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TO THE LANDLORDS OF IRELAND. LKTTEB in.
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Cijatrtigt -EirteUigettte.
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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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SIT lOBBS AST * eE 7 « XLKirE 5 , —As it IS HIJ t&t £ & > tics to devote this letter exclusively to a consideration of tbe labourers' cue ; I fed myielf compelled to refer to the srgam&itM now in c * e , and relitd npoa by the ftntagonist political parties . In order as mnch as possible to avoid the Introduction of politics , I 1 fr » n merely state the proCeaed object of Che parties , and the ( access which , by their ascendancy , they hold . oct as £ be political this ? to be contended for by the people
You are both agreed then upon the principle , or rather upon the object , "which is to better the condition ef the working classes ; the manufacturing class declaring th * t yon are the impediments in the tray of social feappinesi ; "while you charge your opponents with false pretences , a desire to plunder you and to usurp political power , without offering to the people a » the m&nntutaiett do , even a pleating fiction , such as " cheap food , " to feed the imagination of the starring . Your position being good , yosr cry is : "we are Tery well ; lei well enough alone . "
Xow , my Lords and Gentlemen , it is my intention ) as assessor , faithfully to discharge my duty between yen &s rivals lot power . 2 o the first place then , the manufacturers bold eut something to the people , although it is a delusion ; while you , sturdy and obstinate in yoar aewiy-tcquixed power have not even yet in the eleventh hour , offered anything substantial as a set-off against the manufacturers' shadow . You hope to ward off their fTKir"nrh tp ct i t ^ by Parliamentary msjorities , while they exoeefc to assail your granaries with a legion
of starring besiegers , whose passions , by the stoppage f their mills , they hope to inflame to an extent nnasssilsHe by the roiee of reason , uncontroulabls by the foflnpnt * of their leaders , and invincible , from their siunerkal strength and their masters'implied consent , to see all law set at sought to » certain point , that paint being the exact one wbere their own object shall bx * e been achieved . To these inducements for revenge add the hope of impunity and the heavy stake of life or death , and weigh them against your political majority , and your scale will kick the beam . '
My Lords and Gentlemen , thus I prepare you for a st&te of public mind over which reason argument and influence can hare no control , even for a moment ; when judgement and common sense shall be overcome by necessity and want . I tall you that your social abuses hare led to tfm nirHripaiirn ot teach a moment . I look to first causes rather than to results , and inasmuch as I woild altogether acquit a drunken man of tbe crime d wilful murder , who in the moment of intoxication bad deprived his fellow man of life , while the act
would nevertheless increase my aversion tea vice theindulgence in which had led to the result ; so with you ; while I sincerely deplore the shocking results to -which the uncontrolled power of manufactures has led , nevertheless , I cannot banish from my mind the fact , that your monopoly has been the cause of those results . Bad you given to natural labour wholesome labour and healthful labour , the full reward of its real value , the fnim-ntu f iiirtiavT * never would have been able to drug the markets of the world with the produce of cheap labour , made cheap by expulsion from tbe land .
yow , thi » is my position , xfo labour to the individual labourer is so beneficial as that which he can expend upon the land , and no labour to the labourer is so unremunerating as that over the produce of ¦ which he has no controul , and of the value of which be has DOt the entire , —aye , the entire . I ever have , and ever wDl contend for the freeman ' s right to the untouched whole of the produce of his libocr . Of course , I admit that in these instances where men of less speculative , and more indolent habits than their neighbours are satisfied to work for masters , that in such
eases , the capitalist is f nljy , justly , and honourably entitled to remuneration for risk and speculation ,- while my object is to take care that the remuneration is not made too exorbitantly profitable by the destitution of the working man , who has but the alternative of working at the existence point or of starving ; this I would regulate by the establishment of a wholesome labourmart , where all who are willing might expend their labour and enjoy its full profit ; and by that general Standard , the labour of those working for others would ilso be regulated .
The great question , indeed the only question , for tbe labourer to consider then is , whether or not those who 0 & 3 " cheap bread" &s a means of alleviating the distress ol the people , are sincere ; and if sincere in their object , then » consider whether in point of fact the project , if successful , would operate as a permanent stopple to ptrisdkal want , would establish a fixed and satisfactory standard , wonid lessen the dependency of the labourer , and would make his " chief pride to consist in the modest comforts of his condition . " I leave pa out of the Question , as you offer no apology for your monopoly , asd hold out no remedy for tet correction .
>" o- » , if I can prove that the total abolition of all restrictions upon foreign ccrn , " under existing cir-Gan £ Qr . ce $ ~ would but create a greater dependency of the labourer upon his employer , and remove him , if possible , a step further from ail ccEtrol over his product *; siid if 1 can prove lhat our own country possesses more than ample means for effectually and ipeedily accomplishing th . it which the manufacturers and landlords both profess to be their object , name ! - * ,
to increase the comforts of the psople ; I say if I can proTe this , and that you are the impedinitnts to the aaeoraplkhment « f such a ¦ wholesome state of thing 3 ; I ay if I can proTe this , even to yourselves , - will you not , after notice and persererauce , justly merit any panUhmen ; -which may result from an assault of tbe ¦ unbridled passions of the starving multitude , to whose moral patient convincing asd just appeals you have so lore remained deaf ?
ilj- Lords and Gentlemen , with so much of a preface to this my third letter , 1 shall now proceed to open the case cf my clients , and my only fee or reward shall be the hope cf seeing you , and them , and all those who are now at variance , living as the members of the family of one great Father of all , each distinguished according to his real merit , and honoured according to hii deserts . Alas ! what a task I have undertaken , when in the oatse ; -she great difficulty of reconciling to my views the class-legislator who ertplujs two theusand persons ,
tnd who makes £ 7 , 800 per annum of every threepence , filched from the labour of each , stares me in the face What fears would haunt me if I was a timid man , when I reflect upon tbe political power of those parties Those monopoly of man ' i rights I hope to destroy . What must be my fate when I feel convinced that that state of things , at Whica I have previously hinted , will be sore u > come , and whm , in the bustle and turmoil , » D that 1 have dons or endeavoared to do , will be nude to appear to the starving people , by their hard kit eonimanding task-masters , S 3 the immediate cause of their pressing wants .
3 f y Lords and Gentlemen , I am not either unmindful of your power , or of the manner in -which it has ever been aied , fi * m the time of Tiberius Gracchus down to the present tone , to oppress and deEtroyall who would make your Wates arvJable to your own aid the naiion ' B want ? . Bst my safeguard is in the better state of public opinion —in the simplicity of my project—in the facility of Pottm ? it into practical operation , and in the disinterested motives which 1 hare in propounding it I do act believe that you could now , as the Roman Senate did of old , set up a Drusus , as a false landmark to ^ iten the peopk ' a attention from what is justly their fofc , by effering them mere than I do , and much more than your puppet would intend you to perform . You
am not the same interest in disposing of me that tbe oligarchy had in disposing of the Gracchii ; and for tti * reason—they led a blind flock , while I am but ¦ W 18 of many shepherds , with whose volee , -whose PPewance , and whose every movement , a Sock , ob-* rrant and themaelTes keenly upon the natch , are well * Pafflt « L The Gracchii were both brutally mnr-^* wd aad their remains insulted ; but ye * were their ae ** nres , in part , subsequently carried . And now , * waw ran dispose of me , I should but make room for raa&eda of others who , without a like knowledge of *» subject , would direct public opinion to the attain-* a * of that which , after possession , the people * ° ^ d not so well know how to turn to the best ad-T * ai&g £ , sad they would consequently look for more .
% object through life has been to make my readers ^ estaad every -word i Trrite , and see the feasibility of « T erery project ; this I attempt even at the hszard of * y > S thought tedious . 1 am not a mere hired writer , Kit the badUutHcan , lays tie hizi-mettled pack
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upon the scent , and then allows them to ran down the game according to their fancy ; I follow the pack , ride well up to them , so as to make my bit before a long check has destroyed the scent , and compelled me to run a-head upon a mere chance of recovering the game . I watch your every doable and traverse , and go the whole ground after you , and thus make my followers acquainted with your every turn .
My Lords and Gentlemen , I shall now consider what a hundred acres of ground subdivided into ten farms of ten acres each , is capable of deing : how many it would maintain , the description of miintainanee , and the surplus , after having supplied tbe family , which it would leave for traffic in the manufacturing and commercial market . I shall , according to promise , tako the rudest calculations ; and , firstly , as to the gross produce .
One and half acres of potatoes , half an acre of fallow , one acre of lay ( s ward j oats , two acres of wheat , half an acre of meadow , quarter of an acre of flax with clover , one rood of kitchen garden , one ditto of vetches , spring and summer ; and four acres of pasture . Produce for family ' 8 consumption , for one year ; ( family consisting of a man , his wife , aad his children ); sixty stones of wheat ; fifty stones of oatmeal ; five hundred stones ' of potatoes ; twenty stones of bacon ; vegetables ; half tbe milk of a cow ; with poultry , eggs , and honey .
Let us now take it per week . More than a stona of wheat flour ; a stone of oatmeal ; ten stones of potatoes . For forty-five weeks deducting seven for Lent , ( a time when Catholics abstain from meat ) two pound of bacon en Sundays , Mondays and Tuesdays , every week in the year ; three quarts of new milk per day , twenty-one quarts per week , thus estimating a cows milk » t twelve quarts a day for the summer season , and allowing one quarter of her milk in grimmer and the other quarter to be used in butter during winter ; but I take all as milk . Value of produce after the above amount for consumption shall have been -deducted : — £ a . d . Nine bags of wheat , at twenty sione « he bag ,
» t £ 1 5 s . the ba ? 11 5 o Produce of a cow and half , valued at £ S per cow . 12 0 0 Five barrels of oats , at fourteen stone the barrel ., at 10 s . the barrel , or less than 9 d . per stone 2 10 0 Profit on four bacon pi ^ s , fed from May to March , and bought at nine months old £ 2- 10 s . each 10 0 0 Profit on four sheep , fatted after shearing , 103 . a head 2 0 0 Eggs , poultry , linen ( or spun Six ) 5 0 0
Those amounts , added , make ... £ 18 15 0 From which deduct : — Rent and ratea _ u e o Laid by for gills' portion and casualities perannum 7 15 0 Total 23 15 0 which deducted from the £ 42 15 s . leaves £ 24 to be annually expended in the manufacturing and commercial market . Let as now take the aggregate of what tea farms , thus managed , can do as compared with the same ten farms in the occupation of one tenant
By the subdivision , they support in affluence , comfort , and abundance , seventy persons . They produce for sale , after consumption , ninety bags of wheat ; one hundred hundred weight of bacon ; thirty hundred weight of butter ; forty fat sheep ; fifty barrels of oats , at fourteen stones to the barrel ; eggs , poultry , flax , or linen , £ 50 worth . Let us see what it does besides- It gives tbe family four fleece * , at five pounds of wool per fieecatwenty pounds of wool ; and the produce of two roods of flax for winter employment and clothing .
Xow take the one hundred acres held by one tenant and you have tbe following prodnce for sale , after the scanty existence of forty-two persons : —Wheat fifty bags -, instead of ninety bags , - butter sixteen hundred weight , instead of thirty hundred weight ; oats twenty barrels , instead of fifty barrels ; bacon twenty hundred ¦ we ight , instead of one hundred hundred weight ; flax , or lintn , eggs , and poultry , nothing , instead of £ 50 worth ; sheep noEe , instead of forty . Cash saved and left for expenditure , after payment cf rent , rates , and expencea of one hundred acres , £ 10 1 0 s . Od .-. instead of £ 317 15 s . Od .
My Lords and Gentlemen , ia this rough draft of profit and loss , you will . Firstly , look to the fact that I get rid of forty useless horses , and for them substitute only twenty-eight individuals , the difference between the forty-two " kept alive" upon the large farm and the seventy kept fat and well upon the small farms . Secondly , that instead of having by the Bmall farms seventy acres of bad grass land sacrificed to thirty acres of bad tillage ., there is a sacrifice of only forty acres ; there being sixty , instead of thirty , in full producing tilt , fey the Eubstitution of spade culture for tbe plough and this sacrifice of forty acres is owing to a want of sufficient population to cultivate all to the highest state of perfection .
Tou will require from me proof as to the capability of producing what 1 have stated from the ten acres . In the first place , then , let me just tell yon that I have strictly kept to plain digging ; that according to cul * tur « I have taken the very lowest average ; while according" to prices , I have taken much below the average for every thing , according to any seven years o ! the last forty . I allow six bags of wheat to the acre . I allow 1 S 00 stones of potatoes to one and a half acres , or 1200 stones per acre . I allow four acres of - grass , two roods of VetCuBS , half an acre of meadow , half an acre after grass , with
what ths house affords , for t wo cows and four sheep ; I allow bran , garden stuff , some milk , and 1 , 300 stone cj potatoes , for five pigs for nine months . I allow only what I am now receiving myself for dairy cows , £ s a-head , while the labourer would make much more of them . I do not take too much out of the ground , but on the cmtiary , I keep it in proper heart ; while the man , without mentioning any of his family who might be capable of helping him , would not be one half of his time employed in the task I have set him ; and yet I leave-him £ 31 15 s . per annum , after the best ef good living , clothing , and lodging , instead of £ 8 , as at
present , eut of which he must eke a subsistence ; and right lucky and well pleased is ha if he can even get the ciance . As to the manors , which is the principal thing , I firstly bring his arms , which is the real essence of manure , —the oxygen , —into operation ; and , besides that , I leave him three acres of straw , half an acre of meadow , two cows , four sheep , five pigs , poultry , and garden-rubbish to manure one and a half acres of potato © ground , which you will surely think enough , having cheered Mr . Shartnan Crawford when he allotted to two unfortunate little pigs the herculean task of manuring an acre !
As I do not write so much with the hope of convincing you , as for the purpose of convincing my own clients , I purpose in my next letter to take a more extensive view of this subject ; while , for the present , I shall answer some of the most recent absurdities of hired writers . I have read , and I assure you I forget just now in what paper , the assinine remarks ef some Bcetian , who laughs at the notion of all the wheat-producing land
in the united empire , ) which he estimates at twenty millions , ) being capable of supplying twenty six millions with bread ; while I have shewn that ten millions of acres would support seven milliens in affluence , and leave a sufficiency of bread , butter , bacon , oatmeal ,, poultry , eggs , honey , flax , with four millions of sheep annually , for more than twenty millions more fed at the same n . te ; that is , more than a sufficiency of all these things for more than twenty-seven millions of peopla
My Lords and Gentlemen , is it not now plain that the bad state of things is preserved by the political patronage which the usurpation of political power by the misapplication of land has given to you and your
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order , and which has been acquiesced in by the new order of political economists , who , as I have shown , derive an income of nearly £ 4 , 000 a year from tbe employment of every 1 , 000 slaves ? and however you and tbe steam lords may affect a humane object , ( which , by the way , I repudiate , aa I look for fall and complete justice , and every particle ef their just rights , for my clients ); but however you may attempt to convince the people that justice and their good is your object , and however you may shove the saddle from back to bact , believe me that those who bear tbe burden now know , and know fall well , that the object of eaeh is to plunder as much as they can from the unrepresented . My Lords and Gentlemen , it is a hard word , but think of the provocation .
My Lords and Gentlemen , while we find the three great parties in thejtate thus struggling as deadly foes , just think of trying' to lock up the treasures of Providence , in order that you may preserve a mere artificial state of pre-eminence over your fellow man , and think of the foolish manufacturers , who have gambled so long in blood , now hoping to persuade a people made miserable by their recklessness , that their Strug * glo is all for the said people ' s benefit
Bnt do we not observe tbe striking anomaly all through but system , of never looking to horne > while ' the eyes of all are eternally directed to other countries for what we could better , more freshly , more conveniently , more profitably , more abundantly , and more comfortably supply from under our own noses ? Hence , injyour House of clerks and " powder monkeys , " you have ministers of war , of colonies and of trade , but no minister of agriculture . You have a minister of allspice , nutmegs , mace , ginger , pepper , raisins , almonds ,
dried currants , cinnamon , oranges and Naple biscuits ; but no minister of wheat and pork , and beef and butter ; and , in truth , I venture to say that Mr . Labouchere would turn up his nose most disdainfully if asked how many stall-fed beasts would make a sufficiency of manure for an acre of potato * ground , or if asked how many men it would require to cut the seed and plant and dig the potatoes ; but , believe me , that a know . ledge of these things is the knowledge which , ere long , will be most prized .
My L » rds and Gentlemen , there is another anomaly which never strikes you . It is , that agricultura l Ireland should have for its governor , a general , a kind of military chieftian—a kind of Don Quixotte , with his squire Soncho Panza in the Cabinet , who knows n » thing about agriculture , the country , the people , their manners or their customs ; who cares netting about agriculture ; whose whole time is taken up in the adjustment of party squabbles , political disagreements , consideration of military , police , and Magisterial affairs ; and changed too with each , administration . He is a mere political tool
and in nine cases out of ten , a most egregious fool ! either a military fop , flying about tbe country ia peacock ' s feathers courting his party , or a quiet-going old gentleman , fearful of doing right lest he may be suspected of doing wroDg ; and in his endeavour to please every body , pleasing no body , and losing his character into the bargain . Such is your political chieftain : while the greatest recommendation which your agents can have , is a steeled heart That man only is fittedfer the collection of rack-rents who cin look upon the Ugil act of taking the bed from under the sick woman and the last cow from the little children , as divested of all moral turpitude .
You will , no doubt , say that I am dealing with the exceptions . I say that I am not ; that on the contrary , good l&ndiords are the exceptions , and they are comparatively few ; and when they are to be found , where is the man more honoured , beloved , and respected in the world ? My Lords and Gentlemen , being connected with , and sometimes managing large estates ; having farmed a large quantity of groundj being a barrister , in very extensive practice , and much consulted by tenants , labourers , and landlords ; having been a Memberof
Parliament for three years for the great county of Cork , and having , through life , given the most serious attention to the state of Ireland , I have no hesitation in stating , that the whole of Ireland ' s wrongs , her poverty , her degradation , the insecurity of property , the hatred of the aristocracy , and contempt for the laws , are consequences more of your misrule , than of any political or religious animosity which the people entertain towards Tories or Protestants . Ihe Tories are Protestants , and the landlords are , for the most part , Protestants , and therefore is all crime , and justly , charged upon Toryism and Protestantism .
My Lords and Gentlemen , you may consider it a " great bore" to be compelled to make any such arrange , ruents as will suit the present times , but the question is , whether you will put up with a choice of evilswhetheryou will undertake the " bore" of collecting more r ent from a greater number , or be " bored" by geing withont any rent . You complain that the people are dirty , while you deprive them of the means of l > eing cleanly . You complain that they are ignorant , while you withhold from them the means of educating themselves . You complain that they are vicious , while you oblige them to have recourse to deception and invention to defend themselves against yeur oppression .
My Lords and Gentlemen , once more I caution you against the foolish notion that an English political question cannot affect Irish property . I tell you that poverty , like water , will find its level ; and I also tell you that the most rising and powerful political interest is that of the English manufacturers , whom you will find to your cost , to be excellent engineers , and which you -will admit when they have reduced you , after payment of debts and mortgagees , to the very same condition that the hand-loom weavers are now in .
My Lords and Gentlemen , I further caution you against the vain hope of preserving monopoly by your political majority ; that , believe me , will be your greatest weakness ; it will , I fear , but add to your difficulties , by emboldening you in your misrule . Pray don't split on that rock ! for believe me , that the day is gone never more to return , when the minds of Englishmen , Irishmen , and Scotchmen , can be held in subjection by Parliamentary majorities , standing armies , police , and a profligate press .
I hava done one man ' s share in producing the present state of things . I have accomplished two grand objects , which through life I have kept in view . I have taught the poor not to be afraid of tbe rich , and not to be ashamed of themselves . I have , in my own person , given to the whole of society a completely new turn ; so much so that I have accomplished that which I believe vanity , self-interest , and pride prevented all my predecessors from attempting . I have taught the people to do without me ; and in this I witness my great protection .
My Lords and Gentlemen , it is not only necessary , but it is a duty to forworn yon of the present state of political feeling . You ore in greater ignorance than the English hand-loom weavers . Y ou read newspapers which pander to your prejudices , and live upon your golli-Mlity . Don't rely upon them ; they ue rotten to the core . So not take it for granted , because the Tory prints assert it , that there is any re-acfclon in the public mind in favour of Toryism . Its very resucitation from the grave has roused the slumbering hatred of all good men against it It must bold power by the musket ;
it must preserve your monopoly by the sword and the gibbet If we are allowed to meet by day , we can beat it in day-light ; and if we are driven to the old alternative for meeting Whig oppression , why we must needs have recourse , onea more , to torchlight meetings ; and I presume the Whig proclamation has died a natural death . However , be assured , that meet we will , and , if attacked , fight we will according to tbe very best of our abilities . My Lords and Gentlemen , I have now pointed out the Boeiftl change which alone can effect that which you and your rivals profess to be your object , the bettering of the people ' s condition ; but < o not
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• oppose that I am foolish enough to imagine that either would surrender their hold , the one of political patronage and the other » f labour-plunder , to * ave the world from flames . No , you would not ! Ask yon , then , way I take so much trouble . I take it to open out a question to the people of England , as regards Ireland , of which they are in utter aad complete ignorance , and in which ignoranoe the press , as ignorant as themselves , would .
from necessity , allow them to remain . I take it to prove that tbe interests of the Irish and the English peasant are inseparable and identical . I take it fer the purpose of letting you understand that while I oppose > repeal of the Corn Laws , from a conviction that the change would greatly damage my clients , that I do not do so , by any means , with an intention of allowing you to starve the people as landlords , or to shoot the labourers at pleasure as politicians .
I feel assured that the press cannot answer me . Just allow me to put yon in possession of one fact . I certainly understand more about Irish agriculture than all the Editors of English newspapers put together ; and yet will you not find one single extract taken from one of my letters , if I write a hundred ; while if some fool of ¦ half-witted political economist began to write » - \ aeries of letters to yon upon free trade , geology , cnemistry , hydrostatics , navigation , application ef steam to hatching goose eggs , Ireland ' s capabilities of rivalling England in Manufactures , if she would only allow Poland or Russia to send her her supper ,
and make clothes Cor the foreigners ; all these things would be noticed , and commented upon , and why ? Because they answer the political end of a political party , while my letters only answer the people ' s end , and ate therefore sure not to answer your purpose or the purpose of the manufacturer . The manufacturers want to get bold of your estates , in fact , to cut them off from production ; you want to preserve them , while you hope to resist the manufacfurers politically ; and I want to step in between both , and raise the value of land , of produce , and of labour , at one and the same time .
Now , then , I have shown you a very simple process by which you may accomplish all these objects . You aust make tbe workman , to a certain extent , his own producer , consumer , and manufacturer . You thereby relieve the manufacturing market of a large portion of its surplus population , while you create for the remainder an increased consuming community for the manufacturer ' s goods . Why do ; you bake your own bread , kill your own beasts , and brew your own beer ? Because , by so doing , you have it best and cheapest Why , then , not allow every poor man to do likewise ?
I have shown you that so far from twenty million acres not producing wheat enough for twenty millions of people , that ten millions would produce wheat , and pork or bacon , butter , oatmeal , mutton , honey , eggs , and poultry enough for more than thirty millions of people ; and I am prepared to go further , and to prove that five millions of acres held by one million heads of families , at the rate of five acres each instead of ten , is capable of producing nearly as much as tbe ten
millions held by the same heads of families . How , what does that prove ? Why , simply the great value of labour as compared to surface , and the capabilities of the soil ; and that the less you ajlow to remain in grass the better . Just think that for four acres of grass , half an acre of meadow , and half an acre of vetches , I can allow but £ 12 o-year in the keep of two cows ; while for the remaining five acres , I allow the whole support of seven persons , and a surplus of £ 30 15 s . annually .
This then is my position . I assert that five millions of acres of land is capable of maintaining one million families at the rate of seven to each family ; and bear in mind , that I allow six millions out of the seven to remain completely Idle . I have not Ufc * n * day » work of any of the sons or daughters into my calculation ; and I further assert that the process required would not occupy each man one-half of the year , while at the lowest average the land would produce a sufficiency of bread , oatmeal , butter , bacon , eggs , poultry , and
several other things , for more than twenty-flve millions of inhabitants . You know little or nothing of spade culture . I do : I have tiled it extensively , and I have shown its effects upon bad land to the Professor of Political Economy , Dr . Longfleld , and to many very excellent gentlemen farmers , and they were astounded at the produce . In speaking of Dr . Longfield , late Professor of Political Economy , and now Law Professor of Trinity College , I must say that he is the only one of the art I ever met in my life who could apply what may be beneficial of the theory to practice .
My Lords and Gentlemen , having embarked in a subject which I find requires more space than I had imagined for doing it and myself and my clients justice , and . being , therefore , compelled to leave much unexplained which might be beneficially communicated , I have come to the resolution of dedicating to yon a book , in which shall be set forth the " Righta of ihe Agriculturist . My Lords and Gentlemen , the more I consider this great , this mighty , and all-important subject , the more convinced am I of the value of the acquirement of a
landed provision f € r the people . Now don't mistake me , as Mr . Justice Ljttledale did , or affected to do , when he infamously , falsely , and illegally told the Grand Jury , at Warwick , that the Chartists desired to take the land from the present occupants and appropriate it to their own uses . Once for all , I tell you that I do not intend any such thing ; that the Chartists do not intend any such thing ; while , at the same time , I am free to confess , that a pertinacious resistance to a just claim not unfxequently terminates in a demand for won than " would have been graciously accepted , if granted courteously , wisely , and in time .
I have weighed my subject and looked cautiously into it , before I introduced to public notice , for tbe people's serious consideration , oue of tha gravest questions ever submitted to them . It is a subject upon which few , very few , are informed ; and upon which the manufacturers of news are ignorant as Boetians . They make the same use of land that they make of churches , tithes , taxes , trade , commerce , and manufactures ; that is to say , they use it each for their respective party purposes , just as it politically suits them .
I should have been mad had I laid this subject before a manufacturing and commercial people , while living in comfort upon forced trade and fictitious money , and before I had prepared their minds for its entertainment , I have , In this letter , informed you ot what , fer many years , has been my object in giving up peace , happiness , fortune , and liberty , for turmoil , uneasiness , discomfort , loss , and a dungeon . My object is to obviate the dependance of the labourer upon his employer ; and my means , indeed the only means ef effecting that , is by establishing some certain market for labour , wherein the full value may be ascertained ; for the working out of which , land is tbe only means , inasmuch as every man bas for that trade both labour and capital in his arms , which he has not for any other .
Herein , then , lay my greatest difficulty . I was well aware that a housed , emaciated , worn-out people , accustomed to a heated atmosphere and a manufacturing life , and wholly ignorant of tbe land its blessings and its capabilities , could not be brought all at once to entertain a question which appeared uninteresting and foreign to their interest . I have now , however , shewn to those who would still remain in the hell-holes , that although they B 6 ver saw a green field , yet , that tiie landed market , iflt were opened for those who would avail themselvesof it , would have the effect of
establishing a standard whereby every labourer ' s wages would be regulated . For instance : suppose that A , an agricultural labourer , can support a wife and five children in comfort , by one-half of his own l » BO » r , and lay up £ 32 a-year , or spend it in the fancy market ; in auch a case , the market being also open for B > ( who may prefer remaining at big own business , ) will prevent a master from being able to get his ( K- ' s ) labour under the value established in the market : thus is B , the operative , who never sees a fioM , served equally as well as A who cultivates tbe fielde .
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My Lords and Gentlemen , believe me that no human being has a more thorough contempt for a mere politician than I have , whether he be Whig , Tory , Radical , or Chartist , except he has some great social object in view . Lock up the land to-morrow , and I would not give yon twopence for the Charter the next day , because you would have deprived it of its jewel . The Charter can never give the people any control over the land of those countries to which their attention is directed ; neither should it ; but it can give them control over it at home , so far aa to relieve them from a hand-tomouth dependance upon all who make unjust profit by their labour .
I have no doubt that in my progress I shall make many enemies ; but all who know me are aware of tke hopelessness of an attempt to turn me from any coarse that I onoe undertake . I may be before the public mind ; and if so , I shall wait till it comes up to me : but a single backward step I will not take . I am moderate in my demand , because it lessens no man ' s store , while it gives plenty to all . I am sincere in my undertaking , and I am resolved to procure the greatest amount of happiness for all , or if needs be to perish nobly in the attempt
My Lords and Gentlemen , I have now told yea how to build a wall of heart * around your persons , aad of bone around year estates . Ton must make the people part and parcel of the aation , or they will cease to have any interest in the well-being of the country . And now , in order to show you the critical applicability of the state of Rome in the days of Tiberius Gracchus , to the present state of this country , arising out of precisely the same causes ( the monopoly of the land by a wealthy oligarchy ) , I shall conclude with the following extract from a speech of Tiberius Gracchvs . Read it , my Lords and Gentlemen , and study it rather than the airy metaphysical nothings of Sir Robert P eel , as delivered to hisconstituents , and which are called elever by a political press . Tiberius
said : " The wild beasts of Italy have their caves to retire to ; but the brave men who spill their blood in her cause have nothing left bat air and light Without houses , without any settled habitation , they wander from place to place with their wives and children ; and their Generals do but mock them , when , at the head of their armies , they exhort them to fight for their sepulchres and domestic Gods ; for , among such numbers , perhaps there is not a Koman who has an altar that belonged to his ancestors , or a sepulchre in which their ashes rest The private soldiers fight and die to advance the wealth and luxury of the great ; and they are called masters of the world , while they have cot a foot of ground in their possession .
Now , my Lords and Gentlemen , barring the "light and air " which the English slaves do net enjoy , do you not recognise the strict analogy between the Romans in the days of Tiberius , and the English in the days of your misrule ? I am , my Lords and Gentlemen , Your obedient And very humWe servant , FEABGUS O'CONNOR . July 20 th , 1841 .
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BILSTON — The Bilston Chartists held their usua ; meeting in the open air , at the BaAl Court Though the evening was Bhowery and unfavourable , yet it was numerously attended , and the greatest attention was paid to Mr . Candy ' s lecture , who , in & most able manner , expounded the principles « f democracy and the science of Government to tbe great satisfaction of his hearers . Our Association is now one hundred and twenty-seven in membership . PABtABTOM . —A Public Meeting was held , on Monday evening , at the Bull Stakes , Mr . Dudley hi the chair , who , after a few brief remarks , introduced Mr . H . Candy , Chartist lecturer for the mining districts . His address was upon monopolies , and their evils ;
labour , and its rights . He began by showing the evils that had arisen in society through the effects of class legislation and an irresponsible Government , who had enacted laws beneficial to the few , but destructive to the many ; that the effects of monopoly , with all its baneful influences , may be traced through all the departments of the Government , from the highest aristocrat in power to the lowest jack in office ; their aim , their study , and sole object was to plunder and rob tbe productive classes , and to coerce and keep them down by an overbearing power of soldiery , police , yeomanry , hired spies , the minions , and tools , and despicable agents of a treacherous and deceitful Government ,
plundering aristocratic idlers , an over-gorged , hypocritical , avaricious , cormorant State Church , the trio of which was so united in their villany , whether Whig or Tory it was immaterial to the working man , him and his interests was crucified between the two , so that they may attain their unholy desires at the expence of tbe people's weal . He fully exposed their monopolies ; and then beautifully entered into the detail of labour , its rights , and its legitimate reward , lie was heard ¦ with great attention by a vast assemblage of some thousands . The immense area , right in the centre of tbe town , was literally crammed ; and no doubt the seeds sown by Mr . Candy will bring forth fruit an hundred fold to the good cause .
Mr . Candy is engaged for six weeks longer ; and we earnestly hope that all true Chartists will use every exertion to contribute , in the various localities of Wolverhampton , Bilston , Darlaston . and Wednesbury , to the Committee , and persons appointed to receive monies on behalf of the lecturers' fund . CZT 7 OF LONDON . —A special general meeting of the shareholders of the Scientific and Political Institute , 55 . Old Bailey , was held on Sunday morning last , July 18 th , when rules for their future guidance was agreed upon , and a managing committee for the succeeding quarter was elected . It . was announced by the former committee that out of fifty shareholders twenty-four regularly took the ts ' trthern Star weekly , besides a good sale of tae National Vindicator , and
other invaluable vehicles of sound political principles , and the profits arising from which go towards defraying the general expences of the above Institute-The public can obtain them also from ten to twelve o ' clock every Sunday morning at the above place : and when free of expecoe the Hall will be opened to them for political information . In the evening of the same day , Mr . Watkins preached ( the above room being licensed for the same ) a very excellent Chartist sermon , which gave general satisfaction to a most numerous and respectable congregation . Next Sunday evening , the 25 th inst , Mr . James Savage , another known Chartist , is expected to preach ; and on the Monday evening following , a social concert will take place to defray the expences of the London general election committee in the above Institute .
PBBBY . —Mr . Bairstow delivered two lectures in the Market Place on Sunday night . The lecturer occupied about three quarters of an hour in depicting the condition of the working millions , and the so-styled higher classes of society . He was listened to with the deepest attention , and at the conclusion stated that on the next evening he would point out the course the people ought to take now that the Tories are in power . On Monday evening , Mr . Bairstow spoke for two hours and a quarter , and his arguments wero clear and convincing . At the con elusion , a vote of thanks was passed unanimously to the lecturer , and the meeting broke up , a great many persons declaring it was the best lecture ever delivered in the Market Place . The Whigs and sham-Radicals are going to hold a private meeting , for the purpose of forming a Society , having for its objects Household Suffrage and the Ballot . Let them beware ; the real Chartists of Derby are not to be duped with their clap-trap measures .
CHESTER FIEUO AND BROIttPTOJf . —At the weekly meeting of the Chartists , held on Monday evening last , the following members were chosen to aene on the General Council for the next three months : —Messrs . J . By croft , A . Beresford , W . Barkes , J . Wlgley , B . M ' tallan , E . Broomhead , J . Williams , sub-Treasurer , W . Martin , sub-Secretary . The resolution of Mr . O'Connor in his letter to Mr . Sinclair of Gatesheod , was carried unanimously , after which the meeting separated . BECKMO NBWXKE .- —At a meeting held on
Monday last , a vote of thanks was proposed and carried to the electors for their prudence and decision in remaining at home with their wives and families , and keeping away from the polling booths of both Whig and Tory . A heart-stirring and animating address was given by one of out own body . The Radicals were mueb commended for their consistency in going to the nomination unpaid , and , in some cases , at the risk of losing their employment , while the slaves of the factions went under the influence of their masters for one shilling each and a waggon ride , to rivet the chains of slavery .
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^^^ W Z ^ y ^ P ^ ^ g ^^ i ^/ tofrosi DUBLIN . —The TJetoml Snftagfl AsaoehMon fitr this place beld their usual weekly meeting on Sunday evening last , Mr . Woodward in tbe cbair , who , in a neat speech , replete with argument and good sense , showed very clearly the evils of the present defective system of election , and said that nothing short of the principles contained in the People's Charter could really benefit the producers of wealth . Mr . Bropby next addressed tbe meeting on the importance of the principle of Universal Suffrage ; he showed wh »» the people had to expect from the faction about to come into
power , and what they had received from the base , treacherous Whig faction , who preached np liberality at the time they were prosecuting the producers of wealth ; and reform and retrenchment when they were forging new fetterr for the people , and wasting in profligacy the public money on spies and policemen to stifle the roice of the people . Mr . Wood , in a very comprehensive speech , urged the necessity of union among the working classes of Ireland ; he said the words " No Popery and OranReumV ought t » be buried , and that the man who would endeavour to agitato these opinions was an enemy to the peace and prosperity of Ireland . Patrick O'Higgins , Esq ., next addressed the meeting . He said he would be glad , at all times , to have an opportunity of addressing so orderly a meeting as that before him , which was a credit to those who conducted U . He drew a vivid picture of £ he manner in which tbe people of Ireland
have been deceived by the paid and place-bunting "patriots , " and showed the impracticability ' of the present Repeal scheme , ' which was a mere clap-trap to answer the ends of a party . He declared himself to be a Chartist and Repealer , and pledged himself that the Chartists of England were more earnest in the Repeal cause than aay of the brawlers at the Corn Exchange . He gave some very striking proofs of the perfidy of some of those would-be-thought" patriots , " which called forth the disapprobation of a person present , but Mr . O'Higgins told him that he was not now obliged to keep secrets , and that ha could prove what he had then asserted . Mr . O'Higgins was much applauded during his speech , and strong marks of astonishment were given by the meeting at the exposure he gave the supporters of liberality . A vote of thanks was given to the chairman , and tbe meeting separated , all highly delighted : with the proepacta now before them in Ireland .
BEIFA 8 T . —The Chartists of thto place held thete usual weekly meeting on the 13 th Instant , when there was a good muster . A committee of five persons were appointed to look after a larger room , as the one they meet in at present is top small . They intend , as soon as they can procure a large room , to admit the public , and invite discussion upon the principles of the Charter . Letters were read from several individuals in England and Scotland , which elicited the approbation of all present Several new members were enrolled . Chartism is making a steady advance in tbe North of Ireland , and the spare papers of English and Scotch friends are solicited .
HALIFAX . —Mr . J . Watson , of Keighley , delivered a very animated address in the Charter Institution of this place , on the evening of Monday last Tbe room was crowded to excess , and the 'home ' . troths which he delivered told well upon his audience , and caused many to respond to the truth of his statements . He was rapturously cheered throughout the whole of his discourse , at the conclusion of which several rounds of applause were given for the f caged lion , " the Northern Star , the other Chartist victims , and to the lecturer ; after which several persons came forward and enrolled themselves in the association . A very spirited subscription has been entered into for a new banner to honour the liberation of our great champion , F . O'Connor , Esq ., on which a splendid-whole length likeness of that gentleman will appear . The females are « ielng with and emulating the men in this patriotic undertaking .
NEWCASTLE . —The Newcastle Chartists held their weekly meeting , on Monday night , Mr . Crothers in the chair . The Secretary read the minutes of last meeting which were adopted ; he likewise read several letters , including one which he received from Colonel Thompson , in which he states it to be the firm belief of an eminent Pivrliamentary council that Mr . Bronterre O'Brien was legally elected for Newcastle , < fcc . 4 > c . The following resolutions were then carried unanimously : — Mr . Fraser moved and Mr . Bruce seconded , " That thto committee return hearty thanks to Col . Thompson , of Blackheath , near London , for bis kind offer to render us assistance in establishing the point of Mr . O'Brien's election , and that tbe Secretary be instructed to reply to Col . Thompson ' s letter . " Moved by Mr . Brace , seconded by Mr . Fainlough , "That an address be
issued by the friends of justice throughout the empire , through tbe Star , rtquesting their co-operation in raising the necess&ry funds for claiming that seat for James Bronterre O'Brien , Esq ., in the Commons' House of Parliament , to which he was duly and truly elected by the suffrages of tbe borough of Newcastle-upon-Tync , and that Messrs . John . Mason and James Sinclair b » appointed to draw out that address . " Mr . Mofiatt moved , and Mr . Fainlough seconded , " That Jaraea Sinclair be appointed sub-treasurer for Mr . O'Brien's Petition Fund . " Mr . Bruce moved , and Mr . Hall seconded , " That a committee be appointed to audit tbe Election Fund accounts , previous to the balancesheet being made out , and that Messrs . Frazer and Bruce , with Maugham and Sinclair , form that committee , and that the balance-sheet be sent to the Northern Star for insertion . " v
STJNDEBLAND . —On Sunday afternoon , at the Life Boat House , Mr . Geo . Binns delivered an excellent address to a large audience . Lecture by Mr . Harney . —On Friday last , this indefatigable , honest , and talented missionary in the cause of freedom , visited Sunderland , after an absence of nearly two years . This long absence , together with the talent and manifest zeal of Mr . Harney , excited a strong and general desire to have a lecture from him ; accordingly , the Arcade Room , the largest in the town , was engaged for him , and on Friday evening , by the hour appointed for the lecture , it was crammed from end to end . On the appearance ef Mr . Harney he was greeted with most enthusiastic cheering . He was accompanied by Mr ,
Williams , who briefly introduced Mr . H . to the meeting , when Mr . Harney rose , and was received by load and continued aheering , which having subsided , Mr . Harney appropriately thanked the meeting for the reception they had given him and complimented the Chartists of Sunderland upon the noble position they had maintained at the late borough election . Mr . H . then dashed into the subject of his lecture , beginning by exhibiting a rapid , clear , slashing and destructive review of the career of the Whigs , since their acceptance of office in 1832 , to the period of- their ignominious defeat in . 1841 ; proving that they had been one of the most , it' not ( he moat treacherous , profligate , and tyrannical administrations , that had ever affected this
unfortunate country . He then searchingly analysed the pretences upon which they had dissolved Parliament and exposed the utter inefficiency of the ministerial scheme of Commercial Reform , to remove the evil * that now afflict us . With reference to the means by which the national expenditure might be brought down to the national income , or the tax receipts of the exchequer , be sqaared with the Ministerial expenditure , he gave some valuable instructions to Lord Morpeth and the Whigs . He asked how it was that , accepting office with a surplus revenue , they had left it with an annual and increasing deficiency , and by continually increasing the debt ; and showed that it wa 3 by their system of foreign and domestic policy : by their intermeddling and
peddling interference in Spain , and Egypt , and Turkey ; by their tyranny and plunder in India ; their robbery of the Canadian exchequer , and despotic rule in Canada ; and , lastly , by their opium war in China ; while at home they squandered the public treasure , in establishing a town and rural police force ; in the erection of gaols , station-houses , and model prisons ; the employment of spies , traitors , and informers ; the prosecution , imprisonment , and tyrannous treatment of their country ' a patriots , &o . He said , if they were honest , they would retrace their steps , and begin the work of retrenchment by reducing their owa salaries to an extent corresponding with the reduction which the
working men have had . to sustain . Mr . H . then passed on to examine what the Tories , who declaimed these things , would do to remedy the evil , and proved , from the history of that bloody and brutal faction , that they , were no better than the Whigs . He advised the people to take their affairs into their own hands , to stand by their own principles , and advance their own cause—encouraging them , by exhibiting the rapid progress which Chartism had made ; its present important position , and cheering prospects . He then concluded a long , interesting , and useful addre 83 , amidst great applause . Mr . Binns briefly proposed the thanks of the meeting to Mr . Harney , which was canied by acclamation , and , Mr . H . having acknowledged the honour , the meeting concluded .
Chabtist Discussion Class . —On Saturday evening last , the members of the Chartist Discussion Class , meeting at Mr . Or win ' s , New Hopper-street , Bishopwearmoutb , discussed the following question : - — " Are the principles of the Charter based upon truth ? " At the commencement of business , Mr . Slater was unanimously called to the ohair . He called upon Mr . Anderson , the proposer , to introduce the question , which Mr . A . did in a neat and appropriate speech . He was followed by Messrs . Dobbie , Taylor , and others , who , by the talent displayed , proved the utility of such discussion . After an
animated and instructive debate , tbe discussion was closed by Mr . Anderson . We wonld most strongly recommend our brother Chartists living in that neighbourhood to avail themselves of the advantages of thiti class ; for not only is the system of discussing political subjects calculated to deepen their knowledge of them , but the general conduct of this class , the spirit of unity that has ever distinguished them , their liberal aid to the cause , and their untiring zeal , entitles the members of it to honourable notice . We say this without disparaging the services rendered by other classes in the town .
KEIGHLEY . —On Monday evening , Mr . Jackson gave a lecture on the principles of Chartism , and another on Tuesday evening on the benefits of teetotalism , both of which were numerously attended , and were listened to with the greatest satisfaction . ^
To The Landlords Of Ireland. Lktteb In.
TO THE LANDLORDS OF IRELAND . LKTTEB in .
Cijatrtigt -Eirteuigettte.
Cijatrtigt -EirteUigettte .
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. X - £ AND LEEDS GENERAL ADVERTISER .
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YOL . IT . ISO . 193 . SATURDAY , JULY 34 , 1841 . ^ rS . ' ^ ST '
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), July 24, 1841, page unpag, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct860/page/1/
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