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Northern Star (1837-1852), 24th February 1849, Edition 2 of 3, Page 5, LETTERS TO THE WORKING CLASSES. XXXVI. «...

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      February 24,1849. ^ ^ The Northern Star

      February 24 , 1849 . ^ ^ THE NORTHERN STAR

      Letters To The Working Classes. Xxxvi. «...

      LETTERS TO THE WORKING CLASSES . XXXVI . «• Words are things , and a small drop of ink Falling—like dew—upon a thought , produces That which mates thousands , perhaps mfllions , think . " btbon . THE THREE GLORIOUS DAYS OF - —

      FEBRUARY . Brother Proletarians , This Day ( February 24 th ) twelve months ., < ro a perfidious Kixg , with the CAEf-mark of his people ' s blood upon his brow , fled in terror from his palace , and Liberty li g hted jxer torch at the flames of Royalty's funeral pile ! February 22 nd , 23 rd , and 24 th—glorious and immortal days ! Though the paid parasites of Tyranny scoff aud lie , they cannot efface / acte from the page of History ; and History , even though written by the enemies of flic People , will be compelled to acknowledge the heroism , the chivalry , the sublime ( thouoh ill-requited ) generosity of the heroic population of Paris during those ever memorable davs .

      Happily , the historical department of Literature is no longer monopolised b y such , venal creatures as those who , not long ago , prostituted their pens to g lorif y a Tallies and calumniate a Robespierre . The people have at least one historian , who is as incorruptible as he is mentally powerful . Even the enemies of Louis Blanc acknowledge his purity , and pay unwilling homage to his genius . I anticipate from his pen a worth y monument to tho glorious heroes of February . Twelve months ago the friends of Democracy in this and every other nation in

      Europe stood , as it were , on tip-toe , with beating hearts , watching the progress of events at Paris . Restless anxiety , alternate hope and fear , ag itated the breasts of myriads , from London to Vienna , —from Berlin to Rome . "The Banquet is forbidden I—The Opposition have succumbed!—The People are assembling!—The barricades are raising !—The struggle has commenced ! — Guizot is dismissed ! — The conflict thickens!—The troops are fratemisjnc!—Loms Philippe has abdicated and fled!—The people have rejected the Count de pAHIs!—The lied Flag flies over the Tuileries

      —The throne is burning on the site of the Bastille !—The Republic is Proclaimed !!" O joy of joys ! Rise from your slumbers , 0 y e nations ! Turn pale , ye kings and statesmen—brigands and hypocrites , oppressors , cheats , and liars—the lutndwriting is on the wall ! You are weig hed in the balance and found wanting , and Justice , long weary of your iniquitous reign , demands your fall . Roused by the trumpetrvoice of Liberty , Bounding from the banks of the Seine , the

      nations confronted their oppressors . Bloody contests in some countries—feeble and ineffectual efforts against the people in other statesresulted in magnificent triumphs , which were only incomp lete because the people foolishl y put trust in the fear-extorted pledges of their rulers . On the other hand , in England and Ireland popular debasement and bourgeoistreason enabled the aristocracy to tighten the " villain-bonds , " by which the few hold the many in thrall .

      Turn we again to France . In the very hour of their victory , the people unhappily sowed the seeds of their own ruin , by allowing a set of knaves and intriguers to tske possession of the Government With the exception of four , the members of the Provisional Government were either disguised Royalists , or political babblers , who , whilst mouthing Republicanism , were intent only on their personal aggrandisement aud the continuance of bourgeois rale—a Eopuulic of slaves and profit-mongers . It is notorious that some of the " Provisionals" had

      supported the scheme of a Regency within a few minutes of being appointed members of the Republican Goveriunent . When the list was read in the Chamber of Deputies , a student of the Pol ytechnic School exclaimed : " You sec that some of the members of your Provisional Government are against a Republic . We shall be deceived aswe were in 1830 . " Prophetic words ! It is true the Republic still exists in name , but it is the mere lifeless form of the Commonwealth . The intriguers , foiled on the 24 th of February , 1848 , are the masters of France on this 24 th of February ,

      1849 . When that babbler Lamartine persuaded the people to abandon their victorious red flag for the bourgeois tri-colour , the first blow was struck at the Revolution . The acceptance of the pretended " adhesion" ( to the Republic ) of Messrs . Thiers , Bugeaud , and Co ., was a fatal error . The peop le should have learned from history , that popular generosity is always abused by the enemies of Justice . Above all , the permitting an increase oftaxationbythe Provisional Government , was most ruinous . The peasantry , on being informed that they

      were required , in the name of "Liberty , Equality , and Fraternity , " to pay additional taxes for the support of the Government , naturall y answered , — " To the devil with your Republic . " This feeling , taken advantage of b y the rich , and the intriguers generall y , caused ihe election to the Assembl y of so many enemies of the Republic . Ledru-Rolllx ' s commissioners , even if they had possessed the eloquence of Demosthenes and

      tlie strength of Hercules , would have lailed , when forced to compete against the " forty-five centimes . " But it may be said that Louis Philippe and Guizot had left the public treasury empty , and money was indispensable . Granted . But a polite request to the rich to supply an adequate contribution would have been attended to in the first days of March , and would have altogether set aside the necessity for demanding additional taxes from the people .

      Any Revolutionary Government that , instead of diminishing , increases the public burdens , necessarily and deservedly becomes unpopular . " Liberty , " as Lamennais has well said , "is not a mereword to be written on a placard and posted at the corner of a street ; '' it is , on the contrary , a power whose beneficent influence is felt socially and politically . Woe to those Revolutionists who talk of " Reform , hut are content to make words supply the place of deeds . of March

      It is to be lamented that the 17 th passed over without a new Revolution . The Proletarians were then masters of Paris , and might and should have purged the Provisional Government That day might and ought to have seen the inauguration of the Red Republic . A month later it was—" too late I " The manifestation of the loth of May was a most unwise and unfortunate affair . The much more serious movement of June , though it must be deplored , may be justified . " What ! " it may be said , " justify an

      insurrection against an Assembly elected by Universal Suffrage ? " I answer , that there is a rig ht anterior and superior to the right of Suflrage—the right to life . " When the social compact fails to protect a citizen , he resumes hisnatural rig httodefend , ^ er 5 ona % , all his rights . " It is further declared , in the most perfect embodiment of the principles of the French Revolution , that " when the government violates the rights of the peop le , insurrection is for the people , and for every portion of

      the people , & c ., & c . " The Assembly haa condemned the Paris Proletarians to perish by famine ; and , further , had passed an infamous measure for the purpose of stifling the expression of their just discontent The Paris workmen bad ample provocation for taking to the barricades . I can say nothing in favour ofthe Policy of that course . The chances of success ¦ * ere few ; audit is questionable whether even success would not have produced most deplor- ; a We consequences . The 17 & of March wasj

      Letters To The Working Classes. Xxxvi. «...

      day on which the Revolution should have been completed . The fierce revenge taken by the conquerors after the struggle of June had terminated , contrasts most vividly with the magnanimity of the victorious people in the days of February . The French workmen did perfectly right in excluding Cavaignac from the Presidency , whatever may be the consequences of the election of Louis Napoleon .

      Thus far the consequences of that election have been most injurious to the Republican cause . Louis Napoleon I take to be a combination of knave and fool : knave , so far as he intends the destruction of the Republic ; and fool , inasmuch as he gives dail y evidence of his blindness to the real designs ofthe Royalists , who use him as a tool , but have no inclination to abandon their own views in favour of a new Buonaparte dynasty .

      Republicans crowd the p risons , public meetings are suppressed b y brute force , the democratic journals are persecuted , the bonnet rouge is proscribed , and—climax of infamy—the organs of the Government announce an agreement on the partof the President—with England and Austria—to engage in an armed intervention in Italy , for the purpose of re-establishing the Po p e , and suppressing the Roman Republic . Even in the worst days of the reign of Louis Philippe , France had not sunk to the degradation which at this moment renders her the wonder—though not the admiration—of the world . The most gorgeous luxury characterises the President ' s balls and assemblies . The

      rich arc feasting , and revelling in the very wantonness of profligacy . The pulpits are announcing the speedy restoration of Royalty , and tlie stage resounds with sconings at every public and private virtue . Can such a state of things continue % I will not believe it . A change may not be at hand , but a Radical change must and will

      come . Brother Proletarians , believe not that the g lorious victory of February was won in vain . Rather believe with me , that Public Virtue , though for a moment cast down , will yet be found strong enough to crush the vamp ires who at present pollute France b y their rule . The Red Republicans are not yet extinct ; their mission they have sworn to accomp lish , and they will fulfil their vow . Let us encourage them b y ' our sympathy andapplause , for they are the p ioneers of Progress—the champions of Universal Justice . Proletarians

      of London , duty to your brethren and to yourselves commands your attendance at the Festival which will be held on Monday next , to celebrate thethree glorious days ofFebruary . Governments hostile to the freedom and happiness of the people , are again leaguing together to prevent the march of Liberty . At such a moment it becomes an imperative duty for the true Democrats of all nations to unite , and , as far as possible , aid each other in their common pursuit of the one thing needful—JUSTICE . May the time speedily arrive , when the reign of JUSTICE will be undisputed and universal I L'Ami du Peuple . February 22 nd , 1849 .

      The Fraternal Democrats Of London To The...

      THE FRATERNAL DEMOCRATS OF LONDON TO THE TRUE REPUBLICANS OF PARIS , ASSEMBLED TO COMMEMORATE THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION OF FEBRUARY , 1848 . Citizens and Brothers , Anticipating that the glorious 24 th of February wfll be celebrated by you in a manner becoming the great events of that ever memorable day , we send you this friendly greeting , to assure you of our fraternal sentiments , and our heartfelt aspirations for the triumph of the true Republic—the Republique Democratique et Sociale !

      We address these words to the " true Republicans , " because we must distinguish between hypocrites , and honest men — between disguised royalists , and veritable democratsbetween political babblers , and social reformers —between those who persecute the Republicans , and those who are persecuted—between those who are plotting for the restoration of Monarchy , and those who have sworn to live and die for the Republic . We take our stand by the second of these parties . In addressing ourselves to the " true Republicans , " we speak to the legions ofthe Republique Rouge —the brotherhood of the Republique Demo cratique et Sociale I

      Brothers , to you—to the heroic people of Paris—the world is indebted for the irrepressible stimulus g iven to the cause of Universal Liberty , b y your victory of the three days of February . Accept the heart-homage of those who would scorn to flatter Kings , but who are proud to testif y their admiration of men of whom posterit y will say—" They more than ' deserved well of their country ; ' they deserved well oftnanldnd . "

      But whilst we rejoice with you rn commemorating the victory of February , we mourn with you over the terrible evils which too soon followed that day of triumph . The exiles who have sought reftige in this country—the prisoners of Vincennes—the victims ofthe military tribunals—the heroic martyrs ofthe barricades of June , claim our sympathy and our tears . Above all , wc mourn the sacrifice of the principles inaugurated by the victorious

      people on the 24 th ofFebruary . The solemn pledges given by the Provisional Government to the Proletarians , have been basely violated . Instead of the looked-for reign of Equality , Liberty , and Fraternity , there has been established the rule of Injustice , Brute-force , and Persecution ; and—0 ! matchless blasphemy ! —it is in the name of the Republic that the founders and defenders of the Republic are condemned to exile , chains , and death !

      This ruin has fallen upon France because the victors ofFebruary adopted the fatal policy of " moderation "—because sham Republicans , intriguers , and babblers were fatally allowed to grasp the reins of power . Brothers , henceforth let the first political lesson you give to your children be the words of the immortal St Just : — " They that make but half-revolutions onl y dig a tomb for themselves !" But we will not despair of the Republic . Although your Moderates have established a veritable Reign of Terror , their power will crumble and perish if you are but united . You have Faith—you have Energy ; add Union , and you will be again and finally victorious .

      On the occasion of the late Presidential Election , we were grieved to witness division and distraction in your ranks . We hope to see in the approaching electoral straggle—one party—one flag—one aim : the election of the tried and proved champions of the Democratic and Social Republic . Such , we trust , will be your policy , and that of your brethren , the true Republicans throughout France . By the blood ofthe martyrs—by the sufterincs of your proscribed brothers—by thehopes of the oppressed and struggling nations of every name and clime-we adjure you to unite and form one p halanx , invincible and irresistible

      . , . Accept our asp irations for the h appme ^ of France . Glory to thS Mountain ! Glory to the prisons of Vincennes J € H « y *» dl our suffering brothers ! Victory to the Republique Rouge I Vive la Republique Democratique et Sociale I Salutation and Fraternity .

      ( Signed by the Conunittee ) . William Shute , Chairman , Henry Ross , Edmund Stallwood , James Gbassby , Edwin Gill , | Thomas Grey , John Arnott , John Simpson , John Milne , SAMUEL Kydp , Charles Keen , G . Julian Harney , Secretary .

      The Executive Committee To The Chartists...

      THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE TO THE CHARTISTS OF GREAT BRITAIN . Fellow Countrymen , —We have resolved to bring again before Parliament the great question of a thorough reform ofthe House of Commons—the great question as to whether a small usuiping fraction shall arrogantly sway the destinies of this country , or whether that duty is not the sacred province of the whole people . That the solving of this important problem rests with the peop le themselves , is an opinion which has been maintained by the sages of the world in every era of its history . Never since the commencement of the

      movement for liberty in this country , were circumstances so favourable to its progress as at the present juncture . There is , however , one great and lamentable deficiency , which must be supplied , ere these circumstances can have any favourable influence . The people must be aroused from that worse than criminal torpor into which they have permitted themselves to fall . Their inaction is the delight of the

      oppressor ; it is at the same time the dolour of the patriot . We regard their quietude under their many wrongs with sorrow , but not with despair . We cherish a lively faith hi the truth and ultimate success of the principles of democracy * while wc entertain strong hope that that love for liberty which is inherent to mankind , will yet fructif y in the hearts and minds ofthe now indolent masses of Britain .

      It is , fellow-countrymen , to us rather extraordinary that the people here stand still , as it were , opium-drugged , while the thunders of revolution are awaking up from the sleep' of ages the- nations of the world , and striking salutary fear into the hearts of their base oppressors . Few are the nations in Europe that have not , within the eventful 1848 , won some boon , either in the shape of a diminution of grievance , or an extension of liberty ; while others have sent their despots upon an

      unwilling pilgrimage through the world , and have taken the management of aflairs into their own hands . Let us here ask , " What advance has Eng land made in the road to freedom ? What concession has the " Glory of the world and the envy of surrounding nations " made to the politically-enslaved and sociall y-degraded millions ? What improvement has been wrought in the miserable condition of the great mass of our operative population ? " Alas \ the answers are too notorious to need repetition .

      If , fellow-countrymen , it were necessary to furnish you with an incentive to action , in order to a speed y obtainment of the power to create an honest House of Commons , you have it in the fact that during a few months of the past year , four monstrous Coercion Laws were enacted by Parliament , at the instigation of that precious clique—the Russell Cabinet . You have it again , in the fact that the first act of the present Session has been , to offer to Ireland

      —the national bastile , the terrible golgotha , the land of emasculatedinvalids—an additional insult ; to heap on her another cruel wrong Whigs , Tories , and Liberal Reformers seem to vie with each other , in their endeavours to p lace the scorpion whi p of coercion in the hands of her rulers . We remind you of this tyrannical procedure with the view of stimulating you to an effort to rescue degraded humanity from the withering dominion of usurped and irresponsible power .

      We have conferred with our colleague and champion , Mr . O'Connor , as to the time of testing the feeling of Parliament upon the subject of the Charter . Mr . O'Connor has agreed to introduce the subject formally to the notice of tho House , about the middle of the forthcoming May . His efforts will bo of little avail , unless strenuously supported by the People . You will have ample time to arouse public attention to the subject , and to get your petitions properly and numerously

      signed . A form of petition will appear m the " Northern Star" of Saturday next , which may be adopted or modified in p hraseology , according to the Avish of the' localities . The petitions of each town or district when carefully inspected , in order to guard against all improprieties to be sentto the Representative of the locality for presentation to Parliament . A record of the number of signatures attached to each petition to be made by the agents ofthe Association , and forwarded to the Executive Committee .

      Fellow-Countrymen , inmarkingoutthis work , we do so with full confidence that you will not neglect it . We irnj ^ ore you to cast off all sluggishness , and thus deprive your enemies of the argument that you are'indifferent to your rights . "Up , Guards , and at them , " was the laconic address that preceded one of the most successful charges at Waterloo . * ' Up , Chartists , and to work , " say we ; " and strive to realise that hitherto empty and vainglorious boast , that Britons never shall be Slaves . " T . Clark , W . Dixon , P . M'Grath , E . Stallwood . G . Julian Harney .

      Dr. M'Douall. To The Editor Op The North...

      DR . M'DOUALL . TO THE EDITOR OP THE NORTHERN STAR . 25 , Mount-street , Hulme , Manchester , February 20 th , 1849 . Sir , —I went to Liverpool on the 14 th , to see my brother Chartists in prison . I found them all well but Leach and Grocott . At the same tune I made an application to the governor for leave to see Dr . M'Douall . He told me that no one could see him only his wife , and it must be on matter of importance . I asked him , in the name of thousands of friends , to let me see him . " Well , " he said , " you shall see him . Walk this way . " At that time he was taking his exercise in the yard . I shook hands

      with him . He had the prison dress on ; the same as felons and thieves . When I first saw him , my blood ran cold in my veins . I said to myself , "Is this the man whom I have seen in comfort and happiness V He was low in spirits . I told him that the people were doing all that could be done in his behalf with regard to the Writ of Error . The Doctor told me he had abandoned the case . I told him that a good sum of money had been subscribed . He said , " " Give it my wife—it will do her good . " The men of Liverpool have taken a house and shop for her to commence business in the grocery line . I am , sir , yours , & c , Thomas Roberts .

      York Farmers Club.—At The Last Monthly M...

      York Farmers Club . —At the last monthly meeting of this club Mr . Smallwood of Middlethorp , m the chair , a paper was read by Mr . Raines , " On the best plan of preparing land for spring crops . The plan recommended was—first , to make the land dry by thorough draining ; secondly , to grow as many root or fallow crops as grain ; thirdly , to clear the land by scarifying or broad-shearing the stubble immediately after harvest ; fourthly , to plough the land in sufficient time to get tempered by the atmosphere ; fifthly , to plough deep for the bean and root crops ; and , sixthly , to manure sufficiently for them , so as not to have to apply any to the grain crops . The Birmingham March on London . —It is stated that the subject of Mr . Young ' s letter to General Napier , relating to the alleged revolutionary movement in support of the Reform Bill , will be brought under the notice of Parliament , in the Lords by Lord Lyndhurst , and in the Commons b y Mr . Glaastone .

      Telegraphic Communication' between America and Euro e . —Amongst tho miscellaneous proceedings of the United States Congress are projects to establish a telegraphic communication across the Atlantic to Europe , to form a similar line across the American continent , and also a project to form a line of railway from the Lakes of Michigan to the Pacific . The Stowe Library . —The sale of the Stowe library has concluded after twenty-three days ; sum total realised , £ 10 , 355 . The manuscripts will be sold next month .

      A-Hint . — The mind has more room in it than most people think , if you would but furnish the apartments . —Gray ' s Letter ? . Connecting Railway . —A railway round Paris , uniting the tcmini of the different railways , has just been completed . American Partridges . —Among the recent importations from the United States have boon American partridges , in considerable number . A Tender-hearted Man . — Who is the most tender-hearted man in any town ? D ' give it up ? The bell-man—because he will " cry if you g ive him a shilling .

      Public Meetings. Reduction Of Taxation! ...

      PUBLIC MEETINGS . REDUCTION OF TAXATION ! rijSl ? " , " ' convened by tho Executive £ S „? T \ , el ( 1 at thc Litera V Scientific ^ f n £ V J ° ~ Sh , < f' Pitzr 0 J-n « = 're , on Tuesday evening , iobruary 20 th . Mr . Wm Dixou was unanimousl y called to the chair . w , ;„ ' { . " i : ? . , aid : Thc resolution which it is mv tin ? ttt ?" ttothcmMtin « r , isaffirmativeoftwodis ' - W " ! . ples ' —the one has reference to tho mode of lev > mg taxes , and the other is enunciative of what I regard as the only sound theorv of parliamentary representation . It will be my province to deal more specificall y with thc first part ofthe resolution m which it is asserted , " Don t be alarmed ! —that direct taxation is the only honest mode of realising a revenue for thc support of national

      institutions . ( Cheers . ) This proposition may be considered as an innovation , bv those who profit bv the present swindling system , but I can show tha ' t direct taxation is at this time extensivel y practised in this country . ( Hear . ) How are the taxes for thc support of the poor imposed ? Directly , and in a great measure upon property . The same is true of highway and police taxes jinfact , ofallassessed taxes . But the difference between local and general taxation is , that the purpose for which each local tax is imposed , is distinctly and clearly set forth , and its necessity must , in some measure , be established before any local government will attempt its imposition , - out in the case of general taxation , ninetenths of those who pay the taxes are not only ignorant of the purposes to which such taxes arc apiiuiouv ui me purposes to which such taxes arc aplied

      p , but they are equally in the dark as to thc iimo « nt which they pay —( hear )—and thus is one of tho first rules of business violated , by withholding from thc debtor a knowledge of the amount which he pays to his creditor . Thc state in imposing taxes , p laces itself in the relation of a creditor to those who have to pay , and to withhold from such persons a knowledge of the amount which they each contribute to the state is , I repeat , a swindle ! ( Cheers . ) There never was a happier mode of lundering the million than the present method of raising the taxes in this country . ( Hear , hear . ) And one of my reasons for wishing to substitute it by direct taxation is , that if each man were called upon to contribute in proportion to his means , tltflt n mnrn cnfii */>) urin * inmiirir wnulf ! Iia mnAa

      into thc application of such taxes , when , if I mistake not , a considerable reduction would be effected in an our national expenditure . ( Cheers . ) I suppose you have all heard of the " Pension List . " ( Hear . ) With direct taxation , would we not have a revision ?—( hear , and laughter )—with a view to a reversion . ( Cheers . ) Doubtless , many royal illegitimates , duchesses , and other " noble " ladies—you know what I mean —( cheers and laughter )—would object to what I am proposing , because to impose the taxes directly , would bo to depose the aforesaid " nobles" immediately . ( Cheers . ) Besides , I am strongly of opinion that the means to pay is thc only fair standard by which to judge of the amount which ought to be paid . ( Hear . ) I do

      not think it at all right that the poor needlewoman , who receives the horrible amount of six or seven farthings a shirt—( shame )—should be compelled to pay proportionatel y as much for her quarter-of-an-ounce of tea as thc rich man , who has the advantages of wholesale purchases , pays for his pound . ( Hear . ) The avowed object of levying taxes is to maintain the institutions of the country—the institutions are designed for the protection of property , and , therefore , those who hud the most property to protect , ought , in common fairness , to be compelled to pay a proportionate amount of taxation . ( Cheers . ) Mr . Clark , after a further elucidation of his views upon the justness of his proposition , concluded by proposing the following resolution : — " That , in the opinion of this meeting , the

      fiscal arrangements of this country are unjust and grievously oppressive ; inasmuch as the Revenue is chiefly made up of imposts upon the necessaries and comforts ot life . And this meeting holds it to be the imperative duty of the Legislature to revise our entire fiscal system , to abolish all indirect taxation , and to levy the expenses of thc government upon the property of thc country . This meeting is also of opinion that the present representative system is moat defective in its organisation and will so continue till such a reform is effected as shall admit every sane and honest adult Briton to the exorcise of those franchises which arc now unjustly monopolised by an insignificant minority of her Majesty ' s subjects . " Mr . G . J . Hausey seconded the resolution .

      Mr . Sturoes rose in thc body of the meeting and said he wished the word "insane" in the latter portion of the resolution to he expunged , as should a man be insane for a time he did not think that that should deprive him of his electoral right , but , during tho time of his insanity , he thought some one should exercise tho privilege for him . Again , he should like thc word "honest" to be omitted , neither did he think the inferior points should be mixed up with thc Suffrage ; he conceived that the "Charter and No Surrender" prevented those joining or going with them who fully concurred with Universal Suffrage , yet differed with some of the inferior points of the Charter ; the Chartists were called the interrupters of public meetings , but , for his part , he always found them g iving the greatest amount of freedom and latitude for discussion . ( Loud cheers . )

      Mr . Clark could not consent to yield any , even of the " inferior points ; " he had no objection to leave out the word "honest . " Messrs . Stallwood and M'Gkath objected to the omission of the word "honest ; " and after a few words from Messrs . Clark and Harset , the resolution was amended , as follows , and adopted ;—" Until such a reform is effected as shall admit every sane adult Briton , ( except such as shall be immured within thc walls ofa prison during the time of an election ) , to thc exercise of those franchises which are now unjustly monopolised by an insignificant minority of her Majesty ' s subjects . " Mr . P . M'Gratii , in a neat speech , moved the adoption of the following petition : — THE PETITIO . V OF TOE DHIAfUTACTS OF THE PARISH OF SALVT PANCHAS IS TUB aOBOUCH OF J'AHVLEIiOSE , IN PUBLIC MEETING ASSEMBLED , To the Honourable the Commons of Great Britain and Ireland , in Parliament assembled . Sheweth ,

      That your petitioners consider that the exigencies of the British empire render pressing and paramount at the present time two descriptions of reform—tlie one fiscal , and the other piirluvmeiuary . That your petitioners would remind your honourable House that those retrenchments so eloquently described and promised during the struggle for Reform in 1832 , by many members of your honourable House , and especially [ by the principals of the existing government , have never yet been accomplished . That the demands upon thc resources of industry are now more extensive and burdensome than when Ofatton and Old Sarum were represented in Parliament .

      That your petitioners humbly conceiving that one important duty of the Legislature is to make the pressure of taxation as light as possible to those who bear it ; and firmly believing that much of the present expensive machinery of government serves no other purpose than to place patronage at the disposal of the dominant faction , and lucrative situations in the possession of their friends and relatives , your petitioners pray your honourable House to strike out of that infamous catalogue , the Pension List , the names of all those whose claims to national gratitude rest not upon honourable grounds . That your petitioners also consider that economy and retrenchment might be applied to our monster war establishments with perfect safety to tlie nation , and great benefit to the community . That tlie maintenance of the army and navy , in their present enormous magnitudes , cannot , in the opinion of your petitioners , be justified , cither by the foreign relations of England , the position of the people at home , or their ability to bear so enormous a burden .

      That youv petitioners pray your honourable House to abolish forthwith all sinecure places , and to effect reductions in the salaries of government officials in all cases where the service rendered ia not commensurate with the pay received . That your petitioners consider thc Excise and Custom duties now the principal sources of revenue , to be grievously oppressive to the people , and your petitioners arc of opinion that it is in tho power of your honourable House" to create superior fiscal arninirements for supplying the exigencies ofthe State . That indirect taxation lias a furtive and insidious complexion whicli renders the system detestable to the people . Your petitioners therefore pray your honourable House to create such arrangements as shall make all taxation direct , and shall cause its weight to fall where it can be best borne , namely , upon the land , incomes , and other properties of the people .

      Vour petitioners are impressed with the conviction , that the constitution of the House of Commons requires a thorough reformation ; and your petitioners are also of opinion that any reform short of universal or manhood suffrage , with sound details for rendering efficient that principle will full short of justice to the people , and will fail in creating a representative body , which shall be the faithful index ofthe heart and mind of tlie British people . That your petitioners consider that the unenfranchised masses are both wronged and insulted by their exclusion from political immunity ; they therefore pray your honourable House to remove the stigma of thraldom from her Majesty ' s subjects by enacting that Parliament shall in future be constituted upon the principles of Universal Suffrage , Vote by Ballot , Annual Parliaments , No Property Qualification , Electoral Districts , and Payment of Members . And your petitioners will ever pray .

      ( Signed ) William Dixon , Cliairman . Mr . Stallwood in seconding the ' adoption of the petition said , as regarded himself , he had long ago abolished the taxes on hops , malt , beer , spirits , tobacco , and snuff . ( Cheers ) While he would not oppose tho Liverpool Finance Reformers , or Mr . Cobden , he went much further than either of them , as he was desirous of sweeping entirel y away all the Sresent taxes in existence , and substituting a grauated property tax , commencing , say , at property amounting to £ 500 per annum : and in this he

      inc-ugnt tno middle ana working classes would cordially unite . ( Loud cheers . ) As to what the political reform should be , it was almost unnecessary for him to say : he was for the People ' s Charter , whole and entire . In conclusion he had the pleasure of informing them , that Mr . Osborne , one of tho members for the county , had last night presented the petition agreed to at their last meeting , and fully stated its contents to the House , and he must add he was h'gW y gratified - by findine Mr ! Osborne ' s name in

      the minority against thc third reading of the Irish Coercion Bill . ( Loud cheers . ) The petition was unanimously adopted , and ordered to be signed by the chairman , and presented to the Home by Feargus O'Connor , Esq ., the member for Nottingham . A vote of thanks was given to the chairman , and the meeting separated .

      The Violation Op The Tex Hours Factory A...

      THE VIOLATION OP THE TEX HOURS FACTORY ACT . Stalybridge . — On Monday evening , February 12 th , a public meeting of factory operatives was held in the Town Hall , Stalybridge , for tho purpose of protesting against the violations of the Ten Hours Act by the employers , and in favour of the adoption of a uniform system of working ten hours a day . The large hall was crowded to excess . Mr . Oastler and the Rev . J . R . Stephens were present . Mr . J . Handforth having been unanimously called to the chair , the Rev . J . Holding , assistant to the Rev . J . It . Stephens , in a speech of considerable length , moved the first resolution , which was as follows : — " That this meeting being fully sensible of tho beneficial effects that would result to the health , morals , and social comfort of the people by a steady adherence to the principles of the Factories Regulation Act , and deeply deploring the violation of that act in these districts , unanimously resolve to support by every means in their power , the government and officers of the crown in their efforts to enforce its trul y humane and salutary provisions . "

      Mr . John Crossley seconded the resolution . Mr . Oastler , on rising to support the resolution , was received with loud and enthusiastic cheering . He said—It was a great many years since he first had the honour to p lead before them tho cause of the poor factory children . Since then his temples had been wreathed with a crown of laurels , by the victory and triumph obtained in Parliament , in that cause , to which they and their hundreds of thousands of comrades in England and Scotland , had been so true and faithful . ( Hear . ) The Ten Hours Bill , since they htfd met , had heen voted by the legislature of the country to be the law of the land . He ought to have been in the metropolis ; he had other work to do than plead for the law of England

      that night ; he had other work to do than to represent their cause once move to tho Legislature . There had heen in the neighbourhood of London such scenes of murder , or as they called it , manslaughter , of the youths in tho youthful slaughterhouses , as he called them , farming establishments , that they were holding meetings in all parts of London and Westminster to denounce that horid crime . ( Hear . ) And they had done him the honour to ask him to attend those meetings . They knew how his heart would yearn to plead the cause of those poor creatures , and to denounce that accursed enactment —but while-St was the law of the land they must keep it—that accursed enactment the New Poor Law —( hear , hear)—his denunciation would be to

      induce every Christian man and every man of ri ght feeling to petition the Legislature to repeal the law , and not to ask the people to def it . ( Hear . ) But when he heard that his old " subjects "—( hear , hear ) —the factory workers—wanted his aid , he was obliged to turn a deaf ear to all his London friends , and once more to draw the sword of factory right in support of the poor individuals who had been so long oppressed under factory wrong . ( Cheers . ) And now let him ask them , were they for or against the Ten Hours' Bill ? If they were for tho hill let them hold up their hands deliberately , ( A forest of hands was immediately displayed amidst loud cheering . ) Let him see the hands of those who were against it . CSo hand was held up . ) Jfotone . ( Cheers . )

      The Queen did not intend that , when the Ten Hours Bill was passed , the fathers should be kept from their families at night , and the poor mothers and children should have to wait sobbing and si ghing wearisomely for their return . But it so happened that the will of the magistrates of Manchester and other places opposed the will of the Queen and themselves , and opposed the law of the land . ( Hear . ) Some men would say to the operatives under such circumstances , " Tlie best way was to strike , seeing we have got the law on our side , we shall be sure to succeed if we strike against the masters . " Don ' t listen to that kind of advice ; if they were to have a strike under present circumstances Ihey would endanger the stability of society ,

      and they themselves would gam nothing in the strife . Jib , no , they had got their enemies on tlie wrong side —( hear , hear , )—the operatives were on the sunny side ofthe law , and they would keep in its glorious li ght . ( Cheers . ) One of the masters in that town said to a friend of his the other day , " You Ten Hours Bill men have been shouting before you got out o the wood ; you see we have made a hoile in the Ten Hours Act already "—alluding to the decision of the magistrates ; as if those puisne men could make a hole in tho law of the land . ( Hear , hear . ) They had made a hole in their own characters , and he fancied they had mado a rent in the bench on which they sat , so that it would not hold them much longer . He happened

      to be in company with a Manchester merchant a few days ago , and he heard him say that trade was improving famously , —that wages were rising , and that the operatives were doing as well as tlicy could wish . That was what this merchant said . How , he ( Mr . Oastler ) wanted to ask of them , his friends , were wages improving to their hearts' content ? ( Cries of " No , " and " They are lowering . " ) Lowering , bating , at present ! ( Cries of " Yes . " ) That would astonish his London friends ; wages lowering , hating , and trade improving ! ( Yes , yes . ) Why , a merchant told him that trade was improving , that wages were advancing , and that the operatives were doing as well as they could wish . ( A Voice" I ' ve seen a master to-day , and he will never alter

      it . ) Then he ( Mr . Oastler ) was to understand that it was true that wages were lowering ? ( Cries of " Yes . " ) Now , if there were a master there , and he dared say there were masters present , if the workmen were telling him an untruth , let any master say so at once . Don't let them have a false tale told . [ After a brief pause , and no answer being made , Mr . Oastler proceeded . ] Well , he never was so surprised : ho could scarcely have believed it unless he heard the evidence himself . Then it would seem that they had not yet had their arms made long enough to get hold of that great big loaf that used to be paraded about their streets , on the top of a long pole . ( A laugh . ) They had not got it yet—it was coming , he dared

      say . ( A Voice : " Wait a Jittle longer . " ) Yes , wait a little longer , as tho Leaguer says . Well , then , they would , perhaps , bear with him if he asked a few questions of them . Was it the custom in that neighbourhood for the factory masters to charge rents for houses while the houses were not occupied by the people , and deduct such rents from their wages—was that true ? ( Cries of " Yes . " ) Houses which were not occupied , _ let them recollect—was it the custom that a fortnight or a month ' s rent was deducted from their wages a fortnight , or a month , or six weeks before they got the key ? ( A Voice : " It is true , I have paid it myself . " ) Without having tho house ? ( "Yes . " ) How , if that was not true , let the masters , for masters were there , speak out .

      He wished to ask another question : —Were there a great many persons in that neighbourhood formerl y factory workers with them , who had left their country for this reason , because they could not bear to see their wives and children starve ? Did they know whether that was common for people in this country —for fathers to leave their families , loving them dearly , but not having the courage to stop at home and see them starve—was that true ? ( A voice , " Yes , it is too true , amongst others I have a brother that is gone to America for that reason . " ) Now , masters , if that is not true , say so . How , would they he so good as to tell him who kept tho families which were left behind ?—( Several voices : " The parish . " The ' parish ?—( "Yes . " ) Could they tell

      him whether any cripples were thrown out of work by having their hands or their fingers broken , or any thing of that sort in that neighbourhood—was it so ?—{ Cries of " Yes . " ) Then when that was the case , who paid them ? Did the parish or the millowners pay their wages when they were crippled ? —( Several voices : " The parish ; " and a voice : " Unless his parents can support him . " ) The parish ; but the factory masters did not pay the wages if a man was cri led , and if his parents could not support him ?—( " No . " ) Now , there were many persons in that factory district thrown out of work entirel y by becoming too weak in consequence ofthe excessive labour they had to undergo , but they lived a trood many years after being in the prime of

      lifewho kept them , was it the factory masters kept thorn ?—( Cries of "No , no . " ) Who kept them ? —( Avoice : "The ratepayers . ' ) The ratepayers . Now there were many who could not find work , in consequence of previous over-work having overstocked the market , and who were driven to thieve . —( Cries of "Yes . " ) Who paid for tho prosecution and maintenance of those ?—( Several voices : " The ratepayers . " ) Tho ratepayers again . Then there were a good many whose hearts were broken b y alternate over working and then no working , no wages , and who became drunkards , and there were those who became whisky distillers for the same

      reason . Who had to bear tho brunt of keeping the drunkards in order , and of punishing the whisky distillers ?—( A voice : " The ratepayers . " )—The ratepayers again . Now , he asked these questions for a good reason , not invidiously , but in order that all England might know what they ( the factory workers ) were , and what they ( the rest of the people ) were likely to bo if the mill-owners were to have uncontrolled rule in this country . ( Hear , hear . ) They ( the mill-owners ) were to a man almost against what they called protection to British industry , and yet he found that they were protecting their own interests on all sides out of the pockets ofthe ratepayers . ( Hear , hear . ) Now , he aid not think that was fair . ( Hear . ) He

      thought they ought to be bound to pay the ' wages of these persons whom they overworked when thoir health was gone , and he thought they ought to be bound to pay the wages of the cripples whom thev made , and be bound to pav the wages of tlie families , the heads of which ' were forced bv them to America or some other foreign climes ' , for the reasons stated- ( licar hear ) -and he thought they ought to be bound to say for the prosecution and maintenance of those thieves , and of those contraband whisk y-makers—evils ' which the cruelty of their system had engendered in society . And he said it , uiihusitatiu * iy , that if a trade which they ( the masters ) so much ' boasted of , could not do without that protection ; if the factory masters could not make their trade profitable without levying such tremendous tay . es

      on tho products of the farmers , of professional gentlemen , and other inhabitants of the neighbourhood , he said , unhesitatingly , that their trade was not worth having . ( Cheers . ) They had told him enoug h about their own poverty and the lowering of their own wages . How were their masters—were thev rich or poor ? ( Several voices : " rich . " ) Ay , I know one of them , or else he is belied , calls himself , " Stink-o-brass . " ( Hear , hear , and cries of ' He is not belied , he isveryrich , " and laughter . ) Now that was a very curious kind of trade—a very one-sided sort of trade—that made the thousands and tho tons of thousands poor , and only the few , the very f « w , exceedingly enormously rich ; it was a trade that no country ought to he proud of —( hear , and cheers ) —and , at all events , that no country ought to allow

      its laws to be broken in order to support it . ( H-ar , hear , and applause . ) How often do we hear in London that the factory masters are tho great philanthropists ofthe day—that they takeall theenre , all the anxiety , all the head-work ; it is they that find profitable and healthy employment for the hundreds of thousands of factory workers . My friends when I set out on this expedition I was not aware that the law had been broken in ; iny county , save that of Lancaster . But I now learn from last Saturday ' s papers that the law has leen broken by the magistrates of Stockport , which ' is in Cheshire ; and at Upper Mill , near Saddleworth . whioh is in Yorkshire , so that the three counties of Yorkshire , Cheshire , and Lancashire , may bo said ,-as far as the magisterial power coe « , to be in attato of

      revolt against the law of tho land , in open rebellion against the sceptre of the Queen . ( Hear , lrar . ) Where there have been otbrr outbreaks , s peedy punishment has followed on the offenders . I hope and tru < t , nay , I lme that confidence in the authorities of this country—that I believe speedy justice will overtake those rebel magistrates , and ns great a punishment will be their portion . ( Applause . ) Before I proceed to the further portion of my address , there is one important fact I wish to impress upon the minds of Englishmen . I happened ti » be informed atAshton that it was customary therefor the payment of factory workers to he partly made up out of the poor rates . ( Hear , hear . ) Now , I scarcely believed it when I heard it ; but when a public meeting at Ashton avowed that it was so , of

      course I did believe it—that the factory masters protected their own trade by putting theiv hands into the pockets of their neighbours , the farmers and shopkeepers , taking thereout money to pay a part of their factory wages . ( Hear , hear . ) Since then this document has been put into my hande ; it is the authorised document of tbe list of paupers of the parish of Aahton-under-Lyne , and there I find the thing is recorded ; there is no " if" or " but * about it . ( Hear , hear . ) There is a column that gives the name of ths pauper—a column which srives the residence—another fo the cause of requiring relief ; and I find throughout the whole of the pages * one of the causes is " insufficient earning . " ( Hear , hear , hear . ) I would just take the first half Tpage , in order that you may have some idea—I will not

      give the names of the nominal paupers ; no , I would rather give the names of the real paupers , the mill-owners —( cheers)—they are the paupers on the farmers and shopkeepers . " ( Hear . ) Mr . Oastler then proceeded to read from the first page of the book to whichhe had alluded the following items s" Insufficient earnings , £ 3 18 s . ; insufficient earnings , £ 3 15 * . ; insufficient earnings , £ 3 18 s . "Good lumps those to come out of the pocket * of the shopkeepers and farmers , to save the pockets of tho factory masters . ( Laughter . ) No wonder the latter are so enormously rich . ( Hear , hear ) '' Insufficient earnings , 7 s . Gd . ; insufficient earnings , 14 s . This is only half a page , but it runs throughout the book . I hope Lord Brougham will hear it , and take notice of itiii the House of Lords . If wcare

      not to have protection for British industry , we will not have protection for factory knavery . ( Applause . ) I perceive by the newspapers , the factory masters have now be » un inYght good earnest to strive to get a repeal of the Ten Hours Act . They have met at Stockport , and they very kindly state that they intend to obtain a bill which ' shall enact the stopping of the moving power . I wish they would—they would not find me opposing that . ( Hear , hear . ) Let that be the first clause oftheir bill , and I will use all my influence to get so much of it passed . ( Hear , hear . ) And then , they say , they intend to alter the present law from ten to eleven hours a day labour , and what do you think tliey do that for ? Not to put money in their pockets , but in order that the question may be " finally settled . * ' ( Cries oi ' Oh " , oh . '") Finally settled ! Now , I tell the factory masters from this place that the question will

      not be " finall y settled in that way . ( Hear , hear . ) We will not have it" finally settled" with a ..- Eleven Hours Bill . We are content as we are—but if it is their will to bring a short bill into Parliament stopping the moving power , I will give them my word all my lads will petition their friends to say—Ay , ay , f" He . tr , hear , " and cheers . ) But if they gofurther , and if they profess to settle , " finally settle , " the question by an Eleven Hours Act , they will have such a nest of hornets about their ears as they are littleawaie of . ( Hear , hear . ) At present I am satisfied , and so are all the operatives ; but if they dare to trench a moment above ten hours a day , I'll raise the standard to eight hours , and you'll carry it . ( Tremendous fipplawe . ) This morning 1 received a copy of acircu ' ar , which the mill-ownero have caused their secretary to send to the members of their , body , I will read it to you : —

      Association of Mill Owners , Manchester . Sva , —Your attendance is particularly requested at a meeting of the association , iriiicfc nil ! be held at my offica on Tuesday next , the 13 th day of February inst ,, at three o ' clock in the afternoon precisely , to consider the state of the Factory Law , and appoint a deputation to London to see tlie government on the subject . —Yf . Heron , Secretary ! This is the declaration of war . ( Hear , hear . ) If was not long before it came into my hands , and I have not been long , before I came to meet it fairly , in a fair stand-up fight . ( Hear , hear . ) We knovsr what they are going to government for- eleven hours a day : but we can go to government as well as they . ' ( Hear , hear . ) One more matter I have to ask you , and then I shall draw to a conclusion . I have been in several districts , and I have been always very

      happy to find that those officers who have been appointed as the resident officers of the district to seQ the Factory Bill properly attended to have the confidence of the working classes . It is the case ia Manchester ; it is the case in Nottingham and Halifax , and other places I could name . I have heard you have a resident sub-inspector—I don't know his name —( cries of " Davr > , ' 0—1 don't want to know his name ; but I want to ask you whether he enjoys the confidence of the factory workers of this district ? ( Cries of "No , not a bit of it , " and "He is more like an old woman than ou'fi else . " ) Can you tell why he does not enjoy your confidence- ? ( Cries of" Because he don ' t enforce the law , " " He don't do his duty , as he gets too much wine out on em . " ) Out of whom ? ('' Out of the

      masters . " ) What ! docs an officer of the government , who is appointed to watch over the factory musters , and to see they do not break the law , doeshe get wine at the expense of the factory masters ? Does he 3 ( Yes , yes . ) Do you know that to be true ? ( To « S true . ) 1 will ask no more—I will leave the government to make inquiries . ( Hear , hear . ) I thought that his failing was that he was negligent—but if it be as you say , that is another case into which it ig not my business nor my will to inquire . ( Hear . ) This finishes my discourse , excepting that I beg , before I leave this place , that it may be perfectly uu * dcrstood by every person who has heard me to-night f ( hat my great desire and wish and object is that there i-hallbeno strike—no agitation-no ill-will between the workmen and the masters—no insult offered by the people to the rebel magistrates . I do not wish the slightest public disturbance . You may depend

      on it these are awful times ; and if the rebellion oi the magistrates should be followed by the revenge of tho people , the state of this district would be tod horrible to describe . ( Hear , hear . ) Let all then bB peaceable and quiet and lovely ; leave the dignity and the sacredness of the law to be upheld by those whose duty it is to punish rebels . But should the tocsin again sound , and bring me once more into thQ factory districts to petition for an Eight Hours Bill which will be the case if the factory masters make a stand in Parliament against the present law—whea then I come , if God should spare me , be ready , boys , be steady , boys , for such a broadside against the pow » ers of tyranny as tyrants never heard nor felt before * ( Great applause . ) [ Mr . Oastler then resumed big seat amidst the most enihusiastic and deafening plaudits . ] , The resolution was then put and carried unardw

      mouely . Moved by Mr . John Aviso * , schoolmaster , and seconded by Mr George Garsids , shopkeeper : — " That this meeting feels itself reluctantly bound ta declare and publicly record its want of confidence in the official integrity ofthe magisterial bench of these districts in all matters in which the interests of thfl factory labourers are concerned ; and would , most respectfully direct the attention of the Lord . Chance'lor to the subject , that he may take such measure * as he may deem expedient to insure a just and im . * partial administration of the laws . " Mr . Stbphbhs supported the resolution , whico was carried unanimously . Shortly afterwards the meeting sepfratfti

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Feb. 24, 1849, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_24021849/page/5/