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Leader (1850-1860), 18th January 1851, Edition Town of 2, Page 54, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      The following epistle closes the correspondence . — , Inland Bevenue , Somerset-house , London , September 2 i , laov . Sir ,- ^ l 4 teve laid before the board the representation enclosecTifyour letter of the 17 th instant , signed by you and other proprietors of newspapers , desiring from the board permission to issue a portion of your publication on unstamped paper . In reply I am directed to _ state that the board We no power whatever to grant to the publisher of any newspaper permission to publish a portion of the copies thereof without the stamps , to which they are liable , and you are mistaken in assuming that any permission of the kind has been granted in any instance I am , Sir , your most obedient servant , Mr . Thornton Hunt . Thomas Keogh .

      We have , therefore , to complain to your lordship , that about fifty-one publications are in the habit of circulating illegally through the Post-office , so as to injure the regular newspapers , which are thus placed on disadvantageous terms , and deprived of their fair share of a privilege which was originally intended for them alone . The letter of the law allows us nc way of bring ing this grievance before your lordship , save that of complaining of the privilege illegally granted to a favoured few , but allowed it to be

      we should do ourselves injustice if we supposed that we desired the abolition of any privilege enjoyed by any portion of the press . Our object is to draw the attention of your lordship to the present irregularities , in the hope that the Post-office authorities may be induced to adopt a plan for the extension of the privilege of cheap postage to all printed papers , whether registered as newspapers or not , a plan by which the sum may be made up , which might perhaps otherwise be lost to the revenue by the abolition of the compulsory penny

      stamp . Considering the Post-office not merely as a source of revenue or a means of communication , but as the only national educational establishment which this country possesses , we venture to hope that your lordship will anxiously consider whether the suggestion we have made cannot be worked out in such a manner as to avoid any financial deficiency , to put an end to the unfair and illegal preference now given to partially-stamped publications , and to give to the people the advantage of an untaxed press . But whatever may be the remedy , we are sure that your lordship will not countenance the violation of the law by the Board of Inland Revenue .

      This violation of the law has gone so far , that the board no longer venture to enforce their own decrees . In the cases of the Freeholder and the Household Narrative , two monthly newspapers which are only partially stamped , the board have long since represented to the publisher the illegality of their conduct , but have taken no steps to prevent its continuance . The law is still defied by the publishers , and might in all probability , be as successfully defied by any well-established newspaper in London or the country . Hoping that your lordship will deem it a duty to confer on this subject with her Majesty ' s Government :, we remain , your lordship ' s obedient servants , The Members of the Newspaper Stamp Abolition Committee .

      Signed by their order and in their behalf . Fuancis Place , Treasurer , Brompton . J . Watson , Sub-Treasurer , 3 , Queen ' s Head-passage , Paternoster-row , J . D . Collet , Secretary , 15 , Essex-street , Strand . Nov . 13 , 1850 . General Post-office , Dec . 9 , 1850 . Sir , —The Postmaster-General has had before him the memorial which was transmitted by you on the 13 th ultimo , and I have it in command to inform you , that his lordship has no power to judge of or determine the questions therein named . I am , Sir , your obedient humble servant , J . Tillky , Assistant Secretary . Francis Place , Esq ., Bromnton-suuare .

      Untitled Article

      THE LONDON COMPOSITORS AND THE " MORNING POST . " { From a Correspondent . ) We arc extremely sorry to hoar that the compositors of the metropolis have been placed in "turmoil by on act of aggression towards , them on the purt of the proprietor of the Morning Post . We can bear witness to the respectability and intelligence of compositors generally ; and as to the efficiency of those employed on newspapers we huve only to appeal to the diurnal broad sheet .

      Before noticing this matter we have taken some pains to learn from competent persons the mode in which compositors are paid in London . In bookhouses they are generally employed on pieceworkthat is , so much per thousand letters , according to the nature of the work . Employment in these houses is very precarious , and few of them average 30 s . per week . Twenty-two years ago , with the same prices as are now paid , one of the oldest and most respectable master-printers in London ( Mr . Richard Taylor ) , in a letter to the Editor of the Times , stated the average earnings of bookhouse compositors to be not week and the

      more than 2 /> s . per ; precariousneHS ol employment and hurried manner of doing work , have both encreased since that time . In some bookhoiiHCH , and in most jobbing-houses , where piecework would be advantageous to the compositor , weekly wages are paid : the lowest recognized by the trade being 33 h . per week ; but the more respectable houses pay 3 (> s .: and for these situations the most efficient workmen are selected . Hut in these jobbing-bouses , &e ., whenever they have ; any common bookwork , they have it done on piecework : thus acknowledging the d ifficulty for tho workmun t , o uverago the foregoing

      sums , which we are certain no one will have the hardihood to say is too much for the mental ana bodily labour of a compositor . The compositor in a book-office generally works 10 hours per day for the above weekly wages . If employed all night he receives 2 s . 6 d . extra for nightwork . The manner of paying morning-paper compositors is similar to the above . Morning papers used to be got up , till lately , by what are termed fullhands andsupernumeraries . The full hands were paid £ 2 8 s . tor a stipulated amount of work per day : the lowest recognized weekly wages in bookhouses , 33 s ., with the six half-crowns added for turning night into day , and as some recompense for the total sacrifice of all social

      enjoyment and domestic comfort which the nature ot the employment involves , and the unavoidable extra expense consequent upon morning paper work . If the hour of going to press was four o ' clock in the morning , he was expected to begin at fourin the evening ; if five , five in the evening ; but he generally had about two hours for supper . The printer would sometimes require his services during that two hours , for which he was paid , as also for every hour he was employed after the stated press hour . The supernumeraries were paid piecework . They could not have less than 3 s . lOd . for their night ' s work , and might

      get much more occasionally , as upon heavy-debate nights , &c . The galley ( or 3 s . lOd . -worth of work ) is based upon the book scale , putting on the extra price per thousand to make up for the nightwork . The full hands have been dispensed with generally by the printers of morning papers , and four or five timehands are employed in their stead , who assist the printer , correct editors' proofs , &c . They , of course , are selected for steadiness and efficiency . The supernumeraries do the bulk of the paper , and are all paid piecework , varying in amount according to the requirement of the printer and the ability of the

      workmen . — The Morning Post , for mercantile reasons , has been managed lately very ceconomically , so that the expense of every line has had to be accounted for . Yet Mr . Dickson . thepersonwhohas undertaken to produce the paper with thirty-two Scotchmen , says he will save the proprietor £ 2000 a-year . Therefore it is clear that these men must , in the course of the year , produce £ 2000 ' s worth more work than they will be paid for . Their engagement is £ 2 8 s . per week , to do as much work as they can , and be in the office as many hours as they may be required . They work in relays—that is , a certain number commence earlier than the others , and leave off earlier , coming back in the forenoon to do the day editions .

      Now , even if no aggression had been intended by the proprietor , the manner of carrying out the change has been most obnoxious , the whole of the men being instantly discharged—their length of service and attention to business appearing to have claimed no consideration from the proprietor . It was rumoured that something of the kind was intended , and the manager ( Mr . Borthwick ) was asked if a companionship had been engaged in Scotland to supplant those employed on the paper .

      He said that it was not the case ; but , if any person offered to do the paper cheaper , such offer might be entertained . He has stated since that it was not for a trifle the change had been made : the saving would be £ 2000 a-year . But the men were certain of what was going on . Still they continued to work steadily till the last minute , deserving those encomiums of which the manager had been so lavish lately ; and when the paper was put to press } ast Saturday morning , they were told that their services were no longer required .

      The Morning Post companionship ( nearly fifty in number ) , taken as a body , were very efficient . But on all the old-established duily papers there are old men , some of whom have been employed on the same paper twenty , thirty , and more years . To the credit of the morning paper printers , these men are never discharged : they begin earlier and leave off earlier , and it is so managed that they ore kept out of the rush with the active and efficient . This was the

      case with some on tho Post . Such persons may , perhaps , never be employed ugain . They are greatly to > e pitied ; and not much less so are the men who have supplanted them ; for most ussuredly , hard y Scots though they be , the more than Egyptian bondage to which they have voluntarily subjected themselves will soon make them knock under , if they have not the discretion at once to withdraw from their injudicious engagement .

      Untitled Article

      THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE . Henry Pelham EicnncH-Pelham Clinton , Duke ol Newcastle , died at his residence , ( 'lumber-park , Nottinghamshire , on the afternoon of Sunday , the l'ith instant , after a long and painful illness . He was born on the 30 th of January , l 7 HF > , ami succeeded to the family honours as the fourth duke on the death of his father , in 17 ' . ) 5 . At an early ago he wuh sent to Eton , where lie remained for seven yours . After having attained the distinctions of that celebrated school , it was thought advisable that he should travel and ho accordingly accoinpunied a portion of his family to the Continent , where , in consequence of the

      troubles which prevailed at that day , he , with his relatives , was detained a prisoner for some years . In 1807 , shortly after his return to England , he married Georgiana Elizabeth , daughter of Mr . Edward Miller Mundy , of Shipley , in the county of Derby , by whom he had a numerous family . The chief events of his life were his opposition to Catholic Emancipation and the Reform Bill . In consequence of the odium caused by his strong opposition to the latter measure , Nottingham Castle , which belonged to him , was burned by a mob in October , 1831 .

      The deceased duke was custos rotulorum of Newark , steward and keeper of Sherwood Forest and Folewood-park , and high steward of Retford ; and he was the patron of eight livings . He was descended from John , Baron Clinton , who lived in the time of Edward I . The ninth Lord Clinton , an eminent naval commander , obtained the earldom of Lincoln : from Queen Elizabeth . The ninth earl inherited the dukedom of Newcastle under a special remainder , from his wife ' s uncle , the first duke , and he assumed the name of Pelham on succeeding to the title .

      The late duke is succeeded by his son , the Right Honourable Henry Pelham Clinton , Earl of Lincoln ; and a vacancy is thus created in the Parliamentary representation of the Falkirk district of boroughs .

      Untitled Article

      ALLEGED CALUMNY AND INTRIGUE . The following correspondence relating to a narrative of " Calumny and Intrigue , " which we copied into our paper of the 4 th instant from the Daily News , we insert , in justice to the party chiefly concerned . We need hardly add that our columns will be . open to a counter-statement . Brunswick Hotel , Hanover-square , Jan . 16 , 1851 . Sir , —Certain infamous statements , copied from the Daily News , appeared in your paper on the 4 th instant .

      The Daily News has inserted my contradiction of those statements ; but a paragraph in the last United Service Gazette has since been brought to my knowledge , in which Captain Yelverton ' s name is mentioned , and I feel called upon to give publicity to the enclosed . If you feel any hesitation in inserting my letters to Mr . Roebuck , I beg you will publish them as an advertisement . I am , Sir , your obedient servant , Wm . Doria .

      Untitled Article

      On the 24 th of September , while I was staying in Captain Yelverton ' s house , a quarrel took place between us . After an angry discussion he left the house . Shortly afterwards I took my departure for London , leaving word where I might be found . On the 25 th Mr . Roebuck called on me at the Brunswick Hotel , and delivered me a challenge from Captain Yelverton . I immediately sought for a friend to act for me in the matter . On the 26 th , before I could find one , the challenge was withdrawn , Mr . Roebuck insisting that no hostile meeting should take place , as it would only lead to a public exposure , which ought to be avoided ; and he suggested certain stipulations , to which I reluctantly assented , in order to meet his desire of avoiding publicity , and on the 27 th the matter was concluded , in the presence of my brother who acted for me at Mr . Roebuck's request .

      To my great astonishment , on the 4 th of October I received the copy of a letter written byCaptainYelverton , on the 30 th of September , to a gentleman in his neighbourhood , stating that he had thrashed me and kicked me out of his house , and that I refused to fight him . On that same day my brother , with whom I was staying in the neighbourhood of Stamford , wrote to Mr . Roebuck to complain of the falsehoods put forth by Captain Yelverton , and to demand that they should be withdrawn . Receiving no answer , he wrote again on the 8 th to tho same effect . On the 9 th I received a most offensive letter from Mr . Roebuck , reiterating the falsehoods published byCaptainYelverton . I immediately renewed my search for a friend to act for me in the matter , and

      on the 14 th proceeded to Lyndhurst with Mr . Girdlestone , and called upon Capt . Yelverton to retract or give mo satisfaction ; he at once referred me to Mr . Roebuck , with whom Mr . Girdlestone had an interview . Mr . Roebuck refused to allow Capt . Yelverton either to retract or to meet me . The stipulations entered into originally with Mr . Roebuck for the purpose of avoiding publicity , had sealed my mouth as to all detail , even had motives of delicacy not prevented me entirely from taking any further steps beyond giving a written denial to the falsehoods circulated by Captain Yelverton and Mr . Roebuck . This I did in a letter to the same gentleman to whom Captain Yelverton ' s letter of the 3 () ihof September had been addressed . There the matter rested and would have done so but for the paragraphs which appeared in the Daily News of the 1 st and 2 nd instant , and which only came to my knowledge on the 7 th while I was staying on a vitfit in Scotland . I immediately hastened up to London , and

      proceeded to Hrockenhurat with Mr . Girdlestone , who was the bearer of a letter from me to Mr . Roebuck . Mr . Girdlestone had an interview with Mr . Roebuck , who declined either to contradict the statement that had appeared in the public prints , or to name a friend to nettle the matter . Mr . Girdlcstone intimated that he should not allow me to be dealt with any longer In this manner , and that publicity was the only course now left to me . Upon which Mr . Roebuck threatened he would take the law , and have both my friend and myself up for libel . As hooh as I learnt the result of the interview 1 wrote a second note to Mr . Roebuck , und returned to London wuh Mr . GirdleHtone . 1 thtjn wrote tho letter to the Daily News which appeared in the paper on tin ? 14 th intttimt . On the 1 / nb my attention was drawn to a paragraph in the United Service Gazette respecting tho falsehoods originally published in tho Daily News , and

      Untitled Article

      54

      & %$ SUalret * [ Saturday ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 18, 1851, page 54, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1866/page/6/