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Northern Star (1837-1852), 25th April 1846, Edition 2 of 3, Page 4, Portrait of Patrick O'Higoiss, Esq.—The ...

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    • TI THOOXaS COOPER , THE GHA&TIST'S 1 WORKS. {
    • THE NOKTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, APRIL 2D, 1846.
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      ' " * ._......-. The Y 0ijthe -Rflt Star...

      ' " * . _ ......-. THE y 0 IJTHE -RflT STAR . April Q 5 , 1816 . -I * .-- - —¦• -- "¦ ¦ •• " • - » im i ———— * I . i ¦ n I , -

      Ti Thooxas Cooper , The Gha&Tist's 1 Works. {

      TI THOOXaS COOPER , THE GHA & TIST'S 1 WORKS . {

      Ad00409

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      POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY FOR TIIE PEOPLE . Just published , T HE POPULAR INFORMANT , Parts land 2 , Price 8 d . This work is printed in double columns , one containing Geographical and Statistical Facts , the other being devoted to Political Inferences iu the shape of a running Commentary . " This new periodical is another sign of the times , aiuslrating the desire of the poor to store their minds with real knowledge . The geographical and seuud statistical facts , aud the political inferences , are well adapted to excite a further desire for information . "Morning Advertiser ,

      Ad00415

      HARE ON SPINAL DISEASE . This day is published , royal 8 vo . 7 s . PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS en the Causes , Prevention and Cure of CURVATURES of the SPINE . With Twelve Engravings , illustrative of the Cases . By SAMUEL HAKE , M . R . C . S . lately published , by the same Author , Svo ., 2 s . 6 d . CASES AND OBSERVATIONS , illustrative of the Beneficial Results which may be obtained by close attention and perseverance , in some of the most Chronic and unpromising instances of Spiual Deformity . With 18 Engravings on Wood . London : John Churchill , Princes-street ; and may be had of all Booksellers .

      Portrait Of Patrick O'Higoiss, Esq.—The ...

      Portrait of Patrick O'Higoiss , Esq . —The portrait of Patrick O'Higgins is now engraved on steel , and specimens will be in the hands of our several agents in the course of next week ; and a ? soon as a sufficient number are printed , no time will be lost in forwarding them to our several agents .

      The Nokthern Star. Saturday, April 2d, 1846.

      THE NOKTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , APRIL 2 D , 1846 .

      Trades Conference. {Scarcely Has A Year ...

      TRADES CONFERENCE . { Scarcely has a year elapsed since the first representation of the Trades took place in the Metropolis , and now we learn , with inexpressible delight , that invitations have been issued to the several bodies , to elect delegates to sit in a National Conference , to be held at Manchester , during the Whitsuntide holidays . From us , who hare ever found it our painful duty to speak of the Trades as they deserved , that body must only expect the exact amount of encomium that their own works entitles them to . We have

      long struggled , and not unsuccessfully , against all other aristocracies , individually and unitedly , and whilst their power was only capable of subjecting us to temporary punishment or casual incarceration , the ill-used power of the Trades , their jealousies , their trucklings their bidding for masters' favour and overseers' toleration , has imrosed upon the working classes permanency of suffering . anda whole life of sorrow . Yes , we say with regret , that the aristocracy of labour in this , as in every other country , is the vilest , most corrupt , servile , stinking , and oppressive

      Trades Conference. {Scarcely Has A Year ...

      aristocracy that right and justice have to contend against . However , as the old adage tells us , "that a fellow feeling makes us wondrous kind , " wc have now . reason to anticipate some change in the tactics , some correction of the abuses , some relaxation of the hostilities , by which the conduct of the Trades has been heretofore marked . We look forward at the present moment wi ^ h . mor e than ordinary anxiety , to the tone that shall be adopted at the ensuing Conference . If it is merely one of union , as a mode of administering comfort to the suffering oppressed out of the

      poor pittance of the half-paid slave ; if it is hut one of organization , whereby the thrice-told tale of woe may be again hashed up and spiced as consolation to the suffering , or sauce for the philanthropic and considerate ; if the value of restriction , without a , just application of the principle , is to be discussed , leaving it to each section to apply what to them may appear the most fitting details ; if the exclusion of politics , from a dread of scaring the timid , or strengthening the masters , who oppress by politics alone , if such shall constitute the programme of the projected Conference wc shall anticipate but little good and much of evil from the gathering .

      If upon the other hand they are taught that appeals , petitions , and remoristranceBhavc been met by insult , oppression , and resistance , and that masters ' strength can only be met by men's power ; if they are taught that to be united in mind , there must be unity of action—and if unity of action , that there must be unity of mind ; if they are taught to believe and understand that a Ten Hours' Bill means impartial restriction—just , wise , and national restriction , while that of mere sectional convenience does not partake of nationality or general advantage ; if they are taught that all previous attempts to do

      justice to their order have been dear but fatal experiments ; if they are taught that the law , above all other tyrannies , oppresses them when they use its just provisions , because the masters make and administer the laws , and that therefore they must seek a participation in legislation and the administration of justice ; if they are taught that the hours of labour spared from toil will seek for profitable employment elsewhere , and that each emigrant from the house of bondage to the open field of free labour is an incubus removed from industry , an item pruned from the unhealthy idle reserve ; if they are taught that their money , heretofore fruitlessly expended , may be henceforth profitably devoted to the

      application of surplus labour to their own property in the soil ; if they are taught that they have struggled hopelessly as an aristocracy of their order , and that they mutt now link themselves inseparably with the democracy of that order ; if the truth is instilled into them that the present chaotic confusion is not so much a consequence of rival factions warring against each other as the contest of the democratic many against the aristocratic few in every section of society ; if they are taught those things , and profit by them ' and act upon them , they will have distinguished , honoured , immortalised the man who has had the proud daring to step from the quiet ranks of the aristocracy amid the bustle of democracy .

      Duncombh is greater as a member of the Chartist Association than as President of the Trades b ; dy or speaker of the Trades parliament , if that body and that parliament does not adopt some more distinguishing characteristic ; some more understandable and reconcileable policy than the Trades of this country have as yet adopted or ventured upon . Can the greatest stickler for political non-intervention assign any just or reasonable cause why every delegate should not be prepared with a petition to Parliament in favour of the Ten Hours' Bill , as the only possible mode of carrying

      out the principle of impartial restriction ? The time from the present to the hour of meeting is but short , and yet we fear that the utmost advantage will not be made of it ; we fear that delegates may attend and feel the necessity of abstaining from voting upon questions upon which evay man's mind should be made up , until the sense of his constituents can be ascertained . Such course would but lead to disastrous delay , and it is therefore that we fondly anticipate the publication of a programme , so comprehensive and full of meaning as not even the most ignorant can misunderstand : a programme that

      will nerve the zealous and arouse the apathetic , a programme that will teach the confiding aristocracy of labour that exclusive rule and government is henceforth to be but a rotten reed ; a programme that will teach the struggling democracy of each trade that it has at length an interest in the election of a delegate , a hope in the resolves of the deliberative assembly ; a programme that will develope to the world , as well as to the trades , the collateral interest that every section of society will haie in

      supporting the measures therein propounded ; a programme which shall boldly open the whole question of labour and capital , even to the weak-sighted and stunted in intellect , instead of preset- , ting a mere kaleidiscope in which sectional interests may be shaken into party ipatchwork , to please the eye of the fastidious , to suit the taste of the hyper - critical ; a programme that will dare all that does not invite the law ' s persecution ; a programme that will blink nothing within the comprehension of the meanest capacity .

      Can any man of common sense and sound mind peruse the daring , insolent , outrageous and tyrannical manifesto of the master builders of Lancashire , and the bold , the manly and comprehensive reply from the governing national body in London , without coming to the conclusion that the tyrants have drawn the sword of their weak and pigmy power and that their slaves must throw away the scabbard . The Trades have selected a governing body whose vigilance does them honour , whose ceurage does them credit , and whose intellect reflects upon them imperishable renown . The Trades have invited the first patriot , the boldest man , and the most intelligent of his order , to assume the hazardous post o chief ; his character depends upon their courage , hi utility depends upon their energy ,

      These monsters , the master tyrants , seek but the public weal , and the men ' s advantage , forsooth ' These mild philanthropists declare their preference for high wages , in preference to their practical grind - ing and reduction , ever measured by the necessities of their oppressed slaves ; governed , not by the justice of their employers , but by the hard wants and stern necessities of a class-made surplus , an idle reserve upon which the tyrants ever fall back as a means of administering their own peculiar justice to the

      public . Can any man with brains , with heart , with hands , with one particle of self-respect , of human nature remaining in him , read the following insolent conditions prescribed by the rude capitalists without blushing that his own sycophancy has subjected him to so humiliating , so galling a condition —the condition u ? on which alone he is to be allowed to live—the condition upon which ho is to reoeive justice—the condition upon which stands the public weal .

      We print the defamation here again , although we published it last week . Read it , mark it , learn it , and inwardly digest it , ye slaves to the foul dominion of capital , to the capricious rule ot self-constituted law-makers : — " In entering into the service of I hereb y declare that I am not in any way connected with the General Trades' Union , and I undertake that [ will not join or subscribe to , or in any manner support or belong to , any General Trades' Union whatever , whilst I am iu your service . " ( Signed )

      Does not the proud crest of labour rise , does not the toiled blood of the excited slave run hot through his veins , as he peruses the above stricture upon his former indifference and subserviency . nnd docs he not swear in his wrath that he will avenge the insult by throwing off his former apathy , and now , in the strength of his union and the grande ur of his nature meet the daring foe , within the circle to which he h ;< a

      Trades Conference. {Scarcely Has A Year ...

      limited the battle . Resistance and victory , or surrender aud defe at . We feel convinced that the proposed Conference will give new life , and strength , and vigour to the struggling building Trades of Lancashire , while the perusal of the above insult to universal labour will induce all , who can spare the merest fraction from their poor hoard , to assist in provisioning the soldiers of labour for one short month , until its representatives shall have had an opportunity of bringing the unjust struggle to a glorious conclusion .

      Let the tyrants' speculations grow cold , and remain unroofed , but let not labour ' s hand be paralysed by confirming its own degradation . We arc justified in stating , that the London Directory feels an inexpressible interest in the success of the great struggle , and that its every machinery is at constant work to alleviate the sufferings of the strugglers , and to bring tho contest to a successful issue ; and let the weak of heart take strength and courage , when he remembers , that

      * ' Labour ' s battle once begun Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son Tho' baffled oft is ever won . "

      Labour And Capital. The Ten Hours' Bill....

      LABOUR AND CAPITAL . THE TEN HOURS' BILL . And after « week ' s consideration as to what should he the use made by the working classes of tlio crisis which Sir Hobkut Pkkl ' s measure was likely to create , we said : — " When we hi artil y applaud them as a means to an end w « assert , without the fear of contradiction , that , uultss followed by an immediate and statesmanlike calculation , in which tin * wants of labour and power of machinery shall be fairl y measured and equally balanced , that they will produce evil instead of good . The labouring classes of this or of any other country have never received from their rulers more justice thttu they had of themselves the power to extort . Again , " As , therefore , it would be impossible for the wisest or most far-seeing Prime Minister to embod y all the national grievances into one category , abolish them bv one enaccent , we . invite the silk-wcavers , the pape . 4 tai . iers , and all other trades whose interest , are threatened by Sir Robert Peel ' s measure * , to join , onu and nil , i „ the loud shout ol restriction , and a Teu Uoun . ' Hill . Again , " The agricultural labourer is younger , happier , more cheerful and health y « t the age of Mv « . t- than tho constantly employed operative is at the age of twentv-fivc ; his young blood'is sapped out of his reins-he was ' bom a

      "It is not so much to the bearing upon those peculiar interests that we look as to the peculiar and astounding influence which they are calculated to exercise upon our political and social relations . " " Now is the time to force popular concessions in the lust moments of a dxing aristocracy . Now is the time , when their own privileges are threatened with sudden death , to awaken them to a contemplation of those they have so long withheld from others . Believe us when we say , that the future interest of landlords and cotton-lords Will be more antagonistic than those of landlords aud labourers ; and now , for the first time in the history of this country , the ear of labour must be prepared to hear long suppressed truisms from the lips of a proud but humbled oligarchy . " Sucli were some of our reasons for approving Peel ' s policy , and now we shall extract a few passages from tke Star of the following week , the 7 tli of February , from , an article headed

      PROPER CONSOLIDATION OF TIIE TRADES , that free trade without possession of the nienns to convert any benefit that may How from it to workiug class advantage would be the severest , the heaviest , the greatest . and most fatal blow , that could be aimed at labour . We beg the attention of out readers to the reasons assigned for our approval of Peel ' s policy , and from them it will be seen th it those who have an interest in the suewss of the Ten Hours' Bill , and not we , are chargeable with apathy , indifference , and impolicy , if the favourable time for its discussion is lost . In our commentary on the niea urea of Sir Robkut Piel in the Star of the 31 st of January , we assigned the following as our reasons for approving them :-

      What possible reason is there for allowing the measure to sleep while the hope of securing it shall have passed away ? What have the working classes to do with the free trade policy of Sir Robbri Pekl beyond converting it to the advantage of their own order ? Why should they pause or hesitate lest the agitation of a question dear to them should jeopardise ministerial hope ? We tell them now , as we told them 1 ' iom the beginning , that free trade WITHOUT A TEN HOURS' BILL , that free trade without A

      which alone the success of any Trades movement must depend . When we aseerted that the present Coinmittee did not consist of working men , we did not mean to assert that there were no working men upon the committee ; but we did mean to assert , and now repeat it , that Lord Ashley's feelings , and not the merits of the measure , was the especial consideration with tho moving power of that committee . It was upon these grounds , and upon these grounds only , that we asked for the appointment of sucli a directing body as would ensure devotion for the principle , instead of worship for liim who has thrice deserted it .

      becomes mixed up with the value of the measure ; their timidity is set down to proper caution , and their individual predilection is placed to the account of good policy . Despite the danger , however , we again appeal from the apathetic committee to tiie active people . There is no feature of this great question that we have not presented to the criticism of those for whose good it is intended . We have exhibited its value in a political , social , moral , and intellectual point ol view : while we have shewn that it , and it alone , is the realization of the principle of restriction upon

      united people ; but they have been deaf to our every remonstrance , until , through their indifference , their apathy , or obedience to their noble patron , they have placed the question under a bushel , just at a time when its paramount value should be contended for in thu House of Commons . It is always disagreeable , and sometimes dangerous , to deal harshly with an organised body , accustomed to the use of power , and possessed of some amount of confidence . Their name

      We asked lor petitions on behalf of the measure , but the Managing Committee did not aid us . We asked for a delegation to London , and the Committee gratified us with a very faint representation of work " ing class zeal . We asked the Managing Committee to aid us in getting up a timely and irrepressible agi . ta-tion ; we asked them to withdraw all hope from the exertions of Lord Ashley , and to transfer their expectations to the exertions of an interested and

      discomfited state , would cheerfully aid in the accomplishment . of a measure so threatening to monopoly , and so dangerous to the power of their millocrat rivals . It was not , however , for us to force the consideration of the question upon Parliament or its supporters . It was our duty to point out where the machinery was rotten or defective , and it was the duty of those who undertook its management to see to the repairs .

      courage . We traced it from his guardianship to that of Mr . Fielder ; we narrowly watched the movements of the Short Time Committee , and we discovered that subserviency , ill-health , and weakness , wore obstacles which should be removed by the substitution of better materials . It would be impossible to deny that the Protectionists in their present hopeless and

      of achieving it . We were not amongst those who proposed tranquillity as a means of insuring Minis , terial success ; but , on the contrary , our policy vas , to take advantage of the troubled state of factions to aid in the accomplishment of the Ten lloura' Bill , second only in importance to thu People's Charter itself . We saw and exposed the coquetry of Lord Ashlkt , and felt assured that the measure would suffer great damage from his want ot

      THE TEN HOURS' BILL . When Sir Roueut Peel introduced his bombshell into the camp of the organised conspirators , we hailed it for the collateral results likely to flow from it , rather than for any distinct , benefit that the proposed measure was calculated to confer on the working classes . In the outset , we not only invited attention to the Ten Hours' Bill , but we repeatedly pointed out the necessity of such a measure , and the means

      Labour And Capital. The Ten Hours' Bill....

      slave , bred a slave , lives a slave , and dies a slave . Not a slave to the minister , not a slave to the law , not a slave to system , nor yet to his master , but a slave to the accursed disunion , to the blighting jealousies of his own order . The article concluded thus , " We now invite them to a wholesome commencement . The struggle between the landlords and cotton-lords is at hand ; each will gladly take advantage of the necessities of the other ; and as . no question is ixore threatening to the haughty capitalist than that of diminishing the hours of slave labour , and as no measure would be better calculated to relieve landlords , shopkeepers , and housekeepers from the Iwavy burthen of poor-rates , let the TEN HOURS' " SHELVburstlike magic amongst them ,

      and let the people hail the explosion with an incessant echo from without . Now is the time—the very time—the exact timt—to force tbismensura in all its bearings upon the considerations of Parliament ; for let the people rest assured that out of the strife of contending factions alone can they expect deference to their will . When the battle is over , the national struggle will commence , andlet us be prepared with two hour * ' breathiug time after the days ' toil to take counsel for future operations . Nothing can be more unnatural than prescribingequal length of labour to the sickly and robust—to the weak and the strong ; and we pant for the time when fathers , mothers , and their children shall eat , drink , sleep , work , and play according to their respective age , strength , ability , and inclination . "

      Such we rifour opinions of Peel ' s measures on the 31 st of January , and such were our notions of the use to be made of them ontheTih of February , and we may ask if reasons for approval could be stronger or more cogent , or if invitation to take advantage of the crisis could be more impressive or persuasive . Are we not , then , in return entitled to demand from those who had the management of the question as strong and cogent reasons for having neglected our timely warning , for having refused our cordial invitation ? We would further ask if , after three months dilly dally sheer humbug and trifling with the rights , nay with the very lives of millions , we act with precipitancy or inconsiderately when we again invite the country

      to substitute a nervous for an apathetic , a zealous for j an inenergetic body . Nay , we went further , we promised our aid for a monthjf the committee would only assist us , but the quiescent spirits representing the tranquillity of their yielding general , " WITH TIIE BLESSING OF GOD" refused our gratuitous labour ; whilst some professing Chartists , some who have tendered pledges and vows of allegiance to the great principle , acquiesced in the mawkish , slavhh policy ot separating the question of a Ten Hours' Bill from all political considerations ; and piefcrrci VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY to Lord Ashley to an appeal to metropolitan feeling , which we shewed them was never more ripe or prepared to entertain the question .

      We hate this begging policy , this pandering t-j individual weakness or subtlety : this quartering of principle upon the easiness of those who are satisfied with a tolerated greatness , Having now fully explained our anticipations from Fuel ' s incisure , and the course proposed by us and that pursued by the Short Time Committee , we ask in fairness to ourselves , and those whom , we represent , who is to blame for tne present state of

      THE TEN HOURS' BILL ?

      Consistency. We Little Thought When We E...

      CONSISTENCY . We little thought when we entered upon a consideration of the value of " Repetition . " last week that we should , be called upon so speedily to repeat their own lesson to some of our grown-up school-fellows who actually taught it to us so recently as last December . We have frequently observed that tiie . e is a philosophy in idleness ; ami

      sometimes irreparable mischief in action . Nor do we think that we have ever evinced any disinclination to do a man ' s part when prudence proclaimed that the time . for active service had arrived . Bui to the Repetition . In . December last a Couveiitiun assemble i in Manchester for the special purpose ol considering tne policy to be pursued by the Chartist party under tne new circumstances that a repeal oi the Com Laws would be likely to create .

      there never was a more attentive or deliberative assembly than that elected to discuss the subject , and tiie principle grounds which urged tiieiu to a relaxation of their active hostility to a repeal of the Corn Laws was , Firstly , that in the event of the Chartist party persevering in their opposition to the League , and in the event of ihe Protectionists being enabled to preserve the present laws , that all the odium

      consequent upon famine suffering , pestilence suffering , and coetciou suffering of the Irish people , would not only be saddled upon the English Chartists , but that , further , Mr . Coudeu and Air . O'Connell woulu have good and tenable grounds fur attaching umlu importance U > a measure TilAT HAD NuT PASSED , but was obstructed by the Chartists , iinil also for convincing the Irish people that the RASCALLY CHARTISTS WERE THEIR Alus'i

      HITTER ENEMIES . Secondly , that . in the event of the protectionists succeeding in their opposition , a Tory government pledged to Church and King principles , and the bloody old Tory test , would be the result . The Executive , the Convention , three overflowing meetings at Manchester , one at Rochdale , one at Wigau , one at Asluoti , and though last not least one at Todmorden , approved and adopted this polity without a dissentient voice . It was not hastio adopted—it was calmly discussed , it was nnituielv deliberated upon for more than a week , and cut a breath of opposition was offered ; but on the

      contrary , a Lancashire meeting was called for New-Year ' s Diy , lor the purpose , of submitting the policy to the working classes , of that great county . And , now , wc beg to remind every man who act « d as a delegate upon that convention , that he was pledged to assist and aid iu carrying it out . Well , we learn that some who cannot see the philosophy of idleness when action would he injurious , some who will work when to work is an evil , ahd who will not work when there is danger in the service , are now busily engaged in taking exceptions to tins i olicy ; and would faia disturb the calm by an agitation against the free trade policy ot Sir Robert Peel .

      We admit that they are not parties who have laboured with us , and struggled with us , but that they are individuals who have thrown every obstacle in our way , aud who would now supply a crutch to that lameness which they themselves have created , for the mere purpose ot stultifying the exertions of the Executive , the Convention , and the people of Lancashire . Some men cannot exist iu a quiet atmosphere , who would readily sow the wind but refuse to reap the whirlwind . To them , dissension in our ranks has ever been a godsend , nay , ourdisunionhasever constituted their jio . yowuulb ujwuis of existence . We me imw asked to get up an agitation for the Repeal of the Poor Law Amendment Act and for the Ten Hours '

      Bill , and to press those measures upon the notice of Parliament as part payment for toleration to the measures of Sir Rubeut Peel . We have already , i ., a previous article , emphatically shown that we pressed this policy when the party now advocating it were mute as the grave ; nay more , we ate pressed to hasten the holding of the National Convention , for the purpose of discussing those two questions ; when , as we have before shown , not only the state ot parties in England , but the state of allaiis in America—the state of feeling throughout the world , and not the possibility or probability , but the certainty of a dissolution of Parliament ere long , would render the holding of another Convention indispensable .

      It is scarcely fair to elect a governing body , tu acquiesce in the policy of a governing body , to cheer that body on with professions of approval and confidence , and then to stultify them by compelling them to acquiesce , not in the imbecile , not in the insane , but in the stark , staring ravings of persons who have never lost an opportunity of firing the sharpest arrow in their quiver at the Executive and the Chartist body . We trust , however , to the good senss and reflection of honest men . We trust that they will see not only the policy but the justice and indispensable necessity of courting an alliance with the Irish pcopie , thatthey will see that ithascostmuch paiss . pcrsc-

      Consistency. We Little Thought When We E...

      verance , and forbearance towards the Irish in England to induce them to withhold active co-operation from the free trade party , and they must understand that we best prepare them to enlist in the general service of regeneration , by not again outraging their feelings by the foolish belief that we have aided the Protectionists in starving their countrymen at home . We never write upon a question of such magnitude upon our own single responsibility , and wo must therefore , call to memory the fact that wc before stated , that Mr . Buncombe in every way acquiesced in the policy of the Executive and the Convention - and wc may further add , that in an interview with that gentleman to-day , when we stated the new feeling sought to be engendered , his onlv answer was " THEY MUST BE MAD : DO THEY FORGET

      THAT WE ARE ALL COMMITTED TO THE POLICY , AND THAT IT IS TIIE BEST A . ND ONLY POLICY THAT COULD BE PURSUED . " Under all the circumstances then we have sufficient reliance on the firmness , wisdom , and resolution , of the Executive , to lead us to a fervent hope that they will not allow their policy to be disturbed , or their intentions perverted , by the over anxious desire

      of opponents to injure , or friends to mislead . If they are determined to earn that character for respect which the country seems willing to award , they will persevere in a straightforward course , which will at all times hear a searching scrutiny , rather than seek a flimsy fleeting popularity , by deferring to the caprice of every crotchet-monger that chooses to bid for popular favour , as a means of carrying on the war for yet a little longer .

      Parliamentary Review. The Session Which ...

      PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW . The session which opened so full of promise threatens to be " a do-nothing" one . . " Nothing isstirring save stagnation . " Tho curtailment of the usual Easter recess has not expedited the business before the Legislature . The sitting of Friday , last week , loft matters in precisely the same position in which they were before Parliament adjourned . Peel . is "in a fix , " and all parties seem paralysed . On Monday another of those outward and visible signs which betoken the perplexity of the Ministry , and the manner iu which parties are mutually checkmated , was given by the fact of there being " nc . house . " This is the second t me this has occuncd since the Irish Coercion Bill has been introduced into the Commons , and from the firm and unyielding , spirit exhibited by the Irish members there is reason to believe that it will not be the last , should the Ministry persevere in their determination to press the first reading of that bill before proceeding with the remaining stages of the Corn Bill . One significant symptom of the false position in which all parties now find themselves is to be found in the fact that no explanation was either asked or riven on the

      following evening , as to the causes which led to the " no house" of Monday night . It is a subject which will not bear handling , and acting upon the maxim of the poet that " what would offend the eye in agood picture the painter casts discreetly into shade , " it seemed to be tacitly agreed that the less said about the matter the better for all parties . Not a syllable was uttered by any one which could tend to elucidate the causes why in the midway of what seemed to be a triumphant career , a Minister , with a majority of 100 at his command , has been reduced to a state of inaction , while all the reasons which originally induced him to propound his new measures , so far frombeing diminished , are more pressing and imperative at the present moment than when they were firstproposed . The famine and disease which in January were predicted , have actually commenced their ravages in Ireland . The starving and desperate people of that part of the empire have risen in various parts , and seized upon the food for lack of which they perish , and the transit from one place toanother of flour and other provisions has to be effected under the protection of the military . On the other hand ,, the delay in passing the Corn and Customs Act has , in combination - with other causes , produced a most injurious effect upon the trade , manufactures , and commerce of this country . Unless the suspense and uncertainty at present existing be speedily dispellcd , we may expect a recurrence of the scenes of 1 S 42 in the manufacturing districts . A serious responsibility rests upon the Government and the Legislature under these circumstances , and it is equally disgraceful to both , that at the very moment when instant and determined action is required , the machinery of both should be absolutely standing still .

      Rumour points to a dissolution as a not improbable occurrence , but really at the present critical moment we cannot sec what is to be gained by such a step . This i * no time for fighting the battles of faction . Why is the comfort of the industrious masses of this country to be jeopardised by the paltry quarrels of the Sir Roberts , Lord Johns and Lord Georges , as to the possession of place and power ? That a continuance of the present state of things will have such an effect there can be no doubt . Excluded as the great body of the people arefnin all direct participation in political power , it matters little to them what section of the ruling class are in office , but it is a matter of the utmost importance to them that the struggles of these rivals for power should not interrupt the flow of capital and the diffusion of employment . Into the voxata questio of where the blame for the present state of affairs should be laid , wc do not mean to enter . At the same time it may be permitted us to say , that we think the Irish members have already sufficiently shown their power to obstruct the course of any system of legislation whatever , to justify them in noiv agreeing to the formal introduction of the Coercion Bill into the lower house . The lesson they have taught the Premier will not be forgotten , and in any future opposition they may deem it theiv duty to i-ffer to that measure , they might reckon on all the more hearty support from the liberal members who sit on the same side of the house , if the Corn Bill was sent to the Lords . At present they are fighting a ^ ectional battle , and as it is upon merely obstructive tactics , they are at the same time playing into the hands of the Protectionists . If the Corn Bill was disposed , of the united forces of the friends of Ireland could be directed not only to prevent the introduction of bad laws but to enforce the consideration of measures calculated to confer positive benefits upon that country . Meanwhile every week ' s delay augments the power of the Peers to damage , if not entirely defeat , the commercial policy of Peel , and we can only repeat what we said some time since , that he has at the best a protracted session with very dubious results before him .

      Mr . DraeoMBE , the intrepid ami active champion- i of the working classes in Parliament and the terror i of all evil doers out of it , has made the dreary period J of stagnation , since the close of the Easter recess , somewhat useful by a motion on the disgraceful mis- ! management of the Post-office . He showed con- i clusivcly , that a system of jobbing exists in that I establishment , which is most injurious to the public ii interests , inasmuch as besides enabling the parties > : who benefit by that jobbing to enrich themselves at i the public expence , it interferes seriously with the i efficiency of the office , and converts those who should li bo only the servants of the public into the slaves of c salaried officers , who use them under threats Of i !> S- * missal to advance their own personal interests . The li speech in which Mr . Gabdweli , the secretary of the li treasury , replied" to the demand of the hou member « for Finsbuvy for a committee of inquiry into these . -. i ! c- ! e gallons , was of the most nippant and unsatisfactory r ; description , and though the vote went against ihe u appointment of the committee , it was the mere t . ' cci- i sion of " physical force ; " argument there was ai none rebutting facts there were none , and we venture ir to say that Mr . Duiieombc will have , as in all his ii previous assaults upon this department , the public !" mind completely with hhn . Even the ex officials a who fill the Whig front bench , ready though tliey ic always are to support the occupants of the Tic ? ,- ci

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), April 25, 1846, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_25041846/page/4/