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Northern Star (1837-1852), 30th December 1843, Edition 4 of 5, Page 4, Untitled Article

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    • THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1843.
    • SERIOUS ACCIDENT TO MR. O'CONNOR.
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      Untitled Article

      THETAILOBS' PROTECTION SO : iETY . Sirica the great meeting of the above body , held at the Ns&sn&l AROd&tion Hall , High Holborn , on Not . 271 b , ^ &st numbers of the trade have become members of tfee « everal sections . In addition to the stimulus given to the Hous . es of Call , the Central Gommitfcee Jure been * hnost nightly called upon to attend as depetatioDB upon the several societies "who have solicited their attendance , to explain the principles , &c On Tuesday fortnight , Messrs . Pan-ott , Parker , andEamea attended at the Three Crewna . Richmond Street , Soho . Tfee deputation having at great length entered into explanations , the society which consists *> f £ 00 memben , expressed themselves perfectly satisfied , being ol « $ > inion that unless the trade generally adopt the principles of a General Union , there Ib no hopd . of making » successful stand against the encroachmenta &f the principal capitalists . The above named gentlemen also attended by invitaSefi a respectable society , meeting at

      tbs George , S » . 3 > lary Axe , -when a number of ques-Sons -were pnt , » na the objects txplained , all of -Raich gave satisfaction . A Tote of thacts vrae unanimously passed to the deputation , and the meeting separated , "With the understanding that the question E&onld receive fnB consideration , A delegate meeting of the Honsea of Call having been convened lor Thursday last , Dec 21 st , at the Bins Posts , Rspert-streEt , Haymariet , to ¦ whicb the Central Coaimittee were especially invited , > Tf-KCTg- 3 dnrr » y and E ? an , from the Three Crowns , Sogtrs & £ d Sutherland , from the Two Chairmen , Black sad Irons , from thePleece , Boptins and Osborne , from the King ' s Head , Moeney and Kelly , from the Blue Posts , and a delegate from the Robin Hood , attended from the House * of Call . Messrs . Paxrott , Parker , Barnes , Cotter , Donaldson , Evans , Simpson , Elland , and Briodle attended on behalf of the Protection Socaery ; the delegates represented nineteen societies asd aections .

      After the preliminary business had been disposed of , an animated discussion took place , in -which several of the delegates took part . The utmost good feeling prevailed . Ail evinced an ardent desire to carry out the formation of the General United Tailors * Protection Society . The meeting having been continaed to a late hoar , SS adjournment "was carried to Monday evening , ' Jan . 5 th , ISi * , to be held at the same place , to which all ¦ odetiea { not represented are respectfully invited to end delegates . Thus by the perseverance of a few indefatigable individuals , has the trade , both in town asd country , been aroused to a sense of itt "wrongs , and "Which , it is te be hoped , win ultimately attain those jfights ih&t are inherently the property of the wealthprodncng € &s&t& . —Correspondent

      Untitled Article

      SDMSEE . —A spirited public meeting of the jour seyznen tailors ¦ was held here on tie forenoon of JMondsy ¦ e ' nnigbt , is the Democratic Council Room , lor the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety of forming an Association to protect themselves from the effects of thst competition which , is so fast sinking them as a trade in the scale of social comfort- Mr . James Dnrmmond having been called to the chair , the follewing resolutions were put to the meeting and carried 'BB&nimouily , vis . r—1 . " That we , the journeymen tailors of Dundee now assembled , view with ' alarm an 4 xegret tbe inroads sow evidently being made npon the "wages of oor labour , produced by a system ef competition engendered asd fostered by those whose existence

      xiainly depend on tbe profits derived from the transmission of goods through their hands from the producer to tbe consumer , they of themselves * producing nothing at all calculated to benefit society . We , therelore , are of opinion that the carrying out of such & competition will havi the effect of reducing our-employers into a state bordering that of journeymen : which state i * at osce calculated to destroy our moral , oeial , and physical standing in society , making us thereby not the journeymen of the " master tailors , " Vat the journeymen of jour neymen ; and that , while Tiewing the extent to which such & practice is ultisately being carried , conceive it our duty to put a stop

      to men a moral , social , asd physical degrading system by eras legal , peace * ble , and energetic means in our jttwer . " 2 . " That ttia meeting is of opinion , that in order to cany out the spirit of the foregoirg resolution and pnt a stop to the evils therein complained of , conceive that tbe only means in our power is that of forming oorsslvea into a Clsb or Association , which we believe ¦ will have the effect of destroying that isolated position in which , "we now are , and of opening a channel whereby © or individual grievances may become knows to each other , as also to the public generally . " A respestion " was then made relative to their joining the " United Journeymen Tailors Trade Protection Society for Great ¦ Britain and Ireland . " the consideration of which was

      left over to the next meetang . Tbe meeting then sepax&ted . —We are happy that znch a movement has taken place here , convinced as we are that the grievance which the working classes so loudly complain of will sever be removed nnt 3 they adopt tee resolution of acting cm the advice of Sir Robert Peel , -rz taking their affairs into th *™ own hands . To other places "We weuld say , go and do likewise . Localities wishing to communicate with Dundee will address to the Se--eret&ry , Jdr . P . Brown , 14 , Dndbope-street . — CorresyondeKL

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      Untitled Article

      GLASGOW—The long talked-of discussion between Messrs Maddon and Brown , as to whether a repeal of tie corn laws , under existing circoHJBtances , Tronld benefit the working classes , came off 4 » Tuesday evening last , in the village of Bridgeton , ¦ whi ch in reality is part of Glasgow . Mr . Brown displayed considerable knowledge *> f the subject ; - bat as to Mr . Madden , his arguments (!) were beneath

      eonlempt-Ths Ch * bti 3 ts of the Goibals are to lold their sonna ! festival on J ? ew Ifear ' s Day . ( Monday ) even-Ing , in toe Chartist Hall , Clyde Terrace . We hope ihat theturn-oni on that occasion will be wortny of tbe good cause . The men at tbe head of the Gorbals democratic s eminary , never hesitated between two © pinions j no appeal connected with Chartism , either « f a general or individnal nature ias yet been made to them in vain , and we trust therefore ts&t on ibis , as on former occasions , success mil crown their labours .

      STJWPEBLAND—Since Mr . Dickinson has taken wp sis residence here our association has increased every ¦ week , » - " < 3 we axe « very way progressing successfully We have been informed that some « f tbe leaden of the leagne have been invited to visit this town , and that we may expect them in the early part of next month , We are glad to Bear this , for if they will allow discusaion we are prepared to meet them . 31 r . Dickinson bas delivered two lectures at Monkwe&raouth , and last Sunday but one sn&ounced , at the end of his lecture , that he should deliver a third lecture in the same pUce as last Sunday . Accordingly at two o ' clock he approached tbe sronnd , when he ssw three of the *• fores" parading abont : one of thea came sp to him as 3 » was crossing the road , and after saying it was a fine

      day , asked him if be was about to lecture there that aay . towhieh question Mr . Dickinson replied " certainly . " Then said the policeman I am authorised by the Inspector to inform you that you must not lecture there , at further proceedings will be taken against you ^ After thanking the man for his information , Ht . Dickinson eame to the waste ground where the people were assembled and proceeded with his lecture . He stated to the meeting that the pelice had requested him net to lecture there , but he did not feel inclined to remove until a re&Bon was rendered for his removal . He then entered en the subject ef his lecture a&d addressed tbe people for about twenty minutes , three policemen standing by , when one of them went away and presently

      xetamed with Inspector Bale , who rushed through-the -crowd and demanded Mr . Dickinson to come down from the chair . Mr . D . demanded by whosa auihority do jwi make that demand ? "I am tbe Inspector of Police , sod in the Queen ' s name ( pulling a piece of painted wood from his pocket ) I command yon to depart from this spot , as you are only preaching about the body and JBot the soul , and therefore you are obstructing the footpath . " Mi . Dickinson said he would come down , bnt ¦ would the Inspector have any objsctieiisif be removed a little farther up , if be could find a spot where he * would 3 » t obstruct the feotpath ? Yes , said the Inspector , I am determined you shall not lecture on this side tbe waste at an . Mr . Dickinson came out of tbe crowd to

      go home , and was putting bis topcoat on in tbe middle of the highway , "when Bale , tbe Inspector , who Sad been talking with some things calling themselves gentlemen , and was heard to say to them " its one ef tbe Chartist feflows" called out to the" three policemen to take Mr . 3 > ickinscn-to the SUtion-honre . He went with them "Without a mnrmnr . The Inspector left the StationiwuBe and went to consult the Superintendant , who came to the Statian- ~ housa , and after a little evEsnita--tion , said to the Inspector *• You'd better charge him . " ! Tb . e charjB was then laid , which was "for obstructing tbe footpath by resisting the police . " Ererythisg was tataQ ^ fcomlsiT- Dickinson ' s pockets , and alrhongk we wonght bail and baHed him cut until Tuesday they insisted en retaining the contents of his pockets i it ^ raa jnth difficulty we could gei them to allow nim to take ha watch . Since this bit of a dust cur room ittBbeeenoowded . " It ' s an ill wind that blows zjobody ^ oodJ "

      Oir Tr / KDrr , the 26 th , the Court House was thronged to hear the case of Mr . Dickinson , and hundreds were waiting outside who were unable to obt » in admission . Mr . Ayton , of this town , was employed to 'defend 3 fo JMckinson . The Inspector of Police swore that Mr . Dickinson caused an obstruction of tbe thoroagh-± are ; asd in the next breatb that he did notl The policemen themselves proved that Mr . DicHnc % n did xtot resist the police . SeeiDg the j » Hce hid so Imnjaed febe matter , the magistrates dismissed tee case . —Cerrespemdad . Mr . Dicxibsok will deliver a lecture ntxt Sonfiay at Monkwearmoutb , at the usual boor ( two o ' cleck ) and ie hopes all troe Chartists trill xally found their standard .

      &USTQK . —The Ch&rtists of this lecaiitj held iheir weekly meeting on Sac day evening last , in the large Boom , in Stafford- street , Mr . Hamersley in ibe chair . 3 "h © -unanimous fetlirg of the Ccnncil was , that a vigorous effort should be made to aronse their hiotneiB in bondage At the elobe of ifce fcaaaegg 2 i , wer # ft ^ dgd to the Kaiic-ijal Tiibaie ,

      Untitled Article

      ASHTON-TJNDER-LYNE ,- ~ 0 n Sunday last , Mr . C . Boyle , of Manchester , delivered a lecture in the Chartist Association Boom , Bentick-street . At the conclusion of the lecture , a vote of thanks was given to Mr . Doyle . —On Tuesday , Dec . 26 , Mr . John West , of Sheffield , lectured in the same place , on the remedy for national poverty . . At the conclusion of the lecture , a vote of thanks was given to Mr . West . OiDHAHL— On Sunday last , a lecture was delivered m the Chartist Room , Greaves-stre « t , by Mr . Dixon , subject— " The RightB of Labour . " The andienee were very respectable , and great attention was paid to the lecturer throughout his discourse , which occupied oae hour and a half .

      HEYWOOD . — The Chartists of this locality took tea together , in their room , Hartley-street , on Christmas Day , when upwards of one hundred sat Jown to a good repasi . After the cloth was removed , appropriate addresses were delivered by Messrs . Mead , Bell , and Taylor . \^ IGAN . —The following persona bave been nonrijjated members of tbe General Council : —Mr . James Smally , Mr . John Peet , Mr . Michael Green , Mr . John Heaton , Mr . Richard Downy , Mr . Thomas Heaton , Treasurer , Mr . Patrick Bradley , Secretary . The cause is progressing rapidly since Mr . O'Connor ' s visit to this town ; but the accursed WhigB , who are always read y to act as Tory tools , have determined on not allowing us to have the use of the Commercial Hall any more . No matter we Bhall prosper in spite of them .

      Untitled Article

      TO IBB EDITOB OP THE N 02 LTHBBN STABSIR , —Since forwarding Mr . O'Connor ' s route for next week , in which were included Bury , Rochdale , Todmorden , and Stockport , I regret to be obliged to inform you that a £ eriouB accident , occasioned by tbe lodgment of a fish bone in Mr . O'Connor ' s throat , may probably preclude the possibility of bis fulfilling those engagements . It is now nearly twenty-four hours since the accident occurred , and hitherto all attempts either to extract it ox force it down b&ve failed , aa bave also emetics . Mr . O ' Connor ' s professional attendant has given directions that he should abstain as much as possible even from conversation , which might produce serious inflammation . I am , Sir , Your obedient Servant , W . Hewitt , Secretary to Mr . O'Connor . London , Thursday afternoon , 28 th December , 1 S 45 .

      The Northern Star. Saturday, December 30, 1843.

      THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , DECEMBER 30 , 1843 .

      Untitled Article

      ALEXANDER O'DRISCOLL , ESQ ., J . P . AND HIS PLUNDERED TENAKT . Labt week we directed the attention of our readers to the proceedings before the Macroom Justices npon their first attempt at administering the Irish Arms' Bill . The name of Axexandkk O'DeiscolIh J-P- flourished as one of the disarming gentlemen , and , in truth , by reference to a case reported in this week's Star , in which he stands forward as the sola actor , furnishes good and cogent reasons

      why this impartial dispenser of English law should look with jealousy npon the possession of any implement of defence by those who would be justified in using them in resistance to open and barefaced robbery . These frequent acts of plunder appear to strike the English reader with becoming horror , and are looked upon as exceptions against the usual practice pursued by Irish landlords towards their defenceless victims . That we , however , have considered Euch acts as forming the rule rather than the

      exception , we leia our readers f o our various articles npon Irish affairs , while we would direct more immediate attention to the following passage , taken frem our comment under the head " Ireland and the Irish" which appeared in the Star of the 25 th of November : — " The practice ef distraining cattle , of impounding , selling them by auction , and buying them in , by the middleman , for very frequently not a twentieth of their value , while no account of the Bale is ever rendered , leads to more extensive disturbance , and subsequent evil resnlts , than almost any other

      grievance . It is not at all unusual for a middleman , accompanied by a host of under-tenants , to drive off the whole stock of eome unfortunate tenant to a distant pound in the dead hour of night ; while the tenant , to protect himself against the aggression of the middleman , has paid hi 3 rent to , and holds the receipt of the head landlord . Thus situated , the poor tenant has no alternative but _ to replevy " the stock at a great expense ; while he is compelled to give security for double the value , until the case shall be disposed of in the Sheriff's Conrt . If , -upon the other hand , he cannot procure the required security , his cattle are allowed to stand in a cold pound antil the day of auction , when the

      poundkeeper presents him with an enormous bill for fodder never used . Will any man say that a tenant so treated , and thrown for protection upon expensive and dilatory law , which he cannot procure , is not justified in taking the summary law into his own hands ! In many cases , he does do so : and many is the man who has been hung in olden times , and many is the hoaest man now working in chains , for having STOLEN his own property from the thief who stole it from him in the dead hour of night . It this , we would ask , a ** practical grievance ? " and are the family of the expatriated victim likely to be adnirers or voluatary obeyers of those laws by which ruin and desolation has been brought upon them !"

      The reader will learn from the above sketch that , at all events in our opinion , tbe grievance complained of by Mr . O'Dbiscoll ' s victim is one of a general character , and that the case referred to is not to be looked npon as a mere isolated instance , either not tolerated or practised by other men of his class . The fact is , that those tenants who hold under Irish middlemen not only pay three times the amount of rent compounded for in free labour , duty foal , and legal ezpences , but as we have more than once stated , the whole of that capital which should be left to them as the means of stocking and

      tilling their farms is extracted before getting possession , in the following manner : —We will suppose a farm of twenty acres , being a portion of a large denomination , rented by Captain O'Dhiscoll under Lord Cx&bzbst at per acre . This amount he subdivides into such allotments as will suit the existing competition and demand . A tenant , who has been broken down by a ce-tyrant of O'Dbiscoll ' s in a farm of fifty aeres , tries to square his means to the possession of twenty acres of O'Dbiscoll ' s 1 take , " at a rent of £ 1 103 . per acre , or 10 s . per acre profit . To begin , he gives s fine of a year ' s rent , £ 30 ,

      intended as compensation to O Deiscoll , in lieu of a fine which he asserts he has given upon receiving possession himself . Mr . Bihd , the agent , ihe plenipotentiary of the gallant Captaih , receives . £ 5 for his good word , and Tin Donavan , who has the ear of Mr . Bibd , and who may be denominated as * ' Trusty" and Spy upon the undertenants , must have his £ 2 , as without his friendship all hope of possession is fruitless . The miBtresa must have £ 5 for " glove-money ; " and then , to

      insure something like title , a proposal is accepted upon unstamped paper , which concludes with an undertaking that leases shall be executed at the request of either party ; and £ 5 5 s . is a Email amount to require to be paid for this purpose—the tenant being invariably compelled to lodge his money for that pnrpose , although a lease is not granted in one ease in twenty . Add to the above snins , the incoming tenant is compelled io take the manure , of which tbe outgoing tenant has been robbed , at the " Trusty ' b" valuation .

      Sueh are the prospects with which an Irishman enters upon his tenancy under a middleman ; with a further certainty , however , of being ousted in three years at furthest , in order that the middleman hi ay raise fresh capital by way of fine . Lest , however , a religious prejudice should be attempted to be established upon the eroel , the heartless , —and vill&ncus ease under consideration , we beg to state that this Mr . O'Dxkcoli . is a Roman Catholic , Captain of a

      "Yeom anry corps , Justice ot Peace , an extensive middle-man , as well as "lay impropriator" of tithes in several parishes . In truth we may assert without fear of contradiction , and with the full concurrence of the Catholic people of Ireland , that any tenant would rather place himself nuder a Protestant than a Catholic middle-man ; and the reason why we do not hear more of the tyranny of the latter if , because complaint generally arisss from what is considered the general Bouree of grievanoe , and resident Protestant , being for tie sost part

      Untitled Article

      the tools of absent landlords , eome in for the whole of the odium while there are guilty Catholio confederates who escape scot free . The reader will be puzzled to know why the act of top-dressing his corn should furnish Mr . Bibd with an excuse for his conduct . A simple statement of facts , however , will enable as to establish Mr O'Dbiscoll ' s conviction upon the very reasons assigned for the cruelty and injustice of his agent . That the rent due in March was included in the note lodged in the bank , and upon which

      Mr . 0 'Dbiscoll nad received the money may be inferred from the very act of top-dressing the corn . That the tenant was preparing to " flit" in September we admit , and that he knew that whatever manure he left behind him would be seized by O'Dbiscoll is obvious ; he therefore applied it to tbe corn which he might have cut , thrashed and sold before any other rent than that included in the note would have accrued . This was the cause of his applying his manure to topdressing the corn ]; a practioe seldom or never resorted to even by the best Irish farmers .

      Of coarse the reader does not expect us to launch into abuse of Mr . O'Dbiscoll and his agents , as the foulest words within the vocabulary of Billingsgate would fall far short of the expression of our feelings . Let us now inquire as to the method of disposing of tbe destraioed property . The witness says , They stole some (!) I only took away 46 loads . I took them to Skibbereen , and put them in a garden near Mr . O'Dbiscoll ' s house . • * I was auctioneer and did bid also ; was not the buyer , but afterwards got the potatoes myself . Sold every six weights for eightpence . " What a picture .

      " THEY STOLE SOME . " You brute , they didn't steal them , they honestly produced them by the sweat of their brow and you and O'Drie € oll stole them from them . Just think of tbe poor man ' s winter ' s hoard being deposited in the gallant Captain ' s garden , while the rent for the ground upon which they grew was lodged in his pocket . Think of an auctioneer himself bidding for the distrained goods , and although he had the becoming modesty not to knock them down to himself , yet he knocked them fob himself to his representive . who was appointed to bid for him . But what did be do 1 He Bold them at the auction at the rate of eightpence for every six weighs . Tke

      English reader should understand that the weigh is 23 ! bs ,, and that consequently every 138 pounds was sold for eightpence , or , at the rate of one penny for seventeen pounds . Let us analyse this aot of plunder , and see what-it amounted to even upon this poor article . A load of potatoes is twelve weigh * . Forty-six loads were stolen from the poor man . They were sold for Is 4 d a-load , that is eightpence for six weighs , making for the forty : six loads £ 3 Is 4 d , while at threepence a stone they were worth £ 11 63 . Now who stole the potatoes ! The rogue that grew them , and paid the rent for the land that produced them , or the honest man that knocked them down at £ 3 U id , while they were worth £ 11 6 i .

      The Times of Saturday had a bold and withering article upon the subject , from tbe deductions with which it is dosed , however , we differ wholly . The Times * after commenting upon the case proceeds thug : — M But what do these scenes teach us ! That there is something fearful in the relations between the Irish landlord and his tenant—oppression on the one side , wjld vindictivencss on the other . But what further lesson do they inculcate 1 What but this ! —that instead of severing Ireland from the only nation taat has the power and the will to assist her , —instead ot dissolving the tie of sympathy which

      has of late years drawn the two countries closer and closer together—instead of perpetuating a domestic tyranny and consolidating a domestic feudalism , rampant , domineering , and encroaching , subjeot to no control and checked b y no principle , —those who love Ireland well and wisely Bhould do all in their power to bring her actual state , her sufferings and her capabilities , within the kea of English opinion and the scope of English justice—that they should admit the full effulgence of English—of Britishopinion into the dark holes of injustice and intolerance , and frighten power from the indulgence of its capricious cruelty , by enlisting against it the irresistible force of publio feeling .

      We come to very different conclusion We say that if able , England has never evinced a willingness to correct those practical grievances , and if willing she has not the power . That the grievances consist in the abandonment of all duty by those who are bound by every law of nature , of reason , of justice , and expediency , to administer the laws and to set an example to those who are com polled to live under them . That the restoration of Ireland ' s legislature , whereby grievances on the spot may be complained of , where they occur , and when they occur , and that the censure and odium may fall upon those

      sanctioning and tolerating them , while excitement is fresh and before the fever shall have passed away ; this is the remedy wanted to ensure justice , gire satisfaction , and put an end to agrarian crime . The absentee proprietor under whom an Irish middleman holds , and praotices hia abominations is morally and legally as guilty as his representative . Let tbe IriBh landlords be induced , if not compelled , to return te that country where they have duties of the highest nature to discharge . Let them act as

      magistrates' . let them dispense justice , and in its dispensation , we shall Bee an honourable courtship of publio opinion as a means of insuring power of a higher nature than even th at which devolves upon the administrators of law—the power to make the law . What effect will the tyranny of O'Dbiscoll have upon the bete regeneous body at St . Stephens ! And what effect , if ventured upon , would it not have upon an Irish House of Commons to take prompt cognizance , and to prevent a recurrence of which would be one of its principal duties .

      Upon the whole , then , it is not wonderful that tbe hands of Mr . O'Cohnell should bo strengthened in his endeavour to destroy tbe Saxon rule . Talk of your Devon Commission , of your flotillas , your war-ships , and your bomb-boats ; your garrisons , your spy-holes , your spike-holes , and your cannon ramparts . Talk of your horse , foot , and artillery , we tell yon that you have nurtured a deep and rancorous hatred throughout the whole term of your ferocious and iniquitous rule , which your patch-work corrections of Churoh and Landlord abuses can neither obliterate or destroy . You have sown

      the seeds of disaffection , dissatisfaction , and discontent , which have produced an abundant harvest of national antipathy , distrust , and hate , which even your monster indictments and tyrannical prosecu tions of those who have endeavoured to stay rebellion by promoting justice cannot eradicate . You have sown the wind , and you must reap the whirlwind . You must cease to marvel that the victim of O'Dbiscoll will rather look to his priest than to his landlord for sympathy ; and to the wildness of revenge rather than to the law , with O'Dbiscoll upon the bench for justice .

      England had it in her power to render a union uanecssary . Englttad had it in her power to make a union effective . She bas done neither the one nor the other ; her rule has been one incessant and undeviating course of blood , persecution , plunder and injustice ; setting father against sen , brother against brother , and man against his fellow . And now , ascendancy looks to a Tory lord , with a gallant engineer for his earwig , as « means of allaying discontent . Wa believe , and we hope , that during Mr . O'Cojchell ' s lifetime the wildness of vengeance will be held in cheek : bnt who that reads , that reasons ,

      and that thinks , that must not come to the conclusion aad sorrow that the peace of a nation—nay perhaps of Europe—depends npon the life of a man who though of a eound constitution is yet stricken in years . It appears that the malignant Attohnbt-Gkhebal , still resolved upon the ruin of his adopted country , is determined , if possible , to snap all those ties-by which alone peace can be preserved , and thus hurry on the savage cry for justice amid the clash of arms and wild shriek for vengeance . For when the day of retribution comes , we fear that the demand will be for vengeance ; the word Justice having long lost all its charms for the Irish ear .

      Untitled Article

      ENjGLlSH LAW v ( tms DURHAM LAW . Tn our last , we announced the fact that Mr . Roberts had obtained a writ ot Habeas Corpus from Mr . Justice Patteson , ordering the attendance in person of the six Coal King Victims who had been consigned to Durham Gaol , by tho Durham Justices —there to be kept to hard labour , and upon the silent system . In compliance with the legal order the six prisoners , in custody of the Governor , together with Mr . Roberts and Mr . Marshall , the Solicitor for the Coal Kings , arrived in Loadon at six o ' clock on Saturday morning , and at tea , the

      hour appointed for hearing the case , the parties appeared before his Lordship—Mr . Bodkin , M . P ., being retained on behalf of the men , and Mr . Clarkson on behalf of the masters ; and , after a patient consideratiou of the case , having heard counsel on both sides , the Constitutional Judge ordered the prisoners to be forthwith discharged from the custody of tbe gaoler , and they were forthwith sot at liberty . So far we might have rested satisfied with the wholesome reproof thus administered to a set of tyrannical masters and ignorant Ja stices , and we should not : have inoluded them further

      in our general commentary upon the v&tue of English law , but for the following reason : —The Consti ta tional Judge having no interest in oppressing the working classes , but evincing rather a desire to afford them tho cheapest exposition of the law , directed that one of each of the two batches who had been tried and convioted at different times should be brought up under the writ of Habeas Corpus , and that the judgment upon those appearing should also extend to the others . This course was proposal for the purpose of saving the prisoners the exponce and inconvenience of a journey of nearly 600 miles . The

      proposition was acquiosed in by the Constitutional Judge , provided the prosecutors should agree . Now let the reader perfectly understand this portion of the case . Six poor Colliers were convicted by the Durham Justices , three at one period inoluded in the same warrant , and three at another period also inoluded in another warrant . The case of one of each batch was the case of all of that batch , and the decision of the Learned Judge upon the question submitted to him upon the personal appearance of one Would equally apply to the others . The

      Learned Judge could not compel the prosecutors to agree to this proposition , but he assented to it . When Mr . Robbbts made an application to tho prosecutors upon the subjeot , they instantly refused compliance , and tyrannically insisted upon the appearance of every man of the six—thus imposing a useless expense of between £ 40 and £ 50 on their victims , as well as subjecting four of them to a jour * neyof n « arly 600 miles . We would ask if such an act requires further comment than the mere promulgation of it .

      We have before spoken oat upon the course pursued by the Durham Justices with reference to this case , as well as several other cases connected with the complaints of Colliers . Oar notions upon this snbject have been gathered , not from the facts elicited upon the one isolated case , but from the generally entertained feelings of the whole mining population towards this description of tribunal . The refusal to grant summonses against the masters , - the deep-rooted conviction upon the minds of men not at all politically tinged , that to go to Castle Eden or Durham for justice was useless . The courtesy , the

      patience , and even interest with which the propositions of the masters , made through their Solicitor , Mr . Marshall , were received ; the eruption of lava emitted upon taoh attack upon the masters by Mr . Roberts . The uncalled for and offensive insinuations against the part he had acted , tending to evince rather a sorrow for the loss of labour , than for a violation of th « law . From all these circumstances we gathered this undeniable fact , that the men are not , as indeed they could not be , satisfied with the administration of Durham justice . In all these conjectures we might be mistaken

      altogetherthere not being sufficient to warrant us in charging them with any deliberate actof tyranny or corruption ; but what we did charge them with , aad what we do charge them with , is ignorance—ignorance so great , so dangerous , and so disgraceful , as to render them unfit for tbe administration of . the English laws * Those who have read the case will remember that Mr . Roberts more than once warned them of the injustice and illegality of trying the three prisoners jointly . They therefore proceeded with their eyes open in the commission of an aot which Mr . Justice Pattison bas declared to be illegal . Let us

      now be minute upon this , the Magistrates portion of the oase . They tried three men charged with separate * offonoes , altogether ; made th e whole body of evidence which bore upon any one , to bear equally upon all ; so that if their notions of law are correct , they might with equal propriety have inoluded every pitman of the 500 working at ^ the Thornley Colliery . But why not ? Why should the science of justice stand still amid the gigantic improvements by which the mind is startled and the eye astonished . Why not" double deck" the bench as well as the mules ! Why

      not trial by steam as well as steam production ? Why not a community of justice as well as cooperative stores or community of labour ? What boots it , though [ one man violated the Thornley bond by keeping a donkey , against which there is an express provision , or another by keeping a dog , against which , notwithstanding the tariff , there is an actual prohibition , or although another had refused to pay £ 1 2 s . 6 d . fine out of 4 s . 6 d . wages ? Why not bray them , lash them , mash them all up in one mortar and make a compound of new and improved victims out of tho several component parts !

      Our readers are familiar with the old story of the son who was weary of the dull process of repeating graoe daily over a barrel of herrings that was provided for the " Lent" store , and , for brevity ' s sake , asked his father to say graoe over the whole barrel at once . Now there was sense in that , for although the herrings might have been taken , and saved , and eaten , at divers times and places , and although consequently the grace should have been said with a " continuandoi " yet execution executed being the end of the law , the

      herrings could not justly complain of having Buffered damage from the general aot of blessedness , * and so it might have been with some of the victims , especially with one wholhad suffered materially { from inoarceration . Now it was against the steam law that the old constitutional mental manufacturer protested . It was principally upon this act of injustice that the Learned Judge saw the propriety of annulliing the judgment of their mightinesses . It is impossible to over-rate tho value of the triumph of the six Miners The Colliers of the County of Durham will now have learned that if there is no justice to be had at Castle

      Eden or Durham , or from the Durham Justices , there is justice to be bad in Westminster Hall , at the hands of the administrators of tke laws of England . How often have we preached this doctrine ? How often have we told our readers that in the law there is a scabbard for every unjust thrust f—a provision against every act of tyranny—aye , and retribution for every act of injustice ! The fault lies here . Toe disparity of wealth allows the rioh man to procure the law ' s spirit and the law ' s delay , while the poor man must submit to the law ' s letter , and the

      law ' s rapidity . This disparity , however , as we have frequeatly shown may be destroyed , by the poor thousands clubbing their pence against the rich one ' s pounds , and had the several trades' unions spent onetwentieth part of the money in procuring law , that they have in sustaining strikes , they would by this time have found themselves rickar , more powerful , and better paid . We trust that it is not too late even yet to begin anew , and to implore the people to use the constitutional law as a corrective of magisterial ignorance .

      Ignorance was so grpssly and so glaringly manifested in t"he recent case , that we trust the Loud Chancellor's mind will be directed to the necessity of appointing persons to the Commission of the Peace

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      with some better qualification than that of political sympathy . Surely , if some qualification be necessary for apothecaries , surgeons , physicians , attornies , and parsons , who have the care of our health , our souIb , and our properties , some qualification should be required of those who may bare entire oontroul over the jlives and the liberties of the working classes . A ^ ain , therefore , we would urge upon the Colliera the absolute necessity of contending for the appointment | of stipendiary magistrates , whose

      knowledge of the law will be a requisite qualification , and whose [ administration of justice will be above suspicion . ! Although from our ignorance of the individuals who constituted the Bench in the Durham case , we ( cannot charge them with any act of wilful corruption , yet we repeat it , that masters being magistrates ; and administering the law , if not in their own case , ! in others , from whioh a precedent may be drawn , casts a suspicion around that tribunal , whose value should consist in being free from even doubt .

      Suppose that those men who are now at large had been allowed to spend the allotted time in prison , how unjust , and yet how many thousands are now lingering ! out their time in the felon ' s cell simply because they had not tho means of appealing to the justice of the law against the ignorance of the law breakers . So much for the past , of this vitally important case , aad now for the future . We learn from Mr . Roberts that Mr . Marshall , the Solicitor of the Coai Kings , said , upon leaving the Constiutional Juvas , " 4 tELL , WE'LL HAVE MORE OF THEM UP . ' ! Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof , and should the masters carry the threat of Mr . Marshall' into effect he and they shall find that sufficient unto . tne act shall be our comment

      thereon ,- But the' men to whom the wordB of the Solicitor may be j a warning or a dagger will be pleased to learn that Mr . Robheis has taken it as the herald ' s proclamation of war , as the black flag intimating no quarter . And although perfectly willing to rest satisfied with th ? triumph that his clieuts had achieved he became at once bound , nay forced , compelled by this [ declaration of war , to attack the fortress of the enemy ; and to this end he has tinder the advice of table : counsel filed a bill against the masters for violation of all the terms of the contract , and will follow it up by an application for an injunction to stay all further proceedings against the Colliers until the issue between them is tried . He has further served the magistrates with notices of action for the illegality of their decision .

      We trust that the Whig and Tory tools of the masters—the Durham Advertiser , that never has time to write a comment upon passing events—and the Durham Chronicle ^ that doesn't know how to write upon the past , present , or future , will , if they dabble at all in this oase , tell their few readers that tbo course about to be pursued by Mr . Roberts has been forced upon him by Mr . Marshall , the Solicitor for the Coal Kings , and communicate to the shopkeepers of Durham the fact , that the £ 650 a fortnight taken out of it heir tills , has been taken , out or rather kept out , not by Mr . Roberts , but by the injustice , tbe cruelty , and intolerance of the tyrant

      masters . Again , we say the law—the law—a blow from Mr . Justice Patteson is stronger , more powerful , and more deadly to oppression than 10 , 000 shots aimed by dissatisfied man at hisfelloworeature . Wherever we have been legal ! Chartists , we have either wholly triumphed , or at all events , procured the full value of oyr money in the laws expedition . We will look with intense anxiety to the course that shall be taken by the colliery delegates at Manchester , upon this all-important threat of the masters through their adviser Mr . Marshall . While we would especially direot their attention and- that of the whole trade to the following paragraph , now going the round of the papers : —

      General > Slrtke tn the Collieries . We are sorry to learn that the pitmen of another considerable colliery , in addition to Thornley , have struck work since our last ; and it is currently reported that others will shortly follow their example —Durham Chronicle . Against the above piece of incendiarism , for we can call it by no other same , we moat earnestly , urgently , and emphatically caution the Miners . We tell them that [ none save tricksters , traffickers , tools , rogues , or fools , will endeavour to force them into a strike . They have now tried the operation of the law , and why sully their fresh and maiden

      triumph by an act which would turn both law and sympathy against them . Let them take heed lest they entrammel themselves within the legal construction ; which means the most suitable one of the law of conspiracy . Let them not suppose that because being innocent , the law has protected them , that if they become guilty , the iaw will favour them , or even look ! mercifully upon their ignorance . Should the Colliers strike , let the responsibility fall upon the heads of those through whose dark counsels the act has been forced upon them , while we interpose our counsel to save them from all the horrors of a strike and its horrible consequences .

      From the confidence that the whole body reposes in us , and to which we consider oursel res justly entitled , we would request of some workman in each colliery to read tbia article to the whole of their brethren , concluding thus : —next week we shall give sueh full and cogent reasoas against a strike as to make the aot little short of suicide , while we further request that no step may be taken until the decision of the Manchester Conference shall have been ascertained . A STRIKE IS THE THING UPON WHICH THE MASTERS RELY AS THE ONLY MEANS OF BREAKING UP THE INFANT UNION . ¦

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      SHALL POLAND PERISH ? j " What though your cause be baffled—freemen cast In dungeons—dragged to death , or forced to fl < se , Hope is not withered , in affliction ' s blast ! The patriot ' s blood ' a tt » need ot fxeedom ' a tree . " When in 1830 the people of Poland rose against their foreign oppressors , and attested by an uninterrupted series of j viotories gained in bloody contests their devotion to their country , and their heroism in its defence ; when astonished Europe saw the immense hordes of the tyrant Czar

      scattered hke chaff before the hurricane by a comparative handful of ] brave men ; when for the space of ten months the gore-dyed demon of the North had not one solitary victory to boast of , bat everywhere saw his legions mowed down by the ecythearmed youth of Poland ; then did the newspaper press of this country , forgetting its prostitution to ihe services of despotism at home , hail with shouts of joy the triumphs of the heroic Slavons , and dwell with delight on the hoped-for success of the glorious struggle . I

      When again that struggle had ended in ruin ; when betrayed by treachery , lost by the inherent yices of tbe Polish arisiocratical system , and refused tho aid which the Polish people had a right to expect from tho Governments of England and France ; when these and other causes had combined to give the victory once more to the oppressor , and doom the oppressed to death , chains , and exile , and the blackness of despair a ^ ain floated over unhappy Poland , where late the sun of hope had shone

      refulgent ; when Warsaw ' s streets rang with the groans of the slaughtered and the shrieks of the wronged , and the savage knout tore the living flesh from the baeks of Poland ' s ( laughters , and they were subjected to hellish horrors to whioh our pea refuses to give a name ; when , in short , brutalities and enormities , black as Stygian night , were committed by the triumphant Autoorat on his vanquished and prostrate victim , again did the press teem with denun-( iitions of the tyrant , and excite a righteous indignation at his craelties .

      And when the heroes of Poland ' s broken pha lanxes sought refuge from their vindictive and merciless persecutor in the bosoms of the nations of the West , the press nobly did its duty in welcotning the exiles to our shores , and consoling the fallen by pledging the sympathies of the existing generation to the canse of Poland ' s resuscitation and ^ stored nationality . !

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      And the like feeling toward the heroic exiles costinned to be exhibited by the tnss for BOme few years subsequently . But of . late , men appear to have forgotten that there is , or , at any rate , u-as a Poland . We know that there are Poles ; for we have an annual city ball for thuir benefit ; ^ and this year bas witnessed grave discussions in the Times as to the propriety of devoting these balls to the aid of our own poor , rather than to the relief of expatriated " foreigners . " It no doubt is quite right to look to the case of our own poor first ; and we are certainly

      not of that class of mock philanthropists torouse whose sympathies it is necessary to bring before them aouae case of suffering from the uttermost ends of the earth , while they are blind to the misery existing around them . We are not philanthropists of Mai school . Still we do not believe in the doctrine that we Bhould not sympathise with others , because ourselves need sympathy . 'Tis not eharity , but justice that the people of this country require . Give them that , and at the same time withold not sympathy from the destitute and friendless stranger .

      But we demand , on behalf of Poland , something higher , nobler , than mere charity balls . We demand the continued sympathies of the press in support of the cause for which Poland ' s children are suffering . We have seen with sorrow the anniversary of the Polish struggle pass by and not a pen employed in defence

      of" Tie noblest cause that tongue or sword , Of mortal ever lost or gained . " Other matters pressing upon us at the moment , prevented our taking up this subject as we had intended to have done in the Star of the 2 nd instant ; but we could not allow the present year to pass by without renewing our protest against the fearful wrong—the deadliest of ali blows istruck at the cause of civilization and human progress , the blotting outofan entire nation , because that nation stood between progression and absolutism , the van-guard of the former , the terror of the latter .

      We have never ceased to raise our voice on behalf of unhappy Poland , and in impeachment of her imperial murderer . And at what fitter time could we raise our voice in so holy a cause as the pre ? ent , when men are celebrating the birth of him whoso golden rule was , "Do unto thy brother asthou wouldst thy brother should do unto thee ' ! We abhor oppression , and have pledged ourselves to do battle to the death with wrong and tyranny in our own country ; and shall we forget the sufferings of the exile , and the wrong done ia thafcf ^ xfle ' s heritage , by blood-reeking barbarous despotism!—Never !

      It were useless to dwell upon the acts of tyranny and cruelty which hare been perpetrated in Poland during tbo last twelve months ; such as the horrible ukase by which all the Catholics in the provinces of Tolhynia , Padolia , and Ukraine , are ordered to embrace the Russo-Greek religion in the course of two years , on pain of exile and tbe confiscation of their property ! or the more recent edict of the purple-clad monster , by which the Jews ate banished from all parts of his dominions which border on Austria and Prussia . The reasons assigned for this decree , which expels nearly three hundred thousand individuals from house and home , without so much

      as assigning them a refuge elsewhere , are , forsooth , that the Jews have seduced Russian soldiers to desert , and have been guilty of smuggling and general injustice ! This last charge comes well from a government whose officials throughout the empire , from the highest to the lowest , are addicted to bribery , peculation , corruption , and pecuniary frauds of all kinds , to a degree scarcely credible among the more civilised nations of Europe . All these hideous acts of tyranny are the necessary consequences of the one monster crime permitted by Europe—tho partition of the territory and the dissolution of tho nationality of Poland .

      We have witnessed with sorrow the falling-off of the annual demonstrations on the glorious though illfated 2 ° th November ; a falling-off strikingly visible this year in particular . There must be causes for this . If we mistake not , the greater number of the emigrants in this country consist of the aristocratic section ot the exiles . The aristocrats caused the failure of the Revolution ; and the lack of energy they exhibited as the leaders of the struggle , they are not likely to supply under present circumstances . Again , the English democrats axe not very likely to co-operate with men who are patronized by the aristocratic oppressors of the English

      people , * with men who , though they wero anti-Russian , were anti-democratic ; who , though they hated Russian tyranny , hated still worse social freedom , and refused to sink their class privileges in the common rights of all . With such men the English democracy , whose motto is , "For the people and by the people , " are not likely to sympathise . Hence the melancbely fact that at the recent meeting in the Sussex Rooms , the audience was composed entirely of Poles , when there ought to have been thousands of the English people present to have expressed their respect for the Polish cause and their detestatation of Russian barbarism .

      We turn to a portion of Poland ' s exiled children to demand of them the adoption of a wiser policy than that which has produced the above results . We turn to the democratic Poles , and call npon them not to forget the work of their mission Nearly twelve years since , they formed themselves into a society for the purpose of organizing an enlightened European opinion in favour of the restoration of Poland . Seven years since , that Society addressed its manifesto to the democracy of Europe a document breathing the pure spirit of holiest patriotism—setting forth its cause , its objects , asd

      means of accomplishment . At that time a section of the Society existed ia England , considerable for its numbers , and respectable for the intellect and patriotism of its members . Some of them have since been borne to the refuge of the injured , " where the wicked ; cease from troubling , and the weary are at rest . " Others have been scattered abroad by the necessity of struggling for an honourable subsistence Still there have been subsequently holden at Ports * mouth and other places , gatherings of the brave and true . But now all appears a blank , the cause being entirely abandoned to the protege's of Lord Dddlet Stuart . Wo remind the democrats of their pledges

      and their great , and as yet unaccomplished , mission to remember that they are the representatives of sixty millions of Sclavonians , denationalized and held in bondage by the crowned brigands of Europe ; to remember that their country is the frontier of civilised Europe , and the ancient protector of the West against Northern and Eastern barbarism : to remember that their countrymen , to the number of twenty millions , the greater part of whom are in a state of actual slavery to their degenerated Polish and cruel Russian lords , look to them as their deliverers from their worse than Egyytain bondage . And let not the democrats despair of a future and triumphant victory .

      For" If we do but watch the hour , There never pet was human power T&at could evade , if unforgiven , Tbe patient search and vigil long Of them who treasure up a wrong . " The very scattering of the Poles amongst the nations of the earth may be destined to hasten the universal emanoipation of the European family , amongst whom they at present exist , a monument of human endurance and undying patriotism , stimulating less heroic nations to the like sacrifices i& defence of liberty . Moreover , who will assert that

      the sixty millions of Slavons may not yet shake off the chains of the " Holy Alliance , " and under the banner of federal republicanism unite once more What ! when France , Germany , and Switzerland are heaving with the silent yet steady workings of ft Revolution destined to destroy the reign of privilege , and sweep away the crimes of caste ; when Greece once more rivals her ancient glories , and even prieat-blighted Italy and Spain make tfforta , though , vain , yet promising brighter things in defence of freedom ; when even in this " nation g »

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      4 _^ THE NORTHWRN P T " A K . ;

      Serious Accident To Mr. O'Connor.

      SERIOUS ACCIDENT TO MR . O'CONNOR .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Dec. 30, 1843, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct834/page/4/