking time by the forelock and the law by surprize . We will now examine the case a little more in detail , commencing with the justices . Prior to entering upon the hearing of the case , " Mr . Roberts applied to the Bench for summonses against a viewer to answer why he had not paid Luke Shaw and another , 26 s . a fortnight , to which they were entitled under the bond , because they had refused to work upon a rope which they considered to be unsafe . " To this application , made in the very nick of time ; made at the very proper time ; nay , made at
the only time when it should have been made , the dispensers of justice say " that they have met for an especial purpose and cannot therefore comply with the application . " Thus the case opens with evil forebodings for the men ; while we think we do not ask our readers to strain their powers of credulity by joining with us in believing that if a similar appeal had been made upon behalf of the masters , the special proceedings which they hod met to enter upon , would have been delayed for that than more important purpose . However , under such auspices the proceedings commence . Mr . Marshall opens
the case , and calls one Heccles , a viewer , to substantiate his several allegations ; and it is therefore with this man ' s evidence that we hare most to do—that the magistrates ought to . have most to do , and upon which public opinion will be unhesitatingly and unaaimously expressed . Should any charge of intemperance , turbulence , or violence be made against the colliers arising out of the present disagreement with their masters , let the evidence , the direct testimony , of Heccles be
read . Not the damning barefaced crimes , the commission of which was dragged from him by the able and searching cross-examination of Mr . Roberts ; but let bis own testimony , pourtraying the constant practice of tyranny pursued by the masters and their subordinates ; let that be read , and every unbiassed man who reads it will arrive at the same conclusion aa Mr . Roberts , that the masters should have been in the dock and tho men in tbe witness box .
Let as select , though it is a disgusting duty , some of tho scabs from this rotten evidence . " / do not knot * that any man has been fined £ 1 2 s . 6 d . for two daps ; but I don ' t doubt it . I believe men have been fined 8 s ., 7 s ., ( is ., 5 s ., 4 * ., and Zs * for a day . That declaration has not been made yet , though it is intended to be . " What does the reader think of that open , that barefaced , and unblushing confession ! In an English Cjurt of Justice , and in the Cathedral City of Durham , too ! Why , if justice had not fled the land , and if tbe Conservators of the public peace bad done their duty .
and if the witness had received his due , the justices would have ordered him to be tied to the cart tail and whipped round the Market-place . What ! earn three shillings a-day , and out of that pay 11 s ., 8 s ., 78 ., 6 s ., 53 ., 49 ., or 3 s ., for fines ! Strange arithmetical process . O , for such a Chancellor to manage our Exchequer ! The witness goes on to let out more of the pit secrets . The men are accused of a specific crime ; the whole transactions ooanected with which , should any be of a mitigating ,
exculpatory , or even useable character cannot , however , be divulged until after judgment and execution : for the bath-man swears : "We make the deductions only when the wages become due , when the fines are increased . I think some of the men have been fined , but I cannot speak positively . I think they have been fined , for being absent on the day laid in the warrant . We have not fined them for that absence . They were brought up on the 2 ithof November , and they ! mere not fined for that day . THE
PAYMENTS FOR THAT DAY ARE NOT DUE TILL TO-MORROW . " Now- the inference , the only inference , that can be drawn from this portion of the evidence is this : that if the case had been adjudicated upon at the then sitting of the magistrates , a judgment of the Court would not have been final ; for tbe case would still have been pending , as far a * the equity of it was concerned ; inasmuch , as I the men could not know their fate until the following day ; and could not , therefore , urge the further fines and stoppage of wages , for acts previously committed , either in extenuation or in vindication .
We trust that shonld the Irish Attounby-Gbsk » al requires precedents to prove the practice of English Courts of Law , that he will refer the Irish Queen ' s Justices , to the case of the Durham Coal King Justices ; and they will be found strictly analogous . The copy of the caption may be had by Mr . O'Connell and the other Irian traversers when they have been committed to gaol ; or perhaps , as " with death envy ceases , " the mild and religious Irish AttobmsT'Gbnebai , may order a list of his murderers to be interred with the lamented Mr . Ttebell . So precisely with the Colliers . They
might have been consigned to gaol on Thursday ; and on Friday , fines of which they could not complain might have been levied upon them , and abstracted from their little earnings , while they were ekeing oat their time in a dungeon . ' Here follows another portion of the evidence of the oath-man : — "If the bond be put into full operation it is possible / or average men to make a living out of it , provided the men do their duty . " This is not the evidence as reported by our "tools . " It is taken from the report of the masters' "tool" and therefore cannot be supposed to be coloured against them .
No matter by whom it has been written , it has been sworn , and that too by a viewer . Let it be read by every honest Colliery-man in England ; Let each say to himself—** What , then , does our very existence depend upon a mere possibility * And are we for ever to strain oar eyea—to work our every limb—to distort our body—breathe a loathsome air—liable to casualties against which we cannot defend ourselves—entombed in the bowels of tbe earth—oar sufferings shut oat from human eye , while the produce of our labour ministers to the comfort of all ; and yet to be told that , by a bond
bearing the mark , but not the signature , of men to whom it may have been fallaciously read , that our very existence depends upon a bare possibility , and ihMi possibility a remote one , depending upon the softening of adamantine hearts !* ' For ouiBelves , we say—Perish the bond ! perish the obligation ! tear the inhuman , the tyrannical , the life-destroying document in little atoms ! give it to the wild winds of heaven" I and should one perceptible fragment of the unholy hellish contract meet the earth , let it be trampled upon and buried , in the hope that with it all recollection of such slavery may perish , and forever ! If a testator annexes harsh or even uncomfortable conditions to afibequeat , a c * t of . equity will re-
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lease the legatee ! from the performance of those conditions ; and with these bonds , thus stamped as Jew bonds demanding the " ponnd of flesh , " let Mr . Robebts , the able adviser of the Colliers , go forthwith into tbe Court of Queen ' s Bench ; and upon the evidence of Heccles , and upon the face of the blood-stained instrument , let the world , through the press , know the hardships which those who warm us are subjected to . This will be the way to have a hearing out of the Durham court . This will be the mode of giving it publicity , which will be all that it requires to give it its death blow . In order , however , to show that the oath-man is only the executioner of the tyrant ' s will , we submit the following passage ^ rom his testimony : —
u Mr . Thomas Wood is my employer , and he saneions these proceedings" V&SL WOOD WAS PRESENT , AND ADMITTED THAT THE WHOLE OF THE OWNERS SANCriONED THE
PROCEEDINGS . " ] \ Upon this portion of the testimony , we will not , because we dare not , offer a single comment , farther than if Mr . Wood ] had his due , he would be placed in the stock ? , and pelted with rotten eggs , for daring to make such an admission in an English Court of Justice . | No wonder that a gentleman of pride and feeling should have replied with warmth , as Mr . Robebts did ! And no wonder that the whole crew—bench and all , should have mutinied against this honest man ' s honest denunciation of such heartless and cold-blooded villany .
As of course the [ whole case will be read , and read with peculiar interest , we dismiss the evidence of tbe principal oath-man with a laugh at that part of his testimony in which he swears that the alteration in the beam was made to get a greater quantity of coal for the money paid . " We can't say that the oathman did not believe this ; for that would be to charge him with perjury .- but we may say that so far from believing ! one word of it , we would lay a
round wager that Mr . Wood has put thousands upon thousands of money into his pocket by unjuet weights and measures . How laughable to suppose for one moment that a Coal King would pay for more coals than were produced ! If , however , the same beam which was imperfect , weighed the coals for the men , and the coals for the purchasers , we trust that every purchaser will use the oath-man's evidence in an action against Wood and Co ., for deficient weights and measures !
We shall give a few extracts now from the case for the defendants gathered from the able and eloquent address ] of their advocate , Mr . Ropbbts . Before opening the legal portion of his case , he makes the following observation , which teaches us the mode uniformly practiced by the justices in such oase ?> He says : :, " But in every case in which he had appeared , except in one case at Gateshead , the prisoners had been committed to gaol . Was it always to be imprisonment , imprisonment , imprisonment , as if the men were all criminals , and the masters all angels 1 The complaint in this case was
against the masters , and in favour of the men . He said that in . this case the masters had proved themselves criminal in the eyes of the law , and in fact ; and that if justice was done to them , they would find themselves within the wills of that prison to which they were so eager to send their fellow-men . " That ' s the way—that's the only way to speak to the olood-blooded ruffians . That ' s the great j value of Mr . Robebts to the Colliers' Movement . ; The Masters' cannot buy him off ; they cannot eat him off ; drink him off ; or frighten him off : while , from his very nature , he
himself cannot separate the feelings of the man from the duties of theiadvocate . Let it be observed , that this picture is drawn by the professional man who has attended all the oases , and drawn for those who bad been parties ' in all the cases , and it stands unoontradicted . But to come to his legal defence for his clients . He states three grounds : Thai the agreement waijtnstamped and incorrect ; that the men couldnot ' vender the bond gain a livelihood ; and
that the mages were not patd to the men as guaranteed by the bond at tfu time when they were called on to answer . " Those are the three points npon which Mr . Robebis relies : the first and third being legal points ; and the second a condition from Which a Court of Equity would relieve the contracting parties . We would also direct Mr . Roberto ' s attention to the fact , that only one of the partners appears to have signed the bond on behalf of the masters ; and , furthermore , that it merely bears the marks , and not the names of the men .
As Mr . Roberts' speech will amply pay for pern * sal , we now leave the case as far as the law \ b concerned , and turn to the consideration of the duties which the circumstances impose npon the Colliers . They have placed Mr . Roberts in a situation of great responsibility and not a little danger ; and it becomes our duty to epeak of him as we gather his character from the press , added to our own knowledge of him . While then we should feel as he feels , and fearlessly give expression to those feelings , it should be understood that when be speaks of the men " preferring j a strike to the longer endurance of those tyrants to ] which they are subjected , " that those to whom bis words expressed under suob circumstances are carried , are not therefore to imply
that Mr . Robebts either directly or indirectly , has recommended or given his sanction to a strike . On the contrary , he ] is speaking hypothetically ; and uses the expression merely as a caution to the magistrates , and as an hereafter justification for his clients , if they should be driven to the alternative . In this view and no other are his just censures and manly denunciations to be taken ; while upon the other hand the eagerness of the masters to push matters to an issue , ehould operate as a caution to the men , and tell ] them that a strike now , would be a master ' s strike ] to serve the master ' s purposes : a strike , which as announced in the letter of Dixon , and previous notices in the Star , has been concocted by the masters themselves .
The existing union of the Colliers , if judicially managed , may bejmade the most powerful auxiliary ever yet developed in this country on behalf of labour ; while , if frustrated by the machinations of open foe or secret friend , it may be made labour's grave . Independently , therefore , of our strong sympathy for the Colliers themselves , we attach a general importance to their proceedings
Theira is work which cannot be efficiently performed by knobsticks . " The pickaxe trembles in the hand of the nerveless operative . The atmosphere is certain death to those who have been accustomed to the feverish heat of a rattle-box . Let the Colliers , therefore , tmke care that the " Supply " bears time proportion to the " Demand , " and , in the spirit of M Free ] Trade" and Political Economy , LET THEM NOS SO DXtC « THE MARKET WITH THEIR
FnODtJCB AS TO I ENSURE A DIMIHUTIOH IN THEIK wages . With a good head , such as they have , to direct their united body , they have nothing to fear ; and therefore , that , all may move in unison and harmony , let the body consult tbe head . If it is possible , the power of wealth will be arrayed against the power of labour ; while the experiments now being partially made , are merely for the purpose of testing the spirit , the ability , and union of the Colliers . We trust , thereforethat the support
, of those who have been driven by the masters into a strike will become the duty of those whose very existence depends : npon the success or failure of those who have been driven from labour . The winter has hitherto been mild ; but a fall of snow , or a ] long frest would open the eyes of the tyrants to the value of their slaves . So successful has the Colliers nnion
hitherto been , tb 4 t tho Tailors , inspired by a like energy , are about adopting similar means for the protection of their ! body . These signs are evident symptoms of the Resuscitation or Trades Unions , in a more extensive form , and andermore practical management than they have hitherto been conducted ; and therefore the Unionists must anticipate a corresponding increase of vigour on the part of their opponents . "To be forewarned is to be forearmed . " We have means of learning the arrange-
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ments and machuationslof the masters which the men have not ; and those we have never kept secret from them . We trust that the forthcoming Colliers delegate meeting in Manchester , will be well attended ; and that the proceedings concerning which we now write , together with all others that may occur in tho meantime , will be taken into the serious consideration of the assembled delegates ; and that none will be appointed to that high and important office except those in whose judgment and honour the whole body , to whom they are known , have entire
confidence . Again we say , be caatious ; be prudent ; be forbearing even in the midst of oppression which it may be virtue to bear as a means of final correction . The fault of the working classes ever has been that they have confided the management of their affairs to mere red-tape-and-parchment attornies , whom the masters found no difficulty in seducing from the interest of their clients . In the integrity , the honour , and the manliness of Mr . Roberts however rests their security and their reliance ; while without becoming obedience to his instructions even his services would be fruitless and impossible .
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THE BELFIELD FACTORY MONSTERS . In the Second Edition of our last week ' s paper we gave the particulars of the crowning act of Factory Lord-tyranny that had ever come under oar observation ; an act , which for malignity and pure divilism was never yet surpassed . When concluding- our remarks we expressed a hope that some kind friend or other in Rochdale would furnish us with the after-proceedings . That wish has been well gratified . A gentleman connected with Middleton ; one conversant with tho . whole facts of the case , has kindly commanicate with as , and enabled as to lay before the public the additional facts tbat time has brought to light . . We must premise thai our informant is not a M Chartist . " We believe that he does not
countenance the principles advocated by ih&Northern Sim , But he knows and feels that gross in justice has been meeted out to an honest and deserving man ; and he has Been that we have appealed to the public against the tyranny practicedupontheMONSTER'S victim ; and he has with alacrity and kindness furnished us with the additional particulars . We beg of him to accept our best thanks . The following paragraph , " set up" for another part of the paper , is from his pen . We give it here , that the reader may have it more prominently before him ; and judge of the importance . we attach to the
case : — ROCHDALE . —The Hard Case Again . —In out last , we gave an account of an hard case which had occurred in the neighbourhood of Rochdale , and which was copied from the Manchester Guardutn of December 6 th . A correspondent who has been present every time it has been brought before the Rochdale Bench , and who is also well acquainted with the whole of the case has furnished us with the following additional particulars , viz .: —At the Rochdale Petty Sessions , on Monday last , the 11 th inst ., before Messrs . Clements , Royds , ffm . Chadwick , and the Rev . Mr . Cotton , magistrates , and a crowded court , Mr . Chadwick , one of the
magistrates , asked Mr . Hunt , solicitor , how he had gone ou with the Haslingden magistrates respecting the hard case of Joseph Taylor , weaver , Middleton . Mr . Hunt said he went to Haslingdeu and Rossendale , on Tuesday last , to Mr . Booth , the inspector appointed under the Worsted Act , who , he found , was tbe acting constable in the execution of the warrant against Taylor . From him he demanded ( aa Taylor ' s solicitor , ) a copy of the warrant , and waa refused ; and , from his refusal and after conduct , he found he was a partizan to the complaining party , Messrs . Benecke and CoM of Belfield , one mile from Rochdale . He was then necessitated to apply to the Governor of the Gaol
of Salford , for a copy of the conviction , from which he found the sole charge against Taylor , is not as stated in our last , for embezzling the work he had in the loom , which had been stated by John Hudson , alias Haj ^ eaves , putter-Otnj for the above firm , on . the Monday previous ; but it was worse tnan that ; it was fornotbringing in \ . his work , after notice so to do , and which he had been prevented from doing , because the puller-out had refuted either to allow Ot sell him any weft ; and it was stated by two witnesses that he had declared he would punish him if he purchased from any other person , Mr . Hunt replied that he should meet in Rochdale that day with Mr . Turner , one of the committing magistrates . Mr .
Hunt did meet with Mr . Turner on Monday afternoon ; and our correspondent waited on Mr . Hunt , and he told him he had explained to Mr . Turner all the facts of the case , dwelling upon the refusal of the masters ' putter-out to supply the poor man with more worsted or weft % thocgh he had offered to pat fob it , and consequently it was impossible for him to take in the work which the masters were preventing him from completing and yet they had sent him to prison . Mr . Hunt replied that Mr . Turner appeared to take the matter into his serious consideration , and promised to confer with tbe Rev . William Gray , his brother magistrate , on the day following . We understand that if the
Haslingdeo . Bench refuse to liberate him , the respectable inhabitants of both Rochdale and Middleton will lay the whole of the proceedings before the Secretary of State . Black as it appeared in our paper on Saturday , ft was much underrated . Taylor is a silk-weaver and a florist , or small gardener ; and he has maintained his seven children , and an aged mother , by bis weaving and selling plants , Jbc , without ever troubling the parish for relief . On Friday last it was found by Borne neighbours that his aged mother and children were without food : however , poor as the neighbours are , they got them assistance , and applied to the overseer , who instantly gave them relief : the Rev . R . Durnford has also
been kind to the children . It is well known that silk-weaving is the principal trade at Middleton , and at this time the weavers have not half employment , and hundreds are destitute . Had it Bofc been for Taylor ' s industry , in his buying and selling plants occasionally , no doubt but he would have been obliged , long ago , to have bad parish relief Persons who know him declare that he was always a very quiet , harmless , sober , honest , and industrious man . Tbe two cuts were arbitrated oh , and the Rochdale Bench ordered payment a few weeks ago , which
was 7 s . 6 d ., he having travelled backwards and forwards—that is , from Middleton to Belfield , the residence of his employers , upwards of 140 mileS f before he was able to get his wages . There is no doubt but the putter-out , or his masters , or some person , has taken advantage ( if so it may be called ) , in consequence of the Rochdale Bench ^ ordering payment of the wages . Many persons have promised to subscribe , in order to bring the guilty party to justice ; and Mr . Hunt says he shaliT > ring the inspector of worsted to justice for his conduct towards him .
One thing strikes us as rather queer about this business . The Manchester Guardian , from whose pages we extracted the original " case , * had , on Wednesday , no further ** particulars" respecting it . He has not given the proceedings before the Rochdale magistrates on Monday last . Those proceedings were somewhat important . The case" has made some noise in Rochdale . He did report it at first : how came he to omit the "further particulars , " so very interesting to the public ! Has he put his foot in it , " by reporting the " case" at all 1 Was he in the wrong box , xxrosixc , instead ot defending the gross oppressions of the Factory Kings ! Is this the cause of his silence ! Has the hint been gives him , or his keen-scented nose apprised him , that he was not " backing-up his friends" ! Whatever ma ; have been the eause . certain it is that A * is now
silent , &sf&r as the wrongfully-oppressed weaver is concerned . / But if he is silent with respect to the man , not so with respect to the masters . Though he can burke the proceedings before the Rochdale Bench on Monday last , be can give the MONSTERS * explanation" in the following terms : — To the Editor of Vie Manchester Guardian . Sib , —In reply to an article inserted in your I » t Wednesday ' s Guardian , and headed " Hard Case , " we beg to state , that Joseph Taylor having neglected to bring hi his work , onr putter-out , without any dfaeetions from at , placed the ease in the hand * of the uv specter appointed by the worsted committee , who , after
having given Taylor the notice required by law , apprehended him and took him before the magtstratei at Haslingden ; but we were not aware either of any warrant being oat against him , or of hi * being taken to Haaiingden , until tbe day following the commitnwafc We alao beg to state , that our putter-out positively asfuresastnathe never did refase to « ell Taylor weffe in order to enable him to cemplete hii pieces , and of which he would not have been abort , bad he not spoiled two former pieces . On tbe other hand , we are infonnea * and believe he waa urged by the inspector to fetch tbe weft and complete his work , and that the inspector al » informed him that if he would go for the weft be watt * obtain it '
We have enly to add , that on Taylor's being released from confinement , we shall be gjtad to nave tbe dts folly investigated . We are , 8 ir , your obedient servants , Per pro Wm . Benecke and Co . F . T . PhilippS . Belfleld Hall , aear Rochdale , 12 th Dec , 18 * 3 .
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4 T THE NORTHERN STAR _ j '
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THE ADDRESS OF THE SOUTH LANCASHIRE DELEGATES TO THE CHARTISTS OF THAT DISTRICT . Bbotheb . Democrats , —It Is with mingled feelings of pleasure and regret that ire once more address you . We feel pleasure at the proud position we occupy as an association of mea combined together for the high , and holy purpose of combating- tyranny in all its vailed forma , and thereby showing to the world that m are actuated by a pore spirit ef philanthropy and patriotism ; proving , ineohteatably , that we have no other object in view bnt the emancipation of ourselves and . fellow-countrymen from the thraldom under 'which we and they nave ao long suffered . Bat we regret the apathy manifested by the -various localities In not lending delegates to the County Conndl , - whose adlberatiens nave hitherto given a tone to the Chartist movement throughout the empire .
Brethren , it is not unknown to yon that this di * trict has Ifeen long looked to by the Chartists of England as the best organized and efficient in the movement . Sat Laneaahire—tbe renowned Bmporlum
of Demoeaey—ha * ot Jate bees apathetic in tbe cause . Weaak bow this is ? There mnst be some cause . Formerly the excuse was that we were without a governing head or Executive Council ; such is not the case now ; therefore , there most be some other , reason for apathy and neglect . We implore yon to a&ake eff tbia disgraceful inactivity ; and aroase yonnelves to a sense of your duty ;—that by your united exertions South Xancashire may again assume its proper standing in the great movement f or a natloni freedom .
Brethren , the task of addressing you on this important subject has so often fallen . to our lot , that anything we can advance , by way of appealing to your lore of country , would be little more than useless repetition . Our business wits you now is to point out the necessity of having your Delegates present at the County Conference , in order to adopt some measure to secure that object which has cost us so much labour , money , and suffering to carry to ita present state , and . endeavour to make our association what it ought to be—a truly nations ! ana .
Brethren , " Coming events cast their shadows before j" and If ever there was a time that required the lovers of freedom to be on the alert—this is the time . When we look around and take cognizance of what is passing in tbe political world , we behold a blood-thirsty and liberty-destroying Government endeavouring to take away the dearest rights of the British subject—the right to petition , by putting a step to the expression of public opinion in our sister country . Is this a time for us t » be asleep ? Know we not that if they succeed in petting a stop to the Repeal Agitation in Ireland , that it will be our turn next ? It therefore behoves ns to be prepared for the worst , and be In a position to render assistance to our Irish brethren in this their time of need : alse to look to our own Interests .
Brethren , in conclusion , it is our particular desire that eacb lscality will choose a delegate te attend tbe South Lancashire Conference , to be holden in Bolton on Sunday , the Slst of December , at ten o ' clock in the forenoon ; -when we trust this call will be responded to in a manner 'worthy of the men of Lancashire , and that each locality will not fail to instruct their representatives u to what course they would deem It advisable to pursue , in order to carry out the views of tbe SxeeoUve Council as regards the sending out of minion * aries to agitate the country .
The cause is worthy of your every energy . Tbe stake we play for Is the emancipation of our beloved country from the galling fetters of a merciless oligarchy—the cold-blooded and grasping avarice of the 8 mokeocracy ; and the blighting influence of a plethoric and intolerant priesthood . And as it is the intention of the Executlre to divide South Lancashire into two districts—viz , the Manchester and Liverpool districts , it is indispensably necessary that this Conference be attended by at least one delegate from each locality , in order that the districts miy be formed in the most compact manner , and also the machinery prepared for the working of them With harmony and benefit to the eanse of justice against injustice , and of right against might Trusting that this call will be responded to in a manner worthy of ao good a cause ,
We are , Brethren , in bonds , Toon , in tbe cause of national redemption , C . Fitzpatrick , J . Ashton , T . Satterwortb , D . Donovan , W . DiVise , G . Maradea , J . Grime , J . JNuttall , G . Johnson , J . Simpson . S . Taylor . C Tatlok , President William Dixoh , Secretary
The Tfoktheun Star Saturday, December 16, 1843.
THE tfOKTHEUN STAR SATURDAY , DECEMBER 16 , 1843 .
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THE COLLIERS . A HOST FOUL AND DAMNABLE CASE . We refer car readers to a copious report given in another place of proceedings which took place before the Durham Magistrates , in connexion with the present differences between the Coal King Tyrants and their worse than slaves . Before we eater into any consideration of the merits of this case , we shall offer a brief observation or two upon the imperious , the insolent , and authoritative manner in which the worthy chairman of
the Bench dealt with the proposed question of compromise . As a matter of course the tyrants being the complainants , any compromise that took place could not have saved them from Magisterial punishment or the law ' s vengeance ; as being subject to neither , they did not stand in dread of either . No matter how the stinging truths forced from a reluctant accuser may have placed the prosecutors in the wrong ; no matter though the bond be illegal , and enforces penalties from which a court of law wonld release the
bondsmen ; no matter though the conditions , one-sided as they are , have been violated by the wealthy con * tractors ; no matter though the implied contract and the legal contract has been violated ; no matter though it has been admitted by the chief oath-man ot the Coal Kings , that it was bnt just fmsiile foragoed workman to earn an existence , if the conditions of the bond were enforced ; no matter although those who have tried it , swear that it is not possible to earn an existence ; no matter although thousands of honest hard-workin g Englishmen are prepared to
swear that they prefer the prison , with all its horrible diseases , to the bond with its still more horrible inflictions : no matter ail this : neither one , nor all , of these considerations weighed with the village Dogbkbjuis , who tendered aid to the tyrant masters to enforce a reluctant compromise from the men , under threat of victimising atom to that state of " turbulence " which exists only in their own brainB , and which can he brought abouV only by the denial of justice . After Bearing the cat * , the Chairman spoke thus : —
u After some farther discassion , in which some warmth was shown , and angry expressions exchanged between the Bench Sid Mr . Roberts ! and propositions of adjournment and of
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Dec. 16, 1843, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct832/page/4/
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