Star.
London, England, 1830-12-16 00:00:00

DOVER. Deczmazß 15.

Arrived.--The Crusader, Post Office Packet, Captain
Sit almoca, from Calais; having on board the duchess of
DINO (Prince TALLITSAND'S neice), Count Alave, the
general who distinguished himself so vnlouroualy in the late
war in Spain, in co-operation with the British army, Sir
Haw and Lady HAMILTON, and about twenty other pas-
sengers.

Great excitement has shewn itself these last few days,
among the populace of Paris, on the approaching meet-
ing of the Peers for the trial of the ex-Ministers, which was
to commence this day.

PETITION.
MOVED YESTERDAY AT THE ►IIDDLESEX MEETING

AT HACKNEY.

" Showeth,—That your petitioners are deeply and anxiously im.
pressed with alarm at the present unparalleled disttessed condition of
the people of this once happy, prosperous, and flourishing country.
" That they have seen that commerce has long been carried on upon
an insecure basis ; that distrust has for many years pervaded all ranks of
tradesmen ; and that the productive classes have been, year after year,
sinking into deep misery and misfortune; and that, at last, unable any
longer to bear up under their numberless oppressions and privations, and
stimulated by hunger and resentment, the poor have become the reckless
destroyers of that food and property which they heretofore industriously
laboured to produce and protect.
That, in the opinion of your humble petitioners, these evils, and
many others which have afflicted the country, have been produced by
wasteful expenditure of nioney,which has been extracted, under the 11
sanction of oppressive laws, from the labours of an industrious people,
by the enormous expenses incurred for wars,carried on against the rights
and liberties of mankind—by the ruinous transition in the nominalvalue
of property,consequent upon unreasonable changes in the currency—by
the transition from a restrictive system of commerce to one of compa.
rative freedom, unaccompanied by a reservation for cheap bread—by
the cruelly oppressive character of the corn laws, through which
the landlord was enabled to extract high rents from the farmer,
and hence, the farmer was -compelled to reduce the wages of
the labourers almost to starvation—by the pernicious tithe sys.
tem, under the operation of which the cultivators of the land
have been induced to look upon those who should be their,
best friends, as their bitterest enemies—by a system which has
in many instances prevented the cultivation of land, and thereby
lessened the quantity of the labourer's food—by the cruel and sangui.
nary game laws, from the effects of which the labourers have been con.
venod into poachers, and the poachers into nocturnal thieves—by the
mal-administration of the just and humane poor laws, which, in thou-
sands of instances, have caused the labourer to be deprived of his wages,
and his half-starved family to be deprived of that relief to which they
were justly entitled by law—by the expense of supporting unnecessarily
a large standing army during l 3 years of undisturbed peace—by the
extravagant and unmerited salaries, sinecures, and pensions paid to
public men, their wives, and their daughters.
"That these and many other abuses, which your petitioners will not
occupy your time by describing, because your humble petitioners have
already repeatedly laid them before your honourable house.
"Your humble petitioners, therefore, earnestly pray that they may
be spared the further misery of such abuses, and protected against
similar inflictions for the future, by such reform In your honourable
house as shall give to the people their due influence in framing every
measure of parliament, which reform, in the opinion of your petitioners,
can neither be useful nor satisfactory to the people, if it do not secure
to them short parliaments, the right of voting to every man aho contra.
butes to the taxes and parochial rates ; and that only security for pure
and incorruptible elections, vote by ballot; and it is the firm opinion of
your humble petitioners that, if reform to this extent he not speedily
adopted, the people of this country will become the victims of all the
calamities and honors of a civil war."

The petitions to both houses were adopted unanimously, as weU as a
similar one to be presented to the king.
The Sheriffs were appointed to convey the petition to his Majesty.
A press of matter puts it out of our power to give the speeches de.
livered upon this occasion ; and we can only find room to observe, that
Sir Fitaxcis BuiDETT, at some length, stated that great reliance
might be pieced on the present Ministry. Mr. Hosnonsa was in favour
of shortening the duration of Parliaments, and vote by ballot. Mr.
BT)fs would never vote for election by ballot ; upon the expression of
which there were tremendous noise and hisses, and cries of " 11,4 off,"
which lasted so long, that Mr. BYWO was compelled to retire. Mr.
Hums then addressed the meeting, on reform and retrenchment, anifd
the cheers of the assemblage; and after a vote of thanks had been
Ellsto the Chairman, and Mr. Hume, the meeting closed at about
-past five o'clock.

SPIRI I' OF TH,

r4L&

Tiwis.—The hill introduced by Mr. Littleton on Tuesday, which we
are happy to find supported by a large majority of the House of Com.
mons, will, in our opinion, produce great advantage and unspeakable
comfort to the toiling and oppressed manufacturing population of this
country. The object of this measure is to abolish a mode of payment
(or non-payment) by the Master Manufacturers to their workmen,
which is usually called the " Truck.system." Many of our
readers, probably, do not understand the meaning of the
word, and we may briefly describe it by stating, that after the master
has agreed to pay the workman his wages, at the rate (e. g.) of Is. per
day, the mode he adopts for executing his contrast is, to open a kind
of slop-shop, where the workman is, through sundry contrivances, placed
under the necessity of resorting, to procure the several articles of daily
consumption for hie family, an account of which is kept, and shown
him at the end of the week, and stated as a set-off against his wages, of
which it generally eats up the whole,or within Rod& of the whole,amount.
If it be wise and just for the supreme power of a state to legislate at any
time against artificial and usurped authority, it is eminently required in
the case of the truck system, which does in fact, and beyond all question,
put the poor man at tile merey of the rich. It it be right to maintain
the equal obligation of contracts—which has always been a rule of civi-
lised government—there is surely no occasion for the exercise of such •
duty more urgent than one which enable. A to elude his engage-
ment with B, and to rob him in substance while he adds to
the sting of successful fraud, by pretending that the suf.
firer is, and ought to be, left a " free agent." The truth is, that
the laws of the last 40 years have, in their general scope and
character, encroached greatly on the free agency of the industrious
classes—a working manufacturer is, in many points, a practical slave.
This truck manoeuvre has manifestly for its consequence to make him
an inextricable pauper. He does not get frum his employer that for
which he hired himself to work. He does not obtain from him a fixed
portion of the standard coin of the realm, about the value of which there
can be no dispute, should his master be disposed to plunder him. No,
but he gets payment in pieces of bread, or cheese, or lard, which have
no certain or determinate value, because the weekly value affixed ro
them is that which the muter or his foreman pleases. And what a
temptation is this for the honesty of the master, supposing him to be
honest

Conoirtat.x.—The Meeting of the County of Middlesex yesterday,
at Hackney, was numerously and respectably attended. At this Meet-
ing there were diferences of opinion as to the causes of the distress in
which the country is now involved. The extent to which the franchise
should be communicated also lcd to diversity of opinion. But there
was one point respecting which there was the same unanimity at Mid-
dlesex that there is everywhere else throughout the Island, namely, that
no reform can be of any avail without the protection of the
Ballot. We say unanimity, because, though Mr. Byng was opposed to
the Ballot, the strong manifestation of feeling to which the expression
of his opinion led, must have convinced him that there was no sytn.
patty between him and the meeting on this point, Indeed, after the
motion requesting Mr. Warburton to support the petition instead of Mr.
Byng,whicb was serried unanimously, all doubt on the subject must be
removed in the mind of the Hon. (Jentleman. There may be various
opinions as to qualifications of voters for representatives. We
ourselves are inclined to think that in the present state of the
country, degraded and ignorant as a great part of the
yet unquanknably is, ft would be safer, in the at In.
stance, at least, to take swiss property qualification, as, while it
secured independent voting, would also secure an intelligent es.
excise of the franchise. But whoever obtains the franchise shosld ob-
tain it in reality. But such is the distribution of property is iitgbred,
that the independent exercise of the franchise, even under the boot qrs.
Maiden, would often lead to the punishment of the voter in his puree,
without the protection of the ballot. The rich would have,ender the bid;
lot, that influence which they ought to have, and no mare. It trould Mee
1 them to rely on the more noble titles to respect ; and we need sot
say, that with equal qsalificatioos in other respects, the risk is this
country would seldom fail in obtaining a preference. The wsnidp of
weshb in Ragland requires to be moderated rather than asemiinpt. M
a time when the tide seems to have set in strongly opium the Church of
Lit
Ragland, we may call suasion to the decimation made lik. Muse,
that be never would be a party loth* sespoilin the Clergy et
their benedces ; and thee aniartrassgetwast fog a cbamge in
the mode of rewarding the y, I so bi the slosolicos-
sWerstion, and not an sot of troy vlaltna. The Tightest intlitlds.
Os 'sok always to he respected.

THE RIGHT HON. WILMOT HORTOIrS LECTURE,

LONDON MKCHAMCS' INSTITULIOA:

Yesterday evening Mr. Wilmot Horton commenced delivering eJ
Course of Lectures in the Theatre of the Mechanic' Institution, on the
subject of the most efficient remedies for the present distress among the
labouring classes in the United Kingdom. The Theatre was crowded,
and amongst the auditors were many distinguished visitors.
Mr. W. HORTON, as soon as the applause with which his entrance
wait hailed had subsided, commenced by stating the object of the present
lecture to be the general theory of labour, and impossibility of establishing
a minimum of wages. It was not necessary in this inquiry to recur to the
system on which the right of property was founded in this country—he
should take it as he found it established by the law of England. The
three first of the propositions agreed to by the class of the members of
the Institntion, who had investipated the subject, and which were evi-
dent truths, contained the principle of what he should now address to
them. These propositions were :—First, that commodities in excess,
as compared with the demand fot them, are inevitably depreciated in
value if they are brought int* the market for sale ; and that labour when
brought into the market, so far partaker of the nature of commodities,
that it is inevitably depreciated in value whenever it is in excess, as com-
pared with the demand. Second, that there is an extras of the supply of
labour, compared with the demand for it amongst many of the ope-
rative and labouring classes in the United Kingdom; and that pauper-
ism, degradation, and suffering, are the consequences of that state of
things.—Third, that to remedy such evils, either more labour must be
demanded, or less labour supplied ; and that, unless one or other of
these conditions can be satisfied, the evil is without remedy. The re-
medies proposed were an increased demand for labour, a diminished'
supply, or a combination of both. There was this difference between
labour and other commodities, that when commodities were in excess,
the price of all commodities of the same kind fell in the market; but
when labour was in excess, wages did not fall in the same degree. This
accounted for the phenomenon, that the wags of labour continued
greater than the support given to paupers; and though the standard
of comfort enjoyed by the labourer may become deteriorated, yet vo-
luntary labour cannot be obtained less than the existing standard. He
should on this point quotes pottage from the article Taxation, in the
" Encyclopodia Britannica," which he believed was written by .Ir.
Ricardo, and which was as follows :

" If the supply of labour could be suddenly increased when wages
rise, that rise would be of no advantage whatever to existing labourers ;
it would increase their numbers, but it would not enable them to mount
in the scale of society, or to obtain a greater command of the necessaries
and conveniences of life; and, on the other hand, if the supply of la.
bour could be suddenly diminished when wages fall, that fall would
merely lesson the numbers of labourers, without having any tendency
to degrade the habits or to lower the condition of those who survived. But
in the actual state of things, no rise of wages can ever be counteracted by
an increased supply of workmen coming into the market, until 18
or 20 yeats after it has taken place; for there are few or no
branches of industry in which an active and skilful labourer can be bred
in a shorter period. During all this interval, therefore, the labourer is
placed in a greatly improved situation. Ile has a greater supply of
wholesome and nutritious food, he has better clothes and better habita-
tions ; he is rendered more attentive to personal cleanliness; and, as he
rises higher in the scale of society, he naturally uses more providence
and circumspection in the forming of matrimonial connection. In short,
his opinions respecting what is necessary for his decent and comfortable
subsistence are raised, and the natural rate of wages is, in consequence,
proportionally augmented.
" But it is squally impossible suddenly to diminish the number of the
labourers when waLtes fall. Such a diminution cannot, as we have al-
ready stated, be effected otherwise than by the operation of increased
mortality, or by a decrease in the number of births. But unless the
fall were very sudden and extensive, it would require a considerable nuns.
bee of years to render the effects of increased mortality very apparent ;
and it is so difficult to change the habits of a people, that though the
demand for labour were to decline, it would, notwithstanding, continue to
flow into the market with nearly the same rapidity as before. Nor would
the ratio of the increase of population be sufficiently diminished
until the misery occasioned by the restricted demand, on the
one hand, and the undiminished supply, on the other, had been very
generally and widely felt." He thought it could be proved that it was
possible to prevent this wide and general misery, by enabling the la-
bourer voluntarily to remove to another country, by which he may ex-
change a precarious subsistence for a fee simple property in a colony.
He could not conceive the frame of mind of the man who would say it
was cruelty and insult to propose to the labourer to exchange misery for
Independence, merely because he was to cross the sea to gain
ft.—(Applauee.)--In the United States of America a natural
emigration was constantly taking place from the east to the west,
which kept the population in a healthful state as to supply and
demand. It was observed by an eminent writer, that in,
Greece the excess of population was visible to the most
vulgar eye ; in Europe it was only perceived by the philosophic eye.
Their rulers would, in general, say their countries were not too popu.
bus, and accordingly the increase of population had been encouraged.
At their last meeting two great men had been quoted—Lord Chancellor
Bacon, and Lord Chancellor Brougham. He could not tell whether
Lord Brougham would agree in the recommendatiun of emigration as a
means of improving the condition of the labourer. Lord Bacon, the
most extraordinary man whose name has floated on the tie.e of time,
bad done so in the most emphatic manner. In the reign of James L
there was great suffering in England, arising from an excest of labour
beyond employment. Ireland then held the same relation to England in
ppulation that the American Colonies do now—population there was
deficient. He need not tell them that the population of England was not
then half what it is at present ' • but there was not capital to give em.
ployment to the people. Lord Bacon was asked how to remedy this
evil and recommended emigration to Ireland. " For this island (says
Lord Bacon to King James la endued with so many advantages of na.
lure, considering the fruitfu ness of the soil, the ports, the rivers, the
fisheries, the quarries, the woods, and other materials, and especially the
race and generation of men, valiant, hardy, and active, as it is not so
easy—no, not on the Continent, to find such confluence of commodities,
if the hand of man (lid join with the hand of nature. An efftct of place
in fruitful kingdoms, when the stock of people, receiving no consump-
tion nor diminution by war, doth continually increase and multiply, 'I
most be a surcharge, or overflow of people, more than the territories
can maintain,which many times insinuating &general necessity and want
of means in all estates doth turn external peace into internal troubles
and sedition.. Now (he continues), allot an excellent diversion of
this inconvenience is ministered by Otero Providence to your Majesty
in this plantation of Ireland, a herein so many families may rceaive
sustentation and fortune ; and the discharge of them cut of England
and Scotland may prevent many seeds of future perturbations, so that
it is as it a man were troubled for the avoidance of water from places
where he bath built his house, at d afterwards should advise with him.
self to cast those waters, and to turn them into floods, pools, or streams,
for pleasure. provision, or use. So stall your Majesty on this work
have a double commodity in the avoidance of people here, and in
making use of them there." The 'tame argument now applies to the
United Kingdom and the American colonies. It had been said that
the effect of emigration was to get some out of the way, to divide
what they would consume amongst others. He accepted that pro.
position, and thought it a beneficial effect. He would illustrate it by
the ease of the town of Frome, in Somerset, from which he had pre.
tented a petition for liberty to raise money to enable their paupers to
emigrate. During the war, Frome, had an extensive manufacture of
blue cloth, used in allots' jackets, which after the Peace entirely
failed, and a large portion of those unemployed in it became paupers.
1 here are in the town 550 paupers of ages and health capable of he-
mming emigrants, under the regulation of the Emigration Cotnniittee.
They prope,ed to send away 250 families averaging five members each.
They had, from a painful necessity, brought down the expense of
their paupers to 31. a bead, nuking the annual charge for these Fa-
milies 3,7501. for which they made no return. He had calculated
that the expense of taking a family of five persons to Canada,
and settling then there, with all the means necessary for providing for
their comfort, would b;801. the interest of which, at 4 pee cent. would
be 91. 44. If a sum were raised sufficient to enable dl these paupers to
emigrate, the town would get rid of a permanent charge of 151. a-year
for each family, for a charge of 31. 4s, and by turning it into an annuity
of 71. Ins. the capital would be repaid in ten )ears.— He meant to pub-
lish the particulars of this statement, when all might judge of its cos.
mince. But although the town of Franc had front necessity brought
down the east of their paupers to 151. a family, it was proved before
the Committee that the general expenses in Scotland for a family
of five persons was 201. and in England 211. In Keut and ,
Sussex a pauper family of five persons cast 401. annually. The
case of Frome proved the impossibility of establishing • minimum
of wages. If the Frome pauper could put as high • price OD
his labour as the Kent and Sussex paupers received, other labourers
would have an equal right to raise the price of their labour—the shoe-
maker would demand • higher price for shoes lle might any to the
farmer's labourer, if you burn the farmer's stacks because he does not
give you a higher price for your labour, I will burn your cottage if you
do not give me a higher price for my sfts. He might also say, I have
seen you walk on the turf instead of the gravel—your wife also wears
pattens ; in this way I am deprived of employment—the awes are not
worn out; and if you destroy the thrashing machines that deprive you of
your labour, beware of what I may do, if yru do not walk ore the gravel,
and destroy your wife's urns. Labour must be bought and sold in the
marketlike other commodities. Gore forbid he should say the pauperise*,
should continue, he wished to give the poor man an opportunity of ob-
taining the value of his labour abroad, or by reducing the supply at
home, to raise the condition of the labourer, and then the recurrence of
those evils, which were probably the result of bad legislation in former
times. The Hight Hon. Gentleman proceeded to show that any pee.
sable reduction of taxation could not be a sufficient remedy for the dis-
tress produced by a superabundance of labour; at the same time stating
his opinion, that whatever was anoccesarily taken from the people in
tazatbn was robbery.
The Lecture was beard throughoat with !helmet respectful attention,
and at the coodusiss, and several times during the delivery, greatly
artillitinoci announced a &mud Lathan ea Wednesday next.