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August ?g» 1846. " ¦ ¦ , __ THE NORTHERN...
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jarngn $totements*
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•« And I wQl war, at least in werds, (An...
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* There is no notice appended beside the...
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EARTHQUAKE IN ITALY. A letter from Legho...
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GREECE. RENEWAL OF THE TORTURING SYSTEM....
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IIbrmcaxe at Rcobv. — On Thursday laefc th<
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neignoonrnooa or augoy was visited oy li...
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THE NEW POOR LAW. TO THE EDITOR OP THK T...
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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August ?G» 1846. " ¦ ¦ , __ The Northern...
August ? g » 1846 . " ¦ ¦ , __ THE NORTHERN STAR .
Jarngn $Totements*
jarngn $ totements *
•« And I Wql War, At Least In Werds, (An...
•« And I wQl war , at least in werds , ( Ana- —should my chazce so happen—dteto , ) With all who war wish Thenghtr
"I thinklb » ar alittle Bird , wh « augs Tbe people by and by will be the stronger . "—Biboh . REVELATIONS OF RUSSIA . XO . VII . Perhaps the most interesting portion of the first Volume of this work , is the account of the Conspiracy of the Russian Nobles , which resulted in an abortive attempt at revolution on the occasion of the accession of Nicholas . This most interesting and tragic episode we pass by for the present , with the
recommendation to the "Committee for Poland ' s Regeneration , " to obtain the consent of the author to re . publish the history of the conspiracy in one ofthei series of tracts ; that permission we anticipate the committee will have but little trouble in obtaining , por ourselves , we purpose at some future time to nn-Tell / iiv > m this work and & ther sources ) the facts of this most fatal conspiracy , for the information of our readers , and also in justice to the heroic patriots whose blood cries irom the ground for vengance , aad the overthrow of that accursed system oi despotism , which bravely but unsuccessfully they attempted to destroy .
The three first chapters of the second volume are mainly occupied with descriptions of the soil , climate , produce , and resources of European and Asiatic Russia , and of the multitude of nations and tribes which constitute the population of the Muscovite empire , their physical appearance , moral and intellectual qualities , dress , habitations , manners , customs , religion , is ., Ac . It will be obvious that to a person desirous of knowing what Russia really is , these three chapters wiP be of great importance . Onr business is , however , with the political portions of these " Revelations , " we must , therefore , forego the pleasure of quoting the many picturesque , yet apparently faithful picture ? of Russia and Russian life occupying this portion of the work : we except some two or three extracts .
" The population of the Russian empire exceeds 63 , 000 . 000 , of which more than 53 , 000 , 000 are in Europe , less than 5 , 000 , 000 in Asia , and 61 , 000 in her American possessions . This population consists of nations and tribes derived from the Slavonic , the Lithnanran , ihe Finnish , the Tartar , the Mongol , the German , the Jewish , the Manchou , the Armenian , and the Hindoo stock . " A great -number of the tribes , composing this heterogeneous population are of the lowest order of barbarians . In the course of these chapters , we find an account of the old barbaric capital of the Russians , Moscow ; from this account we extract the following notice of ihe far-famed citadel , in itself a fortified city , which , built upon a rock , towers over Moscow : —
THE KEEMLIN . "Within its high , rock-based an * turretted ramparts , there are , to begin with , three cathedrals ; tie cathedral of the Assumption , in which the Tsars are crowned ; the cathedral of the Archangel Michael , in which they were long boned ; atid the beautiful little cathedral of the Tvrgin , « aid to be on the model of St . Sophia of Constantinople , of which the gilded roofing looks as if it had been dipped in the sunset . This cathedral was bnilthy Ivan the Terrible , to commemorate the conquest of Kazan , the great Tartar city . The architect gave his employer so much satisfaction that to prevent him from ever destroying its uniqueness by building another , Ivan put out Ms « y es .
There are besides ten or twelve other churches in tne Kremlin , to satisfy the piety of the tsars , for they were all pions men until the days of Peter , and held the stirrup for the patriarch to mount his mule . It was here that Ivan the Fourth perpetrated his sanguinary orgies ; here he murdered his first-born : here he violated his daughter-in-law , almost in his dying hour . Around these old Tartaric-looking ramparts were formerly great hoots , whence often hung suspended by the ribs , like the joints " of meat in onr butcher ' s shops , the enemies of the tsars . * Here Peter the Great , -more humane than any who had reigned before Mm , impaled the lover of hisxepndiated wife , garnishing the scaffold with the heads of four great dignitaries , and fifty inferior members ef the church . Here , too , Peter confined bis first born , whom he also murdered .
If ihe churches are to be considered as places of prayer , and the main object of prayer be to ask pardon of Heaven for sins , then the masters of the Kremlin were right to have many churches . There are in the Kremlin various palaces as well as churches ; also the famous vaulted hall , of which the arches radiate from the common centre of a ponderous pillar , the spot on which Ihe tsars jr-ive their banquet * —banquets in which the blood flowed sometimes as plentifully as the wine . In the Palace of the Armory are man ; crowns ; the imaginary crown of Siberia ; the crowns of the conquered sovereigns of Kazan and Astrachan , who never wore anything but a fur cap or turban * and the treacherously usurped diadems of Poland and of Georgia ; also the keys of TVarsa-s and the scythe-armed cars of the Strelitzes , which they drove furiously to clear the road amongst the mobs of
Moscow . The author , knows not whether the famous jewel , which Catherine bought by a title and a grant of slaves from the man who had stolen and concealed it for manj months in a sore of his leg . adorns one of these supernumerary crewns , or embellishes the one worn by the emperor . Here , too , amongst old thrones and gilded trumpery , and tho-old boots an 3 shoes ef Russian sovereigns , which courtier-like servility has preserved as relies , is tlie proudest trophy of the great and crnel Peter—the armchair on which the Swedish eonquerer ef so many combats was carried wounded to fight the fatal battle of Poltava .
In a notice ofa once fanwns city , Yeliki- ^ ovogonw three centuries ago a much more important city than Moscow , we have the following account of the horri He acts of Ivan the Gruel , a worthy progenitor of the murderous miscreant , Nicholas : — thibtv tkotjsasd mubdess cojohttxo bv one zv £ 3 ias xmpe & ob ! Ivan the Terrible , a little laier , accusing the city ef corresponding with the Poles , put to death in excruciating tortures thirty thousand of the citizens , whose unbailed and putrefying bodies gave rise to an estermniating pestilence . Since then this celebrated city has dwindled down to absut fifteen hundred houses , which straggle along each side of the Volkof river , connected by a bridge - and , were it not for the carrying trade between St Petersburg and Moscow , its seventy churches miirht be in rotas , and the srreat city a mere village .
Very interesting is the review of the conquests made in former times by the wild hordes of Tartars and . Mongols , cow to a great extent under the rule of Russia . These hordes still exist , perhaps as numerous and as capable of working ruin and destruction , at least as regards Asia , now , as in the days of Zingis Khan and Timour the Tartar . Such * dverfiaries as Zingis or Timonr conquered , they might conquer azain , ltd as those chiefs led them—for the materials still t-xist to work wit similar conquests . We request the attention i > f our readers to the following extract : — SESIGSS OF THE RCSSIAS . BESPOTIBJf UPON INDIA ± XB CHINA .
The policy of those who have subdued , and keep separated , ihe ISongul and Tartar tribes , may unite them , and its Maehiaveliau spirit may easily inspire these nations , and push them forward in an enterprise of which those who plan it expect to reap the brnefit , and which they have the intelligence to direct , and the means to take advantage of . If the Bussian government had not such a powerful auxiliary in the Cossac , it could naturally never dream of exciting tribes , still impatient of her dominion , on a career in which s access would
render them at once independent of her rule . But the Cossac , without whom indeed she could never have subdued them , is becoming every day mare intimately mixed up with the hordes which his colonies adjoin ; he will advance with them , and ensure than- obedience both by his example and his presence . He is playing now the part of the tame oxen , yoked alongside the wild animal just taken from the herd , to be driven onward with it as soon as they are securely lashed together , to render thus tbe strength available , which could not otherwise be
governed . That Russia has -oag turned her attention towards Asia , and especially towards India , and aspired to the sovereignty af these regions , her conduct during the last century too amply ttstifies ; justifying in its fullest extent the suspicion excited by the precepts of policy laid dewn by Peter the First for the guidance of his successors , wherein , after recommending the most proper means to weaken Sweden , and to subdue Poland , he says , textuaily— " One must become thoroughly imbued with ihe conviction that th * commerce of India leads to the dominion of the world "—a suspicion which would have teen singularly strengthened by the close observation of aU his political behests , which , fulfilled successively , hare left only this one unexecuted , though avowed , and
* There Is No Notice Appended Beside The...
* There is no notice appended beside these crowns , ibat -s late as three centuries back , these ttussian tsars Sad received , since the year 1300 , the mounted Tartar ambassadors « l foot , presenting them , according to custom imposed on tL * = , vrithab . ^ 3 tf mars fin ** , if one drop- « which fell on the horse ' s mane , the Uar wae oblige 4 id lick it sp with hi * 6 ne
* There Is No Notice Appended Beside The...
even bbasted ' of , as a prbjictTTiiFtKe " org amnof ¦ government , aud many of its most responsible agents .. Nevertheless , we have every reason to believe that , of late years , and especially since the Russian government has permitted her subordinates and her press , even ostentatiously , to avow her intentions in this respect , that though never eventually rebanishing the scheme , she has become sensible that the period was still far off when it would be practicable , and that another , of even more colossal aggrandizement , and which has generally escaped the suspicious eyes of Europe , hat been put forward in her councils , as more immediately feasible . Of no modern date in its conception , it is said to have been always intended to follow the invasion of India , until the difficulties of the latter undertaking proving , on a closer inspection far greater than had been anticipated , it was destined , as more easy In its execution , to precede and
pave the way to it . We allude to the conquest of China , for which , daring more than a century , the Muscovite empire has been silently preparing , making herself thoroughly acquainted with the exact situation of a country , which , in every other case , had so long succeeded in concealing everything of importance regarding itself , from the most searching glances of western curiosity and penetration . She maintains to this effect a mission in Peking , at the expence of truckling to the bloated arrogance of the Chinese , and by means of her trade upon the frontier of China Proper , keeps up a communication with the Inhabitants of that" portion of the Chinese Tartary which intervenes between her own fr ° ntjer and the grelit wall , and with whom , « well « with the Btdl independent Tartars , according to the accounts of officers long emploved upon the border stations , the Russian agents have succeeded in exciting such a spirit of discontent and ambition , that they would be ready , at the beck of tJieKussian government at any moment , to dissown their allegiance , and turn their swords against the
Celestial Empire . But the time had not arrived , and now , in consequence of the British triumphs in China , may never arr ive , in which Russia will be prepared to throw aside the mask , and cast out of its pagoda the idol which her humble and noiseless footsteps have been allowed insidiously to approach , and which the servile obeisance of fair agents hid lulled into security . Her Cossacs are not yet sufficiently numerous , the Tartars of her steppes are not yet trained sufficiently to push them forward in the direction she wishes , without risk of failure ; and the chain of her establishment in that part of Siberia which she must make the basis of her operations , is not yet sufficiently complete . Although , upon the map , the frontiers of the Russian and Chinese empires blend into ene common one , a vast tract of territory lies between the nominal border of each of these states , and the limits
of that which they may really be said to occupy , and only a few years since , if invited to take peaceful posses , sion of the Chinese empire , it would have puzzled Russia to have conveyed thither for that purpose even the semblance of an army , so surely would it have melted away upon the road . Since then , however , Russia has rapidly progressed in this quarter , and probably in less than another five-andtwenty years , the means for the execution of a plan so long matured would have been really rife , and if the recettf . war between England and China does not . as it bids fair to So . change eventually the face of the who ' e of that part of Asia , it would have been in her power at any time to open the flood-gates of invasion , and turn upon the Chinese empire ihe full tide other Asiatic hordes , by that time broken into sneh rnde obedience as may answer her service , and mingled with the faithful tribes of Cossacs , to whom the use of horse artillery will always give a sure preponderance .
The independent Honguls and Tartars , reduced as tbeireirpirehasbeento an insignificant eitent by the converging encroachments of the Chinese and Russian frcntiera , and the Tartars under the Chinese dominion , to whom tradition points out the rich and densely populated lands OfChiUR , as from time immemorial the natural prey of their people , are all ripe and ready to join in such an enterprise . If their active co-operation were not , as it would be , very valuable , it would have conduced to success , by throwing open the gates of the empire , and by the mer * fact of allowing a free and uninterrupted passage through their country .
Even now , all the danger that may menace any part of central and southern Asia from Russian ambition , is owing to the nature of thispeople . 'What native power C" > u 1 d resist an inroad of a Russo-Tarfcir tribe of several hundred thousand souls , accompaniedby fifty thousand Cossacs , with a hundred pieces of cannon , and followed by ten thousand infantry on dromedaries and camels ? Yet some of the author ' s informants , men whose shrewdness had led them to indulge in no very sanguine anticipations of Russian success on the western side of Asi . -itic Russia , and who are therefore above the class of mere ambitious enthusiasts , look to the time as rapidly -nn certainly approaching , when such an inroad as we have supposed will be feasible , not as one exhausting and isolated effort , but as one of many waves which Ru- ^ ia will pour in succession ever the natural barriers which divide her from Southern Asia .
Tt is only for this purpose that Russia values her Tartar population , and for no other | that she can be labouring so hard to introduce , amongst its remotest triW-s , some features of the Cossac organization , as with the Kirguise she has partially succeeded in doing . These , at least , are the projects which her own Asiatic agents attribute to their government , andeven when they suppose them to embrace the eventual subjugation of the whole of Asia , there is nothing so criroerical ns w . inld at first appear in this bold design , nor even is there aught we can see , considering the means at her disposal , if we except British interference , which is likely effectually to thwart its execution .
The Tartar race , who once in history emerged from its pastoral solitude to scatter desolation and death , durins a long reign oi terror , over a great portion of the globe , may therefore be destined again to play an important part in extending the dominion of a government whose demoralizing rule , worse than the sword and brand of Timour ' s hordes , blasts and withers all the fairest and most rational fruit of civilization , and carries with it moral death and degradation . "We trust and believe that before these designs can be put into execution the sceptre of the Tsars will be shattered . Self-defence , the preservation of civilisation , and the maintenance of dear-bought freedom , will one day force Europe into that " Crusade '* which would before now have been entered upon , if the Governments of Great Britain , France , and Germany , were really what they should be—the representative ? and guardians of the " People , " and rot the mere heads of privileged and usurping " classes . "
Earthquake In Italy. A Letter From Legho...
EARTHQUAKE IN ITALY . A letter from Leghorn , of the 17 th instant , gives the following details of an earthquake on the 14 th : — The first shock was felt about noon , preceded by a loud subterranean rumbling . The . motion was at first p ? rpendicular . as if produced by a raising of the ground , which was repeated five or six times . At this time the leaning of the houses were so considerable that it was difficult for people to keep on their legs . The furniture was displaced and thrown dewn ; the bells of the churches rang violently , and tbe noise occasioned by the cracking of beams and walls , caused the inhabitants in the utmost alarm to rush into the streets . Daring the night several other shocks were felt , the ground appearing to be in a continual state of convulsion . The atmosphere was clear , but there was an oppressive heaviness in the air . The palace occupied by the Count de la Rochefoucauld , the French Minister at the Court of Tuscanv . has been considerably damased . A stone from
the ceiling fell on the chair in which Mdme . de la Rochefoucauld had been sitting only a few moments before . The house « f the Consul General , Baron Erenier , has also suffered , nil the partition walls being cracked . No French residents at Lighorn have suffered cither in person or property . The villa inhabited by M . Korean , son of the cashier of the Rank of France , has been much damaged , and It . Jloreau was himself obliged to pass the nigirt in a carriage in tbe garden . The shock was far more disastrous in the country , particularly iu the Marenn & es , a volcanic country . Entire villages have been levelled with the ground in the localities of Tanlia , Lorenzaaa , Orcian * and Caseiano . At Volterra , a state prison was thrown down , burying many of the prisoners under the ruins . The number of killed throughout the country amounts to 33 , .-: nd of the wounded to 140 , many of them very seriously . The effects of the earthquake extended as far as Pisa . The roof of the old church of
Saint Jfichel Ml in at tbe first shock . The congregation had just quitted tlie building when this accident happened . Kear Lorenzana and at Treona a lake was suddenly formed in a place where the ground had sunk . AH tlie villas on tbe hills round Fisa have suffered considerably . The inhabitants of the country are in a state of great consternation , as they have not forgotten tbe earthquakes ef 179 S and 1 S 1 C . For four days previous to the present shock the ground never ceased trembling at intervals . In tlie shattered slate in which fill the llOUStS in Lvghornnow are , another smart shock would assuredly cause the entire ruin of tho city . A part of the inhabitants have quitted tlie place ; a great number are biroucking under tnits in the public squares , others have tak . n refuge in boats . The G overnment has been prompt in sending assistance into the country , in the shape of engineers , medical men , provisions , and
medicaments . ' Earthquake is SwirzEnuvD . -Three shocks p i an earthquake were felt in the canton ot \ aud , in the morning of the 17 th instant . The effects were mora violent at the towns of Merges ana lverdon . At the last-named placed , by the second shock wiicn took place walls were split , and part of the ramparts towards the fait magazine thro wn down . 1 ne trees are described as having been agitated asm a tempest , although the air was perfectly calm . Bells were set rinsing , and men and animals were , upset . _ ihe whole population rushed into the open air , fearing to be buried in the ruins of their bouses . The undulation seemed t *» run from east to west .
Fbaxcb . —Mork Earthquakes . —Two shocks of an earthquake were felt on the 17 th instant at Macon . Three shocks were felt on tbe same day ? at Lausanne . The first , in the night , was only felt by a few hersnns ; the second , at seven in the morning , wag much more violent , causing furniture to fall down , and doors to open . A third shock followed
Earthquake In Italy. A Letter From Legho...
almost immediately , and caused great consternation among the inhabitants of Lausanne . It lasted five or six seconds . It was also felt at Orbe , Yverdon , and in other localities . The movement seemed to be from the north-west towards the south-east .
Greece. Renewal Of The Torturing System....
GREECE . RENEWAL OF THE TORTURING SYSTEM . Athens , Aug . 10 . Your readers will , no doubt , recollect the exposure of the horrible tortures inflicted last year by eovernment agents , on innocent people in Messenia , the authenticated accounts of which caused justly universal horror throughout Europe . Although not tbe slightest reparation was made to these unfortunate individuals , still the publication of these atrocities they were subjected to deterred M . Coletti ' s government fmm following up a system learnt at the Court of AH Pacha df Joannina , by this Christian Minister of a Christian people . It would appear , however , from what has just taken place , that M . Coletti had not ordered the discontinuance of torture , but that it has merely remained in abeyance for a short time .
A workman named Stellio Soumaki . an Ionian subject , residing at Patras ( the commercial capital of Greece ) on the ni ght of the 19 th of July , had his residence suddenly entered by the head of the police , accompanied bygendarmeaandtwocitizens . wnoseized Soumaki . and a companion , and conducted them to tbe guardhouse without giving any reason for their arrest . After loading them with irons , they were taken before the police , and were then ordered to avow themselves guilty of having stolen a watch and some linen . Upon their positively denying that they had committed the theft , they were first of all bastinadoed , then thrown to the ground on their backs , and heavy stones placed on their breasts on which their torturers sat . Still unable to wrinc
from their victims an avowal of their guilt , these demons then applied other tortures , the horrible nature of which , even , it the pen could describe them it is better not to narrate . Let the odium of such demoniacal proceedings be fixed where only it should be , on M . Coletti and his myrmidons , and not on the country generally . The public press of Athens has not hesitated toexposehis fresh outrage on humanity , and the Courrier d'Athenes concludes its account of the transaction in these words— " It is in the middle of the nineteenth century , in a constitutional state , under a Ministry warmly protected by M . Guizot . that these and similar cruelties are committed , without the law being able to prevent them . TJnhappv Greece ' "
Surely the Anglo-Tonian government will take immediate notice of this outrage , and if it appears that an Ionian snbjeet has been treated at all in the manner described , it is to be hoped such a remonstrance will be made to the Greek government as wlli prevent a repetition thereof in future , and a / so insure the punishment of the actual perpetrators of the present outrage . The case would not be altered even if the parties charged with this theft were suilty thereof . They should only have been proceeded against inconfnrmity to the law , and if found guilty , been punished in the manner provided by law , which assuredly does not recognise torture in any shape .
Iibrmcaxe At Rcobv. — On Thursday Laefc Th≪
IIbrmcaxe at Rcobv . — On Thursday laefc th <
Neignoonrnooa Or Augoy Was Visited Oy Li...
neignoonrnooa or augoy was visited oy lite most tremendous hurricane ever known in this locality . Upwards of 100 trees , many of them exceeding two yards in circumference , were snapped short in two , whilst others were torn up by the roots , to the extent in one line of country alone of nearly two miles and a half . Mr . Hassell had a field of peas swept completely away , till stopped by the hedges . A boy in the employ of Mr . Satchwell . builder , had a very narrow escape . He had gone to a private building , when a tree fell upon it , and broke a portion of the roof and the walls , but did not hurt the lad . Mr . Belcher had a small stack of wheat whirled away , being scattered in all directions over the adioiniiiff
fields . A farm house , in the occupation of Mr . William College was dismantled of its roof , and the chimneys were also destroyed , whilst the body of the building was so shaken that the inmates were afrai . ) toremain in the house , although at the time the rain , or rather water , was descending in sheets . Many persons who had taken shelter in barns and hovels dared not continue under them , the wind rocking them so that the parties were obliged acain to expose themselves to the descendins torrents , rather than run the risk "f being buried under the ruins of the buildings . The damage in this neighbourhood is estimated at between £ 200 and £ 300 . After lasting about three hours the hurricane abated , apparently going in a direction for Kettering .
CoxFLAGRATiox at Rossdmauda Mills . —At ten o ' clock on Wednesday night an alarming fire broke out in the extensive steam mills of Samuel Caswell . Esq ., at BLickwater , which was discovered by the workmen in the concerns , and who were locked in at the time , the millers having retir d for the night . The fire originated in one of the upper lofts , from the supposed friction of part of the machinery , and immediately after it was observed those men did all in their power to prevent the flames from spreading but in vain , for the conflagration rapidly extended along the loft , and f rom onefloo- of the " concern to the other , until the entire building blazed up , and the clothes the workmen wore were literally burned on their backs before they escaped through the
windows of the lower story . The night was dark , and the brilliancy of the fire could be seen for miles around ; the alarm bell having been rung , crowds of the peasantry soon collected . Ensign Swinburn , of tbe 83 rd , stationed at Blackwatcr , immediately turned out his party to render assistance , and was subsequently joined * by a detachment of the same corns , under Major Swinburn from this garrison . The police from Blackwafer were also on the spot , with Constable Tever ' spaity from Athlunkard , and four mounted men under John Crips , Esq ., from this city , the only magistrate present . The West of England Fire Engine , under Mr . John Fogarty , drawn by four horses , drove forward with great speed to tbe scene , and no time was lost in puttin
its virtue m practical operation ; but though water was plentiful , and the engine at full work , nothing could check the devouring element , which set all exertions at defiance . Tbe reflection of the Harass was seen in this city , and before one hour elapsed the roof and four floors fell in succeseively , sending up a terrible volume of flame into the air , and every window frame in the concern was consumed . The account-books of the office and a few bags of flour were saved by Ensign Swinburn . This being the scarce season there was not much stock on the premises , to which no drying kiln was attached , as grain was supplied from this city for manufacture . The
St . Michael s parish engine wa < on its way to the fire when Mr . Boyd was informed its services would not be required , as the flames had nearly done their worst . By this melancholy accident the proprietor will sustain much loss , as all the valuable machinery has been nearly destroyed , the great water-wheel alone having escaped injury . Mr . Caswell was insured o the amount of £ 9 , 000 with the Royal Farming Company for all the concerns held by him at Blackwater , not £ 1 , 000 of which is applicable to the mill destroyed . Capt . M'Adam , and Mr . Welsh , ol Newtown , were at the fire when the alarm was first given , and rendered all the assistance in their power . —Limerick Chronicle .
" Drumming Oot "—The rare occurrence of drumming a soldier out of the service as an incorrigible vagabond and thief , occurred in the 41 st Regiment on Tuesday , with private : Fisher , aged 20 rears , and who has been in tbe regiment about six years and half . The offence for which he was last tried waa for having stolen his comrade ' s Cabool medal , which he broke up and sold as old silver . He was found guilty , and sentenced to be expelled the regiment , which sentence waa carried into execution on tull parade . A hollow square having been formed the Adjutant read tbe finding of the court , and also gave a repetition of his former misdemeanours : the
ceremony ot divesting his jacket of facings , lace , and buttons was then performed , after which the regiment formed into two lines extending to the gate , and with drums and fifes playing * ' The Rouge ' s March , " he was expelled the barracks , first receiving his discharge and his pay for tlie day . He had been tried by six different courts-martial , and punished for various offences , including desertion , petty thefts , drunkenness , Ac , since he ioined the corps . After being discharged , he drank pottle deep , and wa * taken up by the police in a state of' glorious inebria tion , ' and passed tbe night in gaol , lie was liberated to-day , but stands a good chance of a free night ') - lodging to-night also . —Wtsimcaih Gazette .
Monster Train . —One of the largest trains ever seen on a railway left the Rugby station on Friday last . It consisted of ei ghty-four carriages , and was impelled by three of Stevenson ' s powerfulsix-whecled engines . Its length extended to nearly half a mile , and the weight of merchandise , exclusive of the carriages , was upwards of 2 i 0 tons . Extraordinary Crop of Wheat . —Mr . William Noon , of Great Bardfield , in this county , plumber and glazier , ( wc are informed ) has about twelve acres of land , winch he has cultivated by spade labour performed with his own hands ; he sowed it this year with winter wheat , which , on its appearance , " was
considered by all who saw it so thin a plant , that many otthefarmers in the neighbourhood stronglv advised him to plough it up . He at one time resolved to take that course , but being subsequentl y advised to abstain from doing so , by one or two tradesmen in Bardfield , who have paid great attention to agriculture under the new and improved system , and who were decidely of opinion that the plant was one calculated to produce a , good and abundant crop , Mr . Noon , fortunately , adopted the recommendation of the latter friends , and having reaped his crop , finds that it has produced eight quarters and two bushels per acre , and the wheat is a very superior sample .-- £ « w Herald .
Neignoonrnooa Or Augoy Was Visited Oy Li...
REPORT , OF TUE . SELECT „ COMMlT'iEE ON ANDOVER UNION . Thcselect committee appointed to inquire into the administration of the Poor Laws in the Andover Union , and into the managementof the Union Workhouse , and into the conduct of the Poor Law Commissioners and their late Assistant Commissioner , ui \ ? a j Wlta rcference to the two investigations neiu at Andover ; and into all the circumstances under winch the Poor Law Commissioners called upon Mr . rarker to resign his assistant Commissionerehip ; ana who were instructed to inquire into all the circumstances under which Mr . Day was called upon to resign his office of Assistant Poor . "Law Commissioner ; and who were empowered to report-the minutes of evidence taken before them , together with their observations and opinions thereupon , to the House , have considered the matters to them referred , and have agreed to the following resolutions :
RELIEF . Resolved-tThat it is the opinion of the committee : — 1 . That it appears to have been the practice of the An . dover Board of Guardians to consider and determine upon cases as stated in the relieving ofiicer ' s books , without previously inquiring whether the applicant or any person on his behalf be in waiting . 2 . That when applicants , having made application to the relieving officer , have been admitted to the board , on its being made known that they are at present , it has ordinarily been only on their objecting to the decision in the case ; whereas justice and humanity alike require that every applicant for relief should have the opportunity , if in waiting , of making a personal statement before his cafe be decided upon .
S . Thnt the Andover Board of Guardians have adopted the practice of leaving it to tlie relieving officer to communicate their opinion to the applicant ; a practice of which your committee strongly disapprove , it being in their judgment no lessjust to the pauper than expedient , with a view of preventing mistake or fraud , that the dccision in each case should be communicated to the applicant , if in attendance , by the presiding chairman , in tbe i resence of the board . 4 , That in the censure on the practice of the Andover guardians , the committee would not be understood as favouring a practice which may often lead to serious hardship , of requiring all applicants to attend at the board .
S . That the free admission to tbe pretence of the board of applicants for relief was the more important in the Andover Union , in which it has been proved that tho relieving officers books have been very imperfectly kept : columns which should contain important particulars , c . p ., the earnings of the app'icant , and the present cause of seeking relief , being left entirly blank . 6 Thatfrom instances brought under their notice , the committee believe that the board of guardians have , in several cases of application for relief to them , left to the relieving officer a large discretionary power as to Administering it or witholding it—while they admit that , under special circumstances , this may sometimes be necessary though whether such special circumstances existed in the cases referred to , the defective state of the relieving officers book affords no evidence , ) the committee think it right to record their conviction of the impropriety and inexpediency , under ordinary cases , of thus delegating to the r . liering officer the discretion which the law has vested in the board of guardians ,
7 . That in regard to the non-allowance of partial relief to the aged and partially disabled , a principle which appears to have been generally acted upon in the Andover Union , the committee feel bound to express their apprehension that , if rigidly carried out , it may lend to various individual hardships , without any eqnivolent amount of public advantage . It is just to add , that the board of guardians have in " this respect only followed out the recommendations of the Poor Inw Commissioners in their reports and other publications , though ' no order has been issued by the Poor Law Commissioners to that effect .
8 . That on the application of an able-bodied man for relief , on account of sickueftiin his family , and also in some instances where the applicant had been partially diabled , the Andover Board have required , as a condition upon which such relief is made dependent , that he should perform a certain task of work at the workhouse , the amount of food allowed to him not being supplied : until such task is completed ; and although as stated by some witnesses to have been the ca « e , this practice may have been only adopted as regarded the able-bodied applicant , and where he is out of work , and under circumstancof " , therefore , which , were it not for sickness in his family , would render admission to the workhouse the only relief applicable in that union to the case , still your committee think , that the annexing this condition to the relief otliern-ise deemed necessery , and especially where parties are brought long distances from their homes to execute the ta 9 k imposed , is ( except under suspicion ot * fraud or gross imposition , ) an unduly severe mode of administering relief .
WOEKHOUSE . Resolved—That it is the opinion of this committee—1 . Thnt on the investigatioa which took place in September , 1 S 15 , ( as hereinafter stated , ) before Mr . Parker , many charges of gross immorality and of fraudulent appropriation of the workhouse stores were brought for ward against Mr . M'Dougal , the then master of the workhouse , and were deposed to on oath , by many witnesses : that that investigation was brought to a close ( under the circumstances particularly detailed in the papers and evidence printed herewith ) by Mr . M'Dougal ' s resignation of his office , no evidence up to that time having been brought forward by him in his defence , against tht greater part of the charges so preferred .
2 . Thnt having reference as well to the necessaril . t great extent and varit ty of the subjects referred to thtni , as more especially to their obvious incompetency to complete that inquiry satisfactorily without the power of administering an oath , the committee have thought them , wives justified in forbearing to re-open the investigation referred to . 3 . That the committee at the same time think it right to state , that several of . the witnesses examined in proof of the charges of gross immorality on such previous inves . ligation have given evidence before them , as well upon points whiim did not come under inquiry in tf'atinvesti . Ration , ns upon some matters which were then deposed to , and that the evidence so given appears to your committee to credit .
4 . That this committee is of opinion that Mr , M'Dougal ' a conduct while master of the workhouse was marked by undue severity ; that he was on several occasions , once when even reading prayers to the inmates , seen in a state of intoxication ; that he was utterly deficient in many of the qualities which are of essential importance in the difficult position tvhich he filled , viz ., fairness and impartiality , a due sense of truth , a well regulated temper , and proper habits of self-controul , 5 . That the committoe cannot refrain from directing special attention to the case of Hannah Joyce ; she apje * ' -B to have been presumed by Mr . and . Mrs . M'Pouga ) to have been guilty of child murder , hot only without evidence , but against the verdict of the Coroner ' s Jury , and to have been treated by them , in consequence , with great cruelty . It has been further proved , that on the
dny of the inquest on the body of her child , she was threatened by Mrs . M'Dougal with being compelled to sleep in the doad house , where that body was then lying ; and having been confined , apart from the other women , in the night time , she was forced by Mr . M'Dougal to carry the body of her own child up the High-street of Andover to the grave ; moreover , on the occasion of her leaving the workhouse some days afterwards , Mrs . M'Dougal directed some of the inmates to take pans , plates , & c , and make as much noise as they could , on the ground of her presumed guilt . It also appears that this latter proceeding took place at a time when the guardians were assembled in the board room , and that some of the guardians , at least , were aware of what was going on , but no inquiry appears to have been instituted ! > y the board , nor any censure pnsscd in consequence of the outrage which had been committed .
6 , That as a further proof of the ill-regulated state of the workhouse , your committee refer to the fact that commitments tools place at the gaol of Andover , during for offences against tbe rules and . discipline of the workhouse , a state of things which they believe could not have existed had the workhouse bean properly managed . That they cannot omit further to state , that it has been proved that , on numerous occasions , individuals were taken from the workhouse to the borough gaol of Andover by the directions of Mr . M'Dougal , and were subsequently discharged therefrom without , on either occasion , being taken before a justice of the peace .
7 . That , without going further in this place into details , for which they refer to the evidence and papers printed herewith , the committee feel bound , upon the evidence given before them , to express their conviction of the utter unfitness of Mr . MDougal and his wife for the situations of master and matron , which they respectively held from December , 183 G , to September , 1846 , ami they have therefore learned , with much astonishment , that his influence with the board has been far greater tbnn that which should properly belong to hi ? office , and the confidence reposed la hjjn seems to have uceii unqualified .
8 . That the committee feel called upon further to express their opinion that no such misgovernment of the workhouse could hare taken place had tlie visiting comcommittee acted regularly and duly in discharge of their important duties , as defined in the workhouse rules laid down by the Poor Law Commissioners , Art ; - 56 , and carefully recorded the result oftheir observations and inquiries for the weekly information of the board . 9 . That the committee believe it to be one of the most important duties of the visiting committee to ascertain from inmates whether any ground exists for just complaints ; to inquire into such comphiints when preferred , and so to discharge this part of thir functions that the inmates may entertain a just confidence in the fairness of those under whose charge they are placed ; but your committee fear that in the Andover workhouse this important duty of the visiting guardians has not been satisfactorily performed .
10 . That the bad administration of the Andover workhouse , and the rigour with which the board of guardians , generally acting in accordance with the frequently published views of the Poor Law Commissioners , have carried out the law , have often been the means of inducing labourers to accept reduced wages in order to avoid the workhouse . 11 . That the system , as pursued by the Andover board , of granting gratuities to tbe master for boys and girli
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Placed out to . service ,, without , requiring any proper voucher for the accuracy of the master's statement mis very wpreheniible .
WOSKHODSE DIETABY . Resolved , that it is the opinion of this committee—1 . That in the month of February , 1836 , several forms of dietary were sent by tbe Poor Law Commissioners , of which one , marked No . 3 , was selected by the board of guardians for adoption in the workhouse , and sanctioned by the commissioners , and has been in use from that time till December . 1845 . 2 . That in their second annual report , published in 1807 , the Poor Law Commissioners published six forms of dietary as actually in use in workhouses ; but that No . 3 of such forms differs in several respects from No . 3 as sanctioned at Andover , and is in fact a superior dietary .
3 . That your committee have not received any evidence in answer to their inquiries which can enable them to * xplain satisfactorily the admitted discrepancy , and that in the absence of any such explanation they must infer that the improvement made in the form No . 3 , between its transmission to the Andovor Union , and its publication in the second annual report , was owing to its being judged insufficient by tbe Poor Law Commissioners , they cannot in any case refrain from expressing their surprise that the improved dietary , as printed in the second annual r « port , was never specially communicated to the Andover board , i . Thatfrom . theevidenectakenbeforethecommitt ^ e jand from the sircumstance that the board of guardians , on the recommendation of and In concurrence with tht Poor La w
Commissioners , have lately thought it advisable to adopt a higher scale , the committee believe that from the formation of the union until last autumn the general dietary of the workhouse was in quantity at least too low , and more particularly that the allowance of bread was insufficient ; and they find that this dietary was often further diminished by the dishonesty of the master . It is right , however , to add , that on the first inquiry held by Mr . Parker , on the Sth . of August , 1845 , the medical offictrs of the union , Mr . Westlake and Mr . Payne , gave evidence on uath in favour of the sufficiency of the workhouse dietary to maintain the inmates in health ; but it has been proved before the committee that some of the iumates of the workhouse were iu the habit of eating raw potatoes , and grain , and refuse food which had been thrown to the hogs and fowls . -
5 . That it has been proved that during the continuance of that dietary , and while Mr . M'Dougal was master of the workhouse , instances occurred in which inmates of the workhouse , employed in bone crushing , ate the marrow r . maining in the fresh bones which they were set- to breik . 6 . That although tbe practice of bone crushing at Andover workhouse , was in operation in the year 1841 , and the petition from another union complaining of its injurious effects was presented to Parliament in 1842 , it appears that no order for the absolute discontinuance and
abolition of tbe practice was issued by the Poor Law Commissioners until November , 18-15 . As , however , the practice of bone crushing in workhouses is discontinued in the Andover Union-house , and prohibited by a general order of the Poor Law Commissioners , it does not appear necessary to remark further upon this point than to say that by a very irregular and improper practice , the produce of the labour of the paupers in bone crushing at the workhouse is stated to have been disposed of among the guardians by the chairman putting up the same at a sort of mock auction in the board-room ,
7 . That it is the opinion of the committee thnt this employment—or in fact any labour which can justly be considered of a penal or disgusting character—should not be adopted by boards of guardian ? , as such a course must tend to prevent the really destitute poor from entering the union house , and is not consistent with a mild and considerate administration of the law , 8 . That from evidence given before your committee they believe that instonces have occurred in which inmates of the workhouse have not received the extra allowance to which they were entitled ,-and as regards the sick , inasmuch as it was not the practice of the medical officer of the workhouse to make any such orders for extra allowance in writing , or to record them iu a book , as provided for by the workhouse regulations « there ha & buen no satisfactory check upon such abuse .
8 . That the committee are of opinion , that if the medical officers of tbe Andover Union had held their appointments daring good behaviour , instead of being exposed to removal at frequently recurring periodical elections , and had they been in a position of less dependence on the guardians , they would be in a condition to exercise the trust reposed in them with much greater advantage to the interests of the sick poor , and the abuses which hav « been exposed before the committee would have been earlier and efficiently checked , if not prevented ; and your committee would refer the house to the order of the Poor Law Commissioners of the 12 th of March , 1842 , Article 20 , in
which , while It permj /;^ n annual appointment , the commissioners have recognised the principle of the appointment of medical ' officers " until they may die or resign , or become legally disqualified to hold such office , oi be removed therefrom by the Poor Law Commissioners , ' 10 . That no remonstrance appears ever to have bsen madetc the Poor Law Commissioners by the chairman , any member , or officer of the board , or by any assistant Poor Law Commissioner , upon the subject of this omission , or in reference to any of the instances of irregularity and mismanagement which have been stated in evidence before the committee .
11 . That the evidence before your committee leads to the belief that a general system of laxity has prevailed iu regard to the accounts of the union ; thatmany important books have remained for long periods unchecked ; and that in this respect the board of guardians , and more especially the cierk of the union , have failed in the due performance of the duties which they respectively owed to the ratepayers and the poor of the district . 12 . That your committee cannot omit to mention , as one contributing causa of the irregularities prevalent iu
the union , the circumstance that the clerk has from the commencement been permitted , with the knowledge of the Commissioners , to act by deputy—a state of circumstances which it is obvious that tho personal responsibility of the principal afford no security for the due and honest discharge of the duties of the office , and from which , in this case , a serious defalcation iu respect to the funds of the union ( subsequently , however , made good by the principal clerk out of his private funds , for the particulars of which your committee refer to paper No ! 3 , in the Appendix ) appears to have just taken place .
UNION BOOKS . Resolved , that it is the opinion of the committee—1 . That the proper keeping and inspecting of the various books which the Commissioners have directed to be kept in all unions , in order to give security both to the paupers and the ratepayers for the due administration of the law , appear to have been habitually neglected in the Andover Union . The abstract of application and report book , which ought to be prepared for the chairman at every sitting of the board , and filled up by him , and signed by him , as each case is decided upon , the relieving officer's books , the workhouse admission and discharge books , the provision check books , and the medical officer ' s books have been produced before this committee , and have all of them afforded the clearest proofs of the negligent manner in which the business of the Andover Union has been conducted .
2 . That the state of the union books and the abuses m the workhouse prove that the assistant commissioner has failed in the efficient performance of his duties at Andover ; and that , as regards the books , which needed only a moment's glance on any one of his occasional attendances at the board , to show the discreditable reanucr in which they were kept , the committee can find no sufficient excuse for his neglect , and can only account for it by the supposition of an unlimited confidence in the board of guardians , which no circumstances whatever can justify in a controlling officer .
3 . That , as regards the workhouse abuses , which would require a longer time to detect , and which lutve entirely escaped detection by the visiting guardians , the committee feel bountl to express their opinion that the great extent of Mr . Parker ' s district , the large number oi unions comprised in it , and the various heavy special calls made upon his time by the Poor law Commissioners , have rendered it almost impossible for him to pay visits to ouch of the unions under his cure , numerous or long enough for effective inspection of the workhouses . 4 . That the committee have received evidence of Mr . Parker ' s zeal and Jaboriousness , which render it impossible for them to attribute his imperfect superintendence of the Andover union to idleness or intentional neglect .
0 . That Mr . Parker was not appointed assistant commissioner for the Andover Union until May , 1812 ; that he has had a much larger district to superintend than had cither of his predecessors . The number of assistant commissioners , which from 183- to 183- was 21 , and from 183- to 1841 , 17 , have been reduced to 12 in 1841 , and then further reduced to nine in January , ' 1842 , while the number of unions have of course increased ; and the committee find that the Poor Law Commissioners , speaking of the number 12 in their Annual Report ( 1 S 41 ) say that the number of assistant couimiggibnei'S ought not to be further reduced , and that even then " some of tbe dis . trictc , from their area and the number of their unions , .. Imost exceed the powers of a single assistant commissioner . "
5 . That the committee have been informed of a strong representation made by Mr . Parker to the Poor Law Commissioners shortly after he joined the district ineluding Andover of the disgraceful state of the accounts and the workhouses in many of the unions of the districts , and of special representations made by him as to the accounts made in the West Pirle and 'Wycombe unions , which seemed to have received no attention whatever from the Poor Law Commissioners ; and these are not the only circumstances disclosed in the evidence which have led the committee to the conviction , that the Poor Law Commission have not given that encouragement to their assistant commissioners in the detection and removal of abuses which would have been the best security for the zealous services of their subordinate officers .
MR . PARKEE ' 3 CASE . Itesolved , That it is the opinion of this committee—1 . That the committee , in considering the circumstances of the inquiries which took place at Andover , feel called upon to express their opinion , that the practice of intrusting public and special investigations of complaints arising under the Poor Law to the assistant commissioner of the district ia which such complaints hare been made , is an objectionable one , which ought to be discontinued . 0 . That the proposal made by the Poor Law Commis-
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sioners to suspend the investigation on the 9 th of Sep-v teniber , and to proceed against the master of the werk . c house by indictment upon one set of charges , and byy information before ' Justices upon another , condltionallyy upon his suspension by the board of guardians , and upona the willingness of Mr . Westlako to adopt the suggested ! modes of prosecuting tke charges , was ill-timed and inexpedient , for the following reasons : — 1 st . Because at that time a considerable portion of the » case had been gone through , and the tffect of suspend-. i » g the further progress of the inquiry , as proposed ,, until proceedings by indictment could be taken , would I have been to prolong the uncertainty and excitement ! already existing upon the subject . 2 d . Because it made the mode of proceeding against ; the master , and ^ consequently the time and manner In i which he was to be heard iii his defence , dependent upon an act of the board of guurdians o \ er which he bad no control .
3 d . Because it sought to throw a large proportion of the expenses of prosecuting the inquiry upon Mr . Westlake , who appears to have done no more than his duty in bringing before the board of guardians and commiesioners Iristanees of misconduct in another officer of the union with which . he bad become acquainted , and iato which nn inquiry should have been instituted on public grounds , and at the public expense ; and 4 « h , Because it implied that the fitness of the master for his offiae was the only object of inquiry , whereas there were strong grounds for an investigation into the alleged mismanagement of tho workhouse , and the abuses stated to have been practised ' within it , independently of any charges which could have been made the subjeet of indictment or information .
3 . That one unfortunate consequence , of having made the mode of prosecuting the inquiry dependent upon the conditions above referred to was , that on their failure the investigation was necessarily renewed in its original shape , and the Commissioners were thus exposed to the charge of vacillation and want of firmness in their policy . 4 That the overruling of the adjournment for five days allowed by Mr . Parker , was , under the circumstances of the ease , unnecessary , and therefore injudicious ,: inasmuch as it had the appearance of injustice towards Mr . M'Dougal , who had claimed that tlmei for preparing his defence .
5 . That the overruling , by tho Commissioners , of the adjournment , and the previous suspension of tbe inquiry on the 9 th ef September , appear to have proceeded from a determination on tlie part of the Poor Law Commissioners to bring the inquiry , if possible , to a close , and to stop the public criticism and excitement which it produced . 6 . That in conducting the first inquiry , namely , that on the subject of bone crushing , Mr . Parker discharged the duty eonfided to him with ability and promptitude , and that his conduct therein received the approbation of tlie Poor Law Commissioners . 7 . That as respects the second investigation , thweis nothing in the objections stated by the Poor Law Commissioners before the committee to Mr . Parker's mode of conducting it which affords a justification of their conduct in calling upon him to resign .
8 . That Mr , Parker ' * recommendation of Mr . Price as a temporary master of tbe workhouse , made in answer to a request addressed to him by the chairman and Other guardians , did not deserve the condemnation bestowed ' upon it by . the Poor Law Commissioners . 9 , That while they think that Mr , Parker's insertion , in his letter to Mr Dodson , on the — October , of a paragraph implying a reflection on tho Commissioners , was indiscreet and incensistant with his position , still it should be alto borne in mind , that the difficult and annoying cireumctanceB in which he had been plactd might reasonably palliate a temporary display of irretatien .
10 . That , after the full consideration of tbe whole oaie , whatever opinion the commissioners may hare entertained with regard to Mr . Parker ' s mode of conducting the Andovor inquiry , or his defective superintendance of The Andover Union , the time and the manner of Mr . Parker ' s removal from bis office were such as to give him just cause of complaint , and were not consistent with , a discreet exercise of that power of dismissing their subordinate officers which the law has entrusted to the Commissioners . MR , SAT ' S CASE , 1 . that the committee , after considering tbe statement which has bo ? n made to them by Mr . Day , and the correspondence on the subject of his resignation which he has produced , and the explanations with , reference to that correspondence which have been given by the Poor Law Commissioners , are of opinion that the Commissioners have altogether failed to justify their removal of Mr . Day from his office of Assistant Commissioner .
2 . That while they readily admit that the nature of tbe relation between the principal and assistant Poor Law commissioners , the heavy responsibility attaching to the former for the general administration of the law , and the fact that they are necessarily committed , to a considerable extent ; by the acts and expressions of their subordinate officers , combine to render it essential that they shall possess and exercise , on fit occasions , the power of dismissal vested in them by the Act of Parliament , the committee think , at the same time , that such power should not be exerttd without warning or statement of reason to the officer to be dismissed ; without minutes being kept of all letters written and received on the subject , and without official record of the grounds on which in each case the po . ver of dismissal is exercised .
3 . That further , while they are ready to believe that , the conveying a call to resign in the form of a private rather than in that of an official letter may in many cases result from a wish to avoid unnecessary annoyance or injury to tbe person about to be dismissed , the Com . mitteearc of opinion that it is , under ordinary circumstances , morejust to all parties concerned that such communications should be in official form , bearing with them the authority and issued under the responsibility of the board ; and they cannot abstain , in touching upon this part of the subject , from pointing to the inconvenience and irregularity of conveying , as in the two cases now immediately under consideration , communications of essentially a public and official character in letters written by a single commissioner , aud in form and language purporting to be private .
4 , That the committee believe that in both cases tbe time of the compulsory resignation has been the means of cruel injustice , Mr . Parker having been called upon to resign before the excitement arising out of tbe Andover inquiry had subsided , and Mr . Day at the close of the inquiry into the South Wales disturbances in 1843 ; was calculated the public to ascribe blame to both , which the commissioners acknowledge to be unmerited , and to divert existing public dissatisfaction from the Poor Law Commissioners , by concentrating it on Mr . Parker and Mr . Day respectively . 5 . That on a review of the conduct of the commissioners , with respect to the Andover inquiries , and towards Mr . Parker and Mr . Day , the committee are of opinion that their conduct has been irregular and arbitrary , not in accordance with the statute under which , they exercise their functions , and such as to shake public confidence in their administration of them ,
That the committee have incidentally in the first instance , and subsequently , irom a feeling that accused parties ought in fairness to be allowed to answer charges made against them , received much evidence upon the mode of transacting business which has been adopted by tlie Poor Law Commissioners throughout the existence of the commission , and upon the insufficiency of the present number of assistant commissioaers for adequate inspection and control , and upon other important points connected with the administration of the Poor Law , to which they think it their duty to direct the special attention of the House ; but upon which , as those subjects are not included in their order of reference , they consider themselves precluded from offering any opinions of their own .
The New Poor Law. To The Editor Op Thk T...
THE NEW POOR LAW . TO THE EDITOR OP THK TfMHS . Sm , —Those who have consistenly opposed the New Poor Law . since it was first proposed to the consideration of Parliament , arc surely now in a condition to ask of its most devoted friends—shall the New Poor Law remain on the statute book ? The New Poor Law was proposed as a cure for the idleness and immorality of the poor . What effect it may have had upou the poor it is not my intention ( o inquire . We ' know chat it has induced idleness and promoted immorality among the highly paid functionaries appointed to enforce it . The Commissioners are proved to have been too idle to meet far the legal transaction of their official duties—too idle to keep a record of their proceedings ! And as to immorality—if cruelty , fraud , deception , and lying , are immoral , where shall we find their exhibition so complete as in the New Poor Law ConimissioSer * and their never-tiling advocate , the late Home Secretary ?
The New Poor Law was also projected to reduce the people of England to lire on a coarser sort of food . Therein it has been successful , and it can therefore be no longer required ; it has reduced the poor of England to live on the rotten pickings of decayed bones . Surely it is high time , thon , that this hateful , de moralizing , and confessedly unconstitutional enactment should be totally repvaled . In the management of the repeal of the Now Poor Law , we must bo careful to avoid the leadership of its sworn friends . Should wc trust to them wc shall surely be disappointed . _ It is said that we are to have a general election , — if so , who so likely in the next Parliament to move for tlie total repeal of the New Poor Law as its most energetic , consistent , disinterested , aud influential opponent ?
I know oi none ; and I hope , in the coming election , there will be a strife among the constituencies , for the sake of the poor , to honour themselves by securing the legislatorial services of that good man . I make no apology for thus oarly siring an dectioneeringhint , for thus suggesting the man jho , of ricut , may claim the honor to lead in the triumph of justice snd humanity by the downial of the Ne * °° * I am , Sir , your obliged servant , Richard Oasiub . .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Aug. 29, 1846, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_29081846/page/7/
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