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Northern Star (1837-1852), 22nd February 1845, Edition 1 of 4, Page 4, Untitled Article

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    • THE NORTHEEN STAR. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1845.
    • TO THE FUSTIAN JACKETS, BLISTERED HANDS, AND UNSHORN CHINS.
    • Co $tfHms $c (toaspiftfnto |
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      LATEST SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE . Dreadful Shttwbecks asd Loss of Life . —Lloyd ' s , Friday Sight . —The late snow storm was attended with the most melanchol y disasters along the coast . The wrecks that it occasioned were t $ ufy dreadful , many laving foundered with their hapless crews , all of whom perished ™ Along the coast , to the northward , ironting thtFGennan ocean , the losses were very numerous . At about half-past ax o ' clock on Tuesday morning , the Preventive Service belonging ioihe SouthwoM station received information of a vessel being wrecked near the Barnard Sands , and ftat the crew were dinging to the rigging . They instantly started eff in the direction , and succeeded in rescuing the crew , who were brought ashore in a shocking state ; many of them insensible , and their

      clothes covered with ice . The vessel was the Emerald , of London , Charles Harrison , master , bound to Aberdeen . —At WMtburn , near Sundcrland , a vessel called the Betsy , belonging to that port , got on the rocks and became a total wreck . The crew saved themselves by the boats . —The schooner Emily , Shaw master , belonging to Wisbeach , while on her way to JGddleborougu for coals , was lost under similar circumstances on the coast , about a mile to the south of Scarborough . —^ Another vessel was lost at Montrose . It wasthe brig St . Andrew ' s , of Arbroath . The lifeboat was launched , and the crewwere saved by it—The True Sine , of London , Mr . Fleming master , was Hrecked off Redcar during the storm . It is supposed that all on board perished . —At Ennishowen , near Londonderry , another fatal shipwreck happened . The ill-fated craft was the Havmony of Ramsey , Brayden , master : she struck on a shoal called Glashcady .

      situate about half a mile off the beach . The numbers lost are reported to be thirteen . —To be added to the above , are those of the Victoria , of Newquay ; an American packet-ship , the "Ville de Lyon , on the coast of Barfleur ; the Bee , wrecked at Camber , near Rye ; and also that of a Dutch vessel , the Ilopende , of Rotterdam , lost near the South Rock Light . The crew of Uie Bee were saved by the Coast-guard boat . The American packet was a very fine vessel , and her loss is given out at £ 50 , 000 . The mailfrom New York , - which arrivedat Liverpool on Thursday night , contains intelligence of the loss of fourteen vessels , tliegreater portion belongingto England . Among them was the following : —On the 19 th of last month the wreck of a large barque , supposed to be the Lord Seaton , of St . Andrew ' s , was discovered on the eastern point of the Me of Hant , in Pendleseot Bay . Two bodies were found aboard . '

      Llotd ' s , Saturdat . — The Trewartha arrived yes terday at Liverpool from Cork , with damage , having been in contact off Tuskar with the Titania , bound to Smyrna , since put into WaterfonL—The Sir R . A . Ferguson , Rhode , from Clyde to Malta , foundered off Tuskar , 11 th instant ; two men drowned , having been in contact with the Hopewell , bound to Maranham , since put back . —A ship , name unknown , was partially dismasted , Dec . 1 , off Agulhas Bank , during a sudden squall , in sight of the Athol , arrived in the Clyde . —The Hornet , Shiels , from Middlesbro' to Yarmouth , was dismasted off Flamborough Head , 8 { h inst , and subsequently wrecked on Sand Hale ; crew saved .

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      The Recext Gjmbuxg Transactions ix Pjjus . — The prisoners in this afiair were brought up for judgment on Friday . The Court declared that the facts of the Indictment were proved , but as the parties bad played sur -parole , and money did not pass so as to constitute the offence of swindling provided for by Ail . 405 of the Code , no conviction could take place . The persons in custody—viz ., Walker , Frazer , Ogilvie , Lambert , Peyronnet , and Emma Caye—were therefore acquitted . Baring , as vre have already stated , was not in custody . In winding up its judgment , uie iuic jiwis auutv

      vuuibsctja— , mo ; auu *; u uu not come within the application of any penal law ; but it was right to prove thein ,, not only for the interest of public morals , but in order that there might be no doubt as to the conduct of the complainants , who were right in refusing to submit to die consequences of such frauds . " On judgment being pronounced Walker fell down in a fit of convulsions , and was with the greatest difficulty held bjrhis fellow-prisoners and the Municipal Guards in attendance upon them He was thus carried out of court , and on medical assistance being given to him , was in a short time restored to Ms senses . —Galignani's Messenger .

      __ Horrible Destitdiios . —One of the most appalling cases of human misery came under the notice of the police on Wednesday morning week . On that day it was reported at the station of the V division , on Clapham-common , that a girl had been found in a dying state in a loft over an old and ruinous cowhouse vinthc Wandswoilli-road . Several constables , under the direction of a sergeant , were sent with a stretcher to convey this wretched human being to the Wandsworfh Union . On a heap of filthy litter in the corner of a loft over a cow-house , now in disuse , and situate at the corner of the Albion-road , Wandsworth-road , they found a being with scarce any signs - ' of life , and presenting all' the appearances of an exhumed corpse . Her apparel was but a bundle of

      rags , and wholly insufficient ' to conceal her person , much less protect her from the intense cold . . Some weak brandy and water was poured with difficulty through her lips , and the police then . proceeded to place her with extreme care upon the stretcher ; they covered her with horse-cloths and sacks , and then conveyed her to the union , hardly daring to hope thatshe would survive the journey . Mr . and Mrs . Tring , the master and matron of tfie Wandsworth TJnion , rceeived the unfortnnate creature , and had her instantly conveyed to a warm apartment . Within five minutes of her arrival she was undressed and placed between hot blankets . Her clothes , whidi 6 warmedwitiivermin , iwere immediately burned . An assistant to Dr . Connor , the surgeon to the union , was in the house at the time , and after examining the young woman , directed arrowroot and

      diluted wine to be administered often , but with extreme care and in sraaU quantities , as it was evident that her life hung as it were upon a thread . When this miserable object became partly sensible she was minutely examined , and a more horrible and soulsickening spectacle , perhaps , never before met the human sight . She is , it appears , not more than 16 years of age , but she looked 30 . Her countenance was as pallid , and the skin as contracted , ' as that of a corpse . Her back was one mass of sores , her frame was frightfully attenuated , and her feet swollen and frost-bitten , seemed to be fast approaching mortification ; but the most appalling sight was the myriads of vermin that crawled over her person , and even exuded from her mouth . The walls of the room were covered with them , and the colour of the blankets and sheets on the bed could not be

      distinguished . Her head was covered with a mass of " living corruption , at least an inch in thickness , and its appearance was horrid In the extreme . The nurses , to whom the task of cleansing this miserable creature was intrusted , were , for the safety of their own persons , enveloped in sheets whilst they performed the ^ secesKHy « t iiees . Within a very short space of time £ ii > e blankets were placed upon her , and were removed loaded with vermin , and immediately burned ; and to preserre the health of the house , she was obliged to be moved into another room , that that into which she had been first brought might be whitewashed and otherwise cleansed of its impurities . During the night the poor creature was watched most assiduously by two nurses . Her constant cry , when

      sensible , was for food , which was given her as often as was compatible -with safety . On Thursday morning a hair-dresser was directed to shave her head , and this he accomplished with difficulty , the stench being so horrible that he was repeatedly compelled to relinquish his task . In the course of Wednesday night this wretched being was enabled to converse with Jane Toplis , one of the nurses , and she informed her that her name was Mary Loveday , that she was 16 years of age , and the daughter of a gardener in the Union-road , Larkhall-lane , Clapham . She said her father , who had recently married again , turned her out of the house on the 1 st of December last , and told her to go and support herself by prostitution , as he would no longer support her . The first night she slept in

      a sand-pit ; she then went upon the streets and wandered about from place to place . At last she came back to the neighbourhood in which she had lived ; she found out the loft already spoken of , and as her clothes had become shabby she "lay there all day and crept out at night , when she picked up what pittance she could . A number of carpenters and" bricklayers -who were working at some new buildings in tUc Albion-Mad , and who inew her iather , were aware that she Lad taken up her abode in the loft , as were a chaffcutter and a TniBctnan occupying contiguous premises , but none of these persons attempted to remove her . On the contrary , they behaved kindly to her , and occasionally gave her food and halfpence . On Thursday last she became too ill to leave her

      miserable bed , and from that day until " \\ ednesuay morning last no food or water passed her lips . On thaimormng she had some dim knowledge of one of the carpenters , accompanied by a gentleman , coming up to her , and speaking to her , but she was beyond -the power of utterance and soon afterwards become . insensible . The Mher , the mother-in-law , and the Irother of the unfortunate creature visited her on Thursday . The mother-in-law did not seem the least affected , bat upbraided the girl for not having gone to service . llie father and brother are greatly grieved . . The interview between the brother and sister . was peculiarly affecting : he is a soldier , has been absent iixmi his eonntry seven years , and who

      had only just returned home . The iather and mother-in-law both assured the master of the union ( that their daughter might have come home if she had chosen so to do . This of course they will say in self-defence ; but their conduct has evidently been most atrocious , and should the unhappy girl die , murder , cruel , foul , unnatural murder will be too clearly chargeable to their account . Such hellish brutahty brings disgrace on the entire community , andqdBHn \ ipoft tiic very name of Englishmen and Englishwomen . L ynch law is surely too good for such saTages ., Dr . Connor visited the wretched girl on jararsday afternoon ; lie ordered that the most nutritious food should be given to her , and ihat she should be kept quiet , bat he has no hope of her ulti-

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      mate recovery , the system being so utterly exhausted , and it is more than probable that her feet will ultimately mortify . Rail-wat Comjsion . — Newcastle - on - Ttxe , WEKiESDAY . —A collision of trains took place last night on the Brandlin Junction Railway , the report ofwhich excited considerable alarm in this town , until it was satisfactorily ascertained that no lives were lost . It " appears that the eight o ' clock train from Gateshead to Sundcrland was approaching Felling station , when the speed of the train was slackened to stop at the station ; but before the train reached the station , a smart shock was felt by the passengers , who were thrown from their seats , and a general rush was made to get out of the carnages , the women screaming , and the men in a state of bewilderment . The line , it seems , is undergoing repair at this part , so that there is only one line

      in operation for a short distance . A long luggage train was coming in the opposite direction from Rockley Whins ,, and was in the act of leavin" the one line and crossing on to the other line , where the repairs are finished . The engine of the hi'wage train had just got on the other line , when tke ^ passenger train ran plump into the waggons next it , which were thrown off the line , piled one above another , and scattered on all sides by the shock . The engine of the passenger train was much broken , there being a large rent through ¦ which the fire turnbled on to the ground , and a general cry arose that the engine would burst , which added greatly to the prevailing consternation , every one endeavouring to get as far from it as possible . Had the Sunderland front Gateshead train been half a minute earlier , the two engines would have met , and frightful would have been the consequences .

      . Scicide . fkom Disthess . —On Friday week Mr . Baker , held an inquest at the Barley Mow , Blue Anchor-alley , BunMU-row , on William Leman , aged ififly , a printer . Deceased lived in a small house in iBanks-court , of which he was the tenant . lie was out of work , and had become responsible for several persons accommodated with money at loan societies , and who were unable to pay their instalments . These circumstances preyed upon his mind , as he had been in a desponding state the last few days . Wednesday morning , as he had not been seen , the door , of his bed room was broken open , when lie was discovered lying . upon hisbed quite dead , and it was found he had taken a quantity of laudanum . Verdict , Temporary insanity .

      Accident ox the North Mtjmuxd R-uxway . — On Monday week last a serious accident happened on the North Midland Railway , which might have been attended with fatal consequences . As the first up train—which is due at Wingneld Station at twenty minutes past eight a . m ., was proceeding at a moderate speed near the Bump-mill , about a mile and a half north of SouthwingfieM Station , one of the axles of a second-class carriage broke , and a great destruction of carriages ensued . Fortunately , however , no one received an injury beyond the fright .

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      THE RIGHT HONOURABLE SECRETARY FOR THE HOME AND FOREIGN SPY DEPARTMENT . Ox Tuesday night Mr . Dcxcombe , ever ready to redeem his pledges to the country , re-opened the Post-office delinquency practised by Sir James Graham —a delinquency attempted to be smothered by the " secret committee" appointed by the Right Honourable Baronet himself . Much as Mr . Dcxcombe's perseverance and resolution were admired , still some of his friends somewhat doubted the prudence of his course in introducing the subject a second time . Further inquiry , they admitted , was due to justice ; but aknowledge of the disinclination of the "honourableHoiise"toheararepetition of its own delinquency , impressed them with a notion that the energy and eloquence of the Honourable Member for Finsburv

      would fail to supply material for fresh excitement , even on so vitally important a subject . Li this respect , however , they were most agreeably disappointed : for never was a more statesmanlike , searching , eloquent , able , convincing , and even telling speech , than that with which the Honourable Gentleman introduced his appeal ibr further inquiry . Politicians may value the secrecy of correspondence for liberty ' s sake , or even for the success of intrigue ; the merchant may attach commercial importance to that secrecy necessary for the protection of speculation ; the lover may desire protection for his love-sick strains ; and all unitedly may seek for confidence in the wafer or the seal : but few were prepared to see in the violation of such confidence the awful and

      astounding consequences ascribed to it by the Honourable Member , for Finsbury . In these-days of commercial speculation , with n Prime Minister whose governing rule and sustaining power appears to consist in the old adage " Fir | J 5 > it qui pauea loquitur "" The man is wise who speaks little "—it is no small triumph to have compelled the Prime Minister himself to fly to the aid of the ilatkikeep" subordinate of his Cabinet ! It is true that the prisoner at the bar received little benefit , or even consolation from the testimony of his master . The pitiful subterfuge

      of Sir Robert and his " cad , * ' respecting the report of the secret committee absolving them from blame , is below contempt . * Sir James Graham cannot fairly plead " aiarefoisacquit ; " i . e ., " beforeacquitted , "to the charge preferred against him by Mr . Duncombe ; though this wasthe wholesale plea setup by his leading counsel , Sir Robert . " 0 , 7 says he , "we have been tried and acquitted ; wjB you noto try vs again ?" The answer is , " Ton . have not been tried ! and therefore you cannot have been acquitted . " . If the " secret conimittee" are at all to be considered as having aided in , or contributed to a trial , it

      can only be as a Grand Jury sitting on , and returning ! a bill of indictment ; and every man in England who reads Mr . Duxcombe ' b analysis of their "finding " will see in the suppressio veri , —the suppression of truth—manifest in that document—the absolute necessity of further inquiry . Mr . Ddxcombe has also pr eferred fr esh and astounding charges against the Government , to "which Sir James Graham can no more plead " previous acquittal" than a reputed pig-stealer , when arraigned on a charge of murder , could plead " previous acquittal" of pig-stealing as an answer to the more serious charge .

      Mr . Dcxcombe has proposed a very plain and simple issue . He has asked Sir James Graham plainly , boldly , and manfully— "Did yon , or did you not , order my letters to be opened ? " Mr . Dus-CO . MBE avers that the fact that Sir James Graham did this , was known to the Committee : and such knowledge , together with their resistance of further nqnlry , must brand them before "the House , " the country , and the world , as slavish sycophants ; as mere Ministerial tools ; as men who have divested themselves of every feeling of honour to cover Ministerial delinquency ; as men who are satisfied to

      sacrifice the dearest privilege that they themselves possess , to Ministerial "expediency . " It is no triumph to the accused that the Committee was a mere pie-ball "tribunal , " where " white" Whiggery might have had a spot or two of advantage over " black" Toryism . It is sufficient for the country to know that nine gentlemen of the House of Commons have had evidence to prove that the letters of a respectable brother Member -were opened , without colour of law or even plausible pretext ; and that these time-serving hypocrites drew up a report altogether withholding this fact from public notice , to " settlethe question" both as to them and their " report . "

      Independently of the duty that Mr . Duncombe owed to himself in again opening the question , he had one of higher importance to discharge to his constituents : for if hia correspondence merited Ministerial surveillance , he cannot be a fit and proper person to represent the present constituency of Finsbury . The boast of Sir James Graham of the impartial manner in which the Committee was chosen , as it consisted of a majority of his political opponents , is truly

      laughable . He must have known , as we told him at the time , that the Committee was so appointed for the express purpose of balancing accounts between Whig and Tory exercise of this unconstitutional privilege . Sir James Graham knew well enough that his friends and opponents would make a compromise ; and would draw up precisely that description of namby-pamby , hodge-podge report , with which the country has been favoured . '

      We have given Mr . Doncombe's speech at considerable length ; and it is not our intention to weaken any of hb points by comment : but we cannot abstain

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      from directing particular attention to a most noble burst of impassioned eloquence . It is not often truths are so fairly and so boldly stated . The Honourable Member , in reference to the uses made of Mr . Mazzisi ' s intercepted letters , said : — But unfortunately the poison had gone forth to the Neapolitan Government . The British Government had informed them of the inteUigeuce of the purport of the first letters , and it was too late to recall it . The Austrian Government sent their spies among those unfortunate people ; they resided at Corfu , and they told those people that in Calabria the peasantry were ripe for the enterprise , and waiting for them . These men were thus induced , notwithstanding their assurance to Mr . "Mazzini , to leave Corfu . They went into Calabria , where , instead of finding the peasantry ready for them , they were conducted

      into the mountains , where they becanio easily mastered by organized troops which had been sent there by the Neapolitan Government , who had been instigated to do so , no doubt , by the British Government . Seventeen of those persons were tried by a military commission , and condemned to death , and nine of them were executed on the following day . They were persons of noble family ; two of them , of the name of Bandievas , Were the sons of an Austrian admiral of that name . The Bandieras and their seven companions with a calm and happy bearing bore good witness to their faith , and died like martyrs , having slept peacefully on the night before theiv execution . " If we fall , " they said to a friend , "tell our countrymen to imitate our example , for life has been given to us to enjoy nobly iind usefully ; and the cause we die in is the purest , the holiest , and the best that ever warmed the breast of man . It is the cause of

      the independence of our country . " Such are the men whom you were thus leagued with Austria to crush . Those men were executed , and this is the way you adopted and the end for which you gained information , with a view of ( as you call it ) " frustrating that attempt . " Why did not you send nobly and generously to these individuals and state to them— " You are plotting on British ground ; you are running into danger ; this must inevitably be your ruin ; let us persuade you to desist from such a course \ " They would have listened to you ,

      and you need not have supplied another Government with the means of entrapping men and putting them to death . I say that they are the victims of this system , and their Wood is upon the heads of her Majesty ' s present Ministers , as much , aye , much more , than it is upon those whose duty it was to pull the trigger that launched them into eternity ; and if a monument be erected to their memory at Coeenza , where they fell , as . 1 hope it -will , it ought to be inscribed upon their tombstone , that they fell in the cause of their country , and of liberty , through the treachery of a British Ministry . ( Cheers . )

      Aye ! the blood of the departed patriots is on the head of the British Minister ! and he—not the hireling who drew the trigger—is responsible for the foul deed ! Mr . Duxcombe was fully justified in ascribing the above atrocity to English Ministerial policy . It is precisely similar in character to that practised by Sidmouth , whose good offices , in the right direction , his worthy successor appears to emulate , and successfully ; as in his first "innings" he has beaten him by five runs , with a wicket yet to fall . How many Englishmen have been sacrificed in precisely the

      same way ! The mode in which : Castles , Oliver ' Edwards , and others of Sidmoutji ' s tools produced sudden outbreaks at home , was by taunting the men of Lancashire and Yorkshire with cowardice and backwardness , assuring them that Derby , Leicester , Nottingham , and Birmingham were ready to "beup and doing ; " precisely as the Austrian spies assured the insurgents of Corfu that they would meet with hearty co-operation from their brethren in Calabriaand who were thus marched blindfold to meet the hireling ' s bullet instead of a brother's aid .

      We trust that every man in England will read and preserve the above extract from the speech of Mr . Dcxcombe ; and we feel assured that the " scene '' following and preceding the Speaker ' s call to " order , " will not be forgotten : — " Then , " said Mr . Buncombe , " how stands that question between me and the Right Honourable Baronet ? If a Member in his place asks the Right Honourable Baronet whether , in the exercise of his functions , he has opened that Member's letters , and he finds that that Secretary of State , while he has had the meanness—aye , and the baseness , to commit the act , lias not had the courage to avow it . ( Gveat cheering . )

      " The Speaker . —Those observations appear to be of a personal nature . If the Honourable Member has made those observations personally to the Right Honourable Gentleman opposite , the Honourable Gentleman no doubt will be glad of the opportunity to withdraw them . "Mr . Duncombe . —SIR , 1 APPLIED THOSE OBSERVATIONS TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE GENTLEMAS IN HIS MINISTERIAL CAPACITY . TO THOSE OBSERVATIONS AND THAT LANGUAGE I ADHERE—( Cheers ) : SO THEY MUST . AND SHALL REMAIN . "

      What a rebuke ! Currax , once cross-examining a young dragoon major in his teens , said , " Come now , soldier , answer my question : " to which the major replied— "I am not a soldier : I am an officer . " " Then , " said Cuuran , "Mr . Officer , andiio soldier , answer my question . " So with the Minister , but no gentleman . " I have , ' . ' says Sir James , " been guilty of Ministerial meanness , baseness , and cowardice ; and as a gentleman I avow it . Let us see whether this is a strained p oint of our o w n , or whether Sir James ' s own very words will not bear this identical interpretation . Sir James commenced his reply—if reply it can be called—thus : —

      Sir , I r ise under gveat disadvantage to follow the Honourable Gentleman who has just sat down , and to address the House . For although in my own judgment and conscience 1 feel a strong conviction that 1 liav £ done nothing in the execution of my public duty of which any public servant or gentleman can be ashamed , yet the topic now under discussion is one on which I feel that iii the mind of the British public there must naturally exist a strengprejudice against a public servant who has exercised this particular function ; and also I feel that I am addressing a body of gentlemen of the United . Kingdom in whose bosoms there must be a feeling which , in their generous natures , makes the execution of this duty in a public servant repulsive to them . I feel , therefore , all the disadvantage of my present position .

      Is not this the hangman ' s excuse ? He , too , feels " a strong conviction that lie lias done nothing in the execution of his public duty , of which any other hangman or gentleman can be ashamed . " Does not Sir James himself here furnish more than a " prima fade" case for a new trial ? Nay , does not he furnish ample grounds whereon to found conviction ? He does indeed do so ! There is a prejudice entertained by the whole of the British public , as well as by the body of gentlemen of the United Kingdom sitting in the House of Commons , in whose bosoms there must be a feeling which makes the execution of this hateful spving Ministerial duty repulsive to

      them ! No wonder that Sir James tfelt the "disadvantage " of his position I He would shelter himself under the acts of former Governments ; and wo \ i ! d lead us to the conclusion that custom justified transgression . However , if morality is to keep pace with commerce , let us go back beyond the days of Sidmoutji , Fox , Pitt , or even "Walfole , and see how the matter was viewed by the Venetian Ambassador in 1641 . An act of letter-opening was complained of b y the Venetian Ambassador in that year , and ' Was explained away by Lord Fielding and Sir Henry

      Vane as a " simple error , " which subsequently grew into wholesale inspection . The violation of faith , even in those " uncivilised" times , the Venetian Ambassador designated as a "damnable example . " And in speaking of the inviolability of correspondence—of course the character of public gei-vant not then being separated from that of gentleman—he wrote thus : — " which practice , most noble sirs , is not the laws of our nation alone , but universal , and hath been maintained and unviolatcd of the King , and the public , and of all Christian Governments , no less than among the most barbarous . "

      What a reflection upon our improved civilization ! Two hundred and four years ago a private letter was looked upon as something sacred , even by barha . rians ; while our expediency-policy has found nine gentlemen " barbarous" enough to sacrifice this inviolability to Ministerial necessity ! We write before the debate is concluded ; and we shall anxiously look for a satisfactory response to that "throbbing pulsation" which Sir James assures us beats in the bosoms of those " generous Englishmen " by whom he was surrounded . No doubt the swelling

      heart of little Lord John will go pit-a-pat in unison with the heavier groans of the outraged money-monger : but we much doubt that his little " noble " nature will sustain him in the conflict between English feeling and Ministerial expediency . As to Pbel , there is but one course for him : either to gink himself , or to cast his supercargo , Sir James , overboard , who has so often endangered the Minis terial vessel . We believe that no act of PEEi'slife would be tailed with half thai joy that would be sure to Mow the announcement of the SPY'S dismissal

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      THE TRADES' CONFERENCE : LORD ASHLET : AND THE QUESTION OF LABOUlt PROTECTION . IIopefcx . as oui anticipations to the cause of Labour were from the projected Conference about to be held by the various Trades , the position achieved by the Honourable Member for Finsbury by his splendid speech upon the spy system , has added considerably , to our expectations . We have no doubt that the comprehensive mind of Mr . Duncombe , added to his laudable ambition to serve a cause in which he has

      nobly enlisted , will present this national assembly not only to the English mind , but to the world ' s eye , in its proper shape and form—as the miniature of that full-length picture of Labour ' s Protection which must and will result from the combined knowledge of the Trades and their Emancipator . If we saw good and substantial reason for such an assemblage before the meeting of Parliament , and prior to the ministerial developments made even at this early period of the Session , all that has since transpired lias served'to confirm us in our former views .

      We had come to the conclusion that in Trades ' questions themselves , delegates of their own order would find ample cause foy deliberation : but we confess that we were not prepared to view the whole case of the labouring classes in so comprehensive a manner as we now are , —thanks to the masterly exposure of Lord Ashley on Tuesday night . Those who have attended to our teaching on Labour questions , will remember that we have ever contended for a consolidation of the interests of all as the only means of security forall . It will be impossible for the Mechanic , the Corkcutter , the Goldsmith , or the

      Shoemaker , to do justice to .. their . own case , or to arrive at wise conclusions with reference to their own order , without , at the same time , taking into consideration the condition of every class of labourers . The present policy of Lord Ashley appears to us to be not only justifiable , but politic . . He has taken a comprehensive view of the whole question of workingclass grievances ; and , with commendable patience , has delayed the exposure of thosemonstrositiesknown to himself , until armed with the force of evidence to

      impress them on the minds of all . The knowledge of the existence of a grievance is one thing : the publication of irrefutable testimony is another thing . Mr . Cobdex , with every seeming of sincerity , might say " nay" to every assertion of the Noble Lord : and cognizant of this easy mode of disposing of an argu . incnt , Lord Ashley postponed his exposures until he could meet such wholesale flippant denials with " The Book" containing the printed evidence taken before Committees , and by Commissioners appointed ; by authority . .

      Armed with such irrefutable testimony , Lord Ashley proposes to go through the whole catalogue of grievances seriatim , allowing each to stand on its own merits—thereby protecting himself against the" possibility ' of jumble or mystification . Ghambers , in his " Employer and Employed , " admits the necessity of training females in domestic pursuits ; while Lord Ashley asks how it is possible for little children of four years of age , engaged in print-works—for that was the section of labour that he brought before the House on Tuesday—he asks how infants of forty-eight months old can be instructed in needle-work , or other

      branches of female education , when they are compelled to work twelve , fourteen , and even sixteen hours by day and by night ! , As it is our intention to deal more at large with the proposed measure of the noble Lord when it comes before us in a more tangible form , we shall abstain for the present from further comment , merely observing that Sir James Graham pleaded " expediency" and" PROFIT" as a justification for continuing the internal practice , and for resisting the noble Lord ' s humane intentions : a circumstance which characteristically enough elicited the Mgh encomiums of pinch-belly Hume and the Malthiisians '

      We have merely taken this cursory view of the philanthropic intentions of Lord Ashley for the purpose of presenting it as ajeature that ought not , and cannot , be lost sight of by theforthcoming Conference : thatis , if . Labour is . to be generally , and not partially , represented therein . Communications approving of this step taken by the Trades continue to pour in upon us from ' all quarters : and we rejoice at being able to state that in Manchester several Trades have already elected their delegates . The fact of Mr . Duncombe having consented to preside over the deliberations of the Conference will give to" the body a surpassing importance ; while it will furnish a

      guarantee to the delegates , and -those whom they represent , that no extraneous matter will be allowed to divert their minds from the consideration of the great and important questions which- they meet to deliberate on . Should this first step in the right course succeed according to our reasonable anticipations , we have little hesitation in saying that Peel's " occupation will be gone , " unless , indeed , as is his custom , lie may be prepared to deal with the Free Trade partly as he has dealt with the Church and the Landlords—leave them , when he finds a stronger power ready to urge him on more briskly in his war against existing absurdities .

      Sir Robert Peel would rather be the Minister of a substance , than the puppet of a shadow : and if the Trades present such a front as will convince him of their union , and evince resolution to persevere for the accomplishment of thfeir Whole rights , Sir Robert Peel is just the man to review the forces , reconnoitrethe positions of the rcsjKctivc parties , and place himself AT THE HEAD OP THE MOST POWERFUL ! Far and near as the news of this Conference has spread , and open-mouthed , open-eyed , and open-eared as our virtuous Press affects to be , it is curious that not a single organ of the many who designate themselves "Labour ' s only champions , " should have deemed so important a subject worthy of even a passing notice . And yet we are told that the

      Press is the great bulwark of national liberty . There is little doubt , however , that when the work is dqpe —as done it assuredly will be—we shall be then favoured with the realised prophecies of our now silent cotemporaries ! Mr . Duncombe entertains most sanguine hopes from the result of the projected , Conference ; . and we feel assured that his pledge to open the Conference on Easter Monday , and to preside over its deliberations , will be received as an ample and gratifying apology for the non-acceptance of numerous invitations to Yorkshire , Lancashire , and all parts of the kingdom during the Easter recess ; and that those who will experience disappointment at not seeing and welcoming their champion , will rejoice that , though absent , he is engaged in doing the work of all .

      Untitled Article

      My dear and only Fiiends ,- < -Although I have from time to time been taunted and sneered at for resting my hopes of all salutary changes in the moral , social , and p ' nysieal condition of the people of this country on your exertions , I have never yet been induced to transfer that hope to expectation from any other source . The great , and indeed the disastrous influence possessed by the middle classes of this country

      over the labourers was never more significantly , though negatively , displayed { han at the present moment . The complete cessation of all agitation by the middle classes is ample proof that the law , or rather the Government , has done for them all that they require , while they have in return , through their repres entatives , aided the Minister . in-the completion of those financial schemes , which , although most just , most sweeping , and most comprehensive , must nevertheless end in the final overthrow of the present system .

      The middle classes see permanency where then is no certainty . They imagine that all the advantages arising from Sir Robert Peel ' s recent alteratons mv . st be permanent ; whereas the only measures to : which any fixity of duration can be assigned are the Property and the Income taxes . I do not say' that his Sugar BillVould , be " so ; aIt « Md \ aB'to , ' jnwt . yoiir inability to consume byincreaseddutiea on that article ; nor do I say that the present reasonable hope of

      Untitled Article

      " prosperity" arising front your present ability to consume ,, would be met by a return to the former glass duties , auction duties , stave duties , or the increase of any of those duties which Sir Robert Peel has recently abolished ; but what I do say is thisthat his application of the " surplus" in his hands has been impolitic , unjust , unstatesmanlike , and unwise . I will take the six great articles of reduction , comprising within themselves nearly the whole amount of the " surplus , " the reduction of the dnty on sugar , the repeal of the duty on cotton wool , on glass , or coopers' staves , the auction duty , and the export duty on coal . The reduction on these six articles amounts to more than three millions and seventy thousand pounds per annum ; while the remaining 425 comprise no more than about £ 320 , 000 , or perhaps leaving a loss on the collection .

      Now , perhaps it would be impossible to have selected six articles producing the same amount o revenue from a reduction on which "the working classes would derive more insignificant advantage . I will make a shopkeeper ' s bill of it for you , and see how the matter stands . Suppose a man whose family uses Benefit of reduction per week . d . 21 bs . of sugar per week H Fabric composed of cotton wool , 2 s . per 1 VCekiulli > i . uu . m ... » . u » i . tit . > i » . i . »» U Glass , per week , 7 04 Auction duty 0 Staves 0 . . " '¦ ¦ ¦ IF I have taken the most advantageous view of the " savings" in which your order can regard them ., I have allowed , a poor man ' s family to use . two pounds of sugar per week , and two shillings' worth bf fabric made of cotton wool , on which the duty was 12 J per cent . ; and upon which , for calculation ' s sake , I have allowed you five per cent ., leaving 7 s per cent , for the grower , the merchant , the manufacturer , the wholesale dealer , and the shopkeeper from whom you purchase ; and I find that your share of the " saving , " even should my data be correct , will amount to fourpence farthing per . week , or eighteen shillings andfivepence

      per year ! This , is allowing you great regularity in housekeeping ; and if I take the wages of a man , able to expend as above , at 18 s . od . per week , it will not be too , much ; and let us then , see * how with him ^ ie ac count will stand . Sir Robert ^ Peel has expressed a hope that the working classes niay be allowed their share in his reductions : but he little knows the parties with whom they have to deal on Saturday nights . Those parties will have their share , and their full share , in the " reductions : " but those reductions will be In the workmen ' s wages ; and the reasons assigned will be the greater facilities of purchasing the necessaries of life .

      Now no man can say that this view is strained , when we recollect that parties very generally xirged the growth of temperance as a justifiable reason for reducing wages . Nor can we shut our eyes to what passed on the promulgation of the former , tariff . Indeed , I never can forget that golden passage in Mr . Drury ' s admirable letter to Mr . Duncombe , wherein he sets forth the greater difficulty of , the working classes to contend with griping capitalists than with the law itself . The Income tax is to be reimposed

      for three years : and this circumstance , together with the plausible pretext of " reduced necessaries , " will be seized as sufficient reason for reducing your ivages on the very first opportunity . Taking the more-thanprobable reduction , then , at one shilling per week , consequent on your IMPROVED condition , we shall find a balance against the labourer of £ 113 s . 7 d . per ycav ! And this is the Ministerial boon in return for the increasing " loyalty" of her Majesty's loving subjects !

      Now , 1 am perfectly aware that to any other class of working men in the world , except those of England , it would be very foolish to write so plainly as I . write : but I sincerely rejoice that you have now arrived at a state . that enables me to speak plain common sense to you without being liable to have my words , my motives , or my conclusions measured by the old rule of system . The great " prosperity "' of the country and the income tax has furnished the Minister with an unexampled " surplus . " This " surplus" being immediately collected from the wealthier classes , proves their wealth ; while , co-temporaueously with the n-dislnbuiion of this " surplus ' among the parties from whose store it was taken , we learn the astounding fact from the Home . Secretary , that one in every ten of the working classes is

      dejocntat upmi parochial relief for existence /—is , in fact , a " parish pauper . '" and is to be made a union vagabojtd ! . ! Now , does not this clearly prove : to you that however desirous Sir Robert Peel may be to better your condition , " system" stands in the ; way of his doing it effectually ? I am ready to admit that the " man of substance" j will be able to use more sugar , more cotton wool . manufacture , more glass , and to sell his 'Wraps" cheaper by auction than he can now ; but what I contend for is , that tho measures of Sir Robert Peel will not enable the present non-consumer , to be a con- *

      sumer of those articles . And what I further assert is this , that'Sir Robert Peel ' s present measures will make the very next " taxic , " however trifling it may be , fatal to all classes of society—but most fatal to those for " whose especial benefit" he says he has made the change . If you are not able to consume , the Income tax will be a very inadequate substitute for all his alterations . And now methinks I hear some one saying , "Well , what would you have done to have met the Minister ' s views , and the Home Secretary ' s frightful admission ? " Well , if we leave " system" out of the question ; and if we bar the necessity of balancing adverse and contendinginterests

      without any certainty of result , for the mevfe purpose of keeping the thing afloat ; and if indeed the improvement and well-being of all should be the object of those who govern , I will tell you . £ 3 , 400 , 000 of money "is money all over the world , " as we say in Ireland ; and the duty of the Minister , with that " surplus" in hand , wasto have applied ilprndeAtially rather than politically . If Sir Robert Peel had purchased , as he might have done , 200 , 000 acres of very good land , and leased it to " the one in ten" of the system-made " paupers , " he might have preserved all Ms higher duties , and might have swept the frightful item of £ 8 , 000 , 000 per annum " pauper" money from his column of expenditure !

      Now , you mechanics , and you insolent "foppish " aristocracy of Trades , don't laugh at me ; bu-t firstunderstand that every single item that Sir Robert Peel proposes to bring within your reach , by a reduction in its price , comes from the land . Two hundred thousand acres of land would give direct employment to 500 , 000 individuals , and would produce a " surplus , " after theiv consumption , larger than the interest of the national debt ; and then 500 , 000 would be about the " one in ten" of the " pauper" class . Of the " first-principle" gentlemen , who know as much

      about the value of labour when applied to land , as an Irish pig knows of geometry , I ask ; I mean Spottiswoodeand Co ., and the " TORY" advocates of increased issues of paper-money ; I ask these gents , what objection they can see to the purchase of land under such circumstances ? Will they tell me that the people ought rather to starve in deference to a " statesmanlike-principle ? " that it is anti-democratic to purcliatc what ought to belong totho people themselves , but which , unfortunately , they cannot otherwise have ?

      In 1840-41 and' 43 , 1 made several prophesies with reference to the policy of Sir Robert Peel ; and day after day I find events and circumstances strengthening and confirming the opinions that I then entertained and placed on veeord . The only advantage that I now see in a perseverance in that policy is , that sooner or later the neglected agricultural interest must be thrown upon the consuming labouring classes for protection . There is nothing else for

      them . The landed interest alone derive no benefit ( beyond the dangerous facility of procuring money at alow rate of interest ) , from that system of centralization which has grown to such an alarming extent . They derive no advantage from the accumulated hoards of the leviathan manufacturers ; but / on the contrary , they are now beginning tp discover that the " protection or labour" would enable the labouring classes to deal more extensively and advantageously for themselves in the home market .

      Whenever the landlords of this country are prepared to make common cause with the working classes , they can materially , benefit themselves , ' and at the same time confer commens \ irate advantages on the labouring classes . The manufacturers , and all

      Untitled Article

      — ¦ - -..,. .. .- ^^^ ' ^^'' ''''''''''''''' M ' W ^^^ a ^ ^^^ » who live on the abour of others , "willdie in reT ^ the claims of Labour , before they will joia i ^^ i ing its emancipation . I admit that Tre have ** up-hill work to convince the slothful clodpoW J ^ fact ; but nevertheless it is progressing """ farmers that whistle at the plough" are bee' ^ to acquire some knowledge : and knowledge " - 16 that they do require to save themselv es \ ? ^ people . - " the , The manufacturing and tradin g ; classes in more active , stirring , bustling fen ' owled ™ th ^ SOt agricultural classes ; and for this veasonL i . there is a demand there is a supply , xhe I T' ^

      terest , being protected by old feudal laws mad r themselves , and by pulpit-hobgoblinism proac'Ci i their sons , have relied upon those tilings , baek \ i a standing army , for the acc « i % and rji 0 Trc"i ! - their properties . There was no demand , as fv they were concerned , for any other desorintic !' "knowledge" than that furnished b y legislat ° * priests , and soldiers ; and that knowled ge havi »^' come obsolete and useless , theve they are Vn ,,, > ""ing on their backs , assailed , and not able to < W themselves . Thus it always is ; where theirs 1 grievance there exists a sense of dangerous svxxi " °

      anirl but little knowledge : whilp . nn « , „ ^ . ' . , » and but little knowledge ; while , on the other W where grievances exist , intellect js SHAiirjcxED T ( sistavcs . Hence we find the foolish oh ] " cfefer 11 **"" of the Protestant faith , and so forth , " mere Chi ])'' in the hands , of Catholic disputants , wlw have ^ long grievances to contend with . And prceisW vf it is with , the labouring classes . Their grieva ^ * and sufferings break through that produ ^ i " prosperity" of which the Minister ostentation ! boasts ; and the consequence is , that the ti 0 paiyerm every ten" becomes enlivened bv iJ * hwhich "

      philosopy promises to shake unjust securit to its very centre . It is for them that I have Sp j the best years of my life in comparative seclusion , j , is for abandonment of their cause that J have ^ veiled with friends most dear , and with assoeiatej most valued . Where is the heart that must not feel aud sicken—where is the man that enn refrain from weeping , on looking on such a picture as the lfOme Secretary has been obliged to present as a foil to the painted representation of " prosperity" drawn bv \\ nt " fascinating financier , " the bookkeeper of tl » nionied classes—Sir Robert Peel .

      : My friends , my only friends—you who have con % in me ; who have defended me when assailed ; % have never deserted me in adversity—to rov I $ ay I that the next panic ; ' trifling though it may be . wjj ; *¦ plaee you in the ascendant —( after some suffering J t admit , )—when all the trickery of Ministerial policy ^ must fail . Be united ; be wise ; be firm : Re after s all , to our measure—and to that cdone—all persons ^ possessing real property , and wishing to preserve it | from the lewd grasp of speculating tralfickere im ^ fj comc-toTHE PEOPLE'S CHARTER . Ever your faithful friend and servant , FuARGrs 0 'Co . vxor ,

      Untitled Article

      The Sanatory Condition of tub People . —At n , 6 i opening of the Parliament the Queen in her "liojai ¦ Speech" was made to say " The health of the mhabi . ¦; tants of large towns and populous districts in this part - of the United Kingdom has been the subject of rcctnt t inquiry before & commission , the report of which shall $ be immediately laid before you . It will be hi ghly I gratifying to me if the information and suggestions con- stained in that report shall enable you to devise the- I , means of jpomoting the health and comfoi't of the - poorer classes of my subjects . This intimation has % not come a bittoo soon . The frightful evils ouduvrf ty ;| the working classes caused by their badly-drahwd anil I badly-ventilated dwellings , and in many cases the total %

      want ot that first necessary , pure wholesome water , are ! j incalculable and beyond the power of adequate deswi p- | tion . We believe the public are not a little indebted : | to the Marquis of Nokjianbv for compelling the prc . | sent administration to move in this matter . We cay t " preseHt administration ; " for we cannot acquit the | Whig administration , ofwhich Lord > ohma » B : was a ^ member , of gross and unpardonable neglect of to \ health and lives of the people . Still , if Lord Nosmisbv X would not , or could not , do anything for the lK-op : <; ivhca . f in office , we shall not refusu to aeuupt the yt-o . i he may 1 get done for them when out ; we only hope that uheu no « \ the Whigs have power , if ever , they will he muiy mint ! . \ ful of the people's welfare than heretofore . 0 'ithe 26 th . i of July , 18 ii , Lovd JToBMANBr delivered a speeclnuthe I

      House of Lords on the sanatory condition of the jw ^ s , ' which certainly did him great credit . That &ne ^ . di bs . j been reprinted , and may be had of Knight ami Co ., ¦ ¦ Ludgate-street . We have been favoured with a copy ! sent us by that eminent man and noble philanthropist , " i Pr . Soutliwood Smith . We shall bes , t show our ajipre- I ciation of the Speech by giving the following extracts : — I have now to call your lordships ' attention to a subject , in my opinion , of unequalled importaucs . tt ie true that I dp so when the session lias almost run a weary length . It is not for me on this occasion to criticise the comparative value of its other labours , but I must remind you that at the very earliest moment when the forms of the House permitted , after t ! t « imtf- : ing of Parliament , I put a question to my Jfubie Friend

      opposite ( the Duke of Buccleugh)—the chairman of a commission appointed by the Government to inquire into this subject—whether we might <\\] ieet anv remedial measures during the present session ? 0 .-. Variuus occasions , during the progress of public business , I have with diminishing hopes repeated the sstadiuc ? .-tion ; and I own thatit is now with deep disappointment I feel myself obliged formally to bring the subj-. ct before you , with a view at least to exti act a pledge from this House that here these evils shall not another vear be treated with continued neglect . * # * Since the commencement of the present century the proportions of agricultural and manufacturing iiypulaifon have been exactly reversed . At the uommtsuvaieat of that period the agricultural population w : ; s to the

      • manuiaeturmg . as two to one . sowthe latter is to we former in the same proportion of two to one . 'ft'itli this there has been a concurrent increase of natior . n ! wvait ' i , but there has been no addition to the comforts of the people—no provision for guarding their health—no tare to raise their condition . Look , for iustaucu . to die tOWll Of Manchester iind its neijflibonriiuml—uur i ' :: cJ invidiously , but named naturaiiy us prom . 'Jy boasting to he the emporium , of new-made wealth , it has also become the seat of disease , and the spirit of health ' |! IS winged its way to those comparative solitudes which the most enterprising portion of the pouulnttou had left . This was not always so : this same locality was formerly famous for its longevity . In a calculation which I cited in a former speech , upon the authoritr of Sir . Gilbert

      Blane , the deaths in Manchester were stated a ; the beginning of the century to be one in lifty-eight , or considerably below the national average , lr . l ^ H lie mentions them as only one in sevtuty-tou \ - . . w Ittcli seeins so extraordinarily low as to make one Mitw there must have been some mistake ; but it shows that , at any rate , the fact must have \ w remarkable on the favourable side . It is a s ; u ! ti-iish that the mortality there now is about one it : t ' . ventyeight . I have upon other occasions alludi > : l to a fact since stated in Mr . Chadwick ' s report , that fifty thousand persons die annually from diseases which might be prevented by proper sanatory regulations . This statement has been amply confirmed , Tlw commission appointed last year selected fifty towns , fl'I'ic ' some of the commissioners personally visited . , and l 0 which they also sent queries on particular points . Jn the Appendix to the Report which I holt ! St .--. tty l » at » J , it is staiedi that in those towns tlic deatlfs in iiw

      years from fevers and contagious disorders wore Oi . OM , 01-21 , 000 annually , but the population in these towns is now 2 , 051 , 789 . If we take the population of'the metropolis and its suburbs at 1 , 600 , 000 / that would make « P nearly the 40 , 000 annual deaths ; and we have tJierefore , in order jto verify Mr . Chadwick ' s estimate , only to distribute the other 10 , 000 deaths amongst the other 12 , 000 , 000 of the population . I am not exactly aware why these fifty towns wore selected by the commissioners , probably because there may have keen a greater proportionate increase . The general increase since 1801 has been in the proportion of 7 to * ; in tlluse fifty towns it has been as 5 to 2 . And why did tltcse towns increase in this degree ? Because money was there to be made by the application of capital , » ! l " labour was therefore tempted from other quarters ; and wealth has . been made , and capital has l ) e (! n doubled ; and this , because with enterprise there " been economy in all tilings but one : of human U / i tkn

      lias been a constant waste , sinful , because uniiea ' . ^ a'J If you rejid the answers from almost every 0 I > e of the fifty towns to the queries sent by the eonuinS " sioners , you will <; ee there has been a total absence ot all proper precautions . And can you expect the V 1 ^ , timsoftliis state of things to help themselves unless you interpose ! They remove from their own » c'K " bourhood because they expect better wages .. Gran that in good times they succeed in higher uomma ' wages . Who , in too many cases , benefit ? b ; , the inference ? Why , the" owners of these disgraceful & **> which are a necessity to the labourer , " who m |'

      live within a certain distance of his work . Hence v combined evils of over-crowding and extortion ; »>» in too many instances , the emigrant from the rurs ) i - trict finds that'he has to add the cost of certain dise » to the rent of the wretched room , already three tii the amount of that of the gardened cottage heMS i « Again , I as k / is this necessary ? Mr . Austin states ^ his evidence before this commission , that for _ ^ e" --: -ing rents he could ' undertake to raise new }>^ Z t returning ten per cent , on the speculation , tnta pe drainage , . self-acting water-closet , water to * m > ^ floor , ona ^ arinual ' st . pply secured ; and Uie eu all this calculated to include the ground-rent . IV * so , to what extortion mustaU those be helpless !; ^

      The Northeen Star. Saturday, February 22, 1845.

      THE NORTHEEN STAR . SATURDAY , FEBRUARY 22 , 1845 .

      To The Fustian Jackets, Blistered Hands, And Unshorn Chins.

      TO THE FUSTIAN JACKETS , BLISTERED HANDS , AND UNSHORN CHINS .

      Co $Tfhms $C (Toaspiftfnto |

      Co $ tfHms $ c ( toaspiftfnto |

      Untitled Article

      J .,-4- ' ¦ ¦ .,-. - , ~ — .- ¦•^ ,:-::, ,: :: ^ : — :, : ^ . TH E : NORTHERN ST ^ 'r , -. y : FEB » mKY 15 , Ifcfc

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Feb. 22, 1845, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1303/page/4/