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Northern Star (1837-1852), 25th April 1846, Edition 3 of 3, Page 4

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    • •MPHOMAS COOPER. THB CHARTISTS ,lun -WORKS.
    • PoRTiuir of Patrick O'IIiggixs , Esq.—The portrait of Patrick O'fliggins is now eneraved on
    • THE NOETHEEN STAK. SATURDAY, APRIL 25, 1846.
  • Adverts (8)
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      V Toe ^ N April 25, 1846.

      V _TOE N April 25 , 1846 .

      •Mphomas Cooper. Thb Chartists ,Lun -Works.

      • _MPHOMAS COOPER . THB CHARTISTS , _lun -WORKS .

      Ad00408

      To he had of John Cleave , and all bookseller' * . ( Price One Shilling . ) TWO ORATIONS AGA _1 SST 1 TAKING AWAY _HUMAtf LIFE , _-T'TTXDER anv Circumstances ; nnd in explanation and V . U defe nce « f the misrepresented doctrine of" Kon . IBaBesistanre . " _( _Delir-red in the _National Hall , Holborn , (« mi « mthe _evcmnpof February 25 th » nd March 4 tu . ) ' -The « e or . _iti _. m * arc the outpourings of a mind tliBt < wnwnL make i _«< _-lf heard . in spite of the abuse of hireling _^ _ddemag _osu _.-s _. or the misrepresentations _on » ous tricksters _SSutbMir * - 'tis gifted with genius and inspired by that _SSSmwr produced by _aquu * _pmspttm of < _" . _«' , ' _^^ d _^ rofon nd tore * . * _venation for , _«*« , « d its

      Ad00409

      A GOOD FIT WARRANTED . UBSDELL AND CO ., Tailors , are now making up a complete Suit of Superfine Black , any suse , for £ 3 ; Superfine West of England Black , £ 3 10 s . ; and the very best Superfine Saxony , £ 5 , warranted not to spot or _chan-e colour . Juvenile Superfine Cloth Suits , 24 s . ; Liveries equally cheap—at the Great Western Emporium , Nos . 1 and 2 , Oxford-street , London ; the noted bouse for good black cloths , and patent made trousers . Gentlemen can choose the colour and quality of cloth from the _largest stock in London . he irt of cutting taught .

      Ad00410

      TO TAILORS . Now ready , TEE LOXDON and PARIS SPRINC and SUMMER FASHIONS , for 1 S 46 . By approbation of her Majesty Queen Victoria , and bis Royal Highness Prince Albert , a splendidly coloured print , beautifully executed , published by BENJAMIN READ and Co ., 12 , Ilart-. _" trect , Bloomsbury-square , London ; and G . Berger , Holywell-street , Strand , London . Sold by the publishers and all booksellers , wheresoever residing-. Tbis superb Print will be accompanied with full size Riding Dress and Frock Coat patterns , a complete pattern of tbe new

      Ad00411

      DAGURREOTYPE AND CALOT 1 TE . THE APPARATUS , LENS , CHEMICALS , PLATES CASES , and every other articlv used in making and mounting the above can be had of 1 . Egerton , No 1 , Temple-street , _Whitefriarg , London , _descriptive Catalogues gratis . LEREBOURS' celebrated ACHROMATIC TRIPLET LEXSES for the MICROSCOPE , sent to any part of the country at the following prices : —Deep Power , 60 s . ; Low Power , * . _' 5 s . Every article warranted .

      Ad00412

      Just published , by the Executive Committee of the National Charter Association , Parts I ., II ., and III . of THE POLITICAL WORKS OF _MOMAS PAINE : to be regularly continued until completed . This edition of the works of Paine has the merit of being the cheapest and neatest ever offered to the public . It will consist of fire parts , stitched in wrapper , at sixpence each ; and will be embellished with a beautiful vignette of the author , engraved exclusively for this work . London : Cleave , 1 , Shee-lane ; Heywood , Manchester ; and all booksellers and agents of the Northern Star . N . B . Orders executed by T . M . Wheeler , General Secretary ; and by the various Sub-secretaries throughout the country .

      Ad00413

      UNITED PATRIARCHS BENEFIT _SOCIETY Pour Hundred Persons hare become Members in Six Months Opeafor ashorl time to Healthy Men up to FORTY-FIVE years of Age . Answer this question!—Have you provided against the casualties of Li fe , Sickness , and Death ?—If not , baste and enter this flourishing Institution . Society House , Round Table Tavern , St . _Martin ' s-court , Leicester-square . Society ' s Office , 13 , Tottenham-court , New-road , St . Paneras , London , Enrolled and Empowered by Act of Parliament , to extend over the United Kingdom . To have Agents and Medical Attendants . The Society is . in Four Divisions , for its Members to receive , according to their payments , the following Benefits : —

      Ad00414

      POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY FOR THE PEOPLE . Just published , THE POPULAR INFORMANT , Parts land 2 , Price 8 d . This work is printed ia double columns , one containing Geographical and Statistical Facts , the other being devoted to Political Inferences in the shape of a ruuning Commentary . " This new periodical is another sign of the times , illustrating the desire of the poor to store their minds with real knowledge . The geographical and sound statistical facts , and the political inferences , are well adapted to excite a further desire for uiformation . "Morning Advertiser . "We heartily applaud the liberal spirit tbat pervades this work , and express our conviction of its utility as a whole . The idea was a good one , and the writer evinces much _infi'xmation and an elaborate research in carrying it out . "— Weekly Dispatch ,

      Ad00415

      HARE ON SPINAL DISEASE . This da ; is published , royal Svo . 7 s . PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS en the Causes , Prevention and Cure of CURVATURES of the SPINE . With Twelve Engravings , illustrative ofthe Cases . By SAMUEL HARE , M . R . C . S . Lately published , by the same Author , Svo ., 2 s . 6 d . CASES AND OBSERVATIONS , illustrative of the Beneficial Results which may be obtained by close attention and perseverance , in some ofthe most Chronic and unpromising instances of Spiual Deformity . With 16 Engravings on Wood . London : John Churchill , Princes-street ; and may be bad of all Booksellers .

      Portiuir Of Patrick O'Iiiggixs , Esq.—The Portrait Of Patrick O'Fliggins Is Now Eneraved On

      PoRTiuir of Patrick _O'IIiggixs , Esq . —The portrait of Patrick _O'fliggins is now eneraved on

      Steel, And Specimens Will Be In The Hand...

      steel , and specimens will be in the hands of out several agents in the course of next week ; and as toon as a sufficient number are printed , no time will be lost in forwarding them to our several agents .

      The Noetheen Stak. Saturday, April 25, 1846.

      THE NOETHEEN STAK . SATURDAY , APRIL 25 , 1846 .

      Trades Conference. |Scarcelt Has A Year ...

      TRADES CONFERENCE . | Scarcelt has a year elapsed since the first representation of the Tradestook place in the Metropolis , and now we learn , with inexpressible delight , thai invitations hare been issued to the several bodies , to elect delegates to sit in a National Conference , to be held at Manchester , during the Whitsuntide holi . days . From us , who have ever found it our painful duty to speak of thc Trades as they deserved , that body must only expect the exact amount of encomium that their own works entitles them to . We have

      long struggled , and not unsuccessfully , against all other aristocracies , individually and unitedly , and whilst their power was only capable of subjecting us to temporary punishment or casual incarceration , the ill-used power of the Trades , their jealousies , their trucklings their bidding for masters' favour and overseers' toleration , has imposed upon the working classes permanency of suffering _, and a whole life of sorrow . Yes , we say with regret , that the aristocracy of labour in this , as in every other country , is the vilest , most corrupt , servile , stinking , and _oppressive

      Trades Conference. |Scarcelt Has A Year ...

      aristocracy that right and justice have to contend against . However , as the old adage tells us , "that a fellow feeling makes us wondrous kind , " we have now reason to anticipate some change in the tactics , some correction of the abuses , some relaxation of the hostilities , by which the conduct of the Trades has been heretofore marked . We look forward at the present moment with more than ordinary anxiety , to the tone that shall be adopted at thc ensuing Conference . If it is merely one of union , as a mode of administering comfort to the suffering oppressed out' of the

      poor pittance of thc half-paid slave ; if it is but one of organization , whereby the thrice-told talo of woe may be again hashed up and spiced as consolation to the suffering , or sauce for the philanthropic and considerate ; if the value of restriction , without a just application of the principle , is to be discussed , leaving it to each section to apply what to them may appear the most fitting details ; if the exclusion of politics , from a dread of Bearing the timid , ot strengthening the masters , who oppress by politics alone , if such shall constitute the programme of the projected Conference wc shall anticipate but little good and much of evil from the gathering .

      If upon the other hand they are taught that appeals , petitions , and remonstrances have been met by insult , oppression , " and resistance , and that masters strength can only be met by men ' s power ; if they are taught that to be united in mind , there must be unity of action—and if unity of action , that there must be unity of mind ; if they are taught to believe and understand that a Ten Hours' Bill means impartial restriction—just , wise , and national restriction , while that of mere sectional convenience does not partake of nationality or general advantage ; if they are taught that all previous attempts to do

      justice to their order have been dear but fatal experiments ; if they are taught that the law , above all other tyrannies , oppresses them when they use its just provisions , because the masters make and administer the laws , and that therefore they must seek a participation in legislation and the administration of justice ; if they are taught that the hours of labour spared from toil will seek for profitable employment elsewhere , and that each emigrant from the house of bondage to the open field of free labour is an incubus removed from industry , an item pruned from the unhealthy idle reserve ; if they are taught that their money , heretofore fruitlessly expended , may be henceforth profitably devoted to tho

      application of surplus labour to their own property in the soil ; if they arc taught that they have struggled hopelessly as an aristocracy of their order , and that they must now link themselves inseparably with the democracy of that order ; if the truth is instilled into them that thc present chaotic confusion is not so much a consequence of rival factious warring against each other as the . contest of the democratic many against the aristocratic few in every section of society ; if they arc taught those things , and profit by them and act upon them , they will have distinguished , honoured , immortalised the man who has had the proud daring to step from the quiet ranks of the aristocracy amid the bustle of democracy .

      Dbscombb is greater as a member of the Chartist Association than as "President of the Trades budy or speaker of the Trades parliament , if that body and that parliament does not adopt some more distinguishing characteristic ; some more understandable and reconcileable policy than the Trades of this country have as yet adopted or ventured upon . Can the greatest stickler for political non-intervention assign any just or reasonable cause why every delegate should not be prepared

      with a petition to Parliament in favour ot the Ten Hours' Bill , as the . ; only possible mode of carrying out the principle of impartial restriction ? The time from the present to the hour of meeting is but short , and yet wc fear that thc utmost advantage will not be made of it ; we fear that delegates may attend aud feel the necessity of abstaining from voting upon questions upon which evory man's mind should be made up , until the sense of his constituents can be ascertained . Such course would but lead to

      disastrous delay , and it is therefore that we fondly anticipate the publication of & programme , so comprehensive and full of meaning as not even the most ignorant can misunderstand : a programme that will nerve the zealous and arouse the apathetic , a programme that will teach the confiding aristocracy of labour that exclusive rule and government is henceforth to be but a rotten reed ; a programme that will teach the struggling democracy of each trade that it has at length an interest in the election ofa delegate , a hope in the resolves of the deliberative assembly ; a programme that will develope to

      the world , as well as to the trades , the collateral interest that every section of society will have in supporting the measures therein propounded ; « programme which shall boldly open the whole question of labour and capital , even to the weak-sighted and stunted in intellect , instead of presenting a mere kaleidiscope in which sectional interests may be shaken into party ( patchwork , to please the eye of the fastidious , to suit the taste of the hypercritical ; a programme that will dare all that docs not invite the law ' s persecution ; a programme that will blink nothing within the comprehension of the meanest capacity .

      Can any man of common sense and sound mind peruse the daring , insolent , outrageous and tyran nical manifesto of the master builders of Lancashire , and the bold , the manly and comprehensive reply from the governing national body in London , without coming to the conclusion that the tyrants have drawn the sword of their weak and pigmy powei and that their slaves must throw away the scabbard . The Trades have selected a governing body whose vigilance does them honour , whose ceurage does them credit , and whose intellect reflects upon them imperishable renown . The Trades have invited the first patriot , the boldest man , and the most intelligent of his order , to assume the hazardous pest o ' chief ; his character depends upon their courage , h ' t s utility depends upon their energy .

      These monsters , the master tyrants , seek but the public weal , and the men ' s advantage , forsooth ' . These mild philanthropists declare their preference for high wages , in preference to their practical grind . ing and reduction , ever measured by the necessities of their oppressed slaves ; governed , not by the justice of their employers , but by the hard wants and stern necessities of a class-made surplus , an idle reserve upon which the tyrants ever fall back as a means of administering their own peculiar justice to the

      public . Can any man with brains , with heart , with hands , with one particle of self-respect , of human nature remaining in him , read the following insolent conditions prescribed by the rude capitalists without blushing that his own sycophancy has subjected bim to so humiliating , so galling a condition —the condition _ujon which alone he is to be allowed to live—the condition upon which he is to receive justice—the condition upon whicli stands the public weal .

      We print the defamation here again , although we published it last week . Read it , mark it , learn it , and inwardly digest it , ye slaves to the foul dominion of capital , to the capricious rule of self-constituted law-makers : — " In entering into the service of I hereby declare that I am not in any way connected with the General Trades ' Union , and I undertake that [ will not join or subscribe to , or in any manner support or belong to , any General Trades' Union whatever , whilst I am in your service . " ( Signed )

      Does not the proud crest of labour rise , does not the toiled blood of the excited slave run hot through his veins , as he peruses the above stricture upon his former indifference and subserviency _. and does he not swear in his -wrath that he will avenge thc insult by throwing off his former apathy , and now , in the strength of his union and the grandeur of his nature meet thc daring foe , within tiie circle to which he has

      Trades Conference. |Scarcelt Has A Year ...

      limited the battle . Resistance and victory , or surrender and defeat . We feel convinced that the proposed Conference will give new life , and strength , and vigour to the struggling building Trades of Lancashire , while the perusal of the above insult to universal labour will induce all , who can spare the merest fraction from their poor hoard , to assist in provisioning the soldiers of labour for one short month , until its representatives shall have had an opportunity of bringing tho unjust struggle to a glorious conclusion *

      Let the tyrants' speculations grow cold , and remain unroofed , but let not labour's hand be paralysed by confirming its own degradation . We are justified in stating , that the London Directory feels an inexpressible interest in the success of the great struggle , ' and that its every machinery is at constant work to alleviate the sufferings ofthe strugglers , and to bring the contest to a successful issue ; and let thc weak of heart take strength and courage , when he remembers , that

      " Labour ' s battle once begun Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son Tlio' battled oft is evct won . "

      The Ten Hours' Bill. When Sir Robert Pee...

      THE TEN HOURS' BILL . When Sir Robert Peel introduced his bombshell into thc camp of the organised conspirators , wc hailed it for the collateral results likely to flow from it , rather than for any distinct , benefit that the proposed . measure was calculated to confer on thc working classes . In the outset , we not only invited attention to the Ten Hours' Bill , but wc repeatedly pointed out the necessity of such a measure , and the means

      of achieving it . Wc were not amongst those who proposed tranquillity as a means of insuring Minis _, terial success ; but , on the contrary , our policy was , to take advantage of the troubled state of factions to aid iii the accomplishment of the Ten Hours' Bill , second only in importance to the People's Charter itself . We saw and exposed the coquetry of Lord Ashley , and felt assured that the measure would suffer great damage from his want of

      courage . We traced it from his guardianship to that of Mr . Fieloes ; we narrowly watched the movements of the Short Time Committee , and we discovered that subserviency , ill-health , and weakness , were obstacles which should be removed by the substitution of better materials . It would be impossible to deny that the Protectionists in their present hopeless and

      discomfited state , would cheerfully aid in the accomplishment of a measure so threatening to monopoly , and so dangerous to the power of their millocrat rivals . It was not , however , for us to force the consideration of the question upon Parliament or its supporters . It was our duty to point out where the machinery was rotten or defective , and it was the duty of those who undertook its management to see to the repairs .

      We asked for petitions on behalf of the measure , but the Managing Committee did not aid us . We asked for a delegation to London , and the Committee gratified us with a Yery faint representation of working class zeal . We asked the _Managing Committee to aid us in getting up a timely and irrepressible agitation ; we asked them to withdraw all hope from the exertions of Lord Ashley , and to transfer their expectations to the exertions of an interested and united people ; but they have been deaf to our every re . monstrance , until , through their indifference , their apathy , or obedience to their noble patron , they have

      placed thc question under a bushel , just at a time when its paramount value should be contended for in the Ilouse of Commons . It is always disagreeable , and sometimes dangerous , to deal harshly with an organised body , accustomed to the use of power , and possessed of some amount of confidence . Their name becomes mixed up with the value of the measure ; their timidity is set down to proper caution , and their individual predilection is placed to the account of good policy . Despite the danger , however , we again appeal from the apathetic committee to the aotive people .

      Thero is no feature of this great question that we have not presented to the criticism of those for whose good it is intended . We have exhibited its value in a political , social , moral , and intellectual point , of view : while we have shewn that it , and it alone , is the realization of the principle of restriction upon whicli alone the success of any Trades movement must depend . When we asserted that the present Committee did not consist of working men , we did

      not mean to assert that there were no working men upon « the committee ; but we did mean to assert , and now repeat it , that Lord Ashley ' s feelings , and not the merits of the measure , was the especial consideration with the _moving power of that committee . It was upon these grounds , and upon these grounds only , that we asked for the appointment of such a directing body as wouid ensure devotion for thc principle , instead of worship for him who has thrice deserted it .

      What possible reason is there for allowing the measure to sleep while the hope of securing it shall have passed away ? What have the working classes to do with the free trade policy of Sir Robert Pekl beyond converting it to the advantage of their own order ? Why should they pause or hesitate lest thc agitation of a question dear to them should jeopardise ministerial hope ? We tell them now , as we told them from the beginning , that free trade WITHOUT A TEN HOURS' BILL , that free trade without A

      PROPER CONSOLIDATION OF TIIE TRADES , that free trade without possession of tlie nieims to convert any benefit that may flow from it to working class advantage would be the severest , the heaviest , the greateat , and most fatal blow , that could be aimed at labour . We beg the attention of out readers to the reasons assigned for our approval of Peel ' s policy , and from them it will be seen th .. t those who have an interest in the success of the Ten _Houi-s' Bill , and not we , are chargeable with apathy , indifference , and impolicy , if thc favourable timo for its discussion is lost . In our commentary on the _mea-ures of Sir Robert Peel in the Star ofthe 31 st of January , we assigned the following as our reasons for approving them : —

      " It is not so much to the bearing upon those _peculiiir interests that we look as to the peculiar and astounding influence which they are calculated to exercise upon our political and social relations . " "Now is the time to force popular concessions in the last moments of » d . > ing aristocracy . Now is tha time , when their own privileges arc threatened with sudden death , to awaken them to a contemplation ol those they have so long withheld from others . Beliere us when we say , that the future interest of landlords and cotton-lords will be more autugoniitic than those of landlords and labourers ; and now , for the first time in the history of this _country , the ear of labour must be prepared to hear long _supprcsoed truisms from the lips of a proud but humbled oligarchy . "

      Such were someof our reasons for approving Peel ' s policy , and now we shall extract a few passages from the Star of the following week , the 7 th of February , from an article headed

      LABOUR AND CAPITAL . THE TEN HOURS' BILL . And after a week ' s consideration as to what should be the use made by the working classes of the crisis which Sir Robert Pekl _' s measure was likely to create , we said : — " When we heartily applaud them asa means to an end we assert , without the fear of contradiction , that , unless followed by an immediate and statesmanlike calculation , in which tho wants of labour and power of machinery shall be fairly measured and equall y balanced , that they will produce uvil instead of good . The labouring d _.-tssc-s of this or of any other country have never reeeived from their rulers more justice than they had of themselves the power-to extort ,

      Again , " As , therefore , it would be impossible for thc wisest oi most far-seeing Primo Minister to embody all the national grievances into one category , and abolish tiiem bv one en . aciment , we invite the stik-weiivors _, tho paper-stainers and all other trades whose interests are threatened by Sir Robert Peel ' s measures , to join , one and all , in the l 0 Uv ' l shout of restriction , and a Ten Hours' Bill . Again ,

      "The agricultural labourer _isyomucr _, happier M cheerful and healthy at the age of s _« ven , tl , " the _^ Btontly employed operative is nt the _a-reof _twentr-Bn lm . _youiuj _bloody sapped out of his veins-he was _W _., „

      The Ten Hours' Bill. When Sir Robert Pee...

      ave _, brad a slave , lives a slave , and dies a slave . Not a wave to the minister , not a slave to the law , not a slave to system , nor yet to his master , but a slave to the _accunicd disunion , to the blighting jealousies of his own order . The article concluded thus , " Wc now invite them to a wholesome commencement . The struggle between the landlords and cotton-lords is at hand ; each will gladly fake advantage of the necessities ofthe other ; and as no question is wore threatening to the haughty capitalist thun timt of diminishing the hours of slave labour , and us no measure would be better calculated to relieve landlords , shopkeepers , and housekeepers from the ltimvy burthen of poor-rates , let the TEN HOURS' « SlIELL » _burst like magic _amount them ,

      and let the people hail the explosion with an incessant echo from without . Now is the time—the very time—the exact tim *—to force this measure in all its beatings upon the considerations of Parliament ; for let the people rest assured that out ofthe strife of contending factions alouc can they expect deference to their will , _IV'licn the battle is over , tlw national struggle will commence , nnd let us he prepared with two koun' breathing time after the duy 6 ' toil to take counsel for future operations . Nothing can be more unnatural than _preseribiiigeoual length of labour to the sickly and robust—to the weak and the strong ; and we pant for the time when fathers , mothers , mill their children shall cat , drink , sleep , work , and piny according to their respective age , strength , ability , aud inclination . "

      Such were our opinions of Peel ' s measures on the 31 st of January , and such were our notions ofthe use to be made of them on the 7 th of February _. and wcraay ask if reasons for approval could be stronger or more cogent , or if invitation to take advantage of _thecrisis could be more impressive or persuasive . Are we not , then , in return entitled to demand from those who had the management of the questiou as strong and cogent reasons for having neglected our timely warning , for having refused our cordial invitation ? We would further ask if , after three months dilly dally sheer humbug and trilling with the rights , nay with the very lives of millions , we act with precipitancy or inconsiderately when we again invite the country

      to _Substitute a nervous for an apathetic , a zealous for an _( inenergetic body . Nay , we went further , we promised our aid for a montli . il * the committee would only assist us , but the quiescent spirits representing the tranquillity of their yielding general , " WITH TUE BLESSING OF GOD" refused our gratuitous labour ; whilst some professing Chartists , some who have tendered pledges and vows of allegiance to the great principle , acquiesced in the mawkish _. slavish policy ot separating the question of a Ten Hours' Bill from all political considerations ; and preferred VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY to Lord Ashley to an appeal to metropolitan feeling , which we shewed them was never more ripe or prepared to entertain the question .

      We hate this begging policy , this pandering to individual weakness or subtlety : this quartering of principle upon the easiness of those who are satisfied with a tolerated greatness . Having now fully explained our anticipations from Pi-el ' s incisure , and the course proposed by us aud that pursued by the Short Time Committee , we ask in fairness to ourselves , and those whom we represent , who is to blame for the present state of THE TEN HOURS' BILL ?

      Consistency. Wo Little Thought When Wc E...

      CONSISTENCY . Wo little thought when wc entered upon a consideration of the value of " Repetition" last week that we should ( be called upon so speedily to repeat their own lesson to some of our grown-up school-fellows who actually taught it to us so recently as last December . We have frequently observed that tiie . e is a philosophy in idleness , and

      sometimes irreparable mischief iu action . Nor do we think that we have ever evinced any disinclination to do a man a part when prudence proclaimed that thc time / or active service had arrived . But to the Repetition . In . December last a Convention assemble . i in Manchester for tiie special purpose of considering the policy lo be pursued by the Chartist party under tlie new circumstances that a repeal of the Com Laws would be likely to create .

      There never was a more attentive or deliberative assembly than that elected to discuss the subject , and the principle grounds whicli urged iliem to a relaxation of tbeir active hostility to a repeal of the Corn Laws was , Firstly , that in the event of the Chartist party persevering in their opposition to the League , and iu the event of ( he Protectionists being enabled to preserve the present laws , that all the odium

      consequent upon famine _sutiering , pestilence suffering , and coercion suffering of the Irish people , would not only be saddled upon the English Chartists , but that ., further , Mr . Cobden . and Mr . O'Connell would have good aud tenable grounds for attaching undue importance to a measure Til AT HAD NOT PASSED , but w . is obstructed by the Chartists , and also for convincing tlie Irish people that the RASCALLY CHARTISTS WERE THEIR _MuaT

      BITTER ENEMIES . Secondly , that in the event of the protectionists succeeding in their _opposition , a Tory government pledged to Church and King principles , and the bloody old Tory test , wouid be the result . The Executive , the Convention , three overflowing meetings at Manchester , one nt Rochdale , one at Wigau , one at Ash-on , and though last not least one at Todmorden , approved and adopted this policy without a dissentient voice . It was not hastily adopted—it was calmly discussed , it was matuieij deliberated upon for more than a week , and not a breath of opposition was offered ; but on the

      contrary , a Lancashire meeting was called for . New-1 ' ear ' s Day , for thc purpose of hubmiltiug the policy to the working classes , of that great county . And , now , we beg to remind every man who acted as a delegate upou that convention , that he waa pledged to assist and aid in carrying it out . Well , we learn that some who cannot see the philosophy of _idlenesi when actioii would be injurious , some who will work when to work is an evil , and who will not work when thore is danger in the service , are now busily engaged in taking exceptions to this policy ; and would fain disturb the calm by an agitation against the free trade policy bi Sir Robert Peel .

      We admit that they are not parties who have laboured with us , and struggled with us , but that tbey arc individuals who have thrown eYcry obstacle in our way , and who would now supply a crutch to that lameness which they themselves have created , for the mere purpose of stultifying thc exertions of the Executive , the Convention , and thc people of Lancashire . Some men cannot exist in a quiet atmosphere , who would readily sow the wind hut refuse to reap the whirlwind . To them , dissension in our ranks has ever been a godsend , nay , our disunionhasever constituted their honourable uieaus of existence . Wc are now asked to get up an agitation for the Repeal of the Poor Law Amendment Act aud for the Ten Hours '

      Bill , and to press those measures upon the notice ot Parliament as part payment for toleration to the measures of Sir _Robem Pi-el . We have already , i a previous article , emphatically shown that we pressed this policy when the party now advocating it were mute as the grave ; nay more , we aic presseu to hasten the holding of the National Convention , for the purpose of discussing those two questions ; when , as wc have before shown , not only the state ol parties in England , but the state of affairs in America—the state of feeling throughout the world , and not the possibility or probability , but the certainty of a dissolution of Parliament ere long , would render the holdiig of another Convention indispensable .

      It is scarcely tair to eleet a governing body , to acquiesce in thc policy of a governing body , to cheer i hat body on with professions of approval and confidence , and then to stultify them by compelling them to acquiesce , not in the imbecile , not in the insane , but m the stark , staring ravings of persons who have never lost an opportunity of firing the sharpest arrow in their quiver at the Executive and the Chartist body . We trust , however , to the good sense and reflection of honest men . We trust that they will sec not only the policy but the j ustice and indispensable necessity of courting an alliance with the Irish people , that tliey will see that ithascostmuch naiss , perse-

      Consistency. Wo Little Thought When Wc E...

      verance , and forbearance towards the Irish in England to induce them to withhold active co-operation from the free trade party , and they must understand that we best prepare them to enlist in the general service of regeneration , by not again outraging their feelings by tke foolish belief that we have aided the Protectionists in starving their countrymen at home . We never write upon a question of such magnitude upon our own single responsibility , and we must , therefore , call to memory the fact that we before stated , that Mr . Duncombe in every way acquiesced in the policy of the Executive and the Convention ; and we may further add , that in an interview with that gentleman to-day , when we slated the new feeling sought to be engendered , his only answer was

      " THEY MUST BE MAD : DO THEY FORGET THAT WE ARE ALL COMMITTED TO THE . FOLICY , AND THAT IT IS THE BEST AKDONLY POLICY THAT COULD BE PURSUED . " Under all the circumstances then we have sufficient reliance on the firmness , wisdom , and resolution , of the Executive , to lead us to a fervent hope that they will not allow their policy to be disturbed , or their intentions perverted , by the over anxious desire

      of opponents to injure , or friends to mislead . If they are determined to earn that character for respectwhich the country seems willing to award , they will persevere in a straightforward course , which will at all times bear a searching scrutiny , rather than seek a flimsy fleeting popularity , by deferring to the caprice of every crotchet-monger that chooses to bid for popular favour , as a means of carrying on the war for yet a little longer .

      PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW . TnE session wliich opened so full of promise threatens to be " a do-nothing" one . " Nothing is stirring save stagnation . " The curtailment of the usual Easter recess has not expedited the business before the Legislature . Thc sitting of Friday , last week , left matters in precisely the same position in which they were before Parliament adjourned . Peel is" in a fix , " and all parties seem paralysed . On Monday another of those outward and visible signs which betoken the perplexity of the Ministry , and the manner in whicli parties are mutually

      checkmated , was given by thc fact of there being " nohouse . " This is the second t me this has occurred since the Irish Coercion Bill has been introduced into the Commons , and from the firm and unyielding spirit exhibited by the Irish members there is reason to believe that it will not be the last , should the Ministry persevere in their determination to press the first reading of tbat bill before proceeding with the remaining stages of the Corn Bill . Onesignificant symptom of the false position in which all parties now find themselves is to be found in the fact that no explanation was either asked or given on the

      following evening , as to the causes which led to the * ' no house" of Monday night . It is a subject which will not bear handling , and acting upon the maxim of the poet that " what would offend the eye in a good picture the painter casts discreetly into shade , " it seemed to be tacitly agreed that the less said about the matter the better for all parties . Not a syllable was uttered by any one which could tend to elucidate the causes why in the midway of what seemed to be a triumphant career , a Minister , with a majority of 100 at his command , has been reduced to a state of inaction , while all the reasons wliich originallv

      induced him to propound his new measures , so far from being diminished , are more pressing and imperative at the present moment than when they were first proposed . Thc famine and disease which in January were predicted , have actually commenced their ravages in Ireland . The starving and desperate people of that part of the empire have risen in various parts , and seized upon the food for lack of which they perish , and the transit from one place to another of flour ar , d other provisions has to be effected under the protection of the military . On the other hand , the delay in passing the Corn and Customs Act has

      in combination with other causes , produced a most injurious effect upon the trade , manufactures , and commerce of this country . Unless the suspense and uncertainty at present existing be speedily dispelled , we may expect a recurrence of the scenes of 1 S 12 in tlie manufacturing districts . A serious responsibility rests upon the Government and the Legislature under these circumstances , and it is equally disgraceful to both , that at the very moment when instant and determined action is required , the machinery of both should be absolutely standing still .

      " ( tumour points to a dissolution as a not improbable occurrence , but really at the present critical moment we cannot see what is to be gained by such a step . This is no time for fighting the battles of faction . Why is the comfort of the industrious masses of this country to be jeopardised by the paltry quarrels of the Sir Roberts , Lord Johns and Lord Georges , as to the possession of place and

      power ? That a continuance of the present state of things will have such an effect there can be no doubt . Excluded as the great body of the people are from all direct participation in political power , it matters little to them what section of the ruling class are in office , but it is a matter of the utmost importance to them that the struggles of these rivals for power should not interrupt the flow of capital and the diffusion of emplovmcnt .

      Mr . DnxcoMBK , the intrepid and active champion of the working classes in Parliament and the terror of all evil doers out of it , has made the dreary period of stagnation , since the close of the Easter recess , somewhat useful by a motion on the disgraceful mismanagement of the Post-office . He showed conclusively , that a system of jobbing exists in that establishment , wliich is most injurious to the publie _interw-fs , inasmuch as besides enabling the parties who benefit by that jobbing to enrich themselves at the public expencc , it interferes seriously with the efficiency of the office , and converts those who should

      be only thc servants of thc public into the slaves of salaried officers , who use them under threats of dismissal to advance their own personal interests . The speech in which Mr . Cardwell , tho secretary of the treasury , replied to the demand of the hon member for Finsbury for a committee of inquiry into these allegations , was of the most flippant and unsatisfactory description , and though the vote went against the appointment of the committee , it wns the mere decision of " physical force ; " argument there was nono , rebutting facts there were none , and we venture to say that Mr . Duncombe will have , as in all his previous assaults upon this department , the public

      mind completely with him . Even the ex officials who fill thc Whig front bench , ready though they always are to support the occupants of the _Treasury bench opposite , from that " fellow feeling which makes us wondrous kind , " and thc expectation tbat if ever they sit there again , the present officials wil ] . act upon the old adage that " one good turn deserves another , " _werejeompelled to admit Mr . Duncombe had made out a good ease , as against Mr . Kelly ' s publishing tiie Post Office Directory . We have no doubt that though the Committee was refused , the discussion will have a salutary effect , and perhaps the dread of" a renewal of the subject will lead to a virtual attainment ofthe object in view * .

      A question of immense importance to the working classes was debated on Wednesday—the new Bill for the regulation of Friendly Societies . When tlio matter was first brought forward by Mr . _Duscomrb , it was with the view of settling by a declaratory . " . ot the legality ol" all Societies which have been enrolled by Mr . Tidd _Piutt , the barrister , appointed for that purpose , and wliich had been made questionable by

      a decision of Mr . Justice Wioiitjiax . Sir J . Gkaium did not oppose tho introduction of tho bill for that pnrpose _, he even appeared friendly to it , and only requested a little time to consult with Mr . Tidd I _' katt , for the purpose of making it more effective _, lie went faither , and took it out of the hands of the honest friend of the industrious classes who brought it in , and it now appa s that he _lai nwte me of both opportunities to * e care of it as the m \ i

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), April 25, 1846, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_25041846/page/4/