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Northern Star (1837-1852), 18th May 1844, Edition 1 of 1, Page 4, THE JSOETHEilN STAR. SATURDAY, MAY 18, 1844.

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    • THE JSOETHEilN STAR. SATURDAY, MAY 18, 1844.
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      FRANCE . . Tie discussion on the New Penitentiary Bill m the Cfeam ^ er of DepntieB is not vet over . On Saturday tbe second paragraph of M . Yatonl ' s ameBdment , which proTided that "' no alteration should be lntro-^ tBoed at present into tbe system practised m the « eQtral and provincial ? risons , -was . rejected , and it was agreed that all classes of prisoners BWrald aere-* SVer undergo solitary tsonfineBKSit by £ ay and night . This unhnman resolve is much condemsed by those © r the Liberal journals not Tinder tbe influence of ibe parlies who support the principle of punishing % y torture even untried prisoners . Hie measure ib likely , nevertheless , to be carried .

      SPAIN . Madiud , May 4 . —The state -otihe siege was this day ordered to be raised . By two decrees of the the same date M . Mazaredo was appointed Captain General of Madrid , and General Shelley Captain-General of Seville .

      ITA 1 Y . The state of afiars in Italy and Sicily appears to be very unsettled . The jLvgsburgh Gazelle of the iih publishes a letter from Palermo , announcing that serious distsrbances had taken place in Catania , and that the country vf as also suffering from the effects of destructive fever , which had carried off many of the inhabitants . " The following letter from Leghorn is also very unfavourable :: — u LiGHOEH , Matt 4 . —The Dews which we have just TeetJTed from the Legations is very serious . On the evening of the 2 nd several persons were arrested at Bologna , among whom are M . Galleti ( doctor of laws , and one of tbe most distirguished lawyers of Italy } , and his first clerk , MM . Orsina , father and

      son , who are farnishers of military stores to the Government , a stDdent of medicine , and two or three others . These arrestB make the greatest impression , as it was expected that after the nnmerons condemnations by the military commission , the Government would have relaxed in its rigour . With regard to the condemned prisoners , u is expected that they Trill be shot within the soldieis' barracks , and not publicly . At Apeona , M . fiiannioi and two others had been committed to prison , and at Rimini , M . Lerpiri and several others have been arrested , and are to be tried before the military commission . The 3 Iaria Christina , which has justarrived from Naples , Eaya that at Home alsos sereral persons were arrested , and in Calabria a great number kave been shot . "

      The Italian refugees in France and the adjoining countries , are very active . Several vessela have been equipped by them at Corfu , and are said to lave been seen in the neighbourhood of Italy , waiting for ft favourable opportunity for landing their forces . At Malta , a large number of printed proclamations lave been seized , destined for circulation among the inhabitants of Italy . Almost all the refuges have left Malta , where the English police molested them . On the application of Prince de Meiternich , the Austrian subjects of the Lombardo- "Venetian kingdom , who had retired to tbe Ionian Islands , have been expelled from thesce . Tbe ^ ad . ahe Ministerial journal of Marseilles , of the 9-h instant , states , that h appeared , from its Italian correspondence , that the Neapolitan insurrection had assumed an alarming extension , so much so , thai Calabria no longer obeyed the authority of the king .

      TURKEY . CoysiASinioPLE , April 24—Letters from Albania Mill confirm ibe reports which have hitherto been sent to yoH of the atrocities committed in that pro-Tince . li is stated that the town of Egri Pelanka ias been burnt , and the entire Christian population put to the Ewoxd by the insurgents . fresh bands of Albanians have appeared in the neighbourhood of Arianople . The Turkish authorities confine themselves to defensive measures . They have taken possession of the defiles near Kuprili , in hopes of checking the insurrection , and confining the depredations of the Albanians to the northern districts . It is also reported that an engagement has taken place at

      Scutari , where an attempt was made by one Ali JJey , at the bend of 2 , 800 men , to relieve the inhabitants of the town besieged by the rebels . The Turkish troops succeeded in entering the castle , at the Tery gates of which Ali Bey fell mortally wounded . 2 Jnt these reports want confirmation . Letters from Mosul fully confirm the accounts sent you in a former letter , of tbe p rojected attack by Beder Khas Bey , upon the Jacobite Christians . Baring succeeded in inveigling their Patriarch into his territories , he cansed him to be pnt to aeath in a most barbarous wuwsti g ^ bis followers tearing out the heart and bowels of the unfortunate prelate ; which they brought in a dish to their chief .

      GERMANY . j fjrosi mr own Correspondent J ! Is tbe Chamber of Deputies of tbe Grand TJachy of B&den , Mr . Welcker , a liberal member , ana- tbe Lord : John Basset ! of that country , implored tbe government ; -to do something in order to aatufy tbe discontented , feelings of the people ; " for , " * aia be , *• I b&ve been ; travelling mncb in all parts of Germany , and have betn Tinted there by a great BMofcex of men of all Tanks and from all parts of tbe country ; and I zbcnld lie , I * bunld fail in my duty as a representative of tbe people , , if I did not atate that everywhere the principle of

      nonarchiCTl government is dally loosing its ground more and more in tbe sinda of all classes of tbe German nation . I therefore implore the ministers to oppose no longer tbe current of public opinion ; for if something is sot done soon ; if tie breach between -tbe ¦ governments of cur fatherland and tbe people is allowed to beecnie wider , then nobody can doubt for a moment ¦ what tbe coBwquence win fee . " And 21 r . Welckert evidfcEce , as to the zprsad of Rspublicanizm is Germany , may be admitted as the most unquestionable that can be given , because thii progress frightens him even more than it does the government ; aud because it is quite contrary to bis own Expectations .

      31 . Frederic gteinmann -wbo has loi seme time beea under prosecution for a beck be published , in ¦ which he assailed the Austrian government , has been condemned to eight months imprisonment in a fortress , ihoagb . he lives In Prussia , and pnbJiahed fcls boot then . He was not prosecuted by tbe Austrian , but by tbe Prussian -government , and in a Prussian court of law . Dr . Strauss , tbe author of tie " life cf Jeans , " is occupied with a similar work , on the " Acts of tie ApostJes , " -which book lie , of couree , will treat in the ame TaKcner as he did the gospels in bis former work . The " » p »«™ ti Diplomacy is veiy active at presEDt at the &fl \ tEBt courts of Qiaaauy , in order to effect some meascftai agaisst tbe violence "with which the German press trei tfa the policy of the Czar . The anti-Russian feeling , ¦ vr . ' iieb . is bow quite universal in Germany , has Tested itst if for some time past in all sewspapeia , and in a great "many pamphlets , which makes the autocrat smeasy . Bn % fortunately , be will not be able to stop these publica- ^ ons .

      KvpTQTTa £ ,-ci 3 at MrsicB . —There -svere riots at ilunich on tho 3 rd insu , on acconnt of a rise in tLe pr ice of beer . The tumnlt was serious , * and wag not quelled wi . "lioui & somewh&t Bacgcinary "use of the soldiery , n "ho by express orders of thie King , fired on the un . \ rmed people , killing seversl , apd wounding others . The fellowiEg later particulars show the people ha ^ o triumphed , and the King eucenmbed ; the cause ^> eing that the royal man-slayer Jeored thai Ms cicn' too ?* i the troops ^ tcouid turn acainfifiim ! rt

      Mcmch , Mat 5 .- -Tranquillity has been re-established in onr town , bi ^ it cannot be deEied thai the roval authority has fc offered a good deal in the transaction . The Kiag , a ^ ter having shown himself greatly opposed to any a . ^ of conciliation or compromise , after having hh ** etf ordered the soldiery to charge the people , and i bat in his own piesence , ended by requiring of the I Towers that they should yield to the popular demani te » This morning notice sr&s stnek np at the corners *> f * U the s-reels , tL&t the increase in the price c f beer would not take place , and the people appeared ' satisfied , but they at the same time retain a secret animosity against the King for living ordered them * ° De & £ & upon—an order which c&st the lives of Ee ^^ ° f the people of thi 3 town . It appears that the ^^ S yielded principally on account of the small degree of devoiion siown towards him by the troops , ^ o did n « appear at ail williEg to fire upon the peot is . "

      POL ^ TD . ( From our cvn Corrapom ii * £ -J Txts . o ? a Tbaitob . —Count Adam . Gniowrid , took took an active part in tbe revolution a * 1630 , afterwards deserted bis party , was allowed to return to bis -country , and became notorious iu a Terj' Buenviabie manner by some publications , in which be advised . Mm countrymen to consider the annihilation ot * their independence as a judgment tf ( Jed , to which they mast fcnmbJy submit , and * eek . shelter at the thn "me of the xnigbty Cza , In whose hands Qod had laid tt > elr fates . ] xa-Sold-them that Poland conld not have ravi with a J » tterlnck than it bad done by being subdued under the Buafiaa yoke j that it waa tbeir duty to aibaudon all kopss of independence j and that , in fine , the Ex&i

      jovemaiPBt was the Tery best th » t eould . be found oa th « face of tbe earth . He exptdtA , of xourae , to b « waifled by Nicholas , bat tbe autocrat was too prm&ent to trott a teaitor . * He used him and abandoned him ; ia g » Te him a subordinate effice , which Qntowaki le ^ grwd , -when ba saw liat be bad no hope of being promoted ; be could not even get the rights of a nation whidi , fey hi * psrtidpa . t } on la tie insnrft « aon , * ere lorffcrtedj and at last he has choten to leave Pdland agaatotake abeltei in PiMda , audio ' goto Breriau , *? S ? - ^ , ^? - veBtoa - »» « U » itt » tobe . treate ^ a » a auIitaiT de * ert £ T . I > espiafed fcy hlB conntrymen , whose « uae _ fee averted , acorned by all pirtie . in Europe , Bopmg , pemape , ttat nu repotation will uot fonotr him acroai flieocean .

      Thsmogwvj via which Russian despoUam rules P © faa > a , ia Bl ^ sewBt u narelenttng as ever . £ vtrv thiog i « doae to remind the anfortnn * ta Pole at « v « n Hep Qai be is » « 2 » v& Erea the flBgerposti on ths wad aides nnat bave inreriptlons Jb Bnssiaa lasgc&ge « nd cbarfrtra ; not a word of Polish i 5 allowed .- The P « ii « b isiiguage if pani&bed from all -courts of law . A - ^ erjasa aeng , " the giper-boy la the Kortb , * ' contain ^^ € 8 P $ th * fffirntflrt KuSgft ) gltbei BiiseU or Poland ,

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      expTf ^ ssing only a strong desire return their native ' jountry , was trarulated Into Polish , bnt snppressed by the Russian censor , ai a patriotic , and therefore , of course , crimirjd soeg . No wonder , then , U » t Nicholas should Wish to have the German press silenced , the only channel through which the world becomes acquainted with such facto as those . I must , however , sot forget one fact : six Poles , Boldiers of a Russian regiment at the frontier , deserted , but were caught before they -reached Prussia . They were condemned to fifteen 'hundred lashes each ; tbe pnniahment was inflicted ; their relations were forced to asaist at it ; three only of the six survived the flogging .

      UNITED STATES . Livebpool , Satoeday Evening . —By the arrival of the New York packet-ship Samuel Hicks , Captain Banker , at this port , we are put in possession of papers from that city to the date of her sailing , the 13 : h nit . The news , however , by this arrival is not important . The native American party had triumphed in the election of mayor and councilmen in the city of New York by a large majority ; having , besides the mayor , twelve out of seventeen aldermen , and eleven out of seventeen assistants . James Harper , Esq ., the celebrated publisher , was chosen

      mayor . Akxexatjok op Texas . Livebpool , Sunday EV 2 MJ . G . —Tbe packet-ship New York , Captain Cropper , has reached here to-day from New York , whence she sailed on the 17 th ult . This arrival bring us papers of five days later date than those received thiB morning by the Samuel Hicks . The sews 1 b somewhat important , inasmuch as we are furnished with Borne particulars respecting the treaty for the annexation of Texas to the United States . It really appears that the annexation of Texas to the United State * is likely soon to b * accomplished .

      The New York Journal of Commerce of the 17 th nit ., publishes a letter from the Hon . Mr . Wilkins , Secretary of State , to his late constituents , announcing that the treaty bad been signed , and giving his reasons for acqniescing in the measure . He , of course , does not Btate the terms of tbe treaty ; bat the Washington correspondent of the New York Sun of the 18 th , says : — " At last we are to have the treaty for the annexation of Texas . The President and high contracting parties signed the treaty yesterday . It is of course impossible to get at the terms of the treaty with anything like accuracy—as every one has been sworn to secrecy that has had anything to do with the drawing up of the treaty . Hut still some facts will

      leak out in relation to it . Among others , these are alleged to form certain features in the matter . There is nothing inserted in tbe treaty about the boundary The pubiio lands of Texss are to be surrendered to tbe United States , and the United States is to pay the debts ot Texas . Thete are to be all limited to a sum somewhere about ten millions of dollars . Texas ib to be admitted as a territory , to enjoy equal privileges with Florida , and no more ; to send one representative to the next session of this twentyeighth Congress , and to every other Consress , until Texas has either been admitted into the ¥ » iop as a State , or else divided into two or more territories . These are the main features of the treaty as they are talked of in the House of Representatives to-day . " The same paper of the following day adds : —

      " Tde treaty for the annexation of Texas will be sent in a day or two . It is said that a report by ' Mr . Calhoon will accompany it , and that be will send documents that will show conclusively that Great Britain has designs npon Texas , and that that nation has endeavoured , and will endeavour to get possession of Texas , or such an influence over her as to be equivalent to possession . " Oat of doors and in Congress it is universally stated that Texas is to come in as s territory , with one delegate to Consress , to be elected next October .

      That a Board of Commissioners is to be formed , who are to examine all claims and evidences of debt against Texas ; and to allow only the just claims ; that is , if a man received a piece of Texas scrip of tbe nominal value of five dollars for one dollar , he is to be allowed only one dollar for it . The boundary line is to be open for future negotiation ; and that Mexico is to be paid several millions—say five or ten millions—aB an equivalent for her claim on the territory . These are the current rumours out of doors . I give them for what they are worth .

      ** If the story about Mr . Calhoun be true , he will not remain long in the Cabinet , but there will be a regular blow-up before long . If , indeed , he stays there , it is not expected that any definite action can be obtained this session in regard to the question of the Oregon boundary . It is believed that Mr . Packenham has positive instructions to do nothing at all in the matter this year if possible ; but delay by every possible means in his power . At all events , Mr . Calhoun will not allow tbe boundary line to be ran below 49 north latitude ; and he may insist on retaining the whole of "Vancouver ' s Island for the United States . These terms it is not likely that the British Minister will accede to ; and Mr . Calhoun will give no better , unless he can get for us part of California . So , therefore , it is not likely that anything will be done . " The negotiations on the Oregon question between the British Minister arid the American Government

      have been suspended for the present , and it is understood th&t no further action will take place daring the present session . It is said to have been the wish of the American Government to offer a treaty to the Senate simultaneously with the annexation treaty , but there was a want of power on the part of the British Minster to treat upon the basis proposed by Mr . Calhoun , which was tbe parallel of 49 on the northern boundary of the United States , and which Mr . Packeaham's instructions did not allow him to accept . The Hon . R . King , present United States ' Serrator , from Alabama , had been nominated by

      President Tyler , and confirmed by tbe Senate Minister Plenipotentiary to France , and his Excellency 'William Shannon , Minister to Mexico . Tho Nttc Yorlc Herald of the 17 th ult ; , says : — " Oar local trade iB rapidly improving . The business portion of our city exhibits great activity Country merchants are swarming into this market . The recent heavy importations of foreign goods and tbe competition that exists among our dry goods merchants , enable merchants from all parts to lay in their stocks of these goodB more profitably in this than in any other city in the Union . ' *

      Latest frch the Uhited States . —Liverpool Widsisday Mo 25 i 2 « G . —We have received by the steamer Acadia , which left New York on the 1 st , papers of the 20 ih of April , being thirteen days later than by tbe last packet . The Tariff Bill and the Annexation of Texas , formed the principal topics of discussion both at Washington and New York . "Washisgtos , Atbii 28 . —The House adjourned yesterday without definite action on the Tariff BilL Mr . Tan Burcn's letter on annexation has ; appeared , and has received the approbation of Southern men generally , whilst Mr . Clay ' s letter is denounced by Southern Whigs . Mr . Van Buren 13 in favour of amesiog Texas , whenever the Mexican claim is extinguished or relic quished . The Senate had referred the Texas Annexation Treaty to the Foreign Committee .

      FOREIGN MISCELLANY . Fbe 5 ch SriciDis . —On Thnrsday week two French artillery soldiers blew out their brains at Talence . They were intimate friends , and one of them having in vain endeavonred to induce the other to abandon the idea of suicide , resolved at lerigth to die with him . Their lifeless bodies were found side by side on the staircase of their barracks . " On the day of the King's fete , " tayathe Conslitutionncl , * ' whilst the crowd on the Pont des Invalides was at its height , a young man dressed in a blouse climbed over the balustrade , and threw himself into the Seine . He was drowned before assistance could reach him . "

      Fibe at Amstebdam , May 8 . —A sudden fire , the origin of which is not yet known , broke out thi 9 morniDg between five and six o'clock in the Royal dockyard at Amsterdam . It was first discovered in the carpenters' shops ; ihe whole of the building containing them was entirely destroyed , and also part of the forge . The fire spread so rapidly , that tbe whole of the bull dings would have been destroyed , but by great exertions the fire was got under without extending beyond the buildings first mentioned . Eabthqdakk . —A letter from Naples of the 15 th says i— "in the night of the 4 tb , the inhabitants of Catania were roused from their beds by a slight Ehock of earthquake . In the evening of the 10 th , a new eruption of the principal crater of Etna was visible from that place /'

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      THE " BAG ROOKS" TACKLED . THX HAXDS Ot THE " O 1 JJ LADY OF THRBADNEEDLE * STAEET * " IlBD AT LAST . TEEL AND TlJE BANKERS . ABTlCtB » 2 A . ~ IKI ) ' In the northern Star of last vn ^ we commenced a series of articles on the Bakking ^ ystdi , which we intend to be a full e * posi of t he max . 0 ** " » which that system has operated to the subjugation ofLabour ,

      and the prostrating of the national en « . ^ 7 wd power at the feet of the monied orders . Tbe immediate occasion that has called forth these ariic \" ** the New Bank Measnre ot Sir Hobekt Pksi , V are anxious to enable our readers to fully understand i the nature , scope , and probable effect of tho New Bask Rsgulaxiosb : audio do thiseffectnally , it is necessary to develops the whole " art and mystery *" of " paper-money making" j ahow its rise and progress , and trace its effects on the producing masses anddb ttwfcoWerBof accumulated ^ wealth .

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      On this question there is a great absence of knowledge pervading all dassea of the community . The main question of all , to enable the people to understand th& c * v , se of " wide-spread distress" ; the cause of " PANICS "—of short-lived periods of u PBOSPEBiTT , " and of long and still longer periods of " gloomy depression "; the cause of undue and reckless speculation , with its attendant increase of mills and machinery at one time , and of " overproduction" and consequent want of employment at another ; the main question of all , to enable the people to see tbe cause of all these things , is the

      least understood . Of all the questions of the day , political , social , or fiscal , there is the most universal ignorance on this . Out of every hundred persons to whom tbe queries should be put : — What is the nature of paper money 1 " and " What are the effects of an abundance , or soaroity , of it ! " ninety-nine would not know how to frame an answer . And this sot alone of the working people ; but more eo of the farming , manufacturing , and trading classes . Had these latter but understood the question , they never would have submitted to the passing of Peel ' s Bill ,

      to strip them of their property , and confer it on the Jewish loan-monger and the fattening tax-eater . They did not understand it however ; they suffered that Bill to pass ; they have suffered it to be brought as folly into operation as the fears of its promoters dare let them go ; and they , along with the working people , have had to endure the inevitable and certain consequences ; the one in actual starvation from decreased and decreasing wages and irregular employment ; and the other in the silent transfer of their property to other hands , and their consequent reduction to bankruptcy and ruin .

      There is every need , then , that some one of our 11 best possible pubiio instructors" should endeavour to iNSTHucT on this head . The times and occasion peculiarly call for it . That task we tire bold enough to essay . We deem it to be an imperative duty . The knowledge we posses 3 , enables us , as we imagine , to divine the cause of many of those evils now deemed to be " inseparable from our social Bystem , " bat from which onr fore-fathers were wholly free , and duty prompts us to endeavour to impart that knowledge to others , particularly to the working classes , that they may examine the

      whole subject , and prepare their minds for a due exercise of the political power which is so shortly to be conferred on them . It is true that the knowledge we possess baa been taught by others . We have read and pondered over the writings of Paine and Cobbett . We have made ourselves familiar with the book of principles of the one , and with the inimitable and lucid application of the principles by the other : and what we have to impart to the generation of the present day , we at once acknowledge to have drawn from these two sources . Thus much by way of premise . Now to business .

      In the article inserted Jast week , we made the reader acquainted with the nature of Money , by giving him the best , the most simple , definition ever penned . We then showed that a Bank Note , or what is commonly known by the term " papermoney , " does not , nor can it ever , answer to the definition of money ; but it is , as it itself imports , a mere " jwomiss-to-pay" a certain amount of money ; or , in other words , a mere representative of debt . We next showed the effects that relative abundance or scarcity of money must have upon prices , both of labour and of the produoe of labour ; abundance augmenting prices , and scarcity decreasing them . Then we explained how it came to pass that we in England have such a blessing" as " paper-money ;"

      giving tbe history of its commencement and progress from its first introduction by the incorporated Bank of England in 1694 , to the time of the passing of the BiKH . B . £ Stbiction Act in 1797 . We also showed the nature and intent of that Restriction , which was to restrain the Bank from doing that which , from the nature of things , it was impossible it ever could do , but which nevertheless it had " promised" to do—pay its Notes in gold : and we then showed that the EFFECT of such Restriction had been the issue of immense heaps of papermoney , " which had driven up prices of produce to an almost incredible amount ; violated all contracts ; and , in fact , revolutionized all commercial and trading affairs .

      We have now to detail the several attempts made to Repeal the Bank Restriction Act , and the consequences that have followed from a partial resumption of cash payment * . We last week stated that the Bank Restriction was at first passed for only fifty two days . Then it was continued til ] the Parliament should meet again . Then it was to last till the end of the American War . Then , when peace came , it was to be continued , for a year , till things should be settled . Then , as things were not quite settled , it was continued till Parliament should meet again . And aB by that time the last French war had begun , the Act was made to continue till six months after the next Peace .

      Well , at last , in 1814 , Peace came ; and with it came the necessity for the Bank setting its house in order , " to redeem its " promises , " and pay its notes in cash , should the demand be made . Now the only mode that the Bank could poBsibly adopt to enable it to effect this object , was by withholding the discounts or lendings of paper-money which they had been accustomed to carry on for a long time . To withhold thisdiscount tras to take out of circulation many millions of the then circulating money . The reader will remember that we have shown that a decrease in the amount of circulating medium will necessarily cause a decrease of all prices . The

      measures resorted to by the Bank at this time , to secure itself against bankruptcy , had this tffjot . The diminution in the amount of the circulating money produced a species of " stagnatiou" in all the pursuits of industry till then unheard or unknown of Money became scarce . All at once prices fell * Rents and taxes were , in fact , doubled in real amount . Goods bought on credit the year before had now to be paid in the nominal amount oontrapted for ; while it took double the quantity of the same sort of goods to be sold for that amount . Indeed this contemplated change with regard to the carre&cy nearly doubled every debt in reality .

      As might be expected , the consternation and dissatisfaction in all quarters were immense . The Government became alarmed ; the Bank was uneasy ; and the people " agitated . " The result was , that the Government and tho Bank dare not stand by the Act abolishing Restriction . They were obliged further to continue it ; whioh they did , from year to year , 'till the year 1819 , when the measure now universally known as Peel ' s Bill was passed .

      The title of Peel's Bill was : —** An Act to continue the Restrictions contained in several Acts on Payments in Cash by the Bank of England , until the 1 st day of May , 1823 , and to provide for the gradual resumption of such Payments ; and to permit the exportation of gold and silver . " It bears date 2 nd July , 1819 . And now then we have come to the crowning aot of injustice towards the industrious people of England , in connection with the currency ; the measure that has robbed them of comfort , and in hundreds of thousands of instances of the barest necess aries of life , and caused thousands upon thousands to go to the grave from sheer starvation .

      To enable the reader to understand ihe operatioa of this Peel ' s Bill , it is necessary that he bears in mind the principle that has been laid down relative to the amount of money governing prices : that the price of land , corn , cattle , and of all things thai are bought and sold , are high-priced ot low-priced in proportion to the quantity of money which Ib circulating in that country : that if there be « deal of money , there is more to lay out than if there was little money , and that accordingly everything sells ^ » higher price : that if there be a lessened quantity * « Tery ibi ° e . wife at » proportionately lower

      pnee . He m ^ a b «* rln mind that the main effect of Bakk "Rxb iBxeno * bad been to make the notes of tbe Bank a iCW iwvxB . ; tb * t is to Bay , to compe

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      people to take them in payment of a debt , as being equally valuable as gold . That the Bank , as was naturally to be expected , had put forth immense heaps of . Bank Notes , a great part of whioh were of so low a denomination as One Pound , That the effect of this had been to raise prices of all eorta moit immensely . That the price of wheat" rose " from 403 . the quarter in 1792 , to 122 s . in 1812 , and that on a long average of years the prica was more than 12 s . a bushel . That the Civil List charge had been increased , and the salaries of the Judges ani all the officers of State augmented , to render them commensurate with the altered prices of provisions ; and that no less a sum than five honored million s had b « en added to the National Debc daring the existence of Bank Restriction .

      The reader must also bear in mind that by far tbe greater part of the leases existing in 1819 , as well as the far greater part of the mortgages then existing , had been m ade and contracted while wheat was selling at 153 . per bushel : and that to make a farmer pay the same nominal sums when wheat had fallen to eight or nine ehillinga the bushel , was to ruin the farmer ; and to make a man pay the interest of a mortgage contracted whoa wheat was 153 . abushel was to do great injustice to the person who borrowed the money . With these things in the mind of the reader , let him attend to the effects of Peel's Bill , aa it has been gradually brought into operation .

      When the measure passed , the Bank had to prepare for its operation . It was to come into full effeot on the first of May , 1823 . The Bank therefore during the interval from 1819 to 1823 , had to gradually " restrict" its issues : in other words to call the paper money in , by refusing discounts and advances . In the year 1819 there was in circulation , from the Bank of England and the country Banks , no less a eum than £ 47 , 727 , 000 : whioh in 1822 had decreased to £ 26 , 743 / 260 !! The usual effect had followed the decrease in circulation . Lota

      prices ; stagnation ; distress ; dissatisfaction . Wheat in 1822 sold for 4 » . 6 d . a-bushel ; although it had fetched , on an average of twenty-five years , no less than 12 i . a-bushel 2 Tho tables of both Houses of Parliament were loaded with petitions , complaining most bitterly of" Agricultural Distress . " The manufacturers also squealed out most woefully . Parliament Was frightened back again : and it passed a measure in effeot repealing Peel ' s Bill ; for it authorised the issuing of One Pound Notes for eleven years longer .

      The effect of this last measure was prodigious ! Out tumbled the paper-moaey again , in surprising quantities . " Prosperity , " as it was called , returned in a short time . The whole country was full of bubbles . Prices rose to an enormous height . The landlords , farmers , and manufacturers ceased to grumble . The King , on opening the Parliament in 1824 , congratulated the hereditary legislators , and the faithful Commons , that " Agriculture was recovering from its depression "; and that "it was recovering by the steady operation of natural causes , " Mr . Fred . Robinson ( afterwards Lord Goderich ) the then Chancellor of the Exchequer , in February ,

      1324 , congratulated tho Parliament that * the country was in a state of unexampled PsosrsRiTv "; that " it was in a state of great happiness "; and that the Parliament had the "delightful satisfaction of looking round upon the jface of a joyous country smiling in plenty , receiving comfort and prosperity dispensed upon it from the ancient portals of a constitutional monarchy" ! To this most famous boasting , " Mr . PaospEBiTY Robinson , " as Cobbett called him , added most vehement censures on those who wished for what they called a Reform of that assembly whioh , as he averred , " had proved itself so wise , and so effioient . "

      The boasting lasted but a very short time . Events speedily made "Prosperity Robinson" wish he had kept bis boasts to himself . It was in 1824 he spoke as above set forth : in 1825 we were " toilhin forty-eight hours of barter" ! Nearly everyone can remember the " PANIC" of 1825 ! There are few but can tell of the consternation then prevailing ; when above one hundred Banks broke ; when thousands of farmers , merchants , and manufacturers went into the gazette and the insolvent list ; and when every thing seemed as if it had come to a stand . Nearly every one can remember something of that time , though few may know the causes that immediately led to it . Let it be our business to inform them .

      Before we do this , we must digress some little to explain another operation of paper money , especially when it is in excess . That operation is , to drive the gold out of circulation . An excessive issue of paper-money has this effect , as certainly as that a Btone falls to the earth , or that water runs to the 6 ea . The fact is , that paper-money depreciates , or as Paine beautifully expresses it , " pulls down the valuo of gold and silver . " When this depreciation reaches a certain point , the gold parts company from the paper : leaves it ; leaves the country

      even : for being itself an article of commerce , it will naturally find its way to those markets of the world where tbe highest price can be . obtained . When the issues of paper money are very excessive , and the gold mainly driven out of circulation , then a struggle ensues between the two species of " money . " Two pricks are established : a thing we have Been in England before to-day ; when an article was 28 s if paid for with paper ; and only 21 s if paid for with a " golden guinea ;" and when 28 s was regularly given in paper for a golden guinea , for exportation .

      Well , the immense issues of paper money , consequent on the Aot of 1822 , authorising the putting out ot One Pound Notes for ele ? en years longer , had pretty nearly driven the gold from circulation . It happened , however , that the " wise" and " effioient" Parliament , which Prosperity Robin-60 * said needed no Reforming , had omitted in the Bill of 1822 to make Bank Notes a legal tender . Therefore it was in the power of any one to demand gold in exchange for them . This was done by a Mr .

      Jones of Bristol , in June , 1 * 25 . He presented a quantity of Notes to a Banker , and asked for gold . The Banker tendered Bank of England Notes , and refused gold ! Of this Mr . Jones complained to the House of Commons . That petition produced a debate ; and that debate blowed up Prosperity Rcbinsos's " UNEXAMPLED PROSPERITY I " for it taught the people what not one man out of a thousand knew before : and that was that the holder of a Bank Note had a right to demand gold in exchange for it .

      This move on the part of Mr . Jones awakened suspicion . Paine has tersely described the whole system of public credit as " suspicion asleep . " However now it was aroused from the slumbers of security . People got a notion into their heads that gold was better , was safer \ than Bank Notes ; and as they now knew that they could compel gold in exchange for their Notes , as long as the Bank possessed any , they went to the Banks to procure it . This course soon rendered it difficult to procure the gold ; and this difficulty but augmented the meBs . The greater the reluctance of the Bankers to pay in gold , the greater the suspicions of the people , and their eagernesB to obtain it . Thus the thing

      staggered along fr ^ om June 'till December . At length tbe Banks began to give way ! One snapped , and another snapped . One toppled and another toppled Above a hundred of them " stopped payment . " This w * 3 oaHed emphatically " THE PANIC " : and p anic it assuredly was . It was by the merest acoident that tLTe whole THING did not go to pieces . By efforts of a * * aost extraordinary character , the PANIC waa checked ; and the Government and Parliament , who had b ^ Q the real cause of the mischief , accused the country Bankers of having produced it by the issue of those On * Pound Notes , to enable them to issue whiob , the ac of 1822 was expressly passed ! . '

      Bat now all parties seemed to be sickened of-the "immense issues" of paper money . THE PANIC waa a stopper on the cry of " Paos . ' ^ ^ " I * was seen that though " immense issues" i ^ i ght lead , and perhaps would lead , to pbobperity" ; >* & ** « s «

      Untitled Article

      to activity in trade , through the increased prices consequent on tbe abundance of money ; to speculation and gambling in stocks and shares , and in all Bort 3 of moon-shine projects : it was Been tbat though " immense issues" wonld do all this , and even more , yet is was also seen that Panic was inevitable from the same cause . It was seen that the cause of increased trade , higher prioes , and much speculation , also sent the gold scampering out of the country , and left the whole system exposed to the most imminent danger should suspicion but once get the hint ;! It was also seen , that if . Panic was sot immediately produced by a " run for gold , " the same effect must be produced by the

      only possible efforts that eould be made to get the gold back again ; that the Bank must " restrict , " or " contract" its issues ; that is , call in great quantities of tbe paper-money , and thus reduce prices , producing panic and stagnation . All this was clearly seen : and therefore the pubiio mind was directly set in against these "immense issues . " Of this feeling the Parliament took advantage . By cunningly asoribing THE PANIC to the issuing of the One Pound Notes , which the aot of 1822 had ] authorized , they directed public feeling against those " handy" and " useful 15 specimens of paper-money . And , as a result of all this an Act was passed to suppress all such notes .

      Now then there ) was a clear stage for Peel's Bill . Now it was that it was bi ought into extensive operation . Now it was that the nation was made to feel its dire and devastating effects . Now it was tbat those effeots began to manifest themselves in their full proportions : land what those full proportions were we shall set forth in our next .

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      Robert ' s has been unsparingly assailed by those twin-devils , we shall not only defend his honour , bis character , and his every aot ; bat we go farther , and give him credit for his intentions and motives . We know Mr . Roberts better than either of bis assail * ants know him ; and , fortunately for them , they are but little known beyond the narrow breadth of their little official range . The Durham Snail , it is true , has attempted to orawl beyond that narrow shell in whioh nature designed that be should move . He was tbe frothing advocate of the pitmen's right ? . He did contend against the Dogberries' legal extension of the word " MISBEHAVIOUR . " He did inveigh against the " laid out , " and foam against the " set out : " to all of which he would now assign the

      following mild and inoffensive meaning : " Correctly speaking , " says he , " penalties for misdemeanors onlr , ought to be called fines . The money deducted for Laid-out and Set-out is for work charged , and not done , and to meet serious unnecessary expense caused to the owners by neglect and dishonesty . " Behold , then , the new face pat upon these old grievances . Will not the Colliers ask themselves why this change has come o ' er the spirit of their old friend ' s dream } And will not the ready answer be , because he was a competitor for those honours and distinctions which have been justly bestowed upon Mr . Roberts ; but he lacked the necf&sary qualification to insure the support of the pitmen- !

      The Pitmen could not depend upon him , or rather would not depend upon him ; and let the world now know tbat his foul abuse of the Colliers and his calumny of their advocate , is nothing more or less than the out-pourings of a disappointed and little mind . Not content with the foulest fabrications , this foolish scribe has endeavoured to fasten upon Mr Roberts words that he never uttered . In a second article in the stereotype paper appears the following : — " It is a trial , says Mr . Roberts , between tbe long purses of the owners , and the 'hungry guts ' of the Pitmen . " The above is from the stereotype

      page of the Dm ham Chronicle ; and we think the following quotation from the very next pat > e will fully bear oat Mr . Roberts' charge of the curtailment , perversion , alteration , and part suppression by the editors of matters sent in by their reporters ^ In the reported proceedings of a meeting of delegates , held at Newcastle , and printed in the very next page be it remembered , we find the following — " Mr . Roberts , after making the above reference to the press , proceeded to state his views with

      respect to the strike . He said public opinion as yet was in a state of doubt ; bnt when pnblio opinien was fully enlightened , then the masters would give way . It was a trial , as one of the wingate hex had said , ' between the long purses of the owners , and the hungry guts of the Pitmen . * " Need we say more ! Or what we ask can be more mean , pitiful , and degraded than the man who would thus , for a base and cowardly purpose , attribute to Mr . Roberts words thai he knew had been used by the Wingate men , and only repeated by Mr . Roberts 1

      We dose with an exhortation of our own to the brave strugglera for their rights ; and we would say , though we feel more , ten thousand times more , for your " hungry guts" than we do for the " long purseB" of your Oppressors , we say better to have u hungry guts" for a season , than to die the willing slaves , and under the leaded lash , of your tyrant task-masters ! You , of the Newcastle Journal , go and learn your multiplication table ; and at all

      events , if yon must be ignorant , try and appear honest ; and you of the Chronicle , try if yon can write what yon intend to say at once , instead of warming up your " cold hash"' as an impioved dish : and if yon can't be honest , be as little foolish as you can . We understand , and we are glad to hear it , that your ascetic mode of writing has turned the ale sour in all the public houses and beer shops that the pitmen frequent .

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      THE TEN HOURS' BILL . GOVERNMENT DEFEATING THE COUNTRY . The shameful act has been perpetrated ! " The House" has bowed its neck to the foot of the Minister ! It has suffered Aim'to trample on its boasted independence and spirit : and it has in turn trampled on its own decisions , and voted itself to be a mere subservient thing ; a very convenience , to be used at tbe will of tbe dispenser of place and pay .

      In another place will be found a pretty full report of the disgraceful proceeding : as full a report , we are sure , if not much more so , than will be attempted by any other weekly paper . We have deemed it far too important to be lightly passed over . The whole affair , from beginning to end , affords far too valuable lessons on many heads , for that . It teaches the people , in the first-Instance , without chance of doubt or possibility of gainsay , that that " House" cares not for the working many : legislates not for their interests ; listens not to their requests . It teaches the great necessity of the

      working people working out for themselves political power by means of the vote , evon to accomplish the humane object of protecting their wives and little ones from death-dealing toil ! It teaches , moreover , that there is springing up in the Parliament itself a nkw party ; a party whoso watchword is to bo " Labour ' s Rights "; whoBe ground of difference from the other old parties who have brought our country to its present pass , —when the State cannot afford to let little children work less than twelve hours a-day , —is the principle of Protection to Labour ; a party who throw to

      the winds the old political distinctions by which its members have formerly been known , and who are asserting and boldly maintaining the great principle Of INDEPfiNDENCS FROM PARTY CONTROUL . It further teaches who we have to thank for the continuation of the twelve hours' daily toil for our females and our 11 young "; who we have mainly to thank for setting at nought the people ' s wish , and defeating the nation on a measure on which it had set its heart All this is taught by ths proceedings in the House relative to the Factories' Bill ; and to pas 3 those proceedings over in an ordinary manner would , in us , have been a great dereliction of duty We have , therefore , faithfully recorded them .

      There they are to refer to , at aa after day : and , believe us , they will be required after to-day . The " agitation" of this measure is not done with ! The measure has not been smothered , although the House has obeyed the commands of Peel , and licked the hand held out to smite it . The demand for the benefit of former decisions in favour of the factory worker will still continue , to be made : and many " Hon . Members , " who have now voted for the e » atinuance of White Slavery , will have the record of his doings hurled in his teeth , and he himself hurled oat of Parliament , when next he ascends the hustings to court the " sweet voices" of the husbands and men of England .

      A reference to the Division list , published elsewhere , will shew the effect of the Treasury whipj in bringing one hundred and seven to vote with Ministers , who had not previously recorded their votes at all ; and no less than fifteen voted direcily in the teeth of their former votes ! These could sacrifice their conviction that the factory-workers , especiallj tbe female and " young" portion , were subjected to an unendurable amount of physical and moral evil * arising from oveb-work ; from a tacking of the vital powers far beyond the point of impunity ; these fifteen MEN of " honour'' and of * trust , ' ? could

      sacrifice what they bad before deemed the " sacred call of helpless humanity for protection against a power crushing thiein to death' *; these fi fteen Monsters could sacrifice all thia to party ascendancy tcouid vote that the "helpless " should continue hclpleea still ! that Peel might have the pleasure to know that bis place at the bead of "Her Majesty's servants" has been purchased at the expense of tbe blood and groans of the suffering and the dying ; and by the prostration of the hopes of relief held oot by the formerideciaions of the "H ONOURABLE House .

      Fomsn ;£Sofcm*Nt.S.

      fomsn ; £ Sofcm * nt . s .

      The Jsoetheiln Star. Saturday, May 18, 1844.

      THE JSOETHEilN STAR . SATURDAY , MAY 18 , 1844 .

      Untitled Article

      THE COLLIERS' STRIKE . A STEREOTYPE NEWSPAPER . In this age of celerity , quickness , and invention , we were but little prepared for the old novelty pre-Bented to us last j week by the disappointed legal scribe , who has bo humourous l y stereotpyed his folly of the previous week . In faith , the prospectus of this new literary production is bo funny and characteristic of the organ , whose motto it must henceforth be , that we give it just as we find it : —

      DURHAM CHRONICLE . Friday , May 10 , 1844 . [ The following artiole was printed in our last week ' s impression ; but through some inadvertency in tbe person who made up the paper , several pas-Bages were jumbled together in a manner tbat made nearly the whole of it unintelligible . We now give it in a corrected Bhape , trusting it may not be yet too late to make the impression it was originally intended to produce . ]

      What does the reader think of that t It appears tbat the object of the " toss up , " or " warmed hash , " is " to make tbat ! impression it was originally intended to produce . '' Well , bo far bo good . It has strengthened the originally impression , tbat in its " unconnected shape" it originally made upon our mind—a strong impression tbat the scribe was under some peculiarly clouded influence . And the correction very much reminds us of the old " appeal from Philip drunk to Philip gober" not by any means insinuating that our brainless contemporary was ll fuddled" upon either occasion !

      Far from it . We should really hail some change in the usual temperament of the too sober editor , as a great boon . : We cannot help it if the writer has failed to produce the intended IMPRESSION , at least upon our mind ; and perhaps he may find ample consolation in the hope that it has made the intended impression upon those for whom it was re-cooked . It would be very great loss of time to enter into any discussion of

      words with one who is obliged to speak twice , before he hopes to be understood ; and mayhap , what we comment upon this' week may be so transposed or corrected in next week ' s reprint , as to impose the fresh difficulty of reading , marking , learning , and inwardly digesting the " intended impression" anew . We therefore dismiss the consideration of the stereotype verbiage of the Durham Chronicle , to try if we can untangle the arithmetical blunders of his brother of the Newcastle Journal

      It would be well were those who undertake the trouble of enlightening and instructing the public mind to avoid making such gross blunders as a halfinformed schoolboy must be sure to detect I In the Newcastle Journal of Saturday last , we find the following fascinating picture of a Collier ' s earnings : — \ " At Brancepeth { Colliery , three hewera , during the last fortnight , commencing the 20 th of April , and ending the 4 : h ! of May , ( eleven days' work ) working not more than eight hours a-day , have earned £ 13 13 a , which is an average of £ 4 7 s . 8 d . per fortnight per man . " Now for this scribe at echool . If three hewers

      earned £ 13 13 j . in the time stated by the scribe , it would leave an average of £ i Us . per man , and not £ 4 7 s . 8 i . as stated by the scribe ; and the scribe evidently intended to be minute , as he has gone to the very pence . Bui that is not the biggest blunder the scribe has committed ; he has come to the conelusion that eleven days make a fortnight . Now , if the three hewers earned the gross sum of £ 13 13 s , in eleven days , they would havo earned in a fortnight , about £ 4 \ 9 i . 3 d . a man , or £ 14 17 s . 9 J . in the gross , and not £ 13 13 * . Well , we'll follow this statement up , as the evident objeot of tbe Master ' s arithmetician is to convince tbe pubiio of the generosity ot the Masters , and of the intolerant and extravagant demands of the men . The scribe proceeds thus : —

      M This has been done at the prices at which the union men refused to work , they demanding 33 per cent , advance on the prioes paid to the men . This is within the fraction of a farthing of eight shillings a day , and upwards of a shilling an hour for their work !" Now , such is the picture , the unjust and ungenerous picture , presented of tbe poor Colliers by this

      ignorant artist . The advance of 33 per cent , on £ 14 17 s . 9 J . the amount that would have been earned by Jhe three hewers working for wages ( as the Journal says ) , against which the Colliers have struck , would increase that amount to nearly £ 20 , or £ 6 13 s . 4 d . per man a fortnight or £ 3 6 d . 8 d . per week , or lls . Id . and a fraction per day , and not within the fraction of a fprthing of 8 j . per day , as stated by the scribe . '

      It not unfrequently , happens that the over-zealous advocate injures the cause of his client by absurd , extravagant , and ridiculous assertions ; and in the above we have a strong and striking illustration of the fact . These two noodles undertake to championiz ? the tyrannical Masters in their ungenerous war against the most industrious aud innocent section of labourers ; { and the one is obliged to review , to correct , re-arrange , transpose , and reprint his wordy nonsense ; while the other leaves us no alternative from his attempt at figures than to set him down as an ignorant booby .

      Having thus very leniently reviewed the stereotype prose of the Durham Chronicle , and the arithmetical blunders of his Newcastle brother , we retort upon the latter , and ask him what "impression" hiB blundering ought to create in the mind of every honest thinking man , woman , and child who understands that two and two make four . Yes , in truth , the poor pitmen who are represented by the Newcastle Newton , as demanding £ 3 63 8 d a week for six days ' work of eight hoars a day , would find but little sympathy or compassion from

      those to whom they now in their struggle bo justly appeal . Bat how shameful to attempt to give the appearance of truth to : so monstrous , so gross , and eo wilful a falsehood ] for the mean and paltry purpose of conciliating a set ; of puree-prond tyrants at the expence of honeBt and industrious labourers . £ 3 6 s 8 d a Week , says the Newcastle haok , is the wages now demanded by the pitmen oh strike , for eight boors work perfiay while ihe oringer teell knows that what they demand is but £ 1 4 s per week , or little more than one-third of his exaggerated statement . !

      When professional gentlemen are found to be honest in Labour's cause , it is the duty of Labour's friends to sustain and ] uphold them , and to defend their character against all the malicious assaults of Labour's enemies . And as the character of Mr .

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      £ ^ THE NORTHERN STAB . l May 18 . 1844 .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), May 18, 1844, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1264/page/4/