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Northern Star (1837-1852), 11th March 1843, Edition 1 of 5, Page 4, Untitled Article

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    • THE NOETHEEF ^ STAR. SATURDAY, MARCH 11, 1843.
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      NOTICE . 3 Jany articles of news and several ! -communications are unavoidably shut -ont this week . A glance at the matter weisve given will show the reason why . ....... .. ? ¦« ~' OsMoxday kext , the 13 th instant , Mr . Roberts , Solicitors she Chartists , TnUaddi ^ E the Peopl e of Manchester , in ihe Carpenter ' s HaU , at eight o ' clock , when he will give * n aceount of the proceedings at Lancaster -connected With iae Chsnist trials . Admission -One Penny , to . go to ihe Defence Fund .

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      THE TRIAL . Ws can but call attectioa to ihe continnatien of our report of this most important proceeding . We i » ve giren all respecting it we could procure up to the latest moment of going to press . The befekcb , it will be seen , was entered upon j and tie trial wa 3 expected to close about noon on Thursday . In succeeding Editions we shall give the proceedings up to the end . It 33 impossible to particularize remarkable incidentB $ n connecuon with ibis trial at present . ^ The state of onr columns alone forbidB it . There is muck , however , to be said upon the whole

      znatter , both generally and particularly . To say Has , occasions mu 3 t be embraced a 3 they present iheneelTes . A ixssos , jtsna to bk-pobgottks , arcsx bs liKES t&oh it . It is the last proceeding of ihe sort thai we must have in connection with the Chartist ceuse ! Whatever may be the result of the Jury ' s finding , we must endeavour in fntnre so to condncl onr exertions foi tiie attainment of right , as to preclude the possibility of < ho leadera of the people baring again to stand at the bar , to answer such charges as circumstances hare this time enabled the Attobket-Gekkral to frame against them .

      Tins can be done . This must be done . It u truly lamentable to see the exertions , and time , and money , of the poor workies employed in aid of such purposes , S 3 we sometimes have seen them put to . We must have no more of it 2 The knowledge we hare gained by ihe past will enable us so to direct our efforts in ihe fnture , as to produce to us manifest proof of their utility . Ho more outbreaks i No more secret plottings I Ho mow strikes ] 2 ? o more patting < raiselYCB between the fangs Jof the Attorney-General ! No more Indictments 1 But plenty more

      of peaceful and firm agitation ! Plenty more of operating on public opinion 1 Plenty more of itnifrig the working people in a strong and firm union to resist the onward progress of oppression , and introduce ihe reign of right . Plenty more of efforts lt > obtain some-portion of tht * laxd , to show the Trorld yrhaX we can do with political power ¦ when we procure ii 1 Plenty more of these things ; but ail iciihin the late !

      lathe accomplishment of these objects , we can 3 » Tfr the direct TEcnos op law , if we choose to avail ourselTes of it . The time has come when this 4 an be , and must be done . "We lire in a world of progression j ana thB josd that has been evolted by ihe previous applications of our energies will guide onr steps to a far advanced position . We bare just seen a gentleman who has returned from -Lancaster . Ma brings news of a confident lope generally entertained of a verdict of acquittal .

      The effect of the speeches in defence upon the spectators in court has been most striking . During the \ address of Phxtss , when telling of his suffer- ' ¦ ings , almost every eye was suffused with tears . < Tie Jnry and the Bar were sensibly affected . - ' He boldly and fervently told them , if another ) reduction in bjs wages was attempted he would ] resist it ! He would seoner take his life with his own hand than submit to another reduction I

      Potatoes and salt were all that he could at present procure , even though lehimself , and his wife , and his cbfltirehj were all in fall ^ ork 1 Less titan potatoes ' * od salt he would not put np-with . Just before going to press we reeeiTed a private ' note from one of ihe defendants , who had addressed j the Jury , enclosing some slips of his address , for , publication . In it he says as follows . We give it , J seeasse it is the latest news we hare : — . j u OTowob made a splendid defence—spoke two ; hours and a quarter . Defence concluded shortly j after mid-day . We hav&hadtihe reply of the

      Attorney-General . To-morrow the Judge Bams np ; and . Jhenforlhe Verdict !"

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      of : the day , to qualify them to enter the factory av-all . The children will thus have some chance « f obtaining , the rudiments of common knowledge = 3 * least , ; and not be subjected , as they have hitherto been , to the eternal din , and noise , and -stench of the factory , without intermission or respite . : lt is true that the present Factory Act protects " children" from being worked more than &g \ t hours a-day ; and that it directs that they shall attend school : but its provisions have not been efficient for the purpose . They hare been continually broken or evaded . The school" has , in many instances , been the fire-hole , * and the " schoolmaster" the " firerup" J This has been fonnd io be the ease , and reported to be so by the Factory Inspectors themselveB . In the very last Report made by Mr . Satodebs ,

      bearing dite January 25 th , 1843 , we find the following description of the sort of" education" prorided by the " Fobt * Tfli £ » ssof . PtKfeey ^ ibr the children employed in creating wealth . And thiB is a sample of what has occurred in by far too many places . Let the fact be made known for the benefit of the Pudsey " partners" in guilt , who could not " thoil" ten shillings for school books for the use of those who were making them hundreds of pounds J Here is the account as reported by Dr . Baker , the Superintendent of Factories , to his Inspector , Mr . Sawders ; and by Mr . Sounders reported to Sir James Gbahah , the Home Secretary ; and by us reported to the working people , for the benefit of the poor in general , and for the benefit of the " Forty Thieves of Pudsey" in particular . Here it is : —

      " In Padsey , which is a woollen district , great numbers of 7 ery young children are employed ; the inhabitants are poor , and education ib at a very low ebb . 1 may give you an instance of this . At the Priestley mill , where there are about forty partners , forty-five children are employed who come under the education clauses . On one of my recent visits , I found the book-keeper was the schoolmaster , and the books , pieces of an old newspaper torn ad libitum into sections of about three inches in diameter . On remonstrating with this man on this improper and talsely called education , he said , ' that he had no power to amend what his masters ordered ; ' and my offer to procure for this company a f * t of elementary books for the small sum of 10 s . has been as completely disregarded . "

      The shortening of the hours of labour by the present act , added to the wage 3 of ihe children employed . The shortening of the hours of labour by the contemplated act will nave another similar effect . Another alteration announced we cannot commend , We mean the proposal to lower the age at whioh children may enter the factory from nine to eight Tins is to be regretted . It would have been much better to have entirely prohibited the employment of children and females altogether ; not allowing even a male to enter a factory until he was fourteen This would have necessarily called into play a great amount of unemployed idle male labour , which

      has been superseded by the cheaper labour of children and females if society was , what it ought to be , it would take care that none of its members should be put to work , until their physical capabilities were fully developed ; for society is deeply interested in preventing the deterioration of the species , which must be the consequence if unformed beings are set to perform operations for which they are not physically fitted . All the work that a child or youth should perform before the age of fourteen , should be only such as ia needful for

      educational purposes ; tho males taught thtfarts of agriculture and horticulture , by easy exercises during school hours ; and the females the use of the needle and the scissors , with proper instruction , under the mother ' s eye , in all the domestic cares and . duties of a household . This iB what every child born amongst us has a right to expect at the hands of society possessing such means of producing wealth as we possess ; and when we have learned bow to devise common sense arrangements to equitably distri-Irnie the wealth we can so profusely create , this , and much more , will be the portion of every child . I& it not monstrous , that one of the effects of an

      increase in our means to produce the good things of life , should have been the infliction of addition ^ toil and labour npon mere children , while the father is forced to walk the streets idle , for want of employment 11 What follows is the Report of the proceedings in "the House , " when Sir James Graham moved for leare to bring in his Nevr Factory Bill . It will be seen that several other important alterations , beside those we have enumerated , are in contemplation ; particularly the extending of the provisions of the new measure to the children and yonng persons employed in , the manufacture of lace , and in print works , as well as in silk factories . This of itself is highly important . Here is the report : —

      " Sir J . Graham said , that after what had taken place the other evening , he tbongbt it would be best that he should introduce the Bill of which he had given notice , for regulating the employment of children and young persons in factories , and for the better education of children in factory districts . The measure he proposed rested mainly on the report of the oommitee which sat in 1840 , for the investigation of ibis bnbject . The report stated the defects and omissions of the existing law 5 and his object was to supply the defects and omissions in the law which the report detailed . The age of children employed in factories was , at present , limited from nine to

      thirteen , and the hours of labour were limited to eight per day . He proposed to reduce the number of hours from eight to six and a half ; and he also proposed that the six and a half hours' labour must take place either in the forenoon or in the afternoon , and not partly in the one and partly in the other . He was disposed to believe that the lowest age of children might be safely reduced from nine to eight , so that a child from eight to thirteen might work from six and a half to eight hours either in the forenoon or in the afternoon wholly , and not in both . The coir mittee had recommended that the maximum &ge for females , should be altered

      from eighteen to twenty-one . Young persons were not now permitted to work more than twelve hours a day . He proposed to alter the age of females ; iB the case of males coming under the denomination of * young persons" he did not propose to make any alteration . There were several mir . nte provisions with respect to mealtimes . The regulations for dinner contemplated at the least a space of one hour . With respect to Saturday , he proposed that the hours of work should be limited to nine , eo that yonng persons would be worked twelve hours on other days and nine hoars on Saturdays . From the report of the committee it appeared that objections were made to the mode in which lost time was made up . He

      proposed to limit those modeB of making up lost time to those factories where water labour is used . He proposed to give the inspectors power to select qualified surgeons to attend the several mills in each' district , and to report npon their condition at stated times . Then as to accidents arising from machinery , he intended to provide against them by making i : compulsory on tbfljjgmers to guard every dangerous portion of the jogllgperyin ( heir possession from the possibility of doing injury to any of the persons in their employment ; and he also intended to prohibit the cleaning of machinery while it was in-motion ; tor these

      various purposes clauseB would be contained in the Bill m&Mng If cnmpulBory npon millownera to act in conformity with its regulations . Such a Bill must , of course , contain several penalties ; besides , it was intended to introduce as many as possible of the alterations recommended by the Committee . He should not now enter at large into the education clauses , for it would be unnecessary for him to z estate what he had said npon former occasions , but he hoped that on the whole the measure wonld give general satisfaction Thus , much , however , he should say with respect to the education clauses , that he trusted the effect of the measure wouldgreatly increase thenumberof children receiving the benefits of education . The Bill would iaclude within the scope of its operation all children employed in silk factories , and he hoped still further

      by a separate bill brought in with the sanction of her Majesty's Government to include the lace factories and the children engaged in printing , thus comprehending all the children employed in all the great branches of our manufactures . There was one omission in his statement which he bagged to supply ; it was that in all the manufacturing districts the children of any parents , whether those children were employed in factories or not should have the benefits of education at an expence not exceeding 3 d . per week . The education being to some extent compulsory it would go far to establish a national scheme of instruction upon a large scale . It was not necessary for him to detain the House with any further observations . He hoped they would allow him to bring in the bill , and he assured Hon . Members that be should not prematurely press for the second reading .

      ** Lord Ashley concurred in the proposed arrangements regarding education . He regretted that further limitations had not been introduced with regard to the hours of labour , and , as that ; did not seem to enter into the plan of his Right Hon . Friend , he ( Lord Ashley ) should himself propose it in committee .

      M Hindley wished that the hours of labour should l > e left an open question . ** Leave was then given to bring in the bill . "

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      THE LAW OF STARVATION . Assacms upon the ** Starvation Act" continue to be made with increased vigour . Not muoh rest is given to the Slarvers . Blow after blow is being struck ; and hitherto they have been right well planted , and have produced a telling effect . ' It is bow annoanoed that a " Bill to AMEND the 1 Poor Law Amendment Act , * " will shortly be introduced to the notice of Parliament by the present Government . So ! the opposition to the

      starving-todeath law has not been without its use ! Tho nature and extent of the Government" Amendments" have not yet transpired : bat ihe fact that the Starvers ar © driven lo the acknowledgement that "Amend * ments" are needed is a proof that the storm of indignation raised by the recent exposure of the deliberate plan laid to starve the poor , as evidenced in the SECRET RECOMMENDATIONS of the Poor Law Commission , is too strong to be successfully withstood .

      The death-blow to the whole system has been struck ! The revealments made before the people , as to the object of the concoctera and upholders of the " Malthusian code , " has sealed its fate . Government will find themselves compelled not only to admit the necessity of " amendments , " but the abrogation of the starvation law altogether , and a return to that simple embodiment of justice and charity , the Poor Law of Elizabeth , which directed the employment of the unemployed poor in their own occupations , at their own homes , and at right and proper wages . We revert to this question again , in order to place before the" reader a report of a slashing onslaught

      by Mr . WaI / teh , on Sir James Graham , the Ministerial defender of the Starvitg-law . The recent exposure by Mr . Walter of the SECRET RECOMMENDATIONS by the Poor Law Commission , will be fresh in the recollection of all : and the manner in which Mr . Wai / ter ' s successive effortB were met by Sir James Graham will not be soon forgotten . First , Mr . Walter asked the question : " Did the Homs Secretary know ef the existence of a certain Report , containing certain words ; on which document the New Poor Law had been founded . " The answer was : " He did not know whether Buch a document existed . " Then he acknowledged that " he had a faint recollection that some such *

      Report' had been confidentially made to Earl Gret ' s Government by the Poor Law Commission . " And when this evasion and equivocation was promptly answered by Mr . Walter declaring that he had a copy of the u Secret Docament" in his possession , the wily turn-coat tried to fix upon him a charge of ** breach of confidence" in making the public acquainted with its infamous contents . This charge Mr . Walter repelled at the time ; and on Monday night last he returned to the question , dealing out blows to the whole crew of starvers in general , and to the Whig-Tory Home Secretary in particular . The following is a report of his speech on the occasion .

      «• Mr . Walter ga ! d , he rose to m » ve for the production of a return of which be had given notice . He observed , that having on a recent occasion coma down to the House in order to discharge ft duty and engagement , when , from the state of indisposition under -which be laboured , and was , indeed , still labouring , he fclmost sank under the taak , he felt , nevertheless , bound to take one more opportnnity of pressing npon the attention of the House some remarks in corroboratlon of what -was the undoubted fact , —that the dark document which he first , laid before it was the foundation of the subsequent Poor Law , and of all the miseries with which the population of England had been since sflicted . ( Hear . ) He said , there were various degrees

      of certainty in the human mind—one kind being called moral certainty—another , mathematical certainty , —and so on . He did not know , however , that he ever read of a variable certainty ; yet , it was possible , and an instance might be adduced , in which be , for example , might be told by an Hon . Member , that he did not know whether a certain docament , for which he asked , now existed . Then , that Hon . Member might have a faint recollection of it Then , this faint recollection mi ght expand into certainty . At lost , be might know all about it—that it had been given in a confidential way to a gentleman with whom he ( Mr . Walter ) once waa connected , but who was now dead ; and that , therefore , be' was guilty of a breach of confidence in

      bringing It before the House . He would , however , take this statement , only giving a caatlen against the introduction of other people ' s names , lest be should be forced to follow the example . Once more , he declared , that he did not know whence be had it , and that it must have lain by him several years ; nor wa » be , indeed , aware that be bad it till jost before the session commenced . So fur from any blame being imputable to bim for exposing it be shenld but have participated in the guilt of those who planned and penned it if be had concealed it—( hear ) . Why , Sir , ( said Mr . Walter , ) what do men mean by confidence in an affair of this kind 1 Confidence is an honourable feeling both in bim who entertains it , and in him

      towards whom it is entertained ; but if the object of the confidence be , like this report , infamous , mischievous , cruel , who but dishonourable men can be bound by it ? Detection and exposure are every man ' s duty . 2 say this , on the supposition that the detestable production in question waa ever confided to me , but to tbat insinuation 1 have before replied . 1 neither know , nor remember , nor believe any such confidence . The report lay by me for years , and was only discovered , taken up , and perused , all accidentally '—( cheers ) . Then it had been said that the law was not founded upon this secret report of the commission of eight . The respective contents proved this to be false . They were as like as the instructions for a malignant will , by

      which the rightful heirs of an estate are to be dispossessed , are to the will itself . To prove this fact a few examples would suffice : — ' After this has been accomplished ( says the secret report , ) orders may be sent forth directing that after such a date all out-door relief should be given partly in kind ; after another period it should be wholly in kind ; after another such period it should bo gradually diminished in tuardily , until that mode of relief was extinguished . From the first the relief should be altered in fuality , coarse brown bread being substituted for fine white ; and concurrently with these measures as to the out-door poor , a gradual reduction should be made in the diet of the in-door poor . ' And again— The

      power of tba Commissioners should be to reduce allowances , and not to enlarge them . ' And now he weuld show the cautious manner in which these base suggestions were carried out in the avowed report : — * The Commissioners should be empowered to fix a maximum of the consumption per head within the workhouses , leaving to the local officers the liberty of reducing it below the mamimum if they can safely do so . ' Whence , again be asked , sprang the cruel injunction that no relief should be given to the unemployed , ablebodied labourers out of the workhouse ? ' All new applicants for relief ( says the secret report ) * should be at once taken into the vorkbouue . ' And again— ' The Board of Gontroul shall have power , by an order , with

      such exceptions as shall be thought necessary , to disallow the continuance of relief to the indigent , the aged , and the impotent , in any other mode than in a workhouse . The avowed report w&s full of passages to the same effect This was the very essence of the existing law . Could this be the work of two independent powers of evil r No . Here waa its origin in that dark cod © of instruction on wuich , in defiance of fact and commen sense , it was asserted that tbe present law was not founded . It occurred again and attain in tbe dark report , that ne relief was to be given out of the workhouses , and with equal frequency was the same atrocious practice enjoined in the derivative law . But , further , could anything equal the harsh and unfeeling

      manner in which the English poor were Bpoken o ! in the avowed report ? They were described aa inferior to savages , and to be amended only by fines , distress warrants , and imprisonment . Waa he not justified , then , in stating , that all these Commissioners came witb their minds as fully bent against the poer as St . Paul was in bis unconverted days , when he was described as breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the slandered and humble conceits to Christianity 1 But still they were told that Lord Grey ' s Government did not adopt this document , though its spirit , as : he had shown , was infused into every succeeding one . Why ; people who could believe this denial must be Nature ' s fools , and not the dopes of the Poor Law—( cheers . ) He had three proofs exhibiting the character of similar fraud and deception ; each

      succeeding document indicating its parentage and descent from tbe first , and yet endeavouring to mitigate or . eloak its knavery . First , he had a garbled general order with respect to pauper funerals . Next , he had a diet table , which , though it was signed by all the Commissioners , waa now disavowed , when they found the cruelty it disclosed bad awakened public attention ; but their preparation of it , and their intent to carry it into execution , were as notorious as any fact could -be . Then he bad the evidence taken before the Committee on -which be himself sat , which evidence was suppressed for no other reason than that , if duly investigated , it would be found to make against tbe Committee itself , to falsify its report , and to disprove tbe assertions of the Poor Lvw functionaries . And , after all these proofs , both from fact and analogy , they were told to believe that

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      the secret report was rejected by Lord Grey ' s Government ¥ Really the amateurs of the New Poor Law arrogated to themselves tbe privilege of publishing or suppressing—of leaving untouohed or changing—whatever they presented to the Parliament of the country . And tbese were the people who were now taking on them the fabricating a plan of education which waa to inBtil into the rising nice fie principles of integrity , honesty , fair dealing ; and truth (—( hear , heat ) . With respect to the charge brought against him of traducing the immortal Duke , every one knew bow respectfully he jMr . Walter ) had spoken of that illustrious man . But , with alibis admiration of him , it would bi 0 x 9 excess of sycophancy in him er any one to assert that his Grace came too near to omniscience to be liable to imposition . If , Indeed , he bad used expressions like the following , as applied not only to the Duke of Wellington , but also to the Right Hon . Baronet who was now at the head of the Government—that ' he had no confidence

      in them ; that it via impossible to compose a Ministry cf worse materials ; ' that their whole lives bad been devoted to oppose good government and to uphold bad ;'—if , be eald , he had used these expressions , and had afterwards taken office under those persons whom he bad so severely stigmatized , then he should indeed have rendered himself justly liable to the reproach and derlbioti , not only of that House , but of all the country , and every honest man in it But that any one who had really used those expressions should venture to reproach another with traducing the Duke , did appear to him to transcend tho usual bounds of human confidence , er at least to indicate such a want of memory and consistency as must disqualify the man himself from the discharge of any public functions—( hear , hear ) . He concluded with moving for an account of the sums expended ia ont-door relief to the poor during the years 1841 and 1842 , and of the work performed for eucb expenditure . "

      Sir James did not venture to reply to , or repel tbe heavy home thrusts here made ! He barely contented himself with acceding to the motion , as far as materials existed to enable the returns required to be made out . On Tuesday night the Lords wore engaged in a debate respecting the iniquity of the Starvation Law . It wa 9 began by Lord Teynham , who moved" 1 st . That it is tho opinion of this House , that the separation of man and wife , of parents and children , which takes place in the Union Workhouses , iB an exceeding evil and the Cause of evils . " 2 nd . That Its abolition ought therefore to be forthwith sought . " 8 rd . That by a judicious administration of outdoor relief , tbe use of the workhouse for married paupers , except for casual poor and cases of exigency , might and ought to be abolished . "

      These resolutions were enfored upon the attention of the House by a speech full of correct feeling , and characterised by considerable ability . From it we give the following . It will best speak for itself : — " The first resolution declared that the separation of man and wife was an exceeding evil , and the cause of evils . A large and helpless portion of the community found themselves treated contrary to those principles which they saw guided every day life . On that head be would lay before their Lordships several thoughts upon the matter . In the first place , every one acknowledged tbat the principles which regulated the law and practice of divorce were wise and just ; tbe result was . tbat the number of divorces was Very few-

      Perhaps they ought to be more numerous , as was shown by their proceedings last night in the case of the son of a Noble Marquis . In that cose the question of divorce did not turn , as it ought to have done , upon the conduct of the husband to the wife or tbe wife to the husband , but simply and improperly upon tho state of feeling between a son and bis father . The law of Ej gland recognize ! only two kinds of divorces , the divorco a mensa el thoro , and tbe divorce a vinculo matrimonii . To thev former of these the poor were subjected . On entering the workhouse they were ipso facto divorced . There was no shame attaching to that divorce , but , there was more pain attendant on it than if tbe divorce had been consequent upon the conduct . of either party ! The pain which they endured

      was a thousandfold augmented by the fact , tbat there existed na cause for their being divorced . If their Lordships only looked at tbe number who entered the workhouse never to return , —if they looked to the number who actually died in the workhouse in a state of actual divorce , they could but feel that the law was most cruel and unjust in its operation . The law said , that there should be only two kinds of divorces , but the authority of those who had tbe care of the poor decreed tbat there should be many different kinds of divorces . If the one portion of our law were just and equitable , the modern legislation , which gave authority to the Commissioners at Somerset House , must clearly be moat cruel , unjust , and oppressive , la granting divorces it was most wise that tbeir Lorsbips should , in every possible asm . see that there was no connivance

      between the parties , no pretence , but dear manifest adultery , before they would say ' content' to any divorce bill . If any man came into the workhouse and said , ' 1 am poor ; 1 have no means of subsistence ; 1 wish to be admitted ; ' then the answer to the man must be , ' You cannot be admitted unless you submit to be practically divorced from your wife . ' The system of practical divorce went on day by day , and every day ; and when a poor man was thus debarred % om the society of bis wife , how could It be expected tbat be should regard that as a paternal Government which so treated him ? Again , the House well knew that there should be no divorce granted to a man who bad himself been guilty » f cruelty or adultery . In such cases the Courts would not interfere ; but tbe workhouse authorities attended to no such nice distinctions :

      men and their wives might live together upon tbe best possible terms ; there might be endearment , there might be purity ; but instead of their being kept together by a kind law , they were torn from each other ' s bosoms ; what was tbe charaoter of that law wuich separated man and wife for other crime than poverty t Caaea from time to time came before the courts of law In which persons were found acting not according to nature ; children suffered from cruelty or from neglect , and courts always treated the unnatural act as a crime ; but here the Legislature interfered to produce the commission of unnatural acta—they not only divorced husband and wife , but they separated parents f . om ch'ldren . It waa no uncommon thing for Iwouen to be imprisoned for neglecting their children ; but here people were

      imprisoned , because they wished to take care of their offspring—how could those two laws stand together ? A bill was a few days ago laid on the table of their Lordships' House , which was ot jeoted to on the ground that it went to introduce a new crime ; but the Poor Law never seemed to have been objected to on that ground , although unquestionably it treated as crimes acts which in all previous time had been regarded as praiseworthy . There were acta which imposed as penalties three months' imprisonment , or three years , or transportation for life ; and the wisdom of the Judge was often shown by the manner in which be apportioned the punishment ; and the result of that wisdom was , that there often appeared a wide interval between th « actual eentence and the mamimum of punishment ;

      but in the workhouse there waa nothing of tbat sort —no limit to the punishment inflicted on tbe poor . A man and bis wife presented themselves at the door * f the workhouse and requested relief ; he was immediately taken in and subjected to a punishment—there was no descending scale—nothing left to the wisdom and clemency of ft judge . How contrary was all that to the received maxims of English law I In the ordinary courts of justice a man or woman was brought up and sentenced according to the nature of the offence , and according to the character which they might have previously borne . If that character were good , the witnesses recommended them to mercy , the jury recommended them to mercy , and the judge listened to that recommendation , and the amount of punishment was

      awarded accordingly ; but in the workhouse the honest man and tbe thief met upon terms of equality . The poor man , for uo crime ef his own but poverty , was imprisoned like a ruffian , and kept in confinement all his life . In an ordinary prison , if an offender were sentenced to any given duration of confinement , Or a COnviot Were sent to the hulks , some attention waa paid to bis conduct . If he compiled witb tbe rules of tbe bouse and evinced submission to authority , a report in his favour was made , and some portion of his punishment remitted : bub not so with the inmates of the workhouse . The convict sentenced to ten years might get five off , but nten who had committed no crime must go into a workhouse and expect no mercy . In a well-regulated community tke state of the law

      ought to be such as to meet every emergency that could come within the scope of legislative enactments ; but there existed no power whereby the evils of which he had been complaining could be remedied . Suppose a man , his wife , and their children presented themselves at the door of the workhouse . They said they had no food , no money , no employment , and they asked the master of the house to give them food and employmeat . His reply would be , ? You shall have it if you will come into the house . ' What would they rejoin ? They would naturally say , ¦ We a > e lawfully married ; our children have been bom in wedlock ; we love each other , and we love our children ; will you give us employment and bread without separating us f" He answers ' No . " Then they reply , ' We cannot accept relief on your tarns . ' They retire ; bat bard

      necessity soon compels them to return , and again they are repulsed . Then one dies of want —( hear , hear ) . Surely the officer—the Jes ? al officer—the wan acting under the law , wjiio has refused them relief , —has not tbat man committed a crime , and ought he not to be punished r Time wou > M soon show that the Poor Law was not a piece of legislation-which could be acted up to . He questioned very mnch whether it was wise that any law should BO assume the form of a tempter as this Poor Law did . Was it right that any portion of the law of the land should be so framed as that it should offer a temptation for the destruction of all domestic ties , and tbat the bribe which it gave sbonld be a loaf of bread ? A single man might bear the brunt of bad times ; be mv ^ ht accept the remedy offered to him or he might r eject it ; but the case was { different

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      with a man and bis wife . What a painful case of conscience it jwould be for them to consider , after they bad gone into tbe workhouse , what amount of torture they ought to have endured bsfore they accepted relief ! Then , in the ease of man and wife , a question would arise as to who ought to be the first to propese going into the workhouse . He had wooed her , he bad asked her to become hia wife ; ought he to be the first to propose divorce to a virtuous woman ? She took him , and vowed to be his wife till death did them part ; and how was sho to snggeat a dissolution of the matrimonial union ? Then , where was it to begin ? The new law . however , came in as a tempter , and offered them bread

      if they would separate . Then , let tbe House for a moment examine the grounds on which parents and children were separated . The only just ground besides neglect and cruelty would be immorality and irreligion ; but when there was neither immorality nor ungodliness , surely nothing could be more unjust or unnatural than the separation of parents from children . There yet remained to bejcon 8 idered the fearful evils which a rigorous separation of the sexes produced ; the-wife never experienced iths support or the ptotectloa of the husband , hej was never gladdened by her smiles , nor comforted by ' her ministration . Were their Lordships willingthen , that tears should flow , and hearts should

      , break , and mind and body give way 7 It was dreadful to think of incurring such responsibiltf . In addition to all this , the want of classification in the workhouse was a fearful evil ; tbe weak , the aged , and the emaciated were mixed with and jostled " , by the robust , tbe strong , and the rude ; and those who shrank from contact wittfimmorality and profaneness were thrown into the very ] midst of it . Again , the children of the poor in the ^ manufacturing towns were weakly things , and wanted much of a mother's care ; yet those thai most wanted ; that care were the most liable to lose it ,

      and those who bad the greatest need of sympathy enjoyed the least . There was a great difficulty experienced by poor persons in large towns in keeping their children uncontaminated by the vice around them—in preserving children who knew no crime from other children in i tbe streets ; but , however a . poor man , residing in a cottage , or in a room in the city , might succeed in keeping bis children from evil communications , as 8 o <* n as he was driven into the precincts of the workhouse , his children were plunged at once Into the mass of the wickedness which It was

      the great object of tbe parent to keep . them from . Their Lordships knew bow largely the good of society depended upon a mixture of the sexes in families , of brothers and sisters ; they bad been at school , and they remembered the happy ideas which home inspired , and of a father ' s , and mother's , and sister ' s smiles ; but here were children who had committed no offence , shut out from tbe common sympathies of our nature . One word as to this separation being the cause of evil . He looked at the amount of heartfelt agony endured by parents at tbe bare prospect of this separation as one of its most painful incidents .

      He remembered going to a cottage and pirceiving a poor woman weeping- What was it for ? Sate feared that her husband , ! who loved his children , would go out of his mind from the agony be suf ^ re d at theidea of going into the workhouse —( -hear , hear , ' from Lord Stanhope ) . How many were there , who having wrought up their strength of heart and csurage to the pitch of going into the workhouse , found they could not bear the separation , and returned into the world to struggle with all the distractions of poverty , rather than endure the misery of separation ? If the amount of domestic affection had I been diminished—thanks to this law . If vice had been disseminated—thanks to this law . "

      The Ihon Duke opposed the resolution . He did so on the ground that the Government were about to introduce a Bill to amend the " Amendment Act , " and that if thoir Lordships were not satisfied with the new measure , they could suggest and move other ] amendments . He also attempted to get arid of { the effect produced by the forcible reasoning of the Mover of the resolutions on the subject of Separation in the 'Bastiles . Here is the Duke ' s answer ; and right worthy of him it is !

      " For instance , that what has been called & 'divorce , " and argued npon as in fact a divorce , is , in truth , np separation at ail , except so far as regards sexes ; the parties reside' under tbe same roof ; they see each other at all hours ( of tbe day ; it is only as semes they are separated . The Noble Lord had appealed to tbeir Lordships , and asked what would be their Lordships' course cf conduct , supposing such a proposition were made to one of tbeir Lordship ? . Why , my Lords , 1 apprehend that your Lordsuip 3 are—1 know some are—liable to have that proposition made to you—( hear , hear ); such of you as are jmumbers of the naval and military professions—( hear , bear )—are liable to suffer that very privation . " ;

      A separation' is no separation at all ! Patting the husband in one place , sometimes in one workhouse , and the wife in another , aad the children in a third , and studiously preventing all communication , even the ordinaryj one of seeing each other ; all this " is in truth , no separation at all" t What wonder is there that we should have such laws as the Starvation Law , and suoh practices aa every day ' s experience makes as acquainted with , when our leading legislators phut their eyes to the common and well-known facts of a notorious case , and lib with such a bold and unblushing grace" ? The Earl of Stanhope replied to the fanciful analogy set up by the Iron Duke to justify the " no separation at all . " He said : —

      " The forcible separation of man and wife was a direct violation of the holy Scriptures , aad could not be justified , as hla Noble . Friend ( the Duke of Wellington supposed , by any supposed analogy with the military and nival servicfls . Officers in those services were not obliged to ertter them . " The Duke ! of Wellington—What do yon say to impressed seamen ? Gome , there 1 have you ! 14 The Earl ! of Stanhope—Impressment was an evil justified by state necessity ; bat no person waa legally liable to impressment unless he wsi a seafaring man , and , being so , he was as much separated from bis family on board a merchant vessel as in the Royal Navy . " Lord Stanhope also spoke of the SECRET DOCUMENT . He avered lhafc . —

      " The object of the present Poor Law was to prepare the country for having no Poor Law at alL This was the ulterior object of the law , as described in'a document which had happened now to see . the light , though studiously and carefully concealed from pubifo observation , for tbe non-produetion of which shuffling excuses were made , and which , when dragged from its obscurity , did appear the most flagitious and execrable paper that had ever been exhibited before a public assembly he would not even except the Natioal Convention of the jFrencb Republic It was proved by this paper , and avowed by the authors and supporters of the law , that their object was to do away with Poor Laws altogether . "

      This allusion to the " Execrable Paper" brought " The Duke" ; upon his lefiS afiain ; and he made th « following extraordinary statement : — " The Noble Earl has referred to a document which has been represented as having formed the basis of the Poor L » w BillJ Knowing , as 1 do , my Lords , that no such paper ever \ emisted 1 will venture , in this House , to deny the assertion altogether . 1 again repeat that no SUCH DOCUMENT EVER EXISTED . " Verily , the " sayings and doings" of our senators are most contradictory ! Sir James Graham had

      some "faint recollection of such a docament having been made confidentially to the members of Earl Grey ' s Government , " when Mr . Walter stood before him in "the House , " with a copy of the " execrable Paper" in his hand ; and when hard pushed , he could tell how many copies had been printed , and wjiere they had been distributed . " The Duke , " a colleague of thia game Sit Jakes Graham , avera , in spite of the "faint recollection " of the Home j Secretary , and in the teeth of his circumstantial ! account of the existence and disposal of the number of copies printed ; "the Duke" m the teeth of all this , boldly asserts that the document

      never was m existence at all !!! Which of them are we to believe ? We cannot imagine that both have told the [ truth . This is impossible . One , or other , mast have fibbed ! Which is it the most likely to be ! Sir Jahes Graham , who , with every inducement to deny the existence of the " Execrable Paper * rehictantly admits that he has " a faint recollection ' * of it ; or "the 1 Duke , " who boldly denies its existence altogether ? Which of these members of the same Government are we to believe 1 The one gives the lie to the other most fully and flatly . Which is most worthy of credence ! And which of their respective statements is in accordance with fact !

      We fancy that it will be the business of Mr . Walter to spur up Sir James Graham to set these queries at rest . Mr . Walter has a copy of the M Execrable Document" in his own keeping ; how came he to be in possession of it , »/ " it newer existed at allV Sir James Graham says it was sent to the Times Editor by Earl Grey ' s Government : " the Duke" Bays it never was in existence . A bold assertion will sometimes get folks out of a difficulty : it sometimes , nay oftimes , happens that a bold assertion will involve them more completely . Perhaps hia Iron-ship will learn that a Btill-tODgae . this lime , would have been a friend . .

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      LANCASTER ASSIZES . ~ ===== ^ ( Continued from our first page . ) of the yeomanry-no swearing in of special con stables—no reading of the not act , in short Z * preserved peace throughout . the whole period of «/ disturbances elsewhere ; and yet I am charged wift having conspired to effect , by force and tumult » change in the constitution . And upon whose evideri . f gentlemen ! First , Griffin , who has been for man . years a professing Chartist ; he has filled respoSI and popular situations ia the Chartist movement * in » has long been known as a reporter for Chattis * newspapers ; he was the first person who suggest ** the calling of the Conference , yet he hasati neli ™* in the witness-bex against those who he was « £ principal instrument of bringing together ; he W appeared before you in the character of a betravw

      ot his tormer associates , xne evidence of suoh » man should be recaived with caution ; he has diaw garded all the obligations of friendship , and treacW ously violated the trust and confidence let ^ sed i » bim—may not such a man deceive you ? In the arf dress which I have quoted t this Griffin talks of thl virtue and glory of a public man consisting in remain ing faithful to his principles till death ; and now see bim doing his utmost ; to destroy the men who rZ main faithful to the principles he has betrayed £ the conclusion of his address , he hy pocritically «? peals to the Ruler of the Creation , to stamp with tta Beal of his divine approbation the exertions of mv self and brother defendants for the obtainment of the Charter . What a base hypocrite must Una man be . He calls upon us to do oar duty as he nledoM himself to do his . B . hold the fulfilment of hfa pledge ! He has appeared in the witness-box against him upon whose funds ha so long subsisted ami

      against men wjio relieved turn in his need , audsaved himijrojn the pangs and horrors of starvation . -tbM sn « e-Iike . stinging the hand that fed , and fixing h £ envenomed fangs into thosa who nourished him * Upon the evidence of this man I was arrested ! dragged from home , and insulted by the grossly iihl gal annoyance to which 1 was subjected ; when not content with arresting my person , the officer Vho arrested me searched my home , and took away let . ters , books , &c ; and all this in violation of the law * The . other witness , Cartledge , wasa delegate , gave his support to the resolution passed by the Conference , ( I believe seconded the address adopted by the delegates ) , and was a violent supporter of the strike . Surely , Gentlemen , you will not convict me u the

      pon evidence of men so oase as these . Bat if th » verdiot should be " Guilty , " though the cold prison cellthough my consignment fo the living tomb of crime and misery should be the consequence ret believe me , Gentlemen , 1 speak not the language of idle rant or bombastic folly , when 1 declare to von that 1 would not change my present situation for that of my accusers to escape all that torture could inflict upon me . Though my march from this court was to the scaffold , there to exchange the embraces of love for the cold grasp of the executioner ' s redreeking hand , thereto yield up life with its heartcorrecting sorrows , its hopes and joys iUs , too few for that unfathomable futurity beyond the grave , —1 would not—1 speak the language of calm

      reflationexchange my lot for that of my accusers . Let them shrink from the light of day , let them fly from tho hauntsoftheirspeoies , andalone—oatqfffr omthesym " pathies of their fellow-creatures and the love of their kind , feast on the reward of their treachery and not on the gains of their fiendish falsehood ; let them not forget their broken pledges and violated vows , vows of adherence to a cause they have so infamous . ly betrayed—the remembrance of these wUl add a relish to their enjoyments and a zost to their pleasures . But , gentlemen , there will cornea day when they will have their reward , when reflections ' sting shall poison all , when the worm of memory shall gnaw at their hearts , and like the Promethean vulture feast upon their vitals , until the

      conscience-stricken wretches shall wither beneath the tortures of coascious guilt , and , dying , shall go down to the grave without the love of wife or child , countryman or friend , to shed a tear to their memories—remembered ouly to be execrated , and thought of oaly with-feelings of the utmost loathing and disgust . GanUemen , I feel that it is as a Chartist , not as a Conspirator , that I am arraigned here . I am a Chartist , and I glory in the nama . I not only believe Chartism to be founded in truth , but that the logal establishment of Chartist principles is absolutely indispensible to raise the working classes from their present wretched and degraded state . Witnesses hare appeared before you who have gravely assured

      this Court tbat they were not cognizant of any distress in their localities . I know , gentlemen , that , at any rate , there is deep distress in Sheffield . [ Mr . Harney here drew a striking picture of the distressed state of that town , which we are compelled to omit . ] And in Sheffield things have not been so bad as in many other towns . The distress ia not confined to one part of the country , it extends throughout England , Scotland , and Ireland . I will not dwell upon the distress endured at the present moment by the proud-hearted and independent people Of Scotland , and as to Ireland ! , the name is sufficient to remind you of its two millions aad a half of mendicants and its lumper-fed peasants nor will 1 take up your time in commenting upon the

      general state of England—enough that 1 remind yon of things in this very county ( of Lancaster ) calculated to make as blush for tamely allowing such a state of things to be ;—it is encugh that I remind you * gentlemen , of tales , alas , too true , told of the sufferings of the people in this very county . That Englishmen , aye , free-born Britons , gentlemen , their wives and little ones—soliciting , yes , actually begging the carrion flesh of ( disease , destroyed animals , that they might stiflei the gnawings of hunger with food which tho wolf might refuse to tear and the vnltnre disdain to gorge . And why is this stave of things 1 Because , as a Chartist , I believe that the people are not represented , and their interests are not cared for in the Legislature . Because , to quote the language of Sir

      George Sinclair , one of the beat men wao ever sat in the House of Commons , because , as ho told the House ia his speech , delivered in May , 1840 , because the members of that House are " admirable representatives of the opulent and the prosperous , bat very sorry legislators for the industrious and the distressed , eager to make ample provision for the luxury and extravagance of the Court—unwilling to take the slightest notice of the interests or necessities of the po ? r . - " There , gentlemen , such is the description of the House of Commons , not by a Chartist demagogue , but by a Conservative Legislator . Chartism has been denounced on all sides , but could even the Chartists have brought the country iuto a worse state than it is ! Does not

      the present state of things proclaim , trumpet-tongaed , that the privileged classes of sooiety have abused the powers th&y have exercised j that they are neither fit to govern the nation at large , nor themselves as a class ; for in working the misery of the millions , they are most certainly conspiring their own ruin . The downward progress of Eng ) and must be arrested , or all that has been predicted by Lord Howiok aud others as the natural consequences of the present state of things , wiil certain ' y come to pass . I have laboured throughout my public life to prevent such a conclusion , and for so iabouring during the late strike l am dragged before this tribunal . The remedy for the present evils 1 believe will be found in investing the

      people with their rights . I presume to be a Chartin is not to be a criminal . The Attorney-Geueral has said , on the trial of Frost , that the Chartists had . * clear a right to agitate ibr the Charter as tbe Whigs of 1832 had to agitate for the Reform Bill , adding that if ever the day shall come , that on the side of the Charter shall be arrayed the strength and sinews , the numbers and intelligence of the country , that undoubtedly it will become law , and mere weartn will struggle against it in vain . This is all wa ask ; leave us to enlist publio opinion on our side , . if we can , and we will abide the issue . But loose not the bloodhounds of persecution upon us , nor seek by gaols and scaffolds to stem the onward of mindfor I warn tnos «

      progress , who would have recourse to such means to P « down Chartism that they will miserably fan . ± | W dominant sees and privileged classes of all countries in all ages have tried by persecution to preserrt their power , and they nave ever failed . So sure as the despised , trampled upon , persecuted Christians triumphed over their enemies and oppressors , beat * ing down by the force of opinion the power of tne pagan hierarchy uatil ( he imperial purple was worn by a convert , and the followers of the cross became the acknowledged masters of the Roman ' . world Sso sure will the now persecuted Chartists , having troth for their guide , and justice for their end , triumph over present and future opposition , and ; dj the force of reason and the march of mind oblige

      monarohs to acknowledge the justice of their pruiojples , and compel the privileged classes to yield to the rights of man—rights based upon the principle , " Do unto thy brother as tbou wouldst thy brother shoulddo nmo thee . " Gentlemen , that principle ^ altogether violated under the present system of legialation . A state of slav « ry exists in this country , &s real as that which exists in Carolina or Constantinople ; the difference between the slavery in Turkey and America and that which exists here , is that in those countries the slave's body is sold in the margei place , and in this country you sell his labour in tne house of legislature . Against such a state of things I protest , against it 1 will contend . If to hold the principles I oonscientiouslv entertain is . W

      be A seditionitit , I am content to be punisaea as Buch ; and , assured as I am that in tneEe principles alone wiil be found the political salyation of nations , and the rescuing of the millions from their present state of physical suffering ana Bociai degradation , 1 am content to be regarded through life as a seditionist , and go down to the grave with tbe title of seditionist inscribed upon my tomb . Gentlemen , if the plain and honest exposition of facts 1 have laid before you has been sufficient to convince you of my innocence , you will acquit ma » but 1 will not seek to porohase such a verdict by any abandonment of my principles . You may incarcerate my body aud torture me in yoor prisons , but you cannot . enchain thought * nor prevent with your laws and jails WO

      The Noetheef ^ Star. Saturday, March 11, 1843.

      THE NOETHEEF ^ STAR . SATURDAY , MARCH 11 , 1843 .

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      FACTORY LABOUR , 3 n the Northern Star of last -week wsb given an « pUomeofattebatein "the Honse / 1 consequent on 4 be introduction of a motion by Lord Ashist for - * * n lmmble address to ier Majesty praying tba * Ilet Majesty wiEia graeicnsly pleased to lake into instant and serions . eonsider&sion tbe best means of diffusing the benefits and blessings of a moral and religious education amongst the working classes of her people i * which motion waa passed unanimously , ii being acquiesced in by Sir James G&ahxh and Sir Robert Peel on the part of the Government , and snpported bj Lord Jona Russell and other member ' s of "her Majesty ' s Opposxtiok . "

      This motion was mainly founded on the Stand Beport of the Childses ' s EaPLOTstENT Cojunssiojr" just presented to Parliament ; which * is a valuableandimperishable record of theinjustice done to the -working classes , and the fearful state of physical and moral destitution prevailing amongst the children of the poor . The revelations made in this Report , as to their condition in both these respects , are horribly appalling , and almost incredible . There , however , ihe record stands ; and ii zeals ihe f ale of ihe present system 1 It is impossible that it can much longer be sustained .

      Prom time to time we shall give copions extracts from tJ" « Report , accompanied by such observations as we may deem needful to make the matter of it fftTnfliflT to && Blinds of the class for whom we care . It is a powerful lever placed within their reach ; and it can and must bs used to the overthrowing , the toppling over , of that coarse of selfish oppression and Tricked misrule which has produced the awful state of sin and suffering so truly and so fnllj

      described . Iraring ihe course of the debate on Lord Ashley ' s motion , Sir Jakes Grabaji detaikd , at some length , » scheme which tbe Government have m&tnred , for educating ^ he children of the poor ; and , imongst tftner filings ie announced thai A New Bill for ihe Regulation of the Employment of Children and Yonng Persons in Factories , " wonld shor tly be introduced . -On Tuesday night last , the Home Secretary moved for leave to bring in such Bill ; and as he then detailed the main of the alterations Government

      intend to mike in the present Act , we give , in this place , 'what occurred on the occasion , feeling that iihe subject-13 « ne which intimately concerns the working people in the manufacturing districts . It ivill be Been that several of the projected alteration are vastly important to the workers in factories ; and that they will -tend to the preservation of life and limb . The contemplated power , to cause the

      flangerons portions of the machinery to be boxed oif , and to prohibit ihe cleaning of machinery while ii is . raniiing , will be a valuable protection to ihe sentient beings required to watch the operations of &e" * master ' s" machinery , should it be o btained ; ¦ whSe the regulations respecting meal-times and jnaJdng tip of lost time , win , if only made efficient , prevent the practising of much imposition and much oppression .

      Bjs also eontemplited , sb will be seen , to fnriheT- ~ M ^ H » ihe Ivoura of labonr for the children jnimlls / from eighi hours to six-and-a-half . This is i grBfttstep ; especially -when © onpled with ihe proviso that Bach children mast attend a prvffrfy emdw ^ ed r k& »? r earing the o&ex portion

      Untitled Article

      A . THE NORTHERN STAR . ___ .-.

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), March 11, 1843, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1203/page/4/