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Northern Star (1837-1852), 4th September 1852, Edition 2 of 2, Page 8, J. P. T., is informed that the imprint i...

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      56 The Star Of Freedom. Beptember 4,1852...

      56 THE STAR OF FREEDOM . bEPTEMBER 4 , 1852 .

      " Justice—Bdiutable, Universal , Eternal...

      " JUSTICE—BDIUTABLE , UNIVERSAL , ETERNAL !" EXPLOSIONS IN COAL MINES . " " Peace hath her victories as renowned as war I And uoiore nearly like unto War's triumphs are the victories of Peace , naiaii many who round a sentence with the above quotation naiay imagine . Peace knows her vanquished as well as War —t-to wit , the victims of competition . Even on the side of iicictorv there , are two classes : the common soldiers and their

      Ihihiefs ; and it is with the soldiers of industry as with those- of tt * £ i \* ar , the chiefs carry away the honours and prizes , while toil iimnd sacrifice , death and obscurity , constitute the portion of the I'mnnk-and-iile . Admire those fields of waving grain , those rich pastures , Ihhose luxuriant parks and gardens , that stately mansion the naiabitation of the lord of all—and more than all within the

      compass of thy visual ken . Behold the peaceful triumph of Agriculture ! Now turn to that mammoth building in extent : f f not in beauty rivalling royal palace and ducal hall . See . tt filled with a vast and complex power of machinery working with superhuman might and skill . Observe the rich textiles which shall command in turn , and in exchange , the faaative wealth of countries , even at " the uttermost ends of the seearth . " Behold the peaceful triumph of Mechanical Genius

      aand Industry wedded to Trade ! Observe how gallantly that inmighty steam-ship " walks the waters like a thing of life , " hbound to the hoary East , the Western world , or the Antipodes . 'TTum to the Railway and mark the wondrous rush of the train lied hy the moving monster whose course is sure as the cannon-Iball , swift as the Hghtning ' s flash . Beautiful is the shipbuilder ' s art , wonderful the steam-engine ' s construction , vworthy of Eoman magnificence is the road of mingled earth * and iron ; but these would be of non-effect but for the toil and

      iheroism of the miner . Honour to all ! Honour to Science ( and Enterprise , to Labour and Bravery ! But this picture has its reverse . The wealth of the soil is iraised and its beauty cultured by a multitude condemned to the drudgery , the ignorance , and the servility of vilest poverty . The triumphs of mechanical power and manufacturing progress are accompanied by mortal ravages—moral and physical , productive of individual degradation and national degeneracy . It is true that the coal of England is more truly valuable than

      the gold of the Ural Mountains , and that for general utility , family comfort , and national greatness , the " black diamond " is the real Koh-i-noor . But what of the miners—the grimy toilers , who with courage worthy of heroes , and industry unsurpassable , penetrate to the bowels of the earth , and from below the depths of the Grave and in the very jaws of Death , patiently devote themselves to the gathering of wealth a thousand-fold more precious than the yellow dross of California and Australia : What of them ?

      Doubtless it is well to be a coal-mine proprietor ; but not so well to be a coal-mine worker . It must be mighty pleasant to be " Marquis" of Londonderry and lord of Durham ' s mines ; but hardly so agreeable to be one of " his lordship ' s " hlacfs slaves . The life of the miner is altogether an unenviable one . Little or no education , early labour , dungeoned in the interior of the earth , and during the one-half of existence pent up from the glorious sun of day and the starry face of night ;

      miserably paid , robbed by "tr ack" traffickers , bound by ''' agreements , " the penalties connected with which are exclusively apportioned to the worker ; and , lastly , pursuing a calling in which is too often seen associated the horrors of the slaughter house with the gloom of the prison—these , our countrymen and brothers , command the earnest , working , fruitful sympathy of every man worthy of the name , of every political and social reformer .

      The miners are a very numerous as well as valuable section of tho , population . Information as to their precise number I have not at hand , but some idea of their numerical strength may be gathered from the fact that there are about 2 , 400 coal mines at present in working . The number of miners is not of much moment , for if they were as few as , on the contrary , they are numerous , that should be no bar to a nation ' s sympathy . One appalling item , however , in the statistics of coal mines , recently authenticated by a parliamentary committee , claims most earnest attention , because in some measure

      indicating the frightful magnitude of the terrible evil that item proclaims . In the report of the Parliamentary Committee , appointed in the last session of the late Parliament , to inquire into the causes of the frequency of explosions in coalmines , it is stated that on the average , at least one thousand persons fall victims annually , in consequence of the explosive and suffocating gases engendered in the mines . That this is no exaggeration may be conceived , remembering that three months ago—not to speak of subsequent disasters—explosions

      occurred within a week or ten days , at Aberdare , Pembray , Hepburn , and Coppul , and that the victims numbered in all one hundred and forty seven , not to speak of the wounded and disabled . One thousand victims in one year : that is to say one thousand families deprived of father , husband , or son , usually the main stay of the family—in consequence of his death reduced to misery and pauperism . How often have

      we all read that among the unhappy beings gathered about a pit ' s mouth , and frantic with grief at the destruction which has just occurred , was " a woman whose husband in the prime of manhood , and two sons in the bloom of youth v / ere among the slain . " Imagine , if possible , the astounding desolation , utter rum , and unspeakable misery of that woman , and the other surviving members of her family .

      This terrible evil has been allowed to continue , year after year , to the consequent destruction of thousands of lives , without any earnest attempt on the part of our rulers to find , or rather enforce , a remedy , for remedies were not wanting It is true the Davy lamp had proved a failure—a lure to destruction , rather than a protection against danger ; nevertheless , men of science had devised other means calculated to

      greatly mitigate , if not absolutely annihilate the destructive vapours of the mine . But their suggestions were unheeded fry the great body of coal-pit proprietors , and met with only

      " Justice—Bdiutable, Universal , Eternal...

      nominal attention on the part of the Legislature . There were parliamentary committees investigating this all-important question in 1835 and 1849 ; but beyond the printing of evidence and reporting thereon , nothing came of these senatorial inquiries . The callousness of the coal-kings , and the indifference of parliament are easily explained . Thanks to " surplus labour , " artificially produced , the life of a miner is of less importance to pit-proprietors than the saving of a pound . I speak of the generality , not forgetting noble exceptions . Hence the

      suggestions and plans of scientific men have been barren of the desired results . Through the fires of Moloch , humanity had been made to pass , to pile gold on the altar of Mammon . As to the Legislature , it was and is a Parliament in which coal-kings sat and sit , but pit-men were and are unrepresented . Buncombe , and a few more good men and true , lifted up their voices for the poor miner , but were unable to command justice . The sufferers were of the " rabble" order , voteless , and poor ; moreover , they were " reckless , " and if they were blown to atoms they had only themselves to blame !

      It is because the coal-mines , together with the land to which they belong , have been taken fraudulently , and with crime and violence from the nation , and appropriated as private property ; and because the Legislature as at present constituted , is the bulwark of all social iniquity ; that therefore tho claims of the miners have been disregarded , or , at best treated to that barren sympathy which , in fact , only amounts to a mockery of the sufferings of the wronged .

      Full and complete justice to the miners will be obtained only through radical reforms—political ancl social—the establishment of popular sovereignty , through the Suffrage exercised universally and wisely ; and the restitution of the land with its mines , fisheries , & c , to the only rightful proprietorthe nation . But for the present , full and complete justice is not to be looked for , because the miners , and the rest of the proletarian classes , are not sufficiently enlightened , united , and

      determined to seek ancl win their political and social rights . Nevertheless some amelioration may be at once obtained if the miners , aided by the public generally , will take advantage of present circumstances to push forward their claims to legislative protection . That term " protection" has been much abused by the selfish defenders of high rents and feudal privilege ; it has also been libelled by their rivals the aristocracy of capital ; nevertheless it is a proper , a necessary term . A ? e have fleets and troops to protect our coasts and colonies from

      foreign spoliators ; we have police ancl tribunals to protect life and property from the assaults of the reckless and the dishonest ; we have an incalculable number of laws , to protect established institutions and privileged classes from every probable enemy . Surely it is not too much to demand that a class of men to whom the nation is so largely and deeply indebted shall be protected by all available and likely means from the horrors of fire and choke-damp , and the terrors of sudden and violent death . !

      Want of space forbids present examination of the Committee ' s report published in another column . Next week the subject shall be resumed . In the meantime I must urge upon the miners and their friends to renewed and vigorous action in order that popular sympathy may be turned ., to good account ; and that the new parliament may thereby be induced—or forced by public opinion—to the taking of such steps , and the enacting of such measures , as will tend to the better guardianship of the lives of the coal-working population of the empire . L'AMI DU PEUPLE .

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      Letters To The Editor. All Communication...

      Letters to the Editor . All communications intended for publication , or notice , in the Star of Freedom , must be addressed to G . Julian Harney , 4 , Brunswick Row , Queen ' s Square , Bloomsbury , London . * # # Correspondents will oblige by writing on one side only of their letter-paper ; and by forwarding their communications as early as possible in the week . Orders tor the Star of Freedom .

      In consequence of new publishing arrangements , each of our Agents will oblige hy henceforth giving his orders for the Star of Freedom through his ordinary London publisher , by whom he is supplied with other London Newspapers . Those agents in the habit of sending cash ( or stamps ) with their orders , may have their paper from Mr . John Phillip Crantz , Publisher , 2 , Shoe Lane , Fleet Street , London .

      No Credit can le given . The Star of Freedom will henceforth be published at No . 2 , Shoe Lane , Fleet Street , London .

      J. P. T., Is Informed That The Imprint I...

      J . P . T ., is informed that the imprint is unavoidably continued as hitherto in consequence of the delay at the Stamp Office in going through the usual formalities consequent on a change of publisher . " Ole Joe " —Your excellent letter on " The Law of Masters and Servants" we must withhold till next week . J . W . S—We do not know where you can obtain copies of John Mitchell ' s United Irishman . The " Social Union" and "Free Europe" have not yet appeared . Thomas Paine . —A correspondent desires to know what has become of the bones of Thomas Paine brought to this country hy the late William Cobbett . Can any reader throw light on on this question ? Mr . T . Haroitt , York . —From our knowledge of the projector of the National Gift Emigration Society we have every confidence therein .

      John Dickenson . —As soon as the new model rules for Cooperative Societies are ready for publication , we shall be happy to afford them circulation through our columns . K . Swain , Newtown . —Address a line to Mr . W . Peel , No . 1 Tottenham Court Road , London . ' ' W . W . Bnown—We cannot answer your query this week but we will do so next week . ' Walter Sanderson desires to know what has become of the Executive Committee of the National Charter Association Perhaps Mr . Holyoake , Grassby , or Arnott will enlighten our correspondent . Dalston , and " A Studeht . "—Under consideration . No ' room this week . Homes Received for the Rbftobes .- ~ G . Payne , Abingdon

      Sub-Publishlrs Of The " Star Of Freedom....

      SUB-PUBLISHLRS OF THE " STAR OF FREEDOM . " notice to readers and the trade . The following Booksellers and News-agents undertake to supply the London Trade with copies of the Star of Freedom , Mr . Vickers , Holywell-street , Strand . Mr . Purkiss , Compton-street , Soho . Mr . Clements , Little Pulteney-street , Soho . Mr . Nye , Theobald ' s-road .

      Mr . Traelove , John-street , Fitzroy-square . Mr . Cox , Drury-lane . Mr . Parkinson , Worcester-street , Seiners' Town . Mr Caftyn , Oxford-street , Mile End , Old Town . Mr . Matthias , 80 , Broad-street , Ratcliif . Mr . Fellowes , George ' s Circus , Blackfriars-road . Sir . Harris , Blackfriars-road . Mr . Coulson , Playhouse-yard , Whitecross-street , St . Luke ' s

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      Saturday, September 4, 1852. The Toilers...

      SATURDAY , SEPTEMBER 4 , 1852 . THE TOILERS AND THEIR DASTARD FOES . A parcel of cowardly hypocrites and selfish knaves have taken advantage of the ignorance and the powerlessness of the masses , to creep into the places that should be the tribunes of the people , and , under the guise of friends and teachers , have basely set themselves the task of keeping the sons of toil for ever slaves to their task-masters , by refusing to

      enlighten them , or to proclaim their wrongs , and by the basest sophistry , doing all in their power to prevent them struggling onwards to a better and a happier future . Such are the men of the mercenery press , who are content , for the sake of gold , to prostitute their pens , by supporting the supremacy of oppression and injustice . Yet they are cowardly too , for

      very seldom do we find them boldly avow the aim for which they labour ; they dub themselves the friends of the workingclass , ' " defenders of the rights of labour , " & c ., while the great aim for which they work is to strengthen and consolidate the power of the greatest enemies of those very working classes , and to retard as much as lies in their power , the triumph of Labour's rights .

      We blush to think that the Press of this country is almost wholly such , mercenary and unprincipled , the veriest slave of all-powerful gold . There are representatives and defenders in the press for every " interest" but the labour interest—for every cause but the cause of down-trodden , suffering Labour . We have an eminent instance of this before us . Our readers know that the Wool-combers of Bradford , a large and important body of Operatives , have lately been endeavouring

      to obtain justice at the hands of the grasping capitalists , theii employers—seeking to be treated somewhat as men , rather than as mere machines of flesh and blood . This , it seems , has been enough to gain for them the opposition and the slander of a servile scribe , whose periodical sheet of base toadying to the men of wealth , is dignified by the title of the

      Bradford Osberver . And he has the insolence , too , to put forward his vile calumnies under the transparent mask of liberalism , representing himself as the friend of the operative , and professing solicitude for the men , whom he is making every endeavour to injure , with the object of ingratiating himself with the wealthy few .

      The sneaking slanderer even dares to employ the foolish and heartless argument , that they are now altogether unworthy of sympathy , since , « when they were in full employ , getting plenty of work , earning moderate wages , instead oi endeavouring to put themselves in an independent position , they fought desperately and madly against the inevitable destiny of their trade , contemned the counsel of friends , spent all their earnings in eating and drinking , as if there were no 1

      rainy day to come , and even laboured to swell their ranks with new adherents to a calling whose death warrant , legibly written , was visible to all , save those who shut their eves that they might not see , or foolishly permitted interested agitators to blind them by throwing dust in their mental vision . " Yet the writer of this cant knows very well , that even when " getting plenty of work , " thanks to the knavery of himself and his patrons , they did receive scarcely sufficient to procure for themselves and their families the most imperative necessaries of life .

      But this vile lackey of the social tyrants of Bradford has received a Rowland for his Oliver . The Wool-combers' Committee have issued a placard in reply to the infamous article in the Bradford Observer . Tin ' s placard has been transmitted to us for publication , and we would have had much

      pleasure in giving it insertion in the Star of Freedom , but for one trifling drawback , which no doubt escaped the notice of our Bradford friends , namely , that from its great length , to publish it , it would be necessary to bring out a supp lement of at least half the size of the Star . However , the Woolcombers of Bradford have done well thus to resent with

      indignation the mean and rascally attacks of this literary flunkey of the lords of gold . His slanders will help to teach them to trust upon each other for protection , and in brotherly unity , themselves to work out the redemption of labour . It will teach them , too . the necessity for Having a truly honest pr ess , a press that will proclaim the wrongs and tho rights of labour , and aid in - accomplishing that revolution which shall raise trampled labour from the dust , and p lace n on a throne of Honour in the world .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 4, 1852, page 8, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_04091852/page/8/