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Northern Star (1837-1852), 26th December 1846, Edition 2 of 3, Page 1, K and whose only object is to fleece, fl...

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    • TO THE MEMBERS OF THE CEARTIST CO-OPERATIVE LAND COMPANY.
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      To The Members Of The Ceartist Co-Operative Land Company.

      TO THE MEMBERS OF THE CEARTIST CO-OPERATIVE LAND COMPANY .

      Jit Deab Fbiimdsj Tie Fiar Is Bo Crowded...

      JIT DEAB FbIIMDSj Tie fiar is bo crowded this week with subjects and patter interesting to you , that you will not expect a jg „ g letter from me ; while at the same time , I can--ot refrain from exalting in your present position , ifeltsreat pride on Tuesday last , on my way to fijreniester as your agent , for the purpose of comj ting tie purchase of onr second Estate , I had a sm all lamp of in my fobwhich

      ^ jjt co-operation , -jmhid ed me , every time I thought of it , ~ of your gyerwhelmnig power . ' ^ s » was imperceptible , jhong li it consisted of Eight Bank Notes of £ 1 , 000 e di , gathered in shillings , sixpences , and pence ; « sd nmch of which , I was pleased to think , had been gaatchedftora the beer shop and the gin palace . tVltbont a roundabout story I may inform ' yon , that CDr eare-feeepers are bow in possession , and that they ^ thoroughly delighted with the prospect , situaijonasdsoil .

      There are many circumstances connected with our psject which are wholly overlooked by parties dealjjgin ihe wholesale land market ; for instance , jroodland , hedgerows , and old buildings , are a great dra wback to a farm . At Herringsgate I have concerted about seventeen acres from an unprofitable to a profitable state . I paid £ 445 for timber and crops , gnd the estimated value of those articles to thesoeJeir is , upon the lowest calculation , £ 1050 . I have jlreidy given you an account of £ 314 worth sold , tre have still nearly £ 300 worth to sell , while , although it may he a conundrum , we nsed nearly

      every stick of the timber . We have paid £ 665 for { he materials on Lowbands and Red Marley , and yd forfeit my existence if by good management I <} o not turn that Into £ 2000 , thns reducing the price of the estate from ^ 8 , 100 to £ 6 , 800 . This is a part of the principle of co-operation unknown to those who undertake to criticize our plan . Now I will lay down a simple rule for " One who has whistled at the plough . "" The Company conveys , for ever , two acres of laud that will have cost £ 30 , and & three room cottage that will have cost £ 60 , and we give £ 15 to each occupant , Tor a rent of £ 7 . 12 s . 6 d .

      per annum . Now , if we were not to give the £ 15 capital , we eonld afford to give the same tenement for £ 6 . 17 s . 6 d ., and no cotton lord or landlord give their tenants £ 15 , or fifteen farthings , upon taking possession and keeping it until it suits their pleasure or convenience to kick him ont . Whatlasserc , then , is , that whether in an agricultural district or In a manufacturing district , the house for ever wit heutthe land is worth the whole rent , and the land without the house in such convenient allotments is worth double the rent ; and yet a parcel of noodles and boobies that see yon huddled into garrets and

      cellars , of which you must pay the rent whether you work or play , have the matchless insolence and hypocrisy to express PAINFUL ANTICIPATIONS ef the failure of such a plan . Yon will read the rigmarole of the gentleman " who has whistled at the plough , " and , no doubt , you will look anxiously for his acceptance of my challenge . This man is to be used as the first League wedge ; and Quaker Bright , who has the insolence to ask for she countenance and support of the Chartists of Manchester , whose families he would doom to perpetual slavery , is the

      wooden beetle to drive the wedge . Will you just think of the surpassing philanthropy of this " Whistler , " coming all the way from Manchester to Herringsgate and back , for the mere purpose of satisfying himself as to the land scheme , to the end that he may throw the shield of his protection over its dopes . Notwithstanding his ignorance , his presumption and folly , I would ask this modern economical philanthropist , why it lis that the value of the most valuable thing should become deteriorated , when it is applied to its most valuable purpose ; and I would

      ask him what set of joint speculators in the world give equal security for the fulfilment of their engagements that the Land Company gives . What Mining Company , what Joint Stock Bank , what Kailway , or other Company , gives the fat security that the Land C-mpany gives to its shareholders , or what Bank offers one per cent , beyond the chances of speculation to its depositors ; while we are in this situation , that if the Company was dissolved to-morrow It could even now pay a bonus of £ 5 and more upon every paid up share .

      I shall only say , for the present , that as long as 1 am concerned in the Company , and for the Company , the most remote probability of failure or reverse shall be announced to the members as soon as it pre sents itself ; while at the close of the year I have n o besitatlon in writing it as my opinion , that the Land Plan is destined to change the whole face of society , and to do for the Working Classes precisely what the minions and scribblers of their masters are hired

      to try and prevent . The sudden transition of this new scribbler from exstatic joy to painful foreboding is too stale to pass current in the Chartist marktt ; so , wishing yon a merrier Christmas and a happitx Xew Year than your tyrant oppressors would wish yon to spend , I shall close with defiance to all to pnll down the house that I am engaged in erecting ur Labour . Tout faithful friend and bailiff , Feargcs O'Coxkob .

      Ireland. Narrative Op Malcolm M'Gregor. ...

      IRELAND . NARRATIVE OP MALCOLM M'GREGOR . sOt mi . I presume the reader will not require the usual minute descriptionof viands , delicacies and wines that the humble priest ' s " table groaned under , " but will he satisfied at learning that our repast did not consis of all the delicacies that the season could afford , that

      we had neither turtle , champagne nor sherbet ; turbot . venison , nor claret ; rose water nor damask napkins ; but that the fare was substantial and of the farm ' s produce , the manual producer and client regafing himself in the kitchen , while the worthy pastor and patron was enjoying his merited reward in the parlour . Meanwhile it may not be out of place to give the reader a description of " mine host . "

      The Rev . Mr . O'Farrell , then , as he informed me , is in his 68 th year , is over six feet high , and straight as a whip , with long white venerable locks small but piercing blue eye , aquiline nose , high cheek bone , bold forehead , and the fresh complexion of vigorous youth ; the stranger , if asked to guess his age , would say nearer fifty than sixty ; such is the value of contentment , occupation and frugality . When the cloth was removed , and after my host and his coadjutor , for such was our companion , had made sundry anxious inquiries after my friend Capt . Burford , I introduced the subject of the / tate of Ireland , and , after a short discussion upon the present calamity , I requested the Rev . Mr . O'Farrell to give me his opinion of the Irish character , Irish grievances , and what he considered would be the

      remedy . "As to the Irish character , " said he , " the heaven-bora characteristics are bravery , hospitality gratitude , industry , and frankness ; the system engendered vices are timidity , parsimony , idleness , doubt and suspicion ; if I may be allowed the * i ? fle , a gr aft of the sour crab upon the sweeteve ^ Jte . A parent , sir , is ever the greatest martyr to dis own harshness , Jnegligence , or over-indulgence

      2 * the vices instilled in youth will grow with manijgpdand gain strength with age , and a negligent government lias bo more right to wmplain of . tie vices of a people than the parent has of towe of the child . The duty of the father & to foster virtue and discourage vice , and his reward * will he generous and full in the obedience of ^ children , while , upon the other hand , neglect o Parental duties will lead to disobedience and rebellion . " ( Continued to the Fifth Column . )

      Ireland. Narrative Op Malcolm M'Gregor. ...

      ( Continuedfrom the First Column . ) . " But , " I observed , " have the people themselve , novices ?" " Do not misunderstand me , sir , " he replied ,- " ! am not their blind panegyrist } it is not my wish to extenuate :: or . palliate ; you asked me for their character , and ! am defining it . " ; "Well , but , " said I , "the Times Commissioner gives . ' them a very different character . '

      .. "The Times Commissioner ! " he rejoined with a withering sneer , " and may I ask , sir , if that is the source from whence you have derived your knowledge of the Irish character ? 3 fou cannot expect our accounts to tally ; you come to me for information , he acquired his from Parson Preachlove and Captain Squenzetenant ; and which , sir , do yon consider most likely to be pure or most efficient ? Which is the best authority , the man who . mixes with the people 365 days in the year , and who . hears their unreserved and unadorned tale , ; or those whose approach is an evil omen , preceded by : $ ie law ' s stern messenger ? Again sir , whofpas that Commissioner ? " - - — " -y ?* - - ' "Why , a Mr . Foster , "f replied , ' ^ . an ENGLISH

      BARRISTER . " : „ . " Mr . Foster ! an ENGLISH B 4 RRISTER ! "heretorted with a sneer ; " one hired for a purpose , arid circumscribed vbymstructions- ^ a mere PEEPERS and you would place his authority in the scale with one whose been born in the land , and for the last 40 years made the subject his daily study . I see , sir , like most strangers , you have drunk deep of the cup of prejudice . "

      " Reverend sir , " I replied , " you must pardon me , I am not prejudiced , but merely mentioned the source from which several like myself have derived their information of your country , and my present mission is to hear and judge for myself ; but I was led to believe that the Irish did not consider themselves bound by any moral obligation , and required the force of law to enforce the observance of social duties , and moral obligations . " " How have you applied your information , or what am I to understand are your deductions , " he asked ?" " Why , " said I , " that false swearing , for instance , in courts of justice , is a thing ot common occurrence , iaitjnot ?"

      ' " I understand you , sir , " he replied , " and will endeavour to trace the evil to its source ; the law ever comes to the peasant ' s door but as a cruel scourge , it never comes as the just avenger ; and from infancy to old age he is trained to deception by a just suspicion of all he comes in contact with . The village housewife instils it into the infant mind , and necessity compels her to do so ; she is watchful and suspicious of every thing above her own degraded class ; hence she will trust her crawling helpless babe to the mercy and consideration of the peasant carter or horseman , while the sound of the

      carriage wheel , or the approach of the aristocratic horseman , is the signal of alarm , and she flies to the rescue . Thus I show you the circumstances under which children are trained ; and now to the question of false swearing—when life or liberty is about to be sacrificed to the law ' s vengeance for the gratification of some powerful enemy ; and , without sanctioning the crime , even 1 , may palliate it , and ask if it is unnatural to resist tyrant force by moral fraud ; but , sir , "he continued , " in all moral obligations and worldly

      transactions , tell me of a people upon the face of the earth whose dealings are transacted with mor » fastidious honour , and while you measure our faults by the strict rule which is applicable to parties dealing on terms of perfect equality , to whom the law deals equal justice ) and equal vengeance ; bear one thing in mind , Ireland is as a large camp , besieged by a watchful and implacable enemy , and the besieged are compelled to resist illegal force by justifiable fraud . "

      " What then , said I , "do you advocate a recourse to physical force as a means of making the enemy raise the siege , as you term it ?" " Physical force , sir , " he replied , " is a very harmless term in the mouth of an unarmed man , just' as moral force is a fine sentiment in the mouth of him with a musket in his hands . It is a resort reprobated by him who owes his power to it , and should never be threatened by those who are not possessed

      of it ; my ancestors lost their property by brute force and fraud , and whatever peaceful notions of passive obedience and non-resistance my calling compels me to preach , I cannot prescribe the limits by which their descendants should be bound to submit to the wrong ; the existing generation can no more ensure posterity ' s obedience to its code of honour , than it can enforce the immutability of its statutes . Do you consider me right or wrong , without reference to my calling ? "

      " I confess , reverend sir , " I replied , " that your simple reasoning and convincing logic has already shaken the groundwork upon which my youthful opinions have been based , and I freely admit the impurity and just suspicion of the sources from whence my information has been gleaned ; but then , are not your people in a miserably deficient state as regards education ? I met a large farmer to-day who was ignorant of the existence of Sir Robert Peel or Lord John Russell , and who had never before heard of the Times newspaper . "

      " That is most likely , sir , replied my host , '' and the Times newspaper was just as ignorant of him , and admitting his want of education , who do you blame for the child ' s ignorance but the undutiful parent ? But , sir , " he continued , " if all the money paid by that peasant to the support of the conqueror ' s church had been expended upon the cultivation of his mind , where is the proof that he would be ignorant of those statesmen , or THEY OF HIM ? He is as clay in the potter ' s hand , and is rude and unfinished from the potter ' s negligence . Every ignorant , or rather every uneducated , man in a state , is a living reproach to the government he lives under : the strongest condemnation of the system that brutalizes him . "

      " Well but , " I observed , " sure as regards Ireland government is not so much to blame , as your country is comparatively untaxed ? " Untaxed ; sir , " he rejoined , " we owe the clemency to our poverty and not to our ruler ' s mercy ! Untaxed ! what could they tax but our poverty , and that would be but poor aid to the Exchequer . Taxes , sir , are measured by the rule of ability to pay , and the slightest tax imposed upon an impoverished people would be equivalent to a prohibition of the use of the taxed article . " " What then do you consider your principal grievances , " I asked ?

      " Our principal grievances , he replied , " are want of education ; insecurity of tenure ; want of cheap , impartial , and speedy justice , partial representation in the stranger ' s parliament ; imposition of tithes , a tax which appears to have escaped your notice , and , perhaps , the most grievous ; the abandonment of all social and paternal duties by the natural patrons and guardiansj and the cruel substitution of a spe cies of step-father terror , in the person of middle , men and solicitors , who can have no possible interest ' n the improvement of agriculture and the peop le *

      Ireland. Narrative Op Malcolm M'Gregor. ...

      and whose only object is to fleece , fleece , fleece , and ^ then brutalize , debauch , and abuse , ' in justification of their own unnatural cruelty ; and such are the - m ^ Wflose only object is to fleece , fleece , fleece , and d

      representatives ; to whom our deserter landlords have delegated the duties that belong to , and are so inseparable from , the ownership of properly ; hence the step-father becomes a magistrate , grand juror , or juror , and his solicitor , a kind of freebooter , scourging the outlawed poor with the oppressor ' s Iw , while the only duty of the unnatural proprietor appears to be the enactment of Irish laws which will aid his representative in the exaction of his every ,..- ;> demand ; however unjust , and tbe enforcement ot ' bis every command . " "' .

      «' You omit want of capital , " I ob ^ ejj ^ ed . m- ' >? ! » Capital ! sir ; " he replied , " redress those grie ^ t vances , and there is ample capital in every peasant's . '¦ > untrammelled arm , fertile brain , and love of hide * \ pendence . " "Well , reverend sir , " said I , " . what do you pro- ' pose as the remedies for these grievances , which I ., admit are startling and unanswerable ?" "In the first place , " he replied , " perpetuity of , tenure and a sound system of education , and all . ¦< others would very speedily follow these improve-.

      -ments , as , believe me , an independent educated people would very speedily enforce a proper repre- . 3 sentation of their intellect and their property ; 96 ft to the law ' s equality ; the equitable distribution of ! , the national ' property , and the most extensive de-- ~ velopemenfand profitable cultivation of the national > resources , and we should be spared the loss and de-- ; gradation of seeing ' our hardy peasants employed ta : t ! useless and , ujiprofitable work , to save their guilty " rulers from their vengeance ; it is a-very melancholy ' sight to sec useless roads . being made as a means of oppressive landlords securing exorbitant rents out of '¦ ¦ the farmer , while his own land is sterile for want of

      proper cultivation , Allow the producer to cultivatethe land for his own benefit , and I pledge my word •' that he will soon cultivate his children's minds and ' .. train them to the enforcement of . more regard ; and Sl > \ better system of representation . " ¦ ' ¦¦ ' •_ "Now , my dear sir , " I observed , "is not England , upon the whole , a benefactor and faithful ally to Ireland ? Does she not afford your people a--good and convenient market , and what can it signify to the vendor where he sells his produce , provided he gets a fair price , and as to poverty , we are taught that it is the will of God , that poor shall always ¦ abide in the land . " ~

      " As to your first proposition , said he , " I shall answer that presently , and to the last my answer is , that we are not taught that the producers only shall constitute that class prescribed by Holy Writ . But you ask me , what it can sig nify to the vendor where he sells his produce , so long as he receives a good price—I will give you an illustration from my own neighbourhood—a rule , not an exception—and enow disce omnes . The late Lord Buttermilk drew £ 10 , 000 per annum in rents from this parish and spent every farthing of that sum in it ; the present man draws the same amount and spends not one sixpence a-year in it : now what must be the balance against the parish in the latter case .

      " Enough , enough , " I replied , " it is too true ; , but yet your arguments are opposed to all the principles of political economy , and are at variance with the reasoning of the Times and other papers upon ' whose faith so many minds are made up . " " Political economy and the Times \ " rejoined his reverence with a sneer and rather hastily , adding . " Pray tell me , sir , would you take your opinion of plaintiffs case from defendant ' s brief ; and , if not be assured that you can as little rely upon newspaper philosophy . The Times , sir , is nothing more than defendant ' s brief . Ireland is plaintiff , and the writers of that journal are fee'd by defendants

      precisely as counsel is fee'd . The Irish people are not clients of the Times , because they cannot fee its proprietors ; and , therefore , as far as regards that journal , they are out of Court . You are a young man , " continued the worthy pastor mildly , " and do not pin your faith to newspapers , or the honour of statesmen , as both are conventional and hollow . And now , sir , " continued he , " as to political economy—to what school , or class , or section , or tribe , do you belong ? because , as yet I have never found any two to agree . You may , probably , have seen a showman present a plain sheet of paper to the spectators , and , astonish , delight , and puzzle them , bythi many varied shapes he makes it assume ?"

      " I certainly have , " I said . " Well , " said he , " that is his political economy Political economy is the showman ' s puzzle , the mer chant ' s philosophy , the trader ' s ready reckoner , and the poor man s thief ; and , as to governments , they , for the time being , represent the largest showman ; they have no other rule than expediency . One of itsprincipal features is to buy cheap and to sell dearthat is , to send a board of works to establish a standard , not of value , but of forbearance and existence , for labour , and then a standard for the price

      of Indian corn . ISow , pray inform me what quality of reciprocity or equality is to be found in that bargain ; and are the ~ contracting parties upon equal terms and equally untrammelled ? Believe me , sir ,, the basis of the science of political economy—if any such science ever shall exist—must be equality , reciprocity , mutuality , and legislative regulation , wherevendor and purchaser can meet upon equal terms lathe mart of representation , while the very fact of capricious laws being called in aid of the principle ,, proves that it is a DELUSION , a MOCKERY , and a SNARE . "

      This charming , and to me , instructive lesson , was continued to a later hour than the hard-worked pastor was in the habit of devoting to other society , thanthe care of his flock , and after having apologized for my frequent and rather abrupt interruptions , I received hearty absolution for all , upon the assurance * that henceforth I was a deserter from the ranks of showmen , jugglers , capitalists , merchants , traders , newspapers and statesmen , and to Mrs . Mahouy ' s great delight she was roused from the kitchen chimney corner to show Captain Burford's friend to his room , and where I found every thing conducive to

      comfort : the worthy dame , after wishing me a good night ' s rest , telling me not to let his reverence ' s going out in the morning wake me , as 1 could sleep till seven or eig ht , as may be I was tired , and by that time she would have my breakfast ready and my boots cleaned , and hot water , and every thing I wished for ; and I am free to admit that I learned more of Ireland and the Irish in one night from the outlawed and plundered descendant of an ancient family , than from all I had ever heard or read of that ill-fated and oppressed country and people . ¦ ( To be continued . )

      K And Whose Only Object Is To Fleece, Fl...

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      ^^^ . ; -- AND NATIONAL TRAI ) ES JOURNAL .

      Vol. X. No. 479- London, Saturday, Decem...

      VOL . X . NO . 479- LONDON , SATURDAY , DECEMBER 3 , 6 , 1846 . ^^^^^^ I ^^ — ' ii i i i _ '' '" " ' ' ' ' . . _ ' - ii i ... ., ¦¦ ¦¦¦ I wm M MM MB ¦ H _ _ A M _ ¦ *• "a

      The Hatiohal Land And Labour B^Ji.. . .'...

      THE HATIOHAL LAND AND LABOUR B ^ JI . . . . ' . — "'" x " r ' sT ? Recklessness , want of economy , indifference of the doubtful future during the prosperous present , have ever been theiiost unanswerable charges brought by the wealthy , the wily , and the fortunate against the labouring classes . We are not prepared to defend this wholefljfleicharge in the abstract , while we contend that the want of tbriftuf ess evinced by the many is a consequence of our institutions , both commercialand ' political , bebg framed and altered from time to time for the convenience , security , and protection of the hasty made capital of the wealthy , rather than for the accumulated savings of . the -daily labourer or slowly thriving shopkeeper . Forinstance , our giant trade and commerce - preclude the possibility of thepoor ' manbecoming " a ' competitor with the rich speculator , while our monetary system rejects him as an ally from the impossibility of qualifying himself as a partner orparticipator ifrom his daily or

      weekly savings . The Savings Bank becomes his only alternative , the only depository for : his ;; daily : or weekly' : panng 8 , and from * he fact of this department being his only source , the government charges a large profit in ; diminished interesti for the convenience afforded by the institution , For instance , the speculator with- thousands , or even with hundreds , in the commercial or money market can command the highest rate of profit or interest , while the poor man is reduced to the . alternative of being his own depositor without interest , or accepting the highest rate that his gradual savings can command . Hence the man with a thousand pounds may secure four per cent , upon mortgage , the man with a hundred pounds something over three per cent , in Consols , while the poor accumulator during the process of saving , and , who has not a sufficient amount ~ tb take adrf ntage of any of these securities , receives no more than £ 2 . 18 s . per cent , secured upon his . owii industry and the dissipation of his thoughtless fellow-labourer . He is reconciled to this lower rate of interest— ; ''' -,- ;

      Firstly . —By the fact that it is the only market open to him . —Seco » i % . —That it presents security . —Thirdly . — That it guarantees the power of with drawal in seasons of necessity , but even this power is restricted byconditions soraetiraeg haish and Iriconvehient . : v : ¦ Thus we establish the value of co-operation without industry at one pound two per cent ., that being the difference between the rate of interest received by the poor saver and him who can command a sufficient amount to insure the highest rate of interest . " ' : ' . . ' ^< : ] : ' --: ' v ¦ '' ; i : " . ' - , We have been reminded to surfeit that the . glory of England consists in the equal opportunity afforded to all in the market of speculation ; We ' admit the fact , while we assert that the sun of England ' s glory would speedily set if all men were mere agents for the transffrof property , and none were producers of property . And itis in order that the latter class , which will ever be the large majority , may be armed iwith- the - power of co-operation as a means of placing them upon an equality in point of protection with the former class that we advocate the principles ^ io-pperation , and propose to establish'the only medium by which it can be efficiently carried out— . ; .: i : ¦ TheNa ^ nal & aiidaad . ps ^

      We mav be told that Joint Stock Banks , RaHwayCompanies , Mining Companies , Steam Na ^ the world with a fascinating prospectus establishing a fictitious amount of shares , and a mere nominal amount of call , present the desired opportunity to the small capitalist . -The result , bowever , of attempting to engraft this fascinating reality upon an unheeded fiction , has been the ruin of thousands ; and the e ffect has been as follows : —Many a poor man , jumping at the promise of high interest , and unscared by the phantom of future . calls , has paid the required deposit , vfhich an inconvenient call compels him to sacrifice . altogether , or preserve as a forlorn hope , at the expense of future contributions , until the society ' s affairs are wound up , and he finds himself liable to all losses ; a few wily concoctors and solicitors taking his crippled child to nurse ; and thus fattening upon his credulity . Hence , we show thesimple value of Co-operation without industry , while we assert , without fear of contradiction , that the carrying on the necessary operations of trade depending upon individual industry , is not restricted to three , four , five , ten , or even fifteen per cent . Indeed , the value of capital can behest appreciated by the enormous amount of wealth that its possessors have been enabled to accumulate out of hired labour .

      Let us illustrate this position . A tenant holds a hundred acres of land at one pound an acre , and dear in its present state . It will require £ 500 , or £ 5 an acre to drain it-, and then it becomes worth £ 2 an acre—thus returning the tenant twenty per cent , upon the expenditure of £ 500 , so that , had he given fifteen per cent , for the capital , he would still he a gainer of five per cent , by the transaction ; while , through that amount of expenditure in labour the district shopkeepers would be benefitted , through them the domestic manufacturer and merchant , and , through all , the government . But this source of speculation is stopped by the landlord ' s indifference to benefit his tenant , and the tenant ' s indifference to benefit the landlord ; whereas if it belongedto the occupier the work would be done . But how much more pointedly the fact will present itself to the reader , when the capital is applied to enable and encourage the small husbandman to prosecute his own industry . The summary of these observations is that

      A Nation ' s Greatness is better secured by individual prosperity than by commercial traffic , which must restrict industry . The duty of a government is to increase the national resources of the country to the highest state of cultivation they will admit of ; and the way to insure this national good is , by the application of free labour , and the equitable ( NOT EQUAL ) distribution of its produce ; while the error . . of the present system is , that those who possess capital have the power of resisting the cultivation of our national resources to that particular standard which insures them the' largest monopoly of the produce . We hold it to be an indisputable fact that the application of free labour , which means the labour of the small proprietor to the land , the cultivation * of our mines , minerals , and fisheries , can alone develope the national resources , and at the same time establish a satisfactory standard of wages in the artificial labour market , while the higher rate superinduced by well requited industry in the natural market , could be borne by the manufacturer , the merchant , and trader , by the incalculable impetus given to domestic trade and commerce , ' through the increased consumption of the free labour class .

      The industrious man who has contributed a long life ' s accumulation of property for others must start at the announcement of our present prime minister ;—" That the criminal law is a problem yet to be solved . ''— " That the sanatory condition of the people is miserablydeficient , " and " That our whole system of education requires deep consideration and improvement . " Now we hold that governments , and governments only , are answerable for the law ' s inequality and imperfections , for sanatory deficiency and educational regulation ; and we further hold that free and well-requited labour would render our criminal law , now a problem , if not obsolete , at least a thing of rare application to an improved and moral society . That the free labourer can best educate his own children , ventilate his own house , and preserve his own and famil y ' s health . In the free labour mar . ket we estimate a man ' s labour cheaply , very cheaply . at £ 50 per annum , and thus , if we have a million of paupers whose strained labour is now worth £ 10 a year each , the nation loses £ 40 , 000 , 000 per annum , added to an expense of seven millions per annum wrung from the labour of the industrious , for no other purpose than to keep up an idle reserve at other people ' s expense , for the capitalist to fall back upon as a means of reducing and keeping down wages in the artificial market . - Here then is a national sacrifice to class gain and individual monopoly . In order , then , to illustrate our plan for creating a free and independent labour class , whose industry shall be applied to the cultivation of our national resources , we propose to establish

      The National Land and Labour Bank upon the following principle : —viz . That it shall consist of three departments;—a Deposit Department ; a Redemption Department ; and a Sinking Fund Department ; and we shall now treat of those several departments each under its proper head .

      Deposit . The Deposit Department to be open to all who wish to vest their monies upon the security of the landed property of the National Co-operative Land Company . and bearing interest at the rate of 3 i per cent , per annum . The capital deposited to be regulated by the following scale : —that is to say , —that for every £ 60 payable as rent-charge by the occupants , over and above the amount necessary to pay the interest of £ 4 per cent , on the Redemption Fund , the directors will be empowered to receive £ 1000 , thus leaving a sinking fund in this department , over and above the company ' s liabilities , of two and a half per cent . Suppose , for instance , an estate producing £ 600 a year over and above the Company ' s liabilities of £ 4 per cent , ( upon the amount

      in the redemption department ) to be occupied by the members of the company , who will each have received a conveyance in fee of his al lotment , subject to a rent-charge proportioned to the purchase money and outlay ; upon this estate , conveyed by the trustees as security to the bank , the directors would he empowered to raise £ 10 . 000 , and vf ould be liable to £ 350 a year interest at 3 J per cent , upon the borrowed capital of £ 10 , 00 0 Each depositor of any amount not exceeding £ 10 would be entitled to draw that amount on demand . A depositor wishing to draw any amount from £ 10 to £ 20 , must give one week ' s notice . From £ 20 to £ 50 , a fortnight ' s notice ; and from £ 50 , to any amount , one month ' s notice . The amount of deposit at any one time not to be less than two shillings and sixpence .

      Redemption Dapartmsnt . The Redemption Department to be open to the members of the Land Company , and who , whether occupants or shareholders , will be entitled to deposit their funds in that department upon the following conditions : — That each shareholder may deposit any amount not less than threepence at one time , and for which he shall receive interest at the rate of four per cent , perannum . This fund will be applicable to the purchaseofLand or fining down of the occupants' rent-charge , at the rate of four per cent ., or twenty-five years' purchase—that is , that a depositor having £ 25 in the redemption Department when he is eli gible for occupation , will be entitled to a reduction of £ 1 per annnm from his rent-charge—that is , the member who , if not a depositor , would be liable to a rent of £ 8 a year , will , when he has paid up £ 25 , be entitled to receive his allotment at £ 7 rent . We state £ 25 , but the depositor of any sum under that amount , down to £ 5 , would be entitled to apply his deposit to the reduction of his rent at four percent . The additional half per cent , being guaranteed in consequence of shareholders who deposit their monies in the Redemption Department not being allowed to withdraw more than one-half the amount deposited , and being obliged to give a month ' s notice before they can draw any portion of their deposit from that department , which however would be equivalent to ready money as a transfe r o the deposit less the month ' s interest ( the lender receiving the interest ) could be effected .

      Sinking Fund Department . The funds of this department would consist of two and a-half per cent , in landed property over and above the liability of three-and-a-half per cent payable as interest to the depositors . The profits from this department to be added-to the redemption department , and equally applied to the purchase or reduction of the rent of shareholders who had been depositors in the redemption department ; and to be applied in aid of the location of the poorer occupants , to be repaid by them in easy and convenient instalments . We shall now proceed to consider the LIABILITIES AND CONTINGENCIES consequent upon the deposit department , and the Company ' s means of meeting them . We will presume that ^ 5 , 000 , or one half of the whole sura in the deposit department , was liable to be withdrawn on demand . The Company should , consequently , be prepared with that amount , to meet any contingency , and which it proposes to do in the following manner ; that is to sav by the application of the Company ' s floating capital for carrying on building and other operations , and which would be always vested in a Bank , paying two and a-half per cent , as at present , and would be constituted of funds paid upon account of shares , and not belonging to any of the three departments . The remainder of the funds in the several departments would be applicable to the purchase of land , erection of houses , and location of occupants .

      Expenses . The expenses of the Banking Department are amply provided for by the payment of one shilling per year , per share , payable by the shareholders in the Land Company , and the surplus in the several departments to he applied to the benefit of the shareholders upon the winding up of the section to which they belong . _

      Mode of Securing the Means of Meeting Liabilities . The Land Company proposes to locate its members upon two acres of land which shall have ' eost £ 18 . lSsJperacre , or £ 37 . 10 s .: to erect a house which shall cost £ 30 , and to expend in improvements , and give to the occupant , the sum of £ 15 , making a total of £ 82 . 10 b ., andfor which preliminary expenditure the Company charges £ 5 a-year ; and five per cent upon all monies above that sum expended in the purchase of the Land and the erection of a house . that is , if the land costs £ 30 an acre instead of £ 18 15 s ., and the house £ 60 instead of £ 30 , the occupants will pay £ 5 per cent , upon £ 22 . 10 s . the ad ! difcional price of the Land , and £ 5 per cent , upon the £ 30 , the additional price of the house , making a total increased expenditure of £ 52 . 10 s ., thus making the rent of occupant in the latter case £ 712 s . 6 d . per annum ; the same scale being applicable to any priced land and any priced house in a descending as well as an ascending ratio—that is , if land shall be purchased at a less amount than £ 18 15 s , an acre , £ 5 per cent , in rent shall be deducted from the reduced price of the land . and hll h t £ 30

      Suppose , then , the occupant , whose l saave cos an acre , and whose house shall have cost £ 60 , and who shall have received £ 15 capital , that occupant will have cost the Company £ 135 , less £ 2 10 s . the original amount paid for the share—thus making the Company ' s expenditure £ 132 10 s ! without taking credit for any portion of the £ 15 capital expended in operations of husbandry or other improvements which increase the value of the holding . For this £ 132 10 s . the Society receives £ 7 12 s . 6 d . in the shape of rent-charge , or within a fraction of 5 J per cent , upon the outlay , without any margin for the increasing value secured upon the expenditure of a man and his family ' s labour to that amount of ground . In the case of a man holding four acres of ground , and whose house would cost £ 80 , the Society ' s profit would be reduced to about 5 i per cent , upon the outlay . This scale shows the equity of the standard upon which the rentof allotments has been established , and , perhaps , may be met with the assertion , that i t is a high per centage upon the outky , and which assertion we meet thus—Firstl y—Without co-operation the occupants could not procure a single allotment . Secondly , -An individual carrying out thescheme would charge rent according to ' the retail value , amounting to about £ 15 per cent , regulated only by rh eonvenience and desire of the poor occupant to have a field whereon to expend his own labour . Thirdly , —The individual would not convey the convenient allotment in fee , and consequently the occupant would be liable to a periodical increase of

      rent as a tax upon his own industry . - Fourthly —All profits consequent upon saving of rent over interest is divided equitably amongst the . several shareholders . Fifthly , —A small proprietary class is the only poss ible means by which the fair standard of the price of labour can be established in the artificial market . The on y means by which pocr rates and workhouses can be made unnecessary ; The only means by which the national resources can be fully developed and profitably cultivated ; The only means by which famine—save that which is the will of God—can be averted ; The only means that can render man indifferent to foreign production ; The only means that can give an impetus to home trade and home industry ; The only means that can secure a national militia , who will fly to the cry of " My cottage and my country are in danger !"; The only means by which education can be encouraged , health secured , and violation of the laws of society , be considered crime ; The only means by which the arts and sciences of Britain can be made to vie with those of any other na'ion upon earth . The only means by which the good in each man may be developed , and his evil propensities kept in subjection by the wholesome chastisement of public censure and disapproval .

      The Muhder And Suicide In Lambeth.—The P...

      The Muhder and Suicide in Lambeth . —The police , obtained a clue which eventually led to the identification of the female and child . The female had formerly lived in the service of several families in Lambeth , but whilst in one of her . situations she was seduced , and she ultimately gave birth to the child found in the water with her . Since her confinement she has been subject to great privation , having no settled place of abode , living one week ia one part of the town and then shifting to other quarters . Her name was Hannah Reh' , her age 32 , and the child was only 11 months old , and was named William Reid . From what has since transpired , no doubt exists but that the utitoi-tun & tecreature had destroyed her own life , and also that of her offspring . The last time she was seen alive was

      on Thursday last , when she appeared very disconsolate and ^ unhappy , and she frequently stated that Iter troubles was more than she could stand against . Since that day she had written a letter to the party „_ . „ who had identified the bodies , in which he jattfe ^ known her intention of destroying her ^ jC ) W 3 ? r stated that it was all owing to the treaMenfp & rjr bad received from one of her own relatives *} ' f ^ . i ^ - st to the party „_ . „ hich ahe jaStfe C- ' hergjeSa ^ treaM 4 nJi & -. « n : ty :-xcw- /' :

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  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Dec. 26, 1846, page 1, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_26121846/page/1/