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Northern Star (1837-1852), 4th November 1843, Edition 4 of 7, Page 4, Untitled Article

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    • THE iNURTHERIf STAR SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1843.
    • (ZT* 3$*alrir0 anu @otvc&norttient
    • HOBSON'S AUMAKACK.
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      Untitled Ad

      /» the Press , and speedily tnll be Published , rrtce Threepence * THE POOR MAN'S COMPANION , FOB 1844 . C ONTAINING a mass of Statistical and other \ J matter , bearing on the Political and Social questions of the day . Compiled from authentic documents , BY JOSHUA HOBSON . 0 f The day of Publication , with a list of contents , mil be dnly set forth next week .

      Untitled Article

      TO SBE CHARTISTS OF NOTTINGHAM AND SOUTH DERBYSHIRE . BB 0 WBB . Bkkocrats , —The Comtxdttse appointed \ i carry oat the Local Plan of OrganSatfoa «* Tesblatfoffl ^ biea were agreed to at yomrPelepto Meeting , keM * t Nottingham in Jnnelart , -wish to « mind you ^ &jttthe tem ^ f S » ir services haswariyexpired , and to laybefore yom a stat « ne » t of yoer ^ &irs . _ . ^ 7 e are happy to rtatotiiat nm « b goodto * arisen from ¦ aa labeBM of our intefatig&Me lecturer , Us . Doyle . * wiog to the hitherto imperfect state of oar Organixv lionTihe iectoren'Pond iadeaefcnttotheimon&tol * earl y £ 7 . To this we earnesay direct your attention , and hope that tbe-various localities tsUI immediately -traTfimU to tfaeTre « grathe various awua agreed to .

      A Delegate Meeting will be held atfikestone , on Sanday , the 5 tb of Kovemeer , -when *** hope that evety locality TnU « end a delegate to coori ^ w the beat means of liqoidatMg the debt , and truuactiog other imports b&sifiesB » Toon , respectfully ., Samuel Bgonham , Secretary . KottiMbaa , Octdbcr ^ lit , 1 S 43 .

      Untitled Article

      TO THE CHASTISTS 0 ? BIRHIKOHAM AHD TBESCRBOUHDING DISTRICT . Brothers , —The Committee for the support of Mr . George White once more appeal to your sympathies , and t » josr jastice . Fire months of the time declared by tnigoiteos law-adminirir&ton to he , neceawy to exptate , ¦ within stone walk , thebeinona crime of defendfa g the psor and demanding for 3 hem their rights , hare passed , teavi&gsaRSS . yet 4 o be endured , andtbose three , ala « J amongrt the most WTere of the yeas . "Mr . "White , ^ mrning the atteKiptB which have generally been miade to degrade the leaden and teachers of the people , demanded to be teeated aa a first-dan

      misdemeanant His demand was acceded to , and he was Imprisoned Jin the { Joeen * Srispn . By this act he did Ms duty to bis fellow-woiMng sen . When the gates of the prison clesed upon him , justice and honesty claimed that the working-men ahoald , do Ciejr duty to Mm . Hare they < tone so ? Yes , in past—they have done it in Lobdim , where he went amongst them a stranger . Bat in Birmingham and the district where he was well known , and mnch admiaed for hia boldness and unquestioned political inttgritj—the town end neighbourhood which Aould have seta generous example to others at a distance , has done Ettle or nothing . How true it is of Chartism , as of other systems , that its servants are never honoured in their own country .

      The Chartists of London stepped between George White-and destitution . Had ha depended on those who txtghi to h » T 8 supported him and shielded him from the iron gripe of a sanguinary law code , penmyjand neglect would have been the ungenerous return from those with whom he lived , for twelTe years ' serrioe in their cause , and for more than once endangering his life and health . Pot tfc « flTe months already , passed , Birmingham and the district have not contributed fire shillings per week . This is sot honest—this is sot just Tyrants will sere ? -teuton sntil you respect yourselves ; and yon are wasting in proper , respect for yourselves when you jBow your enemies to treat with cruelty and contempt those whom you put forward to defend your liberties ed demand for you those rights which justice dedans to he reasonable .

      Brothers—Siow that it is only necessary for yon to taow your duty to perform it . Contribute quickly , freely , sad cheerfully for the assistance and support of an hnwiit rD * it of your own ris " , for *^ " » remainder of ib » tune which tyranny will retain him in its grasp . : By Order , : ' " ¦ W . CHH . T 0 K , Secretary . 88 , BromsgroTe-street , or Place of Meeting , - 37 , Peck-lane , Bimluhun . P . S—The committee would mention thai sodal teaparties , concerts , - etc , haTe been found of great assist-. a&ce by the TjQtmIoti ? fV »»» ft « .

      Untitled Article

      WHO ABE THE IRISH ? ' Ireland for the Irish , " it has been said . Qaite just and proper : snt tot it be understood «* o are the Irish Though Mr . O'Conntll has consented to relinquish thfl net the word "Saxon , " be has not denied that be regards that epithet as the logical antithesis to " Irish man . - I * t m see if the GsWe race is exclusively en * latted to be called "the Irish . - Ireland was not possessed by an exclusively Celtk population at the time of Strongbow / a invasion , and " thelrish" who opposed Strongbow were not exclusively Celts . The predominant population , if sot the 2 o 8 sders of Limerick nd of *^ M maritime cities of ireland , were the Oitmans—a Teutonic race , the kinsmen

      of tiie Saxons and Normans . The most prompt and ssjsgstk of StrongboVj " Irish" opponents at his first lading were the Osfanans of Waterford . The Oitnuns of Dublin offered * more uncompromising resistance to the English ixtTaden than the Celtic " Irish" of that jsty and its viciiuty . An entry is the Rotolus Pladtoraxi- ?* the 4 th of Edward JL enable * ns to estimate the relative propoTl " oTOstmans and Celts in the satire popnlation of the deafc ? <* Iimeridti-Becognitk £ cta ( A . c . l 20 l ) j « rsBcrAmenteml 5 Anglorum , et 12 Ostmannonnn , et 13 Hibemensium do tcaxia , ecetariis , et cssteris perfcssSis , » d Ximericensem ecclesium apectasQbBB . ^ The conquering race , Uiough fewer ia ofToices

      tmwtiw , might insist upon an eqnsli ^ . « n the inquest ; bat to reason could b&Te ted to the equality ' of repreaentaUTea ol the two luhjugated races , except that they is reality constituted nearly equal parts of the population . . The Teutonic jfgiwdkmt in the original * ' Irish" people was increased hr tiie English famffies , who tecame " ipsis Hibernids SJbaoV > rek . The CelBc-spesking popolation of Ireland are no more a pare Celtic race th » -the EnglirfimnaMntf pnpp frition pn be considered ( seeing the freqWtintermsntesw b «* ween English and Irish that haTe taken place in thf > lapse of centuries ) can be conjJderedapureSsxonrace . In the matter of stock , of "blood , * -x \ itih ^*^ " ** ** lT ° l ""^ "a ° v race . of

      But it will be said that the Ceiac- « peaking people Ireland hare retained the tradittonal national character , ¦ while the English-speaking rape h » Te wafc its £ agnage adopted ttie cosTenlional morals ani faith of England . So belt DbobUen theJ > eoplefrom whom a nation inherits a » Uteratur © « wi religion are awe tooly its ancestors than its physical progenitor * . Bat who are the leaden , of the " Irian - of the present day ? In this rlew ol the question , they are « SaxW to a man . Sheirfaittiisnotthst of the ©^ ^^ Ch »« h » but of the Bomlsh Chnrchi which , if not originally introduced was tot firmly established by the Anglo-JTormaB rolea . Their langnage , when they discass religioas , phUosophieal , or political tnpics , is

      English . O'ConneU may , now and then ta « at his auditors to a scrapeof " Irish Gaelic , " as country gentlemen haTe been known to quote latin in the House of Comsens ; but could OConnell frame a Beform BUI , or a Constitution , or argue their pros and enu in Irish ? Could the acute and energetic writers in Tke Notion , find words and phrases in the . " Irish Gielic " to express their ideas ? A Parliament assembled in College Green must talk "Saxon , " legislate in a *• Saxon" spirit , reason acconiisg to " Saxon" habits of thought "Irelandfor the Irish , " if "Baxon" is to beheld the antithesis of "Irish , " pronounces sentence of proscription aad Banishment against all educated "Repealers . —Spectator .

      THE GREENWICH PEN 8 I 0 NEBS AND THE NELSON MONUMENT . The most disgraceful , degrading spectacle , that has rm been inflicted upon Englishmen , was witnessed last week , wbeo the statue of the immortal Nelson was exhibited to the &zs ol the public It is impossible to express in language the indignation which this unparalleled spectacle excited in the breasts of the citizens of London ; and when Use United Kingdom is informed trf it , there will be , no doubt , raised from one extremity to the other ose general shout of execration , Our readers axe aware that during the last two dsys 4 he statue of

      lord Nelson was open to public inspection in Trafalgareqaire . Rom all parts of the Metropolis , and the surroanding districts , crowds wended their way to the spot , to gaas npon the monumental effigy of the greatest aaral hero that erer England has produced . What was tijeir dismay , when , as they approached the entrance to Tza&tlgar-kquate , they beheld three eegging-boxes , guarded ¥ y a body of Greenwich pensioners , who seemed te . exclaim- — « Why . gooa people all , at what flo yon pry ? I * 1 the stamp of my arm or my leg ? Or tbe place Where I lost my good-looking eye . ' Or is it to see me bet ?"

      Over these begging-boxes , and abore the Teteran tan who guarded them , were large placards , bearing the ¦ abjolned inscription : — " . England expects eTsry man to do bis dnty . " "The veterans of Copenbageoi St . Tincent , the 2 Ole , ana Trafalgar , humbly beg to in-rite the British -psblie to Tiew BafleyVstatue of their immortal hero in Trafalgar-iqoare , < m Priday and Bafcarday next , and trust they -win drop a copper in the locker for the entertainment which is to be given to Poor Jack , on the glerioM anniTferasry of the battle of Copenhagen . So -charge made , but the , smallest donation thankfully weeired . " 7 - *

      It it possaie to eonoriT * a aore rmmH ?«« r instance « f national ingratitade ? Caa Englishmen , whose chaxacter for eren a nekless generosity and prefhseness ia aotorions , wbeieTCT the aatu of Briton has been hesrd , Whold those veteran warriors to whoa England is iuUebbKl for the lofty aad isdep « sdeBt political atti--iid « she holds among surroondlng nations—some jItbIs , and all JesJoor of her naTal pover—thus ndased to Sba eondHtoa ef the most abject mendicity ? Tet aaeh is the melancholy fact . There stood at the % B * e « f the monnmect zaised to Nel »< m *» memory , tkooe

      Tetean tin who fought under him at the battles of Co peahagen , SL Tincent , the inie , and Trafalgar , AiTBTfaig ' with cold , and begging for a day ' s meal i < The historian ' s record of Xard kelson ' s funeral , in --wiienha makes w » en royal dukes pall-bearers to the 4 tall » Bt warrior , » wi surely be-a fable or an old ^ woman ! tale ; for if his aortal reaslna meritedsnch ion&nrs , ias braTe companiosB i » *«»* would nat ieserre such a Lueoiiiatins &W . Wiie site this can « aHasa xeKciom , ashariteWe , ahnaianej a ^ enfroas , mrena si » l people 1 Altbwuth wehaTe 21 Dukes , liaiKiists , 134 , Btrls , 21 Yie « mnis , aad 225

      Untitled Article

      Barons , with incomes Tarying from £ 50 , 000 to £ 100 , 000 and £ 300 , 000 a-year , yet the paltry sum of £ 290 csamt be raised to ^ ive a dinner to the men whose dartag courage and rakmr haTe aecured to them the safe = xnd quiet possession of their titles , honours , and properties , unless ttooogh the melium of the begging-box . The Queen Dowager can contribute to the erection of a ehnrch fa Malta ; the Qoeen canlsTish ^ ei .-OtO npon French soldiers ; Sk Robert Peel can enrich an oTerbloated Church with a donation of £ 5 , 400 ! a Tory NfleleDuke , whose mansien overlooks the very site of the < ceiumn , can sebscribe from £ 2 , 000 * e ^ £ 5 , 010 for Cbarsh extension ; yet all these rtyal and ¦ distinguished personages can -witness , without shame , the weather-beaten heroes of the ocean , supplicating for Tennysnbscriptiow!—WeeSHy Sispateh .

      [ Detesting as we do all-waxs-oC aggression ; belioTing With lha poet , tfeftt" War is s gaae which were their subjects wise . Kings -would not play at ;" and holding iB « nmitigated abborrence the memory of that infamous conflict of a quarter of a century waged to put down democracy in Frasce ; we certainly have ne great admkationof "England ' s greatest naTalhere , *' whose crimson laurels wore mainly -won in that eTer-tobe execrated -contest . But if the nation will yet honour the destroyers rather than the benefactors of the human race , at least let it be consistent , and not outrago common decency by sbcc ungrateful conduct to the men whom it has dubbed defenders and heroes . At any rate let not the priests and aristocrats forgot the men who poured out their blood for the maintalnence of their usurpations .

      Notwithstanding oor contempt for such " heroes &s Kelson , we must still acknowledge that we haTe a hearty respect for the weather-beaten " hearts of oak , * who hare '' Braved the battle and the breeze , " in defence of what they thought was the cause of right and country . Our disgust is therefore inexpressible at the conduct of the GoTernment and the aristocracy , in thus treating the gaUant Teterans . Well might Byron ask" Yemen who shed your blood for kings like water , What haTe they giren your children in return ?"'

      Behold the answer—bayonets and baatUes for the " children , " and begging boxes for the " men"themselTes ! We thank our contemporary for calling pnblio attention to this matter . —E < £ N . S 1

      The Inurtherif Star Saturday, November 4, 1843.

      THE iNURTHERIf STAR SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 4 , 1843 .

      Untitled Article

      MACHINERY . WHAT HAVE BEEN ITS RESULTS ! The "profound Political Economists" of our peculiar age and generation , hare contended fitoutly , against the common sense of mankind , that the operations of machinery hare conferred unmixed good npon society at large ; and that no notion erer entertained -tras half bo foolish and nonsensical as that which attributed any evil to the workings of machinery . Work npon work has been written to support and prove this position . We bare had the pen of Miss Hxekiet Makhskjlu plied to that end ; and Lobs Bbocgha * himself baa condescended to enlighten the dark understandings of the people on the " ResvJtt qf Machinery "

      . When £ be opsratirea hare complained , that the introduction and use of particular machines has displaced them in the labour market , they have been told thai they knew nothing on the subject : that the nature of machinery was not to displace human labour , but to call more of it into requisition ; that if the employment of the steam-loom , with only one girl to * Uesd two of them , seemed lo displace the two XB 5 who wonld have been required to work the two hand-looms , yet it teas only n displacement in appearance , am > not jh bsaiitt ; for -while machinery seemed to close np , as it were , one channel of labour , it opened other and more remuneratiTe

      channels ; and that thus the balance was on the Bide of Jiiachinery . It was argued , that when we took into account the nnmbar of mechanics that the making of machinery had set to work ; the number of iron makers ; of workers in other metals ; of workers in wood ; of distributors of the productions of machinery ; of the sailors , to cs » iy those productions to other climes ; and of the ship-builders , &c . &c .: it was contended that when the argument was made to embrace all these , as by right it ought to do , we shonld find that the Results of Machinery had been to call into play a great amount of human labour , and not to displace it .

      These arguers have also had a standing irxus-7 &AH 0 N , which they were sure constantly to pitch , whenever a doubt was expressed as to the conclusion they thus so speciously armed at . iDtimate , no matter how modestly , that you feared the jicrbAiiTiES of the case did nofc bear this conclusion out , and you were instantly " closed-up" with the stereotyped ' illustration . " ** Look at the printing business , " erery arguer would instantly exclaim , in a triumphant tone ; ** see a picture of the workings of machinery there I Look at the old printing press ;

      then look at the printing machine . Has machinery there superseded hnman labour ? Has not it rather called it into requisition 1 Are there not more printers now engaged , than there were before the inyentioD of the printing machino ! Look at the amount of printing now performed , and compare it with the amount formerly performed . See the quantity of labour that that increased amount employs . There are more rags required for paper ; consequently more ng gatherers ; there is more paper used , consequently more paper makerB ; there are printing machines required , consequently more machine-makers ' employed ; Jhere ia more printing-ink consumed , consequently more ink *

      makerB set to work : and then there are the porters , and carters , and booksellers : increased employmeni being found for all . How then can you say that the tendency o * machinery ia to displace humaa labour ? Then look again at the results in another point of view . The operation of the printing machine has been to lessen the cost of production of bookBand papers : consequently they can he sold cheap ; thus ar enlarged demand is caused ; and to supply that demand , more labour must be employed . Therefore , you see that the operation of printing machinery is beneficial to all : beneficial to the printer ; for it ereatesa demand for hia labour , and enables him to enforce higher -wages ; beneficial to society at large , by gmng it knowledge at a low

      cost . " Such is the pei illustration . ETery " profound political economist" has it at the tongue ' s end . It comes off ; most trippingly , shonld yon bni ; venture to hint that possibly the "Results of Machinery " haTe not been quite so beneficial to jlll , as some so stoutly contend . That illustration is very specious : moreBpecions than real . In the first place , machinery is only yet partially employed in . the production of books and papers . The operation of the printing machine has been to supersede the Pbessmbn . They were a distinct branch of ibe printing trade : they now have no existence . TThere are the Compositors . The

      Printing Machine has not interfered with their department at all : thai is to say , the Printing Machine : ia * not been made to ** set up" the types ; bat only to print the paper from the types , when a 31 the labour that the Compositor has to employ , has been employed . This printing case , therefore ^ is not a true M illustration . " Take the manufacture of Calico . There machinery does all

      the work , with a verj slight attendance of women and children , from the " blowing" and " carding , " op to the paste daubing and •* finishing / ' The " iumming stook" or tho carder has been superseded by the cardinp engine . The *• Binglespinning wheel , " and the "jenny" haTe been superseded by the mule ; and the mule" in its turn by the double-and-treble-decker , and by the self-a « tor .

      Untitled Article

      The "hand-loom" has been superseded by the steamloom ; and machinery has revolutionized every department in the productien of calicos . Not Bo yet with books and papers . In only on © department of printing has machinery been brought extensively to bear : therefore the " illustration" brought from the operation of Machinery ia priating is not complete .

      Besides , the printing business employs only a comparatively small number of our population . It las , teo , been aa aristocratic trade . In the first place , * tolerably good education \ b needed , to enable a man te- become a compositor—a member of the great branch of the printing trade . Printing is not therefore open to all : for the major portion of the sous of the labouring many are utterly

      without that education that is indispensable to qualify a man to become a compositor . It is therefore an exclusive trade . It is confined to the sons of the better-paid operatives , and the " lower order" of the shop-keeping class . These circumstances have enabled the " trade" to maintain their position much better than the operatives engaged in any great department of our great manufactures .

      It has also been castomary for the employers to have premiums with their apprentices , for teaching them their " trade" ; and this , too , has tended to keep down the number of men employed in printing . A faTourable combination of circumstances has enabled the " trade" to maintain an Union , " particularly in the country ; and they have had a regulation to restrict the number of apprentices , accord * ing to the number of men employed . This also has served , and greatly too , to maintain their strong position . Master prrtters have been in the hands of the men ; particularly so in the country . If the compositors slopped ioork , a \ l was stopped ; and their piece has not been vety easily to be supplied . A stoppage

      to a large printing concern , particularly one engaged in Periodicals , was disthuctioh to it ; and , therefore , the Printers * * Union' ^ have had great power It will be at once apparent that these circumstances placed the trade of printers in a far different and more impregnable position than the great body of or ? operatives , either agricultural or manufacturing . Aud yet , " the profound political economist , " when reasoning on the general operation of a general question , presses all these peculiar and adventitious circumstances into his service ; and from them draws an " illustration" to "illustrate " the general whole ! To do so however is honest . according to " profound" notions of honest ; !

      Notwithstanding the glib-talk of the" profound " ones , and the pel illustration , " Machinery is reaching even the printing-trade , favourably circumstanced as we have shewn it to be ! In London the " surplus of labour" is so great , that the ** Union " is all but powerless ! The masters there can make their own terms . The ** apprentice regulation" is broken through . There are " offices" now in London , and a many of them too , where there are a score of M boys" to one man I Nor are the boys "apprenticed . " The good old system of indenturing h now being discontinued ; and u boys" are taken int * the " offioe , " and retained there for a few years , at a low rate of wages .

      These have no legal ol&im on the master to " learn them the trade . " Should they , when they are approaching manhood , ask for a AipAer wage than is paid to boys of twelve or fourteen , they are speedily dismissed , and others , younger , " put on" in their stead . Thus is the trade , in London , inundated with " bands ; " and there is always a largo " reserve" in the labour market .

      This is having its effect on the country trade . The London labour market , although the great one , is dosed against the country "bands . " There is little chance for a country " hand" to get employment in London , or but little sense in his trying , when there is bo large an amount of unemployed labour constantly waiting to be hired . And yet London is the place that' most flock to : it being a sort of passion for all to go to the great weh , if they can but accomplish it . This augments the evil : and this again tells upon the men employed in the country . The "Union" funds are hardly laid on :

      patties out of work having to " tramp from town to town in search of it , and live out of the " relief " afforded them by the " Union" and the chaiitablydisposed of the trade . Besides , u Machine has been invented to dispense with the compositor I That machine will , even vow , do his work . This bad been held to be an impossible feat . The labours of a compositor must be directed by the operation of hind . It was therefore deemed utterly impracticable to arrange any machinery that would even aid him . The "

      impossibillity is now possible ! A machine—nay there are iwo—h&s been invented , by means of which females and boys—( chea p labour /)—can perform the operation of " setting" types faster than the most experienced and * ' fast" compositor ! Those machines are not yet introduced to any great extent ; and the printers are hugging themselves with the notion that the thing can ' t-hedone . " It will be done . As 3 urely as ever the printing machine has superseded the hand-press in the printing of the greater portion of the work , so surely will a Composing Machine supersede the compositor in the greater portion of the *• book ?>

      and M news" work ! We say A Composing Machine ; not the Composing Machine : for it would have been as silly to have expected that the jenny of thirty spindles was the perfection of spinning , as it is to think that the present Composing Machines are the best , or most satisfactory adaptation of the princitle uhat machinery can compose type . We may reasonably expect to see great and wonderful " improvements" in them . Even now they succeed . Even now they are a ' work ; composing works at a cheaper rate than by "hand . " And if the . /? r *< application of the principle is so successful , what may we not expect from future and more perfect applications f

      Will the introduction ot those machines , with the supposeable " improvements , " have no effect on the printing trade 1 Will the u profound" men THEh resort to the printing trade for an " illustration" of the " beneficial operations of machinery" ? Will they then contend , and appeal to the printers for proof , that machinery calls into play more labour than it displaces ? Will they then say that there are more priatert , than there were before the introduction of printing machinery !

      Having shewn what has been the effeot of machinery , upon : even the favourably-situated and small exclusive trade of printers , let us next look as the condition of the Tyfe-Footdzrs . There is a body of men , that must have benejitted from machinery , if any body of operatives in the kingdom could by possibility be benefited by it . They are few ic number ; their buBinens is a peculiar one ; if printing be ia great request , it must have the effect of causing a denand for type ; and the "typo" must be" cast , " before it is used . Therefore , if any class of operatives in England could be benefitted by machinery , it must be a body of men so circumstanced . There has bbew no machinket wtbnted tu

      interfere W 1 IH THEIR LABOUR , IN A DIRECT MANNER : but th « n we are told that printing machinery has brought more printing labour into request than it displaced : and if it brought any into request , ii . must have operated on the typefounders . Printing cannot go on without them . They are , as yet , indispensable . What then has been their share of the benefit" ! Let us have the " illustration . " We know that we are told , that increased demand for produce , employs more . labour , and iends to make the supply of labourers scarce : when labourers are scarce , increased wages can be obtained . " Let os see how this fits .

      The Type Founders are now oot i and for what cause ? Because the masters have determined to reduce wages ! There is an "increased demand " for types : and the " benefit" to the operative Type Founder is reduced wages ! The masters are trying to enforce a redaction , varying from 25 lo 75

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      per cent ! Plenty of " benefit that ! Rare ** Result # / Machinery . " This case of the Type Founders is a very instructive one . They are peculiarly situated . The business is one very destructive to health . On this point we quote from an address of the turn-outs , calling upon the public to support them against the efforts of their employers to give them a ** benefit . * In that address they say : — ;

      "The trade of a type-founder is unhealthy in the extreme , and very destructive to life . The heat is bo intense in the apartments alloted for casting , occasioned by snob , a multiplicity of furnaces being crowded together , that but few individuals can withstand its baneful influence for any length of time , without experiencing very serious injury arising therefrom . Moreover , the atmosphere which the type-founder has to breathe is so oppressive , that it would be inconvenient to a person who had been brought up in a tropical country—an atmosphere , heated to such a degree , that the thermometer will range from eeventy to ninety degrees in

      winter time . Hot only has the type-founder to endure such an oppressive atmosphere , but he has to stand in one position for twelve or fourteen hours per day , with his head very near to a pan of metal , which for casting small type ., must be red hot . The composition of this metal is regulusof antimony , tin and lead , with a portion of copper , the fumes of which are rank poison . Nor is this all , for the par * tides of metallic dust which fly off in the process of dressing and other departments of our trade , are constantly being inhaled by those who are employed in the manufacture of type . The above causes bring oi many painful diseases , premature old age , ana untimely death . "

      Yet notwithstanding the dreadful nature of this description of employment : — "The London an 4 Sheffield master type-founders have formed a coalition league to tabe from us 3 d . out of every shilling in several kinds of work ; in others fid . out of the shilling ; and in some cases the moderate cum of » i out of the shilling . " This would be : —• " A reduction of from twenty-three to seventy-five per cant , i . e ., a reduction of ths wagts of the men who averafrd under 18 s . c week to Twelve Shillings" l s !

      Here is a " result" ! Rare " benefit , " is it not , from " printing machinery" ! Extended employment is likely to land them in a very enviable position ! A "heat of from seventy to ninety degrees in winter timo" ; " standing in one position for twelve or fourteen hours over a pan of red hot metal" ; exposed to , and forced to inhale , " the fumes of regulus of antimony , tin , lead and copper , all of which are poi-Eon "? the recipients of " painful diseases , " that hurry on premature old age and untimely death" ! and a , for an average of TWELVE SHILLINGS A WEEK ! O ! whsA" benefit" !

      Ii is true that the men are not yet reduced to this twelve shillings a-week : but they are out , contending against it . Unless they are supported , they must a Axddt-j the demands of the masters . They must fall-to , aad offer up their health , and even their lives for the twelve shillings . Will the other M trades' * permit them to be bo " benefitted" ? Will not the printers interfere ? If they do not , their TURN COXES NEXT ! !

      On examination then , the fact is established , that the operation of Machinery has been most destructive and moat oppressive , even in favoured and exclusive trade % And if we find such to be the case thete , what may we expect to find in the op en and exposed trades ! Just that which we do find ! The manual labourer superseded . Females and children called in , to attend to the operations of machinery , because their services can be had at a cheap rate . A dearth of employment ; discomfort ; poverty ; misery ; destitution : turmoil .

      Suoh are the " Results o f Machinery' * to the labourers . With the employer it is another matter . He does not always come to " ruin , " although some do . There are among them men who have done WELL ! There are those to whom the " Results of Mqckinerj / "ha . v 6 beenveiry' * beneficial" ! Richard Cobden , we are told , was a farmer ' s son , only midlingly situated : Richard Cobdkn is cow reputed to be worth his hundreds of thousands of pounds . John Bright is another who has fentheredhis nest to a considerable tune John Marshall , of Leeds , was the son of a linen-draper , and began the world with borrowed money : John Marshall is new said to be possessed of millions . Now these are

      " Results oj Machinery" that we are not fond of 1 We have no notion of iw eltb shillings a-week to the workmen , and hundreds of thousands , and even millions , to the employer \ We are for a more egnitable distribution of the " results" / We are not for taking all from ihe many ; norfor giving all to the few ! We are not for Btarving the workers to death , that Mr . Cobden and Mr . Bright may lay up " treasure on earth" ! We are for giving all their fair share of the " benefits" " resulting" from the use of machinery , and then as much machinery as you like ! " The more the merrier . " How that fair share is to be apportioned and secured , we will tell another time .

      When we sot out with this article , we intended to give , and reply to , a most foolish and consenBical article in the Calf ' s Head Observer , on OUR use of machinery . The general question has , however , draw a us out to such length , that we must defer the stewing we had intended for the Calf ' s Head . But let him not repine . He shall be served-up some day , with brain eauco .. He shall be duly boiled .

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      CANADA AN . H MR O'CONNELL . The New York Examiner . —Wlr . Mackenzie thus speaks of his former gallant , but unfortunate , " companions in arms , " the Canadian patriots : — " Canada Affairs . — -What is called the Parliament of Canada , was to have met yesterday at Kingston . The new agent of the English Government is Sir T . C . Metcclfe . The official folks employed under him and the Colonial Office , are an odd mixture of old Tories , young rebels , and Reformers so called . Fear , on tbe one hand , and pelf on tbe other , are evidently their chjlef bonds of union . Some of the leading revolutionists of 1837 are pardoned ; and I hope that a general

      amnesty will be granted , so that the gallant Prescot boys may be enabled once more to look on those they love , now 14 , 000 miles distant . As for myself , I am , by my own free choice , an American citizen , never more to return under the colonial yoke . Others may ' sak pardon' —I did no wrong : others may own that our ' gallant comrades , Lount , Matthews , &c , Were ; justly condemned . I know that they were cruelly murdered , put to death in cold blood , by a power which takes for its motto , ' my might makes my right' But this Journal is not established to discuss Canadian grievances , and frontier strifes . My bighest duty is to join with those who

      sincerely seek the welfare of America , and the perpetual harmony and union of tbe members of this great confederacy . Let U 8 cultivate peace and quietness ; and if we would revolutionise Canada , the true way to do it is to Bet them an example of a just , generous , and prosperous people , thriving under the institutions of their free choice—industrious , enlightened—a band of brothers , each one scorning a mean action . As their legislative session progresses , I will very brieBy notice aught that may be ; interesting . Messrs . Rolpb , Montgomery , and 'Oancombe , have returned to Canadaand a door is epened for , Messrs . O'Callaghan , Papineau , and Brown , should they also prefer British rale , which they probably will not . "

      Query . Mr . Mackenzie is a violent anti-VANBuT . tNiTE , and at the same time appears to be an admirer of O'Connell . Not the least of his reasons for being opposed to Mr . V . B . is , we apprehend , because the Ex-President did not " sympathise" with the Canadian patriots . Very good . But has Mackenzie forgotten that of aU the traitors to the principles for which the Canadians con tended , O'Connell is the most infamous ? Did he not aid fr spiriting-on the Canadians to resist British tyranny ; and then in the day of cooflict , and the hour of danger basely desert them , under the plea that they had resorted to " ' physical force" ?

      Let Mr . Mackenzie be consistent . He may feel convinced that Mr . Van Burbn is not the man the democracy of England suppose him to be . But let him " enquire" into the " history" of O'Connkll , and he will find that whilst the "Liberator" sold the English Factor * children for a Thousand Pounds , he also betrayed the cause op the Canadians for the filtht patronage of the "Base , Bloody , and Brutal Whigs ;"—the remorseless despots who ravaged Canada with fire and sword . We caa assure Mr . Mackenzie that these things arc not forgotten in England . We hare long since on this side of St . George ' s channtj , lifted ihe veil of Mok&nna !

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      SCOTCH MAGISTERIAL TYRANNY . VIOLATION OF THE RIGHT OF FREE ] DISCUSSION . Our readers jmay remember that in the Star of the 23 rd of September last , appeared a notice under thejhead of " Religious Intolleranco , " of certain pranks played by a set of mouthing " Liberals , " styled •* Non'Intrusionists , " who , meeting to protest against " prosecutions for blasphemy "

      when the " blasphemer" wasone ( of their own kidney ; did at that meeting refuse to allow other parties a hearing , aud assaulted and ill-used the said parties ; winding up with introducing the police , and dragging the " offenders" ( 1 ) , who only insisted apon the right of " ( tea discussion" which their persecutors were met ostensibly 1 to promote , before the bar of M ju tice" (!) . The » case" was not then deoided on ; but we promised ] to make known the decision whenever given . Now for theresulfc .

      The following has been forwarded to us , as copied from the Scotsman : — •* The adjourned trial of Mr . Jeffory , the Socialist Lecturer , who stood charged with having disturbed a public meeting in the Waterloo Rooms ( Edinburgh ) in September , came before Sheriff Tait , on Thursday last . { The meeting referred . 'to , as will be remembered , was called to sympathise with Dr . Kalley . A number of witnesses having been examined , and the facts of the case brought out , a conversation ensued ; between the Sheriff and Mr . Jeffery . The latter maintained that the meeting being a public one , he had a right to appear there and move — ' I n ¦ . J ^ ¦ ^ ~ ™^ ^^ ™ ^^ ^ W ¦ * *• Balv ^ f ¥ ^ m

      ^ an amendment \ to any motion brought forward . He also objected that the Chairman ( the Lord Provost ) had exceeded his power in refusing to hear him without having taken the sense of the meeting upon the matter ; which , he contended was the origin of the whole disturbance . But , the Sheriff declared it as his opinion ithat even granting this to be true , the Chairman of \ a meeting has an arbitrary power of deciding who shall or shall not be heard , and that whatever arrangement may be come lo , is of legal force for the time , no tribunal having the power of reviewing such arrangement * . He , therefore , ordered Mr . Jeffery to find bail in £ 20 to keep the peace for twelve months . ?

      We have beein given to understand that "the man Paterson , '' who should also have appeared , sent a letter to the Sheriff , excusing , his non-attendance ; his reason for not being forthcoming being that he had his defence to prepare against a charge of " blasphemy ^ " © a which he will be tried in the course | of the present month . . How Mr . Jeffery ' sj attendance resulted , wo have seen by the Scotsman . That gentleman writes to us that after being confined in a cell for two hours , with several felons , he was liberated by flir . Robert Peddie , the late inmate of Beverley Gaol , becoming his security in the sum required . ' A word upon this shameless and senseless decision of the Edinburgh Sheriff . Shameless , because the

      parties who should have been bound over to keep the peace , were jthose who "dragged Mr . Jeffery from the platform ; " those who " seized Mr . Paterson by j the neek and dragged him through the meeting ; those who ** tore the hair from his head , beat him with slicks , and laid his head open . " I These bloodhounds , calling themselves Christians (!} , were the parties who-should have been bound over to keep the peace / ' and not Mr . Jeffbry , who peaceably heard every other man , and only insisted upon his right to free speech in a public , and what ought to have been , a deliberative assembly . 1

      But the decision was as senseless as it was shameless . For the first time we have it announced that the Chairman of a public meeting , elected to his office by that meeting , can do as he pleases :. i . e ., he can refuse to hear any speaker if he pleases—he can dissolve the meeting al the very outset , and burke the whole proceedings which he was elected to aid in carrying out ! Suoh is the legitimate con * elusion to which this monstrous decision may be carried . Further , this modern Minos of " Modern Athens , " whose legal decisions might shame even those of the Cretan Judge of the infernal regions , ' ' tells us that whatever is the Chairman ' s decision is of " legal force for the time being . " May we

      be saved from j Edinburgh law , say we ! But let us whisper to the Sheriff that the power that made » can unmake the chairman , —Edinburgh la v notwithstanding , j To our readers we day , take care that when you ! attend a public meeting , whether of Scotch Non-Inirusionists or English freebooters ; be ture to see that a man is appointed to the chair who will ] hear every man , aad do justice to each and to all . Had oar Stoekport friends so acted , they would not have been insulted and mocked at , as they were by the blood-suckers calling themselves " gentlemen , " who have about as much gentility in them as Edinburgh magistrates have of justice . ,

      Our readers jwill se e by Mr . O'Connor ' s letter that the Nona , of Dumfries have been playing the people a dirty trick , with the view of burking the expression of public opinion in support of the glorious principles of Chartism . True they did not attain their ends ; but ne thanks to them for that . Let their conduct not be forgotten . Mr . Maitland Macrgill Chrichton , the Don Quixote of . the " Free Church" (!) movement , has for some time past

      been engaged with others in levying "black mail " npon the English lieges . Wherever these parties hold their meetings in public—wherever the-advocates of truth and justice think it worth their while to attend these mountebank displays , held in support ef priestly domination , let them not forget the conduct of these " Free" Churchmen to Messrs . Jeffery and Paterson ; and insist upon some explanation of conduct so much the reverse of their professions .

      We have no objection to " Free Churches . " . We would have every man " free" to support his own priest , if he thought well to pay for one ; and "free" to be excused from paying for the keeping of another man's , j But , above all things , we are for "Free Discussion , " without which no other species of freedom is attainable . Having which , we may strip error of her cloak and falsehood of her mask ; and finally annihilate the monster trinity of political usurpation , priestly fraud , and cooipetitive accumulation : the triuae evil which , for thousands of generations has made this earth a hell , and rendered wretched and brutish the great family of mankind . ' M Delenda est Carthago /"

      Untitled Article

      MORE ] OF THE COAL . KINGS . The females are still in the pits ! No law proceedings are , as yet , instituted ! Nay , so dabihc are the Coal Kings becoming , in consequence of Sir Jambs Graham ' s lenity , thai nearly the whole of them are setting the Act at defiance . And ¦ why not 1 If the Duke of Q akilton is to be permitted to work sixty FEMALE ! in his coal pits , why not others do the same ! If he is to be a law-breaker , why not the smaller fry have their share of the plunder accruing from cheap labour \ It the Duke ; the Lord Lieutenant ; is to be protected in his lawbreakings , who will dtre to enforce the law on his "bricher" eoail owners , should they follow his example ! They are determined to try it on as the following most abundantly proves : —

      With regard to tbe Act anent the females , It may be said to be a deau letter in ScotlaBd . I am informed that last week the females have returned to their employment at Loan Head ( belonging to Sir George Clerk ) where they carry coats on their backs . It was in this work where the interesting child , Margaret Leveaton , six year * of age , worked . To the Commissioner ahe said « he had " Been down at coal-carrying » ix weeks ; makes ten to fourteen rakes a-day ; carries fullS « lbs . of « oal in a wooden bucket . The work is na gold ; it is so very sair . I work with sister Jesse and mother ; dir . ma ken the time \ ra gang ; it ia gai dark . "—[ A most interesting child , and perfectly beautiful ; I

      ascertained her ; age to be six years on the 24 th of May , 18««—she was registered at Inverness . ] R . H . Franks , Bi ( i , evidence No . 116-380 . " A brief description of tbla child ' s place of work will better illustrate , her evidence . She has first to descend a nine ladder pit to the first rest , even to whi « h a shaft fa sunk to draw up the baskets , or tabs of eoals filled by tbe bearers ; she thea takes her creel and pursues her journey to the wall face , sbe then laye down her basket , into which the coal is rolled , and it is frequently more than one man can do te lift tbe burden on her back . In this girl ' s case she fees first to trundle about fourteen fathoms ( eighty-four feet ) frrea wall-face to the first ladder ,

      Untitled Article

      which is eighteen feet high ; leaving the first ladder she proceeds along the main rqad > probably tbree feet six laches to four feet six inches high , to the second ladder , eighteen fe « t high ; so on t o tbe third and fourth ladders till she reaches the pit-bottom , where she easts her load , varying from I cwt to 1 | cwt Into the tubv Thi * one journey is designated a rake . The height ascended , and the distance along the roads , added together , exeeed the height of St Paul ' s Cathedral ; and ft not unfrequently happens that the tuggs break , and the load falls upon these females who are following . "—Report , page 91—92 .

      Here , then , is no fancied picture of slavery : and yet it Is said , the females are returned to work in this col » liery ; bat the cause should come out ; and it is thia : —the coal-masters are greater than the House of Commons and Lords put together . The East Country masters , finding that the Duke of Hamilton , the Carroa Iron Company , and the Shotts Iron Company , where there are sixty females employed , and the Gartcherrie Iron Company , and the Gartclose coal-owners , and Rose Hall Iron Company , per Messrs . Miller and Aidre ,

      and M . M'Andrew , of Carfln colliery : the masters in the East , seeing that all those in the North and in the West , were setting the law at defiance , will u ' ow do the same . Nothing can stop this bat the plan suggested in lost week ' s Star . Lst the Miners of Scotland only sacrifice the price of one gill of whisky , and prosecute the employers . The Scotch press is to blame in this . Accidents have taken place of which the following is one , which was refused insertion in the Glasgow Saturday Pest , Glasgow Journal , and Glasgow Chronicle , July « h , 1843 : —

      " Killed at Palace Craig Colliery , belonging to W . Baird , Esq . M . P ., and Cs . a man ef the name of Vicker , and bis . Irawer , a ycung female of the name of Mary M'Ewan , a girl of sixteen years of age . The pit is near the Room pace . "

      Untitled Article

      TRIUMPH OF THE CHARTISTS IN LEEDS . The Municipal Elections are just over : and in them the Chartists have been most triumphant ! In the Holbeck Ward they started Mr . Joshua Hobson ; and in the West Ward Mr . John Jackson , the corn miller . Jn both wards have they been eminently successful ; but particularly so in the Holbeck Wark . Here was the deadly opposition . Here was concentrated all the fear ; all the dread . Here was every means adopted , —fair , fodl , and DAMNABLE , to prevent success : and here it was that the Chartists have been triumphant /

      Mr . Hobson was returned at the head of the Poll ? He had a majority of eighty over his colleague ; and a majority of one hundred and seventy over the defeated Whig . Tbe joy o the Chartists is unbounded . The victory is greater than they had , in their fondest hop js , anticipated . The feeling in favour of Mr . Hobson was most enthusiastic . A great portion of his votes

      were plumpers . Five hundred and seventy-one votes were recorded for him . The working people made the contest their own . They brought Mr . Hobson out : they have carried him most gloriously . Without funds ; without aid ; by dint of their own labours and their own enthusiasm , they have set an example to all the rest of the borough of Leeds , and to all other boroughs .

      The vile and scandalous attacks made on Mr . Hobson have contributed in no small degree to hia success . liis enemies over-did it . They showed the Electors ihat they feared the man ; and the Electors acted just contrary to the desires and expectations of Faction .

      (Zt* 3$*Alrir0 Anu @Otvc&Norttient

      ( ZT * 3 $ * alrir 0 anu @otvc&norttient

      THE TYPE F OU NDER S OF SHEFFIEL D TO T HE

      STAFFORDSHIRE POTTERS . Gentlemen , —We wish to call your earnest attention to oar present position . We have been for the last tea weeks out of employment in consequence of oar employers attempting a reduction on our prices of labour of from 25 to 7 < per cent In your never-to-be-forgotten strike of 1836-7 , we , as a body , assisted you by ail tha means in our power , both by counsel and pecuniary aid ; and we earnestly entreat you will take our case into your serious consideration , and try by all the means in your power to alleviate oar present distress . We remain , ycurs respectfully , The Commute of Operative Type Founders . Committee Room , Three Cranes , Queen-street , Sheffield , Oct . 30 th . 1843 .

      Asbtoic Shoemakers' Strike . —The " two or three reports" our friends have sent as have not come to band , or they would Uave been noticed . We give the following from their present communication : — " An advertisement having appeared in the Northern Star of last week , stating that Mr . Lord , of this town , was in want of a number of good workmen , unconnected with the Shoemakers' Society , and stating that the dispute between him and the clnb-inen was in no way connected with wages , we deem it our duty , in order to prevent the an wary from being misled , ( as others have been to their sorrow , ) to lay before them tbe cause ef the strike , and leave them to judge whether it is or is oot connected with wages ; and whether we are not justified in resisting to the utmost of our power such base attempts apon the rights of labour .

      " Mr . Lord ' s father is owner of some cottage property , which is in such a dilapidated condition , that they are not fit for human beings to live in ; but which Mr . Lord tells his men they must inhabit or leave his employment , and for which they have to pay an extortionate rent . ' This , along with other acts of petty tyranny , was the cause of the strike ; and this is the reason he prefers married men to coop up in his hovels Several families have been induced by Mr . Lord ' s statements to break up tfteir homes in other towns , and

      come here in the hopes of bettering their condition ; bat alas ! have been miserably deceived and compelled to leave again after suffering a great loss . With respect to the statement of wages , Mr . Lord says be will pay , all we have to say is , that Mr . Lord never did pay such wages , and . we cannot but think tbat it is nothing bat a decoy to entrap the unwary into bis power , when we know that for the last two years he has strove to the utmost of bis power Co reduce the wages of his workmen .

      " Signed on behalf of the trade , " William Woodroffe , Scotland-Brook . " Publications received for Review . — " Tail's Mauazitie ; " HowitlI * History ofFriestciaft , " " The New Age ; " and the " Promethian , " tec be . && Whitehaven , Miners . —Their address was too late . Vessels fop . New Orleans—Tbe Chaos starts on the 8 th of November ; au

      says" The times are big with important events . Breakers area-head ! The mountain is in labour , ayel and will bring forth more than a mouse . 1843 gives os the Governor of the Bank of England , member to the City of London , pledged to the ' Repeal of the Corn Laws , laws passed to prop "P the fandtng system . What an anomaly ) -&b ! ' most thinking people * (!) of the ' most enlightened city in Uie world" (!) when will you cease to act with your eyes closed against bet * Pattison and the Anti-Corn Law Leagae are gulling yon ; you will be mate to suffer ; you will ** sqnefzsd a little longer , to keep the Bulk 8 fi ^ Ba not so deceived , come oat for the xigfcts * l > ~' the Charter . Then yon will have a more extended sad fruitful field to choose yoar tepreaentalii from . "

      Mr . Leach- of Htde , is continually receiving letter * from Ireland , praying for moreStar- / foM , He app «» to his brother Chartist * to send their papers to tw " green Isle , * and offers to undertake the t& » * sending them , if parties will forward their Start v bim when done with . Address , J . M . Lea * " Chatles-street , Hyde , Cheshire . Stars to Ireland . —What are the Sheffield file *? about ? We know that the circulation of the Star * rapidly increasing in their town , why not give tna * . Irish brethren the benefit of it ? Let them m * «* list sent them by the Irish Universal ^ Suffrage Association . The little troabte of « o doing will *» a J ? p £ repaid by the great and lasting good that will v e&eeted .

      The CovENiRr Chartists appeal to tieir *»«»¦* to come forward and join the new organisation : e » PT dally the avowed Chartists , who will prove W ^ iacerity by responding to the appeal . We hop « " ? £ trill do bo . " England expects t ^ etj man to < w »¦ duty . " Ms . Charles D . Stuart writes to us , tbat be * £ templates visiting Darlington , on Sumi » y first V- ' rzL delivery of lectures on Chartism ) , an * , in - th 9 f' ^ S ' of the ensuing week , Yarm , Stockton . Middle **"" Sonderland , Ac . ^ QUACK Almanacks . —Medicus writes as W ) * ^ "I think you should caution your reader «*"" 1 * £ Penny Almanacks wherein pills arid no » tru'n * "w rL t » commended by the authors of such publications w taken at particular times of the year . Such *™~ Zl £ are a gross imposition on the unwary , being eail TZ 0 lt up by the QnackB , who , to stJJ one box of their v ^ do not mina giving the Almanack for J » - > * T fef that there are ssvezal such Almanacks adverB *" i * U 2 . "

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      ' ; j , . THE NORTHEBN STAR j _

      Hobson's Aumakack.

      HOBSON'S AUMAKACK .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Nov. 4, 1843, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct826/page/4/