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Northern Star (1837-1852), 19th November 1842, Edition 3 of 5, Page 4, Untitled Article

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    • THE JSORTHEBJS STAR. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1842.
    • TO THE READERS OF THE "NORTHERN STAR."
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      Untitled Article

      MB COOPER OF LEICESTER , tO THE EDITOR OF THE " NORTHERN STAR " 11 T dear Hill , —I-would hare written yoS yesterday , had I not found myself unable to write more , afkfr scribbling a brief letter to the SKW Star . You w ; ll dbli ^ e me by copying that letter into your own Star — for I am still bo languid and enfeebled as to feel -writing to be a task in lien of a pleasure . Cheerful conversation and the free air , will , in the coarse of a few days I tou = t , render me strong as ever , and able to open a vigorous campaign upon the grand snemy—to endure ¦ mil the . month of March places me , for a logger period , -within bolts and bars . I think that the chitf cause of my bodily feebleness has been the irksome night duties of the gaoL At this- time of the year , we

      were marched to our sleeping cells by a little after four , and were kept locked up till near seven in the HiorEiog . After the first eight or ten days of my confinement I eeased to take off my clothes at night—for my fl-ah and bones were so sore witk lying on the hard-stuffed straw pallet , tfctit I found it unendurable . I have , therefore , for the lai > t ten weeks , or nearly , slept in my clothesand only taken them off for about three minutes , at the sound of the morning bell , when I used to ifcrow niyaelf on ihe bed , strip myself to tie skin , and rub niyself briskly , from neck to ancles , so as to renew the circulation of the blood . I find , however , that this practice of sleeping in my clothes has injured my nervous system , and I think I would not practice it again even if I were constrained to lie upon the east iron bed-steal itself .

      Aly brave brigade hare evinced towards rae a degree of attachment during my separation frjm tbtra , -which really overpowers me ; and not the lea&t important share of their kindness was shewn in the truly sympathising m&Dner in which each and all hare striven to ebeer my dear little wife . And yet , what think you , my dear H ; ll ? my brigade actually tell me lint my little wife has all al « ng shewn herself posst&std of a fctouter kejtrt than any man sf them all ! This is a fact of some Talue to one who loeks for the renewal of his captivity , inf' -nr more months , with as much cetfcdnty as any Brent of life . Thank God , for such a' fact ! If separation , under suffering , can be borne so * bravely by tbos * who are dearest to us , who can repine at the prospect wf having , perhaps , twenty or thirty more mouths imprisonment in the cause of human right , and for the contest for universal humsn happiness ?

      And then , my dear Hill , when the moral effect of our slight and temporary suffering is regarded , which of « 3 can fail to stand at the bar a second time , without sn increase of fortitude—aye , even , of joy ? Why , ire are honoured—we are ennobled by this very process of being victimised , for truth is , by our unjust and tyrannical seizure , made more prevalent a thousandfold , than it could possibly be by our mere advocacy of fpeech or writing . At osr meeting in the Amphitheatre , on Monday night , resolutions were passed , with enthusiastic

      unanimity , expressive of gratitude towards all who have w > generously helped me in my late peril : —to my witnesses , myibail , my committee fc * defence , &t , it Suffice it to say that my bean joins in this expression of gratitude more fervently than words can tell . I must leave that to be told by the fidelity of my " future life to the great cause of the poor ' s rights and the poor ' s happiness . One thing I cannot forbear saying , —that I regard the fact of being bailed by the venerable Mr . Hames , &f Oundle , —a beloved patriot and philanthropist of eighty years of age , whom I have never yet » een . as on& of the greatest honours of my Jife .

      The gallant " Wtst , 1 learn , was equally honoured in fcbat the beloved and venerated " good priest , " Humpbxey Price becune his surety . I enclose you a lstterfrons the werthy clergyman , in answer to a vote of • tanks from my Shakspereans . Mr . Price gives permission for any public use to be made of this letter . I ¦ hsH take care to pay my personal respects to Mr . Hames , as soon as possible ; but I must spend some little time with my brigade before I visit other quarters Next Sunday I hope to deliver two addresses in the Shikroerean Rooms .

      I have the happiness to forward you , herewith , a money order for one sovereign , collected by my Shakspereana far poor exiled Ellis . Ah ! I have toucked a String there which vibrates too keenly for me to touch it aijiin now . Till neat week , my dear Hill , adieu . Yours , most affectionately , Thomas cooper . 11 . Chnrchgate , Leicester , Wednesday , Nov . 16 , 1842 .

      Untitled Article

      TO THE READERS OF THE "ENGLISH CHARTIST CIRCULAR , " AND THE FRIEXD 3 GENERALLY OF DEMOCRACY IN GREAT BRITAIN . In oar " Opening Address , " after defining the object sotuht te be attained by , and the circumstances that influenced us to venture upon , the establishment of tfee Circular , we thus expressed ourselves : — " Brethren , shall we hold our hands to you in vain ? IK > we rely too much upon the intelligence and spirit that a&hnates you ? Our experiment , from the very tmc price we have decided upon , is to us individually , a nibst hazardous one . Nothing short of a circulation far exceeding thai of any periodical in this' country , Will indemnify us against a loss . But rare are we that < holding fast to that which is true , ' success yritl be - orcmeniUTate with our most sanguine anticipation * . "

      Now , we dare affirm that we have so " held fast to that which is true , " we have devoted the Circular " * ofe > and oidy' to the advocacy of Chartism , and not to— " Doctrines fashioned te the varying hour . " Bm our once " sanguine anticipations" have not been realised . The Circular has hitherto been a failure . Under these , to us , depressing circumstances , we have but to select one of two alternatives—i . e ., to increase the retiil price of the Circular from one halfpenny io one pesay , or at once to let it be " numbered with the things that vert . "

      Mr . Cleaves own anxiety to preserve the Circular , as well a * bis belief that such an election "would be most acceptable to the Chartist public , has induced him this week to adopt the former . It mast , however , be explicitly understood , that this is but an experiment . A few weeks will suffice to give the plan " a fair trial ;" * t the termination of which we shall either be . necessitated to bid our friends " a sid farewell , " or have the gratification to announce that at length the Circular is established . "Utterly apart from all pecuniary considerations , the proprietor , an < i all connected with this periodical , have a strong interest in its continuance . Nor these alone . The whole ChcirtW public , we feel we can say , share with ihsm in the advantages derivable from an organ

      entirely devoted to their political principles ; and with them must rezretthat one supporter in the press shuuld fall , particularly at a juncture ever becoming more imminent and tpparent . At a time when the power , if not the justice , of the dominant faction has- been exerted to as extent unparalleled in the world ' s annals , in older to east odium even upon the very ¦ whisper of Ctartism—to link it with crime and shiRie—to brand it with infamy—and to visit it with punishments worthy to have been invented by fiends of hell—a poor puny Secretary of State is said to have sffinned , that he would " put dmrn Chartism alto ? e : fcer ; and shall the Chartists themse-xts— strong in the consciousness of rectitude , and proud-as the

      asserters of the God-like majesty of man—bend tamely to the behest of such a thing ? We have no mode so certain of ascertaining and feeling our moral strengthno such means of testing the unity which must aocompary our efforts in obtaining political aud social redemption—as through the medium of the press . The extinction even of oar own feeble fires would be haUed with delight by those who—like the foulest reptiles , goring in darkness—fattes upon corruption . A beacon of Liberty destroyed would give a proud and savage satisfaction io its ermined and richly-clad enemies . Something so irnmiff *! to "their rder" would be watched by them only with pleasure during its empiriiig struggles .

      If we look to the condition of the public press at the present moment , we are strnek by the melancholy fact that but very few are devoted to the people ' s cause . All shades of political partisans , from tie most rampant Tory to the most sneaking Whig , find apt representative * among the broad-sheets ; yet , with slight exceptions , there are no defenders of those who disdain mere party subterfuge , and seek to place tne rights of mankind in general on the firmest , the only just basis . With his "very life lied away" the Chartist is deemed worthy of only a passing effusion of malignity and obloquy . Chartism , the emanation of reason and morality—proceeding in its veiy first

      assumptions on the admitted truths of natural justice > and revealed religion—has as yet been permitted t «; receive , by the press of Great Britain , scarcely one iota ! of the attention it merits—of the respect it demands . We find the Whig and Tory newspapers drawn up in j " battle array , " afraid of venting the bitterness and i vfieness of political rancour upon each other , turning j aside with one consent to discharge their malice on ; those whom they are aware must one day assume the ' ' sway over the hearts and minds of men—the now despised Chartists ! And now let tu ask—should the Cirad&r be permitted to deseead , without another effort , to oblivion ?

      Our readers will perceive the necessity that has I driven us to the alternative of raising the price of this I Ci&culab . We feel they will , too , perceive the justice j 9 t yielding u support towards future endeavours . Strength must become ours—growing strength , in the greatest stng £ a that ever fell to the lot of humanity—If our brethren in the good oaow extend a hand to-* udi u it this poixt of ocr career . Earnestly did w '' gird up ourselvtt" on our first venturing forth in the CiBCCua to assert Chartism in the face of tbe w « rld . Kvm , whsa we bow that omr services may | begone far more valuable , are they to be rejected ? One word again , —Chartists , so ^ b advance to-SgTHM ?

      Untitled Article

      ""¦—• --- ¦ - ^ m ' COLLIERS' STRIKE—AYRSHIRE . —TRIAL OF THE RIOTERS . ( From the Ayr Advertiser ^ of Thursday . J This morning considerable excitement was observed amongst the large body of turn-out colliers , assembled in front of tbe county buildings , awaiting the trial of the parties implicated in the late disturbances bt Whitlette , which the yeomanry was called up last week to suppress . The hour appointed by Mr . Sheriff Substitute Eaton was ten o ' clock , previous to which time the gallery and area of the Court House were very mnch crowded , chiefly by tbe fellow-workmen of tbe panels , who , as the indictments were being read , and the evidence adduced , showed by assent or slight murmur the deep interest they took in the proceedings . They were , however , in no respect disorderly .

      The first case called was that implicating Alexander Tinsey , William Jackson , and El zibeth M'Clung er Frew , who had been i jail twelve daya , charged under the Act 6 George IV ., c 129 . sees . 3 d , 7 th , and 11 th , with having , on the nit ; ht of the 28 th of October last , entered the house of J : imes Caddis , Garden-street Content , banksman in Mr . Gordon's employment , and threatened him at tbe peril of his life to continue to work during the strike , or to allow his sons to do so , otherwise that their lives would not be safe . Tinsey and M'Clung or Frew pleaded not guilty , and Jackson maintained that be was not even en the spot . On the examination cf the fir&t -witness , bis alibi was slearly proven , he having been mistaken far a man named Nelson or Melsom , and he was dismissed . Tinsty is a lad of about eighteen years of age , and M'Clung is a married woman , with a child in her arms . Mr . A . M'Cubbin , writer , appeared for the other panel .

      After a lengthened trial , Tinsey was sentenced to three months' imprisonment M'Clung was liberated . There were other three trials of the same kind . Edward Neill and Robert Frew were sentenced to thirty daya' imprisonment ; and of the remaining panels fjur were acquitted from want of evidence , and six from an error in the indictment .

      Untitled Article

      THE LAST SHIFT . There can scarcely be a greater mistake than the very common one of supposing that innocence forms any barrier to conviction , when Government hare a mind to manufacture criminals . Ii is of small moment whether the alleged acts be such as the law clearly recognises to be right , or whether the accused party may have ever been a party to any of the acts of which he is accused . A prosecution being fixed on as a pretext for punishment , it goes on of course , and succeeds of course . With the means hoi den by the prosecutors , it

      wonld be strange if it did not : the power to buy evidence at any price ; to create treaobery , and suborn perjury to what extent they please ; te hire hacks and prostitutes , who before trial may be ocenpied for months in prejudgment , and in driving out of all those from whom the jurors are to ba selected every disposition to regard the evidence at all , if it should be defective , by drilling and training them to a foregone conclusion . This is a favourite device . Whenever a victim is to be sacrificed , the blood-hounds arc always let from the leash , aud open in full cry

      upon the quarry . Mr . O'Coh . nob and his 00- " conspirators" form no exception to the general rule and practice . We last week drew attention to the efforts of the press to take for granted in general terms the conclusion of the jury , and to place the thing upon a Bettled footing before ever the trials come on . The game speeds at a rail-road pace . The rogues actually improve ! They show , at all events , that there are no lengths to which they will not go to attain their purpose . All the world knows that the head and front of the indictment has regard U the publication of the mad , mischievous document ,

      which has been ascribed to the Executive . Of that document our opinion has been expressed before . We never did and never Bhall defend it . Whoever was its author , we regard him as a moit mischievous individual , and one whom the people , if they have heretofore trusted him , should trust no longer , bat cast from them the moment he is discovered . There is yet no evidence of authorship , and it would be consequently premature and cruel to charge it upon any one . For any evidence that yet appears to the contrary , it may have been published by the anti-Corn Law League , or it may have been published by

      the Government ; either of whom , wa believe , to be capable of any baseness—even of that—for the attainment of their ends . We say not that either of these bodies did publish it ; we charge no one with so foolish , or so criminal an act . In the absence of evidence to support it , nothing could be more base than to charge it upon any one . Yet the whole press of both factions has concurred , until recently , in charging it upon the Executive . The fact that it was pat forth in the name of the Executive has been basely assumed as proof that it was put forth by the Executive ; and the thing has

      been familiarly spoken of as the Executive ' s Address" from that day to this ; every one being careful not to seem to doubt . We have before called attention to the infamy of this assumption by the press of the very thing to be proved . We hoped , if there was any spark of honourable feeling in the " press-gang , " to shame them out of such a course ; bat this would have been unaccordant with the purpose of their masters . The Executive were to be convicted and sentenced upon that address , no matter who wrote it ; and therefore the jury class uv 3 T be plied

      continually with tbe assumed certainty that it was their address . That point seems now to be considered settled . It is thought that the idea of the Exsecutive ' s authorship has become so rivetted to that of the address itself , that no evidence can induce any jury to separate them- As far as the Executive are concerned , therefore , their fate is considered certain . The next move is to connect with it all the accused parties ; and to do this effectually it is now gravely and impudently affirmed , that O'Conwob with his own hand wrote that address and then persuaded the Executive to father it ! that

      it was adopted by the delegate meeting at Manchester ! and that the minority tkere who opposed its adoption bound themselves , after its adoption , to abide by , and go with the majority 1 !! All this is as roundly and plainly stated aa if it had been gospel-truth ! It is spoken of in the most flippant and familiar manner ; as a thing not to be disputed ; % settled point about which there can he no question ! True ; there ia no attempt to give any proof of these statements : not

      even an effort to invent a proof : that would bean inconvenient and needless formality . True , the wretches who propagate these falsehoods know them to be falsehoods , Bolely manufactured and invented by themselves ; true , that the propagators of these statements know that there is already evidence oh oath—the evidence of the prosecution so far as it has gone—thai they are utterly false ; that even Gb . itfin has sworn positively that thai address was not adopted at the delegate meeting at all , ud that Mr . O'CoraoB opposed it from the moment of its

      Untitled Article

      introduction . True , that this evidence of G&iffin ' s was perfectly well known to the parties who say that O'Connor wrote that address , and that it was adopted by the meeting 1 all this is nothing : a point 18 to be carried ; the men are to be convicted ; and , therefore , the belief most be induced , whatever be the facts or the evidence . We have before time seen many samples of rich villany , but never one to match this . We believe , however , that the bolt has been shot too far , and that it will fail to be effective from the very care taken to make it so . The people may , however , learn from it to what desperate shifts , the devil factions will have recourse

      when " bard up" for the carrying of a point , And what hope they to accomplish when the point is cairied ! Do they imagine that O'Connob , the Star , and the Chartist movement , are to be thus put down ! God help them ! poor fools '

      Untitled Article

      THE TACTICS OF OPPRESSION . A certain member of the late Government is reported to have had tbe honour of being first to recommend in so many formal words the destruction of political opponents , by " ruining them with expences . " Faction is an apt scholar , and apprehends readily the arts of villany . The Tories are not slow to profit by the example and the teachings of their Whig predecessors ; of which the late Special Commission and all the atrocities at and immediately before it , furnish abundant evidence . Faction is usually consistent : however the people may choose to forget their principles

      and interests , faction Beldom does so . It looks out with a lynx-eye for all advantages , and makes tbe most of all its powers . Having the almost boundless resources of the richest nation under heaven at command—with power to draw ad libitum upon the publio purse—the coward vultures plae ' e themselves in a position for a deadly struggle with poor men ; made and kept poor by the rascality of class-legislation . These poor men they place at every disadvantage , which the fearful odds of wealth , aud power , and patronage afford them ; and then prate of justioe , and of the law ' s Majesty !

      During the early portion of this week , the Rev . Dr . Scholefield , and MfBsrs . Leach , Dotxe , Railton , and divers others of the Chartist " conspirators " were served with some sort of nondescript writs , of which nobody could make head or tail ; but which commanded them to appear before her Majesty on the fifteenth inst . Where the appearance was to be , and what was the purport of the summons , nobody knew anything about . Magistrates , lawyers ,

      police , et hoc genus omne , were alike " taken aback " by thiB new " craft" ; of which none of them could " spell the rigging . " We have not been , at this present writing , ( Thursday a . m . ) as yet honoured with one of these special invitations to a royal tete-a-tete , and therefore know nothing of the matter but from hearsay . It seems , however , that Mr . O'Connor has been thus dignified ; he has seen the thing , and as he is more conversant with lawyer craft than we are , we give the following from the Evening Star : —

      " Those whe have informed themselves upon tbe proceedings at the late Special Commissions and the persecution generally of the Chartist body , will , doubtless , be prepared for any disclosure , infernal though it be . Bat let even the most sceptical peruse the following narrative , and say , whether or no wouder has not been out-wondered . It is in tbe recollection of the publio that Feargus O'Connor , and sixty-one other persons , against whom a true bill was found at the recent Special Commission , holden at Liverpool , traversed till next assiies , and were obliged to enter into heavy bail , there to appear , and till then to keep the

      peacewhich , by the bye , was illegal . This preliminary step cost a large sum of money , but wss met and paid . Within these few days the several traversers have been served with venires from the Court of Queen ' s Bench ; and upon eaoh venire of the sixty-two , the small sum of £ 5 8 s . is charged , and payable before the defendant ! can appear . We cannot say what the immediate objeot of the Crown is ; but one effect will be , to treat tbe defendant * to a special jury . Now these fees amount to about £ 330 , which , with other-expenses upon thU atage alone , will amount to somewhat about £ < 00 ; and add to this

      nearly £ 1 , 000 in fees , which must be paid before tbe prisoners can have the honour of trial ; and then add the expense of counsel and solicitors , witnesses and travelling expenses ; and then tay who can that the law is partial , expensive , or unjust ! But this is not the worst Tyranny does not stop here . While those under recognizances are thus mulcted in heavy pecuniary penalties , the necessary legal preliminaries for outlawing Dr . M'Douall and those against whom true bills have been found , and who have absoonded , are

      now nearly completed ; and their banishment will be tffjcted as securely as if the Judge had sentenced them ; while , if the worst came to the worst , and If found guilty of the charge , imprisonment is all the punishment they could be sentenced to . Now , if this Is not punishing first , and trying after , we know not what Ib . We state , however , that Mr . O'Connor has bad all ithe required terms complied with , and has entered an appearance for the several traversers , which is all that was now required , save and except the PAYMENT OP THE PRES . "Who wonldn't ba an Englishman ?

      Will the heart of the Chronicle burst at this recital ?" . Since writing the above we have received the Manchester Guardian , which has , in reference to the same subject , the following .- — " Removal op the Indictment against the Chaktists to the Court of Queens Bekch . —We understand that , on Monday last , & 1 I the sixty defendant indicted at the late special commission at Liverpool , and who then traversed to the next aaa ^ Zis , were served with summonses ef a merely formal nature , the terms of which , we understand , not a litte puzzled

      some of them ; as they wire therein required to come before her Majesty , on the lfith November instant , wheresoever her Majfsty should be in England . ' As her Majesty is now at ' Waliner Castle , near Dover , the appearance of snme of tbe defendants there would no doubt cause considerable surprise . We know that gome of them seriously contemplated tbe necessity of surrendering in person , in London ; while others , we believe , have instructed a London attorney to put in an appearance for them . Tbe following is a copy of the document which has put the defendants here and elsewhere on the gui vive : —

      • To [ naming parlous sheriffs' officers . ]—Lancashire , to wit Thomas Robert Wilson France , Esq ., sheriff of the county of Lancaster : By virtue of her Majesty ' s writ , to nvj directed , I command you that you do not forbear by reason of any liberty to ray bailiwick , bat that you cause to come before htr Mnjtssty , on the fifteenth of November instant , wheresoever her Majesty shall be in England , William Leach , of Manchester , in the county of Lancaster , labourer , < Scc . ice , to answer to her Majesty for certain conspiracies and misdemeanours whereof they with others are indicted . " Gives under the seal ef my office , this twelfth day of November , 1842 . " By order of the Court ,

      " Dealtrt . " Writ dated second day of November , 1842 . " Gregory and Sons , solicitors . " A . similar form of summons tae been issued by the High Sheriff of Cheshire , and served on such of the defendants as reside in that county . We believe the legal effect of this is , merely to give the parties formal notice that tbe indictments against them have been removed by the Attorney-General from Lancashire and Cheshire into the Court ot Queen ' s Bench . "

      The Guardian appears , however , to have no grounds for his "belief " , and ire imagine that he knows as little of the object of Government in this matter as ourselves . Thus much we have do doubt of , that their objeot is to perpetrate some petty , villanous , sneaking robbery , which they will call vindicating the law , and doing justice . It is dear that in some way or other the trials are intended to be rendered more expensive and more unfair , than they

      would have been without this mummery . It all shows tho animus of government , and proves tbe correctness of our conclusion from preceding oircumstances , that they attach more importance to the trial and conviction of theBe parties , than to any other business in which the Government have been concerned for a long time ; and it all shows the imperative duty and absolute necessity which lies upon the people to pnt forth their strength for the . enooua * ter , and to do it without loss of time ,

      Untitled Article

      THE STURGE CONFERENCE . Elsewherb we record , with unfeigned pleasure , the proceedings of a meeting at Birmingham for the election of delegates to the forthcoming Conference . The Birmingham " lads" have done their work nobly ! In the very head quarters of Complete Suffragism , with Mr . Sturge in the chair , they have elected , out of six delegates , Feargus

      O'Connor , George White , and two other good Chartists . This is as it should be . Let every other place go and do likewise , and this Conference may como to good : it may be made the means of greatly aiding and consolidating the Chartist movement ; of forming into one phalanx all the true friends of democratic principle ; and of forcing the hypocritio go-betweens ( if there be any 6 uch ) to find their own place .

      We regard this Conference as a great card for tbe people if well played . Let them be careful then ; let Birmingham be followed up . Let every town send He own men—men of full-length principle , and of clear and cool heads . Let them , we again observe , in this election of the delegates , look more to principle than talent ; ' tis not so much speech-makers as men of sound sense and discriminating powers that are wanted . Let care be taken not to stultify and

      neutralize our own strength , by electing the same man for different localities . O'CenNOR has been elected for Birmingham ; let him not be elected for any other place . He can only give one vote , and consequently every other place which he might represent would be virtually unrepresented . We have not a vote to spare ; and every locality may find plain honest men to speak its own mind .

      There is another thing to which attention should be drawn ; the rumoured winter commission of assize makes it doubtful whether we may not be all in durance when the Conference is holden . The people should be ready for this circumstance if it occur ; they should have reserved candidates in readiness to be elected in the place of every man who may be thus prevented from fulfilling the duties of his trust . There must be no time lost in calling

      public meetings for the election of such delegates , if necessary , immediately after the conclusion of the trials . Let there be no doubt or hesitation about this matter ; let all be ready ; all that is wanted in the candidates is clear-headed honesty , that will neither be hoodwinked nor yet brow-beaten from Its point . There is enough of this quality in every town to supply every member of this Conference . Let then the people be alive , and do their duty , and then we have no fear that this Conference will be a good thing .

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      HOW TO GET RID OF A "SURPLUS POPULATION . " ARiSTOCBAcr and steamocraoy have long found their elbow-room incommoded by the labourer . And with the soddened selfishness of class craft , each has unhesitatingly exerted the powers it possessed to " clear out its corner , " and remove the vermin . Improvements in mechanical , and "extension" of legal , machinery have effected the business for them both : but like Richard ' s spiders , —

      " The things still crawl , and do offend the sight " When driven out of the manufactories and off the O 8 tates ; when robbed of all their means of livelihood , they Btill " crawl ; " and crawling , they still seek the means to live . Bat the monster Class is a many-headed monster , and has in all its heads "jaw teeth like knives ; " and hence the lawocracy soon fiuishes the business . Destitution , of neoeBsity , induoea what the law calls crime , and thus furnishes a pretext for that thinning of the population , which through the medium of the halter , the sabre , the blue bludgeon , or the transport ship , is always going on , that rampant riches may have room to " pull down its barns , and build greater . " Transportation , it is said , ia now h umanely substituted for capital punishments in a great many

      cases . What are the means adopted for carrying out this very humane process t Old , crazy , worn out vessels , found to be totally unfit for regular service , are repaired and fitted up , just made capable of skimming over the surface of an unruffled sea ; and then , if not with criminal intent to murder , with the most cold-blooded indifference , hnndreds of our fellow beings , all of whom have left agonized , heart-broken relatives behind them , are crammed into these " safes , " and 8 ent on a Y ° y ag 8 of thousands of miles . May-be they may reaoh the "destined port , " or may-be , as it often happens , they may go down together to the bottom of the " mighty deep . " Read the following in illustration , taken from ^ the South African Commercial Advertiser , a long article from which we give elsewhere , and commend to the attention of our

      readers : — "The Waterloo , a ship of 414 tons , bound to Tan Diemen ' s Land , had on board , besides her crew , 219 male convicts , Dr . Helsell , in charge , Lieutenant Hext , Ensign Leigh , thirty men of her Majesty ' s 99 th Regiment , five women , and thirteen children . She took tbe ground between eleven and twelve o ' clock in the forenoon , and in fifteen er twenty minutes became a mass of rubbish . And now ensued a most piteous massacre . In about two hours and a half , amidst the crumbling heaps of their perfidious prison —« f men , women , and children , 194 were crushed , disabled , and drowned .

      " There was no preparation for saving life made on board or on shore . No life-buoys , no coils of ropes lashed to casks , nor any apparatus for establishing a communication with the shore from the ship . On the shore there was no lifeboat , no apparatus for throwing ropes over stranded vessels , nor any thing , in short , to show that the Government or people here had ever heard of such » thing as a shipwreck . We stood amongst thousands on the beach within 150 yards of the dissolving fabric , looking on the aeonised faces of our fellow-creatures , as they sank in dczana , battered , and bruised , and suffocated—useless as children , or idiots , or wild Caffres .

      " This ship , it appears , was built twenty-seven years ago at Bristol . No longer fit to carry logs , she is patched up like other whited sepulchres , stuffdd with a living cargo by a contractor , and despatched to the ends of the earth—a voyage of more than 20 , 000 miles ! " / One hundred and ninety-four personB , precious in the sight of their Creator as the proud Aristocrat , or the wealthy capitalist , executed in this cruel manner either from neglect or design . !!!—and which ever be the fact , hanging the millstone of deep guilt about the necks of the wrong-doers , and calling loudly alike for the out-pouring of the phials of the wrath of Vm ,, without whose notice not even a sparrow falls , and for the indignation of an insulted and outraged people .

      Englishmen , picture to yourselves the fact , that some of your highly esteemed friends and leadersmen held high in estimation for their virtues and patriotism , and whose hands in all probability were never stained by Crime—are about to be shipped off in like manner . Ellis and hia companions , torn from their homes and victimised , are to be sent away either to find a watery grave , or as it must be evident , when suoh extreme carelessness ia shewit in the transit of convicts , to endure for lengthened terms , a worse than "living death , " So the ^ e things are , and so they will remain , until riglft pre vail over might ; and the making and admini stration of tho law be made dependant upon tbe \ rill of tho whole people ,

      Untitled Article

      They are . literally dis £ rao 3 ful . And though we have long known them to be so , we have forborne from pub . 'io comment , because we hoped to see some good result from private remonstrance ; being willing to gfre him and the other members of the Executive credit for integrity of purpose . This public appeal of Mr . Campbell renders it impoa « sible for us to be longer silent . We have by no means commented upon all , or nearly all , of the objectionable matters in this balance sheet , or of the unsatisfactory matters in Mr . Campbell ' s explanatory letter ; but we trust we have said enough

      to show the people that it is time they took up the matter in right earnest . These are the things that destroy us more than all the power of the enemy . And we always find that it is those who thua trample under their feet all regard for principle that are the first to cry out against " denunciation " if disagreement with , or disapprobation of , their proceedings be expressed . We have hitherto paid too much deference to this scare-crow ; and shall hereafter treat it very cavalierly . We shall speak out our mind upon all publie matters with a freedom

      from which our best friends must look for no exemption . we esteeem highly private friendships and regards , but cannot allow them to divert us from our duty ; nor shall we permit any personal services of Chartist leaders to exempt them from being tightly holden by the rein of prinoiple . None can esteem more highly than we do the personal exertions of the respective members of the Executive as leoturers and missionaries for the cause of Charasm . They have done much ; but that does not set then above the practice of their own principles in th « transactions of their own office .

      Untitled Article

      ELECTION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL . Our readers are of course aware that tho Election of General Councillors through all the localities takes place on the 1 st of December . They should begia to look out . for good , clear headed , prudent men . The office is a most important one . We shall next week give some directions for what we think the best mods of conducting these elections .

      Untitled Article

      Star OJice , A # v . 17 , 1842 . My dear Fkiends , —On the 17 th of Nov ., 1837 , five years ago , this very day , the first number of this paper issued from the press . Since that time , we have braved together many a breeze . Chartism was then a name unknown , and Radicalism was a sickly infant in its nurse ' s arms . The professors of the pure principles of truth were for the most part jumbled up and identified with Whiggery , under the general titles of "Reformers" and "Liberals . " There was no real line of demarcation between

      honesty and stealthy faction in a mask . The people were then , as now , honest but waiting just direction for theit movements ; while the prominent politicians of the day were a motley crew of personal adventurers , floating with tho tide of circumstances , and continually using the popular breath to blow up the bubbles of their own or parties' purposes , fsawthe necessity of severing prinoiple from faotion , and individually laboured for it , as many of you know , long before the Star existed . I saw the disadvantage under which the people laboured ;

      I felt , often and severely felt , that the sphere of democratic influence was limited—unnaturally contracted—because the people were no more represented by the press than by the legislature . They were defrauded even of themselves ; their sentiments were distorted , their opinions misrepresented , their minds purposely misled , and their active proceedings twisted to the support of first one and then another factious party , whil « their own interests were lost sight of in the mist , because there was no mirror which would faith * fully reflect them . I set myself , therefore , to

      Bee the people in possession of an organ which , trumpet-tongued , might speak their will , and utter their complaints . I laboured hard for it and expended much more time and money than I could afford ; but there was wanting either power or energy amongst the people . The work progressed slowly , and I was about retiring in despair from the attempt , when Providence brought me in contact with your indomitable champion , and true friend , O'Connor , who had seen and felt the same lack of means to make principle stand firmly on its own basis ,

      and throw overboard adventuring experimentalism . His dauntless spirit , in the face of a most uninviting prospect , resolved to remedy the grievance at all hazards ; and the Northern Star was hung up in the political hemisphere , and has continued since , by your suffrages , to shine with increased brilliancy ; exhibiting , in the clear light of publio opinion , the rocks and quicksands of political agitation , and the ' rigging" of each pirate craft that might intrude itselfupon the waters of democracy . I speak thus of the Star , because I have ever sought to make

      it rather a reflex of your minds than a medium through which to exhibit any supposed talent or intelligence of my own . This is precisely my conception of what a people ' s organ should be ; this was what I saw to be wanting before the Star oame into existence ; and what , since it has existed , I have ever sought to make it . How far I have succeeded in doing so , may be best evidenced by t ' ne posi tion which it has holden since the fifth week of its publication , of the most extensively circulated provincial journal in the empire , and . by the fact

      that it still holds and maintains that position notwithstanding the unparalleled distress which binds to the earth the whole bod ' y of its support * ers ; notwithstanding the inces ? ant fire of proseoution upon prosecution from the Government ) to which it is the most gall' . ng of annoyances , and notwithstanding the unceasing efforts of the private malice , the ohoaking envy , and personal ambition of disguised friends , open foes , traitors , and enemies of all sorts . There is not , at this present time , another thin * which the factions so nate and the Government

      so much fears as V nis newspaper . Itisthe verj earn of their an * " ipathies ; and they would hotf cheap any b » OMfioe by which it might b « destroyed . r ^ hile I h ave your help and confidence I -defy them . The wrong-doer . sbw winoe beo eath just castigation ; the light ofj »» principle , hall shine upon the haggard facean » ugly fo" i-m of class dominance , so lon # a 3 _ it tf y ° T pleasure ^ uphold the Northern Star . 1 thank y 0 Uj not more for the gratification it afford * ID ' j personally , than on your own account , f ° ' the power you have hitherto given me ia b ***

      tling with your enemies . I receive your con * tinned confidence and the constant indication of your approbation with the proud consciousness that I deserve it . I accord you now mj thankar for having nobly done your duty in tb « years gone by . You have rallied round tin standard of pure , constitutional RadioalisB which has been erected in the Star ; and yo » have made ihe arms of liberty , though bouo 4 yet terrible to the oppressor . I ha ^ don > one man ' s part in the good work ; and Of arm is now stronger and my aim steadier than it was fire years ago , thanks to the sapporting presence of your power . The reco ** rence of this anniversary brings U 3 once ao *

      to a sort of understanding with each other ; to * kind of terms of covenant on which to base . offj future operations against tyranny . There sl * j be , on my part , V continuance of that s * ^ unceasing watchfulness with which I have It * * tofore endeavoured to point out the tricks * £ moves of faction to your observance . Witb ^ broad flag of Chartism unfurled , and D ail *^ our mast-head , I shall endeavour to t ake **™ that no spurious colour , no matter hoff *^ resembling the original , be stuck orstitcbei ^ , it by the enemy ; while I shall also be more ctf el than I have heretofore been to preserte . from defilement by our own crew . Hitherto t » extension of our principles has been the « a thing to be looked at : wetmust now loo * "

      Untitled Article

      THE ENGLISH CHARTIST CIRCULAR . We give elsewhere an address from the conductors of this genuine gem of the Chartist press , to whioh wa call particular attention . We do trust that at this time above all others the enemy will not be permitted to have the opportunity of taanting us about the going-down of this spirited little organ . We have before said , and we now repeat , that the Circular ought to be considered a necessary upon every Chartist ' s table , or rather in his pocket for more ready use . We trust that the present appeal of its conductors will be the last of the like kind that they will ever need to make .

      We perceive that the first fifty-two numbers of the Circular are now published in a volume ; and a very handsome , and a very valuable volume it is—a volume which no Chartist ought to be without . . _ •¦

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      TO THE CHARTISTS OF THE EA . ST AND NORTH BIDING . Brother Chartists , —The Bait and North Riding Delegate Meeting will be held at Sulfey , on Sunday , Dec . 4 th , when it is highly necessary there ahould be a good attendance of delegates , as business of great importance will be brought forward . The time is approaching for the National Conference to meet in Birmingham , I would therefore respectfully suggest tbe propriety of each locality discussing well the necessity of sending a delegate to

      represent the Chartists of this district , and to give instructions to their delegates upon the subject—Those towns who do not send delegates to Selby , must forward their opinions by letter ; also stating the number of enrolled and payable members . It is highly necessary that , those localities in the East and North Riding who eannot snpport a Lecture * , ahould say so by letter , as it creates great confusion when thty withdraw their support after a lecturer is appointed . The district is nearly one pound in debt occasioned by the temporary cessation of Howden , Beverley , and Holme .

      All communications for delegate meeting to be for warded to me before the 2 nd of December . Yours , faithfully , Epw . Buklet , Sec . Dis . 19 , Bilton-street , Layertkorpe , York . Nov . 15 th , 1842 .

      The Jsorthebjs Star. Saturday, November 15, 1842.

      THE JSORTHEBJS STAR . SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 15 , 1842 .

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      BATH . —The following resolution was passed at a seating of ttw General Council : — " That the thanks of ttjism&eting an eminently one to W . P . Roberta , Esq ., for bis aolduous and patriotic conduct during tho late special commission , in conducting the defence of toe po- i mfccal prisoners gratuitously , a . tea meeting will be beld ben , oa Monday , November 28 th .

      Untitled Article

      THE EXECUTIVE BALANCE SHEET . The explanation afforded by the Secretary of the matters objected to by the metropolitan delegates and others , will be read with some anxiety , and will , we fear , excite much disatisfaction . We confess that we have seldom read a document with more regret , or one which we are compelled to consider as more decidedly lame . Nothing is mor « important than that the Executive should have the entire confidence of the whole country . This they never can hare , unless they confine themselves rigourously to the operation and guidanoe of that organisation , which the one duty of their office is to extend and carry out . No mistake could be more fatal to the interests of the oause , than that the

      Executive should suppose themselves invested with a power above that of the organisation . That they have done so , and that they have acted upon that supposition , is clear from this statement of Mr . Campbell ' s . The seventeenth article of the organization fixes the salary of the Executive at / 2 per week for the Secretary , and £ 1 10 s weekly for each other member when sitting . Here then is a clear guide , which , one would have thought , no responsible body could overtook , or would dare to riolate ; and yet we find the Executive setting aside the authority of the organization , and " en their own responsibility , " appropriating public money to the payment of one of their own body , fully one-third more than he was entitled to !

      The excuse of Mr . Campbell for this flagrant violation of trust , that they , the Executive , thought the money e arned , and all the talk of the talent , the honesty , (!) and the judgment , (!) of the party , by whom this money is appropriated , is entirely beyond the mark . The transaction 10 , to all intents and purposes , not only politically , but morally , dishonest and disgraceful to all the parties concerned in it . When Dr . M'Dovall became a candidate for the office of Executive Committee man , he knew the amount of salary to whioh he would be entitled ; he knew that the Executive had no power to give

      him more , without robbing the Association ; and no honest man would have been a party to that robbery . We have no wish to depreciate the worth , or to underrate the services of Dr . M'Douall ; but we do say that he ought to have considered before he took the office , whether the stipend would content him ; and we say that , if upon trial , he found it too little , he had but two honeBt courses for it ; either to resign at once , or to ask , not the Executive but the people , to advance his salary . But instead of this , the Doctor , and his coadjutors , dip their hands , without authority or

      leave , into the purse which contains the poor weavers' pence , and take out thence , at their own pleasure , as much as they think he ought to have . Let us put an exactly parallel case ; let us suppose that tho money with which these men were entrusted had belonged to some rich merchant , in Bteadof to the poor half-famished people ; let us suppose them to have been the servants of this rich merchant , instead of the servants of the people 1 that they had with him a definite and clearly understood

      written agreement , specifying their exact duties , and their exact wages ; that th « y had the run of his funds to pay themselves , with the condition of making up accounts quarterly , and that they had acted precisely as they have now done . We © an tell Mr . Cahpbell that , in such a case , this same piece of " honesty , " for which he expected the whole country to compliment him , would have rendered the whole batch of them liable to transportation for embezzlement and fraud .

      So much for the moral honesty of this transaction ; now for its political '' honesty" ! The Executive are par excellence , a democratic body ; they are the appointed head of the Charter Association ; their sole business is to extend and ramify the association , for the purpose of bringing into operation Chartist principles . How do they do this ! Why by themselves acting as pure despois 1 Assuming the right utterly to disregard the laws of the organization , which they are appointed purposely to enforce ; and

      without any reference to the suffrages and opinions of the people to govern the association , as their own caprioe , ( we beg Mr . Campbell ' s pardon , "judgment 1 ") might dictate ; exhibiting thus , in the very heart and citadel of Chartism , one of the worst forms of Tory corruption and peculation . And yet , in reference to this transaction , Mr . Campbell tells us , that the Executive expected , that instead of objecting to it , the whole country would have hailed it with delight !

      Like objections , of a mal-appropriation of funds and an utter disregard to the organization , lie very fairly against several other matters which Mr . Cakpbkll professes to explain . The several and very heavy sums charged for travelling expenses , and for the " agitating expenses" of various member ? of the Executive are , in the absence of more explanation than Mr . Campbell has yet given , ( and he says he can give no more ) , all liable U be classed under the same head of mal-appropriation of the funds of the Association in defiance of its rules .

      The organization distinctly provides that the wages of the Executive Bhall be paid only "during the period of their sittings" ; or in the event of their being employed " to open new districts "; yet we find their wages regularly charged whether sitting or not ; and Mr . Campbell complaining bitterly that he has no funds now , when they are not sitting , to pay wages to himself and them . We regret the lack of funds for the use of the Association , as much as Mr . Campbell ; and we regret more that that lack should be enhanced by the unauthorized application of them when they were there . But why does Mr . Campbell complain of not getting wages now , when the Executive is not sitting ! He knows that tbe organization gives them no right to wages , only

      when they are sitting . Now , when they are minding their own businesses ; Mr . Campbell attending to his shop in London , Mr . Leach attending to his shop in Manchester , and Mr . Bairstow receiving wages as a lecturer in the North and East Riding , why should the country be called upon to pay £ 2 weekly to the one and 303 . to each of the others 1 Is it not enough that , in accordance with the organization , they be paid by the Association when they are doing the work of the Association ; must they be also paid for doing their own work I We do not believe that either Leach or Bairstow expect any such thing ; and we are only sorry that Mr . Campbell , in this apologetical letter of his , has thought proper so to introduce their names as if they did .

      Nothing can bo more clear nor more explicit than the words of the organisation about the wages of the Exeoutive . They are to have their wages during the period of their sittings out of the General Fund . Whenever they are not sitting , they may be employed as missionaries and lecturers , and must then have the same wages , as if they were sitting - not Jrotn the general funds , but from the looal fun' of the localities in which they labour , ^ ver and above these wages , when so employed , they are to have , from the locali » , ie 3 in

      which thay labour , their coach hire and one half of their incidental expences ; the other \ jalf of their incidental expences being paid by the ' % naei ves 9 xxy of their wages . These provisions are . as clear in the 17 th and 18 , h articles of the organization as words can make them . And jet the c juntry is charged by Mr . Campbell , according try hf 8 own explanation , for the lecturing expenoe ^ of the members of the Executive in each localises as Manchester and London , and for tltcic travelling to and from ' these localities .

      We happen > know that the Exeentive have been written to privately upon these subjects again and again ; we fiad it difficult , therefore , to think that they ^ 0 not know the conditions of the organiiation . In any case it seems clear that they either do not Know the organization or are determined entirely to disregard it . We have seen many lamentable public exhibitions ; but never any whioh , t * oar mind , displayed a more perfect lack of business-like habits , or of any attention to any sort of system or rule , than the balance sheets of Mr . Campbell ,

      To The Readers Of The "Northern Star."

      TO THE READERS OF THE "NORTHERN STAR . "

      Untitled Article

      4 THE NORTHERN STAR . /; . - . __ - - .. ; . / ¦

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Nov. 19, 1842, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct625/page/4/