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Northern Star (1837-1852), 28th February 1852, Edition 2 of 2, Page 4, Jnst PabUsbrd by ttlCIf AROJOA* Af» '» J* Hn ' and Fieet-rtreet, London; 9, Capel-strcet, Dublin, and Derby.

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    • Jnst PabUsbrd by ttlCIf AROJOA* Af» '» J* Hn ' and Fieet-rtreet, London; 9, Capel-strcet, Dublin, and Derby.
    • «To ©•orosuoHBenta.
    • fHE NORTHERN STIR SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2S, ISS'J.
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      4 Thb Northern Star. __ . February 28, K...

      4 THB NORTHERN STAR . __ . February 28 , k ^

      Jnst Pabusbrd By Ttlcif Arojoa* Af» '» J* Hn ' And Fieet-Rtreet, London; 9, Capel-Strcet, Dublin, And Derby.

      Jnst PabUsbrd by ttlCIf AROJOA * Af » ' » J * Hn ' and Fieet-rtreet , London ; 9 , Capel-strcet , Dublin , and Derby .

      Ad00413

      MICE SIX SHILUNGS .-5 ENT BT POST 10 * SIKESCE &*** . THE DUBLIN REVIEW , No . 62 , January , 1852 . \ JEW CAT HOI I C WORKS 1 \ Just Published bj niRUBDSON- ASD SOS . ^ The Lives of the B . Leonard , of Port Maurice and of the B . Skbflu Fattote . With bwaufid Portaut of Blessed Leonard , price 4 s . Sent by post for 60 . extra . The third and including Volume of Pope Benedict XIV . onHeroic Virtue , priced Senibj port for 6 d . extra . An Essay on Catholic Home Missions , by the Rev . Father Fabes , Priest of the Oratory . SmaU Svo . printed wrapper , price Is . fid . Little Mary's Hymn Book . Part I . By EDWABD B Walfobd , M . A ., formerly Scholar of Balliol College , Oxford , Dedicated uy permission to the very Reverend Father Fabeb . Price id .

      Ad00414

      IMPORTANT SOCIALIST PUBLICATIONS ! SOBERT OWEN'S jOTjaiJAI .. TttlS JOOHXAL ( Published weekly , price Oxe Pexkt , and in monthly parts , price Focbtexce ) , Explains the means by which the population ol the world may be placed within new and vary superior circumstances , and provided with constant beneficial employment , and thereby enabled to enjoy comfort and abundance , and great social advantages ; and the direct means by which this change may be effected with benefit to all classes . The addresses on Government , on Education , to the Delegates of All Nations to the World ' s Fair , and on True and False Religion , which have lately appeared in the pages of this Journal , have been reprinted in the form of cheap pamphlets , and wUl be found to contain information of the deepest interest . Ihe Eleventh Monthly Part of this Journal is now ready Price id . Also the First Volume , Price 2 s . Cd . '

      Ad00415

      TE 3 CHICOK-S- QTXESTIOK . rpilE PUBLIC is not called upon to decide A whether Chicory is better than Coffee , nor whether a mixture with it improves C « . ffee , but simply whethvr ii is to be sold a * Cof « ana at the ;> riee of Cvfee . What U beios sold to the publi : as ground Coffee , at prices varying from Is . to Is . Sd . per pound , is , as the " Lancet" has jroved , a comi-Duna conslstiar , in most cases , of more than half Chicory . Pair dealing dirties that every article Should be Sold for what it is , atils own proper price , lint iu the case of Chicory the consumer is made to pay six times the vahiecf the article because it is said under a falsi' name . TheCEXTRAL CO-OPERATIVE AGEXCT has been establi-hed to counteract this and

      Ad00416

      r < RLAT NATIONAL STANDARD THEka ATRE , opposite the Eastern Counties Railway , Shoreditch . Ihe largest and most elegant Theatre in London . I ' mwRiiTOB—Sir . Joh . v Dor / cuss . First > ight of the important engagement of the celebrated Trageaiau , » r . jasesw . vniiics , of the Haymarket and Olvmpie The aires , wlio mil hate the h « aoar < . f appearing as iliebetb . and Werner . Aotmthstauffing the enormous attr-ciion and the great outliy , there will be no advance in the prices . All complimentary admissions will besaspended during Mr . J . W \ "Wallack ' s engagement (« he pubhc Press excepted ) . Most powerful cast , new scen : rr , splen > udcostntnes , and appointments , * nd the whole of Locke ' s celebrated music , to give sfiect to which a most efficient chorus lias J / i-en tujased . Jlr . J . W . iVallack as Macbeth on Mondav , Tues av , Thuwdav . and Friday , and as Werner on Wednesdav . * On Wednesday , to comnunce with Werner . Werner , Mr . 3 . v 7 Wallark . After which , each evening ( Wednesday excepted ) , tbe cxtraordinary ^ performances of Messrs . Thome , the great somersault thrower , and llotaez , tbe K ? n 5 of Clo'wns . To conclude , oh Xonday and Tuesday , with The wife and tin inanesj ; ouTliwttoyvraii Friday with liieEndaUIorH .

      Ad00417

      QUEER'S THEATRE . Vb sole lessee—its . c . / . james . . ^ f qffVe T - t rfor , na v ' ™ - ulete « -Ja nse . Mr . Macarthv . the c & ebrated Irish comedian , in two of his best characters . * Fu 7 « week of a new drama of iii : en .. e interest , called the U .-eam ofDooin roar pieces every evenras . J A ^^ JSSfvStStS tSTSSlt F & J & c'iiS ? - »*™ w ™ * bS . 'SS Af er which Born to Good Lvel : uSSrSSS * " **** " ^ ** " *¦ * wLich Mr o ^ SSLlS . S ' and 1 lU * " Grindoff ' - E - Boies , Is . fid . " Pit , Sd . Gallerv , 4 d .

      «To ©•Orosuohbenta.

      « To ©• orosuoHBenta .

      Op? Correspondtnu Will Oblige Us Greatly...

      Op ? CorrespondtnU will oblige us greatly bj attending to the following general instructions : — The earlier we can receive their communications in the week the more certain they are of being inserted . This is the case especially witfi fetters npon general sutgects intended for the COlumuSSet ajort fur * Free Corr spondenee . ' , 5 2 !^ i «^ i ^ f ? artis t ??^ ' Trades . «* Co operative Societies & a , :-bon ! a be awarded immediately after their occurrence . By thismean * a glut of natter is avoided at the latter end of the week , and consequent curtailment or non-insertion . Eeports snooud consist of a plain statementof facts . All coinnmnica : i < . ns intended for publication should be written bo oneade ol tbe paper only , and addressed to the Editor . 3 . L . is thanked for bis communication . G . Baiesos . —Theaddre < sisIUy . lieu Bank , Manchester . TV . Steves . —Tourcommuaicatioupartakes toomucb of the nature -if an advertisement to oe inset ted in our correspondence All future communications for T . It Wheeler must ba addressed » 4 , West-street , Sobo .

      Fhe Northern Stir Saturday, February 2s, Iss'j.

      fHE NORTHERN STIR SATURDAY , FEBRUARY 2 S , ISS'J .

      The Derby Cabinet. F.Ii™R Wep -' '"^Wonw...

      THE DERBY CABINET . f . ii ™ r - ' '"^ wonwd , » the Kussell Jifinistry has h ^ nantSf ^ f 6 eb ' ene 83 - The evenfc had *» g SK ^ ^ * ^*^ Everybod y important matters " and eatr it J 11 °° ** " fflA'ff ^ A'BK

      The Derby Cabinet. F.Ii™R Wep -' '"^Wonw...

      be dreaded , remains to be seen ; but we are , at all events , able to congratulate thecouuiry in having at length got rid of a Cabinet which , for the last four or five years , has been the greatest possible obstruction to practical reforms of every description . They had brought the art of Ministerial Do-Nothing ism to perfection , and invented a new system of making a Parliament sit six or seven months in the year apparently very busy , and then rise , leaving behind it results so infinitesimally small that it required a political microscope of no ordinary power to discover them at alL

      The Whigs are gone , and with them their brood of sham measures , which would have wasted another six months and left na , as usual , nil as a net result . With their departure from office has also been removed many difficulties and stumbling blocks from the path of independent and liberal members . Wo know that they were embarrassed as to the course they should take on the Sham Reform Bill . It was so obviously beneath the occasionand constructed in so dishonest

      , and evasive a spirit , that they could not accept it without proposing many additions and alterations ; but , on the other hand , it would have given some addition to the constituencies of a few large towns , and that might have afforded a fulcrum for a future and more powerful movement . They were therefore unwiling to give Lord John an excuse forthrowing it upaltogether in a pretended pet . All these embarrassments and difficulties are now removed . There is a clear stage

      and no favour . Men will settle down to their natural places again on this question of Parliamentary Reform at least . We shall now know friends from foes . The Tories were to have opposed the sham bill , small as were its dimensions—they will , therefore , not g ive us a larger one . But the Exminister , in announcing his leave of office , took care to intimate very distinctly that he will be much more determined on the opposition than he was on the Treasury Bench . No Protection , Extension of the

      Suffrage , and Peace , were the three watchwords adopted as his policy for tho future ; and knowing how wonderfully the bleak atmosphere of the shady side of the Speaker's chair invigorates Whig patriotism and liberality , we quite expect to witness some strange metamorphoses in the course of the next few mouths . It will of course be the duty of the rank and file men to take care that in case of a victory , the substantial results are not monopolised by another 'Famil y Party . '

      As to the New Ministry , nobody fears them . With the present House of Commons they cannot reverse any great measure that has been carried of late years . They cannot pass any that will greatly trench upon either popular or individual liberty . If they dream of inaugurating a retrogressive and Tory policy , they must try what a dissolution will do for them , and that , it is understood , the Queen has requested shall not be done until a much later period of the year . The aspect of Europe is not very assuring just now ; and a fiercely contested general election would not be the pleasautest addition to the already sufficiently alarming indications of a tempest , which gather about the political horizon .

      As to the capability of the DfiKBr Cabinet for the duties it has undertaken , most of its members are so untried in administration , that it is impossible to predicate how they will succeed . Certainly some of the names sound queerly enough in conjunction with the offices they fill . Who , for instance , would ever have thought of the satirical rhetorical Disraeli as Chancellor of the Exchequer ; who of that respectable 'Justice of the Quorum , ' Pakington , as

      Controller of the destines of Colonies in every part of the world who , of Malmesbt / bt as Foreign Minister , whose onl y claim to the position of a diplomatist must be hereditary . As to the head of the Ministry , his merits and defects arc equally well known ; and it is as well known that the latter very decidedly preponderate , when the peculiar qualifications for the position he holds are taken into consideration . For such a Cabinet no one can expect a long'bxisteuce .

      But its formation brings before the public again a question to which wo have frequentl y directed attention . Why is it that this game of see-saw is permitted to bo played between certain great families of the aristocracy , who seem to assume that they alone monopolise all the administrative ability of the country , and consequently toss the ball from one to the other , as if there were no other persons in the kingdom who had the smallest claim to consideration or a participation in power ?

      One very potent cause for this is to be found in the want of unity , training , and organisation among the independent and professedly liberal members of Parliament . They have never displayed any organised strength , or developed as a party the power of acting in concert , and carrying out a constructive and a consecutive policy . The ' Family Party' which has just been driven from office , perhaps gave tbem small opportunity ; but the game is now changed , and if they do not take advantage of the fact that it is so , and show themselves capable of taking office , and discharging its duties in a comprehensive and liberal spirit , on them alone will rest the blame . Meantime

      a General Election in any case cannot be far off , and those who really want to promote genuine reforms should be preparing for that event . To what extent the insane , and , as far as we can discern causeless , dissensions which distract tbe party that assumes the exclusive use of the title * Chartist , ' will prevent them from taking any useful or honourable part in the approaching struggle , we know not . But this we arc sure of , that there is in every large town of the United Kingdom a sufficient number of clearheaded , intelligent , aud practical working-men to form a committee , and an active canvassing

      body for the purpose of fairly testing the opinions of their townsmen on the question of Representative Reform . There are also plenty oi men whose past services to the cause of Democracy entitle tbem to the honour of being selected as tbe candidates through whose medium that test can be applied . If this is done in a firm but temperate spirit , it cannot fail to operate favourably for the cause of electoral reform , and neutralise to some extent tbe baleful influence of those intestine squabbles which make socalled Chartism , only known for mischief and powerless for good .

      Abolition Of The Newspaper Monopoly. Mr....

      ABOLITION OF THE NEWSPAPER MONOPOLY . Mr . Disraeli has 'kissed hands' on his appointment as Chancellor of the Exchequer . He is a literary man himself , and tho son of a literary man . He has voted in favour of the repeal of the taxes on knowledge ; and , therefore , we see some sanguine people are expecting they -will not appear in the Budget we may expect from the Derby Ministry . We suspect that these parties are reckoning without their host , and upon the very antiquated notion , that the actions of political men should be in accordance with their professions . They forget altogether the terrible exigencies of ' place , ' the changed medium through which men look at the ' same objects from the opposition and Treasury benches , and , above all , the instinctive tenacity with which financial Ministers stick to taxes . It is true that Mr . Disraeli takes

      office with a surplus in hand amounting to millions , but there will not be wanting excuses when the time comes for dealing charity with that surplus . For instance , the Income Tax expires on the 5 th of April next . It raises annually nearly double the whole surplus . Is it possible to persuade the present House of Commons to renew the tax for another year , or , failing that , to produce a new mode of levying the tax , which -will allay the deep and general

      discontent that exists among a large portion of those who are now assessed to it ? Besides this little difficulty , the new Chancellor has Earl Gre y ' s bequest in the shape of the Kaffir war , which , if it continues , will dip deeply into any surplus for years to come ; and there are his own pet schemes to be looked after—for relieving the squires and farmers , by throwing county rates on the consolidated fund , and lightening their burdens at the cost of the general hodyoftix-payers .

      These are only a few of the reasons that mi ght be adduced for suggesting more moderate expectations ; and yet , if public stood on the same footing as private morality , and the actions of men accorded with their professions , we know not any demand that has such a strong claim for immediate settlement as that for the repeal of the duties which obstruct the diffusion of intelligence . * Tares on Knowled ge , ' said Leigh Hunt , in his characteristic letter read at the meeting o Wednesday night , ' appear to me very like taxes for the prevention of finger posts , or for the better en-0 ragemeut of " erring and straying , like lost

      Abolition Of The Newspaper Monopoly. Mr....

      sheep . '" And Douglas Jerrold pithily asked , « why not , to help the lame and aid the short-sighted , lay a tax upon crutches , and enforce a duty upon spectacles V The extent to which the trip le duties prevent the establishment and impede the circulation of newspapers , mav be judged of from the fact , that the United States , with a population little more than two thirds of Great Britain and Ireland , consume yearly four hundred and twelve million copies ; while in this country there are only eig hty-four millions copies circulated annually among the larger population . The difference points to a radical distinction between the Governments of the two countries , in the one the people are the rulers , and the

      Government takes care to promote the education ana intelligence of the masses ; in the other , two factions of an oligarchy alternately hold the reins of power , and they think their interests are best subserved by a contrary course . ... , The practical effect of these taxes is to establish a monopoly of the Newsp aper Press . The large capital required to carry on a newspaper efficiently , and the comparatively limited circulation resulting from a high ' price , limits tho number of journals , and need

      confines their proprietorship to Cap italists . We not tell the working classes the inevitable effect of this . They know it to their cost , whenever any question affecting their rights or interests become the subject of public discussion . The advertising and purchasing section of tbe community belong to the classes against whom the producers have to wage an almost incessant struggle for fair wages and reasonable breathing time . Is it any wonder that the newspapers support those who keep them in existence ? of

      But it is said that this monopoly has the effect producing a superior article to that which we should have if the Press was free ; and in proof of that assertion , we are referred to the American newspapers , which certainly cannot , generally , be compared with our own , as respects the extent , variety , and literary ability of their contents .. While , however , the superiority of the British , journal may be admitted , the concession requires to be accompanied by certain qualifications and drawbacks . In the first place , America is a younger country , and if its journals have the immaturity , they have also the vigour and the elasticity of youth . In the second , what they want

      in literary polish they gain in being a truthful reflex of the popular mind aud progress . The staid English journalist either does not touch at all upon topics that are not ' respectable' and ' orthodox , ' or , if he ventures out of the charmed circle , it is to cast doubt or ridicule upon the novelty . In the United States , upon the contrary , questions of all kinds are freely discussed in the columns of the newspapers ; and though some of these are ridiculous enough in the estimation of an English reader , there is after all no test so searching , no method more efficacious for detecting shams , or winnowing truth from the chaff with which it may be mixed .

      The abolition of the tax on newspapers , in connexion with an equitable plan for continuing existing Post Office facilities , would , we have no doubt , be accompanied by an immediate improvement in the tone of English papers . Greater breadth , freedom , and independence of tone would distinguish these articles , and the intelligence they contained would no longer be confined to the narrow and exclusive channels in which it at present flows . Tho press would become national , instead of being factious , exclusive , or sectarian .

      Apart from the merely political point of i » v , however there are other important reasons why these duties should be abolished . There is , at the present moment , no question of greater urgency than the means by which increased employment can bo given to our increasing population . Now , the curse of all excise restrictious ' is , that they do not stop with the mere enhancement of price , hut prevent all improvement aud extension in the article on which they are imposed . The repeal of the duty on paper would at once open out a source of profitable employment both for capital and labour of which we can at present scarcely form any adequate conception .

      It is not alone in the increased quantity that would be consumed by an enlarged demand for newspapers and books , though that would he great , but in the application of paper to numerous purposes , which the excise regulations now prevent . There is scarcel y any fabric , the raw material of which is so valueless in itself , but capable of so many and such varied uses as paper , or of being made so valuable , bv the combined exercise of labour and ingenuity . In the decoration and furniahing of houses , in art and in manufactures , it is equally susceptible of new and

      indefinite modifications and extended nse . Out of rags and refuse , which would otherwise be thrown aside as rubbish , and in many cases become nuisances , engendering corruption and infection , industry fabricates a material which now amounts to tho annual value of about three millions sterling , and employs at present about fifty thousand persons directl y in its manufacture . But this gives only an imperfect view of the entire number of persons whose industry is set in motion by the paper manufacture . There are numerous other trades and

      occupations connected with it , cither in collecting and conveying the raw material , or in working it up into various forms for use . The whole number may perhaps be taken at a quarter of a million ; a . ud as the consumption has doubled since 1832 , when the duty was reduced , it is but reasonable to calculate that its total abolition would speedily again double the number of persons employed , and the quantity produced . A measure , which would open out health y and remunerative sources of employment to a quarter or half a million more of our population at home , which would add several millions more to the real wealth

      annually produced in the country , and at the same time facilitate the diffusion of knowledge among all classes of the Community is one which , if the new Chancellor of the Exchequer be ambitious of being remembered in history , well deserves his attention . Though generally supposed to be more an fait at figures of speech , than figures of finance , the salient points of the proposed change are so easil y comprehended , and the benefits to be derived so immediate and varied , that it will show great want of tact , to say the least , if he does not identif y his name with it . Will his lordly colleagues let him ?

      Parliamentary Reform—The First Thing Nee...

      PARLIAMENTARY REFORM—THE FIRST THING NEEDFUL . A controversy has been going on for some time past between Political and Social Reformers , as to the comparative merits of their respective movements , and which should have precedence in its claims upon the support of the unenfranchised and labouring classes . On the one hand , the Suffrage Reformer contends that the Co-operative movement is

      confined too exclusively to material and personal objects , and diverts the attention of those engaged in it from those political questions which affect in their scope and bearing all classes of society . The Co-operator retorts , on the other hand , that Political Reformers , in their anxiety to promote great changes in the constitution of the country , overlook , or fail to make use of , the means actually in the possession of the producers of wealth for improving their own position , and consequently giving them greater influence in the settlement of political questions .

      Perhaps , as in many other cases , the practical truth lies between the two extremes . Each phase of the popular movement necessarily presents peculiar attractions to differentl y constituted minds ; and if the bad habit of calling names and imputing motives could be got rid of , these two sections of the army of progress would find it very easy to unite their forces for the attainment of the one object they have in view . Angry discussions—in which the honesty of one party , and the intelligence and patriotism of the other are mutuall y impugned—can onl y tend to repel from each other parties whose purposes are identical , and to continue those fatal divisions which have so long made the masses the helpless prey of the organized and wealthy few .

      It appears to us , that without trenching on the modern doctrine of the division of labour—which in the industrial world has produced such vast and astonishing results , and which is , within certain limit ? , applicable also to political and social action—the promoters of Co-operative and Industrial Associations ought now to take aa active part iu the political movement . In truth , their own movement has a two-fold Aspect . The first has reference to the internal organization and management of their respective bodies , ; and their federal union through the medium

      Parliamentary Reform—The First Thing Nee...

      of a . central agency and Executive ; the second , to the external relations of the movement , and the way in which it is affected by the proceedings of the Legislature , or the general action of our existing social system . Of this influence we cannot have a better or more timely illustration than the debate on Mr . Slaney ' s motion for the appointment of a commission to facilitate Co-operative action among the industrious classes . ' The want of Members who thoroughly understood the wants of working men and who were able to explain practically the principles on which they proceed , and the objects they have in view , was

      never more forcibly proved . The cats legislated for the mice . The owners of land , capital , and machinery , of all tbe raw materials , aud of all the implements reouisite for sotting Labour to work , could not comprehend why Labour should not be content with work and wages under the regime of the capitalist . _ Mr . Cobden talked in a condescending tone of the ignorance of those who wanted to alter the ' natural' relations of Capital and Labour ; and though he had no objections to allow them to make their co-operative trials under something like _ equitable conditions , he plainly intimated his conviction at the same time that they would only burn their fingers if they made

      tho attempt . Now , what are the ' natural relations of Capital and Labour ? If p rimitive' and ' natural' are synonymous , thepresentrelationsareanythinghut ' natural . ' Society in its progress has passed through a series of stages , each successive change becoming more complicated and artificial , the result of the growth of varied classes , and the multiplication of interests . The relations between these classes are , therefore , as purely conventional as the existence of the classes themselves . They are co-ordinate with , and grow out of , each other , and it is as great a piece of

      presumption on the part of a political economist to declare that th « present are the natural and final relations of Capital and Labour , as it would have been for any advocate of former phases of society to assert that they were fixed and immutable . Very probably , the , hunter who , Hke . NiMROD , was ' a mighty hunter before the Lord , ' the flockowner who in the pastoral age counted his flocks and herds by tens of thousands , or the iron mailed baron in the feudal times , who looked from his castle towers upon the broad possessions tilled by his serfs , were of opinion that these were the natural relations of man to man—the

      just and the ultimate constitution of society . But now , when the common experience of mankind has demonstrated that society is progressive , that existing combinations are merely the parents of new , it is strange to hear from the professors of a so-called science , the assumption that the very contrary is the fact . Yet it is upon that assumption that the whole of our legislation , or rather non-legislation , for labour proceeds . What is tbe cause of this ? It is because the Commercial idea preponderates among tho more active portion of the present electoral body . The Legislature represents not the whole , but only a section of the people , The buyers and sellers of Labour—the owners of the raw materials and the

      machinery by and upon which Labour must be set to work—all who live by usury or profitmongering upon industry—are represented in the so-called Commons House of Parliament . The people—the Commonshave not one bona fide representative there . Let us not be misunderstood : honest , well-intentioned members may be mentioned , but their number is small , and their knowledge theoretical ; they do not know where the shoe pinches like those who have worn it , Labour , however it may give utterance to its own conceptions of its grievances , and the remedies for them out of doors , is dumb iu Parliament . 'Hon . gentlemen , ' because it is inarticulate there , choose to jump to the conclusion that it is really without speech , and that they know much better what is good for them than the toilers themselves .

      Now we do not mean to say , that because an individual has actually suffered from the endurance of an evil that therefore ho is qualified , per se , to suggest the best remedy for that evil . But it has been truly said , that an accurate knowledge of the evil itself is half way to the remedy for it ; aud so long as legislators have cloudy , imperfect or perverted ideas respecting the nature of the question itself , it is impossible there can be any practical legislation . The great and paramount reform , therefore , upon which the sympathies and the energies of the labouring classes ought to be concentrated , is a reform in Parliament , which will enable those who really understand and sincerely advocate the interests of the workers , to speak the plain truth on such subjects .

      That is the first step towards getting the machinery of the state to work for , instead of against , the masses . At present the House of Common s is a congeries or aggregation of interests , which pervert the legislative and administrative monopol y they enjoy to the promotion of their own class or sectional ends . Every interest has its representatives there but that on which they all feed and fatten . It is an indispensable preliminary to the emancipation of labour socially , that it must first he freed from political bondage . That done , it will take its stand beside other interests , and claim an equitable participation in the work , the privileges , and the

      responsibilities of society . No amount of individual care , forethought , and frugality on the part of the members of the Co-operative Societies , can at present exempt them from the immediate and prospective results of a false , unjust , and exclusive political system . As long as that exists they must , to a great extent , build upon a sandy foundation , and be exposed to the mercy of a thousand adverse agencies , over which they have , either individually or collectively , no control . As in

      the case of a Commercial glut and panic , the sober , careful , steady workman is thrown into the streets at the same time with his less prudent shopmate , so will the efforts of an essentially antagonistic Legislature , continually expose the Co-operative Movement , not only to obstruction , but to destruction . Previous economy and organisation may mitigate , but they can neither avert the results , nor prevent the action of the general influences which arise from the working of our existing political and commercial machinery .

      In conclusion , we call upon those engaged in the Co-operative movement , to take an active part in the efforts which will no doubt be made to obtain the early and satisfactory adjustment of the popular claims for political justice . Their intelligence , organisation , and comparatively superior circumstances , will enable them to exercise no sli ght degree of influence in the settlement of the question . Many of * them are electors in the boroughs to which they respectively belong . It is their duty , at the present juncture of public affairs , to throw their whole strength into any electoral movement that may be

      made in their various localities , for the purpose of returning men to Parliament who are prepared to support not only the claims of Labour in the abstract , but also such a change in our representative system as will permit the labouring classes to be directly represented by their own ' order / Various plans for that purpose have been proposed , but at present it is needless to enter into details . Let US first have the princi ple affirmed that all classes and all interests ought to be fairly and directly represented in the Legislature ; other things will follow in due season

      A Protectionist Policy For Thf People. *...

      A PROTECTIONIST POLICY FOR THF PEOPLE . * It is possible that the New Ministry may he consistent enough to attempt the restoration of Protection in come shape or other , though its evening organ states that it will only do so if the country demands it . But then people may differ asto the signification of the term country . ' Mr . Cobden and Mr . Newdegate for instance , would not be likely to interpret the word in the same way . In anticipation , however , of such an attempt , the Free Trade jour ! nals- « pure and simple ' -have been chronicling the vast and transcendent benefits that have been conferred on he country by our recent commercial legislation . There is no denying that 'thetottle of the whole presents a very pretty picture upon paper and it is equall y incumbent on us to confess , that in many aspects the state of the country i 8 sa isfactorv

      to uiose wno look at it irom a merel y commercial and material point of view . The fallacy , however lies m confining the investi gation within ^ rel yili cal and statistical limits , and assuming that even for those results we are exclusivel y indebted to the enactment of the tariff which permits free imports : free ex povtawe have not yet gained , inasmuch as most countries levyheavy duties on British articles . The statist

      A Protectionist Policy For Thf People. *...

      who would accurately trace u ? caUBes of our preae financial and commercial p 08 iv ! fon mus not omit I ! include in his caculations , the Iran . ^ quantities « gold which havebeenpoured into thema . et fro Ca , ] forma , and which are now being augmented b y fre 8 . ' supplies from Australia . But for these we aoapJ ! that the system of free imports would haveW aBo shown , that even in a mere commercial point of vie ? it is not ao efficient as its advocates imagine . Leaving this question , however , as one which it \ . unnecessary for our immediate object to examin more fully at present , we are desirous of gw £ briefly at the state in which the Derby Admi niBtrft g tion finds the working classes at the time of it 8 . J * cession to power . Notwithstanding the boastful " of the pohtico-economical journals in recounting th aggregate results of the new policy , when we look «!

      me iiaae reports from the various centres of maiiu facturingindustry , they are anything but satisfactory aud have been in that state for a considerable thuV Trade is generally described as being slack , demand slow , and prices falling , rather than otherwise In many leading branches of industry , profits and wages are almost at zero ; and though the quantit y produced and exported may be enormous , there are grave rci sons for doubting Avhether the parties who Me ^ gaged in these departments are carrying on a aubstan . tial or remunerative trade . The competition of com * bined and gi gantic capitals against the smaller means " of individual tradesmen andraauutactuvers , isfast driving them to the wall , and making it more and more difficult for them to make ends meet ; while , on th »

      other hand , the necessity for economising in the most minute details bears upon wages and hours of labour in the mammoth establishments in an oppressive way , which has driven large } numbers of our skilled operatives into revolt . In fact , the disorganised and disconted state of the operative classes is the best possible commentary and illustration of the essentiall y anarchical and subversive nature of the principles which have

      been adopted by our legislators for their guidance in those matters . They have applied the laws of pure commercialism to questions with which they had no connexion . Buying and selling does not constitute the whole life of a nation , but only a part of it ; and the science of Government includes many more t hings than ' exports and imports . ' We are far from undervaluing that portion of economical philosophy which deals with these essential elements of a nation ' s

      elevation and progress , but we feel also that latterly they have usurped too predominant a place in our national polity . It is one thing to create a vast amount of wealth , and another to distribute that wealth in such a manner as to make it conducive to 'the greatest happiness of the greatest possible number . ' We have lost sight of the latter just as if the affairs of a nation could be carried on without the adaptation of means to ends , the subordination of one part to another , and the harmonized and regular action of nicely adjusted machinery—animate and inanimate—which areessential even to the success of a single factory .

      The ' pure and simple' economists repudiate any such interference or regulation as a gross social error involving the very principle of Socialism , which , according to them " , constitutes the great danger of modern society . ' Let alone' is the climax of modern statesmanship and philosophy , although tbe practical exceptions to the rule are perforce so many , that with a less bigotted school of philosophers , some doubts at least of the soundness of the dogma would be

      excited , There are scores oi things in which hisses faire has been comuulsarily thrown overboard as totally inapplicable to the actual wants of society , aud in many cases , where the innovation has been strictl y resisted by the economists , as fraught with the direst mischief to the country , the result has belied every one of their predictions , and triumphantly verified the anticipation of the advocates of regulated and concerted national action . The Ten Hours' Act is one of the most recent and conclusive proofs of this fact .

      The new Administration are not so hopelessl y crazed or perverted on this subject as their predecesors , but it is to be feared that they understand the principle of regulated action only as applies to their own immediate interests , or are too much wedded to the antiquated and now obsolete method of applying the principle . If they attempt the latter we firmly believe they will fail , and deservedly so . We all know how completely the protective system of the landlord class broke down . It did not give high , wages—it did not give plenty of employment—it did not prevent crime , or abolish pauperism . It was not co-existent with any very high amount of

      moral or intellectual progress and elevation on the part of tho masses . In short it failed because it was a selfish and an empirical application of a true principle . Nations never retrogress under institutions like ours where popular changes are the result of popular will , slowly enlightened and gradually but firmly made up . Instead , therefore , of attempting to revise the commercial policy of the last seven or eight years , Lord Dekby and his Cabinet will act wisely in accepting it as unfait accompli , and in devoting their attention to the means b y which the other institutions and arrangements of the country and tho Government maybe made to harmonise with it

      We have not space in the present article to do more than merely enumerate the leading measures by which this might be effected . In the first place , there ought to bo an immediate aud an entire revision , of our whole financial system . As it exists it is the creature of accident , caprice , and the necessities of the moment under successive governments . When hard pressed for money , the Minister of the day imposed a new tax—not with any reference to the justice of the impost , but the ability of the persons to pay who were caught in the exchequer drag net . The consequenceis thatour fiscal arrangements present

      nothing but a monstrous aggregation of injustice aud oppressive anomalies in conjunction with Wasteful methods of collecting the revenue which add to the burden and increase the discontent of the country at large . The property of the nation and the taxable capabilities of the various classes of society ought to be carefully ascertained , for the purpose of making these the basis of anew , equitable , and consistent financial system which would press fairly upon all according to their means of defraying the just and necessary expenditure of the country . That would be one great and beneficial measure . The second

      would be to provide a currency substantial in the security it offeredjto the country , and which would include the threefold quality of representing the raw material he labour and the taxation which , in all cases , constitute the true price of every article sold . Such a currency is absolutely necessary to establish just relations between buyers and sellers , and would , of itself , effect a greater aud more beneficial change than any other single constructive measure that cau be named ; while it has the merit of leaving existing institutions untouched . A third measure should be the systematic cultivation of the waste lands by our able ' -bodied poor , m conjunction with a system of industrial train * lug for the unowned or neglected children , who now grow up to . criminal courses-and , lastly , Buch

      cnanges in the law of partnership and real estate as would open a chance for the prudent , intelli gent , and active portion of the working classes to become independent and prosperous by their own well-directed and combined exertions . This is a policy which would lay the foundation of a new aud superior state of things in this country , aud it is one which , in principle , a Protectionist Ministry might adopt and carry into effect . None of the measures proposed area greater innovation upon the existing than the

      system new Foreign Minister ' s planforan equalisation of the poor rate , which hashoen stigmatised by the < Daily News' as rank Socialism . It , on the contrary , the Derby Ministry , instead ot taking a broad and comprehensive view of tho state of society , and applying measures adequate to the exigency , try to restore an exploded protective system for the benefit of landlords and particular classes , it needs no prophet to predict the end . A short shrift , and speed y downfall awaits them .

      Almminq Firk And Expmsioh.-On Thursday M...

      Almminq Firk and ExpMsioH .-On Thursday morning a are of a very alarming character broke out on the premise * of Mr . W . Henry Otfc , an oil , colour , and Italian warehouseman , carrying on business in St . Jamc «' s-terr » ct * . Waterloo-road , Lambeth , nearly facing the Victoria Theatre . The flames originated in the shop , and were discovered through Mr . Ott hearing a loud crackling noise arising jrom burning timber . An alarm was given , » wnue the firemen were running out the hose , a fearful explosion took place , which blew the shutters down , and at the i » me time boxes of luoifers and other light articles were forced across the road . Mr . Ott was insured in tbe Union Fire-office .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Feb. 28, 1852, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_28021852/page/4/