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54 gft g *»«»««. [Saturday,
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THE LONDON COMPOSITORS AND THE " MORNING...
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THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE. Henry l'elham Eie...
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ALLEGED CALUMNY AND INTRIGUE. The follow...
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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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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The Taxes On Knowledge. The Following Is...
The following epistle closes the correspondence : — Inland Revenue , Somerset-house , London , September 23 , 18 jO . Sir , —I have laid before the board the representation enclosed in your letter of the 17 th instant , signed by you and other proprietors of newspapers , desiring from the board permission to issue a portion of your publication on unstamped paper . In reply I am directed to state that the board have no power whatever to grant to the publisher of any newspaper permission to publish a portion of the copies thereof without the stamps , to which they are liable , and you are mistaken in assuming that any permission of the kind has been granted in any instance . I am , Sir , your most obedient servant , Mr . Thornton Hunt . Thomas Keogh .
We have , therefore , to complain to your lordship , that about fifty-one publications are in the habit of circulating illegally through the Post-office , so as to injure the regular newspapers , which are thus placed on disadvantageous terms , and deprived of their fair share of a privilege which was originally intended for them alone . The letter of the law allows us nc way of bringing this grievance before your lordship , save that of complaining of the privilege illegally granted to a favoured few , but
we should do ourselves injustice if we allowed it to be supposed that we desired the abolition of any privilege enjoyed by any portion of the press . Our object is to draw the attention of your lordship to the present irregularities , in the hope that the Post-office authorities may be induced to adopt a plan for the extension of the privilege of cheap postage to all printed papers , whether registered as newspapers or not , a plan by which the sum may be made up , which might perhaps otherwise be lost to the revenue by the abolition of the compulsory penny
stamp . Considering the Post-office not merely as a source of revenue or a means of communication , but as the only national educational establishment which this country possesses , we venture to hope that your lordship will anxiously consider whether the suggestion we have made cannot be worked out in such a manner as to avoid any financial deficiency , to put an end to the unfair and illegal preference now given to partially-stamped publications , and to give to the people the advantage of an untaxed press . But whatever may be the remedy , we are sure that your lordship will not countenance the violation of the law by the Board of Inland ltevenue .
This violation of the law has gone so far , that the board no longer venture to enforce their own decrees . In the cases of the Freeholder and the Household Narrative , two monthly newspapers which are only partially stamped , the board have long since represented to the publisher the illegality of their conduct , but have taken no steps to prevent its continuance . The law is still defied by the publishers , and might in all probability , be as successfully defied by any well-established newspaper in London or the country . Hoping that your lordship will deem it a duty to confer on this subject with her Majesty ' s Government , we remain , your lordship's obedient servants , The Members of the Newspaper Stamp Abolition Committee .
Sipned by their order and in their behalf . Fuancis Plack , Treasurer , Brompton . J . Watson , Sub-Treasurer , 3 , Queen ' s Head-passage , Paternoster-row , J . 1 ) . Collet , Secretary , 15 , Essex-street , Strand . N 6 v . 13 , 1850 . General Post-office , Dec . 9 , 1850 . Sir , —The Postmaster-General has had before him the memorial which was transmitted b y you on the 13 th ultimo , and I have it in command to inform you , that his lordship has no power to judge of or determine the questions therein named . I am , Sir , your obedient humble servant , J . Tili . ky , Assistant Secretary . Francis Place , Eh < i ., Bi-oinpton-H < i , iiun ? .
54 Gft G *»«»««. [Saturday,
54 gft g *»«»«« . [ Saturday ,
The London Compositors And The " Morning...
THE LONDON COMPOSITORS AND THE " MORNING TOST . " ( F /(> 7 n a ( -orresjwndent . ) We are extremely sorry to hear that the compositors of the metropolis have been placed in turmoil by an net of aggression towards them on the part of the proprietor of the Morning Post . We can bear ¦ wi tnesa to the ' respectability and intelligence ol ' compositoiH generally ; und us to the efficiency of those employed on newnpupera we have only to uj >]> eul to the diurnal broad sheet . Before noticing this matter we have taken some pains to leiiru from competent persons the mode in whieli compositors are paid in London . In bookhouses they are generally employed on piecework — thut is , ko much per thousand letters , according to the nature of the work . Employment in these ; houses is very precarious , and few of them average 150 s . per week . Twenty-two years ago , with the sumo prices aa are now paid , one of the oldest and most respectable muster-printers in London ( M r . Richard Taylor ) , in a letter to the I'Mitor of the Times , Hinted the average earnings of bookhouHO compositors to be not more than 'Ilia , per week ; and the precariomness of emp loyment and hurried manner of doing work , have both encreascd since that time . In Home bookhounes , and in most jobbing-houses , where piecework would be advuntugeous to t . h wle ; elging the difficulty lor tho workmun to average the foregoing
sums , which we are certain no one will have the hardihood to say is too much for the mental and bodily labour of a compositor . The compositor in a book-office generally works 10 hours per day for the above weekly wages . If employed all night he receives 2 s . 6 d . extra for nightwork . The manner of paying morning-paper compositors is similar to the above . Morning papers used to be got up , till lately , bywhat are termed ^ ^ ^" g r er ; numerates . The full hands were paid £ 2 8 s . for a stipulated amount of work per day : the lowest recognized weekly wages in bookhouses , 33 s ., with the six half-crowns added for turning night into day , and as some recompense for the total sacrifice of all social enjoyment and domestic comfort which the nature oi the employment involves , and the unavoidable extra consequent upon morning paper work It the
expense hour of going to press was four o'clock in the morning , he was expected to begin at four in the evening ; it live , five in the evening ; but he g enerally had about two hours for supper . The printer would sometimes require his services during that two hours , for which he was paid , as also for every hour he was employed after the stated press hour . The supernumeraries were paid piecework . They could not have less than 3 s . lOd . for their night's work , and might get much more occasionally , as upon heavy-debate nights , & c . The galley ( or 3 s . lOd . worth of work ) is based upon the book scale , putting on the extra price per thousand to make up for the nightwork lhe full hands have been dispensed with generally by the printers of morning papers , and four or five timehands are employed in their stead , who assist the nrinter . correct editors' proofs , & c . They , of course ,
are selected for steadiness and efficiency , lhe supernumeraries do the bulk of the paper , and are all paid piecework , varying in amount according to the requirement of the printer and the ability of the
workmen . . The Morning Post , for mercantile reasons , has been managed lately very ( Economically , so that the expense of every line has had to be accounted for . Yet Mr . Dickson . thepersonwhohasundertakentoproduce the paper with thirty-two Scotchmen , says he will save the proprietor £ 2000 a-year . Therefore it is clear that these men must , in the course of the year , produce £ 2000 ' s worth more work than they will be paid for . Their engagement is £ 2 8 s . per week , to do as much work as they can , and be in the office as many hours as they may be required . They work in relay _ that is , a certain number commence earlier than the others , and leave off earlier , coming back in the forenoon to do the day editions .
Now , even if no aggression had been intended by the proprietor , the manner of carrying out the change has been most obnoxious , the whole of the men being instantly discharged—their length , of service and attention to business appearing to have claimed no consideration from the proprietor . It was rumoured that something of the kind was intended , and the manager ( Mr . Borthwick ) was asked if a companionship had been engaged in Scotland to supplant those employed on the paper .
He said that it was not the case ; but , it any person offered to do the paper cheaper , such offer might be entertained . He has stated since that it was not for a trifle the change had been made : the saving would be £ 2000 a-year . But the men were certain of what was going on . Still they continued to work steadily till the last minute , deserving those encomiums ot which the manager had been so lavish lately ; and when the paper was put to press last Saturday meaning , they were told that their services were no longer required .
The Morning Post companionship ( nearly fifty in number ) , taken as a body , were very elficient . But on all the old-established daily papers there are old men , some of whom liave been employed on the same paper twenty , thirty , and more years . To the ' credit of the morning paper prihte ; rs , these men are never discharged : they begin earlier and leave off earlier , and it is bo managed that they are kept out of the
rush with the active and efficient . This was the case with some on the J ' ost . Such pcraonu may , perhaps , never be employed again . They are greatly te > be pitied ; and not much less ko are the men who have supplanted them ; for most UKHiiredly , hardy Scots though they be , the more than Egyptian honelas / e te > which they have voluntarily subjected themselves will soon make them knock unelcr , if they have not the eliscretion at once to witlidniw from their injudicious engagement .
The Duke Of Newcastle. Henry L'Elham Eie...
THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE . Henry l ' elham Eieniiea-Pedhum Clinton , Duke e > f Newcastle , dieel at hia residence , Clumber-park , Nottinghamshire , em the afternoon e > l Sunday , the ; 12 th instant , alter a long and painful illncHS . lie was born on tho 30 th of January , l 7 H /> , find Nuceee ; eled to the family honours as the ; fourth duk <; on tin ; dentil of his father , in 17 i > . > . At . an early a » e lies was sent te > Et . on , where he remained lor seven yearn . After having attained the elistineitions of that celebrated school , it , was thought advisable that , he should travel , and ho accordingly accompanied u portion of his family to the Continent , where , in uouuvquencu of tho
troubles which prevailed at that day , Ke , with his ' relatives , was detained a prisoner for some years . In 1807 shortly after his return to England , he married Georgiana Elizabeth , daughter of Mr . Edward Miller Mundy , of Shipley , in the county of Derby , by whom he had a numerous family . The chief events of his life were his opposition to Catholic Emancipation and the Reform . Bill . In consequence of the odium caused by his strong opposition to the latter measure , Nottingham Castle , which belonged to him , was burned by a mob in October 1831 .
, . _ The deceased duke was custos rotulorum of Newark , steward and keeper of Sherwood Forest and Folewood-park , and high steward of Retford ; and he was the patron of eight livings . He was descended from John , Baron Clinton , who lived in the time of Edward I . The ninth Lord Clinton , an eminent naval commander , obtained the earldom of Lincoln from Queen Elizabeth . The ninth earl inherited the dukedom of Newcastle under a special remainder , from his wife's unele , the first duke , and he assumed the name of Pelham on succeeding to the title .
The late duke is succeeded by his son , the Right Honourable Henry Pelham Clinton , Earl of Lincoln ; and a vacancy is thus created in the ^ Parliamentary representation of the Falkirk district of boroughs .
Alleged Calumny And Intrigue. The Follow...
ALLEGED CALUMNY AND INTRIGUE . The following correspondence relating to a narrative of " Calumny and Intrigue , " which we copied into our paper of the 4 th instant from the Daily News , we insert , in justice to the party chiefly concerned . We need hardly add that our columns will be open to a counter-statement . Brunswick Hotel , Hanover-square , Jan . 16 , 1851 . Sir , Certain infamous statements , copied from the Daily News , appeared in your paper on the 4 th instant . The Daily News has inserted my contradiction of those statements ; but a paragraph in the last United Service Gazette has since been brought to my knowledge , in which Captain Yelverton's name is mentioned , and I feel called upon to give publicity to the enclosed . If you feel any hesitation in inserting my letters to Mr . Roebuck , I beg you will publish them as an advertisement . I am , Sir , your obedient servant , Wm . Doria . On the 24 th of September , while I was staying in Captain Yelverton ' s house , a quarrel took place between us . After an angry discussion he left the house . Shortly afterwards I took my departure for London , leaving word where I might be found . On the 25 th Mr . Roebuck called on meat the Brunswick Hotel , and delivered me a challenge from Captain Yelverton . I immediately sought for a friend to act for me in the matter . On the 26 th , before I could find one , the challenge was withdrawn , Mr . Roebuck insisting that no hostile meeting should take place , as it would only lead to a public exposure , which ought to be avoided ; and he suggested certain stipulations , to which I reluctantly assented , in order to meet his desire of avoiding publicity , and on the 27 th the matter was concluded , in the presence of my brother who acted for me at Mr . Roebuck ' s request . To my great astonishment , on the 4 th of October I received the copy of a letter written by Captain Yelverton , on the 30 th of September , to a gentleman in his neighbourhood , stating that he had thrashed me and kicked me out of his house , and that I refused to fig ht him . On that same day my brother , with whom I was staying in the neighbourhood of Stamford , wrote to Mr . Roebuck to complain of the falsehoods put forth by Captain Yelverton , and to demand that they should be withdrawn . Receiving no answer , he wrote again on the 8 th to tho same effect . On the 9 th I receivcel a most offensive letter from Mr . Roebuck , reiterating the falsehoods published by Captain Yelverton . I immediately renewed my search for a friend to act for me in the matter , and on the 14 th proceeded to Lyndhurst with Mr . Girdleatone , and called upon Capt . Yelverton to retract or give irn ! satisfaction ; he at e > nce referred me te > Mr . Roebuck , with whom Mr . Girdlcstone had an interview . Mr . Roebuck refused to allow Capt . Yelverton either to retract or to meet inc . The stipulations entered into originally with Mr . Roebuck for the purpose of avoiding publicity , hndsealeel my mouth as to all detail , oven had motives of delicacy not prevented me entirely from taking any further steps beyond giving a written denial to the falsehoods circulated by Captain Yelverton and Mr . Roebuck . This 1 did in a letter to the name gcntlcmim to whom Cuptain Yelverton ' n letter of the 30 tli of September had been addrcHaed . There the matter rested und would have done . ho but for the ; paragraphs which appenreel in the ; Dddif News of the 1 st ami 2 nd mutant , and which only came to my knowledge ; em the 7 th while I was ataying on a visit in Scotland . I immediately hastened up to London , und proceeded to Brockenhurnt with Mr . Girdleatone , who was the ; bearer of a letter from me to Mr . Roebuck . Mr . Girdle-stone had an interview with Mr . llocbuck , who declined either to contradict the statement that , had appeared ia the public printn , or te > niune a friend to seltle the matter . Mr . Girdleatoue intimated that be Hiiould not allenv me to bej dealt with any longer In thin manner , und thut publicity was the only course now left , to me . Upon which Mr . Roebuiik threatened lie wemld take the ; luw , und huve both my friend und myself up for libel . A " Boon uh I learnt the result of the interview I wrote n necond note ; to Mr . Roebuck , and returned to London with Mr . ( HrdlcHtonc . 1 then wrote ! the ; letter to the ; Daily News which appeared in the paper on the ; 14 th iiiHtaut . On the 15 th my attention wus drawn to a puriiKruph in tho United Service Gazette respecting the ; fulHchoodu originally publiuhed in the Dai ly News , and
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 18, 1851, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_18011851/page/6/
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