THE FLEET PAPERS. LONDON: W. J. CLEAVER, 80, BAKER STREET, PORTMAN SQUARE; AND JOHN PAVEY, 47, HOLYWELL STREET, STRAND NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. WALTER CARROLL, Bolton, Lancashire, informs Mr. Oastler, that Norton's weavers in Bolton, instead of earning 4s 8d. a day, as asserted by Mr. Norton, are only earning Is. 4d. a day! He further adds, Mr. Norton's work is of the first-rate quality, and none but first-rate workmen can perform it." If this be so, the questions force themselves.-What can have induced Mr. Norton to tell such fibs? Was he not already sufficiently notorious? G. C., Landport.-The following extract from his kind letter is worth preserving. It refers to the doings of the Reformed Parliament: To pass tyrannical measures, without regard to their effects, and then to justify and defend them. seems to be their only work-at least, the only work they will do. Somehow, justice is mocked at, her votaries scoffed at, herself despised and spitten upon. To defend her sacred person, is to set yourself up as a mark for every titled fool and purse-proud rogue to shoot his venom at. Parliament, I regret, seems of late years to have entirely discarded her." JOHN SMITH, Jun., Lepton, Huddersfield, next week, if possible. AN OLD TORY, Huddersfield, says, “George Norton wishes you to pull Peel and Graham down -good; but he forgets you are not a Hercules: you must be supported by the people. Petition the Queen for a change. A Minister who would come forward with the Bible in one hand, and Magna Charta in the other, and resolve to be guided by them, might yet save this country."-It is perfectly true-the Bible and Magna Charta: so says Christianity but Expediency will not hear of either. Thank God! Englishmen are beginning to rub their eyes. W. J. CLEAVER. London.- Cleaver's Companion for Churchmen,” and Nos. 1 and 2 of “Chronicles of the Careworn, by Edward West," were received just before going to press. NEW PERIODICAL. On the 31st of December, in Royal Octavo, price Threepence, No. 1. of a New Periodical Work, with Original Designs by J. L. CROQUIS and other Eminent Artists, eutitled, London: W. J. Cleaver, Baker-street, Portman-square, and every Bookseller and Newsman in the United Kingdom. The agriculturists will do well to read the following letter with deep attention, Many labourers will yet return from the manufacturing districts. It will be wise to find them profitable employment,—not drive them into the bastiles, or to desperation. Why any longer make the labourers dangerous by injustice, when justice will make them contented as well as profitable to their employers and the community?-R.O. "TO MR. RICHARD OASTLER, THE QUEEN'S PRISON. 'January 2, 1842. "My dear Sir,-At a period like the present, while a considerable portion of the community is discussing the question as to whether England can or cannot raise sufficient wheat for the complete subsistence of its population, a question on rural economy arises in my mind, as to the adoption of the increasing labour on a farm with advantage to the occupant; for which purpose I take the liberty of suggesting, for the consideration of the readers who peruse your Fleet Papers, who, I understand, are, many of them, cultivators of the soil, and to their consideration I submit the various modes followed in sowing wheat, to their, I hope, unbiassed opinion. "I shall commence with the comparative merits of an experiment tried in Northamptonshire, between dibbling, trenching with a spade, drilling, and broad cast sowing, the result of each standing in regular succession: Dibbling, first..... .best return. .second. least return. "The grand object, which ought to be kept steadily in view, is the extra employment of labour, and to point out the advantage arising from the extension of industry in its various ways. first mode of sowing, we may clearly perceive the advantage acerung, a primary consideration For the with the community, the conversion of superfluous labourers into productive, at any rate so far as to maintain themselves. "I propose to take an acre to be sown with wheat, employing one man to dibble and three children to drop in the seed. We will suppose only one acre to be accomplished in two days, perhaps double the time actually required. To the dibbler we allow 2s. per day-4s., the three children 6d. a day each, which is the sole cxtra expense. The Northamptonshire experiment showed, that three bushels of wheat were required for broad cast sowing, and only two for dibbling, consequently, 6s. are saved; and if the superior method of sowing yielded more, the superiority cannot be limited to less than one bushel increase at the harvest, when the farmer will be reimbursed his first outlay. The account, consequently, wili stand as follows: One man, for two days...... s. d. 4 0 0 12 for one bushel of seed saved. Consequently, taking the average produce at three quarters per acre, the advantage to be derived, were all lands managed in the above manner, would be a gain of one-twelfth on the crop throughout the kingdom. Query, is it possible to gainsay the advantage both to the cultivator, and the community yet still more? It possibly may be argued, that the farmer, in the first instance, will be subject to an additional outlay; but then it is to be observed, that he will save 6s. out of the seven by one bushel Jess seed; consequently, he will only be in advance 1s.: and he will be in some measure relieved, by keeping the man and the three children from the parish, for they all four must be maintained while supernumeraries. Some trifling saving will result from having no seedsman. Another consideration will be the advantage to get on his land in wet weather; and half the harrowing will be saved. "Still, an observation may here be made, that the seed-time for wheat is rather limited. In spring the same system may be advantageously resumed with beans, peas, and even with barley and oats; and as the summer advances, the extra hands may be employed in weeding, more especially in following the plough, to grub up the various tough roots which the plough passes over, especially in shallow ploughing. "I have been as concise as possible, for Brevity is always good, Whether it be or be not understood;' and briefly, though not less sincere, I have the pleasure to subscribe myself, "Dear Sir, yours very truly, "A. H. CHAMBERS. "P.S.-Many contend, that England cannot maintain its inhabitants. Having myself heen a very extensive farmer, I have not the least hesitation in saying, that this kingdom can with ease, by careful management, supply double its present inhabitants from its own soul.-A. H. C.” The results which this field of practice exhibited, were not only disheartening, but appalling in the extreme, and calculated to raise in the breast of every merciful and generous man, indignation, disgust, and horror against those who were instrumental in committing the havoc, and feelings of the deepest commiseration for those who were the innocent victims. It is impossible to read such an account of the blighting of so much human enjoyment and hope, and of the extensive destruction of human life, without entertaining the utmost surprise that any man should be found who could give a recital of these doings, and then lend himself to a vindication of them. I cannot, for a moment, suppose that Dr. Bowring could be so utterly insensate as not to entertain naturally an abhorrence of those deeds and scenes which he narrated; and his extraordinary treatment of them must, I think, be attributed to that lamentable state of mind and feeling to which we become reduced, when once we surrender ourselves to the influence of false reasoning and false philosophy. When the right spirit does not illumine the heart and the understanding, a thick film overspreads our mental vision, and we are seduced into the adoption of the sad and fatal course of reconciling ourselves to committing a vast amount of immediate injustice and evil, by looking for the accession of a greater amount of remote good; as if it were ordained in nature that the happiness of one part of mankind was to be obtained only by inflicting misery on another part. Nothing short of the reception into the human soul of the vile creed of-UTILITARIANISM-could lead men to behold with toleration, and even with satisfaction, the horrid sacrifices which this creed enjoins and enforces; but utility-cold, unfeeling utility, or selfishness-the bad bias of a had world, succeeds in closing all the fountains of sincerity, honour, justice, love, and truth; and when these are closed, it is no wonder that we have the abominable issues which Dr. Bowring himself has described. To an examination of them I will now proceed. With regard, then, to the subjects mooted in the Parliamentary debate to which I have referred, they embraced the causes and remedies of the depressed and miserable condition of a numerous body of our fellow countrymen, namely, the hand-loom weavers. The substance of Dr. Bowring's argument on these questions, was directed to show the impracticable character of a remedy proposed. Having admitted the fact of a lamentable decrease in the wages of this numerous class of the people, Dr. Bowring next proceeded to advert to the CAUSE of this decrease; and he stated it to have had its origin in the improvements of mechanical power which had been adopted, and by which manual labour had been more and more SUPERSEDED. The passage in which he admits this, contains most important matter, setting forth principles which are calculated to affect, in the greatest degree, the welfare of all mankind. This passage, therefore, which is as follows, calls for the most careful and serious consideration. "No one can shut his eyes to the great changes which the improvements of machinery have introduced into the whole field of manufacturing industry-improvements which, by superseding manual labour more and more, infallibly bring with them, in the transition, much of temporary suffering. The condition of the man who has to compete with a cheaper, better, or more rapid mode of production, must be deteriorated. The national good cannot be purchased but at the expense of some individual evil. No advance was ever made in manufactures but at some cost to those who are in the rear; and of all discoveries, the power-loom is that which most directly bears on the condition of the hand-loom weaver. He is already beaten out of the field in many articles-he will infallibly be compelled to surrender many more." Now, here we have the CAUSES of poverty, distress, and destitution distinctly admitted, and not only admitted, but maintained also as inevitable and right. A more revolting and awful admission and declaration than the following, cannot, perhaps, be made with reference to these great and deeply interesting subjects:-"The condition of the man who has to compete with a cheaper, better, or more rapid mode of production, MUST BE DETERIORATED. The NATIONAL GOOD cannot be purchased but at the expense of some INDIVIDUAL EVIL." Thus we see, that under the free or competitive system, the evil of want and destitution is actually designed, and is to be in continual progress; and it is evident, that this constant rejection of men and families from the ranks of those who have command of the necessaries and conveniences of life, and the casting them into the ranks of poverty and destitution, must undermine the prosperity, and ultimately destroy the stability, of all empires. I entreat you to mark well the inhuman or cruel nature of the doctrine which is here laid down. Dr. Bowring has stated. firstly, that the poor hand-loom weavers ARE on the verge of that state beyond which human existence can hardly be sustained, and that a very trifling check is sufficient to hurl them into the regions of starvation; and, secondly, he has said, with regard to these poor and depressed people, that being already BEATEN out of the field in many articles, they will infallibly be compelled to surrender many more. Thus the Utilitarian legislator coolly declares, that notwithstanding this numerous class of poor labourers are already on the verge of that state in which the slightest check will burl them into the regions of starvation, yet, by the process of his favourite philosophy, this check SHALL be administered to them, for they shall be compelled to surrender still more of that little which they have contrived to reserve. And all this is to be committed under the abominable cloak of pretending to realize the NATIONAL GOOD. Again, Sir, there is another important sentence, and in it we behold the true eharacter of Utilitarian justice and mercy, thus: "No advance was ever made in manufactures but at some cost to those who are in the rear." So the evil is to be made to fall on those who are in the rear. Thus, by this doctrine, the following precept is given to us as a rule of social dutyaid the strong-oppress the weak; and this too, in a country which professes to be Christian, is trumpeted forth to the world as generous, noble, and right-as the proper way of bringing about civilization. Such is the nature of the argument which Dr. Bowring thought fit to advance with respect to the condition and the rights of his fellow-countrymen in Great Britain. The other part of his picture has reference to the condition and prospects of labourers in India. Having explained, very clearly, the process by which the enjoyments and rights of the labouring population of our own country are destroyed, Dr. Bowring proceeded to contend, that the destruction of the fund out of which wages are paid HAVING BEEN ACCOMPLISHED, it was then clearly beyond the power of an Act of Parliamant to effect a rise of wages. In order to illustrate fully his objective proposition, he brought into instance the case of the hand-loom weavers of India. He showed, with respect to this case, that the cheap productions of England having been fully supplied to the markets of India, the consequence was, that these productions had superseded, or had been substituted for, those which, theretofore, had been wrought by the labour of Indian people, and purchased both for consumption in India and in foreign countries. The destitution, misery, and ruin which ensued, Dr. Bowring has admitted, and strongly and faithfully pourtrayed, and then, with reference to the important question of remedy, he has, in substance, exclaimed as follows:-"I defy you to raise wages by any Act of Parliament, either in Great Britain or India. No! We have carried out our Utilitarian process of commerce. We have, in the first place, got cheapness by means of reducing the enjoyments of the labourers of Great Britain. We have effected this by inventing a mechanical power, which, being put in the place of manual labour, has enabled us to rid ourselves of the necessity of incurring the cost which the employment of labour entailed. Having been successful in this contrivance, we have then conveyed to India the cheaper British productions, and forced them into competition with the productions of that country. The consumers of these commodities in India have preferred our better and cheaper productions to the dearer ones wrought by the labour of their own countrymen. We have thus, by means of a vast influx of supply, annihilated the capital which supported the labourers in India? and I defy you to keep up wages either in India or in England by an Act of Parliament-by a thousand Acts of Parliament." Such, in substance, was the argument which Dr. Bowring advanced; and, undoubtedly, be argued correctly, with reference to the remedy proposed. The destruction or mischief having been committed, Mr. Fielden's proposal of remedying the lamentable results, by framing an Act of Parliament for determining or raising the rate of wages, could have no foundation in practice. The attempt would be as futile as that of declaring by Act of Parliament that hitherto two and two had only made four; but it being desirable that henceforward they should make ten, therefore it is enacted, that two and two shall make ten. Or, to view the question in another light, the attempt to effect the object of raising wages by Act of Parliament-with the circumstances admitted-would be like the case of ten men, who, at stated times, have had a sum of money of the amount of 100 to divide equally between them, which, of course, would yield them 10 each; and this sum being diminished to 50, the men should meet and agree amongst themselves to have the same amount distributed to each as would have been done before the diminution occurred-that is, they declare that 50 and 100 are equal sums. The error consisted in carrying out the preceding process, that is, in permitting the changes or improvements to be made before sufficient capital was provided by which the changes or improvements could be justly made. Care should have been taken that a sufficiency was in existence by which the displaced labour could receive compensation or derive a coNTINUITY OF SUPPORT. It was here that the power of the legislature should have been interposed; and it was in this quarter alone that it could have been efficiently exercised. And now what a forcible delineation has Dr. Bowring given of the unjust and iniquitous character of human acts, exhibited by means of human commerce! It places clearly before our imagination the vast number of poor Indian families quietly deriving a humble and scanty maintenance by means of that occupation which many of their own countrymen, as well as the people of other nations, had encouraged them to follow. This had gone on, uninterruptedly, during a course of ages. But at length, British manufacturers and merchants, stimulated by that inextinguishable passion for gain" which you have so greatly commended, and which is, in fact, the soul of the free system, exerted ingenuity and power, and destroyed every source whence these harmless and unoffending people derived clothing, shelter, and even food; and men, women, and children were cut off, by thousands, from the land of the living. Such commerce, less merciful even than war, includes alike, within its rapacious code, the strong man, the weak woman, and the helpless infant--all are laid low, and consigned to indiscriminate destruction. The description given by Dr. Bowring of the results of these horrible transactions, is sufficiently minute and forcible. He says-Terrible are the accounts of the wretchedness of the poor Indian weavers, reduced to absolute starvation. And what was the sole cause? The presence of the cheaper English manufacture-the production by the power-loom of the article which these unhappy Hindoos had been used, for ages, to make by their unimproved and hand-directed shuttles. It was impossible they could go on weaving what no one would wear or buy. Numbers of them died of hunger." In addition to this, the Governor General of India, on communicating these transactions to the authorities at home, sums them up in the following forcible and comprehensive words: The present suffering to numerous classes in India, is scarcely to be paralleled in the history of commerce." On having such scenes as these placed before our view, the mind is too often inclined to turn away both from the contemplation and the consideration of them; but this must not be permitted. It is indispensable that national iniquity be fully exposed and unsparingly attacked, in order that national vice be curbed or extirminated. A skilful and honest operator applies the knife determinedly to the roots of the disease, disregarding the pain, writhing, and exclamations of his patient. So may it be with ourselves, individually and collectively! The honest will not only bear with patience, but will rejoice; and as for others, who, under covert and convenient seeming practice on man's life," and who would rather see the direst miseries inflicted on their fellow-creatures than be prevented getting wealth and enjoying the needless luxuries of the world, why, if possible, let such be made to "tremble"-the more the better. No. 16, Doughty Street, January 9, 1813. I remain, Sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM ATKINSON. Printed by Vincent Torras & Co., 7, Palace Row, New Road, London. THE FLEET PAPERS. THESE Papers are principally intended for the perusal of the friends of Christianity and the Constitution; particularly the Clergy and the Aristocracy, and of all persons who are possessed of Property. The object of the writer will be to explain the reason for the present alarming state of English society, and the consequent insecurity of life and property; also to offer some remarks upon the folly and wickedness of attempting to uphold our Institutions, particularly that of Private Property, by the unconstitutional means of Centralization, Commissioning, Espionage, and Force; finally, to state his own views on the best mode of restoring Peace, Contentment, Security, and Prosperity, to every rank of the people of England. The author is perfectly aware of the fact, that every Parliamentary leader is now only attempting to legislate for the present moment-putting off the evil day -making laws "from hand to mouth," in the hope that some unforeseen, fortunate event may enable succeeding Statesmen to legislate for permanency. He is also convinced that there is a mode of successfully re-establishing our Institutions upon their original foundation-Christianity;-and that that is the only way to preserve them from the encroachments of political partisans, who are now paving the way to universal Ruin, Anarchy, and Despotism. NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. Q. IN A CORNER, asks why the aristocracy and landlords do not distribute "Ten Letters by a Shopkeeper ?"—(J. Masters, Aldersgate Street, London.) Simply because the nobles are mesmerized, as Dr. Sleigh observes, in his well-timed Letter to the Agriculturists of Buckinghamshire"-(J. Ollivier. 59, Pall Mall.) When the landlords awake, they will wonder why they have left the ground to be filled with weeds by the Leaguers, when so many able and willing labourers were left unnoticed, to fold their hands and find themselves neglected. "A DIALOGUE BETWEEN TWO FARMERS" (Wrightson & Webb, Birmingham,) is duly received. If farmers and landlords would read it, it would be well. When they awake, they will not have time to read half the books which have been written by their friends. "CHRONICLES OF THE CAREWORN," (Cleaver, 80, Baker Street.)-The Fleet Papers do not pretend to review books. This is a work well adapted to the young and thoughtless, and espe cially for the wealthy. CLEAVER'S COMPANION FOR CHURCHMEN," (Cleaver, 80, Baker Street.) is a nice little and very useful companion for both private and public devotion. THOMAS H. CORNISH, Barrister-at-Law. The Juryman's Legal Hand-Book and Manual of Common Law,” (Longman and Co., and Spettigue, Chancery Lane,) is received, just before going to press. He is thanked for the presentation of the first copy in sheets. FRANCIS YATES, Birstal, is thanked for his interesting letter. The disgraceful fact will noticed shortly. The length of Mr. Atkinson's letter has not left space for that one from Mr. John Smith, jun. Mr. Smith's letter shall appear next week. TO THE PUBLIC. The Fleet Paners are published every SATURDAY, in Numbers, at 2d. each; also in Parts, containing four Weekly Numbers, with Ornamental Covers, at 9d. each. Title pages of 1st and 2nd vols. of the FLEET PAPERS may be had, gratis, of the Publishers. |