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l'ilE A T OETHEfiN STAE SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1842.
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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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THE MASON'S STRIKE . ' - \ An extremely large '^ nliic meeting was held on- 12 wcday , in the large atom of the White Conduit House Tavern , for t > . ^ purposed taking into consideration the present p ^ ti . n of the masons , and also for the purpose ol fcsnsidainr . ihe best meanB to be adopted in supporting them in tie : r present straggle . / " Mr . 'Vfakley irw one of the fint -who sscended the jlatfdHn . 3 £ fc . Dukxis g , a bootWadaf , -was -called to the XSaxt . He said that in taking the tnair that night fei felt the protest pleasure . The Btrike had then teontinued twenty weeks . In the strike there had been 575 persons , of whom onSy five had proved false \ o the cause . The drcumstaness peculiar to the trade whicb then solicited their Brppsrt , rendered that support at
that momest the more ^ essential , ss the masons , at that tinve o £ th « year , -were generaMy out of employaient from eoa « ed of the kingdom fe > tb « other . Therefore , it beams those of the other trades to come forward and assist them / the masons ) , which would enable them to get over the present period ; and when that per » 4 was got orer , there was no fear , as to tb « result of tiM straggle , because the New Royal Exchange , the Mfcseam , and various other public buildiBgs , would Jse-cemmenced , and whea that took place , they might * 6 epand upon "the victory . ( Cheers . ) He need not go cinto the cast of the . masons since their strike . They fcad taken a liigh moral stand—a stand the result of ¦ ed ucation . Ho hoped they "would still adhere to-the - ^ ause , and soon brin £ it to a successtal termination . Be -wonld -conclade by-calling on Mr . Crokon to . move " ! &e "first resolution .
Mr . € Hsltox , paintsr , said he rose with much pleasure to propose the " following resolution " That it 3 » ; the opinion « £ this meeting tiatj the -steady , upright , and manly-conduct of the masons during snch a long : and arduous straggle pre-eminently deserves the utmost praise , and our additional support . " . ( Cheers . ) Se wonld endeavour to lay before them such facts as Trould , he was stte , cause them to carry out this ^ resolution , and which would not only prove to them r that the masons -deserved their applause , bat all the = support they coold possibly bring to them . It had been ¦ stated to them that 37 * men were on the strike , and of that number not one had broken the laws of his country . They had never seen any police reports inserted in any ¦ o £ the papers respecting them . Tiieir straggle was -founded on Christian and humane principles , to resist -the oppression of a being who was sot worthy the narno
of an Englishman , -who had been raised to his office for the sole purpose of pursuing a system of slave-driving . He iMr . Golton ) -would endeavour to" show that the miasons' iateresi was the interest of the masters . He then "went into the various details relative to the strike , . and which finally led to the men leaving their employment , all of -which details have appeared in our reports of the various speeches delivered at the eirlier meetings of the masons . He concluded a very long speech by calling on them to use their utmost exertions in supporting the masoss , and then they -would not have to return to their work comfortably vrith Allen , as Mr . Grissell had last Wednesday said they would . He had said that "in the course of three weeks they will all be comfortibly back again . " "But , " he also added , " I must confess these men of principle were the best men I ever had in my life . "
Mr . Waklet briefly seconded the resolution , which ¦ was put and carried unanimously . Mr . Clarke , a painter , said he felt great pleasure in calling their Ettmtion to a subject of the higbes-t importince to them a-s mea—a subject they had nut that evening to aavince—that of obtaining for the working man that moral , that social , and political itinding , which 4 he sons of labour , the creators of all -wealth , were sof uily , fairly , and ju ? t . y ei . t tied to . They had been opposed by "the combination of capitaluts , but owing to the united effoiia of the trades , they had been able to * tand against them—{ hear , hear )—and if they still held together , . they must , aid would be successful . ' Many perhaps ft this moment would ask , " what have we t 3 do with that strike , we are not masons—we have nothing to do -with stone ; " but he wonld endeavour to show that they had to do -with it , that they were atticking the strong hold of corruption , and what was ¦ ihe masons' situation then might be theirs to-morrow . Let them come forsrard and break the chain of tyranny
asunder . Ii ^ t us unite with hearts sincere in tmth , Oar mental might to this . ennobling -work , The mind's regeneration , and become Messiahs in the cause of liberty , Nor cease until from out ths book of life W « blot the name of tyrant and of slave . —( Cheers . ) The resolution he had to propose was" That it is the opinion of this meeting " , that the bold and decisive conduct adopted by the quarry-men , in nobly refusing to prepare stone for the supply of Messrs . Grissell and Peto , until justice has been conceded to the injured masaas , thereby sacrificing their employment , deserves our cordial th ?^* , and creates in us a greater r tjTnnV . Tit to action . " Mr . Thomas briefiy seconded the resolution , which , en being put to the meeting , -was carried amidit loud applause .
Mr . Feargns O'Connor then entered the room , and was received -with a tremendous burst of cheering , which lasted a considerable time . Mr . BVTiEB said he could assure them that he had always anticipated success with respect to the qnesiion a- issue , and he was now still further confident of the result from that meeting . The resolution he had to propose bore something of a political character : — " That it 1 * the opinion of this meeting , that the partial conduct of the Commissioners of "Woods and Forests , aod the Board of Admiralty , in assisting Messrs . GriBsell and Peto against the masons now on strike , clearly proves
that the Government is determined to eppress the working classes ; and therefore it is absolutely nectssarj that extensively organised nnions should exist for the purpose of protecting ourselves against the combined efforts of those who lire upon the frnits of our industry . " ( Loud cheeri ) He did not think he need be Tinder any apprehension In that resolution being received by them . They knew perfectly well that Lord Lincoln , and other great men in the Government , had done- all in their power to . starve the men into submission , bnt he trnstsd the good men of the trades of the metropolis -would * never allow them to become the easy tools of such a base faction . ( Cheers )
Mr . Baker seconded the resolution withont comment . Mr . A . Walto 5 rose to speak to the resolution . The resolution just submitted to them , condemnatory of the Commissioners of Woods and Forests and the Board of Admiralty , he trusted , would meet with their entire concurrence . He rejoiced at their again assembling on that occasion . It was a proof that they felt the deepest interest in that struggle—that they were fully sensible of the fact that the Commissioners of Woods and Forests and the Eosrl of Admiralty had rendered their services to Grissell an > i Peto , for the purpose of oppressing the masons . They ithe masons ) wrote to the CommiBsioners of "Woods and Forests , and tbey Bent an answer to tht
letter , stating that thty could not interfere , while they were actually holding a secret correspondence -with Grissfcll and Peto ; and when a deputation of tht masons waited on ths Eart of Lincoln , for the purpose of explaining the Etrike , he said they were decidedly opposed to trades * unions or combinations . ' " GrsseU and Peto were left to do what tbey thought proper , and they were protected . The quarrymen beard of tht conduct of Allen , and immediately refused to produce any more stone until he was dismissed . The Commissionera of Woods and Forests wrote a letter by their agents , Messrs . Burgess and Walker , stating to Messrs . Grissfcll and Peto , that they might get stone from any part of tde country they chose . He ( Mr . Wa : touj exiled their attention to the systematic union amines !
those parties , whilst the Eirl of Lincoln was condemning union amongst tha working classes . The Tin . es had Eaid that if they could not get stone from any part of England they could get from Suuth America . He iMr . W . ) thought it would fcirathcr an unprofitable speculation . ( Laughter . )—The Times had recommended the Government to reenact the combination laws , bnt if ever they atteiuj t = d to crush trades' unions , that would raise such a tempest round their heads as would with some difficulty be quelled . 'C heers . ) The Government ought nut to have interfered ; and , if they did so , tbey should haW aiade inquiries into the merits of the cose . The misons had at all times been ready , and were so still , to snbmit the ease to arbitration ; and if the reporter of the Times
was in that room , be trusted he would tike that declaration , and Jet them know the fact . Bui they wonld never gfct justice frem the present Government , hot ¦ would they ever get justice from the \ r representatives , until they were made lesponrible to the people for their actions . tLoud cheers . ) They might as well txpect to find the sun in darks ess—they might as well expect to find the great universe acting in opposition to the established laws of nature , as expect the Government to have say thing like sympathy for the people while thai Government was based upon a system of class legisl&tioB . Ha wonld endeavour to show them ths exteat of onion which existed amongst 'them , as they « oold appreciate the value of union as well as the { JfiTeznment . He would endeavour to show them the absolute necessity of uniting for their owa protection . All classes of society , exctpt the
working men , were protected by law . He would take for instance the solicitor , the physician , the surgeon , jOI these were under the protection ei the law , and no one conll practice in either unless be had taken his ^ egreet . But where was the protection for the honest -SBd iadustrions working man ? H « would Ulltbtm what their protection must be . It must be union union which would tend to their own welfare and be tb » means of bettering their condition , and which wonld be the instrument ot their own regeneration . For this usioa it was indispensably necessary that delegate committees she-nld exiBt in London Mid through the provinces . la every town in England they should be formed , and the whole of tht' ^ e unions , directed by intelligence , would fhow to the world that they were not that bloody and sanguine mob they were represented to be , but an nprieht and generous people determined to be free . . ( Losd chseis . )
The resolution was put and carried with loud cheers . 3 Jjv . ^ 3 S Ba » proposed the Ksolutioa : —
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" That this meeting do , individually and collectively , declare their determination to assist the masons vhile tie ; strike lasts . " This resolution was received with loud cheers . Mr . Tribe seconded the reaolotien . Mr . Anbbkson having spoken to the resolution , it was carried unanimously , and with vehement cheering . The CH . UB . H an then stated that a meeting weald be held every Monday evening at the Craven Head , Drurylane ; and every Tuesday evening at the Prince ' s Head , Prince'S'Stieet , Westminster .
Mr . Walton said it was the intention of the Committee to have had a ball on Wednesday week , but , as that was Ash Wednesday , the landlord had been threatened with the loss of his licensa , and therefore the ball was postponed till the Monday following . Perhaps it would be thought s * " * nge ihat they came so far from the centre of the town , bnt the proprietor of ^ the room had given it gratuitsusly . — jioud cheers . ) . Mr . Waxlet then presented himself , and was received with cheering , which continued for some minot-zs . As toon aa silence was restored , be said he could assure them that he had att -nded there that night for the purpose of witnessing t ' aeir proceedings , with great satisfaction . Nothing could be more gratsful to his
feelincs 4 han th * t of discovering * hafc a large poiVen of his countrymen were struggling for their rights w : th a determination of being victorious . In the speeches they had heard , which had been delivered for their information , were the details of grievances which the men employed on the Houses of Parliament had endured ; and he would ask them , and he was bold to make the appeal not only to them bat to the whole of England , whether it was possible for one maa to possess an honest English heart who did not sympathise with the hardships these men had endured ? It was an easy thing for those who had capital , which had been accumulated by the labour ef the people , to say that unions were mischievous , an » l that the working men were acting tyrannically . Th > y had heard sf physic being
protected by the law ; they might go fnrther , and say the Church also : in fact , the aristocracy of England were united as one mao against the interests of the working man . If they wanted a clergyman for their parish , could they have him ? No ; ht > was set down as a black . ( Laughter . ) The church said they would not have your black , but would have & black of tbeit own . ( Cheers and laughter . ) Take the law , of which Mr . F . O'Connor was a member , and they knew how he had taken up the cause of the people , and so the law sert him to Coventry . ( Cheers . ) Suppose they wanted him ( Mr . Wakleyj to plead their cause in any court of law , could they have him ? No . It would be a very bad thing for him if they did . But that was not to the point . Could they exeicise their own will and
judgment 1 Is o : because the benchers would denounce him ( Mr . W . ) aa a black in law ; they would not have his coif and gown , as it would not be according to their liking . ( Loud laughter and cheers . ) Take the practice of physic , and look to the Apothecaries Company . They were a voluntary company at first , but they had a charter granted to them by James , and then cime the oSrd of George III ., by which Act any man who dared to prescribe a dose of rhubarb or jalap , unless he was a member of the said society , must forfeit £ 20 for that very grave offence . Yet the parties who created these unions denounced the working men of London as tyrannical because they had the sagacity to stand up for their own protection . Who did not feel the spirited conduct of the men at the two Houses of
Parliament ? they had taught even hospitality t-i Gnsseil and Peto , for they had had a dimner party , and one thousand seven hundred of their workmen had dined at the Horns Tavern , at Kenningtin ; and th « se men oltiined a good dinner by means of the masons' ttnke . < L- > nd cheers ) He never could believe that nearly 300 men would throw themselves out of employment , at a season of privation and distress , without feeling that they were right in doing so . The Hon-Gentleman then west on at considerable Iengtb , urging upon them each to subscribe a weekly sum , so that the masons might have a permanent income that would last as long as the strike lasted . He was willing , as long as be had a shilling in hispockot , to contribute his share . The political unions in the House
of Commons were such , that he had seen , in close divisions , the leaden of adverse factions bring in idiots and Innatics to give their votes . He pledged his word and honour that he had seen idiots and lunatics voting in making laws for this empire . These were the men who bad denounced their unions , and were prepared to denounee them still , and who would , if they allowed them , pass laws for the abolition of all Trades' Societies . The Hon . Gentleman then went into very lengthy details respecting the Dorchester labourers , and his exertions in their behalf . The Hon . Gentleman concluded an extremely long speech by calling upon them to assist heart an 4 hand in the masons' cause , and then to form associations for the purpose of obtaining Universal Suffrage , and never to rest till they had obtained it .
Mr . FeaBGUS CVConnor then rose and said , it the concluding advice of Mr . Wakley had been taken and acted upon some few years ago , the masons would not have been in the painfnl position of being obliged to look to that meeting for support . He rejoiced in making one of them there that night- He rejoiced the more in consequence of the latt sentence he had beard from Mr . Butler , when he ( O'Connor ) en tared the room . He told them that the motion bore something of a pel t ' . cal complexion , and this it was thft gave him ( O'Gonnon so much satisfaction . As Mr . Wakley had said , it was art so much toe aristociacy who pressed upon the working classes as the middle classes of society , who trampled on the people . No tmth could be plainer than the rights of these four hundred
men who had given up the sources . of their own maintenance rather than injure tbeir trade , or allow these tyrants to have the victory over them . He had told Lord Grey , Lord Brougham , Lord Stanley , and the rest , at the time the poor Dorchester labourers case Was brought before the Hcuse of Commons , that they onght to be in the convict's dress , and going on board the hulks . Tbey were now in a positien to assert their rights , and to . go at once to the root of class legislation . Mr . Wakley wonld be going down to the House of Commons , and he Hoped he would stand ihere the leader of those who were the master-arm of the nation . TTnien was necessary in order to effect triumph . The King of Prussia was going dow « to the opening of Parliament , and would sit by the side of the Queen in
that House of Incurables . What would he think if he was told ty Mr . Wakley , that in the other House idiots and lunatics voted in making the laws i He would think that one was an Hospital of Incurablus , and the other an Hospital for Lunatics . He ( Mr . O'CJ had been in the Queen ' s Bench , and he never found a man there that was in debt : he had been in York Castle amongst thieves and vagabonds and he never found a thief or a vagabond there yet ; and so in the House of Commons and the House of Lords , they -would never find an enemy to the poor . The present t jne put him in mind of that when Charles James Fox accepted office . They then cor . tsn'led for
all the six poitt * which he ( Mr . O'C . ) did , but when they got en the other side of Downing-Ffcrett . all they did was to remove a few contractors from Parliament , and deprive revenue officers of their votes . It was like the old lady when she got her fet t on the fender , she did not think the poor people could be cold . So when C . J . Fox and his party were in tffise they thonght the stati of the nation was ntt half so bad as when they were out . He concluded an extremely long speech , of « hich we are only able to give the heads , by expressing a hope that those men who bad taken the place of those in ttriie , would gtt the new Houses of Parliament bnilt by the time the Reformed Parliament was ready to take possession of them . ( Loud cheers . ) A v < te of thanks was then passed to the Chairman , and the meeting separated .
L'Ile A T Oethefin Stae Saturday, February 5, 1842.
l'ilE A OETHEfiN STAE SATURDAY , FEBRUARY 5 , 1842 .
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USE , AND ABUSE , OF MACHINERY . Hundreds of times has it been asserted in the columns of the Northern Star , that machinery , when rightfully applied , is one of the greatest of blessings to man , both individually and socially . Hun dreds of times have we shewn how it might be made into " Man ' s Holiday" instead of being , as it is at present , man ' s greatest enemy and curse . Hundreds of times have we explained the difference in result upon the happiness and well-beiag of the operative
community , arising from the use or abuse of machinery . Ofwn aad again have we declared ourselves to be in ftvour of as much and as perfect machinery as can by possibility be introdaced , provided it be rightfully used : and often and again have we shewn that the wrongs and miseries entailed upon the working people by the present extensive use of it arises from the fact that it U not rightfull y applied ; that it is most foolishly , most insanely abased .
By a proper use or rightful application of machinery , we mean such an use or application of its powers as will xkstjbx to the working pevpU their fair share of all and every benefit arising from its introduction and employment . By the abuse of machinery , we mean Buoh an application of its powers as enabled John Makshaix of Leeds , in less than forty yean , to accumulate to himself upwards of iwo millions of money ! while
it consigned those who icorked the machinery , which was called his , to penury and want ; to long hours , short wages , and , by consequence , dear food ! It is so plainly apparent that whatever can be introdaced that has the effect of lessening man ' s toil and increasing his means of producing wealth mast , of itself , be a good , that we imagine it would not be possible to find the face of the earth a Einfile human being who wo Id attf «> pt an objection
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to machinery in the abstract ; and it is also 88 plainly apparent , that if machinery were rightfully applied , —applied so as to be of immediate and certain benefit to all , workman and employer , producer and consumer , that it would be as difficult to find an honest objector to its use . It is equally apparent that , if the new powers , or adds to human labour , supplied by machinery , be so csed and applied as to confer the whole benefit upon a very few , and to inflict misery destitution and death upon the producing many , no justification for that application can be offered .
It is also equally as apparent , that our machinery has always hitherto been so applied ; to the raising and gathering together of large heaps of wealth for the " great" owners of it , and to the driving from the workshop the man who had to " earn his bread by the sweat of his brow , " and dragging into his place ( where a sentient being was . still needed ) the woman and the child , inflicting upon iftem longer hour * of toil than the man had to endure before his supercession ; and involving a / Jin a race of commercial strife , which continually takes from the wages of the work-woman and work-child , and inflicts suffering and poverty upon all who have to live by daily toil .
Tell us not that these things must continue ! Tell us not that it is impossible otherwise to apply machinery ! Tell us not that it is impossible to secure the working man his fair share of the benefit accruing from every improvement ! Tell us not that this cannot be done ! We tell you , not only that it can , but that it must ! And if those in power cannot find out the way to do this effectually and un-injuriously to all , they must give way to those who can . A better and more just disiribulion of the " fruits" of toil must be made ; mi if our legislators and governors be unequal or indisposed to this task , out they must come ! That which is of itself one of the greatest of blessings , must not continue to be made into the greatest of scourges and curses . It m ¥ st be regulated ! It must be used within ^ due
limits ; and its benefits must be diffused amongst and secured to all concerned . Tkese are our views , then , upon the general question of machinery ; views reiterated again and again . We allude to them here , and set them forth in this plain and connected form , because it is necessary that we meet and destroy a dastardly attempt of the enemy to inculcate a notion amongst the factory masters that we are weekly endeavouring to decry the use of machinery altogether . The Whig " Establishment , " utterly unable to rebut the facts we have adduoed , showing , conclusively , that our
present application of machinery is a wrong one ; utterly unable to refute the reasoning we have employed , and tho data we have given ; utterly unable to upset the positions we have thus made good : the Whigprets , unable to defend the system which at present obtains , and conscious that the assaults that have been made upon it , if not counteracted by some means or other , will end in its downfall and the establishment of another and a better ; the Whig organs , seeing and dreading this , because ef the sensitiveness of class interest , meets us only by wilful and infamous misrepresentation ! We denounce those workings of our present system which have
reduced the labouring people to that state of poverty and want , that their Masters find them " wishing the Almighty would put an end to their sufferings before morning ; " and we show that this poverty and want have been brought on by the dreadful and suicidal misapplication of the immense powers of production we have at our command ; and forsooth we are represented as denouncing the existence of the powers themselves ! We plainly and clearly expose the enormous abuses connected with the present working of machinery ; we strongly and forcibly " shew up" the insanity of the arrangements which engender and continue these abuses ; and we are immediately represented as objecting to the use of machinery itself !
Nothing on earth was ever more palpably false or more palpably gross . It is to the abuse alone that we object ' , none but foolB would object to its
use . We hold that it is as impossible to return to the rude and unskilful processes of former times , as it will be to prevent the invention and discovery of other machinery and processes to supersede those now in use ; and we hold that none but a besotted ninny would attempt to do either . At the same time we hold that every addition to our means of producing wealth ought to be beneficial to the whole , and ought not to inflict injury upon any . If this be not the £ case , the blessing is averted and withheld .
These are the principles that have actuated us in our labours for the poor upon thia question . We have asserted their right to a fair share of all the benefits resulting from new and improved means of national wealth , and we have strongly denounced all who denied them this right , or interfered to prevent the establishment and enjoyment of it . It was not likely that parties acting as we have
acted would be allowed to pursue such a course unmolestedly . Every man whose means of living without labour depended upon the existence of the abuses we exposed was sure to be up in arms ; every toad-eater and bribed advocate in the land was sure to espouse the cause of their patrons and employers ; and every means that malice and fear could invent or prompt were sure to be put in requisition .
They have been so ! From one end of the kingdom to the other the press has had its jibe , its sneer , or its stab at poor Pilgarlick . And yet "Pil " survives ! aye , and even yet bids defiance to them all !! Envy , too ; rancorous , dirty-souled , mole-spirited envt , has been at work ! Where it has not been prudent to openlj denounce , uhisper has been emplojed . If a division in the consolidated ranks oi the poor , whose cause we have espoused , and whose efforts we are guiding to the establishment of the above defined rights could be made , the enemy might still continue to triumph , and wallow in his wrong ) y-gotten gains . Pretended friends have ,
therefore , been employed . These have been instruoted to join the associated bodies ; to worm themselves into favour and good grace ; to get into offices of power and trust ; and to judiciously nee the influence they by these means acquire to the destruction of the character of each and every leader ot the people who is too honest to be bought , and too independent to be unworthily used . All these means have failed , though ! and will fail ! spite of all that can be done to prevent their failure ! The people have at last gotten the truth so well grounded in them , that it is no longer possible to deceive . The traitors and spies ar , one and all , bundled out of the camp the moment they show the cloven foot .
And thus will it continue to be , until the cause of the people overcomes all opposition . The principles which are now openly espoused and convincingly advocated by the entire working people , are those alone which can save this country from utter and irretrievable ruin . And the establishment of those principles is certain , —guaranteed by the fact , that they are so espoused and advocated b / the working people ! Once get the vorkits right , and all is done ! They alone move ociety "! ' / v v - ;
To this end have we laboured ; and in this have we been successful . When did England ever before see the workisg people standing aloof from the other classes ; resisting and despising all efforts at seduction from the cause they have set their hearts upon ; and resolutely bent upon the prosecution of their own work , for themselves , and of themselves When was ever such a sight ! exhibited to the Politician ' s eye in this land before !! Never ! ! and it is because of this ; it is because the working people have banded themselves together , and undertaken their own work ; it is because of their resolute determination , evidenced i a thousand instances , to
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resist all attempts to swerve them from the path of duty ; it is because of these things , that we , in their name , bid defiance to all their enemies , open , or covert—bull-dog like , or wbrmingly insidious ! / ' r :-V ' ' ¦ ' ¦ ... ' . ' ¦ ' . .. " : ¦¦ ' .. ¦ ¦'¦ ; - Spite of every obstacle , of every difficulty , of every opposition , the principles wo have laid down respeotiag machinery and ita use , will be triumphantly established . Its benefits will be secured to all ; its present erroneous evils will be rectified ^ an d not allowed to press upon any .
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THE OPPRESSED FACTORY SLAVES AND THEIR CI-DEVANT ADVOCATE . Elsewhere , we give a somewhat lengthy and well written address from the Leeds Short Time Committee : to the working ; men qfVthe factory dis ^ tricts , ^ n reference to the brutal exhibitions of falsehood and violence lately made by an unprincipled public writer , the conductor of a paper which in former times has done good service to the cause of justice , but which has lately lent all its little power to the millocrats and Corn Law repealers .
Our readers will find in that document a sufficient reply to the calumnious attack of the Whig spluttereroh the Short Time Deputies , about not pressing on the attention of MinisterB the People ' s Charter or the repeal of the Corn Laws . As the former of these objections has been also urged by some very honest but short-sighted and unreflecting persons among the working classes , we recommend the answer of the Committee to their reading . To us at least that answer is sufficient and satisfactory . They were not sent to do it ; it formed no part of
their duty . It would have been malapropos , and would have defeated their own purpose , without effecting any other purpose for good . They had neither power , nor right , to force upon the attention of Ministers any other subjects than those which formed the immediate subject of their mission . They were deputies from known and established public bodies bodies composed of men holding various opinions about the People ' s Charter ; but one and the same opinion upon the necessity of a more efficient legislative protection for the factory slaves .
No one knows better the constitution and character of the Short Time Committees of the factory districts than does Sir Robert Peel , and if these gentlemen , waiting upon him in the character of delegates from those committees , to solicit the attention of his Government to the evils of the factory system , had begun to press upon his notice and attention the " People ' s Charter , " he would no doubt , and we will add properly , have considered and treated the deputation as that which this impudent scribe has thonght fit to denominate it for not doing BO .-r-a
• ' fraud and a hoax . " He would have said "Gentlemen , I expected a deputation of factory workers , or their advocates ; I find a deputation of Chartists . If the Chartists have not sufficient confidence in themselves or their principles to trust their cause to its own merits , but must have recourse to the disgraceful trick of bringing it here under the borrowed cloak of the Short Time Committees , that cause is certainly not good nor important enough to merit the serious attention of a great and strong Government . " The deputation would have been bowed out : the Chartists would
have been laughed at by the Tories , for their abortive effort to hoax the Minister ; while they would have been vilified and abused by the Whigs aad Corn Law repealers for having thus destroyed all trust and confidence in the character of public deputations , and all chance of another deputation being decently received :. ;; or attended to ; nor would any hound of the pack have been more loud in its yelpings against the disgraceful trickery and fatuitous blundering of the Chartists than the : "thing " against whose present ravings this remonstrance of the committee is addressed .
L ^ but honest and righ - thinking Chartists reflect a little , and they wi \ i peroeive this to be a right statement of the case . Many memorials from various quarters have been adopted by the Chartists of the three kingdoms , having for their object the liberation and return of Frost , Williams , and Jones . They have been committed to Mr . O'Connor for presentation to the Queen . And yet who expects Mr . O'Connor upon that occasion to expatiate to her Majesty upon the merits of the People ' s Charter ? which would be a course just as reasonable , and just as right to be adopted , as that which the dishonest Anti-Corn-Law scribblers
seek now to persuade the unthinking of the Chartists ought to have been adopted and pursued by this deputation . We are quite sure , however , that this reasoning is as clear to the Chartist body , as a whole , as to ourselves . They have no difficulty in estimating the character of this new card in the hands of an old gambler ., The most dextrous playing of it cannot blind the lookers-on ; the " M pass"is too palpable ; and the bafflsd cheat , no doubt , enjoys mightily the indignant rejoinder of the Committee in their reply : —
" Well , but then , we are told , that the deputation did not press upon the Ministers the adoption of tho People ' s Charter . And who complains of this \ The Leeds Times man , who- has done his little best to swamp the Charter agitation ! The man who has omitted no opportunity of doing his uttermost to sow division in the Chartist camp . who has maligned tho motives , aspersod the characters , and lyingly misrepresented the conduct of the Chartist leaders ! the man who put words into the mouth of Mr . G . J . Harney , at the last eleetionj for the purpose of hounding on the Whig physicals to trouncei his
bones—put words into his mouth which Were never uttered , and represented him as uttering them in Leeds , when ho never saw Leeds on the day named \ a man who has systematically traduced the character of J . B . O Brien , and of Mr . F ^ O'Connor ! a man who has culled from every source all that ho possibly could lay his hands on , which would at all serve hisi purpose of exoiting jealousy and disunion amongst the Chartist ranks ! a man who is secretary to the Fox and Goose Club—a society formed ; for the express and avowed purpose of swamping the Charter agitation . This is the man to complain
that the deputation did hot do that which they were not sent to do ! This is the man to send bis toolstwo geese , * two members of the Fox and Goose Society , to move at the Leeds Music Hall -meeting , | that the deputation be censured for not pressing upon Ministers tha People ' s Charter This is the man to act thus , when he , and his tools have schemed in every possible way to overreach and put down tho Charter agitation ! The men who moved the amendment at the Music Hall , are both members of the Fox and Goose club ; and
the " amendment" bo artlessly dictated by the modest mover on the platform , was concocted and arranged , by the Foxes , before the mover of it came near the meeting at all . And these , forsooth , are the men to complain that the deputation omitted that which formed no portion of their duty : ;! ¦ .. ¦ ' ; ¦ ' . ., " ' . . ' ¦ '¦ ' ¦ . ' .. V- ¦ . : ' - .. ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ; . ¦ . ¦ ¦ ¦; . "Ah ! working men , you will need no spectacles to enable you to see through all this ! You will need no aid to enable you to divine the cause ot this newborn zeal for : the Charter , and love of the Chartist agitation !"
Truly , and so we think . Whatever may or may not have been the faults or merits of the deputation , the splutter of this base hireling , about their having omitted to mention the People ' s Charter , is too rich to be read by any man without laughter , spite even of the melancholy evidence which it affords of the depravity of human nature when acted apon by the full influences of the system , to the support of which this creature has sold his miserable intellect and wretched goul . The Committee have certainly made this apparent , and have exhibited it very strongly both in the paragraph which we have quoted , and in the following one : —
' ? Not long ago , the party of which the Leeds Times is now the paid tool , themselves sent a deputation to the | Tory Ministers . Of course Dr . Smiles and his co-workers took care to instruct their deputation to name the People ' s Charter to the Ministers , as a measure of relief ; of ' course they took care that the Ministers had that subject brought under their notice . Not they , indeed ! They sent their deputation to press for Corn Law Repeal alone ! and the deputation never mentioned the Charter I Of course Dr : Smiles censured them for this omission . Not a word of it ! It would liot bare eerved hi purpose . "
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As no man could at first avoid Beeing that to presi tine People's ^ Charter ^ nnder colour of » factory deputation , would have been dishonest and impolitic , so no man who has read the reply of the Committee can fail to see the " passed ? card which they have dragged from under the " cheat's" sleeve , and thus exhibited .... ¦ . - . v \ : \ - ¦ ' ¦ . ¦; ' . ¦ . ¦ . ¦'¦"¦ ¦ :: ; Vv- " . :--v . ' . \ ¦ ; ; - One word upon the notion which an insidious attempt has been made to engender in the minds of simple , earnest , bnt unreflecting Chartists ; and in a large mass of people there are always more or fewer of this character . It has been stated that the
recommendation of the PeopVs Charter was the more confidently to be looked for from this deputation , because several of its members were avowed Chartists , and especially because one of them was Mr . Jo $ hua HoBSON , the publisher of the Northern Star . From him , of course , nothing but the Char ^ ter could emanate . His meat , drink , and evacuations , must be "the Charter , the whole Charter , and nothing but the Charter . " This is , of necessity , either a very knavish or- ; a- very silly mode of talking ; and it is because knaves sometimes act upon simple minds and make fools of them , that we
bestow a passing glance upon it . The objection goes on the assumption that a Chartist should be nothing but a Chartisti that / he should have no concern in any other matter than the Chatter ; that he should lend himself to the accomplishment of no other purpose , however good or desirable . Carry out this principle , and it would put an instant stop to all the operations of society ; churches , benefit societies , literary institutions , transactions of trade and commerce , all the ' ordinary and necessary occupations of life , must bo abandoned by every man who is a Chartist : for he who is a Chartist ; must
be a Chartist always , entirely and exclusively . He must Mind nothing , seek nothing , and accept nothing but the Charter . We don't stop to say that in this argument the witling of the "Repeat '' press has a little over-stepped himself ; that it would necessarily preclude all hope of that which he affects to be very anxious to obtain—cooperation of the Chartists in the Corn Law Repeal movement ; we don't stop to show this shallow-pated mole that if offers the best possible justification for the policy of upsetting " Repeal" meetings , about which he has so often and so coarsely abused the Chartists ;
we give to ma impudent but transparent "fraud" of a " ueW-born zeal for the Charter , " this flimsy covering very willingly ; but we remind our Chartist friends upon whom the " hoax" is attempted to be played , that it wohW also have the effect of neutralizing , or putting a stop to , all their exertions in behalf of Frost , Williams , and Jones , all their virtuous detestation and righteous resistance of the " amended " Poor Law , and all their efforts for the abrogation of the ills of poor Ireland consequent upon the Act of Union , as well as every effort at redress for individual grievances however great and galling *
No Chartist was ever thus Charter-mad . No man ever thought that the promotion of all such religious or social , or special and individual , benefits as might be attained without interposing any let or hindrance to the Chartist agitation was not a thing to be desired . No Chartist ever thought that it Vfa S hot necessary and advisable to keep actively in play all such means as might combine with and strengthen and uphold the Chartist agitation . And amongst all these , where is the single one that has engaged the amount of public sympathy and public interest which appertains to this question of the protection
of factory workers against the ravage ? of Capital , and the assertion of the rights of Labour in its struggle with the giant power of machinery i This is a great and wide question ; ' tis one in which the interests of the poor , both manufacturing and agricultural , are essentially bound up ; 'tis one in Which the ' . feeling ' s , affections , and sympathies of human nature are ail merged and from which they are inseparable ; 'tfs one which , Charter or no Charter , sooner or later , and at no distant period , must be made the subject of deep and searching investigation , in order
that the hand of legislation , to what arm soever it may be attached , may be enabled so to adjusts and regulate the framework of society as to prevent its violent disruption . Things cannot go on as they are now doing . Wealth cannot ' continue to be brought into existence exclusively for those who are already wealthy . The few cannot . be permitted to continue this clutching of all the good things of an all-bounteous Providence , while the many look mournfully , but vainly , for the bare means of eking out a miserable life . The great question of the adjustment , and . control , and
guidance of our productive powers , f is the question of the Short Time Committees—hot simply ' the Ten Hours' Bill , which , as the deputation rightly informed the ministry , has lost by delay much , if not all , its efficiency as a specific measure . This question will , or ought to be , the very first to occupy the attention of Parliament so soon as Parliament shall be made to represent the people . Nothing can therefore be more necessary or important than that it should be well canvassed and well understood ; that those who are now in power should be made to feel and comprehend the
importance of it ; and that , at all events , whether they can bo induced to anticipate to some ' degree , ( however small , ) the rule of right or not , the discussion of it' should be kept before the public ; th&t the people may understand it ; that they may see all its bearings ; all the principles by which they operate ; all the effects flowing from those principles , both sanatory and pernicious , for the public weal : that so , being well-studied in the matters most vitally affecting their own interests , they may , when the Charter shall have been established , find no difficulty in
teating , knowing , and instructing those whom they shall send to legislate upon the subject . And hence , as O'Connor in his speeches and writings keeps constantly in view the question of the Land—the small-farm and rural population—the connection and blending together of manufactures and agriculture , as a result desirable to be eftected by the Charter , and therefore to be understood now ; as Mr . O'Brien , from precisely the same motive and principle ,, we
doubt not , keeps constantly before the people his notions upon Land and Currency , and other matters ; bo the Short Time Committees , most of them excellent Chartists , all of them we have reason to believe benevolently-minded men , think it not less necessary that the publia mind should be instructed upon this the greatest of all questions , and which , in reality , includes all the others—ihe relative rights and powers of Capital , Machinert , and Manual Labour .
We wonder not that the Leeds organ of the Millbnaries / should be frantic at the revival of this question of a legislative interference with the hours of labour ; because they know that it is necessarily inductive to the bpening-up of the whole merits of the whole question . They know too the power that this Short Time question has upon the minds of the workie 8 . " They know that a faithful adherence to its prosecution has enshrined Oastlkr , though calling himself " a Tory , " in their very heart of hearts ; while its desertion by O'Connell , like the touch of magic , blasted , in a moment , all his power and popularity , and made him the deserved object of their deepest hate . We wonder not , then , that
the mad-dogs should foam and howl at its resuscita tion . They thonght they had succeeded nearly nine years since in getting rid of it . They thought they had choked the complaining throats of the factory-workers with Althorp ' s * ' impracticabie ' - Act , and that the working people would be happy to have done with factory legislation . A leap instigated by infernal principle brought them f # remost in the " race of humanity . " . Their eight-hour-twelve-hour monster was produced and supported avowedly because they " knew it to be impracticable . " The Short Time Committees were not , howeverj to be" dor e . " They laid down theiroars , hut qnitted not their post . They protested against the monsti ous
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substitution , and sat down to watch its workings untiHtsantnora shwld be sickened by it . This has been don * . The " Masters' remedy" for the evils of the factory system haa been tried , until they themselves acknowledge that it has failed , and that they are siokof its operation } and now , thetefore , the Short Time Committees again promptly and properly take up the question whichj as the representatives of those who feel most keenly all the operations of the system , they best know and understand . To have taken , this step with a Whig Ministry in office , the creatures of the millocrats and
Millionairesthings who had before testified their subservience to " capital and commerce , " would h * ve been futile ; and these watchful guardians of th « interests of the working many evinced not less theix wisdom than their faithfulness , in seising upon the earliest opportunity , aftex the accession of a new Ministry , to assert the claims of labour ere the bias might bo given to its purposes by the insidious applications of the enemy ; They were right to have the first run ; And they but just had it ^ The Masters have had their deputation , since then , waiting upon Ministers to urge Corn Law Repeal
and" Extension of Commerce , " which mean th « further and more complete prostration of LABoua before capital and machinert . The event will prove whether Sir Robert Peel and his ministry have been more accessible to the voioe : of labour and the demand for justioe , or to that of wealth and the cry for the upholding and " extension " of its fell domination .: The Millionaire deputies said nothing to the Minister about the Charter ; even the " amended Charter , " though its author was one of the deputation , formed no part of their recommendatibhs . Yet they are not censured for this
omission by the cur whose snarhngs are directed by their bidding . Nor do we censure them . They acted rightly arid consistently in adhering to the purpose of their visit ; but they should not then hound on their curs upon the people ' s deputies , be > cause they , too , acted rightly and consistently . Any . thing , however , to secure the quarry . Tke whole produce . of the workman ' s labour , the removal of every bar to the "free" ravages of capital , is the game hunted ; and the whole pack , big dogs and small , will bark to any tune , so that it may be had . The diversity and contrariety of note amid their
yelpings bring : to mind the wretched soldier writhing beneath the lash . ¦ ** ' Strike high or low ; there ' s no pleasing them" anyway . The Chartists adhera at all proper times , and in all public meeting ^ where they have the right to do so , to the prac tice of bringing forward ^^ urging , and insisting oh the Charter ; the "Extension" and ; Repeal gentry denounce them as iasolent brawlers ; Col Thompson declares them "to be impracticable , " and says that ; he cannot work with them , because they will talk about nothing but the Charter ; Air , Knowles , the Cuartist of Koighley , goes to Skipton to a meeting of Dr . Smiles , and other foxes , for " Extension" and Repeal of the Corn Laws ; he thew
talks about the Charter , and is blackguarded , bruised , beaten , kicked off the platform , aad pitched headlong down stairs ; and , anon , this same Dr . Smiles is shocked and scandalised al the shameful omission of duty on the part of a depu < tation , Borne of whose members were Chartidts , bat who neglected to pitch the Charter into Siu R 6 bebi Peel , instead of the business they were sent about . How very shocking ! and what naughty b ^ ys this deputation were , not to afford the Tory minister at all events the chance , with a much better grace and reason , of calling in his servants to serve them as the " Extension" and Corn Law Repeal foxes served poor Kngwles at Dr . Smiles ' s meeting !
We have deemed it necessary to say something upon this subject , because in some portions of the coantry there may be honest Chartists , who kiio * little either by experience or observation , of th « horrors of the factory system ; who have had few opportunities of studying or making themselves ac « quaiated with the principles involved in the great question of the struggle of Manual Labour against Machinery ; and who might , thereforeVlacking better information , be induced by the villanous artfulnea with Which the Charter has been " played" on this occasion by the cidevant advocate ( now bitter
enemy ) of the factory workers , to suppose that there may have been some forgetfulhess of till unswerving allegiance which is due to . their ow cause , either by the Chartists of Leeds , Huildersfield , and Bradford generally , or by the many active and excellent Chartists belonging to th « Short Time Committees of those places individually , in this matter . We have devotedmany years to the study of this question ; expended much time , much labour , and some pecuniary means , in the prosecution of such actual observance as should afford us » sufficiency of facts and data for conclusions oil the
whole matter . We have lived amongst it our / whole time . We have watched the rising , we have seeJ the development , we have noted the operation , of that system of production by inanimate machinery , whicl under the management and regulations that Bay hitherto guided it , has become the blight of tin poor man ' s hopes—the devastator of his homestead —the demoraliser of his family—the assassin of hi connubial and parental happiness—the destrojfl of everything dear to him , save physicil existence ; and which threatens , if not guideJ in its movements otherwise than it ' . . has . yd ;
been , to rob him erelong ofthat too 1 EntertaiBiti deep and conscientious feelings on the subjeot , W have ever held it to be bur stern duty to the peopi to give the factory labourer our most hearty ani uncompromising support . It may not have been all that we could have wished it . It may ban lacked power , or energy , or talent , or infldence ; but has not lacked sincerity , consistency : n $ disinterestedness . It has been a support voluntarily accorded . No" soorea of pounds " of the hard earuings of the factory workers hafl been paid to pirchaae us . Without pay ; without having been confetituted their advertising medium ; we have asserted and supported th « rights of the enslaved factory workers , on all occasions whid
might bring them under notice , throughout our entire career . Wo have done so from principle because we believe their cause to be identic * with that of the whole people ; to be in fact ^ cause— the cause of labour against wealth- * Oppressed against Oppressor , for the adjustment cf which the enaction of the Charter is required Often and agaiu have we declared that we w «^ not give a straw for the Charter otherwise thanH a means to an end , and that end the upholding » the Right 8 of Labour . It is a pretty thing , thfl ^ that we , who have always upheld the factory workers , should be accused of ;•' fraud , " ^ " hpaxing / ' of "dishonesty , " biecause : we b ? held tha factory workers still , by the thin } who blustered for the Ten Hours' Bill
when its advocates were his best paying customers and patrons , arid who foams and froths about it is an " impudent hoax , " " excessively ab 3 uri attempt , " " a gross and palpable fraud , " noff th ** he is stated to have been bound , for some twen ^ months back , to do the bidding of Us enemies ia return for thei " chink" with which his services were purchased ! : A . stupid effort is made to identify us with th « Short Time Committee , because , forsooth , the ad *
dre « supon which we have written these observation ^ was printed by Mr . Hobsok , who also prints th < Northern Star , Having read the document , we ha « no hesitation in averring that to the principles contained in it we subscribe in full ; and that we hold the reasoning to be conclusive and nnanswerablei It is for these reasons , and because we think it , along with many other laudable exertions of the body whence it emanates , calculated to serve th » real interests of the working men , that wo haTe igiven insertion to it . We have omitted from th »
addreBS eome expressions personal to Dr . Smiles . We have neither wish nor need . ' to rest our cau 6 « upon perBohalities . It may have been deemflfl necessary , and perhaps it was necessary , for til Committee , in rebutting his slanderous attacks apot
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4 -. - 'THE NOBTHERK .- ; "' . . :: [' : \ // .: ^
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Feb. 5, 1842, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct877/page/4/
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