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FROM OUR SECOND EDITION OF LAST WEEK.
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THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 1843.
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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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ACCBINGTOK , A Pttblic Msetutg was held last night , Monday , March 27 ill , in the large weaving shed belonging to Messra . Dixon and Co . to adopt a petition to the House of Commons against the bill now before Parliament for the better regulation of the fae > orjes , and for securing aai } educa £ l on -to the infant labourers em ployed in the mills . Mr . Harbottte , baptist minister , was caDed to the chair . Ha opened the business of th * meeting by stating that they had-met that night to petition against the Government scheme of education in connection with the factory bill now before Parliament . He wosld not take np the time of the meeting , but would introduce to their notice Mr , Griffes , baptist minister .
Mt . Gr iSes said thai the MB now before Farliajnen : was one of a most atrocious character ; it was calculated in time ( if allowed to pass ) to steep the people in ignorance , and establish again the despoth ) power of a Jesuitical priesthood ojer the minds of -the people , and destroy those feelings of lova and benevolence -which existed between the dissenting minister and his congregation , and also between the Sunday school scholar and his teacher . He believed ihar this bill had been bronght into Parliament by the Government for no other reason tnan to endeavour-to causa a division among 3 t the Corn Law repeaJers , for they were now afraid of them , and their professed friends lad actually turned ronnd and basely calumniated a body of men who were
endeavouring to benefit the condition of the poor ; but all would not do ; they conld not cause any difference amongst them ; they -would not quarrel amongst themselves ; no one had ever heard them accuse each other , or ever would , although Lord Brougham had spit forth Mb venom . He remembered thai some time ago it was in contemplation to make a wooden pavement round St . Paul's Cathedral , when the Bishop of London opposed it . Sydney Smith told the Bishop that they might soon do it with Httle « xpence if the clergy would lay their heads together . He ( Mr . G . ) ihongai their heads would be as well there as any where ; bat he was sure that those who got np thi 3 blU -were not wooden-headed . He had read of a political
economist Wi , Godwin ) who had recommended the destruction of children , and that was worse than Socialism , that wanted to separate man from wife , children from parente , scholars from teachers ; but he knew the people of this part were not of this description . . Now , some philosopher had said that it was npesseary at certain times to shave the head , and recommended that Godwin saould ; and he ( Mr . G . ) had heard that Lord Brougham was mad ; but he thought to shave his , would do him little good , for he thonght he had a hole in his head that allowed all his senses to escape . After a good rigging of Qxs established clergy , he sat down by moving that & petition against the education clauses of the bill be adopted .
The Chairman introduced Rev . Mr . Lings , who said vhis-bill should have all the opposition he could give tt . It was a measure that the Government was bringing forward to destroy that most intelligent clas 3 of dissenters . It was calculated to break np the Sunday schools , in connection with their religious places of worship , and place the children of the poor , under the guidance and tuition of the fat parsons of the churchj they wopld . be compelled to hear the liturgy and catechism of the Church , and thns -would the parsons of the Church gain a-control over the minds of the young j besides
this , threepence would have to be taken from their ¦ wag es whether they attended the school or not . He had no objection to " children being educated ; bat he objected to class education ; besides paying threepence from their earning , the schools were t « be buiit and supported from the poors' rate , which now iay so h « avyupon the middle classes . This measure was lonnded in robbery \ it would have to be snp-Kr ted by robbery , and it was robbery all through ; wonldj therefore , oppose the education clause altogether . If a system was to be established , let it be on liberal principles .
Hev . A- Taylor said that he viewed this measure with the greatest indignation . The parsons of the Churriihadno feeling for the poor ; 'he knew that not ten miles from Blackburn , a clergyman of the Church had refused to bury a corpse because they "were too poor to pay the fees . He weald ask were there any of the ministers npon that platform "would do so 1 He would Bay no . Rather than allow any of hi 3 children , ( and he had seven ) , to be under this act , and governed by church parsons , or hear ihem say ** amen" to those bloated men , he would rather see the slave-driver fetch them from his house and work them like beasts .
iir . Djxonnext addressed the meeting . He said that this bill would aronse the people , for they viewed it with alarm . It had been said'that they were not wooden heads that drew np this bill . He thought so ; he opposed the laying on a tax for the support or education of a class . If a tax must be laid , let is "be for a geaeral system of education and nponxhe most liberal principles , He would not OCcopy their time as it was cold . The ChjOBMas read over the petition again , and was about to put it to the meeting , when
"Mr . Beesley rose , and Baid , Mr . Chairman , I understood that so allusion was to be made to any party , but that had not been adhered to . He should oppose the petition before the mettitsg , and intended to move an amendment . He was astonbbed to hear 30-much said abont the expence of educating the poor factory child , but he believed that ¦ was not the intention of the party getting it np . H « was one who wonld speak his mind . Here he was interrupted hy ona or two individuals , when he said if people conld not come and keep their temper , or listen to both sides of the qnestion , they had better stop at home , for he ( Mr . B . ) had as much right to speak as any one , and he would tell them he . was not to be put down . Speak he would , for he had
wanted a long time to tell the dissenting ministers what he thought of them , and 2 ib had never h&d an opportunity before , bnt he would do it now . I Aye , that is whit you come for 0 Yes , " he would rather tell them to their face whit lie thought about them , than , serpent-Bke , do it behind their backs—( hear , hear . ) He believed the dissenting- ministers neglected their duty as much as the church parsons , and he suspected them upon this occasion . They had always been found upon the side of wealth . If the middle classes or manufacturers got up an agitation , or mentioned any crotchet calculated to benefit them but injurious to the poor , the dissenting ministers echoed ihe cry- ^ tbey gave them their support , approved of Jtheir plans , and assisted them in
their agitation , hat if the working classes wanted thai axast ^ ce , they looked npon tbem with contempt ; they spurned them with insolence and upbraided them with ignorance ; they had never yet , to his knowledge , lent their assistance to obtain for the producing millions their tights . They had not taken the orphan by the hand , or provided an asylum for the destitute ; but they raised their voices for a measure calculated to benefit the money-mongers ; and now they were crying ont against tht- best Bill that had ever been brought before Parliament , because it wonld not be for the J > enefis of the masters ( hear , hear ); and they pietended they wanted the people educating . , If bo , wnj oppose the only measure likely to seenre them
that education they so much deplored the want of ! In his ( Beesley V ) opinion , it was not the educational ] clause that was the cause of their opposition ; but it ; was die shield of protection it threw over tb . B J infant slave . They talked about the expense that j would-be inenrred for the edneatioa of a class ; it i came with a very bad grace from such men . Who j Heeded instruction more than the children of the ! poor , who were at the mercy of the tyrant cotton j manufacturers ! Was there not more justice in ! gran-ing money to educate the children of the poor , who were too poor to send them to private j schools , than to grant large sums to the colleges of Cambridge , Oxford , and Maynooth , to educate the sons of the wealthy- who were able to pay for their
own ! Yet they called no meetings to petition against this . Were it not better to grant it for such j a purpose , than for the support of the naval and military schools ! Yei they said no * hing against this . Were it sot better that this Bill should pass , 1 that would compel both parents and masters to pro- 1 Tide for the instruction of the children , than to ! leave them to the money of the manufacturer , who had evaded thB Act that was now in force , by assembling the children in fire holes , and teaching them from scraps of old newspapers , not more than three inches square , and so blaek that the children could not see the letters upon them 1 They had talked about the power placed in the handB of the bishops and clergy of the Church . If that was
what they objected to , why not word the petition so that the House of Commons might know what part of &e bill they did object to , and not have it in its present form than oppose the Bill altogether . He did not approve of the power placed in the hands of the parson of ihe cburca . He ielieved that the dissenting ministers ( from what he had seen of them ) if they had the same power would be equally as tyrannical as the others , though they had railed against them this night most Ditifully . They had held up ihe parsons of the Caurch as being the greatest tyrants j bnt he , Mr . B-, thought they were not ihe only tyrants . He believed no greater tyrants ever lived than the factory masters ; and , strange to say , the ministers of dissent were always found going kand and glove with them , even upon the present
occasion—( near , hear ) . Had they not driven the able-bodied labourers from the market , and compelled them to send their wives and helpless offspring to their mBls to coin for them , from iheir hearts ' blood , immense and princely fortunes . H&d not tbildren been taken from their beds in early morn , and carried upon the backs of their parents through the pitiless storm on the winter ' s morning to those dens of Tice , until their constitutions- had been destroyed , and thousands sent to a premature gravel Did thfij network-in these mills from their cradle , aa it were , amongst the most abandoned characters , thair tender ears insulted with the most obscene langcAge , —and was ii not necessary that they should tare an education given to them to counteract the effect produced by being in such company ! and would tbij object to a bill that would secure this ,
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because too mnch power was placed in the hands of a certain party ! They talked about their being members of the Established Church that were to be the teachers and inspector }' . This he did . not agree with , but he believed that if the ministers who were upon that platform had the same power , the Baptist minister wonld look amongst bis own congregation for the teachers ; if a Methodist , the same ; and a New Church minister , the same . In order to show the Government that we were not actuated by factious motives , and believing also that the best way to make men honest was to keep it out of their power
to become rogues , and also agreeing that taxation move an amendment , to the following effect : — and representation ought to be co-equal , he would "That we highly approve of the Bill now before the House of Commons with respect to the protection it gives to the infant factory children , and for the shortening the hours of labour , and also for providing for the means of their education , but believe the power of appointing the trustees ought not to be placed in the handB of any party , but ought to be exercised by the ratepayers , and that no deduction should be made from the miserable earnings of the poor for such education . "
After many more observations , Mr . B . Bat down amidst the approbation of the meeting . This brought Messrs . Dixon , Lings , and others upon their feet again , Mr . Beesley again replying when they agreed to both motion and amendment together , and to strike out the objections in the petition Mr . B . had made , and that Mr . Beesley and the Rev . J . Harbottle should meet in the morning , and draw the petition np as Mr . Beesley had stated . Thus ended the meeting upon the Factory Act . The following is the petition : — To ihe Honourable the Commons' of Great Britain and Ireland , in Parliament assembled . The Petition of the undersigned Inhabitants of Accrington ,
Humbly Shevtbth—That your Petitioners being ; duly sensible of the important benefits of education , and having made and encouraged efforts for the extension of that invaluable blessing , cannot view without considerable alarm , Bonie o ! the provisions of a Bill intituled That the parts of the aforesaid Bill against which wo object , are those which give undue influence and irresponsible power to the Clergy % l the established Church in the sppoiDtKient of trustees , masters , and inspectors —which exclude all but such as are of that Chorea from the office of schoolmaster , or inspector of such schools
—which takes a portion from the hard-Barned -wages of the poor , and in addition requires the expenditure of pnblic money , apparently to advance the Interest * of one class of religions professors . To these and similar regulations -we do most decidedly object as being likely to impose new grievances on Protestant Dissenters , Methudista , Roman Catholics , and others—to throw into the hands of the clergy a power of taxation , constitutionally belonging to none but the chosen representatives of the people , and to produce a spirit of domination on the one hand and of resistance ou the other , thereby increasing those religious animosities already unhappily too prevalent .
-That your Petitioners , approving of the details of the Bill for shortening the honrs of labour and giving due protection to the factory child , humbly pray that you win erase from the Bill the above mentioned clause or clauses , -which give such undue power to the Bishops , Clergy , and Churchwardens of the established Church , and substitute a clause empowering the ratepayers to elect the Trustees , choose the schoolmasters , and adopt such rules for the government of the schools as may to them seem most proper , and also to fix the rate of salary to ts paid to each schoolmaster -within their respective localities ; and farther , that no deduction be made from the hard-earned pence of the poor to pay for an education which ought to he gratuitously afforded . And your Petitioners , &o
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MONOMANIA .
Slkce Oxford " popped" at the Queen , the times have been most prolifio in the breed of monomaniacs . "With the proverbial fecundity of ill weeds and vermin , they have sprung up so rankly that they seem to be becoming rather " the rule" than •* the exception , " and the London papers '' look not like themselves" unle 33 we have some of their exploits duly chronicled . This insidious disease , like most others , has various forms and phases . It manifests itself in many different ways . Latterly ,
the decided preference seems to have been given to the homicidal form of developamant , in its direct aspect . This aspect of the disease has at least one advantage ; that it is easily dealt with . The patient exhibits symptoms of physical determination to homicide ; knives , pistols , pop-guns , & . C . appear upon the surface ; a woman is fired at , and a man is shot : by these symptoms he disease is a \ once detected , and the " unhappy sufferer" is taken care of , and prevented from going longer at large to do more miBchief . Bnt there are
many forms of monomania besides this ; one of which is an inordinate and irrational desire of fame . There are some men whose ambition seems to be of a kind distinctly and exclusively their own ; at once insatiable and unscrupulous ; caring nothing for the sort of fame they may acquire , so that they day but live in memory—so they may bat do something to be talked of . Thus we have- heard of a sailor ivho , from mere love of notoriety , ate a large quantity of mustard , with which his messmate fed him from a table spoon . A like strange
anxiety to become posthumously the " table talk " of gossips is believed to have been the incentive to one or two of the recent fatal leaps from the Monument j and , in a previous matter , the evident plea * surable emotions with which the * lionising" of the thing inspired poor Jonathan Mabtih , induced many to suppose that his was an instance of this form of the distressing malady . Disease , like death , i 3 most impartial in its visitations . It is an effect
which sureiy visits every subject who may have put its cause in operation . Hence wealth , and " rank , " and " station , " form no barrier to its ingress . It seats itself with as little ceremony on the judicial bench as on the cobler ' s stalL We lately had a lamentable instance of its freaks in this line in the vagaries of " the modern Jeffries , " who made up his mind to atone for a long life-time ot mere muckworm wriggling by a last dash of the uncommon , '' which should get him
u Damned to everlasting fame . " He succeeded , as such unfortunates do always , in producing , in some minds execration , in others pity and contempt , but in all a conviction that it was reqnisite for public safety to take care of hini "; and hence kis Special Commission was his last commission ; and the dotard will snooze out the remainder of his days in the retirement" which may shield him from public indignation , while his memory passes away among the eddying bubbles which the torrent of events discloses bat to hide . Sic transit
gloria mtmdi ! * ' Alas ! poor Jndge "! We were In hopes to find thifl a solitary instance of this form of Judicial Monomania ; an aspect far more repulsive than the directly homicidal one of the Macnatjghxkmb and the Oxfokds ; becauBC combining all their ferocity with much more of cunning j and extending its sphere of animosity from individuals to whole classes as the representatives of principle . True , however , to their morbid instinct , like a flock of sheep pressed to a pass , no sooner does one take the leap than the rest follow in succession ,
and each , vies with the last one is the spring . The Ermined Dissenter has treatedj himself to a "Baptism by immemon" in the pool of profligacy that leaves the " sprinkling" of "Brother Abingkr" far in the shade . Abihokb did content himself with pouring off the acid from bis stomach into the big cup of the Grand Jnry , and emptying the filthy residue npon " convicted" prisoners ; while his conduct during the trials bore at least some show of decency ; bnt Gcrkhy out-Herods Herod . His conduct on the trial of Jokes , reported in our present paper , is the most perfect specimen of rampant
rabid malignity that we have ever seen . We have certainly seen nothing in OUT OWn time tO equal it , and we know nothing in history to surpass it in atrocity . It is anique . We know of no category in which to place it . It islsvipmerts We refer our readers to the report , as we have taken it from the Morning Chronicle . It admits of no comment : ii speaks for itself . We were astounded when we read it ; and could Bcarcely credit it . We thought the reporter mnst have had some purpose to malign , or must have strangely misconceived his Lordship ; we looked , therefore , for the report of the trial in other papers , and found
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that , on the contrary , the " fellow feeling" of ** Difcsent" and " Liberalism" had greatly softened matters in favour of the "Baptist Judge "—the first judicial fruits of Whig ascendancy— -the grafting of "the Reform crab" upon the anoient bitter stock . WiBhing always to present every matt in the best light of estimation that his character will bear , we adopted the Chronicle ' s report in preference to that of other papers , in which the " glossing brash ' had been used more sparingly . To shew , however , that we do not over-state the oase , we give here the Times' version of the 8 ame proceedings BO far as they relate to the brutal interruptions by the Judge of the defendant , while addressing the Jury and cress-examining the witnesses ! In cross-examination : —
" Thomas Agar—Was a sergeant of police . Had been so for a year and a half , and in the force for thren years . Was in the Pasture ou the evening of the 28 th of August , at about seven o clock . There were about 2 , 000 people assembled , chiefly of the lower class . He corroborated the testimony of the former witness as to the language uttered by the defendant . "Cross-examined by the defendant—Did you think you were morally justified 1 "The Judge—Stop , stop ; what have we to do with that ? " The defendant—My Lord , I
think"The Judge—You may think what you pleaBd j but we'll have bo such nonsense as that about' morally justified' here . ' ** Cross-examination resumed—They were rather orderly . He meant by that , that there was no actual breach of the peace . There was no disturbance ; but the people were elevated . Meant by ' elevated ' that they were wrought upon by your expressions . There was injury done to the policemen before you came , and not since . * ' The Judge—Why they took you up you see ; that ' s the way they quieted you . If you turn a dog down the street , and cry out ' mad dog , ' there ' s no need to tell the people to knock him on the head . There ' s no occasion for it , it is not necessary ; they will do it without .
The defendant—Pm quite aware of that , my Lord ; I , and those like me , cave painfully learned ( hat by experience . " In defence : — " He had said that the Government was tyrannical , because he thought "The Judge—Then you have done very wrong . You havo no right to hold out that the Government is tyrannical . You need not give yourself a bad character . We know nothing of you but what you said and did on the occasion that we are inquiring into . Confine yourself to the present charge against you .
"The defendant resumed—What was there inflammatory in his language as compared with that which was to be found in a speech lately delivered by the Worshipful the Mayor of Leicester , which he would read to them ! " Th& Judge—Yon cannot be allowed to do that ; it has nothing to do with the present charge ; aud besides , we don ' t know anything more of it than what you tell us . " The defendant resumed—What would have been said of him if he had uttered such inflammatory language as that ? [ He then proceeded to read some very strong passages , and afterwards told the Jury that such had been the language of the Mayor of Leicester , recently addressed to a popular assembly .
He then directed their attention to a speech recently delivered , also to a popular assembly at Leicester , by one of the Learned Counsel for the prosecution , to the language of which he seemed to desire to convey the impression that his own would , by Comparison , be found to bo not unlike ' Hyperion to a Satyr . ' He began to read , ' Will you , the people of England '—[ Here , to the apparent disappointment of many , and the utter chagrin and discomfiture of the defendant himself , he was summarily stopped by the Court . ] The Learned Judge now presiding had sat at the trials of M'Douall and Vincent , and he ( the defendant ) might with impunity express hiB opinions respecting that Learned Judge ' s course of proceeding . [ The Judge—That depends upon the manner in which you do it . ]"
" As to the words ' the day of boiling will come , when woe to the unboiled , ' they were used only as a figurative mode of expressing his hope and conviction that Ihe good time would come when the state of things would be so altered as to supersede the necessity of a police force . " The Judge—I shall order those persons away , if they keep pumping . [ The defendant had been hitherto receiving the assistance of two persona ( Chartists , no doubt ) sitting by his side . ]
H The defendant complained , with some warmth , of the interruption that he said he had received from the Court , and said that he felt that if he had been allowed to conduct his defence in the manner in which he had marked it out for himself , and as he thought most advisable and proper for him , he should have been able to satisfy the jury that he h&d done only what was conscientious and tight , aud bad not been guilty of the crime charged against him . He then said , 'My Lord , may 1 beg that I may not be further interrupted , but permitted to conduct my defence , according to the best of my ability , in the mode in which I have designed it !"
" The Judge—That will depend upon whether you confine yourself within proper limits , and to the subject of the charge which you have to answer . " The defendant proceeded—* He felt it uoeleaa to address them any further / " Let any man read these statements ; let him compare them with the Chumicle ' s report , aa given elsewhere ; let him believe that those antagonistic papers are not in league for the destruction of Judge Gurnet ; let him read the whole report ; let him mark the character of the evidence against Jonesand the offence that be was charged with ; let him remember that Jones is a poor oobler lad—that he
stood there , unassisted , to contend with Counsel learned in the law and backed up by the nation ' s purse ; let him remember that by the principles of the British Constitution—that constitution which our Jndges are sworn to uphold—the Judge is to be at all times the undefended prisoner ' s Counsel ; that the law leans always to the side of mercy and gives every doubt to the defendant ; let him take all these circumstances into the account , and then let him believe , if lie can , that Judge Gurnet is not a miserable Monomaniac . Beeking , in infamy and in the execrations of society that " being talked of" which the estimable qualities to be looked for from his years and station do not famish .
This is by no means the first evidence of Baron Gdbnby ' s utter iucompeteDOy either of mind or character for the high station to whioh he was elevated as the first proof of imbecility , or something worse , which characterised the whole career of Whig ascendancy . ' In 1834 , before he had been two years a Judge , his name rang through the country aa a disgrace , morally or mentally or in both respects , to the judicial bench . At the Newcastle Summer Assiz « s of that year , among other samples of judicia l equity and mercy , he exhibited the following : —A lad who had , obtained a hat , value 83 . 6 d ., by false pretences , was adjudged by him to be " transported
for life '"! Two loose women , one of whom had filched , and the other received and ran away with , two sovereigns and some silver , belonging to a profligate farmer , where both transported for life ! and a young man , in the possession of whose mother , a mad woman dependant on him for support , were found some pieces of salt pork which were said to have been stolen , was sentenced also to be transported for life 1 !! and the mother , apparently not herself ( as the report says ) even at the trial , was ordered to be transported for seven years '! While
at that very same assizes , an atrocious case of bigamy was tried before his Lordship , where a Captain of a merchant vessel had deceived and ruined an innocent girl , under pretence of marriage , having also defrauded her parents of their child ; this hardened scoundrel , who well deserved the severest penalty the l&w allows , was adjudged by the humane Baron , to no more than six month ' s imprisonment ! 2 ! These things excited much observation at the time ; but he was then young on the Bench and it was hoped that experience would teach him something of wisdom and discrimination .
. We rejoice to see , from Mr . O'Connor ' s letter that he has determined to take op the cap . e of Jokes , and demand for him a new trial . W- fr ^ fervently that the people will see to the prov iding of the funds forthwith and amply . These , matters are really " no jekes . " They cannot be borne . Jadges must be taught that in England people know the law and know the exter . t of their authority ; and that no man is to b- e thus immolated by maudling , doting , ignorant 1 malignity ; though he may even be a cooler and . - a Chartist .
Can any body send ua a ljstj of " the names , weight * , and colours" of the Jury in Jones ' s case ! Toat Jury ought to be ashamed ever again to look Englishmen in tb ? fas je . The conduct of the Judge ,
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without any other evidence , ought to have secured a verdict of acquittal , even if there had been any evidence worth calling such against Jones , which there was not . If this trial do not drive Baron Gurnet into " retirement , " then there is either no virtue in the English people , or no power in public opinion .
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EMIGRATION . —WHERE TO . —AND HOW TO PROCEED . It is well known that we have not been advisers of Emigration . We have not been of those who have advised the people to forsake the land of their birth , to seek in other and ( oft-times ) inferior dimes , that comfortable living and free position which they ought to enjoy at home ; and for the enjoyment and securement of which we possess such ample means . We have rather advised that the people should remain in their father-land , and learn to use common sense in the application of the illimitable means of comfort aud well-being at their disposal . Yet we know there are those who are
heartsickened at the present posiuon and prospect of things in England ; and who deem it prudent to scrape together the remnants of their shattered "fortunes" and all but absorbed savingst 8 nd betake themselves to distant lands , there to seek , for that protection and freedom denied them by THE SYSTEM at home . To such it is important to know where to go to , for the best ; and how to . proceed in their arrangements , so as to secure t ' aemselves from the gross impositions and oppressions practised upon them by hordes of hungry vultures who hover round emigrant ships , at both ends of the passage , and fleece the unkmxwino most unmercifully .
Some months ago , we announc jd that a firm and undeviating friend of the worki' ng classes , Mr . PlTKETBtY , of HudderBueld , had made it his business to inquire into these matters ¦ ; and had undertaken a voyage to the United Statp . s of North America , to see with hiB own eyes , and . judge for himself , as to the truth or falsehood of the many glowing representations that have ' jeen made to induce Emigration to that quarter of the world . For this purpose he has traveled over several of the States , particularly those of Massachusetts , New York ,
Rhode Island , Pensylvania , Ohio , Michigan , Illinois , Wisejnsin , and New Jerset . He has been to look -out , and ascertain the actual state of things in th ? se places , so as to judge ot the desirability , or otherwise , of Emigration ; and to asoertain the b sst and most economical mode in whioh Emigration , if determined on , can be accomplished . He has returned to England from this mission ; and we h / . ve made arrangements with him to publish the " N ' otes of his Tour" in weekly portions in the Star .
We should have given his introductory letter this week ; only that the trials at Stafford and Leicester have pre-occupied our space . It shall be given next week ; and the following week we shall commence to publish the " Notes of the Tour . " The introductory letter is to pat the reader in possession of the reasons and inducements Mr . Pitkethly had to undertake the labour he did undertake : while the
"Notesof the Tour , " will , as may readily be inferred , give the particular items of information the traveller picked np by the wayside , during his long journey of thousands of miles . The " Notes" will be followed up by a number of general observations detailing the impressions made on Mr . Pitkkthly ' s mind by the facts he has made himself conversant with , and the reasoning aud opinions he has heard from persons on the several spots he > has viaitcd .
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We may state now , to those who may be intending to Emigrate ,-that it is Mr . Pitkethly ' s strong degire that no one should depart their native land , unless under complete arrangements for entering upon the land at the place of their intended destination . He States that from the immense numbers that flocked to the United States during the last and two previous years , there is a great " redundancy of hands ''
in every department of labour ; so that when labour is obtained ( a jthing now next to impossible ) it is uniformly followed by a reduction of wages . This also tends to reduce wages at home ; for if we are to compete with { the "foreign manufacturer / ' we must , as a matter of course , produce cheaper than he doe 9 ; and we shall net be able to produce cheaper if the wages of labour are higher .
Under proper arrangements Emigration might conduce to the advantage and benefit of -the Emigrants ; and we believe a scheme by which this can be accomplished will ( be developed during the course , or at the end , of the publication of the information and advice we shall so shortly be enabled to lay before the public . But the crowding together of such vast heaps as have been thrown into the several States of North America , without system or plan , or defined object , has worked to the great disadvantage of all concerned ; both the Emigrant and , native workman .
We also learn from Mr . Pitkethlf , that the people will j de well not to listen to all the glowing tales i contained in letters from * friends " who have already gone out ; as they are likely to be greatly deceived if they do . He mentions that before he " went out" he saw in the" Weekly Dispatch * some letters from a person of the name of Cole , dated from Wisconsin territory ; and which , from the glowing descriptions therein given , induced great
numbers of persons to make their way to the Far West . Theseisoon found that the expectations they had formed from reading Cole ' s letters were not likely to be j realized ; and that they met with hardships aud difficulties where they expected to meet with ] plenty and enjoyment . The consequence was , that they violently set upon Cole , and he was obliged to " cut and run" to save himself from the operation of Lynch Law !
It is true that the parties who were thus disappointed , bad not more to meet , or endure , than they might reasonably have expected , could they but have imagined the actual realities of a" first-settlers' life . " They had , however , formed extravagant expectations j ithey had formed those expectations from reading Pole ' s letters j and when they found disappointment , they tried to wreak vengeance upon the man who , ' they avowed , had deceived them .
Mr . Pitkethly ascertained the fact that the letters in question were never written by Cole at all ! They were written by a land-agent at RictNB ^ who was interested in getting parties out to settle upon his lands ; land being comparatively valueless until settled upon . Cole was induced to allow hi name to be put to the letters ; and thus the public were deceived . And this is but one of the many means of deception that are continually resorted to .
We have reason to believe that in the information Mr . Pitkethly will lay before the public , all exaggeration will be avoided . Things will be represented as they really are . There will be " nothing extenuated : nor ought set down in malice . " Facts alone will be dealt with . The reader will be then best able to judge for himself .
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COOPER'S TRIAL . We had thought to be able to give our readers an entire report of this trial , so far as our means of getting it go , in this week ' s Star ; and for that reason omitted in our last so much of it as had then appeared . They will find elsewhere a very ample report of the proceedings up to the latest time that we could have intelligence , taken , without any deduction but ; the sneers , from the Staffordshire Advertiser , up to Friday night , and thence forward from the Times . Whether we may be able to give the conclusion of it in our second edition we cannot of course tell ; but we doubt it . We shall give all that comes of it .
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THE GOVERNMENT FACTORY BILL . Every general principle of misrule produces in operation , particular effects , whioh press heavily on those against : whose interests the rule operates . This pressure { induces frequently an effort , by the superficial , to deal with the effects , and cure them , as if they were the malady , of which they are but the symptoms . The experienced and skilful physician
does not thus [ waste bis energies . He directs his efforts to the extirpation of the cause which gives birth to them ; \ while at the same time he omits no necessary attention to such measures of amelioration as may alleviate the present sufferings of his patient while the cure is going on . So , the experienced , Bkilful , and deep thinking politician who finds the whole system of Society so out of all natural course and order that its several parts groan with agony , stops not to battle
s « jriously with each particular grievance , but applies ' nis active powers , in all ways which can render them effective , to the removal of the grand-producing oause . But though his axe be laid to the root only of the foul tree of corruption , he yet seizes every opportunity which may present itself , during the process , of removing excrescences from the surface , or of alleviating the injurious operations of the system in any ) given and particular direction—provided that suob alleviation of symptoms do not tend to the actual increase of the malady .
Upon this principle we have through our entire career pointed the people to the fact that to grapple , as a substantive grievance and ground of agitation , with the respective ! evils of the system as exhibited in Faotory Labour , in Poor Law Bastiles , in Prison Discipline , in Currency Frauds , or in any other of its many forms , was idle , while the grand principlethe cause of all these mischiefs—class legislation , was still in operation . Hence , that united spirit of resistance to all crotchet agitations which the people now exhibit , and in whioh is our hope of their
political redemption . But while we would carefully foster this looking to first principles for the Radioal cure of our evils we would by all means lay , hold of every help thereto in the shape of the smallest alleviation of present suffering which does not in operation [ strengthen the bonds of evil . Henoe our advocacy of temperance ; by which the little that is left to the labourer may be so husbanded as to afford him as much of comfort as can be extracted from ; it . Hence our adrooaoy of extended education and ; intellectual culture ; by which- the
working man comes to know something of the framework of society , and to understand what are bis tights , as a first step towards the assertion of them , and from whioh he also gathers , even in his poverty , many hours of precious enjoyment which the oppressor cannot take from him . These are alleviations of present Buffering which , while they in some degree obviate suffering , give no increased power to tyranny . And for the same reason that we rejoice in these , we rejoice also in the enaotmente which
public opinion ihas wrung from the Legislature on the subject of infant labour in factories . Every step taken for the abatement of this horrid nuisance is a Btep in the right direction—a step towards regaining the natural position of society , in which men , not women and children , should be its labourers . We care not , if even the result threatened by our neighbour Mercury phonld follow ; that protection ' 40 the infant slaves induce the masters to discard them altogether and substitute thorn by machinery . That in the end will ) be a good : for it will give an additional and mighty impetus to that power , bv the
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= — — ¦— ¦ ¦ ., ¦ - -. ^ exercise of which machinery will be yet made what ii ought to be , a general blessing , because working for the general benefit , not as now for individual aggrandizement . Eagerly , therefore , aad thankfully do we receive from whatever quarter any extension of the protection of the law to factory workers ; aad that not less upon political than moral and humane considerations . The present Factory Act—though conceived in fraud and brought forth by villany—though intended to be a failure , and to sicken the people of factory legislationthough riddled through and through with loop-^^
holes for the escape of delinquents—and though purposely made as vexatious as possible in its operation—has yet been a great good . It has relieved much suffering and prevented much cruelty to the helpless ones over whom its authors were compelled , unwillingly , to stretch it as a shield . The Goiemment Bill now before the House of Commons is , in many respects , an improvement on it . We say nothing of the motives which may have induced the bringing out of this Bill just now . We think we have a shrewd guess at them ; but let them pass ; there are good points in the Bill and we hope the enemies of labour may not be able either to defeat or cripple it . The have taken
the alarm ; their trusty watchman Neddy" has sounded the war-cry . His "pal" of the Nonconformist , whi oh we have just received , echoes it in a most piously mendacious strain of fustian , appeals frantisly to all the worst feelings of raving fanaticism , and declares that" the operation of this Bill , " will , " within one generation , " " extinguish civil and religions liber ty ; Great Britain will be ridden over from end to end , by Nobles , 'Squires and Priests ; and darkness , worse than Egyptian , will supervene " . ' The creatures of dissenting and millocrat power and piety in the " House" will of course follow in the train . Some signs of opposition have been already manifested j and it may be expected that the Bill will be contested .
We gave a detail of the leading provisions of this Bill in our paper of the 4 th instant . The best part of the Bill is the strictness , amounting almost to stringency , with which it provides for the practical enforcement of its several clauses . The houra of labour for children under thirteen are reduced to six hours and a-half daily , with three hours fot schooling ; to be taken between eight in the morning and one at noon , or between that and seven in the evening . All work for children and young persons to cease on Saturday , at half-past four p . m . One hour and a-half to be h&d for meal
times , of which an hour must be before three , p . m . Eight half day holidays to be had in every year , besides Christmas-day and Good Friday . No machinery to be cleansed while in motion . All machinery to be properly fenced off . The surgeon ' s certificate of age , ice , to be given upon personal inspection only at the factory . The penalties provided for the violation of these several matters , are as follow : —against the master—for employing children under the legal age ; or for employing children more than sis aad a half hours in any one day ; or for employing children after one o ' clock
p . m ., who may have been employed in that or any factory before twelve of the same day ; or for employing children or young persons after half-past four on Saturday afternoon ; or for employing young persons more than twelve hours ; or for employing children , or young persons , without the proper certificates from surgeon and schoolmaster , or with a false doctor ' s certificate , knowing it to be so ; or for not allowing proper times for meals , or proper holidays : for each and every one of these offences the penalty is to be not less than twenty shillings , nor more than three pounds for
each child , or young person , so treated . For . employing any child or young person during mealtime , or for allowing any child or young person to remain in any room , during meal-time , in which any machinery is in motion , or any kind of work carried on , not l&s than Ten Shillings , and not more than Ten Pounds , for each child and young person so employed or allowed to remain in any room . And for each of these offences the parent of the child is also liable to a penalty of not less than tea shillings , nor more than twenty shillings , if privy or a consenting party to the offence . Parents
who neglect to make their children attend school without some valid excuse , admitted by the act , become liable to pay not less than one shilling nor more than ten shillings for every day so neglected . The master is also liable to penalties of not less than twenty shillings , nor more than five pounds for neglecting to pay the school master ' s 0 . E surgeon ' s fees . For not cleansing or lime washing hia factory within the proper period prescribed by the act , not less than , three poonnds nor more than ten ; with an additional penalty of not less than two pounds for every month that it has been so
neglected . For allowing machinery to be oleaned while going ; or for allowing any child or young person to work between the fixed and traversing parts of a self-acting machine , not less than tea shillings , nor more than five pounds . For not properly fenoing off machinery ; or for not giving notice to the certifying surgeon- of an accident in the factory , not less than five pounds , nor more than twenty pounds . If an accident occur in con * sequence of unguarded machinery , of which the owner may have received notice from the ia * speoior , he becomes liable to a fine of not
less than ten , or more than one hundred pounds ; a part or the whole of whioh may , under the direction of the Secretary of State , be appropriated for the benefit of the injured person . For divers other offences various penalties are apportioned ranging from two to twenty pounds ; the magistrates to have power to compel the attendance of witnesses before them , on pain of one month ' s imprisonment ; also to compel the production of registers , accounts , or other papers , necessary for evidence ; and no appeal from the deoision of the justices to any higher authority . The one hundred and seventh clause is important ; we give it in full : —
" And be it enacted , That every person who shall be convicted Twice within Twelve Months for an offence of the same kind against this Act , shall pay for his second offence any sum not less than One * half of the highest peualty for that offence ; and if convicted Three times within Twelve Months for as offence of the same kind , he shall pay not less than Two-thirds of the highest penalty ; and if convicted more than Three times for an offence of the same kind , he shall pay the highest penalty ; but a repetition of the same kind of offence shall not be considered as the second or subsequent offences
referred to in this enactment , unless such second or subsequent offences have been committed after notice has been given of the intention to prefer acornplaint for the previous offences ; and ia any case in which a person shall be convicted at any time for offences against this Act , so that the penalties amount in the whole to more than One Hundred Pounds , the sum of One Hundred Pounds , together with all the reasonable costs and charges of such proceedings and convictions , may be paid instead ot the penalties for all the offences ' committed by him before the day on which the last summons was taken out against him . "
These are the really valuable parts of the Bill . They are felt to be so by the mill-owners . Ths efficiency of the protection whioh they afford , is unbearable ; and every effort will bo made to thwart and frustrate the Bill . The knaves , however , go cunningly to work . They do not openly and honestly rebel against the mantle ofprotectioa thrown over labouring infancy . They have already handled this weapon till it has wounded then Galled human feeling , chafed into indignation , wrosted it from their hands , and boxed their logs
wUh it . They will not try it again . They go npon another tack now . They seize upon tka education clauses , whioh provide that under certain circumstances religious education , according to the dogmas of the Church of England , shall ba given ia the faotory schools to those children whose parents do sot object to it . They seize upon this handle , and calling in the aid of their ready toolflj the sleek-haired Dissenting Parsons , they raise a mighty cry abont Priestcraft , Church domination Jesuitry , aud other balderdash of that sort . Accord ing to the Nonconformiit—
From Our Second Edition Of Last Week.
FROM OUR SECOND EDITION OF LAST WEEK .
The Northern Star. Saturday, April 1, 1843.
THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , APRIL 1 , 1843 .
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THE CHARTISTS AND THE MAGISTRACY . Thb length at which we have this week given the trial of Cooper and the other Chartists , at Stafford and elsewhere , have precluded the possibility of our giving the debate on Mr . Dwncombe ' s motion , most important as it is . We regret this exceedingly , but have no alternative . To have given anything like a decent abstract of it would have occupied more than double the space that we had left , and to murder it we had no inclination ; feeling sure that however strong and just may be the objection to " old news , " the people would be reasonable enough to know that the paper can but be filled , and , on so important a matter , would prefer waiting till next week for the entire , to having a murdered scrap of it .
As we cannot give the debate now , we shall reserve the bulk of our remarks on it till they oan be read in juxta-position with the speeches upon which we comment , as we think that the fairest way . But we cannot permit the fact to escape notice , that the " House" and the Government absolutely re f used to meet the motion of Mr . Buncombe at all . There can be no doubt that if they could have prevented his making the motion they would have done so ; for they were evidently not a little '' bothered" with it . The Attorney-General , as defender of the
Magistrates , showed infinitely more of the lawyer and less of the man than on the trial at Lancaster . It must have been a galling task to his honourable mind , if hia bearing at Liverpool and Lancaster have not left on us a perfectly erroneous impression of his individual and personal goodness of character . He was compelled to have recourse to the mean aud dirty subterfuges of his craft . To blink wilfully and resolutely the question at issue , and to conjirre up a phantom of his own with which to fence , instead of meeting Mr . Duncombe ' s facts and arguments , most of which he entirely passed over ,
and some of whioh he grossly—we hope not wilfully —distorted and misrepresented to eke out bis own case . Mr . Duncombe complained , on the petitions of the parties , of the hardships inflicted on a number of individuals by the illegal conduot of the Magistrates before trial . The Attorney-General replied by rehearsing his own very fair and courteous conduct to the same parties at trial;—as though the two cases had anything in the world to do with each other . ' as though his fairness could be taken to excuse ( heir illegal stringency ; as glaring a non sequitur as could have been urged !
Another portion of the Learned Gentleman ' s defence of the "unpaid" was , that the petitioners had several of them been convicted ; as though a man who may have been convicted could not by possibility Lave suffered any hardship or ill treatment before conviction I True , he said the law was open to them ; and that if they could persuade Grand Juries to return a Bill , the Magistrates might be indicted for any offence charged against them , or that they might be civilly prosecuted for damages . But conld the Attorney-General be ignorant of the fact that the Grand Jury before whom the bill of
indictment must have been preferred , would be made bf the accused parties themselves , and of the folly , therefore , of any body dreaming of so acting t Did he not know that poor men cannot prosecute for damages 1 Would he , as counsel , undertake a cause for any man who was neither able to pay his fee , ' nor to pay an attorney for preparing brief for him ? How contemptible then to offer these men the alternative of the law ! with the case also of O'Neil upon his lips ; in which the law was appealed to , and , though the guilt of the Magistrates was admitted , redress was denied to the injured party , and the Magistrates were actually
oommended by the Court in the same judgment which pronounced the subject of commendation to be an illegal act !! The sum of the whole matter is , this ; that the refusal of this inquiry stamps the condemnation both of the Government and the League . It htande the Government with partiality and oowardice ; aud it shews the League , of whom the Magistrates complained against are part and parcel , to have been *• the real Simon Pures " whom though the Government perfectly know all about it , they fear to meddle with , even when a good and fair case is thrust into their hands by those very Magistrates themselves .
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^^— — 4 THE NORTHERN STAB .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), April 1, 1843, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct928/page/4/
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