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Northern Star (1837-1852), 20th December 1851, Edition 1 of 2, Page 5, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      SSTa is folly to expect any real subtantial refonns , any measures of general 6 Wblic utility from it . It will not be one whit jLfljger in February 1852 , than it was in Smaty 1851 , for the simple reason of its being twelre months older . The curse of feebleness is upon it , inherent in its Constituti on and the only chance we hare of avigo-ILa liberal , and working Government , is in ihe eleetion of a new , vigorous , liberal , and actr ? e Parliament alreadtakthe of ?^ JJT it *¦ folI T * ° exPect anT r « al rab-

      Tfe can y e measure "Next Session , " & Q d tell what to expect from it . TFhen we get to Easter next year ve shall isve a repetition of the old familiar process , the old faces will present their old and well-known Erasures , and receive a polite intimation that ie& \\ v tha pressure of immediate business renders it necessary to postpone them again tj ]] - ' ^ Jext Session . " There will be mnch talk a bout Reform apropos of a little "Whi g bantlin e an d certain middle class rivals . All these p lans will , no doubt , meet with determ ined opposition from a section of the House trho will point to France , and solemnly tell as to take a warning from the fate of that

      eountry , and maintain restricted suffrages , corrupt boroughs , wholesale bribery , and rank political injustice to the great mass of the population , rather than encounter the dangers of extending popular power , and introducing a larger amount of the democratic element into our Constitution . The atrocious and sanguinary usurpation of the traitor Pbesi-BE 5 T in Prance -will , -we fully expect , be found ioplay the game of the opponents of popular rjffhis ' iii this country quite as much aB of the despots on the Continent . ' Next Session ' wll be as barren as its predecessors in the present enfeefclfd check-mated "Whi g Parliament . There may be a great cry , but we may rel y upon it that there will be very little vool .

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      CENTRALISATION INCOMPATIBLE WITH NATIONAL LIBERTY . One great lesson is to be derived from the recent events in France . We have often enforced it before , but it never was bo strongly and plainly demonstrated as on this occasion . Centralised Government is ntterly incompatible with political freedom . LOUIS K . 0 SSD 1 H in his speeches attributed the liberty enjoyed in tiiis conutry to the wide diffusion of the

      power of local self-Government among the people , and pointed to the bureaucracy of France as the greatest possible obstruction to the realisation of [ Republican Government . It is by the preservation of the municipal rights of his countrymen that he hopes to secure the establishment and maintenance of Con * stitmional Government in Hungary ; and it is the existence of these rights in this country which renders a sudden and violent destruction

      of our national liberties impossible . Under whatever form of Government France may be placed , it will always in reality be enslaved , untHit is liberated from the fetters of &e bureaucratic system . The whole machinery of that system was orig inall y devised to carry out absolutist principles and despotic Government It is altogether incompatible with popular Governmeut , because it never permits the people to walk alone , to think for themselves , or to act freely and independently . The Government is always at their heels , directing them to do this , not to do

      that"when to go , and irhere to go . They are tethered and pastured at the will of their State-keepers . The passport system is of itself a proof that the naturalisation of Liberty on French Boil is impossible at present . But her popular leaders never appeal to have comprehended this fact . The Republicans of 1848 saw nothing antagonistic to individual liberty and national freedom in the centralization of administrative and executive powers . Ledeu jRoixix put the machinery in motion to suit his purposes precisely as M . De Mororr puts it in motion ta suit the purposes of the Usurper , and but for its existence the usurpation never could have succeeded . In fact it must always place France at the mercy of any

      unscrupulous , unprincipled , and courageous adventurer . The man who has mastery at Paiis is the master of the whole country . The Municipal bodies , instead of being hindrances to ambitious and selfish designs , as they would be in this country , are auxiliaries . Here they would be as they . have been beforecentres of resistance ho a tyrannous despotism , or , if the Central Government were suddenly overthrown , centres of authority for their respective districts . In France they are but links of the chain , the ends of which are held at Paris , and which can be made by a Coup d ' etat to fetter the whole population . The Executive pull the strings and set the provincial func . tionarifis in motion like so many

      puppets . To that fact , and that alone , is to be attributed the immediate success of M . Boxai'arte's High Treason against the Constitution he had sworn to maintain , and the establishment of a Eeign of Terror heralded by the Massacre of the Boulevards . To that fact alone is to be attributed the entire suppression of the Press , and the effectiveuessof the measures by which an intelligent and independent public opinion is prevented from exercising any influence at the present juncture .

      Wlieu the Republican party again get the npper hand , as they must do at no distant day , we trust they will not fail to perceive tUe true moral of the atrocious usurpation of ' my uncle ' s nephew , ' and hasten to place the wJmhristrativG machinery of the country in accordance with the true principles of responsible and popular Government . It is the want of sach widel y'diffused political action which lias made the " people of France so ready to msh to the barricade in times of emergency . Tiic y have never been familiarized to public ffi eetiug 5 , bv means of which , opinion openly

      and peacefully expressed , can be concentrated and brought to bear upon Government . 7 S o doubt the right of such meetings lias been guaranteed b y each successive coustitution , but the thing itself lias never taken root under the centralized and bureaucratic system . Evev since the election of Louis Napoleon- the right of public meeting has been in abeyance . The police and the gensdarmes have put their interdict upon it , and tie consequence bus been as it ever will be , to pJace the country at the mercy of plots and conspiracies , carried out by brute force and bloodshed .

      The barricade has , no doubt , to some imaginations , a certain t ' ascinatioD . There were parties in this country , who in 1848 pointed with exultation at the triumphant and rapid manner in which it won Universal Suffrage for the French , and sneered at our slower process of ag itation—public meetings , and appeals to opinion . The experience of the last four years may , however , now have given these parties cause to be sceptical as to tte efficacv of the method they then so

      ttuch admired . Oaks do not grow up in a single day , and lasting Constitutions ? « not improvised in street fights . What * s w on by force is constantly liable to be retaken b * y force , unless it be powerfully entrenched and fortified by enlig htened public opinion , and the power of " making that public Opinion felt in action be enjoyed bv the great bu of the population . -There is another aspect of the question of feat

      fi imp ortance to us at home . It is quite C 5 r tain that the disastrous and deplorable ^ arse of even ts in France during the last ( evr jearg , wfli te ^ ] d of bj . the opp 0 nentfl of Progress as an argument why no further con--T * ° . ns to popular demands should be made So ? ° mtTJ- It ought to be distinctly own that there is no analogy between the vZ ^ ^ ' * u 'England we have a Free - «»» an . * electifa municipal institute The ,

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      parish meeting , the Ye 6 try , thewardmote , ' and the public assembly , are all so many training schools for a people who grow up accustomed to self-Government , and who feel themselves constantly responsible to , and restrained by , an all-pervading public opinion . Had there been such a state of things in France , it i 8 impossible that it should ever have fallen a prey to such unprincipled intrigues and assassins as those who now tyrannise over it . The usurpation of Boxapame is an argument for , not against , the extension of the Suffrage , and the wider diffusion of power among a people nurtured amidst influences which enable thorn to appreciate , and wisely exercise , the privileges they demand . parish hni [] , _ i L i ¦ ¦ __ ¦

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      AMERICA . AKRIVJX OF KOSSUIKI . The TJnited States Mail steam-ship , Atlantic , arrived in the Mersey , from New York direct , on Wednesday evening , - with twenty one passengers , and upwards of 800 , 000 dols . in specie on freight . She left New York on the afternoon of the 6 th inBt ., having been detained for a short period in order to take on board despatches from the government at Washington , to Mr . Lawrence , the American minister at the court of St . James ' s , relative to the recent firing into the steamer Prometheus by the British brig-ofwar Express , at the month of the harbour of San Juan de Nicaragua .

      The United States mail steam-ship Humboldt , with Kossuth and his suite on board , arrived at New York on the morning of the oth inst . j about two o ' clock ; and the New York papers are almost exclusively occupied with the details of his reception and speeches . The preparations were most extensive and magnificent , and ihe reception of the illustrious Magyar most enthusiastic . When the guns of the Humboldt were heard from the Narrows , and the accompanying rocket

      signals announced Kossuth ' s arrival at Staten Island , the people rushed from all quarters to the wharf , and Dr . Doane , the officer of health , accompanied by Colonel Berzcenzey and several Hungarians , proceeded in the boarding boat to the Humboldt , amidst a national salute of thirty-one guns—one for each state —fired from the Quarantine . On boarding the ship , the salutations between Kossuth , Colonel Berzcenzcy , and the other Hungarians , were most cordial and affectionate . He then received his-first formal welcome to

      the shores of the New World from Dr . Doane . A salute was fired from Governor ' s Island as the Humboldt passed , and she was greeted also with a discharge of guns from the battery , and from the wharfs of the North River . She reached her dock at three o ' clock . Immediately upon his arrival , Major Hagadorn and officers waited upon Kossuth at the house of Dr . Doane , in full uniform , when the Major delivered an eloquent address to him , in the opening of which he stated that in so doing

      he was acting in obedience to the command of Ms general , and the regulations of the American service . He was instructed by the Major-General of the district to present his respects and congratulations to the illustrious Magyar , upon whom he and a deputation of the municipal authorities of New York would wait in person as soon as they heard of his arrival . The Major , in conclusion , welcomed him to his new home and its simple republican hospitalities , and to the blessed liberty enjoyed in America as a common inheritance .

      The Magyar was afterwards addressed by Dr . Brueninghausen , to which Kossuth replied . It was after two o ' clock when these addresses were closed , and considerable later when all had -withdrawn . After a very brief sleep , Kossuth arose at an early hour in the morning , and as soon as it was daylight the citizens from the vicinity began to collect at his lod g ings . Great numbers of Hungarians and Poles ,, who had passed the night on the Island , crowded round to pay their respects . Several addresses having been presented to

      him , for each of which he briefly returned thanks , amid the most enthusiastic applause , preparations were made for marshalling the procession , which , it was arranged should signalise his public reception in the Island . From the commencement of the demonstration to its close the greatest enthusiasm prevailed . When the carriage containing Kossuth , Dr . A . Sidney Doane , the Health Officer of the Port , and the host of Kossuth , with Colonel Berzcenzcy and F . Pulsky , the former ambassador of Kossuth in England , made its appearance at the gate of the Quarantine , the shouting was most vociferous and protracted , and the gallant hero of

      Hungary acknowledged the compliment paid to him by bowing to the multitude . Open ranks of military having been formed , the carriage took its place in the procession , which then advanced . In the procession were many private carriages filled with the citizens of the Island . On the route to the tent Kossuth was warmly and constantly cheered . Arrived afc the tent he was escorted to a raised platform which had been provided for him . . Richard Adams Locke , Esq ., the orator of the day , then delivered an address to Kossuth , on behalf of Staten Island , to which he replied at great length . To some other addresses presented to him Kossuth responced very briefly iuwl then retired .

      The Washington papers announce that the President , on learning of the firing into the steamer Prometheus , ordered a competent naval force to repair to San Juan for the purpose of protecting American vessels from future outrages of a like character . Inquiries were also addressed to the BritiBh government , to know whether this conduct had been prompted by official authority . ' This is all very well now' ( says a New York paper ) ? the character

      but it is rather late to retrieve of the President , and his cabinet for their imbecility . A naval force sufficient to protect our ilaa from insult should have long Bince been stationed in the neig hbourhood of the Mosquito coast . Had this been done , the Express would not have dared to fire into tbeFroeme * theus or any other American vessel , or , if she had , she would in all probability have been blown so far out of the water , that she never could have discharged another gun .

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      PUBLIC MEETING TO DEMAND THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE BRITISH AMBASSADOR FROM PARIS . A public meeting was held in the Joiners' Hall on Tuesday , 16 th insfc . —Mr . Watson in the chairwhen the following resolutions were carried unanimously — That complicity ivith tyrants is treason to the people . TJiat the countenance given to the usurper Bonaparte , bytheJiarqrosofNonnanbv , in his character of British Ambassador , is disgraceful to the government he represents , and opposed to the statements of the veritable people of this country . . # . . That as no legal gorernment exists in France , the British government should forthwith recall the British Ambassador and thereby testify that this nation will not recognise the treasonable and truculent usurpation of Louis

      TKo ^ epresentatire of the brigand Bonaparte should be allowed to desecrate the soil and taint the au of this ^ t&U alliance with , or recognition of , the tyrannical JnSnmafoet Europe should forthwith terminate . g SKeople , generally , of this country be . and herehv ^ invit ed to participate in this manifestation of opinTon ^ hrt thereby the national name may be preserved from dishonour , id our continental brethren be apprised of our fraternal sympathy . A vote of thanks was given to Mr . Harney and thVCbSmm , after ifhx 9 h f !» aootutf !**• W

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      NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF UNITED TRADES . T . S . Duscombe , Esq ., M . P ., President . " mr jnsmiA . " "If it were possible for the working classes , by com . Dining among themselves , to raise , or keep up the general rate of wages , it need hardly be said that this would be a thing not to be punished , but to be welcomed and rejoiced at * Stoart Mill ^

      Lord Campbell- " but I must confess I look with some alarm upon tbis general Association sitting in London , dictating to masters what they shall pay their men , and levying contributions for the support of BUCh society all over the kingdom .... is that necessary ?" Mr . Macnamara . -- " Yes . my Lord ; but it is perfectly voluntary . The members contribute ( on an average ) Is , id . per week out of their earnings ; and the tunds are distributed again among them when they are out of employment . " Lord Caupbeii ,. — " That might raise a fund an large as the revenue of some of the sovereign states of Europe . "

      "VVe have adopted the above remarks of Lord Campbell , manifesting , so strikingly as they do , the opinions of one of the most acute aad comprehensive minds of the age , upon the power and capabilities of a National Association of Labour , to accomplish for labour all that we have ever professed or contended for , whenever such a movement ia really nationalised .. To make this apparent to the most dull comprehension -we call attention to the following figures . The adult working population of this country cannot be taken at less than six million b . A contribution of one penny per week would produce a revenue of £ 25 , 000 , or £ 1 , 300 , 000 per annum !!

      It would be idle to speculate upon the uses to which such a revenue might be applied , because we know it to be perfectly impracticable at present , to induce even a tithe of such a number of working men to unite for any purpose whatever ; but we think we may , without exposing ourselves to the charge of serial castle building , imagine the practicability of speedily bringing into one organisation one

      hundred thousand of the most intelligent , and , consequently , the most powerful , of our fellow workmen . The same insignificant contribution would yield to Buch , an organisation an annual revenue of £ 21 , 666 13 s . 4 d . a sum amply sufficient to relieve our redundant labour market of all its superfluous idlers ; the only true way of raising wages and superseding strikes .

      ^ The uninterrupted progress of the Emigration mania , or the Irish Exodus , ' as it has been called , has induced the Editor of the Times' to speculate somewhat prophetically on the possiblei consequences of its continuance ; and he has discovered the alarming contingency , that the time is rapidiy approaching when the sun of England ' s prosperity will have culminated , when instead of there being three men for one master , there will be three

      masters looking out and bidding against each other for one man , We should , indeed , be mGBt happy to hail ifoe advent of so salutary a change ; for certain we are , that no permanent improvement can take place in the condition of the working classes generally , until the great disproportion which now exists between the supply of labour and the demand for it he more equalized ; and we would rather see this most desirable end

      accomplished by the united action of the working classes in the land of their birth , than that they should be driven out as cast-aways and vagabonds by the twin-tyrant aristocracies of Land and Money . An organisation of some hundred thousand of our most intelligent fellow labourers , with thecapability of realising a revenueof upwards of £ 20 , 000 per annum for every little paltry weekly penny subscribed , would soon be in a position not only to place itself right in its social and political condition , but would necessarily form the glorious pioneer corps , to

      clear a way for its less enlightened or less powerful fellow labourers , the matted mass of ignorance and prejudice , which now forms a barrier impenetrable to all the efforts of our theorizing and speculative doctors and patriots . We speak of' the mighty power of the pence ' as children of millions , billions , &c , without any adequate idea of the reality . We groan and grumble at our condition , and yet refuse to adopt those mean g which would lead to the only desirable ' exodus' from our present state of worse than Egyptian bondage . We each , according to our own peculiar ism . produce

      our elaborate theories of future constitutions , which shall be realised when we and our party are in the ascendant , and are always ready to most heartily damn each and every individual and party who differ with us , even in a shadow of a shade ; while we ourselves , in the excess of our egotism , have made no effort to lay even the first necessary stone of the solid substratum , upon which alone can be reared any practicable , and therefore useful movement . The philosophical Mistress Grlass lays down an axiom which the

      industrial Illuminati of the present day do not seem to comprehend—that hares are to be caught before they are cooked ; but our modern poetising and theorising ' public instructors' seem to be completely absorbed in their imaginative cookery of social and political ragouts , while the hares are frisking about iu blessed ignorance of the important part destined for them in the industrial world ' s future feast . The necessity for an organisation and effort to obtain it , appears to form no part of their philosophy .

      We invite then these parties , these leaders , aud teachers of the people , to join with us in our peaceful and constitutional agitation , to create an organisation with a maximum oi numbers aud power , and a minimum of individual cost ; but producing at the same time large , immediate , a » d bon&fieial results . There are various wayB—direct and indirectby which the wages of labour are reduced and depreciated ; and assuredl y the means are as various by which labour ' s miserable dole may be enhanced and practically increased . The entire cessation of strikes , and the annual tax paid by almost every trade to support them , no longer required , would . be among the

      first and immediate fruits from the adoption of our views . Mr . Perry may be one of the boldest of the bold , and there may be five hundred of his species as bold as he , but we question if Mr . Perry , notwithstanding his late magnificent victory , will erer again venture to measure conclusions with even the existing power of the so-called National Association ; and we know rig ht well that he and his compeers , be their names legion , would evince more discretion than ever to cope in individual hostility with the concentrated power of the hundred thousand weekly pennies of their present despised workmen . Oh ! the latent power of the pence is

      omnipotent . , ... Let our readers fancy the ridiculous position of this Stavely conclave conceiving an ukase in their imperial minds , prohibiting to some five hundred of their presumed serfs ihe exercise of the ir admitted legal and constitutional right of combination ; let them , we say , fancy for an instance , such an absurd attemptto play the tyrant , if the 500 men formed but the union

      two hundredth part of a protective . One of two inevitable results would follow : the five hundred men would be withdrawn from the labour market for so long a time as the employers could do without their services , or more probably , and much more wisely , a cooperative industrial Bobbing Turning establishment would be reared upon the ruins of a dozen petty slave shops .

      It is amusing to contemplate the laboajed efforts of little minds to ape the actions of your practitioners on a large scale . A coup d ' tat of an imperial-minded Bobbin Tww

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      is only a whit more contemptible , but equally aB deteBtiblo as the more magnificent treason of an apostate Republican President ; and we suspect ; as little calculated to work oHt the guilty designs , or add to the reputation of the crafty complotter . But we may after all be doing the Stavely masters an unwilling injustice . They may per . haps be the victims of some commercial perplexity ; and , like the Newcastle shipowners in the memorable money panic year , 1847 , be driven to the hard necessity of temporising with their embarrassments , by a forced diminution of their weekly pecuniary outlay ; and to effect this they have offered a proposition to their hands too monstrous to be listened to or

      accepted , and thus to force them into a buspension of their employment , thereby giving them time to compromise their embarrassments without any apparent stab to their commercial credit . We know that , in our present hi g hl y , artificial , and Bupremly unprincipled trading system , such dodges are no way uncommon , and is indeed the most charitable way of accounting for the inexplicable conduct of those parties to their well-conducted aud industrious workmeM . The Central Committee of toe National ^ Association of United Trades . 259 , Tottenham-court-road .

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      AMALGAMATED IRON TRADES . Overtime and Piece Work . —The Executive Council of the Amalgamated Ivon Trades have recently issued two circulars on thin subject , one to the members , and the other to the masters . It may be necessary to premise that the Society thus designated comprises the Engineers . Mechanics , Millwrights , &c ., &M has about 12 , 000 members of the best organised , best paid , and most intelligent working men of thiE country 5 b its ranks . The Executive state , that after consulting every member of the amalgamated societies , they have since come to the resolution of abolishing Overtime and Piece WorJt , as evils of the greatest magnitude and the worst character . In consequence of the practice ,

      men are found " exhausting their own strength , injuring their own health , giving up nil opportunities of improvement , and barring themselves out from the comforts of home and the pleasures of society , so that at the week ' s end they may add a few more shillings to their wages , and all the while others are begging for the lea ? e to earn their bread by their labour . " The Council believe , however , that this is , in most instances , done thoughtlessly , aud that those who know its effects only submit to it under compulsion . By taking it up as a Trade question , however , there will be no fear of the men doing wrong .

      ' The Amalgamated Trades are strong enough to meet any storm of opposition which may arise , and to support those who are faithful to their order . " Looked at as a common matter of every day interest , those who think—and all are beginning to think now- —will see the impolicy of Overtime and Piece Work as a mere matter of wrong , What , if a mau who makes himself a slave does earn this week a few shillings more than he who moderately enjoys life and the fruits of his labours , he wears out sooner . The bow always bent soon looses its spring , and the over-worked toiler , probably in the prime of manhood , becomes a decrepid invalid , a

      burden to his family and his trade , and a misery to himself , while his wiser fellows live to a hale old age of labour . There is more than this , though , it be thought of , for instead of the present apparent gain being really a gain , it is generally an actual loss . You know fully as well as we do that the effects of habitual over-exertion , beside degrading the body , deteriorate the mind ; and if large gains are made , habits of reckless intemperance are too often engendered which squander more than the gains . In addition to that Overtime and Piece Work , as the means of reducing wages , are greatly assisted by the mental slavishness the system produces .

      Employed and the world nt large ha \ c thew own notions of what working men ought to bo allowed to eavn . That estimate is not generally a very exorbitant one , but it is founded upon the notion of a day ' s labour of moderate duration . Some men are tempted on by the greater pay for Overtime , or the increased opportunities ot Piece Work , to earn much more than a man can earn at the present price of labour , if he be regardful of his own health . The employer then turns round upon those who have made their wages high , and quotes those high wages the price of labour . If the men complain—if public opinion is invoked—the Overtime and Piece Work masters say confidently to the public , who only see the surface of questions

      "We are somewhat lowering wages , it js true , ttfc the present moment , but our priceB of labour are far above the average of former years . Look at our books , and see that for weeks past these men have been earning very high wages . " If the attempt succeeds—and , backed by public opinion thrie gained , it often does succeed—the Piece Workers are put upon day wages ; their capability for work is estimated by their forced and feverish efforts under a bad system , and the prices of Piece Work are reduced , so as to make their increased toil y ield them about the ordinary rate of wages . Another effect of Piece Work anil Overtime ia that it causes a redundancy of labour . There is , perhaps , never too much for all the hands there

      are to do it—generally too little ; and if men work Overtime , or increase production by Piece Work , they also increase the disproportion between the labour there is to be done and the number of hands there we out of work . Those hands thrown unemployed upon the labour market , become at once the competitors of the men in work , and a burden on the funds of the Society to which they belong . They ,-at the sair . e time , draw upon the resources of the workers , and enable the employer , by putting one class against the other , to diminish those resources , and thus a universal game of " begear my neighbour" is set up , and the broken

      of to-day become the breakers of to-morrow . Feeling strongly the evils generated by this system , and fertified by the universal answer of the Society in favour of its abolition , the Executive Council have come to the follow resolutions : — llesolved— " That all Engineers , Machinists , Millwrights , Smiths , arid Pattern Makers , cease to work Piece and Systematic Overtime after the 31 st December , 1851 . „ Resolved— " That in all cases of breakdowns or accidents , where members of the trade are called upon to WOl'll Overtime , that they be paid double timo for all such time worked . "

      Resolved—" That all time worked after half-past five or six o ' clock in the evening and before six o ' clock in the morning , be considered Overtime , excepting Saturday , when Overtime commences from tbo termination of the usual day . " In the circular to the employers in Great Britain and Ireland , it is stated that , in taking this course they " hare not the slightest intention of unwarrantably interfering with , or attempting to dictate to , employers . They have only in view the performance of their duty as the guardians of the interests of tbc members , and the organs through which the voice of the trade expresses itself , and they trust tbac what they have to say will be interpreted in the amicable spirit which , animates then . "

      So far , indeed , from the discussion of these questions , if properly considered , having a tendenoy to create nngry feelings , we believe that their satisfactory adjustment is of e ^ ual importance to both employers and workmen , and that each party should be anxious to see them equitably settled . They believe , too , that the present time is peculiarly fitted for the discussion of such questions as is shown bv the interest evinced in them by the public at large , and the general desire which exists among all classes to shorten the hours of labour .

      Overtime is injurious to employers , because it ) a the dearest possible way of doing the work that is to be done . Not only is the rate of payment for time greater , but a higher price is paid to tired workmen , whose capability ot work just when they should be leaving their labour is considerably reduced . Taken as a whole , we should not be far beyond the mark , when we say that work done in Overtime costs nearly double that which is performed in the ordinary working hours . Beyond , however , the mere fact of men being less able to exert themselves when tbey are actually working Overtime , the system tends to produce permanent incapability , by injuring the health of the workman , and thus making his ordinary labour of less value than it would otherwise be .

      Bes / idea this , Overtime is one of the most cortam causes of ignorance , by preventing men who leave their beds to work , and leave their work to sleep , devoting any portion of their time to the cultivation of their minds . Every employer knows that it is better to have intelligent men than ignorant ones , for , independent of the former being more tractable and trustworthy , the intelligence they must bring to their work increases their value . We have as jet said nothing of the system of Piece Work , but it must be obvious that most of the reasons applying to Overtime are capable of being urged against it . Whatever evils spring from men working longer hours than is consistent with their health , or moral well-being , spring from Piece Work to the full aB muoh aB from Overtime . By it , men are incited to work as long as exhausted nature can sustain itself , and in addition it leads them to hurry over their work , and leave ifc imperfectly finished when defects may be concealed . We would hope , however , that irrespective of th « conaideratioas springing from these fuoU , and which

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      merely effect the interests of emploven , we MaT enlist your sympathies on higher grounds We would appeal to those feelings which dignify a , d ennoble our common humanity to induce you to give up something of mere gain , if need be , in order to elevate the condition of your workmen For that , however , there is no necessity . In thie instance at least , benefit to yourselves and benevolence to your workmen go band in hand , and we beg that you will serve at once your own cause and that of your workmen , by intimating to us , thi-t we need not fear your opposition , but rather maj reckon on your supporting ; this effort to deal witit

      the questions of Piece Work and Overtime . In answer to this appeal it is stated that in Manchester the following employers have agreed to the proposition : Sharp , Brothers , and Co ., Roberts . Doi . ineon , and Co ., Iliggins , and Co ., Briggs , and < V , Parr , Curtis and Madley , Kershaw , and Sons , Mayburn , Crighton , Jenkinson , Collier , Muir , Morgan , Elce and Cottam , McGregor , Adam , Booth , Gore , Roberts , and Heavens , J . Creighton , Bellhouse , Glasgow , Sliipton , Divoge , LoedB Railway Station , Gorten Railway Station , Lcngsight Railway Station , Liverpool Railway Station , Ma * Bden , E Jonea , Crosgley Hetherington , Galloway , Gadd , Lewis , and Son , and Firth .

      In other establishments in the same town , the employers have resisted the proposal , and discharged members of the society as follows - —From Ashbury ' s 21 ; Ellis and Go ' s ., 7 ; Pairbairn ' e , 3 Adam Woodward ' s , 2 ; Wren and Co ' s , 1 -. —in nil 34 , 5 of whom have found employment ; leaving 29 on the funds of the society . It is not probable that move than G or 7 n \ 6 re will be discharged in Manchester . Twenty men being discharged for discontinuing overtime is not by any mean * a large number for Manchester . , IIow many will be employed through the new regulation ?—We should say more than a hundred . The loss is only a very temporary one and will soon be felt to be a decided gain . '

      Handmom Weavers . —The following address to the inhabitants of Great Britain has recently been issued by a Conference of delegates representing the Handloom Weavers of Scotland : — " Fellow men , —The existing system of society both demon , gtrates and engenders a fatal misapprehension of the reciprocal duties , mutual dependence , and true interests of men . Disoovery after discovery is announced for superseding manual labour , and for adding , to our power of satisfying human wants . Wealth of every description flows in upon us without the slightest idea of tho leeitimate purpose for which it is brought into existence , or to which it ought to be applied . The announcement of these inventions are therefore paradoxicall aocompanied

      y by the voice of want , wailing , woe , and distress , — by statements ! of famine , poverty , and crime , among the operative class , —of losses , bankruptcies , and ruin among the capitalists , —and poverty and pauperism with their natural and certain conse : quences , misery and discontent are now more general , and in more rapid progress throughout the country , than before the introduction ot these vast wraentf machinery . Is ik not , then , the imperative duty of all , and especially of those who pretend to govern the British people , to investigate the causes of these anomalies , namely , redundant wealth in the hands of a few , poverty in one class , and uneasiness in others , until they shallactually be ascertained , and until proper remedies are aoolied f

      Why are the British people not now in possession of these numerous advantages to which thoir industry , their skill , their machinery , and their capital so justly entitle them ? Why should our industrious classes be unable to obtain employment ? Why should multitudes pine in want of food , and the common necessaries of life ? Why should discontent , misery , and crime , pervade our land , when the whole population of our country ought to be in the enjoyment of abundance ? In this country we possess meana of producing wealth far beyond our utmost wants . We have machinery equal to the Inbourof 600 , 000 , 000 of human beingsatour command ; and a capacity to provide food , under judioious arrangements , for many times the number of our

      present population . We have clothing for ten times the number of our people . We have materials and power to erect dwellings , princely , mag . nificent dwellings , for ten times ouf present population . Now , the solemn questions are , when we put all these facts and figures together , why Bhould we be / without food ? Why should any be in rags , and without clothing ? And , wby should any be houseless , and huddled into dark cellars , and dingy garrets ? Or , wby should any be more unfortunate still , and compelled to sleep unrfer arches of bridges , in common stairs , in cold bams , and in the open fields ? . How can there he too many hungry mouths and too much food co-existing in ' the sam ' o country ? How can there be too many naked backs

      , and too much clothing ? How can there be too many empty houses , and too mauy houseless people to inhabit them ? And why does cheap cotton cloth demand the continual sacrifice of humanity ? When we ask ourselves and the British public those solemn and significant questions we feel ourselves justified in declaring that the existing system of society both demonstrates and engenders a fatal misapprehension of the reciprocal duties , mutual dependence , and true interests of men . Tho public press of our country daily contains long atid sad records of mercantile failures , of commercial difficulties , and deep dish ' essee among our trading classes—records of repeated occurrences of severe destitution and ravaging diseases among ouv

      workingolasses;—of credit destroyed— capitalists vuinDu —of multitudes of _ working men in involuntary idleness—of pauperism ; md crime increasing . The difficulties of the manufacturing and employing classes are now added to tho working classes , hundreds of thousands of whom are at this moment without bread or employment . But , of nil the different . classes who are suffering from these sud consequences , we , the hand-loom weavers of this country , are the greatest sufferers , The extraordinary increase of the meohanical powers of improved machinery has both lessened the demand for , and value of , ouv labour , until we are at length reduced to the lowest standard of a mean and prooarious subsistence . And wherever machinery tends to supersede manual labour , as it has done in our caae , it is not diffioult to perceive that extreme suffering must be the result . And we respectfully

      submit an appeal to the British public , that our present deplorable condition pre-eminently deserves and requires the immediate , serious deliberation of a government commission . Our government is bound , so long as it professes to be paternal , to inquire if some means cannot be adopted to transfer the hand-loom weavers , whom machinery has superseded &u < l reduced to beggary , to some other useful employment , and to cffactually provide for those who are too old for a change of wovk . We tell our government that ifc will not do to set down the complaints of masgea of our follow beings as foolish , and not worth notice . A wise government will always look upon destitution and dissatisfaction amongst the people as indicative of grievances which require removal , and of sufferings which require a remedy . —I am , gentlemen , your very obedient servant , " Jons Ycile , Chairman . "

      The same body forwarded memorials to Lord John Russell and Sir G . Grey , briefly setting forth the condition of the bod y they represented , and entreating the Prime Minister to introduce in to the House of Commons , in the ensuing session , a measure , or measures , for the purpose of making a legislative grant of the public money to enable those oi the Weaving body who may be inclined to emigrate to any of the British colonies to do so , and to promote and adopt a system of home colonisation , so that the redundant population employed at Hand-loom Weaving may be in part withdrawn from an occupation which does not afford them the means of existance , and locate them on waste , but improreable lands , which , they might cultivate not only with advantage to themselves , but with the most incalculable benefit to the community at large .

      Of course so rational and practical a request as this was answered in tho coldest and most formal style of Red-topism . The WeaverB are not " Political Economists , " and they have no votes . Sir G . Grey returned an equally Bupercilious reply to the request , that he would bring forward a bill in the course of next session of Parliament , assimilating the law as regards provision for the support of the able-bodied poor in Scotland , as in England , when suffering destitution through wank ol employment . *

      When the labouring classes get more political power ministers will tie more attentive ; o theii respeclful and reasonable memorials .

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      Earthquake . —The " Impartial de Smyrne , " in its correspondence from Salonica , has melanchol . v accounts of an earthquake at Berat . We ie . irn tba ' t a part of the fortress had been thrown down , and 400 soldiers buried in the ruins . Some days after the catastrophe , and after great exertiona , their lifeless bodies were withdrawn from the ruins , and their numbers ascertained . About 300 hou&es , two mosques , and a church suffered considerably , and many are no longer habitable . The Governor of

      Yaniua sent tents and assistance to the remainder Of the soldiers in garrison there . Among Christians and Mussulmans , 800 persons are missing , but it h as yet unknown how many among those have been lost , or how many have sought safety to flight . Near to Berat the top of a mountain was detached from its base , and thrown to a considerable distance . In the centre a crater has been formed , from which dense volumes of black smoke , stones , and lava are emitted . Fetid sulphurous exhalations escape and corrupt the air . The villages and environs at Berat have suffered great damage .

      The Boiler Explosion near Bristol . — The Coroner , Mr . W . J . Ellis , has concluded the adjourned inquest on the body of Thomas "Waller , who was killed by the recent dreadful boiler explosion at Kingswood . The Jury , after a lengthened discussion , returned a verdictof" Accidental Death . "

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      LATEST FOREIGN NEWS . FRANCE . Pabis , Thursday , December 18 The proilaiuatiou of the Governor of Algeria declaring the colony in a state of sei ge is confirmed by i degree of the President of tho Republic . The department of the Jura is also declared in a state of seigo , makipg thirty-four out of eighty-aix departments thus situated . . « is announced that the Minister of the

      intenor has received adhesions and addresses horn twenty-one communes of the Vowrea , ind from communes , municipal councillors , mayors , National Guards , &c ., of the various places in twenty-nine departments , and that addresses arem course of signaturoiu 500 commuiies of the department of the Haute Saone . The uews from the departments continues ty be 'favourable . '

      II , M , Cremieux , Leo de LaWde , and Ureton , who were confined at Vincenues , have been Befc at liberty . M . M . Duyergier de Hauranne , Bixto , Joret , Paulin , Durrieu , leilhard , Lateris , and General Leydet hare been transferred from Vincennes to St . Pelagie . The government has got in readiness a regular fleet for transporting the unfortunate people whom the police denounces as agitators of society .

      AUSTRIA . ^ Akhest OP Kossum ' s Sisters . —The " Times " correspondent states that a special train from Hunb ' ; iry arrived on the 10 th inst . at Vienna , with prisoners of both sexes—the men in irons . Koesuth ' s sisters were tho female prisoners , and the others cavaliers ( nobles . )

      Untitled Article

      REFORM MEETING AT STOOKPORT . The annual soiree of the Stock port Reform Association was held at the County Court Hall , on Tuesday eyeninff , and drew together an exceedingly large and respectable attendance of the electors and other inhabitants . Mr . Hampsos , president of the association , took the chair , and the company included James Kersliaw , Esq ., M . P . for the borough , John Bright , Esq ., M . P ., Mr . Councillor Eskrii .-ge , Alderman Rylands of Warring on , Edwin Oldham , Esq ., Eev . M . de Valmont , Rev . John Thornton , Mr . H , Coppock .

      After the usual toasts , the chairman proposed " John Bright , Esq ., M . P .. and speedy success to the scheme of Parliamentary Reform so ably expounded by himatthelatedele »» iemeetingin Manchester . " Mr . Bright replied at great length , and having enumerated the struggles for the repeal of the Corn Laws , said it was not to be supposed that Sir R . Peel first discovered in November , 1846 , that the Corn Law was a bad law . what he had discovered was that the people had found out that it was a hard law . Mr . Bright then glanced at the representative system , and the National Debt . lie had bpard Lord John Russell state more than once that it was his opinion—his firm opinion—that the whole of that sanguinary struggle in which this country was involved with Prance in most of the

      period from 1703 to 1815—that that war was entirel y aud absolutely unnecessary . ( Hear , hear . ) But the result of that war has been to load this country with a debt , and an annual payment of that debt epual to an amount which would place every working man ' s familyfn the United Kingdom in a tenpound house , and pay his rent for ever , ( Hear , hear . ) Mr . Bright then denounced our Colonial policy , and our Government of Ireland . Thai country had been possessed by us in some shape or other for hundreds of years , and yet Ireland at this moment- presents a picture which cannot be equalled in any civilised country in the world . So much poverty is not to be found in any country on tho earth . Mr . Bright then entered at great length into the proceedings of the late Manchester

      Conlerence , and said the minister , during the last session , declared distinctly that , at the opening of ; nest session , he would be prepared to submit a measure of reform to Parliament . We helieve he will keep [ his promise . His measure may be a very small one , which \ t \\\ be very unstatesmanlike ; or it may be one of substantial improvements . If it be the latter , of course , we who are in favour of Parliamentary Reform will give it all the support in our power . But bear in mind that a large section of the House of Commons , as in 1830 and 1831 ,. don't want any reform at nil . The gentlemen who want to get bnck the corn-laws do not want any reform at all ; gentlemen who sit for corrupt boroughs don't want reform , because they doubt whether they would get back again to the House

      ot Commons . The Hou 3 e of Lords don ' t Want reform ; aud it is i \ ot q \\\ te certain that a \ i the members of the Cabinet want reform . Reform is not desirable in their eves because they know its object is , and its results would in all probability be , to leaseti to some extent their exclusive possession of power , and distribute power moreequally amoncst tlio people—in fact to ask in a larger number of the population to discuss and settle the affairs of the empire , Row if wo go to the House of Commons we may Hiake whatsoever speeches we like , and give what votes we like , but if there is not a manifestation of feeling and opinion out of doors , you will see at once how incapable we , who are in a minority , are to cope with banded and confederated monopoly of power which

      is arrayed against us . "What I want is that the people of this country should make up their minds within the next two or three months , freely , and openly , and decidedly , to manifest their opinions on this question . Wby have not great meetings in nil these towns ? why not have your reform committee ? most of whom are here to night , I presume , who should arrange a system by which they can obtain the signatures of every man in Stockport in favour of a scheme of Parliamentary Reform . Why slioul < l they not make a circuit of all the surrounding villages and oi-tain from each of them also a petition , which Mr . Kershaw , when Parliament meets , may lay on the table of the house and say ; " This is the opinion of the people of Stockportnot of the electors only whom I represent , but of the vast body of the people , and of the surrounding villages , too , of th ; ifc most industrious and very large town . This is the opinion they have sent me

      here to express , and ( hey demand that the House of Commons should give lo them that right which the constitution in theory says they have , bub which our Bystem hitherto has denied them . " Rely upon it , if these meetings were large , and these petitions were presented thus to Parliament , we who are novr in a minority would find ourselves strengthened . Every speech would be equal to two speeches , and every vote equal to two votes , and though now in a minority , backed by the vas , t expression of opinion from nine-tenths of the population of this country , wbo 1 honestly believe are in favour of substantial Parliamentary Reform , it would be impossible , if there should even bo a majority in either house , for any minister whatsoever to maintain the present systc-n ; , or refuse the population ibafc which reason , justice , and the constitution alike say that they ougbt to possess . The hon . gentleman sat down amidst loud cheering . The meeting was then addressed by Mi 1 . Kebshaw , Mr . Corrocic , and Mr . Alderman Rylands , and several other sentiments having been given and responded to , the meeting broke up at a late hour .

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      METROPOLITAN DELEGATE COUNCIL . This body met pursuant to the resolution of tie general meetings on Sunday afternoon , at the Literary Institution , Little Saffron-hill . Mr . Ilaraan was called to the chair , and Mr . Cottle appointod secretnry pro tern . Credentials were received from Messrs Mills and Sugg , Chelsea Locality ; Messrs . Brisck and Ferdinando , White Horse ; Messrs . Bury and Harman , Islington ; MesBrs . Knowles and Docksey , Ship , Whitechapel ; Messrs , Oabonie and Woedon , Finsbury ; Mr . Cottle , Hoiloway ; Mr . Parrer Hoxton ; Mr . Bryson , Political Victim ; Messrs . Cramp and Clark , Westminster . Mr . Parkar moved "Thatjio delogate should be rcci'iveii whose locality was not paying members of the National Charter Association . " Mr . Bmsck seconded the motion .

      Mr . 09 B 0 RNE moved an amendment ;— " That a Committee of five persons be appointed to draw up rules-for tho guidance of the Delegate Council , and report thereon on the ensuing Sunday , " ¦ . After considerable discussion . chiefly resting upon the efficiency of the Exeoutive and the cap £ city of the General Secretary , the amendment was carried , and Messrs . Crump , Bryson , Sugg , Har « man , and Cottle were appointed as the Committee Mr . Wkbdos , by instruction Of his locality ^ , brought forward a motion approving of Mr . T » Cooper ns : ¦ candidate for the ensuing Executive . After some discussion , a vote was eventuallypassed expressing a favourable opinion of that gentleman as a candidate , notwithstanding hie ine « liability according to tho strict letter of the organisation .

      Reports were then given in by several delegate » s to the state of their localities , and the general prospects of the movement .. A motion was passed that each delegate be prepared to lay before tbo en suing delegate meeting a full report of the state of his district . Considerable fault was found at the non-attend " ance of any of the Executive bodyi and the meeting adjourned until three o ' clock on the following Sunday .

      Untitled Article

      MONIES RECEIVED For the Week Ending Thdrsdat , December ISih , 1851 . NATIONAL CHARTER FUND . Uecervea D . v John ABKoir . -Berniondsey Locality , ner W . Melhmsh 4 SGa-A few Priends , per John < oS « E Loughborough , per J . Harriman 3 s U-Ditto Subscription . SSiasSfl 0 8 S llfl - ^ ewton ' Pef Jotamck « 4 s 8 a :-FOR DEBT DUE BY REFUGEES . on 5 Si 6 d Rn ) ES '~ R " 2 fl ' ' M- > W- S - » Bervrick "

      1 - - -¦ ' £Rata,8 Sttttttigetttt. M^M "*~Tt"

      1 - ¦ ' £ rata , 8 Sttttttigetttt . M ^ M " *~ TT"

      Untitled Article

      P SO , 1851 . THJS kORTHERN STAR ' ¦¦

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Dec. 20, 1851, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1657/page/5/