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    154 TO STAR OE FIfcEEDOM. [Octo Ber 16

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    EMIGRATION OR PAUPERISM. This is an unpl...

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    . THE RULE OF ANARCHY. The lately publis...

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    PROGRESS. If there is one law that reign...

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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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    Austria's New Cat's-Paw. We Have Had To ...

    jalealed demands lor an apology from the Saxon government , for le he injustice with which he had been treated . Tl This reply , a somewhat extraordinary one , was to the effect latiat the Saxon government had to express its regret at the delay 'hit-hick had occurred in returning the papers , and also at the , inamouvenience to which Mr . Paget had been put ; that the police ad ad undertaken the search on their sole responsibility , and had eeieen in consequence strongly reprimanded by the Minister of the lodome Department .

    "V We know not whether Mr . Paget will be dolt enough to aceptept such an explanation as this ; but we feel assured that no ilnfinghsbmah with a particle of common sense will consider such a raratisparent falsehood as this sufficient reparation for the injury [ o ^ ohft to his country ' s honour . We are bound to believe one of w « vo things , either that Saxony is no longer an independant state , tmnd its police are the police of Austria , receiving its orders direct rorbm the Austrian government , or that the orders for the search > f > f Mr . Paget ' s dwelling must have been given through the

    mediimm of the Saxon government . In either case , that governmen t amust have , been well aware of tlie circumstances which originated ththe disgraceful outrage . But whether Austria gave direct orders for the committal of Mie outrage , or used the Saxon government as a cat ' s-paw oh the

    loccasion , the design evidently was to offer another wanton insult ro : o the honour of this country . The duty of the British governnnent , under the circumstances , was unmistakeable . It should hliave demanded complete and immediate satisfaction from Saxony , aand enforced its concession from Austria if Saxony showed herself tdo be but the tool of that power .

    It is needless to say that the Tories have shown no intimation obf doing anything of the sort , nor have we any expectations of fcltheir so doing . They will act in precisely the same manner as tlhey have always acted , and as their Whig predecessors have aacted in the cases of this nature which have of late so frequently ooccurred . They will shrink from the task of upholding their

    ccountry's honour . It is shame enough to see , time after time , our country thus iinsulted and debased ; but it is still greater shame to see the japathy of the great mass of the people in the matter , and the little exertion they make to obtain a government composed of better and braver men than those who now bring contempt and shame upon the nation they rule .

    154 To Star Oe Fifceedom. [Octo Ber 16

    154 TO STAR OE FIfcEEDOM . [ Octo 16

    Emigration Or Pauperism. This Is An Unpl...

    EMIGRATION OR PAUPERISM . This is an unpleasant alternative , but it is ihe only one left to a class of our countrymen , the number of which is increasing . day by day . We allude to the workmen whose labour is superseded by machinery . In a just and rational state of society , the introduction would be a blessing to all , whereas , at present it is one of the greatest curses which" afflict the great mass of the people of this country . The introduction of machinery , by enabling the workman to produce in one hour

    what he previously could in three or four , and , also to produce a superior article ; should have been a great benefit lo him . It should have enabled him to live in comfort , and to devote a portion of the day , hitherto wiiolly consumed in labour , in the cultivation of hisihind . That the introduction of machinery has been very far from producing any siicii good efects , is too well known . Instead of aiding him arid enriching him , while it lessened his labours , it has been set in competition with himself arid as he could not prodiiee the same articles so well or

    so quickly as the machine , he has been precipitated into misery and pauperism , or has been altogether driven from the field . This evil altogether arises from tbe monopoly of the increased power of production . Had machinery been from the first , not the property of the capitalists , as it has been , but of the producers , or rather of the nation in its entirety , we should never have seen the operatives reduced to beggary through it , and brought to the sad alternative of expatriation or starvation . ¦*»

    To this alternative have the Woolcombers of Bradford , been brought ; as we learn from the " Report and Observations" of their Committee ; a copy of which is now before us , that the machine which has lately been introduced , is able to do the work hitherto done by them , and to do it at least far cheaper , if not better ; than it is possible to do by manual labour . Accordingly their occupation is assuredly gone , without the

    slightest hope of retrieval . It is needless to tell these men that they must seek some other employment . There is a surplus of labour in eyei-y trade , and even were there not , they might all perish before they could gain a knowledge of their new calling . Now their onl y hope is to get out to Australia , where there is a want of labour , and a superabundance of food . If they are unable to do this , it is pretty evident that they must sink into the degradation of pauperism .

    The capitalists have always acknowled ged that a vast amount of suffering is ever consequent upon the introduction of any new invention in machinery . But , they add , it is only that generation that suffers thereby , and that soon dies out , or is absorded into other trades . This heartless and selfish mode

    of reasoningcould be used by no one but a Manchester-school man . What right have you to inflict misery and destruction npon even one generation" of any class of . your fellow men ? ^ $° J J ^ T * those who tell us that it is a necessary evil , ' to procure a greater good . . Let machinery be the property of labour or of the state , and we should have tbe " greater

    Emigration Or Pauperism. This Is An Unpl...

    good" without any evil whatever . On this subject the Bradford Woolcombers Committee , in their report , remark : — It is a grievous drawback to the rapid development of the national resources , of vrhwihthe wonderful improvement of machinery is the main agent , that a large amount of personal suffering accrues to that class of operatives whose means of existence are taken away , and to whom the future holds out no better prospect than that of a worthless and despised dependent on the labour of others . If , as has been so frequently asserted , that labour-saving machines are a great public benefir , and the main auxiliary to national wealth and greatness j Justice and Humanity suggest that those who arc thus superseded have a fair claim- to

    the assistance of their more fortunate brethren , not as recipients of eleemosynary aid , to vegetate in unprofitable idleness , but to enable them to renew the battle of life under happier auspices . We find that in all matters appertaining to the general government of the country , when a necessity arises for abolishing the office of those who . are supposed to hold a life interest therein , they are not ruthlessly cast forth on the world's cold charity . On the contrary , their " vested rights" are admitted , and ; they receive an indemnification for the loss thus sustained . To the class thus dealt by , this is nothing more than Justice . They had fixed their standard of expenditure according to their status in society . They had

    arranged for the education of their children , and their entry into the busy world on a similar scale , and it would be an act little short of cruelty to crush within them their future hopes . What theu shall be said of the operative similarly situated 1 Has he no claim 1 Is not his labour , which he has been led to look upon as the means of honourable existence through life , his vested right ? " Oh , " say some , " find some other employment . Push your way in the world as others have done . What claim have the Woolcombers more than any other class of men ? " Cold , heartless , and uncheering words are these . The true counterpart of those expressed by him whose name has been handed down from the beginning of time " Ani I my Bvothw ' s Keeper ?"

    It is quite clear , however , that no immediate justice is to be obtained , and as the Woolcombers' labour will be wholly superseded within the next two years , it is clear that unless they are enabled to emigrate , they must turn paupers or starve . They have accordingly turned their attentioa to the question of emigration , and hope to obtain assistance sufficient to enable them to proceed to Australia .

    Sad as it is to see our best men thus driven from our side , we cannot but be rejoiced at the thought of their escaping from the baneful influence of our destructive factory system , Though not for this country , it will be well for our working classes , when the progress of machinery shall have driven them all far from the unhealthy manufacturing towns of England , to seek less enervating pursuits in Australia or elsewhere . Will those who now see perfection in onr manufacturing system be convinced of their error , when the real people , the life ' s blood of the nation is expatriated , and little is left but machinery and capitalists ? This monster evil , —the monopoly of machinery , must be remedied before long , or it will be too late .

    . The Rule Of Anarchy. The Lately Publis...

    . THE RULE OF ANARCHY . The lately published " confidential" report of the Metropolitan Commissioners of Lunacy furnishes us with another and most glaring instance of the many and great evils that spring from our present universal anarchy , and absence of that organization which alone is worthy to be called a government . The Report gives the details of the barbarous treatment - to which the unhappy inmates of Bethlehem Hospital were subjected . Women of all ages have been compelled to sleep on straw , in a state of complete nudity , with only a small coverlet thrown

    over them . Several young girls have been covered with wounds from head to foot , yet the same brutal treatment has been pursued towards them , and the continuance of their physical agonies only contributed to the confirmation of their mental derangement . The Report gives instances of cruelty so wanton and causeless

    that it is scarcely possible to give credit to them ; but coming from such a source , their truth cannot for an instant be doubted . Many persons suffering from physical as well as mental illness , are compelled to sleep on straw pallets , without clothing of any kind whatever ; and this the whole year through , in winter as in summer . Cithers of the patients are described to have been bound in

    chairs , in such a manner that they were half strangled , so that l : hose in charge of them might be able the more readily to thrust food down their throats . Many of them were often left for several hours in this condition , for no other reason than that the doctor had gone away j and so the poor wretches were compelled

    to continue in their misery until that functionary should return . It is not to be wondered at , that many of the patients , who wer e but slightly affected before their admission , soon became permanently insane , and beyond the possibility of cure . Sbme ' of them have even sunk and died beneath the tortures to which they were subjected .

    All tins is truly horrible , and the continuance of these scenes for years , without those outside the walls of Bethlehem Hospital having ever heard a \ whisper of the enormities that were perpetrated within , isadisgraceto the country , and its government . The income of the hospital is upwards' of 20 , 0001 . a year , a fund amply sufficient to provide its inmates with alithose comforts and conveniences , which are likely to contribute to the recovery of the patient : Want of means ; therefore , can be no excuse for any of the hardships the unhappy victims were made to unrWn w * we iiaiuom p uic mma ^ y victims were mad e to undergo We

    . see no cause , therefore , why those who have been instrumental in tne cruel treatment of the poor maniacs , should not meet with immediate and severe punishment . . We can conceive almost no crime greater than that which they have committed . They ^ have barbarously tortured those who were entrusted to their charge ; and where they should have endeavoured , by kindness and attention , to restore them to health they hayeb y neglect and cruelty , increased both in their bodily and mental diseases ; and where they have not brought them to

    . The Rule Of Anarchy. The Lately Publis...

    an untimely grave , they have for ever prevented th ^ ^^ their reason—that God-like gift of nature , without wK ' t" ^ nothing better than a curse . c " We k But they will be left unpunished . Mere shame win those in authority to insure the practice of a more hum ^^ tern in the treatment of the patients iu Bethlehem Hosn'Tr ' ' many a hidden evil , many a concealed cruelty , ' iU C 0 J ^ practised in other places , and none will know of it lnUe to

    We live , assuredly , under the rule of monarchy , if does' not commit certain crimes , according to a certai n ^ he is perfectly at liberty to pursue a path of crime , and no ^ !' care to molest himv The father of a family may squanj . ? earnings , and leave his children to grow up in the most h ignorance ; but none will interfere , and the childre n will ne ^ educated . It may be said that it is the duty of the nation ^

    its government , to educate the children of the people . It is t i so ! and when the government neglects this duty , ( as it ^ 1 "' commits a crime . But the governments thus sinning Ji * parents , by not fulfilling the duty , commit a crime also , ' ti ^ producers , too , are overworked , brutalized , and starved in fact and workshop , and there is no protection for them . pQ iSOn - J

    has grown into a profession , scarcely any article of food is son that has not been adulterated ; and although every one knowthat monstrous crime is daily committed , in every street j every shop , and that the lives of the consumers sre shortened thereby , ho governmental power attempts to put it down . Then let none boast of our civilization , for it is but a sham ; let none speak of our freeedom , for it is but the rule of anarchy .

    Progress. If There Is One Law That Reign...

    PROGRESS . If there is one law that reigns more absolute and supremo in the universe than another , it is that of movement , and of the most rapid movement conceivable . Movement presides over the starry heavens , and movement is also the law of sublunary things .. Nature and man are alike subject to its sway , and yet a fraction of humanity y'clept conservatives and doctrinaires think to balk the march of the world , by pronouncing the veto of finality .

    One would have thought that the world had by this time outgrown its long clothes , that it had broken loose from its leading strings , and resolved to put away childish things . Tho victories of science , and the gold fields proclaim in clear language the march of mind and matter , and yet sundry voices are still lifted np to say , * Thus far shalt thou come and no farther .

    We are far from denying the expediency of a proper caution in going a-head , ' but to stem the tide of human progress , appears to us as hopeless a task as to extinguish the sun . Thought backed by the press in the true high pressure engine , and , no propeller has yet equalled it in velocity of movement ; and while these forces are in operation , we are persuaded that humanity must remain the first of locomotives * But in the

    face of these facts , and their necessary conclusions , we find a large class of speculative men , and scientific works preaching the ne pins ultra of our social economy , and the statu quo ot civilisation . The latter term is vaguely used , yet it must mean one of two things . 1 st . A peculiar phase of human development , which on the principle of human progress and movement , is destined to be superseded , or Sndly . a social phase , capable of indefinite and unlimited development , which is an

    absurdity ; because in the proof of this development , it may become the opposite und contradiction of itself . The word civilization is often employed in the latter inaccurate sense , leading to great confusion of ideas , and of words . The only legitimate . application of the term is evidently that of Charles Fourier , who treats it as a peculiar phase in the development of human and social destiny and progress . Now it is evident that if a movement or progress in humanity is granted , the finality of civilization is thrown overboard , and a future and

    higher phase of humanity and social life is in store for man . The primeval characteristics of civilization in all people that have reached the apogee of this phase of development , are easily ascertained and classified . All nations that have reached this point , have attained to a high degree of perfection in tho labour ; of thought , that is , in theoretical science , in nautical science , and in the development of industry ; that is , to a wealth

    of material , without organisation . Such may be regarded as the , most general , summary of the advance they have made to the present time . Now we maintain that by logical consistency , a people that have advanced to this point , is bound to anticipate the advance of a higher degree of social development , or of a general dissolution by means of a rap « decomposition of its constituent elements . But the kv ot

    movementsj or progression , forbids the latter conclusion ; hence we are driven to the conclusion that , this point once attained , another and a higher platform of social life is a * handi It may be objected that Grecian and Roman civilization were overthrown by the northern barbarians , and hum anity thrown back into barbarism . But this objection overlooks two radical difficulties , first the civilization of Greece and Ataenb was immature and even strongly- tinctured with barbarism , witness the mass of Athenian slaves , and the g ladiators

    display ' s of the Colisseum . Secondly , this apparent retrogress' *) was in fact a progression , for the Germanic and chivalrie s meats were wanting to carry np civilization to its zemfcn . Since however , civilization has now reached its m wa mark , we must look to a new phase of humanity , ° l \ 5 J c as a new . reach in its onward course , or deny the great w Law of Progress that presides over history . ThOT Comos i great question , wnat is this future to be . Some thmkera o ^ common ingenuity and acuteness have classified thelul * ' systematically as the past , and buoyed out the iatuic ,- > for humanity to steer . Among those pilots , none has acqu himself more skilfully than Charles Fourier . *

    * Seetth ePtesimisofthft Human hul ? translated by J . B . M ° ve * 2 , on Transitions .

• Citation
  • Northern Star (1837-1852), Oct. 16, 1852, page 10, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_16101852/page/10/