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Northern Star (1837-1852), 5th February 1842, Edition 4 of 5, Page 4

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    • THE -jyOBTHEJiff STAfi SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1342.
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      Untitled Article

      ¦— - ~ — ¦ THE MASON'S STRIKE . - An extremely large public meeting 'sras held on Monday , in £ hB . large room of the White Conduit House Tavern , for the purpose of taking into consideration ti » present portion of the masons , and also for the purpose of considering the best means to be adopted in supporting them in tti ^ rpreaentstruEgle . Mr . TVakley ma one of the first who » scended the platform , Mi . Duicsis g , a bookbinder , was called to the Chair . He aid tkat in taking the ch&ir that night he felt the greatest pleasure . The strike bad theH continued twenty weeks . In the strike there bad been 375 persons , of whom only five had proved false to the nose . The circumstances peculiar to the trade which then solicited ? their Enppert , rendered that support at that moment the more essential , as the mason . 3 , at that __

      time of the year , were generally out of employment from ene end of the kingdom to the ether . Therefore , it became those of the other trades to come for ward and assist them ( the masons ) , which would enable them to get over the present pa : iod ; ana when that period was got otct , there was no fear as to the rtsu ' . t of the strujrgle , because the New Royal Exchange , the Jfttseuni , and various othBT public building 3 , wouli : be commenced , and when that took place , they miijti ' depend upon the victery , ( Cheers . ) He ~ need not go into tine ease of the masons since their strike . They bid taken & high moral stand—a Btand tberesnlt of education . He hoped they would still adhere to the esose , and soon bring it to a successful termination He would conclude by calling on Mr . Grolton to more fee first resolution .

      Ms . Goltos , painter , said he rose with mnch pleasure to propose tha follewing resolution — " That it ia the opinion * of this meeting that ] the steady , upright , and manly conduct of the masons during such a long snd arduous struggle pre-eminently deserves the utmost praise , and our additional support . " ( Cheers . ; He would endeavour to lay before them scch facts as ^ Fonld , he was sure , cause them to carry out this r esolution , and whieh would not only prove to them that the masons deserved their applause , but all the xavport they could possibly bring to them . It bad b ^ en

      stated to them that 37 b men were on the strike , and ot that camber not one had broken the la ^ s of bis country . They had never sesn any police reports inserted in any of its papers respecting them . Tudr st .-cggl 9 wat founded on Christian and humane principles , to resist the oppression of a being who was not worthy the name of an Englishman , who had been raised te his office for the Ecle purpose of pursuing a system of slave-driving He iMr . Golton ) would endeavour to show that the Basoos * interest was the interest of the masters . He then went into the variens details relative to the

      strike , and which finally led to the men leaving their mployment , all of which details have appeared ' in onr reports of the various speeches delivered at the earlier meetings of the masons . He concluded a v

      Mr . Waklet briefly seconded toe resolution , which Was pat and carried cnanimcnsly . Mr . CiaJLRB . a painter , said he felt great pleasure in calling tbeiT attsntion to a subject of the highest import-isce ta thsm as men—a subject tliey haa mttthat evening to advance—that of outlining for tiie working man that moral , that social , and pott leal standing , which foesocs of labour , the creators of all wealth .- « rere sofully . fairly , and ju ^ fy erf-fied to . They bad bo ~ n opposed JbytLe combination of capitalist 3 , bet owing t > the

      united efforts of the trades , they had been abie to ± t uid against them—{ hear , hear )—and if theyst ! l held together , they most , aid . ironld be successful . Many perhaps at this moment wculd ask , " whtt have we to do with that strike , we are act aiasoss—we have nobbing to do with stone ; " but be would endeavour to ahow that they had to do with it , that they were attacking the Btrang hold of corruption , and what was fee masons' situation then might be theirs to-morrow Xct them come forward and break the chain of tyranny sunder *

      1 st ns unite with hearts sincere in tmth , On- inental mfjht to this ' eimoblisg work , The mind ' s regeneration , and become Messiahs in the cause of liberty , 2 * or cease mrtil from out ths book of life We blot the name of tyrant and of slave . —( Cheers . ) Hie resolution he had to propose was" Tbatit is tfce opinion of this meeting , that the bold and decisive conduct adopted by the quarry-m * n , in cobly refusing to prepare stone for the snpply of Mesaw Griss&ll and Peto , until justice has been conceded to the injured massns , thereby sacrificing their employment , deserves our cordial thankB , and creates in as a greater stimulant to action . " Mr . Thomas briefly seconded the resolution , which , on beisg put to the meeting , was carried amidst loud topl&tise .

      ilr . Fc-srjcs O'Connor then entered the room , and was received with a tremendous burst of chssring , which lasted a considerable time-Mr . ' BXJTTSB . * airi ha eonld aSSUTB- thftm thai hs Iiad always anticipated success with respect to the quesUoa at Issue , and ha was now still further confident of the result from that meeting . The resolution be had to propose bore something of a political taar&cter : — " That it is the opinion of this meeting , that the psriial conduct of the Commissioners of Woods and Forests , and the Bxird of Admiralty , in assisting Messrs . Gfrissell » nd Pefco againstthe masons now onstrike , clear" proves that the Government is determined to oppress the ¦ workia ? classes ; " and therefore it is absolutely necessary that extensively organised urtiona should exist fcr tht pnrnose of protecting ourselves against the combined efforts of those who live upon the fruits of our industry . iLoud cheers . }

      He did not think be need be under any apprehension in that resolution being received by them . Tb&j knew perfectly well tfcat Lord lineoln , and other great hiee in the Government , had done all in their po-w ^ r to starve the men into submission , but he trusted tbe good raea of tfce trades of the metropolis would never allow them to become the easy tools of such a base faction- ( Cheers . ) Hr . BA £ EB . seconded the resolution without comment . Mr . A . W-ALTOX rose to speak to the res- 'lnticn . Tbt resolution jus ! submitted to them , condemnatory cf tke Coxasiissioners ef Woods and Forests and tbe B-jard of Admiralty , he trusted , would meet with thtir entire concurrence . He rejoiced at t ' neir a » ain as

      aemtuxg on that occasion . It was a proof that the }' felt tie deepest interest in that straggle—that they ¦ were fully sensible of the fact that the C-jiiiaiissnoncrs of Woods and Forests and the Board of Admiralty had rendered their strrices to Grissell an . 2 . Pefco , for the purpose of oppressing the masons . They iths masonB ) wrote to the Commissionsrs of Woods and Forests , and they sent an ans— . r to the letter , stating that they could not hitssfere , ^ hi ! e they were actually holding a secret c-jrresponatace with CJrisseU and Peto ; and when & deputation of the masons waited on ths Earl of Lincoln , for the purpose of explaining tha strike , he said tbey were decidedly opposed to trades' unions or combinations . Grlsse . i and Peto were lefx to do what they thought proper , and

      they were protected . The qnarrymen beard of the conduct of Allen , and immediately refused to produce any more stone until he was dismissed . The Commissioners of Woods and Forests " wrote a letter by their " agents . Messrs . Burgess and "Walker , stating to Messrs Orissell and Peto , that they might get stone from any part of the country they chose . He ( Mr . Wai ton j called their attention to the systematic union amengst those T > artics , whilst the Etrl of Lincoln was condemning naion amongst tha working classes . The Times had said that if they could not get stone from ' any part cf England they could get from South America . He ( ilr . W . ) thougkt it would be rather an unprofitable speculation . ( Laughter . )—The Times had recommended the Government to

      reenact the combination laws , but if ever they attempted to crush trades' ucioas , that would raise such a tempest roun-1 their heads as would with some difibuky be quell&Q . iCheers . ) The Government ought not to La * e interffred ; and , if they did so , they should have made iBijuirits into the merits of the case . The masons had at all times fesen ready , and were bo still , to submit the case to arbitration ; and if the reporter of the Tims v&s in ibat room , he trusted he would take that declaration , -ind let them know the ftct . Bui they would nevfr ' i .-t jastice frem the present Government , nor ¦ woTfid taey ever get justice from thalr representatives , cntQ tliey were made responsible to the people for tiitir actions . < Loud cheers . ) Tbey mi ? bt as well expect to find tfce sun in darkness—tbey might as well expect to find the great naiveae acting in opposition to the estabto have

      lished laws of nature , as expect the Government aay thing like sympathy for the people while that Goverament was bated npon a system of class legislation . He would endeavour to show them the exteat of union which existed amongst them , as thay could appreciate the value of union as well as the Government He would endeavour to show them the absohrts aecessity of uniting for their own protection . All elasie * of aodety , except the work-Ing man , " were protected by law . He would take for Instance tha solicites , the physician , ths surgeon , aJl thess were under the protection of the law , and no one could practice in either unless be had takes his degrees . Bat where was the protection for the honest and industrious working man ? He would tell them ' what tbeii protection must be . It must be unionmien which would tend to thei ? own welfare and be

      the means of bettering their condition , and which would bo the instrument of their own regeneration For tUi 3 union it was indispensably necessary that delegate committees shauld exist in London and through the provincfci . Id every town in England they should be formed , and tJis wliols of these anions , directed by inteliifeaea , would , show to the world that they-wert not that-Soody and sanguine mob they were rcpreaented * & ¦*•* - £ » & «* upright and generous people deterinioed tab © f » { Lood dwen . ) The mofattiwi- *•* ^ > &d azried with loud ^ jjggj ,. . ^_ : ^ , 5- >> i ' v M > BSJtSASpNpwd the next resolution : —

      Untitled Article

      " That this meeting do , individually and collectively dsclare their determinaUon to assist the masons while ths . strike lasts . " . iThiaresalntion was received with loud-cheer * . Mr . Tbibe seconded ths resolution . Mr . Andbeson having spokes to the resolution , it was carried unanimously , and with vehement cheering . The Chairman then stated that a meeting wonld be held every Monday evening at the Craven Head , Drurylane ; and every Tuesday evening at tha Prince's Head , Priuse ' s-street , Westminster .

      - Mr . Walton £ ai& it was the intention of the Committee to have had a ball on Wednesday week , but , as that was Ash Wednesday , the landlord had been threatened with the loss of his license , and therefore the ball was postponed till the Monday following . Perhaps it wonld be thought itrange thai tbey came so far from the centre of the town , bnt t&e proprietor of the room had given i * gratuitously . — ( Loud cheers . ) Sir . Waklet then presented himself , and was received witti cheerhig , which continued for some minutes . As soon as silence was restored , be said he could assure them that he had attended there that ; nii ; H for tba purpose of witnessing their proceedings , with ^ rtat :-atisfact : on . Notiine could be more gratsful to his

      feelinzs than thtt of discovering ths ' * . a largo poitiun of his countrymen were straggling for raeir rights w . ti a determination of being victorious . In tha speeches they had heard , which had been delivered for their information , were the details of grievances which the men employed on the Houses of Parliament had endured ; and he would ask them , and he was bold to make the appeal not only to them but to the whole of Eagl&nd , whether it was possible for one man to possess an honest English heart who did not sympathise with the hardships these men had endured ? It was an easy thing for those who had capital , which had been accumulated hy the labour ef the people , to say that unions were mischievous , bd « 1 that the working men were acting tyrannically . Th * y had heard ef physic being

      protected by the law ; they might go farther , and say the Church also : in fact , the aristocracy of England were united as one man against the interests of the working man . If they wanted a clergyman for their parish , could they have him ? No j h *> was set down as a black . ( Laughter . ) The cburch said they would not have your black , but would have a black of tbeii own . ( Cheers and laughter . ) Taie the law , of which Mr . F . O'Connor was a member , and they knew how he had taken up the cause of the people , and so the law sent him to Coventry . ( Cheers . ) Suppose they wanted him ( Mr . Wakley ) to plead tbeir cause in any court of law , conld they have him ? No . It would be a very bad thing for him if they did . But that was not to the point- Could they exercise their own will and

      judgment ? No : because the benchers would denounce him ( Mr . W . ) as a black in law ; they would not have his coif and gown , as it would not be according to their liking . ( Loud laughter and cheers . ) Take the practice of physic , and look to the Apothecaries Company . They were a voluntary company at first , but they had a charter granted to them by James , and then came the 53 rd of George III ., by which Act any man who dared to prescribe a dose of rhubarb or jalap , unless be was a member of the said society , must forfeit £ 20 for that very grave offence . Yet the parties who created these unions denounced the working men of London as tyrannical because tbey had the sagacity to stand cp for their own protection . Who did not feel the spirited conduct of the men at the two Houses of

      Parliament ? they had taught even hospitality to Grissell and Peto , for they had had a dinner paity , and otse thousand seven hundred of their workmen had dined at the Horns Tavern , at Konninct > n ; aiid these men or-t-uned a good dinner by means of * he masons * airike ( Loud cheers . ) He never c-uid believe that nearly 300 men would throw themselves out of employment , st a season of privation and du # ress , without feeling thst they were riefct in doing so . The Hon . GentTeroan then went on at censiderable length , urging upon them each to subscribe a weekly sum , eo that the masons might have a permanent income that would last as long as the strike lasted . He was willing , as long as he had a skiilingin his pocket , to contribute his share . The political unions in the House

      of Commons were such , that he had seen , in close divisions , the leaders of adverse factions bring in idiots and lunatics to give their votes . He pledged his word aid honour that he had seen idiots and lunatics voting in making laws for this empire . These were the men who bid denounced their unions , and were prepared to denounce them still , and who would , if they allowed them , pas 3 lavs for the abolition of all Trades' Societies . The Hon . Gentleman then went into very lengthy details respecting the Dorchester labourers , and his exertions in their behalf . The Hon . Gentleman concluded an extremely long speech by calling upon them to assist heart and hand in the masons' cause , &ad then to form associations for the purpose of 6 btamin ? " Universal Suffrage , and never to rest till they had obtained 1 l

      Mr . Feaugus O'Connor then rose and said , if the concluding advice -A Mr . Wakley had been taken and actetl upon some few years ago , the masons would not have been in tLe painful position of being obliged to lGok t ) that meeting for support . He rejoiced in mati-4 cne of them there that nigh * . He rejoiced the more in consequence of the lait sentence he had heard from Mr . £ aU « -. when he ( O'Connor ) entered the room . He told them that the motion bore something ot a pel tical complexion , and this % was that gave him ( O'Connor ) so much satisfaction . As Mr . Wakley had said , it W 39 not so much * he aristocracy who pressed upon the working classes as the middle classes of society , who trampled on the people . No truth could ba plainer than the rights of * hese four hundred

      jof-n who had given up the sources of their own maintonirce r \ ta « r than injure their trade , or allow these tyraLts t > have the victory over them . He had t > Jd Lord Grey , lord Brougham . Lord Stanley , and the rest , st the time the poor Dorchester labourers case w&s brought before the House of Commons , that they ought to be in the convict ' s dress , and geing on board the hulks . They were new in a position to assert their r ^ hts , and to go at once to the root of class iegisiati'm . Mr . Wakley wonld be going down to the HLousa of Commons , and he noped be wonld stand ¦ htsre the leader of those who were the master-arm of the : ; itii-n . TJni « n was necessary in order to effect triumph Jh-r King of Prussia was going dow « to the opening of Parliament , and would sit by the side of the Queen in

      ttat House of Incurables . What would he think if he ¦ was told by Mr . Wakley , that in the other House idiots and lunatics voted in making the laws ? He would think that one was an Hospital of Incurables , and iheother an Hospital for Lunatics . He ( Mr . O'C . ) bad Ueninthe Qoeeu ' Bench , and he never found a nan tiiere that was in debt : he had been in York Castle amongst thieves and vagabonds and he cevur found a thief or a vagabond there yet ; and so in the House of Commons and the House of Lords , thvy wonld never find an enemy to the poor . The presfrt t me put him in mind of that when Charles Jam-s Fox accepted office- Tbey aim coivtin ^ ed for

      ill the six points which he ( Mr . O'C . ) did , bnt when theygot # ntbe other side of Downing-i 4 rett , all they did was to remove a few contractors from Parliament , and deprive revenue officers of their vcfes . It was like the old la-iy wheu she got her feet on khe fender , she aid not tbink tie poor people could be cold . So when C . J . Fox and bis party were in office toey thorjght the st&ti ol the nation was not half so bad as when they wtre out . He concluded an extremely long speech , of which we are only able to give the heads , by expressing a hope that those men who had taken the place of those in ttrike , would get the new Houses of P ^ rliamenV built by the time the Reformed Parliament was ready to take possession of . ( Loud cheera . ) A vct-j of thanks was tien passed to the Chairman , and tfce meeting separated .

      The -Jyobthejiff Stafi Saturday, February 6, 1342.

      THE -jyOBTHEJiff STAfi SATURDAY , FEBRUARY 6 , 1342 .

      Untitled Article

      USE , AND ABUSE , OF MACHINERY . ' Bundbed 3 of times has it been asserted in the columns of the Northern Slar , that machinery , when riguifully applied , is one of the greatest of blessings to man , both individually and socially . Hun dreds of times have we shewn how it might be mada into " Man's Holiday" instead of being , as it is at present , man ' s greatest enemy and enrse . Hundreds of times have we explained the difference in result

      upon the happiness and well-being of the operative community , arising from tho use or abuse of machinery . Often and again have we declared our-. < elve 3 to be in favour ot as much and aa perfect maohinery as can by possibility be introduced , provided it be rightfully used : and often and again have ¦ we shewn that the wrongs and miseries entailed upon the working people by the present extensive nsa of it arises from the fact that it it

      not rightfully applied ; that it is most foolishly , most insanely abused . By a proper use or rightful application of machinery , we mean such an use or application of its powers as will ensure to the xoorking petple tbeir fair share of all and every benefit arising from its introduction and employmeLt . By the abuse of machinery , we mean snoh an application of its powers as enabled Johm Marshall of Leeds , in Jess than forty years , to accumulate to ¦ himself upwards of two hiluoks of monej ! while it cousisned those who worked the machinery , which -was called his , to penury and want ; to long hours , short wages , and , by consequence , dear food !

      It is so plainly apparent that whatever can be introduced thai has the effect ot lessening man's toil and increasing Mb means of producing wealth must , of itself , be a good , that we imagine it wonld not be possible to find , the face of the earth a single biumaa . being who wo Id attempt an objection

      Untitled Article

      to machinery in the abstract ; and it is also S 8 plainly apparent , that if machinery were rightfully applied , —applied bo as to be of immediate , and cebtain benefit to aix , workman and employer , producer and consumer , that it would be as difficult to find an honest objector to its use . It is equally apparent that , if the new powers , or aids to human labour , supplied by machinery , be so used and applied as to confer the whole benefit upon a very tew % and to inflict misery destitution and death npon the producing many , no justification for that application can be offered .

      It is also equally as apparent , that out machinery has always hitherto been so applied ; to the raising and gathering together of large heaps of wealth for the " great" owners of it , and to the driving from the workshop the man who had to " earn his bread by the sweat of his brow , " and dragging into his place ( where a sentient being was still needed ) the woman and the child , inflicting upon them longer hours of toil than the man had to endure before his Bnpercession ; and involving all in a race of commercial strife , which continually takes from the wages of the work-woman and work-child , and inflicts suffering and poverty upon all who have to live by daily toil .

      Tell us not that these things must continue 1 Tell ns not that it is impossible otherwise to apply machinery ! Tell ns not that it ia impossible io secure the working man his fair share of the benefit accruing from every improvement I Tell us not that thiR caunot be done ! We tell you , not only thai it can , but that it must ! And if those in power cannot find out the way to do this effectually and

      un-injuriously to all , they must give way to those who can . A belter and more just distribution of the " fraits" of toil must be made ; and if our legislators and governors be unequal or indisposed to this task , out they must come I That which is of itself one of tho greatest of blessing ? , must not continue to be made into the greatest of scourges and curse ? . It must * E regulated ! It must be used within due

      limits ; and its benefits must be diffused amongst and secured to all concerned . These are our views , then , upon the general question of machinery ; views reiterated again and again . We allude to them here , and sat them forth in this plain and connected form , because it is necessary that we meet and destroy a dastardly attempt of the enemy to inculcate a notion amongst the factory masters that we are weekly endeavouring to decry the use of machinery altogether . The Whig "Establishment , " utterly unable to rebut the facts

      we have adduced , showing , conclusively , that our present application of machinery is a wrong one ; utterly unable to refute the reasoning we have employed , and the data we have given ; utterly unable to upset the positions we have thus made good : the Whig prers , unable to defend the system which at present obtains , and conscious that the assaults that have been made upon it , if not counteracted by some means or other , will end in its downfall and the establishment of another and a better ; the Whig organs , seeing and

      dreading this , because ef the sensitiveness of class interest , meets us only by wilful and infamous misrepresentation ! We denounce those workings of our present system which have reduced the labouring people to that state o ! poverty and want , that their Masters find them " wishing the Almighty weuld put an end to their sufferings before morning ; " and we Ehow that this poverty and want have been brought on by the

      dreadful and suicidal misapplication of the immense powers of production we have at our command ; and forsooth we arc represented as denouncing the existence of the powers themselves ! We plainly and clearly expose the enormous abuses connected with the present working of machinery ; we strongly and forcibly " shew up" the iusanity of tho arrangements which engender and continue these abuses ; and we are immediately represented as objecting to the use of machinery itself !

      Nothing on earth was ever more palpably false or more palpably grofe . It is to the abuse alone that we object : none but fools would object to its

      use . Wo hold thai it is as impossible to return to the rude and unskilful processes of former times , A 3 it will be to prevent the invention and discovery of other machinery and processes to supersede those now in use ; and we hold that none but a besotted ninny would attempt to do either . At the same time we hold that every addition to our means of produoing wealth ought to bo beneficial to the whole , and ought not to infilci injury upon any . If this be not thogcase , the blessing is averted and withheld .

      These are the principles that have actuated us in our labours for the poor upon this question . We have asserted their right to a fair share of all the benefits resulting from new and improved means of national wealth , and we have strongly denounced all who denied them this right , or interfered to prevent the establishment and enjoyment of it . It was not likely that parties actiDg as we have

      acted would be allowed to pursue such a course unmolestedly . Every man whose means of living whhout labour depended upon the existence of the abuses we exposed was sure to bo up in arms ; every toad-cater and bribed advocate in the land was sure to espouse the cause of their patrons and employers ; and every means that malice and fear could invent or prompt were sure to be put iu

      requisition . They have been so ! From oae end of the kingdom to the other the press has had its jibe , its sueer , or its stab at poor Pil-garlick . And yet "Pil " survives ! aye , and even yet bids defiance to them all !! Envy , too ; rancorous , dirty-souled , mole-spiriicd envt , ha 3 been at work ! Where it has not been prudent to openly denounce , uhispcr has been employed . If a division in the consolidated ranks oi the poor , whoso cause we have espoused , and whose

      efforts we are guiding to the establishment of the above defined ri&hts could be made , the enemy misfit still continue to triumph , and wallow in his wrongly-gotten gaine . Pretended friends have , thttffcfore , been employed . These have been inscructed to join the associated bodies ; to worm themselves into favour and good grace ; to get into offices of power and trust ; and to judiciously use the influence they by these means acquire to the

      destruction of the character of each and every leader of the people who is too honest to be bought , and too independent to be unworthily used . All thess means hare failed , though \ and will fail ! Bpite of all that can be done to prevent their failure The people have at last gotten the truth eo well grounded in them , that it is no longer possible to deceive . The traitors and spies are , one and all , bundled out of the camp the moment they show the cloven foot .

      And thus will it continue to be , until the cause of the people overcomes all opposition . The principles which are now openly espoused and convincingly advocated by the entire workisg people , are those alone which can save this country from utter and irretrievable ruin . And the establishment of those principles is certain , —guaranteed by tho fact , that they are bo espoused and advocated b / the working people ! Once get the tfforkies right , and all is done ! They alone move society !

      To this end have we laboured ; and in thiB have we been successful . When did England ever before see the working people standing aloof from the other classes ; resisting and despising all efforts at seduction from the cause they have Bet their hearts upon ; aad resolutely bent upon the prosecution of their own work , for themselves , and of themselves 1 When was ever such a sight 1 , exhibited to the Politician ' s eye in this land before !! Never !! and it is because of this ; it is because the working people have banded themselves together , and undertaken their own work ; it is because of their resolute determination , evidenced i ft thousand ^ instances , to

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      resist aU attempts to swerve them from the path of dnty ; it is because of these things , that we , in their name , bid defiance to all their enemies , open , or covert—bull-dog like , or wormingly tosidious ! ; ;' --- -i /•'' , V- ' : V :- : - : - " -v '¦ - / - . ' 'AY ' ' Spite of every obstacle , of every difficulty , of every opposition , the principles we have laid down respecting machinery and its use , will be triumphantly established . Its benefits will be secured to all ; its present erroneous evils will be rectified , and not allowed to press upon any ; :

      Untitled Article

      THE OPPRESSED FACTORY SLAVES AND

      THEIR C 7-Z ) JSF ^ 2 V-r ADVpCATE . Elsewhere , we give a somewhat lengthy and well written address from the Leeds Short Time Committee tothe working men . ' of the factory districts , in reference to the brutal exhibitions of falsehood and violence lately made by an unprincipled public writer , the conductor of a paper which in former times has done good service to the cause of justice , but which has lately lent all its little power to the milloctats and Corn Law repealers .

      Our readers will find in that document a sufficient reply to the calumnious > attack of the Whig splutterer on the Short Time Deputies , « bout not pressing on the attention of Ministers the People ' s Charter or the repeal of the Corn Laws . As the former of these objections has been also urged by some very honest but short-sighted and unreflecting persons among the working classes , we recommend the answer of the Committee toi their reading . To us at least that answer ib sufficient and satisfactory . They were not sent to do it ; it formed no part of

      their duty . It would have ^ been malapropos , and would have defeated their own purpose , without effecting any other purpose for good . They had neither power , nor right , to force upon the attention of 7 Ministers any other subjects than those which formed the immediate subject of their mission . They were deputies from known and established public bodies ; bodies composed of men holding various opinions about the People ' s Charter ; but one and the same opinion upon the necessity of a more efficient legislative protection for the factory slaves .

      No one knows better the constitution and character of the Short Time Committees of the factory districts than does Sir Robert Peel , and if these gentlemen , waiting upon him in ( he character of delegates from those committees , to solicit the attention of his Government to the evils of the factory system , had begun to press upon his notice and attention the "People's Charter , " he would no doubt , and we will add property , have considered and treated the deputation as that which this impudent scribe has thought fit to denominate it for not doing so , —a

      " fraud and a hoax . " He would have said "Gentlemen , I expected a deputation of factory workers , or their advocates ; I find a deputation of Chartists . If the Chartists have not sufficient confidence in themselves or their principles to trust their cause to its own merits , but must have recourse to the disgraceful trick of bringing it here under the borrowed cloak of the Short Time Committees , that cause is certainly not good nor important enough to merit the serious attention of a great and strong Government . " The deputation would have been bowed out ; the Chartists would

      have been laughed at by the Tories , for their abortive effort to hoax the Minister ; while they would have been vilified and abused by the Whigs and Corn Law repealers for having thus destroyed all trust and confidence in the character of public deputations , and all chance of another deputation being decently received or attended to ; nor would any bound of the pack have been more loud in its yelpings against the disgraceful trickery and fatuirous blundering of tho Chartists than the "thing " against whose present ravings this remonstrance of the committee is addressed .

      Let but honest and right- thinking Chartists reflect a little , and they will perceive this to be a right statement of tho case . Many memorials from various quarters have been adopted by the Chartists of the three kingdoms , having for their object the liberation and return of Fkost , Williams , and Jones . They have been committed to Mr . O'Connor for

      presentation to tho Queen . And yet who expects Mr . O'Connob upon that occasion to expatiate to her Majesty upon the merits of the People ' s Charter ? which would be a course just as reasonable , and just as right to be adopted , as that which the dishonest Anti-Corn-Law scribblers seek now to persuide the unthinking of the Chartists ought ito have been adopted aud pursued by this deputation .

      We are quite sure , however , that this reasoning ia as clear to the Chartist bo ' dy t asa whole , as to ourselves . They have no difficulty in estimating the character of this new card ^ n the hands of an old gambler . The most dextrous playing of it cannot blind the loqkers-on ; the " pass" is too palpable ; and the baffled cheat , no doubt , enjoys might . ly the indignant rejoinder of the Committee iu their reply : —

      " Well , butthen , we are told , that tho deputation did not press upon the Ministers . 'the adoption of the People's Charter . And who compiains of this ? The Leeds Times man , who hati done his little best to swamp the Charter agitation . ! The mart who has omitted no opportunity of doing his uttermost to sow division in the Chai'tijjt camp ! who has maligned the motives , aspersed the characters , and lyingly misrepresented the conduct of the Chartise leaders ! the man who put words into the moiuh of Air . G . J . Hamny » at the last election , for tho pur poso of hounding ou the Whii £ physicals to trounce his

      bones—put words into his mouth which were never uttered , and represented him as uttering them in Leeds , waen ho never saw Leeds on tins day named 1 a man who has systematicalJy traduced -the character of J . B . 0 Brien , and of Mr . F . O'Connor ! a man who had culled from every source all that ho possibly could lay his hands on , which would at all ^ erve his purpose of exciting jealousy and disunion amongst the Chaniet ranks ! a man w ) io is secretary to the Fox and Goose Club—a socit ^ y formed for the express and avowed purpose- '" . ©? - swamping the Charter agitation . ' This is the man to complain

      that the deputation did not do that which they were not sent to do ! This is the man to setid his tooktwo geese ; two members of the Fox and Goose Society , to move at the Leeds Music Hall m eeting , that ¦ the deputation be cefisured for not pressing upon MmisterB tha People ' s Charter ! This h the man tq act thus , when hv and Kis tools have schemed in every possible way to overreach and put down the Charter agitation ! The men who moved the amendment at tho Music Hali

      are both members of the Fox and Goose club ; arid the ;' ¦ - " amendment , " so artlessly . ' .-dictated by the modest mover on the platform , was concocted and arranged , by tho Foxes , before tlie mover of it came near the meeting at all . And these , forsooth , are the men to complain that tho deputation omitted tnat which formed no portion of : ' thoir duty 1 . "Ah ! working men , you ivill need no spectacles to enable you to see through all thi 3 ! You will . n ' ee'd no aid to enable you to divine the cause of this nowborn zeal for the Charter , aad love of the Chartist agitation !"

      Truly , and so we think . Whatever may or may not have been the faults or merits of the deputation , the splutter of this base hireling , about their having omitted to mention the People ' s Charter , is too rioh to be read by any man without laughter j spite even of the melancholy evidence which it affords of the depravity of human nature when acted upon by the full influences of the system , to the support of which this creature has sold his miserable intelleot and wretched soul . The Committee have certainly made this apparent , and have exhibited it very strongly both in the paragraph which We have quoted , and in the following one i ~

      "Not long ago , the party of which the Leeds Times is now the paid tool , themselves sent a deputation to the Tory Ministers . Of course Dr . Smiles and his co-workers took care tb instruct 7 / icir deputation to name the People's Charter to the Ministers , as a measure of relief ; of course they took care that the Ministers bad that subject brought under their notice . Not they , indeed ! They sent their- deputation to press for Corn Law Repeal alone ! and the deputation never mentioned the Chatter ! Of course Dr . Smilescensured them for this omission . Nota ^^ word of . it \ It would not have eesv ^ his purpose . "

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      As no man could at first avoid seeing that to press the People's Charter , under colour of a factory deputation , would have been dishonest and impolitic , so no man who has read the reply of the Committee caa ikilto aee ^ e " pass ^ c ^ dragged from under the * oheaty sleeve ^ and ^ thu s exhibited . ; ¦ ¦ % : ; : , } y ; VY- , w ' / M ¦ J \;^ :- "J . " One word upon the notion which an insidious attempt has been made to engender in the minds of simple , earnest , jmjk unreflecting Chartists ; and in a large mass of people there are always iaore ox fewer of-this character . It has been stated that ihe

      recommendation of the People ' s Charter was the more confidently to be looked for from this deputation , because several of its members were avowed Chartists , and especially because one of them was Mr . Joshua Hobson , the publisher of the A'or ^ fn Star . From him , of course , nothing but the Charter conld emanate . His meat , drink , and evacuations must be " the Charter , the whole Charter , and ' nothing but the Charter . " This is , of necessity , either a very knavish or a very silly modei ' -oif talking ; and it is because , knaves sometimes act upon simple minds and make fools of them , that we

      bestow a passing glance upon it . The objection goes on the assumption that a Chartist should be nothing but a Chartist ; that he should have no ooncern in any other matter than the Charter ; that he should lend himself to the accomplishment of no other purpose , however good or desirable . Carry out this principle , and it would put an instant stop to all the operations of society ; churches , benefit societies , literary institutions , transactions of trade and commerce , all the ordinary and necessary occupations of life , must bo abandoned by every man who is a Chartist : for he who is a Chartist must

      be a Chartist always , entirely and exclusively .: He must mind nothing , seek nothing , and accept nothing but the Charter / We don't stop to say that in this argument the witling of the " Repeal *' press has a little over-stepped himself ; that it would necessarily preclude all hope of that which he affects to be very anxious to obtain—co-operation of the Chartists in the Corn Law Repeal movement ; we don't stop to show thia sballow-pated mole that it offers the best possible justification for the policy of upsetting " Repeal" meetings , about which he has so often and so coarsely abused the Chartists ;

      we give to his impudent but transparent "fraud" of a " uew-born zeal for the Charter , " this flimsy covering very willingly ; but we remind our Chartist ; friends upon whom the "hoax" is attempted to be played , that it would also have the effect of neutralizing , or putting a stop to , all . their exertions in behalf of Fbost , Williams , and Jonh , all their virtuous detestation and righteoua resistance of the " amended " Poor Law , and all their efforts for the abrogation of the ills of poor Ireland consequent upon the Act of Union , as well as every effort at redress for individual grievances however great and galling .

      No Chartist was ever thus Charter-mad . No man ever thought that the promotion of all such religions or social , or epecial and individual , benefits as might be attained without interposing any let or hindrance to the Chartist agitation was not a thing to be desired . No Chartist ever thought that it wa not necessary and advisable to keep actively in play all such means as might combine with and strengthen and uphold the Chartist agitation . And amongst all these , where is the single one that has engaged the amount of public sympathy and public interest which appertains to this question of the protection

      of factory workers against the ravages of Capital , and the assertion of the rights of Labour in ita struggle with Y the giant power of machinery i This is a great and wide question ; ' tis one in 1 which the interests of the poor , both m&nafacturing and agricultural , are essentially bound up ; 'tis one in which the feelings , affections , and sympathies of human nature are all merged and from which they are inseparable ; 'tis one which , Charter or no Charter , sooner or later , and at no distant period , must be made the subject of deep and searohing investigation , in order

      that the hand of legislation , to what arm soever it may be attached , may be enabled so to adjuat and regulate the framework of society as to prevent its violent diBruption . Things oannot go on as they are now doing . Wealth cannot continue to be brought into existence exclusively for tboee who are already wealthy . The few cannot be permitted to continue this clutching of all the good things of an all-bounteous Providence , while the many look mournfully , but vainly , for the bare means of eking out a miserable life . The great question of the adjustment , and control , and

      guidance of our productive powers , is the question ot the Short Time Committees—hot simply the Ten Hours 11 Bill , which , as the deputation . rightly informed the ministry , has lost by delay much , if not all , its efficiency as a specifio measure . This question will , or ought to be , the very first to occupy the attention of Parliament so soon as Parliament shall be made to represent the people . Nothing can therefore be more necessary or important than that it should be well canvassed and well understood ; that those who are now in power should be made to feel and comprehend the

      importance of it ; and that , at all events , whether they can bo induced to anticipate to some degree , ( however small , ) the rule of right or not , the discussion of it should be kept before tho public ; that the people may understand it ; that they may see all its bearings ; all the principles by which they operate ; all the effects flowing from those principles , both sanatory and pernicious , for the public weal : that so , being well-studied in the matters most vitally affecting their own interests , they may , when the Charter shall have been established , find no difficulty in

      testing , knowing , and instructing those whom they shall send to legislate upon the subject . And hence , as O'Connor ia his speeches and writings keeps constantly in view tho question of the Land—th * small-farm and rural population—the connection and blending together of manufactures and agriculture , as a result desirable to be effected by the Charter , and therefore to be understood ¦ how ; as Mr . O'Brien , ftoin precisely the game motive and principle , we

      doubt not , keeps constantly before the people his notions upon Land and Cukhenct , and other matters ; so the Short Timo Committees , most of them excellent Chartists , all of them we have reason to believe benevolently-minded men , think it not less necessary that the publio mind should be instructed upon this the greatest of all questions , and which , in reality ^ includes all the others—the relative rights aud powers of Cab Ml , MAckiNERY , and Manual Labour .

      We wonder not that the Leeds organ of tht Millonaries should be frantic at the revival of thia question of a legislative interference with the hours of labour ; because they know that it is necesearily inductive to the opening-up of the whole ineritB of tlie whole question . They know too the power that this Short Time question has upon the minds of the" workies . " They know that a faithful adherence to its prosecution has enshrined Oastleb , though calling himself " a Tory / ' in their very heart of hearts ; while its desertion by O'Cownell , like the touch of magic , blasted , in a moment , all bis power and popularity , and made him the deserved object of their deepest hate . We wonder not , then , that

      tho mad-dogs should foam and howl at its resnBoitation . They thought they had succeeded nearly nine years since in getting rid of it . They thought they had choked the complaining throats of the factory-workers y ? ithAlth 6 hp ' s "impracticable" Act , and that the working people would be happy to have done with factory legislatioa . A leap instigatod by infernal principle brought them foremost in the " race at humanity . " Their eight-hour-twelve-houir monster wis produced and supported avowedly because they . -. ' - ? knew it to be imprabticable . " The Short Time Committees were not , however , to be' " , done . " They laid down their pars , but quitted not their post . They protested against the monstrous

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      substitution , and sat down to watch its workings until its authors should be eickened by it . This hat been don * . The Masters' remedy" flor the evils of the factory system has been tried , until they themselves acknowledge thai it hag failed , and that they are dek of its operation ; and riow , therefore , theShort Time Committees again promptly and properly take up the question which , as the representatives of those who feel most keenly all the operations of the system , they beat know and understand . YTo have taken this step with a Whig Ministry in office , the creatures of the millocrats and Millionaires— . things who had before testified their subservience

      to " capital and conmerce , " would have been fetile ; Hind these iroto ^ iaterestfl of the working many evinced not less the » wisdom than their faithfulness , in seiiing upon the earliest opportunity , after the accession of a new Ministry , to assert the claima of labopb ere the bias might be given to its purposes by the inddioui applications of the enemy . They were right to have the first run . And they but just had it . The Masters have had their deputation , eince then waiting upon Ministers to urge Cora Law Repeal and Extension of Commerce , '' which mean the further and more complete prostration of laboub before capital and machinery . The event will

      prove whether Sir Robest Peel and bia ministry have been more accessible to the voice of laboub and the demand for justice , or to that of wealth and the cry for the upholding and " extension " of its fell domination . The Millionaire depntiae said nothing to the Minister about the Charter ; even the " amended Charter , " though its author was one of the deputation , formed no part of their recommendatious . Yet they are not censured for this omission by the cur whose snarlings are directed by their bidding . Nor do we censure them . They acted rightly and consistently in adhering to the

      purpose of their visit ; but they should not then kound on their curs upon the people ' s deputies , be cause they , too , acted rightly and consistently . Anything , however , to secure the quarry . The whole produce , of the workman ' s labour , the removal of everj bar to the free" ravages of AWiAi ., is the game hunted ; and the whole pack , big dogs and small , will bark to any tune , so that it may be had . The diversity aud contrariety of note amid their yelpings bring to mind the Wretched soldier writhing beneath the lash . " Strike high or low ; there ' * no pleasing them" any way . The Chartists adhere at all proper times , and in all publio meeting * .

      where' they have the . right to do so , to the practice ef bringing forward , urging , and insisting on the Charter ; the " Extension" and Repeal gentry denounce them as insolent brawlers ; Coil TBOM . fsoN declares them "to be impracticable , ' * and Bays that he cannot work with them , because they will talk about nothing but the Charter ; Mr . Knowies , the CJhartist of Keighley , goes to Skiptott to a meeting of Dr . Smiles , and other foxes , for " Extension" and Repeal of the Corn Laws ; he there talks about the Charter , and is blackguarded , bruised , beaten , kicked off the platform , and pitched headlong down Btairs ; and , anon , this same Dr . Sxilss is shocked and ecandalised at

      the shameful omission , of duty on the part of a deputation , some of whose members were Chartwts , but who neglected to pitch the Charter into Sib Robebz Peel , instead of the business they were sent about . HowiVery shocking ! and what naughty beys this deputation , were , not to » afford ' " 'ihe Toryaiinistejc at all events the chance , with a much better graoe and reason , of calling in his ; servants to ; serve them as tbie " Extension' * and Corn Law Repeal ; foxea served poor Knowles at Dr . Smiles ' s . meetingt

      We have deemed it necessary to say eomething upon this subject , beoause in some portions of tha country there may be honest Chartists , who know little either by experience or observation , of the horrors of the factory system ; who have had . few . opportunities of studying or making themselves acquainted with the principles involved iu the great que ^ trion of the struggle of Manual La » oub " against Machinery ; and who might , therefore , lacking better information , be induced by the villanons artfulness With which the Charter has been "played" on this occasion by the ci-devant advocate ( now bitter

      enemy ) of the factory workers , to suppose that there may have been some forgetfulness of the unswerving allegiance which is due . to their dw cause , either by the Chartists of Leeds , Huddersfield , aud Bradford generally , or by the many active and excellent Chartists belonging to the Short Time Committees of those places individually in this matter . We have devoted many years to the study of this question ; expended muoh time , much labour , and some pecuniary means , in the prosecution of such actual observance as should afford us a iufficiency of facts and data for conclusions on the

      whole matter . We have lived amongst it our whole time . Webave wiatched the rieingi we have seen the development , we have noted the operation , of that system of production by inanimate machinery , which under the management and regulations that have hitherto guided it , has become the blight of the poor man ' s hopes—the devastator of his homestead —the demoraliser of his family—the assassin of his connubial and parental happiness—the destroyed of everything dear to him , save physical xistence- ; and which threatens , if not gaidei in its movements otherwise than it has yet

      been , to rob him erelong of that too ! Entertaining deep and conscientious feelings oh the subject , we have ever held it to be our Btern duty to the people to give the factory labourer our most hearty and uncompromising support . It may not have been all that we could have wished it It may have lacked power , or ; energy , or talent , or influence ; but has not lacked sincerity , consistency nor disinterestedness . It has been a support voluntarily accorded . No scores of pounds ' of the hard earuings of the factory workera have been paid to purchase us . Without pay ; without having been constituted their advertising medium ; we have asserted and supported the rights of the enslaved factory workers , on a-1 occasions which

      tcight brinjg them under notice , throughput our entire career . We have done so from principle , because we believe their cause to be identical with that of the whole people ; to be in fact ths cause—the cause of labour against wealth—of Oppressed against Oppressor , for the adjustment of Which the enaction of the Charter is " required . Often and again have we dec ^ are < i tnat we would not give a straw for the Charter otherwise than as a means to an end , and that end the upholding of the Rights of Labour . It is a pretty thing , then , that we , who have always upheld the factory workers ; should be accused of " frauo , " of " hoaxing , " of "dishonesty , " because we upheld the factory workers still , by the thing who blustered for the Ten Hours' Bill

      when ijbs advocates were his best paying customers and patrons , and who foams and fioihs about it as an" impudent hoax , " " excessively absurd attempt , " " a gross aad palpable fraud , " uow that he is stated to have been bound , for some" twenty months back , to do the bidding of its euemies in return for the " chink" with which his services were purchased ! A stupid effort is made to identify U 9 with the Short Time : Committee , because , forsooth , the address upon which we have written these observation ? , was printed by Mr . Homon , who also prints the Northern Star . Having read the document , we have

      no hesitation in averring that to the principles eon * tained ' in it we subscribe in full ; and that we hold the reasoning to be conclusive and unanswerable . It is for these reasons , and because we think it , along with many other ^ laudable exertions " of the body whence it emanates , calculated to serve the real interests of the working men , that we havt given ; insertion to it . We have omitted from the address some expressions personal to Dr . Smiles . We h ave heithsr wish nor need to rest our cause upon personalities . It may have been deemed necessary , and perhaps it was necessary , for the Committee , in rebutting hia slanderous attacks upon

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      ^ - . THE NORTflERN STAR , ; .--: ¦¦¦ . . ' . . : . .. ,,. ; .. ; . . '' _ . ¦;¦ ' ' ; ' ¦ : ' : : y- . ' ' :: 7 : ^ : yC- Z '; - ? M

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Feb. 5, 1842, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct740/page/4/