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Northern Star (1837-1852), 11th August 1838, Edition 2 of 3, Page 4, TO EEADEKS & COEEESPONDENTS.

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    • THE NOETHEMJ STAR. SATT7KBAT, AUGUST 11, 1838.
    • TO EEADEKS & COEEESPONDENTS.
    • LEEDS AND WEST-RIDING NEWS
    • EVERT LANCASHIRE PURCHASER of the ' NORTHERN STAR' Of this Day will be presented with a SPLENDID P0RTBAIT
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  • Text (12)
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      Untitled Ad

      ( FROM A STEEL PLATE , ) OF SIR W . MOLESWORTH BART ., M . P . FOR LEEDS . Every YORKSHIRE Purchaser will receive a like present on Saturday , the 18 th August , and our SCOTCH and other NORTHERN FRIENDS on Saturday , the 25 th August .

      Untitled Article

      TRIAL A 2 SB COKYICTION OF THE WHIGS . The Sixth of August -will "be a day ever memo-Table in Eorope , aodnts effects Trill "be long felt by all the nations of the earth . The Sun has much , Teiy ranch , limited the importance of the Meeting of -the Sixth , byjleseribingit as a National Convention . There were there , Poles , and Russians , and GeriBans , and Negroes , and Frenchman ; - Americans ,

      SpsniixdSj aadItalians ; all and'each hailing the « entment 8 -as heralds of Tmrversal Liberty . The auctions of Europe know , and know full well , that the snewB of Englishmen , of Irishmen , and of Seotelmen have ieen manufectored into omTfirsal fetters Sot liberty . England -woxrid have crashed the ^ eiiins of America . England has established the despotism of Prance . England has made the brave Pole & beggar at the English cottage . * England is -now lxying the foundation of tyranny in Canada .

      *! Bnt tile tt » ekne « of « she « Trill mark -where it stood , "Wllle the wild mother screams o'er her famishing hrood ; " ^ « nd to those distant calamities which English policy las caused , is die English mind directed . The eye is stretched , as it were , to countries far away , lest -one down-cast loot at domestic suffering should fire the native breast to madness . The "" fames auri " ¦^ thirst for gold ) of the British speculator , has established a human flesh market in everj country throughcut the would . Four years since we paid twenty millions at the Indian stall , for black cattle , vre

      "bought the flock ; and this year -we paid -one million to the Irish butchers . £ 20 , 000 , 000 for the black fiock , and £ l , 000 , OOOforthe white shepherds . To the three domestic butchers and their slaughter-house men we have paid more than £ 100 , 000 , while the pacifying policy , of starving Irishmen into submission , has-cost the nation , since the passing of the Heform Bill , more than fire millions - annually . There is a side gate of the national eight hundred million toll-bar in every port in Europe , and the object of Monday ' s meeting- was to tafce tie toll off

      English labour , and place what must remain on English idleness , on the barren surface of the soil , and not upon the hands that produce , or the stomachs ¦ t hat consume , thereby giving -value to- the soiL "We have described the effects of English policy , and fhe objects of Monday ' s Meeting , and now a word as to the nature and terms of the Union . So far "from taunting our newly adopted "brethren with timidity orpr # erastination , we now feel convinced of the soundness of their policy , and the wisdom of their delay . Had the men of Binaiugliam pressed

      "too precipitately upon the present Government , they "would have been chargeable and charged with impetuosity , intemperance , and -want of judgment . The necessary changes under a new system—the moulding of a Cabinet oat of the "best materials—-the test to which , in a -State of probation , the Hichmojtds , Staklets , Broughams , and GxxHAHShad necessarily tohe subjected—the assimilating of opinion ? , and dovetailing of measures , "were matters to he adj n sted , before a Keforming Minis--trr could be said reallv to exist . These preliminaries

      have been now gone through , and upon Monday last , Administration , said to be composed ¦ of the recognized leaders of Whig opinion , was jut upon trial . The people of Birmingham "hart t ) een mainly instrumental In pr © curing ior them that trial , and , therefore , as just and upright judges , they -were hound to give them a fair trial . They -wisely acted upon the -consideration , that a . longer period is . required for £ he adjustment of a nation ' s affairs , after years of abuse ss 3 . neglect , than is required for the

      reang ^ Bpiijf ^ -Jn ^ ro-rement of a family , or for the -aig || jj jg ( jg ^ sjf . the affairs of a small community 33 a *§ 68 ~ tEBe has been allowed , and the jurv , the "W&te ^ jorjji . returned an unanimous verdict of "GUISj ^ against the "Whigs . The question was jtntlry " " -Mr . O'Conxob , and no doubt , with the intention of investing the Union with an executive authority to carry into effect the-verdict of that jnry Tfhich they enrpanneUes . Upon the men of Birming" rta-m now devolves the responsibility of carrying that verdict into full force . ' The Union and their

      leaders have assumed an awful responsibility . Heretofore they acted locally ; they now act universally . The authority which they required has been cheerfully , unanimously , and promptly conferred upon ¦ them , but mark , not -without that responsibility ¦ which Mr . Mtjnt 2 well described as constituting - £ he difference between a responsible Government and anirresponsible despotism . The men of Birmingham have hitherto stood upon

      flie hoxt-SEHOLd TOP , and hare watched our little Universal Suffrage hark tossed upon the troubled ¦ waters of agitation . The tainted gale ¦ of faction driving it to the shoals , from which it has been saved "by the steady Northern breeze . The struggle for three years has been such as few will now acknowledge , but the effects of which we feel at this moment in every limb ; but " away with pouting and sad-3 iess : had we forfeited life itself , the price would have been far short of the value of Mondav ' s

      meet-Ing . The work which , in the hands of a portion of the people , is difficult , when divided amongst the whole people , becomes easy of accomplishment . "While the Birmingham Union were contending for 11 Household Suffrage , " and the brave , the virtuous , the unflinching men of the North were fighting for tl Universal Suffrage , " we were , as hostile and injuxions to each other , as though one of the parties had been either Whig or Tory . That we would perish rather than retrograde , was a fact of which it was necessary to convince our

      brethren . "We have convinced them , and the result of our perseverance and resolutios , has been manifested in the Union of the 6 th of August . "What are the terms of that Union ? That we have conferred executive power upon the , Birmingham Union . That we of the north s-hall support them ¦ with all our heart , with all our mind , and with all cur strength . Pardoning every indiscretion , giving them the honour and the glory of every triumph , while we are sure of being participators in their crery victory . The Union destroys base ambition ,

      ajHUhuates jealousy , defies malice , courts censorship , and removes suspicion . The Union is now the Gorernment of the country , " de jure et de faeio . " "We -bare joined the " Union , " but we have not joined far the purpose of insidiously watching , and maliciousl y seizing upon an indiscretion ^ as the signal of jurmt . pr revolt . We shall not , perhaps , be quite so charitable as the Union has been to the " Whigs ; "but yet we shall make allowance for . every frailty to 'which flesh , is heir . Cpnstitnted as the-Council is , ire fear no charge of greater enormity than that of indiscretion . "We are now as onfi man . A-jtwootj

      and Fieldes are colleagues . - "Watson , Muntz , 4 ^ abon , Douglas , Hadlet , Edmunds , SiXT , with their forty-three associates , are in-rested ¦ mQx executive power . It is well and judiciously Tested . Nothing but jealousy , ambition , or treason , caa-weaken us ; and corsed be the fiend , who shall Hot ratker brood silently over his individual suspieions , 4 fcan by publishing them disunite us . Our -girengik ig in our union—our power in our voice , and onr success In our perseverance . According to natnj al impressions —to the artificial construction of society to the rule upon which Governments exist , and to tie terms of the great moral compact , for the

      Untitled Article

      m * miamimmmmm ^^ mmmimmamms furtherance of which man surrendered a portion ot his natural rights , in order that he may the more rally and the more freely enjoy those which society sanctioned for mutual "benefits ; as squaring with all such considerations , we give the following as our opinion ;—Henceforth , inasmuch as the people prefer an hereditary monarchy , with a republican , or univefeal power of contronl , to any other species of Government , we deem any administration , holding power short of universal nomination , usurpers—traitors against both people and Sovereign , and rebels against the acknowledged

      powers of the state . The meeting of Monday was , in fact , the establishment of a new Constitution , and though bayonets and corruption may , for a season , bold it in allegiance , yet let the people be assured that the will of an united people will , e'er loDg , become the law of tire land . O ! it was a glorious sight It was a heavenly spectacle , to see a virtuous court asserting right , and denouncing wrong . God ! what an Union is a nation of freemen , struggling -against oppression ! A band of slaves proclaiming their own freedom , that they may give freedom to others ! We have lost all recollection of

      much which we bad intended to say . The merry peal ; the shout of liberty ; the firm resolve of freemen ; the cheer of patriotism ; the manifestation of national love of justice ; the expression of wrong done , and the bold determination to "do or die , " still binds us captive to the scene without other thought than recollection of the past In the fulfilment of the national object will be found justice for Ireland—Justice for England—evenhanded unsparing Justice for all .

      Untitled Article

      THE DOOMED ONES . The "Whigs have surely been laid under a spell . They seem determined to rush upon destruction . Another paroxysm of the self-destroying mania has overtaken them at Dewsbury , where the valiant myrmidons of the Devil ' s law have dared to brave the vengeance of their insulted and outraged neighbours . "We cannot but regret that any violence should have occurred , and yet , when the provocation is considered , with our knowledge of

      human nature , our only surprise is , that matters were not much worse . "We would , however , most earnestly caution the people to beware of violence ; let not Samso ^ j null down the house over their heads as well aslSs * pwn . If the "Whigs love destruction , let them have it , and welcome , " but , in God ' s name , 1 st the people be careful not to be involved in it . ' Cool resolution , and united exertion will do all they wish . "Violence will only retard ? and perhaps ultimately defeat , the accomplishment of their own object .

      Untitled Article

      STATE OF CANADA . The following description of the present state and prospect of Canada is from a Ministerial paper , published in Toronto , received at our office during the present week . Emigration from this Province to the United States still continues , notirithstanding the immense numbers who hare already left ; but it has changed its character , —and now , instead of being composed of men of strong political feelings , embraces tbe more cautious and industrious classes—old countrymen as well as natives . Military clangour keeps one portion of the people from brooding over the

      general depression , while a morbid melancholy seemed to have seized others , whe are pathetic as to the consequences of passing events , and look upon emigration ^ s a panacea for all their ills . It is but what occurs in every country , that the tradesmen and labourers should seek for employment in the country that can afford to give it ; but , that men who have been horn in the province , and who have " spent their dearest action in the tented field " in defence of their attachment to the British Crown , and others who have left our fatherland to settle in Canada in preference to tie U . S ., because thev preferred the security and magnanimity of British justice , to the fickle and clamorous institutions of a republic—that such men could be induced by any

      possible circumstances to abandon their homes , is greatly to be deplored , and demands an investigation as to the cause . To such an extent has emigration , however , been carried on , that in some parts of the London District , we have credibly been informed , there are not males enough left to gather in a tithe of the crops . Some farmers have sacrificed their homesteads foT a trifle , whilst others have actually abandoned them , " flying from the province as from a land of famine and pestilence , " ( we thank you , Sir Francis , for the term . ) But this is not all . The spirit of change is extending like an epidemic , and several parties from different parts of the province are now traversing the western states , looking for locations to provide for an extensive emigration .

      The above will furnish to our readers a much more accurate picture of the state of affairs in Canada than they can expect to glean from the "Whig and Tory oracles of mendacity in this countrv .

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      THE AMERICAN STRUGGLE . "We have received The National Laborer of Philadelphia up to July 14 th , from which we find the rag-money struggle still progresses , though with an air of desperation on the part of the moneyerats , that shews in beautiful relief the advantage of the Americans overus , in having , by their fine Constitution , a controlling power in the State , to which , when brought into exercise , all factious attempts at domination must succumb . We invite particular attention to the following excellent Editorial article from the Laborer , which , as our readers will see , fully maintains the spir it of tbe extracts which we gave from the same paper a fortnight ago : —

      " The Questions at issue , are , "Whether the pr&ddentd , directors , and stockholders of incorporated companies , together with their lawyers , debtors , and dependants , comprising a few thousand person ? , shall tax , govern , and control as many millions of labourers and producers , and exclusively appropriate the products and fruits of labour to their use ; or , Whether our Government shall remain and continue a democracy , whereby the millions will have a voice in its control ?

      These are the great questions now at issue before the American people . If the paper money party prevail , they will exempt themselves and property from taxation , and lay the whole weight and burden on labour and production ; but if the people prevail , and the taxes are collected in the currency intended to be secured to us by our revolutionary fathers ; then these bodies of incorporated wealth must bear their share in support of Government . It is this they so much dread , and are determined to avoid at all hazards if they possibly can . Hence the great hatted of these monopolists to a constitution . Hence their constant false clamor made

      against our Government and its administration , for its efforts to keep the Government and banks separate . And hence we see in the United States Gazette , of the SOth June , 1838 , < one of the official organs of the United States Bank of Pennsylvania , and great head of the paper money party , in our country , ) the most insolent threat against the President of the United States , forcibly to thrust him fr-om the office to which the people- elected him , should ie dare to exercise the power placed in his hands by the constitution , by resisting any bill which those rag barons may hereafter be able to carry through congress .

      We now . call the attention of theprodueing classes of this great nation , to the daring and insulting nature of this threat This attempt to intimidate the chief magistrate of our country , and deter him from a conscientious discharge of duty ! A duty , the discharge of which may be required of him to protect the great body of the people . against the craft and subtlety of the dealers in paper money , who now hope to prevail on congress , by any and every means , to grant them a charter for the furtherance of their schemes . For this purpose , and to extort a compliance , the President , it seems , is threatened .

      Gentlemen monopolists , what do you mean ? We pray you deal plainly and honestly with the people , not acquainted with the mysteries of your great

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      ' *''^ m paper scheme . Do you believe that you can * overturn this Government by force and violence , ; and establish one in its stead , where the great mass of the people would bare no voice , and by which you could issue irredeemable paper at pleasure , and compel the producing and labouring classeR to re ^ ceive such paper for their products ? , ,- Or do you merely expect to frig hten the President and deter him from the upright performance of duty ? You will find yourselves mistaken in either attempt . "We advise you against both . Fighting is a " game at which two can play , " and you might come off only second best . No , gentlemen ,, take our advice , and give up the idea of fighting , the

      people will understand what you are at , and you can do better for your dear paper system , by almost any other method . You can make more of the people by your old trade of lending to members of Congress and of State legislatures , buying up newspapers and their " cattle" editors , making public opinion to quietly succumb tinder such ' fair business transactions , ' and procuring charters ; then gamble in the stocks , raise the price by puffing and sham sales , and then sell ; reduce tbe price by panic and false rumours , and then buy the same stocks back . These , and all of the various other methods known to you , and unknown to the people , ( by which you can cheat and swindle them out of the fruits of their

      labour , ) will suit you better than fighting ; and although you number onlj' as many thousands as the labourers and producers do millions , you will be more than a match for them , because you have practised until you understand your game ; but when it comes to fighting , the labouring and producing classes understand that as well as you do , you had better net try fighting . As to frightening the President from the p « rfonnance of his duty , we entertain no fears on that head ; but if you were ever to succeed , you will enjoy but a short triumph . Any charter you obtained : by either fraud or violenc , would be of but little value to you among a free and an outraged people when roused to resistanpfi and retaliation .

      But of what do those chartered monopolists complain ? What has led to this daring and insolent threatening ? "Wh y , nothing more than this , that the people who ought to and shall govern this country want to cullect and pay out the constitutional currency , gold and silver , whilst the bank party wish to compel the government to collect and pay out their worthless irredeemable paper promises , the bankers , pretending that there is not specie enough in the country to support the government .

      In all of this they well know they are stating falsehoods . There are niue hundred banks in the United States , and if the amount of specie to be collected and paid out was as much as these monopolists pretend , and equally divided hetween them , it would amount to twenty thousand dollars to-each bank , and it is very plain that a bank which could not pay twenty thousand dollars in the year , never ought to be chartered under any pretext , nor can the paper of such a bank be of any value to the country . But no one in his senses—no one of these bankers

      themselves—believes that it would require any thing like half this amount to support the government . On the contrary , they know that it would be paid out by the government nearly as fast as received , to soldiers , sailors , revolutionary pensioners , and labourers on public works , who in turn would pay it away for provisions and clothing , &c . &c , by which means it would obtain a rapid circulation among the people , and drive out of existence their worthless and fraudulent shin plasters and rags , and would again return to the bants , making two or three circulations of the same coin in the year , and gladdening the countenance of labour wherever it appeared .

      To prevent this wholesome state of things , the United States Bank organ has now , in behalf of the chartered monopolists , and in the face of this great Nation , threatened the people with violence and revolution . Will they dare the experiment of physical coercion ? If so , we hope they will soon commence operations , for by this means a speedy termination of their chartered robberies will be effected . "We call upon the public to note this insolence , and to prepare to repel and punish it . The very first forcible attempt on the part of this would-be paper sovereignty to carry its puny threats into execution , forever seals its fate , by rousing irom their lethargy —We—The People . "

      The people of America stand on a vantage ground in the combat with the universal enemy , towards the attainment of which all our energies must be unceasingly directed . "We mean Universal Suffrage , the only fair ground on which the battle of freedom can be fought . Let the knowledge then that even with this advantage , the Americans find the "beast " a hard foe to grapple with , stimulate every working man of Britain to merge all minor considerations in the great effort now making ; and never , we hope , to cease or slacken till the parent country shall be able proudly touplift her head beside the daughter without consciousness of inferiority .

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      —^^ - TO THE EDITORS OF THE NORTHERN STAR . London , August 8 th , 1838 . . My Deab Sirs , —Being aware that the great Birmingham meeting and Sir . Oastler ' s letter will necessarily occupy no small share of your next paper , I should not claim your usual indulgence this week , but that I deem it necessary to fix your readers' attention on what occurred last night in the House of Commons on the bringing up of the

      Report of the Poor Law Committee . I wish also to say a word or two on tbe Grand Midland Demonstration of Holloway-head , and of another very opposite kind of demonstration , which is at this moment , taking place in Maidstone , before Lord Denman . I allude , of course , to the trial of the unfortunate victims of Dr . Poore's bloody-minded instruction to the military— to take Coubtenay dead or alive . ' "

      First , with respect to the Poor Law Committee . If ever a public man deserved public gratitude , Mr . Fielden deserves the plenitude of it for his manly and noble conduct last night . Do , gentlemen , if you possibly can , make room for his masterly exposure of that ^ rascally Committee ' s rascally ^ Rep ort . " Fearing you may not have space for it I shall briefly state some of its leading features . ' Let your readers mark , learn , and inwardly digest them , and then say whether a Heport , got up under guch infamous circumstances ought to have any more weight with the Country then the "Not Guilty" plea of an Old Bailey thief has with the Judge and Jury of that Court . On Mr . P . Scbope bringing up the Report ,

      " Mr . F 1 BLDEN said , lie couia not let this report eb brought np without saying a few words as to the manner in which the committee had conducted the investigation , and upon that document which wan the result of it . His proposition was , that the committee should examine those whom nobody could doubt were the best witnesses—the labouring people and the ratepayers . He proposed , at the first meeting of the committee , that they should procure certain returns from thoseUnions in which the rates had been reduced fifty per cent . Thia -was obiected to , on the ground that the returns would be too elaborate and too difficult to procure . He then proposed that they should take those Unions in which the reductions had been sixty per cent ; , and the first

      tbree on the Ust of this description being Ampthill , Bedford , and Woburn , the committee ordered the returns from those Unions . He ( Mr . Fielden ) sent two men down into Bedfordshire , to maie inquiries as to the condition of the people -whom the Teturna showed to be deprived of parochial relief ¦ under the new law ; and he was in hopes that the committeei would have gone into a full examination of the rate payers and labourers of those Unions , as well as into the examination of Commissioners , Guardians , and Officers of the new law . But he had been grievously disappointed . The House would tiad by looking at the evidence , that the committee had been engaged no less than thirty-six davs and a half in examining Commissionere and Guardians . Indeed , the Commissioners alone had taken twenty davs oni of the nftv-twn rlava fh *» - tK »

      whole examination had taken up . Four days had been allotted to the medical inquiry , leaving ten and a half days for the examination of witnesses against the law ; and this , notwithstanding nearly half a ¦ million of persons had petitioned , against it , stating their reasons . The Commissioners , ana the Guardians too , were persons actually upon then- trial . They were persons who had been complained of ; ana the committee was originally appointed for the purpose of ascertaining whether those complaints were just . Would the House be satisfied , would the country be satisfied that this committee had conducted an impartialexamination . ' when it was found that thirty-six days and a half out of fifty-two th triaY ^ ° * ° examlnatl ° n of persons , who were on

      When a man deals , like Mr . Fielden , in sober facts , and not rhetorical flourishes or trumpery declamation , it is superflous to cemment on his statements . They speak too plainly for themselves . No person who reads this extract can fail to see that the Committee ' s examination was a most foul and one-sided affair . Instead of ; allotting thirty-six and a half days out of fifty-two to the examination of Commissioners and Guardians these parties ought not to have been examined at all .

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      They were , as Mr . Fielden justly observes , on their trial , so that their proper placej if brought into Court at all , was the dock and not the witnessbox . Their evidence is therefore no more admissible in foro conscientiwy than would be that of Dr . Poore and the Officers in resnect of the Bosenden Wood Massacre of which they were the perpetrators . I ^ sa y in fore \ conscientioe , for though law and conscience ought always to go band in hand , it is unfortunately , but too notorious that they have long since been divorced in this ( as Old Glory calls it , )

      " favoured land . " The proper parties to be examined before the Poor Law Committee were the ratepayers on the one hand , and the immured paupers , on the other . The rate-payers have aright to see that their funds are not improperly lavished upon either Commissioners orpaupers . The paupers have a right to good substantial food , good clothing , good beds , good air , and all the decent comforts compatible with their situation . The Commissioners and Guardians are appointed by the public to see justice done between these parties . Instead of causing

      justice to be done , they have provoked the complaints of both parties by ; their injustice . To ascertain whether these complaints were just was the object of the Committee . The Committee was therefore a sort of tribunal or court sitting in judgment on the Commissioners and Guardians . If the latter had exercised ' their functions in such a way as to give satisfaction to both rate-payers and paupers , they could not fail to have witnesses in their favour from both . If they bad benefited either at the expense of the other ,

      they were still sure to have the evidence of one side . If they had caused a just reduction or saving in the rates they were sure to have the rate-payers with them . If they had promoted the comforts of the poor , ( although to the detriment of the rate-payers , ) they were sure to have the poor with them . In any case but one they could not have failed to have witnesses enough in their favour . That one is the supposition that they had dealt improperly by both rate-payers and paupers . In such a case

      they could have no witnesses in their behalf but themselves and their minion-tools—the participators of their tyranny and malversations . Now it is precisely in this p li ght—in this odious and disreputable plight—that the Commissioners and Guardians must have found themselves . Since , in order to find a justification for their conduct , their patrons ( the Committee ) were obliged to mate

      them witnesses in their own cause , and thus , as it were , to found their verdict upon the evidence of the inculpated parties themselves ! What a trial and what a court ! In no other country than this could such a mockery of justice take place , i ^ report or verdict , got up under such circumstances , can be no other [ than a foul and impudent imposition on the public .

      But look to Mr . Fielden ' s other statements . I said in my letter last week , that the design of the New Poor Law Act was not so much to reduce rates , as to reduce wages . I said that if fully carried into effect ) it would reduce the latter , at least , sixpence a day , or three shillings a week ( on the average ) all over the kingdom ^ as it has already done in parts of Kent and Essex . Three shillings a week is £ 7 16 s . a year , and supposing only 4 , 000 , 000 persons to suffer such reduction , the total reduction would be upwards of £ 33 , 000 , 000 sterling

      per annum , besides the reduction in rates . Now what says Mr * Fielden . His facts do actually exceed my calculations , and this notwithstanding that the Act has not yet been half-executed . He has shown upon the authority of his opponents themselves—on that of a farmer named Overman , for instance , ( vice-chairman of the Ampthill board , ) whose evidence was intended to prove a rise in wages caused by the Act , that the very reverse has taken place in the Ampthill Union . He has shown that instead of wages having risen in that Union , ( as Mr . Overman pretended before the Committee , ) they have actually fallen from 25 to 37 $ per cent ., measured in wheat or food . Overman pretended

      that wages had risen , because in 1834 he bad given only £ 775 13 s . 4 d . in wages , whereas he had , in 1837 aad 1838 , given £ 869 14 s . But Overman wished the fact to be overlooked , that in the ; former ease he had employed only thirteen boys and twenty men , whereas , in the latter years , he had employed twenty-six men and eleven boys . This made a difference of just eleven-pence a week , ( against the New Poor Law Act , ) measured in money . And then there was the price of wheat which Overman had also overlooked . This brought the difference to what I have stated , namely to between 25 and 37 £ per cent , of reduction on the wages of 1834 . But hear Mr . Fielden bimself . His statement shows

      the infamous manner in which Committees get up reports to gull the public . "As Mr . Overman and his table -were cited in the report as the proof of an advance in wages , he ( Mr . Kielaen ) proposed an amendment to that part of the report , which he would read to tho House . It was as IoIIowa : — ' That so far from the real interests of oil clashes having been consulted by the Administration of the Poor Law Amendment Act , as expressed in page twenty-five of this report , the interests . of the poor have suffered by the withdrawal of relief and the reduction of wanes , as appears bv the evidence ( 15 . 305 . 15 . 318 .

      15 , 361 , Geeley ; and 16 , 4 / 2 , and 16 , 474 , Rawson ; and 14 , 345 , 14 , 349 ; 14 , 335 , 14 , 354 , 14 , 370 , 14 , 479 , and 14 , 480 , Overman ) . The statement of weekly wages paid for farm , labour during four years by Mr . T ,. W . Overman , accompanied by the list of labourers in his employment , from July , 1834 , to July , 1835 , and from July , 1837 , to July , 1638 , in the former of which years he had twenty men and thirteen boys , and in the latter twenty-six men and eleven boys , shows the following result . In this calculation 5 a . per week only are allowed for . the boys in both years , although M £ Overman , inhis evidence , ( 14 , 378 ) says boys ' wages had been advanced .

      1834 and 1835 . j £ . s . d . Thirteen boys , each 52 weeks , or £ 76 weeks for one boy , at 5 s ....... 169 0 0 Twenty men , each 52 weeks , or 1 , 040 weeks for one man , at lls . 8 d ...... 605 13 4 £ 775 13 A Amount paid , as per Mr . Overman ' s statement j £ 775 6 1 1837 and 1838 , . £ . s . d Eleven boys , each 52 weeks , or 572 weeks for one boy . at 58 .............................. 143 0 0 Twenty-six men * each 52 weeks , or 1 , 352 weeks forioneman , atlOs . 9 d 72614 0 - ^ " 869 14 0 Amount paid as per Mr . Overman ' s statement . ; ......... > tf 870 8 0 A reduction of labourers' wages in-money , of from lls . fed . per week , in 1834-5 , to 10 s . 9 d . per week in 1837-8 , or eight per cent ., is thus shown by Mr . Overman's statement ; and lls . 8 d . would buy the labourer 129 J pints of wheat , at the average price of wheat per quarter , ( 46 s . 2 d . ) during the year 1834 ; whereas ; 10 a . 9 d . would purchase him only 99 pints of wheat at the average price ( 5 $ s . 9 d . ) during the year 1837 , being a decline in his command over wheat of 25 per cent ., and , taking wheat at the average price of the week ending 5 th

      of July last , his command over wheat then , as compared with 1834 , is reduced 37 J per cent , arid . this has been goincon under the operation of the ; New Eoor . law ^ notwithstanding Mr , Overman stated in his evidence that there is . an increased demand for labour ( 14 , 336 and 14 , 337 ) , no scarcity of work ( 14 , 132 and 14 , 467 ) , that wages have been advanced and the men do more work , ( 14 , 183 , 14 , 185 , and li , 209 ) and that farming has not been so prosperous for many years as in 1837 ( 14 , 507 ) . ' He had moved this resolution , when complaining in the committee of the whole report , and he asked whether he had not a right to complain of such a delusive statement being sent forth to the country as that which he had just pointed Out . "

      Mr . Field en ' s speech abounds in well-authenticated facts , all tending to confirm the conclusions warranted by the foregoing extracts . For instance , Mi . Raw SON , a manufacturer , at Leicester , proved Xl That wages had been reduced one-third since the New Law came into operation , and he apprehended a continued reduction . " Again Mr . Ceeley , a surgeon from Aylesbury ( " whose evidence '' says Mr . F ., "is well worthy of being read , " ) proved that a similar result had followed from the act in his

      neighbourhood . Mr . F . himself offered to prove that " . good , honest , and industrious labourers , with their families , were now living upon threepence a-day per head , "—partly , if not mainly in consequence of the act . Even Assistant Comnnssioriers themselves had given evidence to the effect that in Somerset , Gloucester , and Worcester , the wages of agricultural labourers did not average more than Is , 5 d . per head for themselves and families since

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      —¦ —^^— - the Act came into force . But it is needles ? to multiply examples . Let one more shdrt extract speak for all . " He" ( Mr . Fielden)—had received letters from all parts of the country , from so far west as Barnstaple , and so far east as Norwich , from Carlisle , and from many places in the interior of the country , ; addressed- " .-to him by magistrates , clergymen , guardians of hoards , and by tradesmen , all complaining of the operation of this law , and all stating it to hiave the effects which he had anticipated with dread , and which he bad often stated to the house . " Now , Gentlemen , was I right , er was I wrong when I said that if this act were fully

      '' carried out , " it would confiscate the property of labourers to the amount of at least thirty millions annually—in other words then ifc would rob the work people of more than £ 30 , 00 d j 00 d sterling every year , to be transferred into the pockets of landlords and profit mongers , that is to say , into the pockets of the represented , at the expense of the unrepresented . And have our legislators any right to enforce such a law ? Have they a right to ' legislate our money into their own pockets , and to call us " seditious , " violent , " "disturbers of law and order " and so forth , for resisting them ? Would our rulers suffer themselves to be robbed

      with impunity ? No !—they would resist it to the death . Well , let us go and do likewise . Let us do to the best of our ability , what our rulers themselves would do , if placed by us in similar circumstances . Let us resist the law by every possible means consistent with the safety of the people , which is the supreme law . £ 30 , 01 ) 0 , 000 a-year is no

      trifle . It is just three times the entire rental of Ireland ! If we resist the law , with success , we shall have saved in ten years what would more than purchase the fee-simple interest of all the landed property in Ireland . If we do not , we shall have lost as much by the expiration of that time . Surely this is worth struggling for . But no more , till we hear what Oastler has to say on the matter .

      The London Radicals are very anxious , to see your account of the Great Birmingham Meeting . The London papers , I need not tell you , have either altogether Burked , or shamefully travestied and vilified it . The Advertiser had a report of it , on the following . day , ( Tuesday , ) but the Teport was a very indifferent one , —a circumstance , perhaps , owing to the unavoidable haste in which it was got up . The Chronicle \ s ( of the same day ) was shortened , but better than the Advertizeds . It did not , like the latter , make most of the speakers , talk broken

      metaphors and rank nonsense . Most of the evening papers abridged their accounts from the Chronicle ' s ; but , with the exception of the Sun , they all threw dirt and odium on the " demonstration . " The Globe in particular distinguished itself in this way . Such a farrago of contradictory , and , in some parts , unintelligible stuff as the " ball of dirt * " let fly on the occasion , it would be vain to look for out of its own columns . It was also rich in bad grammar

      but that is no novelty in the Globe . The Timcs's account ( which did not appear till this morning ) is thus introduced— " This account reached us yesterday morning , but we did not think it worth the while to stop the press for such a mass of outrageous Radicalism . " After such an introduction , your readers may guess the sort of report furnished by what was once the great trumpeter of " Brummagem" politics in the palmy days of Whiggery . and Newhall hill . We are all anxious for your report .

      With respect to what is going on at Maidstdne , I have only room to say that Lord Denjian delivered an infamous charge to the Grand Jury yesterday ^ . According to that charge , the friends of CovRTENAY are murderers , —and the New Poor Law Act is " a law which tends so signally to the alleviation of ( he distresses , and extends ' relief so

      largely to the poorer and more unfortunate classes of society y that— " &c . &c . &c . What may we expect after that ? Most probably the accused will be found guilty of murder , with a recommendation of mercy from the jury ; and the Whigs , to show their merciful bearings , will commute the sentence to transportation for life . Yours , &c . BRONTERRE . Cobbett ' s old name for the Globe . '

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      Barnsley . —Mr . Hill will have great pleasure m meeting his friends at Barnsley , on the 21 st inst . Mr . Wiley has had all the Portraits due . Mr . Dean must apply to him for them . Working-Men ' s Association Sutton in Ashfield . — Their letter shall be handed to Mr . O'Connor on his return to Leeds . Morian . — We are sorry we omitted to notice this communication last week . We have had an article prepared on the subject to which it refers some time , but could not find room for its insertion .

      Mr . Darken ' s Portraits of Andrew Marvel were forwarded to Mr . Hetherington . . . Wm . Marshall . — This letter was overlooked last week . Its ; subject is now stale . George Simpson , Blackburn . —We are astonished at Mr . Simpson ' s behaviour . We received a letter from him , requesting his account to be sent , which was attended to : we have also sent another letter to him , both of which letters have been returned to our office refused . Mr . Sinipson will oblige its by ¦« emitting the amount due to the office immediately . A few Democrats . — We thank them for their good

      opinion . Our columns are so constantly filled with sentiments precisely similar to those in their address , that they must excuse our inserting it . As for the fellow and the church 'tis a very ordinary case—one which will constantly recur Until the people get sense enough to throw all such fellows overboard and work for themselves . General Meeting . — We have received a letter from the Working Men ' s Association at Middleton ^ stating their cordial approbation of the project agreed toon the 14 th at Unsworth , for a general

      meeting of the surrounding townships . To the Oastler Committee . —Fromyou , or from some friend in Huddersfield , I have received a circular ^ being a copy of an address published iii the Northern Star , respecting a proposed National Subscription for that friend of the people—that father of the oppressed , Richard Oastler . I have only to say , that so far as the services of a working man can be of use , the friends of the " oldfashioned Tory" way , inthis great act of national justice , rely upon the heaity exertions of their democratic friend , GEORGE JULIAN HARNEY .

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      HSED 8 ' Pocket Picking . — On Monday , -Eliz , Monro , waa brought up at the Court House , charged with having , on Saturday nighV picked the pocket of William Wray of 4 s . 6 d ., at a lodging-house in the Boot and Shoe Yard , in Kirkgate , Leeds ; She was apprehended shortly afterwards with a similar amount and description of coin in her possession . She was committed for trial to the Wakeheia House of Correction .

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      Hand-loom Weayebs' . Commission .- ~ The Commissioners pf enquiry relative to the ^ condition of the luuttd-loom weavers opened their Court on Tuesday morning' last , but in consequence , of there being no parties present to give evidence ^ the Court was adjourned to six o ' clock on the same evening . The ( Commissioners , proceeded with their : enquiries on Wednesday , and again at six o ' clock on Thursday evening ; Nothing , however , of much importance has been further elicited , while all the evidence tends to depict the miserably distressed condition of the poor Hand Loom Weavers .

      Meeting of B ^ EEBSELiiEiis . — On Thursday evening last , a meeting of the Beersellers , residing in Leeds , j ^ as held at the Public Hally for the j > urpose of petitioning parliament against the New Beer Bill of Lord Brougham . Business commenced at about ; eight o ' clock . There was a very good attendance ; the number of beersellers present would he from eighty tdr one hundred . Mr . Itoystpn was unanimously called to the chair . He introduced tiebusiness by stating the objects of the meeting , and poke of the partiality of Government in protecting the Licensed Victuallers and oppressing the beersellers . Mr . Rogers , the ; secretary of the societ y , in moving the first resolution , read a

      communication which he had received from London , stating that a deputation of beersellers had waited upon Lord Melbourne and the Chancellor of the Exchequer , to ascertain their opinion of the probable success of Lord Brougham ' s Bill } and that that opinion was decidedly favourable to the interests of the beersellers . It also intimated that a number of delegates of the licensed victuallers had been in London for a considerable time , and were using their utmost influence with several members of parliament to prejudice their minds against the beersellers . After he had finished the reading of the letter , Mr . Rogers : adverted to the necessity of the beersellers being sufficiently awake to their own

      interests , reminding them that the opponents with whom they had to contend were those whose interests were at stake . He expressed his surprise at the conduct of Lord Brougham in introducing this bill , and was still more astonished that the Duke of Wellington should have promised his support to that measure , a promise by which he had virtually bastardized the child of his own creation . ( Hear , hear . ) Though , during the present session , nothing of importance might be done in this question , it was almost certain that early in the ensuing session a deadly blow would be struck at the interests , of the beersellers . Knowing this , it would depend entirely upon the exertions of the beersellers themselves ,

      whether they stood or fell . If the question were regarded in another point of view , he might : statej during the year 183 7 , , 000 licenses" were taken out . The beersellers who took out these licences , with the brewers which they would create , would amount to about 50 , 000 persons who had embarked more or less property in the trade . Some had invested their hundreds , some their fifties , and some twenties , of pounds ; and taking the average amount of money invested by each at £ 40 , there would thus be a destruction of" property to the amount of £ 2 , 000 , 000 ,, all of which had been invested on the faith of an Act of the Legislature . But this was nbt all ; many persons depended for their maintenance entirely from : tke profits of the trade ; and supposing this Bill to

      pass , it would , taking the children of the 45 , 000 persons into the account , deprive about 200 , 000 persons of the means of obtaining a livelihood , and might probably reduce them to a state of beggary and starvation . ( Hear , hear . ) These reasons , he thought , were amply sufficient to induce not only himself but all beersellers to support the resolution which he had risen to move . Several others of the trade addressed the meeting , ( which we should have before observed was entirely composed of beersellers , ) rebutting the charge so unjustly urged against them , that all the crime committed in the land originates in the beerhouses , and earnestly recommending all interested in the business to be united for the proteciion of their own interests . After the addresses were

      finished , the Secretary intimated that there had beea a Beersellers' Society formed for the mutual protection of each other against common informeis , &c ., and that by paying Is . entrance , and Id . per week , they might always have funds for the engagement of an attorney when any of them were charged with an infraction of the law . It was announced that the weekly meetings of the Society were held every Thursday evening , at the Victoria Tavern , North Town End , and all the beersellers were earnestly invited to become members of the Society . Business being ended , a vote of thanks was given to the Chairman , and the meeting separated .

      Foot Race . —Wax v . Ink . —On Monday last , a foot race of 150 yards , for £ 25 a-side took pl 3 . ee near Haigh park Race Course , on the Poritefract Road , between John Hodgson , shoemaker , of Shef . field , and Benjamin Clarkson , copper-plate-printer , of Leeds . The former took the lead in fine style , and frequently beckoned of his opponent , to come forward . " He beat his companion with ease from ten to fifteen yards . Several wagers of 5 to 1 were bet upon the Sheffield man . The race was first intended to be run on the Huddersfield road ; but owing to some delay occasioned by some of . p arties , the competitors were prevented from trying their swiftness , by six policemen who came up , while the preparations were being made , and ordered them off the ground . We have not heard what reason was assigned for this interference . ,

      Coach Accident . —Adjourned Inquest at Lofthouse Gate . —On Saturday last , the inquest touching the death of Mrs . Morallee , the lady who lost her life by the overturning ofthe Leeds and London Courier coach , was resumed , when the following additional evidence was placed before the jury . Mr . Barr , solicitor , of Leeds , attended on behalf of the proprietors of the Courier , and called witnesses to prove . that it was not a common practice to lock coaches , for the purpose of descending Lofthouse Hill , and that Rowell , the coachman of the Courier , had done all he possibly could to avoid the catastrophe which unfortunately occurred ; the only chance of safety being to pass the Express at

      all risks . Our readers will easily perceive where the evidence commences . Mr . Brown , of the firm of Harrison and Brown , solicitors , Wakefield , appeared to watch the proceedings on behalf of Mr . Morallee , the husband of the deceased lady . The evidence coHcluded about six o ' clock in the evening Mr . Lee then remarked that it appeared quite ; clear that the deceased came to her end by the overturning of the Courier coach , but they would have to take into consideration whether that accident had occurred in consequence of an opposition between the two coaches . If they believed that the Courier had been overturned in consequence of the Express designedly pulling up to retard-its progress , it would

      be their duty to find a verdict of wilful murder against the coachman of the Express , but if the Courier had been , overturned by racing or ; carele& driving , then they wwild have to find a verdict of manslaughter against Michael Rowell , the coachman of the Courier . Mr . Lee concluded by observr ing that the proprietors could only be punished by deodand or forfeiture , and commenting on the dangerous practice of racing , and the duty of proprietors to find careful drivers , &c . The Jury consultedfor about three quarters of an hour , and then returned a verdict of manslaughter against Michael Rowell , the Courier coachman , with a deodand of £ 50 upon the coach , and £ 50 upon the horses and ¦ harness .

      Sermons . —On Sunday last , two Sermons were preached in the Primitive Methodist preaching rooO , Bottoms , near Tpdmorden , in the Knowlwood circuit , by the Rev . J . Featherstone , of WakeneW , and collections made amounting to £ 11 17 s . Od ., $ behalf of the Sunday School connected therewith . Boy Browned . —A boy , hetween four andfi « years of age , son of Mr . James Scholfield , JoMier , &c , of Todmorden , fell into the river Calder , « Todmorden , on Monday last , and was carried affitf by the current , and has not been heard of since-The youth had on at the time , frock and trowsers , made of grey cotton and worsted mixture . He wa 3 of light complexion , and had red hair . A rewaw of One Guinea is offered to any One finding the body . ¦¦'' .

      Northern Union—The members of the above Union held their weekly meeting on Motidaj evening , at Mr . Standing ' s , Temperance Coffee * house , and after the admission of several members and several resolutions being passedj and a generai plan of future operations being agreed to , the mem ' bers proceeded to discuss the question which .-ha * been adjourned from their former meeting nigWf viz : — " Will Universal Suffrage alone preeure for the working classes a better system of Government . " ' The discussion was kept up with mucli spirit until the hour of departure , when it was unanimously agreed , "that no system of Government can confer any lasting or permanent benefit on to aim

      people without also giving them a good morai _ political as well as relig ious education . ' It ™ intended to cause lectures and dissertations on tfif science of Government to be read from time to time . This society is in a flourishing condition , and is composed of that portion of working men who prefer the cultivation of their minds and the attainmen . of knowledge to the pot-house and jerry lords .

      The Noethemj Star. Satt7kbat, August 11, 1838.

      THE NOETHEMJ STAR . SATT 7 KBAT , AUGUST 11 , 1838 .

      To Eeadeks & Coeeespondents.

      TO EEADEKS & COEEESPONDENTS .

      Leeds And West-Riding News

      LEEDS AND WEST-RIDING NEWS

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      ¦ "¦ a ; . ' - ,.- ; .: ' ; ¦' . ¦ - . . . - . . ^ - : TffS ^ Np •^^ Jgy ^ tK ¦^¦ S ^^ , ; , ¦^ AuGys ^ ^

      Evert Lancashire Purchaser Of The ' Northern Star' Of This Day Will Be Presented With A Splendid P0rtbait

      EVERT LANCASHIRE PURCHASER of the ' NORTHERN STAR' Of this Day will be presented with a SPLENDID P 0 RTBAIT

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Aug. 11, 1838, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct353/page/4/