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Northern Star (1837-1852), 11th August 1838, Edition 3 of 3, Page 4, Untitled Article

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    • THE vff ' OiTHEfilf STAR. SATT3BDAT, AUGUST 11, 1«38.
    • T.EEDS AND WEST-RIDING NEWS
    • TO READERS & CORRESPONDENTS.
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      EVERY LANCASHIRE PURCHASER of the 'NORTHERN STAR' of this Day will be presented witb a SPLENDID POETEAIT ( FROM A STEEt PLATE , ) OF SIR W . MOLESWOKTH 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 . ;

      The Vff ' Oithefilf Star. Satt3bdat, August 11, 1«38.

      THE vff ' OiTHEfilf STAR . SATT 3 BDAT , AUGUST 11 , 1 « 38 .

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      trial and conyiction or the "WHIGS . ThS Sixth of A-ngnst will "be a day ever memor able in Europe , and its-effects will be long felt by all the nations of the « arth- The Sun . has much , very much , Emitedthe importance of the Meeting of the Sixth , byjdescribmg it as a . National Convention . There-were there , Poles , and Russians , and Germans , and Negroes , and Icrenehman ; Americans , Spaniards , and Italians ; all and each- 'hailing the

      sentiments as heralds of Universal Liberty- The Ottati ons of Europe know , and know full well , that the snew 3 of Englishmen , oririshmen , and of Scotchmen have "been Tnannfaetared into universal fetters Sox Liberty . England irorid tare crushed the genius of America . England has estabEshed the despotism ^ Trance . England has made the brave Tole a beggar at the English cottage . England is now layingthe foundation of tyranny in Canada , « Bnt < he $ laekne » of -sjihes-wiflinKkTrhere It stood , 1

      "VTMle-fhe inlS . mother-screams o ' er her famishing brood ;"; * and to those distant calamities which English policy > iaa caused , is the English mind directed . The eye is stretched , as it were , to countries far away , lest one down-cast look at domestic suffering should fire the native breast to madness . The "fames avrf { thirst for gold ) of the British speculator , has established a Iranian flesh marketin every conn try throughout the would . Tour years since vre paid twenty mDlions at the Indian stall , for black ealtle , we bought the flock ; and this year we paid one million

      io the Irish butchers . £ 20 , 000 , 090 for the black fioek , and £ 1 , 000 , 000 for the white shepherds . To the three domestic 'butchers and their slaughter-house men we hare paid more than £ 100 , 000 , while the pacifying policy , of starving Irishmen , into submission , has cost the nation , since the passing of the Uefonn Bill , more tkan five millions annually . There is a side sate of the national eight hundred

      million , toll-baT an every port in Europe , and the object of Monday ' s meeting was to take the toll off lEneliih labour , ana place what must remain on English -idleness , on the barren surface of the soil , and not upon the hands that produce , or the stomachs that consume , thereby giving value to the soil . " We nave 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

      Jrom tannting our newly adopted brethren with timidity or procrastination , we now feel convinced of the soundness of their policy , and the wisdom of their delay . Had the men of Birmingham 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 out of the best materialsihe test to which , in a state of probation , the Hichmonds , Staxxxts , BuorGHAMs , and Grahams had necessarily to be subjected—the assimilating of opinions , and dovetailing of measures , "sreremattersto-beadjusted , before a Reforming Ministry could be said really to exist . These preliminaries lave been now gone through , and upon Monday last , an Administration , said to be composed of the recognized leaders of "Whig opinion , was jut upon trial The people of- Birmingham lad been mainly instrumental in procuring for them that trial , and , therefore , a 3 just

      and upright jndees , they were "booed to give them a Jair trial . They wisely acted upon the consideration , that a longer period is required for the adjustment of a . nation ' s affairs , af ter years of abuse and neglect , than is required for the remodelling -or improvement of a family , or for the adjustment of the affairs of a small community . ^ The full time has been allowed , and the jury , the ^ rhole jury returned an -unanimous verdict of GUILTY against the Whigs . The question was jut by Mr . O'CoxxoB , and no donht , with the intention of investing the "Cjuon with , an executive

      authority to carry into effect ihe verdict of that jnry which they empanneB ed . Upon the m en of Birminglam 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 vrhieh they required has "been cheerfully , unanimously , and promptly conferred upon them , but mark , not without that responsibility ¦ srhieh Mr . Mxrxxz well described a 3 constituting the difference between a responsible Government 2 nd an irresponsible despotism .

      The men of Birmingham have hitherto stood upon ¦ fhe household top , and have watched our little Universal Snfirzge bark tossed upon the troubled ¦ waters of agitatiea . The tainted gale of faction flriving it to the shoals , from which it has been saved iy ike steady Northern breese . The struggle for -three years nas l ? een such as few will now acknowledge , but the effects of which we feel at tbi 3 moment in every limb ; but " away with pouting and sadmess : " had we forfeited life itself , the price would laTe been far short of the value of Mondav ' s

      meeting . 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 " Household Suffrage , " and the brave , the virtuous , fhe unfiinching ' men of the Uforth were fighting for * Universal Suffrage , " we were as hostile and injurious 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 irnSch it was necessary to convince our

      hrefhren . We hare convinced them , and the result of our perseverance and resolution , has been manifested in the Union of the 6 th of - August . "What are fhe terms of that Union ? That we have conferred executive power upen the Birmingham TTnioa . That yre of the north shall support them frith . aH our heart , with , all our mind , and . with all cur strength . Pardoning every indiscretion , giving them the honour and the glory of every triumph , ¦ jrhile -we are sure of being participators in their every-rietarv . The Union destroys base ambition ,

      grmihila . tesjealousy , defies malice , courts censorship , and remo' ? e 3 suspicion . The Union is now the < joveniinei * t-of the eoimtryj " de jure et dc facto , " "W-e have joined the "Union , " hut we have not j oined for thejarpose of insidiouslv watching , and analieionBJy seizing upon an indiscretion as the signal of taant-or revolt "We shall not ,. perhaps , be quite so charitaH ^ as Sis Union has heen to the Whigs ; lutye ± we kh&H « ake allowance &r every frailty io whiehi&e $ iiishek . _ Constituted as the Council is , ¦ we fear no charge of _ greaier enormity than that of indiscretien . "We are now as one man . Attwood

      -tnd Fields are colleagues . Watson , Muxtz , . Aasox , Botjglas , Haslet , Edmt / xds , and Salt , with tEsir forty-three . associates , are invested ¦ with executive power . It is well and judiciously Tested . Nothing "but jealoulfe ambition , or treason , can weaken us ; and cnrsecPBe . the fiend , " -who shall not rather bro « 3 silently over his Individual suspicions , than by publishing them disunite us . Our strength is in our union—our power in our voice , and oar success in our perseverance . According to natural impressions —to the artificial construction of society—ib the rnls upon which Governments" exist , and to the terms of the areat moral compact , for the

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      furtherance of which man surrendered a portion of his natural rights , in order that he may the more fully and the more freely enjoy those which society sanctioned for mutual benefits ; as squariag with all such considerations , we give the following as our opinion . - —Henceforth , inasmuch as the people prefer an hereditary monarchy , with a republican , or universal power of controul , 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 Censtitation , and though bayonets and corruption may ^ for a season , hold it in allegiance , yet let the people be assured that tile will of an united people will , e ' er long , become the law of the 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 had 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 TecoUection of the past . In the fulfilment of the national object will be found justice for Ireland—Justice for England—evenhanded unsparing Justice for all .

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      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 hare 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 SA 3 ISOX pull down the house over their heads as well as his own . If the Whies love

      destruction , let them have it , and welcome ; hut , in God's name , let the people be careful not to be involved in it . Cool resolution , and united exertion ¦ will do all they wish . Tiolence will only retard , and perhaps ultimately defeat , the accomplishment of their own object .

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      STATE OF CANADA . The following description of the present state and prospect of Canada is from a Ministerial paper , poblisked in Toronto , received at our office during the present week . Emigration from this Province to the United States still continues , notir itbstanding 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 the 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 as 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 Hien srno haTe been born 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 the U . S ., "because they 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 carr ied 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 for 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 spir it 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 furrish 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 country .

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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 st ill progresses , though with , an air of desperation on the part of the moneycrats , that shews in beautiful relief the advantage of the Americans overu 3 , 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 spirit of the extracts which we gave from the same paper a fortnight ago : —

      "The Questions at issue , are , Whether the presidents , directors , and stockholders ofincorporated companies , together with their lawyers , debtors , and dependants , comprising a fevr thousand persons , shall tax , govern , and control as many miilion .- » -af 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 hatred of these monopolists to a constitution . Henee their constant false clamor made

      against our Government and its administration , for its efforts to keep the Government and banks separate . And henee we see in the United States Gazette , of the 30 th June , 1838 , ( one of the official organs of the United States Bani of Pennsylvania , and great head of the paper money party , in our country , ) the most insolent threap against the President of the United States , forcibly to thrust him from the office to which the people elected him , should he dare to exercise the power placed in his hands by the constitution , by resisting any bill which those rag barons may hereafter oe afcle to carry through congress . ¦

      We now call the attention of the producing classes of this great nation , to the daring and insulting nature of this threat . This attempt to intimidate the chief magistrate of our conntry , and deter him from a conscientious discharge of duty ! A ^ uty , the discharge of which may be required of him to protect fhe great "body of the people against the

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

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      paper scheme . Do you believe that you ; can overturn this Government by force and Tiolence , and establish one in its stead , where the great mass of the people would have no voice , and by which you could issue irredeemable paper at pleasure , and compel the producing and labouring classes to receive such paper for their products ? Or do you merely expect to frighten 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 under such ' fair business transactions / and procuring charters ; then gamble in the stocks , raise the price by puffing and « ham sales , and then sell ; reduce the 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 only 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 , so you had better not try fighting . As to frightening the President from the performance 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 resistance and retaliation .

      But of what do those chartered monopolists complain ? What has led to this daring and insolent threatening ? Why , nothing more than this , that the people who ought' to and shall govern this country want to collect 3 nd 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 hankers , 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 nine 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 between 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 banks , 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 iniolence , 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 to uplift her head beside the daughter -without consciousness of inferiority .

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      . m — TO THE EDITORS OK THE NORTHERN STAR . London , August 8 th , 1838 . Mr Dear Sirs , —Being aware thut the great Birmingham meeting and Mr . Oastleu ' 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 the 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 . Poorb ' S bloody-minded instruction to the military— " to take Courtenay 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 " Report . " 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 Report , got up under such 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 . Scrope bringing up the Report , .

      "Mr . FIELDEN said , he could not let this report eb brought up without saying a few words as to the manner in which the committee had conducted tha investigation , and upon that document which was 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 , snould procure certain returns from thoBeUnions in which the rates had been reduced fifty per cent . This was objected to , on the ground that the returns would be too elaborate and too difficult to procure . He thea proposed-that they Bhould take those "Unions hi which the reductions had heen sixty per cent ., and the first

      three on the list of this description being Ampthiu , Bedford , and Wobura , the committee ordered the returns from those Unions . He ( Mr . Fielden ) sent two men down into Bedfordshire , to make inquiries as to the condition of the people whom the returns showed to be deprived of parochial reueP undeTthe new law ; and he was in hopes that the committee would have gone into a full examination of the ratepayers and ' labourers of those Unions , as well as into the examination of Commissioners , Guardians , and Officers - of the new law . But he had been grievonsly disappointed . The House would find by looking at the evidence , that the committee' had been engaged no less than thirty-six days and a half in examining Commissioners and Guardians . Indeed , the Commissioner * the

      alone had taken twenty days oj ^ of fifty-two days that the whole examination had taktBbp . Four days had been allotted to the medical inqniry ^ Teaving ten and a half days for the examination of witnesses against the law ; and thu notwithstanding nearly half a million of _ persons had petitioned against it , stating their reasons . The Commissioners , and the- Guardians too , were persons actually upon their trial . They were persons -who had been complained of ; ana the committee was or iginall y appointed for the purpose v ^ erta i"i ng whether thos e complain t 8 were just . ; Would the House be satisfied , would the country be satisfied , that mis committee had conducted an impartial examination , when it was found that thirty-six days and a half out of fifty-two nad been allotted to the examination of persons who were on their trial ?"

      When a man deals , like Mr . Fielden , in sober facts , and not rhetorical flourishes or trumperv declamation , it is superflous to eemmeut 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 allottine thirty-six and a half days out of fifty-two to the examination of Commissioners and Guardians these patties ought not to have been examined at all .

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      They were , as Mr . FieldEn justiy observes , o « their trial , so that their proper place , if brought into Court at all , was the dock and hot the ¦ witnessbox . Their evidence is therefore no more admissible in foro conscientio !) than 'frould be t $ at of Dr . Poqbe and the Officers in respect of the Boseuden ¦ Wood Massacre of which they were the perpetrators . I say m foro conscjen < i " ce , for though law and conscience ought always to go hand 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

      rate' payers 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 or paupers . The paupers have a right to good substantial food , goodclothing good beds , good aii , and all the decent comforts compatible with their situation . The Commissioners and Guardians are appointed by thepublic to see justice done between ¦ ¦ these ; parties . Instead of causing justice to bedone , 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 wayastogive satisfaction to both rate-payers and paupers , they could not fail to have witnesses in their favour from both . If they had benefitted 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 plight—in this odious and I 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 make them witnesses in their own cause , and thus ,, as it were , tofoand 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 . A report or verdict , got up under such circumstances , can be no other jthan 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 « o 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 , a . s 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 heen 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 1 S 34 he had given only £ 77 o 13 s . 4 d . in wages , whereas he had , 1337 and 1838 , given £ 8 G 9 14 s . But Overman wished the fact to be overlooked , that in the former case he had employed only thirteen boys and twenty men , whereas , in the latter years , he had employed twenty-six men and eleven boy * . 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 himself . 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 . Kielden ) proposedan amendment to that part ol the report , which he would read to the House . It was aa follows : —' That so far from the real interests of all classes haying been , consulted by the Administration of the Poot Law Amendment Actj as expressed in page twenty-five of ' Qua . report , the interests of the poor have suffered by the withdrawal of relief and the reduction of wagea , as appears by the evidence ( 15 , 305 , 15 , 318 , 15 , 361 , Ceeley ; and 16 , ij 2 , and 16 , 474 , Raw-son ; 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 Air . T . W ; : 0 verman , accompanied by the list of labourers in his ftmployment , from . July , 1834 , to July , 1835 , and from July , 1837 , to July , 1838 , in the former of which years he had ' twenty men and thirteen boys , and in . the latter twenty-six-men ana eleven boys , shows the following result . In this calculation 5 s . per week only are allowed for . the boys in both years , although Mr » Overman , inhis evidence , ( 14 , 378 ) says boys ' wages had been advanced . 1834 and 1835 . £ . a . d . Thirteen boys , each 52 weelf 8 , or C 76 weeks for one boy , at 5 a .......................... 169 0 0 Twenty men , each 52 weeksj or 1 , 040 weeks for oneman , at 11 s . 8 d ......................... 606 13 4 » ^ 775 13 4 Amount paid , as per Mir . Overman's statement - j £ " 775 6 1 1837 and 1838 . uf . s . a Eleven boys , each 52 weeks , or 572 weeks for one boy . at 5 s .. ^ ... ; ..... ,. 143 0 0 Twenty-six men , each 52 weeks , or 1 , 352 weeks for one man , at 10 s . 9 d ......., 726 14 0

      ^ " 869 0 Amount paid as per Mr . Overman ' s statement ^ 870 8 0 A reduction of labourers' wages in money , of from lls . 6 d . perweek , in 1834-5 , to 10 s , 0 d . per week in 1837 .-8 , or eight per cent ., Is thus aW *" by Mr . Overman's statement ; and lls . 8 d . would buy the labourer 129 } pints of wheat , at the average p rice of wheat per quarter , ( 46 s . 2 d >) during the year 1834 ; whereas , 10 s . 9 d . wouldpurchase hiin only 99 pints of wheat at the average price ( 55 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 Jtilv last , his command over wheat then , as compared

      withl § 34 , is reduced 37 J per cent ., and this has "been goins on under the operation of the New Poor Law , notwithstanding Mr . Oyerinan stated in his evidence that there is au increased demand for Labour ( 14 , 336 and 14 , 337 ) , no scarcity of work ( 14 , 132 and 14 , 467 ) , that , wagea have been advanced and the men . do more work , ( 14 , 183 , 14 , 185 , and 14 , 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 vrbjeh he had just pointed eat . "

      Mr . Fieloen's speech abounds in well-authenticated facts , all tending to confirm the conclusions warranted by the foregoing extracts . For instance , Mr . RaWSON , a manufacturer , at Leicester , proved " That wages hadVheen reduced one-tkird since the NeivLaw came into operation , and he apprehended a contimied reduction . " Again Mr . Ceeley , a surgeon from Aylesbury (" whose evidence" says Mr . F ., "is well "worthy of being lead , " ) 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 Commissioners

      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 forces But it is needless to multiply examples . Let one more short extract speak for all . " He" ( Mr . Fielben)—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 boards , and by tradesmen , all complainin ^ of the operation of this law , and all stating it to harc the effects which he had anticipated with dread , and which he had often stated to the house . " Now , Gentlemen , was I right , or was I wrong when I said that if this act were fully

      earned out , " it would confiscate the property of labourers to the amount of aji least thirty millions annually—in other words then it would rob the work people of more than £ 30 , 000 , 000 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 , " u violent , " u disturbers of law and order , " and so forth , for resisting them ? "Would our rulers suffer themselves to be rohbed

      with impunity ? No I—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 , 000 , 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 OaSTLeu 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 , of shamefully travestied and vilified it . The Advertizer had a report of it , on the following day , ( Tuesday , ) but the report was a very indifferent one , —a circumstance , perhaps , owing to the unavoidable haste in which it was got

      up . The Chroniclers ( of the same day ) was shortened , but better than the Advertiser ' s . 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 had grammar , but that is no novelty in the Globe . The Times ' 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 stick 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 Maidstone , I hare only room to say that Lord Denman delivered an infamous charge to the Grand Jury yesterday . According to that charge , the friends of COUHTENAY are murderers , —and . the New Poor Law Act is " a law which tends so signally to the alleviation of the distresses , arid extends relief so largely to the poorer and more unfortunate classes

      of society , that— " &c . &c . &e . 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 . BKONTERRE . • Cobbett's old name for the Globe .

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      Barnriley . —Mr . Hill -will have great pleasure in meeting his friends at Barnsley , on the 21 s / 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 .

      Wan . Marshall . —This letter was overlooked last week . Its subject is now stale . ' George Simpson , Blacteburn . — We are astonished at Mr . Simpsori ' s behaviour . We received , a , letter from him , requesting his account to be sent , vihich was attended to : we have also sent another letter to him , both of which letters have been returned to our office refused . Mr . Simpson will oblige us 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 to on the \ Uh at Unsworth , for a general meeting of the surrounding townships .

      To the Oastler Committee . —From you j or from some friend in Huddersjleld , I have received a circular , being a copy of an address published in 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" may , inthis great act of national jxistice , rely upon the hcaity exertions of their democratic friend , ¦ GEORGE JULIAN HARNEY , -

      T.Eeds And West-Riding News

      T . EEDS AND WEST-RIDING NEWS

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      Hand-loom Weavers' ' Commission ; - — The Corainissioners . o ' f enquiry relative to the condition , of the hand-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 oh the same evenings 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 Beersellers . MDn Thursday evening last , a meeting of the BeeraaDers , residing in Leeds , was held at the Public Sifiy for ' the purpose 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 be from eighty to one hundred ; Mr . Royston was unanimously called to the chair . ~ He introduced the business by stating the objects of the meeting , and poke of the partiality of Government in protecting the Licensed Victuallers and oppressing the beersellers . Mr . Rogerg , the secre tary of the society , 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 uiirig 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 theconduct 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 , 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 , be might state , during the year 1837 , 45 , 000 licenses were taken out . The beersellers who tqbk 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 ^ all of which had been invested on the faith of an Act of the Legislature . ; Buttbis was not 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 sufficieat to induce not only himself but all beersellers to support the resolution which he tad 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 ajl interested in the business to be united for the protection of their own interests . After the addresses were

      finished , the Secretary intimated that therehad been a Beersellers' Society formed for the mutual protection of each other against common informers , &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 Eace . — Wax v . Ink , —On Monday last , afoot race of 150 yards , for £ 25 a-side took place near Hajgh Park Race Course , on the Pontefract Road , between John Hodgson , shoemaker , of Sheffield , and Benjamin Clarksou , 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 companioa 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 Huddefsfield road ; but owing to some delay occasioned by some of the parties ? , 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 Inouest at Lofthouse Gate .-t-Oa Saturday last , the inquest touching the death of Mrs . Morallee , the lady who lost her life by the overturning of the 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 parpose of descending Lofthouse Hill , and that Kowell , 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 coacluded about six o ' clock ia 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 hare 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 again st the coachman of the Express , but if the Courier had been overturned , by racing or careless driving , then they would have to find a verdict of manslaughter against Michael Howell , the coachman , of the Courier . Mr . Lee concluded \> y observing 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 consulted for 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 ana

      harness . Sermons . —On Sunday last , two Sermons were preached in the Primitive Methodist preaching rooni r Bottoms , near Todmorden , in the Knowlwood circuit , by the Rev . J . Featherstone , of Wakefield , and collections made amounting to £ 11 17 s . Od ., in behalf of the Sunday School connected therewith . Boy Drown " ed . —A boy , between four and five years of age , son of Mr . James Scholfield ,. Joiner , &O ., of Todmorden , fell into the " river Calder , Todmorden , on Monday last , and was carried away by the current , and has riot been heard of since . The youth had on at the time , frock and trowsers , made of grey cotton and worsted mixture . He was of light complexion , and had red hair . A revf ard of One Guinea is offered to any one finding the body .

      Northern Union . —The members of the above Union held their weekly meeting on Monday evening , at Mr . Standing ' s , Temperance Coffeehouse , and after the admission of several members . and several resolutions being passed , and a general plan of future operations being agreed to , the members proceeded to discuss the question which had been adjourned from their ; former meeting night , viz : — : ¦ " Will Universal Suffrage alone prscure for the working classes a better system ' of Government . " The discussion was kept up with much spirit until the hour of departure , when it was unanimously agreed , " that no system of Government can confer any lasting or permanent benefit on : the people without also giving them a good moral and political as well as religious education . " It is intended to cause lectures and dissertations on the

      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 . attainment of knowledge to the pot-house and jerry lords .

      To Readers & Correspondents.

      TO READERS & CORRESPONDENTS .

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      IiEEPS . Pocket Picking . —On Monday , Eliz . Monro , was brought up at the Court House , charged with baring , on Saturday night , p icked 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 m her possession . She was committed for trial to the VVtkeneld House of Correction .

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      ' . . - ¦ . ' ¦ : ¦ .. '' .. - ' ¦ ' : ¦ " ¦ . "' - . ' . . W \ „ - ¦ ¦ . : . ' , ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦¦ 1 . . - . ¦ : . : ' . ' . ' ? ¦ , - . . . _ ¦ - _ . - . ¦ , ., . :: THX- :.: ^ ; ,. - / - ; .. ; ,. . ' ..: ,,, ;\ , ^; , :., : :: ^

  • 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-ncseproduct528/page/4/