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Northern Star (1837-1852), 30th December 1848, Edition 1 of 3, Page unpag, Untitled Article

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    • RICHARD COBDEN'S BUDGET. TO THE INDUSTRIOUS CLASSES.
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      Untitled Article

      ' Mf Friends , —As political feeling—or rather political bias—is generall y spiced with 8 little personal influence , many of you will imag ine , that , owing Richard Cobdenmore than s personal grudge or two , that I shall base my commentary upon his Financial Budget upon the narrowness of personality—but I shall do no such thing .

      This is the very course v ? hich , for centuries , h as led to your prostration . I shaU , therefore , take a double view of this Bud get—the one financial , the other political . The marrow is contained in the following figures , and 1 shall firstly , analyse the value of its realisation , to your class , and for that purpose I ishaU take the several proposed reductions seriatim , and shall then show you thevalue of that reduction if made , to eaeh individual , making no distinct tion of class , hut presuming that the pauper in the workhouse consumes as much tea , timber an wood , malt hops , soap and paper , and pays as much window tax and advertisement duty , as the richest Peer in the realm . ;

      KA . TIOSAL BUDGET . Proposed reduction of erpenditure 10 , 000 , 030 Proposed lcgecy and probate duty upon real ettate , whether en . tailed or unentailed .. .. l , 5 oo , O 0 o Proposedamount of surplus revenue .. £ ll , 500 , OCO PROPOSED SEDUCTIONS OF DUTIES AXD TAXES n , cura »« Nras . Lots of Bmenvt . Tea-Duty to be reduced to one £ shilling per pouna . 2 , 000 , 000 . Timber and Wood—Duty abo-^ Iished , _ 945 , 000 Batter , cheese , and upwards of one hundred smaller items of &e tariff-Duties aboUined .. 5 i 6 , eOO Total losi upon Customs £ U 8 l , 900 XXCISB DUTIES . JMl-Dotyatolkhed .. .. 4 , 569 , 000 Hops— „ , « $ , 009 I ^ P— »» » 850 , 009 Paper— „ „ 72 . 1 , 001 T ° SS " m EXCiM " ~ " * W «» T Ondow Tax—Abolished .. .. \ eio ooo AdTertisementDaty—Abolished ' iGOfiTo TotalofTaxes ~—7 , £ 1 , 770 , 090 TotalloBiuponCustoms , Exdse , anaT « xes £ li , « 7 , 008

      The population to be affected in its individual capacity by these several reductions , we must estimate at twenty-seven millions ; and then I will show what the proposed saving to each would be . The two millions on tea , would amount to Is . 6 d . per head ; the ; nine hundred and forty-five thousand saved on timber and wood , would amount to not quite s | d . a head ; on the five hundred and sixteen thousand on butter and cheese , and other articles , not quite fourpence halfpenny ; on four millions two hundred and sixty thousand , malfc , not quite three shillings and twopence a head ; on four hundred and sixteen thousand , hops , not quite fonrpence ; on eight hundred and fifty thousand ,

      soap , not quite eightpence ; on seven hundred and tvseaty thousand , paper , not quite sixpence halfpenny ; on one million six hundred and ten thousand , window tax , not quite one shilling and threepence , on one hundred and sixty thousand on advertisement duty , not quite three halfpence ; and thus we make the following sum of the annual saving to each individual by the ^ proposed reduction contained in Mr Cubden ' 6 budget . The sum which he proposes to realise , that is , the saving which he proposed to make , amounts to eleven millions four hundred and seventy-seven thousand per annum ; and here follows the saving that would accrtie therefrom to each , individual , for the whole year . i . d . Proposed reduction of Tea .. .. 16 Ditto on Timber and Wood .. .. o Si Ditto on Butter , Cheese , and upwards of a hundred other articles .. .. O 4 \ BittoonMalt .. 8 a " DittooaHops .. .. .. „ e 4 Ditto on Soap 0 8 3 ) : tto on Paper 0 6 £ Ditto Window Tax 1 3 Ditto , Advertisement Duty .. .. 0 1 * 8 8

      Ivow , that would be the annual saving to each individual , in cas e the manufacturer of those several raw materials remitted in the price of the manufactured article , the whole amount of duty paid on the raw material—a boon which the consumer could not expect , as he did not receive it when the duty upon leather , timber , and other raw materials was reduced . If you multiply twenty-seven millions by eight shillings and eight pence , you will have 11 , 700 , 000 * ., or 223 , 000 & more than Mr Cobden ' s proposed reduction . So that you find eight and eight pence per head , per annum , is the saving to be achieved by each individual , allowing that he pays hislshare of window tax ,

      advertisement duty , and duty on paper ; and presuming that the peer ' s famil y and the peasant ' s family consume an equal amount of the other , articles , and then you will find , if you estimate the working days in the year , ( leaving out Sundays and holidays ) at 300 ; and if , in consequence of the redaction of this eleven millions four hundred and seventy seven thousand per annum , the capitalist reduces the wages of his labourers by one halfpenny a day , that would amount to 12 s . 6 d . a year , or 3 s . l 0 d . over and above the proposed boon ; but to take the reduction lowly , and very lowly , too , at a shilling a week , he would find a loss of two pounds three shillings and fourpence a

      year . I know the question of family will be urged , and I might answer that by at once striking off the major portion of the Budget contained in two items , namely—the malt tax and window tax , neither of which would press upon the infants or children not working of the labouring class . But if I take the family view of it , it would stand thus—suppose each family to consist of five—three workers and two youths ~ -then that family , even allowing them their

      share in the malt and window tax , would save two pounds three and four pence a year ; that is , if the whole five are included , and if the wages of the three-workers is reduced by a halfpenny a day each , that alone would amount to one pound seventeen shillings and sixpence a year , or nearly the ameunt of their share of the proposed reduction . But if you take it at the probable amount , namely—a shilling a week , it would amount to seven pounds sixteen shillings a year .

      Now , labouring men , notwithstanding the odium cast upon the advocates of labour , in consequence of their association with the principles of Chartism , and in spite of the class and part y odium—nay , of persecution—heapedupon Bie , merely in consequence of my unswervingadherence to the cause of Labour , I caution you , in the face of this about to be resuscitated capitalists' agitation , and I tell you that Government is not centralised , sectionalised , Or localised , but is individualised ; and

      that every employer , whether in or out of Pa rliament — whether in or out of the Cabinet — is a member , and a powerful ttember , of that government ; and that the i ndividual power of those individual rulers is sectionalised in their locality , and centralised m the House of Commons , and there constitutes the worst and most hideous description ° f tyra nny ; and this I wish you to bear in fcind when I come to consider the question * < ler Us Eecond head , namely—its political uearinir :

      Mr Cebden , in his very elaborate , but yet , * ell condensed letter , shows a great deal of ^ t . He acts upon the old principle , that every stratagem is fair in war , and he very Wl 5 e ty and very prudently plays the "Chronicle " ^ inst the "Times" and Wellington ami ! k 35 , against Russell and 1849 ; this is not < inly justifiable but just , both las regards J ^ ance and politics—what he states of the Wellington Cabinet is true , and as long as ^ presentation and legislation depend upon P'tfty , the politician , like the client , must r £ taia the ablest advocate ; and Cobden knows

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      ull well , that . Wellington is the most powerul advocate m the House of Lords , and he mows that , although questions of finance beong to the Commons , that Wellington and his party lean influence their party in the Lower House . I even go farther , as I rejoice to think that I stand m that position which enables me to speak of men a 3 they deserve , without fear control

      or , and I * , assert , without fearofcon-Uadiction , that the Duke of Wellington made the most sweeping financial reforms of any minister known to British history , and not only that , hut he reduced the staff of clerks and officials to the requirements of office . It was his constant custom to attend at the several offices just at the hour when the clerks and officials should arrive , and without ceremony or favour , those who were behind

      time were scratched , as they say in Lancashire Wellington cared not a fig for patronage for his party ; name did for him what patronage does for the Whigs . I now come to the political consideration of the question , and upon this ^ I base my approval of the propositions contained in the

      COBDEN BUDGET . The great principle upon which the Whigs have ever held office has been patronage ; and although the proposed reduction in Cobden ' s Budget of upwards of eleven millions a year , would give but a slice to each labourer , even allowing that it was not soured by more than % corresponding reduction in wages , yet when distributed in the shape of patronage by a Whig government it affects each labourer to an enormous

      extent , se enormous that it is impossible to calculate it . This amount taken from the Whigs they will be compelled to reduce the idle staff , and the quills of their subservient supporters in the Commons will bristle like porcupines when their votes can be no longer paid for . As regards the useless squadrons afloat on foreign stations , and every item repudiated in Mr Cobden ' s budget , no working man no honest man , can gainsay the justice of the proposed reductions . Of what ^ possible avail are they ' except for the purpose of feeding a set of pampered idlers , and making them supporters of a reckless government ?

      The " Times , " it is true , takes Mr Cobden sorely to task for his sins of omission , but does not disturb a single one ef his arguments . The limes" says— " Do not the landlords pay tithes , and Poor-rates , and ' pro homo publico rates , ' and numerous other local rates and taxes ? " No doubtthey do , and they got their estates chargeable with those taxes ; but , still further , the whole of the tithes and a very large portion of the Poor-rates still belong to tbe famil y disb , and constitute the incomes of the younger sons of the proprietors of those lands , and they are the trustees and the distributors of this stock fund , which is a lien upon

      the land , and the first charge upon the land ; and the great majority of English estatesnay , nearly all—having changed hands since these burthens were imposed upon the land , the present owners have purchased subject to those charges , and still preserve the right of distributing them amongst the younger branches of their families . For instance , 256 of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal have the presentation to 2 , 927 Church livings , and does not the " Times'' suppose that the presentation to those livings neutralises the tithe

      burthen imposed upon the land ? Here follows the analysis of the House of Lords , and from it you will learn , that the adoption of Mr Cobden ' s Budget is not to be simply viewed as the means of conferring 8 s . 8 d . ayear upon every labourer , but is to be taken as the future standard of governmental capacity , the effect of which would be to drive the Whigs from office , and place them in antagonism to the present system of monopoly and centralisation . Here follows the analysis of the House of Lords : — HOUSE O ? L 0 RD 3 . Officer ! in the Army .. .. 89 . Navy .. .. 10 Militi * . .. 55

      Officials including oScert of State , and persons ia the Household , &c .. 48 ° Peers possessed of Clerical influence , includingEngllsa and Irish BUbops Patrons livings-Patrons livings Patrons living * 49 Of 1 2 Of 17 3 Of 47 85 .. 2 1 .. 18 1 .. 58 27 .. 3 1 .. 19 1 .. 59 20 .. 4 1 .. 2 ) 1 .. 62 18 .. 5 3 .. 22 1 .. 6 S 19 .. 6 1 .. 2 i 1 .. 68 14 .. 7 1 .. 26 1 .. 76 10 .. 8 1 .. 27 1 .. 79 7 .. 9 1 .. 29 1 .. 80 9 .. 10 1 .. 30 1 .. 9 ) 12 .. 11 2 .. 31 1 .. 94 C .. IS 1 .. 32 1 .. 99 1 .. 13 1 .. S 3 1 .. 118 3 .. 14 2 .. 36 1 .. 119

      8 .. 15 1 . .. 42 1 .. 16 1 .. 45 Number ef Peers 256 , who are Patrons of 3 , 927 , Living * Now , I think that will afford you the means of guessing why the Peers , both Temporal and Spiritual , do not look upon tithes as a great burthen , and the amount of patronage arising from Poor-rates , and other local rates , pro lono publico , and all conferred upon younger children and poor relations , will reconcile you to ; their toleration of these other burthens . You shall now have the analysis of the House of Commons , and I think you will see a reason in its constitution for the destruction of too much patronage . Here it is : — HOUSE OP C 0 MH 0 N 3 .

      Song of Peers ••• ... 87 Ditto Military Officers - - 12 Ditto Naval ditto . ... ... 4 Ditto Militia ditto ... »• 10 Ditto Officials ... ... 3 —86 Brothers , Jfephews , Cousins , and others connected with Peers ... ... 38 Ditto Militi * Officer * ... * Ditto Military ditto ... - 15 Ditto Naral ditto ... ¦•• 2 Ditto Officials ... « . •» " „ —66 Member * not included ia the above bnt holding offices in the Army ... S 3 tfavy ... ... ••• * Militia ... — — 3 o Official ! . ... ... 26 —83 Clerical Influences exercised by 87 Memben who have 202 livings 87 Members having 1 living ... 37 S 5 ditto 2 „ ... ... 60 8 ditto 4 „ ... ~ 12 « ditto 5 „ ... » . 29 8 ditto 6 „ ... ... 18 2 ditto 7 „ ... ... 14 2 ditto 9 „ ... 18

      87 ™ 6 Irish Peers Sons of Peers , Brothers , Nephews , Cousins , Sons . in . law of Peers , be , inclua . iug Navy . Army , and Militia Officers , and Officials ... 1 W / Members holding Commissions in the Anny . Navy , and Militia , not included in tts above ... ... _•" . Members who are patrons of ChurcH Livings ... ... •¦• __^ 827 Number efMsmbers ... ... 653 or nearly one half of the House of Commons , as at present constituted , being direotly oppo » ed ; to the . interests of the working Classes . The " Times" is very wrath with Mr Cobden for baiting his trap with a kind of allspice , but I dare say , that if he had confined his Budget to a reduction of the Paper and Stamp Duties that he would have been a living Pitt . The maxim of the Whigs , that "taxation without representation is tyranny , and should be resisted , " does not at all apply in their eyes to

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      the present system . That maxim held good when taxes were direct and when aids were granted to the monarch , and when those aids and supplies were voted by those who had to pay them , and who had not the power , as under the present system , to recover them with enormous interest in the shape of reduction of wages . In my opinion , Mr Cobden ' s proposition is over-moderate—he proposes to return to the Budget of 1835 ; but surely with the hope of retrenchment held out by the Reform Bill and retrenchment nofc being very extensively earned out up to the year 1835 , he might have taken a wider range ; however , that may follow , and I am not disposed to utter a word calculated to place the working classes in anta ™ .

      nism to those who advocate a measure above all others calculated to destroy the horrifying system of governmental patronage . Machinery and the power that it gives to the individual capitalist , and the Reform Act , established a completely new system in this country;—a system which the Whigs hoped to convert to party purposes ; and in order to make both branches of the legislature harmonise , they created , during their admi nistration from 1831 to 1839 , no fewer than ei ghtytwo mongrel peers—a larger number than was created for a century after the Revolution of 1688 , during which time we had an American

      war , and great continental and domestic convulsions , circumstances , which always lead to honour and promotion ; they . created a larger number within those nine years than were created from 1788 to 1815 , the year of peace , —ajperiod embracing the French Revolution of 1793 , the Irish Rebellion of 1798—the Union of 1800—and almost a continuous period of naval and military warfare , and from which promotions and honours invariably spring . This has been the invariable policy of the Whigs ; they have preached economy—they have indoctrinated the people with the most physical force maxims , and when by those means they have possessed themselves of power , they have become the most oppressive tyrants .

      Free Trade is a very ramified principle ; and I look upon this Budget of Cobden ' s as a step well calculated to open the eyes of all parties to what must be its inevitable result—namely , the representation of Labour when patronage is destroyed , and , through that , the highest cultivation of the national resources under a national Government—the inevitable effect of which must be to make the rich richer and the poor rich . Under these circumstances , I trust that no working man will measure his opinion by the financial standard which I have submitted , but by the inevitable political results which must follow . When I see a man like

      Cobden raising himself to the highest position that industry and talent can achieve , it does not accord with my principles or your interest that I should measure my opposition by personal feelings . If I did so , I should be justly considered , as one of Rigby Wason ' s " oneeyed mm , " only capable of seeing thro ugh my own telescope , while , at the same time—as with the question of Free Trade , so with that of the present Budget—as one of your instructors , it is my duty to analyse it financiall y and politically for you , merging the apparent financial incapacity in the inevitable political result .

      I will ; now show youhow taxes put on , and how taxes taken off , affect the consumer in each case . When the stamp upon newspapers was fourpence , the price of the paper was sevenpence—now the stamp is a penny , and the price of daily papers is fivepence , and the price of a majority of the weekly papers is sixpence —thus the proprietor has bad a remission of threepence in the article for which he must pay ready money , and he makes to the purchaser a reduction of a penny . But I will show you , upon a general principle of taxation , the pressure of indirect taxation upon the

      consumer . Suppose a manufactured article to consist of one , two , three , or four raw materials , upon which no duty is paid , and suppose a ^ shilling ' s worth of that or those raw materiah , when manufactured by Labour , to sell for two shillings . Call it a yard of anything . Suppose , then , that a tax of threepence is imposed upon that or those raw materials , the price in such case of the . manufactured article —in order to repay the manufacturer—would be 2 s , 3 d , ; whereas , we may estimate it lowly at an increase to 2 s . 6 d . a-yard—thus giving

      the manufacturer a profit of one hundred per cent , upon the conversion of the raw material into manufactured fabric—that is , a profit of a hundred per cent , not per annum , but per conversion—and if he is enabled to convert the raw material into a manufactured article in a fortnight—which he can , and less—and as there are twenty-six fortnights in a year , he makes a profit of one hundred per cent , in a fortnight , or two thousand six hundred per cent , per annum . If , then , as I have explained to you scores of times—that if taxes were direct

      instead of indirect—fair competition would destroy this system of making profit upon taxation , the taxpayer would be the legislator and the tax-assessor—and , I promise you , that he would then look more narrowly even into the expense of tax collecting . This system of indirect taxation is a kind of hobgoblin , a thief in the dark ; it takes the money slily and covertly out of yoar pipe , out ef your mouth , out of your nose , out of your eyes , and out of your breeches Docket ; it is a

      kind of a will-o ' the-wisp , and if you bought everthing tax and duty free , and if the taxgatherer called upon you on quarter day for an equivalent in hard cash for what the system thus cunningly takes from you at every meal , you could kick him out of the house ; and you may rely upon it that there is not a branch of expenditure into which the greatest supporter of our present system would not narrowly and jealously look , if he had to put his hand into his own pocket , instead of putting both hands into your pockets .

      Thus I have shown you a thousand times the effect of indirect taxation upon labour , and I will repeat it , and no operative in England or Scotland will gainsay it . When the Income Tax was laid on , nearly every employer reduced the wages of his hands—some ten , some fifteen , and some twenty per cent , but I will take it lowly at a penny per day , or sixpence per week , and I will assume , for illustration , a master employing a thousand hands and re

      turning an income of £ 5 , 000 * a year ; upon that income he should pay £ 150 tax , and by the reduction of even sixpence a week he would make a profit , after paying the tax , of £ 1150 a year . But suppose he only reduced his wages by a farthing a day , he would still realise a profit of £ 175 , and if he reduced wages by half-a-farthing a day , or three farthings a week he would actually make a profit of £ 25 after paying the tax .

      Now observe , half-a-farthing a day is only three farthings a week , and what I have always endeavoured to draw your undivided attention to is this , that if the £ 1300 taken from you in the shape of tax was paid to you in wages and distributed by you amongst the shopkeepers , it would be bettor for that class than if accumulated by the capitalist , and applied to the purchase of land or to some speculation . This is the great evil of the system . It is framed , not to represent solid keepable property which has no active mind to look to its interests , but to represent the flying , fleeting , fluttering genius of floating

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      capital , which i 3 able to muster round its tandard ths most enthusiastic feelings upon the most Utopian schemes , . Whensyou understand those things , you will understand the princi ple , of representation as applicable to Labour , and you will understand the Labour Question ; as applicable to the most profitable cultivation of our national resources , and upon the solution of which , believe me , the peace , the prosperity , and happiness of Britain lepends ; and when you think less of pikes and folly , and morei of the Labour Question and the cultivation of the national resourcesthen

      , folly will no longer be urged as your disqualification for the suffrage , but on the contrary , if knowledge beeame ; taxable , the Chancellor of the Exchequer would appoint a whole host of bram-gjiagers , whose business it would be to take stock . of every man ' s intellect , and if the man- whose ignorance is NOW urged as his disqualification , THEN pleaded ignorance , ldiotcy or insanity , the official would set him down as a Newton , and place him in schedule

      A . amongst the first-class tax-payers . . Let me give you : a very apt illustration of the BtandaKLb y which the wages of aggregated 6 erfeis measured . After Father Mathew ' s visit to Leeds , Teetotalism for a time became very general , and a large- employer , with becoming Christian ' spirit , wasoneof its principal advocates ; and when cheap cold water became a substitute for gin and beer , he told his hands that they could submit to a reduction of wages , as their wants were fewer and their means comparatively greater .

      The "Morning Chronicle" of this week has a very lachrymose article upon the present condition and future prospects of the Farmers , but you will recollect how sine * 1834—but especially in 1843 , 1844 , and 1845 , when the "Times" and " Chronicle" were laughing at the fears and anticipations of the Farmers , how I predicted the very events which have occurred , and which both are now deploring . On Saturday week I published a list of American exportations of food to this country , w ithin a very short period . I showed you that the Statician in the patent office in America proved

      that this year America could export twentyeight million quarters of corn , and that Ameica every year could produce enough to feed the world . I gave you the long catalogue of bread stuffa and other stuffs grown in America , and to compete with John Bull in his own highly taxed country . I have since taken tbe trouble to sum up the amount of Land—of English Land—that would be required to produce the amount of produce sent to us , and I find that , averaging the produce of wheat at twenty-four bushels to the acre , they have within that short time exported to this country

      m corn alone the produce of over six hundred thousand acres ; while in oil cake , lard , butter , cheese baked bread , ( think of that ! —beef , pork , and other articles the produce of the Land , they have exported as much as could be produced by about four hundred thousand acres more . That is the produce of a million acres of first-class English Land . And at the foot of this letter you will find another list of importations , and if we add to it what has come from other countries , vou will discover that to

      the middle of December , about three months after harvest , and while Free Trade is yet in its infancy , that we have received the produce of over two millions of British acres ; while M'Culloch estimates the amount of Land in cultivation at twelve million acres . Thus , already , with a duty of six shillings , America —taking the standard of English produce at a very high rate—has exported into this country one-sixth of what her own Land could produce .

      I dare say you recollect that in 1845 the "Times" assured us , that America for many years could not send us 500 , 000 quarters of corn , and I hope you will bear in mind that when I was carrying on a brisk fire against all the Free Trade journals and Free Trade party , that I stated that when the rich maw of the world was opened to the produce of the world , glut in our own market would be the only standard that would measure the price of highly taxed produced ; and I ventured to assert that from the banks of tbe Seine , French corn would be shipped for the English market , and couldbedelivered thereat a lower rate of freight than it could be delivered from the inland

      counties of England , or than from any Irish county . Well , every body laughed at this , and all said , " What a fool he must be , when France is an importing country . " I replied , " Yes ; France kept down her produce to the standard of restriction ; but when you destroy protection for home produce , a portion of the cotton lands of America , and of the vineyards and grass lands of France will be turned into corn growing land for the rich market . Well , as the Lord sometimes does deliver my enemies into mine hands , read the following from last week ' s Gloucester market note' -mind , Gloucester alone , and that the corn must have been shipped at Havre , which is at the mouth of the Seine . Now here ' s the answer , and read it : —

      Free Thade in Corn . —About twenty French vessels laden with corn arrived at Gloucester during the past week . Before the Repeal of the Corn Laws the average arrival there of French vessels was not more than twenty-five in the course of the year ; but within the last two months alone the arrivals have exceeded fifty . Well , then , the reason why I objected to Cobden ' s Free Trade Budget was , because such reforms as he now proposes , and many others , should have preceded Free Trade ; however , there is an old saying , " Never show your

      work half-finished to a FOOL or a WOMAN , " and perhaps Cobden has evinced good policy in shaking the foundation before he pulled down the whole building . He now discovers that he has " tried up" the brains and prejudices of the old aristocracy , and out of these new materials he may erect a more secure house . But as my crying sin has been the dealing with the whole question of Labour , and not treating it piece-meal , I now tell you that the Russell system of Free Trade has so shaken the base and superstructure of society ; that all proposed financial reforms are mere

      MOONSHINE . I assert it for the hundredth time , that the landlords of this country and of Ireland are irrevocably bankrupts ; that their every debt and their every engagement was based upon Protection ; that the rents by which they were enabled to meet those engagements were measured by Protection , and that that Protection now gone , and with farmers—as the " Chronicle" admits—paying rents out of their capitalunder these circumstances , I say there is no hope for any interest in this country , as all materially depend upon the condition of our farmers , but a thorough settlement of old accounts UNDER THE NEW SYSTEM .

      England will never feel the entire effects of Free Trade until there is a thorough failure of our own harvest , with an abundant harvest in other countries ; or , to show you that she must hang upon one or other of the horns of the dilemma , she will be in > s bad a condition when there is an abundant har vest at home , and also an abundant harvest in other countries , and ^ hen her farmers meet Jonathan ' s untaxed produee in the competing market . By taxed English corn , and untaxed American corn , I wish you to bear in mind , hat

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      Free Trade has in nowise relieved English corn from the innumerable burthens to which it was and still is subjected . Even your National Debt is based upon Protection , and that Protection being taken off , it now remains a greater burthen upon produce reduced in value . Always keep the condition of your farmers , with their multitude of labourers , and the agricultural towns and villages dependent upon them , in view . They , are your best customers ; they are at your door . The transit of your produce costs you little or .. nothing . ' They pay you in produce or in cash , and that class isnowupon the inevitable " road to ruin . " They can measure their rent engagements ,

      and taxes , which are direct , better than you can- measure your engagements and taxes , which are indirect ; and in order that you may have their actual position vividly before you , here it is . ' Wheat gives the standard value to gold and ; precious stones ; and although all lands are not wheat lands , . the value of wheat , under Protection , establishes the standard value of grass lands , and all other lands . Suppose , then , -that , independently , of a superabundant harvest , when low prices were compensated by increased produce , rent , by Protection , was fixed at 7 * . a bushel for wheat ; and suppose the average produce—as I have

      taken it—to be twenty-four bushels ; and suppose wheat to fall to 5 s . a bushel , and ere long you will see it much below that ; but suppose 5 s . —in that case , the farmer loses 2 s . a bushel upon twenty-four bushels , or 21 . 8 s . an acre , while his rent is , perhaps , a pound an acre ; and , therefore , instead of the pound , he is now paying in rent and loss , 31 . 8 s . an acre ; while the landlord , with that instinct of SELF-INTEREST which no human power can eradicate , will still have to pay his [ four or five per cent , on mortgages—the interest upon marriage settlements , or perhaps the principalprincipal and interest upon simple contract and bond debts , tithes . LARGER POOR

      RATES , PRO BONO PUBLICO RATESall other rates , and to keep up his social dignity . Now , then , if the mortgage and bond debts are larger than the National Debt , let Mr Cobden ' s attention next be directed to the fair settlement of the landlords' and farmers ' account ; and let all contracts , based upon Protection , which was national faith with the farmer who expended his capital under its banner , and with the landlord who contracted

      those debts under the same influence—let them be revised also , and let us not have the double anomaly of paying their engagements as well as the National Debt , with 30 s . in the pound . And , above all things , let the Financial Reformers take heed , lest they fall into the egregious error of making machinery against land the casus belli , for they may rest assured , if they do , that the well-fed serfs will—when" urged to the last point—rally under their heretofore feudal lords anc

      masters , and then that agricultural power , so long sluggish and dormant , will spring into a lively existence , and such an agitation , as will astonish the weak minds of their opponents . _ I always told you that Free Trade was carried by the local appliances and engines at the command of its advocates—that they could muster their adherents with a few hours ' notice by an advertisement , the bell , or a few posters on the walls , while the sluggish landlords and the confident tenants were scattered over the face of the earth , and could offer neither resistance nor opposition ; but let them rest assured , that there is a vast difference between a powerful interest in a state of torpor , uncertainty , and doubt , and the same interest

      awakened by experience to its position . It is then , labourers , because I consider' the very discussion of this Cobden Budget as calculated to settle those longstanding accounts , that I say to you , that I beg of you , implore of you , and beseeech of you , not to allow the Whig enemy and its Press to play the Chartists against the present movement . Sup port the proposition politically—abandon all thoughts of its-financial bearing which I have thought it my duty to submit to you , and let Cobden aud his party understand that MY MYRMIDONS are not to be rallied for Whig purposes , as his proposition will shake them to the very foundation ; . let them understand that we are for measures when measures are good , and that , although we are never to be made tools , we know when to become auxiliaries .

      This proposition , above all others , will cause a split between the place-hunting Whigs and the > eritable Liberals in thej House of Commons ; and in return for their many entombed victims , let us have the consolation of seeing them atjthe bleak side of the Treasury . No sincere Chartist—no discreet ^ working manwill offer any resistance to ' the COBDEN

      BUDGET . Your faithful friend and unpaid servant , Feargus O'Connor . P . S . Here follows the farmers' death warrant : — American PBOvisioKs .-The followinglarge ana nume . rous arrivals of provisions aiid grain have lately taken place from the United States of Aaerica . The teasel Avcale has brought 8447 brh . of flour , 14198 bsls of corn , 5 » tierces of beef , 1 ' 8 barrels of apples , and 1429 bushels of wheat ; the John Marshall from A ' exander , U . S ., 5730 bags and 4040 tmshela of Indian corn , 514 bags of whest , and 5 Q 0 barrels of flour ; the Stephen Lurrann from Baltimore , 5720 barrels of flour ; theMasconomo from Haiti .

      more , 1400 barrels olflcur , 10350 bags of Indian corn , and 2772 bags of wheat ; the Lisbon from New York , 3877 boxes and 15 casks of chtese , 1491 barrels of flour , 98 tierces and 81 barrels of rice , 5 ' ) tierces of beef , and 123 casks of oil cake ; the Diadem from New York , 5300 bar . rels of floor , acdl 22 G 0 bushels of Indian corn ; the Bertrand from New Orleans , 8290 sacks of Indian corn ; the Margaretta from New Orleans , 305 barrels of flour , 518 barrels of pork , 230 barrels of beef , and 140 tons of linseed cake ; the Hendrick Hudson from New York , 7195 boxes and 749 casks of cheese , 284 casks of apples , 213 casks ot pork , 160 of beef , 41 of rice , 2066 casks of lard , and 45000 Ib 9 . weight in bulk , and about 100 casks of oil cake ; theE . Z , from New York , 1878 barrels ef flour , lOli

      tierces of beef , 185 G bushols of barley , 87 ii 3 bushels of wheat , and 14 C 35 bushels of Indian corn ; the Con . atantine fromNew Orleans , 1200 bushels of flour and 100 casks of oil cake ; the David Cannon from New York , 8311 barrels of flour , 6551 bags ef corn , 21 casks of cheese , 59 barrels of general provisions , and 1140 bags of wheat ; the American from Sew York and Halifax , 56 D barrels and 70 half barrels of apples , 122 boxes of bacon , and some of biscuits , beef , and patatoes ; and John II . Skiddy from New York , 3652 barrels of fbar , 1534 boxes and 7 J casks of cheese , 266 of beet , 252 bags and 3273 bushels of wheat , 19287 bushels of Indian corn , 861 birrels and 493 pails of lard , 35 boxes of bacon , and 34 of hams ; the Devonshire , irom New Orleans , 1 , 899 barrels of flour ;

      the Belleisle , from-Boston , 751 bushels of Indian corn ; the Watnga , from BalUmere , 1 , 300 barrels of flour , i , m bags of wheat , 28 ? bags and 7 , 445 bushels ef Indian corn , 59 bales of lard , 49 barrols of pigs' beads , 250 boxes of cheese , 41 barreh of Indian corn meal , 70 boxes of medlars , 56 casks of shoulders of bacon , and 330 tierces of boef ; the Sarah Sands , from New York , 6129 boxes , * ¦ ii \ casks of cheese , 222 boxes of'bacon , 876 barrels , 97 half and Squarter carrels of apples , 812 tierces of beef , 20 of pork , tfU barrels of fliur , 100 pails , lOi ) kegs , and 233 barrels of lard ; the AuUriafrom Philadelphia , 4750 ban els of flour , 500 barrels of corn . me . il , 13905 bushcU and 913 bags of Indian corn , 158 tierces of | beef , and ll of pork ; the Fidelia from New York , 2902 boxes and 92 caskB of cheese , 798 barrels of flour , 9 S 2 sacks 15 , 035 bushels of wheat , 105 boxes of bacon , 85 of pork , V 5 barrels lard , 211 of appleB , 940 bags of Indian corn , 116 boxes aui 37 bur . rels of biscuits , some packages of potatoes , and various

      other articles ; the Wellington from New York , 278 casks and 1187 boxes of cheese , 246 barrels of apples , 207 tierces of beef , 365 barrels of oil enke , 59 of beef , 33 of pork , and 200 of lard ; the Modora from Charleston , 783 . bags and 93 tierces of rice , and 1002 bags if Indian corn ; the Martha Ward from New Orleans , 2500 barrels of flour ; the Shannon from New York , 882 boxes and 203 casks of cheese , 2100 barrels of flour , 2000 other packages of cheese , and some of kef nnd apples ; the Delia Walker from Sew York , 4575 boxe * and 1789 casks of cheose , 100 pails of lard , 30 ot general provisions , 3 $ of pork , and 2807 barrelB of flour ; the Huma from New York , 344 barrels of corn-meal , 1 C 994 bushels of Iudian corn , and nearly 200 bnrrels of npples ; the Monument , from Charleston 185 tierces of rice ; the Suffolk , from New Orleans 179 G barrels of flour . 185 bags of wheat , nnd 30 H bags pf Indian corn ; the London , from Boston 8880 bagB of Indian corn ; the William Venn , from Philadelphia SU barrels i ( Man-corn meal , 17178

      Untitled Article

      bushels ofrrhnt , 1298 bag ! of Indian cora , 1563 banell of flour , 15 packages of beer , and 6 of apples ; tho Spartan , from New York 0194 barrels of flour , 16940 bushalg of wheat ; the Sir Charles Napier , from New York 484 bag * of corn , 15 ? 2 sacks of wheat , and 7083 barrels of flour ; theJumes Town , from New York 6 ^ 74 barrels of flour , 1125 sacks of wheat , 175 tierces ofbeef . lfl barrel * of porr , and 254 barrels and 296 tierces of lard ; the Columbian , from New Orleans 5701 sacks and 1854 bag * of corn , 101 * barrels of flour , 154 tierces of bacon , ftnd 345 barrels of bread ; the Defencefwm Charleston 1160 sacks of Indian

      , corn ; the Merchant , fremVirgenia 1000 barrels of flour ; the Dumbarton , from N « w Orleans 3022 barrels of floor , and 1943 bags of Indian corn ; the Mary Irvine , from Philadelphia 8280 bushels of Indian corn and 353 barrel * of flour : the John'Rarenal , from Charleston SOD bag" ot corn ; tbe Hercules , from New York 10 S 0 barrels of flour and 58 if rice ; the Remittance , from New York 6 S 50 barrels of flour and 6397 bushels of wheat ; the Maine , front New York , 4921 barrels of flour , 6770 bushels of Indiaa corn , 862 bagi and 8122 bushels of nkeat , and a quantity of pork , beans , bread , oatmeal , and rice ; tbe Bristol , from New York 1971 barrels of fiour and 13 boxes of

      > iBcuits-the whole the produce of tbe United States . The American line of packet ship Margaret Evans , arrived in the docks from NewVork , has brought 14270 boxes and 583 casks of cheese , th « produce of the United States of America , being the largest quantity of cheese which has been brought on one occasion . Now , then , what will . our Cheshire and Gloucestershire friends say to the "Margaret Evans" alone , bringing FOURTEEN

      THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY BOXES , AND FIVE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-THREE CASKS off Cheese .

      Untitled Article

      THE KIRKDALE CHARTIST PRISONERS * AND THE "INFAMOUS MEANS BY WHICH THEY WERE CONVICTED . The following is a trnthfnl lumm&r ? of the id * ' famous treatment experienced by the Chartist defendants at the late Liverpool saaizos , authenticated by the victims themselves . Read and judge . foe yourselves . The first witness placed in the box was Mr Bet > wick , Chief Superintendent of the Manchester police ; who gave general evidence as to tha duturbed state of Manchester , and swore to the fact of appro * hendingvftriauifparties for iDppo ^ sft ^ s > UticaVof » fences . It should behere remarked thatthe whole of the parties apprehended at Manchester ia August , were taken without warrant or authority , s-tve themere caprios of Beswick and tho magistrates , and that when they were called up , no charge could be preferred .

      The next witness was a . member of tho detaotivapolice named Cookson , who had previously bean & 'draper ' s ^ assistant ' or shopboy . He gave evidence as to hating attended various meetings in Manches * ter , at which West , White , Leacb , Donovan , Ranking and others made Bpeeohes , and read the extracts which , he had taken in auoh a glib and apparently connected manner , as if it had been one continuous nnd unin * - terrupted addreaB ; showing dearly that hia note * were carefully compiled by some other persons . The--defendants conducted their own Qi $ Q > and tho follow " ing cross-examination ensued : — Have you been in the habit of taking notaa previous to joining the police force ?—YeBi Do you swear that these noteB which you havftread are correct ?—I do .

      Did you report the whole of the speeches , or only apart ?—Only a part . By White . —Suppose Iweiato address a meeting setting forth Chartism as the fundamental prinoiplea of ObrtBtlanUjr , mi a vonrestmtiag the Chartist body as the true conservators of society ,, would you report that ?—No . ' What are your notes . Are they a verbatim re * port , or merely extraota ?—Merely extracts . How happens it then that they read » o con * nectedly , and appear like a regular speech . ?¦— Can't tell . What are your instructions regarding taking note of Chartist speeches ? are you not ordered to take the violent portions without reference to tha coo * text ?—I sha'nt answer that question . I insist that you shall . —Well , that has been my rnle .

      Now I intend to read a Bpeech to you in order to test your memory . Baron Alderson . —I can't allow it . Were you in court when the Attorney-General opened this case ?—Yes . Well , then , give a description of his addrees . or tho substance of it . —No , I ca'nt , there was too mueU confusion There I stood . You have stated that there was much confusion at the Chartist meetings , and yet you could report ; several speeches in one day ; How is that ? -Cant tell . White . —My lord , I wish to know whether yos persist iu denying me a chance of testing the memory of this witnesB ?

      Baron Alderson . —I don't see any need fo ? it , as i 6-Bhall not fee used by me when summing up . Cotting , a polioe deteotive , wa ? then called to prove a meeting at Bhckstone Edge , which wasSaddmaed by White , Leach , Donovan , and others . This witness was ccossj-xamined by White , and admitted baing previously disoharged from the polioe for robbing an orohard . The nest witness waa one of tho Po-vell schoil , James Abraham Ball , whose lying evidence haB been already given at length in this journal . The report of his cross-examination , as given in last Saturday ' s Star , was not so full as we have seen it m Home of , the local journals ; we therefore repriab a fuller aooount of the latter part of this gentleman ' s

      wH-oxpoaure . The witness was then cross-examined by Mr Atkinson , at greai length , with roferenca to the speeches which he had delivered at various meetings , and he admitted , with the utmost coolne ^ B , that the reports whioh the witness Cookson had given of hia speeches were substantially correct . After pursuing this course of cross-examination for some tirao , Mr Atkinson asked the witnws if ho could point out the defendant Grocott . —Ball replied that he oonld not at the distance at whioh he stood . — He was then told to come round immediately in front of 'he dock , and was requested to point oit eaoh of the fo « defendants * Rankin , M'Donough , Grecott , and Chadwick . who stood there . —After looking at them , ha pointed out , and named correctly , Rankin and

      M'Donongu ; bat he said that Groeott waa Donovan , and that he did not know Chadwick . He was then told to go olouo up to the other defendants , Donovan , Cropper , Leaoh , White . West , and Nixon , who were seated at the table , and all of whom he had Bpoken to as having been present at the committee meeting of the 11 » h April , and to nama eaoh of them , if he could . On going np to them , he said , after some hesitation , that hedidnotlnow one of them- —His lordship then asked him to point out Clarke , Cropper , and Ball , after looking carefully at the defendants , said that Chadwick was Cropper . —On being told of hia mistake , ho attempted to exouse himself by saying tint . having been jn prison had affwted hia eyesight . —A burst of hisses and groans followed this

      miserable attempt to cover his apparent want of any knowledge of the persons of all but two of the defend .-ants . —His Lordship : I shall clear the court , if thafi is repeated . We are trying a set of men , I hope , fairly ; and we shall not try them fairly , if the attdience presume to have anything whatever to do except to sit still , and pay reapeet to the law- Unless that is done , I will dear the court . L ? t me hear any man that dares resist the law of England . I know that although I Bit here alone , I sit here with all the majesty of England behind me , and let wh » dare faoe me . —The Attorney General then again , told Ball to look at ths defendants and seo if he knew them , and if not , say so . —Ball said , after again looking at the defendants , that he knew Donovan by sight very well , but that he did not know his Earns . —White then asked Ball if ho had ever been a Chartist lecturer ?—Ball aaid that he had never been a paid servant oftheCaarlista , but that he had been

      connected with that body , and had advocated their prinoiplea . —White indignantly repudiated the idea that the Chartists had ever had anything to do with Ball . —The Attorney General asked Bill if he knew White ' s voice , and Ball said that he did not . —Hi » Lordship thon . with an air of disgust , told Ball to get outof the court , and he accordingly went . As a i roof of this gentleman ' s veracity . Leaeh , one of the defendants , left Manchester on the first day of April , and did not return until the 2 ith , ^ although this perjurer swore that he was present at private meetings oa the 11 th an 412 oh ia Manchester , and started for Ireland on the 13 ; h . A similar statement can be made as to West , Donovan , and White—not one of whom were within fifty miles of Manchester at the time . The whele affair was a ma « s of basensss and villany , but the remainder shall be deferred till . next week , when the animus of the proseoution and defenoo shall be laid before the readers of the Nokthbbh Star .

      Untitled Article

      Free Trade . —PnosrECis for Stockport . —A very short time ago—and it is quite certain no improvement has takeH place in the trade of . the borough since that period—there were 2 , 177 empty assessments . We are speaking now of the township of Stockport , not of the whole borough ; for if the empties in the other townships were to be added , they would form a more fearful picture . The empties , at the period we allude to , were as follows : —Houses with shops , 92 ; cottage houses , 1 , 222 ; cellar dwellings , 419 ; warehouses , rooms in factories , &c , 444—making a total of empty

      assessments , in the township o < Stockport alene , of 2 , 177 !!! Aud yet , in the face of this poverty , stiieken picture , there arc those amongst us , calling themselves Liberals , economists , and Free-traders who would increase our local burdens , by adding fresh ones to them , when 5 , 000 persons at least have been absolutely driven out of the township , because they could not afford any longer to pay its local taxation . Further , let us just remark , tbat this amour . t of emigration has taken place within the last twelve years , commencing with 1836—the year when Stockport was fitat blessed with corporation .

      Richard Cobden's Budget. To The Industrious Classes.

      RICHARD COBDEN'S BUDGET . TO THE INDUSTRIOUS CLASSES .

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      1 / & , y ^ 7 fc ™ t *~ ut AND NATTONAT . TRADES' JOURNAL .

      Untitled Article

      VQL XIL K ? 584 . LONDON , SATURDAY , DECEMBER 30 1848 ~ ^^^^^^ ¦ ' J-U ^ BU * «»« Shilling . f « d Sbrpemce per Quarter

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Dec. 30, 1848, page unpag, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1503/page/1/