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Northern Star (1837-1852), 25th September 1852, Edition 1 of 2, Page 10, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      miserable impotence , at the mercy of any adventurer who is cunning enough to elude the ships in the channel and to land on our shores . Besides , the same writer asks , " are we still to regard Frenchmen as a nation of bandits ? " In his antiwar indignation , however , he entirely forgets that effectually , at the present moment , the . French nation non est ; but that the sovereignty of the nation is usurped by ah adventurer , whom we justly enough regard as a bandit , since he has clearly proved himself to be one .

      This insensate refusal to see danger may be in accordance with " peace" principles , but it can scarcely be said that it is in accordance with the spirit of patriotism . If Louis Bonaparte really entertains an intention of invading this country , an intention , the existence of which , we can scarcely doubt , it must be a source of great satisfaction to him that the people of this

      country have too much faith in his honour , to give themselves the trouble to prepare for giving him a warm reception . But from the bellicose article in the Comtitutionne , it would appear that M . Bonaparte has no fear of the English people , nor anticipates any opposition on their part ; the eludement of the fleet and of our handful of soldiers being all that is deemed necessary for ensurinsr success .

      In calculating the chances of Bonapartk in a hostile expedition against England , we must never forget that however much he may be hated and resisted by European legitimate Kingcraft , none of the northern powers would be sorry to witness the abasement of England , which they believe to be a more redoubtable foe to the stability of their thrones than the euipii'e-hunting Bonaparte . It is improbable therefore , that they would stir to avert Britain ' s peril , if they had an opportunity of doing so .

      But a cheerless prospect is before us if the protection of our country from invasion and conquest is to depend solely upon continental despots , or the 192 , 508 hired fighters to whom the Nonconformist so triumphantly points . The county will be safe only when the people are willing and able to defend it themselves . WoulcKhey but awake from their disgraceful apathy regarding their rights and their duties , they might

      soon put it out of the power of Bonaparte or any other bandit to threaten their national existence ; for they would take measures for obtaining immediate possession of the material power of the nation , which is theirs of right , and then set free European democracy—that young giant which was stunned and bound in chains , but not slain , a d which , with Britain ' s aid , would make short work with the despots and despotisms of the continent .

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      THE NEW PALMERSTON CRUTCHES . To the Editor op the " Star of Freedom . " Sik , —Some weeks ago I took occasion to remind your readers of thecharaeter of him who lured the noble brothers Bandiera to their bloody death . Since then I have done what I could to enable working men ( for I do not care for idlers ) to form a correct estimate of that over-rated quack , Mr . Richard Cobden . I have now to speak of Lord Palmerston , for whom some of' our friends' are hoping to form a party , —a formation the Ex-Secretary has not been able to manage for himself in all his near half

      a century of office . This degrader of England came out as a Tory in 1806 , and was a Tory Secretary-at-Wai * for nearly twenty years ; he then got a lift from Canning , during Ms four months' ministry ; and , at Canning ' s death , took office under the Duke of Wellington . Dismissed by him , he set up as a liberal , and stood forth as the propounded of a new liberal system oi foreign policy—liberality at home was another matter—and so got his unfortunate place of Foreign Secretary in Lord Grey ' s Cabinet , and a field for his liberality to work in . That

      liberalty was not too liberal ; it amounted to this : that all Europe was to he constitutionalized on a Whig model , andthat England was to interfere and meddle for that purpose as far as she safely could . A very liberal policy indeed ; but yet the highest his lordship has ever aspired to , and the working out of which has well earned for England the contempt of every nation in Europe ; and the beginning of the liberal statesman ' s career well predicated the end . He began by helping France to set up a humbug

      constitutional monarchy in Belgium , at the same time helping in the betrayal of Poland . Another great exploit was the alliance with Austria and Russia , to spite France , and to overthrow the rising power of Egypt . Another was the betrayal of the liberals of Oporto—the deliberate inter-meddling to spoil the ni gh-achieved victory over their worthless sovereign . He interfered again in Portugal for precisely the same purpose last year . And when 1848 brought revolutions to the doors of almost every European palace , what was Palmerston ' s conduct then?—he

      mtngued for the destruction of Italian liberty , intrigued andlied in Lombardy , and abetted , if he did not originate , the French expedition against Rome , cercerning which , too , he and his fellows did not mince their lies in Parliament . He agreed to Russian intervention in Hungary ; he abandoned Schleswig-Holstein to the Czar ; hegaveupNeufchatel to Prussia ; his whole foreign policy , from first to last , has been to deceive as far as he could , the continental liberals by villainously false promises ,

      partly to get an occasional chance of startling' some Whig monarchy for the credit of the home faction , partly to show wMt a wonderfully clever fellow he niusi be who could meddle in everything , and appear in turn useful to all . The Westminster Review of April last , trying to write a panegyric upon him , can only acknowledge that his liberal policy was not one whit more solid or more noble than that of his antagonist-Aberdeen . Lord Palmerston thought liberalism the winning side , and abetted it just as Lord Aberdeen hacked the

      Autocracy—neither cared for any ' abstract principle of right . ' The result has been that we have pleased neither the liberals or the absolutists of Europe . Foreign liberals remark that we played selfishly even when ' we helped them , ' and set all down to the beggarly and unprincipled calculations of a nation of shopkeepers . For this character we are indebted to the policy of our statesmen—Palmerston especially . To crown all his lordship came out with his private and official admiration of the

      Prince of unchanged scoundrels , Louis Bonaparte . A nice youth , this hoary old trickster and underhand servant of despotism , this ever unprincipled ex-Tory and out-cast Whi » , to he put before our noses as the next Premier . Disraeli ° may be knavish enough , but surely we need not fall back upon the deserter of Poland , the betrayer of Portugal and Rome , and Hungary , and the admirer of the French convict . Has his conduct in home service been any atonement for his rascalities in the Foreign Office ? True , he was in favour of Catholic

      Emancipation , but he opposed the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts , Has he shewn any liberal ideas on the suffrage ? Has || $ f& $ w , .. " % . O&artlf ? Bid he ev& vote against the fldg *

      Untitled Article

      iii April , 1848 , of the Felon Act of Charles II , against sedition ? Except with some vague chaff which no one can be fool enough to believe ( like most scamps the man is glib of tongue ) , have his words , any more than his acts ever intimated even a desire to deserve well of the English people—the unofficial millions ? Why then should he be thrust before us as our ; coming man' ? Why should men , calling themselves democrats and friends of the people , stir themselves to put him up as the people ' s Prime Minister ? Who does ? my readers will ask . Ay ! who does ? Thornton Hunt , the eccentric editor of the Leader , the pupil

      of the Church , of England , communist Minter Morgan , the admirer of the * pluck' of the French convict , and of the ' chivalry ' of the convict ' s' best friend '—the proffigrate Count D'Orsay , the zealous member of the Chartist Executive , the accomplished vacillator between anarchy and absolution ; Lord Dudle y Stuaut , ' liberal' member for Marylebone , and patron of a few amnestied and unaranestied Poles ; Toulmin Smith , notorious for his unhandsome appearance in the Von Beck business ; Professor Newman , author of Phases of Faith , to which , possibly , he desires to add another chapter ; and G-eokge Jacob Holyoake , ' nontheist , socialist , chartist , household-suffragist ,

      small satellite of the Leader , and professor of polite politics . ' These form the party , or the nucleus of a party , proposingfor the present privately , as seems advisable—to create a movement out of doors in favour of a Palmerston Ministry ] Palmerston as Prime , and Graham and Coijden as — accomplices . If , after some wary trial of their ground , they think it safe to proceed , the Leader wed . Co ., will canvass the scheme among the liberal members of Parliament ( such cleav-conscienced men as the Hume ' s , the Jacob Bell ' s , and the John Willmms ' s ) , and then endeavour to get up ' spontaneous' public meetings , to pronounce in favor of anew desirable triumvirate—Palmerston the trickiest , Graham the basest , and Cobden the shallowest . What think

      you , honest men of England , of this combination of talent ? and what think you of those who , affecting to be men of principle , can choose for themselves a task so utterly disreputable ? As for Stuart , Newman , and Smith , the first has always been a poor Whig politician , and the scheme is in every way worthy of him ; the other two are also poor politicians , if not Whigs , and so may stand excused , —for folly rather than knavery . But what say you to the two members of the Chartist Executive , who ought to be democrats and men of principle , lending themselves to so vile an intrigue ? Before you , I charge them both with this dishonesty .

      Spartaous , ( W . J . Linton ) . [ We had hoped that last Saturday's Leader would have published some words from Messrs . Huntand Holyoake , disavowing the sentiments contained in the libellous attack upon the Revolt ? tionists of Europe , commented on by DAmi du Peuple in last Saturday ' s Star of Freedom . No such disavowal appeared ; and unless Messrs . Hunt and Holyoake can announce their

      non-connexion with the editorial staff of our contemporary , they must be held responsible for the " slang " and slander fulminated by the Leader ' s " present conductors . " They are now called upon to vindicate themselves from the serious charge brought against them by Mr . Linton , We have refused to believe , we declined to give publicity to that charge , until we received the strongest assurance on the part of Mr . Linton that he had ample and unimpeachable evidence to substantiate and make good his accusation . Still , for the present , we must suspend judgment . Though disgusted at the conduct of " the present conductors of the Leader , " we cannot adopt Mr . Lintoivs accusation ; we must cling to the belief that ho is seriously and sadly mistaken . Be that as it may , we offer to Messrs . Hunt and Holyoake the free use of our columns through which to give publicity to their defence or reply . —Editor Star of Freedom . ]

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      THE LAW OF MASTERS AND SERVANTS . To Richard Cobden , Esq ., M . P . Sir , —My reason for addressing this communication to you is , that you , above all other men in the present parliament , are hound by consistency to those general ideas of free trade with which your name is identified , as by the more sacred claim of justice and humanity , to take up this question , to desire a remedy for the evils of which I complain , and by your great influence to demand the repeal of an enactment , at variance with all other recent legislation , with every recognised principle of political economy , and every idea of equity between man and man .

      I have . stigmatised the Master and Servant Act , as a measure inconsistent with every received notion of political economy . We have been oftentimes told—so often , indeed , that we accept the proposition as an axiom , and cease to question its truth that supply and demand should be left to regulate the labour market ; that all legislative interference between the employer and employed is productive of mischief ; that the contract between maker and servant . is essentially a personal and a civil one . But is this doctrine recognised in the preamble of the act to which I refer ? Certainly not . On the directly opposite principle is that enactment based . It recognises the divine right of capital , and gives it peculiar privileges which are denied to labour . I may illustrate this by an example . I will suppose that Richard Cobden , as master , has engaged—either verbally or in writing , by himself or his agent—with John Stokes , as workman , to toil six days in the week for a given amount of wages—say ten shillings ; that John Stokes , after , perhaps , working several , weeks on these terms , violates this compact or agreement . What is Richard Cobden ' s remedy ? Why he can take John Stokes before any of her Majesty ' s justices of the peace , and this magistrate can commit John to prison with hard labour—to a felon ' s

      punishment , for having broken faith with his employer . Now , let us turn to the other side . Suppose Richard Cobden should , ' after a few weeks , refuse to employ John Stokes the workman , or to pay him for work performed , or in any other way to shirk the contract he has made . What is John ' s remedy ? He can sue Richard Cobden in a civil court , or he can take him before a magistrate , but however flagrant may be the injustice perpetrated by the master , a magistrate can only levy execution on his goods and chattels—a master ' s person is sacred , and his liberty cannot be restrained .

      Now , sir , 1 want to know if this is political economy—if this is in accordance with the general principles of law—if this is equity—this state of things is not inconsistent with the spirit of civilisation ? If John Stokes is to be sent to prison when he does wrong to you , why are you to escape if you do wrone to him ? & Another serious evil in the law of master and servant as it stands , is the great uncertaint y of its operation , the large and dangerous discretion it allows to the local magistracy But it may be argued that I am dealing with imaginary evils-that

      amiougli tjie statute exists , it is practically inoperative in most parts oi England , and that the extreme power-that of imprjsonnient—is seldo ^ carried put upon the workman . Permit me in the first place t& r ^ , that although it ii Ui aM tM

      Untitled Article

      riot be inforced in the metropolis , it is most rigidly , in the manufacturing districts , where the press is ev U ' truculent than in London , and police courts less iuvI ^ " 111 Or& and influence of public opinion . That its most extre /' tlle ^ ties—imprisonment with hard labour—are daily inipT PetUll * irien whose only crime is that of having for a dav V ^ day , absented themselves from the mine or workshop ' . a law has it , " neglected work without lawful pcrm ' ^ tlle excuse . " The provisions of this odious enactment a *? 011 Ol < over carried out with a degree of recklessness that w V ^ ' e * be permitted in the case of any other section of soc * 11 ot the working class , and it is strained in a manner nun ^ other act of parliament , except perhaps the Va grant V ^' the aldermen of London . There is a wise and saFutar * r ^ or principle that no one law shall be warped or bent to i v Uin purposes of another—that if the provisions of anv ' " j ^ 6 found incompetent to meet an exceptional case , th- ^ are offending , or supposed to offend , shall have the benefit oF ? circumstance , and that no other law shall be strained f original design to punish an oftencu not clearly within ]^ ' or not contemplated b y the legislating in passing it . \) 1 J . ? ' like many another equally excellent and humane princi 1 English jurisprudence , is set at nought every day and . | ° ' every hour by both the paid and the unpaid magistrates f T kingdom . I have known cases that , if they involved off all , in legal phraseology , ought to have been dealt with X combination law ; settled by the more summary and silent cess of " committal to jail for one month , with hard laK I have known men" provoked , by coarse and obscene insulu ' withdraw from a factory without giving the requisite lVi notice , and they have been sent to jail for " one month v ? i hard labour . " I have known men - under legal advice—disn f the construction of a written yearly agreement , but give ioti in writing for one clear month to their masters , and then oil ! withdraw from their employment , given in custody oinvarnJ and sent to jail for " one month , with hard labouv . ' ] £ . seen a man taken into a small room—never before or sinecure ' ] for the administration of justice—the only persons preset being his master , two policemen , the distinguished , " learned and humane representation of her Majesty—the magistrate ' his brother , the clerk , the prisoner , and your corre spond ^ The last person was an unexpected visitor , who had demanded to be present . The doors were closed—the master ' s evidence was taken without cross examination—the prisoner was asked what he had to say , and replied that he left his work because of a scrofulous sore upon his arm , which prevented him from working . The -poor fellow was without attorney , without a friend , and had no opportunity afforded him to send for a doctor and thus establish his defence . He did indeed offer to expose his arm in the room , but the justice declined to allow tins ' -

      pettishly exclaiming : "I don't want to see your sore arm . " This same learned gentleman then turned to the employer , and asked : "Is it so , sir—do you believe him ? " "No . sir , I don't believe a word of it ; I believe he wanted to get drunk sir—he often gets drunk , sir , " &c , &c , &c ., replied the master ! This little oration having been concluded , the magistrate turned again to the prisoner , and these were his exact words : " I ' ve no doubt you ' re a worthless fellow—you wanted to get drunk ; I don't believe a word about your sore arm : I shall send voutri

      prison tor one month , with hard labour . " And a decentlyattired , respectable looking man . on this evidence , bv what I must call a secret tribunal , with really no proof against him , and some prima facie inferences in his favour , was sent to lid with thieves and vagabonds—to endure all the bodily and mental tortures of a felon ' s prison for four mortal weeks . < other feature of " neglect of work" cases , is that no depositions are taken , the reason for which is obvious . I know that

      a very large number of these charges arise from drankennessa sin I have no desire to excuse or palliate , but drunkenness is itself a statutable offence , and should be dealt with under the general police and other local acts which are fully adequate to punish this offence . The master manufacturer , the gentleman , or any other member of society may get drunk and expiate his offence in the eyes of the law , by a payment of five shillings why should

      the poor man—the collier factory operative &c ., be marked out for heavier punishment' ? How is that a slight and scarcely appreciable wrong in one man , becomes so much more heinous in another ? If it be worse in one man than another , surely the man of wealth and education commits the Avrong , and should be made to bear the heaviest penalty ; it is the gentleman and master that should be sent to jail and put to hard labour in a

      prison . It is no answer to the dreadful cases I have referred to , to say that they are exceptions to a rule . If exceptions , they area numerous family , and arise out of the most dangerous discretionary powers vested in magistrates , who are often at least indirectly interested in the cruel system they practice . lt ' high time that this irresponsible discretion was revoked . Y ™ . Sir , are a free trader—" an absolute free trader , " a free trader in all things—including labour" as I have heard you more than once assert . You also profess to take great interest in the welfare of the people ; and for all these reasons you are bound to

      exert your unquestionably great influence lo check this system of persecution and tyranny , by which I do not hesitate to say the selt-respect and independence of the industrial orders arc being rapidly undermined . I regret also to say that this act is a recent one , and its passage only a few years since was aided by "the school" to which you belong . But this ought not to deter you from the performance of an obvious duty , and the maintamanee of your general theory of free trade in labour . Let me therefore in treat that you will give this all important subject your earnest consideration , that you will take up tllC interests of working men with as much ardour and perse verance ,

      as you once prosecuted the claims of "the cottonocracy . " ^ must however be no compromise with justice here—the present statute must be wholly repealed , ami such a measure substituted as will secure fair play to master and to man . We have thus afforded you an opportunity of rendering your name moio honoured than it can ever become while your efforts are conn" * to a negative policy and the advocacy of class interests . * can , by the course ' I recommend , command the hearts and sympathies of the men , women and children of those hives ot lliau . . j try ; and when you are laid low in the earth , these peop le )" bless your memory , and love to recount your good deeds on tmbehalf . Allow me to add that no one will more readily and triu , bear testimon y to your services than iNDlft-

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      A ! SuAiti » Retort . —A celebaated barrister one day c * aiu ing a witness , who foiled all his attempts at ridicf % , -1 jS ready and shrewd answers , at last exclaimed : " * trie " brasf enough in your head , madam , to make a five pan vt ^ "And sap enough in-yours , sir , to fill it , " quickly ««» the witness . ¦

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      106 . THfi S * A $ Of FMSiDOM . Msifo& 25 ia * I ---- - ------ ¦ - ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - - ¦ - . ~ - .. . 510 ^ . n ——————¦ — — = ^ r- — - ^ ii

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 25, 1852, page 10, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1697/page/10/