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    TO THE . WOBJmw CLASSB„

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    M y Feiesds , 2SS^S , S? flf ^^ i» the g...

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    _7 AND ' NATIONAL- TMlMrffi m ^

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    . PQT jljffl. . 69 LffllDOH, SiMAYji)^^

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    The Financial report of the Distressed N...

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    ^ M - " ' 'Vv ' v. t

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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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    To The . Wobjmw Classb„

    TO THE . WOBJmw CLASSB „

    M Y Feiesds , 2ss^S , S? Flf ^^ I» The G...

    M y Feiesds , 2 SS ^ S S ? ^^ i » the great Of TOoTSr io ™ J ^ «"** dignity "ijoar order lag anseil fcom ^ f . , * SLfjS ** ^ 5 BWrtmaM a ?'« 2 S Sand d ^ ^ * " taa' """ I *** eto ^ aMd ed andfromthis drcum-SSS ? " ^ the hand-lo om weaver could Swk ™ shutaef <* Mb own benefit ; and ™«* the commoner could milk Ms own cow , shear his own sheep , and eat his own goose fed upon his own land—that srreat * JLr « i

    ttitt not exist * and even the hired hand-loom Iw i ? S ? ^^ ^ exact ^» « Jaooor to his employer so critically , and with such exactitude , that , in those day \ £ 2 teewdoed as co-partner with the capifc those days no stringent and repugnant laws were required to suppress and keep down Sl ? T , ? atl 0 U ° f & e worMn S clas «* against tiieir masters ; neither did there then ejdst the necessity of expending hundreds of thousands ana millions in strikes Originated b y the tyran ny of masters , and supported by the aggregated pence of the poor . 5 S En

    - arS ^^ fe ^ * gland was , in truth , MERRY ENGLAND , and & e English people were a merry people , . And the sophist caimot answer me with the argument , that the houses of the people , the condition of the people , and the clothing of the people hare been considerabl y improved since those times which they call barbarous ; because my an-IFSlto such an argumenfc ^ uld ^^ Mf Mf "taies ^^ parefij ; - . conation of "the poople , their houses , and their clothing has been improved , their dependence has been increased , and their real domestic comforts have been abridged . Ho-B-ever , as it is my custom to meet every argument that may be urged against my several plans for the improvement of the

    industrious , I will meet the sophistry of the improvement of the people ' s condition , by the much greater improvement that bas taken place in the comforts and luxuries of all other classes ; and as no man will deny that those who produce those luxuries and comforts should be partakers in them , I will ask those who should base thenknowledge arid their conclusions upon legitimate contrast , to read the past history of England , and then to pass with me through the manufacturing districts , and from then own eyes they will be enabled to come to a legitimate conclusion as to whether the great social improvements of -which we hear hare been national , or merely confined to class .

    Perhaps it may be necessary for me to state the cause of former equality , and existing disparity . The cause of former equality -was , because man did man ' s-work , and demand and supply were properly regulated ; and every man could then measure the full value of his own labour by the standard of national requirement , which his master could not monopolise the supply of ; whereas , now , machinery does man ' s labour , supply is not regulated by demand , but by speculation , and no man—even the most sagacious—can discover the value of Ms own labour to those who employ him ; and hence arises that direful competition , that deadly hatred and want of union , which exists in the ranks of the working class es .

    Till very recently the State was the great capitalist , as , according to the 43 rd o f Elizabeth , the State -was compelled to supply the labourer with raw materials ; but , when capital had become possessed of machinery , and when the capitalist discovered that man's innate love of liberty made him prefer free labour to slave labour , this wise enactment was destroyed , and the heretofore free labourers were thrown into tlie slave market , where employment was governed by competition , consequent upon the substitution of artificial for manual labour .

    ~ Noxr T am perfectly aware that the majority of the class to which I refer 5 s dead and gone , while the survivors are feeble , old , and noneffective ; and , therefore , the existing race of labourers have no existing symbol by -which they can fairly and legitimately establish any comparison between the past and the present . They have been conceived in the womb of slavery , born in slavery , nurtured in slavery , trained in slavery , and are , therefore , natural born slaves .

    However , although the Jiving contrast between the past and the present does not exist , it is my duty to draw a comparisona fair and legitimate comparison- —between things as they are , and things as they might be . This country—as I have frequently told you—is governed by the KULE-OF-THREE principle , and the rulers of this country are wholly and exclusively governed by those who amass fortunes from the unprotected labour of the industrious classes .

    The power of that capital may be now and then arranged under different banners . The Protectionists may marshal THEIR POTVER , and bring it sectioually to bear npon the Government . The manufacturersthe representatives of active capital—can marshal THEIR POWER with more speed , and bring it to bear with more effect ; while the stockbrokers—speculators in human blood and misery—possess an amount of inexplicable influence , not only over the Government , but over all other classes ; while the people , who create the wealth which creates the power of all other classes , possess not the slightest influence over class or Government .

    Hence , the working classes will discover that , however those several parties may fight their sectional battles in the House of Commons , respectively urging public opinion as their « reatest strength , they are , nevertheless , united in then' denial of every single legitimate demand of the same people . I use this argument to establish the fact , that the people make money for all other classes , and that the p ower of those classes is always arrayed against the people . is used for the

    = The old and absurd theory purpose of enlisting the people as . an auxiliary force , to fight the battle of the uiorey-lords and the feudal-lords ; and the money-lords being the active employers of labour , and the labourer being dependent upon the employer , be is enlisted a recruit in the cap italists' army , until at length our wily theorists and cunning philosophers have attempted to establish the oelief , that there are only two veritable political parties : — The owners of land , representing patronage , and the owners of capital , professing to represent independence .

    In the adoption of this foUy , mainly consists popular weakness . The landlords do not , as of old , represent the interest of the farmer , or of the labourer , while they do represent the interest of the bishop , the parson , the naval and military officer , and the several drones , pensioned upon industry ; but , aslhave shown you , they no longer represent the farmer and Ihe labourer , who constituted their greatest strength ; they nolonger representee fanner , because they refuse to reduce the pnce of that yaw maferial-the Land-which has been de-Tn ^ intPd in the market by Free Trade , and

    from the manufacture of which , the , price ot prodncebeing based upon protection , depended LaUegianclofthe iarmer They have lo the allegiance of the ^ cnltDTallabonrer be cause , while they justify te ******* wa ves by the tenant , they obstinately refuse to deduce the tenant ' s rent to the *^ f °£ Free Trade ; and thus I ehow you that , the Sest comes to the wall , and the unpro-Sd Utoamr is the first to suffer , from tree Se : while the landlord ' s rent isthesmalfc 4 ifa » in flietenant ' sexpeuditure inasmuch uJaZp & bg farmer will annually expend # >„ ,. a -ears' rent in labour . . Ther ^ i nothing m ore foolish than pkcmg

    M Y Feiesds , 2ss^S , S? Flf ^^ I» The G...

    the purpose of grouping society , and exhibiting it in its proper colours ; but I will simplify this question of landlord , tenant , and labourer , for you , in order to explain the position of that Unk m the social chain . Suppose a landlord to have ten thousand acres of land let in farms , averaging two hundred acres each ; he has fifty tenants , whose will , or rather whose votes , he commands allowing those farmers to employ four men to the hundred acres , that is , eight labourers

    each ; making allowance for hay time , seed time , and harvest , I have not put it down too high , and then this section of societ y stands thus : one landlord , fifty tenants , and four hundred labourers ; the landlord being the representative of the tenant , and making laws , which enable him to exercise exclusive control over those tenants , and in return giving those tenants exclusive control over the labourers , -who have no power to elect representatives . How , I think that it would be impossible to furnish you with a more faithful aniniatm ^ oflhat da ^ lu ^ sc ^ yr ""'" ""' "

    3 wext conies the money class , and here the disparity is still more frightful ; I have shown you that the policy of the landlord has estranged the affection and confidence of f armers and labourers , and now I come to the consideration of the money class . The capitalists catered for opposition to the laudlord class as representatives of the old Tory system , and they endeavoured to persuade the people that there was the strongest identit y of interest between capital and industry ; and

    that the power of the landlord class was the main obstacle to the remunerative employment of the industrious classes . During this struggle , the co-operation of the people was based upon antagonism to the landlords , who , as Protectionists , were represented as the great baniers and stumbling-blocks to industry ; and hence shopkeepers of every class and denomination , all who trafficked in tradebutchers , bakers , tailors , hatters , mechanics , artificers and artisans—all entered this

    struggle blindfold , upon the presumption that they were fighting the battle of industry against aristocratic monopoly ; and the labouring classes of all grades were enlisted as tho auxiliary force , upon the presumption that the destruction of landlords' monopoly would give an impetus to industry generally . But as experience alone can produce wisdom , the shopkeeping class and the labouring class have both discovered that they stand in the same relation to the money classes , that the tenant andthe labourer stand in relation to the landlord class .

    Let me now show the reasons tor this antagonism of the shopkeeping and labouring classes to the money class . The shopkeepers have discovered that the only source of wealth of the capitalist , arises from the industry of the labourer , and that the represented capitalist has the power of accumulating wealth as if by magic , from a reduction of the wages of the labourer , and that that reduction constitutes the poverty—nay , the bankruptcy—of a great portion of that shopkeeping class , upon whose co-operation , and by whose agitation , this capitalist class has been enabled to possess itself of a large amount of representative power .

    Mark , then , that the dependence of the labouring classes of the PRESENT DAY , wholl y arises from the fact that the poor man has no possible means of applying his little savings beneficially , with the exception of depositing them in Savings Banks , at £ Z per cent ., and for which "we now leam that there is no security but confidence in the managers ; while we learn that many thousands in Ireland have been wholly and scandalously plundered of their hard earnings by the failure of several of those banks . It may be urged that a prudent man , with a little money , may start in some little business ; but there are two answers to such an

    argument . Firstly—Be could not compete against large capitalists in the same branch ; and , Secondly—It -would be to such a limited extent that it would not relieve the Labour market to any perceptible amount . And , with a knowledge of these facts , and the desiretoovercome these difficulties , I established the Land Company , with the view of opening a veritable and productive field for the investment of the smallest amount of capital saved by the industrious poor ; and to this fact is to be ascribed the malignant hostility it has received from the interested money-lord and the blindfold shopkeeper . most shrewd

    It is an h-refutablefact , tbatthe and cunning men -will prefer taking three or four pei-cent , upon money lent upon landed security r to five , six , or seven per cent , upon any other security ; and why ? Simply because the land is stable property , no matter what laws may attempt to alter its value ; and tho security of other properties may be utterly destroyed by casualty , calamity , legislation , or , worse than all , litigation . Uow , my friends , I beg of you to keep tins fact in m ind—that the substitution of machinery for manual labour has completely enslaved the labour-class ; that no possible standard now exists to regulate that demand and sunnlv bv which the standard of wages

    was formerly fixed in the independent labour market . Thatthe provision in the 43 rd of Elizabeth , which enabled every man to be his own employer , has been destroyed by interested capitalists , to enable them to make enormous profits upon antagonism and competition in the Labour mai-ket ; and that , notwithstanding . our enormous amount of taxation —eight millions a year , or nearly as much as would pay a third of the interest of our . National Debt , is annually levied as poor rates for no earthly purpose but to keep up this unwilling idle competitive Labour reserve , in order to depreciate the Labour market . but

    My friends , I hope I am not tiring you , if I surfeit you I am determined to reiterate and repeat my propositions for the restoration of freedom to your order , and I shall now pro-C 66 ( l * *—" Firstly—To show you the difference between the price of wholesale and retail articles ; and , & h » i % —To showyou the only real Savings Bank in which the very poorest of thepoor may confidently , profitably , and beneficially invest his money without any , ( the slig htest ) , risk or damrer How he may invest it for the purpose of establishing his free Labour field ; or how , if profitably employed in the calling most to his taste , he may invest it upon a larger amount of interest , and upon better security , than has ever yet been presented to him .

    ^ Firstly , then , as regards the retail and wholesale price of commodities . The woman who could not sip her cap of tea without sugar , and to whom the cup of tea may be the greatest possible enjoyment , could not sweeten her tea , or have her tea at all , if she was compelled to take a hogshead of sugar or a chest of tea—while she is willingto give any price the erocer may demand for the amount she requires of those two articles . The labourer who is fortunate enough to be able to buy a oound of broken meat on Saturday night , would last if he were compelled to buy a whole ox or a Thole sheep ; and the same applies to

    M Y Feiesds , 2ss^S , S? Flf ^^ I» The G...

    the man who eats bread , driakaale , smokes tobacco , takes snuff , -wears clothes , boots , or a hat—he can buy in the retail market precisely what he may require , while he would not be able to buy the same article wholesale , although he might then have the wholesale profit ' as a retail dealer or a consumer . That is with regard to the necessaries of life when purchased b y the consumer—and now let me treat of the Land and its wholesale and retail value .

    The wholesale market is the only market open for the purchase of land , and when an estate of a hundred acres , or a thousand acres , is set up to auction , the man or men who would cheerfully , like the old woman , become retail purchasers of as much as would sweeten their cup of life , are wholly excluded from the market , and upon the simple ground that the opening of that market would increase the standard of wages in the agricultural Labour market ; and the landlords fear , that , under such circumstances , the tenants would not be willingto pay an equal amount of rent in the wholesale market , as their profit also depends upon the competition in that market , and- the amount of rent is an insignificant item as compared with the outlay for wages .

    The landlords defer to the caprice of their tenants for two reasons : — Firstly , —Because on the subserviency of those tenants dependsthatrepresentative power which enables the landlords to divide all the patronage of the country amongst their own friends and relatives , managing their estates , as I have often told you , by the science of patronage , and not by the science of agriculture ; and

    Secondly . —Lest rents should be reduced if wages wereincreased : while they are so addicted to their present ante-diluvian notions , that they have not the sense to see that the very same effect would be produced by bringing THE Lx \ ND into the retail market , as I have described with respect to tea , sugar , and other commodities . Now , will not this irrefutably prove , that with an increasing population , the landlords preserve this barbarous feudalism in consequence of the political power it confers upon

    their order , and without any—the slightest—re ference to national requirements , or even to their own interests ? And , however antagonistic the cotton-lord may be to the landlord , does not the fact of that class being virulently opposed to bringing the land into the retail market , prove to your order that , whilst complaining of your poverty , they aid in its preservation , and brutally resist any plan which promises profitable employment to the labourer , because upon his dependence and destitution is based his power , his monopoly , wealth , and station ?

    I shall now proceed to a consideration of my second proposition , namely—as to the only available Savings Bank wherein the poor can safely , securely , and profitabl y invest their little savings . The artificial traffic market is not open to parties possessing small amounts of money . That market is completel y overstocked , and the man with 50 / . or 100 / . capital , would soon be driven out of that market , from his

    inability to give credit or compete with the larger capitalist ; while , upon the other hand , no competition can injure or diminish the profits of that man who gives his 120 / . for four acres of land , or bis 60 / . for two acres of land , and mainly , because his first and chief object is the support of himself and family , and therefore he is rather served , than injured , by eating dear food , as he grows it himself , and would receive a larger price for the surplus .

    The Land then , is , I contend , the only secure Savings Bank for the investment of the poor man ' s money ; while the application of his labour to that laud , makes him independent of any employer , and is the most healthy and remunerative occupation . As I wish to be most explicit upon the question of the application of free labour to the Land , let me simplify the proposition . The wages of an agricultural labourer may be averaged at 10 s . a week , or 26 / . a year , and , at a pound an acre , that would give him twenty-six acres of land , while now he would be only too happy to give 15 / . or 16 / . for four acres of the same land . Thus I

    show you that the monopolists of land are opposed to bringing it into the retail market , lest it should render its occupants independent of their will , and destroy their monopoly of political power . I may be told that the labourer would not have capital sufficient to cultivate twenty-six acres of land . I admit it ; but he would have capital to cultivate two acres of land , and after paying a high rent , living , and supporting his family , he WOUld have , from the rudest system of cultivation , 26 / . a year profit over and above rent , and support of his family . And now I will proceed to the developement of my plan for securing real

    " FREEDOM FOR THE MILLIONS . " In the plan in which I have been engaged , I have been met on all hands by legal quibbles and technicalities , by newspaper misrepresentation , middle-class vengeance , and , though last not least , the folly , the insolence , the fabrications , and falsehood of the most fortunate . I admit that the English people are a lawtrammelled people , and I admit not only the

    justice , but the propriety and prudence , of such a people endeavouring to protect themselves against the intricacies of that law , and to shelter themselves under its many coloured wing . And for that reason , it is my intention , as app lied to my new plan , to place myself and those who have confidence in me , out of the grasp and the power of the law , and to place them and their property within the bounds of its narrowest limits .

    This , then , is one of my plans . I propose to purchase land in the wholesale market , and to subdivide it into one , two , three , four , or more acres , and give it to the members retail at the wholesale price—the only additional expense being the legal cost of making out title and the surveying ; and presuming that I pur-Chased and had conveyed to me an estate of two hundred acres to-day , by this day week the proper roads would be laid out , the allotments would be surveyed , and every purchaser would be entitled to the quantity of land for the amount of the money he had investedthe only expense being , as I have described , of

    the necessary and unavoidable legal expense purchase and trans f er , and the expense of surveying . And suppose I purchase two hundred acres of land , or any quantity , at 30 / . an acre the man who had paid 32 / . would receive one acre ; the man who paid Gil . would receive two acres ; the man who paid 961 . would receive three acres ; the man who paid 1201 would receive four acres , and so on , up to eight acres , which would be the largest amount that any one should have allotted to him ; and that quantity of land would then become the fee Simp le property of each occupant , none navin" a farthing rent as tenant , and none Je jj , glnfluenced otherwise than by his own will

    as a voter . - I have put down the price of 32 L an acre , proBPnring that it would cost 22 . an acre in le « al * expenses of purchase , surveying , and making roads ; but 1 have made no deduction

    M Y Feiesds , 2ss^S , S? Flf ^^ I» The G...

    or c ^ ipition-for "the amount ' that Ivwo ' uld make ^^> ld ^ materials upon a farm of two hundJJllpcresV which in no case would produce less tij ||| 8 p 0 ? . ; or 4 / . an acre , thus reducing the pljag & cosVpf the land , including legal'bxpense | ffid survey , to 28 ? . an acre—that ; is ; if a mal |||| i $ r 32 / . an acre , he would receive badf , 4 ? . frag ^ a ' sale of old materials ; and I wish you t ^^ ar this fact critically in mind , " that thosei ||| materials which are on the spot , are as va ||| ftfe ,, as I only estimate what are ; valu- able 1 || raw materials are , and alsothatisavo the P «& pf carnage , which is one of the ' maiDi items ^^^ pbhditure . ^ ^ i ? ^ ' ^

    Nq ^ l th ' e ^ yay that I shomd . ap ^ l y ; tnqse hVa terial ^^ uld be , to pile as much'brick pF . stone , asitj ^^ Vbe , as would build a , cottage , "' and thenJIIptiipse materials to those , who were willi ^^ j | buy them , infinitel y . cheaper than they |^ pj ( purchase them in any otjier , market . OldjpStta ^ ttm 'ber I would have * sawedjup . iuto mw ^ X ^ mMSM ^^^ frames , MeepersTjoisIs , winaowsashes , and so forth "; while the unsound timber would ' be apportioned < as firewood , and no man but he who has had experience in those matters can make any—the rudest—calculation of the value of all such materials ; and let it be borne in mind that they are not taken into calculation b y the vendor ; while I show that they would average to the amount of 41 . an acre , and I apply that to any estate from one hundred to one thousand acres .

    I have not space here to insert most valuable extracts from works of Lord Lauder , dale , and other practical agriculturists , with reference to the value of small allotments . I will just insert , however , the following extract taken from an Oxford paper some years before I proposed my odious Land Plan , and before its progress had affrighted the traffickers in Labour out of their wits . Here it is : —

    CHEAP FOOD AOT GOOD WAGES . - The following extraordinary instance of what may be accomplished by spade husbandry has been furnished by a correspondent who took the partievdars himself from Samuel Bridge , in the presence of another gentleman , steward to a nobleman , and we have his authority for saying he will be happy to answer anyinquir . es our friends may wish to make on the statement he has Riven . Samuel Bridge , of Stock Green , near Fcckenham , in the county of Worcester , lias occupied foui acres of very inferior stiff clay laud , on the blue lias , for twenty-seven years . He grows two acres . of wheat and two acres of potatoes every year , and sells all his produce , even his wheat straw . The stubble from the wheat , and the tops from the potatoes , serve to bed down his pigs , and the manure from this source , and from his privy , is all that he cets for the use of his farm . The crops obtained are not at aU extraordinary for the

    result of spade husbandry ; but it is very extraordinary that such crops , with so little manure , and from bad land , could have been obtained tor a quarter of a century together ; and , coupling the duration of the operation , with the quality of the land , it must be admitted that nothing more is needed to prove t ?< e superiority of the spade system over the plough system ; for although the same crops are obtained by the plough on good land , it is quite certain that the plough would fail to compete with the spade on equal qualities of soil . The produce obtained on the average of a quarter of a century , by this exemplaryman , is twelve tons of potatoes per acre , and forty bushels of wheat per acre , and the following account may be taken as a close approximation to the truth : Sold annually—24 tons of potatoes , at £ 210 s per ton £ 60 0 0 80 bushels of wheat , at 7 s 28 0 0 4 tons of wheat straw , at 50 s . 10 0 o

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    £ 98 0 0 Deduct as under-Manual wages , £ i 6 s . id . per acre per annum v ... £ 17 5 4 Seed potatoes for two acres .. ' i ...... H 0 . 0 i bushels of seed wheat ( being dibbled ) , at 7 s : 6 d ^ 1 10 0

    Subject to rent and parochial payments ........ £ 74 4 8 K may be safely stated that the average of aU the land in England , under cultivation , does not yield £ 5 per acre gross produce , and also that 20 s . per acre per annum is more than is paid in manual wages ; whereas , in this case , of very inferior land , above £ 28 per acre gross produce is obtained , and £ 4 Gs . 4 d . per acre per annum paid in manual wages ; or , in oUier words , you get by the spade , on small allotments , near six times as much produce , and employ four times as many people , as by the plough .

    It is only necessary to add , that this useful member of " society has bought his four acres of land many years since , and paid for it out of his savings . lie has also built himself a comfortable cottage and out-buildings thereon , and is the owner of considerable property besides . It should be mentioned also , that , during ttvo years of the period of twenty-seven years , Samuel Bridge got his land ploughed gratis by his neighbours , but found the injury so great by the treading of the horses , that he reverted to the spade , and says it answers his purpose better to pay for digging than to have it ploughed gratis .

    Now does the above require a single word of comment beyond this ? that I would not purchase stiif clay land for the members of my Company . But if we go further we find by Sillett ' s evidence , before the Committee of the House of Commons , that , after feeding himself , wife , and family , and paying over 20 / . aryear for rent , or interest of money , for two acres and a house , he has made profit over and above rent , living and clothing of 51 / . a-year , and expected to make much more now , that he has got his land into good condition .

    But what would Samuel Bkidge have made had he fed pigs with tho potatoes , and made manure of his straw instead of selling it ? Why , to a dead certainty , nearly double as much . But , however , leaving the question of cultivation , produce , and profit wholl y out of the question , I will now deal with the Land as a Savings Bank , thus : —A man investing 120 / . in the Savings Bank , will receive little more than 3 / . per annum , that is if the Savings Bank does not fail ; while the man who gives 120 / . for four acres of land , will receive over 121 . a-year rent from a solvent tenant who ¦ will annually increase its value , and I put it down very lowly , thus giving him an increased interest of 91 , a-year , and much

    better security for his 120 Z . ; and there is not a tenant so holding for whom I would not most cheerfully go security myself , as . not one would be a day behind with his rent during his term of occupation , while the purchaser or little landlord would be in possession of an independent vote . Now let it he understood that some occupants at Lowbands have refused 8 / , an acre ; and that one at Minster Lovel , which cost 30 / ,, has let three acres , without a house , for 4 Z . 6 s . 8 rf . an acre , and I will warrant the occupant will he tho best tenant upon the estate , as no man can conceive the attachment of an agriculturaHabouier for a piece of land to the cultivation of which he can apply his own free labour .

    Let me now call your attention to the opp ortunity which presents itself for carrying this p lan into immediate and practical operation . In July , 1847 ) I purchased an estate at Mathonoffive hundred acres . It is situated in the most beautiful and luxuriant valley , within two and a half miles of the fashionable and daily-increasing town of Great Malvern , and within eight of Hereford , by coach road . For that estate I paid 15 , 050 / ,, subject to an annuity of 300 / , a-year , to a very old lady , the mother of the proprietor . I paid 1 , 500 / . deposit , and I paid for the valuation of the tim b er ; and the title , after a long

    —and the most searching—examination was declared to be unexceptionable . The conveyance was ready to be made , hut , although Sampson was a strong man ' and Solomon was a wise man , yet neither of them could pay money if they had it not , and for the very same reason I was precluded from completing the purchase . However , I will now show you how the matter stands , and the advantage to which your order may turn it . That Estate is again to be offered for sale-on the 28 th of June , " and it is still in ' my power to complete the purchase , and to give it at wholesale price in the retail market , to those who wish to

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    ^ 'b'econieit ^ purcba «^«^^^ n ere are—as'Ihayi stated ~ nve ;; liu ^ QlWfee 8 6 f prime Lah ^^ 'foi ; :- ! -v- ¥ »' B' ^ ' ^ aii > sKWr !* UT-K ' - 'iVis < i ;« r-. '' - ' re j ' infi twenty T 8 ixiacrfis of . which I was offered . 105 £ ^ s apr . ^ ;; r ^ i'M < TP H ^ ? W 0 U J ° - have . the -h ^ efi ^ Q ^ a . ^ a ^ wga . „) Otank , to thp amounl ' o ^ . ^ SQ / .: ' ] a \ ftyefflr > i , ; a 8 , . . iipon .- the death oi 'MB . f 4 CuFPE ^ the > estate . would be releasee ! frim 300 /; -a year ,-iia ;• . which being subject , ainiuch less amOunt . 'of purchase money is required . And let hie now . show you distinctly h ' o ; w ' thematter standsPIiave to pay 13 , 500 / ., which , with the l , 600 /; "I paid , would make I 5 ;( p 0 i ; i ano forjthe repayment of that 1 , 5007 . Iam , quite willing to give'the purchasers a fair iiAie to refund it ; thus the ' rewould he 13 , 500 / . tpjpay , somewhere less ' than ' ;| i 000 / . for timber growing on the estate ^ ' atid jahout 500 / . for levelling ditches and . puttingitih order , makmg ; a , total of 18 , 000 / . ;; ' and ; if one hundred members would pay ; J 20 Z , ; each , and one ; hun-4 r ^^ emher 8 ^ 6 ^/;\ eaqhi 3 it make that

    less than two mbhths , not only jto return the 4 , 000 / . paid for timber , but also to divide a large profit amongst the members . Thus from the 4 , 000 / , alone returning the subscribers who had paid 120 / . about 23 / . of the money paid for timber , and the subscribers who had paid 60 / . nearly 12 / . ; thus reducing the amount of paidup capital from 120 J . to 97 ? -, and from 60 Z . to 48 / . ; and _ that without making any calculation for the usual profit of what is called LOP and TOP , all of which would , of course , be di vided amongst the members . And then , I should state , that upon this estate there is a splendid mansion , with racing stables , hunters ' stables , carriage-horse stables , hack stables ,

    working-horse stables , and every description of outbuilding , besides a mansion in thorough repair , which I am told cofit 4 , 000 / . Then there are two farm houses and farm buildings , a garden , with garden house , and cottagebuildings from which I undertake to produce lowly over 3 , 000 / . or reduce the price of the Land by 61 . an acre—that is , for the materials upon the 500 acres I would undertake to get 3 , 000 / ., and in that neighbourhood , with a splendid market for vegetables within two miles and a half , and a market for everything within eight miles , and a railway in course of progress skirting tho estate , I would undertake to let that Land in allotments at from 31 .

    to 4 / . an acre ; thus constituting the best description of Savings Bank for those who did not wish to occupy themselves . Close by there is an inexhaustible quarry of the very best stone , but Mr . Cuxlingham , my able overseer , estimated that there were materials on the spot to build over sixtyjcottagcs . Let me now show the occupants of such an estate how they would stand , presuming that they had paid the whole 15 , O 00 £ , and not taking the timber into account at all : 15 , 000 / .

    for five hundred acres , is 30 / . an acre , from the materials I undertake to makcx 61 . an acre which would reduce the price to 24 / . an acre—and from the profit upon the growing timber , I undertake to pay the legal expenses , and the whole cost of levelling the fences , knocking down the old buildings , and surveying , * giving my own time and experience most cheerfully for nothing , and employing only Mr . Cullingham and Mr . Doyle , to see to those necessary operations .

    Now , in two months after I got possession of that estate , I would , without any legal quibble or technicality , be able to make a free conveyance to every man who had paid for his land ; and thus , as if by magic , I would have created two hundred real INDEPENDENT VOTERS for Worcestershire , and they would be voters whether they let or held ; and I would undertake to secure every man , who did not wish to occupy , an interest of ton per cent , for his money , upon the best security that can be obtained ; and I would undertake to set every trade , and every labourer in the neig hbourhood , at full and profitable workprofitable to themselves , and profitable to those who employ them .

    JSw , just see what two hundred men can do for themselves . But while I thus map out the estate into allotments of two and four acres , I have not the slightest objection to subdivide it into smaller parcels , to suit the means and convenience of those who would not be able to , pay for two or four acres ; and in order to prove that I have confidence , at all events , in myself , and to avoid- all legal

    quirks and quibbles , the amount sent to effect this purchase should be advertised in the " Star" each week , and every farthing should be strictlyaccounted for ; while the subscribers to the fund who wish to conceal their names , which is a horrible proof of tyranny , may have the amount acknowledged as J . X ., T . Y ., or any other initials , while the correct name and address would be inserted in

    a book kept for that purpose . Asl have told you , the sale of this estate is to be re-opened on Thursday , the 28 th of June , and if my proposition meet with that confidence and response which I think it deserves , I will then he able to answer the exultations of tho brutal Press that rejoices in the incapability of Mr . O'Connor completing this purchase for the Land Company , To me , the realisation of this object would be a source of great trouble and expense , which , however , would be more than compensated by your and my triumph over our exulting foes .

    But , my friends , you must hear in mind that while I mention the Mathon Estate for the purpose of developing the circumstances connected with it , nevertheless I am not at all confined to that purchase , hut am ( open to bid for any other estate that may ' be offered f or sale , while I cannot recommend any . that would be more profitable than Mathon . It is for you , however , to put your heads together and say whether you can safely invest your money in confidence in me , to be applied to the purchase of land , on which you may profitably expend your own labour , or by which

    you may establish a Savings Bank , which will give you four times the amount of interest for your money , and with better , security , than any hank—Savings Bank or other—can offer . I trust that I shall have a response , and such a response to my proposition as will enable me to complete the purchase of this splendid estate , which , as all must allow , is situated in the very garden of England . But that response must he given at once , and addressed to "the Directors of the Land Company . " So that you will understand that I am not to be driven from my purpose when I undertake to secure real

    " FREEDOM FOR THE MILLIONS . " Now observe , that when I tell you , the sale is to be re-opened on Thursday , the 28 th inst ., and ask you to give an immediate response to my proposition , I do not mean that you are to—or that you can—send me the amount of purchase money by that time , but what I mean is—in order to prove my confidence in you—that if you acquiesce in my prbr posal , I wiU re-purchase the estate , and then subscribers will have till September to' pay up ; and I would undertake , during the month of October , to complete every single particle of workthatwasto be done upon tho estatej with the exception of felling the oak trees , which could not he done till May , as otherwise wo should lose the bark , which inakes a great por-

    M Y Feiesds , 2ss^S , S? Flf ^^ I» The G...

    tion of the profit ; hut in . Novcmoerjcvery man would have his allotment assigned t < him . Now if I wished to take my own money oul of the Land Company , and to expend it in a trafficking speculation for myself 1 wouhl undertake in tun years to he one of tlie richest men in the kiugdpm , but I never have baeed a single action of mine upon selfislinesij . However , I have now pointed out the means by which those with a , littte ^^ ingto ^ tiya . « Wish " tlieir yst ' sS ^ wisfeng' ^ fo ;*^^ ¦

    peffoct ^ freedom .: ; The ^ men ; : ' M , / Lancashire , Yorkshire ,: and ' , ' , ' No ^ tingli ^^ M'e ^^ p ^ tiy aware that Land ; is : ^ keh ^ t ^ pco ^ pople / uotlby the ; acr % ; hu ^ re nts . ' ivarying ^ fromf 20 / i ;; tp . i , 40 /^^ : an-acre >; and that the ! landlords " of , those' * allotments arg called pious CHRISTIANS ' and"AN . GJBLS ' ; while I > 'Who ^ propose tovgive Land .. warth . 50 / . an acre for a ^ rent bf 21 , a-year , ' or M per cent ., am ^ aued ; INim ]^^ . ' " Th ^ eisiimWf ^ i ^ fthit liwightho working classer'cntically ' •• fq nfiderst & i ^^ It is this : that ? forniany ^; ye ^^ and ^ l ^ nofevbeiai so cheap in' the , ;; wholesale marKet / as ^ it isfiifiw ; while . " whatever ; it ; may M ^ nl ^ hB ^ holcBale ' marketdoes \ noiinjthe sh " htesti degreoaffect

    , , g ; its value in the 3 tail market . ; And ''' there is its value in tlii ^ retsfil Aarl ^ . ' ; Mfl ^ ucro is another consideration-rrit is this i ' thht / those persons purchasing ^ aUptoerits would hajr ^ the whole of their building and other operations performed upon the & co- operative v . principle , that is—all the timbeK , ? and ^ ! mpnWr ^« ano ^^ ei ^ f ^^^^^^^^| £ ^^^ liaWrfsS ^ uTO ^^^^ u ^^ i ^ Pn out the value of this system to a two-acre allottee . T will presume that he would expend 60 / . upon his cottage until he got in a situation to increase it . " Well then , 1 would undertake to build a hundred , fi % , or even iwenty cottages , for 401 each , of a better description than those which could be built singl y for the 60 / ., and thus save the occupant 20 / ., cv 10 / .

    an acre . How I do wish that I could make you—the working classes—understand this SHOPKEEPING VIEW of the Land Question ; and how I do wish to he able to bring the gane mind of this country to enforce the proper developement of our national resources upon the minds of our rulers ; but as I have oftca told you , as long as the monopoly of Land constitutes the monopoly of political power , and as

    long as the monopoly of political power upholds tho monopoly of patronage , scr long will the privileged few offer every opposition to the enfranchisement of the dependent many . We are not very far from a General Elcctiorij and it would give me no small pleasure to gee two hundred independent voters walking into Worcester , with their eyes and ears ouch , able to open their mouths according to the dictates of their will .

    Now let mo take a squinting vicav of the means of winning twenty-five of the English Counties . Under 30 / . worth of Lauct will qualif y a man as a forty-shilling Freeholder , and , therefore , 30 , 000 / . , would mu'chase enough of Land to qualify a . " thousand Dcreons ; that would be for one county : ami ; if you mul * tiply 30 , 000 by twenty-five—the number of counties that I state —it would require 750 , 000 / . to enfranchise 25 , 000 voters at 30 / . each : but I might go further , and ' aajythat

    with the exception of very few ccunties , five hundred voters would hold thp balance of p ower in each county , which would givo the whole fifty counties . And thus , I show you , that y ou hug your chains , and deserve slavery , as you spend in drunkenness and dissipation in one single week—ay , sometimes i $ one single day—as much as would , if legitimately expended , give you ten per cent . for-.. ; . your money , and put you in possession ol ' every county in England . .- . » .-, ;

    Now , how can you suppose that a gentleman will place himself up as a target , Jopc shot at by every class , for his devotion to your order , when that order prefers continuous drunkenness and dissipation to immediate . ^ freedom . Now , lot me prove to you , incontestiblv ^ . that you are your own oppressors . I wonder how much money it hao cost the Trades of this country to carry on hopeless strikes and struggles against , their powerful masters , while for 750 , 000 / ., expended not in unprofitable strikes but in . profitable representation , they mig ht have been , in possession of

    representative power , and ; have a larger interest and better secuyity . fev their , money than they now receive , or ever have , received . But what ' s every man ' s business is . nobody ' s business , aud the great competition , jealousy , and disunion Of those £ « $% constitute the strength and the power of their oppressors . The hatter says , "What have , I to do with the carpenter ? " but the carpenter will not be as good a customer to the natter when idle , as when employed ; und so with every , other trade . While , if industry were represented , those very Trades who expended 750 , 000 / . in purchasing

    " FREEDOM FOR THE MILLIONS , " would the very next year receive three , four , ay , live millions more in the shape of wages , while thev pay nothing in the shape of protection . Now let me ask , who will den y this % Surely , those who are securing "Freedom . for the Millions , " attherate of 23 / . a head , will not deny it ; and surely every sane man will at onco understand , that what is to ho done FOR the people must be done BY the people , and that real Freedom can only be seemed by real

    co-operation . This is a very long letter , hut I hope not an unprofitable one , and if it is unprofitable , it is more so to mo than to anybody else ; however , I never grudge time or trouble if any amount secures the co-operation of any portion of the industrial classes . I trust , however , that I shall have a hearty response , and then I will go on whining real " FREEDOM FOR THE MILLION S , " seekingout those counties where the balance of power can be most easil y secured , and where even I , tho founder , \ vould not endeavour to , and could not if I tried , influence the vote of tho most dependent .

    All those who have paid amounts , into the Bonus Fund , not sufficient to entitle them to location on the Bromsgrove , estate , will receive the amounts they paid h y return oi post , and postage free , upon application to the Directors , addressed to the Company ' s , Offico ; while those who wish to apply them to the purchase of a portion of the 'Mathon property , or any other property that I may purchase , will also communicate their intention to the'Directors . And let it be borne in mind , in order that there may be no mistakes or afterclaps , that if

    i purchase an estate of two hundred acres , or any other amount , it will he divided into allotments of from one to eight acres and each allotment will ' have its relative valuo placed upon it , as it would be impossible to purchase two hundred or one hundred acres of ground of the same quality and value ; so that if I paid 30 / . an acre in the wholesale market , some allotments may be . worth 40 / . an acre , and some 201 . an acre ; but I would take cam ' 'hot to

    purchase any bad ground , none an events , yielding stones as its most ' potable crop . Then the estate would be sur ^ YjE ^ -l ^ to the number of allotments under th ^ d ^ lf ^ ni heads from one to eight-acres ; tbe ' l eg ^ majj Value would be fixed upon each , and ^ friuhscribers of those several classes would ballot amongst themselvesfor priority of choice , and the rent would be fixed according to the relative value of the allotments . ' . ¦ ¦ ' ( Continued to tit : Eighthpeoje . }

    ^ / ' ¦>-, ¦ Y ¦¦ - ¦ "¦'"'¦¦ ¦ /M /^ \

    ^ / ' ¦> -, ¦ y ¦¦ - ¦ "¦'"'¦¦ ¦ / m /^ \

    _7 And ' National- Tmlmrffi M ^

    _ 7 AND ' NATIONAL- TMlMrffi

    . Pqt Jljffl. . 69 Lfflldoh, Simayji)^^

    . PQT jljffl . . 69 LffllDOH , SiMAYji )^^

    The Financial Report Of The Distressed N...

    The Financial report of the Distressed Needle- ' woman ' s Society , was not promising ; tho * total in- ' como of the society in 1847-8 was £ 558 ; $ last year , only £ 50 , An earnest appeal was imde to . the public for support , lest a society doing so ihu « b > ood should entu'ely decay . ¦ : ° -

    ^ M - " ' 'Vv ' V. T

    ^ M " 'Vv ' v . t

• Citation
  • Northern Star (1837-1852), June 23, 1849, page 1, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_23061849/page/1/