Current:

Northern Star (1837-1852), 3rd December 1842, Edition 4 of 7, Page 4

Page 4
Page 4
4 of 8

On this page

  • Departments (2)
    • TO THE CHARTISTS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.
    • THE KORTHEfttf STAR. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1842.
  • Text (12)
  • Transcript

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

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

      Untitled Article

      TO THE CHARTISTS OP ^ BRrTAIX . Mt 3 > £ ax Pta 5 BS ,-I . tlut to ^ an should exut ? n the Ctatt- /^ haTiD ? , ^^ dciie that it may soo- ^ ^ deKXOV € ! ii ± beg to lay Wore you . the following mrg ! r : Xiona , ' hopcci . tbat if acted npoa , they will t- ^^^^ to that unity of action bo essen-V "~ ily Decasr . ' - _ , accomplish . for an enslaved j ; ople 1 w * " « in from stating ny otra opinions respiting Vbe l-msi of the disunion , lest some might siy that I Wanrni to prt-judiee the minds of the psople against or in favour of eitter the Executive or there mem ! ja Of onr Assoc ' -. iion irho feel dissatisfied -with their fjnuTHr ¦ . . . . _

      In order that the disunion may ts healea , I gageesi for your adoption , that a Committee of five or ifcven persons t 2 elected to exiniine the plan of Organizition , and tsie into consideration the conduct of tie Ex" ¦ mtive , acd if a majority of the Committee asree that they have acted aesordini ? to the Plan of Organlzition , let them still hold offica , and if not , let me Committee call upon the Executive immediatsly to resign ernes . Let the Cummitt : 3 have a r : por : r present to report their proceedings , so that t ' seir constituents may see how they have acted and Toted .

      Trusting that tee Excrar . re -will see the propriety of adopting tome measure themselves to bring this ¦ nnpk ?^ nt pSalr to a close , I remain , jours , Amidst all -weathers and political storms the same , Nov . 2 Sth , 1 S 42 . Vt . Beeslet .

      To The Chartists Of The United Kingdom.

      TO THE CHARTISTS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM .

      Fello-sp-labourers in the cause—Among the many subjects which merit yonr sttentioB , and that of the ¦ work-* --dpsscs eeneraliy , there is one to which Te briefly ' " ough sia' -iciy invite yonr immedLltB consideration It is now generally known that for five months we have ir a -powerful and consistent daily advocate in the " Ezzniaj SUa " newspaper , the proprietor of which bt 3 made , and is still mating , immm : •¦ : sacrificss for the good of the causey but it is unreasonable in us to hops or expect these pecuniary sacrifices 10 fc-s much longer continued . In older , therefore , to sustain the at jve Jitriotic indiTidiul , "we urgently r : ll npon the genual council of the different Iocaliuc 3 , and throngb . them upon all who ytisb . their wrongs exposed aod their few Tem&ining rights protected ^ to trouie their test energies tad devise means to increase the circulation of such a - valuable auxiliary to the Chartist cause . If each iecaHty thronchout the kingdom took upon an sversge five pat

      p 3 s daily , we are given to understand th- ; the proprietor would then b « able So compste xncce- 'sfnliy with any daily journal . If only three copies were t ^ . sen by etch I ( -ility , the circnlation rtns fncre ' -rd wodd irzrs the proprietor from any and every embarrassment Under these circumstances "we trust that no- lorUity , however poor it may t z , " will fail in coming immediately to the re zae Who would wish that the Evening Star should shine no more ? Who "would not regret the Ios 3 of sa bi Jliast a luminary of the politJr-Therizon ? Tet it is unless to conceal the fear th 3 t its light will be ex ' -inguished unless you eome forward , and "that tco withont delay , to give on impetus to i f < ! circulation , and thereby advance yocr own interest ana that of oue of your firmest » b 3 most Gevottd friends . Tours , on behalf of the Metropolitan Dslegate mcetin ? , TbomaS M . Wheeleb , Secretary .

      Untitled Article

      THE- EXECUTIVE . TO THE EDIXOE OF THE KOKTHEB >* STAR . Deab , Sia—The recent disclosures must have con-^ Inp ^ d the coDutry of the nselessrsess of a permanent Execntive in the existing affairs of Chartism . A geneirf i Secretary is all that seems » aaKi The salaries of Pie rest miaht be raved and the money applied to more ic : . iJl purposes . The business of the Secretary should J : ' •> conduct the correspondence of the Association , nd for this purpose he shonld have a fixed residence in Eome rintrr place , to draw up addresses and to give a Quarterly , half yearly , or annual report of the progress of the cause . A yearly conference might be held in london , attended by delegates from all the localities . If these hints meet the approval of our brother Ciartiets , I trust they will aet up en them , and I remain , Ycnrrs , in the cood cause , A MEKBEfi OF . XAII ' OSaL CHAB . IER A 5 S 0 CIATI 0 X . ¦ - - London , Not . 28 , 1842 . " . ;

      Untitled Article

      Certainly not . We knew no m ^ re than Mr . Bairstow "where eitb . tr of them would be till we saw the papa in print ¦ }• We only hope thatjuEilM * rli ' . be dene by allowing like clailiis to every hish nxtjcr lie circumitancsi—Bo / XA .

      Untitled Article

      TO THE EDITOB OP THE KOBTHEBX STAB . SJS . in our oreanizition you will find it i » stated that the General Treasurer shall ba elected by the Ganeral Councillors . This has not been done yet , bat at the cext nomination for Executive Committee , I am de : nnined , shonld hsalth permit , and I am free from faction ' s dungeons , that I will place a person in nomination for that efflce . I mention this , so that it 1 ; not lost sight of in youi strictures on the orga » . ization , E . ' A .

      Untitled Article

      RECEIPTS OF THE EXECUTIVE FOB . THE WEEK ENDING NOT . 29 th , 1842 . London—Clockhouse ... 0 5 0 „ Richmond 0 5 0 Lewes -. 030 Star office ~ . 2 12 0 * £ 3 5 Oi

      Untitled Article

      entitled to his wages , and are quite sure that there is enor . gb . of work for Mm at all times if he were ' able and disposed to do it . Bat we do think that his own published accounts , and the state of tk ' i society generally , of which he is the chief officer , yjford sufficient evidence that he is utterly unfit for that office , because utterly incompetent to discharge its duties . This is our opinion ; w « are sorry to be compelled to entertain it ; we hare given our reasons for it ; and the people will , of worse , give it as much or as little weight as they Hke . The only part of this long rambling document which bears at ail upon the question , and offers for themselves aay defence is the following : — " And now let us tell you a a few facta as to the treatment we have received as an Executive .

      " The 2 Sad rule says , When members of the Executive shall I ; employed as missionaries , their salaries shall be the same m when employed in the Council : coach-hire and one-half of any other incidental eiponccs shall be paid to them in addition by the par tic i who may repairs their services . ' Now we can prove that the above clause bxi not i : cn adher 1 to in 'the Y 'Utics where we haw acted r- ' lecturers . We give the following samples ef its violation : —We went to

      Birmingham , af' t many strong invitations , and with the undersf-uiding that our t _ -veiling expences wonld t ' p paid . On this point , however , we were completely deceived : instead of our expsnees being paid , the Local Council came to a vote that they would net allow us one halfpenny , but tbat we should be paid from the general fund , and after being at considerable expose of coach hire and living at Birmingham , we were indebted to the kindness of a friend for the means te get home again .

      " We * -embled again in London , and met exrstiy with the same treatment . " > in Birmingham , with the exception of the vote : in fiv-t , we were obliged to borrow money from Mr . Cleave to bring us home . We could lay before yon scores of such r * " ? s if it were n : : ossary , but we think the above quite sufficient" > This , like all the rest , is sufficiently blunderingly stated . There is no twenty-second rule in tho organization . The eighteenth rule does say , nearly , but not exactly what is here quoted . It perhaps might not be too much to expect the President and the

      Secretary to quote correctly from the rules of the association ; but we will take the quotation as it stands . The observations following and founded ; upon this quotation seem to us to contain a tacit admission that the sums charged as " travelling " and " agitating " expenses , are , some of them at least , improperly charged to the country , instead of to the respective localities , on account of which the ; were incurred and the effort is to shift the blame of this irregularity from the Executive to the localities . This is , at best , but a lame effort . It is the duty of the Executive to see that the localities do comply with the rules of the organization ; that is the single one duty for which they were appointed—the single one duty of which , as it seems to us , they have never attempted the

      performance . Had they carefully regulated their own acts by the rules of the association ; and had they rigorously insisted upon a compliance with thote rules by all its officers and members , we cannot think that they would have found much difficulty in obtaining that compliance from particular parties , under such circumstances ae they state in reference to Birmingham and London . Giving , then , all credit to their statements of the treatment they received from all these places , they do not , on their own showing , justify themselves . There can be no doubt that if they had appealed against ill-treatment to the body by whom they were appointed ,

      that body , if it could not even have redressed , would , at all events have prevented the recurrence of such things . If the Executive went to Birmingham as missionaries ! at the invitation of the Birmingham people , their travelling charges , their salaries , and one half of their incidental expences ought , by the plain rule of the Organization , to have been paid by the Birmingham members , so long as they were so employed . And if the Birmingham councillors refused to comply with the organization , it was their duty to have then and there appealed to the Birmingham members ; to have shown them the plain bearing of the , rale , the necessity of its being complied with , and the

      injustice that would be inflicted on their mach poorer brethren in many other parts , if those expenses , which of right appertained to that locality , should be charged to the general fund . This is what the Executive ought to have done , if their statement be correct . If they had done so there can be no doubt that the whole matter would have been set right- The whole question , however , of the liability of Birmingham hiuges on the point of whether they went there as missionaries , and at thirequest of the Birmingham peopls . If they did there can be no doubt that Birmingham ought to have paid , and ought yet to pay , those expences . If they did not ; if they merely

      went to Birmingham because it suited their own pleasure and convenience to remove their sittings there , they ought then to pay their travelling and other extra charges out of their own pockets . The country has decided by the resolution of a National Delegate Meeting that the Executive shall sit in Manchester ; no power but that of another National Dalegate Meeting , or a general vote of all the members of the Association , can alter ' that decision . It is quite clear , therefore , that if the Executive chose to move from Manchester to Birmingham , not as Missionaries , but as an Executive to hold a session , they had no right to charge

      the country with the expence . If , however , they went there at the request of Birmingham , if they had been solicited to go and agitate in and around Birmingham , because there was a prospect of doing good to the cause , and if , in consequence of such solicitation , they went there to hold a portion of their , session , sitting as a committee during the day , and labouring as agitators in the evening , which we rather think to have been the case , it then appears plain that their salaries might be charged to the general fund , but that their travelling and all extra expences ought to hare been defrayed by Birmingham . And any

      refusal on the part of Birmingham to do thisv was a gross violation , not only of the terms of the organization , but of the principles of equity and 'justice . The same remarks will , of course , apply to London , and every other place in which the Executive have been treated as they say they have in these two . We are informed by Mr . Bair 3 tow that the localities in and around Manchester never defray any expences incurred by members of the Executive in lecturing , and that , consequently , all these expenses are of necessity charged to the country under the head agitating expenses . All we can say is , that , if this

      be so , it is shameful ; it is a gross fraud upon every other part of the association . Our observations last week , in reference to Mr . Bairstow's lecturing in she West of England , are equally applicable here ; we think it a shame that North Lancashire , Leicestershire , Nottinghamshire and other poor districts which pay their own local lecturers , should also pay lecturers for such places as Manchester , Birmingham , London , Bristol , Ac . Id is clearly unreasonable to suppose that the Executive can defray out of their salaries travelling or other expenses incurred in lecturing .

      If , therefore , these be not paid by the localities , and if their services be still required as lecturers , we see not what else they can do but charge to the general fund , though clearly unwarranted by the organization . If this be the true statement of , the case , it is clearly in the power , and it is as clearly the duty , of the Association to remedy the grievance for themselves . All the members , and all the general councillors , either know the rules or ought to know them . Let them see that they adhere to than themselves , that the Executive may have no excuse for deviation . If no attention is to be paid by any loiy to the organi « ation , it may as well be given up at once ; there is no use in merwlytautalizing ourselves and the country with it .

      vvhiJe , hovreyer , we enforce upon the members and General Councillors especially , their share of attention to the requirements of the organization , vre uo not forget that the one single duty ' of ' the Eiauiiue , the sole thing for which they are appointed , is to attend to this very business . Their great fiult seems to us to be , that they have been always labouring after usefulness as lecturers and sgitaiors , inii £ aii of attending to the simple duties of

      Untitled Article

      their office ; the consequence of which 13 , that while by them and others , our principles have been widely extended throughout the whole country , our Associ ? ation is , in fact , no association at all , but a huge mass of crude , ( shapeless elements , without" form or comeliness . ' Theta is no regular correspondence , and due understanding kept up amongst us , there is no sameness of system and adherence to rule , and consequently no power , which there certainly ought to be , of bending and directing the whole energies of the whole people towards any given point at any given time . This is to be effected by organization , and only by organization . All the agitation in the

      world will never do it . The organization of the National Charter Association , worked by an efficient Executive—aye , even by a Secretary alone , of clever and business-like habits , and who would mind his own work , and keep to it , might in a few weeks , with the co-operation of the people , be made so perfect , as that that Secretary might at &hy time , in two or three posts , have the opinion , upon any given question , of every member of the Association . But he must be a Secretary of a very different caste from the one we now have ; he must be a man who knows the organisation , and is able to instruct others in its management .

      We hope tho people will take the whole matter into consideration . It is high time . Nothing is so vital to the movement aa a due attention to organisation . It is clear that the persons now composing the Executive lack either the disposition or the peculiar kind of talent for attending to it . Their forte is agitation . As agitators they are energetic and useful . There may be enough of occupatio n found , for them in the sphere which is most suited to them . It is more reasonable and more right for each distinctive ; locality to pay its own lecturer than for us to have a body of men under the name

      of an Executive , who are , in fact , merely lecturers occupying the best and most cultivated grounds of Chartism at , the expence of the . poorest and least cultivated . We suggest , therefore , that in future the Executive consist of a Secretary and four unpaid members resident in London , Birmingham , Nottingham , Leeds , or any other place on which the people may determine . We are decidedly of opinion that an efficient Secretary is the only paid officer needed in our movement , and that with such a functionary—an efficient man—having the advice and assistance in the concootion of documents , Jtoi of a Committee chosen from the

      General Councillors in his own locality , the orgazja&tion may be well worked without any recurrence of the evils which have originated the present very painfuj , but we hope very useful and profitable discussion . This is the course adopted by our Scottish friends , who beat us hollow at sober , clearheaded arrangement . Our readers will perceive that it is recommended to them by a communication in this day's paper . That communication is from a tried and valuable friend to the cause . One who has seen much and suffered much in it ; and whose opinion desesvea the best attention of the people .

      Our readers will see also a communication from Mr . Beeslet recommending the appointment of a Committee to inquire whether the present Executive have violated the organization or not . That , of course , is a proposal for the people to consider . To us it seems a . farce ; the more : especially as the Executive have already admitted that the organization has been violated , by refusing to defend their own acts and meeting the charges against them with mere bluster and blash .

      To our mind it is of much more Consequence to prevent these things in future than to trouble ourselves about the past . That which is past cannot be recalled ; but the people may make past errors a beacon for the future . We recommend therefore that the whole matter be taken up by all the localities , at once ; thct the members and councillors meet togther and deliberate upon the subject ; that they endeavour to keep in mind the whole question and to keep out of mind everything but the question—the duties of the Executive and the manner in which they have been performed ; that they lay the balance sheet—not the last merely , but the last three

      balance sheets and the organization both before them , and examine them together ; that they read in connection therewith , the letters of the Hull Councillors to the Executive—the . articles in the ^ Northern Star of this and the last two weeks , and especially all that the Executive have said for themselves in explanation and defence ; that they weigh all these carefully and dispassionately , using their own clear sense ef right and wrong , and their own appreciation of principle ; not suffering themselves to be led or biassed , either by us or by the Executive , but judging fairly from the evidence which lies before them , and recording their opinions in firm , clear , and temperato language .

      The matter is one fraught with as much importance as any that has occupied the public mind for along time . We ask not , therefore , that the people should take us for a guide ; but that they should divest themselves of prejudice , and view the whole subject in the clear light of common sense and Chartist principle . We warn them that the consequences of mistake may not be easily rectified or averted . Since writing the above , we observe 5 n the Evening Star of Wednesday evening , which we have just received , a portion of a letter , in reference to the subject , from M'Douall- It seems to have been written for the Northern Star ; bus , for what reason we know not , it has not been sent to us . A part only of the letter is given in the Evening

      Star , with a promise for its continuance this ( Tnursday ) evening . Of course we can neither give it nor reply to it , until we have seen the whole ; and before the arrival of the Mvening Star with the latter portion of it , our paper will have been at press some sixteen hours . We may just observe , in reference to the portion which has appealed , that its tone is of an altogether different character from that of the blundering bluster of Messrs . Leach and Campbell . For the present , we content ourselves with giving , from the portion which has been published , the following acknowledgment of the accuracy and justice of all that we have said about the ten shillings a- week business ;—" You say that was contrary to rule- So it Was . "

      This is all that we have said about the matter . For the parailel case , by us given week before last , and out of which so much bluster about " robbery , " and' " fraud , " and " transportation" has arisen , the Doctor and his colleagues may thank , not us , but their Secretary , Mr . Campbell , who forced us to show him that his expectation of the whole country 'going into . fits of " delight" about it , was a little absurd . We suppose this admission of the Doctor ' s , and the admission of Mr . Leach before the South Lancashire Delegate Meeting , that he could not defend that act of the Executive , together with the assertion of Mr . Baihstow , made in our hearing , that he knew nothing ofit , and was astounded when he saw it in the Balance Sheet , will settle all the

      bluster about our having been actuated by some private malice or some petty revenge in the " denunciation" of it ; and will show pretty satisfactorily that wo have only done'that ' which it was our duty to do ; and which if we had not done , we should have deserved to be denounced . We dismiss this matter with the observation that we think it ' . a little odd that the " tense of justice" about which the Dr . writes very well , did did not prompt him to send this letter at once to us . Meantime we may observe that wo see nothing in ic-to shake , but much to strengthen , every position we have taken ; and many strong arguments for therecommendationwehaveabovegiven to the people , 111 reference to the future settlement of the Executive .

      Untitled Article

      Extraohdinart Increase in Potatoes . —Mr . R . Kvud , of " Briery Close , near Amble-side , planted three potatoes last spring in his garden , the enormous iucrease of vfhicti , when taken out of the ground , may be judged irom the fact that the ' prouucu weighed eleven stone and a half .

      Untitled Article

      THE APPROACHING CONFERENCE . ' CDDBSE OF THE ELECTIONS . ALARM OF THE STURGE PARTY . SOLUTION OF THE MYSTERY WHY " CHARTISTS" WISH TO " GET RID OF FEARGUS . " The 27 th of December will soon be here ! Op that day the Conference of Delegates , appointed by the people in open public meetings , in their respective localities , conformably to a request issued

      by Mr . Joseph Sturge , of Birmingham , on behalf of the General Council of the Complete Suffrage Association , will meet to prepare a Bill to be proposed to Parliament , to secure the real representation of the whole people . Several of the localities have elected their delegates ; others are preparing to do so ; and circumstances so combine , as to make this meeting one of the most important ever convened , or holden , in connection with that Movement , which has had , and has , for its first object the assertion of the principle of universal right . ¦

      The struggles connected with'that Movement hate been long and arduous 1 The conflicts have been many and severeil The persecuting hand of power has be ^ S laid on with heavy effect upon the advo .-cates of , and firm adherents to , the cause of Universal Suffrage .. From the first hour . of the proposal of that measure by Henry Hunt , as the only likely means to secure a , Radical Reform of the Commons House of Parliament , up to the present moment , there has been a continued effort on the part of Government to put the agitation down ; and a continued resistance on the part of the working

      people against the persecuting acts of the Govern-, menfc . In this resistanco » the working people have been " alone in their glory . " They have not had th& co-operation , or even the countenance , of any of the classes above them in point of station . Nay , those classes , one and all , have been arrayed against , them . Each one , and alii have accused them of the most villainous ' ' designs upon the property of the country . " Each one , and all ^ have ' 'harked on the Government to " silence the grumbling rascals , " whose " only aim was to uproot the foundations of society , and produce anarchy and confusion , so that they might have the chance of possessing themselves of the wealth of their neighbours through a general

      scramble . " Each one , and all , have joined in Volunteer Associations to aid the Government in putting down the " ragged rascals , " who wished ta "destroy our glorious Constiution , by inciting the people to revolt , and by spreading disaffection and sedition amongst the labouring poor . " Yeomanry corps have been embodied and wed , with terrific effeot , to accomplish this purpose . The dungeon , the halter , and the block , have also been used . Imprisonments , and hangings , and beheadings , have been resorted to , to put down tho demand for such a Radical Reform as would restore to each male adult in the kingdom that share in the representation of the country which Blackstone says the Constitution awards him !

      And yet all these means have failed ! The demand for Universal Suvfeage , and the conviction that it alone can give us a Parliament that will or can , honestly apply itself to ascertain the causes of our numerous social and political evils , with a view to the application of a simple , yet efficient , remed y , ia stronger and more generally entertained than ever ! The Conference lo be holden in Birmingham on the 27 th instant , is ostensibly called to give effect to that increased demand and growing conviction . It is ostensibly called to prepare a Bill to be proposed to Parliament , to enact that Universal Suffbage in the choice of members to the Commons ' House shall become law . This is the ostanqibla

      objeot of the promoters of that convocation of Delegates . And the people in answering the call made upon them to elect Delegates , are taking the neceasary steps to realize that ostensible objeot . ... They are electing in all parts , men who have been long known to them by their Btedfast and firm adherence to the principle of Universal Sbffjuge ; men who have borne the heat and the burden of the day in the advancement . of that principle ; men who have proved . their devotion to it ,: by braving imprisonments , and . enduring persecution in its infinity of shapes . The people are tefeing the only means that -exist- ; to * secure the end the originators of this conference :

      say they have in view , by sending to it men whose whole life and character 'is a guarantee tbat there will be no flinching from principle ; no deviation from the . one right straight-forward course ; . no temporizing ; no coquetting ; no compromises ;' no bargaining ; no SELLiNd . The people are taking this , the only course that men honestly fixed upon the attainment of their object could possibly take : and yet , the evincement of their determination to secure the ostensible ends of the promoters of that Conference , ha 3 caused ALARM and dissatisfaction amongst those same promoters !! They openly confess their surprise and disappointment at this answer to their appeal ! V

      Now , why is this 2 What cause is there for ALARM ! What reason for either dissatisfaction , or surprised Why should the concoctora of that conference be disappointed ? They profess to be admirers and advocates of the principle of Universal Suffrages To promote the legislative adoption of that principle , they call upon the people to elect a number of delegates to embody that principle into a document ,

      called a Bill , to be laid before Parliament . The people respond to that call , by electing men to sit in the Conference Chamber whose past conduct proves them to be worthy of the people's confidence , inasmuch as it is a guarantee that they will honestly apply themselves to the business for which they are called together ; and yet surprise , and dissatisfaction , and ALARM is manifested by those who have issued the invitation to the people to confer together ! Again , we ask , why is this !

      It is the result of the Birmingham election that has principally caused this ALARM ! The Birmingham people , having been called together in public meeting , choose Mr . O'Connor , Mr . George White , and two other well-known Chartists , along with two members of the Christian Chartist Church , to represent them in the coming Conference . .. It is this result with which the callers of that Conference are dissatisfied . . - ¦'

      Our readers know the history of the Sturge move ment . They know that tha t movemen t was not determined oh till every other effort to cajole the people from the advocacy of Universal Suffrage had failed ! They know that scheme after scheme was planned and developed for accomplishing this purpose . They know that they were denounced as "impracticable , " because they did not join in-, with the Anti-Corn-Law party , in endearouring to procure a " practicable" measure , the repeal of the Corn-Laws . , They know that the dodge of " Extension of the Suffrage" was also tried : and they cannot have

      forgotten the Fox and Goose Club scheme at Leeds , which was to amuse the people with Household Suffrage , ^ while the foxes " got rid , " as Dan said " Feargus . " They know that the Sturge movement for Complete Suffrage was never heard of 'till it was plainly apparent that the Anti-Corn-Law party could not possibly obtain the public ear ; could not get the public to listen even to their nostrum for relieving the conntry from the dire distress and suffering it endured . The people know that it was not ' till matters has assumed this shape ;

      it was not till the advocates of- cheap food" and " low wages" were literally driven from off ,- the public stage ; it was not 'till the working people had evinced an unconquerable determination not to relax in their efforts to obtain Universal Suffrage ^ , as a means of securing the ead of good and honest government : the people know that it was not ' till the agitation for the Charter , had' supcrcede'd ail other agitations , and frustrated the designs of the Free-trade-Poor-LaiY-eiifcrcing party to inake-lfctY question the question of the day ; the people kuow j

      Untitled Article

      that it was not till political agitation bore tats aspect , that the Sturge movement wa 3 even heard of ! They know also , that the main movers in that movement , were , and are , Corn-Law Repealers , and supporters of the horrible New Poor Law in all its atrocity ! The Sturge movement , however , at the juncture just described , was made . It professed to have for its object the enfranchisement of the people . Its promoters advocated what they were pleased to call Complete Suffrage ; defining their " completeness " to be just that which every body understood by the term Universal . They formed themselves into a new political Association , > nd asked the people to

      join them in it . They adopted the Xonconfortnist newspaper as their organ of communication with the public ; and it is with the / amen / of ^ hat orga n as to ihe result of the Birmigham election , that we now purpose to deal . We have already detailed the result of the election just named . We have already stated that the people of Birmingham chose Mr . O'Connor and Mr White , and two other backbone Chartists to sit aa their representatives in the coming Conference , along with two of Mr . Sturge ' s friends . It may bo well to remark too , that the public meeting which made this choice , was called by Mr . Sturge's own party ; and that that gentleman presided on the

      occasion . . Respecting the election thus made the Nonconformist of November 23 rd , has the following remarks : — " . The result of the election of delegates for BK iningham to the ensuing conference , recorded in orr columns last week , took us , we honestly confess , somewhat by surprise . We cannot but admit that , ever / deduction having fce « n made en the score of the comparative smallnesa of the meeting , occasioned by the arbitrary conduct of the Town Hall authorities , and of local irritation , excited by a fancied slight , put upon an active Cnartiafc agitator by Mr . Sturge ami the Council—the rejection of four out of six names

      nominated by the Council of the Union , and too substitution in their room of avowed foes to the Complete Suffrage Movement , wears an ugly [ appearance . We cannot conceal from ourselves , nor shall we attempt to conceal from our readers , that the same game may 13 played in many other places . We know the advantages possessed by an unscrupulous and organised minority over undisciplined numbers , however superior in pointof real force . We ara quite alive to the danger , which , probably , none have foreseeu more clearly than Mr . Feargus O'Connor and his staff of agitators , of scaring , by means of successful insolence , back into inaction , if not into opposition , all those of the middle class who have but recently given in a timid adherence to the great principle advocated by the Union . We

      foresee that , here and there , men who would have done battle / or tha unenfranchised , ¦ will not do battle urilh them ; and that many a heart which would have been content to strive on behalf of just principles , will decline to take any part in a conflict , the issue of which turns only upon persons . Should , therefore , the main object of the Birmingham Conference be defeated , although we cannot say we expect such a result , we shall not , after what has already occurred , be overwhelmed with astonishment Such a calamity need not be , ought not be , will not be , ifihe avowed Meri '* - of Complete Suffrage are active , prudent , and firm ; but , looking to all the bearings Of the case , it would be childish to blink the conclusion that such a calamity may be . " . , .

      The surprise of the Sturge party , at the result 0 . the Birmingham election is here openly avowecf Now , for the life of us we cannot see , what there is to be " surprised" at , if the callers of the coming Conference expected or required its sittings to ba attended by mea whose firm adherence to the principle of Universal Suffrage conferred upon them peculiar fitness for the task of embodying that principle in a Bill , and surrounding it -with proper details to ensure its due and honest working . - Tha men who were so chosen ; at least the four who "we assume have caused the " surprise" here trumpeted

      forth , are known as long-tried and earnest advocates of the main principle the Stor « e party profess to have at heart ; and yet they are " surprised " that the people of Birmingham , who know what their services have been ; who know the devotion they hav , e evinced ; who have been witnesses of the efforts they have made : they are " surprised' * that the people of Birmingham , who know all this , should prefer such men to men whose profession even of the principle of Universal Suffrage ia but of yesterday ' s date ! Really this expression of " surprise '' under such circumstances , is very " surprising" . ' !

      ] . The writer adduces several reasons to account , in part , for the " ugly " ^ result he deplores . One of them is "local irritation , excited by afancied slight put upon an active Chartist agitator by Mr . Sturgb and the Complete Suffrage Council . " This refers , we opine , to the famous " NO" of Mr . Sidrge and his compeers to the application for assistance towards the defence of the persecuted and imprisoned George White . We know not to what extent " local irritation " may have been excited by that " slight "; but we do know , that if the remembrance of that " NO "influenced the people of Birmingham in their answer of "NO" to four of Mr . Sturge ' s nominees , and in the return of White himself , under

      Sturge's nose , the action reflects upon them the highest honour and credit 1 It is honourable alike to the head and the heart . White is a man who has served them faithfully and earnestly . According to the Nonconformist himself , he is " an active Chartist leader . " His services have been deemed worthy of governmental attention . Tw ' xcs has he been laid by the heels ; and his zeal and devotion have only become the more plainly apparent . Wheu he was under bonds ; when he wag immured in one of the cells of Warwick Gaol ; when he enduring the full weight of Tory persecution ; when he was awaiting his " trial , " where he would be enabled , the pecuniary means being forthcoming , to expose in all its hideous deformity , the system of espionage and spyi&m resorted to by the

      authorities to entrap poor simple-minded men ; when his poor but faithful friends were trying to raise those necessary pecuniary means , application wa 3 made to Mr . Joseph Stuuge . To whom could application have been more proper ? Mr . Sturgk bears the character of a philanthropist . Philakthrophv would aid any man , under such circumstances . But the applicants had a right to calculate on political sympathy . Mr . White waB a Chartist ; in other words an u active" advocate of the principles of Universal Si : ffrage . Mr . STUROE professed to be the same . To him , therefore , and to his friends , was the application most properly made . A plain , simple , unqualified "NO , " was the answer ! If this " slight" did cause " local irritation , " and dictated the "NO" of the BirmiDgham people , it does them iufiuite honour !

      " We know the advantages possessed by an unscrupulous and organised minority over undisciplined numbers , however SUPERIOR in point of real force . '' Thus writes the Nonconformist ! What does it mtau ? Does it mean that aa ' unscrupulous minority ' elected the Birmingham Delegates in the face of an " undisciplined majority ? " If it does not mean this , pray what does it meani If it does mean-this , the advantages possessed by such " minority * over 6 uch " majority : ' were great indeed ! But what was Mr . Srvan about , to let the " minority" enjoy such an advantage as to have the election to themselves ! Did he really decide in favour of the " minority ? " It he did , his character for uprightness ia not worth much . '

      It is amuzing to notice what nonsense an angry defeated man will sometimes talk ta take the edge off his defeat , and soften his fall . The sentence just quoted is a sample in point . Th « pets of the Nonconformist were put on ono side ; and other , " and in the opinion of the Birmingham people i better men elected in their stead . Forthwith tfcfl Nonconformist talks about " unscrupulous and organized minorities" triumphing over " undisciplined majorities ! " Nay , in his anger and blindness , he avers that Buch minority will alwajs have an ad ' vantage "over undisciplined numbers , HOWEVER SUPERIOR in point of real force . " What arrant nonsense 1 ' ¦ . '

      The " surprise" occasioned by this election Iesd 3 onr friend into soaje other " surprising" siatemenis and admissions . He avows that the result of thu election , if followed up in a . similar manner throughout the country , may end in a defeat of the hum object fax which the Conference is called ! This is a curious admi-sion . The Conference l 3 avowedly called to prepare a bill , embodyint ; the principles of Univer .-al Suffrage . The election of delegates pledged to maintain Universal Scffiiage 10 tho last gasp , mow end ia tho "defeat' of that

      Untitled Article

      4 r __ - thi ; e northern § tir . , ¦¦• ¦ ¦ . ;¦ ¦¦ -

      Untitled Article

      THE EXECUTIVE BALANCE SHEET . TO THB EDITOR OF THE SORTHERS STAP . SIR , —Tour Editorial commtn ^ , " in last Saturday ' s S ' tr , abound with uosupported allegations against the Executive , and contain such evident misconceptions , inr-surasies , anl perversions , that I should deem nsyr 2 lf criminal were I cot to attempt a repJy . May I ark , why wn my explanatory letter thrown into an ol scure corner of " your paper , "while the Hull CMmcillors' correspondence 'with ilr . Campbell wn pompously paraded on tiiB front . pa * je , fcno ^ riiig , as 1 do , that you reraived mine , by the same post that conveyed theii communi'"" tion ? Was there no design ? ti this 5 * . - Possibly , too , Hr . Editor , you-may fled it inconvenient Vo cemeb . your strictures on our conduct in no less 1

      " courtisy of expression arid kindiy . in tone ' than sneh Tery polite terms aa " roblery , " II embezzlement , " " fraud , " i » . ic Whatever our sensitiveness may irdicat 3 of being ¦• r tdn-Bkinned , " such a tone ? ud ptrrwology certainly " apeak volumes '' for the school in Trbicb . the writer received bis education J But to your remarks on my own csse . Ton are " sorry" my explanation is unsatisfactory ; and f ~ st you quarrel with my rtceipt of wages ¦ while in the "West of Engbud . Ton are srrprised I should find " Bath , Bristol , Cheltenham , and Wiltskire" classed among the new

      districts . Tou setm -willing to forget the reason of j my going thither . It is true they are not new dis- i fcrieH—1 never stated they -were . The plan of organ- j ititioa does not limit cur receiving wages to breaking j np new districts , but extends the right to us while em- i ployed as the Association may thank best—the Associa- j tion haviEg lodged in us the power of executing its ! wilL An application being made for my services in ; that district , snd the Executive comp ' . ying witk that j request , and finding the West uf England in a disor- j gamzii state , and division rampant in many locality , j tkey justly deemed that compliance in strict conformity j ¦ with the powers given them by the plzn of crganizition . j And , so far from my thinking ^ it a shame in my > brother Chartists of the "West to accept my labours on I those terms , I deem them highly laudable for evincing i so stem a determination ' to nphoM the agitation in the j ttfcth of defection , opoasition , division , and persecution . ;

      . But I ask for what purpose does the Associa tion exist , if it j is not to strengthen the weak , revive the drooping , ! inspire the languid , inflame the torpid , ard EECourage the few brave and noble spirits struggling amid vicissi- j tude to perscverancs and c » cqneet ? This this out j eonrse , and one which , however some may cavil , will i recommend itself to the intelligent and the wise . And : I cannot leave this Eu " -ject 'without returning my he&rt- 1 felt gratitude to the " men 0 / the trest" for the conrase , ezergj , prudence , and firmness with which , they ever ' Eupported and cheered me on . j Tour next o'bjection urged against receiving the sum j in travelling by Longhhoro' . to Bristoi to attend my i

      tfi ' xted paitner is so absurdly preposterous , that I could j scarcely credit rny eyes in reading it . " Ton cannot tot i the li' -e of you d ' ssover how i have any right more than other nun to charge upon the country the especce of ; such a journey . " Had thi 3 journey been solely for that \ purpose , and nrt on my way- back ro Bristol , your objection wculi have had some force , as it is , and as I ¦ was on my way back thither , and the expence was in-, curred on that accsunt , your objection is u'terly void of ; point—the extra turn over my former jcur ^ er from Bristol to Manchester was the p 6 int o . which explanation Wis solicited . I * gave it ,. and yon h ^ Te not even attenipttii to diow its nonconformity with the plan of orcznisition .

      Toar next paragraph is a floundering one—it is ; palpably and grossly contrary to fact , ily first journey ¦ from Bristol to Manchester wr ~ not to the Manchester ! Conference as you " believe , " but to the first silting of j the newly-elected Ezecntivd in Juiy , the Conference ; being held in August . My second journey teas to that I Conference , at which I appeared bs a m » mt ; r of the Executive , end as a representative of BristtI , Glouces- ! ter , and Cheltenham , being elected at those places , its : being known that I was going- there in my capacity as a member of the Executive . 1 did sot state there that 1 represented 2 D 0 , oi > 0 Chartiil ^ , but that I represented towns containing nearly that population . "With regard to the plea of my being 3 fugitive , and thst being " no i plea at all , " probably you will allow the conntiy to : judge whether harassed , hunted , and pursued , as I was . I bad a right ta claim cxpencis while 1 was engaged in evading the Ijnx-tyed emissaries of despotism , and in a feeble state of health , t in what of the of

      Again , let me ask , part plan organi- tttion de we find it stated the Executive should be " a feed body in a jived plact . " -1 presume this is bat one of your own sssumptions for . the purpose of fastening a stigma upon Mr . Campbell ior his removal to Ixmdon . If it was so , "why not have shown it , prior to the last election , so as to have secured the return of five Man- Chester mrn , or prepared the people for our removal to ttat town by disclosing your present extraordinary discovery ? I know that the question was mooted at the plan of organisation meeting , but it was left o » t of the plan to be settled by the diacreSon of the future Executive who might hold office . I have now taken probably my last notice of your remarks , however gross and false yon msy make them , I leave the issne to -the Chartist , body throughout the country . I abide by what I have done , and bj what the Execntive , as a body , h 3 vs done in these matters , Honourable » nd just as I believe my cozdjntoia to fca , irith tie Charter in my h&ad , and by theii side I will stand 01 fall . * Xeeds , Jfov . SO , 1 S 42- . J . B . H . Baiesiow .

      The Korthefttf Star. Saturday, December 3, 1842.

      THE KORTHEfttf STAR . SATURDAY , DECEMBER 3 , 1842 .

      Untitled Article

      THE EXECUTIVE AND THEIR DEFENCE . Elsetthebs -we give the document named in our last , and which wonld have been then given had we received it in time . We commend it not merely to the reading but to the careful consideration of the people . Nothing could be further from our principles , or from our purpose , than to deprive any man or men accused of anything of the full opportunity of makiDg defence . We have accused the Executive of various mal-practices ; of misappropriating the hard-earned funds committed to their care

      - 7 of disregarding , in their officiel practice , their own avowed principles ; of determinedly- and wilfully violating tae rules of that organization which it istheir one duty to enforca and carry out ; and of attempting to set themselves above law , and , in the name of democracy , become pure despots . We pro red all these grave and serious mattera out of their own mouths . We offered no hearsay evidence ; no hired testimony ; we submitted no interested

      witnesses to the credence of the public : we rested the whole case against them on the comparison of their own published accounts with the plain printed words of those rules which they are appointed for the sole purpose of enforcing . It is the duty of the people now to read chis defence of the Executive ; to read along with it the " grave charges" to which i ; makes reference ; to compare both with the rules of the organization , and to say whether or not the " charges" be answered .

      As au individual portion of the people , we have a right to an opinion ; we shall give that opinion , and the reasons upon which we hold it ; and the people will attach to them as much or as little value as they like . We have seldom known a document more difficult to comment on than this defence of the Executive by Messrs . Leach and Campbell ; for the simple reason , that there is nothing at all in it . The greater portion of the " long yarn" is made up of personal abuse of Mr . Hili about the "

      denunciation" of Mr . Phil ? and the insertion of the " Executive Sop" resolution . Now supposing every thing which Messrs . Leach and Campbell may be disposed to say upon these subjects to be true as gospel ; suppose that Mr . Philp had really been ill-treated by Mr . Hill ; suppose that Mr . Hill had never received the " Executive Sop " resolution from Merthyr Tydvil at all ; suppose he had manufactured that resolution for the purpose ; what then ! How does it affect the question If we should make Messrs . Leach and Campbell a

      present of all that their utmost noisiness can ask in reference to the Philp and " Sop" matters , does that meet any one of the present " charges " against them ? Does it prove that they have not for a long time back been pajing to one of their body ten shillings weekly out of public money without the authority of any public vote : that they have not continued to do this in spite of both private and public remonstrances , and of their own pledges to the contrary ! Does all tbat can be said about Phiu and the " Sop" afford any reason why this transaction should be " hailed by the whole country with delight , " as Mr . Campbell Bays he expected it wonld have been ? Does all that can be said about Philp and the " Sop" exonerate the Executive from the " charge" of disregarding , in the matt-era appertaining to their own office , all the principles of Chartism ! Does all that can be said about Philp and the

      " Sop" prove that the Executive ha-ve not wilfully set aside in their own transactions the organisation which they are appointsd to enforce ? These are the matters and things to which the Excsutive should have addressed themselves in their defence ; and if ail the abuse they can possibly heap upon Mr . Hill about Phil ? and the " Sop" cannot answer anyone of these questions , the fair inference i 3 that it is resorted to for ths mere purpose of diverting the attention of the reader from the matters really at issue . All that part of the defence which is occupied in praising Mr . Leach ' s eloquence and Dr . M'Douall ' s patriotism is alike beside the mark . The question at issne is not whether Leach be an able debater on the Corn Law question ; the question is not whether M'Douall have been aa aciive and energetic Chartist , or whether he may or may not , at some time .

      have given his last shilling between two poor weavers . Tne question is . whether the Executive did or did not , - without any due authoritt , dip their hands into the bag containiEg the hard-earned pence of poor weavers , and take out thanes ten shillings weekly for many months . And this question is not at all affected by anything which may be said about Dr . M'Douall's patriotism , or about his generosity , or about the improbability of either his or Leach's acceptance of a " sop . " Though whole pages should bs occupied with declamation about these arid like matters , it renders the fact of appropriating the funds of the Association -without a vote of the Association , not a jot the less unprincipled and unwarrantable .

      In like manner all their personal abuse of Mr . Hil -, all their laudations of each ether and themselves , and all their talk about Philp and the " , " affords no explanation of the many matters so much and seriously requiring it . It does not all show why the enormon 3 sums charged for " travelling" and " agitating" expencas should be charged to the country at all , or what rule of the organization justifies them . We thought onr observations on these items could not be misunderstood ; but where people wish to misrepresent , it is easy to affect a misunderstanding . We are spoken of as though we had positively stated these it-ems to be fraudulently

      ¦ \ -. j J j charged . We have done no such thing : we merely asked for information respecting them . All we say , or have said , is that , on the face of the balance sheet , they ought to have appeared so plainly as to show for themselves that they were not fraudulently charged . This was not the case . There was no in-: formation given to the country as to the business by which they were incurred , so as to enable the people ; to see that they were charged according to rule . j We said that this information ought to have been ' given ; that the absence of it left them floating in a

      j \ | j i ¦ \ i j , j i i ; j mist of uEcerrainty and vagueness , which , until ic 1 was removed , might warrant ] the suspicion that ¦ there was something unfair about them . If the 1 Execntive knew them to be all right , and if their ; accounts had not been so kept as to prove their : Secretary to be utterly unfit for his place , it was in ' their power to have so explained every one of them , as to remove all the liability to doubt which ought ! never to have existed . Instead of thus explain-! ing , they " spin a long yarn '' abt-nt Mr . H ill ' s mischief-loving propeusiiks , their own eloquence and patriotism , and various other matters io : aJiy ; irrelevant .

      ¦ Another portion of fne Defence is a laborious reply ¦ to an objection that has never been staned , about the Secretary ' s salary . We never for an instant ¦ denied that the Secretary is a permanent oScer , and I should hare cociiant wages . We think him . well

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Dec. 3, 1842, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct781/page/4/