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Northern Star (1837-1852), 16th March 1850, Edition 3 of 3, Page 7, Dg tt on Bricks.—The amount of duty coll...

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      ¦The : :Condition Of Engis. ¦¦ " ¦ ,- .•...

      _i- _^^ _treotten , Hlhe _praripleinow accepted by _iB _^ _SSS-wa the people of tiih country , be 8 * _WnXievery attempt to regulate tbe factory _^• _fsSto obtain the repeal of the Ten _^^ i _Severy other act that interferes vnth flotf- Act , # , _nnrestrained exercise of avance . The _Ow-* _* _** _*^ _Tthen _insfly ¦** _«**•*«••¦ to the interests V SKI * ' _** - *" bWUtefl m TJ of tS */ °£ i and itself becomes a little 'few . ' _Jffin-f _"Kes of industry will also be thrown for _* th ? _^ _Tnntil one trade will be treading upon lie hef _k . _S *; to secure y s own advantage and f _^* _fnehhbonrs down ; causing such « mlea _* 5 _-f «« trfiSdnessas i » U *™ U deplore . You ,

      _^^ _heen _enzaged in attempting to regulate fr " _^ Si of British industry . I allude to the _^ oti _tf _jli- _ers of London ; and as they have a ¦ _aurneyn' - _**\ he wi „ j donbt not , favour ns _W _^ Wnt of their condition . ( Mr . Hen-( itli » 7 the delegates of the Operative i * * _* 505 ' I e _s'ated _, that the bakers of London _&& Z fan average , eighteen hours per day . ) _i-01 _* ! continued , —I have heard a master baker _* ' _„ nMic meeting , that when hewasajourity _. _^^ l " _b-cause of long horns , so weary . iS * * he _«« _*«&* _% for tte ri 8 ing 8 ° f the ft *** ? would throw himself _upan the hoard , _W _^ J . - _njfltnr the edge of the iron trough _^ « , nreveat h ! s sleeping soundly , ( thus

      _ne-S- _*^ ; i »« _i „ . i' . h " _l by the pam wmca u cansea . _»^ £ SJS other modes of cheating himself _fr _* I ™ _hs was too weaiy to stand erect . _j { sleep w " _^ moment _t | _, e thousands of _^^' p n bakers who provide the daily bread of Jf 3 _metrepoB , shame to say it , are unable to ** * fXr church or _chapsl ; they can have no fSfcKSl enjeyment-their whole life , from - _* St ta the end of the year , is a ceaseless _* _S and excitement , interrupted only _^ iTo f fe verish slee . _We have _cheap-SSSanr . until we have made it excruciating and ¦ rJ t valuelessMr . Chairman ,. there is one truth

      . _jlBOSt-raiU . \ _^ _ncinnprl . it is this—Sch I have long been convinced ; it is _this-£ _Tuhich is not relig iously aud ma-ally right SSm he commercially and politically wrong , ' f _« _^ _h-e , prepared to acknowledge that Sour investigation will proceed to a successful Sr if not , oar deliberations will be in vain . My Ltls , the great mistake of the age is , that our Son has become amere stalking horse for parties _Sfor sects , instead of the governing principle of _Segislatureand the people . We hear of _pro-ILndtfl the v-rr word seems to degenerate into

      % st ; for every step in this boasted progress lean * Sk a _** ain to the barbarism whence we _sprung—Wiansin rendered still more unbearable than that j ? Le by our ancestors , by the cunning with which _« hgve mixed it . "What , let me ask , is this novel _doc trine of 'let everything alone , and no man care for his neig hbour / but _g-Uded cruelty and refined _^ _gj & _jrity ? Tiiis that they dignify with the name _nf philosophy , is a lesson from the book of Satan , ajl Jeseitesiio higher an appellation , than wickedaesS reduced to system in books . Progress , did Ugy jav ? I am for progress , when that progress is . _foniaed upon train ; then , every class will receive ts

      . j--, benefits , and each individual will taste its swee . _-gnt , when the men of progress only show me changes _^ * ath makes the cunning man rich and the simple _jujjpoor , I tell them it is the progres of pickpockets , _ani cannot be admitted among honest men . _£ ¦ , _«« . remember , that when under the specious _niine of improvement , any scheme is proposed by ffhtch a few persons are to be sacrificed for the _ligiefitof the many , that that scheme is founded in smsC j and that the result will be , by unerring law _olXatore , over which neither government nor indi-¦ _ndaalshave any control , that those few sacrificed persons will become the rod of _oorrection to tbe _aav , _depriving them of their expected benefit ,

      _^ Soaeivis composed _ofmanyfews ; of many _iudi-• aaaals" and it is those neglected , cast-off many fare , which now form that enormous mass of crime and destitution , that gives your philanthropists emplojment and makes your statesmen stand aghastforming the subterraneous stratnra which will some dav , when least looked for , discharge itself like the faming lava from a volcano , in a devastating torrent , over the whole surface of society . Men talk verv strangely _now-a-days , when they tell you that a reduction of taxation will remove all the social erf ' s , and set England right again . They are , however , wise in their generation , for many would _fol-Inw them : but ihey will not cnre the sores , they

      vdU not heal the pans , they will not relieve the faart diseases of the people . Truth to say , I do not love taxation for taxation sake .. I am not a recipient of taxation in any shape , either direct or indirect . My portion in that game is , just to pay a far or two , now aud then , and no more of it . But Uss I know—were all the taxes repealed _to-morros , if capital were still allowed its rampant power to crash down labour , the working man would be no letter off than now . I know it is common to tell the working men , that it is taxation that has

      timed tbeir poverty . How happens it sir , tbat nnder tie same pressure of taxation , the millowner has risen , from abject poverty , to enormous wealth ? Let those who are now striving to beguile you under tbe _rtrna of Financial Reform answer that question , and I am _satisfied . It must be plain to every man of common _unto 5 taudiug , that if , in your reduction _oftmtioc _. youdo not find profitable employment for those who are cast out thereby , you must increase the _competition , already too excessive , in the ¦ _Mrlet of labour , impoverishing _yourselves still mora to enrich the millionaire . Do not misunderstand

      me . I would t ; - : at there were no taxation ( conld inch a thing b _? possible ; ) but I do wish that in all refactions of taxes the labourer should feel the benefit , and not the millionaire . There are these » lo seek relief from commotion and revolution ; those are not thc working men , they are the' Manchester men . ' I met one ot them the other day in flat town . He said to me , 'Oastler , I understand _jamiow : you want to keep things as they are , all

      steady—that will never do . I want te see all things in disorder and confusion ; we shall never be right _BnuTwepu !* all things to pieces , and make tbem _orer again . I told that man , ¦ I wished to see erery person comfortable in his proper sphere , and flat I was sure that no good would come to any _fe , especially the working class , by revolution aad that I knew the working men of England did _notwish for civil strife and commotion . They only

      _sang htfor rivii justice , and tbat I would strive to find for them ; ' _i-ndra saying tbat , my friends , I blow 1 said the truth . "W ell , then , here we are Bet for counsel and deliberation . Something mu 3 t be done . "W hat is that some thing ? All things tht are tine are simp le . How easy just to arrange your native icdustry so as to make its produce Tdnahle , by so extending or curtailing it , as just to _aseet the demand , simply making such _arrangements as shall enable our agriculturists to . feed our manufacturers , our msnufacturera to clothe our _agncnlturisis , oar handicrafts to he the employed ¦ « customers of both . Think that over . There

      Son have it . Do that , and there will bepro-* -toble work for every man : women and babes then _+ X " * _Sf the _ProI > er places assigned for them by _Na-Sit v _**' eveiT maD " _iasteai of being a competitor with his nei ghbour , will be bis neighbour ' s _customer . For , raj friends , in those few words you * _jre the secret . There will then be no such thinz waste aa- * competition . ' I remember when it " _^ tbe proud boast of the Leeds _merchant , that he j * " ""! give a higher price tban . his neighbour : not a o it

      wer now is on the cut-throat system . And _v-TY _* that plan" y 8 U haTe Produced more of _j « _w domestic manufactures or produce than yon -nt ( always reckoning the colonies as an integral Wh of the mother country , ) it will be time enough * _•> « Ik about foreign trade with tbe surplus . Tbat « neign trade will not have to be sought for by Stabling adventmers , as at present ; it will take _jkfiost profitable , because most : natural course , to " _" M _**® countries whose surplus produce we mest **< _$ he , and cannot obtain in any other wav . Ah ,

      _^ _h _MJ the objectors , your plan would interfere _*?? « pital . Of couree _' it would . "We grant , tbe _^ eetion true ; it wonl d interfe re wit h capital , * . "" - "" tatti ng it within the limits prescribed to ? ** - Ab ' say fte ob J ectors _i ifc would _trion *" A-1 _l 8 _bour _« ant * 1 P" _* CTent an _* _nda _8-he * ? from wcrJl " S ™ I " yonth to the extent _lrtT _* * - _*" * at once * " ff 0 uW " _** erfere with _fl _{^ ' . _* JPi'eventiDgoneinan from robbing another j _^ _nght to labour , and by forcing a yonng man to J _^™ strength , so that he may not in Of % a- '* becon " charge on society because ara _rT ease frame - The to * _«* _*•»* _&*& _Tno j _^ « employment universally work too much ; _"Ban _v'J _^ ¦ ura 80 many able-bodied paupers , so W I " ? Btmeu * Yes > _* would prevent aman I ;" COmtnittinrr _onfnMo . V- 1 1 . 1 J _[ _--Muuc

      w . _. . _smwuc . uj _uvcrwormug , anu "liia _^^^ _S _hia neighbour to death . I contend , iS * fint _dutyof government to protect the _CiaSw i ? _^ _Sfa ; _»» " people , and to see to it _^*^ bealthand thatstrength shall _alwavseveryr _^^ oe tafaonally used for the increase of the _^ _"i * * wealth , KQt _, as dow _, we see the natfoa ' fi

      ¦The : :Condition Of Engis. ¦¦ " ¦ ,- .•...

      energies employed in raising a millionaire here and there by the excruciating toils of women and children , and _sustaining in a miserable state of pauperised existence millions of able-bodied men . Say what you -will , my friends , this is the present condition of England . It must be changed , or as a nation we are doomed . How proud and happy shall I be if that change shall originate by the suggestions of the working classes -themselves . Ah , but say the objectors to this system , you would in . terfere with every man ' s affairs ; you would require a complicated By stem of machinery which the wisdom of man could never properly arrange , and which , if arranged , could never work . Look at your present complicated system , and conceive , if

      you can , anything more outrageous , more expensive , more irksome , more interfering . fJast your eye upon JEujjIand as she at present stands , with her new poor law commissions , hev factory commissions , her municipal establishments , her military and police , her detective force , her educational commissions , her ecclesiastical . commissions , her tax gatherers , her excise officers , her railway inspectors , her commissioners of lunacy , her emigration agents , her local , provincial , metropolitan , and national courts of law , her-bankrupt and insolvent courts , her highway and parochial arrangements , her hulks , her prisons , her penitentiaries , her madhouses , her union bastiles , her houses of refuge , her vagrant offices , and her last new

      discovery of interference with labour , property , and capital , her universal sanitary code : add to those the innumerable host of commissioners , inspectors , and other government officials , who , like locusts , spread everywhere and devour the fruits of the land . Look , * I sayi at all those complicated and expensive arrangements consequent upon your " letalone system , " and then if you can , without blushing , object to the establishment of local boards of agriculture , manufacture , and trade , composed of employers and employed , whose simple duty it would be to regulate the productions of each branch of native industry by the demand—preventing , as it would , bv giving to each person employed therem the proper value for his labour , that complicated at this moment feel

      mass of intricacies which , we ourselves obliged to maintain . Always remember that , those local boards would be constituted of men well acquainted with the business they had to re-mlatc—not of novices , as in most cases our inspectors , commissioners , & c , are . Another objector savs—Ah , you would stop the ingenuity of man . That I deny . All that you would do , would be to require that man ' s ingenuity should be made the helpmate , and not the tyrant of man ; that no rich capitalist , should have the power to buy up new improvements , thereby sacrificing thousands and tens of thousands of his fellow creatures for his own aggrandisement . You want the learning of a trade to be what it formerly was , ' a source of income and

      an acknowledged property , rising in value proportionate to the general increase of the wealth of the countrv—rising in value , and not falling , as it now does , to the scale of pauperism and prison labour . We must not suffer ourselves to be startled and frightened by thc objections of vain and ignorant men , who know nofc that we have still certain constitutional principles left . Let those princi ples be our landmarks—one of them is , the right to maintenance in our native England ; another , compensation to individuals for losses incurred ( either in labour or property ) for the public goou \ Fools may uespise these constitutional rig hts ; wise men will hold tbem fast and revere them . "Well , then , let us see if we cannot strike a- chord to

      night , that shall vibrate cheeringly to the cast-off needlewomen and the worn-out slaves of our mills ; that shall restore the tone of hope to the inmates of union-houses and prisons ; that shall teach our noble philanthropists , that there is no need for the exercise of their benevolence in the transportation of their sisters from their native soil ; that shall teach our legislators , that theirs is a hi g her duty than factional quarrels and party strifes ; that shall teach the ministers of the Crown , that fraud and delusion can no longer secure to them the confidence of the people , letting them know that the sons of labour are now shaking off their lethargy , and have resolved to secure the interests of all , by establishing the rights of British industry , secure

      alike from the crushing power of the British capilist , and of the foreign competitor . Let it be known from this night forward , that this mighty question shall be discussed , not onl y in the metropolis , but in the provinces , upon its own merits , without any interruption from any party to suit their own purposes . It was so , _during twenty years , the factory question was publicly discussed , by men of all parties and all creeds ; and never on any single occasion was any other question allowed to interfere with it . It was thus that victory was secured . That plan was suggested by the working men of Huddersfield to myself ; and , having agreed to it , all parties conformed thereto . Pursue the same _nlan on the rights of British industry , and

      fear not of success . let us devise a plan , J have said ; and as Mr . Cobden lately told all of us to look to America , I have looked to America , and what have I seen ? Let me tell you , for I know yon are anxious to hear . I bave seen the evils of an ill-regulated state of society growing rapidly in their influence—the low-priced labour of England has been brought into competition with the better paid labourers of America ; the result has heen what vou all would naturally expect . " Buy cheap and sell dear" has been between nations , as it has been in our own country between men—a few rich have grown richer and many poor poorer . But there are signs of hope for America . Her Secretary of State and her President have declared themselves

      in favour of native industry and home trade , in preference to foreign industry and foreign trade . And let me beg of you to read carefully and digest fully the report of the Secretary of the Treasury , and the message of the President of America : Many of you arc , I doubt not , Chartists . lama Tory . But this I know , whatever may be the form of government , if the _law-raakers do not understand how to regulate native industry , so as to jive the market of England to the people of England , it is impossible that we can be a happy and prosperous people . So that you see , my friends , let whichever section or party may rule , it is still necessary that this question of labour should be understood . We have heard a good deal about

      commercial prosperity of late , and about the thriving condition of the manufacturing districts . I too have looked there . I have just come from Manchester , the great emporium of the cotton trade , and I will tell you of the things I have seen , and the information given to me , without reserve , by men who are manufacturers , and who are , I apprehend , the men whose experience and knowledge is most deserving of consideration . You will rememoer the dark cloud of adversity which , before the meeting of parliament , overspread the country ; all was mourning , _lanientation , and woe ; and how that gloom was gradually dispelled by letters and trade reports in the press , until at the opening of parliament , to our great surprise , by a

      long train of figures and a warmly congratulatory speech from the Chancellor of the Exchequer , our sadness was turned into joy , our gloomy adversity was forgotten , and again as a nation we were basking in the sunshine of prosperity . It is true there was one speck of darkness visible , and only one . A few discontented farmers were grumbling , and that was all ; their labourers were said to be better fed than heretofore , pauperism was rapidly decreasing , our revenue was more than satisfactoiy —was abundant ; we had millions npon millions in the Bank , lying useless , our exports were enormously increased , and as for our manufacturing districts , in the memory of man they bad never been so universally prosperous ! It is thus tbat

      the legislature is deceived ; it is thus that the Queen and her people are hetrayed ; for notwithstanding the bold and boastful tone of the Chancellor of the Exchequer , the condition of England is not changed , her social evils are not eradicated . Millions of poor people are still either paupers or laboriously toiling in her fields and hives of industry for a scanty portion of bread too small to satisfy the cravings of their lranger , doomed when they return to their disconsolate home to hear the melancholy tones of their little ones vainly beggingfor bread . Ah , sir , it is high time that our _Secretaries of State bethought themselves , they should no longer thus make playthings of a nation ' s woe , and by false statistics , erroneous data , and cooked accounts , cry ,

      peace , peace , when they know there it * no peace . Manufacturing prosperity , did the Chancellor of the Exchequer say ? It is not two days ago since , from the lips of one of the most opulent and extensive cotton manufacturers of Lancashire I heard the following tale : — " You know our works , the number of our mills , and the great quantity of machinery there is in them ; you may guess the annual value we should have to pay if we rented them ; you know also pretty nearl y the number of hands we employ . Now , what 1 am about to tell you is not guess work . We have been looking very minutely into our affairs within the last week or two , and we have ascertained , that if we were to allow our mills to stand , and pay all our hands three days' wages per week for doing nothing , we should be losing less money than we are now losing ; in fact , _wehavs •><> -. «>;

      tamed that every farthing we pay in wa- _* es is a loss to us , the cotton being worth as much ° when it comes to the mill in its raw state as when it goes out manufactured . In fact , at this moment we are consulting among ourselves whether we snail go to three days' wages per week , with work or without work ; and yet they call this prosperity I We know that there is no house can buy , manufacture , or sell , to more advantage than we can ; and we know when it is so with us , it mast be so with all those who are in the same branch , and you know it must be worse with those who are short of capital" Ours is the coarse trade , or domestics—formi ing about two-thirds of the whole cotton manufacture , for _ whicli there is no demand . The home trade is gone , and , - ' as far as we can learn , the foreign markets are glutted . I wonder , " said my fiend , *• that note of you -public men oyer as " *

      ¦The : :Condition Of Engis. ¦¦ " ¦ ,- .•...

      Friend _Bright-r-for he , is in the _sanio branch as ourselves—what he has gained by free trade ? If he would answer truly , he would say he was lighter by many thousands of pounds than he was three years ago ! " I saw some factory delegates from Rochdale the other day ; they told me there were in that district more than a dozen mills working short time , and some mills entirely laid by . Nay , that Friend Bright had himself , at this moment , two separate and distinct strikes among his workpeople , to resist his . free trade boon in a reduction of wages !! Call you that manufacturing prosperity , Sir Charles Wood ? Are there no complaints from Lancashire , Mr . Cobden ? Such men as you two should be ashamed of ly ing . ' What madness is ex hibitcd in the conduct of these cotton-lords—these

      would-be rulers of England ! By their own act , they deprive themselves ' of a demand for productions , and , having done so , in open defiance of the intention of the legislature , they work then * mills thirteen or fourteen hours a day , instead of ten ; and now , some of them are forced entirely to close their mills , and many more are driven to work only six or . eight hours a day ! when will these meii become rational ? But to Manchester again . I saw another cotton manufacturer _there--r-a great free trader , too ; but unluckily for bim ,. the big loaf was a bitter pill ; he , too , was in the domestic line , the home trade line , and free trade , had run away with his market : and himself , iri running after another , had to

      transnort his goods to foreign markets , and sad and gloomy was the return . He had lost heavily , but still he believed in Cobden and hoped for better days ; he wished , however , tbat he had not entered into the concern . Ah , sir , how erroneousl y we build our hopes when we flatter ' _oursel ves that prosperity has increased in proportion to our exports . The very reverse is the fact , that increase being the consequence of an inability to consume at home . Sueh a foreign trade as that should make a Chancellor of the Exchequer blush ! It is not trade , sir —it is gambling ; it is gambling , and gambling too ofthe most desperate kind . Every pound sterling of that boasted increase in our export of cotton goods , shows a loss to the manufacturer . We havo

      robbed him of his market—we have forced him to turn gambler , and then we boast of our shame . My friends , among other things , tho working men of England must teach the Queen ' s ministers to form better data whereby to judge of the prosperity of England than they have hitherto done . It is possible that there may be a great export trade , smiling revenue , and millions upon millions ofgold inthe Bank ; but at the same time an universal drain upon the industry of the country . " Oh , " said my Manchester friend , "wc are doing things nicely now ; we are paying the Americans double the price for their cotton , and * they with the spare money are building mills to manufacture their own calicoes . "' Mark here thc effeotiof a superabundant

      capital upon our manufacturing interest . Your Millionaire , now by his enormous loose ca 6 h , enriches himself , but paralyses the manufacture . That cotton is not doubled in price because it is worth double the money . No such thing ; it is raised in price by the speculation of the money interest , until , to use the words of a most respectable Lancashire cotton manufacturer , "it is worth as much when' it comes in raw as it is when it goes out manufactured . " But still this is called prosperity in parliament . Mr . Cobden endorsing it , and the Cotton lords _themselyGS pretending to believe it , when they are legislators . Well , well , the truth will come out some time , the Gazette being regularly published . A Lancashire cotton-spinner

      toJd me this very day , " My letters froin home this morning are awful ; trade was never so bad . Why , if it goes on at this rate , a few months longer , the cotton-spinners will tumble into the Gazette by house rows 2 " This mode of bolstering up prosperity is no new thiugwith ministers ofthe Crown . I remember when Hived atFixb yin King William ' s time , a prosperity speech , after the Sir Charles Wood model , was put into the King ' s mouth . At that time the manufacturing interest was then allowed to be in . great adversity , a , state of things which no statesman who knows his business would ever dream of , it being an impossibility ; The two great interests must either flourish or decay together . And this fact , my friends , I am

      most anxious to impress on your minds ; for be assured , that when adversity is felt in the agricultural districts , it never can be very far from your own homes . 2 " one but an enemy would teach the handicrafts that they can gain by the loss of the agriculturist , or the manufacturer—all must sink or swim together . What do I recommend you to do ? Form a committee , say a dozen of your most thoughtful , faithful , and talented men—men in whom your order is accustomed to confide . Tell them to have regard to those Divine precepts which I have pointed out to you on this occasion ; to read with attention the State Papers to which I have alluded to ; to study the science of political economy , as laid down . by William Atkinson , ( Whitakei- and

      Co . ) , the only author , as far as I know , who has treated that subject as it deserves ; and then imbued with an earnest desire to build up and not to pull down , to establish and not to destroy , to increase and not to diminish , let them propound their thoughts to you in an address , and a few resolutions incorporating their hearts' thoughts , which , when adopted yourselves and others , shall teach all those who in common parlance are said to be above you , that if they have ceased to think , the working men of England have some i hought left—if they have yielded to despair , you have still strong grounds for hope—if they seek for safety in chance or anarchy , tbat you have resolved to insure security and

      prosperity for all , by submitting yourselves to the guidance of Unerring Truth . Do this , ' my friends , and all may yet be well ; and how I . shall rejoice if England ' s safety should be indicated by the fingers of working men . I have done . I thank you for the attention you have paid to me , and I pray God that , by the light of His Holy Spirit , He may guide you to the knowledge of His truth . On Mr . Oastler ' s resuming his seat , thc Chairman asked if any other gentleman desired to speak . Mr . Young ( carpenter ) asked Mr . Oastler several questions , arising out of that gentleman ' s address , whjch were fully and . satisfactorily answered , after which Mr . Oastler retired , leaving the _delegates to consider his remarks . ' °

      A long and interesting discussion followed as to the best course io be pursued . Mr . _Youxc was clearly of opinion that the present system of political economv had but one side—it said produce , but forgot totally toi say distribute and the sooner the delusions of the day were dispelled , the sooner would peace be restored ; only . 13 a system of war , every man lifting his hand against his fellow man . After ' a few words from Mr . _Essehy ( tailor , ) Mr . Ferdisaxdo said , I am a Cbartist , and when meetings are called to discuss the suffrage I will there express my thoughts on . that question ; but no man who has the confidence of the Chartist

      party ever could oppose tbe discussion of industrial questions . Mr . Oastler had exactly expressed his views on the regulations of trade , and the weavers of Spitalfields were quite prepared for the discussion of this question apart from all others . Mr . Wilson ( shoemaker ) said , as trades' delegates they had drawn up a constitution for " their guidance ; , the suffrage was there set forth as one of their objects , but it was neither to be supposed nor understood that all their objects were to be discussed at the same time . The ri ghts of industry he always thought of sufficient importance to warrant a discussion resting on the _merits of that question distinct and separate from all others .

      A resolution was then unanimously adopted , to the effect , that the question of industry should be discussed by itself , apart from all other topics , and that men of all parties be invited to take part in such discussions at public meetings with a view . to arriving at some rational conclusion , as to the best means of relieving the distress and improving the condition of all . Mr . Fekdixaxdo moved , and Mr . Young seconded , the appointment ofa committee of three persons for the purpose of carrying out the plan of operations suggested by Mr . Oastler . Carried unanimously . Mr . Wilson , Mr . Campbell , and Mr . Delaforce wore named as-the committee , with the request that Mr . Kydd would act with them .

      A vote of thanks was unanimously passed to the chairman for his conduct in the chair , and the meeting separated at an advanced hour .

      T Ies In Millionaire Here ' I ^ G ^ I6 ^...

      I _^ _^ _^ _^ -- ¦ ¦ ' ¦ - _^ -- _Tgfr _fo _^^ - ¦ ¦ - - . - . - ... .. :....-: 7 f

      Medals Of James Morison, : The Hygeist ....

      MEDALS OF JAMES MORISON , : THE HYGEIST . AND GREAT MEDICAL KEFOltMER , May be had of all the Agents for the sale of ilorison _' s Pills . FBICK ONE SniLLINO BACn . In Bronze , 10 s . Cd . ; in Silver , 21 . ; in Gold , 18 * . JAMES MORISON , the Hygeist proclaimed—THE IMMORTAL . lstly . —That the vital principle is in the blood . HARYEY 2 nd !* -. —That all diseases arise from impurity of the PROCLAIMED TnE blood . _Srdly . —That such im-CntCULATION OF THE purity can only be eradicated by a purgative such as BLOOD . _Morison's Vegetable Universal Medicine of the British College of Health , Newrond , London . -

      4 thly . — That the deadly poisons used as medicines by tho doctors aro totally unnecessary in the euro of diseases .

      Dg Tt On Bricks.—The Amount Of Duty Coll...

      Dg tt on Bricks . —The amount of duty collected upon bricks during the years 1849 , is shown , by a return recently laid before Parliament , to have been £ 448 , 82619 s . 3 Jd ., ' of which £ 422 , 81218 s . 8 id ., is for the country , and £ 26 , 014 Os . 7 d . ' for London . The largest items in the account have been fur « mshed by Surrey ( £ 37 , 283 ) , Rochester ( £ 32 , 284 ) , fitrt _^ lof _^ stourb ' _* ° f ' h ! nd

      O'Connor V . Bradfiuayf. X A Speech Of M...

      O'CONNOR v . _BRADfiUAyf . X a SPEECH OF MR . SERGEANT WILKINS . Serjeant Wilkins addressed the jury . Ho said-May it please your lordshi p and ! gentlemen of the jury-No person listens to my learned-opponent with greater pleasure than I myself generally do .-When ho has a subject upon which he is at home-when he has a good cause to defend-when his ardour is not cramped by the cons ciousness of absurdities , and his eloquence is not impeded by apparent con _? _traductions , no gentleman at tho bar can speak with greater energy , earnestness ,, and , effect than : my learned friendI ; Arid it . must havo , been evident to all accustomed to lend willing ears to his eloquence -to those weil : acquainted with his indomitable love of truth , that from his' hesitancv . nausea .- and

      labounngs , ne Has been most painfully conscious p f the badne gg ofthe causo entrusted to him . My learned friend s address irresistibly recalled to my _mcmoiT the remark of the Rev . W . II . Beynton , who , after listening for somo time to an oration , was asked by an unreflecti ng person ( who was led away with ad captandum arguments , and who had given himself up to his prejudices ) whether he did not think it a beautiful speech . The rev . gentleman replied " that to him it looked liko a row of birds eggs threaded on a straw —( a laugh)—ono could not help _Rooking with pleasure upon their beautifully mottled diversity of colour , or without admiring the regularity and order with Wliich they were threaded ; but like birds' eggs , when children clutched at that with which thev i , i , eon so loner

      captivated , they are found to be onl y broken shells and empty nothingness . " And I will show you before I have donp that that is tho character of my learned friend ' s speech . I shall not address you in language so ornate ; I shall not speak now with bated' breath —now with affected earnestness ? I shall not deliver commonplaces with an ' energy almost ludicrousneither shall I seek to bewilder your minds with sop hisms and false reasoning ; but 1 shall lay before you a few plain'facts' in" that straightforward way in which a plain Englishman would address twelve of his fellow country men . If Mr . 0 ' Connor has been propounding schemes wliich will not bear investigation , he has erred in good company , for I think I shall be able to show you , before I sit down , that my learned friend's speech is one mass of error —that he has mistaken the law—that he has talked

      of almost everything bufthat which is the issueand , in point of fact , led you far away from the question that you haye to determine ; and did I qot know that my learned friend would not stoop to such a meanness , I could almost believe that ho had mixed up personal enmity- to the plaintiff with his defence of the fourpenny-halfpenny ¦ editor of the town of Nottingham . He began hy telling you that my evidence bad settled all doubts against myself ; but I must beg you to bear in mind that you are not hero to-day to try whether or no Tcargus O'Connor is a political quack—whether his conduct has been most marked by folly or error—whether ; his style of writing is such as to bear tho test of true criticism . There was a remarkable absence of sincerity when my learned friend began by appealing

      to you tb investigate this case with the calm light of reason for every artifice and trick has been exhausted wliich the ingenuity ofthe editor of tho Nottingham Journal could suggest , for he is an attorney as well as an editor ; and subjects have been urged upon your attention which havo nothing whatever to do with ' the case . 'I do impugn the sincerity of my learned friend ' s appeal to the ; calm lightof reason , because ho has tried to excite your prejudices ; What has it do with the caso , whether Mr . O'Connor was called Esquire , or plain- Mr . ? What has it to do with the case , whether , he has been accustomed to drawing-room society , or other society _*" . Are drawing-room Members of Parliament the best ? Why it is notorious that "the white-waistcoated gentlemen" are the least esteemed

      in the house as men of business . What is it to the case where Mr . O'Connor chose to pass-his time ? My learned friend says that wo shrink from inquiry , because we did not open our case at the first , but have I not sat here and heard abuse after abuse heaped upon my client with an unsparing hand ; have 1 not heard circumstance after circumstance paraded before you , which have had nothing to do with the case , but which wero highly calculated to prejudice your minds , and lead you from tho object you ought to have in view ; have I not heard Mr . O'Connor actacked on all hands for doctrines and opinions upon which , whether correct or incorrect , it is not for you to decide ; and yet I have been constrained to be silent , lest it should be said we _sought to stifle investigation . No man has been hunted and assailed like Mr ; O'Connor . If any man was set upon a hill , it has been Mr . Feargus O'Connor ; every eye was upon him , every man ' s

      hand has been against him . My learned friend has not himself escaped without some assailants , and surely he mig ht have thought of extending a little forbearance to another in tho same category . At any rate he can understand why Mr . Feargus O'Connor , finding himself thus assailed and his motives misconstrued—finding tho press—the Times , the Chronicle , the Weekly Dispatch , the Daily News—all join in his condemnation , should feel some soreness , and it may now . and then account for his want of decorum . But I defy any one to prove , after he has thus been exposed to the scrutiny of the press , and submitted to the investigation ofthe Houseof Commons , tliat he has misappropriated' one farthing , or thathe has put ono _singlo shilling _intohis own pocket . I will say further , that being charged with the management of a vast undertaking , he has framed machinery so perfect , as to bid defiance to malversation . All that has been urged against him on this occasion have been the declarations of

      my learned friend , consisting of an immense amount of assertion , but of no truth . Dr . Johnson used to say that a wicked man might make more assertions in five minutes than would tako a wise man five years to answer . Human nature has a propensityto impugn and accuse public men , and many of the gallant , the good , and tlio virtuous of the sons of men _haVe fallen before , prejudice . My learned friend ' s junior , for instance , could never come near the name ofCuffiiy , but he had a sneer at it , repeating it three or four time 8 over as a thing to bo laughed at . Unless , however , I am much mistaken in the jury , these attempts will fail . Tlie twelve meni see before me will scorn ' these nisiprius tricks ' which have become disgusting , not only because they are stale , but because they aro insulting to your understandings . My learned friond . thought proper to mention the name of God . " With God ' s help , " ho said , ' " we will protect the rights of the poor . "

      Who does he mean by " we "—tho gentlemen ofthe broad sheet ? If he did . he had only to tack to the end of each sentence of his fine apostrophe—* ' 4 _Jd . each "—and we should then have seen how much all this patriotism amounted to . What a detestable thing i 3 prejudice!—what an enemy to mankind ! What is prejudice calculated to do ? What has it done ? It will make , and has made man to love that which is debasing and odious ; and causes and has caused him to detest that which , in the eye of Heaven ; is lovely . How many hi gh hearts have been crushed : and broken by tliat detestable thing called prejudice ! How many a man , who would have stopped out of the beaten track for the benefit of his fellow-creatures , has not so stepped , for , like conscience , " it makes cowards of us all , " And enterprises of great pith anil moment , With this regard their currents turn away , And lose the name of action .

      I pray you , if I cannot , for these considerations , persuade you to discard prejudice , lot me invoke a meaner feeling—your own _welf-ire and a regard for your own self-interest ; for wo know not what a day or an hour may bring forth , and you may have to appeal to a jury yourselves . And here comes in the heavenly iiiaxim , >'' Do unto others as ye would thoy should do unto you ' , _* ' _' ¦ and . if _. youdo so * sure I am that you will not only decide , that Mr . O'Connor is a much injured man , but you will give him ample compensation for . the injury inflicted upon him ; by the defendant . -My learned friend has said a great deal about the plaintiff ' s abusive language , and if it had been addressed to Mr , Bradsnaw it might , perhaps , have been fairly urged in mitigation , bjt throughout the whole there has been but

      one attack upon Mr . Bradshaw , in which Mr . O'Connor merely says that , his discomfiture ivould be a great source oi" gratification to the defendant , who certainly has furnished ample proof that it would . I agree with Mr . -Roebuck : in all he has said about the press ; but wo . must riot forgot tliat the press is armed with a giant ' s strength , and may wield it for evil . All ofus before the public come at times under the castigation : of tho press . lhaye myself been a sufferer , ibut on , reviewing tho matter , when T have . somewhat surmounted , the smarting of the lash , I have generally found cause to acknowledge its justice . I implore you not to prejudge this case . You may come into : this court prejudiced against tho plaintiff , but I ask you to look _. i ' nto the chambers of the i heart , and . put tho question honestly , why are you thus prejudiced ? l ' ou have , perhaps , been led away with tho multitude , but here is a man who has been attacking the prejudices of hundreds and thousands for years , but who

      up to this moment , believes his course to be right . You may dislike his principles and his politics , but ask yourselves ifyou have any good reason to dislike him ? Do not fall into tho vulgar , degraded / unmanly , un-christian error of hating him because he thinks differently from you . Who aro all the men that havo brought forward those groat changes , the fruits of which we aro now enjoying 1 They are not your men who walk in tho beaten track—who bow down to the accepted notions of the age . They ore not your drawing-room men—your cognoscenti , who sit in their easy chairs , and idly criticise the doings of the ago in which they live . They have -, been men bold enough to expose their breasts to tho shafts of prejudice , and if they have fallen , they havo died like martyrs in a glorious cause . Others havebeen hunted as much as O'Connor , but posterity has done justioo to their memory .. - Who was : it that was as muoh opposed as 0 ' Connor * who . entertained the same _politioal opinions , and : carried . out the same views , ' _whoso-Mmewasai } much a _byword .

      O'Connor V . Bradfiuayf. X A Speech Of M...

      whose memory is now ' ro vered by posterity bv men : of all parties ? I speak of 'Mii jor Cartwrieht If his views were wrong , so are Mr . O'Connor ' s * and I entreat you , as you value youf own _i-rivileijes ' for your own _sakes _/ once more 1 entreat you , do not let _prejudice influence your niihds . What is so painful ; so humiliating to a man of mind , as to address prejudice ? ' How impregnable—how darkhow ' . unassailable—bow determined to commit injustice . Cast it nsido then—you aro to * decide between , the rights of man and man , and he who allows prejudice to interpose and gratifies his own feelings at the expense of truth , and who dares to pronounce his yerdietfrom other reasons than those whicli truth and justice require , is a traitor to God and his country , and regardless alike of his duty to

      his fellow man , and of his own interests . If june 3 do . not justice , then away , say I , with trial by jury —let us seek some other tribunal . Hut while party may rage out of doors , and duty require immense sacrifices , if we take our solitary walk through the ruins of empires and of cities , we shall find written in indelible characters on every decaying capital , on every broken shaft , and on every shattered pillar , "Behold the work of passion , prejudice / and faction ! " ( Applause . ) Now what does my learned friond say ? why , that O'Connor obtained from thc poorer classes'large sums . I shall show you that never for his own use did he obtain one farthing . lie thought proper to say that if'he hud been in my place , he -would have produced at once the whole of tho plaitltft ' s case . My experience in courts of

      law taught me to do no such thing . I knew that my learned friond could either make out his ca 3 e or he cou | d not . . If he did not attempt it , then would he be -not-only aslanderer , but a cowardly slanderer , and my client would leave tlio court unstained . If ho _: did attempt to make it out , I knew my learned __ friend ' s skill in rhetoric too well to give him the last word . He bus shown us howhecan . heap fallacy upon fallacy . My determination was , that the charge should be as full and as perfect as'possible , in order that our refutation might silence the tongue of the slanderer for ever . ¦ But I will toll my learned friend whatl would have done , if I had been in his place . After I had denounced O'Conn ' or as the veriest quack , impostor , and deceiver in tho world , I would , sooner than

      object to any part of his defence on the mere ground of technicality—I would have had my arm cut from my body . He took advantage of what is called the law of evidence . He knew what the Report of the Houso of Commons was—he road from it—he examined from it . I was most anxious to get it in —let that anxiety speak for itself . Had I done anything of the sort ? Did I object a word to all that stuff about Fonblanquoand ' tho Morning Chronicle , or any of the irrelevant matter they thought proper to . putin ? They have charged us with dishonesty —shameless dishonesty—anil they have attempted to prove it by partialand garbled statements . They did not dare to read the whole of the circular they quoted . _^ Is that honest . That circular is an answer to the whole case . They did not dare to read the

      whole of it , and they put in all these extracts , leaving the context , which would explain them unread , and all to create a degrading , dirty , and disgusting prejudice against Mr . O'Connor . My learned friend aays it was altogether a fraudulent concern . Where is the evidence of fraud ? Under the state of things which has been'laid . before you , was it not impossible that a fraud ' could be committed ? There is an error into whiiih my learned friend baa fallen unintentionally . : He has called your attention to various reports , but ho has forgotten , or did not know that ' every one of those reports were drawn out preparatory to the final deed of settlement ; and therefore , ' when he talked of " no bant , " and " no trustees , '; he gave a wrong impression . And so with the three trustees to whom he would have had

      the estates eonveyed . I may retort upon him his own argument , they could not have been so conveyed for the benefit ofthe company , when no company existed . And therefore the whole of Mr . Roebuck ' s remarks on that point . ire explained Ly the simple fact , that every one of those documents was drawn out with the intention of getting the deed of registration ; and had it beon obtained , every one ol the persons named would have been appointed , and the rules carried out . But a moment ' s reflection would show to a man of sense , that Mr . O'Connor would never be likely to attempt to deceive , because the danger of detection was imminent . The country was divided into 200 sections . Every section had a chairman , a secretary , a treasurer , a committee , and auditors . Every section met once

      a week . The money was brought to them from the different parties who were members . At the close ofthe evening the chairman totted up the receipts , and they were entered in a book . A separate book was kept in each committee , and the money was sent by each secretary to M'Grath . What did my learned friend mean by saying there was no book ? There are tho book 3 , and we invite investigation and'inspection . I will take upon myself to assert , that everyitem in that balance-sheet , and what has appeared in the Northern Star , will be found in those books . The two accountants appointed by the House of : Commons had every thing they wished . There are the books now ; and there is not a single receipt g ivenj or payment made , that wili not be found in those books . Well , thc money having been received in London , it appeared in the next Northern

      Star , which was the receipt , not only to the district secretary who forwarded it , but to the people who paid it . If that statement did not immediately appear , a speedy inquiry was inevitable ; and if tho account was not satisfactory , the London secretary had the whole' nest in the country on his backchairman , secretary , committeo , and all . Then there was tho quarterly balance-sheet , to examine which , auditors were appointed by the delegates . My learned friend knows very little about the working classes , when he talks of their ignorance , and underates their understanding . I do not hesitate to say , that there is many and many a despised Chartist who could enlighten my learned friend ( Mr . Roebuck ) on many a point of legislation . ( Loud laughter , and slight cheering . ) The LoRD-CniEF Baron . —If there be another

      indication or expression of applause or censure , I shall direct the court to be cleared of all who do not know how to conduct themselves . . Sergeant Wilkixs . —There is another point of view in which I wish you to look at the case . Mylearned friend told you that O'Connor did just as he pleased ; and could just as easily dismiss a director as ' put forth a circular . Again , I say , that he does not know the lower classes . Neither Mr . O'Connor , hor any other Mister could rule those people , withou * - the most watchful jealousy being kept over all his deeds . To proceed . Tho quarterly meeting of delegates elected their own auditors and different men every year ; and in addition to this quarterly auditing , thero was a Finance Committee _tO'sit upon them , at the annual Conferences held at

      Birmingham , Lowbands , and Manchester , and other places . Those Conferences were attended by parties from all ' parts ofthe country , for aught I know from Africa . My learned friend surely did not think the man who subscribed his threepence from his hardearned wages ; would not be anxious to know what was done -with his threepences ? ' Is it probable , that with all these guards it would bo possible for any man to conceal what was the true state of the accounts . My learned friend says tho bank had no existence—I say it had . If it followed that it was not a bank because it did not keep its money in the building , then there is not a savings bank in the kingdom . Up to a certain period tlio money was deposited in the bank ; it was then placed out at other banks , and we have produced every cheque ,

      and 'they have been inspected by my learned friend ' s attorney .. Wo have given every thing tbat has been asked for . What moro would you have ? We must have some new light-on the law to attempt ft ) stultify us with the idea that if Mr . O'Connor dropped down dead , any of his natural representatives oould claim a * shilling , ' ' or ah acre ; and- ' we can show a declaration of trust in another part of a letter read by my learned friend . My learned friend stated that the system of which Mr ; O'Connor was the originator and _propouiideiy was nothing better than a forcp-pump _, to squeeze money out of ihe pockets oftradespcople and mechanics , and to pour-it into one grand reservoir—into the pockets of Mr . O'Connor . , That was exceedingly faootious , but it was not the fact . It was wonderfully funny , but it-was not

      true . If any ofit did go into that " reservoir , it soon came out again .: _Aceordiii" _; to the evidence laid before you tlio estates cost -tGO , l ) 00 , the heuses building _leo . st £ 28 , 400 ; the aid money , including crops and tillage , had been £ 4 , 200 ; making a total of * 92 , 0 C 0 . If there , were added to this the cost of clearing the soil , ; making ' tlie roads , printing , tho expenses of the company , including tho rent , the payments to the delegates , the law expenses and stamps , how much dq you think would find its vny into Mr . O'Connor ' s pocket ? So far is it from being true that tho money was transferred from the pockets ofthe artisans to thoso of Mr . O'Connor , that that gentleman is a loser to the extent of between £ 3 , 000 and - £ 4 , 000 by his project . What then becomes of all this jesting ( about that which , to Mr . O'Connor' is a matter of life and death ) , of pumping money out of the poor into ono grand reservoir ? And then my learned friend went ontosnj that he

      obtained tlio money by means of delusion , and then purchased estatos with it for his own use and benefit . Is not this a gratuitous misrepresentation " His scheme may bo delusive—it may havo deceived himself—perhaps it had misled others ; but is it because he has proposed a scheme which , however well intended , has turned out to be inoperative of good , that he shall be branded as a thief and an impostor , who had wheedled the starving mechanics out of £ 100 , 0001 How often does p hilanthropy deoeive itsolf _, and'dovise projects which arc found to bo impracticable ! : Is it wonderful that the scheme would not succeed , when it was met by such opposition as that of Mr . Bradshaw ? And by calling Mr ; O'Connor a thief , it was soug ht to increase tho sale Of tho Nottingham Journal , At to gratify a low dirty party factiqn--if it has been attaoked on , _anyj side—if , ; every ... roan who has _ndypcQdhw threopenco u _& _hm taught -to look

      O'Connor V . Bradfiuayf. X A Speech Of M...

      upon his benefactor as a thief , can we wonder that it did not succeed ? . How could any man , or body of men make an institution succeed under such . circumstances ? But it is not true that Mr . O'Connor ' s project has not been productive of somo good ; on the contrary , it has been of most essential service to those who have adopted it . Mr . O'Connor , slandered and calumniated as he bas been , bas done more for the poor of this country than any one of the theorists and political economists that _al'O fond ot attacking him . I can pointto 234 cottages , with two _acresofland attached to each of them . The land is cultivated , manured , and kept in tho highest possible condition ; the head of each family has bad -Uo to begin the world with ; and yet in no one instance have the inmates of those 2 S 4 cottages been

      asked for one sixponco of rent . What has political economy—what has the philanthropy ofthe schools over done to equal that ? Except from the estate in Gloucestershire—a portion of England which has ofteii been called the garden of this country , and which is celebrated for its salubrity and the richness of its soil—not one single witness has been brought to show that the treatment which Mr . O'Connor s clients received was bad and injurious . But certainly the personal appearance of aU these witnesses , was . not calculated to establish their testimony , for I have seldom seen a set of men with ruddier checks , or who bore about them more satisfactory attestations of health . _"N oi * one of the witnesses , however strongly the screw had been put on him , would undertake to swear that he has heen

      made the victim of any misrepresentation , or that anything has been withheld from him which he had a right to expect , or which he had been given to understand ho would be permitted to enjoy . On the contrary , many of them were , compelled to admit that while on Mr ... O'Connor ' s estate they were placed in the enjoyment of blessings to which they had always before been strangers ; and there was scarcely one of them who did not draw a picture of comfort and happiness such as it ia to be wished could be found to exist in other parts of England aS well . If it Is true , as we have often been told , that thevo are in this country thousands and tens of thousands of persons who never breathe the pure air of heaven , and who arc strangers to tho blessing ofa cup of untainted water : and if it is also true

      that the persons who resided on the estate were men and women of that . description—men and women who , until they joined Mr . O'Connor , lived in the pestilential purlieus . ' of _grsat cilies where every blessing of external nature was denied them —if all that is true ,, what words can describe tho infamy ofthe meii irho can stigmatise as a thief and animpostor thc individual who has been the means of thus placing health , competency , and comfort within the reach ofthe poor ? Mr . O'Connor has never boen guilty of fraud , misrepresentation , dishonesty , or concealment . His acts , words , and movements had been examined with microscopic accuracy , and yet no act of dishonour or dishonesty had ever been established against him Everything he ever , did with respect to his Land Scheme was

      open and above board , and palpable to view as the sun at noonday . Committee after committee have examined into and reported on his conduct , and Mr . O'Connorremains . to this hour an unimpeached member of the House of Commons , who may take his seat side by side with the proudest member of them , for not one of them dare to point the finger of accusation at him . Is the House of Commons the express image of the mind of England—ov ia it , as has . been represented by one of its enemies , an assemblage of six hundred scoundrels ? I believe it to bo an assemblage of six hundred gentlemen and men of honour , and yet , though that assemblage had examined , with tho most jealous minuteness , into the conduct cf Mr . O'Connor , they have been unable to detect one solitary flaw in it . I do

      not know what impressions these observations may make . I know what impression they ought to make , and if I am addressing honest minds what impression they will make . The country expects a fair and impartial verdict at your hands , and , I say it not as a threat , that you will discard every lurking prejudice and do that which reason , truth , and honour dictates . Iask not this for your own sake , but because I am here to discharge a duty to my client , and having done that , I leave you to discharge yours . So much , then , with regard to the concealment . Every one of the alleged misrepresentations of the society , in point of fact , are not misrepresentations at all . I pray you not to forget it , but those rules were obliged to be drawn up in a preliminary state , and the names of the parties were put in as it was intended they should be . In proof of this I need but remind you that the

      registrar had approved of the draft , it was then engrossed word for word as it had been approved , and having been engrossed and signed , on being again presented to the registrar he refused to give his assent to it . Could " _* Mr . O'Connor know after the draft had been approved the deed would be refused ? In anticipation of its approval , had he not paid between _£ G 00 and £ 700 for stamps—had he not been . at a great expense for engrossing and getting the signatures , and I believe at this moment the question is being argued in thc Court of Queen ' s Bench , as to whether the registrar was legally right in refusing complete registration , there being minds high in the profession—minds before whom we are in the habit of bowing with difference , who think differently froni thc registrar , aud , as one of tho witnesses had stated , the opinion of three eminent counsel 1 ms been found to be favourable on this very point .

      Ihe Lord Cuief Baron . —Wc have no such evidence . Sergeant Wilkixs . —Wc have it in evidence that counsels' opinion was taken ; and that after that opinion was taken they went on with it . And we have this important fact in evidence , that the registrar approved the deed , and put us to the expense of £ 000 or £ 700 for stamps alone , to say nothing of the expense of sending the deed round the country for si gnatures . Is it not too bad that a public officer should turn round and say that what 1 approve yesterday I will not approve to-day ? Could Mr . O'Connor dream of that ? , Had it not been for that tho Company would at this moment have been carrying on its affairs legally under the Joint Stock Companies' Act .

      Ihe Lord Chief Baron . —If the _register had so registered it , and thc Company is illegal , the registration would go for nothing . If you put ' that to the jury as tlie law which is _nol , I am bound io interpose immediately , and point out that which appears to me to be an error . I quite agree , however , that that makes " ho difference to Mr , O'Connor ' s position , as . brother Wilkins is now putting it ; but it is very important that it should not be understood that a mistake on the part ofa public officer could make that legal which is not . Sergeant Wilkixs . —But it was quite clear that Mr . O'Connor acted in the matter bona fide in the year 1845 , when the rules were propounded . Another meeting was called in December , when they left the word "Chartist" out of their title , I think

      wisely . At the next conference they left out another word , which had become objectionable tothe community , The rules are , in fact , thesame ; the officers are tho same the details nearly the same . After describing the original appointment of officers , the learned counsel said—Mr . O'Connor , although his name was not inserted in the rules as treasurer , published the fact to tho world . Kvcry time an estate was bought , he published the fact who had bought it , what was given for it , and to whom it was conveyed . Ho always told his followers what ho was doing , and what he intended to do . In a spe ech delivered at the nomination at Nottingham , which he published on the 7 th of August , in the Northern Star , a newspaper which was read by almost half a million ot people , he expressly admitted , in as many words ,

      that he was himself the treasurer , and that he was treasurer of £ 70 , 000 . What could be more candid ? What more manly or straightforward than , that admission ? I implore of the jury again to view the case with the calm clear light of reason , and not to permit , any lurking prejudice to drive them to any other verdict _thiuTtbat which might be warranted by reason , truth , and honour . The learned counsel on the other side has had the hardihood to assert , that there is no knowisg what has hecoma of the money that lias been co » tributed by the poor tradespeople . ; but how . audacious is . the assumption ! Because the money was collected from the poor , is that _jwr se a sign of fraud ? It' so , what a fraudulent body are that excellent people tho Methodists . ( A laugh . ) And so were the Anti-Corn League ( turning to Mr . Roebuck ) . .

      . Mr . Hoi-buck . —Well , I was not a member . ( A laugh . ) ' Sergeant Wilkixs . —No , my learned friend travels in his own orbit ; -he ' belongs to nothing . ( A laugh . ) If it be irue that nobody could tell what has become of tho money , what becomes of tho investigation which has been instituted into this whole affair bv order of the House of Commons * Is it true that Mr . O'Connor ' s . account-books have been subjected to a rigorous examination by two accountants of the House oi' Commons who devoted to them fifteen hours a day foi-eighteen days ? And is it also true that the Committee have reported that no Stain whatever rested on thc character < u

      Mr O'Connor , and that it could not be _substautlated against him that ho had _misapprom-iated . one shilling of the funds entrusted to his charge ? Is all this true , or is it all a fable—a mere vision of the _imaoinntion ? If there is one particle of truth in tho allcatiou that it was impossible to ascertain _, what has become of the money of the allottees my learned friend has failed most lamentabl y in his duty to his constituents , and his country in not standing up in his pace in the House of Commons _, and moving that Mr , O'Connor be ignoniiniously expelled . The fact is , thatthe money which haa fallen into the hands of Mr . O' Connor can bo

      accounted . for out of his books to the last farthinf . The receipts were published regularly every week ih tho ' Northern Star , and of all tho ' witnesses that have been examined on the other side , not one has had the audabify to . charge Mr .. O'Connor with having misappropriated one shilling of the _nxoney

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), March 16, 1850, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_16031850/page/7/