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Nov. 15; 4851.] ff!M* H^a&en 1089
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A CHEAP DEFENCE. It is predicted that th...
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SOCIAL REFORM. " NOTES OK A SOCIAL. (ECO...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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A Lesson From This Lord Mayors Hi Iow. W...
I ^ ion Probably some of the sterner patriots supposi . . hical reservation in their minds , and , ^ 6 P / there only to observe , looked on to criticize , "fn oyT but ^ all events they felt enough intern f in the pageant to come . Perhaps in . spite of democratic scepticisms , there ;„ no aspect which any public body can take bo ntfpular as that of a pageant . And the rasped ; for > will be just in proportion to the skill with which ! hp uageant is set forth and performed . There is n important truth at the bottom of these facts , a hich it behoves democrats to consider , and not to aVoid with averted eyes . Facts may be very inconvenient to those who are interested in promulgating abstract theories ; but by ignoring facts you lio not abolish them , any more than you remove the post which stands in your way by ignoring it .
Democrats cannot keep from pageantry themselves . As soon as they have the opportunity they , too acquire the taste for colours , for processional order , for the tinkling cymbal and sounding brass . In the demonstration of Monday week colours were at a premium ; wands of office were prized ; much pride was displayed in banners and flags ; in the evening , a seat at " the committee table" was not despised ; and few things were more gratifying than the general recognition of good order and imposing array .
This is in the nature of things . Vigour and efficiency naturally tend to symmetry of order and to outward completeness . Nations addicted to manly and soldierly activity have always inclined also to orderly displays , to picturesque costume , martial music , and pomp . You cannot have effective action or movement without order . You cannot witness the manual skill of the swordsman , or
the orderly motion of soldiery , without admiring the beauty of action and order for its own 6 ake . The trappings of action fitted to the demands of celerity and efficiency acquire the symmetry of a picturesque " uniform . " Conscious power becomes proud of its costume , and anticipates some of its triumphs by the very force of its victorious aspect . The most admired part of the Lord Mayor ' s show—that of which the admiration was least reserved and qualified—was the body of Hussars , under whose comeliness lay the most of strength and of the trained power for destruction .
That party in any state will possess the sovereign power , which can command the largest amount of the vigour and spirit embodied in such men .
Nov. 15; 4851.] Ff!M* H^A&En 1089
Nov . 15 ; 4851 . ] ff ! M * H ^ a & en 1089
A Cheap Defence. It Is Predicted That Th...
A CHEAP DEFENCE . It is predicted that the Cossack will water his horses in the Thames . We advise that all reports of the Board of Health shall bo suppressed forthwith , and suspended throughout 1832 ; for if the Cossack should come , and should seek to refresh his horses in the natural manner , we could not have a more deadly resource against the enemy than the writers of the Thames . But if the Board of Health were to tell him , would he be so mad ? Cossacks learn to liv ? on beans , but even a Cossack horse could not stomach Thames water . Thanks to a far-seeing Government which has preserved to us that true Anti-Cossack Elixir !
Social Reform. " Notes Ok A Social. (Eco...
SOCIAL REFORM . " NOTES OK A SOCIAL . ( ECONOMIST . " THE COorEHATIVE ASSOCIATIONS OF ENGLAND . IX . What different lots our stnrs accord ! Thin babe to be hail'd and woo'd an a lord ! And that to be shunn'd like a leper ! One to the world ' s wine , honey , and coin , Another , like Colchester native , born To its vinegar only , and pepper . "—T . Hood . In the course of a brief tour recently made through Koine of the manufacturing towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire , I discovered but one * bon & Jide Co operative Association , and that one in debt to the , amount of £ 12 or £ 14 , and without credit 'juflieient to obtain even the materials necessary for iwdiiitf the looms . 1 have since heard that the lit ' ouiiiury uiilicuIlieH of this , the " Universal i ' anul y" ANHocintidn in Salford , have been rem oved by the generous assistance of some gentu'inen connected with the Christian Socialist , a journal containing' much valuable and interesting r ll ! ' () f « nation concerning' the cooperative movement . 1 »> e " Universal Family" Association is a cooperative societ y , composed of some fourteen weavers , which s "l > I > lien a Store in connection with it with calicoes , d / ' . ^'" u : ua <*« ' ** nnHo « : ieH appurtc u la Socie " te son in-,.,,. " «<»<¦ travail . "—JLtoMANi > . Manuel ties Assoi l < Utonn Ouvrierca .
shirtings , & c . At the time that I visited this association , there were but three hands employed ; "William Stork , the manager , James Hoyle , and a little girl , the daughter of one of the Associates . I had some difficulty in finding my way to the manufactory , situate in one of the narrow streets of Salford , and after mounting an external ladder or flight of stairs from a back yard , I entered a kind of loft , containing ten looms , six of which were idle ; the necessary steam power was rented from the proprietor of an engine on the ground floor .
I was informed by Mr . Stork , that the first meeting for the purpose of forming an association , was held on November 12 , 1848 , at a Temperance coffee-house in Salford , and that their very small capital was raised by voluntary subscriptions , or rather by free gifts . The non-success of the little community appears to have arisen from a deficiency of capital at starting , and from the want of business habits , and of that skill , knowledge , and experience which are indispensable to success in the conduct and management of every trading or manufacturing concern ;—by no means from any want of union or good fellowship among the individual members of the society ; and I afterwards found that the members of other associations in
Manchester took a lively interest in the proceedings and welfare of the ¦ " Universal Family / ' and warmly sympathized in the efforts and struggles of these earnest experimental Communists . The following curious and interesting document is the Prospectus of the Universal Family Association : —
" ADDRESS . " A number of persons , inhabitants of Salford and the vicinity , having met and discoursed upon the wretched and deplorable condition of the labouring portion of society , came to the unanimous opinion that something more was needed than mere parliamentary reform ; that a moral and social change must be effected before the circumstances of the working man can be materially improved ; that notwithstanding our voluminous code of laws , with all other means and appliances to boot , men either will not or cannot do as they would be done by . Interests being so
divided , and competition and individual aggrandizement carried out to such an extent , that all idea of right and wrong seems to be lost in that of lawful and unlawful ; and each has become as it were a child of Ishmael , ' his hand against every man ' s hand , and every man ' s hand against his . ' Individual interest and duty are seldom seen together , and wealth-seeking is become so much the business of men , that duly is well nigh lost sight of altogether . Why , they would . ask , does it occur that there exists such an amount of physical Buffering through hunger and want ? Is it because there is a scarcity of the
means of subsistence ? Certainly not ; the Giver of all good gives not life without means for its support ; it would be doubling his goodness to suppose that lie created beings with wants which could not be gratified . Life has been given for the purpose of happiness , and to live r . ml bo happy is the right of all men . In the time of Franklin it was computed that , if every man and woman would labour at something useful , for four hours a day , sufficient would be produced to procure all the necessaries and comforts of life , want and misery would be banished from the world , and the rest of the twenty-fours would be
leisure and pleasure . For whose benefit , then , have all the boasted improvements been made since his time ? What becomes of all the advantages derived from England's geographical position on the globe , her mines , her almost unlimited labouring force in steam and water power , her railways and cunals , her ships , her machinery , and all other improvements in the instruments of production ? By whom ure they enjoyed ? Certainly not by that class whose labour produces all the necessaries and luxuries of life . No ! The working man finds himself necessitated to toil continually for
a bare existence , whilstothers enjoy luxury and amusement with little or no exertion , or are but eminent in their expertneas in snatching up the fruits of other men ' s labour . These circumstances have u natural tendency to produce disaffection , envy , and bitterness of heart ; he ( the working mnn ) IccIh that he is neither cured for nor respected by others , and he sinks lower and lower in the noale of morality in proportion to the decroubo of his physical comioitH . Thus it will be seen tlmt the moral depravity of the poor man , in a great meuuure proceeds from his
phytiieul wants being ill wupplied ; and the great cuuae of thin is the intcrctit of the nation is divided into Intercuts of clauses and individuals , and it must be ho , ko long an one iuiui ' h gain is another man ' s loiitt . Who ia there ainongat us when he pees and coiiHidcrs the wretched and taiukcu condition of the labouring man does not say to himself uomctlmig is wrong , tt remedy is needed , a remed y munt be applied . It is not for uh to Hay where the prcHcnt Hyutem will lead to ; but ono thing is certain , juatice is not done , or the producer of all the wealth would liuvc u better share .
"It therefore becomes the duty of all the well disposed to endeavour to bring about a change ; for he who does not perform a part in advancing the benefit of the whole , in proportion to his means and abilities , is not only useless but mischievous , inasmuch as he takes his share of the profits and leaves his share of the burden to be borne by others , which , is the cause of most of the suffering -which we have to complain of ; and as those whose duty it is to direct the energies of the nation and enforce equal justice , declare , by their actions as well as their word ? , their inability to remedy the evil , it therefore resolves itself into this : — The working classes must do justice to themselves as far as their power will admit . of that
"It may be said by some that the power class is very limited ; they have little or no share in the making of the laws , and moreover they are poor and at the mercy of their employers . These obstacles , great as they may appear to be , have little or no effect if the working classes would unite their energies and interests ; the only real difficulty is the want of moral principle amongst their own body . No one will deny the abundance of the raw material of wealth , and the existence of a power of production sufficient to supply all our necessary wants ; all that seems to be required is a just system of production and distribution , and to effect this there needs but a union of the will and individual disposition of the industrious and well-dispcsed , based upon true moral principles , where all interest and benefits shall become as one . We shall then he as one harmonious family ,
rejoicing in each other ' s happiness rather than in individual accumulation of wealth , which is the great cause of all the divisions amongst society , setting class against class , families against themselves , and individuals against all ; making the earth one vast Babel of confusion and misery , where all might be order , peace , and enjoyment . " Entertaining these views , they therefore resolved themselves into a committee for the purpose of forming a Society based upon the following objects and principles : — " Objects . —1 . To effect a union of all the industrious and well-disposed upon the principle of universal brotherhood ; to spread as widely as possible the principles of universal charity and love , by the education of the mind and the removal as far as
possible of all those causes which have a tendency to generate vice and immorality ; to encourage and promote the practice of virtue and good moral conduct ; and proclaim the glad "tidings of 'Peace on earth and good will towards men , without money and without price . ' 44 2 . To raise a fund as early as possible for the purpose of procuring raw materials , tools , and working capital , for the employment of labour , upon the principle of combined interests to promote the general hapj ? in < ss and increase the physical comforts of a great portion of society , by more just arrangement in the production and distribution of wealth , so that all who are competent and willing to labour may have employment , and enjoy the fruits of the same in accordance with the principles of justice and equity .
41 3 . To place the means for the attainment of knowledge within the reach of all , so that each individual may have full , free , and equal opportunity for the exercise and development of his intellectual faculties , and so to instruct the mind that all who have natural capabilities may become useful and enlightened members of society . " Piunciti ^ s . —1 . That all mankind have one common nature . " 2 . That man is a being endowed with faculties and desires which render him capable of being happy . 44 ; $ . That the motive to all voluntary human action is the desire of happiness . 41 4 . That society ia the true natural state of the huirmn race .
" 5 . That the enrlh was given to man for the common good of nil the human race . " G . That the ordinary means of happiness may bo placed within thu reach of all by a ju « t arrangement of human institutions . 44 That man ' s duty to man consists in his acting in strict accordance with that heavenly injunction laid down by the great Founder of Christianity , when he said , 44 ' Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men Mhould do to you , < lo ye even ho to them . ' 44 In pursuance of the foregoing , a society has been established under the denomination of the
Universal l ' aiml y * ' which i » now rapidly increasing in the number of its immbciH . They hold friendly meetings every Sunday evening , to which the public have free admission ; discourses are delivered by the members and friends explanatory of the objects and principles of the association ; a mutual conversation ia opened upon the name and other questions affecting the general happiness of society , in which stranger * are allowed to take a pnrt ; and all who are desirous and willing to assist in bringing about the system of things in which the whole human family nhall dw < ll in l >< ' »< C concord , and unity , are invited to attend , and if wishful to become members . 44 The object of the ' Universal Family * being the good of the whole , they deem it ne < : c » Hury to Htato that they wish to avoid uh much as possible all re-
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 15, 1851, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_15111851/page/13/
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