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Northern Star (1837-1852), 26th December 1846, Edition 2 of 3, Page 4

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    • BOOKS PUBLISHING BY B. D. COUSINS, 18, DUKE-STREET, LIJJCOLN'S-INN-FIELDS, LONDON.
    • . THE PLATE OF THE O'CONNORVILLE" ESTATE.
    • THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1816.
  • Adverts (11)
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      Books Publishing By B. D. Cousins, 18, Duke-Street, Lijjcoln's-Inn-Fields, London.

      BOOKS PUBLISHING BY B . D . COUSINS , 18 , DUKE-STREET , LIJJCOLN'S-INN-FIELDS , LONDON .

      Ad00409

      Ihe Shepherd , by the Rev . J .-E . Smith , M . A . Vol . I . price 3 s . fid . Vol . II price 5 s . Vol . III . price Gs . Gd ., cloth boards ; or the three volumes in one , half-bound iacalf and lettered , price 16 s . Befotation of Owenism , bv G . Bedford , of "Worcester ; With a Reply , by the Rev . J . E . Smith , M . A . Is . Ifew Christianity ; or the Religion of St . Simon , with a " coloured portrait of a St . Simonian Female ; translated by the Rer . J . E Smith , MJt . Is . The Little Book , addressed to the Bish ° p of Exeter and fiobert Owen , by the Rev . J . E . Smith , M . A . 6 d , j by

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      LITHOGRAPHIC ENGRAVINGS OF THB BUNCOMBE TESTIMONIAL . MAY still be had at the Office of Messrs . M'Gowan and Co , 16 , Great Windmill Street , Haymarket , Loadon ; through any respectable bookseller in towu or country ; or ataay" of theagents of the Aort ' icm Star . The engraving is on a large scale , is executed m the most finished Style , is finely printed ? ntanted paper , and SvSa minnte description of the Testvmomal , and has Tvclnscr iption , Ac , & c , engraved npomt PRICE POURPENCE .

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      IMPORTANT TO PHOTOGRAPHISTS . AN application was made on the 32 nd Siptimber to the Vice-ChanceRor of England , by & , Beard ( who , acting under a mastextraordiny delusi * i , considers fc-mseifaesolejxieenfceof the Photographic pM- 'ess . no restrain MB , EGERTON , of l , Tempte-strtot , and 148 , Fleet-street , rom taking Photographic Poru . U * , which he does by » process entirely differeat froo . and very superior to Mr . Beard ' s , and at one-half , ** w . "rge . His Honour refused the application la tot * No license required topractiM this process , which is taught by Mr . ^ g « rton in a few lessons at a moderate ^ HFt iieApparatus , Chemicals . dsc to * luA aswwrt -. uisDaio ^ I , Tempk- * t « se < i WWtefiiara ,

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      Now ready , Price OaeShUltaff . y THR SECON » EDITION OF MY LIFE . OR OUR SOCIAL STATE , Ptarl

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      DOMESTIC MONITOR . On Saturday , December the 12 th , and every succeeding Saturday , will be published , price One Penny . THE DOMESTIC MONITOR , Or Literary , Scientific , Legal , and Medical Adviser , Edited by Hermes . Contents—1 . Poland and Italy . 2 . Don Rodrigo , the Forbidden Wedding . 3 . Nosegay , Miscellany . 4 . The People's Corner , "Emancipation of White FfcHliite Slaves . " 5 . Answers to Correspondents , Scientific , Lite , raiy , Legal , and Medical . 6 . Medical Adviser . New Practical Observation on Consumption . 7 . Reviews . 8 . Legal . Adviser . 9 . Domestic Herbal . Published by E . Mackenzie , 111 , Fleet Stieet , and to be had of all Booksellers and Newsveuders . Letters to be addressed , post paid , " Hermes , 31 , Tonbridge Place , Sew Road ,

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      Now Publishing in Weekly Numbers , Price One Penny . THE CO-OPERATOR . A JonnsAL or Social , Mouah , and Edccatiosal Science . " This work , which is published in Supe-Royal Octavofurnishes weekly reports of every movement going forward in the country * of a co-operative character with original articles on education , and all social and moral questions involving the interests and happiness of the 1 ) e ° Published bv S . & . Collins , Holywell Street , Strand . Also Publishing in Weekly Numbers , and Monthly Parts . TIIE FAMILY JOURNAL . Beautifully illustrated , as large and elegantly got up as Chambers' Journal , price One Fenny , containing a variety of original romances , tales , and literary , and scientific C . Dipple , Holywell Street , Strand .

      Ad00416

      IMPORTANT TO MINERS .

      Ad00417

      A GOOD FIT WARRANTED . UBSDELL AND CO ., Tailors , are now making tip a complete Suit of Superfine Black , any siz e , for £ So Superfine West of England Black , £ 3 10 s . ; and the very bast Superfine Saxony , £ 5 , warranted net tospst or ahange colour . Juvenile Superfine Cloth Suits , 24 s ., Liveries equally cheap—at the Great Western Emporium , Nos . l and 2 , Oxford-street , London ; the noted house for good black cloths , and patent made trousers . Gentlemen can choose tho colour and equality of cloth from the largest stock in London . The nvt of crtting taught .

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      TO TAILORS . lONDON md PARIS FASHIONS FOR AUTUMN AND WINTER , 1816-47 . By READ and Co ., 12 , Bart-street , Blooiiisbury square , London ; And G . Berger , Holy well-street . Strand ; May be had of all booksellers , wheresoever residing

      Ad00419

      On the 1 st of January will be published , No . 1 , ( price Gd . ) of THE LABOURER , A Monthly Magazine of Politics , literature , Poetry , < fcc

      . The Plate Of The O'Connorville" Estate.

      . THE PLATE OF THE O'CONNORVILLE " ESTATE .

      By Next Week Specimens Of The Above Plat...

      By next week specimens of the above plate will be in the hands of our agents ; and numerous applications having been made by agents and parties who subscribe weekly for a Star , to afford all an opportunity of possessing this magnificent and interesting engraving , wehavedecided thntall who shall subscribe to the paper from Saturday , the 9 th of January to February the 6 th , when it will be ready for delivery , shall be entitled to a plate . The plate is far superior to any thing that has ever been given with any paper , as will be admitted on inspection . The price of the plate and paper will be one shilling ; [ the price of those coloured in the best style will be 2 s . 6 d . ;] and we request that agents will transmit their orders as early as possible , in order that we may print accordingly , as no subscriber need take the plate if he does not wisii .

      The Northern Star Saturday, December 20, 1816.

      THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY , DECEMBER 20 , 1816 .

      The Quaker Cotton Lord And His Whistle. ...

      THE QUAKER COTTON LORD AND HIS WHISTLE . We had always anticipated that those who have realized fortunes by slave labour wou ' . d sooner or later be driven into open opposition to the Chartist Co-operative Land Company ; and it has fallen to the lot of the most griping , most cruel , and most lying of the whole fraternity of the coldblooded tribe of political economists to hire a very suitable tool for the accomplishment of his very laudable purpose . Some short time ago , upon our return from Manchester , we were informed that a

      very inquisitive traveller had paid a visit to Herringsgate estate , and who professed himself to be an acquaintance of Mr . O'Connor . It now appears that this ., individual was Mr . Somerville , a person who has assumed the cognomen of " One who has whistled at the plough . " Now , had we been aware of the person who thus honoured us with a call , the former services of that individual to the cause of Bright and Co ., would have led us to expect a furious denunciation of our system in the outset . But the " OLD SOLDIER , " aware of the

      humiliating position of his old masters , adopted the more insidious , but less ingenious plan of buttering us first , that we might be the more easily swallowed at a gulp . Of course there is a deep and sensitive interest displayed in the comfort , condition , and protection of the working classes , by one who will doom himself to a four hundred miles journey , and a three hours' trudge over BAD ROADS , in the dreary winter season . A sympathy which , if sincere and paid for by the tourist , would naturally carry with it all that conviction which properly belongs to the sympathetic and kind-hearted .

      The GENTLEMAN who whistles at the plough distinguished our operations at Herringsgate by a very fascinating notice , in which there was no mention of the " drunken plasterers , " " shavings " benches" and " apprentices" that were doing nothing in the school-house . There is much in the first introduction of a stranger , and fatal consesequences not unfrequently follow a hastily-conceived impression . Our enquirer , selected no doubt upon many occasions for his sagacity , was aware of

      the effect that a first impression produces , and was therefore lavish in a descri p tion of that ocular delight which has been dispelled by a most praiseworthy , and of course DISINTERESTED , investigation Of the means of carrying out the objects of the society . In the first place we shall deal with the fallacies of our friend , not to call them by a harsher name , and then we shall chronicle all those lucubrations which may be properly classed as warnings to those who are the supposed dupes of the management , or their own fervid imagination .

      The first important announcement of our friend is , that when the windows were open , the ram blew in , and , wonderful to say , wet the floors and the plaster . No . 2 . —Our friend ' s observation was so minute , that the act of closing the windows drew his attention to the descrip tion of timber used , and that his guide informed him that it had grown upon the estate . This is false , utterly false , not a particle of timber in the doors , windows , frames or sashes , is other than the best seasoned old oak , hard as stone , and

      two hundred years old , and the best foreign timber . No . 3 . —Our friend informs us of the neglect of the plasterers , ( of which we were the first to complain ) , and adds the falsehood that there were others in the school-house idle , in consequence of their dissipation . Now , what ' s the fact ? there was not an apprentice employed upon the estate , and the only parties at work in the school-house were most attentive , honest , hard working plasterers , who had taken that part of the job and executed it well , according to contract ; and , in passing , we would request our friend , when he next honours us with ft

      The Quaker Cotton Lord And His Whistle. ...

      - ^ - — - visit , not to take our men to the public house , and idle them there for a considerable time . No . 4 .-Our friend tells us that he GUESSED , by the sound of a loom , that a weaver was at work in one of the houses he visited , but he tells us that the Lancashire man was too busy at bis trade to enter into conversation with him ; but that he dis . covered , from the wife , that the roads were so bad that she could not go out after dark . If such was the cause and effect , we have no doubt , her husband would have an interest in bad roads ; but the woman told him no such thing , as we assert , without fear of contradiction , that there are not as good roads upon any farm of the same extent in England . ^ M —**^^^ " *^^^ ' ^ " " ^ *^''* I , I S ^ ^^^^^^^ - " *

      No . 5 . —Our friend tells us that near the weaver ' s house is a draw well , sunk 126 feet , and with very little water in it at present . It is sunk 166 feet , and he shall name his own price , and select his own companion for emptying it during his life . This man talks of the difficulty of getting water , whereas , not a house on the estate is 120 yards distant from the best spring water , while each house has the best g alvanised-iron spouts and pipes for collecting soft water . There ate three splendid wells , conveniently situated . And whereas , of old , the occupants and neighbours bad to go a considerable distance for water , now the neighbouring farmers will have to come to the Chartist Estate for their supply .

      This bagman of the League takes us to task for having imitated the Socialists , in our disregard of political economy . We trust he has heard of the intention of the free trade masters of Lancashire to stop their mills for a period of ten days , after Christmas , during which time , as a matter of course , the hands will be fed on Christmas fare , and will be excused from the payment of rent . No . 6- —This economist charms us , and actually puts us out of conceit with our plan , when be assures us that those who were disappointed at Harmony , instead of breaking their backs and toiling and sweating at spade labour , might have earned two guineas a week by merely GUIDING MACHINES at Manchester ; buthehas not told us of a singla CRIPPLE , DWARF , or HUNCHBACK , made by this back-breaking process .

      No . 7 . —Our friend tells us that the socialists at Harmony , if they wished to read and learn , had the very books from which Mr . O'Connor had compiled his work . We don't think he has ever read a page of it , for if he had , he would have discovered that every line was original , and taken from Mr . O'Connor ' s own experience . No . 8 . —Our geologist concludes his series of white lies , with a comment upon the ori ginal rules of the society , and of the alterations in which he appears to be totally ignorant , and then he winds up his two column thunder in John Bri ght ' s League paper , as follows : —

      But of far greater importance , nay , of painful interest , are tbe questions which will arise after this has got its solution , namely , how are the 6 , 000 shareholders to be paid their capital and interest for having provided sixty persons with prizes in the land lottery ? If they are not to be paid their fifty shillings of capital , or have it rendered into a bond legally saleable , how shall additional classes oflj . 000 each be prevailed on to put into a lottery which gives them only the one hundredth chance of a prize , and that the prize of beinpr doomed to the hardest toil known to human hands , with a millstone ofdebt around the prizeholder ' s neck for life ? How ,

      supposing it possible for the scheme to eo on until all the working population of the kingdom have become shareholders , is the supposed plenty and contentment to be diffused and enjoyed , whoa no more that one hundredth part , if the farms be of two acres each , or one two hundredth part , if the farms be four acres each , of the population has got the allotted land ? How , if the land is mortgaged when tenanted by the" Chartist prizeholdcrs , to raise money to purchase more , will the tenants and the original shareholders be protected if the mortgagees foreclose and seize on all Houses and other property for tlie mortgage money ? What will be done if tlie

      estates are sold to a landlord who would evict the tenants ? How , if the tenants are to have leases for life , to protect them from eviction , are such legal documents to be paid for out of the £ 15 which is already engaued to the performance of so many duties between February and August ? How , if even with such a legal protection the tenants should fall into an arrear of rent , or the trustees into an arrear of the mortgagees' per centage ? How , if there should be such things as ' very dry summers or very bad harvests ? How , if in the best of seasons the land should notyield more than ahalf of the miraculous products predicted for it in Mr . O'Connor ' s book ? How , if the

      trustees and directors should not be all honest . and sell an estate without rendering up themoney ? flow , if the society , not being chartered by incorporation , not being certified under the Benefit Societies' Aet , and not being legally registered under the Joint Stock Companies' Act of last session , though professing so to be , should be out of the pule of the law , giving its shareholders no protection from its defaulters , or from one another ? How , if the society ' s directors should be capable of saying in the balance sheet of 29 th September . 1840 , that "your officers cannot conclude without expressing their gratification that , notwithstanding the many obstacles thrown in the

      way of procuring the enrolment of the society , they have at length succeeded in placing it under the protection « f the law , by procuring the registration of the society under the Joint Stock Companies' Act ; this will give increased confidence to persona about joining the society , and secure due diligence and honesty on tho part of tbe officers . " How , if the said officers said this knowing that the society- is not legally enrolled , and con not be under that act , so long as they withhold any one ( of which they have withheld many ) of the documents published by the society—how , I say , if directors , using one species of deception on the shareholders , should , to get in large subscriptions of ready cash , use other deceptions and be still unpunishable by'law ?" Of all the imputations implied to those queries I

      shall give affirmative proofs . In sorrow Tshall do so . When I first heard of this society , I was full of hope that at last working men were associating together to acquire property for the benefit of them selves , and for the attainment of that political and social status which honest industry entitles themto look to . But , on getting such of the publications of this society as could be obtained after much difficulty , I have carefully studied them and the rules , and can come to no other conclusion than this , that of all the bubble joint stock companies of recent times the Chartist Land Company is the hollowest and most unstable bubble ; that it has begun in a delusion defying all the rational principles of honest business , and must end , either in au early swindle by some of its members , or in the ultimate ruin of all its property .

      There is really such a jumble of insolence , fallacy , presumption , and miscalculation pervading the above , that one is at a loss how to deal with it in any reasonable-space . This calculator- presumes that there is an end to the society when sixty of the six thousand shareholders are located ; precisely we presume as he would argue that there would bean end of friend Blight's mill , the employment of his hands and his profits as soon as the stock in hand was worked up , wholly forgetting a slight principle of political economy called buying and selling— 'that the manufactured article , which represents our allotted ground , is disposed of for tbe purpose of purchasing fresh raw material .

      How will the shareholders or the occupants be protected if the mortgagee was to foreclose , or the landlord to evict ? Why , booby , by the title under which they hold , and beyond the rent or rent-charge in which , neither mortgagee or proprietor could exact a farthing . As far as the shareholders , or occupants and shareholders are concerned , sale or mortgage would simply imply transfer of payment from A . to B . or C , without any power in B . or C to increase the rent , or alter the conditions under which tbe occupants derived their title from A . ; but the wiseacre who seems to have taken great pains with the investigation of our affairs , has overlooked the fact that the company ' s estates are neither to be

      MORTGAGED NOR SOLD . The legal documents conferring the estate in fee upon the occupants , are not to be charged out of the £ 15 ! they are to be paid by the society , and the cost price charged to the occupant as rent charge , at the rate of £ b per cent . ; the ad valorem stamp for conveying the two acre allotment to the occupant in fee will cost £ 2 10 s ., and the occupant will pay 2 s . 6 d . a year for it ; the stamp for conveying the four acre allotment will cost < £ 3 15 s ., and the occupant will pay 3 s . 9 d . a year ; this is the value of co-operation , as the Whistler will see that no poor

      The Quaker Cotton Lord And His Whistle. ...

      man could accomplish this for himself , if he had the chance , added to which a clear and indisputable title is made out for him . How if the tenant could not pay his rent ? and how if the trustees should fall into an arrear of interest ? and how if the summer should be hot ?—In the middle of tho day , when the sun doth shine , "What tbe devil shall I do with this loom of mine * In the middle of the day , when the sun shines hot , What the devil shall I do with my two acre spot ? Hit these economists high or low , there ' s no pleasing them . In winter the occupants will shiver at home for want of roads to go out after dark , and : in summer they'll melt for want of water . How i

      if the men who guide the machines at Manchester should not earn a fourth part as much as stipulated hy the " Whistler ? " and how if they should earn three times as much as guaranteed by Mr . O'Connor ' s book ? How if the tyrant cotton lord couldn't have their labour at his own price ? How if he couldn ' t eject them from his own house without conveyance or lease ? How if he . couldn't stamp them as conspirators to protect his own monopol y >

      and how if ten masters were obliged to court the one free labourer , instead of a swarm of the idle reserve being obliged to solicit the starvation pittance established by the caprice of a grinding monopolist ? How if the master manufacturers should be all rogues , and buy an estate without rendering up an account to those from whose blood and sweat it was extracted ? and how if the producing hand should he consigned to the bastile , while the idle speculator is revelling upon its unrequited labour ?

      How if the deed for complete registration should be completed , and should be in process of being engrossed ? and how if , ere long , Messrs . Clark and Doyle should be upon a tour to witness the signature of every shareholder ? and how if a trustee or director should whistle himself across the water b y anv fraudulent act committed against the Company ? And how if the trustees and directoif themselves were the most anxious for this legal protection ? and how if , without any legal interference whatever we should have sufficient confidence in our own integrity not to abstract from , or injudiciously apply a farthing in a million of the poor man ' s funds ?

      How , if the Directors should not have withheld any document for the complete registration , and how , if the " Whistler" should be a League spy , employed by his heartless masters to try his hand at breaking up a combination which threatens destruction to their rule and his office ? When our friend first heard of this society , he was full of hope Ball ! at whose expense did he travel from . Manchester to Herringsgate , and back in the depth of winter , and for whose gratification did he receive two

      columns of friend Bri g ht ' s paper to send his lucubrations to the world ? Now , as we are shortly to be better engaged than exposing the sophistry and h ypocrisy of pretended friends , and as it is of all things necessary that the working classes should b e enlightened upon a science to which alone they can look for redemption from their present state of slavery , and as we have looked to discussion before a free audience as the best means of arriving at the truth upon a disputed subject , we challenge the " Whistler" to meet us in Manchester at any time most convenient to himself , for one two , three , or six nig hts' discussion , when we will give him all the aid he can enlist , and when we undertake to prove

      that , with the aid of the Bank , we can locate , not six thousand members in six years , hut ten thousand members in five years , and that when the Company ' s affairs are wound up not a farthing will be missing or misapplied that comes to the Treasurer's hands , and that at that period every located member , from the small sum paid as his share , will be nearly , if , not wholly , in possession of their respective allotments , and in the enjoyment of a field for the exercise of their free labour , without any rent at all . We always knew that the co-operation of the many would be met by the conspiracy of the few , and , therefore , the " Whistler" must meet us in discussion , and must not shelter himself under the pretext that he

      CANNOT WHISTLE WITH HIS MOUTH OVEN . He may write his queries , every one of which we will answer , and we will give him half hour for half hour , until an impartial Jury has heard enough to enable them to decide for themselves . How , if the sky should fall , and we should catch larks ?

      ^ To Daniel O'Connell , The Liberator Of...

      ^ TO DANIEL O'CONNELL , THE LIBERATOR OF IRELAND . Old man ! behold the picture of your country after a long life ' s abuse of its confidence . It is a bitter draught for any : if you have a heart , it must be gall and wormwood to you . Behold the even stream of Ireland ' s prosperity . Stand on the brink of it , dissolute man , Think of it , drink of it , then it you can .

      A letter addressed to the Duke of Wellington by Mr . N . Gumming , a magistrate of the county of Cork : — " My Lord Duke , —Without apology or preface , 1 presume so far to trespass on your Grace as to state to you , and by the use of yo ur illustrious name to present to tbe British publis , the following-statement ot what I have myself seen within the last three days . " Having for many years been intimately connected with the western portion of the county of Cork , and possessing some small property there , I thought it right personally to investigate the truth of the several lamentable accounts which had reached me , ef the appalling state of misery to which that part of the country was reduced .

      •• I accordingly went on the 15 th inst . to Skibbe reen , and to give the instance of one townland which I visited , as an example of the state of the entire coast district , I shall state simply what I there saw . It is situated on the eastern side of Casfclehaven harbour , and is named South Reen , in the parish of Myross . Being aware that I should have to witness scenes of frightful hunger , I provided myself with as much bread as five men could carry , and on reaching the spot I was surprised to find the wretched hamlet apparently deserted . I entered some of the hovels to ascertain the cause , and the scenes that presented themselves were such as no tongue or pen can convey the slightest idea of . In the first , six famished and ghastly skeletons , by all appearance dead , were huddled in a corner on some filthy straw , their sole

      covering what seemed a ragged horsecloth , their wretched legs hanging about , naked above tho knees . I approached with horror , and found by a low moaning they were alive—they were in fever , four children , a woman , and what had once been a man . It is impossible to go through the detail . Suffice it to say , that in a few minutes I was surrounded by at least two hundred of such phantoms , such frightful spectres as no words can describe . By far the greater number- were delirious , either from famine or from fever . Their demoniac yells are still ringing in my ears , and their horrible images are fixed upon my brain . My heart sickens at the recital , but I must

      go on . \ "In another case , decency would forbid what follows , but it must be told . My clothes were nearly torn oft in ray endeavour to escape from the throng of pestilence around , when my neckcloth was seized from behind by a gripe which compelled me to turn . I found myself grasped by a woman with an infant just born inker arms , and the remains of a filthy sack across her . loins—the sole covering of herself and babe . I he same morning the police opened *» house on the adjoining lands , which was observed shut for many days , and two frozen corpses ware found , lying upon the mud floor , half devoured by the

      rats . "A mother , herself in a fever , was seen the same day to drag out the corpse of her child , a girl about twelve , perfectly naked , and leave it half covered with stones . In another house , within 500 yards of the cavalry station at ] Skibbeteen , the dispensary doctor found seven wretches lying , unable to move , under the same cloak . One had been dead many hours , but the others were unable to move either themselves or the corpse . '; To what purpose should I multiply such cases ?

      If these be not sufficient , neither would they hear who have the power to send relief , and do not , even ' though one came from the dead . ' Let them , however , believe and tremble , that they shall one day hear the Judge of all the earth pronounce their tremendous doom , with the addition , * I was an hungered and ye gave me no meat , thirsty and ye gave me no drink , naked and ye clothed me not . ' "But I forget to whom this is addressed . My Lord , you are an old and justly honoured man . It is yet in your power to add another honour to your age , to fix . another star , and that the bright

      ^ To Daniel O'Connell , The Liberator Of...

      est in your galaxy ot glory . You have access to Our young and gracious Quecm . Lay these things before her . She is a woman . She will not allow decenev to be outraged . She has at her command the means of at least mitigating the sufferings of the wretched survivors in this tragedy . They will soon be few jn the district I speak of , if help be longer with . ' ° ™"

      held . " m "Once more , my Lord Duke , in the name of starving thousands , I implore you to break the frigid and flimsy chain of official etiquette , and save the land of your birth , the kindred of that gallant Iriali Wood which you have so often seen lavished to supporfcthe honour of the British name , and let there be inscribed upon your tomb ' Servata Hibernia . ' I have the honour to be , my Lord Duke , Your Grace ' s obedient humble servant "N . M . Cummins , „ . ,. A „ , " Justice of the Peace . " Ann Mount , Cork , December lfah . "

      Weekly Review". The Day For The Re-Assem...

      WEEKLY REVIEW " . The day for the re-assembling of Parliament has been announced by royal proclamation , and within four weeks from this time , St , Stephens will be again the arena ; of debate " in divers urgent and important matters , " Last session was commenced at an unusually early period , on the 21 st of January . The forthcoming sesjinn will be earlier by two days , being summoned for th « 19 th . Looking at the war in which , of late years , the sessions have been

      lengthened , we should not wonder , ere long , to see them extend from Christmas to Christinas , with only a few days allowance of holiday . The only cure for these protracted , wearisome , and , to a considerable extent , useless sittings , is for the Parliament to divest itself of its anomalous functions as respects private bills and local improvements , and to confine itself exclusively to imperial business . A Local Legislature in Edinburgh and another either in Birmingham or London , to which all private bill business , railway , harbour , municipal , and other improvement Acts should be referred , would not only do the work better and more cheaply , if such bodies were properly constituted , but would leave the superior Parliament more free for the consideration

      of all matters of national importance . The rapid extension of our colonies , and the growing importance of our foreign relations , not less than the additional labours which Legislative-interference in sanatory , educational , and other similar matters will require , demand that the time of the Imperial Legislature should not be occupied by any but questions of a general character . Of course it would still act , when necessary , as a Court of Review or Appeal on divisions in the inferior Legislatures .

      The cause for the early assembling of the two houses is , no doubt , to be found in the present alarming aspect of affairs in the sister country . It is rumoured , that the Ministry have prepared a series of measures for that unhappy country , of which a Bill for the reclamation and improvement of the waste lands , as well as a better cultivation of the land already under culture , is to form a portion . We shall wait anxiously to see the truth of this statement . We have no great faith in Whi g promises or Whig statesmen , but if they fairly and honestly take up the Land Question and grapple with it upon intelligible and honest grounds , they will go far to reconcile us to their stay in office .

      " Time will try whether they are " up to the mark' ' or not . In the meantime we reiterate that nothing short of a Radical and complete Land Measure will be of the slightest use to Ireland . The commencement of such improvements as are involved in both these renounced measures could administer immediate relief where distress is now most severly felt , and contribute most effectually to prevent the recurrence of the present frightful state of things . They open an almost boundless field of permanent employment

      to the able bodied population , By creating new capital upon a secure basis by the application of equitable principles to the ownership of the re . claimed wastes , and thereby giving the sense of an immediate aud permanent interest in the soil , a . change almost magical would be effected in Ireland . She has all the natural capabilities that the most sanguine could desire . Just institutions are all that is wanting to convert what is now the disgrace of the British Empire into its glorv .

      It is said that the means by which Government intends to carry out its views is , by advances from the public purse . Such sums will be advanced as may be deemed most advisable , under the peculiar circumstances of each case ; the usual rate of interest will be charged , and the amount advanced will , after the lapse of a certain period , be repaid to the State by easy instalments . Power will be reserved

      by the Government to put up for public sale those lands which have been improved at the public expense , should the interest or instalments not be duly paid . In short , in its leading features the rumoured Ministerial scheme is founded upon tha Chartist Land Plan , and will aim at effecting , with the machinery and appliances of the State , similar results as those which the British Chartists are effecting . by voluntary efforts .

      If the present appalling condition of Ireland has the effect of forcing a Whig Government , and a Parliament composed of landlords and capitalists , * nto the adoption of a measure which will really give the people a proprietary interest in the soil on which they live and labour ; then indeed will this calamity not have occurred without leaving salutary effects behind it . While we cannot help feeling deeply and painfully for the immediate sufferers—those

      who perish from Tiold , hunger , and disease—whose uncodified . and emaciated corpses cry aloud to Heaven against the foul system by which they have been murdered—yet we may take consolation , that out of this evil , permanent good is likely to be educed , and that ignorance and selfishness will at last be frightened into the adoption of that policy , which knowledge and benevolence have long advocated but in vain .

      Our columns , this week , show an increase of the misery which devastates Ireland—the whole countryseems to be suffering . Famine lias spread everywhere—the victims , by hundreds , go raving mad , or die in dozens , in hovels destitute alike of good * * fire and clothing , And the mountebanks of Burgh Quay all this time keep squabbling with Young Ireland , and talking sublime nonsense about "physical force . "

      At home , the inclemency of the season is begin * ning to tell upon our own poor . In the columns of the daily journals the heading " Another Death from Starvation" is becoming far too familiar to the eye . But there is something so awful involved in the fact of a human being dying from starvation , that it should never be suffered to pas * from the mind as a mere piece of news , to be read and forgotten—while such horrible events occur they are emphatic protests against the institutions under which they take place The blood of our murdered brethren rises to heaven

      against us . Great Britain possesses ample means for employing , feedrag , clothing , and sheltering all its population . If any perish for want , the blame rests with the laws and the false system of distribution hy which such cruel results are produced . It is strange that nearly nineteen centuries and a half have passed away ^ ince the light of Christianity was first shed on the world . and yet we have not learned to practice its primary and simplest precep ts . The carols which announce Christmas , and the rejoicings which hallow that commemoration of t he introduction of a new system based on the great and gTori-OU » principle of brotherly love , —band dow »\ U > us traditioaally the meaning and intent » f Ifcft " 6 <» 4

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Dec. 26, 1846, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_26121846/page/4/