The Sun.
London, England, 1841-10-18 00:00:00

E STING SUN

CflAitTi sAI AND ITS A D VOCA.TES
TO 7'.HE EIVTOR OF THE SCA'.
an cld advocate of Universe! Suffrage—
*
t000t: :oar rdo ,nI aualpTos
n, :hoe, be
efforts
0 ;lit
so more
that thanbavao sbileeennt ,
made,but anxious,duna
the late few years, to obtain for the working class
.the
right, in common with their fellow-countrymen, to a
enactvote
penal t h e
far
stweh oetrfivethmtigchaoher
vkhesnra::
has
through
nnh
been
whoo:):,n.g h
I‘t
yao tax them,
pursuedt
yh,
excellentoe mub
y,
t,el endre
paper,mit m auptoon°tfflr'cr caoufre
leading advocates of tl e Charter ? I shall do so in sin•
cerity and candour, and if I cannot speak of all their
proceedings with approbation, I sympathise too much' with them in the ob:ect they are striving for, to dwell
with harshness upon the mistakes which they may have
honestly fellee into. Let Inc premise that I approve
of the Constitution comprised in the Cherter; and I -
think it is a very wise improvement upon the old and
vague agitation for " Pailietnentary Reform," which
ended in the imperfect end inadequate measure, called
the Reform Act, to go for a written and vet;-defined
constitution, about which there can be neither mis-
take nor fraudulent mystification. And now, Sir, for
the mode of rocking the Charter the law of the line.
In a ccuntry where we crc all more or less prone te
fellow ancient precedents, I would first endeavour to
find a sanction fer the principles of the Charter " in
the wisdom of cur ancestors;'' and here I find a pewee-
ful argument for the minds of Englisbnier, which has
brew almost entirely overlooked by the advocates of the
People's Chatter. It is a constitutional principle, laid
down by seine of cur most eminent writers and lawyers,
that taxation and representation are co.eatensive. In
fact, the theory of the British Constitution is this--
that no freeman can be taxed without lit consent,
given through lit representative in Parliament.
Now, the revenue of the State was, in
ancient timen raised from the land, and the land-
owner.) then exercised all the powers of legislation ; but
during the last century and a-half the landowners
have contrived to shift the burdens of the State to the
shoulders of the whole community, by levying taxes,
through the Excise and Customs, upon articles of con-
sumption, such as beer, sugar, tea, coffee, tobacco, &c.,
which taxes fall nith the greatest weight, in proportion
to their ithiley to pay then, upon the labouring class.
As every in,en is now taxed, and as it may be easily
proved that the poorer the man is the larger is the share
of his income paid towards the expenses of the State, it
follows, that, according to the acknowledged principles
of our Constitution, every man is entitled to a vote in
the election of Members of Parliament. Looking, i
say, to the peculiar character of the itaglish people,
who are fond of precedent and established authority
1 for guiding them in the it public proceedings, I think
this constitutional view of the Suffrage question is cal-
culated to have great weight in influencing their minds
in favour of the Charter ; and it has seemed to me to
be an unfortunate oversight in its advocates that they
have net dwelt more strongly upon these arguments.
Another mistake has, I think, been fallen into by
the leading Chartists, in putting forward prominently
their own views of what laws shall, or shall not, be
passed by a Legislature elected by universal suffrage.
No man ought to presume to say what will be ere de-
cisions of such a Legislature, because no individuai can
possibly be able to di; tote the pidicy of the represent
tives of the whet! reepl'. Unfortunately, the plans
put forth by some of the Charist speakers have been
ill judged cool impracticable. For iestance, cue man
proposes to put down machinery, and his views are put
forth as a part of the designs of Chartism. Bet how
can any individual know that a Parliament, elected by •
universal suffraee, would pass laws to discourage the ire-
prevement cr infeation of machinery ? In Ame-
rica and Seetzerland, two republics where every
man has a vets, machinery is carried to gre iter
perfection than in any other foreien countries,
and the laws protect and eacourage machinery in those
republican natioes. Other Chartist craters have fore-
told that the growth of large capitol-) in the hands of
individuals will he ptevented under the Charter. This
I do not in lieve ; and at Liast I maintain that no man
can be empowere! to t.:1! what the people's representa-
tives aill do. The experience of the whole history of
the world is agaimt any such proceedings. Every Go-
vernment protects individual property, great or srualh
A large capitalist i; at safe in Russia as in England or
America. I would not vote for the Chart-4- unless I
conscientiously believed that capital wou!d be as sacred
under a Governmert elected by universal suffrage as
at present. kdo, otter ClArtitt croakers have ri..l-
located a new form of sovirty, fl;fFerent from anything
tontlrs existed since Cie world was crei.teo. Others
have put, forth peculiar doctrines retiree,' ing private
property in land, or hase advocated the Charter
for the lurprare of carrying out their own
views respecting the currence. I think every
rational - friend to universal se firer w :I, per.
ceive that this reede of agitating for a Charter is
not only impolitic but indefensible in prirriple. For
an individual to unilerteke to lay down the law for the
who:e people is a presumptuous vl,urpation of .their
riOlits, oral an invasion of that demecretie principle of
government which he professes to advec.tte. From
a careful observation of the Chartist neoteeneet, I am
led to believe tint touch odium has 'Leen brought upon
the good cause, by tl:c erroneous conduct to which I
am alluding.. Men of property lave been frightened ;
men of business Lye shrunk from these doetrieein
timid people have been driven to regard with lasees ' '
our rapacious aristocracy, from an apprehension that
the Chartists would be worse legislators than even
; Peel and the Duke of Buckingliain ; and the women,
who exercise a vast influence in public matters,. have
caught a tenfold prejudice. Their fears have pictured „-
the Chartists as a band of desperate characters,
bent upon nothing but the plunder and op.
pressiun of the weak and defenceless. A very
little reflection %retell convince the rnAdle and
prcperty classes et the erroneousness and injustice of
such opinions of their industrious fellovr-countrymen. - -
Who are the men that claim the suffrage? They are
our mechanics, shopmen, ploughmen, porters, labourers,
&c., the men, in fact, to whom we entrust the care of
our property in a thousand ways, and who fulfil their
several duties hatter than any other people in the world..
And is it probable that to entrust them with a vets (or
representatives in the Legislature would all at once con-
vert this orderly, industrious, and honest community
into a band of spoliators and oppressors? A moment's
reflection would, I say, convince the middle and wealthy
classes that the effect of giving to the working class the
right of suffrage would be to elevate them morally and
mentally, and incrra to the self-respect which is the
source or strength of nearly eve!y vataous quality.
These would be the necessary convictions arising from
a calm view of the matter ; but when their fears are
excited by the rash and violent doctrines to • which I
have alluded, their minds are rendered unfit for a calm.
consideration ,f the subject._