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THE JS T ORTHESN STAK SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1841.
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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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BIRBUNCrHAM . IMPORTANT DELEGATE MEETING . A meeting of delegates from various towns in "Birmingham dUtrict ^ was heidin the Chartist room , Frefeman-street , on Monday last , when the following places -were represented by delegates and letters : — Birmingham , Freeman-street , Mr . Richard Thompson ; Steelbouse-lane , Mr . Thomas Dans ; Wednesbury , Mr . GeorgeBtcwning ^ Walsall , Mr . James SeholefieW ; Stourbridge , Mr . Francis Forbes , and Mr . John . Chance ; Bilston , Mr . John Cadley ; Coventry , by letter ; Brom&jzroTe , dilto , Warwick , ditto . The delegates assembled about one o ' clock , -when Mr . John Chance , of Siourbridge , was called to the chair , and Mr . George White was requested to act as secretary . . ' ,
_ The Chaijuuk immediately commenced business , sad said that the present meeting was of the highest importance . He was surprised to find that some of the towns in the district , had neglected to send a delegate , when matters of such deep import were to be discussed . It was not an easy matter for a few men to transact the business of the whole district He nevertheless hoped that what they transacted that day would meet with the sanction and support of those places who had not sent reprsaentiiives ,
and thet Each things would be altered in future . They had now to consider the business for which thej had assembled , which , according to the notice given in the Star , was to make arrangements for procuring signatures to the National Petition for 1842 , to nominate a candidate to represent the the counties of Warwick ^ ad Worcester in the forthcoming ConTection , and also to manage the business connected with the lecturer for the district . He then called oa the secretary to read the correspondence .
Mr . Geobge White then proceeded to read the letters which be bad received , all approving of the meeting , and signifying their willingness to abide ly the decision of the meeting . The letter from Warwick m signed H . A . Donaldson , and gave a cheering acev&nt of their prospect * in that town ; that from Biwnsgrove was Eigned Samuel William Cooper ; and from Coventry , signed David Haines . Mi B&owkisg tiisugbt the meeting bad best commence with the business connected with the lecturer . Mr . Cadlxt weald prefer going into the other part of toe baldness first , and take the opinions of the delegates present u to the state of their localities
Mr . J . MjlSOU , haTing obtained le&re from toe chairman , addressed the meeting . He thought that- they bad better first see the amount of population in each place , * nr \ afterwards make a e-te&lai £ o& of the amount of petition sheets required , -whan a motion migbt . be made on the subject . The Chaihhajc -wished to know how many signatures they contemplated getting in Birmingham . Mr . Datis stated they hod got 21 , 000 signatures to the petition lor Feargns O'Connor , bat he thought that the necessary steps were not takes with it , or it would bare been more numerously signed . He thought it -would be difficult to come to a definite cumber . Mr . Richabd Thompson said that the petition which was presented by Mr . Attwood had received 90 , 000 signatures from Ttiymin g >«» n < and its neighbourhood ; he thought they might safely calculate on 40 or 50 , 000 .
Mr . Foebbs thought they would get 4 , 000 for Stourbridge , and by the co-operation of the neighbouring Tillages , would probably gtt six or seTen thousand in tf ii-HV \* t ^^~ Mr . Bsowsisg said that they expected to get three thoBsand signatures at Wednesbury . Mr . Cadlev thought they could get 10 , 000 signatures in Bilston and its neighbourhood . They had already made orangementa for that purpose , and had little doubt of procuring that amount . Mr . G . Scholefield ssid that they had not yet digeossad that question at Waisall , he could therefore give so positive opinion in tie matter . The feeling of the working men was faTcurahls to the Charter , and he thought that 6000 signatures could be procured .
A long consultation then took place , in which Tanous members of the association took part The population of each place in the district was cousiderod , and after long and calm deliberation , it was agreed that Birming ham should be considered the central point for the procuring of petition sheets , and thas each plaoe shrald remit their money as s « on as possible for wh » tPre » sheet * they required . Mr . Fo&bes moved " That 600 sheets and 200 bead ings be sent for to Mr . Hobson , Leeds , and that Birmingham be * jw ftptrnl plaoe to which they should be bansmittsd . " Mr . BaowsiSG seconiad the motion .
Mr . Thompson thsught an amendment necessary . It -would appear from the motion of Mr . Forbes , that Birmingham was to pay for the whole of the sheets ; be thought that each place ought to send for their * own . Mr . Datis thought the amendment unnecessary , as they could send for as many sheets as they had money remitted them for . It should be made known to the sub-secretaries generally , that they should forward money for the sheets they required as soon as possible , which would save the expense of carriage , as they could get them up together from Leeds , for a small amount The ChIibxas then put the motion , which was carried nnssiinonBly . Mr . Datis moved "that Mr . White as secretary to the delegate meeting , be requested to give notice through the Star , that each place requring petition sheets should immediately forward their money to Mr . White , 39 , Bromsgrove-street . "
Mr . Cablet seconded the motion , which was unani nossly agreed to . A conversation then took place on the method of getting copies of the petition circulated tiroagh the country . Mr . Datis informed the meeting that at a club to which he belonged , they made it a practice to collect ¦ Ball sum on their meeting nights , which were appropriated to the purchase of Chartist publications for distribution . ( H ? ar . ) Mr . Browsing hoped the delegate * would , agree to send for one thousand copies rf the petition . Be was instructed to Tote for such a motion . Mr . Scholefield , although sot authorised , would take the responsioUivy of supporting such a proposition , as he saw its utility . Mr . Fokbes consented to the motion , which was put md carried unutiiEgasly .
The Chairman then wished them to consider whether they would nomh ^ te a person to represent the district is th 3 forthcoming Convention . Be thought that one of the main objects for which they had met Mr . Richabd Thompson then arose and said that he considered it necessary that they akould J ave a bold sad raiuly advocate of their nose to fill the important offite of a member of the Convention . He begged leave to propose that Mr . George White bo nominated as a proper person to represent t ^ is district in the forthcoming Convention . Mi . Forbes entirely agreed with the statements of Mr . Thompson , but doubted whether Mr . White could be spared , as he considered him the ™» in centre of the movement in this district . He therefore thought that Mr . Mason should be nominated .
Mr . Bsowsisg agreed -with the proposition of Mr . Thompson . He thought that Mr . White or Doctor M'Douall should be selected . He did not mind which , as he thought thtm both capable of representing the district Mr . MaSo 5 declined being put in nomination for Birmingham dirtriefc He thought tbit no man bad the same claim in that respect as Jlr . White , who had to bear all the odium of their opponents of the National Charter Association by the course he adopted on his arrival in Birmingham , and without whose exertions he questioned wbetoer a delegate meeting would then be assembled ; besides , were he not put in nomination it -would be tnucpeted forth tkat hs had not the confidence * f the people .
Mr . Datis highly approved of Mr . White , and thought him every way qualified to represent them in the Convention . He bore testisuny to his perseverance n forwarding the eaase . His only objection "was , that be th&ugbt he could not be spired as they had stiii a great deal to contend trith . The otter delegates present agreed in the nomination of Mr . White . The Chaibha ? \ after a few complimentary remarks on Mr . White ; then put the motion , which was carried unanimously .
Mt . Bb . Owmkg stated , that as several of ^ oe delegates present represented towns in Staffordshire , he thought it would not be out of pl&ce if they came to a decision as to the most proper person to be placed in nomination for the counties of Stafford and Salop . He then passed a well merited ealogiuin on the conduct of Mr . Mason , and proposed him as a proper person to represent the Chartists of Staffordshire and Salop in the forthcoming Convention . Hi . Scholefield seconded the proposition , and coincided -wish Mr . Browning as to the fitness of Mr . afaeon to fill the important office . Mr . Cadlet supported the proposition and said it -was the intention of the people of Bilston to support the election of Mr . Mason . The Chairman , in' putting the motion , ccmplijaented Mr . M n «"" on the high standing which he bald ia the esteem of the whole district The motion wa » unanimously agreed to .
The Ddlegates then agreed to adjourn the meeting to tost o ' clock , in order to allow ttnu > fox refreshment
MEETIXG RESUMED . At four o'clock the delegates again assembled . A large number of members were pretext to witaao the jiiticumlingB . The Chairman stated that they had disposed of the business connected with the proposed Convention and the H&aosal Petition . The only remaining business « u that which referred to the Lectures . He should __» to hear the opinions cf the Delegates on the JBbject Mr . Cadley stated that the members of the Associ ation at Bilston , thought that the Lecturer did not attend often enough , as his route was too extentave . Sx ; wished to have an additional Lecturer , and bad greed to increase their weekly payments . Their members wwe increasing very fast , and they wished to Iwv ft lecture oftener , if it could be * ranged .
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Mr . Scholefield had no doubt that if they had the lecturer oftener at WalsaU they could Increase their numbers very much . ¦ , Mr . Cadlet then gave a description of the course they had adopted at Bilston to extend their principles . A few persevering individuals had surmounted all difficulties . He would advise those delegates from places where they might be struggling up-htli to adopt their plan , via . that each member should take a subscription card and endeavour to get the ftftfrirtunce of all who were favourable to their cause . Mr . Forbes agreed to the plan laid down by the previous speaker . He bad witnessed Its good effect The plan of subscription cards would be found highly beneficial , as each person who gave a penny , should see that a pin was pricked through the card , and the person would be expected to produce a penny for each pin-hole .
Mr . Browning said that hia constituents would give as much as they possibly could to the lecturer's fund , and wished to have him oftener . Mr . White explained the manner fan which the mosey bad been forwarded to the Lecturer ' s Fund , and explained his ideas of what should be done in future . He Impressed on the delegates the necessity of being punctual in their payments to the fund , as irregularity caused embarrassments . Mr . Richard Thompson stated th % t Birmingham had not only paid their allotted share to the fond , but had paid three weeks in advance , and would pay stiH more if necessary .
Mr . Browning again addressed the meeting on the position of his locality , when it was agreed to establish a good Lecturer ' s Fund . A scrutiny then took place into the amount of money forwarded by each plaoe , and , on an inspection of the treasurer ' s book , it was foand that several places were In anesx . After s > long discussion , in which Mr . White , and others who were present , took part , the following resolution was proposed by Mt Cad lei , and seconded by Mr . Browning : — " That each place in the district be requested to pay their arrears as soon as possible , reckoning ten weeks from the commencement of Mr . Mason ' s services , that is , allowing two weeks contributions for coach-fare . We also determine that the present system of contribution continue in force until a future delegate meeting shall decide otherwise , and that each sub-secretary be requested to be punctual in forwarding the required amount " The resolution was carried unanimously .
Mr . Forbes moved—* ' That the present committee , consisting of Messrs . Corbett , Cresswell , Wilkinson , Hopkins , and White , he requested to act on behalf of the district , and that Mr . White be empowered to manage the business connected with the Petition sheets , kc , to -whom all applications are to be made , directed 39 , Bromsgrove-street . " The motion was unanimously agreed to . Mr . R . Thompson moved , and Mr . FoaBKS seconded tae following resolution : — "That this meeting be adjourned for one month , and be again held on Sunday , the 28 th day of November , when every town in the district will be expected to send a delegate . " Carried unanimously .
Mr . Cad ley wished to impress on their minds before they separated the necessity of each delegate exerting himself when he got back ; and if they found any of their committee men dead they should put living men in their places , as a good committee was everything . A vote of thanks was then given to the Chairman and Secretary , after which the meeting separated on the most cordial terms . "Previous to leaving the room , Mr . Browning said tkat *^ article in the Northern Star , disclaiming the use of violent language , had given great satisfaction at Wednesbury .
The Js T Orthesn Stak Saturday, November 6, 1841.
THE JS ORTHESN STAK SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 6 , 1841 .
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THE DAILY BREAD" PLAGUE . In accordance with our promise , we this week give the - reply" of Mr . " Daily Bread" Hill to our remarks upon his anti-bread tax army of empty bag ' beare ^ . O ur readers will find it elsewhere , and will probiwiy think it a very good answer to itself . There are , however , a few points in it upon which it may be wor th while to say a word . It is an old saying , " that the first blow is the best half of the battle "; and this Daily Bread" njan seems to be a devout believer in the ** saw . " He knows the chtracteristic love of Englishmen for ** fair play , " and their hatred of misrepresentation or falsehood ; and hence he opens his tirade with a smart volley about " censuring , " and " abusing , " and " misrepresenting , " and ultimately he charges us in the following paragraph with & direct
falsehood : — " It U utterly false that the words < Peeple ' s Charter ' were inserted in larger characters than the words ' Food Taxes , ' as you have set it forth . One of the placards in question is lying at the office of the Leeds Times , and one at Mr . Heywood ' s , Manchester , that those who choose to satisfy themselves by the evidence of their own sight that the writer of the Northern Star has been guilty of a gross falsehood , may have the opportunity of doing so . "
Now , it may be all very fine for Mr . " Daily Bread" Hiix to try to raiBe a dust ; but we do not intend that the cover of it Bhall avail him for escape ; or that he shall blind with it the eyes of our readers . Supposing our statement to have been incorrect or false , as he says it is , on this trifling matter of detail , that would by no means ha v e affected the main body of the argument ; it would neither have made the Society more legal , nor the plan more feasible , nor the object which the plan was to obtain more desirable , nor the means of obtaining that object less objectionable .
We might grant him all the bluster about "gross falsehood" in describing the kind of type in which the words " People ' s Charter , " were printed on the bills , and he would still be no nearer to the only useful object of his letter—the disproving of our arguments against the character and tendency of his society—but we shall not give him even that adr&ntage , We retort upon him that the M gross falsehood" is with him and not with us . We did not "set it forth" that the words " People ' s Charter " were inserted in larger characters thaa the words " food taxes . " We stated only that Ike words " Public meeting , " " People ' s Charter , " and " by
Mr . Hill , " are printed in the largest type that could possibly be got into the breadth of the sheet ; which statement Mr . "Daily Bread" Hill knows to be true . It will not Berve men propounding grave and ! serious measures for the acceptance of the public , to meet objections by this kind of shirking . The public are too wide awake . They see through every such artifice at first sight , and seldom fail to give the author of it his own name . Nor will the paltry badinage about the '' bulletin , " the form of which is so facetiously given , be thought more satisfactory . It is much more easy to cut jokes than to answer arguments . Mr . Hill seems to know this , but seems to forget that other people know it too .
Like every other imp of faction , the " Daily Bread" man must have his fling at O'Connor . He addresses hia epistle to the " proprietor" and conductors of the Northern Star . This he had no right to do . He had the means of knowing that the " proprietor" of the Northern Star had no share in the remarks which we thought necessary for guarding the people against the "Daily Bread " trap . Why , then , this insolent and gratuitous dragging of " the great O'CoNnoa , " and " the proprietor of the Northern Star" into the business 1 It was not CConnob , but the Northern Star that
wa ? to ba replied to . The Northern Star had warned the people against an infamous conspiracy called the " Daily Bread 5 ociety "; it had assigned its reasons for its warding ; it had proved the character of the " Daily Bread Society" from the writings of its founder and advocate . Does the " Daily Bread" man show that the warning was unnecessary \ Does he rebut the reasoning ! Does he ward off the proofs ! Does he show that the extracts we gave from his own writings hare any other meaning than that which wo say they have ! Not a bit of all this does he do—for the bast reason
in the world . But failing that , he does the next best thing for bis own purpose . He tries to make such a splash and a splatter , &ad to raise such a dust and a smoke as shall enable him to " get away . " Hence the mighty bluster aboat the sort of type in which the words "People ' s Charter" and "food taxes" were printed on his bills ; and hence , too , this cunning whipping-in of " the great O'Connob , " for the purpose of leading off attention from the subject in dispute by a stupid effort to be witty on the subject of O'Coirxon ' s proposal to the landlords of Ireland to improve their own estates , and the people ' s condition at the s » me time , by the small farm system . He saje : —
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" Perhaps whilst on this subject , withont being so uncourteonsasto ask Mr . O'Connor how they are to obtain the land , adding , " Don't you wish you may get it , " I might be allowed to inquire whether , if the land is divided into five acre pieces , and each individual has fire children , it is calculated this will sab-divide into five acres more for each , or if they have discovered that there would then be only one acre for each ; moreover , if each of these proprietors of one acre subdivides it again amongst bis five children , ? ' the sins of the fathers will be visited upon the children even to the third and fourth generation , ' in a way that will leave very little land for each . "
No doubt the " Daily Bread" man thought this an adroit method of escaping from the question . We shall not permit him to do so . The question is not as to the merits of Mr . O'Connor ' s five acres farm system ; were it so , we should have little difficulty in meeting and exposing the " * Daily Bread" man ' s puerile and malignant fallacy ; but the question is of the merits of the " Daily Bread Society , " described by it own advocates as " an organised plan to break the law . " In respect to this description of his society , the " Daily Bread" man says : —
" I never gave it that description . What says the title page of the book , * Daily Bread , or Taxation without Representation Resisted , being o Flan for the Abolition of the Bread Tax ; ' tbat is what I called it , neither more nor leu , and probably this is what the Editor of the Leeds Times might intend , that is to destroy , to break up a bad law , * " With regard to this opinion of the Leeds Times , it so happened tbat I addressed a letter to the Editor of that paper , to correct his description of the society , after I saw bis phraseology was taken up by the She field Iris ; but my letter was received too late for insertion the week it was sent , therefore I said it might be withheld as rather out of date . "
Now , we care not what letter the " Daily Bread '' man may have sent to the Leeds Times and withdrawn . We infer his approval and adoption of tbi description of the society from these facts : he had at his command a journal which he calls the "Bread Eater ' s Advocate and National Daily Bread Society ' s Journal . " In that paper , the organ of the society , he gives this description from the Leeds Times ; but he gires with it no correction . On the contrary , he takes up the idea of "breaking the law , " and labours most sedulously to justify and enforce it . But whether he chooses to give it that description or not , the fact is not altered . The society is , to all
intents and purposes , what the Leeds Times has well described it , — " an organised plan for breaking the law . " The " Bread Eater's Advocate and National Daily Bread Society ' s Journal ' is ( besides being in the teeth of the Stamp Act , an unstamped newspaper , ) an illegal publication , from the very fact of its being the organ of a " conspiracy to break the law ; " and Mr . Daily Bread" Hill must meet and explain that fact , otherwise than by lying quibbles about different sizes of type , and about Mr . O'Consob ' s five acres farm system , if he intends any sensible man to run the gratuitous hazard of either belonging to his Daily Bread Society" or buying or selling his " Bread Eater ' s Advocate . "
We have looked carefully through his whole letter , and cannot find in it one effort at a reply to our strictures , or even at a fair argument of the question of the Corn Laws , to procure the abolition of which he affirms this " Daily Bread Society" to have been intended . His first effort at argument ia on the general Corn Law Question , and it is this : — " Are we to be prevented from obtaining a supply of food now , because . Mr . O'Connor has for eome reason which he knows and which we shrewdly
suspect we know , put his followers oa a false scent , by holding out the hopes of five acres of land for eaoh individual , and because another ' patriot' says that we ought not to ask tar a repeal of the Bread Tax , without embarassing the question with equitable adjustments between fundholders and landholders f Can the inhabitants of the country eat the land ? Will the produce which is to be jielded from these sterile soils , when reclaimed in the year 1850 or 1950 , feed the people in 1841 and 2 , or keep them from dying of starvation ! "
This is the mode adopted by all the enemies of O'Connor and the people . They hatch monstrous schemes for disorganising all society and then turn round and father them on him . The impudent and villanous assumption contained in the words " holding out the hope of five acres of land for each individual" is the same as that of his brother "Daily-Bread" man of the Leeds Times last week . It is the assumption that O'Connoi recommends the forcible taking of the land from its present proprietors , and dividing it absolutely as to proprietorship , in lumps of five acres each amongst the poor . Now the rascals
kno w that in no single line or speech , written or spoken , either by O'Connor or by the conductor of the Northern Star , has any such doctrine been countenanced ; and it is conclusive evidence of the "Daily Bread" men being " dead beat , " that they thus conjure up a ghost to combat with : not to say that ft it were even so , the argument is then unfairly stated , and the question begged . It is assumed , without any ( Sort to adduce evidence , first , that the plan of O'Cokkob is a foolish one ; and next , that a repeal of the Corn Laws , under present circumstances , would benefit the people . Upon neither of these questions
does the " Daily Bread" man venture to argue for an instant . He asks : — " Is it not recorded in the very paper which contains the attack upon me and the Daily Bread Society , that there are 19 , 930 individuals at this moment in the town of Leeds , whose average incomes are only ll ^ J . per hoad per week ! less than twopence per day ! Yet axe there places in a still lower state of destitution even than Leeds . Out of this scanty income of ll ^ d . the food tax takes at least 41 d . It is as clear as thb son at noon-day , that
not only would the effect of the abolition of the Corn Law be to relieve these individuals from the tax of fourpence farthing , but that it would increase the wages of the employed and give employment to the unemployed by creating a market for their labour in exchange for the food to be imported ; yet are several of the leaders of what they have chosen to call the Chartist movement ( though it has much more the characteristic of a Tory movement ) denoanoing the repeal of the Corn Laws : and here ia Mr . O'Connor ' s paper censuring me for producing a plan by which they may be abolished . "
NoWf this is a rery ready and convenient mode of settling things . There is a vast amount of poverty and distress in the country ; and Mr . " Daily Bread " Hill says , " IT IS AS CLEAR AS NOONDAY " that the repeal of the Corn Laws would remedy it all . True ; Mr . " Daily Bread" Hill is perfectly aware that in the Ncrlhern Star this position , which is to him •* as clear as noonday , " has been disputed ; that arguments have been advanced to prove it untenable ; that it has been represented as a fallacy which could mislead none but very fools , and would be advanced by none but very knaves . And of bis conviction that these arguments were based on truth and could not be answered , we have the evidence in this paragraph , in which , instead of arguing the question , he assumes it all , and says " it is as
clear A . s noonday'' !! No better proof could have been desired of Mr . Hill ' s perfect c onsciousness that his whole scheme is just what we have described it to be , than this empty vapouring about " as clear as noonday . " To ua it is " as dear as noonday " that the heads which can receive this as a reply to all the argument upon this question that has appeared in the Northern Star , daring the whole anti-Corn Law movement , must be as " empty" as the « bags" with which Mr . Hill proposes to arm his volunteera against the preventive service . In reply to our exposure of the worse than ehildish , if not infamous aud devilish , project of a
procession of ten or twenty thousand men , with empty bags" upon their backs , to land corn in defiance of the authorities , he states that his "Daily Bread" book was written three years ago-that it was published in March kst-and that the contemplated mode of operation is now somewhat different "because what would not have suited in March would in December . " It now appears that the corn is not to be imported by the society , but to be bought in the bonding warehouses , and "» formal demand" made for its liberation . He denies that he advised , or does advise , any arming to take it * but he does not tell the people how they are to get it without . They are , forsooth , to make a formal
demand upon the Government for the liberation of their corn ! We guess there is not in England so great an idiot as the man who could hare the eiightest
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doubt as to What answer would be given to such a "demand "; Mr . >*> Pa | ly Bread '' Hill gays , that it would be inesietible—tbat the moral force of Bach a demand from one , or two millions ofistarving people " wonld be such that a Government could not refuse it . " We have seen the Government of the very partj wtiofe' Mr . « Daily Bread" Him , serves—the Anti-Corn Lair party—not only refusing the M formal demand" of one or two millions of Englishmen fcr their rights , but treating with absolute contempt all the wealth and influence of the Anti-Corn Law League , their bit of a Parliament to
boot , and all the formal demands jmade in the only formal manner , that of petition and memorial , by the thousands upon thousands who have asked for a Repeal of the Corn Laws during their agitation ; and yet Mr . " Daily Bread" Hill would persuade us to believe him so egregious an ass as to think that a Tory Government , a Landowners' Government , a "Monopolist" Government , a Government consisting of and representing persons who are bound in every way , both by opinion and interest , to uphold the Corn Laws , would concede that to the formal demand of one or two millions of penny subscribers
which an anti-monopolist , liberal , and reforming Government denied to all the bullying threats and all the coaxing suasion , of the most wealthy and most influential League ever formed in this country , with all their penny retainers , — "Daily Bread" men and all—to back them . This may pass with Mr . Hill for argument ; but we venture to assert that few other persons will bo consider it . It was so clear that the question would ocour , " what must be done if the Government refuse" ! that the ** Daily Bread" man could not pass it without notice . To this question he replies : —
"There is one course which perhaps might be right if we were refused , namely , to dissolve the societies , and give the Com or flour in bond to all the destitute and hungry . If they Choose to break the law and smuggle it out , I suppose the members of ibe society would not be responsible after the society shall have been dissolved . If smuggling out was violating the law , I would certainly give my opinion that it was at least no violation of the law of morality for a starving man to break up the law of the landowner , which locked up his own food . "
Was ever so contemptible a subterfuge as this 1 How are the hungry and destitute to smuggle the corn out of the bonding warehouses ! If it be not " as clear as noon day" that in the event of their formal demand being refused , they have nothing for it but to submit quietly or take the corn by force , we never saw a position that was " as clear as noon day . " He denies that his purpose is to advise an armed resistance to the law . And he says : —
" Now , I have stated at a public meeting , and I repeat it , that I would deem it wrong to advise any other party to a course what I had not the courage to practice myself . I certainly would not advise the people to riot at Newport , nor any oiher port ; but if I had been so unwise as to stimulate them to such a course of action , I should have judged itproper to be there to assist them , and not have gone to Scotland to keep out of danger . " Here again is the asgumnAjai that either O'Connor or the Conductor of the 4 |^ did ad ^ se the peo ple to riot at Newport . Now ^ why doagiiot Mr . Hill give proof of this ! Why does he sot adduce some
part of this advice ! Either he read the Northern Star at the period referred to or he did not . If he did read it , he knows that the assumption here made is false ; and that so far from advising the people to riot , the Northern Star invariably deprecated , and used all its influence for tho suppression of the riots ; and if he did not read it , he must admit the insinuation to be indeed a truly villanous one . We defy thb "Daily Bread" man or any other Ecoundrel in existence to point out one sentence of Editorial writing in the Northern Star calculated to induce a breach of the peace , or
advising resistance to the law ; while we retaliate upon him his own charge , and convict him out of hia own mouth , of the cowardly and murderous intention to bring the -famishing poor into collision with the armed authorities—to stimulate them to a physical defiance < of the law . — while he himself skulked out of danger , and left them to be slaughtered . We take our evidence from this very letter , in which he tells his dupes ( if he have any ) that the " moral force" of their " demand " would be irresistible to Government—labours bo to persuade them that no obstacle will be offered to
their progress , as to induce the natural feeling of infuriated disappointment if it should ; and then proposes , in case of their demand being refused , to break np the Society , and give the corn to the poor and destitute ; who may break the law , and smuggle it out . Who does noLeee what all this means ! Who doesnot see that Mr . "Daily Bread" Hill and his compeers mean to work up the feelings of their penny dupes to a state of frenzied excitement , and then coolly to walk away , and say , " We have done all wo can ; you must do the rest yourselves !
They won ' t give us the corn ; we declare the Society dissolved . We can't break the law , but you may as soon as we shall be safe ; and as the corn is safe locked in a stone bonding warehouse , and you are outside and starving , we advise you to gojand smuggle it . To be sure , there are authorities who have it in charge , and these authorities are well armed , and if you attempt to take it without paying the duty they will shoot you ; but never mind tbat there is no moral offence in smuggling ' , go and smuggle the corn !"
To U 3 it is " as clear as noon day , " that this is the plain English of all Mr . M Daily-bread" Hill ' s talk about the " moral force" of tho "formal demand "—tho breaking up of the society , and giving of the corn to the poor and destitute to smuggle ! But Mr . Hill affirms that he never intended his " Daily Bread" followers to be armed for resistance to the law . And we affirm that he has in this afforded the best evidence [ that his whole plan is what we have before described it—a deep devilish plot , to accomplish two things at once : to obtain a large thinning of the ' surplus population , ' by the musket , the halter , and the transport Bhipjandat the same time to create a popular demonstration which shall intimidate the Government and compel them to elevate the commercial upon the ruins of the landed
interest . We refer to his " Daily Bread" pamphlet in which he says : — " Now THE WAY THB AMERICANS OBTAINED THE suffrage , and exemption from heavy taxation , furnishes us With AN EXAMPLE WORTHY OF IMITATION . The English landlords said to the Americans , We impose a tax on your tea . ' ' No , * said the Americans , ' we shall not be imposed upon ; we are not represented , and we deny your right to tax us . ' A cargo of tea was gent to one of their sea-ports ( Boston ) , and an exciseman was sent to collect the tax :
THE EXCISEMAN WAS TARRED AND FE 1-THERED by the Americans , and the tea emptied into the ocean , rather than they weuld submit to pay a tax upon it Here , then , we see a practical way of abolishing the Corn Laws , and obtaining the suffrage . Wben the ship arrives at the destined port—or a few daya before—let meetings of the society be held in every town and city in the kingdom , and let her Majesty be memorialised to give an order in council for the abolition of the Bread Tax ; —perhaps she may hear and regard the cries of a famishing people , wanting food . The fruit of their own labour has been sent to purchase it , and who shall stand between a famishing people and their food ? If her Majesty snail yield tne just rights of tae
peoplewell : but , tt she should be Hl-advised , and refuse it , a large number of members of tociety—say ten or twenty thousand—should go' down to the ship—marching orderly , each xeith an empty bag calculated to nold about two pecks or half a btuhel— . to procure s&mples of corn which belongs to the members of the society . ' ft may perhaps , not be necessary , or judicious , to fellow the example of the Americans , by tarring aud feathering the Custom-HouBe' efficers , stationed on board the vessel ; they will probably offer no impediment to the people obtaining samples of their own corn : but if impediments are thrown in the way ot tBls , and if those impediments are of » nature , which it is judged better not to remove , then the course is to refuse to pay the tax , and to empty the corn into the sea . "
We refer to hia "BreadEater ' s Advocate" published , not in Maroh but in September , and we give again his answer to the objection , ' That if the people took the ] corn out of the ship , or out of the bonding warehouse , by force , there might be loss of life . '
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" That the Corn Law couldnot be imposed without bloodshed , nor continued without bloodshed , was not admitted as a reason why ft slioutd not exist ; for be it recollected there was Corn Law blood shed in Westminster in 1815 , and Corn Law blood shed at Peterloo in 181 ? ; so that even if it were certain that it could not be repealed without bloodshed , it by no means follows that it should be suffered to exist . England has some noble ^ Romans' who would willingly lay down their lives in such a holy
cause . Oh ! she has sons that never , never Will stoop to be the landlord ' s slaves While heaven has light Or earth has graves . * " When Barbaroux ' sent a message to Marseilles that they were to send him ' six hundred men who knew how to die , ' the eall was quickly responded to' nor would such a call to Manchester be long unresponded to , though , it ia hoped , it may not be necessary ! 1 " , We refer to these and to every other part both of the " Daily Bread" pamphlet , the Bread Eater ' s Advocate , and Mr . Hill's letter in our columns of to-day , for proof that his object in the establishing of this society is to bring the people into collision with the law . We believe the society , even were it
legal , to be useless and mischievous in principle , calculated only to produce an amount of destitution and mis 9 ry—a perfection of BOcial Blavery , and of the rampancy of capital—even greater than now exists . We have proved over and over _ . again ; that this would be the effect of the Repeal of the Corn Laws under existing circumstances . We have proved , again and again , that the Repeal could benefit only the commercial capitalists . And Mr . ' * Daily Bread" Hill has proved that he knows this ; for he has not attempted one argument in its favour . Shuffle and prevarication , falsehood and bounce , are the materiel of his Utter . He asserts that the teachings of the Northern Star have filled the prisons with law breakers . He knows this to be
a lie ; and were it true , it would be no argument for his illegal { conspiracy . He asserts that the conductor of the Northern Star wishes to see the people thinned by famine . He knows thia to be a lie ; and were it true it would be no justification of his advising them to march by ten or twenty thousand to defy the military , and to imitate the Americans , by tarring and feathering custom-house officers . [ By the bye , he forgets to say that when the Americans went to Boston to tar and feather the exciseman , and to fling the tea into the ocean , they did not go armed with " empty bags" !} He asserts by inference , that Fearocs O'Connor advised the people to riot at Newport , and then went into Scotland out of the way of danger .
He knows this to be a lie ; and , were it true , it would not justify his project for persuading a half-famished people first to believe , that a repeal of the Corn Laws would remedy all their grievances , and then to enrol themselves in the "Daily Bread Society , " and club their pence to buy corn in bond , in the confident hope that Government would let them have it duty free , or repeal the Corn Laws at their "formal demand , " and then coolly breaking up the society , while the fever of rago and disappointment was at its full height , and walking smirking away , with his hands in his pockets , telling the poor dupes that as the Queen would not let them have the corn they might now smuggle it through the stone wall of the bonding warehouse .
The more fully we examine all the evidences afforded to us by the founder and advocate of this society , the more fully are we satisfied that the whole thing is a deep , devilish scheme , to serve the interests , and perfect the dominanoy of the " capital" men by entrapping the Chartists from an attention to their own affairs , by making more elbow-room for machinery in a large "clearing off " of the people by the musket , the halter , and the transport ship ; and by raising such a disturbance and hubbub in the country , as , whileit compels the Government to immolate the landlords upon the cotton altar shall at the same time induce it to bind the mass of " rabble" more helplessly than they are 6 ven
now bound : We see all that Mr . Hill says about his anxiety for the division of the land among the whole people—about his wish for Universal Suffrage , and his dissatisfaction with the "People ' s Charter , " because of its making no provision for the right of female voting ; but we have , in this letter , and in his other writings , such proof of his unsorupulousnees in the assertion of anything that may serve his purpose , that we regard it only as the necessary gilding of the pill , which we again advise the people to spit out at once . Let the Charter , and the Charter only , be oar present watchword ; and leave tho a Plague" men to fill their u empty bags with " their sunken hopes and frustrated projects .
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w ROYAL . " "LOYAL"
LIBERALITYA LESSON FOR THE CHARTISTS . In another part of cur paper will be found an admirable specimen of the consistent and manly character of Master Dan , as well as the best proof of the sore " mess" in vthioh he finds himself involved by the spread of Chartism : we allude to a series of resolutions proposed by Daniel : — "At a meeting of the Loyal National Repeal Association , held at the Great Rooms , Corn Exchange , on Monday , the 13 th of September , 1841 , " accompanied by a letter from Mr . Secretary Rat , in which " my Dear Rat" says ,: — " It is deemed of importance that you be pleased to communicate the purport of the resolutions as widely as you can among the friends of Ireland . "
We know no reason why the " Liberator" should not choose his own road out of existence ; and as he seems to prefer the common though somewhat vulgar mode , of strangulation , we shall not grudge him any length of rope which he may deem necessary for tho due accomplishment of so desirable a purpose . The report informs us that it was
" Resolved—That Mr . Ray be instructed to write forthwith to the Repealers in Birmingham and other places in England , cautioning them against any species of connection with tho Chartists , and begging of them to exclude all known Chartists from their meetings , and stating that otherwise they themselves must be exoluded from being members of our Association , as we can have no connection whatsoever with the Chartist body . "
And then follows a string of eight " reasons for excluding the Chartists from any communication with them , " the fourth of which is : — "That the base tyranny of the Chartists , in forcibly preventing the public expression of any popular opinions differing in any degree from their own , have been the means of scouring Tory misrule aud tyranny , by stilling the salutary voice of public opinion . "
From any man but Daniel O'Connkll this would have been accounted a marvellously Irish sentiment . Dak charges the Chartists with preventing tho expression of any popular opinion not consistent with their own : and this he designates as "base tyranny . " He describes this "base tyranny" as being aggravated by the support which he avers it to have given to the Tories ; and he forthwith exhibits his patriotic love of fairplay by a mandate to his " royal , " '' loyals , " on both sides the channel , which out-Herods Herod , and leaves this same " base tyranny " of the Chartists far in the back ground ; for he
commands them not merely "to prevent all public expression of opinion" by the Chartists ; but " to exclude all known Chartists from their meetings" , on pain of being themselves excluded from the "Royal" "Loyal" legion—a pitch of "base tyranny " which we suppose was never attempted to be reached by any but" the Liberator " . Why , what an objeot of derision is this old flabergasted hypocrite ! thus practising improvement and extension upon the very principle which he decries in others as "base tyranny "; and this , supposing him not to know his charge against the Chartists to be a base
falsehoods But he does know it to be a base falsehood : he knows that the Chartists , so far from " preventing the public expression of opinion , " have made themselves feared and hated by Daniel and hiB Whig patronB , simply by their assertion of their right to " express public opinion " , in opposition to " anti-Corn Law " , " general suffrage " , and other humbuggers , iwho would have substituted for it the opinion of faction—a email fraction of " the public " . This the Chartists think to be dishonest .
They think tha ** public expression at opinion " should express the opinion of "the public" ; and hence the discomfiture of the various knots of mouthing "Leaguers" whom Daniel desoribes as ^ Rational Reformers " , and who he says have been "driven into silence" by theChartistB . Nothing like » strong farce for the meeting of a storm . We question if even neighbour Mercury is able to push the " entire animal" to a stiffer market than Dan has done in this instance . The
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Chartists prevent the expression of public opinion ! Why , the-very thing is too ridiculous to , be lau ghed at ! As though theirgreat Iab <^ hiwi nipt been to prevent Dak and the Whigs from representing themselves as the public I Thank God , however , their labour has not beea in vain . We have in this manifesto , the acknowledgment ot Daniel that the Chartists have driven the leagaer * , pseudo "Rational Reformers , " into silence—into disunion—into apathy ; that wo have " suffocated" their cause and . " completely" succeeded in putting an end to all their Societies aud Associations in England . This is , at least , an acknowledgment of our power , though it is probable that the same quarter of an hour might find the ** Liberator * representing these same for .
midab ' e Chartists , who have driven all the ' Whigs and " Rational Reformers" into silence , and broken up all their Societies and Associations in Eagland , as too small and contemptible a party to merit notice ! This is not , however , his present tack to sail on . He sees " in Chartism a power against which all the oily fraud of jugglery will be in vaia exercised . And hence this flagitious effort to array against the Chartists by falsehood and vituperation , their Repealing brethren . The worst fears of Irishmen are roused by reminiscences of Tory times , and they are instructed that to Chartist auspices the present rale of Toryism is to be ascribed , becaoae ' * Chartists combined with Tories in the recent
elections . " We need only , ia reply to this foolish fallacy refer the Irish Repealers to a much better friend , to them than ever Daniel O'Connkll was — the consistent , firm , and gentlemanly , Patrick O'Higqius , who , at a meeting of the Irish Universal Suffrage Association , reported in our last , rose and said that" He would answer the questions which were put by the gentleman , who said he was llr . O'Connell ' e friend , and a member of the Loyal National Repeal Association of Ireland , namely , ' Did the Chartists of England not show their hatred of the Irish , by returning a Tory
for Nottingham ? and by returning Tories in every place they had power to do at the late elections ? And was not Mr . O'Connell'B plan of General Suffrage superior to Universal Saflrage , and all other plant ? Could not the people go and vote in several places , if Universal Suffrage were adopted ? ' To the first question , he ( Mr . O'Higgina ) would reply , that tie Chartiatf of Nottingham took Mr . O'ConnelTs advice to the Irish electors , which was , when they eould Hot get a pledged Repealer to Bupport the next best The Chartists of England abhor the Infamous , atrocious Whig Poor Law Amendment Act , an act which treats poverty a * a crime of greater magnitude than murder , robbery
and rape , because a man guilty of the latter shocking revolting crimes , would be deemed innocent until found guilty by a jury of his country , whereas , on the other band , the moment that misfortunes drive an honest , sober , good man , to seek evea a temporary asylum in a union workhouse , his head is shaved , and a felon's dress is put « u him . If he has a wife and children , they are all separated , never to meet again , unless some good fortune releases them from the workhouse ; and in the event of death , which frequently and unaccountably happens in those dens of human misery and suffering , the bodies are given up for dissection to some neighbouring hospital , for
young surgeons to practice upon . Now ; the English Chartists always looked upon this Act of Parliament as one of the greatest grievances of modern invention ; and the electors of Nottingham knew right well that Mr . Walter , of the Times , the Tory candidate , was the consistent opponent of this flagitious Act His adversary , the Whig , was the advocate of that bill , and the Chartists ef Nottingham supported Mr . Walter , not because he was a Tory , but because he was the consistent opponent of the Poor Laws Amendment Act And even now , when the Tories are in power , he is opposed to them , and will continue to oppose and expose them , unless they repeal that Act With
regard to the Becond question . The Chartists did not return Tories , as such , but they did return them ia some places on the same grounds , and for the same reasons , that they returned Mr . Walter . Besides they were so foolish as to return their own friends , whenever the ? could do so , in opposition to both Whig and Tory . The plan they adopted was a very judicious one , and one which we should follow at our elections . They made the first offer to the Whig candidate to split their votes with him , provided his friends would split with the Chartist candidate . ' Begone , ye toreh-anddagger men , you midnight assassins , ' said the Whig : Well , tboy made a similar offer to the Tory , who said ,
'I do not like your principles , but yon have a right to be heard , and to send as many members as you can to represent your views , wants , and feelings , in the Houm of Commons , and I will split with you . ' The result of this wise and sensible policy on the part of tho Cbartisti is , that they have upwards of forty friends and advocates in the present House of Commons , whereas they had but three in the last one ; and what is still better , these forty English members are pledged to extend the same rights , privileges , and immunities to Ireland , which they hope to obtain fox England ; in fact , to treat Ireland , in every respect , as if it were an English county . Does this look like hatred of Ireland ? ( No , no ) . "
We cannot too strongly recommend to toe Repealers generally , and especially those of Ireland , this mild , rational , and conclusive reply to the raving of O'Connell , about Chartist support of Tories . Nor can the Irish Repealera fail to perceive , if they but let their judgments have fair play , that he must be a masked enemy to their cause , who , under the guise of an anxiety for its defence , would bring its advocates into direct collision with a party so powerful and so well organised as he here represents the Chartists , when the support of that patty might be had for it . Dan says the Chartists have been strong enough to beat all the Whigs in England ;
that they have completely succeeded in puttiBg an end to all their societies and associations in Enf land , andin causing the Torieseverywhere to triumph over them ; he represents them as having done this in the teeth of the Virulent persecuting Whig Government , while the gaols were crammed with their leaders and the transport ships were loaded with the victims of treachery and perjury ; he acknowledges that this powerful body are willing and anxious to leud their aid to the people of Ireland in securing Repeal ; he knows that they have
chiralrously wedded themselves to the cause of their fellow sufferers in Ireland—have nailed their Repeal flag upon their own mast , and made it part and parcel of their own colours ; and yet he— "the great leader " in the Repeal movement , exhorts his followers to seek a quarrel with this formidable body—to spurn their proffered aid with insult ; and insolently threatens that as many of them as will not join him in this base effort to betray their own cause shall , for their adherence to principle and consistency , be branded as traitors , and excluded from his association !
It is ever the forte of villany to be inconsistent , and is always more or less allied to insanity . Of this , this same O'Connell document affords evident * more strong than we have often met with . lathe first seven of his eight reasons why all known Char * tiats should be excluded from all Repeal meeiiaA he paints the Chartists : — " — Black as night ; Fierce as the furies ; terrible as Hell . " Every form of vituperation and abuse is lavishlj expended on them . They are affirmed to be the worst enemies of Ireland— "the best friends of the Tory principle of absolutism" — "making a pretext of being Reformers , but in reality being the most active opponents of Reform . '' And bis eighth reason is that the Repealers themselves are all Chartfete .
This is tho capping of the climax ! This is "hot and cold with the same breath" with a vengeance . Of any other man it would have been , thought strange » but from Daniel nought surprises up . He aota&Uj does in : this manifesto say that the Repealers ava * , and are ready to work out * , the same principles of Reform with the Chartists , whom ho has previously ¦ : . described as enemies to all Reform , and as the - worst enemies of Ireland—as persons with whom the ^) " peaceable , temperate , moral , and ibyal Repealed of Ireland can have no connection . " Extremes so wide meet Beldom but in Dan ; here , hovwter ; thl ^ - are in full exhibition , and the Repealer who cw ^ read this document and not see from it tlnft "R «^^ is just the thing of which 1 > aic fears the apooffl- ;' . ^ pliahment , must be much duller than we generally % find Irishmen to be . «
We wish for no better or more cheerful evidence that Dan's " day is come , " and that he knows * than is afforded by this document . It ia the ongainrj floundering of a stranded v ? hale-the first knell ol the political curfew which shall put out the fire of . Dan ' s greatness , and leave his memory as devoid of all grateful recollection as his Ufais ofhoneBtJ and hb character of principle .
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a THB NORTHERN 8 Ti . fi .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Nov. 6, 1841, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1134/page/4/
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