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Northern Star (1837-1852), 11th September 1852, Edition 1 of 2, Page 11, Untitled Article

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    • toftratik
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      Untitled Article

      , o ace of the greatest apparent odds , they won their victory rheir instruments were unity of purpose , singleness of obiecV md perseverance : instruments which , when used with £ : i uate talent , seldom fail . Look at the other illustration for \ iew of the picture The Charter had a better Wdati £ of right than any other document ; it was more consonant r ib strict justice and based upon purer reason than any rther popular manifesto . It had m it nothing that was aS [ utely new or foreign to the constitution . It ? ould no be met by any considerations of principle , the opposition to it rested [ ipon bare expediency . It is even now better loved h v that portion of the great masses who understand it than anv o her system , let , except in its teachings to the people ' at parliamentary movement has been singularly unsuccessful [ do not simply speak of its not bem * carried for of tW twl tehithertobeen butlitde chance ; ° butOf the wan ; rftS * tency in the attempts to carry it , and the way in wSit has beenbroken up and fr . ttered away in details . There has been one motion for the ballot , another for the abolitio " of property qualification a third talk about startaaST ^ teafcon of Parliaments-debates , not about the Charter or the first , pracroles of representation , but about bits oi 'Z Charter and ( hose bits too by far the least important We say that advisedly , because the great right of kanhoo ' rt R , f ftageisthe true basis of political liberty , * il tw Kt " by-bit movements it is precisely that Wch i ! as been Mt Zt ot signt .

      Comparing then , the great advantages of simple with the great disadvantages of and hindrances to eom S movements , I am compelled to give an adhesion to the former where they are possible , and it may be worth while to tMnllipon one point . I fancy I hear some of the menwholave stood fim through all phases of hope and despondency erv out . when they read flu . "What ! abandon V old pri / ciples-I ask to aband

      . you on nothing ; I only wish to see an effective organization for political enfranchisement ; I do not presume to dictate to or dogmatize for you ; I hold as deep an interest in iiie success of our common cause as any other man . I seek to advise , and suggest , not to pronounce or command I do but give these suggestions as materials upon which to form an opinion ; you must register your own decision Have patience then awhile ; be thoughtful with me and then work out your own course .

      We have been eminently unsuccessful hitherto , that at least must be conceded . Here , in 1852 , we stand apparently further from our object than we were years ago . Our advocates mthe legislature have done next to nothing , possibly the better phrase would be worse than nothing . Our petitions have miscarried , our processions have failed , our meetings have been scattered to the wind—our champions have tasted prison lare—all these are facts not to be denied . Can we do better now ?—If so , how ? That is the question to be decided and I submit to you , as worthy at least of discussionwhether

      , or not , taking Manhood Suffrage as the first thing to be made law , it would not be wise to concentrate ourselves upon that , and have a simple , easily managed agitation . I know that this proposal will be met -with an outcry from some . I have well calculated all that , and am content to bide the storm , and let it abate in its own good time . I trust to the ebb of frenzy , and the flood tide of reason and

      common sense . There are men in the House of Commons who , ii backed by a National Party , would present our petitions , and make an annual motion for manhood suffrage ; and docs any one believe that if that were obtained the rest would not follow , or that without that the rest would be of anv Ton ! Win « 9 J

      It has been said , that if you will but settle principles aright , details will settle themselves . I wish to draw your attention practically to the distinction between principles and details : to make clear that which is primary and essential—and that which is secondary and dependent . That which is primary is the right of self-government , the right of every man in virtue of his manhood to have avoice in making the laws by which he is governed , upon that the whole weight of the argument rests . The

      opponents of that are the real defenders of the citadel of tyranny and class rule . It is that right which constitutes tte essence of real political freedom . The benefits to t > e derived from the rest are secondary to , and collateral with the attainment of that . We must have that first , else our political system will be like a set of numerals , incomplete from the absence of the unit from which they all proceed . Let us see more clearly how all the corollaries arrange themselves under the head of this one great principle Universal Suffrage — the right ; the Ballot— the mode in which the right is to be exercised ; Equal electoral Districts—the appointment of equal weight to the right of each ; Annual Parliaments—the frequency with which the right is to be exercised ; No Property Qualification--the privilege of all to be chosen oy the exercise of the right ; Paid Members—the duty of defraying the expenses of those who perform the business of the nation . This I take to be the true analysis of a

      pure system of representation and , if I am correct , the ^ one right is the thing essentially needful—the several auxiliary propositions the things desirable ; the one right is the thing to be mainly struggled for ; that gained the others are sure to follow . " I beg of the people of this country earnestly to consider these things , and , before a conclusion is come to , to thoroughly understand your position , and how you might stand . A

      motion is made to amend the representative system . Upon ^ hat does the discussion , if there be a discussion , mainly turn ? to what is attention chiefly directed?—to the right ^ hich stand s at its head ? No ; that is slurred overglanced at—thrown on one side . The other points furnish opportunities eagerly laid hold of for all manner of diversions ,

      nd greatly legislators divert themselves . The ballot is un-^ ftglish , forsooth : equal electoral districts aim at a mathematical nicety unattainable in the broad operations of govern-? ent ; ^ annual parliaments mean annual confusion and ^ experienced legislators ; no property qualification is but a Jj ry , because only men of j ^ roperty have education and siif ncient leisure ; paid members are out of the question , because

      Untitled Article

      LZo !!?^ v S 01 'i 1 § nit ? submer S independent mob " £ P ° w + f ? % f f ° liticians t& ^ ° f tho mob . Ihisiswhat the half-fledged lordlin-s the -enenls wouldt t' ^ ^ r ? mte rf tnc LS W ( W , « Af ; fc ! deS oceans morc of talk about Magna likfnM i ° Wts , our ancient constitution , and aSch ike old lumber . In that fashion every political tyro would try tvnit f ™ , f cy of " ^ "considered gradual con-&Cx \ aUve reform and deprecation of revolutionary chants c ul 7 Mt ^ V 11 M §' G-toif ™ had the sufege ° wc S ho ; ? *> be so ' stm 1 % would say it , and it would have ts effect . But on a simple motion for Manhood Suffice , rl 2 \? il Le Pkced m a different P ° sition- Thc v would bo ™ S Q u \ * ¥ ° ^ pc !! ~ t 0 tbat > in somc ^ ™ , they 22 L ? 7 & ° " ^ would have no bushes to ™ fe out

      ey o ^ l ** - sma ' <^ to throw a » advanced plaids , they would lose the topics for small wit ; they would nave to meet the people face to face and deny the equality of tneii ¦ manhood ; they would have to say plainly , " You brawny smith , or skilful engineer , or sturdy labourer , or swart mmer , you are not a free man , and shall not be ; I , in virtue ot some unseen and unmanifested divinity within me , am your master ; you , by presence of some undefined defect , are my servant . They would have to say tins outright , instead of as now , passing lightly over the question of the vote , and affirming that it is wrong to vote thus or thus

      Ao ; a vote or no vote—that is what we must nut to our rulers . Are we intelligent creatures fitted to " think wnat we want , or brute beasts bound to obey what they order , and be content with what they choose to prescribe for ll ill » t 1 S tfte simple issue to raise and to bo decided first of all . Jiot one of modes , or degrees , or privileges , but of ht

      rig—right founded on our common humanity and patent in our persons . Thatissue is to be best raised on the point of Manhood Suffrage . Think well of it . and of the necessity of terming at once a national party for that purpose . I am , Sir , your obedient Servant , 9 r . , o T , WILLIAM NEWTON . od , Arbour Square , London ; Sept . 8 , 1852 .

      Untitled Article

      The Pkesknt Position of Chaiitism . —Cannot some plan be propounded to amalgamate the ramified branches of Chartism so as to have them in working order ? Your readers must be aware that theories in endless variety have been propounded but I think the time has fully come when we ouo ht to have something practical . The walls of Chartism at " present are broken down ; her enemies as they pass by deride and laugh at her : whereas , let the friends of Chartism be united , and they would be a terror to these evil doers , who would be silent when they heard the great truths this glorious cause enshrines . It matters little to Chartism which party be in power , whether Whig , Tory , or the Manchester School—each and all of these desire the destruction of Chartism ; but let the masses know their

      strength and power , and I ask , where is the government that ( lares to insult them ? But a great work remains to be done ; it is the people alone that can do it . They must work out their own political salvation ; no one else can or will do so for them . Dangers will have to be overcome , difficulties braved , before this new era can dawn . The merchant , the hanker the manufacturer , the railway shareholder , with a host of others , are all united , and have conspired , one and all , to keep the present system just where it is , and as it is . They are all arduous and sincere in the matter . Why , I ask , cannot the down trodden proletarians be so united for their just and legitimate rights ? Let them come forward , and identify -themselves with those

      who are desirous to destroy the present state of things , and to elevate man morally , socially , and politically , as he ought to be . —Dalstox . Bradfokd . —The Seoulae Society . —Although Mr . Broom is an entire stranger to the town , he had a large audience to listen to him in the Odd Fellows Hall , last Sunday evening . His subject was a novel one , and had caused many surmises among free-thinkers as well as Christians . It was , " " Reasons why the

      Poor should not study Theology . " He said , they had not time , nor means sufficient , hence they ought not to commence what cannot be concluded . The works on the historical evidences , are more than the longest liver can read—the internal evidence the poor cannot investigate , because , to enable them to do so , they must be masters of several languages , which they had not the time to acquire . For Christians to enjoin the poor to do an impossibility is a gratuitous mockery . On Monday night he gave his first lecture on Thomas Paine .

      Untitled Article

      STAR OF FREEDOM COMMITTEE ,

      On Tuesday evening last , the Committee met . Important business was discussed , the further consideration of which was adjourned till Tuesday evening next , when all members are earnestly requested to attend at No . 4 , Brunswick Row , Queen Square , Bloomstmry . Walter Cooper , Secretary .

      POLITICAL REFUGEE COMMITTEE . Fkidat Evening , September 3 rd . —Some small subscriptions were received . ^ G . Julian Harney was instructed to correspond with M . Mazzini relative to an important question in connexion with the Refugee Fund . The committee then adjourned .

      Untitled Article

      London . —A Society has been recently established as the " West London Co-operative House Painters Association . " Each of its members have agreed to subscribe £ 10 in certain weekly instalments , for the purpose of raising the requisite capital with which to commence . business . We understand that the Metropplitan ' and Provincial Jointst

      Stock Brewery , eahlisned at the commencement of the present year , is proceeding very satisfactoril y , and doing a large and increasing amount of business ; any family may obtain from it a small barrel of beer , say four and a half , or nine gallons , delivered at their own homes , in any part of London , at much less than the ordinary prices , and , as is the case in all our cooperative establishments , the articles sold are unadulterated , and really what they profess to be .

      Untitled Article

      w * ru > uecvetaries of Trades' Unions and other bodies associate ,,. protect and advance the interests of Labour , will oblige by forwarding the reports of Trades' Meetings , Strikes , Working aaST " ^ ' ^ ^ ^ ^^ ° f the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF UNITED TRADES , 259 TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD , LONDON .

      W e have constantly affirmed that the great impedimenta or stumbling-blocks to Industrial Hcfonn ( it by that derivation giess to vvmcMrom our position , we consider ouiselves more particularly if not exclusivel y confined ) are to be combated not so much in the ignorance and apathy of our work n " c as , brethren m die mass , as in the cxe ^ ive egotism Ini g ^ d IX seli- ^ granaiBement which prevails amongst the local functiouanes of Trades Unions . To this cause we attribute the general apath y of the worW men of this conXT ! i , ,

      appeals winch have been made by our political and indiitrial reformers , for he purpose of awakening in them a due SS of their degraded slavery , which a united effort would ^ assuredly quietly put an end to . The grand object amon ^ hose obstructions to general progress appear * to h { to pin down the sympathies and humanities of those under their influence and control within the narrow boundaries of their own trade and locality tor the noblo purpose of perpetuating their own mnuence and emoluments . To expect to organise the labour ! ™ classes lor any useful effort of industrial , " social , or Sell 2 ?™ ' ^ fi to «^ ng thnmgh the harrlcU of ' eS

      ^ iguoranc ^ , is , we believe , a vain hope . These opines are he st ^ XLni \

      ass , or would do so when £ Henn of probation was expire , ! , They look to have griev i ? ces v id have been accumulating for years redressed in a day ' and seconuly , their efforts to emancipate themselves by their mvi ex ' , ertions nave proved valueless , and so their want of s « £ e ? , as well ,. perhaps , as their frequent violations of the m ^ wrtS and unjust laws , and of the one-sided contracts to wScH S are subjected , have so embittered the employing classes 5 they , m retaliation of the inconveniences submitted to by then at various periods , have forced a system of terrorism upon men unheard of before , and unequalled in any country . Menhav ? Wore , become dispirited and apathetic , and tanwly Zhmissive under the tyranny and threats of their masters and heir superintendents . They are without soul or sS , b t no totally without hope that the tide will again tun , and a re action take place ; but their future policy must be p niJre midmo 7 I nCipl + e * , T ^ Uk Of thc thousandsVey have part men to advocate their cause who have forsaken them-of he thousands they have spent in law , and still they are under the same , or a more aggravated system of bondage than before Ihat as time goes on , they get more and morc oppressed and ™^ " ™*™™ S «'> " * "in * o sonn \ S S ^

      , n outrage upon their persons or rights arouse them into an active Zt ^^'^ f T th ™ ™ their ^ Into toe hands of rash and nncompetent advisers , to be a"&n deceived , and again deserted . There are also thole who , influenced by their local position , seem to struggle to perpetuate " the present state of tiungs-men who discourage tl eTf 21 e er attempting a more pacific policy ; and until * this incZs , th ? local disgrace is worn away , there is little to hope for , by wiv tM ? iWth ' f ° T ° ? the miRers " ° d saiLoi this pa , it ot the country . * * * * ^ fortunately this description does not apply to all ; the house-joiners , the coopers the great body ot the shipwrights , and other * , have a SS feeling they , strengthened by recent events , are becomin " impressed with the idea that National Union is the onlyTkmd which can effectually-and permanentlyextricaie them S the r present abject dependance upon the whims and freaks of LS and mamtam them in tlieir true podtion . Somc of fe 5 will , I trust , shortly join our association !)

      1 hat this is a true and iaitliful picture of the present condition of the large majority of the trades of this oountey ^ e unhesitatingly affirm , and , however discouraging applet it opens to the sanguine and earnest refonne ? , it by no me u s jus . ifies the abandonment of the principle of protective S but rather a more determined effort to lay siege to the apX and prejudices of the masses , and to the ^ nter ^ ted BcmXc ? o ( the few in their strongholds , and to trust for succeif to the workings of that strong common sens * which , how ^ slWin us development has always been a distinctive trait , wo mly say , indeed , a national feature in the character of the worS classes of Great Britain . ^ WILLIAM PEEL , Secretary .

      Untitled Article

      AN ADpftSSS TO THE TRADES . Fellow Workmen , —I have been recmesterl lw tiio ™™ •« . of rtieBolton Trades Defence A . sociS , t o tt 7 ^ desirability of preserving one of the most vili ^ M * * i oiations that exists , and in comp vi ^ o with t ' ^ T ff ° " to state that I have no other mo vc than tt ^^ X bc ^ the best of my ability , the condition Tmv f n P 0 motm e . to I hold it to' be noUnly d ? priSlele { uX ^ T ' man , and body of men , to avail « e nfelvc ni fl I y Ol evciy sssissips

      I have bee ? SJ ? ^ V' 1 "Tberof a «^' association , forItiml vlvv f y ? ngafd m at least one " stiike , " and was itment ^ T T glmie Ot S ' lCCeSS ' butI ^ s doom ^ to disapeiTcfTtand ^ i , " ^ f ? . l sfied tliat no tradu in ^ tf ; 3 . elated position , can successiully resist tht encioaQhments constantly made upon their interest . But t ^ ™ f tr i \ ° l this °° untly wer « t 0 f ™ themselves imo associations for the defence of their common interests , no amoum of oppression , come from whatever quarter it may , would b able to oppress them . "

      1 would have no " strikes , " Godforbid we should ever have ano er among the trades of England . The late contest in the iro trades has taught both employers and workmen a lesson the will be very slow to forget ; the bad effect of strikes are too wl

      Toftratik

      toftratik

      (7* \ Toes.

      ( 7 * \ toes .

      Untitled Article

      F he force and pertinacity of continued reiteration and in th September 11 , 1852 . ___ nrn , ^ _ _ — ^— ^ __ . ___ THE STAR 0 FREEDOM . ha force and pertinacity of continued rw } D-, ^ v « __ -i . T ^ ! ' ^^ —

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 11, 1852, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1695/page/11/