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Northern Star (1837-1852), 14th February 1852, Edition 1 of 1, Page 1, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      The subject which concentrates upon itself the greatest share of interest is the long promised , come at last , Reform Bill of Lord John Russell . . It iB of course totally needless to tell any man who pays any regard to political affairs what were the motives ¦ which forced tha Prem ier to take a Btep in advance . It iras not that he loved Reform much , hut that he loTed office more . Something in the shape of movement had become absolutely necessary , not only for Ithe continuance of the Whig Cabinet , hut for the [ effectiveness of the Government itself . It was per-[ fectly impossible to exist without .. The intellectual

      advance of the people , and the growing necessities of the State , were continually Baying to the powerB that fce ' move on / just as a policeman does to the front rank of a mob . But there was no means of moving on . Neither forward nor backward could the 60-Ternmental carriage be got to go . It was set fast It had come to that pass , that parties were so nicely balanced that they were just capable of hindering each other . So complete was the equilibrium , that even the old traditional game of see-saw between Whigs and Tories could not be played . The Whigs could not get down , and the Tories would not come

      up . Everybody was powerful for obstruction—nobody powerful for action . Each section could prevent measures from being carried—no section could carry them . There is something even worse than anarchv , and that is stagnation . If the one is the life of fever the other iB death . The rushing torrent , however madly it may pour along , clears and purifies itself , and calms down in the long ran . The stagnant ditch breeds corruption . That was the danger of the Go * vernment . The stagnation of corruption was surely creeping over a dying system , and in order to avert the catastrophe we have the New Reform Bill .

      So much for the motives which prompted it ; now let ns consider its nature . It is ahill of details rather than of principles . There is no cause of surprise in that . The Whigs cram all their great principles into their speeches , hut take care that they shall not enter into their measures / ' It U . allyery well to tickle tho cats of the grounaiings ^ ijj ^ edkiuR UierailBm—it is quite another thing to enact it and to make it law . 2 fomancan , when it suits him , better round off a period , with the echo of some great truths , than a Russell—none can fritter them away moreeffectually

      in the details of an Act of Parliament . When such folk proffer a boon to the people , they are like a man who , with a glowing eulogium on the beauty of Charity , offers a beggar a rusty farthing . Taking this view of the matter , the Reform Bill is just what might be expected . It is , in the main , a supplement of the old Reform Bill . The present franchise is not to be altered in principle , bat extended in degree . Property is still to be the basis of representation , bat less of it is to be requisite to make a man a voter . This is , no doubt , in perfect keeping—in exact accordance with the circumstances of the times . Free

      Trade has made everything cheap , and the Franchise mast follow suit . We do not give so much as we used to do for our bread or butter , coats or shoes , and the price of a vote is to be lowered to keep other things in countenance . Instead of £ 10 a year in boroughs , £ 0 is , for Ihe future , to be the standard of a man ' s intellectual and moral fitness for choosing lawmakers . There is , also , to be a corresponding reduction in the count ies . As to Equal Electoral Districts , they do not suit Lord John at all . He will have none of them . He is as unwilling to disturb the ancient boundaries of the land as the ancient landmarks of the

      Constitution . Perhaps they both assume about an equal importance in his eyes , and in that possibly some other people may agree with him . It may be that ' the recognised principles * of our not ver y recognisable constitution , are as much shown in territorial limits aa in the common or statute law . However that may be , small boroughs are not to be destroyed . Where they are bo very small as to attract the notice of all , they are to be made a little larger . The scandal is not to be done away with , but cloaked . A bad system is not to be rooted out , but an attempt is to be madetorenderit tolerably decent . Very small

      constituencies are to be homoeopatically enlarged , but we hear nothing of very large constituencies being divided . Somewhere between five hundred—that is Lord JoHS ' spet number—and five hundred thousand legislative fitness resides—no matter where ; that the ruler of the day is not at all concerned to discover . It would no doubt be imprudent rashness to attempt to do so . That might even involve an alteration in the number of our representatives , and every one is aware that we have precisely the right number , and that number is one of the institutions of the country . So five hundred are to have the same power as half a million .

      To be gore Lord John —and we must not do him injustice—does give a leason , such as it is , for perpetuating small boroughs . He will not abolish them , because if he did , small boroughs would not have their interests represented . Does Lord John Russell see the danger which lurks beneath that reason ? What is that but saying that the interests of small boroughs are different from those of larger boroughs , —different from those of the districts by which they are surrounded , and out of which they might be made larger . A great deal of no doubt very wholesome doctrine has , at various timeB , been preached to us misguided and deluded Chartists .

      We have sometimes dared to say that the interests of the several classes of the community are at present separate and distinct ; and that , therefore , is one reason , the whole of the community ought to be represented . We have been told , in answer , that we were deluding the people—that we were wickedly creating animosities—that the interests of all were really the same—and yet , here we have the responsible ruler of the Crown stating , in his place in Parliament , upon a most important occasion , that the interests of towns , having a few more or a few lees of inhabitants , are at war with each other . That is a curious anomaly we should be very glad to hear lainedand

      exp ; if the fact be , as Lord John Russell 6 tates it , we have a hitherto unrecognised element of discord developed among us . The truth is , however , that that was only the shadow of a reason conjured up to serve the purpose of the movement ; suggested to his Lordship , perhaps , by the fertile brain ot some employe who has a snug borough of about ire hundred in his eye , and hopes to shine in St . fctephen ' s some of these days . The fact beiog , that too much power must not be given to large urban populations , —that the influence of large families must not be destroyed , and that easy avenues mast be left open for the entry into the Legislature of not over * [ popular members of the Cabinet , and aristocratic

      scions with more five pound notes than brains at their disposal . Thus far we have just a development of the middleman's reform , which the people were almost cheated into fighting for some score of years since . The system of which that Bill formed a part is now to be carried almost to its extreme limit . Farther it cannot well go . Nearly the lowest franchise which can be made to rest upon property is proposed . To take it below five pounds rental , would be to give it to huts and sheds ; and it i 3 at at all events one comfort that we have got to the bottom of the property franchise . At the utmoststretch which it can bear , as well

      as in its most confined sense , it will be found to fail , and any adjustment upon that basis ' will be merely a transitory one . Lord John may pin his faith to his newest bantling—may , upon the new ground , take an apparentl y immovable stand—may again do his best to re-earn the name of Finality John , but it will not do ; the ball is rolling , and he is emphatically not the man to stop it . All he can do at thebest , is , in tbe language * of the gaming table , to make his game while the ball does roll . Indeed , he himself seems to evince an involuntary consciousness of this , » r , spite of himself , he introduces new ideas , which will open a wide field of discussion

      The first and least important of these is , that men * ho 3 in the counties , are assessed directly to * the Maintenance of the state to the amount of forty shil-« np a year annually , shall be entitled to the franchise , -liiat is an approach to the theory of some of the Manchester School reformers , that taxation should pe the basis of representation . That will furnish a ground for asking why indirect as well as direct p-xation should not bs recognized ? Why the man p «» pays 40 s . a year to the customs and the excise , F to the support of the poor , should not be looked I n IIs worth y of a vote ? Why assessed taxes should If poured by being made the exclusive tax-paying | uauncation ; and questions of that sort once opened

      Untitled Article

      up , may give an incalculable deal of trouble to aristocratic governments . Beside , the taxation principle as well as the rent paying one , may be modified almost ad infinitutn—pushed to its extreme . If 40 * -. of direct taxation , why not 20 s . ; if 20 s . why not 10 s 1 All these are matters of degree , not of- principle . But by far the most important feature is the intended abolition of the property qualification for members of parliament . That once carried , the manhood suffragists will stand upon a footing they have never hitherto been able to occupy . That will render the absurdity of any property qualification at all so glaring that it will be difficult to defend it with any

      grace . That once made law , and we shall have this worse than contradiction , that a man who cannot be a voter may be a legislator . The greater privilege will be conceded , and the less withheld . The veriest pauper , if he happen to have the patronage of a boroughmonger , may make , his voice heard in the senate , but not at the polling booth ; may vote directly for the making of laws , but not for or against a man who is to make them . That will be putting the cart before the horse with a vengeance , and such a state of affairs , if properly handled and exposed , will cast worse than odium—ridicule—upon all legislative power based upon mere property . -

      We doubt , however , that this Bill , little as it does to recognise the rights of the great masses of the people , wUl pass into a law . We even doubt whether its framer ever meant ltxo pass—ever in fendeditfor more than the foundation ' for a cry , * to go to the country with . ' This doubt ariseB from the fact , that care appears to have been taken to ensure opposition both from Reformers in the House , and from Tories . The Ballot , the pet of the Manchester School—that without which they declare no measure of Reform will be worth having—the measure , too , which was

      affirmed by a majority in the House of Commons last Session , is studiously omitted , and to rouse the Tories the Emancipation of the Jews is inserted on Whatever Messrs . Cobden and Bright may do , there is no doubt that the religious question will incite the implacable animosity of the Tories , and rouse them against it ; and then , unless the Whigs submit , as they did last Session , to have their own measures taken out of their hands , and made to mean what they never intended , the Bill may be thrown out , and a dissolution become inevitable .

      Well , whichever way the party strife of jarring factions may tend , there is at least this comfort for those who look for real Reform , that the question is opened , and will not easily be closed again , for the great value of all these class Reforms consists in the fact , that they unsettle all things without settling anything .

      Untitled Article

      CENTRAL CO-OPERATIVE AGENCY , ? 6 , Charlotte-Btreet , Fitzroy Square . Weekly Report , Feb . 3 rd to Feb . 9 th , 1852 . The Agency transacted business with the following stores : —Leeds , Birmingham , Braintree , Banbury , TJIlesthorpe , Haworth , Galashields , Rochdale , Woolwich , Colne , Halifax , Derby , Swindon , Booking , Bradford , and Burnley .

      The Agency is Btill engaged in the preliminary steps for opening a market for the productions of the Association . It again states that samples of the following articles can be obtained through it : —Cloth , Ribbons , Alpacas , Blankets , && The conditions of dealing with the public on behalf of the Productive Association have just been thus settled by the Partnership : —The articles ( dry goods ) will be charged to the buyers at the price quoted by the Association , with the addition of carriage—if not included in that price—and 0 percent commission for the Agency to be carried to the reserve-fund , after deducting expenses incurred by the Agency .

      A new stock of wines and brandies has just been received from the best growthB . of France ; the attention of the wealthier classes is especially directed to this branch of the business , which has been introduced for the purpos e of making the consumption of the rich a means of increasing the capital devoted to associative purposes . The partners of the Agency are well aware that the Working Men's Stores in the country , and especially in Scotland , have made a point of not selling wines and spirits ; and nothing can be more creditable to those establishments . But the wine

      trade being carried on by the Agency only as an object of luxury does not interfere with the most respectable scruples of the above-mentioned storeB . There is another kind of scruple for which the Agency would not have quite the same consideration—it comes from some teetotallers who withdrew their custom when the wine trade was introduced . Yielding to such exclusive views , however well-intentioned they may be , would have been quite contrary to the spirit of an institution which undertakes to supply unadulterated articles , but does not assume to regulate morals and manners .

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      LEEDS REDEMPTION SOCIETY . Mr . Henderson lectured in the Chartist Room , on Sunday evening last , and gave a lucid statement of what might be called the political economy of the Redemption Society : viz , in distribution in its grocery and goods store ; incipient co-operative manufacture in the shoe trade and tailoring — the two combined with co-operation in consumption , being the ultimatum of our social experiment in Wales ; and , which as a mere investment , as a manufactory for supplying the stores would , we believe , be worth then * consideration and support—more of this anon . The Chartists seemed satisfied with Mr . Henderson , and the chairman expressed a wish ' that he would favour them with another addreBs shortly . Our annual report will be ready on Thursday , the 12 th inst . Monies received this Treek - . —Leeds , subscription , ± -117 s . 5 d . ; Candi , Is . ; Bingley , a friend , 2 s . 6 d . ; Propagandist Fund , Gs . 2 d Feb . 10 th , 1852 .

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      ORGANIZATION OF A PEOPLE'S PARTY . Mr . Editor , —There is much work to be done , and , seemingly , there is an indisposition to perform it . Parliamentary reform is the one thing needful , and the people ' s voice is silent respecting it . Passiveness gives the contradiction to any necessity for extending the suffrage , and strengthens the hands of the enemy who ignores the obligation . For a nation to be . Bileht in such a crisis like the present , is to manifest its unworthiness of popular representation ; butj as every experienced man knows , withou t organization it is impossible to ascertain , in the first place , the tendencies of the public mind ; and , secondly , ' it is equally difficult to direct it in any given way . The great want of the . day , next to the measure itself is a powerful association , —a people ' s nartv in nfW

      words , —and as this is entirely absent , the industrial classes of the country will still remain , for the most part of them , unenfranchised ; subject to the whims and caprices of those who are deaf to the just claims of labour . Deeply do I regret , that the many . appeals which have been made to the leading men of the working classes , to lay aside their bickerings , and organize the people into one great and important phalanx , should have fallen lifeless upon their attention . The call was as sincere as it was urgent ; but nothing heard ,

      me WDouring orders find themselves ^ hisjuWre without a leader , and everything # eing" done as though they were not . Truly , to say the least , such inertness is surprising ; for , of the many classes into which society is divided , which of them suffers much from partial legislatio n as that of the order in question . It is useless , however , to go searching for the causes which have produced such dire effects , inasmuch as they are of a multifarious nature , concerning which , probably , no two minds could be found in perfect accordance . No ' ; if it be possible , better that the past should be forgotten , so that the future may have fair play to work out its mighty mission of salvation to labour . Surely , this ' „ Jot too much to rifT BeBU W , »* "p ly sensible the thoughtful amongst us are of the necessity of union

      . Within a fortnight , the important question of Reform will be under discussion in the House of Commons . We now know the bounds of the proposed measure . Manhood Suffrage , if not admitted , is brought one step nearer the grasp of the people ; and it must be apparent that leu than a £ 5 rating no Minister would notice ; so that the next more must be ™« M i . f tUe ^ Paytog clause , which would be equivalent to Adult Voting . If this cannot beobtainedatpreaent , the Premier having pronounced against it , one thing might be procured with the aid of an eflective organisation , namely , the extension of Si ? - ^ ° , ? P " ? ( ma H of course , ) who in the ot

      pay , capacity lodgers , £ 5 per year rent . If such an alteration were to take place , the great majority would most unquestionabl y be on the voters ' roll , certainly four million s of men . Then the Ballot is to be had by proper pressure ; and Triennial Parhaments would follow as a corollary to the whole . IheBe are the thinga possible ; nay , are looming before us , needing only a skillful direction to make them ac ceptable to the powers that be . ' Are not these additions totne Premier ' s measure worth a strong agitation ? Does not every true reformer see that with them would come all that he can ever hope to possess from the still larger measure of The Charter ? Thus , greater progress might be effectedcould the

      , people's voice be heard ; for it would not be difficult to prove the eli gibility and capacity ofthe £ 5 re »/ - payerto theprivilegeor right of a vote , as well as the £ 6 ratepayer . 1 know without union we might as well ask for the six points of the Charter as that change here mentioned , in respect to obtaining either , but with the power of the working people the latter proposal would cl aim a hearing upon its merits , when the former woulcLnot be listened to . We may all rest satisfied upon this one point , viz ., that the working classesmust agree to have Manhood Suffrage , and be unanimous in action respecting it , for that will never be made a Ministerial measure until hard necessity makes it such ,

      It is , then , to be deplored , that whilst Reform is the subject of debate in the House of Commons it is almost a silent question amongst the labouring classes who are without . And yet , four out of every six men well know that it ia a theme of the first importance to them . Wh y they do not speak out upon such an occasion is , because the opportunity is wanting to enable them to do so . It is not to make speecheBthat such men require organisation ; but that through the combination of the wills of many individual representation may be truly established . The disposition , on the part of tho working men , to join Buch an Association is not absent ; all that is wanted to enrol them is Co-operation on the part of the

      leaders of their order . This is the thing most to be deplored , as not prevailing , Whilst the present Btrife continues , organisation is impossible . Is reconciliation then impossible ? Certainly not ; if our leaders are men sincere in their advocacy of the people s cause ! Who questions this ? I do not . Let us then hope to see Mr . Thomas Cooper , Mr . Ernest Jones , Mr . J . Harney , Mr . B . O'Brien , Mr . Holyoake , the present Executive , and the Metropolitan Council , in active co-operation with each other . Let the cause to be gained be definite , —Manhood Suffrage protected by the Ballot ; and , making an appeal to the people for support , trust to their necessities to induce them to make the response .

      It is not a weekly p aper that is now required to make the people ' s voice heard . Considering those already established and so equivocally supported , Buch talk bears upon its front party-serving and not the cause of progress . No , in respect to the powers of the Press , it is a daily organ that is wanted to maintain labour ' s right positiou . Yet oven this , by itself , would but be a time-serving auxiliary , for without a People's Party , or an effective organisation , it would lack that support which concentrated power necessaril y gives . What with the publications and the recognised papers of the cause , the people ' s party have all that is absolutel y requisite , until their numbers

      m society shall be sufficiently formidable to demand the greater advocacy of the diurnal press . 1 beseech the leaders of the people to do something m the way of arrouaing the men of muscle and sinews to the duties which' are before them , bo that the minister may yet hear their demands for a more extensive measure of Reform , than that promised in his speech on Monday last . The people , I feel assured , are not wanting in Will ; and it is only for the men most known amongst them to sound the alarm and they will rally in their tens of thousands , round the Banner upon which is inscribed , 'Manhood Suffrage , protected by the Ballot . » Censor .

      Untitled Article

      TO THE WORKING OLASSES OP GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND . Fjeixow Wobkinomen , —Though the tyranny and injustice of class-made law has doomed a portion of this Committee to a gaolj for daring to advocate the rights of labour , we address you with hope and confidence , that the cause of justice and of right will be advanced and strengthened , rather than weakened , by their temporary incarceration . Tho conviction and sentence has neither surprised nor disoouraged us . What other result could have been anticipated ? As , then , this Queen ' s Benoh judgment has caused us no surprise , still less will it deter us from pursuing jrith redoubled energy our determined efforts to awaken our fellow men to a just sense of their dograded and helpless position , and to stimulate them to the adoption of those measures which can alone enable them to withstand the formidable and unceasing efforts of capital to encroach upon the just and natural rights of labour , " The bane and antidote are both before us . "

      Our bane is our competitive individuality—the antidote iB co-operative union . Through the whole ramifications of labour there exiets one general want and one all-pervading necessity . : No man has a right to eat tho bread of idleness , and no man ought to suffer the wrong of being forced to eat the bread of slavery . Since then to labour is the right and duty of all , to be proteoted in the full fruition of the proceeds of our labour is a univewal and paramount necessity and right . " But whither shall we look for this necessary proteetion ? -To the laws ? The laws are not made by , ; or . fpr ; those who lire , by their labour , but by those who > swell -and fatten upon- the labour of others , Law making is the rich man ' s privilege , and laws are consequently made to strengthen and conserve the rich man ' s

      pow . er . Narrow indeed are the limits which the justice of capitalist-legislatures have assigned for the free action of labour , and even these narrow limits are being constantly further diminished by the legal quibblings and sophistries of the Bench . Whither , then , Bhall we look for protection against those who . would rob us of the fruits of our toil ? Chastened and taught by past and present experienoe ; the mind who would aspire to the dignity of freedom would look inward , and there disoover the fitting and natural protector of his own rights by whatever name they may be designated . It is to o . urselres , knit together in a bond Of brotherhood with those whose rights and wrongs , and whose interests and feelings are identical with our own , —that not only tho precepts of philosophy , but the most manifest teachings of

      reason and common sense , point as the natural and only effective guardian of the rights and privileges of our common manhood . Let us , then , fellow workmen , no longer be waiters upon providence , and supinely look to other sources for that measure of justice , which , if we have the will , we have the power of accomplishing ourselves . " Knowledge is power "— "Union is strength , " are the profound axioms of one of the earliest and wisest of our British philosophers , and have , for a long period , been the stereotyped texts of our sooial and political patriots and teachers , and yet how slightly do the lessons they teach seem to have penetrated the minds of the masses , for whose instruction and adoption they appear to have been peculiarly designed .

      Association is a wise and judioious application of this principle of union . And how many striking instances have we constantly before us of the immensity of its power , for good and for evil . In the hands of bad and unscrupulous men , it is a weapon of tremendous and almost irresistible power ; of which the contests between labour and capital , during the last half century , affords numerous and painful examples . The capitalist possessing , by his wealth , an almost unlimited command over the sources and reservoirs of knowledge , enjoys that power whioh Bacon Bays is the offspring

      or knowledge , and applies it , without any very nice moral compunction , for the furtherance of any project which can promote either his interest or his ambition , ia it wise , then , fellow workmen , longer to resist , or delay availing yourselves of the same agencies for your protection which are so successfully used to work your impoverishment and degradation ? We earnestly intreat you to take this one question into your immediate and serious consideration—tho necessity and practicability of constituting a Federal Union of the Trades of Great Britain for their mutual protection against the aggressions of Capital .

      we desire not to win over your adhesion to any particular name , men , or form of constitution , but simply to the principle involved : A Holy Protective Alliance of Labour , against the tyrannieB and unjust exactions of Capital . Little , we think , need bo' urged , by way of argument , upon the necessity of nationalising British labour . We have long been of opinion that no isolated trade , or congeries of kindred trades , can successfully cope with the combined power and capital of that trade . This view was amply confirmed by the defoat of the Carpenters of Manchester and Liverpool in 184 C , when the great firms practised upon tho Builders' Union a species of coup d ' etat , by the simultaneous discharge of all their hands , and closing their works , and depriving the union of its chief means of defence—the support of those still in employment .

      In this case , the masters fully succeeded , and the union was broken up , aa an almost inevitable consequence . The success of this movement of the capitalists seem to have suggested its adoption in the present case of the Amalgamated Engineers , who already find , it necessary to appeal for the sympathy and support of the Trades of England , to enable thorn successfully to resist the imperious mandates of the employers . But although a combination of tho great , engineering capitalists , or of the building capitalists , for such an object is practicable , wo deem the threatened combination of the Capital of England against the Labour of England an impracticable absurdity . There is not a sufficient unity of interest existing between the various departments of capital , to render such a combination feasible , although somo of the fast men of that school may think it desirable .

      But how dissimilar is tho position of Labour ! What difference is their between the wants and the rights of tho mechanic and the weaver , the engine-fitter , and the joiner ? What different interests between the builders of houses and the builders of ships , or of steam engines ? Are they not all equally dependent for their existence upon their daily labour , and have they not all an equal interest in possessing a fair , full , and ample remuneration for it ? This being so , how worse than foolish , how criminal , to suffer pride or prejudice to warp theirunderatandings , and induce them to shun those means requisite to ensure them that fair and ample remuneration which their employers , from a lust of gain , would deprive thorn . To accomplish this one great and necessary object is our mission : and refreshed , and not spirit broken , by our paltry imprisonment , we shall devote the first moments of our re * covered liberty to an energetic agitation for the attainment of that object in whioh we aloho can see present safety or future salvation for the wronged and suffering millions .

      Did we require a stronger incentive to urge m to a general and constitutional combination—the sole bulwark of labour —we may surely find it in the insolent manifestoes of the engineering employers , as published in last weekB " Northern Star , " ( January 31 st ) which in the most undisguised terms virtually repeals , by their own mere will , the statute law of England legalising combination . Their men havo certainly formed too hi gh an estimate of their own power , and are so puffed up with ridiculous notions of their self-importanoe , that ( like the frogs in the fable ) they will burst themselves in their absurd efforts at imporial tyrannism . The manifest duty of the Operative Engineers , and every other description of British labourers , is to give a contemptuous and decisive negative to any such infamouB propositions , from whoever they may emanate . This illegal conspiraoy , of capital can be ocly effeotually met by a legal combination of every class of British labour .

      We , therefore , once again appeal to you , follow workmen , no longer to procrastinate , but to at once decide to mako a struggle to maintan what tho law assigns to you as a right , or basely succumb to oonditions , which will reduoe you far , very far , below African slaves . On behalf of the Central Committe , . « r . v . - Wiluau Peel . Queen s Bench Prison , February 5 th , 1852

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      [ The following appeared in our Second Edition of last week . ] THE FLOOD AT HOLMFIRTH . Latest PARTicui . ARB .--It appears that in consequence of a disputod construction of the aot , the Commissioners had been involved in litigation , and the works had been neglected , and became dilapidated . The mode of disoliarg . ing water from the reservoir was by allowing it to fall into an upright funnel , at one aide , to the level of the bed of the reservoir , from whenoe it esoaped through a oulyert , opened and closed by a trap-door , into the beu of the river . An error was committed ,. it has been alleged , by the oontraetor in placing the embankment across a springso that

      , "J ° f oundation was insecure from tho first . The embank- ' ajentgay o way perceptibly , and' the contract was taken ™ » . i and given to other parties , which led to a Chan-Ham to ' \ Paraded litigation . After that , a cofferm ^ lo . 5 Uilk tbrough th » embankment to the spring , and M kifW th 0 h ° P remedyingthe « np «* e . g Zirf vl ° l- ation - These measures were n . verconfnnnplH 0 . n , ^ ! l tl 8 ^ etory- The perpendicular oylinder or ' that the vSed , 1 ° , haa 8 ' ™ ' ™ y . and got twisted , so hh ^ valve h ™ L th bottom could " ° t be lifted . Oould tbl to er it ?« Jh ' ! H on Wednesday night , to let off Soiled th 0 U 8 hfc th « catastrophe might bavo been

      ^ s ^ tsx ^^ iT& r ^ s ^ to place men on the embankmeut toVatah S « ™« u Thf alaWadualMnom ^^^ were stationed there to watch all night - and BMhwMthS public anxiety in the n ^ baurl ^ 'it ^ 'SfSSJ great numbers of people remained voluntarily with the watchers-braving the inclemency of the weatUor and all other inoonveniences . Soon after one o ' clock on Thursdav morningtbelong-dreaded and anticipated oalaaho > hr became , alas ! a too truo and awful reality . The embank " ment for something like a hundred yards in width was torn away from the front of tho reservoir , and the immense body of water rushed from its bod a resistloss and mighty torrent , sweeping away all obstacles to its progressspreading death and desolation before it in a manner which , defies description .

      To have an idea of the awful calamity , the reader must imagine such a body of water rushing for miles through a deep narrow valley , thickly studded with mills , cottageB , populoua towns , and hamlets , over a space of many miles in length , with an inclination or fall in the nature « f the ground sufficient to add an immense impetus to the rush of the water . The town of Holmfirth contains a population of 6 , 000 souls on either bank of the river . . The great bulk of the inhabitants were in . bed—for % was the dead hour of night ; and the only warning giyjen was by a few of the watchers , who Btarted off when it was seen that tho reservoir was really about to burst it& bounds , running down the river side , shouting , casting stones tbrough bed-room windows , and startling people from their sleep as beat they could . But evan this brief warning extended only to the entrance of Holmfirth ; for there tho flood overtook them and rendered further efforts of no avail

      . To give something like an idea of the irresistible foroe ot the destructive torrent , a few special cases may be noticed . Bibeny Mill , a stone building of three storieB twenty yardfl lone , was swept away with the heavy iron machinery , and the whole property was a perfect wreck almost in a moment . The Digley works lay on both sides of the viver , half a mile below the reservoir . On the right bank was a fine stone ereotion of four storiei , forty yardB long , for sevib-*» lng and spinning , with valuable mule frames ; and on the left was an extensive weaving mill , dye-house and the dwelling of the owner . All that now marks the spot is a tall chimney , which alone escaped too wreck . Tho heavy machinery , steam engine , huge boilera , and everything were floated away like toys before the torrent of water

      . At Holmo'bridgo , a little further , the church was inundated . The pews were lifted from their position and thrown transversely in rows across the aisles ; the walls round the yard wero torn down ; tho gravestones were swept away , and coffins with their corpses lifted from tho new graves and floated down the river . At Prickleton , two miles and a half from tho reservoir , extensive dyeworks were carried away ; the engine-house , steam-engine , and immenEe boiler of a spinning and wearing mill were swept down bofore tho torrent .

      Here also the water swept through a row of fourteen cottages , known by the name of Scarr Fold . The buildings consist of two-storey cottages fronting to tho river , with a second row of two-storey cottages on the top of them , fronting the opposite way , and on a level with the highway . Prom the lower tier of cottages the occupants of the first escaped . In the second Eiohard Woodcock , aged eighteen , and his Bister , aged fourteen , were drowned . The father and mother and two children broke a way through into the houses above and escaped .

      In another of these bouses Joseph Helliwell ' s wife and five children all perished ; but he escaped in the second story by floating on the top of his weaving-loom till tho water went down . The furniture of tho poor people in all these cottages was wrecked , and those who escaped with life had nothing left but their night clothos . It is said that the body of water passing through Holmfirth was at one time seven or eight yards ( loop . The amount of destruction caused by the flood furthor down the yalley has not been ascertained ; but it is said that tbreo bodies had been taken out of the river as far below Huddersfield aa Mirfield , fifteen miles distant . The loss of life is still estimated at upwards of 100 ; but to this time only sixty-four bodies have been recovered here , and four telegraphed as found at Hull , in the Humber , Beventy mile 3 distant , make sixty-eight .

      Untitled Article

      THE NATIONAL LAND COMPANY .-ADJOURNMENT SINE DIE . On Friday the court re-assembled at three o'clock to ascortain whether the arrangement that had been proposed by Mr . Hoxburgh on the part of Mr . Goodcimp , tho official manager , for the delivory up by Mr . Roberts , the solicitor of the company , of all books , papers , dcods , and documents , could be entered into . Mr . lloxburu , after consulting with Mr . Wheeler , counsel for Mr . O'Connor , and others , said the proposal made on the part of tho official manager , resolved itself into thia—that Mr . Roborts , on delivering over tho books papers , deeds , and documents , into the hands of the official manager , should reoeivo a formal undertaking from that functionary to tho effect that Mr . Robert's lien or bill of costs in re 6 peotof them should ho paid out of the first assets accruing under the estate , the bill of costs to be subject to

      tho taxation of the court , and to the taking account of it in Mr . Roberls ' s capacity as solicitor and treasurer to tho company . —Mr . Wheeler objected to the terms of the proposal limine . He could not consent to the account being taken in connexion with Mr . Robera as treasurer . It must bo first proved that he was treasurer . —The Master observed that by tho deed Mr . Roborts was appointed treasurer , and he should not sanction any proposal that did not include Mr . Roborts in that capacity . —Mr . Wheeler then said that on the part of his client ho must decline the overture altogether . Such a proceeding might be very well in a court of common law , but ho was not prepared for such summary jurisdiction in any court of equity . —Tho Master : Then I adjourn this court sine die . — Mr . Roxburgh : The witnesses are all discharged , and public notice will be given of tho next meeting . — ' ! ho court then broke up .

      Untitled Article

      MR . O'CONNOR AND THE NATIONAL IAND COMPANY . The inquir y into ftio affairs of this Company has fully developed to the public the mental derangement under which Mr . O'Connor is unfortunately labour , ing . Notwithstanding this fact , political enmity still casts its envenomed shafts at him , and the failure of his memory is tortured by his opponents into fraud and systematic dishonesty . Tho very fact of which Mr . O'Connor used to boast , ' That he uever inserted a figuro in any of the Company ' s books , tells greatly to his injury , for the retentive memory which was his pride , now fails him in his need , and leaves him almost powerless at the mercy of others .

      Under these circumstances tho only course which the frienda of Mr . O'Connor can take ia to employ au accountant ( to whom the Directors would render any assistance in their power ) to go through tho immense quantity of vouchers and receipts now in the possession of the Official Manager , and thus endeavour to discharge Mr . O'Connor of the responsibility now hanging over him , and rescue his name from that calumny which will otherwise he heaped upon it . The Of&chd Manager will call upon him to show how lie has expended the large sum entrusted to his hands . The books show only a portion of the expenditure .

      Mr . O'Connor must account for the other , which it is impossible that he can do without the assistance of an accountant . It is not the Official Manager's province to do so , however his wishes mif > ht tend that way . The necessity of this is proved by one of the circumstances connected with the late investigation . In the 'Daily Ness' he professes to j ; ive an account of certain monies received by him from persons of the name of Johnson , Hodgkiss , &c . It is stated in the evidence , that they have paid much larger sumB for the land they purchased than Mr . 0 Connor has accounted for . The strong impression on the Court was , that Mr . O'Connor had fraudulently retained a portion of the money . The simple

      fact being , that they had previously paid sums into the ' Bonus fund , ' which sums was deducted from the purchase money . M . O'Counor , of course , only accounted for the actual sums he received . Many other apparently suspicious circumstances admitted of a n equally simple exp lanation . But this explanation Mr . O'Connor could not give , and the rules ( if the court did not admit of other parties furnishing if . I trust , that feeling * of gratitude to one who haa sincerely laboured to elevate the condition of workingmen , will induce the shareholders to subscribe towards engaging the services of an accountant to render that justice to Mr . O'Connor of which he will bo _ . j ij- — otherwise deprived . Tuos . ALiana WHEFjra y < JyN yO ^ .

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      Untitled Article

      Atmnso Finns asd Miraculous Escape —On Thursday morning a fire was discovered in the premises belonging to a 01 A , th ' coffee-house-keeper , Bituate at Nos . 30 and 31 , Oxford-terrace , Waterloo-road . At the time of the discovery the whole of the inmates-were in their beds asleep and it was with great difficulty they could be made sensible ot tlieir impending danger , and not until tUe fire had reached the Btaircase , thereby making it extremely difficult for anv one to leave tho premises . Fortunately , they managed to reach the street , although nearly stifled ' with ? S £ Mr Smith was insured . About the same time a very alarming fire happened at : Mr . Hmksman ' s , general dealer , 65 , Skinner-street , Bishopsgate Without . Tho whole of the stock in trade was destroyed , and evory other portion of the nremises and contents seriously damaged . Mr . Hinksm&n was insured .

      •• £ Tn ™ WuxEss .-In a " rejected" letter to the "Times , indignantly repudiating a parallel between tho Provisional and the presont Government of France Louis Blanc says : — "The Provisional Government , sir —and it is this which history will loudly proclaim when the noise of contemporary passions shall have ceased—the Provisional Government shed the blood of no one ; it attempted the liberty or property of no one ; it proscribed no one it did not open a single prison ; it did not suppress a sinele journal ; it did not institute a single process against those of the journals which , every day , exhausted against "it the vocabulary of outrage and calumny ; it maintained in a word , as far as it was responsible , order in liberty "

      Untitled Article

      THE FRENCH REFUGEES IN LONDON . Several French refugees who have been for some time in London , received an intimation a few days asro that if they thought proper to repair to the United States of America , they would not only receive a free passage and an outfit ' S but be presented with £ 5 each on their arrival . A conside ' rahle number accepted the offer , and are now on their wav tothootherBideoftheAtlantionut theSirbulkofS refugees declined to leave London on any inducement , believing that the day is not distant when the chapter of accidents will enable them to return to their own land —The mysterious manner in which the funds were forthcoming for the transfer of tho French refugees to the United States , Mat present the subject of much interest and anxietyto those who remain . » " *« : ijr w The "Morning Advertiser , " however , says - « 'The money , we have the best reason for believing war t ^ n *

      mit . tcd by the French government , and applied to its destined purposes by certain parties in the service of the English government . Wehave information in our possession which leads to the conclusion that particular JJXta connexion with Rathbone-place , in the onnfi . inSol «?? ii Frenchrefugees havea 0 ted thepa ; touyeTfo ? eV / e ch government , and by misrepresenting ff quarter Zni whence the money came , induced a ooosSeUX numbwZ the French refugees to quit our ahores for America We can state with confidence that had these wES" f 2 . , moment suspected that the money If ™! 6 ' 4 leon , which is now believed tTbe the hot t LoU , !? Nap 0 " fe «» -l-SS =

      Untitled Article

      SHEERNESS . On the 2 nd , 3 rd , 4 th , and 5 th inst ., the Co-operative Society of this town opened their new Assembly Room with tea parties . The room ia elegantly fitted up , and is ninety-seven feet long , thirty-one feet wide , and twenty-one feet in height . The building was completed in the month of January , 1852 , when the Assembly Room was opened with soirees on the evenings of the 2 nd , 3 rd , 4 th , and 5 th inst . The Chairman ( Mr . Corner ) after tea , named the room « Th e Co-operative Hall . ' ( Immense and continued cheering . ) In an able speech he spoke of the

      advantages arising from the working classes Co-operating . He alluded to the continued taunts of the tradesmen 'They are digging their own graves . ' This was their exclamation while di gging for the foundation . « M Desperandutn . ' They had a convincing proof , by the number of Broiling faces present , of a glorious resurrection ( there being nearly 800 present ) . He gave a cheering account of the affairs of the bociety , stating that , in two years they had taken the sum of £ 16 , 000 . After urging the people to continue the good work (« Pro Bono Publico ) , ho thoughtitneedlessto trespasBon their time , but begged to introduce Mr . Perfitt , the talented lecturer

      Mr . Perfitt , with hie accustomed eloquence , gave a most interesting ^ lecture on Co-operation . The amusements terminated at a late hour , and { was resumed on the following evening in a similar manner . Wednesday and Thursday were devoted to the amusement of the juveniles . On Thursday 1 , 000 attended . An invitation was given to the union children , which was refused , Pnneipiis obsta . The Dock Yard band ( thirty in number ) and the Band of Hope vocalists ( about 150 in number ) gave their valuable services , and thus terminated the first and most agreeable soirees held in the Co-operative Hall of Sheerness .

      Untitled Article

      AND NATIONAL TRADES' JOURNAL *

      Untitled Article

      TOLXT . P . 74 !> . LONDOH , SATURDAY , FEBRUARY 14 , 1851 ' ,,, g . agX ,,,, ' - ... ^^ " ^ ~ r ' ' " ¦! -- ¦ —

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Feb. 14, 1852, page 1, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1665/page/1/