On this page

• Text (3)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Untitled Article

    " jfc SffADWEi ^ , the revising barrister for Middlesex , has decided bit n » fteeliolders is entitled to vote unless the land he holds cost £ m It' it was originally purchased for a lesser sum , this ^ 1 wiseacre holds that it cannot now he worth 40 s . a-year . Now , bb decision , if it he in consonance with the latr , will he equivalent to complete disfranchisement of the members of the Freehold Land pieties , for although the yearly value of their holdings is in general . n siderably more than the requisite 40 s ., very few , if any of them \[ v SffAJWEM * the revising barrister for MtidieseTha ^

    , i ? t £ 50 . A large proportion of them have not cost even half that jnioimt . yet their annual value is more than 40 s . A t a p ublic meeting held at Paddington , a few days since to confer this question ,-Mr . Huggett , secretary to the Westminster , freehold Land Society , gave some important information relative to rbe increased value of land , and the manner in which it bore upon [ te decision of barrister Shadwell . A gentleman whom he knew fourteen years ago , bought a small freehold by auction for

    | 20 , and within six months of the purchase , it was let for £ 14 a vear , and had been so let ever since . Last year the Westminster free hold Land Society nought nine acres of land at Kilburn , at £ 540 , per acre . A few months afterwards they wished to extend the purchase , and add four or five acres of the adjoining land , of precisely the same value ; but so greatl y had the value of the property increased in that short interval , that the price then demanded was £ 1 , 000 per acre . Bel grave-square , a few years

    since , was let to a market gardener , and the value of the land wa s then about £ 800 an acre ; while , at the present time , it is not stunt of £ 30 , 000 . On the East Mousley estate of the above mentioned society , an allotment which ori ginally cost £ 23 10 s lias been let for ever on a chief rent of 70 s . a-year ; and there is not the slightest doubt but were it sold bv public auction

    to-mornir , it would fetch £ 100 . This is sufficient to show the . absurdity of the attempt , to decide the present , value of land according to the original cost ; and the members of the . Freehold Land Societies generally , will fall very far short of fulfilling their duty if they suffer this absurd decision of Lawyer ShadwelL to render null all they have hitherto done .

    Our views , as regards both the suffrage and the land , are too wfl known to render it necessary to say that we can , by no means , look with favour upon the principle of purchasing either one or the other , both being equally the just inheritance of tlic whole nation . But in the absence of a more immediate and more

    Actual means of ensuring the success of our cause , we cannot kit regard it , to say the least , as a very great error in . those of our fnends whom the present system endows with the power of aiding Ae agitation for manhood suffrage by domg . all in his power to increase the number of its advocates in the legislature , to forego this opportunity through negligence or choice .

    If any truth exist in the allegation against the members of Free . Wd Land Societies , that they have sought only to become part and parcel of the privileged caste , Mr . Shadweli / s attack upon them cannot fail to have a good effect , by convincing them of the unstead y foundation of all species of property qualifications , and * dl be an additional motive for their using their best endeavours to obtain the recognition of the right of everv man to the vote .

    Untitled Article

    TOKV TRUCKLING TO THE DECEMBRIST DESPEEADO . We can well understand that their innate affection for despotism , aid their ill-disguised hatred of Republican institutions would be sufaent to aecouut for our aristocratic rulers deportment towards the De-« 'mbrist Desperado . They could tolerate the Republic as long as the ™> rs and Baroehes were permitted tu bring ite . holy name into contempt . But there was always the lurking fear that the ascendancy oi , * Miserable traitors would be , sooner or later , superseded by an ^ ministration of true Republicans , and the very possibility of such an

    j-ventualitr struck dismay to the hearts of our aristocrats . They had * aw nf another believed in the Spectre Rouge which in 18 o 2 was to n ** rope ? n Sre ; ani * so wnen tnat troubled spirit was laid in the il * i ° * ^ e ^ ecem ^' Isfe massacres it was , perhaps , only natural at the re-assured aristocrats of England should give free expression «* their satisfaction , and as free expiession to their repudiation of the pi ctures of the British press on . Bonaparte . It was only necessary be * v ! ¦ crimmal complicity with the French assassin there should f cowardl y fear of , and base truckling m that miscreant , to tojuete the infamy of our once fearless and haughty oligarchy . » eke strong reason for suspecting that to this " lower " deep " ot

    ill ¦ l ^ ntis " government has already descended . To bully sh ' ^ an ^ croucl 1 * ° strong has been for a long time past the ' 2 P ° licy l ; ursu ^ 5 tiu' suee (? ss ' ive administrations of this " 5 y * ards foreign powers . In this respect there has been no es-\^ difference in the conduct of Aberdeen , Palmerstone , and Malmsi ' ' . f ^ ^ l ^ le Protection afforded by public opinion to the ^ "p ^ aiding in this : metropolis it is morally certain that for them , J Won would be -no- safer asylum than is Berne or Brussels . That ard rri ^ njivt * all the disposition to play the part-of jailors over , lK-rsi'cutors of , the exiles , is sufficiently evidenced bv their disgrace ^ *! ^ fo the ( S tand MmiAl

    U number of ' French refugees iueluding the- illustrious Victor i < iii ° ° ' \^ ^ ' ^ Jersey and Guernsey fur their temporary so-Vu " e W ! litin S & <* coming of that hour of retribution destined to Wp 7 \ <> vmlirmv ot' llle ' country ' s tyrant . To this choice they thiiCl " * - I ^ *' variety of considerations . The climate of inh-r mle * * sl { in ( k assimilates to that of France ; the language of the ! l » itants is French , the same may be said of the social habhs of the l'COmo At . i . * _ . . * t «

    « vi cr ' ° aN » tnese Jslaucbs are renowned for cheapness of of t j 3 T ~ necessarily the very first of considerations with men despoiled tli e lWr P P y » labour , home , and friends , and sorely straitened for If cd ^ th- ° ^ * iSlstenC ( i m il foreign land . To our personal , knowpau ! ' ^ < ist " name ( l circumstance has determined many of Uona-! ieed ? VlCtimS to quit Londou for Jersey . This single act has sufhaT mum tlle J ealous fears of the i >' * rant * That those vvhom ] ie so cruelly wronged should all but breathe the air [ of France has

    Untitled Article

    struck terror to his guilty soul . He knows that the exiles are the W hr ! \ ( * ^ U' ( approach ' ^ »' ly , « his first « thought L « \ " 7 eSt u > Ontro 1 Un 1 ^ rsecute thosft wll ™ ^ h *» ?« d Sw *! p - ? i ° nly S" ^ - 11 " teeth in ^ potent rage , if un-U ^ Vlt : nt comment { . To ' the shame of our coTmtrv he e £ L if r ™* hmy ** colleagues are . jnrt now F forming the worth y part of acting in concert withtho agents and jpu » employed by Bonaparte to watch and harass the own iron who Have sought re % e in this country .

    lo limit-the circulation between the Channel Islands and Prance S "J" ™ as POBMble . a French vice-consul was some time ago sent to . ** Uelier , his special or rather his avowed business bein » to issue passports to every one leaving Jersey for France , at a chara of five francs every British citizen , ami every French ten francs ; and this m utter and contemptuous violation of the privilege enjoyed by the inhabitants to visit France with merely a nominal paWport-a pass from their constable , for which they were charged seven sous This invasion of the ri ghts of the people of Jersey has been sanctioned and abetteu by our own (?) government , without whose consent the viceconsul ot Mister Bonaparte would not have dared to - have setup his spy-aiid-plunder shop on the soii of that island .

    Nor is this all . Notice lias been sriven by the British authorities to the foreigners residing in Jersey that they must reveal to the magistrates the fullest particulars respecting their country , their antecedents , their connexions , their motives for selecting that island as a place of residence , arc , &c . In fact , an atrocious attempt is being made to place the refugees under a system of polkv surveillance for the benefit of the French tyrant . It is reported that , noting under adfiei > , the exiles have refused to submit to these inqnisitoriafinterrog ^ itories . We applaud their resolution , and urge them to abide by it . If further annoyed , let them throw themselves upon the British people , and claim the protection of that Public Opinion which if once fairlv

    aroused will do ample justice upon these miserable trucklers to a brfgand power . Yes , there can he no longer a question that our rulers fear the usurper , and so seek to conciliate him by honied phrases and acts of degrading compliance with his wishes . The very worst policy that could be pursued . To attempt to conciliate ' the perjured

    arch-traitor is simply to invite aggression . Sound policy would dictate precisely the opposite course , namely , to treat him with contempt and defiance , preparing , at the same time , to meet his menaces with the only ' reasoning , he can appreciate—that ot crushing force , the last argument of nations as well as kings : t'ho only fitting mode oi ! dealing { vifch the Decembrist Desperado .

    Untitled Article

    O'OTrON , EMIGRATION , AND LABOUR . The i-oUon trade is on ihe increase . New mills are rising in Lancashire , and Yorkshire ., some : of tlujin equalling in size small towns . W . e ' nre gratified every how and tlu-n with details of iheir dimensions and architectural beauty , as well as the wealth and enterprise of llieir owner * . New machinery is makine ; 10 till ihem . The power of many thousands of horses' is prepaiing to spin the fine thread * , and weave ihem into clothf . There seems lo b « no

    limit to the busine ^ , but the ability of America to supply ihe irw material . There me some doubts as to the sufficiency of the crop , but when ihe planters of the Southern States hear of the enterprise of their Lancashire and Yorkshire friends and customers , liters , is no doubt they will redouble their exertions . They will , if possible , get sharper overseers and heavier whips , and tiast about them for some tieritle stimulant , to malceUheir live machines— " the nigger $ , " kepp pare with the strong engines of England . { Some people do , indeed , fear that speculation is being pu > hed to danwerous extreme-. TUev hint . thai the-new efforts-are . not so much

    sscribable to an increase of prosperity , as le the fact that old inventions are going out and new ones coming in , and to the other fact , thai lan » e masses of capital are idle , because its owners nannot find profitable employment fov it , raiher than to a briskness of trade , and . an iuciease m the demand for the article which is to be so abundantly produced . Those , however , who know least , pooh poo-i these ideas . They do not view the new activity of the manufacturers as a sort of inflation , likely to be succeeded by a sudden collapse ; they point out triumphantly , that fortunes have been doubltd and trebled , and surely thut is a aood thing—something

    for those who have no fortunes to rfjoice and make merry over , and they wind up with eternal encomiums upon the benefits of Free Trade . We have no need to fear— . ve have discovered the universal panacea for all the ills of nations—at least , if not of individuals ; we have taken off the duty upon corn , and thai has put our trade mid manufactures upon such a footing of prosperity , that though

    there roav be , to be sure , now and then a temporary depression , to starve a i ' ew factory operative's , there will never be that long-continued cessation which ruins manufacturers and merchants . Well , that is very consolatory for the favoured children of fortune , if it be all . true , and for the rest , they may go starve , or emigrate , as best

    suits them . But suddenly in the midst of all this prosperity > u d congratulation a lion suddenly starts up m the path to . scare the well-to-do from their propriety . The people may emigrate , may they ? They have been tendered the advice a thousand and one limes , in all moods , from serious counsel to stern rebuke and malicious bantering . There were too many mouths at the table which nature spread in these islands , and it was their duty forthwith not to ask for a

    share of what was going , but to betake themselves to a wider and less crowded board , It was a special dispensation of providence that they should be prolific and increase and multip ly till they violated the law of supply and demand , and starved one another out of house and home . That was one of the means provided for turning deserts into golden cornfields and gladding frightful solitudes with the presence , of man . Why did they not go , forgetting homes , breaking moral ties , and outraging old affections ( What bu- m ^ $ had such folks with hf arts ? All they ought ' to concern theroselve-

    Untitled Article

    about should be scarcity or plenty . If they liad plenty to eat whui more do they possibl y want ? The >; could get food enough in Australia—they could not here , and if they were such dol ' . s and idiots as to « ay and famish they richly deserved their fate . Persevering efforts generall y succeed at last , either b y virtue oi their own exertion , or being long enough continued to meet with some indirect or accidental aid . That has been the case in this in stance . The discovery of Australian gold-fields came to sirent > thwi the counsel of the utilitarians , and the people began to act upon it

    At first this was well enough . The Irish Exodus was a blessing , rather to those who stayed , than those who went ; and the British Exodus also was an advantage to everybody . The political economists raised a song- of triumph . The labour market was beginning to be less pressed upon—discontent would certainly be put down , and the poor rates—happy thought—would be lessened . It is the hard faie of humanity , that joy is never entirely unalloyed . Whenever we manage to catch hold of a blessing , its enjoyment is sure to be marked by some attendant misery . Good and evil tread so closelv

    upon the heels of each other that when one comes , we may be pretty sure its companion is not far behind . So it was in this casp . Bv and bye the complaint began , that the shoals of Ijish reapers did not make their appearance , and fears were entertained ( hut handwould be wanting to get in the crop * . That , however , was a trifling obstacle . It was an agriculture ! , not a manufacturing grievance ; and agricultural grievances have pretty much gone out uf fusion . At all events , it might be met for the present , by turning

    the soldiers into the wheat-fields ; and for the next year , and the year after , the farmers must look out for machinery . Thev must « er steam saviours for themselves . The labourer and his mates might be replaced by boilers unn furnaces ; and Hussf . Y arid M'Cormack were ready to do all . the reaping in ncxi to no time . We do n < t want men in England—not we indeed—we had loo many of ihem . Fewer of such human cattle , and mote of engines that never strike for wages , or thought about sUmw bouts , or agitated for rights , was wltnt was to be desired .

    I he wisdom of the nineteenth wutury Iws settled tin } point that old sayings nre foolish ihiiii- ' . There is no axiom which now merits a more generaItteceptation than this , — Wj »; n . j § smicp lor ihe goose \ s not sauce For the gander . " The fanners wanted machinery , so lh » t they sliould be able to dispense with men , but now that manufuumrers ' -are jwitinij more machinery , - ' a fear is be . ginning to-be-expressed timt " \ wmU " will be wanting . Top

    present stork , it seems , t-attnot do worse than t iev have hi-cn doing . The surplus not anticipating- the promised plethora of employ mew , Iras been t 2 » - > tinti itself draiceci . If the parishes l . avo been emptying the workhouses , Ireland no longer . furnishes it * immigrants . There lias really been too much hurry in getting rid of the people , what is lobe done so that the makers of fortunes and builders of factories and erectors ¦ of engines shall not fa > left alone with their machinery ? The answer is read v cut and drier ] .

    The li Times * ' Iras sent it forth , and if that answer does noi open the e \ es of Englishmen , really we do not know what wil ) . litre it is . :- —there will never be any want of labour in the oid world . We are surrounded by densely-populated countries , -. lie people of which work for even less wages thun our own . Only Ut the word go forth that we want labourers , and we should soon have un invasion— a peaceful ore . The Flemish , the Saxon , the Gaul , will pour in thousands to our shores . They will be only too happy

    to come , indeed , and supply the pi ices of those who have troiie . The power-looms of Lancashire need not stand still for want of hands to tend them . We may cet as large a surplus in the labour market as f . » ver , to keep the toilors from setikiiu ; for Uu ^ er remuneration . Nay , tlifl new surplus will pull down wages ' when tiiov ar ^ in work , und be cheaper kept when they are out of work , for ihey will corrio from countries where the standard of living ; is'lower t \ y * n it jshere .

    Glorious news this for the * money-mongers , but what will the people think of it ? It does not matter much what they think so tlmt the worshippers of Mammon may adore their deity more profitably , but » s it is just possible some may be induced to say that it was hardly worth while to export Englishmen merely for the purpose of importing foreigners to stop the gap in the population , we

    warn them that a reply is prepared for all such grumblers . There will be * no jealousy except amon- ^ the idle and demoralized who may wish to keep up a monopoly of labour in order that they may themselves do no work at ail . " That is what the Times says , and the Times speaks with the voice of capital , and eauitirl rules England . No one need trouble him « elf to roint out the absurdity of the idea

    that tin s > who are too idle and demoralized to work at all want to keep all ihe woj k to themselves . Absurd as it is it is what ¦ poivtr affirms and s \ hat the rulers of the world will swear b y . The truth is that the well understood o \ jsct of the Ami-Corn . Law " Leaguers , is about to be carried into eflec . t . They want to bring lahour in this country < l «> wn to ihe level it Magnates at upon the continent . Fate seems fur the prf sent to work on their side . Free trade and emigration open the way fora labour invasion as dire ' ul as a warlike invasion

    The manufacturers will not only get cheap wo k , but they will do what is as much to their mind—introduce a larger number , who , having-no feeling of common nationality , will not support the cause of the peop le ; and who , emerging from a state of greater slavery , will for awhile he content with ** material freedom . " This confirms what we have ever maintained —tlnu while eiaitjrutioM may benefit those

    who go , it will injure those who stay , and retard the coming of the day when the liberties-of the many * hn ! l be a . < >> ured , —when they who have so lon ^ exploited the people shall be oompeHed to give place to the people themselves , for , with the growth of intelligence , will grow the determination not to 1 > p the serfs ofr man or class ol men , be they landlords or cotton lord *

    Untitled Article

    ^^ L ^^^ _ Jtm star tr nian . m ¦ .

• Citation
  • Northern Star (1837-1852), Oct. 9, 1852, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1699/page/9/